Transcript 0:00 [rock music] All right, all right. Welcome back in. Another week, week three of the NFL season is in the books, and that means it's another week of the Between the Hash Marks podcast. 0:13 As always, I'm joined by my friend and mentor and colleague, Mike Tanier. I'm Matt Lombardo. Mike, what a week and what a Monday night we had, uh, just before recording this podcast on Tuesday afternoon. 0:25 What a Monday night, especially for the Commanders and the Bengals, but I, I don't think the... There's, there's takeaways there. 0:31 The big takeaways, [laughs] not so much the Bills, 'cause we know they're good, but what the heck's going on in Jacksonville? 0:36 For sure, and we're gonna get into all of that, and I think the bigger picture takeaway is, thank goodness there were two Monday night games. Oh, yes. 0:43 And predicted next week, thank goodness there are two Monday night games ahead, because it seems like it's one clunker and one potential classic. But we'll get into all that. Little housekeeping. 0:53 If you enjoy Mike Tanier's analysis, if you enjoy the breakdowns every week, be sure to subscribe to Mike Tanier's Too Deep Zone on Substack. 1:00 If you enjoy my insider reporting, my takes, my analysis, and some of the features, subscribe to Between the Hash Marks on Substack. 1:07 And of course, if you're listening to this podcast, go ahead and subscribe on my YouTube channel, on Apple Podcasts. Leave those five-star reviews on Apple Podcasts. We'll read them on the show. 1:17 It helps grow the show, helps build up the, the program in the algorithm, helps people find us easier. 1:22 And one team, Mike, that I think needs to find themselves or find some sort of an identity are those aforementioned Jacksonville Jaguars. Yeah. 1:31 Yeah, by the way, first, you, I just discovered now when you told me there are two Monday-Nighters again next week, I just, I didn't realize that. Uh, sec- [laughs] 1:39 secondly, I'm, I'm just thinking back to last night, because it was Jeopardy, 14-nothing, Bengals game. Yes. [laughs] Like, like eight o'clock window or, like, 8:15, it's, "Oh, this game is over," and turn it over. 1:53 The Jaguars are a mess. I, I think we're all kind of in Doug Peterson hot seat mode. I think that, that's the takeaway right now. Uh, take it back to you. 2:00 I think you were more in the Giants mode at the end of the Doug Peterson era, but what were your impressions of the end of the Doug Peterson era in Philadelphia before we talk about what's going on here? 2:10 Yeah, I was, eh, I was already on the Giants beat for NJ.com at that point- Okay... as you pointed out, but, uh, it just seems to... My memory is that Carson Wentz's injuries started to pile up. 2:21 You had that nasty concussion in the playoff loss, followed by, I believe, the back injury the following year. Maybe my timing's a little bit hazy there, but it just seemed like 2:32 Doug Peterson's grip on that situation really loosened pretty quickly after winning a Super Bowl. You go from winning the franchise's first Super Bowl to two years later being summarily dismissed. 2:44 It just seemed like it got out of hand pretty quickly. Yeah. And maybe history's starting to repeat itself just a little bit here in Jacksonville right now. Right. 2:52 It's like there was never a solution to anything, nor did it feel like there was any urgency to find the solution to anything. It's just like, "Well, maybe next year it will be better." 3:03 And the front office was doing stuff. They were bringing guys in, et cetera, but maybe, you know, Carson remained Carson. The offense remained out of sync. 3:10 The, the, it never looked like the offensive game plans were, like, maximizing everything. 3:13 It was, it was sort of like a whole team coasting to the stop, and you probably heard some of the things I heard in terms of, like, how, how much urgency Doug himself felt or didn't feel. Right. 3:24 Uh, [laughs] wha- wasn't always burning the midnight oil to find solutions. 3:29 And then you heard the bizarre reporting of the meeting that might have or might not have happened between Howie Roseman and Doug Peterson- Mm-hmm... the, the quasi sales pitch or not to keep his job- Yes... 3:41 and what would wind up needing to happen for Doug to keep his job, and ultimately, they pull the plug and turn the page to Nick Sirianni. 3:49 But I heard a lot of the same things, uh, about the, the lack of urgency in meetings, the amount of not necessarily being the coach who sleeps on the couch in the office- [laughs]... 3:59 on a Wednesday night after, you know, meet, staff meetings. Those things were not going on in Philadelphia at that time. Is, is, does the pub have a couch? I mean, I'm just trying, uh, over in Pennsauken. 4:10 Anyway, but, like, yeah, I, I do remember now, that was the, "What are you going to change? What do you mean change?" Right. Meaning, which may or may not have happened. 4:18 And you saw a brain drain in their coaching staff, and the, the final coaching staff in Philadelphia is, especially on offense, is the current coaching staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars. That's- Yes... 4:28 not Frank Reich and those guys behind him. That's Press Taylor and those guys, and it was lax. It was slack. 4:34 If you went to the Eagles practices, and I was still going to a lot of Eagles practices at that point, it was, it was, it was relaxing. It w- it was- Comfortable... it was a rela- You, we had water ice. 4:45 You know, we would sit, sit, sit on the sidelines, have water ice. I, I think the coaches were having water ice, too. It's not a good environment when things are going bad. 4:52 No, and things have really started to come off the rails really quickly in Jacksonville. I'm looking at this last night, and they just weren't competitive. No. 4:59 They were outclassed in every aspect by the Buffalo Bills, and we'll get into Buffalo a little bit later, but you lose 47 to 10, and Mike, I don't know that the game was ever that close. No. 5:09 You know, you go into halftime, and I'm thinking to myself, "The Bills might lay 60 on these guys. They might put up a 60 burger on Jacksonville." 5:16 [laughs] And you think back to last year, you lose, dating back to a year ago, eight of nine. And I know that Trevor Lawrence was hurt for more than a handful of those games, but eventually you have to figure it out. 5:28 You need to coach your way around your starting quarterback being out. 5:32 Hey, Dave Canales did it on Sunday with Andy Dalton, different story, but, you know, you can find ways to steal a win or two with your backup quarterback. They look lifeless. They look listless. 5:41 They don't look competitive. A- and you heard after the game Doug Peterson saying that they need to, quote-unquote, "evaluate everything." Mm-hmm. 5:49 And the read into that is also evaluating Trevor Lawrence as the starting quarterback. Well, that's- I think the bigger evaluation needs to come from Shad Khan looking down- Yeah... 6:00 at the general manager, Trent Baalke, and the head coach, Doug Peterson, because we might be seeing sweeping changes in Jacksonville in the coming weeks. Forget the coming months. 