October 8, 2024 • 23 mins
The NFL Power Rankings Podcast begins with Mike Yam asking Eric Edholm about his top two teams in his rankings - are the Chiefs or Vikings the best team in football? Where should the Washington Commanders be ranked after an impressive 4-1 start? Are the Chicago Bears becoming a serious threat after their blowout victory over the Carolina Panthers? Should the San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals be hitting the panic button?
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
partnership with iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Nothing better than starting the show with a little bit
of news. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. I'm Mike Iamm
joined by Eric at home. And the news that I'm
referring to Eric Robert Slind no longer the head coach
of the Jets. We'll do a deep dive on Gangreen
coming up in just a few minutes here. But I
got to imagine when there's a change like this, this
affects how you view a team for your rankings.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
I mean I moved him down five spots this week,
so obviously the hit in London that they took had
an effect.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
But we may have to see how this works out.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
They're heading into this massive game against the Bills on
Monday night that takes on an even bigger meeting. Now
Jeff Oldbrook taking over, can he fix this issue inside?
Really the problems are on offense, so we'll have to
see we've got this. We've got some quarterback situations that
are worth monitoring around the league, so little seismic activity
could have all these rankings influx pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, and once again we'll talk more about the Jets
coming up a little bit later here. On power rankings,
you mentioned the international game against the Vikings. No change
at the top of the number one spot. As we
get you teams one through eight, Yes, the Vikings sitting
in that top spot. No change there. The Kansas City
Chiefs victorious five and zero on the season, got it
done against the Saints on Monday Night football. The Lions idle.
(01:20):
So those are your top three teams. We saw the
Texans with the dramatic win over the Bills overcame two CJ.
Stroud turnovers. Therefore, the Ravens, what a big time game
against Cincinnati at five, the Commanders five weeks down, they're
four and one, exactly how we all thought it was
going to play out. And at seven it's the Bills
with Josh Allen nine of thirty pass attempts completed, which
(01:42):
is just an odd number. In the Packers, they're sitting
at number eight after dealing with the Rams, who are
in a free fall right now. But let's start with
the number one team here. Look, I think what we're
seeing defensively, I know all the talk is going to
be about Sam Darnold and rightfully so. But Eric, this
team's defense is real.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Absolutely, and I think that obviously staked in the lead
with the Van Ginkel pick six, were so not used
to seeing Aaron Rodgers make plays like that.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But credit the Brian Flores.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
And that Vikings defense and Stefan Gilmour shut the door late.
You know, they had a few shaky moments in there,
but they held on and it was really a three
phase victory.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
The offense contributed a little, not as much from Sam
Donolds we've seen recently, but Will Riiker three field goals,
good special teams play overall, and the big plays on
defense really put them apart. You know, I can see
this debate with the Chiefs the Vikings, the two undefeated teams.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
They're both at buy. It's not going to change this week.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
But you know a lot of people out there wondering
who is the best team in this league, and it's tough.
You can see elements of each that make them appealing
and also the few weaknesses here and there.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, you know a week ago when you had the
Vikings sitting at number one and you dropped the Chiefs
to two, there was concerns about Rashid Rice and yeah,
you still have them as the number two team. I
actually thought, coming off of the Monday night postgame show
on NFL Network, I'd walk into the studio with you
today and thought there might be a flip flop because
there was a balance attack and that defense balled out
and once again another win as they stay perfect on
(03:07):
the season, and.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Another team with a great defense. I think that's going
to be the formula for both these teams. Yes, the
quarterback Patrick Mahomes can get it done. Yes, Travis Kelsey
turned back the clock, and you know had that pitch
play in nine catches. A good block or two as well,
But you look at this Brian Cook interception really kind
of set the tone.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Supposed to be a throwaway, but.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
A nice play nonetheless, And you know took Chris o'
lobby out of the game, took Alvin Kamara out of
the game, knocked Derek Carr out of the game late
with an oblique injury. So you know that Chiefs defense
when the offense isn't perfect. Yes, they rang up a
lot of yards, but two for seven in the red
zone isn't really getting it done, at least not to
the chief standard.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Then the defense is going to take care of business.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
So again another three phase operation here in Kansas City.
And that's a big reason why both of these teams,
the Vikings and the Chiefs are unbeaten head into their by.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, and Kareem Hunt goes over one hundred yards didju
Smith Schuster balls out in a game where he's got
I think one hundred and thirty yards receiving. So once
again Kansas City, we could talk about injuries, the defense
balls out and it just feels like Andy Reid will
figure it out on the offensive side. Well, let's take
a look at future champions as we get the odds
to win the AFC South and the Houston Texans, like
(04:17):
they've been rolling, they are still the favorite. The Colts
trying to figure out things offensively, the Jacks finally got
a win, and then it's the Tennessee Titans. That's the
order according to FanDuel to win the AFC South. Meanwhile, Eric,
to me, I think this is a win when Houston
not only scores a victory, but they do it when
they don't play their best brand of football.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Yeah, obviously it came to anyone to watch the end
of that game, saw how it came down to that
final possession for the Bills and what they decided to
do with the ball and not do with the ball,
which is maybe force some timeouts, run the football, et cetera.
So obviously it sort of became a toss up game.
The Texans looked like the better club early.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
C J.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Stroud did have some mistakes laid the defense obviously, let
Josh Allen and that offense move it a little bit after,
you know, kind of stopping him most of the game.
But and I would like to see the Texans team
play better in second half. So being outscored right now
sixty seven to forty, you know, it's enough of a
number at this point in the season where you say, hey,
even if they start strong, I'd like to see four
(05:15):
quarters from them. They couldn't put a few other teams
away early in this season.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So yeah, they're quibbles. They're four and one. Obviously they've
beaten some good teams along the way, but.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
This is something that's going to be a little bit
more of a test when they face a little stronger
competition on the level of what we saw against Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Hey, I don't want to get too deep into the
Weeds on Buffalo, who you have as seventh, But you
concerned about that squad?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (05:36):
No, I you know, obviously the last two games have
kind of undercut what we saw from about the second
quarter on and week one up to that point.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
So yeah, we're constantly.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Re evaluating here at the Power Rankings Laboratory, doing.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
What we can to balance the good, the bad, the otherwise.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And so look, last season we saw Josh Allen on
this offense go through some slumps.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
This one may not be as prolonged. We'll see, but yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Anytime they go through one of these streaks, so they
make it a lot harder on themselves.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
You have your worries.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, you know, Eric, I do game day review on
Sunday mornings. I sit with Steve Witch and Cynthia Freelan,
and we all picked the Ravens, who you have number
five as a winner against Cincinnati. It played out that way,
but I'd be lying up. I said, I wasn't hedge
in just a little bit because of the desperate situation
that the Bengals are in. I think the way the
Ravens won this game is a huge positive side. We
(06:23):
were questioning them, you know, kind of putting the hammer down.
