NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - MNF Recap & Team of ATL Nominations

Episode Date: September 13, 2016

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – recap the Monday Night Football double header, including the Steelers defeating the Redskins and the 49ers shutting out the Rams. Then the heroes break down the latest NFL news including Robert Griffin III being placed on injured reserve and the Saints cutting ties with running back C.J. Spiller. Finally, the guys preview the Thursday Night Football matchup between the Jets and Bills before sharing their nominees for the “Team of ATL.”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.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

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 does not endorse picking up mysterious hitchhikers. 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. I thought I'd let you guys down on Sunday at the top of the show. You did. I didn't even say why. No, okay. Fair enough. When you couldn't hide your disappointment about the Patriots winning

and you said that they were ruining football, that part? That is something I believe in. In fact, I have launched an outright war against the Patriots. You're digging in on that. I like it. Yes. Remember this now. The war has begun.

Me against the Pats. Cancel the Pats, save football. Sure, Bill Belichick's shaking in his boots right now. I like to cancel that. You know, West just jumping from lily pad to lily pad, Cardinals, Patriots, you know. In that water. Some of us stay loyal to the team that we fell in love with.

It's a good story. You know, loan blogger versus multimillion-dollar, you know, billion-dollar NFL entity. The fourth season of Ed, you can't just cancel it. You can't just eliminate them as a, as a, series an ed ref all right i like it anyway the patriots i'm coming for you watch out don't know what i'm going to do yet it's going to be big though and it's going to change everything but i wanted to apologize about sunday i should have had my for a new season some new slogans for the NFL so on

the way back from the restroom before the show i just glad you brought this up because we've gotten a lot of tweets about this so we don't know what to say so you can do it for us here we go and you got as always let me know honestly how you feel about them okay the NFL will never be stopped little sinister who was I mean it's a little bit like the Patriots okay so that's a bad one

I feel like you're throwing that one out early to almost set you gotta have the better ones later that's what I'm saying hmm okay the NFL we stand for the national anthem or sit whatever you think is the right way is pretty cool by us

cover everything everybody's happy I mean, it feels accurate to me. I would run that by RG3 to see if that's an acceptable slogan. He tends to be an expert on these issues. Kicking him in while he's down. Wow. I like that one. If you're going to slogan here, you're going to have to run it by RG3.

All right, final one. And this one kind of ties into the first one I threw out there because I think it's important, but maybe I didn't quite hit on it. Maybe I haven't. And I want you to keep in mind Mark Cuban's comments about the NFL a couple years ago. The NFL, Hog to slaughter?

More like hog heaven. I think that's a winner. That one is, that sticks. Is that like a shot at Mark Cuban? Well, it's a, it's in reference to Cuban's comments that you think the NFL is getting too big for itself and will eventually bring the whole organization down. This slogan's saying, yeah, well, deal with it. Work can happen.

Works on a lot of levels. You know, a reference, not really a reference, but, you know, the hogs, they were a great offensive line. I'm a big fan of pork products in general. love it so hog slaughtered that that makes me happy pairs up well with the generally gluttonous nature of the entire country right now there you go really proves my long-running theory that you are in fact smarter than mark cuban well i don't have his money so i think he's way smarter but uh all right i'll i'll i'll keep at it though but it's off to a decent start i like the hog heaven one you're off to

you're off to a start we don't need to categorize what kind of start you're off to okay today's podcast um which is sponsored by no one of course uh and i don't see a sponsor coming anytime soon. We exist essentially in a vacuum. But we have you, the listeners, to thank for, by the way, making our week one recap show our highest downloaded show ever. So we have support from outside the building. That's the main thing.

We appreciate it. I think you guys have been listening about listening to comments on iTunes and telling your friends. It has really got some momentum. So we have you to thank. Thank you very much. Today's show is a good one because we're going to talk about the Monday night football games, which maybe weren't great games, but.

Listen, talking football. That's fun. I like to talk football with the boys, Greg. You know that. You made that clear during the division previews. Like you like it, but only up to a certain point. Well, I'm not past the line yet. We're going to do some news.

We're going to hit the Thursday night preview with a big AFC East matchup between the Jets and Bills. And then, yes, it will be time for our team of ATL nominations. Team of ATL. And we'll get into exactly what that means when the time comes at the end of the show. But before we do that, let's talk Monday night football, which featured two games, Chris Wesleyan. And let's start off. Let's do it in the order in which they were played in D.C. or just outside it, the Redskins coming off a very nice season where they got to the playoffs, won the division. Now welcome a big boy into the town, one of the two percenters of the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steel.

and it doesn't look pretty at the end of four quarters. The Steelers dominate on both sides of the ball, a 3816 win. I thought at one point, I wondered if Kirk Cousins and Big Ben were even playing the same sport. They play quarterback so opposite of each other. Big Ben is so aggressive, so fun, so willing to take chances. And Kirk Cousins is a checkdown machine. His ball location was off, and Big Ben's ball location is always on. I just thought that Steelers were toying with the Redskins.

even when the game was close or even when the Redskins had the lead, the Steelers were kind of shooting themselves in the foot and you figured, all right, this is going to end up being a blowout anyway. When the Redskins didn't take advantage of moving the ball early and it felt like they were the better team in terms of moving the ball in the first quarter, we both said to each other watching the game here, West, this is going to be a blowout. Kirk Cousins was playing so poorly that John Gruden,

feeling for his brother on the sideline, was making sounds of pain and anguish. going, ugh, you know, after a certain decision. He was basically saying, go throw the ball deep. You have so much time in the pocket. There was very little pass rush from the Steelers. And yet he was still checking it down or panicking, not running, not going for big plays. And you're right.

The aggressive team going for it on Fourth Town paid off. I thought that a very big turning point in this game came early when Ryan Kerrigan was unable to recover that fumble. I have watched enough Steelers games where you get. Give Marcus pouncy credit for that. Absolutely. you get them on the ropes in the first quarter and somehow Pittsburgh

and it's because of the cohesiveness that you got Big Ben knows his players so well that they dig themselves out of any hole and it never seems to affect Ben Rothesberger mentally. He just marches right back. The minute they did, the Redskins jumped on that

and they would have probably had a touchdown a couple plays later. It is a different game at that point. See, I agree with that was a huge point in the game, but these teams looked like they were just on such different levels. I don't think it would have made a big difference. What do the Redskins do well? Right.

I mean, even, and one more point about Kirk Cousins, a totally lost game for that guy. And I thought at the moment, I think it was either late in the third or in the fourth quarter when they showed, and they still were clinging to life, and they were around the 20, 30-yard line heading towards the end zone. And he has that wide open on the three-man rush, and he doesn't take the easy first down and more. Instead, he just sails it out of bounds to settle for a field goal. It was like, it was almost like he was a rookie again. And you're thinking, who is this guy that's getting paid $20 million this year? Well, you know why he got the franchise tag instead of a long-term deal.

He's still, in his entire career, he has not beaten a good football team. A winning team, not even once. And the Redskins were very hesitant and very decisive about not giving him long-term money. And, you know, I've been saying on this podcast, I kind of expect him to turn back into a pumpkin. Not like he's going to have nights like this all season, but that has just going to be one of those middle of the road, 22 to 28 in the league, not a guy that's going to necessarily win you games. The best thing about this team is the Sean Jackson, and in theory, the wide receiver group. But other than that, there's not a lot that excites me about the defense, even with Josh Norman there.

