NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Around the League: NFC West - August 30th, 2013

Episode Date: August 31, 2013

A room full of heroes, Gregg Rosenthal, Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler and Chris Wesseling give you their picks for 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and break down the NFC West. Also, Wesseling challenges Twitter hopefuls in trivia for his prized NFL toaster. Join the conversation on Twitter: @NFL_ATL or #NFLATL for your chance to join the show.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the League podcast features a former mailman. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined, as always. Heroes Everywhere, Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys? Hey, Dan. Woo!

We've been spending a lot of time together, the four of us, last couple days. Yes. Maybe a little too much. Maybe I might have to take another vacation just to split it up a little bit. Here, late into the night on the fourth preseason game, which is a really a depressing night, but at least it means the preseason's over. And then we're just chained through our just cranking out cuts for the next a few days.

Very exciting. We have a pack show today, so we should get right to work. We have coming up today, we have a defensive player of the year talk. We rolled those out today. We're going to do a little news, what's going on. Finish up our divisional previews, the NFC West. And then our new game show, it's sweeping the nation, or it will be as soon as people hear it, win Wes's Toaster.

But let's start. Oh, by the way. That's quite a tease. Yeah, that's a big tease right there. By the way, we should also. say you should subscribe to us on iTunes download

leave comments caress your monitor is there anything else we were told we should do these things so many orders for these poor people subscribe tell your friends tell your friends

I was saying in the newsroom Damishik was saying he's uncomfortable saying these things about his own podcast we don't feel the same way we're shameless we want the glory and if you come with us you will have glory as well

so do all that and thank you for listening do you have any Kool-Aid to give away yes and some matching nikes um all right so let's start defensive player of the year um greg do you want to get going on this i know we we had a consensus of j j watt was our consensus uh west myself and that's the two of us is that count as a consensus well that's two out of four of the people in this room all right and then the epitre less than meatloaf but let's go around the horn on this so gregg that you did not pick watt who was your pick for defensive player of the year in 2013.

I try to simplify things and, you know, voters vote for sacks usually. So I tried to think, who do I think is going to lead the league in sacks? And I went with Clay Matthews. He was a monster last year. He should have won the defensive player of the year in 2010. I just like his chances of getting to about 20 sacks, something like that. He's set up for

a big year. I think the Packers are going to the Super Bowl, so they'll have plenty of attention. So he, to me, made the most sense. I can't say that won't happen. I mean, he's a type of guy that we talked about him actually on Wednesday and the ability that he could bring to that defense. Is he a guy that could be the difference maker that makes that defense good enough to be a contender, Super Bowl contender?

I think he's one of the five biggest difference makers on defense in the entire league. When he's on the field, they're a completely different team. And I think also Kevin Patcher, who's not here, he had picked Alden Smith. That's probably under the same type of. thinking that sacks produced defensive player of the years he's another guy who he had 19 and a half before justin smith went out last year um mark sessler who do you got i went with uh well i had this feeling that everyone was going to go with j j watt um and i was only partly right on that your feelings are all about you're all about the feelings i'm about feelings you're like the opposite of pro

football focus maybe dammit damshack was correct rum for johnny damashick pegged you as the Diane Chambers of our cheers cast. It might be true. I had a hard time arguing with that. Was this a metaphysical feeling you had? No, this is less, there wasn't so much a spiritual vibe to this in my pick. I do have, I feel a lot of good energy around Patrick Peterson though.

I think Arizona's defense is not necessarily a top 10 material, but it could be because there's a lot of sneaky talent there. But Peterson to me is one of the more interesting young athletes in the league. I think we're going to see them A on offense, which will be a whole different storyline.

But I just think he's an ascendant cornerback. I love what I've seen them. I think that they've built a defense around his skill set. And listen, I honestly, I just wanted to, he just stuck out to me, and I just went with it. I don't have a million metrics behind it. I just think he's that guy. Let me ask you this.

How is his aura? I don't know. I don't read oras. Some people do. I don't go down that run. It's hard for a cornerback to win it. It is. Who is the last cornerback to win? Charles. Charles Woodson. When he stole it from Revis.

Right, and the guy that Peterson was compared to recently, Dion Sanders won it in 94. So, yes, it is tough. I mean, Palomalo was a safety won it a couple years ago. It's not, I think Greg is very right, and the sack count has so much. It's what the numbers that pop out, but I'm just rolling the dice. I'm going Patrick Peterson. Pat cat offense. Ooh, I like that.

