Latest / NFL Power Rankings / #21: Championship Sunday!

Transcript

#21: Championship Sunday! · 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 Championship edition of NFL Power Rankings. Mike
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  Speaker 2: Hamman Eric at Home with you.
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  Speaker 3: For a complete list of all the teams and analysis
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  Speaker 3: on everyone, all you have to do is check out
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  Speaker 3: Eric's article on NFL dot com and Eric, there is
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  Speaker 3: so much to get to coming off just an awesome
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  Speaker 3: weekend of divisional games. We got Championship Round coming up
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  Speaker 3: this week. But before we get into the rankings and
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  Speaker 3: dissect some of these matchups, are you with me and
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  Speaker 3: starting to feel a little bit like Seattle or Los
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  Speaker 3: Angeles based off of the Bonux injury, what we've seen
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  Speaker 3: from the Patriots the NFC West, one of those squads
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  Speaker 3: might be the favorite to win the Super Bowl right now.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's obviously felt like that division has
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  Speaker 4: held a big portion of the strength in the NFL
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  Speaker 4: this year.
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  Speaker 5: If you throw the forty nine ers in there.
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  Speaker 4: Too, so and just look back at the first two
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  Speaker 4: games at that Seahawks Rams rivalry. Both came right down
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  Speaker 4: to the wire. Both felt like they were pretty evenly
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  Speaker 4: matched games. The rubber match should be fantastic don't forget
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  Speaker 4: about New England and Denver, of course, and each either
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  Speaker 4: one of them could win the Super Bowl on their
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  Speaker 4: best day. But I agree, this does feel like a
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  Speaker 4: pretty heavyweight NFC championship game.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, these two teams have been absolute studs, and I
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  Speaker 3: know there's been some up and down moments from the Patriots.
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  Speaker 3: Denver's defense could maybe even lead them to the Promised Lands.
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  Speaker 3: Without further ado, we unveil the rankings and a closer
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  Speaker 3: look at the top four. Here we go Seattle at
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  Speaker 3: number one, at number two, no change with the Patriots
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  Speaker 3: and the Denver Broncos sitting at number three. But it
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  Speaker 3: is the Rams scoring again another road victory in the postseason.
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  Speaker 3: They move up two spots. I think the focal point
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  Speaker 3: has to be that number one team.
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  Speaker 5: Though.
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  Speaker 3: It's time for power moves and it's presented by Energizer
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  Speaker 3: focusing in on the Seahawks squad. There's a lot we
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  Speaker 3: could start with a defense that is fast and it
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  Speaker 3: is violent.
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  Speaker 2: We could talk about.
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  Speaker 3: Issues with Charbonnay and the ACL and the fact that
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  Speaker 3: he's not gonna play, But I'm gonna take everyone back
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  Speaker 3: to what we saw last week in the divisional round.
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  Speaker 3: Opening play, we got a kickoff return Rashid Shaheed Eric
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  Speaker 3: trade deadline. You and I did Power rankings that week,
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  Speaker 3: we talked about Shihida what he could be for this offense.
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  Speaker 3: You hope in a perfect world that when you pull
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  Speaker 3: off a deal like that you get this type of
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  Speaker 3: response from a key ingredient and Rashid, to me, this
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  Speaker 3: is like the sonic boom type moment from what we
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  Speaker 3: saw here, I think he's such a huge X factor
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  Speaker 3: for what we could see even against the Rams.
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  Speaker 5: Absolutely, yeah, he's been a terrific addition.
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  Speaker 4: And anytime you can impact two different phases of the
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  Speaker 4: game offense and special teams and also fold into your
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  Speaker 4: role too. Right, their receivers are pretty established. Jackson Smith
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  Speaker 4: a Jigma Cooper Cup. You know, he was sort of
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  Speaker 4: come in as the deep threat and you know, maybe
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  Speaker 4: took a little bit of a lesser role there, but.
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  Speaker 5: His impact has been massive.
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  Speaker 4: There's no question that he has helped vault them to
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  Speaker 4: this place right here where they look like maybe the
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  Speaker 4: best team in football heading into the NFC Championship game.
