2026 NFL Week 3 Early Games Preview

20:25And this year, they've just been average. The pass rush is okay right now. And they're going up against the offense that showed up to this season ready to go. Joe Brady is a big reason why they are ready to go. And if we know one thing about Joe Brady, that man loves a fire analogy.

20:45Jourdan Rodrigue:There's no like, hey, singular, like, hey, this is the issue. But there's smoke detectors all across our football team right now that we got to clean up and we got to find that improvement, you know, from week two to week three, right? And, you know, I think a lot of it, a lot of it has to do with us just, you know, trusting our techniques, trusting the scheme, you know, us being able to, I'm talking offense, defense. I'm not talking strictly to the, you know, the defensive backs, but you know, we've had a lot of opportunities to get off the field and I think the guys understand that. In meetings today about, again, small sample size, but it's still, you know, stuff on tape that's like, this is, the house isn't catching on fire, but you know, smoke is showing and we've got to make sure we're doing a good job of cleaning some of the things up.

21:28Dang. I mean, they're 2-0. They're lighting up. That's the only fire I see. Flames coming off of Josh Allen's MVP candidacy.

21:37Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Wow. My God. What a start to the season for him. I will say I was sort of distracted by the fact that absolute flex by the Bills sponsored by Wegmans. That's a great grocery store. Why are we giving them for you know, they got to pay for that if we're going to mention them. Injury news for this team. DJ Moore was out at practice in a non-contact jersey. He said after practice that he's ready to go that he's going to play. So that is somewhat surprising and great news. Keon Coleman was not at practice. Ed Oliver, who suffered that hip injury before last week's game in the warmups, not at practice right now.

22:16Jourdan Rodrigue:Strategy matchup that I'm kind of watching here. The Bills offensive line has looked pretty good to great so far. And Chris O 'Leary really likes to blitz. He's blitzing at nearly 30 at 34 % rate. Their chargers are only getting a 35.2 % pressure rate despite all of that. So they're not getting pressure any which way they slice it. Josh Allen opened the season or excuse me, last week, Josh Allen opened the game eight of 11 for 110 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions blitz. Kelvin Shepard tried blitzing the crap out of him and it just didn't work. And overall finished with 137 yards and two touchdowns, two scramble yards for 10 more yards, two scramble runs for 10 more yards and another touchdown all against blitz packages.

22:57Jourdan Rodrigue:So to me, it's like, you're not, it's not working this way. And it's definitely not going to work that way. If, if the charges try to get pressure that way. Yeah, next gen had some numbers. The Chargers play man coverage about as little as any team in the league, but when they do, which is still 15 % of the time, they've been absolutely cooked. They cannot match up. Like they are giving up like 50, an insane amount of yards for play. And you get Kincaid, get DJ Moore out there, it sounds like this week. Maybe a little James Cook out on the route. We're not doing that too much. I don't know what's wrong with the Chargers, like defense specifically.

23:31It's like everyone's doing okay. You just need more like Tully Tully. People have to have been okay. Like Macedor was better last week. He's been okay. They need more out of Mac. Derwin James has missed some tackles, add it all up. And they just don't look like a good matchup. And the one thing I wanted to mention, cause I didn't do it enough. And you, you gave Dion Walker his pop, you know, on the TNF recap the other week, Greg Rousseau has just started. Like these two guys have started this season going nuts. So I'm curious about their matchup.

23:58Jourdan Rodrigue:It's such a cool combination to the way that they compliment each other. like it's just it's power speed and then flip it speed to power like I just I really really appreciate the way that these two guys particularly play off of each other the Texans and the Colts play each other this week neither one of them have won a game the Texans our Texans are two and a half point favorites in Indianapolis who played much better could have easily won that game in Kansas City there'd be a little less pressure on this one if they had Tom McCarthy Robert Turbin, Tiffany Blackman on the call for CBS. And my number in this game is going to be 25.8%.

24:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, no. It is the Texans under center rate last in the NFL. Wow. They are playing shotgun. They are going pass heavy. Part of that is just the game script last week. but in general, the running game hit what they hope is a bottom last week where they literally couldn't operate. They just don't look like they can do the zone runs that they want to do. Now, this is a matchup. Jordan, I think they will be tempted to go pass heavy again, even without Nico Collins, if Nico Collins doesn't play because the Colts defense has just been a house on fire. That's the house on fire, Joe Brady, not you. Yes.

