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The Big Kahunas Football Podcast
Want to impress your buddies at the next football tailgate? Looking for some water cooler conversation? Ladies, want to one-up your man in front of his friends? Look no further as three sports enthusiasts and long-time friends will bring banter from the sports bar to the pod. The Big Kahunas will talk fantasy advice, "stone cold locks", upsets, overreactions, pleasant surprises, and a layman fan's perspective toward the new American pastime. Come as you are and join the Big Kahunas at the pod!
The Big Kahunas Football Podcast
Episode 113: State of the NFL 2025, A Reality Check with Stat Boy
This season doesn’t make sense—and that’s exactly why it’s fascinating. We zoom out from the week-to-week noise and dig into the real levers moving teams up and down: injuries, bye-week timing, travel, red-zone decisions, and whether culture can outlast chaos. With Stat Boy riding shotgun, we press on the big storylines everyone’s arguing about and the quieter trends that are actually changing outcomes.
We start with the Ravens’ slide and the line between bad luck and bad defense, then ask the uncomfortable question: if John Harbaugh hits the market, how many franchises rewrite their identity overnight? From there, it gets loud in the AFC South, where Jacksonville’s takeaways and Travis Etienne’s spark collide with a Colts team that hasn’t been truly tested post-bye and a Texans squad oscillating between “statement” and “stall.” Tennessee becomes the long game—Cam Ward’s ceiling, picks over sentiment, and a coaching target who fits a modern passer.
Out west, we stack tape, not takes: the Rams look like the most complete NFC West team, the 49ers are living on culture while they heal, and the Seahawks have a defense that travels and a backfield quietly tipping toward Zach Charbonnet in big downs. We challenge Detroit’s resume against real pressure looks, make the case that Green Bay’s tie might decide the division, and note why Kevin O’Connell can keep Minnesota in it if the quarterback play stays clean. Then it’s Tampa Bay time: Baker Mayfield’s MVP case isn’t a bit—it’s built on clutch throws without a full deck. The Bucs’ next step is banking two-score wins so January isn’t a coin flip.
We don’t duck the hard ones. The Chiefs have a short-yardage problem and fewer lucky bounces; the Broncos look like a real riser with a defense that hunts; the Eagles need to break their formation tells and let the run game reframe the offense; and Washington’s ceiling climbs as health returns—if they can get to the bye upright. The AFC East stays steady with Buffalo, shows a pulse in New England, and sets up a Jets reset. If you want less hype and more signal, this is your map through the weirdest NFL season in years.
Enjoy the ride? Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who loves ball, and drop your boldest prediction in a review—we’ll read our favorites on air.
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Football fans, welcome to the Big Kahunas Football Podcast, where we bring banter from the bar to the pot.
SPEAKER_03:All right, welcome to the Big Kahunas football podcast, episode one one, three. You actually are getting two Big Kahunas on this one. Maybe not the combination you were thinking at the time that we are doing it, but um, this is Hawaiian Ryan, and with us is one of the OGs, a true Big Kahuna. Please introduce yourself, sir.
SPEAKER_02:Well, unfortunately, Stat or that boy cannot be here. So instead, today you get Stat Boy.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, sir. Nikki Three Belts is in the house, folks. Nikki Three Belts, live from an undisclosed location somewhere by um where the Eagles play.
SPEAKER_02:That's what you want to call it.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my goodness. Uh, but the purpose of our pod here, and uh in true Baker Hunas fashion, we do not have a full-on script, we just have ideas of what we want to talk about. I want to kind of make this kind of a feature, okay? So usually the run of the show with Baker Hunas is that we review the past week's games, we preview what's coming up ahead, but kind of like in uh a journalistic sense, we want to talk about uh certain uh topics that uh can doesn't have to be so time sensitive, right? You know, so uh what we want to talk about is kind of like a State of the Union of the NFL 2025 season, as I declared in episode 112, the most stupidest, craziest season of all time. And Nick, again, thanks for joining us here. I know it is um burning the midnight oil over at where you're at.
SPEAKER_02:What you didn't expect the Jacksonville Jaguars to be four and one, or the Colts with Danny Dimes to be four and one and the Baltimore Ravens to be one and four.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely not. I'm sorry. I can try to be uh act like I know everything about football, but no.
SPEAKER_02:Or the Bengals have the hottest start that they've been looking for for all these years, and their season looks worse off now after a two-o start and now two-and-two than it did when they were 0-2. Yeah with Joe Burrow.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. I I meant uh the silver lining. Um, well, I don't want to call it a silver lining because it's almost like that underlying effect of, yeah, Sis and I will give you two wins, but yeah, we're gonna give your best player on the team a uh season-end injury, and now you can figure it out.
SPEAKER_02:I said to Floyd, and I don't think I got to mention this to you before, but when you guys were talking about the one podcast, I think when Carson, when uh JJ McCarthy was injured, listening to Floyd talk about all of the football comings and goings because of everything he's been going on, has it had going on. I said it was almost like when Steve Rogers awoken from the ice and didn't know what was happening, or he's like, Carson Prince, this is happening.
SPEAKER_01:When did he sign? Renfro? Xavier Leggetza bust. Why is Hunter Renfro getting passes? When did he sign?
SPEAKER_03:Right. It was great. Yeah, I I feel like we've had several episodes that were like that in a way, kind of questioning uh, you know, popular thought of you know who's good, who's not good, what's hot, what's not, right? And usually, folks, we have a contender versus pretender uh episode that usually happens around week four, week five of the NFL season. But I feel it's it's pointless, Nick, to have that conversation because everything's kind of crossed up, right? And you could throw spaghetti at the wall and then you could declare contenders and pretenders. You may be right, you may not be right.
SPEAKER_02:None of this right now, week four, matters right now. It's all like you said, it's especially with all of this training camp stuff where players don't play in the preseason, it takes about a month or two, not full two, probably around like week six or seven, right? That you start to see people really get into sync. I mean, I hate to go into my own stuff with the Eagles, but look at how they were last year. Not to say talk about them now because it's different, but last year they started two and two. Their offense looked terrible, they got blown out by the Bucks, and we were talking during the bye week, or should we fire Sirianni now so we can get the next coach in there for two weeks to get started? And then they went off and they lost one game the rest of the season, and they look like the best team this league has seen in over a decade. Same thing happens. Like, look at the Chiefs. The Chiefs won those games constantly at the nail butt at the skin of their back all season, and the crazy things happening, and everyone kept saying they were good, but we clearly saw that they weren't. Right. So it's little things like that, and it's so hard to just say right now in the beginning of October that these teams are contenders and these teams are pretenders. There's so much left to play, especially with a longer season now, too.
SPEAKER_03:100%. Yep. I I totally agree. Um, I feel that we will have a contenders versus pretenders team because it's almost tradition, and you know, it's always kind of funny to see what we declare, you know, one point in the season and what it turns out, right? Which usually uh is like 180 from what we thought, you know, two months prior, right? But the reason I don't know why I felt compelled to kind of have this um sit-down here of sorts is this season just has this weird feel that I've never felt before. And you've already talked about a few uh underlying factors, right? Where you compare it historically, I meant longer season, um, the usage of preseason games of how teams approach uh the preseason. Of course, we have the uh obligatory hunger games that happens in the first three weeks of the NFL season, which has befelled probably your favorite player or your favorite team, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_02:Well, there's been another one that just hit today. If you saw it come across the wire, Miles Sanders done for the season. What?
SPEAKER_03:Oh man, I thought you were just mentioning about Lamar not playing that uh this coming up week, but Miles Sanders really.
SPEAKER_02:I think he got hurt in practice or something, but he's out for the season with a knee injury, and that means Jadon Blue is number two on the depth chart now.
SPEAKER_03:Oh yes, but Jadon Blue with Jadon Blue was always been a popular pick, no matter uh what league that you're probably in. Everyone was kind of high on. They were romanced by the numbers and his 4-3 speed in the offseason, I guess. So kind of like Bichal Tutin for uh Jacksonville.
SPEAKER_02:Um yeah, but hey, they moved on from Bigsby real fast because they liked what they saw out of Toot.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. Oh, Bigsby. Bigsby's in Philly right now, right?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he's returning kicks. Okay, at least you're utilizing it. I think Dylan is still the backup. Yeah, Bill. Dylan's been the primary backup. Well, Shipley got hurt too. Oh, that's one of the reasons why we got him.
SPEAKER_03:That's major. Oh my gosh. Well Shipley looked good in week one. He did. Yeah. I'm sorry, go ahead, Nick.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no, no. Yeah, he got hurt. I forget what week he got hurt, but we immediately traded for Bigsby. But Dylan's been the primary backup since he um since he went down.
SPEAKER_03:Right. Now, I guess, you know, we talked about it um earlier here in the episode about uh the teams that um you never thought would be where they're at, right? So we talked about Baltimore. Let's talk about Baltimore a little bit. Um safe to say the alarm bell should be ringing over at Baltimore right now at 1 and 4. No Lamar Jackson again. Um the defense is historically bad. So instead of me asking, you know, can Baltimore uh become a playoff team? Uh, because uh I think there's uh different ways that we can go about this. Um I'm a person that likes to look for the crux of the problem, right? Anyone wants to, right? You know, you have your favorite team, they're not doing so well, and you know, you shoot at the hip as like, what's the problem? Oh, the coaches, the problem, with the GMs, the problem, and so forth. In your uh best assertion with the Baltimore Ravens, Nick. Um, what is the problem that it or problems? I don't want to make it a magic bullet as far as what the problem is. Maybe there are several things.
SPEAKER_02:I tend to think it's been a lot of bad luck on their part. Part of the reason why their defense is so bad this year is because they've had so many people injured on that side of the ball. Their entire interior of that line of that defensive line is out. Um, Kyle Hamilton is injured. Uh Jair Alexander has not been what they wanted him to be there. And they are just, like you said, historically bad at giving up points. Look at week one against Buffalo. They gave up that lead in the last three minutes of the game. But you know what? Even with that, Derek Henry doesn't fumble that ball. They win that game, and they're two and three, not one and four. Correct. Lamar Jackson gets hurt now. He goes out last week, and Cooper Rush goes in. There's no doubt. We saw what Lamar Jackson can do against the Houston Texans. They did it last year on Christmas, they did in the playoffs last year. He's I don't remember him ever losing a game to the Houston Texans. So you look at that, you flip that around, that's three, you're looking at three and two. I mean, he got hurt that that Chiefs game got away from them, but still, and you know what's crazy about that? At one and four, as bad as they have looked so far this year, and Lamar's gonna be out again on Sunday. Did you know that they're still the betting favorite to win the NFC AFC North? Really? Yeah, okay. I didn't even look at odds. They're really close. It's really close. Some sites have the Steelers just slightly over them, but some sites, I'm pretty sure DraftKings has the Baltimore Ravens as the odds-on favorite still to win the NF AFC North at one and four. Because when you look at that division, you've got Cleveland who hasn't scored over 18 points in a game all season.
SPEAKER_01:True.
SPEAKER_02:You've got Cincinnati, who doesn't have a quarterback, and now they got Joe Flacco with the worst line in football, and then you got the Pittsburgh Steelers with Aaron Rodgers throwing to DK Metcalf a million times a game with no running back. With no running back, right. So Baltimore can get healthy. I think that they have a way to write this ship. But, and I've mentioned this to Floyd offline too. You guys have mentioned before about Mike Tomlin and whether or not he's on the hot seat this year. I think Jim Harbaugh, not Jim, John Harbaugh, is one of another is another coach of that same cloth. And if he walks this season, you could you could see a similar trajectory as Andy Reed going from the Eagles to the Chiefs, where he goes somewhere else and revamped that franchise because he's proven it. He's he's proven himself as a head coach before. And for some reason, I don't know if they're gonna lay this on him. You've already heard people starting to talk about it. I don't even know even if they make the playoffs if his job is safe after this year. So if he goes out there, you could potentially see one of the best coaches of this time frame, this era of football available this offseason. And if you could imagine seeing Mike Tomlin andor John Harbaugh on a different team next year, that would be insane. Game changing. Yep. He's a great coach.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I and kind of what you were mentioning earlier. They are cultural setters, there are tone setters, they they have um uh what you want to call it, um, proven, you know, you know, tried and true, they're proven over a long period of time. And yeah, I and it's no fault to what uh prognosticators or fans may think, right? Sometimes if someone's at the helm for 20 years and you feel that you're in neutral, then okay, yeah. I I think I don't I don't uh mind people saying, oh, maybe we should need a change. You know, yeah. But also Andy Reed. There you go.
SPEAKER_02:And look, people say I agree too. Andy Reed has become a better, more historically significant head coach in his second job than he did with us.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Yeah. My bet, yeah. The proof is there. And in total in total with Andy Reid, because of all the um, you know, Super Bowl appearances uh or the uh championship appearances, even when he was with the Eagles, you combine that with Wayne does with Kansas City. I'm like, yeah, he has to be up in the top five with Belichick and whoever. Well, I'll say it and stuff. Yeah, it's crazy. So so okay. Uh, so that's Baltimore right there. Uh, let's move on to another team, I guess. Since we mentioned it already, the crazy AFC South, right? You got the Jaguars and the Colts are four and one, but why is my gut telling me that the Houston Texans may still win this division?
SPEAKER_02:My gut's not telling me that.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, right, right, right. I know. My gut has been told that I don't know what it is.
