Latest / NFL Power Rankings / Week 6: Vikings, Patriots enter top 10; Eagles, Saints in free fall

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Week 6: Vikings, Patriots enter top 10; Eagles, Saints in free fall · 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. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. I'm your host,
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  Speaker 1: Colleen Wolfe, here with Nick Shook, the man with the
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  Speaker 1: power in the rankings. I have not even been back
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  Speaker 1: from London for 24 hours.
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  Speaker 2: And you can't tell at all.
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  Speaker 1: We're all going to be in for a ride today.
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  Speaker 1: All right, let's take a look at Nick Shook's first
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  Speaker 1: eight teams in the rankings. And the top four, they
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  Speaker 1: have not moved at all. You have the same Niners
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  Speaker 1: up top at number one, then the Chiefs, Seahawks, Ravens.
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  Speaker 1: The Jags at five, they're up one spot. The Bills
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  Speaker 1: up one at six. The Vikings, they're the only new
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  Speaker 1: team in this tier left. At number seven, they're up
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  Speaker 1: four spots. And then the Broncos still hanging on in
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  Speaker 1: the top eight, down three spots, but at number eight.
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  Speaker 1: Let's start with the number one team, though. The 49ers,
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  Speaker 1: who outlasted the Seahawks. They remain perfect. They control the division.
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  Speaker 1: What impressed you most about that win?
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  Speaker 2: That is a perfect way to describe it, is outlasted them.
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  Speaker 2: And that is what impressed me the most about this
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  Speaker 2: game and about this team, is the fact that they
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  Speaker 2: were able to go into Seattle, not the fifth straight
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  Speaker 2: victory for a road team in this regular season division
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  Speaker 2: series between these two teams, and do it in an
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  Speaker 2: environment in which there were many reasons why they should
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  Speaker 2: have fallen apart, but they didn't. Brock Purdy did not
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  Speaker 2: have a great day. He was under constant pressure. And
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  Speaker 2: yet he made plays like that one to Brandon Cooks,
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  Speaker 2: which gave me one of those, like, oh, yeah, Brandon
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  Speaker 2: Cooks signed with them. He's still in the league. Just
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  Speaker 2: add another team to his nomadic journey through the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: And I also felt like it's another game in which
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  Speaker 2: their defense, which is at least the front becoming very
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  Speaker 2: much a no-name unit, they found a ton of success.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there were guys making plays, whether it was
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  Speaker 2: the fumble recovery in the end zone by Halton or
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  Speaker 2: it was a sack of Sam Darnold, who I had
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  Speaker 2: never heard of. Like, I'm still at this point now
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  Speaker 2: where I'm like, practice squad elevation? Like, I've got to
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  Speaker 2: Google this guy.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: We are leaning toward a search bar defense with this group,
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  Speaker 2: and they're playing collectively. Mike Evans was a big part
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  Speaker 2: in this game, obviously, but it wasn't just him. And
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  Speaker 2: I felt like this was the first time in which
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  Speaker 2: they were truly 100% tested, even more than the Denver game.
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  Speaker 2: And they overcame everything that was against them and won
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  Speaker 2: this game in a division rivalry. I mean, look, they
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  Speaker 2: were already number one. I think it only bolstered their case.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and when you look at the amount of points
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  Speaker 1: that they scored, it's funny because they scored more points
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  Speaker 1: in this game than they did in three matchups against
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  Speaker 1: the Seahawks last year. What is the weakness for them?
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  Speaker 1: Do you look at wide receivers? Do you look at
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  Speaker 1: the pass rush depth, even though they were good, even
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  Speaker 1: though you mentioned, like, they didn't have the depth.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I wonder if this entire season I've thought, well,
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  Speaker 2: once they face a really good team, those weaknesses are
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  Speaker 2: going to start to show. And for the most part,
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  Speaker 2: they haven't. They didn't in this game. It's depth. The
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  Speaker 2: only weakness I can consider is depth because this is
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  Speaker 2: a team that just historically has suffered a lot of
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  Speaker 2: unfortunate injuries. And the receiving court, it's pretty thin. Like,
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  Speaker 2: Jacob Cowing's getting more snaps, which, you know, you signed
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  Speaker 2: Brandon Cooks. It kind of is a sign that, look,
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  Speaker 2: we don't have many options. You need Deebo Samuel to
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  Speaker 2: stay healthy more than anything because he's been a huge
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  Speaker 2: part of this offense. But so yeah, I think it's
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  Speaker 2: depth as of now, but look, they're 5-0, so there's
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  Speaker 2: not much to complain about.
