Nothing to say, yet
Transcription
In this podcast, the host discusses the recent NFL games, including blowout wins and the presence of Taylor Swift at a Kansas City Chiefs game. The host also talks about the importance of Swifties (Taylor Swift fans) getting into football and bringing positivity to the NFL community. The podcast then delves into specific games, highlighting the Chiefs' dominant win over the Chicago Bears, the Cleveland Browns' turnaround against the Tennessee Titans, and the Buffalo Bills' victory over the Washington Commanders. The host also mentions the poor performance of Justin Fields and the struggles of the Jacksonville Jaguars. All right. All right. Another week of NFL football has come and gone. I'm here to talk about it all with you on the Liam O'Keefe podcast. I'm your host Liam O'Keefe and let's get right into it. I've got a few good segments for you, the viewer at home. We're going to start first talking about the NFL and all the blowouts that happened. It was a lot of good team beats bad team by a lot this week. And I'm going to start talking about fantasy football, you know, giving some of my, who I think is going to do well, who I think isn't going to do well in those little projections and we'll see what happens. But the biggest news of the week, without a doubt, you've heard it. Taylor Swift at the Kansas City Chiefs game. She's there. She was sitting right next to Mama Kelsey, you know, and it's just all you've heard about for the last two days is that Taylor Swift was there cheering on Travis Kelsey. And I mean, I think it's fun. You know, I've had a lot of good conversations about friends who love Taylor Swift, but don't really care about football. And now this is like them getting into football because Taylor Swift's in it. So obviously they have to like it so they can know everything about Taylor Swift. And it works out for me because I like talking about football and now people want to talk about football. So I think it's a good thing to get Swifties in the NFL because the NFL and the NFL community, it's got to be, you know, a little nicer. Sometimes, sometimes people are just too mean, too ready to bash on opinions and dialogue that they don't like. And maybe Swifties are going to change that a little bit. Maybe they'll bring a little more positivity to the NFL scene. So if you are a Swifty and you want to learn more about football, I highly recommend listening to the Liam O'Keefe podcast. I've got a few good episodes talking about stuff to catch you up to speed. And if you know someone who's a Swifty and you want to pressure them into knowing more football, show them the Liam O'Keefe podcast, help them out, help me out. I think it's a win for everybody. But moving on to actual football and what happened during the games, we'll start with the one Taylor Swift was attending, which was a blowout, which is the theme of this week, it seems. The Chiefs beat the hell out of the Chicago Bears, man. It wasn't even close. I think the Chiefs scored 30 points in the second quarter alone, I'm pretty sure. And it's just a massacre. And you knew this was coming. The Chiefs are probably the best team in the league, if not one of the best teams in the league. And the Bears are one of the worst teams in the league. It's not even close. They're on different stratospheres. And games like this just happen. Patrick Mahomes looked incredible. Travis Kelsey looked good. And obviously their defense stepped up huge and held the Bears to only 10 points, most of which were garbage time points. And one last thing before we move on to another game, I want to talk about Justin Fields and all the Bears fans that were talking so much about how Justin Fields was primed to make this Jalen Hurts leap this year off no evidence. They just said it and they willed it to happen because he ran for so many yards last year. The thing that made Jalen Hurts great was that he could run and he could pass. Justin Fields can't pass for the life of him. So he's got to get running or he's got to get benched. Because he is a serious negative and I really think Chicago has to get rid of Justin Fields if they want to have a serious franchise. Because he's not the guy. I'm sorry, it's true. He's an Ohio State quarterback. Those guys never really turn out. Although CJ Stroud sure turned out. And we'll talk about him in a second, but I got to keep bashing Justin Fields and the Bears for a second because they went out, the Chicago Bears did, and they made a trade for D.J. Moore. They got Justin Fields the number one guy. And Justin Fields still looks awful. He can't process an NFL defense. He can't handle any pressure at all. It's just such a rough sledding for Bears fans. And if Chicago ever wants to make serious improvement, they should bench Justin Fields and just tank for Caleb Williams next year. Continuing on with our week of blowouts here, we have the Browns destroying the Tennessee Titans. And this was a nice turnaround for the Browns and Deshaun Watson because that offense looked awful on Monday night versus Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Steelers' defense against the Browns had more touchdowns than the Pittsburgh Steelers' offense, which is a testament to how good their Cleveland defense is, but it just shows how awful the Cleveland offense, and specifically Deshaun Watson, was. And I thought it was going to be more the same of that this week because he had the most ridiculous, awful play ever where he was trying to do some read-option play or designed