The Ringer NFL Show - Advice for Saquon, Outlook for the Steelers, and Week 2 Likes | The Ringer NFL Show

Episode Date: September 23, 2020

Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright discuss the Patriots-Seahawks thriller and the play of Cam Newton (2:29). They discuss all the injuries that occurred in Week 2 and Ryan gives some advice to Saquon Barkley, who suffered an ACL injury (21:10). Then they give their Week 2 Likes (50:05) and talk about their Mic Checks for the week (01:08:00). Hosts: Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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And as always, remember, please, Drake Responsive. All right, it is time to roll. You just tuned in to the Ringer NFL show. It's our Tuesday edition. He's the guy, Ryan Chazier. I'm Cole Wright, and Ryan, it is a Tuesday. What's the word, man? Word on the street is that you're trying to flag down to Xbox?

Yeah, man, it's very upset right now. And it's a very upset time. I'm not going to lie. I don't know if it's going on. But Amazon, Best Buy, Target, you know, it's just seeming extremely hard for me to get. the Xbox right now. I'm literally on this podcast

looking at my phone and just keep refreshing it. So when Best Buy unleashes these Xboxes, I can get my. So I take it that you have not gotten that Xbox yet, correct?

No, I haven't. So I thought I had it at Walmart. I literally had it in the car. He was saying place order, order loading up, and then it says, sorry, we gotta stop.

So, you know. Gotcha. Just like that. That news. sleek Xbox. It's not to be had just so far for Ryan's here. We're going to dig into that a little bit later, man. I might ask you what your favorite game is. But in the meantime, for everyone who's the first time tuning in, this is a player-driven show. Ryan and I, what are we going to do? We're going to take a spin around the league each and every single week. And this week, we're going to hit you with our depth

chart, our playbook, our mic check, as always. And we're going to start with that depth chart, Ryan. What better place to start than in the Emerald City, Seattle, Washington. And wow, what a game from front to back. I mean, the Patriots and the Seahawks, Russell Wilson, as good as it gets, Cam Newton. I mean, Cam looked like a freight train. We saw him with those two rushing touchdowns, but we were hoping that we'd see him at a third. Nothing doing in that last play, man. Man, to me, like, defenses, you know, they got to understand what's coming. I think Cam did that twice of them already this year in that game. And then Cam had two rushing touchdowns like that last week. You know, when the most critical opponent of the game,

Most likely they're going to give it to Cam and a quarterback power or some such. So I thought that was a great play by the defense, understanding what was coming. And then they're making a great play on that fullback. Because once they made a play on that fullback, Cam was like, oh, shit, I don't know what to do. And when you're having that moment of old shit, when it's one yard to go. And I think less than 10 seconds left to go in the game, you don't have time to think about what you have to do. So they made a great play in that moment. How about Bill Belichick, though?

I don't know if you saw his post game. He was like, we went with their best play and what more is there to say than that. That's what it is. I mean, man, he was in full Bill Belichick mode right there, man.

I know you've seen that before. Yeah, man, Bill is not going to give you anything you want to hear. You know, like he didn't give you no press clippings, no nothing. Like the biggest press clippings I heard from Bill in the wall was like, man, Russ is the best out there. You know, he's underrated. And then you see, Russ came out there throwing dimes on them.

You know what I'm saying? So he might be, he might, I ain't going to say you the best in the league. I got to give it to my homes, but I feel like he has the best accuracy in the league. Mahomes has the best arm talent. He could throw it wherever. But literally putting it on a point,

I'm going with Russell every day. You know what? That makes me get to this point because when I look at Russell Wilson and I see everything that this man possesses, I've been saying it for years, Ryan. I don't know if anyone wanted to believe me, but I've been saying it for a while.

Now, I've been shouting it from the mountaintops. And a lot of people have said I'm crazy. but I've said that Russell Wilson is a superior quarterback to Aaron Rogers. Yeah, I had to pause there for a second because a lot of people weren't ready for that hot take, but I've been saying it for a while and then we saw it on Sunday night. Russell Wilson five touchdowns. I mean, what is there that he cannot do? I mean, everything that's laid out in front of him, he hurdles every single obstacle.

And not only does he scramble around to make plays, he scrambles around to find the open play. And that open play always seems to find that cat. Man, I'm not going to say superior to Aaron Rogers because I'll say Aaron was mostly in his prime when they beat the Steelers back a few years ago. I feel like that was the prime of Aaron around that time.

Now he's like falling off and it's a different generation, new quarterbacks. You know, so I think Aaron, he's a great quarterback. He's not what he used to be. But I'm going to definitely go of Russ in this moment. And I agree with you in this moment. But a while ago, Russ had, I mean, Aaron had his number for sure. Okay, so four or five years ago, maybe it was Aeron's title right there

for the best quarterback in all the National Football League. But I'm looking right now at Russell Wilson. He's got to be that guy. But how about Cam Newton? I mean, we talked about the touchdowns that he racked up, a pair of them, and he almost had that third one. But like you said that, they spied out that fullback. And Cam, he hit him with that.

Hold on a second. He said he could have bounced it around, but that's easier said than done sometimes, Ryan. Yeah, it's easier said to done. know, if it was a fifth, we all be drunk, man. You know, I'm just saying like, Cam, Cam, you can always say, man, what you could have done, what you could have, what situation you would have done in a different situation. I have a bunch of players, I would like, man, if I did this, I would have had a pick. If I didn't drop the ball, I would have had a pick, you know, but at a day, you don't have a second

chance when it's five seconds left in the game, fourth and goal. You know, when the other team makes a play, you know, sometimes it's either you have to adjust quick or it's too late. You know, now Cam has to look at film and then think about next time he does that play, all right, now I have to bounce. But guys on the defensive end aren't stupid either, man. You know, the guys he's playing against next week here, hey, Cam said on this play, he might bounce next time. So if we chop the fullback, he might bounce. Well, that's what I would think. I'm a guy that watch a lot of film.

I don't know about these other guys. but you can definitely tell who watch from and who don't. But Cam's a great player. I love Cam's game, but to me, it's almost like they're having Cam play Tim Tebow football right now. Like, Cam is running the ball like crazy, and it's cool having a running quarterback. But he's the same guy that complains about getting hit all the time, too. And he got flipped at end of the game to lose, you know? Yeah, I mean, 30 for 44, 397 yards.

Like you said, he's playing a little Tim Tebow football. but we're also seeing him pass a little bit more than we saw him down there in Carolina. But the way that that Seattle defense spied him out, was there ever a point in time, Ryan, when you're on the field when you're like, okay, the offense, they're coming with this. We already know, let's stuff it out before it even comes around and makes us have to have our head spinning. No, 100%.

It's definitely, it's definitely, Tom, when you say, hey, they're about to do this. What's the move? Like, what are we going to do? We have to stand up in this moment. And sometimes you do and sometimes you don't, man. at the day, both sides are getting paid. And Seattle defense knew exactly what's coming. I think it was a timeout before that play.

So Pete Carroll was probably said in the huddle, hey, they're giving a ball to Cam. He's their best player at this moment. And fourth and one, third and ones, he's been converting them all season long. So go a goal line to go, they're going to get a ball to Cam. So, hey, we have to make a play right now if we want to win this game. And that's when you know when you're ready, you know, and they made the play. Sometimes the coaches be in the huddle I remember a play from Dallas

The coach was in the huddle And Coach Tomlin was like Hey, they're about to run a screen They're about to run a screen And I was And I was saying the same thing I'm like, hey man, they're about to run a screen Watch out for the screen with second and 18

Hight I'm on the other side of the field All I see is All I hear is scream from the sideline All you see Zee go for 81 I'm like, come on man Like we just gave you We just gave you the clues.

