2025 NFL Week 2 AFC Preview

15:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah.

15:58Patrick Claybon:The way that the Dolphins did. Or it's just even though. What?

16:00Jourdan Rodrigue:The Dolphins? Devon HN.

16:02Patrick Claybon:I think he was over eight yards a carry still. But it and it's not like the scoreboard was that lopsided early on where they could have gone to the run. The Broncos, I think, are going to run the ball enough to keep Bo Nix a lot cleaner than two.

16:14Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. I have a theory about Bo Nix after watching that game. it felt like you know he had spent this whole offseason we've heard Bo Nix is getting better he's feeling himself and he put entirely too much dip on the chip like he was trying out all this stuff that it was kind of like you know throws across his body while running to the left all about improv like every other throw that he made was an incredibly difficult try into a small window and that's partly why he had a couple interceptions he had some really nice plays too but But it was almost like he was trying to do so much, like showing it.

16:51It's like the guy who comes back from school and he, you know, he went to another country and he's just like practicing out the new language and like the new clothes that he has. Like he was trying to show everyone how much he improved. Yes, it's Rob. Rob Dillingham. No, I'm just making that up. It was just like, it was a lot of bow.

17:10Jourdan Rodrigue:If you have a game like that, that's the coach you want to be coached by. Because Sean Payton will nip that in the bud like now, you know, So he'll be like, oh, yeah, he will say some stern things, I'm sure. The matchup also I want to see is Nick Bonito versus Bernard Ryman. I mean, Nick Bonito got that contract last week and then was just the best player on the field against Tennessee. And you just kind of forget what an incredible player he was. First among everyone in the league at pass rush win rate with over 20 pass rush snaps. So they just have so much talent. It's hard to lean Indianapolis, but it wouldn't shock me.

17:45Riley Moss hustle. I thought after kind of a bad second year, had a really nice first game last week. Clearly after my fraudulent survivor pick, I'm willing to lean. Oh, that's right. You took Miami. We will be doing survivor picks on Wednesdays. And I'll be watching you guys do survivor. You're wrong.

18:04Patrick Claybon:Our next matchup, the one and oh Buffalo bills given up six and a half points to the division rival, New York jets. The over under is 45 and a half after Justin Fields and company ran up and down the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. Jim, Tony, and Tracy on the call. Greg, do the Bills have a trap game? I don't believe in that. I don't know. It shouldn't be a trap game. If they're watching the Jets tape from a week ago, I still can't move past that new sound drop. So I guess I'm going to let's use it here. So if I was talking to the week one version of myself, that was so confident the Jets were going to pull off the upset against the Steelers.

18:49I would hear back. You're wrong.

18:54Jourdan Rodrigue:It might be my new favorite. I'm sad that that, that exists. I'm glad this is a Jim and Tony game. I'm shocked that the bills are favored by this much to me. It's a toss up. And I know it was against the Ravens and I know Josh Allen only plays for one of these teams. So, of course, they should be favored. But there were a lot of concerning signs for the Bills last week. On the one hand, Josh Allen, so happy for this team that they have Josh Allen. So happy for all of us on the planet that Josh Allen exists, right? Eric especially. Eric especially. Yes, for sure. On the other hand, I think I was right to worry about the Bills defense coming into the season, guys.

19:32Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, I know I got some talk back on that one. But watching the Ravens, and it's the Ravens, Yes. Watching them run all over, especially the linebackers in the safeties and the safeties were taking bad angles to tackle and the linebackers were out of position. They were getting moved off their spot. The front line was just getting moved or boxed into these bad, um, like spatial areas where they couldn't shed their blocks. And like, it just every single level of this defense gave me cause for concern. And that's not even talking about the outside spots, which at corner, which still aren't figured out.

20:09The secondary looks like a mess. And I think the last team you want to play when you're the Bills who, even against the Ravens, are just sitting back in that shell coverage and they're just running all over them. And there's no right way to do it because even when they brought people up to try to stop Derrick Henry in the playoffs, it didn't necessarily work that well. It is what they do. But I do think the Jets are a particularly difficult matchup for that style of team based off the way they ran the ball.

20:35Jourdan Rodrigue:Ed Oliver can't do everything. He tried. He had a great game. but he needs some help and the jets are tough because they are physical. We saw this last, uh, last week, they're physical. They are running the ball really, really well. Um, this, and they also had a number one receiver who went almost a hundred and he went what? 95 yards. The Garrett Wilson had 95 yards and it kind of went quietly underneath the run game by Brees Hall and how much that line was moving people around. I mean, this, this could be dangerous.

21:02Patrick Claybon:is the one thing like that leapt off the screen to me was because mike tomlin loved that defense i i know that the the projections for the 2025 pittsburgh steelers defense were significantly better than the offense i was one of those folks and then amon minbu comes out his first career nfl game uh going up against tj watt and cam hayward and all those guys uh 26 pass blocking snaps with a time to pressure of 3.8 seconds almost four seconds of pass protection from your rookie in his first game against the Pittsburgh Steelers where and we saw just again there's so much that's a Ravens asterisk with that first week that I understand concern they were a mess they were a mess in practice reportedly they were messing the preseason in terms of whether it's Bishop or Damar Hamlin on the back end at least yeah and those are those are concerns that we had on the back end for a team that could have easily gone to and won the Super Bowl a year ago.

21:58Patrick Claybon:There's only so many different ways you can get a team together in the NFL in 2025, but it is almost an all-Josh show, and as you mentioned, Ed Oliver, I know he can't be everywhere, but so much is reliant on 91 to make a play, and that's what he was able to do, and the Bills just are going to need just enough and get the ball into 17's hands and have him have him make a play at the end and get into keon coleman's hands too yeah i'm excited he had one of those training camps where if you're tracking like the daily coverage from your colleague joe basalvia who i think does a great job you know it was like a rough start to camp they're hoping he he bounces up and then you heard a steady drum be as it was ending that the light was kind of turning on and you know one of the catches that he made not the touchdown which really was an incredible individual play and when I re-watched that that really was the intended target for Josh Allen it was just I think Kincaid or Knox whoever it was that kind of saw it and put his hand but he was trying to throw it to Coleman but great concentration but he had a play up the sideline earlier that to me showed everything you want out of Keon Coleman they have to me more than enough weapons they did last year to be the number one most efficient offense in league.

23:15My problem is like with the Jets, like, okay, asking the Jets to keep up in a shootout is kind of a wild thing to expect. But based on how their defense looked a week ago, maybe that stuff they can fix because it felt like a lot of coverage bust. Guys were just running wide open. If that stuff is happening in like week six, that's the type of defense you would say, oh, that's not a well-coached defense right now. It was a lot of just big time mistakes from the Jets defense.

23:40Jourdan Rodrigue:I would rather have that type of problem that's schematically correctable than guys are not tackling at the right angle. Safeties are not in the place that they need to be to make the proper tackle on the running backs. Linebackers are out of position to make tackles on the running backs. Running backs are just running through. That's where I'm concerned because if you can run the ball like this, this early in the year, if you're the Jets and you're the Bills and you know you're going to put up a lot of points, you're still in trouble every single week that this is not fixed on the defensive side because yes, you can rely on your superhuman quarterback and that will probably get you pretty far.

24:17Jourdan Rodrigue:But like I said, if you're getting pushed around like this, the way that the jets did to the Steelers through a lot of that game and also the way that the bills themselves got pushed around for most of that game by the Ravens. Um, this is, I'm, I'm worried about this team.

