The Ringer NFL Show - Mahomes Beats Lamar Again, Toughest QBs to Tackle, and Week 3 Likes | The Ringer NFL Show

Episode Date: September 29, 2020

Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright start by discussing Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs' victory over Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens on 'Monday Night Football' (6:38). Then Ryan gives his top five toughest quarterbacks to tackle (20:02). And finally they give out their Week 3 likes, and discuss the New York Giants and Nick Chubb (41:24). Hosts: Ryan Shazier and Cole Wright Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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All right, time to start the show. You know what time it is. It's the Ringer NFL show Tuesday edition alongside my guy, Ryan Chazier. I'm Cole Wright. And Ryan, before we started digging into the meat and potatoes of the week that was. And look ahead to next week, you get that Xbox, man? Yeah, you know, I got it, man. I had a word closing streams.

I ended up figuring out a way to get it. So I'm happy today. So you're Madden, right? Yeah, I'm Madden. I ain't a lot. I'm in a few Madden leagues. And this week, probably like two days ago, I had to quit out of one of my Madden leagues

because I was just so frustrated with his Madden. Because Madden is just so unrealistic sometimes. Like I would love just to get an opportunity to be over there and just talking to them about the gaming, you know, because I feel like I have a lot of insight. But I was so mad. I didn't do this since high school. I threw my controller and slammed it and broke it.

And so I was like, yeah, I'm going to have to leave this league. And a lot of guys, like, yeah, I made Ryan quit. I'm like, no, it was just accumulation of events. And I was just like, I had to back out. But, yeah, I literally blew up my controller. And it's in a garbage can right now because I can't use that one anymore. All right. Maybe I'll have to get in touch with some of the guys over at Madden

because, you know, I went down to, Orlando and they had me audition for the halftime dude on the Madden games. And, Ryan, as you see that you've been playing Madden, I'm not the halftime dude on those Madden games. So you know how that went. Niceest player when it comes to Madden, the best player in the league that gets down on the paddle. Hollywood Brown, I think he just won an event. I think it was like all the players in a league win against each other like a tournament or something like that. I think Hollywood Brown ended up winning the whole tournament. I heard he's a pretty good player. The still has got a few guys that are pretty decent on the game.

But a lot of the guys that play the game, for the stillers that we played against, we play normally like basketball versus each other. Okay. Well, we're going to try to set up maybe a matchup on the paddles between you and Hollywood Brown on Madden. We'll see if he has that new Xbox or not. But in the meantime, for those that are new to the show,

what do we do here? We will take a look through a player's lens. Ryan, he's going to offer up his thoughts. And as we navigate the league and as well as those podcast waters. And every single week we have our depth chart, our playbook, our mic check, all staples here on the show. Today, we're even going to take a social time out to see how fans on Twitter feel about when they want to ask you a few questions, Ryan. That's what you're there for. You offer those answers up.

And we're going to get to that. And we'd like to just get the pulse of the fans. It's what we do here on the Ringer NFL show Tuesday edition. First things first of, before we dive really deep, as we know, there's been some COVID tests. have been associated with the Tennessee Titans. The Titans now shut down. They're taking on the Pittsburgh Steelers this week, but we know they got a close shave of a win

versus the Minnesota Vikings, and that was a 31 to 30 victory. But now Minnesota, Ryan, they have to shut things down as well. Yeah, man, I think it's crazy that Minnesota has to shut down at any day, they didn't test for COVID. Obviously, you're planning against guys that have COVID. But I think that's just, you know, a lack of responsibility.

I'm not going to say that for Tennessee, you know, at a day, you can get COVID just doing anything. But some guys just got to grow up, you know, guys in the NFL really haven't tested for COVID the whole year. And I don't know what's going on over there in Tennessee, but they just got to keep a tight of rope on it. I'm kind of upset that they're going to have to go against the Steelers or mess up their scheduling this year. Because I heard it might be buys. I heard it might be different scenarios that might be going on. I feel if somebody gets COVID and they're playing against another team, I think that should be like an automatic win for the other team.

you know, because we did our job. You're not doing yours, you know? So I think the Steelers deserve a free dub this week, but I don't think that's how it worked. What if it was maybe the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens this week? Would you still think that the team that's on the other end deserves that automatic win?

I mean, I know they're taking on the Steelers, so automatic wins, they do sound nice to you, I'm sure. No, I'm not going to lie. I'm not that biased. You know, and if the Steelers get something, I want everybody to get it. So if you're going to test for, COVID and you're playing against the Raven, Cincinnati,

uh, Browns, it doesn't matter to me. You know, I feel like everybody just should be as safe as possible. And now, you know, normally you have a seven-day or a 14-day quarantine, and you can't do that within the season. So it kind of messes up the flow of the season for some teams, you know, and I feel like if you're inconvenienced at other teams because what's going on in your locker room, I feel that's why you should get a free dub.

So it doesn't matter who it is. Uh, what about what they do like Major League Baseball? How about they implement doubleheaders? How about you see the Tennessee Titans play an early kickoff and then play on Sunday night football? What do you think about that? I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. The thing is, if they play a double header,

that means somebody else has to play a double header too. Right. You know, so I don't think it still is trying to play no doubleheaders. I don't think anybody else is trying to play a double header. So I don't know how they're going to make that work. But I know a devil header definitely ain't it. That ain't going to work. They're going to be shuffling around those biweeks.

This we know it's going to be a little tough for the schedule. department, but something tells me that the NFL, they have it all figured out. Now, let's get into it because this week, Monday Night Football, well, we know it was a matchup of the two most recent MVP's, Patrick Mahomes, taking on Lamar Jackson. And Ryan, I know you like the Baltimore Ravens to come on top in this one. I'm not going to say anything, but somebody I know they picked the Kansas City Chiefs. I don't know who that is. Maybe I'll give a high five when I look in the mirror next time. It was me. It was me. You know, I was a ball head guy that thought, and I'll mess with you. I'm not going to lie.