We gave you the cheat code to the test. Like, come on, you got to follow it. You know, sometimes guys just do what they want to do. Yeah. You hit them with that up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, AB, start select. But they weren't trying to take the bait there. And like you said, 81 yards to the house, that's a problem.

But, you know, looking at the two quarterbacks, Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, it makes me think that Cam Newton is, quarterbacks in the league that doesn't have a baseball background that is successful and that has been successful. We've seen him win an MVP, but looking at Russell Wilson, we know his baseball background, played minor league ball, you know, played at NC State. You look at Kyler Murray, another guy, baseball, the only player to ever get drafted in the NFL first round and the Major League Baseball first round draft. And we just see everything that he's able to stack up. And it just appears that guys with these baseball backgrounds are the ones.

that thrive. You know, when I used to work with Donovan McNabb, I tried to get McNabb to push this issue and be like, hey, man, if I go out there and say that quarterbacks with baseball backgrounds, they're just a little bit better, it makes me sound like a washed up baseball player who's just trying to push that narrative. But McNabb, he played baseball. And it's just the ability for these guys to throw on the run, slide, when under duress, and throw across their body. And what we're seeing from a guy like Russell Wilson, Kyler Murray, Patrick Mahomes, I mean, we're seeing that baseball background really come to life on Sundays. No, we're definitely starting to see it because I think Calla Murray play shortstop or something

like that. But you definitely see, Russell, that they're so used to being in awkward positions throwing the ball. Even though it's a totally different ball, they're used to being in that position. So if they're an outfielder and they're running to make a catch and then throwing it to home or throwing it to third, their body's in an awkward position, but they're slinging it almost 100 yards, not 100 yards, but almost 100 feet or whatever. And, you know, to try to get it right into the third baseman's glove or the home plate's glove.

And they have to put the money, the ball on a dime. You know, so I think that stuff really impacts quarterbacks now. And I think it's really transitioning. Back in the day, we used to have guys that sit in the pocket and just, you know, they're throwing dimes, paying every pass on the money. Like, hey, man, he's probably. one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Some people say he might be the best.

To me, he's not, but I'm just, I'm just being honest. Uh-oh. Hold on now. That's all another conversation for another day. No, but he's definitely a goat. 100%. He's definitely a goat. But I feel like guys like, like you said, Russ, guys like Tom, who had a little bit of baseball background, guys like Mahomes.

These guys are making it so hard to play defense because they're still fast enough to get out the pocket get away from D. Laman that are four sick guys, four seven guys, but actually put the ball exactly where they want to. And I think that's what helps Russ game so much more because I think Russ, his first few years in the league, his old line was a little crazy.

So he's like, man, I got to get out here and start playing baseball with foods. So now they're getting a little bit better and they're running the ball good and he's getting weapons. He's like, man, I had to run for my life at first, even though, you know, we had Beast Mode and Legion of Boom, but they weren't depending on Russ to win the game then. Now they're like, hey, we need Russ.

And Russ's like, hey, I had to get away and get out of the pocket back then and I can use that skill set now. And you see a bunch of other quarterbacks doing the same thing. Yeah, you know what, though? At the Pro Bowl, one time I asked Patrick Mahomes, and he sandbagged me, man. You know, I asked him, you know, with that baseball background, I said, Pat, if you got to throw two weeks just a bullpen side sessions and no football motions, no football activity, just on the mound,

how hard would you throw? And he was like, you know, well, I probably throw about 94 miles an hour or something like that. But this is a dude who was throwing 97 miles an hour when he was a junior in high school. So I don't believe for one second, you know, he's become an MVP and a Super Bowl champion and has lost velocity on that fastball. But, I mean, when you see Cam reach back and throw, I mean, he looks like he could be on the mound at some point in his life. Well, what's it like trying to tackle that cat? You ever go heads up with Cam Newton, Ryan? Yeah, man, Cam, he's a huge dude.

I mean, huge dude. As big as all outside. Yeah, man, he's well, I don't know his exact measurable, but it's 6, 4, 6, 5, 250-ish. He's like a tight end at a quarterback, you know? So at a day, when you're tackling a guy like that, you know, you have to bring, you have to bring the force to them because if you don't, they're going to bring the force to you, and it's just by physics. I'm 220, 2.30 when I play, sometimes I got a 215.

If I try to tackle Kim and I don't try to bring some type of pop, he's naturally going to run me over because he's just a naturally bigger person to me. So when you have to tackle those type of guys, you have to make sure, you know, you don't get stiffed arm and things like that because he's 6'5, so he already has length on you. So you have to make sure you get to them quick

because if you don't, then they're just naturally going to run you over. And I think that's another reason the Patriots like that quarterback power on 4th and 1s. If you and Cam meeting a whole one-on-one and you don't bring any type of pop, he's like Dary Henry, he's going to fall over. Yeah, and sometimes you have to either decide, should I tackle this man, should I let him go free, or should I just keep on making that business decision.

That business decision will be, let me just let him go by here and let's see if someone else can pick him up a little further down the field, right? Yeah, I get tell you used to play baseball. Yeah. But you know what? I got that from one of your guys. My guy, Ike Taylor would say, man, sometimes you just got to make a business decision. That's not who you want to tackle at that point in time.

Yeah, no, yeah. See, see, that's what I'm saying. saying, DBs are like baseball players. They're here trying to make business decisions. Like, I'm here to cover guys. Isn't that what Deion said, something like that? I'm here to cover guys. Like, I don't get paid to tackle?

Yeah, you do. Man, you're part of the defense. And then Deion gets introduced like he's King Jaffe Jofor at Jackson State University. I know you saw that. Yeah, I was like, come on, man. Come on, man. I'm not going to lie, though. Dion going to die going to have Jackson State, right.

Give them about two or three years. They're going to be right. Even though his team, they're going to be wild. You know, they're going to follow that coach leadership. And, you know, he's a wild guy. But I think, I think they're going to be good there. He's going to have those cats eating Subway, you know, three meals a week. You know, it's footlong season, baby.

You know, you hear Prime every time that Subway commercial comes out with Bill Belichick cutting the sleeves off of guys. But you know what? Let's make a move because I didn't want to have to do it. But we have to go to the Atlanta Falcons. I mean, everyone's talking about the. Falcons. We already know that they keep taking heat rocks from what happened in the Super Bowl, and then they fall to the Dallas Cowboys, the onside kick. I mean, Ryan, has no one told these

cats that, okay, all you need to do is surround that ball and keep the Dallas Cowboys away from that ball as much as possible. And that's exactly what they did not do. Cole, this is one of the biggest things, biggest problems I had when I play. We all play football, but not everybody know the rules. Okay. And it's hard now. I'm not going to allow. The NFL change rules on you every single season.

That's why I feel like it's kind of hard for fans sometimes because if you watch basketball, it's the same stuff. You watch soccer is the same stuff. With NFL, we change rules so much because it's such a fast-paced changing game. Like, you have guys hitting each other a lot harder, you know? And so they change the rules. With the off-side kicks and they're kicking,

they change the rules. And I think they changed the rules when it came to off-side kicks, but it's always been the team that's getting the ball, you can get the ball whenever you want. The guy can slip up and tip it off the tee. You can run up and fall on the ball. So I feel like it's either the coaches did a terrible job of coaching this or guys who are just lazy and then expect this to happen in the game.

