NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2016 NFL division power rankings

Episode Date: March 30, 2016

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler break down the latest news from the NFL, including if the Broncos are going to acquire another QB to compete for the starting job. Then, the heroes discuss their 2016 NFL division power rankings and share what teams can excel from each division.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. What's up, everybody? Before you get to your episode, it's DJ and Bucky with Move the Six. Bucky, what's on our latest episode? Well, we're going to talk about your mod draft, but I'm really excited to talk about this pairing. We have 90s R&B with the top prospect.

bics in the draft how we match them up you need to tune in and listen worlds are colliding jerry check it out move the six iTunes nfl.com slash podcast as well as youtube the around the NFL podcast has the vapors welcome back to another edition of the around the NFL podcast my name is dan hansis and I am joined by a room filled with heroes Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Welcome back, Mark.

How are you feeling? I feel fine. I just got a bad look. Oh, Disney Sessler. Now, you know, that's great. I didn't even listen to the beginning of the last show, but I knew that from a couple Twitter mentions, that you turned what was a tough very three days into me into a bit.

I knew as soon as someone was sick, Dan's going to go, oh, this will be great for the show. Wait, now, don't you think that? maybe if you were going to lob something like that an accusation that you should at least listen. Not at all. No, we are no longer humans with lives and happiness and ups and dads.

We are just players in the Dan Hanses' drama. The bits. We're just part of the bits. Yeah, but we're also ignoring the fact that I did have real, I was looking out, for I hope Mark gets better. How many times did I say that? Like, multiple times.

I don't doubt that, but what I received online through various sources was that you're killing my diet, you're telling me I need to change the way I operate. I mean, that's absurd. I simply question whether meat would help whatever you're dealing. In the situation that I was in,

like bringing me a plate of meat would have done nothing. I don't know what sort of, you know, medical person you think you are, but that would have been the last thing that I needed. Well, I didn't. At that time. I wasn't, I was getting some antibiotics and a plate of meat. I wasn't saying that that was a solution.

I just wondered. if that maybe that would help that's all that's fair and i'm happier back i have i wonder things too and you do you wonder things a lot of things we're happy to have you back though colin you want to talk about the people you got to look out for colline had a huge grin on her face uh when when the illness came up she was looking mighty comfortable in that chair well listen i mean if this all came to a very quick end my life would go on you you look comfortable in your new array of clothes that you've brought from Boca Raton. You came back on a lot of good outfits.

Well, because Conoror was typically the person that would go to that trip with me. And he could not be more excited at any event about the possibility of free gear. And this was three bags. Last year it was one bag. It was three bags. And fellow journalists hating anyone from the NFL, because you only get it if you're from the NFL. Oh, really? understandably looking at me like, you know, I was some shill.

So you have a whole new wardrobe, though? A lot of it is stuff that I'm going to be giving away because it's things that just don't, I'm not sure about, they don't really fit my wardrobe type style. Really? Here's a little secret, because we're also underpaid. We're happy to wear free stuff. Speak for yourself, Wes, we get it.

You're underpaid. Where are we at the with a siren, the Wes, I'm underpaid siren? efforting we have to find the perfect one for it all right on today's show we are going to talk about uh the divisions of the NFL because there are 32 teams 16 teams in each conference eight divisions eight divided by two is four so four in each conference eight overall is that correct that's yeah it is correct who confirmed got a little lost in the numbers there but i made my way out so there used to be six divisions remember that uh vaguely yeah well in 2002 we realigned i remember wasn't that well there was also the weird year where there were 31 teams

and the a fc central i believe at the time before they became the north had six teams in it it's a lot of your games a lot of teams uh so anyway the division power rankings uh which is a post Up on around the NFL, Greg, you put great effort into it. Speaking of efforting, you efforted on that post very well and delivered a hammer. You didn't read it. It is a yearly column that we've done. I guess we don't have many traditions, but we've managed to put a lot of traditions. Well, one that goes back five years.

We don't have a lot of traditions that have kept up since 2012, which was the first full off season of around the NFL. but we've randomly put out a division power rankings around this time every year. And without getting into it too much before we actually talk about it in earnest, this is a year of change potentially, at least in our opinions. A lot of big shake up. The division. So we're going to talk about that.

And, of course, we're going to do some news before we throw it to Brandon to get into the news. Everyone's doing a great job on our subreddit, by the way, the around the NFL subreddit, which West, numbers are going through the roof. I think you had said that they had really been multiplying over at the subreddit, which you were diving into. Yeah, there were like six people on there, and now there's probably like 73.

Yeah. No, I think there's more than that. All right, Wes. I didn't even know if that was a joke or not. Wes on fire right now. While we're talking, you know, are people contributing? You got the subreddit.

I think we should send it out there because a lot of podcasts do this. Every podcast. We don't do it enough that it really helps us to leave some comments and ratings on old iTunes. I want to see our little ranking because it's not about how many people listen to us. A lot of people listen to us, but they based it on how many comments are left. We're lagging a little bit on the comment. So, you know, if you haven't left the comment there, go leave one.

