Latest / Rice on the Radio / NFL Week 7: Jets QB Crisis, Giants QB Gamble, Josh Allen & NFL Stock Report | Ep. 88

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NFL Week 7: Jets QB Crisis, Giants QB Gamble, Josh Allen & NFL Stock Report | Ep. 88 · Rice on the Radio

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: I guess there's only one way to find out to do it.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh extra extra lights of the late lights of the what does it mean?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like on the radio.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Next on the right.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: No fit on the answer.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: No sitting on the fence.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Make it make that running down lights, lights on the radio.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Let's do it to it in the Wellright.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're back.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Back by popular demand.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And apparently, football did not have common courtesy to stop playing just because I disappeared for a couple weeks.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: I know you've been waiting to hear the voice.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: I committed probably the cardinal sin of covering live sports.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: You cannot take two weeks off in the middle of the NFL season.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: You come back and the entire league looks different.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, teams we thought sucked are good.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Teams we thought were good suck.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Quarterbacks we thought were dead in the water.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Teams that we thought were Super Bowl contenders are just falling apart.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: So look, I'm not going to sit here and give you three weeks of old sports centers.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: You watch the games, you know who won.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: What I want to figure out now is what actually changed while I was gone.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: What I believe now that I didn't exactly put any stock in in September.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: And what the hell are we looking at moving forward?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I know.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: I owe you guys, I owe the avid listeners an apology.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta be better.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to that at the end.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: But for now, we gotta start exactly where you think we're gonna start.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta start with the Jets.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Oh Maron, the Jets.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's a statistic that's been floating around that I'm sure if you've been scrolling through social media and you follow a couple of the other Jets pages like we all do here, that is just so goddamn embarrassing.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's in it, there's no way it's even true.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: But it is.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's how ridiculous it looks.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Brace yourselves when I say this.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_01: Under Aaron Glenn, in the final two minutes before halftime, the New York Jets have been outscored 100 to 6.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_01: 100 to 6.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: Not in the fourth quarter, not in the final two minutes of games, the final two minutes before halftime.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: So if you include the final two minutes of both halves, it's 119 to 49.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I don't even I don't even need that second number.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: 100 to 6 tells me plenty that it's not just talent, that's situational football.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's clock management, that's preparation, that's knowing when to be aggressive, when to slow things down, and when to get the hell off the field.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: 100 to 6 is the kind of number where you look at it and go, something systematically is not working here.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: I and I it's frustrating because I am a big I want Aaron Glenn to work.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: I really do.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: He's a former jet, he has blood in the ground, the players seem to love him.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: He's got that defensive mentality that like, ugh, but Jesus Christ, when you hear that number, it's it's it's impossible to ignore.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: It is.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's even more frustrating here because there are actually young pieces on this team where you can look and say, all right, there is something coming.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: There is some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, David Bailey is one of them for sure.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: There are moments where David Bailey looks like an absolute animal.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: He he'll completely take over a series, get into the backfield, force a turnover, and you're sitting there thinking, man, they they made the right pick.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets with a top two pick actually picked the right guy.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's rare enough on his own.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Now there are a couple other stretches where you almost kind of forgot he was on the football field.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: But then I remind myself, this is his sixth NFL game.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Six.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's already got five sacks, three force fumbles, eight quarterback hits.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I would say this kid is uh is a dog.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And apparently he, by the way, he's the only rookie since tackles started getting tracked in 1994 to have 30 plus tackles, five plus sacks, and a force fumble through his first six games.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_01: I did the homework, guys.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I checked it out.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: Doesn't sound plausible, but he's he is that dude.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: The flashes are absolutely there.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: I just I just hope as the season goes along, and hopefully throughout what ends up being a very long, luxurious Jets career, we start seeing a lot more of the wrecking ball version and fewer stretches where you're wondering where he went.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_01: Same thing here with Braylon Allen, too.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, look, Brees Hall goes down, he's got a tough act to follow, so to speak.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: He's a bigger back, right?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: He's not exactly the same role that Brees is.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: He's not catching every pass out of the backfield.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: But six plays of 10 plus yards against New England.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: This little Cleveland, New England stretch, he's put himself on a Jets list with Chris Ivory and Curtis Martin.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: And look, anytime you end up on a list with Curtis Martin, you're probably doing something right, especially when it comes to Jets lore.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: I like Allen.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's huge, he's physical, he runs hard.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: He reminds me of Brandon Jacobs back in the day.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: But watching him also reminds me he's not Brees Hall.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's not an insult either.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Brees just gives you something different.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: There's another gear, there's another different kind of explosiveness, you know?
