Knuck if you Shough: Previewing Week 3

31:13But I think there's like, OK, awful week one, great week to do it again. And because the Panthers offense has more than held up their side of the equation. Bryce Young has been lighting it up. So I agree. I just wrote down Panthers tackle. Like, please just tackle in this one. I do want to talk about the Panthers offense in more depth. Let's see on their schedule because I just this game. I was just like, I can't. I can't. I just haven't found the right spot. Okay. So goes Bears, Falcons. Okay, so they got the Lions next week. Panthers fans, I promise. You're going to give your Panthers some attention and love if this week goes as planned.

31:59Yeah, I'm taking Carolina here for the Browns' hope opener. How about you? Yeah, I'm the same. I got Carolina for this one. Chief Dolphins, we'll be quick on this one. This is my game. I just want to complain about something. It's been two games. last week against the Niners. And again, I know the game got out of hand, whatever. Malik Willis had two carries on the season. He has eight carries, which is fewer than Kirk Cousins and Gino Smith. Now again, game script. I know it plays into this. Dolphins are obviously playing from behind but last year he had 40. Devon Achan last year led the league in explosive runs 10 yard plus runs oh sorry I 40 is not intendably Willis didn't have 40 I meant to say Devon Achan I mixed up my numbers let me do that let me repeat Devon Achan last year had 40 explosive runs which led the NFL so far through two weeks.

33:10He has two. This Dolphins run game should be so much better than it is with those two. Those are two of the most athletic explosive guys in the NFL. Also he's under center. HN is under center 69 % of the time or 73 % of the time. Last year he was barely under center. I thought you go out, you get Malik Willis who's a dynamic rushing threat. I know around the NFL design quarterback runs are down. How is there not a more robust option game with these two players? Yes, Bobby Slowick. I'm talking to you. I'm so impressed that you could have that much passion for a Dolphins game. That's it. That is incredible.

33:54Shout out Bobby. Get it together, Bobby. Bobby's world. Hand it off. Let Malik run. I assume we're both on the Chiefs here. Chiefs are good at football. they're gonna win by a lot of points okay chargers bills oh you yeah uh is uh ed oliver coming back not yet maybe i don't know dion walker or is is all i need for the interior of that chargers front if you have ed indian like it'd be great yeah i think it's dion i don't i also heard diane but i don't preach yours diane um yeah that is a mismatch of course um lad mcconkey should be healthy available for this game uh it's pretty ugly outside of him right now in la i think i i feel okay let's put it to you this way which side of the ball do you think is more likely to bounce back for the chargers the offense or the defense i mean i guess it has to be the offense yeah right because the the defense will be going up against the strength of the bills i mean their rushing attack in the way that their offense in general obviously is seemed to make the head coach change was about we want to be aggressive right and they are going after people offensively and there's no reason to believe that if the two teams that they played so far haven't slowed them down, that this team is going to slow them down.

35:31So, yeah, the offense has the pieces if a healthy McConkie, and maybe they can figure out what to do with the interior line. And Jim Leonard's defense hasn't become all that much better than we thought it was. It's different than I anticipated being. It's a lot more zone if you thought he was going to bring a lot of the Denver stuff. I guess he's bringing more of the Wisconsin stuff than the Denver stuff. but it's been like inconsistent as hell. So that's where if I were to charge, I'd be more optimistic. Yeah. I will say about the Chargers defense, the one thing that LA has done well is stop the run.

36:07So at least with Buffalo, but you just think about all the Bills explosive plays we've seen over the last two weeks and all of the explosives, you know, the fact that we've seen this Chargers defense, which used to do not give up explosives at all struggle in that regard. But yeah, I feel like offense is where my eye, you know, it's just because it's just been such a comedy of errors in terms of execution and the run game. Drops, bad plays by everyone on offense that they're just they're not. I think it's safe to say you're not they're not gonna be a top 10 unit, but they're better than the product that they've put out thus far.

