NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - TNF Recap & Week 6 Locks!

Episode Date: October 12, 2018

In a room mostly filled with heroes – Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal & Chris Wesseling – react to the Eagles’ drubbing of the Giants (:30), then discuss the Falcons’ chances of salvaging their season against Tampa Bay (9:20), and whether the Bengals or Steelers will prevail in a premiere AFC North clash (14:15). After, the heroes reminisce on their time in London and delve into the London-based Seattle-Oakland bout (39:30), examine the Broncos quarterback situation ahead of Sunday’s brawl with the Rams (47:15) & lastly, the ‘QB of Tomorrow’ plays the ‘QB of Today’ as Patty Mahomes & TB12 duel on SNF (56:55)!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. Hey, everybody. It's time for G Suite by Google Cloud. It's a suite of cloud-based productivity tools that includes Gmail, docs, slides, sheets, and drive.

You can make real-time updates to the same document without having to keep track of multiple versions. And since all the tools are cloud-based, your whole team can access the same document and work on the same page at the same time. Make it with G-Suite by Google Cloud. To find out more, visit g-sweet.com. Wentz rolls, lens fires,

glens complains it, touchdown, Zach Ertz. Handoff, Barclay, cuts off the right side. He's to the 40. There goes Berkeley, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5. Touchdown, C-1, Barclay. Motion, Jeffrey. pass out to Jeffrey. He's in for the touchdown.

His second touchdown catchings in the good game. That was the dulcet tones of Merrill Reese of WIP. This is Greg Rosenthal alongside Chris Wessling. We're going to get to Dan Hansis and preview all the week's six games in just a minute. But the Eagles came out on top 34 to 13 on Thursday night in a game that was basically in garbage time when the second half started. Are you feeling Chris Wesleying that the Eagles have. righted the ship after this game. That is a good question.

I don't know if they've righted the ship. That was an encouraging performance. Carson Wentz pretty much carried the offense. They did get some good workout of Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement, but Wentz got hit a little bit too much early. They lose Jason Peters to an injury. We don't know how serious that one is. And then they cruised because the other team's offense was simply inept.

I look at it like you have to manage a season, especially if you're a team that's a Super Bowl contender or have aspirations to be like the Eagles. And I look at this game, and it's a division game against a lousy team, but a division game on a short week where your left tackle is hurt coming into the game and gets hurt and your right tackles hurt. There's a lot of things going on. You're short at defensive tackle because of injuries.

And you know what? You manage the game. Your quarterback plays like the star he is. You end up not even having to sweat it. A couple things go your way. get out of town and you just start trying to improve the rest of your team as you go and you're at three and three and you're in good shape. Yeah, no doubt it was an impressive performance. I just don't know if that's the same as riding the ship. Have they? Do you think they have?

No, not yet, but I'm feeling good about the Eagles in general just because I like the base of their team and I think they can take this win and build from here. But, you know, it's been two minutes and I know you're already itching to bury the Giants offense in Eli Manning. Let's face it. It's been buried for three years. Let's face it, if you're someone that has believed the Giants made a mistake and not moving on from Eli Manning one way or another, for the last few years, this was another night where you can kind of crow and say, look at what I told you. It's not even about crowing. It's just you can't watch this guy. How can you watch this guy every week?

It's been like this for two and a half years. And I don't know how you go through an offseason and say, yeah, we're just going to surround. him with different people and get a different result. It's just not going to happen. Downstairs, when we watch games, our measurement for a washed-up player is Dallas Clark in that one game about, what, five years ago? The kickoff game where he tried to make a cut and he took him five minutes to like try to get around.

Yeah, that was Eli trying to move in the pocket. He just can't move anymore. And there's this mutually malignant relationship with those offensive line where they just magnify each other's weaknesses. And then that stands in contrast to, say, Barclay and O'Dell Beckham, I believe they conferred two third downs, and they were both short passes to O'Dell, where he made defenders missed to get past the sticks. And Sequan Barkley was just on fire. He's probably, what, the most elusive running back in the league right now?

In terms of breaking tackles, yeah, I would say so. He always makes the first guy miss it, and tonight, I love, there's all these, you know, Barry Sanders comparisons that that's the guy that he reminds most people of it. And okay, maybe I'm not sure. With a lot more power. And I'm like, yeah, it's Barry Sanders, but he's 233 pounds. So to call someone Barry Sanders and to be 233 pounds is amazing. And it is a shame he's in this offense. But man, he makes them fun to watch.

With Eli, though, it's like if he's so limited that everything needs to be perfect around him. He's the Golden Locks quarterback. Absolutely everything. And right now, the protection, he's actually getting significant. more time in the pocket. He's had less pressure percentage when he's coming back, when he's dropping back to pass this season than before. And things aren't going to be perfect in the NFL. You can kind of see it with Carson Wentz. He had to make up a couple of plays today where he threw across his body. It's like things aren't going to be perfect. And they've

put as many good players around Eli Manning as they can. And it's just, it's tough to watch. Yeah. I mean, I don't know what, what is there left to say about this offense after seeing the same thing Pat Shermer at one point said throw, you know, they panted him on the sideline and amateur lip readers thought he was going, throw the ball! And that was when Eli was checking the ball down quite a bit early in the game. Part of that also, some credit goes to the Eagles. Good night for Michael Bennett. Good night for Fletcher Cox. Not a good night for Nate Soder.

No, and good night for Barnett, I think, has been playing better for the Eagles. So they have some good things to feel better about. And the Giants are one in five. And if it's already been ugly, like, where is this going from here? Well, it's going to give Dave Gettleman another chance to draft a quarterback in the top of the draft. Maybe he'll take one this time. All right. So the Giants can no longer delude themselves into thinking they're in the middle of a bad division race.

I don't care that they're only two games back. You're one in five. They're not going to win enough games. And this is going to be their fifth losing season out of six. So this is not a new trend. Let's talk about some games that will hopefully be a little better this week. And for that, let's send it over to Danny Hansis, playing through pain. The Around the NFL podcast.

Wait, I thought this was the broadcast. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hensis. I am joined in a room filled with some heroes. Chris Wesleyan to my left. Greg Rosenthal to my right. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan.

Ah! We lost Greg. Oh. Man down now. What's up, everybody? How are you feeling? I don't feel good. Got the pig aids.

I'm staying on this side of the studio. You went to the doctor and they're like, sorry, Dan, you've got a case of the pig aids. That is my independent theory, but it's an aggressive virus that I am battling through, and it's actually ransacked my entire family now. And that's why I was not on yesterday's show. Wasn't it lovely, you know, Emily's birthday this week because she shares a birthday with Mark or am I, like, mixing things up?

You're mixing things up, sir? Oh. It's it, Dan and Simone? Simone and I have the same birthday. You currently look like, remember the old cartoons when Bugs Bunny would get sick? Yeah. And his eyes would be all bloodshot.

Yeah. And it looked like there's blood draining from them and your face is green. That's what you look like. No, it's a good situation that I have going on right now. It's a good thing we're pre-taping something for Sky Sports right afterwards. Yeah. Well, and the truth is I picked up my phone and I was debating whether to sit out this pot as well.

And then as I picked my phone up, the first message I saw was Mark Sessler saying he had some appointments. So I connected to his past health maladies. And he was not going to be on the show. So I said, well, I can't leave the scientists high and dry. Yeah, that really puts you in a tight spot. So here I am, playing hurt. We appreciate it. Temposi would have been happy to host the show.

