The Ringer NFL Show - Big AFC Predictions for the 2024-25 Season

Episode Date: August 23, 2024

Sheil, Steven, and Diante reconvene to debate and analyze their picks for the division winners of the AFC conference. They then share their individual playoff brackets and use their expertise to determine which team will represent the American Football Conference in Super Bowl LIX (33:58). They end the pod with their picks for next season’s NFL champion (55:06). The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Hosts: Sheil Kapadia, Steven Ruiz, and Diante Lee Producer: Chris Sutton Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Social: Kiera Givens and Eduardo Ocampo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Danny Hyfe. It's here to remind you that it's never too early to start thinking about football. Join me with Danny Kelly and Craig Korbleck on the Ringer Fantasy Football Show all offseason. As we dive into the biggest news and topics are in the 2024 NFL season. Also, we probably get into really stupid arguments too. That's the Ringer Fantasy football show on Spotify. Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. Shield Capati here with Deonté Lee and Stephen Ruiz. It is AFC prediction day.

You heard the NFC, hopefully. You're a completest and you listen to every minute of every podcast. on this feed. We did the NFC earlier this week. We go division by division. We make our picks. Then we pick our wildcard teams. Then we pick a Super Bowl representative. And then today, at the end of the show, these three guys pick a Super Bowl champ that is sure to be incorrect. So you got to listen all the way to the end. We're playing flags today. We're playing flags today. That's right. Deontay, how we doing? Doing good, man. This is the open of the high school football season.

for me. So it's been writing for the NFL stuff and putting together call sheets for later tonight. Like I am neck deep in football again, which is exactly where I wanted to be. I asked him earlier how confident he was on a scale of 1 to 10 from a coach's perspective. He said eight, but he said that's what makes him feel like a fraud because he feels like he has everything covered, but that means he probably is missing something. I'm very defensive coordinator coded, man. This is like old sheriff, you know, you can never be happy. You're never, please when you solve a case, it's just on to the next thing, or I feel like I'm missing some detail, and that's where I'm at right now.

Listen, Ruiz, we got to get Deontes School, find the merch store online. I want to be rocking those, rocking that gear, all high school football season, supporting our guy from across the country. All right, let's get to it. I mean, we got four divisions to get through. We got some arguments to be had. Let's start with the AFC East. And I was prepping for this pod, and I did not realize until about two hours ago that the New York Jets are now the favorites to win the AFC East. It was not like this earlier in the offseason.

I didn't look at this. This is news to me. Yeah, it was great. It was not like this earlier in the offseason. It was bills and then jets. Now the Jets are plus 155, according to Fandul. The favorites in the AFC East, followed by the builds at plus 175. Dolphins not far behind at plus 240. And then the Patriots are way down there. there. And this is interesting too. The bills over under for wins is 10 and a half. The Jets is nine and a half,

but the Jets have the better odds to win the division. So it is very strange. Dolphins are also at nine and a half and the Patriots are down there at four and a half. All right, Ruiz, you get us started. This is an interesting one. This is one of the few divisions where you could probably go in one of three different directions and have a case here. So what direction is Stephen Ruiz going in? I'm still undecided up into the pot. I got to roll the dice. I'm going with the bills. I got to go with the bills.

My heart wants to pick the jets so badly just because I feel like we've all sold our jet stock, especially after those four snaps. And then Aaron Rogers, Achilles, went snap too. But you look at that roster and you look at what they've accomplished with. I think we made the point on the last show where it's harder to play defense when your offense isn't doing its part, where you're behind the eight ball at all times. it's harder still to play defense when you employ the style of defense that Robert Sala employees, where we want to rush for it and we want to get after the quarterback and we want to play zone.

They've managed to be a top five defense the last couple of years while playing from behind with that style of defense. If they can play from ahead this year, I think the defense is going to be even better, and I think they are going to be better on offense, provided Aaron Rogers stays healthy. That's a big if, though. And it's not only Aaron Rogers, it's Mike Williams has to stay healthy. Tyron Smith has to stay healthy. Guys that haven't gotten injured in the past, like Quentin Williams, for instance,

has to stay healthy like he has the last couple of years. So a lot riding on the injury luck for a team that's often injured, that's tough for me. So I'm going to pump the brakes on my Jets hype. I'll get back to Jets hype later on in the episode when we start talking playoffs. But for now, I'm going with the bills because I think maybe I sold their stock a little too early in the offseason,

especially after the digs trade. But I'm liking what I'm seeing out of camp. I think Josh Allen's going to take a step forward. I think Sean McDermott's going to have that defense playing better. And I'm really high on Khalil Shakir. And I think he can effectively replace the production you got from Stefan Diggs. And if that's the case and the defense is better, this team's going to be better than it was last year. And they were one of the best teams in the AFC last year.

What's your win total for the bill? Did you do your exercise where you picked every game? You did that for the whole league. So I imagine you have a win total for the bills for us. Yeah, I did this back on Monday. 12, 12 wins. 12 wins for the Buffalo Bill. Okay, there you go. Deante, he

said he's picking the bills, then he started making the case for the jet. So I thought there might be a flip-flop there at the end, but no, he stuck with the Buffalo Bills for his division winner. Are you on board with Ruiz, or are you going in a different direction? I'm on board, but I think that the margins are really tight. That's obviously reflected, I think, in the odds, and the over-under toll is that you mentioned at the top of the podcast in the AFC East. I have Buffalo going 11 and 6.

I have Miami as my second plus team going 10. and seven. And I think that you can make a good argument that the top three in this division all will end up making the playoffs ultimately. For me with Buffalo, I'm in the same place Stephen is. I think at the start of this offseason, you trade away Stefan Diggs. And I'm like, okay, I don't know where this leaves this offense. There's not an instant one-to-one replacement that's as dynamic, a playmaker against one-on-one coverage as Stefan Diggs is. And that's considering how much I liked Keon Coleman coming out of college and what I think he can be as an extra receiver, specifically for Josh Allen.

But I think going through the preseason, I'm looking at the roster, the fact that outside of Matt Milano, it seems like their guys are healthy. And I do think that that is going to be another missed piece for them. This defense definitely needs them in the center of it to play the way that they want to play. But I think if we're reset an injury luck outside of Matt Milano, I mean, they were just hit so hard in the middle of the season

with injuries on the defensive backfield. That really kind of derailed things, I think, for them at that point in time. And then you go back and look, and I think I made this point a couple of podcasts ago, I went back and I looked in December at how they were playing, in November, how they were playing. And I was like, oh, yeah, this was a team that absolutely could have been in the AFC championship game if things would have broke right because of who Josh Allen is and because of what that offense looked like, being more balanced, protecting him and then allowing him on third down to go out and make the magic that we know that he's capable of. And I think that that recipe is something that can carry over to this year.

So I feel pretty good about them being AFC East Winters again. Yeah, I'm glad you said that about the playoff thing because we jump onto all these narratives that we remember from the year before. And it's like they missed, what was it, a 42, 44-yard field goal. Not to say they would have won the game, but that would have tied the game with under two minutes left where you're in a coin flip game against the Kansas City Chiefs, the eventual Super Bowl champs. And it's just been wild. This Bill's team, this run they're on, I don't know if unlucky is the right word, but they've normally when you're knocking on the door for this long, You break through to at least get to the Super Bowl one year. You might not win it.

