Episode 1

Welcome back to the podcast! Week 9 of the NFL was crazy. CJ Stroud made a strong argument for Rookie of the Year. The Eagles beat Dallas in a phenomenal game. The Bengals beat the Bills. Dolphins lost to Kansas City. AFC East may not be as strong as we thought. Bills may struggle to make it to the playoffs. Dolphins may not go far if they make it. The Eagles had a great win against the Cowboys. Dallas struggled in the red zone. Eagles' defense needs to improve. Eagles can win even when not playing their best. Vikings had an exciting win. They have a chance to make it to the playoffs. Welcome back to the podcast, you know, it's we just finished up week 9 of the NFL, we're moving on to week 10, and let's let's just get right into it. Let's do it. This week was crazy. We had CJ Stroud popping off making a really strong argument for Rookie of the Year. We had a phenomenal game with the Eagles beating Dallas. Bangles beat the Bills, it was so nice. Now if only the Dolphins had beat Kansas City. Yeah, well, it is what it is. Now we know Miami may not be everything we thought it was. No, they're definitely getting punished for my higher rankings because of their inability to win against good teams. Yeah, they I mean, for me, they were, they were top five last week. I'm still in my top 10. But, you know, they've dropped quite a bit. Same here. So my, you know, my thoughts this week. So, you know, heading back with it with the Dolphins. Is the AFC East legit? We saw both teams lose this week and they've both struggled all year long. What do you think? I mean, obviously, one of the two teams is going to make the playoffs. So one of those teams are going to get that kind of lucky seat. I'm not going to say though that the AFC East is as bad as say the NFC South or the AFC South of last year. I still think that these are good teams, and that they're going to be able to win against probably wildcard contenders. I just don't know if the Bills right now are going to make it in on a wildcard, especially when you look at their schedule. They still have to play the Eagles. They still have to play the Chiefs. Yeah, the Chiefs. And they still have to play the Broncos again. I mean, sorry, not the Broncos, the Dolphins again. And so if they rack up another three losses this year, that's really going to hurt their playoff chances, especially because everyone in the AFC North is vying for those wildcard tickets right now. Yeah, for sure. And yeah, like you said, the AFC East, the Dolphins and the Bills are both very good teams. But I just don't think they have the talent. And I think there's a little bit of an issue with coaching for both the teams. Just to where they're good, but they're probably not going to win the Super Bowl this year. Probably not their year. No, I think that with both teams, if they make it to the playoffs, they're probably going to lose in either the wildcard or the divisional rounds, just depending on seating and who their opponent is. Well, so right now in the AFC, the Dolphins are the 4 seed and the Steelers are the 5 seed, so that's who they would play. I think the Dolphins could for sure beat the Steelers, but I don't think it's going to stay that way. I think the Bengals will probably become the 5 seed by the end of the year. And I do not think the Dolphins will be able to beat the Bengals. No, I think that if the Dolphins remain the 4 seed and have to play the Bengals, then they're out. I also think that if the Bills manage to climb up to a 6 seed or a 7 seed spot, they're going to be looking at either Jacksonville, unless Houston manages to pull some sort of big upset, or they're going to be looking at the Chiefs. Or maybe the Ravens, depending on how that number 1 seed plays out. And I just don't see Buffalo winning either of those games. Maybe if it's Houston, but I think that if Houston manages to upset the South, then we've got a whole other issue going on within the AFC that's going to make things very interesting. And it'll make Buffalo East Road even harder to make it to the playoffs. I do not think that Houston is going to upset the Jags and win the division. I'm an optimist. You know me. I like to root for the little guy. I think Houston going from second worst in the NFL to top of the AFC in a competitive AFC would be an awesome story. I love CJ Stroud, but they're still a year or two away from really competing. No, that's fair. But again, a guy can dream. So moving on, what did you think about the Eagles-Cowboys game you mentioned earlier? So that was probably the second best game of football last week. Second only to Texans versus Bucs. And maybe I'm a little bit biased being an Eagles fan, but that was just a nonstop action game that went right down to the wire. I think that our offense looked really solid. I don't think we saw as much of them as I would have liked to because Dallas gave us a lot of short fields. First with that kickoff out of bounds that put us on the 40. And then there were penalties on another kickoff that put us up at the 40. And so when you look at the Eagles' stats, we came up a little bit short than what we normally see. Like you had A.J. Brown the past seven weeks went for over 125 yards. This week he went for, I think, 66. Yeah, it was 66. Again, it was a couple of short fields and a lot of three and outs that just really kept our stats low. And the Cowboys, they took their time on the field. It felt like the Cowboys were on offense the entire game. No, especially when you get to that fourth quarter. I think that the Eagles maybe had just two, three and outs. We didn't really have very many drives in that quarter. We had nine plays in the fourth quarter. Yeah. I think, though, the bigger thing is when you look at Dallas and where things went wrong for the Cowboys, I think a lot of Cowboys fans are going to be really quick to look at Dak or what happened offensively. I think the real thing that they need to be looking at is what is their red zone offense doing? We saw this was a really big issue for Dallas when they played against the Cardinals. We saw this again with Dallas against the Eagles, where in that second half, Dallas managed to make it to the red zone three