2025 NFL Week 7 AFC Preview

17:07Gregg Rosenthal:But he was getting a lot of information, like gathering a lot of information with some of the hard counts. He got the Eagles to jump off sides. He got them to move early or declare their pressure early. And that's something that, you know, yes, quarterbacks worth anything in the league do this. Right. But at the same time, the little tells and the little advantages and edges like the Broncos will bring pressure. Bet on that. And they'll bring a lot of different types of pressure. And they want to try to make him run so that they can sort of keep the cap around the quarterback, as they say. So I feel like this is going to be really interesting because they're going to give him everything he's got.

17:40Gregg Rosenthal:he's going to try to do some of the old tricks that Daywell is going to remind him to do in the headset right before it shuts off. And then after that, it's kind of going to be like two bowling balls versus an entire defense.

17:51Steve Wyche:And he's been pretty good in the quick game, too, which they didn't have him do at all in college. So he's shown some really good progress, I think, from even where he was as a prospect. Whereas if you reverse Bo Nix's two seasons, I think people would be panicking just a little bit. And that matchup, when they have the ball, is interesting, too. Duke, I'm not ready to declare a Shane Bowensance or anything, but I do think the Giants defense last week did more of what everyone's been asking for. They benched Deontay Banks. They were much more creative in how they attacked Jalen Hurts, and I thought they had a good week.

18:26Steve Wyche:So can they build on that? The run defense has been pretty bad all year. On the Giants defense, though, Greg, there was still that moment where Devonta Smith was running down the field by himself. they're making the same mistakes that they've made it just hurts in the Eagles offense a little wiggly in that one but a fun game nonetheless looking forward to the Giants at the Denver Broncos but not as much fun as our next match

18:57we're going back to London the Los Angeles Rams off of a narrow somehow win against the Baltimore Ravens are favored by three against the home team in this one. Jacksonville Jaguars 44.5 is the over under the games on NFL network where we care about people and each other. Rich Eisen, Kurt Warner and Sarah Walsh to see the Jacks try to bounce back. Jordan, I love early morning football on Sunday. Rise, shine and watch. Are you ready for this?

19:30Gregg Rosenthal:I'm so ready. It's the McVay Bowl.

19:34Steve Wyche:What did they say to Patrick at the all hands meeting this week.

19:40Gregg Rosenthal:It's the McVay tree bowl. It's the Sneed tree bowl. It's the what the hell chaos might happen between either of these two offenses bowl because my God, are both offenses making some mistakes despite the win-loss record. Watching these games, you think, yes, yes, yes, yes. No, no, no. About four plays a game from both of these offenses. The big storylines out of each side this week is Puka Nakua, obviously the Los Angeles Rams star receiver, might not play this week. I would expect him to try to go, knowing him and knowing what he did a couple years ago on a short week against Minnesota where he was ruled out and then suddenly ruled back in.

20:19Gregg Rosenthal:I'm really surprised that Thursday night football game. But I don't know that it would be smart necessarily to play him in this one that far away from home with that long of a flight back in case something else happens. And then in Jacksonville, Devin Lloyd, who's leading the team in takeaways right now, is also ruled out. So that's those that those star players on either side. Key storylines coming out of there this week.

20:41Steve Wyche:Yeah, it's huge. And they're also trying to integrate Greg Newsome into their defense immediately put him like with tough assignments a week ago. And he gets burned a little bit. The Jaguars defense. So I think the loss of Lloyd, I guess, big as a loss as Puka is like, don't underrate the loss of Devin Lloyd to that Jaguars defense. Yeah, I mean, he's a guy who's, you know, if there's a comeback player of the year for nine players so far, it's it's Devin Lloyd. So what's Sean going to do? He's going to try to hit some stuff in that game. So circle the linebacker, a lot of running back passes coming in.

21:13Whittington. Yeah. Whittington, some stuff that way. So it's interesting. The Jaguars are a confounding team to me because you see all the talent. Of course, Trevor is kind of the linchpin because he's just so hot and cold. And I think this is a game. If that Rams defensive front is aggressive as they are. If Trevor runs the football, like we saw him do a couple of weeks ago, if he's Clemson Trevor, they're going to put this Rams defense in some tough predicaments. And so I think this might end up being the game of the week. I think it's going to be a hell of a game. Patrick has already hyped it up to the point where it should be.