25:23Jourdan Rodrigue:And can you, Greg, I'm going to put you on the spot. Like you love to do to me frequently, frequently. Can you name their four top targeted receivers, the Texans last week? Okay. Jared Wayne, Dalton Schultz.

25:43Hutchinson comma Xavier. And, oh, this is going to bother me that I don't have the fourth one. When I got Jared Wayne, who is it?

25:51Jourdan Rodrigue:You did get Jared Wayne, which I was surprised in a pleasant way that you did get Jared. I was not feeling pleasant. Oh, Kayshawn Booty, of course. So here's the thing. The thing that is confusing, I think that's confusing Texans fans. Our friend Houston Stressens does great work posting a lot of this commentary and his own analysis on social media, too. They played so much 11 personnel. Dalton Schultz obviously went off and played really well. but they, they did not like, these are your receivers, like your specific receivers factoring out Dalton Schultz. Jared Wayne is in the picture as one of your go-to receivers here.

26:26He was like the third and long target a lot or third and medium.

26:30Jourdan Rodrigue:And, and like, listen, CJ Stroud is playing fine. Like he's it's, this is not a CJ Stroud issue, but when you are not mixing personnels this way, when you, you can, because you have the people on your roster to do so. and you are almost like setting up light to run as well as to pass and their run game is not working. That's part of the problem with me that's going on is I'm confused as to what they want to do. They want to run the ball and they want to be a physical run team. Their offensive line is not getting pushed. The falling forward a few yards that we saw that was positive from David Montgomery in the early start to the season, that seemed like it was good, except for the fact that that's not really sustainable.

27:08Jourdan Rodrigue:you have to get yards before contact blocked open for your player. And then having sort of this incongruous matchup receiver, tight end configuration, Marlon Klein's not getting a ton of, of pop right now. Like to me, I just feel like there's different ways that they maybe talked about presenting and they're not doing those things. I also just don't think they have the players. That's the most important thing. Like schemes. Great. Like players are more important. Yeah. And without Nico Collins, and without, you know, any depth at the position. Yeah. Keishon Booty, you figure, is going to get a bigger role, but Nico Collins was not at practice.

27:50On the flip side, Houston's given up a lot of explosives, even against the Bengals. Can Indianapolis generate any? Alec Pierce is just a devastating injury. We'll see if and when he is back this season, but that's their big playmaker. They can't count on Josh Downs stretching the field. Jonathan Taylor and Tyler Warren have to be their big playmakers. But in this matchup, I think it's going to be tough for them to eat. And I think Deanna Jones has been fine this season. I think you saw it on Sunday night. He can run that offense, but he's a system quarterback. He's going to be as good as his surroundings, and his surroundings aren't good enough right now.

28:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Two weeks in a row, you saw exactly the blueprint to beat this version of the Houston Texans defense, which came into the season with incredibly high expectations. They are allowing the second lowest passing success rate in the NFL right now. At the same time, they are allowing the highest explosive passing rate in the NFL, which means if you're throwing it middle to deep against them, it's the highest success rate in the NFL, and they are clamping down on literally everything else. But it's feast or famine. Joe Burrow knew that. It's why he pushed the ball down the field the way that he did. Josh Allen knew that.

29:02Jourdan Rodrigue:It's why he pushed the ball down the field the way that he did, and particularly targeting some of the middle lanes of that defense. To me, the blueprint's out. And so if they can't get explosives, if the Colts can't get explosives without Alex Pierce on the field, the Texans are going to be able to truncate them. You need a big running game as well, like the Colts have shown that they can do. Yeah, I don't think the Colts are a bad team. And yet, they're a bad defense. I should take it back because the offense is middle of the pack. So maybe they could be good eventually. Good running game. The defense is a bit of a disaster.

29:37And this is a team that has given up the second most amount of yardage in NFL history through two weeks. That includes overtime. But, you know, rate stats, they're still the worst defense in the NFL right now. They have lined up to play football, Jordan. There's only two teams in each game, right? You know how they say? What? They always say, like, the hardest thing to do is win a game in the NFL. It's equally easy to do as any other sport. Half the teams do it every week. All nine times they have played, just two teams on the field, nine straight times they have lost. And so that is why. Oh. I am going to stand on an actual tiny table for the first time this season.