6:09 In the coming weeks, if it continues down this path.Right, and, and, and so much of the Trevor Lawrence thing, 'cause he came back for a while, he was playing hurt. 6:16 That sounds a lot like the Carson Wentz playing hurt, and it's like, and yet you can't get a win? I mean, I know he's not, you know, at, at full strength. 6:23 What- whenever you would see, "Oh, it looks like they're out of sync, they're not on the same page," we heard that so many times in Philadelphia. 6:29 "Oh, they're not on the same page, it's like they're not running the routes crisp- crisply," that's what you're seeing here. That's why you're seeing dropped passes and things like that. 6:35 And when I say here, I mean week one and week two- Yeah... because it's kind of like mistake-filled week, mistake-filled week, quitzilla week. 6:44 And, you know, I think, obviously, I think Peterson's fine until you get out of the, um, the England window with this team, 'cause there's that mid-season England window. Um- For sure... 6:54 but then you do have to ask the hard questions, and I guess the defensive coordinator would take over if they make that move. And benching Trevor Lawrence, that's not, I can't see how that's even remotely a possibility. 7:05 No, and, and I think that we both need to be very clear here that that should be Trevor Lawrence's job- Mm-hmm... but something else can also be true, that Trevor Lawrence has dramatically regressed. 7:16 I mean, you look at him this year, he's completing 52.8% of his passes- Right... 7:21 560 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and of course the Jaguars, the number that really matters, are 0 and 3 and not really competitive. Right. 7:29 So I think that something is fundamentally broken right now with that offense, and they should've been better bringing in Gabe Davis, upgrading that receiving corps a little bit around Lawrence. 7:39 I know they're a little bit banged up on the offensive line- Yeah... but it just seems to have completely fallen apart from a team that midway through last year, they were in the driver's seat in the AFC South. 7:50 Yeah, and I think what people have to look at is you can almost, last night's a throw-out-the-film game. Yes. You know, throw out the film because you're not gonna see anything except bad, bad, bad, hell, hell, hell. 8:01 Go back and watch the Dolphins game, go back and watch the Browns game. These are beatable opponents. 8:07 And look at the mistakes, look at the play calling, look at the execution, look at the penalties, look at the dropped passes. All of these things, look at, you know, Lawrence's miscues along the way a- and say, 8:19 what, this, this is coaching. That is the coaching. You get steamrolled last night, maybe the Bills do that to you, that's the coaching. That's the thing where this team could be 2 and 1, 1 and 2. 8:29 You're not because you're not, the, the fit and finish is not there, and I think that falls on Peterson. 8:35 No, I agree with you, and I think that you write Tank Watch every week, and the Carolina Panthers debut column was terrific. I think we almost need to [laughs] put Doug Peterson on- Fire him... 8:45 firing watch at this point, as well as Trent Baalke, because w- we- [laughs]... had real questions about Trent Baalke for the last two or three off-seasons in terms of- Yeah... 8:53 roster construction, in terms of contracts, in terms of the direction of the franchise generally. I don't know how you make a half measure if you're gonna, you know, unload- Yeah... the head coach. 9:04 You almost have to get rid of the general manager as well. 9:06 Oh, and one of the things you need with Doug Peterson is that, like, Tr- when Trent Baalke goes into, like, rage, rage mode, you know, Peterson isn't going to go toe-to-toe with him and, like, turn it into a battle. 9:16 The next coach will. So, B- uh, Baalke hasn't made, like, super terrible own, own goals. I'm, like, thinking through the roster right now. I think so, it's, I've seen worse jobs [laughs] by a general manager, certainly. 9:27 I wouldn't place it on him. But yeah, if you're gonna do a sweep, do a clean sweep. 9:30 And the one franchise that looks like it's going in the other direction and not necessarily looking towards a clean sweep, but maybe a promising future, that could be unfolding before our eyes, I know you're skeptical about them, me not so much, the Washington Commanders in the other game- Yeah... 9:44 with Jayden Daniels, just his coming out party looking like the most pro-ready rookie quarterback of this class, lighting up the Cincinnati Bengals in their building, going on the road and putting on an absolute show. 9:58 And, and to me, Mike, I thought that that was the arrival of the Washington Commanders and Jayden Daniels. Can't be much better than 254 and two touchdowns on the road i, in, in a win that was never really, 10:13 you know, competitive and never really felt like you were gonna cough it up. Right. Now, I'll ask you, the arrival as what? That's the, kind of the question. 10:21 Arrival as team heading in the right direction and, and team that made the right pick in the draft, et cetera, or something more than that? 10:28 I, I, I still fall back to my pre-season expectations as the team that can throw its weight around in the NFC and maybe push for a wildcard spot. 10:38 And a lot of that optimism hinged on the personnel moves that they made bringing guy, bringing in veterans- Yeah... around the rookie quarterback. 10:45 Zach Ertz is what he is, but he's a shorthanded tight end who made some big catches- Big catch last night... at the end of the game to put it on ice last night. 10:53 Austin Ekeler, who knows about his health, but the touchdown run- Mm-hmm... looks like he can be the focal point of the backfield. And Jayden Daniels, that game last night exceeded even my expectations. 11:03 I mean, you look at that 26-yard touchdown pass to Terry McLaurin to put it on ice, you have a free rusher coming in his face- Yeah... and he throws it to a spot. 11:12 Jayden Daniels threw it to a spot in the corner of the end zone, using the boundary as an asset, not necessarily a defender. Mm-hmm. McLaurin pulls it down. 11:20 That was a big boy veteran quarterback throw, and you look at the complete picture in that there's a, an adult in the room, on the sideline is the head coach, adults in the room in the front office- Mm... 11:29 and the Commanders just look and feel like a team that can wreck somebody's day and maybe make a playoff run in the process. I, I, I agree with a lot of this. 11:38 Now, first of all, in a shocking development, the quarterback who was the best runner and deep passer in the rookie class is the best runner and deep passer, uh, so far this season. 