The Ringer NFL Show - Model Franchises, the New York Giants' Culture Change, and a Dark Horse Super Bowl Contender With Peter Schrager | The Ringer NFL Show

Episode Date: September 2, 2020

The Ringer’s Kevin Clark is joined by NFL Network’s Peter Schrager to talk about why the Kansas City Chiefs work (7:29), the changes in culture for the New York Giants (25:15), and a dark horse Super Bowl contender (36:55).  Host: Kevin Clark  Guest: Peter Schrager Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's episode of the Ringar NFL show is brought to you by Spotify and the Ringer Podcast Network where you can find the Ringer Fantasy Football Show with our good friends, Danny Kelly, Danny Hype, and some great little back. We spun our Dynasty Football podcast to its own feed. We'll be with you all season long from Fantasy Advice, and I'll even make a guest appearance every now and that. I heard that on today's episode, they're going to break down what happens if you're cramming for your draft, what you need to know. I certainly do know that since I have really devoted my life to fantasy in a long time.

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to follow your favorite team no matter where you live. Use promo code the ringer at checkout to say 15%. Today's episode is brought to you by Heineken. Figuring out how to beat the heat for Labor Day weekend this year, try an ice cold Heineken. I've been drinking Heineken during the NBA playoffs, really enjoying them both regular Heineken and Heineken 0.0. Can't recommend it enough. Perfect beer to sit back and watch hoops at my house. Heineken, original lager, is made with natural ingredients with pure mold and their famous A yeast, which makes Heineken an all-season all-the-time kind of beer. Pick up a pack or have it delivered this Liberty weekend and drink responsible. It's the Ringer NFL show, part of the Ringer podcast Network. I'm Kevin Clark. joined today by the NFL

Network and Fox is Peter Schrager to talk about everything. Chiefs, Cowboys, Patriots, Dark Course MVP candidates, and basically everything else. So here's Peter. Okay, Peter Schrager, good morning football, media star, Fox. This is going to be a very strange television here, Peter Schreger. Oh, my gosh. It's so weird. So I work for the NFL network and Fox and pulling the curtain back.

We just, for both companies, the last two weeks, Kev, we had our what they call a seminar, and they kind of have the NFL speak to us about protocols and what's going to be like on game day. in broadcasting and I think the viewers at home are in for a different experience. I don't think it's necessarily bad and it's all necessary, but like typically it would be like here, look, sideline reporters, the coaches, they usually just want one question, not two. Can we keep it to a minimum this time around?

It was like, here's where the sideline reporter is going to be located. Here is how we're going to do COVID testing. Like fascinating different deal for TV and how we're going to be, A, working these games on the TV side and B, how you, the viewers at home are going to watch them. where is the South Island Reporter going to be? All right. So I don't know if I'm revealing government secrets yet or not, but they're not on the field to start the season.

So let's take Aaron Andrews, for example. She will be in one of the first two rows of the stadium. And she will have access to different things, but she can't do. Usually that job, Aaron's able to talk to the trainer the second there's an injury and be right on, they say, hey, Roger's spraying his ankle. I spoke with the trainer or whatever.

That's going to be a little bit delayed. and there's going to be a lot of assistance from the public relations team and then also what you can do. But you're seeing these interviews at the end of the NBA games where it's like the guy, Jared Greenberg, I'm new to him. He's doing a lot of these postgame interviews. He's got the mask on and he's got the long microphone that's six feet apart. Yeah.

And I don't even think Aaron or any of the sideline reporters are going to be able to do an interview on the field during the game or even after the game. So it's going to be very different from that. And then from the broadcast standpoint, you know, usually the play-by-play guy takes a stroll around the field before the game. You know, Kevin Burkart's talking to Eli Manning

or Daniel Jones in this case, getting a good 40 minutes with him. Charles Davis is with Matt Ryan and Matt Ryan's father two hours beforehand. I don't think as of now, the play-by-play guys and the color guys are going to be allowed to stroll the field and do their usual due diligence beforehand.

Again, you the viewer might not notice any of the that you're going to notice no fans and the sound noise, but like stuff for the information on the broadcast, that's, that's huge. Because I do not work in television, I have not really spent that much time pregame on a field and I was lucky enough to do it before Chiefs Titans playoff game this year. Awesome. The amount of knowledge that you can get just from random people, not random, but football people in the one hour before the game on the field is unbelievable. It is unbelievable. I had no idea.