30:21It is a baby Bjorn. I am not going to reach the top of the screen. We'll see if Patrick Claiborne can do it later. The Houston Texans will win a football game played on Sunday.

30:36Jourdan Rodrigue:What? That's it. That's it? They're going to win a game. It's a tiny table. That's a tiny take. They're a Super Bowl team, and we just need to start small. Just win a game. Just win a game for us. In hindsight, I did start with extremely high expectations for this team. It's okay. It's okay. I still I'm staying with them, but you're a 95 pound cross country running friend. We need to start smaller. Shout out to Steve Mooney out there. That's a great running name. Absolutely. Yeah. Let's take a break and we're going to come back with a five pack of games in the early window. Just a few minutes.

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34:23Jourdan Rodrigue:It is a phenomenal pen. Got my germs on it already. You cannot have it back. Felt so comfortable. She's just like ripping the sticker off of it. My pen now. The Lions are favored by six and a half points against the New York Jets. That's a lot of points considering how well the Jets have been playing. Jordan, what's your number? It's Adam Amin, it's Drew Brees, and it's Christina Pink. Drew Brees, as a color analyst, I'm watching. I'm noticing, and I'm seeing the improvement. This is starting to be like the Chargers arc, like his career as a quarterback. Maybe it'll be that as an announcer. Rough start, fast improvement.

35:03Jourdan Rodrigue:My one number for Jets at Lions is the number 12. Teams have attempted passes on the Lions out of 12 personnel, the most of any other defense. And of the 19 completions they've allowed, they've also allowed 145 yards and two touchdowns, plus did record an interception. Tells me that teams are targeting the clear vulnerability of this Lions defense, which is their safety position. The eye test also proves that. the Jets have mostly been an 11 personnel team, but have used 12 personnel in about 20 % of their snaps. They set it up so far to run out of their heavier personnel. I would posit and argue that they should pass more out of their heavier personnel.

35:49Jourdan Rodrigue:Geno is seven of nine passing on plays out of 12. Also Frank, right. Come on. This is a message directly to you. And it leads into my tiny table. Oh, wow. Which is getting on the table. Kenyan Sadiq. I am not standing on the tiny table. which is tight end Kenyon Sadiq should be moved more around the formation in the passing game and will have two receiving touchdowns in this. Oh, wow. That's a big one. That's not even a tiny table. That's like crashing through the table like a Bills fan. I love it. It's a big table take. Look, Kenyon Sadiq missed essentially his entire rookie training camp. It was great that he got out there for week one.

36:26I think he's looked pretty good overall. He's a physical guy. But, you know, they're introducing him into the game plan slowly. Mason Taylor.

36:35Jourdan Rodrigue:This is his week, Greg. I think so. Frank, make up for the shotgun runs at midfield on third and two and fourth and one, my friend. Look. Do it. Frank Reich, I think, has been fine through a couple weeks. Solid. This matchup, and you mentioned the safeties, is going to be great. It's, you know, it's climate controlled. Geno, kind of an indoor quarterback. We'll see how that plays with the Jets later in this season. He had a tough weather matchup last week. I was really disturbed to hear Dan Campbell ask about Kirby Joseph. He was an all pro just a couple of years ago. We are now coming to the year anniversary.

37:11The last time we've seen him on a football field, there's been scant information about whether his injury back related, you know, is getting better. A fan asked, you know, when will we see him again? And Dan Campbell's quote was, I wish I could make you feel good. I can't make you feel good. and wouldn't commit to anything. Brian Branch sounds like, you know, he's going to be returning after his time on injured reserve comes up at some point somewhat early in the season. I don't know if we see Kirby Joseph. So they are going to have to get better with the players that they have and the Jets offense.

37:46Aidy Mitchell, Sadiq, like they can present and Garrett Wilson, of course, some matchup problems for a defense that's really struggling. I think the bigger question is, can the Lions offense like go up and down the field. They've had to be elite to win games so far. They just did it in week one. They couldn't in week two. Do you think that they can do it against a Jets defense that right now is third in DVOA?

