2025 NFL Week 4 NFC Preview

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Jourdan Rodrigue and Patrick Claybon to preview the Week 4 NFC home games around the NFL, starting with the Eagles at the Buccaneers (01:40) followed by Colts at Rams (11:00), Packers at Cowboys (21:16), Chargers at Giants (28:48), Commanders at Falcons (38:26), Jaguars at 49ers (43:45), and Browns at Lions (51:27). 

Note: time codes approximate.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to NFL Daily, where it really didn't pay off
to be a Baker Mayfield doubter for all those years.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Like I've given up, it's over.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
We have one of the best rivalries in the league. Yes,
I'm Greg Rostal. We're in the Chris Westling podcast studio.
Hopefully you listen to part one of this week's preview
the AFC, but we're here in the NFC and it
includes a matchup Eagles Bucks, which there's a lot to
get to in this one. That includes one of my

(00:36):
favorite rivalries in the NFL, and that's Todd Bowles versus
Jalen Hurts. It really has been kind of a through
line over the last four years.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Yeah, just sending human bodies flying at Jalen Hurts has
been successful for Todd Bowles. And it was actually an
interesting discussion on Fantasy Love today because our producer Alex
Wilk is a big Rams fan. Randomly, the December eighth
Baker Mayfield Thursday Night Football game came up. He said
that was one of the best ten games in the
Sean McVay era, which caused me to lose my mind.

(01:05):
And it's been an argument all day. But yeah, randomly.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Why because the rest of the game until that final
drive was kind of boring? Or why or there's just
been so many good moments. Why did it make you
so mad?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, because there's been so many great rams moments in
the Sean McVay era that the seventeen point performance on
Thursday Night Football, when Baker Mayfield did what Josh Dobbs
did twice with two different teams. Wow, somehow becomes the
thing that we remember.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Who knows who would guess that he'd be the hater?

Speaker 4 (01:33):
Do you know what I bet Eagles fans really love
right now that we're talking about Sean McVay. Yes, in
the middle of the Eagles Bucks blot.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
The Eagles pulled that off, and they bring all of
that those positive vibes greg into this game three and
a half point favorites against Let's be honest, if hurt
Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that is very fortunate to be
at three and zero forty nine and a half is
the over under Kevin Burkhart, Tom Brady and Aaron Andrews
on the call. Do they pull this off?

Speaker 1 (02:03):
I would doubt it, But doubting the Bucks has not
been profitable, it's not been the way to get your
picks right. The injury situations, I think we should just
like go over going into the weeks because it is
so crucial for both of these teams. First, let's start
with the surprising news, which is that Nolan Smith, the

(02:24):
Eagles edge, is going on injured reserve. That came out
of nowhere, at least as far as I know, and
I think they've been a little short on their edge
pass rushing this season. Even last week against the Rams
it wasn't great, So like that hurts. We mentioned Mike
Evans is going to be out for three or four weeks.
Chris Godwin was seen at practice. You know, even if

(02:46):
he did return, try to imagine, you know, him having
a massive impact right away. But he might be back,
and Tristan Wurs might be back. It's too early in
the week for him to know.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
They're so injured. And that's why I've park been so
impressed with what the Bucks have sort of willed themselves
to do. I don't know if it works out for
them this week. I think the Eagles are just this
like avalanche that just smothers people once they actually put
it all together and get over sort of the slow
start situations, and they just are are this like monolithic

(03:19):
presence to me of how they're built in the way
that they can overwhelm you at almost every single position
on the field. But you guys know this, I love
the Bucks. I've had so much fun watching the Bucks
for a couple of years now, but really these last
three games, because it's just been first of all, Emica
Ibuka has looked amazing, second of all, and he got baded,
and he's been banged up too. I mean, he's I

(03:41):
would not call him fully healthy right now, even despite
the fact that he's been producing. You know, I love
their run game. I love their run defense, which right
now is number one in the NFL right now best
defensive success rate against the run. Right now, they're they're
forcing unsuccessful rushes at nearly a seventy four percent rate,
allowing just three point six yards per carry. That it's
really cool coming into a Saquon Barkley Jalen Hurts game.

(04:04):
I think this is going to be a battle. I
think this is going to be like a scratching, clawing,
long nails fight, and this is going to be fun.
But I don't know that the Bucks are healthy enough
to sustain four quarters of a fight like that.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
And considering their health. I was shocked to find out
there's actually two teams that have blitzed more defensive backs
than they Buccaneers this season somehow, especially after seeing everybody
fly at the ball in that last game, including Antoine
Winfield Junior, who's back to being one of the better
players in the NFL. But I think they have to.
I think they have to, and I think that changes

(04:40):
the script a little bit for Philadelphia because in all
that postgame just euphoria where both Jalen Hurts and AJ
Brown are talking about how aggressive they should be. I
don't know if this is the opportunity to start off
the game like that. Maybe you kind of build towards
that and you pick and choose your spots because the
Bucks are going to be blitzing and I think are
going to be blitzing heavy.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
But knowing going into the game that a mismatch is
Saquon Barkley versus you know, a defense, and that the
mismatches that you're expecting Saquon Barkley to get shut down
is such a strange place for the Eagles to be
and I think it's gotten lost in the predictable Kevin
Patulo and AJ Brown situation, Like they're not a good

(05:23):
running team right now, and they're not getting explosives. He's
averaging three point three yards per carry. It's not like
we think Saquon Barkley. You know, we've talked about it
a lot on these previews. It is suddenly a bad
running back, but the running game is just not the same.
It does sound like Lane Johnson will probably be back
this week. Yeah, yeah, but even that I don't think

(05:44):
was like the reason that they've struggled. It's been it's
been for three weeks.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
Yeah, I mean, we're for those watching on YouTube. As
soon as you were having this discussion, there is a
rep where Cam Jurgens is three yards deep in the
backfield and the Rams are there and Saquon literally has
nowhere to go. Like the string of this unit isn't
what we expected it to be coming in.

Speaker 1 (06:05):
It's below average success, right, and yeah, going up against
that Bucks team mute, which surprisingly solid.

Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah, surprisingly so. I mean I know, like when I
think of Todd Bowles defense, he's had good run defenses.
Like every every once in a while he'll pop out
with like this insane run defense.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Yes, right, some of the best run defenses in the
history of the NFL, exactly as a coordinator.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
And as a coach.

Speaker 4 (06:24):
But when I think of him and how he's adjusted
and evolved in a passing league, he's become the guy
who sends the gnarly blitzes at you right and and
has no regard for human life while doing it. And
but but this Todd Bowles team, this defense where you know,
they had so many issues last year with injuries on

(06:45):
defense and tackling on defense and just holes where they're
there just should not have been holes that they are
playing physically fundamentally sound. I wouldn't say that this is
the best defense or even a top five defense when
you look at pound for pound in the NFL. But
they're playing smart, they're playing physically, and it starts up
front with what he's built specifically in stopping the run game.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
These first three weeks, there's only one Vita Vea, And
I think people have slept like the ya Ya Dabi
breakout has been quiet because it's just been like a
slow improvement.

Speaker 4 (07:20):
He just won't get that reference.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
What is it.

