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#9: Are the Cowboys a top-5 team? · NFL Power Rankings

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Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 2: Let's get ready to rank some teams. We're basically at
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Speaker 2: the midway point of the season. Hope you had a
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Speaker 2: great weekend. Hope you're looking forward to week number nine already,
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Speaker 2: and we welcome you to the NFL Power Rankings Show,
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Speaker 2: presented by Energizer from our studios in Los Angeles. My
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Speaker 2: name is Andrews Sosiliado. This guy over here is the
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Speaker 2: man who puts together the rankings, the man who sits
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Speaker 2: only a few miles right now from Hallas Hall, where
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Speaker 2: the Bears are trying to figure out why their fans
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Speaker 2: may or may not be happy about a trade of
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Speaker 2: a second round pick for Montes swet Eric at home.
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Speaker 3: Happy Tuesday to you.
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Speaker 4: Good Tuesday, good trade deadline Tuesday, and loss to talk
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Speaker 4: about today. A lot of movement for this late in
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Speaker 4: the season.
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Speaker 3: And we have a new number one atop the rankings.
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Speaker 2: If you were to get close to your screen right
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Speaker 2: now and scan that QR code and go to NFL,
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Speaker 2: you would find a Philadelphia Eagles not only the number
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Speaker 2: one seed in the NFC, but the number one seed
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Speaker 2: and the brand new Eric at home NFL dot Com
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Speaker 2: Power rankings. The Ravens are up to, the Dolphins are
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Speaker 2: up to, the Chiefs are down three. Look at the
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Speaker 2: Jaguars and the Cowboys and the Lions all ahead of
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Speaker 2: the San Francisco forty nine ers, who are plummeting heading
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Speaker 2: into their by with their third consecutive laws. We'll get
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Speaker 2: to them coming up shortly. Let's open, however, Eric with
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Speaker 2: your new number one, who once again need effort, a
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Speaker 2: lot of effort to beat Ron Rivera's fighting Washington Commanders.
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Speaker 2: But in the end, AJ Brown is too much. Jalen
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Speaker 2: hurts us too much, the secondary does just enough, and
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Speaker 2: they hang on, why are they the best team in football?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, well they certainly have one of the best players
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Speaker 4: in football, and yeah, Hurts will be on that list,
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Speaker 4: But I think AJJ. Brown has to be on that list.
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Speaker 4: I don't know if there's an MVP candidate as a
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Speaker 4: quarterback this year who's just running away with the race.
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Speaker 4: So let's have Tyreek Hill in that discussion. Let's have
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Speaker 4: AJ Brown in that discussion, because if you had seen
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Speaker 4: what he's done the last six games Andrew including Sunday
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Speaker 4: when he was incredible I mean he's carried the team
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Speaker 4: after you know, the first couple of games, who weren't
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Speaker 4: sure if he was going to have that same role
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Speaker 4: he did last year. He's sort of complaining about touches,
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Speaker 4: no problem anymore. You mentioned that defense though, right, and
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Speaker 4: the secondary is a concern. They'll get Kevin Bayard into
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Speaker 4: the mix and I'm sure he'll help. Ree Blanket Ship
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Speaker 4: came up with a big play late after he had
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Speaker 4: a tough game. But you know, you have Hassan Reddick
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Speaker 4: to close out games like he did against Washington week four,
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Speaker 4: like he did against the Rams week five, and like.
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Speaker 5: He did Sunday.
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Speaker 4: It can make up for some mistakes in the first
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Speaker 4: three or first three quarters of the game.
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Speaker 5: So they held on.
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Speaker 4: It was tough, but they got it done because of
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Speaker 4: their two studs on offense and just enough on defense.
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Speaker 3: And the composite.
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Speaker 2: The last three times they had played the Commanders is
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Speaker 2: ninety four to ninety three. So that guy there Ron
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Speaker 2: has something in his bag where this game is always
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Speaker 2: going to be close with the Eagles. But is there
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Speaker 2: any concern from you, Eric, Like there is concern I
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Speaker 2: think from the Philly fan base that this team maybe
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Speaker 2: the number one team in football, but they still don't
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Speaker 2: look right. If you're a Philly fan, you're probably forgetting that.