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  Speaker 4: And really, for him, all he needs are a handful
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  Speaker 4: of touches per game and he can absolutely flip it
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  Speaker 4: and put it in the seahawks favor like he did
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  Speaker 4: on that first play. That's what you're looking for out
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  Speaker 4: of a kick returner and out of a big play receiver.
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  Speaker 3: How big of a loss is Charbonnay for this team's offense?
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  Speaker 3: Because you and I have discussed at Seattle in recent weeks,
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  Speaker 3: have made a conscious decision to run a football a
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  Speaker 3: little bit more. Earlier this season, it was explosive to
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  Speaker 3: play after exposive play, Darnold to JSN.
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  Speaker 2: And yet right now they're not going to have Sharbonay out.
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  Speaker 4: With a torn acl big loss, right. I mean, he's
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  Speaker 4: their goal line guy, he's their third down back, their
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  Speaker 4: pass protection guy.
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  Speaker 5: He's a lowed.
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  Speaker 4: He's absolutely the ice to Kenneth Walker's fire, or maybe
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  Speaker 4: the other way around, however you want to look at it.
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  Speaker 4: But I guess the question right now is who steps up.
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  Speaker 4: You've got Vaalis Jones on the roster four carries this season,
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  Speaker 4: you know, not a traditional running back, sort of converted
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  Speaker 4: the position a few years ago, cam Akers former RAMS
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  Speaker 4: back possibly being elevated as well, So you know those
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  Speaker 4: are what they're down to along with Walker, and you
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  Speaker 4: know that two headed rushing attack has been such a
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  Speaker 4: big part of what they've done this year. As you said,
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  Speaker 4: obviously the deep passing game, the explosive pass plays are
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  Speaker 4: a huge part of it, but you don't get that
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  Speaker 4: without the steady run game. What they could you upfront?
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  Speaker 4: Also keep an eye on Charles Crosses injury. No, he's
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  Speaker 4: day to day right now, but you know, if you're
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  Speaker 4: missing Charbonnet and potentially cross that could affect a lot
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  Speaker 4: of things offensively.
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  Speaker 3: We'll talk more about the matchup against the Rams in
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  Speaker 3: just a moment here. I highlighted the defense because I
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  Speaker 3: said they're fast, and they're violent and they're fun to watch.
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  Speaker 2: Does this team have a weakness? In your mind?
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  Speaker 4: They maybe do against the Rams if you watch the
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  Speaker 4: last game, you know, gave up five hundred plus yards
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  Speaker 4: against them.
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  Speaker 5: It was the one time.
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  Speaker 4: Other than maybe the Bucks game earlier in the season,
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  Speaker 4: where you saw this Seahawks defense kind of on its
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  Speaker 4: heels a little bit and not in attack mode, so
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  Speaker 4: they were able to kind of slow down the pass
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  Speaker 4: rush a little bit. You know, some some coverages, some
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  Speaker 4: coverage issues I would say kind of cropped up in
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  Speaker 4: that game as well. But when they're getting after it upfront,
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  Speaker 4: they're as good as anybody, and then they've got talent
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  Speaker 4: at all three levels, and that secondary, you know, which
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  Speaker 4: was maybe a question mark earlier in the season, really
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  Speaker 4: has kind of solidified too.
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  Speaker 5: So you know, they're not.
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  Speaker 4: A perfect team, but they have the fewest sort of
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  Speaker 4: big questions. I would say of the remaining Big Four
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  Speaker 4: to or the remaining four teams, I should say.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, cannot wait for this matchup. And because just based
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  Speaker 3: off what we saw this season between these two squads. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 3: we got a new England Patriots team that's sitting pat
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  Speaker 3: right now in that number two spot for you in
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  Speaker 3: the power rankings. You know, for most of the season,
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  Speaker 3: it hasn't looked too big for Drake May. I don't know, like,
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  Speaker 3: is they're an issue right now? Is there something creeping
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  Speaker 3: in your head about what we could see against a
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  Speaker 3: Broncos defense that knows they absolutely have to bring it absolutely?
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  Speaker 5: Yeah?