11:47 Like, the guy who did the stuff, not the guy who we had to project 1,000 different ways, is the guy who's playing well right now. That's part of it. 11:55 Another part of it is here, here's one thing, I, definitely from Ertz and Ekeler, the takeaway. 11:59 You're bringing that rookie quarterback in, go grab those quote unquote over the hill guys and see if they got anything left, 'cause, you know, Ertz doesn't have to, like, go out there and be George Kittle at this point, but if he can catch a couple third and four passes using veteran savvy, that's kind of what he was doing yesterday. 12:15 Ekeler with a little bit left in the tank, "Hey, look what we can do. I can give you returns, I can give you quick runs, I can catch screen passes for you." So do that stuff. 12:22 Don't just be like, "Oh, we're gonna economize on [laughs] our rookie quarterback." 12:26 You know, i- if it's an old guy and he doesn't have anything left, you can, like, put him on IR and, and, you know, whatever, but you might get this, but-In terms of the Commanders making noise, they would have lost to the Giants if the Giants had promoted a kicker last week. 12:37 So it- it's- True... right. I mean, last night was phenomenal, but, like, that's one sort of, like, artifact. I'm excited the direction they're heading in, I'm excited the direction Daniels is headed in. 12:46 I- I- I- I always have to temper the enthusiasm for teams like this. 12:50 A- as opposed to some- Yeah I also think that it was a step in the growth of Daniels, and- and what I like to see, we're seeing it a little bit out of Caleb Williams, who- Right... 12:58 is still prone to the untimely bad interception- [laughs]... but he's been more productive each week. Jayden Daniels has been more efficient from the pocket and seems more comfortable in the offense- Mm... 13:10 which to me is most important out of a rookie quarterback week over week over week, and I think that it's the trajectory that has me most optimistic about what they can be. 13:18 Also with the backdrop of, listen, the Philadelphia Eagles have real issues we'll touch on in a little bit later. The Dallas Cowboys have real concerns- Yes... which we're gonna get into in a big way a little bit later. 13:29 And- and you- you look at the division, and you just look at a team that starts to feel itself a little bit with a rookie quarterback on the ascent. Right. Those are the teams that you have to worry about. 13:38 That's the thing, and you're gonna have to give me a wildcard, uh, argument for the Commanders. 13:42 You have to start with the Cowboys are in the process of collapse, which may or may not be true, and I'm inclined to believe it. Tell you what I like about Daniels in relation to Caleb Williams. [swallows] Excuse me. 13:52 Caleb Williams, scrambling towards the sidelines, running for his life, heaves that ball to nowhere. Jayden Daniels gains a yard, goes out of bounds. Just goes out of bounds, eats the ball, gets a fresh play. 14:04 Or when he's doing a little scramble, he has learned to slide. They were joking about it. Mm. 14:08 His first couple weeks and in college, he would do this, like, barrel roll at the end of it, like- like- like a six-year-old in gymnastics class, and I'm like, "Ne- I- I don't wanna see that." 14:17 Now he's got a little pop-up slide that he's working on. Some of these little game manage-y things are going to pay dividends for him, but in part 'cause they're gonna keep him alive. 14:25 No, I agree, and I think that when you look at the other rookie quarterbacks, Bo Nix, they took the training wheels off of him this week- Mm... 14:32 and I thought that that offense started to maybe offer a glimpse of what you can expect in Denver. Mm-hmm. 14:37 Caleb Williams, as I wrote in the column, it was like r- you know, jumping on the rookie quarterback rollercoaster ride. 14:42 [laughs] You know, you're gonna have the extreme highs of throwing a dart down the sideline to Odunze for a touchdown, followed up by a rip all the remaining hairs out of your head interception. Right. 14:52 Jayden Daniels just looked like a guy who's getting more and more comfortable in the confines of that offense, which by the way, maybe it's time for the Cincinnati Bengals to tell Cam Taylor-Britt to go hang out in the training room when the media's in the locker room. 15:05 [laughs] When you follow up week after week, Xavier Worthy, he's a little bit fast. You can worry, but you can stop the speed by putting your hands on him, and the- Yeah... 15:14 Commanders have a nice little college offense with Kliff- Yeah... Kingsbury as the offensive coordinator. Two weeks, two harsh lessons for the Bengals and Cam Taylor-Britt. Right. Right. 15:23 Also, here's my takeaway for this. Zac Taylor is the new Doug Pederson. Yeah. [laughs] Coasting on the Super Bowl, coasting on the fact that you had Burrow and Chase, and you had a lot of good guys on defense. 15:36 I think, uh, Captain Lou, Ara- Ara- Arambu... Arambu, uh, uh, you know, does some good things on defense. And last night they could not tackle at all. 15:47 They were having trouble in coverage, and the offense did play well, but the Bengals are in their predicament right now, in part because they went out against the Patriots in week one and couldn't tackle, and didn't execute well, and executed poorly on offense. 15:59 And there's a coach who is using up the, "Hey, remember the Super Bowl? Remember the Super Bowl?" coupons that were handed to him in- in 2020. What do you think is the biggest flaw there? 16:09 Because y- you know, you still have Joe Burrow, y- so you're in the position where you can put together a drive late to get yourself back in the game, but it shouldn't be that way when you have Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and now Zach Moss running with authority. 16:22 Th- what really stuck out for me for the Bengals was, and I think this might be a bigger picture worry, there just wasn't ur- any urgency in that second half. 16:30 They come out after halftime and the Commanders march down the field. They- they put on a- they score the touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, and then it's hand off, hand off, short throw. Mm-hmm. 16:40 And I get it, you're gashing them with the running game, but at some point it felt like watching the Eagles in the last five minutes of that Super Bowl all those years ago against the New England Patriots- Mm... 16:50 where I didn't know if- if Zac Taylor realized that he was down by 13 points- [laughs]... and you were midway through the fourth quarter. 16:58 The ur- lack of urgency concerned me, but what are the big picture concerns you think with Cincinnati right now? Well, and they're changing from week to week. So like last night, it's like there's no pass rush. 17:06 There's very little pass rush. It's like, "Hendrickson, go win. That's your pass rush." Um, a- and I think that was a- a major part of what we saw, 'cause the coverage behind them wasn't that great. 