NFL Network Insiders Tom Pelissero, Judy Battista, and Mike Garafolo provide details on Rashee Rice, CeeDee Lamb, and George Kittle returning to practice this week. Complete highlights and analysis from Monday night’s doubleheader between the Bears & Commanders and Falcons & Bills. Patriots WR DeMario Douglas joins the show, Brian Baldinger and Marc Ross break down the Eagles' offense, while Jeff Chadiha names his winners and losers for the 2025 season. Cam Ward reports on the Dolphins' turmoil, and a look ahead to the TNF matchup between the Steelers & Bengals. Michael F. Florio delivers his Week 7 Fantasy Waiver Wire Targets.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Just six weeks into the twenty twenty five NFL season,
we already have one team in upheaval Brian Callahan out
in Tennessee, another change for number one pick cam Ward.
Hear what interim coach Mike McCoy said today about the
Titans plans from here. Patriots are in first place in
(00:22):
the AFC's for the first time in years, and the
offense they're building around Drake May is a big reason
why wide receiver to Mario pop Douglas joins the show
tonight to talk about what's brewing in New England. Whether
you're five and one or one in five in your
fantasy league, in my case, one of each, you can
always use a little help from the waiver wire. Nobody
(00:43):
better than Michael f Florio to join us tonight and
tell you who's worth targeting it now. Welcome inside with
the Insiders presented by Progressive Insurance, alongside Judy Batista and
Mike Garafalo. I am Tom Pelisero. We are now officially
one third of the way through the twenty twenty five
NFL regular season, and we got some big name players
(01:06):
who could be back on the field in Week seven.
Let's start out in Kansas City or receive Rice's six
game suspension for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct policy, officially
expired on Monday. Andy Reid said he knows Rice is
in good shape. Still to be determined, though, what role,
if any, Rice will play on Sunday against the Raiders, Mike.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
How about another guy that's potentially coming back this week,
Cede Lamb.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, he's got a chance to.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Play against the Commanders this week.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
That is according to doctor Jerry Jones, who said, actually,
I'm not gonna necessarily play doctor or without playing doctor.
You've got to have a full week of practice. But
right now everything is looking optimistic when it comes to
Cede Lamb and a bunch of other key Cowboys. Dak
Prescott playing really well, only going to play better, you
think with Cede Lamb out there.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Right Maybe not quite so optimistic. In La, Rams receiver
Puka Nakua status is uncertain for Sunday's game in London
against the Jaguars. He is day to day with an
ankle injury he suffered last Sunday in the win over
the Ravens. Honestly, it looked a whole lot worse when
it first happened. Sean McVeigh said the team believes he
did avoid a long term injury after looking at the scans.
(02:13):
They have a bye after the London trip, so if
he does not play in London, he would get that
extra week to recover to be ready for the second
half of the season. The forty nine Ers, just up
the coast, have had a ton of bad injury news
this season. Here's a bit of good news though. Titand
George Kittle is expected back at practice starting tomorrow. Kittle
(02:33):
has been on injured reserve with a severe hamstring injury
sustained in the season opener. He only played twenty one
snaps in that game. The hope, Kyle Shanahan said is
that all will go well in practice this weekend. Kittle
will be available this Sunday for the forty nine ers
game against the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Mike McCoy, farmer Chargers head coach, longtime NFL offensive coordinator,
introduced today as the Titans interim head coach, one day
after the firing of Brian Callahan. McCoy now now entrusted
largely with the development of cam Ward over the next
twelve weeks. Here's a little what McCoy had to say today.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
You know, we all have a part in this where
we are today. It's not just Brian, And that's the
unfortunate thing in this business that happens, and we all
have a hand in it, every player, every coach, every
person in the organization. We have to hold each other accountable.
So we all have to be accountable for everything we're
doing on a daily basis. So that's two things, you know,
(03:30):
that togetherness part of it and the accountability moving forward.
Those are two big things that I'm going to stress
to everybody because it's a bad feeling when you see
someone that's such a good person like Brian.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Have this happen to Meyer.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Beware, if you're a head coach and drafting a quarterback
at number one overall, this is now four consecutive times
after drafting a quarterback number one that the head coach
has not lasted the season. Now not always the quarterback's fault.
Fair to say, urban Meyer had a huge role in
his downfall. Frank Reich, Matt Eberfluss, now, Brian Callahan all
(04:06):
out with less than one season working with that number
one pick.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Mike speaking of that number one pick in twenty twenty four,
he faced number two once again in FedExField. Remember that
Hail Mary game last year? How would this one end?
Would it be nearly as dramatic? Cayleb Williams to DeAndre
Swift on the outside there, fifty five yard touchdown cuts
the lead to two after the failed two point conversion,
(04:30):
one hundred and thirty five total yards for Swift on
the night. Commander's trying to salt this run away, however,
Jaden Daniels the fubble recovered by Nashan Wright. I know
a lot of folks said in these conditions, you're snapping
in the shotgun. Whatever has had an impact on this
game as well my fantasy game. We're gonna get to
that in just a bit. Here's Jake Moody. We need
(04:51):
a little bit of redemption and he founded with the
Bears the former forty nine er thirty eight yards.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
To win the game.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Another dramatic between these teams. Now it's time for fresh takes,
presented by Chipotle Mark ross In here, Mark, let's talk
about how the Bears were able to get this win
against the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Showed a lot of offense there, but it was the
other side of the ball as well.
Speaker 7 (05:14):
Yeah, Mike, And this is why you hire a head
coach for the whole football team. You just don't go
with the hot coordinator, even though Ben Johnson was the
hottest coordinator for the last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But a guy who can galvanize.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
The whole entire football team because the Bears have been
winning on defense. He's last three games with the three
plus turnovers in each of the last three games.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Is shown by last night.
Speaker 7 (05:34):
But you know, Ben Johnson of course was hired to
get Caleb Williams right, or get Caleb Williams of Pro
Bowl level, but he's still a work in progress. Caleb Williams,
you're seeing the flashes. You're seeing better consistency. You didn't
see any turnovers last night. But he hasn't been super
dynamic just yet. But you are seeing flourishes in the offense,
particularly with that man right there, DeAndre Swift, who absolutely
(05:57):
went off last night, really won the game for the Bears.
And that's to me Ben Johnson saying, Okay, I don't
have to prove it that Caleb Williams has to be
a superstar.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Now.
Speaker 7 (06:06):
I'm going to have this team find other ways to
win and last night. It was by running the ball,
by getting the opportunistic turnovers on defense, and by and
then by Caleb Williams not turning the ball over and making.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Key plays when possible. So you know, also smart move.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
By him to hire a defensive coordinator like a Dennis
Allen who's been a head coach who's been around it,
and not someone new and saying, you know what, I
can't have guys that never worked with on the staff whatnot.
So I just love Ben Johnson's approach. And Caleb talked
about it after the game. He said, you know what's
the turner and said, he just has his fighting. He
has us fighting, not me fighting on the offense. So
I think that's going to bode well for the Bears
(06:46):
this year.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We talked so much before this game about and Ben
Johnson said it as well. The offensive line's got to
give these running backs a chance. They were getting hit
too far at the line of scrimmage or behind the
line of scrimmage. DeAndre Swift over one hundred yards night.
So after the bye week, the Bears make the adjustments
to make that happen. That is a much different Bears
team than the last time we saw them on Monday
Night Football earlier in the season. Mark Ross with the
(07:09):
breakdown of the Bears victory.
Speaker 8 (07:11):
There.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
They're on the other side of five hundred, now three
and two and looking to make some noise in the
playoff race, as are the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Bill's Falcons first Monday night game in Atlanta in seven years,
and the home team certainly made the most. At first quarter,
tied at seven, third and goal, Michael Pennis, Drake London
a bullet, go go, gadget arm that's eight touchdown. Falcons
go up fourteen to seven. Second quarter now, Falcons still
up by seven. First and five Bjon Robinson and Gunn.
(07:40):
I appreciate the effort, but no, you're not going to
catch him. Longest run of b Shn's career, previous career
long thirty eight. That was an eighty one yarder right there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
A late fourth quarter, Bills down twenty four to fourteen,
Josh Allen's pass tippedon intercepted by d Angelo Malone. Yes,
the Angelo Malone household name. Felcon win twenty four to fourteen.
Bills fall to four and two, entering their by Let's
bring in Brian Baldinger too. The conversation now with me
Tom Pilicero here on the Insiders. Baldy Falcons offense impressive
(08:12):
last night, especially in the first half.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
What did you see, Well, I saw an offense line
that just won the line of scrimmage throughout the day.
But you know they lead the National Football League running
about one hundred and fifty yards a game right now,
and they ran for over two hundred last night. So
you know they got the big play obviously, but you
know this play right here by Tyler Adzier, I mean
they get to the second level block both Bills linebackers
(08:34):
as he ran for a twenty one yard touchdown right
there to get the game started. And so it's a
one to two punch right now. And then you know
they protected Michael Pennix very well last night. Drake London
had a huge game, so they got real balance on offense, Tom,
and then you know when you get into what Jeff
Olbrick is doing on defense, that was the lotus scoring
total of the year for Buffalo. They held him to
(08:57):
fourteen points and so the offense did their job. They
put up twenty four points. They controlled the line of scrimmage,
but defensively it's been a long time since anybody can
say this, but the Falcons have a pass rush. They
have guys that can win, that can get to the quarterback.
They've got a defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrick that knows how
to dial up pressures. They did that a bunch last night.
They got some sacks, they got Josh Allen to throw
(09:19):
the ball away, they got off the field on third
down quite a bit. And then the secondary, whether it's
aj Terrell, Ord Alford or a Xavier watched they played
excellent in the secondary and didn't let the ball go
over their head way. Sometimes it does, you know when
you're going up against Josh Allen.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Baldy stick around. Will talk Eagles with you momentarily here,
but first.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
This and now to discuss the touchdowns and so much more,
we have Pop Douglas here. Thank you for joining the Insiders.
You woke up in first place today. The Buffalo Bills
lost last night the Patriots coming off a three game
win streak. You're in first place. You're one of the
biggest surprises of the early part of the season. But
I wonder take us inside that building. Does it feel
(10:02):
like a surprise to you or did you see this coming.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
I've seen this coming. You know how hard we work,
and you know the work that we put in and
throughout practice. Man, I knew you know what we can do.
