September 9, 2025 • 25 mins
On this episode of NFL Power Rankings, Mike Yam and Eric Edholm react to all of the NFL action from week-1 and Eric explains why he placed teams where he did in his rankings.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings. Boy,
Week one did not disappoint as exciting a football that
you can actually watch the start off the entire season.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Mike am Eric at home with you.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
For complete analysis on all thirty two teams, all you
have to do is check out.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Eric column on NFL dot com. But Eric, is this hyperbole? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Was this one of the best Week ones in recent memory?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Some great matchups and some fantastic results, especially in the
primetime games, right, But we had some great games in
the early window on Sunday too, a lot of close ones.
Defense is mostly ahead of offenses, but a couple of
shootouts as well. So a buffet of football excitement for everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, and some of the really good games.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I felt like it was a high level of execution
that you don't always see in Week number one in
the MVPs obviously from the last two seasons. Gave us
as good of a game as we're going to get
in a Week one. But that's where we start here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Eight teams. According to Eric, You see.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
The Philadelphia Eagles still sitting in that top spot. Buffalo
with scoring that huge win against Baltimore, they move up
a spot. Moving down here, the Ravens at four, the
Green Bay Packers moving up two spots. I feel like
this team is one that we're going to be talking
about in the entire season. The Kansas City Chiefs at five,
the Bucks Antoine Winfield as fun of a defensive players
you will get in the NFL. His team at six,
(01:28):
the Commanders at seven, and the Detroit Lions. They drop
three spots. They're still in the top eight for how
long might be one of those massive questions that we
are going to ask, But the Buffalo Bills have to
be the starting point in this show. Josh Allen was remarkable.
How much do you attribute to his arm and just
a resiliency around and the mental fortitude around this Bills
(01:50):
team that they were able to score this win.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Yeah, there might be half a dozen quarterbacks in the
league who can pull off what Josh did on Sunday night.
And the other one of the other half dozen was
on the other side of the field. So look, obviously,
for most of the game, the Ravens look like the
better team. Josh Allen went nuclear in the fourth quarter,
he was outstanding. The Bills defense finally got some stops though,
(02:12):
that was obviously a huge development, and I get why
there's there's concern about that unit. I really do. For
you know, the first eight drives of the game, it
wasn't looking pretty. Four hundred and ten yards forty points.
Things just weren't happen on that side of the ball.
That's really what we're going to be judging this team by.
Are they super Bowl quality and can their defense, you know,
help raise them to that level. So through one game,
(02:34):
I think you'd say no, but they finished strong and
they're gonna get help. I think it's really about January
at this point, right, You'll get Maxwell Harriston, you'll get
the two defensive linemen who are suspended six games. You're
gonna get some reinforcements, and you just look at what
the AFC East did Sunday. The Bills are going to
win this division of allens healthy. So take your time,
figure out ways to slow down explosive offenses like Baltimore's,
(02:57):
and come up with the solutions sometime in the next
three months. Here.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, you mentioned the Baltimore Ravens. They sit number three
in your power rankings.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Bear with me here.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I think back two years ago, Zay Flowers in the postseason,
Mark Andrews last year, Week one last year, Isaiah Likely
and the near touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The Raiders game comes to.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Mind where they have a big lead and they blow
it in the second half and then they're in control
on Sunday Night against the Bills. How much should Ravens
fans be worried about this inability to close when they
seem to have a stranglehold in these big moments.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, opening some wounds there for Ravens fans. They've been
through it, every franchise has, but they've had some particularly
tough wins, especially when it seems obvious to the eye
tests when they're the better team on the field, they've
got the fourth quarter lead. I mean, you know, this
is the sixth time they've lost the game since two
thousand and two, so we're talking really the last three
seasons with a lead of nine points or more in
(03:51):
the fourth quarter. I mean, you know, obviously, when the
stakes are at the level of tiebreaker game at Buffalo
potential playoff opponent, that's big. Even if it's Week one
We know the history and the playoffs and other big games,
so you know, look, this is just another one they
have to swallow. They've had other, you know, at least
one or two games per year the last few seasons
where they just have a terrible hiccup against a bad
(04:13):
team too. So you know, these are the questions I
think that that people are pointing at John Harbaugh Todd
munk In, the offensive coordinator. As great a game as
Lamar had, the facts are he only had the ball
in his hands at least, you know, definitively in his
hands on three of the last eight plays. You can't
predict Derek Henry fummeel, but Lamar should should have the
(04:34):
ball in his hands. He did well when he had it. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean Derek Henry, by the way, just for context,
one lost fumble a season ago, and then he loses one.
Yeah on Sunday Night, Like these are Mark Andrews shorthanded
fly Like I can point to these things and they're
like right there. And I said this to you last
week on the show. I got to see this team
in person in the preseason. The last two seasons. I
got to tell you, walk off the field every single time,
and I go, how does this team ever lose a game?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I mean, they are that loaded. The talent is there,
and hopefully this is just a.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
One off and we're talking about them and maybe this
is a previous the AFC Championship game. But nonetheless, I mean,
it was fireworks. It was a great game, It was
entertaining and sorry to open up those wounds for Baltimore Ravelos.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Who are basically like my adopted team.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
By the way, I'm a Giants fan, but Lamar Jackson
is one of my favorite players, if not my favorite
player to watch. But a lot of focus this offseason
the last couple of weeks on the Green Bay Packers.
According to fan Duel, these are the odds to win
the NFC North. They are the driver's seed. Hello, and
I think there's some concern about the Detroit Lions. We
saw the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night score a win
against the Chicago Bears. All right, time for future champions
(05:37):
and it is presented by fan Duel. Are the Green
Bay Packers the future champs of this division?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Here?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I mean Micah hat his impact and his fingerprints on
the defense was there. Jordan Love I thought was slinging it,
picking up right where he left off last year. I'm
worried if I'm in this division of the Packers.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And first of all, how much has changed in one week, right?
I mean just the perception seeing Parsons out there with
that defense, right, seeing the Lions struggle offensively as well,
seeing what the Bears and Vikings. Where we knew all
four teams were good, but now we get a bigger
picture of what's actually going on in the division. And
I think you have every right to be if you're
an NFC North player not on the Green Bay package,
(06:15):
you have every right to think, Wow, this team could
be special by the end of the regular season. Parsons,
in only twenty nine to thirty snaps, had a terrific game.
