The Ringer NFL Show - Packers Get Back on Track, Top 10 Wide Receivers, and Week 2 Surprises and Disappointments

Episode Date: September 21, 2021

Jason, James, and Ryan start by briefly talking about the Packers getting back on track against the Lions on 'Monday Night Football.'(1:45) Then they discuss the 'Sunday Night Football' matchup between Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, and the Jones-Shazier bowl between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers (11:10). After that, they go over James’s list of the top 10 wide receivers (37:17) and finish up with the surprises and disappointments from Week 2 (45:08). Hosts: Jason Goff, James Jones, and Ryan Shazier Production Assistant: Isaiah Blakely Additional Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's up, everybody? This is JJ Jansis Tewski, the host of New York, New York on the Ringer Podcast Network. And this is the show that never sleeps because New York City is the city that never sleeps. When it comes to your teams, reaction, no matter the day, if it's a big event, if something's cooking, we got you covered. We got the best desk in town. We have your voicemails, the way to interact and get involved with the show. We're always bringing the fire and passion. Follow us on Spotify wherever you get in the podcast. What's happening everybody? It's me, Jason Gough. And it's a long time Chicago media dude. I'm on 10 to introduce you to the full go.

A new podcast at The Ringer and Spotify, dedicate to all things Chicago sports. We'll be coming to you on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights with all the reactions to the locals. Plus, I'll be chatting with my friends and people who matter in town. If you want to ask a question or fire off one of those absurd barbershop takes, I'll react to your calls on the listener voicemail line too. So whether you're in Lakeview, the Wildhundred's Cape Town, the burbs, or a transplant, make sure you follow the full go on Spotify, wherever you get your podcast. The car I had was a 1998 Florida Explorer Sport.

So if people don't know what a Florida Sport is, that is an SUV with two doors. So I had to allow my D-Lyman. You had the Ford Coupe? I had to Ford Explorer Coupe. So my D-Lahman had to literally go through the driver door, go to Bahama seat to get in, and I had to get out and let them in. So it's nothing like, nah. Welcome into the NFL ringer show, Tuesday edition, of course, with the players.

I'm Jason Gough, and I'm riding with my teammates, Ryan Shazier and James Jones. Let's jump right into it, boys. Week two closed out last night with Monday night football. We ain't got to spend a lot of time on it. The Lions versus the Packers. That game was close, and then the defining play happened to me. And that was the center quarterback exchange with Jared Gough, fumbling that football, and the Packers' defense just teeing off after that.

Aaron Rogers showed. people that he's Aaron Rogers all over again. Aaron Jones gets three touchdowns. Packers look good. They tie for the top of the NFC North lead with one-in-one with the Chicago Bears, who maybe we'll get into at the end of this pod. But I guess Aaron Rogers didn't need to tell everybody to relax this time around. He was going up against the Lions team that doesn't know how to win yet

with with Jared Gough, who I believe is a guy who you can win with and maybe not because of, not even maybe not because of. He started a Super Bowl for the Rams, but yeah, Jared Gough, not enough running by D'Andre Swift. Everybody on the Lions coaching staff is a former player. Like, I'm looking at all these dudes that they were doing the Zoom in. So I'm like, oh, Anne Glenn, oh, dude Stanley. Dan Campbell's, like, if you hadn't played professional football,

you wouldn't getting a look from Dan Campbell on that coaching staff. So what did y'all think of the Monday night game last night? You know, my fault, I'm going to let the Green Bay guy go first. No, well, for me, number one, I didn't like the way the Packer started the game, man, specifically on the defensive side of the ball, man. I'm watching this defense, man. The first two games of the season for this defense,

well, I wouldn't say the first two games. I'll say the first game and a half because the first half, I mean, we all know the Lions went in there 17-0, but they can't stop the run. They couldn't stop the run. They was giving Jared golf anything and everything he wanted, whether he was getting outside the pocket or getting inside the pocket. So in that first half, I didn't like what I seen from the defense.

Man, it was zero pass, we wouldn't get no pressure pressure on, Jared golf. And he was moving the ball down the field. But second half they came out, they buckled down, pitched a shutout, you know, and kind of got their mojo going. But for the offensive side, man, shoot, that's what, that's what we've always been. And if they can continue to get Aaron Jones going, and we all know you ain't going to score four touchdowns a game. But just the runs he had, you know, it wasn't too many times that the Packers were off schedule. You know, and what I mean by that, it was third and four. It was third and three, you know, because they

was able to run the ball. You give Aaron Rogers third and four, third and three on a consistent basis to where he could get to any and every play he want to get to in the playbook, check to any route he wanted to check to. It was going to be tough to stop them. So I loved how we ran the football. I mean, the Lions tried to come out and do what New Orleans did to us and stay in that two shell. And we all know, Ryan, if you're in that two shell, your front seven ain't dominant, you ain't going to be able to stop that run, you know.

So the Packers seen out was like, all right, we ain't going to get pads happy. They want to sit in the two shell, you know, let's tote this rock. So defense buckled down in the second half, offense did what they had to do. you know, with the drives they had. So, you know, offense is going to beat the offense, but we need that defense to step up and pressure that quarterback. Hey, Ryan, before we get to your thoughts on what happened last night, James said it a couple of times.

