Raiders-Broncos Week 10 TNF Recap and Midseason Power Rankings

21:58Nick Shook:At Baja Mar, you'll find every pleasure under the sun and one-of-a-kind experiences for the entire family, like Baja Bay, our 15-acre lush tropical water park, interactive wildlife experiences, including our daily flamingo parade, world-class golf, tennis, spa, and so much more. Visit Bahamar.com today and discover a vacation destination where memories are made for a lifetime. Bahamar, life spectacular.

22:29Okay, it's Power Rankings time. We've done similar-ish conversations. Who's in the Super Bowl mix? Kind of took stock of the league while we were in Ireland, But here we are. One game past the midway point, Shook. And I think it's time to just kind of break it down. Who we think are the best teams in the entire NFL. You made a list. I made a list. And we combined them. And now we're going to talk about it. And we broke it into four different sections. And we'll start. We'll go bottom up. Let's start with the they gone section. Self-explanatory. They gone. Dead last. Tennessee Titans. We both had that, by the way.

23:12I should have showed you my list so you know where we agreed, where we didn't. The New Orleans Saints, second to last 31. We both agreed on that completely as well. Number 30, the Jets. 29 Raiders did not help themselves tonight. Sad to see the Washington Commanders, who shook absolutely Barry, down at 28. We got the Dolphins at 27. Shooks Browns, who he had a little more faith in than me, up at 26. And then the Giants at 25. And I broke them into sections. But this naturally to me are like the teams that if you see them on the schedule, Shook, you're counting on a W. Why did you have Washington that that low?

23:52Nick Shook:Because they're just so banged up. Like I'm not talking about them being healthy and the way we looked at them going into the season. We're talking about Jaden Daniels dealing with his third injury and they have so many losses on both sides of the ball. This is where we are at week 10. And I don't expect the Washington Commanders to contend in most games that are ahead of them, even if they have Jaden Daniels available, just because that's how banged up they are. They have lost so much. And we saw exactly what they are on Sunday night against the Seahawks. So, yeah. You got him below the Dylan Gabriel Browns.

24:23Yes. You got him below this Giants team who can't stop anyone on the ground.

24:27Nick Shook:I can't believe I have to defend the Browns. This is not me defending the Browns, but the Browns defense will at least keep them in a game. Washington could just get rolled by anybody because of all the losses they have personnel wise. That's absolutely right. Although it's it's a big week for not only draft positioning shook between the Jets and the in the Browns, but for the power rankings, because if they can't beat the Jets who are below them here, you know, then you're in trouble. And it shows that your ranking was. I like how you're revealing mine just without revealing yourself at all. I'm trying to trying to find mine.

25:00I am the scapegoat. you are the scapegoat if okay Giants 25 Browns you know 26 Dolphins it's crazy to think that the commanders are behind those teams but you're absolutely right like who would I take on a neutral field right now Dolphins commanders I probably would take the Dolphins which of these teams would you least want to play on a Sunday oh it's it's undoubtedly the New York Giants

25:24Nick Shook:like it's not even close because Jackson Dart brings an element of aggression to this offense He is a playmaker. Like I know that they've they lost Cam Scadaboo and they've lost, you know, Malik neighbors. And he is an absolute warrior for them. Like watching them is still fun because of him. Like he is trying to carry this offense on their back. And I think their defense has enough talent to to cause problems for a lesser team. So like if the Browns are playing the Giants, I'm taking the Giants because I don't think the Browns can protect against that defense. And I think Jackson Dart eventually will find a way to score enough points to beat them.

25:54And Raiders fans out there, I had you 30th going into this game and just ahead of the Saints and Titans. 29th when you averaged me and shook out.

26:08You're looking at 32 pretty soon. It's a tough situation. All right, let's go to the next segment. The next group is called Stuck in the Middle. So these teams have a chance to make the playoffs, certainly. Number 24, the Cincinnati Bengals. They're right on the edge of that. The Cowboys at 23. Falcons at 22. Disappointing season. The Carolina Panthers, a little disrespected here, at 21. Texans at 20. Cardinals at 19. Some love for the Cardinals, considering their record. 18 for the Chicago Bears and 17 of the Jacksonville Jaguars. So the Bears are 5-3, Shook. Explain to me kind of your thought process of why they are here.

