Week 7 Around the NFC: Packers Offense, NFC East Favorite, Panthers Rise and more

0:04 Welcome to NFL Daily, where we are contractually obligated to talk about the NFC East. That is where we are going to start our around the NFC taking stock one third the way into the season. You know, people, they get into the quarter pole stuff and the halves. People aren't doing the one third check in like we are.

0:28 18 weeks divided by three.

0:30 Innovating.

0:31 It's right there. We have John Ledyard with us again for this show. If you tuned into the AFC version, we are going three minutes on each and every team. Let's start with the Dallas Cowboys. Jordan, you are up.

0:51 Yes, the Dallas Cowboys. Mea culpa in that I did it again. I fell for the buzz around the Dallas Cowboys. This offense can be great. They can also be well short of expectations and simply good. Right now they're top 10 in EPA per play. This defense is bad. Second to last in EPA per play have flirted with the last place in the league and points allowed and success rate and in all of the major and even advanced statistics. Um, the phase I expected to be elite only is sometimes that's the offense, which means it's below expectation because they knew they had to be elite all the time this year to have a shot at the expectations they set for themselves. And the phase I did expect to improve this season quite clearly has not to the point where,

1:37 you know, Mike Petten is now on this coaching staff as a senior advisor for Christian Parker, the new defensive coordinator. So Came into the season, all of them did, with very high expectations and Super Bowl shirts and a lot of change that was expected to be positive. I still have long-term faith in the infrastructure of this team. I know Brian Schottenheimer is getting a lot of questions right now.

2:00 I think they're in a funk, and expectations can really bite you you know where sometimes.

2:06 Better win in Philadelphia this week. Sneaky big game for both of those teams and how this season goes. Yeah, the play that did it for me was... when Matt LaFleur, I forget if it was like a read option or whatever, you know, but ran it at Rashawn Gary, knowing Rashawn Gary was going to take the cheese. And I was just like, that's kind of the Cowboys build in a nutshell.

2:25 Like they bring in Kenny Clark and Gary and even Quinton Williams, maybe not living up to expectations. And you add a lot of pieces, Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence, who have both shown some things. I am curious what you've seen, John, out of this defense where like Jason Barham, like he'll make some big plays, but he'll make, you know, some blown assignments as well. Like what is going on when you, when you watch this Cowboys defense?

2:53 Yeah, they're playing a lot of young guys. I think three rookies are starting. Lawrence is kind of in. He's in the mix. He's an evenly distributed snap mix, finally, which is good. But you're playing a lot of young guys and you never solved linebacker. And now you're playing a guy who, in my opinion, isn't a linebacker, but he is your best linebacker at linebacker and Jason Barham.

3:12 I would like to see him play on the edge, but there is no doubt the Cowboys linebacker room has just continued to not be solved year after year after year. and he's their best one, even though he leaves a lot to be desired. And from a consistency perspective, nobody else is capable of the high end plays that he's capable of at that position. So yeah, Lawrence needs to play more. I think that's definitely been an observation so far.

3:34 Another frustration has been that Gary hasn't really become like a, he's an okay player.

3:38 He's okay.

3:38 That's kind of what he's been as a Raku is not been a difference maker off the edge for them.

3:43 So they're still searching for more impact there.

3:46 You know, I think that there have been, they're missing Odigizua, which, you know, a lot of people didn't think that would happen since Jerry Jones thinks Kenny Clark is the greatest defensive tackle ever, and Quentin Williams comes over the trade, but, you know, those guys have not provided the impact that you would love to see, specifically as pass rushers, I would say. That's really where this group leaves a lot to be desired. So, I think they're going to win this division.

4:08 Still.

4:08 The schedule gets pretty easy. I think their offense is still going to be awesome. One little sidebar. Have you guys noticed? I think Dak Prescott's arm, there's just, he really needs everything to be perfect in the pocket for that ball to come out with zip.

4:21 It's a good thing. I will watch out for, and it's been surprising to see them not really have as many answers as you would expect, like against the blitz and his decisions and, and, um, I will be tuning to that. Now it is time for the news of the day segment. And that's going to be related to the Giants who cut Najee Harris. Of course, the news of the day segment presented by Olive Garden. Najee Harris asked for more touches, kind of pointed out to John Harbaugh through the media that it's hard to really get in a flow when you only get a couple carries at a time. He's never been in a situation like that before. And now he's not in that situation anymore because they cut him soon after that. And I always

5:08 say John Harbaugh scares me because he does things like after this, saying that he had nothing to do. He appreciated the feedback he said from Harris, actually. Just like he didn't bench Cam Scadaboo when Cam Scadaboo got zero carries. He thought it was good to hear that feedback. It just wasn't working out with Harris.

5:25 Like the guy from No Country for Old Men.

5:26 Right.

5:27 Like he just wasn't going to happen. John, you have the Giants in terms of the big picture. They are first place in this division, but you do not think that they are going to win the division. You think it's going to be the Cowboys. That's an interesting thought. I probably would take the Cowboys too.

5:41 Well, it's just been a great season. I mean, the Giants are first in the division. It's been a great season, right, guys? Everything's going well. The young player's playing well. There's no.

5:51 Tension with the New York media. There's no running back controversy dominating the headlines. You're not on your third quarterback. Like, I mean, it's just been the strangest season of any team. We're like, yeah, the new regime's in place. You have a winning record. You like to feel good about it. The schedule's been pretty easy. Like you've been really uneven week to week. Like you're already in the third quarterback.

6:11 Your quarterback in the future is out for the season. Like what the running back room and country you're supposed to be. scottaboo and tracy and dart obviously and now it's like are any of these guys gonna play on a weekly basis and now they've released naji harris so it seems like they will get back to more scottaboo i think it's i know he's fumbled but he's looked really good on tape this season so i don't know it's a i think there are some things below the surface have been good about the giant season unfortunately they would love for the offensive line to be headlining that I don't think that's been the case at every position, specifically in the interior.

6:42 There's been some question marks. I think there still could be trajectory up for them by the end of the season. It's been a little bit shaky up to this point in the season, specifically in running the football, I would say. which again is another thing you wouldn't have expected to be the issue. But it's, I don't think it's as discouraging as it seems when you see any clip from Harbaugh's press conferences, but I also don't think it's as encouraging as the record has been. So it's a, it is a hard season to characterize it. He is not used to this media.

7:09 I was going to say when he was in Baltimore, which it's Baltimore, still a great market there. They have a great beat there, but it's just different where he says things and, And our eyes tell us something different. And we know that the thing that we're seeing with our eyes does not match the thing that he's saying at the lectern. And then players are saying something that does not match what he's saying at the lectern. And, and of course it's going to be a huge storyline every single time that happens because of the environment that he is in now, but you know, he'll say it with a smile and it is a hundred thousand times better than any answer you could ever get from any coach in the words of John Harbaugh. To me, I

7:48 am surprised at how poorly they're running the ball relative to expectation and On the other side, I'm actually kind of pleasantly surprised.

