2026 Week 4 Early Games Preview: Eagles Continue Rams Dominance? Bills Pull Away in the AFC East? London Games Begin!

20:48A perfect seam pass thrown by Geno Smith. and Kenyon Sadiq.

20:55Jourdan Rodrigue:What a diving catch made for his second Jets touchdown and New York has the lead. That's up there. That's a rookie. Great throw, equally good catch, and they seem like they really found someone in Kenyon Sadiq, so I did want to give him some pop. They have a fun, young offense. No Brees Hall in this game, though, and so that is big injury news for the Jets. They will get back Minka Fitzpatrick, who I thought looked good in the preseason and week one. He's at least had practice, and the expectation is that he is going to play. So that's good news for the Jets' defense. I was having a dream last night about a 12 personnel concept that I watched in last week's Jets game.

21:36Jourdan Rodrigue:And I was sort of half asleep, half awake, and thinking about how I was sort of screaming at Frank Reich in the show to run more 12 personnel where they're highly, highly productive. And obviously there's reasons to game flow why you can't. but then I woke up and my phone was ringing and it was a New Jersey area code. Weird. It was the weirdest, weirdest thing ever. It was the ghost of Frank Reich. It was so, it was two 30 in the morning. It was so, so weird. Uh, yeah, obviously did not pick that up. That was crazy. So I want to switch to the other side, Greg, because we don't yet know who's going to actually start for the Chicago bears between case Keenum, who played great this week or Tyson Bajan.

22:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Do you have a guess cleared from the concussion protocol? I think it's going to be Case Keenum. I think it's going to be Bajan. Ooh, interesting. I don't know why. What makes you think that? Just that Ben Johnson multiple times said there was a reason why Bajan was number two. I think they just believe in Tyson Bajan so much that they gave him a big long-term contract. And I think they'll look at the Keenum game and say like, not that we got away with one, but we maxed that out. And we have this young developing quarterback that we think brings the offense to an even higher ceiling. And they're bold enough.

22:46Ben Johnson has the stones to make that change when a lot of coaches wouldn't.

22:50Jourdan Rodrigue:On the one hand, it's like, OK, yeah, I can win with both of these backups. Like I could totally see that happening and good for him. Right. But I think I maybe would have picked Bajan if I hadn't have heard how closely mic'd up Case Keenum was in this broadcast on Monday night. hearing him adjust the line of scrimmage, call checks, basically do everything that he needed to do to effectively operate the entire playbook, this full offense, you know, minus the incredible stuff that we see from Caleb Williams. obviously he's 38 year old, uh, non-mobile quarterback. So to me, it's like, I think that that is really tempting to be able to stick with.

23:28Jourdan Rodrigue:If you are the play caller, if you're Ben Johnson to have that available to you and to also like be able to see how effective it can be. I'm more curious about how his body turns over. That's the biggest part of this to me. And that could lead to Tyson Baygent who, who, yes, it can be true that they believe in. It also can be true that it's Ben Johnson going up against his old co-worker, Aaron Glenn, and expecting Aaron Glenn to throw some weird stuff at him. And maybe he, maybe the different quarterback, the more veteran quarterback is the choice there. Yeah, I don't have a take of what's the right choice.

23:59Me either. I think they're both probably going to be fun.

24:02Jourdan Rodrigue:It's both fun. And look, Ben Johnson enjoyed showing everyone he can win with Case Keenum. It would be an extra flex to then bench him and then win with another quarterback. That's special. One thing I want to watch is the Jets pass rush in this game. I thought they were disappointing last week against the Lions. They're not really playing Will McDonald. David Bailey struggled last week. This is also a matchup where both teams are ranked quite low against the run. The Jets are 26th against the run in terms of efficiency. That's where you can get on the Bears. So keep an eye on the running games.

24:33You would think the Bears better positioned to take advantage of a bad run defense than the Jets will be without Brees Hall. But we shall see. Let's move to the AFC East battle. Patriots go into the Bills. It's an Ian Eagle, Ross Tucker game.

24:51Jourdan Rodrigue:Ross has been killing it. Ross has been great. I haven't had him live, which is my fault. The Bills are favored by six and a half. We thought this was going to be the battle, you know, May versus Allen to decide the AFC East. This was a similar time of the year when they went into Buffalo last year and won in prime time. And that really kind of was the turning point victory in the Patriots season. Now it feels like, I'm not saying the Bills are putting the AFC East away with the win here, but they would have a pretty big lead and the house is on fire in New England. Let's go positive and let's talk about something that gives you joy.