Look, I think your relationships around the league are unparalleled. I think if you also had access to that, it takes, because that was me. I was writing for all these years, and then I got put on the sidelines, and I quickly realized that there's two things that I get everything from. Production meetings, which is when we get to meet with the quarterbacks one-on-one on a Friday, and then pre-game. I remember I did Bill's Patriots this year before the game. It was a Saturday night game on NFL Network to,

Rico and Warner in the booth on the sideline reporter, but I got there two hours early. I had a 20-minute talk with Brady. I had a 15-minute talk with Kraft. Josh Allen and Brandon Bean, the GM of the Bills and I are just talking in a three-person conversation while they're warming up. Like that, and then I use that for everything moving forward. Like Josh Allen will know that we spoke and I'm not full of shit when I'm talking on air because I spoke to him. You know, it's all the access in the world. I think a lot of that's going to be restricted this year for right reasons, but it's just unfortunate for those of us who like to get little news nuggets. Yeah, no, it's, it was, it was an amazing, I don't know, 45 minutes, whatever it was on Arrowhead. And just even being

around Patrick Mahomes in a competitive environment, because I, when I'm around Mahomes, whenever that is, he's sitting in Brad Geese's office and he's got his foot on the table and he's hanging out. And, and, you know, hasn't been, I haven't spent all that much time with him, but it's in a very, you know, Tuesday, Wednesday environment to see Mahomes, law. locked in from 10 feet away and ready to play a playoff game was legitimately an awesome experience. So let's get to the chief. Which is why I was always critical in my own head of like some of the reports you get on the sidelines. And I can't even name a name, but it's like if you're referring to a Washington

Post article from Tuesday as your sideline report during the game, right. That means you didn't do the work the day of, which is what it should be. It should be like what you're seeing now and what we're getting as opposed to. There was an interesting article on Mike Evans. you know, on Wednesday in the Tampa Tribune. And let me explain what that was, you know, that there's no place for that there. Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, just the observation part of it is so powerful on the sideline. And it's a shame we won't get that as much this year.

All right. So let's talk about the Chiefs. Speaking of Patrick Mahomes in a competitive environment. So Andy Reed and Brett Beach get dueling extensions through 2025. Mahomes, we already know, got a 10-year $503 million extension. I think Andy's not getting $50 million a year on average. but if he asked for it, I might think about giving them $50 million a year. I'm curious, Peter, when you think about this Chiefs team,

and we both know some folks in this organization, but from a big picture standpoint, now that we know what the core looks like, they're not going to screw up the Veach-Reed Mahomes trifecta. Chris Jones is in the fold, Tyreekills in the fold, Travis Kelsey in the fold. We know this. Why do the chiefs work? And I know the simple answer is Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid,

but when you think about that organization, why is this all rowing in the right direction where some organizations have screwed this up? Yeah, and it wasn't always that way. There used to be a stigma that the chiefs did not take care of their players and that, you know, they weren't this organization that was everyone wanted to be at. I think it all starts, and it doesn't start with Andy,

it doesn't start with Clark, it doesn't start with Vita. I think it all starts with the homes. Like people want to play for him and people want to play with him. And he's, as much of his contract was, he's the most selfless superstar in the league. He loves his teammates and he's like fun to be around. So you start with that. He gets his contract, and I think the dominoes went from there.

But the chiefs work because let's take example, the chronological order of how this all went down, right? So Mahomes gets his deal. It's a massive deal, but really, and I don't like going this route and looking at the numbers, but like it doesn't cripple the team in the short term. It's a long-term deal. Kelsey takes a deal that's below market. Sammy Watkins restructures his deal.

Everyone kind of shortly thereafter followed. And I like that Brett and Andy, didn't announce their deals or didn't do their deals until all of the players got done and got their deals. That goes a long way. And I'm not comparing it to other teams. But, you know, if there's contract stuff going on with the players and the GM is getting his extension beforehand, it's natural from them say, well, wait a second, before you get yours, can we take care of mine? This was chronologically exactly how they planned it out and they both got taken care of. But people want to play for the Ken City Chiefs. Like, it's a place where you go there and it's like a warm, a warm,

loving, nurturing organization, and that coach dating back to, you know, Green Bay, to Philly or whatever, you won't find a player to say a bad thing about Big Red. I will say, you said you didn't want to compare it to other teams as far as the chronology of the extensions. In 2010, the New York Jets were negotiating with Derell Revis in one of the most heated contract battles I can remember, also with Nick Mangled and David Harris. And in the middle of that negotiation, they extended their coach and GM. and they might as well have dropped an atomic bomb in the locker room.

It matters. And the agents see it and the players see it. And it's like with rolled eyes. And I don't know. I think that should be the way it goes. I also think Veach is a really good GM for Andy Reid. And I think that he's got confidence. And, you know, remember he before he was even a starter, Mahomes,

Vech said he was one of the best players he'd ever seen. He got roasted for it. He got roasted for it. I remember that. And he does bring that up sometimes. That reaction. He should. He wears it on his sleeve.

He should. Yes. Yes, exactly. And I think that with Andy, you know, I think that Andy is, it makes a lot of decisions and is a powerful voice. But to have someone like Beach who's going to work alongside of him. Like I remember one time Pete Carroll saying, I think it was an owner's meeting. He said that him and John Schneider literally never disagreed on anything.

