NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - MNF ReCAT, IR News and What We Love This Season

Episode Date: November 5, 2019

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling, Marc Sessler and Gregg Rosenthal recat (see what I did there) the Monday Night Football game between the Giants and Cowboys including a play by play of the mysterious black cat on the field that changed the Cowboys luck. Cam Newton and DJax head to IR while Nick Foles is named the starter for the Jags. Is the news true about the Chargers and London?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. 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,

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The Around the NFL podcast would rather be drinking at the cozy. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by the United States Marine Corps. My name is Dan Hansis. I'm joined in a room. It's filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal. What is that, boys?

Hey, Dan. Drinking at the cozy. It's been a minute. I'm going to rectify that. The best thing about the cozy is when the holidays come, and Mark, you know this very well. When the holidays come, they really go all out with the decorations

and put the lights all over the... It's a pretty cool, like, Southern California and the holidays vibe. Don't I think they keep it up for... My dog, Mark, with a sea. Months and months after. and they've repainted the outside but I think it's been a while

since any of us have been inside got to rectify that welcome to the Tuesday edition of the Around the NFL podcast we have so much to get to we're going to finish out week nine with our Monday night football recap

NFC East battle between the Cowboys and Giants also we're going to preview the first game of week 10 a nice AFC West battle at the black hole that should be a fun game to watch, potentially. We got a nice SEG.

Like good SEGs. Greg Rodebanger in his most recent debrief column. Great intro. What we've loved about the 2019 season so far. It's like that time of year. You know, it's mid-season. It's kind of, is it the dog days? You got six teams off this week.

This is the dog. This is where you've got to grind through and what carries you through is the love, you know? That's what gives you the energy. It keeps you going to work. Otherwise, then you're just a miserable sad sack. I can attest it. Maybe if we have some time, we'll dig into an issue behind the scenes with Eric,

who is not happy with the old Zeuser in regards to today's sag. It wasn't behind the scenes 10 minutes ago, but for the listener, it's on mic. But before we do any of that, oh yeah, and we're going to do some news, and that's good because there's some big news to talk about. But let's start at the metal lens. Scott in the gun. Trips to the left, snap back, four-man rush. Time to throw it over the middle line, open to the 25-yard line.

Amari Cooper to the 10, to the 5, to the pylon. Touchdown Amari Cooper. Tremendous protection for Prescott, 45 to Cooper on third down. Brad Sham, the Sham God, with the call K-L-R-D. Oh, man, do you think anybody was dreading the film room more than Giants rookie cornerback, DeAndre Baker, who, you know, everyone playing zone on the biggest, man on the biggest play of the game, DeAndre thinks they're playing zone, and Amari Cooper walks into the end zone, 45 yards with the clinching score. Yes, the Cowboys win 37 to 18 over the Giants at the Meadowlands. And a game where, West, the Cowboys certainly didn't bring their A-game. This is a one-point game entering the fourth quarter.

So this was not the blowout. It appeared on the final score. However, they did what they had to do, which was pull away from an inferior opponent, and they move on. Yeah, that looked familiar, the opening portion of that game with the interception on the first pass. And then you had Randall Cobb's touchdown nullified, Cobb's fumble in scoring territory. And Dak Prescott, I thought, put it pretty. well after the game. You guys saw the game. They weren't beating us. It was us getting in our own damn way. And when we're rolling and do what we do, there isn't a team in a league that can

stop us. And I think that describes the Cowboys perfectly. When they lost to the Saints, when they lost the Packers, when they lost the Jets, they were getting in their own way. And they have to prove that they're not going to do that against a good team. They have beaten a string of tomato cans. The one question left about this team, can they get out of their own damn way against the cream of the NFC crop. They survived the game where Dak, Prescott, I thought, played his worst game of the year for about three quarters. And maybe that happens when you're coming out of a buy and you throw an interception on

your first pass of the game that you just aren't feeling comfortable. You're not seeing the field. Most of their big plays were just wide open. And then he gets it together. I'm not worried about him because I think he's played really well this year. If I'm a Cowboys fan, my big takeaway is just this defensive line, which I think was a weakness early in the year, is now a huge asset. Marcus Lawrence is playing with his hair on fire again after he was really coming slowly off that

shoulder surgery to start the year. Robert Quinn has a lot of speed. Michael Bennett is going to be a big time pickup for them. And Malik Collins has been pretty good for them all year. Suddenly, that's a huge strength. And that was kind of my big takeaway from this game. There were some images that I loved from this game that made me feel reminiscent for decades of old. And it was weird uniform tweet quirks like Michael Bennett's shoulder pads, which, you know, he's worn it that way before. But he looks like he's basically just wearing a padded t-shirt underneath his jersey.

But the old school Giants uniforms, which I would lobby them hard just to bring back full-time. Because with Giants and Jets uniforms in general, it seems like you go about 20 years with the incarnation, and then you go back to what it was previously. They looked awesome. And it's not just the helmet. But people were on fire about bringing back the Giants in block lettering with the underline, which is the classic 80s iteration. And they've had the NY for a bunch of years now.

But it's not just that. It's the font on the number and especially the lettering on the back of the jersey. And if you grew up in the Northeast like we did, you connect that to LT and Bavaro. And LT was there, and I think that helped. Monday night takes on a different tone than 10 a.m. West Coast on some stadium, you know, somewhere else. That's what they're trying to sell. It's a whole different deal. LT was in the house.

You're giving that telecast a compliment? I'm just saying that the vibe in the stadium. Because the game was tight until the beautiful black cat came rolling out and literally changed the game. It kind of reminded me a little bit of when the lights went out during the Ravens Niners Super Bowl, where there was even Amari Cooper who said afterwards that he went out with a banged-up knee that the whole pause in the action going into then into halftime gave him a chance to rest. up and he played an awesome second half. Who we want to hear Kevin Harlan,

who one of the greatest calls in NFL history was the drunk that ran onto the field Monday Night Football a year or two ago. So in this situation, what I want listeners to be plugged into because it is not hard, it is not easy to do the job in general of a play-by-play man for professional football,

but what he's able to do here, and you'll see, is not only call the play, which is a completion, I believe, to Evan Ingram of the Giants, but also simultaneously call the cat's initial getting upon the scene and then what happens afterwards. Let's listen to Harlem. Oh, there's a cat.

A black cat is taking the field. A black cat is running from the 20 to the near side, the 10. From the 39 in Dallas, here's a short throw down the middle caught by Ingram. Caught at the 35, went to the 30. That's hard. The other way, and so is Ingram at the 30 to the 25. The cats go in the other line of the Dallas Cowboys. It's a catcher run of 15.

Now the cat has stopped at the 50. So is it bad luck for the Giants? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know, but they've stopped playing the players with hands on hips are watching the cat run and zigzag all over the field. Now a policeman, a state trooper has come on the field, and the cat runs into the end zone.