25:27Jourdan Rodrigue:What's bringing me joy about this matchup? The combination of Deion Walker and Greg Rousseau for the Bills. These two defensive linemen, an inside player and an outside slash sort of inside, but mostly outside player, have combined for 27 pressures, 17 of those by Greg Rousseau, seven sacks, obviously six of those by Greg Rousseau, 16 quarterback hits, 12 of those by Greg Rousseau, and seven quick pressures. Deion Walker is so active along this front. He's getting double teamed, 33 % of his snaps, which sets the table for Greg Rousseau to be his best self. It is an absolute joy watching these two play together.

26:08Jourdan Rodrigue:This is a defensive line pairing around which you can rebuild and anchor an entire scheme. And that's what Jim Leonard's trying to do. And you think about where Walker will be lined up either over the center or the guard. That's a problem area for the Patriots who had a backup Greg Van Roten, who's stepping in for their best starter, Owenu, who's out for the season. Van Roten is now out, I think, for the season. He's on injured reserve. And so they're down to a third stringer at guard. They have not played well up front in general. And then they got potentially devastating injury news on Wednesday that Christian Gonzalez is out of practice.

26:45He was banged up. He finished last week's game. Christian Barmore also has a shoulder injury that prevented him from finishing last week. He is out of practice. And it sounds like their defensive tackle, the Patriots that is, might not be out there. Gonzalez would crush their defense because he's been his best this season. We've just spent so much time talking negatives for the Patriots that I haven't had the chance to say, I think he's the best quarterback in the NFL right now. He is playing the best he has ever played. And specifically in this matchup where he would get a lot of, you know, DJ Moore on the outside, they would really miss him.

27:19Maybe he's just missing practice, but the strength of their entire team right now, I would say, is their secondary play between him and Carlton Davis and Marcus Jones. And that is one area that I think you can make the Bills a little one-dimensional, a little scattershot like they were last week throwing the ball and at least keep the game close.

27:35Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, it's just too bad that that's the strength of the Patriots defense right now because the Bills run game leads me to my tiny table take for this week. The Buffalo Bills have the run game the Patriots wish they had. It's modern, first of all. it's tied for number one in success rate. It's number two in success rate with motion. They are using a ton of motion in the run game and it is working. It's all the, it's also either first or second and yards before contact per rush, depending again on which stat website you're using. The Patriots are number 13 in success rate. Sure. But they are 29th in yards before contact per rush.

28:19Jourdan Rodrigue:And I'm not arguing that every team should use motion, you know, as much as some teams do, the teams that do use it well, really, really use it well. You don't want to just like gratuitously use it just to look more modern than you actually are. But the Patriots like really don't use it. And they don't, they're not moving people. They're not out scheming people in the run game. They're not blocking yards before contact. They're not blocking their running backs open. They're not doing anything. And the Bills have one of the coolest and most modern run games and most prolific run games in the NFL right now.

28:50Jourdan Rodrigue:The Patriots wish they had it. You're absolutely right. That is a tidy table take, which is true the second you said it. Yeah, I love the way James Cook is playing right now. Second, also in run yards over expected and first in explosives. He combines volume with extreme efficiency in a way that just nobody does other than Bajon and Jameer Gibbs. If you're making a big three, he is the third. And I know he's not the same on passing down. It doesn't matter. They have the best third down back in the league, maybe. And Ty Johnson, one of the most underrated players. But you're speaking my language, getting on the Patriots coaching staff.

29:28Because I do feel like they're insulated through a lot of relationships that they have with the national and local media. And I'm hearing people being like, hey, you know, Drake May's got one of the best play callers in the NFL. And I'm thinking, like, they have been outcoached. And Drake May has been outplayed. And he's lost right now. We've spent enough time on that. But they have been outcoached for these six or seven straight games as well without a lot of answers. Nate Tice had a great rant on it just about their running concepts from 10 years ago. And they're solid concepts, but they could be adding just a little more because defenses have gotten more modern and they know what's coming.

30:04And some stats that Nate had to back it up, which really caught my fancy. You know how many missed tackles the Patriots wide receivers have forced this year?

30:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Less than five. Zero. Oh, they don't have one. He's also thrown into a tight window more than anyone. And then just in terms of NGS, like the tracking data, they are the second slowest offense in terms of their skill position. And you see it like Matt Collins is their number one receiver and Hunter Henry is their number two right now. Drake May is making it worse. He is in his head. This is something that young quarterbacks sometimes go through. Sometimes they never get this low. I think he will get out of it, but I don't know if it's going to happen this week. Yeah. Yeah. There's like a weird push and pull there locally happening too.

30:51Jourdan Rodrigue:I've sort of helicoptered around it just, just to take a view, you know, just to take a peek at kind of what's going on. And, and it is interesting. I am curious to see if they change anything up. You know, I, I remember from the combine when I was in, I was going between our show and like running around to all these scrums that were around the, the little like, you know, conference center area. and in Vrabelscrum, he was talking about how he encourages his coaches to find new ideas and he encourages them to look, you know, to go and bring new ideas into the building and everything. And of course, me being a smart ass raised my hand and I say, well, where are they coming from?

31:29Right. From Doug Marone?

31:31Jourdan Rodrigue:And, uh, and it just, and it was sort of the same, like from everywhere, you know, casting a wide net. And, and for me, it's like, okay, but you know, you can't just do stuff just to do it. First of all, you have to execute better. So I think that has to be a truth as well. If this offense and the players within this offense were executing at the level of expectation, we'd probably be having a very different conversation right now. But still, this being an issue that has plagued them for so many games in a row, it is noticeable. I can't believe it's week four and Mike Rabel's press conference is led with a question about his relationship with Drake May because there was a local report that they're not they're not seen And he's like, Drake May is the reason why I took this job, which didn't exactly answer the question anyways.

32:14And I'm like, man, it is getting late early for this team. You never know. One win would change it all in Buffalo if they could pull off the major upset. Let's take a break. And on the other side, for the first time all season, we are going to go overseas to our friends in London.

32:37figuratively we're gonna be here

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36:02Back on NFL Daily. At this time in the season, one year ago, I was in Ireland. That was a hell of a time. Shout out to all the Irish listeners. I hope the NFL gets back there soon. Then I went over to London and the NFL there this week for Colts commanders. We're going to have an early international game window. And it's 630 a.m. out here in the West Coast in six of the next seven weeks. So more than ever before, it is a part of the schedule. It's going to be on NFL Network. It's Dave Pasch and Kurt Warner and Jason Kelsey. Looking forward to that crew. For the first time, the Colts are three and a half point favorites.

36:41That surprises me in a neutral site. This game looks more interesting than it did a week ago because one of these two teams is going to really feel like they turned their season around at two and two, and they would be right. The thing that's given me joy watching tape of these two teams is Sonny Stiles. Last week, breakout game, two forced fumbles. One really turns the game around early against Jadarian Price. He gets the tip interception, but his play in pass coverage is what really got me going. He followed Price once on a wheel route down the field. He is a former safety, Sonny Stiles, and you just don't see a linebacker with the coverage skills as a former safety that hits like Sonny Stiles.

37:26It's old school. It's awesome. And he has veterans on that team, including Tim Settle, who said after the game, like he led us to that victory. He dragged us there. And Settle said he was more impressed than anything about styles, who's been wearing the green dot because of injuries, changing the play at the line of scrimmage into some good looks for them. This is a guy we're going to be watching for a while. And it's cool. He'll get a national spotlight here against a team that likes to test the middle of the field in Indianapolis and likes to run the ball.

37:58Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. And a team that is on their side, really, really struggling at inside linebacker really has a void in the middle of the field, really struggling overall on defense, I tend to think last week was maybe a bit of an outlier. That's a division game. They know each other super well and just weird all around. The Texans' offense was not good. But the Colts' defense has not been good. And so to me, if I am David Blau, the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders, who's calling games for a much better... I mean, we expected it because we're Marcus Mariota fans in this studio. But much better than I think people expected Marcus Mariota, who, you know, it wasn't the prettiest game all the time.

38:39Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, you and I were talking about some mistakes earlier. It's not like they blew the doors off against the Seahawks. No, did not top 300 yards. Yeah, did not top. And 31st in yards per play, 27th in success rate. You know, they got great field position, which really helped them. And teams will certainly be looking at that with Marcus Mariota this week, who knows, you know, that can be such an advantage in managing the game. It's going to be interesting because I think that this team can, and we're seeing it right now, can target the middle of the field, can really hit those hole shots across the top that really the Colts are struggling, teams moving the ball on them in that way.