She's just trying to take it over. She could have been, she could have done it. She keeps on giving me soup every day. And I've been eating it, but now I'm wondering what she's putting in it. Pam Posey's giving you soup. That's a hot take. Nice. Yeah, I'm sweet.

I just want you to feel better. Oh, thank you, Erica. Okay, so forget about that. That's the NFL season. The only time you're ever 100% week one. And from that point on, it's just about battling through. You're always playing through something. Yeah, you're always got something nagging.

And if you don't, well, you're not giving it your all. Well, the most important ability. Glory boy. Is availability. Yes. You could play for Belichick. Yes. But I never would.

I'm like on the Reggie Wayne All-Stars. It's like, no, football's supposed to be fun, man. Me and Reggie and Eric Decker and all those other guys. Lane Johnson. Lane Johnson. It's like, what's going on over here? Get me out of here. All right.

We're going to go through each of the week six games on Sunday and Monday, including the first London game. I know people are very excited over on the other side of the pond for that. And you heard at the top of the show, our recap of Eagles and Jim, so we're going to now spin forward. You guys want to get into it? Let's do it. Dig in. The rest of week six, and we will start with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming off their bye week.

And yes, it is a different Bucks team now because James Winston is the starting quarterback once more. Ryan Fitzpatrick heads to the bench officially after three and a half games of mostly excellent work. And Winston takes over and goes up against the Falcons team that entered the season with high hopes. But here they are at Wes at 1 and 4. And if they have any chance to stay in the NFC playoff picture, they're going to have to find a way to beat the bucks. Yeah, this is one of those fantasy football start everyone matchups. Everyone in the pool. The Falcons play shootouts in the dome.

And both of these teams have bad defenses. So you're starting Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Sunu, Ridley, Tevin, Coleman. It looks like Freeman is not practicing this week. It's injured again. And then start all your bucks, too, because this is going to be, like, lights out. And you mentioned that the Falcons kind of needing this win.

They've had a home heavy schedule early. They're home again next week. They've already lost two at home, including one in the division to the Saints. I do think you would ultimately stick a fork in them at one in five if they lose at home to a Bucks team who's one of the only defenses in the league that's worse than they are. That even though if you look at the Bucks talent,

especially in the front seven, they got a lot of players. So at some point you've got to think it's the coaching. They have some decent players in the front seven. They should not be this bad. You've been too nice to the Falcons. I forked them two weeks ago. It's fair.

I mean, they lost two basically buzzer-beater games to the Bengals and the Saints in the Saints. They can't stop anyone. That's not a playoff team. Do you think it's just a matter of they lost too many key guys? Yes. And they don't have the depth to fill in the spots. But how about the idea of when you lose key players the way they did,

it's going to take a couple weeks to figure out how your game plan is going to be redirected, a little bit better for the doubt, I guess. Okay, that's fair. But also, you could have done better if you signed maybe the best players available like Eric Reed. Instead, you let your division rival take. I think they could have time to figure it out because I think their coaching staff is good on defense or should be. You can't replace the speed with which Dion Jones and Keanu-Neal played. And this is a very tough matchup for them.

James Winston is getting the start, and I think he's going to be an upgrade from Fitzpatrick. But ultimately, they're very similar players. I was thinking about this. I was writing QB Index, and I'm writing how I think Winston is set up for success. For basically the same reasons that Ryan Fitzpatrick was set up for success. he's the rich man's Fitzmagic. They both have a great... That's generous to Winston.

Well, I mean, just look at what he's done compared to what Fitzpatrick has done over the seasons. Guys, I'm too sick to go out. I don't want to do this. My point is, though, they both see the field. They anticipate... I think they both have a lot of football intelligence, but then they both, they trust their arms a little too much.

They get too aggressive. They're extremely streaky, and they kind of are... They're yolo quarterbacks. I mean, they play every game as if it's their last, and that leads to kind of magic. great streaks and moments, and it leads to them, you know, spectacularly crashing every once in a while. To me, he's like a munson's a more talented Fitzpatrick, and he needs to be better mentally than he was last year. I like the Falcons in this game because they just don't, they don't feel like, to me, they're the team that starts one in five, one and six, two and eight.

I think they're going to figure this thing out and stay in the mix. And I don't like the Bucks at all. And James Winston is a hard guy to root for right now. So this is going to inform my pick as well. But because I like the Falcons, because Matt Ryan has been on my fantasy team for two straight years now, and because the Falcons are going to stay in the NFC playoff picture,

they're just not going to lose at home to the Bucks. And that's why I'm locking them up. Give me that W. Like James Winston, he's going to eat the lock. I'm going to eat the lock. It's a troublesome pick for you. Why, you were just saying how bad the Bucks are. I think the Bucks are the better team right now.

Really? We shall see. If the game was in Tampa, West, I would not be locking that up. But I think they're going to be okay. The Bucks defense is the cure to anyone else's offense. You play the Bucks defense, and everyone after they play the Bucks, you're like, wow, maybe the Bears are getting their season together. They're terrible.

I'm not trying to go down to the lab, but Dan, answer this question. If Brian Fitzpatrick was quarterbacking the Bucks right now, would you lock up the Falcons? Yes. Really? Yes. I think this has got like 42 to 34 written all over it. Oh, I agree with that. So I think the Falcons are going to, because they need.

it so bad the desperate desperate uh teams sometimes can uh step up in a moment so i think what happens here you don't trust der kottors you know excellent buy week adjustments come on mike smith going to get fired after this game that's that's another uh lock it up uh moving on pitts steelers speaking of my falcons i just locked up a team that got four beat 4117 last week by the uh but that's in the past now the steelers head to cincinnati to face the four and one Bengals, who, of course, wiped out a 17-zipped deficit to the dolphins and reeled off 27 straight points. Here's the question, Greg, are the Steelers back on track after that very dominant win over the Falcons? They're headed in the right direction, and they certainly should feel good that especially the Rothesberger and Tony Brown connection was working.

I don't think it was, despite the score, it was similar to a lot of Big Ben games this year where I think he sprinkled in some surprising bad decisions and throws in with his excellent ones. I do feel better about them defensively, and it's because of Mike Hilton. They get him back last week, and it really improved a cornerback group and a secondary that's been their biggest weakness, and he's a good player.

He's in his second year. He can cover the slot that should be a big matchup in this game where Tyler Boyd's been awesome. So I think defensively they should feel better. This is a huge game. I mean, if they lose this game, they are in deep trouble in the AFC North. Yeah, two things make me feel better about the Steelers.

The pass rush was swarming last week against the Falcons. That was an impressive front seven. And Big Ben came out and made an adjustment. He's been playing through an elbow injury, which probably explained why he's missing more throws than just about any quarterback in the NFL. And halfway through last week's game, he decided to throw from a different angle and damn the pain and started he was on fire. So I think that's an encouraging sign that he,

has said he's making that adjustment he's going to play through the pain and not alter his arm angle anymore no one's healthy you know at this point in the season it's like it's like dan he's adjusting his voice i you know the way you did that lock was kind of like he had to do it at a different angle it's kind of like like sidearm just taking it down an octave losing the falsetto so you're doing what big ben was doing two weeks essentially we're both warriors yeah but that's where that's where that's where the uh comparisons end okay that's fair i'll leave it at that this game i I mean, it feels like every time these two teams play, you never know, like, how is Vontes Burfick going to screw up?

How, who's going to get knocked out of the game? Is Big Ben going to be out in the first quarter? Are you saying, Wes, when these two teams get together, throw out the record books? Yes. Is that what you're saying? It is. You can throw out the record books, but the Steelers are still going to win.

