Jaxson Dart to Start and Takes We're Holding On to

21:45Talk to people. And I do like if there's any silver lining about like how this is reported and the way it was talked about. It's just I do think people are more comfortable talking about that now. So rest in peace. Rudy Johnson passes away at 45 years old.

22:03The NFL International Games return to NFL Network on Sunday. Six games, four cities, Dublin, London, Berlin and Madrid. It snooze off game on for Sunday morning football only on NFL network and also streaming with NFL plus subscription is required for NFL plus visit plus.nfl.com for terms. I love this time of year. I love the fact that we get another broadcast window. Oh, you got to wake up early to watch football. Like that's great. Give me another window. Like it's not going anywhere. People, by the way, like there is only going to be more international games. I love it. I can't wait to go overseas.

22:44I've started the packing process, Jordan.

22:46Jourdan Rodrigue:It's such a good crowd, too. I'm so excited for you. That'll be super fun. I think it's really important that you brought up that you started packing, Greg, because we have a pretty fun segment today. And before you introduce the segment, I really want to make sure that listeners and viewers, if you're checking us out on YouTube, and you should for this part at least, are aware of Greg's suitcase that is comically large. That is Walker for scale. So it's the suitcase that a small child could definitely fit in. He could fit in that for sure. Walker, maybe Ellis could separately fit into that. Greg could maybe.

23:26You made fun of me because I brought a massive suitcase to the Super Bowl, which it wasn't necessary, I would say, I guess, for that long of a trip. But it's like, why not? If you're going to check your suitcase anyways, why not have as much room as possible? and then you're going to buy gifts because I'm a giver.

23:42Jourdan Rodrigue:It's like maybe the biggest suitcase I've ever seen a human own. Definitely, yeah. The one my wife bought so that she could bring it overseas on her trips to Tokyo. And that picture, by the way, if you are checking out, was just my excuse to show my favorite thing in my house, my bookshelf. Not your son. He's fine. He's fine. It's like, how's that Texans fandom like working out for you, buddy? prom walker okay let's I forgot about that one I love it I love this idea so you're gonna present some takes yes this is your idea and I'm gonna take them with me I'll choose the one that I choose to take with me yeah so we'll debate we'll debate them a little bit but it is important to see that picture of the suitcase Greg because you can only as large as it is as absurdly large as it is you can really only fit three to four takes with you when you bring yourself and your drinks with you to Ireland to share everything with the good people in Dublin.

24:44Well, I have a lot of clothes too. I've got some shoes.

24:47Jourdan Rodrigue:You have a lot of shackets and you need to make sure those fit too. I do. It's different weather there. And also I'm thinking of bringing, and this is a little tease, there are still some tickets available for the Friday night show I'm doing with the Irish NFL show where Neil Reynolds is going to be there. Michael McQuaid is going to be there. We might have a special guest from the NFL media family. We'll see working on that. I'm thinking of bringing all my NFL network polos that I didn't open this year that they gave me for inside training camp. I have like five NFL network polos, Tommy Bahama.

25:19And I'm thinking of bringing them and then just throwing them out into the crowd like Oprah Winfrey. I don't know.

25:24Jourdan Rodrigue:They just smack someone in the side. So come. So I need to make room for that. But that means less room for takes. All right. Let's get to it. Let's get to it. For me on the way back. OK, so we are going to go between a couple of takes. The first one that I want you to pick. Which take? Which of these would you pick? You can only pick one. Which offense is still good in December? Seattle Seahawks or the Indianapolis Colts? Okay, so the take would be the Seahawks are still a good offense. Like, is it top five? Is it top ten? You got to be specific with your take. It's important. It's whatever you think good qualifies as, including the quarterback.

25:59I would go, let's go top eight, because I feel like that's the top quarter of the league that, you know, you're excelling. I know that the Colts have the top offense in the league right now by a decent margin. I mean, through three games, it's one of the greatest offenses in NFL history. They've basically been perfect. The Seahawks have been good. This is tough. You're throwing these out there, maybe having an opinion. So I'm curious, what are the factors you're looking at?

