Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #15: Bills and Steelers surge back up the board; Eagles and Colts plummet

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#15: Bills and Steelers surge back up the board; Eagles and Colts plummet · 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: Mike Hamman Eric at home with you, a complete list
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  Speaker 2: of all the rankings available on NFL dot com, and
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  Speaker 2: Eric's got analysis on all thirty two teams. But Eric,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I'm finishing up our Monday night coverage on
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  Speaker 2: NFL Network. I see your email, come in, I get
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  Speaker 2: a look at the rankings, and I thought you made
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  Speaker 2: and a student observation that this year the playoff field
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  Speaker 2: is going to feel a whole lot different. Why is that?
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  Speaker 3: Well, look, look what's happened to the Chiefs and the
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  Speaker 3: Ravens and sort of other standby teams. Even if you thought,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Washington, for instance, was going to build off
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  Speaker 3: last season, it's swabbed the decks, completely clean it off.
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  Speaker 4: You know, it's not going to look like we've seen
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  Speaker 4: in recent years.
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  Speaker 3: And so especially the teams at the top Denver, New
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  Speaker 3: England fighting for the top top spot in the AFC.
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  Speaker 4: This is good. This is new and fresh and different
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  Speaker 4: and interesting.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, no, I like it.
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  Speaker 2: And we're not going to get a change at the
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  Speaker 2: top because I think the controversy with the number one
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  Speaker 2: team was a week ago when the Rams lost to Carolina.
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  Speaker 5: They dominate over.
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  Speaker 2: The weekend and they get to stay with a ten
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  Speaker 2: and three record, number one in the power rankings. We
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  Speaker 2: got Seattle right behind them. Talk about both of those
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  Speaker 2: teams in just a moment. The Denver Broncos continued to
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  Speaker 2: flex here and show they were one of the premier
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  Speaker 2: teams in the NFL at three, the Patriots at four.
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  Speaker 2: We got a Green Bay squad that overcame a little
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  Speaker 2: bit of trash talk that's been going on with Ben
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  Speaker 2: Johnson of the Chicago Bears. More on the Packers in
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  Speaker 2: just a bit. The Bills survive at six, speaking of
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  Speaker 2: Chicago their seven, and then you got the San Francisco
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  Speaker 2: forty nine ers checking in at number eight.
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  Speaker 5: All right, so they dominate.
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  Speaker 2: I think at one point, because I was doing Game
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  Speaker 2: Day Live on NFL Network, it was seven to seven,
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  Speaker 2: and then all of a sudden, I think it was
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  Speaker 2: a forty five to three count in favor of the Rams,
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  Speaker 2: and this was pure domination. I think they lived up
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  Speaker 2: to that number one seed that you gave them last week,
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  Speaker 2: especially coming off of a loss. This was impressive.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, my faith in them was rewarded, which is always
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  Speaker 3: a good thing. This season, that hasn't always been the case.
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  Speaker 3: So I'll take my small victories when I get him.
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  Speaker 3: But this was no small victory. This was, like you said,
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  Speaker 3: dominant in every phase. Even if the Cardinals had a
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  Speaker 3: couple of good series early on, things got off track
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  Speaker 3: pretty quickly. And that's because you've got this two headed
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  Speaker 3: rushing attack. You've got Matthew Stafford who can attack vertically
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  Speaker 3: and go after guys like Puka Akua. How many traffic
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  Speaker 3: catches did he make where it just felt like, man,
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  Speaker 3: he plucked that in between two and three defenders and
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  Speaker 3: O lines holding up. I mean, the offense is in
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  Speaker 3: terrific shape right now. I wasn't so worried after the
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  Speaker 3: loss at Carolina. That was a desperate team. The Rams
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  Speaker 3: had three uncharacteristic turnovers. That has not been them for
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  Speaker 3: most of the season. And so look, you just look
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  Speaker 3: back three close losses this year, several dominant victories. I
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  Speaker 3: think you have to consider them, at least right now,
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  Speaker 3: the sort of overwhelming favorite as we head into the
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  Speaker 3: big game that could decide the NFC West and possibly
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  Speaker 3: the number one seed as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that matchup coming up on a TNF
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  Speaker 2: in two weeks or yeah, I guess another week can change.