I know. I, for no logical reason, just assume that the Steelers are going to show up for this game, because it's strange to imagine a world where the Bengals are five and one. and really in control over Pittsburgh in this division. But I'm hoping that that's the world we're living in. Yeah, I'm not trying to be flippant. The Steelers are definitely going to win this game. But, I mean, historically, throughout the records,

and then it'll be a tight game, and the Steelers will go home the winning team. This is a big game. This is a warm-up for West of this. He loves watching the Steelers beat the Bengals. Les, think about it, though. Very little makes me happier. It puts a pep in my step.

I go around corners. You've got to request it. You've got to cover this on Sunday. Think about it. covering it. Think about it, Wes. Sunday morning, 8 a.m. East Cincinnati.

People waking up. They're pulling up, pulling their Carson Palmer jerseys over their bods, Chad Johnson jerseysons, Chris Henry's, if they have those, and they're getting their tailgate together. And this is a beautiful day in the- Throwing Cornhole. In Ohio, and they're throwing corn, and they got the coolers, and they got the grills out.

And everybody's in great spirits. Little skyline. Yeah, those are good people, right, Wes? Skyline dip for, yeah, appetite. Those are good people, Wes. Those are your people, right? Yes, absolutely. Don't you want to see those people happy at the end of Sunday?

Yeah. I think they have more meaning in their lives than just their favorite football team. I think they are anchored by something more than your family. My family is smart enough not to root for the Bengals. The Cincinnati Bengals are an escape for your people. Yes. Let them escape to happiness. All right.

I tell you what, stop throwing beer cans on the other team's quarterback when he's being carted off the field. then you can be happy. All right. I thought I had him there, Greg. I know that you touched me. I'm ruined for it. This fan base has behaved abhorrently in Steelers matched up. Come on, all fan bases have their Jack the Ripper moments.

Moving on the Los Angeles Chargers. Oh, whoopty-do. Three and two. Back-to-back wins over. Ooh, the 49ers. Oh, the Raiders. Who else do they beat? Ooh, the Bills.

Kidding me? 10-point losses to the Chiefs and Rams. And now they go to Cleveland. Now, this is a good matchup, Greg, because I learned nothing about the Chargers in the first five weeks. They could beat bad teams and they get beat by good teams. Here's a team that's kind of right in the middle. They're a team that's maybe on the verge of being a good team,

but I'm not ready to kind of push them there for good. Go beat the Browns on the road. Go do it if you're a good team, Chargers. It's a tough matchup. Wes was talking about on Wednesday's podcast that Cleveland is now a tough place to go and score points against this Greg Williams' defense, which is very multiple, which is tough to prepare for. They confuse Drew Bree.

So you can't say that, you know, Philip Rivers, he'll figure it all out. They ran some things against Drew Breeze in New Orleans that. Greg Williams. Cooked him up. Greg Williams did. Triple G. Maybe we should start giving Greg Williams a little bit of love because we've been killing that guy in this show for a couple of years.

I don't give awful human beings so much love. But you said you haven't learned anything. I've learned some things about the Chargers. Number one. Mike Williams is a baller. and he adds something to that offense, that the offense still revolves around the running backs, but Anthony Lynn has seen the light.

And we talked about this a little bit late last season, but I saw it in the Raiders game, 26 to 10, five minutes left, first down. The Raiders had just scored a touchdown, and Philip Rivers throws on first down to the outside. It's not that big of a deal in theory, but you could even hear it in Greg Gumbull's voice. He was like, and Philip River,

hell, he's dropping back to pass on first down. And it's like, all right. It's a good guble. It's a good guble. It's like, all right. Anthony Lynn knows that you've got to be aggressive. And it's safer to be aggressive in today's NFL when you have Phillip Rivers. And they're an aggressive offensive team.

I love coaching epiphanies. That's awesome. But the charges are coming in feeling all high and mighty. They beat the Raiders. Just like the Ravens. Just like the Ravens were feeling all high and mighty beating the Steelers. And then you go into Cleveland. And Dan, I'm telling you, the chances of them, there is a chance above Z.

0.5% that they go undefeated at home this year. They have not lost at home. They are extremely tough to be in that building. Come on, man. Are you saying what I think you're saying? The odds are above 0.5% that they go undefeated at home. Well, I'm going to look at their schedule. They got the Chiefs in week nine.

That's going to be a tough one. The Falcons, the Panthers, and the Bengals. I didn't say it was going to be easy. I'm not saying the odds are great. I'm just saying when you're undefeated, there are odds that say you can stay undefeated. So you're doing, obviously, you're going to, you know. I thought you were, yeah, your octave was raising here that how much you enjoyed this Brown. I know you're 5 and 0. No, I got another one queued up. All right. I'm telling you,

you just said they're going to run the table. Come on. You're going to take care of the chargers in your own building? I'm not going to lock against the chargers. They're too good. Wow. I respect their offense too much. What do we think of Baker Mayfield, by the way? I love him. I love him. Those scene throws in a two-minute drill going into, yeah, going into halftime last week, And then the ability to make plays, the confidence that he instills in his teammates, keep the play alive like he did in overtime on that drive. I just love watching.

I don't think it's too early to say, I'll be surprised if he's anything less than an above-average quarterback. And I'd be surprised if he's not a star. He just his decisiveness mentally that he's going through the reads and he's quick with his decisions. He's getting people. He just looks like an NFL quarterback and he's so accurate. If you were a Browns fan, and I said you could sign off on Baker Mayfield being Jeff Garcia, would you take it? No. No.

No. Okay. Because I think I'd be at the— You're all the dice. I'm giving you Jeff Garcia. Not good enough. I know. If I'm a Browns fan, I'm thinking this is going to be a top five, top seven.

Not Brown's Jeff Garcia. Jeff Garcia was not the number one overall draft pick. I mean, this guy, I don't know. There's nothing I don't like. about it. I want more. Moving on, the Buffalo Bills. Everyone expects the bills to lose every week, but here we are

entering week six. They're two and three after knocking off Titans by a point. They now travel to Houston to face the Texans who just got by the Cowboys at home on Sunday night football. Ooh, that game. That was a rough one. And now we have

a Texans team with a chance to get back to 500, Chris Wesleying. They're going to do it, right? Yes. Yes. I feel very good about this one. I could not look at myself in the mirror and take the Texans. I rewatched that game against the Cowboys. As a lock. And I agree with Jerry Jones that the better team won. The Texans were the better team. They botched some opportunities in the red zone. They missed a field goal. I feel like the Texans were clearly the better team in that game. Their defensive front seven is coming together. Clowny's coming off his best game. J.J. Watt is playing like old J.J. Watt. And their offense is moving the ball through the air. Maybe if Lamar Miller is healthy, that would help them move it on the ground as well. I mean, if you lose to the bills right now, that's on you. They ran the ball 43 times last week and passed at 20. LaShawn McCoy did look great, so that's a positive.