Speaker 4 (07:23):
From Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood?

Speaker 3 (07:27):
I thought you were referencing the Beyonce song.

Speaker 4 (07:29):
Oh, also a great reference that makes more sense.

Speaker 1 (07:33):
Either one works. He look, he he's turned into a guy.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
That I'm younger than both of you guys.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
Consistently gets pressure.

Speaker 1 (07:42):
I mean I would, yeah, ya, you know that's you're
not hitting the right demo there. I thought the sequel
was better Sister Pants too. You're looking at me like
there wasn't a sequel. There was definitely a sequel.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
It was great.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
So this is a sequel to a lot of these.
This is like this Hurts versus Bulls matchups.

Speaker 3 (08:05):
Second half of a trilogy where you know the I
think of the Sister Pants. You know, we saw with
Kellen Moore coming in and the adjustments to pressure kind
of being solved, and I think other than like Chared
Verse blasting Jalen Hurts the extents where I was concerned

(08:26):
he was going to be able to stay in the game.

Speaker 4 (08:28):
With Lane Johnson not in at the time.

Speaker 3 (08:30):
Yeah, where the Eagles dealing of pressure, Like, is we
really get to see this is our first chance to see,
like posts Kellen Moore, if the plan, if the pressure
plan is there, and if it's ready, and then on
the other side, Vic Fangio. We've seen Quinyon move around
a little bit more this year, and I think that
is out of necessity because Jacorey and Bennett. When he's

(08:52):
on the field, he's been he's been in coveraged twenty times,
he's been targeted ten times, like quarterbacks are seeing and
a lot of it's throwing the ball away from Quinnon.
But they're saying free money elsewhere in the secondary where
it wasn't like that in previous.

Speaker 1 (09:04):
No question, And like I do think this is just
a team coming together. It's amazing that they figured out
how to win this game. But I do think that
last week rather, I do think it is a matchup problem.
So because I was so confident thinking about this game,
like of course the Eagles are going like it really,
like Todd Bowles really is a problem for Jalen Hurts
the one game that they won, which everyone then was like, okay,

(09:26):
maybe they really did solve it, Like he threw a
couple picks in that game, and it was mostly a
defensive game. Last year, their worst game of the season,
the season that helped turn their season around, like in
a negative like it was a negative games they got
blasted by the Bucks. He has been blitzed on forty
six point seven percent of the snaps against Todd Bowles.

(09:47):
He's been better hurts this year, like when he's not blitzed,
just like normal. It's kind of back to normal and
he's going to have to put on his big sister
pants and get it going in this game, you know.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
I mean, Jordan's just laughing at me. Well, well, I'm talking.

Speaker 1 (10:03):
They've never really solved it is my final answer.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
Do the pants still travel? In the second movie?

Speaker 1 (10:10):
I never saw it, but I think it was just
kind of mocked that it even had a sequel. It's
just like one of those movies that gets used as
a punchline, which I think is frankly unfair and sexist.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yeah, it is definitely.

Speaker 2 (10:23):
I'm talking about our society schedule. Luck.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
By the way, for the Eagles, I mean they keep
they're getting the bucks at the right time. If you're
going to play the Bucks, I think it's right now
except for the heat night it's supposed to be ninety
one degrees there. It actually, I believe was a pretty
big factor at the end of that game. Like Hassan
Reddick guys were cramping up like last week, in Tampa,
Like you could almost see like the defensive players especially

(10:45):
lose their steam. And the Eagles are going there early.
I don't know if that'll solve things, Patrick, but they're
going there early to acclimate themselves to this explosive.

Speaker 3 (10:54):
Oh the big climatization. Look at this game. I'm looking
for or to just a fun matchup of unbeaten teams.
And you want to talk about a hot football team,
let's discuss Daniel Jones and the Indianapolis Colts at the
Los Angeles Rams, who were favored.

Speaker 4 (11:11):
This might be the game of the week.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Three and a half points the over unders forty nine
and a half. This game is the one with Kevin Coogler,
Moose Johnston and Alison Williams as Jordan, the Rams coming
off a heartbreaker and the Indianapolis Colts just smooth, easy
ride through the NFL season. How does it go?

Speaker 4 (11:28):
It's wild to me that this might be the game
of the week this week. It might be one of
the best games of the season so far, which we
certainly looking at the schedule when the schedule came out
or none of us were thinking. My big concern is
the book is kind of out on how to beat
the Rams this season, and it is to throw at
the perimeter if you can get blocked up in time.

(11:50):
They have a big weak spot at cornerback at Kella
Witherspoon is out. He's on IR with the clavigal injury.
And what they did with the Rams did this year
in staying pat at corner and yeah, they've brought in
some maybe less heralded free agency tries, guys who worked
out for him. All of that, it did workouts for
them earlier in the week. But it's Emmanuel Forbes who's

(12:13):
banged up coming out of that Eagles game. It's Kobe Durant,
and it's Darius Williams who was benched earlier this season.
And what they did and standing pat at a lot
of their positions was a expecting Emmanuel Forbes to take
a step forward, which I think he did. I mean,
being banged up stinks for him, but like I do
think he did take a step forward. And also to

(12:34):
depend on their pass rush to get home quicker than
the quarterback was comfortable actually throwing in high volume to
the perimeter. If Daniel Jones with all of the weapons
that they have on offense, not just a tight end
who can scheme into space and really attack this Rams secondary.
But also with the perimeter weapons they have, they're so
deep at receiver, this could be a real problem for

(12:56):
the Rams, especially if the Colts offensive line, which is
a strength in my opinion, can block up well enough
to at least make it so it's not quick pressure
coming at Daniel Jones and you can get the.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Ball out And lou Ana Rumo would hear that and
say like that's nice and all. I got to come
up with a plan with my cornerback Stravarius Ward is
back in the mix, but Xavian Howard, who I just
signed off the street, maybe my best cornerback, Kenymore is
not going to be available in this game, which is
a big loss. Like they lost a couple of their
players in the secondary, including a starter, so they might

(13:27):
have Makai Blackman out there, and we got to go
up against DeVante Adams and Pukinakua. So to your point
about it being the game of the week, like points,
I feel like it definitely could be a points game
because I think it's a big time test to see
what where the Colts are at offensively. Again, they have
played the Broncos, and they perform quite well. But it's

(13:49):
also a test I think I'm not so sure about
this Colts defense, which right now they're ranked pretty high.
Both these defenses are ranked better than average, not one
of the best defense in league, but better than Aura.
It's a big test to see where this Colts defense
is that because I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (14:04):
I need to see a little more.

Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yeah, in terms of the personnel, you know, there's a
reason for that concern with the Colts defense, but coach
On Rumo has had them executing at a very high level,
high level and you know, again justice for lou being
the theme of the twenty twenty five season overall. But
over on the offensive side, it's tough to make a
case that anybody's playing better offensively than Jonathan Taylor in

(14:27):
the entire league. And coming off a game where they
gave Saquon and the Eagles that amount of problems up front,
I think we'll see that we'll learn a bit a
little bit more about the fronts of all these teams
by how they're able to attack this unit, because all
the things Daniel Jones is doing right now are all
predicated off of that run game and they've been successful.
I'm also looking at Tyler Warrens tow yeah, to try

(14:49):
to see if that was, Hey, we're up against this
Titans team that's kind of struggling, their coaches doing weird things.
We don't need you to play in the fourth quarter
because we got the RAM next week, or this toe
is an issue. We're gonna have this versatle rookie tight
end set out because this toe is a problem. I'm
concerned about Tyler wall.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (15:08):
That's a great point too, because the Rams went from
the worst rushing defense in the NFL last year, among
the worst rushing defenses in the NFL last year, to
now they're about halfway midway in terms of defensive success
rate against the run. And I think that that's Puna Ford, obviously,
that's Nate Landman, but it's also guys like Kobe Turner,

(15:29):
Braden Fisk who's been a little banged up as well.
Just this young group getting better and then them adding
players where they need to. The biggest worry, like I said,
I have about this this Rams team is their perimeter corners.
Their safeties are good too. They make plays on the ball.
Chris Shula likes to blitz with Jalen McCullough quite a bit,
and that's something for Daniel Jones to have to look
out for as well. And on the opposite side, I

(15:50):
really worry about this interior offensive line for the Rams.
This is where they've invested draft picks. They've invested money,
and Steve Avula and Kevin Dotson have been banged up
and they have not been available two of them, Kevin
Dotson in and out of games the last couple of weeks,
and that's really bad. That was a swing in the
Eagles game, not just upfront, because Matthew Stafford was getting

(16:11):
a lot of quick pressure, he was making mistakes. Vick
Fango was throwing creepers at him, which Matthew Stafford clearly
did not expect to see Zach Bond showing pressure pre
snap and then actually dropping into coverage. Matthew Stafford threw
the ball right to him as if he expected Zach
Bond to actually have been blitzing those types of things.
When you're uninsecure with your front, especially with your interior front,

(16:32):
that's gonna throw a veteran quarterback off, and especially with
that quick pressure coming the way that is, and it
was clearly a factor on special teams too.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
It's a tough matchup too for their interior offensive line
because you have DeForest Buckner, you have Grover Stewart up
there like veterans, but they still get at time. These
two teams are kind of mirror images because they both
have run defenses like they're good, but they're not great.
They're like average, and they're two great running games. Actually,
the NFL leader success rate in terms of running the

(17:01):
ball right now is the Los Angeles Rams Kyrin William
Just you need five yards, I'm gonna give you six.
You need you need four yards, I'll give you five.
And then Blake Koram has looked really good. So it's
a lot of similarities. It's big time weapons and it's
two just gunslingers, that quarterback making a happen, Matthew Stafford
and Danny Dimes. That was sure, that's supposed to be

(17:24):
like a tongue in the cheek a little bit. Maybe
no out know Alec Pierce most likely this week he
is in the concussion protocol. So you mentioned, you know,
they're their problems on the outside. He is their best outside,
you know, pure receiver, and so that is a big
loss if the Colts don't have him. Man, it's sometimes

(17:45):
schedule luck is like it's all when you like, do
you get the Jake Browning Bengals or you to get
the Joe Burrow Bengals?

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Do you get?

Speaker 1 (17:50):
You know, this might be the right week where you're
just missing two of their best players for the Colts
for just one week and then more and Pierce are back.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
Alec Pierce the best field stretcher in the NFL. And
it's not even close. Like he's ahead of Jamison Williams
in yards perception by four yards.

Speaker 1 (18:05):
Okay, I want to bring up that is crazy, like
I and it's for his career. It's at the point
now whenever, and it's pretty rare. Whenever he catches a
short pass, I'm like, oh, you're going to ruin, Like
I don't want to ruin the average? Yeah, yeah, because
he's like you would go see those you know, receivers
on the Chargers in the seventies and they'd average you know,
twenty yards per catch for their whole career and you'd
be like, man, that would have been a crazy NFL

(18:27):
to watch. I want that. That's what Alec Pierce does
before we move on. I do just want to mention
how the Rams have been approaching the kickoffs, maybe more
than any team. It's been successful the method of line
driving the kick into the landing zone. And I want
to read where the Eagles started their drives against the

(18:48):
Rams after kickoffs. Okay, the twenty yard line, the nine
yard line, the fourteen yard line, the ten yard line,
and the twenty one yard line. A lot of what
we thought was like, you know, great defense and the
Rams dominating that game, was about the special teams because
that really helped the Rams get those field goal drives.

(19:10):
Like special teams is so big, and you're seeing this
more around the NFL. It hasn't changed the average line
of scrimmage because enough kicks are still going into the
end zone.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
But man, the whole league is different. Right now.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
It's only about twenty percent in terms of touchbacks and
last year was sixty five. I mean, it's totally different,
and I think it's going to keep changing. But teams
like the Rams are getting a huge advantage.

Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, that's Stanford Engineering Josh Carty who's working with an
oblong ball, and who'da thought an oblong ball moves around
real weird if you kick it a certain way. Same
thing happening in Carolina. They're experimenting with some of those
wobbly line drives as well. That's been a point of
emphasis for a couple of teams throughout the league, and
it is a factor for field position matters so much.

(19:56):
We've seen it with punting for years, and I think
we're starting to celebrate. We started to celebrate punting more rightfully,
so when you've got people pinning teams back and now
you're starting to see this a little bit with the
kickoff as well.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
Trying to get the numbers because we have the numbers
of the average line that teams are starting at and
what the numbers are for kickoffs over I want the
number of what is the average of the ball that
lands in the landing zone and is returned out because
it feels like it's like the twenty well, yeah, which
is a huge difference or even before. But the overall

(20:28):
kickoff numbers are actually about the same as a year ago.
So scoring is actually up, like yards are down because
the field position's shrunk. It's a lot going on, but
it really shows there's advantages to be had for some teams.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
Yeah, because the whole set and if you think about
it as an offensive play, it becomes a bad snap
in that instance, so you're having to take your eye
off the ball, the timing is changed up, your blockers
don't necessarily know where you are. And yeah, it leads
us to having positive kick trajectory discussion for the Rams
in the game against the Eagles, where the kick trajectory
discussion could go in a different way.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
I felt like we need We haven't had any kickoff
taka on our shows now. Shout out to Jason Kleman,
who has texted me all about the kickoffs last Sunday
while it was working.

Speaker 3 (21:11):
Good stuff. It's time for the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota.
Let's go places Sunday Night Football. The Green Bay Packers
favored by seven in a revenge game, the Dallas Cowboys
playing host of them. Forty seven and a half is
the over under. It's Sunday Night Football, So it's Mike,
Chris collins Worth, Melissa Stark, coach Dungee, Mike Turrico, I mean,

(21:34):
excuse me, Michael Florio, the other one, Chris Sims, the
whole NBC crew as Jordan, the Dallas Cowboys have a
need at Edge Rusher. They do, and he's playing against
them on Sunday night.