26:28Jourdan Rodrigue:You know what? I tend to gravitate toward non-outliers. So I think the Colts are going to stay really solid. I do think that once you get into November, December, there's a lot of tape out there. There's a lot of defenses adjusting to how they play the Colts. There's a lot of defenses adjusting to how they contain Tyler Warren, for example. Of course, you got to factor in the receivers as well. A lot of defenses that will be playing Daniel Jones differently, similar to what the Seahawks are doing. You know, there's going to be teams that try to ramp up the pressure on Sam Darnold. But I think in the case of the Seahawks, this offensive line is only going to get better week over week, because I think the way that they're playing with Clint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator and running like a real throwback version of the Kubiak offense, I think they sustain specifically into December because of what they've put on tape so far and their commitment to running the ball the way that they do, specifically out of these heavy personnel, heavier personnel packages, using the fullback, using these guys to really settle the quarterback and running sort of a timeless version of this under center play action that they're doing with Sam Darnold, which will help him and settle him.

27:32Jourdan Rodrigue:And this defense is only going to get better as it already is really good. It's only going to get better. So that's, that's what I think is it's, it's the Seahawks. Comparing the two, the Seahawks have the big advantage at quarterback, even as good as Daniel Jones is playing. No, it's fine. He's been very efficient, very similar in almost every way to how he played with Minnesota. Now we're going to talk about the the Thursday night game. But it's amazing that he's thrown the ball the least of any starting quarterback in the league, but his per throw numbers are incredibly efficient. And I think he's making some difficult plays.

28:08Like you mentioned the old school Kubiak offense. Like it's a lot of like bootleg lefts and he's good thrown across his body. And that's great. Okay. So the big edge is that quarterback. And that's a huge one. I think every other edge is with the Colts.

28:23Jourdan Rodrigue:Even defense. So it's tough. defense I'm not putting in because you said offense. Oh, sure. Yeah. Like, yes, they'll be in more favorable positions, but just offensively. Coach, I would give to Shane Steichen at this point, a body of work with some quarterbacks that aren't great. I mean, he's running RPOs out there with Gardner Minshew and was a pretty easy pass away from making the playoffs and winning that division. And he let him know about it. Yeah. I just, I think I would give the edge at this point to the play caller and the coach. And you just see him creating. Offensive line, I think, is the Colts.

28:56I think they deserve the benefit of the doubt of keeping these young guys re-signing Braden Smith. They've played really well.

29:04Jourdan Rodrigue:They look great. And I know it's only through three weeks, but the Seahawks running game, like, I'm not there yet totally with it. It's been okay. It hasn't been... It's been okay. It's been good. Statistically, you see the... This reminds me very much of Sean McVay Rams 2023, where they were super inefficient relatively to what they ended up becoming, but they stuck with the plan and they put the blueprint out there and they stuck with it over and over and over again. And part of that was a big piece of the install and overturning that identity that they had. That's what I think the Seahawks are doing right now.

29:35I love that. Cause that's looking at it long-term. I think if you look at the players on their offensive line, there's probably a higher ceiling. They've got, you know, the high picks at the tackle position. They have young players in the middle. They keep Graze able the first round pick. They could keep getting better and better, but some of these Colts haven't played too much either. and the Seahawks like running stats are a little uneven. Like even in that big Ken Walker game, Charbonnet is 10 for 15. So they've had some great plays, some, some okay plays. The passing is, is very good.

30:03Jourdan Rodrigue:But that's why I'm saying I'm going off of, I'm watching their, the blueprint be installed. This is it that they're installing it this way now because they think they're going to be bad-ass in December. The reason where I'm going to take the Colts are still a top eight offense in December. Oof. He's taking it to Ireland. I'm taking it to Ireland. Is everything else is the depth of the weapons. Yeah. Jonathan Taylor might be the best pure running back in the league right now. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how you can be any better than he is. And then you have Jackson Smith and Jigba, who we'll talk about more in the preview, who to me is easily better than any weapon on Indianapolis.

30:38He's that good. He might be a top. He's a top 10 receiver right now, which is crazy. Like he's getting to the Nico Collins' breakout year, top five type of level. But man, after that, it's just not as deep. Whereas...

30:49Jourdan Rodrigue:Corey Horton Erasure. The Colts just can hit you with so many different things. You want some physicality? We got Tyler Warren. Oh, I love it. You want some physicality? We got Michael Pittman. You want a slot that can run you like the prime Hunter Renfro routes, but also can go up the seam kind of deep? Like, that's Josh Downs for you. You want a little wild card on the outside with A.D. Mitchell? They got a lot of players. I'm going Colts. The last reason, man, I have too many reasons, is they've already stacked these great stats now. So they get to keep those. And then the schedule is easier for the Colts.