The Pat Cat. Wes, since I trust you in these matters, I want you to speak for both of us and making the case for JJ Watt. Because Dan, by the way, just copied Wes's entry. Yeah, that's all I did. I rearranged the words. Now that I'm authorized. Yeah. Well, I feel like JJ Watt just is coming off the best defensive season I've ever seen.

In addition to the 20 and a half sacks, which everyone knows, 39 tackles for no gain or a loss. Most 3-4-Ns in the NFL don't even have 39 tackles, period. The 3-4-Ns job, I don't know if you guys out there know this, is to occupy blockers, so linebackers can make plays. J.J. Watt throws all that out the window. He makes all the plays. You throw in the 16-batted passes. It's just, we've never seen a season like that.

Mayock, our guy, Mike Mayock, said before the draft that J.J. Watt would be the best five-technique defensive end in the history of the NFL, and it looks like he's well on his way to that. I just don't see his play falling off in any way. And I'll just add also that he's 24 years old. Like, it's insane what this guy has done in two years, so there is no ceiling here. Well, that's one of the reasons I didn't choose what is I would know to know if I was ready to put him among the all-time greats already. And if he won two defensive players of the year at this age, he would be among the all-time great. The only player that's ever defended this title is Lawrence Taylor in his first and his second year.

Wade Phillips would be disappointing that you're disappointed that you're not listening to him. He called him a Hall of Famer before last season. And he's on his way, and just history tells us guys come back to the pack just a little bit after seasons like that. Because if he does what you say, we're going to start talking about J.J. Watt in the same way that we talk about Tom Brady and Peyton Manny on offense. That would be the level he'd be. There was a two-month stretch last year where I thought he was the best player in the NFL, quarterback or not. He was just that dominant. I think he's that dude.

He's the L-T-type talent. I agree. I wrote that I thought about picking him for MVP, but because I'm not huge. the Texans this year, that would have been weird. But I think he, who's better than him physically in this league right now, especially at that position? I don't know, he's awesome. I find it interesting that you have the defensive player of the year on a team that you have

going eight and eight. Yeah, I do, because I don't trust their offense even a little bit. It's just a strange soup you've created here. Well, taste it. Do you want Mark and I to tell you why you believe the Texans will finish eight and eight? Well, I went on Houston radio yesterday and it got really awkward. They gave out my Twitter handle and they grilled me pretty hard. but I thought I stood up well to it.

Greg, we are rolling through these. What do we have coming out? Right through the weekend, we're doing these breakdowns of awards, right? We are doing Coach of the Year on Sunday, and we'll have our rookies of the year, offense and defense on Saturday. So check it out.

No offensive player of the year breakdown? Let's never say those words again, offensive player of the year. The abolishment of that award is pretty much my life's goal as a member of the media. It's never made any sense. Why do we have that? I queued Greg up for that because I know he hates that.

Just like it's very easy to cue Damashak up on his hatred of Labor Day, which he sees as the man holding us down by giving us a day off. All right, Crystal Rich, how are you behind the glass? I'm great. How are you guys? We're doing great. Are we? I don't know if I was convinced by that great Crystal. No, do I have to scream and shout behind this glass for you guys to be convinced?

Woof. Okay, Rich. All right. Here we go. Crystal, what's doing? little news before we move into our division breakdowns. All right guys, starting out with news from the concrete

jungle, New York Giants veteran running back, Andre Brown breaks his leg. I'm whispering hashtag David Wilson. Wow. They're in the hashtag. First of all, if you play off Route 3 in northern New Jersey is it really the concrete jungle when it's really

a marshland? North Jersey, South Jersey, there's the Mason-Dixon line. North Jersey's all New York. It's a big parking lot, though. which is made of concrete. That's pretty much where they play in his two gigantic parking lots back to back. Yes. Well, this kind of is,

this is who Andre Brown is. He's been released or waived double-digit times in the NFL now. Blew out his Achilles as a rookie, fractured his leg last year, now has another leg fracture. He can't stay healthy. The Giants weren't going to be able to rely on him

all year no matter what. I think this is another lesson for the fantasy football guys. Don't pay attention to the experts. if David Wilson was one of your guys that you had to get, don't worry about reaching for him. Get him in whatever round you wanted to. Swing for the fences.

