February 12, 2025 • 21 mins
On the final episode of the 2024-25 season, the guys discuss if the Philadelphia Eagles are becoming a dynasty and where the Kansas City Chiefs go from here. They also touch on the Lions, Commanders, 49ers, and several other NFL teams as the offseason begins.
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And like that. It's a wrap Welcome to the final
edition out of NFL Power Rankings. It is presented by
energizer Mike Am and Eric at Home with you the
final set of rankings. We know how it'll play at
the top, but we'll do a deep dive on all
of the top teams in the NFL. For full analysis
of all the squad scan a QR code or you
can just head to NFL dot com. Fans in Philly,
(00:35):
they're always happy, Eric, and I know they're happy with
you right now.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
They are happy.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
They could go back and read the Power Rankings for
about three weeks ago when I had them listed fourth
among the final four teams. I had a lot of people,
to their credit who hit me up at the time
and said less kind versions of you're wrong, dude, And
they reminded me about you know, six minutes after the
Super Bowl ended, so showed a little restraint as well.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm kind of proud of them.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You look, you can't make everyone happy, but those fans
should be thrilled by the final result. Yes, what we
witnessed in the Super Bowl. All right, let's get through
the rankings here one through eight. Not a surprise, the
Philadelphia Eagles sitting in that top spot. Congratulations to Jalen Hurts,
the game MVP. The Chiefs, they dropped that spot. They'd
been kind of hitting in that top spot for a while.
At number one, it's the Bills, the Lions, and the Ravens.
(01:22):
Rounding out three, four, five, The Commanders. What an amazing season.
You think about where they were at the start of
the Power Rankings, you could see a plus twenty the
biggest move. We will do a deep dive on them
in just a few minutes. The Minnesota Vikings also a
team on a rise as well, up sixteen spots from
where they landed in the first edition of the Power Rankings.
And the Green Bay Packers your eighth squad. All right,
(01:44):
let's take a closer look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Take
way through this. What did we not necessarily see happening
that explains why this team is a Super Bowl champion?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, if you kind of look back
at their season and think about, you know, they had
the two and two start they went into the buy
turnovers were an issue, those were.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
The biggest questions of the season.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
They didn't lose a game after that, in which Jalen
Hurt started and finished the game. It was that one
loss to Washington where Kenny Pick had played most of it.
So maybe we underestimated these Eagles coming in just a
little bit. I finally switched my pick right before kickoff
and said, I think Philly's gonna win. I had no
idea they would blow out a team on the Vergia
history like this, Like the Chiefs were so good in
(02:26):
postseason situations, so good in the clutch time, but they
finished on defense and they did just an off offensively
to make it a successful day.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
You know, got the passing game going early.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
You knew they were going to gang up on Saquon
Barkley and take him out of the game.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
As best they could.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
They did, you know, held him under one hundred yards
total on thirty plus touches, but boy, they still couldn't
keep him out of the end zone. Jalen Hurts outside
of that one throw with spectacular And how about Vic
Fangio's defense absolutely dominating from the start, really didn't let
up until they were up.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Thirty four to nothing.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Even then, but boy, an absolutely outstanding performance from a
coaching from a unit that I don't know that's gotten
quite the respect that they deserved.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
All throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
They were mostly terrific this year, and you saw the
upgrades that they made on all three levels this offseason.
And a coordinator too, Fanjo, you know, arguably as a
Hall of Fame type resume for a coach, for an
assistant coach.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I don't want to be over overly dramatic here. Is
this a bungeoning dynasty too? Super Bowl appearances in three seasons?
Young Defense, got your quarterback locked up? Is this something
that we're going to see in the years to come?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
If you ask me right now who the favorites are
next year, I think you'd say Philly. Now that's pre
free agency, pre draft, pre cut downs, all that stuff,
so there's a lot to be figured out. But if
you had to have one team to sort of say,
who do you think could win a next year?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Why not Philly?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Right?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
For all the reasons you just stated. And I think
you know, Jalen Hurt's kind of getting that monkey office back,
so to speak. Right, everybody sort of putting a ceiling
on him. And not believing he actually can win a
Super Bowl. He proved that wrong after all the ups
and downs he's endured from Alabama to his first head
coach in Philly. Now with Nick Sirianni, they've seen the
mountaintop and I think they could be back there, whether
(04:08):
it's next year or beyond that. So yeah, maybe it's
not what we've seen from the Chiefs level of success,
but you bet they could be.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
All Right, Where did the Chiefs go from here?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Great question? Right?
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We still have to figure out what's Travis Kelcey's future. Right,
what are the plans for the offensive line that had
a really rough day? I understand that they went into
that game maybe not wanting to change the chemistry up
front after they'd made some switches, patched holes as best
they could, but it became obvious that that pass rush
was too much from And I think you could be
talking about multiple offensive line spots this offseason that need addressing,
(04:41):
whether it's Trace Smith leaving in free agency, that left
tackle spot. You'd ideally moved Joe Toney back to left guard,
his best home. You know, we hear now about DeAndre
Hopkins possibly retiring. Maybe he is, Maybe he isn't sort of.
He deleted a tweet that said he's still got some
football left. But we'll find out what their plans are
at receiver, on the offensive line, and also on defense.
(05:04):
I think they probably need some more pass rush force,
you know, to penetrate good lines like the Philadelphia Eagles.
They just weren't able to do it consistently enough.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know it's disappointing for Chiefs fans. This was still
a really good season. This team is still not going anywhere,
especially considering how they've drafted over the last couple of years.
