September 7, 2023 • 34 mins
Peter breaks down his full 2023 season predictions with Aaron for playoff teams, Super Bowl matchup, and all the major awards. Peter has a deep sleeper for MVP, a team he's NEVER picked to miss the playoffs, and a last second moment to reconsider his Super Bowl teams, while Aaron looks back at a recent award winner to make his case for the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Scheger is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome everybody to the Season
with Peter Schreger. We are here. The NFL season has begun.
(00:31):
Kickoff is obviously Thursday night. If you're listening to this
on Friday or Saturday or Sunday, you already know the
outcome to Thursday night's game. We are recording this podcast
on Thursday morning, and I'm talking with grave tones in
a very serious way, because well, if you listen to
the Season with Peter Schreger, it's not just twenty two weeks,
it's fifty two weeks. We do this thing every single
(00:52):
week because the season is all year. There is no
off season in the NFL. Every time a player coughs
or hiccups, we talk about it. Anytime we are in
the off season. It's the best time for us to
get coaches and gms to speak unfiltered with that becomes
an all encompassing three sixty view of the NFL. You
are owed, and you have earned a chance to listen
(01:16):
to Aaron and I give our predictions for the twenty
twenty three season. Aaron wan Coffin has joined me, Aaron,
my great producer. How you feeling right now?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Oh, I'm I'm ready.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I'm you know, I've calmed myself down a little to
give maybe some hot takes, I don't know. I want
to see how you're looking at the future and what
I see differently.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Let me talk some shit right now? Can I talk
some shit?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Go off?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Okay? They talk that talk. There are a million pregame
shows out there. I'm on two of them, and these
guys give their Super Bowl picks and it's like Eagles
play the Bells BAH, or Chiefs play the forty nine
Ers BAH, and like, I need depth. I need to
know what your playoff teams are. I need to know
(01:59):
who your offensive Rookie of the years are. I need
to know who your MVP is. I need to know
which team makes the playoff that didn't make the playoffs
last year, which team doesn't make the playoffs that did
make the playoffs last year. I want to know your
coach of the year. That's the stuff I'm here for.
I want to go deep. Super Bowl picks. Everyone had
a Super Bowl pick. My son made a Super Bowl pick.
You know, my son, Mel said to me. I said,
(02:20):
mal I gotta pick a Super Bowl pick. What's you
suer pick? He said, Daddy, I think the Giants are
going to play the Lions. I said, well, that's impossible.
But you know what, you know what, Son, you might
be right. When you compare yourself to all the other
pundits out there who just throw two teams at a wall,
they might realign the conferences for you. Baby, I'm not
going to stop you. This is your world, this is
(02:41):
the Prediction episode. You can turn it off if you
don't care, or you can listen and you can play along,
and you can tweet us. I'm at p shrigs pschrgs.
But everyone in the world makes a Super Bowl pick
and then they kind of vanish into the shadows and
everyone worries about it. I make my Super Bowl pick.
I pin it to the top of my profile, and
(03:02):
with great humility, I tell you I have been right
the last several years. I had the Chiefs last year,
I had the Rans. Before that, I had the Buccaneers
before that, I had the Chiefs when they beat the
forty nine ers. I take a lot of pride in this.
I live and I breathe it. But it's not just
gonna be Super Bowl picks. Aaron, are you ready to
make some picks with me?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I am all set. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, I've thrown off the what they call these the cans.
I've thrown off. Cans are off, gloves are off. Let's
start with some insignificant awards. These are just to get
our feet wet. All right, all right, NFL Offensive Rookie
(03:40):
of the Year. I'm going with Jamiir Gibbs of the
Detroit Lions. If you're watching this on Friday morning, Gibbs
probably already put up one hundred yards. And on Thursday night,
if you're watching this on Thursday going into the game,
pick them up in all your fantasy leagues. I am
doing this on the strength of speaking with the GM
on this very show earlier this summer, when he described
Jamiir Gibbs as an elite positionless weapon. When I made
(04:02):
the pick of Jamiir Gibbs to start Good Morning Football
on twenty fourth as like my breakout player of the
of the next few weeks. People are like really a
running back, and now it's almost like commonplace. Everyone's in
on Gibbs, So no way he can let up to
the hype, right I think he can. I think that
Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, is gonna use him in
a way that we don't see a lot of running
backs in their first year US. I think he's gonna
(04:22):
play runningack. I think he's a play wide receiver. I
think he's gonna be used in all sorts of different packages.
And I think he puts up the stats. Yes, but
he also helps make this Lions offense one of the
best in the league. I wouldn't be shocked if Detroit
finishes the year with the number one ranked offense and
Jamier Gibbs is their jack of all trades, their Swiss
Army Knife, their Deebo Samuel, their Jaysom Hill, whatever you
(04:43):
want to say. I think the Lions are winning the
NFC North, and I think Jamiir Gibbs is a breakout star.
Jamiir Gibbs is my Offensive Rookie of the Year, Aaron
Wan Kaufman, your selection for Offensive Rookie the Year is the.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Drummell Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I know I'm not big boy. I no, I love
it go.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I know you don't want to pick a rookie who's
on a bad team. I know that Gibbs is gonna
have so many more wins. And Zay Jones another popular pick.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I know you say.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Flowers, say Flowers, I'm gonna pick you up.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yes, say Flowers.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Not a rookie, go on.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Zay Flowers has a ton of buzz as well, and
he could be a good proxy for the Ravens offense
doing well. I'm going with Richardson because when Kyler won
Offensive Rookie of the Year, he had thirty seven hundred
passing yards, twenty passing touchdowns, twelve interceptions, five hundred rushing yards.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Last season, the Colts quarterbacks, the collection of Matt Ryan,
sam Ellinger Nick Foles threw for thirty eight hundred yards,
seventeen touchdowns, and twenty interceptions.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Okay, I think the wide receiver group could allow that.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Another thing with Kyler when he won in nineteen, second
place was Josh Jacobs, who had eleven hundred yards, seven
touchdowns and one hundred and sixty six receiving yards. Aj
Brown was third in voting with fifty receptors, fifty two
receptions over a thousand yards and eight touchdowns, and Miles
Sanders had eight hundred rushing yards and five hundred receiving yards.
(06:15):
I feel like Bijon and Gibbs will cannibalize each other.
I think that Zay and Addison and JSN they might can't.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Think Richardson is gonna stand like, gonna have a nice
second half of the season, and I think he is
going to maybe not get thirty five hundred passing yards,
but he could get i don't know, six seven hundred
rushing yards, like they could really push it. And I
think Gibbs that whole offense is already good. We know that,
and if the Colts do well, it's because of Richardson.
(06:50):
So I'm gonna go out on a limb, which feels
weird to say with a quarterback being the offensive Rookie
of the Year, but I'm gonna go out on a
limb and say Richardson wins Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Broke, I tell you something, Yeah, that might have been
your best three minutes ever on the podcast.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I'm gonna tell you something that's that's my most reach
for the whole day.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Delivered Like I thought you were gonna come in and
be like, nah, you know, maybe Bryce, young dude, that
was great. No, I'm really impressed. Right now we are
in regular season mode. Dude, Okay, great defensive rookie of
the year. Jalen Carter is the overall favorite everywhere. I
think he's probably gonna win Rookie of the Year. But
that's not fun. So I'm gonna give you another defensive player.
(07:29):
And I'm already changing my pick from Good Morning Football,
where I picked Brian Berzi earlier this week. I'm gonna
give you another Detroit Lion, and it's not their first
round pick, Jack Campbell. I think Brian Branch, the heat
seeking missile safety for the Detroit Lions, is going to
garner aate a lot of attention and might very well
be our defensive rookie of the Year again, Lions. I'm
all in on the Lions this year. I think they're
(07:50):
gonna go big and be on national TV. And I
think all these guys are gonna be household names, whether
it be Adrian Hutchinson, whether it be i'm Mon Ross
nine Brown. But the two rookies, Gibbs and Branch, both
of them out of Alabama, I think are gonna be outstanding.