quarterback rollout, and it got blown up. I think it was Tierre Tartt who was in the backfield immediately trying to get Deshaun Watson. And he, like, did the splits, he ran backwards a little bit, and then he, as he's getting sacked, throws the ball five yards backwards, aimlessly trying to get Elijah Moore the ball. And I saw that play, and I was like, oh my god. Same old Deshaun Watson shenanigans. But I couldn't have been more wrong. Deshaun Watson ended up looking really sharp by the end of the game. He had a bunch of great completions. This was probably the best we've seen Deshaun Watson look in a really long time, definitely at least since his Houston days. So, I don't think he's going to be able to hold up this level of playing, at least not consistently. Maybe he'll have a few games like that. But the things that he's struggling at aren't things that you can just magically work at overnight. So, there's going to be setbacks. Next week probably won't be pretty. But maybe this is a sign that Deshaun Watson won't be as awful as we thought he was. Because going into this game, it was looking bleak. He was in the same conversation as guys like Zach Wilson and Justin Fields in terms of a ball thrower, which is not where you want to be for a guy that just signed a $300 million guaranteed deal. That is more money than anyone has ever gotten guaranteed in NFL history. So, if he was looking like the worst quarterback in the league this year, it wouldn't have been good. So, maybe this is a positive for Cleveland. This also reiterates a point that honestly just makes me sad. DeAndre Hopkins, why aren't you a New England Patriot? I understand that Tennessee may have offered you more money, but look where you're at. Ryan Tannehill has one touchdown pass through three games with fantastic weapons. And DeAndre Hopkins could have had the opportunity to not only benefit himself but benefit the New England Patriots as well. Because Mac Jones is playing very well despite having limited weapons. And DeAndre Hopkins is not playing as well as he could due to his poor quarterback play. So, if you would combine those two things and he had joined New England, it would have been a perfect match made in heaven where I think both DeAndre Hopkins and the Patriots would have a mutual benefit even if DeHoff wasn't getting paid as much as he should have. But this isn't a segment about the Patriots. So, we can move on to one of the Patriots' biggest rivals, the Buffalo Bills. They absolutely dog-walked the Commanders this week. 37-3. Sam Howell looked really awful for the Commanders. I'm pretty sure he had five total turnovers and he got sacked nine times. The Bills' defense was all over that Commander's offense. And I'm not really sure if this is a testament to how great the Bills' defense is or more if it's a testament to how awful the Washington offensive line is because you cannot be getting sacked nine times in a game. That is just not okay when your quarterback is Sam Howell who is a guy who has very little experience, no supreme talent, and is kind of just like a game manager-y guy. Maybe even we're not sure if he's a game manager yet, but he's definitely not going to be one of the best guys in the league. So, you've got to put him in the best situation to succeed with the guys around him, and that is not happening with allowing nine sacks and having Josh Allen absolutely destroy your defense in every way. If you remember back to Week 1 when Josh Allen looked awful, he had one of those Josh Allen stinkers where he threw three interceptions, this is the opposite end of the totem pole. These are the best games Josh Allen can have where he looks like the greatest quarterback ever. He can't get sacked, he's throwing perfect deep balls down the field, he's accurate, he's getting the ball out fast, and he's running extremely well as well. He's using his physical tools as well as his mental tools making the best decisions possible, and that's the Josh Allen at his peak. They're two very different people, but it depends really on the roll of the dice. But Bill's fans were lucky today. They went out, their team looked fantastic, and the Commanders, you've just got to regroup and try again next week. This was not your day. Before we talk about the game of the week, Miami vs. Denver, I want to quickly give a shout out to CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans who went into Jacksonville, a team that is favored to win the AFC South, and not only beat them, but made them look silly. I think they ended up winning by 20 points with a rookie quarterback and not the greatest weapons. Jacksonville is on a slide. They have not looked good since the home opener, and even then it didn't look great for them against Indianapolis. So Jacksonville really is behind schedule here, and I'm not really, sorry, I'm not ready to pull the trigger on the blow it up Jacksonville this year's over for you guys, but if they fall to 1-3, it could really get bleak for them, and I understand they're in a weak division and that people have come back for more, but what is holding them back isn't going to get better overnight, like I said with another team. The offensive line is rough. Anton Harrison, their rookie tackle that they drafted in the first round, went out with injury, and the guy that came in to replace him was awful. He should never be on an NFL field that left tackle. It was just a horrible time. Trevor Lawrence was pressured every play, and this is not a Trevor Lawrence slander segment. I