I thought the Ravens was going to win this game. You know, I'm not a Ravens fan by any means. You know, I like the organization. They do good things, but I'm not a Raven fan by any means. But I thought they were just going to run the ball down their throat, you know. And the Kansas City defense hasn't showed me anything to make me feel like they were going to play the way they did. They held Lamar the 97 yards passing. I don't know how many yards rushing.

But in the first, the first drive of the game, everybody thought the Ravens about to go down there and just run the ball to hold. old game. And then Kansas City, shut it down. You know, I took my head out to them. You know, they definitely did what I did not expect. Well, what, what Shannon Sharp Sheet? My Homeboy, I think that's what he says? My homie. My homie? Hey, hey, my homie trying to get him another championship, man. So I'm not surprised. You know, the Kansas City Chiefs, they're a different animal, man. Their offense is just a juggernaut. And I just, I just, just feel the weapons that Mahomes has around him just makes him even a better player. And when you're a good player, you make the players around you better.

So I think it's just, it's really a testament about what the weapons they have around him and what they can do. What you think about that game? I mean, when I watch Patrick Mahomes, I think we're watching that next generation of quarterbacks, those guys who can seem to do it all. I mean, whether or not he's running the ball or tossing it. And when you say he makes everybody else better, that's the thing about Patrick Mahomes. That really stands out to me.

It's not just his ability to throw the ball. I mean, at an unbelievable clip, it's the fact that all the touch that he has, the fact he can find McCullough Hardman opened downfield. He can make Tyreek Hill that much better. He could even throw the ball to Eric Fisher. I mean, when that jumbo package is installed and you see those big guys, and Patrick, like he said, he almost forgot to check in and call himself an eligible receiver. But he makes everybody better.

And I think that's what we're seeing with all these other quarterbacks, whether it's Russell Wilson or or Kyler Murray or even Lamar Jackson knows what does he have to do. He has to improve, especially when you watch a guy in the other sideline do what Patrick Mahomes did. I mean, I mean, we talk about all these MVP frontrunners right now and everyone's talking about Russell Wilson, who I'm fully on board with and Aaron Rogers. But I think a lot of people forgetting about the cat that won the award two years ago in Patrick Mahomes. I mean, he's the business end of a hammer, no doubt about it. Where Tyree Kill and those guys said, not one, not two, not three. Man, they come up for championships, man. I honestly don't think my homes give a damn bottom on MVP if you win a championship.

You know, winning an MVP is just, you know, a tip to the hat of winning a championship. Because at the end of the day, people win invas all the time and don't win nothing. You know, so it's an ultimate team game. And at the end of the day, they're trying to win championships. But the thing is, I knew once the three years, once the three years, Ravens got behind in this game, it was a wrap. And I'm not saying that because I know all this stats. I just know from playing football and just watching teams.

The way that they built the Ravens was to build it to play with the lead. They didn't build it to play from behind. Lamar's a great quarterback, awesome quarterback. But he's a better quarterback win. He can run the ball. He can control the possession of the game. And I feel that Kansas City took that away from them. And I was telling my wife last night, I'm like, Michelle, they're down 17 right now.

All Kansas City is going to do is sit back a little bit and prevent and say, y'all going to have to try to beat me over top because if y'all keep running the ball, we're just going to run into, and y'all not going to have enough time to come back. Because if y'all want to just, if y'all going to throw the ball and air it out and pick points up, we can pit it up too. But once y'all start running it, we're going to run it to and we're going to still be able to pick points on the board. And you don't want to get into a race for who can get the most points with the Kansas City

Chiefs. Yeah, it's clear that the Kansas City Chiefs coaching staff is not the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff because they'll make sure that they win a game if they have a nice comfortable lead in the fourth quarter. We're going to get to the Atlanta Falcons in just a little bit here. But, you know, you talked about the fact that this Baltimore Ravens team, they're not built to come from behind. And Kansas City, we know that they are, right? We saw them come back time after time after time last season in the postseason and especially in the Super Bowl. I mean, that was the ultimate comeback victory. And with Patrick Mahomes, His team may be down, but they're never out.

That's one thing we do know. No, that's 100%. You know that they're never going to be out. You know, they're always going to be in the mix. And he just has weapons around him. And the fact that they have E-Laird out now, too, the runnerback, man, it's just another weapon that you gave them that fits their scheme. They didn't need a power back.

They didn't need somebody that's going to, I want 30 carries. He comes in there, you give him the ball. He might take 15, he might take 20, he might take 10. Whatever you give it to him that week, He's going to go in there, take advantage of it. He has a rotation of backs, but he can also run angle routes. He can also run real routes. He can also run post routes at the runnerback position.

So that's another mismatch that he has. And then he has the two fastest guys in the NFL. Then he has another fast guy named Sammy Watkins, who is their possession receiver, which is crazy, because he's not really a possession receiver. And then they have Travis Kelsey, who's the true possession receiver. So you can't double anybody. and you can't cheat on anybody,

and then once you want to do that, Mahomes can just do whatever he wants. And this is the kind of debate I get in when it comes to Mahomes and Lamar. Like, their two offices are totally different. Lamar's offense is, all right, we're going to lean on Lamar's legs, we're going to lean on Mark's legs,

we're going to lean on JK legs, and then when everybody is expecting us to run, we're throwing it to Hollywood Brown. And Hollywood Brown, he's solid for them, but he's not a solid number one because you know Hollywood is going to catch a go route. He's going to catch a post route. He might catch a, you know, a little now route every now and then.

But he runs all the routes. But he's not the guy that you want to go in there and take your hit from Bobby Wagner. He's not the guy you want to go in there and take a hit from a big linebacker. And I feel that Kansas City has all those weapons. They have two number ones. I know Travis Kelsey is not a receiver, but he's a number one. They have Tyree Kill. They have a hardman.

You know, and then even their backup receivers are just as good, too. And I feel in their offense, Hollywood Brown will be a number two or three option. If you take Sammy Watkins and pay him on Ravens offense, he'll probably be their number one right away, you know? So I just feel that he doesn't have the same amount of weapons that Lamar has. But even though he does have good weapons, he still doesn't have the touch Mahal has.