So the people who are not privy to what the two shell or the cover two or two high safeties is, can you break it down for not only the secondary, but what the linebackers responsibilities are when you were in a two shell? So a two shell basically is like a cover four, cover two type of defense. so you're always showing two safeties high. Basically, you're trying to, the two-shel is really good for defending deeper routes and really good receivers

because when you're in a two-shell, it makes the receiver kind of go through two progressions of a lower and a higher defense. And then so as a linebacker in a two-shell, it makes you actually more responsible for the run. So, but in the past, it's better for the past, but it's tougher for the run. So it makes you, you know,

you're one gap less because in a two-shell is normally a seven-man front. And offenses, you always, football is a game of numbers. So basically, when offense have eight guys to block your seven guys, that means it's a better chance to run the ball. So you have to have some dogs up front to be able to stop that. And the Lions, they have a good D-line, but their linebacker and D-Line core together wasn't good enough to stop Aaron Rogers. And Aaron Rogers, as a veteran quarterback,

knows how to destroy a cover two defense. And he just put their team. Well, I mean, the floor did it as well, but they put their team into great running situations. And then when they won to throw the ball, the lineback has to cover the middle of the field because the safeties are covering the outside of the field. And if you don't got a good coverage linebacker

in that type of situation, you can pick them apart. Yeah, and especially, like you mentioned, here in Chicago, I got this chance. to watch Brian Erlacker all those years and people would say, oh, his numbers aren't dominant like Ray Lewis and some of these other people. And I would always say, you're not seeing the plays that aren't being made when a guy like that can

haul ass backwards, 15, 20 yards, dead sprint and become pretty much a third safety and also come up and support the run. So when you have a base cover two defense and you're not making all the tackles in the world, people kind of sleep on you. It was another, who was the short, Gary Brackett for the Indianapolis Colts

for all those years, had that same kind of job under Tony Dungey's defense. What did you think last night of Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers before we move on to what we saw Sunday night with Lamar and Patrick Mahomes? So to be honest, Aaron pretty much provided what we thought he was going to provide at the beginning of the season. New Orleans just did a really good job of shutting the offense down.

He pretty much did what everybody wanted him to do. You know, everybody was like, man, this guy is out here faking. You guys is out here worrying. Is Aaron throwing? games, we don't know what's going on. Then Aaron came back out here and said, hey, I'm that guy. I just won an MVP, I know what to do. Don't worry, we're playing the Lions.

The Lions, they're a good squad. They're having a lot of moral victories out there. That's why I keep hearing on ESPN. They have a moral victory. But in the NFL ain't no such thing as a moral victory. It's a winner I lost. So, and they took an L. They started a game off well.

Like you said, the Packers' defense didn't come out strong. And the Green Bay Packers took a, I mean, the Green Bay Packers' offense took advantage of the Lions and their mistakes. The best way to win, especially the NFL, is take advantage of other people's mistakes, and that's exactly what Green Bay did. They took advantage of their mistakes.

They seen that they were in a... They tried to do the same thing that happened in week one. And the one thing about the NFL is you try to copy what somebody else did to stop the other guy, but you got to also remember the other guy is also practicing on how to better himself. And that's exactly what the Green Bay Packers did. There's like, hey, we got shut down in this type of defense.

Let's practice in this all week, because we know the Lions are most likely going to try to do this, and they practice forward. And they pretty much dominated the second half of the game. And not only that, the Packers is going to see that all year long. You know what I mean? Because you're not going to let the MVP of the National Football League beat you. You know what I mean?

Like, you're going to sit back and come in there and say, if Aaron Jones beats us and he beats us 15 times or 13 times or 12 times, however many wins the Packers get this season, We're going to let him beat us. But we know if we come out in this cover three or we come out in this man to man, we know him and Devante Adams and Randall Cobb and Robert Tanya are going to go to work

because you know Aaron Rogers is going to beat you. I mean, we've seen that throw to Robert Tanya last night. I mean, it ain't too many people in the world that can make that play. I want to say ever that can make that play. I mean, the ball is gone before Robert Tanya even turning around. out of his break. The dude is inside leverage on them. You know what I mean? And the ball is right

right on the money. So I mean, we don't see that from too many quarterbacks. So they know Aaron could beat you. Aaron Rogers can beat you. So for me, you know, they're going to have to continue to run the ball and make sure they establish that run because teams are going to come out in that cover two defense and say, you know what? We want to see if y'all going to run this ball 10, 11 times and try to go down the field, you know, and eat up seven, eight minutes of the clock because we know Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rogers, all of them looking for that big shot. You know, it's tough to stay there and say, oh, we just want to go five yards, five yards. It's tough. It's tough when you got a quarterback like that. So if they could, if they

could be patient and get Aaron Jones going and force teams to come out of that cover too, it's going to be a long season for people trying to play the Packers. Aaron, shout out to Ryan Shazir for trying to cover up for, you know, guys who play football because he mentioned that the Detroit Lions are a good football team and they just couldn't take advantage of the aisle. There ain't no damn good football team, right? I know you're trying to be cool. I'm sure you got a couple homeboys on that team. No, no, no, no.

They're not good. They're not good. I just said it was good. I just said, hey, ESP has said, no, I would just say that, hey, moral victories. The thing is with the NFL, the Lions can still beat the Packers. That's what I'm saying. Anybody in the NFL can win any given week.

