Latest / The So-Called Sports Analysts / Episode #9- NFC North & NBA standings

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Episode #9- NFC North & NBA standings · The So-Called Sports Analysts

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Welcome, Welcome, welcome, everybody to another episode of the so called Sports
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Analysts. I am your host, off Onsiportill. I'm decided to be back
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with you guys. This is episode number nine, and let's go ahead and
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get straight into it. So, like Ellen's talking about last week, I'm
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going to be breaking down divisions, and I'm gonna be doing one division per
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episode. And this first division that we're gonna be breaking down is the NFC
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North. So who's in the NFC North is the Minnesota Vikings, the Green
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Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, and the Chicago Bears. Three of these teams
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they were in they were in playoff contention or they were in the playoffs,
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which you know, the Vikings made the playoffs, and the Packers and Lions
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they had chances to make the playoffs, but obviously the Lions made the Packers
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miss the playoffs, and the Packers earlier in the year made the Lions miss
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the playoffs. So these teams, they're very talented teams. And the first
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one that I'm going to start off with is the Minnesota Vikings. So the
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sort of Vikings last year or this year lost in the wild card round to
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the New York Giants, and they were thirteen and four. They looked very
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strong at the very beginning, and towards the very end they started started to
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slow down and look like a fraudulent team. And if you look at this
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team, they had a negative three point differential. And what a point differential
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means is that the difference between you outscoring an opponent when you win, or
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an opponent outscoring you when you lose. And usually a team that has a
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thirteen and four record usually has a positive fifty point differential, a positive eighty.
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If you just look at the top teams like the Niners, the Cowboys,
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the Chiefs, the Eagles, they have top point differentials and with the
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Vikings they had a negative three. So it just showed that they weren't really
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a good team all along, or not that they weren't a good team,
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but they weren't a great team as many people thought they were. And what
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the Minnesota Vikings have to do with this offseason, They have plenty of skill
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positions as far as offensively. You still have Dalvin Cook, you still have
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Justin Jefferson, you still have Adam DeLand, you still have t J.
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Hopkinson. But you still need to make some improvements to that offensive line,
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because you saw with the offensive line they had when they went up against the
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Green Bay Packers, the Dallas Cowboys, or even the New York Giants in
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the wild card round, they looked like a suspect offensive line. And we're
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getting bullied majority of the time. So yes, I know the Vikings they
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did. The ball was moving in the wild card round, but towards end
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of the game when they needed it, the offensive line got bullied and I
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believe it was Dexter Lawrence that made a sack. I'm not sure, but
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the Minnesota Vikings this offseason have negative twenty three million dollars in cap space,
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so they're not gonna be able to sign anybody unless they try to find a
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way to move around contracts or trade away somebody who has a big contract to
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possibly get somebody else. Because you have Zadarius Smith on a big contract.
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I believe it's four for fifty two million, just in Jefferson. He's about
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to be getting paid, so you kind of have to save some money right
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there. Dalvin Cook's getting paid, Kirk Cousins is getting paid, Adam DeLand
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he's surprisingly making twelve million dollars a year, which is not very expensive,
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but when it comes to having negative twenty three million dollars in cap space,
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that's very expensive right there. T J. Hopkinson, he's coming up for
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a new contract, so they don't have many pieces to work with and even
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their draft capital. They have the twenty fourth overall pick, so it's not
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a great pick, and it's not and it's not like an eighteenth or seventeen
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overall pick where he can still find somebody that falls into the draft like a
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Ceedee Lamb did two or three years ago and still be able to get him
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who was potentially a top ten player. So no, they have the twenty
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fourth overall pick, and they only have four total draft picks, so they
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can't really improve on much of anything this year, and they would have to
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wait till next year. But I believe their window it has to be these
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following years because we don't know. In San Francisco they're going to get a
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quarterback. Maybe Trey Lance ends up becoming a better quarterback than we thought.
