Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #19: Wild Card Weekend!

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#19: Wild Card Weekend! · NFL Power Rankings

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  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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  Speaker 1: partnership with iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings.
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  Speaker 2: Mike Am and Eric at Holme with you. It is
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  Speaker 2: a wild card edition. Looking forward to these games coming
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  Speaker 2: up this weekend. And Eric, before we get to these rankings, Man,
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  Speaker 2: I think about the field and the fact that it
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  Speaker 2: is set and yet we don't have Mahomes, we don't
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  Speaker 2: have Lamar.
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  Speaker 3: It just feels weird to me. Does it feel a
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  Speaker 3: little different to you?
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely right.
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  Speaker 5: I mean these are two game changers, right, even if
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  Speaker 5: Lamar hasn't had the same playoff success as Mahomes, either
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  Speaker 5: one of them can flip.
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  Speaker 4: A switch at any point post the real problems. So
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  Speaker 4: those two guys are out.
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  Speaker 5: There's no Joe Burrow even on the NFC side, no
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  Speaker 5: Detroit Lions. We kind of expected them to be in
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  Speaker 5: the playoff mix, just missed. So yeah, it's a different
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  Speaker 5: looking field this year. It feels wide open, especially on
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  Speaker 5: the AFC side. So you know, as much as we
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  Speaker 5: love those guys, you know, their future Hall of famers
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  Speaker 5: and all that, I think.
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  Speaker 4: It's also cool that we get some new blood going
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  Speaker 4: on here.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, there is one team in the AFC that I
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  Speaker 2: think is the most dangerous right now to make a
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  Speaker 2: push to the postseason. I will name check them as
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  Speaker 2: we get you the teams one through eight. The number
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  Speaker 2: one seed in the NFC that is the Seattle Seahawks.
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  Speaker 2: They sit at number one, the Patriots at two, the Jags.
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  Speaker 2: To me, that's that team in the AFC. If they
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  Speaker 2: get to the Super Bowl this year, I would not
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  Speaker 2: be surprised at small market team or the international team
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  Speaker 2: of the NFL London. What's good the Denver Broncos did
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  Speaker 2: to get for the Bills at five.
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  Speaker 3: The Houston Texas.
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  Speaker 2: People talk about this squad and that defense traveling stole
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  Speaker 2: some concerns, at least in my mind about their offense.
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  Speaker 2: You got the Rams at seven and the Chicago Bears
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  Speaker 2: falling one spot into that eighth position.
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  Speaker 3: All right.
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  Speaker 2: I think about this Seattle squad, Eric and the fact
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  Speaker 2: that they won this game in Santa Clara to claim
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  Speaker 2: that number one spot. The way that they look defensively
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  Speaker 2: like that Niners team. I actually give a defense that's
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  Speaker 2: banged up some kudos for what they were able to accomplish,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, kind of keep this thing competitive, but
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  Speaker 2: I think that Seattle's the most dominant team. Do you
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  Speaker 2: think they're the favorite right now to win the Super Bowl.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 5: They've got a formula, Mike that I think mirrors what
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  Speaker 5: we saw from the Eagles last year. Right A defense
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  Speaker 5: that can absolutely swarm, especially upfront, you know, bet players
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  Speaker 5: on the back end as well. On offense, they've got
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  Speaker 5: the two headed rushing attack of you know, vertical passing
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  Speaker 5: game all that, so it sort of feels the same.
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  Speaker 5: And you know, I just don't know if they have
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  Speaker 5: a glaring weakness beyond turnovers. Really that's you know, they
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  Speaker 5: had eight and the three losses they had this year
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  Speaker 5: and I believe twenty eight overall this season. So a
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  Speaker 5: little prone to giving the ball away and that's the
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  Speaker 5: one thing that might hold him back. Look, Jason Myers
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  Speaker 5: had a rough game in San Francisco, but you know
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  Speaker 5: he's been really good all season. So unless the special teams,
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  Speaker 5: you know, go haywires something like that, and they take
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  Speaker 5: care of the football offensively, that defense can can clean
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  Speaker 5: up a lot. They have held some good running backs
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  Speaker 5: in check. They haven't let the pass game beat them.
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  Speaker 5: So it's been pretty impressive to watch.