They had to come back and win this game. They
had overcome you know, one of those moments that Lamar
Jackson I'm sure was cringing about and still probably thinking
about this is a good win for him.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Absolutely, you faced three different ten point deficits in the
second half of a game on the road, and look,
you can look at the Bengals record and write them
off if you want to, but clearly they are scoring
at a pretty high pace and throwing the football very well.
Did a lot for Sunday as well, and you know,
the Ravens found a way. It was great to see
Justin Tucker back in the long range kicking department, you know,
(06:56):
obviously a stalwart for many years, but had almost become
a liability beyond fifty yards going back to last season.
Big fifty six yard or to tie it the game
winner and overtime classic Ravens win too. You can't shut
Derek Henry down the whole game. He finally got one
there at the end. So impressive on a lot of fronts,
even with some hiccups along the way.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And by the way, I think you have the toughest
job in the building ranking some of these teams. I
will push back a little bit later on the show
and which you have Cincinnati because the angles to me,
I get why you dropped them where you did, but
I think they're better than a few of the teams
that you have in front of them. So we'll have
that conversation coming up in just a bit. The commander's
at six. Be honest with me, when you're assessing the
teams before the season, no way in hell you thought
(07:38):
they'd be anywhere close to the sixth overall ranking at
any point during the season, right.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I tried to.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Talk myself into them almost cracking the top twenty. I
had them around twenty two to twenty three, and I thought,
that's that's pushing it a little bit, right, So I
backed him off to twenty five or six or whatever
it was. And what was funny is that I had
Washington media members coming to me and say, hey, this
is the most positive review we've seen this whole year.
So I may not have been onto it, but I
was a little bit onto it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think, yeah, no, no, I will take it. You
point to Jaden Daniels as obviously the singular reason why
they're there. I mean, there's a culture shift right. I mean,
dan Quinn is there. Defense has played some pretty good
games down the stretch. I know all the attention goes
to Jaden, but it feels like more than just him.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Austin Eckler, Reborn, you know, Brian Robinson's showing some juice.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, the defense has been pretty good lot three
of the last four games.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
So Daniels was a little off early, so everybody else
kind of held him up, and then he obviously delivered
late and ended up with three hundred twenty yards passing
and rushing combined.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So yeah, this is a dan Quinn special.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Adam Peters, the new GM, the new ownership as well.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It feels like.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
A new dawn in a new day, and the roster
was almost completely overhauled in the offseason.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
You're seeing the results of that.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
I didn't think it would happen this quickly, but it's
been very impressive and hard not to tip your hat
at the change of direction.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, I'm with you there one hundred percent. By the
way they beat the Browns, I'm stomping on the panic button.
We'll talk about Cleveland until you win your rank a
little bit later. But there's more to come here on
Power rank has had some late heroics from Captain Kirk.
What did that do to their rankings? For the Falcons
and what did the loss leave the Bucks The answers
come it up next on NFL Power Rankings. Back here
(09:19):
on Power Rankings, as we look at teams nine through sixteen,
and once again the full rankings. You can scan the
QR code if you're watching or if you're listening on
NFL dot com, you can head there. The Tampa Bay
Bucks sitting at number nine. A little surprised to see
them here. The Steelers, despite a loss at home to Dallas,
they are number ten. Eagles sit at eleven. The Falcons,
Captain Kirk and company now at twelve. We'll talk more
(09:40):
about them in just a moment. At thirteen, it's the
Cowboys and yeah, Dak delivered three hundred and fifty two
passing yards in a victory. Don't look now. Bo Nicks
fired up three straight wins and the Broncos are the
fourteenth ranked team. Two consecutive losses now for Seattle, who
dropped to fifteen, and the Saints at sixteen. Another loss
for them. It's three straight losses after losing in Kansas
(10:03):
City on Monday night. All right, the Bucks, Like, I
don't think this is easy trying to navigate some of
these rankings here. I'd ask you off air if you
thought about dropping them that side of the top ten,
But I don't know how you could have considering the
team sitting right behind them.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Yeah, I mean, look, you could easily put Pittsburgh there,
but then you know, are you moving them up right?
You know, obviously Atlanta gainst the big win, but I
already jumped in pretty significantly too.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I understand if you're.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
A Falcons fan and mad that the Bucks are ahead
of them, but you know, for three and a half quarters,
they did outplay Atlanta, and so I.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Look at Baker Mayfield. Could they have finished better?
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Absolutely, in the first half, things look really good. The
injuries have piled up, but they are going to get healthier.
I think some of these these injuries injured players will
be coming back soon. And thin get this game was
played again tomorrow on a neutral field. Tampa is the
better team, but you're right, it is so tough from
about nine to twenty two. I don't think there's a
giant separation mic between these teams.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, I'm with you there. One hundred percent. By the way,
the Tampa Bay Bucks already en route to New Orleans
for a matchup against the Saints. Keep in mind, and
I know we're having this conversation way too many times
here in a very short period of time. With the hurricane, yeah,
squarely in Tampa Bay's path right now. So thoughts and
prayers obviously to everyone in the state of Florida with
the hurricane that is fast approaching. And Eric, let's get
(11:18):
to power moves. Is the Falcons now move up seven
spots to twelve. Kirk Cousins balls out, and I got
to tell you, when these games are close, I have
a high degree of confidence that Kirk Cousins is going
to be able to deliver.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
They do right, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Obviously the Falcons have had plenty of mistakes along the
way this season, including Monday night, they had like six
penalties in the plus territory on offense. So you know,
even though this guy through for five hundred and nine yards,
he was getting a lot of things thrown in his
face that kept setting them back plays, call back long
downs and distances, and so it was very impressive to
(11:52):
see him work the ball around.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
They got it to.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
The tight end, they got it to the receiver, they
threw it to the running backs as well. Everyone stepped
up when they had to make a play, even if
there were some land mines along the way. I mean, look,
Atlanta's got to play better defense. I think they know
they probably got lucky in this one, but it was
a significant move up, mainly because of how they finished
and how a lot of the other teams and that
part of the last week's power rankings did, which is
(12:16):
not as well.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, look at the matra of this team is and
I think you hit the nail on the head. Got
to play some better defense here. But more specifically, this
is an offensive minded team. And as the week's unfold here,
and as Kirk is getting more and more reps with
some of these guys, this offense looks like it is rolling.