26:51and we did not disagree much there. You had them 19th, I had them 17th.

26:56Nick Shook:Yeah, we were super close here. I think that the Bears could easily climb out of this tier because I love the development of their offense under Ben Johnson's direction. Like they are getting creative and running all kinds of wacky stuff that you don't expect, but they're also executing it. Now, Caleb is still a bit unsteady. He doesn't, like his highlight plays are really fun to watch, but he's, and he's getting more comfortable. He's getting better, but he's still not at that point where you're like, he's going to lead them to victory. Now he's done a couple of times in clutch spots, but I have questions about their defense because they can't generate a pass rush to save their lives.

27:30Nick Shook:So that's why they're kind of stuck in this tier. But I think if their offense continues on the trajectory they're currently on, they could climb out of it and get into the bottom of the next tier. Yeah, I think part of their issue is just the quality of their opponents. And you could say the same thing about the Patriots, but the Patriots quarterbacks playing better and they're seven and two. So there is a little bit of a difference there. I just want to see more out of this Bears team because I think the defense is struggling. The passing game is up and down. It looks better in the box score than the numbers.

28:04But they are trending up. And it is crazy to think like, man, the league feels deep if the Jaguars are 17 and the Panthers are 21st. And I think the Panthers are just an eye test thing. ultimately like yeah it is the year of the running game and everything but if you can't consistently throw the ball and your defense is not a difference maker and I don't consider the Panthers defense to be a difference maker that I think that's where they get edged out a little bit compared to teams like the Cardinals and the Texans for instance who I to me have a higher upside despite their record right now what was your thought process of kind of where they are

28:42Nick Shook:versus say the Cardinals and the Texans yeah maybe I'm one of the last believers in the Texans but their defense is very very good and it like you know we talked about with the browns they're gonna it's gonna keep them in most games and if they can protect cj stroud who got knocked out by a concussion uh last week then i think that they would be a competitive team against most teams which is why they're ranked higher and it's not to say that the panthers aren't they just upset the packers but we see the ceiling on their offense especially their running games not working i think that the panthers are on the right path and a year from now they'll be in a better place you see you know signs of it on both sides of the ball it's just that like this is the build-up to that so that's kind of why they are where they are but i also you know we talk about the jags being in this group at the top of this group bitter recency not bias but but recency influence with us because i could very easily see us putting the vikings in that spot instead of the jaguars had the vikings not just gone and beaten the line but they just beat the lions you gotta add adapt to new information.

29:40And I think roster-wise, they're better. And maybe it is confirming my priors. I thought they would get over eight and a half wins this year, and they still have a chance to do so. There's a lot of talent, the coaches, but yeah, you're hinting at who's up next. So let's just do it. The next tier is Frisky. And the Vikings are at the bottom of that tier. But these are the teams that you don't want to play them. I think it'd be a disappointment if they don't make the playoffs, but we're also just evaluating where they are right now. Number 16, the Vikings. Big jump, I think, from where they would have been, like you said, Shook, last week at this time.

30:13The Chargers are at 15, a little lower than I expected they'd be in this exercise. The 49ers, 14. Ravens, all the way up to 13, despite the 3-5 record, but they are the Ravens. The Steelers at 12. Broncos at 11. And Patriots at 10. Now, I got to say, we did this, assuming the Broncos are going to win this game, like roughly where they would be. I mean, I think just for making us go through this, maybe we should knock them down a couple spots. Yes, yes.

30:44Nick Shook:We assumed they were going to win. We didn't assume they were going to win in the ugliest fashion possible. Yeah, and this is a fun kind of examination of where we differ too, because I had the Ravens all the way up at 11, because I just believe that if Lamar can be Lamar, that they're going to be right on the edge of that top 10. But yeah, the Broncos deserve, Let's drop them a couple spots, and I'm going to bump the Ravens up. And we should also defend the Chargers. You already had them ahead of them. You had the Ravens at 11. I had them at 15. And I guess what I would say to that, I did have them behind the 49ers and the Chargers, and maybe I shouldn't.

