NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Most disappointing teams & toaster games

Episode Date: August 28, 2015

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – review the latest headlines around the league including Martavis Bryant's suspension and Junior Galette's season-ending injury. Then, the heroes break down teams that are bound to disappoint in 2015 before ending the show with the latest edition of "Win Wess' Toaster!"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 is still beefing with the Move the Sticks podcast. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethall. What's up, boys?

Hey, Dan. I am excited. This is one of those shows where Sessler got no sleep last night. Live Wire Sessler. Wild-odd Sessler. Went to bed at 10.30, woke up at around 10.50, never went back to sleep. Not sure why. So anything's possible with Mark.

I almost wish we had the fantasy outsider on today, because on the street corner, it would have been especially demented, I feel. like. Listen, I'm not feeling it. We're just have to see what happens. All right, good. Before the show, Mark made a comment

what was something along was on, would this be a good show for me to be completely checked out? Is that? Can we work on that? We can arrange it. It's not that different than a normal show. Well, more than too many speaking parts.

So, by the way, I was off yesterday. Galivanting around the West Coast. That's one way to put it, but when you're a married 35-year-old with a one-year-old son, there's no more gallivanting. It's over.

I was doing errands, running them around the city, and then relieving my babysitter. That's a lot of fun, rock and roll lifestyle. But I'm not completely, you know, unplugged from what's going on. I checked Twitter, got a tweet. A couple tweets, actually, about our friend, or Daniel Jarrett, Muya. I'm not sure how you pronounce it. Former D3 quarterback, right?

He did. He played above high school level. for a few years. And apparently they gave him a podcast, which is, you know, cute. He talked about us. So, TD, do we have that? I just, we might as well address it, less people think we're running. We've got the around the NFL guys that are going to try and talk about toasters.

So if you're into, like, you know, kitchen appliances around the NFL is your show. Bucky really liked that joke. I hope Bucky enjoyed his time on the podcast because it's over. When you haven't done a show in three and a half months, you probably have a lot of pent-up frustration with many co-workers, so I understand where DJ is coming from. And let's be honest, we get it. You're hitting up at the number one.

Come at us, you know, with a number one game in the land here. So if you want to come at it, come at it. I would do the same thing. That's how you get publicity. You come at the number one. I'm putting on full Mike Franceser here. Come at the number one. Come at the number one.

I'm not going to worry about it. Well, I don't got nothing to say about him. Is Jeremiah the podcast world's Antrell role at this point? Wow. Strong. Very strong. Yeah. Well, that's a good connection there.

Yes, I'm going to say he is, Mark. Plus, the toaster, which we're doing today, one of the most popular segments on the show. Finally, Greg, I acknowledge it. Greg, listen. Nothing like a little... If he's coming at me, I listen to this at 1115 at night, I was grocery shopping for some reason at 1115. And, by the way, this is the only reason I would listen to the Move the Sticks podcast at this point. I heard there was some beef to hear what happened.

Got me all fired up. It made me defensive of the toaster. Grocery shopping at 11.15 p.m. I don't know what, you know. I want to party with you, Cald. I was wide awake. I figured it might as well be productive. I like it.

I mean, yeah, DJ, former quarterback at the college level. He's a competitive guy by nature. Sure. He wants to come at the number one. We'll come at the number one. We're here. We're not going anywhere. He just did.

Well, keep coming. Oh, okay. We're not afraid. It's scurred. All right. Coming up on the show. Let me go, DJ. A little shot right back at you, buddy.

Coming up on today's show. He spent like a minute and a half taking shots at him while he had like one second. Coming up on today's show, we've got a lot to get to. We're going to do a little bit of new. Excuse me. All right. All right, gentlemen. Listen, we're human beings.

These things happen. Fallible. We do a little news, of course. Authentic. That's what the NFL network is looking for, I've heard. I will demand. And TD scrubs that from the audio and video, which, by the way, you can watch us on YouTube now. If it's easier for you to access us on YouTube, we're there.

You could also watch us on the NFL.com website somewhere. NFL now? NFL now? You could find it there maybe. But you could definitely find us at YouTube. And maybe we can get a YouTube channel at some point, TD, to give people a link that has everything. Well, we're on the NFL channel. Is there like subchannels for YouTube?

Well, we have the NFL channel. Don't try to take over the board just yet, Dan. And then on that, we have the around the NFL playlist. And by the way, the fun fact about the YouTube clips is that you can skip the segments as you please if you check the show. I saw that. It looks very good. And everybody's doing a very nice job behind the glass and behind the scenes getting us on the video side of things. But anyway, for today's show, we're going to do some news.

We're going to talk about teams that we feel are destined to fall short of expectations. Subtitle, I'm not mad, Todd. I'm just disappointed. And then finally As He's Todd And then finally Yes

As hinted by DJ and Greg We will bring back The game of skill and valor Known as Win Wes's Toaster Get excited We're excited

We We asked Wes when they came in today Are you ready for this Are you prepared And he didn't even know It was happening today I forgot it was happening He's in his zone

He doesn't even care He's just going to mown down Barry Tyson in Tokyo. That's what happened. That's a Tyson Tokyo moment. That's when I took you out with the uppercut. I don't remember being unconcerned when you took me out. Well, you should have still studied a little harder.