That's all I'm saying. So you got to take advantage of your opportunities, and they want to take advantage of the opportunities. And then also, you're giving the other team opportunities. So you're not going to win. win if you're doing that. But they're not, they're not good. There you go. If you're going, if you're going like roster by roster, obviously they're not, they're not. If you're looking at the players that they have acquired and they're still on the team, they are not good as what

Ryan Shazir is trying to say in the nicest coach Shazir way he can possibly do it. All right, let's get to two teams that are very good, the Ravens and the Chiefs. And I'm sorry, man. I want every single week for Lamar Jackson to be thinking about Ryan Shazzo. in his comments on episode one of this podcast because that dude is out there with me and you and James in the backfield and is out there shredding deep. Look, it's so amazing to me

because with San Francisco had Greg Roman and Colin Kaepernick, it was a power run game, but it was exotic and it looked crazy and Jim Harbaugh was the coach. Now you got John Harbaugh as the coach and they still run a power run game, albeit with Lamar Jackson

having a lot of carries in that power run game. But Tyson Williams, you know, there's a couple of vision issues that Chris Collinsworth couldn't wait to point out in terms of him not cutting back. And then the next play, he cut back. Latavius Murray, once he gets more indoctrinated into their system, I think he'll be decent. And, of course, Devante Freeman, who we saw be pretty good with the Falcons in the first couple years of his career and then got hurt a little bit. They don't have the stable of running backs that they had planned to come into the season with, but they still running a power run game with the quarterback pretty much being lead ball carry at times. I want to ask you guys before we get to the

fourth and one play, how long can you do this? that with Lamar Jackson. How much does Lamar Jack, I know in the game he wants to do that, but this man's waiting on 180ms. Like, how much you're going to risk your body moving the way he moved in that Kansas City game? Because he didn't take a lot of shots, James, but he took enough where I'm like, this dude really wants to win this game, obviously. But how long can you have a power run game when the running backs are just a complimentary piece of the power run game? Well, number one, he is built like me. You know what I'm saying? He's built like a wide receiver.

You know what I mean? A lot of people, you know, Lamar Jackson is not a fragile quarterback. He is built like a runner. I mean, he's been running his whole life. You know what I'm saying? You've seen him take beatings in college, man, and get up every single play and come back the next game, man,

and cut people in, you know? So he is, he's a different built than the quarterback. He's not built like all these other quarterbacks out here that you don't want to see him taking on them shots. He's built for those shots, you know what I mean? And that's why they use him the way, the way he uses him. Now, I'm not saying that, you know,

he can't get hurt or anything like that. But what I'm saying is for the long haul of the season, he's built for those shots. So when they get in the playoffs and they get cold, he's going to still be toting that thing. And if you got a quarterback like that, as Ryan knows, playing against these guys, man, when you got a quarterback that could tote the ball like that,

that gives you extra blockers in this run game, you know? And that's why you see him, you know, running through the holes that he's running through because he has extra blockers because he's the one. carrying the football. So, listen, do not change the game plan for nobody. I don't care if he's signed for $280 million. And everybody like, oh, we got to protect. No, he's protecting himself. He's a runner. He's a football player. He's built like that. Keep running him. And Harbaugh knows, man.

Shoot, like I said before, if I'm defensive coordinators, I don't want to play against Lamar Jackson. If I'm a receiver, I don't want to play with Lamar Jackson. You know what I'm saying? You know, because I know my opportunities is going to be limited because of how much he runs the football. I'm not saying he can't throw. We see Lamar throw dime after dime after dime. Hey, James on the block, Ryan. That's all it is. And that's another point, man.

I'm not trying to head but every play. You know what I'm saying? You know, so we all know Lamar can throw. So you listen to this podcast. I'm not telling you that Lamar can't throw. He can throw. But what I'm saying is the opportunities is limited because he's going to run more than he's going to throw it. And when you run more than you throw with defensive coordinators is up at night,

how are we going to stop this man from running this football? You know what I'm saying? So, you know, I'm not changing anything. Like I said, he's built for the long haul, man. He's built like a wire receiver. He's built like a DB. You know what I mean? Like he's able to take those shots for the course of the year.

Fourth and one, Ryan, fourth and one. It takes a lot of balls to make that call. And you don't want to get a ball back to Patrick Mahomes, right? Hey, before Ryan gets started, I just want to say, I had tweeted out and I said, man, I want to play for hardball. You know what I mean? Because I ain't seen too many coaches say, Ryan, you want to go for this? Like, this is your team.

Right? This is your team. What you want to do, Ryan? That's big time, bro. No, I feel it because you got to think about it as a defense. You're like, man, it's fourth and one. They're about to punt the ball. You already like, already go.

Mahomes was quitting on his helmet, you know, throwing the ball back and forth. for this while I receive is. He knew he was getting the ball back. Yeah, and that's the one thing that, and I want to, first off, I want to, first off, say, I want to apologize to Lamar. And the reason I say that is because, because we're watching a different form of football right now. I'm so used to seeing football in a certain way, and Lamar plays it completely different because when he goes out there, he doesn't give a damn by getting hit. And he wants to shake everybody. He wants to make the play. And I'm so used, so used to custom to quarterbacks protecting the ball.

So it kind of threw me off. So I have to say sorry because this man is out here constantly making plays and he had a great game. It would have been an awesome game if he didn't throw three picks. But he had a great game. But the thing is, on that fourth and one, it takes some balls and you have to be a dog because the thing is, the coach knows he has a dog. He know that he don't want to hear Lamar.

And me is like, hey, coach, man, why we him go for it? You know, so like basically he's like, man, I trust my quarterback. If we go down and I'm going down with my quarterback. I know my, I know he going to, the one thing he knows, he know Lamar going to get one yard. He know Lamar going to get one yard. And he's not worried about that.