You know, so I feel Lamar is a great quarterback. He's a great overall football player. But when it comes to just the touch that you're trying to put on the ball, I feel Lamar got him on that. And it's funny. You may mention a Clyde Edwards-Alaher. I mean, one of the reasons that this Kansas City running game has continued to evolve, it's because of that young man right there.

And it's also one of the reasons why we see that LSU took that first L of the season. I mean, Clyde Edwards-Alair and Joe Burrow. Now we really know how good they were last season for Ed Ogeron, and the LSU Tigers. And I know you're not trying to hear any LSU talk, Ohio State Buckeye sitting over there. But nevertheless, you said,

you know, Lamar Jackson, as good as he is, wasn't able to get it done on Monday night. We saw that. He called the Kansas City Chiefs his krypton night. I mean, 97 yards. Not what you really want to see from a reigning MVP, Ryan.

I'm not that concerned, though. And the reason I say that is because they went against the Super Bowl champions. And everybody is counting them out. Everybody's saying, you know, Green Bay. I was one of them. Everybody's saying Seattle and Tampa Bay.

And I know they're all in the NFC. But these guys are saying, hey, we pit points up with anybody. I understand our defense isn't where it needs to be at yet. But we're going to give our defense time to grow. But that's all. I don't mean to jump you, man. But if you're Baltimore, don't you know, hey, if we want to get to a Super Bowl because that's one of the things that Lamar Jackson said,

he's all about this season. You know, he's won an MVP, but now he wants to sit from that cup of victory. but you know you're going to face Kansas City at some point when it comes to the postseason. And if you want to get into that Super Bowl, you have to be able to beat them. And last night, what we saw from Baltimore, that's not going to get the job done.

I know a lot of teams don't like to do this and don't like to hear this and players don't like to hear this. And I'm one of them. But they might have to make a big-time trade. They're going to have to get a big-time receiver in there that help them. Because if they don't, it's not going to be enough.

Hollywood Brown is a great receiver, but he's not enough. He's not enough to beat them. You know, Mark Andrews, he's a great tight end, but he's not enough. And this is all Kansas City is saying, you guys can run the ball every single play and get down and score a touchdown. Give us two minutes we're scoring. So they're going to have to be able to react and score just as fast or just as amount of time

or be able to, their defense is going to have to find a way to slow them down. Because I don't think it's no stop in Kansas City, but I'm not really concerned because I think they just have their number. And, you know, sometimes you get a little luck. You know, they might have the Steelers meet Kansas City in the playoffs and the Steelers' defense is on fire right now and say the Steelers beat Kansas City or something, and now the Ravens and the Steelers are planning the AFC championship. I'm not saying they're going to beat the Steelers.

but all I'm saying is they might get that a bit of luck or somebody else knocks them off before they even get the opportunity to play them again. You know, because that happens in the NFL. Yeah, when I think of that Kansas City offense, I think of that old Jamie Fox stand-up comedy routine. It's almost like somebody let a pit bull in the club. It's like you're walking around like, ooh, is that your pit?

Like, I mean, you can't really even stop that Kansas City offense. That's just what they do. Like, I'm going to go over this way, Yeah, that offense is coming, just like that pit that just walked into the club that nobody knows about. But, you know, one thing that maybe it's just the old school guy and me, but I would have liked to see Lamar Jackson put up more of a fight offensively, you know, more than 97 yards. And I also, I would have liked to see him just come out in the plain black turtleneck instead

of wearing that, I mean, the WWE championship belt around his neck. I mean, that's a little much. And we talked about this before. You've got to have outfits for when you win and for when you lose. And I know the outfit didn't say a whole bunch, but that chain, I mean, that just speaks victory. And they were not victorious in that one. Man, you know, what is the Brian saying?

I'm just a kid from Akron. Man, that boy Lamar is just a kid from Papineau Beach, Florida. Okay. And I grew up, I grew up literally probably five minutes away from Lamar. And, you know, I act a little bit different than a lot of guys from Florida. But, like, where we're from, that's how guys are. and they're not changing for who they are. So I totally understand it.

But, no, that chain was icy. But that's like a statement chain trying to tell people like, hey, I'm here. But he wasn't there last night. He wasn't there last night. But that chain was there. I think he was so worried about wearing the chain that he forgot about the game.

Yeah, it's almost like when you get that outfit ready. I mean, when I was at my first job, I had a hat, I had a jacket. And I was like, man, I'm ready for this. It was a football Friday live shot. And I'm like, oh, I'm going to rock this on Friday night. And then it was like, I don't know, 58 degrees. And I was like, you know what?

I'm still going to rock this on Friday night. I wore the hat. I wore the coat. I mean, I'm sure I was sweating all underneath, but I feel like sometimes those guys, they just get it in their mind. And this is what I'm going to wear, win, lose, or draw. And then that's how this is how it goes down.

I definitely had that before. I wore something. I'm like, man, I don't give it damn what the weather is right now. I'm wearing this. Like, hey, I already had this picked out. Yep. I'm feeling like, I'm feeling good. I don't care.

I'm wearing this. Okay, like we always said, like Dionne Sanders said, man, you got to have an outfit for when you win and for when you lose, because you can't be coming out there wearing that when you lose. It just don't look right.

You know, then he's talking about those. It's footlong season at Subway, you know, Prime. He keeps his hand in every single bucket that he can possibly keep it in. Now, let's head over to Twitter for a quick social timeout. Because we want you to send us your questions

at the Ringer NFL, at Ryan Shazir, at Cole Wright. And if we get some good ones, we're going to add some right here on the show. And this week, our guy Riley, he hit us with a solid one. Ryan, he asked, who would you rather try to tackle in the open field? Lamar or Josh Allen?

So I'll let you answer that real quick. And then we're going to have your top five guys that are the toughest to tackle out there in the open field. So who would you rather tackle in the open field? Lamar or Josh Allen. Josh Allen, though, by the way, he's a sneaky big dude. You know, that ain't a lot. That's a little spicy. Who would I rather tackle or who is easier to tackle?

Either one. Give us both. Because I'm not going to lie. I feel tackling it. in open field, Josh Allen would probably be easier to tackle. But I would rather tackle Lamar because then you're like, hey, I got him on the ground. Lamar, he's the type of guy. You're like, he's going to try to make somebody miss.