17:16 Um, I don't generally like the play calling. Again, I think the k- play calling for years has kind of been protected by Burrow, Chase, Higgins, Boyd when they had Boyd, a gazillion dollar offensive line. 17:27 But it changes, 'cause it was different in- in week one, where the offensive execution was terrible, and then like, and let's give them, they had a good week two performance. 17:35 It is a little like the Eagles, where if you try to analyze the Eagles right now, it's like, well, what time is it? 'Cause there's a new problem, but there's also a new thing that they just solved. 17:44 But it might become unsolved in, like, 45 minutes, and that's what's been the Eagles so far. "Hey, we can stop the run against the Saints." We couldn't do [laughs] it against the Falcons. "Oh, we've got to win." 17:52 No, we didn't. "Oh, we're playing like garbage. Oh, we solved the problem." 17:55 The difference is the Eagles are two and one because they're doing this high-wire act, but they're getting victories, and the Bengals are 0 and three because they're not getting it done in these situations. 18:04 And two and one means you have the luxury of solving these problems. I think the Bengals are gonna figure some stuff out, but what does figuring it out mean at this point? 18:13 Does it mean you finish eight and nine 'cause you got hot and went eight and five? That's a problem. 18:18 Right, and I think that there's too much talent there for them not to figure it out, especially on offense with Burrow and all of those weapons. Yeah. But you look at the division, all of a sudden Pittsburgh-They're 3-0. 18:29 They're the only 3-0 team in the division, and they look like they have leaned into their identity to the extreme. [laughs] Ground and pound the football- Yeah... 18:37 play dominant defense, rush the passer relentlessly, and let's just hope that Justin Fields doesn't mess it up and George Pickens or Calvin Austin III can make a play or two. Yeah. That's what the Steelers are. 18:47 The Ravens have their issues, which we'll touch on in a little bit. Mm. But, but you look at the, the conference bro- more broadly, Kansas City is still someone you're going to have to deal with. 18:57 You think about the New York Jets are looking like- Yes... they're going to be competent and efficient and maybe dynamic and dangerous with Aaron Rodgers. 19:05 You start to look at even, you know, the, the Buffalo Bills as potentially the best team in football, that the mountain just to make the postseason where you can lean into Joe Burrow's big game experience, where you can lean into the talent that you have on the roster, the path to getting there looks like it, they're digging a hole that might be too deep for them to dig their way out of. 19:27 That's it. They, they're closing doors for themselves right now. That's what's happening. And you mentioned it earlier, the Bills potentially the best team in the NFL, potentially. 19:35 Uh, it's like the power rankings right now have to be Bills, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, everyone else. 19:43 I mean, that's kind of how it has to be, including the Chiefs, who have to, like, do their high wire act to win these games. 19:48 The Bills, except for the first quarter against the Cardinals, have been steamrolling everybody. I agree. I think that the Bills are the best team in football right now. 19:55 I posted it on Threads last night, @mattbombardoNFL over there, @miketanyur on Threads as well, that they, they just have all the pieces and they're finding out all of the ways to win simultaneously- Yeah... 20:06 with Josh Allen playing hero ball when he needed to in week one against the Cardinals, taking over a game, the James Cook express train leaving the station against Miami. Mm. 20:16 And last night, just a complete and systemic demolition- Yeah... of the Jacksonville Jaguars. They're winning every which way, every way that you want to see a Super Bowl caliber team find ways to win. 20:28 They're the number one team. Mm-hmm. But I don't know that there's more than two dots separating them from the second-best team in the league right now, Mike, and I'm gonna spring this on you. Here we go. The Vikings. 20:38 I'm buying in on the Minnesota Vikings. Okay. Okay. B- b- because I think that when you look at what Sam Darnold is doing right now, finally playing like a first-round quarterback. Mm-hmm. 20:48 Justin Jefferson is Justin Jefferson, maybe the best and most valuable non-quarterback in the league. I think I read that in- Yeah... somebody's Monday column- Yeah... as we all grew. Mm-hmm. 20:56 And y- every week it seems like somebody else is stepping up. 21:00 And in addition to that, what I had a scouting director tell me, stating the obvious, what's most impressive about Minnesota right now is what the defense is doing. Yes. And they completely stifled C.J. Stroud. Mm-hmm. 21:12 Jonathan Greenard had his revenge game on steroids against the Texans, just relentlessly taking up residence in the Houston backfield. Right. 21:20 They're giving up 10 points a game, and they lead the league with 16 and a half sacks through three weeks. There's a gap between the Bills and Minnesota, but I don't think it's very wide. 21:31 I think we, I'm, I'm trying to pump the brakes a little bit on Minnesota, just a little bit. Recognize the enthusiasm here, recognize Justin Jefferson's greatness, recognize what Brian Flores was, does with that defense. 21:43 But man, [laughs] we, we are on a, on a high right now for a team that... A- and again, they've also played who they've played. They played the Texans and the 49ers. Those are two phenomenal teams. 21:54 Let's simmer down a little bit. I don't think they have the actual tools on defense to win except with scheme. So you got a scheme, scheme, scheme, scheme, scheme. That doesn't take you to number two in the NFL. 22:04 That can take you into, to the wildcard picture, certainly. Um, I don't th- I mean, Darnold is playing well. Let's see what happens when he's in a game. Right. He was not in a game at all against the Giants. 22:14 He wasn't in the game at all, frankly, 'cause there was an early interception, touchdown. It's 14-nothing very quickly against the Texans. That game gets out, out of hand for the Texans. 22:23 They're committing 1,000 penalties trying to play catch-up. So he's coasting in that game. So he was in the 49ers game, so, you know, and he got a 97-yard touchdown 'cause he threw it to Jeff- Jefferson, which is good. 22:33 But let- Sometimes that's all you need. Yeah. I, I, I think, you know, it's a matter of range finding. You started to ask me a question, are the Vikings, are the Vikings a playoff team? 22:42 The Vikings are a playoff team right now. They're 3-0. They've got a quality win. Uh, they're, they're better than a lot of these teams, like the Bears and the Commanders, I think. 22:50 When you put them at number two, I was like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, l- let's simmer down a little bit before we put them number two in our power rankings. 