And man, we're blessed. We're blessed. You know, keep going
and it feels good winning, all right.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Part of it, of course, is that Drake May has
really come into his own, has exploded in these first
six games of the season, coming off a three touchdown
performance against the New Orleans Saints. You were there last
season when he came in as a rookie, so you
saw the same glimmers that we all saw the possibilities.
What have you seen though from being on the inside
(10:42):
To explain his rapid development this season, I'll.
Speaker 10 (10:47):
Say, you know, his confidence, His confidence has been growing,
and man, I'm proud of him.
Speaker 9 (10:51):
Man. He never let he never got too high when
it was up, and never too low and it was down. Man.
Speaker 10 (10:57):
I'm loving the confidence that he's giving us. Man, he's
just going out there and playing on the field. Man,
I'm loving I love his presentation.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
All Right.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
You let's talk about you. You have already caught as
many touchdown passes this season as you did last season.
This wide receiver room over the last few years has
been a little bit maligned. A lot of people saying,
you know, the Patriots don't have enough weapons. How personally
satisfying is it to you, not just how the offense
as a whole is performing, but that you have a
(11:27):
significant role in its success.
Speaker 10 (11:30):
It's a blessing, you know, Man, our room, the team,
you know the team and you know, as they say,
as skilled players.
Speaker 9 (11:38):
Man, we've been working.
Speaker 11 (11:40):
You know.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
We never let you know, you know, the outside things
you know, get to us. And it's been amazing going
in and working.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Man.
Speaker 9 (11:47):
It started on the off season.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
You know, we got together with Drake and he got
us together to throw and just our time and man,
got our time and good and we got to.
Speaker 9 (11:56):
Know each other, you know, outside of football, and I
think that's what made us close. And we play together,
we play for each other.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
What kind of impact has Stefan Diggs had on the room?
Speaker 9 (12:05):
He had a big impact. Man, that's a vet that
we needed in our room. You know, he never let
you slack. Nothing like that. Hardworker, hard worker.
Speaker 10 (12:15):
And uh, I know y'all can see like on the
social media, but the things that y'all don't see, Man,
he's working.
Speaker 9 (12:20):
And he puts us young, us young guys that you know,
uh the word, and he shows us the way.
Speaker 10 (12:27):
And just like I said, he keeps our whole room accountable,
just like our coach Todd down and he keeps it accountable.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
And man, shout out to Steph and then you.
Speaker 10 (12:36):
Know we got you know, mac hollis in super vet
for us too, and he's been doing this thing too
as of keeping us on the on that path.
Speaker 9 (12:43):
Is keep working.
Speaker 10 (12:44):
And now their practice how they practice. He shows us
how to practice. They show us how to practice.
Speaker 9 (12:50):
And man, it's good to have those those guys in
the room.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
You obviously had the big upset victory on national television
over the Buffalo Bills, and then you want again last week,
what's been the message from Mike Rabel while you've gotten
out to this hot start about sustaining.
Speaker 9 (13:06):
It, just you know, just planning to our identity. Man,
we played to identity. I mean it's going to be good.
You know.
Speaker 10 (13:15):
I feel like we've been playing to our identity and
trust no process. I feel like that's the main thing.
Trust no process and us guys getting together, getting each
other closer and getting to know each other. I feel
like we've been doing a good job with that and man,
just taking the game game by game, day by day.
Speaker 9 (13:34):
Like I said, that starts in practice and how hard
we practice, man, and it shows me the game.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
All right. You are playing the Tennessee Titans this week,
which is obviously going to be a return to Tennessee
for Mike Vrabel. He's downplaying the importance of it, but
he's obviously had a huge impact on the Patriots already.
How important is it for you guys to get a
win in Tennessee?
Speaker 9 (13:58):
For him, it's very important, you know, especially you know
it's the next game.
Speaker 10 (14:03):
It's the next game. That's what makes it, you know,
very important, And just like any other game. I know, coach,
you want to come in here and you know, get
this win. And I feel like that's going to help
us keep going. You know that it feels good at
winning and you know, would like to say the previous
years that we had, man, it hasn't been good.
Speaker 9 (14:18):
But this is a good feeling.
Speaker 10 (14:20):
And I know our team loved this feeling and I
want us to, you know, keep going. And I'm loving
what Coach Raver's doing with this team.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Pop Douglas, thank you, so much. Congratulations on your success
so far. Good luck the rest of the way. Thanks
for joining the insiders.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Thank you for having me time for good coverage, because
anybody Progressive insurance. Five games into the year, the Packers
have not allowed a single point in the first quarter
this season. The five game first quarter shut out streak
is the longest streak to start a season since twenty fifteen,
when the Broncos, Yes, the Super Bowl winning Broncos held
their first seven opponents off the board in the first quarter.
(14:55):
Denver finished the year. Like I said, super Bowl champs means.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
The Packers are gonna win, only have to. I watched
the rest of the season. We got the script for you,
all right. Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
What we do have are the Week seven power rankings
by our guy Eric head Home at the NFL. The
look at the Buccaneers, Look at the Buccaneers. Todd Bulls
Buccaneers at number one. According to ed Home, you got
the Lions there. Sure we expect them to be the
Seahawks that we expect them to be that high? Do
we expect the Eagles to be as low as six?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I don't think a lot of people thought the Eagles
we played as poorly as they have been, which leads
to a lot of questions for the coaches and the coordinators.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Tuesdays the day for that.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So that's when Kevin Patulo had to answer some questions
the offensive coordinator in Philly.
Speaker 11 (15:35):
I think when you when you talk about the situational
stuff and or you know, the predictability, you just got
to look at kind of where the whole context is.
And I think that's what kind of the last day
or so, you know, over the weekend things we were
able to kind of look at where we were, where
we are, where we want to go, and what we know,
you know, we need to kind of do to go forward.
And I think it was very productive. We had a
good meeting, yes, Rays and offensive unit, and so I
(15:58):
think we're in a good spot working forward.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Brian Mouldingger and Mark Ross get on in here, because
this is a very important conversation. All right, this is
like this has been driving me nuts for a while.
I cover the Eagles closely, I know the market. I
hear this all the time, whether it's Doug Peterson or
Mike grow Er, Brian Johnson or Kevin Pittulo. When the
offense isn't going well. The P word always comes out predictable.
It's too predictable. And Lee Johnson sort of had that
(16:23):
in one of his quotes the other day, which said, Okay,
everybody said, there it is.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
That's our job predictable. Let's keep talking about it's predictable.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
It leads to a whole lot of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And to me because I look at this and I said, well,
I covered this team last year and I remember Saquon
Barkley taking runs all the way to the house, and
I remember asking like, oh, we're these special runs that
you like.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
No, we have no idea what's going to go to
the house. It's a simple zone run. They know we're
doing it.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
We're just blocking it and we're just getting Saquon to
the edge and the safety's not estimating properly his speed.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So I'm going to throw it to u Bald because
it's sort of drive me nuts. How we can sort
of say, well, the offense is too predictable.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And even Lane Johnson it is quote about we need
to be a little bit more variety or variable on
offense said it comes down to execution. A lot I
think there's struggles with the offensive line right now, that
there's struggles.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
On a number of front But you tell me when
you see it on the film and you break it down.
Are they too predictable?
Speaker 6 (17:23):
Well, there's two p words, Mike. There's predictable and there's production.
Last year they were production. They were productive, doing a
lot of the same things they're doing now. I mean,
they led the league in rushing by a mile. They
had the leading rusher Akue. But you know last week
against the Giants on Thursday night, now they were somewhat predictable.
I mean, this is third and ten right here, there's
a two by two set, all right. Now, take a
(17:44):
look at this, all right, because they're gonna run five
yard stops on the inside, and they're gonna run little
cuts down the field on the inside. And so you
watch this right here here they are all right. Now,
it's third and ten. They throw it underneath the gotter
right here. The Giants come and tackle to catch. That's
not very productive, But is it also predictive because this
is kind of predictable. Here's the same motion. All right,
(18:06):
it's thirty eight. Here they are two by two set,
and what are they gonna run. They're gonna run five
yard stops on the inside right here, and then they're
gonna run deep on the outside, mirrored routes, same thing
on each side. All right, pick a side, and right
here Jalen doesn't get the ball out of his hands.
He gets sacked. All right, and now here we go
another third down situation. Is it predictable? It's a two
(18:27):
by two set. We say, the exact same route combination.
The Giants sit down on it and Jalen says, all right,
I'll check it down to Saque and see what he
can do exactly what the Giants wanted. On third and four.
Right there, they get him for a tackle loss. That's
kind of predictable. Now that's just third down. There was
were a couple of third down misses last week. It's
not the whole offense, it's a little part portion of it,
(18:49):
but they weren't able to stay on the field, and
that's been a big part of the problem is they
have not been productive mark on third downs where they
can sustain offense and maybe get into some of the
variety that Mike speaks up that maybe Lane Johnson wants
to see, because they just haven't been on the field
enough and the result is a seventeen point offense. He
just last two losses.
Speaker 7 (19:07):
We'll I want to drop another p word on you.
That's near and dear to my heart, and that's personnel.
And the personnel is just not the same last year,
whether whether they're predictable or not, where they were just
mashing people on the offensive line. And the first one
out the door was Makai Beckham. Let's just go through
the starters last year who they lost in free agency.
Tyler Steen is starting, huge drop off, McKay Beckham playing
(19:29):
at a Pro Bowl level. There, then Landon Dickerson, who
had off season meniscus surgery right before the season. There
have been struggling with the ankle. Here comes Brent talk
huge drop off from there. Cam Jurgen's had back surgery
this offseason. He doesn't look the same. He's struggling. Lane
Johnson as back in next issues this year he's been
(19:49):
in and out of the game as well.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And then you Jordan my Lot. I don't think he's
playing at the same level.
Speaker 7 (19:54):
So you've got four guys essentially one guy's going in
three compromise with injuries. That's why you're not seeing them
guys with the run game going, and then Jalen hurts
at his best, he is a quality thrower and quality playmaker,
not a quantity So when everything has to be on
him where he has to throw, that's not his game.