I think he really ran well, and so they have something on offense. But Josh Allen is lost. I think anyone that was rooting against Josh Allen and was just saying there's no chance he'll be ready that he needs time, like they've, they're being proven right right now. They could not be a worse passing attack. They could not be more basic. And he just goes to his first read. And a lot of times when he throws the ball,

there are multiple receivers on the play who look back at him and are like raising their hands. That's a bad sign. They're like, hey, what's that? What's going on, Josh? This is the case. And you don't have to second guess this one because a lot of people thought it

that when the bills took him, it was like, hey, this guy has all the tools, the size, the arm, and all that. He just needs some time. They're putting him in a terrible spot. And what they did, they set themselves up to make him play and he's lasting completion percentage yards per attempt touchdown interception ratio passer rating he's completely a train wreck well and they signed

derrick anderson this week and it sounded like they were billing it as a mentor situation somebody to bounce ideas off of but it also seems to me like hey if this guy doesn't pull out of a tailspin throw somebody with experience to to you know absorb a few games of losses while we figure things out give me a break bill the man has been And all the criticism they took over how they handled this is warranted because they're just, the whole thing has just been mismanaged. J.J. Watt and T.J. Watt, along with Gino Ackins, lead the league with six sacks. That's fun.

They're having a sack off. That's a fun thing for their family. Oh, of course. Hey, boys. How do you think the quality of life is in the Watt family? I think it's a lot better for JJ than it was the last couple years. I mean, I'm happy to, as a fan and just to watch them every week at this level is great because he had to be miserable.

Both the last two years. I mean that in a very positive way. Yeah. This guy raised $40 million for the city of Houston, too. Like, he's got to be feeling great about himself. He's good. He's a good dude. He's doing what he loves.

And if you remember on Hard Knocks, he has a log cabin. That is kind of like a bro paradise. And I think he's like one of the ultimate bros. So he's broan out. But back then, though, he was sort of lost and really looking for female companionship. And now he's got, you know, I don't know if he's engaged, but, you know, he's, dating that pro soccer player for a long time he found love i mean i'm just saying it's all coming together for justin james good for him all right and what about that clothing one let's not you know

let's not talk about the clothing one let's move on quality wear the chicago bears first place in the nfc north and why not because they are the team of around the nfl three game winning streak they embarrassed the Tampa bay bucks going into thereby with a 38 point win now they travel to Miami to face the dolphins and Greg the dolphins let's be honest anybody that doubted the dolphins they're feeling pretty good about themselves right now because the last two weeks have not been pretty are you talking about yourself I mean I'm not alone but no amongst that yeah you totally discounted their first three weeks and you were right uh to this point and this is the wrong matchup for Ryan tannahill to end a skid yeah it is I mean they are here's a great

I like when stats match up with what you see. They've had 31 chances at 3rd and 7 or long this season. They've converted four of those. They are the worst team to watch on 3rd and long because Ryan DeAnnehill throws at 2 yards every single time. And you just can't play like that, and you're going to have situations like that against the Bears who are just as complete a defense.

I don't know if they're the best defense or not, but I think they're the most complete, that you are going to have to really earn every yard, every drive. They're not going to make mental mistakes. last week's loss was on the offensive line depth for the for the dolphins and this has been an issue since we've started this podcast the dolphins cannot ever find good guard play they it's hard to find any kind of consistency a tackle laramie tonsill goes out with a concussion and it's a jailbreak situation the bengals defensive line takes over for 20 minutes game over after dolphins had controlled that game and if they can't figure out their offensive line against the bears come on two things two things i'm excited about for for this game, both on the bear side because there's nothing I can possibly get excited about about the Miami Dollars.

Kenyon Drake, he's fun. Sure. Play him. Number one, Mitch Trubisky. I'm really interested to see how he follows up the six touchdown game. Of course, he's not going to throw six more touchdowns, but can he string together multiple games

where he looks like what he was, which is, what, a number two overall pick two years ago. I'm very interested to see how he looks against a good Miami defense. And number two, Tari Cohen, who was, A total badass, when finally given the opportunity to have a real role in the game plan, I think he had, what, 175 plus total yards, a touchdown. Where does the offense, where does Matt Nagy and that offense settle in with Cohen and Jordan Howard?

Is he now, is Cohen a permanent fixture in this offense, or is that more a blip I'm interested to see? And I'm sure many fantasy owners are as well. Nagy spoke on that. Nagy spoke on that and said Jordan Howard still has a role. he's not frustrated he's still going to be that was just basically a one game thing for treakone is how he needs to be a big part of it i mean i agree keep howard involved but but neggy's feeling him feeling himself as he should be i mean when you're running multiple plays where you put chase daniel and tribisky on the field together just to be kind of like a big uh i mean if i'm the

if i'm mike smith in that last game and i'm seeing they're trotting out chase daniel for trick plays you got to you got to feel you got to feel a little low why would it's tough why would Cohen be a one game thing if he blows up and it's the one game where Chubisky looks like a guy that you can really build the offense around? Wouldn't you want to build off that? Yeah, I said before that game they need to get Tariq Cohen more involved. But I don't, he's not like a 20 touch guy every week. No. Okay, moving on. The, oh, did you have something, Erica? Yeah, I mean, just talking with Mark, he said like that the Dolphins. Wait, you were talking about Mark? Yeah. You got to play his music when you talk about Mark. Oh, right. Okay, hold on.

So I was just, you know, chatting with Mark earlier, and he said there's a good chance the dolphins are going to beat the three-and-one bears. Not to prove that the dolphins aren't the real deal, but to prove that the Trubisky's six touchdown was a fluke. They're at home, and if we're looking at quarterback hotness, Tantanhill is greater than Trubisky. So Mark... I take that as a personal shot at me.

is going to lock up the dolphins at home. Interesting. Now, is this coming from Mark or is this coming from you? Text from Mark. Yeah, I disagree maybe, but I don't know. I believe that's the first time anyone on the show has ever locked up the dolphins. They were the last remaining team to be locked up. Really?

Someone said that on a previous podcast, not too long. Well, no longer is that the case. I mean, shots fired against Trubisky looks finally. Yeah, Wes has some similarities facially to Trubisky, so read between the lines there. I don't think so, Wes. My age, like 17, 18 pictures look almost dead on Mitch Trubisky. Wes's age 17 season.

But Tanna Hill is like, you know, a piece of wonder bread. It's not like any people say. That guy looks, yeah. It's like a cardboard cutout. When did the hair go, Wes? I told you. I could still grow it, but I got too lazy to leave Tybee Island to go to a barbershop.

Well, it was like age 28 season that it started out? No, I would say I was. starting to go about 420 in the power alleys when I was in my mid-30s. So you mean by the temples and started going out a little bit? The power alleys just started getting deeper and deeper. Yeah, you say you can grow it, but you can't see where it comes. Dan has goaded me on a few times just for experiment's sake, and it wasn't pretty. For all you guys that are phallically challenges, this is, you know, I feel for you guys.

And I will say that if you want to, if you're going to go bald, if you're going to go bald, if you're really means a lot to. You probably want to go in the power alleys more than the crop circle in the back. Yes, I agree with that. Either way, it's not a death sentence. As Wes is, you know, we see with Wes, who found a beautiful princess in Lakeisha. Yes, thank you. You can, you can find love as a bald man. Yeah, you wear it well.

I wouldn't want to see you with hair. You look natural, natural like that. No hair pieces. Well, I made it deal with myself when I was young because my dad's bald. I was never going with the, like as soon as it started. Yeah, the worst. The combover's out. You can't do that.

Yeah, the worst is fighting it too long. LeBron's done it, and he's probably got some fake stuff in there now. But he's been fighting, you know, he's... Also, don't go to the Erlacher route. You don't want to do that. Well, you can't go ball then all of a sudden have hair again. Yeah. Like what you...

If you do, it's got to come back glory. Or it wasn't worth it. You can do it if you're paid, like, an insane amount of money like Dion Sanders and Erlacker are. I assume for whatever they're doing. Okay. The Cardinals are one and four. They finally got a win last week against... CJ Beatherd and the 49.