That's funny you should say that, because, Mark, who did we select with our fifth round pick in our NFL.com desk league draft? After putting our heads together, we selected David Wilson and running back for the Giants. Ah, very nice pick by Allison Brie. Nicely maneuvered. Very nice, Allison Brie.

What else is in the news? K. Rich. All right, I'm thinking about the ups and downs of Terrell prior on this run. Raiders head coach Dennis. Alan won't name a starting QB. Can I say one thing about the Raiders? I think it's possible. We talked about the AFC West a while ago.

All of us gave bad predictions essentially for Oakland. I would downgrade from just a couple weeks ago where I think they'll end up this season. Didn't you have them at three wins? Yeah, I honestly, I don't see where that comes from. I'm really concerned about

whatever quarterback they put back that. I understand Pryor can run the ball. He did not look like a professional quarterback throwing football. I spoke too soon on Cam Newton having the worst footwork in the NFL. Terrell Friar was jumping and passing the ball last night. And it worked for him the week before, and I don't know who they're going to. I think they're still going to start prior. I think it's a no-brainer.

They're going to start him. They're going to go with the read option. It defines his reads. It takes away the gray area. It makes it easier to see the field, and that's what they're going to go with. How much confidence do we have the read option do we have? the Greg Knapp can drive that train. I got to say I am rooting for the Raiders now to cut off to a hot start just to shut everyone up.

It would be a great story that they, if they could just somehow be halfway decent in September, it would be fun to see. And if they got to six wins, it might be time for will Chris Wesleying eat his softball pants? I'm still feeling pretty good about that. You should feel good. All right, Crystal, what else? All right. Next up, the Patriots part ways with tight ends Jake Ballard and Daniel Feld. Do you guys want to hear another rant?

Yeah. All right, let it go. Chris's face just lit up and they heard the word. This is great. People think it's really easy to play in the NFL. If you are an established player who Jake Ballard was, he was established, but he didn't move well, before he had micro fracture and ACL surgery on his knee. And the Patriots claim Jake Ballard off waivers.

from the Giants. So we see from both sides, Giants beat writers are all bent out of shape. How could we lose Jake Ballard as if he's going to be the same guy coming off of blowing out his knee as he was before? And the Patriots, you know,

from their side it was, look how much of a genius Bill Belichick is, stealing this great tight end and hurting the Giants. I think they erected like a Bud Kilmer-esque Belichick statue after he picked up Jake Ballard. And, you know, all along I'm thinking,

why would you assume a guy who doesn't move well? is going to be the same player he was after surgery and we find out all offseason in the summer that Jake Ballard isn't moving well because his leg isn't what it once was. Yeah, but I would give the Patriots a little bit of credit in the sense that I personally follow a team

that seems completely allergic to bringing in veterans or other parts of the league guys that were proven at some point and I like how New England takes a shot on these guys but they don't take a shot for two or three years. They aren't afraid to cut bait with Albert Han. meansworth, Ochos Cinco, and this guy, when they realize he's not going to work. My rant had nothing to do with what the Patriots did or who Jake Ballard is. It had to do with the coverage of it and the perception that it was such a great move.

And, Wes, you wish Jake Ballard well, right? Yeah, absolutely. I hope he catches on with another team, and I hope... I hope it flies under the radar when he catches on with another team, and he can go back about resuming his career. So the New York media has overreacted to something. It is a bizarre thing, but, you know, Yes, they did.

Classic concrete jungle. Anything else, Crystal? All right. Last thing for today. The Bills plays Kevin Cobb on injured reserve, ending his season. And this is a sad story. I don't think it surprises anyone, but it just, you know, hits home. He was starting a football game a week ago, less than a week ago.

And he was going to start week one potentially, and he gets a concussion. And now we think probably his career is over? What do we think? I mean, this is a guy that signed a, what, a $30 million deal? couple years ago, his season's over, and I just don't know if any other team is going to even want to sign him, even if he wanted to continue his career. And was he even anything to write home about as a player without the head injuries? Yeah, I think what's going to happen is he's never going to get another chance to start again

because why would a team invest not even just the money, but the roster spot? So you're going to carry how many veterans into training camp and divide those snaps, and you can't count on him to be the backup because if he takes one more hit to the head, his career's over? Yeah, it's almost like you have to have starter 1A and 1-1. Right. So what's the incentive for him to keep risking his future for a backup job or maybe a chance at a backup job? Yeah. And it's a low moment for Matt Leinert, too, because he is getting cut by the bills, even though that they're, even though that they don't have Cobb for the start

of the season. So they're just rolling with E.J. Manuel, Jeff Toole. And maybe Mark's favorite player in the NFL, Thad Lewis. Who are we more likely to see in the NFL again, Liner or Cobb? I would say Liner. I got that He's healthy Even though His play wasn't healthy last night He heard a interview yesterday

