Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Kickoff with Boomer Esiason and Mike Valenti for Week 4 in the NFL

Episode Date: October 3, 2026

From 'Kickoff with Boomer & Valenti' (subscribe here): Boomer and Mike are back to talk all the headlines from week 3, another splashy Cowboys trade, Week 4 picks, Game of the Week, a QB Power Rankings and more!

It's time for Kickoff With Boomer Osciason and Mike Valenti This week four kickoff with Boomer and Valentie And I'm going to tell you that the assignment has been met the dress code And this is two gentlemen in matching quarterships This is, boomer, this is regal. This is great.

I know you look great. I love the hat too, by the way. Thank you. We got a lot to get to, pal, including I always love stuff like this. I love people getting fired and I love trades. I just it's an energy for me Can we talk Joey Porter Jr. Before we get to the run,

sure. He gets traded for Sandsberg. Yeah. And I think it's fascinating because A, is it going to do what Dallas thinks it's going to do? And then the other side, not just because I emanate from Detroit, what the hell are the lions doing?

But let's start with the cowboys. Do you believe this materially makes them better that can not fix, but improve their issues in the secondary? Yes, I do. And the question is what kind of contractor they're going to give him. I'm assuming that they probably've already had contract conversations with his agent and they're probably in the ballpark. And now that means Jerry Jones has added Kenny Clark,

Quinn and William's and now Joey Porter to this defense. And Williams and Kenny Clark are playing fine. They're playing well. Their problems have been the secondary in the injuries that they have. So this comes from a place of need. And as Jerry Jones has said over the last couple of years, he ain't getting any younger. So he is trying to reinforce his defense. I like it. And look, he's a fan. He wants to win. I can't kill an owner for that.

Now, on the lion's side, here's the problem. This has been a theme. They don't do anything aggressive. They just don't. You know, we have some audio drops that we play here, and it's like we like our guys in the room, and they always default to it. And I don't want people to get tripped up.

A second round pick, yes, that's high compensation, but it's in 2008. And if you don't sign Joey Porter, you're going to get a three in competition. level down the line. So it just, what do you make of it? I mean, the Lions ranked dead last or second to last in every relevant past defense category. They had to survive.

Boomer, I said this to lead the show this week. I went, guys, if you can say to following words, Gino Smith and the Jets were driving to tie the game at 31, you lost the game. That, like, I have, you know I like A.G, but the Jets are not built for that. If Gino's going 31 for 37, you could go out and complete 55. percent on the day. So it just tell me what are the lions doing? Yeah, well, that's a good question.

They're going to try to win games on offense, which is what they have done here, the first part of the season. Jared Koff's been on fire. And, you know, when you look at all their athletes on offense, I mean, every game's going to be a track meet. So yeah, they should have been, who knows, they might have been in this Joey Porter Trey. We don't know that

for a fact. They called on him. I'll tell you that. They called on. Yeah, but then again, you have to worry about a contract. Can you fit it under your salary cap constraints. There's all sorts of other aspects to this story that, you know, we probably don't know that went on behind the scenes. But I will say this, Gino Smith has gotten better each and every week for the Jets. Week one, great, week two, really good.

And week three, just absolutely blazing. And he hasn't turned the ball over until the fumble at the end of the game yesterday. No, and they were down three of their top four receivers. They were down their starting tight end. And Breeze Hall died during the game. No, look, I respect what he did. I'm making a point. Jets are trying to get to 20. You can't have them in the 30s.

All right, enough chit-chat. Let's get to the rundown. The NFL run down. You know, I'm a Ben Johnson trodler. What did you make of what just went down? I mean, what does it say more about bears or eagles? But for Ben Johnson to get Case Keenum prepped up and not protect him, he just went, we're throwing to ball.

I was as impressive as anything you'll see from a scheming standpoint all year, right? I think it was really aggressive. and I think that he trusts Casey Kahneman at the age of 38, and he had a great game plan, and plus they were playing against the Philly defense that seemed to fall apart here the last couple weeks, and I'm not really sure what's going on there. It didn't seem like Joe and Hertz didn't play that well that night,

and of course Andy Dalton comes in and throws that horrendous interception in the end zone. But as far as Ben Johnson is concerned, I've told you a million times on this show, that Frank Reich, the offense coordinator now for the Jets, the last two years told me that Ben Johnson's offense is the most prolific offense when it comes to play calling and creative design, even more so according to Frank than Kyle Shanahan and Shaw McVey. So there is no question that Ben Johnson is really gritty and aggressive,

and this is the difference that a head coach with an attitude like that makes for a team. I would be surprised if they don't start Case Keenham this week. If Caleb can't go, which I don't think he can. I can't see them going back to Tyson Bayesian, even though I like Tyson. but when you're coming off of a performance like you saw from Case Keenham, he's got to be the starting quarterback against the Jets this week. Have to. I thought he played great. And by the way, you know, I understand the Eagle offense isn't, you know,

breaking records or anything. Bears defense for a second week in a row stepped up. And I'm the king of, you know, numbers, stats, turnover margin regression. They're still forcing turnovers. And Dennis Allen and that defense played really well. So that's a hell of a win for the Bears. The Eagles, Boomer, I just don't think they're the team that people think they are anymore. The offensive lines eroded.

