2025 NFL Week 4 NFC Preview

22:14I'm trying to get the numbers because we have the numbers of the average line that teams are starting at and what the numbers are for kickoffs overall. I want the number of what is the average of the ball that lands in the landing zone and is returned out because I, it feels like it's like the 20, which is a huge difference or, or even before, but the overall kickoff numbers are actually about the same as a year ago. So scoring is, is actually up like yards are down because the field position is strong. It's a lot going on, but it really shows there's, there's advantages to be had for some teams.

22:47Yeah. because the whole set, and if you think about it as an offensive play, it becomes a bad snap in that instance. You're having to take your eye off the ball. The timing has changed up. Your blockers don't necessarily know where you are. And yeah, it leads us to having positive kick trajectory discussion for the Rams in the game against the Eagles where the kick trajectory discussion could go in a different way. I felt like we haven't had any kickoff talk on our shows somehow. Shout out to Jason Kleinman who was texting me all about the kickoffs last Sunday while it was working. good stuff it's time for the sunday drive presented by toyota let's go places sunday night football the green bay packers favored by seven in a revenge game the dallas cowboys playing host of them 47 and a half is the over under it's sunday night football so it's mike chris collinsworth melissa stark coach dungy mike tarico i mean excuse me uh michael florio the other one Chris Sims the whole NBC crew as Jordan the Dallas Cowboys have a needed edge rusher I do and he's playing against them on Sunday night yes the game that all of us had circled

23:56Jourdan Rodrigue:on our calendars the second that Jerry Jones made that trade to the Green Bay Packers Micah Parsons the revenge game it's finally here but don't call it a revenge game because he is still really cares about a lot of people in that building, but it's a revenge game. Do you like my Greg impression? Oh, that was it. I thought you were just excited. I am excited. I like the enthusiasm. I like when you do Greg voice. I mean, it's not intentional. I feel like we needed this game. It's almost too soon. Yeah. It's like, it's such a, we need the Cowboys to be in better shape. We need CeeDee Lamb to be playing in this game.

24:32Jourdan Rodrigue:All I need is Jerry Jones sitting up in the owner's box, looking on. I need a million shots cutting to him. And I need Micah Parsons to do exactly what he's been doing for these last couple of weeks, which is a rank, what, fifth in the NFL and pressures right now, despite playing 20 fewer snaps than others even around him in that area of pressure. And, you know, cut to Jerry, you know? Well, we've already had Jerry come out and say, and hopefully nobody in the media production unit at the star was working on a Micah tribute video because Jerry has said they're not going to play it. Don't put on the internet that I'm mad.

25:11If there is one. And Coach Schottenheimer doing what he's done all offseason is answer questions about Micah Parsons. I think at the end of the day, our guys all know Micah. And again, I hope because they know him. But guess what? He knows us. And he knows the way they set. So look, Micah's a great player. Micah's going to make plays. I'll just put that out there. Micah's going to make plays. Does he get a sack? I hope not. but he might he's pretty good

25:37Jourdan Rodrigue:I really like Sean he's just so chill Parson said it's gonna be painful to sack Dak Prescott if that happens I believe him there were some whispers about you know we're the two leaders of the Cowboys like always on the same page or was Dak like standing up to try to keep Micah not that that's his his role not that it made any impact whatsoever I believe it's just depressing and I saw some Packers fans be frustrated last week after that game. Like, Oh, we need more production. Like Micah Parsons making a lot of money. It's like he won his matchup so quickly. So often they were winning up front.

26:19They played outstanding defensively against the Browns who just had that, you know, five yard touchdown drive or else none of it would have mattered. And the only reason that they didn't rack up sacks is because Joe Flacco did a great job just getting rid of the ball when he had no chance. Cause he's a veteran quarterback. I don't think Dak Prescott will be like Joe Flacco. He will hang in there and he will try to make plays because he wants to, he wants to win this game, obviously. And he knows the only chance that he has is to hang in there and just hope that his guys like George Pickens can step up and get open their offense.

26:54Like it's a good offense and it's a borderline great running team.

26:58Jourdan Rodrigue:It is a great running team right now. They're number one in rushing success rate through the first three weeks. It's incredible. And number seven in rushing EPA, and that's an EPA that subtracts any scrambles by the quarterback or designed runs by the quarterback. So it's super impressive what Brian Schottenheimer and Clayton Adams and Javante Williams are doing over there. However, we did lose a Tyler, folks. We lost a Tyler. Tyler Booker headed to injured reserve, probably. Ankle injury. And there's no CD. So I really think... And there's no Cooper Beebe, which I think is a huge loss for them.

27:31And I think they're like, we've talked so much on this show about opening scripts and game plans and showing coaches who love to show their personality.