By the way, it's funny Mark locked up against the team of ATL with the bad team. I'm pretty sure Mark had nothing to do with it. He just let Erica pick a team. That's not true. No, the reasoning sounded very. Mark is not a Trubisky fan. He's not.

Huh. And you know it irritated him. It got on his radar when people were celebrating Trubisky for beating the Buccaneers. So that's not your pick? He said, you can pick anyone you want. Great. I am fine if we lose,

but pick someone sexy. So I took it literally and took Amandola. Oh, okay. Okay, there you go. See? Oh, so that wasn't a text from him? Well, we talked about it. Okay.

The Cardinals, one and four, they now travel to Minnesota to face the Vikings who got a much-needed victory in Philadelphia, a really important win for that team, Wes. So Ken Kirk Cousins and those star-wide receivers, keep on, keep it on against the cards. I think this is a tough matchup. The Cardinals defense is playing pretty well.

Chandler Jones playing like an animal again. Patrick Peterson playing as well as he ever has at cornerback. I just think this is a tougher matchup. The Vikings offensive line has allowed by far the most pressures in the NFL. I think the Vikings are going to win because Cousins, Stefan Diggs and Adam Thielen, are too good to stop. But I think it's a tough match. It's a tougher matchup than people realize when the Vikings have the ball. The problem is the Cardinals get to have the ball, too.

And Josh Rosen actually impressed me of his willingness to make tough throws and his ability to be accurate, but they are fighting uphill. They are not a good offense, and they're on the road. Yeah, I just meant on that one side of the ball. It was a tougher matchup than people think. But I think the Vikings' defense against the Cardinals' offense, that's clearly a mismatch. It's interesting because you mentioned Patrick Peterson.

The Cardinal staff took a lot of credit. I mean, a lot of criticism I saw on the Twitterverse of like, oh, you know, what is this Cardinal staff? They don't know what they're doing. You know, Patrick Peterson's no longer trailing number one receiver is not doing as much man as before. And these guys don't know what they're talking about. And he's playing better than he's ever played.

He's playing awesome. I'm not PFF. I'm not like grading every cornerback on every play, but he's number one on my list this year. That's the only list that matters. Who needs PFF? Did you say Twitterverse? That's a thing.

I know. I just didn't think you used it. I don't know if I had before. The Indianapolis Colts are 1 and 4, and they're on a three-game losing streak, and they could not keep pace with the Patriots on Thursday night. And now they travel to the Meadowlands to face my beloved New York Jets, who finally got their season going back in the right direction

against the Broncos with a total effort on offense, getting 300 rushing yards as a team. Sam Darnold threw three touchdowns. So now, Greg, the question is, can the Jets build off that win? Or are the Colts in, what do we call it, when the team is really desperate? We hire straight?

No, we had a term we were using last year. Remember? A wounded animal game. One in four, a wounded animal game. I mean, they're a little too wounded, though. It's a dead animal game? Right. trap closed down on them and like someone let them out but they're just kind of like

dragging you know broken legs on the side of the highway they got a bad team i don't think they're that bad but they're hurt i'm talking about a raccoon you know put them down sam thorn yeah right put them to the back of the head i think i wanted to get the exact number but i think they were still down nine starters uh on wednesday's practice par for the course so they they're just they're just hurt i think that they'll play tough and i don't know what the colts the jets are as a team in general. They're a very tough team to figure out week to week. But one thing they do well, and especially last week with Todd Bulls calling the plays,

they do a good job generating pressure of confusing the opposition with different blitzes and ways to get at the quarterback without necessarily being one-on-one. And that sounds like a good recipe against the cults who are struggling up front. Their roster is like a tag team battle royale right now. It's like the September guys go out of the training room and tag in the October guys. Costanzo and Marlon Mac expect to be back this week. That's a positive. Those guys matter.

Eric Ebron's not practicing with four different injuries. What? He's listed with four different injuries. That's why Roder World listed as as parentheses, entire body. I was like, what does that mean? But I guess that's why. That's awesome. And Ebron's been their Red Zone guy.

Like, that's Andrew Lux's go-to guy whenever they need a touchdown. Shin quad ankle knee. Maybe Eric Ebron needs to retire. Entire leg. He's got like one of those body casts. I do think if you're a Jets fan, though, you have to be worried Andrew Luck looks better every week. Can the, like, the Colts actually sustain offense?

Can either of these teams? The Jets are kind of a feast or famine offense. Can they keep the ball going? I say, Croel, not practicing this week after the best game of his career. Right. And there's more issues for the Jets because two weeks ago, remember all those shallow crosses that Blake Borels was completing with ease against the Jets.

So I'm not ready to say that we have a new football. no-fly zone at the Meadowlands. Plus, Tremaine Johnson is going to miss another game. And so far, that's been a bust signing, by the way. He wasn't playing out before he got hurt. And Buster's screen has another concussion. So there's a good chance they'll be down two of their top three corners. Yikes.

I think this is setting up to be a situation where the Colts are going to score points. And then I have to wonder if the Jets can keep pace if Andrew Luck is having a good game. And I'm not feeling great about it. So I think this is a tough game for the Jets because they're simply not. good enough to really be a heavy favorite against anyone. So I thought about it. It would be fun to lock up the Jets, but any time I do that, it blows up.

So I stayed away from it. And then the more I look at the game, the more I think the Jets could be in trouble. And, yeah, the Colts did get two defensive starters back on Thursday. Clayton Gathers their safety, who's very good in Darius Leonard. So those are two good players. And the Colts need to figure out a way to not have Andrew Luck throw the ball 60 times.

He is on pace. It's funny, coming off that shoulder injury, to set the all-time record in attempts in the NFL. And he's leading the league right now. We are on to London. Is it already almost a month and a half? Since the round of the NFL podcast, touchdown on British soil. It is.

And what a time we had. Wes was at the time of our lives? Absolutely. It sure was. Greg. No doubt. I think it was the best week of work. I ever had.

I would second that. There's no question. What was that great chicken joint on our block? Oh, Mandoos. Nandoos? Nandoz. Nando's chicken. That's...

I mean, that wasn't at the top of my memories, but I loved it. It was good. Nando's chicken. That wrap, Maron, with the crisps. Anyway, love London. I wish everyone could have seen Dan's face right now. Suddenly, he, like, came to, and he just says, like, wait, I'm not in. Nando's right now.

I went to Nando's like four times and I would just sit by myself and be like, yep, this is culture. The Seattle Seahawks travel. This was the game we were supposed to go to, by the way. It was. You remember that?

Yes, it was. These games are all going to be played. There's going to be three games over three weeks. Played at Wembley Stadium. First game, Seattle Seahawks at two and three coming off that narrow loss of the Rams. That would have been such a big win for the Seahawks. They couldn't close it out.

though. Now they travel to London to face the Raiders who stink, let's face it. They're one and four. They just got outclassed by the Chargers. Wes, is this a game that you think the Seahawks are going to cruise through? Probably not, right? They can't do that against anybody.

I don't think the Seahawks cruise, and the Raiders usually lose after hanging tough. So I would not say that. I do like what Seattle's doing. It's weird. I believe they've only passed on about 43% of their downs the past few weeks. they are the run heaviest team in the league right now

with Chris Carson and Mike Davis. So it'll be interested to see that against the Raiders defense that I think is weaker against the past than the run. And it is strange in 2018 where like third and two is a running down for the Seahawks or third and three. There's just not many teams doing that. And Chris Carson, he runs as hard as anyone in the league. I mean, he's a worthy, if he could ever stick around,

successor to the lineage of Marshaun Lynch. And this is the first time we're getting Marshaun Lynch. against the Seahawks. And Thomas Roles. What? What about Thomas? I mean, nobody ran harder than Thomas Roles for like six months. Thomas Roles was one of the great fantasy pickups for about three weeks until he broke his leg.