That is a touchdown. I love it. And the cat is a loser. Kevin Harlan. So, I mean, my favorite part we didn't even have in there where he does a sponsor read that the cats entered the CDRW red zone. Seamless. It's amazing.

Harlan, that is the best in the business, the Westwood one radio. So, yeah, that was the turning point in the game in a weird way, not because of the cat, or maybe because of the cat, but the Cowboys kind of started to take control. You don't think black cats have power? I think they do. I think that everybody on the telecast and everyone was upset

that it didn't happen before Halloween, which would have made it an instant sports classic. I think it still will be one of the indelible images of 2019. I think my kids will remember it forever. It was like, it was bedlam. It was as if they were, told they were just given a week off from school to hang out at Disneyland. There was just screaming and laughing.

The boys loved it too. I couldn't hear anything for about two minutes straight. They were in love. Hey, Wes, how about to turn back the clock performance? Leighton Vanderech out with a neck injury, in-step, Sean Lee, and he leads the game with 12 tackles, including a stuff for a loss. Sequin Barclay couldn't get away from him. How about that?

Sean Lee, still doing the thing. Yeah, I think that answered a question I had. I figured he could still stop the run. but he was out there playing really well in past coverage on wide receivers and tight ends, and you don't see that from 32 or 33-year-old linebackers. That Dexter Lawrence played to me was at the goal line where I had, I'm watching on condensed and they don't show replays. I had to rewind that four times to figure out how the guy on the left side of defensive line

is stuffing the guy two yards behind the line of scrimmage on the right side of the line. I think Vick looking better the last couple of games is pretty huge for Dallas. Took them a little while to get going, kind of like Melvin Gordon. after the holdout makes some sense. I think the Giants have to be a little concerned that Daniel Jones leads the NFL and turnovers by a decent margin now. He's fumbled a lot.

He's thrown a lot of interceptions. And not saying I'm overly concerned, but he's got to cut that out a little bit. He's a rookie. I get it. This happens. Can we get an update on Dave Geddeman's victory lap? Right.

I'm just saying it's funny how if that first game hadn't happened, the way that it did. I think he's having a totally normal rookie season, and he did make a couple throws in that game that were really impressive that make you think of it. That's why you love Daniel Jones. He doesn't look like a bust or anything.

I knew I was trying, I was forgetting something. This was the most lily-livered coached game I've ever seen out of Pat Shermer, and Jason Garrett, for that matter. Especially at the end for Shermer. These guys have never met a fourth and three inside the 10-yard line that they can't kick a field goal. They had four field goals under 30 yards. Go for a touchdown at some point.

Understand what type of game you're in, And what type of defense that you have? You're not going to hold the Cowboys under 20 points. That's fair dog. You'll go after field. They tried very, very hard to make Jason Witten the ultra centerpiece last night. He had a pretty nice game. He had a good game.

He had a pretty good season. I'm not saying he's not having a good season. Mark, he was really good yesterday. He is slow as you can be. Well, he doesn't have foot speed. Wes, this answers or will give us a lot of insight into two teams on Sunday, when the Cowboys welcome the Vikings. Love it.

Al, Chris, and Michelle. So Vikings on the road against a good team versus Cowboys having to not shoot themselves in the foot against a good team. Against the non-tom-tompson. Someone's going to shatter some... The last time they were on Sunday night football, they beat the Eagles 37 to 10. You know what I want to say? How will Kirk Cousins play, Wes? I really do.

Every week, get more and more excited to see Kirkland's cousins. You are not alone in that. All right, that's what's happening with Monday Night. Football, let's now hit the news. Did you just say, go find Dr. Feel Good? So, Sessler and I were upstairs on Sunday, getting ready for our Sky Sports hit with the great Neil Reynolds. And we happened to have the audio on.

And who is that voice? Is that Dick Stockton? That's Thumb Brennan. That's Thumb. Foolish of me. Thom, I like to call him. And, Ricky, do we have a little longer clip of that? interaction between Tham and was it Spielman?

Yes, Chris Spielman. I'll tell you, in this league, here's my role. Upper Body, go see Dr. Feel Good and let her go. Did you just say, go find Dr. Feel Good? Is that what you just said? Did I say that out loud? And then he asked another time, and maybe even a third time, Tham couldn't get over himself with it.

Yeah, he hit it hard as if it was a bit that was, you know, registering with everyone on a 10-deceble level, and I don't know that it was. Tham's move. He's going to use it. Yeah, it was lower body, see a reel. doctor, basically, upper body. Dr. Feel Good. Who knew?

I kind of appreciate if you go T-H-O-M, that is the correct shortening of Thomas. T-O-M is... A little pretentious, though. No doubt about that. And I don't know if you want to go through life with Tham. You probably didn't get that since, you know, first or second time. No one's called. He's going through life with Thumb very well.

Yeah, he's fine. I've enjoyed that crew, I feel like is leaning into who they are, like a wrestling tag team. You know what I mean? A good cop, bad cop type? I don't know what it is. It's just, it's a, it's, the game is their theater. You know, the world's a stage. Are we allowed?

I'd argue that bit did not hit, though. I've been trying to tell you this about Tham for years. This is what he does. He's playing a character. We might have to talk to a shadowy league figure. I think one of the best off-season shows we could do is the power rankings of the announcing teams. Would we be able to do that? No way.

Then we will do it. I've got pages of notes on it. All right, let's get to the news. Cam Newton looks like he's done for the year in all likelihood he has been placed on IR the Panthers announced it with a foot injury an injury that first popped up in the preseason during his I think only series he played in the preseason he suffered a foot sprain and then we learned

after he played a little bit poorly in the regular season went back on the shelf after week two that it was the dreaded Liz Frank injury and then there was an ominous report last week that he was not getting any better and Kyle Allen would continue to start. Well, this is the logical conclusion to it all, Mark. Cam Newton heads to IR. Most likely done for the season,

although there is a way, apparently, that he could come back in some capacity. I heard that earlier today. I don't know if that has shifted since then. But Cam Newton, his season is over and quite possibly his Panthers career is over. Yeah,

I don't think we're going to see him again this year. And, you know, he's been through a lot over the past year plus. This is a guy that did not miss more than three games over his first 126 eligible outings and was the picture of durability taking endless punishment. And it's caught up with him, two shoulder surgeries. We've got the thing going on this year. And the Panthers can part ways with nothing more than about 2 million in dead cap space if they ever wanted to move on.

I don't think you do unless you have a much better option that the entire organization is into. But I would imagine that there would be a couple other teams out there that could look at Cam Newton as a major spice-up factor. Can you imagine Cam Newton on the Bears or on the Bengals or even if the dolphins decided we're not going to get that guy in the draft? Which version, though? Yeah, it's hard to imagine him because, right.