On the Steelers side, DeAngelo Williams went nuts, 33 years old and ran for, I believe, 146 yards in this game or something close to that. And Antonio Brown, almost a ho-hum game for him, but still, what is it, eight for 1-30 and two touchdowns? The guy is an absolute monster. Including one of the most beautiful catches we're going to see all season. on a pretty throat from Big Ben. And everyone on Twitter and during the broadcast asking, why on earth you sign Josh Norman for the money you do and don't have him shadow Antonio Brown?

And, you know, the defensive coordinator of the Redskins, like it or not, made it very clear that they trust Breeland and they were not going to have Norman go all over the field because he didn't do that in Carolina. But I don't think it matters at all. Antonio Brown can devastate any coverage he's up against. He is an incredible athlete. I'm ready to take Julio Jones and O'Dell Beckham out of the conversation.

Antonio Brown's the best receiver. Absolutely. I agree. And I think DiAngelo Hall, who has moved to safety, was at fault for some of those big plays, not getting over in time. He's at a new position. I think they wanted him behind Breelan being the guy over the top. And he was never there in time to the point where he wasn't even in the shot. And you just thought it's all Breelan all the time.

Antonio Brown has hit that rarefied air, and that's the decision coaching staffs have to They say, do we trust our number one corner to take on a number one receiver one-on-one? Or do we move him to the other side and then have a corner safety to try to cover the number one guy? And they respect Josh Norman. Obviously, they gave him a ton of money, but they just don't think he's good enough to cover that guy. To cover Antonio Brown in 2016, nobody, I mean, Richard Sherman did a particular job. You got to be Dion Sanders in his prime. That's at the level I think this guy's playing the position.

I totally agree. And before we leave this game, can we talk about fourth down mentality a little bit? But Bill Belichick, who when he's asked a legitimate football question, gives the best answers of any coach. Tom Kern of CSN, New England, asked him about timeouts and fourth downs. And Belichick said, you guys always think it comes down to situation, fourth and one, fourth and two, what yard line you're on. He said, honestly, the decision usually is, how confident do I feel about the play call? Right. And you could see the mentality that Tomlin and Big Ben are ready to go on fourth down every time.

And John Gruden looks like a deer in the headlights. How do you pass up fourth, or Jay Gruden, fourth and one at your own 40-yard line, and then a quarter later, a fourth and six on your own 40-yard line, you go for it because you saw Tomlin do it. And when Tomlin was asked about it, he said very simply, we play to win. And that's why the Steelers are so fun to watch. It is amazing to think that they are missing Martavis Bryant, Levion Bell, Heath Miller's retired, Lederius Green is out of the picture, and it doesn't matter. Todd Haley has turned into one of the, I mean, Eli Rogers looks really good.

He looked good. Jesse James, I thought. I mean, you talk about a guy that came in. He is a huge tight end. They had 11 catches between them. And other teams do not operate this week. The Steelers have the most physical camp of any team in the league. And they are aggressive from the summer on out.

And the minute they hit the field, I don't care where you came from. If someone's not in there, you're going to play. And other teams, if you lose the equivalent of a Levion Bell and Amartavis Bryant, You have an excuse to go one in four to start the season. Pittsburgh does not operate that way. Now let's move on to the late game. And I actually got audio of the scene inside Los Angeles Rams headquarters after their first game back in L.A. in 21 years.

Let's listen to it. it was that bad that's where we are they go to san francisco or santa clara to clarify and they get shut out by the san francisco 49ers who i believe are number 31 in our preseason power rankings

in the 30 to 32 range in everyone's power rankings and you could say oh yeah that doesn't matter the 49ers can be good but no the 49ers aren't going to be good this year the rams were that bad one of the most dreadful mark susser or performances I've seen in a long time in a prime time stage. And for it to happen in week one, coming off a hard-knock

season, coming in your first game back in L.A. I know they weren't playing in L.A., but the first game with all the eyes of America saying, oh, here are the new Rams. It could not have been worse for Jeff Fisher. Yeah, I feel like I called the Rams the team that had the most depressing preseason because

you go out and you think you've saved the franchise by finally going and getting a quarterback versus passing on quarterbacks over and and he's on street close on your sideline while the starter from the Super Bowl against the Ravens is on the other sideline. Meanwhile, we're treated to Blaine Gabbard and Case Keenham, and we got the product we thought we'd get

when you're watching those two quarterbacks play each other. The Rams were putrid. As I watched this wretched dismantling at the hands of a poor 49ers squad, it dawned on me why Jeff Fisher's 7 and 9 speech in Hard Knocks rankled me so much, didn't get any buy-in from his players and actually had his players laughing during the speech.

Right. Let's hear from Irish one time here. I'm not going seven and nine or eight and eight or nine or nine and seven or ten and six for that matter. This team's too talented. I'm not going to settle for that. Okay? I know what I'm doing.

Such a tough situation now because you did go out of your way to stick your chest out and say all that mediocrity stop. here, and then you have your worst game in your five years there. It was a hollow speech, and here's why. You've heard of the saying the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Bill Belichick has a tried and true formula for getting to the AFC championship game. Pete Carroll, tried and true formula for getting the Seahawks to the playoffs.

Jeff Fisher has a tried and true formula for going seven and nine every year. And what he did was he came into camp with a roster that was much worse than the one that went seven and nine last year, and he stood up in front of these guys. and said, hey, we're not going to go seven and nine. Meanwhile, he knows that Jared Goff's not ready because he saw him in OTAs. He knows that his offensive line is the same offensive line that couldn't open any holes for Todd Gurley in the second half of last season. He knows his wide receiver core has been the laughing stock of the NFL for a half decade. He knows that his defense lost Chris Long, James Leronitis, Janoris Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, and didn't pick up any

impact players. And with this roster, which is much worse, he stood up in front of everyone and says I'm not going seven to nine anymore. No wonder why his players didn't buy in. Do we think that Jeff Fisher might be quickly and more quickly than people realize could be heading towards a hot butt? I think if this season went down in flames, then yes, at the end of the year.

I don't think they're going to look at anyone on this staff or any advantage in firing him during this season. We don't know the details on the extension he got. A lot of times these extensions are one-year extensions. Tom Coughlin would get that all the time. owners will deal with eating that one extra year. That is uncomfortable. We are used to this from the Rams.

Type down, Jeff. Greg's trying to make a point. We are used to this from the Rams, though. They are the most up-and-down team in the league, and we don't like to recognize the ups because it's not that fun to watch. Like, they had that stretch a couple years ago where they won two games back-to-back, 76 to nothing. That same season, they lost week one, 34-6.

So they'll put up stink bombs, and it's kind of Fisher's M.O. that they'll show up this week against Seattle. They'll probably play well. I don't know if they'll win this week, but they'll probably be competitive against the Seahawks. But it is unbelievable. Out of 32 quarterbacks, Blaine Gabbard was 31st in yards per attempt in the NFL this week.

And they lost 28 to nothing. Of course, Case Keenham was the guy who was number 32. They lost 28 to nothing to the team that had the 31st quarterback. And it was the dead last team in our power pole, by the way, Dan Hand. Wow. Well, you know, when it comes to the Rams, they're one of the teams, you know, pre-drafting golf that said, we think we can build a team without a pristine top five quarterback. We can go defense.