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We still have to see with that because it's still in progress. The Philadelphia
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Eagles have jailed Hurts. We saw what he just did. There's gonna be
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another team that's gonna be drafting a rookie quarterback this year. Possibly that rookie
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quarterback pans out, so their window to win is right now. So I
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don't think if you had to pick one spot because you have four draft picks,
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you're gonna really have to pick one side of the ball to focus on
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in this draft, because if you try to mix and match, you'll most
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likely end up with bad players who are going to be sitting on the bench
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and not contributing to this team that's ready to win. So they're gonna have
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to go with one side of the ball, and that one side of the
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ball that I think that they need to go for it is defense. Their
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defense was ranked the second wordst defense in the National Football League, which is
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crazy to me because you have plenty of talent on that team. You have
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you have Kendricks, you have Zadarius Smith, you have Harrison Smith, you
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have Patrick Peterson. I know they're older guys, but they still shouldn't be
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ranked the thirty first ranked defense in the NFL. And I know you have
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a couple of guys like Andrew Booth Jr. Or I can't think of the
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other line Acker's name right now at the moment. But you have players that
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you're drafted last year that were supposed to pan out and they didn't pan out
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as good or as soon as they expected them to be. So they're gonna
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have to focus on that. And my philosophy is if you get the defensive
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line right, you're able to have a below average linebacking corps or even secondary
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corps. Because how I always bring up look at the Philadelphia Eagles. They
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had a bad, well not a bad secondary, but they had an average
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to below average secondary, and when that defensive line was getting towards them,
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they looked like a great secondary. And then when you face them against a
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good offensive offensive line like the Chiefs, they get exposed. So that could
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still take you pretty far, because Philadelphia still made the Super Bowl and were
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a few plays away from winning the Super Bowl. So that's what I think
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they need to really hit after in this draft. There's gonna be a couple
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of Georgia defensive lineman in this draft. You know George's defensive line, they
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always produce some monsters coming out, So maybe you go that route, or
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maybe you do go with the cornerback because Patrick Peterson he is a free agent
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this year, maybe go you do, go with the Joey Porter Junior,
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a camp Smith. You go with somebody who's gonna be around in those later
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the later twenties, and you pick them and then you go from there and
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you try to find a way to make a trade for a defensive lineman or
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something. I know, Khalil Mack he just got or he is going to
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be released by the charges or traded, so maybe you pick up him on
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a veteran minimum deal and you could go from there. But personally, I
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think that they should go for the defensive line because that's the easiest way to
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fix it up and manage enough to make another playoff run. But the positive
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that they do have is that Justin Jefferson, like I said, he does
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need to be paid, but technically he still has two years left under his
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contract, so he doesn't have to be getting big money for the next two
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years. Because when he does get paid, he's gonna be getting paid who
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knows, maybe thirty million dollars a year, which sounds ridiculous, but Tyreek
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Hill is already making that, so maybe he'll make forty million dollars a year.
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And another thing is that Kevin O'Connell. He's in a second year with
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the Minnesota Vikings, so it's a similar system for Kirk Cousins everybody around him,
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even the defense, keeping us the same coordinators around, so it's gonna
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be some familiar familiarity there so they don't have to worry about switching schemes,
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the motions terminology, nothing like that. And you always see a year or
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two coach from the Sean McVeigh track, like a Zach Taylor, Matt Lafloor,
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Brandon Staley. Always make a jump the second year. Zach Taylor,
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look what he did. He made it to the Super Bowl. Matt Laflour
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made it to the conference championship game, Brandon Staley made the playoffs. So
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maybe they do make a jump because he has another year under his wings and
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he could only get better. And he is a young coach, so he
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can only go up from here. Or maybe it could go from a Sean
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McVeigh situation where there's a high peak and then there's a very very low floor,
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but he still has ways to go before he has to do that,
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because Sean mcvayh he's already won a Super Bowl, he's proven. Obviously,
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don't think Kevin O'Connell he's gonna decline from here, but we didn't never know
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what happens. It's an NFL and what my predictions are for the future.