Who is? Which version is fair, but if he's checked out healthy, six months from now. The foot injury ruined his season, but the shoulder, which has been operated on twice in the past two years, that was the major problem early in the season. Yes, he couldn't move either because of the foot thing, but the throws is what had everyone freaking out before he went on the shelf. He's never been a top shelf passer. I mean, maybe that half a season during his MVP year, but he's been a dual-purpose quarterback, and we thought he might be the exception to the durability concerns of running quarterbacks

because he's so big and so tough. And like Mark said, only missed, what, three games? over the early portion of his career, but you just look through the history of running quarterbacks, and this is when they decline. But that's true, and you do wonder about that as he's, you know, turning 31 next year. But I would say he was a top-shelf quarterback

throwing the ball in Norv Turner's offense for half a season, for more than half. Which was a totally different offense where he wasn't going downfield anymore, and he was just settling for short passes. But making good decisions, making good throws, using his legs still enough. He's, you know, the greatest red zone weapon of the decade.

It's not even a question in terms of the numbers. Was. We don't know. A lot of that was because of his legs. But won't someone take, wouldn't someone be willing to take a shot on that? Absolutely. The arm is a different thing. The foot does, it does concern you.

I just don't think the Panthers would be interested in getting rid of him unless they were getting a ton in return because his salary is so low. I mean, he's making $18.6 million for a, quarterback right now. That's actually a huge bargain. I think even if he was put on the free agency, if he was put in free agency, which isn't going to happen because they could trade him or he'll be back with the team. There'd be plenty of teams who would line up to still pay him a lot of money just for the chance that he's the old Cam Newton because that would be such an upgrade. But I have a hard time even guessing who's the coach going to be next year, who's the GM going to be next

year? You don't know in Carolina. And without knowing that, how can you guess who's the quarterback. And I'm not saying he can't change his style. Like you said, he already did last year. This transition started three or four years ago with the Panthers saying we can't continue to run him as his own re-quarterback. We've got to use the Big Ben model and make him a quicker decision quarterback making quick passes. And like Greg said, he started that last year. I just don't know will that body hold up if he continues to play the dual purpose style. I wonder if he came into the league just a little too early. I feel like teams are with Lamar and Kyler Murray

are starting to meet the quarterbacks a little more creatively. Those guys are elusive though. Can's a runover guy. Sure. Early in his career he certainly could make people. I just mean like design a really making offense around his dual threat ability. You would like to see a team commit to that but maybe

he's too old. Didn't they? I thought Rob Chagin's right. They did and he wanted an MVP. You won an MVP. Moving on, Doug Marone is made his decision. Nick Foles will regain his starting job with the Jaguar sending Gardner Mienchu to the bench after eight weeks of very solid play. But at the end of the day, Morone said he thought about it hard.

It was his decision. And he wants to bring Foles back into the mix as the Jaguars look to make a playoff push in the second half. Here is some more of what Doug had to say. He's done a great job. Minchu. You know, I feel a whole lot different about him now than I did prior to him playing in a very positive way. We took some things and had some discussions on things that we're going to work on going forward,

which will give him the ability to be a player in this league for a long time. I really believe that. I was thinking about this. It's kind of a good spot right now if you're a Jaguars fan. And I know you might be frustrated because you spent $60 on the Minshu Jersey and you have the mustache and you bought into the mania. and you're excited about him as a prospect going forward. But there are two ways this plays out.

One, well, there's three ways. One way is Foles is okay, and then they have a decision to make in the off-season. But the two other options are Foles really plays well, and we have no idea if he will or not because he was injured almost immediately this season. Foles plays really well. The Jaguars make a push in the second half,

and then they have a decision to make. Or Foles is very mad, and they're like, okay, there's no need to panic because we have a young quarterback in Minshu who we can turn to and feel confident going forward that he's our guy. So you just kind of let it all play out. You also need two quarterbacks in the NFL now

and you can keep him and have Minshu for low-cost depth or you can trade him and have Minshu with no depth at all behind him. It's another team that you don't know what the future is going to be. So to me this move is about the present, first and foremost. They want to get to the playoffs to keep their job.

Doug Marone, Tom Coughlin, everyone there. And I'm excited to see Foles in this offense. I didn't expect DJ Chark and Chris Conley to be as explosive as they are. I think Minchu was a big part in that in bringing the best out of those guys. And maybe this touchdown throw that Foles made, even played a factor. I mean, he played two series, and one of them included one of the prettiest passes, any quarterback's thrown all year, and that's the pass that Foles got hurt on. And so I kind of want to see it because good Foles,

is fun. Like, if you just started Foles's career in the last three years, you would think this guy's got a lot of potential. He's not over the hill, and I just, I kind of want to see it. I mean, I think this is Nick Foles time of year, too, where who knows where we would be with Nick Foles had he started the last eight-plus games. But Morone said it. He looked at the overall body of work in Nick Foles, and of course you want to, you invested a ton of money into this, and I think it starts right there. It starts right there, because if you want to just look at the, let's say that Minchu was drafted in the first round and was playing this way. He doesn't get bench for anyone in the league. You just keep it going. But the situation lends itself to this. And so

I'm with you in the sense that you can't get out of this year without seeing what you have in Nick Foles. I do think it's strange if we go two more seasons and Minchu is sitting on the bench and we never see him again. I just don't think that's tenable. There's too much to work with and develop and someone's going to come calling for him at some point. There's also something to be said for leaving the last taste in everyone's mouth, Nick Full's Philadelphia success and then try to flip that in the offseason. Because Minch's mobility worked really well behind this offensive line. I wonder how Fools will work behind this offensive line. It makes sense. You always want to have a backup quarterback who can play and keep your season alive of disaster strikes. But yeah,

he signed a four-year, $88 million deal, $22 million a year. He still has value on the market. I would think if they do make that decision, they would not keep around a backup at that rate. They would probably trade him for salary cap purposes and whatnot. But I guess there is a scenario where they could couch it and have both guys on this roster going forward. I just doubt it. I mean, do you think they're teammates next year? A backup.

Foles could be a backup that comes in late in the season when Minchu gets hurt and beat him to the Super Bowl. If Foles plays well, I think they'll both be on the roster. Yeah, I do too. I think Foles is going to have to play well enough and everyone's going to have to keep their jobs. Then things are just up in the air. Foles works in this offense.

Let me ask you, let's just say, what is the reaction? Because there's a societal element to Munch you, too, in a football fan element. And I think it's kind of bold of the Jaguars to bench them and do what they're doing with Foles. I give them some credit for thinking for themselves on this one, number one. But let's say Foles goes out over the next two games and generates six or seven turnovers.

I'm just saying it's a possible because he's a fumbler, too, and he can throw his share of interceptions. What is the reaction and what do you do then? Because I think they tried to avoid stepping right into a big controversy by not starting Foles for the rest of the year, but you'd be right back in one. Follow me on this. If you are a listener and you think that they would entertain moving Foles in the offseason

if it came to that, listen to the quarterbacks, and we've kind of touched on this, but now it's becoming into focus even more. the quarterbacks that could be available to teams this offseason. Cam potentially, Dalton we know, Mariotto we know, Phil Rivers potentially, Flacko, Eli, Teddy Bridgewater, maybe Nick Foles, maybe Tom Brady. Philip Rivers. If Tom Brady is a maybe, then Breeze is even more of a maybe. Both of those guys have such.