31:26And their hard part of the schedule is late. They have Seattle, San Francisco, and Houston very late again. And so for the most part, I'm going to Indianapolis.

31:36Jourdan Rodrigue:So Greg is taking the take that the Indianapolis Colts will be a top eight defense in December. All right, we'll put that on our document. We're actually keeping track of these takes this year. I love that. Okay. Second take option to pack. Pack or no pack. Okay. Which one is real? You're packing whichever of these is more real. Okay. Okay. The Rams first half against the Eagles last week or the Eagles second half against the Rams. Which one are you packing?

32:09This is unfair because I believe in them both.

32:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Well, you can't have both. Your suitcase is only so absurdly large. I have to pack the Eagles. I have to pack the Eagles because it's all there. We've all seen it before. There's no particular reason to think that it's going away, but I believe in them both. I don't believe that's a game that the Rams should be holding their head about. We're talking about the entire team, right? Yeah, but I'm saying which is more real as a harbinger for the entire season. The Rams' first half against the Eagles, which also factors in the Eagles' first half against the Rams. Okay. Or the Eagles' second half against the Rams, which also factors in the Rams' second half against the Eagles.

32:52Jourdan Rodrigue:You know, I'm really pretzeling. This is breaking my brain because the reality is I do believe if I had to choose three teams that I think are most likely to be in the divisional round of the playoffs, these would be two of my three teams. That's not the question. It would be the Eagles, the Rams, and the Packers. There's only so much space, though. You need a bigger suitcase. The concept here. I wish you guys could, if you're watching on YouTube. It's hurting me. Greg's gotten more and more frazzled. He started ruffling up his hair in a very eccentric way. The first half of that, I guess you could look at each half.

33:34Especially the first half of that game is as dominant as a team could possibly be. So the Rams, to me, to live up to the billing of that first half would have to be the best team in the NFL. because if they didn't settle for a couple field goals where Matthew Stafford misses a couple passes, it was everything. It was complete domination against the defending Super Bowl champs, where the second half against the Eagles, to me, is repeatable. I've seen it in the biggest of spots. I have my doubts.

34:03Jourdan Rodrigue:You think that's more real. That's what you think is more real. Yeah, I have my doubts about how their regular season is going to go, the Philadelphia Eagles, like, overall. But when we get to December, all the components are there for them to round into shape and be the team that they started to be around December last year. Yeah. So Greg is taking the Eagles second half against the Rams. What's your answer? You clearly are leaning Rams. I'm just here to encourage debate. What did you see from that game? What I think is more real is how the Rams looked because the Rams did not look great in some spots, including finishing drives with touchdowns and Stafford looking old and missing throws and not picking up key laid down situations.

34:43Jourdan Rodrigue:That's what I think looked real as dominant as they were in the box score, other than, you know, scoring touchdowns. I think that's pretty reflective of who the Rams have been. I love their run game right now. And their run game, especially is, is the backbone of this team. And it, and it's finally there after a couple of years of trying to do that. I also think it's more real that the Eagles will start slow many games this season, but that, but that's why I'm sort of looking at it in a different lens than you. It's not that I'm saying they're the most dominant team. It's that I think that was actually pretty reflective of what the Rams are going to be this year.

35:14I agree. I agree. And I think right now, that's why I picked them to win that game. I ended up being wrong. I think right now they're ahead of where the Eagles are overall. The big caveat with both the Colts and the Rams takes, by the way, are that I worry about the quarterbacks' health. Daniel Jones is taking way too many big hits. And then Matthew Stafford, it just goes without saying. With the Eagles, though, I'm The resourcefulness with which they got themselves out of trouble. I love it. They will dig themselves holes at times this year in games and I think in the season overall. But I think what is real is the overall talent and ultimately the backbone of the organization that they figure things out over the course of the season.

35:58So I'm saying they're real.

