The Ringer NFL Show - The NFL Is Freshening Up in Week 7, But the Magic Is Gone (Ep. 164)

Episode Date: October 20, 2017

The Ringer’s Kevin Clark and Danny Kelly get you set for Week 7, including why the Super Bowl rematch between the Falcons and Patriots is already a disappointment (03:00), how an Eagles win on Monday night will solidify them as a contender (10:00), and why the Dolphins should bench Jay Cutler immediately (19:45). Then, Danny explains why some fantasy matchup rankings are misleading, including why Russell Wilson should not be in your lineup this week (24:30). Plus, Joel Solomon joins the show to discuss whether Andy Reid is the most indecisive coach of all time (35:30), and the guys decide who will score higher: the Dolphins or the Rotten Tomatoes rating for 'Snowman' (42:00). Finally, Kevin and Danny explain how an MVP favorite will emerge in prime time this weekend (44:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's Bill Simmons. I want to tell you about the ringers gambling podcast. It is called Against All Odds with Cousin' Sal. And you're not going to believe of this, but it's hosted by Cousin Sal. The biggest degenerate gambler that I know. He's such a degenerate. He has three other degenerates that he calls the degenerate trifecta. And they break down every conceivable gambling thing you would ever want to gamble on.

They even take it to Captain Morgan's Make Belief Casino where Sal makes up props on all kinds of things, sports, pop culture, you name it. you were going to want to get your GAMI advice from these guys. Cousin Sal, he's been a staple on the BS podcast for the last 10 years. So good that we gave him his own podcast. Check it out against all odds with Cousin Sal. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Ringar NFL show. Part of the Ringer Podcast Network.

I'm Kevin Clark. Join today. It's a next man up culture. Join by Danny Kelly. Robert May is at technical difficulties. It's week seven of the NFL season. Danny, Are you ready for this?

I'm ready. Let's do this. I'm coming in off the bench. Yeah, are you warmed up? Yeah, I'm warm. Were you on the sideline throwing with the holder? I'm loosened up. Yeah, let's do this.

I'm ready. Let's throw it downfield. So last night, quite a game. Yeah. What will you remember most about Chiefs Riders? Well, apart from the whole Marshaun Lynch thing. But that could be it. I thought the Jerry.

There were many layers. It was like Dunkirk. I know that there were so many twists and turns. I think that Jared Cook, redemption story slash, then he drops the potential game tire or game winner in the end zone, the next play. That was quite the fun sort of back and forth.

Yeah, the whole game was awesome. I think it was, yeah, I think the biggest thing is I did not think the Raiders were going to win that game and they came back. So that was a really fun. Thursday night's been actually pretty fun. I loved it. It reminded me of at the end of the game.

First of all, how exciting I figured out is a life hack. All NFL players should be the last play of the game. How many were there? Five? There were four untimed downs, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, man. That was awesome. Or at least four end of game scenarios.

Not necessarily untimed downs. It reminded me of when I was playing like hoops with my brother when I was like six and I would just make up rules to why the final shot needed to be done over again. Yeah. I'd always like call three. I'd always be like, hey, you were three seconds in the key

or something like that. He was like, he gets one more chance at it. He was standing out of bounds. Yeah, so that, that's that. So, Danny, you're going to be here. We're going to be talking football. You're also going to be joining us

for fantasy football later. You've got DK's Dark Night of the Week. People are going to, people are excited about this. They're camping out. You're selling advanced tickets to that. It's like the Star Wars movies. And the ringers Joel Solomon is going to be back with us for another edition of Am I Crazy?

We always enjoy that. But first off, let's get to our favorite four. Those are our top four matchups of the weekend. Danny, what's your first one? I mean, it's a rematch of the Super Bowl. We got the Falcons of the Patriots. That's probably the big, I mean, it's obviously the big narrative this week

and it's one of the best games on the schedule. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to that one. I think both teams are very different than what we saw in the Super Bowl. Not very buzzing. I mean, just not a very buzzy game. I mean, I just feel like any other year the Super Bowl matchup in week eight is just awesome. Right.

And this, I'm not feeling it. The Falcons are gaining half a yard less per play than they were last year, which is massive. But it's obscured by the fact that Patriots are allowing a yard and a half more than they were last year. It's insane. I think they, I saw a stat, they've allowed six straight 300-yard passers. which I think hasn't happened in like decades or something like that. And so, I mean, we're getting into the sort of historically bad zone with this past defense. I don't know.

You know, I trust them to kind of clean it up as the year goes on and get better. I keep hearing that. Just because you respect them. You know, at what point I wrote this for the ringer.com today, but there's two sort of concurrent things. Number one is that we always keep trusting Belichick because we have 17 years of Belichick. We're conditioned to. Yeah, exactly.