Even in the Super Bowl, the best game he ever played,
(20:16):
many said he was only seventeen to only twenty two
passes two hundred and twenty one yards. So that's the
formula for the Eagles is to run it and then
Jalen make those quality plays and quality throws and he
has to make those win needed. Baldy showed those sets there,
but down there on the goal line with the first
he missed Devonte Smith on the huge throw coming out
(20:36):
of the half, and then on the pick six he
missed aj Brown. Did not see Agent Brown. He was
wide open right there in the middle of field for
a touchdown. So with the combination of the offensive line,
if they'll get healthier, not needing to match guys, say
Kuan get Right, take the onus off of Jalen has
to be a quantity thrower. But Jalen also has to
play better. He has to see the reas, he has
to make the throws so that combination of all of it,
(20:59):
I think is what's lead to what you're seeing from
the Eagles offense now.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Lane Johnson, in his comments that I was talking about
the other day, did say I've got Kevin Patulo's back
until the end. They truly still believe in him and
Nick Sirianni in this coaching staff, and I know they
spent this past weekend going over things, Okay, how do
we change shoes up here and there? How do we
become more effective in certain situations. They also have a
buy coming up in a couple of weeks. They'll get
(21:23):
a chance to do that again. But I think Mark
did hit something on the head. For as much as
we're questioning the play calls or maybe calling it predictable,
there was that pass to Devonte Smith that went over
his head. There was one the week before to aj
Brown where Brown stopped this route that's one hundred and
fifty yards combined in two touchdowns that was left on
the field. You get a chance to do it, predictable,
(21:43):
whatever you want to call it. You get a chance
to make a play. These guys got to make a play.
All the great stuff. Mark appreciate it as well, you know,
what's predictable. Judy Patista is gonna be a big part
of the show.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Judy, thank you. You know what team is not having
a problem with its offense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Look
at this touchdown to interception ratio for Baker Mayfield, twelve
to one. You get a twelve to one touchdown to
interception ratio, you add in an incredible third down scramble
(22:13):
to get the first down, you get to be the
first team in the power rankings. You know what, I
bet Baker Mayfield is going to feature prominently in the
conversation I am about to have with our Jeffrey Chidia. Jeffrey,
thank you very much. We're going to talk about your
winners and losers through week six. So let's start on
the bright side. Give me some winners.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Yeah, surprise, surprise. Baker Mayfield top of the list.
Speaker 6 (22:34):
Here.
Speaker 12 (22:34):
He's my MVP right now, Judy, And the way he's playing,
he may just run away with this thing. You're talking
about a team that's five and one despite missing its
top four receivers, it's best running back. A number of
injuries to their offensive lineman is because of this guy
right here. The way he's playing you look at the
not just the production, but just the charisma, the confidence,
the battle, the way he gets up here after this
(22:56):
play and is kind of flexxing out.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
He's given this team a whole new identity and he's
my MVP because of that.
Speaker 12 (23:01):
My second winner here is Mike Rabel, who also is
benefiting from great quarterback play and the job Gret May
has done. Mike Rapel has never had a quarterback like
this in his career, and you're seeing May blossom before
our eyes. We're talking about a team that's playing great
special teams right now. Two kit returners have been AFC
Special Team Player of the Months, and now we're talking
about ric o'dowdell in terms of what he's been doing
(23:24):
in Carolina. I got nobody thought was going to be
a great player. Chope Hubber goes down and then all
of a sudden, this guy's running for almost five hundred
scrimmageyards in the last two games. He's taken advantage of
the opportunity and make good on it.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
All right, And if we have winners, there have to
be losers. Who are the losers?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Well, we'll start with John Harball. That look on his
space right there, You've seeing way too much of that.
Speaker 12 (23:43):
A lot of what happened is happening in Baltimore for
John Harball these days one in five start, and I
don't know if it gets better. You look at the
way they were playing defense beforehand, for all his injuries started.
You look at the things that have been happening to
this team as far as Lamar Jackson being hurt. I
know he's coming back with his hamstering injury, but you
look at the AFC. Now, New England's a player, Jacksonville
is a player, Indianapolis is a player. These teams were
(24:05):
not talked about as being postseason contenders, and that's going
to affect this team's ability to get in the postseason.
And then finally, you do you know this guy in
New York all too well, Justin Fields is going through
it right now with the New York Jets. He's my
last loser here and we talk about the week he
had forty five passing yards, nine sacks. The same thing
we saw before in Chicago and Pittsburgh are dooming him again,
(24:28):
holding the ball too long, not processing fast enough. He's
already facing questions about being benched. I know Aaron Glyn
has his back right now. But with this team not
having won a game just yet, I just don't know
how Justin Fields keeps this job all season long.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
It is certainly a tough week for the Jets, all
of them right now in New York. Jeffrey, thank you
and everybody. Check out the rest of Jeffries column NFL
dot Com slash first read.
Speaker 6 (24:52):
Done.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Now for the Wolf of Ball Street, our Cameron Wolf
here to tell you what he's hearing around the end,
which on today, like this, Cam, I have to imagine
mine include a little something about what's going on down
there in South Florida.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Tom.
Speaker 13 (25:06):
Yes, let's start the Wolf of Ball Street in Miami,
where it's been a disaster season and a headache made
worse by their starting quarterback two with ungle by Looa
with a little bit of a misstep in his comments
this week calling out players being late to a player
only meeting. And this has certainly been a conversation throughout
the Dolphins locker room. I talked to one player in
the last twenty four hours who said he didn't like
(25:28):
what Tua said. He said it's added an unnecessary distraction.
He said he's had people in his circle reach out
asking who the late player was. Stuff he just doesn't
want to deal with. We heard center Aaron Brewer say
that stuff that happens and how should stay in house
and look to His intentions were good here. Accountability has
been a big part of the Dolphins philosophy. Mike McDaniel
(25:50):
just made a great point. It was the wrong form
for it to happen. From what I understand, too, is
going to have a press conference tomorrow. He's going to
try to clean a lot of this stuff up. He's
been walked talking the teammates, apologizing about how he's handled it.
But leadership has been a big question mark, and it
starts with your quarterback. A good way to get back
on people's side, have a great game against the Browns
and play well going forward and maybe help this Dolphice
(26:12):
team try to turn around a one.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
In five start.
Speaker 13 (26:15):
Meanwhile, a team that doesn't need to turn around anything,
the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'll be there Thursday in Cincinnati, where
it's going to be what Cam Hayward yelled out to
reporters as the icy Hot Bowl, Forty one year old
Aaron Rodgers, forty year old Joe Flacco, and Aaron Rodgers
is playing the best ball of him since twenty twenty
one when he won MVP in Green Bay. And a
(26:35):
big reason why is this relationship with offense. According to
Arthur Smith, they've been able to gel, They've been able
to adjust to each other's skill set.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
And I'm told one thing they also gel on.
Speaker 13 (26:44):
They heard some commentary in the summer that they would
be fighting arguing by October. Well it's October and they're
not fighting and arguing. They're getting along better than ever.
The office is gelling Aaron Rodgers second fastest time to
throw in the NFL, getting the ball out his hand,
and Arthur Smith is running a lot of six offensive
lineman sets, using big Darnell Washington in the past game
(27:06):
and in the run game. And the Steelers are running
away from the AFC North, And so those old guys
are have something to say, and the Steelers are.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Happy with their choice of getting Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Nothing like being two forty something year old players on
a short week now going up against each other in
a huge game on Thursday night. Cam great stuff. As always,
We will talk to you again soon, listen. I feel
like the fantasy football guys have been on my side
for quite some time. We made the playoffs in dramatic
fashion last year, and now we won a game last
(27:36):
night in dramatic fashion, ninety one to ninety I was
trailing ninety two to ninety one.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Guess what happened? Jayden Daniels right there, guy, are for
my opponent? Iron Jaden fumbled. I won on that fumble,
and I knew I won because Michael left Floria was
ahead of me, and he sent me the eyeball emojis.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
I'm like, what does he talk?
Speaker 9 (27:55):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Oh, we just won, dude, we did.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
An assistant general manager the outside of Michael left Florio
now joining us to tuck waiver wire targets. We're hanging
in there. We're gonna need some help, though, to get
into the postseason. So let's start with quarterbacks. Sam Donald
potentially out there on some waiver wires.
Speaker 14 (28:13):
Yeah, and Jade and Daniel still wants to be a
part of the Outsiders. I think I know he took
you to the championship last season, But Sam Donald, if
he is out there, I would be adding him right now.
In the last two weeks, only Dak has more passing touchdowns,
and only Dak and Mahomes have scored more Fantasy points
at quarterback Seattle. They have done a much better job
(28:33):
of recently of protecting Sam Donald pressure, allowing it out
a league below average rate and then just one sack
in the last two weeks.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
And Donald we know he could thrive from a clean pocket.
Speaker 14 (28:46):
Jayson is seemingly open on every single play, so that
really helped Sam Donald as well. If Jackson Dart is
out there, he is the only QB I would add
over Big Sammy d this week. But I come on
the show two weeks in a row and talk to
Jackson Dart, so we should not be on your waivers.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's a ghost town out there for running backs this
time of year. On the waiver wire. Who might be available,
Florio I should pick up well. If Kamani Vedella is available.
Speaker 14 (29:10):
You didn't listen last week because I came on this
show it told you to add Kamani. But if he
is still out there, he is the number one ad
this week, sixty nine percent of snaps, eighteen carries and
four targets. Last week he turned that into nearly one
hundred and forty yards a touchdown, twenty three fantasy points
and was a top ten running back in fantasy, and
(29:30):
I'm getting comments on Twitter like it came against the Dolphins,
but yeah, that's what you're supposed to do when you
have a great matchup, and this week he gets another one.
The Colts on paper don't look like the best matchup,
but I think that's more gamescript.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
They've been leading in a lot of games.
Speaker 14 (29:44):
Metrically, they have struggled against the runs, so I think
Vidal remains in play.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
And then I like Tajy Spears and I think.
Speaker 14 (29:52):
He's a little bit under the radar right now, but
he was on the heavy side of a sixty to
forty snap split last week with Tony Pollard. While Pollard
is still getting more carries, Spears did have five himself,
but the passing work is going his way, nearly double
the amount of routes and targets as Tony Pollard. And
I know you might be like, oh, well that was
(30:13):
gamescript because the Titans were losing. It's the Titans. They're
going to be trailing often and Spears is an explosive runner,
so if he plays well with the opportunities that he
is getting that he could steal more and more work away.