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  Speaker 2: I'd also argue there's an evolution to this offense within
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  Speaker 2: this season. There were times where it's this air attack
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  Speaker 2: exposed to play Sam Darnold JSN just unbelievable. And now
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  Speaker 2: all of a sudden, we saw this against the same
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  Speaker 2: in Francisco forty nine Ers, the run game, Charboney getting
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  Speaker 2: into the end zone. They are a dangerous team and
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  Speaker 2: they earn the right to sit back and watch everyone
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  Speaker 2: in the wild card weekend because of that number one seed.
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  Speaker 2: Now the New England Patriots will be playing. But as
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  Speaker 2: you look at Eric's MVP candidates right now, you got
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  Speaker 2: Drake May sitting number one in terms of winning that award,
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  Speaker 2: Matthew Stafford not far behind. Even with those a flurry
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  Speaker 2: of touchdowns against Arizona in the Week eighteen finale, we
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  Speaker 2: got a new Sack King and Miles Garrett, Josh Allen
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  Speaker 2: and Pukinnakua rounding out that list. So we do know
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  Speaker 2: that the Patriots not playing here because or excuse me,
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  Speaker 2: the Patriots matching up against the Chargers at home.
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  Speaker 3: I thought that they were going to be in the
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  Speaker 3: mix and.
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  Speaker 2: Eventually grabbed that one seed that was Denver. But take
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  Speaker 2: me through this is Drake May?
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  Speaker 3: Is he your MVP?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you had it on the list. Why is he
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  Speaker 2: your MVP? As they get set for a huge game
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  Speaker 2: against the Chargers.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, tough call obviously to impressive candidate. Stafford, in my mind,
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  Speaker 5: kind of had the lead for a long time. I
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  Speaker 5: think May played a little bit better down the stretch.
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  Speaker 5: And if you want to argue that the Patriots had
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  Speaker 5: a far easier schedule in the RAN, I'm probably not
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  Speaker 5: going to argue, but I would argue that the Rams
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  Speaker 5: have better skill position to out certainly a wide receiver,
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  Speaker 5: even with the receivers stepping up for Drake this year.
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  Speaker 5: But you know, higher completion percentage seventy two to sixty
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  Speaker 5: five average more than a yard per per attempt more
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  Speaker 5: than Stafford. Did you know, played a little bit better
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  Speaker 5: down the stretch too. Stafford had that one rough game
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  Speaker 5: that obviously kind of hung in voters' heads as they
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  Speaker 5: were trying to decide. So I don't think there's a
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  Speaker 5: wrong pick. I'm going May slightly. He's just been so impressive.
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  Speaker 5: The step he took in a year or two, you
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  Speaker 5: don't see young quarterbacks do that very often. And then
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  Speaker 5: you know, obviously a massive reason for their success heading
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  Speaker 5: into this this big game against the Chargers that you know, frankly,
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  Speaker 5: I think they're gonna be up against it. Justin Herbert's,
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  Speaker 5: you know, just as good a quarterback as Drake May
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  Speaker 5: as I think, so if New England wants to win,
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  Speaker 5: it can't just be all about Drake rescuing them at
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  Speaker 5: the end.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's fascinating about this. You know, Drake May,
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  Speaker 2: we haven't seen him in the postseason. We have seen
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  Speaker 2: justin Herbert. There's been some struggles, So I think there's
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  Speaker 2: some unknowns about how these guys handled that type of
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  Speaker 2: pressure in a big game. I think the bonus right
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  Speaker 2: now from a New England perspective as they get to
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  Speaker 2: do this.
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  Speaker 3: One at home.
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  Speaker 2: When we were giving out the list of teams, I said,
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  Speaker 2: the Jags to me are the most dangerous team possibly
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  Speaker 2: in this field. What we're seeing from this team's offense
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  Speaker 2: and really what we've seen from their defense, which we
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  Speaker 2: don't I don't think talk nearly enough.
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  Speaker 3: They host Buffalo.
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  Speaker 2: If there's a team that I don't love in terms
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  Speaker 2: of the matchup, it's the Bills because Superman plays for
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  Speaker 2: them in Josh Allen, but handicap this one for me.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, obviously, you just sort of look at the last
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  Speaker 4: half of the season.
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  Speaker 5: Eight game wins streak and they've outscored opponents two hundred
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  Speaker 5: and sixty nine to one to sixteen, more than doubling
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  Speaker 5: their opponent's points during that stretch.
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  Speaker 4: So pretty amazing.
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  Speaker 5: Averaging more than two takeaways the last six games. The
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  Speaker 5: offense has really gotten hot down the stretch. They're very
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  Speaker 5: versatile too. You want Travis Dtn to be the guy.
