NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Preseason Week 3 recap

Episode Date: August 29, 2016

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler – discuss the latest news from around the NFL, including the Broncos naming Trevor Siemian as their Week 1 starting quarterback, and the controversy over 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick' decision to sit during the National Anthem. Then, the heroes recap the third week of the preseason, breaking down the action game by game.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. The Around the NFL podcast is bringing in Jim Jeebo for a workout. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis and I am joined by a room filled with heroes Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling and Greg Rosenthal. What's up, boys? Hey, Dan. Happy Monday.

Mark Hello Good to see you How's your Monday going Marky? Ah, it's fine Marky Mark Got the

brilliant 6 a.m. start Thanks to New leader David Ely Should you It's getting to the point Maybe we need to get Ely up here I thought you always like the 6 o'clock

Well, you like 6.30 You like 630? No? You like the early starts If you say so, Greg. Back in the day. You're in charge, buddy. I'm not in charge.

He once was. Once upon a time. I did enjoy that. I sent something about the Bosa extension. I mean, the Bosa signing. Spoiler alert. Making us ponder the meaninglessness of life. And multiple people responded that they thought Sessler had taken over my account.

Wow. Mark, how about that? You kind of have, you own the owner. It's like what? It's like, what, I can't make an existential claim. I agree with you, Greg. I want to be on that corner, too. I think that we all, at this point, basically speak exactly in exactly the same way and are starting to tweet in exactly the same way.

So, you know, it's wrong to say that Greg says something. It should be someone else. We spent so much time together now over the years. Like, I was reading of what we learned last week that Wes wrote the lead, and there was something like a comprehensive failure. That's like a Cesslerism as well. Cessler loves comprehensive. Sessler's got a lot of influence.

I did not come up with the word, Comprehensive, though. I'm sure Wes had heard of that word previous to us meeting. Mark has a wonderful way with language. Some of that does seep into all of our consciousness, whatever. But comprehensive is a word I've been using since I was dial. Mark, has your ego been stroked enough at the top of the show? I don't, I didn't ask for any of this.

Today is, yes, the Monday edition of the Around the NFL podcast sponsored by no one. But here's the thing, beloved by, you know, some people. Beholding to no one. Yeah, that was a little rough. Nice show today. Nice and simple. Keeping it nice and simple. In honor of the end of the TD era,

we're going to do a tight 54 today. That's the goal. I'm going to write it down right now. Week three, the preseason recap. We'll go through all the games that took place from Friday through Sunday, which, well, there were four on Thursday, right? Two.

Two. Four teams. That's what I meant. That would be... Got that right. So, 16, minute, two, 14 games to talk about. Nailed it, home run. How many teams is that, then?

Oh, no. 14. Pretty easy. Times two, 28 teams. Nailed it. Nailed it. So we'll talk about all of those 28 teams and what's going on in the league. And we will also talk about what's going on in the news

with some injury, a big injury update to talk about, as well as a big NFL controversy. So that is today's show before we get going. I want to say, by the way, speaking of the influence that we have on one another, my fantasy draft was on Sunday. Nobody cares about who picks who. But I just want to say, Wes, that I took David Johnson, seventh overall, thought about you, thought about your face and your body the whole time. And then it's a two-quarterback league.

Daddy went and got himself Marcus Marriota a little later. I love the look of your team. I don't need to know the rest of it. It's going to do well just with those two good. The rest of it was kind of my guys that I like. I also took two Browns. And I will say this. Corey Coleman I took and Duke Johnson later in the draft,

there was a Brown's opportunity to be had because nobody wants. No, I would say, you're nice players. I think that's good faith on your part. That's a good faith on your part. But I think taking Brown's players in fantasy is probably historically a bit dubious. But if you're trying to get ahead of the curve, which is part of the fantasy draft, are the Brown's going to score some points.

I think they are this year. Well, they're going to give up some points. That's fine. I don't care about that. Yeah. Whether they're good or not is beside the point. But anyway, so that was fun. Let's do some news with the Irish.

Hey, Irish, by the way, you are studying some of the world map of our listeners. And by the way, thank you to everyone that listens to the podcast. We have now officially, this is our greatest listenership month ever. Do you have any type of celebration music? You know, this is kind of off-the-cuff thing. You know, we're not allowed to play music. The shadowy league figures are in one of their, you know, holding phases where all of a sudden we can't play anything that we want to play.

Yeah. Like this would be perfect for pop-pon-pon-pun. Hey, yeah, shadowy league figures. Just because you started listening to the show again doesn't mean we've got to cut all the songs out. Don't you even have a library of jingles who are nothing at all celebratory for that kind of data update from Dan? Ooh, actually, this is they're holding Irish's feet to the cold there. No, I'm just, I mean, not a single. I'm asking in general, these people are saying we can't play any music at all from any in-house library or external.

What is the point? If you do remember, I made a drop of Gregi Goes Dallas that was all in-house stuff, and even that got axed. Well, that was because it was inappropriate. We'll keep drawing hundreds of thousands of listeners while they tie concrete cinder blocks to our ankles. Wow. Okay. This has gone a little too far. But what is the update you have?

This was our greatest listenership month ever. Tell us more Irish. Well, I was looking at our, you know, we have a lot of worldwide listeners here. Cut to the chase, buddy. We have six listeners in the Vatican City State, Holy See. And Mark, can you explain what that means? Well, I mean, I'm not a Catholic scholar or something, but it's a territory inside, you know, the Holy City.

It's where the Pope lives. Yeah, I mean, basically it's where the Pope would be roaming around. There's a chance the Pope listens to the podcast. Do you think there's some smoke, like plumes of smoke, that come out every time we release a show? Every time Tremaine Pope runs for three yards or Leonard Pope catches a touch-tham? I think it's what's very possible is one of the Pope's kind of henchman

listens to it, like, down the brick hallway, and the Pope can hear it. Echoing. Yeah, he's wondering what is. And he's like, gosh, Kristen Michael again, enough guys, move on. Maybe he thinks on the Pope's fantasy team. A bunch of Cardinals. Oh.

Hey now. Held it. Terrible, Joe. Let's do some news. My role models are artists, merchants. It's less than 10 that I can name in history. Truman, Ford, Q, Disney, Jobs, West. We were just talking about the Pope.

Now a guy thinks he's got. Kanye West at the VMAs yesterday. Let's do some news, and we'll start. You know, they used to say at the old Cowboys Stadium, the hole in the roof was so God could look in on America's team. But how about now? Where's your God now? Because Tony Romo...

That's for the theology podcast. Coming up next summer, everybody. Hold tight. Tony Romo is injured again. We talked about on Friday show how maybe he dodged the bullet after taking that really crushing hit from Cliff Averill. He did not dodge it because Jason Garrett announced Saturday that Romo underwent an MRI on Friday, revealing a broken bone in his back. rap sheet reported that Romo's best case scenario is returning by mid-season.

It's a compression fracture of his vertebrae, a different broken bone than the one in 2014 where he had the transverse proceeds. Remember that? That was a fun time. Yes. Anyway, the hope is Romo returns. After the buy for the team's week eight showdown with the Eagles, here's Jason Garrett. We're confident that he's going to be coming back and playing football first this year.

And this is just, you know, we talked at length about Romo. Friday and about how much football he might have left in that body and then here it comes now Dak Prescott's a starter Chris Wesleying and Tony Romo has to be thinking to himself how much longer can I be doing this well the word out of Dallas is that he's thinking he can do it for a few more years that he's not thinking retirement at all I think all of us who have watched him play think that he might be getting toward the end of the line but Jerry Jones came out and said that this is not a it's hard to believe this would be a Tom Brady uh Drew Bledso type of situation that Romo will get his job back.