We know it's hard to win it. But they've had 40. I think I've mentioned the stat before, but I love it so much because those old Seahawks teams used to have stats like this. And the bills have had 40 straight regular season games where they have not lost by more than six points. I mean, they're in every. And that's like kind of crazy when you look at their roster.

Like, I don't, it's not a roster you would look at and say it's amazing. But I think it speaks to Josh Allen, how much he can lift everyone else up. I do think it speaks to Sean McDermott's coaching as well. So no issue with you guys picking the bills. I made a last minute swap on this this afternoon when I was prepping for the pod. I had the bills previously. I feel like I'm usually whoever I'm potting with, I am higher on the bills than those people. I feel like for many years, I'm going with the Jets.

I know. What could go wrong? Picking the Jets to win the division. I was just looking at it. And the O line, yes, Tyrant Smith needs to stay healthy. but it's like they did use a first round pick on a tackle. I'm not saying he's definitely going to be good, but it's like you have some insurance there.

If a guy goes down, that at least you spent a draft pick on a guy who could hopefully come in and give you competent play. The defense, you mentioned it, Ruiz. I mean, this was not a lucky defense last year. Like I like looking at all that stuff, turnover luck, injury like, no, they were beating up on teams, just put in bad situations over and over again

and playing consistently at a high level. So I expect the defense to be really good once again. And then it's just like they have the fifth easiest schedule in the NFL. So they get a break because they weren't good last year. They won seven games with Zach Wilson. You can't get to, you know, 10 games. Come on seven games with the worst quarterback in the NFL, the worst offensive coordinator in the NFL and no offensive line.

And now you upgraded the offensive line. You upgraded the quarterback. We don't need to talk about the offensive coordinator. You know, they might just turn his headset off and be like, we're good here. But you have Air Rogers. And the other thing, and this sounds like a weird argument to make for why I think they did sign Tyrod Taylor. So like if Aaron Rogers is out for three, four weeks, I'm not telling you Tyrod Taylor's Patrick Mahomes, but he is a serviceable, competent backup. Where with this defense, if you have someone who's going to come in, not make mistakes, make some place with his legs, maybe hit on a couple deep balls.

Like you could survive a month without Aaron Rogers. So I made the last second switch. part of it is my analytical brain of shield. There's going to be different division winners this year than last year. Don't go chalk. So I'm like, all right, don't go chalk. If it's close, go with the new team. So I've got the New York Jets.

So there you go. Deonté and Ruiz have the bills. I've got the Jets in the AFC East. We move on to another very, very, very interesting division in the AFC North. Holy cow, Ravens are the favorites at plus 145. Bengals are second at plus one. 165. The Cleveland Browns are third at plus 450, and then the Pittsburgh Steelers are fourth at plus 750. Over under wind totals, high ones in this division. It's wild. Ravens and Bengals are both

at 10 and a half for their over under wind totals. Browns are at 8.5 and Steelers are at 8.5. So no one below 8.5 in the entire division, De Yante, start us off. Who do you have? have in the AFC North. I'm going chalk here. I'm going to be the boring one. I'm saying that Baltimore is going to be good. And I think I have them as one number two seat in the AFC. I think that there's plenty of reason to have questions about losing Mike McDonald to

start, losing Patrick Queen in the center of this defense, right? Like those are two pieces that matter a lot. But I was watching in the preseason and I, this is going to be a point I'll make again later on. I know better than the bank all, all this trust on what I see in. in the preseason. But Nate Wiggins is out there, and I know it's against John Ross, but I'm watching him out on the perimeter by himself one-on-one coverage against the guy that has legitimate top-in speed, and he's right there with him, step for step, and producing when the ball's in the air. And I was like, okay, if that's going to be a piece of this defense, and they have

a Marlon Humphrey back who can play in the slot, play on the outside, if he's 100% healthy, and you have Kyle Hamilton, not that they won't miss Patrick Queen at all, especially replacing him with the young guy in Trenton Simpson. But this could just as easily be the best back seven in the NFL again. And I think that I'll bank on that as well as the fact that this is always going to be a good run game when you have Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry. And if I have to pick that over any other unit in the AFC North offensively outside of Cense's offense, I feel pretty good about that.

So I would say just for those reasons alone, the defensive backfield, the run game, these are the things that have won them football games year over year. and those things have not changed, I feel pretty good about them when in the AFC North again. All right, there you go. Deonté makes the case for the Baltimore Ravens

to go back to back in the division. Stephen Ruiz, are you on board with that pick? I am on board with that, and I don't have the same confidence in the defense. I think they've lost in pieces. I think losing the defensive coordinator, could lead to a step back

and maybe a significant step back with how good that defense was playing, especially at the end of the year. But I'm really high on this offense. And I feel like the offense is kind of getting discreet. count it and the opportunity to go through a whole offseason with the same staff and the same offensive coordinator with Lamar who was more empowered last year to change stuff at the line of

scrimmage. I think that's only going to grow in year two under Todd Munkin. So I'm expecting this offense to be even better. I know they're concerned about the offensive line, but I think there's a world where the offensive line is a little tougher, a little nasty, or a little more able to run the football when they need to run the football, which they couldn't do against Kansas City in the AFC championship game. I know Todd Munkin got to. got a lot of shit for not running enough. But I think part of the problem was when they tried to run, they couldn't really do it.

And that's why they stopped doing it. I think they're more equipped to deal with those problems. I think there are still the same concerns about the receiving core being a little smaller, making things a little harder on Lamar, especially downfield where he basically has to be perfect and hit his guys in stride in order to throw an accurate deep ball. Those are valid concerns. But I just think Lamar has so much room to grow as a passer. We've seen what he can do as a runner.

I think they found the perfect balance between the. those two things last year in the second half. This could be the best offense in the NFL next year, not including San Francisco, which is in its own category. All right. Coming from the guy who just picked the Jets, this is probably, you know, you're probably going to be like, what are you talking about, Chil? But I just see way more vulnerabilities with this Ravens team than you guys do. I still believe in the infrastructure. Again, Lamar Jackson, when he's been on the field, they've won 75% of their games. It's an absurd number. They almost never lose when he's on the field. I think the O-line thing is real. I disagree with Ruiz. I am very,

I am quite concerned about this offensive line. When you talk about starting a seventh round pick at one spot, when you talk about starting another guy who has two starts and two seasons at another spot, when you talk about starting a rookie at right tackle, when your best offensive lineman, Tyler Linderbaum is dealing with a neck injury right now, which makes me very nervous. When Ronnie Stanley, who, listen, in his prime, awesome left tackle. Guy had injuries, has not looked like the same player. Like, that's a lot to me that has to go right. And I do agree with you that there's a situation where it goes right. That's like the Ravens Way. It's like, it doesn't matter. Circumstances don't matter. They figure it out.

Here they are. Eleven wins. But that's a lot on offense. I feel like you have to make sure is buttoned up to reach that ceiling. And then defensively, I was thinking about this earlier. It's not just McDonald. You lose two guys from the staff who were position coaches. And listen, And with physician coaches, I never know. The guy could be great at his job, not great at his job. We just judged by results. But they lost two guys who got promoted as defensive coordinators to other jobs. So you got like three key members of the staff.