I mean, he really made his imprint, but it was
the rest of the defense that seemed fired up as well.
And outside of one late series Jordan Love was a
little shaky, had a dropped interception, had one that was
called back by penalty. He was really darn good. This
(06:37):
is the moment, right for all Packers fans. They cheered
him when his name was announced to start the game,
and then they cheered him on that big sack to
close things out, and if you could do it going
up against the likes of Penny Well, I mean, that's fantastic.
Like this is going to be a great one on
one rivalry and also a great team rivalry too. But
I think, like you asked, you have to at least
(06:58):
consider them very strong contenders in the North, if not
super Bowl potential if everything goes on the path that's
on right now.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, look, I think there was some I don't want
to say sketch moments, but I look, I mean, I
know JJ McCarthy that was his first career start against
the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They win that game.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I think there's concerns about the Lions, who we'll talk
to talk about in just a moment here the Packers,
and I get it. It's just one week, and lord knows,
I mean after TNF we might have a very different
conversation next week. They're going up against a very good
Washington Commander's team. But at least for right now, we
can give them their flowers. They can flex and that
is an impressive win against a team that I think
many felt like was maybe the best in the NFC
(07:38):
in the Detroit Lions Meanwhile, these Chantas City Chiefs sitting
at number five. Right now, I see a collision on
the fields between Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy. There's concerns
right now because of that shoulder injury, some lack of
explosive plays down the field. How concerns should I be
about the Chiefs and that offense and more specifically a
(07:58):
loss against La.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, travel all the way to Brazil,
you want to come away with a win, especially against
the team that you've had good success against. And it
just didn't happen. Right. The defense struggled that injury you
mentioned right at the start of the game. There kind
of shades of Hollywood Brown getting hurt on his first
preseason snap last year. Look, Hollywood did his job in
this one. They schemed up a touchdown for Kelsey. Taekwon
(08:20):
Thornton had to play late in this game. You know,
Juju did his role. But they seem to be kind
of missing something that will arrive when Rashid Rice is
off suspension. But they've got to go five more games
all of a sudden, starting with Philly on Sunday, a
team that absolutely destroyed him, at least for the first
part of the Super Bowl there, and yeah, I mean
it's just one of those things where we watched them
(08:42):
straight by week after week to fifteen wins give them
their credit, but still every single week you saw the
limitations of a lack of receiver threat there last year.
It's starting to crop up again a little bit now.
If they come out and play a great game this week,
Mahomes is back to normal. He does his thing. The
defense responds, Okay, we can have a normal conversation, but
(09:04):
you know the disabilities that they're ower and two after
this game, and you know it's going to look a
whole lot different, I think, So we'll see Week one
is Week one. I tried out to be the reactionary type,
but you have to look at what the reality is
right now. And it's a little bit scary.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, because if it isn't oh and two start, that's
not how many people would have drawn it up before
the season. By the way, I think the bigger question
in this, and we will discuss, is where the Chargers
now sit in your rankings, because that was an impressive
win and what does that do for the perception of
that organization and really justin Herbert, but the Detroit Lions.
They dropped three spots for you. They moved to now
(09:38):
number eight. Had a research team look this up. Eight
coaches left from last year's staff to this year. I
know we talked about coordinators, but eight coaches is a
really significant number. How much do you attribute that to
the result that we saw in Week one?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
It just wasn't the same look as last year. Everything
was labored offensively. I can't say how much of an
impact it was that. You know, John Morton's in his
first game of playing a calling plays for this team.
You know, obviously you think about the way they built
this team. Dan Campbell kind of held Ben you know,
Johnson's hand for half a year until he kind of
(10:12):
got going. So I think Campbell deserves some of the
blame too. For Sunday as well, everything was short. Everything
took a lot more effort to get downfield, and it
just lacked the explosiveness we saw last year, the creativity
and all that. But there's time. I'm not going to
bury this team after one game. Was it disappointing? Absolutely?
You know, Terry and Arnold gets hurt on defense, you
(10:33):
shrug because you go, that's exactly what happened. Last year too,
same thing with the Chiefs, right, the same story seems
to be kind of playing out again. You hope it
doesn't go any further, but this is still the Lions.
Campbell's built a level of trust with this locker room.
They have a lot of veteran pieces in place. I
think they're going to rebound starting with this game against
Chicago this week. But you know that new offensive line
(10:56):
struggle a little bit, there were some issues in other places,
and so you know they got their work cut out
for him, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, Ben Johnson gets to go against his former score.
If you tell me what's more likely the Bears go,
oh and to where the lines go?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Oh and two? I think we all know the answer
to that.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I look for as much as I like talking about
the top teams one through ay, to me, there's some
really juicy storylines teams nine through sixteen. We got the
Rams that scored a big win, the Vikings came back
on Monday Night football, and oh, by the way, Bots
up the Chargers and what we saw. We will tell
you exactly where those three teams and the rest of
nine through sixteen sit coming up next back here on
(11:41):
Power rankings along with Eric at home, Mike Am with you,
teams nine through sixteen. According to Eric at nine, it's
the dev Broncos. They got to win and that's the
only thing that matters. The Rams, who we'll talk about
sid ten, the Vikings at eleven, Cincinnati fast start out
of the gate, how about going want to know all
that conversation about them? With those slow starts, they figured
out a way to get a dump and the still
drop two spots.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
According to Eric, the Chargers at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The Houston Texans with that loss to the Rams moved
down to fourteen. The San Francisco forty nine or State
still at fifteen, even though it looks like George Kittle's
going to a mystery to five weeks and Rock Purty
is banged up shoulder and tow injury, and we got
the Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers at sixteen. We'll
chump chop it up a little bit about them in
just a moment. I'm actually glad we're talking Rams here.
(12:26):
I felt like lost in the week one conversation, Eric,
was the Rams scoring.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
A sneakily like stud stud game.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I mean the Houston Texans, we feel like are a good,
good football team. There's been some issues with that team
starting off a little slow, a lot of it because
of injuries. But to me, and I think he wrote
it this way on NFL dot Com in your Power
Rankings column, like they'll take the win. I know every
team will take any sort of win, but to me,
this was a.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Good victory absolutely, you know, I mean defensively, they did
what they had to do, kept the Texans out of
the end zone. A Matthew Stafford look, I mean all
this question about is back. Maybe some people thought it
was a little bit for show or him trying to
get out of training camp. I don't think that was it.