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  Speaker 1: Look at that. Let's go to the team that they
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  Speaker 1: beat next. Your number three ranked team, the Seahawks. They
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  Speaker 1: played a really great game, but they just fell short
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  Speaker 1: in the end.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they did. And Sam Darnold still has some issues
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  Speaker 2: with turnovers. But it's one of those teams and one
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  Speaker 2: of those games that I can't dock them for it
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  Speaker 2: because it was so down to the wire depending on
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  Speaker 2: how they would measure a spot on fourth down. Did
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  Speaker 2: they have an opportunity to continue the drive and maybe
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  Speaker 2: tie the game, send it to overtime? We'll never know.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, according to the rules, he was short. So, yes,
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  Speaker 2: that is the answer. But they're still a strong team.
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  Speaker 2: They're a team that has an issue with the ground
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  Speaker 2: game right now, with ball security. But they have Jackson
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  Speaker 2: Smith and Jigba. And they have a defense that is
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  Speaker 2: swarming and made the Niners offense, which looked like a
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  Speaker 2: well-oiled machine, that gave them a lot of difficulties. You know,
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  Speaker 2: that pass rush, Byron Murphy was very good. He wasn't
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  Speaker 2: the only one in that group to play really well.
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  Speaker 2: They're still one of the best teams in the NFL.
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  Speaker 2: I just felt like after this game, it was a
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  Speaker 2: defensively dominant first half for both sides. It was a
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  Speaker 2: turnover-filled affair.
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  Speaker 1: Nine of them.
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  Speaker 2: And it was a battle between two teams that are
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  Speaker 2: two of the best teams in the NFL.
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  Speaker 1: That's true. Nine turnovers, though, including four last week. That's
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  Speaker 1: a huge deal for them. And then, I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: I think the one thing that people might look at
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  Speaker 1: on these rankings is that you have them ahead of
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  Speaker 1: the 4-1 Ravens, even though they lost. And we're going
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  Speaker 1: to get to the Ravens right now. Let's go to them.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Because they also... are the same place that they were
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  Speaker 1: last week, number four. How impressed were you with that
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  Speaker 1: win in Atlanta on Sunday night?
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  Speaker 2: That was their most impressive win of the year.
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  Speaker 1: And they've had some pretty good wins.
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  Speaker 2: They have. You know, the win over Dallas down in
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  Speaker 2: Rio was a big one. They've taken care of business
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  Speaker 2: against lesser teams. So it's all kind of worked out
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  Speaker 2: for them. But this is the one where I felt
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  Speaker 2: they were tested the most and they had the most
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  Speaker 2: adversity facing them, which is on the road in Atlanta
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  Speaker 2: against a very hot Falcons team with a backup quarterback
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  Speaker 2: in Snoop Huntley, who is very experienced but still is
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  Speaker 2: not Lamar Jackson. You know, facing a deficit in the
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  Speaker 2: fourth quarter, going down the field, scoring the touchdown, and
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  Speaker 2: the two-point conversion to send it to overtime, and then
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  Speaker 2: bleeding most of the clock in overtime to win that game.
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  Speaker 2: It just felt like, okay, this is the Ravens team
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  Speaker 2: that we usually expect on an annual basis, and even
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  Speaker 2: without Lamar Jackson, they were able to lean on Derrick
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  Speaker 2: Henry Moore, which I've wanted them to do for weeks,
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  Speaker 2: and they found a way to get the job done.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that that's most important in matchups like this,
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  Speaker 2: especially in primetime, as you go through the marathon that
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  Speaker 2: is the season. They're on top of the AFC North
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  Speaker 2: right now, and that's why they sit there at number four. Yes,
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  Speaker 2: they have one more win than the Seahawks, But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: sometimes quality losses matter too. That's fair. All right.