And I think that's really hard. I don't know if that's necessarily true. He says it's true. But I think it's really hard to find a really good working relationship like that one. And there's a powerful head coach. And if you've got it, you've got to maintain it. I also think that there's a deal with how these marriages are made. And a lot of times it's like, all right, we're going to hire this hot shot GM and we already

have our coach. Or we have our coach and we're going to go hire an unknown GM or we have our GM. We're going to go hire a coach. Like, Vich will be the first to tell you. Like he doesn't have a job in the NFL without Andy Reid. Back in Philly, like he was his. his assistant and he worked up and they had all their guys with Howie Rovstman and all the different people there. But when he goes to Kansas City, he takes Veach with him and Veach is an assistant

to the assistant, then moves up to the assistant to John Dorsey. And then Veach is like, just a rising guy, but Andy Reid has always had his eye on Brett Veach and is always taking care of him. So by the time he is the general manager, it's like they're speaking the same language and there's an undying loyalty. So many of these GM coach power struggles, whether it be Grigsin and Pogano or it be Lovie Smith and Jason and light. It's guys that never knew each other. And it's just like, we're matching you guys together. Go for it. Or McCagnin and Gase, which lasted about four months.

You know, it just wasn't going to happen. Gase and anybody. All right. So I think that what's interesting to me, also, by the way, Vech hooked up Matt Nagy with the job as well. So there's a whole web here. And he was a very good offensive coordinator. And we'll see about head coach going forward. The last time I was reading about Andy Reid's. extension and I stumbled across the fact that the last time they extended him with 2017.

And on that same day, they fired John Dorsey, which the chiefs are in a very different place from that. It was NBA draft day. I'll never forget, NBA draft day. What? Why do you remember that? Because I'll tell you why, because I'm watching SportsCenter or something, and it's right before the draft.

And I see that they fired Dorsey and I love Dorsey. I've known him for years. And I'm like, what? And then I'm like, it's a pro Dorsey podcast. Yeah. I need more analysis on this. And Sports Center cuts out to a four-hour preview of like, you know, here's Lou All Dang or whoever it was, like doing a reverse layup in Bill Simmons

and Mike Schmitz or whatever that guy's name is, breaking it down. But I remember being like, give me more Dorsey contract talk. What just happened? Yes, it's the NBA draft. Amazing. Yeah. Who do you think they took that year? Who do you think they took?

They drafted Jonathan Isaac with a sixth overall pick. Markle Fultz was the first overall pick. We got two of the top six picks in that draft, baby. And one of them is now, Isaac didn't finish the season, right? He got injured. And then Fultz actually had a big break out year. He did. But Isaac is out for next year.

They announced that yesterday. So it's not what you want. And also, he's a legitimate defensive player of the year candidate when healthy. And I don't want to talk. We're going to derail the podcast if I start getting. No, no, no. I have trivia for you. It brings it back to the NFL.

And you definitely know this. But it's going to eventually be the Clayton, and Kershaw, Matt Stafford thing. I know where you're going with this. Who in the NFL as a rookie was high school teammates with Mark Hill Fultz? Yeah, Chase Young. There you go. Chase Young.

We're in. And what's crazy about that is, I mean, there's a lot of things. Number one is that neither of them went to University of Maryland. Yeah, that's terrible recruiter. I come from a Maryland family. So do I. Yeah. That's just not what you want.

All right. So now that we know what the chiefs look like, through 2025 and read, I guess, there were stories he'd committed to Tuma Holmes through that contract or whatever, this run that they're on right now, what's the overrunner on Super Bowl is for them? I hate doing it because I thought Seattle would run off five or six. Like, and I don't know. Five or six? I mean, I at least thought one more for Seattle, but then they got to the one, the literal one,

the literal and figurative one yard line. I know. and they never got back. But like Russell Wilson was 25 years old and all those guys were happy in the defensive backfield and then everyone wanted to get paid and it all came crumbling down.

But I would say the chiefs, the over under for more, I would say two is fair. Like at least one more. I think they get one more because of Mahomes' contract. But here's the thing with the chiefs. Not only do they bring back Mahomes

and they found a way to make it out with Watkins and all these guys like the enemy's back, Spagnolo's back. Mike Kafka, who's the quarterback's coach is back. They bring back all the defensive assistance. Like, there's no brain drain, which we usually see. Remember when the Eagles won the

Super Bowl? That next season, they lost Reich. They lost John D. Filippo. They lost all these coaches. Like, the chiefs bring back every coach, too. It's crazy that Eric B. Enemy didn't get a job, but guess what? He's back with the chiefs. He's going to be doing the same exact thing, and they speak the same language, and they'll be calling plays from the Rose Bowl from 1940 again. All right. So, by the way, I like, I kind of like John D. Philippo as quarterback's coach with the Bears. I feel like maybe he wasn't an offensive coordinator. in the last couple of years with the Vikings and the Jaguars. Maybe that wasn't a good fit.

