NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Surprising Questions & Marc's Birthday!

Episode Date: October 10, 2018

In a room filled with thriving heroes – Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling & Loose Cannon – react to Marc’s birthday [age redacted] (1:00)! The heroes then exchange thoughts on Jay Ajayi’s season-ending injury and potential backfield replacements for the Eagles (4:10), Jamaal Charles going to the Jags (10:00), Big Ben backs James Connor despite Le’Veon’s reported return (11:45) & then send positive vibes Dan’s way as he battles a cold (21:40). After, the heroes preview TNF (22:40), discuss Loose Cannon’s collegiate tennis days (31:00) & lastly, share their most ‘Surprising Questions’ entering Week 6, including – is it Chad Kelly’s time to start in Denver (33:40) and can the Chiefs secure a playoff bye with a win Sunday (40:00)?Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

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

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. The Around the NFL podcast. Needs to Ax, Johnny Chuckles. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. I'm Greg Rosenthal, alongside a room filled with heroes or not. No Johnny Chuckles today.

Dan Hansis is out sick, but Mark Sessler, Chris Wesley, and Erica Tamposi is a full room in my mind. What's going on? Hey, Greg. I mean, I'd argue it's not a full room without Dan, but that's quite a power-grabbing statement right out of the gate. I honestly didn't even, yeah, I'm just, I don't know why you need to say it the exact same way every time. so I just messed it up. Anarchist. I should never be hosting the show again on such a momentous show.

I'll see you later, guys. We would be sad if you left. Dan is fighting the Little C, so we hope he gets better and is back for the Thursday show. But we forge on on what's a big day in this room. A big birthday for one of our guys, Mark Sessler. Oh, yeah. We were going to play, like, a happy birthday song.

This song again. We're going to play a happy birthday song, but who needs that when you've got Enya Light? I call this guy Benya. Well, yeah, no shadowy league figures can come down on this song because Erica sourced this from our library. I was attempting to keep this birthday super low on the radar, so thank you. But no, thank you. I was trying, yeah, we were going to start the show a different way.

You said, no, so let's start it with the big day. I want to give you the best birthday present I can give you. Mark, we've worked together. for five or six years. And I told Emika, my wife, today, that it was your birthday, and how old you are, I won't reveal that here.

And she said, got to admit, Mark looks pretty good. Looks pretty good for that age. Looks pretty good for you. Thank you, Amica. A bigger gift would be if you wanted to write my

OLLIVAN today. Go back down to the news and write the column that I'm supposed to punch out after this. But I appreciate that very much from your wife. Hey, Mark. And I agree. Remember I liked you first.

Before even meeting, I met Wes and Greg a long time ago. Yeah, but just remember I liked you first. I will remember that, thank you. We tried to find some old clips because we've been doing this show now for five years, so there's been birth... In theory, we had your birthday five years ago,

which was a big round number two. I don't think we mentioned it. That was the research that we found. We've come a long way. We've barely mentioned it. You usually try to keep it incognito. Yeah, it's... I am not...

I feel generally lost at this point, so... Yeah, my... Like in life or just... I, yeah, I don't even know. I don't... Thank you. What is it? What is it?

Yeah, we could talk through this. I thought that was going to be red and stupid. It's a very... Mark, what have you done for the kissing cousin's brotherhood that you have here with Mark? What have you done for Mark's birthday? What have I done for his birthday? Exiting Facebook has really hurt my ability to tell when it's something. somebody's birthday.

I retweeted somebody else wishing him happy birthday. You did. I noticed that. That's the only reason I know is because you tweeted it back. Thank you for retweeting that, West. Thank you, Louisa Toledo.

Thank you, Louisa, who is a listener. All right. At some point, the song will end, and we will forward to us. Eric isn't enjoying this. Since Mark is clearly uncomfortable, we'll get to the rest of the show, and it's a big show.

No Dan here, but we have some news. We have a TNF preview, Eagles, Giants. That's a big game. And we are going to ask some questions, Chris Wessling, that we were not expecting to ask this early in the season. Yeah, the season started. That first Sunday was about a month ago. So we're just over a month into the season.

There are many things we did not expect to be asking a month ago that we're going to ask now. The important questions. But before we do any of that, again, we mentioned the loose cannon behind the glass. Hi, guys. How are you doing? I'm doing so good today. It's Mark's birthday.

I'm just riding high. Well, it's great to be with it. Magic carpet ride. My work wife. Let's do some news. All right. And we will start in Philadelphia where they'll be watching the Thursday night football game this week without Jay Ajai. The Eagles running back hit injured reserve this week.

A surprise that he tore his ACL during last week's game. Don't know if that happened before or after that crushing fumble he had. But he is out for the season. and an Eagles team that's rather thin at running back using Wendell Smallwood quite a bit heads to the Meadowlands this week thinner than ever. Do you think this really hurts the Eagles team? Mark Sassler.

I do. I mean, the one thing about the Eagles last year that is not showing up right now, obviously statistically the ground game is not as strong, but they were able to use a dosage of Ligari Blunt and when they traded for a Jai and get these other guys involved, they could hit you in so many different ways. with the ground game, Annuit Carson Wentz, playing at an MVP level. None of that is happening right now, and they have, on paper,

they have one of the thinner backfields around, and these guys aren't, Darren Sprouls has not been healthy himself. Yeah, I think the difference between this year and last year is last year they had two powerbacks, LaGarrett Blunt and Jay Ajay, they could run between the tackles, they could shoulder the load when they needed to, and now they've got guys they've used as role players, complementary pieces, change of pacebacks, Wendell-Smalwood, Corey Clement, and rookie Joshie.

Adams, can any of those guys carry the load? Can they be counted on to establish a chain-moving ground attack? Because I know Greg said maybe the efficiency is there this year, but they haven't been a consistent week-to-week ground attack. No, Clement is the guy who I think has the characteristics of a lead running back, especially if you're supporting him. He's just such a physical guy. It's much easier to do when you're a role-playing.

