The Ringer NFL Show - Week 10 NFL Power Rankings: Colts Fall, Jets Continue to Climb, and Why Mahomes Is the Clear MVP Frontrunner | Power Rankers

Episode Date: November 9, 2022

Austin is joined by Steven Ruiz to discuss how the NFL power rankings have changed following Week 9. First, they talk about the Jets and why they are the team of the week following their big win against the Bills (3:48). Then they discuss the team with the biggest fall of the week, the Colts, and why their recent coaching change is so frustrating (12:08). They also talk about some teams that Austin doesn’t know what to do with, including the Bengals, Cardinals, and Bears (21:35). Later, they break down the MVP race and why Patrick Mahomes is the clear frontrunner (46:24). Host: Austin Gayle Guest: Steven Ruiz Production Supervision: Arjuna Ramgopal and Conor Nevins Associate Producer: Carlos Chiriboga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Kevin O'Connor, aka Kevin O'Bomber, aka Kevin O'Connor. Wait a minute, you're not Chris Vernon. No, Kevin, sadly, I'm not as cherubic or as raspy as Verno, but it is I, Jay Kyle, man. And folks, basketball has been and continues to be so very good. That's exactly why Kyle and I are hosting a brand new basketball show on a brand new podcast feed, the ringers NBA draft show. We're going to have you covered every week as we go in-depth and deep dive in hopes of answering an ever-important question in the NBA. Who's got next?

Whether it's an international phenom like Victor Wimbenyama or the G-League Scoot Henderson. Or stars from Overtime Elite like A. Men Thompson, as well as a full-blown swarm of talented prospects from the promising 2023 NBA draft class. For sure, Kyle. And we're also going to get into players from the college ranks because this is a loaded class. for us to discuss prospects rising and falling, and we're going to revisit and redraft recent draft classes and get into how the league's evolution could help inform what's valuable in a prospect of the future.

This is a podcast for a fan of every team, whether you're losing and have high draft lottery odds or you're looking for sleepers later in the draft. We're going to be covering everything in the months to come, so please make sure you follow and subscribe to the Ringer NBA Draft Show. And hit us with those five-star ratings. Welcome into Power Rancers, Jason Goff, M-I-A today. I think he lost his voice over the weekend.

Not sure if he was cheering on that Chicago Bears game watching Justin Fields set records. But we will see stepping in for him is not James Jones. It's someone better, someone I like to call a friend, and even better analyst. It's Steve Ruiz for the entire podcast. How excited are you? I'm very excited. It sounds like Jason was scared to compete. I got accused of being scared to compete last week.

At least I show up every week. I say this every single time he misses a show, which is now twice. He's just not a competitor. He's not willing to rise to the occasion. I lose my voice I find a way. I'll just say that. Updates on the weekend. I did have an eventful weekend.

Went to a handful. No free ads on the podcast. We'll do a handful of really good restaurants in L.A. But I also went to, I guess this is a free ad, the season debut for the G League South Bay Lakers. Incredible stuff. It was $40 for a front row on the court ticket. And I watched Scotty Pippin's son just ball.

They have a second round pick at a Michigan State, Max Christie ball out. I would firmly recommend if you're in the L.A. area, try out the G League. I think the G. League has stuff to, you know, really offer. Scottie Pippen, speaking of Chicagoans, who led a little ailment get in the way of them going out on the court. Another famous example. Wow. Jason Gawking compared to Scottie Pippman Sr. The funniest thing, Scotty Pippen Sr. was there across the way. Scotty Pippen Jr. could have done a 360 windmill dunk. This guy did not care. He looks like hated being there. I was like watching his reactions to every single time his son did anything, legitimately could not care less. It was, uh, it was hard to see, man. It was hard to impress

Scottie Pittman Sr. in the G-League debut, or I guess season debut for the South Bay Lakers. I was going to say you didn't have the same experience. You did. The $40 experience. It wasn't quite the same. Didn't get the bang for his buck. I caught two shirts. Two shirts. That was, uh, it was a big day. Anyway, let's talk some, some football. It's been quite this season for parody in this league. Teasers are no longer hitting. The good teams are losing games. The bad teams are winning games.

No one knows what to do. But I am excited to say, for the first time I think this year, the New York Jets are my team of the week on this podcast. I normally do this segment with Jason. I'm doing it with you. The New York Jets are my team of the week. They beat the Buffalo Bills. If you can't make the New York Jets,

the team of the week, when they beat the Buffalo Bills, why not make them, you know, what's the point of this season? Now, there's still plus 112, according to Fandall, to make the postseason. That I find surprising, even though they have six wins on the season. Your reaction to the Jets winning this game, beating the Buffalo Bills, I don't think it was fluky necessarily. I do think that the interceptions from Josh Allen, both of them really were awful.

And silliness would be a good word to describe them. But, like, the New York Jets offensively were running the football. They had a game plan for Zach Wilson. I don't think we've seen before that actually worked. And defensively, I think this defense is legit. I think Robert Sala is legit in manufacturing a good defense against what obviously is one of the best offenses in the NFL. Your reaction to this Jets win over Buffalo. And I have them at number 13 in my power rankings.

I'm sure Jets fans want them top five. I'm sure Jets fans want them ahead of the bills because head-to-head matchups matter in power rankings, of course. Where are you at with the Jets? Your reaction to this win and also looking at them at number 13 on my power rankings. I think 13 makes sense. And I think them being team of the week is deserved. And I would agree with you. I don't think it was that fluky.

And even the Allen interceptions, I thought were the result of early pressure in the game. The defensive line just dominated that matchup. And you could see it start to affect Allen. I think that's what kind of forced them into those two interceptions, which were so, so bad, man. They were so bad. But I really like this team around the quarterback.

Like, LaFleur is doing an excellent job. He outschemed Sean McDermin and Leslie Frazier, which is like no easy task. And then he has these. players just flying around to the football. These linebackers are just missiles against the run and against like the short stuff. The defensive line is good. They have depth on the line too. The secondary is good. Sauce Gardner is already a top 20 defender for me, just a complete player. I love this team outside of the quarterback. Yeah, I don't want to get too much into that. I will say to focus in on the

quarterback because that does matter, right? Zach Wilson has finished a game with a positive EPA per dropback just twice this season. Sunday was one of those games. But I think a more a stat, a stat, more indicative of what exactly happened and how this offense looked different was his average time to throw in this game was 2.17 seconds. Now, a lot of these stats that I throw out, people are like, I don't really care. You mentioned a lot of decimals. You kind of throw me off. 2.17 seconds

is a half second faster than any game he's ever played in before. And it was obvious going into this game. They wanted to run more quick game. They wanted to get the ball out of his hands to limit when he's scrambling out of pressure, trying to extend plays, and trying to throw the ball away and throwing a pick.

throwing it into quadruple coverage down the football field. They said, hey, get to your drop and throw the football. And it worked, right? 18 to 25, or 154 yards in a touchdown. There was that, like, interception that was like tie goes to the runner to the tight end. But honestly, there were a few plays where you saw him scrambling out of the pocket and you make some throws that you did not like to see. But there was also him running the football more decisively in this game.

I thought this game plan for Zach Wilson was far away the best we've seen for him. And honestly, more of this. We need more of this. His average time to throw this season is the slowest in the NFL. That is a recipe for disaster and hasn't been disaster all season. If we can get more game plans from Bluffler and more games like this from Zach Wilson, he won't do this.