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  Speaker 5: He can be the guy.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 5: You want Trevor Lawrence to use his athleticism and his
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  Speaker 5: throwing ability. He certainly has that great touch on the
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  Speaker 5: touchdown pass. He's been good in the red zone this year.
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  Speaker 5: You know, the Bill's strength might be their run game.
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  Speaker 5: But I also look at that defense, as you mentioned
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  Speaker 5: for Jacksonville. They have been shutting people down opposing rushing attacks.
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  Speaker 5: So if the Jaguars get out to an early lead, Mike,
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  Speaker 5: I really think they're gonna win this one. Maybe not
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  Speaker 5: going away, but I wouldn't be shocked by a statement victory.
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  Speaker 5: I think this team, like you said, is better than
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  Speaker 5: people realize. This is a showcase game. When they've had
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  Speaker 5: those environments this year that the crowd has been electric.
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  Speaker 5: I think the Jaguars are gonna be up for this one,
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  Speaker 5: and as great as Josh Allen is, I think the
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  Speaker 5: Jaguars have an excellent chance to win it.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, you know we started the show Eric talking about
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  Speaker 2: the Noah Mahomes, no Lamar Jackson factor, and I also
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  Speaker 2: made reference to this with the Patriots and the Chargers
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  Speaker 2: with the inexperience maybe in terms of playoff wins for
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  Speaker 2: those two quarterbacks, the fact that Josh Allen, as we
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  Speaker 2: focus in on this Bills team, they have an MVP
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  Speaker 2: and right now in the playoff field, it's Josh Allen
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  Speaker 2: and Aaron Rodgers only guys in terms of the quarterback
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  Speaker 2: spot that have won MVP awards. How much of a
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  Speaker 2: factor is that heading into the postseason in a game
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  Speaker 2: like this.
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  Speaker 5: You can't underestimate him, right. He has the ability to
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  Speaker 5: take a team and put it on its back. We've
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  Speaker 5: also seen some better results from you know, obviously, James
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  Speaker 5: Cooks had a tremendous season leading a league in rushing.
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  Speaker 4: The defense has had moments where they've stepped up.
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  Speaker 5: But we all know that, you know, Josh is gonna
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  Speaker 5: be the guy with the ball in his hands most
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  Speaker 5: of the times in these key situations and they have
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  Speaker 5: to generate these big pass plays. That's the one thing
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  Speaker 5: that I think is gonna kind of separate him too.
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  Speaker 5: And you know, you can't forget about cook. Tight ends
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  Speaker 5: are going to be a factor, no doubt. Jacksonville's had
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  Speaker 5: a little trouble defending the tight ends this year. But
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  Speaker 5: I really think it's gonna be about Allen's rushing ability
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  Speaker 5: and his ability to make plays on the move. And
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  Speaker 5: you know, Seattle beat him with some deep passes. Broncos
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  Speaker 5: hit him with some big plays out in that game
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  Speaker 5: in Denver. So Jacksonville's defense is good, but times vulnerable.
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  Speaker 5: Do the Bills have those downfield weapons that can help
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  Speaker 5: Allen out? Too often this season, I felt like he's
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  Speaker 5: put too much on his plate or try to be
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  Speaker 5: the hero too often, and it's come back to bite
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  Speaker 5: him at times.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, once again, and really looking forward to that matchup
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  Speaker 2: because to me, the Jags, they win this game, I
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  Speaker 2: think they have the most of regular season win in
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  Speaker 2: the NFL. That's going to Mile High and taking out
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  Speaker 2: the Broncos and not just winning that game, dominating that
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  Speaker 2: game The narrative around the Houston Texans, who move up
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  Speaker 2: two spots in your rankings, has been, Hey, the team
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  Speaker 2: that you don't want to play here, and yet I
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  Speaker 2: watch them against the Colts, I see Riley Leonard and
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  Speaker 2: Indianapolis kind of hang tough against that defense. I see
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  Speaker 2: some question marks around that team offensively, at least in
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  Speaker 2: my mind over the last few weeks. What's the state
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  Speaker 2: of Houston right now heading into the postseason.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, there is probably a little bit of worry about
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  Speaker 5: their defense, and to me, it's been ninety or ninety
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  Speaker 5: five percent excellent and then five or ten percent of Wait,
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  Speaker 5: what's going on here?
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  Speaker 4: But they did rest some starters too after a.
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  Speaker 5: Certain point in that game, especially those pass rushers up front,
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  Speaker 5: and they ended up winning. So you know, obviously you
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  Speaker 5: look at it and say, was that them looking forward
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  Speaker 5: too much? Were they too concerned, you know, about saving
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  Speaker 5: guys health wise and all that.