I'm going Brian Branch as my late audible from Brian
and Jalen Carter. I am now going with my third
pick as my first pick on the podcast. Brian Branch
(08:12):
is my defensive Rookie of the Year. Aaron, I don't
know how passionate you are on Defensive Rookie of the Year,
but let's see if you can follow up that offensive
Rookie of the Year spiel.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
All right, So, I think with defensive Rookie of the Year,
you need splashy plays. You need big moments that people
are gonna see. It doesn't necessarily have to be like
nationally televised games, but you need big moments. And I
think Emmanuel Forbes for Washington, the cornerback is gonna have
some big, big plays because he's gonna play against good receivers,
(08:43):
so he's gonna be guarding talented players. And I think
he has enough, like ball howking ability to come out
and like do some flashy things. So I think Forbes
is like kind of a little dark horse. Again, Will Anderson,
Jalen Carter, they're probably the top of most people's list.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I'd like to see Forbes want it.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, all right, let's go onto the next award NFL
Coach of the Year why don't you start us off
your NFL Coach of the Year. Now, remember to give
you some backstory. Most years, if you're listening, you know this.
It's not the team with the most wins, it's not
the established name. It's the team that makes the biggest leap,
and it's usually a younger first year guy. Belichick's only
(09:25):
won Coach of the Year three times. I believe Brian
Dable won it last year, and in recent years, Kevin
Stefanski has won. Matt Naggi has won this award. Sean
mcvayh has won this award. Aaron, who do you got?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I Am going to complete opposite direction from you, and
I'm going with Mike Tomlin. I think that the Steelers
have looked really good in preseason. I think the offense
and defense are both going to be better than they
were last year. And I don't think it's going to
be necessarily any one player, unless maybe you think, like
what could do defensive player of the year, And I
think Tomlin will sort of be the proxy for the
(09:57):
whole team doing well, and I think he takes home
coach of the Year.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay, Mike Tomlin. They were an eight win team last year.
But I don't know if Mike Tomlin has won NFL
Coach of the Year. While I'm talking, google that for me.
I think that'd be amazing that after all these years
of never being under five hundred, Mike Tomlin has never
won a Coach of the Year award. If he did,
it was his first season. Has he ever won it?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Two thousand and eight?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, so the year they went Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin
did win Coach of the Year, but that has been
fifteen years already. Yeah, if my math is correct, I
think it is my coach of the year. Is that
old dog, that renegade, rebel, that maverick, that gun slinger,
the guy who does not necessarily love the NFL league offices,
(10:39):
does not care about your coaching code, does not care
about who coached before him, and yet has his players believing.
This could be a massive whiff. But I'm going to
bank on him, just knowing just how committed he is
to this thing. I'm gonna go Sean Payton as my
coach of the Year. I think the Broncos have a
massive increase in wins that he gets. Russell Wilson, right,
I think these players are all on the same page.
(11:01):
I don't think you need six time management coaches to
help him. I think he's gonna win in late game situations.
To go for an on fourth down, it's necessary, and
I think the Broncos have a massive leap and wins.
Let's go Broncos. Let's ride all that. Sean Payton is
your NFL Coach of the Year.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Whether or not the writers actually vote for him is
another thing. I don't think he's a fan. He's got
all those fans. As far as let's pick him as
some like wonderful story. He's kind of the renegade where's
the black hat? And I kind of like that. I'm
gonna go Sean Payton, all right, next award? All right,
so the NFL has Comeback Player of the Year, and
(11:39):
I'm gonna say, if Damar Hamlin plays eighteen weeks, Damar
Hamlin's gonna be your coach, your comeback player of the year.
And I think if DeMar Hamlin even plays week one,
so we're not gonna even discuss comeback Player of the Year.
I think that's already a Damar Hamlin award to lose,
which is such a weird thing to say, Like the
only reason he won't win is if he gets cut
or if he doesn't play because of an injury, comes
moving and God forbid that he's got to go through that.
(12:02):
Our next award is Defensive Player of the Year. Nick
Bosa won this last year. As of right now, Nick Bosa,
Chris Jones, and Brian Burns are not with their current team,
so that complicates this thing a little bit. Looking at
some of the odds and the leaders on this thing,
there are some bigger names, but I'm gonna go with
a guy who's a little bit down the list who
I heard is absolutely dominated and blew up practices when
(12:23):
they did joint practice with the Rams to the point
where many people were like, this guy's an absolute beast.
He might have a huge breakout year as far as
being one of those household names. My Defensive Player of
the Year for twenty twenty three is Max Crosby of
the Las Vegas Raiders. Going in that tradition of Howie
Long and Matt Millen and Charles Woodson and great defenders
(12:44):
of Raiders lore. I'm saying Crosby, who's got so many
tattoos of crazy things on his body that I think
there could be a documentary on it. He is a
student of the game. He's also an absolute madman, and
he's got those two x's on his name. I'm going
Max Crosby a little outside the box as my defensive
player of the Year. Aaron, who do you got?
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, again, I'm gonna be a little bit from you.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
I'm gonna go completely inside the box and I'm going
with Michael Parsons. I think he was second last year.
The Cowboys defense is incredible and we have high hopes
for the Cowboys as a team as a whole. And
if you're thinking that the defensive player has to be
someone who's on a really competitive team, I think the
(13:26):
Cowboys are definitely up there. And Parsons just changes the
way offenses have to deal with him every single down.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And I'm going with him. Okay, taking the crown this year?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Micah and Crosby. Okay, did you do playoff picks?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Aaron did?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah. Okay, let's go division by division. I'll name my
division winner, you name your division winner. Here we go
with no further ado. Peter Schragers. AFC East champion is
the New York Jets. The Bills are loaded, but I've
got the Jets beating out the Dolphins, the Bills, and
the Patriots. Aaron, who do you have as your AFC
East champion?
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I tried to be as unbiased as possible, and I'm
going with the Bills.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Flow Bills, Okay, the Bills. AFC North, I'm going Bengals.
Who do you got in the FC? Going with the Bengals, Okay,
AFC South, I've got Jaguars.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I'm going the Titans.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yeah, talk about you know we do. No one picked
him on Good Morning Football. We're hearing about it. Vrabel's
a really good coach. What's the reason Titans over Jacks?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Rabel?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Rabel and Rabel and they got Hopkins and Henry is
still amazing. Like I remember, one of the first things
you and I talked about on the show last season
was how scared I was anytime I was watching Henry
play against the Bills. He's he is incredible. And I
think that Rabel just pulls the guts out of that
(14:43):
team no matter what. And I think by signing Hopkins,
they showed you that they're still in this to win
and they are going to compete. And you know, the
Jags are great and their defense is a little suspect,
and I think the Titans are going to beat them out.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay. AFC West, I've got the Chiefs who got Kansas City. Okay.
Now this is hard because we've said this, only seven
teams can make the playoffs, and you can only get
three wildcard teams. I'm sure I caught a lot of slack.
Here are my three wild card teams. I revealed these
on Good Morning Football earlier in the week and have
been hearing from it from a lot of fans. The
first AFC wildcard team, I have Buffalo. The second AFC
(15:20):
wild card team, I have the Steelers. Like you, I
think Mike Tomlin is an excellent coach, and I think
Kenny Pickett makes a leap. My third AFC wildcard team,
I'm going to go all in on Sempaygeon. They got
to make the playoffs. I'm taking the Denver Broncos, which
means no Chargers, and we loved Kellen Moore on the podcast.
He was awesome. No Chargers, no Dolphins, who added a
ton and have two of the fastest wide receivers in
(15:42):
the sport, And of course no Ravens, which I'm let
me give you an aside here My wife is from Baltimore, Maryland.
My in laws go to every single game as season
ticket holder since they came back as an NFL franchise
in nineteen ninety six. And my father in law went
to every Baltimore Colts home game from nineteen sixty seven
(16:02):
to nineteen eighty three and went to every Baltimore Colts
or Baltimore raven Super Bowl. My mother in law, she
goes to every game, sitting in the cold weather out
there in Baltimore in December to watch Browns Ravens. She
is there. I have never not picked the Ravens to
make the playoffs, through fear of what that might mean
in the family, but also because of what they've built.
