Transcript

#7: MURKY · 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. Wow.
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Speaker 2: It's a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings. Mike
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Speaker 2: Amman Eric at Home with You. Of course, you could
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Speaker 2: check out Eric's complete column, a ranking of all thirty
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Speaker 2: two teams with analysis on NFL dot com. We're going
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Speaker 2: to go through a whole big list of teams right now,
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Speaker 2: and some squads that deserve a ton of love. In fact,
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Speaker 2: a historic moment coming up in that number one spot.
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Speaker 2: But Eric, I think the best place to start is
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Speaker 2: something that our producer, Heem said before we started recording.
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Speaker 2: He said he likes it murky, and it feels like
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Speaker 2: that's a good way to describe the Power Rankings. Heading
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Speaker 2: into Week seven.
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Speaker 3: I asked myself who is the best team in the NFL?
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Speaker 3: And then I asked it again and then a third time.
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Speaker 3: Every time one of those top teams lost this week,
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Speaker 3: I had to recalibrate everything. So it was a chore,
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Speaker 3: but it was fun and I think people will have
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Speaker 3: something to talk about after they see where I put
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Speaker 3: certain teams.
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Speaker 2: Okay, so we have some history here as we get
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Speaker 2: you our rankings, and the history is the number one
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Speaker 2: team that moves up three spot. They are a five
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Speaker 2: to one squad. It is the Tampa Bay Bucks. In
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Speaker 2: the history of power rankings, Eric has never had them
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Speaker 2: sitting in this position. The Lions, they drop a spot
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Speaker 2: to four and two. We got the Seahawks, whoa at three,
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Speaker 2: the Bills. I think there might be some pushback on
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Speaker 2: this one based off of these back to back losses
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Speaker 2: for them. The Packers at five, the Eagles free fall
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Speaker 2: four spots to six. You got the Rams at seven,
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Speaker 2: and the Colts at eight. Eric, I want to focus
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Speaker 2: in on this number one team. I read your column
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Speaker 2: on NFL dot Com. I'm powerphrasing here where you describe
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Speaker 2: it as maybe not a clear cut number one, I
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Speaker 2: would say it is a clear cut I think where
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Speaker 2: you have the Bucks is accurate. They should be the
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Speaker 2: number one team. They have five wins on the season.
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Speaker 2: There's no excuses with this team. Doesn't matter who's hurt.
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Speaker 2: They're still delivering. When another team is banged up and
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Speaker 2: they lose the go ah they're missing one or two
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Speaker 2: players here, it is like a revolving door at the
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Speaker 2: wide receiver spot. Even in the backfield for Baker Mayfield,
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Speaker 2: who's probably at least in paste right now, on pace
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Speaker 2: to be the MVP of the year.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean again, I kind of gave him a
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Speaker 3: soft endorsement. Look, this is a team that I thought
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Speaker 3: I picked preseason to get to the Super Bowl. I
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Speaker 3: believed in Baker still do, obviously even more after seeing him,
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Speaker 3: you know, uncorked deep balls like this, and every week
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Speaker 3: it seems to have a crazy scramble. So I definitely
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Speaker 3: think you're right about the MVP case. Look, I mean,
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Speaker 3: I'm sure there'll still be some Josh Allen love after
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Speaker 3: his Monday struggles. You know, Mahomes is kind of back
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Speaker 3: on the rise, maybe a dark horse like Drake May,
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Speaker 3: but you know, pound for pound, I think Baker's doing
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Speaker 3: the job right now.
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Speaker 4: And you mentioned the receivers, you know.
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Speaker 3: Relying on the brothers Johnson, right, Tess and Cameron not
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Speaker 3: the biggest guys in the world, Kate Otten, et cetera.
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Speaker 3: When they get their full compliment of receivers back, which
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Speaker 3: they're expected to, this could be a deadly team. But
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Speaker 3: right now they're going to have to sweat it out
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Speaker 3: and they've got a tough one coming up this week
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Speaker 3: against the Lions in Detroit, So we'll see if this
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Speaker 3: is a one week stay or if they're built the last.
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Speaker 2: And by the way, keep in mind here, this is
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Speaker 2: not a fluffed up five wins. It's back to back
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Speaker 2: weeks where we're talking about a Seahawks squad who we're
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Speaker 2: buyers in. You actually have him three right now in
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Speaker 2: your power rankings, and I do think I know the
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Speaker 2: Niners are banged up. By the way, I'm using that
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Speaker 2: excuse of injuries. I know they're banged up, with the
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Speaker 2: Niners also a pretty good football team as well, and
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Speaker 2: this sets up a really big Monday night matchup against
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Speaker 2: the Detroit Lions. You have sitting at number two. Are
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Speaker 2: you concerned right now with what you saw against Kansas City?