And I think other quarterbacks are looking around the league like, dang, this coach really believe in his guys, you know. And when you have a coach that believes in your guys, you play harder. Yeah. And it makes you want to play a little bit better. So I feel, you know, the coaches, not the coaches, but Lamar know that his coaches trust him,

and there's a lot of coaches in the NFL that know, I mean, there's a lot of quarterbacks in the NFL that don't feel like their coaches trust them the way that Harbaugh trust Lamar. And on top of it, you know, we will look aside the little voice that you gave him just now when you were impersonated him. But on top of that, he also understood.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Don't think I didn't hear it. He also made the decision knowing that his defense was having a tough time stopping that Kansas City Chiefs, offense. Now, was it, O'Away made the terrific strip in the backfield on on Edwards Hillare and forced a fumble gave his offense and another opportunity to score the ball. But, you know, to me, that was old school like John Elway versus Randall Cunningham type stuff. Like, you know, Patrick Mahomes, that defense, you know, we talk about it sometimes

and when they play well, it's like, oh, look out for the Chiefs. But that defense, if they don't make it to where they need to make it to, last year in the Super Bowl, it was the tackle. right? Their whole offensive line was shot to hell and you knew the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and all them boys are getting ready to get after them. But this year, you know, it's the same way I felt about it last year and they made it all the way to Super Bowl. That defense, they got tighten that thing up because Patrick Mahomes can, he's a guy you win because of, right? Not win with. He's a guy you win because of, but at the same time, if I got to score 40 every game, you know, it can wear on you as an offense, James. What did you think of not only the Chief's

effort in that game, but Patrick Mahomes play? Man, it's crazy because, I mean, when Pat got that ball with three minutes left, I said, dang, Lamar, you almost had it, man. But this here over. I mean, we all know that you are not going to stop the Kansas City Chiefs, man. That's just not going to happen. And the way that game started off, too, with the two turnovers, man, Tyron Matthew by Lamar Jackson. I'm like, shoot, man, you can't turn the ball over against Kansas City.

You already can't stop them anyway. You know what I mean? So if you turn the football over, man, and get these dudes short fields and give them extra possessions, it's going to be tough to stop, man. But the only way you can stop them is how they stopped them at the end of the game. You got to force turnovers. You got to punch at the football.

You got to try to get an interception or two from Patrick Mahomes. And we've seen that. They put pressure on him one time and got an interception. And the next time, you know, when the game was on the line, they punched the ball out and caused the fumble, you know, so they was able to even up the turnover battle, you know, come out of that thing, too, too. You know, but Patrick Mahomes in that offense, you see him, Travis, Kelsey, Tyree Kill, man,

all going to work. I mean, it's just a matter of time before they get unleashed. You know what I mean? But if there's anybody that could cool them off, it's Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. And the reason why is because they had a couple drives where they ate up eight minutes of the clock because they was running the football. They ate up eight good minutes of that clock. So you got Patrick Mahomes and then boys sitting over there for eight good minutes on ice

chilling. And that's the only way you are going to stop that offense from being high-powered and putting up any points is keeping them over there on that sideline. So, you know, it was a heck of a game to watch. We all know Patrick Mahomes in that offense, it's tough to be stopped, but the best way to stop them is over there on that sideline,

don't even give them opportunities. And that is why Harbaal said, Lamar, do you want to go for this? Because if he ain't on the field, he can't beat you. You know what I'm saying? So let's go for this. Let's keep that man over there, so he don't have an opportunity to come back on this field and beat you. But these two teams right here are going to meet again in the playoffs,

and it's going to be a good one. Hey, and I was making fun of it in terms of the wide receivers blocking. But shout out to Marquis Brown and Sammy Watkins. I mean, there was a lot of seals that I saw. I mean, Hitchens got picked off, I believe, by Sammy Watkins on one of those touchdown runs. And I'm like, yo, if you're playing for the Ravens right now, and you got to have a neck roll as a wide receiver out there. You already know when you sign your contract for whatever, however much money you

with the Baltimore Ravens, you already know, I gotta have a mouthpiece in. My helmet gotta be buckled up tight. It ain't never no plays off. You know, playing in Green Bay. I could be like, oh, man, the run going away from me, man. I ain't really got to get that active right now.

Man, next thing you know. Everybody active. Hey, next thing you load, Lamar cutting that thing back to you. You're like, oh, shit. I'm like, oh, shit, I'm going to be on tape loafing. You know, you know you're going to be on tape if you ain't blocking, too.

You know what I said? I can't be on field without blocking nobody. This boy doesn't cut it back. You get back to the huddle, like, hey, man, hey, keep it on that side of the field. Hey, speaking on that side of the field, by the way, it took us three topics to get to what I was looking forward to today on week two of the NFL ringer feed podcast,

Tuesdays with the players. Maybe it was what we should call this. But the Jones Shazier Bowl. Ladies and gentlemen, this man, I don't know if you can see James Jones. I don't know if we're going to clip this off for the YouTube. But James Jones came in here. Full Letterman jacket.

Raw. Full Las Vegas Raiders. He got the new Las Vegas Raiders hat on with the sticker still on the top. Like, just came out the box. He got the just win baby Al Davis windbreaker on. You know what I'm saying? He might be wearing Mark Davis's hair in the back. You know what I'm saying.

This is, this is something. And my man Ryan Shays. This game wasn't even that big, man. What are we talking about this game? We're supposed to be talking about games that's important to this season. I mean, this game is pretty important because your man Ryan Shazier snuck into the chat. This week is like, hey, y'all, big game. He showed us the picture of the stadium.

I was at the game, yeah. I thought I was going to see pictures of his dog with a steeler, a Greg Lloyd jersey on or something like that. So, James, I'm going to let you start. How good did this week feel as the Raiders were triumphant over, seems to just be an average football team in the Pittsburgh Steelers? Man, you know, it's crazy because remember last time we was on this podcast last week, I said confidence is contagious. You know what I'm saying?

