Week 7 Around the AFC: Bills Defense, Texans Playoff Chances, Chiefs are Back and more

0:04 Welcome to NFL Daily, where it's never too early for an Around the AFC segment. I'm Greg Rosenthal in the Chris Wesley podcast studio with my friend Jordan Rodrigue. We are leaving for Paris later this afternoon. This week's going to be a little different. We appreciate everyone bearing with us. We're going to have some great content from over there.

0:26 But before we left, instead of previewing Week seven. So early in the week, we thought we'd do an exercise with one of our favorite guests and just take stock of where every single team in the NFL is right now, what stands out to us the most after an official third of the season. And to help us do that, we have John Ledyard from Audibles and Analytics. That is his sub stack. That is his podcast. He is writing a lot. He is honking a lot. And I am really putting him in a tough spot here because there's only three minutes per team, John, and you watch a lot of film and it's going to really test you being able to condense things here.

1:11 I knew I had to like control myself a little bit when I was preparing for the show and the Texan section as I was preparing for them, I was going like an hour in preparation. I was like, hold on a second. I just need to limit myself here. So I'm going to do my best today, guys.

1:25 Okay. Jordan, you ready to?

1:27 I'm so ready.

1:28 Ready to fly. We're going to fly through the show. And like I said, we're looking at the things that stand out to us the most after six weeks of this season and also looking ahead. So let's put three minutes on the clock. We're starting in the AFC East. I'm up first with the Buffalo Bills. the big takeaway for me that I didn't necessarily expect going into the season, that the bills are who we thought the bears were going to be like going into the season, you know, FDN almanac had the bears as the number one offense and the number two, number 32 defense, which they've never had before. And I thought like, that's probably not going to happen. Um, but the bills are pretty close to that right now. First, an EPA per play second in

2:10 success rate on offense. Um, and then 30th in EPA per play, and 31st in success rate on defense. And I did not expect the defense to struggle so much. I think the schedule's been a part of that, but DVOA takes that into account. They're still 28th there. So, look, the pass rush, not deep enough. I think they need another safety shot. Bradley Chubb is just OK, as we kind of expected, like they need another cornerback. Maxwell Harrison has been benched. I'll start with you, John, here, because this is clearly a championship window. That's the whole reason you make this coaching change. Josh Allen and the offense are doing everything they can. What do you think about this defense, what they can do, what they need to

2:51 do to turn things around a little?

2:54 Well, don't worry. Tredavious White is on his way, as he is every year.

2:58 To the rescue!

2:59 To the rescue, indeed. On his 15th life in the NFL. But no, you're 100% right. The defensive personnel was always going to be a massive question mark with this team, I think. I mean, Maxwell Hairston was a huge question mark. The safety play, I know people were really excited about Cole Bishop coming into the year. It felt like the safety play was more of a question when you put on the tape. I think that question remains. Bishop has his moments, but high variance is not something that A lot of teams are looking for it, safety, and then it's all going to come down to the pass rush.

3:26 That's what it comes down to every year for the Bills in the playoffs, I think, is just whether that group is elite enough. Certainly been a good start to the season for Greg Rousseau, obviously for Deion Walker. I think if there's hope, it's just that you have players with more high-end outcomes, higher ceilings up front than you've kind of had in the past in that defense.

3:44 Yeah, it's well said because I think another thing that sticks out to me about the Bills is the fact that there is so much clarity in who and what they are. You've seen what this looks like with DJ Moore on the field.

3:54 Great.

3:54 You've seen what this looks like without DJ Moore on the field. Still pretty solid, pretty good. Keon Coleman is having sort of his reemergence or his breakout year. And to me, this really points toward the Bills being active at the trade deadline and ahead of the trade deadline because to you guys' point, yeah, they need a pass rusher.

4:14 They need defensive help and they need to lift the floor of this defense quite a bit because this offense, they know what they are and what they're capable of. Conversely, they know what this defense is, too, and they know exactly where they need to fix it. It's quite clear week over week.

4:27 They missed Sean McDermott and Jim Leonard, who I think a lot of people really admire what he did in Denver. Look, he's trying to figure it out. They're talking, you know, they're doing the thing after five weeks. Well, we're going to simplify things a little bit. And I do give them a chance, like McDermott's defense often did, of coming together.

4:45 I don't think the personnel is 30th, 31st bad. So if they can. Improve to just average like this is a team that could improve defensively and then you're right there in your title window all right let's go to the miami dolphins i did not assign these teams i actually regret not doing that because john covers a couple teams and i forgot to assign him those teams um but you did land with the miami dolphins i just randomly went in order uh and that is the team you've honked about maybe more than any on this show Yeah.

5:16 John, just so you know, we have pet teams as, as I'm sure you are familiar with on our show. We do get our pet teams every once in a while. The dolphins are one of mine and really what I love about this team and what stands out to me, it's quite simple. They are who they said they were. They literally came into the year and said, That thing, expectations, we're not going to talk about that. We don't have those.

5:38 We don't know her, right? And instead, we are going to just try to get better and try to play a lot of these young, potentially quite talented stars. You know, their quote-unquote weight-bearing walls, their pillars are not working out as expected. But on the converse, they're having a lot of success seeing what these young guys can have. And success does not mean wins and losses. They are the worst team in the NFL right now, just in terms of of their win loss and statistically and all of that.

6:05 But they are, if you watch them, they are improving week over week. And I would say if we're giving this rebuild four quarters, if we're, if we're making it a four quarter production, I'd say they're about middle of the second, because there's a lot of things still to figure out. But I think a lot of known entities that are becoming quite clear to them around which they need to continue to build.

6:23 The Dolphins fans love me because I called this a perfect tank on socials. And that's because the rookie class looks great. They're competitive every week. The coaching staff seems like they're keepers. And yet they're still 0-5. I think that's kind of what you want. I was most interested coming into this season about Malik Willis. To me, he's solidified that he's not exactly like a Matt LaFleur creation.

6:46 Like at worst, he's, I think, a bridge quarterback. That's a good outcome considering how where he started his career. He's a late second round pick. But I do think they want to see more out of him. Has anything stood out to you, John, in terms of like Willis and the offensive line? Jordan kind of mentioned the weight bearing walls. They do have good players there in terms of their, you know, top draft pick and Patrick Paul and Aaron Brewer on the offensive line.

7:10 It's the trickiest thing. And sometimes in coaching, how do you keep the morale up, even though the like the win loss record, the results of games are bad. Players feel the weight of that. But yet as a direction that the franchise has chosen, they're exactly where they should be. But how much can you get players to keep believing that every single week? So I think that's going to be a challenge. But I think they've navigated that well so far. I mean, you have to be encouraged. The number one thing to me going into the year outside of maybe how the rookie class would play obviously matters.

7:37 But even that Even if they hadn't played well this year, you could see it have an upward trajectory. I think the biggest thing is just the offensive line. Like, how does that group play? How well are they playing? How promising do they look? Does Jonas have kind of make a step forward after struggling last year so much? Does Caden Proctor, you know, what does he look like a guard moving positions? He looked like a long term guard. Obviously, they're going to need a right tackle, but Aaron Brewer, one of the best centers in the game, does Patrick Paul keep taking steps forward at left tackle? That's been a little bit shaky. I think you feel better about the guard play than you did going in. The mentality

8:08 they play with, super clear all the time. They're very physical. They seem bought in. The effort is strong. They're frisky for about three quarters in a lot of these games.