Lose games for them with three, four, five turnovers, right? You look at the fumble in this game. That was him holding on the football, him trying to make a play, didn't see the pressure from behind, loses the football from Von Miller on the strip sack. Like, if you can get to his drop and throw the football, this Jets team because of that defense, because of that defensive line,

Soss Garner, favorite twin defensive rookie the year for good reason, And this is a playoff team. They're not an obvious playoff team yet, even though they have six wins on the season, since Natty Bengals have better odds to make the playoffs than New York Jets. I think that AFC wild card is going to be hotly contested between the Dolphins, the Chargers, the Jets, the Patriots, the Bengals. You're arguably going to have five teams competing for those last three spots.

So Jets not an obvious, obvious playoff contender right now, but I want to see more game plans like this, right? Let's talk positively on this game plan offensively around Zach Wilson. Yeah, I agree with you. It was RPO, quick game, and very little dropback. Like, I only counted like three or four when I watched the game. And I think he only had two attempts, three attempts, over 10 air yards. There was the seam route to Garrett Wilson, which was not a good throw.

Garrett Wilson was wide open. The middle of the field was wide open. He put it on his back shoulder for some reason. And then he did have a nice throw to Wilson, I think. Again, off play action, that was a good throw. But I think it was another example of LaFleur designing plays to get the ball out of his hands quickly, which we usually don't see on play action throws down the field,

but this was like a quick glance, one read, and it was open, and he threw it. It was the best throw that he's made in a couple of weeks. But, yeah, the game plan is good.

And my only concern is how sustainable is that plan? Because it was very, they honed in on a couple of concepts and just the quick game and the RPO stuff. And I think when a defense starts to sit on that, that's when Zach Wilson is going to have to make a play. and it remains to be seen if he's capable of making those plays.

Well, I'll argue this. I don't think it is sustainable. I mean, they only scored 20 points, and they probably could have lost that game if Josh Allen doesn't throw two boneheaded interceptions, right? I think it's more that it's not disastrous, right? It protects Zach Wilson behind a bad offensive line. I already lost Elijah Verituck for the season.

His EPA per dropback win pressure this season is negative. 0.93. It's the worst in the NFL by a significant margin. His EPA per dropback when not pressured, which oftentimes involves getting the ball out quickly so you aren't pressured. is top five in the NFL. That's LaFleur. That's the offense. That's scheming clean pockets for Zach Wilson to not make mistakes. That has to be the game plan. Now, is it sustainable? Can they score more than 20 points with this type of style offense? Maybe, I don't know. I thought the run game looked good even without Breeze Hall. But man, it's a lot better than the other thing. It's a lot better than asking him to do. No, it's a lot better than asking him to be the guy and navigate pressure and extend plays and all those things. He's just not there yet. He's not there. And that's fine. It's fine. He was there at BYU. and he had a really good offensive line at BYU. He was there.

He's not there yet. Let's call some quick game. Let's call some quick hitches and just get the ball out and see if we can not lose the game with our quarterback under center. And that's exactly what happened. And then you have obviously the New York Jets defense stepping up. Ahmad Garner, DJ Reed, stepping up.

And I will say this too. Obviously, the early pressure affected those Josh Allen throws. The first interception was laziness. Like he legitimately had an open receiver and he just kind of floated it. Like you can say that was pressure, but honestly, he was just like, yeah, he's open. And then just like he wasn't. I don't know.

Some of this, Josh Allen, in my opinion, because he's an alien, can sometimes let out the gas and you see like some of these silly interceptions that are dropping his EPA per dropback, but no one's dropping them from the tops of the league.

Just removing some of that from his game. I thought he summed it up perfectly. He's like, it's hard to win games when your quarterback plays like shit. He played like shit. Yeah, he did. You miss some throws. You threw some picks.

That's going to happen. He has those plays where you could see the hamster running on the wheel in his head. Like the monkey with the symbols. he has one of those things going on in his head. And like he offsets it with all the good stuff. But it's frustrating when you see it. I thought it was gone after the first month because we saw none of that, really.

Like in the Dolphins game, there was a little bit of it. But that was a weird game where he was on the field for like 90 plays. But that I, when I put him at QB1 in my rankings, it was because I thought those plays were gone for the most part. They crop, they popped back up the last two weeks. And it's a little concerning, a little. I think it's concerning. I also think it's volatile, right? Like, I think that that kind of silliness is not something you need to work out of Josh Allen as much as it is.

Like, he just needs to stay locked in for 60 minutes. Stay locked. Like, against the previous week, they were up so much that I think you saw him let off the gas pedal. I think you're going against the Jets. You're going in the Red Zone. You felt like that game was already in control. And you're letting off the gas pedal already as well. But moving off the Jets, who are number 13 to my power rankings.

I know Jets fans want them top five. I don't know what to tell you. I'm waiting to see how sustainable this offense is. you're saying, Stephen, and how much they can continue to beat up on good football teams. There's still not even minus money to make the playoffs because there's market doubt in the quarterback situation. There's market doubt in the offense. Biggest mover.

I'm going to get on a little bit of a soapbox here. Indianapolis Colts, man, moving down, down. And the Ringer NFL podcast feed has covered this at length. Slow Newsday with Kevin Clark and Lindsey Jones has covered this at length. Bill Simmons has covered this at length. Everyone has talking about the Indianapolis Colts because they're doing something absurd. Absolutely absurd. First time NFL history, a coach with no experience is being named the interim head coach.

Jim Ursay called up his buddy and what I'm sure was initially a conversation where he wasn't naming him the head coach. But over time, over maybe a couple drinks, he's like, you know what? What if we just named you the interim head coach? Then Jeff Saturday, his friend becomes a head coach. Now, this is the problem. All right? Frank White gets fired a week after they fired Marcus Brady, a week after they bench met Ryan. It was obvious that Jim Irset, the owner of the Indianapolis Coles, was like, I don't want to lose any more games.

No more games. I do not want to lose any more games. We need to change something. I do not think Frank Reich or Marcus Brady made the decision to bench Matt Ryan. I think that was Ursa. I don't think Frank Reich made the decision to fire Marcus Brady. I think that was Ursay. And obviously it was Erse that fired Frank Reich. Now, Urse saying, I'm going to do it myself. And I'm going to go hire one of my friends, one of my close confidants, a guy who's working for ESPN and Jeff Saturday to be interim head coach. Because I know this guy and he's a friend of mine. Anyone, anyone talking about this and any other way of not. absurdity, like saying this is, oh man, like, I like, I like, I like, I like this could be a good, it's ridiculous. This guy has never, this guy has never coached in the NFL. And I think Bill Barnwell

summed it up perfectly, Bill Barnwell, a writer for USBN. By all accounts, obviously a colleague of Jeff Saturdays. Jeff Saturday is a very nice capable person. I hope he does well in Indianapolis. This hiring also reminder that the arbitrary experience roadblocks put up in front of minority candidates are nonsense. And there are people in this world who are like, why does it always have to be like that? Why do you always got to make it a race thing? It is a race thing. It's a race thing every single time. Why do we always got to make it like that?