But I like him down with Matt Nagan. They can work. If there's anyone that you perceive as a threat from just a model franchise standpoint to the chiefs, is it the Ravens or is there another franchise where you're like, oh, man, I'd circle them as maybe in the next two, three years to start building up a really, really good team. Baltimore really, really believes, like, in their whole mantra of, like, be like a raven and all that stuff.

Like, once players buy into that and they're so. young. And then this year they brought in Campbell, which I think is like the perfect veteran guy to like be with them that I think Baltimore, great franchise and they could constantly be in that conversation. I would look to the NFC though. And I do look at the 49ers. And they've got a similar deal where like head coach and general manager are secure the quarterback. We'll see what happens with his next contract. But like the defense is great. It's young. It's loaded. And they've got that kind of deal where it's like Niners nation, the whole deal, the faithful. And like they buy into that. love it. Yeah. And so I think that what's interesting as far as Shanahan goes is that like Andy Reid,

he's one of the best play. They're the two best play callers in the game. I don't think that that's much up for debate. The difference is the quarterback. I think that there's a baseline and there's a by the way, it goes out saying that's a huge difference. But I think there's a baseline with Reed and Mahomes where I don't care what other 52 people are on the roster. When those two guys are together, they're going to be a good team. They're not a Super Bowl contender. If they're don't have the other guys, but they're going to be able to score points with Mahomes and Reed. I don't necessarily know if that's the case in San Francisco just because they just don't have surprise the best quarterback in football. I guess you could say they need, when you don't

have the best quarterback in football, you need more help. And luckily, they've hit on guys like Debo Samuel, guys like, you know, guys like George Kittle. I mean, they've got a team there. Yeah. And they've missed on some free agents and they've still been able to find guys, guys later in the draft. Here's the thing with Garoppolo. I don't know if we and I and I'm not like a Garapolo. I wouldn't die on that hill. But because they beat the Packers by so many points and they relied on the run, I think people hold that against him that he only attempted eight passes. And it's like, oh man, they were scared to throw the ball. But they were up 38 to seven and they were running the ball down a team's throw. Is it what we want? And then against the Vikings, he didn't throw the ball a ton of the playoffs.

But they won. They blew them out. I, Kevin, I mean, they go in. into New Orleans. They're losing in the final minutes. He leads them back and finds away. They go into Seattle on a week 17 game where they never win in Seattle. They go in and he finds away. And of course, the defense stepped up and Dre Greenlaw makes the big tackle at the end. But like, I don't know if we should be so sure that like Garapolo can't get the job done. If that Super Bowl ends a little differently, they're up 10 points. I don't blame Garapolo. That pass to Manuel Sanders, whatever. That's a deep 50 yard pass. It might happen. It might not. And if Sanders is faster, maybe he catches it. Who knows?

but if they win the Super Bowl, I still don't even know if we'd be giving credit to Garoppolo. It's just the way the framework of that team was built and the way it is. I don't think anyone would be coming on, you know, a week from the season and being like Garoppolo's a top five quarterback

because he won the Super Bowl. All right, so you're hosting a podcast about the Rams. Your expectations for this team are what? So I talked to the coaches. I talked to the coaches after the episode airs and then I'll talk to Kevin Demoff after they talked about SoFi Stadium. And then this week,

Eric Weddell came out of the woodwork and he and I had a long talk about playing for both franchises, which was really interesting. I like that. Oh, well, is that out yet? It's not out yet. And he does not trash the Chargers. Oh, that's where I was going to get into.

Vegas took that off the board. Eric Weddell trashed the Chargers. I like that he did. So he pivoted. Yeah. Okay. He talks about how good a coach Anthony Lynn seems to be. And I'm like, all right, there's not going to be any shade thrown here.

Okay, good. You've got this knowledge on the Rams. You've been talking to folks. Your expectations for the 2020 Rams are what? compete for a Super Bowl. That's what they expect. I could tell you that straight up. I talk to McVeigh pretty often,

probably at least once a week. They're one of these teams that feel like they're lying in the weeds right now. And you look at them on paper, still have Jalen Ramsey, still have Aaron Donald, still have one of the best coaches in football, and they think they got better this all season.

I mean, these two rookies, Jefferson and Acres, I don't know what they're going to do on offense. There's a lot on both their plates, and they have a new defensive coordinator and Brandon Staley, who's one of these John Carroll alumni, and if you don't know what that means, it's a huge pipeline.

I'm sure you wrote five Wall Street Journal articles in your time on the John Carroll pipeline, but it's Josh McDaniels, it's Tom Telesco, it's Dave Caldwell, it's countless others. They all, Nick Casario, they all went to John Carroll, a small D3 school, and Brandon Staley's been rising in coaching ranks, and as much as they love coach Wade Phillips, and he was great in the Super Bowl and all this stuff,

like Brandon Staley's got that youthful energy that matches McVease, and they're confident that they're not only going to compete in the NFC West, but this is a team that could win the Super Bowl this year because they were there two years ago and they feel like they're a better team now. You want to hear a crazy story about the John Carroll thing? Yeah. So after, so 2013 or 2014, the draft was in New York back when they started traveling. And after the first round or the second and third round, I went out with a couple of writers. and we went to a bar,

one of those bars like Rose Joe Grady, you know, those Midtown bars, they all run together. But it was in Times Square, okay? And I remember, it was really late, so it was a completely different scene than a normal Times Square bar, and it was also just right near Radio City Music Hall.

