0:00

Be Around the NFL Podcast.

0:04

I I

0:06

I gotten nothing dog. Welcome

0:10

to another edition of the Around the NFL

0:12

Podcast. My name is Dan Hans is

0:15

coming to you from a virtual room filled with

0:17

heroes. Mark Sessler

0:19

in pink, Greg

0:22

Rosenthal and Chris

0:24

Westling. What's up boys, Wesley

0:26

Wednesdays, what's going on you? Hey?

0:29

Dan? They

0:31

sent they sent me home from chemo yesterday,

0:33

so no treatment this week, which means

0:35

my voice is fine and dandy. Did

0:37

they know that it was around the a

0:39

f C and NFC week and they were just like,

0:42

the people need it, We're just gonna have We're

0:44

just gonna have a chemo. Take one, take one for the

0:46

team. Yeah, streets are talking in the medical

0:48

industry and the word got out, so

0:50

they realized how important this was. Alright,

0:54

So West so awesome to have you here.

0:56

The show is never the same without you, especially

0:58

when it's around the a of an NFC week

1:01

and we have even more reinforcements. This is gonna

1:03

be a good one. When you hear he is the voice

1:05

of God for the Around the NFL Podcast.

1:08

Uh, he is our own Bob Shepherd and

1:11

he's gonna join us today. He is the

1:14

man the myth the Legend. He calls play by

1:16

to play for the charters. He works

1:18

for NFL Network.

1:21

He is appear on the Throwback

1:24

podcast and

1:27

Yes, don't forget about Petros and Money

1:30

Mark Sessler's favorite drive

1:32

time radio show in Southern

1:34

California that I mentioned.

1:36

He was on the Throwback Podcast. It's Matt money

1:39

Smith. Nah, what

1:41

an intro in the music? That's sweet lick. Trying

1:44

to figure out what I'm doing right now? Is it a is

1:46

it a dark and dusty night? And

1:48

I uh kind of like cruising in the back

1:50

alley with a cigarette, staring at the gun in

1:52

my left hand that I just used to dust somebody,

1:56

you know. Or I'm just a loan at a bar because

1:58

my wife I just bought my wife if in an affair,

2:00

and like I'm now just drawing my song that

2:03

checks up sundown

2:06

at the beach volleyball pit. Okay, there

2:08

you go. I'm in board shorts and

2:10

uh, we just won. We just won, like the

2:16

and I'm just looking at him like, yeah, man, we did

2:18

it. You and me, John just did

2:20

it. Johnny

2:22

Lawrence, age forty three at the bar

2:24

and Recita just thinking

2:26

about where it all right wrong there's a dead

2:28

body somewhere. There's a dead body somewhere.

2:31

But I felt that way too. Yeah, I felt

2:33

like, you know, it's a cigarette and I'm just kind of looking at my

2:35

left hand, at the machine. I

2:37

just used to take a human life in disbelief,

2:40

like what what's going on here? I mean,

2:42

what happened in my life? The problem

2:44

that we faced a little bit is for the listener, I don't

2:46

know why you'd want to hear what Mark

2:49

and Greg have to say after like

2:51

the unannounced son of Tom Brokaw offers

2:53

a point with total authorities, So

2:55

I you know, it's it's a bit concerning for us. But I will

2:58

tell you real quick, I'm not only a

3:00

fan of Petros and Money. I I drive my

3:02

son home during the afternoons. And you've got a second

3:04

generation Sessler who um

3:06

he as I mentioned, he doesn't he he

3:09

was beguiled. Why you know, he said,

3:11

mommy and daddy, why would or why would

3:13

there his mommy and daddy name him money? Um?

3:16

That really concerned him as a child. But we got through

3:18

that, and he's a fan. I think he doesn't quite

3:20

get the Petro's angle of it. But we're

3:22

working on that we'll be back at it today.

3:24

So oh yeah, don't don't worry. I know how this race

3:26

goes. It's Petro starts trailing,

3:29

but by the end he has crossed the finish line well

3:31

ahead of me. With most most bands of

3:33

the show, It's funny, of all the names to choose,

3:36

says that you chose Tom Brokaw

3:38

because back in my wacky morning

3:40

show Zoo days, Brokaw

3:42

was one of the few impressions that

3:45

I did when he was still an anchor. They would

3:47

check in with Tom Brokaw to get

3:49

an update on the news of the day. And I'll

3:51

give you my trick, you know, when you do impressions, Not

3:53

that I'm good at it, but there is a certain uh

3:56

couple words or something to put you into character

3:59

and this will probably set the tone for how long

4:01

ago I was doing this. But for Tom Brokaw, the

4:04

two words were editor, Harry

4:06

is the editor Harry today? He?

4:10

Oh? He got it? Heitor back hey? And

4:13

who are goy back at Worth Ohio?

4:16

I would probably democratic are they

4:21

tom broke heady? He highly

4:23

who? Interesting

4:25

little factoid about Tom Broke all I've read

4:28

multiple old magazine

4:30

articles where he is big in the mountain

4:32

climbing community. I

4:35

tell you Tory about the Harra meter. If

4:37

you do not Terra meter of the way the

4:39

rope Italy slip and you will plum

4:41

it your daddy

4:46

light. We

4:49

really have to talk today,

4:52

Uh, un follow your request.

4:54

I'm a monkey and I dance, So just go ahead

4:57

all amount whatever it takes. Yeah,

5:00

Unfortunately, we do have to talk about football.

5:02

Were fortunately because I just I feel so

5:04

excited that it looks like this is gonna happen.

5:07

It looks like we I mean, we are coming up on a

5:09

week away from football and on

5:11

Monday's edition of the podcast with

5:14

the Great Chris Westling until we hit the around

5:16

the a f C and forty eight minutes with

5:18

money, We're gonna hit around the NFC and forty

5:20

eight minutes. But before we do that, a couple of things Money,

5:23

I would love to touch with you on because

5:26

um, you are like

5:28

we said in the in show the play by play Guy and the

5:30

Chargers. And let's

5:32

start with the Derwin James injury. Uh,

5:35

he is done for the year touring

5:37

meniscus and it turned out to be the worst case scenario

5:40

for the Chargers where it wasn't like one

5:43

of those. It's a clean up and he'll be back in a month and

5:45

a half. No, it's a long recovery

5:47

that he just got put on injured reserve back in How

5:51

big a setback is that for this Chargers defense

5:53

because everyone that watches him

5:56

and everyone that was hyping him up this year talks

5:58

about him as a true game changer. Yeah,

6:00

I think it's, you know, the equivalent of

6:03

of Joey Bosa, of Aaron Donald,

6:05

of Khalil Mack. Just pick your

6:08

you know, one of the ten best Nick Bosa, ten

6:10

best defenders in the league. And that's what Derwin is. I

6:12

mean, he's completely changes the defense.

6:15

No one can do what that. It takes

6:17

probably three players to do

6:20

what Derwin is capable of doing, from rushing

6:22

the passer covering. I mean, I know

6:24

a lot of people. I'm sure obviously you guys

6:26

saw it, but I'm guessing some of the listeners saw it as

6:28

well. The video of him in training camp

6:31

covering Keenan one on one, arguably the best route

6:33

runner in the league, and it was just ridiculous. At

6:35

that size, with the power he

6:37

has to be able to go step for step with Keenan

6:39

and not get dusted and his ankles

6:42

broken in those brakes. Was just

6:44

awesome and so much fun. Um. And

6:46

on top of that, just the leadership, the

6:49

energy. He He and Melvin Ingram are are

6:51

just special individuals in that department

6:54

where they it's

6:56

just when they step onto a field, when

6:58

they speak, you just see kind of heads pick

7:00

up, chest puff out a little bit. Uh.

7:03

And from this time he was a rookie,

7:05

they had that, you know, and I think you saw

7:07

it, especially in that playoff, that wild card game

7:09

against the Ravens. I think so much of

7:11

that was driven by Derwin and

7:14

that defense. So they lose a ton as

7:16

far as um, what is the defense

7:18

lose? Overall, It's still a really good defense.

7:21

It's an awesome front seven. I know,

7:23

kind of just talking to some folks that have been a practice

7:25

every day. Kenneth Murray ever, looks every

7:27

bit the part. Just a super freak

7:29

of an athlete at linebacker. To go with Drew Trank

7:31

will who is way underrated last year, and I think

7:33

it's gonna do big, big things this year. So

7:36

um, you know you still have Casey Hayward and Chris

7:38

Harris. I don't mean to do the word soup thing, but just

7:41

to kind of put a button on it. That what I guess

7:43

they're gonna do is they're gonna push ray Sean up to strong

7:45

from free rays Sean Jenkins and they'll probably put

7:48

Anas atterly at at free. And

7:50

and he looked really darn good man last year

7:52

in that fourth preseason game before he heard his hammy.

7:55

I think he had two picks against the forty niners and

7:57

damn near had a third. So that's

7:59

probably how they'll id have covered up. Is that the same defense?

8:01

Hell no, but um hopefully

8:03

he gets better man, because because no matter

8:06

what you're a if you're a fan of the Chargers, if you hate the

8:08

Chargers, that that's just not possible to to

8:10

to not love watching Derwin James play.

8:13

Put some more on Gus Bradley. I know you

8:15

you're not gonna kill him.

8:18

Nice guy, Everyone likes

8:20

him. I think this defense is underachieved under

8:22

Gus Bradley. I think a lot of Gus Bradley defenses.

8:24

If you look at the talent going back to Jacksonville,

8:29

uh and this defense, you'd think they

8:31

do better. And uh so that means the scheme

8:33

isn't winning for them. And so that that worries me.

8:35

I think this was even without there when

8:37

teams a little disappointing considering how many good

8:39

players are on this defense a year ago. Well,

8:43

I mean, I guess, I guess it's all relative.

8:45

I look at Gus in that defense and

8:47

I just think of all the pressure that has

8:49

been on it the last couple of years, and

8:52

the the offensive line for the Charger

8:54

has just been atrocious. And I think about what Philip Rivers

8:56

covered. Their Uh, turnovers

8:59

have been a problem for that offense year and in

9:01

year out, and yet when you look

9:03

at the defense statistically, you'll see they're

9:05

giving up yards, but consistently

9:07

they're one of the best red zone defenses in the league.

9:09

And that's what it's about when you have an offense that's not

9:11

putting up points. Uh. That team

9:14

that that side of the ball kept

9:16

the Chargers in every single game,

9:18

and Philip Rivers, unfortunately it just got

9:21

sideways on him possession after possession.

9:23

But they had an opportunity to win. I'd

9:25

say, of of their you know, eleven losses,

9:28

legitimately had an opportunity to win probably

9:31

eight of those games. And I think so much

9:33

of that was predicated on how that defense

9:35

played in the red zone. And look, gust will be the first

9:37

one to admit it that you know the

9:39

the lack of turnovers is completely

9:42

unacceptable. Um, but I

9:44

don't. And that's I think where the Derwin injury

9:46

really comes in is, you know their

9:48

corners and their safety. You know,

9:50

in the outside of Derwin, they're just not really

9:53

interception stuff. You know that that's not the

9:55

style that Casey plays. He's more of a cover

9:57

corner. You're not throwing it in my direction and my

10:00

called Davis on the other side, I don't know what

10:02

you're gonna get out of that. Plus you just a lack of athleticism

10:04

at linebacker with Denzel Perriman,

10:06

who's just kind of more that squatter run stopper.