21:47Steve Wyche:And Patrick's not the only one. Everyone's fired up for this game on NFL Network. I mean, this is one where I think it's the running backs, you know, ETN. If he gets it going, you know, if Kyron gets it going, I think those two guys in a run and pass games are going to be the difference. It's two defenses where that is where you think you want to attack it. And the Jaguars started the season as one of the best looking running teams in the league. It slowed down just a bit. The Rams numbers on the ground are fantastic. And you mentioned that battle in terms of the Rams pass rush. It is a reminder, the Jaguars offensive line to me, because I was quoting some numbers last week of like how careful you have to be with what opponents they've faced this year.

22:30Steve Wyche:because their offensive line numbers in some of these games has been fantastic. But it was against some of the worst pass rushing teams in the league. And then last week, you show up against a real deal pass rush, and it goes horribly. And they also were without Robert Hainsey, which ball knowers like Ollie Connolly have been saying is maybe one of the most underrated best centers in the league and really has changed their offense. We don't know about his status for this week. So they were without him. And the Rams, meanwhile, are second in the NFL in terms of QB knockdown percentage, like either a sack or a QB hit.

23:02Steve Wyche:And they barely blitz. So that is a great four-man rush and a big test for the Jaguars.

23:07Gregg Rosenthal:But the Jaguars are really thanking the Baltimore Ravens for that last quarter when Tyler Huntley, Stu Huntley was in the game and reminded everybody in the building and everybody watching advanced scouting from Jacksonville that the Rams pass rush for as fearsome and talented as they are still have so many issues covering running quarterbacks. When quarterbacks go on the move. Steve brought it up earlier. I think that if they do that type of plan against Trevor Lawrence specifically, not only do you mitigate some of that pressure against the offensive line that you know they're going to bring, but also if you can create out of structure at all against this front because they're having trouble containing running quarterback, the Rams secondary I do not trust at all.

23:54Gregg Rosenthal:The safeties are good. But I do not trust any of the corners, the perimeter guys. This is, this is, I think a big crucial plot point of this game. Yeah. And opportunity for, you know, Trevor Lawrence and Travis Hunter, as well as Brian Thomas Jr. to make those sorts of plays that we didn't see. We saw BTJ make a play, but Travis was lined up a foot. Offsides. Right.

24:17Steve Wyche:Probably Thomas's best game of the year. It made me feel good. Yeah. A little bit better, but if we can get BTJ to, you know, make some plays on the ball a little bit higher, not let the ball get into his body a little bit more. And over on defense, I'm just concerned with as much zone as they play. Like one of the most zone dominant defenses in the league without Devin Lloyd being in the middle of it against Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford. He was shooting zone up, got it out all season.

24:42Gregg Rosenthal:For a year. It's a dangerous, dangerous matchup. Yeah. Can I raise a hand for somebody who's just balling right now? It's Nate Landman. Yes, I was just going to say, yes. When I see a dude get 17 tackles, that's usually when your team is getting the brake speed off of it One dude's making all the plays. 17 tackles. Do you know how hard that is? And a forced another fumble.

25:02Steve Wyche:And a forced another fumble, yeah. And a fourth down stop as one of those tackles. Like, Landman.

25:06Gregg Rosenthal:You know, when you're Trevor Lawrence, and yes, I fully expect them to come in with a game plan if you're running the football, be careful running it anywhere in Nate Landman's direction because Mr. Fumble, Trevor Lawrence, is going to have a hard time holding onto that football

25:18Steve Wyche:against the punch out of Nate Landman.

25:22Gregg Rosenthal:Enter Landman.

25:23Steve Wyche:I do like that you brought up Lawrence's playmaking because I've been pretty critical of Lawrence this year and even how he played last week. But the playmaking is a big reason why they were able to stay in that game. And he had some bad luck and he has been doing better with that. I am curious in this game too, if they can get, you know, if there's no Puka, like can we get Devante unlocked a little bit? To my eye, he looks good. Yeah. But some drops this year, for sure. It's been quite inefficient throwing to him. Just a lot of incompletions. If you just look at the catch percentage, They're quite bad in the red zone.