Another team that was a dramatic mover in the right
direction of four spots, the Dallas Cowboys. I'm almost at
the point where I'm rolling to say this, just play
(12:38):
all your games on the road here. They just look
like a better road team than they are home team.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
That is true so far, right, And yet when they
were leading thirteen to ten, I was not sure the
Dallas Cowboys are going to win this game. Sure enough,
Pittsburgh gets the ball back that go down and score,
and I thought, that's that.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Okay. Give Mike McCarthy credit.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
He takes a lot of guff from a lot of
different people, including Cowboys fans.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
His last drive. The play calling there, I thought was spectacular.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Obviously Brian Schottenhammer a big part of that as well,
but kept the Steelers off balance. Second big drive of
the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
They had to have it.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
This played a lipkey right here was absolutely huge for them.
Things got a little dicey there at the end. Almost
coughed it up on this ball right there with an
amazing fumble punch out by Land and Roberts, but Dak
falls on it. Fourth down, a little mesh concept. Just
throw it open and that is a great play to
earn your third victor.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
The season.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Never easy for the Cowboys, right They certainly have their
their way of making the degree of difficulty higher. But
they pulled it out and they had to well after midnight.
A lot of us were feeling it the next day,
but the Cowboys had to feel pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah. West Coast best coast when it comes to watching games.
When they are. I gotta tell you it wasn't too late.
Just one other note here from a Dallas perspective. Two
drives in the fourth quarter of at least fifteen plays,
So fifteen play drive and a sixteen place.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
That is big boy football from the Dallas Cowboys. It's
a reason why they moved up those four spots Broncos.
I gotta tell you this is looking better than I thought.
I love the exchange that we saw on the sideline.
Bodies get a little fired up with a coach. I'll
take that after you pick up another victory.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Felt a little different than the chats between Peyton and
Russell Wilson last year.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Didn't it right? And this is a rookie now.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
He's played a lot of college football two different programs,
won a lot of games and all that. But when
you step into the NFL in your fifth game, you're
not afraid to go toe to toe with Sean Payton,
who can be a tough guy to deal with sometimes
very demanding.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Shows me a lot right.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
He didn't have a pristine game Sunday, but I thought
he played pretty well. And I suspect Peyton's given a
little tough love here and when you have a defense
that can do what the Broncos have done. Patzertan had
a great game, ran back the interception one hundred yards,
kind of got the ball rolling a little after a
slow start. This is a good football team too. We
talked about teams like the Chiefs and the Vikings at
the top.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Broncos kind of have a similar, similar formula.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
You know, decent offense, very good defense, special teams are
pretty solid as well. So there's a formula there that
could get them much higher on this list.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah. You know the Peyton in the press conference was
obviously asked about the exchange because you have to ask,
and he said that, you know, Boat's got a little
first Bueller in him and he's trying to get that
out of him. I gotta be honest with you, I
think I know what that means. I'm not one hundred
percent sure, but the point is when they're on the
sideline and Bo's fired up, I do legitimately love it.
I don't think there was disrespect that was there. It's like, hey,
I'm getting confident here because I don't think Bo does
(15:21):
that in Week one or in the preseason. I think
he's now starting to feel himself in a very good way.
And the Broncos this is paying dividends for them. Still
more to come here to Bill on NFL Power Rankings.
There's two teams that they got to be hitting the
panic button, the Niners and the Bengals. Where did they
sit in the rankings? The answer is covered up next
(15:45):
back here on NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer, Team
seventeen through twenty four. For Eric at number seventeen, Caleb
Williams Arrow pointing up on this bear squad at eighteen,
The Niners, Yeah, I'm a little concerned on this squad
Sitting at nineteen, it's the Chargers. The Jets are at
twenty three. Interceptions for Aaron Rodgers means Robert Salad is
(16:05):
no longer the head football coach. We'll talk more about
Gangreen in just a moment. The Colts, it is going
to be Anthony Richardson when he's healthy enough to play.
Not Joe Flacco, but Joe. The offense kind of looks
better with him. They fall short against the Jacks at
twenty two. The Cardinals second half shutout against the Niners.
Hello Arizona. Twenty three, it's the g men, no neighbors,
no singletary, no problem. And at twenty four the Bengals.
(16:27):
I know it's a loss, but damn Eric got I'm
sitting at twenty four. We'll circle up on Cincinnati in
just a moment. But the Bears, I got to tell
you there was concerns about Kleb Williams. Jadon Daniels is
balling out. This dude is playing efficient football at the
quarterback spot. They figured it out away. Got to run
this football, and right now I think the Bears are
starting to become a little bit more of a threat.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Still got to.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
Work on those opening drives. Those haven't really hummed yet
this season. But after a pretty bad opening drive, almost
threw a pick six, he really looks settled in. He
didn't look panicky or jittered or frustrated what was happening
on the field. It was much better body language, if
you buy into that stuff, than I think we'd seen before.
And much better physical execution here a great throw to
a wide open DJ Moore found his receivers, didn't force
(17:11):
the ball to I mean, when the shots were there,
he took them in much.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
More accurate downfield.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
You add that to that a Bears defense that I
think is pretty darn good. Now, look all this happened
against Carolina. Their defense isn't so hot right now, but
we've seen obviously what this Bears defense can do to
make up for when the offense was struggling. Now that
Williams has settled in, I like them much better as
a team. He's gonna have his bad games too, but
(17:36):
hard not to be encouraged by. I would say the
last seven quarters, going back to the Rams game, where
he's looked a lot more complete of a quarterback and
less frantic.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Well, they get the Jags in London, a Jags team
that finally figured out a way to get a win.
