NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - DEFCON level of concern for Big Ben, Marshawn Lynch & other struggling players

Episode Date: October 10, 2017

A room filled with some heroes – Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Gregg Rosenthal and Colleen Wolfe recap Mitchell Trubisky's debut in Monday night's showdown between the Bears and Vikings (4:30); Reaction to the Saints trading Adrian Peterson to the Cardinals (12:30) and other news from around the league; Previewing Thursday night's matchup between the Panthers and Eagles (24:00); The DEFCON levels of concern for Big Ben, Marshawn Lynch, Amari Cooper and other struggling players (31:30); Plus, the Super Subreddit contest continues! Have the guys finally crowned their winner? Or will the contest live to see another week? (44:00).Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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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. The Around the NFL podcast can afford avocado toast and a house. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined my room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Colleen Wolfe, and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, people?

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Not a single person attached to this show is ever owned a house in Los Angeles. Or ever will. Don't we live in a house? Or I do. Yeah, I guess we all do. Rent is not really. It's not affording a house.

That's renting space. We could not be further from owning. Yeah. Ask our wives and husbands and other various figures if we're owning property. This is the Around the NFL podcast, presented, of course, by head and shoulders. And special day because it's Mark Sessler's birthday. Happy birthday.

I didn't even know that. Keeping it on the radar. What a genuine reaction from Colleen. We've lost the ability to have that sort of joy for our friend, Mark. I wish I had like a cake or a cupcake or do you don't eat that, though, right? We're good. I mean, as you mentioned, Dan, a lot of. a pop for a 43-year-old man's birthday today.

I'm 44, Greg, but thank you. Before, we passed somebody in the hallway, and it was like, hey, I heard it your birthday. And Mark's like, yep, nailed it. What do you got plans here? Big day, you got a day off tomorrow? What are you going to do? I really have, I've not planned it out much at all, to be honest.

I don't believe that. I think that's something up your sleeve. No, I'm taking them all, but it's to do a lot of work stuff and not be interrupted by work, other work things. Here's my theory. I don't buy this. Check out the Instagram of Mark Sessler tomorrow. I'm predicting.

6 a.m. shots of Los Angeles alleyways at dawn. I want you drinking white wine and texting Greg. Yeah, this feels like it's, it will not be the case. It feels like a trip up the coast type of day. It's a trip up the coast. There's definitely some wine involved. Maybe a hostel. Like that type of thing.

That type of Sessler. That's couch in the middle of a work week. My aspirations are low. We'll see what happens. All right. A lot to get to today. As you know, if you were a listener of our Tuesday show, is jam packed, got Connie Fox

with us, the tiny box they call her. That's right. And you have to be excited because so many things going on. Number one, we got to talk about Monday night football, a game that started out as a stanker and turned into a nice saucy affair

in Chicago between the Vikings and Bears. Also, we are going to take a look at some different players across the league that have struggled, and we're going to break out the DefCon meter and share and express our level of concern for each of these prominent names. And yes, it is back for a third week against Greg's wishes, perhaps against society's

wishes. It is on you, the listener, to end the subreddit super contest because it's back for week three. Oh, my goodness. With the opportunity to win two game tickets to any game in the country or in London. Is it only three? What? Only the third show? Is it the third week?

You know how like, you know, usually you're in the season, you're like, oh, yeah, it flew by, you know, like these shows have not flown by. It feels like we've been doing it forever, right? It is something, it started out as a nice thing for the listeners. It's now turned into a nice thing for me to watch Greg Squirm. I mean, I will say one thing. I love our listeners, but with each passing week, my confidence in their ability in the clutch is less. This is a huge week for the listeners.

Let's be honest. It's a small sample size, though. I'm willing to make rash judgments off a small size, and the knowledge and the ability to deliver has been very low. Put it this way. Put it this way. This is week four. That means we're 0 for 9.

So that's a small sample size, but it's not that small. It's a stack of tomato cans. All right. So we'll see the loose can behind the glass. She has three more contestants lined up for today. and best of luck to you guys. Honestly, it's going to be a lot of disappointment all around the horseshoe if we don't have a winner today. No pressure.

So much to get to. And also, of course, Thursday night preview as well. But let's start with that Monday night football game. Trubisky goes out of the shotgun. The rookie from North Carolina takes the snap, looking over the center of the field, sees nothing, runs out to the right, passes. Intercepted by Harry. hip man and he spits away from train McBride and he dives down at the 29 Harry the hitman picked off Mitch Trubisky with 220 to go in the game and the game's tied at 17 let's go!

Who are we listening to there Erica? I believe that I believe that's Paul Allen. An amazing person. I just know it's Paul Allen. Paul Allen with the call and the hitman is Harrison Smith who had the big interception late in the fourth quarter of Mitch Trubisky making his first NFL start. That was converted into the game-winning field goal

and the Bears come close but they cannot topple the Vikings. A 2017 win for the Vikings over the Chicago Bears a game Greg where the Vikings lost. They're starting quarterback once again who didn't look anything like himself before he was pulled. But Case Keenham stepped in and along with Harrison Smith save the day.

Yeah, Mike Zimmer almost cost the Vikings a game here by starting Sam Bradford and leaving him in so long. Now, we don't know what he saw in practice. It's not a crazy decision to want to get Bradford back out there if he's out there and he wants to play. But Case Keenham is clearly a better quarterback than Bradford. And it really struck me watching this game that how much coaching and experience matters in the NFL? Because no one is surprised that Case Keenum, a fifth-year journeyman, easily outplayed the number two overall pick in the draft. That's just kind of how quarterbacking goes in the NFL,

and Keenham's playing very well this year. I'd have to ask. I think it opens the door in a very strange, almost neat fashion at some point this season for Teddy Bridgewater to reappear as Minnesota's quarterback. I mean, it's out there, it's possible. They say he looks like at some point, even after week seven could be healthy enough to play.

They're going to be cautious with it. But to think how this Bradford thing has played out, how interesting that Bradford finally would open the door for Bridgewater to come back. I thought it was striking, and he's always kind of look like this. But I remember thinking when Pradford took the field, he just looked frail. He looked skinny. He didn't seem to be, he didn't look like a starting quarterback.