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Speaker 2: Because James Harden got traded. There's a party in the streets.
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Speaker 2: But are you concerned?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean there's a few things that could worry you.
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Speaker 4: I mean, Jalen Hurts is playing through left knee pain.
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Speaker 4: There's no guarantee that the secondary is going to fix
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Speaker 4: all their issues. I mean, look, if they don't have
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Speaker 4: a pass rush working, and we assume that that group
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Speaker 4: would be the same sort of terrorizing unit with they
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Speaker 4: had last year, it's just not as an effective in
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Speaker 4: a group this year. So you know that there are
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Speaker 4: some pitfalls. We know Dallas could come in Sunday and
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Speaker 4: beat him. And this is a tough division.
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Speaker 5: I mean, I know that.
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Speaker 4: You know you have teams like the Commanders who can
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Speaker 4: play toe to toe with them. The Giants can beat
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Speaker 4: the Commanders. There's a lot of close battles within that division.
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Speaker 4: And you're I mean, I think the Eagles look good.
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Speaker 4: I wouldn't say that they look like world beaters.
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Speaker 3: At this point.
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Speaker 2: And as you mentioned, they get the Cowboys this week,
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Speaker 2: the first of a schedule two week fourteen the game
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Speaker 2: will be in Dallas.
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Speaker 3: So the Eagles are one.
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Speaker 2: Look at who is number two, the baltam More Ravens
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Speaker 2: future champions pretended by FanDuel. What if I told you
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Speaker 2: the Ravens are sitting there at plus twelve hundred, the
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Speaker 2: six best odds to win the entire thing. If you
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Speaker 2: thought they were gonna, you know, be facing a trap game,
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Speaker 2: a letdown game whatever. In Arizona this past week, after
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Speaker 2: blowing out the Lions, think again.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, they give the Cardinals credit.
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Speaker 2: They hung in there for a little bit, but in
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Speaker 2: the end, Lamar pins his foot on the gash, throws
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Speaker 2: one legged touchdown passes and they pull away.
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Speaker 4: And really, you know, they didn't need a monster game
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Speaker 4: from Lamar like they saw against Detroit Offensive player of
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Speaker 4: the Week and all that. I mean, this week it
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Speaker 4: looked like he was just sort of sitting back, wasn't
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Speaker 4: running all that much, almost in a rocking chair, delivering
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Speaker 4: passes to his receivers. So it was a perfect week
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Speaker 4: from that standpoint. Lamar didn't get hit, but she didn't
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Speaker 4: get hurt. He was just able to kind of divvy
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Speaker 4: up the ball and get it to their playmakers. And
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Speaker 4: you know, obviously they're growing offensively, and the score looked
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Speaker 4: a little closer. You'd like to see them avoid those
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Speaker 4: special teams mistakes missfield goal, couldn't get the on side
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Speaker 4: kick there, or the first of the two on side kicks,
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Speaker 4: I should say, But you know, all in all, I
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Speaker 4: thought they did their job. They went on the road
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Speaker 4: and took care of an opponent that's been tougher for
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Speaker 4: some teams than you might expect in a one in
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Speaker 4: seven team. So you know, if they could find that
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Speaker 4: run game for four quarters, we saw it really flourished late.
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Speaker 4: It's a dangerous, dangerous team as we know. I think
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Speaker 4: they're better than the six best odds to win the
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Speaker 4: Super Bowl personally, but still got some big games coming up.
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Speaker 5: For sure.
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Speaker 2: I'll say this, I think Lamar Jackson and the stats
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Speaker 2: may not back me up here, but just look the
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Speaker 2: tape and look at the throws he makes, and look
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Speaker 2: at the patience he has in the pocket, look at
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Speaker 2: the accuracy he has after being patient in the pocket.
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Speaker 2: I think he's playing better than MVP Lamar. He's playing
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Speaker 2: that well. He's living up to the contract. And with
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Speaker 2: all their injuries, with losing JK. Dobbins right out of
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Speaker 2: the gate with everything they've dealt with, especially in September
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Speaker 2: on the offensive line, Look where they are. They are
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Speaker 2: the six best odds right now and the number two
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Speaker 2: team in your power rankings. They are ahead of the
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Speaker 2: Dolphins who are sitting there at three.