I feel like these guys are like, man, somebody else on my team is going to make a play and fall on the ball. And when you're waiting for somebody else to make a play, They are, and it end up being a Dallas Cowboys. Yeah, but how many times is that practice during the week, though? All right, guys, now it's time to do a little on-side kick practice. I mean, I've seen it before, whether it's training camp, whether it's the regular season, and apparently the application,

it was not there for the Atlanta Falcons. They practice that every week. Right. We have a period in practice every week for all-side kicks. And I remember with the Steelers, every Friday. We don't do it until Friday because that's not something that you, that happens every game. Like, you might get somebody kick an all-side kick versus you

three or four times most throughout the season, but you have to practice it every week. And we would practice it. And a lot of times when all-sides happen, it's like the bounce ones, you know, so guys are practicing on those a lot. And I guess the Falcons were practicing on the ones that, you know, they're kicking and bouncing, somebody trying to jump up and get it.

But cowboys, you know, there's a swirling on the ground. So these guys were like, man, we have to wait until it's 10 yards, because when you're kicking it, you know I can't touch this ball before 10 yards, because if I do, they automatically get the ball. So I'm guessing they have guys that are on both sides of the ball, but with the Steelers, we understand it's going to be guys coming to try to hit you so you don't get the ball, but also you have to get the ball before anybody else can touch it. And I feel like that's just lack of coaching.

I'm not taking it easy on any of the coaches at the Falcons right out because that's bullshit, man. like Dallas Cowboys were down almost 20 points and you let them come back, make an all-side kick and then come down and win the game. Like that's lack of leadership, man. And that's the same stuff that happened in the Super Bowl, man. They got kept placing and they thought they won the game. And the game is over when the, this is what I could say. The game is over when you're walking to the parking lot.

Like, if you're not walking to the parking lot, then the game ain't over. You know, and that's what happened to the Falcons. They, you know, Julio probably had his, had his owner, what kind of car he had, but he probably had his Bentley turned on already. You know what I'm saying? Matt Ryan, you know, he probably was already talking to his kids, thinking like, oh, this is a game over. Coach already said, hey, victory formation get ready. No, it's not that moment. In the NFL, guys are always trying to win because at the end of the day, the Cowboys Division, even though I think it, everybody loved that division, but I think it might be the worst division in football, honestly, because they're always competing.

And that's good, but it's not a good division. And that division is always you can win one less game and you're out of the playoffs. You can lose not getting the playoffs by one game. So the Cowboys, they needed that because they started off only two. You already have two teams of your divisions with wins. So they didn't want to be the ones missing out. Absolutely.

Eagles last season won the NFC East at 9 and 7. And it looks like that's where this division is headed towards another time this year. I don't see anyone in that division being competitive when it comes to play in solid football. And it's almost like Atlanta that they played not to lose the game, Ryan, as opposed to, hey, let's go out here, guys, and let's win this game. Let's put Dallas away because Dallas, they crept back in. And we saw them kick that game winner, 40 to 39. They walked away with that W.

They won the game in the parking lot. You know, the game was over, and they were the winners on that one, like you said. I don't know what's going on, man. But that's undercutting them. Absolutely. Just the mistakes that Atlanta made down the stretch, Is there any one mistake that you made when you're like, oh, man, we talked about ifs just a little bit ago.

Is there what, if I would have made this play, this would have happened, anything the wish you could have back? I don't really have a lot of ifs because I always played, you know, at my best ability. It's definitely times I was like, man, I probably should have, you know, jumped this route. I knew it was coming. But I don't try to go back and look at that type of stuff

because when you start looking into the past, and then you close in the window for your future, man. So I don't try to do that too much. Look at that. You sound like a philosopher. I mean, when you're looking to the past, you close doors to the future. I might have to make that, put that on a T-shirt. I mean, come on now.

All right, let's keep it moving again, man, because last week, week two, I mean, it has to be one of the most injury-prone weeks in the history of the league. I mean, we saw guys go down for the entire season, Ryan. And, you know, I mean, whether or not it was half of the San Francisco, or Christian McCaffrey, some big injuries to some big guys. I mean, to see Christian McCaffrey get banged up, I know that's not what Carolina had in their game plan. No, not at all, man.

I think this was a historic week. They said it was seven ACL tears in this one weekend. Terrible. I really feel bad for those guys, man. Me getting injured myself and not being able to play the game, I understand it's tough. But just not to be able to play throughout the whole season, you know, you had really big plans.

Nick Bosa, I felt like he was going to have a great season. Sequin, he was going to have to bounce back. I honestly don't think the Bears would have won that game of Seekon was playing. But I just really feel bad for those guys, man. I honestly feel the lack of preseason games kind of has something to do with this. Because in preseason, you know, you're normally going against other teams. Some teams do the inner squad matchups. When you're going against your own teammates, sometimes you're tackling them.

But you're not, every day you're not going as. hard as you can. Because at the end of day, you're like, hey, at a day, we're trying to win. I'm not trying to beat up my guy. You know, so what's halfway through camp comes, you're playing, you're practicing hard, but you're not practicing like you have a game. And then when you have preseason games, it warms guys up. You know, it gives them 10 minutes to play, then 20 minutes to play, five minutes, then 10 minutes, then 20 minutes. Because an average player only plays about 30 minutes a game. You know, it's 60 minutes in a whole game, but the average player throws about 30 minutes. So the preseason warms you up to be prepared to play 30 minutes full force football.

And so you get five, 10, 20 minutes. And then now when it's the first game of the year, you're a little rusty, but you're ready to go. Now these guys went from, man, I'm not trying to tackle my guys as hard as I can to full goal, full blast. Let's go right now. You go from zero to 30, zero to 100. Man, like, when it comes to football, your body's not prepared for that. And I I think that's what happened. A lot of guys, bodies weren't prepared for it this weekend. Yeah, it looked like Sequin looked like he was hurt before he was even actually taken down. And once he finally hit the turf, I mean, we already knew kind of what was coming, but the inevitable is not what we really wanted to hear.

We were hoping, you know, maybe for a mid-season return or maybe just a strain or sprain with that knee. But the ACL, you know, his season has come to a close. If you could give Seekwon any advice, right? What would it be right now? My biggest advice for Seekoine is just to stay positive. I know he's a super hard worker. I know he's going to bounce back really, really solid. I know he had a few injuries,

and I know in his head he's probably like, damn, I'm going through an injury bug right now. It's like, and he doesn't feel like he's pretty much holding up to his own standard probably, because I know he has a really high standard for itself. I remember when I was in my second year and third year, my first year I got hurt pretty bad, then my second year I got hurt for a while too.

Then on Twitter, people start saying, man, you're like a glass house, you're always hurt and things like that, and it kind of gets to you mentally, because you're like, man, like, I'm out here giving my awe to you guys, and you guys are criticizing me off of injuries that I can't even, I can't even, I'm not asking to get injured, you know, so I know he's probably, that's something that he's probably just like, damn.

But just tell him to stay focused, stay positive. He's a hard worker, so he's going to grind and come back and be just as good. But just pretty much don't let the doubts get inside your head and just know that you're still the best runnerback in NFL when you come back. Absolutely. I think on Instagram or Twitter, I know he put something out to the tune of, you know, the comeback story is going to be unbelievable. I can't wait to see how he comes back. And, you know, hopefully he comes back even better and bigger than before because that's what we see with ACLs these days. I mean, it's almost like Tommy John surgery on the baseball side. It's almost preventative. When these guys get hurt, I mean, they bounce right back even better than before. Yeah. Yeah, I think about it. ACLs used to be a career into injury. And now, I mean, I think the quickest was back was like AP. He was seven months.

six months, some of it, eight months. And it used to be a whole year. So it's crazy that guys are recovering at such a rapid rate. And then Sequin's a guy who's going to work hard. I just want to make sure that he doesn't work himself too hard. Don't overwork yourself. I just want to make sure he comes back and be ready to go for the new season that comes next year. I don't want him to overwork yourself.

But to me, this is why I always hated turf, though. I don't know if Sequan got hurt on turf because I think they played in Soldier Field. Yeah, it was in Chicago. Yeah, they play on that good old-fashioned grass right off of Lake Shore Drive. Yeah, they play on grass. But I think they said San Francisco, they played on turf in MetLife. And I heard that's like a newer turf or something like that that they played on. And you know what's crazy?