7:57 There are big breaks every once in a while.

7:58 I'm pleasantly surprised by some of the play we've gotten out of the secondary. I thought the secondary was going to be probably one of the worst in the league coming in. It's obviously not. There's breaks still. Teams are throwing the ball on them. But to me, it's like, okay, I'm seeing a little bit. Denard Wilson, I think, is.

8:16 Doing a nice job.

8:17 They are 28th in overall success. DVOA this year in terms of efficiency as a team. So, you know, one of the teams that overachieved in terms of their record, but there are worse teams to watch, especially on defense, on a weekly basis than Abdul Carter and Arvel Reese as building blocks. A lot of fun there. And, man, I really do wish Jackson Dart was here. Like, this division race and this team would look a lot different.

8:41 Even if I have some doubts about Dart, it just would be more fun. Yeah, I deserve the double honk. Let's go to the Eagles, who... have been swimming in catastrophic injury and Lane Johnson retirement and Jalen Hurts out for the season. And it's provided some cover to a pretty disappointing defense. 19th right now in defensive DVOA. It doesn't feel like that when you watch them, but they are thinner than they used to be. In a game where, yes, you lose Jalex Hunt and it has been out in Nolan Smith, the backup edges and the backup linemen, not quite as good. I'm really stunned that Cooper DeGene is now taking some heat, been struggling this year, giving up a lot of plays. Vic Fangio, like how long is

9:30 he going to be around? There was some retirement talk this offseason. So it was supposed to be the bedrock of your team. I am curious, John, what you've seen from the defense specifically and Cooper DeGene, all of the group kind of not working as cohesively as they have in the past.

9:46 Yeah, change is coming, I think. And it's maybe a little bit overdue.

9:50 Also, change happened to them before they could happen to change in a lot of ways because of the injuries that have happened the retirements now like there's been you know some things that are just are the way that it works time wise i i have faith that long term they will be in an okay place because how he is cutthroat about this stuff like he is like when it's time to move that guy is moving like more so than probably any other gm in the league like he does not need to see it long drawn out painful process before he starts making plans for the future so yeah this season is almost certainly shot for the Eagles. The NFC East being weak is the only thing that makes me say it with not certainty, but

10:26 I think this season will be pretty shot for them. I actually had, though, going into the season, the Eagles missing the playoffs, not because of all these reasons. You know, they were struggling kind of anyway, but I think they really, the biggest concern most interesting thing to me about the Eagles is just what, how do they view, obviously the Jalen Hurts health situation right now is, you know, probably hopefully going to be, we hope and pray it'll be a short-term one, but do they view him as the long-term guy for the next coach? Is the next coach see him that way? The next offensive coordinator is how we see him that way. A guy who's very cutthroat, not sentimental necessarily. So that will be a fascinating part

10:57 of all this for me to see.

10:58 I'm curious if you have to sweep everything out. Cause I would feel like in some ways you might have to, in some ways you're probably tempted as an organization to say, okay, we, we do want to keep, you know, for example, we've had more good years than bad, obviously more excellent years than bad of Vic Fangio. And, you know, players like, like you mentioned, Cooper Dijon been playing through injuries since the year.

11:20 So they have a lot of building blocks compared to most teams.

11:22 Yeah.

11:23 And so, and so for me, I am curious, one of the sort of maybe under narrated storylines before any of this even happened was how hard a time they had getting somebody to take that offensive coordinator job in the first place. And no, I don't buy for a second that that's a Jalen Hurts thing.

11:42 I think that that.

11:43 Is a, it is really tough to be the offensive coordinator in the place where the previous one said his house gets egged because he's not.

11:51 Calling enough play action. For me, this is a tough market. It's tough to win.

11:57 And if you're starting to wobble a little bit, as a couple of these guys are, you really do have to think about these things.

12:04 And look how he's done it again and again and again with new coaches. It gets harder every time. You know, things do come to an end. Who knows? Do they all want to? It doesn't seem like anyone's having fun. Do they all want to be there long term? Let's go to the Washington Commanders, who definitely have long terms.

12:19 Things that'll come to an end.

12:20 Right.

12:20 Thank God they have a bye week for their sake.

12:23 They are the team, I think, in this division more than any that has to be thrilled they're in this division because it gives them just like a modicum of hope. Uh, after, uh, a tough loss on Monday night football.

12:34 Yeah. I look at the commander's body of work so far, and I see a team that's in its own way and happens to be so on the wrong timeline. Cause you can see flashes when they've got good stuff. And like, sometimes they'll put together these, like a couple of really nice offensive drives in a row. And it's, these are really clicking for a healthy Jaden Daniels or a healthier Jaden Daniels. And the run pass is there. Defensively you're like, okay, I really understand this. I get what they're trying to do, but usually with that, when there's just flashes like that, and then there's a lot of mistakes and mess around all of that. It's a team that has time to grow together, especially with the new coordinators over at least

13:13 a full season. And you don't have that timeline here. We think, and you don't feel it either.

13:18 You feel stress. You feel urgency.

13:22 You feel like these mistakes are, are compounding in a way that is unhealthy.

13:26 For the overall dynamic.

13:28 For me, it's like if they were going to be allowed to make some of these mistakes that do happen when you have the new coordinators and then a bunch of new players working together and a quarterback coming off of a serious injury, you can't do it when you've got people on the hot seat because that's what's happening here.

13:42 It's difficult because they're kind of a lesser version, I think, of the Patriots build where a lot of money spent in veterans on free agency that it hasn't worked as well. But this is not necessarily a young team. In fact, it's one of the older teams.

13:54 Mm-hmm.

13:55 One of their older players, Terry McLaurin, we learned is out for the season with a torn patellar tendon. Like what his future very much up in the air with the organization. Let's talk positive. What do you think about Sonny Styles? Maybe don't talk positive. I know you did a pod, John, talking about kind of the linebackers from this class. So I know you had a chance to study Styles in depth. And what do you think about their top 10 pick?

14:22 Yeah, I think the biggest thing that stands out with him is just the ability to play in space and then the ability to sift through trash in the box and be able to make plays at his best. He is going to have to be a player that beats blockers to spots. I don't think he's going to be able to like Josiah Trotter and like Arvel Reese, you know, really uproot offensive linemen and play through guys face all the time.

14:43 Like, I don't think he quite has that in his game.

14:46 He's physical enough to do it, no doubt, but I don't think he has quite that strength and power pop in the way that he plays. But he's really good at playing around contact, under contact. For a guy his size, that's pretty crazy. Through and off the side of blocks, which is really kind of how you have to be to control space as a linebacker. So encouraged by him overall.

15:05 I do think there will be times, especially as a rookie.

15:07 As he learns more.

15:08 The pace of the game where he gets taken out of the box by a block. And I think people are going to say, Oh, what, where's, you know, he's supposed to be this big, strong linebacker. And that maybe isn't his game as much as it is tons of athleticism and being able to win in small spaces for a guy that big to be that quick. And then obviously the stuff he can do when he's in space in coverage is going to be a plus as well.