10:08

So I think a lot of it. You know,

10:11

maybe it sounds like I'm making excuses for Gus, but I

10:13

just thought the defense overachieved to be honest,

10:15

considering what they were dealt with on the offensive

10:17

side of the ball, game in and game out, and

10:20

quickly because we should get into around

10:22

the NFC, but I definitely wanted to touch on

10:25

one of the more powerful episodes of Hard

10:27

Knocks ever last night on HBO.

10:31

Of course it's Hard Knocks Los Angeles covering the

10:33

Chargers and the Rams, and there's money all

10:35

over the episode, making I believe

10:37

your Hard Knocks debut money. But

10:40

it was in a very different stage

10:42

where the Chargers arrived

10:45

at their new stadium for the first time, so

10:47

FI Stadium, this beautiful place, and then

10:50

after a very passionate UH

10:52

team meeting, decided they don't want to practice

10:55

UH following everything that had happened

10:57

with Jacob Blake, the shooting in Wisconsin,

11:00

and you were there for Do you want to take us a little

11:02

bit behind the scenes what the vibe was like

11:04

that day. So we were supposed to d J

11:07

and I were supposed to um call the scrimmage

11:09

for NFL Network. It was gonna be a whole hour covering

11:12

practice, the scrimmage, interviews. Guys were gonna

11:14

kind of pop on the headset set um

11:16

throughout the hour broadcast on NFL Now.

11:19

And next thing you know, um,

11:22

you know, everything changed, and and it changed

11:25

right before we went on the air. Um before

11:27

Steve Whites threw it to us, we got um

11:30

Bimer got in our head and said, hey, man, they're

11:32

they're still in the locker room and an age rest,

11:34

so I don't know what's going on. So immediately

11:38

we I don't want to say we have to van. We just have

11:40

to fill and we don't know what to fill with

11:42

because I don't want to be saying, well, scrimmage coming

11:44

up, and we're talking football, and all of a sudden, you

11:47

know, the tone changes dramatically and

11:49

um, wacky play by play guy.

11:51

You know, spinning football is m is getting

11:54

ready for a practice. So that

11:56

was in the back of my mind. Don't say anything

11:58

stupids in the back of your mind and try

12:00

to read the not the room,

12:02

but read the stadium. Um. So

12:05

that's probably why I think when you listen back

12:08

or when you watch the episode, there's a lot I'm

12:10

very slow and deliberate in my speech.

12:13

There's a couple of ums in there

12:15

because there's people in my ears saying

12:17

I think coaches coming out, don't go to

12:19

break yet. I hear coach wants to talk to you.

12:21

So we were dealing with all of that just

12:24

to quickly kind of wrap the hard

12:26

knocks. I'll say this, George

12:29

Stewart is one of my favorite people in football.

12:32

I've had the great pleasure of being with these

12:34

Chargers for three years and and being

12:36

around coach stud for three years, he

12:38

is as high quality and individual,

12:40

as um impressive

12:42

as a human being as you'll ever be around.

12:45

And the one thing I'll say about him is he

12:47

is just the light he is. He is

12:49

a um, a walking smile,

12:51

happiness. If you're down you see him and

12:54

just that big booming voice in his giant

12:56

hands when he puts them on you, it makes

12:58

you feel good. So to see him

13:00

in in that disposition,

13:03

to see him in that manner, I've never

13:05

heard him curse before. That's the first time I've ever

13:07

heard him curse. And to just

13:09

kind of hear the pain in his voices. He was going

13:11

through his past of sixties two years

13:13

and it started when he was six and oppression in the South.

13:16

I think it was very real and even a little

13:18

painful for me to hear because he is just such

13:20

a wonderful human being. Yeah,

13:23

it's charge of Special Teams coach George

13:25

Stewart and I wrote about it in the Hard

13:27

Knox recap on NFL dot com. Yeah.

13:29

His his speech to the players, like money

13:31

sayings, was so passionate and came

13:33

from a real place of you

13:35

know, pain and frustration, but also hopefulness

13:38

that something could be done as

13:40

we move forward. Uh so, all right,

13:44

money, yes, let's get

13:46

starting. This is all right. I'm this is the format

13:48

you're not starting. Here's the format three

13:51

format. Actually me, I'm not dumb. I know

13:53

how this works. Hands here,

13:55

So let's go. Let's get after its

13:58

money. You're they're the broadcast podcasters.

14:00

Who knows this could be somebody's first around the NFL

14:02

podcast. Let's go like

14:05

I have a drivetime show starting. I'm

14:10

supposed to be out of here in forty minutes. Let's go. Let's

14:13

here. Huh ricky,

14:15

Ricky, you there, let's do it. Let's start

14:18

it out. I'm here with the

14:20

NFC East Greg Roosevelt.

14:23

Three minutes, let's

14:28

go. What is it? What do I

14:30

I'm might start talking. I'm sick of talking

14:33

about out. I wasn't the one that needed the instruction.

14:35

It was freaking Rosie. He usually tells us the

14:37

thing we got. I'm

14:39

sick of talking about this Eagle team. All I do

14:41

is talk. I talk about the same teams every time,

14:44

this Eagles team. There's so

14:46

much focus on what's not there. Okay,

14:49

the two offensive Lineman, uh

14:51

you know Brooks, and and then they lose Jalen

14:53

Reagor, who we haven't talked about, their first round receiver.

14:56

I think you do lose focus on what

14:58

is there, and that's Carson and Wentz and

15:01

I and I do want to just throw it out to everyone.

15:04

With the Sean Jackson, they're assuming Miles Sanders

15:06

is back. I think the offensive line is still better

15:08

than average despite losing uh

15:10

two players. I think you look

15:13

at the best tight end group in the league and you think

15:15

if Carson Wentz ever elevates

15:17

to Deshaun Watson, Russell

15:20

Wilson, tear of player. To me,

15:22

if you look around him, he's got enough. And

15:24

I don't know if we've just sort of given up that Wentz

15:27

can elevate to that level that he's settled

15:29

in a little behind that I haven't given that up.

15:31

Where do you guys think Carson

15:33

Wentz his upside is here? Because to me, I

15:36

look at this team and I still see enough

15:38

talent despite the injuries to compete

15:40

with anyone in the NFC. We've

15:43

already seen his upside and it's m v P favorite

15:46

before he tore his a c O. I don't see why he

15:48

can't get back to that. UM. I

15:50

love watching Carson Wentz play, and to

15:53

me, with the improved talent around him.

15:56

You know you mentioned Jalen Reagor's injury,

15:58

but John Hyde Tower, one beat

16:00

writer had him, is the m m v P of Camp.

16:03

Six of his fifteen catches went for touchdowns,

16:05

So that to me shows

16:07

what depth they have now compared to what they had last

16:10

year. They love this guy Quiz Watkins

16:12

too. I mean, they've got a lot of young, speedy,

16:15

new receivers, which they completely lacked

16:17

to a dangerous degree a year ago. I don't

16:19

I don't know who's that down on Wentz though, to be honest,

16:21

I mean I think it's not down, But you

16:24

don't. You don't hear a lot of talk I guess

16:26

about him in that group of sort

16:28

of players, and I guess I guess

16:30

I'm trying to push past the woe is me part

16:32

of this Eagles theme and look at like this guy's They've

16:35

got Carson Wentz and they've got a lot more. I

16:37

feel like he already answered that question last year,

16:40

Rosie. I mean, when you look at the wide

16:42

receivers he had to deal with. UM,

16:44

not that he was putting up prolific numbers, but

16:47

the offense was working, and it was working

16:49

because he's that good um. And I think

16:51

one of the things to me, you know that the reason

16:53

why Wentz I think you continue

16:56

to have these conversations is because, for whatever

16:58

reason, and maybe it's fair, he gets it

17:00

against Dac. You know, it's so Wentz versus

17:02

Dad, Cowboys Eagles, which one would you rather have?

17:04

Well, I think you'd rather have either of them.

17:06

You'd be happy to have run in your offense. But for

17:08

whatever reason, they have to be pitted against one

17:10

another. And for that you have

17:13

people talking about the intangibles

17:15

and the upside that Wentz brings compared

17:17

to these statistics and

17:19

the consistency of availability that Dak

17:21

brings. So to me, that's where that all

17:24

come from. Wentzness is a lot of throws. I

17:26

mean he does. It's all like, of

17:28

course you'd love to have Wentz um,

17:31

but I guess I haven't seen

17:33

him develop as fast as you know, it's hard

17:35

to compare him to the Mahomes and Watson, but he's no

17:37

Mahomes and Watson. But the fates have not

17:39

smiled on wins. And you know, p

17:41

obvious reasons. Yea,

17:49

Mark Sessler, the Dallas Cowboys.

17:52

All right, the wind chimes weren't doing

17:54

it from it, I'll do it to this song. Uh, you

17:56

know I'm gonna keep this shift. I like to do these long, windy

17:58

openings, not this time. Here's why I like Dallas.

18:01

Number one. You get Layton vander esh healthy

18:03

and back, and remember how they were with him two years

18:06

ago. You get Kellen Moore back, Mike

18:08

McCarthy to come in and said, I'm gonna run this show.

18:10

I love that he kept the continuity of Kellen Moore.

18:12

You they found a way to keep a Mari Cooper.

18:15

Now you have the best wide receiver duo

18:17

in the NFL if they all pan out.

18:19

Thirty one other teams passed on Everson

18:22

Griffin. The Cowboys added him along with

18:24

DeMarcus Lawrence to shore up the one thing that we

18:26

were nit picking on all offseason

18:28

about Dallas. Are they perfect? No? But

18:30

this is my super Bowl team. This is the

18:32

team I picked on NFL dot Com. Am

18:34

I crazy? Come out you with your takes. I

18:37

don't think you're crazy. That is certainly

18:39

one of those at

18:43

me with your takes, like you can't go and come

18:46

at me with your takes. I'm

18:48

crazy. Come at me with your takes.

18:51

Well, listen, you're the radio man. I'm just hanging on

18:53

here until higher management realized that I'm doing

18:55

this. There's

18:58

a lot that can There's a lot that can go

19:00

wrong with the Cowboys, and it usually does because,

19:02

like we said recently, it's been a quarter century

19:05

since they've been to the Super Bowl. There must be something

19:07

organizationally uh to go wrong,

19:09

but they haven't even been back to the NFC title

19:11

game since then. However, on

19:14

offense, this feels like a team that that

19:16

could score thirty points a game, and then you

19:18

get in that position West. So we've talked about this in the most

19:20

spot a lot. When they have an offense that's that

19:22

good, your defense only has to be okay.