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I could see them possibly winning the division, but I don't see them the
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way this team is constructed right now and with their cap flexibility and their draft
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picks, I don't see them making it far in the playoffs. Maybe winning
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a playoff game. I think I'm stretching it if I say two playoff games,
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but I don't think they have true Super Bowl aspirations. And the next
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team that I'm going to talk about in the NFC North is the Detroit Lions,
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who was the most interesting team to research, actually, and I think
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they have the biggest potential to jump up from any of these teams in the
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NFL, let alone in their division. So the Lions there were ninety eight
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last year. They have the second youngest team in the NFL. And when
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I mean they have the perfect they have the perfect puzzle piece to make a
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great playoff from potential Super Row super Bowl run, which sounds crazy, it's
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actually true because they have twenty two million dollars in cap space eight draft picks,
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and four of those draft picks are in the first two rounds. They
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have a sixth overall pick, eighteenth overall pick, forty eighth overall pick,
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and fifty fifth overall pick. So all of those picks, they are very
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valuable and you're gonna be getting some valuable assets out of those and those are
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going to be players that you expect to be able to be in your starting
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lineup and make serious contributions to this team. And they are already a young
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team and they have a good scheme with Ben Johnson and Dan Campbell. So
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and I think their main problem last year it wasn't even their offense. Their
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offense, it was the fourth highest scoring offense in the NFL. They're averaging
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twenty eight points a game. And the last ten games of the season the
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Lions, they went eight and two. It went eight and two, and
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one of those losses it was against Buffalo where they were tired with them during
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the Thanksgiving It was a Thanksgiving game, I believe, and I believe it
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was twenty four, twenty four, twenty seven, twenty seven, something like
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that, and they got a late field goal to win the game. So
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they were competing down the end of the stretch and Jared Goff he looked like
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a top ten quarterback and he was starting to get momentum and he started to
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look like the old quarterback that we saw in Sean mcvay's system that went to
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the Super Bowl. And they have plenty of skill pieces around him. You
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have a Monrail st Brown, Jamison Williams. He's actually going to be playing
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this entire year because he got back I believe it was week thirteen or fourteen,
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so he didn't even get a report with him till later in the year.
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And look what he did in the last game of the season against the
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Packers. He had I believe it was like a fifty yard touchdown. You
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have DeAndre Swift, Jamal Williams. He is going to be a free agent,
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but they expect him to be back. And like I said, you
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have that stix to overall pick in the eighteenth overall pick, potentially you get
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a wide receiver, a cornerback, or somebody offensively. I think that's probably
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not the smartest route because your offense is already pretty stout. But they could
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add even more because they do have the draft capital and they have the sadder
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cap fort and then their offensive line. Last year, even before the season,
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they are ranked the top five offensive line, and going up with the
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stats, it was holdings winning percentages as far as pass blocking and winning running
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percentages, there were top three in the NFL and all three categories. So
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they have a top three offensive line and you have an offensive line that is
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not very old. They remind me of an even better version. Okay,
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that may be stretching a little bit too far, but the twenty fourteen Dallas
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Cowboys when they drafted Zach Martin and for the next five years, you knew
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they were going to be a dominant offensive line and there weren't going to be
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many offensive lines better than them. And that's what I see the Detroit Lions
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having. And you know, if you have a great offensive line, you
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always have a chance to win playoff games, wins who were wolves, and
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make a quarterback look better than what he actually is. So everything is just
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falling into the place for the Detroit Lions to potentially make a run. And
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I believe, like what I said about the Minnesota Vikings, they need to
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draft very heavy on defense, but they can actually draft heavy on defense while
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still spending some money on offense, so it doesn't have to be very just
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solely focused on that because they do have the top picks. Maybe you have
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a six to overall pick, and there's always somebody. That's because somebody's gonna
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go up and get a quarterback like Anthony Richardson, a Will Levis, c
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J Stroud, Bryce Young. That's already four quarterbacks who may go in the
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top five. So you're gonna have a jail and Carter who may fall,
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a Will Anderson who may fall, and you'll be able to pair him with
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Aidan Hutchinson, who looked very good last year, and he also started turning
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on towards the end of the season, and I believe he had ten and
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a half eleven sacks, so he started to look like a true number one
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overall pick or No. Number two overall pick. And even at that,
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towards the end of the stretch, the last eight games of the year,
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they only allowed eighteen points per game, which was the second best in the
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National Football League. So not only is Dan Campbell getting this team to peek
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at the right time, but towards the end of the season and going into
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next year, he's getting the momentum building where they can build off of it
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and potentially win twelve thirteen games. I could see this Detroit Lions team winning
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twelve to thirteen games very easily and potentially hosting a couple of playoff games.