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  Speaker 2: At this point. The point is though they sit at
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  Speaker 2: number one, the Seahawks a squad, they are at number two,
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  Speaker 2: and yet I look at this team, what they were
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  Speaker 2: able to accomplish Rashid Shahed was absolutely electric. That was
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  Speaker 2: the impact. I think that they were hoping to go
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  Speaker 2: and see here. Look they dominated against Atlanta. I don't
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  Speaker 2: want to look too far ahead because they do match
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  Speaker 2: up against the Colts team.
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  Speaker 5: But let's be honest.
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  Speaker 2: Here we might see a forty four year old and
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  Speaker 2: Philip Rivers out on the football field signing to the
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  Speaker 2: practice squad for Indianapolis.
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  Speaker 5: More on that coming up in just a bit here.
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  Speaker 2: But how significant is that TNF game, not just from
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  Speaker 2: the playoff perspective, but just to show that, hey, we
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  Speaker 2: are the team to beat in the NFL.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, look, this Seahawks team rang up a
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  Speaker 3: tany yards against the Rams, and after that early flourish
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  Speaker 3: by LA, they were kind of the better team. It
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  Speaker 3: came down to Sam Donald turnovers and such. And look
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  Speaker 3: this game in Atlanta Sunday was six six at the half,
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  Speaker 3: it wasn't looking.
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  Speaker 4: Great and then all of a sudden you mentioned Shaheed.
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  Speaker 4: He had the long.
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  Speaker 3: Kickoff return one hundred yards. That's the kind of impact
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  Speaker 3: they were hoping for. The home run aspect also contributed
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  Speaker 3: some big receptions as well.
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  Speaker 4: Huge credit to Seattle's defense too.
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  Speaker 3: I know Sam Darnold can make throws like this and
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  Speaker 3: get his pass catchers involved their Shahi with the yards
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  Speaker 3: after the catch. But how about Nick Emon Warri the
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  Speaker 3: rookie with a sack, a block, field goal, and also
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  Speaker 3: an interception. A terrific game for you know, I would
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  Speaker 3: say one of your defensive Rookie of the Year favorites.
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  Speaker 4: So they get Cooper Cup.
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  Speaker 3: In the end zone first time in a long time
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  Speaker 3: and made life tough for guys like Kirk Cousins and
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  Speaker 3: b Jean Robinson. And yeah, as we look forward to
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  Speaker 3: that game against the Rams, they're they're playing good football
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  Speaker 3: and they can match them.
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  Speaker 4: There's one of the few teams that.
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  Speaker 3: Has the kind of fire power in all three phases
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  Speaker 3: of the game that I think can stack up with
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  Speaker 3: the Rams and give them a battle.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if Seattle has the best defense in
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  Speaker 2: the NFL. Is certainly on the short list, But they
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  Speaker 2: have my favorite defense to watch because the physicality, the
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  Speaker 2: turnovers that they could create. It almost feels like you
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  Speaker 2: want to watch them as opposed to you know, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of times you're as an NFL fan, you're sitting
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  Speaker 2: there just kind of worried about the offense. No, Seattle
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  Speaker 2: has made it very entertaining. All right, let's shift our
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  Speaker 2: attention here. Time for Team of the Week. It is
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  Speaker 2: presented by Truest the number five team, the Green Bay Packers.
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  Speaker 2: They handle business against the Chicago Bears at home. Is
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  Speaker 2: there a weakness for this football team?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think offensively.
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  Speaker 3: You know, they had their struggles, so we've seen them
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  Speaker 3: have some games where they really struggle to put things together.
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  Speaker 3: But now the Christian Watson is back and healthy and
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  Speaker 3: Jordan Love is playing a better brand at football. Especially
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  Speaker 3: the last two games, those issues have been quelled a
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  Speaker 3: little bit. I mean, Watson was terrific two touchdown catches.