19:25

Can the Dallas defense be okay?

19:28

I think it can and they change your scheme this

19:30

year. I think they're gonna take more chances on

19:32

defense and then offense you're talking

19:35

about. They were ranked number one

19:37

in d v o A for most of the year, I

19:39

mean, ahead of the Chiefs, ahead of the Ravens for

19:41

most of the year, and some of that hides

19:43

the issues they had with timing that their

19:45

yards and points and always come when they needed

19:48

it. But now you add Ceedee Lamb

19:50

and one Beat writer said his camps

19:52

on par with what they saw from Dez Bryant

19:54

in the prime of Dez Bryant's

19:57

career. I mean that's as much

19:59

of a difference maker as you can get. So

20:02

the difference is they're deep. I mean you

20:04

can talk about all the stars, but how about

20:06

Alden Smith everyone said had an amazing

20:09

camp, which to me is as a big X factor

20:11

for this team. Blake Jarwin has

20:13

had a big time camp everyone wants to

20:15

talk about. Like they have de Trevon Diggs, their

20:17

rookie cornerback. They like a lot. It's

20:19

not the old Cowboys team where it was just stars

20:21

and scrubs. Like they're well built, better and

20:24

they get to play a bunch of scrubs in Washington

20:27

and East Rutherford. I really think that's a huge

20:29

edge for the Eagles and the Cowboys. Four games

20:31

against two of the worst teams in the NFL. They also

20:33

the a f C North with will I don't love that

20:35

for any of these NFC East teams. The

20:38

one thing I think it comes, you know, kind of going back to your point

20:40

on the Eagles, Rosie, and that's lines.

20:42

You know, the the Eagles have the most impressive

20:44

interior defensive line. They have a solid

20:47

I'm with you. I don't think they lose a whole lot on

20:49

the offensive line, so they have an above average offensive

20:51

line. You mentioned with the addition of Griffin Uh

20:54

to go and not to mention, you know, supposedly an

20:56

unbelievable camp is Alden Smith perhaps

20:59

can shake his demon a return to form. And I

21:01

think that's what the division comes down to. You know,

21:03

which of those two units

21:05

stays the most intact and can have the

21:07

greatest impact outside the division,

21:09

because, as you said, they're gonna whip up on

21:11

you know, Washington and New York and we'll

21:13

see if they can maybe split with one another. Uh.

21:17

I don't know if they're just it's

21:19

hard to I don't know. It's hard for me to say the Cowboys

21:21

are super Bowl team. I'm sorry, says I can't do that.

21:23

I just I can't. I gotta see it. He

21:25

challenged challenge Eagles a year ago,

21:27

so that didn't go too well. Wes

21:34

Lugi, the

21:38

g Man, this offense is a little intriguing,

21:40

and I saw one of their coaches predicted

21:42

a thousand yards season for Evan Ingram

21:45

at tight end. They're talking about

21:47

a more explosive and involved role

21:49

for se Kwon Barkley in the passing game.

21:52

So this question is for Greg would

21:54

you desert friends?

21:57

How would they feel about a proposition

22:00

in which se Kwon Barkley

22:02

and Evan Ingram each lead

22:05

their position group in the NFL in scrimmage

22:07

yards this year? Well, I don't

22:10

know. I would like to see the odds on that.

22:12

That's a pretty tall order. That would be a fun

22:14

thing to throw out for our Sandwich props,

22:16

show a little plug. They're coming up

22:18

next week. Evan Ingram

22:20

is the one that look I get excited about

22:22

him every year. I love watching him play and it

22:25

just never happened. So he's

22:27

always great in August. It's like staying

22:29

staying through sixteen games and staying on the field

22:32

is his big challenge. It's hard. Is

22:35

he the Cowboys of fantasy tight ends? A

22:37

little bit he

22:40

got is Jason Garrett the

22:42

guy to bring out huge yardage from an offense

22:44

that was throwing the ball forty times a game last year

22:46

and racking up yards. I don't know, like this

22:48

offense could be more efficient, but

22:51

like I I'd be a little worried about, Like Danny Dimes

22:53

is a fantasy guy. When he's coming off a season

22:55

where we threw at forty two times a game, it's just not gonna

22:57

happen again. I really liked Neil

23:00

Jones. Um I think this. I

23:02

think he's gonna be an asset for New York. I

23:04

I'm not sure though that going

23:06

from Pat Shermer to Jason

23:09

Garrett was the most inspired. Like when

23:11

you go from like one relationship to the next,

23:13

you kind of like change it up a little bit and you

23:15

know a little spice in there. And I don't know if that's what's

23:17

occurred here. I

23:20

look at it from you know, what, what did

23:22

he want to do in Dallas? And and is the

23:24

talent of Barkley on par with Zeke Elliott?

23:27

Obviously the offensive line is, and but I'd

23:29

probably feel a lot better about a Giant's

23:31

team that's not throwing at forty two times

23:33

and given the ball to Barkley a whole lot

23:35

more. Um you know there there's

23:38

again the offensive line, especially

23:40

with the the opt out is

23:42

is a big question mark. But um,

23:45

I just I don't know, maybe I'm not as into Danny

23:48

Dimes as you are, says, I know there

23:50

was some some good there, but there was also some

23:52

bad. I mean that you have got to be able to

23:54

take care of the football, and we have seen that be an

23:56

issue for quarterbacks, and it's hard for them to

23:58

shake because when a play breaks down,

24:00

that's when muscle memory and and those

24:03

bad habits start to emerge again. And

24:05

I think that's you know, just watching a dude

24:07

getting all Lucy goose with the football is he's

24:09

running around is very hard to shakes.

24:12

Like the hope that he improves, like the fumbles

24:15

and stuff that that's the kind of thing that you'd see a quarterback,

24:17

you know, improve over a year two they

24:20

say. They say that quarterback

24:22

fumbling is one of the quote unquote

24:24

easier things to fix if you

24:27

have the right coaching and you got to just hope

24:29

that's that's done. But you know what

24:31

Domes showed something Barkley Ingram,

24:34

Slayton, Sterling Shepherd, there's some pieces

24:36

here. It looks like a team that's already

24:39

been ravaged by injuries before any injuries

24:41

hit. That's what their defensive You're not allowed

24:43

to do that. I thought the thing went off. Rosie. Yeah,

24:45

dark gun, shoot me with a dark gun, and that's

24:47

the punishment, all right, Washington

24:50

Football team, Matt money Smith,

24:52

Okay, here we go. I

24:55

have written a prepared statement,

24:57

uh for you to digest. This

25:01

could be the team with the greatest gap between how good

25:04

they are on one side of the ball and how bad they are on the

25:06

other. If healthy, the defensive line

25:09

nasty and with offensive line question

25:11

marks we just mentioned the Giants

25:13

and perhaps in Philly with injuries,

25:15

those two divisional opponents could have serious issues

25:17

dealing with the front that was already

25:20

a force before the addition

25:22

of Chase Young, who, as we know

25:24

from our colleagues Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks,

25:27

was celebrated as a one of one,

25:29

a true difference maker and the best

25:31

player in the draft. Um.

25:34

Now, on the other side, it's one of the worst

25:36

offensive lines in the league. A total of one pass

25:38

catcher that you have any faith and not receiver pass

25:41

catcher, and we don't

25:44

necessarily I think feel good

25:46

about a quarterback that

25:48

that has a lot of questions surrounded him

25:50

as well. No quarterback has

25:52

been put in the worst position you

25:54

know it. We you mentioned it on our show the other

25:56

day. Donald Like, who's been in the worst position,

25:59

Dwayne Haskins now not like he helped himself

26:01

with his early play last year. His number three

26:03

receiver is a guy who dontrelle Inman,

26:05

who has been caught by about seven teams. His left

26:07

tackle is probably the guy they just

26:09

traded for from the Raiders

26:11

who couldn't make the Raiders. He could not make

26:14

the Raiders, and he's gonna be the left tackle.

26:17

His running back is you know whoever it's

26:19

gonna be back there. It's just like

26:22

it's tight end is Logan Thomas. It's just

26:24

a rough It's just a rough group around

26:26

Dayne Haskins. It might be a good year for them

26:28

not to have fans in the stadium because

26:30

they were struggling with that to begin with. But

26:32

I mean, Ron Rivera feels like the cut coach would

26:35

like to win games like twelve to nine. Uh,

26:37

but that's not how the NFL works right now,

26:39

I agree with you. The defense, the names

26:42

are starting to stack up. Um, it's juicy,

26:44

but I mean it's a it's a desert

26:47

on the other side of the ball. And then what happens if they

26:49

go to and fourteen and you've got to figure out you

26:51

draft one of these other quarterbacks next

26:54

May.

26:57

One of the easiest tells in the league if you're

26:59

looking for the most destitute impoverished

27:02

skill position group, just figure out

27:04

which team dontrell him and lands on and the immediately

27:06

becomes the starter as soon as he's get

27:09

picked up off the waiver wire or signed off the couch.

27:11

No offense to don troll, but you know, no

27:14

none. It speaks to him that he's

27:16

allowed to just slip right in as a starter. I

27:19

don't think there's maybe, well

27:21

Josh Rosen would be the most recent

27:23

example, but there aren't many where a guy enters

27:26

year two and he's

27:28

already it seems like done.

27:31

He's in trouble because unless he has

27:33

a big season where he shows off ability

27:35

and he has not in a great spot rosterwise.

27:38

On the offense, it just feels like this

27:40

is an organization ready to hit a reboot

27:42

at quarterback because they're rebooting everything

27:44

else, and he feels like the last of

27:47

a prior regime that they're trying to wash away.

27:49

It just I agree with you, Greg, as bad

27:51

as Darnald the situation he's been in, Haskins

27:54

is just it's set up for him to fail,

27:56

not to mention the the organization around

27:59

him. There's that too.

28:03

How do I do it?

28:06

Is a great start. You

28:09

can't leave now? Three more not

28:11

I just wanted to see, like, was that okay? You

28:13

know, Lucy Goosey

28:15

just kind of like sitting back in the chair style.

28:18

Sessler is right on top of the mic and like really

28:20

intense. So I was just trying to figure out you

28:22

could read the ingredients of like a vegetable

28:24

soup can and I would give you a high grade. So I,

28:28

okay, all right, let's head to the NFC North money.

28:31

Keep us rolling with the packers. Okay,

28:34

here's my packers paragraph

28:37

if you please. You don't need that,

28:39

By the way, we could exercise that set up.

28:41

You know, I just kind of like doing it.

28:44

It's like when Mark starts starts this

28:46

thing by saying, Okay, I'm gonna go really fast now.

28:48

Well, on the way to do it would be to just get

28:50

right to remember for you know,

28:53

we started the show about three minutes and I had already written

28:55

a lot of long stuff, so it started winning a panic

28:57

mode. You know, we started making

29:00

money. We remember they were thirteen

29:02

and three last year. Right, We remember they beat

29:04

the Seahawks in the playoffs before

29:07

getting destroyed by the forty niners. Right, they swept

29:09

the division last year? So what has changed?