8:16 It's just perfect that's perfect i like you get jeremiah smith.

8:20 At the end of it i like your point about morale too everyone was like well if malik willis is not the long-term future why do you pay him so much money this is why you pay him this much money he will have to be a leader down the back half and keep the team together as well as jeff and.

8:34 It's not that much money it's like about the same money bradley chubb's getting from the bills calm down it's fine um all right let's go calm down I don't want to come down. I need to keep the energy up. We got 30 more teams to get to. We will give John Ledyard the Patriots.

8:49 Yeah, what the heck's going on with the Patriots? The offense, what is it? Is it good? Is it bad? The first three weeks were just like, it was doom and gloom, right? Everybody's questioning Drake May. You know, he finished second in MVP. He may deserve more than that. three games before we start condemning him. But I think just the massive turnaround, I've been trying to figure out what it is that resulted in this last three weeks, at least being the significant turnaround. And there's some matchup dependent stuff. Some of this stuff is going to regress back to the mean. Certainly, I don't think that they're necessarily the best or third best.

9:20 I think they are by EPA per play. offense over the last three weeks, but they were 28th over the first three weeks. And now they're now they were third over the last three weeks. So that's a pretty big discrepancy. And no matter where you look, pretty much every piece of data you look at, it just screams Drake Mays just playing like an MVP again. And that honestly is great news for the Patriots. I think some other things probably need to change. Maybe person and getting AJ Brown back, getting him playing well again, if that's still on the cards for him, where his health has been at. In recent years, but that that stuff will matter in terms of their ceiling this season. But I mean, Drake may like,

9:52 you know, he had first three weeks, six interceptions, one touchdown last three weeks, ten touchdowns one interception nine turnover worthy plays over the first three weeks one turnover worthy play over the last three weeks a 21.4 pressure to sacrate over the first three weeks now that is down to 4.2 over the last three weeks so just massive swings in terms of just game management not creating the most negative plays in the field for your offense for what is one of the best quarterbacks in the game.

10:21 I don't think Drake May is going to maybe be this perfect the rest of the year because he does take some chances, but he's just with his play and his decision making has been able to swing them back to an elite offense. So I think some other things need to evolve, but. his play definitely stands out over the last three weeks.

10:36 Yeah, Josh McDaniels. Look, they would do this back in the Brady era. The worst month of the year was always September. And when McDaniels was trying to talk that into existence to some of his friends in the media after three weeks, I was like, I don't know, man, that old plan, it seems to be working. Look, the most surprising thing to me as a Patriots fan is that the defense is hard to play against. I don't think it's going to be a top five defense, but the gains they had with Zach Kerr last year are legit.

11:04 Gabe Yakis, I think, is going to be a really good pick. Like, he has a little more burst. than I expected. They give you problems up front. And with when Gonzalez and Davis are out there, especially like they're a problematic defense that you don't know, like what their game plan is going to be from a week to week basis. And that's all they need. I think with may as their quarterback.

11:23 Yeah.

11:23 It was one of the notes I wrote down is you can tell whether a group is real by how they play when they have to adjust without stars. And certainly I think that this group has shown that it's, it's real and this can sustain the way that they're playing and they're tough. They're a tough out. And then that also proves to me that Zach Kerr is real.

11:38 I think last year, his story was really cool, right? The Ascension from the position coach to the play caller and in a tough spot with the medical stuff, with the defensive coordinator. And now he's here full-time in the position and he is the real deal, I think.

11:52 So we're not doing a traditional preview.

11:54 Don't you give me the honking piece. I got shut off before that.

11:59 It took me a while to realize that's the buzzer now. And I appreciate, Eric. talking about us but you know what this game's not over because this is not a traditional preview week but it is time for satisfying matchups presented by snickers this is one of the best tnf games of the year we might be asleep or it might be you know three in the morning when we watch this just a fascinating matchup quickly john i am curious just like how do you think this bears offense versus this Patriots defense, just like boiler play. It is a fun Thursday night to see Caleb Williams too. And Drake may obviously in the same draft together, a lot of debates between them and both really at a nice point in their career after three years. Yeah.

12:43 I mean, the Bears defense is probably one of the stories of the season so far, right. To be a seventh and EPA per play seventh and success rate, you know, they've been rolling at a level that I don't think many of us saw based on the talent level coming in and obviously I think the Patriots offense is just one of these groups that is going to be I think we're going to be to some extent figuring them out this season like who ascends like it obviously AJ Brown's health and just what he's capable of is he capable of being the difference maker that they want him to be I think at this point in time there's matchups that can be won there for sure. But then the ascent of these younger players who haven't played as

13:16 much within this offense, how much do they flash throughout the course of the season? Who's able to really seize control, be a difference maker? the offensive line with two second-year pieces on there? What's Caleb Lomu's role the rest of the year? There's just all these sort of questions about their group. And the funny thing about their success last year was it really wasn't because all these young players were playing awesome outside of Drake May. It was really because all these guys they signed and brought into their team were awesome. All these free agent signings and short-term contracts and all these guys they traded for, those were the guys that were really shining. So I think the Patriots,

13:49 just because of Drake Mayer at a good spot, when you think short and long term, May, Vrabel, they seem to have these guys in a stable spot. But I still think when you look ahead, it's like they're going to need to see growth from young players, more significant growth from young players, if you're going to get really excited about their long-term future.

14:06 Yeah, I think they feel good that they're 4-2 after that 1-2 start and getting blown out, but they have a ways to go. And this is a tough... That's why I think that Jets win was important for them because on a short week, probably down three starting offensive linemen. And even one of those three was your third or fourth backup at guard. Like it could be tough. against this Dennis Allen defense. Let's go to the New York Jets, who currently have the 6th, 10th, and 13th pick if the draft were to happen today. And it's their own record that has them at 13th. They've probably looked a little better than 2 and 4. They're 20th in DVOA, which sounds about right to me. They're a confusing team.

14:44 I think for the most part... Everything's going according to plan. They're confusing because the rookies mostly look good. There's been development from players like Azaria Thomas, the young cornerback. I like what I saw to Omar Cooper this week. Kenyon Sadiq has definitely had moments. David Bailey. You wrote about him, so I'd like to hear what you think, John, but like a high effort player. And so it's all that's positive.

15:07 And you have these picks, but it's confusing because you're building something with a coach that's probably not your guy. Like they have they have been outscored 97 to six in the final two minutes of the first half in his tenure.

15:22 Yeah.

15:22 Ninety seven to six. So he's just he's never going to get it situationally. And he's helped raise the floor. And the only reason why it's a little confusing, Jordan, is because you do have these guys who are developing, especially on the defensive side under him. And presumably, like if he's gone, Frank Reich's not there. So it's a little confusing when you're building towards something. But the coaching staff might not be there.

15:42 I don't think it's confusing at all. I think this is a very clear example of one part of the organization is operating on one plan and the other part of the organization is operating on the other plan. And the plan Aaron Glenn is operating on is coach and get production that's high enough to where I can keep my job And let the front office sort out the draft pick thing. The front office is like, yeah, we want to look respectable here. We had to look respectable here.