24:34Patrick Claybon:I think, yeah, there's, there is a real difference in getting blown up and not being at the right position at the start of the play against the Baltimore Ravens and Taylor Rapp trying to make a tackle on Derrick Henry in space. It's going to have a predictable outcome. But when Ben Skoranek and Calvin Austin are just running down the field by themselves, they're both schematic issues that desperately need to be addressed.

24:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Ben Skoranek, erasure right there. Summer World Champion, Ben Skoranek.

24:57Patrick Claybon:No shade at Ben. I love early in the season. These teams are just figuring themselves out. It's almost the first three, four weeks. They're just Just finding out who they are, but it's hard, Patrick, as a member, a longtime member, I would imagine, of Justin Fields Nation, which I consider myself a member of, not to be excited about one of the best games of his career. I don't think that's an exaggeration. That is not a stretch whatsoever. Like in every single way that we talked about that we thought they would maximize him, but it was really the day passing, I thought, that was impressive in terms of the plan and the execution.

25:31Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I agree. And I do think it kind of went under narrated, I guess. They lost. Yeah, because they lost. And then, but also, I mean, he had time, he had space, but he also had this confidence. And he had this, like the way that he ran the offense, you could tell it has been built for him in every phase. And I have to believe that gives somebody confidence. On the other side, and I say it again, like what are you going to do against Josh Allen? Probably nothing, honestly, all season. And he's going to have to do everything. at least for now and get the ball to his playmakers. But I just, I kind of think this could be a shootout.

26:08I love that. I mean, I would love if that the bills jets rivalry in the year 2025 is an offense fueled game.

26:17Jourdan Rodrigue:As the Patriots disappear from view. I mean, the Patriots and the dolphins barely exist this week, but that's the power of week two. You can just completely flip it. We are going to take a quick break. We're just getting started with all these AFC teams.

26:43Back on NFL Daily, fun slated games. I got to say Cam Ward last week had one of the most exciting nightmarish games possible. Like his performance wasn't a nightmare, but like the Titans overall team and the result was kind of nightmarish. And yet going back to watch that, like it was I was I was like, give me 16 more of these, obviously with more completions and more production. But I just want to watch this man play football.

27:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Please keep him safe.

27:13Patrick Claybon:Must see TV for Cam Ward on the road. He and his Tennessee Titans get to be back at home facing off against the man who was deprived of a throw of the year candidate nomination. That is Matthew Stafford. Put it on. We got to just document it. OK, Matthew Stafford of the Los Angeles Rams, who are a six point favorite at the Titans. The over-under is 41 and a half. Ian Eagle, TJ's brother, and Evan Washburn on the call as Greg. These Rams, seemingly, nine is healthy. He was standing very upright in his post-game interview after a win. How do you feel about them against the Tennessee Titans? I feel great, except the offensive line already looks like it's going to be down two starters.

27:53Slipped a little under the radar. Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson are both listed as week-to-week, So that's their starting interior players. And going up against a Titans defense that I came up with after watching them against Denver. What would you guys describe them as? If you could do it in one word, because I think I came up with the perfect one word to describe the Titans defense. I want to see if you can top me. I would say violent. Violent. Okay. Jordan.

28:20Jourdan Rodrigue:Angry. Angry. I was going to do creditable. Oh, okay. Oh. We went with more. like professional would be another. I just was watching them and I'm thinking, you know what? That's a, that's a creditable defense. Credible. Creditable. That's a word. You know, just like they're there. They're professional. Like they, they, they do credit to themselves. It's not going to be flashy, but it's just a lot of players without like a lot of, a lot of team speed overall, but a lot of players who are just like rock solid. And yes, a little, a little violent. Well, they've got to carry a lot. That's why I say angry, because I would be.

29:00Jourdan Rodrigue:If I know how to do my job like that.

29:02Patrick Claybon:It's a very polite way to say mid for those of you who are new to creditable. Creditable is new to the planet. No, it's not. You have to question itself. Deserving public acknowledgement and praise, but not necessarily outstanding or successful. I mean, read a book, Jordan. Come on. Expand that vocab. Okay, so when I think about creditable.

29:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Speaking of angry. I mean, Jeffrey Simmons is a little beyond that. Like, he is violent, and he was awesome in that game.

29:31Patrick Claybon:That's the play that I'm thinking of, Jeffrey Simmons' personal foul, that you could make the case to cost the Titans a legitimate shot at winning the game because it extended a Broncos drive. That was the violence that I was thinking. I think they're just tough. Like, if you go through the list, like Sebastian Joseph Day, like, he's a pro. Devondre Sweat, he's a lot to deal with. They have guys like Arden Key and Shytuttle who are coming off the bench. And then I thought it was big for them. Legereus Sneed was on a pitch count, but while he was in there, he looked like Legereus Sneed. And you think about this matchup, he's probably the guy who would draw Devontae.

30:09That is much tougher. He's going to be the guy who's going to go against the physical cornerbacks. I don't know if they're going to use him more, but you add up the players in that secondary, and again, it's not flashy. but Roger McCreary is like a good player. Monty Hooker is a good player. They just gave a contract to him. It's just like a lot of guys who are solid and maybe we see some year two growth out of this defense and that would help Cam Ward out.

30:31Jourdan Rodrigue:A couple of years ago when the Rams hosted the Titans, this was a really bad game for Matthew Stafford. This was multiple hits, multiple turnovers. Jeffrey Simmons had his way with the interior of that offensive line as well. Even if you have Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson back on the left and right side, they're dealing with respective leg, foot, ankle, knee injuries. And so that's something that is definitely going to factor in. Matthew Stafford did, in fact, not only survive, but thrive in this game. By the way, I will note this is my survivor pick this week. I could not bet against Matthew Stafford.

31:08Don't use that word. Don't use that word.

31:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Watching the game that he played this last week, I was really, really impressed with it. I did also win my survivor pick last week. I do take this game very seriously. Minnesota, I believed in the entire time, definitely was the right pick. But in this game, I think it's super interesting because, you know, the Rams actually, the defense, the pass rush, which is so outstanding and, again, put on quite a show, you know, recovered that last forced fumble at the end of the game to ice out the Texans, pressured C.J. Stroud quite a bit, about a 50 % rate, 48 % rate this last game. it's they're also really susceptible to quarterbacks who can move um there were a couple times where CJ Stroud baited the overrush where they lost their rush integrity because they are young and they want to sack the quarterback this happened to them all last year it's a coaching point that they've reiterated over and over again especially to those edge guys and they did see it right away at the beginning of that game so I think that Cam Ward can make some things happen against this front even though I do think over time this front will just wear on you and that's going to ultimately decide the game in my opinion but I think he'll make some plays against them they were so much

32:21Patrick Claybon:better against Houston when they didn't blitz yeah I think they were only able to convert about 12 percent of their pressures when blitzing into sacks against the the Houston Texans and so they just ultimately decided we're going to utilize that talent and have in great plays in the secondary cam kitchens had uh that turnover and i believe there was another interception

32:40Jourdan Rodrigue:um that was from kobe durant kobe durant yeah he snatched it right out of the receiver's hand

32:46Patrick Claybon:a stolen play where it's like if you have those guys in position to make plays just get the extra defender there i really don't think coachula doesn't even need to worry about the blitz just let those let those four guys get out yeah i think that's the recipe for this team is the defense improve significantly this year.