The Bills sit at number three here. I think they
silenced a lot of critics who were concerned about massive
changes to personnel. How big is this window for Buffalo?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, I mean I think a year ago a lot
of people were suggesting that, Okay, they let a slew
of veterans go on the first day of free agency.
This is the blood letting. Josh has missed his window.
They're going to have to go through some sort of
period of rebuild. Well, look, if having the ball with
a chance to win in the fourth quarter of the
AFC Championship Game is a rebuild, then I think they're
in pretty decent shape.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Remember, they didn't get a ton out of key.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
On Coleman, their top draft pick this year at the
top receiver, who you know didn't perform on the same
level as z Avier Worthy did.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I think he can make a step.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I think the defense obviously needs some reinforcements, but Josh
is still in the prime of his career.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We saw guys like Khalil Shakir breakout.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
You know, it wasn't even the best year from Dalton Kincaid,
So you know, I think they have the chance to
be even more explosive offensively the next year. The question is,
with limited resources this offseason, only so much cap space,
only so high draft picks, how are they going to
be able to add layers to that defense, which to me,
by the end of the season you saw a depleted group,
(06:27):
but one that for the most part, I thought held
together pretty well throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah. Look, attrition is an issue for a lot of
teams in the NFL, and I think you saw some
of that. Buffalo probably did a better job than most
weathering that storm, much like the Number four team. I
think we forget about the Detroit Lions and the amount
of injuries that they had throughout the course of this season,
yet an opportunity still to potentially even make it to
a Super Bowl. They're going to be facing the same
thing the Eagles faced a couple of seasons ago coming
(06:53):
off of that Super Bowl run, losing built of their coordinators.
What's the fallout for that change.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
If they make the wrong decisions, you know, like the
art Eagles arguably did. They moved on from both coordinators
learned last season. It sets you back a year, but
as they proved this season, if you make the right
hires one year later, you can go win the Super Bowl.
So you know, I know we think in terms of
windows and how long this team can get going. Obviously,
Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are a big part of
(07:20):
their success, and this can't be overlooked. Other multiple assistants
have left as well, so you know, it's a big
challenge for Dan Campbell is as you know, golf kind
of heads into the back half of his career. You know,
maybe Kevin Zeitdler moves on some other pieces and fregency.
They still have to fix that defense and ad Layer
is a talent to that. We saw how it broke
down at the end of the year, so you know
this is no easy climb back up the mountain top.
(07:43):
But again, I think there's a real strong belief and
now a pattern history of success over two and a
half seasons that you know this team isn't going anywhere.
I don't think until proven otherwise. But that OC position.
Ben Johnson did work some magic at times, and they're
gonna have to find somebody who can match that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I know, we haven't even hit the NFL draft. You
were at the Senior Bowl, I was at the Shrine
Shrine Bowl. Know that there's gonna be some talented players available.
The lines have done a really nice job in the
draft building this roster. Do we look at and just
kind of assuming like, hey, they'll make some additions here
that'll be positive for this team. Do we look at
the Lions as still on the shortlist? I don't know where.
(08:20):
I shouldn't even be talking about rankings for next season
on our last show, but I got to imagine, like,
in terms of complete teams, they're one of like three
or four in the NFL that you would point.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To have to be. I think they absolutely are.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
In fact, you know, my preseason top four might look
pretty similar to what I've got here on this wrap
up of the twenty four season. So yeah, the Lions
will be right up there among the heavyweight contenders. We
know they can score forty on any given day. They
were playing very good defense prior to Aiden Hutchinson injury,
which you know, just sort of started the avalanche. It
(08:51):
seemed like every week they dropped a starter or two.
You saw it happen to the Dolphins late in the
twenty three season and.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
They collapse completely. This is a better roster.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
I think that what Miami had put together, and so
you know, I firmly believe that they're going to be
among the contenders next year. But again, like Philly twenty
twenty three, there's no guarantee. They started out ten and
one with those two new coordinators and ended up letting
both go by the end of the season. So you
never know in this league, and people make rass and
decisions in tense situations.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, I think, Look, you take some heat on social
media for these rankings, and I'll probably take some heat
for this. I know the AFC by and large better
conference than the NFC, but if you say to me,
the most complete teams heading into next season regardless of
the draft, because obviously rosters are going to change. Eagles
are in that conversation, the Lions are right there, and
I'm based off of the personnel, like I put the
(09:41):
Baltimore Ravens in front of all those other teams just
based off of roster. I get it here. Yep, there's
still Kansas City and Buffalo. Just making that point, there
are some teams that are on the rise. And there
is one that I am thinking about in a big
way time for Power Moves presented by Energizer. It is
the Washington Redskins. I think about this trajectory. Week one
(10:02):
of the season, you had them twenty six in your rankings,
they took a loss, they dropped all the way down
to twenty nine in week number two, and in the
final rankings they're the six ranked team. What an accomplishment
for Dan Quinn in year number one, and it helps
to have the QB one in your future, maybe QB
one for the NFL over the next few years.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
If you had bought Stock and the Commanders back in
week one, even week two, and I knocked him down
a few pegs, this is like buying bitcoin in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You're doing okay for yourself. Right.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
In fact, I remember on Twitter hosting my initial rankings
number twenty six, and a local Commander's writer said, I
think this is the highest I've seen so far. So
I wasn't the only one. In fact, I guess I
had a more rosy view of them than others. But
love what Adam Peters did to the roster. Loved the
addition of obviously Jayden Dalees. I thought he'd be a
great hit with the Cliff Kingsbury. Didn't imagine it would
(10:51):
be so successful year one. But in a lot of ways,
they're kind of in the same position that Houston Texans
found themselves in one year ago. Right they were coming
off a successful playoff run.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, they won the division.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
The record wasn't quite as impro is what Washington did obviously,
but young quarterbacks sort of thrust into the spotlight in
the discussion as one of the you know, the top
young quarterbacks in the game today. There's gonna be a
lot of pressure on them now. The expectations are there.