15:28 I don't think it'll be a great blitzer, but still there's a, there's a lot of good building blocks here for a player who can be a real focal point of a defense moving forward.

15:35 Funny thing is in hindsight.

15:36 Yeah.

15:37 I think they had a good off season. Like the guys they brought in have all pretty much hit Kim, you know, chase on and, uh, Amik Robertson in the back. And it's just like, there was the nice punch out, right? Diggs has even been better than you would possibly imagine. And yet they just a lot of work to do. John, you are going to kick off the NFC North, which is on a heater right now. Everyone coming off wins, uh, a few of them on, on long winning streaks, not the bears. Uh, and I, you gotta see a chance where there's, three teams from this division, maybe making the playoffs. Um, probably not four, uh, with, with what's going on in the West, but, uh, it's going to be very challenging to win the division. I'll give you the bears, the

16:15 defending champ.

16:17 I'm the Michael Scott gift where he's like, someone explain this to me. Like I'm five and that's how I feel about that's how I feel about the bears defense.

16:24 Like, how are they doing this?

16:26 Like this is Dennis Allen's finest work maybe at this point. Um, you know, elite third down defense. We're going to talk about the Vikings third down defense in a second, which I know third down defense can not be that stable.

16:37 So let's just celebrate it while it's here. But they, I mean, their teams are 16 of 62 on third down against the Bears this season in terms of conversion. It's pretty crazy. 26%, the Vikings are somehow better as we'll talk about.

16:50 But on the other side, they've given up 840 plus yard pass plays this season.

16:55 They've given up 1920 plus yard pass plays.

16:58 So they're giving up too many big plays, but they're also able to create pressure to rate that they weren't last year, even though they don't really have a great pressure creation player. Some people would said sweat. He's hurt now. So it is just truly remarkable to watch what Dennis Allen is doing with a group of players that I don't think is very talented and has sort of a lot of pieces that I would say are just kind of.

17:19 not necessarily in vogue in terms of what they're good at right now in the NFL. They trade Gervon Dexter. He's having this great year.

17:27 It's like, oh, we.

17:27 Made all these huge mistakes. We didn't really address pass rusher. And yet they're still somehow getting production right now. So I think that we're going to see more cracks as this thing goes forward. But I mean, it's about a year and a half almost of Dennis Allen doing something with this defense that basically nobody could have seen happening on paper based on the players that are on the field.

17:47 So he deserves a lot of credit for keeping their floor where it's been.

17:51 The denissance.

17:52 It's happening.

17:52 It's happening.

17:53 It's been happening.

17:54 The thing, the crazy thing, and the variance between some of the numbers that you have there, John, of like, well, this would make sense if, and then it's a completely alternate stat or something. To me, it's, it makes it almost, it gives them almost an advantage. I don't think it's intended that way or built that way by, by design, but it does give Dennis Allen and this defense an advantage because you cannot really tendency predict that you can't really, all you know is that it's going to be hard to get by them on third down. All you know is that yes, you could probably get explosives except sometimes on third, except on third down, except sometimes. And you're going to get surprising pressure and you don't quite know

18:31 from where because it's different contributors, including those interior guys like James Lynch had a great game last week. You know, people you don't expect.

18:40 And I'm not even sure. I'm going to be honest. I'm not even sure Dennis Allen is quite expecting it either.

18:45 But, you know, it is working and it's very, very tough to scout and to tendency predict again.

18:50 Got Kyler Gordon back and most importantly got.

18:52 Yeah, that's huge. Right. That's big.

18:54 He gives them some real juice and most importantly got Caleb Williams back who for the second time this year really the only two starts he completed, took a lot of the layups that this offense provides in an encouraging way. So looking forward to more of that, just like I'm looking forward to more stanky leg. I mean, this is an audio medium, but sometimes, you know, check us out on NFL channel on YouTube too. It's a video medium too, where we can watch Ben Johnson get after it.

19:19 Enjoy the plane.

19:20 Ride home, but we're back in and we're going after it again tomorrow, okay?

19:25 You guys good?

19:26 All right, here we go, here.

19:27 We go, here we go.

19:28 I gotta say it.

19:31 You better get back!

19:41 You better get back!

19:43 Here's on three, one, two, three, back!

19:46 Oh, man.

19:47 Yeah, that's that's a coach. Who's got him on a line.

19:51 Like he's got his players on a line because you saw that earlier in the season too, where he's, he's holding off, he's holding off on the good, better, best, and they're dying for it.

20:00 They're screaming for it.

20:01 Like, and I'm sitting there and I'm like, Holy, what am I watching right now?

20:05 It's not safe for work.

20:07 Right. Slowly creepy onto his face. Um, He is a performer, Ben Johnson. Showman. He's a reminder. Most quarterbacks and coaches in the history of the NFL, if they're ever going to win a Super Bowl together, they do it pretty quickly. They are in the window right now while he's on his rookie contract. I think they'll be a team. Need a new stadium? Hey, let's go make some moves and make it happen now. I think they're in the mix.

20:33 Why not? So are the Wyans, although it's a little harder to see right now until we see defensive improvement. They will get Brian Branch back. believe this week in a big game against the Packers. So that's awesome. Also going to get Cade Mays back.

20:47 Big.

20:48 The center that they signed from Carolina. And yet, they haven't really needed him. My biggest takeaway that if you had told me before the season, like what I'd feel good about the Lions is like, I think their offensive identity is back on the offensive line. Blake Miller's been good. I think the guards have been pretty good. Certainly pass protecting.

21:10 It's been a great starts of the season. Now you can look at like the opponents and they'll get tougher tests, but it's a favorable schedule. And I just think if they have a strong offensive line overall, John, they have a real chance. And after a year, you know, year and a half where it was a little shaky, I do feel good about that. Their moves this off season and the development is paying off there. And then we're we're kind of in the same spot where we've been.

21:37 We're just like we just got to get average defense somehow. But if the offensive line is this good, they are a lot to deal with.

21:44 And nothing to see here, but Jared Goff's just been absolutely outstanding.

21:48 Again, like nobody talks about him. Nobody cares.

21:51 Like he is just nails every year. And, you know, Ollie and I are always careful about this when we talk. We don't want to say Jared Goff is Tom Brady, but he is. the closest version in terms of style to Tom Brady that we have in today's game. And the way you see that most clearly exemplified is in the offensive line stuff that you're talking about. Like this group is good and they're playing better. And I think that there's real potential for them and they're doing well in the run game. He makes the whole group better in pass protection because the ball's out. He's in the same place in the pocket all the freaking time. And so you never have to worry about, is he wandering?

22:22 Is he drifting? Is he not going to get the ball on time?

22:24 Is he holding it? Is he stepping up into a sack? Those things don't happen with Jared Goff. He does not create his own issues in the pocket, which is pretty rare, honestly, in today's NFL. And some of these guys have the magic to make it work. But Jared Goff is a man who knows his limitations, as Clint Eastwood said. And so he has to play a certain way if he's going to be successful. And he has really maximized that way of playing year after year after year to sustain success with his limitations, not being the most physically talented or having this cannon of an arm or being a guy who's a rushing threat or anything like that. it's pretty remarkable to watch what he's done, and he's made the whole group better this season.