16:09 Would really love if those draft picks were a little bit higher, but just in case let's have a S load of them.

16:14 Right.

16:15 And that's, to me, it, they're, they're, they're. I don't want to say that they're discordant, but they are seemingly operating with each different mindset.

16:24 All I mean is players look different when they're thrown into different schemes. So you think you learn these players. And then I think Aaron Glenn's going to have to really coach well to keep his job after this season. Even them playing at this level, if they get to, let's say, six wins, seven wins, if he keeps having these issues, I think... They'll have good players, but a different coaching staff. You wrote about David Bailey. So in under a minute, what do you think about what you've seen so far?

16:51 Right now, it's just a whole bunch of athleticism, strength, effort. That's how he's winning, really, when he wins. It's not a lot of 1v1 success, necessarily. No one's going to confuse him with the most polished pass rusher that we've seen coming out of the draft. I'm begging for him to use one inside counter move. He's so fast that if he just tries one, it's going to be successful, brother.

17:13 Just believe me. But I really think there's building blocks here. And the whole Jets operation to me is building blocks. This draft was about all about finding young players, success players. You know, and honestly, I know the Aaron Glenn thing is it is a talk point. It will matter. And there will be a time to to like kind of evaluate him as the long term future coach of the franchise.

17:34 But to me, it's like this right now, like fine games. But all these young players are good. It's not that far off the Dolphins track. They're just way further down that road, I think. from a roster standpoint, because they already have these bookend young tackles who are pretty exciting and they'd already made these major trades, you know, so it's been, I don't know how much Jets fans feel it because they want to win on a weekly basis.

17:56 But I mean, look at the sauce Gardner trade, look at the Quinn Williams trade, look at how those guys are playing now and what the resources that Jets have moving forward. It's been a winning season for the Jets, no matter what the record says.

18:05 The Jets fans, I know. Shout out to Steve Mercado, especially. They love themselves some Darren Muji. Darren Muji right now is very popular in New York. All right, let's go to the AFC North and kick it off with the Baltimore Ravens, Jordan.

18:21 Yeah, for me, the clearest thing about this team is that it's kind of hard to know what they actually are right now, because I think the, the, the fact that they don't have Lamar full-time that just throws a wrench in the entire operation as it would, when you have a player of his caliber, that's, that's not healthy right now. So I'm trying to figure them out in like hints and flashes, and I still see issues. Some of it injury related in ways at receiver, but I like when they go into their heavy personnel. I liked the way Declan Doyle is calling games, even if they're still having some of the same problems that they're not closing games. Well, especially recently. To me, it's like, well, can you really make a fair evaluation without your MVP

19:01 caliber quarterback in the mix, bringing this thing to life the way it can. I like the direction this defense is going under Jesse Minter and Anthony Weaver. This was not something that was supposed to be totally linear. This is the scheme is not a totally linear building block scheme. And so for me, I'm kind of like, I have trust issues with the Ravens quite a bit. But I'm cautiously optimistic and I believe in the people that they have assembled and I believe in the players once they do get Lamar back.

19:28 Maybe I'm just uniform scouting, but the Ravens defense has so often traditionally gotten better down the stretch that I believe that that can happen, especially with a new-ish defense here. It's been a lot of Derrick Henry. It's the most touches he's had per game and carries since he was in Tennessee. I think the Zay Flowers contract and the fit in this system, like he is... his best self.

19:50 When we, you talk about fit for prospects, Zay Flowers is hitting that like 10 out of 10 outcome. And I think that's great. The question I'd have for you.

19:59 They need more though, out of that position.

20:00 Yes, they do. And Rashad Bateman's been a little hurt. We'll see if Jacoby Lane can give him something. And they're a team that that I think could be adding potentially at that position. Do you think on defense, just personnel wise, they've been they've been average so far, really across the board. They've got a middle of the road.

20:17 Do you think they have the horses like the players right now to improve a lot down the stretch where where if you look, compare kind of Lamar and Josh Allen situation where that look, if they can have their elite offense, that actually they can get supported a little more with a defense. It's better than average.

20:36 I think that they do, and this is where the whole– the Ravens' story is not that dissimilar from the Bills' story. They have these great quarterbacks. They have not been able to make it that far enough in the playoffs. They've not been able to make the Super Bowl. They've not been able to win the Super Bowl. That's the story.

20:49 That's the standard. That's what we're evaluating them by. The Ravens went out this offseason. They tried to basically remake the defensive line and basically make it a group that was good enough to win in the playoffs. The Bills are trying to do the same thing. They have different ways of doing that. I think the Ravens' process– is one that i looked at as more positive so far i think it has been kind of mixed return but they're 12th in pressure rate and they're eighth in time to pressure a lot of that speaks to who jesse minner is too and it's like when you look at those numbers you're like that's above average and they probably can keep getting better i mean more flashes from mike green this year you'd imagine that week is kind of

21:22 rounding into four maybe a little bit more hendrickson as well after the last year being banged.

21:27 On this team i think they're gonna.

21:29 Go on a run they're gonna go on a run I tend to agree. And yes, Trey Hendrickson is on this team. And one thing that this team and this entire division benefits from, and we talked about it going into the season, was a good out of division schedule. And it's really true. I think it could elevate this entire division to three playoff spots. Four would be tough.

21:52 But there's a reason why the Browns are four and two. And then you look at their future schedule. It's pretty easy. All right, let's go to the Bengals, who, like every team in this division, has two losses. John, you have Cincinnati.

22:06 Yeah, the whole story about the Bengals in the offseason was just like, oh, this new offense.

22:10 What's it going to look like?

22:11 How good is it going to be?

22:12 The same.

22:13 Under center, heavy personnel.

22:14 Yeah.

22:15 I know it's already been talked about by people, but I think when you just look at the Bengals, what are you going to say? We talked about the front. It's better certainly than it's been in the past. That gives them a fighting chance defensively. The Pac-7 still isn't very good. They're still going to have to do things at an unbelievable rate up front to be able to have success at a high level defensively, even if the floor is a little bit higher. And you could see that even at the beginning of the season when they were winning games. So offensively, they still have all these arrows in the quiver. Like they're still super talented. They're what, eighth or something like that? Ninth in EPA? I mean,

22:46 they're they're definitely still a good group. But when you look at just what you were hoping to see from them, which was what most teams need to be successful offensively in today's NFL is more than one way to play. They have to be able to morph. to some extent, week to week. We see it with the Rams. We see it with the Seahawks last year. We saw it a ton with them. We see it with Buffalo all the time. We see it with a lot of the top offenses in the league. They have offensive coordinators who can morph and change and adapt and do things, especially in the under center game, that make things hard to prepare for. The Bengals are second to last in under center, right?

23:17 After all that talk in the offseason. They're 30th in play action, right? Most of that under center as well. They're 19th and 12th personnel, right? I'm counting Mike Gusecki as a wide receiver because he is one. They have five snaps and 13 personnel all season long. So all these trends that are sort of like leading to successful offense, basically everywhere that they happen, you know, as long as there's a good coach and some talent in place, like a lot of the top offense in the league have all these kind of overlapping areas of strength or areas of usage. The Bengals are just saying, nope, we're going to zig while everyone else zags again and again. They're 19 PBI per play. They're 11th in success rate. I'm

23:52 not saying that they're a bad group, but we're asking what has changed. Like I thought, what about the commitment to running the ball? They're running it worse than they ran it the last two years. So there is potential in these looks, but they just have not leaned into them once again.