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Speaker 2: Like I can story in my mind a loss, and
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Speaker 2: I know, once again there's injuries on that defense, especially
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Speaker 2: in that secondary. What concerned me was an inability to
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Speaker 2: be effective on offense against Casey's defense.
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Speaker 4: No doubt about it.
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Speaker 3: I mean, look, they had this play at the beginning
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Speaker 3: of the game there on fourth down. It looked like
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Speaker 3: another brilliant lines play, callback by penalties settle for field goal.
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Speaker 3: So in a game where the Chiefs made a kind
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Speaker 3: of an eight possession game. Every possession counted quite a bit.
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Speaker 3: Everyone counted a lot. The Chiefs relied on great red
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Speaker 3: zone defense, key stops, third downs, etc. Two minute drill,
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Speaker 3: and they pulled it off. I mean, when Golf hit
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Speaker 3: a Laporta for that touchdown, I thought, Okay, here we go,
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Speaker 3: buckle up. But it just never happened. Those next couple
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Speaker 3: of drives didn't materialize. And you know, Patrick Mahomes played
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Speaker 3: a great game. And that's one other word I had
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Speaker 3: with this Detroit team. More good than bad on defense
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Speaker 3: this season. However, when you look at them against the Packers,
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Speaker 3: against the lamar Led Ravens, against Mahomes and the Chiefs,
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Speaker 3: they're less effective. So yes, there are concerns on both sides.
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Speaker 3: But I still believe in kind of the fabric of
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Speaker 3: this operation, and I do believe they'll bounce back, including
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Speaker 3: you know, giving the Bucks all they can handle.
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Speaker 4: I believe.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, we're going to talk about the Kansas City Chiefs
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Speaker 2: in a couple of minutes here on power rankings because
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Speaker 2: they deserve some love, especially when we're knocking on the
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Speaker 2: door of a return from Rashid Rice. And I think
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Speaker 2: this win puts them back into the conversation as one
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Speaker 2: of the leagues the league, because I was kind of
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Speaker 2: on the fence about it. The Seahawks. You're buying this
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Speaker 2: team right now, saying in the third spot, tell me
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Speaker 2: on why you think that they deserve to be here.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, two close losses at home, and obviously they got
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Speaker 3: to play better at Luminfield. But when you see what
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Speaker 3: Mike McDonald has done on the road, going ten to one,
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Speaker 3: including nine straight wins, it tells you something, right. They're
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Speaker 3: able to translate the run game. That's a big part
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Speaker 3: of their success. Certainly the defense and the pressure that
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Speaker 3: they create, even with the questions in the secondary, those
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Speaker 3: things travel they do well, right.
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Speaker 4: But you also have.
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Speaker 3: Sam Darnold and Jackson Smith and Jigba both having very
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Speaker 3: fine seasons.
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Speaker 4: Smith and Jigba.
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Speaker 3: You know, if you told me he was the best
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Speaker 3: receiver in the NFL right now, I wouldn't push back
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Speaker 3: a lot right now. He's certainly in the top three
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Speaker 3: or four, excellent at what he does. They have a
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Speaker 3: well rounded attack. They don't kill themselves with mistakes. They
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Speaker 3: bounce back from that one poor effort last week against
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Speaker 3: the Bucks defensively, So a lot of good with this team.
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Speaker 3: You know, again, it's more of a synergistic thing. A
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Speaker 3: lot of the pieces all kind of adding up together,
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Speaker 3: as opposed to that one superstar player who just carries
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Speaker 3: the whole operation.
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Speaker 4: So that's a good thing, I think.
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Speaker 3: And you know, maybe three is a little higher than
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Speaker 3: I expected to have him this week. But the way
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Speaker 3: things shaked out, you know, shook out, that's where they're
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Speaker 3: landing right now.
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Speaker 2: Is this a regional thing, because I think the national
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Speaker 2: landscape doesn't doesn't buy Seahawks at three. I think you
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Speaker 2: would get pushed back depending on who you were talking
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Speaker 2: to and where they're based. But to your point on JSN,
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Speaker 2: if he's playing in a different market, and Seattle's a
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Speaker 2: big market, but maybe on the other side of the country,
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Speaker 2: you know, the reality is I think people would be
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Speaker 2: talking about him as maybe the best wide receiver in
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Speaker 2: the NFL. And I know there's quarterback issues right now
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Speaker 2: in Minnesota and certainly in Cincinnati, which is why that
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Speaker 2: JJ Jamar Chase situation is a little bit different. But
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Speaker 2: this guy deserves his flowers, and so does Sam Darnold.