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  Speaker 3: Bo Melton, who's obviously kind of re emerged a little bit,
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  Speaker 3: had one grab and it was an important one beating
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  Speaker 3: zone for a deep touchdown as well, And so those
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  Speaker 3: big explosive plays are huge. You also saw very timely
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  Speaker 3: plays from the Green Bay defense, including this one plus
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  Speaker 3: the third down stop just prior to the interception in
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  Speaker 3: the end zone, they were, you know, holding on for
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  Speaker 3: dear life at that point, a little gasp, but credits
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  Speaker 3: to Green Bay for making the play. And Jeff Haffley's
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  Speaker 3: done a really good job with this unit all season long.
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  Speaker 3: They're one of the better defenses in the league. You know,
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  Speaker 3: the kicking games seem solid for once, and so yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I don't know that they're a perfect team
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  Speaker 3: by any stretch. And they were a couple of plays
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  Speaker 3: from letting this one slip away, but they took care
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  Speaker 3: of business, they responded. They're in a positive direction right now,
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  Speaker 3: and so yeah, green Bay I think has to be
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  Speaker 3: considered the favorite at this moment, even if it's a
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  Speaker 3: razor thin margin with one more game left against Chicago
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  Speaker 3: in a couple of weeks.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we'll talk about that Chicago Bears team in
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  Speaker 2: just a moment here, because I do look at the
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  Speaker 2: way that they won that game green Bay and kind
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  Speaker 2: of fortunate to hear they dominate in that first half,
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  Speaker 2: especially on the defensive side, in Chicago was able to
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  Speaker 2: kind of wear them down, but it was positive c
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  Speaker 2: Jordan Love Fine Watson, there were some fun moments in
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  Speaker 2: terms of some of those explosive plays to number six
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  Speaker 2: we go. We got a Buffalo Bills team. Here's the
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  Speaker 2: good news. They won the game. Here's where I would
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  Speaker 2: push back, Josh Allen again rocking the Superman Cape. They
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  Speaker 2: overcame some issues on the offensive side, and they beat
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  Speaker 2: a team that had four wins on the season. What
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  Speaker 2: do I make of this victory?
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  Speaker 4: A four win team with Joe Burrow.
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  Speaker 3: Let's be honest here, right, Joe's completely changed the complexion
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  Speaker 3: of that team.
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  Speaker 4: But is fair right?
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  Speaker 3: This was a Cincinnati defense we were chewing up all
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  Speaker 3: season long, and you know, they had eighteen points through
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  Speaker 3: the first fifty two minutes of the game.
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  Speaker 4: So it did take that l lay flourish.
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  Speaker 3: It did take a couple of I guess you'd say
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  Speaker 3: unlikely interceptions from Joe Burrow and two of the shorter
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  Speaker 3: interceptions you'll ever see either.
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  Speaker 4: But yeah, you're right about Alan.
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  Speaker 3: He's got that ability to kind of flip a switch
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  Speaker 3: and go over the top if he needs to, and
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  Speaker 3: whether it's running with the ball, making crazy throws, doing
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  Speaker 3: whatever he has to do. And kind of back to
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  Speaker 3: the point you were making at the top of the show, Mike,
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  Speaker 3: and with you know, with the different looking playoff field
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  Speaker 3: than we've seen in recent years, what has been as
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  Speaker 3: you know, kryptonite in years past, it was Burrow once,
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  Speaker 3: it was Mahomes multiple times. We're not going to see
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  Speaker 3: either one of those guys. We may not see Josh,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, we not see Lamar Jackson. Rather so, look,
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  Speaker 3: not a perfect Bills team. They had to rely on
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  Speaker 3: plays like this to win the game. But if you
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  Speaker 3: look at the playoff field, I don't know that there's
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  Speaker 3: a team they can't beat. You know, again, still not
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  Speaker 3: knowing exactly who's going to be in but maybe this
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  Speaker 3: is one of those weird years. You know, Peyton Manning
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  Speaker 3: won his first Super Bowl without probably his best Colts
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  Speaker 3: team by any stretch of the imagination. So you never know,
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  Speaker 3: and you always give Josh a chance when he's got
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  Speaker 3: the ball and the game on the line.