A local Tampa radio guy interviewing Greg Cosell And he wanted to know all about Matt Minard And Cosell's answer was That's easy He can't throw Let's move on to the next question

Cosell's a nice guy too All right Okay so that is it for the news Thank you Crystal Excellent work there as always Moving on to our final divisional preview Let's Let's reflect a little bit

because this has been a nice little run his last two and a half weeks. You didn't like it when we did the training camp previews a couple weeks ago, but Dan's gotten into the segment. He's gotten into being a host, and now he likes it. Just like I'm going to get you in on Win West's Toaster, the greatest trivia game in the history of mankind. Yeah, I was slightly outvoted on whether trivia in general is an exciting part, I think. But it's okay.

We'll let the kids play. Okay, and that's fine. That's fine. Okay, so, but let's do some business first. Let's talk a little NFC West. This is a lot of people think is the best division in football. We'll do one question for each, and we'll start with Chris Wessling, who's going to ask a question about the San Francisco 49ers,

defending champions of the division. So one of the stories I did today was Jim Harbaugh, responding to a pretty generic question after last night's game. Cam Johnson is one of their outside linebackers, kind of fringe roster guy, and the question came to Harbaugh. it was posed, are you going to keep five outside linebackers? And he thought about for a second, goes, yeah, you know, we could do that. Heck yeah.

Why wouldn't we? We're the San Francisco 49ers. We could do whatever we want. Classic harball. Right. It's just a great load. And to me, that perfectly captures the state of the 49ers coaching staff in front office. They are the most confident, most innovative.

They're in that I'm Keith Hernandez moment. Like, we can do whatever we want. It doesn't matter. So my question to you guys. Is this the most innovative, confident coaching staff in the NFL? Well, by reading your post, I certainly believe. So I think you called Greg Roman brilliant somewhere. I believe he is.

Yeah. I don't know, Mark, what do you think? Well, you know, last year at the Super Bowl, we had a chance to roam around on Media Day and talk to all these players. But I had a chance to talk to up in the stands, A, Greg Roman, and Fangio the next day. And it was hard to break away from those guys because it was just a bunch of guys asking,

Roman about the approach the offense had taken from week one through the shift in quarterbacks and where they were heading to the Super Bowl. It was fascinating to listen to him, to be honest. And I think that he's very underrated as an offensive coach. And I don't know if football coaches should be called Brilliant in general. I think that's thrown around pretty loosely. But to watch the 49ers from week to week was to learn a lot about offensive football. They had number of formations and the way that they changed things.

up from play to play and how the players honestly must have been taught well enough to respond to that. Not only also what they did with Alex Smith, the first coaching staff that really showed they could turn them into a functional quarterback and a successful one, I'd have to say that your theory is correct. They are the strongest coaching staff in football right now. I think they came into the NFL with very defined ideas of what they wanted to do and they've gone out and they've executed it. So it's hard to really argue with you. I think you could look at another team in this division as another group that came into a tougher situation, things pretty outside the box with their draft picks, creates very interesting roles, especially on defense.

Of course, I'm talking about the Seattle Seahawks and make a case for them as perhaps the most confident, innovative coaching staff and an organization in the league because they see things very differently compared to most teams. why this is the best rivalry in the NFL right now and to me what I love it about it is you can just tell that they are not concerned about what the rest of the league is doing or

thinking about their own moves and to me that's when you see that's when you see who the best is in their chosen field they're the vanguard they're not worried about anyone else I mean it extends like with the Seahawks to the front office it's not just the way the coaches operate but their decisions and how they

team build you're right it's not just renegade they just they're ahead of everyone else So why keep an eye on who's behind you? And I'll draw one comparison just to take a little air out of the balloon. You know, Jim Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh saying we could do whatever we want. There are parallels here to me in terms of the level of hubris that we're working with. Parallels to you. It reminds me of...