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That's how talented I see this team is. And like I said, they
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have the second youngest team in the NFL, and they don't play like a
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very young team either. They play like an experience veteran team. But I
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say, if you do have to draft somebody on defense, or you do
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have to worry about a key position on defense, I would say it would
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be the run defense for the Detroit Lions. So the Detroit Lions, like
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I said earlier, have a top five offense, so you can go very
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heavy draft in defensive line. And if you do that, like what I
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said, four picks in the first two rounds, you're bound to have at
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least two of those picks hit because they are so high in draft value.
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It's just bound to happen no matter how good of a GM you are or
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how bad of a GM you are. Eventually two out of those four picks
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are going to hit for them. And according to some reports it seems like
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they are going to be draft in heavy defense because they do have full faith
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in Jared Goff and that offense. So if I did have to predict what
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they will do, I believe that they're going to be winning the division next
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year, which sounds very crazy to me. But obviously barring any major injury,
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because we know injuries they do play a factor into this. But barring
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any major injury, I can see them realistically when in two to three playoff
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games and maybe making a super Bowl run, because they remind me of the
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Philadelphia Eagles last year, where offensive line is one of the best in the
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league, a quarterback who nobody had full faith in at the beginning of the
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season, has plenty of skill position weapons, has a put the running backs,
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had a ton of draft capitol, had a ton of cap space,
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and then a young, unproven coach. They correlate a lot from each other,
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so I could see them possibly doing the same thing what the Philadelphia Eagles
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did this year, because let's be honest, other than a few diehard Philly
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fans or Jayalen Hurtz fans, nobody expected the Philadelphia Eagles to go to the
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Super Bowl, So anything can happen, and I believe that will happen right
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there in the thirteen. The third team that we are going to be talking
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about is the Green Bay Packers, who finished eight to nine, that six
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million dollars in cap space, eight draft picks, the fifteenth overall pick,
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and everybody knows a situation with this team. This team status depends on Aaron
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Rodgers, whether he is going to be staying or he's going to be leaving,
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whether he's going to be retiring, or he's going to be getting traded.
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So this is just all going to depend If Aaron Rodgers stays, it's
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going to be a contending place where they're going to try to win multiple playoff
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games, not the all end approach, but be more conservative but still make
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a playoff push. But if Aaron Rodgers leaves, I will go into a
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rebuilding face with Jordan Love. And I know Jordan Love. I believe everybody
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they overreacted to what they saw Jordan Love do against the Philadelphia Eagles, because
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you gotta know as far as when a defense is game planning for a certain
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quarterback, a certain scheme, and certain plays like Aaron Rodgers, whether full
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focus is that you put in a backup quarterback like Jordan Love where they don't
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have much film on him. They don't know the place he likes to run,
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or even his favorite receiver, or even his tendencies. So obviously he's
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gonna be looking like a great quarterback and dotting up that defense. And if
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you watch that game, the offensive line for the Green Bay Packers was bowling
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around the Philadelphia Eagles defensive line the entire time, and I believe they had
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over one hundred and fifty rushing yards. So obviously you have a backup quarterback
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no film, they have no idea what he's going to be doing, and
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a great run game. It's just a game plan for success for him.
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You could have put any quarterback back there and he could have been making those
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throws to a wide open Christian Watson because they were baiting for the play action.
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But like I was saying with their offensive line, their offensive line was
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ranked throughout the entire year, including all of those stats that I mentioned,
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run block percentage, pass passing protection percentage. They ranked six in the National
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Football League. So they were a very good offensive line even when you didn't
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have David Bakatari back there. I believe Their main weakness is, and this
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shouldn't be a surprise, is their wide receivers, their skill position players on
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the outside. Because yes, I know you have Christian Watson. He did
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look better at the end of the season, but he is not a top
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fifteen wide receiver. Let's be honest. Year, I don't even know if
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he's a top twenty wide receiver. And Romeo Dobbs, yes, he did
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get a lot of fantasy hype, but he was not that good of a
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receiver as far as making a big difference. He could take on a number
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one cornerback and still be able to win matchups and same thing or Christian Watson,
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Robert Tunyon. He's a decent tight end, not a good tight end.
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He can't get true separation against teams that have good secondaries or have a
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good defensive line where you have to get the ball out quick. So but
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on the positive side, they do have Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon who are
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one of the best duels as far as running back tandem in the National Football
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League. Even though Aaron Jones may be taking a slight decline, a J.