(16:22):
And yet I don't know about their defense. I just
don't know about their defense. The AFC North is loaded,
and as much as I love Todd Monkin and that
new offense and I think they could get better, I
didn't put the Ravens in the playoffs. I have the
Broncos instead. Aaron your three AFC wildcard teams.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
So.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I had Titans as the AFC South and I'm gonna
have the Jags as my first wild card. Like you again,
I shouted out Tomlin earlier. I've got the Steelers and
form my third. I'm not going with the Jets. I
am going with the Ravens because I think that Lamar
seems reinvigorated hopefully, and I think that offense could be really,
(17:06):
really excited. I mean, the Ravens got there last year
with an offense we were all tired of and without Lamar,
and I think this year they can do well. I
know that this is a lot to have Bengals, Ravens,
Steelers all in there. It happens last year we had
three MS, and I think maybe this is like again
a little too much personal bias.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I think there's so much hype on the Jets.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And their first six weeks are really.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Hard, and I think, you know what, the Monday Night game,
the Bills may not be able to pressure that offensive
line enough. But give them a couple of weeks and
let's see what that line looks like when they're playing
the Cowboys. Like I I think that things could go
wrong for the Jets.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I so I'm gonna leave them off.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're a hater, yeah A yeah, no Dolphins, no Chargers from.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
US huh no? Yeah. I love the Dolphins. You know,
I think it'd be fun to see so many.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Rooms in the end, you know what I mean. Next up,
let's go with NFC playoff teams. I'll go first in
the East, I have the Eagles. In the North, I
went with the Lions. And I know that might not
(18:23):
sound shocking now after two months, but if you think
about it, I'm actually picking the Lions to win the
NFC North. If someone actually put their name on it
and say it's actually gonna happen, I'm doing it. If
you haven't noticed on this podcast, I'm really all in
on the Lions. NFC South by default, the Saints. I
don't love Carolina's depth. I have to see what Desmond
Ritter can do in a big game before, not in
(18:44):
college obviously who's great, but in the pros before I'd say, yes,
they're division champions and Tampa big, big unknowns all over
that roster, especially in the offensive line. So by the
Saints by default. I don't love the Saints, but I
think Saints win the division and they're one of those
like nine to eight teams that do it. And then
the West, I went the Niners. Bosa will figure itself
out and if it doesn't. I think they're still good
enough wild card teams. Where it gets tricky, I'm going
(19:06):
on a limb here. I have one team in the
NFC East as a wild card team, and it's not
the Cowboys. I have the Giants over the Cowboys this year.
The Cowboys have absolutely owned the Giants the last several seasons.
I think the Giants get over the hump this year.
I feel like times are changing. And it's not against
dan Quinn's defense. But you just waxed poetic on. I
(19:27):
don't know about the offense. I know Tony Pollard was great,
and I know Dak has had big moments and Ceedee
Lamb and Brandon Cook. Kellen Moore was really good. Kellen
Moore was really good. And you are saying we're putting
all our eggs in the Mike McCarthy basket. Let's see.
That's all I'll say. Let's see. I have the Cowboys
missing the playoffs. I have the Giants making it. I
(19:49):
also have the Vikings making it. And as my final
wildcard team, I have the Seahawks making it. So those
are my three teams. No Cowboys will cause quite a
reaction in Dallas, but I think the Cowboys missed the
playoffs this year. My apologies to all the major networks.
I know they make a lot of money when the
Cowboys are good.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
All right.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
So, NFC East, I've got the Eagles. I think that
we can't count them out. NFC North, I've got the Lions.
I think maybe I've been around you too much and
I have just inhaled too much of your Lions love,
and I am all in on them. NFC South, I
have the Falcons. I think for that division, the Saints,
(20:29):
like we love a lave. We think Derek Carr will
be good and the Saints defense is what we're really
excited about. But I think that Falcons offense is going
to be really exciting. They've spent but the past three years,
they've gotten an offensive, like really good offensive weapon every
single year in the first and I along with my
Rookie of the Year pick, I think Beijon is gonna
(20:50):
be great. I think he's gonna cannibalize the votes away
from Gibbs. So I think the Falcons will be the
division winners there, Okay. NFC West, I've got the forty
nine ers and then my wild cards Seahawks. I think
they will be even better than they were last year.
I have the Cowboys because I think what offense, yeah,
step back there is.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
I still think they'll make it.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
And I'm gonna go with the Vikings because I think
that I like Kirk Cousins a lot more now after
watching than Netflix show.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
No Giants, No Giants.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So I have no New York teams except the Bills,
who are really the only true team that plays in
New York.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Beautiful MVP Most Valuable Player, Have you made your selection?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yes, I am gonna go with a player who was
second place last year in voting, even though he sat
out a bunch of fourth quarters because his team was
just too good. And I think they might not have
that luxury this year, and he might have to play
a little more, get a.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Little more stats. And I think Jalen Hurts is gonna
win the MV.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Okay, Okay, it's not Shalk, but it's it's a favorite.
I'm going a little deeper here. Usually it's become a
quarterbacks award in the NFL. Offensive Player of the Year
becomes the best skill position justin Jeffer So it was
the number two ranked player in the NFL Top one hundred.
He's not my pick. We love Jamar Chase and T Higgins.
(22:15):
They're not my pick, Noras Allen, Noras mahomes Nowhere, Norrisborough,
noras Aaron Rodgers, Norris Herbert. I'm going way down and
without knowing where he is on this list, I'm going
to put this player as my MVP, and I'm not
doing it to cause shock waves. I think this guy
has a truly historic season because I think they might
need him to. Christian McCaffrey is my selection for a
(22:39):
Most Valuable Player? Can I ask what the odds are
on Christian McCaffrey on whatever generic gambling site you're looking
at right now plus plus eight thousand, and what number
ranking is he that if you're counting, I think we're
going into the thirties, probably the twenty fifth ranked player
(23:01):
when it comes to mvbid. Now counter you this. No
one had Lamar Jackson a couple of years ago, no
one had Jalen Hurts last year. No one besides me
had my homes a few years back. God, you listened
to this for the first time. Who is this arrogant?
I don't know. I feel like the Niners Arena are
gonna roll and it's gonna be on the back of
not just that defense. I think McCaffrey's gonna have a
(23:23):
truly historic season, and I'm going deep on the Niners.
I think the Niners behind McCaffrey and he's gonna be
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You're not scared off at all by Shanahan saying.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Elijah, let's go. And now the granddaddy of them all
our Super Bowl predictions.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
We are.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Deep into this twenty seven minutes into this podcast, and
now we will unveil our super predictions. As I said,
I have been right several times. I've had at least
one of the right two teams every year since I
began doing this on Good Morning Football since twenty sixteen.
I will defer to you in the coin toss, Aaron,
who is your Super Bowl teams? First for VALA teams,
(24:05):
and then reveal it your winner.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
So I think we're going to have Philadelphia and Cincinnati
in the Super Bowl, which is I was glad.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I know.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I think that Cincinnati understands this is kind of their
last year with this core because they got to start
paying people and they have lou Still the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Whom we're gonna get him on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I don't know how much he's going to stay there.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
It's just as well because he had an interview with
the Cardinals. I think a lot of people thought that
was his gig and then they gave it to Jonathan
Gannon instead. But that's a whole other podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, I think that this is really their year.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Like you have these sort of quick waves of contention
and then suddenly you have to pay everyone. And I
think this is it for Cincinnati, Like this is the
peak of this group right now. And I think that
you know, they they are the only ones who've really
given Mahomes trouble.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Uh, And I think they're going to make it again
this year.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And your super Bowl winner.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Is Philadelphia the Eagle. The Eagles.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Eagles take it home and they do it in Vegas.
And a year after failing to win the Super Bowl
and coming just short, they take it home and they
win the Super Bowl all right, which leads to my
pick out of the NFC.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
So dramatic, better build up. I should have taken a
little more time.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And you were the appetizer, bro is perfect. You were
great out of the NFC. A team that's been through
adversity has made many questionable decisions over the last several years.
At the end of the day, when you get to
January football, they're as tough as they come. They're always there,
(25:52):
and I think this is the year that they not
only host the NFC Championship Game, they win the NFC
Championship Game. My winners from the NFC the San Francis
Go forty nine ers. I think they play a punishing
brand of football that is with Nick Bosa or without.