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  Speaker 1: And they also have their first division game coming up
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  Speaker 1: of the year. They play the Browns, your Brownies.
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  Speaker 2: Highly interesting contest.
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  Speaker 1: I'm very excited about that one. Let's go to the Jags. Who,
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  Speaker 1: they beat the Eagles in London. It was a very
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  Speaker 1: interesting game. I felt like the offense really though did not,
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  Speaker 1: we're not going to talk about the Eagles yet. This
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  Speaker 1: is about the Jags. But I felt like the Jags
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  Speaker 1: offense did not look that great. It was sluggish throughout.
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  Speaker 1: Even their, like, Basil Tootin, he's very consistent. He is.
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  Speaker 1: But even throughout the game, they really couldn't get anything
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  Speaker 1: going until the very end.
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  Speaker 2: So.
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  Speaker 1: Where are you with the Jags? They're up one spot,
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  Speaker 1: they're ranked at number five in your rankings.
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  Speaker 2: This is one of those games that I think the
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  Speaker 2: score influences the way that you feel about the game
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  Speaker 2: and the way that you just recapped it because they
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  Speaker 2: did have scoring opportunities. They just didn't convert. A lot
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  Speaker 2: of that had to do with the fact that they
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  Speaker 2: were playing with an emergency long snapper, didn't trust their
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  Speaker 2: field goal unit, so in those situations you don't even
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  Speaker 2: get three, you get nothing. You look like you're too
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  Speaker 2: aggressive in going for it on fourth down. And when
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  Speaker 2: you come away empty-handed over the course of the game,
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  Speaker 2: that starts to wear on you. But Liam Cohen kind
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  Speaker 2: of had his hands tied. He was doing the best
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  Speaker 2: that he could until they only had one option at
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  Speaker 2: the end, which was kick a field goal from 57
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  Speaker 2: yards out. And luckily, they nailed it to win the game.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not too concerned about them. I love the fact
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  Speaker 2: that I can count on Basil Tootin to finish between
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  Speaker 2: 68 and 73 yards a game. He does have juice.
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  Speaker 2: It's not productive on a per-carry basis necessarily, the average
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  Speaker 2: being well under four. That needs to be a little
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  Speaker 2: bit better. But This is a pretty well-balanced offense that
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  Speaker 2: faced an Eagles team that played way better than I expected,
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  Speaker 2: that really overcame a lot of adversity and lack of personnel.
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  Speaker 2: The Eagles have every reason in the world to fall
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  Speaker 2: apart and just lay down and quit on this season.
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  Speaker 2: And they did not in this game. But the Jags
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  Speaker 2: are still the better team. And because of, I would say,
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  Speaker 2: some luck, some mismanagement on the part of the opponent,
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  Speaker 2: they come away victorious to the point where their coach
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  Speaker 2: walks away smiling because he knows he got away with one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that was it. What an interesting end to a game.
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  Speaker 1: But yes, the Jags. They get the win there. They
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  Speaker 1: have another game coming up in London against the Houston
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  Speaker 1: Texans this week. Let's go to the Bills, though, who
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  Speaker 1: survived a massive overtime scare to beat the Rams, and
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  Speaker 1: that's why they're the team of the week.
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  Speaker 2: This is one of the... weirdest games that you'll look
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  Speaker 2: at and just be like, I feel like you should
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  Speaker 2: have lost, but you also deserve to win. We had
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  Speaker 2: a few of those this week. It was just a
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  Speaker 2: strange week in that regard. One of them ended in
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  Speaker 2: a tie. But the Bills, in this game, sometimes you
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  Speaker 2: just have to let a team give you an opportunity.
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  Speaker 2: And then it's up to you to capitalize on it.