Plus you lose talent. Patrick Queen, Jadevian, Clownie, Gino Stone. Like, I still think it's going to be a very good defense. But I think I'm adding all those up. And you have the seventh hardest schedule in the NFL. And I just think maybe a little bit of a step back for the Ravens. I feel like it makes a little sense. sense to sell the Ravens and buy the Jets, because the Jets did kind of plunder their

offensive line to improve their own offensive line. I just didn't realize how big a fan of Morgan Moses and John Simpson everybody was all of a sudden. Like, over the whole season, everyone loves these guys. They were arguably the worst part of the line. Yeah, I think it goes to the like, you know, the old weak link theory on the offensive line. Like, can you just have people who are not going to totally screw up your things you

want to do? I think they passed that. I'm not going to tell you I was grinding the Morgan Moses and John Simpson tape and can give you my grades here. But yeah, I think that's why. You're right. You're right. There's just unknowns for the Ravens. And those guys don't have to be all pros.

If they're okay, then the Ravens are going to be okay. I just feel like the floor may be a little lower. So your boys going with the Cincinnati Bengals. I think the Bengals are going to have a monster season. I've got them at 12 and 5. Joe Burroughs summer has gone as well as you could have. hoped for in terms of him playing in the preseason, playing in the joint practices, the wrist hasn't had any setbacks. The offensive line, I understand. It's a question mark, but I think

there are solutions there. If you can get me some combo of Amarius Mims and Trent Brown to give me good right tackle play, again, I know it's not a given, but you have multiple options there. I like that. You brought back T. Higgins. I just, I go back to two years ago when they had a top five offense, and I think their offense is going to be really good. Defensively, big step back last year. I think a lot had to do with the young safeties they put back there. I mean, they gave up more explosive plays than any team in the NFL. So I'm not telling you, Von Bell and Gino Stone are going to be all pro players,

but I do feel pretty strongly that they're going to know what they're doing. I did think Gino Stone was very good for the Ravens last year. And so I have him as sort of a mediocre defense, but better than they were last year. Fourth easiest schedule in the NFL, if you look at like the uncommon opponents between them and the Ravens, it's a pretty big difference. And I know that's only like three games, but if you think it's going to be close to me, that matter. So I've got the Bengals winning the division at 12 and 5 and having a big season.

I have the Bengals right around there, 12 wins, because I agree with you. I think the offense is due for a bounce back. Joe Burroughs' first injury-free training camp, we really haven't seen that. And he's gotten off to slow starts maybe because of it. Maybe this is the year they finally get off to a fast start. And in October, we're not thinking,

how do the Bengals turn this around? Because that's been the case even when they went to the Super Bowl. Every year. For a problem. If they do have like a solid year where they're able to be the same team, like not the same team exactly, but go on linear improvement from September to December, I think it could be the best team they have.

Maybe not the best results because they might not make a Super Bowl like they did three years ago. But I think they're going to be more solid, more reliable week to week. I can see that. I guess the one question I have that I'm probably not going to get this answered until we're deeper into the season is, does this team have multiple ways to win football games?

Because there are times where I look at this offensive line. I have some questions about quarterback. I have some questions about what the corners are going to look like on defense. And it's just kind of leaving me with the same thought I had in 2021. And obviously they made a Super Bowl run out of it. So eventually you just kind of have to shut up about it. But it's like, does this team really only have one button it can push to be successful? And it's entirely possible.

And it might just be that the answer is yes. and the button is Jamar Chase, Joe Burr on T. Higgins, you know, and maybe just some better turnover luck, you know, because that was really what kind of drove this team a few years ago in a Super Bowl run was that they were explosive on offense, and then by the end, they started really forcing turnovers. They were always attacking the ball. Their corners were really aggressive.

And maybe those young guys are a little bit more liberated with better safety play behind them to take more chances. And if that's the case, yeah, this team could be a 12-un team. I have them at 10 to 7 right now because I just need to see it, I think. with what this offensive line is going to look like and what this team will be in coverage. Yeah, it's like every team you look at and you sell yourself on them

and then something in your brain is like, a couple things that could go badly or that I'm not sold on and that could be two wins fewer. So yeah, I've done the same exercise. But you know, that's why we set a date for the show. Like, you have to have your picks ready at this time and get behind the mic and say what they are.

No more waffling. So there you go. No more waffling. Pick the Cincinnati Bengals. All right, let's take a break. We come back. We get to the AFC South and the AFC West. football is back and there's no better place to get in on the NFL action than Fan Duel,

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tightly packed, and then the Titans at plus 950. Over under's here, Texans are at 9.5. Jaguars and Colts, both at 8.5, and the Titans are at 6.5. Ruiz, what do you got? Who's winning the AFC South? There's an urge inside of me to push back against the Texan hype, and to say that it's a little too much too soon, and maybe they're a year away, and maybe we're just remembering how last season ended and not like the bulk of the season.

And I think that's fair in terms of where they land in the landscape of the AFC as a whole. Like, are they title contenders? I think that's a fair question to ask and something to push back against. But I look back at this division and I think about these teams. I think about the Jaguars who, by the odds, I guess, are the biggest threat to them. And I have no faith in them. The Colts, like, I have to see it. The Titans, I don't know what the plan is there.

They're just throwing a team together like I would and Madden and hoping for the best. The Texans are the only ones with like a coherent plan, a quarterback that is in a good situation to thrive and show off his skills. They have a coach I trust. They have a defense that's improving and that, you know, you've added talent to the roster in the right spots. It's a boring pick, but I'm going with the Texas. I don't trust any of these other teams. Part of me wants Anthony Richardson to have this great big breakout second year. And I think that's within the range of outcomes. And if that happens, they have a chance to push this team. Because when we saw these two teams play last year early in the season, when Anthony Richardson

was healthy and Stroud was healthy, the Colts beat them and convincingly. So I, I, I, I think there's a chance for competition, but this is the only team we can really trust in this division because we've seen them do it. It's just impossible to predict what Anthony Richardson is going to do this season. So you kind of have to decide, do you want to go all in and just be like, I 100 dropbacks last year on what I saw in college and what I saw from the Colts offense last year? They're going to be awesome, or do you play it more conservatively? Deontay, what do you got? You got the Texans as well, or are you zagging here, as the ringer folks say? You know, Shiel, this is something that you always remind people of it.

It is something I believe in. And that's, if you have a take early in the offseason, be ethical and stick by your take. And one of my first takes when I got here to the ringer was that Houston was going to be the wire-to-wire leader in the AFC. And I am not budging. I'm not budging. I still have them as a number one seed in the AFC.

It's just way over there over under total. I haven't gone 13 and 4 because I just believe so much really in what this defense can be in year 2 under Domeco. I like having Daniel Hunter playing opposite Will Anderson. It's actually something I'm working on now is just kind of evaluating the pass rush units. And they don't necessarily have, I mean, losing Malik Collins, I think takes away a little bit of what they could have been on the interior in terms of pass rush.

