NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Team of ATN Decision and Midseason Awards check-in

Episode Date: November 8, 2023

In a room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler, and Colleen Wolfe preview the Week 10 primetime games. Before the previews, the heroes tell you what has surprised them through the first nine weeks of the season (04:57) and they have a chance to double down or move off of their preseason awards predictions (13:52). After the break, a Team of ATN is selected (29:58), the Thursday Night Football game between the Panthers and the Bears is previewed (55:34) and the show is wrapped up with a look at this week's Sunday Night Football game between the Jets and the Raiders (01:01:55) and the Monday Night Football game between the Broncos and the Bills (01:09:48) Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is wickedly talented one and only. The Chris Wesley podcast studio. It's Around the NFL. I'm Dan Anses. And yes, I am joined by some wikily talented people, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. And yes, Colleen Wolf, back in. the building.

Yo. Lots up. And that's, if you don't know with the reference, that's a tell on you not listening to every single episode that we produce.

Exactly. Exactly. You don't get the explanation because you were not loyal to the brand. It's on you. I always a good,

different vibe here when Colleen's here. Just. Worse, right? Lighter. No. Oh. Heavier.

Darker. Yes. More mathematical. All right. Turn this up in my headphones. I need to make this big. Oh, yeah. I need to make this my ringtone.

It reminds me of driving in high school and my buddy, Jim Dreevis' big white. I think it was like a Ford Explorer. And he had the giant subwoofers. And the bass was kicking so hard. It's just subs. And those subs. Subs.

Thank you. It was kicking. so hard that you just couldn't even hear the song. And, like, I was, you know, I was young at the time. So it wasn't like, these kids, I'm out of touch. Yeah. It was like, how come I can't hear? All I hear is, but that was like the whole goal of the subs world, which, Colleen, I know

you know very well. I had subs in my transam. Was the goal not to hear the song, but only the bass exploding? The goal was for everyone else to hear you before you got there. I think you need to roll into NFL Network's, you know, immense parking garage, which doubles a sofa, a sofi, if you're rich, you can go. Park can go to Sofite too, but like just rolling with that song blasting or maybe blasted

and we talked about. And then it was like smash cut to me driving my 96 Ford Escort and I'm like turning down the base on the County Crows. I'm like a little too, a little too heavy for me. Got office based. RIP, everyone that worked in the car stereo industry. Like it was thriving in the 90s. It's just not as

tough sit. You take the front off of the Oh yeah. Because the whole issue with that. I didn't want to pay my brother for the stereo system. that he had installed in my grandfather's car that he was giving to me. I was like, I'm not paying for that. I would say the only thing I... It was like Greg's tough, tough luck story

for you all the hard scrabble. For me, the big expense was the CD player with anti-skiff technology with the jack that had the tape cassette wire connected to it and you'd slide it in and then you could play your CDs. That was the height of my tech in my car. Wow.

You had that, right? Well, I had a car that was a, I think it was a Volvo, and it was like Battleship Gray. It was really old. It was a hand-me-down, and the windshield wipers stopped working. So my dad installed a light switch that you would get, that you would see on a wall. He installed one on the dashboard. So whenever I had to use my windshield wipers, I would have to turn the switch on.

And sometimes the horn would honk. Just unexplificably why. A little cross-wiring by the old bed. But it worked. used Honda Prelude as my first car. And at one point, you know, it's like just a felt fabric type seat. The seat, which you could adjust, obviously, like any car seat just lost its maneuvering and just fell flat back. So I'm driving around town with no seat.

And you think that's fine, except about four minutes in that, you're like, I really need a car seat to do anything functional. Sure. You're just supporting your entire body and like, and you're going 50, 60 miles an hour. It's a good core workout. Yeah. All right. Today's show. good stuff.

Dan's like, why did you tell that story? No, I enjoyed it. Okay, good. I also enjoyed this new haircut of yours. Gave me a certain look, so I thought maybe... Looks good. You could erase it from the edit. I like the story and the haircut.

Let's talk today's show. We are going to preview... We've got some interesting island games. We're going to hit them on the back end of the show. We're also going to check in with our early season predictions, pre-season predictions, and then decide what we choose to stand on and what we are going to change.

And that could be a difficult and humbling exercise. I'm looking forward to seeing that original NFL document, an NFL.com document from, I believe, August 30th. And we're also going to have a meeting on the nominees for the team of around the NFL, which incredibly a conversation that sprang back to life in a very interesting Sunday in the NFL. But first, I want to ask you guys,

we are entering week 10 this is the halfway point of the season Greg what is the biggest single surprise to you of this season so far this was hard to think about and I realized after going through it and this is not a cop-out

the biggest surprise is how chalk everything is there's no surprises like the NFL I always say before the season no matter like what scenario you could come up with it will be more unpredictable than the most like surprising predictions. So you might as well go wild with your predictions before the season if you want.

It won't be, but this season like it's chalk. There's basically every team that before the season was a consensus like contender, more or less they're all contenders. The standings almost in every division, if you showed them before week one started, you would look at all of them and say, okay, that's about right. Like, like, and that's to me very surprising from the NFL. There's different ways we got there. there's maybe some little exceptions here or there.

But it's kind of like the NFL is playing too according to which is either either means the best is yet to come and it's going to be wild second half or we're experiencing the most mundane season in the history of the sport. Well, I wouldn't. It's just like parity's not there is a lot of parity because everyone's got two losses. I knew that I'd get some pushback except for Philadelphia. It's just like the good teams have stayed good. It's been a little bit. I don't know like back in the this is a this doesn't even resonate with you going to talk about your car again. I will. I have another.

the story about my car. Like, when I was driving that car, actually, around town in the, you know, 80s, 90s, like, the NFL had the same. You're driving in the 80s? Uh, no, I was not. Like, I was in a car. I was in that car in the 80s. That was some developing news there.

No, no, it's not. You were great. I thank you. Like, it was the same eight or nine teams that were good year after year. So it's kind of like a throwback situation a little bit where it's like every, but I think it just suggests that, you know, we made these predictions ourselves before the season. kind of nailed them all in terms of the standings and it looks good for us. I mean, I definitely have a

biggest surprise. I do. I think it's going to be a hard right turn from. All right. Well, then sit on that one. How about you, Colleen? I am really surprised by all the defenses in the league and how they're kind of like showing up the offenses and especially Kansas City. The fact that the chiefs are a defense first team right now is not really something that I thought would happen, especially

last year because the offense sort of made up for the loss of Tyree Kill. So I didn't think that that was going to be a story really again, but it sort of has been. And so like Steve Spagnolo, he usually ends up heating up towards the end of the season. And like just in time for the playoffs, that defense

is really, really good and flying around. But right now they're doing it and the offense needs them to. So that's a surprise. That's like their identity. And I'd say like a team like a year ago that Detroit was a disaster on defense for large parts of the season are the fifth ranked defense. right now. That's a league-wide

trend. You're right. That is the biggest surprise that like defenses have fired back to the point where no one knows what to do with like MVP. We'll get to that because it's like no one has good numbers. The offensive numbers, we're just not used to it, are as bad as they've been in 15 years. And at some point

halfway through the season, you're like, I guess this might stick. And there's so many quarterbacks that are hurt right now too. So that factors into it. They're like propping up offenses. They're on offense. Yeah, but like the quarterbacks that have been putting up huge numbers like that still playing like their numbers are all down to Patrick Mahomes. With that

said, a biggest surprise for me, I have struggles of the Chiefs offense with Mahomes being mortal at times this year. C.J. Stroud superstar club potential got that there. That would have been my number one pick if I was forced to pick something with Stroud and the Texan. I know the Giants

were not expected to win the Super Bowl, but this season turning into a nightmare. The Cowboys are favored by 16 points this week. They are a nightmare. They are a nightmare. So that's a surprise. And then I guess the other big surprise for me is Mark's Black Jacket is on a Cal Ripkin-like streak of games played.

Like that's been a big surprise to me this season. What? Where? Wait, didn't you have a name for it? Levi. It's more grayish, more, it's great. Battleship Gray, I think. Battleship Gray. Levi is really, he's the star of the show, right?

I think it's an apathy towards, you know, dressing in new things. It's like, you know, kind of punk rock. I think you should call your jacket Helga because that was the name of my battleship gray car. So Helga, Helga looks good. I'll consider that. Sit with that, Mark. I'll consider that, and I'm sure.