All right, let's go behind the glass and check in with TD. How you doing, buddy? What is going on, guys? Glad to be here, Friday. Good show, though. This is on YouTube, like we said. So is Move the Six. So is DDFPs.

Check it all out, guys. I want to start getting, I know you don't have any loyalties to our show, really. I would like to hear maybe from you. Loar into the game, baby. Loar into the game. If I can get a text from you when DJ's taking shots, so I don't have to hear it from, you know, Twitterverse. Well, T.D. probably didn't want us listening to that episode

because DJ also was taking shots and not so suddenly getting annoyed by T.D. jumping into the show too much. So at least it's not, it was not, it was funny to hear that at another show. Now you're just making stuff up. No, I'm not. I was saying this, Dan. Again, if you come of the king, you best not miss. Where's Omar?

Yes, very good. The wire. All right, let's do some news. I agree. That's a good point. All right, let's get right into it. We'll start with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bad news for one of our Making the Leapleap Candidates,

wide receiver Martavis Bryant, who is facing a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on substances of abuse. According to rap sheet, this is tied back to multiple marijuana the test that have been failed. So Martavis Bryant, smoking that sticky, icky.

And it's cost them the beginning of the season, potentially. Well, I think Mike Tomlin came out in March and said, this could be the best offense in the NFL. Because when Martavis Bryant hit the starting lineup after the week seven by, they averaged 31 points a game. They were arguably the most explosive offense in the NFL. Ben Rothesberger's passer rating was 15 points higher with Martavis Bryant in the lineup. He averaged 70 more passing yards.

per game with Bryant in the lineup. Those are amazing numbers. This team was three and three in week seven, and they went eight and two the rest of the way with Martavis Bryant. They were completely different offense. And you've got Labion Bell, Martavis Bryant, and Marcus Pouncey won't be there early in the season.

This is a team the last two years has been slow out of the gates. 2013, it kept them out of the playoffs. Last year it hurt them a little bit, too. They had to play catch-up all year. This kickoff game between the Steelers and Patriots is feeling like a week two preseason tilt. Let's just swap it out with something at this point.

Oh, give me a break. It's a lot of fun. Jimmy Garapolo, Dionne Lewis. You got Darius Hayward Bay running routes for the Steelers. That's not what we're tuning in kickoff week for. Whatever. It'll be exciting. But you're right.

All the optimism about the Steelers' offense. I mean, Pouncey's the biggest problem. They can replace Bryant for four weeks. But it is amazing. When Rothsberger threw those two. Can they? I think they can survive as an offense. Label will be back in the middle of that.

But you're going to be averaging 20 points a game instead of 33 or whatever. I mean, it's a different way to win a game, and you've already got questions on defense where you've got all these young players you have to work in early. This is a flawed team in September. I think there are a team that's going to have to score that many points because of the defense. I mean, we've just seen nothing from the defense so far. Well, I think that they're, you raise a good point. Their chances to be a Super Bowl winner this year or contender is the defense improving dramatically, which I think it has a chance to do. I don't really care about what I've seen in the preseason.

They have a pretty young roster. They have young pass rushers. They have a completely rebuilt secondary. They were terrible last year. I think just the change is a good thing. And you're right. The defense is going to have to be a lot better in September than they were a year ago. Martavis Brian played just 306 regular season snaps, 26 catches, 549 yards,

eight touchdowns in a league leading 21.1 yards per catch average. So this is a substantial loss. And the reason he was on our making a leap list is because we thought this guy could enter stud territory. You don't want to be on the list. I mean, everyone on that is. One by one. Everyone on that list is fading from society. I don't want to hear any more criticism of making a leave curse. Odell Beckham played 11 games last year.

Brian can come back, play 12, have a great season. You know who was on the making the list, leap list two years ago? Marcus Wheaton. We were just a year or two early. How did he do last year? Not great, but he's going to have a great season this year because Brian's out of the mix. Wait, Big Ben hyped him in early August. Like just blowing smoke.

Do you think that was because he knew Martavis Bryant was going to be suspended? We were wondering that yesterday. Blowing smoke. Well, these teams know. about these suspensions many times well before they're announced. Well, I think if nothing else, the team knew about it. And that's why Wheaton has been the starter and getting the starter snaps. That kind of explains while Wheaton has stayed ahead of Bryant.

Conspiracy theory. The loser here is all these fantasy heads that wrote roughly 7 or 800 articles about the Wheaton versus Bryant controversy in Pittsburgh. Is that an accurate figure? The fantasy outsider is back. Had this happened a month ago, you save a lot of people, a lot of typing. And Greg's right, by the way, there is no making the leap curse. It's not like Gino Smith was on the list.

Ten little Indians. They all go down. All right. Moving on. Horrible news for the Washington Redskins. They signed Junior Galette to a one-year deal last month. I think they could get a little sneaky steel and a real pass rusher in their defense if he would be able to keep his nose clean and not be a monster like he was in New Orleans.

So that's not going to happen. Tora's Achilles in practice on Wednesday. And he's out for the year. will undergo surgery on Friday. Wes, this is an injury that really kills a defense that needed Galette to have an impact for them to really probably have any chance to be competitive, right? They've got a couple of second round picks, Trent Murphy and Preston Smith. They've drafted the past two years.