39:15Yeah, I don't feel any better about the Colts defense after last week. And in the end, they gave up two drives at the end of the game that could have lost it for them. DeForest Buckner's look good, a bunch of sacks, but not a great pass rush. But it's more about the back end where I don't even get the feeling that Sauce Gardner is playing particularly well. Like he's given up some big plays. and the rest of the secondary is vulnerable. And so you have Mariota who had a good feel last week of when to go down the field to McLaurin, to Stefan Diggs. I think it's a deep group. Traylon Burks is a red zone target.

39:46Antonio Williams is a good young rookie. So I think they can make some hay. On the other side, Daniel Jones peppered the middle of the field last week. It's a lot of Josh Downs. It's a lot of Tyler Warren. I think Jones has been okay this season. like it's not been a come down to the basement of like Giants Daniel Jones. It's obviously not the same of what's around him right now. And they need to get their running game a little more consistent after a good week.

40:15Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, I love that you started all of this with Sonny Styles, because what is our friend Dave Damoshek, the great Dave Damoshek, big game for Dave Damoshek coming up here this week, by the way. He always talks about Jenga pieces, right? For this game, it is can Sonny Styles and company neutralize the middle of the field and force the Colts out to the perimeter where they do not have threatening players or a threatening operation. It's a lot of Laquan Treadwell and Keenan Allen in the year 2026. So I like the commanders in this game. I definitely like them as an underdog, but I think it's going to be an interesting game.

40:51And yeah, I'm very curious. I'm going to be up early checking out what Jason Kelsey's like in the booth. That adds a little bit of intrigue for myself as well. Let's go to Baltimore, where the Ravens are the biggest favorite of the week. They are 11.5-point favorites over the Titans, who are 0-3. Let's talk about something bringing you joy with this matchup. It's the Chris Lewis, Luke Keekly, Amanda Balionis crew. So this is a regular crew for CBS. I didn't know if it was like a one-week thing. I didn't know Keekly's just working regularly now on CBS in addition to the Netflix. That's very cool.

41:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Getting his reps. What's bringing me joy about this matchup. First of all, it is technically a Derrick Henry revenge game. I know we've said that before, but technically it is. This is really bringing me joy thinking about how Luke Keekly specifically is going to talk about what the hell to even try to do to stop Derrick Henry. if you are the Titans up front, if you're the Titans inside linebacker crew. However, I think he doesn't really have to search very far to find the right words because in the words of the immortal Jeffrey Simmons, Titans defensive lineman, in discussing how to tackle Derek Henry, hit his ass.

42:06Good point. Good point. I think that's the way to do it. Not dive at the legs. Jeffrey Simmons is one man I think could win that one-on-one matchup. What's really impressed me about the Ravens' running attack this year is just how many yards before contact he's getting second in the league. They the cliche is you got you got to get Derrick Henry early, you know, before he gets ahead of steam and he's getting ahead of steam so often. So it's very well coordinated. Now they're going to have you on a their first round pick at center now, I think permanently because Gwyn is on injured reserve and Ethan Pochick is also hurt and is going to be out for a while as well.

42:44on the flip side cam ward i i think at the lowest point of his career and it's tough that that media crew in tennessee seems to have it out for him and i really respect how cam ward handles his leadership responsibilities and the media but the reality is is he's not playing well at all right now he seems a little lost here he is talking about his level of play lately.

43:12Jourdan Rodrigue:I just don't think I play, you know, my best in critical situations. You look at it, you know, over the course of the game, it was, you know, good to win. But when, you know, when I need to play my best, you know, I did it. That's something I got to get better at, something I got to, you know, attack on, you know, this week and go into the next game. But, you know, something that, you know, you get to learn from, you get to experience that, you know, you limit that time so you make sure it doesn't happen again in the future. Yeah, it's a tough time for him. He, I think, has handled with great poise some of the stuff that's kind of come his way at times when he's standing up there.

43:44Jourdan Rodrigue:And to me, I mean, with him, it's just so nonlinear, some of the progress that you see. Week two, you know, I enjoyed watching him at times where he's making some genuinely great throws and he's using his legs and creating in that way and really a factor keeping a defense accountable in that way too. Really, really helps. But then a game like last week happens in the downpour and it's ugly in all phases. And then there's, you know, it's, it's, you know, frustrating for everybody watching it. Probably everyone playing. You can tell by the body language by everybody. And that's hard too. I think the thing more, more than anything, as excited as I've been about Cam Ward is he's not accurate.