They're gonna be a winning team next season. That's sort
of the belief around the campfire. So we'll find out
(11:23):
how much more magic can they do? They have to
add on that defense. I feel like we've said that
about every contender except the Eagles, but they absolutely facing
teams like Dallas, like Philly every year, you know are
going to have to tighten things up on that side
of the ball. But boy, like you said, the future
is so bright down there. All of a sudden, think
about what a year has done to the outlook of
this entire franchise, not just the football team, but just
(11:45):
the top to bottom the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, I think that's why there's so many teams that
are looking for a quarterback right now. In this year's
NFL Draft, they'll point to Washington Commanders, the one guy
can really change the trajectory of our entire franchise. By
the way, before we even annoint them, we know sometimes
it's not always a given, right. The Houston Texans, we
were kind of talking about CJ. Stroud this way, and
they were still a playoff team. They were dealing with
(12:08):
some injuries. But it's just not a lock and a
guarantee that you're going to be able to duplicate success
from year to year. So just to keep in mind
here and just temper some of those expectations for a
Commanders stands, although I think you and I feel like
it's going to be really a great season next year.
More to come here on power rankings. How high up
to the Rams, the Broncos and Bengals deserve to be
that Answers coming up next. Yes, I'll back here on
(12:37):
power rankings. Mike Imman Eric at home with you as
you take a look at his squad's rank nine through sixteen.
We'll do a deep dive on the Bucks. The Houston
Texans so much expectations around CJ. Stroud. I think they
figured it out late in the season, a little too
late though. The Rams maybe the most intriguing team, at
least in my mind in this grouping the Chargers, we
know that arrow is pointing up the Broncos sitting at
(12:58):
number thirteen. The Steelers got some real decisions to make
this offseason. At fourteen, Cincinnati had fifteen. Why I was
on that train for most of this season, and at
sixteen it is the Seattle Seahawks. I break this down
for me because the Bucks are a team that's consistently
really good and yet haven't necessarily been able to break through.
(13:18):
What's it going to take.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, Tom Brady coming out of retire No, I'm kidding. Obviously,
Baker Mayfield's done a tremendous job, right, and you know
they're changing offensive coordinators for roughly the thirty seventh year
in a row. Don't quote me on that fact, but
it's something like that.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you know Mike Evans, Look, he was terrific.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
He got his thousand yards last year, but he's in
the final year of his contract. Chris Godwin's potentially moving
on and for agency, you know, playing in this division,
obviously it gives them an advantage. Right, Carolina is still
figuring things out. Atlanta's starting over a little bit with
Michael Pennix, right, So they're gonna win football games.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But to your point, how do they break through?
Speaker 4 (13:54):
I think getting better depth and health on defense is
a big part of it. But obviously, another play caller,
another system. Mayfield's sort of answered the call, reinvented his
It's been fun to watch, but can he do it again?
Maybe he's got to take a page out of Jalen
Hurts his book, right, another guy who's been through his
share hoot sas and follow that path to success.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
All Right? The Denver Broncos are thirteen, and I think
a little bit of a different scenario as they're trying
to break through. I look at your Week one rankings,
you had them twenty seventh. They move up to thirteenth
in the final one and look, that's a remarkable job
from Sean Payton and this crew. They got it right.
They hit the home run with bone knicks. What's that
missing piece for this team?
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, I think obviously defensively they're pretty strong. I think
the offensive line has the parts. I think you'd like
to see another weapon or two in this offense. And
think back to what Sean Payton had in New Orleans.
He always had that X factor, as he likes to
call it, that joker, right, whether it was Jimmy Graham
or Jeremy Shacky at tight end. You know, Taysom Hill
is kind of a multi tool piece. Alvin Kamara, Reggie Bush,
(14:59):
whatever you want to say. They had those kind of
guys who were match up nightmares from the run back position,
from tight end, they don't really have that. They tried
four different backs last year, five guys really, three different
tight ends. They all had their strengths, but you know,
they really I think want one difference maker, and if
they can find that player in the draft, that would
(15:20):
be terrific. I know they're not anxious to spend a
bunch of money in free agency, but just tighten a
few things up defensively already a top ten unit, and
then if they can give bo Nicks that one special playmaker.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
We see a player who played at a pretty darn high.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Level as a rookie who could be able to elevate
even further. So I'm excited to see what they do
in this offseason and who they target.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
All Right, two teams are the biggest jumps, the Commanders
and the Broncos. Here the team you feel most confident
in duplicating success or maybe even just leveling up next year.
Which one would you pick between those two?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
That's a great question because obviously the expectations for the
Commanders are going to be sky high, even playing in
the same division as the Eagles, the team that knocked
them out of the playoffs. But you know, I would
probably say Tampa Bays. They can fly below the race
a little bit and also play in the weaker division,
so maybe that factors in. We still haven't seen how
the schedule lays out, or what happens at trade and see.