But if they like those guys enough to start them, why did they sign Junior Galette in the first place? It tells you that those guys weren't ready to make a difference. To me, a little preview here, we've got to do our power rankings, one to 32 for all the NFL teams. The Redskins will not be in the top 31. on my list. Not going to make the cut. Yeah, people forget, it's a terrible, it's a terrible roster.

Scott McLuhan shows up, people, okay, they're on the right track, he's going to do the right thing. It's going to take a while for him to get his players in. He didn't have a dramatic offseason. This is essentially the same team that has won seven games the last two years combined, I believe. I mean, so they are right there with the very worst rosters in the league, and there's not any reason to think, based off the last month, unless you believe that Jay Gruden getting

mad about people calling him fat is going to motivate everyone that they're going to get better. It's hard, like, to think of north of Joe Philbin, a coach that's in a worse situation than Jake Rudin right now. Oh, I think he's much worse than Joe Philbin. Well, you've got a bottom three roster, and I'm with you. I mean, it's hard to figure out what team do you put lower than the Redskins in your power pole based on just the lack of hope? What position, what player do you point to and say, this guy's going to get him out of

Does the locker room even liked and respect Jay Gruden? Well, we don't. Does the owner like in respect Jay Gruden? I think these are questions. This is an awful situation to go into a year when you just lost one of your top pass rushers. Nobody knows if your quarterback can play quarterback anymore. And you might be forced to play him because the direction of upstairs is telling you to do that. It's no way to go into a season.

TD, by the way, we saw your little graphic flood there. Not a torn ACL, torn Achilles. It makes it, though. See, we're interactive, responsive. That was quick. responsive group here behind the glass. Okay, Achilles should have an apostrophe at the end, by the way.

Strow that at you. No, actually, it doesn't. Not only if you use heel. Unsure. It's weird. Tend to know, heal, yes. Well, everyone always talks about what a tragedy it is when

injuries happen in the pre-season. I don't hear anyone saying that for Junior Galette. Oh. No, no, no, who that nation. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Who that Nation is totally cool with this. Let's just be real about it. Just really, one of the

of the worst teammates ever were hearing, sometimes bad things happen. Well, from that angle, maybe a positive for the Redskins. You get rid of a locker room cancer. You say that as a joke, by the way, but it could possibly be the best thing that happens to this team.

Yes, there's not a lot of hope in Washington, but this guy could have potentially been a total nightmare. They were rolling the dice. I felt it was a desperate move at the time. Now he's out of the picture. You lose your best pass thruster, but at least you'll lose, like,

a hardcore cancer. Yeah, everything's great. You're just trying to spin positive a little bit. All right. Moving on. So that's what's happening in the news. Not a lot cooking on the news end ahead of the third week of the preseason, but there is a lot to talk about. And what we're going to talk about next is, as we talked about earlier, you know, this is hope season, unless you're in the Washington, D.C. region. And everyone, a lot of teams are excited that they feel like they have a chance to play in, where is it, San Clarita? Santa Clara.

Santa Clara, California, California. Santa Clara, California. any clara any female name beginning with c they have been playing football there for over a year now the 49ers that's true uh so santa clara california where the is the site of i don't know for some reason it came into my head when i told you about an old friend of mine from my past a girl named kara carra got married and i explained that cara got married the new york voice came out i don't know where that came from anyway This episode is completely off the rails. This segment is called teams that are destined to fall short of expectations. I'm not teams that will disappoint.

No, or I'm not mad, Todd. We're just disappointed. I like that. All right. So let's start. We're going to go one by one. Even though all these teams have hope, there's a reason to really expect things to go down the drain in a big way. And we're going to start with the quiet storm.

I mean, I'm going to go, let's go to Buffalo. Because here's the thing with the bills. It's whole Rex Ryan, you're going to sell a bunch of tickets because Rex Ryan comes in, he's jumping out of airplanes, he's telling everyone who will listen that they're going to make the playoffs. And that's fine, except I can't find many teams with a shaky quarterback situation that ever make the postseason. I think Rex Ryan is one of the best defensive coaches of our time. But at the same point, this guy refuses to learn anything about managing his quarterbacks. I think going into the third preseason week with E.J. Manuel as your starter because you're over. overly loyal to this concept that everyone must have a starting chance in the preseason is

a disaster in the making. Rex Ryan has learned nothing about managing the most important position in sport. I agree with that. I agree that he's playing this poorly. We've been saying it for like two weeks now that Rex always gets things wrong no matter what with this. But he could have played it perfectly. I still think this would have been a major issue on this team quarterback play. So I agree with you. I just kind of have a little bit different angle. But yeah, how are they going to expect a good quarterback play this season? How can you think this is a 10-win team? Sure.

He adds too much complexity to an already muddled situation. You've completely botched what should be the showcase game for, I think, Tyrod Taylor. He's making Lovie Smith look like Mark Tressman when it comes to quarterman. I mean, this guy is ham-fisted. I've never seen a situation where a beat writer, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, after Rex announces that E.J. Manuel will start the most important preseason game of the year. Vic Carucci comes out and says, I can tell you from watching practice that E.J. Manuel has never been in the this quarterback competition.

Well, that's what's so strange about it. And if I had to guess, I would guess Manuel's going to play like two series and then Castle or Taylor will come in. None of that makes any sense. But I still don't agree with Mark at all because it's not about the quarterback position. It's about taking what was the most talented or one of the most talented defense in the league, already one of the best defense in the league. And for that first year of the Rex excitement, taking it to a whole other level.