Speaker 4 (21:47):
Yes, the game that all of us had circled on
our calendars the second that Jerry Jones made that trade
to the Green Bay Packers. Micah Parsons the revenge game.
It's finally here. But don't call it a revenge game
because he still really cares about a lot of people
in that building. But it's a revenge game. Do you
like my Greg impression? Oh?

Speaker 2 (22:07):
That was I thought you were just excited.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
I am excited.

Speaker 2 (22:11):
I like the enthusiasm.

Speaker 4 (22:12):
I like when you do Greg voice.

Speaker 1 (22:13):
I mean it's not intentional. I feel like we needed
this game. We need it's almost too soon. Yeah, it's
like it's such a We need the Cowboys to be
in better shape, We need ce D Lamb to be
playing in this game.

Speaker 2 (22:26):
All all we need.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
Is Jerry Jones sitting up in the owner's box looking on.
I need a million shots cutting to him, and I
need Micah Parsons to do exactly what he's been doing
for these last couple of weeks, which is a rank
what fifth in the NFL and pressures right now despite
playing twenty fewer snaps than others even around him in
that area of pressure. And you know, cut to Jerry.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
You know, well, we've already had Jerry come out and
say and hopefully nobody in the media production unit at
the Star was working on a Michael try video because
Jerry has said they're not going to play it.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
Don't put on the internet that. I'm mad if.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
There is one. And Coach Schttenheimer doing what he's done
all off season is to answer questions about Michael Parsons think.

Speaker 5 (23:12):
At the end of the day, our guys all know
Micah and again I hope because they know him. But
guess what he knows us and he knows you know,
he knows the way they said. So, look, Mike is
a great player. Mike is gonna make plays. I just
put that out there, like, Mike is gonna make plays.
Does he get a sack good?

Speaker 3 (23:29):
I hope not. He might it's pretty good.

Speaker 4 (23:34):
He's just so chill.

Speaker 1 (23:36):
Parson said, it's going to be painful to sack Dak
Prescott if that I believe him. There were some whispers about,
you know, where the two leaders of the Cowboys like
always on the same page. Where was Dak like standing
up to try to keep Micah and not that that's
his role, not that it made any impact whatsoever. I
believe it's just depressing. And I saw some Packers fan

(24:01):
be frustrated last week after that game, like, oh, we
need more production, like Michael Parsons making a lot of money.
It's like he won his matchups so quickly, so often.
They were winning up front. They played outstanding defensively against
the Browns who just had that five yard touchdown drive
or else none of it would have mattered.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
And the only reason that they didn't.

Speaker 1 (24:21):
Rack up sacks is because Joe Flacco did a great
job just getting rid of the ball when he had
no chance.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
Because he's a veteran quarterback.

Speaker 1 (24:27):
I don't think Dak Prescott will be like Joe Flacco.
He will hang in there and he will try to
make plays because he wants to. He wants to win
this game obviously, and he knows the only chance that
he has is to hang in there. Yeah, and just
hope that his guys like George Pickens can step up
and get open their offense. Like it's a good offense

(24:50):
and it's a borderline great running team.

Speaker 4 (24:52):
It is a great running team. Right now, they're number
one and rushing success right through the first three weeks.
It's it's incredible and number seven in rushing EPA, and
that's an EPA that subtracts any scrambles by the quarterback
or designed runs by the quarterback. So it's super impressive
what Brian Schottenheimer and Clayton Adams and Javonte Williams are
doing over there. However, we did lose a Tyler, Folks.

(25:15):
We lost to Tyler. Tyler Booker headed to injured reserve,
probably ankle injury, and there's no CD. So I really think.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
Cooper bebe which I think is a huge one.

Speaker 4 (25:25):
Yeah, And I think they're, like we've talked so much
on this show about opening scripts and game plans and
showing coaches who love to show their personality. In this case,
I also think owners who like to show their personality
through what the team tries to go out and do.
So I yes, I definitely think the Cowboys are going
to try to run the crap out of the ball.
And I think they're going to try to prove Jerry

(25:47):
Wright in the sense of Micah Parson's run defense. By
the way, he's a great run defender, So good luck
with that, and I think that's what you're going to
see very early on. That is in fairness, that is
the Cowboys key strength right now is the way they're
running the ball.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
Being able to run the ball and also having a
quarterback that that does have all the answers. Yeah, and
those answers are a whole lot easier when eighty eight
is out there. Now you need, like you need Jalen
Tolbert to get wins against Keshawn Nixon, who's had a
great season in the Packers secondary. The Packers defense did
everything they possibly could last week short of like a
handful of plays to get a win that was honestly

(26:24):
pretty fluky for the Cleveland Browns, And so it's it's
a lot on deck. But you know, at this point
in his career, you believe that that he can do that.
But it's just you added in this.

Speaker 4 (26:37):
And also even before CD Lamb being out, the Green
Bay's limiting explosive plays both run and pass better than
any other team in the league right now, and they're
number one in scoring and they're number two in defensive
EPA for drug, this is a badass defense and it
would have been such a good matchup. And you said
at the beginning, fans are complaining, like you've seen people
complaining that annoys me. Just after this is one of
the best defenses in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
Right now, everyone was frustrated. I heard like a radio
call like people were really mad. They were much more
mad about Jordan Love and Matt Lafleur, like people calling
for Matt Leflour's head. It's just they were so mad
about that loss. They just like believe they eat the cheese.
Pun intended that, like, you can't lose a game like
the Browns, that there must be some crime against humanity.

(27:21):
But you know, the Browns have one of the best
defense in the league too. It happens the more interesting.

Speaker 4 (27:25):
Everyone gets schwartzed from time to time.

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, and like the Cowboys defense at this point is
just so bereft of hope and talent and answers that like,
can they solve the Packers run offense, by the way,
because the Packers offensive line was embarrassed last week. Now
they're almost as banged up as the Cowboys. We'll see
if they get their starters back this week. But they

(27:49):
lost that Tommy and Aaron Banks during the game last
week they were completely dominated by Cleveland. That's why they
couldn't throw the ball and they haven't run the ball
all three weeks. So the Cowboys have solved what ales
basically every offense that they've faced so far. Can they
do that again for the Packers and have the Packers
cover this seven points? I tend to think yes, and

(28:10):
that's why it's another good survivor option.

Speaker 2 (28:12):
By the way, pretty.

Speaker 4 (28:14):
Good sister three A side.

Speaker 3 (28:16):
Yeah, we' have to text Steve about that one. I'm
gonna I'm going to lobby for height for my very
safe pick.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
It's Steve's not here right now. You know, we're just
making decisions. Let's take a quick break. We're going to
be back on the other side to wrap up our
mega preview Week four.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota Let's Go Places.
Toyota is all in all season with another year of
Toyota Game Day giveaways, giving football fans the chance to
win big every week at the NFL season. Terms of
conditions apply to individual giveaways. Enter to win and learn
more at Toyota's Game Day Giveaways dot Com.