You're coming in situational. I think they call him Swodell Beckham because of that. He can do a little bit of everything. He's a big guy. And as long as you're supported by Smallwood, who's played pretty well, I think, and Darren Sprouls, then you're fine. But right now, Clement hasn't shown he can stay healthy. We used to chuckle about Smallwood in this podcast studio back in the day.

Right. I mean, a lot of Eagles reporters did not expect him to make the team coming into training camp. And he's played, are you a Smallwood guy and you've held some sort of something against us that we mocked you for that? I believe this, you know, I don't want to go speak out of turn about Dan, who is suffering a cold right now, which is just a devastating setback for him. I believe he was the one that when I had some preseason takes about liking Wendell Smallwell.

Oh, okay. That some chuckles came my way. My only mention of their efficiency, West, was, you know, football outsiders has them 25th in passing, eighth and rushing. Their offensive line has really struggled to pass protect. I think if they needed one position more than anything, it would be defensive tackle.

They're really thin there. So just on the list of things that really concerned me about the Eagles, Jai's absence is not high among them. With that said, they might go pick up another running back. There was a radio report in Buffalo that Lashon McCoy could be someone the Eagles are interested in. Mike Garifolo and Ian Rappaport did follow that up, that there could be some level of interest.

I was reading between the lines in that thinking, yeah, they might go after a running back. I don't know if Lashon McCoy would be number one on. their list, but they always are looking to trade. What do you think of the fit of McCoy potentially joining that team? I think they can find a better human being to put in their locker room than LaShawn McCoy. A reigning Super Bowl team should not mess with their chemistry by bringing in that guy. That's my personal feeling on it. I agree with you, and they know the person. So it feels to me, it's always odd. I know the Patriots make a bit of a cottage industry

of bringing guys back that Belichick's familiar with, and it works for them. But in general, when like an ex-star player who was shipped out of the building and not a guy that was not somewhat of a drama magnet as well in Philadelphia, it's always bizarre to me when these players potentially resurfaced

back in that same uniform. I feel like once a player is gone that was a big part of the team and you've moved on, you don't bring them back. It's just too... I mean, on our Twitter show, Colleen Wolf Eagle's fan mentioned the same thing, where she thought it was this was a depressing turn of events

and it is a weird turn of events energy-wise for the Eagles to bring them back. Well, if they can look good on the ground on Thursday night, maybe that's something that would prevent them. I think they might look for another type of Jayae-like pickup, maybe a younger guy that you can get for cheap in a trade. The argument for McCoy would be you probably don't have to give up anything for him. He'd be free and he looked great last week

and he would just be on the team for half of the season and probably not back after that. But I'm with you. Why bother? They've been linked to some other names. Jordan Howard particularly, I don't know if that one passes the smell test. Even if the Eagles were interested, I believe Joe Douglas, who's in their front office, helped draft him for the Bears. Why would the Bears do that if they're in first place and they need –

I mean, you can't turn your whole backfield over to Terry Cohen, who's more of a scat-back. I don't get that at all from that. So I don't know – and Tevin Coleman's name has been thrown out there because with the Falcons now have Edo Smith to pair with Devonta Freeman. and can they really pay Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman? That makes a lot of sense to me, because I don't think Tevin Coleman is on the Falcons next year if Enido Smith has looked great. But how much if you're the Eagles,

are you really going to give up for them just for half of a season? Is it worth it then for the Falcon? I mean, you give up a Super Bowl window. You've got a quarterback on a rookie contract. You've got to win now. What about like a guy like Doug Martin who would come from very cheap? Is he good? I think they'd rather.

That's a good question. In their perfect world, Corey Clements healthy enough to play Thursday night. He looks good. and I think they roll with that for a couple weeks and see if that's enough. They could also just look on the street for running backs. That's what the Jacksonville Jaguars did this week. That was a nice transition.

Wow. And in all of that transition. I thought it was. They signed Jamal Charles, the future Hall of Fame finalist. How about that? I don't know if he's ever going to make. I don't know if he's going to make it one day, but I think he'll be on that list of 15 where they talk

about him, the all-time leader in yards per carry among running backs. He, I think, ran for 4.3 yards per carry in Denver last year, and he now has a job with T.J. Yeldon. The reports from our Ian Rapport are that Leonard Fournett not only out this week, might be out through their buy, which I think would be week nine. So that's a few more weeks and Jamal Charles gets into the mix. You like this, Mark? I mean, the Jaguars sort of remind me of the Eagles, where the ground game was such a big part of their identity last year. They haven't had Fournett healthy all year. I mean, from what we saw of Jamal Charles last few seasons, like everyone knows the name.

Everyone remembers having him on their fantasy team at some point. I don't necessarily like it from an on-field place in 2018 right now. I thought he looked good in September last year, and then when the Broncos fell out of contention, he fell out of the rotation in favor of younger backs. But then nobody wanted him all year. That doesn't necessarily mean he's washed up. Nobody wanted Adrian Peterson either. But he's not Adrian.

They're similar. I think it's a guy that you give some carries, too, if you can get a lead to help, you know, salt a game away. The reason they're doing this is because Corey Grant, who was a good player for them, is out for the season. I think that was a significant loss. And I love seeing Jamal Charles back in the mix, just one of the most underrated players that's just 10 years.

For what it's worth, Doug Marone said that T.J. Yeldon will remain the man going forward. T.J. Yeldins look good. Yeah. A pleasant surprise this year. Not unlike James Connor in Pittsburgh. a pleasant surprise in this. I mean, Dan feeling a major disturbance in the force.

I don't know why that has anything to do with Dan. But James Connor has played so well this year that Ben Rathesberger, to me, was speaking the obvious and speaking the truth this week in the Steelers locker room saying that James Connor has earned the right to be a part of this offense

even when Levyon Bell returns. I know you like James Connor, Chris Wesleyan. I do like him. First of all, he's a cancer survivor. Second of all, he looked better last week than he's looked at any point this year. He looked explosive as a runner and as a receiver. And I haven't always liked him as a receiver. He looked a lot more natural, not just catching the ball,

but turning and making a move to make guys miss, which is the most underrated part of a running back as a receiver. But Big Ben came out, I thought pretty strongly, and said, in no way, shape, or form should James just take a back seat to Levyon Bell. We've seen some great things from him in all phases of football, and I will push for James to get as much run as we can. To me, that's pretty strong.