Is that what you said? It reminds me of 1997, little band from Britain called Oasis. Thought they were the king of the world. Everything goes back to Oasis. And they release Be Here Now, and, you know, then quickly they found out they weren't as good as they thought they were. least you didn't go back as far as like 1930 Germany or something with this comparison. Everything goes back to Oasis. Seriously, my hair looks like Oasis. It's either Oasis or counting crowsies. The 49ers have been to a super ball. Underrated rock band the last 30 years, Oasis.

I mean, they've essentially, you know, a couple of plays away from the mountain top. They've achieved things. Think about their first picks, not their first picks. I guess it was their second time around, but Alden Smith and Kaepernick. Those were two pretty interesting picks just to start off, and that right there changed everything. And the way they've coached Kaepernick compared to Alex Smith, I mean, that's coaching. That is maximizing your players' strengths, coming up with a new plan. I mean, it's reminiscent of the Patriots, too, who do a good job at this, and they aren't worried what the rest of the league thinks.

That's what coaching's all about, and they are, I think, probably the toughest team to prepare for for opposing teams on a week-to-week basis. All right, let's move forward. Mark, give us one big question on these St. Louis Rams. All right, with the Rams, and I read something interesting in the annual football Outsiders Almanac, that basically the Rams teams, hey, Dan, you know, I'd like to suddenly put Dan's head into an explosion space. Go ahead.

Why, he doesn't read? No, he doesn't read football. I like that little plug that he did. Well, because I didn't come up with this on my own. Like, I couldn't cite this, okay? Okay, go ahead. So anyways, so you've got a lot of talent potentially on offense, young players. but they come in with less experience at the wide receiver

and running back positions in terms of touches and starts than all of the last four expansion teams did in their first year. And that's pretty rugged if you look at where some of those teams were. But you have to look at the Rams and say part of the reason is they've got extremely young players that if things click, this offense could be something St. Louis hasn't done since the days of Kurt Warner. My big question is we've got, and we've brought this up,

once or twice before. We have Brian Schadenheimer, a historically conservative guy that you wouldn't exactly call inventive running the show. Are we going to look back on this Rams' offense and look at it at the end of this season as an opportunity missed? I read the entire Almanac by the time

you asked that question. I like to phrase that completely. So there we go. That just took the wind out of Sessler's sales. He's going to sit up for the rest of this. Well, I think I know you don't trust Schottenheimer I love his father I don't trust the son as much

I feel like this is going to have to be a spread offense and I think they are one of the teams slow playing the rest of the NFL in the preseason we haven't seen anything of what they're going to do they're going to put Jared Cook in the left slot Tavon Austin in the right slot

go four wide a lot that's the way their personnel is set up they have too many space players they can't do a traditional base offense and succeed. I don't know that we'll look out on a missed opportunity because I think I'm not going to tell you where I have them finishing yet, but I don't see them competing for the title,

competing for the division title because I think they're another year away. But I think they are building something, and I just think people are getting a little caught up with them this year. I hope they're slow pitching us because, you know, Tavon Austin, we were told by, who was it, Mike Mayock, that he had the type of skills where he could not be covered and could be a revolutionary type player. very quiet preseason for him

A lot of big pun returns Give the guy a little something But I guess in terms of as an offensive weapon Moving around the field making plays We didn't see much They just didn't show anything Yeah I think it won't be a missed opportunity

Because if there is a missed opportunity It's that they don't take advantage of a very good defense That I think is only going to get better But let's not overrate this offensive talent I think they'd be doing well to be average their wide receiver group. Givens, who I love, Tavon Austin, and some question marks, Brian Quicks in the mix,

Austin Pet. I mean, that's, I would say, a below-average wide receiver group. Jared Cook is the starting tight end. That's maybe an average tight-end group. The offensive line hasn't been good in recent years. They add Jake Long, that's average at best. Sam Bradford has not been average. He's about an average quarterback,

and the running backs aren't very good. So top to bottom, I don't know if there's, that talented. If they don't do that well, I think it's just because they don't have the players. Okay. You know, the Rams are a team. We're not sure what to make of. Another one is the Arizona Cardinals in this division. I'll ask this question. Jonathan Cooper, we found out today, Bruce Ariens said that that 10 to 12 week timetable was premature. They put him on IR. His rookie season is done. The number seven overall pick. A guy who could have done things is out for the year. That hurts. I don't see a lot of running lanes opening up in Arizona. The protection issues.

is everyone in a rush to lump the Cardinals in to the NFC West hype? You know, everybody says all these teams will be good. Should I really buy that, that the Cardinals will also be a team that's going to be excellent this season? Believe in Bruce Ariens. I'm sold on BA, not just as an entertaining press conference. Or the Kangles. He's one of the best. I mean, he's just fun to listen to.