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Speaker 3: Absolutely yeah, I mean again, we've seen some tremendous performances
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Speaker 3: this year from like Jonathan Taylor with the Colts and
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Speaker 3: Jackson Smith and Jigba b Jon Robinson in Atlanta. You know,
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Speaker 3: in a year where a lot of the quarterbacks are
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Speaker 3: injured or not in the running for MVP, maybe this
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Speaker 3: is the year where we start thinking about a non
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Speaker 3: QB as MVP again, Digress.
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Speaker 4: I get off my soapbox there.
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Speaker 3: But Smith and Jigbo when they traded DK Metcalf, they
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Speaker 3: had an idea of what he was capable of as.
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Speaker 4: A true number one and Mike, you look around the league,
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Speaker 4: there really aren't.
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Speaker 3: As many true number one receivers as we thought they
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Speaker 3: were we think there should be probably, so he's one
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Speaker 3: of a select few.
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Speaker 2: It's actually a great call, and I haven't heard too
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Speaker 2: many people talk about that. You don't trade and get
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Speaker 2: rid of a DK Metcalf if you don't have supreme
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Speaker 2: confidence in JSN, and it clearly did. My confidence level
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Speaker 2: on the Buffalo Bills right now, it's teetering a little bit.
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Speaker 2: I think Atlanta's defense is real, right, So I'm like, Okay,
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Speaker 2: what I saw Monday night is one thing they've owned
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Speaker 2: this division and the Patriots in the last game handling
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Speaker 2: business against them. What's the concern that you have around
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Speaker 2: Josh Allen's team.
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Speaker 3: Not often we see these guys in second place, but
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Speaker 3: believe it or not, that's where they are right now,
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Speaker 3: behind New England after that game in Week six. So yeah,
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Speaker 3: I mean the operation just seems broken, right. I mean,
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Speaker 3: we're talking about James Cook having a pretty good night
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Speaker 3: run in the football and they score fourteen points and
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Speaker 3: don't even get to three hundred yards. Even with Atlanta's
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Speaker 3: defense playing at a high level. That's very unbills like,
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Speaker 3: especially in a dome. So look, I mean you could
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Speaker 3: say it's two straight losses, and that's true, but I
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Speaker 3: think it goes back farther than that. Look at the
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Speaker 3: Miami game the New Orleans game, they had their struggles
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Speaker 3: in both really not playing as efficiently as they should
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Speaker 3: be offensively and defensively. You saw in the first half
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Speaker 3: they were up against it, couldn't close it out obviously
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Speaker 3: in the second half either. And you know, just the
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Speaker 3: lack of weapons right now for Josh Allen, I mean,
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Speaker 3: Kinkaid couldn't play, Palmer gets hurt. I think this bye week,
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Speaker 3: you know they're going to have to do some soul surging.
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Speaker 3: It's possible that we look back a month or two
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Speaker 3: from now and say, Okay.
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Speaker 4: That was a blip on a radar. They had to
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Speaker 4: get over that stretch.
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Speaker 3: They're going to get some reinforcements back from suspension and
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Speaker 3: injury and things like that. That may all be true,
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Speaker 3: but right now, the way you described him is absolutely right,
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Speaker 3: and putting them at four is probably a lot higher
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Speaker 3: than a lot of people will have them. I still
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Speaker 3: think they're going to end up in that region, but
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Speaker 3: right now it's looking like a problem.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you there. I don't know if I
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Speaker 2: could sell myself on Buffalo being for currently. By the way,
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Speaker 2: fans in Atlanta, don't worry. We're going to give you
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Speaker 2: guys some love in a little bit here. They were
9:02
Speaker 2: a significant mover in the power rankings. That's still yeah,
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Speaker 2: the Eagles. They're sitting at the top of the power
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Speaker 2: rankings there for a couple of weeks, and they continue
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Speaker 2: to sort of drop. They move to six. I guess
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Speaker 2: the same question applies to them. How concerned are you,
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Speaker 2: as a team that's consistently getting out gained this season
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Speaker 2: that they are still one of the premier teams in
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Speaker 2: the NFL.
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Speaker 3: The things offensively have not been totally right all season.
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Speaker 3: Even if we saw some strides on Thursday, again, didn't
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Speaker 3: really translate to the scoreboard and affect the game very much.
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Speaker 3: But even if there were strides, it still isn't good enough.
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Speaker 3: And you know, you take Jail and Carter off that defense,
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Speaker 3: significant blow.
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Speaker 4: But they shouldn't play that poorly.
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Speaker 3: They shouldn't look that unprepared for the athleticism of Jackson Dart.