Of course, Leveon Bell, when he comes back, is going to play, but I don't think they want to forget about James Connor. I don't love everything that Big Ben has said over the years or done, but I think this one is directed right at the locker room. We've gone this far with James Connor, and he's a good player that does a lot of the same things that Leveon Bell can do. You don't put them away and then just cater the entire offense when Leveon Bell decides to roll back in to deal with his career in a pretty little fashion.

I love the idea of Conner having a big part of a Steelers team that's trying to back themselves out of a corner right now. I mean, I think they're a better team being able to mix both of those guys. James Connor has shown he's what you're looking for in the running back. He's a three down back. So when they go to hurry up, he can just stay on the field. So you can just play Levyon Bell, 45, 50 snaps. You can play James Connor 20, 25 snaps, and you don't lose that that much. Don't you think that Bell probably would be on board with this?

Because I think he's looking to coast to the end of the year and then hit free agency. I do think so until the game start. I think in his mind, he's okay with it. And then the game start, and he's like, well, I want to be on the field and I want to maximize my value by putting up numbers. The Steelers head to Cincinnati this week, which is a sneaky big week, six game. I feel like with the Lavian Bell return looming during their week seven by and the four and one Bengals record that if the Steelers can't get that road win, it's a pretty big

deficit that you have in the AFC North. But if they can win it, then it's like everyone's in one big pile and who knows, maybe your Brown sneak up and win that. Fascinating division. The Eagles, as we mentioned, are heading to the Meadowlands on Thursday night. And there's a lot of people that have different opinions of what's wrong with this team. We talked about the running game, defensive tackle position. But the Philly News anchor at Fox 29, I believe, was that Connie's old station?

Oh, she's been all over that city. I feel like she worked at Fox at one point. Gary Cobb, who is a former NFL linebacker, but now is a news anchor, said the team needed to go to drastic measures. He thinks they need to go on a fast. and he said, not a food fast. He's talking about getting busy in the bedroom.

Or not getting busy. Not getting busy in the bedroom. He thinks that's a problem. He thinks that's what needs. I am twins. He does not want them making any twins, any anything in Philadelphia. Mark Sessler, do you believe in the science behind this opinion? I'll never forget when Sports Illustrated used to arrive at your doorstep on like a Thursday afternoon.

Millennials will never understand what it was like to have Sports Illustrated arrive on your doorstep in 1980s. What day would it arrive? It would, I mean, I... For me, it was Thursday. Yeah, Thursday typically, right, before the weekend. It's like your only source of sports information. Oh, yeah. And, like, those stories, like, you'd be reading stuff that you didn't hear about in your hideous local newspaper.

What, to the paper boy? Like, throw it on your door from a bike or something? No, it arrived in the mailbox. I was the paper boy. There's a lot of, like, magazines come through normal mail solicis. I was also a mailman. I mean, we had a paper boys. was a paper boy for a little bit.

Yikes, TBT. I did a little paper boy, actually, I think one summer. Very briefly, yeah. So anyways, inside of this Sports Illustrated, there was a story about John Elway with the Broncos were great, and they were always sort of careening towards new Super Bowls and losing them. But one thing that Elway had been talked to about or believed in was he would not have sex for weeks and weeks in a row

to basically be the best version of the player he could be by retaining, I guess, not losing or relinquishing sexual fluids. And there was, there have been multiple studies about this. You can say you buy them or you don't. You kind of buy into it. I do buy into it that I don't think it's like, by the way, even if you're, that it's some sort of life force that you're. Yes, and if you, I would just suggest that if you're listening and you're curious,

go just go read about it, maybe not on a work computer, but on a different, on your home computer about this, the science behind it or the theory behind it. You mean to tell me. I know West does not think it's science. You mean to tell me. that Tom Brady married to Giselle is dry and still winning all those Super Bowls. I'm not sure that that's true at all. I don't know what he's doing.

Right. He thinks maybe Brady would be even better. Brady's also doing tons of other things. I'm saying the counterpoint of that. Let's not tarnish the word science by using it here. It's pseudoscience at best. Thank you. Thank you. And your confidence would rise after sex naturally.

I think psychologically that would. But this goes back to the 19. Paul Brown, who basically started modern football, it was forbidden for Brown's players in the 1940s to have sex. That was a team role like 72 hours before the game. Maybe that's the answer to the problems. Oh, they won. They were in 10 straight championship games.

I just enjoying that this is like a kind of story that we would often talk about on the Jesselnik and Rosenthal Vanity Project. J.R.V.V. Junior vice president. But it's great. It's great to talk about it here too. The only problem I have with this topic... I feel like Greg would rather be on the other show right now, but that's fine.

No, not at all. This is beautiful. The only problem with this topic is giving this guy credit for Gary Cobb, credit, whatever, for throwing this out there. He did not come up with this. He probably practiced it or around people that did when he played. I just think we need to add a little fun to a short news segment. It hails from the Far East, by the way, so... Hey, guys, speaking of sex, you may or may not have heard, but Lowe's is new home of craftsmen.

What? Which means that at Lowe's, you'll find an ever-growing selection of mechanics tools, tool storage, and more. In-store and online, ready to help tackle projects throughout your home. If one of those projects happen to be in a really tight space to get to... Oh, yeah, tight space. Then you definitely need to check out the 120-tooth ratchet. Got to like those teeth. It has a three-degree arc swing, you guys.

Do you know what that does? I don't know, but... Very helpful. It sounds like it would be a sexy birthday present for Mark Sessler. We didn't either. If Simone's listening right now, it helps you switch positions. Yeah, we didn't either, but now we do. A three-degree arc swing means you can loosen or tighten bolts with less movement in those hard-to-reach spots.