Nine thirty Eastern Time, exclusively on NFL Network at eighteen.
It's the San Francisco forty nine ers. I got to
tell you, I can story some of the losses. For me.
Sometimes it's just the health of these guys out there.
I don't know what the deal is. I'm actually legitimately
(18:07):
worried about the Niners.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Yeah, I mean there was a little bit of a
thing with Jake Moody being hurt in the second half
there changed their strategy. They had to go for it
on a fourth and twenty three within field goal range.
But that was notwithstanding. They have some issues right now. Obviously,
ball security is a problem. You saw in this Jordan
Mason putting it on the ground. Lake kind of opened
the door for the Cardinals to win it. But you know,
(18:30):
they weren't able to finish a drive in the second half,
and that's a problem. This is a team that's built
a score. Brandon Ayuk was having a big game at
that point. Rock Purty looked pretty solid in the first half.
You're up thirteen at half at home against the team
that you'd beaten pretty soundly in that building two years
in a row.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That's got me worried as well.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
And you know, look, I will say they did lose
three straight last year, completely undoing what the start of
the season had him doing.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Still ended up in the Super Bowl. I can't quit
him completely.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
But I get why your concerns are high right now
because they're they're multiple, they're adding up, and this team
looks a shell of what it used to look like.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, and they're matching up against a desperate Seattle team
in Seattle on a short leak on TNF. So something's
got to give here. The Niners once again dropping six spots,
dropping five spots, and it meant to coaching change with
Robert Salad now being dismissed as the Jets head coach.
What's the fix right now? The short term fix for
this season as the Jets right now figure out ways
(19:27):
new ways to lose football games.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yeah, I mean getting DeVante Adams wouldn't hurt, right. I
wonder if those plans are still on the table though, right,
I don't know if those are separate. If they were,
you know, firing SLA had nothing to do with what
trades they might make and all that, but clearly adding
another offensive weapon would not be a bad thing. We
saw it during parts of this game, second third, even
the fourth quarter for stretches. Aaron can move the ball
(19:49):
a little bit, but finishing drives another red zone weapon,
somebody who can draw attention away from Garrett Williams or
you know, Wilson, excuse me. But also getting this run
game involved early, I mean you follow into a double
digit hole. Braylan Allen and Brece Hall an't going to
get as many carries. They both had a tough game Sunday.
That's two weeks in a row where all's been a
little missing, so that offensive line has not been as
(20:12):
good as it was they're early going.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
That's got to be fixed. A lot going on. The
defense is okay.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That really wasn't the issue, which is obviously curious when
you fire a defensive minded head coach.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
But things just weren't clicking.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Not at all. They get the Buffalo Bills, who need
a win that game on Monday night, which will be
a very intriguing matchup. We'll have the post game in
the pregame show on NFL Network for you. Cincinnati at
twenty four, I get it. They score thirty eight points,
it goes over time, and they figured they actually they
shouldn't have lost that football game. Let's just call a
spade of spade here. They lost to the Ravens. They
lost to the Chiefs. Like I think they're better than
(20:43):
this ranking that you gave them.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Well, I always say, at some point, you are what
your record is, and it's hard not to ignore the results, right.
I mean, Burrow is on pace right now for a
forty five hundred yard, forty touchdown, seven interception season. He's
been pretty terrific, at least since Week one anyway, and
yet this defense has not been able to stop people.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Consistently played pretty well.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
On that side of the ball, all things considered in
the first half, but second half and overtime weren't able
to get those stops. We mentioned how Baltimore came back
from three different ten point deficits and then this might
have been the play of the year. Look, sometimes you
face the Mahomes or Lamar Jackson and they just beat you
with a couple extra plays. So the spot on the
power rankings reflects their record, and you know, and how
(21:27):
they've lost the good teams, like you said, the Commanders
as well, but you know, they just can't find a
way to close things out.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, I gotta tell you. And just as an example,
the Jets. I think Cincinnati's a better team than Gangreen
and two teams I put them ahead of your Jets.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I thought, are your Giants. I mean, I thought maybe
I'd guess some credit for that.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
You know, by the way, my gimn figured out a
way to get it done. Oh that opening drive, I'm like,
oh my god, this is the season in a microcosm
of the season, and it wasn't pretty, but they figured
out a way to get it done. Let's get your
teams twenty five through thirty two. The Raiders, Minshew gets pulled,
we see Ocondle. They sit at twenty five. We know
DeVante's going to get treated. At twenty sixth the Rams.
(22:06):
How about this squad. Worse start to a season in
Sean mcvay's coaching career. The Dolphins are at twenty eight.
Found a way to get it done against the Patriots.
The Jags, they get a win. They're at twenty nine.
At number thirty, this is rough to watch this Brown squad.
The Patriots are thirty one. They're also at times a
little difficult to watch, especially on the offensive side. And
the Carolina Panthers at thirty two. There's some teams here
(22:28):
that there's a reason why they're at the bottom. I
think maybe the biggest surprise considering what I thought they
could be the Cleveland Browns. Explain to me what is
going on for this squad.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
It's not fair to put everything onto Sean Watson's head,
but obviously he has been a big part of this problem.
Considering what they paid two hundred twenty million dollars, considering
a full off season of.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Health and work in the program.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
You know, the fact that he wasn't able to really
play as much in the preseason may have some effect,
but I just cannot believe that how far he's regressed
as a player. He and Stefanski maybe have never been
a great stylistic match anyway.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Football wise, the offensive.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Line injuries, the running back injuries, and that defense too,
Let's call them out. They have not been as dominant
as they were a year ago.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I'm with you. I'm with you in a big way
because defensively, there has been struggles for this squad. Hey,
before we wrap up here, the Jags, I made reference
to it getting a win. They're playing like the home
away from home game in London? Is this Are we
going to see this again? They're gonna beat the Bears?
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Hey, they could.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I think they have a little bit of momentum, but
got to finish it off better than they did against
the Colts.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Catch the game nine thirty Eastern Time on NFL Network.