But, like, I just don't see, maybe they make a big end-season trade. I don't know. But, I mean, I just, I'm starting to worry about where that solution is coming from. I think they win the division because of lack of options in division. But I don't know. I mean, I think this is the kind of Patriots team that gets a weird upset loss in the playoffs kind of early. I mean, well, I think it's like you talk about getting a mid-season sort of addition. I think part of the problem has been they've lost so many guys with some of these, you know, trades.

Like they lost so much speed just in the trades. And I'm blanking on all the names right now. It's like they lost Chandler Jones. They lost Jamie Collins. Right. So those two, you know, very, very explosive athletes. You know, Jabal Shirt is not here anymore or not in New England anymore. And, you know, you can see it.

It's like their pass rush just isn't the same. And I think that's a huge deal. and in the back end, their defensive secondary has just been leaking like a sieve. And so, I don't know, it's definitely really strange. I think it puts a ton of pressure on the offense. And, you know, so far they've kind of managed it. And that's why they're in the position that they are right now. But, yeah, is that something that they can do all year long?

I don't know. Yeah, no, I just, I want to see a lot because I think one of these teams is going to make a run. I feel like the Falcons have to improve on offense at some point. They can't keep giving the Julio Jones has one red zone target all season. Like I know Steve's like, not Kyle Shanahan, but like can someone just tell him that? I think his head coach told him that this week essentially, right?

Like they need to get him involved. Like how are people like not at Home Depot telling him? Like how is he not just walking around the city of Atlanta? or flowery branch, and people are like, hey, do you know Julio Jones plays for the team? You can get him the ball? It's not hard. Oh, man. I mean, we talked about this last week, or earlier this week, I should say.

And, I mean, it's just so frustrating because they have so many good players on that offense, and they just seem to, I don't know, like just be ignoring some of the strengths of their best players. And so I don't know. I don't know how they fix it other than force-feed Julio and get their running backs more involved. in the past game like last year. To me, that's like what, and I talked about this on Tuesday, it's like it's what made them so just intimidating on offenses. You just never knew where the ball was going.

It was like such a pain in the ass for defenses to prepare for them because they had so many different options. Like, yeah, they could go everywhere. As far as the Patriots go, Belichick spoke on Friday about why his mid-season trades always seemed to work out in some way. Either it's Keem-Air, a Kyle Van Noy, Keith Talib. and the reason is because he said that you know exactly what role

that player is going to take, whether that's a situational pass rush or whether that's a nickel cornerback, whatever. And what I find interesting is I don't know what trade you make if you're the Patriots right now. And I just don't know, I mean, do you go out and you get another cornerback

because they've got some pretty damn talented cornerbacks? The safety play has been an issue. Devin McCordy and Patrick Chung are both giving up, if you look at it, a PFF, a lot of receptions per target. And so, but I just, again, those two players are solid. So I don't know, I don't know what you go out and do if you're the Patriots right now. I mean, I think the, for me, it's like if they could go out and get a pass rusher,

yeah, that would help. You know, so they have trade flowers. He's been solid. And it's like, you know, they went and got Cassius Mars in the Outs season. That was not like, it's not a marquee trade, obviously, but he's kind of been a goat already there. And so, I mean, if they. could get like a top tier pass rusher that would help a ton

but who are they going to trade for? Like who's going to give up a top tier pass rush at this point? It's just not going to happen. It's similar to the Seahawks problem. Jason Lock and Fora floated the idea that they could make a trade to get offensive line help. With the extent of of Dwayne Brown who's going to be very, very costly

and who was floated in that story, who's ready to trade an offensive lineman right now? I mean even, yeah, like even the Browns have an interest in keeping Joe Thomas just because they're trying to develop their young quarterbacks. Like no one wants to give up a really solid offensive linemen because even if you're

sort of tanking or planning for next year, it's like you do got to get through this year and you do have to see some improvement in certain areas. So I don't know, man, it's. I've never seen a quote one or the other. Does Joe Thomas want to stay in Cleveland forever? He does. I think so. Joe Solomon is saying he does.

Has he said this? Yeah, you got to keep that consecutive snap streak in Cleveland alive. But he can keep that going in Seattle. No, Seattle would probably ruin him. I mean, he'd probably get hurt. In Seattle, he'd get benched for a college basketball player. Sorry, Joe, we're making a move. We found some guy from Washington State who ran track.

Western Kentucky, I believe. Yeah. No, this is, this is, they found a new guy. Oh, got it. Oh, I see. Yes, yes. Another different guy. Actually, they traded for Joe Thomas in this hypothetical situation.

