2026 NFL Week 2 Early Games Preview

21:34Jourdan Rodrigue:Raven's official website shouting out Chris Moore. Oh, I forgot Chris Moore. Yeah. And they might call up Tez Walker. Yeah, Tez Walker. Yeah, Tez Walker was the one I was going to say. I mean, that is... That's tough. Like I said, you're going to run the ball a million times. I should have made this my tiny table take of how many carries. he's really bad. I mean, it's not too late. It is too late. It's not too late. Even if they don't have the graphic. I like my other one. We'll keep this one in mind, but we won't keep score. Before we move on, look, they're asking a lot of Tyler Shuck right now.

22:05Yeah. He looked like, like prime Carson Palmer or something in the second half of that game. Like he was incredible. Chris Olave was incredible. Devon Bailey was incredible. He played in the second half in overtime, as well as any quarterback played in the NFL last year, last week. Like their running game needs to give them more. Their offensive line needs to give them more. The running game looked pretty messy. Like they didn't know exactly what they were doing, which is a little surprising year two in a much tougher matchup this week. So they can't ask Shuck to do that much.

22:38Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, and I'd like to see what he did do. He doesn't even have to hit the level that he hit late in that Lions game when they were coming back. But I'd like to see something sustain. I'd like to see them really, you know, be consistent run and pass get them ahead of the sticks you know it sounds like he kind of played a little bit like you know week one Jacoby Brissett ah fair I could use a little more Jacoby out of him look I love the downfield throws he had six big time throws last week big time foes uh that's like double any other quarterback in the league can we get some first and 10 seven yard gains right can we get that's what I'm saying like second and four and the running game struggling but like, can we stop asking him to hit third and 17?

23:17You can take off pieces.

23:19Jourdan Rodrigue:You don't need the entire thing all at once. It's fun though. It's fun watching this offense. I think the Saints team is much better than the respect of that eight and a half point line. So we'll see if it becomes one of my picks with Nick Shook. I need to bounce back. Let's go to Foxborough where the Patriots are heavy favorites. Thought this line is a little big. Five and a half points over the Steelers. This is the Jim Nance, JJ Watt game. who caught your eye between these two? Well, a lot of people, but Greg, it was like a hundred years since we last saw the Patriots play. I'm not going to let anyone forget about Drake May's game.

23:57Oh, that's who caught your eyes.

24:00Jourdan Rodrigue:It's not just rude. It's not just that Drake may caught my eye in this game. It's that the absolute pivot from, you know, how he is capable of playing. It's almost like a Jekyll and Hyde type of, of thing. And it's sort of when you can play him in a way where I think the Steelers can play. Didn't show this in the same way the Seahawks did it last week, but are capable of doing this because Patrick Graham, as we've talked about all offseason, is able to make these more week-to-week bespoke game plans and mix things up. Oh, he did that last week. Yeah, but he was talking to my point specifically is he was talking about how he didn't blitz as much last week and how that's definitely something they can do.

24:42Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, what the Seahawks did really effectively was they mixed their pressures at exactly the right time that that then would just sort of felt like it carried over in Drake May's mind through the latter part of the game. And then that's when he started seeing things that maybe weren't there. And that's when he started making these mental mistakes that just cannot happen. And so I think between that and just like that sort of monolithic wave of stress that a defense can throw at you as a quarterback, you know what I'm looking for for him and what I watched, what stood out to me last week was the inability to sustain that through the entire game.

25:16Jourdan Rodrigue:That that sort of that comfort, that like de-stressing ability to navigate those types of things. And I think the Steelers can bring that. It's well said. I think there's a little bit of a book out on Drake May. He struggles when the picture changes before the snap and after the snap. Look, every quarterback does to some level, but he's a young quarterback that particularly, I think, is struggling with that element of the game. And I do wonder if the idea with him now is going to be, do you dare Drake May to be boring? I actually didn't think he was a little off on a couple of throws, but decision making.

25:46I was OK with how he played the first three quarters. But if you're going to dare him to be boring, he's going to get impatient.

25:52Jourdan Rodrigue:He couldn't help himself. Exactly. It's a young quarterback thing that a lot of these defensive coordinators, especially this wave that came up to try to combat a lot of these 11 personnel offenses that you see, they really tried to mess with a quarterback, but also mess with a play caller in doing that. And so try to make them almost bait them into thinking maybe this next time I'll have the deep shot available. And it's almost like you're letting go of the ball and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And it's leaving your hand and you wish you hadn't done it as soon as you let the ball go.