44:28Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, and when he is, a lot of times his receivers are still dropping fast. Sure. But just, you just don't know. And then last week was unique in the rain, but I would say it's been the same throughout his career. You just don't know. So even if he is making better decisions, and last week he didn't make great decisions, the ball's not often getting where he wants it to be. Now, I'm going to give some positives about the Titans. I thought their offensive line played great last week. JC Latham, who people were calling a bust coming into this season, shut down Abdul Carter in that game, has played well this season.

44:57I think the offensive line pass pro-wise has looked pretty good. Carnell Tate showed up for the first time. The Ravens are a very good team that are very likely to win this game. and this is a good, you know, pick in your leagues where you need to get the victory. But they are 15th in defense right now, third in offense in terms of total efficiency. So it's an average defense and, you know, maybe you can make some hay there giving Kim Ward some time.

45:21Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, it's going to be such a challenge for a group that's still learning how to play together under Robert Sala, who's the head coach and obviously coordinating the defense as well. It's such a young group relative to like actual snaps together and what I like about what Declan Doyle has done with this Ravens offense so far, even as shorthanded at receiver as they've been, just used a lot of formation changes, created space even before the play starts with some of the movement pre-snap that he's able to do. That to me is like when you have to, when you find those little tiny advantages, those spatial advantages, and you can create them even before the play starts, that's really, really helpful in maximizing what a team can do.

46:00Yeah, did it on the game-winning play to Zay Flowers last week. Flowers was under 25 snaps. in Rio. We'll probably crank that up a little bit. I did notice Namde Matabweke, a guy we've talked a lot about, former all-pro level player playing his first game in Rio last week. Right away, 47 snaps, was effective, had a bunch of pressures, some run stops. Also, Trey Hendrickson, he's on the Baltimore Ravens.

46:21Jourdan Rodrigue:On the Baltimore Ravens. 14 pressures, three quarterback hits, 1.5 seconds, like a little less than you'd expect, but fine. And definitely, he's definitely helping them quite a bit. He's memorable. You know, it's going to be memorable. Uh, this Cowboys Texans game. I didn't want to take it as my game because the Texans are hurting me, but morbid carry way that way. The draft fell and shook wanted certain games. And, um, I will be watching this Texans team as a home favorite, two and a half points over the Cowboys. That's surprising. It's Kenny Albert and Greg Olson. That must mean Joe Davis is working baseball for Foxy.

46:58I'm on, I'm on top of all the angles calling this Cowboys defense.

47:01Jourdan Rodrigue:That should be fun. It's so on. Look, let's talk about one thing that has given me joy about the Texans. And then in this matchup, what's giving me joy, will Anderson, Oh, this is the one Texans prediction. We got right. He is my defensive player of the year so far. I really, he would be my pick through three weeks. Not that that means much, but I'm excited about him for this matchup because the Cowboys fans have rightly been talking about their young left tackle. Tyler Guyton has played three really good games back to back to back when they get Tyler Smith back. I think they're going to feel quite good about their offensive line.

47:39But how about this one on one matchup? A young emerging left tackle mostly will be Will Anderson over there. Obviously, Daniel Hunter, you know, they can change sides up, but that's a good game within the game in a game that the 0-3 Texans and the 1-2 Cowboys really need to win. Like, this is going to be a bad, bad loss for whoever loses this game.

48:00Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, and you know what? I think about how the Texans have lost the games that they've lost. And it is win. And I don't really count the Colts game in this. Again, that was sort of an anomaly in so many ways. And everyone looked bad in that game. But the first two games, losing as definitively as the Texans did. And the defense looking as out of sorts as it did in those first two matchups against the Bills and the Bengals was because the quarterback would push the ball down the field through the air using mismatch receivers or tight ends, either over the top and in the seams or just pushing explosive plays and basically daring the Texans to be reactive instead of assertive the way that they like to play up front and in the secondary.

48:43Jourdan Rodrigue:And so I bet you can guess, I'm gonna make you guess, I'm gonna do the thing that you always do to me. How many explosive plays has the Texans defense allowed so far this season? I don't even know what would be bad or good, but let's go 21. Well, that's just mean. Well, I'm passing or running. Second most total. Second most number of explosive plays so far this season, obviously skewed in those first games, and that's 10. Oh, okay. People count explosive difference. Some people count plus 10 runs as explosive. I don't know. Well, most of them watching the tape, most of them come in the pass. game.