Raki the best Man will do it again next week.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
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
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Speaker 2 (00:10):
Nothing better than starting the show with a little bit
of news. Welcome to NFL Power Rankings. I'm Mike Iamm
joined by Eric at home. And the news that I'm
referring to Eric Robert Slind no longer the head coach
of the Jets. We'll do a deep dive on Gangreen
coming up in just a few minutes here. But I
got to imagine when there's a change like this, this
affects how you view a team for your rankings.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
I mean I moved him down five spots this week,
so obviously the hit in London that they took had
an effect.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
But we may have to see how this works out.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
They're heading into this massive game against the Bills on
Monday night that takes on an even bigger meeting. Now
Jeff Oldbrook taking over, can he fix this issue inside?
Really the problems are on offense, so we'll have to
see we've got this. We've got some quarterback situations that
are worth monitoring around the league, so little seismic activity
could have all these rankings influx pretty quickly.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, and once again we'll talk more about the Jets
coming up a little bit later here. On power rankings,
you mentioned the international game against the Vikings. No change
at the top of the number one spot. As we
get you teams one through eight, Yes, the Vikings sitting
in that top spot. No change there. The Kansas City
Chiefs victorious five and zero on the season, got it
done against the Saints on Monday Night football. The Lions idle.
(01:20):
So those are your top three teams. We saw the
Texans with the dramatic win over the Bills overcame two CJ.
Stroud turnovers. Therefore, the Ravens, what a big time game
against Cincinnati at five, the Commanders five weeks down, they're
four and one, exactly how we all thought it was
going to play out. And at seven it's the Bills
with Josh Allen nine of thirty pass attempts completed, which
(01:42):
is just an odd number. In the Packers, they're sitting
at number eight after dealing with the Rams, who are
in a free fall right now. But let's start with
the number one team here. Look, I think what we're
seeing defensively, I know all the talk is going to
be about Sam Darnold and rightfully so. But Eric, this
team's defense is real.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Absolutely, and I think that obviously staked in the lead
with the Van Ginkel pick six, were so not used
to seeing Aaron Rodgers make plays like that.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
But credit the Brian Flores.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
And that Vikings defense and Stefan Gilmour shut the door late.
You know, they had a few shaky moments in there,
but they held on and it was really a three
phase victory.
Speaker 3 (02:18):
Right.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
The offense contributed a little, not as much from Sam
Donolds we've seen recently, but Will Riiker three field goals,
good special teams play overall, and the big plays on
defense really put them apart. You know, I can see
this debate with the Chiefs the Vikings, the two undefeated teams.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
They're both at buy. It's not going to change this week.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
But you know a lot of people out there wondering
who is the best team in this league, and it's tough.
You can see elements of each that make them appealing
and also the few weaknesses here and there.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
Well, you know a week ago when you had the
Vikings sitting at number one and you dropped the Chiefs
to two, there was concerns about Rashid Rice and yeah,
you still have them as the number two team. I
actually thought, coming off of the Monday night postgame show
on NFL Network, I'd walk into the studio with you
today and thought there might be a flip flop because
there was a balance attack and that defense balled out
and once again another win as they stay perfect on
(03:07):
the season, and.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Another team with a great defense. I think that's going
to be the formula for both these teams. Yes, the
quarterback Patrick Mahomes can get it done. Yes, Travis Kelsey
turned back the clock, and you know had that pitch
play in nine catches. A good block or two as well,
But you look at this Brian Cook interception really kind
of set the tone.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
Supposed to be a throwaway, but.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
A nice play nonetheless, And you know took Chris o'
lobby out of the game, took Alvin Kamara out of
the game, knocked Derek Carr out of the game late
with an oblique injury. So you know that Chiefs defense
when the offense isn't perfect. Yes, they rang up a
lot of yards, but two for seven in the red
zone isn't really getting it done, at least not to
the chief standard.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Then the defense is going to take care of business.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
So again another three phase operation here in Kansas City.
And that's a big reason why both of these teams,
the Vikings and the Chiefs are unbeaten head into their by.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yeah, and Kareem Hunt goes over one hundred yards didju
Smith Schuster balls out in a game where he's got
I think one hundred and thirty yards receiving. So once
again Kansas City, we could talk about injuries, the defense
balls out and it just feels like Andy Reid will
figure it out on the offensive side. Well, let's take
a look at future champions as we get the odds
to win the AFC South and the Houston Texans, like
(04:17):
they've been rolling, they are still the favorite. The Colts
trying to figure out things offensively, the Jacks finally got
a win, and then it's the Tennessee Titans. That's the
order according to FanDuel to win the AFC South. Meanwhile, Eric,
to me, I think this is a win when Houston
not only scores a victory, but they do it when
they don't play their best brand of football.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
Yeah, obviously it came to anyone to watch the end
of that game, saw how it came down to that
final possession for the Bills and what they decided to
do with the ball and not do with the ball,
which is maybe force some timeouts, run the football, et cetera.
So obviously it sort of became a toss up game.
The Texans looked like the better club early.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
C J.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Stroud did have some mistakes laid the defense obviously, let
Josh Allen and that offense move it a little bit after,
you know, kind of stopping him most of the game.
But and I would like to see the Texans team
play better in second half. So being outscored right now
sixty seven to forty, you know, it's enough of a
number at this point in the season where you say, hey,
even if they start strong, I'd like to see four
(05:15):
quarters from them. They couldn't put a few other teams
away early in this season.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So yeah, they're quibbles. They're four and one. Obviously they've
beaten some good teams along the way, but.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
This is something that's going to be a little bit
more of a test when they face a little stronger
competition on the level of what we saw against Buffalo.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Hey, I don't want to get too deep into the
Weeds on Buffalo, who you have as seventh, But you
concerned about that squad?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Sure?
Speaker 4 (05:36):
No, I you know, obviously the last two games have
kind of undercut what we saw from about the second
quarter on and week one up to that point.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
So yeah, we're constantly.
Speaker 4 (05:44):
Re evaluating here at the Power Rankings Laboratory, doing.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
What we can to balance the good, the bad, the otherwise.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
And so look, last season we saw Josh Allen on
this offense go through some slumps.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
This one may not be as prolonged. We'll see, but yeah.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
Anytime they go through one of these streaks, so they
make it a lot harder on themselves.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
You have your worries.