(16:12):
But right now, you know, I mean even Jayden Dale's
is the better quarterback. They beat the Bucks head to
head in the playoffs in Tampa. But you know, as
far as like expectations and playing above that are equal
to that, you know, wouldn't be shocking if the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers end up with more wins than expected.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
If that makes sense, no question.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I mean those three teams in general, you throw them
into the basket, you pull out a name, and you'd
be like, all right, like that team could be pretty
good this upcoming season. Now we're talking about teams that
have made the huge jump. There's some squads that didn't
necessarily live up to the expectations that we thought. Oh
I feel bad for your Brock, Like, I get it.
Eric actually had them as number two team heading into
the season. Are they even contenders moving forward? The answer
(16:53):
to that is coming up next. We're on power rankings.
Mike Amman, Eric at Home with You, Team seventeen through
twenty four the Arizona Cardinals. This was this is a
good season for him. They did move up, and I
know there were some issues as the season unfolded. Form
(17:15):
but they're at seventeen. The Dolphins injury bug in a
big way at eighteen. The Falcons, oh the way this
season had turned out for him, But Michael Pennix is
waiting in the wings at nineteen, The Colts at twenty,
San Francisco forty nine ers we'll get to in a
moment here at twenty one, The Bears at twenty two.
They dropped six spots from that original ranking, The Dallas
Cowboys at twenty three, and the Carolina Panthers. The ro
(17:36):
is pointing up for that franchise. All right, let's focus
in on this Niner squad. I think this is the
most intriguing team in the entire list. You had them
number two before the season starts. They fall to now
twenty one. There's no way on the preseason rankings, correct
me if I'm wrong here, they're going to be outside
the top twenty.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Right, It would be hard to do, right, even if
they end up trading Deebo Samuel, as has been reported
and rumored. I think, you know, obviously it depends on
what happens this season, right, but this offseason, I should say,
but it seems to me like they're focusing on re
signing party, giving him his long term deal how long
we'll see, and then elevating one of those other receivers,
(18:14):
whether it's Ricky Piersall their first round pick or Juwan
Jennings and trying their best to get what they can
for debo. Remember they tried to trade Brandon Auk last year.
He ended up go getting hurt, Christian McCaffrey getting hurt,
Trent Williams missing time. You know, virtually every single one
of the key players that they couldn't lose missed at
least one game, if not more.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
You know that's the reason they sunk so far. Am
I gonna raise them all the way back up to number.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Two right now?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
That feels a little bit unlikely, but Kyle Shanahan proven
the history of success in November December. I mean, I
feel it's safe to say they'll be somewhere around that
top ten.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
You will get a random text from me this summer
and I'll be on vacation pool side somewhere with a
little umbrella drink and the whole thing, and I'm gonna say,
you're gonna have the Niners in the top ten. Just
be prepared for that one. The Dallas Cowboys at this
point sending at number twenty three. Is this as simple
as McCarthy out and they get a shot in the
arm with Shottenheimer.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I think if you send me that same text with
the Cowboys, with the little drink and everything the emoji,
I don't know that I can give you that same answer.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It might be a little different than what we say
about the forty nine ers. This feels to me a
little bit New York Jets ish in the sense that, hey,
I know our plan last year didn't work, but let's
mostly run it back. Let's take the guy who was
essentially the first lieutenant for Mike McCarthy and make him
the head man. I mean, if that's all it takes,
then truly, I give a lot of credit to Jerry
(19:38):
Jones for being patient and saying we're going to see
this thing through.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
But the other half of me is questioning whether this
is the right move. Yes, this is a.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Team that went thirty six and fifteen over three years
before that, but they fell to seven to ten, and
even if injuries were part of the story, dak missing
a big chunk of the year. I don't know that
they're going to be a complete football team with the
likes of the Ravens and the Lions and the Eagles
and the other teams that we mentioned at the top
of the show. Those teams are more complete right now.
So we'll you see what the plan is.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
But you know, maybe Schottenheimer does give him a.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Little energy, a little fresh perspective. Can he bring him
through to the promise lay what Mike McCarthy couldn't do.
I have my questions right now. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I was talking Isaiah Standback, who does Good Morning Football.
Right after the decision to go with Schottenheimer, he said, hey,
verbiage language all going to be save for Dak which
is definitely a huge bonus heading into next season. At
city twenty five through thirty two. The Jets at twenty five,
we know there's going to be massive changes. They are
the Patriots at twenty six, the Raiders, what do they
do with the draft? At twenty seven, the Saints have
a new coach, officially, Kellen Moore is their guy. At
(20:36):
twenty nine, it's the Jags, the g Men at thirty
The Tennessee Titans might be thinking about QB one at
thirty one in the draft, and the Cleveland Browns your
last place team. I want to focus in on the
Patriots because we've had some squads Eric that we're kind
of in this range and became top fifteen teams. Can
the Patriots do that?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I think if there's one you bet on, well, Like
you said, every single year, somebody in this range ends
up sort of thriving the next year. We've seen Drake
may play very well, Mike Brabil comes in, Josh McDaniels
comes back.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
For a third ten yure in New England.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
And yes, they have a lot of holes to fill,
but when you have over one hundred million dollars of
salary cap space, a good till of draft picks, and
the willingness to spend, I think they're in for a
big offseason and that could lead to more victories next year.
