The Ringer NFL Show - ‘GM Street’ — Saturday Sit-Down Week 8 (Ep. 170)

Episode Date: October 28, 2017

The Ringer’s Michael Lombardi and Tate Frazier run through this weekend’s five most interesting matchups: Minnesota Vikings at Cleveland Browns (1:37), Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (3:44), Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills (5:49), Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints (7:00), and Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots (8:56). 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 on the line, Mr. Mike Lombardi, how you doing? I'm good, Tate Frazier. How are you doing, huh? I'm a little confused. Last night was a very strange football game. It was the quintessential Thursday night football game

where nothing really made sense other than the fact that these are two teams without any offense. And our boy, D.B. Flacco, back in action. He was great. I mean, this is when D.B. plays his best against the bad defense. He knows the offense.

is he going to run away from? I mean, you know, it's remarkable about Miami. They have all these skill players, and they can't score any points. I mean, that's the second time they've been shut out in the same season, right? Yep. And they scored six points against the Jets or somebody. I mean, they can't score. And they have the second best record in all of football, 13 and four. I mean, it might be the biggest misconception of all time. It's ridiculous. But, hey, Baltimore needed the win. They found a way to do it, and that was a good thing for them. But D.B. Flacco is still the best. So is, how about if Jay Cutler would have played that game? What do you think the narrative would have been today?

That would have been so good. That Jay Cutler may be better than D.B. Flacco? Who knows? I still have faith in Cutler. He could have showed up. He could have got him some points at least. Maybe a little, like he did against the Jets, just that last second touchdown, that didn't matter,

but he least got on the board. That's all you can hope for. But more through two touchdowns for Baltimore. So, I mean, how bad could have Cutler been? I mean, really. Could you imagine, I'm just telling you. I can only imagine. If only.

In another world, we could have experienced how great that could have been. For people that I don't know, this is the Saturday sit down. We're going to pick five games for you to watch this weekend. And Lombardi, let's start things off. We have the Minnesota Vikings going to the Cleveland Browns. Yeah, you know, this is a tough matchup for the Browns. The Sean Kaiser comes back,

has a hard time handling the Blitz. He will see every blitz known to mankind. But what makes this game a little bit more devastating for the Browns, the fact that Joe Thomas will be the first game they've played without a legitimate left tackle. Now the Browns on offense have two real problems, they're right and left tackle.

and then they have no passing game. So for me, this is one of those situations. Unless Case Keenham turns this ball over, then the only way the Browns are going to be able to score against a really good Minnesota Vikings defense is if Case Keenham does that. So I think they'll run the ball. And then the other pet peeve that I have in this game is,

look, Mike Zimmer's always had a hard, hard-on for Greg Williams, a defense coordinator. Now he says it's all buried in the past. It's never buried. You never forget. You always remember. And, you know, this is one of those. situations where I think it's going to be

Minnesota's going to go. I'm going into the buy after this game. I think Minnesota will really put on a show for the people in London and the matchups really don't favor the Browns at all in this game. I didn't even think about that with the whole Greg Williams angle. That could be a 40-0 game when it's all said and done to it. My point is I don't think they're going to hold back. I don't think they're going to hold back and I think they're going to go

after it. And when you look at what Case Keenom's doing, look, Case Keenham hasn't thrown the ball down the field. He's only attempted 17 passes over 20 yards all season. And so he's not throwing the ball down the field. He's nitpicking. He's throwing the ball in short areas, and he's doing it really effectively. And he throws them, you know, and he's made the plays he's had to made. And I think they'll manage the game correctly.

And I think this is a huge game for Minnesota to go in the buy at 6 and 2. And the Browns are just going to be left wondering about their quarterback situation. But there's no doubt that Mike Zimmer will turn the heat up on the Brown's quarterback. And it'll be interested if Hugh Jackson changes, quarterbacks to get at the second half. Yeah. And, I mean, if Minnesota does what we expect them to do, do, which is dominate the Browns, and they're going to basically be the class of the NFC North moving

forward. And they look like they may have that division pretty much sealed up at this point, especially with Rogers out. All right, next up, we've got the Dallas Cowboys taking on the Washington Redskins. The old rivalry, this will be a fun game. We're going to see if the Cowboys are for real, and we're going to see if the Redskins can bounce back after losing in Philadelphia. Yeah, and the Redskins are unhealthy. I like the Redskins in this game a lot. The problem is for their five offensive linemen and might not play, and I think that's problematic. I think The Redskins, this is all or nothing for the Redskins. If they don't win this game, I don't see how they really can get back into the wild card race

or even in the divisional crown, which they've passed away. They've lost two games for the Eagles. So this is all or nothing game for the Redskins. And I just have a hard time thinking with four or five offensive linemen out. I don't know how they're going to do it. Plus, as the game is going on, the Redskins have not been very good in fourth quarter. I mean, they're minus 14 in the fourth quarter. And so the teams that play against them, really, as the game wears on,

wear down, partly because of all the injuries. To me, the Redskins are, just can't be a 60-minute team. I think the Cowboys can. I think the Cowboys offense has 189 yards, 163, 265. They're running the ball more effectively. They're going to have to do that. And when they run the ball effect, I like the Reds healthy enough. I think the Cowboys will bail on the fourth quarter.