29:12

Why is everyone down on the Packers.

29:14

They have one of the best nose tackles in the

29:16

league, surrounded by a vicious pass

29:19

rush in the Smiths. Their secondary

29:21

got better, four fifths of their offensive

29:23

line is back. Last time I checked, Davante Adams

29:26

is one of the five best wide receivers in the league, and freaking

29:28

Aaron Rodgers is their quarterback. So why

29:31

do we keep having a debate over who's going to

29:33

win the NFC North. I just don't get it. I'll

29:35

have that money because it does feel personal, doesn't

29:38

it. It feels like people are are annoyed

29:40

that the Packers weren't a true thirteen and three.

29:42

Everyone says that was a soft thirteen in three.

29:44

People didn't like the way Aaron Rodgers

29:46

played, and now they

29:49

didn't like the way the path they took in the draft

29:51

not bringing in more receiver help. So now

29:53

the thought is, screw screw the Packers.

29:55

They're really an eight and eight team. Which but there's

29:58

no real evidence back of why that should have. But

30:00

I think the heart of it is that, like you said, it's not a

30:02

true thirteen and three, that they were lucky to get

30:05

that record. That's the heart of it. And then

30:07

secondly, I don't know if

30:09

you can look around in the NFL and find another

30:11

team that should expect less out of its

30:13

first and second round draft picks as rookies,

30:18

like like my thing is West, do they need those first

30:20

and second round rookies. I mean, I look at this because

30:23

look at look at what we've dealt with for the past few

30:25

year. But

30:28

every year we keep acting like this Packers

30:30

offense is going to heal itself and

30:32

become what it was and who steps

30:35

up ever outside of Davante Adam

30:37

here here's why. Because Rogers hasn't been

30:39

great for a few years. He's been

30:42

great in spots um

30:44

you know, the the analytics, the complete sin

30:46

percentage over expected and QBR and all

30:48

that stuff, hasn't very average or below average

30:51

for years. I think the answer money

30:53

is that because their offense isn't

30:55

that consistently good and their defense

30:58

isn't that consistently good, so it's hard to hold

31:00

onto, where's the top ten

31:02

group out of those two units? They really weren't

31:04

there last year. They want a lot of games, and there is

31:06

a lot of there's enough talent. But I look at the Vikings.

31:09

I think the Vikings are more balanced. I like them to

31:11

win it. I mean Soft thirteen and three means

31:13

I think they were probably a ten and six team

31:15

in disguise, which is not a bad team at

31:17

all, and they're a playoff contender again. I

31:19

mean, the Athletic pointed out that Rogers

31:21

has had an absolutely great camp pinpoint

31:24

accuracy. I mean, maybe not as good as

31:26

this boiled fellow that Greg is obsessing

31:28

over. But I mean,

31:31

you know, now we're getting into the real stuff. I just don't if there

31:33

are any injuries in any of their skill position

31:35

groups, they're in serious hot water. I mean, you could

31:37

have done more with a late period Aaron Rodgers,

31:40

you know, to help manager. So far,

31:42

I've heard lucky thirteen and three from West

31:44

Soft thirteen and three from your

31:47

sessler. I was setting

31:49

up what other people are saying. I would love like

31:51

tell Bill Parcels or Bill Belichick, like

31:53

thirteen and three is thirteen and three. This is

31:56

it's fine, you do not agree. That reminds

31:59

you of other teen in three teams that you've seen

32:01

over the years, not me. I mean, they won a playoff

32:04

game. You win third, you go thirteen and

32:06

three and you get and you get smoked in the divisional round,

32:08

and okay, I'll buy into that, But they won

32:10

a playoff game. Like to me, that's that's

32:12

what separates thirteen and three from

32:15

Oh it was a mirage. Oh

32:18

I got darted, Yeah,

32:23

right in the karated artery. Great, jot, Ricky,

32:25

you didn't need to practice, all

32:28

right, the Minnesota Vikings. Alright,

32:31

So the acquisition of Yannick and go Way, it was

32:33

a beauty. I mean it was a beauty by

32:35

Rick Spieldman. It plugged

32:37

a legit area of need in the front

32:39

seven and they take a step back and you look

32:41

at this team it profiles

32:43

is the most complete group to me in the

32:45

NFC North. I don't know if the

32:48

Vikings finally get to the

32:51

super Bowl, but I don't

32:53

know if there's another team in the conference uh

32:55

that I'm more confident is going to be

32:57

in the playoffs. I just think this

32:59

bike team has a very high

33:02

floor the way it's set up

33:04

and I don't know if it's high enough to get them where they need

33:06

to be, uh and back to the super

33:08

Bowl. But this feels like a locked and loaded

33:11

ten win and plus ten win enough team.

33:13

Your thoughts mhm,

33:16

high flower, low ceiling. That's Kirk Cousins

33:18

in a nutshell that I agree. I

33:21

think they're one of the more interesting teams that's

33:23

been ignored, and they're interesting to

33:25

me because they threaded the needle between

33:28

rebuilding and reloading, and I think

33:30

they reloaded. I think the young guys

33:33

they brought in, and then you mentioned in gok way they're

33:36

gonna be just fine, and the same questions

33:38

the last couple of years are gonna be the primary questions

33:41

again, the offensive line and

33:43

can the quarterback make plays off a

33:45

schedule when he's forced to improvise.

33:47

I like the fact that you know you're not Yeah, you lost

33:50

Kevin Stefanski, but it's basically

33:52

just Gary Kubiak, who I think was pulling

33:54

the strings there a year ago anyway, So there's consistency.

33:57

UM, very strong tight end group. I liked

34:00

situation there with Irv Smith growing.

34:02

I don't I mean, if Adam theland goes down, you're hoping

34:04

that a rookie Justin Jefferson and B. C. Johnson

34:07

um can suddenly morph into what they had a year ago.

34:09

That would concern me. But this, to me is

34:11

a typical good but not

34:13

great team playoff team. Yes,

34:16

great, that would be the big the big question

34:18

mark. I'll I'll curious what you think money

34:20

Stefan Diggs. How big a loss is that for

34:22

him? Do you think they're gonna be chugging along and find or we're

34:24

gonna be talking in October that he has really missed

34:26

on that offense. I mean, it's I

34:29

love college football, and I loved to watch an L

34:31

s U last year and there was so much talent. It's really

34:33

hard to figure out how it's, you

34:35

know, going to translate to the next level. But man, Justin

34:38

Jefferson is a hell of a receiver and

34:40

and based on what Adam feeling is, I'm

34:42

almost tempted to make a case that he

34:44

might be better for Kirk Cousins than Stefon

34:47

Diggs. As crazy as that sounds, he is, he

34:49

is so freaking reportedly kind

34:51

of had a bad camp relatively,

34:54

that's okay, getting

34:56

into the mix Justin Jefferson for what It's

34:58

my issue is what we started with, and that's

35:01

Kirk Cousins. You know what I mean when you

35:03

talk about you know, any time

35:05

that like Kurt gets into a big game, you

35:07

know he's he's still looking to get that win when

35:09

it counts most. You know he's still and it's just I

35:12

just can't get behind it. I'm say, when the playoffs

35:14

in the Superdome doesn't County got it? No,

35:17

it doesn't, it doesn't to me. That does not

35:19

count to me. To me, that was more of the Saints

35:22

just completely screwing themselves

35:24

than Kirk Cousins put together the

35:29

best team in the league. I want to see what Zimmer

35:31

does with the young cornerback. That's how he made his

35:33

name. They have the best safety combination league. That defense

35:35

could actually be better this year. Sessler,

35:44

the Chicago Bear, this

35:46

team, I think we know. This team annoys me

35:48

a little bit. I think the twelve and fourth season two

35:51

years ago hurt them because you lost the best

35:53

best coach in your staff of Vic Fangio. Okay,

35:55

created a false evaluation of the inside

35:59

the building. It turned Matt Nigy from

36:01

a hot you know, a high rise like young offensive

36:03

mind into a guy who was treating like the search

36:05

to the ticket, like looking for the ark of the

36:08

Covenant, and they've just given Jimmy

36:10

Graham's sixteen million over two years. They

36:12

don't pick up Trabisky's option. They make

36:14

him a lame duck. You bringing Nick Foles who has never

36:16

started more than eleven games in the season. I

36:19

really just see this as a snooze

36:21

fest with a lot of changes coming down the road

36:24

potentially. Am I being too harsh on

36:26

the Chicago Bears? No,

36:28

I like when you challenged us last time, you

36:30

almost bullied us going into the conversation last

36:33

that it was the same delivery.

36:36

Just just kind of get a little up, up and up.

36:38

Note at the end, Am I being too hard Bears?

36:41

Well, I really only care about my opinions, so you

36:43

know, I throw a question out at the end, But that's

36:46

just money at this point. Yeah. The

36:48

argument for them is that last

36:50

year was the floor and they're kind of like the Rams

36:53

that no one remembers that that they won a

36:55

bunch of games, like this was still a five team

36:57

that could have been a little better at in

37:00

the stretch that they want a couple of close games like I

37:02

was surprised they were able to win eight

37:04

games that the defense was still that good.

37:06

That said, I think it can get worse, Like there's

37:08

no rule that um that

37:11

defense. Yes, you get a Keen Hicks back, but

37:13

you lose Goldman. The cornerbacks especially

37:16

looked very vulnerable. I don't think

37:18

they're the same defense by

37:20

any means that they were a couple of years ago. Yeah,

37:24

I had some issues with their offseason. I think the

37:26

two moves that maybe

37:29

miffed me the most were signing Jimmy Graham

37:31

to big money after he failed to make a play for two

37:33

straight years. Um, and

37:36

then just decide and the Fools was good enough

37:38

at quarterback. Cam Newton sat

37:40

out there all offseason and and Fools

37:42

was the guy you wanted. I just thought

37:44

you could have aimed higher, you

37:48

know. I I'll say, they see you know they they signed

37:50

Ted Gain Um when when the

37:52

Chargers played them last year and I was looking out

37:54

on that field and I don't know if Allen Robinson was

37:56

dinged up or what it was, but there's a bunch

37:58

of guys that were like five ft five that your biscuity

38:01

had to throw too. And I'm like, what what is

38:03

Ryan pace built here and I don't know if he's trying

38:05

to compensate for that lack of size by signing

38:07

nine hundred and drafting tight

38:09

ends. But it's just an odd mix.

38:12

You look at the running back depth chart. Everyone got

38:14

excited about Montgomery and you know,

38:16

Tarik Cohn is a nice piece, but he's kind

38:18

of be complimented. I don't know if that's there. It's

38:20

kind of like you you like, but you don't

38:23

love anything on this team. It's like, yeah, I like

38:25

the offensive line. It's pretty good offensive. I like that,

38:27

you know, as you said, defensive line. But

38:30

and obviously you know you get Hicks back you mentioned.