33:03Jourdan Rodrigue:Kind of sneaky, though. Darius Williams got benched. Emmanuel Forbes and Kobe Durant were playing on the outside. And Akela Witherspoon was barely playing on the outside. He is coming back from an injury. But those two guys are about as healthy as they can be, which means because Darius Williams is their highest-paid defensive player, just someone to keep an eye on as the next weeks and potentially month and a half continues. But it is really, really interesting to me because they aren't asking their secondary to do so much because their front seven is doing everything. And Chris Shula is mixing up his fronts.

33:37Jourdan Rodrigue:He's got odd fronts. He's got even fronts. I mentioned this last week. He's got Braden Fisk out wide as a nine technique with a bunch of other guys who are usually on the edge now on the inside. They're sort of inverting their line in different ways. So they're going to give this embattled Titans offensive line pretty much everything it can handle. And so Cam Ward, again, I fear has to be, have sort of that Superman game. I think he'll make his plays, though. Dan Moore was a disaster for the Titans last week, and you call the offensive line embattled. If that remains true... Was that the right word, or should I let you Google it for me?

34:07That's perfect. No, the wrong word was bet. We can't say bet on NFL media, but of course we kind of can, because no one knows it's true. I'm making a joke about the NFL.

34:17Jourdan Rodrigue:You just let me know when you want to Google a word for me again. Thanks for that. I mean, creditable. I mean, you had me wondering. Because I wasn't certain. I started to feel crazy. I was like, that is a word. Is it? But their offensive line, that's what this whole team is built around. Right. First round picks, huge money to Dan Moore. J.C. Latham has a hip injury. Yeah. And we're not sure about his status. And Dan Moore had a nightmare game a week ago. And so if they're not good, like this team is not going to be good. I do want to have the Cam Ward conversation quickly. I do love your survivor pick too.

34:52So much so that I actually texted Quab, it's going to be my pick. But now that I'm thinking out loud about it, I'm changing my mind. I'm thinking we're giving these survivor picks for the people because we are not allowed to B word. But the people out there are. But in reality, we're also, I guess, having a competition within this room. We want to have our survivor picks against each other. So it does seem stupid to have the same one. So I will hold off and come up with another one. But just know, I do think it is absolutely a great pick. I got some texts this week, Patrick, from our friend of the show, Kevin Clark.

35:27And the takeaways from those texts was, have you watched this game yet? It's Cam Ward and 10 bozos out there. I now know how Justin Herbert feels.

35:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Noted Miami fan, Kevin Clark, by the way. He's like, I know how Justin Herbert fans feel over the last few years. It was tough. It wasn't all perfect for Cam Ward. but he had a lot of great plays.

35:53Patrick Claybon:Yeah, there were drops. There were some in the fourth quarter, especially. He was firing seam balls at 200 miles an hour to Chico Conquo where, like, I understand not catching those, but there was no, there was never this, if folks were watching the Monday night game where you saw J.J. McCarthy kind of evolve as the game went on and get that confidence, Cam Ward had that at the start of the game, at the very start of the game, to an extent where now I'm wondering what he did to the schedule makers to start with offensive line problems to start Broncos, then Rams, and then in two weeks, there are Texans.

36:30Patrick Claybon:It's absolutely brutal. Give the kid a break, please. It's brutal because he had some just wild man throws. The throw across his body from his own goal line, which was money and just the things he was trying. This is a great quarterback matchup. I think in a perfect world, he would evolve into a Matthew Stafford-like player and Stafford is already right there.

36:52Jourdan Rodrigue:He plays fearlessly like Stafford. Right. He's just, he's a walking advertisement for a mortal. I think Jordan, I don't want to put words in your mouth, Jordan. Who? Stafford. Right. I mean, don't you think a mortal is going to go crazy now? I'm not giving them any more pop. Okay, fine. Jordan has gotten so much grief, I think, over the years of being, you know, you've covered the Rams. So, you know, we talk about the Rams. I don't think we talk about them anymore. If anything, we were underselling that Stafford performance last week. He just came back and he looked like absolute peak Stafford.

37:26For the record, I picked them to win the division on NFL.com. As long as it's a healthy Stafford, they're going to be fine. And man, he looks healthy.

37:33Jourdan Rodrigue:14 points did not tell the story either. Poor Jordan Whittington could not catch a break. Caught everything else. Couldn't catch a break. A huge special teams play called back because of a penalty. Troy Reader, Rams fans, I know. you know makes a catch downfield potentially puts them in huge position to score actual points which they had very little of called back again due to a penalty and Jordan Whittington was playing a little fullback for them which is very intriguing if you're interested in that position and more significantly more 12 personnel as well which I think is a factor especially settling down their run game especially taking the teeth out of more fearsome defensive fronts and they're going to face another one this week

38:16Patrick Claybon:I'm not often conspiratorial, but as good as Matthew Stafford played, and we mentioned a brand relationship. No. I'm starting to wonder where we fall.

38:27Jourdan Rodrigue:This is what they want.

38:28Patrick Claybon:I don't know. I don't know. We'll come back in like week five. Now that's going to have to be after four games of getting hit. And okay, we'll see. But he looked fresh. Yeah. Could be some magic beans. Speaking of magic, let's get up to the Pacific Northwest where the Seattle Seahawks will be leaving this week to fly to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers. The Steelers are giving up two and a half points. The over-under is 40 and a half. Adam Amin, Mark Sanchez, and Christina Pink on the call. Jordan, the Seahawks fans saw little Sam Darnold throwing the ball to JSN. Will he throw the ball to other people in this game against the Pittsburgh Steelers?

39:04Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, he has to, right? I don't know. If they would like to win this game. Two matchups that I really love in this game is DK Metcalf, now Pittsburgh Seeler, versus his former team. Oh, it's revenge. Another little dabble of revenge, Patrick.

39:19Patrick Claybon:He's going to try.

39:20Jourdan Rodrigue:Trying to get those to you. Also.

39:22Patrick Claybon:He thought he ran angry against the Jets.

39:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Also, this is Jalen Ramsey versus the former NFC West team that he used to hate playing against or kind of love playing against as well. This is former Super Bowl teammates, Jalen Ramsey and Cooper Cup, potentially squaring off a couple of times depending on where either of them lines up. Jalen Ramsey was playing on the outside. by the end of that game because Joey Porter Jr. got injured. But this is kind of exciting. There's dabbles of revenge all throughout. Aaron Rodgers was almost the Rams quarterback if they couldn't get a deal done with Matthew Stafford. Sam Darnold was almost the Steelers quarterback.

39:55How about Aaron Rodgers' revenge on Sam Darnold for him being one of the 17 quarterbacks the Steelers wanted before they signed Aaron Rodgers?

40:05Jourdan Rodrigue:And for being friends with Rainn Wilson. You know Aaron Rodgers would love that. I didn't know any of that, but I do love that. I know there's so much dabbling of revenge and intrigue. Play action, I think, tells a story in this game. So Rodgers famously throughout his career has not been play action friendly. Didn't want to do it that much. And he ends up with 10 of his attempts last week in play action. Three of his touchdowns were in play action. Was very effective. Looked a lot of like Arthur Smith offense. where on the other side, we were sold a bill of goods in the preseason with Clint Kubiak.

40:40We think under center play action. They had the lowest play action rate in the league. It was almost like he was Clint Kubiak trying to Jedi mind trick the 49ers. We're not going to do what you think we're going to do. We're going to do the total opposite. And it didn't really work for the Seahawks. So that's something I'm going to watch if they go back to what we thought they were going to be.