Yeah, and we have Dan Bailey, apparently, we'll miss a minimum of four games and maybe more with the Cowboys. So that could be something to watch out for, too. If this is a tight game and it comes down to a kick, you don't have the most accurate kick here in NFL history. That's a great point, Dave Fraser. It's going to be a tight game because it's going to come down to that final kick in both kickers. Both have new kickers here.

And so Cowboys, because they, and when you look at what they've been able to do, throwing the football against the Redskins, you know, the last three games that they've played, they've been able to move the ball, running the football. I think that will be the difference. Yep, yep. And we'll see if the Cowboys can get their first win over a team without a losing record. So it'll be fun to watch. All right, next up, we have the Oakland Raiders taking on the Buffalo Bills.

This should be a fun one. and we're going to see if the bills can keep it up and be a legitimate team in the AFC. Yeah, the bills are a dangerous team when they play against a defense that isn't stout. And so when the bills score over 20 points, they can find a way to it, because their defense isn't going to give very many points. And they're very good at keeping the ball in front of them. They're very good playing red zone defense, and they're very good at taking away the big play. And the Raiders are not a good tackling team in space.

They struggle. The thing I like in this game is I think the bills can run the ball effectively, and I think they'll throw it against the man-to-man's defense of the Raiders. I think the bills have the better defense of the two. I think the bills will be able to person travel to Miami. They're going to go stay down there. So they're on the road for a couple of situations. I think Tyrod Taylor's played really well.

And I think they can make that – I think Tyrod Taylor will play really well in this game. And I think they'll be able to throw the football. Where they scored over 20 points, the bills are won. So I think any time they score over 20, and I like them to score over 20 in this game. Yep, that's the magic number for Tyrae Taylor and the Bills. Next up, we have Mitch Trubisky and the Chicago Bears. a team that seemingly has no offense, but somehow has found a way to win the past few weeks. They're going to go down to the New Orleans Saints to see if they can handle Drew Brees in that dome.

You know, it's funny. Against Carolina, they had five first downs and four completions. So it's just remarkable that they're able to win this way. They're not going to be able to do that in the game. Now, what happens when the Bears go on the third team, when the Bears play on the road, they've given up almost 29 points a game. So this is going to be a harder game. They're going to have a hard time being able to go down there and score. I think the Saints can run the football effectively, and whenever they run the ball, ball with 25 or more rushing attempts, they find a way to win the game. I think the Saints can run the ball, control the clock. And I think once they get the lead in the first quarter, they could put the pressure

on Mitchell Trubisky to actually have to throw the ball more than seven times in the game. This is a huge game for New Orleans. This is a statement game for New Orleans. They're finally back home. They can really put the pressure on you. And what I don't like is when teams that can only run the ball go on the road in a crowded dome stadium, I think it really affects them. And I don't think they can run the football effectively because the snap count.

no longer in their favor because of the crowd noise. So I think it'll be one of those games where one-dimensional teams can't be the team that can be two-dimensional. And I like the Saints to run the ball on the Bears. I like the Saints in this game. And what does that say if the Saints come out and get another win? I mean, they're basically, you know, they're the top of the NFC South and probably the best team in that division. A lot of people didn't expect that going into the season. Not after the first two weeks.

I think they've gotten better on defense. I think their corner situation is improved. I think their front seven situation has improved. and I think with that crowd at that home stadium, I think it'll really be huge for them. And if they can manage the game, if Drew Brees doesn't turn this thing over, I think that Sean Payton will know that, look,

we can't lose this game by making mistakes. We can win this game if we just play a conservative. We run the football. I think Mark Ingram will have a big game. I think Camaro will have a big game running the ball against the Bears. All right. Final one. We got the Los Angeles Chargers taking on your New England Patriots.

This should be a fun game. Phil Rivers taking on Tom Brady. Yeah. What I don't like about this, I think Philip Rivers is really good when the game's slower, when the defense is slower, and I think the Patriots defense is slow, and I think unless they can put pressure on Philip Rivers, I think he'll have enough time to throw the ball. Every game that charges have played, home or away, has been a close game.