But the problem is, what happens to a defense? We've seen this typically with Chip Kelly's defenses when your time of possession is non-existent. When you're the Rams, you're punting eight out of nine possessions. You're on the field for three plays a drive. Your defense is going to be what Aaron Donald was by the end of the game, extremely for us. I thought that was the deer of the entire Jeff Fisher era when Donald slammed his helmet down and walked off the field as they were getting blown out. Let's turn over and look at the other side of this. So the 49ers who, listen, after being told they were the worst team in football or close to it all through the offseason,

shut out a team, a team that's obviously having issues right now. But, Wes, is there any reason from what you saw in that game to think that the 49ers may be better than what people have thought about them? Well, I would say this. They want to run the ball and stop the run. and the Rams fancy themselves as a smash-mouth ball-controlled team with a dominant front seven. They outramed the Rams. They outramed the Rams.

They dominated the line of scrimmage. They bullied the Rams. And if you're looking for something positive from the 49ers, before you go into Carolina to face the Panthers this way. They have a brutal schedule. That's the positive that I would take away. What they want to do, they did. Carlos hides some of his quick movement to make people miss in the hole were unbelievable.

I know the numbers weren't. weren't insane like they were last year. He looked like a special back, and they don't have much going on on offense, and that's why I don't think they're going to really go anywhere this year. But even before the game, we're talking about, I think their defensive talent in the front seven, and maybe even including the whole defense, is pretty good. I think it's better than average.

I think they can be a better than average top 10 to 14 type of defense, and that's an improvement from where they were last year, and they can be competitive. There was a moment where they had a field-level view, and you just saw players for how big and tall. and large they really were. Oh, their defensive linemen are monsters. Absolutely. Eric Armstead and DeForest Buckner, two six-foot-seven-plus dudes

standing there as your bookends. That is the makings of a good defense. Bowman is back, too. Navar Bowman's all the way back. And, yes, credit to the 49ers for playing well or playing way better than their competition. But that was still one of the worst games that I've ever watched in prime time. It was very hard to sit through, not just because Chris Berman was the play-by-play guy. This, to me, was by far the most excited. point of the game when an idiot ran on the field.

Hey, somebody has run out on the field. Some goofball in a hat and a red shirt. Now he takes off the shirt. He's running down the middle by the 50. He's at the 30. He's bare-chested and banging his chest. Now he runs the opposite way. He runs at the 50.

He runs in the 40. The guy is drunk. But there he goes. The guy is good. They're chasing him. They're not going to get him. Waving his arms. Bare-chested.

Somebody stop that man. Here comes the blue coat. Oh, they got him. They're coming from the Lutz. Oh, would they tackle him at the 40-yard line? That was the most exciting thing to happen tonight. That's Kevin Harlan of Westwood won, and it was one of the all-time calls

because I also like, and I wrote about this on the end around, which you could check out, is that while the telecast immediately pans away, and it's like, we don't want to give that lunatic the credit or respect to show what he's doing, Harlan just embraced the ridiculousness of it and also in a way, in a subversive way, kind of was sticking it to the Rams and 49ers to a less than extent

for delivering such a stinker of a game. We don't want to subject viewers to pain. How about watching Case Keenum go four and out to end the game to have a shutout for the 14th straight drive? As we're learning, radio is much more interesting, the television. And Kevin Harlan... It's the future. Kevin Harlan loves life.

And I got so much joy out of listening to that because it's something in his mind clicked, which was in such contrast to Chris Berman that said, oh, well, there's a person on the field. And then it's shift away in small talk. And Berman doesn't know where he is or what's happening. I think Dammach is a better Berman than you, by the way. No, I don't do a Berman, but I mean...

Your Berman's like an aristocrat. Well, it is. That was the attitude. Oh, no, we couldn't possibly expose the viewer to this malarkey. But it's like, give me a break. Harlan just went down the great road. I will never forget that call, especially when he goes, and the guy is drunk.

And he's bare-chested. Some goofball and a hat. All right. Yes. I've got a whole thing on Jeff Fisher and quarterbacks, but we can save it for the Graham's preview probably. But I would just say that nobody in America or around the world who watches football should ever again believe a word Jeff Fisher says about quarterbacks.

Fair enough. Irish, let's do some news. This is how it's done in Orange County. Welcome to the O.C. Nice work, Irish. They dropped in a promo. Phantom Planet. Yes, Phantom Planet before the Rams game,

a band that has not been heard from since 2003. We'd play you a sample of the song, but that's no longer permitted. Once Phantom Planet open up for Elvis Costello, little-known fact. Very good. That is not only a little-known fact. That is potentially not podcast material.

favorite Elvis Costello song so overrated Costello oh give me a break listen to ship building and tell me he's over I love 45 which is a new newish let's talk football and start with uh this is the factory of sadness stuff mark the Cleveland Browns have placed Robert Griffin the third on injured reserve this after he suffered a left shoulder injury in the season opener against the Eagles and just to put a button on it. And we don't know if he's done for the year. The new IR rules allow the Brown some wiggle room here, but there's certainly a chance. We won't see him again. It seemed like a pretty serious injury with a fracture involved. But Mark, it was just something so cosmically depressing about the Browns here that

they, on the day that they lose to the rookie quarterback that they passed on after they signed RG3. He beats him in a game. Everyone's excited about that rookie and your RG3 investment. And let's look at it. They said this guy is not just a patch. We think he could be the next guy. He ends up hurt like everyone kind of expected. Well, one thing about RG3 first, I understand that he's the easy butt of jokes, you know, league-wide on some level. But his teammates voted him captain this year. And they talked about a different type of player. And there wasn't a single negative thing that came out of RG3 during the offseason or now. He couldn't have been more committed.

And whether that's the right decision at quarterback or not, I don't think it is. And I think if anything from a football angle, Josh McCown gives you just as much of a chance to win games. But more than that, Cleveland needs to stop toying around the way that the Rams have done previously and put all their sights on getting the best draftable quarterback they can. And really anything in the way of that,

in my opinion is wasted time. So it's not an RG3 thing, but let's get to the bottom this. You don't have a quarterback with or without RG3. There's no way to mix that message up. You've got to go find that still. I don't see this as a factory of sadness fall out in any way. I think it saved Hugh Jackson from his pet project who looked lost in his first start with the Browns. It's sad for RG3.

I agree, like in terms of the win losses from the Browns, but from a personal angle, a guy that, you know, we debated should he win rookie of the year? Should Andrew Luck? Who's going to have the better career, not that long ago? And to have this sort of second chance, which we never really saw coming. We did not think he was going to get a chance to start in the NFL. Again, for it to go out like this, when all they talked about all offseason was avoiding big hits. And for the most part, he really did in this game.

And yet, you know, I think it was a little bit of bad luck. and I think it was a little bit of saving the Browns because of what West said. He was the worst quarterback in the league, I think, this week. Well, not, not Case Keenham. No, that's not fair, Greg. They put him in a different category. That's not fair because RG3 at least, the one thing, the only thing they do well is test the field deep,

and he did it all preseason. He did it in week one. I blacked out that memory. I was thinking of it after the Sunday games. He missed five or six throws, not by a little bit, and that was even when he was protected well. It was not an encouraging week one. performance from Griffin.