SPEAKER_02:Something just feels off in Houston. I don't know what it is this year. Yeah, something has felt weird with them, whether it's the games, the way that they've won games, like they they blew out a terrible Baltimore team this week. So we can see if maybe they can use a game like that to build on momentum. Like I say terrible, an injury-ravaged Baltimore team. We have to see how Houston does moving forward because up until that point, their offense has looked awful. I mean, they won a game against the Titans a few weeks back, they looked awful for three quarters of that game, and that's granted the Titans' defense is very good, but they've had struggle like the first week against the Rams, they didn't score a touchdown. That's true. CJ Stroud has looked like prior to last week, CJ Stroud has looked like he's taken another step back from his rookie year. So yeah, I am curious to see if this week last week against a bad Baltimore defense was an aberration, or if it's going to be a trend in the right direction, or just like a slump buster for him, so to speak, where now they can start to gain momentum from it.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. I think that's where my gut is telling me because I'm prisoner of the moment right now. They got a 34-point victory against a yes, injury ravaged butterboard team. And maybe my faith or lack of faith in the Colts and the Jaguars, right? And I kind of mentioned in the last episode, maybe it's time for me to really give them the respect that they deserve, and so forth.
SPEAKER_02:But let's go talk about um, they also Houston has so Houston has to play Jacksonville twice, and they play Jacksonville once, they've already lost to Jacksonville. They have to play Indianapolis twice. Okay. We're gonna get to see how they how they do.
SPEAKER_03:Correct. And I think as as uh avid sports fans like like ourselves, um no matter what, it's a long season, right? And we're still in early days. Uh which which makes which makes it fun, right? To kind of see see where this goes and using our prior knowledge to try to figure out what team is going and where. But with that is on timing is a such a big thing, too, right? That gotta factor in this thing too. Um, you know, maybe that that is gonna be the overarching theme of what we talk about here in this episode, is if you got the correct timing and you know, let you know, when the interests happen, when your bye week happens, right? I can attest with my team, the commanders last year, we went um 13 straight weeks without a bye, uh, which you know caused us to lose several games against like Philly and Pittsburgh, you know, during that stretch and and Dallas, you know, more physical teams. We got beaten up a bit, but we were able to kind of springboard off of the late bye week and was able to prepare ourselves on a run, right? So it depends on how a team or how coaching staff uses uh your bye week, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, these these teams that have the bye week this week, which I think it's Minnesota, Atlanta was last week, Pittsburgh was last week. Like they've got to play three months straight of football. And if they want to get through and make a run in the playoffs, there ain't no weeks off now from now until January.
SPEAKER_04:Would you prefer to have weeks in there?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Okay, would you Nick, would you prefer to have uh bye week in the I wouldn't say the middle that's a cop out beginning or end? Week five or week twelve. Let's put it that way.
SPEAKER_02:Probably a week later in the season. Later, I wanted later in the season because you know you have that break because everybody's been winding down. Like you've played four weeks at this point. Like if you're someone like the Atlanta Falcons last week, they played they played the first four games of the season and now they've got a bye. You're not like, yeah, you're banged up a little bit, but you're not nearly as banged up as you are in week 10 or 11, because you're still gonna be banged up in week 10 or 11 when after this bye week, and you're not gonna have that relief of a week of two weeks off before you get to the uh the home stretch of the season, especially if you're trying to compete for a playoff spot. If you're not competing for a playoff spot, it's a little bit different. I don't know if it's a little bit different, but I if I'm competing for a playoff spot, I would much rather have the later bye than the earlier by. I agree.
SPEAKER_03:I think you could frame it a little bit better. I mean, every coach has their way of how they go on the frame the season, and you know that that depends on the coach and the team. But I would think uh, you know, generally, I would like to have it where I go through 10 weeks of hell or whatever, and then you get the last seven plus a playoff run. So you can kind of divvy up in half if you're a playoff team or an aspiring playoff team as far as uh your approach and so forth.
SPEAKER_02:But another another key part of this bye-week conversation, too, are the growing number of international games that they're playing now, too, because a lot of these teams now, when they play that international game, they're having the bye week the next the very next week. And unfortunately for some of those teams that are agreeing or going up, being forced to go over to those games, those they're not playing London games in November and December. They're playing them in September and October. So you're getting when you're going over and playing those games overseas in Ireland and Spain and Germany or England, you're getting those bye weeks out of the way super early. So that's another thing. Like when they ask these teams to go over, they're sacrificing themselves essentially from getting those early. Like, look at the the Packers had a bye last week, too. You don't think the Packers would rather have their bye week in late November, week 12, week. I agree. And they're they're a team that's uh they're a legit contender, and you don't think that someone like Mike, yeah, it's it's tough, it's tough look. But yeah, you just gotta adapt, you gotta take what you get.
SPEAKER_03:Absolutely. Um, speaking for uh my team, the commanders, we're going to Madrid to face the Dolphins in November. I believe that's week 11, and after that, we have the bye week. That's the good one.
SPEAKER_02:That's that's a perfect example of what you would want to have of something like that. But again, you're going out to a different time zone and getting adjusted to it on a normal week, and then you have your buy after. How does that affect you as a team going out there and having to deal with that? Because you, I mean, for me, having gone back and forth from Hawaii to PA, it takes about a week for your body to adjust to that time difference, and it's the same time difference, but you're going backwards. So tough. But adapt in advance, adapt in advance, absolutely.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, thanks for adding that that part in because I'm not a traveler. I'm afraid of planes. Oh, I made it here um for the world to know, but uh so again from Philly to Hawaii. I mean, that's uh nine-hour non-stop if you're lucky. 12. Oh, that's a 12 with with stops.
SPEAKER_02:With 12 with stops. Well, you can fly, you can fly from DC or New York direct.
SPEAKER_03:Or Newark, correct, or Newark. Newark, yeah. I remember Newark, yeah. And the old uh Continental Airlines. That was awful. Yeah, yeah. That's that's pretty rough.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:So sorry, let me uh uh pivot back to um the AFC South here. Indianapolis four and one. Indianapolis, okay. So everyone knew about the quarterback situation, right? And that was gonna be a big cog of how they were gonna you know look forward because you know the defense was was pretty stout, they got some players in there. Jonathan Taylor is there, young receiving core, they're there. Um, you know, you got uh Shane State is the coach at uh Indianapolis. They got I mean, offensive mind, so it always the quarterback, right? And I guess my question to you, Nick, is I am totally simplifying it by saying, well, they got the quarterback settled, Indiana Jones is in the house, not everything's all good, they're four and one.
SPEAKER_02:The greatest nickname in football right now.
SPEAKER_03:Hell yeah. I'm all I'm all for indie right there. But uh generalizing it will say, okay, they got Daniel Jones at the home, everything's going well. Nick, in your opinion, what else has been going well? Why why are they four and one? Have they been lucky? I mean, they faced a couple weak teams, but I meant they handled their business. They against the weak teams, they did their thing, they dominated.
SPEAKER_02:They did, and I will say this though, yeah, they dominated the weak teams, but the best game that the best win, if you want to call it quality wins, was the Denver win. And in that, there was a little bit of luck in that game with how they kicked and missed a field goal, but then they called the extra penalty on the Broncos and they were able to re-kick with no time left. But all the credit to the Colts, though, they they were able to get that game and put themselves in a position to allow themselves to win. So I think that the we'll we'll see what the schedule that they've got coming up. They've got Arizona this week, but then the week after is going to be a real good one because I've heard you guys talking about the Chargers. You're gonna get the Colts at the Chargers in two weeks. After that, they've got the Titans again for the second time, but then they play Pittsburgh and Atlanta going into the bye. So I do think that once they come out of the bye, we're really gonna find out who the Colts are as a team. They're gonna really have to try to stack some of these wins over the next couple weeks because out of the bye, they go to Kansas City, they play Houston, they play Jacksonville, they go to at Jacksonville, and then they go at Seattle, then they play San Francisco, which by then will probably be a lot healthier than they are right now. True. Then you got Jacksonville and Houston to end the season. So they've got they've got a tough road to to plow through in the second half of the year. And Danny Dimes looks great so far. Indiana Jones looks great so far. I want to see him hold up over an 18-game schedule to see, especially with a schedule like that. So it's gonna be very interesting to see how they can they can keep that afloat moving forward. But they look great so far.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, they're they're not a pretending 4-1 team. Um, I mean, if I had to pick a confidence level between them and uh Jacksonville, I mean it's clearly Indianapolis at this at this point. They're they're a more complete team right now, 100%. But now we'll talk about Jacksonville. 4-1. I mean, it could be a signature victory for Trevor Lawrence and the Jags uh Monday night. You know, you're talking about victories that can boost you or give you that bump, um, you know, despite whatever shortcomings you may have. Um, I s I still stand, Nick, that they have been a very fortunate 4-1, but hey, they did what they had to do, and uh they're at this position right now. Yeah. What what do you think about Jacksonville up to this point?
SPEAKER_02:They've been one of the most fun teams to watch in football this year, I think.
SPEAKER_03:It's they are fun, right?
SPEAKER_02:I don't know if they're better, but man, they're the way that they're playing those games right now. They're we all clowned Liam Cohen at the start of the year, and it's looking more and more like that he's one of those guys that uh things might not be as they appear. He's got those guys playing over there. And if you want to talk about a signature win, they went into San Francisco, injuries or not, and blew the doors off the 49ers, which is a big, massive signature win because the Indianapolis Colts won that game against the Broncos at home. The Jaguars went into San Fran, weathered that storm, and pulled away in the fourth quarter. Like it wasn't even close by the end of the game. And that was with Brock Purdy, that wasn't Mac Jones, which I'm sure we'll talk about. Probably the better of the two quarterbacks, not probably is. Yeah. But they especially Kansas City, they've beaten San Francisco and Kansas City in back-to-back weeks. And even regardless, like I know that they Trevor fumbled the ball at the goal line trying to reach up and over. I still love that play call because they understand the kind of game that they're in and field goals aren't going to get it done against Kansas City. And I mean, the luckiest of lucky plays to go in there and dive with tripping over the guard's foot, getting back up, not being touched at all, and then diving into the end zone. Like it's remarkable. It's so much fun to watch. And that defense, we talk about the offense. That defense is balling right now, too. They they're I don't know if they're low-key.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know if they're first or second in takeaways right now, but they're taking the ball away, it seems like every game.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Uh Devin Lloyd, who I highlighted in the last episode.
SPEAKER_02:Defensive player of the year so far.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Against what he did against San Francisco and what he did here against KC. Yep. And then he is the modern day linebacker, right? Personified. Oh, he's great. You know, speed for days, playmaking for days. Uh shout out to Utah Utes, Devin Lloyd, man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, he's yeah, and didn't he come into the league with an injury or something too? And he fell in the draft, and it was like, oh, they got it. It took a while for him to come together, but man, that's correct. Does he look like a talent right now? He's he's all he's unbelievable. Yeah, 100%. And um and Josh Hines Allen, don't forget about him either. Oh, Josh, yeah. Josh Allen. It's not Josh Hines Allen. It's Josh Hines Allen, yeah. He's saying he changed it a couple years ago. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:They uh yeah, they're they're a fun team to watch. And I think let me look at their schedule real quick. They've got they got Seattle this week. So they they got a tough, like a four game stretch, but they got San Fran, Kansas City, Seattle, and the Rams before they go to a bye.
SPEAKER_03:I bet at least Seattle's coming to Jacksonville playing the one o'clock game. And that's what I was talking about.
SPEAKER_02:Like the Colts have almost had their easy schedule to start pre bye, and then it gets harder post by. When you look At the Jags and the schedule that they just had. Here's their post by a schedule at the Raiders, at the Texans, Chargers, at the Cardinals, at the Titans, Colts, week 14. That's a big game. But then they play the Jets, then they play at Denver, they play at Indy, and then they play the Titans on the road to end the season. They got a lot of division games left. They've got five divisional games left. I don't know. Like with the teams that they're beating right now, like if they can stay consistent, they're going to be a fun team to watch. Especially now, it seems like, and I know you love to hear this. It seems like Travis Etienne has found that spark again. And the fact that they're not you they're utilizing him the correct way, finally. And it's just going. Plus, the the more Travis Hunter gets ingrained into the NFL offense, Brian Thomas, it will come. Everybody, all these people out here are frustrated that he hasn't scored a touchdown and he's not putting up those late season numbers. He's still Brian Thomas. They're going to figure it out. Liam Cohen, everyone's going. He managed Mike Evans and Chris Godwin for years in Tampa. You don't think he's going to be able to figure out how to utilize uh Brian Thomas and Travis Hunter once Travis Hunter figures out how to play receiver in the NFL? He started to look like it on Monday.
SPEAKER_03:Very few players that have ball skills, right? I think that's the Travis Hunter. Uh his uh biggest play for me is not only the versatility, but ball scales. I mean, he can and he's not a big dude either. Kind of frail a little bit. He still needs to fill out.
SPEAKER_02:But he's very Devontae. He's I keep bringing up the Eagles. I'm sorry. He's very bigger, but he reminds me of Devontae Smith when he's out there running those routes.
SPEAKER_03:That this is like the second time I've heard this. I I've heard that comp um recently.
SPEAKER_02:I I forgot from whom, but but and don't forget about don't sleep on Brenton Strange either. He's been a low-key under-the-radar tight end who unfortunately just went on IR, but he has looked even late last year, he looked really good. And he was an integral part of this offense as well before unfortunately got hurt on Monday. Yep, yeah. But if they can see this storm, they can weather this storm and get him back after the bye.