49:16Jourdan Rodrigue:And specifically to those mismatched players that I was talking about. And the Cowboys offense is so good, even as difficult as things look for them sometimes with the long down in distances and some of the negative plays they've taken in the run game. The run game actually started creating explosives last week. And the pass game can be absolutely stunning. It is a tough matchup for a Texans team that has showed its vulnerability already. So last week against the Colts, when I went back to watch that game, I was more disappointed in the defense than I even expected because the Colts go on three long drives in the first half out of four and score on three of them.

49:55And the turnovers that they forced, you give them credit. Ultimately, it's a solid enough game for them. They didn't happen to give their offense short fields in those situations, just bad luck, but they could not get off the field. And so I went to our sensei in Houston. You know who it is.

50:11Jourdan Rodrigue:Seth Edds! We're Seth Edds here, Seth Payne. And I watched one video he did talking about how they're giving up plays over the middle of the field specifically. And he talked about how one time Nico Collins, who's going to be back for this game, it looks like he's back at practice on Wednesday. That's huge because the fall off without him and Higgins and Tank Dell, for that matter, has been horrible. but on defense he said one time in an interview nico collins the middle of the field you know in front of the linebacker level the the players on that team they call it the kill zone and he's right if you can just see al shair and toto and petrie and bullock just hammering guys and that's how they lost last week when there there weren't explosive plays last week it was all just daniel Jones over a pretty big middle of the field.

51:05And Seth called it was more like a, like they were setting up a picnic. There was like a picnic zone instead of the kill zone. And you think about who's out there. Al Shire got hurt last week during the game. He was in and out. We don't know if he'll be there. EJ speeds a guy they gave a contract to. He's out for the season. Toto is out right now. And so you have like Woodas, who is like a rookie day three pick. I forget the name of the other guy who played every snap last week, But between them and Blankenship, it's not the same guys there. And that's a part of the field that Dak Prescott, you know, can take advantage of.

51:40Dak can just pick and pick and pick on your weaknesses. So their defense is part of the problem because they've just been good. They haven't been great and they're going to need to be great.

51:50Jourdan Rodrigue:And conversely, the Texans offense has to be, oh my God, so much better. I mean, we thought that that Bills game was the harbinger of positive things to come, right? With how well that they could move the ball. Week one lies. We know. Lying liar who lies. Kyle Shanahan and week one. And it is atrocious what is going on with it. His offense is, it's stinky. It's stinky, Greg. It's stinky. The run game especially. The numbers are just the worst in the league by far. It's the run game is not working. The interior offensive line is getting pushed back. You know, CJ Stroud is under pressure. I think CJ Stroud is overall had been has been playing well this season.

52:40Jourdan Rodrigue:But missing Nico Collins in the past game. And, you know, Jaden Higgins, as it turns out, just. He matters. You know, he's got to be a strong number two. At least they thought. And to me, it's like, okay, you know, I can understand. Like this Cowboys defense is so vulnerable to things like motion. They've given up over 100 scrimmage yards per game just off runner pass plays with motion and two touchdowns. They're vulnerable to the explosive pass. They're vulnerable to the physical run. But I don't know yet. I don't believe that the Texans can do any of these things and sustain a cohesive game plan.

53:18I don't either. It's tough times out here in Texans nation, but we'll see. Someone's going to be miserable after this game, and this is always a sneaky rivalry because the rivalries come from the fans, and Cowboys fans and Texans fans do legitimately hate each other, and the ownership groups do not really like each other either, so this will be a fun one even if they're both losing teams right now. Same could be said about Packers-Bucks, which used to be a rivalry back in the day, but these teams are giving me bad vibes more than anything. The Packers are three and a half point favorites on the road in Tampa.

53:52It's Chris Myers and Jonathan Vilma. Jordan, what's giving you some joy with this matchup?

53:58Jourdan Rodrigue:What's bringing me joy about this matchup is I have no idea how it's going to go for undrafted rookie quarterback Jalen Daniels, who is going to start at quarterback for the Bucks this week with Baker Mayfield injured. I do know I like his story. This is courtesy of my colleague, Bruce Feldman. He was ranked behind 22 other high school quarterbacks in California as a young prospect, including a guy named CJ Stroud, by the way. He was a no-star recruit. He even had to repeat freshman football as a sophomore because he couldn't get on the JV team. But he works and works and works at it. Lots of support from his mom.