And this, from day one, this was, to me, a puzzling signing because number one, he couldn't play anymore. And number two, he always gets hurt. So what did we see in the very first game he couldn't play and then he got hurt? So why should anybody be surprised that this happened? No one should. And league executives, you know, this, of course, comes out the minute RG3 gets hurt is, you know, this league executive said he knew it wouldn't work.

And this guy said he knew it wouldn't work. And listen, that's fair because Cleveland, you have to go back to 2001 is the last time they had not even a good quarterback but a quarterback start 16 games they have had a long and insane history of drafting too small too brittle and not enough durable quarterbacks these guys have gotten hurt every season and another one of them is josh mccown and that's where this he'll give you three games that he's going to be hurt that's where it could get depressing because you have case keeneham sitting there get depressing get more depressing if case keeneham goes out there and you have to watch 11 games of case keeneham and he's not ready at all just feels like Cody cussie

stop thinking about case kingdom so much well mark back to the executives i can't remember a quarterback in all the years i've been watching football who has been more disparaged and maligned by undisclosed executive and scouts who almost every time say this guy has to basically put his ego aside that's almost always the compliment or the comment on rg3 and if you hear it that many times maybe there's something to it oh i don't doubt that there is i again i don't this was never a project that I think any one of us in this room said this is going to turn into wins. This was a patch. I don't care who's in there.

It is a patch. The team is not ready for a quarterback anyways. And by the way, they were publicly saying that was not the case. I understand that. I think we understand teams publicly say a lot of things. And I think they didn't believe. I think that you're talking about a head coach that his ego is tied up in this too.

He wanted to make this work. At that level of football, don't you have to talk yourself into it? You have to believe. You can't go into a season. say, actually, we all think that we have the worst quarterback here. Whether it's lip service and whether what we're being told doesn't matter. I think inside the building that Hugh Jackson did believe that for now, until they had the answer, they could do something with RG3.

Yes, I do. You don't get to that point unless you believe in things that are unlikely. It's unlikely Hugh Jackson would ever be an NFL head coach. It's unlikely Robert Griffin III would ever be an NFL star. It's like you have to have an unbelievable belief in yourself to get to that point. If nothing else, that was the one positive I took from Jared Gough in Hard Knocks. was shaking that guy's confidence. I mean, he was, whether there was anything was happening or not, that guy believes in himself. At least he had that. But here's what's on paper. Here's the problem,

because when it's April and we're talking to all these teams and their strategies and it's these wonderful glowing articles about what Team X is going to do and how they're going to do it, then the game start. And we start to realize, oh, there's still about six or seven teams in the league that mean business and the rest are figuring it out. And if you're Cleveland on paper right now, you're the team that said Carson Wentz is not the kind of quarterback we want. Jared Goff might have been, and RG3 was. So if you're a fan, you're wondering, wait a minute, who's making these decisions? Why is this regime any better than the previous eight?

You'll have that. I think they're more organized, but that doesn't mean that you have to pick players. You look at the Steelers. You have to have star players in depth behind them. Cleveland has neither right now. I hope that that preseason quarter and a half or whatever it was isn't the highlight of the season, though. You know, it's a long 16 weeks. Greg, Browns fans know this season is essentially over.

I mean, that's how every Brown's season is. I think there's a lot to be said for a kind of sophisticated fan who knows when a team is in rebuilding mode and knows that the future is what's worth getting excited about. And, hey, look, let's just see if we can find promising things this season. Let's see if Corey Coleman becomes a stud. Let's see if Terrell Pryor can be an actual NFL starter. Those kind of, you know, Carl Nassib, these are the things to look for,

not actual wins and loss right they may have found some players let's look at the positive but it's not it could be wins and losses and let's move on and talk about the saints who have finally cut the cord on running back cj spiller who signed a four-year 16 million dollar deal last march uh march of 2015 uh was not healthy and seemed to be in the doghouse perhaps in his first season and then got um he did not play he was inactive for week one this week so the writing was on the wall that Spiller was not going to be a part of the Saints' plans. Wes, my question, there was a lot of positive buzz I thought about C.J. Spiller this summer, and then all of a sudden, now he's unemployed.

I would even go back to last year. I thought this was the perfect fit for C.J. Spiller with Sean Payton, who uses his running backs in the receiving game really well. Last year, you write off because of an August knee surgery ruins his whole season. This year, May, Sean Payton says C.J. Spiller is noticeably different. He's back. and then he's a game day active after in preseason

they use him with the first team offense in the third preseason game in the last year he's a final look now he's running out there before Mark Ingram in a third preseason game and then Traver's cadets playing over him in the first game there's got to be something else going on but at this point

I think I've pretty much given up hope that we're going to see like difference making CJ Spiller ever again something stinks here and it happens more with the Saints in terms of their transactions than just about any team in the league. They do not do a good job running their personnel. I think Sean Payton has way more influence and everything going on in that organization

than denounce. And they don't get a lot of heat for giving C.J. Spiller all this guaranteed money. I think the reason they cut him after week one was his money was all guaranteed anyways. It was flushed down the toilet. So it didn't matter whether he was cut after training camp or now. Well, and to Dan's point about what teams are saying publicly, Sean Payton last year essentially cajoled me into writing a Josh Hill making the leap piece based on what he was saying publicly about certain players.

I thought it was unfair when he called you up about it. Well, all right. But then, you know, it's the same thing. All these teams have to spin the message and have to spin hope until the game start. And now it's like, listen, give me a break. After all they said about C.J. Spiller and how they held, especially before they signed him, this is the ideal running back. It would have carved out of stone for my Sean Payton offense.

and then bang, he's gone. Their veteran free agent signings are among the worst in the entire league. That said, I would like to see him turn up on the old New England Patriots. I feel like that's right. Up to the two percenters. I feel like that would be a nice little. I would be a great fit. That's what I'm saying.

I would love to see that. You always call that. They need that. You guys, it's not just you. Everyone falls into the trap. Any free agent that washes out, immediately the rule has to be, oh, what about on the Patriots? It doesn't always work. Chris Long looked pretty damn good in the overall.

Opener. Chad Johnson. Chad Johnson costs them a Super Bowl. Belichick's the coach that will trade 25 times a season and acquire people for two weeks and dump him. I mean, he's more active than other teams are. We got Bishop Sanky on the practice, go ahead. That's what's happening in the news. Guys, if you'd humor me, I know you do often on the show or, you know, have some patience with me. Monday night was the first Monday night football game without Mike Tariko in several years.

Do you guys just give me some time to process this? I know you think that I shouldn't still love you or tell you that But if I didn't say it well I'd still have felt it where's the sense in that I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder or return to where we were. But I will go down with this ship and I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door. I'm in love And always will be

I know I left I think we've hit the end of this Thank you though You know that I famously have ranked the greatest breakup songs in history That's in the top 100 Wow Well that's why I didn't know that, Wes I knew that you had the list

and you should point the listeners. Oh, you can find it on Spotify. Great breakup songs under my Chris Wesleyan on Spotify. I'm sure it's a great list. And that was just, that was for me to Mike. Well, you really caught. I didn't, I don't know that song. I have to admit.