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Speaker 3: The Dolphins had a huge.
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Speaker 2: Game coming up in Germany on NFL Network and NFL
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Speaker 2: Plus nine to thirty Eastern time. Guten Morgan to Frankfurt
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Speaker 2: for week number nine and they face the Kansas City
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Speaker 2: Chiefs Eric who are down three. They were one, now
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Speaker 2: they are four, and they look mortal, almost like that
6:57
Speaker 2: scene and I think it was Superman two. What is it,
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Speaker 2: you know when Clark kentson the diner and he punches
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Speaker 2: the dude. He looks at his hand and he's bleeding
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Speaker 2: and he can't can't figure out how and why that's them?
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Speaker 4: I guess, yeah, I mean, you know, great, And Mahomes
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Speaker 4: was ill this weekend, said he was dealing with some
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Speaker 4: kind of a bug. But it's not like he's been
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Speaker 4: as dialed in as we expect. He's on pace for
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Speaker 4: seventeen interceptions would be a career high. You know, I
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Speaker 4: didn't think he played well Sunday. The offensive line probably
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Speaker 4: had its worst game. They've kept him up right for
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Speaker 4: the most part. That really wasn't the case. How much
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Speaker 4: of mahomes mobility was part of that, I don't know
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Speaker 4: the answer, but I do know that his receivers have
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Speaker 4: let him down and he's let his team down at times.
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Speaker 5: Look, I mean, I hate to say it, because I
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Speaker 5: think he's the best.
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Speaker 4: Quarterback in the NFL l all things considered, but lately
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Speaker 4: it just hasn't been quite the same. Maybe it is
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Speaker 4: going to take a trip overseas to kind of clear
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Speaker 4: out the system a little bit. We saw Jacksonville do
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Speaker 4: that and really kind of kickstart their season against City's
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Speaker 4: won plenty of games. I'm not saying they're in entire trouble.
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Speaker 4: I'm just saying all of a sudden, things don't look
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Speaker 4: quite right and they've got to fix it.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, they do have to fix in. And this is
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Speaker 2: a great game on international stage. I mean, this would
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Speaker 2: be a headlining game wherever it was played, whether it's
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Speaker 2: Miami or Kansas City.
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Speaker 3: It's going to be played in Frankfort.
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Speaker 2: We're thrilled that this game is on NFL Network in
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Speaker 2: NFL Plus, it's going to be fantastic. It is one
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Speaker 2: of those that, yes, is very much worth getting up
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Speaker 2: early and rearranging your Sunday schedule to see. The Chiefs
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Speaker 2: are four, the Jaguars are five. They are on a
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Speaker 2: by the Cowboys are up to and as they prepare
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Speaker 2: to go to Philly, Eric they do so off a
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Speaker 2: resounding victory here. I mean just they blew the doors
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Speaker 2: off the Rams. Everything went their way in the first quarter.
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Speaker 2: You know, it could have had a three and out early,
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Speaker 2: but the penalty took back an Aaron Donald sack and
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Speaker 2: then they just cruise. I mean they look better, honestly
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Speaker 2: than the number sixteen.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, this was their most complete performance of the season arguably.
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Speaker 4: I mean, right, they've won by bigger margins. We saw
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Speaker 4: the blowout in week one. We saw them dominate the
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Speaker 4: Jets week two at home.
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Speaker 5: But it was.
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Speaker 4: Offense, it was defense, it was special teams, and I
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Speaker 4: don't know that you could pick a one unit that
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Speaker 4: was better than the mess maybe the offense. Right, This
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Speaker 4: is the group that we probably said was the one
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Speaker 4: kind of I don't want to say weakness, but the
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Speaker 4: one sort of shortcoming they had because every week you
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Speaker 4: didn't know what to expect. Out of the pass game.
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Speaker 4: The run game has been inconsistent. But Dak and Ceedee
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Speaker 4: lamb to me, I want to get your opinion on it,
9:28
Speaker 4: but that's as dialed in as I can remember them.