SPEAKER_03:You know, Jacksonville. I I gotta say this, Nick. Um, all the Jacksonville hate that I've been spewing the last three, four episodes of this podcast, man, you're making me believe, dude. Oh my goodness. Um if they're gonna be a believer team, but they're fun to watch. Correct, right. I think with Jacksonville, they've always been that team, right? I don't know if it's them being in Florida or whatever it is, but when they've been successful, they've always been fun. Brunel, McCardell, Jimmy Smith, those days, uh evolving into that uh Jalen Ramsey, you know, uh team when he was real young, uh Blake Bortles, all of that, right? Yeah, it's always been fun.
SPEAKER_02:Think about this too with the Jags. They their their one loss this year. Didn't they come in overtime to the Bengals when Joe Burrow was there? They literally took Joe Burrow on the road to overtime before he unfortunately got hurt, right? But they they they were slugging it out.
SPEAKER_03:Oh my god. Oh, so quickly I forget, folks. So quickly I forget. All right, so with that said, I bet you've laid out great cases for both teams. I bet would you want to dip that uh big toe in the water and say who you feel more confident about um as far as who's gonna come out on top? Or is Tennessee gonna be the uh uh division winners? You know, plus 2,000 odds.
SPEAKER_02:Uh as much as I would like to see it, because I really do like Cam Ward, I think they are they're a year or two away still, unfortunately. And I think actually this whole season should be about for the Titans at least, it should be about seeing what you have in Cam Ward. And what you've seen, even in the ugliness, because there's been a lot of ugliness with the Titans this year. Cam Ward has been a shining spot in this mess that they've had this year, which is thankful for if you're a Titans fan, that should be all that you want. And I know I've talked to Floyd offline about this, I've heard you guys talk about it on air before. They need a reset on that team, whether it's the GM, the coach, all the above, they need something. And we've talked about the possibilities with the coach there. You got the quarterback, and that's what you need to know. And I think so far, I mean, it's like you said, it's only been five games so far. He looks like the guy. And one of the things, and I don't even know if we've talked about this. One of the things that I would be trying to do with them is stockpiling draft capital at some point with other options that they can, uh disposable pieces. And I think over the next few weeks, a piece that would be interesting to watch with them is Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley's Calvin Ridley's 30 years old. He's got the contract. I think after this year, he's got one year left on his contract. But he's not going to be part of any future plans with this team. As great as good as a receiver as he is, he's not part of the future plans. This team is being built for the new stadium that's coming in 2027, not 2026. Um, so if you can market him to try to ship him off for some sort of draft capital this year, get that salary off the books, all that. Take the dead cap this year for that when you trade it. There's gonna be somebody at the deadline that needs a wide receiver, Pittsburgh Steelers. One of those kind of teams that needs a wide receiver that wants to compete. Sounds right around right, yeah. Pittsburgh Steelers, yeah. Yeah, somebody like that that needs one that's gonna be competing for a playoff spot. You get New York Giants. There's another one. Um, yeah. So you move pieces like that and solidify your young core, you get your new coaching staff in there or whatever you're gonna do, and you build for that 2027 is what I would be doing. Because you want to go into that new stadium with your quarterback who you've got, and then a team around there that's ready to compete. And they're not there yet, but they're they'll get there, they'll get there. But as far as this year, yeah, I think if I were to pick one of the teams this year, it's hard because I think the Colts are the better team, but I just like that second half schedule considering what Jacksonville's done. I think Jacksonville would be the team that I would pick out of the two.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, makes sense. And uh, yeah, well, let's talk about uh Tennessee a little bit a little bit further because I know we featured them on a few episodes, that crazy ass game against Arizona last week, which defied I mean everything.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, yeah, I don't think there's ever been a game like that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, no, I I I think uh the closest I've seen that is when I was covering high school games at the stadium, uh little stadium, but not all of that in one quarter, you know, between Democardo's fumble, the inner that turned into a fumble touchdown in the end zone. Are you kidding me? That that is crazy, but unforgettable. Say about Cam Ward. Oh yeah, yeah, 100 100. But that last drive, Floyd was making a mention of that in the last uh uh last episode. That uh last drive to get him in uh position to kick the game-winning uh field goal. Oh man, and he had had several throws. Some in which he was able to fit on a rope, tight windows in in the uh weeks prior. Seeing the Tennessee receivers dropping some of them, right? I've seen it also in the preseason where he had he he could lair you know, lair those 30-yard throws, you know, trying to hit a whole shot in a cover two, and he was making those throws, and you know, and unfortunately his teammates didn't help him out, but uh yeah, I've I want to talk about a little bit more about about uh the synopsis with Tennessee because we've mentioned you mentioned also about the stadium, because I I'm big on that, right? The state, you know, you are putting uh for the public for the fan base. What could be a better start? Um, a reset for your team, or at least setting it up for is a new stadium. Uh, I thought it was 2027. Is 27 or is that next year?
SPEAKER_02:27. The Bills open their yeah, the Bills open their stadium next year, and then the Titans are the year after that. Okay, and the Cleveland is 28.
SPEAKER_03:I don't remember Cleveland.
SPEAKER_02:I don't Cleveland and Chicago are going to be building them too. I'm not sure their timelines. I just know those two, the Titans and the Bills.
SPEAKER_03:All right, tremendous opportunity. I I think uh part of it is the quarterback, that's for sure. Uh, we talked about uh making changes with the head coach because that seems to be a uh a good jump-off point as far as how to establish establish yourselves without taking out pieces or taking out key pieces. Um Floyd mentioned Mike Tomlin. Do you agree with that? Is Mike Tomlin uh the best fit?
SPEAKER_02:I think Mike Tomlin is a culturally perfect pit for to be the Titans coach because of the way his mindset is, the way Titans have always been built on defense and running the ball. And what has Pittsburgh always been known for? Defense and running the ball. But I also think, too, when you look at Cam Ward, um, Tomlin hasn't had the type of quarterback that Cam Ward is, which I think would be a very interesting piece to see how he handles somebody that is that dynamic of a passer. Like Big Ben was always good, but he wasn't a dynamic passer. He wasn't like he was great at what he did, but he wasn't. I just feel like Cam Ward is so unique with how what he brings with the Titans and how he plays and can play what we saw him do in Miami, that I would like to see that marriage.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, for sure. If Mike Tomlin is the uh gonna be the headman at Tennessee, then obviously you gotta get a offensive mind, right? Um, that is that could complement that, right? Yeah, yeah. Arthur, oh god. Oh god. I almost felt feel bad for the Steelers when they got with Arthur Smith as their uh play caller. Uh tough goal with them. Good luck, Steelers.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, but I do think I don't whether it's Tomlin, whether it's Harbaugh, whether it's somebody else, I think you merge those two together. Cam Ward is going to be a piece that one again if he continues on how he was in college and how he's looked as the only positive on this team, that's an attractive piece for top-tier coaches to go to. They want to see if the team can win and if you have a quarterback that you can build it around, or the chance to get a quarterback that you can build around. And these kind of guys, especially these more long-in-the-tooth, historically stronger head coaches, if they see a quarterback like that that they already have solidified, it's going to make it that much easier and more enticing for teams to go to Tennessee, which has not been the case historically with coaches. Very true. Like, as good as Ray, as good as Vrabel was, he was a first-time head coach. Right. The last time that they got a legit, well, not even legit, but like you know what I mean, like a coach that was a that was fielding multiple offers. Like, I don't think Mike Mullarkey was looking much other places when he signed when he became the coach of the Titans. Yeah, Callahan. Or Brian Callahan, like a and a quarterback changes all of that. I mean, to go back to the Buffalo Bills, it didn't work out, but when have you ever seen a team like Buffalo sign a top-tier free agent fresh off a Super Bowl appearance like Von Miller?
unknown:Right.
SPEAKER_02:What if they brought in somebody like Stefan Diggs to a city like that? Because when you have a quarterback, everything else will come there. And that's where it's like that's why with the Tennessee Titans, it's this whole season is to see what you have with Cam Ward. And then what you were saying in those first few games where he was dropping those passes into a bucket and the receivers just weren't connecting on him. That's a chemistry thing. They can figure that out, and plus the level of receivers they have there aren't really the best. And the fact that he's putting them in these spots is coaches will see that. Coaches are gonna see that, and that's why I'm just I'm a big fan of Cam War, if you can't tell.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, it will come. He kind of grown on me too, and uh I he was very entertaining, and he kind of single almost single-handedly uh kept that Miami Hurricane team afloat with their zero defense uh they had over there. Yeah, that's very cool. And Floyd.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I was gonna say, and he's not afraid to speak his mind either. Like he already has the the feels like he has the freedom to be able to speak truth about the team. That's a leader, and the fact that the everything you've seen about him coming from training camp and how the team responds to him, like some of these all these vets that are there, the way they talk about him, it's just like it's it's he's changing the culture, which is good to see for Titans fans, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yep, 100%. Uh currently they have uh the 10th most cap space, but once uh we get into um uh let's see if give me like 10 seconds something available cap space that they have, they have the most, they have 124 um million in cap space.
SPEAKER_02:And one of the other things too is they they will also have a high draft pick next year, which will also be helpful with putting pieces around them, whether it's their defense is solid. I'm not as well versed on that side of their their um of the team of the Titans there, but if they can I don't know if you can even add a receiver through the draft. I don't know. I'm not as well versed on the receivers in this class yet compared to last year, but yeah, even if you look, I don't know a good lineman, you can always get a good lineman to protect him, right?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, isn't that kind of the thing have have we have not learned from the Eagles of the importance of of interior line?
SPEAKER_02:The Titans have added a couple offensive linemen the last few years, so they may be good on that. Oh, look, the Seattle Mariners 15th inning. My goodness. I'm glad we didn't lose like that. Actually, no, I would have rather lost like this than the way we lost last night.
SPEAKER_03:Um did the Mariners lose to the Astros in 18 last year? Maybe it was.
SPEAKER_02:I don't I don't remember. I I ceased all baseball knowledge last year after we lost to the Mets. Um yeah, but I think just lost my train of thought. Um no, I think you definitely get a piece on the offensive side of the ball, and you're gonna have a lot of money to spend next year. And again, to the crit point I made about the Bills making those kind of accusations, once we saw what Josh Allen became and those people came to what used to be a less desirable market to go there, not saying Cam Ward is Josh Allen, but you have a quarterback that is clearly showing signs of where he can get to and the ceiling that he can get to, that is going to only help the Titans add pieces in the offseason. Plus, Tennessee's a state with no state income tax. So that just makes it even more beneficial.
SPEAKER_03:That's a factor. Yep. Has to be a factor, right? Got to have your mind on your money, money on your mind. Yep. Again, the Titans will have the most cap space uh coming into uh 2026 offseason, and currently are the third youngest team by average age. So a lot to look forward to for Tennessee. Not this year, but then this year, but yeah, depends depends, yeah, how you approach this season.
SPEAKER_02:You just want to make you want to see Cam Ward continue to grow into what we think he's going to be. Right.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Well, it seemed like we got paid off by the FC South to uh highlight them. We've been talking about that for 40 minutes. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, they've had two of the more surprising teams. Let's stay at the AFC. Um, Kansas City at 2-3. I mentioned don't do not sound the alarm bells just yet. Uh, they're only a game away from the AFC West's uh division lead with Denver and the Chargers, I believe, on top. But we need to talk about this. Uh, one of the things that I find, I don't know, off about Kansas City this year is their execution and short yardage in red zone. We talked about the Devin Lloyd 99-yard uh pick six the other way. Um, there's also the uh game uh where uh against the Eagles, right? Travis Kelsey fails to catch the ball inside the five and turns into an Andrew Makuba pick, right? So things like that, uh, in which I felt Kansas City used to be the boss um you know before Eagles on the Tush push was the Chiefs' ability to uh go on fourth uh on short yard situations, like fourth down situations, short yard situations, uh a lot of you know creative play calling, but I think that was part of the secret sauce to me of why their success has been sustained that that I think a lot of people don't talk about. So that was one of the yellow flags with Kansas City so far to me is uh their lack of execution in short yardage. Um, I want to know, in your opinion, what about Kansas City? Are you are that worried at all? Or is there some worried yellow flag, red flag? Where do you feel about Casey?