But what they get back with Daniel Hunter adds a lot, especially having lost John Grenard. And then I think Will Anderson is going to have a big breakout year. And I'll look at the defensive backfield and what Derek Stingley looked like the last two months of the year when it really started to click for him in this defense. There's a chance that they really have every box check. defensively. And then you think about the fact that they've got the wide receivers they need to spend more time than 11 personnel to do more with early down passes. And I do trust that we'll

see a little bit more diversity in this offense that's going to, you know, that's going to kind of fast track that process because it did take a little bit of time for them to get rolling with creating explosive passing. And it wasn't off of the play action. So I think having some of those things built in now, building going forward, I do think that they will run away with this division because I just don't trust Jacksonville and Indianapolis just like Stephen. I feel like the biggest factor here is Bobby Sloick and his evolution. In terms of what their ceiling is, I think their floor is very high. Like you said, they evolved throughout the year,

and they kind of went away from relying on like, let's get under center and set up the threat of the run and then play action to create explosives. I think Bobby Sloke realized what he had in number seven. It was like, let's build it around that. Let's build the whole plane out of that. And I want to see what that evolution looks like. I want to see if Stroud is his,

Stafford, like McVeigh was able to just, you know, stretch his legs out and then call more plays. And I wonder if Bobby Sloak does that and really leans into that aspect of the offense, because if he does and Stroud makes the leap and Stefan Dick still has something left in the tank and Tank Dell stays healthy and Nico Collins continues to be what he's been, I mean, this could be a top three offense, especially with the offensive line injuries they dealt with, like, they're going to be better on the offensive line. That's something I could say confidently today. Is there going to be way better on the offensive line? I feel confidently that if this team is not playing well and takes a step back, that I'm going to have many

moments on this podcast yelling at Bobby Slog. I think there's a reason he did what he did. I understand there's stuff you do to set up other stuff. Your old lines banged up, rookie quarterback. Perfectly reasonable arguments for why you would kind of go more run heavy, even though your team could not run the ball at all last season. If you're doing that now after we know more about C.J. Stroud and you have this passing game and this offense, like, it's going to be very frustrating for me. So I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt now with, you know, I'm reserving my right to be yelling at that man in like week seven if I need to. But I'm not, I'm with you, Deontay. I got him 12 and 5. I tried to like caution myself and say,

settle down, don't get overhyped. It just has all the ingredients I look for in a team that I think's going to be awesome. I mean, love the quarterback. Ruiz, you mentioned it. Most injured offensive line in DVO in its FTN's database. Like, no team in the history of them tracking this has dealt with more offensive line injuries.

And think about how much they still achieved last year. You add to the passing game with Stefan Diggs. Again, he doesn't have to have 1,200 yards. He has 700, 800, 800 yards. and it's making high leverage plays, that's a win. Nico Collins is going to be a beast. So I believe so much in this passing game.

And then defensively, you mention it. If we get a healthy season out of Derek Stingley, I think this defense really has a chance to be special. I did my rankings for the ringer offenses and defenses. And I like doing it just as an exercise because when we're talking about all these teams, I'm like, oh, this team could be better than I think this team. But then when you have to put them in order,

you're like, all right, well, who do you actually think is better? I had three teams with the top 10 offense and defense, Texans, Ravens, and the 49ers. So you were talking about, do the Bengals just have one way to win? I think the Texans very well could have multiple ways to win with their pass rush, with their passing game. And so I'm very high on them. I've got them at 12 and 5. This one didn't take long for me to pick. And we have a scapegoat.

If we're all wrong, we have a scapegoat. Oh, I love that. Oh, he's coaching. Oh, he's coaching. He's trying to show off with these play calls. It's his fault. Focus on your current team, Bobby. come on.

Not us. I do like that. That says something about my personality that I'm already telling you who I'm going to rip if my take doesn't go right. I don't know what that says about me. Listen, I have to be honest with the listeners, and that's how I feel. So there you go. No, you're supposed to do that.

You're supposed to do that planning, but you don't say it out loud. Keep it in my head. You talk to overshare. When you podcast as much as we podcast, sometimes you find yourself saying something, and then you send in your audio. And then an hour later, you're like, Guy, I don't know if that one's going to aid it. I really said that.

What did I say? Shoot, people actually listen to this. You know, what are you doing? All right. We all have the Texans. We move on to the AFC West. Is anyone going to be bold? Does anyone see a challenger to the Kansas City Chiefs?

Deonté, what do you got? The answer is no. We don't have to pretend. I don't have to try to sell you on Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh. I don't have to try to sell you on Gardner Minshu in the Las Vegas Raiders. This is Kansas City. This race should probably be done about two-thirds of the way through the season. It should be pretty clear, pretty early that Kansas City is running away with this.

I have them going 12 and 5, and I think that the losses are probably more a function of the fact that they understand what kind of pacing is necessary to stay competitive late in the year. We saw that a bit last year with Chris Jones and Travis Kelsey specifically. I think we'll see more of it with them. I think that them bringing in new bodies, new speed at the wide receiver position, even if the offense takes a little bit of time to gel, which I think is a possibility. I think that they're doing that with the understanding that by the end of the year, they want to have an offense that is burning up down the field. They can push a ball down to field again.

It's something that they've missed the last three seasons, really. And I think that that's something that they're going to get back to, especially if Rishi Rice is available all year. So I have no doubt in my mind that this team is going to be the wire to wire AFC Westchamps. And I think that they'll probably pretty comfortably head into the play. knowing that they saved their guys as much as they could so that way they can hit the postseason as healthy as possible. I know Ruiz's answer. It would be the biggest stunner in Ringer NFL history if you went in a different direction. Think about it, you know, you want to make a nice clip maybe

here for social. What do you got? I want to talk myself into Bo Nix and Sean Payton? No, I'm taking the cheese. I think they're going to win this division by like six games too. I don't think it's going to be close. I don't think, I think this is the one year we avoid the, oh, what's wrong with the chief stories in mid-November or whatever for them to just go on and win a Super Bowl anyway. The charges are a year away. I think in a year's time, the chargers will be able to launch an attack at the Chiefs, but this is not the year. I think the Chiefs are in a good spot with their defense, their defensive personnel.

I know there's questions about the receiving corps, but I think they do have the skill sets to allow them to get back to that deep passing that Deonté referred to, which is a big deal for them. And I mean, Patrick Mahomes, he's going to get better. That's the scary part. He's going to get better in some way. We just don't know how it's going to be, but that's going to happen. And the part about the pacing, I think was a good point that Deonté made. I don't think anyone noticed, but like, Travis Kelsey stopped playing on first down last year. They were like, no, that's not your role. We're going to put these other tight ends in. They're going to block. They're going to run block and put their body on the line for that. And then we're going to save you for third down. And I see them doing a similar thing with Chris Jones. And I think maintaining those two pieces who have been so big for them in the playoffs and their game planning and how they built their game plan. is a key part of this. And I have all the confidence in the world that Andy Reid is going to be able to manage that. Like he's done in the past. One thing that I remind, like the Rashi Rice thing is a huge deal.

Earlier in the off season when I was questioning the offento was because there were all these reports that he's going to miss a lot of time and be suspended. And now it looks like he just might not be suspended at all this season. So it's like if you have Rashi Rice and Travis Kelsey from last season and then just one of your other things hit, you're probably going to be in a better spot. And I probably didn't give enough credence to just like the regression fact. Like you're not going to lead the league or whatever it was in drops. You're not going to have however many fumbles they had by non-quarterbacks that they had last season.

So it's almost like if you just run the same thing back as last year and even if you don't hit on Xavier Worthy or anybody else, just some of that luck will probably go your way. So yeah, I've got the chiefs at 12 and 5. Andy Reid's, I think since he's been with the chiefs, I forget it's like nine of 11 seasons or something they've gone over. and the number is always very, very high. It's 11.5 this year. I think that I forget to, I think I forgot to read the odds on this one. Yeah, the chiefs are minus 270. Chargers are plus 390.

