The Ringer NFL Show - ‘GM Street’ — Saturday Sit-down Week 7 (Ep. 165)

Episode Date: October 21, 2017

The Ringer’s Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier celebrate Thursday night’s exciting Kansas City Chiefs–Oakland Raiders matchup (0:28) and look ahead to the weekend’s six most intriguing games: Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears (5:00), New Orleans Saints at Green Bay Packers (6:13), Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings (7:20), Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Buffalo Bills (8:23), Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers (10:03), and Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns (10:52). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to GM Street, part of the Ringer Podcast Network. I'm Tate Frazier, and sitting across to me on this lovely Saturday morning, Mr. Mike Lombardi. Lombardi, how you doing? I'm doing good, Tate Fraser. I don't know if it could be any better than this. Great Thursday night game, good weekend coming up, you know? This is the best part of the year. You got a lot of baseball, obviously the prime of baseball.

You got basketball started back. We were just talking about watching Lanzo ball for the first time last night. Yeah, that was fun. And then we got this great game with the Chiefs, the AFCUS Showdown, pretty much. I mean, back and forth game. Amari Cooper, he's a lot. alive. He's alive. He left West Cape May. He's out of the witness protection program. It's so good to see him. I know. He's finally back and had some big plays. And we had some big storylines. Obviously,

we're going to talk about the finish. But before that, can we talk about Marshawn Lynch just running off the sideline? That was unbelievable. And you know, what is clear is Lynch and Marcus Peters, I mean, they're both from Oakland. They're cousins. And Lynch and him are very close. Lynch was endorsing him. He had a lot of issues up at the University of Washington. Got thrown off the team and all that stuff. The chiefs took a risk with him. But Lynch was endorsing. him as a person when he was in Seattle. And so some people say he went out there to protect Peters. Man, I'm going to tell you what.

And then Dion said he did the right thing. Like, whoa, time out. He didn't do the right thing. It was a horrible thing to do. And the only good thing I heard last night was originally we heard from CBS that he left the building. But apparently he went and watched the game in the stands. At least he was there to support his teammates.

That was the most encouraging there. I think he's going to get suspended for a game. I mean, he really went after the official. It was a weird thing where, so they run a QB, sneak. It was like a what, like a third and ten? It was a third and long and they run a QB sneak with or a QB draw play with their car. He basically gives up on the play. No, but if you're calling a quarterback draw, okay? With a guy with a hurt back. With a guy with a hurt back. You're really playing Madden. Okay, really, you're playing mad.

I mean, because you're really not like, oh, well, I'm processing this, you know, like, I want to make sure I keep my guy healthy. No, you're just, you're looking at your call sheet like it's mad, okay? You know, and somebody said to me last night, I tweeted that out, and so he said, well, I would do a better job that in Madden. They're probably right. You probably wouldn't even call that if you were playing madden it was very strange and then uh derrick card takes a little bit of a cheap shot marshal lynch runs out there pushes a ref out of the way and that was pretty much the end of that was brutal that was brutal i mean it was like unbelievable like there was no doubt he was going to get thrown out of the game i mean that was my first instinct he's gone and he's probably going

he should get suspended for the next week's game too i mean you can't touch it official like that especially he left the bench and he put his helmet on when he went out there if you see him leaving the bench he's putting his helmet on as he's going on the field to me like that was selfish. Like, that's really a selfish act. You know, and his team needed him. Yeah. And the other side of that, though, is just he's not on the field. His quarterback's getting mobbed by three dudes, three Kansas

Chiefs. He's got these big, you know, offensive linemen in the way. There's no one to protect his quarterback, so he's going out there to fight the good fight. I'm all for going out to protect the guy, but you don't push an official and you don't get in the middle of it. Like, you're the one who started up even more. Come on. You got to be. And look, nobody talks about it, but during the game,

I mean, when they were spreading him out, if he's the back in the back field, when you're getting spread out, You got to defend the run. I mean, everybody else, especially say you're down that goal line, you got to load the box if he's in the game because he can run for three yards. So without him at the end of the game,

even though they won, it could have been really disastrous. And when we look at that Chief's team, obviously 5-0, everyone basically decided that they were the cream of the crop in the NFL. Now they've lost two games back-to-back. Could we see, could it be a Vikings thing?