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: Allen should be a really, really good complimentary back.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: So whenever Brees does get healthy, what I don't want to see is the Jets just go, all right, thanks, Braylon.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Let's go back to five carries.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Now, fantasy managers might hate that, but I don't care.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: I want to see the Jets win.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: I need 10 carries from both of them, at least, or a 12, 8 split, something like that.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: You found something here, man.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_01: Keep using it.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Find the rhythm.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Keep the rhythm.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: There should be enough touches in the NFL offense for both of those guys.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then ultimately, when we get to the same conversation we always get to with the New York Jets, it's quarterback.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_01: When the hell are we going to get ours?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just allow me to vent for a second here.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Allow me to be that typical Jet fan.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when's it going to be my turn, right?
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm watching Josh Allen be Superman in Buffalo for what feels like a decade now.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: New England drafts Drake May, and in year two, you're already sitting there going, ah shit.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: They might have found another one.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I know early in the season he didn't look great, but he did just go to a Super Bowl.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, defense or not, still had somebody to get you there.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Miami, even in Miami, Miami is a disaster right now.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: But even Miami had Tua for years where the fan base legitimately believed, alright, man, maybe maybe we got our guy.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we got our next big passer.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets still looking.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: And the the funniest, maybe saddest part of all of this is who's playing quarterback for them right now, right?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_01: Geno Smith.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: Jets drafted Geno Smith hoping that they would eventually become the franchise, right?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: He was re-he replaced the sanchise.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_01: He he was the next one.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: West Virginia, smart, could run a little bit when quarterbacks weren't really running yet, had a good arm.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was Geno Smith.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: That was 13 years ago.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: In that time, since Geno Smith has been back, they still have not found a quarterback.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: No wonder the Jets haven't been to the playoffs in 16 years, man.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: 15 years, 16 years this year.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's more than a decade later.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're still looking for the franchise quarterback.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: I I like Gino, man.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: I I always thought Gino took way too much heat when he was here back in the day.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: He's had a pretty good career, but we all know what this is at this point in it.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: He's the bridge.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: He knows he's the bridge.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: The organization, the fan base, the mascot, the cheerleaders know he's the bridge.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he's eventually gonna be asked to help teach whoever comes next.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Jet fans are sitting here hoping that this time finally the guy who comes next is actually the guy.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: I just I don't know, man.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: All the draft picks, all the capital, you know, the good quarterback pla class at the right time.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the it's all lottery tickets.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of Jets fans rooting for quarterbacks, I now have my second favorite team every Sunday, by the way.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's go Jets through and through.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: But it's also whoever is playing the Indianapolis Colts.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Because you want to talk about a dumpster fire, not looking good.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Chris Ballard took his swing.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: Colts looked like they were ready to contend last year.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: I can't knock them for it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they saw a fading Jets team and went all in on Sauce Gardner, gave up multiple first-round picks, and Adonai Mitchell, by the way.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And then the court, and then Daniel Jones gets hurt.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Sauce has not exactly looked like sauce, the sauce that they were trading for, at least.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: They pay Daniel Jones$88 million.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: They're two and four, and Ballard gets axed.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: The owner, Mrs.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Ursay, standing on the sidelines with the clipboard, writing stuff down.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: Every Colts loss this year is is a little bit sweeter.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you very much.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Keep them coming.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_01: Please and thank you.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, if I uh if I keep going on the Jets here, man, I uh I'm gonna lose my mind faster than I already am.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: So Giants time.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_01: Let's let's see what the Giants got going on around here.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, wait.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_01: The division stinks.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have your starting quarterback, you don't have your next prodigal son, but you still you do have Jim Harbaugh.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: Jim, John, Jim, John, Frank, Billy, Bobby, Tommy.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: You do have John Harbaugh.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: He's putting his fingerprints all over this franchise.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: Najee Harris gets released.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Scatabow, at least from the outside looking in, appeared to get a little bit of a message sent to him this last week.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And really, to read is pretty simple on it.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Harbaugh is establishing very quickly.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't draft you.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: I don't owe anybody anything.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: This is my football team now.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Najee had the post-game comments about touches, and you know it's hard to get in rhythm.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then suddenly he's gone.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: He went against the family.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Look, from the outside, I it sure feels clear that Harbaugh is making it painfully obvious that if you're gonna be here, you're gonna be part of what we're building.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: You get on the boat or you get off the boat.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, I don't hate it.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: I don't hate it.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Giants fans, when's the last time you had a coach like that?
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: Tom Coughlin.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's really that simple.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: What?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was Joe Judge and it was Brian Dayball and whatever other carousel that they wanted to put through because they couldn't get it right.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, speaking of bringing people back, like the Jets brought Geno Smith back, Giants brought Odell back.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: They gave him two games, maybe, maybe like three plays.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even think he had a catch.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Said, all right, man, that's it.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, go bye.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Harbaugh, this is what you guys wanted.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you wanted stability, you wanted the CEO, you wanted the big dick swinging coach, right?