26:23Jourdan Rodrigue:but that's the mind game of this. What they present, how they make it really cloudy. They rotate how they can do different types of things up front that sort of distract you from not getting carried away in those moments. That is all. Those are all things I think Pittsburgh can do. They were really impressive. And it's hard to know how impressive because they played Cooper Rush, but they were extreme in how they played defense last week. They didn't play a single snap of man coverage. That just does not happen in the year 2026 or any year. Not a single snap. zoned the whole game. They blitzed like literally just twice, but I thought they were pretty cohesive.

26:57They broke out a lot of new stuff. I'm almost embarrassed. It's taken me this long to bring up Nick Herbig was playing off ball linebacker. He was playing a completely different position.

27:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Patrick Graham, my friend. Patrick Graham. And you know what? He looked pretty good doing it. He obviously rushed the passer plenty in this game, but he also just played off ball. Peyton Wilson was not an effective player under Mike Tomlin. He was a linebacker. for the Steelers. He was awesome last week for Pittsburgh. They rotated. I've been calling for this for years. Like, can we not play Cam Hayward and TJ Watt every single snap of the game? They rotated them and they were fresh at the end of the game. I think this could be a top five type of defense. And so it's a very difficult matchup for them.

27:42I do think there could be some holes in the secondary. Jalen Ramsey had a couple mistakes last week and Asante Samuel Jr. is out there starting. We don't know if Joey Porter Jr. is going to come back. by the way, you called for a Joey Porter Jr. trade as your tiny table take last week to the Cowboys.

27:59Jourdan Rodrigue:We'll see. Technically, I'm calling that as a loss. You know, it didn't happen. Of course you are. It didn't happen. Of course you are. But how about the fact that the insiders came out and said he might be traded? I mean, you're pretty close. You're giving me like a half a point. If he gets traded, I will give you a half a point. If it's for the Cowboys, I'll give you the full. Do you know what, though? I am, it is very, it's very nice to hear from your perspective, like sort of you coming around to what the potential of this led by how creative Patrick Graham is. I mean, I've had them over. I've been high on them all offseason as a team.

28:29I think it's going to be better than people think because I think it has this potential defense. I mean, by better than they think, they can win nine or ten games against a tough schedule. But that's what I have.

28:40Jourdan Rodrigue:Not because of the offense. What I mean specifically is that I think that this defense can look so much more alive than it has. Yes. And it did. And when I say, oh, you know, they didn't do anything crazy. Well, they played the defense that he expects to play, which is fluid and very fundamentally sound in its technique, but also like moves a lot in ways that you don't always see a zone move. You don't always see a front move. Players moving in different places, maximizing what they can do. But when I said he didn't do anything crazy, I meant he wasn't sending as much extra heat. He didn't have to.

29:15Jourdan Rodrigue:No. But if he does it this week, I think he will be very creative about what spots he actually picks. And when you see like a Nick Herbig in an off-ball linebacker position, that puts it in the next quarterback's mind of, oh, God, what if he sends him on an extra pressure? I mean, and they did. It was like his base position. Yeah. I think it's here to stay. We'll see. But they just want to get their best players on the field. Herbig and Highsmith and Watt, who all had great games. And that's awesome. You know, on the flip side, the Steelers offense did not show a lot. Can they take advantage of what I think is a slow Patriots defense up the gut, which is Robert Spillane and Kevin Byard and Del Pettis, who just looked a little slow last week.

29:58The Patriots need a little more from their defensive tackles. They need more from Romeo Dobbs. They need more from their free agent pickup, which I really like. Elijah Vera Tucker was probably the worst player on their offense last week. And so we'll see. There's a lot of questions about these two teams. The Steelers beat the Patriots last week, early, or last season, early in the year. It was Drake May's worst game, I would say, of 2025 was against Pittsburgh.

30:24Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, when the going gets tough, here comes Matt Collins. And if, yeah, if you don't win this game, the Patriots are sitting at 0-2 with a brutal game in Jacksonville following that. Let's take a break, and we're going to come back on the other side for another big game between an 0-1 team and a 1-0 team. But it's Geno Smith who's undefeated right now.

30:55Hey, our ride's almost here. Are you ready?

30:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just dropped the video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watchgo bananas with the group chat, and, of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. so many reasons to join t-mobile find yours at t-mobile.com

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33:52Back on NFL Daily, the Packers heading to the Meadowlands. Jets home opener, 1-0. Been a while since they've had a 1-0 home opener. They are three and a half point underdogs against the Packers. It's Kenny Albert. It's Jonathan Vilma. we're starting every conversation with who caught our eye i i picked a big name from this game i'll even i'll even narrow it down to the jets i picked a big name from the jets who do you think i went with who caught my eye your favorite player ever nope no armand membu oh that i guess i had two good ones will mcdonald i went garrett wilson and this one was subtle and like because then the numbers weren't crazy.

34:37It was kind of like the Justin Jefferson performance where I realized he came out with such aggression on in breakers, especially it was four for four. They were a lot of them were contested catches for 69 yards. He fought through a lot of contact. He took hits and between him and Brees Hall, I'm cheating, I guess just mentioned two guys. I just thought like, this is what leadership looks like of like, these are their core guys. These are their weight-bearing walls, and they went and showed up and just had workman-like awesome games. It was nice to see Garrett Wilson actually have a catchable ball, and you were reminded, I was reminded, how good he can be.

35:17And thinking about this week specifically, I just thought, I think this Packers defense, it's a risk-taking defense without a ton of talent. Like, there will be gaps for Garrett Wilson to go after.

35:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, yes. And also it is a risk taking defense that is going to, again, have to manufacture pass rush against a good Jets front, which like we're saying all these things and they're not crazy because we could see it and they're going to have to continue to manufacture that extra pressure. and like it's an undersized. It's like they don't have a ton of size up front. And so we saw the Jets put on tape, not only the fact that, you know, they can get the ball to the middle of the field. Geno Smith, that's something where it was good to see that, like actually pushing the ball through the middle of the field like that.

36:03Jourdan Rodrigue:The things that really force coverage to dictate in certain ways. And then also their heavy personnel. They played every single one of their tight ends. They were playing five personnel. At one point they were in 14. personnel. I'm glad you brought that up. Technically, it's not five because one of the guys was a fullback, but everyone was freaking out about it. Because I don't know if you remember, I invented five personnel with Sean McVay just a few weeks ago. The Pentagon package. I think you can count it still as five because the fullback was playing tight end in that role. But the thing for me is like, I feel like against this Packers defense, this is a potential danger game for the Packers because their front line, it doesn't, it, it, to me, they don't overly impress me in terms of the size or, or the, the push that they're able or not able to create.

36:53Jourdan Rodrigue:They've had a lot of scheme in their defense so far. It's a very small sample size, but again, this is something we've been seeing all through. They blitz like crazy. They blitz like crazy. And they have, you know, the multiple safeties, which is good when you're playing against heavier personnel, but when it is this many players that you can activate in the run in the past game in that heavier personnel, then you have to have, you know, more linebacker play that you trust. You have to have a front that can really kind of get in the way and stay in the way. You have to do these things that the Packers just haven't shown that they are able to do.

37:23So this is as good a spot as any. It was the big trend that we've been talking about on this show now for a year, but especially this offseason of teams. How heavy are they going to get? And it was outrageous. In week one, there were so many teams like the Jets who played with either two or three tight ends on the field the majority of the time. This just was not happening a year ago. They played with three tight ends 20 % of the time, the Jets, and more fullback. And they were really effective. And I think it makes sense for the type of low-risk offense they want to have and the type of talent that they have up front.

37:59And Joe Tipman, who's a guy people don't really know well, but they gave a lot of money to. And then their two tackles. Like if Brees Hall can run that hard and stay healthy, I think they can just keep games close and they've raised the floor with this defense and their pass rush. How do you think that's going to match up after watching the Packers offensive line last week? Will McDonald and David Bailey, especially McDonald look great last week and they're respectable. They're creditable at defensive tackle. So how do you think that matches up against green Bay?

38:31Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, it's a bad matchup for green Bay who still cannot decide what it's offensive line is going to be. Adam Stenevich was, was at the podium saying, Oh no, it wasn't actually 15 hits. It was 18 hits. The quarterback got 18 times. So it's like, okay, I guess we're just saying that now we're just admitting that like the fact that they had shuffled and reshuffled their offensive line all the way through camp. And it clearly will still be a work in progress. Like there are so many years when the Packers have gotten, you've said it before, gotten more out of this offensive line than maybe the sum of its parts.