The Seahawks, I kind of am smelling the Seahawks being a potential playoff team. I think they have some things coming together. Their offensive line is not bad. They're running the ball. They're blowing up holes. They're protecting Russell Wilson a little better than before. And I like when fans really complain about one thing as if they know better. than the coaching staff, and then they prove to be right?

That's like the entire Packers fan base. Right, but they proved to be right. Everyone was complaining, all the Seahawks fans, 12s, how come we don't do any play action passing? How come we don't, you know, it's insane how little play action. So they roll out last week, they do a bunch of play action passing, and you know what? It worked like gangbusters.

Wasn't there a football league that was going to have the fans call the plays? XFL? No, I believe. There was one. The XFL. Aren't they bringing that back? I think so, yeah. That was my Vince McMahon, though.

That was good. The Oxfow. That's up there with Greg's Gumble. Nobody touches Greg's Gumble. Any other thoughts about this game, gentlemen? The Raiders' tackles are bad. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Derek Carr is playing so poorly. It's a tough match.

Two rookie tackles. Who gets, either of these coaches get left and left? I love the Ciox. If I had really thought about it, I would have locked this game up. But, oh, well. You know, a coach sometimes gets left in London. Too late. No.

I mean, it's a little early. Imagine the Raiders fired John Gruden in London. They were one of the teams that left a coach in London. It was Dennis Allen, right? Yeah, the Dolphins did it as well. It's like the bizarre move. Gruden just leaves his whole team in London. Right.

I think he calls up Monday night football. He says, he says like, this Witten's a joke. That's your Gruden? I don't even know. I don't remember. I was like, flying too close to the sons. I had to think. Kid Icarus over here.

It's like. Heat check. This Witten. I don't even remember. Oh, my God, you're still doing it? Did you just turn Gruden in New York? I was like, what does John Gruden sound like? You got to, it's kind of just intense.

I tell you, man. It's intensity, yeah. I love this game. I'm glad I brought you into the mix. It made me look better. The Carolina Panthers are three and one, and they look good. They feel good. Everyone's excited about the Panthers.

Most of all, Greg Rosenthal. This Cam Newton, he will take you down. Sounds like John Grunton. accountant, travels to Washington Landover to be exact, face. The Redskins who are coming off, I mean, if you want to pick a most pitiful team of week five, might be the Redskins. Didn't even look

competitive against the Saints. So Greg, this all sets up for another Panthers victory, but maybe the Redskins just had a bad week last week. We shouldn't get too worked up. I think the Redskins are going to be in the mix all year, and these are two teams that almost try to play close games because they want to run the ball. And I think the

the Panthers fans have to be excited because the team should get better. The fact that Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore were working more into the mix last week makes me excited to watch this Panthers offense moving forward. This is a fun team to watch right now. And I love how the roster set up. They have more than any team in the league. I believe they have six starters age 33 or older now that Greg Olson is practicing fully again. And they have five regulars age 22 or younger.

But the bulk of the team is like Luke. Keeckley, Cam Newton right in the prime. They are like a really well-balanced team, and they're fun to watch. I loved watching that Giants game. North Turner's been pretty creative. I do like watching them. And Cam, I like that they haven't gone away from his running value at all. It's kind of an obvious point to make, but in games like last week, when he's running over guys

on third and three and a couple other runs, he had. He had so much value as a runner. It just, I don't think it can be overstayed. stated what a difference that he makes doing that. All right. Cam Newton completion percentage check, Wes. They had to go down. He didn't play well last week.

We are now through four games, so quarter of the season for him. 65.1%. Excuse me, 65.4%. I mean, that's by far his career high. That's a moral victory. Yeah, he's below 59% for his career entering this year. This is the Josh Norman revenge game. Oh, good point.

They'll want to expose that. Jay Gruden, I think, trying to help out his guy was saying Norman's been fighting through a heel injury, which makes it difficult for him to even put a shoe on this year. It seems like a problem if you're trying to play high-level football. I'm sitting in this chair and doing a podcast today. Sweatting like a motherfucker. I mean, you sweat a lot even when you're healthy.

I know, but this is like, I think I'm running like a mile or something on the track and then sitting down in the studio. I might just, this might be the day I die, and this is how I'm going to go. I thought you were going to say, like, you're, you might leave right now. The two of us are not going to do what you think I'm going to do. All right, moving on the Los Angeles Rams are 5 and 0, the only undefeated team in the NFC. They look to keep that streak going against the Denver Broncos, who are a long way off from 2 and 0 now.

They've lost three straight games, including an ugly effort. Jersey last week. Wes, we know the Rams are one of the best, if not the best team in the NFL. Where are the Broncos right now? They are tailspin central, spinning out of control. And I know they do play much better at home. On the road under Vance Joseph, they have some of the biggest apocalypses like one like they did last week.

But at home, you saw it. And effort was embarrassing on defense. You saw what they did against the chiefs at home. That was a game. The Chiefs had to come back to win, and yet I still can't pick against the Rams because I respect their coaching staff so much. I just don't see, like, Sean McVeigh having a letdown,

and he's optimistic about Cooper Cup and Brandon Cook's playing this week, so we'll see on that one. But so far it looks like it's got a good chance to happen. McVeigh's amazing. Just how he can adjust in game that you lose Cooper Cup and Brandon Cook's in the game. You've run pretty much the same personnel package, all year, but then you adjust on the fly, start putting two tight ends in, transfer to the running game,

let Todd Gurley finish it out for you. And oh, by the way, Josh Reynolds, who comes in at wide receiver, you just have a Josh Reynolds drive. Like, this guy's barely played all season. And then you have a drive where it's three straight plays, all the Josh Reynolds, one of them being a running play for 50 yards. And it's like he steps in and it almost didn't, it felt for a second like it didn't matter. They lost those two wide receivers. It's crazy. I know it's early, but I'd be so surprised if the Rams aren't the NFC representative. I think they're that good. I think they're one of the most balanced teams we've seen in a long time and not just

balance like a steady balance of a team. No, they have great defense, great offense, special teams, everything. This team looks great to me. I think this team's going to cruise. I'll be surprised if they don't have home field advantage. But then you've got to get back to me in January and see it's a different thing trying to win a two-game tournament. at home it's not easy they do have some weaknesses i mean they're giving up points

marcus peters is a problem right now i don't know if he's healthy or not but he's given up his eyes are in the backfield too much a ton of big plays last couple weeks mark baron just came off the you know injured list for the first time about a year and a half did not had a terrible game a week ago i don't know if it's just he's getting back up to speed so they've had some issues defensively the biggest weakness on that team is a potential injury to jared goff because they don't have a backup quarterback um moving on the jackson Villanville Jaguars travel to Big D to face the Cowboys. The Cowboys now two and three.