24:04 The funny thing to me too about the play action is they are so truncated in yards for play. They're just like the lowest in the league and actually play action passing yards, yards per attempt. And the sample size is limited in the first place. you know, the Bengals are kind of like, we want you to know that we can do all this stuff, you know, but, but she goes to a different school, you know, like they, they really want you to know that they can, but we, but we just don't see it. So for me, I'm kind of like, wait and see on this. I don't have it. I don't have, you know, faith that they'll show the things that they said they were going to do because they're the type of team that when one thing is working, they will spam that one thing.

24:43 Well, also, Joe Burrow and T. Higgins and Jamar Chase, 9th and 11th is not good enough. Like, they need to be special. They need to be top three. And I think Burrow's talked about it. He believes he needs to play a little better. He's had turnovers in unfortunate spots, and they haven't been explosive enough. And I know that's not that different than where they've been in the past, but that's the conversation. It's the Bengals each and every year.

25:09 You know what team has a different conversation right now? The Cleveland Browns. I mean, I just love that Todd Monken is making the most of this. He's not getting good quarterback play. The Browns coaches over the years, I know Stefanski had his time, but I think of all the others, there's so many short timers. Like, Petten even had his moment until it suddenly went the other way. Chudzinski, actually, if you look at his first season, had a moment where, similar to Monken, he had a winning record early, and then the floor fell out. Even Freddie Kitchens had a big win, I remember, over the Ravens early. And so, Monken, I was worried because I like him, was going to fit into that mold, and yet... Man, I just think

25:54 this team is closer than I expected them to be. I think they're a quarterback away from being really interesting. And the thing that surprised me the most is that they've survived the Jim Schwartz loss, and they're really solid on defense. Denzel Ward having a great season. The front is kind of more than the sum of their parts.

26:11 And my takeaway is that Andrew Barry is going to keep getting to do this.

26:16 Like, They have remained getting away with it.

26:20 At this point, I have to give them like a little bit of credit because it's work. Like the fact that they stayed patient with them this year in the last year, I actually think it now makes some sense.

26:29 Their draft classes. We've talked about this so much, so I won't go long here, but their draft classes, the last two years are exceptional. We thought this one was going to be good. Maybe as good as the last one. It is, it is outstanding. So you can turn over a roster and, You know, the thing that is cool about this team is the story of the head coach and his attitude and his vibe. The thing that is cool about this team is the story of their draft process and the story of them turning over the roster.

27:00 The thing that is the worst about this team is the freaking quarterback.

27:03 Sure.

27:04 And so for me, it's like there are cool stories about this team here.

27:08 Well, it's almost like the Watson haters, like myself, are having their cake and eating it too now because no one's watching. Even Todd Munkin doesn't believe it. I don't know if you heard his quote, John, at the end of last week's game, that he was going to really enjoy this. He did not want to go to sleep.

27:22 He did not want to go to home, like enjoy this victory because he was going to have to watch the offensive game film and he wasn't looking forward to that. It is funny.

27:33 Because we, we feel positive about the trajectory of the Browns. I think everybody kind of does. The defense has played awesome. All the numbers back that up. They're getting pressure still at one of the higher rates in the league without miles guaranteeing their fourth and pressure. Like they're there. I mean, they're getting a ton of players to play at a high level, just in a one V one. like Mike Hall's doing stuff I haven't seen before. And it hasn't even been Jared verse, honestly, he's been kind of like, okay, everybody else has been like really popped. They're deeper than we thought up front. They're getting, I mean, defensively, they've done some awesome stuff. Offensively, the skill pairs are good.

28:04 You're excited about some of the young offensive line pieces defensively. Austin Barber playing right guard for them, I think has been one of the most impressive rookies. Spencer Fano's look good, but then yeah, the quarterback play, even when they were winning was terrible. And I think people were like getting really excited about it for some reason, like, Oh my gosh, we have the Browns of a quarterback, but they're not going to be probably even what their record is now because of how bad the quarterback plays. When you put on the tape, I don't know if a change there warrants anything. Is that going to happen? Cause they've continue to win and maybe at some point they'll they'll hit a stride and lose lose a few but that's been

28:37 part of one of the most discouraging things about the season from their perspective is just what what happened where would we be how much further along would we be if we just had better quarterback playing some of these games but their offensive rankings I mean EPA per play success rate and this even though Deshaun Watson is definitely at fault for a lot of this They're in the bottom five of the league in all these categories. The most disappointing thing to me, if we're going to that side of it, because of Todd Munkin, is they can't run the ball, really. That has been a real struggle for them. Their stuff rate is one of the highest in the league. They just have all kinds of breakdowns up front when it comes to running the ball. So

29:08 they're surviving and they're getting some wins with some late game stuff. I think their offense is still a little further away than we'd like to believe that it is, but their defense is awesome.

29:18 John got the rare double honk there. That's what you're trying to avoid, but I appreciate it.

29:22 I can't hear the honks either, by the way. I'm not hearing the honks.

29:25 I was going to say, you know, you got the AirPods in. It's not quite the cans here, but... I love it.

29:31 I hear you guys, but I don't hear any.

29:33 I'll just start making the set. No, I think the Browns deserve a little more time. We haven't given them enough time.

29:39 I don't.

29:40 Think like I mentioned, the out of division schedule, the next three games are four and two. OK, they're all on the road. But at Tennessee, at Pittsburgh, at New Orleans, it's like it just it keeps staying easy with this NFC South out of division schedule. I love it. Let's go to the Pittsburgh Steelers wrapping up the AFC North Jordan.

30:00 I know you're not like a big cartoon guy, Greg, but the Pittsburgh Steelers remind me of that iconic Patrick star moment where he walks up to his boulder and sees all the eyeballs under it and goes, who are you people? That is the Pittsburgh Steelers, including the yelling because they are old and expensive. And sometimes they really act like it on the old side. They get mad at each other all the time. The head coach and the quarterback are constantly griping at each other in public.

30:27 And the defensive players are either having like complete seminars at their locker or they are yelling at the defensive coach. But they're also showing why they have money invested in the side of the ball when they're at their best. They're making splash plays and they're creating. It is such a feast or famine offense and defense to me. And this is just going to kind of be the roller coaster ride the entire season, in my opinion, because I don't see how they change this. to be a little bit more sustainable, this is how they want to play.

30:56 They want to live in their emotions.

30:58 I had them as my seventh AFC seed. John, you cover them, so I want you to take the rest of the time.

31:04 I know, no pressure on me. Just having to come up with something as someone who actually covers them.

31:08 The record doesn't shock me. The fact when you look at their DVOA, they're 12th in offense, 9th in defense. That's what surprises me, that the offense is even that high. What stands out to you most about this 4-2, somewhat rickety 4-2, but 4-2 start?