25:58Steve Wyche:And a lot of those throws have been to Devante Adams in the red zone. He was supposed to help there. His contested catch percentage is low. Like it, it just hasn't all been clicking yet for him. And this will be a big spotlight game on NFL network. Wish I was there. Wembley stadium. The Jaguars play at Wembley stadium every year. The other games are at Tottenham Hotspur stadium. And yes, this is the last London game of the year. We're just getting going on the preview show. Let's take a quick break and we'll come back and we'll talk about one of the best rivalries in football.

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29:59Steve Wyche:Before we took a little break, I teased this upcoming game between the Chiefs and the Raiders, saying one of the best rivalries in the league. And maybe the outsiders will say, well, it's one-sided. The Chiefs are heavily favored. But the fans hate each other. And rivalries are about the fans. I mean, I really do think that's where you get the college football type atmosphere. And I will say, maybe the rest of the league doesn't care too much about Antonio Pierce losing his job in terms of their wins and losses. I think the Chiefs are one team that's happy Antonio Pierce lost that job because Antonio Pierce had a pretty good beat on the Chiefs offense over the last couple of years.

30:37Steve Wyche:And the Raiders made those games close. Yeah. Won some, too. In fact, I think we don't get a couple of Chiefs Super Bowls if the Raiders didn't win and drive that bus around Arrowhead Stadium. Take a victory lap. and Andy Reid said afterwards they won that game so they can do anything they want to do. But then he added, that's not our style. Kansas City, John Gruden era. Go to three Super Bowls after that. Now they play host to those Las Vegas Raiders. They are an 11 and a half point favorite. The over under is 45 and a half. CBS one. It's Jim, Tony and Tracy on the call as Greg the Chiefs are going to get Rasheed Rice back.

31:14Are they a fully operational battle station?

31:17Steve Wyche:They are. they already are one of if not the best offense in the league before getting Rice back it's like it's crept up on us a little bit but they're second in DVOA like this is the best three game stretch I mentioned in terms of points scored that they've had since 22 it's a really good offensive line and yeah when you look at those strength the schedule numbers sometimes it's about when you play them this feels like the worst time to play the Chiefs getting Rice back meanwhile you know the Raiders are going to have just their static defense into it. All the guys play all the snaps. They're one of the only teams.

31:48Steve Wyche:They just play two cornerbacks and that's it. And Q Blue Kelly and Eric Stokes, they will be out there for every single snap. And I feel like they're going to have a difficult time in this one. I think Jordan and I are quietly chuckling when you said the Chiefs offensive line with all the tweets we exchanged earlier this year, like, oh, left tackle, right guard, man. That's an issue. But they've looked so good. And that's without their left tackle playing last week or probably this week. I'm glad you mentioned that.

32:14Gregg Rosenthal:Hopefully everything's okay. You're real peculiar about what's going on. But they got it. I don't know if it was Mahomes going in there saying, guys, it's over. Flip the switch. Let's go. Because Kelsey's playing, getting both tight ends involved in the passing game. Opening up everything from intermediate to the deep passing game. And all of a sudden, their run game looks legit. Where's Pacheco been? Now he's showing up kareem hunt finishing off games the way they're playing so they just had it you could tell it was like okay it's time to get it going same thing they did last year and they are rolling right now and then the raiders man i you know year away from me in a year away yeah that's your favorite it is but it's true that's sad i think with the chiefs offense the best way i could probably describe them is looming in in a good way for them in an ominous way i think for everybody else because you can see some of the little cogs and wheels in Andy Reid's brain and Patrick Mahomes' brain starting to turn a little bit more with some of the things that they're setting up.

33:21Gregg Rosenthal:More under center runs last week, for example. Okay, you're setting things up to have that stability to start moving Patrick Mahomes' spot in a way that's natural, not him running for his life, in a way that's starting to unlock some of the misdirection and some of the things that we know Andrew really wants to do vertically and horizontally with these speed receivers. You're starting to see the offensive line dig in and sink in together, even with the league's highest paid backup left tackle or swing tackle played pretty well to your point, Greg. And so I feel like this is like the chiefs starting to, you know, when someone, I mean, I've never been punched, but when somebody is about to, is winding up, they're about to haul back and hit you.