San Francisco goes right back and play in MetLife again. You know, so I'd never like the turf. I had a few injury problems. But the thing is with turf, I feel like turf, it doesn't have any gift. You're like, you know, if you go outside and play backyard football, people slip or something like that, you slip on the grass, boom, you might tear up some grass, dirt come up, you know, but you go, you know, but with turf, if you slip and your foot gets caught, it's stuck, it's there, it's not giving. Like, it's like carpet, you know, so pretty much

if your foot gets stuck and you're going in a different direction, boom, it causes knee problems. It causes a lot of injuries. And I know a lot of owners like turf because it's a lot less maintenance. When you have big venues, you don't have to cover up grass and things like that. And it's a lot cheaper to take care of turf than it's the grass because turf lasts longer. But at what liability? You know, because at the end of the day, the Giants, how many less fans are everybody having a stadium?

Because they're already 0 and 2. And Sequine not playing? Everybody in the Giants stadium wear Seekoine jerse. So Seekwine not playing, and we barely beat the Bears who barely beat the Lions. Like, come on now. Like, I don't, obviously they're one in one, but, man, not one or they're o' and two, but I don't know.

Well, when it comes to that turf, obviously grass is what everybody wants to play on, but that field turf, the one thing that always jumped out to me is the fact that there's all those little pieces of chopped up tire that just spray up. And when anyone's watching a game, if they see that black spray when someone's dragging their toe, like our guy Nate Burleson says with that toe drag swag. But if your shoes aren't spatted, how crazy is that when you get pieces of rubber stuck inside of your shoes? Because, I mean, I know if I get one.

even if it's like a cat's claw that gets stuck in my shoe or something like that that's walking around. I mean, you feel like it's that pebble in your shoe that you just can't get rid of. So I can only imagine if a guy has a shoe full of rubber tire pieces in their kicks. No, that definitely happens. That definitely happens. But, you know, when you're playing a game, it's like getting dirt in your shoe. You know, it's not that bad.

You don't really get that many inside your shoe. Really? Like, you get them inside your shoe, but it doesn't really feel that bad because you're so focused on playing football, you don't give a damn. about like a little, it's like really small pieces. It's like almost smaller than a size of rice. So it's not that bad. You know, it might fall in your shoe or something like that.

But I actually got a crazy story when it comes to turf. Okay. Man, we went to Buffalo, right? And it was like probably 18 degrees, but it was like a blizzard outside. It was a blizzard outside. And I had talked to my teammates. And I was like, man, it's so cold out here. I don't feel good, bro.

I'm about to wear sleeves. Back when I was playing, it was like my third year, and I was about to wear sleeves, and back there in the defense didn't wear sleeves. Nobody on the defense wore sleeves. So there's like, no, you're not going to wear those sleeves, right? And I'm like, what you mean?

Like, I'm why to wear sleeves? It's cold, and I don't feel good. They're like, no, you're not. We're going to find you five grand per sleeve. I was like, F it, I'll take it. And it was like, no, you still not wearing sleeves. Was that a kangaroo court kind of thing? Like, okay, yeah, we're going to find you behind clothes,

doors, $5,000 bucks in sleeve. That's just something that you guys had going to the locker room. Yeah, it was just more like the defense talking to each other

like, no, you ain't going to do that. We're going to find you and then you got to pay the defense, the defense. I don't care. I'm wearing sleeves.

And they're like, you're still not wearing them. I'm like, Coach Tomlin, like Ryan wanted to wear sleeves. And then Coach Thomas was like, no, the defense

don't wear sleeves or something like that. I'm like, man, what? Like, oh, he's like, linebackers don't wear sleeves. I'm like, what? I was like,

I'm like, fuck it. I'm like, if y'all don't want me to wear sleeves, I'm about to go out here in this blizzard and get sick and say it's all y'all fault with no shirt on. And that's where I started wearing no shirt. And it was like freezing cold out there. And the thing that's so crazy about the turf is when I was warming up out there in the cold,

they had like Zamboni because it was so much snow. So they was trying to push it off the field. But this is another thing I don't like about turf. All those pebbles got pushed to the side of the field. So now it wasn't even like grass. anymore. It was literally just, it was like carpet for real. Like, it didn't even have the pebbles in there. So, like, if your feet give or when you're running or things like that. So now, we had like a 20-minute delay because they had to pay all, they had to like try to even out

the field again to put all the pebbles back in. But I just wanted to tell that story because that's the main reason I actually started wearing those shirt because my teammates were being assholes. Yeah, the turf at MetLife, I think it's worse than the Jet Super Bowl chances right about now because neither one of them looking very good. San Francisco, they absolutely put a whoop on the jets and they'll have to do it again, week three versus the giants. Now, is, is that how things unfolded with you when it came to being shirtless? But one thing I want to know, Ryan, is to combat the cold, did you maybe like slather up some Vaseline or something? I know there's some tricks to stay warm out there when it's absolutely freezing cold, but with no sleeves,

I mean, if you're putting out some Vaseline on your arms there, that's going to be a little tough. No, I'm not a lot. Cole. I'm about to tell a secret. I hate the cold weather just as much as anybody. Literally. I hate it. I hated the cold weather. But the thing is that was, what cool was, I started seeing like the attention I got from me. And I wasn't like trying to be an attention secret. But I've seen that guys were like, man, this guy is crazy. Man, this is negative six degrees out here. He has no shirt on. Like, I'm like, I'm not trying to play in this weather. You were just trying to get your grown as sexy on. That's what it was, wasn't it?

That's what it was, man. You get some Instagram, get some likes, get some favorites. I mean, it doesn't hurt. I'm trying to get, you know, little People magazine, Best Man of the Year, something like that. Anytime you can call attention to us, light-skinned bald dudes, I mean, hey, I'm all for it. I'm all for it. I have no problem with that.

I'm right there with you. Now, but the thing is, I started noticing that guys around the league were like, man, bro, like, why you wear, why are you wearing, like, no shirt on? It's super cold out here. dudes don't even want to play out here in this weather. And once I heard them say that, I'm like, yo, I'm in your head. Like, so you, like, you're telling me you already don't want to play. First of all, I want to play.

And this leg, you know I want to play more. But the fact that you don't like this weather too, thank you for giving me that 2% advantage over you. Yeah, it's almost, you remember back in the day when the old school quarterback from the Minnesota Vikings came out and he had a short-sleeved shirt on it. it was legit like negative 30 below. And my man was out there just in a ball cap and a sleeveless collared shirt.

Like it was just another day at the park. Yeah. Like once you start, because like it was crazy cold because that year we ended up playing the dolphins. And it was like negative. Like before we warmed up in the game, it was like negative 18. And I was like, yeah. First of all, we played a Dolphins negative 18.

I was like, I didn't even have to wear no shirt. I knew. It's a rap. It's a rap. Yeah. It was, it was. Because I was just talking about family and they're from Fort Lauderdale

and they say, yeah, it's, man, it's 75 degrees out here, man. It's a great day in December. I was like, me, January. I was like, oh, yeah, these guys are coming up here. Negative 18, they don't want to play. Like, and then we've seen it.