35:59Jourdan Rodrigue:Do you know what my favorite part of that game was? Around the NFL, I was used to do the tropes, season tropes. and what I really loved is that the trope of I'm in the best shape of my life coming out of training camp actually proved to be true for Jordan Davis who hit 18 miles an hour oh my gosh everyone's like oh he's in shape it's he's in shape and like oh my gosh we've heard this a million times but actually look at look at him go like barreling down the field with Rams players in pursuit no chance of even catching him realizing what was happening in front of their very eyes poor Bo Limmer in the mix of that block field goal with Kevin Dotson injured out out of the field, just like the Rams had happened to them last year in the postseason.

36:42Jourdan Rodrigue:I mean, God, that there was some there was some sick poetry in that game. It's why sometimes it is important to check out the local coverage because so on all PHAY podcast, the first two weeks of the season, they were really talking about Fran Duffy does a great job breaking down the film that, you know, they thought it was Jordan Davis's best two games of his career back to back weeks one and two. Don't think that was a national conversation. Don't think it totally all showed up in the box score, but they thought like week two, man, he looked amazing. And so this is not a fluke, like seeing him having this breakout and they've, they've needed it because they need some people to step up.

37:16All right. I'm taking, I'm taking that the Eagles are going to be fine. Okay.

37:19Jourdan Rodrigue:You're running out of room and you're absurdly large suitcase. You do have room for a quarterback. Okay. Okay. So this is the caveat. you have to pick a quarterback who is not currently on quarterback Island to pack into your absurdly large suitcase and take with you overseas. Who would it be? Not on quarterback Island. We haven't talked to any quarterback Island in a while. And for the listeners out there, for the fans, we're going to wait till I'm back. So it's going to be a little bit of a longer gestation period. People proving themselves guys like CJ Stroud, who are on the Island. and not feeling great about it, they have some time to rebound a little bit.

38:02Brock Purdy, who's not healthy, has time to do so. It's really interesting to look at our list. Okay, some options here. Drake Mays looked pretty good through a couple weeks.

38:14Jourdan Rodrigue:Why was that going to be your first one, your first name you threw up? I probably wouldn't have been, but then I was looking at all the advanced metrics, the PFFs, the EPAs, basically every QBRs, it's like, Drake May is pretty high up there. But you know who's ahead of him in everything is Daniel Jones. It would be fascinating if he is playing well enough. Yeah. But I can take someone now, you're saying, in the suitcase. You're packing this person with you to Ireland. Okay. Who else is even, that's not on the island that is in this discussion? I'm taking Caleb Williams. What? Yes. I'm taking Caleb Williams.

38:52Jourdan Rodrigue:Yes. Just because you think it'd be fun? Currently number eight in the NFL and EPA. Going like the Guinness tour with him or something? Yes, it is very skewed and played a near perfect game. Definitely the most perfect game a quarterback has played in Chicago in a very long time. This is crazy. This last week. But I actually, I really think that you're seeing week over week, like a steady trajectory with him because I'm thinking about, hey, quarterback Island, we're not really doing it for the next, until you're back in the next two weeks. Who is on that incline in improvement? who is somebody who, man, we really wished we could have put him on the island during his rookie season.

39:28Jourdan Rodrigue:He obviously did not get there for many reasons, including his own play. Watching his improvement, I thought he actually was pretty good in week two, made a couple of mistakes that that interception was really bad, but you could see improvement. He's seeing it better. Again, another trope, it's slowing down for him. Clearly his receivers are on a better page with him. His offensive line is playing better. And also I definitely thought you were going to pick Daniel Jones, which is another reason why I picked Caleb. Okay. No, that's fair. And I haven't made my final decision yet. I was amazed that you threw that out there.

40:01That's spicy.

40:01Jourdan Rodrigue:I have to still surprise you. It's like, it feels premature, but it's, it's just off a couple of weeks and it's just taking him, you know, it's not putting him on the Island. If he continues this trajectory over the next couple of weeks, it will be a really interesting conversation because like Daniel counting on. Daniel Jones. Yeah. And the matchups aren't that tough relatively. I think he has Las Vegas this week. Okay. Darnold would be another name you could throw out there. I mean, he's playing really well. He's going to be part of the conversation. Jordan Love is not coming off a great game, but is playing at a pretty high level.

40:43That's why it's hard for me to get there a little bit with Caleb right now. I am factoring that Cowboys defense in quite heavily into the Caleb conversation. I guess it has to be Daniel Jones right now.