34:04Gregg Rosenthal:That's what the chiefs are doing right now. they're they're locked and loaded here yeah we've got fresh off of a team getting hit

34:14Gregg Rosenthal:did not intend did not actually mean to me oh you landed one right in the kitchen oh man whoopsies uh and some defenders around the league have reached out and said like brian branch did nothing wrong uh after that apparently there's like some sneaky heat with juju and a lot of defenders.

34:34Steve Wyche:Oh, I feel like Juju is very much like in the CJ Gardner-Johnson mode. Just like someone that...

34:42Gregg Rosenthal:Got released recently.

34:43Steve Wyche:You know, just pokes the other team. And there was a clip of him with a totally dirty blindside block on Brian Branch with three minutes left in that game. So that provided some context to that postgame. The Brian Branch hit him then. Right. I'm not saying... I'm not defending, but it gives context. I was like, okay. Hit him then.

35:00Gregg Rosenthal:Okay, I accidentally sidetracked our entire conversation. It's fun. I know who Patrick would like to hit. No one. Chip Kelly. Well, look, if I'm in the Patrick violence draft,

35:12Steve Wyche:Chip Kelly is way down the list. Okay.

35:14Gregg Rosenthal:You know what? You're right.

35:15Steve Wyche:How about among NFL figures, though? You know, he'd be high up there. You know, if we're doing wish casting, you know, I'm not a violent. I mean, what's he doing to Gino? I know. It's a lot of short passes. 50%. Where it's like we're hiding Geno at this point and maybe hiding the rest of the offense, which is probably like a good idea. Ashton Gentry able to have a 32 % missed tackle rate, but that not necessarily translating to that many yards, especially like if you think about a guy like Bajan, who we saw in space, creating breaking tackles like Ashton Gentry breaking tackles to a similar extent, but having to do so much work behind the line of scrimmage where it's just it's just not necessarily happening.

35:57And so, yeah, like not to put it all on chip, but at some point you got to do something different if you want different results.

36:04Gregg Rosenthal:Yeah, it's it's that and the offensive line and no Brock Bowers all in confluence. Bowers is not expected to play in this game at this point and all in confluence with each other and the inability to coach around it. And I think all of that at once is true.

36:17Steve Wyche:So we alluded to it before, but just to clarify, Josh Simmons, their first round left tackle is away from the team with a personal issue. He was in California. They asked Patrick Mahomes about it, and he said he was praying for Josh Simmons. And that's just where we're at with that situation. Otherwise, it's a very healthy team, the Kansas City. One of the most in the entire NFL. And I think replacing those Juju snaps with Rasheed Rice snaps is going to add even more speed to a speedy offense. They may be old, but they're healthy. But they're healthy. And the defense looked like a Chiefs defense.

36:54Chris Jones balled out. Carl Aftis balled out, you know, Nick Bolton balled out, Drew Tranquil. We say it every year. Like, Chargers actually let this guy go. Like, he shows up. Like, that defense is playing Chiefs defense now, too. All right. Congratulations to the resurgent Kansas City Chiefs who have been doubted and disrespected enough. And I guess they're going to go back to the AFC champ. It's been so long. On the heels of all of our collective disrespect. Speaking of, the Miami Dolphins are on the road at the Cleveland Browns, where we'll get to see Bill and Gabriel going once again. Two and a half point favorites are the Browns at home.

37:33Spiro Didis, Adam Archuleta, and Aditi Kinkabala there in what has been a tumultuous week of a whole bunch of tumultuous weeks in Miami, Steve. Who do you side with? And Tua's facing the guy who broke all of his high school records over on the island of Oahu. That's pretty cool.

37:50Steve Wyche:just before we even get into that's it's pretty cool two left-handed quarterbacks from hawaii one hawaiian one of samoan descent one who was like kind of like a childhood hero a guy you looked up to to the it's pretty cool yeah i mean this is going to be in the two teams of chaos right now uh the browns trying to figure it out miles garrett saying must be nice be able to rush the passer with a touchdown lead after last week's game and to a basically airing out some home business when he should have kept that to himself. I'm sure he's endeared himself to some Thanksgiving dinner invitations by his team.