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: The it's my way or the highway.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you're getting it.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: You're getting it now, and you're getting it hard.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So can't really complain when he benches Scattabow to teach him a lesson, or he cuts a player and muddies up the running back room even more.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Cuts your favorite player, so you're Odell Beckham.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: Buy in or get out.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's the door, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of the same thing here with Jameis Winston, too.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you really look at it.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: Look, he he was all in on Jackson Darton.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's why he came to the Giants.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Good young quarterback, good young core, good receivers.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's the Giants.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: Can't wait to coach him.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Then his quarterback goes down, and he's kind of stuck with Jameis Winston.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they paid him as the good backup.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: What does he do?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: He immediately probably calls his brother, says, hey man, what's the skinny on JJ McCarthy?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: Is he really broken or not?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: And he picked him up.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Then shit's going bad in the Saints game.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Put in JJ.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Kid throws for 240 yards in the fourth quarter.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, if that if that doesn't create a little bit of a quarterback controversy, I don't I don't know what does.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now there's still no official announcement yet on Winston or McCarthy.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll tell you where I stand.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: I don't need JJ to be the long-term answer.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: And he's not, by the way.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: I need him to be the short-term kick-ass answer that can throw the ball a little bit harder down the field and maybe take off on some run plays in a division that is god-awful.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now look, did New Orleans game, is this a flash in a pan?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Is this a good change of scenery that he needed?
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Did New Orleans maybe back off a little bit because they were up by almost 30 points?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, probably a combination of all those things, right?
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: Is it a tiny sample?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: But the ball looked different coming out of his hands.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Neighbors is there, likely is there.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: There are weapons.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe Scatterboat gets his head together now.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Look, if JJ knows 80% of the playbook, you gotta start him.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: You gotta start him the rest of the year.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Because why not, man?
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: What do you got to lose?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: The NFC East has not produced a win in two weeks.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Think about that.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: Giants tied Washington, then lost.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: Washington tied the Giants, then lost.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Philly is falling apart.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: Dallas is two and four and look miserable.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody wants this division.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm the Giants, I'm taking the swing.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe JJ throws three interceptions and you go, okay, well, you know, there's your answer.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: That was fun.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Fine.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: At least you found out.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_01: But if he can be competent, if he can push the ball downfield with two explosive receivers, if he can make defenses respect him a little bit instead of stacking the box against Skatabo, you might back your way into a division title and a home playoff game.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: Something that this city hasn't seen in literally 10 years, 13 years.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Who knows who walks into MetLife in January?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you can steal the division.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: Philly obviously has much bigger problems than football right now.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Jalen Hurts, their star stud quarterback that they kind of don't like, but kind of do like.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: He's got blood clots.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: And the story gets weirder and weirder.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't his leg.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: He told him it wasn't.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't diagnose it right, but then they put him on a flight when they did diagnose him, which is like the number one thing you're not supposed to do.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: Then they traveled up to his lungs.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: Even if it was just in his leg, you're on blood tenders for 90 days.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Your season was done anyway.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: But once it once you find out it travels to his lungs, that's a that's a whole other story.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: You had a Lyman retire mid-year, you traded another one.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Saquon looks like a shell of himself.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: You lost AJ Brown in the offseason, so you can you can wipe Philly away.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: They're out, right?
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: Dallas' defense, they I would I'll be the first to admit.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Caleb Downs was going to change this defense.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: I thought they were gonna, you know, maybe take a real step forward.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_01: They they they to quote Bart Scott, they couldn't stop a nosebleed.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: And Washington, man, Washington has no left tackle.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: They have a quarterback with a dislocated elbow.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: They just lost Terry McLaurin.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: Stefan Diggs at the ripe old age of, I don't know, let's call it 30, is your star receiver.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: A running game that's non-existent, and also drafted a good linebacker in Sonny Styles, who they don't really know how to use.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Jaden Daniels is good enough to win them a couple games for sure, but you know, the the division is the division is yours to take.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: So again, if I'm the Giants, take this swing.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: What do you got to lose?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Then there's Buffalo.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: Five and one, just rolling right along.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Josh Allen ties Jim Kelly's franchise touchdown passing record.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: And once again, Josh Allen looks like a superhero.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: Problem is, I continue to look around him and ask, how good is the rest of this team?
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because Buffalo keeps winning, sure.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And winning matters, right?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's the you don't get to give them, they don't take them away from you.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: You keep them.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Five and one is five and one.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: But New England did beat them.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: And Vegas just kind of pushed them around.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: 33 to 30.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: There are too many games where I feel like the game plan is just uh shit.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: We kind of messed up.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Josh, can you go fix this for us, please?