22:59 Both of those games were home games against teams coming off night games the previous week, that, you know, so sometimes you get an edge on that. Still very much a wait and see about that team. 23:09 I, I think that a lot of us, and, and to a degree myself included, we're kind of waiting. We're tiptoeing up to the edge of the cliff- Mm-hmm... 23:15 kind of waiting to look over until Sam Darnold wakes up and realizes that he's Sam Darnold again. Yeah, it's still September. And then we pull back. 23:22 It's- But, but I look at the numbers and I'm just, I, I'm gobsmacked by it. 657 yards. Mm-hmm. Touchdown to interception ratio, which is exactly where you want it, 8 to 2. Mm-hmm. 23:32 And he's playing in a quarterback-friendly offense with Kevin O'Connell calling the plays. Yeah. You have the best set of receivers that he's had at any point in his career- Mm-hmm... 23:41 and he's doing it without, you know, uh, Hawkinson being healthy and on the field. And Addison. Wait till he gets back, and, and Jordan Addison being back. So they're going to get real weapons back. 23:52 And I hear you, that you need to win by scheming your way up on defense, but so far so good. We're talking about pulverizing- Mm-hmm... Bryce Young and a team, or excuse me, uh, C.J. Stroud- Yeah... 24:04 before being slipped there. Yeah. Steamrolling C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans, a team that a lot of us put in the Super Bowl conversation, a week after making Brock Purdy look human- Yeah... 24:16 against an offensive line that featured Trent Williams. Y- they're kind of checking off some boxes as we go here. They are checking off. There's no doubt they're checking off boxes. There's a... 24:26 But those boxes don't get to the number two. They don't get you to number two i, in the NFL. By the way, did you see the, the, Sam Darnold's attempt to Will Levis a ball backwards 10 yards- Yes... 24:36 that the guy, the, the teammate ran back, got it and got an eight-yard gain?... out of it, and there have been a couple of, uh, Darnold moments where he was, uh, turning back into Jets Darnold. 24:45 But he's gotten away with them right now, and that's what happens when you're playing good complementary football, when Jefferson's making nine to seven-yard plays for you, when you're getting sacks, et cetera, et cetera. 24:53 The other team's getting five false starts in a row, all these other things, it forgives your mistakes. 24:58 I, uh, I need to see, I need Samtember to end, and I need to see what happens where they're in a game where he makes a mistake or two. 25:05 Do they snowball, or is it something where it's like, "Well, this is a different guy, this is a different offense," and he can rebound from it? 25:11 At that point, I think we're gonna figure out how valuable the quarterback is compared to the supporting cast that you build around him, because the weapons are there, the pieces are in place. Right. 25:20 But, but if he backslides, will that offensive production follow? Yeah. 25:24 And what's interesting is, there, there's a team right now that isn't really, I don't know that they're firing on all cylinders quite yet, but they also have woken up 3-0, and they've also beaten two teams that belong in the quarter- the, the postseason conversation, maybe even all three. 25:41 That's the Kansas City Chiefs. Yeah. And Patrick Mahomes came out and said, after getting it done in Atlanta, he doesn't think that they're playing their best ball right now. He thinks they can be better on offense. 25:50 Mm-hmm, agreed. I, I, I watch Rashee Rice and I watch Xavier Worthy and I'm like, wow, that's a pretty electrifying and dynamic wide receiver duo. They're gonna be pretty scary. 25:59 Just imagine if Mahomes gets dialed in and Travis Kelce decides to, you know, play big boy football again. I mean, y- y- you're seeing what we're all seeing with Travis Kelce, right? 26:08 A, a little bit of, uh, Father Time grabbing him by the, the shirt tails. Shut off the smoker before the meat gets too dry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 26:16 But, but I mean, obviously he is a Hall of Famer and he can actually bounce back, I don't want to say that. I, you know, and I'm exci-... You know what? I'm writing about this right now. Look at the Chiefs' schedule. 26:27 The Chiefs' schedule is just a wonderful, it's a warm hug, it's a blanket and some cocoa. They're, they're going out to Los Angeles against the Chargers this week. The Chargers- Cash unit. 26:38 Yeah, Her- Herbert is banged up but they'll probably throw him out there. Both offensive tackles are hurt, also likely to miss time. I don't know what Slater's situation is, but it's a pec muscle. This is easy, okay? 26:50 The Saints are not easy, but l- okay, they're, they're coming back to earth. You know- In Arrowhead. What's that? I- in Arrowhead too, that game. Sa- it's, it's a different animal- That's it. Yeah... 26:59 bringing the Saints out to Arrowhead into that Buzzsaw versus going into their Buzzsaw in New Orleans. Exactly. This is looking like a Notre Dame schedule- [laughs]... 27:07 wh- where you've got all the service academies on, but then, you know, then there's, then there's USC, and, like, we gotta get ready for the USC. 27:13 And then all these other games, oh, it's in prime time, you know, because people love Notre Dame, but, you know, they're, they're playing Central Connecticut State or whatever. That's what this looks like right now. 27:21 So for the Chiefs, it's almost like you can shut off the, "Well, are they doing this right? Are they doing this right? Are they doing this right?" They're going to make the playoffs. 27:29 Wake me when they have to play the Bills, which is coming down the road. 27:32 49ers, I think, is week seven, but, uh, there, there's no playoff implications for that, so if the 49ers wanna get their ra-ras out, stomping all over the Chiefs, y- you do it now, 'cause you've never been able to do it in February. 27:42 Um, wake me up for those big games. Until then, it's like, yeah, you know what? The defense is good, Rice is great, Worthy's coming around, Mahomes is Mahomes. 27:50 And, you know, if, if it's, if it all comes down to a last-second play, I'm not worried about them figuring it out come, come January. 27:56 The last part of what you just said there is I think what matters most, is Mahomes is Mahomes. Mm-hmm. 28:00 Because we've now seen Patrick Mahomes find ways to win regardless of the situation, regardless of whether his wide receiving corps leads the league in drops. Yeah. Regardless of whether they have a running back or not. 28:13 Now, now not, with Pacheco being out, he was obviously a bi- big piece of what they did a year ago. We've seen him take over games. We've seen him make the big plays in the biggest moments. Yeah. 28:22 We've seen him march down the field in 37 seconds and kick a game-winning field goal in a big spot. 28:29 Th- that's why they're always going to be in the mix, and that's why, as it seems to be every single year, the biggest game of the year is going to be that, I believe, it's November 17th game between the Bills and the Chiefs- Yeah... 28:41 that's gonna say a lot about the trajectory, once again- Mm-hmm... of the AFC, and w- which city the road to the Su- to the Super Bowl is going to go through in that side of the gauntlet. 