40:58Jourdan Rodrigue:I feel like it has to be Daniel Jones that you take with you. And it's like a good opportunity for some bonding, you know, asking him about what he went through. Who would be like the most... Talking about feelings and all that, you know? And a lot of it's first read and people are going to get on him that it's like schemed up. And I think there is some truth to that. But there's a lot of dimes, too. Like, they're not easy throws, and he's making them under pressure. Will he continue it? The number one thing that worries me about the entire Indianapolis Colts season is if you are watching each and every one of these games, he takes three or four massive hits every game.

41:34Sometimes he invites them. Not just inviting the pressure, because he's a little oblivious to it at times, although his pocket presence is better, but he's got that Cam Newton thing where he just stands there and gets crushed. But when he's running, there's one hit a game running where he just gets his clock cleaned. And that worries me, you know?

41:53Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, so, you know, and that's fair. And again, I'm projecting over the next couple of weeks continued trajectory. And I think it's fair. I think it's fair for you to pack Daniel Jones because first of all, you know, let him see the world. May would be more fun. May would be more just like we could play some pickup hoops, you know, I don't know. At this point now, I'm hanging out. I feel like this is a good thing for you to do for Daniel Jones. Let him see the world a little bit and spread your wings and fly. Daniel Jones is the guy, although I'm only not taking Drake May because it would seem like I'm being biased.

42:27Jourdan Rodrigue:Seem. Seem like you're being biased. He just played an incredible two weeks of football here the last two weeks. Oh, I'm aware, but there's no seam about your biases here. That's why, yeah, I would put him, Darnold, love all of them right now. They're in the mix. It's going to be an interesting conversation, by the way. Yeah, because I mentioned CJ Stroud is on the list right now. I'm looking at it. Other than that, there's not many obvious ones that would get bumped off. Brock Purdy would probably be the other one. I think one thing that Daniel Jones has going for him in terms of taking this trip with you is he will be inside your suitcase, but he's pretty used to the cargo area by now after his time in New York, just in the belly of an impossible situation.

43:08Jourdan Rodrigue:Wow. In the dark, crammed into... I was wondering where you're going there. Terrible. There will be open spots. Joe Burrow, I kind of forgot, will unfortunately get booted off. And we don't know. And Brock Purdy might not be there either. There could be some availability. He's a massive human being, Greg. He's a massive human. So I feel like we've got to unpack a take, at least, for you to feel like your suitcase will hit the weight limit and you can actually take it with you with all these takes. Also Daniel Jones. What is a preseason take that you had that that you are willing to leave behind as you that we're done with, I'm done with the take.

43:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah. That you're, that you cannot, once it's gone, it's gone. It's there's so many to choose from. I was wrong about so many things. I mean, you want to know mine? Cause we have a daily show. Yeah. That gives me a little time. Yeah. Mine is the Houston, Texas. Like, God, I see this defense and I see how professional they are. I'm not ready to leave them behind, but they, they make, you know, they've, they've been, um, um strangely like penalty full and undisciplined uh and and I think frustrated and kind of playing like that their defense is so um physical and they just they hurt people and they're so I think they're well coached at the head position and on the other side of it it's like an absolute disaster on offense and I don't care how good your defense is if you are not at least at the median of the league offensively in success rate in the ability to even like get the ball off, you know, snapped and off the line of scrimmage because your offensive line is getting beat so much so fast.

44:42Jourdan Rodrigue:They're not moving people. It's the same stuff over and over again. And yes, there are some things where you would like to see CJ Stroud continue to progress and and not hold the ball in some cases. And there are health. There have been health issues and a couple of really inexperienced receivers in the mix as well. And that's part of the problem. But like you fired your offensive coordinator. You hired Nick Casario's guy as your new offensive coordinator. Yeah. And now you and you have a similarly terrible offensive line. Like everyone's coming for Casario. It's like D 'Amico Ryans is the coach there.

45:19So he to me gets the responsibility for the hire. I don't care. Nick Casario hired a John Carroll guy who also worked with him in New England. to D 'Amico Ryans has no say on who's the offensive coordinator. I'm not saying he has no say.