They went down to a track somewhere in the state of Washington, Idaho. Yeah. All right. Next game. Redskins and Eagles is the next game. I have no idea what to expect. I mean, I actually, I felt like the Raiders were going to beat the Chiefs because I feel like the Raiders couldn't possibly be as bad as they've looked and the Chiefs couldn't be as good as they've looked. I don't feel that way necessarily about this game. It's just as far as the Eagles are being ready for a fall. I honestly cannot get a read on this particular game. Help me out, Danny. Well, I like the Eagles a lot, man

I think, I mean, is that kind of what you're getting at That you like the Eagles a lot You can't kind of pick holes in them because I don't know what I'm getting I'm waiting for your take and then I'm going to steal it as my own So for me, yeah, the Eagles Here's what I think you think you think Yeah, no, no, no, what I'm saying generally is

I think that the The Eagles are pretty good I mean like I think they can win this game all of a sudden than they're six and one and then they're just there. You know what I'm saying? I mean, like,

I think once you're six and one in a conference where we have no idea who else the contender is, you're the contender. You're the contender. The wild card, so like to me on paper,

I like the Eagles a lot in this game. I think they're really balanced. I think, you know, Carson Wentz has played pretty dang well and they've got more weapons on offense now. They even have a run game.

And defensively, they're great. And I don't know. I just think on paper they look great. But like, Obviously, it's a divisional matchup. It's a grudge match. You just never know what's going to happen in the NFC East, man.

It's one of those divisions where it just doesn't seem to really matter how good any team is because every game is just crazy in that division. Yeah, no, I have more questions about the NFC East than I do any other division. We don't even know if the Giants might be good now again. Let's not go crazy, Dan. Okay, okay. Let's not go crazy. But I mean, I just, is Dallas good?

I honestly couldn't tell you. I mean, that gets into the Ezekieli Elliott thing. Who the hell knows what's going to go on with that? But I mean, it's just, I have no idea what to expect from week to week in that division. I do not believe the Giants are good. That's for sure. All right. Kirk Cousins isn't playing pretty well.

Obviously, Chris Thompson's been a huge X factor for them. You know, he's kind of opened up that offense when they needed somebody to step up. Terrell Prize is there now, but they lost Garsohn and Deshaun Jackson. from last year, so they needed somebody to step up. And he's been kind of the guy. Defensively, they're kind of banged up, and that's a concern, obviously, playing on the road. You know, I think Wynes could have another big game here

just based on the fact that, you know, Jonathan Allen's out. I think Josh Norman's banged up. They're short-handed on defense. I just looked up Sean Jackson's numbers in Tampa. He's actually, he's gotten a lot of targets. I don't understand what's going on there. How many catches does you have?

17. But he has, he went, the last three weeks, 20 yards, 106 yards, 38 yards. Yeah. First two weeks this season, he went 39 yards, 84 yards. That's a definition of boom and bust. Yeah, yeah. I was looking at his numbers, though, last night in terms of targets. He's been pretty consistently targeted.

So I think they're trying to make him a bigger part of their offense. But, I mean, clearly we've seen the Buccaneers' offense has been. sort of all over the place, so that makes sense. Love it. That's Eagles Redskins. We offered no definitive proof either way. I think we both like the Eagles in this game, right? Yeah, I agree.

I like the Eagles in this one. I got a weird read on the Redskins in that 49ers game. Yeah? Tell me about it. I didn't really watch that game closely. You know, Cousins did his cousin's thing, 330 yards, two touchdowns. You know, he's had a great season.

I mean, because quarterback rating is 100, what, 106 this year? Yeah, looking at right now. He's been impressive, yeah. He's been great. But, I mean, they could have easily lost that game. And it's the damn C.J. Bethard led 49ers. No. I think, yeah.

The 49ers are better than people are giving them credit for. I mean, they're not good, but. Are that? Danny, make a case that the 49ers are better than people are giving credit. Well, I was reading about it. On football outsiders, I think they even said, like, they're the best 0-N-6 team ever, which is obviously not saying a lot. but they've lost all their games

by like combined like every one of their games have been really close so it's not like they're getting blown out is what I'm saying I'm not I'm not ready to like you know go on the record and say I think the 49ers are good but they're not like you know they're not like a tanking sort of like the browns

right now you know they're not like that the Colts would raise a banner of footballers named them the top 016 and the history of football okay a lot of fine print Danny this is a game you wrote about this week in a sense, Saints at Packers, because it's interesting to me. We talked a lot about who the contenders could be in the NFC in the post-Rogers world. Is it going to be the Packers

with Brent Hunley? Probably not. Could it be the Saints who we know are always going to be there on offense, but seem to have figured out some things on defense with Latimore and Crawley, Marcus Williams? Having written about the Packers this week, where do you see this game going? Yeah, this is actually a really fascinating matchup, I think, just because on paper, obviously, you'd lean Packers that are at home, but we just have no idea what Brett Hunley offense is going to look like. Obviously, he came in cold like I'm doing now in this podcast and kind of three picks. Hopefully, I'm hoping not to do that, but I mean, that's not what we expect. You're on fire, buddy. Don't you, don't you worry about that.