27:41Jourdan Rodrigue:In this case, I also think owners who like to show their personality through what the team tries to go out and do. So I, yes, I definitely think the Cowboys are going to try to run the crap out of the ball. And I think they're going to try to prove Jerry right in the sense of Micah Parsons run defense. By the way, he's a great run defender. So good luck with that. And I think that's what you're going to see. very early on. That is, in fairness, that is the Cowboys' key strength right now is the way they're running the ball. Being able to run the ball and also having a quarterback that does have all the answers.

28:11And those answers are a whole lot easier when 88's out there. Now you need Jalen Tolbert to get wins against Keyshawn Nixon, who's had a great season in the Packers secondary. The Packers defense did everything they possibly could last week, short of a handful of plays, to get a win that was honestly pretty fluky for the Cleveland Browns. And so it's a lot on deck. But, you know, at this point in his career, you believe that he can do that. But it's just you add it all up. Not in this matchup. Not with CeeDee Lamb out. Not with Tyler Booker out.

28:43Jourdan Rodrigue:And also, even before CeeDee Lamb being out, the Green Bay's limiting explosive plays both run and pass better than any other team in the league right now. And they're number one in scoring. And they're number two in defensive EPA per drive. This is a badass defense. And I'm sorry. It would have been such a good matchup. And you said at the beginning, fans are complaining. You've seen people complaining. That annoys me. Just after that. This is one of the best defenses in the NFL right now. Everyone was frustrated. I heard... That's annoying. Like a radio call. People were really mad. They were much more mad about Jordan Love and Matt LaFleur.

29:14People calling for Matt LaFleur's head. What? They were so mad about that loss. They just believe. They eat the cheese, pun intended, that you can't lose a game like the Browns, that there must be some crime against humanity. But, you know, the Browns have one of the best defense in the league, too. It happens. The more interesting.

29:32Jourdan Rodrigue:Everyone gets Schwartz from time to time. Yeah. And like the Cowboys defense at this point is just so bereft of hope and talent and answers. That like, can they solve the Packers run offense, by the way? Because the Packers offensive line was embarrassed last week. Now, they're almost as banged up as the Cowboys. We'll see if they get their starters back this week. but they lost Zach Tom and Aaron Banks during the game last week. They were completely dominated by Cleveland. That's why they couldn't throw the ball and they haven't run the ball all three weeks. So the Cowboys have solved what ails basically every offense that they faced so far.

30:10Can they do that again for the Packers and have the Packers cover this seven points? I tend to think yes. And that's why it's another good survivor option, by the way. Pretty, pretty good.

30:20Jourdan Rodrigue:Sister pants three. We'll have to decide. Yeah. I have to text Steve about that one. I'm going to, I'm going to lobby for my very safe pick. Steve's not here right now. You know, we're just making decisions. Let's take a quick break. We're going to be back on the other side to wrap up our mega preview. Week four. That was the Sunday drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Toyota is all in all season with another year of Toyota game day giveaways. giving football fans the chance to win big every week of the NFL season. Terms and conditions apply to individual giveaways. Enter to win and learn more at toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com.

31:02No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. ENDS 2-8-26. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C., 18 and over. For complete details, how to enter, prizes, and official rules, visit toyotasgamedaygiveaways.com. For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tremphaya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphaya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tremphaya, proper training is required.

31:41Tremphaya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Trimphia today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit trimphiaradio.com. Lowe's knows Sundays are for football so tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products and more then once your to-do list is done get ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the game.

32:33Shop in store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. Life moves fast. At American Military University, they're ready to help you keep up. AMU's flexible, affordable online programs in cybersecurity, IT, space studies, and more are designed for service members, veterans, and their families. AMU provides the support you need to take the next step wherever life takes you. American Military University. It is made for what's next. Learn more at amu.apus.edu. Innovation is what gets your business to the big leagues and wasabi is designed to give every business a shot at competition break free from skyrocketing storage costs and unpredictable egress fees from old and top heavy legacy providers wasabi is the world's hottest cloud storage company and the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams and leagues around the world and here's why innovation from wasabi's ai-enabled intelligent media storage wasabi air to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals, data deletion, and ransomware.

33:46Wasabi has taken the lead in big league data storage. Remember, Wasabi is up to 80 % less than market competition and doesn't charge a cent for businesses to access their own data. Wasabi, another championship story. Check them out for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi hot cloud storage, proud partner of the iHeart Podcast Network. This is Tab Ramos from Inside American soccer. And this summer, Topgolf is turning into the ultimate soccer destination. They're not just throwing games on in the background. Topgolf is going all in on soccer. They've got a new soccer themed game you can play with your group, special in-venue activations, exclusive food and drink items inspired by the global game.