You're right. The quarterback play has gone with it. And defensively, they have too many good players for it to look that way. So it is something to monitor. Let's go to a mile high city and go to Broncos game. I mean, Broncos and Rams was awesome. It was theater. But of course, it's marred by officiating malpractice.

Again, just can't happen in 2006. It can't. But it did. Now, why is it keep happening? Why does it keep happening? You tell me, you're the power broker in the league. Call Raj up there in Bronxville and figure it out. I mean, what do you want for me?

I mean, it's really frustrating. As I can hear in your voice, it's frustrating for all of us. We have no skin in that particular game. We just won a great football game. And they did give us a great football game, by the way. I will say that this took a little heat off of Bo Nix. I thought Bo Nix played a tough second half. They didn't have a great first half.

I thought the Rams are going to just absolutely blow through them in the second half and it didn't happen. But you get a couple turnovers here or there. All of a sudden, now the game's the equalizers. To me, again, much like Ben Johnson in Chicago, I think Sean Payton has done the same thing in Denver. Like he coaches the team hard. He gets them ready.

He makes sure that they know exactly what they're stepping into against a great team by the Rams. I'm not concerned about it by the Rams at all. You know, that's a tough game. It's a tough road game. I think they're going to be fine long term. But that was a great one. win for the Broncos.

They got a win in Philly this week, though. Can we at least agree on that? You can't go to one and three. Now, I'm willing to show them some grace with the Pukunakua situation, with Miles Garrett getting hurt. They had game control against Denver, a PIC six. You're not going to get away with it in this league. If you throw a pick six, you're going to lose 99% of the games. Two guys that threw pick sixes last week, Sam Donald and Matthew Stafford both lost their games. The other thing, too, is Pukinakua will be back this week in uniform playing for the Rams. Hey, hold on. Say that. Nona's good ear. Who was the other quarterback who through the pick six?

Sam Darnold. What was that little? I'm sorry, let me turn up my hearing aid. What was that? It was Sam Donald. He did. But he actually brought him back right after that. I know, I know, I know. I just can't help it. I know that your guy, you know he's not my guy. Ravens, they almost went full Raven again. They've blown 11 double-digit fourth quarter leads since 2020,

and they were well on their way to making it an even dozen. and then they get the miracle with the breakdown, a 27-yard completion, first time in like 100 years, both teams have scored in the last 10 seconds. They rescue it from the fire, but I want to ask you, Boomer, why is it this way for the Ravens? Why with Lamar and Derek Henry and a consistently good football team? Why is this in the DNA they cannot put teams away? Well, didn't we talk about this game last week and we said,

I love the over in this game, and I took the Ravens in this game. And the reason I love the over is because I don't think either defense is really that good. I think they're okay. I think, however, the offenses are prolific, and both quarterbacks are playing awesome this season. They're off the great starts. And I mean, it's up and down the field. That was really entertaining football. And by the way, remember this.

Yeah, by the way, remember this. We always say this every single year because of the truncated preseason, the fact that the guys don't play. All of a sudden, week three, week four, week five, these games look a little bit different. They're more entertaining. They're better played, even though the defense in this game was terrible

because of injuries, especially on the cowboy side. But maybe it's because Jesse Minter's on the sideline that they won and not John Harbaugh. I just, dude, you got to put people away. Hey, I was fine with it. You know, I'm not a cowboy guy. I had high hopes for the Cowboys. I'm not ready to abandon ship.

That's a terrible loss. It is. You cannot lose that way. Trust, a word never to be used with the Cincinnati Bengals. This is every, boomer, you know this. We on this show want to love the Bengals, not just because you have an affinity for the city and your time there. We want to love them.

I want to love Joe Burrow. And they do this to you every time. Just when you think, I can trust these guys. They shoe you in the nuts. You cannot. give up 30 to the Steelers. Homer. Why? Especially after we all thought their defense

was getting better. Correct. It's interesting because, you know, all these games are, you know, I always feel like the teams, especially within the division, you've taught me this over the years, and I knew this from playing, but when you say it, it's a little bit different. Divisional dog

at home, you know, and desperate, and that's exactly what the Steelers were. They were coming off of that bad loss against New England. The Bengals are coming off of a good win against Houston. They meet in Pittsburgh and look what happens. And that's why we both took Pittsburgh last week. You educated me on that.