I don't think we, you know, we shouldn't expect him to be that bad going forward. forward because, you know, that's a really tough ask. He didn't get the practice reps during the week, blah, blah, blah. But at the same time, and I heard Lombardi talking about this on GM Street, too, it's like they're not going to be able to run the Aaron Rogers offense with Brett Hunley. Like Aaron Rogers is an MVP candidate slash one of the best to ever play the game, you know, and so he saves them from a lot of things. And he hides a lot of their issues on the offensive lines, you know, obviously with injuries.

he gets guys to jump off sides, all that stuff, all the magic that Aaron Rogers brings to an offense is gone. And now we're going to see you kind of a, I guess, like stripped down version of the offense that hopefully fits around Hunley's skill set. And I mean, he's been in the system for a couple of years.

So bottom line, I don't really know what to expect. I think obviously it's going to be in a massive drop-off, in my opinion. Yeah. But is that enough versus the Saints who, yeah, they've been better on defense, but they're still not like, you know, we have to see a little bit more, I think, from them to say this is a great defense. I think Camp Jordan is a game-wrecking type of player, and that could be a big factor. And having Marshawn-Ladmore back there is huge for them, but I still don't know if I trust that the Saints defense has kind of arrived.

You don't trust the Saints defense after like seven years of them finishing 31st in the league? Wow. Yeah, Danny. I'm going out on a limel. on this one. Yeah. Here's another game you wrote about this week. I'm intrigued by this. Cardinals with a rejuvenated Adrian Peterson

coming to Los Angeles to play the ramps. I was shocked. I watched, you know, because I, Adrian Peterson obviously a big sort of storyline this week. And so I was like, I want to dig into this. And I watched that game closely with like the All-22 and everything. It was like actually shocking to me how much he impacted that game. I mean, if you watch the Buccaneers defense,

they were like, they were biting on play action so hard. It was actually almost funny. And he obviously showed some of the juice that, that we saw earlier in his career. Obviously, you know, the jump cuts behind the line, like hurtling through the line and making plays,

like taking on guys at the goal line. Like it was all there. And he looks like sort of, and I think they kept throwing around, like rejuvenated and refreshing. And, you know, Larry Fitzgerald was talking about how he kind of reinterested, energize them in the huddle and all this stuff.

But it actually was like schematically like a big deal because he average like six point something yards per carry on first downs. And that's huge for them because they've been getting backed up a lot. Like I think they were before this week they were averaging like 2.2 yards per carry or something like that on first down. So that's putting in a lot of second and long, third and long situations. You know, that's asking a lot of Carson Palmer, especially with such a terrible offensive line so far this year. so it like he is kind of he has the ability to I think change that offense a lot

just the way he's running obviously having a couple new guys on the offensive line get they got a couple guys back on the offensive line so that's been huge but I think we're closer to seeing sort of the 2015 version of the Cardinals than then we think it I wrote about this it's like I'm not saying no I'm not saying they're getting there I'm saying he gives them a chance to

recapture some of the downfield magic that they had in 2015, just because he gives them that balance, he gets them into second and short situations where they can really air it out. I don't know. I'm kind of thinking it could be like a big deal for them. Are they going to make the playoffs, Danny? I don't know. Anybody could make the playoffs at this point.

Danny? There's like 20. Do you think the Cardinals are going to make the playoffs? I don't. I mean, right now, if I had to put my money down on it, I'd say no. Okay. But, I mean, I'm not like.

I want to see one Peterson-Aaron Donald collision. That would be fun That's all I care about for this game I mean yeah Aaron Donald is such a game wrecker It's insane It's unbelievable All right let's move on to the hottest take

That I actually kind of believe This is sort of a tongue-in-cheek Yes Yeah you're fired up Danny I'm excited for this It's my DK's Dark Night of the Week It's not as famous a franchise But it's sort of a tongue-in-cheek

Look at something I believe Needs to happen in the NFL And I think that we're getting to a point where this is becoming a mainstream opinion and so I got to stake my claim right now. The dolphins should just bench Jay Cutler.

It's over. First of all... It's not even that hot. First of all, it's not even, I'm not even sure it's a take. I think it's just the thing. So the Dolphins have won two straight. And both of those things have essentially been in spite of

Jay Cutler's just... I don't even know if it's poor past It's just, he's like throwing the ball at receiver's ankles. Like, it's just not good. I mean, he completed, against Tennessee, he completed 46% of his passes. And against, he was a little better against Atlanta, 57%. But it was for 151 yards.

Like, you have so many weapons in Miami and that's what you're doing. I was just looking at his, his yards per attempt in the last three games. Yeah. Or in the last two games, his yards for attempt. 3.5 and 4.5. It's so bad, man. good news is he had he had eight rushing yards two weeks ago.