All right, what is your big surprise? Actually, I think it is C.J. Stroud adjacent in the sense that I've always found, like, the draft community to be, it's no, I know they do a lot of work, but it's a lot of guessing and it's a lot of nonsense. And there's a lot of, like, factors that we mull over and have to, like, judge a human being that a lot of us, like, if you just watch, you know, the pro game, we didn't know a lot about C.J. Stroud until, like, a month before, now I'm watching all this tape and look at me, but it's like, you're in tracking this guy's entire career, okay? And that's like, this S2 cognition test that dropped this. information that he got an 18 on it where guys like Bryce Young got a 98 so it's like oh obviously Bryce Young brings this other element I want to read you something I went to their site because who do these guys think they are he got buried in the pre-draft process they say at S2 cognition we see the game differently our revolutionary approach to understanding athletes in-game instincts has redefined the it factor we have taken decades of cognition science and applied it to the world of elite performance, making the

undefinable qualities of top athletes quantifiable with the S2 system. No, you don't. For pro and college teams looking to build their roster, S2 offers insight into position and scheme-specific cognitive profiles. We partner with in-house analytics to help predict on-field performance and inform play decisions to take full advantage of your athlete's strengths. No, you won't. Our 30 to 45-minute digital evaluation measures your unique cognitive skills with unprecedented precision and accuracy. This in-depth report will help you understand how you process the game and stack up against your peers. No, it won't. Price Young scoring a 98 and Stroud earning an 18. I'll show you number 18. Seacrest out, baby. Like, take this test. I'm never listening to anything about this test

ever again. A lot of the stuff, we just got to throw it out. I want to see them play on the field. C.J. Stroud, I think, bucked the entire concept of like, pre-judging some of these players. And he said, I'm not a good test-taker, which is, like, not an unfair thing to say. I am that way. Yes, so people just are not. Now, in fairness, he went number two overall,

and many, I would say, I wouldn't say the majority, but it was closer to 50-50 than most pre-draft process. Many people covered the draft thought Stroud was the better prospect. So it's not like everyone is shocked. CJ Stroud is better than Bryce Young. but S-2, go take a dirt nap. They're just a business trying to sell their business,

and a lot of people got sold. Tough, tough spot. Cessler just buried S2 in a big spot. I'd probably fail at that test, too. What was the surprise? The surprise, well, okay. The surprise to me is C.J. Sprout in general is a surprise. And I would say, of all the rookies,

he came in with this, like, he came in with this. He asked the key question. No, but he came in, like, with his soiled reputation that's like, well, he's probably, a good athlete, but he's not mentally capable like the rest of these guys. Nonsense. The surprise is take your test

and throw it in the ocean. Well, that's a great point. With an anchor attached to it. I think it should also be said that I don't think anybody, I mean, there's pick number two overall. Well, it's also like

the Texas had to settle for him. As a person, why have this draped over you publicly? It's like, oh, it's meant to be secret information. Of course. Sure. It was like whatever the last thing was,

the Wonderlick. It's all Fugazi, Fugazi in the wind. We're done with tests. I'm done with tests. It's like a, surprise check you later actually the wonder lick was good i thought here's a hot take because they still take it the story around wonder lick always used to be like oh his store his score was so bad he got a he got a 700

and you get 600 points for writing your name at the top and it was like oh the guy that didn't write the name at the top off my team i'd take him right off the board so there was something to the wonder like that okay wonder lick this how about that whoa it's still around why is it that is it that Relevant of a test? I don't know. I don't know who you're really fighting against on this one. No, like, this got me hyped up because it's like you're trying to tell us

who this person is before we see them do what their actual job is. Spicy Sessler today. I love it. Well done, Mark. I don't know. You gave this assignment about an hour before the show and I thought I dug deep into something that I feel.

I wouldn't call it an assignment, but... Okay, well, it did get you fired up and anything that does that I'm all for. All right. Well, let's get into. our predictions that we made back in August again this was an assignment

oh on an assignment incredible assignment this was an assignment this was yes an assignment on August 30th 20th 2003 we're asked to pick MVP defensive player of the year rookies of the year blah blah blah blah blah and earlier this week

there was another assignment an email that went out. I was like, hey, this is your chance for your midseason predictions. Always stand. I stand on my initial predictions. But on this show, why don't, why don't we kind revisit where we were? Connie, you could just pop in and out of this combo whenever you want. I see you weren't in the original. I was very busy. Document at the time. I was still ending the summer of Connie and we weren't ready. But you were, you had been asked to take part. Well, I think they send the email out. You opted out. And I view it sometimes as optional. It was an opt out. It's okay.

this could be your chance to pipe in. Okay. So MVP, let's see, me and Cestog, both had Patrick Mahomes, Greggy, you had Justin and Herbert. And it's funny, none of us are necessarily feeling great right now, but there really isn't a runaway leader either, as you were saying, earlier, Greg. So would anybody want to change their pick right now? I mean, I, like, it's really those, like, seven or eight quarterbacks you could make an argument for. If it must be quarterback, like, it's, I'm more, like, predict this off of what I think the voters will do. And it's like, could it be someone like Tyreek Hill?

I think if the, if the season ended today, I think A.J. Brown and Tyree Kill would be my top two picks. I don't necessarily think they would win the award. But that's, like, right now. But people are like, wow, there's no, like, great quarterbacks. There's no clear MVP. It's week nine. you've got like the MVP's almost never decided on the first half of the season anyways it's basically like who has good numbers and who played well the last six weeks of the season

are me comfortable with mahomes and we'll get there but I would say right now a j. Brown and Tyreek on pace for 2,000 yards I would put them a little ahead of the top quarterbacks which I did decide to make a list because now you can you vote top three for MVP I believe or is top five and I was thinking who would be on my list and I gave Lamar the slight edge over the rest of the QBs, which would be Hertz, playing better. Mahomes is still there for me and then lower, it's like Josh

Allen, I actually think he is playing well to a stroud. Like those guys, if they have a huge stretch run, any one of those guys, then they're probably the MVP. Right now, I guess they'd give it to Lamar out of this quarterbacks, but I like the receivers better. It feels like they're more defining. The receiver's not going to win MVP, so why like your vote? Lamar, I think is

the section one now. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true. Once the last time. It's been, well, I think once only, ever, right? Jerry Rice is the only. I mean, but things could change. You could have a season like, if you forwarded and just doubled everyone's stats and

we doubled it up and Lamar really ended with like 18 touchdown passes, I don't know if he's going to win the MVP or Mahomes on like a pretty mediocre offense or Hertz might be the one that's kind of in... I have a weird one like so we know Joe... Are we really by the way, going to give the way

that we just came out as the Sean Watson mess. The league's going to bestow the NFL MVP honors to Tyree Kill? Like we're going to... It comes down to voters. I mean, at this point,

when was the last time you heard anyone brought up Tyree Kill's off field I guess that's a child stuff? He literally is featured on Nickelodeon's promotion for their kids show. Tyree Kill pops up and he's like, come, I'll slime you or whatever.

It's like, that's not on anyone. Who decides us, by the way, who gets completely absolved and who remains tracked for in this case it would just be the voters technically right for MVP I think look he's getting all pro votes every year right I mean it's to me it's the same

voters it's the same people but it's all TB but I would get rid of my Herbert pick because I think this Chargers offense is a sinking ship I don't think he's going to suddenly like rebound is it the kind of thing where you need to be pristine from wire to wire or like I would say a special

case to be like a Joe Burrow right we get it like the first part of the season was a a disaster, health-related, but if you get the last two weeks of Joe Burrow, and it continues on, like, he starts to stand out from other quarterbacks to me. I think it's like the last six weeks of the season, who is the hottest? And that's usually a quarterback, whoever is the hottest there. And I mean, Lamar has a great case because he's made such a jump as a passer right now, but also he's getting a lot of assistance from his defense, too. Right. Burrow is I can pull it up. Burroughs

like the second or third most likely odds right now. And to your point, Dan, even right now, and because these are people predicting what's going to happen at the end of the season, that's what you're betting on, essentially. Tyreek and A.J. Brown are buried. They're still like sixth and seventh on them.