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Speaker 3: I mean, they just played two pretty agile quarterbacks prior
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Speaker 3: to that, so it surprised me a little that they
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Speaker 3: sort of came out very flat defensively, flat offensively as well.
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Speaker 4: We're tackling poor sort.
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Speaker 3: Of attention to detail, I would say, and especially in
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Speaker 3: those early drives. So you know, we've got two more
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Speaker 3: games till the bye, tough one at Minnesota, interesting one
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Speaker 3: at the very least, and then a rematch against that
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Speaker 3: Giants team. If they're not kind of back on the upswing,
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Speaker 3: I'll tell you what, they're going to be a lot
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Speaker 3: lower than six heading into the by given what we've
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Speaker 3: seen recently.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, because I think you look in this division and
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Speaker 2: it feels a little different and more up in the
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Speaker 2: air than I think people would have imagined. You're right.
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Speaker 2: They go on the road against Minnesota as their next opponent.
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Speaker 2: It is an interesting matchup because of what the Vikings
10:27
Speaker 2: do defensively could create some problems for Jalen Hurts and
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Speaker 2: this Eagles offense. All right, there is one team that
10:35
Speaker 2: has been bawling so far this season. So let's dive
10:38
Speaker 2: in on this eighth team, and that is this Indianapolis
10:41
Speaker 2: Colt squad. I think you could have moved them up
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Speaker 2: into the top four, right behind Seattle at number three.
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Speaker 2: They're pretty complete football team, Eric, I mean, like, what
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Speaker 2: else do you want to see from them? Like? Why
10:52
Speaker 2: not move them up ahead of the guys like the
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Speaker 2: Eagles and the Bills.
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Speaker 3: I was prepared to and I watched that game Sunday
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Speaker 3: and it was an uphill climb for them, I mean
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Speaker 3: against Jacoby Brissett and Arizona in their building, and so
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Speaker 3: you know, Dane Jones threw an early pick and that
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Speaker 3: kind of got them off rhythm a little bit, although
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Speaker 3: they took the ball right back and it was just
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Speaker 3: tough sledding and defensively, it worries me a little bit
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Speaker 3: that a backup QB can come in and give them
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Speaker 3: some trouble and have a chance to win the game
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Speaker 3: at games in there. So you know, I know, every
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Speaker 3: seems like every contender could use a cornerback right now.
11:24
Speaker 3: The Colts are certainly among those. I mean, the secondary
11:27
Speaker 3: right now feels a little thin, but offensively leaving the
11:30
Speaker 3: NFL and scoring getting some help from their defense and
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Speaker 3: special teams as well. But that offense has been chugging
11:36
Speaker 3: every single week. The one twenty point game, everything else
11:39
Speaker 3: I think has been over twenty eight. So points have
11:42
Speaker 3: not been a problem this season. But if they start
11:44
Speaker 3: running up against those elite teams that also can score,
11:48
Speaker 3: you know, are they able to win those kinds of
11:50
Speaker 3: track meets. Are they able to go on the road
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Speaker 3: and win those tough games. Those are the only questions
11:53
Speaker 3: I have with them right now.
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Speaker 4: I love the operation, but.
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Speaker 3: Jacksonville and Houston are going to have a little something
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Speaker 3: to say about this Division two. I think, yeah, I.
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Speaker 2: Think Jonathan Taylor should also be in that MVP conversation.
12:03
Speaker 2: I know it's typically a quarterback a week, but he
12:05
Speaker 2: has been terrific. I thought when I had asked you
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Speaker 2: about where you'd want to slot them, Eric, I thought
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Speaker 2: you were gonna mention their schedule and the fact that
12:11
Speaker 2: there's some room to really rise here. You were sort
12:13
Speaker 2: of baking it in Miami, Denver, Tennessee, the Rams, Vegas,
12:17
Speaker 2: and Arizona. So it's not exactly like a slew of
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Speaker 2: Gangbusters here. So there is an opportunity for the Colts
12:23
Speaker 2: to continue to rise in the power rankings. Meanwhile, we
12:26
Speaker 2: staw have more to come here on power rankings. Kansas
12:28
Speaker 2: City handling business against the team that I thought was
12:31
Speaker 2: the best team in the NFL up until the matchup
12:33
Speaker 2: against Kansas City, and that's the Detroit Lions. Where does
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Speaker 2: Eric put case? The answer to that is coming up next.
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Speaker 2: I'll back here on power rankings. Eric at home and
12:41
Speaker 2: Mike am with you, and all is right in the world.