45:33Jourdan Rodrigue:We don't know what the power balance was for that hire. And I'm saying if he didn't hire, he'd be one of the only head coaches in the league that isn't able to hire his coordinator. I'm not saying he didn't hire him. I'm saying, I don't know what the power dynamic was. I don't know what the conversations were. Neither do you. And what I think the case is here is like, I actually don't think that Nick Caley will, will be a bad coordinator. I understand what he wants to do. and I also know what he wants to try to get this offense to do, especially with CJ Stroud's very specific skill set that has elite potential.

46:06Jourdan Rodrigue:But they don't have the offensive line. I'm not willing to leave this one behind, though. I'm not giving up on them. I think it'll work out. Mine was that they were going to win the Super Bowl, so I am leaving that take behind. I'm scrapping it. I'm not packing that anywhere. We're leaving it. We're burning it. That's it. I had them winning the division, but with a 10-7 record, kind of like last year, but it just looked a little different. they are 20th defensively in DVOA right now. I'm shocked by that. I think it's because they are giving up a lot of successful plays and a lot of long drives.

46:37Because I'm trying to do the math, and they're not creating enough turnovers right now. Situationally, they have given up big drives in the biggest moments of each one of those games. That's not baked into those numbers where they overweight the fourth quarter. But I'm shocked by that their defense is also ranked that low.

46:52Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, because when you watch them, it's not that low. No, it doesn't. They're going to be... Yeah. I think they're going to be okay. So, so many options of what I could wash my hands of. Unpack it, Greg. The Cowboys takes were all made before Micah trade. Like, I wouldn't have made those takes. You know, I tried to hold on to it, just be like, okay, maybe they'll still be a fun, interesting offensive team. You know, so I don't feel bad about that. Like, I guess I'm leaving that behind, but I don't even count those takes, right? It's made before the Parsons trade. the the ones that stand out to me is the colts were my number two pick in our over under draft taking the under on the colts and yeah that was seven and a half i'm leaving i'm leaving that behind i'm embarrassed by a take that was so bad i didn't even remember it and eric brought it up before the show he says i called keenan allen a slouch is that possible oh but i i definitely know that I dismissed the potential impact of Keenan Allen to this Chargers team.

47:52And I've been stunned how good he looks.

47:54Jourdan Rodrigue:I listened to the recap show as you predicted I would. And Eric had a lot of very specific receipts. Do we have Eric's microphone here? What did I call him? I called him a slouch. I want to say you call him a slouch. I'm digging for transcripts right now for the exact quote because I don't want to throw that out to you. It doesn't matter. Either way, that's horribly wrong. You were very anti-Keenan when it was announced. That's horribly wrong. So I'm leaving both that and the Colts. You know who was pro Keenan Allen? Daniel Jeremiah. That it was going to work out. And yeah, they are actually splitting the ball three ways.

48:26Like Quinton Johnston is like the number one right now. Ladd McConkie actually has fewer yards on the season than Keenan Allen, who's looked great. So that was a horrible take. The Colts take I'm leaving behind as well. We're opening up room. I'm leaving up multiple takes.

48:39Jourdan Rodrigue:That was fun. Let's go. Now you have room to bring me back presents. Yes. And buy some stuff. I feel like I don't have enough clothes. I might buy some there, which is always a bad plan. Let's talk about the TNF preview before we get out of here. It's Seahawks at the Cardinals. The Seahawks are favored by one and a half in this game in Arizona. That's flipped. I happened to look on Sunday, and the Cardinals were favored back then. So that indicates that all the regular Joes like me out there are like, oh, the Seahawks have clearly been better. and they flipped that by going to Seattle. I just think they have looked a lot better.

49:21I think if the two teams play how they've played so far this season, it'll be an interesting matchup when Seattle has the ball offensively. And it'll be a mismatch in Seattle's defense's favor when Arizona has the ball. That's how I see this, at least in terms of how they've played through three weeks.

49:43Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, it was horrible to see James Connors and go down the way that he did. And Trey Benson, obviously, will step up and take the workload there. And, you know, they'll get, you know, Parrish Johnson back. You know, he'll be, sounds like he'll be playing. They're still, you know, it's, you're very unsure about what this Cardinals offense is beyond what it was last season. And they're, they're, sometimes they're really trying to get the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. Sometimes it doesn't seem like they're really trying to get the ball to Marvin Harrison Jr. Sometimes he's making mistakes. He spoke at length after this loss in San Francisco to reporters about just how disappointed in himself he was for his own errors throughout the game, his own mistakes, and just frustrated, I think, that it's not coming together enough the way that they needed more from everybody.