Yeah, that's just not how they do it, I guess. Be the change, though. It hurts Lamar. I'm not giving Tyree kill my vote for MVP. So I will not be that change for that guy. You're asking the pro football writers of America, Greg, to be the change. Also, no

wide receiver ever has won MVP. Okay, I shouldn't. I thought Rice won it like 88. I'm doing a quick glance. 88 was... Wasn't it a defensive player

who won it? 88 was one year? Boomer Assison. Yeah, I'm wrong. I'm wrong. The Bengals team, yeah. There was a year when Jerry Rice had like 20 touchdowns

and was out of this world. If he didn't win it that year. It's a stupid conversation, but there used to be two MVP awards where it was like the AP was not the officially recognized one. And then there was writers and I think Rice was one of those years.

It was even a typical from to win Super Bowl MVP. Like, it's just always quarterback quarterback. So it's where the NFL hasn't like taken that award as their own. That feels like something that's going to happen. Yes, in 1987,

Jerry Rice had 65 catches. Oh, that was the strike year. Holy God. In 12 games, because the first four weeks were scabs playing. In 12 games, he had 22 touchdowns that year. Oh, my God.

What? And then Moss broke his record in 16th. That's crazy. Yeah, he won the pro football writers in 1987, which back then actually was as prestigious and was sort of they were like competing awards. My take

with this particular exercise we're doing is I'm not moving off unless I really have to. Like it's a lost cause so I'll stick with Mahomes and I would go to, I would pivot to burrow. Yeah. Unless I if I felt really strongly I don't. I think Lamar if they can get a one seed here and he continues

to play well is going to maybe be the guy. All right. All right. Offensive player of the year before the season Mark, you took Jalen Hertz Greg, you took... It took Chris Alave. I like that, though.

That's created. Well, that was... I was just kind of... I knew how these things work. It was just like to put another name. I took Garrett Wilson. And the favorite in the field in August was Christian McCaffrey. I should say Mahomes was the favorite amongst NFL.com writers in the field in

August. This one Yeah, this one looks like right now, AJ Brown or Tyreek, but Christian McCaffrey has as a real case as well to win it. So those seem like the big three for me. So that's the, I still think what happens so often is they still pick another quarterback.

I think this is the year that would change. Well, Jefferson won it last year, right? Right. They'll do that like, I think it'll be best receiver this year. Because we've seen a seat change too. Like receivers are getting quarterback money. I think people are starting to understand that a receiver

as good as Tyree Kill and Justin Jefferson and AJ Brown can make like they're elevating as good as Jalen Hertz is and Tua like they are elevating them in a way that you just couldn't without a receiver like not a single NFL dot com expert um picked a j brown no way see if i did the exercise obviously you know that was your opportunity that you know who did pick a j Brown in his fantasy league 12th overall that was me yeah i believed in you a jay or so So happy for you. Very nice, Greg. Massive bona fide street credit right there.

Defensive player of the year. Sestog took Soss Garner. Good job by you, buddy. Not going to happen. But let's see. Greg, you took. Micah Parsons. Micah Parsons, who was the favorite on our page.

I took Miles Garrett. I think Dan is going to win this. Feeling good about that. I stand with Miles Garrett. I would switch it if I could, I mean, obviously it's not sauce Gardner, but it's like, I think this is the year. It seems like it's been. a lucifer Garrett who's like always on the fringe of it

this may be he's made difference making plays week after week we should say it I mean sauce probably is not going to win it but it's not like he's injured or anything he's playing on a very good defense but he hasn't had a year as as equal to year one so far right the problem for Gary

and I've seen this like oh on Sunday he won the defensive player the year award the problem is unlike MVP there's incredible candidates and it again it probably doesn't matter what you've done to this point because Parsons is close enough, you know, and Max Crosby is close enough. And T.J. Watt are close enough.

They're all having monster seasons that whoever has the best second half of the season, actually Parsons is barely behind in the odds in Vegas. Like, Garrett's the slight favorite, but Parsons is barely behind. And T.J. Watts is not far behind. Miles Garrett is like the bridesmaid for this award. I think so, too. I think that'll help him.

I think he feels different this year, though, doesn't he? Yeah, he does, for sure. But I want Max Crosby to get it because he is, like, the main guy on that defense. And Miles Garrett has some good playmakers around him in Cleveland, but I feel like Max is a little bit more on an island with the Raiders. Roquan Smith, I think, would get some votes because you can vote for three guys. Best linebacker in the league and part of the best often. And then Josh Allen, just his numbers in Jacksonville have to be looked at, Dexter, Lawrence, Aeronald.

Those guys wouldn't get it this year, but in a normal year, I feel like they'd be on. list. All right. This one's crazy. Offensive rookie of the year. So you everyone remembers the incredible amount of hype around Bijan Robinson. He got 26 of the let's say, like 26 of the 33 votes

including Sestog, including Rosenthal. I picked Anthony Richardson. He had the second most votes, but only three votes. Bryce Young had three votes. Zay Flowers got a vote from Burgo. Get well soon, Burgo.

And Jemir Gibbs got one vote. Nobody, nobody, nobody gave a single vote to C.J. Stroud, who at this point, I'm not uncomfortable. That goes back to my argument. Let's be real. It's the test. There was some sort of, like, perception that he might struggle in a way that we didn't expect. No one thought the Texans' offense was going to be good. Like, I'm just, or the Texans would be good.

I'm with you all right, though. You're right. No one's, yeah. I don't see anyone's name attached. I don't know if it was the S-2. What you doing, Steve Marriucci? Yeah, so you had, yeah, C.J. Stroud does not show up here. I think he did, barring some type of injury clinch offensive player the year on Sunday with what he did.

Well, losing your guy, Anthony Richardson, like, cleared that field out quite a bit. And Bryce Young not looking ready for prime time at this point. I think you're right. He's the heavy, heavy favorite, which is too bad for Puka Nakuel. You put Puka in last year's class. He's got a great chance, I think, to win it over. Garrett Wilson or Chris Alavi. He has a very reasonable chance

if Matthew Stafford is healthy to have the greatest or one of the greatest rookie season statistically that any wide receivers ever had. The only thing is he doesn't have the touchdowns. Like he has the yards and the catches. That's true. By the way, Ejan Robinson,

whatever Arthur Smith's doing over there, I think he's averaging 2.9 yards per carry over the last month or so. Yikes. They've turned him into a sub. three yards of carry runner. Yeah, they're not helping. Really?

Yeah. He's at five for the season. That is sad. All right. Let's see. Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba. Flah, flah, flah. Flah, blah, blah.

Moving on. Defensive rookie of the year. Jalen Carter was the favorite. I picked Jalen Carter. Sorry. Rosenthal picked Brian Branch. He's got a chance. I think he's.

He's got a decent team. Mark picked Joey Porter Jr. Because his dad played for the Steelers. Well, you're not wrong. I feel good about Jalen Carter. I'm going to stand on that one. He is the favorite right now. He would be my choice as well.

I think until the last week or two, he would have a pretty decent all-pro case as like a first-team all-pro defensive tackle. But Witherspoon's having a good year. Branch is still third or fourth in the odds right now because he's had a nice season. Anderson's having a solid rookie season where if he picked it up, I think Carter has to be Jalen Carter. Jalen Carter. At this point, at this

point. You guys are moving off. I mean, he's a little banged up right now. No, I'm sticking with Branch because that's looking like a fun little trendy I feel safe moving off Joey Porter, good player, but like, you know, that he would need to do something insane down the stretch that can happen. It's the earth. He's now like starting. He didn't start the first five

weeks. That didn't help. Now he's playing, yeah. Come back play. I don't want to do that one. It's just strange. Coach of the year. Let's see. The favorite was Robert Sala, how things have changed. The I voted.

Not by that much act. You'd be surprised. He's one of the favorites still. Interesting. It's because he's very good with the media. He's photogenic. I have. He didn't so doubt on Sala.

He looks at this part. He definitely does look the part. No, it's not one loss. I've been talking about it for a few weeks. I had Mike Tomlin with my pick. Look at that. Uh, and that's looking pretty decent right now. Yeah.

Uh, Sestog had, this is why I was giggling before. I mean, I, you know what? There, it was all set up. It was kind of set up to be, he was a kind of a candidate that fits that whole thing. And then he suddenly, well, he's, he's currently, he's currently plus, um, 6,600 to win it, which is a lot better chance that Brian Dables and Belichick's plus 25,000. 25,000, uh, Greg, you had Ron Rivera. That nailed it. That's not looking.