I think their defense always sets the standard. And as
(26:14):
much as I love Demko Ryans, I don't think they
missed that much of a beat without him. They keep ongoing.
They've got young talent at every position there and then
on offense, Kyle Shanahan is a mad genius. I think
he finally has a quarterback that can operate his offense
that he believes he can put in trust and really
get them over the hump. He's a former mister Irrelevant
and that is okay. I've got McCaffrey as my MVP.
(26:36):
I think Deebo has a big year. I think Ayuk
is a big year. I think Trent Williams might going
out on a swan song. Here in his last couple
of seasons, but I think he's still the best tackle
in the league. I am going with the San Francisco
forty nine ers as my team out of the NFC.
As for the AFC really really struggled with this. I
(26:59):
had the jets and pencil for several weeks and I
erased it out and I said, God, Buffalo sure does
look good. You know, Buffalo, no one's talking about him.
That's exactly how I like my teams. Just be under
the radar. Everyone talk about everyone else. We bring back everybody.
We're not dealing with it tomorrow, Hamlin, you know situation
on a weekly basis that's absolutely soul crushing and emotional.
(27:22):
And come in with a full tank of gats. Let's
just run through the league. I like Buffalo a lot
this year. Cincinnati, you mentioned it the window. This is
their time. If they don't do it now, do they
still bring back to Higgins and Chase and all these guys.
Is just the last time this core group is going
to be together. Then there's Jacksonville. Jacksonville has the fifth
easiest schedule in the league. They've got an amazing young
(27:45):
crop of players. I love their second round running back
Tank Briggsby. I believe his name biggs By runs. I
really like all those teams. Yeah, I can't pick against
the Chiefs. I don't care if Chris Jones is there.
I don't care if Tyreek Hill's not there. I don't
care if any of those guys are there. I can't
(28:07):
pick against the Chiefs. The Chiefs have been the standard
and last year was a great lesson. I stuck with them.
I picked them to the wins Super Bowl despite losing Tyreek Hill.
I think I might have been in an island on
that and that sounds wild considering how much success they have.
I will not pick against Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey
until I am forced to. And I am not forced
to pick against them. They are still at the peak
of their game. I had a chance to spend time
(28:28):
with them this offseason at that Big Slick Charity Classic,
and I was hanging with them, and I swear to God,
I left that thing being like, those guys are great,
And then I talked to us some people around the league,
and I'm like, I don't know. They seem to be
having a little too good of a time this offseason
with the golf and this, and they're at concerts and
it's like Mahomes and Kelsey are everywhere in the podcast
and you want to start turning away, and then you're like,
holy crap, they're just so good. I am going with
(28:50):
the Chiefs. I don't know how they get there. I
don't know if it's through a one seed and they
host all these games a arrowhead. I don't know if
they've got to go on the road. But like I said,
if it's one of those deals, my eyes will not
deceive me. And if there's a fourth quarter and Patrick
Mahomes needs to get it done in a big spot,
out and done every single time, I'm going with Kansas City. Now,
this was a Super Bowl a few years back in Miami.
(29:11):
We go from one party city to the next. We
go to Vegas. Forty nine Ers versus Chiefs, the Super
Bowl champions for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on CBS.
Drum roll, please eron.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
But the Kansas City Chiefs will be your first back
to back Super Bowl champion winners since the New England
Patriots did it in two thousand and three and two
thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I am going with the Chiefs. I love what they
are all about. I love that people are doubting them,
and I love the fact that Mahomes and Kelsey are
ready to go. I think Chris Jones hopefully figures this
thing out, but I would not pick against them because
of the lack of Chris Jones. I learned that last year.
Don't pick against them because I wane individual player. What
they've built there is too strong. I've got the Kansas
(29:57):
City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, and with that, I
bid you farewell. Enjoy this first weekend of games. Aaron,
good job. How'd it feel getting all those out?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
If like a weight has been lifted for me to
to to wax poetic on Anthony Richardson a little bit
and and to publicly say that I don't believe.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
In any of the new Jersey teams as well.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So can I tell you something? As I say it
out loud, and we haven't done these picks on Good
Morning FOOTBA yet as we're recording, this doesn't feel great.
I kind of want to now, like, now that I've
said it and it's going to be recorded, I'm not
one hundred percent sure with my picks, and I kind
of want to just go like Lions Jets and kind
of say get and be like I think it's to
me Lion's Jets and be that guy. I'm really tempted
(30:40):
I could change my pick for Good Morning Football. I
love those teams. Should I change my picks to Lion?
This is what happens. This is like the inside, you know,
like the neuroses of like Woody Allen and all. This
is what I've got going on in my head when
it comes to football. Should I change it to Lions Jets?
Or Am I going to be laughed off the earth?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
You know, that's as close as your son's guests will
be if you if you did Lion's Jets, because it
can't be Lion's Giants.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
So you know people will.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Remember that, Jason, my career is important to me. And
when you hit that long Grand Slam, people remember when
I say Chiefs over Niners, it's like great for my
own personal pride. But gosh, if I said Jets over
Lions in the Super Bowl, what would the reaction be?
And I don't do it for clicks, so I usually
(31:27):
go standard and here's who I really think, and I'm
usually right, but I'm tempted to just say it.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
All right, but you're sitting there, you're watching the playoffs,
it's Lions forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Are you really going to still feel good at that moment?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (31:42):
The Lions defense can't stop that Kyle? And like, is
Dan Campbell gonna out coach Kyle Shanahan in the NFC
Championship game? Yeah? Are are they? Like basically you're asking,
can the Lions go into or host Can they beat
San Francisco Philadelphia in Dallas? Can they do that? They
have to win multiple games? I don't know. So No, Okay,
we're keeping the Niners the Chiefs. Is it even a
(32:03):
big splash? If I said Bill's No, is it a
big flash? If I said Bengals, No, it's the Jets
that are keeping me up. Do I say Jets? But
then if I say Jets, I've got the Jets beating
the beating the forty nine ers. Well that's what they
said on that It hard knocks. That crazy mentalist guy
came on right, like, Jets will beat the Niners. Nicole
Hardman predicted it. Yeah, do I go with Oz the mentalist? Gosh,
(32:29):
I guess I'm staying with the Chiefs. I say, I
should probably be pretty you know, convicted here, but I'm not.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I think even if you were serious about the Jets,
and I realize even when I picked the Bengals, I
had to mention Kansas City. I had to say Cincinnati
is the only team that really gives Kansas City trouble.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Like it's still what if the games are play what
if the Jets are the one seed they get a bye.
I guess I'm saying they can beat the Bills, Bengals
in Chiefs and back to back weeks like those, like
the Jaguars can come in and that's like, all right,
the Jets are gonna beat the Jaguars, and then the
Bengals come in, or the Chiefs come in and they're
gonna beat them like they a lot to go, right.
You put myhomes in Jacksonville, you put my homes in Cincinnati,
(33:10):
you put my homes in Buffalo. I think Mahomes can
win it. I haven't seen the Jets do it, and
I haven't seen Rogers do it. To be honest, He's
won a lot of playoff games, but he's not been
the most clutch guy on the road in recent years,
and he not even in Lambeau. So all right, I'm
staying with my picks, Chiefs over Niners. I'm just like
every other freaking pundit. It just goes off into the ether.
But I'll pin it on my Twitter profile and I'll
(33:31):
go for the streak and I'll go for the stable
standard answer. I don't think I was trying to make
any clicks here, but if you're a podcast listener, you
know I try to take swings, and this one I'm
taking it safe, all right. So you've got Eagles over Bengals,
I've got Chiefs over forty nine ers, and you, my
friends who are listening, just got forty minutes of some
freaking great entertainment. Enjoy the games this weekend and enjoy
(33:54):
the NFL season until next week. This is Aaron, Peter
and Jason English over here from my heart. That's what
we lift all those weights. Where go enjoy the year.
(34:19):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your
podcasts
The Season with Peter Scheger is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. Welcome everybody to the Season
with Peter Schreger. We are here. The NFL season has begun.