31:22 That's always how it is, right? The rickety 4-2 start is like, that's like synonymous with the Steelers if I've ever heard anything. I mean, it's funny because a lot has changed, but in some ways it really doesn't feel like that much has changed. Like they really are kind of a pretty similar group. Like I think the ceiling is probably pretty low. Offensively, they do not really game plan for opponents per se. They kind of just, they do what they do. Like that's really kind of who they are offensively. Now, There's a little bit more professionalism to that with McCarthy's approach to offense. He is the best offensive. I don't even think McCarthy's like unbelievable, but he's the best offensive mind they've had in quite some time, Pittsburgh.

31:57 So there is better things happening there than there has been in the past. I'm really most interested in Patrick Graham, but I think that one thing we've seen throughout the season is that the personnel, especially the revolving door, it's been in the secondary with all the injuries has left him a little bit incapable of being as versatile maybe as he'd want to be as a guy who I think He morphs week to week. He's kind of the opposite.

32:18 He will game plan for opponents and he wants to morph week to week. Not a lot of morphability when you're starting this many young players and guys who haven't really played and guys who have. I mean, Brayshon Jenkins was in there. He was kind of signed off the street like late in the game, like before the season started.

32:32 Like Deshaun Elliott hasn't been available. Jamel Dean's missed time. So I'm curious to see what happens with the defense over the rest of the season because it's been OK so far. And I don't think he's to blame for much of the struggles they've had. So I wonder if when the personnel gets better, if we're going to see some better returns from the defense, specifically when it comes to pressure on the quarterback. They're OK there, but this group needs to be awesome in that regard. Right.

32:54 We probably have about 20 seconds till the honk. I'm not sure. But I am curious what you think about the Nick Herbig linebacker experiment, because I think he's played well, but I miss seeing those pressure numbers from Nick Herbig. Yeah.

33:07 So a little bit on Sunday, I think he had five or six pressures and two sacks, which was good. But you're right. It's been a little bit quieter in that regard. He had funny enough going into week six. He had 62 pass rushes compared to 172 the year before his first five games. So big difference. He's playing well as an all around player. But I think you're going to see him rushing the quarterback more moving forward.

33:27 I would like to see that using all their guys, but in a good spot heading into this Paris game. won a couple games for us, so we have a 4-2 team that we're heading over to go see. Let's take a little break, and when we come back, we are going to hit the AFC South, where the Texans, our Super Bowl pick before the season, that we got a little over our skis, perhaps, is back in the division race.

33:53 The dream is alive.

34:00 Back on NFL Daily, big test for our Texans this week because heavy favorites over the Giants at home. You win that game, you get into the bye with a three-game winning streak. After the ups and downs, what stands out to you about this team?

34:14 Well, this is John's team.

34:15 Oh, that's right. JLJR.

34:18 I could go on for hours on this one.

34:20 We have. I was actually happy that it landed on you, John.

34:22 Let's get another perspective in here on this one.

34:24 Please.

34:26 Good considering that you guys picked them to win the Super Bowl or make it.

34:30 To make it.

34:30 Hey, man, I took when I went.

34:32 To make it easy. I picked him not to make the playoffs going into the season. So I feel very I feel like a misfit on this show now, but they are 11th in EPA per play right now. Offensively, they're 16th in success rate, but all these numbers are trending up over the last couple of weeks. They are figuring out who they are. They're actually some there's some sweet balance to their offense. Like, I think it's taken some time. But they're kind of a similar story with what's going on with Bryce Young and Carolina. I think we're like they're figuring out how to coach these pretty unique quarterbacks and balance out a bunch of different looks, which is cool. only just in time for the defense to suddenly not be able to stop people. It's very

35:11 odd that this is happening. I feel good about the Texans moving forward in some ways because when you look at what's going on with this defense, you're like, this is not going to continue, right? Only the Bills have given up more 20 plus yard pass plays this season than the Texans have. The 24 that the Texans have given up this year. And when you look at their success rate on down to down basis, they're still doing very well. They're in the top five, I believe, Against the run and pass, I mean, there's just good overall bounce to their defense, but they can't stop giving up these big plays. It's killing them right now. And that tends to regress to the mean, I think, especially when you talk about the talent, the track record the defense

35:46 has had, the coaching. I think you're going to see the defense play better and the offense is trending up. I'm starting to believe a little bit more in the Texans than I did before. I don't know if they'll reach your guys' expectations, but I think they're going to have a chance.

35:58 Right. That's like, at this point, it feels like, you never know in the AFC South, maybe the Jaguars would fall apart, but it feels like a six or seven seed and being on the road in Buffalo the first round, that's still.

36:10 Going to be a tough route.

36:12 I was waiting, though, my precious TV away. This was the week that the offense passed the defense. So just to live in a world where C.J. Stroud's offense... without a running game. Um, although there were some signs late last week against the Jaguars, uh, that was probably the best half they've had running the ball in a long time. Yeah.

36:30 Our knees were twinging. So that must mean it's a sign that, you know, the, the run game is coming that I really think that just conceptually what I know their focus was all throughout training camp and obviously having David Montgomery having been banged up and, and just some of the the start stop nature of this, the offensive line underplaying relative to expectation, they're going to get Braden Smith back at some point. And so to me, this is, a lot of theory and a lot of ideas with that run game now must be put to action. As this offense has built more confidence and gotten more explosive in the passing game, I would imagine that defenses are going to play them a little bit differently. And maybe

37:10 that does loosen things up and open things up for the run game too, because they will not sustain any of this success without it.

37:16 It's a great point. And Marvin Harrison Jr. has good early returns. Jalen Noel has started to develop and Tank Dell will play a football game this Sunday for the first time since late 2024. A cool story. And I just hope he can stay healthy and backs it up. And I'm really excited to see that. Let's go to the Colts, who I spent 15 minutes on with Charles McDonald on our show. Check that out in terms of Chris Ballard getting fired. So I don't have a ton more to say about them other than... The potential trade candidates for this team are awesome. Assuming they don't start winning games, they have three more before the trade deadline.

37:57 I mean, DeForest Buckner, Quinton Nelson, Josh Downs, and then maybe like a tier below that, Grover Stewart, if anyone wanted to chip in for him. They're all on the last year of their contract. So, man, like, those... first three could be very attractive pieces if they decide to go that route I know you have some reporting Jordan on what the Colts might be.

38:19 Doing next yeah well they're very early in this process Ed Dodds is going to get a real shot to maneuver through this trade deadline a lot of people see Ed Dodds continuity nine years of the 10 that Chris Ballard was there as his assistant GM and And think, oh, they're probably the same person with the same philosophy on things.

38:37 And that's not quite true. Uh, you know, Chris Ballard for a lot of his deficiencies to his credit, he did bring in people with a lot of different types of ideas and. Thoughts about how they should do things. They just ended up doing things a certain way. Most of the time for me, it's so early in the process to know exactly what Carly or say, Gordon, the owner is going to do as she starts the search for their next GM. But I would not be surprised at all if she looks at models like the Lions, the Rams, recently the Jaguars, the Panthers, the latter two, and certainly the Lions as well, teams that have gone through successful rebuilds and roster turnovers with a leadership group that is multidimensional. It's not just one GM figurehead. It's

39:20 not just one person with sort of the say and the power as Chris Ballard was for a long time in Jim Irsay, obviously, before he passed. This is a structure that can work in the league. And I just have this feeling and go read my article at theathletic.com about some of the people that I've sort of pieced together and put together that have connectivity to Carly Irsay Gordon and to the history of this organization, where I think that she is looking at doing things different, trying to modernize. And that is a comprehensive look, whether it's Dodds with a bunch of people with him or it's someone completely new and they got the whole thing to the studs. To me, they are probably going to look at what this looks like with multiple people at the

40:03 helm and not just, you know, one person as the face.