39:03Jourdan Rodrigue:This is not so far looking like the case. And Jordan Love made some incredible plays, but it's pretty impossible to actually win sustainably when you're getting hit like that, when you're getting pressured like that. When he was pressured, you know, as it would happen with most quarterbacks, his numbers just totally fell off a cliff. Like it was stark, the difference, when things started affecting him up front. And Aaron Glenn sent some blitzes late in that game when they were just kind of stunting on the Titans. We'll see if he gets aggressive this week, whether he feels like he needs to. And yeah, we...

39:39Jourdan Rodrigue:It would help if the Packers could run the ball. Right. They were starting two guards, Jennings and Monk. Those are their last names, who are both making their second career NFL starts, but they've been in the NFL since 2024. They've just been kicking around around the practice squad. And then Jordan Morgan, his first NFL start at left tackle. We'll see if they get any better this week. That's an intriguing one if you wanted to take it. We can handle the assignments afterwards. I do want to take this game because I can't wait to see more of what the Jets are doing. I want to see more of what they're doing on offense.

40:09Jourdan Rodrigue:I like what they did last week. And you know me because I really gravitate toward that heavier personnel. I just like seeing all the different ways that teams are using it right now. Yeah, it's a real test. And I'll make sure to send you quarterly Gino. No, I kind of like watching it during the week when you're not distracted and everything. Oh, like late at night? That'll be nice. You watch a little Gino? There you go. I don't know if you noticed in Green Bay, like they're already talking about like, what if they lose this game? Like how early could you fire Matt LaFleur? I was like, whoa, this is crazy.

40:40Crazy talk to me, but I get it. They're panicked. I think, and I worry that Brian Flores did psychological damage that's going to take a long time to unravel. Let's go to the Panthers-Falcons game. NFC South. It's Tim Brando. It's Matt Millen back in the booth for Fox. the Panthers are two and a half point favorites going to Atlanta before I get uh the gentleman who caught your eye let's actually hear just as a news update from Kevin Stefanski about who's

41:13Jourdan Rodrigue:going to play this week at quarterback take any questions you guys got do you have a QB yet for this week we will have a quarterback yes for this week not yet but uh we'll work through that this week. What do you need to see between now and tomorrow to choose who you want there? I'd say we're working through it. I'm not ruling anyone out. Tua's not going to practice today, but he's getting better. Cooper and Mike will practice today, so we will work through it. Not a great sign that in week two. Do you got a quarterback? Yes. Michael Pettix. Physically on the earth. Yes, there's four of them, in fact.

41:52He does seem to be ruling out Jack Strand. Justice for Jack Strand. What happened to Jack Strand? He doesn't seem like he's in the mix. Before I get, again, to who caught your eye, Michael Penix was working on the side field, and that would, and Tua's not practicing at all. So unless Michael Penix is working on a side field at practice and then working his way into starting, it looks like Cooper Rush is the favorite to start. Okay, now it's game preview time.

42:18Jourdan Rodrigue:well who caught my eye in last week's game is Bryce Young yes honestly I just wanted to give him a moment because unfortunately for him as well as he played which was extremely well Caleb Williams played better and put up you know a 60 burger against that poor defense and so he kind of got overshadowed and all of that was how well Bryce Young played to me he picked up right where he left off out of that playoff game against the Rams. There was confidence that when I saw, like he saw the game so well to me and I could really see it when he had this scrambled drill, sort of creating space, avoiding pressure, but, but wasn't scrambling the way he used to in sort of a frantic stress manner.

43:01Jourdan Rodrigue:He was scrambling to create a play. He was scrambling because he could see the play potential for his touchdown. And I just thought for me, he looked so much more confident, so much more sure. He has got playmakers all around him. They are using his playmakers. Jalen Coker is the headliner of this group, obviously, but I appreciated that they're using more tight ends in the passing game. Now they're activating more of those players. They are moving guys around as well. And for me, this, I could see all the potential here. And I just thought Bryce Young should get a little credit. I totally agree.

43:35I think it was one of the best games of his career. He was six of nine for 83 yards and a touchdown against pressure there was a play where he steps up in the pocket and Jonathan Brooks starts going down the sideline and he's pointing for Brooks where to go while guys running after him and it does remind you of college Bryce who at his best is both a guy who needs to orchestrate the offense himself by being in shotgun and spread and kind of figuring out before the step and improvising a lot he's a great combination of those I think he's a very smart player and maybe starting to get to the point of his NFL career where he has the confidence to show those smarts.