50:35He's putting a lot of pressure on himself. He's putting a lot of pressure on himself.

50:38Jourdan Rodrigue:And again, it's like, it's almost like unnecessary in my mind because this is always, this is just a team that should continue. The ethos should not bend into the external pressure or the media pressure or whatever to have a true X receiver right away. You need this guy to be your X and your first round pick and your high pick and all that stuff. This offense runs through Trey McBride. Okay, so go throw what you know, go to what you know. And I would just love to see this young man put less on his own shoulders on this. And I think he plays a little bit more free and things, things just go faster and just make more sense.

51:11Jourdan Rodrigue:And it just seems like there's, there's just a tightness to this offense. We're used to seeing like the heavy personnel and them just try to run through you and put a hurt on you and load up in heavy personnel. The team that's doing that more successfully, another like OG Kubiak offense, because your pet thing is from the Kubiak tree. Well, this is literally Clint Kubiak who's running this offense in Seattle and they're loading up in heavy personnel. They're running like we mentioned earlier in the show, a lot of under center. Let's stay with the Cardinals offense though because like they can't run the ball.

51:43They're one of the worst rushing teams in the league. That to me is like everything that is a problem with them. When I look at like their offense, they just seem very condensed. Not explosive. Kyler is throwing the ball to the middle of the field, which he's like famous for not doing. It's almost like he's over corrected. I feel like that's the story of Kyler Murray's career. He's always like correcting whatever the criticism is about him. Actually, their entire offense is like that's exactly the middle of the field.

52:12Jourdan Rodrigue:All of them right now, though, it's like, OK, you know, the entire offseason, it's like, you know, especially from a fantasy football perspective, it's like Marvin Harrison Jr. needs to get the ball more. But really, this offense was at its most functional when it's running through the multiple tight ends and you're not putting that pressure on his shoulders. You understand. Yeah, he's a first round. He's a high draft pick first round pick, but it might take a second, especially within the structure of what this offense is and, and, and to get the, the, the, you know, the gelling with the quarterback and all of these things.

52:42Jourdan Rodrigue:And so, okay, go like, go be loose with what you know and go play free with what you know. And, and, and the same thing with the running game and same thing with the running game is just bad though. And that's the most concerning of the field. It's like, Oh, he never does this. Okay. Now they're, it's almost like they're listening too much to what we're saying. Right. And he is scrambling a lot. They did. they said that all offseason he was going to scramble more he is on pace for the most scrambles and the most scramble yards and it has helped them uh since i think 2020 for him he did have that one year where he ran quite a bit but they are 30th in rushing dvoa and they are they're dead on arrival if that continues and it's and that's including kyler's scrambles which have been effective so they are one of the worst and that's been the secret sauce for them is that the run blocking It was Clayton Adams, who's now in Dallas, helping to scheme it up.

53:30But their offensive line was greater than the sum of their parts. And then here comes Seattle. Just these monsters up front who you don't know who's going to step up in a given week. They are the number one rush defense in the entire league. According to DVOA, they are like third in EPA per play. And so you almost have to assume going into this game, the Cardinals are not going to be able to run the ball. And then the matchup really becomes, you know, can Kyler get enough time and make some things happen in this matchup? Because Seattle, they're getting production and this is coaching like from surprising places.

54:07Josh Jobe is playing well at cornerback for them. Playing really well. Darian Kendrick is playing well.

54:12Jourdan Rodrigue:Darian Kendrick came in for Witherspoon and is playing really well for them. Had an interception two weeks ago that was absolutely crucial in that win over the Steelers. This is a team that is physical and tenacious and smart and fast, which is funny because Darren Kendrick, respectfully speaking, never really quite looked like a fast player. Tenacious, 100%, especially when he was playing in the slot and closer to the line of scrimmage, would make plays on the ball, especially Reds-Greens, really smartly. But in every level, you've got Ernest Jones in the middle of the field still playing well, and certainly they'll need him against the run.