40:07 It's always a fun day when Jordan Roderick gets a Roto World blurb. Oh, I did?

40:11 Oh, cool.

40:12 That you believe assistant GM for the Browns and VP of football operations, Catherine Hickman may be a name to watch. You had other names to watch there. And just being from the outside, no reporting from me.

40:23 I got blurbed.

40:25 Yeah, that's exciting. That, you know, to me, I think raises a real possibility that Shane Steichen could survive all this. That they might, you know. I've said that the whole time. That they would have an open mind toward pairing him with a new GM. which would be interesting. Let's go to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jordan, who are entering their buy after a middling trip, I would say, to London, where they escaped against Philadelphia and then lost to the Texans.

40:55 Yeah, but man, it was a gorgeous loss, though, right? Like, it was so cool. Okay, so to me, we've called, John, just so you know, we've called the Jags our messy fun team for a while now. We like what they're putting together, despite some of the chaos it also brings. So for me, like the messy fun is back, obviously, but it's the fun parts gotten rolling a little bit more this year. When I look at what they're doing on offense and the defense that has outperformed expectations coming into the season, hasn't necessarily regressed the way that people thought that it would. To me, this team, they're like the artist who has like this complete mess in their studio, like brushes and rolls of parchment and paint everywhere. And

41:32 then like sitting in just the middle distance where you can see it, this gorgeous, unique canvas. One of the best things you've seen this year. And that is what they're doing with their game planning, what they're doing with their scheme, what these players are doing to bring all of these things to life on offense and defense and special teams. They care about all three phases. What a concept.

41:52 And like, for me, I'm having so much fun watching the ideas that this team brings because you can tell they're in that, that year two perfect zone, right? Where there's a lot of undisciplined penalties. There's a lot of weird stuff that goes on. And yet it is just the creation of this. You can just tell it's really hitting this this really kind of beauty period.

42:11 Yeah, they are third right now in DVOA behind only 49ers and the Chiefs.

42:17 Fifth in EPA per play and eighth in success rate per next gen.

42:20 And a lot of the DVOA is from that Pats win. I'm surprised the defense has been so good without like a great season rushing the passer from Trayvon Walker or Josh Hinetown. The defense gives up a lot of yards, relies on red zone turnover. You're getting kind of the best defense Travis, you're getting the Travis Hunter we were hoping to see.

42:36 We were promised.

42:37 You could absolutely see a Brian Thomas Jr. trade. I know you and Ali Connolly on the Read Optional podcast really talked about what a what a prize Liam Cohen was, that there just weren't going to be other guys like them. You watch them closely in Tampa. What have you thought about this team build and kind of what this particular version of the team needs to do to get better?

42:59 One minute yeah for Cohen it was all going to come down to interpersonal skills I think in relationships that was going to be the guy whether he becomes successful or not was just going to be about his ability to do that at a high level because when you look at his offenses that he's designed I mean you'd watch his offense in Tampa Bay you can see so many good things and we I just mentioned it with a couple of these other teams ways to play it matters a ton how many different ways can you run the football how many different formations do you get to runs from the Jags have just this massive menu of stuff now That also means that they're more likely to, as they, learned to do all this stuff and they

43:34 game plan and morph week to week a lot by opponent, they sort of, there's all the, there's the chance of these penalties, right? And some procedural stuff, some pre-snap stuff, because it is a lot of moving pieces and details. If they can get it down, the ceiling is sky high. You guys pick the Texans, the Jaguars were my AFC champion in the preseason process. So they've had a better success rate in both of the games that they've lost than their opponent. I think this, they are going through they are, they are in the stage of either becoming a development or a dominant football team or wilting and falling just short of that, I think. And we're going to figure out who they are eventually.

44:10 I can't do it. Yeah. I can't, I can't.

44:14 I think that there's upside is big.

44:17 That, that was, uh, I needed to really go for it. Just like, yeah, that was very high pitch. Very high pitch.

44:23 You should just try it again.

44:24 Um, I will never try it again. Um, Yeah, I mentioned Brian Thomas Jr. That could have been it for him. It was two sad targets again, which he could have had, didn't have, and then they just straight up bench him. He could really get them a piece. I would think he would have a pretty strong market, whether it's a draft picker or potentially a player. So that's something to watch.

44:47 Trade him to the Rams.

44:48 Yeah, honestly, makes a lot of sense. Since we last taped Devontae Adams out six to 10 weeks, we'll get to that on Wednesday's NFC show. The Titans of Tennessee are coming off their first victory, John, and they have another potentially winnable game home against the Browns this week. What are your big picture thoughts about the Titans?

45:12 The young guys maybe coming to life. I'm trying to be positive.

45:17 I can see your facial expression before you started.

45:20 You know what?

45:20 Good on you.

45:21 They just want a game. It doesn't have to be positive. It doesn't have to be positive.

45:26 It doesn't have to. I think that if you're looking for positives with this team, it's that a couple of pillar positions. Young guys are playing better this season. JC Latham is playing much better at right tackle this season than he's played in the past to tackle. He has shown some real development. I think I don't think he's a perfect player by any stretch of the imagination, but this is a guy you were wondering if they were going to, I mean, he's been, are we going to trade him a couple of times now? Now he looks like a second contract type of player this season. That's huge at a position that matters a ton, especially as how Dan Moore's flamed out on that contract. That's massive for the Titans. So that's a good developmental story. Carnell

46:01 Tate for week one watching the tape. I was like, oh boy, like this is scary. Like he did not know what he was doing. Everything was indecisive. It was kind of a mess to see where he's at already in week six. Like it was just a totally moving, confidently, explosively catching the football outside his frame. That's encouraging. Now, Keldrick Folk, Anthony Hill, I think it's going to take quite a bit longer for those guys. There's talent there for sure.

46:25 Don't tell Titans fan there's anything wrong with Anthony Hill. They love Anthony Hill.

46:29 So what?

46:30 You see something a little different? Spill.

46:33 Oh, yeah. It's a great athlete for sure. But any contact, he is really struggling between the tackles with any contract. A lot of indecisive reads and he just got to get way better from the neck up. And then he's just got to decide is, do I want to bang in the box or not? You can play in space all day, but in the league, you got to be able to bang in the box.

46:50 If you're a linebacker, I'm curious, John, what do you think, or how would you summarize cam ward so far? Have you seen anything buildable here early in the season? You know, when he's using his legs a little bit more, I did see some things that I thought were promising, but it's just been Not very high highs and super low lows with him to me.

47:12 One minute. Yeah, I think that you've pretty much have hit the nail on the head. I think the highs could be higher. I would say that. And I think if he ever felt comfortable in a system and got time to develop rapport with players, you'd see the higher highs. I don't know if he's going to weed out the really negative stuff. And that stuff just kills you. Like it just is so hard to live that way. Taking the sacks, holding the ball, playing out of structure, just not really playing within the flow of the offense the way that he does. So I still have lots of red flags, even though there is definitely talent there.