36:48I always wonder this question, and it goes for offenses and defenses and everyone. I was thinking about it a lot for the Cowboys. Would you rather have, and I guess the answer is you'd rather there be a bunch of different mistakes than be one glaring issue? I guess you can convince yourself that we aren't bad at these things. We just slipped up and we can address it. if you just like the Cowboys it's like their run fits are so inconsistent where like you can convince yourself that if we could consistently have the right run fits we could be good at stopping the run it's a great question because it kind of brings up what's fixable and what's not right I think I tend to go to have I seen this player be good before okay I've seen glad mcconkey and justin herbert be good i've seen a marion hampton look explosive i've seen like some of these players block better than they are so uh you know taking buffalo here um i like i said i would i think for the bills now i'm like kind of the offenses we already know going to be a top three unit i am watching this bill's defense with more curiosity because you know through the first two weeks they have given up a lot of points granted to good opponents So let's see.

38:08Can they? Well, Texans are offensive. Pretty good. Well, that's what's next. Texans, Colts. Big game because somebody is about to start season 0-3. Sheesh. And I don't think anyone thought, maybe no one thought, but the Texans were a preseason darling. They've lost close. Well, it wasn't that close to Cincinnati. It felt closer than it was. Week one was close. And it's just, it's been weird because the defense is still, I think we still think is very good. And they actually played well last week, I thought. The offense has been fine. They still can't run the ball. So I'll start there. That's my side of the ball.

38:58I've got a key that's really based on what I've seen from this Indianapolis defense early on, but particularly thinking about the Sunday night game. against Kansas City, attack the linebackers. Because Andy Reid clearly went into that game, drew a big circle, Kyle Shanahan style, around Akeem Davis-Gaither and Jalen Carley's. If Travis Kelsey, look, Hall of Famer, one of the greatest to ever do it. But if he's putting up 101 yards on you, you probably have a problem in the middle of the field. But it wasn't just him. The running backs, the Chiefs running backs also were a big part of the passing game, Kenneth Walker and Emma Johnson.

39:41And I think Houston can do the same. Dalton Schultz actually had the most targets without Nico Collins against Cincinnati. That was also clearly their plan in that game to attack the backers. I think in this one, I think Nico is going to be back. But even with that said, if Houston isn't aggressively going after the second level of the Colts defense, they've made a mistake. I'll also add they didn't play a lot of 12 personnel last week, which is something I thought we would see more of against Cincinnati without Nico Collins. So I'm curious to see if they bring that back a bit as well. And the corners of the Colts are not healthy.

40:16So I guess you may not have the receivers to exploit it for the Texans, but that's another spot that feels weak about that defense. And from the other side of the ball, the numbers didn't bear this out as much as I expected, but I haven't been, I've been surprised at the Texans run defense through the course of these first two weeks. It wasn't as dominant as I expected it to be. And of course that is the strength of what the Colts do is run the ball with Jonathan Taylor. So I think that's going to tell me a lot. We talked about this last week is that this team is, this defense, the Texans defense is predicated on winning on early downs and allowing their pass rushers to do work.

41:01and putting their really great corners in those coverage situations where they can create big plays and turnovers. So that's what it simply boils down to me right there is how they can win those early downs. Of course, that's the run game, but it's also the short pass game. They're not going to be dumb enough, I think, to voluntarily, unless the game gets out of hand, just do five, seven-step drops and sit back there and dare them. You have to force them into that situation, which is where they are at their best. this is one where I think Daniel Jones's mobility is very important because the first two weeks of the season both Josh Allen and Joe Burrow were able to punish Houston's defense explosive plays when they were able to extend that was a big thing with Burrow right like the big plays were kind of second mostly second reaction plays and that's the season like Jones has looked fine on the move on the center booting but You know, is he actually capable of escaping the pocket, making a play outside of structure?

42:09Something that's probably going to be important against this team in particular. Yeah, we'll see. I mean, he looks amazing considering he just, yeah. But yeah, there is no pass rushing on a curve. Like they're going to rush you as if you are fully healthy. So he has to be able to move. Now that I was thinking actually against the Chiefs, because against the Ravens, okay, so yeah, it's early on, zero completions against the Ravens on the run. Against the Chiefs on the run, Daniel Jones went 3-for-6 for 15 yards. So right now that's not been part of his game. Going Houston here, I got burned last week by saying the Texans' defense was going to bounce back and be angry.

42:56but you know the Bengals are a very good team and I don't think the Colts are yeah I'm with you and yeah diamond studded earpieces about to fire some people I like those things I tried to get somebody to make me some but they weren't trying to do it it was the morning after I was on get up on Tuesday so I emailed the producer at like 11 30 it was like you think somebody could get me could bedazzle my earpiece so I can I can pull that move off Would you be on the sideline if you were an owner or would you be in the mix?