That should make it easy to tackle any auto or DIY. Greg, what's DIY? Do it yourself. Project on your list. Plus, they come in gun metal chrome finish that's not only sharp-looking, it makes them corrosion-resistant. That's important. Cool, right? Yes.

Hey, all you got to do is shop the new home of craft. men today at loz.com slash around that's loz dot com slash around that just felt right um that just felt like a good like cleansing ad read i i would love for erika uh just to have your voice in the show it's it's a beautiful thing we we are going to move on uh from the news to tnf but before that i think we have to address uh the elephant in the room which is dan's absence and we we do miss him a lot and mark i know you had something to say. Yeah, he's probably, if he's listening to this show, which I guarantee, probably not. He's heard me ding him on the Wendell Smallwood thing.

We keep cascading Greg with compliments about the transitions. He might be feeling like we're a little unappreciated, but we do appreciate Dan. So I wanted just to read a group prayer for Dan. Basically, you know, this is a guy that... Save it for the theology pot. Well, he is battling right now, a tremendous cold. His Yankees have been swept, taken right. added the playoffs, which I know nothing about, but I'm sure he's down in the dump. So here we go.

Dear universal powers that rule over all, we lift up to you, our friend and host, Dan. Please unfold Dan in your arms as he battles a cold. Nestle him as you would a small and innocent child. He is a hard worker and often professional in all he does. He is also busy operating as a husband to Emily and a father to two young boys, Jack and Harrison. We lift up Dan and beseech you to grace his physical body with newfound health, let healing waters flow through Dan's internal system and remove any disease causing debris. Please also refresh Dan's spirit and remind his conscience that he remains connected not only to the people around him but to the great flowing universe beyond. We now lift up our connected energies in a moment of silence for Dan who

is battling a cold. That means nobody in the studio talks and the listener should not fast forward but also lift up Dan in your prayers. Take it away. Luce Cannon. PINN-BORI-BORI-DGY-BORI-BORI-BORI-BORI-BOR-BOR-BOR-BOR-BOR-BOR. I felt good. That was really soothing. Yeah. Thinking of you, Dan. I'm feeling at peace now.

I hope Dan is too. I know. I hope you. That's the goal. I feel like we should stop every show for 30 seconds. Yeah. centered and. relaxed and

namaste. Ready to talk about Thursday night football. Oh, yeah. How about that for a transition? The Eagles head to New Jersey this Thursday night Colin Wilf in the house,

Michael Irvin, Carson Wentz, a lot of players for a big game. The Eagles are trying to be the first team to win on the road on Thursday night. That's been a historical issue for TNF teams, especially this year, and they go to a Giants team that is hurting right now, that they figured out some things defensively last week,

got the ball moving, pushed the ball down the field in the fourth quarter, ultimately lost to the Panthers, and the Giants are sitting there at 1 and 4 while the Eagles are at 2 and 3. But no matter who wins this game, they are right back in the mix. In the NFC East, the Eagles would be tied for first at 3 and 3, and the Giants would at least feel like even at 2 and 4 they are in the middle of the worst division in football and they are not out of it.

How do you see this game playing out, Chris Wesleyan? Well, you mentioned defensive tackle is a weakness and I saw that on Twitter several times this week. Someone's going to explain this to me how that is their biggest weakness when they keep getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Kirk Cousins was under pressure throughout the game. They shut down their running attack,

and it's their secondary, even though their front seven keeps getting pressure, their secondary gave up tons of big plays to Marcus Mariotta, tons of big plays to Adam Thieland and Stefan Diggs. And I don't think it's the front seven. I think it's the secondary that's getting washed right now. And to me, that's the matchup of this game. The offensive line for the Giants is probably going to lose the matchup up front. But they can exploit this defense down the field,

or can they with a check-down quarterback? To me, that's the matchup to watch. to me that they scoring 30 points against the Panthers last week is the first time they'd done at the Giants since 2015. That is an incredible drought. To me, when I think about this game, it just feels like because these things tend to happen on national television. And Sequan Barclay's already had some fascinating moments, but it's largely come on Sunday afternoon on the East Coast and people not seen it. This feels like the breakout game for me. We're going to come out of this where he's done two or three fascinating things. Yeah, it's a great point.

He's looked good as an all-around player, but Philip Lindsay right now, I think, is still the leading rookie rusher, which is just... No shame in that. No, just shows how shocking the draft can be. I think if you're an Eagles fan, you're right. The secondary is the worst part of the team.

I think there is a concern for their defensive line, West, just that they were at their best last year when they were rotating all of these guys. Suddenly, you're playing Destiny Villajo every snap of the game. His backup is the guy, Trevin Hessex. and suddenly a group that was really thin and that was like the story Super Bowl week.

Everyone, you know, is coming in and out that's keeping them fresh. Now you're playing Fletcher Cox and a guy like in Vallejo who's barely played and he's not coming off the field whatsoever. Sure, they missed Timmy Jernigan, but this is the first world problem. It's like, okay, secondary's an issue.

Their quarterback keeps getting hit. That's an issue. They run the ball inconsistently. Their wide receivers don't make plays. And then somewhere down around number eight, it's like, oh, defensive tackle depth. I find them boring this year. Wow.

I did not expect that. Extremely boring. It was around this time last year where the Eagles became my favorite team to watch. And it's what we talked about before, their ability when they would get these leads to pound teams down the stretch and just put them away. And they lack that entirely right now. And if they don't come out of this game against the Giants on the road with a win,

I have no confidence in where their season is heading. Well, I think they're boring because they're not explosive. They are a station-to-station offense. So you get Alshan Jeffrey back, and that helps. But he is not a vertical receiver necessarily right now, or at least we haven't seen it yet this year. Oh, but remember, he did make somebody missing the open field last week. He did.

That was surprising to see, and he was physical and great in the game against Tennessee. So you want to see more of that, but they haven't been able to push the ball down the field. I found it interesting that Jason Peters, you know, their great left tackle, who hasn't maybe been at his best this year, said, we're not blocking as well because we have a quarterback who's holding on to the ball longer and wants to make plays. And you've heard Doug Peterson kind of talk about Carson Wentz.