I think these issues have been chronic, they have been occurring,
and they weren't sure what he was going to be like.
But he was pretty darn good. Gets a good Texans
(13:11):
defense twenty one out of twenty nine for two forty
five in a touchdown and that you know that includes
a throwaway. And I counted at least three drops in
the in that game, so you know, Nikua had to
miss a few snaps. He diced them up. Devanta Adams
made plays in his first Rams game. I think the
upgrade at receiver, and the question is if that offensive
line holds up, what is the ceiling for this team?
(13:31):
You know, remember they almost knocked off the Eagles of
the playoffs last year, and you know, at least so
far they've avoided the slow start that has plagued them
the last couple of years. So who knows. If they
get a little bit of a runway into the season,
they could be real dangerous.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I'm with you there.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
They will match up on the road against Tennessee, who,
by the way, looked better than I would have thought.
I thought cam Ward had some really impressive froze in
that game. So we'll just drawing that out there. It
is a good win from a RAMS perspective. But it
is time for power moves. It's presented by Energizer, all right, Vikings,
they move up one spot and we're saying power moves
here because what I want witness for the first three
(14:06):
quarters is very different than what I saw from this
team in the fourth quarter. I got to spend some
time around this organization in the preseason. I think there
was some buzz and some excitement around JJ McCarthy. How
does that performance on Monday Night football impact. How you
think about them over the next few weeks.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Yeah, I mean, as you said, if we're just looking
at McCarthy, there was more bad than good, right, just
in terms of sheer volume. Right, the three quarters, three sacks,
the pick six, you know, had fifty yards passing or
whatever it was just wasn't connecting. Everything was a tick slow.
He telegraphed that pass that was picked off by nay
Sean Wright. You know, everything sort of seemed like, Wow,
(14:43):
this is his preseason game or this is his welcome
to the NFL moment. But as soon as the Bears
missed that field goal, was like a switch flipped, you know,
and stallone in that arm wrestling movie. You turn the
hat around, something changes. I don't know what got into him,
but you know, the kid grew up down the street
watching Bears games and wearing Bears jerseys. Put another hung
(15:03):
another bat loss for that fan based on with three
incredible drives and Mike, I thought it started with the
run game. They get that going a little bit helped
kind of suck in some of those defenders and gave
him some more passing windows. But you know, you just
compare his night to Calen Williams who started out and
then tapered off. I think you'd have to say it was.
It was very encouraging, even with the slow start. If
(15:25):
you there aren't many quarterbacks, I don't think who could
have the kind of first three quarters that that JJ
did and be able to turn it around on the
road down double digit scores. You know that's or sorry
I double digit points. Rather, that's pretty pretty darn good.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
In your first start.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Like I know, I said this before about the Broncos, right, like,
you take the win, the Rams, just take the win.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
This is your first start, you have been injured.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
For over a year because of the meniscustare that you
suffered in the preseason, and you're on the road against
the Chicago Bears. It don't matter how bad it looked
in the first three quarters. Like there's some moxie that
was there from JJ McCarthy. By the way, there's a
lot to unpack here and has nothing to do with football.
I did watch that movie back in the day, Over
the Top. I forgot the name of it.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Over the Top, thank you. I couldn't come up with it.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
In nineteen eighty seven it was released, Like what is that?
I was six when that happened. And I when you
mentioned Stallone, you realize that there's like a fan base
that's watching the show right now that might not even
know Sylvester Stallon.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Like does that make you.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Say, I don't even know nineteen eighty seven, right, I mean,
they don't, they don't know any of this stuff. So
we're bringing them back to the old school here, I
think on this show.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Eric, you know, I used to be young back in
the day, and you can sort of see a lot
of the gray hairs that are creeping in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Once again, I was six. I remember that movie Flip
the cap around the whole It was a good year. Yeah,
it was a great year. Let's shift our attention. They
were all good years because I was young.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Chargers all right, How significant is this because some people
will tell you, hey, again, you know, every game is
week by week, it's just a game.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
In my opinion, there are some games that just meet
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Like I think Buffalo is gonna be able to point
to that win against the Ravens all season.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
That one means a whole lot.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I think the Chargers can do the same exact thing
with this win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
I agree, from the playoff loss to losing ray Sean
Slater in the preseason, or just questions about, you know,
how they're gonna hold up from the division. I think
you would say the general perception on the Chargers heading
into this game was trickling downward. Right. You could make
a case for the Raiders, or you could say that
the Broncos are eight up and the Chiefs in the division,
whatever you wanted to say, but they kind of ended
(17:25):
a lot of those narratives with a really great game
down there. And justin Herbert looked for his career against
the Chiefs, it's been really up and down. Hasn't had
a lot of success. He hasn't been great in those
big moments necessarily or more bad than good. In this game,
he was fantastic and he had the ball, things started
getting a little tight, Patrick started making plays, and he
ends it with that quarterback run there. So I don't
(17:46):
care if it's in sal Polo or Santa Clair or
anywhere else. Rights, that's a big performance. And you could
say that about a guy who's zero and two in
the postseason and what two and seven entering the game
against the Chiefs two and six. So yeah, you start
checking those things off and you feel a lot better
about where your team's at.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Three touchdowns for him, and I think it's significant I
give his stat line because in my mind, if they
won that game before they played it, I would have said, hey,
it's the running attack that gets it done right, Okay,
But it was justin Herbert who put them over the top.
The Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, there is one person who
does probably watched Over the Top back in the day
and probably knows Sylvester Sloan. That's Aaron Rodgers because he's
(18:26):
about our age at this point. But Rogers specifically, I mean,
this is the fountain of youth here. Is this a
one off? Are you buying Rogers in this performance? Because
if he plays like this, I think our perception of
the Steelers has got to look a whole lot different.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Now.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Point to the game where he had that kind of
that youthful spirit, you know, and we were kind of
chatting about it a little bit before the game. I
mean you said he kind of looked like he was
in his thirties again. I mean the swagger was back,
first of all, but he was moving around even better
than he did last year, a year removed from that
Achilles injury, and you know, towards the end of the season,
we started seeing little glimpses of Okay, maybe he's not
(19:00):
finish right his days is a premiere quarterback, maybe those
are done. But on Sunday was terrific. And you know, look,
the best receiver, DK Metcalf is being shadowed by Sauce Gardener.