43:33I don't think so like I might be listening in but I feel like I'd be in the box I don't know like it feels that's one of the things I you gotta wait for the right time you gotta wait until I would wait if it was me I would wait until I knew we were gonna like have a big win and then I would come back. Of course. And then back in the glory, fourth quarter, show up. But I don't really see the benefit. It just seems weird that, like, on the sideline, the head coach is supposed to be in charge. If I'm lurking around, it just feels undercutty. But anyway. Lurking. All right, let's take a quick break, come back.

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46:33It contains essential prescription medications in your name for over 30 common conditions. strep throat, sinus infections, pneumonia, UTIs, stomach bugs, and more. Plus telehealth doctors standing by for your questions. I trust my medical emergency kit and I can save you$45 right now. Visit urgentcarekit.com slash sports promo code sports. That's urgentcarekit.com slash sports promo code sports. All right, we're back. Cardinals Niners, probably not one of those bitter games. It's my game. so the what the San Francisco offense did to Miami Miami is the worst defense in the NFL right we're pretty comfortable because Chicago or probably Dallas and Carolina kind of got it together to some degree against the Dolphins Brock Purdy went 20 for 22 for 287 yards and two touchdowns that's 13 yards per attempt it's a 91 completion rate uh pitch and catch baby um okay so with the san francisco offense is really good and i don't and i think the cardinals defense you really saw against seattle um some of the vulnerabilities there but i'm gonna go the other side of the ball because i think for san francisco the weakness showed up a little bit in week one uh and they weren't obviously not tested in this game but i do think they can be beaten on the ground and you really saw that against the Rams again the Rams are a very good run game uh but I went back and watched some of the Dolphins runs and I'll talk about the Dolphins in a minute and the defensive line in San Francisco kind of gets pushed around um CJ West I watched the Rams once too Osa Dugizua Keon White there's some vulnerability there Dre Greenlaw behind them so you know Arizona last week games script kind of got away from them so dear my love couldn't really run the football that much against Seattle but you drafted a running back third overall man if you can't start run the football better than what we've seen that's gonna look like a really really rough decision so I'm looking at this Niners defense that plays a lot of light boxes and I really want to see Arizona play some bully ball against them yeah um I think you're right I think that's the way to go about um I'm going to say attacking this team, but honestly, like going forward, that's like should be the Cardinals game plan.

49:06And Jacoby Brissett's another guy who's like solid, but like you don't want to put too much on his shoulders. And it feels like it might just be my algorithm, but it's been taken over with Marvin Harrison Jr. like assessments to some degree, which like that makes the offense struggle even more. But yeah, I think that's the way you go to challenge this team. But I still like, I don't know, the way the 49ers are playing right now. And I guess it's skewed a bit because we got a version of the Rams week one that I think it's hard for any of us to like definitively say that it was the flight, but it didn't seem like the real version of Rams.

49:46And then they got the Dolphins. So like they look like world beaters, but maybe they haven't really been tested yet. So I don't know. I wouldn't be shocked, I guess, if Arizona won this game. The Niners? Oh, really? You're going to pick the Niners, but you wouldn't be shocked. I'm taking the Niners as well. Well, the Niners get Denver week four and Seattle week five. There we go. We'll see. Time to get down to business. Afternoon games. Yeah, I'm taking the Niners here, too. I mean, they look excellent early on, but like you said, opponent is of note. All right. You have Vikings. Kyler Murray's back.

50:24Tampa. Wolf Wolf. They were one of our losers earlier this week. Both sides of the ball. What is your key in this game? Must win game for Tampa. It feels like. Yeah. I mean, of course we can't enter a Vikings game without discussing Brian Flores right now. The way that that game was called was excellent. There also was like considering that they only had three points. There were some there was a movement of the ball. It's not impossible to move the ball on this Flores defense. But Baker historically has been better against the Blitz than most quarterbacks. So that might work to his advantage. This Blitz is a little different than most teams Blitzes, but like he's not a quarterback that I think shrivels in the Blitz and the numbers support that historically he's been better against the Blitz than most quarterbacks.