I don't know if it's that he wants to make big plays or he's just not making decisions quite as quickly. I think Wentz has thrown the ball really well, but he's just getting back into the flow. I mean, he hadn't played football in forever. He's just that style of quarterback who wants to improvise and, you know, wait for the play to kind of see what happens. And we saw this week Big Ben early in his career where, a lot of the big sack numbers were his fault, not the offensive lines fault,

because he's at his best when he's waiting for the play to break down and then throwing down field. Don't you admit, Wes, even as an Eli hater, that Manning made some good throws last week. I actually don't think Eli Manning's his arms looked as bad this season overall. He hasn't played well. He made two bad interceptions last week. The offensive line is still a problem. They waived Eric Flowers this week, their former first round pick. Not that he was even in the lineup for them at this point.

but I think they have problems at center, which could be a problem in this game, and certainly on the edges. I think Eli threw it fairly well in that game other than the mental mistakes on the interceptions. I agree that Eli's arm to me looks stronger now than it did last year and the year before. I don't think the arm is the issue right now. I think it's consistency in giving up on plays. He gives up on plays too easily because he's falling into bad habits where he doesn't trust his offensive line. And you even heard him say last week, I don't want to take risk downfield unless the throw is there.

Sometimes you have to make the throw even if it's not there. The one part of the Eagles offense, I still think they do a better job of than most teams is the way they use their tight ends. Zach Ertz has been fantastic. And then for the Giants, Evan Ingram, not playing, I think that's a major loss for them. It is. And they, I'm not impressed by their defense. I think they have a good coach in James Betcher. I think they're overachieving.

Eli Apples actually played pretty well this year. they haven't had Olivier Vernon and they have very little pass rush and Vernon is expected to come back for this game which is a big addition for them but to me you're only going to beat the Eagles if you can get after Carson Wentz and this is where

the Eagles is weakness so far this year on the offensive line I don't think is going to show up and I am still not that concerned about this Eagles team I think they're going to go on a run and I feel so confident in it I'm going to lock it up this This is one of the bigger surprises.

Maybe I'm just going to lock up the Eagles every week. Is that allowed? I think I'm going to lock them up moving forward until proven otherwise. You do have a longstanding affinity for that franchise. It's just like knowing your proclivities with the desert people to take a road team on Thursday night as a lock. I think we've just like, wow. You're just feeling it. You're feeling it.

Well, no, I'm not feeling it. I think the clear takeaway from the locks this week is I have no idea what's going to happen. in the future. So you might as well pick something that you can root for when you watch the game. You know what I mean? Is this like a rebuilding year and suck for luck campaign or something? I mean, I never know. Trying to get the worst record.

I know, I never know what's going to happen in the future ever. That's my biggest takeaway. None of us do. Some years you get luckier than others. And I clearly don't know anything. Does that extend to women's tennis? Well, I think over time you can get an edge. but even then it's like what good people in terms of working with the desert it's a long play

and women are unpredictable so good luck to you know figuring out women's i mean even the best are gonna you're trying to get that edge from to like 57 58 percent then you're you're golden it still means you're going to be wrong you know a lot of time we're talking about the giants here though i mean him locking up the eagles you guys are like surprised at that yes knowing how strong that trend is on Thursday nights. Yeah, but it's the Giants. Why are you more into women's tennis than men's tennis, Greg? I'm not.

I love men's tennis. Right now, I think the women's game is... Your Twitter profile suggests otherwise. Well, I just thought that was a funny picture of Naomi Osaka, who is my lady. I love them. I love them both. Right now, the women's game a little deeper. Erica is your work way.

A little more dynamic, a little more dynamic, a little more unpredictable, a little more unpredictable, better personalities, better depth, I would say. At the top, you know, the men's are better. We really got deep. Tamposi's my favorite tennis player. Thanks, Wes. Yeah. People don't know this.

UNH, Division 1 tennis player, Erica Tamposi. Captain. You have that leadership quality to you as well. Yeah, can you believe that? No, I do believe. I can totally imagine Tamposi as kind of the tennis captain version of Parker Posey in Dazed and Confused, just hazing the crap out of some younger player. And like, she's going to take them out.

They're going to have fun. they're going to, you know, they're going to have a good time out, you know, in whatever you do in Hanover, New Hampshire. But you're going to be yelling at them too. Yeah, no, we had some good keggers at my apartment with the newbies. Well, hold on. Often, as an athlete, don't you have to sign these agreements where you will not imbibe alcohol or do anything that's immoral during the season? You're right. You're right. Yeah.

And so you would go right against that. Yeah, my Instagram says it all. In college, that's true. This is low to mid-level D-1 college tennis. It's someone who is going to be able to. I have someone who is a U and H, my brother, this is legit. As someone who was going to play at that level. It's serious, but it's not.

It is. It's serious, but it's not like, it's not like you're going to change your whole way. I mean, for someone who has brought up their high school tennis career, roughly 7,000. I could have played at UNA, let's be real. Okay, I was 11, ranked 11 in the state of New Hampshire. Oh, yeah. I mean, that's legit. That's legit.

In Tamposy's defense, sometimes is the team leader and captain, your job is to ensure that there's a fun camarader and there's a great atmosphere conducive to winning. Absolutely. Sometimes despite what the coaches wish for, you know better than they do. I'm not doubting that you were a leader of women. Had to be. We still have to play.

I think I could beat Greg. I think you probably could right now. I've got to see that. High school, no way, but right now, sure. I'm pretty terrible. I did not expect to be asking, you know, the question that whether Tim Posi was a legit D1 player in the show. And not expecting to ask a lot of these questions

about the NFL coming up this season. But this was an idea that Chris Wessling had and just explain it. Basically that five weeks into the season, our world has been turned upside down. And we have to ask some tough questions about these NFL players and teams. This was inspired by the Denver Broncos

watching Case Keenham play. And credit to Dan when we were in London at Sky Sports, he blurted out the line, Keenham's going to be a disaster there during the middle of the first game of the year. And honestly, he has been. He's been outplayed by every quarterback. Wow, I think that's a little harsh. He's been between the 25th and 32nd best quarterback in the NFL this year.