Good. You know who is the favorite now? Was it, my, who would you? Wait, let me guess. Dmyco Rines. Mike McDaniel. That's my favorite. No,

Tomico would be my pick. Right. And I think I was thinking KOC's maybe got a chance to sneak up. Uh-huh. But no, the favorite, a decent-sized favorite is Dan Campbell. Yeah, I was going to say.

You know what's going to help Mike McDaniel maybe is the in-season hard knocks? Mm-hmm. These are human beings voting. Like, there's those. Humans. The dolphins win the division and all that. Has John Harbaugh ever won coach of the,

the year because I feel like if they're the number one seed that feels that feels like a year he i remember when we talked about this in 2019 in august that mike tomlin has never won coach of the year so it's the old that's when we're talking about the scorcese getting the uh finally getting the statue for the departed yeah this award like absurd all right uh let's take a break and then we will have a conversation Team of ATL The team Team of ATL

Only one team can earn the right Now's the time to shine a light On the team This is important This is a very special honor. Indeed. Dick Banks, the one-man house band with the iconic team of ATL

slash ATN theme song. It just reminded me, by the way, real quick, of when we used to do, or are you kidding me, live in studio, with someone that we brought up from the newsroom, I believe, with a guitar? Who was that? He wasn't from the newsroom.

His name was Patrick Kangajoo. And he was a... I put out on the... company-wide messaging client, hey, does anybody know how to play a guitar? Yeah. And this guy, Patrick, who worked on the second floor and maybe marketing or social media somewhere,

he replies, like, I can play guitar. It's like, can you bring your guitar in an amp to the studio to play, just lay down some tasty licks. Electric guitar. Yeah. Electric guitar. And he brought a strap, bro. And he just find that.

If people don't like the archives of the show, when Kangajoo was in studio, and I don't know where he is. these days. It was Michael King of you, actually. I don't know where he is now, but thank you, buddy. That was one of the most memorable shows. For some reason, it still stands out in my head.

He's got three or four of those appearances. Yeah, I think he's live at Red Rocks on Thursday night. He's out touring. All right. So, where are we? Okay, last year, team of around the NFL Detroit Lions, and it was a perfect pick,

perfect synergy. It started, Connie, with you and I, and hard knocks. that's right a season that started slow but gained momentum and we kind of all fell for that lion's team and now it's like sending off a beautiful like your child went away to college and you're just setting them free and it's just like go for go win a trophy lions we love you it's a new year we need a new team we don't need a new team we'd like a new team but you can't force the team around the NFL and a week ago at this time it felt like there mark it felt like there was no chance a week ago.

There was just nobody that had truly captured our imagination. Nothing stood out like it typically does. Like you kind of all get the similar feeling or most of us do. And like a week ago, that was true. We often did do it early in the season. But the original team of ATO, which was the Carolina Panthers, was actually probably around this time. It was a slow build.

Yes. So with that said, Colleen. Yes. And we, because we view you as a member of the team, thank you we we need a unanimous vote okay and that's going to be four like the old days with chris wessling so the only way a team of a tn can exist and if we want to push back the vote to to sunday and see how the games play out i'm not against that but let's talk about it first uh and and with that said i'll let's begin the nomination process uh eric

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Houston Texans are a franchise reborn. The vision of new head coach to Miko Ryans and Wunderkin, signal caller C.J. Stroud, has changed the landscape of the AFC South Division and created questions that seemed unthinkable before the season. Are the Texans playoff bound? will Stroud finish with the greatest statistical rookie season by a quarterback ever. Out of the darkness, light has broken through.

The Texans have arrived. In the words of every nine-year-old boy on playgrounds across America, let's go. Beautifully said. The Texans. To me, it's the only candidate that really fits for me. Tell us why. It's this great story of a team that we came into the year saying, like, well, they're the opposite of weapons, rich. Like I mentioned, we're wondering what the quarterback journey will be.

It's a new coach. The general manager has been attached to a lot of nonsense. Suddenly, no one's talking about him because everything's working out. They've been a team in the abyss in absentia for a long time now. And they had no personality. It was like you keep firing your coach two years in a row after one year. stints, and now suddenly everything quickly seems put together, and yet the

reason I think that they fit for team of ATN is that the lines a year ago were 2 and 6, now they're 6 and 2. It's a bit of a flashpoint, again, where you're like kind of projecting where this team could go. They're imperfect in certain ways. There's a lot of young talent, but they're 4 and 4, so we're not picking like an

overt front runner. I kind of like that the most. I want them to be, maybe they make the playoffs, maybe they don't, but they're going to be fun, and there's a lot of future focus to them, so that's that I would, they would get my vote. Well, what you're talking about gets to what are we looking for in the team of ATL? Maybe we're all looking for different things.

Are we looking for a team that's going to win? Because, and we'll get to the next nominee, like, I think that's not that important to me. I actually would be fine with a team of ATL that, like, won seven games if I just felt an emotional attachment that I want to see this team grow. I felt that with the Lions even last year when they were losing and had some hope that they would turn. running around and they didn't. And I think that worked out great. No, they didn't make the playoffs. The Texans are a fun watch.

I don't know if I feel like a crazy emotional attachment to them, but I do like the idea of a team of ATL versus not, because why not? I like hearing that song. And I do find them very early on my game pass rankings of like, I like watching Dink Dell. I like watching Nico Collins. I like watching CJ Stroud.

It's a passing league. Like that's what I like turning on. So I'm all for them. In a lot of ways, the Detroit Lions last year were the platonic ideal of the team of ATN for me because of that. Like there were peaks and valleys and they weren't they weren't bullies, but they always put up a fight and they kind of peek down the stretch. And even though they didn't make it, yeah, there was just like a lot of hope around the

franchise. Like it was really exciting. And I think you could definitely make that case for the Texans. I think a couple of things, like lessons I'm learning from this Texan teams are kind of reminders. A, like, even if you don't. have a great front office set up, even if you have dysfunction, it's crazy how much a quarterback can paper over things. And that's what CJ Stroud. Nobody's talking about the bad around the

Texans anymore because he's been so good. And then the other thing is, yeah, we spent a lot of time this summer talking about, yeah, well, who's this guy thrown to? Well, you don't know how good he's going to be. And then you don't know how what he could bring out of these receivers like Collins and Tank Dell. So it's a, and Dalton Schultz. Like you see what he's been able to do even without a running game. So the idea of getting on board with a young quarterback. Now, being a number two overall pick, Connie, and I like kind of sometimes the underdog slantive team of ATN. Does that bother you at all? No, because for me, it's like the Texans essentially had to settle, quote unquote, for C.J. Stroud because of what happened at the end of the season with them and not getting

that number one overall pick. So it was like, okay, they're going to get like essentially the sloppy second who looks really, really good right now. So for me, the team should be easy to root for. It should have this sort of a dusting of hope around them and a team that is typically downtrodden. Like I like that aspect of it. Maybe it's on the up and up. It's a team that people have historically kind of beat down a little bit,

not believed in. And I feel like the Texans have this confidence about them now that is very attractive. And D'Amico Ryan's is so likable. He changes everything. He changes the front office because it's his organization. Totally. And their rookies look good too.

They're just kind of this fun team. And I wonder if they're in line to be the Lions slash Jags team that has this renaissance that has staying power. He's their fifth coach, Domingo Ryan's, in the last four years. Because you remember in 2020, they fired Bill O'Brien after only four games. And then it was Romeo Cronnell for 12 games. They were 11 and 38. in those three seasons.

They did not win more than four games in any of those seasons. They're at four and four now. So they are an underdog story even with number two pick. Yeah. The last, I think Watson's last full year there,

if you look at his numbers, they were outstanding. And they went four and 12, I believe. It was like there was just so many things wrong with that team. And they were like the exception to the rule where it was like,

oh yeah, you could have a studly quarterback and still be terrible. But now things seem different. they have some balance and yeah coaching matters obviously interesting okay i like that one okay let's head to the next left to perish after an o and three start the minnesota vikings have proven it's never wise to write off a proper Norseman. Winners of five of their last six contests, Kevin O'Connell's

resilient gridiron warriors refused to be put out to sea, despite the absence of the great Justin Jefferson and a season-ending injury suffered by their leader, Kirk the Benevolent. The sudden arrival of Joshua Dobbs, a fearless warrior, appearing like a specter out from the mist, has made these irrepressible Vikings a dangerous foe, thinking big about what's to come. that's what she said I'm trying to place where that accent is coming from just like a taste of Irish accent in there

I think the other one was kind of going in and out of several different characters too maybe it's purposeful maybe it's like it's it doesn't want to be pinned down to one dialect this also kind of feels like it's like an M&M song with like a beat is about to drop and you're just going to say

that's it bad Eminem is what it's giving the beat just never drops You're just like, why won't you drop? I like this one. And when it first popped in, at least I thought about it for the first time. I don't know if you guys had before. It was last week. And it was partly like, oh, Josh Dobbs just feels like the player of ATL.