Because it's fucking disastrous. We're not making it about this enough. There are people in this league who hire people that either have their same last name or they enjoy having a beer with. And we see that every single time. That is not the surprise. The problem is when minority candidates like Eric B. Enemy, Marcus Brady, others are coming up.

They put up these roadblocks like, well, he's never called plays or he's never coached a playoff game. Jeff Saturday was coaching high school football and calling. things for ESPN. And Erse is like, I kind of like him. That's ridiculous. There was a former legend coaching on this team already. And Reggie Wayne that was passed off for Jeff Saturday, who is not coached. He was shocked. The quote in the press conference, you can pick your favorite one. Ersei is saying he doesn't know how to make sausage or what's in sausage. Urse is saying he's in the upper quartile of the upper quartel. My favorite, Jeff Saturday would ask what he thought when he was offered. Shocked would be an understatement. No shit. You've never coached the NFL.

Of course you're going to be shocked. I just can't believe this, man. I'm so upset. I'm so upset at anyone that looks at this in any other way than, Jeff Ursa, the owner of the Colts, getting really upset and doing whatever the hell he wants, which happens way more in this league than people want to give credit to. People hire their friends in this league. Steve Belchek works for the Patriots because the coach is Bill Belchette.

You have nepotism in this league, and then beyond nepotism, it's who do I like to have a beer with? Who did I meet the combine that one time that stayed with me out until 2 a.m. at Prime? I'm like, this is a nepotistic, favorable league that only hires and benefits its friends. You have to grind, absolutely grind your way to the top if you don't know someone or have the same last name as someone in power. And it makes me so upset that when these things happen, there is this zig to the zag mentality of people saying, oh, man, I don't know, it doesn't always have to be a race thing. He could be good. Just shut the fuck up.

This is always a race thing. It's always a race thing. It's always a nepotism thing. Sorry to get so upset about it. But like, I just can't believe it. No, no, I think all of your points are valid. And like, don't give Jim Ursay the Zig when everyone else is zagging benefit of the doubt. That man does not even know what people are doing to Zig.

How can you come up with the Zach? Like, he has no idea what is going on. It's just ridiculous. And like you said, Eric B. Enemy is the perfect example. That was the thing. He never called plays. He doesn't call plays. He doesn't call plays.

He has Patrick Mahomes. Who's the, what was the high school that Jeff Saturday's coaching? who's his quarterback. Maybe he's like the Patrick Mahomes of that district. We don't even know. You don't even know Jeff Saturday's record. You don't, ah, it's, it is frustrating. It's so frustrating. And everything you just said, like, my take would just be a carbon copy of that. I think that, again, like Bill Barlow, like, I hope Jeff Saturday is a nice, capable person. I hope he does well in Indianapolis. This is not about him. And I've mentioned this before about it's not on Steve Belichick, Jeff Saturday, Shanahan's son and future sons. It's not about them

getting the opportunities. It's when you get those opportunities, doing right by those opportunities and acting beyond nepotism and acting beyond favoritism of people that you know. Like, you have to rise to the occasion when given this opportunity. You have to hope you see that. But when you are in a person of power, making hiring decisions that objectively affect the futures of so many people, do it for, do it without just saying who's my best friend, you know? Who looks like me? Exactly. I just wish, I just wish it was a little bit more thought out than that. And if you watch that press conference from a content perspective elite. But from a everything else seriousness perspective, you're just like, yeah, these guys weren't prepared. They moved the press conference

from six, I think to 630, 630 to 730 to 730 to 8 because they weren't prepared. They were like, Jeff Saturday, what are you going to say? He's like, I don't fucking know. What are you going to? This is a disaster. And I think Ben Solac on this podcast called it embarrassing. It is embarrassing. And the worst thing about it, the worst thing about it. And I say this every single time a decision like this happens where minority coaches are overlooked and all this stuff, it's not freaking shocking. This is not a surprise by any means. Scroll Jim Ursa's Twitter feed once.

You're going to be surprised that he made a freaking insane, irrational decision like this, not me. So the Indianapolis Colts on the football field, I think Sam Ellenger has looked really, really bad. The offenses looked like they just fired their offensive coordinator. The coach looks like he's like coaching for his job. There's not a lot of reason for optimism on the football for Indianapolis. And when you look at what the decisions are making from the front office

and bringing in Jeff Saturday, yes, this could be an ejection of life. and Saturday might run the ball 50 times and you can see players rallying around Jeff Saturday, it still looks a lot like short-term decision-making for a team that needs a long-term plan to actually get out of this rebuild. I don't know, man.

I don't know if there's much more else to say. It's not going to get better. I know that because Frank Reich is a good coach. Firing him is not going to solve the problem, which I think is a front-office problem that's been festering for a couple years now. And it's not like Chris Ballard has hid his intentions. or like hit his motivations for not drafting a quarterback.

Like he is on record saying, the moment I draft one and he doesn't perform well, I'm out of here. He's been in job preservation mode since he's got into the building and it's held this team back. There is a lot of, there is some talent that he brought in and he deserves credit for that.

But when you're a GM, you make your name by taking those big swings and finding foundational players, including the quarterback position. He hasn't even attempted to do that. Like, I don't, care about what goes on on the field from here on out. This organization is aimless right now. I'll say this. And the last thing on the topic, because I want to talk Cincinnati Bengals,

I want to talk Cardinals, I want to talk Cardinals, bears. I got some other teams I want to bring up. But Chris Ballard and So-Lack brought this up to how, you know, the number one thing you have to do is the GM is keep your job, which is not always in line with building a Super Bowl contender. And I think what I'll say, what I often say is we overrate how much general managers specifically, and even head coaches at times, want to be Super Bowl competitive more than they want to keep their jobs, right? And I think when you hear Ursae talk about Ballard,

in that press conference, he's like, Ballard's a winner. Whatever Ballard's cooking behind the scenes on, like, maybe it's drafting players that are all pros that, no, Ursay is grading him on, like, oh, I like Shaquille Leonard, I like Quint Nelson, Jonathan Taylor's any monster, Ballard's a winner, Ballard's a winner, we turn Braden Smith into a right tackle,

Ballard's a winner, if Ballard's recognizing where he's getting incentivized in terms of where he's picking and it's winning and you are at a point now where the Indianapolis culture one of the most rudderless teams in the NFL and you're still being called a winner as the GM, you got to keep doing it, right? Like, I mean, keeping your job starts with impressing Ursae and if Ursae likes you picking good, low value positions every single year like a Shaq Leonard, like a Quint-Nelson, like these other guys, Jonathan Taylor, then you keep doing it, right? There's no incentive for Ballard to like take a risk. You know, if Ersehsay likes a guy or he thinks this guy's going to be an all pro, and like that, again, is just something that we all

underrate as analysts sometimes or even as fans is that Ballard's trying to win a Super Bowl. Ballard's trying to make sure Ursaid doesn't just fucking fire his ass out of the gate. Like literally call up some other famous Colt and beating the new GM. Like that can happen. That can happen if you're not on Ursay's good side. It's just a crazy thing to think about. Mike Vanderjack, GM. Dude, it's going to be Dallas Clark or Clecoe, like Dan Clecoe or somebody's going to come in and just steal Valor's job.