47:43 There's also definitely moments. I forget which game it was where he just kind of hit the, was that against the giants where he just hit the ball and almost, he was so casual that it looked like he didn't have the ball at all. It was like he was playing Harlem Globetrotters. I love that. I remember when he was coming out and that was your guys. You didn't know whether this was a good trade or a bad one that you've never seen anyone more relaxed in the pocket.

48:05 Like he, everyone else like, you know, Oh no, there's people around me. And he's just like, I'm chilling, man. I'm having a good time. Um, That's your Tennessee Titans. Yeah, that's everything to me is they need him to progress in the back half of the season. And we've seen stories like that late in a year or two for a quarterback. So it could absolutely happen. Hasn't yet. Let's go to the Broncos where I'm a little stunned. We are at the point and I've never been a huge Bo Nix guy before. that we are having questions about still that he's, but we're getting questions, real ones from like the reporters. Are you going to start him this week right now? And we're getting, you know, 500 word explanations over time from, from, um, who was it? Well,

48:53 our friend James Palmer on, on Twitter, there's also Sean Payton, not so secretly putting it through quote unquote sources with Jay Glazer, that they're changing the language and that's making it tough on him. And all these explanations that like, we think it's going to happen for him. And obviously, you know, Ryan Fitzpatrick's, um, comments got a lot of attention but i think when the part of the fitzpatrick comments that stuck with me that I've been thinking about, too, is.

49:23 Bo Nix is coming off two surgeries here, and they tried to get him out running in that game. And he's not running confidently. He's not moving confidently. And he does not want to make someone miss or take on the fight. And right now, he's always needed that. And you didn't think of Bo Nix as a guy who...

49:42 That's a bedrock of his game. And I don't know if it's just confidence, John, or if it's just... He's not as healthy coming off the two ankle surgeries, but I think that's a big part of why it's just looked worse than ever. And I do think, look, if this continued for another month, the fact that it's, we're coming out with all these reports, like pushing back, pushing back actually worries me a little bit. That's like, man, could we see Jared Stidham? I don't think it's going to happen, but if it continued for a month more like this, like it's not out of the realm of possibility.

50:14 It's not just because he's been that unbelievably bad. Even in terms of the stuff that he's done well in the past, that's the stuff that you're like, oh, how is he doing this stuff poorly? It's one thing to turn down throws and not make throws to the middle of the field and not be aggressive enough. That has happened in the past. He's cranked it up when they won games late. But this year, it's beyond that. He's throwing the ball to the other team all the time.

50:37 He's making turnover-worthy plays all the time. That was supposed to be his strength, right? Last two years, he's barely had any turnover-worthy plays. He's not taking a ton of sacks. He's still not taking necessarily a ton of sacks. But there's been stretches of games where that's been up a little bit for him as well. But, I mean, yeah, he's a 5% turnover-worthy play rate, and he's not making nearly enough positive plays. That's when it really starts to come back. It's one thing to miss on a few plays throughout the course of a game that could be big for your team, which he has always done throughout his career. It's another thing to give other teams more opportunities to make those plays themselves because you're turning the

51:08 ball over. So it's a troubling process, but that's been the case, and you hoped you'd grow out of it. The process hasn't gotten any better, and the results are starting to get a lot worse.

51:17 Well, I mean, to me, he is the product of about as mercurial of an experience as you can have, including the injury, but also... you know, I'm not saying his ceiling was crazy high to begin with, but he could win games and he could go into that gamer mode, but you could see him when he did be at odds totally with Sean Payton and what Sean Payton wanted to do.

51:39 Okay.

51:39 So then they changed the play caller. And by the way, they are not changing the quote unquote language of a playbook without Sean Payton's permission.

51:47 So come on.

51:48 But second of all, like then he switched back. And to me, it's a product of a I actually can't, I'm not supposed to do this and I can't do this and I'm overthinking this and I'm not doing the things that I need to do because I'm overthinking this other stuff. And maybe my body's not where it needs to be. And maybe my skill level, my development isn't where it needs to be either. It's a lot of things at once, but the situation is not helping him.

52:09 I still go back to when him and Sean Payton were arguing about his surgery and his medical condition in public. And just like, Hmm, how, how is that relationship? Let's go to the Kansas city chiefs who are, are 5-0 on the season.

52:23 Total swing on the energy spectrum here.

52:26 Yes, and they're loving life, being back on top of the NFL.

52:30 Yeah, I love a team that manifests. Greg, you know this about me. The Chiefs had a really bad year last season, got banged up, got some rest. We love rest. And said they need to do three things. Get Patrick Mahomes healthy and some schematic support in the run game. Lean on spags to coach up a bunch of young new talent on defense. Get more dynamic in the passing game. Check, check, iffy at times, but sort of check. And to me, they're doing the things they said they were going to do.

52:55 And I think that when a plan is laid out You have time to go execute it because their, their season, their post-season was non-existent this time around. And then you actually go and execute the thing that you were going to say you were going to do. When you have continuity, when you have the quarterback you have, you bring in the right free agent and you have a head coach like Andy Reid, who does still have that juice that some people were doubting at the beginning of the year.

53:20 I just think for me, I buy it. I totally buy it. I don't know how sustainable Kenneth Walker's touches and carry share is right now.

53:29 I don't care.

53:29 I'm having a hell of a time watching him.

53:32 It is a lot of fun. It's nice to have them back. They're on Sunday Night Football this week in Seattle. Just a great, like, early season test for both of those teams. And they have a game against the Bills, the Patriots. They still have the Niners and the Rams. Like, they've actually been under the radar, at least for the Chiefs.

53:51 I am curious, John, if you've had any chance just to kind of look at what Spags is doing with this defense. A lot of young players. Feels like Mansour Delane is going to be a hit.

54:00 The corners are, are balling.

54:02 Yeah. Our Mason Thomas has shown some good things. Peter Woods. We'll see generally like they're getting it done though. Um, as spags always manages to do.

54:13 Yeah, he's just, I mean, I've called him, you know, there's debate now. Brad Flores is doing things we've just never seen before. But for most of his tenure, I think he's been, because defense is so hard to stabilize, like Spaggs has been as good as anybody. He's just been so unbelievable. And I think you're seeing that now.

54:28 They still reroute a lot of line of scrimmage. They've had players now that they can get back to doing that with. That was a real fall off last year. And I think one of the reasons why they were maybe a little bit more okay moving on from McDuffie, they love McDuffie, don't get me wrong, but I think they really wanted to get back to corners who are going to be somewhat physical at the line of scrimmage.

54:44 They want to be one of those teams that sets the tone at the line of scrimmage with the way that they cover. And so that's not necessarily in vogue in today's NFL, but Spaggs teaches it better than anybody. So you make sure that he can be able to do his thing and they've got personnel in there now that can do their thing. I mean, it's pretty simple.

54:59 They have really just finally, after missing for a long time, they've gotten a lot of good young talent in the secondary now. It's not perfect yet, but I think that they're I wonder if they'd be a team that would make a move at the deadline, particularly at safety, just given how important that position has been. Would Antoine Winfield be maybe a name to watch for them? There's some interest maybe that they could make a move, I think.

55:23 That would be interesting to me. But I think more than anything, you're just seeing really good, explosive young talent for the defense that hasn't had any in a long time.