So it's almost like it's just following the Josh Dobbs story, which has been, you know, strangely centered on this podcast all season. And now he's in Minnesota. He's like the person of ATL. and he's just on the Vikings. Yeah, I think, like, if you took Josh Dobbs in the whole bizarre NFL journey, really a typical out of it,

they wouldn't be on my radar on any level. So it's really, in this case, I know that's kind of true with CJ Stroud a little bit, but there's a lot more I like about the Texans. Like, my one thing with the Vikings is, like, if Dobbs were to go down or get, like, a five-week hamstring injury, like, I have no reason for this to be my team personally. I don't feel...

Don't you say the same thing about CJ Stroud? Yes, I mean, It's, yes, but it's to a different. The two ecosystems are different to me. And like I feel for Vikings fans, they've been through hell and heart. I also like got the Vikings nominated a number of years ago. And it went totally south. And so I think that I'm like, my thinking is a little soiled on like,

this is a team where I'm like, no matter what's happening, it could go totally south. And we're going to have to just deal with the, I want to deal with the Vikings. It's a good reminder when we think about like, all the good old days with around the NFL. No, there was like entire. seasons where our entire

podcast mental state was rising and falling with Mark going insane about this. Well, no, I never heard of it. We couldn't even talk about it because everyone jumped ship. It was just like walking on eggshells. We voted as a group, but then it was like

Mark made a bad choice. It's like we all voted. So it's like we all we're all going to be compelled to vote for the Vikings. It's amazing that this is part of the process that you're having right now. Oh my God. Would a listener please cut clip part of that season and send it to us? I kind of remember. Anything that you vote for in life, it's going to impact few years.

They were your nominee, and I think you pushed it through legislation, and then they lost five games in a row. I think they were like five or six in a row. It's one of those seasons. Then they went off a cliff. So here's what's different about this team, Mark. Like, please, try to flush that. I love, I've been on Josh Dobbs all season, as has Greg.

So it's like, you don't have to sell me on that part. I felt I was being sold on the Arizona Cardinals earlier this season, which I have no time for the Cardinals. That whole organization is floating in the desert. my issue was after the Kirk Cousins injury I was like oh god that this felt like a team that was putting it together and in a conference that's wide open you know Justin Jefferson's coming back what a shame so when they make the move to get Dobbs and then what he did the storyline of what happened on Sunday it gets you kind of excited about is there's something kind of fun and special happening here and when you kind of factor in also yeah the team and the history and and the kind of the tortured history of the Vikings. They are, this isn't going to be a team this year, Mark, where, like, they're expected to do things,

and then they fall in their face because that's what they do, and they always crush their fan base. This is a team that was essentially left for dead that gave up a seventh round pick or a sixth round pick to get Josh Dobbs on the team when he was already being benched by the Cardinals. And now all of a sudden he's leading a team that believes.

I think there's just a lot of excitement around this team and this idea of what this season could be based on from where it started. Like so, like, just to be real, like, I mean, I, everything you just said, I agree with. And I'm more of a swing voter in this. I think back in the days of this team of Westdale, it's like he would never allow anything he didn't fully 100% buy. I'm like, I think even with the lion slasurer, I was like, all right, guys, if you're so into it, like a parent wanting their children to have, like, not that I'm your parent, but like, but their way, like, have a nice time.

This is what we want to do. I do it, but it's not the lead. like horse in the race for me. What we don't want is a bunch of hanging chads. We don't want that. We don't. We never want that. We don't.

But this, the Vikings, we're going to rewire the trauma that you experienced with the Vikings. We're going to make it into a positive experience. If we do end up going with this team, because for me, they've kind of gone from just a team that's there, like a team that's kind of languishing.

And yes, they were putting it together, but it seemed like they were never really going to fully put it together because it was like the fun. fumbling issues and then Justin Jefferson got hurt and then obviously Kirk Cousins and I think about Kevin O'Connell after that game that Kirk Cousins was heard in and they had won that game how his locker room speech kind of had a pall over it because he knew what this meant and then for Josh Dobbs to come in and do what he did imagine being Kevin O'Connell because it feels like there's some renewed hope as well and they have like a little bit of an extra boost like maybe they can be the team that they would. want it to be and want it to put together. And now that they're getting Justin Jefferson back and Brian Flores has turned around that

defense from last year, I'm kind of all in on this team. I really like them. I know what I like. I liked about this team. When Kirk Cousins gets hurt, this is a locker room that's tight. That before the game on Sunday like many, I don't want to say everybody, but it could have been. We're wearing Kirk Cousins

T-shirts. And it was just like, there's like definitely a vibe on this team that I like as well, good energy. I am with you on that. And I was starting to like it even before Cousins got her, I really love Jordan Addison. I love how crazy Flores is. There was something from

Ben Solac on Twitter yesterday where it showed like the amount of six man pressures. So it's like an all-out blitz essentially around the league. And the Vikings do it on literally 30% of their snaps. No one else in the NFL is even over 10. Like they are playing a completely

different kamikaze style of defense that is also fun to watch. And I love the vibes. But It's kind of getting to what I was talking about before, which what are we looking for out of this team of ATO? Because I'm along for the rides. I think I'm a little more emotionally connected, Vikings versus Texans, but I like them both.

But I don't necessarily think, like, I kind of think they might lose this week to the same. Like, I don't necessarily think they're going to be great. They're going to have their ups. They're going to have their downs. They're going to have a chance at that seven seed. It'll be a fun ride. I don't think they're going to, like, fly off to the moon or anything.

It's not a bet that they're going to be great. It's just that they're fun. Like, aren't we, we're kind of you're weighing against a number two pick a quarterback. That's the reason we're picking the Texans that is fulfilling, like, the potential, the prophecy, and the promise, versus one of the more unlikely quarterback stories that you're kind of, and I love it, like, I love them. I love that about the NFL. It's just a game-changing sport because of that. But, like, you're hoping, you're more hoping that that story doesn't turn dark and probably more likely how it would be from a football angle, which is like, he wins some games, but he's still. Josh Stubbs.

They've got something going, though. I definitely think the roster in general. You're right. It's too bad. Kirk goes, not there. Mark, we're going to keep working through the trial. I do like the- It was the Sam Bradford team, by the way.

They started out like 5-0 with Sam Bradford, and I think we jumped on at like 5-0. It's good to know that. What year was that? They didn't make the playoffs. Look at that. It was 2016. 2015. I can imagine Chris pushing back against the San Bradford team.

I think that was all part of it. I was doing some research trying to figure out what we've done. I think we did the page. Panthers twice. We did the 2015 Cardinals who made the conference championship. No, they did well. But yes. Yeah, that was the Bruce Ariens.

We did the Chargers one years. We actually circled back to the Panthers. And then we skipped it a few years. We had the Mat and Aggie Bears that were actually good that year. We did that. Whatever you get on board of Matt and Aggie. But no one cared that year. I remember like no one actually cared.

Let's see, yes. We did the McVeigh's first year with the Rams. The 2016 Vikings did start out 5 and 0. Then they went into their buy, which is when I assume they were picked as the team around the NFL. Then loss, loss, loss, loss, win, loss, loss, win, lost, loss, win, eight. If I'm not mistaken, because I remember when I got really hot, it was, it was like Halloween night. And I think they were on, like, Monday night football on Halloween night, if I'm not mistaken, and lost.