So Kase Spears Kamani Bedell. They are two wide receivers
that I have searched my waivers for when.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I was putting them in earlier today, All right, wide receivers.
Sterling Shepherd is an interesting one. He had some big
plays the other day for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They're
extremely banged up at wide receiver now, Mecca Buca injured.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (30:44):
It's Sterling Shepherd here.
Speaker 14 (30:46):
Yeah, I think you should be looking to pick him up.
If the Bucks lose another wide receiver, they might need
one of the three of us to suit up this week.
Because Chris Godwin has already ruled out a Mecca Buca
seems unlikely to play. Mike Evans is still up in
the air, and I know the Johnson right now, Cam
and them are going to get a lot of the
attention as the big play.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Option, but they're more boom or bust.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
I think the.
Speaker 14 (31:07):
Buckstow and Mvy Baker is going to rely on the
veteran there in Sterling Shepard. And what I really like
too is he bounces between the slot and out wide,
so he could win in a number of different ways.
But I just think he's in a great offense, tied
to the MVP leader right now, and they're going up
against a Lions team that could score a lot of
(31:28):
points but is really banged up in the secondary.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Real life issue here, My tight ends are both on
by this week. Michael, Yes, I should have figured that
out before the draft. That's a side story. We don't
need to address it. Top option is Dallas Goddard, Harold
fannin junior. Which way would you go of those options?
Speaker 14 (31:44):
I would go Dallas Goddard, but he's not available in
as many leagues. So I really do like Harold Fan
and Junior as well, because last week eighty one percent
of the snaps. And what I like is he's playing
all over the field. He's getting snaps as a running back,
out in the slot at wah as a tight end,
and last week he saw ten targets, the second most
on the Browns. I think there is just some chemistry
(32:06):
between him and fellow rookie Dylan Gabriel. He led the
team in catches and receiving yards last week. Plus he
not only has he outscored David and Joku in four
six weeks, but David and Joku is dealing with the
knee injury. He's up in the air right now, and
that couldn't mean better things for hell Fan and Junior,
who has a great matchup against the Dolphins.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
But if you miss out on those names, there are a.
Speaker 14 (32:28):
Whole bunch of others that you could check your waiver
wire for, including a couple of Bucks receivers and Tom
some other tight ends.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Just in case he missed out on those two.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Noronde Ganson, Yes there's another one. He might be available
in my league as well. Michael Lef, Thank you very much.
We will talk to you again next Tuesdays. I love
a good whiteout game, particularly when it is paired with
those white Bengal uniforms at Cincinnati will be wearing on
Thursday night against the Steelers. Here's an idea, though, if
(32:57):
you're gonna have the field match, paint the whole field light.
Then just fill in the lines with a darker color.
Then it'll look like, you know, a Madden video game
and you turn on snow mode in the nineteen nineties,
which everybody did as far as I am aware. Welcome
back to the Insiders, presented by Progressive Insurance. Tom Pilisero
join now by Sam Schwartstein, Prime Video and Thursday Night
(33:18):
Football's analytics expert to use next gen stats to help
break down this matchup. Sam, let's start out with the Steelers,
who have the most expensive defense in the entire NFL.
What if anything makes you believe that the Roonies are
getting the most bang for their buck.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Yeah, they spend twenty five million dollars more than the
next high like most expensive defense, and they get their
money's worth because of how they're trying to attack the quarterback.
Very old school style mentality. That's the standard is the standard,
as Mike tom would say, that's to get out of
the quarterback. They have a forty percent pressure rate that's
fits in the NFL. But the key is they turn
those pressures into sacks twenty three percent of the time.
(33:57):
That's the second most the NFL. It's nice to get
to the quarterback. It's better to sack him. One of
the key ways they do it is they bring six
or more rushers twenty one percent of the time. That's
almost three times more than the league average. You're gonna
get man coverage. Quarterbacks is gonna beat it. Joe Flack
was gonna try and beat man coverage. But you're gonna
have to get to the quarter beat them before they
(34:17):
get to the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Of course, the offense doing their part two for the
Steelers right now. Sam. Every time we talk about the
Pittsburgh offense, you talk about Aaron Rodgers, we talk about
DK Metcalf, and that's truly it. Other than that's a
bunch of guys that I don't think most people have
heard of. Who's a name that you need to introduce
America to this week?
Speaker 8 (34:36):
You know, with all that money on defense, they spending
about thirty percent of their salary cap on just those
two players, DK and Aaron Rodgers. But the guy I
got my eye on, Darnel Washington. He's about six seven,
listened to sixty five. He don't look like it. He
is a beast at tight end. And you can see EPA,
which is a contextualized metric of yards based on situational football.
(34:57):
There he's the best player DELTA when he he's on
the field versus off the field. There point two EPA
per play better when he's on the field. And it's
not just in the pass game. The wrong game here
he's taking out two guys on that run and then
running back is able to find that hole and then
he had a pass to start the game. First play
of the game last week, he runs through the gap,
the same B gap insert right you've seen here, That's
(35:19):
what Pook Nakula runs. And he reached nineteen over nineteen
miles per hour on this play. That's the fastest runny
player over two hundred and sixty pounds. So he is
a matchup of nightmare. They want to be able to
utilize him. They're going to have him on the field
as well as Spencer Anderson, extra old lineman. So much
beef for this Pittsburghs doers offense.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Smart move right there, if you see the back of
Darnell Washington's jersey, just try to knock the ball out.
That's probably a better shot than actually bringing that guy
down from behind. The other side of this matchup, the
Bengals at two and four, four game losing streak. If
they're going to get back into this thing, it's got
to start on Thursday night, and with Joe Flacco leading
the charge, What in your mind can Flacco do to
(35:58):
get the Bengals snap this losing streak and get back
into things.
Speaker 8 (36:02):
Yeah, you know, they get a quarterback in go from
Jake Brown and Joe Flakel and a lot of people
our team were asking why did they do that? Well,
they just need somebody to throw to Jamar Chase and
that's what they are able to figure out.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
And Jamar Chase, he gets the ball much more.
Speaker 8 (36:15):
Hever zone than man. He is a twenty nine point
four percent target rate versus zone and he gets up
to nine point five yards per target that drops substantially
during main coverage. In large Part two, they're going to
target t Higgins on those go balls. But what's important
is you can see Joe Flacco figure out this offense
from the first half to second half. He had only
three targets to Jamar Chase in the first half and
(36:36):
then nine targets in the second half. All you need
to do really is go to the number one fantasy
player from last year as much as you can in
Jamar Chase, and that's what Flaka was going to try
and do on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Here's a next gen stat before we let you go.
The next gen of Schwartsteins also has arrived. You take
a well earned week off from this show. Sam, Congratulations
to you and the family.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Roughly larger. Is smaller than a football right now than
the duke.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Yeah, much smaller than the duke.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Gotulations. You can see Sam and maybe Shay Shortsting on
Prime Video Thursday Night, Yeah, exactly, with a lot of
other rookies. Thursday Guy covered Steelers Bengals, Prime Video and
NFL Plus beginning at seven pm Eastern on TNF. Speaking
of rookies, kind of vote for the Pepsi zero Sugar
Rookie of the Week. I feel like this is essentially
(37:27):
the rundown of the names that we talked about the
most all the way leading up to the drafts. Shdeur
Sanders not pictured. He'll probably be there sometime later in
the season. You can go and vote now nfl dot
com slash Orkies. Some sobery news today regarding a Jets legend,
Nick Mangold, announcing via the team that he is in
(37:49):
search of a kidney donor with type O blood. You
can go to Columbiasurgery dot org to find out more
and potentially submit to try to help out a guy
who was certainly one of the good guys during his
playing days. All of us here at the Insiders certainly
wish Nick mangled the very best, we are one third
(38:09):
of the way through the twenty twenty five NFL seas,
which means, hey, let's look at what it would be
like if the playoffs began right now. Spoiler alert, they don't.
The Colts would be the number one seed, though the
only five and one team in the AFC. There's some
notable teams missing from that playoff picture, including the Chiefs
(38:30):
and the Ravens. Who if we fast forward to what
the draft order would look like again not final, we
got a ways to go. Jets would only number one pick,
the Ravens would be drafting number two. Judy, as you
look at the top ten right there, who do you
think is the least likely to be draft in top
ten come April?
Speaker 4 (38:49):
I mean, I gotta say, I don't think the Ravens
are going to be picking two overall. By the time
all is said and done, I can say as a
New Yorker that the conversation has totally turned all ready
to the Jets picking number one. Like Jets fans are
fully onto what quarterback are they going to take with
the first overall pick?
Speaker 3 (39:09):
You'll see a lot of movement.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
As far as movement within the top ten, I would
not be surprised if seven to eight of these teams
are still in the top ten by the time it
comes the draft time. So the Cleveland Browns have two
first round picks that'll be picking that high would be
a good starting point for them.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
I'm not done.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
I'm not giving up on the Ravens. Like They're gonna
get healthy and the.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Schedule after the bye, they can go from second overall
pick to making the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
I truly believe it.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
There's not a clear cut number one overall pick, much
less a quarterback at this very early stage in the schedule.
But I can already envision the minds of Jets fans
when the Browns end up with the number three pick,
the Jets are at one, and then the Browns offer
both their first round picks to go up and replace
the Jets atop the draft order. You just can read
the back page headlines right now. Well, as we move forward,
(40:01):
not a big prediction show here the insiders. I would
say if the Ravens are on that second chart of
the top ten draft order instead of the first chart
in the playoff picture, that would be one of the
most shocking developments I can remember. Within a single NFL season. Hey,
we're back tomorrow. Thanks for watching. Everybody see it
Just six weeks into the twenty twenty five NFL season,
we already have one team in upheaval Brian Callahan out
in Tennessee, another change for number one pick cam Ward.