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the crazy thing is, most of the time he does.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, against Vegas, they basically changed up what Buffalo prepared for.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: They wanted to keep Allen from beating them with his legs, and it worked.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: He had one rushing yard.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: So what did Allen do?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: He said, fine, I'll just sling this thing.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: 175 yards after the catch.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Allen was 14 for 19, 182 yards in both of his touchdowns against zone coverage.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_01: That's what a great quarterback does.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, you took away plan A?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I got plan B.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: Shit, I got plan C in my pocket, too.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: Now, the defense does deserve some credit here.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: Christian Benford basically got assigned Brock Bowers, and when he was matched up with him, Bowers had two catches for 23 yards.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's pretty damn good coverage.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_01: So, in a way, Buffalo has shown that they can say, Oh, this is your guy that you want to beat us with.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: Fine, we're gonna take him out.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's useful knowledge to hold on to.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: That's something you're gonna need later in the year, but I still don't believe you can win a championship just trying to outgun everybody every single week.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_01: January football eventually puts you in a game where your quarterback isn't gonna have four touchdowns.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: And even when he does, if your defense is bad enough, go ask Josh Allen about those uh Kansas City games.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: Think Patrick Mahomes through for five.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he's not gonna make 10 ridiculous plays every week.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody else has to win the game.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: A pass rush, a turnover, a running back, somebody.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: And it's not a slight on James Cook, but James Cook, you're in a perfect system.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: The offensive line is good, and they are scared of Josh Allen 6'5, 245 pounds, running them over.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: So when you get the ball up the middle or make a good cut, they're more worried about the contain.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: I'll give Vegas a little credit here, too.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: They started 3 0, probably ahead of where most people expected, and then Kansas City punches them in the mouth.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_01: New England absolutely beats the brakes off of them.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: And they turn around and play Buffalo 3330.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'm not selling Vegas just yet.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: There are some weapons there.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a first year staff.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, look, we haven't even gotten to see Mendoza yet.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm holding for now.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: Not buying more, not selling.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm holding.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: I'm holding Pat.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think the Raiders can be good.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think in a loaded AFC, they're going to have trouble sniffing the playoffs.
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_01: But I think they're sniffing around a little bit.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before I get into a little bit of national coverage here, just because, you know, we got to touch a little bit of everything, right?
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: We can't just leave you hanging.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know it's a New York-based show, but we gotta, there's other teams that play in this league, and not for nothing, the Jets and the Giants aren't exactly that fucking good to cover them 24-7 on one podcast.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, what I'm trying to say is before I get into the national stuff, I want to touch on the AFC North because it kind of plays into the theme that I've been talking about with the Jets and the Giants.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Everything comes back to the quarterback.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I gotta be the first to admit, listen, we admit when we're right on the show.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: We also admit when we're wrong on the show.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: I gotta take an L on Cleveland here.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_01: Before the season, Brown's under five and a half wins was one of my strongest bets.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: It was them and Arizona.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I was wrong on both.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Our projections basically had them winning two, maybe three football games because they always sneak out one division one.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, they're already four and two.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: So, whoops.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: The biggest thing we got wrong about them, Deshaun Watson.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I I assume this guy was done, man.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Finished.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, he hasn't been great to say the least the last couple years.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: He's been hurt, he's been up and down.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to rewrite history and pretend Deshaun Watson suddenly looks like Houston Deshaun Watson.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: But he's been pretty damn good.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: Good enough, and sometimes that's kind of all you need to win games in the NFL.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: He protects the football, he's making enough throws, the defense has been good.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: Even without Miles Garrett, they've held up.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Denzel Boston looks like a player.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: Quinshawn Junkins, even though he just got hurt, looks pretty good.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_01: Harold Fannon's still over there.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_01: Suddenly, Cleveland, Cleveland, in the year 2026 of our Lord, is sitting there at the top of the AFC North.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: Above Joe Burrow and the Bengals, above Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers, above Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: I yeah, that's where I'm at.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: I can't I can't really believe it.