So yeah, they're one of the leading cannons from this
bottom Groves.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Cross for the Patriots, you're their best, Eric, always appreciate work,
everything happen.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
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Speaker 2 (00:14):
And like that. It's a wrap Welcome to the final
edition out of NFL Power Rankings. It is presented by
energizer Mike Am and Eric at Home with you the
final set of rankings. We know how it'll play at
the top, but we'll do a deep dive on all
of the top teams in the NFL. For full analysis
of all the squad scan a QR code or you
can just head to NFL dot com. Fans in Philly,
(00:35):
they're always happy, Eric, and I know they're happy with
you right now.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
They are happy.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
They could go back and read the Power Rankings for
about three weeks ago when I had them listed fourth
among the final four teams. I had a lot of people,
to their credit who hit me up at the time
and said less kind versions of you're wrong, dude, And
they reminded me about you know, six minutes after the
Super Bowl ended, so showed a little restraint as well.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
I'm kind of proud of them.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
You look, you can't make everyone happy, but those fans
should be thrilled by the final result. Yes, what we
witnessed in the Super Bowl. All right, let's get through
the rankings here one through eight. Not a surprise, the
Philadelphia Eagles sitting in that top spot. Congratulations to Jalen Hurts,
the game MVP. The Chiefs, they dropped that spot. They'd
been kind of hitting in that top spot for a while.
At number one, it's the Bills, the Lions, and the Ravens.
(01:22):
Rounding out three, four, five, The Commanders. What an amazing season.
You think about where they were at the start of
the Power Rankings, you could see a plus twenty the
biggest move. We will do a deep dive on them
in just a few minutes. The Minnesota Vikings also a
team on a rise as well, up sixteen spots from
where they landed in the first edition of the Power Rankings.
And the Green Bay Packers your eighth squad. All right,
(01:44):
let's take a closer look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Take
way through this. What did we not necessarily see happening
that explains why this team is a Super Bowl champion?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, if you kind of look back
at their season and think about, you know, they had
the two and two start they went into the buy
turnovers were an issue, those were.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
The biggest questions of the season.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
They didn't lose a game after that, in which Jalen
Hurt started and finished the game. It was that one
loss to Washington where Kenny Pick had played most of it.
So maybe we underestimated these Eagles coming in just a
little bit. I finally switched my pick right before kickoff
and said, I think Philly's gonna win. I had no
idea they would blow out a team on the Vergia
history like this, Like the Chiefs were so good in
(02:26):
postseason situations, so good in the clutch time, but they
finished on defense and they did just an off offensively
to make it a successful day.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
You know, got the passing game going early.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
You knew they were going to gang up on Saquon
Barkley and take him out of the game.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
As best they could.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
They did, you know, held him under one hundred yards
total on thirty plus touches, but boy, they still couldn't
keep him out of the end zone. Jalen Hurts outside
of that one throw with spectacular And how about Vic
Fangio's defense absolutely dominating from the start, really didn't let
up until they were up.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Thirty four to nothing.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Even then, but boy, an absolutely outstanding performance from a
coaching from a unit that I don't know that's gotten
quite the respect that they deserved.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
All throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
They were mostly terrific this year, and you saw the
upgrades that they made on all three levels this offseason.
And a coordinator too, Fanjo, you know, arguably as a
Hall of Fame type resume for a coach, for an
assistant coach.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I don't want to be over overly dramatic here. Is
this a bungeoning dynasty too? Super Bowl appearances in three seasons?
Young Defense, got your quarterback locked up? Is this something
that we're going to see in the years to come?
Speaker 4 (03:33):
If you ask me right now who the favorites are
next year, I think you'd say Philly. Now that's pre
free agency, pre draft, pre cut downs, all that stuff,
so there's a lot to be figured out. But if
you had to have one team to sort of say,
who do you think could win a next year?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Why not Philly?
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Right?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
For all the reasons you just stated. And I think
you know, Jalen Hurt's kind of getting that monkey office back,
so to speak. Right, everybody sort of putting a ceiling
on him. And not believing he actually can win a
Super Bowl. He proved that wrong after all the ups
and downs he's endured from Alabama to his first head
coach in Philly. Now with Nick Sirianni, they've seen the
mountaintop and I think they could be back there, whether
(04:08):
it's next year or beyond that. So yeah, maybe it's
not what we've seen from the Chiefs level of success,
but you bet they could be.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
All Right, Where did the Chiefs go from here?
Speaker 3 (04:17):
Great question? Right?
Speaker 4 (04:18):
We still have to figure out what's Travis Kelcey's future. Right,
what are the plans for the offensive line that had
a really rough day? I understand that they went into
that game maybe not wanting to change the chemistry up
front after they'd made some switches, patched holes as best
they could, but it became obvious that that pass rush
was too much from And I think you could be
talking about multiple offensive line spots this offseason that need addressing,
(04:41):
whether it's Trace Smith leaving in free agency, that left
tackle spot. You'd ideally moved Joe Toney back to left guard,
his best home. You know, we hear now about DeAndre
Hopkins possibly retiring. Maybe he is, Maybe he isn't sort of.
He deleted a tweet that said he's still got some
football left. But we'll find out what their plans are
at receiver, on the offensive line, and also on defense.
(05:04):
I think they probably need some more pass rush force,
you know, to penetrate good lines like the Philadelphia Eagles.
They just weren't able to do it consistently enough.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I know it's disappointing for Chiefs fans. This was still
a really good season. This team is still not going anywhere,
especially considering how they've drafted over the last couple of years.
The Bills sit at number three here. I think they
silenced a lot of critics who were concerned about massive
changes to personnel. How big is this window for Buffalo?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Yeah, I mean I think a year ago a lot
of people were suggesting that, Okay, they let a slew
of veterans go on the first day of free agency.