Really? What? Is I crazy? Greg was born at age 32. You don't know that? Sometime in 2003. It started sounding familiar towards the end, but I didn't know what it was. But that's beside the point.

My point was, I didn't need to know it to really. Dan really captured the emotion of it. He really got to the emotional core. Thanks. That was a meeker Dan Hansis than I'm used to. I'm hurt. It was not the same with Sean McDonough, who's a very capable broadcaster. He's capable.

It's funny. Give him some time. I think the point is you can do great, and Mike Torrico is just going to do a little bit more. I think missing Toriko is sort of a mess. Give him some time. You're not going to like the new teacher or the new coach or the new quarterback after the great one leaves right away and then after a while you'll realize wow I'm not saying I can't love again

but I'm just not ready yet let's talk Thursday night football another love of mine the New York Jets traveling to Orchard Park to face the Buffalo Bills color rush night mark it's exciting I mean as long as you if you're not colorblind you're fine in this match up I like PFT

wrote a banger today like well with the NFL color rush is all about yeah green well yeah of course it's about money They're trying to make money with more jerseys. Greg, you used to work for PFT. Come on. Can you make a phone call?

Got that one taken down. Breaking capitalist organization out to make money. Anyway, so this is a game of two desperate teams. The Jets bad loss against the Bengals that they should not have lost that game. The Bills, no, they just lost the game to the Baltimore Ravens in which their offense looked feeble. So now both these teams looking to void going 0 and 2. But Mark, the argument that I have is that the Jets is, a better team with a killer schedule in the next four weeks. This is more important to them

because they feel like a team that could be a playoff team if things go the right way. But if you get an 0-2 hole, you're in deep trouble. If you lose this game, then your task is to go over the next month play the Chiefs, the Seahawks, the Steelers, and the Cardinals. And I don't think that the New York Jets got rid of Rex Ryan to bring in a new regime that would go 0 in their first games against Rex Ryan and a rather vanilla bills team. So, yes, I think, you know, with the way that New York operates and New York hovers around the Jets and Giants, if they go O and 2, and this is how it happens, there are going to be some problems.

Of course they could go O&2. It's not like they're heavy favorites. But watching that Jets Bengals game, I thought the Jets looked really good. They dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage. a Bengals team that you think of as being very good on both lines of scrimmage. They ran the ball however much they wanted to. That's how they ended up moving the ball at the end of the game. Leonard Williams looked was a man on fire.

The entire defensive line without Sheldon. Make that leap, Leonard. Sheldon Richardson wasn't even there. He'll be back for this game. And they go up against a Bill's offensive line who struggled badly against Baltimore last week. So everything for the Jets I thought looked almost better than a year ago. except for the one thing that I expect to turn into a pumpkin just like Kirk Cousins, which is Ryan Fitzpatrick.

And he's out there doing Ryan Fitzpatrick things, throwing jump passes, doing weird out of control throws, and kind of being more of the Ryan Fitzpatrick, I think we'll see it this season. Didn't help that Brandon Marshall didn't show up in this game, targeted seven times, three catches, including a terrible, terrible drop in the final minute when the Jets still had a chance to move down the field and get in field goal range and steal the game back. and then Eric Decker only had two catches he did get in the end zone.

But I thought, yes, Fitzpatrick did not look great, and there's reason to be worried about that. The kicker killed them, cost them the four points. But I think they played better than Cincinnati, which is a good team. The Bengals didn't even try to run on them. They were already making their game plan smartly just throw, throw, throw. And it's not like they... No snacks there, even.

Can we talk about Dorel Rivas? Sure. you know i think mark especially and i get annoyed by rex ryan but this this is a great quote i love rex ryan one thing i love about him is how much he respects and appreciates darrell rivas and he said if he's slipping at all as a player he's coming down from the very tip of everest what a great quote that is a great quote and he has trouble with a j green last year sammy wakkins at a hundred percent dandre hopkins those are the guys he had trouble with now we're getting sammy wakins at considerably less than 100%.

I don't know if the bills can take advantage of that matchup. Well, and I look at the bills last week and were they able to use Sammy Watkins in that game, and that's been an issue at times in Buffalo in general where Watkins does not get maxed out the way that AJ Green does in his better games with the Bengals. The Jets held the Bengals rushing the game to 55 yards, where the bills last week ran for 2.7 yards per carry.

And they had no Sheldon Richardson in that game. He comes off suspension for the Jet. so that just makes that team strength even greater. I think the thing with Revis, and it will be a good, a real indicator of how nervous the Jets are about how week one went. Let's see if they have him with Wachins alone. If they mix things up, it makes you think that they're really gauging

where their number one cornerback is at right now. I think this isn't even bigger. It's a big game for both teams, but it's even bigger for the bills, because I think it's absolutely panic time for the bills if they go 0 and 2 with what we've seen out of them. They go backwards, 10 yards on their first drive of the season. That's a bad omen.

Rex Ryan wants to pound the football. He has a running back who's extremely talented and looks fast, but every time he gets the ball, he just wants to bounce it outside. They have an offensive line that's supposed to be a strength that really got dominated last week. They have a coach who pretends like he's bold and quit at the end of the first half instead of trying to go for a field goal. Just decided to sit on the ball. You're beating our ass so bad.

We're not even going to try to score. That's what the bills were last week. I would be very concerned. They have two good things going for them. Jerry Hughes has looked about as good as the defensive player as I've seen over the last five weeks in terms of rushing the passer. And Kyle Williams is back and looks like Kyle Williams last week. So if the Jets can hang their hat upon the defensive line, which was dominant,

and the running game, the bills are hanging their hat on Jerry Hughes and Kyle Williams? And a secondary, two good cornerbacks. It's not like their defense played poorly. It made me think, man, if they had all the players that they're missing, you know, Shaq Lawson and Reggie Raglan and Marcel Darius. Like, Rex might actually have something here, but they don't have those players. They have half their defense. Right, and I think that's fair.

Buffalo, you know, we've talked about it for weeks and months. They had an absolute rough preseason. Very few teams could come close to saying the same stuff happened to them. But if you lose this game to the Jets and you're Owen to, it's no different than New York. You go and play the Cardinals and Patriots next. Then you play the Rams. And if you lose that game. game to the Rams, I got to wonder what happens in Buffalo.

Well, who knows with the Rams, which Rams team will show up? I'm just saying, I see your point. The bills have the very similar schedule to the New York Jets, and it is a murderer's row. Yes, you're absolutely right about that. And Tyrod Taylor, after an offseason of saying this guy deserves to be paid, you've got to make some more plays this week. This is a fun game, though. I'll say that.

Early desperation. It is. I know we don't like talking about must-win games week, too, because they really don't exist. but I think for these two organizations in this AFC East where you're looking at the Patriots are going to go 15 and 1 or 14 and 2 it's rough I have a Sessler here the loser of this game is 1 and 4 after week 5 It makes sense

They're in a deep hole against a killer schedule And you're not coming back from that most likely Everybody got the Jets in this game Is anybody think the bills hold home field here That'll probably be picking against the bills every week Wow No I'm definitely taking the Jets They're playing such a similar Dets game

similar defense, too, the one that flummoxed Tyrod Taylor last week. He didn't know where the pressure was coming from. I don't like doing this because I don't want this to happen, and I'm no Bills fan, but I think the bills are going to win. This is in Buffalo, which is no small thing. And, you know, the occasional Rex Ryan game where he kind of, he says, F. Udall is doubters and drops a little bit of a bomb, I think that they're going to play well in this game. Wouldn't it surprise me? We will see what happened. Tyrod Taylor played well in that week 17 game against the Jets, played terribly in the first color rush game.