Hear what interim coach Mike McCoy said today about the
Titans plans from here. Patriots are in first place in
(00:22):
the AFC's for the first time in years, and the
offense they're building around Drake May is a big reason
why wide receiver to Mario pop Douglas joins the show
tonight to talk about what's brewing in New England. Whether
you're five and one or one in five in your
fantasy league, in my case, one of each, you can
always use a little help from the waiver wire. Nobody
(00:43):
better than Michael f Florio to join us tonight and
tell you who's worth targeting it now. Welcome inside with
the Insiders presented by Progressive Insurance, alongside Judy Batista and
Mike Garafalo. I am Tom Pelisero. We are now officially
one third of the way through the twenty twenty five
NFL regular season, and we got some big name players
(01:06):
who could be back on the field in Week seven.
Let's start out in Kansas City or receive Rice's six
game suspension for violating the NFL's Personal Conduct policy, officially
expired on Monday. Andy Reid said he knows Rice is
in good shape. Still to be determined, though, what role,
if any, Rice will play on Sunday against the Raiders, Mike.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
How about another guy that's potentially coming back this week,
Cede Lamb.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Yeah, he's got a chance to.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Play against the Commanders this week.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
That is according to doctor Jerry Jones, who said, actually,
I'm not gonna necessarily play doctor or without playing doctor.
You've got to have a full week of practice. But
right now everything is looking optimistic when it comes to
Cede Lamb and a bunch of other key Cowboys. Dak
Prescott playing really well, only going to play better, you
think with Cede Lamb out there.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Right Maybe not quite so optimistic. In La, Rams receiver
Puka Nakua status is uncertain for Sunday's game in London
against the Jaguars. He is day to day with an
ankle injury he suffered last Sunday in the win over
the Ravens. Honestly, it looked a whole lot worse when
it first happened. Sean McVeigh said the team believes he
did avoid a long term injury after looking at the scans.
(02:13):
They have a bye after the London trip, so if
he does not play in London, he would get that
extra week to recover to be ready for the second
half of the season. The forty nine Ers, just up
the coast, have had a ton of bad injury news
this season. Here's a bit of good news though. Titand
George Kittle is expected back at practice starting tomorrow. Kittle
(02:33):
has been on injured reserve with a severe hamstring injury
sustained in the season opener. He only played twenty one
snaps in that game. The hope, Kyle Shanahan said is
that all will go well in practice this weekend. Kittle
will be available this Sunday for the forty nine ers
game against the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
Mike McCoy, farmer Chargers head coach, longtime NFL offensive coordinator,
introduced today as the Titans interim head coach, one day
after the firing of Brian Callahan. McCoy now now entrusted
largely with the development of cam Ward over the next
twelve weeks. Here's a little what McCoy had to say today.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
You know, we all have a part in this where
we are today. It's not just Brian, And that's the
unfortunate thing in this business that happens, and we all
have a hand in it, every player, every coach, every
person in the organization. We have to hold each other accountable.
So we all have to be accountable for everything we're
doing on a daily basis. So that's two things, you know,
(03:30):
that togetherness part of it and the accountability moving forward.
Those are two big things that I'm going to stress
to everybody because it's a bad feeling when you see
someone that's such a good person like Brian.
Speaker 6 (03:43):
Have this happen to Meyer.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Beware, if you're a head coach and drafting a quarterback
at number one overall, this is now four consecutive times
after drafting a quarterback number one that the head coach
has not lasted the season. Now not always the quarterback's fault.
Fair to say, urban Meyer had a huge role in
his downfall. Frank Reich, Matt Eberfluss, now, Brian Callahan all
(04:06):
out with less than one season working with that number
one pick.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Mike speaking of that number one pick in twenty twenty four,
he faced number two once again in FedExField. Remember that
Hail Mary game last year? How would this one end?
Would it be nearly as dramatic? Cayleb Williams to DeAndre
Swift on the outside there, fifty five yard touchdown cuts
the lead to two after the failed two point conversion,
(04:30):
one hundred and thirty five total yards for Swift on
the night. Commander's trying to salt this run away, however,
Jaden Daniels the fubble recovered by Nashan Wright. I know
a lot of folks said in these conditions, you're snapping
in the shotgun. Whatever has had an impact on this
game as well my fantasy game. We're gonna get to
that in just a bit. Here's Jake Moody. We need
(04:51):
a little bit of redemption and he founded with the
Bears the former forty nine er thirty eight yards.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
To win the game.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Another dramatic between these teams. Now it's time for fresh takes,
presented by Chipotle Mark ross In here, Mark, let's talk
about how the Bears were able to get this win
against the Commanders.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Showed a lot of offense there, but it was the
other side of the ball as well.
Speaker 7 (05:14):
Yeah, Mike, And this is why you hire a head
coach for the whole football team. You just don't go
with the hot coordinator, even though Ben Johnson was the
hottest coordinator for the last couple of years.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But a guy who can galvanize.
Speaker 7 (05:24):
The whole entire football team because the Bears have been
winning on defense. He's last three games with the three
plus turnovers in each of the last three games.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
Is shown by last night.
Speaker 7 (05:34):
But you know, Ben Johnson of course was hired to
get Caleb Williams right, or get Caleb Williams of Pro
Bowl level, but he's still a work in progress. Caleb Williams,
you're seeing the flashes. You're seeing better consistency. You didn't
see any turnovers last night. But he hasn't been super
dynamic just yet. But you are seeing flourishes in the offense,
particularly with that man right there, DeAndre Swift, who absolutely
(05:57):
went off last night, really won the game for the Bears.
And that's to me Ben Johnson saying, Okay, I don't
have to prove it that Caleb Williams has to be
a superstar.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Now.
Speaker 7 (06:06):
I'm going to have this team find other ways to
win and last night. It was by running the ball,
by getting the opportunistic turnovers on defense, and by and
then by Caleb Williams not turning the ball over and making.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Key plays when possible. So you know, also smart move.
Speaker 7 (06:24):
By him to hire a defensive coordinator like a Dennis
Allen who's been a head coach who's been around it,
and not someone new and saying, you know what, I
can't have guys that never worked with on the staff whatnot.
So I just love Ben Johnson's approach. And Caleb talked
about it after the game. He said, you know what's
the turner and said, he just has his fighting. He
has us fighting, not me fighting on the offense. So
I think that's going to bode well for the Bears
(06:46):
this year.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
We talked so much before this game about and Ben
Johnson said it as well. The offensive line's got to
give these running backs a chance. They were getting hit
too far at the line of scrimmage or behind the
line of scrimmage. DeAndre Swift over one hundred yards night.
So after the bye week, the Bears make the adjustments
to make that happen. That is a much different Bears
team than the last time we saw them on Monday
Night Football earlier in the season. Mark Ross with the
(07:09):
breakdown of the Bears victory.
Speaker 8 (07:11):
There.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
They're on the other side of five hundred, now three
and two and looking to make some noise in the
playoff race, as are the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Bill's Falcons first Monday night game in Atlanta in seven years,
and the home team certainly made the most. At first quarter,
tied at seven, third and goal, Michael Pennis, Drake London
a bullet, go go, gadget arm that's eight touchdown. Falcons
go up fourteen to seven. Second quarter now, Falcons still
up by seven. First and five Bjon Robinson and Gunn.
(07:40):
I appreciate the effort, but no, you're not going to
catch him. Longest run of b Shn's career, previous career
long thirty eight. That was an eighty one yarder right there.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Now.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
A late fourth quarter, Bills down twenty four to fourteen,
Josh Allen's pass tippedon intercepted by d Angelo Malone. Yes,
the Angelo Malone household name. Felcon win twenty four to fourteen.
Bills fall to four and two, entering their by Let's
bring in Brian Baldinger too. The conversation now with me
Tom Pilicero here on the Insiders. Baldy Falcons offense impressive
(08:12):
last night, especially in the first half.
Speaker 6 (08:14):
What did you see, Well, I saw an offense line
that just won the line of scrimmage throughout the day.
But you know they lead the National Football League running
about one hundred and fifty yards a game right now,
and they ran for over two hundred last night. So
you know they got the big play obviously, but you
know this play right here by Tyler Adzier, I mean
they get to the second level block both Bills linebackers
(08:34):
as he ran for a twenty one yard touchdown right
there to get the game started. And so it's a
one to two punch right now. And then you know
they protected Michael Pennix very well last night. Drake London
had a huge game, so they got real balance on offense, Tom,
and then you know when you get into what Jeff
Olbrick is doing on defense, that was the lotus scoring
total of the year for Buffalo. They held him to
(08:57):
fourteen points and so the offense did their job. They
put up twenty four points. They controlled the line of scrimmage,
but defensively it's been a long time since anybody can
say this, but the Falcons have a pass rush. They
have guys that can win, that can get to the quarterback.
They've got a defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrick that knows how
to dial up pressures. They did that a bunch last night.
They got some sacks, they got Josh Allen to throw
(09:19):
the ball away, they got off the field on third
down quite a bit. And then the secondary, whether it's
aj Terrell, Ord Alford or a Xavier watched they played
excellent in the secondary and didn't let the ball go
over their head way. Sometimes it does, you know when
you're going up against Josh Allen.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
Baldy stick around. Will talk Eagles with you momentarily here,
but first.
Speaker 4 (09:40):
This and now to discuss the touchdowns and so much more,
we have Pop Douglas here. Thank you for joining the Insiders.
You woke up in first place today. The Buffalo Bills
lost last night the Patriots coming off a three game
win streak. You're in first place. You're one of the
biggest surprises of the early part of the season. But
I wonder take us inside that building. Does it feel
(10:02):
like a surprise to you or did you see this coming.
Speaker 9 (10:05):
I've seen this coming. You know how hard we work,
and you know the work that we put in and
throughout practice. Man, I knew you know what we can do.
And man, we're blessed. We're blessed. You know, keep going
and it feels good winning, all right.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Part of it, of course, is that Drake May has
really come into his own, has exploded in these first
six games of the season, coming off a three touchdown
performance against the New Orleans Saints. You were there last
season when he came in as a rookie, so you
saw the same glimmers that we all saw the possibilities.
What have you seen though from being on the inside
(10:42):
To explain his rapid development this season, I'll.
Speaker 10 (10:47):
Say, you know, his confidence, His confidence has been growing,
and man, I'm proud of him.
Speaker 9 (10:51):
Man. He never let he never got too high when
it was up, and never too low and it was down. Man.