separate times. And between those three separate times, they walked away for a combined total of six points. And if you're only averaging two points per trip to the red zone, you're never going to win a football game, especially not against a team as competitive as the Eagles. And another thing I was hearing was when you compare the Eagles and the Cowboys, the Eagles, at the end of the game, are a very composed, well-coached team. I know on that last drive, we all got a little bit of a scare from those couple of flags that really allowed them to get into the red zone. But when we needed to stop, we had two sacks on that last drive to where they went from first and goal on the 5 or 6 or something like that to... Third and goal at the 28th? Yeah, something crazy like that. I don't remember the exact distance. Third and goal at the 28th. Yeah, that's just crazy. And on the other hand, the Cowboys, there were two things that they could not do in that situation. They couldn't take a sack, and they did, and they couldn't allow a penalty, and they did. And that really backed them up. And then on the last play of the game, all or nothing, they throw it short of the end zone. And not only that, but you see the only real turnover of that game. I know that there were a couple of loose balls earlier where the Eagles almost lost it, but Dallas was never able to capitalize on it. So the only real time that the ball was forced over was that last play where Blankenship was able to get the ball away, and the Eagles technically finished the game with the ball. Not that it really matters at that point, the game was going to end either way. But again, you look at that last drive, and everything fell apart for the Dallas offense. Two sacks, a delay of game penalty, and a fumble is not how you want to end your last drive. Not at all, not at all. And something I've been hearing quite a bit is, Dallas played well. I will give them that. They played a very, very good game. I think Dak was very good. As much as I hate the Cowboys, I have to admit, they played a good game. I mean, you look at his stats, he was what, 375 for three touchdowns and a 65% completion percentage rating? That's the best you're going to see Dak play. That's about as good as you're going to get most quarterbacks to play. Yeah. And I've been hearing, oh well Dallas played so well, the Eagles really got away with one there. But I've been looking at it from the other perspective of, the Eagles haven't been playing their best football. Like, defense, I think we can both agree that the defense had its struggles that game. They came up when it mattered, which is awesome, right? But there were some struggles, there were some penalties on that last drive. That last drive was probably a little bit more difficult than it needed to be. And the key thing that I just want to see from our defense is, I really feel like our secondary needs to get its act together. Because this is now two weeks in a row now where a division rival has been able to throw for over 300 yards against our secondary. Yeah. Yeah. And so when you see that the Eagles didn't play their best game, and the Cowboys, that's the best you're going to see from Dak probably. That's a great game from the Cowboys. The Eagles still won. Even though they weren't playing their best football, and the Cowboys probably were, the Eagles still won. And I think that that is showing of, they can win, even when they're not playing their best ball, even when they're not, you know. When they're in a tough situation, in those closed games, they can win. No, definitely. I think one of the scariest things in the NFL right now is that Eagles feeling. Because I feel like... We have no idea how good they can be. They're not playing their best ball, or even close to their best ball yet. There's so much room to grow. Yeah. And again, this is week nine, so season's halfway over. Eagles need to come into their own right now. I kind of wish that they would have gotten to that point by now. But again, it's still exciting to know that there's a lot more that could happen that we are yet to still see. Yeah. So, next up, what do you think about the Vikings and their win in Josh Jobs? Do you think they can sneak into the playoffs? Oh, that was probably the third most exciting game of the week. And I really hope so. Because if the Vikings are coming into the playoff picture, then that means that there's a pretty solid chance that Dallas is moving out of the playoff picture. Right now, the Vikings are the seventh seed. They're in the playoffs right now. Yeah. Again, I think it's really exciting. Here, let me pull up the stand-ins right now. See how everything is panning out. Because I'll be honest, I haven't looked at it since Sunday. The wild cards are Seattle at the five seed, Dallas at six, and Vikings at seven. And then right up next are the Commanders and the Falcons. I mean, that's... That can be pretty interesting. I think that there's a lot of potential we go to. Good to be honest, I thought that the Vikings were still at eighth, but I forgot that the Falcons dropped down after losing this Sunday. Yeah, quite a bit, actually. They were winning the division, and now they're out of the playoffs. Well, I mean, you look at where everyone is. There are a lot of teams that are four seed, and then there are a lot of teams that are five seed. They're either four and five or three and five, depending on where they're at with their buy. You've got the Commanders and Falcons. They're both at four and five. Bucks, Packers are both at three and five. Rams are three and six. And so, again, there is a lot of potential wiggle room for that seven seed. So, I think the Vikings, they could definitely hold on to that. Especially because I think the NFC North is very weak right now. I think that they can definitely get a couple of extra wins within their own division to help secure their spots. I don't think that they're going to be able to beat the Lions. They're definitely coming in as a wild card, just because the Lions already have such a big lead on them. And I think the Lions are still doing really good. But here's the rest of the Vikings' season. Next week, they're playing up against the Saints, which I think is a very winnable game for them. Week 11, they've got the Broncos. The Broncos are one of the worst teams in the NFL right now. And so, I think they'll probably win that, followed by a Week 12 game against the Bears right before their buy. Which, again, is another very winnable game. You've got the Raiders in Week 14. Again, another very winnable game. Before things really get hard on their schedule. In the last four weeks, they're playing the Bengals and then the Lions twice. And then Week 17, you've got Green Bay mixed in there. So I think you look at the next five weeks, I think the Vikings are going to be able to do very good. And they're going to start to really struggle within those last four weeks. But they could very easily go 11-5. 