Well, there's been no reporting connecting Breeze. Well, he's a free agent. I know, I'm saying there's so much. Smoke. Right, there's so much financial. reasons for both the Saints and the Patriots that would make it very difficult to move on from either of those guys.

They have very similar type contracts that they'd have to eat... More to the point, there's a lot of big name... Right. I feel like this hasn't happened in a very long time. No, I would say there's a... There are strong reasons why 90% of that list is available too.

All right. Moving on to Sean Jackson, who was supposed to be ripping the tops off defenses for the Philadelphia Eagles is instead heading to injured reserve. that abdomen injury that he suffered in week one or week two. And he attempted to come back on Sunday, pulled himself out of the lineup because he wasn't feeling right. Well, now he needs core muscle surgery. So D. Jacks will exit the picture for the Eagles.

And it's kind of Greg, a what-if scenario for Philadelphia, who could certainly use a guy like Jackson. And we've seen it this year. A lot of people, myself included, thought Carson Wentz could be an MVP type player this year. The offense has not been explosive. and maybe if Jackson was there, it would have changed some things. It would have helped, I really think so. And he signed for the next two years at pretty reasonable salary. So, you know, he should be back with them next year.

You would think they have to work so hard to score. They move down the field slowly. Maybe Jeffrey's a little healthier after the break. But I think that's just who they're going to be. Two tight ends, Goddard and Ertz, a lot of running the ball, and their defense is going to need to play better than it did the first six or seven weeks. There's some signs that they might. This is doubly painful because I got the sense that they didn't make a trade at the deadline

because they were counting on Deshawn Jackson to come back. And I've seen enough of Mack Hollins. We don't need to see him anymore. What's wrong with J.J. Arthega White's side that he can't get on the field. He was on the field for the first three or four weeks. And like Hollins, could not, you know. He's got a second round. Capitalized on his targets and was not getting the ball too often.

I would have named Arcega Tham, because you could then have Tham, Arthega. Tom Or Tham. Or Tham. It's nicely done. Pronounce it Tom and take that, you know, keep it in Arthega. So even though it says Tom, people are going to say, oh, I should say Tham. No, no, no, no, you save that for Arthega. I mean, another guy that's probably had some struggles, you know, with friends and others. He's been correcting people for a long time.

Not going on there. It's been a bad season in Cleveland, Mark, as you know. and this week the criticism is piling up at the quarterback position at head coach, but they didn't need this. Jermaine Whitehead, who's a starting safety,

started all eight games for the team after a really bad game against the Broncos in which he whiffed on a tackle on Noah fans' long touchdown catch at mile high. Some fans got after him on Twitter and he could not resist the urge

to punch back. And punch back he did. Well, it was Dustin Fox, right? former player and someone who works does a lot of broadcast I'm sure he was getting in from all corners but that's the Fox

too yeah that he came after but he he hit back at Fox and others with some racial epithets and also some threats some physical threats

people are saying where's your address he listed the Brown's facility obviously a wretched look for Whitehead who should know better and the Browns promptly took him to task with an official statement on Sunday night

and then placed them on waivers on Sunday. So this is not just like a bottom of the roster guy. He was a starting safety on the team and now his tenure with the Browns is over and I imagine this is going to hurt him finding a job. Released him as they should. I mean, this isn't the dawn of Twitter or the dawn of social media.

There are courses heaped on these players all offseason and into the season about what is going to cost you career-wise if you choose to take a major misstep on Twitter or et cetera. It is got to suck to be a player and have to deal with. If you have a tough performance, 99% of people have no idea how to assess what a safety is doing on any given play.

And people just coming at you and you have to use the self-control to not fire back. But if you don't, if you choose not to, teams are not going to put up with it, especially with what he wrote. I've said that to you so many times over the years, Mark. To me. I pulled you aside and I said, delete that, I mean, I'll play with fire, but I'm not on an NFL.

Stop threatening the lives of our listeners. It's no way to build a podcast. You think these players have it bad? Ask Ricky or Colleen Woof. Like, women in sports, they've got it even worse on Twitter. It's terrible. You can't fire back either half the time, and it's just like, or all the time. Yeah.

Not fair. I would, if you wanted to throw out some threats of people that are being inappropriate toward you, Ricky, I would stand behind you. You would? Yeah. I'd do like a dead spit thing. I'd walk out. You would. That's really sweet.

Yes, absolutely. That's really sweet. Would you then quietly return to the... I was going to say, I don't feel like that's your end game. I'd go home, I'd talk to Emily about what happened, and then I'd just... I'd do the move. Larry David famously, he worked for SNL briefly, Saturday Night Live,

and he was not a good fit there because he's a weirdo. A beautiful weirdo, but a weirdo. And one day he was frustrated that the things weren't going, right? So he just, he quit. He announced that he's quitting and he walked out. And then the following week, just came back to the office and tried to act like nothing happened. Didn't work out.

George Costanza did the same thing in a Seinfeld episode. I believe he worked with Julie Louis Dreyfus on Saturday Night Live. He did. Well, what do you guys make of the Browns, you know, taken off, you know, taking them off the roster, but they also hired Kareem Hunt. So do you think it's just like a PR move or how do you, I mean, I don't know. I wondered if the perception was not out there that Freddie Kitchens has no control over these players, because that is perception with the penalties.

and Baker and Mayfield shaving three times when he shows up, the players wearing bag cleats. It's all part of the same story that's been going on for two months. I was going to ask Mark, do you think if this was any other team but the Browns, would it still be the same outcome? I think a bunch of teams would have gotten rid of a player that did what he did. But I would say, to Erica's point,

the Browns, if you look at what they've done under John Dorsey, there is reason to suggest there's some hypocrisy going on there and that they've signed players that don't fall into the conduct zone at all for what you'd want to put out there for your family? I would venture to say he's played almost every snap this season for them that if he had not gotten run over by Noah Fant in a, you know, to a player, I would say it would be an unfortunate way, I guess would be the nicest way to say it

and have a disastrous game that he might not have been cut. And that is a lot of PR. He said he was playing with a broken hand. More like a broken brain. Come on, bro. Use it. Moving on. The final word on that story.