Let's lean into the power of our listenership here because I'm looking at that subreddit. We now have over 400 people on that. And it was, I think, in the double digits at the beginning of the week. So a lot of people are flocking there. Reddit.com slash R slash around the NFL. and on iTunes, let's see if our listenership leans into it a little bit with, what is it, likes, or what is it, the five-star ratings, some comments. Let's see if we could bump us up the old rankings.

You know, tell your friends, see what happens, just like curiosity. Just start subscribing on like 15 different devices, maybe steal people's iPhones and subscribe, and then give them back. I don't mean, I mean, borrow them. That's what the listener wants. You know, they divvy out important time to come listen to the show in six minutes in, Greg is given a homework assignment and is handing out and delegating tasks. It was one minute in the three hours of beautiful content we'll have all week.

I was going to say, we don't ask too much of our audience other than to listen, which everybody does a great job listening. Now maybe this is more a challenge. What can we do to take down the Apple machine or at least affect it? So please help us out there at iTunes. Let's do some news, Brandon. This is why you lift all that week. This is why you do all that.

It is now March 30th. And as things stand, the Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, they don't become defending Super Bowl champions until the season starts, right? Right now they're just Super Bowl champions? Or is it a league new year, a new league year, so it already is defending Super Bowl champions? They're the Super Bowl champions. I just think they're the Super Bowl champion. I think you're right.

Once they start playing games, then they're defending. Okay. The Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos, as of March 30th, their starting quarterback is Mark Sanchez. This is something that's... And he doesn't have any competition. It's just him. It's just him. It's kind of a shot at Trevor Simeon.

Yeah. Kind of. It was intended, Trevor. Doesn't the word Simeon mean monkey-like? Yes, it is, right? I don't know. I believe it does. So you're saying that?

I'm just saying I believe that's what the word simian means. That doesn't help his case. He's not an advanced species is what you're saying compared to a Mark Sanchez. I'm not saying anything other than the derivation of the world. Met him during Super Bowl week and quite a nice guy. Trev? Yeah. Trevbo?

Had to ask him a question or two about something else and couldn't have been nicer. Didn't seem like an imposing athlete to me, but good for him. Did get one regular season snap. He lost the yard. I believe he probably was a kneel down. It was a kneel down, but he did a good job with that. So I bring that up because it's surprising because I think a lot of people, if you would have asked the football world, you know, three weeks ago if, you know,

Colin Kaepernick or some other solution would be in Denver's building by now. People would have thought something other about Mark Sanchez, but here we are. And on Tuesday's edition of NFL Total Access on NFL Network, Ian Rappaport reported that the Broncos are interested in Josh McCown, who is currently a member of the Cleveland Browns, but perhaps not for long as well. as Brian Hoyer. So, Wes, you wrote this piece. Where is this interest in terms of serious? Is it more just these are the guys so they're being connected to them or is this a real thing? Well, Dan, I would point back to you that you

wrote a post a couple of days ago saying that Josh McCown is on the trade block and Ian said on Tuesday's show that they are, Browns are certainly looking to either deal McCown or cut him. So I think that, you know, maybe teams are waiting him out to see if he gets cut. But at this point, I led this column with McCown instead of Hoyer because to me, McCown can be an upgrade on Sanchez and Hoyer cannot. I just don't see Hoyer as quite as relevant as a starting quarterback as Josh McCown. You could argue that McCown, coming off last season, overall that offense was awful, but McCown had a couple of games. It took the Broncos to overtime last season. So that coaching staff saw him in that. But McCown probably could equal if not

be better than RG3 if you play him for 16 games. Oh, I think he's way better than RG3. So I don't think it's a huge problem for Denver. If they're looking, I think they have to draft someone too. Well, they know these guys will be out there. Those guys are, they're not going anywhere. They're going to be cut or if they have to give up a seventh round pick of the drive. It's not like you have to jump up and go get him. Brian Hoyer and Sanchez feel very duplicative. Why bother have them both? Maybe you could even maybe say the same for McCown. I know you love McCown, but how old is he now? He's 36. You said you can't teach him. RG3 how to avoid injuries

Josh McCown is in the Hall of Fame of not avoiding that before right now I know he's equally as reckless as RG3 but if you if you surround him with the more I think he enjoys it I think he kind of likes to get injured yeah but I think RG3's lack of instincts equals that out are you thinking of his headfirst helicopter

I mean he just seems like he's always going for it you come in a McCown you know he just he goes I think if you surround him with the Broncos talent what's there on that roster. I mean, is he worse than Brock Osweiler as a starting NFL quarterback? I don't think he is.

I do. It speaks to the situation that the Brock has found themselves in now because now you're either choosing between, if you don't get Colin Kaepernick and we're going to talk about him in a little bit, but if you don't have Colin Kaepernick, who is no gimmie anyway,

like that he would be a guy that would lead you in a positive manner, you're going to choose between Mark Sanchez, or Josh McCown, a 36-year-old journeyman who, and I know he's been on bad teams, but his two and 17 over his last two years as a starter, has put up some decent numbers at times, but obviously is not a great quarterback either. I mean, he's okay, maybe, but they're not going to have a good quarterback this year. And even if they drafts.