38:12Jourdan Rodrigue:I know. I was going to say, it's kind of a tricky game for the Lions offense because if I'm going to believe in something, I believe in the Lions offense. I mean, we've seen it year over year over year. However, the Jets defense is playing at such an improved level. We talked about it this off season when they went out and they got players that would at least help lift the floor and allow some of these younger players to get out there and try to make plays. They have been creditable and they've made plays on the ball. And to me, it is going to be a really interesting matchup because this is, this is one of those where the lions, if the lions get an early lead, like they can't let the team hang around the Jets were in it.

38:49Jourdan Rodrigue:The Packers were a disaster at times, but still close out the game. But Jets look like the better team. For most of that game, the Jets look like the better football team. David Bailey's getting a lot of pressure. You know, they're using Will McDonald more as a situational third pass rusher. So Enigbari is going to be the matchup most likely for Panay Sewell, who hasn't been like great at life tackle. I'm not that worried about that. but the Jets are first against the run. So that's something to watch. Again, it's so early that these numbers don't mean a ton. And so this is where I love the match.

39:26Okay, now you're going to play Jameer Gibbs in this running attack, which isn't like fully loaded yet because of the offensive line, but should be healthier this week. Juice Struggs at center has definitely been a problem, but I'm excited about this one. I don't think the Lions should be favored by that much.

39:40Jourdan Rodrigue:And Aaron Glenn. He's making it happen. Everyone knows each other here. I know what you know, but you know what I know. Homecoming game. Aaron Glenn versus Dan Campbell. Ooh, this would be a sweet one for Aaron Glenn to go get. The Kansas City Chiefs are 11.5-point favorites in Miami. It's a weekly competition. How big can the number get against Miami? This is not the biggest yet because they're at home. But it's interesting to see the Chiefs as just a monster favorite. Again, we're back in those worlds because we're back in a world where Patrick Mahomes is effective. 14 is my number. that is the number of play action passes completed by Patrick Mahomes that is the most of his NFL career happened last week we've been asking for the scheme can the scheme help Patrick Mahomes can it just not be him doing everything I think he needs a little more talent on the outside still but between the play action and then the running game the scheme is helping yeah and it's it's allowing him to unfurl.

40:41Jourdan Rodrigue:Like, I think I saw a lot of commotion to the, the Patrick Mahomes deep ball is sort of back. Oh, it's back. It just looked beautiful. I mean, the one, the couple of the ones, the one to Thornton was incredible. He's just played really well. Not that that's shocking, but it's nice to see the thing that I am interested in because I expect the chiefs to move up and down the field on the dolphins, but the dolphins defense actually has Has been playing relative to expectation. Pretty much at expectation. Like not the worst you've ever seen. Growing every week. And a lot of what the Chiefs do in the run game.

41:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Is going to yet again another week in a row. Present a different type of challenge. For this Dolphins defense. And for inside linebacker Jacob Rodriguez. Who has started out. He's third in tackles in the NFL right now. And has been playing really really well. Getting different contact points. And different basically blocking points. every single week from all these different types of run games, run games that he's facing. For me, when I'm just looking for growth from the Dolphins, I like seeing a bunch of different types of opponents like this presenting to a team that... I don't know if they do.

41:47Jourdan Rodrigue:I know I sound like... Can we get an easier matchup? Do we need the 49ers and Chiefs back-to-back weeks? I know I sound like I'm hedging, but it's baptism by fire. It really is for this team. We always knew this. They had to grow up really, really fast with a lot of really challenging opponents and a below-average team build right now. Yes. The blown coverages are the biggest problem, and the Chiefs will kill you with that. So that's been their biggest issue on defense is they are watching guys go past them. And then this week, it'll be an issue. Yeah, they have to go against this running game of the Chiefs.

42:18It's making Patrick Mahomes happy about the balance.

42:21Jourdan Rodrigue:It just puts the defense in a predicament. I mean, just knowing that they have to kind of choose if they want to come up and stop the run or if they want to try to stop the explosive plays from happening. And so that's what you want. You want defenses guessing. You want defenses having to make decisions that they don't want to make. And so I think as an offense, we did it. But we've done a great job of that these first few weeks is, like, if they're going to stay back, run the football. If they're going to come up, then play action, throw it over the top of them. And I think if you can continue to do that and keep defenses guessing, you can continue to have success.