• 25:16
  SPEAKER_01: Harold Fannon hasn't exactly even really exploded yet, to be honest with you.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: He was a monster last year.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there might be more Cleveland to see here.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's another one of my favorite little reminders about football.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Every August, everybody is positive they know what the hell is gonna happen.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_01: Of course it's like gonna be like this.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_01: Of course it's gonna be like that.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody has their projections, their win totals, their power rankings, their strength of schedules.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: Then they actually play football.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_01: And it it is never more glaring than all the analysts, all the people, they don't know shit.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: And that's the beauty of it.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's why we love this sport.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: There are a finite amount of games.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_01: Every week is super important, and everybody thinks they know what's gonna happen, and nobody ever really understands what's gonna happen.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Vegas, maybe.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: But even they get it wrong sometimes, man.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: Vegas had Vegas had five and a half.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: That was the line to start the season.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I stick in this division because Baltimore is the exact inverse of what's going on here.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: Take Lamar off the football field, and everything changes.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_01: Against Cleveland, Derrick Henry, 17 carries, 58 yards.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_01: I can't tell you the last time Derrick Henry had 58 carries, 58 yards, excuse me.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: Tyler Hunley, 19 of 31, 165 yards.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_01: Cleveland basically said, Alright, good luck beating us.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're taking away Derrick Henry.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: Go get it, Tyler Huntley.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: Let's see what you got.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Go beat us.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because Lamar isn't back there creating chaos.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to account for him as a runner.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_01: You don't have to worry about him escaping and collapsing pocket and throwing a 40-yard bomb down the field.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: Suddenly, the Ravens look a little different.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: Which brings us all the way back around to what I was talking about before.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_01: Jets don't have the guy.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_01: Giants are deciding whether to take a swing on JJ, and Buffalo has Superman.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_01: Everything in football eventually seems to come back to quarterback play.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_01: And it really is that simple.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_01: So from here, from here, I want to go into the NASDAQ of the NFL.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: The national stock report, I guess, is what we'll call it here.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Quick report, nothing crazy.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_01: Not doing a you know C-span 30 for 30 with Jim Kramer here.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, who's up, who's down, who am I buying?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we're starting in Houston.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm buying all the Houston stock I can.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_01: They started 0-4.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_01: Terrible.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_01: Disaster.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody knows the thing.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you start 0-2, your playoff chances go down to, you know, like 30%, like down to 0-3%.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: Your playoff chances are 10%.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: 0-4, not great.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: But really, did anybody ever really think that they were an 0-4 football team?
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: The defense is elite, to say the least.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_01: Or at least they have a couple elite guys on there.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're leading the league in rush yards, rushing against.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: You get what I'm trying to say.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_01: And they basically carried them to a divisional round playoff game last year.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_01: And if the offense didn't implode, CJ Stroud threw for four picks in that game.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: And he still held the Patriots under 240 yards.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: So look, the defense has kept them alive long enough for the offense to finally stop tripping over itself this year.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: They just needed one win.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: One win.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: And Tennessee, boy, oh boy, was that the perfect punching bag opponent.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Two frustrated 0-4 teams.
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: And oh, a division game on top of it, too.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Houston basically said, okay, that that that was cute.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: This is fun.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's time for us to get a win in the right column or a notch in the win column.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: There we go.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: So okay, cool.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Get the first one under your belt, feeling good.
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: Then they go to London.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: Jacksonville's home game.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, and it's kind of Jacksonville's home city at this point, the way that they play there, how many games they have there.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_01: But they beat the team they're chasing in the division.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's huge.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: Now, Stroud looks like Stroud again.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: 312 yards, three touchdowns.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and by the way, just made a trade for Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_01: Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: had his career year in college.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know who's quarterback?
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: CJ Stroud.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_01: Just like Kyle Murray, just like JJ McCarthy, sometimes it just takes a little bit of a change of scenery.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_01: I would not be surprised if Marvin Harrison Jr.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_01: starts going off opposite Nico Collins.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, Houston starts balling.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm buying.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: I'm actually buying them to take the division.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of Kyler Murray, I'm buying Minnesota.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_01: Minnesota might be the quietest undefeated team I can remember in a long time.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: 5-0.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: And everybody's kind of just like, oh yeah, that's right.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: Minnesota.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_01: Minnesota's undefeated, too.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Kyler Murray, you know, he's been good.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: Even with missing a game, he's come back and played well.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: But the biggest reason I'm buying Minnesota is the man, the myth, the legend himself, Mr.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: I sue the league, Brian Flores.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: The defense is ridiculous, man.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: They're allowing 13 points a game.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: And they're blitzing on 68% of opponent dropbacks.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: Two out of every three times you drop back to pass the ball in this league is a lot.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: Brian Flores is sending the house.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: He's saying, good luck.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it keeps working.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_01: They've entered the bye, ranked first in points allowed, first in third down defense, first in red zone defense, first in EPA per play, which is expected yards average.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_01: This isn't fake.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: Minnesota is good.