38:32

I'm looking at their secondary. I've never been

38:34

a big Kyle Fuller guy. Um, they

38:36

lose their best player to Green Bay in

38:38

the in the off season, so yeah,

38:41

I'm with you, Rosie. I think they can't get worse.

38:44

Clill macass have a big year, better

38:46

than last year. Hits will help alleviate

38:49

some of those double and triple teams. MC

38:51

needs to be special, wasn't

38:54

last year. I

38:56

don't the

38:58

host

39:03

get Losy here Man close it out.

39:06

NFC north West,

39:08

the Detroit Lions, who I need to

39:10

check myself here, Um,

39:12

I've been doing the lines wrong.

39:16

They closed out the last couple of months last

39:18

year with a quarterback who didn't have an NFL

39:20

arm, with a running back who

39:22

didn't have the NFL ability to make anyone

39:25

miss, with wide receivers who

39:27

don't belong on NFL rosters getting

39:29

important snaps for them. Injuries

39:31

hit them hard. But if you look at where they were at

39:33

mid season three four and one,

39:35

with Matthew Stafford playing the best ball of his

39:37

career. UM, I was high

39:40

on them at that time, and I remember thinking, this is

39:42

not a team that you want to play, This

39:44

is not a team you want to run into in an important

39:46

game. And then injuries hit them hard

39:48

to me, I guess my question is,

39:51

when I look at this offense, I

39:53

see one that can sneak up on a lot of people

39:55

and be a top ten offense in the NFL. Do you guys

39:57

see the same thing? I truly

40:00

like, I am believing in this Lions

40:02

thing just because you want to believe in a little bit of magic

40:04

once in a while, and things looking a little different than they

40:06

have in Detroit for a million years. If

40:08

DeAndre Swift gets healthy and you've got him

40:10

and carry on Johnson. I think though this old school

40:12

team that's gonna run the ball a billion

40:15

times, even though you've got Stafford, They've

40:17

got a good offensive line, they're good against the run.

40:19

I just liked the set up in a weird year

40:21

for them to be a little bit better than people expect.

40:24

And my big question would be, you know, there's

40:27

a lot of talk. I've had people text me when I've

40:29

tout of the line saying you don't get it. Matt Patricia

40:31

has no no stock in

40:33

this locker room. I think that might have changed a little

40:35

bit in the last couple of months with what's going on

40:37

in our country and how he's responded to that. But

40:39

that's a little bit of an X factor. You

40:41

know what I think changed everything when

40:44

Patra on our podcast called you

40:46

out Mark for regularly

40:49

denigrating his favorite team, and

40:51

then really from that moment you became

40:53

a line supporter. I think it shows that you're a

40:55

good guy and a friend to Patra. But

40:58

there is connective issue. There's no doubt. I think

41:00

that shows that you think I just sway in the wind

41:02

at depending on what any one says, and that's just not

41:04

the case. West. I'm gonna

41:06

go back to what you said about that record,

41:09

and I was in the middle of that because

41:11

the Chargers lost a game to the Lions they

41:13

had no business losing. Uh. They

41:15

had three just absolutely

41:17

brutal plays that that would have put them

41:20

up two plus scores. Uh, a

41:22

fumble by Austin Ekeler at the goal

41:24

line when it was first in goal. And

41:26

they had two touchdowns taken off the board, one

41:28

for offensive past interference which was just

41:31

insane, and another for an illegal block

41:33

UM that would have again put them up two

41:36

scores. They weren't really able to move the ball

41:38

against the Chargers at all. That there was a

41:40

thirteen to ten game. Uh. There one

41:42

score game off of a turnover, remember

41:44

the game before that, and I just remember watching it

41:47

that their defense just allowed Kyler Murray

41:49

to light them up in the in the

41:51

fourth quarter. UM. And and I think

41:53

there are other wins were were against pretty

41:55

unimpressed Ave tennic. One of their wins came against the Giants,

41:58

so it's not like, yeah, they were three four

42:00

and one, but it wasn't really that impressive.

42:02

They almost beat the Chiefs. Their offense was the top

42:05

five in d v O a while Stafford was healthy.

42:07

They were going deep, they were making plays. They'll

42:09

be fun. The question to me is can Patricia coach

42:11

defense? We know he can't fit his scheme

42:14

around other players because they've been absolutely

42:16

terrible with other players. Now he's got

42:18

all of the guys he wants. Can he be average?

42:23

Well?

42:24

Doing

42:29

is like he comes at me with the d v O

42:31

A thing and I can't do anything about it because the

42:34

so I just gotta move, I just gotta were

42:38

analysis. I

42:41

mean, they put up thirty four on the Chiefs

42:46

that they put on the chart one

42:49

game, Ricky put down the

42:51

gun for Christ's sake. Alright,

42:53

let's pause here briefly. Two things, two notes.

42:56

One on the Lions that they signed their left

42:58

tackle, Taylor Decker was six

43:00

or eighty five million dollar extension through six

43:03

that's um, that's some of the biggest

43:05

money in the league for a left tackle. So they do big

43:08

business. And in the other realm of big business.

43:10

But before we get into the NFC South

43:12

and start with the defending champion,

43:15

well, actually they didn't win the division, but

43:17

the Saints. Uh let the Saints,

43:20

No, they did win their division. It's an idiot. They

43:22

were the three seed though. Anyway, moving

43:24

forward, got this under control. Shoot

43:27

me with the dart. I'll wake up tomorrow. It

43:29

will be better. Alvin Kamara Um

43:33

and the Saints popped up yesterday.

43:35

ESPN reported that the Saints are

43:37

open to trading Alvin Kamara, their superstar

43:40

running back, if they couldn't work out an extension.

43:43

Things seemed to calm down a little bit today.

43:45

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported that

43:48

they are quote not far apart in contract

43:50

negotiations. Greg is just gonna

43:52

be one of those much ado about nothing stories Camars

43:54

going nowhere, and before you know it, he's gonna get

43:56

like Joe Mixon or better money. I

43:58

think. So the big that you know do

44:01

here might be a rap sheet coming after

44:03

you beginning, like I reported that same thing

44:05

fell dude, look through you know, twelve

44:07

hours before this was like a source war

44:10

here. You could see Camera's agent talking

44:12

to five different reporters

44:15

saying, hey, we've got it all settled down, and

44:17

you can tell it with Sean Payton throwing

44:19

out a little public uh fire

44:22

that hey, like we're willing to trade. You don't get

44:24

too cocky, Kimera, and no one's gonna

44:26

take this trade. They were like demanding the first round

44:28

pick. It was all just public negotiations

44:30

and it sounded like they're gonna be somewhere

44:32

between Joe Mixon and Christian McCaffrey and

44:35

everyone gets happy. And I have no idea how the Saints

44:37

are gonna exist in They're like

44:39

eighty million dollars over the salary

44:41

cap. That's not an exaggeration. That's literally

44:44

how far they are over the salary cap before

44:46

you've been putting this. But

44:49

it's really good. It's really getting aggressive.

44:52

Doesn't not just like put a microscope

44:54

or I guess magnify the fact that this is really

44:56

just a last shot for the Saints. We can get into it

44:58

in our and it's said. But and

45:02

speaking at Joe Mixon, since I brought up his name,

45:05

the Bengals signed, they're running back to a four year,

45:07

forty eight million dollar extension through and

45:10

then his migraines disappeared and he was back

45:12

on the practice field. So look at west

45:15

ended up big contracts to running backs.

45:17

Things are changing in Cincinnati. Come

45:19

back to the west Side, buddy, they're waiting for you.

45:21

He's the running back on the oblivion

45:24

all pros nobody watches at Bengals. They don't

45:26

realize how good he is. But he's one of the best players

45:28

in the league at his position. Bang.

45:30

All right, let's get into the

45:33

NFC South, starting with

45:35

the Nolan Saints. Greg, you went to

45:37

two lanes, so why don't you take this? I

45:39

will I will try. I

45:42

think the Saints secondary, I'm gonna

45:44

start with. Their defense is

45:46

one of the most talented groups

45:48

in the league and you just think of, like, what a change

45:50

that is. This used to be such a joke. Their defense

45:53

in general, especially their secondary. G Norris

45:55

Jenkins to me as a guy, you know how he's gonna

45:57

play once you read the camp report,

46:00

tither he's checked out on the season

46:02

and a problem or he plays like at an all

46:04

pro level. Him being the number two cornerback

46:06

behind Lattimore just makes them so

46:09

deep. I know West loves Chauncey Gardner

46:11

Johnson, who is just like an unbelievable

46:14

young player. They have Malcolm Jenkins

46:16

now at safety, I like Marcus

46:18

Williams. Like they're deep at all their

46:21

positions in the secondary, and they have got a great defensive

46:23

line to like to me, the defense is

46:25

going to keep this team from

46:27

even a ten and six type floor. We know the offense

46:30

is gonna be fine, but I think they have a chance to win

46:32

thirteen fourteen games and hold off whatever

46:34

challenge they get from the Bucks. Yeah.

46:39

To me, the question is the same one it's been

46:41

the last year to what what can the quarterback

46:43

do in the playoffs? What kind

46:45

of quarterback too against good defenses

46:48

when he's got a thirty yard arm. To me, that remains

46:51

the number one question. Well, you're just bringing Jamis

46:53

Winston, you know, and then he gives

46:55

the game away more little guy named Hill?

46:58

Please? What

47:00

about what about Evan Silva calling Taysom

47:02

Hill a gadget troll? Un established the

47:04

run this week? Anybody have thoughts that it was a

47:06

red zone troll as and he's gonna steal Tell

47:09

that that's actually a compliment, that's not really

47:12

the tractor. He's saying. You're kind of banged if

47:14

you maybe have Alvin Kamar or someone else in fantasy,

47:16

because Taysom Hill is gonna constinue,

47:18

He's gonna spin spells and you know, devastate

47:21

the enemy week after week. Tillifying

47:25

that grol To talk about Breeze's

47:27

arm and you're right, West, It's like their offense was

47:29

awesome when Breeze was in there last

47:31

year until about the game that how

47:33

about the game that decided whether they kept the season

47:35

going or not. What happened to his arm in that game?

47:38

Like, I get it, and he played poorly

47:40

and the play I guess it's just hard for me to

47:43

be as worried when they're putting up so

47:45

many points, when they're so efficient, when they were

47:47

like an unbelievable offense and he was, you know,

47:49

one of the top tacks in the league. We

47:52

just talked about Alvin Kamara. He

47:54

told the media a couple of weeks ago

47:56

that he had a torn knee, and West, you were

47:58

talking about it all last season going into January

48:01

that he couldn't make people miss If Albu Kamara

48:03

is Alvin Kamara again, that's a super duper

48:05

star that you slot into an offense that was already

48:08

very good with a compromised version

48:10

of him last year. I'm not really worried about the Saints

48:12

on offense, even with Breeze advance.

48:14

Oh, I'm not worried about Camara at Oh. I'm worried about

48:16

the quarterback with a thirty yard arm

48:18

we can disagree on that. That's fine. That's

48:21

fine. That's part of this podcast. Money.