They didn't have one last year, though. That's what they would say to you, at least. They're trying to convince him. Fair job. But with Peyton Manning, he's also, he's basically a coach on the field. You're not going to get that with Brian Hoyer. Well, you also have a first or second round pick to be named later. And at this point, I would be shocked if they do not draft the quarterback with one of their first two picks.

And I'm not a draft expert, but everyone seems to say this is a great draft for them to have a late first or second round pick because there's, you know, there's, you know, maybe Paxon Lynch isn't there. They'd have to trade up. But there are five or six guys that people think are worth a second round. But how many teams? People rip those guys to shreds. Right. They're not going to be the top tier guys. and how many times has a defending Super Bowl champion went back to back with a rookie quarterback?

It's just not something that happens. They're in a bad spot. Well, there is a quarterback sitting out there that won 10 games last year. They seem to be completely disinterested by Ryan Fitzpatrick. So it's like, I'm with you. I thought you were talking about Brian Hoyer. He almost won 10 games. Give me Josh McCown over both of those guys.

So we'll see how that plays out. And then on the Colin Kaepernick front, a rap sheet reported Monday night. that the 49ers won't cut the quarterback. We knew this before his contract becomes fully guaranteed on April 1st. But Rappaport also added that the Niners will not trade Kaepernick unless they are, quote, blown away by an offer. And, you know, the Broncos are the only real suitor here you would think unless the Jets got involved and I don't think that's going to happen.

It's really, and I think you said this, Greg, earlier in the week, it's starting to look like there's a very real chance Colin Kaepernick is on the Niners. unless this is just posturing, which could be as well. I don't think it's posturing by the Niners. I think Kaepernick's going to have to come to a point where he looks at the situation and realizes this isn't going to happen for me. Can I play for this team? He clearly doesn't want to play for them.

I now buy the fact that they do want him, that they've wanted them all along, but he came and hit them with this trade request. And what are you going to do? It's like if a guy comes to you and tells you he doesn't want to be your quarterback, you're in a tough spot. But at some point, and I think that point is after the draft, Kaepernick's going to decide, do I want to keep playing football? Do I want to get paid $12 million this year?

If he doesn't get traded, he's not going to have many options. Yeah, I mean, coaches and GMs, when you ask about players that don't want to be on a team, they're typically the move is not, if it's not a money thing, to not try to get a guy that doesn't want to be in the building, let's maybe we can get him to change his mind over the course of the next four or five months and he can be our quarterback. Everything you've heard about Kaepernick is this. There are leadership issues at times with him, too.

You don't want to mopee Colin Kaepernick walking around your building when you've got Chip Kelly trying to reestablish his credentials as a coach. That's a good point. It's a different position than other positions. Look at how this roster has changed just in the last two years since Harbaal left. They're going to be unwatchable this year. They're going to be right there with the Browns as the worst roster in the NFL and then add a quarterback who doesn't even want to be there.

I still think Colin Kaepernick is the week one starter for the Broncos. because it makes too much sense to me. So all this stuff that's leading up into the draft, we're just filling the vacuum with some sort of news because we got nothing right now. I don't mean we shouldn't talk about it. It's legitimate news and it's interesting. But the logic behind the whole situation

that the 49ers, on some level, we know they're willing to trade Colin Kaepernick. They said they will if they're blown away. On some level, we know the Broncos are interested. They were willing to give up a fourth round pick. The money doesn't seem that crazy. It's just too logical not to happen. It happens on draft week.

Absolutely, because suddenly the Niners could have Carson Wentz or Jared Goff as your starting quarterback. They're in great position to draft one of those guys. And then the whole Colin Kaepernick thing is superfluous. By the way, the Niners were the luckiest five and 11 team in the league last year. They could easily, they could have easily been a two and 14 team a year ago. So if they take a step back from where they were last year, yikes. Mark, do you remember a man by the name of Tim Tebow? Yeah, rings a bell.

What are your general memories of him? If you had to give somebody like a 15-second, 15-to-30-second explainer about who Tim Tebow. I remember that he rose to massive popularity during an era where you and I specifically were charged with writing probably six to seven Tim Tebow posts each a week. And they involved dating Kim Kardashian maybe and Katie Perry. It was a bad time for us in terms of what we were tasked with writing. Dark days, yes. Before I arrive, I don't want this. This was, I was not responsible for a signing to Cardasshing.

This was pre-Rosenthal. But we chased everything attached to Tebow. I do got that out there, Greg. Yeah, they called Manning the Sheriff. I was the Sheriff, get that trash out of there when I come in. Wow. Nice work. That would call for an, it's about me, I think.