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  Speaker 4: I'm not too worried. I do like the matchup, even
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  Speaker 4: having to go to.
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  Speaker 5: To Pittsburgh, and hey, they've graduated from that that four
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  Speaker 5: point thirty window on Saturday. So I think everybody on
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  Speaker 5: the outside has looked in and saying, maybe.
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  Speaker 4: This team is legit. It's not just about the defense obviously. CJ.
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  Speaker 4: Stroud I think has.
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  Speaker 5: To come to play to the level that you know,
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  Speaker 5: that we've been kind of hoping for and occasionally have seen, but.
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  Speaker 4: Not consistently enough. You know, early in that Chargers game, he.
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  Speaker 5: Comes out with two touchdown drives and then really played
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  Speaker 5: pretty poorly after that.
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  Speaker 4: That's the kind of game he needs to avoid.
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  Speaker 5: But even if he's only you know, average good, maybe
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  Speaker 5: even very good, I think this Texans defense is gonna
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  Speaker 5: end up being the story in this game at Pittsburgh.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm gonna call my shot here and just tell
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  Speaker 3: you this.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if the Monday night game between Pittsburgh
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  Speaker 2: and Houston plays out like the Sunday night game against
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  Speaker 2: the Steelers and the Ravens, but I think there's the
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  Speaker 2: potential for this late game drama with these teams. Considering
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  Speaker 2: the experience of Pittsburgh, I think the defense on that
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  Speaker 2: side has started to figure things out.
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  Speaker 3: I think we are in store for a really fun game.
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  Speaker 2: The Rams get an opportunity, they move up two spots
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  Speaker 2: in your rankings, They get an opportunity to avenge that
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  Speaker 2: loss against the Panthers.
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  Speaker 3: In Carolina. It's a rematch, different circumstances because this is
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  Speaker 3: the postseason.
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  Speaker 2: But where do you met out on Los Angeles? Because
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  Speaker 2: there was a tough, a good stretch of this year
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  Speaker 2: where you had him as the number one seed.
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  Speaker 3: I felt like they're the best team in the NFL.
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  Speaker 5: I did too, you know, had him at the top
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  Speaker 5: of my rankings for a big chunk of this season
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  Speaker 5: and felt like, boy, this had the DNA of a
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  Speaker 5: super Bowl club. We obviously saw some slips down the stretch,
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  Speaker 5: including that game at Carolina. Stafford turned the ball over
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  Speaker 5: a few times and that really hurt him in that game.
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  Speaker 5: And you know, not having DeVante Adams has hurt them.
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  Speaker 5: He's coming back. We'll see what kind of shape he's
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  Speaker 5: in with with he and Puka and those tight ends
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  Speaker 5: making the impact they are that the running backs appear
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  Speaker 5: to be ready to go as well.
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  Speaker 4: That's huge. What's Alaric Jackson's status at left tackle?
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  Speaker 5: We know that, you know, DJ Humphries has struggled in
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  Speaker 5: this place too, and you know, defensively last you know,
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  Speaker 5: since thirteen, you know, Week thirteen at Carolina, they've been
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  Speaker 5: giving up twenty eight points a game, roughly on average,
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  Speaker 5: So you know, you don't want to get into too
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  Speaker 5: many of these shootout situations where where Stafford's having a
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  Speaker 5: bailue out and make all these heroic throws, but you
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  Speaker 5: know at the same time that maybe the route they
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  Speaker 5: end up having a take as good as they are,
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  Speaker 5: as explosive as they are.
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  Speaker 2: All Right, we'll talk more about Carolina coming up in
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  Speaker 2: just a bit, But there's a part of my rationale
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  Speaker 2: heading into this game thinking, hey, are they just playing
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  Speaker 2: with house money and is that a good thing or
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  Speaker 2: a bad thing. So we'll discuss that coming up here
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  Speaker 2: on power rankings in just a moment. But we got
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  Speaker 2: a Chicago Bears team. They're starting to see some cracks
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  Speaker 2: in the armor right now. I know, in terms of
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  Speaker 2: the seating there's some positivity here. They get to host
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  Speaker 2: a game Soldier Field against Screen Bay, a team that
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  Speaker 2: there's some questions about about their defense. But are there
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  Speaker 2: is there a level of concern that you have for
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  Speaker 2: Caleb squad?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean specific to this matchup too.