And as much as all the off-field stuff and the quarterback stuff, is annoying, the offensive line is bad. That's all great. That's all similar to what the Jets were like. And this defense is more talented than any of those Jets' defenses ever were. And I think they could be special. And I think that defensive line is one of the best we've seen in the long time. I think they're going to be so good that they will be a little better than last year and they'll live up to expectations. Sure, where the most important position on the field is the quarterback? They won nine games with Kyle Lorette. You know who made that defense special?

Now they have a worst quarterback in Kyle Lerick. Mike Patton two years ago got them a sack record for the franchise. Last year, Jim Schwartz did a great job with that defense. It's not like you're going to suddenly make it that much better. I do think they're a great defense. I do think they were already a swarming defense. But you get the second year of Sammy Watkins. You get LaShawn McCoy. Who's going to get the ball to Sammy Watkins? E.J. Manuel? You throw it to him right near the line of scrimmage and let him run. I'm with Mark. Isn't this is also, all of us have been saying, or at least you guys LaShawn McCoy is not going to be as good anymore. I still think it's an upgrade at running back.

I mean, you're talking about short of expectation. This isn't a team people are thinking you're going to go to the Super Bowl. Rex Ryan is the one selling this same. He did the same thing with the Jets. It's the same bluster. He's a carnival barker. Exactly. It's tedious.

Third week of preseason, Rex with quarterbacks is great because this time he's starting E.J. Manuel, who's going to be out of the league next year. His second of last year with the Jets, he put Mark Sanchez between a fourth string offensive line and blew out Sanchez's shoulder in the fourth quarter of a game, prompting one of the great press conference meltdowns ever. Remember what he was like? He was like, I'll say it. way, I'll see it this way.

And everyone was like, what is happening to X-R-R-R-N? He started walking backwards, it was very strange. Anyway, so Rex, you know, we all love Rex, but be careful. Wes, you're up next. Tell us about the team that's destined to fall short. Well, the team that's destined to go seven and nine and six and ten every single year of their existence, the St. Louis Rams. They have the ultimate seven-in-night. Can we pick some better teams for this segment?

We were picking teams that are losing teams. Oh, they're going to disappoint. Wait, you've got them in the play. But I'm the only one. You've got them with the most exciting back field in the NFL. Everyone thinks they're a 7 and 19. Everyone thinks they have like a top three defense. They go 7 and 9 every year.

They're quarterback. I could not be more disappointed in the quarterback. I'm just saying we had 12 teams in the playoffs last year. Why don't we pick one of those teams as one of the teams that'll dissimilar? Oh, those. Greg setting himself up to be the hero. I was annoyed yesterday when I saw all the responses. I was like, have some balls here.

Oh, God. Wait, I'm taking my boss on. These are my ball. Laying them out there for you. I wish we could all be as brave as Greg. Oh, yeah. Hey. I don't like this game that you play that just because X amount of teams made the playoffs last year,

we have to replace some of those teams with other teams. That's not how my mind works. I guess I'm just saying I didn't know the expectations were high for the Rams. I mean, I do. Well, it's probably just because I've heard you running around the office telling everybody the Rams are going to make the playoffs. They're my playoff team, yes. I do like the idea of Greg literally running around the office.

Did you hear the Rams are going to make the playoffs? Greg is like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, just filibustering. How about you, explain why the Rams stink. Well, they might have the worst offensive line in the NFL. Who's good on that line? They've got like three rookies starting or three first time started. They got some guy named Rob Havenstein. Jamon Brown.

Jimon Brown, yeah. That's a made-up. Todd Gurley's a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, smothered in secret sauce right now. Nobody knows what he is. Nick Foles has looked awful in the preseason. And he's looked like he did last year with the Eagles. I think he's totally a product of Chip Kelly's offense.

So I'm not buying anything about this. Jeff is like 7 and 9. We're good. Yeah, we're good. I'll see you in California. I like that. New contract extension for another 7 and 9 season. I got a kick out of the people that are talking themselves back on to the Tavon-Austin hype train.

Like, what have we seen to think that's going to now happen? Like me? Why? Wait a second. He likes opposite. He does. Well, you historically have lessons. It's more just because Rota World refuses to acknowledge his existence, even though the coaches have

said he's a starter and they're tailoring their offense around him? That's a good old rhodo. So they have no offensive line in a bad quarterback, but you think Tavon Austin will break out? I do. But they do have Chris Long, Aaron Donald. Chris Long, Aaron Donald, and Robert Quinn on the same

defensive line. A very underrated secondary that had two great safeties played last year. They just lost arguably their best cornerback. That's fair. E.J. Gaines, their cornerbacks are bad. They have Alec Ogl True played pretty well last year. It is a good looking defense. I acknowledge that. I'm more betting on the rest of the NFC West maybe comes to the

pack a little. I don't think they're great, but, you know, they'll find a way to lose nine or ten wins. Greg Rosenthal, now Nick Fool's number one fan. It's just like, you know, I, now I'm self-conscious because Greg is going to pick the Seahawks or the Patriots or something. It must be someone just blow you away.