I know the Jets don't get a lot of respect,
and maybe they're not great defensively, but Aaron Glenn knows
a thing or two about a Aaron Rodgers and defense.
So I think you look at it for different TV receivers.
(19:23):
Arthur Smith kind of giving his quarterback a lot of
trust and everything you'd expect, not being sort of focused
on the run game. You know, it's I can't wait
to see him again just to find out is this real? Right?
Has he discovered the found youth? Is he turning back
the clock here? Because this is this one game was
as good as anything I think we saw last year.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, and I think this speaks volumes about how we
know nothing about football until we actually get some actual
games here.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
So true. You know, if you watch Rogers.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You and I talked about this off air last year
with the Jets last couple of years. A ton of
shotguns seeing everything in front of them. If you would
have told me the Startlers would give up thirty two
points to the Jets and Aaron Rodgers would throw for
four touchdowns and some of those plays, it's a ton
of play action. He's on the move, Like, what are
you talking about? Aaron Rodgers is not going to be
making these drows on the move. That's exactly what we saw,
so small sample size. We'll see how it plays out
(20:11):
over the next couple of weeks. A couple things still
left to unpack here. The Raiders score a nice little win,
the Colts wake up with Daniel Jones and a conversation.
I need to find out that's happening in our control room.
I think as soon as I mentioned Sylvester Stallone, there
was a lot of chit chatter going on.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So we'll update everyone on that.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's coming up next down Power Rankings.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Welcome back to Power Rankings.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Eric's rankings seventeenth through twenty four and just a quick update.
Only one person in our control room knew who Sylvester
Stalone was.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
If you feel old. As you were watching the show,
you were not alone.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Arizona Cardinals sitting at seventeen, the Bears no change, but
in a starting the season zhe to one sitting at eighteen,
The Seahawks at nineteen. The Atlanta Falcons got a little
fight with them. I thought Michael Pennix looked really good.
They're at the twentieth ranked team. The Dallas Cowboys also
another team that I think buy some of their expectations
in week number one despite that lost there at twenty one,
(21:08):
the Jags twenty two, the Raiders at twenty three, and
then we got the Indianapolis Colts at twenty four. We'll
talk about Raiders and Colts here.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right now, all right?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
The Raiders move up two spots, go on the road.
Nice debut with Gino. Smith, Like to me, is there
enough for you to buy this team a little bit
more than you were last week when we were doing
the show.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, I was excited about
Pete Carroll's excited about Gino, Ashton genty, all the pieces
they brought in, but how quickly could they bring it together?
Just really encouraged by the fact that they had a
little trouble defensively early. They fixed some things at halftime
and got after a shutout. Drake May and the Patriots
really made some great in game adjustments. And Brock Bauers,
you see him making place here. He was outstanding, but
(21:49):
he left the game with injury. And you know, Gino
made enough place, took some sacks, took some hits, but
moved pretty well for a guy in the mid to
late thirties now, and I think he's gonna do wonders
for this team. Energy was good, defense played much better
in the second half, and you can hit the big
play like this, The Trey Tucker and some of the
play action stuff really opens up with gen so interesting team.
(22:12):
I can't wait to see where they end up.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
At a relentless effort in pursuit that we've seen from
Max Crosby that never seems to ever go away. The Colts,
they are your biggest movers. They move up four spots.
I like where you put them, and I love the
fact that you're giving them some respect. I was watching
Red Zone Scott Hanson throws the stat out there hasn't
happened since at least nineteen ninety one, where we've had
a quarterback seven straight possessions and all scoring drives. I
(22:36):
had a buddy of mine call me up this morning.
I'm a Giants fan. I think people realize that if
they've been listening, watching to the show going, Hey, did
you expect this from Daniel Jones? And I said, absolutely
expecting because he's not wearing a Giants uniform. At this point,
I think the guy has got some upside with this
Colts team. How much are you buying Daniel Jones being
able to sustain this the rest of the season.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Yeah. My philosophy to this thing is like, let's see
how far this guy could take us?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Right?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I mean Week one was outstanding, even if it's against
the Dolphins team that you know, we had some questions
about coming into the year. Right, the run game works.
Jones was highly effective. He was great. He rushed it and
ran in two scores, made some terrific throws so well.
I think the attitude at this point is not, hey,
let's try to figure out when we're getting Anthony Richardson
in there. Let's see how far Daniel Jones can take him.
(23:18):
You watched him drag that Giants team to the playoffs.
Big win up in Minnesota, only to lose the next week.
But still, I mean, you know, I just I guess
it makes me think there's still some talent in here
that hasn't been untapped. And it's a big game for
Shane Steichen. And you know, getting Tyler Warren involved early
that was more encouraging than I imagined it would be. And
we'll have to find out how they stack up. Is
(23:39):
this a real thing or is this just a one
week lip.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, he's healthy. One two.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
He's got a better offensive line than he had in
New York. Just look at what we saw from the
Giants in week number one that actually matters. Let's get
the rest of the rankings here at twenty five through
thirty two. The Patriots at twenty five, the Titans, I
thought they looked over cam at twenty six, the Jets
twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
The Dolphins, ooh, that was hard to watch.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
At twenty eight, those g Men. At twenty nine, the Browns,
the Panthers, and the Saints. At your bottom three teams.
The Jets moved up three spots despite the loss. They
score thirty two points. I think there's a lot of
positives to take away in that debut for Aaron Glenn
and Justin Field specifically.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Well, I thought look good, Eric, I.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Thought so too, right, especially after the preseason, we weren't
really sure how much he was going to prove through
the air. But he was very efficient throwing the ball
and he's usually great self running it as well. So
you know, you've got that three headed rushing attack, You've
got Field who makes it a fourth option too. That really,
you know, is the kind of game. I think that
they want to play there. But Aaron Glenn knows he
can't give up thirty four points because he can't ask
(24:38):
Fields and these guys to score so much. We'll see
if it works out.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I think it's going to be tough too, because it's
a Buffalo team that's on deck here.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But appreciate all you guys watching.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to a brand new edition of NFL Power Rankings. Boy,
Week one did not disappoint as exciting a football that
you can actually watch the start off the entire season.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Mike am Eric at home with you.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
For complete analysis on all thirty two teams, all you
have to do is check out.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Eric column on NFL dot com. But Eric, is this hyperbole? Man?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Was this one of the best Week ones in recent memory?