Speaker 10 (10:57):
I'm loving the confidence that he's giving us. Man, he's
just going out there and playing on the field. Man,
I'm loving I love his presentation.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
All Right.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
You let's talk about you. You have already caught as
many touchdown passes this season as you did last season.
This wide receiver room over the last few years has
been a little bit maligned. A lot of people saying,
you know, the Patriots don't have enough weapons. How personally
satisfying is it to you, not just how the offense
as a whole is performing, but that you have a
(11:27):
significant role in its success.
Speaker 10 (11:30):
It's a blessing, you know, Man, our room, the team,
you know the team and you know, as they say,
as skilled players.
Speaker 9 (11:38):
Man, we've been working.
Speaker 11 (11:40):
You know.
Speaker 10 (11:40):
We never let you know, you know, the outside things
you know, get to us. And it's been amazing going
in and working.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
Man.
Speaker 9 (11:47):
It started on the off season.
Speaker 10 (11:49):
You know, we got together with Drake and he got
us together to throw and just our time and man,
got our time and good and we got to.
Speaker 9 (11:56):
Know each other, you know, outside of football, and I
think that's what made us close. And we play together,
we play for each other.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
What kind of impact has Stefan Diggs had on the room?
Speaker 9 (12:05):
He had a big impact. Man, that's a vet that
we needed in our room. You know, he never let
you slack. Nothing like that. Hardworker, hard worker.
Speaker 10 (12:15):
And uh, I know y'all can see like on the
social media, but the things that y'all don't see, Man,
he's working.
Speaker 9 (12:20):
And he puts us young, us young guys that you know,
uh the word, and he shows us the way.
Speaker 10 (12:27):
And just like I said, he keeps our whole room accountable,
just like our coach Todd down and he keeps it accountable.
Speaker 9 (12:34):
And man, shout out to Steph and then you.
Speaker 10 (12:36):
Know we got you know, mac hollis in super vet
for us too, and he's been doing this thing too
as of keeping us on the on that path.
Speaker 9 (12:43):
Is keep working.
Speaker 10 (12:44):
And now their practice how they practice. He shows us
how to practice. They show us how to practice.
Speaker 9 (12:50):
And man, it's good to have those those guys in
the room.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
You obviously had the big upset victory on national television
over the Buffalo Bills, and then you want again last week,
what's been the message from Mike Rabel while you've gotten
out to this hot start about sustaining.
Speaker 9 (13:06):
It, just you know, just planning to our identity. Man,
we played to identity. I mean it's going to be good.
You know.
Speaker 10 (13:15):
I feel like we've been playing to our identity and
trust no process. I feel like that's the main thing.
Trust no process and us guys getting together, getting each
other closer and getting to know each other. I feel
like we've been doing a good job with that and man,
just taking the game game by game, day by day.
Speaker 9 (13:34):
Like I said, that starts in practice and how hard
we practice, man, and it shows me the game.
Speaker 4 (13:40):
All right. You are playing the Tennessee Titans this week,
which is obviously going to be a return to Tennessee
for Mike Vrabel. He's downplaying the importance of it, but
he's obviously had a huge impact on the Patriots already.
How important is it for you guys to get a
win in Tennessee?
Speaker 9 (13:58):
For him, it's very important, you know, especially you know
it's the next game.
Speaker 10 (14:03):
It's the next game. That's what makes it, you know,
very important, And just like any other game. I know, coach,
you want to come in here and you know, get
this win. And I feel like that's going to help
us keep going. You know that it feels good at
winning and you know, would like to say the previous
years that we had, man, it hasn't been good.
Speaker 9 (14:18):
But this is a good feeling.
Speaker 10 (14:20):
And I know our team loved this feeling and I
want us to, you know, keep going. And I'm loving
what Coach Raver's doing with this team.
Speaker 4 (14:26):
Pop Douglas, thank you, so much. Congratulations on your success
so far. Good luck the rest of the way. Thanks
for joining the insiders.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Thank you for having me time for good coverage, because
anybody Progressive insurance. Five games into the year, the Packers
have not allowed a single point in the first quarter
this season. The five game first quarter shut out streak
is the longest streak to start a season since twenty fifteen,
when the Broncos, Yes, the Super Bowl winning Broncos held
their first seven opponents off the board in the first quarter.
(14:55):
Denver finished the year. Like I said, super Bowl champs means.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
The Packers are gonna win, only have to. I watched
the rest of the season. We got the script for you,
all right. Maybe not.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
What we do have are the Week seven power rankings
by our guy Eric head Home at the NFL. The
look at the Buccaneers, Look at the Buccaneers. Todd Bulls
Buccaneers at number one. According to ed Home, you got
the Lions there. Sure we expect them to be the
Seahawks that we expect them to be that high? Do
we expect the Eagles to be as low as six?
Speaker 1 (15:23):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
I don't think a lot of people thought the Eagles
we played as poorly as they have been, which leads
to a lot of questions for the coaches and the coordinators.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Tuesdays the day for that.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
So that's when Kevin Patulo had to answer some questions
the offensive coordinator in Philly.
Speaker 11 (15:35):
I think when you when you talk about the situational
stuff and or you know, the predictability, you just got
to look at kind of where the whole context is.
And I think that's what kind of the last day
or so, you know, over the weekend things we were
able to kind of look at where we were, where
we are, where we want to go, and what we know,
you know, we need to kind of do to go forward.
And I think it was very productive. We had a
good meeting, yes, Rays and offensive unit, and so I
(15:58):
think we're in a good spot working forward.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Brian Mouldingger and Mark Ross get on in here, because
this is a very important conversation. All right, this is
like this has been driving me nuts for a while.
I cover the Eagles closely, I know the market. I
hear this all the time, whether it's Doug Peterson or
Mike grow Er, Brian Johnson or Kevin Pittulo. When the
offense isn't going well. The P word always comes out predictable.
It's too predictable. And Lee Johnson sort of had that
(16:23):
in one of his quotes the other day, which said, Okay,
everybody said, there it is.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
That's our job predictable. Let's keep talking about it's predictable.
Speaker 1 (16:31):
You know.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
It leads to a whole lot of that stuff.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
And to me because I look at this and I said, well,
I covered this team last year and I remember Saquon
Barkley taking runs all the way to the house, and
I remember asking like, oh, we're these special runs that
you like.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
No, we have no idea what's going to go to
the house. It's a simple zone run. They know we're
doing it.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
We're just blocking it and we're just getting Saquon to
the edge and the safety's not estimating properly his speed.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
He's gone.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So I'm going to throw it to u Bald because
it's sort of drive me nuts. How we can sort
of say, well, the offense is too predictable.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
It's a lot.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
And even Lane Johnson it is quote about we need
to be a little bit more variety or variable on
offense said it comes down to execution. A lot I
think there's struggles with the offensive line right now, that
there's struggles.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
On a number of front But you tell me when
you see it on the film and you break it down.
Are they too predictable?
Speaker 6 (17:23):
Well, there's two p words, Mike. There's predictable and there's production.
Last year they were production. They were productive, doing a
lot of the same things they're doing now. I mean,
they led the league in rushing by a mile. They
had the leading rusher Akue. But you know last week
against the Giants on Thursday night, now they were somewhat predictable.
I mean, this is third and ten right here, there's
a two by two set, all right. Now, take a
(17:44):
look at this, all right, because they're gonna run five
yard stops on the inside, and they're gonna run little
cuts down the field on the inside. And so you
watch this right here here they are all right. Now,
it's third and ten. They throw it underneath the gotter
right here. The Giants come and tackle to catch. That's
not very productive, But is it also predictive because this
is kind of predictable. Here's the same motion. All right,
(18:06):
it's thirty eight. Here they are two by two set,
and what are they gonna run. They're gonna run five
yard stops on the inside right here, and then they're
gonna run deep on the outside, mirrored routes, same thing
on each side. All right, pick a side, and right
here Jalen doesn't get the ball out of his hands.
He gets sacked. All right, and now here we go
another third down situation. Is it predictable? It's a two
(18:27):
by two set. We say, the exact same route combination.
The Giants sit down on it and Jalen says, all right,
I'll check it down to Saque and see what he
can do exactly what the Giants wanted. On third and four.
Right there, they get him for a tackle loss. That's
kind of predictable. Now that's just third down. There was
were a couple of third down misses last week. It's
not the whole offense, it's a little part portion of it,
(18:49):
but they weren't able to stay on the field, and
that's been a big part of the problem is they
have not been productive mark on third downs where they
can sustain offense and maybe get into some of the
variety that Mike speaks up that maybe Lane Johnson wants
to see, because they just haven't been on the field
enough and the result is a seventeen point offense. He
just last two losses.
Speaker 7 (19:07):
We'll I want to drop another p word on you.
That's near and dear to my heart, and that's personnel.
And the personnel is just not the same last year,
whether whether they're predictable or not, where they were just
mashing people on the offensive line. And the first one
out the door was Makai Beckham. Let's just go through
the starters last year who they lost in free agency.
Tyler Steen is starting, huge drop off, McKay Beckham playing
(19:29):
at a Pro Bowl level. There, then Landon Dickerson, who
had off season meniscus surgery right before the season. There
have been struggling with the ankle. Here comes Brent talk
huge drop off from there. Cam Jurgen's had back surgery
this offseason. He doesn't look the same. He's struggling. Lane
Johnson as back in next issues this year he's been
(19:49):
in and out of the game as well.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
And then you Jordan my Lot. I don't think he's
playing at the same level.
Speaker 7 (19:54):
So you've got four guys essentially one guy's going in
three compromise with injuries. That's why you're not seeing them
guys with the run game going, and then Jalen hurts
at his best, he is a quality thrower and quality playmaker,
not a quantity So when everything has to be on
him where he has to throw, that's not his game.