Oh, well, that's good. So that makes, he made up for it with his legs. No, I mean, it's just Matt Moore, I guess, would be better. I don't know. I mean, we kept saying, I bought into this that at least Cutler was above average. I don't think that's the case anymore.

Well, Moore has been in the system for a lot longer, too. I actually wrote about... Well, Bob Mays is a big Matt Moore more would score more points than Jay Cutler guy. We talked about this on Monday. Yeah, Bobby Mays. I mean, I believe it. So I actually wrote about sort of the available quarterbacks last year,

and Matt Moore was on the borderline of being a starter in that article. I mean, he took over for the last three regular season games. He had like 106 rating. He had eight touchdowns of three picks. I mean, he wasn't like a disaster, especially when you compare what Cutler's done. I mean, obviously, though, it's like a question of, once you bench Cutler, I mean, that's like, yeah, that's like a big decision

because one, you paid him, what, $10 million to come in this year? And once you bench him, are you going to go back to him? Are you going to do that sort of thing? And especially after they've won two games. I don't think you do. The last time more, and obviously the completions are going to be different and all that, but the last time Moore played a game for the Dolphins was a playoff game, which completed 80% of his passes against the Steelers.

A week before that he completed 70%. So, against him in. Just put him in and let him do dink and dunk or whatever. But just don't do whatever the hell the dolphins are doing with Jay Cutler right now. I don't care about Jay. You can cut Jay Culler.

He's in a one-year deal for $10 million. He can go back to the Fox booth. Is there any indication he's like getting better in that offense either? We're six weeks into the year. You just saw his numbers. He's getting worse. He's getting worse. Thank you, Joel.

Okay, well I mean outside the numbers I guess is he look anymore Yeah, the eye test No he doesn't He's completing 40% of his past The last two weeks But I'll tell you what

The eye test 3.5 yards per attempt But you know when you'll watch the tape Well that's kind of what they're saying Who's they? Jake color? They're like not thinking about benching him It sounds like

I mean everyone says They're not thinking about Benching somebody until they are That's true He has not had a quarterback rating above 76 since week one. You guys, that's like lower than Osweiler. That's like lower than the Osweiler line. Osweiler, would Osweiler be an improvement over this?

That's my question. Maybe, yeah. I think he might. He would just dink and dunk it. I was actually kind of like, I was looking forward to the Cutler era. I was actually pretty... I was too. I thought he was actually going to do okay.

Our man two weeks ago had. 92 yards on 26 attempts. Jeez. I mean, yeah, you can't hide behind those numbers. Those numbers are atrocious. Like, there's no way around it, honestly. Bench color, bring him Matt Moore. I like Matt Moore, too.

He's actually been pretty good. Let's not go crazy on Matt Moore. I mean, I'm not, yeah, I'm not going crazy. All right, Danny Kelly. It's time. It's time for you to shine, buddy. Oh, boy. Fantasy fans have to make tough start and sit decisions every week.

And a lot of these are based on matchups, but based on some different factors, you've noticed some misleading matchups. Yeah, potentially. Let's start with the quarterbacks. All right, so this is, I kind of get the impression that you're not sold on the Giants

having sort of a comeback at this point. I am going the other way on the Giants. I pick them to win the division. I'm so angry at them that I'll never pick them to win anything ever again until Ben McAdoo is gone. So three weeks from now. All right, so basically on paper,

The Giants look like a good matchup for the Seahawks, at least before last week. But I still think most people are kind of looking at Russell Wilson as a good start this week. I'm very leery about this for a number of reasons. Number one, Wilson hasn't been very good on the road. I mean, if you go back to the beginning of last year, he's got on the road, he's completed 61% of his passes,

250 yards a game, 13 touchdowns, 9 interceptions at 84 rating. So, I mean, that's definitely not like top-tier play. much better at home. Adding the fact that Luke Jokal, he had to get his knee scoped or whatever this last week. He's going to be out. He was actually one of the good,

like players on the offensive line so far this year. Actually one of the good players. One of the guys who's not a complete waste of space. He was actually like sort of like a calming factor. I think like, you know, he was decent.

I'm not saying he's good, but he was a decent sort of like slot in there at the left guard. And now they're going to have Mark Lewinsky, who's been basically a disaster this year, and then Ethan Posich, who is a rookie. I don't know what they're doing. It sounds like they're going to do a platoon at that spot,

which that never backfires ever. So we'll see how that goes. But basically what I'm saying is the Seahawks' offensive line is not good, and that's still a really good defensive line in New York. I'm really worried about that. I think that's a risky, risky play if you're going to go with Russell Wilson against Giants defense. I don't think that looks like a solid play for me.