Speaker 6 (28:56):
No purchase necessary void We're prohibited ends two eight twenty six,
Open to legal residents of the fifty US States and
DC eighteen and over. For complete details, how to enter
prizes and official rules, visit Toyota's Game Day Giveaways dot Com.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
Back on NFL Daily, It's time. It's time for some
international games.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
The NFL International Games returned to NFL Network on Sunday.
Six games. Four cities Dublin, London, Berlin, and Madrid snooze
off game on for Sunday Morning football only on NFL Network,
also streaming with NFL Plus subscription required for NFL Plus
visit plus dot NFL dot com. Four terms. But over

(29:37):
here in Mosu Stadosuninos, we have the Los Angeles Chargers
six and a half point favorites over the now Jackson
dart Land at New York Giants. The over under is
forty three and a half. Kevin Harland, trit Green and
Melanie Collins on the call, so you know it's special.
Jordan does Jackson dart solve all of the issue we

(29:59):
work from and keep everybody's job.

Speaker 4 (30:03):
Wow, what a big task for Jackson dart It's interesting.
So this was the right move at any point in
the season. I think there was some debate over do
you do it now against one of the better defenses,
if not the best defense in the NFL right now,
in the Los Angeles Chargers. Really, the hinge point for
this to me was a if there was enough of

(30:25):
a bad Russell Wilson performance and be Andrew Thomas coming back.
Having Andrew Thomas back is such a significant boost for
the Giants. I still think this is an incredibly challenging
outing because I think, and I am not afraid to
say it. I'm a little afraid to say it, but
I think the Chargers are the best team in football

(30:46):
right now.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
Wow, I would be afraid of pound ever.

Speaker 4 (30:49):
For pound for pound, every single phase, offense, defense, special teams,
when you combine all of the collective together, to me,
it's them and the Detroit Lions because just the way
that they are dominating teams, you're not necessarily if you
watch the games, if you're not necessarily seeing it in
terms of scoring points, and you're seeing a lot of
yards put up, and it's a very Harbaugh you feeling

(31:12):
where it's like sometimes it feels kind of slow and churning,
but it's all of it is there, and this defense
is exciting even with Khalil mac Gunn. The way that
Jesse Minter is designing pressure and the way that he
is deploying his coverages is special, and I think that
this is going to be more of a back to
front defensive challenge for Jackson Dart than it is a

(31:32):
front to back defensive challenge.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
It's funny because if ever there was a game Russell
Wilson would be more useful for, it might be against
the Chargers, who, you know, the reputation as mintor keeps
a lid on those big plays. But this year, actually
there's been a lot of open receivers down their field.
There's been plays to be had. Bo Nick's missed them,
Patrick Mahomes missed them. They didn't really get to them

(31:53):
in that Raiders game. And I do worry, first of all,
I always worry as a quasi Chargers fan when things
are going too well that things are gonna suddenly not.

Speaker 4 (32:03):
They almost charged in back to back games and they
didn't charge it.

Speaker 1 (32:07):
No, they did the opposite where they they played their
best much. It is kind of amazing, and I think
they'll win this game. But that that's a lot of
it's it's difficult to know what to expect that of
Jackson Dart. But on the other side, you know, for
the first time this year, last week, I thought, man,
they missed for Sean Slater because the right side of
that offensive line was getting caved in over and over.

(32:31):
Joe All and like Zion Johnson maybe had one bad
play each or whatever, like they were fine, but the
other side was getting worked over pretty good. And now
you go against a Giants defensive line that that could
create problems. And the Chargers have not been a good
running team this year overall. They got a little better
last week, but that hasn't been consistent.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
So I see, I kind of feeling vibe, see the vision.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
Kind I'm feeling the vibes on the Giants side for
this this week with Jackson Dart just making this a
fun game. It is amazing how inserting Jackson Dart into
this game makes it one of the games of the
week to me.

Speaker 3 (33:04):
Yeah, it definitely ups the the interest and I am
on board as being skeptical that Jackson Dart is going
to solve all the franchise problems that they've had over
the last few years, but it does bring back the
RPO that Brian Dable had so much success with with
Josh Allen and with us, like running these RPOs and
targeting in the middle of the field and Jamis eten
W's in the preseason and all that fun stuff that happened.

(33:26):
Like if you're watching on YouTube, we're looking back at
the pre season when the vibes were up, when everything
was good. Jordan was celebrating Brian day Ball smiling talking
about how nice for him, Jackson dart it things haven't
gone well. I think the idea that the Giant's front
can cause pressure, which he brings up Greg like it's
it's an idea that's there. I would like to see

(33:47):
it come to consistent fruition because the back end of
the defense has continued to be bad like they were
a season ago, and so you can run at him, yeah,
like justin Herbert, and these targets downfield have been great.
Like the six and a half feels very generous to
a quarterback making his first start in the NFL at

(34:08):
home against a very good team playing for a very
bad team.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
And I'm willing to guess that a bad game from
one side of the offensive line is a little more
animolic than what we've seen in what we expect from
this Chargers group, especially with the amount of like massive humans,
they have to provide chipping help where it's needed. In
their fullbacks got Matt Locke and their tight ends. I

(34:32):
do think that that's a factor. I think that they
absolutely need to run the ball better. But you see
the vision as it's been so close to like breaking
through in these years with Harbat the helmet, and you've
got a quarterback in Justin Herbert playing at an MVP
clip right now, and that cannot be forgotten about it.
I know it certainly isn't here. But when you combine
that with the way that this defense helps out its offense,

(34:56):
there is this really interesting collaboration between the two. Even
without like I said, without Khalil Mack, the way that
Jesse Minter, especially on known passing downs and on late downs,
can design pressure. There's a really really cool pressure he run.
This was in a couple of weeks ago, and this
is before Khalil Mack got hurt in the Raiders game,

(35:18):
where basically they're sending two players at one lineman who
then commands the chipping help to come out kick out
to the outside to help, and then the rusher who's
going to actually go at the quarterback, slips inside, almost
like a pick play, but it's a pass rush and
has a clear line right to the quarterback, and he's
basically changing the math post snap. And that's what he

(35:41):
does again and again and again with this pressure. It's
why tu Le Tue Pilot two, who's tied for fifth
right now among all pass rushers with fifteen pressures, is
having so much success. Other than the fact that he's
a good player, they've gotten better on the interior. Tier
Tart makes plays. They've gotten bigger on the interior, and
they're bad ass in the secondary. And I just think
that with Derwin James and Diane Henley holding down the

(36:02):
middle of the field, they can do these cloudy zone
coverages that will really confuse a young quarterback.

Speaker 1 (36:07):
That was one of the best games of Derwin James's career,
which is saying a lot. I've given like Fred Warner
as an early like just watchless defensive player of the
year guy like Derwin James this year, like he is
fully weaponized. This is as good a version of Derwin
James as we've ever seen, which is crazy because he's
had some really high high so You're right, like that's
all exciting and makes it hard to imagine. But I

(36:30):
do think the element of surprise. I do think there
are talented players, especially if Andrew Thomas is close to
you know, one hundred percent, because he looked pretty good
in the snaps that he was out there last week.
There are talented players. Scataboo's giving them a little bit
of a jump. And I'm not sure about the offensive line.
I mean, they played two of the worst pass rushes
in the league the first two weeks, and the right
side like Trey Pimpkin Pipkins and who is at solid

(36:52):
like he was struggling last week. I do think it
was a little underrated how much of a factor it
might be long term that oh, we just popped a
rookie and like literally the first game of his career
and he's catching passes from Herbert on a game winning
drive against the Broncos and goes six for sixty five
and has totally great movement skills like Rondi Gatz and
could turn into like a pretty big part of this

(37:13):
team this season and be a great pick On the.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
Giants side keeping We're keeping an eye on Elak Neighbors
who's banged up and he's limited in practice this week.
And that's where I question again, like Jackson, Dart will
probably target Cam Scataboo a lot, especially in the short
passing game and the quick throw out like passing game.
Who else If mc neighbor's not there, THEO Johnson has
some stuff to him but has not emerged consistently. They

(37:37):
need him, They need a tight end to emerge in
this offense for this offense to be what Brian Dable
wants it to be. I mean, it's just like I
think they're overmatched.