SPEAKER_02:Before I get to that, I'll just let you know this too. Those two interceptions that you just mentioned in the end zone both times, those are the only two picks Mahomes has thrown this year, both in the end zone. Oh, I didn't realize. Yeah, those are the only two interceptions he's thrown this year were iconic plays. That could have been the difference. They could be four and one right now if those passes connect. So as far as whether I wait and know with them, I think for that it's a little bit of a TBD. I kind of want to push on them right now. I think that you can only be on top so long, too, in this league. They've been to three straight Super Bowls, longer seasons, shorter off seasons, three straight years. The team's a little bit older. Mahomes is 30, Kelsey's 35, Chris Jones is getting up there. It's harder for these guys to be able to go out there and do this. That doesn't mean they can't do it. It's just this is making the season that much harder. And when you look at the two wins that they have, they beat a Russell Wilson-led Giants team on Sunday night football, which based off of last night is clearly different than when Jackson Darts under center. And then they beat a Baltimore Ravens team. They beat a Baltimore Ravens team that lost Lamar Jackson with a terrible defense. Those are their two wins. They lost to the Chargers, they lost at home to the Eagles, and then they lost to the Jaguars. And yes, they were in those wins. And I'm that's you don't want to discount that because I think Jacksonville is a very good football team this year, as you heard me just ramble on about for 10 minutes. But I also think you see some of the stuff this year. Last year, all we talked about with the Chiefs is how they kept getting away with all these little things. Every bounce went their way last year. I think this year is the first time you're seeing it start to go the other way, whether it was the Kelsey Bobble there, or whether it was the pick six in Jacksonville, or him missing a pass late in the game against the Eagles, too. Or missing a pass in the Chargers game. Those bounces that they got every single time last year just aren't there. Now, that doesn't mean this team is any worse or better of a team than they were last year. It just means that they're not getting those bounces now. And at any point, those bounces could start to go back their way. So I'm not really sure what to make of the Kansas City Chiefs yet. But we get a good example of it on Sunday night when they play the Lions. But again, this is also a Lions defense before we see what the Chiefs do. This Lions defense just gave up double-digit points in the fourth quarter to Jake Browning, who looked awful, who couldn't get a first down or convert a third down in almost six or seven quarters. So we'll see how they are with the Detroit Lions. But after that, they play the Raiders, they play your commanders, and then they play at Buffalo before they go on their bye. So they have a trickier schedule. They got a lot of tough defenses lined up. So we're just like I said, we're gonna have to wait and see because they love to play these close games, and it usually comes down to one or two plays. They haven't had them go their way for the most part this year because both their wins are not one-score wins, and they were all one score last year. So we're gonna have to wait and see. That's all I can say with that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I again it's almost like I always try to disclaim myself by saying, you know, before make a declaration, but right here and now I'm looking at where Kansas City's at, and yes, they're not firing on all cylinders, etc., etc. etc. But there is something to uh say when you reach certain points of the season where experience, yeah, they're not a young team, but the experience is definitely going to prove beneficial to them in comparison to upstart teams like the Broncos and the Chargers. A Chargers team, I should add, that is offensive line has been decimated. They they do not look good. I mean, I didn't think my commanders played the best, but they still got 27 straight on the chargers on the road, and a lot of it was because the line was just bad. And the lane interests, yeah, yeah, that's yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02:In the end zone, so that must be a theme in AFC West.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah, exactly. You get yeah, you get a um red red zone interception, you have a red zone interception. I I just feel that right now I've I feel bullish about Denver.
SPEAKER_02:I love Denver this year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. I bet fourth quarter Bo Nicks is a dude, man. Yeah, that's all I gotta see. Fourth quarter Bo Nicks.
SPEAKER_02:Um you think about it too. Their two losses this year came on less second field goals. That's right. But only two losses only two, or week weeks five, week six. Two they're both their losses came on last second field goals. Other than that, they made it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, yeah. One was on leverage, the leverage play against the coats. Uh yeah, I I think with Denver, they're easy, they're easy to um target them as far as a team that can go far because their defense is really good. Sean Payton uh you know has them going in the right direction. He has his players, safe to say. He has his quarterback, he got, you know, he has his people, right? So uh they're definitely uh seen right. Um and they have enough youth, I think, enough uh young players, especially in uh quarterback and even in running back. I don't know about J.K. Dobbins if he's that uh um young, but still yet. Um they have I think a good mixture of uh veterans, but a lot of uh promising youth. And they're a team that did really well in the offseason. Dobbins is 26th. Oh, young. Yeah. Yeah, still kind of young. But they did uh really well as far as um uh team building, right? With with Denver, right? They got the uh uh quarterback on the rookie contract still yet, so they can still they were able to spend money getting all of the uh former San Francisco starters that got hurt but now are healthy now to be part of their already badass defense there. And as I mentioned in um in the conversation, I think I was talking with Slade um a couple days back, but Vance Joseph, man, the way that people were raking him over the Coles for giving up 70 against Miami around two years ago, but before that, you know, this guy was a top five defensive coordinator, and he's still doing that thing, he still did the job for Denver. So uh I just want to shout Vance Joseph out right there.
SPEAKER_02:It was wild because when I was watching the game on Sunday when they played the Eagles, I had no idea that Vance Joseph was the defensive coordinator there. And I had the realization, I go, wasn't he the head coach here? Didn't he go here? And now he got fired, and now he went back. It's like going back to your old high school to become a teacher. Yeah, that's right. So yeah, that was uh that was interesting, but yeah, good for him. Yeah, that's they got the defense going over there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, uh, shoutouts to Nick Bonito, leading sack man in the NFL.
SPEAKER_02:Oh my god. Yeah, they lead the whole league in sacks, they got 21 sacks through five games. It's insane. Dangerous, dangerous.
SPEAKER_03:Um yeah, I'm very bullish on Denver. I think everyone should be also. And I think as long as they stay healthy, that's the team to beat in the AFC West, I think. I agree 100%. Um let's uh shift uh um shift to I don't want to talk about the AFC North too much. Um I'll let you take the conch, Nick. Where where do you want to go? Uh, where do you want to talk about? There's so much, that's why. Why don't we go to the NFC? Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02:Let's talk about the NFC West.
SPEAKER_03:Not where I thought you were going with it, but yeah, let's talk about the NFC West.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, Niners are four and one. I mean, they've I think the reason I say that is I think this is the most interesting division in the NFL this year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, it's anybody's shot, right? Yeah, absolutely. Every team has a shot at it right now. Even Arizona, Arizona, and a zoo Arizona win. I can't even come up with the word. Arizona, Arizona doing Arizona things last week, and they still have a chance.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah, it's it's interesting. It's crazy to think that the best team in the conference in that division right now. I mean, it's it's the Rams, but they're not number they're not in first place. The best team in that division is the one that has more injuries than Balor Club and has Matt Jones the quarter quarterback. Ow.
SPEAKER_03:Shouts out, shouts out to the three-time champion, Balor Club.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, um, yeah, they're the the Niners, I can't get over like with all the injuries that they have. They're they're they're pulled in open tryouts during the middle of the week with wide receiver and tight end right now, but they're getting it done, they're getting it done. And you know, we've talked about it offline and on here. I've never been a Brock Purdy believer, and I've always said that when Brock Purdy doesn't have the all world offensive line and all of the weapons that they had in the all those years, he's just another guy. He's a seventh round quarterback. And this year, with all of the injuries, in the two games he's played, he hasn't looked good at all in either of them. They've they think they won the. Did they be? Yeah, they won the first game in spite of him, and then they got beat by the Jacksonville Jaguars at home. Mac Jones looks he looks so much better than Brock Purdy does in there. And what's interesting is if they would have just drafted Mac Jones, was that back in 2021, 2020, instead of Trey Lance. Right, yeah. They wouldn't have had to do any of this. Yeah. If they would have just picked him, they wouldn't have had to worry about any of this. They they passed on him. Everyone thought that Kyle Shanahan was going to take Mac Jones third when they traded up. That's right. They ended up taking Trey Lance, and now we've come full circle back to Mac Jones, and you're starting to see what he looks like with him.
SPEAKER_03:I I like the moxie of Mac Jones, and maybe it's the fact that he's you know not the incumbent quarterback and he's in relief. So he's he's not giving any Fs when he's throwing that rock. I mean, he's slinging it, man.
SPEAKER_02:And the way you see and you see he was getting banged up on Thursday night by that Rams defense. Like he was struggling to get to the sidelines, but he was still going out there and playing. And he brought him that he got him to win. It's and I'm not a Mac Jones fan at all. I know I sound like I really I'm not I'm not a Mac Jones fan, but I like no, I gotta give respect respects due. And considering the amount of injuries that they've had on both sides of the ball this year, the fact that you have the Rams, who I say are the one of the best teams in the NFC, might be the best team in the NFC. One game behind them, and they go into their house, as they like to call it, their house, and beat them in prime time with a backup quarterback in with all of those injuries. That's a statement. I'm I that's all that that's all the glazing I'll do for the 49ers because I don't have my feelings for them.
SPEAKER_03:So that's fair. I mean, that that is fair. I mean, some people had a problem about uh the Rams uh play call of not going uh for the tie and overtime and so forth. But I you know I tell those people obviously they're not Rams fans because they don't know how McVay operates.
SPEAKER_02:I mean that's part of that's part of the experience, right? If Kyron Williams doesn't fumble that ball at the goal line, they win that game.
SPEAKER_03:There you go. There you go. Yeah. 100%. And also, too, you got to think. I mean, if they went for the tie, you only had three minutes left in overtime. With the way San Francisco can control the ball, I don't think the Rams got the ball back. The ball back, exactly. Yeah, they have to do what they have to do. Yep. Uh, but I agree with you, Nick. The Rams are the best team in that division. I think the Niners definitely have overachieved the spite. Yes, but they have a great system in place. And I think great systems, I mean, that that's what happens, right? When crap hits the fan, when injuries hit in key positions, you can still uh steer the ship, right, so to speak. And they got uh Robert Sala at DC. I mean, that's a big plus. That's probably their best acquisition, which is a big plus.
SPEAKER_02:They are going to need those guys back, they're going to need to be getting Kittle back and IUK back and some of the guys on the defense back as well, because this schedule it doesn't get any easier because they get they play at Tampa Bay, which we've already seen them. And I've talked to Bobby offline. Like, I I'm I'm we'll talk about Tampa Bay in a little bit. I I have things to say about the Buccaneers as well. Um, but then they play Atlanta, then they go to Houston, then they play the Giants, which would have looked a little bit tougher before easier before, but now I don't know. Then they got the Rams again, and they go Arizona. So we've got a tough stretch of games coming up here. Divisional games, games on the road that we're gonna have to see. It's it's almost it reminds me of the Colts almost, but just more band-aids for the 49ers. So we've got yeah, we've got to see we've got to see if they can sustain this over this course of time and not lose anybody else from injury because for some reason the 49ers always seem to have more injuries than everybody else. Yeah, 100%.
SPEAKER_03:Yep, they they've definitely made a deal with the devil. I don't know. Um for all of the uh championships in the 80s. It's almost like uh the universe is telling them, yeah, we'll give you success, but you'll never truly reach the true pinnacle. You always will have a shortcoming here or there. I mean, all I mean, all kidding aside, uh, yeah, over the past several years. I mean, not only do they have injuries, but key players every year.
SPEAKER_02:Every year I made the joke, I've made the joke several times this year as a CMC owner in our dynasty league. Ah, yes, uh, Christian McCaffrey has just sapped all of the health out of all of the other players of the 49ers in order to get through a full season without getting hurt. So because he's done that deed, everybody else on the team is getting hurt. Sheesh. But no, on another note, too, I don't want to sleep on the Seattle Seahawks either, too. I really like how their defense has been no joke, they've been really, really good. I mean, yeah, they gave up 35 points at the Buccaneers, but that's one of the premier offenses in the in the NFL, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense, and that was probably the most fun game of the entire football scene, besides the Bills Ravens game on week one. This had to be the best game we saw, and I would probably give this one the edge just solely because of the throwback unis that we had. Hey, on both sides. So shout out to that. Yes. I do I do really like what Seattle is doing. But what's interesting to see now with the Seattle Seahawks, and as a former owner, I'm sure you can see this too. I think it's interesting to see how the touches in the backfield have slowly started to destabilize.
SPEAKER_03:Yes, because Zach Charbonnet, very capable, but would you argue that he is more healthier on average than Kenneth Walker?
SPEAKER_02:He's healthier and he's much more reliable. So Ken Walker can catch passes still. Charbonnet, that's not his game. Charbonnet is a he's he's a bruiser, he's a between the tackles guy. That's how he was at UCLA, that's how he is here. But it's interesting to see that in key situations now, they're pulling Ken Walker off the field and they're putting Charbonnet in there. The goal line work has been going to Charbonnet. Yeah. And to go back to the Thursday night game, they went into Arizona and won. Ken Walker makes a beautiful play, as he's always done before. And he gets up and he gets a taunting penalty in this. Was it the second quarter or was it the third quarter? I can't remember. He never touched the field again the whole rest of the game. It was the Charbonnet show. And he's Charbonnet scored a touchdown, and then a second one called back for a penalty. So it's interesting to see that they are like it was almost they just flipped the script and they just gave Charbonnet and he just took it off and ran with it.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, thanks for pointing it out. I I did not realize that uh at that critical juncture in the contest. What I saw was yeah, crucial Sam Darnold interception, and they were trying to trying to go for it. Um trying to go downfield. But yeah, I mean, let's talk about uh Coach Mike McDonald. Second year at Seattle. Um, he has a lot of nice parts. He had to overhaul overhaul that offense a little bit, but I meant just Sam Darnold at the helm. He got two young running backs, he got reliable receivers, he got um, you know, the fantasy king AJ Barner at tight end uh with two short touchdowns, which always used to be a Seattle thing.
SPEAKER_02:Shout out to Will Disley and Jimmy Graham back in the day. I remember having I remember having him in our dynasty league. He'd get me my one catch for six yards and a touchdown performance every game, every week. It was that, or one catch for or two catches for seven yards and two touchdowns.
SPEAKER_03:Dude, that's Seattle Seahawk thing in the last five years at least. Yep.
SPEAKER_02:Longer than that, ten years.
SPEAKER_03:Ten years? Oh, wait, Graham, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Jimmy Graham. That's right. They um, but yeah, they I I it Mike McDonald as a defensive coach, what they've been able to do on the offensive side of the ball has been really impressive. And Jackson Smith and Jigba looks like all those questions people had about injuries of him coming in the NFL and being able to translate into the NFL, he's just another one of those Ohio State guys that have made it in the NFL as a receiver. Now he's inactive.