Like, guys were wearing, like, the big hoodies that the NFL were for guys that aren't playing on the sideline. It's like big, it's like big comfortable. It got like almost fur inside. And then they had the turf shoes on and we have a grass field. And we were like, so y'all wearing turf shoes

because y'all think it gets cold out here and you're still supposed to wear cleats. So it was like, oh, yeah, we don't have to worry about these guys. Like, and they lost that one as soon as they got off the bus. Yeah, as soon as they got off the bus. We seen what they were wearing and we was over there just wearing regular warm-up gear and we knew this, we had this game. Yeah, I'm not a fan of cold weather either,

even though I'm from Chicago. I've been out where it's so cold. I mean, they canceled school, but me and my guys, we walked up to the local little, little, convenience store to play Mortal Kombat on the old school on the old school video game console. And it was so cold when you go and you breathe in through your nose, like your nose would freeze shut. And we knew we weren't supposed to be outside. But, you know, we had to get that sub-zero and that scorpion on, man. That's just how it was back in the day. And Motor Kombat

is still a dope game. I actually got that game. I'm not that good. But not on that new Xbox, though, because you're still waiting, still looking at that phone, wait, wait for that confirmation code. Well, we're going to get back to that and we're going to get back to your Steelers in just a second. They're two and oh, but first, we've got to take a quick break. Today's episode is brought to you by Heineken. Heineken would like to remind you that it's time for seasonal beers again. That's right. If you thought a cold, crisp summer Heineken was something, just wait until you taste Heineken's fall lineup. Is it a new product? Nope. Just the same great tasting lager. That's perfect for any season. And when the weather starts to cool off just a little bit and

football's in full swing, there's nothing better to quench your thirst than an ice-cold Heineken. Heineken, original lager is made with pure malt and their famous A-East, which makes Heineken in all season all the time kind of beer. So pick up a pack or get it delivered. Whatever your style is, and as always, remember, please drink responsibly. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fanduel. We're teaming up with Fanduel again this football season, but we've got something new this

time around. All season long, you can play the free Ringer mega contest on Fanduil, Fanduel, and here's how it works. Just pick five NFL games against the spread, including one double-down pick. You get one point for every correct pick, and two, that's right, too, if you hit your double-down. A Fandu will add up your score every week, just finish in the top 100 on the season-long leaderboard to make the playoffs, and guess what? You get to compete for a share of $25,000.

It's just that simple. Now, this week, I feel great about Kansas City, despite their underdog status over Baltimore. In Minnesota, well, they're going to get in the win column at the house versus Tennessee. And if there is any game that I could stay away from this week, it would be the Jets. I'd avoid them all season long at all cost. Now, listeners, if you haven't joined up yet, you can still join. But realistically, this is the last week if you want to be able to make up some ground on the competition. Because as we told you earlier, the top 100, make the playoffs to compete for a share of $25K.

That's right, $25,000. So play in the ringer mega contest for free every week only on Fanduel. Go to fanduel.com slash megacontest to make your picks today. That's fanduil.com slash megac contest. All right here, back here on the show. Keep sticking and moving and it's playbook time. And we like to dive deep each and every single week here. And we like to maybe uncover some stones that haven't been turned around so far.

And why not go with the Pittsburgh Steelers? Because, Ryan, your squad, hold on a second now. Two and O. I thought they were going to win a little bit bigger over the Denver Broncos, but nevertheless, they went out there. They limited them when it came to the run game. And that's one of the things that when I look at Pittsburgh, whatever they do, what do they do best? Well, it's almost like they're, and I don't take this disrespectful at all, but it's almost like they're a miniature New England from back in the day. They take away what you do the best, and they make that your weakness.

And then everything else, you have to be on your A game because if not, you're going to lose that ballgame. And that's exactly what we saw with Denver, despite the fact. that Drew Locke was hurt. Drekthrystal, he tried his best. But the Steelers, there are going to be a problem this year for a whole bunch of teams, man. Yeah, I think that the Steelers are going to be

a really good team. I project us to win 12 or 11 games this year. I've seen a stat a while ago. It said, when you lose your starting quarterback, you typically should give him four games and that kind of end up the record that makes up for how many losses you would have had with or without them.

And that would make us 12 and 4. That used to be a buy, but now there's only one team get a buy. So we're going to see how everything pan out. But you see where I'm going with this. But I think the defense looks, they look really good. They look damn good.

Like some people told me this is probably one of the best defenses they've seen in a long time. And I totally agree. But the biggest thing that I have with us right now is that I want us to do this versus a quality opponent too. And I think we can. I know we can. But I just want to make sure we do it.

versus somebody equality, you know, because at a day, people aren't going to say nothing until we do this verse Lamar. We do this verse, you know, the Texans who come in next week, you know, versus Deshaun, you know, so I honestly think the defense is going to be where we need to be at. And I'm really excited about them. You know, T.J., Bud, there are a problem on the edges. Tyson Wallo-Walu, he's playing damn good at Nostaku right now,

and I don't think a lot of people are talking about him. We had Hargrave last year, and Hargrave was good. He was super good at pass rush. But I think Tyson does a great job at stopping the run. And that's what the Steelers are all about. If we stop your run, now we control what you do. And if you're going to pass the ball, let me know if T.J. or Bud not going to get there. And if they don't get there, Stefan or Cam going to get there.

If they don't get there, Trey Edmonds, or Mike Hilton going to get there because we sit in everybody. You don't know where it's coming from. And so I'm excited. And the thing I'm most excited about right now, honestly, isn't a defense because I knew what the defense was about. When I was with the team last year, I've seen it. Like, I feel like we had a top five defense last year. And Madden acts like we had a top 30 defense.

I don't know why, but that's another topic. Cats really take offense to Madden rankings, though. At first, I thought it was a game. I mean, obviously, it is a game. But the way that guys look at their ratings, I mean, as soon as the game hits the streets, cats are trying to check on those ratings, whether it be defense or individual ratings.

And if it's not up to snuff, I mean, they really take exception to that. Yeah, not, because at the day, it really just showed, it's showing what somebody thinks of you as a player or as a team. You know, so if you get underrated in every, like, the ESPN top 100,

they said TJ was in the top 50. TJ came second in MVP voting last year. And he's constantly had back-to-back great seasons. But the game has, 50 to 70 guys rated above him. So that's basically saying you don't think I'm one of the best players in the NFL. You know, or the defense with the top five defense,

they had some of the most turnovers, you know. But since they don't have the superstar guys that everybody knows around the league, they're like, hey, your defense isn't rated that good, which is crazy to me because at the day, these guys work just as hard as these other guys and they're proven. So that's why guys get mad.

But I'm not going to even talk about it. right now. What I'm actually excited about, what I'm actually excited about is our offense, man, because Deonti Johnson, Juju, and Chase are going to be a problem. Because Chase has, what, three catches as a Ricky. One catch

was an amazing, it looked like in San Antonio Holmes' replica, but it wasn't in the end zone. The other catch was an 80-yard touchdown. You know, for a bomb, he was, what, 6-4, 6-5, 2-30, he's playing good. I think it's just fun to Ben right now

because he has a bunch of weapons all over the field. I just want to see us put more points on the board. You know, and then James and Benny are doing well with a combination back there because I know a lot of guys were knocking James last week because he wasn't playing. Benny had 100 yards and had a bunch of carries and did well. But James, he came back and was like,

hey, I'm still James Connor, bounced out 100 yards. So I'm excited about this office. I think this offense has a lot to do is growing. It's a young offense with an old leader. So that's what I'm really excited about. But the defense, I already knew what they had coming. Like Coach Tomlin, he thrives on defense, even though I like to mess with him sometimes because he was a receiver in college just for a lot of people don't know.