55:31 It's a good call. For some reason, I haven't... Oh, no. That's not why. That was a quick... Look.

55:37 At what he can do when he twists the knife.

55:40 Thank you, Eric. There you go, Eric. Good shout out, John, that they could be active because look, they're all about Super Bowls and they're going to have a chance. to win one.

55:50 John's like, I can't hear what you guys are, what's happening there.

55:52 I can't hear anything.

55:53 I thought Winfield just got traded as.

55:55 I said that or something. Let's move on to the Las Vegas Raiders who started out 3-0, now 3-3. Although two of the losses were tight against, you know, really good teams. They host the Rams this week. What are your big picture thoughts on the Raiders, John?

56:13 Well, It's not the Vikings and it's not the Lions or the Bucs or the Lions or any of these teams who are first in pressure rate on blitzes this season. It is the Las Vegas Raiders led by Bob Leonard on the defense. Pretty crazy. Now they blitz at the second lowest rate in the league, so they don't do it often. But when they do it, they sure make it count. And yeah, 55% pressure rate on blitzes. Like I said, they don't do it often, but it's the linebackers.

56:40 The linebackers make a lot of things possible for them. Everybody was, you know, Quay Walker to Kobe Dean. How good are they as all around players? Still questions we are asking to be sure. But the one thing that you think I think Rob Leonard seems to have understood this season is what it looks like to use linebackers as attack pieces in his defense. That's usually a pretty good starting point. Now, is their defense good? No, it's not.

57:01 And they need a lot of talent upgrades moving forward. There's no doubt they still have a long way to go as a team. The fundamentals of who they want to be defensively are really intriguing to me. They don't have the players to be the full-fledged version of that yet. But what they want to be defensively, if they can get some of those players, especially in the back end, I think I'm going to be pretty intrigued by it.

57:20 It's great that they're doing well on offense, too. That's awesome. But it is a little bit like, well, eventually that's going to be Fernando Mendoza. Are they going to be as good with him? Where does this whole thing go, even if it isn't this season? how much stock do we take and all that, especially because they're not like running the football at a high level this season. So I still have like questions long-term there, especially with Mendoza, but the defense I'm, I'm encouraged by the process, even if the results are all over the place right now. Yeah.

57:44 I trust what year two with Rob Leonard is going to look like because you see the concept, like you see the plan, you see the communication skills, even in some stinkers, like a couple of weeks ago, you see overall what this defense is trying to do and where the personnel simply fall short because they could not possibly fill every hole on that defense with maybe the exact level of talent that you would hope. And I trust it, especially because I trust at this point the way this team is drafting. I trust at this point the way that they're team building. This to me, I am... fully capable of imagining and discussing the Raiders in a completely different way than I have for, gosh, almost 10 years.

58:31 And at this point, right?

58:32 I mean, maybe 20.

58:34 Like, well, certainly 20. But like, you know, in terms of.

58:38 It wasn't much. Like, yeah, it's been tough. It's been tough to believe in like the build. And it's early, which sometimes can be.

58:44 It's early, but I see the plan. That's the thing. That's what is so clear to me about this group.

58:49 You had them high in your organizational plan... Rankings. What was the name of that?

58:54 Utility tiers.

58:55 Utility tiers. Next couple of weeks, I think, are big for them with the Rams and the Jets, just because you got to get one of those. If not, after that, it's at San Francisco, Seattle, at Denver. Oh, stop it. Um, at Cleveland. That's all before the buy.

59:09 Play that for John. Just one time. One thing I don't want to hear it.

59:14 Actually. One thing I was really wrong about was when Mendoza would come in because, uh, it's going to be later than I expected, but the week 13 by after a bunch of really tough defenses, it could be then, or it could be before then. I do think we still see him. Let's wrap up with the worst team. In the AFC, at least according to record, because 0-6 is worse than 0-5. And the Chargers are 0-6, technically worse.

59:38 Technically worse.

59:40 Look, we're not even to week seven, and there's legitimate reporting that Adam Gase could become the offensive coordinator. What is happening here?

59:52 Remember when we were at practice and you looked to your right, you go, is that Adam Gase?

59:56 I was surprised to see him. And I never would have thought I would have feared for Mike McDaniel in that moment. I'm kind of tired. And John, you're a new voice, so I'm happy to hear it from you. But I'm kind of tired of like talking about what's gone wrong. I'm just more interested in like, will Khalil Mack approve a trade or even want to be traded?

1:00:16 Because he makes a lot of sense as a free agent. Tuli Tuli Pelotu was not happy with how they handled the contract. They didn't want to give him the contract. And he would be a pretty attractive trade tip that I think they might be interested in moving. Does Derwin James matter too much to them as the L.A. Chargers to trade him? Because there are some coordinators that would love to have him. I mean, this is not a great organization. You know, you move up to L.A. and Like Philip Rivers doesn't even want to have anything to do with you. Do you really want to burn any bridges with Derwin James? I don't know. But that's the most interesting thing to me, John. You could take it from the trade ship angle or you could, you know,

1:00:56 tell me why it just hasn't been a good marriage between this quarterback and coordinator.

1:01:01 Honestly, I'm not even sure where the Chargers go. I don't know what their thought process is. They seem like a very proud team, like obviously Harbaugh, you know, it's a very proud coach. is he going to want to fire sale at the debt? Like just because they're clearly out of it, or is he going to believe that like you bag it this year and you come back next year and they're going to be okay. I mean, they're a little bit of a different spot than some of these other teams. We'll talk about what they're going to do at the deadline because they're The Chargers fully believe they have the quarterback in the future, and it's probably time for another show whether that's true or not and how this season affects whether that should be considered

1:01:34 true or not. But they fully believe that. They're going to operate like that. So I don't know. I think they would be keeping players at key positions, like a player like Derwin James. I don't think they'll consider moving. Now, should they? that's a different story.

1:01:48 Mac and Tully are free agents. Like those are two free agents. So those in Mac has been, you know, talking about retirement every year. So like, would he be open to going to Chicago? Maybe that's just fan service that I'm doing.

1:01:59 I like your point that you made about pridefulness there, John, because I do think that is a key element of a lot of what is going wrong with the chargers right now, because I think that, I think Jim Harbaugh's pridefulness means that yes, you stick it out all the way through with this version. I mean, sure they could, they could look to move those guys that you mentioned, but I would be really shocked if Derwin James was actually on the block and gut it out and play through it and those types of things. And also pridefulness that Mike McDaniel came in and thought he could, without his quarterback there for the entire offseason, install and upload the third year version of what this system actually is.

1:02:40 And even then had some issues. So the fact that they didn't simplify earlier and then had all the injuries, to me, it's just pridefulness getting in the way.

1:02:50 Don't go, you know, I would like to do a lower pitch honk, but it just wouldn't be accurate.

1:02:56 You fell for it too. Eric goes, you know, Greg, you should honk. And Greg goes, okay. And then Eric was like, yep, hook, line and sinker.

1:03:05 There are so many ways in which I ruin Eric's life and make it more difficult that when he asked for something, I... I do try to deliver. John, you delivered. We appreciate everything that you contributed to this around the AFC session so much that we're going to have you back to handle the NFC. We will see you then.

1:03:23 Well, I'll be wearing the same outfits.

1:03:25 Right.

1:03:27 Can't wait.