Speaker 3 (37:47):
Yeah, I think that the chargers of mental will get
to dictate what this game looks like because I'm expecting
a lot of RPO. It's where the Giants were successful
in the preseason, and I'm expecting the Giants defense to
give up a lot of points. Like honestly, like if
you go to Andrew Phillips, who you know gets a
lot of coverage, like his personal beef with Ceedee Lamb,

(38:09):
he's given up more yards than any other defender in
the slot.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
Made a lot of plays though, yeah he's made.

Speaker 3 (38:14):
He's made some plays more yards than any other defender
in the slot by two, Like double any other slot
receiver like target and then like there's fluky plays like
the catch from you know, the greatest receiver of all time.
Now I'm blanking on his name, the former Patriot from the.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
Chiefs, Julian Edelman, Taekwon Thornton.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
Yeah, Taekwon Thorton. Oh my gosh. Yeah, where he's like
catches the ball behind his back. It's fluky in that.
But but yeah, the Giants are bad and covered.

Speaker 2 (38:42):
Let's move to another team.

Speaker 4 (38:45):
Voice was yeah, no, Julian Edelman.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
He knows how much I love Julian Edelman. Washington Commanders
one and a half point favorites, a little beat up
questions at quarterback and receiver taking on the Atlanta Falcons.
The over under is forty four and a half. Iron
Eagle JJ Watt Evan Washburn on the call. Can Atlanta
bounce back after one of the nastiest performances we've seen
all seasons?

Speaker 1 (39:07):
Greg I tend to think the plexiglass principle applies in
the NFL in general, where if you have that bad
a performance, usually come out the next week and play
much better.

Speaker 2 (39:17):
I don't know why that happens.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
Maybe it's just the law of averages that teams aren't
going to play as bad as losing thirty to nothing
to the Panthers. They have issues. We've talked about the
coaching stuff already this week, but the fact that John
Robinson leads the team in receiving is a problem, and
that Drake London and Kyle Pitts are averaging under ten
yards per catch. There's just nothing downfield. It doesn't really
make any sense. A lot of their offense just doesn't

(39:40):
make sense. Remember we thought the whole Kirk Cousins thing
was like, man, they can't even do any play action
or run the offense they want because Kirk Cousins can't move.
They run the exact same offense. Now it's like completely disjointed.
If I didn't know any like too much. Like on paper,
it looks like one of the most confusing offenses like
in the league in terms.

Speaker 4 (39:59):
That's what he said. That's what kirk Cousin said on quarterback,
and you could really see it. He had a lot
of trouble with some of the tags on the plays,
the motion tags and some of the alignment teg.

Speaker 1 (40:08):
Also just they don't run play action. They should be
a play action They look like they should be a
play action team and they're not a play action team.
And Michael Pennox is great throwing it deep, and he
never throws it deep, so.

Speaker 4 (40:21):
I agree with you. Maybe Zach Robinson will have a
better view of all of this now that he will
be coaching on the field versus up in the booth.
And part of that, in my opinion, is to actually
talk to your players and be able to hear them
talk back, which they famously cannot talk back to you
when they are when you are in the headset in
their ear. And hey, maybe it would be great to

(40:42):
hear some feedback in real time from the people who
are going out there and doing the things. TJ. Yates
over coaching receivers now, and I've heard good things about him,
and that's Raheem Morris making that decision in that move.
Raheem Morris being a former receivers coach himself, which a
lot of people forget because he's a defensive coach, but
he coached players like Julio Jones and knows kind of

(41:04):
what details he's looking for in that regard. We saw
this when he like go of Jimmy Lake after one
year last year, Raheem Morris is going to make a
quick decision if it's clear that that decision has to
be made for whatever. For whatever reason, they kind.

Speaker 1 (41:18):
Of not that there's not a kind of Yeah, one
in three would feel dark right now for this Falcons
team good.

Speaker 4 (41:23):
If you're a Rams fan. They're looking at that pick.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
The injury for Terry McLaurin going to get a second opinion.
Initially thought it was a quad injury. It seems like
now they feel like it's higher up. There's concerns maybe
hernia core muscle related so getting checked there. That's scared.
But fortunately for them at this point as of Wednesday,
maybe Jayden Daniels is playing. They do have one of

(41:47):
the better backups in the NFL for talking about actual
quality backup. Yeah, Marcus Marod have played pretty good.

Speaker 4 (41:52):
Did you hear that?

Speaker 1 (41:53):
Versus Jake Brown and Marcus Moro played pretty well.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
Revenge game last week. It is a revenge game. Yes,
there was a lot said about Marcus Mariota out of
Flowery Branch after his departure. If it is Marcus, watch out.

Speaker 1 (42:07):
Without Terry McLaurin long term, you're worried. Also, Bill was
out of practice on Wednesday, he did finish the game.
He's looked good, their running games looked good in general.
They went really heavy personnel against the Raiders, like three
tight ends on the field quite a bit and just
steamrolled them for a while. And this team looks a

(42:27):
little tougher this year. I don't know if it's because
of the teams they've played, but I do think the
Washington defense it has shown signs of being significantly improved.
Doran's armstrong is one of the league leaders in pressures.
They're getting it with like a lot of people. They
have seven or eight guys. It's not like a star
studded group, but they're playing pretty well up front. And

(42:49):
the Falcons offensive line on paper, maybe that's why they
don't call these deep shots and it's not, but then
you would think they would do play action. Is that
they don't believe in their offensive line right now Atlanta,
so that could be a mismatch for Washington.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
Do you know what one of my favorite things is
is anytime, which is quite frequently, Bobby Wagner has a
good game, I look for an Ollie Connolly tweet of
a or post or email because I subscribe to his
substack the read optional. I look at that fantastic story
that he wrote about Bobby Wagner and all of the
really multifunctional things he can do and still is doing

(43:23):
in that defense, and it's really interesting because Frankie Luvu,
our guy NFL Daily, is one of our favorite players
last season, is picking up more attention now. Teams are
playing him a little.

Speaker 2 (43:34):
Bit, a little quiet. Last week was better, but been
a little quiet.

Speaker 4 (43:37):
Yeah, they asked him about it. He's like I expected it.
Teams are paying more attention, They're sending more at him.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
Concerns in the Commander's secondary after some injuries last week
and Trey Tucker running down the field by himself, perhaps
a chance for the Falcons deep passing game to get
if they can protect Michael Pennis because he's one of
the worst quarterbacks in the league right now. When facing
pressure my right long enough, maybe they'll get it.