Bill Simmons has a rubric he calls the Tyson Zone, which is where you just believe, you'll believe any story about anything. In my opinion, the Seahawks offensive line is in the Tyson zone. Like, they could start, like tomorrow I could find out they traded for, they traded for Jermaine Curse again,

and he's starting a right guard. And I'd be like, oh, yeah, there's Tom Cable. They get Cursed putting on 25 pounds in a week, Dude, if it wasn't, if it wasn't funny, it would make me cry because I mean, clearly, you know, I'm, you know me, I'm a Seahawks fan. Like, it hurts for me to say that like Russell Wilson could have a really bad week, but, so hopefully I'm wrong. But I just see this offensive line not doing anything. I don't know how they're going to run. I don't know how they're going to protect Russell Wilson.

I just think it's going to be, it could be bad. Okay. Wide receiver, Danny. This one's kind of a leap of faith pick for me. and maybe I'm riding the Amari Cooper sort of, you know, wave right now. But I'm starting Martavis Bryant versus the Bengals. You know, it's been a really sort of, you know, weird week. So just to put this in a context, Martavis Brian asked for a trade last week.

Right. Right. So he's affordably on the trade block or asking for a trade. He got, he essentially got sort of passed up in their offense by Juju Smith-Schuster. but I still think, I don't know, I still feel like they want to make him turn him back into what he was a couple years ago when he was just, you know,

like scoring touchdowns on every third time he touched the ball. And he's too talented, he's too fast, and I don't know, I'm just kind of, if you look at the Bengals defense, they're really good, they're number three in the NFL and DVOA, but they're very, very strong against number one receivers, number five DVOA, but they're not very good, they're not as good anyway

against number two and three receivers per. football outsiders 13th and 30th respectively so I think they have a chance to kind of and I think

they want to do this because they've been funneling the ball that Antonio Brown like crazy I think they want to get some of these other guys

involved so this is all kind of you know like I said it's sort of a leap of faith but I think that Brian could have a big game

I'm kind of he's my guy that looks like a terrible pick but I'm going with him all right Joel Solomon frantically

trying to make a point that's just what Ben needs another player demanding him the ball. I mean, this is perfect. Ben, this is why Ben wants to retire, I think. He's just sick of it. Go to that cabin?

James Harrison's going to want the ball now in cold line situations. This is crazy. Hit me, Danny. All right, so I'm going with Doug Martin versus the Bill's defense. You know, clearly the bills have one of the best defenses in the NFL, second in DVOA right now, preferable outsiders.

So I typically would say, you know, matchup base, stay away from these guys. But if you look at the, if you look at the various factors going into this game, I think you could end up having a big volume of carries because, number one, obviously,

James is a little bit hurt. Their passing game has been really sort of all over the play. and the bill's past defense is like incredible I mean their run defense is good but their past defense has been really really incredible so I could see them and again this is going to probably be it looks like a game that will be a low scoring game

the bill's offense isn't anything special and I just think this could be kind of one of those you know 10 to 6 logs and I could see Doug Martin getting a lot of action especially in the run game but also in the passing game because that's actually one area where the defense has struggled a little bit is defending and running backs out of the backfield.

So it might look like a bad matchup on paper, but I'm liking Doug Martin this week. Okay. I like it. All right, Danny. It's time. Yes. It is time. What everyone's been waiting for. For D.K.'s Dark Night. We keep getting tweets about

D.K.'s dark night. I'm serious. During Sunday's game, whenever you pick a guy. I have a lot to live up to this week because Austin's Fair and Jenkins was kind of, you know, He was a star of the week. You know that second touchdown didn't count. ASJ obviously was a stud last week. A lot of pressure for this week.

I know. Damn. Everybody's watching. Joel has cash out, ready to just lay it down on whoever you pick. I'm going with Eric Decker Titans. You know, he hasn't been like a huge part of their offense this year so far. But last week he had a season high in targets, catches, yards. He's seen six targets and nine targets last two weeks.

It's kind of starting to like integrate himself into the offense a little bit. And I just, I mean, when you look at his career, he's, that dude just has a nose for the end zone. He's an amazing red zone target. And against the Browns who are dead last, you know, in defense and terrible past defense. Actually, I looked at the stats right now. They're giving up a rating of 111. So like they're making every quarterback into like freaking Aaron Rogers or, like whatever, you know, like 7.9 yards per attempt, they surrendered 14 touchdowns on the year.

So, one, it's a great matchup. Two, I think Decker is kind of starting to, well, you know, it's, there's no clear number one in that offense. Obviously, with Richard Matthews and Eric Decker, it's kind of... It's been kind of a weird offensive start, and you had Marriota banged up a little bit. But I'm feeling good about this matchup. I like Decker a lot. I think he's starting to sort of get chemistry with Mariotta. He's my dark night of the week.