So we'll see which one shows up. One last point about the Bills. You know, Greg mentioned earlier that only two wide receivers caught the ball. Robert Woods and Sammy Watkins has to be irritating if you're a Bill's fan, watching Chris Hogan immediately

score a touchdown against the Cardinals a difference in that game. Well, they're trying to throw deep balls. I think we predicted this in the summer. Right, while they're trying to throw deep balls to Greg Salas. Before we talk Team of ATL. I just want to check in with Mark Sessler, who the last time, if you're a listener of the show, you know, in your mind, Mark has let go, and he's decided to eat all food, fatty-type foods

and not do any exercises. He's even, he's got the vapors right now, which is something a very heavy-set woman might do. I haven't always been like this. Like a Gilbert Great Mom type. But now, the audience should know that that has shifted. You've gone away from giving up on your physical appearance and into something even more hardcore, it seems. Well, I tried to gain, I tried to eat all this junk food, and I quite enjoyed it, but I wasn't gaining weight, and I was just feeling ill and feeling angry, and I didn't feel good.

So it's not a long-term plan, but I amount to a new thing. Who would have thought that coming? That's fair. I wasn't thinking it out entirely. But I decided during the middle of that Browns game against the Eagles, very early, that I would only eat raw foods during the game and with the presumption that Cleveland would win. And when they did not,

I said I will continue to eat raw foods alone, just raw foods until Cleveland wins. Football game. Here's the thing about Mark and your diet is that you said before the show started that this raw food diet also is making your body and brain act weird. Is there maybe a middle ground where you can eat a diet that puts you more in an even-keeled space? No. I've ever considered it's not the diet

that is the determining factor in all of this. That I disagree with Greg. You and I have been through this before. I'm not going to have it happen on a radio show. Based on previous lifestyle vows that I've seen from you, Mark, I predict this one last 11 days. That's fair. I'll take the under.

Into day four, into day four, by the way. I'll take the under. It was making you feel crazy. Let's move on. Who will be the team of ATL? The team. Team of ATL. Only one team can earn the right.

Now's the time to shine a light. On the team. This is a very special honor. Dick Banks said it. This is a very special honor for the third season. We will be, or fourth season? Third season, we will be picking a team. Fourth season.

Fourth season, we'll be picking a team of around the NFL. And what does that mean? That means, Greg, explain to the audience. It's the team that, in. theory we all are rooting for that we naturally in 2013 enjoyed watching the Carolina Panthers early on in the season we kind of like the cut of their their job jib what is it what's a jib no one knows something you like to cut up um we asked the panthers in 2013 the chargers were a pick in 2014 we never really kind of found one that we fell in love with

and we settled on the chargers didn't really work 11 we picked the The Cardinal, that's not sure. The Cardinals. And last season, the Cardinals. Yes. And it's probably been less organic since that first season. And it's interesting. We picked the Panthers before they really went on a run and started playing well.

And now it's something we meet with Danish's, I believe, are involved. What we do is we use the inter-office email system to set aside time in one of the conference rooms. We block off that time. We get bagels, English muffins, blocks, toast, Lox, orange juice, coffee, and other Danishes. And we hammer it out. We hammer it out. And why today is important is what we like to do is we like to nominate teams after week one.

And not just tracking the week one, but all through the summer, you factor in all these things. And then after the third week of the season, we will select the team. And I'm not going to get too strict with the rules. If you nominate a team today, it doesn't mean you can't throw somebody else out there at the end of week three. But it's not necessarily a great look if you're going to bail on a team that you feel so confident about right now. I would like you to stick with your team, but there should be no rules that you can't go to somebody else before the final week three vote, which the vote must be unanimous. Absolutely. Because the Panthers, for instance, I think we're well into the season.

It was kind of more just after watching them for a while, feeling the vibe. I think it was after three weeks. It was right about when Riverboat Ron had his famous epiphany. yes that definitely checks out memory-wise so without further ado we will now nominate four teams and one of these teams will likely be the 2016 team of ATL I'm sure every front office official and every player in the NFL is listening to this podcast every finger crossed mark get us going who is the first nominee for team of ATL 2016 I'm going to read you why I'm picking this team and reveal it near the end because I think this show

that I have an open mind, and I would just ask the rest of the room to keep an open mind. Here's what my team brings to the table. Number one, a balanced, deep roster, both sides of the ball. Number two, an experienced head coach who knows the division, up and down. Number three, a quarterback we can get behind. Number four, a team that plays the kind of football we appreciate in this room. Tough defense, versatile ground game, with a top three receiver to do damage through the air. I don't like where this is going.

The next one. Number five, this is a sober. Minded, middle American franchise supported by a loyal fan base that's been through hell. This dynamic appeals to Greg's desire for down-home pro-U.S. centrist values with a tilt toward laissez-faire economy. Number six, this is not a team that will implode by week five, nor is it some fly-by-night operation that plays games in a 72-degree sterile science fiction like dome. While there's no guarantee of the Super Bowl, they'll be alive and well in December, and they'll bust lips in the rain

in snow. I like them. Final point. Number seven, we have a chance to say we were on board when this team finally enjoys its elusive moment of glory. And as a bonus, that moment would offer a chance for healing, redemption, and resolution

for one of our own, Chris Wesley. Because this team is the Cincinnati Bengals. Wow. Right off the bat, Sessler drops a hammer. The Bengals nominated as the team of ATL. Well, I I mean, we need to hear from you first because is there Chris Wessling and people that are not aware,

Wes grew up in Cincinnati on the west side as a Bengals fan decided because of the team's practices and dysfunction, he could no longer support them. It's a lot deeper than that. But wrote a dossier in which he broke down all the reasons why he would no longer follow the team or support them and has since celebrated each of their first round playoff failures in the last five years, a event he calls Westavis, does that disclude them from having any chance

of being the team of ATL? Well, I would first like to say that, you know, this is Mark at his best, using his imagination. I admire his creativity here. He's thinking outside the box. Well done, Mark. Very well done.

I will keep an open mind, but I would say there is very little chance that a team that I loathe. And I find out. I find amusing. I don't think I can take the Bengals seriously because they provide me endless hours of entertainment and amusement. Not something that I could get behind, I don't think.

Okay, he says he doesn't think. He's not closing the door, which is a very nice thing of West to do because it doesn't cut out your legs from under you here because we're not voting until week three. He's being honest, though, and you've got to respect that. He's being honest. We could vote. Couldn't we vote next week if we all felt strong?

Absolutely. But I'm sending the deadline is after a week. I respect the vision you have here where it's a happy ending and there's healing and catharsis for me. Thank you for that. By the way, and to get there, I actually picked a team out of the AFC North, which I did something that I would never have done before.