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: And the NFC North is going to be fascinating to watch itself play out.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_01: Green Bay, Jordan Love looks pretty damn good, man.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: No Josh Jacobs, but he's coming back soon.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's going to enhance the running game.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_01: Jordan Love's been hitting his spots.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_01: Detroit, well, Detroit has proven that they can score points with anybody.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Now, their defense can also give up points to anybody.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: But not a bad team.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Pretty explosive, pretty fast.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: And Chicago, well, Chicago's the weirdest one here.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: All offseason, we talked about this great Bears offense and whether they could break records and this next step that Caleb was going to take forward and Ben Johnson and yada yada yada.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Then Caleb misses time.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: And suddenly the defense is the unit keeping them alive.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Caleb's back now, so Minnesota has the head start.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: That 5-0 cushion matters, but I think the NFC North is going to be a bloodbath down the stretch.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still buying Minnesota.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: They have a somewhat easier strength to schedule the next couple games here coming out of the bye.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_01: Then it gets real rough afterwards, but Minnesota can definitely make some noise.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, by the way, uh Kansas City, the the Chiefs, you know, that little team kind of down south, you know, uh, I think he's I think their star tight end might be married to somebody, and the quarterback is uh, you know, kind of a douche, but good guy.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds like a Muppet.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they're back, boys.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: They're back and they're pissed off.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_01: Apparently, all it takes is Travis Kelsey getting uh getting married and losing some weight, and everybody else on the team, you know, trying to fit in that suit again.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: Kelsey looks good.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_01: Mahomes looks good.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_01: Kenneth Walker, the underrated signing of the year early too in the offseason.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Looks unreal.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think he had another three touchdown game, and he was like tied for consecutive three touchdown games with Calvin Johnson.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: God damn it.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_01: It must be nice to just have a good franchise, a well-run, well-oiled machine franchise.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: I've never in my Jets fandom lifehood lived like that.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, Kansas City's back, man.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm buying the stock.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_01: The Raiders gave him a little bit of a scare with that 3-0, but the Chargers are Chargers are upside down.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get to them in a second.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh yeah, the Broncos had the most passing attempts in the league last year, and now it looks like after trading for Jalen Waddell, Bonix doesn't know how to throw the ball anymore.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: Defense is still pretty good over there, but I they don't scare me at all.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_01: So honestly, I hate to say it.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_01: I think Kansas City's running away with this division unless anything crazy happens again.
• 35:15
  SPEAKER_01: But again, undefeated is undefeated.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_01: One of the AFC monsters is fully awake again and pissed off.
• 35:23
  SPEAKER_01: NFC Monster, how about another undefeated?
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_01: San Francisco.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_01: 6-0.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're just doing whatever the hell they want, like they always do.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, somebody's hurt, who cares?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Get another guy in.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_01: This guy, oh, we lose him for the season, get him in.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: Kyle Shanahan is really a man amongst boys in the coaching field here.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: He has very few rivals.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's again, as a Jets fan for my whole life, I don't understand or know, even begin to process what that feels like to have a viable head coach.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the the joke, the meme before the season was the substation next to the practice field was getting everybody hurt.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: It might have given them radioactive powers, to be totally honest with you.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_01: They're just out there bullying people.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: The defense looks stronger than ever, like it always does.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: Brock Purdy, Mr.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Irrelevant, sixth rounder, seventh rounder, whatever.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, hold this, hold my beer.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm running for first downs.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_01: I'm slinging the ball.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: Mike Evans, even though he just got hurt on Monday, has been great.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: Christian McCaffrey carried the ball 7,000 times last year, and he's still on the same pace this year and doing whatever the hell he wants.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm buying all the stock in San Francisco.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: Not to mention Seattle.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_01: Love them.
• 36:49
  SPEAKER_01: They kind of almost played better without Sam Darnold, which is saying something.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: Their running game is a mess.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think Zach Charbonnet is coming back soon.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Jadarian Price out of nowhere just got his chest banged up and then said, oh wait, never mind.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going on IR.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: Cardinals don't look bad.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_01: Rams, Rams are the super team themselves, right?
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_01: They're undefeated.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna go crazy.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_01: Miles Garrett's hurt week one.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_01: Aaron Donald comes back for nothing.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_01: Devontae Adams just ruptured his uh his hamstring.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: He's out six to ten weeks, which is the season.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: Puka started slow.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_01: The football gods, whenever you build a super team and everybody hypes you up, the football gods just immediately smack it down.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_01: I always think of the Eagles.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: What year was that?
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_01: God, with Namdi Osama when he came from the Raiders and like McNabb and McCoy and Reed and Yeah, I think they won.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think they came in last in their division that year.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_01: Again, 6-0 is 6-0.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm buying stock in the Niners.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_01: A true NFC powerhouse.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's the stockwatch.
• 38:11
  SPEAKER_01: That's the stock market.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's the NASDAQ.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe I did go a little longer than I wanted to here.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_01: But hey man, I got excited.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm buying stock here.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: I'm buying stock in teams.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_01: Leave me alone.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, let's get current.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_01: Week seven.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_01: Time to start looking backward.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_01: Stop looking backward.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Start looking forward.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_01: Thursday night, Patriots at Bears.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of an interesting game, actually.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_01: New England at Chicago.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_01: We spent the whole show talking a little bit about Drake May and the AFC East and getting a quarterback and how good he looks, how New England suddenly has hope again.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: And Chicago is not exactly an easy defense to walk into right now, right?