48:24

I'm not weighing in because whatever I say, freaking

48:27

Rosie's gonna get the last ten seconds. And I

48:29

learned from my estate you can take your

48:31

d b O and you can shove it up your tail. All right,

48:35

See what I mean? There's the

48:36

good the

48:38

show. See

48:43

now it needs a comment down. See

48:47

now everything's calmed down. You know, fool

48:50

me once, shame on you, fool

48:52

me, full me twice. You won't

48:54

get fooled again. What's going on here? Somebody famous

48:56

said? Then West the

48:59

Atlantic alf cut down. Out

49:01

of all the little training camp nuggets

49:04

that we see on Twitter, I think the most

49:06

important one that I've seen is

49:10

from William McFadden of The Falcon's

49:12

website, who said the clear takeaway

49:14

from their Friday night scrimmage

49:16

was how good Todd Gurley looked,

49:18

how fast and agile the acceleration

49:21

on outside runs and cutting up field. And

49:23

then Dan Quinn, the head coach, saying, you saw

49:26

speed out of Todd Gurley, that he he

49:28

beat the leverage to the corner. To me, this

49:30

is exactly what you want to hear. If you're a Falcons

49:32

fan that a guy who's still only twenty six

49:35

years old, and he's now almost two

49:37

calendar years removed from the knee injury

49:39

that put a hiatus on his career,

49:42

UM, that there is a chance that he gets back to

49:44

being some semblance of

49:46

what he was UM when he was Offensive

49:49

Player of the Year. UM. So

49:52

I guess my question you guys is what kind

49:54

of chance are you giving Todd Gurley

49:56

to be a comeback Player of the Year type of guy?

49:59

Zero M hmmm. You

50:02

know I love that that. You know that

50:04

I love I look. I hope he looks like he did. He

50:06

was one of the most fun players to watch. UM.

50:08

But when you hear about an arthritic condition and a

50:10

knee for a guy who's twenty six years old and his

50:12

knee is more you know, resembles

50:15

my knees, and you know what that's like. If

50:17

you've been beating on him for a while, it's fine, you

50:20

know, in August, but when it's the middle of

50:22

October and it ain't the same,

50:24

that's you know, Unfortunately, I think what

50:26

we're probably looking at it's I'm

50:28

not concerned about how fast he looks. The leverage

50:31

that he's getting the cuts that he's making. Uh,

50:33

going into week one, I'm more concerned about

50:36

what it's gonna look like coming out of week six. Yeah,

50:39

I guess that's what it is, right. It's whys

50:41

you you put it as these two years removed from

50:44

the injury. Is he ever going to actually be really

50:46

kind of removed from it or is this just who

50:49

he is now? I I I'm with you,

50:51

though. It's like a guy to get behind as offensive

50:53

player of the year, Well, that's those days

50:55

are gone. He did that once, could be

50:57

a comeback player of the year because he was

50:59

such a fun and exciting athlete in the city.

51:02

If his career was done by twenty eight, it

51:04

would be just a total shame. They just

51:06

feel a little fragile to me in the sense

51:08

that if the girly thing doesn't work out, and

51:10

you know, Brian Hill has got a lot of buzz from dan

51:12

Quinn to in camp, but still is that

51:15

someone you want, you know as your as

51:17

your situation at running back? If if a wide receiver

51:19

goes down, someone like Russell Gage gets

51:21

moved up. I mean, Hayden Hurst, Matt Ryan

51:23

gushed over him all offseason, but we

51:26

haven't really seen Hayden Hurst do it um

51:29

entirely on his own as a as a tight

51:31

end one. It kind of reminds me, you know, in the

51:33

Matt money Smith Realm, the who are you?

51:35

The who? Song? Like what is this team? They

51:37

go oh in seven or oh in six? Then they win

51:40

seven in a row. Like they're just sort

51:42

of a wacky, inconsistent team, which

51:44

is not what I expected from Dan Quinn. I don't feel

51:46

like they've ever really found their footing post

51:48

hideous super Bowl loss.

51:52

Watch out now Calvin Ridley. There's there's a guy

51:54

to get behind. Fantasy heads. Yeah, they're

51:56

a pass first team. I mean to me, the running game that's

51:58

never good under Quinn, and it's gonna be fine

52:01

if Girly is not. I'm

52:03

seeing another one backfield in the NFL when they went

52:05

to the super Bowl. I guess I'm

52:07

thinking post Super Bowl that

52:10

that that's fair. They have the

52:12

same story every year. They stink to start

52:14

the year, they closed strong on defense, and everyone

52:16

thinks that the defense of improvement will

52:18

carry over, and for whatever reason, it never

52:21

does. They need their draft picks to show up. Kayleb McGarry

52:23

their right tackle first round pick last year was

52:25

terrible. At the end

52:27

of the year, they got

52:29

healthy and it's like a run fair

52:32

old line. They need Tack McKinley to show up.

52:34

They need a J. Torrell to show up who they drafted

52:36

over Steedee Lamb. A lot of their draft picks haven't

52:38

play the last four games. Greg Seconds,

52:45

I don't know. I got out before

52:47

the beef pays

52:53

the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucks instantly

52:55

became the most interesting stories in

52:58

the NFL when they swapped out Jamis

53:00

for Tom Brady than they brought his

53:02

buddy Gronk out of retirement for good measure.

53:05

Smart people, smart people like a

53:08

Chris Westling, like a Brian Baldinger

53:10

are very high on this defense. The

53:12

offense will almost certainly be better

53:14

or at the very least more responsible

53:17

with TV twelve after controls.

53:19

But what's the true ceiling here? That's what I really

53:21

want to know about this team. Are they are Bucks

53:24

like this frisky, fun off

53:27

season story that will give some

53:29

good teams scare or are they a bona fide

53:31

super Bowl contender with this makeup ceiling.

53:35

I think they're a super Bowl team. I think you could

53:37

put ten twelve teams in that mix, and

53:40

I would say they're one of them there

53:43

absolutely. I mean, with the talent on both

53:45

sides, My concern would be they had a historic

53:48

run defense, one of the best of all

53:50

time, and the defensive improvement

53:52

was really impressive, and I

53:54

love the personnel. Usually when you improve

53:57

that much from one year to the next, you're just trying to

53:59

hold on. So I think a lot of people are kind of

54:01

thinking are they going to take the next step on defense?

54:03

History would say they'd actually

54:05

be more likely to take a step back. For as

54:08

much as they went from basically thirty

54:10

one in the league two to a very good

54:12

defense by the end of last year. Players

54:15

are there, though, like the personnel is as good as almost

54:18

any team in terms of starters. Biden,

54:22

I think you have to put their ceiling at

54:24

the Super Bowl, UM, because

54:26

I think the question is Tom Brady, and I

54:30

think that he's he's lost quite a

54:32

bit in the last two years. UM. Other people

54:34

think he has it and we'll find out the answer to that. But

54:37

it's within the realm of possibility that he's still

54:39

a guy. If you get to the playoffs, he

54:41

can guide you to three or four

54:43

wins and get that Super Bowl. I like hearing things

54:46

like O. J. Howard has had Tom Brady

54:48

all over the practice in a good way, like you know

54:50

that his game's changed because Brady is so

54:52

meticulous that he's addressing everyone on

54:55

the offense around him. It's a little It's a

54:57

team with what five four

54:59

or five I like post prime time games if

55:01

they ever started like one in three, and I understand

55:04

that Tom Brady is probably, like you know, at

55:06

this point of clone, mentally imperfect

55:08

and can't be shaken. But this is a team

55:10

with no playoff experience around them, Like if

55:12

they really got off to a rough start, is

55:14

this locker room able to overcome something like

55:17

that? You know,

55:19

I think the one thing you you mentioned here too is

55:21

the coaching. You know. I think we know you love

55:23

top Bowls and Bruce Arians together.

55:25

I love the no nonsense throughout training camp,

55:27

the fact that you know, we went after Brady in the offense after

55:29

their off day what was it last week, at the beginning

55:32

of last week. But but to me,

55:34

it's it's already been said. I mean Greg said it. There's

55:37

a ton of talent on this team, and they're Super Bowl

55:39

caliber. Talent on this team.

55:41

And you look at you mentioned their schedule. I just pulled it

55:43

up. Yeah, you start with the Saints, but after that Panthers,

55:46

Broncos, Chargers, Bears. So

55:49

I'm guessing they'll probably have an opportunity

55:51

to get some momentum at the start of the season. Greg

55:54

ten and a half wins over under three.

55:57

I'm going under Ken zero.

56:02

I mean division Money's

56:09

mad alright, closed after

56:12

love that, he sets it up with, I think they can win the

56:14

Super Bowl over under ten and f wins under

56:19

man. I'm a business and on the fence.

56:21

On the fence, alright, Money

56:24

closed out this division. All right, here we go. This

56:27

can't be overstated again, going back to

56:29

my college football appreciation slash

56:31

passion. In Matt Rule's previous two

56:33

stops, he accomplished the impossible.

56:36

The Temple Owls found themselves in the

56:38

ap Top twice after

56:40

having never appeared there since nineteen seventy

56:42

nine. That's what he did at Temple. After that,

56:44

he goes to a Baylor program that was

56:47

a disgrace, a scourge

56:49

on their entire university campus. He basically

56:51

dismissed the entire team and just

56:53

wore a one in eleven season, only

56:55

two years later to be an

56:58

overtime overtime against

57:00

Oklahoma away from making the College

57:02

Football Playoff. He is an awesome,

57:04

freaking coach and a great leader

57:06

of men. Anyone that's ever been around him, we'll tell

57:08

you that. How much talent does

57:10

he have on that team, that's the question, um.

57:13

But I think there's some there. I absolutely

57:16

love Derek Brown, the rookie, and if Kawan Shorts

57:18

healthy, that's gonna be formidable. And you

57:20

know the offense has obviously Christian

57:22

McCaffrey and and d J. Moore that I

57:25

think you can be excited about. So I'm

57:27

I'm actually looking forward to seeing that the Panthers

57:29

are gonna knock somebody off. They're gonna knock one or

57:31

two teams off late in the season.

57:34

I just believe that much in Matt Rule. I

57:36

really do. I am. I am with

57:38

you. I am. It is not cool aid that I'm

57:41

drinking It's truth, sireum, because what you said is real

57:43

And I think he's that kind of guy. And you know

57:45

what, there's David Tepper probably knows it's

57:47

gonna be a rough season out of the gate. I think

57:49

the Panthers are the kind of team. They're saying

57:51

that probably will be twenty five different players

57:54

from last year's roster to start the year. They're tearing

57:56

it down to the studs. There's patients,

57:58

but there are pieces, and I think this is the kind of

58:00

team that you're gonna see Matt Rule develop

58:02

and grow them week after week. And I'm

58:05

Monty. I hear they're gonna drop a bomb on someone

58:07

in late December and total chaos is

58:10

temper and honest? Is excuse

58:12

me? Is that he's very honest? Is temper?