It's about me. You know what? My first post at NFL.com was Tim Tebow landing spots. On an airplane, you wrote it. Wow. Scared Dan and I both. I'll never forget. that.

How things going, by the way, Greg? Now you're leaving for Mother Japan tomorrow,

correct? Well, it's not my mother. I am. I'm leaving on Thursday, which is tomorrow.

Long flight, looking forward to it. You came into the office a little later today, and I'm not going to lie, there were some questions

about whether you were on a one last bender before the flight. That is Not true. Things have calmed down, making some plans. We're getting ready to leave. But, yeah, it's been fun.

It's been a fun eight days of bachelorhood. What are you going to do on that airplane? It's what's free drinks. It's international flight, right? Are you just going to, like, be a good boy and read, like, three books? Be a good boy. What are you? I want to know.

You sound like a sixth grade bully. What are you going to be? Like on the, out of the school year. Oh, you got to be a big boy reading your little books with your friends? Well, what are you? going to do well i'm going with a buddy with anthony oh forget it you're you guys are going to be in chaos yeah well i didn't know that we'll have some drinks watch some movies i'm sure tony jiz is coming it's a long it's a long time uh anthony jesslinick the co-host of uh the rosenthal

and jesslinick vanity project defunct r gvipb uh defunct is it defunct or on hiatus or funky wait you take your other podcast crew to japan with you well that's what i'm kind of having a hard time with what's happening here well well i'm kind of having a hard time with what's happening here. Well, I'm not paying for it. The NFL is? That would be cool. Do a show from Japan.

Maybe on this flight, you guys can talk about, oh, man, that was really special, but we have to go. We should bring it back, you know, when I have some time when my tour's over. That was all up in the air, you know, on our finale. It's possible it could come back.

Totally. I never know. Oh, you left it with a cliffhanger? Well, not necessarily, but it's open. That's what you do in the business. Yeah, well. Season one entertainers on that show. Anyway, so Tim Tebow, yes, a former NFL quarterback.

You're really a famous college quarterback if you really want to take a bigger step back, who then struggled in the NFL with the exception of one quirky little ride with the Denver Broncos in 2011. But he's still on the news occasionally because he's been looking for a job. The Patriots signed him and cut him. The Eagles signed him and cut him. He still holds out hope. he's almost 29 years old now. He was interviewed at a charity event on Wednesday, or on Tuesday, excuse me, about,

and I want to, I asked Brandon to cut this whole thing. Listen to this woman for Fox and Friends. Her name is Ansley Earhart. I mean, listen to the fawning. This is what Tim Tebow brings out in people about a potential future in politics. You thought about politics. Did you be such a good role model for these kids? Thank you.

It's been crazy, hasn't it? No. Yeah, it's been a whirlwind watching everything. You know, I don't know in this time in my life. But, you know, anyway. So you're saying, there's hope. There's a chance. If there's a chance you can make a difference someday on something,

then that would be intriguing. So, yeah. Ansley. Fawning. Come back to us. Wait, is that a reporter? Is she just like an entertainment? I think she's some type of correspondent for Fox News.

A little troubling. So you're saying the political journalism in this country not always to be taken too seriously? That seemed even by the standards of, you know, tabloid journalism to be a little wild. Well, Timmy had more substantive info in that interview than some of these debates and whatnot. I mean, he could fit right in. You're fired. I don't think I'd go to Tim Tebow for substantive info.

That's a thing. I mean, let's be fair. You think Tim Tebow's a leader of, you know, people like that? Well, I think a lot of people look up to him. I think what he would want to do. I think politics is probably the worst route in this country right now to actually try to help people directly. Tim Tebow could do a lot better work by doing something other than trying to go into public office.

I didn't tell me. Where would be a better route for Timmy to go, Mark? I think Connor Orr nailed it on our Slack channel this morning, or was it yesterday? We don't. Well, on I am. where he talked about him being kind of like a public speaker. But he's also, he's always had charities. He grew up.

His family was involved in all missions and stuff. Just keep doing that. That's what he's good at. And I don't think politics is a dirty road for Tebow to go down. I don't think Tim Tebow knows what he doesn't know. Sounds like a politician, maybe. Oh. Greg.

Paraphrasing Donald Rumsfeld, there are known knowns, things that we know. we know. There are known unknowns. We know there are things that we don't know. And there are unknown unknowns. What we don't know that we don't know. And Tim Tebow was raised in a fundamentalist religion and then played football as a quarterback. Not an area where you're asking a lot of questions. I think the answers have been provided for him in life. He hasn't had to search for them. I don't think that's what I've won in a political leader, me personally. And who are you voting for this November? I'm not at liberty to say. I think I'm going to play defense against Trump, though.