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  Speaker 5: On the one hand, you say, look, they probably got
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  Speaker 5: the best wildcard team to face, right Green Bay's had
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  Speaker 5: its shair of questions too, But it's also a team
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  Speaker 5: that beat them not too long ago and should have
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  Speaker 5: beaten them in the rematch a couple of weeks later.
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  Speaker 5: So you know, they've been explosive at times. They've had
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  Speaker 5: moments where they've been able to erase these leads. Even
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  Speaker 5: against Detroit down sixty to nothing, the fight to get
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: those two tds and two two point conversions, you can't
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  Speaker 5: dismiss that. However, not getting enough points early in games,
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  Speaker 5: not sort of controlling the action and putting the opponent
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  Speaker 5: at a disadvantage has really kind of hurt them. Big
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  Speaker 5: plays defensively like this, you saw Detroit do a time
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  Speaker 5: and time again.
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  Speaker 4: Had they been better.
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  Speaker 5: Executing as they got closer to the Bear's goal line,
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  Speaker 5: they probably win that game by by multiple scores.
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  Speaker 4: So you know, a little bit of concern.
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  Speaker 5: Given the offensive output and then some of the big
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  Speaker 5: plays allowed defensively, you know there's going to be some
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  Speaker 5: nervous people at Soldier Field Saturday night. They remember twenty
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  Speaker 5: eighteen when they were favored against the Eagles and lost
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  Speaker 5: on the double doing so anything could happen. It's the
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  Speaker 5: biggest rivalry, of the most long running rivalry in the NFL,
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  Speaker 5: and I don't think Bears fans are assuming this is
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  Speaker 5: a victory by any stretch, but they're certainly hoping for
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  Speaker 5: it after a lot of close shaves in recent weeks.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we'll talk more about the Green Bay Packers,
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  Speaker 2: will find out where Eric slotted them on the power rankings.
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  Speaker 3: But there is still more to come.
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  Speaker 2: A San Francisco team that was heading into Week eighteen
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  Speaker 2: with an opportunity to still get a one seat that
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  Speaker 2: didn't happen.
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  Speaker 3: What do we make of what they can do in
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  Speaker 3: the postseason. I got to tell you.
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  Speaker 2: We might be sleeping on a very dangerous roster in Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 3: Where they sit in the rankings is coming up next.
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  Speaker 2: We'll back here on power rankings teams nine through sixteen.
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  Speaker 2: We got a bunch of playoff squads here and checking
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: in at number nine. They dropped four spots to San
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Francisco forty nine ers, who will talk about in just
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  Speaker 2: a moment. The Philadelphia Eagles stay and put at ten.
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  Speaker 2: It's the Chargers at eleven. This is a team that
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  Speaker 2: had the opportunity to wrest some starters, including Justin Herbert.
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  Speaker 2: They did that in week number eighteen. Steelers somehow figured
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  Speaker 2: out a way to get into the postseason at twelve,
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  Speaker 2: the Packers at thirteen. The Panthers also kind of backdoored
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  Speaker 2: their way into the postseason. They're at fourteen, the Ravens
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  Speaker 2: and Vikings at fifteen and sixteen.
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: They will be.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Watching the postseason. Still can't believe that is the case
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: for a Baltimore squad. I know, we talked about Lamar
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: not being in the postseason, first time since twenty one that.
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: That has happened. The Niners.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: They dropped four spots. Here sell me on on the
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: positive story from a San Francisco perspective, because heading into
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Week eighteen, Eric, this is still a team that had
• 14:14
  Speaker 2: an opportunity to be the one seed in the NFC.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: I know, probably would have moved them up had they
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: won too.
• 14:20
  Speaker 5: I mean, the way the offense had been cranking the
• 14:22
  Speaker 5: previous three games, you figured they'd get an opportunity. But
• 14:25
  Speaker 5: you know, bad tackling early in the game I think
• 14:27
  Speaker 5: really kind of hurt them. And you know, we've talked
• 14:29
  Speaker 5: about the defense all season, their limitations after all these
• 14:32
  Speaker 5: these key injuries, and you know, Fred Warner probably not
• 14:35
  Speaker 5: coming back.
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: Unless they get to a super Bowl or very close.