And I think barring some miraculous six-game stretch by Dak Prescott, that's what's going to happen. I mean, but Stephen Jones, days after this happened, came out and said that there is a possibility if it played out a certain way, that it would be a Bled Soda Brady change over. And that seems very realistic at this point. What if Dak Prescott takes this play from the preseason, and they're five and two in late October, and he has a pass rating of 104, like you're going to. invention for Tony Romo? It opens the window for a real possibility that Prescott, Ken, Brady, Tony Romo, nailed it. Well, you have to wonder, first of all, you ask where God is,

he's starting quarterback for the Cowboys, Dak Prescott. He's going to be the governor. He's taken over. People love Dak Prescott. But the bigger thing for me is, is Tony Romo really going to be healthy in week eight? Why do we trust these timelines? Why do we trust that when he comes back on the field that he stays there. I mean, maybe he will, but if you're just looking at the recent track record, you should expect that he won't come back or that if he does come back, he's not going to stay there necessarily for long. And it's going to be tough for him to take hits, which are a big part of playing quarterback in the NFL when you're 36 years old. It just, you know, it bums me out. I hope that he comes back and he's great, because this is a situation where you

could see that kind of keeping the ship afloat and the offensive. line and the running back and everything is set up so well that Romo could come back and be a hero and it's possible but it's very possible we've seen the last of Romo as a as a top level guy. That's possible. I think when I look at this situation as opposed to previous seasons when you had castoffs and rejects like Brandon Whedon and Matt Castle, Kellyn Moore, masquerading as legitimate backup quarterbacks, it's no surprise that the Cowboys didn't do well but in this situation And if you could pick one offense for a rookie to step into, it would be the Dallas Cowboys offense.

Absolutely. Behind that line, throwing to a 10-time pro bowler and Jason Whitten, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL and Des Bryant, and Ezekiel Elliott, who looks like a special player. I think it is important to note that exactly your point that Stephen Jones said that at this time around compared to last year, we're not going to sit around worrying about when Tony gets back. I think that he, that Dak Prescott, for any rookie quarterback,

this is about as good of a situation, you know, their defense aside that you could. find yourself in, but it is absolutely the setup for a changing of the guard if Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, their new version of triplets, blow the doors off. And now, that may not happen. I don't think you just say it a rookie is going to be there mentally the same way Tonaromo is come week one, but there is a real possibility. Let's move on, talk other quarterbacks.

Trevor Simeon did it, guys. The former seventh round pick will be the starter for the defending Super Bowl champion, Denver Broncos when they begin their season against the Carolina Panthers, a week from Thursday in his last preseason game or he completed 27 or 43 passes in three preseason contest two of them starts 62.8% completion percentage with one touchdown two picks so he wasn't dominant but Greg that speaks to just how bad this competition has been in terms of production I think Simeon has lived up to whatever modest expectations they had from at the beginning of the summer and what we've seen in the preseason has confirmed

that if he has a weakness, he's too safe. He made a couple nice throws, I would say, in his preseason game. He had a couple three-and-outs where he didn't get to throw the ball at all. He made one really bad. You know, he has promised. I like what I see out of Trevor Simeon, so it doesn't shock me that they're ready to get rid of Mark Sanchez. Because what's the point of Mark Sanchez?

If you already have the future in Paxton Lynch and you have a higher upside guy that's also safer and young in Simeon, why bother keep Mark Sanchez? I've heard people call this a major upset from the time when the offseason started, but if you think it's a major upset, you haven't been listening to Gary Kubiak since April and May when every time he's mentioned the quarterback situation, he's said Trevor Simeon, and Simeon is his hand-picked guy in the draft. Yeah, and Kubiak has talked about Simeon being in control of the offense,

that, okay, you're right, but Mark Sanchez, you know what you're going to get. This is someone that Kubiak clearly trusts. I mean, and sounds like back when it's in April and May, maybe it's lip service, but at this point, he's also been their best thrower on the field. I mean, he's not perfect, but like the throw he made to Demarius Thomas, beautiful catch. But I mean, he's got the best chemistry with Denver's starting offense of all the quarterbacks there. He looks off some defenders. He shows some things that young quarterbacks don't always show.

I like what I've seen out of him. And to me, the Broncos aren't about their quarterback. They're about everything else around it. That's the same as last year. There's what Kubiak had to say about Mark Sanchez and whether he had a future with the Broncos. Mark has done a great job throughout the course of the offseason and training camp.

We're in the process of putting this football team together right now, so that's going to take up the next three or four days. Hardly a glowing assessment of the man's future. And that's the answer to the question, will Sanchez be on the team? So he couldn't have been more evasive. Well, it would be a shock if he is. They can save $4.5 million if they cut him

and they get their seventh round pickback from the Eagles. I wouldn't be surprised if they bring in another veteran quarterback that started some games in the NFL. Not the challenge to start, but just to have them in the room. Just to be there, and who knows, in case of emergency. Because people wanted Paxton Lynch to push for the job, but he really didn't do it in the preseason either. Are you guys prepared for Gino Smith in the AFC championship game for the Denver Broncos?

Why would the Broncos won him? Just get ready. That's all I'm saying. Little tease, a little look into the 50. Go for the next quarterback from the Jets. that washed up entirely. Moving on, the Joey Bosa contract standoff. Oh, my God, finally is over.

The Chargers announced Monday that they have finally signed the first round defensive end to a four-year rookie contract. Ones, one of the ugliest holdouts we can remember, especially in this era in the post-CBA, most recent CBA, which is supposed to wipe out these type of holdouts. And they have, for the most part, but for Bosa, it just stuck and went on and went on. Mark, what happened to finally get the deal done?

Well, the Chargers gave the number three overall pick the largest signing bonus for any rookie or veteran in team history. So whether or not they bent on all the little nitty-gritty of the contract stuff from a week ago, they certainly bent in this fashion. And there was an agent that changed as well, right? Yeah. The Chargers got their offset language that they were holding out for. So that's one thing.

I don't know. What took so long? Was it worth it? This is a guy they had been targeted. since last year to draft. There were high fives in their war room when the Eagles traded up for Carson Wentz. This is the guy they've been salivating over,

and why didn't you sign him a month ago? You'd have him ready to go for the season. Well, that's the thing. There was always so little room between the two sides. I think that was what got overlooked. There was almost nothing between the two sides. And yet, who's really going to care in week two or three if he's playing 50 snaps and is playing well?

Do we really think that it's going to ruin Joey Bowes? his rookie season. I don't. I mean, he's got a couple weeks here, get up to speed, and if he's a great player, he'll be fine. I'd be more concerned if it was, you know, when the rivers hold out with the Chargers happen, that's a quarterback, and that's probably a lot harder, even in terms of team leadership to jump up. This, I think, is split the locker room on some level from what we've heard, and there are people pro and not pro boss on what he did, but you're right, if he comes in and he's pushing the pocket in week one, like he's just doing what they brought him in to do. He's got two weeks to get ready. We've seen rookies who barely

practice their entire rookie offseason because of injuries or whatever. You know, he was in the building as they built the defense throughout OTAs and mini-camps. It's not like he's coming in fresh. This should be forgotten in a month. And if not, if it's still popping up, that means that the schism was way worse than anybody thought. But I don't think we'll think about it.

Yeah. Well, that could be possible as well. But he seems like a polarizing personality as well. So now you drop him back in that room and we'll see what happens. Do we have a breaking news drop? Sure. Marks Browns acquired a fourth-round pick in exchange for a punter. Wow.

Celebration music? Nope. That means Andy Lee is worth more than Barquevius Mingo. Well, I like that deal. Well, I think his NFL career has proven that out that Andy Lee is more valuable. He's one of the best punters in the league. More valuable than... Well, if you watch the Panthers game or any...

of their preseason games, you can understand why they felt desperate to get a punter. Their punters were atrocious. Fourth round pick, though, that's pretty wild. High price, but if you're a Super Bowl contender, you can say, oh, right, well, we short up that area of our team. Well, and last year, they acquired Andy Lee as the central cog of their offense. It was, we're going to punt the ball 140 times, and he's the best going. Hey, this is Sashi Brown just once again.

Sashi. Proving his dominance over the NFL. You know, they traded him for a seventh round pick last. year, or they acquired him for a seventh round pick last year. Now Sashi comes in. He gets a fourth. He's three rounds better than the old chumps. They're going to have as many picks the next two years as the Cowboys got after the

Hershal Walker treat. Yeah. Does that mean the Brown's going to win three Super Bowls in the next seven years? Let's worry about winning three games. Here's the thing with all those picks. How many wide receivers did they take other than Cole? Well, there's an issue here because they had too many wide receivers. And how many have stepped up?