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  Speaker 4: No, I mean you wonder whether how much of it
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  Speaker 4: is the protection, how much of it is the play call,
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  Speaker 4: how much of it is Drake you know, is he
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  Speaker 4: exposing the ball there on some of those strips? But
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  Speaker 4: I would start with what's happening up front? I mean,
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  Speaker 4: Will Campbell, the rookie had a tough day at the office,
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  Speaker 4: so did Morgan Moses the right tackle. The entire group
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  Speaker 4: probably played, you know, not up to its sort of
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  Speaker 4: expected standards. But you're also facing a Texans rush that's
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  Speaker 4: as good, if not the best, in the league right
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  Speaker 4: up there with the Broncos. So again, like you said,
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  Speaker 4: you have to find some solutions in practice incorporated into
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  Speaker 4: the game plan and make sure those same mistakes come
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  Speaker 4: back to bite you, because look, May versus Jared Stidham.
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  Speaker 4: We know who's better in that matchup, right, but it's
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  Speaker 4: Stidham versus the Patriots defense and May against the Broncos defense.
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  Speaker 4: So those things can cancel each other out. If the
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  Speaker 4: Broncos play as well defensively as the Texans did, they
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  Speaker 4: are going to have a chance to win this game,
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  Speaker 4: even with the backup quarterback. There so certainly some things
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  Speaker 4: to fix up front, and they can't beat that, they
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  Speaker 4: can't get beat by that edge speed by you know,
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  Speaker 4: Jonathan Cooper and Nick Bonito, those guys are fantastic.
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  Speaker 3: Eric, You spend an entire lifetime loving and covering sports,
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  Speaker 3: especially for your career, and I know you spend so
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  Speaker 3: much time dissecting some of these rankings. As you compile
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  Speaker 3: these lists, I'm going to ask you more of like
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  Speaker 3: the human element aspect, and that's something we don't normally
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  Speaker 3: do on this show. But I know Bonix isn't playing.
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  Speaker 3: I start thinking, as a as a fan a certain
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  Speaker 3: way about this particular matchup. You think Mike Rabol's worried
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  Speaker 3: just based off of what we saw from his team
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  Speaker 3: against the Texans, the fact that things were opening up
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  Speaker 3: because immediately when Bo, when I hear the news about
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  Speaker 3: Bonnicks plan, I'm like, all right, Patrik pArg gonna in
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  Speaker 3: that football game, do you think there's a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of that natural like just take a foot off the
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  Speaker 3: gas just a little.
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  Speaker 5: Bit, you know.
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  Speaker 4: I think the biggest thing, I mean, the Patriots have
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  Speaker 4: heard all season long. Hey, they've played a week's schedule, Right,
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  Speaker 4: they got lucky because Nico Collins couldn't play against the Texans, Right,
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  Speaker 4: They've had all these breaks kind of go their way,
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  Speaker 4: and this Knicks injury appears to be kind of the
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  Speaker 4: latest thing. So I think Vrabel's got enough material in
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  Speaker 4: there to say, hey, look, you guys still aren't being respected,
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  Speaker 4: and here's the evidence of it, right points to nine
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  Speaker 4: million tweets and ex posts and columns about it.
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  Speaker 5: But yeah, you're always worried about a letdown.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, especially in this kind of situation where you
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  Speaker 4: know a lot of these guys were in the same
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  Speaker 4: room as Jarrett Stidham. You know, they probably felt like, well,
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  Speaker 4: he couldn't win the job here, so we're definitely beating
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  Speaker 4: him in the AFC Championship game. However, Vrabel, I think
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  Speaker 4: has done a great job this year keeping everyone's vision forward,
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  Speaker 4: putting the blinders on, letting them know, look, we have
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  Speaker 4: a mission here. Win this game, we get to the
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  Speaker 4: super Bowl, then win that one, right, and then we
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  Speaker 4: can celebrate.
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  Speaker 5: Then we can kind of kick back, if you will.
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  Speaker 4: So we'll see him and this is obviously going to
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  Speaker 4: kind of test of Rabel's you know, motivation and the
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  Speaker 4: ability to focus his team. But they're going into a
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  Speaker 4: place that has not been historically kind to that franchise.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, Denver has been kind of the graveyard for
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  Speaker 4: the Patriots historically at least, so I think he's got
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  Speaker 4: enough evidence that he can point to that, hey, this
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  Speaker 4: is this is no spot for a letdown.