12:43
Speaker 2: In Kansas City, moving up three spots back into the
12:46
Speaker 2: top ten. They're sitting with a five hundred record. They
12:49
Speaker 2: sit at number nine in the power rankings. We'll talk
12:50
Speaker 2: Steelers in just a moment. They're at ten. The Broncos
12:53
Speaker 2: they drop a spot despite a win and boy that
12:56
Speaker 2: was a tough one at times against the Jets in London.
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Speaker 2: At twelve, it's the Commanders who fall three spots thirteen,
13:02
Speaker 2: it's the Jags who drop two spots. The Chargers remain
13:05
Speaker 2: even at fourteen, it's the Niners and the Patriots sitting
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Speaker 2: at fifteen and sixteen. Time for the Team of the
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Speaker 2: Week and is presented by Truest at number nine. Eric,
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Speaker 2: We've got a Kansas City team that all of a sudden,
13:17
Speaker 2: offensively is looking like an offensive team that we had anticipated.
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Speaker 2: Ninety five points they have scored over the last three games,
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Speaker 2: most in a three game span since twenty twenty one.
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Speaker 2: More reinforcements coming. Rashid Rice is going to be back
13:29
Speaker 2: coming off of that suspension. Do we just say like, hey,
13:32
Speaker 2: like we're good Kansas City, Like this is a team
13:34
Speaker 2: that once again can make a real push and get
13:36
Speaker 2: to an AFC Championship game and maybe even back to
13:38
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl.
13:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, They've they've been up and down so far, right,
13:41
Speaker 3: and I tried to factor that in.
13:43
Speaker 4: I mean, having them at nine.
13:44
Speaker 3: Look, would they be favored against more than, you know,
13:47
Speaker 3: than twenty four other teams? Probably, Yeah, I think they might.
13:50
Speaker 3: But we still want to see a little more consistency.
13:53
Speaker 3: But obviously, you know, this last game against the Lions
13:56
Speaker 3: was their best showing of the year. I think considering
13:59
Speaker 3: the opponent and everything that was at stake coming off
14:01
Speaker 3: the Jaguars loss, then maybe we put too much into
14:04
Speaker 3: that loss too. Right, that's a pretty functionally good team
14:07
Speaker 3: this year, all things said, So Mahomes really taking over.
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Speaker 3: That's the guy we want to see. And now, like
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Speaker 3: you said, the full complement of weapons the most important part.
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Speaker 4: Hollywood.
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Speaker 3: Brown has a couple scores worthy gets in the end
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Speaker 3: zone early. You add rice to that equation, they're going
14:22
Speaker 3: to be awfully tough to cover.
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Speaker 4: You know.
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Speaker 3: I think you're going to see teams go zone and
14:26
Speaker 3: see Pat pick them apart, and we'll get back to
14:28
Speaker 3: that level of Chiefs offense that we expected prior to
14:31
Speaker 3: the last couple of years when things kind of slowed
14:33
Speaker 3: down a little bit. So is it going to be
14:35
Speaker 3: that way every week? Who knows, But they're back.
14:36
Speaker 2: I think home game for them against the Raiders coming
14:40
Speaker 2: up at number ten Steelers, they actually move five spots up,
14:43
Speaker 2: which is a positive. Here, I was sitting in the
14:46
Speaker 2: green room. We're watching two games on Monday night football,
14:48
Speaker 2: Steve watch. I'm working with him. He goes, hey, who's
14:50
Speaker 2: the best team in the AFC? And I kind of paused,
14:53
Speaker 2: and I was like, I don't know if i'd say
14:54
Speaker 2: the Steelers, but is there a case for them right now?
14:57
Speaker 2: Sitting with this record.
14:58
Speaker 3: We've seen strides offensively, We've seen strides defensively. The protection
15:03
Speaker 3: for Aaron Rodgers has gotten better. A lot of positive
15:05
Speaker 3: trends happening here, right. I mean, you know, early in
15:08
Speaker 3: the season, nearly losing Week one of the Jets, you know,
15:11
Speaker 3: having kind of a sloppy game against the Patriots and
15:13
Speaker 3: then making a ton of mistakes and sort of just
15:15
Speaker 3: barely clawing by. So I had my doubts earlier. I
15:18
Speaker 3: had them in the teens, and I kind of held
15:20
Speaker 3: back on them. But you keep winning games and Rogers
15:22
Speaker 3: makes throws like this, dk Metcalf earning his investment, right,
15:26
Speaker 3: I mean, he's gotten in the end zone of almost
15:27
Speaker 3: every game, So you know.
15:29
Speaker 4: It's very encouraging.
15:30
Speaker 3: And if you just look at the big landscape the
15:33
Speaker 3: last three weeks, the Steelers have won two games, lost none.
15:37
Speaker 4: The rest of the division combined zero and nine. I mean,
15:40
Speaker 4: think about that.