Lamar's the type of guy who's going to try to make you look stupid out there. He's trying to embarrass guys out there. And I don't blame him. There's football. Hey, I'm a better athlete than you. I'm going to show you. But I feel the easier tackle would probably be Josh. He's a big dude.

He can stiff on you. He's solid, strong dude. He's fast, but I feel Lamar is super fast and super quick. And that makes a, that's a dangerous combination for trying to tackle somebody in the open field. Yeah, you're trying to tackle Josh Allen. You got all arms and legs coming at you, trying to tackle Lamar Jackson in the open field. That's like trying to catch water in your hands, man. He's going to sneak out of there more times than not.

Trying to tackle Lamar Jackson is trying to steal the ball from Steph Curry. It ain't happening. Okay. All right. That makes a whole lot of sense, you know, when you give us that analogy. How about the top five guys that are the toughest to tackle out there in the open field. Who you going with? Let's start at five, man. Work our way down to one. So five, I'm going to go with Josh. Okay. I'm going with Josh Allen. You know, he's solid.

He's a big guy. You know, in open field, he's stiff-armed guys. He's harder. He's like a big Ben when he was younger, but he's a lot faster. Okay. You know, he stands in the pocket, solid guy. He pushes off D-Lyline, you know, get solid yards, but he's, he's faster. Four, four, I'm going to go, Kyler. I feel Kyle, hey, he's my future MVP. you know, I just feel that he gets spicy. He gets spicy behind a lot of scrimmage. And then you see, you know, the guy for the touchdown this week.

Like, come on, man. Like, he's super hard to tackle. He's just super shifty. Three, I'm going to go with my homeboy. My homie. Okay. It's Patrick, not Pat. His mom, you know,

his mom tweeted at Louis Riddick last night. You know what I'm saying? It's Patrick. His father is Pat. Yeah. I'm going with Patrick, my homie. Okay. Because, man, he's just so elusive. He's an escape artist.

He just gets out of any trouble in the backfield. Like yesterday, he faked the jump pass, went underneath a blocker, then threw the ball to somebody for a touchdown. Like, he's out here playing backyard football with people. Like, it's just not fair. I feel like the original, like, get out of trouble, baseball star type of guy. I'm going to have to go with Russ.

he's just him, Collar and Mahoney are just a problem when it comes to tackling them behind a lot of scrimmage. They're so focused on making a play down the field that when trying to tackle them

behind a lot of scrimmage, they do just the slightest moves that you feel are the stupidest moves but they work and it just gives them extra space to get a ball to where they need to get it. And you know what's crazy

if you talk about that baseball background it's almost like those dudes are in a rundown on the base pads and they're trying to just not get tagged. It's like, I'm going this way, I'm going that way. Hold on a second. Let me find this open play real quick.

They are here playing pickle with people. Okay. Nice. They out here playing pickle with people. You know, and then number one, I got to go with Lamar. Lamar, when it comes behind a line of scrimment, he's dangerous for sure. But when it comes in the open field, it's no better quarterback in the open field than Lamar Jackson. Because everybody else, they're going to hit you with the slide button, the double X button on Mad.

And the thing, mad makes me mad because it's, It used to be just one X, now it's two Xs. You know, you know. Now, so it's the double X button on man. But Lamar, he's going to spin on you. He's going to juke you. He's going to try to run you over. He's not fumbling the ball.

So it's super frustrating because as a defensive player, you don't know what Lamar is about to bring to the table when it comes to tackling him. So I'm going to have to go with Lamar as my hardest tackle. But then I have a sneaky in here for you. Who is? The sneaky guy, I'm going to have to go with Joe Burrow. And the reason I'm going to go with Joe is because he's a young guy. and you can see that he's footfaking people.

He's jukeing people and getting away from people. And he's making stuff work. He's making his shake. And I think he's going to be a problem in the league. You know what? I don't know how he got my number, but Cam Newton and his barbed wire hat and his scarf that he wraps around the top of the hat,

he just messaged me. And he's like, hold on a second. I didn't make that top five. No Cam Newton? He didn't really message me. But no Cam Newton on that list. Brian, what's up? No, I feel like Cam's definitely a hard tackle.

but I feel like behind the backfield you know, Cam's going to hit you with the Josh Island. He's going to hit you with the stiff arm. And when it comes to, you know, in the open field, Camber is just going to either run you over a slot. You know, so I don't feel as behind the line of scrimand. She's as dangerous as Mahomes as Russell or Collar. And then in open field, I don't feel like he's as dangerous as Lamar.

And I feel him or Josh Island, you can choose either one when it comes to open field. Wow. So I like the list. But no Cam, no Big Ben, no Deshawn Watson, no Aaron Rogers. I mean, all these guys, you can have some explain to do when you see them on the streets. No, you know, hey, I'm willing to talk to anybody. I'll let you know my opinion.

If you don't like it, just let me know. I don't have a problem about it. Hey, everybody's in talking to their own opinion. Absolutely. And everyone out there with your opinion, be sure you keep sending in those tweets when we take our social media timeouts. You can hit us at the Ringer NFL, at Ryan Shazir, at Cole Wright. like we said earlier, if we get some good ones, we're going to put them on the show,

and we're going to take a spin around the league, as we usually do. But right now, we're going to take a quick break, but we're on the backside. We're talking to those Seattle Seahawks and Dangerous. Mr. Wilson, we know how good he is. Today's episode is brought to you by Heineken. Heineken would like to remind you that it's time for seasonal beers once again.

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It's week three of the Fandul ringer mega contest on Fanduel. Make a note because all season long, you can play the free Ringer mega contest on Fanduel. And this is the last week, and you can still get in and still place because it's not too late, but it's realistically the last week, then you can make up some ground.

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It's just that simple. And this week, well, my locks, it's got to be Pittsburgh at Tennessee. I'm going with them 28 to 17 and Kansas City coming off of that huge Monday night victory over Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens. I'm going 28, 21. They take out New England at the house. And make a note because the top of the top. 100 and make the playoffs to compete for a share of $25,000.