Yeah. I'd have to go check it. Something happened to the Vikings on Halloween night that year where everyone's just like, terrible choice. Like, I didn't want anything to do with it. It wasn't my vote. It's like, I'm walking around, like, trick-or-treating. with my kids and like getting destroyed on text

over like something that we unanimously voted for. So it was Monday October 30. Yeah. I'll never forget that memory. It's like the worst Halloween in my entire life. We have to pull that show. A 20 to 10 loss to the bears. Yes, that's what it was. It wasn't really the show. It was the

test. That was the worst. It wasn't the show. It was one of the worst. It was the endless text that we were getting and making us worried for all of our safety and for March. Well, they were coming in directions it wasn't me and it was like being you know well it's a good thing i wasn't behind this it's like what are we doing here we all voted for this team so it's like i'm saying like we're back in that same world let's no no one's going to do that no one's taking it i'm trying to see if

hard anymore i don't think like i don't remember anything about the 2016 season oh i for some reason 2016 is like very clear for me 2016 and 2018 i mean i don't do odd years you remember that 28 to 3. Come back, Danny. Ooh. Ouch. Hold on to the memories, Greg. That's all I can say. Yeah, they were great. It was fun. Enjoyed it. I hope you have the time of your life. All right.

So do we want to vote now? Or what do we? Do we want to... I think both teams are going to lose this week, unfortunately, because the Texans are playing the Bengals. So I don't know if you want to wait. That's not what it's about. That's not what it's about. The Vikings are in a coin. I thought they would win last week against the Falcons because of what we were talking about. And I thought, and I think they would have won with Jaron Hall.

That's the thing. Jaron Hall looked pretty good in that drive. I was like, I think there's something going on with them that they're actually a good organization, a good team right now. So. Okay. I mean, I'm ready to vote if you want to vote. Yeah.

I don't know what we're waiting for. All in favor of naming the Minnesota Vikings team of around the NFL say I. Aye. I. Aye. Oh. Wait, so hold on. Can I ask the question?

so we're just like maybe the Texans could get four eyes but we're just like they don't even come to vote though we can do it I know if we if we can see it that way yeah I would say I to the Vikings

in terms of you want to do you want to do you want to do a silent ballot is that what you want well we just gave it away I don't know I'm already with the Vikings like I'm not against it I just have some you know

past issues with the concept this is more likable that's part of the hero's journey though of the Vikings clearing your mind and soul 2016 that horrific Halloween It's tough, too, because when they play the Lions,

I still have been rooting for the Lions and enjoying the Lions. I wanted to just run it back at the beginning. It's okay to root for the Lions. They're kind of our babies, you know? I'm just saying, well, they're going to have two big games against the Vikings, I believe. Tough sitch. That's all I'm saying.

Well, you can go in and out, Craig. I would say, I'm not going to block the Vikings. There's no reason I would. They may not be my first choice. Well, I think it should be your first choice, right? No. Tell us your first choice. Go ahead.

I think I would go Texans first. All right. All in favor of the Houston Texans' team of around the NFL say I. I'll say I as well. Can we vote twice? How does this work? Yeah, are we allowed to vote twice? Sure.

I would vote twice, but if I was ranking it, I would say yes to both just because it's fun. I like them, but I would vote Vikings first. All right. Well, then, so Texans is not a great move here, like for the group. So, like, you know. I like both, too. I think that, like, we picked them both because we see. reasons for both.

Sure. Like if they're, if we're We nominated both. I can go both ways. Preferring Minnesota. Like, I can get on board with that. We are on air right now. Yeah.

I'd say yes to the Vikings. That's your swing. What was your thing again? You could vote twice? I say you could. I would support both candidacies. I would. Why is that crazy?

Can we have two teams? No. You can't have two teams. Well, we have a clear winner. But it's two separate votes. We have the winner anyways. Two people didn't. If everyone had been on board

with the Texans, I would have been like, great. I only had one vote because that's the only thing that makes remotely any sense. Then this, the result is clear. The result is clear. You either wrote for one or the other. And I think it'll be good for you, Sessler. Like, let's go on this. I'm getting tugged on. I like the dynamic. I'm getting

tugged on this. It's not going to be, I'm not in the cross hairs of whatever. That was also, I know there's some tugging with the lions last year. We don't want you to feel that that's happening. Oh, this is different than that. Again, the Josh Dobbs thing, like, it was a different time in our lives. I think was maybe a factor in that whole, you're not driving the car. You're just in the backseat.

We had different stresses coming from above. Now I'm like, I get a bunch of Vikings texts. It's like, we'll talk tomorrow. Like, we're fine. So, you know, Lions fans won't be happy. I know Packers fans. We got, we got some tweets saying it would hurt, you know, going lions, Vikings back to back while they're just. I still love the lions, though.

This has nothing to do with the lions. You know, the breadfarb to Aaron Rogers team. Take a seat. Do something. All right. All right. Let's get to good job. So we got a team around the other bells.

Hey. Celebration. Do we have any celebration music? Let's do it. No, you know, we need the, uh, the Vikings horn thing. The yaller horn. Yeah. Give me, hit a, hit a yaller, what is it called?

Yaller horn. Yaller horn. Hit it. Wait, does this mean we have to do like the skull thing? I don't know. A yaller horn? Is that something I should know I should have? A yaller horn?

Yaller horn. I know what you mean. It's a horn. I only know that because I've had to say it multiple times on the air and it's spelled very strangely. Oh, it's spelled the G. Hey, what the whole? All right, so. Viking syntax.

If you could hit us up with a yaller horn, that would be excellent, Eric. Right? Like, put him on the nose here. Put him on the spot. Yaller horn me. Why would he just have it sitting there? You never know when someone might have a yaller horn. We're skullheads.

I like this. I still say foals. Mark, especially. Best stadium? Yeah. in-game presentation. And we're putting all those demons to bed, Halloween 16. Goodbye.

I like Viking culture, the concept of it. The pillaging and the other stuff? No, just like the, you know, we know who we are. We're not having around. They're resourceful. Yeah. Maybe they were in America, not sure. Is that the yaller?

Oh, hell yeah. Oh, shoot, we got Randy behind the best. Big Funk is the Packers fan. Dude, it ain't personal. I'm sorry. He's in a big fuck. I'm sorry. We're getting double thumbs down from Randy.

All right. This is exciting. Let's move. Let's hit the previews before we say goodbye. Wow. All right. So the Vikings did it. What a wild season.

Can't predict the NFL. See, there is the biggest surprise. Vikings out of nowhere. I forgot about that. I think you asked that question. Josh Dobbs. All right. The primetime games this week are pretty rough.

Let's start with the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night, traveling to Chicago to face the bears. So I don't know, was this, was this something that could be flexed? No, not at that point. So it's a one in seven Panthers team with Bryce Young coming off another rough outing in which he threw two pick sixes, lost the fumble facing the Chicago Bears.

And no, we don't get Justin Fields either, it looks like, because he is not quite ready to return after suffering that thumb injury a couple weeks back. So you will get at least one more start of Tyson, Bage and Colleen, you are the anchor of NFL networks, Thursday night football coverage. Your thoughts on this one. Well, I'm just like so...

Sell it, baby. I feel so honored that I am doing our Thursday night coverage this week with Panthers Bears. I'm doing the Germany game with Colts Pats and the Monday night game with Mooch, which is Broncos' bills. So it's really, those are my three shows this week and I could not be happier. What is the alarm clock set to be the Germany? But the Germany game. My call time is 2 a.m. Like wake up or you'll show up.

No, I'm in this building at 2 a.m. And it's like a 45 minute drive. And I do my hair and makeup before I come in. So. You're coming in around 7.30 p.m. then. I think last week I went to sleep around 7. But I wanted to be asleep at 5. And then last week I had some work to do on the show to finish up.

So I woke up at 11.30 at night. Holy God. Yeah. And John was still up like from that day. So that was weird. But, yeah, the TNF game, let's start there. Bryce Young and Tyson Baygent combined for seven turnovers last week. We were having some issues trying to figure out just graphically in the studio

who the third star of the game was going to be on our mural in studio. So we went with a head coaching situation. How about DJ Moore? You know, a little DJ Moore. DJ Moore is already on there. Oh, needed another one. Then it gets darker. And Brian Burns is not playing.

It's just, it's not great. But I do like the fact that the Bears, if I had to find one silver lining. Just put Smith there. I know, exactly. Yeah, you have like a couple of revenge game angles here with DJ Moore playing the Panthers. And obviously, Bryce Young playing the Bears. I don't know how much revenge that they will get. But that is something that you can talk about.