11-5? That's bold. I mean, I'm not saying that that is what they're going to end up at. I think that that right now is their ceiling. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I don't think they could do any better than that. I agree with you. That could be a ceiling for them. Again, looking at that, that would mean they're 5-4 right now. So they would have to win against the Saints, the Broncos, the Bears, and the Raiders. So in those next four games. And they'd have to come up and win against Green Bay. I don't think they're going to beat the Lions either time. And I don't think they're going to beat the Bengals. But that's how you would get to that record. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So do you want to check some power rankings now? Let's see where we line up. Let's do it. I am particularly excited about this one. Because I have written Dallas out of them. Really? Out of the top 10. Yes. Maybe that's just a little bit of my own bias against Dallas. Maybe it's that they're just not that good. But for right now, I do not have Dallas in the top 10. So. That's how things are going to go. That's a little bit of a spoiler right now. But starting off at number 10, I do have the Houston Dexans. I know that you still think they need about another year or two. But I think CJ Stroud is doing really good. I think he's making the AFC South look very competitive. And I just really like what they've got going on for themselves as a team. So again, maybe this is a little bit of my bias. But I've decided to put the Texas in as the best team from Texas in the NFL. That's bold. I don't know if I agree with you there. That's all right. You can make your own power rankings. But number nine, I've got the Miami Dolphins. Just because, again, they've really shown that they can't win against good teams. I think that they are a good team. They're going to beat any team that's south of 500. But again, if you can't win against the teams that you need to beat, you're not really going to make it very far in the playoffs. And come playoff time, I feel like we need to focus a little bit more on who actually has a good chance of winning it. Number eight, I've got the Niners. Mostly it's just because they did have a bye this week. I didn't get to really see them play. And going into that bye, they were going into a three-game losing streak. And so, I don't know. Maybe I have a potential bias there. I've just not seen them. I'm not as excited for what they could be doing right now as a team. And so, I have them probably a little bit lower than they should be. But from what I've seen from the other teams so far, that's why I've got them that low. Number seven, I've got the Cleveland Browns. Again, they're higher than the Niners because they beat the Niners. I think they have the best defense in the NFL right now. And I think that defense is going to drag them into the playoffs to win a playoff game if they keep up the way they're playing. Do you remember that? The Cleveland Browns. Number six, I've got the Jags and the Jaguars. Again, another team on a bye. So, they probably slipped maybe just a little bit. But I think that the Jags are doing really good things right now. They've got the longest winning streak in the NFL right now. I'm a little bit concerned about their ball security. But I do think that they're going to win their division unless things get really crazy. And I'm excited to see what Trevor Lawrence and his team are able to do moving into the later parts of the season where the games are all really going to start to count. Number five, I have the Detroit Lions. I like the Lions. I think they're doing really good. There's a couple of concerns I do have. Again, they seem to struggle similarly to the Dolphins in that they get into really, really close games against these good teams. Or they just get blown out as what we saw with the Ravens. And, of course, that Chiefs game at the start of the season was extremely close for both of them. And so I think that the Lions are good. Again, same position as the Jags where I think they're going to win their division. They may even go on to win a playoff game. But I don't think that they're actually going to win the NFC Championship or make it to the Super Bowl just because I think the Eagles are looking really dominant. And I think that we are going to see a bounce back from the Niners. And so in the coming weeks, the Niners are going to start to rise and I think the Lions are going to start to fall. Number four, I have the Bengals. From what I saw in that game last night against... Sorry, two nights ago against Buffalo, it looks like Joe Burrow has returned to form. He's performing at the top of his game. And I think a healthy Joe Burrow leading the Bengals offense is a force to be reckoned with. And I think that he has potential to make everything go very, very far. I'm not sure if the Bengals will be able to win their division just because the Ravens have a very big lead on them right now. And the Ravens are kind of looking a little bit unstoppable. And so that's going to be very difficult for them, especially because all of the losses that the Bengals have right now are two division rivals. And so it's going to be very hard for them to win their own division. Yeah, they usually struggle in their own division. And I don't think it's particularly because of them. I feel like in the AFC North, each