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  Speaker 2: And they did that. Now, did they block the field
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  Speaker 2: goal that Harrison Nevis attempted that set up their opportunity
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  Speaker 2: to go down and kick the game? Any field goal? Sure.
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  Speaker 2: And they deserve credit for that. But If you look
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  Speaker 2: at this from a statistical standpoint, not a usual Bills game.
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  Speaker 2: Josh Allen only threw 19 passes. They leaned heavily on
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  Speaker 2: the ground, which is exactly what I wanted them to do.
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  Speaker 2: Lean on James Cook, but he fumbles in overtime. He
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  Speaker 2: has a fumbling problem.
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  Speaker 1: The shots of him on the bench and his face,
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  Speaker 1: I just felt for him.
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  Speaker 2: I watched a shot of him walking off the field
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  Speaker 2: into the tunnel, and he looked like the saddest man
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  Speaker 2: in America. And they won. Yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 1: Thank God they won for him. Like, for his sake.
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  Speaker 2: Softened the blow a little bit. Josh Allen going for
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  Speaker 2: 121 yards on the ground.
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  Speaker 1: He is.
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  Speaker 2: the superstar that we know him to be. And he
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  Speaker 2: was able to propel them to victory. But man, talk
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  Speaker 2: about a wild game. It's not one of those wins
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  Speaker 2: that really makes me think, all right, you should move
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  Speaker 2: up that much in the rankings. But just one of
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  Speaker 2: those games where it's like, this was entertaining and the
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  Speaker 2: result was what it was. Let's all move forward.
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  Speaker 1: And the fact that this was Josh Allen's first career
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  Speaker 1: overtime win. How is that possible?
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  Speaker 2: Well, there's been a lot of overtime losses to the Chiefs.
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  Speaker 2: That's fair.
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  Speaker 1: He was previously 0-7. So he finally breaks that streak,
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  Speaker 1: gets the win. So there they are. Let's go to
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  Speaker 1: another one of the undefeated teams in the league. We
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  Speaker 1: have the Vikings at 5-0. They maintain their flawless record.
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  Speaker 1: They kind of grinded out this win over the Saints.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. You can consider this, I don't know if
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  Speaker 2: I would say it's an olive branch, it's a mea
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  Speaker 2: culpa to Vikings fans who... have been understandably after me
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  Speaker 2: for not putting them in the top 10 in recent weeks.
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  Speaker 2: You don't say. Even though they're undefeated. This was the
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  Speaker 2: first time where I felt it was warranted to put
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  Speaker 2: them in the top 10 because they actually generated some
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  Speaker 2: offense for the first time basically all year. Kyler Murray
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  Speaker 2: looked a lot more comfortable in the offense, especially in
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  Speaker 2: the second half. Good to see him connect with Justin
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  Speaker 2: Jefferson for a touchdown, and good for Jefferson to do
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  Speaker 2: it in New Orleans, his home state of Louisiana. And again,
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  Speaker 2: this defense is special. This is a defense that I
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  Speaker 2: think by the end of the season, if all things
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  Speaker 2: stay the same and they stay healthy, we're going to
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  Speaker 2: look back on it and be like, that was one
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  Speaker 2: of the best defenses we've seen in the last 10 years.
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  Speaker 2: That's how good they are. Brian Flores has no regard
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  Speaker 2: for convention. whatsoever. He's just like, I'm going to blitz.
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  Speaker 2: 11 of the first 12 opportunities, he sent the blitz
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  Speaker 2: like he's playing Madden. And it worked! And it continues
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  Speaker 2: to work for this team. The problem is those who
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  Speaker 2: watch these games and then go watch Rams-Bills may feel
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  Speaker 2: like the Vikings are a lesser team because they're not
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  Speaker 2: as explosive offensively. Well, there's a reason that there's three
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  Speaker 2: phases to the game. And the Vikings have a championship
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  Speaker 2: level defense. If their offense can continue on this path,
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  Speaker 2: they will continue to win. They will continue to climb.