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_01: Especially in Lambeau.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_01: Where the hell is their stadium?
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say Wrigley.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_01: God, I really can't think of it right now.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it doesn't matter because they're moving to Indiana or wherever the hell they're moving next, anyway.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Opponents against that Bears defense has only converted 16 third downs through six games.
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_01: Do you know how impressive that is?
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets went 0 for 7 on third down against them.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I think in the fourth quarter had the ball for a total of three minutes.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, at one point, Minnesota, Philly, and the Jets were combined, converting around 17% of third downs against Chicago.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: They got 17 sacks.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_01: And again, this was supposed to be the Bears team where the offense carried everything.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we were drafting Caleb Williams and Roma Dunze and Luther Burden and Colston Loveland and DeAndre Swift and Kyle Menunga.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_01: We were drafting those guys because we expected a 45-40 shootout every week.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_01: This feels like a really nice test for Drake May.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_01: Can Chicago make him uncomfortable?
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_01: Can they actually force the Patriots to play behind the sticks?
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_01: Can New England continue looking like a team that we think it is becoming?
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, another guy I'm going to be watching this week is AJ Brown.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_01: His first game back against the Jets was brutal to Samuel.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_01: It looked like he was wearing green and white.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_01: He had three drops and just he just looked bad.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_01: He looked bad.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if they rushed him back, whatever.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: But now you got him going this week on a short week.
• 40:45
  SPEAKER_01: So Sunday to Thursday.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe the timing wasn't there the first game.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: I think there might be a couple good bets this game.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to keep digging through it a little bit, see what I can find, which will lead me into the rolling the dice with Rice segment later, a couple minutes.
• 41:06
  SPEAKER_01: But we got a couple other games coming up this week.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_01: Dolphins at Jets.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_01: This game scares me for one reason.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets should win it.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: And anytime I feel the Jets should win something, I get nervous.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_01: Miami is 0-5.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_01: They are a mess.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_01: They don't know what they're doing at quarterback.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: They don't know, they don't have their star running back.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_01: They don't really have any receivers.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_01: The offensive line is terrible.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_01: The defense has college kids playing in the secondary.
• 41:41
  SPEAKER_01: The Jets should dominate this game.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_01: They should run the shit out of the ball.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: They should come home to the fans.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_01: Get Garrett Wilson the ball for God's sakes.
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_01: And Miami's in full tank mode.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: If the Jets find a way to lose this game, oh my God.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_01: The New York media, myself included, is going to have a field day.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, at some point you start wondering how much longer ownership, aka Woody Johnson, is going to be able to keep his hands off of the football operation if things start spiraling again.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_01: You lose to 0-5 Miami at home.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_01: That is not just another loss.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_01: This is the alarms going off.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_01: This is the sirens.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: This is a crisis loss.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_01: But if you want to stay positive, you want to go on the other side of it, win the game, well now you're three and four.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_01: You're one game below 500, and you got Vegas next week.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I know I'm buying stock in Vegas.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_01: I know I think they look good.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_01: But if you win, and it's at home again, suddenly you're four and four.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's not some impossible dream.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_01: You're sitting at 500, 8 games into the season.
• 43:04
  SPEAKER_01: You know how many times the Jets have been 500, 8 games into the season in the last 10 years?
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_01: Could probably count it on one hand.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: Probably count it on three fingers.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_01: Probably actually one finger.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_01: So this is the fork of the road game for the Jets.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_01: Either you stabilize things and get right back into relevance, or the noise is going to get deafening.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: Giants-wise, well, Giants have a little bit of a harder path here.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_01: Giants at Texans.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: If the Giants start JJ McCarthy, it's a pretty tough spot for the kid, man.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you already have running back problems.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_01: Najee's gone, like we said.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_01: Houston's defense is pretty much elite against the run.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: The whole room is kind of unsettled who's gonna play, who's not.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like even when Houston was 0 4, the defense wasn't the problem.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Now the passing and On the other side is getting real healthy.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: It's going to be a tough ask for a Giants secondary to me that is middle of the pack at best.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_01: And then let's say they get torched, you're going to ask JJ to come out slinging.
• 44:15
  SPEAKER_01: Look, maybe that's who he is.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he is a gunslinger, right?
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe he finds neighbors who looks great, by the way.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: Or Isaiah Likely, who we all said was going to gel so well in this offense.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's what happens.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: Or maybe, maybe Giants go down big again like they did against the Saints.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_01: And JJ McCarthy is asked to throw some deep balls against a defense that is way better than New Orleans.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_01: Bengals, Ravens don't really have a read on this game yet.