You just came off a win and you beat the Baltimore Ravens. You know what I'm saying? A big win, James. Don't you undersell it. A huge win. Yeah, so I'm like, man, confidence is contagious. But I'm not even wearing this to rep against Ryan, you know what I mean? Like, James come up on this thing with all this Raiders hero.

Everybody's going to wear Raiders everything just to wear it. You know he damn well did, right? He went to the closet and was like, honey, get me, get me the finest of my Raiders attire. All the reason why I wore it is because I was all NFL network. And I was doing my Raiders chat. and I picked the Raiders to upset the Steelers. Did he just stun on, no, no, no, did he just stunts on you with saying I was on a national broadcast? No, no, no.

And I'm like, I'm like, man, the Raiders going to upset these boys, man, you know what I'm saying? And everybody, hey, y'all should see me, y'all should have seen my, you know, Ryan knows, hey, that Steelers Nation, hey, they come after your head if you pick a good state team. So they was coming after my head. So only reason why I wore this morning to come rep because I got my pick right. But no, another reason why I picked the Raiders, I'm not a believer in Big Ben and the offense.

The defense and the Steelers might win that game if T.J. Watt don't get hurt. They got blessed that T.J. Watt pulled his growing because T.J. Watt was coming off, coming off that edge causing problems. You know what I'm saying? But at the same time, Ryan, and you was at the game.

this offense does not know what they want to be. They don't know what they want to be in Buffalo. They don't know what they want to be now. I'm like, man, the Raiders coming off a big win. The defense played extremely well, causing some turnovers. Derek Carr playing at an MVP level. So I'm like, you know what? They got a chance to go up in here and win this game.

And the guys that showed up was the guys that was supposed to show up. And that was Derek Carr and that defense. That defense showed up, got a couple of turnovers. Derek Carr played out of his mind. But still, Big Ben, in that offense and you can help me out, Ryan, but they don't have an identity. They don't know if they want to run it.

They don't know if they want to be a play act. They don't have an identity right now, and that's hurting them. I'm going to be honest, bro. I don't remember nothing from that game. That's not a moment. No, I'm messing with you. But you're 100% right, man.

At the game, it was really frustrating. We even had a fourth and one situation in our game that I think if we would have went forward, it would have turned the tables of the game. But because that's when y'all end up throwing that touchdown right before we went, right before we had a fourth-in-win opportunity. But the thing is that that gets me with this team, man, you can't draft a runner back in the first round and only give them 10 carries, man. And I understand that sometimes things don't go well,

but we have to do a better job of being more consistent. Like you said, we don't understand what we want to do. We're taking a lot of deep shots. And I understand we have receivers to do that. But, and Chase is proven, but he's not to me. Like, he's kind of proven. You know, he shows that he can come up with some deep balls, but then he drops a lot of them as well.

So we have to be more consistent with what we do. And I know we want to have a play action style of offense, but you can't create a play action if you don't run the ball. And the one thing that the Raiders there really well in that game is, I understand that they weren't, we had a lot of people heard too. We had a lot of people hurt, but everybody had a lot of people hurt. But the one thing that the Raiders did do well also in that game was they were holding the ball for a long time. Like, they would keep the ball away for us for a long time.

It was like multiple drives when they, I think they had seven, eight, nine minute drive. So, like, right going into halftime, they had like a nine minute drive going into, I mean, going into the fourth quarter. And our offense, right after we scored, they had a nine minute drive. And then I think they kicked the field goal. and then we, you know, punning the ball and they scored again. But we have to do a better job of figuring out the identity of this offense.

If they don't figure out the identity for this office, it's going to be a long season for us. And Najee's too good not to give him the ball. You see he out there throwing receipts, throwing d's all over the damn place. So we just got to get this man the ball, man. We gave him two carries. One, he throws somebody.

I mean, two catches. He had four, I think, but one, he throws somebody off the top rope. then, you know, the other one, he scored a touchdown. Like, he's a dog in the making, but we just have to figure out my way to get the ball. Man, speaking of that stiff arm, boy, who, we? Man, hey, as I was sitting here, man, I'm sitting here watching it,

and I'm like, man, first off, Jonathan Abram, he ain't no punk. You know what I'm saying? Jonathan Abram coming down with main intentions, man. He ain't slowing down. He's running through you. And Najee's stiff arm that man. But hold on, though. As I'm watching, he stepped on that man with his left hand.

Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Ambidextrous. I'm like, I don't know if Naji right or left-handed, but man, the way he punched buddy, man, with his left head, I'm like, man, you know what I mean? And then I looked, I'm like, man, Jonathan Abram ain't no punk. Like, man, he bring the wood, man.

Nogia problem, man. But, yeah, they got to figure out how to get him to ball more. They got to figure out how to be balanced. If not, it's going to be a long season for them, man. Especially, I don't know how. serious the injury is to T.J. Y, but if T.J. can't go or if T.J. limited, that's, that's going to hurt the Pittsburgh Steelers, man. He is their defense. You know what I mean? He puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback, makes it easier on the guys on the back end. So if you don't have

him, now you're going to be in a position where you got to score some points to be able to help your defense out. And I don't know if they're up for that yet. All right. Moving right along, by the way, yes, he did seat Mr. Abrams at his table. That was, that was, I've only seen a couple of those like that, right? What was my man, Freddie Jackson, Fred Jackson from Buffalo Bills when he, he escorted Chris Conti to his table as well. Yeah, a stiff arm like that kind of breaks your soul, but Jonathan Ames would be all right. I want to ask you all about Tom Brady. Tom Brady is out here doing things that six years ago, we thought he was done doing as observers, not you guys as former players or current players when he was playing six, seven years

ago and still playing right now. From what you saw in the postseason last year where time was up and down, let's face it, you know, that I believe it's the NFC championship where he was putrid, comes out in the Super Bowl and does well, obviously, in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs. And then the first two games of this season, lighten it up, feeling like he's got not just a better grasp of Byron Leftwich's offense, but they're on the same page. You know, Antonio Brown's got a full training camp under his belt. So now it's him and Godwin and Mike Evans and Grimes.