31:17I'm talking about opponent. I'm talking about consistency. Okay, the Ravens didn't look amazing beating the Dolphins. I know it ended up being easy, but it wasn't like a game where you look at the numbers and everything that they were particularly dominant. And, you know, they beat the Bears. That was a good effort with Tyler Huntley. I guess I just want to see them in a game like they are this week against a better opponent before I'm feeling like they're back back. So I punished them a little bit for that.

31:46Nick Shook:That's fair. We should defend where we are putting the Chargers, though, because I think this is accurate. And the reason is, is the losses in the offensive line. We know we are bracing for offense being a challenge for them from here on out after losing Joe Alt for the rest of the season. So that and the defense hasn't been that good, right? Like I thought the defense would be better and it's been up and down. I would. Yeah, I would agree. I would agree with that. 49ers, though, ahead of the now that I'm looking at it, like in my heart, 49ers, considering their injuries, actually, I I did have them below the Chargers and I think you should have, too.

32:20Nick Shook:But you didn't, you know, I had the 49ers ahead of the Chargers because I admire their scrappiness and their ability to extract wins out of thin air, despite all the losses that they've had in personnel. Like that I am still mystified by how they are still competitive every week, given all the guys they don't have. I had the Patriots at 11, you had them at 10. Do you think it's fair that they are not in our highest tier, essentially that we're, we're kind of saying with this tier to me, you know, you're not one of the real deal ones yet. and it's crazy to think that about the Ravens. I guess I just want, I want just a little more proof.

32:59But what do you think about not putting the Patriots or the Broncos or even the Steelers in like real deal Super Bowl contender status?

33:08Nick Shook:I think that the Patriots are going to remind me of teams that played soft schedules and got to the playoffs on the back of a soft schedule, not to take away anything that they've done because Drake May is the engine that drives that team forward and he's playing fantastic football. but I do think that if they end up facing higher level competition, they could get exposed, you know, on a given Sunday or whatever. So that's why they sit at 10 for me. The Steelers. I, I sound like a hater. They're just very up and down. Like the way that they dominated the Colts statistically with turnovers and everything else was shocking, but yet they only won that game by a touchdown.

33:42Nick Shook:And so that kind of points to sign to me that like, I think Aaron Rogers is playing very good football for them right now. He's, he's got complete command of that offense when he's given, when he's empowered to run that offense. But I think that there is not fraudulence in them, but just a visible ceiling with them, which is why I have them where they are. And it's funny, if we had done this segment before Thursday Night Football, Broncos fans would have been annoyed, I think, at how low they are. And now after Thursday Night Football, even though they got a win, I feel like the Bo Nix nation, the Bo Leavers will just be a little quieter.

34:15Nick Shook:I got to give them a lot of credit. a big shout out for me because i get a lot of hate for the qb index every week it's part you know it comes with the game bonix fans have not gotten in my dms or my mentions once and in fact i've had a little bit of back and forth with broncos fans like when i'm streaming on twitch or whatever they're in agreement like they they understand they're realists with him and they understand where he is right now so shout out to you guys for not letting your emotions cloud your judgment. Shout out to the Broncos fans for the most incredible Bronx cheer on Thursday night when their punter finally had a good punt because he kept punting it off the side of his foot.

34:55They were booing the hell out of Bo Nix and the Broncos offense. They did it going into halftime. They did it coming out of halftime when they went three and out of halftime. And then he hit this punt which was his first decent punt of the night and they gave him a loud ass Bronx cheer for a

35:11Nick Shook:punt that was amazing just this is coming off of the off of the back of him launching absolute rockets a week earlier like to the point where I tweeted I was like he has a mortar cannon like a mortar launcher on his leg like that's what his leg is and then he goes out there tonight and just sends like ground balls out there you know that punting's hard man football was hard it is crazy that punting was like the most entertaining thing in the game AJ Cole the Raiders had two punts go inside the two yard line. That's the first time that's happened in the same game in like five years. Not surprising there.

35:41And then he also had a block punt that basically won the Broncos the game, set them up on a short field goal. And that's how they got their short field. And that's how they got their winning field goal. Let's do the title contender. I'm calling this the real ones. And it really shows what a crazy year this is, because I think you could shake up these nine teams in any direction. And I'm not going to argue too much with it. Number nine, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Number eight is Green Bay, lower than I expected. And it is interesting when you force yourself to do this exercise and you realize like, wow, the Packers down there, although I had them higher than you.