51:13But this is still a Bucky Irving game, a screen game, a Bucky Irving running game Like that to me is the question, but I, I had high hopes for the bucks. I think we did our defensive draft and I had them pretty high when I was on your show. And my whole like premise of this team was like great offensive line. This defense is going to be incredible. The defense has not done that. The front has been getting their ass kicked in a way that I did not anticipate. Like they, I thought they were going to be dominating people. And so that, and they're out there. Like it's not, people aren't hurt. Like, Vita Vita is out there.

51:50He's healthy, yeah. Yeah, not kicking ass. Bucky's offensive line is good, too, so. Yeah, so that, to me, is this defense has to play up to their level of ability, and I like the screen and run game to Bucky Irvin on the other side. And then, of course, there's this looming question on the other side where it's like, what is Kyler Murray? I assume he's going to be better than Carson Wentz, but we'll see. well that's what I'm most intrigued by in this game because I think we at this point know what the Viking defense is Vikings defense pardon me um man I talk about defensive drafts yes I was on the Bucks too I remember I had the Viking six in my in defense and then I felt bad about it I forgot I had JP on because I because like I was looking at the personnel like I don't know I feel bad.

52:41And oh my God. I mean, it's just been two weeks. I understand. But those are strong divisional opponents. I know the Packers offensive line is in this situation. You could argue that Brian Flores is taped through two weeks, probably better than any coach, both sides of the football right now in the NFL. And some of the individual players, Dallas Turner, I think, has kind of entered made the leap territory. You don't like some of those sacks against tight ends. I see you. I know you're talking about competition. Okay, here's a more hipster name. Jalen Redman is unbelievable. Their defensive – he's been pretty good for a while, but holy mackerel against Chicago.

53:27I was watching like thinking this dude is – I was so excited about Caleb Banks. And so when I'm watching the plays, I'm like, that must be Caleb Banks. They're like, no, it's not. It's not Caleb Banks. He's not. He ain't it. It ain't. It's not him. We get too excited about first round rookies like Ruben Banks, Caleb Banks, and then you watch, and then it's like some like fourth rounder from like 2022 who's like the best player in the deep. I'm not saying this, but I don't even know if Redman. I know he's not. He's a late rounder, I think, maybe or something. Anyways, he's been unbelievable. Yeah, I peek behind the curtain.

54:01Sometimes I'll text Dominique plays and ask like, what's going on in coverage here? And I was almost going to send you a bunch of Bucs plays because I just could not figure out what was happening on some of them. Please don't hesitate to send them. I would love to laugh at those points. They're too talented to be as bad as they were last week. But I'm going Minnesota here, Flores. That's why. And I agree. I'm going Minnesota too. but I made the case in the offseason that I like the Vikings in their division because I think the ceiling is really high for them, and I assume their defense will be good, at least good.

54:45Their defense looks to be great, and if Kyler Murray gets them to okay, mediocre at offense, this, to me, is the best team in their division. But anyway, that is to be seen. I'm excited to watch Kyler this week because, you know, Obviously last week was cut short so quickly. Okay. We have not diverged yet. That's concerning. I think that speaks to the nature of the game. These last few, there's a few more close ones. So hopefully, including the one that we're going to talk about both sides of the ball, Raiders Saints. I promised this earlier. I said Raiders fans, Saints fans. We're going to acknowledge that your teams are fun and feisty early on.

55:24I'm going to discuss this game. uh i gave you the raiders offense i have the saints offense i'm gonna go first here um mike he's a pretty simple one can we get second half tyler shuck all game please uh first uh thus far it's just two weeks shuck has had a qbr of 15 and negative 0.1 cfn epa per drop back and a 33 percent success rate that's 29th 27th and 28th in the second half he has had an 81 qbr which is fifth league wide uh and he's been 13th and 12th in even a drop back and success rate um so i went back and looked at like some of the things going on to try to figure out if there's any differences and i think it's worth noting it's not like they were playing from significantly behind to where like defense set you know because i think sometimes when you hear a quarterback's in better in the second half you think has it been situational but like i don't really think that's been it um and and even when you dig into a lot of the underlying like air yards per target all that it's honestly pretty similar um same level of being inside the pocket same level of five-man route concepts one thing that has been notably different between the first and the second halves of these games is he has been significantly better when he's kept clean.