Kowski in that stable of running backs. The Tom Brady thing, from what you guys are seeing, is this now, Tom Brady is going to have 10 excellent games, five decent games and two games where you're scratching your head? Or, you know, what do I believe in? What should I believe in? The postseason that we saw, which was average to above average, this beginning of this season, and just the Tom Brady thing.

He's the greatest quarterback of all time. It's hard to argue that. I think that Aaron Rogers is the most talented quarterback. I've ever seen. But right now, if you were to summarize Tom Brady and where he is and his level of play that we've seen last year and beginning of this year, what would you say about Tom Brady, Ryan, as we start with you? To be, Tom Brady is who he show he is every time he's up on the field.

And the last, they said an NFL record for non-straight games, one over 30 points or something like that, not one by 30 points, but scoring 30 points. And to me, the one thing, like you said earlier, James, Aaron Rogers, Patrick Mahomes, you know, Russell, them guys want to take shots, them guys want to go deep. And the thing is, with Tom Brady, he always has a great defense on the side. He always has it.

I don't know how he does it, but every year he has one of the top 10, top five defenses. But they have some dogs over there. But the thing is with Tom Brady is exactly, I'm taking what you give me. If you give me five yards, I'm taking it. If you give me 10 yards, I'm taking it. You give me a shot, 101, Mike Evans, I'm taking it. You know, some guys are like, man,

I'm waiting for DeVante to get open. I'm waiting for Chase to get open. Or I'm throwing it to chase no matter what. You know, Tom is like, man, I throw it. Ronald Jones, here you go. Hey, yeah, yeah, do what you got to do with it, Ronald. All right. Oh, y'all in too high?

Hey, here, here you go for a net. oh, y'all, y'all trying to double team Mike Evans, here you go grom. The thing is with his team, though, is that he actually has pro bowlers, all pros, all over the board. It's almost like his- In a great line too.

In a great line too. It's almost not fair. Like, I think Tom Brady is like, man, I'm going to play long enough so I could eventually get a team where we just got all-stars over the board. And that's what he got now. Because think about it,

His number one receiver, all pro. His number two receiver would be all pro on another team. His number three receiver, one of the greatest receivers of all time. He's tight end. The greatest titan. The tight end. His backup tight end. If he was on somebody else team, he's a pro bowler.

You know, his old line, he has an all pro right tackle. Then everybody else in front of, then he has a, I think he has an all pro lineman. No, he has an all pro, I think, guard or center. then you go to running backs. This man has who was arguably one of the best running backs in the league, but then he started tripping and now he plays for them in Lina Fernette. Then he has Ronald Jones who can go somewhere else

and start. Everybody on his team from three down, like the three depth can start somewhere else. And then you go to the defense. The best, probably one of the best linebacker ten of the NFL. Then you have everybody on his D-line is all pro. And Antoine Winfield back there is getting ready to be a pro bowler as well too.

Right. So it's basically like, man, they literally built, you know, the Lakers over there. That's what they did. They built, hey, hey, Tom Brady's like, hey, LeBron, he went on, he went on the, what is it called, the shop? He's like, hey, LeBron, man.

How do you build a team up just, you know, they get everybody. And LeBron told him the secrets and not, hey, Tom Brady. Brady's like, hey, I got the gift. All I got to do is pit it with where my playmakers can make plays, and that's what he's doing. He's just taking what you give him.

James, your thoughts on Tom Brady so far this season and what you saw in the postseason as well? For me, my answer comes this week coming up because it's hard for me to say Tom Brady is back and he's looking like, you know, the Tom Brady that, you know, we're used to seeing. Because in the beginning of the season last year, he ran up against some good defenses,

and he didn't look too good. Everybody was like, man, he's washed up. First seven weeks, man, Tom, Tom ain't got it. Then they went on a roll, you know what I mean? And they ended up winning the Super Bowl. For me, you started off with the Dallas Cowboys defense. And you started off, who I humble believe might go 016, the Atlanta Falcons. Amen.

Oh, yeah. You're right. You're right. And they think about that. So now you have Sunday night football against the Rams, against a very good defense. So for me, this is what I'm waiting to see. You know, how is Tom going to look

against these big time defenses, you know, and especially when you're able to have somebody like Aaron Donald be able to come up the middle and get some pressure on you? So this game is what I'm waiting to see before I make a decision on Tom being Tom. But listen, like Ryan said, Tom is Tom.

Tom has seen any and every defense that you can create. And he knows right at the snap of the ball, I'm checking this thing down to my back. Ooh, I got Chris Godwin right here. Ooh, I'm checking this to Antonio Brown. I got Mike Evans. I got Gromk. He is going to make sure that he is in the right play.

That's why he don't turn the football over. He's seen every defense that you possibly going to shoot it at him. So that's always going to be there. But these first two weeks is hard because they ain't played too many good defenses. You know what I mean? The Cowboys, the Cowboys, you know, they're starting to come along. The Falcons obviously ain't there. You know, but this week against this ram defense where it's going to be pressure,

where them receivers is going to get challenged by them corners, you know, they got really good safeties and linebackers. So this is going to be a good test for Tampa. And I'll have my answer for you on the next part. So make sure you tune in on the next part of Tom. Come out here and throw five touchdowns against the Rams. I'm just going to say, hey, man, y'all go ahead and get that man. Well, I don't know what number MVP is going to be for him.