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Dillon is only peeking to be getting better because Aaron Jones is twenty nine
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years old. Who knows how long he is going to be lasting as a
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running back because we see running backs fall down and cliff very quick. And
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looking at their free agents, they really don't have many free agents that are
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important. You have Jaren Reid, Alam Lazar, Robert Tunyan, but like
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I said about Robert Tunyan, not that good of a tight end. Adam
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Lazard. Let's be honest here, everybody hypped up or all of the Packers
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fans hyped up Adam Lazard, but we know he is not that good.
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Potentially Jaron Reid coming back, that would be a good piece, but he
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is not a game changer where you say, oh, he will be the
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leading factor for us winning multiple games. No, that's not the case right
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there. And even though like I said, they have eight draft picks,
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six of those draft picks are not in the top three rounds, so they're
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later draft picks that normal. So it's gonna have to be finding the diamonds
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and the rough You're gonna have to be finding gyms. And yes, the
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Packers they do draft well. After looking at their history, because you do
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have a Aaron Jones who was in the fifth round and then you have other
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players like Davante Adams. He was in the second, late or late second,
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early third round. So they're able to draft these players good, but
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it's not a consistent way of drafting. At the end of the day,
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you need those top picks to begin, those high ceiling players that can make
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differences right away. But one thing that I will say, like I was
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saying with the lines and vikings, I believe it's the opposite for the Packers.
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They should be focusing more on offense and the skill position players to build
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around. Whoever it's gonna be, either it's Aaron Rodgers or Jordan Love because
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it is a offensive league now, so you need a surround your quarterback,
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no matter who it is, great or not good enough skill positions position players
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to make separation. So and another reason I say that is the defense.
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Towards the end of the year, the last four games, they were allowing
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sixteen points per game, which was the best in the National Football League,
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and their interior defensive line, which obviously that contributes to the run game,
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they gave up the eighth fewest rushing yards per game. So their defensive line
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or their defense in general, was a very good defense just over time.
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When your offense is not able to run the ball consistently or stay on the
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field, your defense is eventually going to be getting gashed and be looking like
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a worst defense than they actually are. But if you had Aaron Rodgers or
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Jordan Love being able to have long sustained drives where they can say they don't
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even score, but they chew up to five to six minutes off the clock,
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that gives your defense a little bit of a break, a little bit
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of time to just rest and prepare, see what the other offense is doing.
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And it's just a little intricacies that nobody really thinks about right there,
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So I think they should be doing that. And then you have the good
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players around them. You have Kay Walker who is a good linebacker, Jaire
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Alexander who is a good secondary player, Adrian Amos a safety. Then you
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have Kenny Clark, So you have good pieces on all levels of the defense,
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from defensive line linebackers to secondary where you know they're going to be having
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good games and potentially impacting the entire game. So even though or even if
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they do go heavy offense, I still don't see this team being good enough
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potentially they go to the wild card round and they lose. I see them
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looking like, I would say, a better version of the Tampa bay Books.
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And I know the Tampa bay Books they were not that good this year.
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But I'm talking about having an older quarterback. Then you have a good
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offensive line, and then you have a defense who is good, too great,
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but doesn't look as good because their offense holds them back. So potentially
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wild card round and losing after that. But I don't see this team having
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true who aspirations. And the last team in the NFC North is at three
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and fourteen Bears. They're the worst team in the league. They have the
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first overall pick, they have ninety three million dollars in cap space, which
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is ridiculous, and the report's already out. They're rebuilding around Justin Fields.