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  Speaker 5: Guys.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, real quick, here on the Patriots defense. Have we
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  Speaker 3: not spent enough time on them this season? And I
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  Speaker 3: say we like the collective media. I mean because the
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  Speaker 3: conversation around the Patriots Drake may MVP like they're winning
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  Speaker 3: games in the postseason because of what that unit's doing.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, with a coordinator and Zach Kerr who wasn't even
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  Speaker 4: the coordinator to start the season. Torell Williams undergoes cancer treatment.
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  Speaker 4: You know, this is a switch. Rabels had to get involved.
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  Speaker 4: Other coaches have had to kind of pick up the slack,
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  Speaker 4: but the execution has been great. They went out and
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  Speaker 4: got Milton Williams is kind of their prize for agent.
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  Speaker 4: He's been everything you could ever hope for in kind
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  Speaker 4: of a disruptor up front, great against the run, penetrator helps,
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  Speaker 4: you know, kind of muddy the pocket if you will,
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  Speaker 4: to opens things up for guys like Chase on on
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  Speaker 4: the outside, Harold Landry. So yeah, I think the pressure
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  Speaker 4: up front when they're able to get home, that really
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  Speaker 4: kind of sets everything on the back end. Christian Gonzalez
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  Speaker 4: very good cover man, allows them to play man defense.
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  Speaker 4: Marcus Jones one of the better nickels out there. Craig Woodson,
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  Speaker 4: the rookie has had a nice little run here making
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  Speaker 4: plays at safety. You don't see rookie safeties come into
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  Speaker 4: this league and start from day one and have that
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  Speaker 4: kind of impact. But Woodson's quietly had a very nice
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  Speaker 4: rookie season. So, you know, is it a dominant group
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  Speaker 4: along the lines of a Texans or a Broncos defense.
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  Speaker 5: No, I don't think so.
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  Speaker 4: But they've turned two pretty darn good efforts now, and
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  Speaker 4: it's time to respect them what they've done against the
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  Speaker 4: Chargers and against the Texans, even if those offenses have
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  Speaker 4: their share flaws.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I'm with you one hundred percent.
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  Speaker 3: I think that there is something really compelling about this
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  Speaker 3: matchup that we're going to see between the Patriots and
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  Speaker 3: the Broncos on Sunday. But we still got more to
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  Speaker 3: come here on Power Rankings, in fact, it talked MVP.
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  Speaker 3: We made reference to Drake may Well, it could be
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  Speaker 3: Sean mcvay's guy, Matthew Stafford the Rams they might.
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  Speaker 2: Be the best team still remaining in.
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  Speaker 3: The dance and put some context around that and kim
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  Speaker 3: Bo Nixon company. Can they survive without their quarterback? The
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  Speaker 3: answer to that is next on Power rankings. Back here
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  Speaker 3: on Power Rankings along with Eric at home, Mike am
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  Speaker 3: with you and we focus in on the number three
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  Speaker 3: team in Eric's rankings, that is the Denver Broncos. I
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  Speaker 3: know anyone who watches football understands it is catastrophic. The
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  Speaker 3: fact that Bonnix is not going to be playing in
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  Speaker 3: this game against the Patriots. The one thing that I
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  Speaker 3: will say, Eric, and I don't know if you would
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  Speaker 3: agree with this, on the short list of coaches that
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  Speaker 3: I think could navigate this issue, Sean Payton is on
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  Speaker 3: that list. Cook me up a recipe for success with
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  Speaker 3: Jared Stidham as QB number one.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's an unusual situation, to say the least. All right,
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  Speaker 4: we had Josh Johnson come in for brock perty and
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  Speaker 4: when he got hurt in the NFC Championship game. We
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  Speaker 4: had the Nick Foles thing that was a little earlier.
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  Speaker 4: But the good news for Peyton is he has a
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  Speaker 4: week now to know.
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  Speaker 5: All right.
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  Speaker 4: I can put a pretty good opening script together. I
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  Speaker 4: can figure out what Jared Stidham does well, and of
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  Speaker 4: course you see the play and when Nick's got hurt
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  Speaker 4: just so cruel. It didn't look like anything major.
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  Speaker 5: At the time.