56:52In fact, in the second half, he's been awesome when he's kept clean, and he gets the ball out much faster. In the second half of these games, he's at a 2.55 time to throw, which is second fastest in football. So there's something going on where in the second halves of these games, whether it's him or Kellen Moore collecting information in the first halves or whatever they have he has been a better faster quarterback in the second halves and if they can do that more consistently then you really can start believing in this saint's offense and it also could be and it's a it's not based on watching but it all also could be like you you have to let loose in those situations they were trailing in both of those games and they were both kind of comebacks but um i didn't get that sense watching the ravens game like definitely in the first game I got the sense that he was a better quarterback in the second half.

57:42In the Ravens game, I know it to be true, but as I'm watching the game, I was like, this Saints offense is moving the ball. They look good. They would peter out and kick field goals or make mistakes, but it just didn't feel like there was a different version of quarterback. It was just like, oh, the Ravens better pull away or they're going to get walked down, and they did. Yeah. I mean, in the Ravens game, too, I won't say some fluky stuff happened, but like juan jack johnson broke like five tackles on a third long chris olavi is just really freaking good uh we i mean i like chris olavi uh he's definitely a top 10 receiver i feel i feel confident saying that healthy yeah but he's been he's been healthy man and he's been freaking awesome and they've been doing this without their first round draft pick jordan tyson so they also have a really good you can tell Shuck has complete faith in him and I do think it's impressive that they've done all this despite the fact they can't run the football for crap so but I'm just saying if they if they can stop punting on the first halves of these games then I already feel pretty good about my Saints division pick I would feel a lot better what you got on the other side of the ball yeah I was disappointed honestly in the Raiders offenses Like we have been talking about how the Raiders are playing much better and they don't have to rush Mendoza out there.

59:08And it seems like the defense is the reason why they don't have to rush Mendoza out there. It feels like Kubiak is showing his worth. They don't have a, well, not completely. That's not fair. There are designed explosives that are beautiful that he designs week to week. And Kirk Cousins has been hitting those, or at least in the Chargers game. hit those um they just don't seem like consistent offensively like this that's the part to me I expected them to be yeah I I guess I expected Kirk Cousins improvement on the offensive line Ashton Gentry like I expected this offense and I know Bowers he should be back this week right that's what they're saying I think um that probably will help the offense but honestly I was a little disappointed in how inconsistent that offense was, but maybe they'll grow into it because I guess I assumed Kirk Cousins would.

1:00:04That's the reason why we're not rushing Mendoza is because Cousins is operating his offense, but it's really not. Yeah, he had on a couple of big plays to Trey Tucker that were the difference. There was a busted coverage. I hear you. Yes, I do looking at some of the numbers. I do want to nod to the Raiders defense because I should have mentioned that when I was talking about the Saints office because they have been, I think, pretty impressive. Max Crosby looks great. Hezekiah Mass is taking away the football. I think some of the young players have really – Kobe Dean also was really good in that game, I thought.

1:00:37So obviously that was their big priority, was stabilizing the linebacker group. Offensively, it's been okay. It's been inconsistent. I do think – I mentioned this, Kubiak. Some of the plays, when you watch, They're, you know, he, I feel like has a really great feel for how to attack defenses. That sounds cliche, but it's just palpable. No, I mean, I think that the design explosives is where I see what you're talking about, where it's like you can see the concept. Not every like, yeah. And you can see that it's bespoke, I think, is what you're talking about, where it's like, oh, he saw that we could do this against this team at this time.

1:01:21It's different than. Yeah. He had a beat on the Chargers. The Saints defense, though, I posted this about the Ravens. I don't know if you saw that because everybody was like, oh, Ravens, why don't they run the football in the second half? They're really – people always do this. And then when you go back and watch, you're like, okay, run stuff, offensive holding. I did it. I ran it down on Get Up the next day where I was like, I get what you're saying, guys. Yeah. Like, watch the drives. Let's look. They got four drives in the second half. Let's talk about when they were supposed to run the ball.

1:01:49One was a two-minute drill. Yeah. I also, though, I, okay, like I want to take a minute to talk about this. The Saints defense is playing really good football. And I, I mean, I, you know, the first half Lamar was carving them up, but in that second half, I just think on so many of those Ravens drives, you saw individual players making just impressive plays. DBs making plays on the football, Quincy Riley, Cleo McInstrie run defense. some of the things they did to Baltimore with their linebackers, which I'm going to get to when we talk about the Ravens. And then Chase Young and Carl Granderson are just good.