He couldn't move. And then when he started moving, and I think it makes Jared golf look bulky. He even, yeah, he even stayed in the game longer than he should have. I mean, the last time after they got the fumble deep in Chicago territory, and he took that sack where he was clearly, he looked like Joe Namath in 1976. I mean, he looked that fragile and a guy that. shouldn't have been anywhere near the field at that point. So credit to Keenham.

And I, yeah, Zimmer didn't do a good job with this. I was struck, Colleen, by John Fox. Oh, my God. We killed John Fox around here. And rightfully so, for the most part. And he's on the hot seat. We all know that. But he did some things that kept his team in the game.

I loved it. First of all, he was so animated on the sidelines. When he jumped up, it was almost like he got so much air. I don't know what his vertical is, but I had no idea he had that in him. Also, the fake punt, I mean, that was, I think, the first time that they threw for like over 30 yards. What a patient, beautiful throw that was as well. That was amazing. It was funny.

The two-point conversion, that played a lot design was so much fun to watch. Well, yeah, and I wouldn't credit John. I credit him for green lighting the concept of doing it. But Dowell Loggins, who has been an up and down coordinator, to say the least, dating back to his time with the Titans, with the Browns, there was always elements. of very strange trickery. It often did not work. The extra point last night,

or the two-point conversion, obviously blew up on Twitter. It was a fascinating place. John Fox did not draw that up on his bedside. No, notebook, though. No, that will log into us at Arkansas when they had Felix Jones and Darren McFadden and had a crazy running attack.

Like, he likes using that sort of attack. And that's what you need when you don't have any receivers. And we haven't really talked about Tribisky who showed some really good things early in the game in terms of accuracy and he can throw on the move. And that's great, but penalties and drops, and we're giving, logging some credit, but let's be honest, they scored seven points on offense.

Oh, yeah. I mean, if Mike Lennon scored seven points on offense and went 12 for 25 for 128 yards, you probably get killed. But I think if you watched the game, you didn't really feel that way about you. No, and it's a very solid defense that knows the Bears well in the Minnesota. But I will say this, that you wanted to come out of this as a Bears fan that has failed to draft or groom a quarterback for so long to see some of the same traits you saw in August

and you did. He was getting crushed by his wide receivers. He's one of these quarterbacks. It reminds me of Deshaun Kaiser and others. No help around you. You're alone as the quarterback, but he did a lot of good things. Offense was crushing him.

And then Everson Griffin was amazing in this game. That defense, the Vikings defense, played so well. We mentioned Harrison Smith at the beginning of the show. And then Xavier Rhodes, he wasn't even targeted the entire game for the first time in his whole career. They have a lot of guys playing at their highest levels right now. Griffin is playing better than he ever has.

Daniel Hunter's played really well the last few weeks. Barr's starting to step up. Which, by the way, wasn't that weird that John Gruden kept talking about how much he wanted to look like, Daniel Hunter? Oh, yeah. Did you guys catch that? I believe we have that, actually. It was one of my favorite moments of the night.

If I could look like anybody on the planet, I'd probably want to look like DeNeil Hunter. I mean, he definitely came up with that line like 48 hours earlier thinking about what he should say on Monday Night Football. but it's passable. It's weird, though, because I've always felt that way, too. And Neil Hunter was always my ultimate North Star in terms of body. So we have that sense, Ian John Gurdon. Wait, Mark, you think he cooked that up, like, days in advance? Absolutely.

Well, the experience came days in advance. He said it was from walking around the facility, and so he was already had the impression in his mind. And, yes, I think they prepare all sorts of things they're going to say. And a couple minutes later, they continued with the conversation, and they both went in on it and started talking about it. Even among NFL players, he's what, you know, they call it, like, in the draft prospect, they go, oh, he's got a body beautiful. I can't tell if anyone's being serious or not right now.

Yeah, we're serious. Yeah. I've been, wait. I got to plug in on this guy. Wait, you think that it's, you think that it would be an incredible scenario to come up with quips and comments before Monday night football, actually the cameras go on? I think that they. Well, it's not, it's more like, it's a look behind the curtain of Jay Gruden, like what, or John Gruden, like what. He imagines.

He's large and muscular. I mean, even among NFL players, he's a large, imposing. Have you guys ever had that thought? That is a weird doubt. You don't have to say who the person is? Well, I thought we could go around. You want to have someone else's body and stuff? Yeah.

Like, if you ever looked at someone and say, ooh, I want that body? Like a thousand times. But like a specific individual? Yeah, Stephen Gaskowski for me. Yeah, but not a football player. I would like to be taller. And, like, there's a lot of Instagram models that,

that I could go, yeah, that would be fine. I mean, everyone does, but to have a specific person that you would want to buy. I mean, I think it was a little bit of a bit, you know, and it was a good one. A weird thing to come up with a head time if that was the case, though. Yeah, I loved it. And their defense and Hunter, they saved them because they only had 30, 40 yards in the first half. Yeah. The defense outscored the Bears defense three to two in the first half.

Basically, there was no offensive play in the first half whatsoever. And Keenham, it should be noted, is fifth right now in ESPN's QBR, ahead of like Tom Brady and Matt Ryan and Aaron Rogers. He's seventh among pro football focus. I mean, he has been a really good sign. Not saying he's going to pick it up, but him and Pat Schumer have done an incredible job this season. All right, let's move on. All right, let's do some news, and we'll start with something that came down on Tuesday morning,

involving a name brand in the NFL that's been struggling. Peterson has been traded to the Arizona Cardinals from the New Orleans Saints NFL Network's Tom Pellisero reported this this morning. ESPN had the first report. Rap sheet added that the Cardinals are sending back a conditional late round pick all day, told NFL Network Stacey Dales, I'm so ecstatic. Kind of like a Jesse from Saved by the Bell moment right there. So Peterson has been a non-entity for the Saints. Colleen, 27 carries for 81 yards and four games, never had a defined role, was lost in the shuffle there.