44:12And, you know, who else? There's credit. A little Brad Idzik pop. Yeah. The first time play caller for the Panthers. Maybe it was good for Canales to let him take the stage.

44:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Also kind of got lost in the shuffle because there were a lot of first time play callers last weekend. And Brad Idzik had one of the best games of any of them. You know, I thought I thought he did outstanding. And it's very clear how much those two have worked together, because to me, you didn't. You notice the play caller after because you didn't notice the play caller daring, if that makes sense. So in that Pittsburgh game with the Falcons, it was interesting. I was like, how did they stop Aaron Rodgers? Like, what did they do? And they took the opposite approach of what they did all of last year, which was blitz a ton, and they barely blitz at all.

44:53They played coverage. They played really effectively. I think the two worst teams in terms of EPA per play last week were the Falcons and the Steelers, the two teams in that game. So remember, it was a defensive touchdown that ultimately won it for Pittsburgh, they gave up one touchdown. So they, they have been really well coached there. So that makes that part of the matchup interesting. On the flip side, we kind of have weakness versus weakness. Ajiro Evero has got to be very thankful. This is his week two matchup because there's a lot of pressure on the play caller for the Panthers. Like what does their defense need to do better?

45:26I guess everything, everything.

45:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Sure. Here's the thing. I've got good news and I've got bad news. I'm going to give you the good news, I guess, for the Panthers first, is that they might see a much less dangerous quarterback this week. Well, they will see a much less dangerous quarterback this week. We don't know who they're going to see. They might see Cooper Rush, who, you know, when he was pressured, he was 0-2 on the throws that he was actually pressured on, and, you know, obviously turned the ball over and just sort of imploded. Yeah, that doesn't include the sacks and the fumbles. It doesn't include the sacks and the fumbles, but those, and he turned the ball over twice.

45:59Jourdan Rodrigue:Even when he wasn't pressured, he turned the ball over. And so for me, it's like, okay, the good news is if you can get just like a modicum more of, of pressure, I thought that Jalen Phillips, you know, actually showed some potential in some spots, put together a couple of good plays, despite all of the carnage that that defense, uh, basically suffered at the hands of the bears offense. And the, the bad news for the Panthers is that whoever the quarterback is, John Robinson is going to be the safety blanket. and he is running through people. He is running around people. He forced 12 missed tackles.

46:32Jourdan Rodrigue:29 touches on 44 snaps. That will continue to be the security blanket for whoever that quarterback. Yeah, he made the Steelers. And I don't know if the Panthers can tackle that guy. Right. He made the Steelers defense really struggle. They had nothing in that game other than broken tackles. I do worry about this Panthers defense. Could the run defense get really poor again? I just think they have too many weak spots. It's like Bobby Okereke joins the team, and then he's just out there for 70 snaps. Princely Uman Mielan, he was the reason why they hit a big run, the long Caleb Williams run. Bobby Brown should be a rotational player, but got hurt twice during that game.

47:11Got hurt. He did return, so we'll see.

47:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Then he got hurt again. Big game for the Panthers to go ahead and win. Big game for both of them. No one wants to be 0-2, but our expectations are lower for the Falcons. Get an NFC South game. Browns. Buccaneers. Tampa, Tom McCarthy, Robert Turbin, Tiffany Blackman, just hitting those T's. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are eight and a half point favorites in this game. My player that caught my eye last week was Bucky Irving. He's so back. As an example of this running game, in general, they looked cohesive. The outside zone plays were working. I thought Bucky Irving never looked comfortable last year.

47:53He wasn't healthy, but I also thought he didn't quite fit what they were trying to do schematically. He looked awesome. And I thought he looked better than he did as a rookie because he wasn't dancing around and trying to do too much. He hit those holes, looked great as a receiver. And I think that's going to be really important for them against a Browns defense that looked bad in many ways last week, but they couldn't tackle anyone for Jacksonville. Even our guy, Carson Schwestern, missed a couple tackles. So I think if the Buccaneers can establish it on the ground, This should be a pretty comfortable day for their offense.

48:27Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't mean to be rude when I say this, but isn't it nice for Zach Robinson that Liam Cohen went first against this team? You know, because it's Zach Robinson. Yes. The new coordinator of Tampa and, and the guy who is quite clearly establishing the run game as a big element of his coaching identity and the former offensive coordinator in Tampa, um, Liam Cohen, you know, to me, one thing that I saw in that run game was understanding leverage points and how to move players with not just the way you block, but also the way that you align. I think that's a really important element to how this run game is supposed to work and how it's supposed to actually affect defenses and create more space than you have.