22:59 Yeah, I've always appreciated, and especially more and more so, and certainly mostly as he's been in Detroit, he's just been really self-aware, and the system around him is quite self-aware as well. I think Drew Petzing is a great example, the offensive coordinator, a great example of that self-awareness of what your personnel is, He was quite aware of his limitations in Arizona. He is quite aware and adjusts, especially from the start of the season. It has this offense humming number three in the NFL and EPA per play.

23:31 And the reason why we're not talking about the lions more as an absolute wagon is because their defense is last. So that's the thing that we talked to in the previous show about the Bills variants.

23:42 The Lions are right there too.

23:44 They are. And I think it's partly schedule related too. Like they're 11th in offensive DVOA because of the easy schedule. So they will be tested more, but I think they have to feel good how they escaped these first five games for them because they just had a bye. The Packers are your team. And anytime Jordan writes a feature before the season about a team, Uh, then she roots for them. No, they're not doing they're four and two.

24:09 They won three in a row.

24:11 Yes.

24:11 This was the had us in the first half. Not going to lie team because man.

24:18 That was a catastrophe to start the season and a somewhat confounding one as well, because before even the pads went on in training camp, all of these issues with their offensive line in their run game, we're going to be clear issues.

24:32 Over time, Matt LaFleur did.

24:34 What he has become very good at doing, which is welcome in a bunch of people off the couch or depth players in certain positions, in this case, an overhauled offensive line, and made it work. And did so to the point where you can really see the vision, the explosive play potential, specifically in the passing game, really questionable run game through the first third of this season, obviously, but they knew that coming in, they still, they did not do much to adjust early, but it's just enough now to get a little of that play action going.

25:06 He's also a play action without really having a run game. So he's sort of like, One for the nerds. Remember that conversation of like 2017, 2018?

25:14 It's still happening.

25:15 So the other thing is Jonathan Gannon was a slam dunk higher because that defense is playing far beyond expectations. We knew the secondary, particularly the safeties, were going to be good. But that defensive line is a lot more active than I think people thought it was going to be. And they are missing edge Cooper too. So for them to be playing this well, so early before Micah Parsons is even back yet, I think is impressive.

25:38 Yeah.

25:38 The timeline for Micah Parsons keeps getting pushed a little further out. They were hoping he would be back earlier. He was hoping he would be back earlier. It doesn't seem that close, maybe a few weeks away. Josh Jacobs will return to the team today. or rather this week, he's expected to play. He is not on the commissioner's exempt list anymore, which is essentially paid leave. He was not suspended. He still could be suspended. He is fighting in court to keep a videotape of his alleged domestic assault from reaching the public, essentially reaching the judge. And so that is still hanging over them as a possibility.

26:14 But for now, he and Jonathan Cooper, the Broncos edge in similar situations, we hadn't hit this on the show, will be eligible to return to the field this week, but still could both face suspension, kind of like Alaric Jackson of the Rams. Just wanted to clear that up there. My quick question for you, and we have like 45 seconds on this one. I know you're not hearing the sound effects, John. Is the offensive line stabilizing or is it just Jordan Love completely balling out? Which is it?

26:45 I think it's just Jordan Love falling out for the most part. It is better, though. I mean, they made some changes, obvious changes.

26:52 I mean, what were your expectations with this group coming in?

26:55 Come on.

26:56 We got people coming out of their couch. Like, come on.

27:00 Very low expectations coming into the season. It was a big reason why I really struggled with whether to pick the Packers to make the playoffs or not going into the season. It's just because I felt like the offensive line was a huge question mark. I think Jordan Morgan, you know, there have been a little bit better moments since the beginning of the year, but it is going to be a lot about a lot about Jordan Love and just how good he is, especially considering that he wants to throw the ball down the field. It can be a little bit of a high variance way to play.

27:24 His receivers drop some balls at times for him. So there might be a group that experiences big highs, big lows throughout the season, especially if they can't run the ball.

27:32 So I love that shout out. And look, he got taken off QB Island. He is making a strong case, as is Drake May. I know. Two best quarterbacks in the league, basically.

27:43 And Caleb, too, because Caleb was an injury disqualifying. So now we're.

27:48 Back in the mix.

27:49 We will be in a few weeks' time. I'm really happy, John, that you randomly got assigned the Minnesota Vikings. We obviously hope... Our great friend, Ali Connolly, who you do the read optional with, is back up and running, been battling some medical things. One of my favorite people and analysts in the game. And one thing I felt missing from my life as just a consumer is hearing him talk about this Brian Flores defense, because somehow it's gone to another level this season. And I know he would be so great to talk about. I know you will be, too.

28:30 Yeah. Yeah.

28:31 No, I choose to believe that all these healing is being accelerated by Brian for his successful defensive performance.

28:38 I mean, it has been. Yeah.

28:39 Twenty.

28:40 It's been we're.

28:41 In an unprecedented territory, I would say, of defensive dominance going back to last season. That is just like mind boggling to think about when you think about whether even the rest of the league like Seattle in the midst of this run for the Vikings that they've had. where they've been just off the charts basically every metric, you've had Seattle defense on an all-time run to the Super Bowl.

29:02 And obviously, the Vikings didn't have the same playoff success because of offense and not making it. But this group has just done unbelievable things without elite talent levels at a lot of these positions. And this season, I'm trying to pull what's a metric people haven't heard, what's a stat people haven't heard. just about how absurd this defensive performance has been. Right now, 24% of drives against the Vikings end in a score, obviously first in the NFL.

29:28 17% of drives end in a turnover.

29:30 Wow.

29:30 They are getting dangerously close to it being about as even whether you score points or turn the ball over.

29:36 They're going to do it.

29:38 It's wild.

29:39 That we mentioned the third down stuff to 22% third down conversion rate. First, that's 14 out of 63 attempts. That's how ridiculous they've been on third down. They have faced this season as a defense like 150 less snaps than the Broncos, who have been the worst third down defense. Just because they're off the field all the time, it's really nuts what they've been able to do. They're also first in red zone defense. Usually one of these categories is not pure dominance. You're just good at it, but they're just everything you look at. They're absolutely ridiculous. Absurd defensive run they're on.

30:13 They're so empowered to like the players are making so many of these calls or adjustments as well. They communicate so well with each other. They're flexible. They, it's like they really take on the plan and, and Brian Flores, his personality as well, and just become this, this thing together.

30:29 It's, it's quite beautiful to watch.

30:31 Honestly, I, I totally agree. And the, the bigger point I started this division with like the NFC North is really good. And, um, but you have to take them real deal seriously. Cause I, They're 27th in offense right now, but you didn't have Kyler for a few games. You didn't have Daris off for a while. You didn't have Justin Jefferson to my eyes. And we'll see when they're not playing the Saints. There has been progress there. And they just need to be the reverse of all these offense heavy teams. And yes, you have to keep this defense.