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Speaker 4: And if they can become that pair that really threatens defenses,
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Speaker 4: I think it makes them a whole different animal to
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Speaker 4: deal with. So we saw that, especially in that second
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Speaker 4: quarter blitz. They looked like a Super Bowl caliber team,
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Speaker 4: at least for you know, twenty minutes of the.
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Speaker 2: Game, and they took advantage of some pretty inexperience, some
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Speaker 2: young Rams corners, and to their credit, they eight and
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Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford got knocked out. He wasn't playing in the
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Speaker 2: second half, at least after the two point conversion. Brent
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Speaker 2: ripping all the way and they kept their foot on
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Speaker 2: the gas. And now they go to Philadelphia and I said,
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Speaker 2: they look better than the number umber sixteen. Eric, I'm
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Speaker 2: not gonna hold you to this, but what happens if
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Speaker 2: they beat your number one team, the Eagles on Sunday?
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Speaker 4: Presents an interesting situation, does it. I Mean, we've got
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Speaker 4: this glut of six and two teams in the AFC,
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Speaker 4: but what about the NFC side. San Francisco's falling out
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Speaker 4: of it. Now, Philly is kind of the one team
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Speaker 4: left standing.
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Speaker 5: With the one loss.
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Speaker 4: But if Dallas beats him and kind of puts the
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Speaker 4: ghost of San Francisco by and all of a sudden,
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Speaker 4: you take this team a lot more seriously and they'd
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Speaker 4: be in the running for number one next week, depending
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Speaker 4: on how they play.
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Speaker 2: All right, let's fast forward a bit. We have the
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Speaker 2: Lions at seven. They are heading into a bye after
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Speaker 2: their big win on Monday night, And if you look
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Speaker 2: at the schedules here and we have the whole second
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Speaker 2: half of the season to break this one down, I
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Speaker 2: think the Lions have a clear path to the number
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Speaker 2: one seed in the NFC because their schedule sets up nicely,
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Speaker 2: I think compared to the gauntlet the Eagles have in
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Speaker 2: the second half of the season. Then we get to
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Speaker 2: the forty nine at number eight. They're heading into a
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Speaker 2: buy with a three game losing streak. And let's pull
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Speaker 2: the curtain back on when we prepare this show. This
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Speaker 2: is in the middle of the trade deadline Tuesday. Eric,
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Speaker 2: I'm breaking news to you. The forty nine Ers, according
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Speaker 2: to our Ian Rappaport, have just traded for Chase Young
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Speaker 2: in exchange, they are sending Washington a compensatory three. You
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Speaker 2: have the Niners at eight again, a three game losing streak,
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Speaker 2: but they are now adding Chase Young to put on
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Speaker 2: the other side of Nick Bosa.
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Speaker 4: Not bad, right, I mean Bosa has admitted that his
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Speaker 4: contract situation has holed in, probably has cost him a
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Speaker 4: little juice early in the season as he ramps up.
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Speaker 5: You know, they went out and.
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Speaker 4: Got Randy Gregory, they drafted Drake Jackson last year. I mean,
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Speaker 4: they've thrown a lot of assets at that position, but
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Speaker 4: it hasn't really resulted in the kind of pressure they expect.
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Speaker 4: I mean, our grave helps inside, so just another piece
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Speaker 4: is becoming more and more like what we saw with
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Speaker 4: the Eagles last year, where they can mix and match,
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Speaker 4: you know, kick guys inside if need be on passing down. So, yeah,
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Speaker 4: Chase Young has played well this year, motivated, wanting that contract,
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Speaker 4: you know, possibly wanting to be moved. This is a
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Speaker 4: fascinating spot and the Niners are kind of taking a
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Speaker 4: page out of the Rams book here.
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Speaker 5: Let's let's use our draft assets to give players.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, and they've had so many compensatory threes over the
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Speaker 2: last couple of years, right, flip those picks. Now that
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Speaker 2: you can trade compensatory threes. It used to be that
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Speaker 2: you couldn't. And normally a compensatory three is right around
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Speaker 2: pick like one oh two to one ten in that window.
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Speaker 2: The Niners the last couple of weeks have had trouble
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Speaker 2: even with all that talent you just listed getting.
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Speaker 3: To the opposing quarterback.