49:08Jourdan Rodrigue:And the fact that it worked that well against players, you know, Carson's Westinger is a really good football player and obviously defensive honors as a rookie. And they on paper have a good defensive line. Yeah. It didn't look good last week. But to me, it was just, it was one of those things where you could really see the effectiveness. And then also this offensive line being healthy, you know, healthier than they were. The player who did do too much was Baker Mayfield. So cleaning that up, protecting the football, not rolling. I don't know. I don't even know what to say about any of it. Let's let Baker say it all.

49:44Because, yeah, we've probably waited too long in the Browns-Bucks section. it is the Baker Mayfield revenge game against the Browns.

49:53Jourdan Rodrigue:I think anytime, as I mentioned to you guys, there's history between a franchise, a coaching staff, anybody, there's always, you want to come out on the winning side of that no matter what. Obviously, it's very different there, staff-wise and everybody. But yeah, it's spent four years there. I'm going into year four here, so it's started my career there. A lot of ups and downs. I think I understand what happened now What? He had a chip removed Yes When he got the contract Turned the ball over a lot Disaster game Now he's got the chip back on The chips are back Okay, the chips are back We've got balance Baker's gonna be back He's so back Baker, ball!

50:35Come on, we're asking for it

50:37Jourdan Rodrigue:I am not asking for it I'm asking for it You know what else he has a chip on his shoulder for? That he was forced to wear a hastily made Baker ball, a hastily made tank top. I believe those were Michigan colors. And he lost the bet because his team lost to Michigan. So, you know, he's not going to be happy about that. Where's the Bucks pass rush? That's my, that's my question. It's a, it's a big question. Reuben Bain got clowned a lot on social media because of Marius Mims, just clamped him last week and the arm length and all that. And I heard a really interesting analysis of that by Toronto Armstead on Nick Underhill's.

51:13Saints podcast and said Bain had no chance. It really wasn't about Mims. It wasn't about the arm length with his rush plan, like how long it was taking for him to even get there. He was like four steps into before he even like got into his move and like, he's not that player. He needs to use his power, but he had a rough week. I'm glad you pointed that out. They, they did not look good. And maybe this Browns offensive line helps them out because Spencer Fano and he was kind of an example of a lot of their young guys that we want to see step up. Didn't have great week ones. Quinn Jen Jenkins, Harold Fannin.

51:45We've talked a lot about Deshaun Watson, so I'm trying not to repeat myself here.

51:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Can I just say one thing, though, about this? I was listening to you and Colleen, and I had FOMO for not being a part of the Tuesday show. Thanks for listening. But I heard the Todd Munkin audio, and you pointed out very accurately some of the parsing that went on there, and so I'm not going to regurgitate what you said. But one thing I wanted to point out was Todd Munkin saying, and I'm slightly paraphrasing here, Well, it's only been two weeks that he's gotten full-time refs. Whose fault is that? Right. None of this is necessary. It's the last week. It's got to be the last week. And we'll see.

52:21There were some holes in that Bucs defense last week. Alex Anzalone, their free agent pickup, had a nightmare game when he rewatched it. And then one other guy, just keep an eye on Ted Hurst. I thought he was doing some of the little stuff late in that game. He's the rookie third receiver, mid-round pick. He can fly. So if you got him making some contested shorter catches too, he was out there basically every snap. I was like, oh, they're really using him, using him. Someone to keep an eye on. Let's move on to our last contest of this early slate. It's the Philadelphia Eagles going on the road as seven-point favorites to the Tennessee Titans.

52:59Jordan, what caught your eye?

53:02Jourdan Rodrigue:The Eagles' interior offensive line, which will look different this week. I know we've covered it on the show already with Landon Dickerson being out. I did want to pose a question to you, though, Greg, because in the preseason, you get players like a Drew Kendall and a Willie Lampkin sometimes playing alongside each other. You get them in sort of the same level of depth, rotation, and all of that. Would you just play them both, or would you play one and not the other, and who would you play? Because the reason I'm flat... So you're saying, would you bench Cam Juergens at center who struggled a little bit?