(00:31):
Kickoff is obviously Thursday night. If you're listening to this
on Friday or Saturday or Sunday, you already know the
outcome to Thursday night's game. We are recording this podcast
on Thursday morning, and I'm talking with grave tones in
a very serious way, because well, if you listen to
the Season with Peter Schreger, it's not just twenty two weeks,
it's fifty two weeks. We do this thing every single
(00:52):
week because the season is all year. There is no
off season in the NFL. Every time a player coughs
or hiccups, we talk about it. Anytime we are in
the off season. It's the best time for us to
get coaches and gms to speak unfiltered with that becomes
an all encompassing three sixty view of the NFL. You
are owed, and you have earned a chance to listen
(01:16):
to Aaron and I give our predictions for the twenty
twenty three season. Aaron wan Coffin has joined me, Aaron,
my great producer. How you feeling right now?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Oh, I'm I'm ready.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I'm you know, I've calmed myself down a little to
give maybe some hot takes, I don't know. I want
to see how you're looking at the future and what
I see differently.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Let me talk some shit right now? Can I talk
some shit?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Go off?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Okay? They talk that talk. There are a million pregame
shows out there. I'm on two of them, and these
guys give their Super Bowl picks and it's like Eagles
play the Bells BAH, or Chiefs play the forty nine
Ers BAH, and like, I need depth. I need to
know what your playoff teams are. I need to know
(01:59):
who your offensive Rookie of the years are. I need
to know who your MVP is. I need to know
which team makes the playoff that didn't make the playoffs
last year, which team doesn't make the playoffs that did
make the playoffs last year. I want to know your
coach of the year. That's the stuff I'm here for.
I want to go deep. Super Bowl picks. Everyone had
a Super Bowl pick. My son made a Super Bowl pick.
You know, my son, Mel said to me. I said,
(02:20):
mal I gotta pick a Super Bowl pick. What's you
suer pick? He said, Daddy, I think the Giants are
going to play the Lions. I said, well, that's impossible.
But you know what, you know what, Son, you might
be right. When you compare yourself to all the other
pundits out there who just throw two teams at a wall,
they might realign the conferences for you. Baby, I'm not
going to stop you. This is your world, this is
(02:41):
the Prediction episode. You can turn it off if you
don't care, or you can listen and you can play along,
and you can tweet us. I'm at p shrigs pschrgs.
But everyone in the world makes a Super Bowl pick
and then they kind of vanish into the shadows and
everyone worries about it. I make my Super Bowl pick.
I pin it to the top of my profile, and
(03:02):
with great humility, I tell you I have been right
the last several years. I had the Chiefs last year,
I had the Rans. Before that, I had the Buccaneers
before that, I had the Chiefs when they beat the
forty nine ers. I take a lot of pride in this.
I live and I breathe it. But it's not just
gonna be Super Bowl picks. Aaron, are you ready to
make some picks with me?
Speaker 2 (03:18):
I am all set. Let's go.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Okay, I've thrown off the what they call these the cans.
I've thrown off. Cans are off, gloves are off. Let's
start with some insignificant awards. These are just to get
our feet wet. All right, all right, NFL Offensive Rookie
(03:40):
of the Year. I'm going with Jamiir Gibbs of the
Detroit Lions. If you're watching this on Friday morning, Gibbs
probably already put up one hundred yards. And on Thursday night,
if you're watching this on Thursday going into the game,
pick them up in all your fantasy leagues. I am
doing this on the strength of speaking with the GM
on this very show earlier this summer, when he described
Jamiir Gibbs as an elite positionless weapon. When I made
(04:02):
the pick of Jamiir Gibbs to start Good Morning Football
on twenty fourth as like my breakout player of the
of the next few weeks. People are like really a
running back, and now it's almost like commonplace. Everyone's in
on Gibbs, So no way he can let up to
the hype, right I think he can. I think that
Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, is gonna use him in
a way that we don't see a lot of running
backs in their first year US. I think he's gonna
(04:22):
play runningack. I think he's a play wide receiver. I
think he's gonna be used in all sorts of different packages.
And I think he puts up the stats. Yes, but
he also helps make this Lions offense one of the
best in the league. I wouldn't be shocked if Detroit
finishes the year with the number one ranked offense and
Jamier Gibbs is their jack of all trades, their Swiss
Army Knife, their Deebo Samuel, their Jaysom Hill, whatever you
(04:43):
want to say. I think the Lions are winning the
NFC North, and I think Jamiir Gibbs is a breakout star.
Jamiir Gibbs is my Offensive Rookie of the Year, Aaron
Wan Kaufman, your selection for Offensive Rookie the Year is the.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Drummell Anthony Richardson.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
I know I'm not big boy. I no, I love
it go.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
I know you don't want to pick a rookie who's
on a bad team. I know that Gibbs is gonna
have so many more wins. And Zay Jones another popular pick.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
And I know you say.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Flowers, say Flowers, I'm gonna pick you up.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yes, say Flowers.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Not a rookie, go on.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Zay Flowers has a ton of buzz as well, and
he could be a good proxy for the Ravens offense
doing well. I'm going with Richardson because when Kyler won
Offensive Rookie of the Year, he had thirty seven hundred
passing yards, twenty passing touchdowns, twelve interceptions, five hundred rushing yards.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
Last season, the Colts quarterbacks, the collection of Matt Ryan,
sam Ellinger Nick Foles threw for thirty eight hundred yards,
seventeen touchdowns, and twenty interceptions.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Okay, I think the wide receiver group could allow that.
Speaker 3 (05:51):
Another thing with Kyler when he won in nineteen, second
place was Josh Jacobs, who had eleven hundred yards, seven
touchdowns and one hundred and sixty six receiving yards. Aj
Brown was third in voting with fifty receptors, fifty two
receptions over a thousand yards and eight touchdowns, and Miles
Sanders had eight hundred rushing yards and five hundred receiving yards.
(06:15):
I feel like Bijon and Gibbs will cannibalize each other.
I think that Zay and Addison and JSN they might can't.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Yeah, yeah, So I.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Think Richardson is gonna stand like, gonna have a nice
second half of the season, and I think he is
going to maybe not get thirty five hundred passing yards,
but he could get i don't know, six seven hundred
rushing yards, like they could really push it. And I
think Gibbs that whole offense is already good. We know that,
and if the Colts do well, it's because of Richardson.
(06:50):
So I'm gonna go out on a limb, which feels
weird to say with a quarterback being the offensive Rookie
of the Year, but I'm gonna go out on a
limb and say Richardson wins Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Broke, I tell you something, Yeah, that might have been
your best three minutes ever on the podcast.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
I'm gonna tell you something that's that's my most reach
for the whole day.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
Delivered Like I thought you were gonna come in and
be like, nah, you know, maybe Bryce, young dude, that
was great. No, I'm really impressed. Right now we are
in regular season mode. Dude, Okay, great defensive rookie of
the year. Jalen Carter is the overall favorite everywhere. I
think he's probably gonna win Rookie of the Year. But
that's not fun. So I'm gonna give you another defensive player.
(07:29):
And I'm already changing my pick from Good Morning Football,
where I picked Brian Berzi earlier this week. I'm gonna
give you another Detroit Lion, and it's not their first
round pick, Jack Campbell. I think Brian Branch, the heat
seeking missile safety for the Detroit Lions, is going to
garner aate a lot of attention and might very well
be our defensive rookie of the Year again, Lions. I'm
all in on the Lions this year. I think they're
(07:50):
gonna go big and be on national TV. And I
think all these guys are gonna be household names, whether
it be Adrian Hutchinson, whether it be i'm Mon Ross
nine Brown. But the two rookies, Gibbs and Branch, both
of them out of Alabama, I think are gonna be outstanding.