team has another team's number. I mean, the Sears always beat the Ravens. The Browns always beat the Bengals. At least it feels like. Sears always beat the Browns. And I feel like that happens. And I mean, I think that's part of why the AFC North is such an entertaining division to watch. Because you never know who's going to win. Yeah, I mean, even for the past two years, it's been that exact same story, right? All of these teams are beating up on each other. And so even if one team, like the Ravens or the Bengals, looks particularly dominant, you still have the Steelers with two wins over one of them. And they're only two games behind. So can they really hold on to that lead or not? And so, again, I'm really excited to see how the AFC North plays out. Currently, all of those teams would make it to the playoffs if they were playoffs for next week. And I'm just really excited for what's going on there. Number three, I do have a Kansas City Chiefs. Chiefs, obviously they have Patrick Mahomes. They've got the best QB in the league playing for them. But I'm a little bit concerned about, number one, the Chiefs' offense. I think that their receiver core is a little weak. The Chiefs have not been putting up as many points as they have historically. And to me, that's a little bit concerning. I also get that a lot of people have been talking about the Chiefs' defense and how elite it is. But I'm going to say the same thing I said last week. I don't think that the Chiefs have been playing too many high-quality teams. Basically, you look back at their schedule, they have the Lions, who they lost to in week one. And you have the Dolphins, who they just barely beat this past weekend. Aside from that, the Chiefs don't really have very many high-quality teams that they've played against. And they've already got two losses on the year. So I think that two weeks from now, when the Eagles play up against the Eagles, we're really going to see just how elite that defense is, apparently. Because they're really going to get their chance to play against a very well-rounded team, a very strong offense. Stronger, I would argue, than the Miami Dolphins in the Philadelphia Eagles. And it's going to be a very good game. I think both sides have a lot going for them in that game. And they have a lot to prove on both sides. Number two, I have the Baltimore Ravens. And let's just be honest. The Ravens, they look scary right now. They... And I called it. No, you really did. I knew it from the beginning of the season. They were very dominant this past week against Seattle. They were very dominant against the Lions. They did struggle two weeks ago against Arizona, just a little bit. But again, Baltimore just looks very, very strong. I think that the Chiefs, they're going to have a couple of tough games in the next upcoming weeks. And I think Baltimore is going to be able to steal that number one seed from them. And they're going to end up at the top of the AFC. Don't know if they'll win it, because I think the AFC is very competitive. But I think that they're going to enter into the playoffs in that number one seed. And then at the top, I have the best team in the NFL by record. The most well-rounded and complete team in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean, what can I really say, right? They beat their divisional rival in Dallas. They did really well against Miami a couple weeks ago. And again, 8-1 is not an easy feat to get to. And again, 8-1 is not an easy feat to get to for any team out there. But you look at the Philadelphia Eagles. Since the start of the 2022 season, they have lost a total of five games. Two of those games, Jalen Hurts didn't play because of injury. One of those games was the Super Bowl. So we have basically two losses. You've got the Jets loss from, what was that, week five? And you have the loss to the Commanders from last year. Other than that, the Eagles have won all of their games and all of their matchups. That is not an easy thing to be able to brag about. And I think they've got a lot of momentum going for them. I think they have their eyes set on the Super Bowl. And I'm curious to see who actually is going to be able to step up and beat them. Because we saw that Dallas, when they don't have a home field advantage, couldn't do it this past week. The Niners, we thought were going to be the biggest competition, but they seem to have issues at quarterback, so I'm not sure if they're going to be able to do it. I think that, once again, we're going to have to see someone rise out of the AFC to challenge the Eagles and keep them from winning the Super Bowl. I think you're right. I think the Eagles are a very, very good football team right now. So, for me, my number 10 team is still the Buffalo Bills. I think they have their struggles right now. I think they have their problems, offensively and defensively. But I still think that they are the 10th best team in the league. It's a bold claim. I think they rely too much on hero ball, if that makes sense. That makes a lot of sense. Heading outside of Josh Allen and Stephon Diggs, their offense struggles. I mean, the other thing we've talked about with the Bills is they're very much a momentum-based team. Oh, 100%. They can win if they're in the lead. If they're up, they're going to win. If they're down, they don't really come back. Number 9, I have the Dolphins. I think the Dolphins are a very fun team. But like the Bills, I think they have their problems. I worry about Miami's defense. Jalen Ramsey coming back will help, but it didn't seem to help enough this week. You know, losing to the Chiefs. Next, I have the Lions at 8. I think the Lions are a great team. Again, I worry about the defense. I worry about quarterback. I love Jared Goff. I love the storyline. I love seeing him succeed. But I very strongly believe that you need a top-tier quarterback to win a Super Bowl. We've seen teams get close. Jared Goff did go to the Super Bowl in 2018 and lost. We've seen Jimmy Garoppolo go to the Super Bowl, but not win. We've seen Brock Purdy get close, but lost in the NFC Championship. Really, the last quarterback who wasn't a top 10 guy in the league, or a top player in the