53:34Jourdan Rodrigue:And I don't know if that's even the right answer, but it did catch my ear and also my eye that Nick Sirianni was not really committing to which one of these younger guys or these depth guys is actually going to play and replace, which tells me in a way that they're configuring what is actually the best way for us to do this. And they've got a perfect matchup to do so in a way. You're playing a Titans team that you think you have advantages overall. On paper, though, you do have to block Jeffrey Simmons, who had a good week last week. I thought they're always creditable. Yes. I thought their defensive line was a little disappointing.

54:10Gino had a lot of time back there, but, but Simmons played well overall. And so that's something to watch that the Eagles figure out their offensive

54:18Jourdan Rodrigue:line. And Saquon Barkley was stuffed on a quarter of his rushing attempts. You mentioned some of the stat, the box score, you know, falsehoods that the box score would tell. And it's clear. It was, it's very clear watching it back. And to me, I trust that this is the type of run game, just having seen it be installed in the past, the layers of it have to make sense. You need health continuity, obviously, on the offensive line. But also, it takes a second for the timing and all of the different things that have to happen even before the running back gets the ball. So for me, it's like, okay, over the next couple of weeks, this is something that I am paying close attention to because he can't keep getting just absolutely stuffed the way that he was so frequently.

55:01Jourdan Rodrigue:and only relying on like one or two explosives per game. Excuse me. Remember how we talked to like, would the Bengals kind of bail on their quote unquote new offense if they got some pushback? The Eagles were more that team. Like their under center rate last week was not that different than where they were last year. And they went to what they know best down the stretch. And it was great. It was very un-2025 Eagles like because they scored on their last two possessions to essentially win the games. But it almost felt like they started bailing from their under center plans like mid game. And yeah, this is it's just such a nightmare matchup on the other side.

55:41Cam Ward. He missed some gimmies. He was not going deep. That was the thing that worried me a little bit when he did have time. He looked like he was not pulling the trigger on a few throws that were there.

55:57Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it's it's concerning because you would hope that when they bring somebody in and they they tout Brian Dable as like, OK, we're going to have a plan and we're going to get the best out of out of this young quarterback. And you would hope to see a little bit more of the positives and the progress in week one. The preseason was also rough. Preseason. I like him more. And so I'm really hoping that this ends up coming together a little bit more. This is not the defense to do that against. This is the defense where, you know, Zach Bond is coming off a 12 tackle, one for loss, minus two yards allowed.

56:30Defensive player of the week. Well earned.

56:32Jourdan Rodrigue:Like that dude's a menace. And, you know, a lot of these defensive players are. That front is terrifying. I don't trust the Titans offensive line to hold up at all against this front. I mean, I can't word if he's not on the move a lot this game. I'll be surprised. Yeah, I'd like to see a little more out of the Eagles defensive line this week. I thought Washington, upon rewatch, did a really good job in that game. There wasn't a lot of production out of them. They might need Jonathan Grenard back eventually, but he's been out with a pec injury. But yeah, you know who is not a big fan of Brian Dable?

57:06Is Wink Martindale. Do you remember he used to be on his staff?

57:10Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Did you happen to see? Always in the red gloves. He is now doing a podcast in New York? No. Why do we give everyone podcasts? I mean, why not? If Wink Martindale is going to come on, And I think it's with your buddy, Pat Leonard. I like Pat Leonard. I could be wrong. It's just like a weekly spot. And he started his podcast appearance by noting how Jackson Dart actually knew like he knew, like looked like he knew what was going on on his offense. Like he got some good coaching. And if you happen to notice, Cam Ward down in Tennessee doesn't look like he knows what's going on anymore. Oh, my.

57:43So maybe Brian Dable, one of those guys, maybe is not the best at reaching

57:48Jourdan Rodrigue:the young shade quarterbacks, but yeah, Philadelphia, another fall guy for Robert. So much negative stuff on the Titans. Let's at least, um, let's at least mention Anthony Hill, their rookie line. Yeah. Very good. So that, that's cool. When he was sort of being evaluated in the draft, you just thought if Robert Sala can get this guy, that's going to be awesome. And he's, he's perfect. He's perfect for this. Good fit for Sala. But a lot of the Sala problems that you saw in New York popped up in Tennessee. It's just one week. that's just one week for our early game preview but that's not the only preview that we have today if you're listening to the show just check the feed we've got all the late games and the primetime games right there see you then kitchen and bathroom professionals know what goes behind the tile matters that's why trade pros trust fiber cement party backer board to keep tile firmly in place resist cracking, and help block moisture.

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