Austin Collie, Collie, GM. All right. Off of the biggest move, the Indianapolis culture number 28, my power ranking. And they might be lower, right? It was hard to put them behind the Panthers. It's hard to put them behind the Detroit Lions and Houston Texans. But, man, one of the worst teams in football.

And when you look at their outlook, you have to be concerned. You have to be concerned with the future of the Indianapolis Colts. The next segment, your favorite. The I don't know what I'm doing segment. Because I don't know where to rank these teams, but I think they're okay. Cincinnati Bengals is the first one. Cincinnati Bengals, after an embarrassing loss to the Cleveland Browns, Monday night football, Ted Karras, the center or interior offensive

of Lyman for the Cincinnati Bengals said, we got to flush this one, short week, get to a winning record before the buy. They did exactly that, right? It was an embarrassing luck against Cleveland Browns. They get out 35-0 against Carolina Panthers. At the half, the Bengals had three more points than the Panthers had yards.

I think PJ Walker, the starter for the Carolina Panthers, completed three passes for nine yards and had two picks. Like, it was a disastrous performance by the Carolina Panthers, but also a much-needed dominant performance for the Cincinnati Bengals. I thought in this game specifically, they tried to recommit to an undercenter running game. They had some 6-0 lineman personnel that I thought worked pretty nicely. Joe Mixon looked really good.

They were in the passing game not doing a ton of things differently. Less throws behind the line of scrimmage, but you saw him targeting more one-on-one down the field with Tyler Boyd and T. Higgins. This Cincinnati Bagel's team against one of the worst teams in the NFL proved they can still be dominant. They're now minus 122 to make the playoffs at 5 and 4, going into the week 10 by. I have them as the 10th best team in the NFL, but how trustworthy is this team with one of the hardest strength of schedules to finish the year.

They face the Steelers, one of the worst teams, that's okay. Titans, Chiefs, Browns, buccaneers, Patriots, Bills, and Ravens. One of the hardest schedules remaining, do you see this team as a playoff team

is 10 too high? We just submitted our second half picks and I had the... I actually, like, when I went through the games and picked them all, I didn't have the Bengals making the playoffs.

I have the Patriots and I took that into my own hands and made the switch. I believe they're going to make the playoffs because I do think I think the schedule looks hard on paper, but I think they match up well with a lot of those teams. And the bar isn't that high for the AFC making the wildcard.

Like the chargers are a mess right now. I don't trust the Jets because of the quarterback. I think they have a margin for error, even given that schedule. I think they still have a margin for error. But I think there's like two different teams we're seeing it. We're seeing when they get the defensive looks that we know they could shred, that they shred last year.

This is what they look like. We saw it against Atlanta. Atlanta did not do the things that all of the other defenses that have had success against this team have done. And the Panthers, like, the game plan, just naive. They came out and played man coverage. You do not have the dudes to play man coverage. Even without Jamar Chase, I get that he wasn't in the game. But T. Higgins is still very good.

Tyler Boyd is still very good. And Burrow just killed them in man coverage over the first half. I think he was like one EPA per dropback or something crazy like that on seven dropbacks. And then the Panthers didn't play it in the second half. have. But I don't understand how you come out with that game plan. But for the Bengals, I think they still have to prove it. The good news is they have this hard schedule. They're not only going to have a chance to prove it against better competition, but I think it's going to act as kind of like a lab for them where they can continue to find new ways to beat these coverages that have given them

problems. I think there's just too much talent for them not to figure it out. Like Joe Burrow is too good. He's too smart. The receivers are too good. I don't think the offensive line is that bad. Zach Taylor. I'm hard on Zach Taylor. I don't think he's a great coach, but I think if you give him enough time, he'll eventually figure things out. So I'm still high on this team, relatively speaking.

I think they're a wildcard team. I just don't see them going beyond that. I honestly think that the Cincinnati Bengals for that last wildcard spot in the AFC. I'm throwing out the Patriots. Mac Jones is one of the worst quarterback. People bring up that Colts Patriots game. Like, wow, the Colts.

and I just went on this whole fricking rant about the cold. Sam Ellinger looked awful. Go watch Mac Jones in that game. Like, he also looks terrible. Like, Mac Jones is, like, struggling to move that football down the field. And every single long third down, if they're asking him to push it beyond the sticks, it's a nightmare.

If they're asking him to run, throw a quick screen or do something behind, you know, short of the sticks, it's showing that they're trying to put training wheels on him to avoid disaster. Like, Mac Jones does not play well in that football game. He has not played well all year. I'm not buying the Patriots as that last AFC seed. I think it's going to be between the Bengals and Jets.

I think it's, you know, the two other wildcard teams would be the Dolphins and Chargers, because obviously the Chiefs won the AFC West, and I think the Bills won the AFC East. And I think the Dolphins and Chargers are in. And then it's going to be between the Bengals and Jets, whoever has a better record. And then the Bengals have the tiebreaker, right? They have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the New York Jets. They won that game in week three. So I do think the Cincinnati Bengals sneak in the final hour.

I don't see them being a deep postseason contenders, but I do think they're ultimately a playoff team. You're sleeping on Bill, man. You're sleeping on Bill, check. sleeping on Bill? I'm sleeping on Bill. Oh, man, that's always scary. That's always scary. I never want to sleep on Bill, man. All right, all right. We'll see. We'll see. All right. Next team. The I don't know what I'm doing team. And this one is maybe I'm too low. The Arizona Cardinals. So the Arizona Cardinals are number 23. And I write the power rankings every single week. And every single week I try and like tie my hands behind my back and not just completely roast Cliff Kingsbury.

But it's hard not to. Cliff Kingsbury this past week, after losing, as a two, point favorite at home over the Seattle Seahawks. His record is the NFL head coach falls to 27 and 30. His home record dropped to 10, 18, and 1. Only the Lions, Panthers, Jaguars, commanders, and Texans have fewer wins at home since Cliff took over in 2019. The Cardinals' offense has never ranked top 10 in EPA per play since Kingsbury took over.

His offense in the Power 5 when he was at Texas Tech did not rank inside the top 20 And EPA per play before he had Patrick until he had Patrick Mahomes a couple years ago like 2015 or whatever it was. Like this team has really struggled

in the area that Cliff needs to have success. That's building an offense that is one of the best in the league. And it just hasn't been that. This year, the offense ranks 20th

in EPA per play. It's the worst since Cliff Kingsbury has taken over. Yes, Kyler Marie is some of that. I don't think he's completely absolved from blame.

You saw the fumble in this one. That was a great play by Ryan Neal, but still, I just don't know, even with the contract extension, I just don't know how the Arizona Cardinals miss the playoffs again,

where the offense is an obvious weakness again, how they continue with Cliff Kingsbury. Am I wrong to say the Arizona Cardinals are the 23rd ranked team in the NFL, and am I wrong to say that Cliff has to be out at the end of the season? I know how that's going to happen, how he's going to come back. What's the name of this segment again? I don't know what I'm doing.