Right. Zero at this point? Well, they haven't had the chance for early snaps. So you're right. You have to maybe keep trading, and you can't bring in 17 rookies every year. Moving on. Finally, big old hashtag controversy broke out in the NFL this weekend around Colin Kaepernick, the 49ers quarterback, who this is something that had been going on,

but it was only noticed now that he's been refusing to stand up for the playing of the national anthem in protest of what he deems are wrongdoings against African Americans and minorities in the United States. He did at least one other preseason game, but it was after the 49ers preseason loss to the Packers at Levi Stadium on Friday night that Kaepernick spoke out and he actually spoke to Steve Weiss. He had this to say, I'm not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football. It would be selfish on my part to look the other way.

There are bodies in the streets and people are getting paid leave and getting away with murder. The 49ers then released a statement, essentially playing both sides. the fence which they had to hear saying that it's an honor to be able to be a part of the National Anthem but you have the right not to be a part of it if you wish what are your initial thoughts to the whole controversy Wes the American flag is a symbol it means different things to different people the National Anthem is symbolic it means different things to different people we can all take what we want from it but Colin Kaepernick also is a symbol of the American Dream.

Bi-racial kid, adoptive grows up, 4.0 student, could have gone pro in baseball or football. Who's more representative of the American Dream than Colin Kaepernick? I just find that interesting that he kind of, he's talking about an issue that's on a lot of people's minds and a lot of people view it in different ways. I'm fine with him kind of taking a stand and having people, having this awareness on people's minds to discuss an issue that's very important right now. On one hand, it's kind of a brave notion to do this, especially. at a time as a player where he has he cannot be in a weaker position it leaves him wide open you

would think to a team deciding to wash its hands of him but he's making the decision that this is bigger than what's going on on the field so the timing may not be good for his career but he's deciding to to talk about it and i think it's very clear to him to us that this is more important to him and who he is as a person than whether or not he's you know earning points in the pecking order of the Niners roster. I mean, this is a bold move, and I saw tons of hot takes all weekend. I get it.

There's never been a time in our country where people seem more divided about so many things. But if you love America, you have to love the fact that what makes the country what it is, is that people are allowed to coexist with completely different viewpoints. And you're allowed by free speech to criticize them. That's right.

It's the most American thing possible. is to make a protest. I mean, that is America in a nutshell. And I think what's inarguable with this is how effective it has been. He has taken in a very simple, non-threatening gesture, while hundreds of people at that stadium are probably using the bathroom during that national anthem or talking or doing whatever during the national anthem. It's not like it's some sanctified thing that everyone has to stop for. By doing something very simple and peaceful during the national anthem, he has gotten the entire country to be talking about this.

Now, people aren't necessarily always talking about the actual sentiments that he's talking about, which is oppressing black people. I don't know if people have gotten into the guts of that, but for the people that are really angry with Colin Kaepernick, I'd say listen to his press conference on Sunday. Do you think those are the type of people who want to listen to his press vote? Maybe not, but I think they would understand it more. And what I would take away from that is he was ready for everything that's coming

and he wants to talk about this and that it's all very well thought out. It's a different Colin Kaepernick because we talk about a quarterback that does not like to talk to the press. One, two-word answers. If you watch and hear what he had to say yesterday, he absolutely, this is a topic he cares about. He's thought about. We're not asking it to be a 75-year-old. old, wisen person that's seen the earth or what it is. It's had his age point where he is right now at that departure point,

but I thought he did a good job explaining where his heart was at. It's a good point because I remember when his star was at its apex when we cover that Super Bowl against the Ravens. He was a guy that was very shy around the media, didn't have a lot to say when everyone wanted a piece of him. So I would have never predicted four years later that he'd be in the middle of this. And one more note in terms of a little history, 20 years ago, Mahmoud Abdul-Rouf, who was on the Denver Nuggets was suspended by the NBA for a game

for refusing to stand for the National Anthem before they worked out a compromise. I would think the NFL should give this a wide berth, put it that way. I agree with you. Because if the NFL decided to get involved with this, it would cause an uproar that the league does not want anything to do with it. Well, they quickly did. They released the statement, which indicated to me that's his right and he can do what he wants. Shows you how much things have changed.

Yeah, that's a great point. And I've heard people, I think one important thing he kept saying was that he knows that it's not about him, that he's representing people that don't have a press conference, that don't get noticed if they wanted to make a stand in whatever jobs or anything that they do. He's representing those people. One last thing I do want to throw out there, Novara Bowman, because we do have to see how this will play in that locker room if he's going to be around, told Steve Weish this weekend, things like this break teams apart,

and we can't let that happen. Colin chose to do this. We know Colin and we support him. We don't think he's a bad teammate because he decided to vote his opinion. Basically said two different things in the course of two sentences. So that might give you an idea

of what Kaepernick's walking into in that locker room now. So it's worth something to track. It's worth pointing out that Kaepernick has not been the most popular guy in that locker room over the last few years. In fact, he's been a divisive force according to all the reports out there. And his spot on this roster

might depend on how well Christian Ponder and Jeff Driscoll play in the preseason finale. Well, let's talk a little bit about the football of it all while we're here because it is a fascinating story. I mean, I found the story and the responses to it. It certainly was something we haven't exactly seen. But from the football perspective, what are the odds he's on this team in two weeks?

Jake Glazer reported, you know, essentially that he might have an uphill battle even to make this squad. That there's two teams right now where the starting quarterback have not been named the Rams, which it looks like Keenham, and then the 49ers. Well, Mike Garofolo also reported that he's got $25 million left in insurance money, which works in the same way as RG3, which kept him on the Redskins roster last year but glued to the bench, that if Colin Kaepernick gets injured and it's an injury that carries over into 2017,

then I believe the 49ers owe him $14.5 million for 2017. That's the right figure, and there'd be a lot of motivation to not play a quarterback that if you watch the game over the weekend, his arm does not look ready for prime time on any level to me. Well, that's the thing. He doesn't have the same athleticism that he used to. So it's like these two different stories. He's got the same body weight either.

Two stories differently. And yet, he was known as a divisive force in the locker room. I thought the way that they handled everything so far. The 49ers, Kaepernick, and the entire team has been pretty excellent. He called the team meeting. They hashed it out. The most telling quote I saw from any of the teammates was from, Daniel Kilgore, their offensive lineman, who said initially when he heard it, the whole thing

pissed him off. Kaepernick not standing pissed him off. It got him angry. And he said after listening to Kaepernick and understanding where he was coming from, that he respected it, that he supported it. And he thought, and maybe this is just what players say, but he thought it had a chance to bring them together a little bit, that they hashed it out. All right, guys.

Good talk. Let's move on and get into the preseason games all. the week three recap folks who's excited oh yeah i'm excited because when this preseason week three ended sunday night i had that last uh sunday night game with your boy mike tariko well doing a great job two games this week on play by play then that was the end that was the end of the preseason that matters you know we'll be covering Thursday night but it's like okay we wrap that up the next time i'm really focused in on a football game it's one that matters and since you brought up Mike Tariko, you know, we should discuss that I am not happy with the language in this contract

between the NFL and Sunday night, Thursday night football. You don't want an angry day on NFL. Toriko should absolutely be calling that Thursday night game as much as I love Al Michaels. Give Al, who's, by the way, not for nothing in his early 70s. Celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary yesterday. Congratulations. How do you know about his first? Well, they went into it on the broadcast.

If you watch the game, they spent a few minutes out of it. Anyway, so Al on Sundays and Tariko on Thursdays sounded great until Tariko the torch was passed, but instead they have Tariko in some type of host role, which just seems like a little course correction. I'm not happy about it. It quickly eclips the Bosa thing as the worst contract language around. Why would you not want the best play-by-play guy that we have right now doing primetime NFL games? Oh, Michael.

Oh, I love Al-Michael. I'm not putting him ahead of Al-Michael. I am looking forward. I like Al-Micha-Michael's fine. but Torrico, you're talking about splitting up two broadcasts. It's a shame we don't have Toriq. Well, and you think about it for the fan. You know, you have Al Michaels,

who's not going to be able to prepare as much for two games, you know, when he said it's just one. You could have Torrico on one, Michael's on one. Now Michael's got prepared for two. That's the best point anyone's made. Irish, can you get Park Avenue on the phone? We'd like to talk to Roger by the end of the show. Efforting.