You should take a bow for that one. But as far as the Bengals are concerned, again, I still think there will be a playoff team. There's no question about that. I don't know if they're going to be as good as the Bills or the Chiefs may be, so they may not have home field advantage going out throughout the playoffs. But they're just too good a team to get too nervous about. I still believe in them, much like I believe in the Rams. I do. I'll say this, and it's not just because the game ended that way. We talked about that

offensive line. They're playing better, except they still have leakage. They're missing assignments. Something is wrong in some of the protections. There are too many free runners at Joe Perro. It just, they got to tighten that up. They're going to get the guy killed. All right. Let me just tell you about this. A lot of this is the quarterback's responsibility. You know, when you get up to the line of scrimmage as a quarterback, you can adjust any sort of past protection you want. If there's a blitz and you don't have somebody picking him up, you have to know where your hot receiver is. Now, I'm not saying that Joe doesn't know all these things. I'm sure he does. But sometimes we get too caught up in offensive line play or miss blocks

when the quarterback needs to get rid of the football. You know, if there's one criticism that I have for Joe is that he's too brave, he's too courageous because he'll hold on to the ball to the last minute. As opposed to watching guys getting the ball out, that's what I was telling you about Michael Pennix last Thursday night against the Packers. I was saying, watch how he was dropping back and getting rid of the ball quickly and accurately. I would try to speed Joe up just a little bit so he doesn't get hit as much as he does. All right, we kind of covered the Seahawks. I only had something in my notes of what the hell and this is inexplicable, but we kind of covered it. You throw a pick six. You're on the road. You play a little loose. And I don't know how that defense looked the way they did against Marcus

Marriota, but it's the NFL. You're going to get one of these results a month. It was an explicable to me. Well, the bad thing for them is that that's an NFC loss. So because they are in a very difficult division and because, you know, you got the Rams and the 49ers out there. So if the 49ers, I mean, the Rams lose to the Broncos. It's an AFC loss. A loss. A loss. But still, it's an AFC loss. It's not an NFC loss. Yeah. So this, this in particular could come back to haunt the Seahawks, you know, when we get to the playoffs, because again, a great team, a really quality playoff team, and one of the top five teams in a league as far as I'm concerned right now as we sit here.

So the question is, will that affect them later on down the line when we get to the playoffs? 100% of what. I mean, when you're in the West, it's not just survival, but you're probably going to see the one seed come out of the West and you can't drop a game to a commander's team

that's headed for a four or five win season. I'll tell you what, I want to move something around it because we were going to talk about, you know, bigger disaster, Texans, Chargers. Let's bring up New York football for a minute. Newsie both ways. I want to start with the jet.

Look, you know I'm an Aaron Glenn guy. Yeah. My fear is New York is not going to give him the time he needs. Look, I think what Aaron Glenn is doing right now, this is exactly how it went for Dan Campbell. A disaster in year one. Year two gets off to a little bit of a slow start, makes a few mistakes with the clock. I've lived this people in Detroit. It's worked out.

I think if you give Aaron Glenn some time, you can see it turning around. The defense is much improved. The offense, it's good enough. You're seeing it. And by the way, booms, they can have three top ten. picks in the draft this year. Do we agree Aaron Glenn is taking hold or do you think this guy's going to get launched out of a cannon? Well, I know you're an Aaron Glenn guy. I think half the jet fans can't stand them. And they think that, you know, that time management is a real issue for him,

no matter what you say. It is. But most jet fans don't like anybody. So it doesn't matter. You could have Vince Lombardi sitting in here. Maybe Weeb, you bank, if he came back from the dead, they would appreciate that. I love the hat weeb used to wear with that short brim. Yes. We only had a couple of those for the playoffs, me and you. But I will say that their offense is so much better now. Frank Reich is organized that he's got them going the right way. As I said earlier, Gino is really having a great season right now. You know, you compare this season that he's having right now to last year under Chip Kelly and the Raiders.

It is night and day. He's done a complete 180. His game is back to where it needs to be. He's accurate. The ball's coming out of his hand. Great. His arm strength looks good. His athleticism looks good.

He doesn't look like he's 35 years old. I could tell you that. And they have a ton of players. So you know who the big winner here in New York is for the Jets? Darren Mugi, their general manager. He's the one that is building this roster. So I give him the A plus and Frank the A plus. I give you 60 seconds on the Giants.

Why exist? Brian Burns out for the year. You've got to survive Cam Ward. And then they did something incredible to me. They traded for this weirdo goofball, J.J. McCarthy. I don't get it. I don't get it. I don't get it.

Guys, immature. He played his way out of Minnesota. They couldn't stand him there. Now you're bringing him into this circus. Boomer, what do you make of it? I really have no choice. You have really no choice. And John and Jim Carbaw obviously had conversations about J.J. McCarthy, so they know him very well.

He's a poor man, as the people have calling into the radio station saying, he's a poor man's Jackson Dart, meaning at least he can move around and run around and he does have a strong enough arm. And I think everybody here anyway is questioning James Winston. and whether or not they had a fallback plan. You know what I'm saying? This is the only reason. The only reason they have him here is because they're worried about James's performance as the first two games.

And if something does happen to James, they didn't have anybody else. No, and the problem, and I know we're up against it, James doesn't fit the offense they want to run. I don't know why they extended them. But whatever, Joe Shane still is a job for some cosmic reason. New York Giants football, catch the feeling. All right, we'll come back. We'll get to the picks.

Lots to do. It's kickoff. Boomer and Valenti. It's kickoff with Boomer and Valenti. All right, we are back. Yes, still vibing off of Giants football. It is time for the picks. Picks of the week.