And now he goes to Arizona, probably good for the Saints. And what does it mean for the Cardinals? Well, I mean, the Cardinals, they had nothing going on with the run game. So at least they can try and give this a shot and see if maybe it works. Cutting Chris Johnson, like he did nothing for them. And the fact that they had no John Brown, like it's just the way that, or David Johnson, the way that that offense works, it's just not helping them at all that they don't have that run game. So I think it kind of works out for both parties.

It's great for the Saints who I'm sure are thrilled to get his salary off the books and basically the distraction after they realized that he didn't really fit on that team and that they don't need him. Remember, he was signed before they drafted Alvin Camara and they see how everything's working. I find it interesting to see these two players, two of the best running backs of the last decade, kind of two ships passing in the night again. I remember an offseason where the hot take debate was

which running back is better. CJ 2K or Adrian Peterson, the two best players in the league, and now they're kind of at the end of the line. And it's almost like making a somewhat sad Cardinals team a little sadder, though. It's like this old, not that fun to watch anymore team. It's desperate.

Yeah. It's a team that none of us believe is going anywhere, prove us wrong. And you've added a player that at this point, I think if you're totally detached from football and you see this in the newspaper, you say, wow, Adrian Peterson of the Cardinals, that's huge for the Cardinals. But if you've watched Adrian Peterson this season, and I think he would benefit by being on a team maybe in Arizona where you're not brought in in the third quarter to carry the ball three times, if he's going to succeed, he's a flow runner, give him more of a chance. But it is a desperate move, and I would be surprised if it pays off. He should be better than Chris Johnson, though. So I get why. How could you not be? You could have, you could step in.

do more than Chris Johnson did last game. That is false. Chris Johnson, if you watch their most recent game, Chris Johnson, can it move the ball? It's also the offensive line. The offensive line is problem, but Chris Johnson is way on the other side. And maybe Peterson, listen, everyone's completely writing him off now. I'm not saying I'm expecting him now to run for 1,000 yards and 10 games there. But he's going to get the ball. You don't have to worry about him sniping on the sidelines, at least the start right now.

He's going to be a workhorse on that team. And we'll see what happens. It is. It's a little bit desperate. It's definitely a Hail Mary for the Cardinals who are just looking for something to inject into the season that's been very flat. Maybe a Hail Mary for both, too, at this point, because he was obviously frustrated. And I don't think I've seen enough out of Adrian Peterson to say he's totally washed up. He did not fit there at all.

There were a couple runs where he ran pretty hard this season. Like, you barely saw anything. It was just obvious that he had no business being on that team. I just would give him a chance to completely run the show as the running back and see what you got. All right. Moving on. one of the stranger storylines

and it popped up on it popped up on Reddit and then kind of or Facebook and then went viral with the help of Reddit a Dolphins offensive line coach named Chris Forrester was a video starting

getting passed around of him apparently at the Dolphins facility snorting lines of something Colleen what was it? White substance. Yeah but you know What do you think of it? Why are you putting me on the spot like this?

I don't know what it was. I thought maybe, you know. So he was snorting something and I was insinuating drug use on your part, but that was just to do it. What are you doing? This is such a weird setup. You're not a drug addict. Colleen doesn't do drugs. That was a bit.

Chris Forrester apparently might have a problem. So it gets out there. He's taking a strange turn. Yeah, it gets out there. It gets out there and Forrester resigns the next morning. Cut to next week. Colleen, we hear is only a. cheering on the Dave Damashchev football program.

And now exclusively on the Dave Damashek football program, Colleen Wolf. So anyway, Chris Forrester, no longer with the Dolphins after this truly bizarre video services, Mark. And that is one way for you to shipwreck your career. That's one way to do it. Yeah. Well, there are multiple things here that I think I would suggest someone maybe don't do. A, like publicly film drug use after the concept.

of doing it to begin with. That's someone's different, you know, you can have different takes on that. But why did you just look at collie in there? Wait, why are you setting this up? Dan, damn it, stop it. That's absurd. That was an absurd pot stirring attempt.

Here's the thing. Do not, when you do these things that probably are not going to look good to your employer, send the video to, I guess, a woman of the night. I don't know what else to call her, but just be careful who you can sort with in general and stop sending out, you know, self-damaging videos

because it leads to this. It appeared to be an escort slash girlfriend. You know, the line is hazy there when finances are involved, most likely. But, yeah. I think also in this, let me bring it back. Some great takeaways from this. He almost became the Rams offensive coordinator, but the dolphins had blocked it in the offseason. Well, here was my most shocking thing.

Although this was about as shocking. There's been some crazy dolphin stories over the year. Some that they want to forget, including their last. Offensive Line Coach, or maybe it was two ago. Of course, we remember that whole scandal in terms of bullying and everything. There's been some crazy Dolphin stories over the years. But one of the craziest takeaways I had from all this, Chris Forrester was reportedly making between $2.5 and $3 million a year.

Good gig. As an offensive line coach, which is shocking, JHA's four-year contract is worth $2.5 million. And their line coach is making more than that. Well, the only thing I'd say to that, because there was. There was a year where the Browns line coach vanished, and their line, which actually was meant to be good, completely crumbled. And it's easy for us to say it's just a position coach.

Like, fill in the blank with the next dude. No, I get it. But it can blow up that room. Like, the coach is the centerpiece of that entire room. I get it. It's not like their line is doing anything great, though, right now. The line is basically imploding itself, too. It just shows you how underpaid the players are.

That's all I'm saying. Compared to if in a free market, that guy can get two and a half to three million. Yeah, and guess what? He'll be working again in two seasons, if not next season. That's how this thing works. Well, hopefully, he can get the help that he needs. It's fair.

He clearly has a problem. Yeah, clearly there's a problem here. Also, mark it down October 10, 2017, 10.50 a.m. Woman of the night used for the first time on our podcast. I don't know. Go back to our Super Bowl show from two or three seasons ago, and Dan was on quite a jag about a situation close to that. Was that in Arizona?