1:02:29This is good. And I remember in the second half of last year, Dominique, the Saints defense, when you went back and you looked, you're like, wait a second, this was a top 10 unit? And then you wondered maybe if it was competition, they were playing the NFC South or whatever. But I feel like we've seen now through the first two weeks that this is a legit group. They're well coached. They have good game plans. I thought some of the stuff they did against the Ravens were really clever. Brandon Staley back maybe. Meanwhile, the Chargers, you know. Not everybody's supposed to be a head coach, I guess.

1:03:02Some people are coordinators. Yeah, I don't know. I'm going Saints here. Yeah. But this could go either way. What is the line? Now I'm wondering. This is the tough one. Saints by three at home, so it's a pick-em. You're going to go Saints, too? Yeah, I'm going Saints. I think if it was in the Raiders, I guess I might go Raiders. All right.

1:03:36Let's do Ravens-Cowboys next. We only have three more games, too. One is the Case Keenum. Okay, Ravens-Cowboys, of note. I got an email from Gabriel Martin, who has a podcast in Brazil about the NFL. I think it's called Cara dos sports to alert me to the fact that the field condition at their stadium is a problem. Yeah. He says this is on the ground reporting for the meeting. I'm showing Lenny says the stadium is owned by the state of Rio de Janeiro. Having two teams play 40 games each there over the year makes it hard to keep it in good condition. one of their players has been complaining over the last few weeks also it has rained 10 times more than expected this september so uh my key uh is just please nobody get hurt in this game i should have started by saying this game is in brazil if that's not obvious um you have the cowboys offense against the ravens defense why don't you go first here yeah i mean the ravens defense was it's hard for to know what to think about them because i i was really impressed with what they did in week one and i was made to appreciate it more when i saw what the colts did offensively against the chiefs it wasn't just that the culture terrible and i was really impressed with the way that they protected their corners and by using disguise like anyway i don't need to get into specifics but the this week they just felt toothless and it didn't against the saints it was um very uninspired and i the pass rush that i expected to be there was not and that is uh that was the thing that killed them last year and it's why they were making moves to address it this year and they haven't fixed it just yet it doesn't seem so yeah that madabuike um it sounds like he might actually be back this week so yeah but i mean right i know i don't want to put too much stock into it but it is i well i did feel watching them that they really needed more juice on the inside so he could be hopefully helpful there um were you impressed by cowboys offense i mean it was yeah the cowboys offense is awesome and it was against the commander's defense that it's not awesome so like i i um yeah i was impressed by them i actually it's they have to do a lot less to impress me because i already have high expectations of them so yeah they did what they were supposed to do against the commanders uh cowboys receivers against the ravens corners kind of what i would look at in that side of the ball because i think ravens can stop them on the ground but who CD lamb this last week yes Raven safeties not in Calhampton the other ones have to have to my boy innocent made they blitz Kyle so much now yeah made some pretty bad tackling mistakes too in this game like I said a lava is awesome also but so are CD lamb george pickens other side of the ball impossible to pick though yeah well okay hopefully we'll be on other both sides other side of the ball um so we've got the ravens offense against the cowboys defense i would feel better about this in normal conditions because i wrote down like lamar scramble jayden daniels was like just killing them on the ground but you get i'm a little nervous about uh one thing i wrote for dallas is uh can they create a gap pressure because that was one thing that brandon staley and the saints defense did very good in second half against the ravens sending their linebackers caden ellis and pete werner both against the run some of those run stuff we talked about but also there was a play where lamar jackson like turned his back they were running play action and was immediately met by a blitzer the ravens have a rookie center who has been okay running the football, but has struggled to pass protect Dallas.