Bomer, we start out. The Indianapolis Colts, the notepad, the glitter jacket, all the excitement. The cults are laying three and a half hosting the commanders. Well, they're not really hosting them. They're over in London. I'm sorry. I apologize.

This is in Bulgaria at 9 in the morning. Here we get, 9.30 in the morning football this Sunday. I love it. 9.30 to midnight football, wall to wall. I'm going to take the Colts here. I thought that their game last week was one of those desperation situations against the Houston Texans. And Daniel Jones led him back to a victory late in the game. And this is the kind of victory that hopefully can now vault them forward.

The interesting thing will be, can Marcus Marietta do what he did last week against Seattle? I mean, I think he's a fine quarterback. I think he's the perfect backup quarterback, but I think the more you see, the less you're going to like, and I think this is one of those situations over in London. I think it's like a basketball league, right? You play it off the bounce.

So Marriota plays great last week. That's going to fall down. All right, and then you bounce back a week later. I think it's the same for probably Case Keenham. So I'm just going to go Colts. I don't think you're going to get that type of performance for Mario to two weeks in a row. Cards, this is how bad it's gotten for my G-Men.

Cards are laying one and a half. at MetLife. What? Yeah, you know, this is interesting because they beat a bad Chargers team in week one. They come back, they get hammered by the Seattle Seahawks at home. Jacobi Brissette doesn't even throw for over 100 yards.

And then last week against an injured 49ers team that I think probably sat half their guys because they figured they were going to win the game anyway. They go and score 30 points and make it an interesting game in the fourth quarter. I bet you, I just have a feeling that you're going to take the Cardinals. therefore I'm going to take John Harbaugh and the home giants and the reason I'm doing that is because much like Ben Johnson in Chicago,

Sean Payton in Denver, John Harbaugh was brought here to coach this team to win games like this and not lose at home to a team that you should be better than. I'm just impacted by what I watched last week. The words, Giants survive Cam Ward Final Drive, my column. I mean, you've lost the game. I can't do this.

Here's the other problem, and I won't belabor it. Boomer, it's the third straight year. Oh, my God, the giant pass rush is going to be great. The Giants have no pass rush. There is nothing. I just, at some point, you've got to change the ingredients. Cardinals.

Jacoby Brousset is America's quarterback. We go to the bills laying eight and a half to the Patriots. Talk about a fall from grace. Boy, pay. You know, I went on WEEI this week, and I basically floated the idea that Mike Vrable has got to do something with Drake May. and it's got to be drastic. Drastic times ask for drastic measures.

And I thought maybe sit them this week and let Tommy DeVito deal with the Buffalo Bills and show some energy. Because to me, Drake May looks a little bit lifeless. And I hate that from a quarterback. I want to see a quarterback that's got some juice. I want to see the quarterback that I saw last year. And this interception he throws last week to Travis Hunter

is three weeks in a row now where he's done things that I can't even answer. So sooner or later, Mike Vrable is going to have to do something. Now saying that, I'm saying that I love the bills in this game. I just, you know, Josh Allen's coming off of a poor game that they still won in which they had five turnovers. And that just goes to show you how good he is. And I don't think he's going to have back-to-back bad games here. Look, I said to start the year, I didn't think the Patriots are making the playoffs.

But I didn't think it would look like this. I still think this has got a lot to do with Club Rossini. I mean, your coach is on a boat with a pregnant lady that's not his wife. I don't know. You just can't convince me there's not some kind of blast radius from everything Vrable was up to in the offseason in the news. Give me to Bill's lady eight and a half. Bears laying three and a half to the Aaron Glenn led jets. Come on, Boomer. You know what to do here. Yeah, I do. I took the jets last week and I'm going to take them again this week. I'm not going to ride. I'm going to ride or die with them, I guess. That's right. I do think that they're, right. I do think their offense is really shown a lot. How about Kenyon Sadieke? How good is this kid?

And, you know, when they drafted him 15 overall, you know, people are here going, why are we taking a tight end 15 overall? I said, well, he's more than a tight end. He's a 439 rocket ship that can catch everything that's thrown to him. So I do like to. You just got to get Adonai Mitchell back. You got to get some of the pieces back. You were playing so short-handed last week.

But look, Bones, the Jets are capable of playing people close. They're capable of being in these games. And maybe there's a little emotional letdown from the Bears short week. give me the three and a half points, give me the Jets. Texans laying three and a half against the cowboys. I mean, Texas can't go home for, can they? Come on. Oh, man.

Can't go home for. Come on. Come on. Can't go home for. You know what? Please, they can go home for them. They can actually. Oh, man. What are you about to do to me here? You know what?

I just, I don't know. The Cowboys get Joey Porter Jr. I don't think he's going to play in this game. but I think there's an uptick there. They're coming back from Brazil. I'm going to take the Texans here, and I'm going to take the Texans. I guess I'll lay the three points. Three and a half points is it?

Okay. I'll take the tracts. I know. Give me a text. Cowboys are coming back from Copa Cabana. They don't have Joey Porter. Come on, Miko. You can't go 0.4, man.