58:14

A patient man? We look at the contract,

58:19

I mean the contracts Brewdin esque in terms of

58:21

we understand what has to happen here. I'm

58:24

not really plugged into the zeitgeist um

58:26

on this Panthers team. Are they expected

58:28

to be like a three win team? I see them more as

58:30

like a six or seven team. I think

58:32

six or seven. I think going back to

58:34

what Greg said the division, I mean, you know, you gotta

58:36

you gotta go up against the Saints, Bucks and Falcons

58:39

twice. So I think they're probably

58:41

teams. Don't think of them as the worst roster

58:43

in the league, you know, but I think

58:45

they're an injury or two away from it. I I

58:48

yeah, they could be frisky, and I'm I'm

58:50

excited to watch them, But man,

58:52

they're like a Shack Thompson injury away from

58:55

who I mean, they have no on that line after they

58:57

have no one in the secondary. Uh,

59:01

you're counting on Matt Rules coaching to

59:03

to do it. But it's the offensive

59:05

line. To me, there are a couple of key injuries

59:07

away from one in fifteen. It's

59:09

just no matter how good your coaches. I

59:12

think they have one of the thinnest rosters

59:14

in the NFL. Rule turn temple

59:16

around right in bail around, But what do you do the first

59:19

year? He kind of set the groundwork

59:21

right. He went the foundations

59:24

fair and

59:27

I'll take the dart here. I don't care. Teddy Bridgewater

59:30

average six point two air yards for

59:32

attempt. I don't eighteen

59:35

per attempt. Jimmy

59:37

Garoppolo given Jimmy Garoppolo

59:40

got seven minutes away from the Super Bowl

59:42

with the exact same stet. All

59:45

right, let's let's close it out of the NFC with

59:47

Jimmy Garoppolo money and Jimmy

59:49

Garoppolo and those Niners. Uh. Some say

59:52

it's the best lines in football, not line lines.

59:55

After they traded for Trent Williams offensive

59:57

line, I don't have a question about it.

59:59

With mclen she and Trent Williams book end and

1:00:01

you know, whatever people want to call. Is

1:00:04

it outside zone, is it stretched zone, is it wide

1:00:06

zone? Who knows whichever guy is carrying

1:00:08

the ball. It's freaking awesome, So that

1:00:10

I think will be the same. I feel like

1:00:13

the DeForest Buckner trade is being

1:00:15

overlooked and just kind of accepted

1:00:17

more than it should be. Nick Bose is

1:00:19

amazing, but freaking Buckner was

1:00:21

a nightmare, and the two of them together

1:00:24

were what led to that defense

1:00:26

being that special because I look at the secondary

1:00:29

and I go, it's

1:00:31

it's okay. I mean, I watched to give up a ten

1:00:33

point lead in the Super Bowl and get dusted

1:00:35

down the field, So I have a concern

1:00:38

there. Armstead was thought to be

1:00:40

a guy that was on his way out before he

1:00:42

accepted a discount deal. Um

1:00:45

And and obviously kin Law is supposed to be always

1:00:47

just like DeForest Buckner. Okay, great,

1:00:50

a rookie is just like one of the best defensive tackles

1:00:52

in the league. Um So, to me, it comes

1:00:54

down to what Greg alluded to a moment ago is

1:00:57

is Jimmy Garoppolo who helped guide a team

1:00:59

to a Super Bowl and perhaps part of

1:01:01

the reason why they lost the Super Bowl the right

1:01:04

guy? And and will we see a

1:01:06

fall off by this defense? I

1:01:11

wonder too, like about

1:01:14

d Ford being like such a key

1:01:16

factor. He's missed a lot of time in

1:01:18

training camp, and you look at

1:01:20

this team. I think there's so much to like in terms

1:01:22

of the coaching staff and in terms of like the depth

1:01:24

of personnel. They can survive uh

1:01:27

an injury. But I do

1:01:30

wonder when you're counting on like,

1:01:32

let's say Jordan read like Jordan reads a guy I'm intrigued,

1:01:35

And it just feels like there's a lot of Jordan reads

1:01:37

on this roster of like guys that like if everything

1:01:40

goes right with him or d Ford or

1:01:42

Debot coming back or your first round

1:01:44

pick, I you coming back from an injury, Like this

1:01:46

thing could be electric. But it does feel

1:01:49

like they have a little more. You

1:01:51

could either get a lot or you could get nothing.

1:01:53

Guys that then you would want as like

1:01:55

the NFC favorite. I think it's the Shanahan

1:01:58

thinks that demo Samuel might even be back for

1:02:00

Week one. That's that's good, But you go

1:02:03

back a couple outside of last year, people

1:02:05

were talking about Shanahan and Lynch kind of on

1:02:07

the hot seat, and it was all because

1:02:09

those previous teams were shattered by injuries.

1:02:11

So I if they're not healthy in this division,

1:02:14

any unhealthy team is going to get into

1:02:16

a whole lot of trouble. It's like two

1:02:18

thousand and sixteen in that training camp with Jordan

1:02:20

Reed and then Jared McKinnon is another guy where

1:02:23

you're reading that none

1:02:25

of the linebackers and they've got some good coverage linebackers

1:02:27

like Fred Warner, Um

1:02:30

and Kwan Alexander, they can't cover this

1:02:32

guy on the backfield. So so McKinnon in the

1:02:34

passing game could be a nice acts factor. Keep

1:02:37

an eye on Warner. You got put on the COVID nineteen

1:02:39

list. Uh just last weekend.

1:02:42

Was kind of the first big name in

1:02:44

a long time to get put on that, and

1:02:46

uh, you just don't know when he's going to be back. Otherwise,

1:02:49

him in Green Law might be the best

1:02:51

linebacker duo around, certainly one

1:02:53

of them that could be weeks ten

1:02:56

and a half wins over under Niners Greg

1:02:59

way way over over, way

1:03:02

over. Wow. Alright,

1:03:05

Matt money Smith, I know that you have

1:03:08

hugely popular UH

1:03:11

sports radio program called Petros and Money

1:03:13

that you need to prepare for us. So we're gonna gotta

1:03:16

with Mark Cessler and his family. I'll bet. Thank

1:03:20

you so much, Thank you so much for joining

1:03:22

us and you money on

1:03:25

next week when we pick up the

1:03:27

Power Ranking Show and

1:03:30

his Power rank who delivers

1:03:33

his power rankings out? You can you can get me with the dart

1:03:35

here, okay everything. It's so

1:03:37

easy to get him to move off of his point and

1:03:40

just with one bold statement, I

1:03:42

got the Cowboys number one. Well that's stupid. Well

1:03:44

you know I wasn't gonna put him at number one, but you know

1:03:50

it's It's all comes with a lot of nuance. I'm always

1:03:52

on the fence on with the rankings, and Money

1:03:54

has a way of moving me off it. You learn

1:03:56

out all week, you've learned for

1:03:58

the best. Damnit checkond always canvassing the

1:04:01

entire office for opinions before he

1:04:03

produces the result. You know there's nothing

1:04:05

wrong with you. Thank

1:04:09

you, Thank you, Matt. Later, alright,

1:04:11

let's close out the rest of the

1:04:13

NFC West and the NFC in

1:04:15

total, starting with the Seahawks.

1:04:19

Alright, so that trade for Jamal Adams positioned

1:04:22

in many places as a quote unquote final

1:04:24

piece type move by the Seahawks,

1:04:26

the team that was willing to mortgage their

1:04:28

future for the here and now, and

1:04:32

on one level, that makes sense. Ten win team

1:04:34

last year won a playoff game, UH,

1:04:37

and adding a player of Adam's ability

1:04:40

can only help get him over the hump. But is this

1:04:43

is is this reality? Is this team

1:04:45

a Super Bowl contender? Or is it still a

1:04:47

pretty lopsided uh team

1:04:49

with a lot of question marks on defense that probably

1:04:52

will end up going about the same place about

1:04:55

ten wins, nine to ten or eleven wins,

1:04:57

maybe a playoff win, maybe one and done.

1:05:00

Are they actually closer to the Super Bowl? Mm

1:05:02

hmm, I think a

1:05:04

little bit, not not much, because

1:05:07

the past, the lack of a pass rush kind of mitigates

1:05:09

the excitement that you have in the secondary.

1:05:12

Secondary could be among the best in the league with Adams.

1:05:14

There can um

1:05:16

in the trade pick up from the Redskins that they

1:05:18

got to dunbar. But it's

1:05:21

I I think they're Super Bowl contender as long as Russell

1:05:23

Wilson is there, like, it's amazing how they keep

1:05:25

getting to the final eight with with all the problems

1:05:28

that they have. They only need to have a few other

1:05:30

things. Kind of lock in their offensive line

1:05:32

is like a massive question

1:05:34

mark. But when you have Russell Wilson, you

1:05:37

have such a high floor, and you've

1:05:39

got some other pretty premier talent on

1:05:41

the team, and you have a good coach that

1:05:44

I yeah, I think they can have a couple

1:05:46

of things go right for them and they're back in the super

1:05:48

Bowl. It's kind of like it's easy to forget because

1:05:50

they were eleven and five and the Niners

1:05:53

were thirteen and three. That they lost in

1:05:55

Week seventeen to the Niners to

1:05:57

twenty one. But had they won that, they would have wanted to

1:06:00

half a yard short from

1:06:02

And we've been pinpointing I'm not talking about legion

1:06:04

of Boom at its peak era, but in the last you

1:06:06

know, three or four or five years, three or four years, it's

1:06:08

like there's one aspect about the

1:06:11

Seahawks that we just can't get over, and that's

1:06:13

why they're gonna finally tumble off

1:06:15

the scene. But they've made the playoffs every year

1:06:17

since we've worked at NFL Dot com

1:06:19

Dan two thousand eleven. So it's like, you

1:06:22

know, I mean, I completely trust in a

1:06:24

weird year Russell Wilson and Peake Caroll

1:06:26

just to get it done. They just do. And like, are

1:06:28

they get what

1:06:30

done? You're gonna get into the playoffs

1:06:34

games? What I do? And I yes,

1:06:37

and I trust them to win a playoff game. And frankly, and

1:06:39

this is I'm not putting this on you because I know that. I

1:06:41

think that, like, you know, the Jamal Adams

1:06:43

sing a little bit is a lot of hot takes. The

1:06:45

Joal Jamal Adams now is just not that important

1:06:47

of a player. I completely disagree

1:06:49

with that. And I think he don't think anybody saying that,

1:06:52

well there is the safeties don't matter. I mean,

1:06:54

he's you know, he's not Derwin James. It's like, Jamal

1:06:56

Adams is an impact player who is going

1:06:58

to make a big, big, positive change

1:07:00

for the Seahawks. I would I'd bank on that.