I'm going Brian Branch as my late audible from Brian
and Jalen Carter. I am now going with my third
pick as my first pick on the podcast. Brian Branch
(08:12):
is my defensive Rookie of the Year. Aaron, I don't
know how passionate you are on Defensive Rookie of the Year,
but let's see if you can follow up that offensive
Rookie of the Year spiel.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
All right, So, I think with defensive Rookie of the Year,
you need splashy plays. You need big moments that people
are gonna see. It doesn't necessarily have to be like
nationally televised games, but you need big moments. And I
think Emmanuel Forbes for Washington, the cornerback is gonna have
some big, big plays because he's gonna play against good receivers,
(08:43):
so he's gonna be guarding talented players. And I think
he has enough, like ball howking ability to come out
and like do some flashy things. So I think Forbes
is like kind of a little dark horse. Again, Will Anderson,
Jalen Carter, they're probably the top of most people's list.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
I'd like to see Forbes want it.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Okay, all right, let's go onto the next award NFL
Coach of the Year why don't you start us off
your NFL Coach of the Year. Now, remember to give
you some backstory. Most years, if you're listening, you know this.
It's not the team with the most wins, it's not
the established name. It's the team that makes the biggest leap,
and it's usually a younger first year guy. Belichick's only
(09:25):
won Coach of the Year three times. I believe Brian
Dable won it last year, and in recent years, Kevin
Stefanski has won. Matt Naggi has won this award. Sean
mcvayh has won this award. Aaron, who do you got?
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I Am going to complete opposite direction from you, and
I'm going with Mike Tomlin. I think that the Steelers
have looked really good in preseason. I think the offense
and defense are both going to be better than they
were last year. And I don't think it's going to
be necessarily any one player, unless maybe you think, like
what could do defensive player of the year, And I
think Tomlin will sort of be the proxy for the
(09:57):
whole team doing well, and I think he takes home
coach of the Year.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Okay, Mike Tomlin. They were an eight win team last year.
But I don't know if Mike Tomlin has won NFL
Coach of the Year. While I'm talking, google that for me.
I think that'd be amazing that after all these years
of never being under five hundred, Mike Tomlin has never
won a Coach of the Year award. If he did,
it was his first season. Has he ever won it?
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Two thousand and eight?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Yeah, so the year they went Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin
did win Coach of the Year, but that has been
fifteen years already. Yeah, if my math is correct, I
think it is my coach of the year. Is that
old dog, that renegade, rebel, that maverick, that gun slinger,
the guy who does not necessarily love the NFL league offices,
(10:39):
does not care about your coaching code, does not care
about who coached before him, and yet has his players believing.
This could be a massive whiff. But I'm going to
bank on him, just knowing just how committed he is
to this thing. I'm gonna go Sean Payton as my
coach of the Year. I think the Broncos have a
massive increase in wins that he gets. Russell Wilson, right,
I think these players are all on the same page.
(11:01):
I don't think you need six time management coaches to
help him. I think he's gonna win in late game situations.
To go for an on fourth down, it's necessary, and
I think the Broncos have a massive leap and wins.
Let's go Broncos. Let's ride all that. Sean Payton is
your NFL Coach of the Year.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Now.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
Whether or not the writers actually vote for him is
another thing. I don't think he's a fan. He's got
all those fans. As far as let's pick him as
some like wonderful story. He's kind of the renegade where's
the black hat? And I kind of like that. I'm
gonna go Sean Payton, all right, next award? All right,
so the NFL has Comeback Player of the Year, and
(11:39):
I'm gonna say, if Damar Hamlin plays eighteen weeks, Damar
Hamlin's gonna be your coach, your comeback player of the year.
And I think if DeMar Hamlin even plays week one,
so we're not gonna even discuss comeback Player of the Year.
I think that's already a Damar Hamlin award to lose,
which is such a weird thing to say, Like the
only reason he won't win is if he gets cut
or if he doesn't play because of an injury, comes
moving and God forbid that he's got to go through that.
(12:02):
Our next award is Defensive Player of the Year. Nick
Bosa won this last year. As of right now, Nick Bosa,
Chris Jones, and Brian Burns are not with their current team,
so that complicates this thing a little bit. Looking at
some of the odds and the leaders on this thing,
there are some bigger names, but I'm gonna go with
a guy who's a little bit down the list who
I heard is absolutely dominated and blew up practices when
(12:23):
they did joint practice with the Rams to the point
where many people were like, this guy's an absolute beast.
He might have a huge breakout year as far as
being one of those household names. My Defensive Player of
the Year for twenty twenty three is Max Crosby of
the Las Vegas Raiders. Going in that tradition of Howie
Long and Matt Millen and Charles Woodson and great defenders
(12:44):
of Raiders lore. I'm saying Crosby, who's got so many
tattoos of crazy things on his body that I think
there could be a documentary on it. He is a
student of the game. He's also an absolute madman, and
he's got those two x's on his name. I'm going
Max Crosby a little outside the box as my defensive
player of the Year. Aaron, who do you got?
Speaker 4 (13:04):
Ah?
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Well, again, I'm gonna be a little bit from you.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
I'm gonna go completely inside the box and I'm going
with Michael Parsons. I think he was second last year.
The Cowboys defense is incredible and we have high hopes
for the Cowboys as a team as a whole. And
if you're thinking that the defensive player has to be
someone who's on a really competitive team, I think the
(13:26):
Cowboys are definitely up there. And Parsons just changes the
way offenses have to deal with him every single down.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And I'm going with him. Okay, taking the crown this year?
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Micah and Crosby. Okay, did you do playoff picks?
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Aaron did?
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah. Okay, let's go division by division. I'll name my
division winner, you name your division winner. Here we go
with no further ado. Peter Schragers. AFC East champion is
the New York Jets. The Bills are loaded, but I've
got the Jets beating out the Dolphins, the Bills, and
the Patriots. Aaron, who do you have as your AFC
East champion?
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I tried to be as unbiased as possible, and I'm
going with the Bills.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
Flow Bills, Okay, the Bills. AFC North, I'm going Bengals.
Who do you got in the FC? Going with the Bengals, Okay,
AFC South, I've got Jaguars.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I'm going the Titans.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Yeah, talk about you know we do. No one picked
him on Good Morning Football. We're hearing about it. Vrabel's
a really good coach. What's the reason Titans over Jacks?
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Rabel?
Speaker 3 (14:22):
Rabel and Rabel and they got Hopkins and Henry is
still amazing. Like I remember, one of the first things
you and I talked about on the show last season
was how scared I was anytime I was watching Henry
play against the Bills. He's he is incredible. And I
think that Rabel just pulls the guts out of that
(14:43):
team no matter what. And I think by signing Hopkins,
they showed you that they're still in this to win
and they are going to compete. And you know, the
Jags are great and their defense is a little suspect,
and I think the Titans are going to beat them out.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Okay. AFC West, I've got the Chiefs who got Kansas City. Okay.
Now this is hard because we've said this, only seven
teams can make the playoffs, and you can only get
three wildcard teams. I'm sure I caught a lot of slack.
Here are my three wild card teams. I revealed these
on Good Morning Football earlier in the week and have
been hearing from it from a lot of fans. The
first AFC wildcard team, I have Buffalo. The second AFC
(15:20):
wild card team, I have the Steelers. Like you, I
think Mike Tomlin is an excellent coach, and I think
Kenny Pickett makes a leap. My third AFC wildcard team,
I'm going to go all in on Sempaygeon. They got
to make the playoffs. I'm taking the Denver Broncos, which
means no Chargers, and we loved Kellen Moore on the podcast.
He was awesome. No Chargers, no Dolphins, who added a
ton and have two of the fastest wide receivers in
(15:42):
the sport, And of course no Ravens, which I'm let
me give you an aside here My wife is from Baltimore, Maryland.
My in laws go to every single game as season
ticket holder since they came back as an NFL franchise
in nineteen ninety six. And my father in law went
to every Baltimore Colts home game from nineteen sixty seven
(16:02):
to nineteen eighty three and went to every Baltimore Colts
or Baltimore raven Super Bowl. My mother in law, she
goes to every game, sitting in the cold weather out
there in Baltimore in December to watch Browns Ravens. She
is there. I have never not picked the Ravens to
make the playoffs, through fear of what that might mean
in the family, but also because of what they've built.
(16:22):
And yet I don't know about their defense. I just
don't know about their defense. The AFC North is loaded,
and as much as I love Todd Monkin and that
new offense and I think they could get better, I
didn't put the Ravens in the playoffs. I have the
Broncos instead. Aaron your three AFC wildcard teams.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
So.