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Some great matchups and some fantastic results, especially in the
primetime games, right, But we had some great games in
the early window on Sunday too, a lot of close ones.
Defense is mostly ahead of offenses, but a couple of
shootouts as well. So a buffet of football excitement for everybody.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, and some of the really good games.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
I felt like it was a high level of execution
that you don't always see in Week number one in
the MVPs obviously from the last two seasons. Gave us
as good of a game as we're going to get
in a Week one. But that's where we start here.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
Eight teams. According to Eric, You see.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
The Philadelphia Eagles still sitting in that top spot. Buffalo
with scoring that huge win against Baltimore, they move up
a spot. Moving down here, the Ravens at four, the
Green Bay Packers moving up two spots. I feel like
this team is one that we're going to be talking
about in the entire season. The Kansas City Chiefs at five,
the Bucks Antoine Winfield as fun of a defensive players
you will get in the NFL. His team at six,
(01:28):
the Commanders at seven, and the Detroit Lions. They drop
three spots. They're still in the top eight for how
long might be one of those massive questions that we
are going to ask, But the Buffalo Bills have to
be the starting point in this show. Josh Allen was remarkable.
How much do you attribute to his arm and just
a resiliency around and the mental fortitude around this Bills
(01:50):
team that they were able to score this win.
Speaker 4 (01:52):
Yeah, there might be half a dozen quarterbacks in the
league who can pull off what Josh did on Sunday night.
And the other one of the other half dozen was
on the other side of the field. So look, obviously,
for most of the game, the Ravens look like the
better team. Josh Allen went nuclear in the fourth quarter,
he was outstanding. The Bills defense finally got some stops though,
(02:12):
that was obviously a huge development, and I get why
there's there's concern about that unit. I really do. For
you know, the first eight drives of the game, it
wasn't looking pretty. Four hundred and ten yards forty points.
Things just weren't happen on that side of the ball.
That's really what we're going to be judging this team by.
Are they super Bowl quality and can their defense, you know,
help raise them to that level. So through one game,
(02:34):
I think you'd say no, but they finished strong and
they're gonna get help. I think it's really about January
at this point, right, You'll get Maxwell Harriston, you'll get
the two defensive linemen who are suspended six games. You're
gonna get some reinforcements, and you just look at what
the AFC East did Sunday. The Bills are going to
win this division of allens healthy. So take your time,
figure out ways to slow down explosive offenses like Baltimore's,
(02:57):
and come up with the solutions sometime in the next
three months. Here.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Yeah, you mentioned the Baltimore Ravens. They sit number three
in your power rankings.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Bear with me here.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I think back two years ago, Zay Flowers in the postseason,
Mark Andrews last year, Week one last year, Isaiah Likely
and the near touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
The Raiders game comes to.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Mind where they have a big lead and they blow
it in the second half and then they're in control
on Sunday Night against the Bills. How much should Ravens
fans be worried about this inability to close when they
seem to have a stranglehold in these big moments.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, opening some wounds there for Ravens fans. They've been
through it, every franchise has, but they've had some particularly
tough wins, especially when it seems obvious to the eye
tests when they're the better team on the field, they've
got the fourth quarter lead. I mean, you know, this
is the sixth time they've lost the game since two
thousand and two, so we're talking really the last three
seasons with a lead of nine points or more in
(03:51):
the fourth quarter. I mean, you know, obviously, when the
stakes are at the level of tiebreaker game at Buffalo
potential playoff opponent, that's big. Even if it's Week one
We know the history and the playoffs and other big games,
so you know, look, this is just another one they
have to swallow. They've had other, you know, at least
one or two games per year the last few seasons
where they just have a terrible hiccup against a bad
(04:13):
team too. So you know, these are the questions I
think that that people are pointing at John Harbaugh Todd
munk In, the offensive coordinator. As great a game as
Lamar had, the facts are he only had the ball
in his hands at least, you know, definitively in his
hands on three of the last eight plays. You can't
predict Derek Henry fummeel, but Lamar should should have the
(04:34):
ball in his hands. He did well when he had it. Now.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
I mean Derek Henry, by the way, just for context,
one lost fumble a season ago, and then he loses one.
Yeah on Sunday Night, Like these are Mark Andrews shorthanded
fly Like I can point to these things and they're
like right there. And I said this to you last
week on the show. I got to see this team
in person in the preseason. The last two seasons. I
got to tell you, walk off the field every single time,
and I go, how does this team ever lose a game?
Speaker 3 (04:58):
I mean, they are that loaded. The talent is there,
and hopefully this is just a.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
One off and we're talking about them and maybe this
is a previous the AFC Championship game. But nonetheless, I mean,
it was fireworks. It was a great game, It was
entertaining and sorry to open up those wounds for Baltimore Ravelos.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Who are basically like my adopted team.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
By the way, I'm a Giants fan, but Lamar Jackson
is one of my favorite players, if not my favorite
player to watch. But a lot of focus this offseason
the last couple of weeks on the Green Bay Packers.
According to fan Duel, these are the odds to win
the NFC North. They are the driver's seed. Hello, and
I think there's some concern about the Detroit Lions. We
saw the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night score a win
against the Chicago Bears. All right, time for future champions
(05:37):
and it is presented by fan Duel. Are the Green
Bay Packers the future champs of this division?
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Here?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
I mean Micah hat his impact and his fingerprints on
the defense was there. Jordan Love I thought was slinging it,
picking up right where he left off last year. I'm
worried if I'm in this division of the Packers.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
And first of all, how much has changed in one week, right?
I mean just the perception seeing Parsons out there with
that defense, right, seeing the Lions struggle offensively as well,
seeing what the Bears and Vikings. Where we knew all
four teams were good, but now we get a bigger
picture of what's actually going on in the division. And
I think you have every right to be if you're
an NFC North player not on the Green Bay package,
(06:15):
you have every right to think, Wow, this team could
be special by the end of the regular season. Parsons,
in only twenty nine to thirty snaps, had a terrific game.
I mean, he really made his imprint, but it was
the rest of the defense that seemed fired up as well.
And outside of one late series Jordan Love was a
little shaky, had a dropped interception, had one that was
called back by penalty. He was really darn good. This
(06:37):
is the moment, right for all Packers fans. They cheered
him when his name was announced to start the game,
and then they cheered him on that big sack to
close things out, and if you could do it going
up against the likes of Penny Well, I mean, that's fantastic.