Speaker 2 (44:01):
I believe. I believe.

Speaker 4 (44:03):
I'm a Michael Fennix fan. I think he's got it.

Speaker 3 (44:06):
The Jacksonville Jaguars got a win last week thanks to
some late pressure from Josh Hines Alan. They are taking
the trip all the way across the United States to
take on the San Francisco forty nine ers, who may
have their quarterback back. They are favored by three. The
over under is forty seven and a half Atamo, Mark
Sanchez Christina Pink on the call, Jordan, we saw the

(44:26):
Jags get back in the win column. Do they pose
a threat to the maybe Rock Perdy led San Francisco
forty nine ers.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
Yeah, that's kind of something I've got my eye on
big time, not just as whether Brock Perdy will play
because he's working back into practice this week, kind of
as we record as we tape this. Ricky Piersoll, who
has very much emerged in this offense as the deep threat,
as the one type receiver, especially with Juwan Jennings beat up.
He's banged up. He's not practicing to start the week.

(44:55):
Juwan Jennings is still banged up as well. They might
get DeMarcus Robinson back, which I think is a huge
if Brock Purty is back, because DeMarcus Robinson, who has
been suspended for the last three games. He he and
Brock Purty connected frequently in training camp and reports at
a camp and also my own eyeballs because I was
there for a bit reverse Benjamin Buttoning like he's he

(45:18):
looks great. He looks awesome. So that's that's a huge
ad for the forty nine ers who are making a
lot with a very injury laden skill position group. Meanwhile,
on the other side, the Jacksonville Jaguars are still trying
to figure out who they have and what they have
and how to deploy them at receiver.

Speaker 1 (45:37):
Yeah, they they aren't really integrating Travis Hunter consistently into
the offense, and of course Liam Cohen is going to
be asked about.

Speaker 7 (45:46):
We had a great talk with Trev after this past
game in terms of just man like, all right, how
can we help you and put you because he's guys, right,
what is he learning?

Speaker 2 (45:58):
It's a lot.

Speaker 7 (45:59):
So we've got to, I think, be a little bit
more diligent in terms of putting him in positions to
maybe not have to do as many moving parts so
that we can just let him go play.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
I thought he played with more confidence last week. Granted
it was only one catch on offense, but it was
an awesome Yeah, it was an awesome play after the catch.
But I'm speaking more about what he's doing on defense. Yes,
they're locking him into a certain spot and I know,
like the coverage stats for PFF weren't great. He's in
zone coverage, and if you look at some of those plays,

(46:32):
like he's doing his responsibility and the other play call wins,
they're not getting pressure home. He actually had some incredible
reps against Nego Collins, and I've been all for doing both,
and I think he should continue to do both. But
if you told me they're already doing it, that it's
a little more focused on letting him play cornerback, that
that's his more primary position, and that he's playing a

(46:57):
little less at wide receiver, and that it's more targeted
reps specific to what he's doing at receiver, Like that
makes sense to me because I think he's hit the
ground running a little faster at cornerback.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
Normally, I would go to NFL plus pro to watch
all of the isolated reps of him of Travis Hunter
playing corner because you can so filter that. But shout
out to Billy m I go way back. I go
way back with that guy from when I was covering
the Carolina Panthers, and he's always been great at posting
relevant and ball knowing football clips and he posted an

(47:31):
entire reel of every rep of Travis Hunter playing corner.
I think I saw it via John Shipley as well,
so double shout out there, and he played great. He
looked awesome to your point, Greg, he looked like one
of the better corners in the NFL, playing especially at
times against really tough matchups in Nico Collins. And yes,

(47:51):
I am factoring in the fact that zone defense is
a thing where yes, you're going to have some cushion
in front of you when you're playing zone defense. And
so I think it's an with the Jacksonville Jaguars because
I give them, I think a lot of grace. And
I think when you draft a player a unicorn of
a player like that, and he has so much potential,
and then you also have somebody like Brian Thomas Junior

(48:13):
who's so explosive. Okay, but you look at the rest
of this right, and I look at a team that
very much needed to rebuild massive portions of its identity,
of its offense. They went out and signed veteran free
agents with the idea of phasing a lot of those
players out as you continue to restock in the draft

(48:36):
with players that specifically fit what this head coach wants
to do. Now, one thing about Liam Cohen, and sometimes
it'll come off as anachronistic or antagonistic, even in I
don't know what the right word is. Antagonistic maybe is
the right word in the press conference versus maybe what
we see out of the player, Or it comes off
as like, hey, I'm telling I'm talking to the player,
or I told him this, or he didn't do this.

(48:58):
But what it is is he has I think there's
an arc that bends toward the match between player and scheme,
and you're figuring out, as a head coach how far
to bend that arc, and as a player, you're figuring
out where you fit within the confines and structures of
this offense. He's not going to be able to play

(49:19):
the Chris Godwin Buccaneers where you have Chris Godwin who
could play the f the Cooper Cup kind of role
for you. It's not going to be the twenty eighteen
Rams where you have Cooper Cup and Robert Woods doing
all the things that Liam Cohen cut his teeth on
doing and then deployed within that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense
when he was the offensive coordinator. It's just not going
to be that. So right now, I give them all collectively,

(49:39):
players and coaches a little bit of grace as they
troubleshoot and figure out what is actually best for these players'
skill sets. By the way, it's probably not going to
be what I'm used to running as a coach, and
that should be fine. You just got to figure that out.

Speaker 3 (49:52):
Yeah, as much as Liam Cohen is talking about this
being a learning process for Travis Hunter, it's definitely a
learning process for a coaching staff that's trying to do
something with a player that hasn't been done before and
playing like equally, playing majority of the snaps on offense
and defense last week, where this was the dream, like
this this was it comes to fruition. Travis Hunter played

(50:13):
a majority of the offensive snaps and majority of the
defensive snaps, and the Jags won. Like that's that's what
the hope was.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
So Like, I've been impressed by the Jags in general.
I think they win this game. I know they're underdogs
in this game. Forty nine Ers fans are probably feeling confident.
Both these teams have run the ball inconsistently. Jaguars start
out the season great. They just had a bad week,
but they were playing in Houston in general, Christian McCaffrey
and the forty nine ers have not run the ball.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Well.

Speaker 1 (50:41):
We need a word for someone who was like an
all time great who's not quite at the level that
he used to be, but he's still at a very
high level. Because that's where Christian McAffrey is right now.
Shaq heat okay, heat shack, And you can win a
championship that way. You can build an entire offense.

Speaker 4 (50:57):
You had that one ready to go.

Speaker 2 (50:59):
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
You can build an offense that's for a three to
oho team around that person.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
Like that's how good he still is.