But he's a great defensive coach. But he wants to make sure he forces you to get in situations that you don't want to get in. Because if TJ know you passing the ball on second down, man, it's hard to block a lot. Yeah. No, and like you said, you know what the defense was going to be. bring to the table this year, but it's the offense that you're most impressed with. But they had that big playability. I mean, with James, kind of like you said, week one, things didn't go his way, but 106 yards this week. And it seems as if when, when things get

going, that's when he really starts to carry that load. I mean, he's one of those guys who's, I'm not necessarily saying he's a volume back, but the back half of his runs are always the ones that are more impressive. And that 59-yard run, that long run he had on Sunday, that's that big playability. And like Chase Claypool, like you said, at 8.5. 84-yard touchdown for that young dude to come out there and show out. It's that big playability that Ben right now is able to tap into it. And when that defense is playing like that and Ben could pull the trigger any which way he wants to, like we said, this Pittsburgh Steelers team, they're going to be a problem all season long for

everybody on their schedule, even the teams that right now are favored to beat them. Yeah, I think there'll be a problem. Like I don't know before this season or at them before the season if the Texas were projected to beat the Steelers, but I don't I don't see it happening. I don't see it happening. Deshaun has the weapons. Obviously, he has fast receivers. But the Steelers, they're known for making sure they don't get beat over top.

So they're not going to allow Will Fuller to, Will Fuller or Brennan Cooks to have a track meet. That's not what they're about to allow to happen. And then everybody sends so much pressure at Deshaun, he's going to be like, yo, what's going on? So I'm excited about this season. And then I actually like this playbook, man, because we're going to be diving into every team.

You know, so, you know, what are we going to talk about the Steelers? And then next week I might talk about the Texans. You know, next week I might talk about the Saints. So I'm excited about what we got coming with this Playbook section because I love diving in to each team, what they have and the future that they hold. Yeah, we know that the Pittsburgh Steelers, however, the cream of the crop when it comes to the NFL and championship pedigree. But, you know, when it comes to the Steelers, we've seen what they've been able to do so far at 2 and 0.

one of the best starts in a while because, you know, two and no starts, not easy to come by. I think a lot of teams take things for granted, but when it comes to what the Steelers do on the field and off the field, is there anything that you've experienced, that you've seen from the outside looking in, that this organization does better than anyone else? To me, I think this organization does a great job of caring for the guys

and treating them like guys, treating them like people. A lot of other organizations, guys tell me, man, the coaches, man, when we're around, they, you know, they standoffish. They don't really talk to us as much. they, you know, they treat it as a business. You know, the coaches and the players, they all joke around. You know, they all, when they're time to be serious, everybody's on point. But when it's time to, you know, to let loose, they let loose.

And I think they do a great job of really, let me say, understanding their employees, understanding the guys that they're working with and understand, like, what's his benefit, what's his strength, and just actually getting a note of people. Like, Mr. Rooney knows my kids' names. He knows, he knows my wife. Obviously, I'm a different case because I've been hurting things. like that, but before I got hurt, he knew all this stuff.

You know, and when guys come in, they know this stuff. And then the longer you there, the more they get to know you. You know, so I think they do a great job with that. One thing that I like that Coach Tomlin does, and I think every coach does this, but I haven't been in other locker rooms, is that he breaks each session of the season down into quarters. So right now, they're starting off 2-0. That's a great start.

I'm not going to even lie. I don't think I ever started 2-0 when I was with the Steelers. Okay. So, and I'm actually decided because, they're going to be a problem. We might have had one season, but I don't know. Yeah, and that's why I wanted to ask you, because we do know that coaches they break the season down

into four quarters just like a game. And what you want to do is you want to win each and every single quarter, whether it's you go three and one or even two and two. If you win all the rest of the quarters, you'll be sitting pretty right there. And Coach Tomlin, with the two and oh start, he has to feel good about it right now. Yeah, I think he feels pretty good,

but Coach Tom is on a game basis. He doesn't try to think too far ahead. Okay. You know, and he tried to just stay focused on who he has next because, like I said before, when you start counting your sheeps are looking ahead of time, that's when they come and get you. You know, so I think he's just excited about the Texans. He's excited about playing a solid team like the Texans and know that, hey, they have a pretty good defense, but their offense has had some firepower.

And Coach Tomlin loves a challenge. He loves figuring out the puzzles and figuring out the puzzles and figuring out the clues and figuring out what he can do to take advantage of it and just to get them out of their element. You know, for instance, Deshaun likes to run around and pass it a lot and they might not want to run the ball this much. Coach Thomas might be like, hey, y'all got to beat me with David Johnson. And I'm not saying that they can't win with David Johnson, but I don't think that's the

way they want to win, you know? No, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, you said 11, 12 wins. Is that where you're going? Is that your prediction for this 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers' Ball Club? Yeah, I think 11, 12 wins, and if they're getting the playoffs, it's going to be a problem. But what, I want to hear your take, man. I've been talking about the Steelers.

What do you think about the Steelers? You know, I like the Steelers. I mean, I predicted the Steelers at the beginning of the season, right where you're at, 11, 12 wins. I think I said 10 to 11 wins, but I still see them, you know, making the postseason as that wild card. I don't see them win the division. And that's no disrespect. It's only because, you know, we've got an unbelievable cat in the reigning MVP in Lamar Jackson

over there in Baltimore. I mean, that's the only problem. And that's the only reason I say that they're not going to win the division this season. No, I respect that. I can definitely see that. And this is why I say that the Steelers' defense have to do this versus a quality opponent.

Because if you see them do this versus somebody quality, then you would know, all right, this is where they're at. You know, right now everybody has them in their top five ranking. They're looking really solid. But this is, we have to do this versus a quality outfit like Houston. And then you see how the last two teams beat Houston. sound. The Steelers are going to have to do something like that or just show that, hey, we're here.

And then when they play the Ravens or when they play somebody else tough, we don't see. But I think this is what I'm excited about with the Ravens. They play Kansas City this week. And we're going to see Lamar v. Mahomes. And I want to see, because it was firepower last year, I want to see if it's the same type of firepower this year. And this is a good thing for Coach Tomlin, too, because it lets him know. know what he can and can't take away from the ravers because they're going to they're going to pit them in some unfortunate unwanted situations the chiefs are because they're going to they're

probably going to jump out on them because they jump out on pretty much everybody so it's going to pit them in situations they're not really used to so we're I'm excited to see this game. Absolutely. I think the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC north this season are going to be like the Oakland Raiders over there in the AFC West. They're going to make that postseason as a wild card but there's just too big of an immovable force right in front of them with Kansas City for Oakland and for Baltimore for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But who knows, anything can happen once you get to that postseason. Now we're going to get to some likes is what we do around here.

That's what we do on this show. And we're also going to have some observations that we call Mike Check. That's coming up in just a second. But we have to take a quick break just again. Stick around. Fantasy football is back. And you don't want your team to suck. My favorite fantasy football punishment I've ever heard is the last place guy had to

spend 24 hours in a waffle house. And every waffle he ate was one hour, off of his account. I want numbers. How many did he end up eating? 12 waffles and 12 hours. I'm Danny Hyfitz. I'm Danny Kelly.

And I'm Craig Horlebeck. We host the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on the Ringer podcast network. To avoid eating 12 waffles in a Waffle House, follow the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on Spotify. All right, welcome back. It's time for our week two likes. Ryan and I, we're going to show some love

to a few cats around the league. And Ryan, who you smashing that like button on this week, man? So I'm going to have to take my dislike back. man, Baker had a great game, man. I ain't gonna lie. He had a great game. He bounced back. He must have been listening

to the podcast because I say he had to perform. He had to get Odell involved. They had to get the running game involved, and that's what they did. I felt like Baker had a good game. He showed everybody, hey, I'm getting better because at first I said he looked at the same.

So I'm excited about that. They looked really solid. So I like it, Baker. But I'm going to have to like Joe Burrow, too. Because Joe Burrell, man, he's looking solid, man. He doesn't look like a rookie at all of me. He looks so composed back there, man. It's so poised.

And I think this year is going to be rough for them because they're not as talented as other people. And they have young in some pieces. They're younger some pieces. But I think they're going to be solid, especially with Joe Burrow leading away. I think they're going to be a solid team. And I remember we played Andy Dalton one year.