Like this is going to be a great one on
one rivalry and also a great team rivalry too. But
I think, like you asked, you have to at least
(06:58):
consider them very strong contenders in the North, if not
super Bowl potential if everything goes on the path that's
on right now.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
Yeah, look, I think there was some I don't want
to say sketch moments, but I look, I mean, I
know JJ McCarthy that was his first career start against
the Chicago Bears.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They win that game.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
I think there's concerns about the Lions, who we'll talk
to talk about in just a moment here the Packers,
and I get it. It's just one week, and lord knows,
I mean after TNF we might have a very different
conversation next week. They're going up against a very good
Washington Commander's team. But at least for right now, we
can give them their flowers. They can flex and that
is an impressive win against a team that I think
many felt like was maybe the best in the NFC
(07:38):
in the Detroit Lions Meanwhile, these Chantas City Chiefs sitting
at number five. Right now, I see a collision on
the fields between Travis Kelce and Xavier Worthy. There's concerns
right now because of that shoulder injury, some lack of
explosive plays down the field. How concerns should I be
about the Chiefs and that offense and more specifically a
(07:58):
loss against La.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, travel all the way to Brazil,
you want to come away with a win, especially against
the team that you've had good success against. And it
just didn't happen. Right. The defense struggled that injury you
mentioned right at the start of the game. There kind
of shades of Hollywood Brown getting hurt on his first
preseason snap last year. Look, Hollywood did his job in
this one. They schemed up a touchdown for Kelsey. Taekwon
(08:20):
Thornton had to play late in this game. You know,
Juju did his role. But they seem to be kind
of missing something that will arrive when Rashid Rice is
off suspension. But they've got to go five more games
all of a sudden, starting with Philly on Sunday, a
team that absolutely destroyed him, at least for the first
part of the Super Bowl there, and yeah, I mean
it's just one of those things where we watched them
(08:42):
straight by week after week to fifteen wins give them
their credit, but still every single week you saw the
limitations of a lack of receiver threat there last year.
It's starting to crop up again a little bit now.
If they come out and play a great game this week,
Mahomes is back to normal. He does his thing. The
defense responds, Okay, we can have a normal conversation, but
(09:04):
you know the disabilities that they're ower and two after
this game, and you know it's going to look a
whole lot different, I think, So we'll see Week one
is Week one. I tried out to be the reactionary type,
but you have to look at what the reality is
right now. And it's a little bit scary.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Yeah, because if it isn't oh and two start, that's
not how many people would have drawn it up before
the season. By the way, I think the bigger question
in this, and we will discuss, is where the Chargers
now sit in your rankings, because that was an impressive
win and what does that do for the perception of
that organization and really justin Herbert, but the Detroit Lions.
They dropped three spots for you. They moved to now
(09:38):
number eight. Had a research team look this up. Eight
coaches left from last year's staff to this year. I
know we talked about coordinators, but eight coaches is a
really significant number. How much do you attribute that to
the result that we saw in Week one?
Speaker 4 (09:52):
It just wasn't the same look as last year. Everything
was labored offensively. I can't say how much of an
impact it was that. You know, John Morton's in his
first game of playing a calling plays for this team.
You know, obviously you think about the way they built
this team. Dan Campbell kind of held Ben you know,
Johnson's hand for half a year until he kind of
(10:12):
got going. So I think Campbell deserves some of the
blame too. For Sunday as well, everything was short. Everything
took a lot more effort to get downfield, and it
just lacked the explosiveness we saw last year, the creativity
and all that. But there's time. I'm not going to
bury this team after one game. Was it disappointing? Absolutely?
You know, Terry and Arnold gets hurt on defense, you
(10:33):
shrug because you go, that's exactly what happened. Last year too,
same thing with the Chiefs, right, the same story seems
to be kind of playing out again. You hope it
doesn't go any further, but this is still the Lions.
Campbell's built a level of trust with this locker room.
They have a lot of veteran pieces in place. I
think they're going to rebound starting with this game against
Chicago this week. But you know that new offensive line
(10:56):
struggle a little bit, there were some issues in other places,
and so you know they got their work cut out
for him, no doubt about it.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, Ben Johnson gets to go against his former score.
If you tell me what's more likely the Bears go,
oh and to where the lines go?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Oh and two? I think we all know the answer
to that.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I look for as much as I like talking about
the top teams one through ay, to me, there's some
really juicy storylines teams nine through sixteen. We got the
Rams that scored a big win, the Vikings came back
on Monday Night football, and oh, by the way, Bots
up the Chargers and what we saw. We will tell
you exactly where those three teams and the rest of
nine through sixteen sit coming up next back here on
(11:41):
Power rankings along with Eric at home, Mike Am with you,
teams nine through sixteen. According to Eric at nine, it's
the dev Broncos. They got to win and that's the
only thing that matters. The Rams, who we'll talk about
sid ten, the Vikings at eleven, Cincinnati fast start out
of the gate, how about going want to know all
that conversation about them? With those slow starts, they figured
out a way to get a dump and the still
drop two spots.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
According to Eric, the Chargers at thirteen.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The Houston Texans with that loss to the Rams moved
down to fourteen. The San Francisco forty nine or State
still at fifteen, even though it looks like George Kittle's
going to a mystery to five weeks and Rock Purty
is banged up shoulder and tow injury, and we got
the Pittsburgh Steelers Aaron Rodgers, Pittsburgh Steelers at sixteen. We'll
chump chop it up a little bit about them in
just a moment. I'm actually glad we're talking Rams here.
(12:26):
I felt like lost in the week one conversation, Eric,
was the Rams scoring.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
A sneakily like stud stud game.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
I mean the Houston Texans, we feel like are a good,
good football team. There's been some issues with that team
starting off a little slow, a lot of it because
of injuries. But to me, and I think he wrote
it this way on NFL dot Com in your Power
Rankings column, like they'll take the win. I know every
team will take any sort of win, but to me,
this was a.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Good victory absolutely, you know, I mean defensively, they did
what they had to do, kept the Texans out of
the end zone. A Matthew Stafford look, I mean all
this question about is back. Maybe some people thought it
was a little bit for show or him trying to
get out of training camp. I don't think that was it.