Once upon a time, a mortal enemy of the Cleveland Browns. Yes, at this point, Browns have no rivals, so all hail the Bengals. All right, so that is the first nominee, the Cincinnati Bengals, And I will go next, Wes. Okay. And the team I will nominate is, when I'm looking for this, a team to get behind, it has to be a team that is downtrodden in many cases, a team that, and a fan base, this is what I like,

that has put up with a lot of garbage, and now things are going in the right direction. And when I think about this team, a proud team, one of the four-bearers of the American football, League, a decorated franchise but has seen nothing in many years, but now through the patience of ownership, which surprised a lot of people, is on the way up. And we saw it in week one, where their head coach, a man maligned in his own ways. He hung some of the biggest Zeppelin you've ever seen. You notice these onions are sitting on top of the ground. And I'll tell you what. I'm

talking about Jack Del Rio, the man who with one play call sent a lightning. Bolt to the old Zusser that that is the team of ATL, a team that is looking to change the culture, looking to save the NFL from the likes of the Patriots and all the other teams, the Broncos and the Packers and all these teams and the Seahawks that are the same five teams that are always in the mix. Here, we're the new kids on the block and we're ready to shake up the NFL. That's why I have selected as my nominee, the exciting, the young, the energetic Oakland Raiders. A convincing argument, and whether it's intentional or not, really pulls on my historical heartstrings, dating back to when this exercise was more innocent and a fourth down call from Ron Rivera that helped inspire us naturally because he was playing bold.

Great point. Football. That gets me going. Instead, you know, this exercise has turned ugly. Let's be honest at times in off air. in the office emotional where it almost feels like sometimes we're just saying

okay we'll pick that team just to pick a team this makes a lot of sense to me I like it Dan thank you very much Greg I really that means a lot to make any thoughts on the kiss of cousins I know like I would be very happy to pick a team like this because

of the arc of where we started with the Raiders when this podcast started where we could not have been harsher on them and for good reasons but they've grown and we've grown. And I love the Raiders as a team of ATL. Great point. That's a great point as well.

Coming full circle after being the laughing stock of this podcast, Wes. There's a few things I would like to see from the Raiders before I jump on board. They're frisky. And I'm intrigued. I like Amari Cooper, Kalil Max, fun to watch. What else do they have going on defense? They got a deuce. I need to see Carl Joseph play.

I need to see some cornerbacks play well. There's no pass rush in the first week. I think the team of ATL should have some kind of defense, so I want to see that. There is, we're not looking necessarily for a 12 and 14. No, no, no, not at all. I'm not mistaken. I don't want a playoff team, just a fun team to watch. After growing up in Cincinnati, I want a team with a backbone because I never had one.

Okay, that's certainly fair. I thought they showed a lot of backbone in winning that game in enemy territory, but their defense did not look good. That's very fair. Greg, you are up next. Your nomination for Team of 18th. Well, I am going to nominate a team. I'm also going to have a point of order after we all go around.

Okay, that's fair. Just in terms of talking about the rules. I'm big into the rules. Hitting on the rules, that's important. I'm not into surprises. I'm into a very simple exercise where you pick the team. You are looking forward to watching. That's a great, great rule of thought.

That's all I'm looking for. That's all I'm thinking about. And I'm looking forward to watching Jameson Winston, not just win me some sandwiches all season, but light up those secondaries in the NFC South and be that sort of very similar to the Raiders in some ways, be that young team for a franchise that has won Super Bowl but has been lost in Mark's Wilderness for the last, what, 10, 12 years,

just an awful group of coaches and everything. That's my wilderness. Youngery. It's a great throng. Well, I just using the word wilderness, I feel like I have to mention your name. James. That's respect. That's respect to you, Mark.

Thank you, great. James Winston, Mike Evans, Doug Martin, Charles Sims, throwing Vincent Jackson, Austin Safarian Jenkins. You guys can talk all you want about defense. I want to see a team that's fun to watch and it's going to be aggressive. Not dinking and dunking and moving the ball down the field like the Bengals sometimes do, but going deep and going bold. Did you watch week one? Well, they did have some nice vertical strikes in week one.

And then, you know, on defense you got Levante, David. You got Kwana, Kwan Alexander. It's a team on the come. we'd be ahead of the curve if we pick the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I'm phrasing. Yeah. I think put him on Rushmore. Irish.

Pick up the chisels. I think that James Winston as the face of a team of ATL, I like that. That guy gets me excited, not just as a player with potential, but also as a personality, a guy people can believe in. Well, I think Greg knows based on conversations here and outside of here that he's taunting a brick wall. over on this side of the table. I know I'm not because I believe that everyone in this room could have an open mind. I do have an open mind and actually I will say that I would be again I am probably the most willing to go to anyone's if three people want something this is not the beginning and end of my world I'd be I want I want the team of the group to agree but here's my issue with

the bucks a you'd say you like to watch them I like what I like what they're about on offense but I'm going to bring up two things I brought it before the uniforms give me a break with the uniforms that I got to sit down and get super excited. This is coming from a Browns fan, by the way. Oh, no. He wears the uniform in the league now. I think the bucks do. The bucks do.

And secondly, that hideous Florida sunlight. Your opinion is a lot because you don't see colors. That hideous Florida sunlight that streams down on that field. You're colorblind. Colorblind people see colors. Yes, but no, no. Everyone out there, it's not a black and white Charlie Chaplin movie out there. Just the tone is awful.

I just, like, picture always anybody colored blinds like a dog where their sight line is near everyone's knees and you're hearing like, ha, ha, ha, ha, black and white. This is a tough, this aesthetically is a tough choice for me. I would like to see them another week. Maybe it is weird. And I am not a, you know.

This isn't a fashion competition of around the league. It's the football team. Just one guy's opinion. The reason you're in trouble with this, Greg, is because Mark's reasoning is not factoring in football at all. There's nothing the bucks can do right now to change the weather in Florida and their uniforms. What do football players wear?

What's that? What do football players wear? Uniforms. Right. So it does factor in football. Yeah, but they can't change it. Yeah, but they can't do anything. Of course they can.

The players can't. Well, look, this isn't about just the players. I thought of, you know, capitulating and politically choosing a team that would have a better chance, but that feels dishonest. I'm not ruling them out. Those are my issue. That I like. I'd like to wait.

If I'm to remain invested in this product, which is a very ifpy proposition at best after the past few podcasts where I have been besmirched and dragged through the mud. Right. If I'm to remain invested, I would have a little bit of an issue with the Buccaneers because Greg talked about watchability. And no matter how well they play football, they are always going to be in the bottom three teams of watchability for me. I can't get excited about watching a team whose uniforms make me vomit. It's about me. You know, Wes, you open the bono there, by the way.

I never knew you were such a fashion plate. I didn't know you were so concerned with how appearance. The nomination process went smoothly until the kissing cousins start getting excited about uniforms. No, I'm unexcited about uniforms. That's been out there. Again, I said I'll keep an open mind. I'm not going to rule anyone out today. I want to see another week of the bucks.

I think they are an interesting football team. And before we do throw it to Wes, we got to open the kimono. You're upset about some of this team of West T. You don't like it. You think it's unfair. you think you've been dragged through the mud. I think what Greg is getting at is he wants you to keep an open mind and make this a collaborative process and not just your team that we need to go along with.