40:57Jourdan Rodrigue:It's kind of strange too. And I saw a couple of plays that were really outstanding by Fred Warner, who was reading his keys and really, because he knows, obviously he knows the kettle of Kubiak's that we've ascertained is going to be the name for the grouping of Kubiak people that are in the league. Um, and he really read the fullback really, really well. So there's a lot of things that the linebackers in San Francisco were doing to sort of say, Hey, we know what you're going to do, which might have hamstrung, uh, Kubiak as OC a little bit and made him deviate from what he wanted to do. I have no doubt that they're going to get, try to get back to doing that.

41:30Jourdan Rodrigue:What I thought was curious is that Aaron Rodgers didn't throw an attempt past 20 air yards despite all that play action. And I do wonder if they start to sling it out a little bit more. It's going to be tough. That's kind of the new Aaron Rodgers, at least that we've seen over the last few years. But that's that's like the only the third time in his career that that's happened. So, you know, it's it's going to be interesting because you have to get the ball down. I don't know if they can much against the Seattle defense, though.

41:54Patrick Claybon:I think, well, as far as Tariq Willen's performance, because I know Seahawks fans are going to look at a couple of very glaring plays and place a lot of blame on Tariq Willen. I don't necessarily think it was all that bad considering how close the game was. This was more of an issue with the Seattle offense where Sam Darnold got pressured on 32 % of his dropbacks, higher than any game with the Minnesota Vikings. And I say this not just to build up Geno because we said this at the onset. It's just a fundamentally different situation for Sam Darnold when the pressure is coming in that way especially the interior pressure um where it it causes him to not play like the peak sam darnold that we've seen interior pressure is going to bother a lot of quarterbacks but it seems to bother darnold more than others i i was curious when i put that game on to you know see him like how he struggled and in the end i i thought darnold played fine actually these two quarterbacks i think rogers was good but he wasn't as good as the numbers and darnold wasn't great but he wasn't as bad or as quiet as the numbers.

42:56I think he did his job. They just had like the highest run rate versus expected of any team in the league and they weren't that effective. It was a lot of Charbonnet and it was okay, but like there was no Arroyo on the offense. There's no explosion on that offense. I think Cooper Cup makes you a slow offense. I'm not rooting against him, but he led the team in snaps and he kind of had a nightmare game. He was a problem in the running game multiple times blowing his block on plays that got blown up and obviously didn't give them much through the air. So they need to get more out of them. And I'm glad you mentioned Reek.

43:34Mike McDonald was asked about him on Wednesday, whether he will start this week. And he said, we'll see. So they might be. Speaking of coaches that are like pretty honest,

43:43Jourdan Rodrigue:maybe without meaning to be at the podium. You know, we've had. Mike McDonald, yeah. We've had some moments we've seen, we've watched from him. And because, yeah, they're depending on, And it seems like if things aren't working, they're trying to depend on Jackson Smith and Jigba so much. And he's lining up over, you know, 60 % of the time on the outside. And yes, he's getting fed a lot of targets, but they need layers. They need dimension in that passing game. And they also need to get off the ball better in the run game because a good running back is not going to fix your run blocking. It can complement it.

44:16Jourdan Rodrigue:It's not going to fix it. There's so many mystery box teams. Almost every team is at this stage of the season. but these two would be in like my inner circle of the biggest mystery box team. I would stay away from this game. I have no idea who is going to win this game.

44:30Patrick Claybon:It's an avoid avoid at all costs and maybe even eyeballs. Just kidding. I am not avoiding avoiding my eyeballs from our next game in any way whatsoever. I think this could be a calculator game. Jacksonville at Cincinnati where the Bengals are giving up three and a half points after feeling like they were going to score three and a half points last week. Greg over under 50 and a half. We love numbers. Chris Lewis, Logan Ryan, Tiffany Blackman on the call. Do the Bengals bounce back and beat Trev and company at home. I will pick them for game debut. I think, but I would not go with the three and a half points.

45:07The Jaguars were impressive enough. And I just think it's a, it's a coin flip game in general. And Zach Taylor's struck a weird post to me. Like the last couple of weeks, Like I like him in front of the media. I've gotten to like him more as I've watched him more, but he was remarkably positive after last week's game, after they had negative 18 yards in the fourth quarter. And like, he was like, this was like, he was just saying like, we're, you know, this was great. This was amazing. They had seven yards after halftime. And then this week, I mean, he is really excited about this opportunity.

45:44Patrick Claybon:What would it mean to win? It would be your first win in week two since becoming head coach. Yeah. I just want to be two and oh, I know I haven't been to an OSU since I've been here that I can tell you. I mean, I want them. I want them to aim higher, you know, than scraping out a win with negative 18 yards against the Browns.

46:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Three and out on their last four drives on the positive for the Bengals. I mean, this is a big question. They'll find out this week against Liam Cohen and Jacksonville and ETN and, and Basial Tootin and guys who ran the ball really well last week against the somewhat hapless Carolina Panthers. if they can still run the ball against the Bengals. My question is, did the Bengals fix their run defense? Because their run defense looked pretty dang good last week.

46:27Patrick Claybon:And week two makes for those, was that the Browns? Or was that this Bengals defense? I do think after watching Joe Flacco get around 2.84 seconds per throw and seeing Joe Flacco throw on the run and play very well and look very, very comfortable, I don't see. I know Trevor Lawrence had a bad underthrow of Travis Hunter that got picked off by JC Horn one of the best plays in week one if the pass rush is like this the Jags will score 40 points wow I thought the D-line showed something a little bit from Cincinnati Shamar Stewart I think flashed a little bit I'm like okay he's gonna do some things inside you mentioned they have bodies where I'm like at least you could look at it and think there's room for improvement.

47:15I'm really worried about their offensive line. On the interior, the Bengals were giving up pressure throughout. And I know everyone's like, just throw it away. Burrow's always terrible in week one. Division opponent, the Browns struggle. I get that, but I think this offensive line could be an issue all season. And it's going up against a Jags pass rush that I think people aren't going to be sleeping on much longer. Heinz Allen and Trayvon Walker and Eric Armstead while he's healthy. That's a difficult matchup. And I think I'd be a little worried about that offensive line if I was a Bengals fan.

47:50Jourdan Rodrigue:If I am remembering correctly, wasn't Josh Heinz Allen like one of the highest graded players? I think he had the most pressures of anyone in the league. Yeah, I mean, he played. He jumped off the screen. He played fantastic. It's like he kind of heard the question mark surrounding that entire defensive group and the structure of it. And let's not forget, it's all new coaches over there. You know, offense, defense, special teams, head coach. To me, it's like I see the potential of another strong start by the Bengals, but they could not run the ball, which is going to really hurt them. And then in the entire second half of the game, just completely deteriorated, no explosive plays, negative yardage.

48:30Jourdan Rodrigue:This is an issue that I don't know. I mean, you really expect more from Joe Burrow, a Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase-led team. And to me, it's, again, is week one a liar kind of a thing.

48:41Patrick Claybon:Well, I think the liar might be the way we feel about this team when they're not playing the Cleveland Browns, like the Schwartz of it all.

48:48Jourdan Rodrigue:The Schwartz of it all. In hindsight.

48:51Patrick Claybon:Yeah, this is what happens.

48:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Eat my Schwartz.