I think these issues have been chronic, they have been occurring,
and they weren't sure what he was going to be like.
But he was pretty darn good. Gets a good Texans
(13:11):
defense twenty one out of twenty nine for two forty
five in a touchdown and that you know that includes
a throwaway. And I counted at least three drops in
the in that game, so you know, Nikua had to
miss a few snaps. He diced them up. Devanta Adams
made plays in his first Rams game. I think the
upgrade at receiver, and the question is if that offensive
line holds up, what is the ceiling for this team?
(13:31):
You know, remember they almost knocked off the Eagles of
the playoffs last year, and you know, at least so
far they've avoided the slow start that has plagued them
the last couple of years. So who knows. If they
get a little bit of a runway into the season,
they could be real dangerous.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
I'm with you there.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
They will match up on the road against Tennessee, who,
by the way, looked better than I would have thought.
I thought cam Ward had some really impressive froze in
that game. So we'll just drawing that out there. It
is a good win from a RAMS perspective. But it
is time for power moves. It's presented by Energizer, all right, Vikings,
they move up one spot and we're saying power moves
here because what I want witness for the first three
(14:06):
quarters is very different than what I saw from this
team in the fourth quarter. I got to spend some
time around this organization in the preseason. I think there
was some buzz and some excitement around JJ McCarthy. How
does that performance on Monday Night football impact. How you
think about them over the next few weeks.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
Yeah, I mean, as you said, if we're just looking
at McCarthy, there was more bad than good, right, just
in terms of sheer volume. Right, the three quarters, three sacks,
the pick six, you know, had fifty yards passing or
whatever it was just wasn't connecting. Everything was a tick slow.
He telegraphed that pass that was picked off by nay
Sean Wright. You know, everything sort of seemed like, Wow,
(14:43):
this is his preseason game or this is his welcome
to the NFL moment. But as soon as the Bears
missed that field goal, was like a switch flipped, you know,
and stallone in that arm wrestling movie. You turn the
hat around, something changes. I don't know what got into him,
but you know, the kid grew up down the street
watching Bears games and wearing Bears jerseys. Put another hung
(15:03):
another bat loss for that fan based on with three
incredible drives and Mike, I thought it started with the
run game. They get that going a little bit helped
kind of suck in some of those defenders and gave
him some more passing windows. But you know, you just
compare his night to Calen Williams who started out and
then tapered off. I think you'd have to say it was.
It was very encouraging, even with the slow start. If
(15:25):
you there aren't many quarterbacks, I don't think who could
have the kind of first three quarters that that JJ
did and be able to turn it around on the
road down double digit scores. You know that's or sorry
I double digit points. Rather, that's pretty pretty darn good.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
In your first start.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Like I know, I said this before about the Broncos, right, like,
you take the win, the Rams, just take the win.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
This is your first start, you have been injured.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
For over a year because of the meniscustare that you
suffered in the preseason, and you're on the road against
the Chicago Bears. It don't matter how bad it looked
in the first three quarters. Like there's some moxie that
was there from JJ McCarthy. By the way, there's a
lot to unpack here and has nothing to do with football.
I did watch that movie back in the day, Over
the Top. I forgot the name of it.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
Over the Top, thank you. I couldn't come up with it.
Speaker 2 (16:06):
In nineteen eighty seven it was released, Like what is that?
I was six when that happened. And I when you
mentioned Stallone, you realize that there's like a fan base
that's watching the show right now that might not even
know Sylvester Stallon.
Speaker 3 (16:19):
Like does that make you.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Say, I don't even know nineteen eighty seven, right, I mean,
they don't, they don't know any of this stuff. So
we're bringing them back to the old school here, I
think on this show.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Eric, you know, I used to be young back in
the day, and you can sort of see a lot
of the gray hairs that are creeping in nineteen eighty seven.
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Once again, I was six. I remember that movie Flip
the cap around the whole It was a good year. Yeah,
it was a great year. Let's shift our attention. They
were all good years because I was young.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Chargers all right, How significant is this because some people
will tell you, hey, again, you know, every game is
week by week, it's just a game.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
In my opinion, there are some games that just meet
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Like I think Buffalo is gonna be able to point
to that win against the Ravens all season.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
That one means a whole lot.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
I think the Chargers can do the same exact thing
with this win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
I agree, from the playoff loss to losing ray Sean
Slater in the preseason, or just questions about, you know,
how they're gonna hold up from the division. I think
you would say the general perception on the Chargers heading
into this game was trickling downward. Right. You could make
a case for the Raiders, or you could say that
the Broncos are eight up and the Chiefs in the division,
whatever you wanted to say, but they kind of ended
(17:25):
a lot of those narratives with a really great game
down there. And justin Herbert looked for his career against
the Chiefs, it's been really up and down. Hasn't had
a lot of success. He hasn't been great in those
big moments necessarily or more bad than good. In this game,
he was fantastic and he had the ball, things started
getting a little tight, Patrick started making plays, and he
ends it with that quarterback run there. So I don't
(17:46):
care if it's in sal Polo or Santa Clair or
anywhere else. Rights, that's a big performance. And you could
say that about a guy who's zero and two in
the postseason and what two and seven entering the game
against the Chiefs two and six. So yeah, you start
checking those things off and you feel a lot better
about where your team's at.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Three touchdowns for him, and I think it's significant I
give his stat line because in my mind, if they
won that game before they played it, I would have said, hey,
it's the running attack that gets it done right, Okay,
But it was justin Herbert who put them over the top.
The Pittsburgh Steelers. You know, there is one person who
does probably watched Over the Top back in the day
and probably knows Sylvester Sloan. That's Aaron Rodgers because he's
(18:26):
about our age at this point. But Rogers specifically, I mean,
this is the fountain of youth here. Is this a
one off? Are you buying Rogers in this performance? Because
if he plays like this, I think our perception of
the Steelers has got to look a whole lot different.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Now.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
Point to the game where he had that kind of
that youthful spirit, you know, and we were kind of
chatting about it a little bit before the game. I
mean you said he kind of looked like he was
in his thirties again. I mean the swagger was back,
first of all, but he was moving around even better
than he did last year, a year removed from that
Achilles injury, and you know, towards the end of the season,
we started seeing little glimpses of Okay, maybe he's not
(19:00):
finish right his days is a premiere quarterback, maybe those
are done. But on Sunday was terrific. And you know, look,
the best receiver, DK Metcalf is being shadowed by Sauce Gardener.