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  Speaker 2: And then Vikings fans will finally get off my back. Yeah, hey,
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  Speaker 2: that's great.
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  Speaker 1: That's what we're all looking for here.
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  Speaker 2: Minnesota people are supposed to be nice.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. Midwest nice. They're up four spots. I feel like
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  Speaker 1: that should make them happy. And the fact that their
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  Speaker 1: team has a bye and they have a perfect record.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: Everyone can just, you know, have a nice week of relaxation.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go to the Broncos at 3-2. Big win over
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  Speaker 1: the Chargers. Yes, this is not the Chargers team that
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  Speaker 1: everyone expected them to be coming into the year.
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  Speaker 2: The 0-5 Chargers.
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  Speaker 1: But a divisional opponent, if you are going to compete,
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  Speaker 1: you need to beat the teams that are on your
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  Speaker 1: schedule and definitely.
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  Speaker 2: In your division. And they did. And congratulations. I commend
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  Speaker 2: you for getting the victory, Denver Broncos fans.
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  Speaker 1: That feels like a gold star that's I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: Doesn't have a lot behind it. It's one of the
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  Speaker 2: gold stars that you put on your thumb and you
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: stick on the forehead. Yes. Good job. A little bit
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  Speaker 2: of sarcasm.
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  Speaker 1: What did you think of the play calling in that game?
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: Oh, well, I think the entire sideline operation was pretty chaotic.
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  Speaker 2: Sean Payton taking over play calling and getting very angry
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  Speaker 2: at all of his assistant coaches at one point late
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  Speaker 2: in the game. The operation pre-snap was a little messy
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  Speaker 2: as well, especially when there was a goal-to-go situation, and
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: then they just decided to burn all the clock before
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: deciding what to do and then calling a timeout. There
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: was a time where they called a timeout and then
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: got to delay a game out of the timeout, which
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: is just unacceptable. Now, I'm not penalizing them for that.
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: I'm penalizing them for the fact that they finished with
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  Speaker 2: 224 net yards and Bo Nix had 123 passing yards.
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  Speaker 2: And this offense had no life. And that four of
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: their five scoring drives began in Chargers territory. There is
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: strength in this team. It is on their defense. And
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  Speaker 2: until they figure it out offensively, they're going to be
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: a team that I remain skeptical about. And I'm just
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: going to stick by that. But So they moved down
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  Speaker 2: because some other teams moved up.
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  Speaker 1: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: But when you think about wins, like wins to be
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  Speaker 2: proud of, every win counts the same. But if I'm
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: a Broncos fan, I'm not necessarily proud of this. I
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: think they're pretty honest with themselves about the current state
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  Speaker 2: of their offense and hoping for better results.
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  Speaker 1: I think that if the results were the other way around,
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  Speaker 1: this would be a massive problem. There would be chaos
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  Speaker 1: with the fan base because they had to get this win.
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  Speaker 1: It's like a weighted win, you know, when you're grading
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  Speaker 1: things on a curve a little bit. Yeah. Okay, so
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  Speaker 1: that is the top eight teams. Coming up, though, hey,
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Drake May. We talked about the Patriots last week. Have
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  Speaker 1: they officially figured things out?
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  Speaker 2: Maybe. Maybe.
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  Speaker 1: Where do the Packers land, too, after their win over
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  Speaker 1: the Bears? The answer is we have a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: them coming up next. We'll be right back. Back here
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: on NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer. Teams 9 through 16.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so the Bengals, they remain unchanged at 9.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: The Pats shoot up the rankings, up 8 spots. They're
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  Speaker 1: at number 10. The Lions up 5 spots. The Rams
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: up 1. Bears down 3 at 13. Panthers remain unchanged
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: at 14. Same as the Falcons at 15. And then
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: the Packers up 11 spots. They're in a brand new tier.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: They're at 16. We'll get to them in a minute.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Let's go to the Patriots because we're going to shine
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: a spotlight on them. Drake May, five touchdowns in this
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  Speaker 1: game after last week the sky was falling. Where are
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: you on Drake May and this Patriots offense?