34:29And at more than 60 locations, they've even installed full-size soccer goals so you can try to hit golf balls right into the net. And every match all summer long will be on throughout the venue. So it's a great place to watch with friends, hang out, compete a little bit, and enjoy the atmosphere. And if you want to keep the fun going all summer, you can get the Topgolf Summer Fun Pass, which lets you play every single day and bring up to five guests every visit. Get yours now at topgolf.com slash fun pass. Summer hits different at Topgolf. back on NFL daily it's time it's time for some international games the NFL international games return to NFL Network on Sunday six games four cities Dublin London Berlin and Madrid snooze off game on for Sunday morning football only on NFL Network also streaming with NFL plus subscription required for NFL plus visit plus.nfl.com for terms but over here in Los Estados we have the los angeles chargers six and a half point favorites over the now jackson dart led new york giants the over under is 43 and a half kevin harling trink green and melanie collins on the call so you know it's special jordan does jackson dart solve all of the issues and keep everybody's job

35:57Jourdan Rodrigue:wow what a big task for jackson dart um it's interesting so i this was the right move at any point in the season i think there was some debate over do you do it now against one of the better defenses if not the best defense in the nfl right now in the los angeles chargers really the hinge point for this to me was a uh if if there was enough of a bad russell wilson performance and And B, Andrew Thomas coming back. Having Andrew Thomas back is such a significant boost for the Giants. I still think this is an incredibly challenging outing because I think, and I am not afraid to say it. I'm a little afraid to say it, but I think the Chargers are the best team in football right now.

36:41Wow. I would be afraid of saying that ever.

36:43Jourdan Rodrigue:For pound, for pound, every single phase, offense, defense, special teams, when you combine all of the collective together, to me, it's them, and the Detroit Lions. Because just the way that they are dominating teams, you're not necessarily, if you watch the games, if you're not necessarily seeing it in terms of scoring points and you're seeing a lot of yards put up and it's a very Harbaugh-y feeling where it's like sometimes it feels kind of slow and churning, but all of it is there. And this defense is exciting. Even with Khalil Mack gone, the way that Jesse Minter is designing pressure and the way that he is deploying his coverages is special.

37:19Jourdan Rodrigue:and I think that this is going to be more of a back-to-front defensive challenge for Jackson Dart than it is a front-to-back defensive challenge. It's funny because if ever there was a game Russell Wilson would be more useful for, it might be against the Chargers who the reputation as Minter keeps a lid on those big plays. But this year, actually, there's been a lot of open receivers down their field. There's been plays to be had. Bo Nix missed them. Patrick Mahomes missed them. They didn't really get to him in that Raiders game. And I do worry. First of all, I always worry as a quasi chargers fan, when things are going too, too well, that things are going to suddenly not, they've almost chargered in back to back games and they didn't charge her.

38:01Jourdan Rodrigue:No, they did the opposite where they, they played their best. That's what I'm saying. It is kind of amazing. I think they'll win this game, but that that's a lot of, it's, it's difficult to know what to expect out of Jackson dart. But on the other side, you know, for the first time this year, last week, I thought, man, they missed for Sean Slater. Because the right side of that offensive line was getting caved in over and over. Joe Allton, like Zion Johnson, maybe had one bad play each or whatever. Like, they were fine. But the other side was getting worked over pretty good. And now you go against a Giants defensive line that could create problems.

38:36And the Chargers have not been a good running team this year. Overall, they got a little better last week. But that hasn't been consistent.

38:44Jourdan Rodrigue:So I'm kind of feeling the vibes. I see the vision, though. I'm feeling the vibes on the Giants side for this week with Jackson Dart just making this a fun game. It is amazing how inserting Jackson Dart into this game makes it one of the games of the week to me. Yeah, it definitely ups the interest. And I am on board as being skeptical that Jackson Dart is going to solve all the franchise problems that they've had over the last few years. But it does bring back the RPO that Brian Dable had so much success with with Josh Allen. And with Russ running these RPOs and targeting in the middle of the field and Jameis Eaton W's in the preseason.

39:17And all that fun stuff that happened. Like, if you're watching on YouTube, we're looking back at the preseason when the vibes were up. When everything was good. Jordan was celebrating. Brian Dayball smiling, talking about Jackson Dart.

39:31Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Things haven't gone well. I think the idea that the Giants front can cause pressure, which you bring up, Greg, it's an idea that's there. I would like to see it come to consistent fruition because the back end of the defense has continued to be bad. Yeah. Like they were a season ago. And you can run at them. Yeah. Like Justin Herbert and these targets downfield have been great. Like the six and a half feels very generous to a quarterback making his first start in the NFL at home against a very good team playing for a very bad team. And I'm willing to guess that a bad game from one side of the offensive line is a little more anomalous than what we've seen and what we expect from this Chargers group, especially with the amount of massive humans they have to provide chipping help where it's needed.