Even in the Super Bowl, the best game he ever played,
(20:16):
many said he was only seventeen to only twenty two
passes two hundred and twenty one yards. So that's the
formula for the Eagles is to run it and then
Jalen make those quality plays and quality throws and he
has to make those win needed. Baldy showed those sets there,
but down there on the goal line with the first
he missed Devonte Smith on the huge throw coming out
(20:36):
of the half, and then on the pick six he
missed aj Brown. Did not see Agent Brown. He was
wide open right there in the middle of field for
a touchdown. So with the combination of the offensive line,
if they'll get healthier, not needing to match guys, say
Kuan get Right, take the onus off of Jalen has
to be a quantity thrower. But Jalen also has to
play better. He has to see the reas, he has
to make the throws so that combination of all of it,
(20:59):
I think is what's lead to what you're seeing from
the Eagles offense now.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Lane Johnson, in his comments that I was talking about
the other day, did say I've got Kevin Patulo's back
until the end. They truly still believe in him and
Nick Sirianni in this coaching staff, and I know they
spent this past weekend going over things, Okay, how do
we change shoes up here and there? How do we
become more effective in certain situations. They also have a
buy coming up in a couple of weeks. They'll get
(21:23):
a chance to do that again. But I think Mark
did hit something on the head. For as much as
we're questioning the play calls or maybe calling it predictable,
there was that pass to Devonte Smith that went over
his head. There was one the week before to aj
Brown where Brown stopped this route that's one hundred and
fifty yards combined in two touchdowns that was left on
the field. You get a chance to do it, predictable,
(21:43):
whatever you want to call it. You get a chance
to make a play. These guys got to make a play.
All the great stuff. Mark appreciate it as well, you know,
what's predictable. Judy Patista is gonna be a big part
of the show.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Judy, thank you. You know what team is not having
a problem with its offense, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Look
at this touchdown to interception ratio for Baker Mayfield, twelve
to one. You get a twelve to one touchdown to
interception ratio, you add in an incredible third down scramble
(22:13):
to get the first down, you get to be the
first team in the power rankings. You know what, I
bet Baker Mayfield is going to feature prominently in the
conversation I am about to have with our Jeffrey Chidia. Jeffrey,
thank you very much. We're going to talk about your
winners and losers through week six. So let's start on
the bright side. Give me some winners.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Yeah, surprise, surprise. Baker Mayfield top of the list.
Speaker 6 (22:34):
Here.
Speaker 12 (22:34):
He's my MVP right now, Judy, And the way he's playing,
he may just run away with this thing. You're talking
about a team that's five and one despite missing its
top four receivers, it's best running back. A number of
injuries to their offensive lineman is because of this guy
right here. The way he's playing you look at the
not just the production, but just the charisma, the confidence,
the battle, the way he gets up here after this
(22:56):
play and is kind of flexxing out.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
He's given this team a whole new identity and he's
my MVP because of that.
Speaker 12 (23:01):
My second winner here is Mike Rabel, who also is
benefiting from great quarterback play and the job Gret May
has done. Mike Rapel has never had a quarterback like
this in his career, and you're seeing May blossom before
our eyes. We're talking about a team that's playing great
special teams right now. Two kit returners have been AFC
Special Team Player of the Months, and now we're talking
about ric o'dowdell in terms of what he's been doing
(23:24):
in Carolina. I got nobody thought was going to be
a great player. Chope Hubber goes down and then all
of a sudden, this guy's running for almost five hundred
scrimmageyards in the last two games. He's taken advantage of
the opportunity and make good on it.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
All right, And if we have winners, there have to
be losers. Who are the losers?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
Well, we'll start with John Harball. That look on his
space right there, You've seeing way too much of that.
Speaker 12 (23:43):
A lot of what happened is happening in Baltimore for
John Harball these days one in five start, and I
don't know if it gets better. You look at the
way they were playing defense beforehand, for all his injuries started.
You look at the things that have been happening to
this team as far as Lamar Jackson being hurt. I
know he's coming back with his hamstering injury, but you
look at the AFC. Now, New England's a player, Jacksonville
is a player, Indianapolis is a player. These teams were
(24:05):
not talked about as being postseason contenders, and that's going
to affect this team's ability to get in the postseason.
And then finally, you do you know this guy in
New York all too well, Justin Fields is going through
it right now with the New York Jets. He's my
last loser here and we talk about the week he
had forty five passing yards, nine sacks. The same thing
we saw before in Chicago and Pittsburgh are dooming him again,
(24:28):
holding the ball too long, not processing fast enough. He's
already facing questions about being benched. I know Aaron Glyn
has his back right now. But with this team not
having won a game just yet, I just don't know
how Justin Fields keeps this job all season long.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
It is certainly a tough week for the Jets, all
of them right now in New York. Jeffrey, thank you
and everybody. Check out the rest of Jeffries column NFL
dot Com slash first read.
Speaker 6 (24:52):
Done.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Now for the Wolf of Ball Street, our Cameron Wolf
here to tell you what he's hearing around the end,
which on today, like this, Cam, I have to imagine
mine include a little something about what's going on down
there in South Florida.
Speaker 6 (25:06):
Tom.
Speaker 13 (25:06):
Yes, let's start the Wolf of Ball Street in Miami,
where it's been a disaster season and a headache made
worse by their starting quarterback two with ungle by Looa
with a little bit of a misstep in his comments
this week calling out players being late to a player
only meeting. And this has certainly been a conversation throughout
the Dolphins locker room. I talked to one player in
the last twenty four hours who said he didn't like
(25:28):
what Tua said. He said it's added an unnecessary distraction.
He said he's had people in his circle reach out
asking who the late player was. Stuff he just doesn't
want to deal with. We heard center Aaron Brewer say
that stuff that happens and how should stay in house
and look to His intentions were good here. Accountability has
been a big part of the Dolphins philosophy. Mike McDaniel
(25:50):
just made a great point. It was the wrong form
for it to happen. From what I understand, too, is
going to have a press conference tomorrow. He's going to
try to clean a lot of this stuff up. He's
been walked talking the teammates, apologizing about how he's handled it.
But leadership has been a big question mark, and it
starts with your quarterback. A good way to get back
on people's side, have a great game against the Browns
and play well going forward and maybe help this Dolphice
(26:12):
team try to turn around a one.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
In five start.
Speaker 13 (26:15):
Meanwhile, a team that doesn't need to turn around anything,
the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'll be there Thursday in Cincinnati, where
it's going to be what Cam Hayward yelled out to
reporters as the icy Hot Bowl, Forty one year old
Aaron Rodgers, forty year old Joe Flacco, and Aaron Rodgers
is playing the best ball of him since twenty twenty
one when he won MVP in Green Bay. And a
(26:35):
big reason why is this relationship with offense. According to
Arthur Smith, they've been able to gel, They've been able
to adjust to each other's skill set.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
And I'm told one thing they also gel on.
Speaker 13 (26:44):
They heard some commentary in the summer that they would
be fighting arguing by October. Well it's October and they're
not fighting and arguing. They're getting along better than ever.
The office is gelling Aaron Rodgers second fastest time to
throw in the NFL, getting the ball out his hand,
and Arthur Smith is running a lot of six offensive
lineman sets, using big Darnell Washington in the past game
(27:06):
and in the run game. And the Steelers are running
away from the AFC North, And so those old guys
are have something to say, and the Steelers are.
Speaker 3 (27:13):
Happy with their choice of getting Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Nothing like being two forty something year old players on
a short week now going up against each other in
a huge game on Thursday night. Cam great stuff. As always,
We will talk to you again soon, listen. I feel
like the fantasy football guys have been on my side
for quite some time. We made the playoffs in dramatic
fashion last year, and now we won a game last
(27:36):
night in dramatic fashion, ninety one to ninety I was
trailing ninety two to ninety one.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Guess what happened? Jayden Daniels right there, guy, are for
my opponent? Iron Jaden fumbled. I won on that fumble,
and I knew I won because Michael left Floria was
ahead of me, and he sent me the eyeball emojis.
Speaker 4 (27:54):
I'm like, what does he talk?
Speaker 9 (27:55):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (27:56):
Oh, we just won, dude, we did.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
An assistant general manager the outside of Michael left Florio
now joining us to tuck waiver wire targets. We're hanging
in there. We're gonna need some help, though, to get
into the postseason. So let's start with quarterbacks. Sam Donald
potentially out there on some waiver wires.
Speaker 14 (28:13):
Yeah, and Jade and Daniel still wants to be a
part of the Outsiders. I think I know he took
you to the championship last season, But Sam Donald, if
he is out there, I would be adding him right now.
In the last two weeks, only Dak has more passing touchdowns,
and only Dak and Mahomes have scored more Fantasy points
at quarterback Seattle. They have done a much better job
(28:33):
of recently of protecting Sam Donald pressure, allowing it out
a league below average rate and then just one sack
in the last two weeks.
Speaker 6 (28:42):
And Donald we know he could thrive from a clean pocket.
Speaker 14 (28:46):
Jayson is seemingly open on every single play, so that
really helped Sam Donald as well. If Jackson Dart is
out there, he is the only QB I would add
over Big Sammy d this week. But I come on
the show two weeks in a row and talk to
Jackson Dart, so we should not be on your waivers.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
It's a ghost town out there for running backs this
time of year. On the waiver wire. Who might be available,
Florio I should pick up well. If Kamani Vedella is available.
Speaker 14 (29:10):
You didn't listen last week because I came on this
show it told you to add Kamani. But if he
is still out there, he is the number one ad
this week, sixty nine percent of snaps, eighteen carries and
four targets. Last week he turned that into nearly one
hundred and forty yards a touchdown, twenty three fantasy points
and was a top ten running back in fantasy, and
(29:30):
I'm getting comments on Twitter like it came against the Dolphins,
but yeah, that's what you're supposed to do when you
have a great matchup, and this week he gets another one.
The Colts on paper don't look like the best matchup,
but I think that's more gamescript.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
They've been leading in a lot of games.
Speaker 14 (29:44):
Metrically, they have struggled against the runs, so I think
Vidal remains in play.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
And then I like Tajy Spears and I think.
Speaker 14 (29:52):
He's a little bit under the radar right now, but
he was on the heavy side of a sixty to
forty snap split last week with Tony Pollard. While Pollard
is still getting more carries, Spears did have five himself,
but the passing work is going his way, nearly double
the amount of routes and targets as Tony Pollard. And
I know you might be like, oh, well that was
(30:13):
gamescript because the Titans were losing. It's the Titans. They're
going to be trailing often and Spears is an explosive runner,
so if he plays well with the opportunities that he
is getting that he could steal more and more work away.