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  Speaker 4: But I don't think you'll see Stidham running as much
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  Speaker 4: as you see bow Nicks moving. Obviously, he's not that
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  Speaker 4: same caliber of runner or athlete, but he's got a
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  Speaker 4: really good arm. The guy can sling it. If you
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  Speaker 4: watch any of the preseason lord knows, I did plenty.
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  Speaker 4: He was out there throwing a lot of balls and
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  Speaker 4: throwing them. Well, there's a reason why they signed him
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  Speaker 4: to a contract and want to keep him as Nick's backup.
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  Speaker 4: They trust him to come in when they need him to.
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  Speaker 4: Of course, they haven't had to have that the past
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  Speaker 4: two seasons, so everything we have on him the last
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  Speaker 4: two years is an exhibition play. And look, this is
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  Speaker 4: a guy who's talked about as a first round quarterback
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  Speaker 4: at one point. He can throw vertically, he can throw
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  Speaker 4: on the move inside the pocket. You know, sometimes it's
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  Speaker 4: the accuracy that you wonder about. He'll float some balls
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  Speaker 4: and put some throws in harms away. But I think
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  Speaker 4: Peyton will try to minimize those plays as much and
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  Speaker 4: have him stick to the script. Look, you see it
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  Speaker 4: on opening drives all the time. Sean Payton will throw
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  Speaker 4: the kitchen sink at teams and use those plays to
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  Speaker 4: set things up later, So I think they'll come in
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  Speaker 4: well prepared. The question is, can still them be something
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  Speaker 4: of a game manager while also taking those vertical shots downfield?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think there's a world that also exists where
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  Speaker 3: there's slightly an advantage here. You know, you get so
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  Speaker 3: laid into the season, the amount of game film that
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  Speaker 3: you have, the tendencies of teams with their current personnel
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  Speaker 3: different quarterback, things are going to look dramatically different.
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  Speaker 2: I think for this Broncos offense.
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  Speaker 3: I was working the other day with Steve Whytch, one
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  Speaker 3: of our colleagues, and he had mentioned the Houston Texans
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  Speaker 3: while their defense against the Patriots, maybe they can go
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  Speaker 3: and score seven or fourteen points like that he did
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  Speaker 3: against Pittsburgh. And I said to him, I'm like, that's
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  Speaker 3: a tough way to live if you are an NFL team.
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  Speaker 3: I think the same could be said for this Broncos.
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  Speaker 3: But it is just one game. Is that defense good
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  Speaker 3: enough to get some points on the board?
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  Speaker 4: I think so right, and even obviously affect field position,
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  Speaker 4: and you know, kind of get in May's head. We've
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  Speaker 4: seen may have some some pedestrian first quarters where he's
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  Speaker 4: kind of feeling the game out. That would be a
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  Speaker 4: great time to strike and take an opportunity. The Broncos
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  Speaker 4: excel at get sacks and pressure. We know that they
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  Speaker 4: were on pace at one point to break the eighty
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  Speaker 4: four Bears all time record. Didn't quite do it, but
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  Speaker 4: we know they can get after it upfront. What's been
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  Speaker 4: missing this season is really those game changing turnovers. Now,
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  Speaker 4: obviously they have won in overtime against the Bills, but
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  Speaker 4: or excuse me, and I had several against the Bills.
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  Speaker 4: But this season traditionally they haven't had as many strips
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  Speaker 4: and interceptions as you'd like. So it's great to see
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  Speaker 4: them get after the ball, take the ball away against
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  Speaker 4: Buffalo that helped them win the game. I'm not sure
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  Speaker 4: they do if they don't have a plus four margin there.
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  Speaker 4: So if they can find that same recipe and kind
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  Speaker 4: of mirror some of what the Texans did, I think
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  Speaker 4: they absolutely have a chance, especially if JK. Dobbins helps
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  Speaker 4: out with the run game if he comes back this weekend.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you there.
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  Speaker 3: Meanwhile, we got the number four team on your list,
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  Speaker 3: and that is the Rams. I know we touched a
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  Speaker 3: little bit about Seattle. We know that these two teams
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  Speaker 3: will clash and it should be an epic game, much
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  Speaker 3: like we saw with the Chicago Bears and the Rams.
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  Speaker 2: What do you take away for going across country?