Play the ring or mega contest for free every week only on Fanduil. All you have to do is go to fanduel.com slash megacontest to make your picks today. That's Fandul.com slash mega contest. All right, coming back from that break, we just heard our guy Ryan. He said that Russell Wilson was the second toughest guy to tackle in the open field. And that gets us to our playbook segment because we're talking to Seattle Seahawks, big shays. I mean, come on now.

The Seahawks, 3-0 so far and Russell Wilson. He's throwing hot grits on the league, man. 14 touchdowns through three games. That's the best in the history of the league. I mean, what is there that Russell Wilson can't do? He's dangerous, man. Like, dangerous, hey. Man, I don't know, man, like, the Seahawks are going to be a problem this year.

You know, through the Great Vine, I have some friends out here. I'm not going to say it's cold because it's not cold. But somebody definitely told me that they think, the Seahawks can go undefeated this season. I'm not saying that. I'm not saying that. I think they're going to the Super Bowl, but I don't think they're going undefeated,

so we definitely know that was not me. Definitely know that. Hey, no, but I think, man, their team is solid, man. Their team is real solid. This dude, Russ is going crazy. He has 14 touchdowns. That means he had two games with five

and one with four. And, like, having a four touchdown game, that's awesome. A five touchdown game, that means that you're, you're like literally on fire. And, you know, Baham's there last night

that everybody's seeing how that looked. And this dude, Russ is doing it on a daily basis. And the thing is, he probably would have had six if Metcalfe wasn't jogging into the end zone. Yeah. You know, I think their offense is great.

The biggest question mark I have for them is their defense. Because when you're playing defense, sometimes it can get tough out there, man. Especially if, Not defense, but when you're playing football in general, with basketball and baseball and other sports, you know, you're playing offense and defense.

But with football, you have to depend on somebody else. So with the offense playing so well, they have to lean on their defense sometimes, and their defense isn't showing up as much. But they're still 3-0, so it letting you know they're doing well, but they're scoring 35 points a game. Like, Russ is going to have to do this all season.

long. And I, scoring 35 points a game is tough, man. I'm not going to lie. Then, you know, with Chris Carson getting hurt, I feel Carlos High, he's a great runabout. He's going to do well also. But it's tough, man. It's just, it's really tough to try to score 35 points a game because I remember when

I played for the Steelers, man. It was one year, I remember the offense was like, yeah, we've got to drop 28 points of game. Da-da-da-da-da. In the first few games of the season, they, they score like 14. Maybe 21. Like, fellas, what's up with those 28, though? Yeah.

We're like, what these 28 points at? You know, because like, you know, the defense, we're going out with the mindset, like, hey, you know, we can give up 21 points. You know, if you give up about 17 points a game, 14 points a game, you're going to beat the number one in the league. You know, like, that's top, that's number one in the league. Like, every team averages around over 20 points, almost 15 points a game, you know, something like that. So if you're stopping people at like 14 points a game, that means you're stopping them from averaging around 21 points. So we're like, man, where are these points at?

You know, and it got kind of rough. And, you know, you kind of get a little tension between the offense and the defense. And the thing is, the defense, we was like, hey, man, we're going to have to just let them figure things out. And we're going to have to lean on us for right now until they start bringing these 28 points in. And they end up doing it, but it was a little later than we expected, you know.

And I think that's what's going to happen with Seattle down the road. They're averaging 35 points right now. I don't know exactly what they're averaging, but they're close to 35 points. I know I'm not super great at math, but I think five times seven is 35. I'm not great at math either, but yeah, as I check,

as I check my answer key, that looks to be about correct. That sounds about right. He's throwing five touchdowns a game, so they're getting 35, you know? So I'm not saying that I don't think that they can do that all year long, especially when they start playing better teams. You know, so I think it's going to be a tough one.

It almost seems, Ryan, though, like the Legion of Boom that we once knew that revolved around the Seattle defense. Now it seems to be Seattle's offense, because like you said, the defense, not as good as the offense. And you know, you always want to make sure that, you know, both units are at least, you know, in the same neighborhood.

But, you know, the one thing that does jump off the page is that Jamal Adams, he's a welcome addition to this defensive unit. You know, no, Jamal Adams, he's a huge addition to this defense. You know, he brings splash all around the field. He makes, he making sacks, getting tackles behind a line of scrimmage. I feel him and Bobby Ratner, they're a great compliment to each other, you know. So I think he really's going to bring a lot of versatility. to this offense,

I mean, this defense, but I still think that they need more help because if they go against Aaron Rogers who has a potent offense or Kansas City who has a potent offense,

I think it can get tough, you know, because now you're asking Russ to drop 35 points with Kansas City, and that would be one hell of a Super Bowl because they don't play each other this season.

But it's going to get tough because at the end of the day, I don't think anybody can outscore the Chiefs. And they have weapons, but I don't feel like DJ Metcalf, he's an animal. I love him. He's a great player. But I don't think DJ Metcalf is Tyree Kill. You know, I don't think, you know, Tala Lockett is Sammy Watkins.

I don't. Some people think Tyler Lock is better than Sammy Watkins. Some people don't. But let me say this. Greg Olson is definitely not Travis Kelsey. You know, so it just, you know, like, so that's all I'm saying. Like, he probably still going to go to the Hall of Fame and things like that. But I'm talking about as it right now.

And when you start playing teams that have the weapons like that, but their defense might be a little bit better than yours, that's when they start getting sticky. But I can see them winning about 14 games this year. I can see them going about 14 and 2 or, you know, I'm not going to say 15 and 1. No. I'm going to say 14 and 2 or 13 and 3.

I honestly think them are, them are Green Bay are going to come out of that, go get the number one seat. Okay. I always feel like 13 and three for teams that you feel like our world beaters, always is a safe, a safe prediction because you never want to predict anyone

to go undefeated. And then only one or two losses. I mean, that almost seems like you're put in the cart before the horse. But the Seattle team, I mean, I picked Seattle and Kansas City. That's my Super Bowl. And I'm sticking to it.