31:03 It's hard to keep this defensive level up, but I'm at the point of believing anything's possible. They're bringing us back to the 1970s where, you know, maybe you can win this way. Seattle showed it. And I do think they have the players to get average on offense. I just, I believe. They're not that far away from thinking like, yeah, they're like a real deal Super Bowl contender, but, you know, extend it out. You got the Colts this week too.

31:26 Oh, man.

31:27 That's 6-0 if you ever.

31:30 That might need a PG-13 rating.

31:33 On that one. Good call there. We might see Anthony Richardson. Let's go to the NFC South, who is not beating the allegations. Let's actually take a break and then go to the NFC South. We'll take a quick one, and we'll finish up here.

31:49 You need the fun allegations?

31:52 I love the NFC South. It's what it's always been. The NFC South can never really disappoint us because the worse and the messier it is, the more they really are fully realizing themselves. The Falcons are emblematic of that. And they have the 49ers this week. It's kind of a dangerous road game early for the 49ers, although they might feel like they just lost on Monday night and want to get back. I think this is a good runway for for the rest of the season to evaluate Michael Penix. Overall, I think the Falcons have been a little better than their two and four record. I think they have to feel okay about where their team build is at. Like no AJ Terrell and none of their young pass rushers. And the defense is still extremely competitive.

32:50 I have my doubts that Michael Penix can be like Jared Goff, John, because I think that's almost in a way that he would have to win at this point, which is insane. strictly from the pocket. He does not have the pocket movement. He certainly doesn't have the history of ripping the ball in the middle of the field.

33:08 And yet I also want to give him some grace that he's just coming back from this injury. it's a new offense. And I think it's a good thing for this team that he's going to have a long runway here with Stefanski to evaluate him. Because if you just look at the numbers, they're pretty solid so far. The eye test, not like as good to me, but I kind of want to look at the end of the season before making, is he going to be the guy for them moving forward? Kind of answer.

33:34 I completely agree with you.

33:35 The biggest thing we need to see from Michael Pennington is just him play extended football, different types of defenses.

33:41 What does he look? I mean, under pressure stuff is the biggest concern, right?

33:43 We're going to talk about this with another NFC South quarterback as well. But we need to see what that looks like over a sustained period of time. Like we need to see whether or not he can be a quarterback that despite his lack of mobility. fits into that narrow path as you talked about that Jared Goff's played under that was frankly an issue for him for a while before he figured it out so to me he's not the type of quarterback you're just going to see hit the ground not that there is a type of quarterback like this in today's NFL for sure but it's just going to hit the ground run and immediately look like a star he needs to be able to play and people wrote him off for the season I understand

34:16 that because of the injuries and stuff but really we just haven't seen him on the field consistently enough to know whether he's good or he's not there's been some downs there's been a lot of ups too there's been some great moments and great plays he can make really tough throws and seems like guys respond well to him and so i think we just have to learn more about him this season which is ultimately what the year should be about for atlanta now i think they've made some team building errors getting there but i've got to be honest i'm stunned by the defense i'm stunned by the pressure stuff specifically with the defense even if the rest of it comes back down to earth a little bit they're they're competitive. Obviously the record's not in a

34:49 great place now, but they've been a little, I thought they would be maybe the worst team in the league. And I don't feel that way now.

34:54 The bears, I think proved a bit of a weak spot or a fatal flaw for this offense overall, which has been awesome when it's clicking with Bajon Robinson and Michael Penix making some of those long down and distance throws. We are going to get to see him throw the ball more and really see what he has, because I do think that the more they play these teams that try to copy what the bears did, which is really try to secure those perimeter lanes against their outside zone.

35:20 Bajon Robinson was averaging 6.7 yards per carry on outside zone before that game.

35:25 And the Bears completely shut it down.

35:27 And so to me, that is when you force Michael Penix to throw the ball more and take the short stuff, the layup stuff, if they're down in distance. A team like the 49ers coming up, They tackle so well.

35:39 They play a wide front anyway.

35:41 To me, I'm just really excited to see how they problem solve out of it and how Michael Penix starts to like supplement some of the things they might not be able to sustain in the run game.

35:48 Look, if Michael Penix can stay as cool against pressure as you did, just blowing right through that honking in your ear. I mean, that's tough. And you did it.

35:57 It's like anything, Greg.

35:58 Because it's your voice, I've sort of learned to tune it out.

36:01 Oh, let's go to the Panthers where we've, you know, had our optimism, certainly you going into the season and they've got the Buccaneers. They can like, they can end the Buccaneers this week, but we're talking more about the season as a whole for Carolina, your, your favorite team.

36:19 Yeah. I think that this is so pleasantly surprising. The defense is number 16 and EPA per play through these first six weeks.

36:28 Which means they're kind of, which.

36:30 Means they're kind of, I know, which means they're, and, and it's a top five offense as well, by the way, they're following the formula, quote unquote, except the inverse sort of, of, of kind of like what all these other teams are trying to do. They're actually the ones doing it. They can be a top 10. Offense they've shown. They can do that even with some of the personnel changes in the offensive line and flux, the way that it was through the first part of the season. And their defense is in the middle. And that really wins you games in this league and certainly does down the stretch to me.

37:03 they're following the formula that we predicted for all these other teams. We didn't think the defense would even get to the middle.

37:08 No, and schedule is part of that. Schedule is part of it.

37:12 Always the caveat.

37:13 You know what? They're not moving them out of the division. They've got your bucks here this week. And to me, that's a sneaky big game that I'm interested in because they could really end... That would feel like the end of this Buccaneers team. I am curious for your thoughts, John, on... I think Brad Idzik doing a good job as their coordinator and doing a little bit what you guys have talked about on the podcast over the years, which is like embracing full Bryce. Like stop trying to run a Dave Canales offense and run a Bryce Young offense. I think they've gotten pretty close to that.

37:42 It's pretty wild how much they've tried and tried and tried and now feel like.

37:47 They've hit on something.

37:48 Usually when it gets to this point, it's like, It kind of is what it is, and it was a good effort, but it just kind of has diminishing returns. Now, I want to be careful because I do think there is some small sample size stuff happening here, and I'm interested to see what it looks like as the season plays out. There's been some matchup stuff, I think, so far this year that's played to their advantages, not to take away from anything that they've done necessarily, but I do think that it will be interesting to see what it looks like against some better teams moving forward. The Lions win was a nice win. The defense struggled against the Lions and the Bears, and then they've been better against some of these teams that have struggled a little

38:23 more offensively. So I still don't feel like I fully know. Are the Panthers going to be one of these teams that are middle of the league and everything, which is good enough to win this division probably. Or are they going to be a team that like actually can catapult to something even greater than that? Certainly winning games like a lifeless Tampa Bay team that has, you know, you said the end is coming.

38:44 I mean, the end feels like it's been there for a long time.

38:47 I know, but every game it looks so competitive. We'll get to them.