He's been outplayed by his counterpart in every game this year. Last year we saw him with the Vikings. And to me, the most impressive thing with him last year was his pocket movement, his pocket presence, the authority with which he made moves in the pocket to create plays downfield. And it's the polar opposite this year. He's seeing ghosts. He doesn't look confident all in the pocket. It looks like he can't wait to dump the ball off and get it out of his hands.

And he's a major reason why they're not winning right now. The question that popped into my head watching them play was, when are we going to see Chad Kelly? Wow. A guy they drafted in the seventh round two years ago would have been drafted higher if not for injuries and look good in the preseason. And I think if you're the Broncos, if the tailspin continues, and I think it will.

You have to ask, when are we going to see Chad Kelly? You have a coach firmly attached to the hot seat. He seems like the guy that could go before anyone else right now. And that's when you start to take chances at a quarterback. You want some sort of a spark. And this is a team that under him last year, Van Gogh, rotated quarterbacks all year long. He could say one thing all offseason,

but the minute there was trouble, it was quarterback switches left and right. So I totally could see this happening, but it is not something we expected to be asking. It's worth noting. It's worth noting his contract essentially is a two-year contract. There's significant guaranteed money into next year. I personally don't think Case Keenheim's played at the level that you would bench him.

I don't think he's played well, but I think he's been... He's missed so many throws. He's been an upgrade from what they had a year ago. I don't even know if that's true. His struggles are significant, but they're also taking attention away from what happened, for instance, last week when they turned Isaiah Crowell and Billy Powell into Jim Kick. And who was with Jim Kick? Come on, Wes, on those mid-80s.

The Butch Cassidy and a Sundance kid. It's Mercury Morris. Mercury, Morris. Larry Zonka and Jim. Zonka's who I'm looking for. For the dolphins of the early 70s. What if it, though, is not just based purely off of Keenum's isolated performance, but situationally, because they play the Rams this week.

You then have the Cardinals. at Arizona and under Vance Joseph the Broncos have been one of the worst road teams in the NFL they get their doors blown off regularly on the road then after that you have the chiefs and let's say in Arizona Rosen Josh Rosen plays well he's the guy you could have drafted at number four they passed on all these quarterbacks for this guy that came out of a narrative street that's when suddenly maybe I could see you know the wheels are completely off maybe you have an interim coaching and it says we're going to roll with chat wow you just never know Chad Kelly did was fun.

Swag Kelly. I would love to see him. I know he's one of your favorites, Mark. I love him. I think he gave them reason to take a chance on him and some start at some point in this season. I agree with that, especially if they fall out of contention. What's a question that you have, Mark? I incorrectly phrased these as non-questions, so on the fly, I'm going to turn this into a question.

But I did not expect to be asking myself at this point, this early in the career of John Gruden, why every time he speaks and responds to anything that's happened during this ugly season for the Raiders, why I'm convinced he is no different than a Kardashian about two weeks into a marriage that he wishes he never got himself into. The money aside. Why is Gruden like a Kardashian is not a question I expected to be asking? I feel like they ask him about troubles with the team,

and I realize part of it is humor and playing with the media, but he's talking about he doesn't want to jump on this airplane. He's more concerned about the airplane. He can't get off the Khalil Mack thing. He's had to circle the wagons on Khalil Mack over and over. And I think that this could not have gone any possibly worse for Gruden and the Raiders. And I don't see someone right now that looks like he is fired up to dig them out. And we look at coaches and we couldn't be more wrong sometimes.

I don't know what's going through Gruden's head. But I just feel like I see someone that sort of is wondering, why did I do this? Money is. Wow. Let me piggyback off that because I also have a question. involving that one. I did not expect to be asking, will John Gruden's house cleaning

ultimately extend to Derek Carr and Amari Cooper? Yeah. Cooper, I think that definitely could happen. And the car is the big surprise because of all the wind and hot air about their quarterback situation in the offseason. He's someone in Derek Carr that he's learning this offense, which is a very safe offense for quarterbacks.

And 52 plays out of 57, he looks, Good. I think he looks like an NFL starter. I don't think anyone's questioning that. And then he tends to have two or three kind of boneheaded moments. Right. You're not sure what he's thinking, what he's seen. And I don't know if that's just getting used to the offense or what that is. I don't think the Raiders should get rid of him. There just seems to be a lot of whispering and back talk around Raiders channels about they're just really frustrated with Derek Carr. And a lot of fans are kind of done with him. That's Gruden, that's Gruden's M.O. As you hear frustrations about his quarterbacks behind the scenes.

And I think that's an unhealthy way to run the team, and that's how he ran the Bucks. And a question, along the same lines, a question with the Raiders to me that I feel like has been answered at this point is Amari Cooper a number one receiver? Number of receivers are there every week. I don't think he is there. I don't think he is.

What's he been under like 30 yards in three of five games? and then the other one, most of his yards came in the fourth quarter of an overtime? He's been under 20, yeah. I mean, Casey Hayward's not had his best season. You put Casey Hayward on Cooper last week and just shut him down. It was over. And it's a player again that Gruden kept promising, almost scolding reporters telling them the offense is going to run through Amari Cooper.

We're going to turn him into what the past coaching staff could not. And it's like, well, no, you've actually done the exact opposite. My question to kick it off for me will be, will the chiefs, can the chiefs, Can the Chiefs all but clinch a buy in week six with a win in Foxborough? Now, mathematically, of course, that's not the case. But they go to Foxborough and they go to 6 and O. And they're two games up on the Jaguars with a game in hand. There are three games up on the Patriots with a head-to-head game in hand.

What is the route for them not being one of the top two teams at the end of the year? And what is the route for them not being the heavy favorite to? to be the number one team in the AFC at the end of the year. I always think the season can surprise you, and I just cannot see a scenario where they're good enough to go to Foxborough, win that game, and that they're going to collapse down the stretch. Because once you're 6-0, all you've got to do the rest of the way is win half your games in this AFC, and you're probably getting a buy.