• 14:38
  Speaker 5: You know, so obviously puts a lot of burden on
• 14:40
  Speaker 5: their offense, and you know, I have to say, this
• 14:43
  Speaker 5: is a tough matchup, right, I mean, you look at
• 14:45
  Speaker 5: Seattle's defense and I kind of compared them to last
• 14:48
  Speaker 5: year's Eagles. I think there is some overlap in terms
• 14:51
  Speaker 5: of what the Eagles can do upfront. If they're their
• 14:53
  Speaker 5: front is rested and ready to go, their ability to
• 14:56
  Speaker 5: pursue and kind of cut off some of those angles
• 14:58
  Speaker 5: for the you know, the running backs and perty to
• 15:00
  Speaker 5: get out of the pocket. It's a tough matchup. And
• 15:03
  Speaker 5: so them missing out on the number one seed, going
• 15:06
  Speaker 5: to the wildcard slot and having a tough first round matchup,
• 15:09
  Speaker 5: they were guaranteed to have.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: One either way.
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: But still even you know, with the path they took
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: that sort of necessitated the drop.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: And look, they could prove me wrong.
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: Obviously, you put up thirty five points or something like that,
• 15:20
  Speaker 5: that's pretty darn impressive against Philly, But the chances of
• 15:22
  Speaker 5: them doing that are probably similar to what it was
• 15:24
  Speaker 5: against Seattle, not very high.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the Eagles defense is really the crux
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: of what could be a win for them, and they
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: check in at number ten. For you, I didn't hate
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: the move and maybe I'm in the minority on this
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: one from Sirianni. Resting a bunch of these guys. I
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: know they could have moved up in terms of the seating.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: It doesn't bother me, like I'd rather make sure that
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: my team is completely healthy. Considering some of the issues
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: eric we've seen from them into the postseason, this team's
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: still dangerous, at least on paper.
• 15:51
  Speaker 5: They are, and you know, maybe they needed a little
• 15:53
  Speaker 5: reset on offense, just another buy another week off, so
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: to speak, just to kind of get everything right, you know,
• 15:58
  Speaker 5: get some of those key players healthy and get them,
• 16:01
  Speaker 5: you know, having to not have to prepare for a
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: game one week. That mental break may be huge for them.
• 16:06
  Speaker 5: And you know, defensively, I think they've got the right formula.
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: Maybe Saquon can take over like he did at times
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: last year. So I still think there's a recipe and
• 16:15
  Speaker 5: a formula for them to make some noise in the playoffs,
• 16:18
  Speaker 5: but probably not the same route as last year, Probably
• 16:21
  Speaker 5: not the same explosiveness as last year, and it comes
• 16:24
  Speaker 5: down to a tough first round matchup to start things out.
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: Look, I know there's a reason for this. The only
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: other thing that I'll add on on the Eagles. I
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: don't remember a time that we see a very similar
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: roster from a Super Bowl champ the following Yeah, that's true.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: They're in the postseason and it's like mil I mean,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: the national conversation around this team is more concerned and
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: we're not talking about them at Seattle. Some of these
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: other teams that's out there is just wild to me.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: So maybe they flip the switch and they get it
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: going here. Steelers, what a game Sunday night against the
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: Baltimore Ravens. What's the level of confidence you have on
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: this team in the playoffs on Monday night?
• 16:58
  Speaker 5: I mean, if Aaron Rodgers can do what he did
• 16:59
  Speaker 5: in the fourth quarter, which is pretty darn special, right.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: I think early on you saw him kind of measuring out,
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: feeling things. Obviously had the kind of the issue with
• 17:07
  Speaker 5: the timeouts too and trying to draw them off sides.
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: But once he got past all that, he was pretty
• 17:12
  Speaker 5: darn great.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: I'm not really worried about Boswell and the kicking game.
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: That was a fluky moment.
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: Defensively, it scares me when they give up plays like
• 17:19
  Speaker 5: this and other plays. Obviously the two z Flowers touchdowns
• 17:22
  Speaker 5: as well. You know, the secondary right now does frighten me.
• 17:25
  Speaker 5: So if they can't heat up the edges against CJ.
• 17:28
  Speaker 5: Stroud up front, I'm a little worried about their ability
• 17:31
  Speaker 5: to cover on the back end.
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: So sometimes it takes a little luck.