But I think he's a really good coach, and I think he's got plenty of talent to work with on offense. Yeah, I mean, I think the running back group is potentially a little bit better than last year. I'm not in love with it. The Cooper injury is a wind out of the sales type of loss because the whole thing here was they're going to fix the big weakness from last year. And Carson Palmer isn't exactly fleet of foot. So, you know, if he's not protected well, I don't love his chances. But again, Aryans, like with what he did last season in Indian, what he's done essentially his whole career in Pittsburgh, frankly what he did with Cleveland and that his season or two there,

They haven't done since. So, yeah, I trust Ariens, and I think they'll be maybe, I don't know about record-wise, but a better football team on offense than last season. The Cooper injury really took a lot of wind out of my sales for this team. I like them all off-season. I like Honey Badger, Peterson. Their defense has a lot of talent on offense. The passing game looks like it can do some interesting things.

Running back, there's very little depth there. The offensive line, there's no depth. I just feel like this team is like one or two injuries away from. cratering. But I do agree with Greg that I trust Bruce Ariens. I just don't know that the roster is set up yet to go more than 7 and 9 or 8 and 8 in the best case scenario. A lot of potential pro bowlers, including Mark's choice for defensive player of the year on defense. I mean, there's a lot to work with their... And Honey Badger. A lot of people are talking about him. I think he'll be good. I think Callais Campbell and Darnell Docket. I mean, they're tough to deal

with. It should be a tough defense to deal with. All right, Greg, why don't you wrap it up with the Seahawks question? Let's go with the Seattle Seahawks and their roster. When you look at it top to bottom, is this the deepest team in the NFL? Yes. Yes. Where are the weaknesses on the Seattle Seahawks roster? How about two questions?

We only do one. I don't even know where to go when you ask a second one. I think you could say offensive line, there are some spots where they're not quite as deep. linebacker, they're not real deep, and then wide receiver with Harvin out, do we really trust Jermaine Curse and Stephen Williams to play against the 49ers? I don't know that we can say that.

So I would say those would be their three shallowest spots. I just do not like their long snapper. He has been, it's hard to trust. I don't know that is. Character issues. No, I, you know, it's hard to just see. We could pick something that's less strong than the rest of the group. I think they have some injuries at their pass rush situation right now that when we get these guys back, we haven't even seen Cliff Avril,

we haven't seen some of the additions. If these guys can play, Michael Bennett, then there's not a weakness, that's a strength. But this is what team we call the deepest roster in football, and I don't think that's changed one iota since we posted that article. Clint Gresham, if you're out there listening, Seattle Seahawks Long Snapper, we apologize. I love you. I don't even... Long snappers are people, too. That is a story of Clint's life. He's probably very solid. Okay, so let's go around. Let's do the records for the division.

We'll start with the great Chris Wess-A-Ling. I have Seahawks and 49ers both in the playoffs at 10 and 6. Seahawks get the tiebreaker for the division title. Cardinals at 7 and 9, Rams at 6 and 10. I know we're trying to be quick here, and I've got to get to a haircut appointment. Camille's, my guy, in Sepulvita. Yes, I looked around the NFL newsroom, looked for the best hair, and asked that man. Where do you get your haircut?

That's where I should be going. That was Dan, so thank you. My question, though, for you is you just talked about how great the offense is, and then the deepest Ciac's roster in the league, why only 10 wins for both them? It's a tough division. It's a tough conference. Some cannibalism. That's a tough conference.

That's why. And their best offensive weapon, arguably, is on the shelf for most of the season. Sessler. I disagree with West in the sense that in each of our division previews, I've been conservative with the record of the best team. Not with Seattle. I have them at 13 and 3. Ow!

That's better than anyone else in the league that I've predicted. I think they will be NFL's kings on that front. 49ers at 10 and 6. The Rams will be the third team in that division to make the playoffs as my 9 and 7 wild card entry. And I have the Cardinals talented but stumbling at 4 and 12 based on what West said. I think one or two injuries floors them. That's a crater.