40:23Jourdan Rodrigue:And their fullbacks got Matlock in their tight ends. I do think that that's a factor. I think that they absolutely need to run the ball better. But you see the vision as it's been so close to breaking through in these years with Harbaugh at the helm. And you've got a quarterback in Justin Herbert playing at an MVP clip right now. And that cannot be forgotten about. I know it certainly isn't here. But when you combine that with the way that this defense helps out its offense, there is this really interesting collaboration between the two. Even without, like I said, without Khalil Mack, the way that Jesse Minter, especially on known passing downs and on late downs, can design pressure.

41:06Jourdan Rodrigue:There's a really, really cool pressure he run. This was in a couple of weeks ago. And this is before Khalil Mack got hurt in the Raiders game, where basically they're sending two players at one lineman who then commands the chipping help to come out, kick out to the outside to help. And then the rusher, who's going to actually go at the quarterback, slips inside almost like a pick play, but it's a pass rush and has a clear line right to the quarterback. And he's basically changing the math post snap. and that's what he does again and again and again with this pressure. It's why Tui Piloto, who's tied for fifth right now among all pass rushers with 15 pressures, is having so much success other than the fact that he's a good player.

41:46Jourdan Rodrigue:They've gotten better on the interior. Tierra Tartt makes plays. They've gotten bigger on the interior, and they're badass in the secondary, and I just think that with Derwin James and Diane Henley holding down the middle of the field, they can do these cloudy zone coverages that will really confuse a young quarterback. That was one of the best games of Derwin James' career, which is saying a lot. I've given like Fred Warner as an early, like just watch list defensive player of the year guy, like Derwin James this year. Like he is fully weaponized. This is as good a version of Derwin James as we've ever seen, which is crazy because he's had some really high highs.

42:19So you're right. Like that's all exciting and makes it hard to imagine. But I do think the element of surprise, I do think there are talented players, especially if Andrew Thomas is close to, you know, a hundred percent because he looked pretty good in the snaps that he was out there last week. There are talented players. Scadaboo's giving them a little bit of a jump. And I'm not sure about the offensive line. I mean, they played two of the worst pass rushes in the league the first two weeks. And the right side, like Trey Pipkins and who is it? Saul, he was struggling last week. I do think it was a little underrated how much of a factor it might be long term that, oh, we just popped a rookie in literally the first game of his career.

42:56And he's catching passes from Herber on a game-winning drive against the Broncos and goes six for 65 and has totally great movement skills. Like Aranda Gattson could turn into like a pretty big part of this team this season and be a great pick.

43:09Jourdan Rodrigue:On the Giants side, we're keeping an eye on Malik Nabors, who's banged up and he's limited in practice this week. And that's where I question again, like Jackson Dart will probably target Cam Scadaboo a lot, especially in the short passing game and the quick throw outlet passing game. Who else if McNabors is not there? Theo Johnson has some stuff to him, but has not emerged consistently. They need him. They need a tight end to emerge in this offense for this offense to be what Brian Dable wants it to be. I mean, it's just like, I think they're overmatched. Yeah, I think the Chargers and Menter will get to dictate what this game looks like because I'm expecting a lot of RPO.

43:48It's where the Giants were successful in the preseason and I'm expecting the Giants defense to give up a lot of points. Like, honestly, like if you go to Andrew Phillips who gets a lot of coverage, like his personal beef with C.D. Lamb. He's given up more yards than any other defender in the slot. Made a lot of plays, though. Yeah, he's made some plays. More yards than any other defender in the slot by two, like double. Any other slot receiver, like target. And then there's fluky plays, like the catch from the greatest receiver of all time now. I'm blanking on his name, the former Patriot, for the Chiefs.

44:25Julian Edelman, Taequann Thornton. Yeah, Taequann Torton. Oh, my God. Yeah, where he's like catches the ball behind his back. It's fluky in that. But yeah, the Giants are bad in coverage. Let's move to another team that's bad in coverage. Did you hear how excited Greg's voice was?

44:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Julian Edelman. He knows how much I love Julian Edelman. The Washington Commanders, one and a half point favorites. A little beat up. Questions, quarterback and receiver. Taking on the Atlanta Falcons. The over-under is 44 and a half. Ian Eagle, J.J. Watt, Evan Washburn on the call. Can Atlanta bounce back after one of the nastiest performances we've seen all season, Greg? I tend to think the plexiglass principle applies in the NFL in general, where if you have that bad a performance, you usually come out the next week and play much better. I don't know why that happens. Maybe it's just the law of averages that teams aren't going to play as bad as losing 30 to nothing to the Panthers.