Same team, it was fourth down. You know, you're trying to win a game at the end of the game. and Andy Dawin, you know, it was crazy because we didn't blitz him. I think I was in coverage or something, and he started scrambling. And I started running to him, run it to him, run it to him.

Oh, I'm about to get a sack. Because at any day, I'm like, he's not about to throw the ball away. He got to, he got to try to win the game. You know, so I'm running to him, run it to him. Third down and like five. He's like, F it, fuck it. The game over.

Those the ball out of balance. And I'm like, so you basically just gave up on your team. You know, you guys, I'm like, and I, obviously, I don't think, Joe is going to do that. I feel Joe is going to always try to figure out a way to get that win in. And it was banging up, we're banging up Andy Dawning pretty bad that game.

But at the day, I don't think you should ever give up on your team like that. So I like Joe Burrow because I don't think he'll do that. It's like what did Herm say back in the day? Hello, you play to win the game. I mean, that's why you got to go out there. You got to play to win that game. And I mean, that's one of the best sound bites of all time. That and Jim Moore playoffs.

And, you know, rest in peace, Denny Green. We know that they let him off the hook, but that's here and we're there because this week, I'm giving the like button to my man, Kyler Murray. I mean, we talked about it earlier in the show, those quarterbacks with that baseball background and Kyler Murray right now. He's turning double plays on Katz. Did you see that little stutter step that he did, like the little hop, skip and a jump and then just kind of walked right into the end zone, Ryan?

I mean, this guy right here, I mean, you said it. He's one of your MVP dark horses. And right now what he's doing, I mean, I know it's early, but two and no for those Arizona Cardinals. That's my guy. That's my guy. Right? I mean, you do sound like Smokey right now at the end of Friday after Craig knocked out Debo. That's my dog.

That's my dog. Absolutely. I spoke it into his distance. I'm telling y'all, Kyle is going to be your problem. Absolutely. I mean, 67 rushing yards got it done with his arm as well. I mean, you have Newk and Kenyon Drake, all those guys getting after it. I mean, they just seem like an offensive buffet out there in the desert.

With Kyler Murray, I mean, it's a steak and buffet lobster, steak and lobster buffet with the way this cat's playing. Yeah, man, they're looking solid. I'm excited for Kyler. I think he's going to be the MVP for show. Yeah, and you know, it's funny because, you know, back in the day, I thought, like, you know, Steve Wilkes was like, man, you're telling me I got fired

because I didn't win enough games. And then they hired a dude who didn't win enough games in college. Like, what's going on here? But nevertheless, I still think Steve Wilkes could have had a winning combination down there in Arizona. But Cliff Kingsbury doing his thing with Kyler Murray and rightfully so. I mean, there's a lot of weapons.

I'm really mad about that. the Wilkes firing because I don't think that Cliff deserves the job. And I don't like to say that people don't deserve jobs. I don't, honestly, I don't think that he should be in that position. But when it comes to offense, I think that he has a better offense for Collar than Wilkes would have had. So I think that's what's saving him because he has the pieces. And then he comes in and then they draft Collar when they gave Wilkes Josh Rosen. Come on now.

It is what I mean. He just wasn't able to do it in. in Lubbock with Baker Mayfield or Patrick Mahomes. But that's here nor there. We're not talking about that. We're not talking about his inability to win games at the college level. We're talking about the NFL right now and the fact that the Arizona Cardinals are 2-0. Who else you give it a like button to this week, man?

I'm going to have to say the books. I wouldn't say just Foren-Nex, but I'm going to Bucks because-Bounce-back win. A bounce-back win. It really showed everybody here. They're trying to figure out how to use their weapons. Last week, they weren't giving Fournette the ball, and, you know, he was struggling. And then this week, Fornett has 103 yards rushing, you know, two touchdowns. That man said, I ain't no backup.

I'm not no backup. Give me the ball. Yeah. I'm not saying, and Randall Jones is a good player. He's a really good player. But at the day, Fornett is one of the top backs in the league. He's not one of the shiftyer guys, but he's one of the guys that's hard to tackle. And he's like a Derek Henry or Cam Newton type of guy.

But the thing is, that's different between those two guys. those two guys fall forward because they're bigger. He falls forward because he runs harder. He runs really hard. And it makes people not want to tackle him. And I like that, man. I'm going to give it to Lina-Fornaneda and the Bucks, man, because they're getting their players involved.

And you see they got Mike Evans had seven catches and Scott Miller dropped the touchdown in the end zone, man. If they start catching the ball, the Bucks are going to be, they're going to be a problem. And I think they just want to get a good team at the beginning of the season, even though they lost last night. I think they went against a good team last season

and it's going to be all right. How do you tackle a dude like Leonard Furnett? Because watching him at LSU and watching what he was able to do in his first few years with Jacksonville, I mean, I feel like the dude's beard gets at least 35 yards a game. His beard is so much of a grown man.

And that's just how he runs the ball. I mean, he runs angry. Yeah, no, he runs really angry. He runs like he came from nothing. He's running like he has a purpose. He has a, he has some. He has a fight. He is something that's inside him that's like, hey, man, like, I'm proving you wrong.

He's like Cam right now. He's on a revenge tour. You guys cut me. Nobody wanted me. I'm about to come here and show everybody what I'm about. And the thing about Fournette is that everybody has things that they give away. And Fornett does give stuff away. Like when he's going against linebackers a lot of times, he spins off the tackles and things like that.

When he's going against DBs, he's going to try to run over or jump him. So it's little things like that that you can find out about him. but he's definitely on his revenge tour. And I'm excited to see what kind of season he has in Tampa. If they keep giving him the ball, I think they're going to have some serious problems. Yeah, I want to see if Leonard Fournett makes it on the 10 Questions with Kyle Brandt podcast on Spotify and the ringer

and see how he gets those angry runs, see if he gets that SEPter or that T-shirt sometime this year because Leonard Fernette, man, he's getting after it, no doubt about it. You know, I'm going to give a like to maybe a dark horse, a guy that we didn't even know was going to play this. week. And I don't think he knew he was going to play this week either, but Justin Herbert, hold on, Tyrod Taylor, you know, things before kickoff didn't go his way. He had to go to the hospital. And Justin Herbert, he stepped in and albeit in a loss, he had Kansas City shaking

in their boots there for, even if it was only a split second, I mean, for your first game in the National Football League to be up against Patrick Mahomes and the reigning world champions, that man came to play. And we saw the poise from him. I mean, we saw him just the way he stepped in 311 yards. I mean, he was efficient. And, To see a big dude like that, one thing that I'm a big fan of, and if I was a scout, maybe I'd fall into this trap every single time. Draft time rolled around, but you can't teach size. And Justin Herbert, he has that in spades, man.

And if he can put everything together, I think that the Chargers, they may have found their quarterback, even though Anthony Lynn says that to Rod Taylor, he will be his starter week three. No, I totally understand him having Tyrae come back in because it still gets some leadership. But, yeah, Justin had a great game. He had better than I spade it. but I envision him having a good game. For some reason, I like him a lot, man.

Like, I have no reasoning for liking him. Obviously, he was a good player in college. He had good numbers, but I like him more than I like some other guys. I think he showed his own. He showed that he's somebody that's going to be reckoned with. And he held his own for his small homes, man. They had them to the ropes, man. They made them kick a 58-yard field goal to win a game.

You know, when I knew I knew Coach Lynn won to go forward at the end of the game for the win, but you have to go for the tie. You know, you had to the points on the board. And I think he did a good job, man. I think he's going to be a solid quarterback. I hope Tyra is all right. But I think he's going to be a solid quarterback. You know, I feel like I don't know as much about Justin Herbert as I should. And it's mainly because Oregon, they play all those Pac-12 after Dark games. I mean, if you're not really tuned in, if you're not a Pack 12 kind of guy. I mean, you can miss a lot of those games, right?