All right, here we go. Let's talk about it. We'll start with the New England Patriots at the Carolina Panthers. And once again, for the third consecutive games, We can use a little throwing a sleaze for this, I think. A little bit. What? That's a little bit.

For the third consecutive game, Jimmy Garoppolo, slow start. Didn't do much. He managed one first down. He managed a first down in just one of his first four possessions. Then Tommy Brady comes in, who's not playing until week five, as we know. And, West, the difference between the two guys. Again, weeks ago, Bill Belichick was asked, is there any way Jimmy Garoppolo could stay in the lineup once Tom Brady's off suspension.

The difference between these guys is Stark, Wes. That was a laughable question at the time. The person who asked it should have been fired. Fourth with and without any follow-up questions, that was just a ridiculous thing to say in this game. I mean, it's only a couple of quarters in a preseason game without Gronk, without Danny Mandola, without some key players.

But Tom Brady at this point in his career, not known for attacking down the field, comes in and immediately his first two completions are longer than any Garoppolo, completion of the preseason, except a screen pass to James White. And I think that's very telling. It's awfully hard to get a read on Jimmy Garoppolo right now. I'm not sold on him.

I don't think he's an asset for the Patriots right now. It really was remarkable how ferocious Brady looked. The worst person in America to be on Friday night was A.J. Derby after he dropped a third down to kill Brady's third drive. Brady went over to the sideline looking miserable, thinking, I only got three or four drives, you know, for the next month and you're going to ruin this A.J. Derby, you're not playing with me again. Relax, Tom.

He didn't say anything. He just, he just, he came out there and played with a regular season sort of ferocity. You know what I'm saying? You can just see it. I mean, is there any element to this where I'm not saying that they're keeping it under wraps for Garapolo, but it's just that are they going to reveal much about their offense? The one thing with Garapolo, I mean, we don't, he doesn't have half of his weapons on the field. So I get the shots down field.

Nor did Brady. But Brady's Brady's Brady. And so, I mean, Jimmy Grapple is a massive step down from Brady, but is he all right for four games for them? I mean, I don't think Philly has been a total liability. We have no idea. Nobody knows. But he hasn't. We have some evidence.

He hasn't really shown one way or another, even compared to other young quarterbacks. It is tough to get a feel of him. He showed, it was a little jumpy, made a couple bad decisions. It's interesting that you have pointed out his quiet feet in his pocket presence when a lot of people have made your issues with his pocket. Well, he took a step back in that department. There's a lot, I mean, you'd be enjoying, Dan, some of the talk that's going on in New England this week.

I'm sure they're totally insane about it. There was conspiracy theories about, you know, Brady's, you know, finger, that he hasn't been happy with Belichick, how this has all been handled, him coming off the bench, him not playing a lot in the prison, blah, blah, and then there's also the questions, you know, this was coming. People wondering if Jacoby Brissette, who's probably looked like the best rookie quarterback in the league other than other I don't know who has put up good numbers people are saying oh maybe Jacoby percent should be starting over Jimmy Garoppola love it that is sleazy because

it was a bad because it's thrown of sleazy right there some hot takes by the way they went two and two with Brady multiple times last couple years I mean if they go two and two with Jimmy G and Brady comes in in week five against Cleveland I think this team's going to be just fine no they go two and two with Garoppolo I know you're then Brady comes in and he needs his two-and-two stretch, and all of a sudden, half the season's over, and we're 500. I mean, look out. Brady's not going to need. That's not the Brady DNA.

Look out. Look out. The trouble of carrying too much about the preseason was on the other side of the ball. Think about Cam Newton's rookie preseason was a disaster. Think about what Cam Newton did in this game. 13 for 29 for 100 yards in two picks, and that's boosted by him staying deep into the second half against backups just because they wanted to get him some. positive snaps. At one point, I think it was five

or 14 with two picks. Ron Rivera looked like he was going to implode. He looked super upset. All right, let's move on. By the way, this Pat's defense is looking pretty good. That's who needs to carry the team. Okay. Can I move on now? No. Okay. Moving it. Wait, can I move?

Yeah. Okay, good. Let's move on to the Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins, Greg. And, you know, that backfield in Washington continues to look like a tire fire, doesn't it? Yeah. You know, Tulane product, Robert Kelly probably going to, could start for them, week one over Matt.

Marron. That's not ideal. That's not a good sign for them. Keith Marshall injured. That guy's always injured, first of all. Matt Jones still injured. This is, this backfield is a trope. Ryan Kerrigan needed an MRI after that game.

We'll see if that's serious. Deshaun Jackson's had a really nice training camp overall and backed it up with this preseason looks very good. Pass rusher Preston Smith, second year guy, looked great against the bills. I think universally in this room we expect. Kirk Cousins to come back down to Earth. If that really happens and he has like a kind of a middling season, this offense is not going to be very good.

Yeah. I mean, this is, this was a weird, a weird game to watch because the bills rested so many starters. Rex always in reactive mode because he's had so many injuries this preseason. Just like rested everyone in the third week of the preseason, which is not something you normally would do. Although I get it. And he regretted playing Tyrod Taylor at all because he almost got hurt.

I ask you a follow-up question. Sure. is it generally a good thing when your coach in any sport is in reactive no no and rex is always that way this feels a little fear filled to me to suddenly sit sit half your roster in a preseason game it's like you know what you never know this kind of get hurt go out and play them they still need the experience this was a this was your third game the two teams that are the most reactive are whatever team Rex Ryan's coaching and the Dallas Cowboys

they always read you with that hardcore in the offseason that they're whatever their problems are, they will go directly at that thing and do something obvious. One thing I did not expect to write down this year. Reggie Bush looks solid. Here we go. I don't know. He's not Gail Sayers, guys. It's a little surprised.

A nice little player. I'm shocked that he is their backup running back. At the end of the line. My notes looked a little different on Reggie Bush in that game. Still pushing that narrative after all these years, Greg. I thought he looked like the running back version of Tony Romo. let's uh let's talk about uh the pittsburgh steelers and nolan saints uh and west you know sometimes it makes you think the inherent uh think of the inherent meaninglessness of our jobs

because a lot of sammy coats posts uh on this website and around the internet uh but the sammy coats wasn't much uh part of the scheme in this third preseason game was he well if if i hear what you're saying we should basically all take may through august the end of august off work. That's an old Sessler idea. Well, Mark might have been on to something there because, you know, just like our Jimmy Garablo analysis will be made entirely meaningless in a couple weeks. All of these Sammy Coates posts from early August have been rendered meaningless by Eli Rogers, who's running as the first team slot receiver. I think Big Ben's first two drives were all no huddle, and there were two touchdown drives. Marcus Wheaton, Antonio Brown on the outside, Eli Rogers

in the slot for the entire drive. And Jesse James got pretty heavy. targeted as Laderius as greens fill in as well. We're noting Coates made a couple plays in the game, and we'll get some snap. I think Big Ben's one of those quarterbacks that has an enormous amount of influence over who's out there with him, who's out there, you know, in the first string offense and who he can trust.

And he's been hard on a couple wide receivers over the years that if they aren't picking it up, you can kind of read the T-leaves with Big Ben's statements about that, and Coats has been a disappointment. What a preseason. He knows how to do a preseason. He plays two drives. He gets two touchdowns, that's it.

It's over. And he threw almost every single snap he was on the field. They just got it over as fast as possible. The big thing I thought for the Steelers was it was nice to see Leveon Bell looking like Levy and Bell. He looked good. He looked really good. We won't see him for a few weeks. Speaking of running backs coming back from lower leg issues, Chris Wesley.

Everybody's talking about the awakening with Chris and Michael, but you are on the hype transfer. See C.J. C.J. Spiller continues to be a guy that you're into. Well, I mean, let's see how long it lasts. He hasn't really shown 2012 bills for him in a while He did look good the other night

He looks quicker I don't blame him for last year Considering he had August knee surgery And it really hindered him all throughout the season So I am looking forward to seeing How the St. You used C.J. Spiller this year Well people say what can you learn from the preseason You can learn that C.J. Spiller is going to be a big part of this offense

That he's part of their starting group When we went into the preseason We didn't know if he was going to make the team Like that's something that you can learn We can also learn they're not held their offensive line, the Saints, a little bit out of nowhere, but with Theron Armstead hurt is a total mess, has been a disaster. Breeze has been hit.