38:50 I know.

38:50 Yeah.

38:51 But I think that'll be the key for Carolina. Like, take care of these these bottom of your teams. Don't slip up against them like sometimes they would last year. And then like, what does it look like this year against better competition, specifically better defenses? Like, are you able to still be one of these top tier offensive teams?

39:06 Yeah.

39:06 And I see them do different things against, you know, subpar defense. The Detroit game was really when I thought, OK, they they actually have this real intentionality behind what they're trying to do, because it wasn't just that they were sort of shredding them the way that they did. But the way that they were attacking the spaces where Detroit was actually the most vulnerable, they weren't even really testing the spaces where they were like, you know, up and down statistically per matchup, they were actually spamming these attack points that you usually would see from these like you know, these circle the linebacker games that we love to talk about in the NFC West. And this is an NFC South team playing matchup football, in my opinion, pretty well.

39:45 So I really like what they're doing on offense. I do think if that sustains, they'll go further than a lot of people expect.

39:51 The Saints are heading over to Paris. In fact, they're there. They left straight from New Jersey after the Giants win. So they are doing events. We'll go to their practice on Thursday. That's only... You know, in France, that's only like a day away. We better get there, Jordan. Let's talk about the Saints. Let's go, John.

40:13 Well, the question for me with the Saints right now is just, is Tyler Shook proving to be anything more than a stopgap player? And I think that was the big question coming out last year. There was all this excitement. I think it's sort of plateaued a little bit right now, but I'm not convinced that it stays there all season long either. Like I'm going to be watching this closely.

40:33 It's the biggest question I have through the first six weeks with them or the biggest takeaway I've had in some ways. But in other ways, I don't feel like I very confident maybe in where it's going. The biggest question to me with what needed to change with Tyler Shook was whether he was going to be better under pressure this season than he has been in the past.

40:50 Last season, it was great when he was kept clean and it's remained as great for the most part this year when he's kept clean. When he's under pressure, There is just a ton of drop-off in his game. There's a lot of panic. There's last year a ton of sacks taken, putting the ball in harm's way more often.

41:05 This year, he hasn't necessarily been effective as a playmaker in those situations, but he's also thrown the ball away and made some smarter decisions this year, not taking as many sacks. His pressure to sack numbers are way down. in those situations last year, he threw the ball away. I know he only played like what, eight games or something last year, but he threw the ball away like nine times all year. He's already thrown it away 12 this year. So like he's, he's learning just to cut his losses a little bit more. And I think that eventually we're going to have to know kind of like, is that going to sustain over the, large season, like where he's avoiding mistakes and, you know, but also is there high end play when things get messy? And that

41:42 I think is still a major question mark I have with this game.

41:45 I think he's stabilized and backed up his rookie season by just showing to me, he's close to like where I saw Daniel Jones early with the Giants, which is like, if it's great around, like he's an NFL quarterback, that's going to start a lot of games in the NFL, which I had my doubts coming in with Tyler Shuck.

42:01 And I think he's going to do it in a more fun, entertaining way. I do think the ceiling still could be higher. And so we'll see, but I think he's backed it up that he's like a starting quarterback, but is he like a bridge starting quarterback or is he a real deal guy? We'll see. I have more concerns as do the Saints fans and Gail Benson about Kellen Moore and And you know how sometimes you pick on the quarterback that's like, well, he's only good when it's like the opening script that he knows the play.

42:28 And that coach like, oh, he's only like that. Kellen Moore is the opposite of that. They have played 24 games under Kellen Moore. They have left the first quarter with a lead once. Oh, that's impossible. By far the fewest points in the first quarter of any NFL team. And you would say, well, yeah, they, they struggle on offense.

42:46 It's like, well, the points that next three quarters are pretty solid. So whatever the opposite is of having your team ready to go and having a good plan, that's the saints. Even last week when they were down, when they play the giants, they fall down 10, nothing. And then they score, you know, 34 points in like the middle eight, basically.

43:02 Not a juice forward plan.

43:04 That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. So that, that concerns me. especially related to Chuck Jordan that like, Oh, we're already at the end. That's his guy. And that's what more needs to do. Well, we got to keep going.

43:20 We got to get the basketball practice seems to be taking steps backward as well.

43:24 And a little banged up too.

43:26 A little bit. I think they are.

43:28 They are who they are.

43:29 Yeah, they are who they are. And like, I don't think you can expect that much more out of the defense. We'll see. The others will be a fun test for that. A swing game for both those teams. I have the Buccaneers and yeah, John, if you didn't know, covers the Buccaneers very closely, does like a separate Buccaneers podcast. And so I do want to hear his takes on this team. Now, maybe he pushes back because the vibes are so bad. But, you know, you could argue, as they were one of the best 1-4 teams ever, John, they're one of the best 1-5 teams in NFL history. 16th in DVOA, you know, like the point differential is totally fine. Every game's there to the end, and then they find a way to lose.

44:13 It stands out to me a little more on offense that there's just like no explosive plays. Like Abuka and Godwin, like they're all under 10 yards per play and you can bring the quarterback or the play calling, whatever it is. It's just they're working really hard. So it's a lot of good players, not a lot of great. But I don't know. They look more like an eight and eight team to me than they do like a one and five team. So I haven't given up, should I?

44:38 Well, yeah, but I think you should.

44:41 Their offense is– I think it's being under-discussed how atrocious their offense is. I mean, it is absolutely pitiful. And they've run the ball like okay, but if you look at EPA per play, if you look at success rate, if you look at their passing game is the worst bottom of the league and like everything. I mean, I know Jalen Daniels has been out there, but it was worse in the league before Jalen Daniels was in there.

45:02 It was that bad. So to do.

45:04 All this with an offensive line that's playing at a pretty good level– is pretty rare, but that's what you get when you combine bottom-tier coaching with bottom-tier quarterback play. Then that's really what the Bucs have had this season.

45:16 This is a man that has watched Todd Bowles and Baker Mayfield too long for a team that he covers. Sorry to cut you off there.

45:23 And Zach Robinson. Zach Robinson, too.

45:26 He's shedding some trauma right now.

45:29 It's been a little troubling for me, guys. I'm not going to lie, but they've run 37 plays from the pistol this season. That's the second most in the NFL. They have a negative. 11 EPA per play at a 37% success rate. They have a 33% rush success rate for Pistol, but they're 51% when they rush from the shotgun. It screws everything up. Zach Robinson can't quit it. It's the mean girl's line. Stop trying to make fetch happen. Stop trying to make Pistol happen, Zach Robinson. It's not going to happen.

45:55 Zach Robinson will pay for what he has done to my beloved pistol formation.

46:01 Dang it. Yeah.

46:02 I'm, I'm curious, John. I mean, you follow them super closely. Do you think that a full clean out is coming?

46:08 Full clean out for a coaching staff. Yeah. I think we'll see what Jason light. It's important to remember light.

46:12 Didn't hire Todd Bowles, the head coach stepped away light or a bowls was promoted and the glazers love bowls.