Rams laying three and a half against the Eagles. All right. So another East Coast trip for the Rams. You know, I like the Rams here. Pooka Nakuas, I was telling you, in the earlier segment, it's going to play in this game. A big uplift for their offense. You know, Matthew Stafford made an uncharacteristic mistake last week that cost them the game.

And I just do not like the way the Eagle offense is playing. Now, I know I told you last week they win games. It doesn't matter what it looks like. But when you lose a game and they look the way that they did against the Bears, makes me think twice about them now. So I'll take the Rams. Yeah, I'm with you. First of all, the Rams schedule has been brutal.

And I understand good team. You get up on paper, a tougher schedule. But this open, just to travel alone, to Denver, to Philly. Pretty brutal. I'll just lean Rams. I don't like anything I see from the Eagles at all. Let's go Packers laying four and a half at the Bucks. All right.

So we haven't seen the Packers in 10 days. They'll get a little bit healthier. Thank God. The Bucks are going to be without Baker Mayfield. so Jalen Daniels comes in and takes over the quarterback position. Remember I was telling you last week that Baker-Mayfield was going to be running all over the place against that Minnesota Viking defense? I think that's what's going to happen to Jalen Daniels this week.

I think he's going to be running all over the place as Kyle Van Ness is trying to tackle him and run them down. So I don't like the matchup from a quarterback standpoint for the bucks, and I think the Packers bounce back here and win the game and cover. I'll pick the game because I'm required, but this is disgusting. Also, there's no hotter seat in the league than 10. Todd bowls. They're just enough and the hellscape.

Please, give me the pack. How hot does the seat for Matt LaFleuror? Probably two degrees less than Todd. I mean, if Todd's at 200 degrees Fahrenheit, you're at 198 for LaFleur. Ravens, how about this spread? Laying 11 and a half against the Titans. I mean, you know what to do.

I'm not taking the Titans. I don't care. You know what? Yes, you are. No, I'm not. Hold my hand and you are taking it. No, I'm not taking the Titans, no way. Again, I watched, and I know they were playing in a Nor'Easter last week,

I watched Cam Ward do something that I have never seen a quarterback do. He drops back the pass. There's nobody around him. He's looking around, surveying the field, and then all of a sudden puts the ball down to his side and stands there. And then throws the ball. And I'm like, who does that? Where are the fundamentals? How do you play the position that way?

And maybe it's just his coolness or maybe he wants to do something different than everybody else in the history of the league has ever done? I've never seen anything like that. I don't think he takes it seriously. I know Lamar Jackson does. And I know that, you know, with the way that they finished last week

and Zay Flowers on the field, they're going to put up some points on this Tennessee defense. So let's go. Let's roll with the Ravens. Listen, it's a letdown spot. Everybody looks at the Titans as a free square. They're coming back off an emotional. win and they're playing these bums.

I just give me the 11.5. Nobody's going to pick the titan. Nobody. Give me the Titans. How many points would it take for you to pick the Titans? At least 16 and a half. Oh my God. All right. Let's go Bengals laying two and a half against the Jags in the Rat Line of the week

and you know what to do. I know the rat line of the week and you know, last week I sat here and I thought the Patriots would beat the Jags and I said, you know, I'm not a believer in the Jags just yet. Can you tell me what Trevor Lawrence was doing, kneeling down on the one-year headline with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter? The only thing I, okay, I'm not making an accusation. I'm just telling you cynically what I was thinking was like, this is something from like Ace Rothstein in the film Casino. What are you doing?

What are you doing, man? I got to give it to Liam Cohen, though. Was there some kind of cosmic hunder you were protecting? What are you doing? There's nine minutes left. I got to give it to Liam Cohen, though. Come on, we both do. Because for whatever reason, Trevor Lawrence is playing great football under Liam Cohen.

So I think in this game here. The same way Baker did. Yes. But you know this. I mean, Boomer, you've spoken about this on this show. Your relationship with Bruce Coslett. Your relationship with certain people was better than others. And, like, your offensive coordinator, that's your confidant.

That's your soldier. It's your wartime consuliary. It's your Tom Hagegan. like Liam Cohen produces quarterbacks. Ben Johnson produces quarterback. Dave Canales, that's a real thing. It's Liam Cohen. It is.

And I agree with you, but I do think the Bengals bounce back here. So I'm going to lay the two and a half points, and I'm taking the Bengals. I'm joining you. It's a weird line, and I'm not going to fight it. Give me Joe Cool. Minnesota laying 10.5 against the dolphins. Boomer, you know, you know,

what you got to do here. Life is about doing inconvenient things. Come on. Like wearing a, like a beanie hat in 80 degrees after the game is over and when you're sweating your ass off. Listen, if we pick, if we pick the Miami Dolphins here and are wrong, I am going to source us, we BU Bank hats and we will wear them on this show. All right. But you cannot lay 10 and a half points with Minnesota right now. Not with JJ banged up. But they don't score points on offense. I know that. But what I'm worried about here is Malique Willis going against his defense. And I can see

the defense score in a couple touchdowns here. I mean, this is going to be ugly. The dolphins are going to be ugly all year long and I know somewhere along the line they're going to win a game that we never expected them to win. And they may only win one game this year. I don't need him to win. I just need them to lose with dignity.