This is the blood letting. Josh has missed his window.
They're going to have to go through some sort of
period of rebuild. Well, look, if having the ball with
a chance to win in the fourth quarter of the
AFC Championship Game is a rebuild, then I think they're
in pretty decent shape.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Remember, they didn't get a ton out of key.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
On Coleman, their top draft pick this year at the
top receiver, who you know didn't perform on the same
level as z Avier Worthy did.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
I think he can make a step.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I think the defense obviously needs some reinforcements, but Josh
is still in the prime of his career.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
We saw guys like Khalil Shakir breakout.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
You know, it wasn't even the best year from Dalton Kincaid,
So you know, I think they have the chance to
be even more explosive offensively the next year. The question is,
with limited resources this offseason, only so much cap space,
only so high draft picks, how are they going to
be able to add layers to that defense, which to me,
by the end of the season you saw a depleted group,
(06:27):
but one that for the most part, I thought held
together pretty well throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah. Look, attrition is an issue for a lot of
teams in the NFL, and I think you saw some
of that. Buffalo probably did a better job than most
weathering that storm, much like the Number four team. I
think we forget about the Detroit Lions and the amount
of injuries that they had throughout the course of this season,
yet an opportunity still to potentially even make it to
a Super Bowl. They're going to be facing the same
thing the Eagles faced a couple of seasons ago coming
(06:53):
off of that Super Bowl run, losing built of their coordinators.
What's the fallout for that change.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
If they make the wrong decisions, you know, like the
art Eagles arguably did. They moved on from both coordinators
learned last season. It sets you back a year, but
as they proved this season, if you make the right
hires one year later, you can go win the Super Bowl.
So you know, I know we think in terms of
windows and how long this team can get going. Obviously,
Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are a big part of
(07:20):
their success, and this can't be overlooked. Other multiple assistants
have left as well, so you know, it's a big
challenge for Dan Campbell is as you know, golf kind
of heads into the back half of his career. You know,
maybe Kevin Zeitdler moves on some other pieces and fregency.
They still have to fix that defense and ad Layer
is a talent to that. We saw how it broke
down at the end of the year, so you know
this is no easy climb back up the mountain top.
(07:43):
But again, I think there's a real strong belief and
now a pattern history of success over two and a
half seasons that you know this team isn't going anywhere.
I don't think until proven otherwise. But that OC position.
Ben Johnson did work some magic at times, and they're
gonna have to find somebody who can match that.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I know, we haven't even hit the NFL draft. You
were at the Senior Bowl, I was at the Shrine
Shrine Bowl. Know that there's gonna be some talented players available.
The lines have done a really nice job in the
draft building this roster. Do we look at and just
kind of assuming like, hey, they'll make some additions here
that'll be positive for this team. Do we look at
the Lions as still on the shortlist? I don't know where.
(08:20):
I shouldn't even be talking about rankings for next season
on our last show, but I got to imagine, like,
in terms of complete teams, they're one of like three
or four in the NFL that you would point.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
To have to be. I think they absolutely are.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
In fact, you know, my preseason top four might look
pretty similar to what I've got here on this wrap
up of the twenty four season. So yeah, the Lions
will be right up there among the heavyweight contenders. We
know they can score forty on any given day. They
were playing very good defense prior to Aiden Hutchinson injury,
which you know, just sort of started the avalanche. It
(08:51):
seemed like every week they dropped a starter or two.
You saw it happen to the Dolphins late in the
twenty three season and.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
They collapse completely. This is a better roster.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
I think that what Miami had put together, and so
you know, I firmly believe that they're going to be
among the contenders next year. But again, like Philly twenty
twenty three, there's no guarantee. They started out ten and
one with those two new coordinators and ended up letting
both go by the end of the season. So you
never know in this league, and people make rass and
decisions in tense situations.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, I think, Look, you take some heat on social
media for these rankings, and I'll probably take some heat
for this. I know the AFC by and large better
conference than the NFC, but if you say to me,
the most complete teams heading into next season regardless of
the draft, because obviously rosters are going to change. Eagles
are in that conversation, the Lions are right there, and
I'm based off of the personnel, like I put the
(09:41):
Baltimore Ravens in front of all those other teams just
based off of roster. I get it here. Yep, there's
still Kansas City and Buffalo. Just making that point, there
are some teams that are on the rise. And there
is one that I am thinking about in a big
way time for Power Moves presented by Energizer. It is
the Washington Redskins. I think about this trajectory. Week one
(10:02):
of the season, you had them twenty six in your rankings,
they took a loss, they dropped all the way down
to twenty nine in week number two, and in the
final rankings they're the six ranked team. What an accomplishment
for Dan Quinn in year number one, and it helps
to have the QB one in your future, maybe QB
one for the NFL over the next few years.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
If you had bought Stock and the Commanders back in
week one, even week two, and I knocked him down
a few pegs, this is like buying bitcoin in twenty twelve.
Speaker 3 (10:29):
You're doing okay for yourself. Right.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
In fact, I remember on Twitter hosting my initial rankings
number twenty six, and a local Commander's writer said, I
think this is the highest I've seen so far. So
I wasn't the only one. In fact, I guess I
had a more rosy view of them than others. But
love what Adam Peters did to the roster. Loved the
addition of obviously Jayden Dalees. I thought he'd be a
great hit with the Cliff Kingsbury. Didn't imagine it would
(10:51):
be so successful year one. But in a lot of ways,
they're kind of in the same position that Houston Texans
found themselves in one year ago. Right they were coming
off a successful playoff run.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, they won the division.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
The record wasn't quite as impro is what Washington did obviously,
but young quarterbacks sort of thrust into the spotlight in
the discussion as one of the you know, the top
young quarterbacks in the game today. There's gonna be a
lot of pressure on them now. The expectations are there.