want to make that very clear right now. Trevor Lawrence is a fantastic prospect. He's one of the best players in the league, but this team around him right now is not holding up, and he isn't doing too much to help elevate the play of some of these guys. He could be doing more, but it's not like the team around him is doing great. Calvin Ridley dropped a beautiful ball by Trevor Lawrence. Some of these guys aren't getting any separation at all, and it's not time to hit the panic button on Jacksonville, but it's definitely getting close if they drop one or two more games like this, especially to division opponents that they should be beating. But let's talk about the team who actually won this game, Houston Texans. C.J. Stroud looks phenomenal coming out of college already. He has the most passing attempts ever by a rookie before an interception. I still don't think he's thrown an interception this year, so that number can keep going up, and he is just playing amazing football for a guy that was doubted coming out of college. It's another Ohio State guy. I already talked to Ohio State quarterbacks who have bad reputations in the NFL in terms of panning out, and he took that test around draft time that's supposed to test your IQ, and he scored the worst, I think, in history, they said. People weren't super high on C.J. Stroud coming out, but he looks like the best rookie quarterback right now for sure. Bryce Young got injured, and along with Anthony Richardson, they were both out this week, and C.J. Stroud made the most of it in terms of the Offensive Rookie of the Year race. He's been playing phenomenal. His connection with Tank Dell is really strong. Tank Dell played like a monster today. He burned the Jacksonville defense a couple times. That secondary looks rough in Jacksonville. I wasn't a fan of the Anthony Harrison pick for them last year. I really thought they needed to focus on defense in the draft, and they didn't. Guys like Joey Porter Jr. were available for them to take, and they didn't do it. I thought they could have easily taken Joey Porter Jr. and then Brian Branch and found a guy in free agency at left tackle, and they would have been in a much better position than they are now, but they chose to get a left tackle and try and protect Trevor Lawrence, and we'll see how it turns out in the long run, but for right now, it definitely looks like they will be wanting Joey Porter Jr. and that pick back. Now, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to talk about the game of the week. Maybe the game of the season. Maybe the game of the decade in terms of record-setting scoring. The Miami Dolphins destroyed the Denver Broncos, absolutely embarrassed them 70-20, a 50-point difference in scoring, and man, there is so much to say about this game. First of all, I don't think I'm saying anything new here. I've been on the Miami Dolphins hype train explosive offense since the beginning of the year, and everyone should have been. Everyone should have seen the writing on the wallet that this was going to be the best offense ever, the most explosive offense ever, and it was just going to be amazing, and people also should have seen that Russell Wilson stinks. Everyone, even in the Broncos organization, knows it. Being down 50 in the fourth quarter, Sean Payton wouldn't even take Russell Wilson out of the game. That is how little respect Sean McVay, not Sean McVay, Sean Payton has for Russell Wilson. There is nothing there in terms of talent for Russell Wilson. He looks awful, he looks washed, he is a shell of his former self, and it's sad to see. Russ was one of the best guys growing up. He was always in the top 10, top 5 quarterbacks currently. That was always the guy you would bring up, but man, Denver is so screwed, this year at least. Their defense is not as good as it was supposed to look on paper, and Miami destroyed them for it. They have no corner outside of Patrick Sertan, they have a bunch of Day 2, Day 3 draft picks back there, they don't have a serious backup, and you could tell, whenever they manned up and tried to stop Tyreek Hill, it was over. Tyreek Hill, they were, I just, there's not enough words to describe how historic this beatdown was by Miami. This is the second most points ever scored by a team in NFL history, and it's just insane. They could have easily broken that record, but they didn't, and I don't understand why. Sean, not Sean Payton, sorry, Mike McDaniels was, like, he said something about it being their standard, and that's why they didn't go for it, because their standard is that they should be at this every week? I kind of think that's lame, man. You're never going to be in the opportunity to put up 70 points again, so I think you should go for the record while you have it there, but I'm not the coach, it doesn't matter, they got their win, all is well, but Denver, man, how, I want to know what the locker room is like after you get beat by 50 points, you know? Like, what is the message that you give to the players there? What are you thinking as a player? There's already reports that Jerry Judy wants out now, so we'll see what ends up happening with that and how serious of a report that is, but it's just rough, rough sledding for Denver. They're going to be really bad this year. They've started 0-3 for the first time in Russ' career. Russell Wilson has never been 0-3 before until now, and I don't know how it gets much better. They have a long way to go in terms of roster construction. Russell Wilson, who knows how long