I mean, every step of the way. But like you said, that defense, that's a question mark for Seattle, you know, there's Bobby Wagner, there's the man we're talking about Jamal Adams. I mean, there's, there's pieces of that puzzle, but it's not that Legion of Boom like we once saw. Yeah, no, it's not a Legion of Boom that we once saw. But they're depending on Russ, man.

And Russ is a great guy. He's a great person. And I actually have a pretty cool story about him, man. Like, if everybody gets to just like check out my Instagram and stuff like that, meet my family in person, everybody know I have two wonderful boys. And I have my youngest son. He's a little out there. He's crazier than my oldest, but his name is lying.

He's almost two. It was funny because we played Seattle last year, and I feel like the Steelers should have won that game. They called a, that's when they had the P.I. review for one season, and they used it versus Steelers, which was some BS. But it was funny because my wife was in the suite, and she was in the suite with our kids. And I think Sierra had came to Pittsburgh. I don't know if she goes so a lot of waiting. when she came to Pittsburgh for that game.

And she was in the suite next to my wife. And my son, Lion, he's the most outgoing kid ever. He eats everything. He's the most outgoing kid. And so Sierra's like waving at him, talking to him through the window, you know, messing around, you know. And he was like playing around too. He's one year's old.

So like a halftime or something, I think they all met. And she was like, hey, can I hold him? Can I hold him? lion literally goes to most people, especially if Michelle's around or I'm around. He's going to go like, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're going to go. But Sierra, like, Sierra, everybody knows Sierra, the singer, the superstar. This dude is like, nah, like, nah.

Like, everybody else in the world would have been like, yeah, hey, come hold me. This is what I was like, nah, hey, nah, not today. And so then after the game, you know, me and Russ, we was like meeting up and he was like man it was nice to meet you nice to meet your family whatever and he prayed for us and just prayed that I get better gave me his number things like that

and he was just like if you need anything just let me know and I was like all right cool so then Sierra was like hey uh let me try this again hey lion can I like can I like can I hold you that boy was like no

it was I'm like I see it this time I'm like man this dude this dude lion He's acting up. But it was so funny because just knowing lying, like, that's not who he is. You know, like, he's a really outgoing person. It was just, of all people he did at the Sierra. And that's like my little funny story I had with Russ.

And, you know, he's a great person. And I feel like he's a great leader. You can see why they win because he's somebody that really cares about everybody around them and make everybody better. And that's why I can see them guys being really successful this season. And the offense literally pushing the team. to the defense catch up. Yeah, well, maybe Lyon was taking a page out of Russ's book

because the last three years now at the Pro Bowl, you know, we're doing interviews on the field. You know, it's the Pro Bowl. Everyone there is an All-Star. And, you know, you're trying to get every quarterback and, you know, every main position player that, you know, it's going to drive the fans to go listen to some of that, you know, post-game and pre-game sound before that Pro Bowl gets underway on the Sunday.

And every single year, I'm like, hey, Russ, Russ, over here, over here. Let's get real quick. And he's like, oh, maybe tomorrow. That would be, you know, on Wednesday. And then, oh, maybe tomorrow, that would be Thursday. And then as the day start to whittle away, Russell Wilson, he just kind of sneaks off the field, puts his hat down low. And he just walks off.

That's how he's done me every single year. So maybe Lyon was doing that. He saw Russell put that example out there. And he's like, you know what? It's been working pretty well for Russ these past few years. So maybe I'll do Sierra like Russ did Cole Wright out there on the field. Who knows? But what do you see Seattle doing this year?

Because I already said I see them going to the Super Bowl versus Kansas City. So at the beginning of the year, I said that Tampa might go to Super Bowl. Wow. Okay. I don't. I said Tampa or Green Bay. So I'm not going to back out yet because Tampa is with two and one now. They have one bad loss when they're two and one now.

So I'm not going back out on them. And I think, but I think they might play. I think they're going to the NFC championship 100%. I think they're going to NFC championship. I think they might get the buy. But I'm going to have to stick with one of the two NFC teams I have before. and it's going to be Green Bay or 49ers. I can't back out now.

It's too late. Okay. Yeah, you already said it. If you said it, you meant it. You're holding that tongue for no one. I like the way you think right there. But I'm still going to go with Seattle. They're going to be playing for a Vince Lombardi trophy taking on Kansas City.

Come on now. Come on now. I mean, I'm sorry, man. I had to do it. I mean, as much as Pittsburgh, as much as I like them, I see them, you know, making that wild card. We talked about it last week, at least 11, maybe 12 wins, but I still see Baltimore winning the north.

And I see Pittsburgh Steelers maybe getting all the way to the AFC title game, but I don't necessarily see them playing for a Super Bowl championship. I'm sorry, man. Do you see the standards right now? Do you see who the number one team in the NFC North is? I do. I do. For the first time in a long time.

But I also know how good the Kansas City Chiefs are. We saw that last night. You know, we're going to continue to talk everything under the sun right here. We're going to get to our week three likes in just a second. but let's take another quick break because that's what we do around here. This episode is brought to you by Gatorade. For over 50 years, Gatorade has fueled the best athletes

to rise to the occasion during their biggest moments. And as a native Chicagoan, all I wanted to do is a kid was be like Mike. So whatever I saw Michael Jordan on the sidelines drinking, you already know that is what I asked my mom to pick up every time she went to the grocery store. And just like Gatorade, the iconic drink were only the best. From young athletes just starting to turn heads

to some of the best athletes to ever play their games. Gatorade shows they are the proven fuel of the best. The best are fueled by the best. Then, now, forever. Nothing beats Gatorade. Back from paying a few bills, time for those week three likes. And Ryan, we already talked about Aaron Rogers.

You said you like him, potentially to be in that NFC title tilt, maybe a Super Bowl. Who knows? But one thing I do know is you're liking the way Aaron Rogers is playing right now this season? Yeah, I'm definitely going to take my week three like. I'm definitely going to have Aaron Rogers in the pack. their 3-0, you know, I heard, you know, and I see that everybody's jumping off sides right now because there's no fans.