38:28Um, look, this is, this is one right here where I think Cleveland, if they're going to win a ball game, this is good. This has got to be other defense has got to show up against an offense. I can't figure anything out. Dylan Gabriel, you can show up, you can, you can beat two again. And he already got his high school records. You can get him again because this Dolphins defense.

38:51Gregg Rosenthal:They're no teeth. It's not it. They're no teeth. There's nothing there. You're seeing Jalen Phillips, a good player, just getting unable to bring quarterbacks down. It is. And after what happened last week, I mean, you talk about something that could blow a locker room up. That is absolutely the powder keg what Tua did after that game where it's going to be every man for himself pretty soon. and I'll take Patrick's line. The thing that matters most and then compounding the issues that, that are clearly surfacing week after week after week in that building and, and the frustrations with each other and the bad looks by Tua and bad looks all around for this entire team.

39:33Gregg Rosenthal:The worst of all is that they can't stop anything. And just when they're starting to get their offense itself back together, starting to look okay in the passing game, at least even without Tyreek Hill, Darren Waller has really come around. Miami is allowing opposing offenses to score 60 % of the time. That is a record since 2000. That is the most important thing. It's not their cybersecurity attendance reports.

40:04Steve Wyche:Tua did apologize. He said, I think he got some internal heat too. He apologized on Wednesday and they all tried to move past. He said he's going to keep things in house from now on over. But I agree with you. It is ultimately the defense that matters more. Can we keep the defense in house? So they did make some changes last week, I noticed. Kenneth Grant playing a lot less, their first round pick. They put Minka Fitzpatrick in the slot. So that helped out, I believe, in terms of their secondary. They have three safeties on the field, essentially, at the time. But they've just had such surprising no-shows.

40:41Steve Wyche:Chop Robinson has six pressures this year. I'm shocked by that. He looked so good last year. And he's not on the field that much, but six pressure is crazy. Chubb hasn't been good. And their second round pick, Jonas Havanea on the offensive line, that might be the worst guard combination, him and Cole Strange in the league. So they're trying to overcome a lot. And this is a very tough defense to try to overcome it against. But on the flip side, the Browns offense is a sinkhole too. So it's weakness. Not their running back. not that's fair this week could be a quench on junket yeah you could be yeah you're playing fantasy football you might want to have him starting for you this week i i noticed uh pff has uh you know they they rank receivers which it's not like the perfect position but i just happened to notice out of the guys who had 20 targets out of 68 wide receivers ranked 67th and 68th were isaiah bond and jerry judy and like out of 87 receivers in espn's receiver score Jerry Judy was 87th.

41:42Steve Wyche:I mean, he is killing them with drops and penalties and not being as open. And Gabriel hasn't been perfect, but they had five drops on them last week, including one where I really saw.

41:54Gregg Rosenthal:I mean, I've been kind of high on Dylan Gabriel anyway, since hearing all about him when he was still a prospect and what scouts were thinking of him and all that stuff. But there was a throw that Dylan Gabriel and I think that they connect on this this this week. Dylan Gabriel getting the ball to Harold Fannin. I think that's a huge part of what this game plan is. No, it's down the left sideline. And he was going to go all, I mean, it was going to be for sure a house call. And Harold Fannin dropped it. And it was a beautiful, could not have hit him anymore and led him with the throw. Could not have been a more gorgeous timing throw.

42:28Gregg Rosenthal:And it was like, that's the future of what this game is going to look like and what the next few games are going to look like for the Browns. If they can connect on those, you're going to start to see some positivity kind of leaking out of that Browns offense and certainly that building.

42:41Steve Wyche:The vibes for the loser of this game will be horrendous. I got a preview. Horrendous. The vibes are going to be bad no matter what. No, the win, it'll feel better. Dolphins, they can't lose this game. But I would say the same. And yet, they might. And yet, they're underdogs to the Browns.