Four, five, six, it don't matter. Y'all go, y'all go ahead and give it to them because they're looking like they're going to be problems. because I feel like the Rams is going to be that team that's going to be able to compete with them boys in the NFC to possibly knock them all. I'm glad you just mentioned that team. And by the way, that's the restaurant quality tease that you just gave us just now.

That man said, listen to the next podcast for me to tell you how I truly feel about this situation. All right. So a wide receiver question for you, James. We got about six, seven minutes. You know, how many wide receivers do you name in terms of top wide receivers in the league before I get to this name?

I kind of gave you a little bit of like a homework assignment to think about this yesterday. Okay, do you want, do you want me to get my top, I'm going to get you my top five in the game right now, my humble opinion. Or do you want me? This year, this year. Right now, right now. Right now. So, Ryan, I'm going to text you. I'm going to text you the name that I'm waiting for him to get to.

So do you want me to get you top 10 out of order or do you want me to give you my top? Out of order. Like how many names do you going to get to this dude? That's how I feel. Okay. All right. So I'm going to go my top 10, and this is going to go out of order, all right. So my top 10, number one, I'm going to start with Devante Adams.

Of course. Number two, I go D'Andre Hopkins. Okay. Number three, I go, I go Tyreek Hill. No arguments there. Number four, number four, this is, this is when it's going, number four, I go, I go Keenan Allen. There you go. All right.

Number five, I go. Don't be disrespectful. Don't be disrespectful. Hey, I need to hear this one. I need those clipping up. Yeah, go ahead, Ryan. You want to give him a little hit? You want to help him out a little bit?

No, I want to see what you're going to say. Number five, I go Stefan Diggs. Ooh. All right. Number six, number six, I go Julio Jones. Healthy, healthy Julio Jones. he is still a problem. Number seven.

Number seven, I got to go Amari Cooper. And remember this is out of order because I'm doing this on the fly. But yes, Amari Cooper is a dog. No, he is, he is. Number eight, I'm going to go with the other dude from Tennessee, and that's A.J. Brown. Okay.

Number nine, I'm going to go with a dude who I just said his team was going to go 0 and 16, but it ain't going to be because of him. because he is an absolute animal. And if you tune in and you watch this dude, he is an absolute problem. And that's Calvin Ridley. Calvin Ridley is an absolute problem if you tune in to watch him.

And then when healthy, like I said, this is out of order and he'll be much higher up there. When healthy, it's New Orleans Michael, Michael Thomas, man, Mike Thomas, when healthy. That's my top ten. All right. So Ryan knows the name that I just texted him. It's kind of like you put the name in an envelope

and you pass it to your partner. so that you can see if your other partner. Well, guess this. What is Cooper Cup going to have to do to get the respect that he deserves by guys like you, James Jones, and I'm sure by guys like Ryan Shazier, because he ain't going to never get offense, no damn credit. So I would have, that's why I said this year.

That's why I was going to say Cooper Cup. This man is running butt-naked open in the middle of the field for these last two weeks, and when that offense was fluttering, he was hurt. When Sean McVeigh wasn't a genius, that, you know, for a few weeks, it wasn't just Todd Gurley out. It was Cooper Cup. And, you know, Jordy Nelson, I used to call him 7-Eleven when I had him on my fantasy

team back in the game. White Lightning. That man was always opening, you know, in sports, you got to find another white guy to compare to another white guy or so they're going to be right. You know? So Cooper Cup, this dude is running through, running through defenses these first couple of weeks. He doesn't, you know, Adam Thieling Cooper Cup. The white wide receivers you don't get a lot of credit.

So we're just doing strictly receivers, right? Because Travis Kelsey is a receiver. Yeah, no, no. You can't put in, you in. Come on, man. Come on, man. You can't do tight ends, man. You can't put your tight ends, man.

You're absolutely right, man. Cooper Cup is a problem. The only reason, and not to disrespect Cooper Cup, because Cooper Cup, he's a dog. But the only reason why I can't put him in that top ten is because when I go through my top 10, I always go off of if it's just you and you don't have any other help and it's just you and your quarterback is not good. That's how I go off of. Okay. You know what I mean? Oh, so that's why Talah Larkin not in there because Tyler, no, no. So listen.

Hey, Debo, don't forget Debo. If you watch me anytime, man, I continue to say whenever I come on any podcast. Whenever I come on any NFL network, anything, I say, Tyler Lockett is the most disrespectful player in the National Football League. Disrespective. What, disrespectful? I'm like, is he out here talking crazy? Not disrespectful. He's the most disrespectful player in the National Football League.

I mean, you talk about a man who had 100 and a thousand and 10. You know what I'm saying? You know, and then you look at him this first two weeks. He arguably the best receiver in the National Football League, these first two weeks. Tyler Lockett is a dog. And like I said, I did that off the fly now. As I go back and look at my list, Tyler Lockett could sneak his way on up up in there. You know what I'm saying?

And then y'all missed another house state guy, but it's cool. Who that? Who is that? Terry. No. Terry, Terry, Terry, I like Terry, but he can't get in the top 10 yet. Who is quarterback? You can't name his quarterback the last, his old time he's been.

We all know how good tired Hennekees. I can't put him. him in the top 10, because I don't know who I'm taking out for him. You know what I'm saying? All right. Is he better than Justin Jefferson? Who better? Oh, that's close.

That's close. Now, if you was talking to just a regular Joe Blow, they might just say, Justin Jefferson because he got all these stadiums. But I don't know, because like I say, I don't watch a lot of film on Terry and I don't watch a lot of film on Joe. That's close, man. Like Terry is a baller. You know what I'm saying?