Okay. I think that's a strategy that a lot of people believe in. We'll see what happens. More on the political podcast coming up later this year. Back to football, the Cincinnati Bengals have lost some notable players to free agency. Now they're making some signing, starting with former Cleveland Browns linebacker Carlos Dansby, who, after being released by the Browns earlier this month, told Cleveland dot com quote i'm sure the bangles are licking their chops right now and he was right they were licking their chops because cincinnati signed the linebacker uh to a deal uh in other news

the bangles uh lost of course mohammed sinew uh to the falcons and marvin jones to the lions their wide receivers they signed a wide receiver on wednesday brandon lafell the fame the former Patriots pass catcher who did have people forgets a 74 catch season two seasons ago last year was an injury marred mess with a lot of drops and really some flaws in his game became apparent but the bangles are going bargain hunting with brandon lafell west your thoughts well you raised the point that he 74 catches 953 yards and seven touchdowns for a super bowl team two years ago last year he was never right he had the foot injury came back back late. It just seemed like he never was in sync, and Greg has said multiple times that

deep ball to Brandon Lafell was the least effective play in football last year. I think Andy Dalton to Brandon Lafell would be maybe even more, maybe even less effective. But he's a starter. These are two guys who are starting week one at this point. I don't think Lafell will still be a starter by week one necessarily. I think they're going to draft multiple wide receivers just like they did with Sunu and Jones and see how those guys can fit in. But at this point, he's their number two. because it is insanely thin. They needed a veteran just to plug in there.

And then you have Dansby who I would think would be starting either over A.J. Hawk or certainly while Perfect is suspended. Definitely during perfect. I think with Dansby is not the guy who was a couple years ago. And I mean, it's like Cleveland didn't lose much by letting him go. But he's kind of an interesting player to fit into, I think he's the oldest Bengal already, oldest player on the roster. And one thing that Dansby has always been is like a great locker room guy.

and it's not a bad addition on that front. It's just interesting to me that he knew weeks ago that the Bengals of all teams would be hunting a town. Wasn't Kevin Coyle, the defensive coordinator, or he was on the defensive coach staff when Dansby was in Miami, and now he's back in Cincinnati. I'm guessing there may have been some kind of communication.

Yeah, there's usually how it works. 20 years ago this week, Mark Sessler, the Baltimore franchise, left Cleveland and what part of the deal was they could not, Art Modell could not take the Brown's name, right? The color scheme, the uniform

and the history of the team. That was part of the concession that was made. That had also. Not originally, but it was they fought for that. Eventually, yes. So when Modell got to Baltimore, he had to start from scratch. 20 years ago on Tuesday,

the Ravens were selected as the team name. It was a telephone poll. I want you to think these other names what could have been guys uh the baltimore bulldogs that was art modell's favorite choice a reference to one of the uh original NFL franchises the Baltimore americans another option oh please bring to a train baltimore to Ohio train uh the american the mustangs which johnny unitas got behind and unitas famously when the ravens were named had this to say i don't like it i don't think it has any association with football the ravens was of course a not

to Edgar Allan Poe, one of Baltimore's famed residents who wrote The Raven. It's one of the most famous writers in American history. Yes, and Mark, your thoughts on this. I thought you had an interesting point yesterday. I don't think I'm allowed to say what my initial point was. You can say it. I think he can. Just say it.

I don't know what it is. I mean, I've always heard that they basically named their franchise after a Baltimore area poet that slept with his sister. So you're questioning the character. It had a little bit more of an edge yesterday. Of Poe. Listen, first of all, any naming process, and this is, this is, it's kind of a cool name, though. Doesn't it work pretty well?

Ravens? I think it's a great nickname. Ravens is not a bit, but the idea that you would name yourself the Americans. Right. So in an American sport with 32 other American teams, that's a bit precious. Get over yourself. So that was good they didn't choose it. Know what else might could have been?

What? Art Modell offered $5 million to Jim Ursay for the name Colts. Interesting. Because they were one of the most storied franchises in NFL history. And if any one has ever seen the 1982 movie, Diner, knows how much the Baltimore Cults meant to that area. Jim Ursay reportedly wanted $25 or $50 million for the name, not $5 million. That is, Wes, that's your wheelhouse, 1978 to 82 cinema. Diner is one of the great movies.

Diner is a fantastic movie. Listen, I wasn't saying it wasn't. I'm down, kissing cousin. The cults. By the same guy who did the 30 for 30 on the Colts marching bank. The Colts gets no more fever pitch in that movie that when a guy's about to marry this girl, and for her to get married to him,

she has to go through an intricate, like, an intricate, like 40 question or something quiz on the cults, and I believe she fails, or does she pass at the very end? I think she just barely passed. I mean, it's like he would not marry her if she doesn't pass. I mean, speaking of great sports-related movies, you said it, fever, pitch. Wow, the chemistry, Fallon, Barrymore,

you just can't create that. version with Colin Firth. No, I'm kidding. That movie was terrible, but the book about the soccer team is one of the top 10 sports books of all time. I'm going to throw it in there. Beaver pitch, the American version, was based on the 2004 Red Sox. Yeah, I'm joking.

Which was as a Yankee fan, the lowest moment was the 2004 ALCS when they blew a 3-0 lead. But 2004, the movies like Fever Pitch and the way Red Sox fans comported themselves started to make things feel a little bit better because you've been. guys were just poisoning your own well. And that started. You guys being Greg. It really ruined things with the multiple World Series they won after that.