Speaker 3 (16:42):
I had Titans as the AFC South and I'm gonna
have the Jags as my first wild card. Like you again,
I shouted out Tomlin earlier. I've got the Steelers and
form my third. I'm not going with the Jets. I
am going with the Ravens because I think that Lamar
seems reinvigorated hopefully, and I think that offense could be really,
(17:06):
really excited. I mean, the Ravens got there last year
with an offense we were all tired of and without Lamar,
and I think this year they can do well. I
know that this is a lot to have Bengals, Ravens,
Steelers all in there. It happens last year we had
three MS, and I think maybe this is like again
a little too much personal bias.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
I think there's so much hype on the Jets.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
And their first six weeks are really.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Hard, and I think, you know what, the Monday Night game,
the Bills may not be able to pressure that offensive
line enough. But give them a couple of weeks and
let's see what that line looks like when they're playing
the Cowboys. Like I I think that things could go
wrong for the Jets.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
I so I'm gonna leave them off.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
You're a hater, yeah A yeah, no Dolphins, no Chargers from.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
US huh no? Yeah. I love the Dolphins. You know,
I think it'd be fun to see so many.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Rooms in the end, you know what I mean. Next up,
let's go with NFC playoff teams. I'll go first in
the East, I have the Eagles. In the North, I
went with the Lions. And I know that might not
(18:23):
sound shocking now after two months, but if you think
about it, I'm actually picking the Lions to win the
NFC North. If someone actually put their name on it
and say it's actually gonna happen, I'm doing it. If
you haven't noticed on this podcast, I'm really all in
on the Lions. NFC South by default, the Saints. I
don't love Carolina's depth. I have to see what Desmond
Ritter can do in a big game before, not in
(18:44):
college obviously who's great, but in the pros before I'd say, yes,
they're division champions and Tampa big, big unknowns all over
that roster, especially in the offensive line. So by the
Saints by default. I don't love the Saints, but I
think Saints win the division and they're one of those
like nine to eight teams that do it. And then
the West, I went the Niners. Bosa will figure itself
out and if it doesn't. I think they're still good
enough wild card teams. Where it gets tricky, I'm going
(19:06):
on a limb here. I have one team in the
NFC East as a wild card team, and it's not
the Cowboys. I have the Giants over the Cowboys this year.
The Cowboys have absolutely owned the Giants the last several seasons.
I think the Giants get over the hump this year.
I feel like times are changing. And it's not against
dan Quinn's defense. But you just waxed poetic on. I
(19:27):
don't know about the offense. I know Tony Pollard was great,
and I know Dak has had big moments and Ceedee
Lamb and Brandon Cook. Kellen Moore was really good. Kellen
Moore was really good. And you are saying we're putting
all our eggs in the Mike McCarthy basket. Let's see.
That's all I'll say. Let's see. I have the Cowboys
missing the playoffs. I have the Giants making it. I
(19:49):
also have the Vikings making it. And as my final
wildcard team, I have the Seahawks making it. So those
are my three teams. No Cowboys will cause quite a
reaction in Dallas, but I think the Cowboys missed the
playoffs this year. My apologies to all the major networks.
I know they make a lot of money when the
Cowboys are good.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
All right.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
So, NFC East, I've got the Eagles. I think that
we can't count them out. NFC North, I've got the Lions.
I think maybe I've been around you too much and
I have just inhaled too much of your Lions love,
and I am all in on them. NFC South, I
have the Falcons. I think for that division, the Saints,
(20:29):
like we love a lave. We think Derek Carr will
be good and the Saints defense is what we're really
excited about. But I think that Falcons offense is going
to be really exciting. They've spent but the past three years,
they've gotten an offensive, like really good offensive weapon every
single year in the first and I along with my
Rookie of the Year pick, I think Beijon is gonna
(20:50):
be great. I think he's gonna cannibalize the votes away
from Gibbs. So I think the Falcons will be the
division winners there, Okay. NFC West, I've got the forty
nine ers and then my wild cards Seahawks. I think
they will be even better than they were last year.
I have the Cowboys because I think what offense, yeah,
step back there is.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
I still think they'll make it.
Speaker 3 (21:10):
And I'm gonna go with the Vikings because I think
that I like Kirk Cousins a lot more now after
watching than Netflix show.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
No Giants, No Giants.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
So I have no New York teams except the Bills,
who are really the only true team that plays in
New York.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Beautiful MVP Most Valuable Player, Have you made your selection?
Speaker 3 (21:29):
Yes, I am gonna go with a player who was
second place last year in voting, even though he sat
out a bunch of fourth quarters because his team was
just too good. And I think they might not have
that luxury this year, and he might have to play
a little more, get a.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Little more stats. And I think Jalen Hurts is gonna
win the MV.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Okay, Okay, it's not Shalk, but it's it's a favorite.
I'm going a little deeper here. Usually it's become a
quarterbacks award in the NFL. Offensive Player of the Year
becomes the best skill position justin Jeffer So it was
the number two ranked player in the NFL Top one hundred.
He's not my pick. We love Jamar Chase and T Higgins.
(22:15):
They're not my pick, Noras Allen, Noras mahomes Nowhere, Norrisborough,
noras Aaron Rodgers, Norris Herbert. I'm going way down and
without knowing where he is on this list, I'm going
to put this player as my MVP, and I'm not
doing it to cause shock waves. I think this guy
has a truly historic season because I think they might
need him to. Christian McCaffrey is my selection for a
(22:39):
Most Valuable Player? Can I ask what the odds are
on Christian McCaffrey on whatever generic gambling site you're looking
at right now plus plus eight thousand, and what number
ranking is he that if you're counting, I think we're
going into the thirties, probably the twenty fifth ranked player
(23:01):
when it comes to mvbid. Now counter you this. No
one had Lamar Jackson a couple of years ago, no
one had Jalen Hurts last year. No one besides me
had my homes a few years back. God, you listened
to this for the first time. Who is this arrogant?
I don't know. I feel like the Niners Arena are
gonna roll and it's gonna be on the back of
not just that defense. I think McCaffrey's gonna have a
(23:23):
truly historic season, and I'm going deep on the Niners.
I think the Niners behind McCaffrey and he's gonna be
the MVP.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
You're not scared off at all by Shanahan saying.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
Elijah, let's go. And now the granddaddy of them all
our Super Bowl predictions.
Speaker 4 (23:40):
We are.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Deep into this twenty seven minutes into this podcast, and
now we will unveil our super predictions. As I said,
I have been right several times. I've had at least
one of the right two teams every year since I
began doing this on Good Morning Football since twenty sixteen.
I will defer to you in the coin toss, Aaron,
who is your Super Bowl teams? First for VALA teams,
(24:05):
and then reveal it your winner.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
So I think we're going to have Philadelphia and Cincinnati
in the Super Bowl, which is I was glad.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
I know.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
I think that Cincinnati understands this is kind of their
last year with this core because they got to start
paying people and they have lou Still the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Whom we're gonna get him on the podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I don't know how much he's going to stay there.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
It's just as well because he had an interview with
the Cardinals. I think a lot of people thought that
was his gig and then they gave it to Jonathan
Gannon instead. But that's a whole other podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Yeah, I think that this is really their year.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Like you have these sort of quick waves of contention
and then suddenly you have to pay everyone. And I
think this is it for Cincinnati, Like this is the
peak of this group right now. And I think that
you know, they they are the only ones who've really
given Mahomes trouble.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Uh, And I think they're going to make it again
this year.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
And your super Bowl winner.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Is Philadelphia the Eagle. The Eagles.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Eagles take it home and they do it in Vegas.
And a year after failing to win the Super Bowl
and coming just short, they take it home and they
win the Super Bowl all right, which leads to my
pick out of the NFC.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
So dramatic, better build up. I should have taken a
little more time.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And you were the appetizer, bro is perfect. You were
great out of the NFC. A team that's been through
adversity has made many questionable decisions over the last several years.
At the end of the day, when you get to
January football, they're as tough as they come. They're always there,
(25:52):
and I think this is the year that they not
only host the NFC Championship Game, they win the NFC
Championship Game. My winners from the NFC the San Francis
Go forty nine ers. I think they play a punishing
brand of football that is with Nick Bosa or without.