You could take the dolphins. I'm taking the Vikings. Skull, brother. I don't have the ability to make a the noise, but yeah, give me to, give me the Dolphins. Shout out Ali Gordon. That's who I'm backing. Chiefs laying four and a half at the Raiders.

Wow, so I am thoroughly impressed with one, Kirk Cousins. I mean, he stood in there last week against the Saints. God is the crap knocked out of him. No interceptions. The interception was thrown by Tyler Shuck, the young kid, and that's what ultimately called the cost of Saints the game.

But Kirk has been the absolute perfect quarterback, and I think what they're doing there in in Las Vegas is what Kansas City did with Patrick Mahomes and Alex Smith. I think they're going to try to play Kirk Hussein as long as they can, as long as they're winning, and maybe Mendoza gets in late in the season in a meaningless game or two. As long as Kirk stays healthy and they keep doing this, I'm going to take the Raiders here, and I'm going to take the points.

I love it. Divisional home dog. And guess what? Brock Bowers looked like Brock Bowers. That unlocks a different thing with this defense. It's just hard in the division to beat people by a touchdown. And you're right. I mean, I'm not, yeah, cousins went to MSU, but I'm not a huge cousin's guy as a pro, but he's a pro. He's stabilized. And let's be fair too, right? We slander the

Raiders a lot or these teams, when they spend money and you're like, what the hell are they doing? They improve that offensive line. They got, they got better on defense, bringing in veterans and spending money. It is a better team. It's not only a better team. You have to remember who they hired as a coach. So Clint Kuwiak is a terrific offensive. coach. So he comes from the Mike Shanahan tree and the off tackle running game, the physicality. He needs the veteran

quarterback to get everybody in the right spot to calm everybody down. And there's a lot of play action passing and Brock Bowers is the guy. So they have some really good young talent there. They got the right coach. They got the right quarterback. I don't think they win the game, but I think they keep it within three.

I'm with you. Seattle laying seven and a half against the Chargers. I'm telling you, I refuse to select this game. I am boomer as I said. Yep, throw it out, baby. I don't like it either. And again, the Chargers came. I thought they were going to win last week after all these interceptions and fumbles and

turnovers and everything. And to lose a game where you had five turnovers that you got, to lose that game was a disgrace. It's impossible to have that happen. And you caught Josh Allen on one of his worst days as a pro. 60 seconds. We got two games. Lions laying three and a half at the Panthers. Here's your notes.

Both starting corners for the Panthers. Dead. Damian Lewis, their best offensive alignment. Dead. Jonathan Brooks. Dead. Lions by a million. I got you, brother. I'm with you. Lions, I'll take them as well. Saints laying three hosting Atlanta. Uh-oh.

Uh-oh. Now that Michael Pennix is back under center, I love both of these quarterbacks. I love both of them. I'm big fans of both of them. I'm going to take the Falcons and Bejohn Robinson here. I'm going to join you. Divisional. Give me to points.

Atlanta looked like they had some juice, some life, some belief, long rest. What's rock and roll? Give me the ATL. All right, we got a game of the week to talk about Niners and Broncos. We got a couple of different lists to get to and a power ranking of quarterbacks. All that and more coming up next. It's all your football in an hour. This is Kickoff with Boomer and Valenti.

It's Kickoff with Boomer and Valenti. All right, we are back. Last segment of the show this week. We got to get to our best to the best, the biggest game of the week. We got a quarterback power rank. Boomers curated enough data over the first couple of weeks. And then some real done or who to hell are they? But let's get to the game of the week.

Niners lay in three and a half. They host the Broncos. Talk to me, Booms, potentially the top two teams in the league. Yeah, you're right. And I love the way that Brock Purdy has played these first three games. Think about this. He's the second most yards per attempt in NFL history. And he's between Otto Graham, who averaged 9.0 yards per

attempt and Sid Luckman at 8.4, minimum 1,000 attempts. And if you wanted to know how to play quarterback in the NFL and you wanted how to do it from the pocket, just watch how he is playing right now. He is playing at an MVP level. He is, I mean, when his back foot hits, the ball is out. I love Kyle Shanahan's creative offense. I love the fact that Brock Purdy fits it perfectly. You know, in order to be the second coming of Joe Montana, you have to win Super Bowls and he hasn't done that yet, but he's getting close. and if this team can stay healthy, at least on offense with the players around him, I think that this is one of the best offenses in football and most creative offenses in football,

and I love the way this kid is playing. Flip the script, though, where are you at with Bow Nix? All right, so I think, like I told you when we first started the show this year, I said I didn't put him in the top 10, even though he led his team to the playoffs last year, and he ended up getting hurt and he didn't play in the playoffs against the Patriots. I think he's a very athletic quarterback. I think he's just a little bit, I want to say loose. That's the best way I could explain the way that I think he plays.

