Wes & Walker- Around the NFL

In this edition of Around the NFL, the guys discuss the Falcons' win over the Commanders and if it turns their season back in the right direction, tell you if Tampa showed they were a serious contender in the NFC this weekend and give you their top two teams in the NFL.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go around the NFL.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
And so we were just talking about if the Carolina
Panthers are able to get a win and pull to
two and three, then they would be knocking at the
door of three and three, no matter what has happened,
no matter how bad that they have lost, because the
team that they smashed just the week before, the Atlanta Falcons,
who lost thirty to nothing, it was glooming doom. They
fired wide receiver coaches, and Rahie Morris said that he

(00:25):
knew that Michael Pennix Jr.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Was ready to bounce back.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
He said, quote Monday, when he came to work, I
believed in him that day, and he came out and
threw for a career hide three hundred and thirteen yards
twenty of twenty six through the air, two touchdowns to
one pick. The Falcons had a season high four hundred
and thirty five yards of offense after they was shut
out by Carolina. Aren't you glad that they didn't have

(00:49):
that type of day when they came here? But that's
the thing, you know, sports is just so mental, man,
and you just never know week to week what you're
gonna get sometimes. So, for one, the Falcons restore faith
in their potential and what they could do after that
thirty four to twenty seven victory over Washington.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
Yeah, I think they changed a few things.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
If I'm not mistaken, Drake London ran a lot more
of his routes from the slot. It does seem like
every wide receiver that might not be involved as much
as they should just put him in the slot.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
And then you figure you can't have them.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Well, that's what everybody just needs to do, and so
it feels like if there's anybody going through an issue, Bam,
put him in the slot. It's the easy button. I
do think because of some of the stylistic changes that
they made with that offense, I think Penix did bounce
back well enough. I think they do have talent on defense,
even if it's not going to be as consistent with
all the young guys. Yeah, I think you can believe

(01:39):
somewhat in Atlanta. But to my man's point on the
text line saying, hey, I know it was all doom
and gloom for Atlanta and they bounce back now we
can feel good about them. Why can't we do the
same about Carolina? Where I told you the worst thing
Carolina did was erase all the goodwill from a thirty
to nothing victory they had against the Falcons, and yes,
the Falcons bounce back, except the other games the Falcons played.

(02:02):
That's the difference between the Panthers and the Falcons. Their
loss at the beginning of the year just a field
goal to a team that only lost their first game
to Philadelphia, the Super Bowl champions in Tampa Bay. They
had a twenty two to six victory over Minnesota, and
then they also have the win against Washington. We have
a bad loss against Jacksonville. Here in Carolina, we almost

(02:24):
had a real bad loss to Arizona, and we just
had a bad loss to New England.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
But may I remind you walking out, they have been.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
Championship teams that have been blown out during the year.
Remember the year that New England went to Kansas City
and they got absolutely blown sky high and people thought
it was all over for the Patriots and that Brady
was done and all that stuff, and they came back
and won the Super Bowl. I'm just saying that to
say that even great teams takes some really really rough
als during the season. So I'm just saying that, and

(02:52):
I'm trying to be the positive guys, I'm just saying
that just because the Panthers lost like that in New England,
that that doesn't mean that they can't bounce back.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yeah, they can bounce.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
It's gonna be hard with that personnel, like I said,
but I'm just saying they could.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
We could speak in ifs and butts and could because
anything could happen, anything could do you think the Panthers
have earned the benefit of the doubt after a victory
to believe in them, because.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
I would say after that performance, like you said, the
style of it, how it happened, yes, you would be
very much down on a team like that. But I
just feel like with a lot of teams, unless I
see this happen to you often, and we're so early
in the season and I watched so much it happen
that I just feel like, you know, I don't necessarily
always go into the highs and the loads of how

(03:43):
a team loses necessarily, Yeah, but it has happened often.
That's the I mean, they hadn't lost as bad as
they lost to New England, That's what I'm saying. Yeah,
I mean, I guess that's true. So you got you
gotta be convincingly you gotta be convincingly by Jacksonville.

Speaker 1 (03:57):
Sure, but you were. Here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (03:59):
You've been down twenty three or more points in three
of the four games that you have played this season.