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Speaker 2: Now you add Chase Young, look out and also look
12:57
Speaker 2: for NFL films inside. The NFL had a great thing
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Speaker 2: this week where Nick Bosa hugs it out with his
13:02
Speaker 2: former college teammate Joe Burr.
13:04
Speaker 3: After the game.
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Speaker 2: It said, great game, great game, but man, our bye
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Speaker 2: week is now going to be a bleep because of
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Speaker 2: you with the three Dame losing streak. Well, now they've
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Speaker 2: added Chase Young and we have thirty two teams to rank.
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Speaker 3: Eight of them are down.
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Speaker 2: Coming up next on the NFL Power Ranking Show. If
13:24
Speaker 2: you have not seen your team, where is your team?
13:29
Speaker 2: The big unveil continues. All right, you're watching the NFL
13:40
Speaker 2: Power Ranking Show presented to you by Energizer. The Buffalo
13:45
Speaker 2: Bills after a TANF victory and the Mini by are
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Speaker 2: number nine, followed by the Seahawks, who just beat the
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Speaker 2: Browns who are twelve in between them, the Bengals who
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Speaker 2: are eleven, who won in San Francisco, the Jets somehow
13:57
Speaker 2: pulled that off, the Saints, the Steelers, and the Houston Texans.
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Speaker 3: Everybody.
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Speaker 2: Let's open up here, Eric at home with the Seahawks.
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Speaker 2: They not only beat the Browns on Monday, they added
14:12
Speaker 2: Leonard Williams, given the Giants, among other things.
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Speaker 3: A two.
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Speaker 2: Tell me why for you they're a top ten team
14:21
Speaker 2: now leading the NFC West.
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Speaker 5: Well, certainly adding Williams is a big deal.
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Speaker 4: I mean, they you know, they've they've tried to bolster
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Speaker 4: that front, and now you've got this sort of weird
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Speaker 4: manifest destiny thing happening with Jase Young going to San Francisco, Williams,
14:35
Speaker 4: both guys leaving the NFC East going to the NFC West.
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Speaker 5: And you know, both the.
14:39
Speaker 4: Forty nine Ers and the Seahawks struggled offensively Sunday. I mean,
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Speaker 4: the Seahawks were able to get it don thanks to
14:45
Speaker 4: their defense kind of clamping down late but adding more firepower. Now,
14:50
Speaker 4: you know, the hope is that the pressures off Geno
14:52
Speaker 4: spit a little bit. He hasn't been the same level
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Speaker 4: of effectiveness as last year, but the run game still works.
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Speaker 4: They've kind of weathered their O line issues. So look,
15:00
Speaker 4: it was a good win Sunday with they a little
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Speaker 4: bit lucky, absolutely, but sitting top the NFC West all
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Speaker 4: of a sudden, you know, the forty nine ers kind
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Speaker 4: of in a little mini free fall. They have to
15:09
Speaker 4: feel good about their position even with tough games ahead.
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Speaker 5: I mean Baltimore Dallas.
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Speaker 4: Two against the Niners, lots of copper still.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, the way the balance of power shifts within a
15:19
Speaker 2: couple of minutes in the division there with PJ. Walker
15:22
Speaker 2: throwing that pick on third and three could have ended
15:24
Speaker 2: the game. Browns could have beaten the Seahawks there, and
15:26
Speaker 2: then with with Logan Wilson's pick and with the Brock
15:29
Speaker 2: Purtty turnovers there at the same time as the Niners
15:32
Speaker 2: were battling the Bengals, and then bam, the next morning
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Speaker 2: you trade for Leonard Williams and the Seahawks go.
15:38
Speaker 3: Yep, we truly are all in.
15:42
Speaker 2: The Seahawks there at ten, the Bengals are at eleven,
15:45
Speaker 2: and the Bengals are Our Team of the Week presented
15:49
Speaker 2: by Truest we've seen this movie before.
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Speaker 3: Eric.