he's going to be there. They could cut him at the end of this year and just eat a bunch of dead-cap money and try again, or, you know, we'll see how long they stick with him, but Miami is looking seriously, seriously nice, and they are, I don't know if I want to call them my Super Bowl prediction, but it's so close, you know? They're honestly right now my favorites to come out of the AFC, and the Bills versus Miami matchup this year, or this week, will be one of the best games of the year, I'm calling it right now. It's going to be high scoring, it's going to be a lot of passing yards. If you're one of the Swifties who wants to get into football and see a real entertaining game, check out the Miami Buffalo game. I'm telling you, that is looking to be a shootout and one for the ages. Now it's time for a new segment in the William O'Keefe podcast, and it's fantasy football time. We're going to talk a little fantasy football, who I think is going to do good, who I think you should keep off your starting lineup for this week, and I think this is a really good idea. This was requested to me by a lot of friends, you know, a lot of people who watch this podcast, some fathers of people who watch this podcast are also recommending I should talk about fantasy football, so hopefully I can help you guys out, and we can all get some nice wins this week. Starting off with a guy I think should be in everyone's lineup, or more a group of people that should be in everyone's lineup is everybody who runs the football for the Chicago Bears, whether it's Justin Fields, Roshon Johnston, or any of the running backs. They're going up against Detroit this week. Detroit is the worst team in terms of stopping the run this year for fantasy football running backs. They rank 32nd, and the Bears love to run the ball. They're a physical team. They're a team that wants to get you pushed back. They want to make you earn it. They want you to hit them. They want to tackle hard and hit you hard. They're a physical team with a bunch of big wide receivers and tight ends to help block, and Justin Fields is one of the best rushing quarterbacks in the league, despite his inability to pass. So as long as they don't get into too big of a hole too early, I definitely think that all of the rushing members of the Chicago Bears are solid starts this week in fantasy. I just went out and traded for Justin Fields in one of my leagues to hopefully turn that season around because it's looking rough, and I think he is the guy to do it. He has not had the best start to the year, Fields, but he can turn it around. The second they work out the play calling, there's a chance that he gets better in terms of rushing success, and I know what you're saying. Liam, you said the Chicago Bears should bench Justin Fields if he doesn't get any better, and that's what I'm saying. If he doesn't get any better, I don't want there to be any miscommunications now. If he plays bad, you don't want him on your fantasy football team, but if he plays well and he keeps running the ball, that's going to be great for your fantasy football team, and there's less of a chance to bench him, and I project that. He'll do just well enough to be a viable option in fantasy football, but he's not going to light the world up outside of fantasy. The next guy we're going to be talking about is getting his opportunity to be a viable starter due to tragedy striking the Los Angeles Chargers. Mike Williams tore his ACL. He's out for the year, and you honestly just hate to see it. I have him on my fantasy team. Mike Williams is one of my favorite, most entertaining players to watch in the NFL, so prayers to Mike Williams. You hope he's going to do better and be healthy in time for next year, but in his absence, if you can pick up rookie wide receiver Quinton Johnston in your fantasy team, you should definitely do that, and I think he's a flex start right away because someone needs to fill that X role, and I think he's the perfect guy to do it. They invested a first round pick into him. This is the perfect chance for Los Angeles to play him. He's got the speed. He's got the yard after catch ability. He doesn't have that deep threat that Mike Williams does. He can't high point the ball like Mike Williams does, but he's a good flex play to play behind Keenan Allen because he's not going to be the wide receiver one there, but he's a guy that now can definitely shine after the Mike Williams injury. We just talked about two guys that you should start. Now I'm going to tell you two guys who you should probably think about sitting or not expecting too much from this week in fantasy football, and that's Brandon Cooks and C.D. Lamb going up against the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick is a mastermind when it comes to taking away your team's best player. He does it every time. He isolates the team's best player, and now that the Patriots have a guy in Christian Gonzalez that can really lock up elite NFL talent, I don't think C.D. Lamb is a good start this week. We watched him lock up Garrett Wilson last week for three catchers on five yards. He locked up Tyreek Hill for about three catchers, and he even got an interception off of him. Week one, his first NFL action, he went up against Devontae Smith and A.J. Brown. He held his own against them very well, so you have to worry about C.D. Lamb this week. Along with that comes Brandon Cooks because Bill Belichick is no dummy. He knows that the other team knows that they're going to take away C.D. Lamb, so