42:50Jourdan Rodrigue:If you were a defensive coordinator, which one would you choose? I mean, I don't know. Nine runs the ball really well. Yeah, we're not falling for that one, bro. Was that a Dolphins plant, Miami plant? Don't you love that he's talking about a run game and he's not talking about his own legs? Yes, and look, his legs have been sneaky valuable. Eighth it right now in rushing value in terms of QBR. How about that? Off the injury, he's also 12.2 yards per attempt against pressure. That can't keep up, but that MVP pick I had might still happen. the Miami offense has actually played well in the first halves of both games and then kind of falling apart afterwards.

43:33They just aren't a complete team. The pass pro has been quite disappointing. I don't think Mike Willis has looked that bad, but they, they run give up plays. Once they get to third and long, they'll just like dump it down or run the ball. They don't even really try. They are 30th right now in rushing efficiency. That is the single most disappointing aspect to the dolphins. like team build right now. Cause that, I thought going into the year, that has to be a core. And I thought they ran the ball well in the first half last week, but then they just couldn't get anything going after that. So they need to run the ball better.

44:06Come on, Malik. I, I think he's looked better. I know a lot of people haven't watched them. We've been watching. We see you. The Seattle Seahawks are going to Washington where Joe Davis and Greg Olson were expecting Jaden Daniels to be the quarterback when they assigned this game. It is now going to be Marcus Mariota. At least this week, The Seahawks are favored by seven points. You have a number for it.

44:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes, I have number 23. That is Emmanuel Wilson's number. Of course. Jadarian Price, uh, assumedly will miss some time with the chest slash. He was pointing to his shoulder injury. Uh, and you know, Mike McDonald has since had a press conference. I'm sure with updates. I haven't seen like further updates on Jadarian Price. He is practicing this week on in some way. So it sounds like there's a good chance of play. If he does miss any time or if they decide to give him a rest, to me, one of the most impressive things outside of an entirely dominant Seattle Seahawks effort last week against the Cardinals was Emmanuel Wilson popped.

45:09Jourdan Rodrigue:He really flashed. He was really positive. 92 carries on, or excuse me, 92 yards on 21 carries. And the commanders are really susceptible to big plays, especially if they can get the run game going. Drew Locke is going to set up the play action pass. He is going to, no Fs given, throw the ball down the field. He likes to push the ball. The Seattle Seahawks love to run that play action with Brian Fleury. To me, this is a very straightforward game. Big chunk plays are available to be had against the commander's defense. Now, it might be Drew Locke. It sounds like it could be Sam Darnold. He will practice on Wednesday, and he will ramp up as the week goes on.

45:51So generally, a starting quarterback is going to play if he participates in practice. This could be a unique situation. It's a soft tissue, unique injury. They might want to see how the practice goes. They also might feel with good reason that they could win this game with Drew Locke. Our colleague, Daniel Jeremiah, he said that the Seahawks could make the Super Bowl with Drew Locke. Playing like he did last week.

46:19Jourdan Rodrigue:I was like, okay, he did play really, really well last week. But he basically said that the Seahawks could make the Superbowl. That's a credit to how good their defense is too. I mean, I think, I honestly think too, too. I mean, their defense has gotten off to a fantastic start to me by the end of the season, they have a chance to actually be better than they were last season. This is, this group is so special to watch. It truly is. And already to have this identity and this ability to, I know I keep saying this, but they really just they they just absorb whatever you throw at them and they don't move watching them run and pass.

46:53Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, if if Jaden Daniels was was healthy, then I would say, OK, it'll be interesting to see if the commanders use him in the run game a little bit more and move the location a little bit more. Try to get that defense moving out of its out of its form just a little bit. But Marcus Mariota, when he comes in the game last week, and as solid as a backup quarterback he is, night and day, completely different execution, completely different offense, completely different attack points. And to me, the Seahawks defense just swallows that up. Yeah, we'll have a week to prepare, which will be helpful.