15:54
Speaker 2: The people in Cincinnati always hate the beginning of the movie,
15:59
Speaker 2: but they love the middle of the movie where they
16:03
Speaker 2: get up off the matt and play really good football
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Speaker 2: and they're back.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, this is it right here, and they're getting to
16:12
Speaker 4: the good part of the movie right now. Joe Burrow
16:14
Speaker 4: may have been down and out, but I don't know
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Speaker 4: who they got behind the scenes, mister Miagi with the
16:19
Speaker 4: hands together or something like that. If he had any
16:22
Speaker 4: questions about whether his calf was okay after last week.
16:24
Speaker 4: It was certainly answered Sunday. And it was about five
16:27
Speaker 4: or six plays into the game. He wiggles out of
16:29
Speaker 4: a sack, throws Eric arms Stead down, shakes Bosa, and
16:35
Speaker 4: drills a dome to t Higgins on the sideline. I
16:37
Speaker 4: mean that was just like, Okay, not only is he back,
16:41
Speaker 4: but the team is back. The offense as a swagger.
16:43
Speaker 4: Higgins has been up and down. He's now rolling along
16:46
Speaker 4: pretty well. Chase his dominant, even Joe Mixon too. I mean,
16:49
Speaker 4: that was a big story coming into the game, was
16:52
Speaker 4: his lack of effect in this round game wasn't adding much,
16:54
Speaker 4: so they chuck checked off a ton of boxes in
16:57
Speaker 4: that game, played great situational defense andrew the three turnovers
17:02
Speaker 4: all kind of deep in their zone. That's what Leuno
17:05
Speaker 4: has sort of become known for. So I don't know,
17:07
Speaker 4: it's just trending in the right direction. I was giving
17:09
Speaker 4: them that sort of leap of faith putting him at
17:12
Speaker 4: eighteen or twenty when they were still below five hundred.
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Speaker 4: Don't have to worry about those excuses anymore.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, he's got a squagger back and lou Anarumo's defense.
17:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, you want to.
17:22
Speaker 2: Go Assistant of the week, I'll go lou An Arumo
17:25
Speaker 2: for the way his defense played. And they went into
17:29
Speaker 2: Santa Clara. Yeah, the Niners had a short week and
17:32
Speaker 2: perty didn't practice all week. But Kyle laid down the
17:36
Speaker 2: gauntlet on Monday night on the podium after they lost
17:38
Speaker 2: in Minnesota, said it right then and there before they
17:40
Speaker 2: got back on the plane, we need to win this week.
17:43
Speaker 2: I didn't call it a must win, he said we
17:45
Speaker 2: need to win this week. We cannot go into the
17:48
Speaker 2: by losing three in a row. And they go into
17:51
Speaker 2: the by losing three and zero. So the Bengals are
17:55
Speaker 2: sitting there at eleven. The Browns fall two, they are twelve.
17:59
Speaker 2: They have a major quarterback issue. The Jets have a
18:02
Speaker 2: quarterback issue that they summ how battled through and won again,
18:07
Speaker 2: and they beat the Giants. They beat the Giants when
18:10
Speaker 2: this game was over in a downpour, without anyone in
18:14
Speaker 2: the interior of their offensive line. I don't know how
18:17
Speaker 2: they did it, but Eric, they have one three in
18:20
Speaker 2: a row, and you have them above the playoff line
18:23
Speaker 2: at thirteen.
18:26
Speaker 4: Look, you know it wasn't pretty style points put him
18:29
Speaker 4: to the side, right.
18:30
Speaker 5: They probably should have lost that game.
18:32
Speaker 2: I think somebody didn't lose that game for all intents
18:35
Speaker 2: and purposes, except they didn't.
18:38
Speaker 4: They I think they had a point two percent chance
18:41
Speaker 4: to win it at one point, but they found one
18:44
Speaker 4: of the point dudes in there and got it done.
18:46
Speaker 4: I mean, obviously the Giants kind of helped him out
18:48
Speaker 4: quite a bit there.
18:49
Speaker 5: At the end.
18:50
Speaker 4: But you know, at the end of the season, we'll
18:52
Speaker 4: look back and that's just a w I mean, they're
18:53
Speaker 4: gonna have to find ways to scrap through anyway. We've
18:56
Speaker 4: known that since the fourth play of the season when
18:58
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers went out. It looked a little better prior
19:00
Speaker 4: to that, but I wasn't shocked. I thought the Giants
19:03
Speaker 4: would give him a hard time. Good defenses are going
19:05
Speaker 4: to kind of lean into them a little bit.