I don't even, I don't know what you're referring to. You were trying to insinuate things about other people on the show, which was untrue. Oh, that you, oh, you in a connection to a connection to a Woman of the Night. Which was utterly false. All right. Go back and find that. I don't remember that, but I like this.

All right, let's move on. Apparently, let's move on the Bucks. Oh, my goodness. The Bucks, they're making another change at Kicker. Aguayo. Folk. What the fuck? These are getting increasingly darker, Dan.

We actually stopped down the show for like 11 minutes to make sure that was part of today's episode. It was very important that guy. Yes. Nick Falk, who... This is a window into Dan's soul that I'm not entirely comfortable with. Nick Fulk, who beat out Robbie Aguayo for the Bucks kicker job this summer. He is now also out of a job. Tampa Bay is cursed at the business.

So now they have after folk had a dreadful, just a dreadful week four or week five. And season in general, he's gone. In comes Patrick Murray, former Saints and Brown's booter, according to Mark's copy. Mark, this is a move that Tampa had to make. And you knew it, you knew it based on the comments that were made by Dark Cutter after the game, after Folk. What do you do? He basically lost the game to the bench. A week before it cost them seven points to.

They did not give many vote of confidence, so you knew it was just a matter of time. So Murray takes over for folk. And hopefully for the bucks, he brings some stability to a position that's been a total train wreck now for a year and a half. By the way, you only go booter and copy when I've had to use kicker like multiple times. Like, well, this is how these things work, Greg. So, you know, listen, here's a thing. That's how you write, Greg. I would just say kicker again.

I know. I know you would. Here's what annoys me. me out of here and let me begin my birthday. No, not at all. Here's what annoys me because I think, number one, if you're dirt cutter, you are just driven nuts. You want to assume as a head coach, this is not the thing you want to have at the top of your

bullet points of I need to be concerned about weekly with my team. There's a lot. You've got trying to develop a young quarterback and offense, but people tweeting saying, oh, well, this is a bigger issue than like these teams that don't have quarterbacks, the Jets, the Browns, other teams like, no, no, no. You're going to find a kicker. This thing's going to sort itself out. Don't tell me that you're in a worse situation than these teams that haven't had a quarterback.

It's really not that hard. You just found a kicker who was already on your team. He used to be on the box, and he made like 25 straight field goals. It does feel hex, though. Something feels like turtle dark arts magic going on with that team, and I don't like it at all. And finally in the news, Y.A. Tittle, the Hall of Fame quarterback, not a booter, a Sigma caller for the cults, 49ers, Giants. He passed away on Sunday night, 90 years old. Mark, you wrote a obit up friend.

NFL.com. He was seen or is seen as one of the trailblazers in terms of the passing quarterbacks in the NFL used to be a lot more boring. If you don't, if you're not a fan of like three yards up the middle, cloud of dust, Tiddle was part of the group that kind of changed how offenses worked. Well, and also all these quarterbacks that are constantly getting headlines because they want to play until they're late 30s. I might play until I'm 36. Like this guy played till 38 long before sports science and all that other nonsense rose up. He was taking the Giants into the playoff picture in the mid-60s when he was in his late 30s.

This guy was also the play... If you don't remember growing up as a football fan and see the iconic photo of him, I think it was his last season in the league after he had thrown a pick six, sitting kneeling on the turf, blood coming down from his forehead. He was called the bald eagle because he had a bald head.

That's one of the most iconic NFL photos ever. And he also is the guy that threw seven touchdowns, in one game against the Redskins. Wow. Y.A. Tittle, dead at the age of 90, rest in peace. That's it for the news. And now let's move on to the Thursday night football preview presented by shoulders of greatness.

Head in shoulders, shoulders of greatness. I'll get it eventually. That was good. That was good. Yeah, did my best. All right. Here we go, Greg. Philadelphia Eagles. the Carolina Panthers.

Oh, Maron, how about this? CBS and Jimmy Nance and Antonio Romo, all excited because they got a banger here. Two four-and-one teams. And I'll say it, Greg, I'll throw it out there. Potential NFC championship game preview. I don't care. I'm saying it.

Colleen would love that. I love that because these are two of my most favorite teams to watch because of the quarterbacks because they're so entertaining. The fact that if you had told me going into the season, the Eagles would have a great running game and the Panthers would be the team the last few weeks when they really get it going which is all about the pass

and I would be a little worried about how they play with a lead. They gave up that lead in part because they could not run the ball but it didn't matter because no one right now is any better throwing intermediate passes up the seams more than Cam Newton. Yeah I obviously can't wait for this game I think that Carson Wentz

the way that he's been able to spread the ball around and get so many different guys involved. We saw Tori Smith finally get a touchdown and the way that he's connecting with Nelson Agilor who couldn't even catch last year. I mean, he was dropping everything last year. And now he's scoring these long touchdowns. Plus the defensive line there, they had Fletcher Cox out and it doesn't even matter because Timmy Jernigan, that was an amazing job by Howie Roseman to bring him in this year because it doesn't even look like a problem. Yeah. Like this. I know. I'm excited. Are you waiting all day for Thursday night? Yeah. I mean, it's all day. It's the most

exciting Eagles team in a while. It's a fun, it's a team that feels like it has staying power because it's good on both sides of the line. How many NFL teams can you even think of that's like they have a good offensive line and they have a great defensive line? There's not many. Yeah, they were very high for most of

us, I believe, in our power rankings. I had them at two, which I think was a little aggressive, but I kind of think they're rounding into form. I love the fact that you know, early, first two weeks, the ground game seemed like a suspect operation, which is terrible for a young quarterback. Now it's like, you get

Smallwood goes out and they just plug in Kenyon Barner, who looked great on special teams, looked great, you know, catching passes out of the backfield. They got so many different guys that you can attack with. And Zach Ertz is quietly the best tight end in football right now, I think. It's not even close. I mean, Gronk has been... Well, people automatically put

gronk, and I get it, but Ertz has been incredibly productive. A guy that you could count on week after week and especially in a year, I mean, if you want to take it to the fantasy corner, in a year where the tight end position has been so bad that you're going to have teams and leagues that are going to get the flex position and wiping out the tight end because who knows is this position being phased out on some level from a pass catching angle.