I mean, the game with Clowny two weeks ago was a clinic and how to get your butt kicked if you're an offensive line. They're going to have to invent a position for Andrews Pete to play because he's failed out at every position they've tried him at. If Armstead isn't healthy, that all that fun skill position talk we've talked about, or I've talked about for New Orleans, kind of falls apart. How about we trade Pete for Luke Jokel.

Well, that accomplished anything. Well, did you watch Luke Jockel a guard, which we can get into down the road, but that had problems. A little guard talk coming up later in the show. Cleveland and Tampa Bay, Mark Cecil, Josh Gordon. Forget about Russ. This guy looks like the guy that tore up the league a couple of years ago. The Browns are a very weird team. I mean, there should be something disturbing about the fact that someone that has not played in a year and a half

was immediately the best player on your roster. But Gordon looked immense. He looked fantastic on two big catches, but for me, if you're a Bucks fan, you have to be happy with what James Winston did against this defense. It was not a perfect game, and it hasn't been a perfect game for James Winston in the perfect preseason form in general, but he carved up a wanting Browns defense, one that I think could be one of the worst in the league. And the Browns on offense, the only way they have to counter is these big shots down the field.

They had eight quarterback sacks. they were wrecked. RG3 is not going to stay on two feet if that continues. They have no sustaining ground game. And really the only thing that you see is that it's Terrell Pryor or Gordon or fill in the blank going 35 yards down the field once or twice a game. That's not an offense. I just drafted Duke Johnson.

Isn't he going to be a part of this offense? Yeah. I think Duke Johnson can be a nice part of it. But there's no fear if you're facing the Browns. He's not going to, unless things just change, their offensive line looks very bad to me, very incomplete. I'm getting a Rex vibe though from Hugh Jackson. When he was asked at half time about the game, he starts talking about not picking up third downs, this or that. I'm like, the offense isn't your problem. First of all, they did some nice things on offense. It wasn't

really their fault that they were way behind. The defense is their problem. You know, he needs to be just this focus of that because they have those weapons he talked about, that's a nice group. I mean, that is a monster wide receiver. They have the two biggest wide receivers in the league, and then you have Coleman and Barnage with them and a couple decent running backs. We've got weapons, but I don't like any offense in the league where you can't run the ball at all. And all we've seen so far is Isaiah Crowell with the occasional decent run. Throw this out there. Maybe Duke Johnson isn't a pro-bole.

We'll see. I just feel like now we're hedging our bets here. I thought he was going to be a player. I like Duke Johnson. I've never. He's like a poor man's geo-Bernard. I think he'll be similar but more physical. Can we talk about the bucks for him?

I would like to. I was just going to set up one thing, Roberto Aguio, big day. for the rookie kicker, second round pick, hit all six of his kicks, three extra points and three field goals. That is people like to marginalize the kicker, but that is a big storyline for Tampa who were heading into a potential nightmare scenario

of this guy being a huge bust and them having egg all over their face. What else was? Yeah, that was good to see for a guy like that who was already embattled to work his way out of it. But that passed rush in Tampa, which we haven't seen in years, when I did most improved position groups,

I had to shoehorn the Bucks in there because they looked so good in training training camp in the first preseason games. And then eight sacks. Noah Spence looks like a first year difference maker for them. Also the Bucks on offense, they ran hurry up nearly the entire first half, and it fit very well with James Winston. They're fun to watch. They were.

Watch that James Winston highlights package, and it's hard not to be a James Winston fan when you watch that. He reminds me so much of Ben Rothensberger when he was younger. Okay, let's talk about Green Bay and San Francisco. Oh, I am excited about the Packers' offense being back to what they were and maybe better. You know why? Because not only do you have Aaron Rogers back with a healthy Randall Cobb and Eddie Lacey got his weight down and Jordy Nelson's back. But Greg, Jared Cook, let's play a little over-under game with Jared Cook.

You ready? Okay. Tight end, of course. He's bouncing around the league. High on talent. High on mistakes. High on mistakes. a flawed player, but everyone's always wondered what if you gave him a good quarterback.

Now he's got the best. 60 receptions. They believe that would be a career high. That would definitely be a career high. When you play with the quarterbacks he's played with, that doesn't surprise him. I go under. I'm going to go under, barely. 900 yards.

Under. He spent his whole career with Jeff Fisher. I think he's going to be a big part of this. Seven touchdowns. Under. Under. But I'm high on him. He's a 650-700-yard type of.

Just not a Pro Bowl guy. But that's a big addition if we can get that out of it. With as many weapons as they have, they don't need him to catch 900 yards and 60 passes, and he can still have a big influence on the offense. And it wouldn't surprise me if he went over on some of those because they don't really have that third receiver that stepped up, and maybe he's that guy. I'm going to look at Jermichael Finley's final year before the neck injury.

Well, Jared Cook's not Jermichael Finley. Well, I'm just out of curiosity when they had a tight end, they could believe in. 61 catches on 88 targets, 667 yards. Yeah, I could see something like that. Two touchdowns. He had eight touchdowns the year before that. That's just going to make that offense even harder.

If they can get a guy, I can make some plays. It's the speed. He stretches the scene. And also, Greg, from that game, there are no skill players in San Francisco. San Francisco is in a bad way. Got your boy Jeremy Curley through a trade. Well, that should solve everything. That reeks of desperate.

That's a bad sign for Bruce Ellington, who heard his hamstring in that game. Shocking. That indicates that maybe he's not going to be back on the field. I mean, Gabbard just is kind of there, and he's just that being there is better than the rest of the guy. Who's the third-string quarterback that's definitely going to play this year? Jeff Driscoll. Oh, yeah.

I'm looking forward to seeing him. Have you watched him in the preseason? I'm not sure how much you should be excited about him. We're going to see a lot of quarterbacks. I don't even remember this game, but I wrote down playing a lot worse than the numbers indicate for Driscoll, and his numbers were bad. And just another landing spot for Gino Smith, potentially,

to resurrect. That one I could see. You know what? That one I could see. That one makes a little bit of sense. Because what are they trying to do right now? Moving on. Was there a second half to that?

No, that's it. I mean, why not? Why not? What's the square root of boring? The Chiefs and Bear, speaking of boring, Mark, business as usual with Alex Smith, who is effective. They're not going to get you excited, but they look like they're ready for the season, don't they?

Well, I think it's, you know, they did a lot of very Alex Smith-ish-type things, and they were efficient and they completely dominated the bears. And one of the reasons is that, I mean, give me a break. First four drives for Cutler, four punts, including three straight, three-and-outs, and a strip-sacked to end the half. The bears have literally, unless they are absolutely, into hiding everything from us until September. Zero identity

on offense. Zero. The only chance they had all half for a big play was a horrible drop by all Sean Jeffrey downfield. It is almost as if, and we've seen this, West and I were talking on this on Saturday with John Fox occasionally the game plan is simply lose 20 to nothing. Because we

saw it against the Seahawks last year and it is if they came into this game having done literally zero planning at all and it showed. And the poor people in Chicago that paid money for tickets to this ridiculous affair should all be getting the refunds back. It was a joke of a game for the Bears. If there's anybody you should be giving up a mid-round pick for a punter,

it's John Fox, who sometimes decides going into a game. He's just going to punt the entire game. I think Kevin White's struggles is one of the big stories of the preseason. They threw the ball to him, I think, eight times this preseason, and those eight throws gained 12 yards. The only time they could get him the ball were those quick outs where he'd gains three yards. He doesn't look like he knows where to go.

Jay Cutler called him out for that. And Jay Cutler sort of passively, aggressively implied, like we're just putting this guy out there before he's really ready. That he's out there. He doesn't know what to do. It's a problem.

When people were talking, ooh, you know, Jeffrey White. And White right now looks like he's going to be hurting that offense, not helping. One thing on the Chiefs real quick. I am on board with Greg. This is, we've got a career year for Alex Smith coming. I know.