league, was Nick Foles with the Eagles. But since then, we've seen Tom Brady, we've seen Patrick Mahomes, we've seen Matthew Stafford, who I think are all great quarterbacks. And so I worry that the quarterback will keep them from winning the NFC, going to the Super Bowl, winning the Super Bowl. I don't think that is likely to happen. Yeah, I think that's fair. Again, I really like the Lions. I also like Jared Goff. I like how much success he seems to have had on the Lions. But I think you're right. I think that when a push comes to shove, they're probably going to make it to the Divisional Round. I think they'll win Wild Card Weekend and then lose somewhere in the Divisional Round. Yeah, yeah. I could see them making it to the NFC Championship game, too. But I don't think they'll win it. If they make it to the championship game, I'd be more than happy with that because that means they're playing the Eagles. I like those odds. Yeah, yeah. At number seven, I have the 49ers. I have similar concerns for the 49ers as I do the Lions. I don't have any concerns about their defense, though. I think their defense is phenomenal. But I don't think that Brock Purdy will allow them to get to the Super Bowl, to win the Super Bowl. Really, really everything I've said for the Lions applies here. I have a couple of concerns for the Niners and their defense. Mostly it comes from their coaching. I think that if you look at their roster, they have a very talented defense. But I think that when you also look at the last three games that they played, you had the Bengals, very offensively-minded team. You had the Vikings, who were very offensively-minded in that game. The Browns, who, again, they're more defensively-minded, but they still were able to put points up on the board. And so my concern is, again, is the defense actually making the right plays to get those stops that they need? So, that's fair. I've got a couple of questions. I've got a couple of questions, mostly when it comes to their coaching. Very similar to what I see with the Eagles. Just a little bit more extreme because they're losing more games. But I feel like they need to do a better job of coordinating all that talent to make sure that they're actually making the stops they need to win games. Yeah. Yeah. At number six, I have the Jacks and the Jaguars. I love the Jags. I think Travis Etienne is great. I think Trevor Lawrence is great. I think Doug Peterson, their head coach, is great. Their defense is very underrated. And I just think they're a good team. A very good team. At number five, I have the Dallas Cowboys. Oof. Keeping them in the top five. As much as I hate the Cowboys, I do think they are the best. I do think they are a great team. Waste the bandage off. Send them out of the top ten. We saw them play phenomenally this week against the Eagles, even though they didn't win. I think as a Cowboys fan, not that I'm a Cowboys fan, but if you are a Cowboys fan, you can see we played a good game. We almost beat who I think is probably the best team in the NFL, the Eagles. And so there's definitely room for them to improve and to get better. Cowboys fans can be hopeful. And I just think they're a great team. As much as I hate them. At number four, I have the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals had a rough start. They always do. But they're super hot right now. Did they start 0-3 or was it 1-3? They started 0-3. Yeah, so they won five in a row now, which is crazy. They'll probably lose one or two more games this year. Just because it's a long season. You're in a tough division. They still have to play each of those division rivals again. Yeah. Plus, I think they've still got another matchup with the Chiefs to look forward to. They do. Four really big games. Yeah, let me pull up that schedule for you. You can see what it is that they're looking at. So upcoming for Week 10, they've got the Texans. I think that's going to be an exciting game to watch. Then you've got the Ravens. That's going to be another very fun game to watch. Steelers, Week 12. That's going to be a fun game to watch. Week 13, you've got the Jags. It's going to be a very fun game to watch. I'm not yet ready to call who I think is going to win three of those next four games. Then you've got the Colts. I feel that the Bengals have that one pretty well handled. You've got the Vikings. I think they're going to win that one pretty nicely. And then to close out the season, they've got the Steelers, the Chiefs, and the Browns. All very fun to watch games. It's going to be a tough game. I don't know if I'd call the Steelers a fun team to watch, but they win games. I mean, I think just from the perspective of it's going to be a division rivalry, it should be a very good defense against a very good offense. I think it's going to be a fun matchup. It should be interesting for sure. But again, you look at that Bengals schedule, they've really got just two games that I feel confident that say they're just going to win outright. The rest, it's all division rivalries. The Chiefs and the Texans. I guess I can say there's three games left that they really have a good chance of winning. And then it's just division rivalries on the Chiefs. So that is a meat grinder of a schedule. It will be tough. Definitely be tough. And number three, I have the Chiefs. Really for all the same reasons that you do, but I do really like their defense. And I think as long as you have Patrick Moms, you will be a top five team in the NFL. He gives you that much of an advantage. He's just phenomenal. It's ridiculously unfair. The NFL needs to ban Patrick Moms. It's the only way to make the league fair again. Seriously. But I do think they have a great defense. It's a very different Chiefs team than we're used to. We're used to seeing them put up a ton of points. We're used to seeing explosive plays downfield. But that's not who they are right now. They have an excellent defense who allowed them to win that game this week, really. I mean, you take away that defensive touchdown, it's a tied game, and who knows what the Dolphins do on that drive that the Chiefs were able to take the ball away and score. Definitely. And then for me, I