36:17Number seven, the Detroit Lions. Number six, we have the Colts. Five, the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs, despite losing last week, is actually ahead of the Bills. That's why I like power rankings. They shouldn't just be, you know, your record. Number three, the LA Rams. Number two, Philadelphia Eagles. and number one, the Seattle Seahawks up at number one. I was surprised, Shook. We were on the same page with the Seahawks. You had them very high. Was it number one? I believe it was number two for you. But it averaged out to being number one. You had the Chiefs one, and that was surprising. The Seahawks two, Eagles three.

36:57So what strikes you the most just looking at this list of the best nine teams? And then I'll tell you what stands out to me.

37:05Nick Shook:So this season feels like we've gotten more parody in the league than we've gotten in probably the last five or seven years. And I think that this group really illustrates that because this was the most difficult part of this exercise for me, because I'm getting at one chiefs. Yeah. They lost the bills. They had a terrible game. That was the bill's best showing in years, defensively at least. And I think that if you play that game 10 times, it might turn out differently, you know, a few different times. So I'm not going to put too much stock into a regular season win over the chiefs. I felt I still feel confident as though if I had to take any team in a neutral site or in a playoff game, home or away, I would still take Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs.

37:43Nick Shook:But once we got past the Chiefs and the Seahawks, I'm like, oh, my God, like, what do I think about the rest of these guys? Because the Eagles have, you know, the personnel to get it done. They had the drama, but they're also, you know, they're coming off of two quality wins. The Rams are like lurking as this team that people aren't paying attention to, but they're playing phenomenal football, especially offensively. Lions coming off of a loss to the Vikings, but they're still the Lions. We still respect them. Bills are lower for me than than five. I actually had him at six just because I still need it.

38:10Nick Shook:Prove it to me like you need the Ravens to prove it to you. Like I get down to like six, seven, eight, nine. And I'm like, oh, God, I forgot about the Buccaneers. Wait, right. I have all these injuries on offense. Can they still do it? The Packers, I don't believe in them fully right now because of some of the performances they've produced recently. And the Colts, Daniel Jones scared me back into being hesitant about them with accounting for five of their six turnovers. So it's really hard to sort these guys out right now, which is why the NFL is incredibly fun to watch. Yeah. So first of all, it's six NFC teams, three AFC.

38:39So I think that. Yeah. It just. I think there's more really good teams this year than than most years. I actually it is parody, but I don't think it's mediocrity because we looked at that group from 10 to 16. And those are good teams, too. So the bad teams are really bad this year for sure. But I think there's a lot of good teams at the top. Like all these teams, almost all of them have had multi-year kind of buildups to this moment. You know, like Mike McDonald, it's only a second year, but man, they're so different than they were. You know, Sean McVay and they've been in this rebuild-ish phase for the last couple of years.

39:25They called it a sprint rebuild. That's peaking right now. The Eagles are in the middle of their primes. The Chiefs are the Chiefs, obviously. And even the Bucs, they've been building to this moment. So it's not like, other than the Colts, there's not a big surprise team. And there's not a team that feels like it came out of nowhere. And yet the Colts, and I've talked about this this week, when you look at it, that team has about as much continuity in veterans and guys who have been on that roster for four or five years than anyone. So I just like that we're really familiar with all these teams.

39:56and I think they all have a shot to win the Super Bowl. And the biggest disagreement we had here, well, there were a couple, but we were only three spots apart on any team. But I had the Colts still at four. Maybe that's too high, but I believe in transcendent offenses. Okay. I just think they have a chance to be a transcendent offense. Is their offense, does it have a chance to be the best thing in the NFL? I think it has a chance. So maybe I'm wrong. It seems crazy.