I think he's brave. I think he's courageous. I think he's a little bit reckless. And I think that Sean Payton is really trying to create him into like the second coming of Drew Breeze, which is going to be impossible because they play two different types of games. Yeah. But if I had to have him as my quarterback, I don't. I could do better, but I could definitely win with him for sure.

Well, if Sam Darno could win a Super Bowl, anybody can. Come on. It's also about the team around. That's for you. I just... It's about the team around him and you're always taking these shots at Sam Drono. I don't like it. We ended the show. He wrote a love letter to Sam Darnel before and then he goes out in tanks against the commanders. We got to have a little fun.

All right. So who do you like in the game? Because to me, look, I love the Niners, but they got to get away from this substation. They got to get away from whatever radioactive nonsense, this point. team in the injuries. They're out of IR spots. I love them, but I kind of want to take the three and a half and just say, look, they might win, but man, that's a lot of points in a game versus two really high quality teams. Right. So I like the Broncos in the game with the three and a half because I think it's to be like a 27, 24 games, something like that. And with all the injuries

that the Niners are dealing with, I mean, as long as Brock is there, Kittle is there, Debo Samuel looks great. I love the way they started the game last. How about Debo having speed again? Yeah, well, he looks like he's happy. And Kyle Shanahan knows how to use the kid. So I do like the Broncos and I like their defense. So I think it's going to be a tight game. You know, the other thing about Brock Purdy, hasn't thrown an interception in three games.

And I just think that, you know, with the Broncos defense, the way that they like to run the ball, this game should be tight. And neither team really turns the ball over. So I would expect a very close game. And that's why I'm going to take the Broncos into three and a half. All right, let's get to a quarterback power ranking. We did a little miniature version there,

but you've seen enough now through a few weeks. You want to do your top five? I wouldn't mind hearing your bottom three. I always love the slander. But no, go ahead. Play it however you want to play this. Well, of course you have Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen right there at the top. I mean, they are just awesome players.

And even when they have bad games, their teams win, because the team believes in the quarterback. That's the most important thing. I got to put Brock Purdy in the top five the way that he is playing right now. I would put Lamar Jackson. What's that? MVP? Yes, definitely. You know, first quarter MVP.

But if you remember, Russell Wilson used to complain, he'd never got any MVP votes. Because he would always start out great and then he would finish a little bit weak so somebody else would pass him late in the season. But, yeah, then I'm telling you, Lamar Jackson's playing his butt off. Joe Burroughs playing his butt off.

And, of course, Dak Prescott. I mean, I'm a big fan of DAC. I always feel like he's victimized by a bad defense, and he always has to put up like 30, 35 points in order to win games. I mean, those would be like my top five or six guys that I would take right now. I'll tell you the other one. I mean, Goff's playing really good football. You know, I understand, you know, it's uneven.

They've only got seven points in the first quarter all year. But when they turn it on, they've scored 31, 31 and 31. Some of it was empty calories against the bills, but Gough isn't turning it over. He's playing really well. I think the other one, it's by years end, provided he comes back in the next, let's say, three weeks, I do think when we do a check-in, let's say, by week 12,

Caleb Williams is going to be on this list. I just think with Ben Johnson and what we got to see, it's a shame he got hurt in that Minnesota game. I think Caleb will end up being there. I certainly don't want to disrespect Jared Gough, you know, because his numbers do stand out. They are, they are good. And, you know, we haven't really even talk about Matthew Stafford either when you think about it.

But he hasn't really had a great start to the season. He's okay so far. It's been okay. I'm talking about the way that this season is unfolding right now in front of us and watching how these players are playing. You know, the other guy, too, that probably deserves a little bit of credit here would probably be Trevor Lawrence down in Jacksonville. So he and Lee and Cohn seemed to have something special. They have a kind of a – they've synced up, if you will. And they're a little sneaky team.

So they may end up one in the South, you know, this year. Let me ask you just as a random. I'm not trying to ambush you. I'm interested. You watch all the games the way I do. Who's the guy you're most disappointed in? Like if a name comes to mind. You threw three weeks.

You had some hopes for him. You were keeping your heart open to love. And a guy basically left you know what on your doorstep. Well, the guy that's the highest paid that fits that right now is Justin Herbert. I mean, that that team is, winless. The team has no business being winless. And again, we're talking about offensive

coordinators and relationships. And yes, when you play for a guy that truly understands who you are and knows what you do best, those are the plays that they're going to really always fall back on, especially in pressurized situations. This is a relationship. That's a strange relationship out there in

L.A. between Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert. You and I have been talking about this for the first three weeks. And I'm just thinking that maybe, just maybe Jim Harbaugh's got to like take over this thing and say, look, we got to simplify this thing. We got to make it easier as opposed to harder. And we got to change some things around to get the best out of Justin Herbert. So I would say that's probably right now the most disappointing player at that position. No, it's a good pick. I just, I wondered, that's all. I mean, it's easy to say

Cam Ward. But I mean, Herbert, I admit it. I thought Chargers are going to be really good this year. I loved hiring McDaniel, the run game coordinator, you know, old school with San Francisco. And then obviously what he did in Miami. It just comes to a point boomer, like you've made every, not you personally, I'm saying people, we make excuses for Justin Herbert. Well, it's the O-line. It's the running game. He needs an O-C.