I have the Seahawks winning the division at 11 and 5. The Niners also going in 11.5, and they're getting one of the wild cards, the fifth seed. And then Rams at 8 and 8, and Cardinals, I'm not sold, 6 and 10. Greg. I have a similar look. Seahawks at 12 and 4. I have the 49ers falling back a bit to 10 and 6. I mean, this is a team that's only lost seven games over the last two years.

I have the Rams and the Cardinals tying for last place at 7 and 9. So I do think this is going to be a very strong division. So who are the surprising playoff teams we had from the NFC? You had the Rams. That's pretty good. I didn't have one. I know I'm going to be wrong, but I have the skins, falcons, packers, Seahawks, Niners, and Bears. Maybe the Bears a little bit, but not really.

I have the Bears and not the Packers. A lot of chalk, yeah. Bears and Cowboys would be my biggest surprises, but neither of them is really a huge surprise. I had the Eagles and Panthers, so at least, you know, we stepped out and made some picks unlike the end. I have three new playoff teams. Browns, I pick the Browns. Counts for double. Or triple. I think it's trivia time.

I mean, I don't know. I'm feeling a lot of buzz in this room. People are excited. Everything we just did the last half hour was all a prelude just to get to this moment. Chris Wessling downstairs on his desk has a toaster. It's NFL sanctioned. It's such a cool toaster because you're able to put team names

imprint them on the toast some How? I don't know the science behind it, but you can do it. They do that with like, what do you call it, Miss Kitty, and all they. They got all these kind of toasters that can do magic. Is it die? I don't think so. Okay.

I don't think so. Anyway, so. It's alchemy. Don't worry about it. Yeah. Wes wants it. It's magic. Yeah, you're not getting my toaster.

And, but at the same time, we agreed, yes, this is Wes's toaster, only if he can hold on to it. So I figured, against Greg's Wichens, I wanted to bring some type of trivia element into the room. So what we did, we contacted, uh, some of, listeners with the help of the great K. Rich behind the glass and we got a couple contestants in a game I like to call

We This is all a thinly disguised ruse for Dan to live out his fantasies as a game show host I feel like he would be great in that role Okay so here are the rules of the game We will get a caller on the line They're on hold right now Both Wes and the caller will get the same six questions

They get 30 seconds to answer John, are you there? I am here. Hey, John, what's up? Hello, John. Hey, how's it going? Hey, where are you from, John? Northwest Indiana.

Ah, Colts. By Gary? It's actually Bears Country. I grew up a Packers fan, though. And how many years have you been listening to the Around the League podcast? Were you neighbors with the Jackson 5? I've actually been to the Michael Jackson House, but I've been listening to the ATL since it's a debut.

huge behind Damashok. Wow. And it should be known that in the screener call that K. Rich did, John got every answer, right. So, John, we've got a real competitor. How far is your neighborhood from Jake Cutler's hometown of Christmas, Indiana? Santa Claus. I believe it's Santa Claus.

Oh, Santa Claus. All right. So, John. I get a point for that one? Yes. Wes, are you done asking geography questions? I love geography. Okay.

Mark Sessler, you are on clock duty. You will be timing this. So, John, and just to make sure you're clear, just when you're done, say stop clock. Okay. Okay, that way we could do it. All right, here we go. What number did Jim Brown wear with the Browns? 32.

What is the name of the Cowboys' home stadium? Pass. What running back finished second in rushing yards last season? Marshawn Lynch. Who was the Baltimore Colts' starting quarterback in Super Bowl 3? Jim Merle. Name the quarterback with the highest yards per attempt average last season. Um, Drew Brees.

Which Hallfame running back rushed for 190 yards in Super Bowl 18? John Riggins. Do you want to go back? No. All right. Stop the clock. By my calculation, you got one question right. Oh, man, that's awful.

I'm trying to get to a haircut here, man. You know? So, listen. All right, Wes. Wes is now back in the studio. Should we tell him what he needs? No. No.

All right. Don't tell me anything. All right. What number did Jim Brown wear with the Browns? 32? What is the name of the Cowboys' home stadium? Reliant Stadium? What running back finished second in rushing yards last season?

Marshawn Lynch? Who is the Baltimore Colts starting quarterback in Super Bowl 3? Johnny United's? Name the quarterback with the highest yards per attempt average last season. Colin Kaepernick? Which Hall-Fame running back rushed for 190 yards in Super Bowl 18? Marcus Allen? That was a mere 25.4 seconds.