Yeah, that's the Cardinals with every decision they make. So, yeah, he's going to be back. I think you are a little too low. I think their ceiling is a little higher week to week, just now that they have D-Hop back, I think that changes things. I still agree with every point you've made. I think Cliff is not,

here's my take on Cliff. I think he was better than he was given credit for when he first got hired. Like it was seen as like this, this just awful, inexplicable hire. I think like he's proven that he's not an NFL head coach, but I think he could make it like as a,

a mediocre offensive coordinator at the pro level. I think he could be an elite run game coordinator. I think their run game is still very fun, well designed. It's just that one, he doesn't design the passing game well. I don't think he understands past protections well. That's why we've seen like this drastic split between when they have Rodney Hudson out there and when he's not out there. It's because that's a professional center taking control of the protections. And when he's not out there and you have Kyler Murray kind of taking control of it, it doesn't work out as well, obviously. I do think that Kyler Murray

kind of like makes this offense look worse than it is at times and I think that this offense makes Kyler Murray look worse than he is at this. I think it's just like a toxic relationship that needs to be split up. The Cardinals are not going to recognize that though.

The issue, I think the reason I don't know if the Arizona Cardinals will ultimately move on from Kingsbury after this year is that again he has an excuse that okay for the first six game of the season we didn't have DeAndre Hopkins and that really limited to the offense, whatever.

And the excuse, again, is that he signed a seven-year contract extension with Steve Kime this off-season. And I know I've talked poorly on Steve Kime. You know, he's been with the Arizona Cardinals since 1994, and I don't think he's done enough to still be there. But are you going to give Steve Kime another opportunity to hire another head coach? I don't know. Like, that doesn't make any sense to me. Like, I, the Arizona Cardinals, I think I've seen multiple tweets over the last few weeks. It's like, can someone explain the Arizona Cardinals?

I can't. That's why they're in this segment. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what to do. I think that Cliff Kingsbury makes Kyla Murray worse. I think Kyla Murray is also some of the issue, but also just isn't thriving within this offense. And from a talent-building standpoint,

I don't think that Steve Kime has done enough with the resources given to build a top-flight roster. I think that he spent too much resources off-ball linebacker in Zavin Collins and Isaiah Simmons. I know Zeminx had the pick six this week, but whatever. I think Zach Allen, the Boston College defensive man, has played a lot better, but still in a low-value position. Andy Isabella, the second-round pick,

that Cliff Kingsbury bang the table. for didn't even barely play for this football team. Like, there were still a lot of concerns with how this roster was constructed. There are a lot of concerns with, I think, how the offense is built around Kyler Murray. So much that, if it weren't for this seven-year extension looming for both Kime and Kingsbury, I think we would be talking about, you know, the Arizona Cardinals potentially parting ways with either one of these guys or both of these guys. But who knows what will ultimately happen.

What I do know is no one's betting the Arizona Cardinals plus $1,300 to make the playoffs now. Like, you're not seeing this team bounce back at the second half of the season. So again, it's going to be another season where the Arizona Cardinals missed the playoffs. Cliff Kingsbury doesn't have a postseason win in his career. Like, when are we going to stop creating excuses for these guys? I don't know. What's the funniest hire they could make to replace Cliff? And why is it urban-minded?

Jeff Saturday's brother. Does Jeff Saturday have a brother? I don't know. I don't know the funniest coaching. I mean, I'd like to see Sean Payton here. I don't think that's funny. I think that would be sick. Like Sean Peyton with Tyler, I think would be interesting.

Because that's the other part of this too. It's like the seven-year extension, I keep bringing it up with Kime and Kingsbury is not against the cap. And we saw with Carolina Panthers, they have 40 million due to Matt Rule and they're still like, yeah, no thanks. We're going to move on.

Like, it's not crazy to look at a seven-year contract extension and still fire one of Kime or Kingsbury or even both. But what you're not going to do is move on from Kyla Murray who they signed to a $250 million extension. Like that counts against the cap.

You can't fuck around with that. Kyle Murray's here whether you like it or not. I don't think Bidwell would be willing to pay that. But I wouldn't trust Kime to hire the next head coach. Like, do you look at his track record of hiring coaches, it's really bad. His only good hire was Bruce Ariens.

And maybe that was nepotism. Maybe that was like bald goatee having nepotism. Like the second candidate was Stone Cold Steve Austin. That makes sense. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised. I think he's definitely gotten calls. The third one was like that security guard from the Jerry Springer show. You're just looking for people that look kind of similar.

Oh, man, that's tough. That's tough. Well, I'm interested to see what the Arizona Cardinals do this offseason, because I think their season's over. Like, I don't think they're making the postseason. And they're going to have to, they're going to have to make another hard look in the mirror, talk themselves into again this Kime Kingsbury combo

that has failed, absolutely failed to produce on the football field. All right. Last team in the, I don't know what I'm doing segment. Chicago Bears. I have them at number 26, which I think might be too low, given, like, how good Justin Fields has looked recently. He just broke the regular season rushing record in a single game with 178 yards.

the record he broke, like, go back and watch that Michael Vick game. Like, I think it's funny. I don't often say this when players break single game records to go back and watch the guy he beat. Like, go watch what Michael Vick was doing in that game. Like, it was dumb. And that game went to overtime. Like, what he did in this game against Miami Dolphins, and you saw everyone I think has seen the Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel,

like him screaming stop at Justin Fields and then that press conference saying he didn't listen to coaching. He wasn't stopping scrabling. Like, this was a really, really crazy game for Justin Fields to be decisive, run the football with efficiency. with great efficiency, and give the Chicago players a chance against one of the best, most explosive offenses in the NFL. Now, they still lost this game, and they're, like, still marching on potentially being a team

that picks in the top 10 in the NFL draft. But the good news is Justin Fields has played well, and they're starting to cater an offense around his skill set. More good news is losing in week nine should only help them get a better pick in the 20-23 draft, and they have $45 million more in Capspace in 2020. They need the team in the league. no one's going to bet Chicago at plus 480 to make 1480 to make the playoffs this year. But man,

like these are steps in the right direction. I didn't like the Chase Claypool trade. I didn't like moving on from Roquan Smith. But man, Justin Fields playing well and them continuing to march on what should be a very spendy offseason. I don't think that's a right word, but I kind of like it. Spendy offseason. I kind of like the Chicago's Bears team in 2024 and beyond. Do we think that they are going to spend this offseason? That's my one question. I hope they don't take like the Ballard route and try to like conserve

and just try to build up cap space and build up draft capital. I really hope they put it's a good use. I think that's like, I know like analytics guys are going to get a lot of shit for hyping up Chris Ballard, but I think like he had the right approach initially when he was collecting resources to build a roster.

He just never put him to use. And I don't think even the analytics people advocate for that style of team building. I hope that we see an aggressive offseason from this team. I hope they recognize what they do have in Justin Fields. And I'm not high on Justin Fields as a passer. I think even this last game wasn't that impressive. If anything, it was pretty bad.