They're gonna be a winning team next season. That's sort
of the belief around the campfire. So we'll find out
(11:23):
how much more magic can they do? They have to
add on that defense. I feel like we've said that
about every contender except the Eagles, but they absolutely facing
teams like Dallas, like Philly every year, you know are
going to have to tighten things up on that side
of the ball. But boy, like you said, the future
is so bright down there. All of a sudden, think
about what a year has done to the outlook of
this entire franchise, not just the football team, but just
(11:45):
the top to bottom the whole thing.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Yeah, I think that's why there's so many teams that
are looking for a quarterback right now. In this year's
NFL Draft, they'll point to Washington Commanders, the one guy
can really change the trajectory of our entire franchise. By
the way, before we even annoint them, we know sometimes
it's not always a given, right. The Houston Texans, we
were kind of talking about CJ. Stroud this way, and
they were still a playoff team. They were dealing with
(12:08):
some injuries. But it's just not a lock and a
guarantee that you're going to be able to duplicate success
from year to year. So just to keep in mind
here and just temper some of those expectations for a
Commanders stands, although I think you and I feel like
it's going to be really a great season next year.
More to come here on power rankings. How high up
to the Rams, the Broncos and Bengals deserve to be
that Answers coming up next. Yes, I'll back here on
(12:37):
power rankings. Mike Imman Eric at home with you as
you take a look at his squad's rank nine through sixteen.
We'll do a deep dive on the Bucks. The Houston
Texans so much expectations around CJ. Stroud. I think they
figured it out late in the season, a little too
late though. The Rams maybe the most intriguing team, at
least in my mind in this grouping the Chargers, we
know that arrow is pointing up the Broncos sitting at
(12:58):
number thirteen. The Steelers got some real decisions to make
this offseason. At fourteen, Cincinnati had fifteen. Why I was
on that train for most of this season, and at
sixteen it is the Seattle Seahawks. I break this down
for me because the Bucks are a team that's consistently
really good and yet haven't necessarily been able to break through.
(13:18):
What's it going to take.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Yeah, Tom Brady coming out of retire No, I'm kidding. Obviously,
Baker Mayfield's done a tremendous job, right, and you know
they're changing offensive coordinators for roughly the thirty seventh year
in a row. Don't quote me on that fact, but
it's something like that.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you know Mike Evans, Look, he was terrific.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
He got his thousand yards last year, but he's in
the final year of his contract. Chris Godwin's potentially moving
on and for agency, you know, playing in this division,
obviously it gives them an advantage. Right, Carolina is still
figuring things out. Atlanta's starting over a little bit with
Michael Pennix, right, So they're gonna win football games.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But to your point, how do they break through?
Speaker 4 (13:54):
I think getting better depth and health on defense is
a big part of it. But obviously, another play caller,
another system. Mayfield's sort of answered the call, reinvented his
It's been fun to watch, but can he do it again?
Maybe he's got to take a page out of Jalen
Hurts his book, right, another guy who's been through his
share hoot sas and follow that path to success.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
All Right? The Denver Broncos are thirteen, and I think
a little bit of a different scenario as they're trying
to break through. I look at your Week one rankings,
you had them twenty seventh. They move up to thirteenth
in the final one and look, that's a remarkable job
from Sean Payton and this crew. They got it right.
They hit the home run with bone knicks. What's that
missing piece for this team?
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Yeah, I think obviously defensively they're pretty strong. I think
the offensive line has the parts. I think you'd like
to see another weapon or two in this offense. And
think back to what Sean Payton had in New Orleans.
He always had that X factor, as he likes to
call it, that joker, right, whether it was Jimmy Graham
or Jeremy Shacky at tight end. You know, Taysom Hill
is kind of a multi tool piece. Alvin Kamara, Reggie Bush,
(14:59):
whatever you want to say. They had those kind of
guys who were match up nightmares from the run back position,
from tight end, they don't really have that. They tried
four different backs last year, five guys really, three different
tight ends. They all had their strengths, but you know,
they really I think want one difference maker, and if
they can find that player in the draft, that would
(15:20):
be terrific. I know they're not anxious to spend a
bunch of money in free agency, but just tighten a
few things up defensively already a top ten unit, and
then if they can give bo Nicks that one special playmaker.
Speaker 3 (15:32):
We see a player who played at a pretty darn high.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Level as a rookie who could be able to elevate
even further. So I'm excited to see what they do
in this offseason and who they target.
Speaker 2 (15:41):
All Right, two teams are the biggest jumps, the Commanders
and the Broncos. Here the team you feel most confident
in duplicating success or maybe even just leveling up next year.
Which one would you pick between those two?
Speaker 4 (15:52):
That's a great question because obviously the expectations for the
Commanders are going to be sky high, even playing in
the same division as the Eagles, the team that knocked
them out of the playoffs. But you know, I would
probably say Tampa Bays. They can fly below the race
a little bit and also play in the weaker division,
so maybe that factors in. We still haven't seen how
the schedule lays out, or what happens at trade and see.