You know, he has a really deep voice when you're playing defense. And it's a really critical situation. Sometimes when somebody has a deep voice and just, you know, it make you jump off sides. You know, I'm a linebacker. I used to always cuss my deliming out, not cuss them out, but just get frustrated. Like, hey, man, like you're right in front of the ball, look at the ball. but, hey, Aaron making people jump off sides to three and those, so I'm liking them. Well, one guy I like, man, is Cam Newton.

You talked about Aaron Rogers in that cadence. You know, a guy who's in love with his cadence is Cam Newton. We've heard it before. You know, when you go sound full and you hear all those behind the scenes, Cam, you know, he gets after it and he's been getting after it this year. I know the Patriots, they have a loss, but what Cam Newton's been able to do, it almost makes you just for a split second forget that Tom Brady is now in Tampa Bay and the Patriots, they still continue to win and they're doing it.

with Cam Newton. And the fact that the Bears didn't take a look at Cam Newton, especially for that price tag, you know, no disrespect to Mitch Trubisky or to Nick Foles. But for Nick Foles to be getting paid over $20 million a year for Cam to be on New England at the at the bargain basement rate of a million dollars a season plus incentives. I mean, you can see my face right now. I mean, it's almost, it's on the verge of disgust. I mean, Cam Newton, how would he look in a bear's uniform getting after it? I think he'd look fantastic. Hey, the bear of the three and a lot of. Hey, but, but they're definitely the worst three in no team. I'm going to take the O and three Texans over the three and no bears 100%.

Yeah, I would do the same thing, you know, not to disrespect the Chicago Bears and, you know, my hometown. But if I had to go one or the other Houston Texans versus the Bears, if that was the week four matchup, I would definitely take Houston because there's just so many holes right now in the Bears game. What else do you like in this week, Ryan? Man, I'm not going to lie, man. Adrian Peterson, well, he's 35 now. Man, 75 yards with the wind on the Cardinals. Man, I'm super happy for this dude, man.

I remember the first time I met him, man, he, damn there broke my damn ham because his handshake. I didn't know about that. I heard about the folklore after the fact of his handshake. But I'm extremely happy for this dude, man. You know, like, people are keeping down to him and he keeps throwing him. I'm like, yo, I might be one of the best running backs that ever, not might be.

I am one of the best runnerbacks to ever play the game and pitch some respect to my name. Absolutely. It's funny. You call him old man, Adrian Peterson. Sounds like he just chased you out of his yard for jump at the fence and steal some apples. It's like, oh, oh, is everything all right, Ryan? Like, yeah, man, hold on a second. Old man Peterson just chased me out of his yard.

He caught me in the back. You know, it's almost how it sounds. But, yeah, you know, it's a young man's game, that running back position to Adrian Peterson, man. He's definitely tapped in to that fountain of youth. You know, one thing that has me, that's hitting that like button this week. It's Ryan Fitzpatrick. I mean, we just saw the energy, the zest that he was playing with, you know, down there in Miami with those dolphins on Thursday night football. I mean, for this guy to still be in the league, I mean, I saw someone tweet out that

that was the game that makes everyone say, wow, why isn't Ryan Fitzpatrick a starter when he plays like this? He has that game every single year where he just goes out there and gets after it. You see how much fun he has playing. And at the end of the day, it is a kid's game. And all these guys out there, they get paid, you know, like a Fortune 500 CEO to play a kid's game. And Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's having fun at it, man. Can't hate on that. Yeah, no, he's having a good time out there, man. I'm just happy to see that he's enjoying his time.

And, you know, I think he's mentoring Tua. And the dolphins aren't expecting to do much. And I think he's just the stepping stone, not stepping stone, but he's just holding a pedestal until they pass it over. Yeah, hopefully once Tua finally does get in, he'll stay healthy because, you know, this isn't one of our likes this week, but I'm just going to throw it out there real quick. I see Jalen Hertz being a more successful quarterback in the National Football League than to a tug of I lower. But that's here nor there. That's, that was just something I threw in there,

just for free. Just for free, Ryan. That's what I did, man. Give me your last week three like, man. What you got? My last three liked, man. I'm not going to lie, man. I thought it was amazing that we had the women in the NFL. We had two women coaches and a woman official, man. Callie Brownson for the Browns is kind of crazy. Her name is Brownson. You know, Chief of Staff. You know, Jennifer King for Washington, she was on the coaching staff. And then Sarah Thompson, man, she's been an official since 2015. I think it's really showing the movement that the NFL is having in all aspects. They're trying to, you know, bring diversity to the game, but also just try to grow in a bunch of different areas.

And I'm really excited to see that the NFL is really committing to change. Absolutely. Between King Bronson and Thomas, you know, it makes me proud to be able to sit and watch a game and show my daughter, who's eight-year-old. years old. Hey, if you want to be a part of this, you can do that. Anything you want to do, there's the ability, there's the avenue for you to do that. That's where the National Football League and all the professional sporting leagues are going in this day and age. You know, last but not least, I'm liking Josh Allen. We talked about it. He's your number five quarterback that you wouldn't want to have to tackle in the open field. And I think a lot of guys right now are jiving

with that because what he's able to do with this Buffalo team, you know, a lot of people, you know, my guy, Mike Robinson included, they had some high hopes for both. And I think he's Buffalo this season. And right now they're living up to all the expectations. The only problem is is that the New England Patriots, they're still keeping pace in the division. But Josh Allen and Buffalo and what they're doing right now, it's pretty special, Ryan.

Yeah, yeah. Man, Buffalo's going to be a problem, man. And now he has a true number one receiver with Diggs. Him and Diggs, that connection is potent right now. Diggs is going crazy. I know he's loving it. It's not, it's no more me and Thiel than Theel is number one. No, I'm number one.

And Josh is making sure that he, He loves them there. So I think Josh and Buffalo, like I said, they're going to win the AFC East. Oh, that's spicy. Spicy. I'm still going to have to ride with the New England Patriots until they are not in that catbird seat, especially with the way Cam Newton's been playing right now. You know, we see Cam Newton.