Speaker 2 (06:03):
Yeah, you know, Eric, I do game day review on
Sunday mornings. I sit with Steve Witch and Cynthia Freelan,
and we all picked the Ravens, who you have number
five as a winner against Cincinnati. It played out that way,
but I'd be lying up. I said, I wasn't hedge
in just a little bit because of the desperate situation
that the Bengals are in. I think the way the
Ravens won this game is a huge positive side. We
(06:23):
were questioning them, you know, kind of putting the hammer down.
They had to come back and win this game. They
had overcome you know, one of those moments that Lamar
Jackson I'm sure was cringing about and still probably thinking
about this is a good win for him.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Absolutely, you faced three different ten point deficits in the
second half of a game on the road, and look,
you can look at the Bengals record and write them
off if you want to, but clearly they are scoring
at a pretty high pace and throwing the football very well.
Did a lot for Sunday as well, and you know,
the Ravens found a way. It was great to see
Justin Tucker back in the long range kicking department, you know,
(06:56):
obviously a stalwart for many years, but had almost become
a liability beyond fifty yards going back to last season.
Big fifty six yard or to tie it the game
winner and overtime classic Ravens win too. You can't shut
Derek Henry down the whole game. He finally got one
there at the end. So impressive on a lot of fronts,
even with some hiccups along the way.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And by the way, I think you have the toughest
job in the building ranking some of these teams. I
will push back a little bit later on the show
and which you have Cincinnati because the angles to me,
I get why you dropped them where you did, but
I think they're better than a few of the teams
that you have in front of them. So we'll have
that conversation coming up in just a bit. The commander's
at six. Be honest with me, when you're assessing the
teams before the season, no way in hell you thought
(07:38):
they'd be anywhere close to the sixth overall ranking at
any point during the season, right.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
I tried to.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Talk myself into them almost cracking the top twenty. I
had them around twenty two to twenty three, and I thought,
that's that's pushing it a little bit, right, So I
backed him off to twenty five or six or whatever
it was. And what was funny is that I had
Washington media members coming to me and say, hey, this
is the most positive review we've seen this whole year.
So I may not have been onto it, but I
was a little bit onto it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think, yeah, no, no, I will take it. You
point to Jaden Daniels as obviously the singular reason why
they're there. I mean, there's a culture shift right. I mean,
dan Quinn is there. Defense has played some pretty good
games down the stretch. I know all the attention goes
to Jaden, but it feels like more than just him.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Austin Eckler, Reborn, you know, Brian Robinson's showing some juice.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, the defense has been pretty good lot three
of the last four games.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
So Daniels was a little off early, so everybody else
kind of held him up, and then he obviously delivered
late and ended up with three hundred twenty yards passing
and rushing combined.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
So yeah, this is a dan Quinn special.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Adam Peters, the new GM, the new ownership as well.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
It feels like.
Speaker 4 (08:42):
A new dawn in a new day, and the roster
was almost completely overhauled in the offseason.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
You're seeing the results of that.
Speaker 4 (08:48):
I didn't think it would happen this quickly, but it's
been very impressive and hard not to tip your hat
at the change of direction.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah, I'm with you there one hundred percent. By the
way they beat the Browns, I'm stomping on the panic button.
We'll talk about Cleveland until you win your rank a
little bit later. But there's more to come here on
Power rank has had some late heroics from Captain Kirk.
What did that do to their rankings? For the Falcons
and what did the loss leave the Bucks The answers
come it up next on NFL Power Rankings. Back here
(09:19):
on Power Rankings, as we look at teams nine through sixteen,
and once again the full rankings. You can scan the
QR code if you're watching or if you're listening on
NFL dot com, you can head there. The Tampa Bay
Bucks sitting at number nine. A little surprised to see
them here. The Steelers, despite a loss at home to Dallas,
they are number ten. Eagles sit at eleven. The Falcons,
Captain Kirk and company now at twelve. We'll talk more
(09:40):
about them in just a moment. At thirteen, it's the
Cowboys and yeah, Dak delivered three hundred and fifty two
passing yards in a victory. Don't look now. Bo Nicks
fired up three straight wins and the Broncos are the
fourteenth ranked team. Two consecutive losses now for Seattle, who
dropped to fifteen, and the Saints at sixteen. Another loss
for them. It's three straight losses after losing in Kansas
(10:03):
City on Monday night. All right, the Bucks, Like, I
don't think this is easy trying to navigate some of
these rankings here. I'd ask you off air if you
thought about dropping them that side of the top ten,
But I don't know how you could have considering the
team sitting right behind them.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Yeah, I mean, look, you could easily put Pittsburgh there,
but then you know, are you moving them up right?
You know, obviously Atlanta gainst the big win, but I
already jumped in pretty significantly too.
Speaker 3 (10:26):
I understand if you're.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
A Falcons fan and mad that the Bucks are ahead
of them, but you know, for three and a half quarters,
they did outplay Atlanta, and so I.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Look at Baker Mayfield. Could they have finished better?
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Absolutely, in the first half, things look really good. The
injuries have piled up, but they are going to get healthier.
I think some of these these injuries injured players will
be coming back soon. And thin get this game was
played again tomorrow on a neutral field. Tampa is the
better team, but you're right, it is so tough from
about nine to twenty two. I don't think there's a
giant separation mic between these teams.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, I'm with you there. One hundred percent. By the way,
the Tampa Bay Bucks already en route to New Orleans
for a matchup against the Saints. Keep in mind, and
I know we're having this conversation way too many times
here in a very short period of time. With the hurricane, yeah,
squarely in Tampa Bay's path right now. So thoughts and
prayers obviously to everyone in the state of Florida with
the hurricane that is fast approaching. And Eric, let's get
(11:18):
to power moves. Is the Falcons now move up seven
spots to twelve. Kirk Cousins balls out, and I got
to tell you, when these games are close, I have
a high degree of confidence that Kirk Cousins is going
to be able to deliver.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
They do right, you know.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Obviously the Falcons have had plenty of mistakes along the
way this season, including Monday night, they had like six
penalties in the plus territory on offense. So you know,
even though this guy through for five hundred and nine yards,
he was getting a lot of things thrown in his
face that kept setting them back plays, call back long
downs and distances, and so it was very impressive to
(11:52):
see him work the ball around.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
They got it to.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
The tight end, they got it to the receiver, they
threw it to the running backs as well. Everyone stepped
up when they had to make a play, even if
there were some land mines along the way. I mean, look,
Atlanta's got to play better defense. I think they know
they probably got lucky in this one, but it was
a significant move up, mainly because of how they finished
and how a lot of the other teams and that
part of the last week's power rankings did, which is
(12:16):
not as well.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, look at the matra of this team is and
I think you hit the nail on the head. Got
to play some better defense here. But more specifically, this
is an offensive minded team. And as the week's unfold here,
and as Kirk is getting more and more reps with
some of these guys, this offense looks like it is rolling.