45:19They have issues. We've talked about the coaching stuff already this week. but the fact that John Robinson leads the team in receiving is a problem and that Drake London and Kyle Pitts are averaging under 10 yards per catch. There's just nothing downfield. It doesn't really make any sense. A lot of their offense just doesn't make sense. Remember we thought the whole Kirk cousins thing was like, man, they can't even do any play action or run the offense they want. Cause Kirk cousins can't move. They run the exact same offense. Now. It's like completely disjointed. If I didn't know any, like too much, it like on paper, it looks like one of the most confusing offenses like in the league.

45:52in terms of how it's run. But that's what he said.

45:54Jourdan Rodrigue:That's what Kirk Cousins said on quarterback, and you could really see it. He had a lot of trouble with some of the tags on the plays, the motion tags and some of the alignment tags. They also just, they don't run play action. They should be a play action. They look like they should be a play action team, and they're not a play action team, and Michael Penix is great throwing a deep, and he never throws a deep, so I don't know what's going on. I agree with you. Maybe Zach Robinson will have a better view of all of this now that he'll be coaching on the field versus up in the booth, And part of that, in my opinion, is to actually talk to your players and be able to hear them talk back, which they famously cannot talk back to you when they are when you are in the headset in their ear.

46:35Jourdan Rodrigue:And hey, maybe it would be great to hear some feedback in real time from the people who are going out there and doing the things. T.J. Yates over coaching receivers now, and I've heard good things about him. And that's Raheem Morris making that decision and that move. Raheem Morris being a former receivers coach himself, which a lot of people forget because he's a defensive coach, but he coached players like Julio Jones and knows kind of what details he's looking for in that regard. We saw this when he let go of Jimmy Lake after one year last year. Raheem Morris is going to make a quick decision if it's clear that that decision has to be made for whatever reason.

47:11They kind of eat this game. Not that they eat it. There's not a kind of.

47:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. One in three would feel dark right now for this Falcons team. Good if you're a Rams fan, though, looking at that pick. The injury for Terry McLaurin going to get a second opinion. Initially thought it was a quad injury. It seems like now they feel like it's higher up. There's concerns. Maybe hernia, core muscle related. So getting checked there. That's scary. But fortunately for them, at this point, as of Wednesday, maybe Jaden Daniels is playing. They do have one of the better backups in the NFL. We're talking about actual quality backup. Yeah. Marcus Mayer had played pretty good. He actually did.

47:46Jourdan Rodrigue:Did you hear that? Versus Jake Brown. Marcus Mariota played pretty well. Revenge game. Last week. It is a revenge game. Yes, it is. There was a lot said about Marcus Mariota out of Flowery Branch after his departure. If it is Marcus, watch out. Without Terry McLaurin, long term, you're worried. Also, Bill was out of practice on Wednesday. He did finish the game. He's looked good. Their running games look good in general. They went really heavy personnel against the Raiders, like three tight ends on the field quite a bit. and just steamrolled them for a while. And this team looks a little tougher this year.

48:22I don't know if it's because of the teams they've played, but I do think the Washington defense, it has shown signs of being significantly improved. Dorrance Armstrong is one of the league leaders in pressures. They're getting it with like a lot of people. They have seven or eight guys. It's not like a star-studded group, but they're playing pretty well up front. And the Falcons offensive line, on paper, or maybe that's why they don't call these deep shots and it's not, but then you would think they would do play action is that they don't believe in their offensive line right now, Atlanta. And so that could be a mismatch for Washington.

48:55Jourdan Rodrigue:Do you know what? One of my favorite things is, is anytime, which is quite frequently, Bobby Wagner has a good game. I look for an Ollie Connelly tweet of a, or post or email because I subscribe to his sub stack, the read optional. I look at that fantastic story that he wrote about Bobby Wagner and all of the really multifunctional things he can do and still is doing in that defense. And it's really interesting because Frankie Louvoo, our guy, NFL Daily is one of our favorite players last season, is picking up more attention now. Teams are playing him a little bit. Been a little quiet. Last week was better, but it's been a little quiet this year.

49:31Jourdan Rodrigue:They asked him about it. He's like, I expected it. Teams are paying more attention. They're sending more at him. Concerns in the commander's secondary after some injuries last week and Trey Tucker running down the field by himself, perhaps a chance for the Falcons deep pass a game to get if they can protect Michael Penix because he's one of the worst quarterbacks in the league right now when facing pressure. They can keep him upright long enough. Maybe they'll get. I believe I believe I'm a Michael Penix fan. I think he's got it. The Jacksonville Jaguars got a win last week thanks to some late pressure from Josh Hines Allen.

50:06They are taking a trip all the way across the United States to take on the San Francisco 49ers who may have their quarterback back. They are favored by three. The over under is 47 and a half. Adam Mark Sanchez, Christina Pink on the call. Jordan, we saw the Jags get back in the win column. Do they pose a threat to the maybe Brock Purdy led San Francisco 49ers?

50:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, that's kind of something I've got my eye on big time. Not just as whether Brock Purdy will play because he's working back into practice this week kind of as we record, as we tape this. Ricky Pearsall, who has very much emerged in this offense as the deep threat, as the one type receiver, especially with Juwan Jennings beat up. He's banged up. He's not practicing to start the week. Juwan Jennings is still banged up as well. They might get DeMarcus Robinson back, which I think is a huge factor if Brock Purdy is back because DeMarcus Robinson, who has been suspended for the last three games, he and Brock Purdy connected frequently in training camp and reports out of camp and also my own eyeballs because I was there for a bit.

51:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Hey, now reverse Benjamin buttoning like he's he looks great. He looks awesome. So that's that's a huge ad for the 49ers who are making a lot with a very injury laden skill position group. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Jacksonville Jaguars are still trying to figure out who they have and what they have and how to deploy them at receiver. Yeah, they. They aren't really integrating Travis Hunter consistently. into the offense. And of course, Liam Cohen's going to be asked about. We had a great talk with Trav after this past game in terms of just, man, like, all right, how can we help you and put you, because guys, right, what is he learning?

51:52It's a lot. So we've got to, I think, be a little bit more diligent in terms of putting him in positions to maybe not have to do as many moving parts so that we can just let him go play. I thought he played... with more confidence last week. Granted, it was only one catch on offense, but it was an awesome play. It was an awesome play after the catch, but I'm speaking more about what he's doing on defense. Yes. They're locking him into a certain spot, and I know the coverage stats for PFF weren't great. He's in zone coverage, and if you look at some of those plays, he's doing his responsibility, and the other play call wins, and they're not getting pressure home.

52:31He actually had some incredible reps against Nego Collins, and... I've been all for doing both. And I think he should continue to do both. But if you told me they're already doing it, that it's a little more focused on letting him play cornerback, that that's his more primary position, and that he's playing a little less at wide receiver, and that it's more targeted reps specific to what he's doing at receiver. Like, that makes sense to me, because I think he's hit the ground running a little faster at cornerback.

53:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Normally, I would go to NFL Plus Pro to watch all of the isolated reps of him, of Travis Hunter playing corner because you can so filter that. But shout out to Billy M. I go way back. I go way back with that guy from when I was covering the Carolina Panthers. And he's always been great at posting relevant and ball knowing football clips. And he posted an entire reel of every rep of Travis Hunter playing corner. I think I saw it via John Shipley as well. So double shout out there. And he played great. He looked awesome. To your point, Greg, he looked like one of the better corners in the NFL, especially at times against really tough matchups in Nico Collins.

53:45Jourdan Rodrigue:And yes, I am factoring in the fact that zone defense is a thing where, yes, you're going to have some cushion in front of you when you're playing zone defense. And so I think it's interesting with the Jacksonville Jaguars because I give them, I think, a lot of grace. And I think when you draft a player, a unicorn of a player like that, and he has so much potential, and then you also have somebody like Brian Thomas Jr. who's so explosive. Okay, but you look at the rest of this, right? And I look at a team that very much needed to rebuild massive portions of its identity of its offense. They went out and signed veteran free agents with the idea of phasing a lot of those players out as you continue to restock in the draft with players that specifically fit what this head coach wants to do.

54:34Jourdan Rodrigue:Now, one thing about Liam Cohen, and sometimes it'll come off as anachronistic or antagonistic even in, I don't know what the right word is. Antagonistic maybe is the right word in the press conference versus maybe what we see out of the player. Or it comes off as like, hey, I'm telling, I'm talking to the player or I told him this or he didn't do this. but what it is is he has um I think there's an arc that bends toward the match between player and scheme and you're figuring out as a head coach how far to bend that arc and as a player you're that you're figuring out where you fit within the confines and structures of this offense he's not going to be able to play the Chris Godwin Buccaneers where you have Chris Godwin who can play the F the Cooper Cup kind of role for you it's not going to be the 2018 Rams where you have Cooper Cup and Robert Woods doing all the things that Liam Cohen cut his teeth on doing and then deployed within that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense when he was the offensive coordinator.

55:30Jourdan Rodrigue:It's just not going to be that. So right now I give them all collectively, players and coaches, a little bit of grace as they troubleshoot and figure out what is actually best for these players' skill sets. By the way, it's probably not going to be what I'm used to running as a coach, and that should be fine. You just got to figure that out. Yeah. As much as Liam Cohen is talking about this being a learning process for Travis Hunter, it's definitely a learning process for a coaching staff that's trying to do something with a player that that hasn't been done before and playing like equally playing a majority of the snaps on offense and defense last week where this is this was the dream like this this was it come to fruition Travis Hunter played a majority of the offensive snaps and a majority of the defensive snaps and the Jags won like that's that's what the hope was it's like I've been impressed by the Jags in general I think they win this game I know they're they're underdogs in this game 49ers fans are probably feeling confident.