42:58Gregg Rosenthal:60%. Speaking of 60%. That's most of Greg's first name. Dolphins run to the left. 61.9 % of the time. They're one-handed. Offense to Vaughn, Achan gets hit behind the line of scrimmage when they run right 56 % of the time. Well, there goes your brain. Oh, yeah. Only 29 % when they go the other way. So, yeah, that's the direction, Miles, that the Finns will be running. Miles, you playing on the right side this week. Yeah. Hopefully, you know, no meeting attendance reports will be shared because apparently that's the worst thing to ever happen. 60%. event it's a lot uh to our next matchup the resurgent carolina here we go on the road we'll see if a zero ever squad which is incredible in charlotte uh can be good on the road at the jets in new jersey as they try to bounce back from a nightmare performance in london jordan the over under is 42 and a half chris myers marks larith and sarah kustock on the call uh do fields in the gang bounce back.

44:00Gregg Rosenthal:I can't believe I'm saying this right now. This feels like a trap game for the Carolina Panthers.

44:05Steve Wyche:Wow.

44:06Gregg Rosenthal:Honestly, behind an emerged running game, they are third in offensive rushing success and excuse me, third and offensive rushing success rate and have improved to number 14 overall for the season and EPA per play on offense. They are ascending. They did. And people were quick to point this out. to me. I am cumulative here. People were quick to point out. They played the Dolphins and the Cowboys defenses. Okay, fine. But for the entirety of the year, this is a dramatic upswing and improvement week over week by this team that's starting to figure it out. That's getting an identity behind Rico Dowdle.

44:47Gregg Rosenthal:This is pretty cool. They're getting some guys back, but Cade Mays, they're getting Austin Corbett back, but Cade Mays might keep the job. He looks great at center.

44:54Steve Wyche:Yeah. Look, schedule matters. I checked this because I was curious. Offensively, they faced the second easiest schedule in the league. Good for them. They needed it. Right. It's only going to get easier this week. But in terms of the defensive improvement, they just shut down one of the best running games in the league. So they turned a total weakness in terms of their run defense into a string. It's bizarre, though, because to use a fantasy football term, they're a pass funnel now where they're much better stopping the run. the Panthers run defense, and they're still pretty bad stopping the pass.

45:26Steve Wyche:That's not a good matchup for the Jets. The Jets are not a team that can take advantage of you through the air, especially without Garrett Wilson, and he's not practicing Wednesday. It's uncertain if he'll play this week, but it's not sounding great. I mean, look at the Panthers. Rico Dottle's got like, what, 400 plus? 455, yeah. In two games. They're running the ball well, and it's not like they're handcuffing Bryce. I mean, I think he threw it just more than 20 times last game, but he threw it 30 the previous game. He's being fairly efficient. He hasn't thrown for more than 200 yards in those games.

46:02That was the short, the quick passing game. But Ted Aroa and McMillan got his first touchdown. He looks right. This offense looks fine. I love the way that some of the blocking schemes that they're doing and then Rico Dotto, once he gets to the next level, he's doing his thing. The Jets aren't great defensively. There's no reason to think the Dotto train is going to stop. and offensively the Jets, you know, I think it might be time for us to look at Justin Fields and say, maybe it's not the offensive coordinators of the scheme.

46:28Gregg Rosenthal:But that's why I'm saying this feels like a trap. There is some interesting splits in like how Bryce Young and this defense, by the way, has played in home games versus away games. The passer rating difference is 94.8 at home games, 76.8 in away games. The stats, touchdown to interception ratio is not that different, 5-2. at home five to three away, but his completion percentage drops on the road and his EPA per play drops on the road. And so, but so I'm like, okay, I've been seeing Bryce Young put it together. Right. And this run game is really stabilizing him and some of the decisions that he's making.

47:06Gregg Rosenthal:And that laser on fourth down to Hunter Renfro to just basically essentially win this game last week and the confidence that he's playing with. I see it and I'm like, don't play down to your opponent this week.

47:22Steve Wyche:I mean, they were the underdogs until everyone started betting it. So at least when it opened, the Jets were considered the favorite. I don't think they're at the line is for Greg. I get it, but either way, it's sort of viewed as a toss-up. I do think the Jets defense played so much better in that game in London than they had all season long that you could at least hope that a turnaround is happening there because there were pretty specific changes that they made. Like Jarvis Brownlee has turned into a dude as their slot cornerback who they traded for. Jermaine Johnson was back, and that gives them a big-time upgrade.