I love it. What an honor for him. Coming up, we got Joel Solomon, who's already chimed in on a few points. He's back with another edition of Am I Crazy? Plus, we'll let you know what we think next week's headlines will be. But first, let's take a quick break. Danny, did you lay any money down on Amari Cooper going for over 200 yards and two TDs last night? I did not. Even if I did bet on football, I probably would have bet for the opposite of that.

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How can you not get it after that? Hotel Tonight coming in handy all over the world. You can also book in advance if you want to plan ahead. With Hotel Tonight, you'll bag a sweet deal at a killer hotel. Whether you need a room for today, for Halloween, or beyond, you definitely want to download the Hotel Tonight app now. All right, we've got Joel Solomon here. Joel in the zone, you're not showing a lot of emotion right now.

You're coming out like, I was up watching four endings of Raiders' chiefs. I'm exhausted. It was like Wayne's World. They ended it four different ways. Alternate endings. Yeah, yeah. All right, we got Joel Salomon here for the latest edition of Am I Crazy.

Joel, we love this segment. Start us out. All right, here we go. Cleveland Brown's players, they haven't had much to celebrate over the last decade, obviously. But Hugh Jackson said he supports players celebrating. on the field, which is great. You know, he wants them playing with emotion even when they're getting blown out,

which is all the time. Hugh Jackson, by the way, one in 21 over two seasons. So, am I crazy, or is the biggest Brown celebration of the last 10 years, Peyton Hillis landing the cover of Madden 12? Ooh.

Ooh. Top it, buddy. How big was the celebration when Miles Garrett got a sack on his first play? Yeah, Miles Garrett looks good. But I think Peyton Hillis They're my You know week 16 against San Diego last year

We had the Joe Thomas Consecutive snap There's a I'm sure some Josh Gordon Celebrations in there But I mean Peyton Hillis guys This is where it's at He was yeah he was a legend I can't think of a better

And people tweeted us And I'm happy to entertain those tweets About about that What about 2010 when they finished in third place instead of fourth place. In 2007, they finished in second place, and since then they finished in the last place, all except 2010.

I still think Peyton Hill is edging, edges that out. And then, of course, gets the matter of curse. Drafting Johnny Mansell. Ooh. And it was excitement there. There was some excitement there. All right. I'm curious to hear what Browns fans think,

but for my money, going Peyton Hillis. That was a monumental moment in Cleveland Brown's history. What about when they acquired every second and third round pick for the next 10 years? That was in draft day. That was a movie, sir. I'm sorry. They're actually doing that.

That's their philosophy. Nothing but second and third round picks. And also, that happened in draft day. Yeah. All right, let's move on. Kansas City Chiefs have signed CJ Spiller for a fourth time. He actually, you know, he played last night, but he has been cut. Resigned, cut, recined, cut, cut, recined,

played last night for two carries, zero yards. So clearly it was worth the weight. I mean, he's basically his own season of hard knocks. I mean, they're going to remake. He's just not that into you with Andy Reed and C.J. Spiller. I mean, Kevin, you don't even cancel dinner plans on someone that much. And you do cancel plans. What just happened?

When have I ever canceled plans? A lot. They're in one instance. I don't make plans. All right, fair. But am I crazy? I live my life a quarter mile at a time. Am I crazy or does this prove that Andy Reid is the most indecisive coach of all time?

As well as the last two weeks of coaching. I mean, that's pretty good evidence. I mean, that's like, you know, actually solid, hard, concrete evidence. He's the Billy Martin of running backs. It's empirical. I mean, it's, it's, how do you feel if you're CJ's, Spiller four times cut and re-signed. Like, guys, make a call here.

Just let me know. What do you think they say? Do they say just hang out in town until next time we call you? Billy Martin has fired five times from the Yankees. Well, we're in that territory. With CJ Spiller, there's a lot of season left. At some point, when do you stop returning the chiefs calls?

Never. I just like, it's like Andy Reed out of McDonald's, like looking at the menu. people are just staring. Yeah. It hasn't changed in 20 years. You know what you want, but someone's just standing there looking like the menus changed. C.J. Spiller hasn't changed much.

Andy Reid, you should have known on the second time you cut and resigned them what you're getting. All right. But never mind. All right, Kevin, you are one of my top six people at the ringer, favorite people here. Top six. Top six or seven. Six or ten. Yeah.

Top ten. So I know how much you love movies. I stayed up last night. I want to introduce a new segment. Are you guys familiar with Rotten Tomatoes? I am. All right. So this game is going to be called,

will they outscore rotten tomatoes? Okay. I'm going to give you a team that has, to put it nicely, struggled offensively. You tell me if they're going to have a higher score this weekend that a movie that's opening this weekend, also probably struggling offensively.

at the box office. All right, so first up, we have the Bengals who are playing at the Steelers or the movie Geostorm. Who is going to have the higher score on Monday, come Monday, Bengals or Geostorm? So points versus percentage?