56:20Both these teams have run the ball inconsistently. Jaguars started out the season great. They just had a bad week, but they were playing in Houston. In general, Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers have not run the ball well. We need a word for someone who is like an all-time great who's not quite at the level that he used to be, but he's still at a very high level because that's where Christian McCaffrey is right now. Shaq heat. Okay. Heat Shaq. and you can win a championship that way. You can build an entire offense.

56:51Jourdan Rodrigue:You had that one ready to go. That's amazing. That was incredible. You can build an offense that's for a 3-0 team around that person. Like that's how good he still is. But they're not the same right now blocking for him and he's not the same explosive. And yeah, I assume Pearsall will be okay, but we'll see. Yeah, look out if Ricky Pearsall, considering the volume of targets that Pearsall's getting as well as the air yards, if he's not, look out. Because he finished that game and he's a guy who hasn't even needed to be that open to make big plays. But I'm really impressed with the Jaguars' defense.

57:22We should move on. But man, Devin Lloyd and Josh Hines out. Like Josh Hines out in two of the three games they've played this year has been the best player on the field. And they're getting development out of guys. Devin Lloyd's playing well. There's something to this team. I like them. They're frisky. I think they might knock off the 49ers this week. All right. A team that was frisky and got a win at home last week is on the road. Task may be a little tougher this time, or maybe not. The Cleveland Browns at the Detroit Lions were nine and a half point favorites coming off their win in Baltimore.

57:53The over-under is 44 and a half. Kenny Albert, Jonathan Vilba, and Megan Olivi on the call. And Greg, can the Browns do it again this week? This is a much tougher test for the Lions offense. It actually seems like an obvious point to make, but I think it is worth noting that they've played one, I would say elite defense this year. And they obviously had a bad week one. They played two defenses that are struggling on balance and they looked all the way back into being all the lions. And I think that's closer to where they were. That's what good teams do. They beat up on bad defenses and just the individual talent is overwhelming.

58:32And the offensive line, it looks so good. But this will be a much tougher test for that interior offensive line specifically. And whoever's got to block Miles Garrett. Uh, look, I, it's going to be a really fun matchup when the lions have the ball.

58:47Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And it could be Pene Sewell, but Miles Garrett moves around and he does that like Euro step kind of move that, that he has that like, it's just so cool that, I mean, he can move around what I do really like. And I had hoped this happened because you heard whispers about him and his sort of alternate personality in college, uh, Tate Ratledge. And I mean this in the most complimentary way possible is emerging as the true dirt bag offensive lineman that I hoped he totally would become. And when you're playing against a Cleveland defense that is number two in stopping the run in terms of success rate, you really need to push some bodies around.

59:26Jourdan Rodrigue:And I really was impressed with not just the synchronicity of the entire line, but that young Tate Ratledge is really emerging as this tough player that they need up front to kind of give them some teeth against a defense like this. and they're not the Lions by any means, but the run game has been better with Quinchot Jenkins for the Browns. They ran the ball pretty effectively when they had a chance to. This is you guys' training camp doesn't matter player proving that training camp doesn't matter. I don't know that it proves it. It just highlights the fact that players can be successful without going to training camp.

1:00:01He looks great. I feel bad for Flacco right now. He got way too much heat for that game last week. It was similar to Jordan Love. he had no chance on so many of those plays. I actually thought he did a reasonable job just trying to avoid catastrophe plays. And he had the one interception, which was a fourth down play at the end of the half where essentially he was trying to get intercepted if they weren't going to hit the play because it just ended the half. It's going to be hard. It's been a little under talked about on this show that both their tackles are injured. DeJuan Jones is out for the season now.

1:00:38But Jack Conklin has been out. That wasn't a great position before. So you're going to their backups. Joe Batonio is really banged up. Like, it's a lot to ask of Joe Flacco in this passing game. And so I think for this Lions defense, which is on the upswing, like, it's obviously a great matchup for them. It's one of those situations where, I mean, styles make fights, and we see that every single week. And the Lions were able to take advantage of an offense that loves to hit home runs. And Lamar was going to try to wait and make plays, and the Lions weren't scared. They didn't fall over their shoes thinking Lamar was going to do a whole bunch on Monday night.

1:01:15And now you have to completely check it down and play a completely different game against Joe Flacco, who, like you pointed out, wasn't even trying to get in the batter's box. Some of those reps against the Green Bay Packers. If he has a chance, he'll throw that ball downfield. If the stars align just right. If the pressure is coming, yeah, he's just getting rid of that ball. And so I, you know, I'd be willing to offer this one up as well. Oh, wait. Did we make a final decision with Steve Weiss? Did I miss that? I feel like we've been here for an entire weekend. The Bills are one option, certainly.