I know the Jets don't get a lot of respect,
and maybe they're not great defensively, but Aaron Glenn knows
a thing or two about a Aaron Rodgers and defense.
So I think you look at it for different TV receivers.
(19:23):
Arthur Smith kind of giving his quarterback a lot of
trust and everything you'd expect, not being sort of focused
on the run game. You know, it's I can't wait
to see him again just to find out is this real? Right?
Has he discovered the found youth? Is he turning back
the clock here? Because this is this one game was
as good as anything I think we saw last year.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, and I think this speaks volumes about how we
know nothing about football until we actually get some actual
games here.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
So true. You know, if you watch Rogers.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
You and I talked about this off air last year
with the Jets last couple of years. A ton of
shotguns seeing everything in front of them. If you would
have told me the Startlers would give up thirty two
points to the Jets and Aaron Rodgers would throw for
four touchdowns and some of those plays, it's a ton
of play action. He's on the move, Like, what are
you talking about? Aaron Rodgers is not going to be
making these drows on the move. That's exactly what we saw,
so small sample size. We'll see how it plays out
(20:11):
over the next couple of weeks. A couple things still
left to unpack here. The Raiders score a nice little win,
the Colts wake up with Daniel Jones and a conversation.
I need to find out that's happening in our control room.
I think as soon as I mentioned Sylvester Stallone, there
was a lot of chit chatter going on.
Speaker 3 (20:25):
So we'll update everyone on that.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
It's coming up next down Power Rankings.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
Welcome back to Power Rankings.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
Eric's rankings seventeenth through twenty four and just a quick update.
Only one person in our control room knew who Sylvester
Stalone was.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
If you feel old. As you were watching the show,
you were not alone.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Arizona Cardinals sitting at seventeen, the Bears no change, but
in a starting the season zhe to one sitting at eighteen,
The Seahawks at nineteen. The Atlanta Falcons got a little
fight with them. I thought Michael Pennix looked really good.
They're at the twentieth ranked team. The Dallas Cowboys also
another team that I think buy some of their expectations
in week number one despite that lost there at twenty one,
(21:08):
the Jags twenty two, the Raiders at twenty three, and
then we got the Indianapolis Colts at twenty four. We'll
talk about Raiders and Colts here.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
Right now, all right?
Speaker 2 (21:16):
The Raiders move up two spots, go on the road.
Nice debut with Gino. Smith, Like to me, is there
enough for you to buy this team a little bit
more than you were last week when we were doing
the show.
Speaker 4 (21:27):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, I was excited about
Pete Carroll's excited about Gino, Ashton genty, all the pieces
they brought in, but how quickly could they bring it together?
Just really encouraged by the fact that they had a
little trouble defensively early. They fixed some things at halftime
and got after a shutout. Drake May and the Patriots
really made some great in game adjustments. And Brock Bauers,
you see him making place here. He was outstanding, but
(21:49):
he left the game with injury. And you know, Gino
made enough place, took some sacks, took some hits, but
moved pretty well for a guy in the mid to
late thirties now, and I think he's gonna do wonders
for this team. Energy was good, defense played much better
in the second half, and you can hit the big
play like this, The Trey Tucker and some of the
play action stuff really opens up with gen so interesting team.
(22:12):
I can't wait to see where they end up.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
At a relentless effort in pursuit that we've seen from
Max Crosby that never seems to ever go away. The Colts,
they are your biggest movers. They move up four spots.
I like where you put them, and I love the
fact that you're giving them some respect. I was watching
Red Zone Scott Hanson throws the stat out there hasn't
happened since at least nineteen ninety one, where we've had
a quarterback seven straight possessions and all scoring drives. I
(22:36):
had a buddy of mine call me up this morning.
I'm a Giants fan. I think people realize that if
they've been listening, watching to the show going, Hey, did
you expect this from Daniel Jones? And I said, absolutely
expecting because he's not wearing a Giants uniform. At this point,
I think the guy has got some upside with this
Colts team. How much are you buying Daniel Jones being
able to sustain this the rest of the season.
Speaker 4 (22:53):
Yeah. My philosophy to this thing is like, let's see
how far this guy could take us?
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Right?
Speaker 4 (22:57):
I mean Week one was outstanding, even if it's against
the Dolphins team that you know, we had some questions
about coming into the year. Right, the run game works.
Jones was highly effective. He was great. He rushed it and
ran in two scores, made some terrific throws so well.
I think the attitude at this point is not, hey,
let's try to figure out when we're getting Anthony Richardson
in there. Let's see how far Daniel Jones can take him.
(23:18):
You watched him drag that Giants team to the playoffs.
Big win up in Minnesota, only to lose the next week.
But still, I mean, you know, I just I guess
it makes me think there's still some talent in here
that hasn't been untapped. And it's a big game for
Shane Steichen. And you know, getting Tyler Warren involved early
that was more encouraging than I imagined it would be. And
we'll have to find out how they stack up. Is
(23:39):
this a real thing or is this just a one
week lip.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Yeah, he's healthy. One two.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
He's got a better offensive line than he had in
New York. Just look at what we saw from the
Giants in week number one that actually matters. Let's get
the rest of the rankings here at twenty five through
thirty two. The Patriots at twenty five, the Titans, I
thought they looked over cam at twenty six, the Jets
twenty seven.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
The Dolphins, ooh, that was hard to watch.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
At twenty eight, those g Men. At twenty nine, the Browns,
the Panthers, and the Saints. At your bottom three teams.
The Jets moved up three spots despite the loss. They
score thirty two points. I think there's a lot of
positives to take away in that debut for Aaron Glenn
and Justin Field specifically.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
Well, I thought look good, Eric, I.
Speaker 4 (24:16):
Thought so too, right, especially after the preseason, we weren't
really sure how much he was going to prove through
the air. But he was very efficient throwing the ball
and he's usually great self running it as well. So
you know, you've got that three headed rushing attack, You've
got Field who makes it a fourth option too. That really,
you know, is the kind of game. I think that
they want to play there. But Aaron Glenn knows he
can't give up thirty four points because he can't ask
(24:38):
Fields and these guys to score so much. We'll see
if it works out.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
I think it's going to be tough too, because it's
a Buffalo team that's on deck here.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But appreciate all you guys watching.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
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