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to be that dude if I said
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  Speaker 2: Drake May, is he going to be the new kryptonite
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  Speaker 2: for Josh Allen.
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  Speaker 5: It might be the case.
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  Speaker 2: We will find out. Obviously we saw Drake May kind
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  Speaker 2: of ball out in a primetime game earlier this season
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  Speaker 2: against the Bills. I thought that was his coming out party,
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  Speaker 2: and looky, look we get this matchup once again and
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  Speaker 2: it's a really important one for both of these teams,
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  Speaker 2: meaningful in terms of that playoff positioning shift. Our attention
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  Speaker 2: to the number seventeam that is the Chicago Bears. All right,
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  Speaker 2: I made reference to this here. I thought the second
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  Speaker 2: half looked good for this team, and they did the
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  Speaker 2: things that they wanted to do. I thought they got
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  Speaker 2: away from the run a little bit in the first half,
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  Speaker 2: and in Green Bay's defense was pretty good.
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  Speaker 5: Caleb.
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  Speaker 2: Though the inconsistencies have been well chronicled, but I think
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  Speaker 2: this is a perfect example of it. First half really struggled.
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  Speaker 2: Second half they look like college Caleb again.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he had what thirty two pass yards
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  Speaker 3: at the half, but really kind of got involved in
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  Speaker 3: the game there and fourth quarter.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, look at some of the big completions he made.
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  Speaker 3: The drive started to Luther Burden on the final drive,
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  Speaker 3: you know, other throws along the way. The touchdown to
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  Speaker 3: Zechias was about as low percentage as it gets. And
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  Speaker 3: you know, the Bears defense that okay, But I think
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  Speaker 3: they took too many risks, took a little too much
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  Speaker 3: man defense.
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  Speaker 4: Jordan Love did chew him up.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, we want to see Caleb have those
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  Speaker 3: kind of vintage drives and he can make all the
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  Speaker 3: big throws and splash plays. But you know, this was
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  Speaker 3: an opportunity kind of cement his legacy a little bit
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  Speaker 3: as a young quarterback and rise up in a game
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  Speaker 3: that Look, the Bears have been on the wrong side
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  Speaker 3: of most Packers game for the last twenty years, so
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  Speaker 3: this was a huge opportunity missed, but not a totally
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  Speaker 3: demoralizing loss either.
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  Speaker 4: Look, this throw is a little farther.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe they win that game or get the touchdown, go
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  Speaker 3: for two and possibly win the game.
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  Speaker 4: So they're not far off. Want to kill them.
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  Speaker 3: I dropped in one spot. I think that's a pretty
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  Speaker 3: reasonable thing. The Bears are still in this. They still
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  Speaker 3: have that game night game at Soldier Field to kind
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  Speaker 3: of shift the tie back in their direction.
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  Speaker 2: Margins are thin. Though they were a one seed, they
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  Speaker 2: dropped to the seventh seed. Are they a playoff team
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  Speaker 2: in your mind?
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  Speaker 4: I think they're getting in.
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  Speaker 3: I think they are, But you're right, that's a huge
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  Speaker 3: drop in an indication or just how tight things are.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, think about this, I mean, look at the
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: remaining schedule. Cleveland not a give me game, and despite
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: their record, Miles Garret could single handily handle business in
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  Speaker 2: that won that game against green Bay. San Francisco also
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  Speaker 2: playing for a whole lot right now.
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  Speaker 5: And Detroit.
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  Speaker 2: My point is this is going to be a fun
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  Speaker 2: rest of the season the next couple weeks for a
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: lot of teams that are battling to be into the
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  Speaker 2: NFL playoffs. Not exactly sure if Chicago is going to
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  Speaker 2: be one of those squads, although the talent certainly looks
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  Speaker 2: like they are more than capable of getting it done.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Mentioned to name check the Lions. Where do they sit
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  Speaker 2: in the rankings? Philadelphia in overtime on a Monday night game,
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  Speaker 2: not able to survive in advance. I think we're hitting
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  Speaker 2: the padding button for their offense as well as Troit's.