1:07:03

I wouldn't that right

1:07:06

to me? Like they've been at their best at times

1:07:08

when they've been had the best ground game in the league,

1:07:10

and then they've been at their best at times when

1:07:12

they left Russell Wilson take over

1:07:14

the offense, So which one are they and

1:07:17

who's getting after the quarterback? Clouds

1:07:21

and the guys that LJ. Collier like,

1:07:26

I see the guy all

1:07:28

right, shut up, ye

1:07:32

Rams out alright.

1:07:35

You know, by the way, you knew

1:07:37

Ricky would be reckless with a gun our

1:07:40

Juna. He used it when it needed

1:07:42

to be used. Ricky is problematic.

1:07:45

Ricky is like eight hundred more reasons to be annoyed

1:07:47

with us than our Jina. I mean, you know, alright,

1:07:49

well there we go. Uh look

1:07:51

the Rams, I'm kind of I've

1:07:53

been a little you know, I've been annoyed with the Rams in the past.

1:07:56

I don't feel that way. I really think this is

1:07:58

Rams two point oh experience and

1:08:01

the Sean McVeigh has I think reimagined

1:08:04

what this team can be on offense, and I think he's probably

1:08:06

taken a hard look at reimagining himself

1:08:08

as well. I mean, this is gonna be an you know, continuation

1:08:11

of last year, a tight end, heavy

1:08:13

attack. I mean, using them much more than they did early

1:08:15

on with Higbie and Everett. Uh, the whole

1:08:17

girly thing melted down. But I really like this stable

1:08:19

of runners, cam Akers, Darryl Henderson,

1:08:22

Malcolm Brown, we had less steed on it. He was like unwilling

1:08:24

to say which one of them was going to

1:08:26

kind of be the lead guy. That can be a bad thing, but in

1:08:29

this case, I don't buy that. Van Jefferson

1:08:31

has been one of the few kind of football nuggets

1:08:33

you can really pull off of hard knocks, the

1:08:35

son of an NFL wide receiver. I like that

1:08:38

to me. This team, outside of the offensive

1:08:40

line and the fact that you could spend ten thousand generations

1:08:43

looking for a personality or a fire inside

1:08:45

of Jared Goff, feels like a playoff

1:08:47

entry and I what do you? Where

1:08:49

are you with Thattion?

1:08:52

So that's thirty thousand years? Like ten thousand

1:08:54

years wasn't enough. You needed twenty thousand

1:08:56

more years to find that personality.

1:08:59

Yeah, he should put out one

1:09:01

of those tapes where it like puts you to sleep. He

1:09:03

just reads from a book or something. I

1:09:05

would be asleep and probably about twenty

1:09:07

seconds. They've made all these

1:09:10

rockbuster trades to deplete

1:09:12

their draft picks. So at the after

1:09:14

all that happened, everybody was

1:09:16

saying, you know, the draft is gonna be really

1:09:18

important for the Rams having those

1:09:20

mid round picks instead of early round picks, and

1:09:23

then I look up and I see my neighbor j B.

1:09:25

Long played by play voice of the Ramsweet

1:09:30

cam Akers Van Jefferson, outside

1:09:33

linebacker Tarrell Lewis, and then two of

1:09:35

the safeties they drafted, I think Tarrell Burgess

1:09:38

and um, who's the other guy?

1:09:40

Um? I think Fooller. All

1:09:43

five of those guys look like future starters

1:09:45

and should be rookie contributors. I think

1:09:47

that's exactly what they needed. This team

1:09:49

looks refreshed to me, and they do feel like a playoff

1:09:52

team, and they can be so much diverse

1:09:54

on offense. So you mentioned Mark how they

1:09:56

can use the tight ends, and I think that was important.

1:09:59

Late late this year, I think McVeigh

1:10:01

maybe got a little predictable. You know, they use

1:10:04

eleven personnel with the three receivers more than any

1:10:06

team, and suddenly they used

1:10:08

the two tight ends. They were scoring thirty points a game last

1:10:10

five weeks of the year. Golf played pretty well down the

1:10:13

stretch. And now you've got the two

1:10:15

tight ends, but you've also got the three receivers

1:10:17

because you have been Jefferson's probably taken over

1:10:19

for Reynolds, and I wanted to put money on this

1:10:21

too. But man, I think the district not disrespect,

1:10:24

but I think people don't appreciate how good

1:10:26

Cup is Cooper Cup because they think he's

1:10:28

still the guy who was as a rookie. And to me,

1:10:30

he's closer to Keenan

1:10:32

Allen and Feeling and

1:10:35

Godwin as one of the best slot guys in the

1:10:37

league in a top ten or eleven

1:10:39

receiver period. He's gotten

1:10:41

better every year, so I think he can keep getting

1:10:43

better. You have one of the best number twos in woods.

1:10:46

There's a lot to like, a lot a lot at the top

1:10:48

level of like, especially on office post

1:10:51

post type sleeper candidate here.

1:10:54

Everyone,

1:10:57

Yeah,

1:11:01

we're digging out, We're digging

1:11:03

the rims. I'm gonna

1:11:05

talk about it. I'm

1:11:07

gonna finish off with the Cardinals, um

1:11:10

who who've got their problems. Um.

1:11:12

But what I'm looking for is

1:11:14

whether they're gonna be revolutionaries,

1:11:17

you know, whether they're gonna be as fast as we

1:11:19

heard in camp, whether they're gonna

1:11:21

be the fastest team in the league. They were the fourth fastest team

1:11:23

we talked a little bit about on our broadcast with

1:11:25

a rookie quarterback. Now, what are they gonna do

1:11:28

that they can actually have four wide receivers

1:11:30

that you can believe in because they ran four wide

1:11:33

a third of the time. That's, you know,

1:11:35

quadruple the amount that any team

1:11:37

in the NFL did, So they really are running

1:11:40

things differently than any team in

1:11:42

the league. And now you've got four, You've

1:11:44

got Kirk, I think Isabella probably

1:11:46

the fourth. If not, it's Keyshawn Johnson, Um,

1:11:49

you have Fitzgerald of course, and Hopkins.

1:11:51

It's a fun group and I think they're

1:11:54

not gonna win that many games. I don't.

1:11:56

I think they could be fun and not win

1:11:58

any more than they did a year ago because the defense

1:12:00

and the offensive line, in the secondary, there's a lot

1:12:02

of issues. But I want to see

1:12:04

Kingsbury just go for it and

1:12:07

be be a different flavor

1:12:09

that the NFL could use. You know, the Ravens

1:12:11

are a different flavor, and the Cardinals

1:12:13

to me, should be on the total opposite side

1:12:16

of things and at least be fun to watch. With this group,

1:12:18

I think they can win more games because they start

1:12:20

with the Niners, and you know it's gonna be teams

1:12:22

figuring themselves out. But then they have Washington, the

1:12:24

Lions, the Panthers, and the Jets, so that's

1:12:26

a chance for a fast s and they You're

1:12:28

right, they were the fourth fastest team. The difference

1:12:30

between like the fourth and the third is

1:12:32

like point eight seconds or something. It's like, we're

1:12:34

not you know, it's not like they were seventeen

1:12:37

minutes faster than the next team. It's it's me

1:12:39

or seconds there. That's who they are and then

1:12:41

and that's who Kingsbury has always been. So

1:12:43

I trust it. Yeah,

1:12:47

I'll be interested to see if if this spreads

1:12:49

around the league, like if Greg saying if it's revolutionary

1:12:52

next year, there should be two or three teams or

1:12:55

more doing what they're doing. And I think at

1:12:57

some level they are um

1:12:59

but it's just not as dramatic like when

1:13:01

Drew Lock came in. You know, you saw

1:13:04

them going four wide all the time. You see a lot

1:13:06

of empty you see a lot of four wide. The difference

1:13:08

is like teams are thrown in there as flavors

1:13:11

and for the Cardinals is kind of their base offense,

1:13:13

or I think Kingsbury wants it to be because

1:13:15

partly because they want to run the ball, and by

1:13:17

spreading out so much, you're going up against

1:13:20

six man boxes and you're gonna have a lot of

1:13:22

success in the ground game doesn't mean Kenyan Drake is

1:13:24

not gonna get a lot of run, right, And Kenyan

1:13:26

Drake and Chase Edmonds are used in the passing

1:13:28

game. And I'll never forget when we were in London and the Cardinals

1:13:30

were just starting to like find their way, and we were watching

1:13:33

at that time David Johnson and

1:13:35

you know, Edmunds just tearing people up

1:13:37

catching the ball and yards after the catch. So I

1:13:40

just kind of liked the whole deal. I mean, be fun

1:13:42

to watch in or what are you doing? I

1:13:46

agree with that. You know, one thing that jumped

1:13:48

out to me when I was reading the Great Evan Silva

1:13:51

his Shy Away thirty he has

1:13:53

Joan dre Hopkins way up on his list of

1:13:55

people to avoid in fantasy obviously

1:13:57

very different than real football, but he pointed

1:13:59

out the two thousand nineteen Cardinals

1:14:02

ranked eighteenth, and past attempts twenty

1:14:04

second, and offensive plays young Lary

1:14:06

Fitzgeld, Christian Kirk, Kenyan Drake all

1:14:09

in the house target competition, and

1:14:11

it's just gonna be different than in Houston where he was

1:14:13

just getting fed the ball over and over again. Will

1:14:15

he be as big a difference maker as maybe

1:14:17

we all presumed him to be. Watch him get that

1:14:20

money in the next few days.

1:14:25

That contracts coming, you

1:14:29

got, You got that on good authority.

1:14:31

I just think you want to keep DeAndre

1:14:34

happy. They've been doing some financial moves

1:14:37

to like free up money, and so that now

1:14:40

is the time of year you sign your veterans good

1:14:44

stuff. All right, there you go. We just went

1:14:46

around the NFC

1:14:49

in forty eight minutes. Thank you

1:14:51

to Matt money Smith for joining

1:14:53

us for most of

1:14:55

that exercise and giving us some great

1:14:58

on the boots inside on the

1:15:00

Los Angeles Chargers and

1:15:03

um boys. We're

1:15:06

getting there now, eight days away

1:15:08

from football as we record this West.

1:15:10

Now that your doctor sent you home for the

1:15:12

week, do we get you on Friday? Also,

1:15:15

like, where are we at Youah, barring the unforeseen,

1:15:17

I'll be here. Excellent,

1:15:19

a whole week of West. What a blessing

1:15:22

for the podcast and the audience. All

1:15:25

right, so we'll be back Friday with

1:15:27

our rundown show. Of course, we'll

1:15:29

also be doing our network taping,

1:15:32

so make sure you set your DVRs or watch

1:15:34

it on Friday afternoon

1:15:36

when it goes live on the

1:15:38

web. They still say the web no,

1:15:41

you do. Web's out. Please

1:15:45

check out my new web page world

1:15:48

wide. What

1:15:50

about Information

1:15:52

super Highway that's still that's

1:15:55

been out for quite a while. Now you

1:15:58

know it will never be out. That pink shirts,

1:16:00

I love it. I find the war

1:16:02

time in about guys staring the old Man, the

1:16:05

Boss, Ricky Hollywood, that money

1:16:07

Smith, Bill Friday,