15:41
Speaker 3: That alone shifts the divisional power in their direction. And
15:45
Speaker 3: obviously we know about Baltimore and Cincinnati their struggles. The
15:48
Speaker 3: Browns aren't ready to compete yet, but the Steelers are
15:51
Speaker 3: showing there right now. They are the most trustworthy club
15:54
Speaker 3: in that division.
15:55
Speaker 2: I couldn't agree with you more in a division that
15:57
Speaker 2: historically the last couple of seasons we've said maybe is
15:59
Speaker 2: the best in the NFL. They match up against the
16:01
Speaker 2: Cincinnati team that's still trying to figure things out, so
16:04
Speaker 2: maybe padding that lead in that division. The Chargers, they
16:08
Speaker 2: are at fourteen right now. This is a good opponent
16:10
Speaker 2: that they're going to be playing against the Colts, and
16:12
Speaker 2: to me, it's like a sort of a prove it game.
16:15
Speaker 2: I don't know, you could talk about style points needed
16:17
Speaker 2: to come back to win against the struggling Miami team.
16:19
Speaker 2: I would push back and just say they got to
16:21
Speaker 2: win on the road and they are so banged up
16:23
Speaker 2: and Herbert again look terrific.
16:25
Speaker 4: Yeah he did.
16:26
Speaker 3: I mean, look, he's rescued him time and time again
16:28
Speaker 3: this season. You know, Camanie viy Dal I thought had
16:31
Speaker 3: a really nice game filling in for Mari and Hampton,
16:33
Speaker 3: and you know they caught him in training camp and
16:36
Speaker 3: we're lucky to keep him on the practice squad. Lad
16:39
Speaker 3: McConkie obviously making big plays too, you know, this felt
16:43
Speaker 3: more like a breakdown by the Dolphins at the end
16:45
Speaker 3: of the game, and we saw it against the Patriots too.
16:47
Speaker 3: They've had trouble closing out contests this year, so I
16:50
Speaker 3: didn't want to give him too much credit. Didn't give
16:52
Speaker 3: him a bump up. I'm worried about the depth and
16:55
Speaker 3: if I don't know, if you saw that postgame video
16:57
Speaker 3: where Jim Harbaugh is celebrating the victory and he's trying
17:00
Speaker 3: to kind of fire him up, and they all just
17:02
Speaker 3: seemed exhausted.
17:03
Speaker 4: And it's been a lot run right.
17:05
Speaker 3: They've had a tough strutch of games from Brazil to
17:08
Speaker 3: this point, a lot of travel, a lot of mental
17:11
Speaker 3: taxing going on. But if Herbert can stay upright, they
17:15
Speaker 3: have a chance they still can compete with some of
17:17
Speaker 3: the best teams. I'm just a little shakier on them
17:19
Speaker 3: right now the where I was a year ago with
17:21
Speaker 3: this team.
17:22
Speaker 2: You know, I don't know how many people would have
17:23
Speaker 2: said Justin Herbert is in the elite category in the
17:25
Speaker 2: NFL before this season, and I'm a huge Justin Herbert fan.
17:28
Speaker 2: I'm starting to buy this a little bit, like he's
17:31
Speaker 2: sort of single handedly coming up with some critical throws
17:34
Speaker 2: in critical times. Right behind the Chargers are the Niners
17:37
Speaker 2: sitting at number fifteen? Can we just end this conversation
17:39
Speaker 2: about mac Jones replacing Brock Perty at this point? Like,
17:42
Speaker 2: are we good?
17:44
Speaker 3: I've given Mack a lot of credit and he's he's gamely,
17:48
Speaker 3: bravely fought through this injury to play for him. But yeah,
17:51
Speaker 3: I think it's fair to say we can kind of
17:53
Speaker 3: pull back from that. Assuming Perty's healthy, he is going
17:55
Speaker 3: to be the guy. But you know, once again, they
17:58
Speaker 3: suffer another huge injury with Fred Warner. That's their two
18:01
Speaker 3: best defenders going down for the season. Absolutely, listen, guy,
18:05
Speaker 3: I missed one game in his career prior to this point.
18:07
Speaker 3: An absolute warrior and a lynchpin for that defense. And
18:10
Speaker 3: so you know, the hits just keep coming and you
18:12
Speaker 3: can't say anything else, But how are they gonna find
18:15
Speaker 3: a way. Kyle Shanahan has done a tremendous job this year.