48:00Steve Wyche:And then who was it they benched? It was their safety, Tony Adams. They just stopped playing him, and they played Malachi more. And so they made some changes, and so maybe their defense to give some positivity is on the upswing for the Jets. Yes, to the extent that Sean Payton was making rage play calls just out of sheer frustration. Also, Chuba Hubbard might be back for this game. Yeah, and then you have a decision to make. There's no promise. It sounds like they're going with Rico Dowdle as the starter because he said there's no promise that they're going to start Chuba Hubbard.

48:28Gregg Rosenthal:The Jets defense is watching the Panthers defense, and this is the Lord I've seen what you've done for others game. Yeah, hoping for a turnaround that I did not think was possible, but they've done it. And so previously, as of three weeks ago, obviously all breeze goes huge uh in this game but considering what we've seen in the past few weeks i i'm i'm not necessarily get a win get to four and three carol i tell you the panthers to me are one of the top four or five storylines i love it it's like the big surprises because did not see this coming i love them because they've taken so much smoke over the last oh they've earned it they've earned they've earned it but especially on defense and and man i just i like seeing them play with more confidence i don't want to hear about their schedule i'm sorry They need like, yes, I'll explain so much in the NFL, but that's okay.

49:14Steve Wyche:It's just how it works.

49:15Gregg Rosenthal:Same thing with the Patriots, but beat the teams you're supposed to be competent teams. Beat the teams are supposed to beat. This team hadn't been competent. Now they look competent and then some, and I love it. And it's near and dear to my heart. Greg, let me have this. Speaking of those new England Patriots, they are a seven point favorite on the road as Mike Rabel makes his return to Nashville, Tennessee, the take on the franchise that ruined well gave him a great opportunity to go coach for the team that he used to play for the over under is 42 and a half Andrew Catalan Charles Davis Jason McCourty and AJ Ross on the call do the Titans get the coach firing bump Greg I think they will I think they'll play tough I

49:58Steve Wyche:believe in the mystical power of the fired coach principal our guy Spice Rack who's been on the show many times, you know, has the numbers and the numbers support it. And in this case, it is a revenge game. Mike Vrabel certainly did not like how ownership in Tennessee handled the end of his tenure, not just allowing John Robinson to trade AJ Brown, but then how they fired Mike Vrabel for Rand Carthon. And he didn't even last a year there. And you're right. It did end up happily for Vrabel in a place he's familiar with. He did have to spend a year with the Browns before

50:32Gregg Rosenthal:that so that couldn't have been that much fun and adjacent to ohio state where chip kelly

50:40Steve Wyche:that's where he learned a lot he had some players there though let's listen to mike rabel talk about his return to nashville this is going to be probably a lot to be said about this and i think would file under the category of you know is it interesting or important and i would probably say this would be very interesting, but in the end, not very important to our preparation or what we need to continue to try to do to improve as a team.

51:06Gregg Rosenthal:Love that dichotomy.

51:08Steve Wyche:I'm obsessed with that. So good. I'm going to go through, just inspired by Vrabel here, some things.

51:13Gregg Rosenthal:What if someone called you interesting, but not important? How would you?

51:16Steve Wyche:Story of my life. That would be rough. I'd be like pretty much on point. I think that could be a segment, I feel like, for our show, just throwing out things, whether it's interesting or important. Um, Marcus Jones, important, uh, one sneaky, one of the best players on the Patriots this year, certainly, uh, outstanding as a returner, but he is getting it done week after week at cornerback for a couple of years though. Yeah. Uh, but this, this year it's been next level. Sometimes cornerbacks have those years where not just the ball finds them, but that they make game changing plays like week after week.

51:50Steve Wyche:He has been their best cornerback much better. Like then Carlton Davis is making all that money. for instance. The Patriots are dead last in the league in EPA per rush.

51:58Gregg Rosenthal:Yes.

51:59Steve Wyche:I would say that's interesting and important.

52:01Gregg Rosenthal:Yes. And only 33 % rushing success rate, which is also way at the bottom of the league. And they're not blocking it either. Less than a yard before contact per rush. Oh, yeah.

52:12Steve Wyche:I put almost nothing on Travion and Ramondre.