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  Speaker 2: To those teams coming up next out back here on
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  Speaker 2: power rankings, it is teams nine through sixteen. He got
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: the Jacksonville Jaguars on the move, up three spots to
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  Speaker 2: number nine. If I'm not mistaken, that might be their
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: highest ranking of the season. The Lions also moving up
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  Speaker 2: one spot.
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  Speaker 5: They're ten.
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  Speaker 2: The Texans in that defense, sitting at eleven. They are
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  Speaker 2: a dangerous squad. Chargers getting it done. Justin Herbert, you
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  Speaker 2: can still play with one hand. They are the twelfth team.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: The Eagles they drop three spots. They are at thirteen.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: The Steelers moving up six spots. We will talk about
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  Speaker 2: them in just a moment at fourteen, the Colts at fifteen,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: and the Baltimore Ravens falling two spots to the sixteenth position.
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: Time for Future Champions, presented by FanDuel, take a closer
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: look at the odds to win the AFC South. The
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Jags all of a sudden now the favorite minus one ninety,
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: the Texans plus one seventy. The Colts were a seven
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: to one football team plus three thousand. Right now, we'll
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: talk about them their quarterback situation in just a moment.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: This Jacksonville team, they've now won four straight games. I
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: think they are one of the dangerous teams in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're going to be postseason bound.
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  Speaker 5: What say you, Eric?
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  Speaker 3: They have nothing to lose right after last season, and
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: in recent history right hasn't been a lot of success
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: there and so Liam McCowen comes in and, you know,
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  Speaker 3: whips this offense into shape.
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: We've seen Trevor Lawrence the past couple of games.
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  Speaker 3: He's cut out the interceptions, He's made big plays, Brian Thomas,
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: you know, Jacoby Meyers, other guys. I mean, it's been impressive.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know what their superpower is outside of maybe
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: their run defense. They're maybe not exceptional at very many things,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: but they don't have those blaring, glaring weaknesses either, and
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  Speaker 3: so they've been very competitive, very interesting team that can
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  Speaker 3: run the football as well. Offensive line has not been exposed.
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  Speaker 4: So good for them.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I still don't know how seriously we should
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  Speaker 3: take them, but you win four straight, I mean, that's
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  Speaker 3: that's gonna catch your attention on the league.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And the reality is that in all four of
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  Speaker 2: those wins, they're scoring at least twenty five points in
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  Speaker 2: those games and reasons thereby they're third in the NFL
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  Speaker 2: in points per game.
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  Speaker 5: So offensively, we had some.
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  Speaker 2: Questions earlier about Trevor Lawrence in this team, but they
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  Speaker 2: are seeming seemingly coming together in the right time. The
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  Speaker 2: Lions on TNF last week absolutely needed that game against
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: the Cowboys. I thought Dallas was playing better football. I
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  Speaker 2: felt like Dallas was gonna win that game and pull
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  Speaker 2: it off on the road.
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  Speaker 5: They didn't.
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  Speaker 2: How much respect should we be giving Detroit right now
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  Speaker 2: during this home stretch.
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  Speaker 3: It's tough, right because with a big step forward with
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  Speaker 3: that win, keeping their season alive, first of all, you
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: have a lot of work left to do. But second
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  Speaker 3: of all, losing Brian Branch I think is going to
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  Speaker 3: really hurt this defense. When you have Jamiir Gibbs, you
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  Speaker 3: have a chance when he's excelled. They've won nine to
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  Speaker 3: zero when he's had a big game and scored a touchdown,
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  Speaker 3: zero to five when he hasn't though, so that's the
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  Speaker 3: big thing. If you don't get him as touch as
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  Speaker 3: his yards, his opportunities, the offense tends to go a
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  Speaker 3: little stale, and you know, again just sort of back
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  Speaker 3: to the defense. You know, they got some pressure early on.
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  Speaker 3: Should have had this safety here. Obviously it was a
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: great play. We saw them just get more aggressive on
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: that side of the ball, but still I'd kind of
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: hang on late a little, and you know, with the
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: secondary being as thin as it is, I have my questions.