The Athletic put out a story that got some buzz on Monday. Vincent Bon Signore wrote that there's a possibility of the Chargers moving to London. It's something that's been broached among league personnel. And that same report also indicated the team would, quote, at least listen if the prospect was broached. And that was kind of the extent of the reporting. around this. And then it went into, it was a long piece that featured quotes from Dean Spanos, the Chargers owner, but not in direct connection to that report. And also some high-ranking

NFL UK officials involved with it, but it all doesn't seem to have any legs. At least right now, because Dean Spanos was approached by Chargers beat reporters today, Tuesday, and he had this to say. We're not going to London. We're not going anywhere. We planned to be in L.A. for a long fucking time. That was bullshit that story via the L.A. times. And then the Chargers' Twitter account minutes later piped in with this famous scene

from the Scorsese film, The Wolf of Wall Street. I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving I'm not leaving Do you like this movie Mark? I loved it

I enjoyed it yeah DiCaprio one of the great underrated actors he's great in it they're gonna need a fucking wrecking ball

to take me out of here awesome scene I asked me by my last workplace Greg, what did this, how did this all play for you? I don't know what to make of it. Other than being clear on what he actually reported wasn't, you know, too aggressive. He just, he said there were some league discussions, you know, it's hard to know to know where in the league or how important that was in that, you know, someone within the Chargers that they would listen.

And yet the article has a quote from Spanos right off the top. that, you know, said they're committed to L.A. If he had used the words, I think that he used Monday, and that was the quote in the piece, is there even... Is there a piece? I don't know. That's what the question I would ask.

I don't know what to make. Bonsignore, the framing of the question to Spanos because such a different response, a profane response to reporters, an angry response to reporters, but something far more measured that was using this piece. did the reporter for the athletic laid out clearly that according to his reporting that it was something that the league would be interested in doing and the charges would be listening to

was that specifically did he utter that to dean spanos before getting his soundbite because that to me makes a difference they are the only team renting and not owning their home and they're in a city that doesn't necessarily want or need two teams so they're always going to be spoken about as a team going to move. I mean, they've gone through this. They just went through this. That's the only thing that's, I think if you're a Chargers fan that's actually come with them and still is rooting

for the L.A. Chargers when you were a San Diego Chargers. And there are some of those fans. I know they take a lot of pot shots. And there aren't a ton of them, but they're in Orange County and some of the San Diego fans. He's got to come out aggressively against this because if you want to, you know, get rid of the fan sport that you do have, stories like this are going to do it. I mean, the reporting that I would love to have in depth is go to the highest people in the league and find out where their heads are at this point with the Chargers actually moving.

You're talking to Henry Hodgson. True, or maybe just a little bit lower than Henry. But, yeah, just, I mean, this is not a problem that's going to go away. It's going to magnify as the optics change, and suddenly they're in a massive stadium when they can't fill a small one. And this is purely opinion. It has nothing to do with anyone involved with this. but the NFL, a team would work in London.

I, having been there twice, having seen their support, having just looking at the data of how the people have packed that stadium, how the sport is growing over there, I think it's absolutely something logistically that they could make work, and I know there would be challenges and would players want to play there, and that's all been discussed. I believe that not only would it work, and they did touch on this in the article,

that it is a potential golden opportunity for a team like the Chargers to kind of reestablish itself and become perhaps a business superpower of the NFL if it worked. So I think it's going to happen eventually, but whether it's going to be the Chargers or whomever, I don't know. But it just seems like London is ready for a team. And it also is the ready-made stadium, which we were just at, that was built for the NFL. For the NFL. They have an NFL field. Maybe the best stadium in the NFL.

NFL locker rooms separate from the soccer locker rooms. That is locked and loaded right in the middle of London. There's no way to cleanly uproot a team and take it to another city. It's just, it's the worst thing you can do as a sports franchise to the people that have made it possible for you to even leave. And the Jaguars are obviously always the team that people, you know, associate because Khan has, you know, investment, you know, has the soccer team and has been part of the stadium there. I don't know. It's easy to say that a team would make sense there, but I really don't think it could happen unless they lay the groundwork in this CBN. which is coming up.

So it might come to a head, I feel like, in the next year or two. If they're going to move, they have to get buy-in from the players. It all sort of has to be organized, you know, when that CBA is. I would say if you can't get Philip Rivers to move his eight children the hour and 45 minutes from San Diego to Los Angeles, I don't think you're going to get him to move to the United Kingdom. And to be clear, I think the buy-in, I don't know about the league and the owners and the players, that's unclear of the buy-in. But that market, they're ready to buy-in.

Can we say the same about Los Angeles with two teams? I don't know if you can. But it seems like London would be able to handle a team and thrive with it. Well, and probably the biggest tease they've had in terms of a news story coming out suggesting someone is potentially in place. And the reaction from people we know over there was big. Well, London, the thing with those fans, and I think the Jaguards have done a nice job. They can root for more than one team. Like, you can have a – like, the Jaguars are kind of a lot of people in the UK, from what I gather, like, their second team.

you like them. Like, if you don't have the same sort of tribal, I grew up in New England, so I'm going to root for the Patriots to begin with, then I think you're willing to support different things. And I've noticed this year, I don't, I kind of like the trend of, there's visiting fans in a lot more stadiums because of the secondary market is so different. There were a ton of Vikings fans at the Chiefs. So it's not just bad, it's not just stadiums without great fan bases. There are a ton of Vikings fans at the Chiefs.

Eagles fans in Buffalo. There were a ton of Patriots fans at the Ravens game. There were a ton of Cowboys fans at the Giants. You know what? I think that kind of, we were there for Rams Cowboys, and I thought that was a great atmosphere. It's kind of fun when you have that soccer feel where there's two fan bases in the same thing.

But that was, I would argue, that was almost like 50% Cowboys fans in terms of noise. But I thought it was cool. But you think it's cool, and I think it's cool. But I don't think the Rams thought that was cool at a playoff game. All right, let us move on. That's what's happening in the news.

And of course, we will continue to follow that story wherever it leads, even if it leads nowhere. All right, let's get into it. Ricky, you got upset with me because you did a really nice job sending some potential segment ideas. Yeah. For today's show, you sent it yesterday.

I was in the middle of my power rankings and I didn't give it the thought that it deserved. So I apologize for that. And I know it's on your radar that we're doing a segment called what we've loved about the 2019 season so far. Yeah, it's pretty funny. So I just want to put it on record.

that I get it, but keep the ideas coming. You're such a creative one. Just for the listeners, I want you guys to know that I was like, okay, let's look at what's trending. You know, Dan, you like to stay on top of what's going on. Frozen 2. What, you know, storylines do we need to let it go? What's Frozen 2?

Frozen 2. Okay. What about Lizzo is over a party? It's a K-pop feud with Lizzo. You know. Lizard? What players? The rising wide receiver of the Packers?

Exactly. What, what, you know, players are we feuding with, or are we not really saying that what we're with? There's a lot of MVP talk. What about the opposite of that? What about players we thought were going to be in the MVP? LVPs? Yeah. I'll help you out with that.

You know, and I had another bumble idea that was very fun. It might be something, you know, to do, because you normally do a segment on the Tuesday shows. Right now, I want to make it very clear. It doesn't matter what happens in the NFL over the next seven days. Our segment on next Tuesday show will be. one of those ideas or a newer Ricky idea. A Ricky-centric SEG idea next Tuesday only on the around the NFL podcast.