48:53Patrick Claybon:The Cincinnati Bengals play this defense. Like, Miles Garrett having sacks on back-to-back plays. Like, that's something I'm willing to chalk up and say that, yeah, they're going to play better on offense. But again, the defense got zero pressures on Joe Flacco in the first round. Zero. So you would say to the Jaguars defense, like, may the Schwartz be with you. Absolutely. I'd say that to everybody. Take that game plan. I can't say my favorite Spaceballs quote. Run it back. I also want to just say, I know people are talking and like, how come Greg hasn't said anything about this? Like, what's happening?

49:26There's just a lot of whispers. But as the president of Travis Hunter Nation, we are not concerned. that was going to be a touchdown that JC Horn picked off we are holding firm you know the offensive and defensive rookie of the year predictions might have been like a slight you know bit of extra dip on the chip on the defensive side but Liam Cohen said this week they're going to crank up his defensive snaps a little bit it might take a little bit of time for all to get integrated but Hunter Nation has no concerns whatsoever

49:59Jourdan Rodrigue:Also, the number one thing the Jaguars wanted to do, I mean, not only was it clear by we talked earlier this week about how a coach's script and then consecutive plays kind of shows you what he wants to do or what he wants you to think he's about. They wanted to run the ball. They wanted to run it down Carolina's throat. And they did. And they knew that that was the easiest way, the best way to probably dominate them with all even with all the questions that they've had. they're not going to put an ordinate amount of pressure on the quarterback or on, you know, the perimeter receivers before they have to.

50:33Jourdan Rodrigue:So I have no doubt they're going to ramp up his workload. I might have to grab this game. We haven't assigned games yet for the early window. I am very intrigued about Jaguars Bengals. Let's take one last break here on the podcast. We're going to wrap the show with Patrick Claiborne's team, My team and a spicy Monday night doubleheader.

51:07Back on NFL Daily, wrapping up the AFC Week 2 slate. Patrick always announces the broadcasters for each game, right? But I see it. It's on the sheet. And it just occurred to me, looking at this CBS crew doing Browns Ravens, Tom McCarthy, our friend of the show, Ross Tucker, he's been a guest, and Amanda Balionis.

51:29Jourdan Rodrigue:New friend of the show. Who's a new friend of the show. I was unaware of this, but one of our producers, Jason, showed me an Instagram video she had put out on her feed like a month ago. It was like a day in the life, and she was hiking, and she said, now it's time to listen to my favorite NFL podcast. and she just holds up NFL Daily and even did like the scroll thing where you actually saw the feed of it. Shout out to JP Acosta. It was his episode with me. So thank you, Amanda, wherever you are. Are you upset that she followed me on Instagram and not you? I don't. As long as she's listening to the show,

52:06Patrick Claybon:that's all I need. Whatever it takes.

52:08Jourdan Rodrigue:Thank you, Amanda. I see you.

52:09Patrick Claybon:We appreciate you, Amanda. You and Tom and Ross get a chance to see the Cleveland Browns visit the Baltimore Ravens who are an 11 and a half point favorite. This Ravens team, Jordan, can beat anybody in the NFL. They can also lose to anybody in the NFL, as history shows. 44 and a half, the over under. That's a lot of points, but Baltimore did score a lot of points against the Buffalo Bills. How do you think they will perform against the Cleveland Browns?

52:34Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, anything kind of goes in these ones, right? Because, I mean, it's Ravens-Browns, and the Browns defense looked like the Browns defense, and I don't know that the Ravens are going to be able to run the ball as effectively against the Browns' defense as they were able to do against the Bills' defense. I mean, how are you kind of feeling about this, Patrick? Are you getting a little nervous?

52:53Patrick Claybon:Well, yeah. I think in certain situations, seeing the way that Jair Alexander was covering Josh Palmer towards the end of the game, and I know that both Tillman and Jerry Judy had drops that led to turnovers that ultimately cost the Cleveland Browns the game, and Joe Flacco played well. I think the Ravens' front can get more pressure on Joe Flacco than the Bengals did, but ultimately, Yeah, I'm a fan who has seen a team have catastrophic collapses and losses. And so, yeah, I come into this exceedingly negative. But then I see Greg's confidence and it clears up the skies for it. It's not that high.

53:27But, yes, I will take the Ravens as my survivor. Mixed feelings. Well, now I can't lose because all I want is you guys to lose.

53:37Jourdan Rodrigue:What if I told you this? This is courtesy of Mike Sando and his pick six column at The Athletic. since 2000 when leading by 9-16 points in the fourth quarter over the last four seasons seven teams have done so 20 games total 13 losses Baltimore accounts for six of them I'm not surprised yeah this is what this team does is have these catastrophic losses now I wouldn't expect it two weeks in a row but I do think the Browns played really well last week and they have a better chance to be competitive than people think. I don't like that 11 and a half. I don't like that. It's a division matchup. I don't like the idea that, oh, the Ravens are going to try extra hard this week because they lost.

54:24That should be a segment, by the way, that should maybe be a sponsored segment. Patrick's try extra hard game of the week. Cause the Ravens would be that team this week. Both of these teams actually really,

54:34Patrick Claybon:but also again, I've told this story way too many times on the pod. If you go to the facility in Owings mills and you look around and you see Ray Lewis, you see J O, You see all of these Ed Reed photos of everybody that's contributed. And then you're like, oh, there's Joe Flacco. But it just so happens that Joe Flacco is standing behind Marshall Yanda in the picture. Maybe Joe Flacco is the one that's getting revenge against the team that didn't want him. Let's listen to Joe Flacco. I do think it's amazing. This is essentially a homecoming game for the Ravens. They're honoring the Super Bowl championship team.

55:07And Joe Flacco just happens to be, you know, coming into town.

55:13Patrick Claybon:I got to play him a couple years ago, but going back to Baltimore is definitely a little bit different story. It is somewhat surprising, honestly, because I've been gone for a decent amount of time now. So, you know, the fact that I haven't had a chance to go back is a little surprising. I think I'm very capable of just seeing it as another division game, but it will be cool to go back in that stadium. I haven't had a chance to do it since I've played there. I really love playing there. It's an awesome place to play. It's an awesome venue. It's an awesome atmosphere. They do a great job. So I love playing there.

55:45Patrick Claybon:So I think in that respect, it will be pretty cool to go back for sure.

55:49Jourdan Rodrigue:This is not a revenge game. Do not put on the internet that this is a revenge game.

55:54Patrick Claybon:Is he going to go to Rodgers and then after the game be like, yeah, it was really good to beat the Baltimore Ravens. I think he genuinely likes the Ravens because they changed his life in one of the, I think one of the top moments in NFL network history. I will never forget it just because I happen to have been watching it live. And I remember I wrote the article on NFL.com about it, like reacting to it that night. He sits on the tape, you know, the dais with Rich Eisen and everyone after winning that Super Bowl. One of the very best playoff runs any quarterback has ever had, like without any qualifiers.

56:30Joe Flacco had that and he had it in the middle of a contract run in his contract year. And he said, Steve Bishotti told me if this happens, I can go pound on his desk and really stick it to him. And that's exactly what I'm going to do. And I just remember being like, yes, you're feeling yourself, Joe Flacco, right after the Super Bowl. And he gave him like a market changing contract. He was probably like the 13th best quarterback in the league. And he was by far the highest paid quarterback.