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Some are saying that this is a resurgence that's even
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: greater than the Revolutionary War.
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: Wow, some people.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Oh, my gosh. They just really turned it around. The
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: guerrilla warfare in that one. The offensive explosion with the Patriots.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: It's been a fantastic two-week stretch for Drake May, who
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: suddenly looks exactly like the guy we thought he was.
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: Near the end of last season, I won't say actually
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: at the end of last season because the playoffs were
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: a little rocky for him, and they were incredibly productive.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: 536 yards of total offense. I believe it was the
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: most in Mike Vrabel's tenure as head coach. They detonated
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: the Raiders. The Raiders had no response, no answer. It's
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: a perfect way to put it. Yeah, I mean, just vaporize.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: There are no more Raiders after playing the Patriots this week.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Everything worked for them. It was one of those games
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: that when you went back and watched it, you're just like, wow.
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: They can't do anything wrong. Yeah. And I think it's
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: a little bit misleading because this is still the NFL.
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: It's a week-to-week league. But, wow, what a turnaround for
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: the Patriots in the last two weeks. And the best
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: part about this is it wasn't just the massive offensive output.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: The defense.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: It was the defense. It was guys like Elijah Ponder
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: making plays. It's the Vrabel defense that we saw last
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: year where you saw the elevation of guys that maybe
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: you didn't even really pay attention to. Caleb on chase on,
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: for example, had a great year last year with them.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: They just find a way to get it done as
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: a group. And they had an impressive win here. So
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: we'll see. We'll see if it's the next step toward
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: them being great again or not.
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: That defense let up 35 points to the Jags. They
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: got rocked. Everyone was in panic mode. And now it
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: feels like things are just leveling out a little bit.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: So really happy for New England fans.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: In the last two weeks, 21 spots they've climbed.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's go to the Lions, who they are up
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: five spots. And... Look, Jared Goff, he has been so good,
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: maybe one of the most consistent, and has not thrown
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: an interception yet this season. They're your number 11 team.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: How are you feeling the fact that you put them.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Up these five spots? Good about them. I mean, the
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Lions have a very clear way to win football games,
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: which is just run the offense through Jameer Gibbs, let
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Jared Goff cook. and spread the ball around to as
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: many pass catchers. And that's what they did. And they
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: took care of business against a Cardinals team that is
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: getting worse by the week. This is exactly what you
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: expect from a Lions team that believes they should be
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: back in the playoffs. Go in there, take care of business,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: dominate a team that you're better than. That's what they did.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: That's what they did indeed. I mean, the fact that
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: they bounced back, it was just that the 45-21 over Arizona.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: The defense played well. That's big for them. But again,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: could be fool's gold against the Cardinals. That's true.
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: Let's go to, and by the way, they have a
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: bye week, so they get to... Chillax a little bit,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: hopefully get some of their guys back as well. Let's
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: go to the Rams up one spot after their loss
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: to the Bills on Monday Night Football. And they really,
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: they bounced back, or they didn't bounce back. It was
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: frustrating for a lot of Rams fans, I think. What
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: do you figure out for them, especially with their special
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: teams right now?
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's the biggest concern with this team, as we know.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: It's been an issue for them for more than a year,
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: and it's already prompted a kicker change. which is understandable,
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: but it's about the entire unit, not just the kicker.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: It's also about the coach's management of endgame situations. This
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: was setting up to be a pretty big landmark win
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: for the Rams.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: This was a theme for all of Week 5, by
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: the way.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: Yes, it was. Just gross. Gross endgame management everywhere. And
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Sean McVay, you expect, being such a good coach, he
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: wouldn't do that, and yet he managed to find a
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: way to do that, playing a little too conservatively. leaving
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: James Cook speechless and also giving the Bills an opportunity
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: to come back and win that game in overtime. This
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: is the latest loss that they're going to look at
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: and go, wow, we should have won that one. And
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: eventually those start to pile up. They have things that
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: they need to clean up. They're still a good football team.