Pack, Mac, all sound the same to me, man. They play football like that. Mountain West, I mean, those games that start at, you know, at 9 o'clock West Coast time, I mean, if you're on the East Coast, no one's tuning in on a Saturday night to catch a midnight football game. Nobody watch West Coast stuff, man. You know, the only people watch West Coast stuff is West Coast people. You know, and who watches football at 10 p.m.?

Yeah, that's a little late. I mean, y'all got to change your schedule to fit to East, Coast. Yeah. 10 a. m. on the West Coast for NFL Sunday.

Now, that has a nice ring to at 10 p.m. to try to catch college football games. No, I'm off of that one. I'm off of that. I can't get with that at all. I think I see a Pack 12 games start at 1 a.m. before it?

It was like a night game for them? I'm like, USC, Fresno State, when Reggie Bush was putting moves on Fresno State on the Bulldogs? Yeah. I'm like, y'all are asking me to stay up at 1 a.m. Eastern time to watch a football game. That's going to end at four? I'm sorry, I can't.

This is not UFC. It's not over in 20 minutes. Yeah, we're not on a fight island. But you know what time it is? It's time for that microphone check. One, two, what is this? Well, I'll tell you what it is. It's the time when Ryan and I, well, we open things up.

Ryan's going to let us know what he saw that we didn't this week. And I'm going to let you know what had my blood boiling what got me all fired up from around the football league this weekend. I'll tell you what. One thing that really jumped out to me was Monday night football. I mean, the way that the Saints went into that giant Rumba, a Legion Stadium, and then it hurts me to say it, but they kind of got smacked. I mean, you look at what Derek Carr was able to do, and one of his biggest pieces to the puzzle had to be Darren Waller. He balled out. I mean, the cat, 12 catches, 103 yards, and a touchdown.

And, I mean, you had to hear what John Gruden said about this man after the game. Let's listen up real quick. You know, Darren's a great player, and our job is to try to get him the ball. And I've said it before. I don't know if I've said it to you. but I'd take him out of any of the tight ends. And I know Kittal and Kelsey are as good as they get, but Waller's right up there with him. This is a second year playing the position.

It's astonishing what this man can do. All right, we heard Coach Gruden. I mean, we know he's a passionate guy. And for him to speak of Darren Waller like that, you know, Darren Waller has to be smiling from ear to ear because Coach Gruden, you know, when he likes his guys, he really likes him. Case in point, he lives next door to Derek Carr.

I mean, Derek Carr one morning, he's just sitting there going out to the, the end of the driveway to get the mail or the newspaper with a cup of coffee. And then he sees hanging out of the side window. Hey, Derek, what's going on? Man, look at VA. I just moved next door. How about this?

We can powwow. We can talk about our game plan. I mean, for him to say that about Darren Waller and say he's the best tight in all the National Football League, I'm a big fan of that. I'm a big fan of Darren and his comeback story. And to be honest, I like what the Raiders are doing right now. Man, I think he's going to be, he's a huge mismatch problem. He played a receiver in college.

She played receiver for Baltimore, and they moved him in the tight end, and he's a mismatch problem. You have a receiver going against linebackers and safeties. It's not fair. And just to mention, Darren Waller got me 28 points in fantasy last night. Let's go. Let's go. I don't even want to talk about fantasy, man. My fantasy squad is so garbage.

I mean, I don't even want to talk about it, but, I mean, we apparently were just talking about it. But how about you, man? I need a mic check from you because you're going to give us your perspective from the Mike linebacker spot, something that you saw this week that maybe we didn't see, something that may have alluded our eyes. What is it, man? I'm not a lot of most bullshit I've seen this weekend. Coming in hot.

Hold on. It was the damn Jets. How you get up a third and 31, but it wasn't a pass. It was a run. Like, obviously, you know, a lot of times people get lack of days ago. Like I said earlier with the Falcons, people get lack of days ago. They think it plays over 30 and 31. You're like, obviously they're not throwing the ball.

You're like, they're not about to try that. get 31 yards on us. So, man, somebody's going to make a tackle, pit up our fist, fourth down. Let's go. They run the ball, one dude, miss a tackle out 55 yards. And that's complete bullshit, man.

All you got to do is sit in cover three and wait for the run, man. That's just lack of focus, lack of discipline, man. And that's just terrible football. That's just the Jets, though, isn't it? I mean, Ryan, you watch football. But at the day, it's more than the Jets, man. Adam Gage, that's terrible coaching, man.

You have to have your guys to prepare. for any moment of the game because guys can score at any moment. But Adam Gase is an offensive genius, Ryan. You didn't know that? Man, how many points they had this week? How many points they had this week? Not enough to win.

How about that? All right. That's all I'm saying. And it's because of offense and defense. Offense get you tickets. Defense win your championships. Like, unless you the freaking chiefs. You know, I'm just saying, man,

like at the end of the day, 30 and 31, you can sit and prevent and letting them run a ball and somebody was still tackle him. Like, that's complete bullshit, man. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for cussing so much on the mic right now. But, like, you're not even a Jets fan,

but Jets football can do that to you. I don't know if you saw Mike Greenberg from ESPN, the way he went off about the Jets. He's a lifelong Jets fan. And, I mean, it was just a scathing review of Adam Gase and the New York Jets right now. I mean, he took them to task, you know, each and every single step of the way.

It's funny to see that, actually. Man, Greenberg, when I was watching him, I think it was, yeah, like black hair, now his hair is gray. He's going to be bald like us soon because of the Jets. Yeah, the Jets, the Jeterpolitans. They continue to Jeterpolitan things up because right now not too good. They lost to San Francisco, of course, 31 to 13 on their home turf. And, yeah, you know, one thing we want to do is we also want to send out some prayers to James White because we know the unfortunate circumstances that he was faced with on game day, you know,

did not play, you know, the loss of his father. You know, at last look, his mother still in critical condition. And that's never what you want to see for anyone in the league, man. Yeah, no, that one's a little personal to me because I actually played a video game with James, and he's a super good guy, man. And it's unfortunate to see that happen. You never wish that on anybody. And I'm sorry to hear about that, James.

You know, we're praying for you. We hope everything's okay. We hope your mother make it through it. And I'm terribly sorry to hear about what happened. Absolutely. And we saw Russell Wilson, you know, saying his condolences right off the top. That was how he led his postgame sound after the win on Sunday night because he's a teammate of James White from University of Wisconsin. So to see the league with that outpouring of support for James White, I mean, it's just unbelievable.

And it just really shows you what kind of a brotherhood the National Football League is. And when things get tough for one guy, everybody seems to stick together. And that's been unbelievable. And that's part of the NFL and the fraternity that it is, man. And, you know, Ryan, you know, I'm lucky to be here with you and to experience just a little taste of that here on our. show each and every single Tuesday. And you know what? As I take a look at the clock, that's going to do it for us. Our time has run its course on this Tuesday edition of the Ringer NFL show. And make a note because we're part of the Ringer

podcast network. So of course, what you can do is you can follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And as always, remember to follow us on Twitter at the Ringer NFL. Every Tuesday, we're dropping new episodes well because that's what Ryan and I do. And Wednesday right here on the Ringer NFL show, it's Warren Sharp and Chris Vernon with those Week 2 Analytics. They're going to help give you gamblers out there a few extra greenbacks in your pocket. So for Ryan Chazir, I'm Cole Wright. We'll catch you next time right here on the show.

Enjoy your week. Enjoy your week, man. I still ain't get my damn Xbox. Damn.