54:47Jourdan Rodrigue:And you've got, you know, this front that just is coming more and more alive every single week, like you would expect it to do under a Mike McDonald defense at every single level. There's this like tenacity and just a savviness and like a smart brand of football that they're playing. And I think that does not bode well for the Cardinals. Jay Harbaugh also has his unit playing well, the special teams coordinator for the Seahawks doing his thing. How many relatives are on this Seahawks. Right. There's a Harbaugh. There's a couple Kubiaks. Could we get another Harbaugh special teams coordinator to head coach pipeline?

55:23I mean, the last name will definitely help him. We talked about the Seahawks offense earlier. I don't think the Cardinals defense has been able to be quite as creative this year. It is the better part of the team. One stat I didn't get into Sunday's show was how Clayus Campbell had the fastest get-off time, which they record for next-gen stats, like getting off the ball of any defensive tackle in the league. He also forced the safety that should have won them the game. He is playing great. Josh Sweat is playing well. But overall, they have some disappointing players up front. They're not getting anything from Darius Robinson.

56:00Their first-round pick. They've had some injuries. They've just been okay. It's a very okay team. They're like 13th. And this is all DVOA. And it was a pretty easy schedule. 13th in defense, 19th in offense. And then you look at, other than that the rush offense is really bad, everything else is just in the middle. And Cardinals fans are sneaky sick of it. I'm kind of shocked how annoyed they are with Petsig and this whole team. There's a lot of anger about a two-in-one Cardinals team, but that's why, you know, division matchups are so big. You go win this game and you're three-in-one and you're tied for first place, potentially in the NFC West if the 49ers happen to lose this week.

56:39Or you get the, you know, it's big. This is a tough division, though, and every division game is going to be big. I am leaning Seahawks, as you probably could have guessed.

56:48Jourdan Rodrigue:Yeah, I'm picking the Seahawks in this one because I just think they're able to overwhelm you in more areas than the Cardinals are able to sustain. And maybe if the Cardinals were fully healthy at different positions, and maybe if they weren't sort of stuck in neutral with what this offense is supposed to be versus what it's trying to be, then maybe we're having a completely different conversation. but because Jonathan Gannon and Nick Wallace are not able to do exactly what they want to do on the defensive side of the ball, injuries that started even back in training camp, even in the spring that sort of have had this ripple effect for them.

57:21Jourdan Rodrigue:And because they're just sort of neutral on offense when they should be one of the more smothering groups in the entire league based on the talent that they have available in the personnel that they like to deploy. Meanwhile, Seattle's doing all those things, right? They're creative on defense. They're smart on defense. They're playing a lot of different interesting things. They're getting pressure. They're stopping the run. They on offense, they are the smothering team in every area. Almost it probably except for the, depending on the day, the quarterback, the Seattle Seahawks are able to smother and suffocate teams more so than the Cardinals.

57:57They're a little further ahead. They're in year two of their program with Mike McDonald, but I think they have better players ultimately. And then yes, the Cardinals are missing at least three cornerbacks in this game, probably four. I mean, two have been gone for the season for a while, but Max Melton is out there playing. He did not look good in that 49ers game. I don't know if he is 100%. Will Johnson is probably not back for this game, so I'll take the Seahawks on the road. You're going to be covering this game with Patrick on Thursday night, and yeah, I'm really looking forward to our Wednesday preview show.

58:28We'll have Steve Weiss, for real this time, in the studio with both me, you, and Patrick. We will be back for that preview show before I head overseas. And yes, we got some fun shows, some extra stuff this week. Going to connect with the Ringer Fantasy guys, Danny Kelly, Danny Heifetz, Craig Horvath. They're going to be picking games with me this week. That's all coming up. But before that, we got to get ready for a really fun week for Slate. We will see you there.

59:00Jourdan Rodrigue:Don't forget to pack a breathing tube for Daniel Jones. This is Troy Millings from Earn Your Leisure. When you think about discovering small brands, what store pops in your mind? Well, it should be Walmart. Seriously, Walmart has thousands of small brands, and they're all in one place. Just go online or in-store, discover, and shop. It could not be easier. Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it. They're true American success stories, and you can find them all at Walmart. Discover thousands of small brands at walmart.com today. your next unforgettable experience can happen anytime take an amex card with you for rewards wherever you go morning coffee run with an old friend earn cash back weekend getaway earn miles amex rewards your inner explorer learn more at american express.com terms apply this is an iheart podcast guaranteed human