47:27We saw what that did for Drew Locke. He was a different quarterback. And then you do have some receivers in the rookie Antonio Williams. Stefan Diggs has played well for the commanders in Terry McLaurin. Maybe they can do something. I mean, I completely agree on the Seahawks defense. I do want to see them play better competition right now. The Patriots offense feels like it's a mess. You get the Chargers next week. I can't wait for that 49ers game in week five. The Washington Commanders need a win in the worst way. They would be 0-3 if they cannot pull this off. Do you remember at one point they were 3-2?

48:03That means... Two and 14 cents. Jeez. They're in the third year of this regime.

48:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And yeah, you can blame it on Jaden Daniels' injuries. That doesn't change. It's just a miserable feeling. So man, they could use just a surprise upset victory. I'm glad you brought up Emmanuel Wilson, by the way. Top five. Thank you. You didn't seem like you were glad that I brought up. Why wouldn't I? I was giving you a little bit of grief of like, okay, now we're using jersey numbers as the number. I see what you're doing. You're being cute, you know? Yeah, I mean, you know, just trying to have some fun. Being creative. Just trying to have some fun with it. Being fun. You know who wasn't having fun was Mike McDonald the moment he found out that clip of him talking about Sean Payton being very angry that they were using clips off of Twitter from fans a couple years ago.

48:55This is all a story that shouldn't have gotten out there because he did an interview with Graham Bessinger, which sounds like it was a really compelling interview. And whether they put this part of the story up by mistake or not, it got out there. Mike McDonald owned it and apologized. I do love the way that we see leadership out of Mike McDonald saying it was all on him. I got to be better. I apologize to Sean Payton. Obviously it's, it's a grand messenger's fault as well, if not even more, but I hope we don't lose the open Mike McDonald. Cause I've really enjoyed it. Yeah. We've gotten to learn who he is.

49:33He was very vulnerable in that interview.

49:36Jourdan Rodrigue:That's, I will say, that's what made me like actually angry about this happening. I don't know how it happened. It's not my business. But to, he gave a quote previously before all of this sort of blew up. Someone, Brian on, Brian Neuhauser on the beat does a great job. Asked him, you know, why are you being more open this year doing more things like this? because before this became a story, the story was how open he was about some of the real deep struggles he went through early in his tenure as a head coach and some of the things he battled. In the same interview. In the same interview. And what Mike McDonald said is he feels that if people are putting forth an honest effort and really trying to do honest work in that way and tell his story in a very transparent way, then he feels like it's worth it to also invest in that person.

50:28Jourdan Rodrigue:And so that's what actually made me pretty angry about this is for this, you know, Mike McDonald is successful, super winning coach. He doesn't need anyone sticking up for him. But this made me angry because to trust in an interview, an interview, and I've done these interviews where people have really shared some demons with me and it's a sacred space and to trust somebody like that and then to have this happen, it's an unfortunate thing. And I think he handled it with class. Yeah, he did. And it's very strange that it was up for like 30 minutes and then they took it down. But bad job all around.

51:01Then again, like I see the people kind of fingering. He's got to be smarter. He's got to know when he's on mic. He's just like, why would you even say that? Because you're having a conversation.

51:10Jourdan Rodrigue:Also, every team in the league takes each other's plays off of social media. If anything, it just makes Sean Payton look very small because and that's why Mike McDonald probably feels bad about it. because the real embarrassing part isn't obviously that they were taking plays off of social media. By the way, we're going to lose all fan social after this year because this has come up a couple times where stealing fan social from training camp has helped. But it made Sean Payton look bad. Not that they were complaining so much and they were going to try to make it look like Spygate too. But that when he saw him at the Combine, Sean Payton didn't say anything.

51:44Oh, you're just going to get on the phone and scream all the time and say you're going to sue us and then you see me and you don't say a word? Like the man's got a pattern. The Panthers and the Browns are playing this week. They're both one and one. One of these teams will be two and one and feeling great. The Panthers are favored by two and a half points in this game. My number is six. That's the amount of points you get for a touchdown. Which Jalen.