Wow. What is a career year from Alex Smith, by the way? What are we talking? Let's look at his stats. I'd say 25 passing touchdowns, maybe five rushing. I think it just kind of hit me. Andy Reid's been coaching his ass off. Whatever the ceiling for this offense and Alex Smith and this team is,

I think they're going to hit it. I think he's in year four. There's so much continuity. They have Conley, they have Kelsey, they have Charles coming back. I just think Alex Smith, however well he can play, he's going to play that well. He's never passed for 3,500 yards or more than 23 touchdowns in a season. In this offense, Macklin has looked very good this preseason.

Conley has made plays, and they didn't even have anything at wide receiver two seasons ago. There are more weapons here. Kelsey, throw him into the mix. There are more big plays happening, not 88-yard sizzlers down the sideline, but he's making chunk plays down the field. And their second round rookie, I believe, Chris Jones has been killing it this preseason. Great pick by them. And I think Reed is one of the more underrated offensive coaches the last 20 years.

And I think it really helped him to not be the GM. He's a great example, and he's talked about it. And listening to John Dorsey talk on these telecos, he seems, I don't know, he just seems like a very smart GM. It's a nice combination there. Let's move on to Detroit and Baltimore. And Chris Wessling, Joe Flacco, made his debut in the preseason, 11 of 16, coming back from that ACL tear, that he's not 100%.

but he looked like he's ready to go, right? He's got eyes for Mike Wallace. You can see that right on the first couple of drives. And my takeaway continues to be, it's only a matter of time before Terrence West takes Justin Forset's starting job. There is a mountain of difference. Not only between the way West ran his first couple of years in the league and how he's running now,

but also between how he's running and how Justin Forsett's running, West is exploding through the holes. He's decisive, one cut and downhill, which is exactly what you want to see out of your running backs. I think Forsyp had a chance to be cut if Kenneth Dixon didn't hurt his knee in this game and he's now out a month and so now they don't quite have the same depth they had a week ago. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been surprised for you to be right and that West would have been the starter. On the Detroit side of the ball, West, Amir Abdullah got his first action of the preseason

and he showed you enough with that injured shoulder, right? Well, I think there was the one play where he got to the edge and hit the pylon for about a 20-yard touchdown run. Didn't do much other than that because their offensive line still doesn't open many holes. And by the way, we have our first sandwich wager closed for the 2016 season. Oh, please. Not happy about this, but a wager is a wager, and Benjamin Watson tore as Achilles out for the year. And you will eat well because of it. Listen, I'm not excited about it.

Well, you know what? It's just a matter of bookkeeping, that's all. I think next time I do some like mid-August over-under sandwich bet with you, who's won like seven sandwiches me off at this point, is if they go to the season with a broken bone or ripped up tendon, the bed is off. I mean, they've got to be healthy starting week one. I would, but the language was actually baked into the wager.

We talked about it specifically. No, it's on me. I should have mentioned this, but I mean, you know, it's poor. Do you want me to, I could, I'll wash my hands. If I get the, if I can take it in the standings, I don't need the sandwich. No, next time. Next time. I'll buy you a giant sandwich for you to eat.

Enjoy yourself. Moving? Now, that's some quiet storm right there. I enjoyed it. Moving on to the Philadelphia Eagles in Indianapolis, Colts. Wes, you wrote and are what we learned. You've heard the story before. The Colts got pushed around on both sides of the line of the scrimmage.

Is this the softest team in football? Don't we ask that every year? They're incredibly soft. They've lacked backbone throughout the Pagano Griggs-Anne era. And it looks like they're going to again, because the defense, I don't even know if they have any starters left. They're all injured. offensive line they've drafted nine offensive linemen in the past four years and the facts that's

crazy the facts remain that Andrew luck has been hit more than any quarterback since he entered the league and that Vic Ballard's 105 yard effort in December of 2012 remains the lone 100 yard rushing game of the Andrew Luck era the only thing oh my god he's been in the league so long five years that's insane that's that oh they played a very good defense in this game yes but when you you watch other teams around the league, like the Titans, for instance, completely reorganized their offense in one offseason, and you look at how many chances Ryan Grigson has had to build both lines on this team. Or Chuck Bogana.

And they are worse than ever. It is mysterious. You know who's running their offensive line now? Who? Your boy Philbin. Joey P. That's right. Joey P is running the Colts offensive line.

Making sure everybody's shoes are tied and there's no gum on the tour. He has a great reputation. He was the Packers offensive line coach is what got him. the Dolphins job but this is going to be a hard I mean well the two guys they thought they can count on muhor is now out a month and their left tackle Costanza who has a big money deal was terror has been terrible in the preseason is coming off of that year it doesn't mean anything maybe because tons will be fine but maybe but this is the team every year there is a team that's so bad in the preseason that can't do anything at all that everything is so wrong that it actually

does carry over into the regular season and to me the colts are that team it's hiding that Andrew Luck looks nothing like 2015 Andrew Luck now. He looks like 2014 Andrew Luck and you don't get to see it because of that offensive line. On the other side, Philadelphia, their wide receiver continues to be hard to make sense of. Well, Chris Given started this game and then was cut the next day. That is not a good situation. Josh Huff, who seems to drop a pass per game, was their most productive wide receiver. Nelson Aguilar, who seems to be locked into the number two job, dropped a pass that became an interception, and Dorea Green Beckham is used exclusively in the end zone. It's not good.

I enjoyed how apoplectic the cults announcers were in this game. They were totally existential, existentially, like just dread. Here are some actual quotes. That flag was our best play. Is there a woodshed we can take these guys to? And then my favorite one, we're losing the edge. There is no edge. That got me really fearing away from the local pom-pom carrying announcers

of most of these games. Well, it's kind of the flip side of that, yeah. It's the flip side of that. I think 90% of Indianapolis has seen enough of Ryan Grigs. That's fair. That's fair. All right, moving on the Snoopy Bowl, guys. It stays with the Giants or goes to the Giants.

I don't remember who won last year. But, and that's saying something, let's talk about the Giants versus not a pretty game for either side, but Victor Gruz played, didn't do much, but he didn't get hurt again, that's good. I'd be worried if I'm a Giants fan right now, and I know, Wes, you think Eli could have his best year ever offensively, and that's certainly all this could be washed away once the season starts,

but they have not looked good. The Jets defense really made Eli and the first team Giants' defense look bad. A lot of that had to do with Mo Wilkerson, who looked dominant at the line of scrimmage. But I think the Giants have a lot of work to do on the offensive side of the ball, So that's what I took away from them. And on the jet side, Wilkerson looked great. And Calvin Pryor is a guy to keep an eye on.

He made ODB make a business decision on a play over the middle. He had a sack where he just crushed Eli Manning. He made six tackles. He was all over the field. I think he could be a making-the-leaf type guy. And finally, Christian Hackenberg. Up and down. I think his numbers were pretty bad.

Six of 16. But he came in on his first position. session, and after a drop and an incomplete pass, completed four consecutive passes, including a touchdown that showed different levels of throws. He's not going to play any meaningful snaps, but it was good to see something positive from the kid. He also threw an interception that essentially ended the game, but that's what happened at the middle ends.

Was this easily since we've been employed at NFL media now? I mean, a lot of people don't even know what the Snoopy Bowl is, but by far the dullest of Snoopy Bowls. I tried to watch this this morning on Game Pass and had to get multiple cups of coffee just to keep my eyes open during this. Outside of Pryor, who you're right, he looks like a badass. I will say that Rex Ryan, the Jets were ready to move on

from the Rex Ryan, so were the fans. But the Snoopy Bowl isn't the same anymore without Rex. Which if that's the biggest loss, you know, you're fine. The Snoopy Bowl, this game means nothing. It's really for little kids to go to the preseason game and all their friends and stuff. That's how I view the game. but when Rex did it because he was so insane that he tucked that game so seriously

leading to that infamous press conference after he got Sanchez killed by a seventh string offensive line and he went off saying we won the game we won the Snoopy Bowl I miss that just for entertainment value Wes you might remember when Jerry Glanville back I think in the early 90s at one point his Atlanta Falcons played two or three teams from California that season and he had the audacity to wheel a California trophy down the field. And it was before they played the Niners, I believe. And the Niners went out and whipped the Falcons like 50 to 3. But it was like until Rex Ryan, there was no one doing this,

wheeling trophies for ridiculous reasons, up and down fields. I hated Jerry Glendell with a passion as a Bengals fan back in those days. But the football world needs a Jerry Glendhal type of figure. Right. That's why I still believe, you know, when Rex and Rob are gone, we'll miss them. Absolutely. We're sick of them now. I'll grant you this.