46:19 And I'll leave it at that.

46:20 I think the glazers also will take the opportunity to, to not have to go on some big culture-changing, organizational-changing GM search just because they might not want to be bothered. Let's go to the NFC West. And Jason Light's been good, to be fair.

46:36 Yes, your pal, Jason Light.

46:39 Yeah, that's right.

46:40 No, we like him.

46:41 Friend of the show. We go way back. The NFC West will kick off alphabetically with the Arizona Cardinals. Jordan, you're up.

46:50 Okay, so.

46:52 I think what anyone really wanted to see from the Cardinals and certainly their fan base really, really needed badly to see from the Cardinals is that Mike LaFleur specifically could come in and actually be competitive within the division. Not a ton of opportunity so far, but the fact that Mike LaFleur had his Cardinals team offensively and defensively up and ready to play against a really flat, spiraling Rams team capitalizing in that moment on the road.

47:25 To me, I think he has shown me something.

47:27 I saw the way that he got them looking competent, even in the preseason where you can tell if a team is practicing well or not by what they do, even in those with the backups playing in the preseason, you can tell by what the ideas are sort of for this, um, this offensive system. They're, they're just waiting to get that next quarterback in at, at a certain point.

47:50 big questions about the defense. I think it really helped Nick Rallis that Michael floor was so familiar with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay. And that gave them a little extra juice because they badly needed it at defense was given up points, like, you know, 30 plus points a game. So for me, I've seen what I think fan base at the fan base needed to see from the, from the coach. I don't know about the front office, except that guy's probably going to pick the next quarterback.

48:14 So you're kind of, you're kind of stuck.

48:16 Yeah, look, they had an over-under win total going into the season of three and a half. They're halfway there. Two more, and they've already beaten expectations. We haven't talked about who's disappointed. It's been a pretty quiet season from Josh Sweat and Walter Nolan, who I really like. I think he'll be fine. But we haven't talked much about Jeremiah Love, who just missed last week. He's someone, John, that I think has looked better than the numbers indicate.

48:42 To me, like, I put him in a different bucket than Jenty. It's a tough situation. He's had these injuries too, which are concerning, but I'm curious if you had any thoughts of what you've seen about Jeremiah Love. Cause to me, I've seen enough that I'm like, okay, I think this is going to work. It just is off to a little bit of a rocky start.

49:01 Yeah, I don't see any reason for negativity or anything like that. If there was going to be a reason, it would just be because this position tends to get more injured and areas injured and you needed impact from this position that was going to kind of be franchise altering. I don't know that we'll see that. So I'm not going to say that I love it. the draft pick given where they were at but I understood it because they really need explosive explosivity as an offense like that is something they really really need and they really need in the past game too hopefully we can provide more of that moving forward I think the Cardinals are a really tricky team to figure out because obviously we know about ownership and like the organization and being bottom tier

49:38 in those ways and the fans all are so sick of Bidwell and they want change. And I understand all that. That's all totally fair. I really think, I mean, so many of their draft picks have been injured. So many of them have missed time. So many of them are out right now. We don't even know whether they've done a good job of evaluating young players or not, which is frustrating. They play in this absolutely insane division where they just get a good win.

50:01 That's great. I don't know.

50:04 Realistically, hasn't this season gone... about as well as you could to get even what they gave for Marvin Harrison. I think it was the ship had sailed. Like I know people wanted to keep believing and maybe they're disappointed about that, but I feel like it's gone about as well as you can expect. And we'll see what Michael.

50:20 I totally, totally agree. They're 22nd and DVO a, uh, right now, which is, is better than you could have possibly expected. The Rams are, it's been worse than you could have possibly expected. Now, a lot of their numbers are actually okay. They profile statistically as a top 10 team. There are two and four. What have you noticed most about the Rams, John?

50:43 Just the saddest story.

50:44 From a neutral football viewing perspective, I'm not a Rams fan, so people are always like, what do you mean? I'd love to see the super team struggle. Whatever, that's fine for people to have that opinion. I'm a neutral football observer. I want to see beautiful football being played. And because of injuries, we have not been able to see that in a lot of ways for the Rams this season.

51:02 Week one, Myles Garrett, Puka Nakua both end up going down. They basically had people in and out of the lineup the entire season. Now they have this rash of injuries, Kobe Turner and Puna Ford and Devontae Adams and who knows who. How he even comes back this season, you know, who's when's Miles Garrett going to be 100% based on this procedure that he had? Is Aaron Donald going to kind of be in and out of the lineup and not 100%? And so it's been a season for Mel in that regard. Then you combine that with the fact that they probably should have won some of these games that they lost, like based on. The kicker melts down and they lose the Bills game and the Broncos game.

51:34 They get this interception that should be the game and they get called for this completely bogus pass interference penalty. And, you know, maybe they could have done other things earlier in the game, but the margins are thin in the league and it'll probably come back around for them by the end of the season. it feels like the opportunity to have this special kind of season is now a little bit slipped away. And that to me, that's a bummer from a neutral football perspective, because we just, we haven't even gotten to see our Donald and miles Garrett play together, which was a big highlight for me going into the season. Like there were all these things I wanted to see. I don't care how it shakes out

52:05 in the playoffs. I wanted to see like a regular season that was like pretty awesome from a special collection of talent. And now the haters and the doubters can't flex. And the people who loved it wanted to see it.

52:14 Can't flex. Nobody can. It's just, It's a miserable situation and story right now.

52:19 And Donald's getting a little better each and every week. And so you hope if and when Miles Garrett gets back and when they gave that timeline initially, it wasn't supposed to be this serious. It's taken a lot longer. You alluded to... the injury. So we haven't had a chance to address it on the show. Officially Devante Adams out six to 10 weeks with that injury that he had on the second to last play of the game. Pretty, pretty serious injury there. Puna Ford, their run stuffing defensive tackle is out for the season and is not coming back.

52:50 And then Kobe Turner has more of a short-term injury, but he's, it's not that short term. He's going on injured reserve designated to return. So I don't think they've been particularly waylaid by injuries compared to like the average team out there. Obviously Garrett was bad, but now they have been like up until this point. Now this is an added obstacle for them to overcome. Yeah.

53:12 I have been thinking about this a lot too, where this, these injuries are crazy. There's no other way to say that or, and they will affect the team moving forward, but they're not the reason they've been losing games to this point. Those injuries are a, you know, you, you mentioned how thin the margins are. This has not been a team that's appeared interested in winning in the margins.

53:34 So until they are able to do that and show competitiveness and aggression in every phase, including attacking opponents in ways that they, you know, say they want to, but really haven't shown consistently and winning in those phases that they're terrible in right now, what 32nd and historically bad and special teams DVO way. And, Game management, which they've invested in, is suspect too. That is the real story.

54:01 The injuries are now going to be an extenuating circumstance.