18:19
Speaker 3: He's navigated everything that's been thrown at him. You know,
18:21
Speaker 3: McCaffrey is getting stuffed in the run making plays with
18:24
Speaker 3: his legs. They'll get some reinforcements back, but certainly not
18:28
Speaker 3: all of them. And Warner is just a massive loss,
18:31
Speaker 3: and you just have to assume they're gonna need both
18:33
Speaker 3: quarterbacks down the stretch, you know, Jones and Perty better
18:36
Speaker 3: find a way to stay healthy and get this team
18:39
Speaker 3: across the finish line. The schedule sets up, the record
18:41
Speaker 3: is there, everything is in the right direction, but they're
18:45
Speaker 3: having to do it with a shell group right now.
18:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, I sound like I'm talking to out both sides
18:48
Speaker 2: of my mouth because I was pushing the Bucks is
18:50
Speaker 2: the number one team, and once again, I just think
18:52
Speaker 2: they deserve to be there. This is a hot take
18:54
Speaker 2: for you. Fred Warner doesn't get hurt. I think the
18:56
Speaker 2: Niners win that football game, even that first down run
18:58
Speaker 2: with Baker, which was like amazing to go and watch.
19:01
Speaker 2: He's kind of break it through tackles and lay it
19:02
Speaker 2: out and get fired up. Wonders in the game. I
19:04
Speaker 2: don't know if he picks up that first down for whatever,
19:06
Speaker 2: that's worse call. Right right behind the nine ers at
19:09
Speaker 2: fifteen are the Patriots. Drake may Mat Like there's like
19:12
Speaker 2: some positive juju going on around this dude, Like the
19:15
Speaker 2: Patriots all of a sudden, they're not a doormat, isn't
19:18
Speaker 2: it amazing? Like Rabel and some of these roster adjustments
19:20
Speaker 2: like what they've been able to accomplish. I think that
19:22
Speaker 2: win against Buffalo, and I don't know if you buy this,
19:24
Speaker 2: but I think that's just a tremendous confidence booster for
19:27
Speaker 2: this team, where they start believing they could beat.
19:28
Speaker 4: Anyone, absolutely right.
19:30
Speaker 3: I mean, they still made plenty of mistakes in this game,
19:32
Speaker 3: left the door open, you know, let Spencer Rattler move
19:35
Speaker 3: the ball on him, things like that. But Drake May
19:37
Speaker 3: look so calm and so poised, like we're gonna win
19:40
Speaker 3: this game, and I will make the throws that need
19:42
Speaker 3: to be made to make this happen.
19:44
Speaker 4: It was Stefan Diggs last week at Buffalo.
19:46
Speaker 3: This week it's Kasehaan Boutet and his return to Louisiana.
19:50
Speaker 4: To Mario Douglas had some.
19:51
Speaker 3: Big plays, So they've got some diversity offensively, right. We
19:55
Speaker 3: know Hunter Henry's there as well, they have other options.
19:57
Speaker 3: I wish the run game was a little more solid,
19:59
Speaker 3: but May can help make up for that with his
20:01
Speaker 3: scrambling too. The O line suddenly isn't the this terrible
20:05
Speaker 3: problem that we're talking about every single week, the penalties
20:08
Speaker 3: and the turnovers, the mistakes that we saw the first
20:10
Speaker 3: few weeks of the season, that's kind of been push
20:12
Speaker 3: to the side, so that Mike Rabel quality is coming
20:15
Speaker 3: out and Mays step into the forefront.
20:17
Speaker 2: I'm going to leave you with this on the Patriots,
20:19
Speaker 2: they win on the road against Tennessee. They are a
20:21
Speaker 2: five and two football team with four straight wins, three
20:25
Speaker 2: of them in a row on the road. Just let
20:28
Speaker 2: that one just sit if you are a Patriots fan,
20:31
Speaker 2: and you can put your feet up on the desk
20:32
Speaker 2: and smoke one if you got one, because it is
20:34
Speaker 2: a big reason to celebrate with a whole lot of
20:37
Speaker 2: football still remaining. Meanwhile, Michael Pennick's dealing Jean Robinson terrific.
20:41
Speaker 2: Drake London was a stud, but it's the defense that's
20:44
Speaker 2: been carrying this team. Where do they sit on Eric's list?
20:47
Speaker 2: The answer to that's coming up next back here on
20:54
Speaker 2: Power Rankings, Mike Hamm and Eric at Home with You,
20:56
Speaker 2: and this is Eric's rankings seventeen through twenty four. The
20:59
Speaker 2: Falcons moving up four spots. They sit at seventeen, followed
21:02
Speaker 2: by the Bears who get a nice win, the Vikings
21:05
Speaker 2: at nineteen, the Texans at twenty. Don't look now, Carolina's
21:08
Speaker 2: looking for real. They're sitting at three and three. They
21:10
Speaker 2: move up three spots. They're at twenty one, the Cowboys
21:13
Speaker 2: at twenty two. I cannot believe I'm seeing the Baltimore Ravens,
21:16
Speaker 2: out a one in five records, sitting at twenty three.