54:31Jourdan Rodrigue:He eventually gets onto the JV team, eventually works his way up to getting an offer, one big college offer, and it's from Kansas. then he works again and leads a 1-8 program to its first bowl game the following season. The guy just does not give up. And I saw him a decent amount because I felt like he was playing at Kansas forever. He's very fun to watch. And if you watch them in the preseason, you can see why the Buccaneers chose him. A good combination of good enough decision, like good decision-making for a young player, but also can make his own plays. is let's hear from Daniels in his first press conference as a starting quarterback.

55:11When January hit, I kind of just knew that I was going to have a long, long process. Everybody tells you that's older than you know when you're going through the combine process, the pro day process, the draft process, that you need to do everything that you can to be able to stay locked in because you don't know where your feet are going to land in the next few months. So for me, having no idea where I'd be, I kind of was just like, whatever organization, whatever team gives me that opportunity, I'm going to go out there and be able to try to prove those guys right.

55:34Jourdan Rodrigue:He's so young. he oh my gosh he uh i want good things for him i only want good things for him and jalen just just so you know jonathan gannon is going to blitz the safety right every time he said look that it's a dream just to be in the nfl like he can't put into words uh how it feels to be making his first nfl start and he'll be doing it without jalen mcmillan who is supposed to be the third receiver for the Bucs just put on injured reserve, but he's got enough weapons around him. The offensive line not playing as well as you would want to see. So we'll see about that matchup against Lucas Van Ness and this defense that's coming off a rough game.

56:13On the flip side, we have to get to what the Packers have been doing transactionally. Jaden Reed, unfortunately, is on injured reserve. He is undergoing season-ending neck surgery. That was confirmed by Matt LaFleur on Wednesday. So we wish the best for him. but on their offensive line digging deep they've just started signing everyone that they could have signed during the offseason you know and I know they've had some injuries pop up and that's part of the reason but since we've last talked about it they have signed Lakin Tomlinson started a lot of games in the NFL Jets Seahawks and whatnot uh Mekhi Becton is now on this roster is he on the practice squad or the regular roster I'm not even sure Kevin Zeitler got four million dollars he of so he will be playing yes a very high pff uh score was not lining up with the starting group on wednesday and so they're going to ramp him up he might not start this week but the idea is that he will start because that's a lot of money at this point in the season but three guys who have started a lot of games and just makes you wonder how did we get to this point for jordan love and what can they do against todd bowles and this blitz happy defense yeah by the

57:25Jourdan Rodrigue:way, Jordan Love, who is seeing the second highest pressure rate of any quarterback in the NFL right now, what would really help is if he had a run game. There is not one to speak of. Again, another problem that they knew about for a really, really long time, and yet we're trusting in Marshawn Lloyd, who they'd never seen play but, what, five regular season snaps, something like that, and bringing in free agents super, super late in the process. To me, it's like I'm watching this last game that they played in prime time. And I see them using screens and middle of the field, like, you know, tunnel passes and sweeps.

58:04Jourdan Rodrigue:And that's their run game instead. Like that is a cry for help. It's a danger signal. It's a huge red flag to me. And it's just really a bummer to watch, especially with a guy who's schemed up some of the best run games and in the league over the last five or 10 years. Matt LaFleur. Man, I look at this game. Whoever loses this game. It's another one where what a game this is. I'm intrigued by it because we expected more out of these teams. But it is one of those games where, man, the Packers are going to be off the radar if they can't win this game. And the Buccaneers would be 0-4. The Jalen Daniels story is cool.

58:42It is the earliest in a career that an undrafted rookie has ever started at quarterback. Let's wrap up these early games with the Cardinals and the Giants. The Cardinals are one and a half point favorites in MetLife. The Cardinals being road favorites says a lot about how Jameis Winston has been playing. I don't I don't have a problem with that, but it does say a lot. What what gives me joy about this particular matchup? How about Michael Wilson happening? I mean, it was happening at the end of last year. I just like how they are using him on every route possible that he can go deep. Maybe he's not going to like blow the top off the defense, but they have Marvin Harrison running clear out routes for that.