SPEAKER_03:He's a problem. Yep. He's a problem. Oh Lord. Your boy Torrey Horton, too. Torrey Horton, yeah. Okay, Torrey Horton. I got it on a trade trade with Slade, right? Uh earlier in the season, and I've I've been a Tory Horton fan for a while. Uh because he went Colorado State to play against Hawaii a few times. So I got to see him up close, right? And I just like how as a rookie he's filling in. And how do you fill in as a rookie? You go through teams, special teams, right? I call it teams. And uh, of course, by uh by default, because of the uh holes at the receiver position, you know, he's able to um take his opportunities and he could be that uh receiver too. He's a he's a stretch guy, team threat.
SPEAKER_02:Uh but you know, I like Cooper Cup's not getting any younger either, so he can slide right into that number two spot.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, there's your there's your um chain mover right there with Smith and Jigba. I mean, yeah, Seattle. Um they're three and two right now. They got a tough one going to Jacksonville. Yeah, I mean as much as you know, as much as you said how this can you know propel Jacksonville, you know, as far as uh upward ascension, for me in the here and now, this could be a huge one for Seattle. Yeah, my narrative will change about the Seahawks being a pretender for the last two seasons, giving them that hate. Uh, I think it could convince me if they win on the road.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, you look at it, you look at it this way, too. So their three wins were against the Steelers, fine. Uh, New Orleans, not a very good team. Arizona, tweener-ish. Well, they're they they started off good and they've lost a couple of, they've lost three in a row. So they're they're reeling. Yeah. But Tampa, another good team, they lost, they lost to. San Francisco, they lost at home to to start the year. So now we want to be able to see like, can they beat a good team? That's what I want to see. And we need to see, yes. Yeah, so I think when once we see what Jack they have, Jacksonville this week, they got Houston, then they have a bye, then they come and play your commanders. We're gonna get a really good idea over these next four weeks what kind of team the Seattle Seahawks are because they got some really regardless of whatever I think we think about the Houston offense, the Houston defense is pretty good. Yeah, so you're gonna see that offense that we've been talking about go against some three really good defense, two really good defenses, and then the commanders who can bring it as well, especially going to the east coast.
SPEAKER_03:Correct. Yep, it'll be uh primetime home game, I believe, for that. Yeah. That I'm definitely gonna put a pin on the Seahawks to see where they're going at. Um, before we move on, I just we talked about the diners and uh their uh next uh few games, right? Going to October, going to November. It should be said you mentioned about the Cardinals um as one of their matchups. That happens to be on November 16th, two days after the release of uh new Call of Duty, I believe.
SPEAKER_02:Oh boy, I see. I don't even I I did not even know that, and we will just have to wait and see how that goes.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Uh Niners favored in that one, I'm sure. Uh but fail. Okay, so that's the NFC West. Um the NFC North, let's talk about them because last year they were kind of like the murderer's role uh division, and you got all four teams with a chance, right? You got uh uh uh Chicago off a bye week, but they're on uh on uh ascension a little bit. Um going to face my commanders on Monday night. Then you have the Vikings that somehow made it out of London with a victory against the Browns in the last uh last minute. You got the Lions definitely shrugging off a disappointing week one loss against against Green Bay, and then you got Green Bay, who several weeks ago as the best team of the NFC. So with that said, Nick, now here we are uh going into week six. Is it a two-team race between Detroit and Green Bay for uh best in the division?
SPEAKER_02:Probably, but I think he can't discount Minnesota. And the reason I say that is because Minnesota's got the best defense in the division. They got the best defense, they've got arguably the best skill player in the division in Justin Jefferson. Fair. I probably say might not be arguable. Maybe yeah, outside of the quarterbacks. Um and I hate to say this, but the offense looks so much better with Carson Wentz than it did with JJ McCarthy, which I don't know if that's a sign that Wentz looks better. It's Kevin O'Connell magic for sure, because we've seen how many stops with Carson Wentz and he's been able to do anything. That last drive against the Browns reminded me of 2017 Carson Wentz, briefly. Ooh, okay. Briefly, I'm glad you brought that up. Briefly, just briefly. I'm not gonna throw that out. You said it. You said it you heard it here from it. But that throw that he made to Jared Addison, he hasn't made that throw in almost a decade. It's in it was it was gotta give credit where credits to I don't know how bad the JJ McCarthy injury is, but given what we saw those first two weeks, I it he played one good quarter of football in eight in two games. And I don't know. Yeah, we'll see. We'll see. But for right now, that offense looks like it's humming a little bit more with him. And if they all they need him to do is that with that defense, I don't think he can discount them because I think look, we have to see. Sam Darnold looked really good last year, all last year. And then when he played those games against the the Lions at the end of the season, he looked like old sleepy ass Sam Darnold in the what in the last game and then in the wild card game last year. Yeah. So time will tell what it means to be seen with Carson Wentz how much longer he's a quarterback there, and if he's not, JG McCarthy comes in if he can shake off everything that he had to deal with those first two games. Because they played the Bears. I mean, the Bears defense isn't anything special. And I'm trying to see, who did they play the second week?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I need you to check out those schedules because um I don't want to risk my uh Atlanta.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, Atlanta, the game that there wasn't a single touchdown scored the whole game. Right, right. 10 to 12 was the final score or something. Like that game was awful. But yeah, that's that's what I'm saying. Is like JJ McCarthy either has to shake it off or we have to see um Carson Wentz continue to do this. And I will say this too, having Justin Jefferson helps out a lot, too. I don't think and oh yeah, that's probably the best receiver he's ever thrown to in his career. So Carson Wentz, yeah. Yes, yeah, and I mean, probably the best collection of weapons he's had too, because he's got Jordan Addison, he's got TJ Hawkinson, he ain't throwing a TJ Hawkinson that much, which is kind of annoying for fantasy owners to see. Sorry, Ryan, I had to say that because I just can't. I don't understand the that rationale not throwing to TJ.
SPEAKER_03:Through the audio, this audio clip, you cannot see me gritting my teeth. But point taking.
SPEAKER_02:It's frustrating that they won't throw him the ball. But anyway, he's got a great collection of offense. Jordan Mason looked, he's had some fumbling issues, but he's looked like a guy in there, but I don't necessarily know if he's pulled away from Aaron Jones when Aaron Jones comes back off of IR.
SPEAKER_03:I think if it's not for the fumbling, yeah, he has. I think he's gonna have a considerable lead. Yeah. Yes, I agree. Because Mason, um, in the small sample size, after Jones got hurt, uh, because they're kind of using him at the same time, uh, especially in that Chicago game, but what Jones really shined was his ability to catch the ball in the backfield and kind of have that added uh piece in the offense. But I saw Mason kind of do a little bit of that, and I thought if it wasn't for the fumbling, I thought Mason, I mean, I still think he can be a match winner in fantasy um towards the end of the season. I still think he can be that guy 100%. But into the Wentz thing that you're mentioning earlier, I feel that Carson is going to be a uh thing where both quarterbacks are gonna be needed. Wentz is the guy that they need right now to get him into November, December. McCarthy heals up, but also just being with the team and doing more reps at practice and getting those snaps, which he did not have last year, right? So we got to treat McCarthy as a rookie this year, still yet. I feel I don't care about the mental reps, I don't think that matters. I think it's just doing live stuff. Um, McCarthy needs more of that. And with any other rookie, Nick, I feel when you get into week 11, 12, 13, maybe that's where McCarthy gets a shine once things get stale with Carson Wins. And then happens. I was hopeful, but you you you put out the straight truth over there. Okay.
SPEAKER_02:The thing too is like Sam Darnold played all last year because JJ McCarthy was injured. It makes a question to wonder like if he wasn't injured, would how would he have taken over at some point during the season last year? We'll never know. This will be a good indication of that this year. But I mean, we'll flip it over because I do feel like at least we have to mention them because everybody loves to talk about them, and I periodically always talk about how overrated they are. But here's the Detroit Lions. Everyone wanted to talk about the Lions, the they wanted to bury them in week one. I was certainly one of them, but then we've seen them I was too we've seen them come back over the last four weeks and just blow the doors off all these teams. So I'm here to temper those expectations about the Detroit Lions and tell you who they really are and to give the real assessment on them. They only real team they've played all season was the Green Bay Packers. For example, week two, when they blew the doors off, they played the Chicago Bears at home. After a game and the performance they had there, you knew that that get right game was coming against somebody. And Ben Johnson coming back home, they wanted to make a point. So they did. Week three, they play the banged up Detroit, I mean the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night football with an awful defense this year, and they ran the score up against a bad defense. Yes, Lamar Jackson was Lamar Jackson and did his thing, but that defense was so bad there was nothing he could do in that game. Week four, they play the Cleveland Browns. Enough said. Enough said week five, they play Jake Browning and the Bengals, who hadn't scored, who hadn't converted a third down in almost two games before the fourth quarter, and they allowed that team to put 20-some points on them, even after shutting them down for three quarters. Right. The reckoning is coming on that defense. The offense is good. I don't know if it's as good as it was last year, but we're gonna find out over the next that they got a big stretch coming up here. So they start off this week against Kansas City, then they play the Bucks, then they have a bye, then they play the Vikings, then they go to Washington and Philly back to back before then going to play the Giants, who we've just seen isn't a walk in the park, and then they play the Packers and then they play the Cowboys, so they got a really tough schedule the rest of the way, and it'll be very interesting to see how they respond there. Are they gonna still be shooting it out and everything, doing what they've been doing? They might a couple of those games, but we're gonna find out if they can really win those games because I still don't believe in them. And when the things get tough, we saw last year in the playoffs against Washington. What happens? They still try the same dumb stuff when it comes to trying to keep up and force things and make things happen, and it only puts him in a deeper and deeper hole. It's done it every single year that Dan Campbell's been there. We're gonna have to wait and see. It's only a matter of time before it happens again.
SPEAKER_03:Very good points, Nick. I will even uh piggyback on that, and I don't think we can we we don't need to wait that long. Um, Sunday's game at uh Arrowhead, big indication. Oh uh few reasons. I think going against a spagnola defense. Can Jared Goff um how does he do against against that scheme, which uh tends to blitz a lot in critical situations? Um, you know, can you get Jared Goff off that spot, right? And the wins, the last uh four wins that you mentioned, right? You're Chicago, Baltimore, uh Cleveland to an effect, Cincinnati. I mean, outside of uh a few uh choice uh defensive studs uh rushing the passer, I think as a collective, the Lions didn't have to face a ferocious pass rush. They'll get their first test on the road here against Kansas City, in my opinion. Well, outside of Green Bay, of course, in week one.
SPEAKER_02:But and don't forget that Baltimore game was ultimately decided again by a fourth quarter fumble by Derrick Henry. That's right. Yeah. Because they could have driven down the field and taken the lead, but then they scored that run up the score touchdown with David Montgomery for no reason. Again, instead of just running the tractor that made the score look bigger than it actually was. Um, but yeah, if that fumble doesn't go that way, they possibly lose that game to Baltimore. And now they're three and two instead of four and one. And the Packers, but if that's the case, the Packers are in first place at two, one-and-one.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Tender and pretender possibilities uh right there. Um, I guess since we talked about almost everyone, uh Green Bay off the bye week and so forth. Um, how you how do you feel about Green Bay? I bet that loss against Dallas may have changed uh a few minds, but now we know that Dallas's offense is for real to an effect. So we gotta give uh Dallas credit in that. But um Green Bay, they're your division winners, correct? In NFC North?
SPEAKER_02:Yes. I you know what's funny? They're gonna be the division winners, and I think that tie is gonna be what sets them over. Fair. Yeah, I think that tie is going to be the difference in them winning and losing the division. Because it will be close. The Lions are still gonna be up there, I think. The Vikings are still gonna be up there, and I think it's gonna be close. And if it comes down to that tie, that'll be pretty funny.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, you talked about kind of the murderers' road that uh Detroit's gonna be um coming up against, and in comparison, Green Bay's next four to five, much easier. Cincinnati, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Carolina, until they get to uh host Philadelphia, right in that blockbuster Monday night game.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, when we run the touch push 14 straight times to start the game, whatever works. Just to troll them because they they led that charge last year. That's right. Yes. But yeah, no, in all seriousness, no, I do think I mentioned the Rams. We haven't talked about the Bucs yet. I think the Packers are definitely one of those teams that are at the top of the NFC for sure.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. At this point, I'll I'll agree with you. Um, they're one of the um, I think they lead the NFC in uh least points given up, but that's probably because of the buy. So yeah, um, I will withdraw that stat. Uh Chicago, any uh passing thoughts on Chicago before we talk about the South?
SPEAKER_02:I think with the with the Bears, it's akin to what I said about the Titans, but to a more advanced set. Like they're not just waiting to see what they have with Cam, like Titans are waiting to see what they have with Cam Ward. I think they know what they have with Kite Caleb Williams. I think they just want to see how they progress with Ben Johnson as their coach and how that meshes and what this they're still learning the brand new offense over there, too. So they've got all these pieces. We've seen Rome become a sensation of Rome look nice. He's gonna be the guy there once DJ Moore's contract's up. So it's good to see him and Caleb getting that that sync uh synchronicity with each other. Luther Burden has been playing like a D bow role a little bit there, where he's returning kicks, he's lining up in the backfield, he's catching passes. He surprised me a little bit with how he's played. And if they can get Colston Loveland healthy and start cycling him in there, they can start running some of that dual tight end stuff with Cole Komet, and it'll be really interesting to see what they do. DeAndre Swift has looked pretty solid there as a running back as well. I still think that they could probably DeAndre Swift's not the long-term answer there. So it'll be interesting to see what they inevitably do with that position as well. But I think this is just a learning season for them, and they could make a run. Like, you don't know, it's still early enough in the season. They could be in play for a playoff spot. I just don't know if they're there yet.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Uh, if NFC North, which I feel uh can put three teams in the playoff, maybe Chicago will be fighting for that third team, scratching incline to get um uh with that the seventh, um, seventh team, right? Because yeah, is it six or seventh team? Seven teams. Yeah. And stuff. So I mean, look at their schedule. The Bears, very doable. I mean, Washington, New Orleans, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Giants. I mean, I mean, they have a schedule because like that because yeah, and they were near the bottom, right?