But I do think that the Bears running game could get going here because the Panthers have been so tragically bad against the run. So Deontoforman has a nice opportunity here, but it's tough. This is going to be rough. I'm not going to lie. I mean, I'd like to see a bounce back game from Bryce Young. He is the biggest story in this game because he is the number one overall

pick. And the Bears have been playing in theory better on defense, but then it sort of fell apart. You know, their offense actually has been sneaky competent this entire season without people noticing, except for the turnovers. And that's Baygeon. Like, Bayesian is okay. I think Bayesian's going to be a backup in the

league for a while. They're 13th in the NFL. And so these are a lot of field starts too in points and yards per drive. 13th. That actually, that's like literally better than average, which is kind of shocking. They, they moved the ball. But then, you know, Fields was doing it. The whole team was fumbling. Baygent, like, makes mistakes. It's all bad. The only interest, the most interesting thing about this game are the picks and the team building, which is hard to talk about. Like, how does this trade look all these months later? I think the bears have to be, you know, very happy about it, obviously. that it's tough to just pick a player and say he's going to be so much better

that he's worth these two first-round draft picks. It's a bad process, and now it's coming back to honum. But I don't know necessarily, I've heard some whispers that Ryan Poles, the GM, is necessarily going to make those picks. So there is a chance this whole thing gets blown up anyways and that even though you made that trade, which looks good, that they won't be patient.

I mean, it is a chance to literally take away a win from the team that chooses the destiny of, that number one pick for Chicago next off season. That matters. It does. I don't like it for Carolina, to be honest. Any road team on Thursday night, I'm just going to lean on two even teams to some degree with the home situation.

Brian Burns, you mentioned, is out. C.J. Henderson, not been having a great year, but you're losing him, too. DJ Chark is doubtful. Leviska-Cenault is unlikely. It's like you don't have much on that offense beyond Adam Thieling to begin with. And they are the number four run defense, and they have not allowed 100-yard rush or the Bears

going back to week three. And I think they've been up and down on defense, but you add sweat to that situation. I think it's kind of like if you can shut down what is not a good ground game to begin with, one of the bottom five Panthers ground game, they're uneven on offense. You put Bryce Young into a tough situation on the road,

and I think that the Bears defense has been improved. In fact, the whole Bears... Is you going to do it? No, I'm not going to do because I don't... That feels extra. But I think Tyson Bayesian, to your point, Greg, like, yes, I saw the turnovers, but when you go watch, like, every throw he made,

it's like this guy can move the offense or something about him that's like projects out as like he's going to be around for a while and it's like I don't know I guess you put Justin Fields back in there when he's healthy why not you want to like maybe promote him as a potential trade candidate but Justin Fields is not their future I don't think

I think it's interesting that Bejan is either but I'd say like Bejant could stick around as a backup longer than Fields as a starter potentially Yeah and Luke Getzzi their offensive coordinator I think did a nice job putting him in okay situations because he turned the ball over four times and they only lost by one score. Like, it should have been a blowout.

Yeah, Justin Fields has to get back on the field and show something here, obviously, in the last few weeks. And, yeah, the uncertainty around the organization, that's going to play a part in this. And, yeah, it's kind of cool that, yeah, the Bears can win this game and also improve their draft standing because they own the Panthers pick.

That's a cool thing. And I also think about, yeah, the Panthers are thinking about, you know, shoot, should we have taken Stroud? It was the Bears who had the number one pick, and they could have potentially taken Stroud as well. I wonder if they've had any restless nights thinking they were in the catbird seat.

Same team who chose Mitchell Trebisky over Patrick Mahomes. Different regime, but absolutely. You know, I, that's, this happens to that team. The Bears fans, it's all one continuum. All right, let's move next to Sunday night football. And the Sunday night football matchup? Come on, bro. to your team.

I know. The New York Jets traveling to Vegas to face the Raiders. The Raiders coming off. Obviously, a blowout of the Giants with Antonio Pierce as the head coach. So, you know, we're not going to mistake the Raiders now as some type of fierce unit. But we'll see if they could continue the Basaccia bump here another week. And the Jets are coming off obviously a hideous Sunday or Monday night performance in which Zach Wilson and the offense completely floundered.

This was, let me throw you to some sound that happened. So Robert Sala was on the Michael K Show on ESPN Radio yesterday, Tuesday. Let's listen to it. But things have changed over three years, Robert. You've had different offensive coordinators before the change to hack it this year, and you've had different weapons around him. And the one constant is Zach, and the one constant is last year he couldn't start over Mike White. So first of all, first of all,

of this, this shouldn't be litigated. Now, I never understood with a 39-year-old quarterback why a guy who couldn't start last year was the first line of defense if he went down. You've got Trevor Simeon in your building. Why not give him a try? No, I got you. No, it's, again, a fair question.

And, you know, it's, like I said, he, I don't know, you got me, I'm going to plead the fifth on all this one. I mean, that's a tough, tough, tough, tough. look for Sala and it makes you wonder if he has any decision making when it comes to his own quarterback, which is a very bad look. The one thing I'll say, Greg, I listen to that whole thing, though, and that was the second time he asked the question. And the first time he answered the question.

And then the second time was like, what more am I going to say? So I just think that. What did you say? He just said it was not all the same stuff. It's not all Zach, you know, it's, it's offensive line. We're looking at things. it's coaching. Like, we need to do a better job. He needs to do a better job.

He went through the whole rigmar roll. And then the second, I just mean then the second time, he was just kind of like, I played the fit. That's fair. I think any interview deserves that, listen, I like that. But do you, does he strike you as kind of like empowered or a little bit flummoxed and stuck in a corner? I think his hands are tied. And I think that he can't move away from Zach Wilson. And I think that either Joe Douglas or Woody Johnson is forcing him to play Zach Wilson.

Well, I think there's, I don't necessarily think that's the case, only because they did bench Wilson last year. I wonder if he's saying that and he feels boxed in because they did such a bad job with the setup and Trevor Simeon is the backup and it's like Trevor Simeon. It's the last time that guy did anything in the league

and they're seeing him every day in practice. Right. And he might think, man, everybody's telling me to put in Trevor Simeon, that guy's worse than the starter. And that goes back to the team's failure to bring in a true competent backup behind Rogers and then once again behind Wilson. So I feel

badly for Sala when I listen to that because I understand that it's a very stressful gig and he's definitely in a very tough spot at the same time I just I I can't believe this is where the season is now we'll see I have a very bad feeling about this game Colleen I think if as a Jets fan I think the Raiders with their pass rush with Max Crosby playing at home still you know feeling a lot better with McDaniels out the door I would not be surprised if they get after Wilson and cause a lot of trouble and turnovers, and the Raiders keep rolling. Yeah, that kind of feels like the vibe going into the game,

especially with Antonio Pierce, who the Raiders, if they can continue winning this way, like, they could have been a candidate for a team of ATL. Well, that would have been wild. I so agree with you. Because they have that same type of vibe. And Antonio... Five and five if they win, by the way, which is crazy.

Exactly. So, I don't know. I think the thing that I, worry about with the game is the Jets front four, I think, have a nice opportunity going up against Aiden O'Connell. Like, they were in Justin Herbert's face nonstop in that game. They sacked him five times. Bryce Huff was awesome. But, like, O'Connell has been pretty good at decision-making and not making mistakes. So I wonder if that changes with the Jets in his face all night. I think that the Raiders are this, like, interesting study in, like, the human aspect of

this that we can't measure. There's no way to measure this. And like in the course of a week, and I think I was down on the Josh McDaniels experiment going back a year ago. We all were. It was overt. It was a visually negative feast. But in the course of

a week, like, I think this matters. I think it matters because Antonio Pierce comes in and it's like, I know it was the Giants, but the Giants defense was productive the last couple of weeks. It wasn't like they were a total disaster. You got a better game for Maiden O'Connell. And Antonio Pierce went on the record saying he spent the entire week with the offensive line,

which is a group that they didn't really add pieces to and was hot and cold and mostly cold. Better. Josh Jacobs looked like the old Josh Jacobs. And then I'm sorry, this matters to me that after the game, and we all saw the visuals, you've got the old school Raiders vibe of them smoking cigars, celebrating with each other. They brought the practice squad to the game. It's like somehow this feels like a team again.

And they escaped a disaster situation with the record they have. And I kind of think, like, you know, a couple of weeks I said the Jets are this magical team. Now they're in a rough place. It's like, I'm not saying that... All that happened was just one game. I know, but I'm not saying the Raiders are that, but like the feeling around...