And if you can go 6 and 4 the rest of the way, you might be 12 wins might be enough to get the one-seat in the AFC. And I don't think this team is going to fall apart. I think they have enough on defense that they're going to start having weeks like they did last week where they start turning the ball over because they have enough playmakers and you give them a home is an extra possession or two and it's lights out. I like this from you because it's atypical for you in weeks after what would be six a six and a no start to basically put a team in that position. They're going to be a buy. They're going to be a buy. They're going to be a buy.

They have the games over the best teams and they'd have the head to head. and I just think they've proven that they're good. And you have two games against the Raiders coming up. You've got another one against the Broncos. You've got the Cardinals, and you've got a Seahawks team that's beatable. So it's like it's not a murderous row down the stretch for this. It's not a great AFC West. You know, the Chargers are there.

They've already won, you know, in Los Angeles. I don't know if this is a new trend or just something I've learned about the NFL. The most important thing you do for the first three months of the, season is win close games and just build the best record possible it doesn't really matter how you're playing it matters how you're playing from thanksgiving on or you know December on and if the chiefs get that by it's still going to be like okay now show me something in the playoffs yeah i want to know that your defense can stop people in the playoff games yeah i totally i totally agree with that but i think arrowhead is a huge advantage absolutely and they would they would love to be at home i don't think

this is a team let's be a little quicker the next time around mark sessler i did not have expect to ask why both of my Super Bowl picks, the Steelers and Falcons, have, in my opinion, a very good chance of both finishing last in their division, which would essentially mirror what happened with my Super Bowl picks last year with the Chargers and Giants, which suggests I should never do this exercise ever again. Oh, wow. It dovetails into a question I was going to ask, too, which was, could the Falcons consider playing for next year?

and by that it would be trading Tevin Coleman, maybe a couple other moves where you're playing young players if they're at a spot where they're one and six and it's not really how the NFL works but just making a couple little moves and thoughts about next year if they don't win a couple games in the next few weeks.

Yeah, I don't think they can trade Vic Beasley who has basically not shown up. He's underperformed really this year and I think the Falcons picked up his fifth year option for next year which is over 12 million. So that would be one guy who I think teams might be interested in, but I don't know if they could trade.

It kind of remind me, it's sort of like with San Francisco. If you're a Niners fan, you know, maybe Sundays are better to rake the leaves, go shopping, hit Costco, because it's going to be a lost wilderness this year. But there is hope next year because your quarterback comes back. And with the Falcons, it's like you've lost all these players. And when you get them all back and you add something in the off season, this still is a Super Bowl team. I think it's still too early to give up on this season. I don't think they're done at one and four, but it just needs to change fast.

They need to win a couple of these offensive shootout close games. They need Dan Quinn to coach his ass off and figure out how you shouldn't fall apart this bad just because you'd lose a couple of players. You just shouldn't. The only thing I'd say is to Wes's point, though. Two weeks ago. Right, to Wes's point that you've got to be stacking wins during this time of year, you can't be the team that's backed into a one and four.

Let's say two weeks from now, they're two and five. They got home games against, they've had a really home-heavy schedule so far, and they have two more home games. So they have the bucks and the Giants the next two weeks. They can win those games. and then you have a buy, maybe you get a little healthier. We've talked up this coaching staff. If they're a great coaching staff, you start figuring some things out.

Ugly second half. They've got six road games out of the back. And the Steelers, I think, could end up in last place, only because I think seven, if they go seven, eight, and one, that might be last place in the AFC North. I think the Falcons coaching staff we talked up was involved Kyle Shanahan with Dan Quinn. I don't think people have been talking up the Dan Quinn coaching staff since Shanahan left.

Well, defense has been. Not on the defense side. That's fair. but Dan Quincy. Steve Sarkeesian has not been talked up by anyone. He's a defensive head coach, and offense really, for the most part, at least at home, hasn't been their problem.

What's your next question, Wes? I did not expect to be asking, has there ever been a time when defenses are less confident in what the offenses are going to do before the snap? Hmm. That all of these jet sweeps, fly sweeps, muddle huddles,

all of this misdirection and subterfuge, which Andy Reed and Sean McVeigh and Sean Peyton, excel at is spreading to other coaches, and I feel like defenses, this is an underrated reason why scoring is up. Of course, quarterbacks are healthy, the new rules are helping offenses, but also borrowing from the college game, all of that misdirection, all of that trickery, I think it's going to take a little bit for defenses to adjust. And to me, that is one of the stories of the early season. Absolutely. I mean, it's now so normal to see teams in empty backfields, with four or five receivers in any situation.

Down, up, short-yardage, long-yardage. It doesn't matter. Like, you're getting so used to that. It's a different NFL. It looks a lot more like the Big 12. Is it still called the Big 12? They change the number like every... It probably has...

I don't track that, but it probably has, like, Maine and teams in Florida and teams in Alaska in the Big 12th. It's a different sport right now, and I like it. I love innovation and I love changing. And the way the NFL works, defenses will adjust at some point. It just hasn't had. happen yet. Should we do a speed round to start moving it, or do you have one that's a little more meaty? Mark. Why don't you throw a few out, and I'll, I have one that I can tack on you. You want to

wrap it up with yours? Well, I think it would be jarring to then go back to speech. Okay, let's do a speed round just for a couple minutes. I'll ask, could 9 and 7 win the NFC East? That was not a question I was expecting to ask. Yeah, I agree with that. It's good. But I think it could. We would not have said that. We would expect it the Eagles, especially. Well, yeah, who's the 12 win team? right now. The Eagles would have the best chance. I haven't given up on the Redskins, but those are, I guess, your two chances?

Nine and seven might be tough. I'm getting close to giving up on the Redskins. I save this one for the Lightning Round because I don't want to give it too much thought, but I never expected to be asking how long can the Browns stay undefeated at home. Wow. Yeah, that's not a question anyone was pondering in August. Smells like a guy who might lock up the Browns against the charges this week. I think that's, this is a sticky one.