Ertz has been a guy every week who's delivering from the guy on the other side of the ball. There's no Ed Dixon. I was going to say, Ed Dixon. Well, Ed Dixon have that many yards the rest of the season. I don't know. The rest of it's totally convinced. 175 yards. This is where you know you have some great shoulders.

When guys that normally aren't doing it, step up. What a company man over here. Yeah, look at it. Devin Funchis has really impressed me week after week with the tough grabs that he's making. And then you have. Those routes he's running are really something. Right. Yeah.

So you know about those routes, right, Colleen. Didn't give me pause. I was like digging on the routes. It's funny, Funchis will be remembered for that forever now. But he's coming into his own. Like, it's just a deep offense, which I didn't expect, kind of like the Eagles. They don't really have one guy's. Andy. Al Sun Jeffrey's been fine. It's nice to have Al Sun Jeffrey. He's not like a dominant number one receiver, but they had eight guys catch a pass in the first half last week. He's spreading it around. I also thought Kelvin Benjamin looked really good. He had the game-sewing test catch. I believe that that mojo seems to be back between Newton and Benjamin. So I don't know. There's a lot of reasons to be excited about the Panthers' ceiling right now. This is a great matchup. I think the Panthers' best game is as good.

as anyone. I don't know if we're going to see that every week, but I think if they have the pieces, I think they're a better team than the Eagles overall if they play their very best. And if they go on, is this game in Carolina? It is. And I think that's a huge advantage.

If they go three straight weeks, winning in Foxborough, winning in Detroit, and then you beat the Eagles, that is an impressive three-game run. And if the Eagles win? NFC East is getting close to being wrapped. Yeah, people are going to be fired up.

That's right. City of Brotherly Love. All right. So there you go. that is the Thursday night preview presented by head and shoulders and all them shoulders of greatness so many shoulders all of them great all right here we go we tease it at the top of the show there are some significant name brand players across the NFL landscape who have not performed up to expectations this season let's go down the list and I'm going to throw some out

there and we'll go around the room who are you really worried about who are you not so worried about it who are you kind of on the fence with and we're going to do this by using this is this is important that I explain this properly because it is the defcon ready the

defecon system it is and people that are not in this country I don't even know if defcon is a thing so this is what you need to know it's an alert state used by the United States United States Armed Forces, and there are five levels. And I was explaining, talking with Connie before the show. Some people think level one is the lowest level of a DEFCON in terms of concern.

Flip it. Flip it. And when I said that to Connie, she said, oh, God damn it. So you're a little worried that. So DEFCON 5 is the highest? That is the lowest state of readiness. Got it. Normal readiness.

Don't worry about DefCon 5, really. DefCon 5, not that big a deal. DefCon 1, there's a major problem. DefCon 1 is the description is nuclear war is imminent. Got it. That's a problem. Okay. Maximum readiness.

We're kind of, like, our country, like, this is getting too real. I would say we're probably around DefCon 2 right now. I'm with you on that, yeah. Next step to nuclear war. I'm glad we're on the West Coast as well, right there. Like, definitely an NFL player's performance after 4. or five weeks of games is, you know, attributable to a nuclear war reference.

Well, that happened to the Vikings last year, right? Yeah, that's fair. Maybe in these times of unease, Mark, the best thing we can do is just kind of make light at the world of the world and just have some fun here in the old studio. And well said. Okay, here we go.

Here we go. Mark's already halfway up the coast in his mind. I'm not, because I am certainly not. This day is almost six or seven more hours of it. The Thunderbird with the top down, the wind going through his hair. I can see it now. The bottle of white wine in the front seat. Not opened yet.

No. But once you get to that beachside location. Blasting the Beatles, you say it's your birthday over and over in his car. We can't use the Beatles. Yeah. We can't stay away from it. We don't want to. Thankfully, we can sing happy birthday though now.

That's a new thing. I don't even know. I'm not sure about that. That isn't it? No, it's new. Yeah, just got cleared. Yeah, just cleared. All right, let's start it out.

And we'll start with the name that is going to be at the top of everyone's list. If you're following the NFL, especially on Sunday, a star that you just cannot figure out. So we're going to start with you, Mr. Sessler. His name is Big Ben Rothelsberger, and he just threw five interceptions and a loss of the Jaguars. And he has not been a very good quarterback all season. Where would you put him? Where are you on level of concern? And where would you put him on the death con scale?

terrible game. I mean, you have to, he's never had a game to that magnitude. I'm going DefCon 4, though, because I think the whole offense feels a little bit out of sync. I don't want to judge Big Ben, who I think is one of the been in the best quarterbacks in NFL history, in the best of our life based on one month's kind of, it's, he's been all right in other games. This was, this was a meltdown, but meltdowns occur occasionally. They happen all the time for lesser quarterbacks. When it happens to him, I'm not calling his career yet. If we're talking about this three weeks from now, the DefCon level raise is much higher for me. I didn't, I thought he had a bad game, obviously very bad game, but some of the picks weren't so bad. And then the game

kind of, I give a lot of credit to Jacksonville. There seemed like there was like 13 guys on the field in the secondary at various points of that game. So I think it was a game that just got out of hand. A receiver slipped at one point. There weren't too many horrendous passes, I thought, by Ben. So I'm with you. DefCon 4 is also, by the way, increased intelligence watch and strengthen security measures. That feels fair. That feels fair, but he's been before this game, solid, but not spectacular, which is not what you expect out of Ben Rothsberger. You expect the spectacular. So I think it is fair to be concerned. If you're just looking at a... Well, how concerned then? I'm going to go Defgon 3, because it's more than, it's more than just

five games. It's last season 2. So he was at 8.4 yards per attempt. a couple years ago, down a full yard last year just about to 7.5, and now we're down to 6.5. So they're not being as efficient as a passing game, really through the last. Well, my one question, would he even be in this exercise on this list if he hadn't had the Sunday meltdown? If he had two touchdowns in a pick and they got out with a win. He has more interceptions than touchdowns so far this year.