56:54Jourdan Rodrigue:I love it. And he is not wrong. That is one of the coolest places to play in the entire NFL. It's one of the coolest home stadiums in their intros and how gothic it is. and especially night games. When the sun goes down, it just gets so much fun there. I love it. What I also love is, there's a lot not to like about the Browns and how they've done business over the last couple of years, but in terms of this season and what it is, it's kind of just playing for the future and developing young players. And I know they want to be competitive. I'm not ruling that out. And Joe Flacco certainly wants to be competitive, but you've got to feel really good watching some of these young guys play.

57:33Jourdan Rodrigue:this last week and their debuts in the NFL. Greg and I talked about it a little bit earlier this week on a previous show. It just... Good omens. It's a good omen. To me, it's like, latch onto those guys, watch those guys play, and think about 2026 and what you can start to build out of this new core. Are you a little worried about the Ravens defense? Nine guys last week, specifically to this week, played 58 snaps, some of them 80 to 90 snaps. They were on the field a lot. It's always on my radar early in the season. You've got Chidobe Awuzie starting over Jair Alexander.

58:08Patrick Claybon:That's not even close. It's the right decision. Right. Jair Alexander really struggling. The pass rush other than Matabuike just wasn't there. This is an easier matchup, certainly, in terms of their pass rush.

58:21Jourdan Rodrigue:And there was a lot of buzz that Mike Green was going to come in and make a difference off the edge. But, you know, you just got to see it.

58:26Patrick Claybon:A little concerning. Yeah, it is concerning. They won't be on the field as much. The rare, only Ravens problem of having an offense that was too explosive, especially the second half against the Buffalo Bills, where you would like to see more of a constrictor Sean McVay type drive towards the end of the game to grind things out, where I don't think the home run potential against this Brown defense is as high as it is against Buffalo, which is like, oh, no, bad news. Maybe it's good news. See if Baltimore can slowly move the ball, give those guys a break, a little bit of time off. To our next AFC matchup, the New England Patriots coming off a loss at home to the Las Vegas Raiders.

59:06Patrick Claybon:All the boys and all the girls are begging to play Miami. They are one and a half point favorites with an over under of 44 and a half. Andrew Catalan, Charles Davis, Jason McCourty and AJ Ross on the call. Greg, your squad gets a chance to bounce back against the team whose vibes are down horrendous. Yeah. wait which team has the vibes down horrendous come on both go to Foxborough go go listen to Boston sports radio I'll pass Greg I will too but I'm just

59:39Jourdan Rodrigue:imagining what's there see if I can get to it on my long long list of things you know I don't know darn I'm not gonna I think if you were just ranking just based off week one performance the Patriots would have been one of the five worst teams in the NFL only they were the only team to give up more than five 20 plus yard plays. They gave up nine guys were wide open in the secondary. They decided to blitz a lot. Maybe that's going to be their strategy. Seemed like a bad one against Geno Smith who flamed them last year. I know it's a different staff, but you know, he knew exactly what was happening.

1:00:12Bust all over the back end. No one can really cover Christian Gonzalez does not look like he is going to play in this game because he missed on Wednesday. And It was a little more cohesive, but Drake May did not look good. Like he certainly didn't look better than he was as a rookie. He looked rather jumpy. So it doesn't surprise me that the Dolphins are favored in this game. To me, it's just a toss up of two teams that I just don't know what we're going to get out of. One of them could pop up this week and just look much better. I just don't know. But to me, it seems equally likely that it's the Dolphins that pop up and look better than it is the Patriots.

1:00:50Because the Dolphins at least have some continuity and have been together.

1:00:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And I can just almost guarantee, especially because, you know, the Miami defense did not look good, but I can almost guarantee that Anthony Weaver is looking at what Patrick Graham did with that Raiders front to make Drake May look frazzled and look hassled. They were mixing up odd and even fronts. Patrick Graham does not play generally like a four three, but they were mixing up, you know, presenting more even looks than maybe that they had done in the past. They were doing a lot of different types of zone coverages behind it. this is something where you look at that and all of these things the Dolphins defense is capable of doing we have seen it despite the fact that they've lost some players even you know up front they actually got some guys back and healthy so they should be able to at least you know make Drake May look confused but it is kind of weird it was weird seeing it because when I and I know I brought this up a lot so forgive me but when I was at that those joint practices they were going against a very confusing defense they were using Travion Henderson as an outlet they were calming Drake made down, giving him a lot of options, giving him a lot of pressure beater options, giving him a lot of just things that settle a young quarterback.

1:01:56Jourdan Rodrigue:And then also, you know, they were reining him in intentionally to not use his legs at will. But if you're looking rattled, like you've got to just at a certain point, I mean, what is it? You know, he he he ran around four times this last game. You've got to at least like say, OK, if you're not feeling comfortable, go make some plays, go make something happen. It's a trend. So I don't listen to Boston sports radio, but I do listen to Tom Curran, who's one of the best in the game and a great accent. Also the best outstanding and Greg Bedard. And they both, they made, he talked about on his podcast this week.

1:02:28They made a comment like Drake may has been so accurate and so calm and so good in every practice that they watched just about. And literally every time so far, and this includes a preseason, I watched all the steps that, you know, there's been a scoreboard in referees. he's just throwing the ball all over the place. Now, whether that's a coincidence or not, it is a fact that he's kind of been throwing the ball all over the place in terms of his accuracy and his comfort in the pocket. And they're not sure what to make of that, really, other than they just think this offseason, it has been a trend and may even alluded to it that he's been a little hyped up for these games at the beginning and he's sailing passes.

1:03:08But, you know, you would think he would maybe settle into the game. If anything, it got worse as last week went on. It doesn't mean he's not going to get out of it, but right now he's in that mode.

1:03:18Jourdan Rodrigue:And I think Josh McDaniels' reputation is to make things harder on the quarterback, even when things are stressful. And so what if, hey, here's a concept. What if you didn't do that? What if you made things easier on the quarterback when you see things get stressful or too much maybe for the quarterback to handle, as capable as Drake May has been? And that's very true. How calm and truly collected and just sort of like, okay, I don't have that option. I'm going to go here or I'm going to take it and run or whatever. and very, very poised. If you're not feeling that way, don't stick and do the same things that you started the game with.

1:03:50Jourdan Rodrigue:Make things easier. Get the quarterback to settle in. Run the ball. You know, these types of things that would really help, I think. Their run game stunk. And if it stinks, they're not going to be a good team.

1:03:59Patrick Claybon:And I think like your tendency to feel like, well, yeah, Drake's got it. The problem might be everywhere else. I don't think that's bias for you to feel that way. I think the problems may be more surrounding Drake May, especially on the sideline, than Drake May himself, like being in these situations and i think the spot here is a spot where you can feel comfortable that things are going to go just fine because if you think that the fins are going to speed him up and blitz especially after last week when dimes was very very comfortable they're one of the like in the bottom half of the league in blitz rate and success rate when blitzing today i don't i don't think that's in the bag at all for them like i really don't think that that is a part of the tools that they can utilize against Drake May.

1:04:42Patrick Claybon:So it's a guilt healthy game. I don't know because the, I think if there's the biggest weakness of, and there are a few on this Patriots team, it's like linebacker and the backend with cornerback. And then it's the offensive line until proven otherwise. And I think the number one strength for this Dolphins team in theory is their pass rush. And they were okay last week, but Danny Dimes was getting it out so fast. His time to throw was just like, they had answers and everything was getting out fast, fast, fast. So I, I think that could be a mismatch on the other side though. Look, Milton Williams had a nice game.