52:09Jourdan Rodrigue:Oh, who's being cute now? That was a joke. Which Jalen Coker has scored a couple of times. You know what six is? It is Jalen Coker's ranking in yards, touchdowns, and punt return yardage. Nobody's doing it like Jalen Coker right now. That's incredible. He's also first in the NFL by far in catch rate. So he's caught 18 passes out of 20 target. Jalen Coker, if you just had a different name on the jersey, he is producing a true one. they have two wide receivers right now and him and Tedaro McMillan that can win versus man that can win versus zone that's particularly important this week because the Browns play more man coverage than any team in the league and those guys can beat you any way you want to play I love it I love the way that this Panthers offense particularly and more specifically their passing game has really taken off and Bryce Young clearly has trust in these guys we saw we kept seeing these flashes from Jalen Cochran, especially when he came back from the injury last year and really started producing into that postseason brief run that they made.

53:17Jourdan Rodrigue:The vision, we could see it. It was almost like they're champing at the bit to try to get these guys on the field all together at one time. And including, like I've been honking about the increased tight end. It's such a, it has so many layers to it, this passing game now. And think about where we started with this. And I think about this matchup and it's so unpredictable because these teams have been extreme. I don't think you can take that much from September football in general. And these teams have been total extremes. The Panthers defense, worst in the league week one, give up three points week two.

53:52I know that the matchups dictate a lot. The Browns offense, total disaster week one. Week two was the best I've seen Deshaun Watson look in a Browns uniform. He returns home to face the crowd and face this Panthers defense. He's obviously starting. Todd Monken talked about the challenge for his starter.

54:17Jourdan Rodrigue:I don't control the fans. I mean, we got great fans. I've said that since I've been here. What does every fan want? Good football. Chance to win. Be proud of their team. I mean, that's right. I mean, that's what everybody wants. You know, so I don't. I know this. I'm excited to come back home and play because I know the most important thing is seeing the Browns win. That's the most important thing, right? That a fan wants to see a good product. And we expect that we should expect that to make it hard on the Panthers to operate and give ourselves the best chance to win. That's the, that's the saying of home field advantage, right?

54:52Was talking about this with Andrew Siciliano, who's going to be a hosting tomorrow night. You know, he covers the Browns, obviously does the play by play. And we were curious about how the crowd's going to react. In my mind, like, it's kind of going to be a wait and see. I think that win bought him a little more silence. There probably will be some boos, but not as many. And it's just going to depend on how this game goes. He looked more confident last week. The first two throws of the day were against pressure, which he's really struggled with. And he hit two really nice throws as he was getting hit.

55:27And he was moving better last week than he's ever done in Cleveland. He still just held the ball too long and took a couple sacks that he shouldn't have. It wasn't perfect, but he got the balls out to his playmakers. And I think Monken is providing him with a schematic advantage. Some guys in space making people miss after the catch, getting Harold Fannin and Concepcion and Denzel Boston in places to go make plays.

55:49Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, and that's been a, even if the defense looked better last week for the Panthers, that's been something where they still have really struggled as the missed tackles. Just, you know, 24 missed tackles over the last couple of weeks. Like it just, it's something where the catch and run players for the Browns, even if it's a dink and dunk passing game, those catch and run players are going to try to get, you know, the advantage against these Panthers tacklers. And that's where, you know, I think that the Browns do have maybe a matchup point that they're looking at. Yeah. I want to see the Browns running game get better.

56:19Quinchad Jenkins right now has the lowest success rate in the NFL. It is the worst running game in the league. Was not better last week against the Bucs, even though they won that game. he hasn't looked like as ferocious but I think it's more about the blocking so he's dead last Emmanuel Wilson your guy fifth you know who's first putting you on the spot

56:37Jourdan Rodrigue:success rate running the ball Kenneth Walker he's like six or seven it's kind of a trick question because it's Josh Allen it's always Josh Allen oh my god I mean but he has why do you always trick me he has 20 carries he qualifies need to see a little bit more out of the Browns pass rush too they've been winning with some stunts Mason Graham has been okay Jared Burst been really quiet. And if you let Bryce Young have time, he is going to cook you. He's rolling. Let's get to our last game. Titans and the Giants. Unfortunately, since we last talked, it went from Jackson Dart possibly out for the season, and the Giants are favored by two and a half.