Hey, no, no, I mean, if you guys are really getting out on a limb there, all 12 teams are going right back to the playoffs. But hey, watch out. That's not what we're talking about. That Rams team with, you know, that one, seven, six and ten last year, they're going to disappoint. They're going to go five and a level. The name of this segment is teams destined to fall short

of expectations. I said team that I'm not mad, Todd, I'm disappointed. It doesn't mean teams that were in the playoffs last year and I won't make it this year. I guess I didn't know the expectations were particularly high for the ramp. I can't wait to watch. Well, I knew they were high because I hear it from you all the time. Here's a team that did not make the playoffs, but expectations are high

so yes, it fulfills everything that we're looking for. The expectations are not high for your team either, but that's a team. The Miami Dolphins just signed the most expensive free agent in the history of the NFL on defense. His name is Indomicon Sioux. They just signed a quarterback Ryan Tannhill to a $100 million extension. All the stat geeks, all the nerds think Tannahill is, you know, the B's knees.

They think this is the year. They think, oh, now we got Kenny Stills. Did you hear he's better than Andrew Luck? He's better than Andrew Luck, according to PFF. DJ said he sees Tanya Hill differently now after watching him in the preseason than he has before. He's looked really good in the preseason. Exactly what I'm saying. They got rid of Mike Wallace.

People love Bill Laser. That's your boy, Mark's boy. You put it all together. And like, what's not to like about the dolphins? Tom Brady potentially missing four weeks, the Jets of Circus, the Bills, we already talked about the Bills. Why not? No, they're going to disappoint.

And I'm going to tell you why. Sometimes it's as simple as this. Joe Philbin is their coach. Joe Feldman's a stiff. Joe Filman's the type of guy that just disappears after a while. And you'll see him as an offensive assistant in a couple of years. I don't think he doesn't seem like a bad guy. Let me pull back the reins a little bit.

Seems like a nice guy. But I don't know why he still has. a job. We've talked about that. And am I convinced that Ryan Tannehill is going to really become that guy that's going to carry this team to 10 or 11 wins? I still am not convinced. I like Lamar Miller, but I don't love him. And once last time a defensive player, even Mario Williams, who's a very good player still, it doesn't typically make an instant difference when you sign a player for that much money. Miami has been the AFC's version of the St. Louis Rams because it's basically a seven-win

team year after year and over, I agree with the 100%, although I just don't expect them to be that good. At the same time, I think their offense this year is going to make a jump. I really do believe they will. I think that Tanna Hill, I don't, all this business that he's a top 10 quarterback and better than luck from pro football focus. Well, that's insane. Insane.

It feels like a clickbait type scenario. But I do think that the dolphins are poised to make a big jump on that side of the ball. I'm with you on that. I agree with DJ. And I like what I've seen from Tannenhill this piece. I'm conflicted about the dolphins more than just about any team in the league. I don't have a strong feeling about them at all because of what Dan said about Joe Philbin. It's like I have a hard time imagining that Joe Philbin team doing really well.

But on paper and everything that you're saying makes sense. I mean, I think the expectations should be high for the dolphins because if they don't win 10 games. Unlike, I think if the bills go 8 and 8, that shouldn't be viewed as some big disappointment. If the dolphins don't make the playoffs, that should be. viewed as a major discipline. And what? We're the biggest player in free agency. He brought in all these people.

That's fine, but I'm realistic about it. Their coach is talking Super Bowls. To me, the expectation, all their players spent all of season talking about the Super Bowl. That's self-generated, though. Dan, let's say Pete Carroll were Miami's coach. Do you think that Philbin is costing them two or three games? I mean, it's a fair. I think he's holding them back.

Yeah, I don't think we've seen anything at three years that that guy should still be the coach. This is what's going to happen. They're going to be like six and five. we were saying. I think the pats will be four and four or something at the midway point. And people are going to get excited about the dolphins. Oh, they're one game back or one game up. Then they'll lose four out of five. And they'll end up like they always do right around eight and eight. Disappointment. I'm looking forward to your guys' playoff pick because there's a lot of teams in the AFC. I mean, only two, you know, wild card spots and a lot of pretty good

wild card contenders if you want to throw in the Chargers, the Ravens, you know, the Bengals, the Bills, the Bulls, the Dolphins. Only two of those teams are going to make the playoffs. Titans, you know. A lot of disappoint. Probably not the Texans. My team, my team that's going to disappoint. Where is Bill Laser? My team that's going to disappoint the Dallas Cowboys.

Oh, man. They can't do it. A lot on a limb. Way to salvage the segment by picking. I'm just saying, I thought it was going to be teams that, you know, were good. Everyone thinks they're going to come down this year. Really? It's a popular opinion.