have a 1A and a 1B. Because I just think both of these teams are incredible. I wouldn't want to play either of these teams if I were... And so, my 1B is the Ravens and my 1A is the Eagles. I do think that these teams are unbelievably hard to try to put one over the other. The Ravens are just... They're defensive, they're offensive, they're offensive, the Ravens are just... Their defense is phenomenal. They've only scored less than 24 points twice this year. And one of them was against the Steelers, so they have a great defense and kind of have the Ravens in number. And the other one, it didn't even matter, because they still won. And then their defense is incredible. I mean, it's... Probably top... Definitely top five, maybe even top three. And when you have Lamar Jackson with that offense, with that rushing attack, with a defense like they have, it's very difficult to beat them. And then my 1A are the Eagles. I mean, this week we saw that, like we said earlier, they don't have to play their best football in games. They can play close games, against tough opponents like the Cowboys. I think that... We really learned that the Eagles are just... Are definitely a top team in this league. No, definitely. I mean, I think the other thing too is that game was really important for NFC's standings, just because now the Eagles have these very clear lead over the other division... The other divisions that are out there. I think they've got a two-game lead over the Lions. They've got a two-game lead over the Niners. They've got, I think, a three-game lead over the Saints. Not that I think anyone thinks the Saints are going to take that number one seed. And on top of that, they've got a two-and-a-half advantage... Two-and-a-half game lead over Dallas right now. Yeah. And while it's not impossible for Dallas to come back and win the division, it definitely hurts them losing this one. No, definitely. I think this last week was a must-win for both teams. Just because, again, had Dallas won that game, it would have been very, very close in the division. Especially given who the Eagles are going to be playing up against the next five weeks. And, again, that would have been the opening that the Niners would have also needed to bounce back and try to take that number one seed from either Philly or Dallas. But as it stands now, the Eagles are just very clearly on top of the mountain. Yeah. And I agree with everything you said about the Cowboys needing to win this game so that they can try to close in that gap between the Eagles and the Cowboys in the division. And for the Eagles, I think it was very important for them to win because, I mean, look at who they have coming up, right? They're going to their bye this week. Then after that, they have the Chiefs at Arrowhead. Then the Bills in Philly. Forty Niners. I don't remember where they're playing that game. Niners are coming to Philly. Niners are coming to Philly? Yeah. That should be exciting. I'm looking forward to humiliating the Niners again in that. And then we have the Seahawks and the Cowboys again, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, and those are both going to be away games. And those are tough games. Like Seattle, even though Seattle's probably like the team that, you know, isn't quite as good as the other teams I've just listed, they just seem to have our number. And especially when you play in Seattle. Yeah, it's incredibly difficult to play in Seattle, especially when you're going so far across the country. It's a very difficult place to play. And Seattle, they've had our number for a while. Let's see if we can change that, hopefully. I mean, honestly, though, I feel more confident right now about the Eagles' ability to win all five of those games than I have at any other point in the season right now. Just because, again, I think the Chiefs, they're a phenomenal team. But I think that the Eagles, they have a lot that they want to prove. I think a lot of Eagles fans are going to show up in Arrowhead, take away any type of home field advantage the Chiefs might have had there. And I think this is just going to be the most anticipated game of the year for any team out there to see the Super Bowl rematch. Yeah, I'm excited, that's for sure. Yeah, I think, again, this is the biggest game in the Eagles' calendar. I think this is the biggest game for the NFL until the Super Bowl. I think it's going to be a really good matchup. And while I still think it could very well come down to a coin toss, I still have faith in the Eagles. I think that they can pull it off. Then you look at Buffalo and San Francisco. Again, they're both home games, right? Yeah. I think that with home field advantage and with the way that the Bills and the Niners have been playing the past couple of weeks, I feel pretty confident about the Eagles being able to win both of those games. So again, I think the real question comes down to how much are we going to struggle against Seattle, in Seattle? And I think we're still probably going to split with Dallas when we go to Dallas because that's just what happens. Right? We don't... Yeah. Neither team sweeps the other very rarely, especially when they're both playing well. Yeah. I don't have a prediction for that run for those five games. I think we most likely come out of it three and two. I think... You know, we usually split with Dallas. That's just what happens. And then whether it's Seattle or Kansas City or San Fran or Buffalo, well, I think it's... We're more likely to lose to Seattle or Kansas City than Buffalo or San Francisco just because we'll be at home. We... That's a hard stretch, especially like back-to-back because it's not just, oh, we're playing the Chiefs. Now we're playing the Bills. We're playing the Chiefs, then the Bills, then the Niners, and it's just a long, hard streak of very physical teams. I'm glad we're not playing Dallas after San Francisco just because I think that both of those teams are both very, very physical. I think that if we were to play both of those games back-to-back, there would just be a real legitimate reason to worry about injury. Yeah, and I'm very glad that we have our bye right before that stretch. Yes, so we can