They need a W in the worst way. And now we have the Jaguars coming to town. And Greg, the Jags could not keep up with the Chiefs last week, 30 to 14 loss. But Dallas feels like a good team for them to get right against. They do because defensively it's just hard for, you know, when the Jaguars are on defense. They're not forcing enough turnovers. Until last week, they did pick off Mahomes, but they're playing good team defense. It's just kind of hard to imagine the Cowboys. They're going to putting together good drives against Jacksonville, because the Jaguars

make you earn it. They make you work down the field slowly. They do not really give up big plays. The Cowboys have no ability to make big plays. It's just like, make a decision, Scott Linehan, on who your wide receivers are. You have five receivers last week who played between 23 and 37 snaps. You basically have five, like, number three or four receivers. I know that's what they are, quality-wise, but it's like, make a decision. Who are your guys? The biggest.

What, he doesn't have any guys. Yeah. Just pick some, though. Pick some. Cole Beasley should be one of your guys. Let him play a little more. He's giving everybody a chance to show something, and nobody's flashing. He's in a tough spot.

Talking about an offense. Make a decision. In which the best big playthreat is a tight-hand screen to Jeff Swain. Yikes. I mean, come on. This is a field goal offense in a touchdown league. And Tyron Smith got worked over pretty good. last week. Granted he was going up against

JJ Watt for the most part and Jedevin Clowney but you're not used to seeing that and he has another tough matchup this week. I do, I want to see how Blake Bortles does against a pretty good defense. I got to talk to you about your QB index. Yeah, I knew you were going to say that. You want to die on that hill?

It's not a hill. He said he was to fight anyone who disagrees with these opinions and one of them was Blake Bortles is playing better. I'm just saying, okay, here's the opinion. He's better. He's not good.

I said he's not even average. He's settled in, though, at a point where he's probably better than about 10 starters out there. He's definitely better on short passes. He has better touch than he did a couple years ago. He pushes the ball down the field. He pushes the ball down the field. He has the right receivers for that. He's just not the Albatross cipher that he used to be.

He's just kind of like a not very helpful quarter. Well, more accurately, he's the Albatross cipher some weeks, and you've got to guess which weeks are they're going to be. Because you never know when they're going to happen. Right. And you have to win three or four games in January and February to win a Super Bowl. He never puts together that many games in a run. No. And I think it's a wrong model that you're counting on a defense to win a Super Bowl. You're going to need him to carry you at points. I'm not saying he's going to do that.

I'm just saying if you look at every analytics, every metric, even the way I do QB Index, he kind of settles in over the last year and now five games somewhere between, depending on which ones you look at, roughly around 20 to 22 or 3. I'm just saying he's kind of, you know what, though? He's a poor man, Cam Newton. To West's point, destitute. He's kind of an index breaker. He's an indexed buster.

Because you don't know which one's going to show up. There's no one version of him. It's just a Jekyll and Hyde situation. Yeah, you think you're grading Blake Bortles, but you're really grading four different quarterbacks who show up at different times in different places. You should put both of them on the lip. Just put one at last.

It's not a bad idea. By the way, the Cowboys. The bad games are less frequent, I feel like. They're about one every four or five now. Well, he's got three bad games out of five this year. I don't count that. To Wes's point that this is a field goal team in a touchdown league, the Cowboys are averaging 16 and a half points a game in 2018 NFL.

Marron. They totally, totally have botched this whole season. So what's the over under this week? 12, I mean, at best. They are not going to score more than 14 points, I would think. Geez. It's a lot of Brett Merrifton. Another team I wish I locked up.

This is a gambling advice, but, you know, bang the under. All right, that kind of was. Look at that. I like that. That would seem like advice. If you say, if you preface the sentence with this isn't something, you can say whatever you want. Moving on, the Baltimore Ravens are three and two. Got beat by the Browns.

Get used to it. This game has me excited. New world. New world order. Really? For the AFC North. And now the Ravens travel to Tennessee to face the titoons who are licking their wounds after that grizzly 13, 12, 7th. back against the Buffalo Bills West.

It's a battle to two of the top five defenses in the league. Speaking of a bang in the under. Yeah, two West teams here. These are two teams I've liked off and on for a while. Poor Nick Williams ostracized. How do you say whisked away to the woods or the cornfields? The cornsfields. Drop the touchdown last week and dropped another pass too or fumbled or whatever.

Anyway, cut this week. Just gone. They go. They really need a reliable guy opposite Corey Davis, and I thought for a minute maybe they could sign Des Bryant, and then I saw a video of Des Bryant running. What? You were not convinced what was wrong with the video?

Was it like the animal Greg was referring to on the side of the road? He looked like a 37-year-old tight end. Okay, it's probably not going to get it done. Yeah, I don't think anybody's signing Des. I mean, Des should be in this game as a member of the Ravens. It's insane to think back that he turned down three years for $24 million. That is all-time, all-time. time, bad decision.

And it worked out for the rate, although Michael Crabtory's not really even helping the Ravens that much, but ultimately he's going to be a better player. Yeah. I'm surprised you're so excited for this game, but I guess they are your type of thing. Mario, Mario's got to win some games from the pocket. I think the bills had a really good

game playing against him. They took away. Yeah. They took away the running game, Marioada's running game last week. They did a good job kind of containing him and they didn't have enough. My question when I watch the Titans is why even bother acting like Marcus Marriota as a pocket quarterback. Okay, that's another way to do it.

I think you have to coach around. He's always better on the run, and I think he's better when plays break down. Like last week they did pretend that. He has the potential to be the most effective running quarterback in the league outside of Cam Newton. When he's running, they are dangerous. The Ravens are a lot less fun to watch when Bad Joe Flacco is back, by the way. And I know you give the Browns lot of credit for his struggles last week, but.

I didn't think Flacco was that bad. Really? I don't miss throws. I didn't like the way he played at all. Some drops. He's been okay this year. This is a tough matchup. He's been downright good this year.

Yeah. He's been a good quarterback. I agree. I mean, on balance, I think he's had a really good season. But, yeah, this is, who do you got in this game, Wes? Where is it, Tennessee? It's in Tennessee. I'm going Tennessee.

I love the way they play at home. They have a different energy at home than they do on the road. Jayon Brown's been playing really well for them. Yes, he has. Let's move on to Sunday night football, almost impossibly. The NFL scheduling people decide that Pats get two home games in a row in primetime. So the Chiefs get on a plane. Totally happened many times.

And 5'0. And wouldn't this game be better in Kansas City? Come up. So you're saying that the NFL should change the home away formula for the entire league? I think for the Patriots and primetime, I'm being totally honest here. Most Patriots primetime games stink. because the Patriots just wallop these teams. Put them on the road, you're going to get a better game.

Well, they're not going to wallop the 5-0 chiefs, don't you think? I don't think they will, but that's beside the point. I just don't like them having a back-to-back home games. I don't like the Patriots. Sorry, Erica. It's not personal. It's okay. Anyway.

We just woke Erica. Yeah, a great Sunday night matchup here, Greg. Some people call it the QB of tomorrow against the QB of today. Mahomes, Brady. Wow. That according to our research notes. I didn't know that. It kind of works, though.

I like it. Oh, it works. If you extend the analogy a little further, I'm going to go big picture here. Okay. The Patriots were always that team that everyone kind of copied, that there was a, oh, what are they doing? They're ahead of the league. Whatever trend they kind of start the year doing, then a lot of teams follow. The chiefs are that team now.

I mean, Tony Romo talked, this isn't an original idea. Tony Romo talked about it. during the Chiefs Jaguars telecasts, everyone's copying the Chiefs. Everyone looks at what the Chiefs did in the first couple weeks of the season, and they're just running the Chiefs plays. And the Chiefs are still rolling out some new ones. But to me, that's a testament to Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes and everything cool. Is there a higher compliment in the league?