1:01:55Jourdan Rodrigue:The Texans were another option. The Lions are an option, but I don't like it. I think the Browns are too good. I actually think this could be not a letdown game, but you're coming back short week. for the lions. I'm just saying. So we, Buffalo is a very good team. Yes. And we would like to have the option of using the Buffalo bills later this year. And I understand that you got to keep it going though, but you have to survive. Yeah. Let's go bills. Then what do you think? Bills. Okay. That was my pick. Okay. Sorry lions. Also, before we go, everyone's been asking me, you know, when am I going to make my apology?

1:02:34No, I'm kidding. No one, no one asks things like that. about Mason Graham. I've been getting a lot of heat. Daniel Jeremiah sending me texts. Oh, expect to see a barrage of mentions. I have. Mason Graham played great last week. You know who else played great? Every single defensive lineman on the Cleveland Browns. I am not moving off my spot. There it is. He's just part of a good group. For what it's worth, of the nine defensive linemen that played on the Cleveland Browns last week, PFF had him. No, nine defensive players. I think in the front seven, he was ninth. He was fifth out of the defensive line.

1:03:14Everyone ate last week and they're playing a bunch of backups at new spots against the Packers. That was, that was small of me. No, it wasn't small, but like my guy, Aiden hunted in from Tulane playing both sides of the ball. He had a sack and like everyone was, Lee Collins looked like the best player in the league. All right, we got to go. We will be back in this feed on Thursday night. and it'll be the two of you. So I'm looking forward to listening to that. After that, you're going to hear some small shows from me, from Dublin. We're going to do our picks. We're getting Cynthia Freeland's picks, but we're going to involve the Ringer fantasy show guys.

1:03:53Danny Heifetz, Danny Kelly, Craig Horbeck. They're going to be making some picks with me too. We have Michael McQuaid from over in Dublin, the Irish NFL show. Really excited for all of it. And by the way, I mentioned on the first show that I had done a podcast over in Ireland. That's Colm Kelly in OT Ireland. I want to give all the pop. There it is. To all the people. Thank you for playing that. I got to go catch a bird.

1:04:18Jourdan Rodrigue:You and Daniel Jones. Enjoy Dublin, Greg. We will see you on the other side. But before that, it's going to be some Thursday night football. See you then.

1:04:29Wasabi is purpose built to free your business from skyrocketing storage costs and fees. Wasabi is the go-to provider for professional and collegiate sports teams around the world. Check out Wasabi's AI-enabled intelligent media storage, Wasabi Air, to the industry's only cloud storage service with triple protection against cyber criminals. Wasabi, driving innovation in data storage for up to 80 % less than market competition. Try for free at wasabi.com. Wasabi, hot cloud storage, proud partner of iHeart Podcast Network. Lowe's knows Sundays are for football. So tackle your home improvement projects by Saturday and earn your Sunday with great deals on LG and Bosch appliances, select Bounty and Swiffer cleaning products and more.

1:05:15Then once your to-do list is done, get ready to kick back, relax and enjoy the game. Shop in store or online now and earn your Sunday with help from Lowe's, official partner of the NFL. This is Tab Ramos from Inside American Soccer. And this summer, Topgolf is turning into the ultimate soccer destination. They've got a new soccer-themed game you can play with your group, exclusive food and drink items. They've even installed full-size soccer goals so you can try to hit golf balls right into the net. And every match all summer long will be on throughout the venue. And if you want to keep the fun going all summer, you can get the Topgolf Summer Fun Pass, which lets you play every single day and bring up to five guests every visit.

1:05:56Get yours now at topgolf.com slash fun pass. This is Mandy Woodruff-Santos from Brown Ambition. When you think about discovering small brands, what store pops into your mind? Well, it should be Walmart. Seriously, Walmart has thousands of small brands and they're all in one place. Just go online or in-store, discover and shop. It could not be easier. Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it. They're true American success stories.

1:06:26Jourdan Rodrigue:And you can find them all at Walmart. Discover thousands of small brands at walmart.com today. This is Ashley Iconetti from the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast. All right, let's talk about summer outfits. If you're constantly saying, I have nothing to wear, BOEM is about to become your new favorite place to shop. From trendy dresses and matching sets to elevated basics and statement pieces, BOEM has everything you need for vacations, concerts, brunch dates, and everything in between. Trust me, these are the pieces that get compliments. Shop Boehm online or in store and make this your best dress summer yet.

1:07:02Jourdan Rodrigue:Shop at boehm.com. That is B-O-H-M-E dot com. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.