Raiders are plus 1,000 and the Broncos are plus 2,000. Chiefs are 11.5 and a half over under win total. Chargers 8 and a half. Raiders, six and a half. And the Broncos five and a half. So, yeah, the floor is only so low if Patrick Mahomes is healthy. And Andy Reid's coaching the football team. So the Chiefs,

at 12 and 5. For me, we all have the same picks there. All right, so let's review here. We AFC East, you guys have the Bills. I have the Jets. AFC North. You both have the Ravens. I have the Bengals. We all have the Texans. We all have the Chiefs. Okay, we'll take one more break. Then we come back. Then we get to our wild cards. Now, listen, we got to do the wild cards in a correct suspenseful order this time, okay? One by one. We're not giving it all away. once. We got to keep the people on the edge of their seats. And then who do we pick coming out of the AFC? We'll do that as well. All right. We're back on the Ringer NFL show. Deontay, start us off with one wildcard team. Who do you have? My five seed. So first team in a wildcard is going to be

the Miami Dolphins. It's a team we definitely didn't spend a ton of time talking about when we talked about division winners. I just think the things that are going to make this team playoff team is stable. They're always going to be explosive on offense. I trust my. I trust my with Daniel to get them through the season. Obviously, there's just going to be questions of health, I think, because this roster is so top-heavy, offensively and defensively. But I think, Anthony Weber is a play caller on the defensive side is going to help that defense, even though they did lose Christian Wilkins, which I think is something that's

going to hurt them late in the season, right? And I think that that's really the issue, right? We talk about narratives from the season before, bad taste in your mouth from the season before. There's no way to ignore what we've seen over the last couple of seasons. in November and December from the Dolphins, right? And I don't want to pretend as though that doesn't exist. But I also don't want to forget the fact that this team blazes trails every September, right?

This team is going to come out. They'll probably be hot just like they always have been under Mike McDaniel. They're going to push a ball down the field. They'll be successful with that. I think having Bradley Chub healthy and available for as long as they do will be a help. I don't know if that's a guy that's going to last all season because it's just something that's kind of dogged this past rushing unit is just guys dropping like flies left and right. but I do think early in the year they'll stack up enough wins

to where they can kind of drag themselves in at 10 and 7 and they'll probably be the team that I think everybody feels pretty confident is going to lose in the wild card around but I do think that they'll make it again this year let me ask you this about their offensive line because I'm like there are

some teams that I'm just I look at the depth chart and I go who cares they're going to scheme around it they're going to be fine like is there any offensive line they could put out there where before the season you would be like I'm pretty I'm actually worried about this group or do you just have like confidence that if there's five NFL players

that they're throwing out there that McDaniel figured out too is going to get the ball out quickly Tyree kills already going to be 30 yards downfield it's all good because I go back and forth about like should I care about that or should I not care about that Deonti did that like like how much do you weigh that I care about it but I've brought this up every year said that McDaniel has been there and this has really been a problem for as long as two has been the quarterback there you know this offensive line has been bad. I would say once again, this is probably like a bottom six, bottom eight unit in the NFL, if not worse. They've just found a way to work around it. I mean, it's going to punish them when it always does, which is late in a year when teams are

really devoting all their resources into putting a cap on this defense in a deep passing game. And then they have to spend more time running the ball. They have to spend more time with two holding the ball to find guys open. That's when it's going to hurt them. But they found so many ways to just kind of find cheap explosives that doesn't lean on these guys. I don't feel any better about it than I did in 2023 or 2022. I just think that it's something that they'll be able to work around in the regular season at least. They've proven that they're able to do that. Ruiz, do you have the Miami Dolphins as one of your wildcard teams? I do. I have the dolphins as my second wildcard team. And for all the same reasons. And I'm less concerned about the offensive line.

I feel like the McDaniel-Shannan Tree, those two guys in particular, have found ways to work around liabilities on the offensive line. There have been liabilities on the 49ers offensive line and you never hear about them. I think it's the same. Like, they find ways to create explosives, even in the run game, which is hard to do without a good offensive line, but they've managed to do it because McDaniel is so good at leveraging that speed and the things you have to sell out to do to stop Jalen Waddle, to stop Tyree Kill. And Tua deserves credit for it too because of how quickly he gets rid of the ball and how quickly he can do that while still pushing the ball downfield, which, you know, you need two receivers that run a four.

or two and a coach you can draw it up to be able to take advantage of that. But he does have it and he does do it. So no question marks about the offense. McDaniel's going to have some new gimmick in September that we're all writing about and we're all nerdened out about. By December, the league will have figured it out and we'll probably see their season end the same way it has. But before then, I got them winning 11 games. All right. I don't have the dolphins in. They were one of my last teams out. I looked at the AFC East. You know, I picked the Jets to win the division. So I've got the Bill's at 10 and 7, and I've got the dolphins at 9 and 8, just missing out. So I don't have a big gap. I don't think they're going to fall apart. You guys explained it well. I'm probably

overweating their performance against good teams, which last year, 1 and 6 with a minus 1 10 point differential against playoff teams. But if you're a Dolphins fan yelling right now, they don't have to play play playoff teams every week. And you're right. I get it. That's why I still have them in 9 and 8. I had a hard time with their defense. You know, it's a very interesting setup. because you had Vic Fangio, whoever was like, oh, Vic Fanjo amazing. And then he leaves and their players, I mean, they, you know, you can't write a story about the Dolphins defense without getting a player quoted with either a direct shot or a bail shot about how they didn't like playing for Vic Fangio last season. So sometimes that could mean, hey, upgrade. They love Anthony

Weaver. It's working. Or it could mean, all right, Anthony Weaver, you might like playing for him more, but, you know, game planning, play calling scheming wise, is it actually going to be an upgrade? So I don't know what to do with them. I always struggle with when you have a team that had that many injuries and guys are coming back? Like, is Jail and Phillips going to be the same guy as soon as he comes back? Is Bradley Chub going to be the same guy as soon as he comes back? Or does it take until later in the season? And your Christian Wilkins point, Deontay, was a good one.

Guy doesn't come off the field. I mean, for defensive tackles to play that number of snaps is very rare. So it's almost like you can't just plug his snaps with one player. Like, you may need multiple guys out there and they're probably not going to be as good as Christian Wilkins was last year. So, again, I think they're a good team. I don't think we're all that far off in our assessments. I ultimately went with the Bills, and I had the Jets and the Bills with the same record at 10 and 7,

and then I had the Dolphins at 9 and 8. So I think it's going to be tightly packed, come down to the end. I just look at the Bills depth chart, and it's probably, it's just like, where are the great units on this team? Josh Allen's one of them. Linebackers not one anymore. Safety's not one anymore. The defensive line, you can sell me on it, or you could tell me it, it's not, not that great. The offensive line last year, they played 97% of the snaps together. So they had a

very good offensive line last year, but now you're playing backups. And if you look at their depth chart, the backups do, these are not guys with experience or that you feel like you can really rely on. So I look at all that. I just think it could be a little bit bumpy. I'm very excited for the prospect of Josh Allen, just putting everyone on his back and them being the one seat and me looking dumb. Like that is one of the things I'm most looking forward to out of this season. So I've got the bills making the playoffs as a wildcard, not the Dolphins. So those are my two teams out of this division. So far, you two have the exact same playoff teams.