• 17:34
  Speaker 5: But you've got a veteran quarterback, like you said, one
• 17:36
  Speaker 5: of the two former MVPs still alive in this field,
• 17:40
  Speaker 5: and the way Rogers has played more often than not
• 17:43
  Speaker 5: this season, I think you give them a chance, especially
• 17:45
  Speaker 5: now with dk metcalf back so fascinating. Team can't give
• 17:49
  Speaker 5: up on him, and they've been through a roller coaster
• 17:51
  Speaker 5: this year, but they made their home playoff game happen,
• 17:54
  Speaker 5: and we'll see if they can pull the upset against
• 17:56
  Speaker 5: the favorite Texans.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, from the twelfth team to the thirteenth team, and
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: that right now is the Green Bay Packers. I know
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: we talked Chicago a little bit earlier. Eric I talked
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: to one of our colleagues in Stacy DALs, who's covered
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: both the Packers and the Bears. I think she's going
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: to be covering this playoff game. She told me, Hey,
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: Jordan Love, they actually thought that he might be able
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: was going to be able to play in week number eighteen.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: I think that was somewhat calculated to kind of keep
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: him on the outside looking in. But this team, the
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: defense hasn't looked good. They've lost four straight games. I
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: asked you about confidence for the Steelers. I'm just not
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: confident at all in this Packers team right now.
• 18:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Had they had their two best players, one on
• 18:32
  Speaker 5: each side of the ball. Actually, I don't know about two best,
• 18:34
  Speaker 5: but certainly their two most impactful injured players, and Micah
• 18:36
  Speaker 5: Paris's Tucker Craft. You know, this is a totally different conversation.
• 18:40
  Speaker 5: I think still sort of retooling their offensive line, trying
• 18:43
  Speaker 5: to figure out the best combination there love, like you said,
• 18:46
  Speaker 5: sat out. Even Milik willis banged up to and he's
• 18:49
  Speaker 5: a guy who had some success against the Bears and
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: then out against Chicago.
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: So but if they get Josh Jacobs.
• 18:55
  Speaker 5: Back and the old line works and defensively they can
• 18:58
  Speaker 5: kind of hold their own and not get gashed by
• 19:00
  Speaker 5: the run game. I think Chicago's going to try to
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: do their best to get that going early.
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: They're going to be in it.
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: And look just again, go back to the two games
• 19:08
  Speaker 5: against Chicago, they probably outplayed the Bears in at least
• 19:11
  Speaker 5: five of those eight quarters, right, So I think there's
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: a good conversation.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: To be made that they match up very well with
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: the Bears.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, at fourteen, we got a Carolina Panthers team that
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: I don't even know how they got into the postseason,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: but they did. They beat this Rams team earlier this season.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: I mentioned this before when we talked about La House money.
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's a good thing or a
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: bad thing, you know, happy to be here kind of mentality.
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: I hope that's not the case for Carolina. But what
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: do you make of their chances to beat this Rams
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: team twice in the same year.
• 19:40
  Speaker 5: Yeah, it would be fascinating, right if people did chalk
• 19:43
  Speaker 5: up that first game to a fluke or a stroke
• 19:46
  Speaker 5: of luck or something.
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: I don't think they've been watching the Panthers this year, but.
• 19:49
  Speaker 5: They've also had enough games what make you think, you know,
• 19:52
  Speaker 5: maybe they don't belong in this playoff field. So they're
• 19:54
  Speaker 5: a tough one to predict. They've had moments, so they
• 19:56
  Speaker 5: look really good. Bryce Young with the ball in his
• 19:58
  Speaker 5: hands in the fourth quarter as mostly ended up pretty
• 20:00
  Speaker 5: well defensively.
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: They've had their moments as well.
• 20:03
  Speaker 5: Remember how bad They were defense last year most points
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: allowed in NFL history, So to be able to make
• 20:08
  Speaker 5: these kind of impactful plays on that side of the
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: ball has helped them get in. But unless they're forcing
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: three turnovers against Stafford like they did in that first matchup,
• 20:17
  Speaker 5: generating extra possessions, good field position, things like.
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: That, I don't know that I give them a great chance.
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: I really don't. I think it's they're going to be
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: up against that.
• 20:24
  Speaker 5: I think this RAMS team is going to be highly
• 20:26
  Speaker 5: motivated to show people what they're worth.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, three turnovers, two picks for Matthew Stafford in that
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: loss to them in Carolina, the Ravens. I got a
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: chance to see them before the season started in training cap.
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: I walked off that field and I said to myself,
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: my god, this team is loaded. They're my pick to
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: win the Super Bowl and they're not even in the playoffs.
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: Give me some context on just how catastrophically bad this
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: was this year.