(16:12):
But right now, you know, I mean even Jayden Dale's
is the better quarterback. They beat the Bucks head to
head in the playoffs in Tampa. But you know, as
far as like expectations and playing above that are equal
to that, you know, wouldn't be shocking if the Tampa
Bay Buccaneers end up with more wins than expected.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
If that makes sense, no question.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I mean those three teams in general, you throw them
into the basket, you pull out a name, and you'd
be like, all right, like that team could be pretty
good this upcoming season. Now we're talking about teams that
have made the huge jump. There's some squads that didn't
necessarily live up to the expectations that we thought. Oh
I feel bad for your Brock, Like, I get it.
Eric actually had them as number two team heading into
the season. Are they even contenders moving forward? The answer
(16:53):
to that is coming up next. We're on power rankings.
Mike Amman, Eric at Home with You, Team seventeen through
twenty four the Arizona Cardinals. This was this is a
good season for him. They did move up, and I
know there were some issues as the season unfolded. Form
(17:15):
but they're at seventeen. The Dolphins injury bug in a
big way at eighteen. The Falcons, oh the way this
season had turned out for him, But Michael Pennix is
waiting in the wings at nineteen, The Colts at twenty,
San Francisco forty nine ers we'll get to in a
moment here at twenty one, The Bears at twenty two.
They dropped six spots from that original ranking, The Dallas
Cowboys at twenty three, and the Carolina Panthers. The ro
(17:36):
is pointing up for that franchise. All right, let's focus
in on this Niner squad. I think this is the
most intriguing team in the entire list. You had them
number two before the season starts. They fall to now
twenty one. There's no way on the preseason rankings, correct
me if I'm wrong here, they're going to be outside
the top twenty.
Speaker 4 (17:52):
Right, It would be hard to do, right, even if
they end up trading Deebo Samuel, as has been reported
and rumored. I think, you know, obviously it depends on
what happens this season, right, but this offseason, I should say,
but it seems to me like they're focusing on re
signing party, giving him his long term deal how long
we'll see, and then elevating one of those other receivers,
(18:14):
whether it's Ricky Piersall their first round pick or Juwan
Jennings and trying their best to get what they can
for debo. Remember they tried to trade Brandon Auk last year.
He ended up go getting hurt, Christian McCaffrey getting hurt,
Trent Williams missing time. You know, virtually every single one
of the key players that they couldn't lose missed at
least one game, if not more.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
So.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
You know that's the reason they sunk so far. Am
I gonna raise them all the way back up to number.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
Two right now?
Speaker 4 (18:39):
That feels a little bit unlikely, but Kyle Shanahan proven
the history of success in November December. I mean, I
feel it's safe to say they'll be somewhere around that
top ten.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
You will get a random text from me this summer
and I'll be on vacation pool side somewhere with a
little umbrella drink and the whole thing, and I'm gonna say,
you're gonna have the Niners in the top ten. Just
be prepared for that one. The Dallas Cowboys at this
point sending at number twenty three. Is this as simple
as McCarthy out and they get a shot in the
arm with Shottenheimer.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I think if you send me that same text with
the Cowboys, with the little drink and everything the emoji,
I don't know that I can give you that same answer.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Right.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It might be a little different than what we say
about the forty nine ers. This feels to me a
little bit New York Jets ish in the sense that, hey,
I know our plan last year didn't work, but let's
mostly run it back. Let's take the guy who was
essentially the first lieutenant for Mike McCarthy and make him
the head man. I mean, if that's all it takes,
then truly, I give a lot of credit to Jerry
(19:38):
Jones for being patient and saying we're going to see
this thing through.
Speaker 3 (19:41):
But the other half of me is questioning whether this
is the right move. Yes, this is a.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Team that went thirty six and fifteen over three years
before that, but they fell to seven to ten, and
even if injuries were part of the story, dak missing
a big chunk of the year. I don't know that
they're going to be a complete football team with the
likes of the Ravens and the Lions and the Eagles
and the other teams that we mentioned at the top
of the show. Those teams are more complete right now.
So we'll you see what the plan is.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
But you know, maybe Schottenheimer does give him a.
Speaker 4 (20:07):
Little energy, a little fresh perspective. Can he bring him
through to the promise lay what Mike McCarthy couldn't do.
I have my questions right now. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
I was talking Isaiah Standback, who does Good Morning Football.
Right after the decision to go with Schottenheimer, he said, hey,
verbiage language all going to be save for Dak which
is definitely a huge bonus heading into next season. At
city twenty five through thirty two. The Jets at twenty five,
we know there's going to be massive changes. They are
the Patriots at twenty six, the Raiders, what do they
do with the draft? At twenty seven, the Saints have
a new coach, officially, Kellen Moore is their guy. At
(20:36):
twenty nine, it's the Jags, the g Men at thirty
The Tennessee Titans might be thinking about QB one at
thirty one in the draft, and the Cleveland Browns your
last place team. I want to focus in on the
Patriots because we've had some squads Eric that we're kind
of in this range and became top fifteen teams. Can
the Patriots do that?
Speaker 4 (20:55):
I think if there's one you bet on, well, Like
you said, every single year, somebody in this range ends
up sort of thriving the next year. We've seen Drake
may play very well, Mike Brabil comes in, Josh McDaniels
comes back.
Speaker 3 (21:06):
For a third ten yure in New England.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
And yes, they have a lot of holes to fill,
but when you have over one hundred million dollars of
salary cap space, a good till of draft picks, and
the willingness to spend, I think they're in for a
big offseason and that could lead to more victories next year.
So yeah, they're one of the leading cannons from this
bottom Groves.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Cross for the Patriots, you're their best, Eric, always appreciate work,
everything happen.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
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