And we're all, it's like four or five of us that we're talking about the John Carroll connection. What a cool convo. Well, no, no, it was, I think there were some insiders there and we were talking about it. And the bartender goes, Bill Pollyan, baby. I kind of look at him.

We all look at him and we're like, what is this? And he's like, I went to John Carroll with those guys too. What? Did everybody but me go to John Carroll? John Carroll, small town in Ohio, I think it's at. Bill Pollyan might be the godfather of it all because Telesco worked for him. Like, there's a crazy change. And the bartender knew this.

Bartender, obviously. He's slinging drinks in Times Square after people are going to see Le Miserab. And he also said, Bill Pellian, there you go. Dude, he was all. over it. I love it. What needs to go right for the Rams? What's their path to the Super Bowl? Is that obviously it's offensive line improvement, but it's run game. I know we all make fun of the run game in the NFL now, but it still is important, especially if you're Sean McVeigh. What is the path? Yeah, and the defense has to be better. As good as those names are, you lose

Corey Littleton, you lose some guys. Like, the defense has to step up. Last year, they had games where they're playing against the San Francisco 49ers on a Saturday night. And it's, they're in this game, their playoffs are still alive, and they give up two 20-yard plays. Like, the defense needs to shore itself up. McVeigh needs to get the juice back because I think he started the year doing real sports and everyone

loving Sean McVeigh and then by the end of the season, it was like, all right, Kyle Shanahan is the offensive genius and if it's not him, it's one of these others, Matt LaFloor, whoever. So I think there's a little bit of this like, let's get our groove back. What needs to go right is the Niners need to come back down to earth. The Cardinals can't have this giant

leap and the Seahawks can't be back to their old form. They've got to have a little step back also. I think the Rams are right in that conversation. I wouldn't be shocked if they did with the division. Today's episode is brought to you by Heineken, figuring out how to beat the heat for Labor Day weekend this year, whether you're headed it outside, safely, or staying indoors. Be sure to enjoy the always seasonal Heineken original Lager. I've been drinking these things pretty much the entire NBA playoffs.

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Joe Judge. I'll love it. I'm starting to love it too. So I said on this podcast a couple weeks ago, and we talked to Dominic Foxwood with a month on Friday, I tend to think that all the things he's doing right now don't necessarily matter. Like I think that the default is for people

that roll their eyes and say, you know, this is hurting the team or veterans aren't going to respond to this. but I actually just don't, I don't think that they care that much. I think that what they want to do is they want to be put in position to win. And if that is happening, they'll buy in. Like, I think that's the bottom line. I think buy in is completely different from the, how someone treats the media or how somebody, you know, puts jerseys on or or numbers on jerseys or whatever.

I think it's two separate categories and wins and losses are not earned that way. What are you hearing about the giants and that buy in right now? All right. You were in the New York market for a long time. And if you look at the Jetshead coaches over the 2000s, it was these giant pendulum swings of personality. It was like, Herm Edwards is the most affable, lovable guy. Then we could go with Eric Mangini, right, who was like all business, Belichick. And then Rex Ryan is this big ball of personality. He's going to wear masks and all this stuff. And then Todd Bowles, which is a great defensive coach, but it's not exactly going to do a song and dance for you. This is what the Giants did. They went to a totally different. personality from Macadoo and from Shermer. And I think it's working early with the players. The players are sick of losing and they're too young to know otherwise. They see this guy and at first you can roll your eyes and say, okay, he's not going to say Sequan Barkley's name, which is what he said to me at the combine. He's like, I'm not looking to name these guys by name yet. I don't know them. Like, just ridiculous things that you're like, what are you talking about? But then you hear that Seyquon

Barclay ran a lap at practice last week. And that happened. He made a mistake. And not because there there was a whistle blown at him and saying go run. It's because he had the wrong path protection. And Sequin was like, ah, shit, I messed up. All right, I'm going to go run a lap and set the standard for everyone else. They like him. He's got a sense of humor. You're seeing it sort of, but I've gotten to know him a little bit,

not as incredibly well because the Patriots keep their assistant coaches under lock and key. You can't even get to know them. So once they are out into the wild, as I would say, like they're all like almost like deer in the woods. It's like, all right, now who do I trust? What do I trust? Some of them don't talk to any media.

Others do try to make the efforts. I really went out of my way at the combine to try to get to know them and talk with them. We had an appearance on Good Morning Football. Kept in touch a little bit. But like everything that comes out of his mouth is authentic. Everything that seems to be what he's spit into these players, he packs up with actual empirical data. And they have bought in. Now, granted, this is September 1st or September 2nd.