And the offense, who we all thought, and a lot of people thought, was going to be this monster machine just hasn't clicked at all. and I think that starts with him. It's not like I think he's at the end of the line. It's more is he done with being a top five quarterback. Because that's what I expect. That's what I've thought Ben Rathesberger is throughout most of his career as a top five guy. And he hasn't been that guy.

All right. Let's move on and talk about Marshawn Lynch, who came to the Raiders, which out of retirement with much fanfare. Things got off to a very nice start. He helped close out a win over the Titans. But ever since, he has not averaged more than 3.8 yards per game in any game. And on the season, he's at 3.4 yards per game,

has found the end zone twice, including on Sunday. But it's been a bit underwhelming, Greg. Where would you put him on your Defcon scale? I would put him at DefCon 5. Lowest state of readiness. I'm not that concerned with him. It's more of the offense as a whole. He fulfills a very particular role in that offense.

And when I watch him run, I think he's running hard. No one's running well for that team. No one's doing anything. I mean, the passing game was struggling. Derek Carr was struggling before he got hurt. There's a lot going on. To me, Lynch is just a part of the system. But if we, because there was a lot of talk that and a lot of praise for him

when he first came back, oh, he hasn't missed the beat. This looks like Prime Lynch. Like, Marshawn Lynch, when he's Marshawn Lynch, makes teams better, makes offensive lines look better, and he has not been that. I mean, he has not been able to carry the load. Well, maybe it's the Colleen Wolf curse. You know, you step back Colleen Wolf a little inappropriately more than a letoff on air, and you don't have a good season.

That's what happens to everybody, anybody who comes at me like that. They don't have a good season. Yeah, heed that. Yeah. So overly frisky and now he's paying the price. I think so. I mean, it makes sense. You just connect to all of those dots and,

What else? How about another Raider? And we'll let you start this one off, Connie. Amari Cooper, who has been really not just not a real contributor, but he's become a liability, it seems, for the Raiders at wide receiver. I'm putting this at one. Whoa. I am so concerned about Amari Cooper.

Wow. It's keeping you up at night. It is. And it's obviously not just this game. I know. This is a major problem. It's imminent. It's not happening.

It's imminent. He hasn't looked the same all season. The drops are crushing them right now. He's four of 23. The last three games combined altogether. Like this is, he's only caught 13 passes on 33 targets. I don't know what's going on with him, but I think it's almost he was struggling at the beginning of the season

and now it's probably in his head, so it's gotten even worse and more pronounced. One seems high. He has a track record. I know he's been in a funk and it hasn't helped now that the quarterback's out. I'll put him at two, a step below one. I'm definitely, I think a lot of people have reason to be extremely concerned with Amari Cooper. But one means like you're almost basically pulling him out of the lineup, which I guess could happen.

But I don't think I'm going to do that. No, I'm just extremely concerned about him. And I wouldn't trust him at all. If he was on my fantasy team per se, I would take him out of my lineup there. DefCon, one in fantasy for sure. Two feels good to me because I think, again, it points back to it's not Marshaun Lynch. It's not necessarily just Amari Cooper. whole Raiders offense that people just ticketed this team. Oh yeah, 12 and 4 roll right into the

AFC championship against the Patriots. Well, it's not happening at all. And it's a good lesson. A, the offensive line doesn't translate from year to year. But Amari Cooper, I think it's the kind of guy, do we find out after the season? He was dealing with X. I don't know what it is, but it's something. Whatever it is. I would go four because this is the same guy. We were talking after week one. Wow, this looks like a different Amari Cooper. He looks even better than ever in terms of his physicality. He's too good, I think, to not snap out of it. I'd love to see where both these guys are in two months. I just realized, Greg, on the Saints.

I feel like I know you very well now at this point, Greg. And in general, a big, like, viewpoint in your life is, eh, it's not a big deal. Eh, don't worry about it. Very laid back. A lot of, like, it's going to be a lot of core advisors in general. That all of our, like, generally players and teams and all of this, like, reverts to their normal means. So when they're down, the logical pick is they're going to go up. Okay.

Let's do two more. How about this one, Mark? Sessler, not specifically a player, but the Tennessee Titans and their exotic smashmouth offense, not a lot going on with the Titans on offense so far this season. Their quarterback's hurt. Hopefully he gets back soon. But in general, the idea of exotic smash mouth in Nashville. I think the team wanted to change a little bit on an offense.

In theory, you added Corey Davis, Eric Decker. You have more weapons, Richard Matthews, through the air. but one of the most unwatchable NFL teams I've seen all season with Marriota replaced by Matt Castle a quarterback totally dysfunctional. And I think it says when you can't, you know, when you can't have to deal with Marcus Mariotto, but it's Matt Castle flinging, you know, dump offs and inaccurate screen passes that you can tee up on the running backs. But they also don't seem to have the offensive line strength. And last year they're putting six, seven blockers. And they were just saying, we're going to come at you. I love that style of football.

I haven't seen it this year. I think DeMarco Murray, you know, it's not a crisis with DeMarco Murray, but he's not the guy from last season next Estillian. Derek Henry, they haven't, last game at least, they didn't quite figure out how to unleash him and get him involved. So the smash mouth thing to me, I put it at a two. Because the Titans to me. Next step, the nuclear war.

I'm baking in the whole Marriott experience. And if he's out for extended more amount of time. But we all know their offense is going to be bad with Matt Castle. I just don't see a major progress from last year's offense. I do not. I see a regression, and so that's why it's as high as it is. This is a team that put up 70 points on the Jaguars and the Seahawks, two defenses we respect, that ran for nearly 200 yards a game in both those games.

So I'm going DefCon. You're going one. Matt Castle is DefCon blow up the whole system. Oh, no, wait. I messed it up. Wait, no. Like Colleen. You know, we're back to you don't care at all about this.