I think their defense always sets the standard. And as
(26:14):
much as I love Demko Ryans, I don't think they
missed that much of a beat without him. They keep ongoing.
They've got young talent at every position there and then
on offense, Kyle Shanahan is a mad genius. I think
he finally has a quarterback that can operate his offense
that he believes he can put in trust and really
get them over the hump. He's a former mister Irrelevant
and that is okay. I've got McCaffrey as my MVP.
(26:36):
I think Deebo has a big year. I think Ayuk
is a big year. I think Trent Williams might going
out on a swan song. Here in his last couple
of seasons, but I think he's still the best tackle
in the league. I am going with the San Francisco
forty nine ers as my team out of the NFC.
As for the AFC really really struggled with this. I
(26:59):
had the jets and pencil for several weeks and I
erased it out and I said, God, Buffalo sure does
look good. You know, Buffalo, no one's talking about him.
That's exactly how I like my teams. Just be under
the radar. Everyone talk about everyone else. We bring back everybody.
We're not dealing with it tomorrow, Hamlin, you know situation
on a weekly basis that's absolutely soul crushing and emotional.
(27:22):
And come in with a full tank of gats. Let's
just run through the league. I like Buffalo a lot
this year. Cincinnati, you mentioned it the window. This is
their time. If they don't do it now, do they
still bring back to Higgins and Chase and all these guys.
Is just the last time this core group is going
to be together. Then there's Jacksonville. Jacksonville has the fifth
easiest schedule in the league. They've got an amazing young
(27:45):
crop of players. I love their second round running back
Tank Briggsby. I believe his name biggs By runs. I
really like all those teams. Yeah, I can't pick against
the Chiefs. I don't care if Chris Jones is there.
I don't care if Tyreek Hill's not there. I don't
care if any of those guys are there. I can't
(28:07):
pick against the Chiefs. The Chiefs have been the standard
and last year was a great lesson. I stuck with them.
I picked them to the wins Super Bowl despite losing Tyreek Hill.
I think I might have been in an island on
that and that sounds wild considering how much success they have.
I will not pick against Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelcey
until I am forced to. And I am not forced
to pick against them. They are still at the peak
of their game. I had a chance to spend time
(28:28):
with them this offseason at that Big Slick Charity Classic,
and I was hanging with them, and I swear to God,
I left that thing being like, those guys are great,
And then I talked to us some people around the league,
and I'm like, I don't know. They seem to be
having a little too good of a time this offseason
with the golf and this, and they're at concerts and
it's like Mahomes and Kelsey are everywhere in the podcast
and you want to start turning away, and then you're like,
holy crap, they're just so good. I am going with
(28:50):
the Chiefs. I don't know how they get there. I
don't know if it's through a one seed and they
host all these games a arrowhead. I don't know if
they've got to go on the road. But like I said,
if it's one of those deals, my eyes will not
deceive me. And if there's a fourth quarter and Patrick
Mahomes needs to get it done in a big spot,
out and done every single time, I'm going with Kansas City. Now,
this was a Super Bowl a few years back in Miami.
(29:11):
We go from one party city to the next. We
go to Vegas. Forty nine Ers versus Chiefs, the Super
Bowl champions for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on CBS.
Drum roll, please eron.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
But the Kansas City Chiefs will be your first back
to back Super Bowl champion winners since the New England
Patriots did it in two thousand and three and two
thousand and four.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
I am going with the Chiefs. I love what they
are all about. I love that people are doubting them,
and I love the fact that Mahomes and Kelsey are
ready to go. I think Chris Jones hopefully figures this
thing out, but I would not pick against them because
of the lack of Chris Jones. I learned that last year.
Don't pick against them because I wane individual player. What
they've built there is too strong. I've got the Kansas
(29:57):
City Chiefs winning the Super Bowl, and with that, I
bid you farewell. Enjoy this first weekend of games. Aaron,
good job. How'd it feel getting all those out?
Speaker 3 (30:07):
If like a weight has been lifted for me to
to to wax poetic on Anthony Richardson a little bit
and and to publicly say that I don't believe.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
In any of the new Jersey teams as well.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So can I tell you something? As I say it
out loud, and we haven't done these picks on Good
Morning FOOTBA yet as we're recording, this doesn't feel great.
I kind of want to now, like, now that I've
said it and it's going to be recorded, I'm not
one hundred percent sure with my picks, and I kind
of want to just go like Lions Jets and kind
of say get and be like I think it's to
me Lion's Jets and be that guy. I'm really tempted
(30:40):
I could change my pick for Good Morning Football. I
love those teams. Should I change my picks to Lion?
This is what happens. This is like the inside, you know,
like the neuroses of like Woody Allen and all. This
is what I've got going on in my head when
it comes to football. Should I change it to Lions Jets?
Or Am I going to be laughed off the earth?
Speaker 3 (30:58):
You know, that's as close as your son's guests will
be if you if you did Lion's Jets, because it
can't be Lion's Giants.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
So you know people will.
Speaker 1 (31:06):
Remember that, Jason, my career is important to me. And
when you hit that long Grand Slam, people remember when
I say Chiefs over Niners, it's like great for my
own personal pride. But gosh, if I said Jets over
Lions in the Super Bowl, what would the reaction be?
And I don't do it for clicks, so I usually
(31:27):
go standard and here's who I really think, and I'm
usually right, but I'm tempted to just say it.
Speaker 3 (31:34):
All right, but you're sitting there, you're watching the playoffs,
it's Lions forty nine ers.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
Are you really going to still feel good at that moment?
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Right?
Speaker 1 (31:42):
The Lions defense can't stop that Kyle? And like, is
Dan Campbell gonna out coach Kyle Shanahan in the NFC
Championship game? Yeah? Are are they? Like basically you're asking,
can the Lions go into or host Can they beat
San Francisco Philadelphia in Dallas? Can they do that? They
have to win multiple games? I don't know. So No, Okay,
we're keeping the Niners the Chiefs. Is it even a
(32:03):
big splash? If I said Bill's No, is it a
big flash? If I said Bengals, No, it's the Jets
that are keeping me up. Do I say Jets? But
then if I say Jets, I've got the Jets beating
the beating the forty nine ers. Well that's what they
said on that It hard knocks. That crazy mentalist guy
came on right, like, Jets will beat the Niners. Nicole
Hardman predicted it. Yeah, do I go with Oz the mentalist? Gosh,
(32:29):
I guess I'm staying with the Chiefs. I say, I
should probably be pretty you know, convicted here, but I'm not.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I think even if you were serious about the Jets,
and I realize even when I picked the Bengals, I
had to mention Kansas City. I had to say Cincinnati
is the only team that really gives Kansas City trouble.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Like it's still what if the games are play what
if the Jets are the one seed they get a bye.
I guess I'm saying they can beat the Bills, Bengals
in Chiefs and back to back weeks like those, like
the Jaguars can come in and that's like, all right,
the Jets are gonna beat the Jaguars, and then the
Bengals come in, or the Chiefs come in and they're
gonna beat them like they a lot to go, right.
You put myhomes in Jacksonville, you put my homes in Cincinnati,
(33:10):
you put my homes in Buffalo. I think Mahomes can
win it. I haven't seen the Jets do it, and
I haven't seen Rogers do it. To be honest, He's
won a lot of playoff games, but he's not been
the most clutch guy on the road in recent years,
and he not even in Lambeau. So all right, I'm
staying with my picks, Chiefs over Niners. I'm just like
every other freaking pundit. It just goes off into the ether.
But I'll pin it on my Twitter profile and I'll
(33:31):
go for the streak and I'll go for the stable
standard answer. I don't think I was trying to make
any clicks here, but if you're a podcast listener, you
know I try to take swings, and this one I'm
taking it safe, all right. So you've got Eagles over Bengals,
I've got Chiefs over forty nine ers, and you, my
friends who are listening, just got forty minutes of some
freaking great entertainment. Enjoy the games this weekend and enjoy
(33:54):
the NFL season until next week. This is Aaron, Peter
and Jason English over here from my heart. That's what
we lift all those weights. Where go enjoy the year.
(34:19):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio,
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your
podcasts
Host
Peter Schrager
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