But you could build an offense around a runner that skilled. That has been proven. Time. And again, we see it in Philadelphia. Like, I'm not saying Jalen Hertz is that type of quarterback right now. But when he first started, he was a little rough around the edges. And they were still able to put together a viable playoff level offense. And I think the Bears, if they can add a couple pieces, improve the offensive line,

we'll be able to do that, even if Justin Fields doesn't take a massive leap as a passer. I just hope the front office is willing to take that chance on him. And I know there have been questions about their commitment to him long term, but we will see this offseason

because they have the resources. I haven't looked a lot. I got to admit at the 2020-3 free agent class, but I think it might be time for Chicago Bears to start looking at the 2023 free agent class, looking at some receivers, looking at some offensive linemen, looking at some support for the Chicago Bears

and this office. offense and seeing where they can spend and where they can spend appropriately to help start building around him. Why did they not make the Ridley trade? True, true, true. That, the Jaguars trade for Ridley was objectively better than what the Bears did with Chase Claypool. And I'll say the best receiver trade we've seen after A.J. Brown, obviously, so in season,

I think the chief's getting Cadarius Tony for like a late day, two, day three picks. Like, he obviously wasn't panning out in New York. And when I was out there in the locker room in New York, it was like right around week three, like around that Cowboys game, like, man, I don't like to speculate. But like, can you just tell that like this was an outcast in the Giants locker room? Like, like, he just was not, he was not a fit for what they were trying to do. And, you know, you talk about him not playing because he was hurt and then immediately playing because he wasn't.

Like, I don't know, man. It was a weird relationship that he had with that coaching staff and with those teammates. Now in Kansas City already seeing snaps on this offense, I think that's probably the best receiver trade we saw in season. That Chase Claypool Trade makes no sense. And I hope, as a big Calvin Ridley fan, I think one of the best route runners in the NFL, I hope that he pans out in Jacksonville

and, you know, kind of recovers from the, obviously, the gambling suspension and all that stuff. One more team I wanted to bring up, and this isn't in the rundown, so I'm kind of throwing something at you wild and hot. I don't know what I'm doing. Green Bay Packers ranked 20th in the power rankings. I don't want

you to answer, are the Green Bay Packers bad, and should they be 20th? They probably could be lower. What I want you to answer is, where does Aaron Rogers play in 2023? Don't tell me the best bet. Don't tell me odds. If you had to say where he plays next year, do you think it's Green Bay? Or do you think an Ursay or one of these GMs, you know, Teper in Carolina, one of these GMs makes a frantic move for a blue chip name in Aaron Rogers for a Green Bay Packers team

that I think could be looking to move on from him? and Rogers, who could be looking to move on from Green Bay. Yeah, I don't think it's Green Bay that moves on from him. So I think it's up to Rogers. I think he plays in Green Bay next year. I don't think he wants to go to Indianapolis, which that would be my other pick. I would say Indianapolis would sell out to get him.

I think that we've kind of seen them try to rectify mistakes. And they were one of the names that were floated around with Matt Stafford. They obviously didn't pursue him like the other teams did. And I think that Ursa might look back on that and be like, oh, shit, we're not letting that happen again. Let's give up the farm for Aaron Rogers. And I do think that, like, if they fix the offensive line and add another receiver, I think that move would work out. Because I think Rogers could still play a little. I think his problem right now, besides the personnel around him, is the same problem we saw at the end of Mike McCarthy's time in Green Bay,

where it's almost like he's playing petulantly and that's forcing him to miss throws that he didn't use to miss. And because you still see the high level play. Like even against the lines, the fourth down to extend the game was an amazing throw, like a second reaction throw, pressure in the pocket, bearing down on him.

He has to look all the way to the other side of the field, throws a pass up to Toray, floats it over a man defender in tight, coverage, perfect pass, under pressure, on fourth down, with the game on the line. Like, he still has that in him. I think down to down is where you see some inconsistency that we didn't see before. But if you get him behind a good offensive line with some good receivers, with a good coaching staff, and you're in the playoff race and he trusts the team around him, I think you'll

see something close to what we saw last year. I think ultimately, if I was a betting man, you gave me even money with everything. team in the NFL. I'm saying he plays with the Green Bay Packers next season. But I will not be surprised if there is some offseason stir, right? Some reporters, he said, she said, Rogers thinking of leaving, Packers exploring options, that kind of stuff. I would not be surprised if some of that happens after the season. And you look at teams like Carolina, Indiana, Indianapolis, maybe even Washington, like just starting to consider a little Aaron Rogers in their future just because, you know, the quarterback situations over there are bleak with no obvious way out.

I mean, in this, I hate to look this far in advance, but in this quarterback class, I think the Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud are the two that I talked about the most at the top of the class after that. Will Levis has not looked at maybe as good as people thought. Tanner McKee at Stanford has really struggled to say, like there's other guys that I think that could go in the first round, but I don't know if it's going to be anywhere near the,

what looked like on paper a league saving class where five guys went in the first round, including Mac Jones, and Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Sack Wilson. So I don't know. I think there are going to be some teams that are sniffing around Green Bay, Lambo, for what the Rogers price point might be. Yeah.

All right, closing out to show here with Game of the Week, shame of the week. This is where I highlight the game of the week, which I think will be the biggest game, and then the shame of the week, the one that everyone should watch, even though it's going to be disgusting. The two games I have for you,

and I'm interested if you have a disagreement. Best game next week, even though it's a six and a half point line, Vikings at Bills. Vikings are the only one last team in the NFL. Bills, obviously, a juggernaut in the AFC, coming off a disappointing loss against the Jets. they are six and a half point favorites over the Vikings at home.

Am I right to highlight? Is this one of the bigger games in the week? And what's your early reaction, early perception of this game? No, I think it's the one that I'm looking forward to the most. And mostly because I want to see how Josh Allen looks. There's concerns about his elbow now. He's like kind of stretching it during the game against the Jets. I don't think that had to do with his poor performance.

Like the interceptions had nothing to do with his arm. But I want to see, and I also want to see like this Vikings team play a real contender. We haven't really seen that. I know they played the Eagles, but I think even the Eagles are a little weird because there are question marks

about the quarterback position. I don't trust this Vikings team, but I do think, like, if the Vikings are going to be a contender, they should be able to take advantage of a Bill's defense that is very good, but I think it's the kind of defense that this type of offense,

like the Shanahan type of offense, the McVeigh type of offense, can exploit. because there are questions about the safety position. I think you can attack the secondary. I think the defensive line is good, but it's also not a moving target. They don't mix up their fronts.

They don't mix up their looks. They just come out and play. And I think for a McVeigh or Shanahan type of offense, those systems tend to take advantage of those defenses, the static defenses. So I think the Vikings have a chance. So I think this is a good measuring stick for both teams. I want to be wrong about the Minnesota Vikings.

I want to be wrong that we shouldn't be buying them as a deep postseason contender because Kirk is still limited on obvious passing situations and they're very predicated on Kevin O'Connell creating open throws. I want to be wrong about that. But I think in this Bill's game, you're going to see some of that. I think you're going to see maybe not the blowout that we saw in primetime against the Eagles, but I do think you're going to see the limitations. You're going to see the – you saw the limitations against Washington.

Like, if Taylor Heineke wasn't – I love the expression you used, a stuntman quarterback. If Taylor Heineke wasn't just a legitimate disaster play-to-play, the Vikings probably lose that game. Like that interception that Heineke threw to end, and that game was awful. And I think that Minnesota is hanging by a thread in a lot of these games. I think against the Buffalo Bills,

you could see some of the exploitations of the offense in Kirk Cousins. What do we think? Like, let's say Josh Allen's arm is only 90%. And we know that, like, there's much more to his game than that. But we know that's his superpower. Like, that's his thing. It's having the rocket arm. What do you think this bill's offense looks like if that's the case for the rest of the year?