40:30Nick Shook:Yeah, I mean, because of the continuity, that's probably the strongest argument for them that they could have the best offense in the NFL. I mean, they've certainly put up a lot of points, but you also have to consider opponent when you examine some of their victories. I actually want to step into our therapist's office real quick. I am the therapist and I am also the patient here because this is a great demonstration of the difference between you and me and my abandonment issues. The Colts burned me once and I'm like, nope, I'm off the ship. I'm not, you can't hurt me twice, Colts. I'm not going to let you hurt me again.

40:57Nick Shook:I'm running away from you, whereas you are more of an open-hearted believer. Like they said on the Monday Night Recap, Greg has kind eyes. You have a kind heart, too. You're willing to let the Colts have a bad Sunday. Maybe, or maybe I just stick with my priors, and I just spent the week gassing them up before they stunk up the joint. And a team like the Bills, I think they have fundamental things that I worry about. And yet, man, they're a good problem-solving team like the Chiefs. So if I had to do it again, maybe I would have flipped it and the bills would have been a little bit higher. Because like the Chiefs, they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

41:30They're going to create solutions to the problems that the season gives them. And you can kind of see it the last couple of weeks. Do we know that the Colts are going to do that? We don't know because we haven't seen it. And we are putting a lot of faith there in the Seahawks. I had them one, you had them two. But, man, it's a beautiful thing. And you know what? We got a game this weekend with two of these top teams playing. That's all I want. Out of each week, at least one or two games where two of these nine teams are playing each other. And yeah, we got a nice Packers-Eagles game. And the Patriots, not too far out of this tier, playing the Bucs is a really good one.

42:16Nine versus 10. if you if you look at the windows i know we had a bad primetime game shook but this is sneakily one of the best yeah weeks of the year because we have pats bucks in that early window along with ravens vikings which i think is really fun uh that's a great game and the primetime windows are absolutely great in the 425 window we have rams 49ers which i think is good enough to hold that window. It's like every window has a nice, delicious game.

42:46Nick Shook:You know, it's like a relief and it's also excites me when I see a good Monday nighter and Eagles Packers is going to be a good Monday nighter. We need it. We'll be live. And we appreciate everyone who's been listening to all our recaps this season. And that's it for this one. We will be next in the feed. Cynthia Freeland and I, we pushed back the pick show a little bit this week because everything's been a little up in year. So we have our picks against the spread that'll be on Friday afternoon. Uh, we will see then. And we can only hope to do better at our jobs than the Raiders and the Broncos offenses did.

43:24See you.

43:31Nick Shook:What if your soda actually did something for you? Introducing Sky Pop protein soda. Sky Pop protein Soda has 10 grams of complete protein, zero sugar, and real delicious soda taste. Skypot Protein Soda. Reach for the sky. Get your Skypot Protein Soda now at Target or Walmart. What's up, cousin? I want a new phone. Have you seen any good deals? Everyone has free phones, but when I switched to T-Mobile, I got more value and so much more. Like streaming included. And trouble benefits. And the best part? The price of your talk, text, and data is guaranteed for five viewers get more benefits and more value at t-mobile family save and get a five-year price guarantee switch now at t-mobile.com qualifying plan requires price guarantee on talk tax and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply ct mobile.com granger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park you're not managing one building you're managing all of them and to stay ahead you need to see through walls and around corners lights about to fail filters ready to clog HVAC on its last leg?

44:32If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering, and 24-7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done.

44:48Nick Shook:Discover a spectacular island destination with crystal blue seas, endless sunshine, and the cool Bahamian breeze. Baja Mar, located in Nassau, Bahamas, offers your choice of three luxury hotels, over 45 fine dining and nightlife venues, John Batiste's all-new jazz club, the Caribbean's most luxurious casino, and one-of-a-kind experiences for the entire family, like our 15-acre tropical water park, wildlife sanctuary, world-class golf course, and so much more. Visit BajaMar.com today. This is Tab Ramos from Inside American Soccer, and this summer, Topgolf is turning into the ultimate soccer destination.

45:25They've got a new soccer-themed game you can play with your group, exclusive food and drink items. They've even installed full-size soccer goals, so you can try to hit golf balls right into the net. And every match all summer long will be on throughout the venue. And if you want to keep the fun going all summer, you can get the Topgolf Summer Fun Pass, which lets you play every single day and bring up to five guests every visit. Get yours now at topgolf.com slash fun pass. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human