You have them out of the playoffs? Yeah, I was not going to put it off the playoffs. That's good. Then we all agree that cowboys are going to be a disaster this year. year. I don't know about a disaster. Well, if they don't make the playoffs, it's a disaster based on all the talent that they've added on defense out of the expectations there. They think this is their Super Bowl window is the next year or two. So I think if they did not make the playoffs this year, that would be

as disappointing as any season under Jerry Jones of the last 10 years. And as much as they love Jason Garrett, if they go 7 and 9 this year, it's like he's back on the hot seat and he's maybe gone next year because that's the type of setup that they've put themselves at right now. They think they have the best offensive line in the history of football. I think it's a good pick by Greg because I do see him as a playoff team because outside of the running back position and potentially your secondary with Scandrick out, what position group didn't, they got, what got worse? I mean, they, I thought that Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones went out. You got Lale Collins. You got Gregory on defense. They made some risky, aggressive

moves. By the way, you didn't just say punter and long snapper, they took steps back. They love, they, the running back is a mess. And they just lost their best quarterback. We don't know what's a lot of problems. last year. Well, I think we've got a good inkling. Those are two big flaws. Listen, that's fair. But I think also when you're a team with Tony Romo, there's a couple more years where

Romo is a premier quarterback and frankly underrated, he's always looked at as a guy, he was a top three quarterback last season. If he stays healthy, if he stays healthy. But really, I can't count the Cowboys out with that kind of play under center. I couldn't count them out either. This to me is more of a what goes up is natural to fall down type of thing and the expectations. And everything went right last year. this franchise has shown over the years

that they don't handle success particularly well, they don't necessarily handle adversity particularly well, and it just wouldn't surprise me to see them have an up and down season with a lot of drama and a nine and seven, eight years. I think the Giants are going to be a better team on offense, they're going to test teams. Philadelphia won 10

games last year, and it was the only double-digit win team to not make the playoffs, and the skin stink, but in that division, anyone can beat any way. I just don't think you can expect the offense to be as good as it was in Dallas a year ago. It was one of the best offenses of the last decade. And you just, a lot of times, offensive lines that you think are great, they don't really stay great for long. I mean, that Chiefs' offensive

line was good for a couple years, but it usually lasts one or two years, and that's it. And then things things. Everybody in Dallas loved DeMarco Murray until the day he signed with the Eagles, and then they spent the offseason trashing him, saying he left meat on the bone, saying he missed too many holes, and he was offensive player of the year, had more 15-yard runs than any running back. That's like a Red Sox fan thing type of do. Or an Indianapolis An Indianapolis Star thing to do Put Reggie Wayne and Trader on the front page

Yeah, give me a break with that Indianapolis Star is that Yeah, give me a break Cravitz and company, whatever you are Cravitz doesn't even work there All right, whatever So the Bill's gate generator So the B, that would be

Edwarder really So the Bills, Rams, dolphins, and Cowboys, you banged All right everybody Here it comes, it's time It is the game of both Skill and Valour also known as

with West's toaster Wes you are the champion you have been for some time now taking on all comers and I said first of all those that are new to the game you should know this is a trivia game not just a skill and valor game a trivia game NFL history

all through the years Wes is the maestro when it comes to this or the maestro? Meestro. And we have listeners call in and they show up on Skype, and we've had some people from in the office take Wes on. Greg even won once upon a time, but that's it.

The only lost Wes has ever had. The old Buster Douglas. Soster. So that is the game. We're going to go through six questions, and let's see, maybe Wes gets taken down. And Wes, at this point, not even, he used to study up and talk about how he would read

and make sure he could not be defeated. Now Wes doesn't even think about it anymore. There's not much you can do to prepare. It's like, you know, what you do all throughout the year. Once you get into the game, you know, You'll be found out in the dark of the night if you didn't prepare all year. Yeah, so get ready, listeners, for all the drama of a Harlem Globetrotters game. Right.

Well, this game is going to go into invisibility if we don't get some challengers here. Yes, as I said, the two contestants that we have today is more pressure than in the past, because the very game itself could be riding on their competitiveness. So let's first let's get to our first contestant right now, TD. Contestant number one Meet Justin Favorite A 25-year Chicago Bears fan hailing all the way from Australia

Justin listens to the podcast on his work commute and admires Chris Wessling's knowledge of the game though not intimidated by it If Justin wins the toaster He vows to quote Make the best damn toast Australia's ever seen Wow, there he is. We should say this toaster, which, you know, emanated from the newsroom,

it just happened to be there one day, and I claimed it, it can imprint your team on the toast. It can, and it's a magical toaster. Justin, there he is, from London via Brisbane, Australia. Brisbane. Brisbane, Dan. How you doing? What's up?

Welcome. How are you? Welcome to the Around the NFL podcast. We love our overseas listeners. They are loyal. They are... Smart. They are...

Funny. Funny. They are... Foreign. Foreign? And, you know, in this case, handsome, Justin. Are you nervous? Because like we said, Justin, or like I said,

this game's gone away for a while if you cannot deliver some heat right now. Yeah, I do feel an added sense of urgency, the weights on the shoulders, I'll tell you what, Justin doesn't, and we are watching us on Skype if you want to check us out. You can listen, obviously, but you can also watch this unfold. It does not look to me, Greg, like a tomato can. No, he is good friends with an Australian podcast about NFL football that Chris has been on.

So, I mean, he's definitely tied into the game. He's wearing his jersey. What jersey is that right now? Chicago Bears. Gail Sayers, he's wearing an all-time. Gail Sayers. He's wearing an all-time. great jersey. He's a dad who's

in shape. He obviously, he's got your act together. Hot dad. Actually, yeah, we didn't even have you on the show to do this. We just wanted to admire your bod. All right, Justin. It's almost as good as Patrick. So are you aware of the rules, Justin? Yes, all right, yes. Six questions for each.

The same six questions for both Wes and Justin. 60-second timer. Mark, you are the official timekeeper before the show started for the record 14th straight time you asked me how much time

goes on the clock and how does it work? All the people behind the glass now have a robot timekeeper that's who I'm going against those guys.