Points versus percentage, and because this is our first week, I'll help you right now. Geostorm is currently at a 27%. So if the Bengals or 27 points. You got it, pal, against the Steelers. Big rivalry.

27 is a lot. For both GioStorm wins. Wow. How is it 27%? That seems super high. It's just based on the pre-O-Storm? Well, the reviews are still coming in. Geostorm looks awesome.

No, that's incorrect. All the movie, I'm looking at the Brian Tomaz right now. All of these movies I'm going to see. Wait, so you think Geostorm wins over the Bengals? Absolutely. By like 10. Wow. Okay.

A.J. Green. going, man. I'm going with the Bengals. If you just put the cast of Geostorm against the Bengals, they would be able to generate a pass rush on that offensive line. Danny, what do you think? I'm going with the Bengals.

I just, the Geostorm is going to drop into like the teens by the end of the weekend. Oh, wait. So you're saying that, are we set at 27 right now? Are we set at 27 or on Sunday night? Come Sunday night, we will put up the final score. Oh, that makes more.

Unless you want to change. the rules now. No, I'm fine with it. It's going to be Geostorm. I think Geostorm makes a comeback. I do think that number goes higher. I'm going the opposite. I'm going the opposite way. Wow. All right. Next up, the dolphins. We've already talked about

Jay Cutler. Jets at Dolphins. The Snowman is out in 11. This is impossible. How can the dolphins not beat the snowman? It's impossible because I don't know the answer. Oh, you don't know the answer? How is that only at 11? That's crazy. It's a bad movie.

The Snowman versus Cutler. Cutler could also put up a snowman. What are you doing, Danny? Are you watching the snowman? I was excited about the snowman. I like Thomas Alfredson. But that doesn't say any. I haven't seen the snowman yet.

Man, that's bad. We're looking for the higher score, gentlemen. I'm going with the dolphins on this one, I guess. Yeah, I'm going with the dolphins, but not by much. Closer than the experts think. Well, we will find out. All right, third one. This has been, will they outscore rotten tomatoes, Kevin?

I only had two this week. Oh, I'm sorry. You asked me three, and then I thought you were, I was looking around tomatoes. Tyler Perry's booed to a Medea Halloween, it got 17%. I'm steering clear of that one because I'm a big Medea fan. Hey, who scores more points? anyone who plays the Patriots defense or only the Brave at 90%. We have a lot of movies to see this weekend before football Sunday, sir.

Danny's flying in. We're going to go see The Snowman. This sounds amazing to me. All right. Joel, thank you. All right, buddy. That was illuminating. It's time to wrap this up.

Danny, we're going to do next week's biggest headlines. It's pretty easy. What will we be talking about on Monday? Hit me. I'm actually stealing. mazes on this one so he gets a little bit of credit here but um we're going to have a frontrunner for the MVP award after this after this weekend we got we got new england Atlanta uh philly washington you know there's some big games going on yeah and obviously Alex smith has already played

i don't know if he he's not going to be the frontrunner probably but he's still in there so whether it's Tom Brady maybe even Carson Wentz starts to emerge who knows we're going to have sort of we're going to have some clarity

Aaron Rogers is out Tom Brady I think is probably if the if the Patriots win this Tom Brady could we could start be talking about him for the MVP Tom Brady that's interesting

why not I mean I think if Tom Brady puts together a Patriots esk season with that defense I totally agree with you oh yeah I totally obviously they win 12 or 13

games, I don't see how you can't. Right. I mean, I know, Alex Smith certainly, even you see Alex Smith has six deep completions this year, which over 30 yards, which ties his career high already. I mean, he has, doesn't he have like 15 touchdowns already, which is what he got last year? Yeah, yeah, but I mean, I just think,

I just, they need to win a lot for Alex Smith to win the MVP. I agree. I think he's just based on his history, it's going to be harder for him. Yeah. I kind of like that. My pick is somewhat tied into that. And by somewhat, I mean exactly tied into that. I think that the winner of Atlanta, New England, is going to, is going to be considered back.

And even though neither of them have been a complete disaster, if Atlanta loses, they'll just be three and three. And if the pages lose, they'll just be four and three. It's not, you know, they're not the Raiders on Thursday night, which is essentially, you know, if they lose their two and five and their seasons over. Yeah. But I feel like the winner, it's, oh, well, they're back. Even if the Falcons put up 30 points in that Patriots past defense, which we know has made everyone else look like the 2016 Falcons. We will say, oh, the 2016 Falcons are back.

I think that's spot on. But, yeah, I could definitely see that. All right, that's it for today. We'll be back on Tuesday with the recap of NFL's Week 7. As always, thanks for listening to the Ringer NFL show on the Ringer Podcast Network. You can play it by ear and seal Halloween goes, or if you're the type who started planning your Halloween costume on November 1st, of last year, and like to have things locked down ahead of time,

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