No, just about how people viewed you. She's not an idea for a future podcast. If you were a commissioner of sports for a day, I would rename Baltimore the Colts. And number one on the list. I like this. The Utah Jazz, I'm sorry you have to give the Jazz back to the Saints or back to New Orleans. It's the most poorly named team of all time. The Lakers should be a minister.

So what are the Indian, okay, I like that. What about Indianapolis? What are they going to be? Well, they can be anything because, you know, their history didn't start until 1983. What about the Lakers? That's what I'm saying. The Lakers belong in Minneapolis. And the Dodgers.

That's a good idea. Name realigners. Yeah, they do geographical realignments. They need to do a name realignment. That's what I'm saying. We should do a commissioner of sports for a day. Give the jazz back to the Pelicans. That's what you said?

Give the jazz back to New Orleans, yeah. The boss has gone next week, so this might be... I mean, how could... You guys should do it tomorrow. If this is the best we can do for news today, think of tomorrow. Just a sign of the Times, by the way, how they determined that the Ravens would be the team name, a telephone poll conducted by the Baltimore Sun.

Very odd. I was living in the area when that happened, and I had plans to disrupt that. That is really bizarre. Entire operation. That's what's happening in the news. All right. So, there we go.

Let's get into it. Division power rankings. Greg wrote up the piece. Is it have a vanity URL? No. All right. You could find it on Google. If you do NFL.com, colon,

and then put it in quotes, 2016 NFL division power rankings. You'll get it. That's the best way. I'm about NFL.com slash Rosenthal. That would do. That's a great one too. Greg wrote a nice piece here.

Greg, why don't you set it up for exactly how this all works? We've been doing it every year. Well, the six around the NFL writers, the four in this room, and then we've got Kevin Patrick coming at you from Detroit lifting his weights. Not a body. He sent in his top eight divisions.

Connor Orr sent in his top eight divisions. Everyone here did. And you add it all up in a complicated mathematical stew, add up the numbers. And you see who's on top, who's on bottom. Some definite trends emerged this year. Four different divisions got the votes for top division. A lot of disagreement this year.

It was a tough one. I feel like it's a very balanced league right now. Well, this is why it's tricky because there's, for every division where you're going to, oh, well, this is the best division in football, there's some bum team at the bottom of the standings that you have to factor in because you want to, and we'll get, we'll get into it. But I tend to lean towards the divisions that were a little more balanced, even if they didn't have the best teams because there were no tomato cans. I took that into effect. But that did not change the number one division on the board, which has right now, you know, one of the biggest. tomato cans in the Cleveland Browns, the AFC North, rises to the top. The NFC West was our top division for three straight years.

AFC North, I looked back, was always in the top three, top three or four. And now we put it as number one. I think it makes sense because to me they have three teams that could make the Super Bowl. That's giving the Ravens a lot of credit, but I wouldn't shock me if the Ravens made the Super Bowl. So I think that's what helped out the AFC North. I don't know if any other division. Where the Niners have crumbled in the West. Right.

And so you have the Niners and the Browns kind of cancel each other out, but you would take the AFC North's depth, I guess, over other divisions. But we all disagreed. I actually had them third, I think. It was just no one had them anywhere lower than second or third. And so that helped them out. So it just added up basically, so if they were first, they got eight points. Did you do it like that?

Exactly. Two people voted AFC North, number one. Two people voted the NFC West. Number one, I believe it was Kevin Patrick coming at you. No, he had him second. I believe you and Connor were the two AFC North guys. Am I wrong? I was the AFC West.

But, I mean, it makes sense. And I think a big reason why they took it in this group of six is that I could, well, I could speak for this room, at least, that we're all very high on the Ravens this year. I think having a bounce back season. And we still think that Bengals are going to be good. And we love the Steelers. So that makes a lot of sense.

Even if the Browns go 3 and 13, the rest of these teams, they all seem like they could be 10 plus. Well, you can't ask for any division to typically have four major contenders. I mean, the idea that, and Greg said it, with the North, it wouldn't surprise you if three of those teams made the Super Bowl on any level. And I look at the Pittsburgh as a favorite in the AFC. I think their defense gets better. I think the Bengals roster is right there with any team in the league. I don't really know if the Ravens will bounce back. They have had two out of the last three seasons.

either mediocre or just terrible. But they have legitimate quarterbacks in this division, or those three teams do. This was by far the hardest year to do this exercise, I thought. I don't think there's much separating. I agree. The only thing I knew going into this, what I would have the NFC East last, partly out of spite, just because of what you mentioned in the article,

they get so much hype, they get so much television time. Everybody thinks they're a great division, and frankly, they don't have any good teams. Right. And I'm looking at our list last year, the one-two spot was NFC West number one and AFC North number two. So they flip, in our opinion, from one March to the next. I had NFC West number one because, and so did Mark, I believe. I don't know what your reasoning Mark was.