If I wasn't tasked with covering the game, I would find Rex Ryan a lot more amusing. I'd agree. And I don't think we're ever getting rid of Rex and Rob. I think they're lifers. I mean, they might not be head coaches, but they'll be in the league. They'll be in the league.

But Rex running a defense again, and he'll be fun to cover. One other thing on the Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick has not looked great, and I wonder how much that is due to the fact that he's not that great. What about that strip sack? Yeah, I mean, it was not a good look.

Well, I like the Cajonies on Ryan. Only Ryan Fitzpatrick would try to stiff arm Jonathan Hankins, a 350-pound man with his left hand while he's holding the ball with his right hand and then attempt to throw. I mean, he's an insane person. You know, he went to Harvard. He makes more decisions. But he did, he threw a touchdown. He didn't throw an interception of the play out in the preseason, but it was kind of like last year where maybe he should have had several interceptions.

He's looked rusty. He missed open guys. I need him to get sharper. We'll see what happens. Moving on, the Tennessee Titans and Oakland Raiders. And this guy, as I said on the pod a couple weeks ago, I thought he had a retirement press conference. And I thought that a lot of his ex-teammates were there.

And I thought it was like a real, a lot of popping circumstances. Andre Johnson's still in the league, now in the Titans. And he's working with the first team offense and making some plays for Tennessee, Chris Wesleying. For the Snoopy Bowl was the most boring game of the weekend. This might have been the most exciting. This Titans team is fun to watch. Andre Johnson played quite a bit with the first team offense.

Taj Sharp, I think, is locked in. I think Richard Matthews is locked in. Andre Johnson, for what it's worth, played 10 more snaps than Richard Matthews with the first team. I don't know if that means anything or not. Richard Matthews has been running in that number one-two spot for all of camp. And Kendall Wright still hasn't played at all in the preseason from a hamstring injury. So we'll see how that wide receiver order shapes out. I think Sharp is locked in, though.

Oh, yeah. And Wes, you are all the way back in on tomorrow. you wrote in our recap and what we learned the Titans could boast the league's most unstoppable backfield tandem this season pairing of course with the rookie Derek Henry all the way back asked David Amerson the Raiders cornerback if DeMargo Murray's back he put an open field cut on Amerson that left him just a mess a puddle of mud on the on the field he did and yet I don't know if he's the best running back on this roster I mean oh I don't think he is Derek Henry would be this year's Doug Martin if not if not for the guy in front of him to Marco Murray if not

for Kristen Michael in Seattle. He has been so impressive. It's almost, I don't know. It's almost hard to believe. I just want to see it. You want some, keep going. You want some fantasy advice? This is for people that aren't in leagues with, like, total football heads that have watched

the preseason. But I talked to two friends this weekend who did drafts, and in neither draft was Tajay Sharp drafted because your average just jumping in guy who does other things and doesn't watch a lot of football has never heard of Tajay Sharp, and he picked him off waivers for free. So if you're in one of those leagues, I got him in the 15th round. Yeah. That's the fantasy corner.

Better late than ever. I'm not talking to the three of you because you're super savvy, but just the guy out there doing regular drafts, make sure he gets picked. You're paying it forward. Yeah. Another takeaway. I was already headed this way last year,

but Marcus Mariotta, my favorite quarterback to watch. If you see that open field option play, that's a thing of beauty. Are we worried that he's going to get hurt doing too many of these running plays? He got beat up last year. I think every time he got beat up last year was because his right tag

a whiffed on a block. I mean, I'm... Got the coach fired. The Titans are getting... It's hard to resist the Titans right now. I mean, they are fun. Prettiest girl at the ball. Well, I'd argue, you know,

Marriota and Winston, they both might be set up for monster. It's almost an underplayed story that these two guys, you know, a lot of talk about the rookie quarterbacks this year. The two rookies from last year could both be awesome. Yes.

Moving on. gentlemen the LA Rams and Denver Broncos played football Jared Goff's still not ready Mark right it's not even close yeah I think it's not close and I you know this is another example of the whispers that you hear for months creeping into complete reality because golf to me there was something going on with him where one ball after the next he was throwing to people got the target the wide receiver the tight end

crushed by people hospital balls that the ball placement was an issue He just looks to me kind of someone who's when you're underwater and you can't move instinctively. And it's like whether it's, there was a third down where he's sliding for way less yardage than needed. And it's just he's not all there. He seemed to me to be mentally slow. And let's talk about how fragile he looks. I mean, he looks like if Sam Bradford went on like a three-week juice fast. And then you put him out there against the defense.

Like, I mean, I'd just be very concerned about him physically. let's not get it's not all dire news i agree i don't think he looks good at all his biggest problem is what you said that it's all he's computing right now you can see the thought process happening instead of being instinctual and once he gets you know once he gets prepared to play in the nfl you can't see some of those physical gifts coming out but can't you see to mark's point the article next may say you know jared goff has built up 15 pounds of muscle quote you know i realized once i got into the league that you know my body, I thought I was prepared, but I just wasn't prepared enough. I didn't have enough strength. He hasn't made it through two of the three performances. He has been taken out early in two

out of three games. Probably weighs 70 pounds more than Colin Kaepernick right now. I think you're right, though. He's probably set up for a second year jump, depending on how much we see from this year because he's just not ready for prime time yet. Well, you mentioned hospital balls. He literally, I believe Farrow Cooper hurt his shoulder on one of those passes, and he's probably going to miss week one now, their number three receiver. By the way, I just want to double back real quick because I don't want to short change any team. But, Wes, with the Raiders, Latavius Murray was their main guy last year.

It could be a little different this year, huh? Yeah, I think so. And I think that the Raiders talked about this most of the offseason that they wanted a compliment to him. I mean, I am not sold that Latavius Murray is a good running back. And I don't know if the Raiders are either. DeAndre Washington, whom they drafted in the fifth round, looked really good. And Jalen Richard, who, or is it pronounced, Richard?

Jalen Richard, I barely ever heard of him before this game, and he looked great. They basically didn't play Murray in this game. Well, I think it was because they want to see between Washington and Richard which one's going to be their number two. And it could turn out that both of them eat into Murray's workload. The coaching staff has been raving about him all month. And they play Ola Wale, who's underrated. I think he's a good fullback, and they use him as a tailback too. Between all those guys, I think it adds up to don't touch Latavius Murray in your fantasy draft.

And moving back to L.A. and Denver, but let's stay in the back field because rookie Devante Booker looks like the number two running back. Where does that leave Ronnie Hillman guys? Well, I think Ronnie Hillman, you know, depending on what they really want to do with each of these guys, that Ronnie Hillman was a potential cut candidate. And as you look at his contract, he's a one-year deal with the Broncos right now. C.J. Anderson is their absolutely number one guy,

no questions asked. And I think that Booker has shown himself to be easily better than Ronnie Hillman this preseason. Booker is an interesting running back who's only going to see more and more time with this offense. Ronnie Hillman, maybe your week one starter for the Washington Redskins. That's fair. I mean, I think that he could be easily be moved. He had a couple nice runs in this game, but he's so clearly not their number two person. There's no questions asked at this point. By the way, I think watching this game, Case Keenum, he knows what he's doing. Yes, he does. He's crazy like a fox. He knows all I needed to do this preseason was not make

turnovers and I can just keep this job. Like, I'm not going to be too risky. I'm not going to be crazy Case Keating. I'm just going to let everyone see what this rookie looks like. And I'm just going to do nothing. Go like 8 to 14 for 76 yards and you are Jeff Fisher fever dream territory right there. He loves it. It's an excellent plan until you're playing the Seahawks defense way it matters.

By the way, big week, speaking of the Rams for Hard Knocks, who they are threatening to have a bottom third all-time season for the series. I'm threatening not to watch it. Yeah, just keep it real. here, Greg. I know you don't like any type of criticism about the show, but we've got to be fair. I think that's... I need a big show. I think that's true, but it's kind of like when the Sopranos were on.