He needs a new coach. At a certain point, what are we, seven years into this now? Yeah. Like six years in, I'm just starting to worry. He's not the guy. I don't know. And I'm trying to- I want it to turn around.

Right. And I'm trying to weigh expectations with performance and salary. So, Cam Ward, there were no expectations this year. and he's been an unmitigated disaster under Brian Daibol. And they showed Brian Daibol about five times during the giant game last week, slamming on the table. So that just goes to show you what he's thinking about his quarterback. And I don't know how many mistakes.

Have you seen the quick cut? Yeah. You've seen the quick cut of Carnell Tate? Because Carnal Tate is running some sick routes. He's wide open. And I mean, it's either he's not getting looked at or Cam is just airmail and stuff. Well, Cam is like this. He is like this and he's looking down.

Sometimes when you watch your game this week, watch how many times his face mask is tilted down when he's dropping back to pass. If his face mask is tilting down, what is he doing? He's looking at the rush as opposed to feeling the rush. Your head's supposed to be up. You're supposed to be anticipating things. Now, I know it's a second year quarterback, second offense already now in his second year. That has something to do with the failures that he's having.

But I told you, this play last week against the Giants where he puts the ball to his side and just stands there. I've never seen it. getting on a street corner in New York City. I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. So that shows me that there's a little bit of a lack of respect for the position. That's how I feel about it. And I think that this is an unmitigated disaster that if they go on and they have the worst record, that they will take the quarterback of their choice at the top of the draft next year.

All right, Rahma, you got a real done or who to hell are they kind of deal. So let's get in and try to get as many of these as we can. What do you got? Yeah, let's start with the positive because I feel. like we've made some of these segments a little bit negative. Let's go with three teams that I didn't necessarily expect to be here. Let's start with the Vikings. Their offense has been terrible, but their defense is real.

They're three and no. Are they legit? I say yes. I think the defense can carry him to the playoffs. Obviously, Kyler getting hurt did not help. You had a dress rehearsal last week on the road. They won. I'm still a believer, Kevin O'Connell, another one of these QB whispers, can get Kyler to a level.

yes, I think the Vikings are going to be in the mix in the north. I'll say real. I think they're going to be 4-0 after they hammer the dolphins this week. And, you know, the confidence is going to continue to build. And maybe this is the week that Kyler Murray actually has a legitimate game. It's Justin Jefferson involved, gets Addison involved, and keeps this thing going. They should be able to score 28 points this week. So, yeah, I'm with Mike on that.

What about the Vegas Raiders last place team last year and now with Kurt Cousins and Clint Kubiak? That's a tough one. This is a really tough one because they're in a tough division. I like them this week. You do like them this week, but I like them with the points this week. Oh, for sure. But they are in a really tough division. Here's your issue for them.

And I'm not a big like play the schedule game. It's not who you play, it's when you play them. But for the sake of this discussion, all right, you get the chiefs this week. Let's say it's a loss. Let's say you beat the Pats. Fair enough? Yep. Here's your next five games.

This is where trouble happened. Rams at Seattle, at Denver, at the Niners. I think reality's going to come calling for him. So as good of a story as it is, and I'm absolutely with Romney. I like him this week against Kansas City with the points. I can't say they're real because I don't believe they're going to make the playoffs. I think clearly they're improved. I'm with you.

It was so improved because of the coach and the quarterback combination and the draft that they had this year and Max Crosby won in the stay. I just don't think that they will be a play. team when we get around to week 16 and 17. I'll ask two quick ones about one team who I think is done, one team, I don't know what they are. And that's the Patriots. Are they done? Are they going to miss the playoffs now?

Is Drake May dead? Yes. Done. Done and done. I'm going to give them one. If they win the game in Buffalo this week, they're back in it. If not, then I think they're out of it. And can we call the Falcons a real team now with Michael Panics?

Yes. Because of the South, yes. That division, 9 and 8, 8, 9 could win it. I'm going to say yes, they showed life. Now watch, they'll lay an egg this week, but I like them this week, and I'm going to say yes to it. That division will keep them involved. So you think I have a love affair with Sam Darnold?

How much you think I love Michael Pennix? I love them coming out of Washington, starting to show that type of performance. I'm going to say yes, that they will be a playoff team coming out of the South. You're not wrong, by the way, when you loved them coming out of UW. He can spin it. I mean, you just would see the armed talent, the way he, processed. You know, yeah, he had nice receivers, but you weren't wrong. It's all you were insane. Just stay healthy. It's not like me thinking chargers were going to be good this year.

Stay healthy. I mean, come on. It's not a tear. I know, I know. Well, listen, we got a lot. This is, now we're getting into the meat of it. We're getting some data. We're getting some stuff to compare it to and you start to see division shape up. So this is the fun. So we're here every week and enjoy it. Join us. It's free. The last I checked, it's all your football in one hour, maybe a little Sam Darnold love letter and me slandering some coach somewhere. It's Kickoff with Boomer and Valenti. It's Kickoff with Boomer and Valenti.