SPEAKER_02:So, you know, and that's why Detroit's that's why Detroit schedule looks heavier because they got a first place schedule. Right.
SPEAKER_03:Good point. Let's talk about the South a little bit because really only one, maybe two teams worth mentioned as far as uh kind of finding out where they're really at, right? So Tampa Bear four and one, a lot of people already had them penned as favorites, and so far they have played that part thanks to uh four clutch victories under two minutes left or less.
SPEAKER_02:So um I will say this. I've talked with Floyd about this. We are in agreement here, and I cannot believe, given my history, that I'm saying this right now. Baker Mayfield is the MVP of the NFL through five weeks. And it's not there's nobody that's a close second. It's numbers with without Evans, without God for a lot of the season, with a rookie wide receiver, Bucky Irving's hurt now. They've had injuries on other other key positions as well, and they just keep winning. Keep winning. They had a tough team, they had a tough game against the Eagles there, but you know what? They they they they could have easily folded up when they were down 24-6 at halftime, and they made a game of it where they could have gone down the field and taken the lead, I believe, in the fourth quarter before the interception, but they they don't go away. They're like the they're the Jason Voorhees team at the NFL, and that's a nice little Easter egg right there because there you go, yo, Bobby. What's up, Bobby? But um they just don't they won't go away. You can't kill them, you can't kill this team, and they're gonna be a force down the stretch because they have a strong defense. Rashad White stepped in the Bucky Irving spot last week and played incredibly well. Bucky Irving is going to come back at some point. Mike Evans is going to come back. Chris Godwin is going to come back. When this team gets loaded up, when they're when you see what they're doing right now, the sky's the limit for the Buccaneers. I very, very impressed with them this year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And I think sometimes people get romanced with the numbers a lot of the times. You know, like Tampa Bay giving up almost as much points as New Orleans at this point. But I feel if you get into a shootout, sometimes that's the way it is. And you just got to roll with it. As much as you get into a rock fight, right? In some games, like the um uh like a 15-12, you know, four or five field goal type of game. I mean, sometimes it's just the way it is. And you know, if you can't you can't always dictate the way you want to play every time. Sometimes you get caught in a shootout or caught in a rock fight. So I I say that just to say that one should take uh credence into looking at a team that gives up 132 points to say, oh, their defense sucks. They got too much talent on that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, and yes, you also have to remember too, like the Eagles returned a block kick for a touchdown. There's talent, that's not points against the defense. So little things like that, weird plays like that have happened with them too. So I do I I I'm very, very high on the Buccaneers this year.
SPEAKER_03:I haven't done with other um contending teams, but I'm gonna ask you this question, Nick, because I feel like between you and Floyd, I can fire all kinds of questions, and you guys are good to go. And you guys have a lot of information to back it up. Tell me why Tampa Bay will not win the NFC, um, NFC, be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl. We talked about all what they're good, but what is the thing that that is going to make them fall short? Or maybe to make a more positive spin, what do they have to shore up in order for them to become the NFC representative at the Super Bowl?
SPEAKER_02:Uh similarly to how we mentioned, and I'm not comparing them to the Chiefs of last year. Constantly being in close games can only get you so far. You need decisive, you need to be have decisive wins. Being able to win games like this is important, but you also have to be able to believe not to rely completely on winning short like games that are decided in the final minute. You can only dance with the devil so many times. And I think for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they've absolutely proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they can win those close games. They just can't rely on that, especially in the playoffs. If you're relying on constantly winning short or close games, that's gonna be a recipe for disaster because you can get complacent with, oh, it's coming, it's coming. There needs to be a sense of urgency there all the time. And while there is urgency in those close games, that laissez faire potenti, not to say that there is any of that, of where they're in a game, it's like, oh, it's okay, we're gonna come back, we're gonna come back, it's gonna work itself out. Can't get down like they were the Eagles 24-6. Like, that's probably the best team that they've played so far. And while they play, they absolutely could have won that game and be 5-0 right now. A good team like that, it's very hard for them to get down 24-6. The Eagles did it against the Rams. They were down 19 at half. You can't get down those kind of games like that. And it's good that you can come back in those kind of games, but you can't get complacent and like constantly think that we can come back because playoffs are a different animal. And it's very, very difficult. That's why it's very rare when you see teams come back like that in the playoffs. So that would be the only thing, and that's not a slight on the Buccaneers at all, because as of now, they've overcome all of those and won those games. It's just I can't see a team constantly winning games like that all season long for three months. I mean, even the Bucs, the the Seattle game, they just won 38-35, another close game, three-point three-point win. It was a shootout. Baker played his balls off. Ameka Abuka looks incredible. He looks like the best rookie receiver we've seen step onto the scene. Even back, I wouldn't say he is bad. Like, I it's hard to say that. He looks like Jamar Chase's first year with the production he's putting out there as a rookie. It's incredible what he's doing. Okay, you know what I'm saying? It may be in some cases better because he's scoring more touchdowns off the jump. So it's just like that comes with the injuries to Evans and Godwin, and that's going to balance itself out. But he has demonstrated himself as a proven leader as a rookie already in that room because he was an older rookie coming into the league.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So I think, and especially someone like him who has been in the big games in college. Baker's been in big games in college before, but having that kind of leadership there also is important. And you still have some of those guys that are still hung over from the 2020 team that have won a Super Bowl before. So they all the ingredients are there for this team.
SPEAKER_03:Uh, let's see here. Uh, quickly before we um move on, if uh we'll talk a little bit more of the NFC South, um, just in passing glance, but uh San Francisco, Detroit, two tough ones. Uh, then it's New Orleans. They get a week nine bye before New England and Buffalo. So you want to look in in a small scale there? I mean, ooh, I'm looking forward to that Buffalo matchup on November 16th. Coming on possible Super Bowl matchup right there. Yeah, okay. For sure. Uh, other teams, uh, we got uh New Orleans and Carolina clearly are in rebuilding mode, so we're not gonna talk too much about them. Atlanta, my favorite uh 500 team that has all the talent in the world, but always seem to just finish above 500. Uh I guess my question would be can is there a chance that Atlanta wins the NFC South?
SPEAKER_02:There is a chance.
SPEAKER_03:There is a chance.
SPEAKER_02:I think after praising the Buccaneers so far, I do think the Atlanta Falcons can make a push for it. It's gonna be very difficult, though, because Tampa's already won the head-to-head matchup in Atlanta, so their second game will be in Tampa, which will be huge. That's gonna be much more important for Atlanta to win that game than Tampa. Yeah, but irregardless of the NFC South, I do think Atlanta has the ability, the ability to be a playoff team. It's just a matter of going out there and doing it. I like their defense a little bit more this year. It's a little bit better. My boy Xavier Watts from Notre Dame has really stepped into that role as a safety with Atlanta, almost similar to how Kyle Hamilton came onto the scene in Baltimore as that safety and that that that attitude, that that guy trying to bring the energy to the defense. So we already know what they have on offense. Their offense is loaded, but we just have to see can Michael Penix do it for a full season. He I have no doubt that he can, but we just have to see it first. Um, and if I wanted to just touch on one other thing with Carolina, I do think it's important to say like they look like that they're gonna be a problem for a lot of teams this year, that they're gonna win games that they shouldn't win. The only issue with Carolina this year is there have been times that Bryce Young looks like he has regressed again this year when he looked like he came out from the other end out of the tunnel last year after being benched, and it was a lot to be hopeful for this year, and he's been very inconsistent this year where he's shown that at times, but other times he looks like the guy that got benched early on last season for Andy Dalton. So we're gonna have to see more consistency from Bryce Young this year because this is year three for him, and he's got his weapons now, like he got Tet McMillan, Chuba Hubbard has looked really good. Xavier Legette has shown flashes after he had off a slow start. So we're gonna have to see a little bit more from Bryce Young this year, this is the moving forward.
SPEAKER_03:I uh will venture to say uh a couple things. I'll venture to say that if Bryce Young doesn't meet expectations, and I'm gonna put that in quote air quotes, because that's very relative, what expectations uh people have for him within the organization versus what I feel the expectations are. I mean I'm not sure about the uh quarterback uh class coming out.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think it's a real good one, or it ain't deep, but they they may just get better than sorry, it's better than last year's class. Last year's class is pretty much Cam Ward and then maybe Jackson Dart. Shador Sanders was in the mix there a little bit too, but I think there's a good four or five guys that are gonna be pretty good this year.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, I will I'll have to definitely um uh research that and um get more adept as far as uh who those names are. But I feel that Carolina, just because of the investments that they've made, uh, especially on offense, I mean they put um you know millions and millions of dollars in that uh O-line, and they still could improve. Uh, but you can kind of see, you know, when they are on um how good that ground game is, because they got you know uh pretty pretty good O linemen. I mean, especially the two guards, they spent their 20 million a year guys at guard, which is tops, right? For that position. So they definitely uh uh shout out that cash. And if uh young can't be a part of that, then I will not be surprised. And with Atlanta, you mentioned about Xavier Watts. Um, a big fan of him. Uh, when I was looking um looking at his film uh off and on, he's you know, you talk about Kyle Hamilton. I mean, that's that ball hawk, right? And Atlanta already got badass safeties, you know, Jesse Bates and so forth. So I meant on that back end, it's really good.
SPEAKER_02:AJ Terrell.
SPEAKER_03:AJ Terrell, thank you. That's three, you know, three dudes already right there. And now it's just a matter of getting those uh edge rushers, which they have shown glimpses, but I think they're still fallible on defense and they're gonna have to pull Tampa Bay. I think the office needs to carry. Yep, absolutely for that. Absolutely. Now, uh last but uh definitely was not uh a setup at all, the NFC East. I still think Philly is the class, but without opening wounds, because the we're doing a day after the Thursday night game, uh, just full disclosure when we're recording this episode. I want to hear from you. I mean, how worried are you?
SPEAKER_02:I'm not worried. I'm it's like I said, it's it's very early in the season, and I'm annoyed, and maybe slightly concerned. Okay, because like I said, last year they looked, they had a game just like this last year where we went into the bye week after getting blown out on the road at Tampa Bay, where we just looked as bad, if not worse, than what they looked like last night. And then after the bye week, they came back, they had another rough game against the Browns that they barely scraped by. And then after that, it was almost like the wheels just clicked. And it was actually ironically the game against the Giants last year where we blew the doors off from where it was like, oh, we can do all this, and they just rolled the rest of the way. It takes a little bit of time, and I'm just trying to be patient with them. It's getting harder when you watch some of this stuff, though, and especially how the offense has just become so predictable with how they run things out there. If they're lined up in a shotgun, it's a pass. If they line up under center, it's going to be a run. And there's nothing that's they teams have been calling this out for weeks and they haven't changed anything. And I don't I don't know. And everyone wants to point to the AJ Brown stuff, and it's like he has become such a scapegoat for anything, both in Philly and nationally. Whenever something goes wrong with the Eagles offense, it's got something to do with AJ Brown. And yes, AJ Brown posted the tweets about that stuff, and he's clearly frustrated, and he's not frustrated at any one particular person. He's frustrated because he has a standard, he knows what he can bring, and he's frustrated that the execution just isn't there on the offense. And it's just it's not clicking. And I wanted to bring something up that I had brought up repeatedly with people that keep bringing up the AJ Brown stuff with me and the Eagles offense as a whole. Nick Sirianni gets to become the head coach here in 2021. He's the he's calls the plays. We have an offensive coordinator, but he calls the plays, and our offense is average at best that first year. And it isn't until he turns the play calling over late in the season to Shane Steichen, the offensive coordinator, that they start to take off a little bit. We make the playoffs. We lose in the first round of Tampa, but they make a late season run and we make the playoffs. 2022, Shane Steichen's calling all the plays, an experienced offensive coordinator. We got one of the best offenses in the NFL. We go straight to the Super Bowl and lose to Kansas City. The next year, we offense plays so well, offensive coordinator gets a job as a head coach. We fill that position in-house with the quarterback's coach, Brian Johnson. And while the offense looks good, it's almost like this year, where we're winning games, but there's so much that's happening where it's not decisive. It's not clean, and there's issues that are happening, and it's frustrating wins week after week. And the offense just implodes because there's issues that come compile over the course of the weeks with the offense, which is similar to where they are right now. That season ends in disaster because we started 10-0 and then we lost every other game the rest of the season. Oh, yeah. Right. We're 10 and 10 and 1, 11 and 1, whatever it was, and we went 11 and 6 and lost. We started that year 10-0, though. We get rid of Brian Johnson, we bring back in an experienced offensive coordinator and Kellen Moore when the offense just clicks, and we have the most explosive offense in the NFL. We go to the Super Bowl and win it. So much so that the offensive coordinator gets a head coaching job. What do we do again? We hire the in-house quarterbacks coach. So it's like we're repeating the same cycle again, 22 to 23. The difference now is we have to identify those issues and fix that before it gets back to how it was in 23. Because we, like I said, we started 10-0 that year and then the wheels just fell off. So I think the defense is a lot better than it was back then. We're gonna get some guys healthy. Jalen Carter's banged up, Quinyon Mitchell got banged up there. The Kobe Dean is come, just came back. So once we get those guys going, and Vic Fan, this is not gonna be what Vic Fangio wants us to. He's gonna have these guys get back in shape and working because he he's he's an incredible coordinator. So I'm not worried about the defense as much, other than the fact that we still need a second quarterback because uh Kaylee Ringo and Adori Jackson just aren't doing it. I don't know how you find something like that, but that's that's the weak, that's the Achilles heel of this team. And we said it from the preseason that that we have not replaced Darius Slay. That's I mean, he doesn't look like what he was before now in Pittsburgh, but we still don't have that answer at the cornerback spot. And they love Cooper Dejean in the slot corner role, which is kind of limited there, so he's not really playing outside. So, and the offensive line hasn't been very good this year either. Like everyone talks about the Eagles' offensive line, Landon Dickerson's been banged up since the preseason, Lane Johnson's been banged up a few times, and they're older, they're taking a lot of hits, and that's part of the reason why I think Saquon hasn't been as well, too. But he also had 400 plus touches last year. They want to try to conserve him and not use him and run him into the ground like we did last year as well, too. So there's a lot of factors with why they look the way they do right now. And I'm trying to be optimistic and thinking this is more like last year than the year before, where we just we play Thursday. It's almost like a mini-buy now, where we have 10 days off till our next game against Minnesota, where we can try to fix some of this stuff and try to get this working. And maybe we can get back on that trajectory we had last year after getting blown out, as opposed to what it was in 22, where it just lingered and lingered and lingered all season before the wheels fell off.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think uh yes, I guess the Giants deserves kind of an asterisk a little bit of Jalen Carter not playing, I think that showed, first of all. Um, and I mean we're gonna be a good one. Second of all, sorry. Oh yeah, but uh second of all, I meant the bottom line is Thursday night games are tricky, they really are. And I think for certain teams, and I don't have any anything scientific to or any data, uh hard data to go behind it. So this is just opinion at this point, but I think some teams, especially process-driven teams, that need the full you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, you know, schedule to be optimal. You know, they they they just can't do it on a short week. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Well, that that's opinion. Watching the Eagles this year, we did we're able to win one game without Jalen Carter this year when we beat the giant with the beat the Cowboys week one after his whole ejection. But even still, like with the Eagles offense, it just has not looked right all season. And I can't explain. I mean, it's obvious, like Floyd's talked about it because AJ Brown, but Devontae Smith isn't getting the targets either. I don't know what it is. Dallas Goddard has been getting all of this work, and I don't know if it's because Jay, like I said, the offensive line's been rough, it hasn't just affected the run game. He Jalen Hurts has been getting hit a lot more than he has in any point in time in his Eagles career this year. Whether it's him trying to dump off passes to Goddard because there's no time, if there's pressure coming on him, like I don't know what it is, but the best this offense has looked all season was the second half of the LA Rams game when we were down 19 points. That was the only time they look like anything like they were last year. And I don't know, the play calling looked different. It was it's been strange. So it's too early to tell. I'm just I'm trying to be optimistic with it, but it is concerning to see these same things happen week after week and being predictable when you're out there where teams can literally see when they're in shotgun, they're passing it. If they're running, if they're lining up under center, it's a run.