Another team that was a dramatic mover in the right
direction of four spots, the Dallas Cowboys. I'm almost at
the point where I'm rolling to say this, just play
(12:38):
all your games on the road here. They just look
like a better road team than they are home team.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
That is true so far, right, And yet when they
were leading thirteen to ten, I was not sure the
Dallas Cowboys are going to win this game. Sure enough,
Pittsburgh gets the ball back that go down and score,
and I thought, that's that.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
Okay. Give Mike McCarthy credit.
Speaker 4 (12:56):
He takes a lot of guff from a lot of
different people, including Cowboys fans.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
His last drive. The play calling there, I thought was spectacular.
Speaker 4 (13:03):
Obviously Brian Schottenhammer a big part of that as well,
but kept the Steelers off balance. Second big drive of
the fourth quarter.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
They had to have it.
Speaker 4 (13:10):
This played a lipkey right here was absolutely huge for them.
Things got a little dicey there at the end. Almost
coughed it up on this ball right there with an
amazing fumble punch out by Land and Roberts, but Dak
falls on it. Fourth down, a little mesh concept. Just
throw it open and that is a great play to
earn your third victor.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
The season.
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Never easy for the Cowboys, right They certainly have their
their way of making the degree of difficulty higher. But
they pulled it out and they had to well after midnight.
A lot of us were feeling it the next day,
but the Cowboys had to feel pretty good.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Yeah. West Coast best coast when it comes to watching games.
When they are. I gotta tell you it wasn't too late.
Just one other note here from a Dallas perspective. Two
drives in the fourth quarter of at least fifteen plays,
So fifteen play drive and a sixteen place.
Speaker 3 (13:51):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
That is big boy football from the Dallas Cowboys. It's
a reason why they moved up those four spots Broncos.
I gotta tell you this is looking better than I thought.
I love the exchange that we saw on the sideline.
Bodies get a little fired up with a coach. I'll
take that after you pick up another victory.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Felt a little different than the chats between Peyton and
Russell Wilson last year.
Speaker 3 (14:13):
Didn't it right? And this is a rookie now.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
He's played a lot of college football two different programs,
won a lot of games and all that. But when
you step into the NFL in your fifth game, you're
not afraid to go toe to toe with Sean Payton,
who can be a tough guy to deal with sometimes
very demanding.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Shows me a lot right.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
He didn't have a pristine game Sunday, but I thought
he played pretty well. And I suspect Peyton's given a
little tough love here and when you have a defense
that can do what the Broncos have done. Patzertan had
a great game, ran back the interception one hundred yards,
kind of got the ball rolling a little after a
slow start. This is a good football team too. We
talked about teams like the Chiefs and the Vikings at
the top.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Broncos kind of have a similar, similar formula.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
You know, decent offense, very good defense, special teams are
pretty solid as well. So there's a formula there that
could get them much higher on this list.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah. You know the Peyton in the press conference was
obviously asked about the exchange because you have to ask,
and he said that, you know, Boat's got a little
first Bueller in him and he's trying to get that
out of him. I gotta be honest with you, I
think I know what that means. I'm not one hundred
percent sure, but the point is when they're on the
sideline and Bo's fired up, I do legitimately love it.
I don't think there was disrespect that was there. It's like, hey,
I'm getting confident here because I don't think Bo does
(15:21):
that in Week one or in the preseason. I think
he's now starting to feel himself in a very good way.
And the Broncos this is paying dividends for them. Still
more to come here to Bill on NFL Power Rankings.
There's two teams that they got to be hitting the
panic button, the Niners and the Bengals. Where did they
sit in the rankings? The answer is covered up next
(15:45):
back here on NFL Power Rankings presented by Energizer, Team
seventeen through twenty four. For Eric at number seventeen, Caleb
Williams Arrow pointing up on this bear squad at eighteen,
The Niners, Yeah, I'm a little concerned on this squad
Sitting at nineteen, it's the Chargers. The Jets are at
twenty three. Interceptions for Aaron Rodgers means Robert Salad is
(16:05):
no longer the head football coach. We'll talk more about
Gangreen in just a moment. The Colts, it is going
to be Anthony Richardson when he's healthy enough to play.
Not Joe Flacco, but Joe. The offense kind of looks
better with him. They fall short against the Jacks at
twenty two. The Cardinals second half shutout against the Niners.
Hello Arizona. Twenty three, it's the g men, no neighbors,
no singletary, no problem. And at twenty four the Bengals.
(16:27):
I know it's a loss, but damn Eric got I'm
sitting at twenty four. We'll circle up on Cincinnati in
just a moment. But the Bears, I got to tell
you there was concerns about Kleb Williams. Jadon Daniels is
balling out. This dude is playing efficient football at the
quarterback spot. They figured it out away. Got to run
this football, and right now I think the Bears are
starting to become a little bit more of a threat.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
Still got to.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
Work on those opening drives. Those haven't really hummed yet
this season. But after a pretty bad opening drive, almost
threw a pick six, he really looks settled in. He
didn't look panicky or jittered or frustrated what was happening
on the field. It was much better body language, if
you buy into that stuff, than I think we'd seen before.
And much better physical execution here a great throw to
a wide open DJ Moore found his receivers, didn't force
(17:11):
the ball to I mean, when the shots were there,
he took them in much.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
More accurate downfield.
Speaker 4 (17:15):
You add that to that a Bears defense that I
think is pretty darn good. Now, look all this happened
against Carolina. Their defense isn't so hot right now, but
we've seen obviously what this Bears defense can do to
make up for when the offense was struggling. Now that
Williams has settled in, I like them much better as
a team. He's gonna have his bad games too, but
(17:36):
hard not to be encouraged by. I would say the
last seven quarters, going back to the Rams game, where
he's looked a lot more complete of a quarterback and
less frantic.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Well, they get the Jags in London, a Jags team
that finally figured out a way to get a win.