Okay, but the best part about this whole thing is I like put out of this time and spending, you know, writing up all these things. And my email said, I know you're really busy with power ranking. So I thought I'd send you some news items to try to make your day easier. So thank you to that, too. You did say thank you. And I sent you some news and I sent you segments. And then on the rundown today, segment, what we've loved about the 2019 season.

this is this is grinding your ears that's very funny don't you think i told you i'm sorry i'm sorry yeah i love it i just i i think you know it's new too you've never done that before and the the NFL season you've never sent the ideas before right this was the first yeah right no well like in this way you've never done it like maybe not the most welcome environment to send ideas i would say no that's absolutely false mark it's a great environment please send ideas But if this is going to be something that happens every week, it will be more kind of on my mind. It was in my mind.

And then it exited my mind because I was busy. Yeah. But that won't happen again if it happens for multiple weeks. No, I think it's my... I just wanted to try to make your day easier. Okay, I get it. And I'm really happy that you're super busy with all other shows.

Okay. Now that's all so I could see. There's a little bit of a knife being sharp. Shadow League figure in the building. How's your fantasy show? It's doing really well. Thanks for the plug. man it's really fun appreciate it you do good work on that i saw you did a remote from the

huddle or commissary yeah it was good good stuff thanks what we've loved about the 2019 season so far all right so let's go around the horn and share what we've loved uh Greg we're gonna start with you well you know I have to start with Lamar but the reason I love what the Ravens are doing and Lamar Jackson is just that it's counter to everything else in the league, that they are taking an approach sort of from the 70s or 80s or, heck, the 20s, and they're making it new with a player who has a skill set unlike anything we've ever seen. And that's kind of the history of the NFL. There are no new plays. There are no like new offenses. It's all been done before. It's the same with

art. Like you don't start art from scratch. There's no such thing. You're building on what people have done. You don't. Standing on the shoulders of jobs. You're building on what people have done before and then you're changing it for the modern day. And that's what the Ravens have done and they've it took some Hutzpah to do it. Hutzpah. And it's

taken, the fact is they're executing it too. The way that the rest of the league is going to have to try to catch up in a league that's all we hear is pass first, pass first, pass first. It's spread them out. It's a pass first league. They are the best running team of all time right now.

All time. In the, there are 16 games with Lamar Jackson would set the record and their pace for this year would set the record and Lamar Jackson would set the record. Like, he's played 16 games so it's a perfect sample size. I love that about the 2019 season.

Ouch. Is that why you didn't want to do the second? We like football. I love football. Like it really does carry me through. Like when, like this job, we all work hard at it. And if you don't like really enjoy

what you're covering, then it's going to get tough in those days. and seeing teams like them and then especially the 49ers who are just doing it in a totally different way than we've seen in a while and it's working and kind of busting up all the maxims

that everyone says. I love that. I give the Ravens this credit too because if you're Greg Roman, I'd say the star rose and then it fell a little bit because the league went away from what he was doing with the Niners

and you hired a guy whose cue rating was not where it was in the past and you let him do what he does and it's not the Niners' offense from the Kaepernick days entirely, but there are a lot of shared elements there and you nailed it, it's working. Like that's working with the charges

that supposedly provided a blueprint to stop them. Remember that? No, that feels like a million years ago. And we did a segment that should show up somewhere on the internet in the next few days our mid-season awards. And one of my categories was, you know, Bad Team Stay Bad Award.

Well, the Ravens are example of how good teams stay good. They took Lamar Jackson, he was the fifth quarterback taken in the draft last year and they just had a different vision than everybody everybody else and they knew how to they didn't try to force him to be something that he wasn't they're just a well-run team and I'm glad you brought up Lamar as the first one Greg because if you didn't I would have and if you listen to this podcast you know I hate the Patriots I'm so sick of the Patriots if I have to cover the Patriots of the Super Bowl again

it's just going to ruin the whole week for me and to have another young king rise up now because Patrick Mahomes he rose last year and you put all your eggs in his basket and he couldn't get the job done. It wasn't his fault. His defense let him down. And you were counting on Patrick Mahomes to do it again this year. We counted on the Steelers for years.

They never could do it. And now you have Lamar, and I'm not saying he's going to do the same thing in January against the past that he did on Sunday night. But now you have another guy that Bill Belichick has to figure out how to beat.

And he might not be able to because these young dogs that are rising up, one of them are going to get you. Eventually. Watson? Sean Watson's another guy. that's starting to grow now these young teams on the rise

with superstar quarterbacks is that what finally does the Pats in, we'll see. All right. I guess I go twice because I did go on a little bit there but I got excited. I'm very excited about the Samar Jackson thing.

Love football. It's okay. This one I'm, you know, I'm going to save mine actually because it goes in a, it brings things down a little bit. So, Wes, I'm going to spin to you. Well, bear them with me for a minute here.

I want to talk about Mamas. You know, a lot of guys is you get your love of sports from your dad. I got mine from my mom who we had passionate, intense debates back and forth about things like Oral Hirschizer versus Dwight Gooden, Michael Jordan versus Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. And I learned that she was really, those debates were important life lessons about selflessness, generosity, and teamwork. And the point for me is nobody knows their son's strengths and foibles to the extent that a mom does.

So when Minka Fitzpatrick's mom tells the dolphins, you're using my son wrong. You're using him wrong. She knew. She did. He was used on 22% of plays as a deep safety in Miami. He's used on 88% as the deep safety in Pittsburgh. And he is, and he's going to be on my midseason all pro team. He is that good.

They were allowing a 141 passer rating on deep passes in Pittsburgh before he showed up. They are now allowing a 10.8 rating. with a zero to three touchdown to interception ratio. And he had three takeaways in a six-day span recently. And another thing he did when a sports writer said, hey, you just had the longest return touchdown in Steelers history. He corrected him and said, no, James Harrison did. Pet peeve.

Post-season stats count. Stop saying only regular season stats count. They're the most important games. Thank you, Mickah Fitzpatrick. Thank you, Mama Fitzpatrick. And he knew that, I mean, good job by him in that spot to have the Harrison recall and knowing the history of the game right off of that. Yeah, he loves football.

He has no doubt he's transforming the back end of that defense. And you see it every metric, all the numbers, it's remarkable how much has changed since week three with Pittsburgh. Now, he's not completely responsible for that, but he's played a huge role in it. No, but their defense has enabled them to stay in the race while playing the worst quarterback in the NFL. Oh, you know, now he's the worst? There's no doubt about it.

Oh, my God. They're playing the wrong guy. All right. Now I will go. Because it's been sufficiently deflated with that Mason Rudolph thing. I love what Troy Aikman tweeted last night. Okay? Our league has a lot to address this offseason as consumer confidence continues to wane.