get healthy. Bradley Roby is expected to be back, which I think he will... He'll help our secondary out quite a lot. When he was in the slot, he was doing very good. Our secondary looked a lot better with him in it. I mean, also, again, with that bye in there, that also means that we're going to have Dallas Goddard back just in time for that game against Seattle. I think we're going to need him back. I'm a little bit concerned that we're not going to have him for Kansas City, Buffalo, or San Fran because I do think he's an underrated part of the Eagles' offense. I think he's a top-five tight end. Definitely. I just think that he doesn't get as much attention or recognition as some of the other guys on that offense do. I agree. But I still think he's phenomenal. Oh, definitely. So, again, I'm a little bit upset that we're not going to have him for the next four weeks. Glad that one of those weeks is a bye, so we're not going to feel that impact as much as we would otherwise. But he's still definitely going to be missed by the Eagles' roster going into those next three games. We may not have him for Seattle. It depends on whether we decide to put him on IR. If we put him on IR, he won't be eligible until the game against Dallas, but if we don't, he'll be eligible. If he's recovered, he'll be able to play against Seattle. So it all depends on when we decide to put him on. Whether they put him on IR or not. Right. So, I think they will. Just because we have some other injuries at tight end. Grant Calcaterra, even though he's not a name we hear often, he's still one of our tight ends. And it would be difficult to have someone to come in and replace both of them while they're both still technically on roster, right? Right. So, it'll depend on that. It'll be interesting to see what the Eagles decide to do. Howie Roseman always finds a way to do the best thing. No, definitely. I saw some rumors out there that maybe the Eagles are going to try to bring Gronk out of retirement. I don't know how serious that would be, but if anyone could do it, it would be Howie. Why not do it? It'll be interesting. For sure. So, now let's take a look at this upcoming week, right? Games I'm really excited for are the Browns are going to Baltimore to play the Ravens. The 49ers are going to Jacksonville. The Saints are going to Minnesota. That game probably won't be quite as fun as Browns-Ravens. Or Niners-Jags. But, it will have some heavy playoff implications. Because the Saints are winning their division right now, but it's very close between them and the Falcons. I believe the Saints are 5-4, the Falcons are 4-5. So, if the Saints lose and the Falcons win, the Falcons are right back on top of the division. And then, the Vikings, also, they're the 7th seed, but very slim lead, right? They're down to 5-5. Maybe the Commanders or the Falcons win. They're up to 5-5. Now, there's a question, who would be in the playoffs? And then, lastly, I have Texans at Bengals. Again, I don't think the Texans are quite there yet, but it'll be interesting to see how they fare against the Bengals. It's definitely going to be a very fun game to watch. I think, just looking at the games this week, the ones that I'm really excited for is probably going to be Browns-Ravens. I think it's going to be an excellent matchup. Division rivalry, both teams currently are going to be going to the playoffs. So, I think that's going to give us a great idea of what the playoffs are going to look like. I do think the Ravens are going to win, just because it's in Baltimore and because the Ravens are just so good. I'd give the Ravens a slight edge on that too, but I would not be surprised if the Browns were able to sneak away with a win. I think it's going to be a very good game to watch. I think it'll probably be pretty low scoring, just because of how good both of those defenses are. Definitely. And the Browns offense gets bad. It's because the Browns offense isn't that great. It does have its questions. I think, after that, the Niners-Jags game, I think is going to be another very good game to look out for. Both teams are coming off a bye, and we're going to really start to see if the Niners are able to fix their issues at QB, and if they were able to fix their defensive situation, if they were able to fix their coordination issues. Yeah, and the Niners are back on top of their division now, even though they had the bye just because Seattle lost. I think the entire NFC West scored nine points last week. Oof. That's not good. No, it wasn't good at all. Yeah. And so, if the Jags win, I'm not sure who Seattle's playing. Do you know? Yeah. Seattle is playing the Commanders. Yes, so I would say it's a winnable game for Seattle. And so, Seattle could very well end up on top of that division when all is said and done. Yeah. The NFC West has been, honestly, a lot more exciting than I was expecting. I thought the Niners were going to win the division. I didn't think it was going to be this close, even though I thought Seattle was good. And especially after the beginning of the year, right? The year started, and the 49ers looked unstoppable. And Seattle had a little bit of a slow start. No, definitely. But since then, they've been neck and neck these past few weeks. I mean, yeah. That race there is going to be very interesting. I think Seattle was one of those teams that really won in the offseason, especially with the draft. And so, I think they've done a lot of good moves. I think that Geno Smith has really done a lot to prove himself that he is a legitimate QB, and not that last year was a fluke for him. And so, I think that, yeah, they definitely have a solid chance of winning that division and making a competitive run. Yeah, and their defense is incredible as well. Yeah. So, there's that. Plus, I like the Jags. I hope that they win just because they are the Jags. And if they manage to beat San Francisco, then all the better. So, it's going to be a very exciting game to watch. I think Texans-Bengals, like you said, is going to be a fun game to watch. I think the Bengals are still going to win that. Yeah. Especially against Cincinnati. Yeah. But aside from that, I just feel like this is not going