And this is like a nagging injury. Hmm. I still think it's a top five offense in the NFL. I agree. I still think that Josh Allen's probably the second best quarterback in the NFL at 90%. Honestly, I think that's how different him and Mahomes are. I think there's been, and we're going to get into this later, I have a treat for you at the back end of the show where we talk some quarterbacks.

Because I've seen your Twitter talking MVP's. I want to get into some quarterbacks that are vying for that spot with Patrick Mahomes. we'll talk about that later. But man, I do think that 90% of Josh Allen, I'm taking him over every other quarterback in the NFL except for Patrick Mahom. Herbert's better, but I agree. I agree.

The shame of the week, and we don't have to spend too much time on this, but like Jeff Saturday and the Annapolis Colts going to Las Vegas against the Raiders who are a six and a half point favorite, where Josh McDaniels has lost three games where they've led by 17 or more points. This could be an all-time disaster class.

If Josh McDaniels loses, is this is not hyperbole. This is not in jest. If Josh McDaniels loses, you have to fire him. He does not. I don't know what to tell you. You can't lose to an ESPN analyst

at head coach on the opposite sideline. That is the peak. What do you do here? There's a lot of other people too are talking about like, oh, Jeff Saturday, well, what if he does well, all this is so much for the league, blah, blah, blah.

If Jeff Saturday has success as a head coach in Indianapolis Colts, the fingers being pointed at a lot of coaches in this league that are struggling to put together complete game plans and win games, especially by leading by 17 points. So Raiders are six and a half point favorites.

I think that's must watch TV to see, one, what the Colts offense looks like after essentially hiring an ESPN analyst as coach. And I think we just saw Twitter just announced that he is naming 30-year-old past game specialist assistant quarterback's coach Parks Frazier as the offensive play caller starting Sunday against a Raiders. So we'll see what he can do. Sure, that's a real person. He exists. He exists. So that game, I think it's going to be the shame of the week. I agree.

I do agree. McDaniels gets, like, I don't even think he makes it to the end of the game. If they're not winning at halftime by at least a touchdown, fire him at half time. Honestly, no, I'm serious. I don't think this would be one of the more embarrassing losses. This will be the most embarrassing loss of the season for the Raiders if they lose. I'm betting them at minus six. I think they're a good teaser leg if you want to take down the six-point teaser.

I know teasers aren't hitting this year, but still, like, if the Raiders don't win this game, like if the Raiders don't win this game, I'd be really surprised. Also, I would want to attend the owner's dinner before the, the night before the game. That's got to be a wild one with Davis and Hersey. That's going to be an absolute treat. Oh, man, I wish I was there.

All right. Last but not least, usually this is where you come in. Jason Goff leaves. Or no, he doesn't leave. He stays on. We talk about some quarterbacks. I have three quarterbacks I want to discuss with you

because you're on Twitter defending the rightful take that Paschwell Holmes is the obvious MVP. Now, he is the favorite. If you look at Fandul, he is the favorite to win the MVP award. So that makes 100% sense. However, there are a lot of fans

that are vying for three other guys. Josh Allen's in the mix, but after losing the Jets, he's going to fall down in the rankings. Lamar Jackson, who I think has a legitimate case, Tuudung of I Loa and Jalen Hertz, who I don't think have legitimate cases. Let's walk through those three quarterbacks, how they've played this year, and honestly, your positioning on where they are in the MVP race, and also how much each offense, respectively, is helping them. Because starting with Jackson, we've talked about this before.

Great Roman's doing nothing for this guy. He's 100% of this offense. He's the only thing that stirs the drink, and the Ravens are only deep playoff competitive because of him. That's my take. It's so funny that the running game has all these moving parts to it. Like you have Patrick Ricard, you have multiple tight ends come on the field. You have like pistol formations, crowded backfields.

And the only time that any of the run plays work is when Lamar is like reading, it's like an option play. Like none of the other plays, the running plays work at all with all these moving parts. The offense is bad. The running game is good at the expense of the passing game because of everything they have to do personnel-wise and formation-wise to run that. run game. I did not watch the Ravens game live last night. I watched it this morning. And my takeaway was, holy shit, Lamar Jackson. Like, why wasn't there more talk about how good LaBar was last

night? I have not seen the film. So this is based off broadcast. But it was one of the more impressive quarterback performances I've seen this year. Every throw was contested. The pockets were not clean, but he avoided the pressure. Every run play, his gravity was apparent. Like the touchdown run, the short touchdown run around the goal line, like you never see that big of a lane for a running back on a goal line run, but you saw it because Lamar Jackson was on the field. The throws were, like he missed two throws maybe, and those throws stand out because those are the only times he really has an open receiver to throw to.

So I think like his misses get highlighted more because you don't, he doesn't get a big margin for error. Whereas like Tua, for instance, come on now. We all watch the game on Sunday. He cost Jalen Waddle a touchdown. He caused Tyreek Hill a touchdown on the first drive, although they did get a pass interference because the throw was so bad. He caused Tyreek another touchdown on a wheel route where Tyreek dusted his man.

There was no one in between him and the end zone, and the ball just dies in midair. And it turns into a 20-yard gain instead of a 70-yard gain. That's the difference between him and his numbers and Lamar and his numbers. It's, I don't know, if you have eyes and you watch both of these, players play, and you could throw Jalen Hertz into that Tua category, it's not even a contest. It just looks different.

It just looks different. It looks like they're playing two different sports. I don't think you can watch all three quarterbacks, and specifically all three offenses, and not come away with the takeaway that is Lamar Jackson is far and away, the biggest elevator of the scheme and the talent that the offense has. Whereas Tewutu Tungu-Tung-Wil-Hertz, I think both have played well this year.

It's not mutually exclusive, like not in the key conversation and playing like shit, it's not like, it's not like, it's not like that. Tua's going below is playing well. Watch the deep throws. Like, like there was that to a comment, I think in a press conference where he's like got better on the deep throws, huh? And there was a little sarcasm there. But like, watch the deep throws.

Like he's still underthrowing these balls. And like, yes, there's past interferences. Yes, he's giving his guy a chance. And there's like ways to talk your way into those deep throws. They're still not good. And with Jalen Hertz, you mentioned it earlier. Like I watched, you mentioned earlier that there's questions at the quarterback position with the Eagles.

Expand on that. What are you seeing? Because like, when you look at it from an EPA per dropback perspective, after week three, Hertz has been middle of the pack in terms of efficiency that's EPA per dropback. What have you seen not necessarily changed with Jalen Hertz, but what should be the national perspective on Jalen Hertz beyond he's an eight, he's eight, no, he's eight, no, he's on the best team in football?

I think the difference is the ball placement has been more inconsistent. It's something I pointed out on Twitter a lot to Eagles fans who are just grilling me for not having them even higher than 10th. But I still think he leaves a lot of meat on the bones. There are a lot of throws that are there that he just doesn't make. It's the throws that he doesn't make along with that ball placement question. It's still happening. It's not happening as much as it did in the past.

So there's progress there. And I think Eagles fans should be excited about where he's going as a quarterback. Because this is every year now that he's getting better and better and better. There's clear improvement every single year. Going back to his time at Alabama, even. You could say the same thing

about Lamar Jackson. But I think eventually in three years, I wouldn't be surprised if Jaylen Hertz is almost like a Dak Prescott

type of quarterback because there is, there's a clear understanding of football when you watch his film. Like he does stuff before the snap.