the other team is going to try and make Brandon Cooks their top option, which Bill Belichick knows, and so he's also going to place some pressure on him. Combined with the pass rush of the Patriots, Dak Prescott isn't going to have any time back there. He's going to get sacked a few times. He's going to get hurried. It's just rough out there for him, and I think that the Dallas Cowboys wide receivers are heavy faves this week. But that being said, I think Tony Pollard is going to have a big game against New England. New England lost their top two defensive tackles, and we're not sure how serious those injuries are yet, and if they're not back this week, Tony Pollard could be lined up to have a seriously good game if the pass attack doesn't work. So Tony Pollard is a guy you should definitely keep in your lineups, along with any other Dallas running backs, but if you are relying on C.D. Lamb and Brandon Cooks, it could be a rough week for you. The last guy I have in my notes is a guy that everyone knows should be faded at this point, and if you have him in your starting lineup, you should be searching the waiver wire for anything at this point, and it's Kyle Pitts, man. Talk about unused talent in Kyle Pitts. The highest tight end ever drafted in the NFL draft, number four overall in a seriously stacked draft class. The guy that went behind him, Jamar Chase. Alright? Kyle Pitts is supposed to be in contention for the best tight end in the league at this point. He's had at least three years in the NFL, and he is not in that conversation. And that's not because he's not talented, and he's a draft bust, and he's not who we thought he is. He's everything we thought he was, but the situation in Atlanta is awful. And you can roll this same sentiment into Drake London. Any of the Atlanta pass catchers, you should not be starting, because Desmond Ritter can't get them the ball, and the scheme isn't meant for explosive passes through the air. If you have Bijan Robinson and Tyler Algier, keep pounding away with those guys. They're going to be great, but do not rely on serious points week to week from Atlanta's pass catchers in Kyle Pitts and Drake London. And going back to the football side of it for just one more second, everything that Atlanta does confuses me and infatuates me. I could talk about Atlanta's offensive scheme and personality and identity and roster building for days. It's so interesting the way that they've taken this. I wonder if they knew what they wanted to be before they were what they are, if that makes any sense. I wonder if they wanted to be a team that could effectively rush the ball as their identity before they were actually starting to do it. Because why would you take Kyle Pitts over guys like Penae Sewell, then, in the draft a few years ago, and he's not a guy who can block as well as other guys. So if you weren't going to use him for his top-tier receiving ability every game or every play, to be honest, which is what you should be using him for, then what was the point? But it works out. They keep winning, and despite the frustration of fantasy managers and the insane talent that's being wasted with Drake London and Kyle Pitts, it works every time. But it just makes me wonder what the plan is, and I would love to be inside the draft room and the minds of the guys in Atlanta, because I just think it's so interesting how they've built this team and constructed this roster, and I'm really interested to see what they're going to do next. Because they could do a lot of things. What's going to happen with our quarterback? Are they going to trade up and try and get a guy in this draft? Are they going to get a guy if a veteran becomes available in free agency? Are they going to stick with Desmond Ritter, which I think is the worst choice? I think they need a better guy in there if they really want to extend their ceiling into a top-tier team in the NFC. But it's just interesting to see all the things they could do, and what's going to happen with their defense. I don't know why I'm so obsessed with the Atlanta Falcons, but I think they're just a team with such a great amount of aura, and such an interesting way of building a football team throughout the years. And since it's so unique from every other strategy, because it all seems so planned by Atlanta, but it all seems so weird, but this is a topic for another day. That's going to do it for me. And this episode, this was a bit of a shorter episode. I'm not even sure if we're going to eclipse the 30-minute mark, which would make this the shortest episode we've had, but I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. I'm taking the advice that people have given me. I've received some great advice the past few weeks, and it's been really helpful. Let me know what you think of this. I'm a little sick. I don't know if you can hear in my voice. I've got a little bit of a cold. It's going away, but still, it's affected me a little bit. I've had to take some breaks to catch my breath, but let me know what you think. Thank you if you watched it the whole way through. And one thing to leave you all with, how many games do you think Taylor Swift will attend? Do you think she's done after this, or do you think we'll see her every week? And how big do you think the Taylor Swift-Travis Kelsey relationship is going to be, and when will we get the Travis Kelsey feature? That's what I really want to know. But anyways, thank you so much for watching. I'll see you guys next week with more football news.