1:07:51Meanwhile is 29th and pass rush win rate. Quinn and Williams in this game only had one pressure. He's been pretty underwhelming early on. So interior pressure, whether manufactured or from the defensive tackles is something I have my eye on in this game. Yeah. I think I would still go with the Ravens in this game. Who knows? We disagree. no I was hoping the Cowboys the commenters are going to be so angry if we all pick the same I'm very mad at the Cowboys I can't pick them they convinced me that their defense was going to be better and they're not I to make a trend you need three Christian Parker and Michael McDaniel I need one more coach with glasses to make a trend that glasses guys are catfishing us right now because every time they show christian parker the summer i'm like oh he looks smart and then they give up five yards of rush you know who doesn't wear glasses brian flores doesn't work that's the big fan here it doesn't work guys no never mike mcdonald doesn't wear glasses what if christian parker comes out this week in context i might have to Oh, switch my pick.

1:09:13Okay. I'm going Ravens here too, because in the first half of Ravens offense, it did look awesome. And Lamar has been so accurate until that last throw. I mean, he's been extremely good through the first two weeks of the season. Harry Douglas here. Game day brings the excitement. Your stay should feel just as memorable. With Marriott Bonvoy, official hotel partner of the NCAA in U.S. soccer, you're connected to a portfolio of brands designed for how you travel. Some offer complimentary breakfast. Others give you room to spread out, space to stay productive, or extended stay comforts. So whether you're a traveling fan or part of the team, Marriott Bonvoy celebrates the moments that live on before and after the game.

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1:11:04I'm going to disagree with you on this one. It doesn't matter what you pick. I'm going opposite. No, no, no. We have to be authentic. I mean, honestly, I could convince myself that either team could win this. So yes, we will be authentic. This is Sunday Night Football. Damn. I mean, the Broncos, I can go first so that I won't be cheated. Broncos offense we talked about earlier in this week against the Rams defense go yeah um I thought looking back at Aaron Donald he was really like really good what better than I expected yeah it's hard to get a good gauge for what the Rams um defense is because like we had one week where we chalked it up to Australia and we had another week where they hurt Jackson Dark on the first drive so we saw a different version of it but i thought they were really good against the run this week and of course um mcduffie got that interception which was just a terrible throw so um the broncos like they uh i think i made this point earlier when we're talking about the jacks like the broncos moved the ball they didn't score until the end of the game but they like moved the ball the entire game so i was impressed with that the second week of davis webb they got um waddle the ball they got everyone to ball it seemed like an effective offense that offensive line i thought was dominant in that game um that matters to me in this particular matchup i think i'm

1:12:37leaning the problem is i thought i do my part and now you can i thought the broncos defense was all the way back because their pass rush was there and they were blitzing. I'll get to that side of the ball. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Sorry. Never mind. You can go to your side of the ball and then I'll make my pick. I want to know one thing here. In the Giants game, you know, it's hard to know what to take away from Rams defense in that game to your side. But I did think they had Trenton Duffy in the slot a bit in that game. He didn't play in the slot at all week one. This is a game where I would consider going to that pitch again with Jalen Waddell in the slot if the Rams, you know, there's going to be a little bit of a chess match between how the Rams deploy their corners.

1:13:24You know, they played a lot of man against Jameis. This is not the offense, the quarterback you play man against. It's not. So I don't think last week has like a ton of bearing on this one. Yeah, the pass rush, I am interested in whether what we see from the second week of Aaron Donald. I talked about the Browns' offense at length earlier in the week. So you got Broncos fans. If you want to listen to me talk about what next, you can check it out there. I wrote, yeah, for the, this is pretty simple, but for Denver, I mean, can you either pressure Stafford or if he throws the ball super quick, limit yards after the catch?

1:14:07You know, I think what we've seen from Matthew Stafford early in the season is what we saw from Matthew Stafford last year, which is if he's kept clean, it's night-night. But when he's pressured, he definitely is on the struggles. Again, you saw that against San Francisco. I know that was weirdness in Australia or whatever, but the Giants didn't pressure him at all, and you saw what happened as a result. So now you got this Denver pass rush that I think, even without Jonathan Cooper, still looks good. Nick Benito still looks incredibly fast. I thought against the Jags, Zach Allen was the best player.

1:14:50He was taking over drives.

1:14:57The Rams' offensive line is very good, for sure, but the Denver's defensive line is good, too. Stafford, by the way, he's QB under pressure so far this year. It's 2.9. Yeah, 86 kept clean. So anyways, that's kind of – we don't know what the status is of Pukunikua. I guess I should add you also got to stop the Rams' early down run game. Yeah, that's what jumped out to me. Earn the right to pressure Matthew Stafford. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Kyron Williams slash Blake Corum get some targets, try to go after the Broncos linebackers. But Denver's front has to take over this game. Yeah, the way that the Chiefs ran the ball on the Broncos gave me some pause, given that the Rams are a very good running team.