19:08
Speaker 5: We'll see.
19:08
Speaker 4: I mean, it's a little scary they had to go
19:10
Speaker 4: to overtime to beat a team with negative passing yards.
19:13
Speaker 4: But yeah, and there's some big games coming up Buffalo, Miami,
19:16
Speaker 4: et cetera this weekend against the Charters, another team kind
19:18
Speaker 4: of desperate in the same spot they are. You know,
19:21
Speaker 4: it just it's a little bit of a step back
19:23
Speaker 4: for me, even though they move up one spot.
19:25
Speaker 2: Looking at that field goal again, thought Greg Zerline missed
19:28
Speaker 2: it when it went on.
19:29
Speaker 3: That's right, Yeah, it.
19:31
Speaker 2: Looked like he missed it. Give Zach Wilson credit. He
19:33
Speaker 2: made the throws down twenty four. Truly, I don't know
19:36
Speaker 2: which which win was more improbable, that one or the
19:40
Speaker 2: one in September last year with Joe Flacco when they
19:43
Speaker 2: were down what three scores in the fourth quarter in Cleveland,
19:45
Speaker 2: they had the on side kick. It was their first
19:47
Speaker 2: on side kick they recovered since the nineties, and they
19:50
Speaker 2: won that game. This one actually seemed even more improbable.
19:55
Speaker 2: The Saints are sitting there at fourteen eric. They are
19:58
Speaker 2: making power moves presented by energizer. I don't know how
20:04
Speaker 2: you have them here because I don't know that they
20:07
Speaker 2: passed the eye test. They had their best offensive performance
20:12
Speaker 2: of the year in Indianapolis.
20:14
Speaker 5: Yep.
20:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, every weekend, Drew, I sit there in that kind
20:17
Speaker 4: of thirteen to eighteen range and say, who am I
20:20
Speaker 4: going to over promote this week?
20:22
Speaker 5: And in this case it was the Saints.
20:23
Speaker 4: Right, it just feels like there is a drop off.
20:26
Speaker 4: And it's not even rankings, even the sort of positioning
20:29
Speaker 4: from one number to the next. And this is really
20:31
Speaker 4: where the dropoff happens, thirteen fourteen and on. And look,
20:35
Speaker 4: I mean defensively, they got kind of run over a
20:37
Speaker 4: little bit by the coltspot and you have your best
20:39
Speaker 4: offensive game, as you mentioned, Taysom Hill stepped out, Alvin Kamara,
20:43
Speaker 4: Rashid Shaheed, Derek Carr had one of.
20:45
Speaker 5: His best games, and the offensive line wasn't killed. To me,
20:48
Speaker 5: that's a win.
20:49
Speaker 4: You could fix the run defense that was That's what
20:51
Speaker 4: they really needed.
20:52
Speaker 3: I thought I had. Derek Carr wasn't killed. That's a win.
20:55
Speaker 3: And they did win.
20:56
Speaker 2: And now the Colts have dropped three in a row,
20:58
Speaker 2: despite despite playing pretty well at times here without Anthony
21:04
Speaker 2: Richard said, all right, coming up, the Minnesota Vikings found
21:09
Speaker 2: a way to win, but they lost their quarterback. Where
21:12
Speaker 2: are they now that they've traded for Josh Dobbs coming
21:17
Speaker 2: up next on your NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer.
21:26
Speaker 2: NFL Power Rankings show presented by Energizers seventeen through twenty
21:30
Speaker 2: four has Atlanta, the Chargers, the Vikings, the Buccaneers up
21:36
Speaker 2: to twenty and then the Rams, the Titans, the Colts,
21:38
Speaker 2: and the Broncos to twenty four. Let's talk about the
21:43
Speaker 2: Vikings at home, because you hate what happened to Kirk
21:46
Speaker 2: Cousins out for the Achilles, playing his best football. But
21:50
Speaker 2: now they go out and they get Josh Dobbs, who
21:52
Speaker 2: likely is not going to play, likely going to be
21:54
Speaker 2: the rookie Jaron Hole this week for Kevin O'Connell. How
21:58
Speaker 2: do you find a place for them now?