Nine thirty Eastern Time, exclusively on NFL Network at eighteen.
It's the San Francisco forty nine ers. I got to
tell you, I can story some of the losses. For me.
Sometimes it's just the health of these guys out there.
I don't know what the deal is. I'm actually legitimately
(18:07):
worried about the Niners.
Speaker 4 (18:09):
Yeah, I mean there was a little bit of a
thing with Jake Moody being hurt in the second half
there changed their strategy. They had to go for it
on a fourth and twenty three within field goal range.
But that was notwithstanding. They have some issues right now. Obviously,
ball security is a problem. You saw in this Jordan
Mason putting it on the ground. Lake kind of opened
the door for the Cardinals to win it. But you know,
(18:30):
they weren't able to finish a drive in the second half,
and that's a problem. This is a team that's built
a score. Brandon Ayuk was having a big game at
that point. Rock Purty looked pretty solid in the first half.
You're up thirteen at half at home against the team
that you'd beaten pretty soundly in that building two years
in a row.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
That's got me worried as well.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
And you know, look, I will say they did lose
three straight last year, completely undoing what the start of
the season had him doing.
Speaker 3 (18:54):
Still ended up in the Super Bowl. I can't quit
him completely.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
But I get why your concerns are high right now
because they're they're multiple, they're adding up, and this team
looks a shell of what it used to look like.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Yeah, and they're matching up against a desperate Seattle team
in Seattle on a short leak on TNF. So something's
got to give here. The Niners once again dropping six spots,
dropping five spots, and it meant to coaching change with
Robert Salad now being dismissed as the Jets head coach.
What's the fix right now? The short term fix for
this season as the Jets right now figure out ways
(19:27):
new ways to lose football games.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Yeah, I mean getting DeVante Adams wouldn't hurt, right. I
wonder if those plans are still on the table though, right,
I don't know if those are separate. If they were,
you know, firing SLA had nothing to do with what
trades they might make and all that, but clearly adding
another offensive weapon would not be a bad thing. We
saw it during parts of this game, second third, even
the fourth quarter for stretches. Aaron can move the ball
(19:49):
a little bit, but finishing drives another red zone weapon,
somebody who can draw attention away from Garrett Williams or
you know, Wilson, excuse me. But also getting this run
game involved early, I mean you follow into a double
digit hole. Braylan Allen and Brece Hall an't going to
get as many carries. They both had a tough game Sunday.
That's two weeks in a row where all's been a
little missing, so that offensive line has not been as
(20:12):
good as it was they're early going.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
That's got to be fixed. A lot going on. The
defense is okay.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
That really wasn't the issue, which is obviously curious when
you fire a defensive minded head coach.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
But things just weren't clicking.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Not at all. They get the Buffalo Bills, who need
a win that game on Monday night, which will be
a very intriguing matchup. We'll have the post game in
the pregame show on NFL Network for you. Cincinnati at
twenty four, I get it. They score thirty eight points,
it goes over time, and they figured they actually they
shouldn't have lost that football game. Let's just call a
spade of spade here. They lost to the Ravens. They
lost to the Chiefs. Like I think they're better than
(20:43):
this ranking that you gave them.
Speaker 4 (20:44):
Well, I always say, at some point, you are what
your record is, and it's hard not to ignore the results, right.
I mean, Burrow is on pace right now for a
forty five hundred yard, forty touchdown, seven interception season. He's
been pretty terrific, at least since Week one anyway, and
yet this defense has not been able to stop people.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
Consistently played pretty well.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
On that side of the ball, all things considered in
the first half, but second half and overtime weren't able
to get those stops. We mentioned how Baltimore came back
from three different ten point deficits and then this might
have been the play of the year. Look, sometimes you
face the Mahomes or Lamar Jackson and they just beat you
with a couple extra plays. So the spot on the
power rankings reflects their record, and you know, and how
(21:27):
they've lost the good teams, like you said, the Commanders
as well, but you know, they just can't find a
way to close things out.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Yeah, I gotta tell you. And just as an example,
the Jets. I think Cincinnati's a better team than Gangreen
and two teams I put them ahead of your Jets.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I thought, are your Giants. I mean, I thought maybe
I'd guess some credit for that.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
You know, by the way, my gimn figured out a
way to get it done. Oh that opening drive, I'm like,
oh my god, this is the season in a microcosm
of the season, and it wasn't pretty, but they figured
out a way to get it done. Let's get your
teams twenty five through thirty two. The Raiders, Minshew gets pulled,
we see Ocondle. They sit at twenty five. We know
DeVante's going to get treated. At twenty sixth the Rams.
(22:06):
How about this squad. Worse start to a season in
Sean mcvay's coaching career. The Dolphins are at twenty eight.
Found a way to get it done against the Patriots.
The Jags, they get a win. They're at twenty nine.
At number thirty, this is rough to watch this Brown squad.
The Patriots are thirty one. They're also at times a
little difficult to watch, especially on the offensive side. And
the Carolina Panthers at thirty two. There's some teams here
(22:28):
that there's a reason why they're at the bottom. I
think maybe the biggest surprise considering what I thought they
could be the Cleveland Browns. Explain to me what is
going on for this squad.
Speaker 4 (22:39):
It's not fair to put everything onto Sean Watson's head,
but obviously he has been a big part of this problem.
Considering what they paid two hundred twenty million dollars, considering
a full off season of.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Health and work in the program.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
You know, the fact that he wasn't able to really
play as much in the preseason may have some effect,
but I just cannot believe that how far he's regressed
as a player. He and Stefanski maybe have never been
a great stylistic match anyway.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Football wise, the offensive.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Line injuries, the running back injuries, and that defense too,
Let's call them out. They have not been as dominant
as they were a year ago.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I'm with you. I'm with you in a big way
because defensively, there has been struggles for this squad. Hey,
before we wrap up here, the Jags, I made reference
to it getting a win. They're playing like the home
away from home game in London? Is this Are we
going to see this again? They're gonna beat the Bears?
Speaker 3 (23:29):
Hey, they could.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
I think they have a little bit of momentum, but
got to finish it off better than they did against
the Colts.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
Catch the game nine thirty Eastern Time on NFL Network.
Raki the best Man will do it again next week.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
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