to be a very exciting week for football. Because, again, you've got the Eagles and the Chiefs, they're both on by. And the Dolphins are, too. Dolphins are on by, too. And the other good teams you've got in the league right now, like you've got the Bills going up against the Broncos. Not going to be a very exciting game. You've got, again, we were talking about how the Cowboys still look good. They've got their rematch against the Giants. I'm not looking forward to them running up another 40 points just because they're bullies. The Lions are playing the Chargers. That has the potential to be really good. I feel like Justin Herbert has been underperforming this year. And I just haven't seen a whole lot from the Chargers. So, I don't know. I think that the Lions are going to deal with that one very handedly. And it's not really going to have a whole lot of implications for the league, regardless of how that game goes. I agree. I think that there are some fun games, but I think some of the games are going to be less interesting for sure. Hopefully, hopefully we get to see the good games and won't have to watch the bad ones. I mean, I'll be watching all of them anyway. That's the weird thing about football. I'm going to say now, oh, there's only like two interesting games this week. And then, someone's going to do something ridiculous. Yeah, like the Texans are going to play the Bucs and everyone's going to say, oh, this is so boring. And then C.J. Straub's going to throw for 500 yards and five touchdowns. Yeah. Maybe this is the week that Bryce Young finally comes into his own. He is playing the Bears, so this is probably the best chance for him to show off his ability. Yeah, there aren't many teams worse than the Bears or the Panthers right now. That's going to be a terrible game. And that's what we get for Thursday Night Football. Wow, that's, that's disappointing. But hey, maybe it'll, maybe it'll look good just because they're both bad. You know? Maybe. Like watching two really bad college teams slug it out. Yeah, it could be super fun to watch. It could be super entertaining. Maybe. Maybe. Um, I am ready for the Eagles to get back into the game off their bye. Yeah. I'm just really excited for the next six weeks of football with them. For me, I, while I am upset the Eagles will be playing, it will be nice to have a Sunday where I don't have to stress and have my heart rate go up to a thousand Oh, definitely. I am probably going to lose about ten years off my life from all the stress the next five weeks are going to bring me. Dude, Sunday, Sunday I lost about ten. Oh my gosh, dude. That game was unnecessarily close. DeAndre Swift gave me two heart attacks that day. No, that is fair. I'm pretty sure that my roommates thought I went crazy with how much I was screaming at the iPad. Yeah. But hey, we didn't lose either of them. Thank you, Tyler Steen, for covering that one. Is that a second one? Yeah. I mean, really, that I think has just been the story of the Eagles so far this year. It's when we win the turnover game, we win. Yeah. Our big loss this year against the Jets, we had, what was it, four or five turnovers? Too many. Yeah. It was also the only game that this year where we scored less than 25 points. Huh. I didn't know that. Yeah, really, if we win the turnover battle, we're going to beat you. Even if we don't, we can still beat you. But if we do, it's, you know, not usually close. No. Sorry, I guess I should clarify. We did only score 23 points against LA. So, only game where we have... We haven't scored less than 23 this year, except for against the Jets. Yeah. Again, when you think about that... That game was rough, dude. I am, I thought we had it in the bag, so I was like, all right, I'll just do something else while I watch, and then it was not good. That was just a weird week for football in general. Because, again, we had that, the Niners lost to the Browns when they were still looking unstoppable, and it just felt like that week, the entire league decided to flip on itself. Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely a weird week for football. But, oh well. Every team gets one bad loss a year. For Kansas, what do you get to? Hmm. Well, I, I don't have anything else. Do you have anything else that you wanted to add today? I just think the biggest thing is, Jalen Hurts was telling you a little bit about this before the show started. That's right. But, this last game against Dallas, Jalen Hurts scored his 33rd rushing touchdown. 30 of those rushing touchdowns have come within the last three years, which means now that Jalen Hurts has scored more rushing touchdowns within that time period than any other player in the NFL, regardless of position. Really? Yeah. That is very impressive, actually. I didn't know that. Especially when you consider that you've got Christian McCaffrey who has scored a touchdown in like 17 past straight games. Yeah, so we'll see if McCaffrey is able to catch up to him on that, but it's still a very impressive achievement for Jalen Hurts. So, just wanted to throw that out for him. And he's been incredible throwing the ball as well. His numbers aren't quite as good as Mom's, but they're right there, and that's not even counting his rushing stats. No, definitely. I think that his knee probably necessitated that he rely a little bit more on that passing game, which might explain a little bit more of our rockier start, but he's definitely come into his own as a passer and shown that he doesn't have to run the ball in order to still play at an elite level. Yeah, and even with the knee, he's been able to run. He's been able to... I mean, I'm pretty sure he's on pace for like over 5,000 total yards and like 41 total touchdowns or something like that. Yeah. Which would be an incredible season again. So, yeah, NFL. Jalen Hurts is coming after you. I think that just about wraps up everything else that we wanted to get covered unless you got anything else. No, I've got nothing else. All right. Well, in that case, thank you all who have tuned in to listen to us. We'll see you next week, same time, same place. DraftKings, if you want to sponsor us, you know where we are. Peace out. Take it easy.