22:02
Speaker 1: Tough?
22:02
Speaker 4: You know, I sort of vacillated. Put them up a
22:05
Speaker 4: little higher out of respect. Right, They've won three out
22:07
Speaker 4: of four games. Jefferson's coming back in a couple of weeks.
22:10
Speaker 4: The defense has tightened up, like a lot of good
22:12
Speaker 4: things have happened. And you mentioned Cousins, he'd been playing
22:15
Speaker 4: so well this all of a sudden was looking like
22:17
Speaker 4: a dangerous team until that Achilles injury. And you've got
22:20
Speaker 4: one week all likely Dobbs. If he can stay healthy
22:24
Speaker 4: the rest of the way, if he comes in the
22:26
Speaker 4: same sort of preparation that he did with Arizona, they're
22:28
Speaker 4: gonna be in decent shape.
22:30
Speaker 3: Yeah.
22:30
Speaker 2: I'm a big Josh Doobs fan here, but the fact
22:32
Speaker 2: is he's on his fifth team in eleven months. If
22:34
Speaker 2: you include two trips to Cleveland, it's his sixth team
22:38
Speaker 2: in eleven months. But the fact is he's probably a
22:41
Speaker 2: better option right now than the rookie Jaron Hall, whose
22:44
Speaker 2: future is bright.
22:45
Speaker 3: Phukn Nakua's quarterback at BYU.
22:47
Speaker 2: That's right, he is now No all right, Bucceteers Rams
22:50
Speaker 2: and then the Titans sitting there at twenty two, I
22:53
Speaker 2: think they found their quarterback.
22:54
Speaker 3: Will Levis.
22:56
Speaker 2: Well done, even though you eat mayonnaise, that was a
22:58
Speaker 2: heck of a start.
23:00
Speaker 4: I'm a Mayo guy, but I wasn't always a Levis guy, Andrew.
23:03
Speaker 4: I mean, look, I looked at the film of his
23:06
Speaker 4: twenty twenty one seats in.
23:08
Speaker 5: Liked a lot of it.
23:09
Speaker 4: Watched last year wasn't all that impressed, and the biggest
23:11
Speaker 4: things for me decision making, poise, accuracy. Maybe health factored
23:15
Speaker 4: in a little, but that's to me why he dropped
23:18
Speaker 4: out of the first round. But none of that was
23:20
Speaker 4: evident on Sunday. I thought he looked terrific against a
23:23
Speaker 4: defense that's been a top ten unit statistically this season.
23:25
Speaker 4: So he threw the scouting report out the window, got
23:28
Speaker 4: Hopkins involved, put some life into this team that's been
23:31
Speaker 4: so dormant. Kudos to him and if he can get
23:34
Speaker 4: to get it done on a short week this week,
23:36
Speaker 4: very impressed stuff.
23:38
Speaker 5: I really liked what I saw week Onore or his
23:40
Speaker 5: first game, I should.
23:41
Speaker 2: Say, absolutely great stuff from Jeffrey Simmons as well. Who
23:44
Speaker 2: is miked up? Is you don't like that as our guy?
23:46
Speaker 2: That guy?
23:47
Speaker 3: That kid can play all right.
23:50
Speaker 2: The rest of the rankings for those desperate to see
23:53
Speaker 2: their teams. Here on the bottom quarter, we got the Packers,
23:56
Speaker 2: the Raiders, the Commanders who are trading away both Montes
24:00
Speaker 2: Wett and Chase Young, followed by the Patriots, the Bears,
24:04
Speaker 2: the Biens, the Carolina Panthers, and the Arizona Cardinals. All right,
24:12
Speaker 2: Arizona bringing up the rear, despite the fact that, look,
24:14
Speaker 2: they fight every week here and Kyler Murray is knocking
24:18
Speaker 2: on the door, but he is not there yet. As always,
24:22
Speaker 2: send all your mail to Eric at home, find him
24:26
Speaker 2: on Twitter, and find the rankings on NFL dot com.
24:29
Speaker 3: Eric, we're halfway there. We're through Week eight.
24:32
Speaker 2: Have a great one, everybody, see you Week nine.
24:40
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