21:18
Speaker 2: They are which your record is though? And at twenty
21:21
Speaker 2: four it is the Arizona Cardinals. My god, what injuries
21:24
Speaker 2: in Baltimore. Let's talk about a positive story here. The
21:27
Speaker 2: Falcons say what you want about this offense, and I know,
21:30
Speaker 2: offensive guys get all the love.
21:32
Speaker 4: Eric.
21:32
Speaker 2: This defense is so legit and I think that was
21:34
Speaker 2: on full display. And what we watched against Buffalo.
21:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt.
21:37
Speaker 3: I mean they haven't allowed three hundred yards to an
21:39
Speaker 3: upudent this year, right, even if the Bucks kind of
21:41
Speaker 3: moved the ball, and you know, the Commanders put up
21:44
Speaker 3: twenty seven on them. I mean it is tough to
21:46
Speaker 3: move the football on them. And when you have a
21:48
Speaker 3: guy like Bijon Robinson on the other side, too absolute
21:52
Speaker 3: weapon and we could say maybe the best player in
21:54
Speaker 3: football like Rahem Morris. Did you know that that's going
21:57
Speaker 3: to do pretty well?
21:58
Speaker 4: I think?
21:59
Speaker 3: And so the defensive strides they've made have been so good. Obviously,
22:03
Speaker 3: two Allen picks, one in each of the you know,
22:06
Speaker 3: the end of the first half, second half. This big
22:08
Speaker 3: time plays right there, and yeah, I thought about moving
22:11
Speaker 3: them up higher than seventeen. If they do that next
22:13
Speaker 3: week against San Francisco, I could see him going way up.
22:16
Speaker 2: Yeah on the road too. I mean, I think we
22:18
Speaker 2: should be talking about them as a top twelve team
22:20
Speaker 2: or so the Panthers. Let's love them up here. Rico Daddle,
22:23
Speaker 2: by the way, I'm really bad at math. It's like
22:25
Speaker 2: almost like five hundred scrimmage yards or something like that.
22:27
Speaker 2: In the last two weeks, Bryce is looking like Bryce.
22:30
Speaker 2: I mean, this is this is kind of a good
22:32
Speaker 2: product now.
22:32
Speaker 3: A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking, what is
22:34
Speaker 3: the future for Bryce Young, you know, as he progressed,
22:36
Speaker 3: is he going to make progress here?
22:38
Speaker 4: But he really has.
22:39
Speaker 3: And Ted McMillan two scores on Sunday, you know, made
22:42
Speaker 3: up for the drop that ended up as an interception.
22:44
Speaker 4: You're right about Dawdle too.
22:45
Speaker 3: I mean four hundred and seventy three I want to
22:47
Speaker 3: say yards from scrimmage for a guy who wasn't starting
22:49
Speaker 3: to begin the year. So the Panthers are finding solutions
22:52
Speaker 3: within their own offense and kind of evolving and taking
22:56
Speaker 3: that proverbial next step. So I've been impressed, even with
22:59
Speaker 3: some pretty big hiccups this year.
23:01
Speaker 4: I mean, they've had some some games where they look
23:02
Speaker 4: really good.
23:03
Speaker 2: Daddall that said, buckalop up to the guys in Dallas.
23:06
Speaker 2: Look he delivered, which I like him. By the way,
23:08
Speaker 2: Fonte Williams has been great for them, so to win,
23:10
Speaker 2: win for both sides. Meanwhile, the rest of the rankings
23:12
Speaker 2: the Saints to twenty five, the GM and twenty six
23:15
Speaker 2: Cincinnati with Flacco. Here we go at twenty seven, we
23:18
Speaker 2: got the Raiders, the Dolphins, the Browns, the Tennessee Titans,
23:21
Speaker 2: and number thirty two, which is the New York Jets.
23:24
Speaker 3: Ouch.
23:25
Speaker 2: All right, the g men, are we buying this team
23:27
Speaker 2: because they're breaking heart?
23:29
Speaker 3: I'm buying the football bros. Darn scataboo, even Wandale Robinson.
23:33
Speaker 4: It's a big play.
23:34
Speaker 3: So yes, I know they're your team, but I'm going
23:36
Speaker 3: to adopt him for this week.
23:37
Speaker 4: They've been terrific.
23:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, no MO league neighbors. I'll take the wins
23:40
Speaker 2: and wherever they come. Erica and the best Man, Thanks
23:43
Speaker 2: everyone for watching and listening to Power Rankings.
23:52
Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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