52:15Gregg Rosenthal:Important and interesting.

52:16Steve Wyche:Yes. The The fumbles are on Ramondre, but they can't block, which just outlines how well May is playing. And I think schedule is massive. I think it's massive. Schedule really does explain a lot of what we talk about in the NFL. And sometimes you just have the cake schedule.

52:34Gregg Rosenthal:The personal shot.

52:35Steve Wyche:And the Patriots have had a cake schedule, and they're going to continue to have a cake schedule. If you look at the bottom 10 teams in terms of EPA per play or whatever in the entire league, they're all on the Patriots. schedule and that's helped Drake may out but I the level of that he's playing is is higher than I could have even expected we could say this every year though when it comes to scheduling and things like this here's here's why I think it's you know interesting and maybe not important not only when you mentioned John Robinson getting fired when Mike Vrabel was coaching in Tennessee because the AJ Brown trade Brian Callahan just got fired because Mike Vrabel has taken his young quarterback to new heights brian callahan took him nowhere so i think that factored into part of that decision as well because they were a disaster look i don't think tennessee gets the bump i just hey you know winners good spirits they got no players i mean i'm just and i'm not saying this to take a shot at them but i do not understand the roster construction for over the past three years for how they tried to build this team now they finally got their quarterback receivers are all over the place.

53:41The offensive line's all over the place. The defense has Jeffrey Simmons and whom else. It's one of these things where at least with the Patriots now you can see some semblances of their roster construction. They're trying to fix an offensive line that's not good. They got the quarterback. They got him going. They've got some offensive pieces they're trying to get going. Titans have no identity. It's going to take them a while to get that identity because we don't even know if Baganzi is leading this coaching are just going to be back as GM. He's only been with the Chiefs, which is why Matt Nagy's being mentioned as a potential head coach candidate for that job.

54:15And I think he's definitely, I would be stunned if he doesn't get an interview. But this week, I just don't think they get the bump. I think the Patriots go five and two. They've got the tiebreaker over.

54:26Gregg Rosenthal:Are they buyers at the deadline, Greg?

54:29Steve Wyche:Absolutely. They have tons of cap space. They want to take advantage of this opportunity going into vision. Maybe they look across the sidelines. at some pieces. You know, personally, I think the Titans could, you know, build for the future and ship out Snead and Simmons to Baltimore, you know, for no reason whatsoever. Simmons would be an interesting, doesn't really make sense on the Patriots where their best position, I guess, is defensive tackle. Calvin Ridley feels like a guy that should Buffalo and will be traded. I wouldn't necessarily want him on the Patriots. Just seems like an inconsistent player.

55:05Steve Wyche:They got enough, like solid receivers. I think. Stefan Diggs showing up for Greg. No, I'm just saying Kayshawn Booty is worth keeping in the lineup. Stefan Diggs is doing his thing. If you're going to go get someone, go get AJ Brown. You know, go get like a premier player, but they don't need another two slash three. Mike Brable, by the way, not getting too sentimental about it, said that a Goodwill off 8th Avenue in Nashville got a fantastic haul of his Titans memorabilia. He's not a guy who keeps mementos. So my guess is it's gone by now because he moved quite a while ago. But that's if you're looking for like a sweaty undershirt with Titans on it.

55:52Gregg Rosenthal:Sustainable fashion. That Mike Grable once wore. Upcycled. Probably not all sweaty. Coaches get a lot of merch. Yeah. Good for him for not pitching it. Welcome back to the head coach merch world, Mike McCoy. went 5-11 in that last Phillip Rivers year for the San Diego Chargers back in our lives as the Titans interim head coach.

56:12Steve Wyche:Yeah, I was there. I was there for Mike McCoy's final game. It was a sad day because Chargers fans had to say goodbye to their team. I will never just forget the smell in that stadium. It is never I've never been at a sporting event and including the Dr. Dre halftime show that just more people were smoking joints the entire game. It was just like a big old party. It was as San Diego as it gets. This show was, I'm not going to say as San Diego as it gets, but it was relaxed. It was fun. A lot like San Diego. We're going to stop right here. We're going to be back with all the NFC games. So listen up.

56:56Gregg Rosenthal:Matthew Stafford. Oh my God.

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