59:28But other than that.

59:29Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, that seems like it's going well. It's not going well. But between Michael Wilson and Trey McBride, for the most part, I think Wilson has been like a slower build this season, but I liked how he played last week. And I like him in this matchup against the Giants specifically because the Giants pass rush has been really disappointing this season. I don't think they're great in the secondary. And so I think Jacoby Brissett will have time. The Giants are 31st in terms of pressure rate. They don't get Brian Burns back. They have one sack on the season. So I think Brissett should have some time to find his weapons.

1:00:03McBride, Michael Wilson, and then Jeremiah Love in the passing game who looked good last week in terms of their 1-2-3 in the progression.

1:00:10Jourdan Rodrigue:Do you know what's crazy that I'm about to say this is I think the Giants strategy here will be to play keep away from Jacoby Brissett and this Cardinals passing game, which has been solid and and especially players who can play inside and outside as both Michael Wilson and Trey McBride can as receiving threats. this is a potential really high volume game if the Giants cannot stay on the field with their own offense, which to me spells a lot of trying to run the ball, a lot of trying to hide the quarterback maybe a little bit more. J.J. McCarthy is a New York Giant now. Yeah, that's something.

1:00:49Jourdan Rodrigue:I listened to you and Ian Rappaport talk about this. That makes it official. Although I don't know if he'll be the backup for this game. Jake Hayner is on the active roster. Oh, photoshoot king. And you know what's crazy, man? Jay Kaner already has Odell Beckham's number. It was one day. The body's not even cold. No, they ran Odell Beckham out through the tunnel with the fireworks and the smoke and everything. And three weeks later, they're giving his jersey to Jay Kaner. I saw a note. I forget who was from. I think this is Jay Kaner's fourth number since joining the team. It's week four. He's made so much money.

1:01:22Sure. He, he. Sure. You know, writes the, he has the best headshots of a backup quarterback ever. You know who I want to see a little more from? is the pass rush on the other side too.

1:01:32Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. Josh Sweat does not have a sack or a quarterback hit this season. My guy, Walter Nolan, doesn't have a sack, has two quarterback hits, has a few hurries. The outside linebackers like Barron Browning, Zayven Collins, like there is no pass rush from the Cardinals. And yet, Jordan, even though this is rightly the final game in the early games rundown, the Giants could be three and one if they win this game. And if the Cardinals win it, they're two and two. and it's like a frisky little start. So the Giants just got to figure out how to manage the season, but they just have to have Jameis Winston play better.

1:02:08He almost looked worse last season. The ball is just dying coming out of his hand. So we'll see if that was a weather thing.

1:02:13Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, there's no velocity on the... Like, I noticed that two weeks in a row, the velocity is not there. So he's playing poorly enough that they got to put J.J. McCarthy on the fast track, but that's not a good option either. None of it's a great option. and they need to play a little better on defense. The running game I like. Do you know what's kind of bringing me joy? What? My mom, who's a big Arizona Cardinals fan, let me know that she's very happy because she thinks they finally look competent. Okay. Yeah. I'm not quite there yet. Beat the Giants. Well, let her have her joy. Okay. Enjoy it.

1:02:49Enjoy it. There's some organizations where they got to prove it to me week after week, but I agree. For the most part, this has exceeded my expectations. So shout out to...

1:02:58Jourdan Rodrigue:Defense is a big problem already. Yes. It's a huge issue. I do think that the Giants will be able to move the ball, at least, you know, certainly on the ground. But I do think they'll be able to move the ball in this Cardinals defense. The Cardinals defense showed up in week one and really has not since. Yes. And I want to note that Arvel Reese, we talked a lot about him and Sonny Stiles leading into the draft. I'm a big Reese fan. I feel like we haven't mentioned his name in about a month. Got a game ball from John Harbaugh. Was running all over the field, making a lot of big plays last week in that rainstorm.

1:03:26So some of these young linebackers starting to emerge. That's it for the early games. If you are a podcast listener, and who isn't a podcast listener? This is where we come from. This is NFL Daily. Check out the late game and primetime preview, which is in your feed. We'll see you there. Scams don't always look like scams anymore. AI can make a fake ticket offer look legit or a sportsbook text sound official. And once an identity thief gets your personal information and starts using your name, then what? LifeLock helps detect potential identity threats and suspicious activity. And if identity theft happens, LifeLock's restoration specialists help restore your identity.

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