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  Speaker 3: You beat Carolina, you go to the cold weather, and
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: I think there are some people, including myself that thought
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: that could be a factor in this game. You win
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: that matchup this path, like they're showing that maybe they
• 14:14
  Speaker 3: are the best team that's still left in the dance.
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: There's tough, right, I mean, it wasn't a thing of
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: beauty against the Bears. Obviously, the second half defense was great. Offensively,
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: you expected a little bit more consistency from them. Maybe
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: the cold weather had something to do with that. And
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: of course they are heading into the Lions Den. I mean,
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: it's tough to play in Seattle, even if their road
• 14:33
  Speaker 4: record is better. We know how loud it can get there.
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: We know it's going to be absolutely amped up for
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: that game. But look, I mean their pass rush will travel.
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: Matthew Stafford can have a tough second and third quarter
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: and come back and play well on the fourth and overtime.
• 14:47
  Speaker 5: That's what he did on Sunday.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: Puka Nakua can have a relatively quiet night statistically, but
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: still makes several big plays, the third down conversion, he
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: ran it on fourth down for a huge conversion in
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: the red zone.
• 14:59
  Speaker 5: Made several big blocks.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: DeVante Adams missed part of the game, but he came
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: up with a huge catch, a controvert catch. But even
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: when those guys aren't lighting it up, they have ways
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: to impact the game certainly. And you know, to be
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: able to survive that miracle throw from Caleb Williams and
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: make him throw a lot of passes he probably didn't
• 15:17
  Speaker 4: want to throw on Sunday, I think they have to
• 15:19
  Speaker 4: feel pretty good about themselves, especially after, you know, turning
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: over Sam Darnol four times in a game earlier this year.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: So if there's anyone who can beat the Seahawks, I
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: think it's the Rams. They have that formula. They seem
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: to be pretty evenly matched against them.
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I know, look, we we're going to talk
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: about the Bears coming up in just a bit here,
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: But I mean, Caleb, you got to kidding me. Everyone
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: want to talking about the Roman Dunes a throw that
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: I literally said, that's one of the most remarkable throws
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: I've ever seen in my entire life. And watching that
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: that tying score against the Rams. That was truly spectacular.
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: So future clearly right for this team. Real quick here,
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: You like the Rams on the road?
• 15:55
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think there's a chance they can win this game.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: But I'm still back in Seattle. I still think they're
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: my favorites at this point. The Rams probably need more
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: explosive plays. They need more of the run game that
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: we saw them kind of get away from early on.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: If they can run the football early in this game,
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: that's going to kind of change the tone because we
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: know Seattle's down to one back they trust right at
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: this point. But it also takes great goal line defense,
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: boy Quentin Lake getting over the top and making a
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: huge tackle here as well, you know, and again the
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: physicality that we see up front. The Rams probably don't
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: get enough credit for what they do in the line
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: of scrimmage, so they have a chance. I mean again,
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: it could be a one score game. Again, that's kind
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: of what I'm expecting. I think Seattle's maybe a hair better,
• 16:34
  Speaker 4: But there was a point this season where I thought
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: LA was the best team in football, and they can
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: get back there again.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: And by the way, they're one two point conversion stop
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: and I know Seattle conversion on two of them up
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: in Seattle a couple weeks back, but they get one
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: of those stops. We are having a very different conversation
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: that game might happen across the street from our studios
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: at SOFI Stadium instead of this Rams team having to
• 16:54
  Speaker 3: go on the road. Nonetheless expecting a ton of fireworks,
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: but more power rankings.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Still to come here.
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: I mentioned that throw from Caleb Williams and the future
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: being bright for the Chicago Bears. Will di that squad
• 17:05
  Speaker 3: not to mention the Bills coaching change, Wickles, what's going
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: on with the Texans in their quarterback, and the forty
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: nine ers just running out a little bit of gas.
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: Will discuss all of those teams coming up next. Back
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: here on power rankings, take a closer look at Eric's
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: teams five through eight. It's the Bills dropping down that spot.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: The text and some serious concerns at least I have
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: about CJ. Stroud and what we're potentially going to see
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: from him this upcoming season or I should say next season,
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: which is still this upcoming season. The Chicago Bears sitthing
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: at number seven in the San Francisco forty nine Ers.