That's what I mean. It's amazing that, you know, everyone's copying the Chiefs. You know what they're not copying? Their defense, though, because they're dead last in football. No. And that's problematic. They're one side. On the road against Tom Brady.

against an offense that got healthy last week and finally looked like, okay, we've got outside receiver and Josh Gordon, we've got a chain mover and Julian Edelman, we've got Gronk, we've got Sony Michelle running through big holes. This is an offense that's feeling itself right now. Are we feeling better about Sony Michelle after the last two weeks? I'll say this. He runs hard, but I'm not picking on him.

He doesn't beat people to the edge. Watch Joe Mixen play. Watch Sequin Barkley play, and they're dead to run. rights in the backfield instead they bounce that i'll beat a guy to the edge sony michel's not doing that it doesn't mean he won't do that in the future maybe it's not his game to use the barclay comparison though i think one thing michel does that barclay doesn't is he takes five and six yard gains he he hits the hole right away sure yeah and that's and that's maybe what the patriots as a patrick what did barkley ever have to hit he he sometimes is looking for the big play and i think he's talked

about it too i'm not trying to compare it to i'm just saying michel's taking what's there and he doesn't waste any time and they could they that's kind of what they need they have james white oh and it's fixed their running game whatever they're doing is working and to me this is i love this patria's matchup against the chief's defense i did too but you know you got to play defense against kansas city and if the patriots can't get much pass rush on andrew luck which they couldn't it's like what are they going to do with patrick mahomes they've been protecting mahomes really well and you're just worried that they're just going to carve them up they lost their best guard for the season oh that's right

Duverne Tardief. Oh, yeah. Dr. Tardee. Dr. Tardee from McGill, my brother's alma mater. That's a big loss for them. They've been playing really well, and he had got a big long-term extension. No, Justin Houston this week, it looks like. Some breaks.

And you know who's been playing? We haven't mentioned on the show at all. Jason McCordy and Stefan Gilmore are a really good cornerback tandem. And it does get me thinking that the Patriots try a lot of these low-cost trades. And right now the sixth round pick for McCordy and whatever they gave up for Josh Gordon are paying some serious dividends. And then get excited, Danny. Things are looking up at Foxborough.

It was dark for a few weeks, but they're looking. I was actually just thinking if Mahones goes there on Sunday night football and lights him up. He's going to. It's going to be in the 30s. I'm hoping that. I'm hoping the Patriots are in the 30s to match him. Think about this. Let's look at the worst case scenario.

All right. If the Chiefs go in there and win, they're going to get a buy. It's over. They get a buy. The Pats would be three and three. So they would have a three game lead and the tiebreaker. It's over. Jacksonville, as you know, also as a tiebreaker on the Pats,

that streak of buys, which is at what, eight years now, will be in serious jeopardy if they lose. No doubt. This game. So it's kind of a sneaky huge game. Especially for the Chiefs, weirdly, because I think they'll have such a big edge for home field advantage and a buy over everyone in the AFC,

not just the Patriots if they win this game. It's such a huge game. It's time to put it on the line. Putting the perfect record on the line. I'm locking up the Patriots That was a rare lock where I didn't know Which team he was going to lock up Listen, you could look in the mirror on that

But I thought you're going to go to Chiefs That was going to be a lot of fun Every time I lock up the Patriots against an undefeated team People ask how I can look in the mirror Oh please don't go back to that well I have no problem going back to that well Don't you go back to that well The Chiefs and the Dolphins are too

Where were you at last week when Mark took the Panthers against the Giants at home and nobody says a word. But if I take against an undefeated team... It's a fair point. Oh, good. Mark had blood clots. I had cancer! What did Mark do last night?

I don't remember. What did he do? He locked up the Panthers at home against the one and three giant. Yeah, that was a bad lock. But speak on it. But nobody's... No, I'm not going to go there.

Although if you're going to go with that in the desert, the Patriots at home against Dolphins were even bigger favorites in Carolina. line. Screw the desert. We're right back here. And quickly, I don't want to spend a lot of time in this game because it's a bummer. Monday night football, the one in four San Francisco 49ers.

This was supposed to be Jimmy G. versus Aaron Rogers, but instead it's C.J. Bethard against Aaron Rogers. So Packers' office still trying to find its way gets a layup. The Niners coming to Lambo in prime time, right, Wes? Yeah, I could not look in the mirror on this one. This was the first game I wanted to take. and then I said, no, I just can't do it. The 49ers did not look good last week.

I didn't think C.J. Bethard looked good. They're banged up. They're so banged. The downgrade from Matt Breda to Raheem Mostert might be as big of them. Now we're just making up names. Matt Breda was. He was played well. Downright explosive.

He looks out this week. Brada's not coming back this week. Yeah. And the Packers, I just think everybody needs to relax on them. Their fan base is rabid. Like, they have a bad game where they out yardage the other team by over 250 yards. and lose in the Packers fan base is like everything's broken everything's broken we got to fix it there's a bit of a I wouldn't call it a national narrative but the the ringer Robert Mays wrote a piece about the Packers

I don't know if you've always read that similar sentiments that the the Packers are essentially wasting another year of our yeah welcome I've been trying to get rid of McCarthy now for two years I think he is a big part of the problem we need to see it's it's a bit of an upset that your influence hasn't extended to Green Bay what that he's still kept his job even though you've been driving all these NFL network hits Greg you I'm just saying that let's let's build up the groundswell yeah I've done with it here I have one hot take for you from this kid is George Kittle forget Travis Kelsey Dan was trying to fan himself and just slapped himself in the face with the research notes

that was that was a moment uh okay we'll get out of here after I say after I asked the question this better be trench is George Kittal the best run after catch tight end no even bigger Is George Kettle the best tight end in the NFL? Oh. I love George Kittle. I've been talking about him for a couple years, but he's not better than Gronk. Brandon Thorne, who you recommended to me as a great follow on Twitter, he's kind of an offensive line blocking guru.

He went through about 10 plays, and he does it every week with Kittle blocking. He thinks George Kittle might be the best blocking tight ends he's ever seen. So if you combine that with a tight end who's leading the position in yardage and making a ton of big plays, I don't know. He's got to be in the mix. Well, there's his sacrilege for a Patriots fan to act like George Kittles better than... I'm not saying he's better, but I think he might be in the top couple. He's gone from being a nice little story to he's one of the better.

The tight end position is a bit of a mess in the league right now between injuries and lack of a big-time players. So maybe Georgie sneaks in the back door here. Maybe he's in the top three or four. He can move, baby. If he can move that well and he's that good of a blocker, I trust... He's got to stay healthy. That's a nice pick there by John Lynch, fifth round of 2017. He's got tweaks and twingges.

He's got to stay healthy. We'll be back on Sunday where we will recap all the games you just heard. So please, please tune in for that. If you missed our Twitter show, it is pinned at most, if not all, of our individual Twitter profiles, the Twitter show. And people who have asked, oh, well, you guys aren't doing Monday night recap anymore. Oh, yeah, we are. It's on the Twitter show. So check it out.

And no, we're not going to make it an audio show. because it's the Twitter show. It's a video format. That's what it is. And don't, oh, I liked it better one. It was the Tuesday podcast. No, you still get three podcasts. But now there's a video show.

You get an extra one, really? It's four shows. It's ultimately like. You like our show? What do you like better? Three or four? Four, obviously. Okay.

Let's go. Stan Hans is signing off. I'm getting back in bed. Four. The mailman. the old boss and the loose cannon behind the glass oh yeah till sunday hope i'm there Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael 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. This is an IHeart podcast.