Will it change with the final two wildcard teams? Give us one, Ruiz. Who do you got? Yeah, my number five seat, I don't think it's going to change here. I have the Bengals making the playoffs. I haven't winning 12 games, too. So it's not like, oh, we just snuck into the wild card. They're going to push the Ravens, in my opinion.

And for all the reasons we laid out, I think this has the potential to be the best we've seen out of this passing game. with those three guys, Burrow, Higgins, and Jamar Chase. But I think my seventh seat is going to surprise, is going to be where me and Deante deviate. Nice T's. Good job. All right. You've got the Bengals.

Deonti, do you have the Bengals as well? I do. They're my sixth seat. So they were right behind Miami. I have them both going 10 and 7 this year. And I do. I actually agree, Sheel, with your take. And the same for Stephen, right, that this offense is probably going to bounce back in a

major way, which is why I feel. so good about them. I think they'll be a really competitive team. They'll probably be the best of the wildcar teams. So I'm with Stephen on that, even though I do have them tied to Miami. I think the quality of team is going to be much better. They'll clearly be the leader of the wildcar teams in terms of teams that can maybe go win a playoff game on the road. The optimistic case, because I know I said, I gave my concerns earlier, my optimistic case for them outside of Joe Burrow being healthy and Jamar Chase being who he is, it's the fact that this past rush unit, I think, is better than it gets credit for. And I do think if Hendrickson is healthy, if Hubbard is healthy, and those guys are

really able to get after opposing quarterbacks, that is where some of the sack luck, turnover luck, you know, some of that defensive volatility that was really on their side a few seasons ago can come back. And I do have some trust that they'll be able to do that. And I think that Lou and Rumo will probably be able to do a little bit more because they have better safety play with letting these guys really kind of pin their ears back and get after quarterbacks and trust it, the back end is going to be able to hold up long enough for those guys to be as effective as they've been at their best. Yeah, I think those two safeties, they're not like, you know, game changers.

They're not needle movers, but they're guys that can do a job. And you need guys that can do a job to put together a good game plan. And they didn't have that last year in the secondary. They took some bets on some young guys. They did it the right way. Like, they drafted cornerbacks and safeties. They didn't develop them. Or maybe those players just weren't ever going to be developed, but it didn't work out.

I think this was the smartest way to go about it. Throw veterans, throw darts at the board and hope these veterans come in and they can play well. And I think there's a chance that will. We've seen Von Bell play well in this defense. We've seen that before. Geno Stone has played well in a game playing defense. We've seen him carry out a job like he's going to have to do in Cincinnati. So I think those two safeties, while not like, you know, back of the box, top of the headlines, acquisitions,

I think they're going to play a big role in this defensive turnaround. Yeah, floor setters, I guess would be one way to put it. You never know, but they shouldn't be the reason why that Bengals defense is bad. They might not be the reason why they're making the leap or whatever, but they should not be a group that can get exposed there. All right, I've got, so we've all got the same two teams from the AFC North. I've got the Ravens for everything I said earlier. I'm not going to bet against the Ravens to miss the playoffs with Amar Jackson,

with this defense, with the coaching. with the infrastructure. I just think there's too much there. They've been competitive for too long, as long as he's healthy. So I don't have too much to add there. I've got the Ravens in the playoffs as well. Now's when it gets fun because I'm curious to hear who you guys have as this last team. I was debating between two teams. I don't think either of you are going to have either of the two teams I was doing because I don't feel great about them. Oh, I'm scared. Yeah. I'm scared to hear this now. It should be. This may be a take. I asked to be deleted from the podcast in like mid-October or something. Just go back, just in case anyone goes back and listen. But yeah, this is where it got a little bit harder. Ruiz, you gave your tease. So go ahead. Who do you have as the last wildcard team in the AFC? It's not like a shocking take. We've discussed this team already. I think the Jets are going to make it. I think the surprising thing is this AFC East Division, which has been kind of the basement of the league, is going to put three teams in the playoffs. That's what I'm predicting that league.

And I think the floor is high for this team if they stay healthy. I think this is going to be viewed as one of the better divisions in the NFL. Because I think the Patriots might have a little more something than we're giving them credit for, whether it's Drake May starting or Jacoby Brissette. So I have the Jets winning 10 games, but it's going to be an impressive 10 games. I know the numbers suggest they don't have an easy schedule or they don't have a hard schedule, but I think you end up being a harder schedule than they let on it. And I also think if this team makes the playoffs, the ceiling is.

is very high. And I had to hold myself back from doing some irresponsible things when filling out the bracket after I got my playoff field. I wanted to do what you guys did last time and kind of mess with the seating to be able to put them in the AFC title game. How dare you? I don't know what you're talking about. But in a vacuum, in a world where Patrick Mahomes gets hurt and the chiefs are bad, I might pick the Jets to go to the AMC title game. Ruiz, listen, De Yonge and I have to give our seventh seats. You have some time to chew on those potentially irresponsible decisions before we go through the whole bracket. Remember what I always say, team content.

You know, if you're feeling it, sometimes you just got to let it rip and not worry about it. All right. So Ruiz has the Jets. So the reason I actually both have the Jets winning 10 games. I just have them winning the division in a tie break and he has them as a wildcard. Deonté, who'd you go with? Who's the last wildcard team? You know what?

I think Stephen and I need to spend a little bit more time talking to each other because he don't disagree as much as I think he would have guessed. I have the AFC East putting three teams in the playoffs as well. My seventh seed is the Jets. I have them going nine and eight. I'm going nine and eight this year. And it really is a ceiling play. Like I think for me, when I was considering them with Cleveland, with Jacksonville and Indy,

that was really what the debate came down to for the last seed is like, how high do I think each of these respective teams' ceilings are? And I do think that the Jets are the team. If there were any, that I feel most confident, could show up with some of the better AFC teams that we talked about to this point. and give them a hard game and make it a one-score game, if not beat them outright. So with that, you know, if Aaron Rogers is healthy, if this offensive line can just be functional because I do think that they're going to have injury issues throughout the year. I don't want to pretend as though that's not going to come up. This is an aging group and guys who have had injury problems over the last few seasons.

So I think it'll be an issue. But if they can get just enough out of them to keep Breece Hall upright and be as explosive as he was when they were competing last year, I trust this defense, even with all the roster attrition. I trust Aaron Rogers, with all that comes with that good and bad. I do think that this is a big year for Garrett Wilson as well. They've got all the pieces that they need to be to be one of the more dangerous teams. And while I don't know if it will be as strong of a team in a regular season as Stephen does,

I do think they'll go 9 and 8 and come in and clearly be the 7th best team in the AFC and a dangerous one at that. Can we clip that? Can we clip Deontay just saying, I trust Aaron Rogers? Please don't. Please don't. Yeah, that feels like a drop or open every show. Maybe we have a specific intro this season. That would be, I mean, all three of us pick the Jets to make the playoffs.

What could it go wrong? Yeah, this is going to go great. Sorry. Well, I don't know. I feel Jets fans for a long time or were mad at everyone for thinking their team was going to stick. So you can't now blame us for probably cursing your team and jinxing your team for picking them into the playoffs. Sorry.