That's what you mean. Like Colleen in the sandwich game, I don't really understand what's going on. I'm going DefCon 5. Of course. I mean, Matt Castle, of course, Matt Castle is beyond DefCon. Matt Castle is like, you're just dead. It's over. It was not me.

The torpedoes second. But if Marcus Marriota is back, then I'm not worried. Here's the worst news. If you have someone that flips the DefCon one switch, you can't unring that bell. and you just led to, like, millions of people slaughtered, Greg. How do you feel about that? We'll get over it, right? I can't.

They'll get over it. They'll be fine. Not a big deal. All right. Last one. And then we've got to go. Let's be quick on this. James Winston.

I have no real take on that. I don't understand why he's on the list. Five. Are we worried about James? I threw him on. The last game, he kind of looked a little off. This is where we differ. You know, you can't put me in a box.

I'm going DefCon 3. James Winston. I don't think he's played well all season. I mean, I don't think the buck's offense has played well. He had a couple quarters where he gets hot for a little bit, but I would say he's been less consistent this season than ever before in the season where we expect him to take another step. I'm a little concerned. It's been a very erratic offense for four straight weeks. It's been consistently not very good. Well, I like getting Doug Martin back, and I do think there's been too much emphasis on trying to make the Deshawn Jackson thing worked quarter after quarter. It seems like his

throws just aren't as accurate as they were before. And the communication is not on the, he's not on the same page with a lot of his guys, especially on that last play with O.J. Howard. Like, where... Maybe it's my surprise. We're not there together. Maybe it's my level of surprise. Where does your return to the mean theory apply to this? Because I think he will. I think he'll be fine. It's a young quarterback that we can't expect

the world from this, you know, this minute. Well, we're talking this season and I'm concerned that that this has been an up, such an... That it might be another kind of up and down, Winston. year, which was not kind of the consensus going into the season. It was seen that he was going to be the next level guy. I get it. That seems right.

All right. There you go. Defcon level concern. Sorry. Struggling players. Kind of mixing, mixing metaphors. Does that make sense? We kind of got a little messy in there.

But we did our best. It's all right. We think we got the mess up. Well, I'm sorry to all the civilians out there that I said death. Oh, they're melted. They're gone now. Literally their shadows are on the pavement. And that's all that's left.

Yeah. Wow. It's so dark in here. It's getting so dark. Oh, my God. Okay. Let's bring some light in, Colin. Please.

Let's stop killing everybody. So we're going to do it with, it's like nuclear death, drug problems. There's so much thing, so many bad things in the world out there. Mark's birthday. Mark's birthday is a nice thing. Yeah. Also, it's a reminder. You guys are far more excited about it than I am, but it is a reminder of the unstoppable

march of time on some level. so that's kind of dark. But one thing that is bright is the subreddit Super Contest Week 4. Is that the DefCon 5 sound? No, it was like a trumpet. Might as well be.

This feels like the nuclear blast to me so far. My level of my fear in this is DefCon 2. Bring it up, people. Get it together. I would put it, I've been shaking a little bit by the listeners last week. I thought that we put out some questions that were, I wouldn't,

say layups, but it was like, hey, guys, we want you to win these damn football. You put it up on a tee, and they walked up, you know, like one of those kids with a bat, and they just hit the actual tea. I want to stay for the whole time. The balls are sitting there, but just hit the tea. The ball falls sadly. Connie wants to say, so let's get right into it if we can. Loose cannon behind the glass.

Who do we have up first today? Colin from New Jersey. Colin from New Jersey, boy. Where in Jersey, Colin? Right near Morristown, Somerset County. Very nice. Are you an Eagles fan? Oh, no way.

I'm a Jets fan. Yeah, Colin. All right. First Jets fan. You know, Colin, that I'm rooting for you here. Maybe even, Marrown, could you potentially have two tickets to Jets Patriots, AFC East on the line? Oh, my Lord.

These books feel very cooked right now. All right. So you know I'm rooting for you, but at the same time, Colin, I cannot do anything, but read the questions, and you need to get four answers in a row, or we say goodbye. And even despite being a Jersey guy and being a Jets fan, we're hanging up the phone if you fail, and there's nothing else to say. That's fair. All right, let's do this thing.

I'm ready. The Houston Texans lost two key defensive players to season-ending injuries in Sunday nights lost to the Chiefs. Name them. Jay J.J. Watt and Whitney Merciless, the coolest name in the NFL. Yeah. Oh, I'm feeling good. I think it ends here. One for one.

I think the contest ends. Good job, good job. This quarterback has started games with three different NFC teams since being taken first overall in the 2010 NFL draft. Sammy Bradford. Yeah, buddy. Halfway home. Christian Anderson had his finger on the trigger, ready to hang up on you behind the glass, but no.

Halfway. Did it. All right. Now, Colin from Morristown, New Jersey. Let's do this. This is the question tied to around the NFL podcast trivia. How long have you been a listener? Two and a half years.

So you should be okay here. You're good. Uh-huh. Question three. Who is John Gonzalez? Who is John Gonzalez? That is Colleen Wolfe's lovely husband from Philadelphia. Yeah, that's correct.

That's right. You got it. I live there for a couple years, big fans. All right. Even those guns. I mean, this is just, we don't even need the fourth question. Just send the tickets. Wow.

I like this guy. My girlfriend went to the Mount, and I told him about the Gwinnett Academy story. Oh, yeah. That's where my sister went, the Penny story. Yeah. We're all basically family on that side of the country. Classic. Classic Wolf story. Classic Wolf.

All right. So, there you go. That's three for three. If anyone is curious about John Gonzalez, there's even more information if you want to hear it. Did you just get hired by the ringer? He did. Oh, there's also this information.

John Ronald Gonzalez, Port March 12th, 1977 is an American sports writer who's a mayor to NFL media broadcaster, Colleen Wolf, John, who is a Pisces resides in Los Angeles with his wife in two dogs. Okay. Originally, Dan Wanda. That needed to be the complete answer. I said this is ridiculous.

Yeah. That was me literally trying to kill Greg. But I'll take lovely husband and Philadelphia native. Okay, here we go. This is for all the marbles three in a row. You got it. Wait for my cue. You ready?