We saw the same thing last year. The Vikings went out to 5-0, and then, you know, that just completely fell up to the end of the road. I think what we saw last night, night was that people now know there's a style to play the Chiefs. You've got to play zone. You have to have all eyes on the quarterback.

You have to break on the shoulder of the quarterback. You can't sit there and break when he puts his arm back. You got to when he turns his shoulder and he's going to throw the ball. Everybody run to the ball. You've got to limit the big place to Tyreek Hill. You've got to jam the receivers, play zone and live with what they do and play

play good in the red zone. I think that's Andy Reed on his 10 day off before he gets ready to play his next game. He's got to say, look, everybody's going to play us in zone. Forget the man the man game, that's over with. We're going to see a lot more zone than ever. And can we talk about the Raiders, obviously. We can tell me what you want, Dave Frazier.

Well, that's a gutsy win for those guys. It was a huge win. It's a season-saving win. I mean, now they have to go on the road to Buffalo, which I think will be a really hard game for them to win next week. And then they've got to go down. They're going to spend a week at Sarasota. And then they're going to go to play the dolphins that week.

So really, they're on the road for the next two weeks. Challenging. I think it's going to be an interesting time. But you got to give them credit. It was a hard-fought win. and Del Rio, for whatever reason, those Raiders, they have a way of winning those last second games. They did it all last year. Maybe this will propel them moving forward.

I don't know, but that was the best they've played as a team. It was the most execution they've gotten from their offense all season. We found Amari Cooper. They were able to do some things. And the penalties, they're second in the league in penalties called on them. So they've done a good job in that area. They didn't turn the ball over. They can get this thing turned around, but it's going to be more effort like last night.

And all right, let's run through the whole point of the Saturday sit down for people that don't know and I haven't joined us yet. We basically picked five games to watch this weekend. You know, last week you were four for five. The only game that you didn't get correct was the Green Bay Packers and Aaron Roders obviously went down to that game. I don't know to keep bringing that up to let those. Let's just keep reminding. That's all right, Dave Frazier. All right.

First up this week, we have the Carolina Panthers going to the Chicago Bears. You know, and this is an interesting game because right now Mitchell Tribuskey has had two games to declare who he is, right? So the Carolina Panthers, no. Ron Rivera and his defensive staff, no. We've got to keep this kid in the pocket. If we play the run, there's no way they're going to be able to throw the ball for more than 150 yards, 200 yards. And all we have to do is get the lead and force them to play from behind. I think Carolina is really going to come out.

They'll be able to move the football on them. I think Carolina can do some things in the passing game against them. I know Kelvin Benjamin may not be healthy. But for me, I think the week off for Carolina is a really good. thing. They're better on the road. If you look at Cam's numbers at home and on the road, like light years better on the road. I like Carolina. I think Carolina really puts it to him because Trubisky now in week three, everybody knows who he is. And you're not going to get by throwing for 120 yards against Carolina. All right. Let's keep it moving. We got the New Orleans

Saints taken on the Green Bay Packers, Brett Huntley debut. Yeah. And this is one of those where you probably be smart to stay away with. I like New Orleans in this game a lot because I think New Orleans can score points against anyone. I think New Orleans can move the ball effectively. They can run the ball against Green Bay, especially from the spread formation. Green Bay is a very good run defense when they play their base defense, but New Orleans won't let you play base. They spread you out. I think Breeze will have a big day. The question I have is Brett Huntley. Can he score 24 points like Aaron Rogers did? Is he able to convert third downs like Aaron Rogers did? The answer to me on both those is no. I think there's mistakes in the offense is going to show up. Aaron Jones is going to have to be the

guy to carry the Packers this week. I just think the Saints have too much offense for this game. And I think the Packers, even though they're playing at home, they'll be emotional and all that. I think the Saints, the last three weeks, they've turned team over, they've had 13 sacks, they've turned the ball over nine times. Their defense is playing better. I think this is a huge game for the Saints. It's also a game where we're going to see the Green Bay Packers defense. Be tested. Yeah, they're going to see if they're a real team. And I don't think they really are. I think this is when the, I think this is when the Saints need to take advantage of them. And next up, we got the Baltimore Ravens taken on the Minnesota Vikings.