1:05:10Harold Landry had a nice game. They've got some players certainly up front. And the Dolphins lost two starting offensive linemen right off the bat this season, or at least Austin Jackson's not there yet. And then they lost James Daniel to an injury. And then their rookie, Jonah Savanea, who supposedly they swiped from the Patriots. And then the Patriots ended up with Travion Henderson instead. He's really been struggling, Savanea. So that's just something to keep an eye on. And also something to keep an eye on is a comment from Brian McCarthy, official PR spokesman for the NFL. We mentioned Tyreek Hill's latest domestic violence allegations, which is part of a divorce proceedings that TMZ obtained.

1:05:56And those those results are sealed. But the Associated Press has written about it as well. And they're out there and you can you can find out specifically what they were. We went over it on Monday night, but he just says it's standard policy for the league to review a matter such as this. So at this point, as far as we know, Tyreek Hill is going to be available for this game. But stay tuned.

1:06:20Patrick Claybon:Let's go to the next matchup. It is a Houston Texans team that lost in SoFi Stadium playing host to Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. fresh off of shutting down the Falcons run game and getting a closing seconds win thanks to the efforts of Emeka Ibuka. 42 and a half is the number. Texans again favored by three. Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky, Louis Riddick, Katie George, and our friend Peter Schrager on the call as, well, Jordan, this Texans team went through a lot and now they get to give a lot to Baker Mayfield. How do you feel about their options at home?

1:06:54Jourdan Rodrigue:Okay, so two things. One, I feel like this has the potential to be a like blood and guts Baker Mayfield type of game because when in watching this Houston Texans defense in person, they're hitting guys, they're hitting and they look awesome. And I mean, holding the Rams to 14 points in an opener in a McVay opener is, is kind of a big deal. Um, despite the fact that they, that the Texans offense got as much as they gave and were limited themselves. That defense, they are aggressive. They are physical. They pressured Stafford. I mean, he was hit three times. One of them was kind of a weird bad snap, and he had to run back and get the ball and all that.

1:07:37Jourdan Rodrigue:They pressured him quite a bit, especially off that right side, and especially when the guards came out and got him in the interior. And so I think that when you're going up against kind of a magical moment for this revamped Bucs offensive line, which we didn't really talk about too much because it was kind of a surprise. No, I missed it on Sunday. And I will tell you, it was a total surprise. So obviously we know they're missing Tristan Wirfs and they will be for another couple of weeks. But Todd Bowles pulled a fast one off of what he was watching in practice when they decided to move Graham Barton to left tackle from center and they tried him out for a couple of snaps in practice like four days ago, four days before the opener.

1:08:15Jourdan Rodrigue:And then Todd Bowles was like, hey, that looks pretty good. We should try that full time. So then they moved him full time to left tackle from center. Ben Bredesen kicked inside from left guard to center. Michael Jordan, not that one, a late summer addition elevated from the practice squad, then played left guard and they fared. Okay. They fared pretty, pretty well. Good. Not great. A lot of pressure, not, not a lot of hits on Baker, but a lot of pressure. Um, it's like going against like a bonafide defensive line, you know and one that's proven the Falcons did get 15 pressures but this is a very different this is a very different beast here with Houston I think you really saw it in the run game I mean you saw those pressures but the run game was disjointed and it reminded me so much of the way last year started for the Bucks which if you remember they were one of the worst running teams in the league for about a month and then suddenly they were like poetry in motion like everything was clicking and Bucky Irving is off to the races and they were extremely disjointed.

1:09:18Like, it's just something you can see with your eyes that they weren't all on the same page. It seemed like one player was like blowing a block all the time. They like they were working so hard against the Atlanta Falcons. It does make you wonder how this week is going to go against the Texans. There was a 16 play drive. This always cracks me up that they had to kick a 47 yard field goal and there was nothing. whenever that happens, it's usually because you have a bunch of penalties that you had to back up. Nope, there was one five-yard penalty early in the drive. It wasn't about that. It took 10 plays to get to the 50.

1:09:48It took another six to get to the 30. And it was just like that. That's not normal for this Bucs offense. So I think maybe Todd Bowles was really hooting and hollering because he knows he stole one at a time of year where maybe they're just figuring some things out.

1:10:03Patrick Claybon:It was almost three seconds for Baker Mayfield to throw. 2.95 second time to throw against the Falcons and all that they've done. It's not going to be three seconds against Texas. The Houston Texans. It's not. So whatever changes that they made late, especially Baker hitting a Mecca Bucca for that, I don't think the wide open opportunities would be there but perhaps a chance to get more consistent in the ground game and to adjust to the changes that they surprisingly made up front right before the game started.

1:10:33Jourdan Rodrigue:And we know on the other side that Todd Bowles is just going to pressure the crap out of, you know, CJ Stroud. It's the same issue, really, on the other side. He's really going to do everything he can. You know, there were some bright spots, I think, with how CJ Stroud specifically and some of the scheme, we mentioned it earlier in the show, handled some of the pressure, baiting the rushers and all of that. That's not always going to work against a Todd Bowles defense, especially if they're bringing extra pressure, they're bringing blitzes, things like that. I think that the Texans can run the ball.

1:11:02Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, Nick Chubb looked really good. I thought he looked good. Over a 50 % success rate, 4.6 yards per carry. And they didn't, you could argue, they didn't run it enough. Like they looked, Nick Chubb looked really solid running the ball.

1:11:14Patrick Claybon:That's four unique combinations of offensive linemen, by the way. Did Nick Chubb look good? Like the Texans to be having these problems already. And despite that, Chubb being successful. I can hear like all the claymates out there. After Jordan points out Chubb, he's like, Patrick said that week ago. He said he was going to look good. As they should.

1:11:32Jourdan Rodrigue:They should have pointed that. The claymates are absolutely right. It's a loud group. They're both me, by the way. Essentially. All accounts. Yeah, these two teams are kind of mirror images of each other. Because I was wondering, why did Cam Robinson start again at left tackle? That was a total flip of everything that we heard. But it was because of an injury at guard. And then they wanted to move Titus Howard inside. So then they moved Ursary, where he wasn't at, to right tackle. And Robinson over to the left. Then their center got hurt. Then I think a guard got hurt. And so it's like all jumbled up.

1:12:02And that's concerning for the Texans.

1:12:04Jourdan Rodrigue:Cam Robinson came back in, but Jake Andrews, the center, did not come back in. So that's something definitely to watch, especially with that interior pressure that the Bucs like to bring. One last quick point on this game is just I think the old Antoine Winfield is back. One of the biggest reasons why the Bucs defense was not as good last year as he was the year before was because of Antoine Winfield. And he had a play at the end of that Falcons game where he absolutely lit up Casey Washington, the Falcons receiver. And it was the second to last play of that drive. And it reminded me so much of the game winning plays near the goal line that he made throughout that Bucks run.

1:12:39Patrick Claybon:And he almost made one of those against Pinnocks where he was out of bounds, but he had stolen the ball and was running the other way. And it's like, oh, well, here goes Winfield Jr. again.

1:12:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Game wrecking right in the end. I don't call him Antoine Losefield, guys. She was just waiting for that one. You could see me shaking my pen as excited.

1:12:56Patrick Claybon:Let's get to our final game of our NFC preview as excuse me, as the as the AFC preview as the Las Vegas Raiders. get a chance to be at home in Las Vegas where they are getting points. Three and a half points against the 1-0 division leading Los Angeles Chargers and their quarterback, Justin Herbert. It is Monday Night Football. Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, and Laura Rutledge on the call, Greg. Do the Chargers push to a commanding lead in the West? I'll pick them to win. I'll probably pick them to win by more than three and a half. It's just the Raiders defense I want to see it more. I was amazed.