1:15:54So that gives me a little concern is they may not get in those situations where they can threaten Matt Stafford with that pass rush and the tight man coverage and the blitz. And so that had me a little hesitant. So I think I'm, I wanted to lean Broncos, but I'm sticking Broncos. Let's go. I'm Rams here. This was actually my preseason Superbowl pick, by the way, Rams Broncos, which I feel better about after week two than I did.

1:16:31For me, that's just the Rams offense right now. I, I just feel like watching them do that to New York without Pukka. The Kuo is very scary. All right. Final game Eagles Bears, the Monday night game. Alas, no Caleb Williams, no Tyson Badgeant. It's case. Get him. Yeah. Should be noted last time these teams played last year. I had to pull up the stat line like twice because I didn't believe it. I remembered it, but I didn't believe it. Kyle Menungai ran for 130 yards, and DeAndre Swift ran for 125, which seems impossible. The Eagles played a lot of light boxes in that matchup. Dominique, something tells me with Case Keenum at quarterback that we are not going to see that many light boxes from Vic Fangio's defense this week.

1:17:24Yeah, I think this should be a relatively easy game for the Eagles, but I guess I thought the Titans would be the same way. but um they struggled with that and pulled out then i mean i think this is to me we've been in this like ongoing cycle for many years since the 2000 yard saquon season where we've been waiting for the eagles offensive line to be dominant again and it's not and our and that offense is never going to look as good as it looked then until they start road grading people again which Like that was one of the best offensive lines in NFL history. Like, so we should stop thinking that and have different expectations of, of this offense.

1:18:08They, there were times when I thought Jalen looked more comfortable, but he still threw two picks, which sucked. And he was under pressure a lot, which also sucked. But he came through at the end. I think that I, the defense isn't as good as I thought it was going to be like the talent is still there, but they just aren't as good. It is a lot of confusing things. It's early in the season. We know that these teams will be different later. They managed to steal a win with the Titans. I think, obviously, this is another game that they should definitely win this one more easily. Through the early part of the season, I feel good about Jalen Hurts.

1:18:44I think the marriage with Sean Mannion is starting to click. You saw him throw a bit more of the field. Also, just like their passing attack just now looks coherent. Yeah. Right? It's not the Rams or whatever in terms of some of the tendencies. But the use of motion, the way he gets receivers open, it doesn't feel like he's asking the receivers to just go in. He also has, I think, shown a much greater proficiency for attacking zone coverage than predecessors. And Hurts seems to be buying in. Like he looks fairly confident to me throwing into some of those zone boys. There's some anticipatory throws.

1:19:28And I think the receivers just look awesome. Great. Yeah. The Davian Wicks has been so good that no one's talking about the fact that Makai Lemon doesn't do anything. Like, I mean, you know, he'll be fine. But I just. Smith's been great too. Jeez Louise, that drive. Holy crap. Yeah. So they can't run the ball. Yeah. defensively, you're right. They've been okay, but not dominant. I think they don't have Jonathan Grenard. They'll be better. Cooper Jean had a rough start. He was fine last week. I think the Eagles are trending in the right direction. Obviously, the opponent this week, given the quarterback situation.

1:20:10We're both going Philadelphia here. Let me ask you this. If Caleb had started, would you have taken Chicago or Philadelphia? I think I still would have gone Philadelphia. Yeah, the Bears defense, I think. Philadelphia won't be able to move the ball and then through the air. All right, that's it for this week. Dominique, thank you as always for joining. Check out the Dominique Fox for show wherever you get your pods. Thank you as always to my friends at Omaha Productions who make this show, Kirsten Sebecki, Owen Saylor, Jack Foster, Tucker Tashen. Also, my television podcast. Viewer discretion, which is about wrapping up the lanterns coverage is now on traders.

1:20:56So Charlie Kravitz from Dominique show joins us to talk about traders, which he loves so much every week. So you can check that out wherever you get your pods. If you're a traders fan or if you're a lanterns fan, it's called viewer discretion. All right. See you guys. Go Broncos. Oh, sorry. You guys on Tuesday.

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