I mean, look, Minnesota is so good on defense. They're really good on third down. Flacco has been a disaster on third down. Flacco's averaging under six yards per yards per attempt. He's been a disaster. The Ravens are a really bad tackling team in their secondary. They don't do a good job. I mean, both safeties haven't tackled.

Eric Weddell's really struggling to play in space. I mean, that's a signing that looked good for one year. I'm not sure it's going to look good for another year. I think Minnesota's defensive front, Baltimore's offensive line's not very good. Minnesota's defensive front's very good when they play at home. I think it gives them advantage. Case Keenham, he can't turn the ball over in the game and just throw the ball,

short passes, get him in space. I think Minnesota's, you know, they go to London next week to play. I think this is a huge game for them to get control of the division. I think they'll play with a lot of passion and emotion. Baltimore, to me, they've won two games on the road. They haven't played as well as home. But Flacco, when he has to speed his game up,

I don't think he's very effective. Yeah, watch out for that D-line for the Vikings. They're going to make Flacco have a tough day. I mean, and that's usually the problem of Baltimore has. Next up, we have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers going up to Buffalo to take on the bills. Bills are very much like Carolina. They don't give you big plays. They don't let the ball get thrown over the head.

They play really well in the red zone. James Winston says he is going to play, even though he's not 100% healthy. Buffalo is a kind of a funny team. They play everybody close. The game's never going to get away from them. I think this will be a really close game. I could see Tampa sneaking it out late. But I think Buffalo has more things going for them.

Tampa on the road defensively has been really bad this year. And I think Tyrod Taylor can exploit their defense. I think LaShaul McCoy being healthy. I think this is a big game for Buffalo. They've had a week off. They lose to Cincinnati before the by week. I think Buffalo is the better team here, especially when Tampa plays on the road.

I like the bills. And it could be a statement win for the bills. If they get a nice big win in home and they start this stretch down into the cold winter when everything starts getting closer games, run the football, that sort of stuff. They just have to play better against zone teams. The two teams that they struggle with this year, Carolina and Cincinnati both play a lot of zone.

And that requires Tyrod Taylor to take the check down and be accurate with the ball. And Tampa plays nothing but zone. Okay, that's what they do. They play nothing but zone. So Tyrod Taylor has to play a much better game this week. And they know the one thing about having the by week when you play a team that's very predictable like Tampa Bay is you've had a long time to prepare for the same thing. So it isn't like, you know, you're getting ready to play a team like the Denver Broncos or teams that do a lot of different things defensively. Kansas City that mix things up.

When you play a team off of a buy week that you know is going to do the same thing, you don't have to worry about the game tape coming in. You can just practice and practice and practice. And I think Buffalo will have good ideas attacking them. All right, let's go to the AFC North. We have the Cincinnati Bengals who are trying to turn this thing around going against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Look, if the Steelers throw the ball more than 25 times in this game, I think they're going to lose it. I really do. It's pretty much been the formula all season. When they do that, it's not right. They've got to run the ball. Cincinnati's really good on third down. They've got to control the pace of the game.

Cincinnati's not going to be very good in the red zone. I mean, we know this. Pittsburgh's another zone team. Andy Dalton has trouble being accurate with the ball when it gets to the red zone. These are hard-fought games. Both teams don't like each other. I think Berwick coming back certainly helps the Cincinnati defense to play better. But I think they have a formula now in Pittsburgh. It's Levy on Bell, run the ball, throw it up the field to Antonio Brown, take what the defense gives them and win that way.

I think Pittsburgh's not going to lose very many games at home. They're usually much better than this. I think this is what gives them the slight edge. Yep. And final game of the weekend, we have the Tennessee Titans taking on your Cleveland Browns. Take Frazier, if I had any balls at all, if I had any balls at all, I would tell you to Cleveland, this is a good Cleveland's first win. Because if you go back last year and you look at Cleveland's game against Tennessee, the great Cody Kessler. The great Cody Kessler.