See what I did? Greg, kind of twisted this a little bit. I'm waiting. I love that tweet. You're working on multiple levels Because it's so true. I want to see. You love referring to our league.

It's our league. Oh, he did the Our League. That's right. I thought you were going to nuke that part of it. We just started talking about that over the weekend that that's the new National Football League. Yes. Everyone, instead of saying the NFL, it's like,

in the National Football League, the new thing is an hour league. Which Booger did during the game. In our league, you got to make a football play on the football field. This is the National Football League. It's our league. I think if you want to dig into that a little bit, and this is not what my subject is, but that's a way to cast out the people like us. Absolutely.

I call it my employer, but that's very different. You're right. It is setting a boundary around anyone that wasn't there on the field, and you probably shouldn't try to trump my comment if you weren't a former player. My analysis that I'm about to unfurl comes from a place of experience on the football field. So if you want to counter what you said, what I say, Just know that it is not your league, it is our league. And more specifically, my league.

Anyway, that's not the point. Our league has a lot to address this off season as consumer confidence continues to win. I kind of like Troy Eggman's Twitter account. He comes with some fire. He's got a really good profile pick where the shadowings good. Had a fun back and forth with Evan Silva. I don't know if you saw that. Was that recently?

Yeah, last week. Two weeks ago. It was about how you judge quarterbacks and what stats to use. Was that the Patrick Mahomes thing? It was less of a conversation and more of six straight tweets at Evan Silver. But he responded and it was all respectful. This was the yards per completion thing.

Okay, he also made news because somebody put Patrick Mahomes statistics next to Troy Aikman's and he dwarfed them all and then Aikman fired back. Well, I got the... And people do that with Tony Romo forever. I'm going to follow him live on the podcast. Pop him with a follow.

It's stupid to put Mahomes stats up against Akeman. They played a totally different era. That's what he pointed out. And he's got the trophies. Anyway, it happened again Monday night football. We had a game just overloaded with penalties and stoppages and a bad PI situation where it went to review. And I do think when the league gets together for the meetings that happen after the season,

that they do have to find a way to better the pace. And that's become an issue that's, been a major fight in major league baseball as they try to shorten their games. These NFL games are getting longer. And I think back to that play, Greg, that sequence of the Chargers, Titans near the goal line, where everything was sucked out of it by incessant stop downs for whether it's a measurement or a buzz down from the booth to look at the play, you know, more flags than ever. I know they've gotten the holding thing, which was inexplicable when they started pulling out

the flag at a massive rate increase. increase earlier the season with more holding calls. They just got to get out of the way a little bit, the officials, and the past interference thing, which we've talked to death, but I will say this. My initial thought was it's not really working how it was supposed to work, because I think they overturn or they stick with a call almost 90% of the time, but at the end of the day, they're still getting some things right that were egregiously wrong. But in truth, it's affecting the game strategy-wise because it's taking away timeouts.

and also it's stopping the game outright. It's just shutting the game down. And I think the NFL has to find a way. Like NFL game in their league, Greg, I love the product, but something just to clean it up a little bit because it feels like it's been a little sloppy this year. That's right up my alley. What part of this do you love?

He loves the Aikman. I love that Troy Aikman called it out. I like that. I like that. I would say this. Like don't fall into the trap that unfairly baseball has because of the way that baseball is naturally paced, don't slow the game down.

It's already been a league thing. They know it, but it's distinctly changed this year. The focus has shifted. Riveron came to us and said two years ago, this is sports entertainment. We know it. We got a quicken the pace. We have to put a good entertainment product on the field.

And in this past off season, that was completely abandoned. That was not a talking point whatsoever. Your battle is everyone out there watching. has something better to do on their phone and watch a game that gets mired in a four-minute stoppage while people in black and white jerseys prance around figuring out

or we're just going to back up our own potentially mistaken call. Although on some level I always do find a funny when there's 15 to 40 people all tweeting at the same time how the game is unwatchable but they have to watch it. Why are you watching?

You have a million other things. Well, you're talking about people that are paid. Most of them are media people. Yeah, they have to watch. But they don't. Most of the people are fans of other teams or their beat writers of other teams and they can't, you can't like give it up.

It's a beautiful game. They just get out of the way a little bit, find a way to clean it up. All right, that was a great segment, guys. Did you want me to offer anything during that? For heaven's sakes, Dan just spoke for 25 minutes. I did that on purpose because... I know you did.

Before, when I went after Wes, Mark rolled his eyes for some reason. It is now your turn, Mark. Well, I, like anything... Wait, what did the... eye rolling have to do it. It had no, it was something, there's things happening within the headspace that have nothing to do with anyone else. Trust me. Let us in there. I like things that help me learn about my own job here. We're still, our job is to get better every year at what we do.

And I have learned a huge lesson this year that we spend more time in the off season that we do in the regular season and real when real games matter much more time when there's no games happening where we cook up storylines. We cling to narrows. We cling to narrative. we get too lost in our own headspace and ideas about stuff that have not at any point been proven true, but will be proven untrue within the space between week one and week two, that I am vowing to never fall for the 1A off-season hype storyline, whether it be around a team and it was the Browns this year. And I don't think that I fell for it as much as some did. I was guarded against it, but only I think because I had a purpose.

personal painful stake in it. I think had it been another team, had someone else gone and done everything that Cleveland had done, I think I would have fallen for it. And my guard is up to not listen to this junk. I know that we have to fill airwaves and space all these other months, but there's a way to do it without just glomming on to the group think scenario where huge chunks of the media had Cleveland in the AFC title game when it made no sense when you looked at all the changes. This is my favorite annual midseason tradition. vowing to never pay attention to off-season stories. Well, I will pay attention, but I'm not going to glom on to something that feels especially

group-thinking and a little too... The problem is, you're right. Like, none of us have almost any predictive value. And I don't think that's a bad thing. Like, it's okay that it's all totally unpredictable. It's also, the NFL has proven over and over again that if you say something, just wait three weeks and you'll be right. Or wrong.

Or wrong. You're right. Either way. Or both. I'll say something, you know, Matt LaFleur said it this week. It's been proven over and over again. You cannot get comfortable in the NFL. Once you get comfortable, you're going to lose.

Because, I mean, the flip side is like all the other hot takes that aren't group think. They're wrong just as much as the group think, which is something that is on my rate. And what happens? Why do we need any of these hot takes? I mean, we do because otherwise you're going to be covering high school baseball for six months. No, you can talk about the sport without going wide with prediction. Mark, is that what you love to? about the 2019?

What I said was I love it taught me about doing my job differently. I do love that. It had personal effect on me. There's plenty of our things I love. I actually had Greg Roman as one. I don't love the Ravens,

but I do love a team that has the guttiness to Zig when everyone else is zagging. We made the seg our own, you know, that's what we do. I'll say this, you know what else has been good? Not a bad segue,

here's a loose container. How about this one? We got some good stuff. Thursday night football slate, which has been rather messy in years past and it's been an outpost for junky games and matchups you have to get out there early in the year or late in the year.