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: They have an explosive offense. Puka Nakua going crazy. Him
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: and Devonta Adams still the receiving duo that we expected
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: them to be. Matthew Stafford better. Still a little bit
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: sloppy at times, but a lot better this week than
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: he's been for most of this season. Like, man, you
• 17:26
  Speaker 2: really got to clean up the endgame scenarios.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, that is the biggest thing for them.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: They got to close out these games. Let's go to
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: the Packers here. With this right now, when you look
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: at the Packers, up 11 spots at 16 points. They
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: delivered a statement performance, I would say, against one of
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: their biggest rivals in the Bears. Where do you put
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: this dominant win in terms of what you saw in
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Week 5?
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Well, it's funny because you go into this Week 5
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: and everyone's like, oh, the Bears are going to dominate
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: the Packers. Ben Johnson's quarterback proof. We even made those
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: assertions here and there, right? And yet, I looked at
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: it and thought, rivalry game, Packers are due to actually
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: figure something out, and did they ever figure it out.
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: They were airing it out all day. Matt LaFleur had
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: no respect for Chicago's back end of their secondary and
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: just decided to chuck it deep over and over again.
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: There was a sequence in which Christian Watson catches a
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: great touchdown pass down the middle of the field, and
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: it followed a pass that was called back by an
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: offensive pass interference. Uh-huh. First play right after, he's just like,
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: go deep again. We don't care. We're going to test
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: this secondary all day. And it worked out, producing a
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: 360-yard game for Jordan Love, who I felt finally got
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: back to who he is. He seemed inconsistent, maybe a
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: little bit uncomfortable under the weight of having to carry
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: the whole offense. The running game is still not good.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: The defense was very good. And that's the most important part,
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: I think, of this entire operation, is if they can
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: balance a deep shot passing attack with a defense that
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: can harass an opposing quarterback, then they can be a
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: good football team. And look at that. They're 3-2. They
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: have the same record as the Bears. And last week,
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: I considered them to be very different teams. Wow.
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: How much do you think Matt LaFleur loved that post-game
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: handshake with Ben Johnson?
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: I think he probably saw the slow-mo replay of Ben
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Johnson's long stare. Like, you know, there's an awkward moment
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: in handshakes, and he's just Hold the stare and continue walking,
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: but hold the stare. Stiff jaw. You know, clenched because
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: he's angry.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: It's one of my favorite things to watch.
• 19:17
  Speaker 2: Revel in that until they play next week.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And, hey, they're going to play on Christmas. So
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: we'll get to see that on December 25th. And also
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: they have a big game coming up against the Cowboys
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: this week. So everybody buckle up for that one.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: More points.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: All right, coming up, we have our Cowboys. We're going
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: to talk about them. Ever going to figure out things?
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Come on. I mean, I hope not, but that's just me. Plus,
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: there's a one-win team. that Nick thinks could make a
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: run for the playoffs. Find out who, next. Welcome back
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: to Power Rankings, presented by Energizer. A look at teams
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: 17 through 24 for Nick Shook. The Giants up two
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: spots at 17. The Cowboys, they fall 10 spots. They're
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: down to number 18 in the rankings. The Raiders right
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: behind them at 19, down 7. The Jets up 4
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: at 20. Then the Browns down 4. The Steelers up 3.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: The Bucks up 7 at 23. And then the Colts
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: down 2 at 24. What is going on with the Cowboys? This,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: it was a brutal home loss on Thursday night football
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay. The defense just, the cracks keep getting
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: worse and worse.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: And it only really shows up when you can't paper
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: over it with the offense, which is what they weren't
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: able to do in this game. 16 total points from
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: an explosive offense led by Dak Prescott. We saw how
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: valuable CeeDee Lamb is to this offense when he went
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: out with an injury in the fourth quarter and they
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: had to try to mount a comeback. Kamonte Turpin fumbling
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: on a return also didn't help them. They were loose
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: with the football. Their chances of coming back ended with
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: an interception that was more unfortunate than anything. And there's
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: a reason to be highly concerned because when you can
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: only win in one way and that one way doesn't
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: work against a team that was winless that everybody expected
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: you to beat, you should be really worried about where
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: this team is right now. We'll see if they bounce back.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I think that the incompetence that we've
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: seen from the other three teams in the NFC East
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: gives all of the NFC East teams cover somehow.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Everybody's got time to figure it out.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: Exactly right. Let's go to the Steelers. They're up three spots,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: number 22. They had a convincing win. over the Colts,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: but the Colts are kind of a mess, so I
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: don't know how much stock you put into that. The defense, though,
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: for the Steelers stepped up when they needed it.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Do you remember in baseball how the San Francisco Giants
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: won a World Series in every even year from like 10, 12, 14?