So Kase Spears Kamani Bedell. They are two wide receivers
that I have searched my waivers for when.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
I was putting them in earlier today, All right, wide receivers.
Sterling Shepherd is an interesting one. He had some big
plays the other day for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They're
extremely banged up at wide receiver now, Mecca Buca injured.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
What do we do?
Speaker 3 (30:44):
It's Sterling Shepherd here.
Speaker 14 (30:46):
Yeah, I think you should be looking to pick him up.
If the Bucks lose another wide receiver, they might need
one of the three of us to suit up this week.
Because Chris Godwin has already ruled out a Mecca Buca
seems unlikely to play. Mike Evans is still up in
the air, and I know the Johnson right now, Cam
and them are going to get a lot of the
attention as the big play.
Speaker 3 (31:04):
Option, but they're more boom or bust.
Speaker 6 (31:06):
I think the.
Speaker 14 (31:07):
Buckstow and Mvy Baker is going to rely on the
veteran there in Sterling Shepard. And what I really like
too is he bounces between the slot and out wide,
so he could win in a number of different ways.
But I just think he's in a great offense, tied
to the MVP leader right now, and they're going up
against a Lions team that could score a lot of
(31:28):
points but is really banged up in the secondary.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Real life issue here, My tight ends are both on
by this week. Michael, Yes, I should have figured that
out before the draft. That's a side story. We don't
need to address it. Top option is Dallas Goddard, Harold
fannin junior. Which way would you go of those options?
Speaker 14 (31:44):
I would go Dallas Goddard, but he's not available in
as many leagues. So I really do like Harold Fan
and Junior as well, because last week eighty one percent
of the snaps. And what I like is he's playing
all over the field. He's getting snaps as a running back,
out in the slot at wah as a tight end,
and last week he saw ten targets, the second most
on the Browns. I think there is just some chemistry
(32:06):
between him and fellow rookie Dylan Gabriel. He led the
team in catches and receiving yards last week. Plus he
not only has he outscored David and Joku in four
six weeks, but David and Joku is dealing with the
knee injury. He's up in the air right now, and
that couldn't mean better things for hell Fan and Junior,
who has a great matchup against the Dolphins.
Speaker 3 (32:26):
But if you miss out on those names, there are a.
Speaker 14 (32:28):
Whole bunch of others that you could check your waiver
wire for, including a couple of Bucks receivers and Tom
some other tight ends.
Speaker 3 (32:35):
Just in case he missed out on those two.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Noronde Ganson, Yes there's another one. He might be available
in my league as well. Michael Lef, Thank you very much.
We will talk to you again next Tuesdays. I love
a good whiteout game, particularly when it is paired with
those white Bengal uniforms at Cincinnati will be wearing on
Thursday night against the Steelers. Here's an idea, though, if
(32:57):
you're gonna have the field match, paint the whole field light.
Then just fill in the lines with a darker color.
Then it'll look like, you know, a Madden video game
and you turn on snow mode in the nineteen nineties,
which everybody did as far as I am aware. Welcome
back to the Insiders, presented by Progressive Insurance. Tom Pilisero
join now by Sam Schwartstein, Prime Video and Thursday Night
(33:18):
Football's analytics expert to use next gen stats to help
break down this matchup. Sam, let's start out with the Steelers,
who have the most expensive defense in the entire NFL.
What if anything makes you believe that the Roonies are
getting the most bang for their buck.
Speaker 8 (33:35):
Yeah, they spend twenty five million dollars more than the
next high like most expensive defense, and they get their
money's worth because of how they're trying to attack the quarterback.
Very old school style mentality. That's the standard is the standard,
as Mike tom would say, that's to get out of
the quarterback. They have a forty percent pressure rate that's
fits in the NFL. But the key is they turn
those pressures into sacks twenty three percent of the time.
(33:57):
That's the second most the NFL. It's nice to get
to the quarterback. It's better to sack him. One of
the key ways they do it is they bring six
or more rushers twenty one percent of the time. That's
almost three times more than the league average. You're gonna
get man coverage. Quarterbacks is gonna beat it. Joe Flack
was gonna try and beat man coverage. But you're gonna
have to get to the quarter beat them before they
(34:17):
get to the quarterback.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Of course, the offense doing their part two for the
Steelers right now. Sam. Every time we talk about the
Pittsburgh offense, you talk about Aaron Rodgers, we talk about
DK Metcalf, and that's truly it. Other than that's a
bunch of guys that I don't think most people have
heard of. Who's a name that you need to introduce
America to this week?
Speaker 8 (34:36):
You know, with all that money on defense, they spending
about thirty percent of their salary cap on just those
two players, DK and Aaron Rodgers. But the guy I
got my eye on, Darnel Washington. He's about six seven,
listened to sixty five. He don't look like it. He
is a beast at tight end. And you can see EPA,
which is a contextualized metric of yards based on situational football.
(34:57):
There he's the best player DELTA when he he's on
the field versus off the field. There point two EPA
per play better when he's on the field. And it's
not just in the pass game. The wrong game here
he's taking out two guys on that run and then
running back is able to find that hole and then
he had a pass to start the game. First play
of the game last week, he runs through the gap,
the same B gap insert right you've seen here, That's
(35:19):
what Pook Nakula runs. And he reached nineteen over nineteen
miles per hour on this play. That's the fastest runny
player over two hundred and sixty pounds. So he is
a matchup of nightmare. They want to be able to
utilize him. They're going to have him on the field
as well as Spencer Anderson, extra old lineman. So much
beef for this Pittsburghs doers offense.
Speaker 1 (35:37):
Smart move right there, if you see the back of
Darnell Washington's jersey, just try to knock the ball out.
That's probably a better shot than actually bringing that guy
down from behind. The other side of this matchup, the
Bengals at two and four, four game losing streak. If
they're going to get back into this thing, it's got
to start on Thursday night, and with Joe Flacco leading
the charge, What in your mind can Flacco do to
(35:58):
get the Bengals snap this losing streak and get back
into things.
Speaker 8 (36:02):
Yeah, you know, they get a quarterback in go from
Jake Brown and Joe Flakel and a lot of people
our team were asking why did they do that? Well,
they just need somebody to throw to Jamar Chase and
that's what they are able to figure out.
Speaker 3 (36:13):
And Jamar Chase, he gets the ball much more.
Speaker 8 (36:15):
Hever zone than man. He is a twenty nine point
four percent target rate versus zone and he gets up
to nine point five yards per target that drops substantially
during main coverage. In large Part two, they're going to
target t Higgins on those go balls. But what's important
is you can see Joe Flacco figure out this offense
from the first half to second half. He had only
three targets to Jamar Chase in the first half and
(36:36):
then nine targets in the second half. All you need
to do really is go to the number one fantasy
player from last year as much as you can in
Jamar Chase, and that's what Flaka was going to try
and do on Thursday.
Speaker 1 (36:46):
Here's a next gen stat before we let you go.
The next gen of Schwartsteins also has arrived. You take
a well earned week off from this show. Sam, Congratulations
to you and the family.
Speaker 3 (36:58):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Roughly larger. Is smaller than a football right now than
the duke.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
Yeah, much smaller than the duke.
Speaker 1 (37:07):
Gotulations. You can see Sam and maybe Shay Shortsting on
Prime Video Thursday Night, Yeah, exactly, with a lot of
other rookies. Thursday Guy covered Steelers Bengals, Prime Video and
NFL Plus beginning at seven pm Eastern on TNF. Speaking
of rookies, kind of vote for the Pepsi zero Sugar
Rookie of the Week. I feel like this is essentially
(37:27):
the rundown of the names that we talked about the
most all the way leading up to the drafts. Shdeur
Sanders not pictured. He'll probably be there sometime later in
the season. You can go and vote now nfl dot
com slash Orkies. Some sobery news today regarding a Jets legend,
Nick Mangold, announcing via the team that he is in
(37:49):
search of a kidney donor with type O blood. You
can go to Columbiasurgery dot org to find out more
and potentially submit to try to help out a guy
who was certainly one of the good guys during his
playing days. All of us here at the Insiders certainly
wish Nick mangled the very best, we are one third
(38:09):
of the way through the twenty twenty five NFL seas,
which means, hey, let's look at what it would be
like if the playoffs began right now. Spoiler alert, they don't.
The Colts would be the number one seed, though the
only five and one team in the AFC. There's some
notable teams missing from that playoff picture, including the Chiefs
(38:30):
and the Ravens. Who if we fast forward to what
the draft order would look like again not final, we
got a ways to go. Jets would only number one pick,
the Ravens would be drafting number two. Judy, as you
look at the top ten right there, who do you
think is the least likely to be draft in top
ten come April?
Speaker 4 (38:49):
I mean, I gotta say, I don't think the Ravens
are going to be picking two overall. By the time
all is said and done, I can say as a
New Yorker that the conversation has totally turned all ready
to the Jets picking number one. Like Jets fans are
fully onto what quarterback are they going to take with
the first overall pick?
Speaker 3 (39:09):
You'll see a lot of movement.
Speaker 2 (39:11):
As far as movement within the top ten, I would
not be surprised if seven to eight of these teams
are still in the top ten by the time it
comes the draft time. So the Cleveland Browns have two
first round picks that'll be picking that high would be
a good starting point for them.
Speaker 1 (39:29):
I'm not done.
Speaker 3 (39:30):
I'm not giving up on the Ravens. Like They're gonna
get healthy and the.
Speaker 2 (39:32):
Schedule after the bye, they can go from second overall
pick to making the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
I truly believe it.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
There's not a clear cut number one overall pick, much
less a quarterback at this very early stage in the schedule.
But I can already envision the minds of Jets fans
when the Browns end up with the number three pick,
the Jets are at one, and then the Browns offer
both their first round picks to go up and replace
the Jets atop the draft order. You just can read
the back page headlines right now. Well, as we move forward,
(40:01):
not a big prediction show here the insiders. I would
say if the Ravens are on that second chart of
the top ten draft order instead of the first chart
in the playoff picture, that would be one of the
most shocking developments I can remember. Within a single NFL season. Hey,
we're back tomorrow. Thanks for watching. Everybody see it
Hosts And Creators
Judy Battista
Tom Pelissero
Ian Rapaport
Mike Garafolo
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