1:13:36I mean, they played really well.

1:13:37Jourdan Rodrigue:They looked so much better than I think people expected them to look. And they talked about it post-game. They were very vocal. They know what the expectation or lack thereof was. And it's like, it's scheme and effort. And that's Patrick Graham and Pete Carroll together. A balance of scheme and effort. And that's what you need because you have a deficit of talent on that side. Right. And I think that can go a long way. And it means they can overachieve compared to expectation. but we've only seen them match up with one offense so far. And it was an offense that was really disjointed. So I'm as surprised as anyone that Devin white and Jamal Adams absolutely were difference makers for a defense in 2025 last week.

1:14:16And so was Jermaine Pratt. Like they were all, they all were out there making plays. This will be a much tougher test against a charters offense that maybe for the first time in the Herbert era, but definitely for the most in the last few years, like looks deep in terms of the amount of ways they can beat you through the air. And I think eventually on the ground, but at least the diversity of the type of players that Herbert is throwing to year three, Quinton Johnston is not year one and two, Quinton Johnson and Keenan Allen this year is not Chicago Bears.

1:14:51Jourdan Rodrigue:Keenan Allen is like, he's like, I saw the other side and I didn't like it. And you have these rookies just like kind of waiting on the bench who are or are interesting to it it's it's it lad mcconkey's year two it's it's a nice group and it also felt like in the opener and again it

1:15:04Patrick Claybon:was the opener against the chiefs but 2025's greg roman isn't greg roman of previous years they were so pass heavy and and and i think that's that's a credit uh to greg roman because like we don't get that version of quinton johnston like we we don't get lad being very creative in like lad was out there setting picks like like it's like a the team's far and away number one is grinding so other guys can get open including a guy who's been getting maligned all the time like i i loved it i love the chargers offense in the opener yeah and and their run pass balance

1:15:34Jourdan Rodrigue:especially early in the down is like skewing now toward pass which is crazy and and even when they ran omarion hampton look good they need to they need to you know run the ball a little bit more efficiently a little bit better but but they looked really good in both phases they look more balanced to me. They're letting Justin Herbert kind of I think just grow into himself a little bit more of what we know he can be and kind of build that confidence and a little bit of that spice.

1:16:00Patrick Claybon:He was really feeling himself. Like the slide that was very saucy at the end of the game and the fadeaway throwback across the field to Quentin Johnston on that touchdown pass like Herbert was feeling it. He's in like a celebrity relationship now. He's literally in first place. Like when have the Chargers ever been in first place? Even for a week. I can't remember the last time there was this much optimism about the Chargers. And now I feel terrible about saying they're going to cover three and a half. Because like, that's the moment if you're a Chargers fan, which I'm not like a fan, but I'm definitely rooting for good things for Herbo.

1:16:35That's the moment where it gets taken away from you.

1:16:37Jourdan Rodrigue:I think that one of the things I was most impressed with was even when they lost Rashawn Slater and then Joe Alt moved over to the left side, he looked incredible. Oh, yeah. I mean, he looks like he's never going to relinquish that spot again. All right. Yeah. Tackle. That's over. Yeah. Yeah. Or all right. Delete opposing edge rushers. And that's that's tough because Max Crosby is kind of in a solo show. For now, we'll see if someone else emerges along that defensive line. But like it's going to be basically Max Crosby trying to make something happen. And Joe all plus a cast that looked really impressive that blocked really well.

1:17:14Jourdan Rodrigue:A lot of really big skill guys chipping all the time and making some of the heavier layers when they want to go heavy pass or when they want to go heavy run come to life. I was really, like I said, I was really impressed with this Raiders defense. But to me, I think this is a points game. I do. I think it's a points game because Gino is playing like... Gino looked extremely comfortable too. He's playing like Gino. These are two of the best quarterback performances of week one. I know he had that interception but... He is not afraid to make the tough throw. He has seen the field well. For him to do it one week into being with Chip Kelly is really promising.

1:17:51And if I had one concern about the Chargers in this matchup, it is their pass rush. Yeah, I know Bosa wasn't healthy last year, but Mack and that group overall, interior on the edge, I think they're hoping to be average. I don't think they're going to be above average. I think in week one, they weren't great. So I think that's, if you give Gino time, he's going to cook you.

1:18:13Patrick Claybon:Some of that was Mahomes, though. There was a play where Khalil Mack won instantaneously and was chasing Mahomes, who makes this back cross-body throw to Hollywood Brown, where it's like, wiki.

1:18:25Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I think some of that, if I'm watching that, some of that I think they're trying not to, like I mentioned before, overrush on Mahomes, who's just going to flush and escape and then make something insane happen downfield. This will be a bigger, and, you know, Gino can move, but you know, he's not Patrick Mahomes in terms of making those, like I'm parallel to the ground and still somehow throwing the ball down the field kind of throws. The thing that I'm worried about is Brock Bowers because he told Tom Pellisaro at the game that he is fine. He banged up his knee. He told him he was fine. Pete Carroll, you can check this right now, Greg, if you're able to, but Pete Carroll has said earlier this week that he's day to day.

1:19:04Jourdan Rodrigue:This is something where their offense runs through this guy. And as it should, he's incredible. He's playing incredibly like he's picking up right where he left off. Just something a little something to keep an eye on. Yeah, they get an extra day to recover. So they're there. Wednesday is an actual Thursday. We are taping these preview shows on Thursday. So especially with the Monday night games, but it's true really of all of them. You got to keep on top of the injury situations because he other than Gino is the most important. Yeah, I mean, he's the most important player, I think, in the entire franchise.

1:19:36He really is. and this is one with Max Crosby, but I would put Brock ahead of him. So they need him out there because everything kind of feeds off of him. Suddenly Michael Mayer is open. I really liked what I saw out of Trey Tucker. I've always liked him, but in week one, he's getting better. It's year two Brock Bowers. This is fun. I love that they got, they're both undefeated too. They could have easily both been 0-1, but this is a Monday night capper with Joe Buck. This has to be one of the bigger Raiders games since the Raiders-Chargers game where Derek Carr ripped out Justin Herbert's soul.

1:20:11That was the tie that sent them both to the playoffs? Yes, and Justin Herbert played like, oh, he's never played well in a big game. That was one of the best games of his career. But, you know, the Chargers defense couldn't hold it on for him.

1:20:21Jourdan Rodrigue:I'll be there Monday night for The Athletic, and I texted Greg earlier this week, and I asked him if he was jealous. I was going to go see Gino play in person. He's like, no. I'm not mad. Don't put in the paper that I'm mad. What a show. Love it. So, we're all done with the AFC, but we're not done here just yet. We wanted to find a way to cover each one of your teams even more. So, like, we are going deeper on these previews. All the NFC teams that are playing in home games this week, it is in your feed. We have our NFC preview also up, And I'm excited because if you give us a chance to just like honk a little more, throw a few more puns.

1:21:08I think our puns per minute ratio is just like through the roof right now.

1:21:12Jourdan Rodrigue:I had a Brock Bowers one. I'll save it, though. OK, tune in next week or even Sunday night when you join us again for the recap show, Brock Bowers pun. But for now, just hang tight and go check out the rest of the preview with the NFC. Kitchen and bathroom professionals know what goes behind the tile matters.

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1:21:59Jourdan Rodrigue:This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.