57:14Talk about disrespect to the Titans. Giants favored with Jameis Winston at quarterback. It's going to be on CBS, Andrew Catalan, Logan Ryan. We last left off. Jackson Dart could miss the rest of the season. Now it is confirmed he will miss the rest of the season with damage to his PCL and MCL. Devastating news. We've hit it on the show already. I'm really disappointed. Now we start the Jameis Winston era. It does feel like this team has a chance to bottom out, but they're pretty good on both lines. They could be two and one after this week. The NFC East schedule we've been saying is kind of soft in general.

57:52So these are the types of games, if you're going to win them, this is how you do it. How will the Giants do it? What's your number?

58:00Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, my number is three and it's actually indicative of how if you can do this to the Giants, you will beat the Giants. And that is three, meaning Cam Scadaboos yards per carry and number of successful rushes on 12 carries in their last game. Also sneakily, the number of players that are also of concern that are not named Jackson Dart, Malik Neighbors, who heard British shoulder, but came back in. Andrew Thomas got banged up. Brian Burns got banged up at the end of that game. So Brian Burns will miss time with his ankle injury. He will not undergo surgery, but that report came out just as we were taping.

58:34So he is out for this week.

58:35Jourdan Rodrigue:The Titans, I think, will blitz more. Jameis Winston really struggled against the blitz against the blitzes that the Rams brought. The Titans have the ability to blitz. I've actually liked what I've seen, especially last week from their defensive backs. They've made plays on the ball. They've been aggressive. Jeffrey Simmons has been playing incredible football so far, even in this, this very young season. So for me, stopping the giants on the ground is literally the way to beat the giants. If you can limit cam Scadaboo. And at this point, for some reason in on goal line packages, nausea Harris, like instead of cam Scadaboo, like if you can limit those guys to under four, 3.5, like something, something solid like that, you can beat this giants team because it's Isaiah Likely, a banged up Malik neighbors and Jameis Winston, who looked really, really just wasn't, wasn't the ball.

59:29Jourdan Rodrigue:It wasn't the wasn't ready to play. He has a week to get ready, but he wasn't ready to play. And the ball wasn't coming out of his hand. Well, honestly. Yeah. And it didn't. I thought when we saw him at parts last year, we'll see, you know, can you pick on the linebackers of this team? I also think that that's a little underrated like Tremaine Edmonds really struggled in that game. John McVay and that offense kind of had a target on them. And then the defensive line of the Giants, you know, you're without Brian Burns, but you have cave on Thibodeau who can step in, but you're not as good on the interior.

1:00:00We need more out of them and we need to see Cam Ward build on a small step forward last week. I wanted to like it more, but it was kind of just, I liked it.

1:00:10Jourdan Rodrigue:I liked it. I thought he threw the ball. There were a couple of really nice throws. He moved around a lot better. uses legs more. This is also a huge opportunity for a Brian Dable revenge game. Yes. It's massive. Half the Tennessee Titans were New York Giants under Brian Dable. I mean, it could be an Austin Schlottman revenge game. It could be a Wondell Robinson revenge game. Who else did Dable bring down there? It's a big crew. Wondell's been very quiet. And that's what I mean about Cam Ward. He was solid last week. I think he's been really coached to not make big mistakes this year. He really hasn't.

1:00:50He also hasn't made any big time throws. Throws. Big time throws. Need to see more. It does feel like which quarterback makes a huge mistake type of game.

1:01:01Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, which quarterback like freaks out. I hope it's not that way. Who are you? I don't I don't I'm picking there is a good guy in the Brian Dable versus Giants like revenge match. I don't know who I want to be happy. No, it was a lose-lose scenario. But I want the Titans to win this game. I'm going to pick them, actually. I do, too, because I just feel like both these teams deserve to be 1-2. I don't want these teams that are, you know, winless going deep into the season, either. But, like I said, if you're the Giants, you're looking at this, it's a great chance to be 2-1. And if you're the Titans, these are the types of games you've got to win.

1:01:40You were so close. Can you put that type of effort that you did last week where you got a lead against Philadelphia. If you play that well, you will absolutely win this game. We're going to win this week because we got Patrick Claibon coming up on our show previewing all the games in the late afternoon and primetime window for the podcast listeners. It is next in your feed. It's right there. Go listen. We'll see you there.

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