SPEAKER_03:That's that's strange. I I think uh well, Kevin Patulo, right, is your is your OC right this year, who is as you mentioned before, um, you guys pass the game coordinator for some time. So that's probably why the passing game looks more on point than the run game. But a couple things I mentioned in the last episode that you could probably uh you know put me on some game, so to speak. I I said that the Eagles line, their strength, I mean they're a very good offensive line, obviously. I mean, there's no doubt about it, it was a key component on you guys winning the Super Bowl last year. But it's more that the run offense, you know, with the offensive line with the running game is more superior than they are as the pass blocking um uh unit. Would that be out of line for me to say or not? That they're a run as a run unit that they're way better than the pass unit.
SPEAKER_02:They are. I think I think you agree. You're absolutely right. And one of the things that we were so good at last year, and this is another thing that's an issue with this team, we built our team last year on the mix of run and pass to start the games, use the pass a lot more in the first half, and then grind the hell out of the ball in the second half with Barkley because he gets better as the game goes on. And we were able to close out games in the fourth quarter because of that run game and wearing down the defense over the first three quarters. Look at the Steelers game last year, where they tried to mount a comeback, and we held up, I think we got the ball with 12 minutes left in the fourth quarter. They never saw the ball back again. We just grinded it the whole fourth quarter. Look at the Tampa Bay game. They weren't running, they couldn't run the ball for some reason in the fourth quarter. And because we weren't able to get those long drives and went three and out, three and out, three and out, they had eight yards of offense the entire second half of that Bucks game. That's the reason why the Bucs came back. Jalen Hurts didn't complete a pass. Barkley didn't get the ball. Barkley touched the ball. I think he had like I forgot I forget what his numbers were in that game, but that was why Tampa Bay was able to scramble back into the game because we couldn't sustain offense on there because we couldn't run the ball. Denver were up 17 to 3 in the fourth quarter. They couldn't run the ball. They couldn't, they couldn't, the offensive line was messed up. They couldn't, they couldn't sustain offensive drives, and that's what led to Denver coming back in. We couldn't kill any clock, we weren't grinding and pounding it, wearing the defense out, and our defense was the one that was getting tired in that game. So that's this big issue. And me, we didn't have the chance to do it in this one because we were so far behind. But that's those are the little issues like that. It's everyone at everyone wants to point at AJ Brown and make him the villain, make him the scapegoat, have make some sort of locker room. He even called it out this week where they said there was a meeting that they had with him, Jalen, and AJ literally just cleared it up today, said there was no meeting. We were leaving practice, and I saw them talking by the cars, and I went over and just joined in the conversation.
SPEAKER_03:So it's some kind of journalist that was seen from a distance that made a news story out of nothing that about Devontae.
SPEAKER_02:And of course they're frustrated. You know what? There is truth to that because who wouldn't be frustrated? They want to be part of the offense, but I don't think it's in any one person. They've also talked about it, it's about execution. Like it's not about they're not throwing, like he's like he wasn't getting the ball thrown to him. He got the ball, he had nine targets, I think, in that Buccaneers game and only had three catches. Yeah, they're not the greatest targets. I don't know, and sometimes he might be mad at Jalen at one point, but then another point he can be mad at the play calling. He can be mad about the routes that are being used because like that kind of stuff, and it's it's not just one thing, and everyone wants to make it and hammer it into one box and say this is the issue. There's a lot of things wrong right now, and you know, he's good enough where he's not gonna make that as big of an issue, he's gonna do his job, and these guys are adults, they'll figure it out. They figured it out last year when everyone wanted to make it like that, too.
SPEAKER_03:Exactly. I mean, sometimes I kind of wonder about these uh stories of of um so-called dissension, you know, throughout the season, like you know, how that gets leaked out, who is the leaker? Yeah, I mean, sometimes I'm thinking, okay, well, why are you putting this story out there? I don't know. I'm getting my conspiracy theory bagged, which I don't want to be in right now, but uh yeah, I kind of wonder about that. One thing I will say uh before I move on, um, the fact that the Eagles carried the ball in the 11 times against Denver was very, very weird to me. Um, yeah, I mean I think Jalen threw 38 times, and so win them. Yeah, and and kind of what you're saying as far as it is very rare that you see Philly have just over or just around 50 plays in a contest. That that is not Philly football on offense whatsoever. Yeah, they should be getting they they should be owing time position, they should be getting 65 plus plays. That that that that's that's the formula, right? And it's weird that they are not being more balanced. And maybe they are saving Saquon, but why not ponder with AJ Dillon? Like what what what's up with that? Tank Bigsby too. Well, tank, yeah, tank. Why not do the same the same stuff? I mean, you don't got Kenneth Gaywell, but I like Tank Bigsby better than Kenneth Gainwell for my liking.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, who doesn't? I mean, yeah, it's something that they I I I have confidence that it will be sorted out, it's just frustrating to watch right now. And you're not gonna win the Super Bowl or have playoff success. It's there's no barometer right now in week six. Yeah, but like I said, it's week six. It's time to start getting some of this at least working in sync because yeah, you had two months since training camp started now at this point, or more than two months in that fact. We have to start seeing some stuff happen. And if things aren't working, you have to be able to adjust and change, just like they did last year.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I I bet you know, we talk about timing earlier in this uh uh pod here, and you know, you kind of mentioned it already of what what's up ahead for Philadelphia. They got 10 days uh before they face the Vikings at Minnesota, they get the revenge match on October 26th, then they get a bye. And you know, if if there are all this problems of dissension or whatever, hugaboo, you know, what whatever's going on, I mean maybe a week nine by is what Philly needs. Yep. Before they uh go into that Monday night game against Green Bay. I mean, yeah, yeah, I've just seen that right now. Yeah, they're going at Green Bay, but they got they got a bye week, so the extra day. And the extra, yeah. That's right. Ooh, very interesting. Oh, I can't wait. Can't wait. All right, so other NFC's uh contenders. Uh we talked about the Giants a little bit, and the Giants are kind of in a rebuilding phase. They got a lot more steps before they um I guess find their true form, right? Yeah, we'll see.
SPEAKER_02:They're gonna be a fun team to watch, I think. I think they're gonna be a lot of fun to watch. They're gonna they're not gonna be, it's not gonna always be good football, but it's gonna be entertaining to watch the Giants, and they're starting to build an attitude there, which as an Eagles fan and as a Commanders fan, you've liked watching them down there, and it's like a weird thing to see the Giants look like that they're going to be not an easy W every sear every year on the calendar. That's it's going to be absolutely it's going to be. I I'm I'm very interested to see how they are, and they're not doing it with any wide receivers because neighbors is out.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's right. Juan Dale and Jalen. Yep, Jalen Hyatt. Oh my goodness. Uh Q to Rocky Top. Yeah, um, so we have uh so the Giants, yes. I one thing I will say, um, just kind of uh skimming over the uh yesterday's game. Yes, the attitude with Dart and Scatterboo galvanizing this team, and I've seen it for myself as a commander's person last year when with JD Five there, just how that he has become a catalyst, right? Both of them has become a catalyst, and while Dart can rally, scatterboo brings the attitude, you know. As um some of us like to nickname him young CTE, not CEO.
SPEAKER_02:Um Cam Scattaboo doesn't get CTE, CTE gets Cam Scattaboo.
SPEAKER_03:There you go. I love that. I love that t-shirts, t-shirts. Um yeah, I I thought I was seeing uh I I know you guys in the chat were saying Peyton Hillis. I was looking at Mike Allstott in the fourth quarter. Holy cow, yeah, freaking all start. Oh my yeah, Davis Singletary was um was uh work done, I guess. Yeah, I don't know that him and Tyra, but well that was my thing too.
SPEAKER_02:Like, I unfortunately benched him in our dynasty league. Last night, but it was good to see him play like that because it's a mistake I won't make again. But because you saw Tyrone Tracy came back, it was good. I was interested to see what the split time was there. Scataboo is on the field 74% of the snaps last night. So I don't think that he's losing that job.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's his. He can do it all. I mean, if if people who didn't see him at Arizona State, I think Floyd was the one person that um got me onto Camp Scattaboo uh late in the season.
SPEAKER_02:Me too. Thanks, Floyd.
SPEAKER_03:Now with yeah, now with that said, we got Washington and Dallas. Um, the other uh I guess uh competitors in the NFC East. Uh Dallas, let's talk about Dallas first. Um, everyone was writing them off. The controversy in the offseason. Dallas, the tie at home against Green Bay kind of uh salvaged things forward. They're getting a couple um winnable games, and they were able to capitalize on that, um, especially with that uh Jets victory um last week. Yeah, it was Green Bay and then the Jets. I'm sorry. They beat the Giants um at home on September 14th. So, with that said, uh, what's your barometer on the Cowboys right now? They got Carolina, Denver, next three games coming up. Um definitely need to go through the fraud tests right now. What's your feeling?
SPEAKER_02:I think the second they get CeeDee Lamb back, they will have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. That does not mean I think that they're a good team. As good as their offense is, that defense might be worse than the Ravens injury ravage defense. That defense is terrible. They can't stop the run, they can't stop the pass. The only thing that could slow other teams down with them is if they draw flags on themselves, is what's drawing them. That's what's slowing the game down for them. They'd rather take a five-yard penalty than a 20-yard game. Like it's bad. Like their defense is terrible. And the only reason that they haven't given up more points than not is because they've played teams like well, even the Bears. The Bears, I was gonna say the Bears beat them. So I don't know what I'm even talking about there when it comes to that. Yeah, they the Packers, they gave up 40. The Jets, they they if they were playing anybody else other than the Jets, the Jets would have scored a lot more points on it than that. Um, yeah. The Giants with Russell Wilson. I mean, they scored points that game. They gave up a lot of they gave up those moon balls to Russell Wilson, the the ghost of Russell Wilson. The ghost. That's what I'm saying. Like their offense is legit. They're like Dak Prescott is gonna sling it all season. Javante Williams looks like he fits right in there on that. Wow, Javante Williams. Javante Williams looks as good as the running back has looked there. And he's not as good. He's not the same level, but they haven't had a running back like this in Zeke. Zeke was clearly a better running back than him, but they like he's better than what Tony Pollard was. He's better than what Rico Dow was there. Javante Williams looked legit in that that offense, like exactly what they needed.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I mentioned in the uh last pod the amount of yards after contact that Javante Williams has, he's in the top three in that aspect. I don't have the exact numbers on me, but I meant, yeah, what a um compliment it is with RB three right now, running back three in fantasy.