Like, I will see. If they go 0 and 4 and are getting blown out, no one's running laps. Like the players don't want to see that, but very young team, really good core of guys. I don't know if you've been in the Giants locker room the last two years,

but like, not that the guys previously were bad guys, but like you're talking about great dudes. Like, Sequan's a great guy, and Daniel Jones is a great guy, and right down to Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram, like these are like good, good young men and they want to win.

So I think it is going to work. And at the very least, I know they've bought in as they're starting the season. Like, I don't see a, I don't have a vision of Pittsburgh coming in there and just beaten the shit out of them week one. I just don't see that. I see the Giants being disciplined and smart. And they might not have the best talent on defense, but they're going to hang in there

in a lot of games. I will say they do a good job. And I was thinking about this with when Judge started his, his stick a couple weeks ago. But the Giants, when you're in that building, I was there last summer. I don't go there that often, just for a bunch of reasons. But I like being in that building. And they do a really good job of me. making it kind of a family.

Like, it really is. It's so low key inside that building. Like I remember, I've talked about this before, but remember Eli Manning, it's about 10 feet away from me last year. And he was just sitting there. And this is a guy who's,

you know, might be a half of him quarterbacks, one, two, Super Bowls, made literally hundreds of millions of dollars. And he's sitting there with the PR staff and they're just doing like, wedding congratulations videos for people he doesn't know. And they're like friends,

of, I don't know, whomever in the Giants organization. This happens all the time. And he's just like sitting there and he's just like, hey, thank you so much for your support of the Giants. Congratulations on your big day. He's just rolling through them like he couldn't have been happier to do it. And that's the standard. I remember when Andrew Luck came into the NFL too, like Peyton set the standard of just

everyone's just going to be casual and cool in Indianapolis, right? And Andrew Luck had even, you know, even though he was casual and cool, it was the expectation that you had to be. So, you know, you're with the media in the hallways, all that stuff. And I kind of feel like that the previous generation of Giants, players and stars, has set it up to where I think that the Giants organization and inside those hallways is a more calm, casual environment than most places. Yeah. And you think about it. It is a family business.

But I'm talking even very recent history. Like I see David Deal in those hallways all the time. Sean O'Hara is there all the time. Yep. you know, Eli, for whatever you're talking about, like, very similar stories. We'd be in the cafeteria. And when you do sidelines for a Giants game, you basically eat with the team in the cafeteria on Friday.

And you're eating there. And Eli's sitting with Davis Webb and they're just bullshitting together. And it's not like Eli's in a bubble and being catered to in a different way. Like, no, he's eating a salad that he got it himself. And I think that's kind of the mantra of the Giants, blue collar, New York, tough, that whole thing. And gosh, Joe Judge fits that to a tea. The media is still a little skeptical, I think.

The fan base, though, seems to be all in on Joe Judge. And I think that's a major win early. As much as we don't win on the press conferences and all that stuff, like coming from Schernerner and coming from McAdoe to see that hardline stuff, it's very parcels and it's very Coughlin. And I think it's very authentic. Yeah. The fan base is super duper in on Joe Judge.

Again, because he's not those two guys. And that that's when they live through those two regimes, I think that they'll take any hard ass that's available. All right. So let's stick with the NFC East, that division. The last couple of days, it was hard for me to differentiate between the Cowboys and the Eagles at the top of that division. And I was doing the cop-out thing where I said they were both going to win double-digit games. And then, you know, week 16, week 17, there'd be some breaks and one of those teams who win the division.

Now that I see the injury problems with Philadelphia, I'm starting to come around on Dallas, but I'm still really, really concerned about any new coach taking over, especially when he's going against a really good coach and Doug Peterson. NFC East, help me decide. I think you're like me where these preseason prognostications where people might just fill out about like I labor over them Kevin like labor over them. I don't labor over them because I'm a massive fraud and I just cop out until the season starts and then I can just play every side. Yeah, because of the thing because I feel like it's almost like a cold take or whatever. So like pick your division winner in the AFC East. I like lose sleep on it. I can't do it because A, I don't want to get it wrong and B.

I don't want to offend the three teams I didn't pick. Right. I would say the Cowboys have to have the edge with the Jalen Rager injury, the Andre Dillard injury. There are question marks all over the place and when. I have no idea what we're getting from the Eagles. I'll tell you this. Up until a week ago, I talked to a lot of people in the Eagles organization,

and they love the fact that everyone was talking about C.D. Lamb because Jalen Rager was having an incredible summer. That is a rookie receiver. You don't hear that often. Usually it takes them a little time, especially in this abridged preseason or bridged summertime. I would say the Cowboys have the edge, and not only do they have the edge,

they have an incredible burden and pressure on them that I don't think the Eagles necessarily have. I feel like this is such a make or break year for the Cowboys, even with a first year coach. It just seems like Dax contract, Jerry's going to be in the media a whole bunch, especially with an election coming up and his voices and what the world is going through right now.