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Let's not get this confused. Rice Young is not going to be going to
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Chicago. Justin Fields is the guy. You do not spend the tenth overall
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pick on him and build an entire running game around Justin Fields just to trade
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him the next year for a quarterback and restart that whole system. So with
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that first overall pick, I believe it's the best thing that they could do,
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and they should trade that first overall pick and get more assets. So
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there's been a mock trade with the Chicago Bears potentially trading the fourth overall pick
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or the first overall pick for the fourth overall pick and getting two or three
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more first round picks, more second round picks, and potentially another player from
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the Colts, which would be perfect for them because you're able to draft more
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pieces around Justin Fields and get more players around him that can help contribute to
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this team and potentially win. I'm not saying that this team they could go
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from losing and being the worst team in the league to making the playoffs,
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but they could make those steadies and steady improvements that other teams usually don't do
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during rebuilds. Because the only positive I saw on the offense was they had
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a good run game and the average which was ridiculous over two hundred and eighty
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rushing yards per game because all you could do with Justin Fields because he had
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no true wide receivers. The only wide receivers he had was Could Command who
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had eight touchdowns this year, but he was more of a red zone threat
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guy. Then you had Darnell Mooney, who I believe he would be a
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good He would be a good number three, potentially number two wide receiver on
30:08
a championship team, but definitely not a number one receiver. And then Chase
30:12
Claypool, the I'm trading for him mid season was not a very good move
30:18
because Claypool, I believe he's even worse than Darnell Mooney, so they need
30:25
to find real skill position players to build around justin fields, and justin fields,
30:30
he's not even very that accurate, so you need even better skill position
30:37
players to build that separation around those opposing defenses, so it could be a
30:42
clearer window for him. And it doesn't help that you have a defensive coach
30:48
and Matt Eberflus, who they mainly focus on running the ball, chewing the
30:55
clock, play action short game. But you still need those skill position players.
31:00
So I believe it's going to be very important to see how aggressive they're
31:06
going to be in free agency. Potentially they go heavy offensive line in this
31:11
free agency because you do have ninety three million dollars. I believe if you
31:17
don't use it, this ninety three million dollars a cap space, then it's
31:22
just a waste of money and there's no point of trying to get better.
31:26
Might as well just trade away justin fields and restart from scratch. But I
31:32
know their defense, or I know their offense has some positives. But their
31:37
defense, on the other hand, after they traded away Roquan Smith, they
31:41
became the worst defense in the league. The only positive thing I can say
31:45
about the Chicago Bears defense is that they do have good secondary players, and
31:51
they have one of the best secondaries in the league. It's just when your
31:55
defensive line is not getting consistent pressure, there's only so long your secondary players
32:01
can hold opposing Opposing wide receivers are tied him. Because at the end of
32:07
the day, it's the National Football League. They're gonna find a way to
32:09
get open. You have Jalen Johnson according to Pro Football Focus, like I
32:15
talked about in previous episodes, he was at top ten Pro Football Focus ready
32:21
to cornerback. You have Eddie Jackson, a top three safety. You have
32:24
Jaquan Brisker and Kyler Gordon who are rookies last year, but they improved along
32:30
the way and they were able to hold certain teams like the Buffalo Bills late
32:36
in the year to under two hundred and fifty yards passing. It's just a
32:42
matter of their front seven and them being able to stop a run defense or
32:46
the quick game because that's where the front seven takes place. So that's another
32:52
idea for the Chicago Bears, trading that first overall pick and maybe getting Will
33:00
Anderson or Jalen Carter, or you even stay at that first overall pick and
33:05
you draft those guys so you know you could get those guys for sure.
33:08
And like I talked about with the Vikings, there's Khalil Mack. Potentially he
33:14
can make a return back to Chicago, help out some of these younger guys
33:19
and teach him the ropes. But they have plenty of possibilities of what they
33:23
can do because them having that much cap space, them having all that draft
33:30
capitol right there, they can go from a position from being worse to not
33:36
first. I don't see them making the playoffs, but potentially being a surprise
33:42
team and being the second best team in their division because who knows, it's
33:46
a National Football League. But the future I see for the Chicago Bears realistically
33:54
next year is being bad again. I'm not saying number one pick bad,
34:01
but I say last in their division. Because their division is so good and
34:07
winning anywhere from five to eight games, not because they're that bad, because
34:15
their division is that good, and I believe that their division is going to
34:19
be taking a step up from last year and becoming the best division. And
34:30
talking about divisions, we're gonna talking about or we're gonna talk about the NBA
34:37
in the Eastern and Western Conference. So first I'm gonna talk about the Eastern
34:43
Conference as of right now. Like I always do, I always name the
34:47
top eight seeds that would be the ones that made the playoffs theoretically right now,
34:52
so you have the Bucks. They're forty five and seventeen, not in
34:55
a sixteen game win streak, and half of those games have been without Jannis.