I'll take the worst episode of the Sopranos over just about anything else that's on. I am not saying. It still makes me happy. I'm just saying whether it wants to be a top five or bottom five all-time hard-knock season, we're going to... Episode 4 on Tuesday is going to be a big...

I agree with you. I watched. I'm caught up, and I agree with that take they have there's some pressure on them could be bottom three i agree i agree with you let's see i'm not counted it out yet you know it's like picking the best you know and worst tom brady seasons why you even got to have a worst that was the year after he blew out his knee you know uh the best part about all this stuff you guys talking about what's up irish you can't oh hey dan what's going on the best part is there's NFL game pass where you can go back Oh, right. We were told we need to organically work in.

Well, that was organic. We already did even without even you noticed. We said that you should go to nfl.com slash game pass to start a free day, free seven-day trial, bullet point live out-of-market preseason games. Bulletpoint game replays during the regular season. We said all that. And what you want to do is you want to watch that game pass. You want to dial up the Tennessee Titans.

There you go. There you go. How you like that? Shuttle League figures. Keep tight and cement. Hey, here's a fact. Get us back some pond, pon, pon, Here's a fact.

There's maybe not an NFL product that exists that we've used more over the years than NFL game pass. That's fair dog. Moving on, San Diego and Minnesota. Teddy Bridgewater didn't play in week two the preseason. People were wondering, ooh, what's going on with that? But he looked okay, Mark, didn't he, this week? Still in my ad reading mentality. Yes, that was nice.

I think the highlight for him was a he ran a very nice two-minute drill right before the half where he, hit Charles Johnson for 19 yards. There are all the people saying that Teddy Bridgewater can't throw the ball down field. Hits Diggs for 22, then Kyle Rudolph for a 27-yard touchdown, one, two, three. Now, I think with the Vikings, they seem like a team to me that wants to win game

17 to 14. I mean, they had two failed red zone drives that went into field goal territory because of Bridgewater to some degree. So I think Bridgewater is still a, I still think it's a work in progress, but there's a lot around him and they're the kind of team, their defense outside of their run

defense, a little concerning, but the Vikings, I do think they're a very complete team with a lot of big issues. Your NFC, your NFC. They are my team in the NFL. I'm a little concerned, but I'm going to go that way. Stefan Diggs certainly looks like Bridgewater's go-to guy. Yeah, well, Treadwell has not really played that role. Treadwell did a nice catch later in the game, but yeah, I'd say Diggs is this number one guy.

And on the San Diego side, you know, Spice Rack Redemption Tour, he gets up. on this podcast if Melvin Gordon runs for 1,000 yards this season. It's going to happen. Mark, are we going to hear from Spicerack again? I think it might. I mean, he's got a nicely 39-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown. We've seen the big plays from Gordon time and again. I don't know about him as every single carry.

There's a couple carries with him where what happened right there, but he's not the guy from last year. They're trusting him more to make those plays. Big week for Spicerack got mentioned by Evan Silva. Maybe not the most positive. Gordon with a long touchdown. And Jonathan Williams, his sleeper had a long touchdown, too. Gordon's not the tiptoe burglar anymore.

Mark, you like that new facility up there in Minneapolis. Yeah, I mean, speaking of game pass, I judge games generally on, we would have to watch this again, is it just hard on the eyes. And for being what's, it's not a dome. It's a enclosed, but very tons of natural light. The field looks good. There's good energy in there. I'm a big fan of that stadium.

Much more light, not need. nearly as dank as most domes. Not at all. It's hard to make a football stadium unique, and this one looks pretty cool. I mean, you know, sometimes they, oh, you get a Super Bowl because you just built a new stadium.

Well, this one looks like this will be fun to go to. But are there live out-of-market pre-season games available game pass? That someone else can answer. I think there are. There are. Absolutely. What is it?

What is it? Live out-of-game market? What does that even mean? No, like if you're in L.A., can you watch the Viking? Oh, please. Of course you could. Against the Packers in Minnesota. Of course you could unless you sign up for that's a live out of market preseason game.

Oh, preseason game only. Game replays during the regular season. So you can't watch it live, but Monday morning start firing away. I mean, if we get a sponsor, the spots will be this smooth and this, you know. Well, Rusty, you never get us any ads. We got a check with McDonald's and everybody's flying high, you know, flyboys all over the place. Cinder blocks. You know, we got nothing.

We got cinder blocks. All right. Keep moving. We will get through this, Arizona. At Houston. We're still doing this? Yes, Carson Palmer through more interceptions. You're not worried about it, though, Greg, are you?

No, let's move on to the regular season. A couple tip passes. He had a nice drive. And the Cardinals, they owned it. They didn't care about the preseason. They said they weren't taking it seriously. So I'm not going to take it seriously either. We're going to give Bruce Ariens the benefit of the doubt.

Bruce Aaron's handed over play calling to Harold Goodwin most of the month. You can't judge anything. I totally agree. I'm not worried. David Johnson looked good. They did make a nice drive when they needed to. I think the Texans probably feel good that they had such a positive game. If I was concerned about the Cardinals,

it would definitely be on defense, not on offense anyways, especially at cornerback. They lost Mike Jenkins for the season. And the Texans carved them up. What are you laughing at? Well, it's the first game that Brock Osweiler looked. I thought this was supposed to be quick. Somewhat awesome.

Mike Jenkins was going to make the team in the first place. Bruce Ariens literally said he might start last week. Yeah, several guys might start, just like Gino Smith might have started for a while. Any comments, by the way, about the Houston quarterback situation? He had a nice game going deep down the field. I think his first nice game is like Bill Persil's talking about. Brock Osweiler. Oh, what about?

Tom Savage is real. He's a good this preseason. Tom Savage is real. Tom Savage is real. Finally, Cincinnati and Jacksonville. Oh, by the way, just one more point, this last bit. Harold Goodwin was given play calling duties for Arizona, as you said. Every week of the preseason, they've been giving play calling duties to a different Harold.

Week one, it was Harold Ramis. Week two, it was Harold Baines. Harold Baines. One of the greatest designated hitters in history. Week four, they're out of Harold. Harold Reynolds? Harold Reynolds, week four, HR. Finally.

Very odd decision by the Cardinals. Cincinnati and Jacksonville. A.J. Green hurt his knee. He's okay. Andy Dalton looks okay. He's good. Or is he, Greg? I didn't take much of anything from this game. I like Blake Bortles' interview with Michelle Tavoya. That was my favorite part of the game. Do we have that? I believe that you wrote a thing about that. I did right around the end around. Let's hear what Bortles had to say about the Jacksonville offense,

which had really played well the first two weeks, but came down to Earth only a couple first downs and a half. Well, we play pretty bad You know, I don't think they did a whole lot of things to stop us We played pretty bad at every position And usually that's what happens when you play bad You don't score a lot of points That's it. That made me like Blake a little more

Yeah, he's keeping it real I think Greg is you're underselling the Bengals a little bit They looked very sharp last night They looked incredible No team could survive as many significant injuries As they've had this preseason They've had about as many injuries as anyone And yet their roster is so deep

It hasn't hurt them All right. That was week three recap. We won't go as in depth with week four, but since it was the dress rehearsal, as they call it. Definitely will not go game by game with week four. No, we promise you. We will not go week by week.

By the way, game by game by week. On Wednesday, the entire show will be dedicated to the rest of our AFC preview. So stay tuned for around the majority of the AFC in 42 minutes coming up on Wednesday's show. Because we already did the AFC East. We did the East. Now we're going to knock out those last three divisions. And next week, our sandwich props and all sorts of fun.

Oh, and before we go, what was that, Irish? I was just reminding you that we didn't get our type 54. Oh. What do we have? Where are we at? Just a smidgen over at 113. Could that be because of the 25-minute game pass spot that we were asked to do? That would be a good boogeyman, but no.

It's just that we can't stop talking. Hey, there's always the next show. We've turned into what we didn't want to be. Just a bunch of over-bloviators. Overpaid bloviators. Line-up sponsors. Part of that is true. All right, that's it.

This is Dan Hansa signing off for Quiet Storm, the Mailman. the boss and I'll see it in Irish behind the glass till Wednesday Hey 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. This is an IHeart podcast.