Well... Well, Wes, you got two answers right. That was enough to beat John, who only got one. Wes keeps his toaster. The excitement level in this room is just people are not excited. John, thank you for playing. I'm sorry for the one to two loss. Hey, I think you did fun.

What an entertainment podcast I'm helping you guys out with. Yes, John, thank you for trying. and thank you for listening. I thought trivia was more like what happened in the past, not what happened like last year. Listen, you just get the, you got to do better than two, Wes. That's not trivia.

That's just like arcane stats. Well, you didn't get the starting quarterback of Super Bowl 3 right. That's pretty old. Oh, Earl Morrill. The answers, by the way. The answers, by the way, was Cowboys Home Stadium is now AT&T Stadium.

Alfred Morris had the second most... Give me a favor. And never ever ask a corporate-sponsored stadium your name again. Earl Morrow started Super Bowl 3. That's fair. I like the Earl Morrow. The quarterback with the highest average preempt, RG3, and you got Marcus Allen right.

All right, one more game. Let's go with our second contestant. Ned, are you there? Yeah, I'm right here. Ned, how you feeling right now? I'm feeling great. All right, we got, Wes is one for one. He already defeated one challenger.

Okay. At the same time, we weren't blown away by his performance. so I would think that if you have nice knowledge you have a shot to beat him okay I'll try and by the way congratulations on being named Ned because that's a great name thank you thank you I appreciate it so we we while we are off there we explained to Ned the rules of the game so here we go round two of Win West's Toaster how many teams did Randy Moss play for he's played for the Vikings the Raiders the Titans the 5

The defensive end, this defensive ed says he wants to establish the 2020-20-20 club in 2013. Oh, that was J-G-Y. Who was selected third overall in the 2012 NFL draft? Marshal Darius. In 1992, the Packers dealt the first-round pick to acquire Brett Farr from what team? Atlanta. What quarterback had the league's lowest passer rating, minimum 10 starts? Last year.

Last year? Yeah. Pass. The Giants. the Bills in Super Bowl 25. Who was the game's MVP? Pass. Do you want to go back to anything?

The Super Bowl 25. Yeah, who was the game's MVP? Giants in the Bills, right? Times up, times up, time's up. Okay. All right, so you got you got Moss, you got Watt, and you got the Falcons. So you got

three out of six. All right. Now Wes, who was sequestered, is coming back in the studio. Wes, we're not going to tell you what... We're not going to tell you what Ned got. You know what I just realized? What? I put the Wes in sequester.

That's pretty good. That's pretty good. He's working on material as he's winning his toaster. All right, here we go. Same rules. We're going to just 30 seconds. Stop the mark. When it hits 30, it's over. All right.

Okay, here we go. How many teams did Randy Moss play for? Four. This defensive end says he wants to establish the 2020-2020. Club in 2013. Jay J.J. Watt. Who was selected third overall in the 2012 NFL draft? Trent Richardson.

In 1992, the Packers dealt the first round pick to acquire Brett Farr from what team? Falcons. What quarterback of the league's lowest passer rating last season, a minimum 10 starts? Blaine Gamer. The Giants beat the bills in Super Bowl 25. Who was the game's MVP? Phil Sims. Stop the clock.

26.8. 26.8. You got Watt, Richardson, Falcons. That's three, just like Ned, but Wes got it in 26 seconds. Ned needed the full 30. Wes keeps his toaster on a tiebreaker.

Moss played for Patriots, Titans, Vikings, 49ers. You're missing one team. You can figure that off the air. Hey, Ned, thank you very much for trying. Oh, the Raiders. And thank you for listening. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's it.

That's win West's toaster. West, you defended your title. That was a little tight, though. It is tight. These are not easy questions against the buzzer. All right. So that is the end of the ATL podcast. Wes is a little guest.

You could tell it took a lot out of them, so we're going to have to get out right now. Noble effort. Thank you for listening. We'll see next week. That is the beginning of the regular season next week. That will be exciting. Thank you to Kay Rich, the mailman, the sizzler, the boss who left to get a haircut with Camille. You can do that when you're the boss.

Yeah, and Lyle the intern. Thank you, Lyle. We will see you on Monday. Hey, everybody. And 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,

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