35:00
It's ridiculous. They're peaking at the right time. They look even better
35:05
than what they did when they won that championship, and it's gonna be a
35:09
matter of them going up against this next team right here for the second seed,
35:14
the Boston Celtics, forty five and eighteen. They're eight and two in
35:17
their last ten games. Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, they look like the
35:22
best duo in the National Basketball Association, and you can't find I can't find
35:29
a team other than the Milwaukee Bucks being able to stop them for seven consecutive
35:35
games or beating them four straight times or four times in seven days. Then
35:44
you have the three seed Philadelphia seventy six Ers. They're forty and twenty two.
35:49
They're only five games back of the Bucks, so technically they do have
35:52
a chance to get the one seed, but I don't see that happening.
35:57
James Harden, he has looked good this season. He hasn't looked as good
36:02
as he did in Houston, but he's found his role with the Sixers and
36:08
became a ball facilitator and being able to let Tyree Smaxie and Joel Embiid truly
36:15
score. But I don't think it's gonna give them a real chance. But
36:20
anybody else I can see, or anybody else below them, I could see
36:24
them beating them, not very handily, but I could see them beating them
36:29
potentially in five six games. Then you have the four seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
36:35
They're thirty nine and twenty six. They are doing better than I expected this
36:38
year because I did not expect the East to be this good this year either.
36:44
And yes, I know they've had good stretches throughout this year with Donovan
36:47
Mitchell, Darius Scarley, Garland, Evan Mobley, Jared Allen, Isaac coral.
36:53
So they have good pieces around them, but I just feel like they're
36:57
missing one more piece. I can't exactly tell you exactly what it is,
37:01
but something's missing. I feel like it's a wing scorer, somebody who could
37:06
do it on both ends of the floor, maybe like an O Gna Nobi
37:12
type but a little bit better score. And I believe that'll put him over
37:15
the top because Isaac Occorra, he is good, but he's not that good
37:21
because you still need to find somebody to be able to stop Tyres S Maxie,
37:28
Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, a Janis a Chris Middleton, and they
37:31
just don't have one of those guys because you can't put Evan Mobley or Jared
37:36
Allen on them because it'd be too slow or not be able to transition or
37:40
transition into block in threes. So I just believe they're one piece away,
37:47
but they're on the right step. Then we have the five seed New York
37:52
Knicks. They're thirty seven and twenty seven. They've won the past seven games.
37:57
Evan said, ever since they traded for Josh Hart. I guess Josh
38:00
are is they're missing piece. I guess they're going to the NBA Championship.
38:02
They're winning it all. But in all seriousness, Jalen Brunson, he has
38:07
looked like the second best point guard after the new year has started. He
38:14
just did when Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference, so he has
38:17
played great. His contracts looks very good. They did beat the Miami Heat
38:22
tonight, so they are proven. They could be legitimate and potentially be an
38:28
upset to wherever they play in the playoffs. Then you have the sixth seed,
38:32
Brooklyn Nets, who are thirty four and twenty eight and just today they
38:39
came back and beat the Boston Celtics after I believe it was twenty eight points.
38:45
They came back in won, which is ridiculous. I thought they would
38:49
have been or dropped down from the seeds by now, but they're still alive.
38:54
I can see them realistically making the playoffs. I think playing is very
39:00
likely. I don't know if they will stay in the play in because as
39:02
of right now they are the sixth seed. They'd be out of the play
39:05
in, but I don't know how far that's gonna last. Then you have
39:07
the seventh seed in Miami Heat. They're thirty three and thirty. They haven't
39:13
looked very good, very inconsistent. Their team is very based on getting the
39:17
three, the kick and drive, kick and drive, and they haven't been
39:22
able to knock down three this entire year. So I don't know if that's
39:25
going to continue or they'll be able to get better. Maybe playoff Jimmy Butler
39:30
comes back, but I believe you can't be turning it on late in the
39:34
season. You need to be slowly peeking upwards. But I don't really see
39:39
them being a big threat to anybody who's a real contender in the East.
39:44
Then we have the eight seed Atlanta Hawks. They're thirty one and thirty one.