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: Valiant effort down the stretch just ran out a little
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: bit of gas. Some big changes for Bill's Mafia, sher
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: McDermott getting relieved of his duties. I think there's a
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: lot of different ways to go here. The window is
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: it closed. We saw what has happened. I think there's
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: some personnel issues at that wide receiver spot that's.
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: Been well documented.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: But the reality is what makes sense. You don't have
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: to give me a name, but the type of coach
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: that you think would fit for.
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: The Bills, well, I think they're gonna center on somebody
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: who is a Josh Allen approved and has probably worked
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: with Alan before. Now that obviously narrows down the list
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: of candidates a little bit.
• 18:10
  Speaker 5: I mean, Brian Dables out there.
• 18:11
  Speaker 4: We know his head coaching record isn't great, but he's
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: certainly had good success with Josh. Davis Webb, the young
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: up and coming star on the Broncos staff. Now is
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: certainly somebody who I mean he considers Josh to be
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: one of his best friends. Is that the kind of
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: relationship they're looking for, or somebody who would always see
• 18:28
  Speaker 4: have a good idea what to do with them? And
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: Joe Brady who's called plays for him and also kind
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: of helped revive things at times, even if there were
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: some offensive sluggish moments this year.
• 18:37
  Speaker 5: But you're right, I mean they.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: Need receiver help, still have to add to that defense.
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: Other parts of the roster probably need addressing as well.
• 18:43
  Speaker 4: And you know you talk about windows. I mean, look,
• 18:45
  Speaker 4: the window was wide open this year with the playoff
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: field being what it was, and they couldn't get through it.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: So they may be smaller.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: I don't think it's closed, but the pressure certainly is
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: ramped up on guys like Brandon Bean and on Allen
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: as well to deliver those those Super Bowl victories that
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: have been elusive.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Now I'm with you.
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: The number six team, the Houston Texans. I hate to
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: say like regress, but it's hard to use any other word.
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: I'm not smart enough to come up with another way
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: to describe what I saw from CJ Stroud this year.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: What are you supposed to do?
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: Because I think there was an argument maybe even pole
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: CJ in the second half of that game. Consider what
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: we saw from Davis Mills earlier this year. It's the postseason, man,
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: you got to go and get a win, and he's
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: just struggled.
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Tamiko Ryan said he never considered it. I'm a
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: little surprised. Obviously, you got to protect your guy and everything.
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: I'm sure he pondered it for at least a moment,
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: right especially we saw four interceptions and you know, wondering
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: whether CJ can kind of regain it. Some of these
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: passes just not anywhere close to their target or certainly
• 19:39
  Speaker 4: more in harm's way than not. So, you know, CJ
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: has not been the same guy.
• 19:45
  Speaker 5: Since his rookie season.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: I felt like he kind of turned the corner in
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: last year's playoffs a couple good performances when there were
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: some questions about him. So he entered this this postseason
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: with four pretty good playoff appearances, and things were not
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: good against the Steelers, and things were even worse against
• 20:01
  Speaker 4: New England. So obviously there's something that hasn't quite been right.
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: I kind of wonder did he have some lingering after
• 20:08
  Speaker 4: effects he had that concussion earlier this season?
• 20:10
  Speaker 5: You know, did he sort of take the run game
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: element out of his game.
• 20:14
  Speaker 4: He's not really a huge scrambler, but there were opportunities
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: he had to run the football and didn't often do it.
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: So it just wasn't the same version of him. Heading
• 20:22
  Speaker 4: into year three now is a big offseason for him.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: Extension eligible, we'll find out about the fifth year option.
• 20:28
  Speaker 4: I can't wait to see if he can turn it around.
• 20:30
  Speaker 5: I think he can. They've got that world class defense
• 20:33
  Speaker 5: behind him.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, I know there's no Nico Collins.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: And I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses here,
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: because there's plenty of teams that have had success when
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: they lose one of their key ingredients on the offensive side.
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: But for whatever it's worth, that's clearly CJ's guy, and
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: he is the best wide receiver on that roster. So
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: however you want to dissect that, but I clearly that
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: there's some I think there's more questions than answers right
• 20:53
  Speaker 3: now around CJ.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: Strout and the Texans. Less of those questions in Chicago
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: for the Bears. What's next?