Speaker 1 (04:04):
At some point during the game you were getting blown out.

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Guess what can't keep happening that and if that's the
case for every single game outside of Atlanta, I just
that's why I can't give them benefit of the doubt.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
You're I can fully understand.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
I think you're speaking in it could happen, which I
can't argue with that. There's no evidence I can point
to and say, Nope, it won't because anything could happen.
I could argue Carolina doesn't win another game. I could,
they could win every other game. Yeah, But in terms
of receiving the benefit of the doubt, with the way
that they've been playing football, I can't give them to
I can't give the benefit of the doubt to the Panthers,

(04:39):
even if they do beat the Miami Dolphins.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Well, a team that was down a lot in their
game as well. The Philadelphia Eagles were beating down the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then the Buccaneers were able to
stow them back. They weren't able to get it done,
but they were able to come back and make this
thing a fight before they would lose thirty.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
One to twenty five.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
On the they playing with injured biceps that limited him
in practiced this week. Baker Mayfield had touchdown passes of
seventy seven and seventy two yards, but he did throw
an interception on first down from the Eagles eleven with
his team down thirty one to twenty three midway through
the fourth quarter. But Mayfield has been really good this year,
leading Tampa to game winning scores in the final two

(05:19):
minutes of each of their first three games. And they
did get Tristan Wurk's back and Chris Godwin, so those
are welcomed additions there. But Tampa playing the Eagles as
close as they did with some of the injuries, especially
missing Mike Evans, proves that they are.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
What still a good football team straight up?

Speaker 2 (05:40):
Do you think it shows that they'd like maybe top
two to three caliber, the fact that they could play
Philadelphia the way that they did, because I think it
was a major statement for them, even though I know
they don't want to look at it as a moral victory,
but I think for them to have some of the
key guys missing that they had to be able to
come back on the Eagles like they did and only
lose by six. I think it shows Tampa's definitely a

(06:01):
force to be reckoned within.

Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yeah, I'd completely agree with you. I've not changed my
opinion all that much on Tampa. I did a little
bit with some of the offensive line injuries that they've had.
They lost a guy for a season, and then they
lost a guy to IR He will come back, but
they've had a lot of injuries and yet still they're battling.
The other argument that you could make is Tampa has
almost given up some of the victories that they've had

(06:22):
in the first three games. I just think the numbers
are going to regress to the mean with some of
those one score victories that the Buccaneers have had. But
I still think they're a great football team. If they
get to the NFC Championship Game with a chance to
get to the Super Bowl, no, I wouldn't be surprised,
all right.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
So, as we close out this segment around the NFL,
are the Eagles the best team in the NFL right now?
And if so, who do you think is the second
best team. But if the Eagles are not the number
one team, then who do you think is I.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
Would go Philly one Buffalo took. Those are the teams
I feel the best about Baltimore. I want to believe
in them, but my god, they have fallen so fall down.
With Derrick Henry's bumble issues, I don't know what's happening
with Lamar, and that defense is absolutely terrible. I think
those two teams that I just discussed, they're playing at
a different tier. They're playing at a different level than
really everybody else.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
In my opinion, as much as it pains me to
say the team that my boys are playing Thursday night.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
I feel like they're right now.

Speaker 2 (07:21):
Man, La Rams are the second best team in my opinion.
They were beating the brakes off of the Eagles. The
only reason I'm putting them in second is just because
of the fact that the Eagles did beat them. But
I think the way that they dominated the Eagles through
that game, I think those are notes that they can
come back to.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
But this is a complete football team, and I.

Speaker 2 (07:39):
Know that the coach had them did the rights as well,
and they could have lost the game, but they did.
But you look at that defensive line led by Jared
versus the crew that offense, who can Nakua just out hit,
just acting a plumb fool with Davonte Adams, kyn Williams,
the crew stafford. As long as they can keep that
back healthy, I'm going with the Rams right now, the

(08:00):
second best team in the league, Buffalo. Man. As much
as I want to trust them, I just feel like
they're gonna choke when the moment comes, and I just
can't fully trust them that much because I just don't
know if they have enough offensively