Oh, yeah. Christian, don't hang up. His finger's on the button. Here we go. This is an audio clue. The bears are what we thought they were. What we thought they were? We played them in preseason.

Who the hell takes a third game in the preseason? Like it's bullshit, bullshed. We played them in the third game. Everybody played three quarters. The bears are who we thought they were. That's why we took the damn field. Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their asses. But they are who we thought they were.

And we let them off the hook. Put a name. That is the former Arizona Cardinals coach, Kevin Green. Oh, no! Oh, no, no. Hang up! I thought that was the easiest question by far. It was incorrect.

That's the incorrect answer. It is not Kevin Green. Wow. Kevin Green is a Hall of Fame pass rusher. Well, he might have. Did he say Kevin or Devin? Doesn't matter. You didn't say the right answer.

We know that. Right? I can't believe that. All right. Let's get another one on the line. I am literally. I mean, these are not layups. These are, if you woke up out of bed and you're still awake, you should be able to answer.

I think the first couple were pretty tough. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. Wow. I mean, honestly. If you get past the first two, you are smooth sailing unless you're simply, I don't know. You crumbled.

I haven't been that disappointed since my parents told me that you don't love me. Wait a second. This is a dark show. All right. We got somebody else on the line. I'm honestly a little bit stunned right now, and I'm trying to be a professional. But, all right. Who's on the line?

We've got. Ryan from Los Angeles, right, Ryan? Yes, that's me. I mean, Colin could have been at Jetspat. I'm sorry, people. You're very lucky the caller before you could not have been any closer to winning the tickets, but now you've got a chance. That's scary.

That's very scary. All right, I'm going to all that sounds like he's downstairs in our newsroom. All right, who's this again? Ryan from Los Angeles? Yep. Yeah. All right. Here we go.

Ryan, you are fortunate. man the contest goes on four questions in row you got to get right you ready i'm ready let's do it the houston texans lost two key defensive players to season ending injuries and sunday nights lost to the chiefs name them that will be j jay watt and whitney merciless all right we're rolling one for one this quarterback has started games with three different nfc teams since being selected first overall in the 2010 NFL draft. Sam Bradford? Very good.

Halfway home. All right. All right, this is the around the NFL podcast question. Who is John Gonzalez? John Gonzalez is Colleen Wolfe's husband. Yeah!

Real tough one. That's amazing. You never know. All right. We're back where we started. That's how he describes himself, too, just generally when he's walking around. Yeah. That's how we bought him on shows.

You know her from all the NFL Network shows. Ryan, who's your team? I'm sorry? Who's your team? I sit on the throne of ease. Oh, wow. So he could be going to Patriots fans. Had a Jets fan now of a Patriots fan.

You're in L.A., though. Do they have any West Coast trips? I'll check that out for you. Check that out. I hope so. Did you have any, have you looked ahead of that? much to say what game you would target if you do get this final question.

I think the closest game to L.A. is in Denver. They play Oakland in week 11. Oh. And you're fully aware that the shadowy league figures did not provide any airfare or lodging. I am aware of that. That's disappointing. That one's in Mexico

City. Oh, that's true. That's in Mexico City. Would you like to venture there? I can't, on my well, I won't say it. All right. Here we go. Come on, Ryan. You could do this, Ryan. This is an audio clue for two tickets on the throne of ease.

The bears are what we thought they were. What we thought they were? We played them in preseason. Who the hell takes a third game in the preseason? Like it's bullshit. Bulls-s-hirt. We played them in the third game. Everybody played three-quarters.

The bears are who we thought they were. That's why we took the damn field. Now, if you want to crown them, then crown their asses. But they are who we think. thought they were, and we let them off the hook. Answer. Who is that? I'm going out on a limb.

I'm going to say, that's green. Oh! That's correct. That's correct. Did I win? Ryan from Los Angeles. Yes, you did.

I won. This is up at a super contest. Congratulations. I like that he didn't know that he won with all the screaming. Thank you. Thank you for ending this just how it should with a Jets fan getting as close as human as possible and blowing it and then a Patriots fan taking it home. Wow. A big victory.

Oh, it makes sense now. Wow. Yeah. Devin Green was it? Kevin Green. He said Kevin Green, I believe. The previous. The previous caller.

Yes, the previous caller said Kevin Green at the very end. The correct answer is Dennis Green. He was the, at the time, the late Dennis Green. He was the Arizona Cardinals head coach after they really blew a game against the bears. So there you go. Ryan from L.A. wins two tickets. The first ever subreddit super contest is in the books. Congratulations, Ryan.

Stay on the line with Loose Cannon. She'll help you out with the details of what you need to know to find out. But congratulations, buddy. Great job. Thank you for ending our, you know, collective misery. Well, Greg, what did you learn about the idea of rewarding listeners for how much they love our show? I hope you learn that it's good to reach out to the listeners and share moments with them like that. That's special moment that Ryan just had.

That's true. I mean, you could have just given them the tickets. That would have been a special moment. Like call one out. Yeah, you don't need. to go through so many hoops and make them act like monkeys for your entertainment.

Right. Okay, Greg, good job. That is the subreddit super contest. 2017. Good news. We'll be back in 2018, buddy. Yeah. All right.

What drama here in Studio 66? We have to get going now. But just a reminder that the live stream of this episode, is on NFL.com slash ATN video. You can check it out starting at 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern, elsewhere in the world, figure it out. And also a reminder that NFL Pickham, our show on NFL Network,

airs on Saturdays at 9 a.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Eastern. And then Sunday morning once more at 6 a.m. Eastern, where we actually lead into Connie Fox and the Game Day Morning Crew. So thank you to everybody for listening. Thank you for being a part of the Subreddit Super Contest. The turnout was really great, and we love interfacing with you guys. So thank you for being part of that. And let's go.

This is Dan Hansis, signing off for Quiet Storm, Connie Fox, the old boss, loose cannon behind the glass, and everybody else. Christian, finger on the trigger. Until Thursday. Hey. 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,

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