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: Can they find more replacements they've had to do with
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: two years in a row where they're scraping the practice
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: squad and the bottom of the roster to try to
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: find anybody you can contribute. And now you lose one
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: of the heart and soul players of that defense.
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: That worries me.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they have a huge matchup against the Rams right
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: across the street at so Far Stadium. We win that game,
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: and I think the calculus changes, not just from a
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: playoff positioning, but from a respect standing as well, especially
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: without Branch in that lineup. We grew up, We're all
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: sports fans. We all have our NFL teams. A little
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: bit easier for me because my team is on the
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: outside looking in, has already been eliminated, and I'm already
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: thinking about the draft. But I think that gives me
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: a unique perspective here. I want to see the best
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: teams in the postseason. I think the Houston Texans right
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: now are flexing, and I think they are arguably the
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: team that no one wants to play in the NFL
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: because of their defense. You're with me, right, like this
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: team is going to figure out a way to get in.
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: They're just devastating defensively. I mean, we saw what they
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: did to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, even if the
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: Chiefs had their share of self inflicted mistakes and you know,
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: the fourth downs. But you know, I argued that Andy
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: Reid's aggressiveness was sort of a healthy measure of respect
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: for just how good these guys are. Like you have
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: to take any opportunities you have. And you see pass
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: breakups here, you see pressure in the past game. Obviously
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: great penetration in the run game too. They've got their
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: things figured out back there. The assignments are very well
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: carried out. Tamiko Ryans seems like he's a very good coach.
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: I mean, look, c J. Strout completed three passes in
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: the second half. Got any better than that? Right, They
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: lose Nick Chubb. That worries me a little bit too.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: But offensively they are going to have their limitations. But
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: if they can get Woody Marks going like he's been.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: Nico Collins made big plays in this game. You know,
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: the rookie Higgins made big catches as well. They had
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: just enough offensively, and they held together on special teams
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: and delivered a huge victory.
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: I'm with you.
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: I would love to see them go against the high
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: powered offense. You know, obviously Buffalo, you think about Josh
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: somebody like that. But New England other teams would be
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: a terrific matchup and they're going to be scaring the
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: daylight to whoever they face.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: If I told you two years ago that this team
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: would be, you know, making a push for the postseason,
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: that wouldn't have surprised you. If I told you that
• 16:17
  Speaker 2: we have some questions about their offense with CJ. Strout,
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: that's the thing that would have raised an eyebrow. But
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: once again playing some good football and they continue to
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: get some wins. At thirteen, it's the Philadelphia Eagles. Watch
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: them on Monday Night Football. They dropped three spots right now,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Jellen Hurtstrow's four interceptions.
• 16:32
  Speaker 5: To be fair to him, some of those not his fault.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: But I think at this point, after three straight losses,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Eric like, I'm stumping on the panic button for this team.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm right there with you.
• 16:43
  Speaker 3: I'm using my feet, my hands, anything I can to
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: smash that thing. Because the offense, I don't want to
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: say it's broken, but it certainly doesn't look right.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: And you know there were moments here and there.
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: Aj Brown certainly made some big catches, DeVante Smith made
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: a grab late. Saquon Barkley carried the offense it seemingly
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: for the first three and a half quarters of the game.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean there's there's really a limit to
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: what they can do. And I think Lane Johnson being out,
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: you know, I mean that just takes a big chunk
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: out of the offensive line. Defensively, they played well, but
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: you know, a couple of plays down the stretch penalty
• 17:14
  Speaker 3: against Quinnon, Mitchell had trouble stopping Justin Herbert is a runner,
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: So I know it boils down to that. Those turnovers though,
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: in the offensive limitations, that is what is holding back
• 17:24
  Speaker 3: this team last year. I'm almost wondering if the twenty
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: twenty four Eagles were the exception to the rule, because
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: you know, we've seen them have sluggish times before that offensively,
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: and you know it just isn't happen in the passing
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: game right now.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Eagles fans don't want to hear this starting to
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: look a little like twenty twenty three ten A one
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: start and then all of a sudden limping into the postseason.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: That wasn't pretty. Here's the positive though, Raiders on Deck
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: a Commander's team. Following you got the Bills on the road,
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: and then the Commanders again. There's a stretch run here
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: where they can find some confidence, especially this week against
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: a Raiders team that can't seemingly get out of their
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: own way. Biggest mover of the week time for Power Moves,
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: presented by Energizer Move it up six spots.