That's what we all felt. And we're going with the Jets. All right. Now, I feel like I need some disclaimers here. So let me, when I do this. You guys are looking at me like this guy. When I do this exercise every summer, I say, you got to pick six new playoff teams. History has shown us that that there's turnover every year, even if it doesn't feel right.

And you want to go with the teams last year, you got to take some swings if you want to hit on this. And so that was part of it. I don't, if you just showed me this team versus like the Miami Dolphins and said they're playing each other in week six, who do you pick straight up with your paycheck on the line? I would probably not pick this team. I was debating between two. I know Louise kick it. Oh, no.

Give me a guess. You each get one guest. Deontes, who do you got? Please don't tell me you put the chargers in the postseason. Deontes guess is the chargers, Ruiz. I would have guessed the charters, but I'm going to switch it up. I think he put the Steelers in the playoffs. Okay.

I did not put the Steelers in. I was debating between the Chargers and this team against all my better judgment. I got the Jacksonville Jaguars getting in at 10 and 7. All right, let me make the case. Ruiz looks very disappointed in me. All right. They were 9 and 8 last year. Okay.

The issues are very easily explained for this team last year, at least some of the issues. Trevor Lawrence, highest lost EPA on drops of any quarterback last year. You look at their short yardage stuff. Complete disaster. They had horrible fumble luck. Trevor Lawrence is playing with four different injuries last year. That's a lot of stuff to go wrong that if you don't change anything and you just bring it back and some of that, you get a little luckier and you win one more game.

You're 10 and 7. We're talking about this team completely differently. Two years ago, they were 10th in offensive DVOA. That was without Calvin Ridley. That was with Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, and Marvin Jones as your top three wide receivers. and you were 10th in offensive DVOA playing in the divisional round of the playoffs. So I just said, I don't have the faith if you're yelling at me saying, shield, did you not watch the play calling and the scheme?

This is not a group that's going to, you're not going to get the most out of this. I understand. I'm saying even with that, maybe you can still get to a better level than you were at last year. And then I'm kind of intrigued by this defense. This was a top 10 defense last year by DVOA, the hipsters. By the way, it's not Shane Bow. Nielsen is the official defensive coordinator of the hipsters. I think maybe for good reason, you know, if you look at the Atlanta Falcons last year. So it's not like I love this defense.

I think there's some talent. They've all obviously invested a lot of draft capital for better or worse. News to everybody, which I had no idea. Did Trayvon Walker have the quietest 10-sac season in NFL history last year? Did you know Trayvon Walker had 10 and a half sacks last year? I only know this because I'm working on a pass rush or piece right now. He bought three of those. Three of those are bots. I couldn't believe it. I checked multiple sites. I'm like, wait a minute.

I don't remember a single one of these. He had 10 and a half less. I need to see clips of these. I need to see footage. That's pretty. Yeah, I don't know that they're going to be all that impressive. But I look at those things and I just, they don't have the most daunting schedule. I don't think they're going to be great.

But can they win 10 games? They won nine games last year. Can they win 10 games? I said, maybe. So there you go. Jacksonville Jaguars. If they do manage to win 10 games and Doug Peterson, is the coach, which he's going to be,

he will be able to tie Chip Kelly for 10-win seasons in his career. He's only had one in his whole career. So you're banging on something that hasn't happened if Doug Peterson doesn't have won, maybe the top five defensive coordinator of this generation, maybe the best offensive line coach of this generation, maybe the best offensive line we've seen in the past five years. Without all that stuff, he's never won 10 games.

So I would like to see it. His pro football reference page is very interesting. A lot of nine. It's kind of like it's not quite, it's not Jeff Fisher with the seven and nine's, but it's kind of like the opposite. It's in the neighborhood. Yeah, it's in the neighborhood with the one outlier season. If the Titans managed to win that Super Bowl against the Rams, it would be exactly like

Jeff Fisher's. Yeah, it might be pretty similar. So, but nine, listen, a lot of nines, 10's just one more than nine, you know? I can, I can do the math there. So you get a little lucky, you face the backup quarterback. It's not that much more than what he usually gets. I'm not saying 12. Just get me to 10.

Dougie P. Now, I did think about the Chargers. I'm looking at, they have the second easiest schedule in the NFL. They have a quarterback who I think all three of us like. They have a head coach who's won 70% of his games in the NFL. They have an interesting defensive coordinator. Their offensive line, there's a path where that's a good offensive line. I'm not telling you it's definitely going to be, but there's a path where it is. I gave them serious thought, and I just look at the depth chart.

And I'm like, what do I go with? Chargers and I just couldn't get there with the Chargers. Do you have any, Deonté, we'll start with you. Do you have any thoughts that the Chargers could be this surprise team and sneaking as a wild card or you just don't see it at all? I don't see it. I just can't sell myself on it. I think that they'll be interesting.

I think that they'll be interesting. I have them in a similar space as Seattle and the NFC, right? Like I think that this could be, they could be a 6 and 11, 7 and 10 team, but it's very encouraging. right? Like, I do think that ultimately what needs to happen is that they've got to do some roster turn that I don't think they were really in position to do this offseason without really hurting what the 2024 product was going to be, right? Like in terms of football nerd talk, if they had walked away from Bosa and Mac, we were probably look and say like, okay, you get ahead of it, take the dead cap for this year. The team probably stinks, but you're going to have a clean cap sheet in 2025 and beyond. I appreciate them for trying to be competitive. because they just paid Justin Herbert and it probably just doesn't serve them right now to be bad, given what the roster would have looked like if they didn't have them. But even with that said, unless those two guys are perfectly healthy all throughout the year,

and Khalil Mack has another big-time sack year, which I don't know if we'll see again. I just don't know where they're going to get enough playmaking around Justin Herbert offensively or defensively to be a playoff team. I don't know if you've looked at the depth chart lately, Sheal, but your fifth on the receiving depth chart. You got to be ready to play in case someone goes down. receiving a corner maybe linebacker yeah so i might be able to get some tight end reps you know it's rough yeah so i wanted to i just couldn't get there all right so there you go now we get to the most exciting part of the show Ruiz lead us off give us your playoff matchups

take us all the way to the super bowl and through the super bowl i have the texans and the bangles playing in the first wild card game that four or five matchup I have the Texans winning that matchup. I think that's going to be maybe one of the games of the playoffs. What a game. Great, man. I got excited just when you said the matchup. I know.

C.J. Straal versus Joe Burrow, the battle of two pocket passers who give you a little something extra. I think that's going to be a fun game. I have, this is why I couldn't pick the Jets to go to the AFC title game. I have the Ravens and the Jets playing in the 2-7 matchup. I got to pick the Ravens. I'm sorry. John Simpson revenge game.

Warkin Moses revenge game. I'm just saying. And John Simpson. Don't forget about John Simpson. Your two favorite office linemen. Uh, three, six, I have the Bills and the Dolphins in a game that would just be so, so fun to watch and follow on the timeline. A Josh Allen versus two, a tag of Iloa game. We know how exciting that could be from the, the AFC East title decider last year.

I have the bills winning that one. And moving on to the divisional round in the divisional round, Chiefs, Texans, Mahomes, Stroud, the best quarterback in the league, the best young quarterback in the league going at it. The other matchup, Ravens Bill's. I have the Ravens winning that matchup just because of all the question marks we have about the bills. I think you brought up some great points about them. I think the Ravens win that.