The robot time debuted last time we played this game and it was a total S show so that it showed why humans and you know people

people get pumped up about robots in virtual reality and you know the future enough with the robots but mankind using an iPhone

That's the way to go. We're in good hands. All right. So, Justin will go first. Wes Begone. He's going to disconnect. Our microphone situation has changed. No headsets.

Wes is leaving the room. He's doing his best. There you go. He puts that down. This is not as smooth as it once was up. There goes his IFB. A lot of moving parts here. West wearing his NFL network polo.

He's tripping over the wires. This week trying to intimidate. West trying to get out. Now it's becoming a panic situation. It's like an animal steps in a bear trap. This is the second Harrison Ford type exit right there. Very smooth. Get out of here, Wes.

Come on, Jess. I need this, Justin. We need this. The show needs this. Well, we could just bake the results and say he got six out of six. We could always do that. All right, so six questions. If you want to pass, you could pass, and we'll come back to it.

And tell us when to stop, because the tiebreaker is the time. Two guys get four. Right. whoever got in less time wins. So, at the sound of the creepy synth timekeeper music, potentially stolen from who wants to be a millionaire, we will begin. Who replaced Bill Parcells as Giants coach in 1991?

This player theorized that the NFL had a hand in the power outage that halted Super Bowl 48 at the Superdome. This starting running back has lost just one fumble in his first two seasons Current Who kicked the onside kick to start the second half of Super Bowl 44 for the Saints This lineman was the first overall pick in the 2008 draft Ryan Fitzpatrick made his first NFL start for what team? All right, stop the clock.

Oh, no, you got to go back. They're just out of time anyway. Yep, it's on. All right. I don't know if you want to know what just happened, Justin. Let's keep a straight face for when Wes comes back. Yeah, put on a brave face, that's all I'll say. You're still a very good dad.

There's a chance that you could tie. All right. There we go. We're bringing Wes back in. Guys, let's be strongly here. Okay. All right, Wes, back with us now. So we're not going to, nobody's showing any poker face here.

It's just, it's your turn. You're not going to tell me how many he got right? Actually, for the first time I'm going to. Do you want to know how many he got right? No, because you're not going to tell me. I'd never tell you. All right, let's go. Wes.

Who replaced Bill Parcells as the Giants coach in 1991? Ray. Pass. This player theorized that the NFL had a hand in the power outage that halted Super Bowl 47 at the Superdome. Trell Sugg? This starting running back has lost just one fumble in his first two NFL seasons. Lavian Bell? Who kicked the on top? side kick to start the second half of Super Bowl 44 for the Saints.

Pass. This lineman was the first overall pick of the 2008 draft. 2008 draft. Pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick made his first NFL start for what team? St. Louis Rams. Do you want to go back? Yes.

Who replaced Bill Parcells as Giants coach? Ray Summerland? No, Ray Summer. This player theorized, this starting running back, no, excuse me. Who kicked the onside kick to start the second half of Super Bowl 44 for the season. Jared Hartley? All right, Wes, three out of six, more than enough to beat a certified tomato can behind me. Three nothing.

Those were tough questions. That were tough. Ray Hanley. Ray Hanley was a Giants coach. He lasted two years. He was not a fan favorite in New York and replaced by. Who was he replaced by, Wes? Got him back to the playoffs.

Jim Fossel? Listen, I think Wes is a little russie. If we can get a real competitor in here, we got a shot. It was Dan Reeves. Levyon Bell has fumbled twice in his first two years, lost only one. Thomas Morsted is the punter that had the onside kick. That's a tough one.

I could have gotten that, but that was tough. But you are more a Saints fan than some. I was like, that was really tough. Jake Long was the first overall pick of the 2000 draft. I would have beaten West for once in this one. That's just like a random year. Like 2008, your mind doesn't naturally go. I mean, these were tough questions.

They were tough. Patrick started. His first game was for the Rams as a starter. Many after, I think he started for, what, like six teams now? I think it's fair to say, our friend from Australia got some tougher questions in a lot of the previous contestants. I'm not even going to call him a tomato game. The man clearly knows his football.

I will. He got zero. Yeah, please. Justin, let's just say thank you for coming on. Maybe the question is didn't go your way this time. but we appreciate you listening and taking on, Wes. No worries, guys. Thanks to you, Tom.

Thanks to have me out. Thanks, Justin. It's three in the morning. It's all in. You stayed up until the middle of the night. You know what? We've got to get Wes up until three in the morning. Have them answer questions in the middle of the night.

I've got no problem with that. Justin, thank you for coming on. All right. So, Justin was not the guy to take on Wes. Listen, every round is different. Does this mean you're getting rid of the game? No, we have one more guy. It comes down to one more caller.

I don't like this. And we'll see what happens. Let's go to the second contestant. Contestant number two. Meet Ryan Broad Squad Broaders. A football agnostic since 99 and a Baltimore Ravens fan residing in Canada. Ryan listens to the show while taking bubble baths and he fancies his chances of winning the toaster because he's an avid listener of the Move the Sticks podcast with Dan

Your Cheramaya. Like, how are we supposed to root for this guy now? Taking shots at us right out of the gate. All right, here's a little backstory with Ryan that we had to delay a little bit because Ryan was prepared to be... First of all, Ryan, where are you calling from? Or where are you Skyping from?