I think this will be a really close game. I have to block the edges. They're going to have to double team and block the edges, and they're going to have to run the ball and reduce the game. And they're going to have to find a way to convert in the red zone. The Patriots are one of the worst red zone teams on third down. They're only four of 18 on third down. So all the four-point plays, they're losing.

They've lost 14-4-point plays. So 14 times four, that's a lot of points they've lost in the red zone. I think Rivers, to me, to beat the Chargers, you've got to force Rivers to move right or left, get him to move in the pocket. Now, that's something the Patriots don't do. I think this matchup favors the Chargers. I think they can block the Patriots. I think they'll be able to block them, and I think they'll be able to throw the ball on them.

I also think the Patriots will wear down the chargers. They'll make their defensive front tire. I think it'll be a really close game. I think it'll be right down to the final sec. I think the Patriots will win, but I think it's going to be a really tight game. Yeah, that'll be a fun one. For whatever reason, whenever those two guys play each other, Rivers and Brady, it seems like it's always a fun time.

It brings out the best in both of them. Absolutely, absolutely. Two competitors for sure. I have one thing to ask you before we head out of here. The trade deadline is coming up, and Adam Schefter came out, and he said that the Patriots will be really aggressive before the deadline hits. Do you expect to see some moves within the next week? Yeah, I definitely do.

I definitely think they'll be really aggressive. I think they'll try to make some moves if they can get it done. I think they're trying to improve their defense. They've got to try to find some defensive ends. I think they'll take chances on players who are going to go into free agency, figuring that they could sign them. If not, they'll get a compensatory pick for them. I think Belichick's not as concerned about having draft picks as he is about having a good team.

I think he's the opposite of the Cleveland Browns. He doesn't want all these draft picks to dominate the rounds. I think he wants a good team. I think that's what they'll try to do. Nice. Well, I'm hoping some things happen. I want to see more trades in the NFL. I know we've been throwing some out there this year to try to make some fun scenarios happen, but it would be cool if we get some big deals. And who knows, the Patriots, they're always trying to find someone. I don't know who a pass rusher. No one pops in my head when I think of a pass rush that's on the block. But, I mean, there's got to be some guys out there. Well, maybe they'll try to talk to Marcus Ware out of retiring, see if they can get him to come in and rush for a few plays. He said people were calling him. The one that I think would be interesting is out of nowhere, Doug Peterson, the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles,

yes, that Doug Peterson, just arbitrarily brought up Joe Staley's name. I think it's going to be interesting to see if the Eagles try to trade for a guy like Joe Staley and they're willing to give up a substantial draft pick to fix their left tackle. Because I think the Eagles feel like they can win, they can go all the way with their team. And it's going to be interesting to see what they do. Yeah, without Peters, of course, we mentioned that last week, him going down with the ACL and the MCL injury. that pretty much has opened the door for them. I mean, even at Joe Tom, you know, people have been trying to trade Joe Thomas to a good contender for so long.

I mean, that would have worked out, but then he went down with the injury too. So there were a lot of trades out there and a lot of players that, you know, have more value. And yeah, I think it would be cool if the Eagles would make a trade. It would be good for Doug, right? We need Doug to have his team together. Yeah, you just want to rub it in me on, Doug. There you go. I'm just kidding, Lombardy.

I don't want to do that. Anything else? You got one player to watch this weekend that people should keep their eye on? You know, I think the game to watch, I think the two veteran players, I think the fun game, it'll be the charges and the Patriots. I think both teams will find a way to move the ball. I think this could be one of those, whoever has the ball last wins, the final four minutes of the game. One player to watch, I really want to watch.

I would typically like Carolina in this game. You're not allowed to let me even talk about Carolina, but I want to watch Cam Newton see if he's really, if he's back, or if he's just going to be just the same player. Last week, he was horrible. I want to see what he does. He walked down in the press conference this week. I want to see how he handles the challenge. There's such a seesaw with Cam.

I mean, I know he brings it himself a little bit, but every week we go from he's a great MVP caliber quarterback to he's the worst and his career is over. Yeah. We need to find a nice place in the middle where we just stay there and we just let the guy live his life. That's what I'm hoping for, Lombardi, maybe one day. And James Winston, we'll see what he can do.

Yeah, a lot of good quarterback matchups this weekend. Yep. And we'll see what happens with those. We will be back Sunday night for usual to wrap up everything that happens throughout the whole day on Sunday and preview the Monday night game then. Lombardi, this has been fun. Thanks for calling in. Thanks, Jay Frazier.

I'll see you Sunday.