But mine was basically they have the best one-two punch. I mean, they have two of the top four teams. And since what Wes was saying, that no division's kind of perfect, that just was enough. And the Rams to me are, they're underachieving, but they're a solid team. You got the turd in the punch bowl with the 49ers. But you have, I only think there's... Such a gross saying, by the way. That sounds like a terrible party.

It's not a Greg thing specific. A lot of people use that. And it's like an actual piece of human feces in fruit punch. He was for a long time leaning on fly in the ointment. That was a big, big phrase of Greg's down the stretch and through the postseason. So he's now taken into another level. Working a little blue. This is Bachelor Greg on display once again.

I'm speechless right now. The old herd in the punch ball. Got any other graphic? Him and Jeslnick just fly into Asia. You know what my main takeaway from this was? What? The top eight teams in the league for me were pretty easy. And then nine through 28 or 30.

You could rank them just about anyway. And then the Browns and 49ers are way well. Well, you had the eight, you had the most out there. uh number one ranking of any division how about the uh the agnostic over there picking the a fc east as the number one division whereas dan and i uh you know did not well you know i carry that water up and down the hill for the patriots down up down up down so they're number one obviously on this list because they're number one every year for me they're yeah they're the best team in the league and you know when they don't win the super bowl i think the bills will be a little bit better this

year the jets will be a 500 type of team and the dolphins are around 500 too they don't have any weak sister's there yeah they're the example of the yeah the weak sister uh clause see i think the a fc west is like the afc east in that way they don't have the afc west in my mind has two of the worst five teams in the league what the rams are going to go into i said that no the a fc west is four strong teams i think those are four good teams i had them up high because to me any one of those four teams could make the playoffs and it wouldn't surprise me maybe not go to the super bowl but The division is Mark Sanchez as its quarterback. Right, but the worst team in the division has Philip Rivers as its quarterback,

and you've got some other good quarterbacks and some promise there. I don't know if we've said any of the actual order other than the one, too, but I don't think so. One through four is AFC North, NFC West, NFC West, number three, and then AFC East number four. So West had them at number one. I'm assuming the rest of us had to have them at the middle of the pack or significantly lower for them to fall to four.

These votes were very close. This was like our election. Your vote really counted. If one person had gone off, it would have totally changed things. These four were all pretty tightly bunched. The NFC North, which we'll get to, fifth was kind of off on its own, and then the three bottom divisions we all agreed about. So I think we saw, to me, it's a balanced league.

The divisions are balanced, and the AFC and the NFC is pretty balanced. I mean, the exercise is a little bit absurd at this time of year. But I like that the AFC's sad. got out of the number eight spot. And if I really had wanted to go rogue, I don't even remember filling in the answers for this. When was this? Did I home?

You caught me at a weird time and I sent it in over. You were struggling. Yeah, you sent it back. You were actually the first person to send it back. This shouldn't surprise anyone about Sessler. He's at home. He's fighting through an illness. And he sends it back before any of these guys who are on the clock.

Well, maybe put less thought into it, too. I was working at the time. How about the AFC South? I think the AFC South is, I know this sounds like you could probably record to last summer, and I said the same thing. But I think the AFC South, four interesting quarterbacks in that division. That was not the case when they were an absolute joke, a couple seasons ago. Two years ago, they were terrible.

I could see them jumping up to five or something. I think the idea, they're not going to go higher than seven or eight in this exercise because of what they are, but I could see it happening. Nobody believes me. On this, well, no, on this podcast a couple of weeks ago, we talked about five franchises on the rise, three of them are in the AFC South, and the other one's been the usual division winner.

That's also the reason to have your guard up a little bit through, because in springtime, when you start thinking teams are much better, you never really know. No, for sure. But you know they're trying. You know they're more fun to watch. You know the Colts, the Titans, even the Titans because of Marriota,

they have some interest level, and even the Texans, who to me always bored me more than the rest of the division, at least there's something different there that you can get into with you. But Dan's right, though. I mean, this is a division, and you've got to go do it for once. This reminds me of maybe this should be an off-season post. No, it's too late for this.

The most underrated games of 2015 season, number one, Jaguars, Titans, the second time they played. The Thursday night game? The Thursday night game was a total snoozer, and people missed. It was like 42 to 39 in an insane fourth quarter where Bortles and Marriota were just lighting it up. It was a treat. It meant nothing. A treat for everyone who doesn't care about defense. Five through eight, the NFC North, NFC South, AFC South at 7, and then NFC East.

And, yeah, I think Greg, you wrote it in the post, and here's proof that I read the post on the men, that maybe this is a little bit of revolting because we see them so much these teams in primetime settings. And you're just sick of it. You're sick of seeing the Cowboys and Giants playing. And big time Sunday night football spots with Alan, Chris and Michelle with the call. And it's like, what do they do to deserve this? They get the ratings. That's why they get that spot.