I just find this to be a fascinating year for the Cowboys, and yet they have so much talent. I have to think they've got the edge going into the, the season. We have a podcast coming up on Friday. This will run on Wednesday with Bob Sturm and Brian Curtis and we get into the Jerry Jones in an election year narrative, which I find to be one of the most I don't I don't know if it's interesting. It is going, it is potentially, there's a huge variance in how that storyline plays out. I guess we'll leave it at that. You guys can listen to that on Friday. I want to listen to it, but like I'll break, I'll break the fourth wall. Like we do good morning

football on the NFL network and there's always, it's never been explicitly said, but I'm always careful with what I say, knowing that this is the NFL's network, but, you know, hell, after the summer we've been through, I've just been talking candidly. I've been talking raw, and I'm fascinated to see how this goes down in Dallas, because where so many owners have been out in front over the past few weeks on the social issues, Jerry hasn't been taken to the mat, and he certainly hasn't stepped up and offered any comments that have been different than what he's had in the past. So I'm just interested to see as the election nears how that goes with not only the media world, but like how that plays out on the field and the locker room and the way we cover this team.

It's going to be interesting. Yeah, no, and just very quickly, you know, I made this point on the Friday pod, but when Dominic Fox was on this podcast last week, he said, kneeling no longer makes people uncomfortable. Nealing is actually a mainstream act now, was his point. And that there's going to be, if players want to protest this year, it's going to go beyond kneeling. And so I think that whether or not Jerry Jones, how he deals with the kneeling, I think he's a separate issue from how he deals with whatever form protest takes in the 2020.

NFL season. I think it's going to be very interesting and every single franchise will handle it differently. And I think it's got, you know, in an election year, as you said, it's got a real chance to be a dominant storyline this year. Yeah. Yeah. We'll see what happens. NFC North. Same question. Again, I see this bunched up. You have had, you've been on the net Matthew Stafford hype train. Same as me. Yeah. Yeah. Anything there from a team standpoint or is this just Matthew Stafford. Stafford. is going to live his best life this year and have a great season and being a good offense. And they won't reach the level of Packers, maybe Vikings, even the Bears.

I think the cohesion of this team and that they all seem to be on board. And I'm not saying Darius Slay and Glover Quinn and whoever else have been there in the past were me first guys by any means. It's just that it seems like everyone who's there right now is all in and has bought into Patricia. And Patricia can be an odd duck sometimes from. what you hear from the players. Like he's, but,

but after you see what they did this, this summer and, you know, beyond the canceling the practice, they were having Zoom sessions daily, just talking about life and everything. It feels like everyone's all in on each other. And,

you know, I got a chance to speak at Stafford last week. He's healthy. His back feels fine. He's throwing the ball well. He's excited about D'Andre Swift. He's excited about Ghaladay. Like,

if ever there was a year that the lions can say, okay, look, we all get along. we're in games every year. Stafford's awesome. Let's just put it together. I would say it's in a year where there's been no preseason, no training camp. And I don't know what I'm getting from that Vikings defensive backfield, which lost everybody at cornerback.

I don't know what I'm getting from the Packers after the way they ended the season last year against the 49ers. And the Bears are as big a question mark as the Lions. So am I so high on the Lions where I would pick them to represent the NFC North in the playoffs? Not necessarily, but I don't think it's crazy if you were to. to say Lions could win that division this year. All right. Give us a Super Bowl contender

that we're not talking about enough. That's a Super Bowl contender in the Peter Schrager book, but not necessarily in the NFL show book just yet. Okay. This is like so meta. The New England Patriots are my team

that no one's talking about now. Yes. Perfect. That's exactly what I want. I didn't even know that was coming. I didn't even think I needed that take. And now I want that take. Give it to me. The New England Patriots

are quietly having an incredible summer camp. I hear from dispatches out there. They love their young team. They love these guys. Belichick is happy and light. McDaniels is calling things that he's never called in his career.

Jed Fish has been added to the offense. They've got a quarterback coach who is a true quarterback coach working with Cam day and night. And they love being the hunters, not the hunted. I mean, please, hand the Buffalo Bills a division

while Belichick is still on this earth. Please, go ahead, media. Go and do that. I think that the chiefs are mighty good, and the Ravens are great, and the Steelers are going to bounce back. But gosh, I've never seen a New England Patriots team coached by Belichick that has been underdogs and been ruled out before the season started. I'm actually excited.

I think they might be really good this year, really fun to watch, which they haven't been in the past few years. All those opt-outs, that hurts. They still have the best defensive backfield in all football, and they're loaded, and I'll put them against anyone. And I think Kim Newin, if he's healthy, it could be a fun watch. So Patriots, Super Bowl contenders. It's crazy to say because everyone has treated the last six months like it's doom and gloom up there, but they're actually pretty light and pretty optimistic.