They give him a lot of responsibility before the snap to change calls, to check to runs, to change protections. I don't think the post-snap

load is very heavy for him. I think there are a lot of basic concepts to make it easier on him. And you could do that when you have a lot of talent, when you have an offensive line. And I do think he also contributes to that because he is such a threat in the run game. I don't want to take the credit that he deserves away from him. I just don't want to give him more credit than he deserves. He's just not an MVP candidate. And it's apparent when you watch him on film. It's apparent that he is not the best player on that team. I would argue that Jason Kelsey is more important to that offense right now than Jalen Hertz. I think that you're ending this show on what a lot of the conversation on this podcast feed

and a lot of other podcast feeds is when analyzing and discussing the NFL is trying to look at everything but record to evaluate the best players, the best teams, all of that. And I think that's what this power rankings file is. That's what a lot of the analysis is every single week. The easy way out. And I've been someone that takes easy way out on the power rankings file. Cough, cough, Cove, Minnesota Vikings at five. It's easier to say the Vikings are the second best team in the NFC

because they have the second best record in the NFC because Vikings fans are going to like slit your throat in your sleep. The harder against the grain analysis is to say no, Jalen Hertz on the eight-no Eagles isn't as good or isn't as much in the MVP conversation as Lamar Jackson, who yes, has lost three games. Because you have to sift through more things than the record. You have to sift through more things than the final scores of games,

which when you look at ranking what fans care about of any data point or any piece of evidence in the world in terms of evaluating their team, wins is number one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. They don't care if the whole team is terrible. As long as they're winning games, they were able to talk themselves into how any quarterback's playing, how any players playing, et cetera. For me, it's one of the last things,

and I've said this a ton of times on this podcast. It's one of the last things you look at, how to actually evaluate player performance and team performance and strength, team strength. Going into a postseason or going into certain games, you have to look at much more things than the record or else the teams that have more wins would always be favored or the teams that always have more wins

would always be the Jets have more wins than the Bengals and have worse odds to make the playoffs. Why? Because team record isn't as important as how the fucking team is. Like that's how it works. That's how this works. Let's bring Pat Mahomes into this now. And I want to take Lamar Jackson out of the equation because I think that's just a separate case

because Lamar Jackson's numbers aren't where twoas, Jalen Hertz and Patrick Mahomes are. So I think it's a different conversation with him. and let's give proper credit to those two players for what they're doing in their offenses, which are very good. Tua is the key to the RPO game, which is the foundation of the early down offense for the Dolphins.

He gets rid of the ball quickly on those RPO's. He uses his eyes to manipulate players. He's making no look throws a lot. And he gets the ball out in quick game, and he's accurate. Now Jalen hurts. He is a creative force for that offense. Like when things break down, he can get outside of the pocket and create.

He is involved in the run game. He also runs the RPO's. And he throws a beautiful deep ball. I am not denying that. Now, go back and list all of those things I just said about those two quarterbacks. They all apply to Patrick Mahomes. And then he adds everything else that Patrick Mahomes does. You drop him into either of those offenses and records are being shattered.

Records are being shattered. Tyree Kill might have 1,500. yards right now. And I know it's easy to say, oh, you played with Tyree Kill and that didn't happen. Here's a hot take for you. Andy Reid overrated now. He's been coasting off his reputation for two years, man. Wow. Watch that offense this year. This year in particular, I think. Because last year, I think Pat wasn't as good as he has been this year. I think the criticisms of his game last year were somewhat valid. Like, not the Spotrack guy posting his contract. Now, that was ridiculous. But, like, he He wasn't getting the most out of that offense.

This year is totally different. And I don't even think the scheme is really helping him. I think having Travis Kelsey is helping him. But those receivers are, those are replacement players. And I don't mean they're like replacement level players. I think that you could find a lot of players to come in and replicate what Juju Smith,

Schuster is doing for them. You could find a lot of players who replicate what MVS has done for them. I don't know about Hardman because he's more unique, but I think you can find another speech. Mejones just makes it all work, man. They're putting, like, highly difficult throws on the backside of concepts that only Mahomes and Allen can make, and he's making them consistently. And that's what's keeping this offense, which doesn't really have a deep threat right now.

He's not pushing the ball more than 20 yards down field a whole lot. But defenses can't come in and sit on short stuff because he's so good at the mid-range game right now. This is Michael Jordan, the second act of Michael Jordan's Bulls career. I did this on the island with Nora Princeati talking about, I think it was Patch from Holmes throwing five to 15 yards downfield in 2021. It was 29th in EPA per attempt. This year he's first by a country mile. He has elevated throwing to that level of the field because it's because the offense is called for it, right? It's because Tyrakema Kill isn't on this football team anymore. I think it's

100 fewer completions of 20 plus air yards through week nine have happened this year compared to last year. People are calling more too high coverages. I think 40% of early downs teams are calling too high coverages. Like, you are trying to stop deep balls. And Patrick Mahomes said, guess what? I'll change then. And he changed to this money mid-range, Michael Jordan S thing. And my favorite stat is this offense led by Patchma Holmes, and you just called Andy Reid overrated, 1.2 EPA per drive. The second team in the NFL is the Buffalo Bills, averaging 0.6 EPA per drive.

They are double the second best team in EPA per drive. Like, they are a cheat code, an absolute cheat code. And so much of that is Patrick from Holmes. You insert any other quarterback into this offense. You are every single week being like, wow, they lost Tyree Kill, Jujsman Schuster doesn't have it. Clyde Wood Saler was a boss. Orlando Brown-Junes allowing a lot of pressure.

The only reason you're not bringing up how bad this supporting cast is is because Patrick Mahomes. And again, that's why the MVP conversation is moot right now. I think it's Mahomes and nobody else. I'm going to end the podcast with this, Steve. We're running up on an hour. Parks Frazier, the new offensive play caller for the Indianapolis Colts. He's 30 years old was a grad assistant for Arkansas State.

in 2017. Guess who the officiant of his wedding was? It was Frank Reich. Am I surprised? Am I surprised? No. Relationships off the field drive the entire NFL. Driving the entire NFL. You're going to tell me Frank Reich's going to be the efficient at a dude's wedding and then fire him a little bit later. No.

Like he was the assistant to the head coach for the last three years. It's 2018. Or four years. Why? These relationships, man. It's a relationships league. You better get Frank Reich to officiate your wedding if you want to stick around. I mean, I don't know.

That's not, we don't know about Parks Frazier, but I'm just not surprised. I'm not surprised that so much of the NFL is continually driven by these off-the-field relationships and who's the best to have a beer with or who has the same dad as me or I'm on me and all that stuff is all so much of it. Thank you so much for listening. The boys have been buzzing all day long on this podcast. I'm excited to go through it. Make sure you listen to the rest of this feed, the island on Wednesdays with Norfolk

The Scramble on Thursdays with Shil Kapadia. And then also the ringer preview show, Ruiz joins back, Benjamin Solak, Danny Hyfitz. Big shout out. Big thank you to our producers, Connor Nevins, Regina Ram Kippal and Carlos Churaboga. Until next time, Austin Gale, Steve Ruiz. Hopefully, Jason Gough, I don't know.

I don't know where he's at. But hopefully him, the Power Ranker's show.