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: I know, in your backyard you get an up close
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: and personal look at this team, But what's next for
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: this franchise?
• 21:04
  Speaker 4: Well, well, I think it's got to be winning games
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: by you know, sooner than the final five seconds of
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: the contest.
• 21:09
  Speaker 5: I'm kidding, of course, why you know, I like it.
• 21:12
  Speaker 5: Some of their heroics kind of masks some of the
• 21:14
  Speaker 5: issues on this roster.
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: When you can make have a quarterback who can make
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: plays like this, it's a nice thing to have. We
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: saw it with Lamar Jackson Josh Allen at various points
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: in his career where you say, go win the game
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: for us, and Caleb has shown he can do that.
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: I'd like to see that defense keep adding although they
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: play great against the Rams, and you know, I mean,
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: a healthy Roma Dunesa will help too. He just didn't
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: look quite the same there at the end of the
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: year with that foot injury. I will say this too,
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: though progress in the NFL it's not always linear. You
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: don't always see teams make that proverbial jump after a
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: good season. They played a tough schedule this year, but
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: you know, they're obviously going to be circled on a
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: lot of people's calendars last year, and Ben Johnson wasn't
• 21:55
  Speaker 4: scared of making some enemies too. So people will relish
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: beating the Bears next year if they can, and if
• 22:01
  Speaker 4: they don't improve the defense and add some more pass
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: rush up front, you know that might be possible.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: I think there's a handful of teams that have made
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: coaching changes that are hoping that they get the Ben
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Johnson effect in year number one next season, and it
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: might actually happen for a couple of the hires that
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: have been made thus far. I'm hoping, as you know,
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: I'm a Giants fan. I'm hoping Harbach so that Pixie
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: Dust on that roster and things will turn around.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: San Francisco.
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: The Niners great season, I think in a lot of
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: ways because of the way that it looked and how
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: they were able to accomplish things with a depleted roster
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: in terms of health. We could go with the hey,
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: is the window closed like we did for a Buffalo.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: I don't know if that's the appropriate question here, but
• 22:43
  Speaker 3: I think there are.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Some positives to take away.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: But in a game where moral victories don't mean anything,
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: I don't know what to where to go with the
• 22:50
  Speaker 3: Niners heading into next season.
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah, let's just talk about First of all, they're going
• 22:53
  Speaker 4: to get back a lot of players who were hurt
• 22:55
  Speaker 4: last year, and they're finally going to be able to
• 22:57
  Speaker 4: move on from players like Brandon Aiyuk, who was always
• 23:00
  Speaker 4: in that kind of maybe category is he going to play?
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: Is he going to help us?
• 23:03
  Speaker 4: The answer was no this season, So you know, I
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: think having a little bit more clarity at receiver, possibly
• 23:09
  Speaker 4: adding one more body there, a little bit more you know, firepower.
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: At defensive end. I'd still like to see another pass rusher,
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: you know, offensive line, and obviously tight end too with
• 23:18
  Speaker 4: Kittle being hurt as much as he as he is.
• 23:20
  Speaker 4: But you know, Brock Purtty will be back. They like
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: the backup. They obviously have one of the best QB
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: minds in the game. And Kyle Shanahan got to replace
• 23:28
  Speaker 4: Robert Salad. That's another defensive coordinator they got to find,
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: and you know, he was very good. But I still
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: am pretty bullish about the future of the forty nine
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: ers if they can find a way to avoid these
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: catastrophic injuries year in and year out.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: It is just a recurring theme around a roster and
• 23:45
  Speaker 3: it's disappointing. The one other thing that I will throw
• 23:47
  Speaker 3: your way, and Christian McCaffrey had a remarkable season. He's
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: a guy that also has battled through some injuries.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: That workload.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: I'm really curious to see what this season and the
• 23:56
  Speaker 3: amount of tread that's left on those tires based off
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: of him being really the focal point of that offense.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: So It's going to be an interesting offseason up in
• 24:04
  Speaker 3: the Bank area. Eric, you're the best man. Always appreciate
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: it working with you. Cannot wait to do it again
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: with you next week here on the NFL channel.
• 24:12
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• 24:18
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