39:47
I got talked about them being one of the worst teams in the league
39:52
or most disappointing teams in the league. Very consistent. You're gonna have times
39:57
where they have great nights or bad nights. Trey Young does very well or
40:00
it does very bad. I believe after I made last week's video, Trey
40:05
Young had a game winner, So I guess all I just needed to do
40:07
was just jinks Trey Young and for them to do good. But again with
40:15
the sixth seed in below, I really don't see see any of them really
40:20
being a threat to any of the top teams because the top teams are so
40:23
dominant and they'll be able to handle business against anybody they face. In the
40:30
Western Conference, we have the Denver Nuggets or forty four and nineteen. Nakola
40:36
Yokis looking like an MVP favorite again to win three MVPs in a row for
40:40
the first time since Larry Bird in nineteen eighty four eighty five. I'm not
40:45
exactly sure on what year it is. They have looked like the best team
40:50
all year in the Western Conference. Jamal Murray, Michael Porter, Junior,
40:53
Aaron Gordon KCP all scoring over ten points a game this year, so maybe
40:59
they can do it. Maybe they could finally get over the hump. But
41:01
unlike in the Eastern Conference, they have true threats in the play in so
41:07
we can't call it exactly yet. The two seed is the Memphis Grizzlies.
41:12
They're thirty eight and twenty three. They look like a good team at times,
41:16
bad team at times. They're a very defensive oriented team that depends on
41:22
John Morant having a great game or great offensive game as far as carrying their
41:27
offensive load, and I believe you cannot be doing that nowadays in the playoffs,
41:32
especially with these other teams in the Western Conference who score points a lot
41:37
and very quick. The three seed Sacramento Kings thirty six and twenty five,
41:42
surprisingly, they're still here, still out of the play in it looks more
41:45
and more likely like they're gonna be hosting a playoff series. Darren Fox Sabonis,
41:52
they've taken that step. One of the best offenses in the league.
41:54
And there's really no words to what the Sacramento Kings have done this year.
42:00
I did not expect this. Mike Brown, He's done a very good job
42:02
and he should be a candidate for Coach of the Year. Four seed Phoenix
42:07
Suns thirty four and twenty nine got Kevin Durant back. The games they did
42:13
have Kevin Durant, they looked very good. Kevin Durant, he hasn't been
42:15
as aggressive as lately, but obviously he's still trying to find his rhythm and
42:21
everything. And you still have Devin Booker. CP three, the other team
42:24
that has the most potential out of all of these teams in the Western Conference,
42:29
but still too early to judge them because Kevin Durant barely got back.
42:34
Five seed Golden State Warriors or thirty three and thirty. Steph Curry is coming
42:37
back against the Bulls. No, against the Lakers actually on Saturday. We'll
42:44
see how that goes again with the Phoenix Suns, too early to judge them,
42:49
but their offense has still been putting up points with Clay Thompson Jordan Poole.
42:53
So we'll see. Dallas Mavericks thirty three and thirty one, Luca Kyrie.
42:58
They went crazy the other day, but I believe they're a very up
43:01
and down team. I thought they had finals aspirations, but obviously not.
43:07
When you catch them on the great days, they could beat you. When
43:09
you catch them on the low days, they could lose to anybody. So
43:13
very up and down, very inconsistent. Seventh seed LA Clippers thirty three and
43:20
twenty three ever since they got Russell Westbrook, then lost the last four games,
43:23
So we'll see how the Russell Westbrook experience goes from them. We'll see
43:29
next week see if they're still on a losing shriek. Then we have the
43:32
eight seed Minnesota Timberwolves. They're five hundred right now, thirty two and thirty
43:37
two again. This team, I feel like there's still another piece away.
43:42
I believe they're a worse team than the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Rudy Gobert Trade.
43:49
It looks like it worse and worse every single time. But that's gonna
43:52
go ahead and wrap up the episode. Guys. I appreciate you guys tuning
43:55
in. You guys can listen to me on Speaker, Spotify, Art,
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Right Heart Radio. You guys can follow me on Instagram underscore Alfonso zero three,
44:06
that's a l FO NSO zero three, or Twitter underscore Alfonso zero three.
44:13
Next week we're gonna talk about the AFC North and next week we're gonna
44:16
talk about somebody who's potentially coming the greatest player of all time and we don't
44:21
even know it. But I appreciate you guys tuning in. I'll see you
44:25
guys next week at six am. Take care,