Do you understand where maybe that sentiment is coming? I absolutely do. And I feel like because when this project started, I was the most invested in the group because I was watching more video than you guys were. So I took some ownership there. and when I stood up against you guys against the 49ers, which did happen, and we can probably roll the tape, Irish. I think there's a lot of feeling amongst this group after this evening.

Tom Sula. What's with the sound of that? Sound quality. Some potential team of around the NFL buzz for these 49ers. Happily would I do this? Let's think about it. I give Wes a lot of credit. He's ready to do it right now.

No, that's not what I'm going to do. I said I'm willing to consider them, whereas before I wouldn't. and have believed it. Let's go around the room. Yes or no. Greg? Yes. Dan, yes.

We took way too much time last year. Oh, Wes. You guys railroaded me into the Chargers last year and you will not be forgiven for. You're welcome for that, by the way. That was great. For being invested and making sure you guys did not make that terrible mistake. Yeah. You'd made a good choice.

That was good. But we've made lots of good choices with team of ATL over the years. Should we now go around the room and find points for everything? everyone else was wrong on this podcast in the past three and a half years. If you start a segment, if I start a segment where it's particularly making fun of you or mocking you, I would welcome you to do that. All right. Listen, this is what I'm talking about.

Wes is sensitive about the situation. He's saying this is not the West T.L show. Well, I'm open to the idea of just abandoning my investment in it. Well, that was my point of order. Just make the team of ATL no more. That's always Greg's solution to everything. Nothing matters. It's not that nothing matters.

You know, your favorite TV shows, they last two or three seasons, then they lose the buzz. I strike that down. Can we hear Chris Wesley's nominee, please? Greg, that was a terrible job by you. West just agreed with it. If it's not going to be honest, I'd be open to you. Wait a minute. We could be open to it.

We haven't even hit a point of contention. This seems like we're the most open-minded we've been in all these seasons. You guys are crazy. Everything was going well, and now we got to. That's true. Generally, I'd go along with any of them. I was just saying if we have to pretend that we like a team just to do it. I don't want to make Wes do that.

Okay. Well, then we won't pick a team if we don't all settle on one. That's fair. Right. We're not to ban the segment. Wes, your nominee. Well, speaking of keeping an open mind, I would like you. I acknowledge there are issues with the Titans.

Mike Malarkey being issue number one. The second half of the season opener in which there were three turnovers that caused a very exciting game to turn sour, the other thing. But if you keep an open mind and realize that week one is the perfect overreaction time, and let's concentrate on what happened in the first half when Connor or is all over our instant messenger saying how fun this team is, and I'm thinking there's so much fun to watch, if Greg's point is the most fun team to watch, the Titans, to me, can be right there with any team in the league.

They need a little more smash mouth than a little less exotic. And I would say that hurt them in the first half of that game, too, throwing fake dives from Marriota to pitchbacks to Derek Henry on third and one. And there's a lot of exotic, a lot of exotic is fun, which makes them fun, but not if they're scoring 10 points a game. But I am open-minded. We all were kind of thinking that the Titans were a good pick. They probably wouldn't be in my top three or four teams, but I'm kind of like Mark that if it's a team that I look forward to watching, I'm on board. I like the idea of the Titans. We've talked about that before.

I'm glad you didn't abandon the Titans, by the way, after a faulty, you know, opener. I'm glad you didn't because you got to stick to what you saw, and I don't think that week one's going to decide who they are. I'd be open to it because, you know, your NFC South, Greg, is my AFC South. And I think that there's a lot of fun things happening there. I'd sign up for the Titans. And I don't need this team to go 14 and 2 and B in the A&E, to see championship it's like that is not what this is about to me like i want to see good football but

good football sometimes happens with a team that goes nine and seven and has lots of drama too so uh there yeah and there's no reason to panic after week one but some of the the team not winning uh the team kind of having you know 10 points until the last couple minutes of the game there are some reasons to be concerned that oh maybe this is the titoons still with mike malarkey at the helm and they won't get it together until they have a better structure A bit of a Marriota meltdown in that game. They also could be a team kind of like those Panthers that it wouldn't surprise me if they're a two-and-four team

that plays well down the stretch and is fun to take some time to come together. I would say if it's not unanimous, I wouldn't really be interested in making the Titans the team of ATL anyway. Oh, yeah, that's the rules. It doesn't concern you sign up with the Titans and then they flounder that you're going to hear about it all year.

No. It doesn't concern me at all. That's what the block button's for. I don't think that there's a big caution here because I'm not going to get on you because the Titans stink. I think they're going to be fun. I'm confident they're going to be fun to watch,

and I think they're going to be more of the team that showed up in the first half than the team that showed up in the second half. Are there other teams that you, you know, you kind of circling in your mind? Well, there's one. They're on the radar. You know, other teams on the West radar

that you might support this year in general. Not even just the, not just the team. of ATO. There's one that's like every year in my top two or three teams to watch and we don't nominate them because it would be a shot across Mark's bow, but the Steelers would always be in my top three candidates for team of ATL. I mean, you want to talk about getting disengaged from the activity. Right. I get that. I would not. Certainly not a band. By the way, you can watch the Steelers whether the team of ATL or not. So they are a fun team. There's no doubt. There are certain teams I think just have no chance to ever be in this exercise.

The Patriots, Steelers, the Patriots, both New York teams. And that's about it. I think going for an elite team right out of the gate is a bit on the nose. The Seahawks during the Pete Carroll, Russell Wilson, it would feel weird. All the Seahawks are tweeting out is like, what about Seahawks or Team of A-T-L? What else do you want, guys? I was going to say Browns, but I don't even believe that. I think if the Browns found a quarterback and looked frisky, we would be into it.

All right. So there you go. nominees for team of around the NFL 2016, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Oakland Raiders, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Tennessee Titans. Nice group of teams. Now we find out what happens the next two weeks. Nice group of teams.

What if all four lay massive eggs in week two? I mean, just get blown to smithereens. That's why we left a little wiggle room. You could throw somebody else out there. I think you could change it later. But the truth of the matter, in my mind, unless somebody exploded in the next two weeks out of nowhere, I would be, if all these teams bombed in the next couple of weeks,

it just might not have a team this year. We shouldn't force it. That would be organic. So we want to be that way. That's a good way. It should have very little to do with one loss record and who's playing, like, lights out after three weeks because that's how the Chargers became the team of ATL a couple of years ago. And then they cratered after that.

All right. So that is it for, Today's show, we will be back Thursday night, late Thursday night, where you'll hear our preview of all the week two games, and also our recap. We'll start the show with our recap of Jets Bills, and after that game, I'll either be gleeful and maybe I will send a message, oh, excuse me, we don't use that word around here, a message that, hey, guys, I don't mind talking about the game, or I will be drunk. and depressed in a dark room in my house.

It could go either way. It sounds like there's something at stake for your immediate family here as well. Very true. By the way, if you're listening now, we are going to do a live periscope of Sunday's podcast. I just want to, you know, everyone that listened to our podcast, if you like that, it's probably going to be during Sunday night football, so it's another screen. But if you want to watch us tape our podcast live, the NFL official social media account, we'll be sending that out next, this Sunday night.

Very good. So, yes, make sure if you could support us with that as we take on the world. I mean, you're either with us or you're against us, but we're forging on. And that's it for today's show. Until that, this is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the boss, and big Irish behind that 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. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant.

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