28:51 You know, I, I'm kinda glad that the NFC is like this and that we can argue about the Vikings, and we can argue about, you know, the Packers or the Cowboys or whatever, because the AFC has kind of turned into, "Eh, Bill's Chiefs, Bill's Chiefs, and then, oh, maybe the Ravens show up," or... 29:06 It's, it's Bill's Chiefs right now. And so that's bi- It's, it's like Brady-Manning always was, and like... And now let's go to the other thing, where we have some new things to talk about. 29:15 And you came up with a fun segment for this week. 29:17 [laughs] And I think we, I think you should unveil it, because I know that at least two of these teams are very near and dear to your heart, and this segment has Tanya written all over it. Near and dear to my heart. 29:25 I see some, uh, Eagles fly stuff in the background there. Anyway, this segment is called Bang, Marry, Kill. 29:32 I did not come up with that myself, but the Bang, Marry, Kill this week are the three NFC contenders, the Eagles, the Cowboys, and the 49ers. 29:42 We're- apologies to the Lions, you guys are on your, on your own rails there, doing your own thing, you're fine. You're not stuck in this mode, so that's actually a good thing. 29:49 So Eagles, Cowboys, Niners, bang, marry, kill. What's the plan? Uh, first off, I'm killing off the Dallas Cowboys, because that's the worst team that money refused to buy- [laughs]... in Jerry Jones. 30:02 I, I mean, Jerry Jones' decisions this off-season to declare that he was all in to only watch Tyron Smith and Tyler Basham and T- Yeah... 30:11 Tony Pollard and a handful of other proven players, proven commodities, walk out of that building. Those issues are now coming home to roost in a team that has no identity whatsoever. 30:22 And it's three weeks in, and I have to wonder, Mike, if they've already quit on their head coach, Mike McCarthy, who, by the way- Mm... 30:30 Jerry Jones made a lame duck, despite deciding in the 11th hour at the 37th minute to commit to his lame duck quarterback, Dak Prescott- Mm-hmm... meaning that he's the future. Who knows what the future is at head coach. 30:42 You're already hearing whispers out of the locker room that, "We have a lot to fix," that it's a lot of things going wrong, a lot of old things still going wrong. 30:51 This just seems like a dysfunctional and toxic situation, and the last thing I'm hitching my postseason wagon to right now is the Dallas Cowboys in the mode that they're currently in. You're right. 31:01 I have a hard time looking at this team and seeing what they do well.Because I only saw them do well against the Browns, who are in the process of imploding themselves, and they really were good for, like, the first half of that game. 31:13 It's funny, 'cause I've been talking about the Cowboys, obviously you talk Cowboys a lot on podcasts, on radios things, and I was mentioning all the people who left town, and I kept forgetting Tony Pollard. 31:24 Now, their running game is atrocious. I tend to blank out on running backs, because running backs don't matter in analytics, we're s- kind of trained that way. Tennessee, Tony Pollard's all over the field in Tennessee. 31:34 They're putting him as a slot guy, he's catching little passes. That team is insane. 31:39 You know, they got their own problems, but one of their problems ain't Tony Pollard, who's out there playing a, a lot of roles for them. Cowboys have nothing in that position. 31:46 They have, r- handoffs are waste pitches for them, you know? It's like the, it's like the o- the oh and two knuckleball attempt where you dribble up there for a ball. That's their running game. 31:55 That's contributing to all the other things there, and it, it speaks to what you said, which is Jerah not bothering to pay anybody until the end, b- and then, well, what's wrong with this team? 32:05 Well, they lost about eight veterans, and they replaced them with whoever was hanging around in the draft. 32:09 And they're still waiting for a number two wide receiver to emerge behind CeeDee Lamb, who wasn't all that great against the Baltimore Ravens. Nothing against Kavante Turpin, who is a fine special teams player- Yeah... 32:19 an explosive special teams player, who I caught up with a couple weeks ago. Yeah. But Jalen Tolbert just seems like a role player. Brandon Cooks is wildly inconsistent. Yes. 32:28 There were fatal flaws on that offense that could've been fixed over the off-season, and just weren't, they were overlooked. So I'm going to go ahead and, and, and- Kill them... 32:36 kick off the, the Dallas Cowboys this little thought exercise of ours. Yeah, we're both killing them. And, and I, and I'm gonna, you're gonna hate this answer here. Mm-hmm. 32:44 I, I'm gonna bang the Philadelphia Eagles, because I've seen this movie before. I've seen a situation where you talk about running backs not ma- not mattering, and I respect the argument. 32:53 My case has recently become they don't matter until they do. Right. And I look at what Christian McCaffrey brought to the 49ers, I look at what Saquon Barkley's now doing for the Philadelphia Eagles. 33:03 They were out-gaining the Saints by over 150 yards going into halftime, and down three to nothing. Mm-hmm. Right? So y- you can dominate on offense. Th- there are still untimely turnovers from Jalen Hurts. 33:16 Nick Sirianni, I'm not sure what his responsibility is other than managing the clock and short yardage situations. Ugh. He's not really good at either right now. Ugh. And Saquon Barkley's bailing them out. 33:28 You know, longest touchdown run across the league this entire season. Nearly bailed them out against the, the Falcons the week before if he'd caught that ball. Obviously, he did not. 33:37 It just seems like they can do a lot of things right. Mm-hmm. 33:40 They can find their way to winning games, but if the ship starts to rock a little bit over the second half of the season, I don't know that they have the infrastructure in place to stave off another collapse. 33:51 I'll say this on the flip side. The ship is rocking in, for the 49ers right now. Yes. And their response is to lose to a team that was basically, like, the, the triple A team of the, the Los Angeles Rams. 34:04 So, you know, we, we look at, we look at the Eagles and we see, especially 'cause we're based here in Philly, every single flaw along the way. And then we look at the 49ers, like, well, you know what? 34:13 Something happens, some- something keeps happening. 