54:05 And if it's going to happen at the right time, at Raiders, home for Chargers, at Commanders, at Cardinals before they're by Of course, the Cardinals looked like a very winnable game before, but man, they have profiled the 10th or 11th best team, and that type of team should be able to win at least three or four of those games, if not all four. We'll see. If they can't, then it's really dark times. Let's go to the 49ers, who are enjoying life as one of the undefeated teams in the NFL.

54:36 Just like everyone predicted.

54:37 Right. My big kind of take a step back takeaway for them is that they upgraded with Raheem Morris, that they actually caught a break. Nothing against Robert Sala, but Raheem Morris is just more dynamic, I think. They're third in offensive DVOA without Nick Bosa playing. they're going to be a game plan matchup. I don't think they're going to stay there necessarily all season. Now they have Fred Warner.

55:03 If Robert Salas listened to this, it would be like, yeah, it would have been nice to have Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw together. It's like, I get, I get it. Uh, Warner is making a case for defensive player of the year. Um, I just think they're, they're absolutely going to be a buyer. We know John Lynch in the past has, uh, you know, been aggressive, sometimes too aggressive, but I think they'll look for something, maybe like a run-stopping defensive tackle, maybe another pass catcher, potentially, like if the injuries don't get better there.

55:33 But I'm just really impressed because Raheem Morris giving them a floor, John, really makes you just realize how special this offense can be. Like they just don't need the defense to be this good. And it is this good so far.

55:47 I said in the offseason that I thought the move to add Oso Digizua was just so under-discussed everywhere. I think he's a really, really good player. He is really, really impactful against the pass. Yeah, at times there's some issues in run defense. Everybody in the league is looking for this type of player that can be a disruptor in the pass game.

56:03 And it's just really, really valuable. And the Cowboys just like, gave him away.

56:06 And I thought it was just a great move by the 49ers to add him, especially because they could have just said, oh, we drafted all these young guys. We're going to see how they do in year two after they were terrible in year one. No, they're probably not going to be very good. And so getting Odigizua, getting Grayson Halton where they draft them, those are not perfect players, but they are enough disruptive type of players after they went the other way last year. And they really were like, let's add all these run stuffers and Alfred Collins and CJ West and Michael Williams. Now they've gone back to being more of who they are and more of who I think Raheem Morris is too, and getting after people

56:38 and attacking people. And they've been able to do it even without Bosa in the lineup. I do think this is a team that should look at adding another pass rusher. Could that be DeForest Buckner? That's been talked about a lot too, but they should look at that at the deadline because they need to put that group over the top going into the playoffs in order to have the kind of success.

56:56 They want to have, I think.

56:57 And I am old enough to remember the 49ers being selected as one of Greg Rosenthal's favorite free agency teams.

57:06 In part because they added Oso and Digizua.

57:09 And that defensive line, we talked about it earlier this week on the Monday Night Football recap show. They are so fast and active and just so aggressive, and they play together. And off the line of scrimmage, they are incredible to watch so far. Again, we'll see if it's sticky, but right now it's a joy ride.

57:30 Yeah, I think... They just realized they've been so close before. What an opportunity that this is going to be.

57:38 Got him with the honking. I set him up at the right time.

57:41 There's like no way to avoid at this point, I guess, unless you just move on to the team and you know what? It's going to be the last team of the day. We've done it. Um, the Seattle Seahawks, the defending champs at three and three.

57:52 Yeah.

57:53 And I wanted to ask you guys this question, both of you, just to hear your perspective on it, because you, Personally, to me, I think that three of their issues get solved with one answer. If they can run the ball, Sam Darnold settles down. If they could run the ball. They get more dimension to their offense in general. It's less JSN wholly dependent. I know it's past run, but still you have a little bit more, uh, space. You can, you can force, uh, in the, in the defensive backfield right now, they're 29th, uh, in success rate, just 37% success rate, only 3.9 yards per carry.

58:28 My question is how do they run.

58:30 The ball better? I do think Jadarian Price is a significantly more talented running back actually running the ball. So if you could get him healthy, that makes a difference. Charbonnet is going to come back off the ACL. Your old punching bag, John Anthony Bradford. I mean, maybe they miss him a little bit in terms of the run blocking.

58:48 Definitely not in pass pro. I think it's the coordinator maybe growing too, because this was a team that was pretty inconsistent running the ball at this point last year as well.

59:00 These are the teams that run outside zone at a very high level in the league or a large amount at a high level. The Falcons, well, they have a special running back. The Bears have running backs certainly that fit that system. The Lions have a special running back. The Seahawks have a special running back, question mark. If Jadarian Price is healthy, we'll see. When he was healthy, that outside zone scheme looked really good, but he's barely been healthy. The Ravens have a special running back. So you're kind of seeing the trend change. outside zone is not something that every running back can run. And so that's where I think they felt like if they could get a guy who could do that, they could replace Walker.

59:32 That guy hasn't been healthy. They've had to go way down the list of backs. That's their staple run concept. Now, what do they do? And I think they just haven't been able to find the right fit to be able to run the ball at a high level until he gets back. So he's got to get back for them to be able to do that part at a high level.

59:47 But you're right, Jordan, if they can do that, that will take a lot of pressure off. And then Donald just needs to play better. Brad Stafford needs to play better for the Ram. Like these are simple things, but they're also like, they have to happen. Those guys were playing in the NFC championship, dueling it out last year.

1:00:01 And now they're both playing pretty bad. Like that has to change.

1:00:03 And yet, this is kind of who those two guys have been even Stafford we don't have to go back far like the start of the 2024 season he's an up and down quarterback there's a reason why like he never had an all-pro vote like he has ups and downs within his accuracy and his consistency Darnold has always been a turnover machine it's just cranked up a little more and the sacks are cranked up and so just got to turn the dial down as I try not to get distracted.

1:00:29 It's like a lot of famous people walking.

1:00:31 Mike wilbon and brian windhorse just walked by espn is using jordan saw mcafee earlier.

1:00:38 Today walked by the other direction we're like in a fishbowl but there's like a lot of traffic going on outside it's i like.

1:00:45 The fact that there's a cowboy's facility it's kind.

1:00:48 Of yeah it's kind of cool there's a lot of uh a lot of activity here um you.

1:00:52 Know We're like an all-star team here, like the Seahawks. Look, Seahawks fans, I am not that concerned about your team at 3-3. I think you have some issues. I'm not either. I'm not as concerned about you nearly as the Rams. All right, we got to get out of here. John, get your daughter to her basketball practice. Thank you so much for doing overtime this week for us. Everyone, please check out Audibles and Analytics. If you love football, if you love the X and O, someone who's really diving into the tape, John as a podcaster and John as a writer, too, with his film notes is awesome. It'll be well worth your subscription. Go check it out and get out of here and go say hi to the family for me. The next time you we will be here. Jordan,

1:01:37 we when you hear from us. Yes, we will be in Paris.

1:01:40 No, we will be in.

1:01:41 Yeah. I don't know what we're going to be doing. We're going to be talking to the saints. We might be talking to the commissioner. We might be talking to Connie Goodell, Connie Wolf, Connie Goodell. Think about that one.