• 18:03
  Speaker 5: It is the Pittsburgh.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: Steelers who all of a sudden, Man, I see Mike Tomlin,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: people chanting his name to fire him in Pittsburgh, which
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: is to me sacrilegious. He gets a win against the Ravens,
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: He's given a kiss to the cameras he's walking off
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: to the field. All is right for the Steelers, right, yeah,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: exactly right?
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: And you know how do we measure head coaches?
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: Right?
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: Super Bowl championships, win, lost percentage, all that stuff matters.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: But when you can have the kind.
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: Of week that the Steelers did last week, with all
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: the noise going on about Tomlin's future, about Rogers future,
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: about this team possibly missing the playoffs, all the ugliness,
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: and then turn around and go into Baltimore, which I
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: guess on the whole had been playing better even after
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: their loss the week before and to beat him and
• 18:44
  Speaker 3: take control of the game early and hold on. I
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: mean that was pretty impressive. That's why I think Mike
• 18:48
  Speaker 3: Tomlin deserves respect as one of the great head coaches.
• 18:51
  Speaker 3: And they got Aaron Rodgers going, they got DK Metcalf going.
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: There wasn't much of a run game, and they did
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: slow down in the fourth quarter, but defensively they made
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: the place they had to, the red zone stop and
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: then the sack to end the game. I mean, that's
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: a complete format and that's how Pittsburgh's got to win
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: games at this point.
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, this could be a tough matchup against and wait
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: till I say it, the Miami Dolphins, who once again, yeah,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: have been figuring out ways to get some wins. Mikeke Daniels,
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: I will give him a ton of credit from what
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: we're seeing from that team's offense. They have not quit
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: on him. So the Steelers were the biggest riser of
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: the week. The team that dropped the most the Indianapolis Colts.
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: They were seven and one to start the year. The
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: news Ian rappaport I thought this was a parody account
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: when I first saw the news come through my timeline
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: that they were looking to sign Philip Rivers. Looks like
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: they have. He's going to be on the practice squad.
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: He's forty five years old, forty four. Every year counts,
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: especially at this age, I know, and he hasn't played
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: though in five years. Like, what are we doing right now?
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: Riley Leonard's got the PCL sprain a grade one. We
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: know Daniel Jones has done for the year. Are you
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: ready to stick a fork in the squad?
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: I was dusting off my twenty twenty one tape this
• 19:57
  Speaker 3: morning before we taped, and look, Rivers played will that year, obviously,
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: but it's been a long time since we've seen him
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: and we have no clue what of shape he's in.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: Riley Leonard, I thought played as well as you could
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: have hoped for for a guy throwing into that situation
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: only a handful of NFL snaps before that. But you know,
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: even if Sauce Gardner comes back, even if Buckner comes back,
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: I just don't know how this team is going to
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: have enough on the entire roster to hold this thing through.
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: And you're right, could be the second team ever to
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: start seven to one or sorry since nineteen ninety and
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: missed the postseason.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: Just sad.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: Just for context, you want Philip Rivers to go out
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: there potentially against arguably the best defense in the NFL
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: on the road in Seattle. I'm telling you, man, this
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: is a recipe for a disaster. By the way, if
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: it goes well, this might be one of the great
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: all time sports stories that we have seen.
• 20:48
  Speaker 5: Not just nfil story.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: No, I mean this dude to get out there and
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: perform against that defense.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: I just I don't know.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: I have some serious doubts, and I think anyone who's
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: watching or listening to the show would agree with that assessment.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: That is not breaking news Kansas City fans. I feel
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: like every single week, I'm saying, hey, is this the weak?