34:16 And the something keeps happening right now is that they've got injuries, and they're trying to compensate for those injuries, like big boy teams do, and like they never have to do, 'cause everyone stays 100% healthy for them until they decide they're not gonna protect the quarterback in the championship game. 34:29 And we get this team that has to finish games, and they don't know how to when they can't purely out-talent their opponents. So I'm, I'm hesitant here, but I'm gonna bang the 49ers. I figured. 34:43 And I'm gonna remain married to the Eagles, because I can see the Eagles' growth potential based on everything they've done in this off-season, and I'm starting to think that the 49ers are last year's 34:55 divi- uh, conference champions. Th- they might very well be, but I'm gonna walk a tightrope here. Okay. 34:59 Because going into the year, we both talked about this, and I think we both wrote about it, that the injuries were eventually going to come home to roost. Yeah. 35:07 That you couldn't be the third healthiest team in the league each of the last two years consistently, especially with a team with as many aging veterans, especially with a team that feeds so many touches to Christian McCaffrey, who hasn't been on the field at all this year because of the Achilles. 35:21 Right. My, my counterpoint to that is those issues are all coming home to roost, and they're taking issue a- and causing problems right now for the 49ers, but if Deebo Samuel comes back- Right... 35:31 if and when Christian McCaffrey comes back- Yeah... if and when, uh, George Kittle returns to form, if and when you get Trent Williams refinding what he has always been- Mm... 35:41 when it matters most, that team is going to potentially be rocking and rolling and healthy, whereas the Eagles' concerns, in my opinion, are things that they're escaping and getting by right now- Mm-hmm... 35:52 but I need to see them be able to do more than just escape and survive- Right... because if they had to be in survival mode last year, the ship sank. Right. Eagles are playing without A.J. 36:02 Brown right now too, and were without DeVonta Smith when they came back. 36:05 So it seems like the, the injury argument and well, "We need to get our guys back" argument is the 49ers argument whenever they have one of these losing streaks, which are rare, because again, they never get, have any injuries. 36:17 Also, their defense ain't playing great. 36:19 I know the Eagles defense ain't playing great, but, like, part of the whole 49ers thing was, oh, and we can play this ball control offense and, and, you know, I think Purdy is actually coming around, and Purdy seems to be, like, rising to the occasion even if no one else is. 36:32 But it's fine, because we only have to score 20 points to win if we have to, and we can on third and 10 throw the screen passes and see if Deebo can get the first down on the screen, et cetera. 36:42 Defense has, was very hot and cold against the, uh, the Vikings, and then against the Rams, they should've been able to put that game away. 36:51 The Rams had ridiculously low talent level in that game, and they allowed, they put Matthew Stafford in a position where he could make plays at the end, and he did. 37:00 That's as big a worry for the 49ers as, oh, well, we might have to survive without McCaffrey probably for weeks and weeks at this point, and we'll, we'll j- we'll, we'll only have our, our two really good wide receivers instead of our normal six.For sure, and I think that we're gonna find out a lot about the Eagles this Sunday in Tampa, because number one, it's a return to where they lost that- Oh... 37:18 card game a year ago. Yeah. You have a very angry Buccaneers team after coughing it up last week against the Denver Broncos at home in their building. Baker Mayfield's still playing pretty well. 37:29 Chris Godwin's still tearing it up. That defense is still Todd Bowles' blitz-happy defense. Mm-hmm. With Jalen Hurts coming off a game with a- an ugly lackadaisical fumble in the pocket- That was bad... 37:40 off an interception in the end zone on a throw that he's probably going to want back. Mm-hmm. Seeing whether they can get it done again without A.J. Brown, potentially. 37:49 Who knows what's gonna happen with Lane Johnson, Mekhi Becton, and DeVonta Smith. 37:54 But if they can continue to just get by for most of the game, and then let Saquon Barkley break off a big run or two, and you keep winning that way, it's better to start stacking wins than piling up bad losses. 38:07 So I think that what they do on the road, a second consecutive road game against a really physical and talented Buccaneers team that's gonna be angry, gonna be motivated, I think we're gonna find out a lot about Philly this week. 38:18 Yeah, I'm not a huge Buccaneers believer, but man, the mojo, the Philly mojo when you go down to Tampa Bay. 38:23 I know, go- we're going back to, going back to Donovan McNabb throwing up games and, and w- and, and things like that. 38:29 I go back to, I think it was the '79 playoffs with the Buccaneers, so, uh, like, the mojo is, is really tough there. Um, meanwhile, the 49ers get, I believe, the Patriots this week. 38:41 I believe they face- I think that's right, yes. Yes. They face crash test Percette, which, uh, all the more reason to, 38:47 all the more reason to bang them because they should be able to, and it, this was the same thing last week. 38:51 Ah, we'll right the ship, we'll get things figured out, we'll, we'll buy time by beat- stomping on this ridiculously banged up, uh, Patriots team, so that should be an easy win for them. 39:02 Let's see how the season progresses though. Speaking of crash test Percette, I'm a little bit worried for Drake May because I think that Jerod Mayo putting him in, in that game late in New York, 39:11 I, I just feel like he got a taste of, ooh, I, I might be able to play the kid, I might be able to play the rookie quarterback, and I just fear for Drake May going out there behind what might be the worst offensive line I've seen in three or four years, and is certainly- Mm... 39:24 the most incompos- incompetent wide receiving core that's been built in this decade. There is nothing there. There's nothing, and I don't know Mayo, what his thought is, what he was communicated to from on high. 39:34 They should have told him, like, like, "We're not looking at you this year in that way. 39:38 We're looking at the culture, et cetera," which should give him the strength to say, "Screw this, I'm not, I'm not putting Mayo out there, I mean, I'm not putting, uh, May out there in this situation." 39:47 But we'll see, because when the losses start piling up, these coaches can go either way. I'm, he's a defensive coach. He's gotta be thinking, "Look, let's just, let's not do anything rash. 39:58 My, uh, legacy isn't based on how I can solve this quarterback problem, so let's wait a few more weeks." Especially not in year one. Let's go ahead to our, our Circle of Game for this week. Yes. 40:07 Who do you have this Sunday, this weekend, as your Circle of Game for week four? Did I write down Vikings at Packers, is that what I chose? Sure did. Right, right. 