But then we get the rematch. The Chiefs and the Ravens, this time in Arrowhead, where the Ravens have never won. The only time they've beaten Mahomes' chiefs is in Baltimore. I have the Ravens winning now. This is the year they get over the hump.

I feel like we all forget how good this team was last year. Just not in the scope of the current league landscape. This was historically, through the regular season, one of the better teams we had ever seen on both sides of the ball. I think they were a better team than Kansas City. I think they outplayed Kansas City for most of that game

outside of the first two possessions where Mahomes just lost his mind. And he had the one touchdown pass to Travis Kelsey where Kyle Hamilton's all over him. He had the improvised play on fourth down, the conversion. If those two plays don't happen, the Ravens not only win that game, they win it comfortably. They win it by 10 points. The Chiefs didn't score after those first. Jay Flores holds on to the football. Yeah, I was going to say the fumble.

Yeah, that's the one. That's the one I have in my head. And the fumble. Yeah. And the Zay Fours fumble. A lot of mistakes, a lot of penalties. A lot of penalties. Lamar didn't play his best game.

The Ravens are a better team. They don't have a better quarterback, but they have a better team. And, you know, it's a coin flip in these games and these playoff games. So I'm going to go with the funner result because we've seen the Chiefs win before. All right. So your Super Bowl matchup, Ravens Packers. That's right. Who is hoisting?

the Lombardi in Nalens in early February. It's Lamar Jackson, man. Lamar Jackson, this is the year. This is the year. This is the year. When all the hype comes good, this is the year he wins it. Post-hype, I like it.

All right, there you go. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens winning the Super Bowl over the Green Bay Packers for Ruiz. All right, Deontay, you're up. What do you got? All right, so my number two seat is Kansas City. They're at home against the Jets.

I've got Kansas City winning that game. I think that that will probably end up being the best game of Wild Card Weekend. getting to see Aaron Rogers and Patrick Mahomes doing it out. We've never seen that before, by the way. We've never seen that matchup. It's been scheduled, but someone gets hurt every time. Wow, I didn't realize that.

Yeah, that's right. Jordan Love played in Arrowhead. Jordan Love had to start that game because Aaron Rogers was hurt. I forgot about that. So I have Kansas City moving on to the divisional round. Three-seat is Baltimore playing Cincinnati. This is always just the subject of great football year over year when these two teams meet each other. I love that stylistic matchup between Cincinnati, really,

trying to push the wall downfield on offense against that defensive backfield. But I do have Baltimore winning that game. And in a four or five seat is Buffalo versus Miami. I mean, you just could not pick a worse situation for Miami to be in and going on the road to Buffalo in the winter. I didn't even clock games. Like that, that's probably the worst possible outcome for them. Buffalo wins and sends them home. And that leaves me with a divisional round of Houston as my one seat playing against Buffalo at home.

I have Houston winning that game and going to the AFC championship game. And similar to Ruiz, I've got Kansas City losing at home to Baltimore. I think they exercise that demon. This is going to be a great year for my Lamar Jackson is good enough to win in the playoffs agenda because that'll go to the AFC title game. And then I've got one better for you when Baltimore travels to Houston and AFC championship game. I have also got the Ravens winning that and being the AFC representative in the Super Bowl. And in the NFC, I had Detroit picked as my NFC representative to go.

So it was Baltimore versus Detroit in the Super Bowl. And I also have Lamar Jackson, Lombardi Trophy in one hand, Super Bowl MVP and the other. We can finally put all this to bed about what kind of quarterback he is or isn't in the postseason. You couldn't have picked the Texans to beat the Ravens? I thought he was going to do it when he was saying a Lions Super Bowl. A Texans Lion's Super Bowl, that goes against football. Like we can't have a Texan's right. I had it at first and I was like, that doesn't sound right.

I guess one of those things where you look at the helmets and it's like, these two teams would never be playing against each other in a Super Bowl. All right. There you go. Ravens over the Lions, Ravens over the Packers. All right. First round,

the Jacksonville Jaguars go to Houston to take on the Houston Texans. I've got the Texans winning that game. By the way, the Bengals as the one seed. Ravens at Chiefs. I've got this as a wild card matchup. You guys had it later. I've got the Ravens as a six-seat going to the three-seat chiefs.

No, sorry. There's going to be Lamar Jackson Discourse again. You guys can write about it. I don't need to. Yeah, you guys, that's all you. I'll hand it off. Sorry, I'm good. Chisu in that game.

Bills at the Jets. So the Jets host a playoff game with Aaron Rogers, raucous crowd. But Josh Allen. That's a really good quarterback matchup, too, in the playoffs. Josh Allen saying, I don't think so. I'll put this team on my back. If I need to run for 130 yards against this defense, I'll do that. So the bills advance to the divisional round.

That sets up. Bills at Bengals, a rematch of a recent match up, and the Cincinnati Bengals are winning that game and advancing to the NAFC championship. Then we've got the Chiefs, going to Houston to take on the Texans. And C.J. Shroud says, this is my time. And the Texans beat the Chiefs.

And so we all have the show. Oh, my gosh, this is not going to go well for us. At all. So the Chiefs are out in the divisional round. You've got the Texans going to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals. These were just like in the NFC I was debating, Green Bay or Detroit, going back and fourth until the bitter end. Same thing here. I ultimately landed on the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals go to the Super Bowl, Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, and the Bengals have one last

dance and finally get over the hump, win the Super Bowl, and they're still too cheap to pay T. Higgins, but it's okay. They got their ring and they can be happy and they can sell a lot of merch and they can put the money in their pockets rather than building the best roster. So there you go. The Bengals I've got, at the Super Bowl champs over the Green Bay Pass. So we all have an AFC North Super Bowl champion. We all have an NFC North Super Bowl loser coming out of that conference. I can't believe nobody picked the Chiefs. We need a producer to come on.

Come on, Mike, and pick the Chiefs. Someone needs, like Chris. Yeah, this is where you guys need to stop the show. I need to pick my, I need to change my pick. This is bad. The Chiefs are winning in the Super Bowl, guys. All right, thank you. There you go.

Producer, Chris, Sun. I'm glad. So we had that on record that the Ringer NFL show is not stupid enough to have nobody picked the Chiefs because we knew producer Christopher Sutton was going to pick the Chiefs. So we said, let's not repeat it. It's not good for content. So there you go. That was fun. Some surprises in there. We're all, it feels good to get it off our chest. You know, we're all on the record. No more debating. You can't change it between now and week one unless a quarterback suffers an injury. These are the official picks. And by the way, if we do something for the ringer.com, Don't even think about picking something different.

Okay? I've got eyes on you. The audience has eyes on you. That may fly for other content spaces. That's not going to fly at the Ringer. You say it behind the mic, you put it on the website at the ringer.com. So there you go. That was a lot of fun.

Thank you to Deonté Lee and Stephen Ruiz. Thank you to producer Christopher Sutton, who knocked some sense into the show with that Chief's pick. Thank you to Eduardo Ocampo for video and social clips. Additional production supervision by Connor Nevins in our Juno Ram Gopal, unless there's breaking news over the weekend, which you never know. Last weekend of preseason could be some trades. We'll see. If that doesn't happen, we will be back next week.

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