Speaker 1 (51:07):
But they're not the same right now blocking for him,
and he's not the same explosive. And yet I assume
pearsall will be okay, but we'll see.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
Just look out if Rickie Pearson, considering the volume of
targets that peer Fall's getting as well as the air yards,
if he's.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Not because he finished that game and like he's a
guy who hasn't even needed to be that open to
make big plays. But I'm really impressed with the Jaguars defense.
We should move on, But man, Devin Lloyd and Josh
Heines out like Josh Heinz Allen in two of the
three games they've played this year, has been the best
player on the field, and they've got They're getting development
out of guys. Devin Lloyd is playing well, like they

(51:42):
there's something to this team.

Speaker 3 (51:43):
I like him.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
I think they might knock off the forty nine ers
this week.

Speaker 3 (51:47):
All Right, a team that was frisky and got a
win at home last week is on the road task
maybe a little tougher this time, or maybe not. The
Cleveland Browns at the Detroit Lions were nine and a
half point favorites coming off there, winning Baltimore the over
unders forty four and a half. Kenny Albert, Jonathan Wilba,
and Megan Olivy on the call and Greg, can the
Browns do it again this week?

Speaker 1 (52:08):
This is a much tougher test for the Lions offense, Like, Yeah,
it actually seems like an obvious point to make, but
I think it is worth noting that. You know, they've
they've played one I would say elite defense this year,
and they obviously had a bad week one. They played
two defenses that are struggling on balance, and they looked
all the way back into being all the Lions, And

(52:30):
I think that's closer to where they were. That's what
good teams do. They beat up on bad defenses. And
just the individual talent is overwhelming and the offensive line
it looks so good, but this will be a much
tougher test for that interior offensive line specifically, and whoever's
got a you know, block Miles Garrett. Look, it's going

(52:50):
to be a really fun matchup when the Lions have
the ball.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
Yeah, and it could be Pina Sul but Miles Garrett
moves around and he does that like eurostep kind of
move that he has that like.

Speaker 3 (53:00):
Shout off theyonik and gokway.

Speaker 4 (53:01):
It's just so cool that, I mean, he can move
around what I do really like And I had hoped
this happened because you heard whispers about him and his
sort of alternate personality in college Tate Ratlige and I
mean this in the most complimentary way possible is emerging
as the true dirt bag offensive lineman that I hope
he totally would become. And when you're playing with a

(53:22):
Tea or you're playing against a Cleveland defense that is
number two in stopping the runs in terms of success rate,
you really need to push some bodies around. And I
really was impressed with not just the synchronicity of the
entire line, but that young Tate Ratledge is really emerging
as this tough player that they need upfront to kind

(53:44):
of give him some teeth against the defense.

Speaker 1 (53:45):
Like this, and they're not the Lions by any means,
but the run game has been better with Quinn shod
Judkins for the Browns. They ran the ball pretty effectively
when they had a chance to.

Speaker 4 (53:54):
This is you, guys' training camp doesn't matter player proving
the training camp is.

Speaker 3 (53:59):
I don't know that it proves it. It just it
highlights the fact that players can be successful without going
to training camp. He looks great.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
I feel bad for Flacco right now. He got way
too much heap for that game last week. Like it
was similar to Jordan Love. He had no chance on
so many of those plays. I actually thought he did
a reasonable job just trying to avoid catastrophe plays. And
he had the one interception, which was a fourth down
play at the end of the half where essentially he

(54:29):
was trying to get intercepted if they weren't going to
hit the play because it just ended the half. Like
it's gonna be hard. It's been a little under talked
about on this show that they're both their tackles are injured.
Dwan Jones is out for the season now Jack Conklin
has been out. That wasn't a great position before, so
you're going to their backups. Joe Botonio is really banged up.

(54:51):
Like it's a lot to ask of Joe Flacco and
this passing game. And so I think for this Lions defense,
which is on the upswing, like it's obviously a great
matchup for them.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
It's one of those situations where I mean styles make fights,
and we see that every single league, and the Lions
were able to take advantage of an offense that loves
to hit home runs and and Lamar was going to
try to wait and make plays. Uh, And the Lions
weren't scared. They they didn't like fall over their shoes
thinking Lamar was going to do a whole bunch on

(55:20):
Monday night. And now you have to completely check it
down and play a completely different game against Joe Flacco, who,
like you pointed out, what is he even trying to
get in the batter's bock some of those reps against
the Green Bay Packers And.

Speaker 1 (55:34):
If he has a chance he'll he'll throw that ball downfield,
but the stars the line just right, if the if
the pressure is coming, Yeah, he's just getting rid of
that ball.

Speaker 3 (55:43):
And so I you know, I'd be willing to offer
this one.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Up as interesting if we would like to know do
we make a final decision with Steve Weisch? Did I
miss that we I feel like we've been here for
an entire weekend.

Speaker 2 (55:57):
The Bills are one option.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
Certainly, the Texans were another option. The Lions are an option,
but I don't like it. I think the I think
the Browns are too good. I actually think this could
be not a letdown game. But you're coming back short
week for the Lions. I'm just saying, so we Buffalo
is a very good team. Yes, and we would like
to have the option of using the Buffalo Bills later

(56:22):
this year. And I understand that you got to keep
it going though, but you have to survive. Yeah, let's
go Bills. Then what do you think Bills?

Speaker 3 (56:31):
Okay?

Speaker 4 (56:31):
That was my pick?

Speaker 2 (56:32):
Okay, sorry Lions.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Also, before we go, everyone's been asking me, you know,
when am I going to make my apology?

Speaker 2 (56:40):
No, I'm kidding. No one No one asks things like that.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
About Mason Graham, I'm gonna get in a lot of heat.
M Daniel Jeremiah sending me texts. Oh, expect to see
a barrage of mentions I have, I have. Mason Graham
played great last week? You know how else played great?
Every single defensive line in on the Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
I am.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
I am not moving off my spot. He's just part
of a good group. For what it's worth. Of the
nine defensive lineman you know that played on the Cleveland
Browns last week, pff atam no nine defensive players. I
think in the front seven he was ninth. He was
fifth out of the defensive line everyone ate last week
and they're playing a bunch of backups in new spots

(57:23):
against the Packers. That was small of me, but like
my guy Aiden hunting in from two lane, playing both sides.

Speaker 3 (57:31):
Of the ball.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
He had a sack, and like everyone is, Elie Collins
looked like the best player in the league.

Speaker 2 (57:34):
Right, we gotta go.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
We will be back in this feed on Thursday night
and it'll be the two of you, So I'm looking
forward to listening to that. After that, you're gonna hear
some small shows from me from Dublin we're going to
do our picks. We're getting Cynthia Freeland's picks, but we're
gonna involve the Ringer Fantasy Show guys, Danny Hifitz, Danny Kelly,

(58:00):
Craig Horrorback. They're going to be making some picks with
me too. We have Michael McQuaid from over in Dublin,
the Irish NFL show. Really excited for all of it.
And by the way, I mentioned on the first show
that I had done a podcast over in Ireland. That's
Colm Kelly and Ot Ireland. I want to give all
the pop to all the people. Thank you for playing that.

(58:22):
I gotta go catch a bird.

Speaker 4 (58:24):
You and Daniel Joy Doublin.

Speaker 1 (58:26):
We will see you on the other side. But before that,
it's it's gonna be some Thursday night football.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
See then,