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Are they done? Are they done? Is Eric willing to
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: say they're done? The answer to that coming up next
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: on Power Rankings out back here on Power Rankings, it's
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: team seventeen through twenty four according to Eric ed Holm,
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: and right now the Bucks scratching and Klawn trying to
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: figure out a way to hold on to that division lead.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: It's them at seventeen, coming off a loss against the Saints.
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: The Panthers idol at eighteen. The Dallas Cowboys will talk
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: about them in just a moment at nineteen the Chiefs.
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: They drop a spot to twenty. We got the Dolphins.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: Who will talk about the Minnesota Vikings moving up three
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: spots found their offense the Bengals at twenty three in
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: the Atlanta Falcons at twenty four.
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: All right, the Dallas Cowboys. This is a team.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: But once again I mentioned it before, I thought they
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: were going to get a win on the road against Detroit.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: That doesn't happen. Now it's a huge game against the Vikings.
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: Give me some context on just how important this game
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: is for them and what you expect to see.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: I think it's a loss and they're officially done right now.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: You know, their chances are pretty remote, and obviously, like
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: you said, they couldn't power protect for Dak. You know,
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: defense really had their hands full against Detroit. So it
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: was a bad all around night, especially after Ceedee Lamb
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: got hurt. He'd been having some success early. So what's
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: Lamb's status, what's George Pickens status? He didn't come up
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: very big in that game. You know, they can be
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Jj McCarthy, even though he had a good game Sunday,
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: but backs are against the wall and even even more
• 22:26
  Speaker 3: so if they lose this one.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: The Chiefs have now lost four out of their last
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: five games. I ask you every week, are they done?
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Are they done? Are they done?
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: I think had the Chargers lost Sunday night or Monday
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: night rather, there was a chance, like.
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: The door kept crept up in a little bit more.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: But you know, the mistakes they made against the Texans,
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: the fourth down failures, the interceptions, everything else, that's really
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: what's going to cost them.
• 22:49
  Speaker 4: And you know, you can look back to the Jacksonville game.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: Games earlier in the season that they should have won,
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: or could have won, or were used to them winning
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: things like that. And you know, Mahomes, I didn't think
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: he played a horrible game, but he's gotten some bad
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: habits and obviously didn't come up when he when he needed.
• 23:04
  Speaker 3: But again, those those two drops are really the killers
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: in that one. And the defense has been pretty good.
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: But I take this team metrics wlies over last year.
• 23:12
  Speaker 3: If you stacked them in a blind resume, he'd say
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: this year's team is better, but the record says the
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: different story.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's wild to me, by the way, just some
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: perspective on that Chargers when they needed it, they match
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: up against Kansas City in case coming up this week.
• 23:24
  Speaker 2: They went from if had they lost to Philadelphia, they'd
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: be on the outside looking into the playoff picture. They're
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: in the mix right now. The team that the same
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: exact record is the Kansas City Chiefs.
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: Don't look now. The Miami Dolphins.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Continue to pick up wins because of this team's offense.
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: They've won five out of the last six.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I got to be honest, in the entire list of
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: the rankings, Eric, this is the one where I pushed
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: back a little bit.
• 23:44
  Speaker 5: I think they should be better than twenty one.
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought about it right obviously, you know, beating
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: the likes of the Jets and Saints and Commanders at
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: this stage only a little so much respect.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: They did beat the Bills, thought beat them pretty convincingly.
• 23:55
  Speaker 3: And they've held teams under seventeen points under twenty points.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: Been really impressive. Devin h Chan's injury does word me
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: a little bit. But you know, Mike mcdale two years
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: in a row, he has sort of saved his job
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: or cooled his seat, however you want to say. With
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: a late season flourish, So they're gonna be a spoiler
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: or dangerous team down the stretch.
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, they have not given up on coach. Meanwhile,
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: the rest of the rankings at twenty five, it's the
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: Saints who move up five spots with that win against
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: the Bucks. The Commander's at twenty six, The Cardinals twenty seven, Jets, Browns, Giants, Titans,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: and Raiders close out our entire set of rankings. Eric,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: you're the best man.
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: Always good to be with you.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: We got another set of rankings coming up next week,
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: of course, enjoy the games in week fifteen.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:44
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• 24:48
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