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I think the Steelers are an odd week team because
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: every odd-numbered week they play really well. They put a
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: ton of points on the Bengals. They put a ton
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: of points on the Colts. They couldn't put as many
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: points on the Browns. And so ultimately what we find
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: is a team that I don't really know what to
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: think about them right now. Aaron Rodgers is very strong
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: on odd weeks. He looks comfortable in most games. This
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: is a defense that's bad. The Colts' defense is bad.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: So it was one of those examples of, look, this
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: team can find success against lesser defenses. And when you
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: look at the Steelers as an entire unit, their defense
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: tends to be aggressive. Most importantly for me, Jalen Warren.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: He ran the ball through Jalen Warren. You just run
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: the entire offense through Jalen Warren. and you're usually going
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: to find some success.
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: I think that that's a good plan. Pittsburgh, though, right
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: now on the heels of Baltimore in the AFC North race.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: They're 3-0 at home, 0-2 on the road, and their
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: next two games are on the road. So we'll see
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: if that alternating week situation, that trend, if it holds.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Let's go to... Let's take a look at the... 25
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: through 32 teams.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: In your rankings. The Texans, they're down two at 25. Eagles,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: down five. And our researcher, Ben McWilliams, says they're six
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: spots too high at number 26. The Saints at 27.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Commanders at 28. Dolphins, 29. Chargers up one spot at 30.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: The Cardinals, down five spots at 31. And then the
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: Titans at 32. But the Eagles, shook. Another bad loss
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: for the Eagles. They've lost three in a row after
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: starting 2-0. And this one was spectacularly....
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Terrible. But I don't hold it against them because they
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: played hard. They have every reason in the world to
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: not play hard and to lose by many points to
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: this team, to the Jaguars. They have injuries all over
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: the place. Their right tackle, who's a franchise legend, retired.
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: They had traded away their starting center, who they had
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: moved to guard out of necessity. This is a team
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: that should have gotten dominated, and yet they fought. For
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: four quarters, they fought. They got some advantageous breaks with
• 23:36
  Speaker 2: the Jags not being able to get points in scoring
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: opportunities because of their special team situation. And then it
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: all falls apart in the final seven seconds. it's probably
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: the most heartbreaking and crushing loss of the season for
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: an Eagles team that really couldn't afford to take one
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: of those right now. No, I'm very fascinated to see
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: how they bounce back or if they do at all.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: That's what I was going to ask you. Do you
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: expect them? How do you expect them to recalibrate from this?
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: And do you, I mean, you got to learn how
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: to manage that last seven seconds better, but it's find
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: the good in what happened in this game and hope that,
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: you know, before long you can get healthier and kind
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: of get back to who you are. There's just so
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: many things that they have to, figure out offensively right
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: now that they just have not been able to do.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: I mean, 232 yards of total offense, yet they were
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: in position to win a game. It's just a low-ceiling
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: operation right now.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, that was an Eagles-heavy crowd in London, even
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: though it was a Jags home game, but the Jags,
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: they get the win, and now the Eagles will need
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: to try and pivot and figure out how to fix things,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: but Your rankings, they are set for this week, and
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: we're going to do it all again next week.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: We're going to fix them.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Nick, thank you so much. And gang, thanks so much
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: for watching. We'll do it all again, same place, same
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: time next week. NFL Power Rankings is a production of
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: your podcasts.