He threw for 300 yards in the game. They lose 28, 26. They lost by two points. They played them right down the middle. And if you watch the Browns play at home this year, it hasn't been pretty. I mean, you really have to be, you know, you have to have a. tough stomach to watch it. But if you watch the Browns play at home, the two of the games, the Jets and the

Steeler in the opening game, they had chances to win that game. Cincinnati, they didn't. I think this will be Cleveland's time to say, you know what, we can win this game. We can beat this team. We threw a lot. Last year, we moved the ball on them all the time. We can stop their run game. If we stop their run game, we got a chance to win.

They're not going to get too far ahead of us. I think if Cincinnati was playing Kessler, if Cleveland was playing Kessler in this game, I think they would win. I can't tell you about Kaiser. But to me, Cleveland gets six and a half at home against the team. I don't know if this team can really blow anybody out. I do they did with Jacksonville down there. But I think Cleveland could sense their moment is now to get a win, and I think that's

always dangerous. Do you think it's going to be a weird hangover with Kaiser? Obviously, he's had to deal with the benching, and now he's back to being in the starting role. No, because Kevin Hogan was so bad. I think all the players of the Browns, like, just put the other guy in. There's no way they can win with Hogan. I mean, Hogan's not even going to be the backup because he's hurt, which is a nice

way of saying we can't even put Hogan in the game anymore. He finished the game against the Texans last week, but now he's not going to, now he can't play this week. Yeah. Okay. All right. I get it. All right. We know what I mean. That's coach talk. That's coach talk. Okay. Keep him on the, I mean, Kevin Hogan's not an NFL quarterback. I mean, I'm sure he's a great kid. Got a Stanford degree, but he's going to be okay. I have, I'm not worried about Kevin Hogan. I feel good for him, but he's not going to be an NFL starter nor a backup. All right. Final thing. Is there one player this weekend that we should keep an eye on when you think about all these games that are heading up as we head into week seven.

I think Cam's a guy to keep an eye on. I think Cam Newton's got to show that he can play better again. He's been really bad at home. I think against Chicago's defense, he should be able to move the ball. And I think it's important that they get the lead and make Chicago and Mitchell Tribusky play from behind. So I'm really anxious to watch that. The other thing about this weekend is this is rematch weekend, Tate Fraser. So the Redskins are playing against the Eagles again. Miami's playing against the Jets again. and we have Denver playing against the Chargers again. Now, in those games, the home team, other than Washington won. So Washington's the only home team that didn't win in the rematch.

So they've got to find a way to win this game in Philadelphia. I think it'll be a challenge. Redskins are not really healthy right now. But I like rematch weekends because remember, the Jets shut out the Bears, I mean, shut out the Dolphins when they played them in the Meadowlands. And the Chargers had a chance to win that game in Denver. They missed a field goal with your guy at the end of the game. But, I mean, it'll be interesting to see these rematches because it's hard to beat a team twice in the same season.

Denver's not healthy right now. Like, Denver's not healthy. I would think the Chargers would be the favorite and should win the game. But there's always something that makes me nervous about putting saying the Chargers are going to win. Yeah, as soon as you start jumping back in with the Chargers and say they have a sneaky chance, and maybe still the AFCUS. It's like as soon as I start rooting for the 76 or something bad happens. I feel bad for you, Lombardi.

It's a terrible one. It's a horrible one. The good news is you saw Lonzo. ball last night and you're not that concerned about missing out on him. No, I was okay. I was like, okay, I'm fine. I can move on. Well, that's good. He was minus 15 when he played in the game last night and Foltz was like minus 18. Yeah, so I'm saying like both of them have need time to grow up. Yeah, of course, they're young guys. This has been a great time. This has been another Saturday sit down for week seven. Hope you guys enjoy the games on Sunday and we will be back

Sunday night to recap at all. Thanks, Tate Frazier.