Just about an hour southwest of Toronto. Okay. All right, so Ryan was driving when we pulled him up on Skype, and he was hoping to do this segment while driving, like commuting to work or wherever he was going, which is obviously kind of some evil-can-eval, reckless stuff, but also maybe a sign of confidence?

Well, the intro shows you're very confident, Ryan. And I'll also say this, Ryan, our first contestant, Tomato Can City, zero out of six, West took care of business, which means if you don't compete here, if you don't put up a fight, this entire episode that everyone, Everything about Win West's toaster could be over. Greg is great.

We wouldn't want that to happen. Greg has every reason to be rooting against Mr. Broad Squad. So do you know the rules, Ryan? Yes, sir. Okay, so six questions. At the start of the creepy drone music, we will get going. You could pass and come back. Tiebreaker is time.

All right. Who was involved in three fumbles in the 2009 NFC championship game? Next question. Who followed Mike Dicca as coach of the Chicago Bears in 1993? Next question. This Vikings quarterback started for an injured Christian Ponder in the 2012 wildcard playoffs. Next question. Who was the starting quarterback for the Chargers when the team went to the Super Bowl in 1994?

Next question. Who was the Buck's head coach when the team posted its last winning season? John Gruden This Packers wide receiver led the NFL with 14 touchdowns in 2012 James Jones Do you want to go back?

Yes Who was involved in three fumbles in the 2009 NFC championship game? 10 seconds Next question Who followed Mike Dicka as coach of the Chicago Bears in 1993? Time, Joe. Cheers.

Well, this happens when you listen to the Move the Sticks podcast. Exactly. That's all I take from this. You listen to us more, and maybe you got some of these. It did say it was a Dan fan that was part of his listing.

Oh, I missed that. Well, now I'm upset because I would have been rooting harder for you. Listen, there is a chance you can, there is a chance you can win. If Wes, you know,

were to have a seizure between now and sitting down to share, you're in good shape. Major medical incident. Bring Wes back in. Everybody, be brave. Wes has a chance to, again, sweep the competition.

But who knows? You never know. Let's get right to the questions. Good luck, buddy, boy. All right. Who was involved in three fumbles in the 2009 NFC championship game? Ray Rice. Who followed Mike Ditka as coach of the Chicago Bears in 1993? Pass. This Vikings quarterback started for an injured Christian Ponder in the 2012 Wild Card playoffs. Right.

Who was the starting quarterback for the Chargers when the team went to the Super Bowl. Bowl in 1994. Stan Humphreys. Who was the Bucks head coach when the team posted its last winning season? Rahim Morris? This Packers' wide receiver led the NFL with 14 touchdowns in 2012. James Jones. Do you want to go back?

Yes. Who followed Mike Dick as coach of the Chicago Bears in 1993? I don't know why I don't know this. Ten seconds. I don't know. All right, stop the clock. Official scorekeeper? That would be three for Wes.

Three for Chris Wesleying. One for broad squad. Wes, you are the winner. Nice. An underwhelming fashion. Wildly, underwhelming. Wes backs into the playoffs. Well, listen, those were harder questions this time.

Ryan, you can safely get back onto the motorway. And thank you very much. much for listening and liking me that gives you extra points and perhaps in a better day you would have gotten questions that would have clicked with you you know yeah just wasn't my day that's okay and uh don't feel too bad only got three wins so yes and go yankees all right so that's it can we get the correct answers yes here are the correct answers uh Adrian Peterson he fumbled twice and was involved in a botched handoff exchange in the 2009 NFC championship game you said Ray Rice.

Dave Wonstett replaced Mike Dicca. Joe Webb was the quarterback that came in for Mr. Ponder. And I think he was 11 for 30 with two picks. He was terrible. Stan Humphreys started for the 1994 Chargers. Rahim Morris, the Youngery Bucks. So they had Rahim there. A lot of people who thought Jake Rudin and James Jones,

which you both got. That was the only one that Ryan got. And by the way, that's it. And I love our listeners. Wow. No, I agree. Any competitions going forward, at least for the time being, will come in-house. Because I simply can't, one for 12 is not a sustainable model.

Wes got six out of 12, 50%. Wes would have gotten a big fat 0 for 2. If I was going up against him today, you would have been gone. Because you know the answers already. No, I didn't see. I didn't know him until I heard him. It's easy to say when there's no clock running. Oh, it's got to be competitive.

Hey, it is easy to say when I'm undefeated against you. Six for 12 for West. which means Wes is not infallible. Yes, you can be beaten. And next time we play this game. Some pretty random questions. Not exactly trivia, I'd say. And next time we play this game, Wes, the excuses are getting bigger

and they're carrying over different things, whether it's Cornhole or this game. Maybe we bring the boss back in. Maybe the boss is back. But it's not going to be for a while. This game is going to go away for a while. We've got to dream it up again. That's it for Friday's edition of the Around the NFL podcast.

We'll be back next week with three shows. to get to until then. This is Dan Hansa, signing off for Quiet Storm, the mailman, the boss, and T-D behind the glass. We're almost there, every week when coming up. Hey, everybody, we're coming up. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

On Move the 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. And I'm Michael Fiorio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast.

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