The Chargers is not. No, unlike Dan, I believe that the Chargers are a good team. Okay, okay. I also think the Browns are, you know, the Browns are really hard to beat in Cleveland, so I would stay away from that game. I like the Denzel Ward has won Rookie of the Week one week, and then he, because you can't politically keep winning that, he won special teams player of the week this time.

I think Chub isn't winning any Rookie of the Week awards. I like that he was named after Denzo Washington. Greatness follows greatness. I like that, too. You got a lightning one? Let's just wrap up with Mark. I got one more. Okay.

Why can't the Ravens get as much out of Lamar Jackson as the Saints get out of Taysam Hill? Didn't expect to be asking that in early September. That's a great point. Here's the answer. Sean Peyton. Yes. Sean Peyton versus Marty Morningwick.

It's almost underrated how great an offensive coach Sean Payton is because his lack of a defense is hamstrung and some of the personnel has hamstrung that team for a decade. but he might be the best offensive coach of this century. If we knew this, would we have committed roughly 40 to 50,000 words in August to Lamar Jackson on NFL.com? Tays him, also about five or six years older, has a year in the St. System, plays multiple positions, can do multiple things. And he's a freak show. I heard some, like, there was some Twitter chatter.

It's like, oh, they love, like, pumping up, like, you know, whenever a white guy is a little bit better as an athlete. I'm like, this guy's one of the best athletes in the NFL. There's a reason why Michael Thomas, who's one of the best athletes in the NFL, said Taysam Hill is a created player. He's the guy in Madden where you just, you know, you add a little bit of this and strength. I mean, if you've seen him on the punt returns, he says he's faster than Alvin Camara, and I can believe it. And he's so physical. You just don't see many guys. During one of the broadcast, they said that Michael Vick and RG3 are the only quarterbacks ever to run a faster 40 time at Taysam Hill.

He's a big dude. All right, let's wrap it up with Mark. I want to see him start. All right. I did not expect to be asking why M a VP, producer extraordinaire of a different podcast, Dave Damashek's show, is so full of really disturbing surprises. And I recently visited the broadcast, which, when is that airing, Erica? That drops tomorrow.

Tonight at midnight. Good plug. Love that. Got to get the plug in. And, yeah, I mean, so beforehand, because you know I like to work with various people in the know to source letters and text from people around the league. You have a lot of sources. Right. It's much easier to do that.

and I could even show you how. If you want to track people inside our own building, I have personnel inside of IT, that we think, oh, I'm on my work phone, I'm just texting back and forth, no one's ever going to read it. No, they very easily track this stuff. And I have found,

and there are a couple more of these on the broadcast, but this is one that I did not read because I didn't know if it was appropriate for that show or this, but this is a text that Emma sent to Erica, and it made me think a little bit differently about Emma, who seems like a very sweet-natured person. Here it goes.

She writes, Hey, Sister of Justice, just a quick update on the arm stash. As of this writing, we have seven Heckler and Koch MP5s, 14 star models, Z84 submachine guns. I've also sourced

25 Iranian-made anti-material rifles, a full stockade of Zafar anti-ship missiles, and we have at least 120 PC9 semi-laser models. We are prepared to make a statement. The one snag. As you know, sourced these through my Syrian contact, I'll call him Zanzibar. We were very professional with

each other. That said, there was one occasion where he took me out to dinner when I was on that one month self-exploration break from Brett. It was mostly fine, but I found him to be very strong-willed and opinionated, a brute. And we went out for this Italian meal and he demanded on ordering for me. And he was really annoying, but also had this wild male energy I couldn't quite stop thinking about. And the following weekend, when I was on a reacclamation hike with Brett, it kept haunting my mind. Anyway, I probably should find a new arms contact out of Syria as we build up our resistance. Wrong number.

Yeah, so she texted the wrong stuff. She did not send it to Erica and it was meant for someone else. Or it was someone else texting to Eric. You know, with all that, you know, no, that's Emma's phone. All that weaponry involved, you know, who took the stray fire in that one? It's Brett. Yeah, Brett really good. I don't know Brett, so I don't.

Right, but I'm just saying whoever. Yeah, Zanzibar. I'm just saying, yeah, Emma, I'm just saying that's who really took one. Brett came out in the, like, there's a winner-losers column. That was like straight out of Patty Hurst dive. I actually have a clip from the broadcast that I'm going to play with Mark. Basically, we happen to flash forward to the future where there's a chance that the Browns might win the Super Bowl. All right, it's Atlanta, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Super Bowl 53, night.

The clock winds down to a meager three seconds as Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Brown's offense line up against the ferocious Los Angeles Rams defense at their own 45-yard line. The score, 33-28, Los Angeles. A hush falls over the crowd. LeBron James walks out covering his eyes. He can't handle the pressure. Suddenly, the faint sound of a perky loudmouth named Erica fills the dome. Shake and bake, baby.

Oh yeah. Get it? Because his name is Baker. Bake it up big time, big bake. Check out that ass. Ow, ow! Emma, a rigid loser girl with adult braces, kicks Erica. We're here for the Around the NFL podcast, not spring break in Punta Carta.

Show some respect. Dan Hansis, a lovable egotist. Greg Rosenthal, a short tennis nerd, Chris Wessling, a bookish contrarian, and Mark Sessler, Browns fan, an eccentric wanderer. Thank Emma with a synchronized nod of the head and watches Baker Mayfield reaches under the center's headquarters for the snap. That's high quarters. Yeah, so check that full script, and you can see what happens on the broadcast tomorrow.

It's pretty insane. It's your lucky day that Dan wasn't here for this because he would have cut that off about halfway through. Yeah, that would not have been sustainable with him. We are at the end of the podcast, but what a fun show it was. We will be back here on Thursday to preview all the week. Five games. And what a cat, week six games this week.

For a cast of thousands, the loose cannon, the sizzler, the mailman. Dan, get better. We'll see you Thursday. 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

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