SPEAKER_02:Javante.
SPEAKER_03:Yep. Uh five touchdowns for the first five games. If you guys didn't remember the last episode, uh was my trivia question of that episode right there. Uh Nick.
SPEAKER_02:Actually got six, he's actually got six because he got a receiving touchdown, too.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, okay, okay. I guess I have to formulate that as rushing touchdowns, but yeah, I mean, point point taken, man. It Javante Williams, what a career revival. Um, I think a lot of people expected that Javante Williams to have shown up at Denver. Uh, circumstance and injuries didn't let that happen, but uh good on that. And then uh this was not by design, but I the last team, Washington, uh, big game against Chicago, uh, three and two. They have not won two straight games in a row so far this season. So take that for what it's worth. Uh uh before I uh pose a question to you about Washington, one thing I will say is that they should be on the uptrend or on the uptick just because JD Daniels is healthier. Uh, but they have a lot of lot of question marks on this team for Washington. And I'm not gonna be a homer and say everything's everything's getting really getting better because uh I think there's a lot of uh suspect uh defense still yet. I don't uh I think they should get more turnovers. I think they have vastly improved their run defense, especially teams cannot go up the middle like they did last year against the commanders.
SPEAKER_02:And even the gave up eight rushing touchdowns in the NFC Championship game last year. There was only one direction to go, and they have made leaps and bounds to where they were last year on that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and I will I will, you know, we talked a little bit about some other teams of how they were able to make themselves better in the offseason. And I feel Washington, they have addressed that as far as uh beefing up that run defense and the Javon Kinlaw signing, uh much maligned. I think all the so-called experts were saying, why are you giving this guy 15 million a year? Um, and my response to that during that time, even though it was not recorded, was okay, Milton Williams is getting paid 25 mil in New England. Uh uh Milton Williams, right? The uh former Eagles defensive. Uh, but just to put that in context, 25 million is the going rate for a top defensive tackle uh as of last offseason. So you're paying Kinlaw 15 mil. If he does what he has to do, I didn't, I I didn't think it was uh much of a ripoff. Yeah, if he sucked holy, then yeah, I get it. But I think uh just his presence him and uh revitalize the Rom Pain, or as we like to call it uh Washington, contract your DeRon Payne or contract your DP. Yep, different he's a different animal, right? So with that said, I want to uh get your take on it. Um, you know, as an NFC East expert. Uh what is your take about uh Washington up to this point? Do they have a check division?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, yeah, I think they do. I think they've had, like you said, there's been struggles with the defense. I think they've had bad luck with the injuries, not just to Jaden Daniels, but to Terry McLaurin as well, to Austin Eckler for the season. And Bill Krosky Merritt has just been a godsend when it comes to the running back there. I haven't seen a running back in the seventh round come in like that in a long time. Um, it's very rare that you see someone like that come in and produce immediately like that, even before Eckler went out. But McLaurin missing a game, Jaden Daniels missing a game, it's hard for me to think that they're a better team than the Atlanta Falcons. That if you get both of those guys in that game, you win that game. And if you're that case, you're four and one and you're tied for the division lead. So I think for all the the skepticism that you've had so far with them, which is justifiably so with the defense, I think that I guess it's a long season. They've hopefully come out on the other side when it comes to the injuries to Daniels and McLaurin. And if he can keep those guys healthy and keep them moving like this, now you see Debo coming into his own now, too. He's getting more familiarized with this offense. Zach Ertz has played a strong role still on that team as an old reliable for Jaden Daniels. I think that this is definitely going to be a team that's not only in the playoff mix, I think that they're going to be competing with the Eagles. What we once thought with that week 18 game might be meaningless. I think that that game may be a little bit more important because there's two games in the final three weeks that the Eagles and Commanders play each other. Those are going to be important games between those two.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. And it was obviously by design, right? By the NFL to um at least have some intrigue. Uh knowing that probably these uh two teams are going to be near tops of the division. Uh, how you want to order it, that's up to you. But uh, yeah, I think timing is a big uh thing with Washington. Yes, the injuries are unfortunate, but at least they're getting it right now, uh, versus um you know later down the line. Uh but after Chicago, yeah, they're going to Dallas. It's a robbery game, so anything can happen. Monday night at KC could be a very telltale sign of where this team is headed. Then they face um. Yeah. And then after that, uh they host Seattle, in which they uh gonna feature the throwback uniforms, which I am very excited about. Then Detroit comes into town. Uh, that's gonna be that's gonna be pretty awesome, too. That's a revenge match for Detroit before they trek to Madrid against Miami. Long ways to go before a bye. Um, so it's gonna be a huge, huge thing for Washington. I'm not gonna uh delve too much into describing about pros and cons with Washington because they are a team that is TBD as far as where they're gonna lie, but the way they're gonna negotiate the schedule, because they knew this uh up ahead, they have more primetime games, they got way more travel, and the uh the strength of schedule. So it's no surprise uh to the coaching staff over there. But how do they negotiate that? And where they're gonna be on the other side of that bye is gonna be very telltale because when they get out of that bye, they host Denver, they go to Minnesota, you know, the Giants at the Meadowlands at December 14th, probably some very bad weather over there, and a whole bunch of camp scatterboo, then Philadelphia, Christmas hosting Dallas, and then at Philly on January 4. Holy hell. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Long season, long way to go. Uh, before we forget, I think we forgot to touch over the AFC East. We can talk about them real quick. Yes, definitely. The Bills are the Bills. They lost last week. That was a tough game. I think that was that said a lot more about the Patriots than it does about the Bills. Thank you. I think Drake May is looking like he's becoming that guy, and Stephon Diggs and him are starting to form some chemistry on that offense as well. Uh, they did just lose Antonio Gibson for the rest of the season. Um, Ramandre Stevenson has that faith, and I think it's only a matter of time before Trevaeon Henderson starts to take the mantle a little bit more there. That's gonna be a team to watch down the stretch this year. Buffalo is Buffalo. Yes, um, they're gonna be fine. They'll be all right. Better days. Miami, woof. I think per our conversation earlier about the Eagles, I'm hoping that it's a matter of time before Mike McDaniel gets fired because if we decide to continue the pattern that we've had with the OCs, I can't think of a better offensive coordinator to handle the weapons that we've got than Mike McDaniel.
SPEAKER_03:Yes.
SPEAKER_02:100%. Yeah, just like how Floyd's got his wish list for Mike Tomlin. My wish list is uh Mike McDaniel as my new offensive coordinator.
SPEAKER_03:Dude, I will I will say this because um I think this is a little bit of a hot take. I think Mike McDaniel may be going to be a commander OC next year if Kingsbury Kingsbury leaves. Yep, which which is I I don't I don't know at this point. If I'm Kingsbury, I'll stay at Washington and eventually become the highest paid OC and be, you know, but you know, I'm not I'm not him. You know, I'm sure he wants another bite at the apple as a head coach. But if Kingsbury leaves, I think we're gonna shell out big money to make sure McDaniel comes by and just let him know you got some toys in the garage that you can play with.
SPEAKER_02:It's gonna be an arms race. But and then anyway, back to close it out too, back with the um the Jets. I mean, they're there. Justin Fields is a placeholder, their next quarterback is in next year's draft. New coach. I can't imagine Justin Fields is gonna be the quarterback there, and it's a shame because I think he has the opportunity there, but I think he's kind of set himself up now as the guy, like the stopgap quarterback. Like he'll he'll fill in for a team when if a team needs a quarterback in July or August, he'll be that guy, but he's never going to be the guy. I would like to see him do that. I just don't know if he is at this point of his career because he's bounced. This is now his third team in three years, and once you get into a trend like that, that was the Marcus Mariota trend. Where now he's just bouncing around from team to team, filling backup roles.
SPEAKER_03:There you go. Yeah, and I think my question to you to piggyback on that is for Justin Fields. Yeah, he is on that precipice, whether he's gonna be Mariota slash Jacoby Brissett, or could he revitalize, be in the right system, right situation, and become Baker Mayfield-ish.
SPEAKER_02:Not as Baker Mayfield, but that's absolutely a fair, fair comp, too. I do like that. If he can find the right spot, the only question is you have to find that spot for him right now.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, and that's where I'm doubtful.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know where I don't know where there is, I don't know either. I mean, yeah, it's tough. He's only on a one-year deal, I think, too. One or two-year deal. I can't remember.
SPEAKER_03:I I believe it was one fact check, but uh, yeah. Uh yeah, it is the short-term thing. Um yeah, he may be one of the highest paid backup quarterbacks. He's gonna be that quarterback to on a on a I think he could be a be a great option in that, but I mean he's still young, still yet.
SPEAKER_02:I think it's that it's a two-year contract, but it's uh they they they can get out of it after next year. I think only 10 million of his contract is guaranteed next year. So only half his contract is guaranteed, so they can get out of it if they really want to.
SPEAKER_03:Uh uh Brees Hall gone next year.
SPEAKER_02:The fact, I mean, he's been he's played well this year. He just hasn't scored any touchdowns. He's actually been a bright spot on that offense this year. They just don't score. Um, I tend to lean no. I think he plays somewhere else next year. And that was a huge sticking point with them is why they tried to trade back into the first round to get him, was to get that guaranteed fifth year. But they just paid Sauce Gardner, they just paid um Garrett Wilson.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Um, they've got other guys on the defensive side of the ball. They signed Elijah Vera Tucker, I think, again, to another contract. So a team that is historically a little bit cheaper when it comes to money, not as bad as the Bengals, but still cheap. I can't imagine them signing Brees Hall. I mean, if they do, they may franchise tag him. Ah I just can't see them signing him to an extension. Plus, there was all the rumors that that's the other thing, too. They had all the rumors this year that there was the falling out, like he would think he was gonna be in a timeshare with Bo, with um what's his Braylon Allen? Great Braylon Allen and Isaiah Davis and have a back by committee. That hasn't been the case this year. They've split some of it, but Brees Hall has been, and part of that is because uh Braylon Allen has been injured, uh got injured a week or two ago, but he has managed like 64%, 55%, 63%, 62% of the snap share. So he's still, even before the Braylon Allen injury, he was getting the lion share of the the snaps. Um remains to be seen. I think it it's all on him. It's he said contract year for Daron Payne. This is contract year for Brees Allen. I'm sure or Brees Hall. Sorry, mixing him up now. Brees Hall, um he's gonna probably he's the touchdowns will come for him. He's too good of a player not to have that happen. But you know, it's just tough because of the kind of offense you're in. You're gonna get a lot of yards, he's just not getting the touchdowns. So we'll see. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:All right. Uh yeah. How about we do this as a way to kind of um end things off? Um, I don't know if this is this this is the right idea, but we we've already kind of um I guess if you have made it this far, then uh thank you. First of all, we have we have hit the 137-minute mark at this point, depending on how much editing I do here, which is probably not much. Don't have much time for that, and I think all of our content is great as is. So, uh, do you want to venture out to say who is your Super Bowl matchup? Actually, don't answer that. That's gonna cancel cancel everything we said in the first five minutes about making those kind of uh predictions and so forth. But I'll make one.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, go ahead. As the teams are playing right now, you said it was gonna be a Super Bowl preview. I think it is a Super Bowl preview, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills. I love it.
SPEAKER_03:I love it. I'm all for that too. But uh, yeah, we'll see. I mean, I think with Tampa Band Buffalo, why I say I love it is just because they're two teams you can easily fall in love with for different and stuff. So they got good storylines too, and good uh redemption arcs in itself. So um, as the uh storyteller uh inside of me, yeah, I like that. That's pretty cool. I can't I can't uh disagree with you with that. Um with that said, I want to thank you, Nick, here on short notice. Uh pretty much all of our um co-hosts are a short notice, and uh you're pretty much gonna see uh folks more um guest hosts um at this time uh until uh that boy Floyd comes back into American soil because uh the uh time differences are gnarly. 12 hours um uh between Hawaii and uh Western Europe, where he's at right now. And he may make uh more globetrotting trips, which is gonna definitely affect um recording times.
SPEAKER_02:Hey, if he ends up in Asia, he'll get closer.
SPEAKER_03:Oh, but he's ahead of the day, and it's gonna be minus six hours. Oh, it's gonna be weird, bizarre. The closer it gets, the stranger it becomes. Yes, sir. Absolutely, such as life, I guess. Um, but with that said, uh, we want to give a shout out to Statboy, who's filling in for that boy, and uh we're gonna see more of um of Nick, hopefully, because I know it was a running joke uh a couple seasons ago of when we're gonna see you, but hopefully we can do more of this because it has definitely been a pleasure nerding out with you, uh, Mr. Stat Boy, Mr. Nikki Three Belts, first uh three-time champion of the DFL, uh, and all that stuff. Um, I will usually we have a final word, uh, a time of uh that we want to give our thoughts. Um, I'm gonna hand the mic over to you, uh, Mr. Three Belts. You have this is the episode 113 of the Big Owners Football Podcast. Uh, as we say here in the islands, a hui ho and malama, ikekai, ikekekahi, Nick, the mic is yours.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we're gonna take a little bit of a change turn on this because of what you just said. Ahui Ho. Um we just me and Mike actually just had to say goodbye to our grandmother. And 90 years of life was amazing. And one of the big things I did bring up about that was her love for Hawaii. And I have no doubt that I never would have made it out to Hawaii and met you and Floyd if not for my grandmom. And I mentioned that during when we had our eulogy at the funeral, and like I just said, just wanted to say mahalo and hoy a huiho.