But they don't play great football. And there's nobody in that division. I mean, it would be very surprising yes or no if anybody in that division won more than 11 games, correct? Well, what if you, Dallas is incomplete. But last season was a complete nightmare for them. I mean, you get them healthy. You get your quarterback in for 16 games. I can see Dallas.

Well, no, but here's the thing. How do teams get to 11 games? It helps to be in a bad division. If the rest of the division's beatable, you could be a team that isn't really an 11-win type team, but you could win 11 or 12 games. I had them 7th over the AFC South, but I think those two divisions stand out

that they don't really have anyone in those divisions that if any team in either one of those divisions made the Super Bowl, you'd be surprised. I mean, the Colts maybe wouldn't totally shock you. But yeah, I'd be surprised if the Eagles or the Giants. or the Redskins somehow got it together, or the Cowboys. To me, the whole doubt, the Dallas thinks, I think right now, because Jerry Jones thinks it,

that we were one of the best five teams in the NFL two years ago. Then we didn't have Tony Romo. Now we're going to get Tony Romo back so we can be one of the top five teams. And I look at that roster. I don't see it. I don't see it. What's wrong with the roster? Their defense has holes all through it.

I think their front seven, which was a strength last year, is a weakness now. They've lost people, you know, including someone you want to lose, like Greg Hardy. You've got injuries there. There's not much. They've got your boy. They're making the leap guy. Tyrone Crawford. They've got DeMarcus Lawrence who came on like gangbusters last year at the end of the season.

Coming off back surgery. Got a high draft pick. I mean, a lot can change. Sean Lee's one of the best linebackers in the league. I don't know. To me, like, they didn't make a deal with the devil this year. They'll be fun. Wasn't it two years ago that we were saying the Cowboys had the worst defense we had ever seen in our

human existence. That was one of my favorite podcast segments ever. But it was also a drumbeat throughout the offseason that the Cowboys were just a mess. And then they turned in. It's just, you know, let's admit at this point, we're going to four years into the show. It's March 30th. We have no concept what's going to happen with these divisions. That's true.

No respect for the NFC South, by the way. No one had them higher than sixth, despite I think, the best quarterback lineup of any division in the league and the best team in the league last year until the Super Bowl. probably a little guilty on this podcast of concentrating too much on quarterbacks and ignoring the rest of the roster. Well, not in this case. Well, the Saints were legitimately junk for a couple seasons in a row. And they're not any better right now. Bucks got to show it. I mean, what are we loving in that? Why do we think the Bucks defense isn't, I mean, to me, what have they shown that they're a good defense? Well, we're loving that they had the league MVP, the best team in the NFL until

the final day of the season, and three good quarterbacks. So you're hoping that you can get other other things going. Tampa, forget about Tampa for now, but New Orleans in Atlanta, wouldn't shock you if they win 10. I have. New Orleans is easily the worst team in that division. I mean, one team picked number one a year ago, and the Falcons and Saints have been bad years on, for a couple years in a row now. So it's, that's how you wind up near the bottom of this list. Good chatter, guys. Division power ranking, power rankings, NFL.com slash Rosenthal to read the whole thing. Good job, great. Thanks, buddy. Because not only did you recap each of the divisions, then you had a few more thoughts.

I'm hoping to get into your thought bubbles. I think Greg should print this out, fold it up in a nice little square and put it in his pocket, and everywhere he goes in Japan have this article on his body. So he can show it to people? Just to know that he did this. He should turn it in the punch hole. Right. He left with a big gigantic punch to the gut before he departed the country.

Just a bomb on our NFL.com website. Well, the last time I was in Japan was a week after I was hired by the good old NFL. And the NFL Japan offices just blocks away from where my in-laws live. There is an office, just a small, just four people work there. Apparently they closed it down, but now it's free open. I don't know, but I might want to go work there someday. Check it out. You should check it out.

Greg was in Japan. Dan and I both furiously texting each other, convinced we're going to get fired when he comes back. I like the idea of that. Greg's going to come in, restore order. It was a very, it was a time of very little surety. I will say that. You're telling me.

We'll be back on Thursday, at least three of us. Greg will be on an airplane or going to an airport. I will be in the air. You'll be in the air on your way to Japan, so have a good time, the boss. Thank you, sir. Be fun. uh before before you do that though and i'm very excited because i got to send out my first ever calendar invite on our internal email system around the NFL podcast ideas summit right after

this guy so bring your thinking caps maybe do a little i already have one idea red bull uh uh drinking your uh red bull uh anything to really get your mind stimulated a cup of coffee maybe i will not provide any danish no i don't save that for the 14 committee yeah that's for the four committee uh so that's it yes and again the iTunes challenge hashtag iTunes challenge is on let's see if we can manipulate the system and rise up the rankings you know put everybody on notice feel free to belittle us in the comments as long as you give us five stars yeah that's a tradeoff we'll certainly take uh that's it so we'll be back on Thursday uh this is Dan Hansa signing off for quiet storm the mailman the boss

In the Irishman, behind the glass. Till Thursday. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday.

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