We know what he does. But, all right, let's get now to our mic check because, Ryan, you were the Mike linebacker. You know, I try to control the mic. Like I hold the microphone like a grudge, like Raq Kemp said once upon a time. And what you do here is you tell everybody, some of the stuff that you've been seeing that they might not have seen. And I'm just going to let everybody know what's got me burning this weekend. And the thing that has me kind of scratching my head and, you know,

shriveling up my face is it's Joe Judge and the New York Giants. I mean, the Giants, once again, taking one on the chin. I mean, we see that team. They turn the ball over and over and over again. And Joe Judge, right now, he's just saying that he's trying to put a workman-like team together. He's doing it for the blue-collar crew. Let's have a listen to this. Well, I think about this area, you talk about blue collar.

you know, people that work blue collar livings, like, you know, my family did growing up, you just wake up every day in a matter of the circumstances and you go back to the grindstone. That's what our team's going to do. We're working on building this thing and building this thing the right way for this area, all right, for the families that this team represents. And we're going to come back Wednesday, and we're going to work our butts off to get this thing right moving forward. So in terms of the people in the area want to know the direction this program's going, I can assure you that I take a great deal of pride.

And I put a lot of personally into this to make sure that the product they see on the field, proud of. He's doing it for the blue collar workers. I don't think the blue collar workers are feeling great right now, about a 36 to 9 loss to San Francisco's junior varsity squad in East Rutherford at MetLife. I mean, you go and you take it on the chin like that. We saw how many injuries happen to San Francisco the week before on the same field. And then New York goes out there and gets blasted again. I think there's a lot of upset blue collar workers right now that Joe Judge made that same, that comparison, because like we were talking about. We were talking about about earlier, they only work three days a week.

And then on Sundays, a blue-collar workers, a real blue-collar worker, Ryan, is putting in that work, bringing their lunch pail seven days a week, if not at least six and a half. It's against the rules in the NFL to work seven days a week. That's true. That's true. I'm just being facetious, but you know what I mean. So, like, he says Wednesdays, but they actually work, they go to work on Mondays. They go back and look over the film and things like that.

And then Tuesday is the true day off. And then Wednesday is the days when every team in the NFL pretty much goes and actually works through the rest of the week until Sunday. So they work about six days a week, you know, five, six days a week. But, like, what are people in New York expecting? Like, you can expect them to have a positive record this year. Like, their team, they don't have a team that anybody can predict to make it to the playoffs. Anybody predict to make it far.

And then you lose. Sequin, yeah. All-world running back? Like, this man, man, this man bet I lose. his job. They need to help him build a team because at the end day, he has nothing right now. Like literally, his team is nothing right now. If you're going to fire this man,

you're literally going to fire him just because how bad he's losing. But you gave him the worst hand in possible NFL history right now. That's how I feel. Like, their team is terrible. Yeah, Ben McAdoo and his sniper glasses and a new slickback haircut and gigantic suits, he lasted

longer. So if Joe Judge can't get at least that kind of runway, then I think that there might be a problem. But who knows, Daniel Jones needs to limit those turnovers. That's one thing that is for sure. In New York, they're fighting for both teams are fighting for the worst. They're fighting for one and two in the draft right now. Yeah, both of them, not good at playing tackle football. And last look, that's what they do professionally, which is not a great look, man, not a great look. How about you, man? What do you, Mike checking on this week? Let everybody at home know

what you saw that they didn't. I'm not a lot. I think Nick Chubbs is the best traditional a runnerback in the NFL. And when I mean traditional, I'm talking about, like, Jim Brown. I'm talking about, like, Jerome Bettis type running backs. Wow. And, Nick, you put Nick Chubb in the bus and Jim Brown's stratosphere already? No, no, no, no. I'm not saying that he's those guys.

Those are Hall of Famers. I'm saying that he's running style. You know, nowadays, guys are utility backs. They do everything. You know, they're catching the ball out of the backfield. They're, you know, doing swing routes and they're running post. And, you know, like, Levion started all that type of stuff. Abakamara type backs, you know,

but I feel like he's the true, give me the ball, it's third and three, I'm getting these four yards. I feel like he's that guy. Me personally, I think Derry Henry, you know, everybody's like, he's the best running back and things like that, but I feel when it comes to,

give me the ball right now, pit up a team on my back, I think Nick Chubbs is the best guy at that, me personally. I think he's the best traditional runnerback, you know, guys in his class, like Four Nett, Henry, Connor, Jacobs, It's not a really big class because nowadays,

running backs literally do everything. But I feel him and Kareem Hunt are really killing things over there right now. And I think the best way for the Browns to have a successful season is just the lean on Nick Chubbs, then give it to Kareem Hunt, then, you know, pick the ball and Baker hand. But I feel that you need to give it to those two guys first, especially Nick Chubbs. Then I think that's how they're going to win.

I don't think they're going to win thinking Baker is Mahomes. I'm thinking Baker is Lamar. It's almost like the Browns could tap into what we saw the Saints with with Alvin Camara and Mark Ingram. You know, you have that guy who's that hybrid and then you have that other cat who is just going to run the ball, you know, five yards in a cloud of dust like Mark Ingram. Like that's what Nick Chubb is right now. He's that Mark Ingram kind of back.

But I feel he's a better version of Mark Ingram right now. You know, I don't, like Mark Engel was pretty good then. I think he went to the Pro Bowl that year. Yeah. But I feel Nick Chubbs is a better running back right. now than Mark Ninger was. And I think that's exactly what you're talking about. Okay, from Joe Judge and the blue collar mentality to Nick Chub being the best

traditional back in all the league. That's putting a close on Mike Check. And that's also putting a wrap on this week three edition of the Tuesday Ringer NFL show. He's Ryan Shazir. I'm Cole Wright. And as always, we're part of the Ringer podcast network. And you can follow us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. And you can also follow us on the Ringer NFL over on Twitter.

and make a note because every single Tuesday, we're going to hit you with a new, fresh hot-out-the-kitchen episode. And next on the Wednesday edition of The Ringer NFL show, it's Warren Sharp and Chris Vernon. They're giving you those week three analytics and some betting insights. They're going to help you put a few extra greenbacks in your pocket because, after all, who doesn't like a little extra cash

to make the week go round? So for Ryan Shazir, I'm Cole Wright. As always, it's been a pleasure. We'll see you next week right here on a Tuesday. That's how we do.