The Thursday Night Football Slate, I think, has been better than it's been since I've worked here. It's had five or six classic games and props where it's due versus trying to lift up Thursday night football when it doesn't hit the mark, which has been other years. I've got a quick love. Okay. Top of the MVP race features Russell Wilson, Deshawn Watson, Deshawn Watson, Lamar Jackson, Christian McCaffrey. That's nice. Three black quarterbacks and a white running back.

Whoa. Didn't think that's where you're going, but I love it. And I don't think five or ten years ago you would have had that. Look, the NFL's not perfect. We've seen with the hiring of head coaches and general managers that there's a lot of work to do. But the opportunity is there now for some people that it wasn't there for years ago. Good call, Wes. Well said.

All right. Speaking of Thursday night football, oh my goodness, we got a good one. The Chargers, who just shot. everybody by taking it to the Packers last week at the Big Dignity. Now they travel to the Black Hole to face the Raiders who are really just a fun team, a fun team to watch this year. And they are in the midst of a homestand, essentially, after that 74-day stretch away from the Coliseum in Oakland.

and they get a Chargers team that's kind of hard to figure out which version shows up. But Greg, I feel like I know what version of the Raiders will show up. Yeah. A competitive version. This will be an interesting game to watch.

It should be a close game, I think. I agree. I think the recipe is there for a high-scoring, entertaining game because the Raiders play very consistently. They have one of the worst defenses in the league. They don't have much of a pass rush. and they try to make up for that with a very efficient offense that keeps the ball

and moves the ball and has Josh Jacobs and Derek Carr and Darren Waller playing great. Chargers made some adjustments with their offensive line play last week that appeared to really make a big difference. They protected Rivers. I would see very well in that game against the Packers. And it just makes me think Rivers, who's kind of owned the Raiders, especially in Oakland, is going to keep it rolling. It only took one game and I'm back in on the Chargers.

You know, why not? Well, they look so different. I like both teams, though. I want both of these teams to make a run. The Raiders wouldn't be dead at four and five, but whoever wins this game will get a nice little boost. To me, what's interesting is that John Grun has done such a good job and Derek Carr, too, of getting rid of the ball,

and then that offensive line. Pass rushers have just not been as much of a factor against the Raiders as they have against other teams. And we saw what Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram did to the Packers last week. I wonder if they'll be able to do that to Oakland. This has the feel of the, I mean, we are all, Josh Jacobs, we all know about him, we all see how exciting and special he's been. But for the average fan that's not really monitoring the Raiders or hasn't watched them this year, this has the feel of that Thursday night game where suddenly Josh Jacobs becomes the player everyone knows about and we hear about them. Because this is rookie of the year, not just candidate, but probably leading candidate right now.

Right. And the Chargers have been very vulnerable to the run. They've been had a lot of injuries at defensive tackle. they still do. Which Chargers defense shows up because Bosa and Ingram were feast in last week on third down. They gave Rogers no chance. I think Joey Bosa would maybe be my pick

for a defensive player of the year right now if I had to make one. And Ingram's playing great. Desmond King's playing great. Like that defensive performance kind of came out of nowhere. Then you hear these little whispers from Rogers like that, you know,

they got into L.A. early and maybe some players had a little too much fun. They were a little dead. Dead in that game. I don't know. I don't know. He said that? Rogers did? Rogers said. He hinted because they flew in a day early to adjust to the climate and the time change.

And he kind of left it open end to that maybe some guys didn't make the right decisions. You know what a lot of teams do? If you live in L.A., the downtown L.A. live, which is like a four-block by four-block section, they put them in one of those hotels, not much happening at night, and they're not allowed to leave the four-block-by-four-block quadrant for that reason, because where would you want to go out on a Saturday night if you're in a visiting player, L.A. Fosho let them do it. Fosho.

And my one thought on this game, gentlemen, is that, and talked about this early in the season, how the Raiders in their last season in Oakland, they're going to be a tough team to beat there, and that's been the case. And this could be their last primetime game, and they are packing that stadium and acting like the team's going nowhere.

That place is going to be a madhouse on Thursday night. People are going to be, that's going to be a party in Oakland. Crowd was great for the Lions game, too. And I know the Chargers are used to playing an hostile environment, because it happens when they're at the big dignity, too. But, like, this is going to be something that I know Philip Rivers can handle, but I think it could give the charges trouble. And that's why I do like the Raiders in this game.

I think the Raiders are an interesting team to watch, and they get the Bengals at home and then a trip to face the wretched jets. They are set up to be playing relevant football in December. All right. Any final thoughts, gentlemen? He summed it up well. Yeah, just to end it right there. Let's get the plugs in.

We've got to do these plugs. Greg, check out that debrief because Greg wrote at length about what he loves about the 2019 season. I didn't read it purposely because I didn't want it to in fact my own thought process

for the SEG, but now it's the time. Pro's pro. I think it was your best intro of the year. I have a feeling you did not mention Troy Aikman and yours. I mean, I like Troy. I think that...

You've just started following him three weeks. We've been talking about the Thursday night telecast has been great this year. I've enjoyed it. They do a nice job. Mark, on my radar, the weekly Sessler-Banger, you wrote about the parallels between Baker and Mnchu.

Well, at Garner Minchu plays the mythological age-old role of Doppelganger that essentially operated as a life suck for Baker-Mayfield to the point where they look a lot alike, we get that, but they operated as sort of the fun thing last year for Baker-Mafield and the NFL and Minchu stole all that away to the point where Baker Mayfield is at the press podium at the end of Sunday's game

looking pale, having changed the facial hair on his face two different times in the course of four hours pre, during, and post game. A lot going on there and dig into it now that they put foals back in, I think the Jaguars read

my investigative piece and panicked. Baker looked a different kind of dangerous on that podium. Yeah, he's lost that dangerous zeal. It's the one. one like with the parents are worried and uh check out the power rankings which are up the old zeuser and west what's coming up with your your upcoming uh breakdown of top 10 well i have to speak with my editor but i believe this is the midseason all pro week oh it is really got to be i would

you know what i would read and that's a great uh that's a great topic i would read just the emails back and forth between you and ali bumpari that i usually speak in person i would let well maybe some type of dictation That's a segment for next Tuesday. I would read. I think it might be a less contentious thing you believe it to be. All right. There may be some passive aggressiveness, but I don't think it's contentious.

All right, good. Anyway, so check that out when it lands. Can't put me out a deadline. It lands where it lands. I got it. And Erica, get ready. Your spotlight next week. Seven days, can't wait.

Dan Hans is signing off for Quiet. Sturm, the mailman, the old boss, Ricky Hollywood behind the glass. Till Thursday. In the heat of battle, your squad relies on you. Don't let them down. Unlock elite gaming tech at Lenovo.com. Dominate every match with next level speed, seamless streaming, and performance that won't quit,

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