• 20:50
  Speaker 5: Everything seemed to go wrong, right from blowing the late
• 20:53
  Speaker 5: lead against Buffalo in Week one, the one in five
• 20:56
  Speaker 5: start Lamar gets banged up, the defense wasn't playing well
• 21:00
  Speaker 5: early in the season, all kinds of issues. The one
• 21:03
  Speaker 5: issue ironically, they didn't really I was kicking. I mean,
• 21:05
  Speaker 5: Tyler Luke kicked well all season until this moment. So
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: you know, for the people going after them on social media,
• 21:10
  Speaker 5: I just say, get a life, because the kid was
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: not the reason they lost this season. It may have
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: been the reason they lost that game at that moment,
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: but you know, defensively, they've got their issues too, and
• 21:20
  Speaker 5: even if they played better on that side of the ball,
• 21:22
  Speaker 5: losing Kyle Hamilton in that game cost them. I mean
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: that that was a big one. So just so much
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: to unpack. The future of John Harbaugh, the future of Lamar.
• 21:30
  Speaker 5: Can this team make another run with this group? It's
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: all kind of left up in the air, hanging all
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: off season.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: I think, Yeah, injuries for the squad clearly started to
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: mount up here, but there's a lot of teams that
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: are banged up. It just it looks it feels like
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: a missed opportunity with a roster that was loaded on
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: with you one hundred percent on loop the They can
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: go back multiple weeks and talk about lack of execution,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: drop passes and critical situations, the whole thing. That's the
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: reason why they're on the outside looking in. Meanwhile, we
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: got some coaching changes and some teams that are thinking
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: about the NFL Draft. Where the rest of the squads
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: they need to be thinking about next season. Where they
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: sit in the rankings is coming up next. We'll back
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: here on power rankings team seventeen through twenty four. I
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: cannot believe we're talking about the Lions at seventeen. The
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: Bucks aren't in the postseason at eighteen, the Colts at
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: nineteen after a seven and one start.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: We got the Falcons, the Cowboys, Cincinnati.
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: At twenty two, the Saints at twenty three. I think
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: Kansas City Chiefs sitting at twenty four, which is just
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: once again a while to me. The Atlanta Falcons a
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: complete reset here head coach, general manager on the outside
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: looking in, they get relieved of their duties. If you
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: said to me, of all the six head coaching vacancies
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: that's available, this roster might be the best of that
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: entire group, are you buying that?
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: Yeah? I think so right.
• 22:46
  Speaker 5: And I think they probably decided that six seven, eight
• 22:49
  Speaker 5: weeks ago where they said we should be better than
• 22:52
  Speaker 5: you know, four and nine heading into December. So I
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: mean that's really the bottom line is that they looked
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: at the talent they brought in, which was part of
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Terry Fonneau's job, but just weren't getting enough out of them.
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: And so I think this is going to be a
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: highly attractive job and they'll be fascinating to see if
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: they pair up people who know each other work together.
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: Arthur Blakes, you know, wants a winner.
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: Ever since missing that Super Bowl, he's he's been desperate
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: to get another one.
• 23:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll see where Raheem Morris will land.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Meanwhile, teams twenty five through thirty two, the Dolphins at
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: twenty five, the Commanders, the Cleveland Browns we got. The
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: New York Giants is sitting at twenty eight, the Tennessee
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: Titans at twenty nine. The Cardinals, the Jets, and the
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Raiders round out the bottom three in the NFL. No,
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: Pete Carroll, we got a number one overall pick. If
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: you were running this organization, what's the next step.
• 23:39
  Speaker 5: Yeah, got to find your head coach and get their
• 23:41
  Speaker 5: vision for who they want a quarterback, because I think
• 23:43
  Speaker 5: obviously the Gino experiment didn't work. Not sure they have,
• 23:46
  Speaker 5: you know, Kenny Pickett or O'Connell on the roster is
• 23:49
  Speaker 5: projected to be their starter. So do you go for
• 23:51
  Speaker 5: a veteran, you know, a reclamation project licktur Kyler Murray.
• 23:54
  Speaker 5: Do you go for a free agent like Malik Willis
• 23:56
  Speaker 5: with some upside or do you rely on that number
• 23:59
  Speaker 5: one pick in the draft, which is probably the most
• 24:01
  Speaker 5: likely route at this point, A lot of decisions for
• 24:03
  Speaker 5: John spytech Cup to figure out in a short amount
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: of time.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: I'd say this too. Go find an identity and maybe
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: that happens. Once you figure out the coach, that might
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: line up what you want to be as an organization.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: But there's a lot of holes to fill on that
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: roster and it is nice to have the number one
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: overall pick.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: Eric, You're the best. Can't wait to do this again
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: next week.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
• 24:27
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• 24:31
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