He is a baller. You know what's crazy? That man was the third, fourth receiver at a house state. Yes, he was. He wasn't even getting the rock like that. That's crazy. He's a baller, man. So, man, that one's close.

But I just can't put him in my top 10. But, yeah, when I do the receivers, that's how I do it off of it. If you out here playing with James Jones as your quarterback and you, and you, you see how he ain't say, if you're out here playing with James Jones on the other side of you, you know, because then you got a roll coverage. If you're out here playing with James Jones as your quarterback, man, and you ain't really got no help on the other side of you, can you win and get open, You know what I'm saying?

And Cooper Cup, he's always had a lot of people and a lot of talent around him. And sometimes that's why you running wide open. Now have we seen Cooper Cup break people off with his route running? Plenty of times, you know what I'm saying? Like he's done that plenty of times, but I just can't let him sneak in that top 10.

So if that's the case, can you say that with AB though? A.B. No, no, no. Antonio Brown always had. He always had major things around. them now and a great quarterback. You just said five minutes ago, Tom Brady arguably has the greatest receiver ever

in Antonio Brown. So with you even saying that, it don't matter who around AD. I was talking about Mike Evans. I was talking about Mike Evans. When AB was in Pittsburgh, bro. He was a dog. He was a dog.

He was the best receiver in the game. And the only reason why I say that, too, is they knew who was going to get the ball in Pittsburgh. Forget who was around them. They knew who was going to get the ball in Pittsburgh. A.B. coming out of that thing with 120 catches every year. They knew who was going to get the ball, and they still couldn't stop them, man.

A.B. was a problem, man. All right, as we wrap here, is another fun podcast. We usually do our disappointments and our surprise from the week. I'll just throw out two teams. You guys throw out two teams. and then we'll go from there. Disappointments.

Hey, man. The Atlanta Falcons, like you said, James, that thing is nasty to watch. And I don't know how much expectations I have from, but that's tough to watch. And surprises, man. Don't look now, but the Carolina Panthers 2 and O with Sam Darno getting back to business.

So quickly, you guys got two teams. Surprises, disappointment from week two. Ryan, we'll start with you. James, we'll shut it down with you afterwards. My biggest disappointment is the Pittsburgh Stiller run game. I'm not going to say the Pittsburgh Stiller is just the run game. Like we're just not committed. Like we have, but we got a girlfriend and we're like, and I like you, but like, am I committed?

I got to run wild, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Am I committed? I got to throw this football a little bit. You know, no, but my biggest surprise is, uh, the dude Collarie, man. Like, I, like, last year I had said that he was my MVP frontrunner. And I think he's still in the mix, man. He's, he out here dicing people up.

So, uh, he's my biggest surprise. And it's not just surprised by, by just his, you know, his play, but just how he's, he's performing and just carrying, it's not carrying his team, but leading his team. He carried that team this week because the defense really didn't stop anybody. And they had to have a missed field goal to win that game. James, your, uh, your biggest surprise, your biggest disappointment from week two. My, my biggest disappointment, man,

is the Miami Dolphins, man. I know Tua got went down. He hurt his ribs. But 35 Nugget, you know, I mean, 35, I mean, you come off a good win against the Patriots, 35 Nugget, you know, like, I don't really care who your backup quarterback is.

Like, you guys got a really good defense. This defense got a couple turnovers inside the 20 for you. And you come away with no points. And you lose that game, 35 Nugget, man. Man, that was a disappointment. That was a big disappointment to me, man. My biggest surprise, man, I mean, who we?

The Raiders, yeah, you know. No, man, I knew the Raiders was going to go in there and get that thing. But my biggest surprise was the day in Tennessee Titans. Okay. Going up in Seattle, down 11, after they took a touchdown away from Julio, and Julio was on my fantasy team. My two. Down 11 in the fourth quarter in Seattle

and to find a way to win that game and not start the season 0 and 2, which probably is going to be the biggest turnaround or, you know, in their season. They go look back on this game like, man, we should have started the season 0 and 2 and gutted out a win, and it could be a changing point in their season, man.

You know what I'm saying? That was one of my biggest surprises of them going out there finding a way to get that done in Seattle. Seattle, I think they had a stat, Seattle up by 10, ain't lost in 52 games or something at home, you know what I mean? And for Tennessee to come back and win that game, that was big. There was going to be my biggest disappointment during that game.

I'm like, man, Tennessee probably my biggest disappointment. We had so many high hopes for them at the beginning of the year, so to see them turn around. Yeah, going on too is not the way you want to start. Derek Henry, by the way. He going to carry the ball at least 40 times, I think, one time this season. That dude's workload is absolutely ridiculous. We got to wrap it up here because we get in the wrap it up sign from AR. So for our Juno Ram Gapal and of course, Isaiah

Blakely, our production staff, we appreciate them so much. And for James Jones and Ryan Shazier, I'm Jason Gauph. Thank you so much for listening to the Ringer NFL feed, the Tuesday show, Tuesday with the players. Next up on the Ringer NFL feed is Kevin Clark talking about what Kevin Clark talks about, team building and everything that happened from week two. We'll be back every Tuesday on the ringer NFL feed for the entire NFL season. If you want to check out the full goal with Jason Goff, that's me. I hate referring to myself in third person, but the read made me do it. It's every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday night on Spotify or wherever you get your

podcast. Once again, thanks to our production assistant Isaiah Blakely for production on this episode with additional production supervision from our Juno Ram Gapal. Thank you so much for listening. We'll catch y'all next Tuesday.