• 44:49
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know if Lamar Jackson's gonna play.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: We could get an all-time banger with Joe Burrow versus Lamar, or we could just uh, you know, get another another normal AFC North bang them up kind of game.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_01: Colts at Minnesota, go Vikings.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_01: Said this already, not just because I'm buying Minnesota, but because Indianapolis losing helps the Jets.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_01: Packers at Lions, like I said, the NFC North is going to be a bloodbath and it starts this week.
• 45:21
  SPEAKER_01: Rams at Raiders.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of an interesting spot for both teams here.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we just talked about the Rams being a super team and needing a get-right game.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: They lost two heartbreakers back to back.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: The Raiders kind of did the same.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: They got their dick kicked in by the um by the Patriots and then barely lost to the elite Buffalo Bills.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_01: Interested to see how this turns out.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_01: And last but not least, Kansas City at Seattle.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: Another road test for an undefeated KC.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_01: Those are the ones that I'll be circling this week.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_01: Might actually put out a good card, too.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_01: A little roll in the dice with rice here.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: Which leads me to the Thursday night picks.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: For the podcast, you know how this works.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: For the podcast, I'm gonna keep this pretty tight.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'll give you two.
• 46:12
  SPEAKER_01: Two, two, maybe three.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see here.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: Let me see what two I like and see if there's a third actually worth adding on to it.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's go with Yeah, these two.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: I like these two.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_01: This is what I'm I'm looking at the lines as I'm recording this right now.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, we're gonna go DeAndre Swift, rushing and receiving for 80 plus.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's like minus 130 right now.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's not too bad.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I actually think this might be a little bit of a Colson Loveland game here.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_01: I think it might be everybody's waiting for his big breakout, and with Caleb back, he's starting to get going a little bit here.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: So give me Colson Loveland for four catches.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I'll dive deeper in tomorrow.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_01: So if you're on Instagram following the show, I'll put out a full card for Thursday night.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_01: We've been hitting pretty well, man.
• 47:10
  SPEAKER_01: We've been at a like a 65% clip or something like that.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_01: Gotta double check the stats here, but we've we've been doing pretty good.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_01: But that's gonna do it.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna do it for me for episode 88.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_01: And before I get out of here, I want to hold myself accountable to the people, right?
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_01: To the listeners.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_01: Two weeks is too long.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_01: Just is sports don't stop because my schedule gets busy.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: Now I did have a lot of stuff going on.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_01: Also went on my bachelor party, so say shout out to your boy.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_01: But stuff doesn't stop.
• 47:54
  SPEAKER_01: Gotta keep up.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_01: And if I'm serious about building this show into what I think it can become, which it has grown more than I could have imagined so far, and hopefully only bigger and bigger, then I gotta be better about showing up.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_01: Prep got delayed, recording gets delayed.
• 48:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's on me.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_01: No dramatic excuses, no speech.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just be better, right?
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_01: Show up, keep going, stay current.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_01: Finish the work.
• 48:22
  SPEAKER_01: And this week is actually the perfect week to get back into that rhythm because sports are absolutely on fire right now, man.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_01: We got a World Series coming up, and I gotta preview that.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_01: I want to give baseball its own episode, its own time to shine.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_01: We got a lot to talk about.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_01: I haven't talked baseball in God knows how long.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_01: The Mets broke my heart that bad.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_01: But now we're here.
• 48:48
  SPEAKER_01: We got seven games left in the baseball season, and who knows when we're gonna get baseball again.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we gotta get in on that.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_01: Also, by the way, the NBA is back.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_01: The Knicks hung the banner.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_01: I finally got my Knicks tattoo.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, we are absolutely going to start talking basketball again.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, and by the way, the Rangers, they're off to a great start.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then, because apparently New York sports fans are not allowed to enjoy simply anything, they lose their most important player for the season, Igor Shisterkin, the Golden, the successor to Henrique.
• 49:31
  SPEAKER_01: Done.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_01: They had six wins at home already, six points at home ready.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't have that till March this year.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's another insane stat.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, this is my favorite time of the year.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_01: NFL is rolling, World Series baseball, NBA is back, NHL is back, all four major sports going on at the same time.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_01: So if anything, you should probably be hearing more race on the radio.
• 50:01
  SPEAKER_01: Not less.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_01: Too much, to be honest.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_01: You'll get sick of my voice.
• 50:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's the plan.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_01: Well, not really the plan.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_01: You love my voice.
• 50:11
  SPEAKER_01: But you come for the good content.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_01: You come for the last.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for sticking with me.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for coming back.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_01: We are officially caught up, man.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_01: Week seven.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're back to work.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: As always, I am Gene Rice.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_01: This has been episode eighty-eight of Rice on the Radio.
• 50:31
  SPEAKER_01: Spread good energy out there, man.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_01: And tell someone you love 'em.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'll catch you on the next one.
• 50:37
  SPEAKER_01: Peace.