There's about 75 people on the entire internet who get insanely mad when the ringer talks about how good the Patriots are because they think it's a weird Boston conspiracy, even though almost none of us from Boston. It's one of you guys. Yeah, one of us is. And, but I don't, when I'm supporting the Patriots from a football standpoint, It's no bias. It's because they're the best, most impressive dynasty the sport has ever seen in the sour cap air and all that stuff. And so I like driving those 75 people crazy.

And so I love unveiling in the first year, the Patriots might not win the Super Bowl. I love unveiling the Patriots are plucky underdogs. And they're plucky under the hunter, not the hunted. Yeah. It's true, though. It's a great take. I love this.

It's something you can rally around. Like, I could easily come on and talk about the Browns offensive line. or we could talk about Tampa or whatever. Like, are you betting against Belichick? Week one, they play the dolphins, week one. I know they lost the dolphins last year. Are you picking against Belichick when they play the bills? The dolphins because they were the hunted, not the hunter, Peter.

Exactly. You got to go with the motifs. They didn't have that mentality. They didn't have that mentality. All right, MVP candidate, Dark Horse, hit us. Stafford. Let's go. I love this.

Stafford. So what is the path for Stafford? Is that Darrell Bevel as a play caller? Is that, I mean, I do think that they have an intriguing roster. Yeah, that they've got really good weapons. And he's been really good for a long time. They just don't win games. Like, been to the playoffs three times with Stafford,

but you never really feel like their contender. And last year, eight weeks through the season, he was putting up better numbers than everyone. But they were losing and tying games in like crazy fashion, the Chiefs game, the Cardinals game, just bizarre, bizarre games. He's healthy. he's always been good.

He loves his receivers. They've been there a couple years now. And I don't know about the NFC North. So if the Lions are to win the division, which is not crazy to me, and they go 11 and 5 and 12 and 4, and Matt Stafford has this amazing comeback year from a season-ending injury,

gosh, he's been one of the best quarterbacks in the league this entire time. Now it's his turn. The similar comparison would be like his buddy Matt Ryan, who just, it clicked that year. And it was like Matt Ryan's always been good, but now he's great.

I feel like it could be Stafford this year. I will say this is the last thing we'll get into the viral video of him throwing the ball and people being like they said matthew stafford can't sling it like this nobody was saying this no one everyone knows there's an entire wing of the internet that is based on just putting random videos up of sports figures and then just a huge straw man as the caption man arguments yeah yeah it's really amazing it's just like they called him a bust and you're like no no one's called him a bust they said sayquan barkley couldn't run It's like, what? Excuse me? Yeah, exactly right.

All right. Peter Schrager, anything else? No, man. I'm excited to read your stuff and I will continue to do so. And I'm excited to be on the podcast. But the season, it's weird. The season starting doesn't feel like the season starting. There's no preseason. I'm wondering, I'm wondering if it clicks. Like, I'm hoping it clicks next Thursday. Man, I don't know. The whole, it's been so weird. And everything's been pushed back. And I don't think. And I think part of it has just been the holding pattern and everybody's in. You talk. to folks around the league. I mean, like, I just don't think anyone knows what this year looks like. I think there's been some or a lot of encouraging news on the COVID testing front. But I feel like from a football standpoint, I just think because they haven't seen, you know,

I think preseason games 10 or 12 plays against another team helps the, you know, if you feel good about your team. I think there's actually a weird way. I think it's swung the other way. I thought everybody's going to feel bad about their team because they were assuming that other teams are getting good. I think everybody feels extremely good. You look at teams like even like Carolina who has a new coach, new offensive coordinator,

like I know in that building, like they don't think they're winning the Super Bowl necessarily. They wouldn't like come out and say it. But like they think they've got something coming for the NFL that no one knows. Everyone's got their own little feel because it's a complete element of surprise. Like who knows what Tampa Bay is going to look like? They could get blasted 42 to 10 week one against the Saints or they could be the greatest offensive we've ever seen. You know, we don't know.

A hundred percent. And also it's just, it just gets. gets into, it's almost like college now, where teams and fan bases can just invent their pathways in their head to contention. Like I know with Miami, you know, they don't play preseason games, you know, in the ACC. And so I'm just like, oh, man, if we get this, this and this, we're going to go into Votech and, you know, B. 60 and whatever.

If Corn Elder makes an interception here or there, we're in. Of Cornelder, speaking of Panthers. I hope once that first kickoff happens, all that's washed away and we're all in. And that's my, but I would be lying to you if it feels very weird a week out from the season starting. And a lot of my friends being like, wait, they're actually playing football this year. Like, it's still that much of a strange deal. Yeah, that, that's, that's the weirdest part is I don't think anybody, like, I had, my wife was trying to do something next Thursday.

And she's like, how's next Thursday? I'm like, that's the first NFL game. And she was like, oh, my God, like that snuck up on us all. And I don't think that that's unique. So, no, see what happened. Peter Stricker, thank you so much. It's been the Regan of Fellows on your podcast network. Thanks, bro.