You're transferring the positive juju from the Jets of the Raiders? I'm just saying the feeling around the Raiders went from like total darkness to who knows what these players can do. You have good players on this team. I just, I wonder what the result. If that carries over beyond one week, we'll see. That's the study. I mean, these two teams are very much in the soft middle.

of the NFL. They're both a little lucky to have the records that they have. I think the Jets are. I think the Raiders are. But I'm probably going to pick the Jets in this game. The fired coach principle, maybe that lasts more than one week. Maybe it doesn't. I like the Raiders last week and getting that bump, but the Jets defense is still by far the best thing in this game. Like, by far. If they had applied that pressure to most any other quarterback other than Justin Herbert the other night, like they might have won that game. Like, Ha, Frang, Franklin Myers, Jermaine, like, they're getting everything that they want. Eden O'Connell's time to throw last week was crazy.

It was 2.13. It was like, he's just getting the ball out. So that was promising. They have a new offensive coordinator by the name of Bo Hardegree. I just wanted to say that name. I was not familiar with Bo Hardegrees. Bo's spelled like Jackson or Bo like Bridges? Jackson, I believe.

That's good. And the Jets can't run the ball. Neither would have been fine with that. Like the Raiders defense, they're playing hard. The Jets can't run the ball. like they're among the worst teams in the NFL in terms of success rate running so like that's not helping Zach Wilson either but their defense is better than

anything that the Raiders got going and I'm hoping they win not only because I'm going to pick them but because it's a Sunday night game so it's like I want to end this recap show on a high we've had two we've had some high Jets moments some low Jets moments like it's another one where they're just like right back in the spotlight yeah you mentioned the defense the only way the Jets can win right now is if the defense creates turnovers that set up short fields they have

something like five touchdowns in the last six weeks and three of them were one yard or one play drives. Oh, wow. Off turnovers and things on nature. So it's pathetic. What's happened with the offense is as bad as it's ever been. All right.

Monday night football. Denver Broncos traveling to Orchard Park to face the bills. Bill's laid in seven and a half points of wood. I want to say, um, Mark, are set up well here to get a W

and get back on track again. But I've reached the point with Buffalo where I just don't know what to expect week to week. And Denver has certainly been better since they're very ugly start and when they bottomed out against Miami. So it would not stun me

if this game is actually competitive. I'm with you. I think the Broncos have transformed a little bit. I need to see more to be super convinced of that. But losing Knox at tight end, I think has changed this offense a little bit. Yes, we're seeing an uptick in, like, Dalton Kincaid's production, but, like, if you look at what they're doing,

they're kind of running, like, a ton of, like, two wide receiver, two wide receiver sets, nonstop, at, like, a high rate. And I think that this is a Bills team that is, like, kind of, like, last week, it's like, why, in the past what I loved about the Bills in general, and I'm not saying it as well as I want. It was, like, let Josh Allen just go do what he wants. And he's going to make mistakes, but you're also going to get, like, these high ceiling high versions and moments and drives where it's like he's going to do something

that no one else in the league can do in his own way and I feel it's all just like the reins have been pulled back a little bit right now and it's like they you know they're not like to go out and do it against all odds kind of offense they've been pulled back a little bit I think with what they're doing schematically I think they're a little safer that's maybe trying to make Josh Allen a little bit of a safer player which is like exactly what I I'm just saying I see that that's my feeling around them I wouldn't do that with Josh Allen and like the running game is not helping them out. I don't know.

Like, to me, I'm with you, Dan. Like, they're a mystery team to me, and, like, their floor concerns me. Like, I, I kind of think that it was Nick Wesleyan, who said it weeks ago before most people were that, like, I don't know if they make the playoffs. They don't look like, they, I know, like, you can go look at their EPA and their metrics,

and they're still sitting at, like, one and two and everything. It's like, that's not what my eyes are telling me right now. I know they had that month of dominance, but it's like, I see a team that is, like, an ify bet right now, a total iffy bet. I hate that the... head coach Sean McDermott's just been doing he does these little passive

aggressive grumblings about the offense and he did it back in the past it's just little things like we got to look into that like we got to and for the first time maybe the athletic wrote about this Josh Allen was asked about like why wasn't Gabe Davis involved and they had done such a nice job playing fast with the hurry up against Tampa

how come that they didn't do that against Cincinnati and he sort of gave the like well you got to ask the coaches that sort of thing which Ken Dorsey was his guy so there's this grumbling and And I'm just thinking, like, McDermott, when was the last time your defense? And I know there's been injuries, had a freaking turnover or a big play. And some of that's luck, but they've had like one turnover in five weeks. And Von Miller's kind of killing them.

But the injuries, too. Like that, sure, but they had no depth there. They had this whole thing like, Von Miller's going to come back and that's going to juice our pass rush. Von Miller right now is 112th out of 123 PFF qualifiers. He has one QB hit and 103 snaps since he's returned and four pressures. So you're getting not just like not Vaughn Miller, but you're getting hugely negative play by Von Miller. And the defense is just kind of there.

I think this is a dangerous game. The Broncos have been a little better in general. I think than people realize on offense are pretty good running team. They don't turn the ball over. They're like a solid enough offensive team. And they're coming off a buy too. Two weeks to prepare for this game, yeah. Two straight wins with the Packers and then the huge game for them against the Chiefs.

But the Bill's offense is the thing that I just can't, I can't figure out they have no rhythm. And they finally started fast because it was the slow starts that were really getting to them. They weren't scoring in the first quarter, especially not on the first drive. They did that. And then it was like, then they kind of everything, the wheels fell off again. And it was like they were MIA. So it's that.

And then Josh Allen, I thought the last Thursday night that they played. So I guess that was two weeks ago. They were living in prime time right now. Moments. Exactly. There were moments in that game where Josh Allen looked like the old vintage Josh Allen that Sessler was talking about where he was kind of just like freelancing

and running around and making these plays that we were used to seeing before but we just haven't seen that because of whatever constraints they're under there's just no rhythm and the only thing that I really like about this game is that it's a Sean Showcase. We get a lot of Sean

head coaches. Yeah. McVeigh. It is a, you know, it's a big spot for Peyton. Sean Showcase. Two weeks to go beat McDermott. Show us something, Sean's. Get back a There's a lot of bad blood. Because there could only be one. It's a name that's largely vanished from the

like the landscape, you know, among younger people. There aren't a lot of young shons out there. So like the last vestige. These two old dinosaurs, these old T-Rex is just fighting it out on the great planes. Only one can remain. Just like that. I mean, we've got Sean Kelly

behind, you know, the glass and one night. He's a young man, youngish. But he's the last of them. And he knows that. He's the last guy. How old is Big Sean? Big Sean. He's probably in his late 30s at this point. You had a former WWF champion, Sean Michaels. How old is he? He was a S-H-A-W-N.

So a whole different breed. Yikes. Different breed. All right. There you go. Primetime football. And Colleen, you've said it all. I have.

I have no more words to give anyone. Does anyone else have more words to give? Oh, you know what? I do want to say shout out to the listener, the ATN listener, who sent me a message on it was either Twitter or Instagram, and it was during the. our show that started last week at 4 a.m. West Coast time and they just said, hey, loosen

up. We like the Connie on ATN. And I was like, that's great. That's good. But it was a good reminder. Different show. Different assignments. Difficult to be this loose on that show. But you know what? I'm going to try, listener. I like the Colleen on ATN too.

I like the Colleen on Anvil Network. I don't. I don't like that Colleen. I like Connie better. I like to live in a Connie land. So, yeah, well, it's a tell on the, you know, the product, the channel that you're operating. Keep Connie in the tiny box. That's the push that we go for. And congratulations to the Minnesota Vikings, the team of around the NFL.

What could go wrong? Mark, how you feel? I feel great because I didn't tug everyone into this one. It's not, you know, it's like I came on. I was in the back seat on the right side looking out the window and the highway. going by. Well, but on some level, if it did go wrong, your original choice of the Vikings, I feel

like, set a bad juju on the whole enterprise that we can go back. That's been unsaid, and that's absolutely true. You'll find a way to spin it, but this time my apathy is towering, so we're fine. All right, that's it. Till Thursday, where we have our full preview

of week 10, and also our latest NFL Plus trip to the Drematorium pre-preview this week. What are you waiting for? He'd the call. Oh. This is an I-Heart podcast.