40:15 L- and we talked about the Vikings earlier, and it's like, well, here's a good rangefinder game for them. Okay? Especially if Jordan Love comes back, I'm kind of 50/50 if that's the case. Okay? 40:25 You're, this is a division game. You win this, not only a 4-0, but now you're, now you're piling up, this is your third conference win, this would be 1-0 in the division. 40:34 This is putting the portfolio together where you stop talking about, "Is this team that good?" And you start putting them in the playoffs, and then saying, well, you know, can they beat team X, Y, and Z. 40:44 Packers have done such a good job around Malik Willis. Greg LaFleur's done a good job around him. They're forcing so many turnovers. 40:50 This is a defense that's done a good job kind of exposing the quarterbacks a little bit, exposing Levis a little bit. Get- getting, um, Hurts to make a couple mistakes down in Brazil. 40:59 Let's see what they do against Sam Darnold. I really wanna see how this one turns out. Really. 41:03 I think it's a measure, I think it's a measuring stick game for Sam Darnold in a lot of reasons because of my guy, Xavier McKinney, the veteran- Yeah... safety they signed in free agency. 41:12 The Green Bay Packers did three interceptions so far this year, just a dynamic wrecking ball. Mm. 41:16 You talk about what Matt LaFleur has done with that offense around Malik Willis, and it, it's been tremendous, and you look at what they, they were able to do, uh, on the ground last week, just absolutely getting it done, committing to the running game, committing to the ground and pound. 41:31 I think that Jeff Hafley and that defense deserve a lot of credit- Yeah... and we're gonna find out a little bit about just how real, uh, Sam-tember is, and how- [laughs]... 41:39 much they take the Vikings going into this week. Uh, my circle game is Panthers-Bengals. N- no, I'm kidding. [laughs] No. I, I'll probably end up watching some of Panthers-Bengals because- Andy Dalton revenge game. 41:53 That's a great angle. [laughs] It's a horrible angle. It's the worst angle in history. [laughs] Somehow, and, and very bizarrely, my six-year-old daughter- Uh-huh... 42:01 has adopted the Carolina Panthers as her favorite NFL team. Oh, no. Don't, I, I should call Dreyfus on you. How, how did this, how did you let this happen? 42:09 She's obsessed with big cats, and she's obsessed with, like, mascots in sports, and she got a glimpse of the color scheme with the Panthers- Mm... and she saw Sir Purr, and she was hooked. Oh. 42:19 And the first couple weeks, she was so sad when I told her how badly, uh, the Panthers were beaten, and she, when I tell you, unadulterated, unbridled joy coming down in the office and watching Andy Dalton sling it against the Raiders when they popped up on Red Zone on one of the three TVs Sunday afternoon. 42:37 She was so fired up, so for her sake, I'd like to see Red Rocket and the Panthers get it done, but that's by no means my, my Circle of Game. 42:45 And, you know, in two or three years she'll be the same size as Bryce Young, so. [laughs] You know what's interesting? Yeah. Putting together four downs, just casually talking with an, a AFC scout, you know- Mm-hmm... 42:57 his takeaways from the weekend, and he told me point-blank, quote, "The Dolphins should trade for Bryce Young."He said, quote, "The Dolphins are all in. They should go and get Bryce Young and make a big mo- big move." 43:12 And the rea- you know, you think about it, it's like, okay, probably better than Skylar Thompson, who- Yeah... this guy called a KFL-caliber quarterback. 43:20 Probably maybe a little bit better than Tyler Huntley coming off the Ravens practice squad. Skylar Thompson, by the way, suffers the chest injury. He's knocked out of that loss to the Seahawks. 43:30 The Dolphins are in desperation mode, let's make no mistake about that. Right. But I just don't know that Bryce Young, all 5'7" of him, all of the interceptions, the 52% completion percentage, 43:42 nature versus nurture here, I don't know how much of Bryce Young's problems are the Carolina Panthers issues because of what I saw Andy Dalton do- Right... 43:50 and how much of it is that the entire scouting community simply whiffed on Bryce Young over C.J. Stroud going into last year's draft. 43:57 And, and maybe still whiffing as you talk to people on the inside [laughs] there as they continue to whiff. Because I came out of, uh, Sunday like, any questions, any questions about Bryce Young? But you know what? 44:07 After... The real solution for him is to put him in a totally new system where two quarterbacks just got injured, um, that's unbelievably complicated system, and have him learn it on the fly. 44:17 I'm sure that's the best way to get Bryce Young to turn things around, is to just send, port him over to the Dolphins and say, "Here, solve this crisis, uh, and, and, like, let- let's hope you can find the, the receivers down the field, because you couldn't find them in, in Carolina." 44:31 No, I, I agree. And it's one thing to say, "We'll put him into a, an offense that uses a carousel's worth of pre-snap motion to- Yes... 44:38 create mismatches," and you put him with Jalen Waddle and Tyreek Hill and yards after the catch leader Davone Bess across the NFL. It's one thing to say that the system might work and it might hold. Mm-hmm. 44:48 But to say that Bryce Young has the same skill set and does the same thing as well as Tua Tagovailoa, I'm not sure that I buy into that based on what the tape has shown me- No... 44:58 through 18 or so games of the Bryce Young experience. Right. See, the, the tape has showed me nothing. Nothing NFL. There's nothing NFL there. There's nothing NFL there. 45:09 So I, I don't see what- As much as the band on the scheme seem like it can be innovative and all of those things, I think that the absence of Tagovailoa has shown us that it's not necessarily turnkey quarterback friendly as Kyle Shanahan's is- Right... 45:22 that you still need to have a competent s- you know, bright, think-on-your-feet- Yeah... mobile, adaptive passer like Tua that a, Skylar Thompson, you can't just plug him in there- Right... 45:33 and go be as effective as Brock Purdy, Mr. Re- Relevant was or- [laughs]... 45:37 uh, Jimmy Garoppolo, career backup, was with the weapons they have in San Francisco, that you need a legitimate quarterback, and I don't know that Bryce Young is that answer. 45:45 I am certain he is not, and I will just say this, and you know this from talking to me in the past, scouting reports are sticky. 45:53 Four or five, six years later, people will go back to their, especially in the scouting community, will go back to their scouting report and say, "This was real. 46:01 The six years you've seen since then were scheme, coaching, this, that. This was real." Sam Bradford made an entire career out of his Oklahoma scouting report the year before he got hurt. 46:13 Nine years later, you had, you know, Chip Kellys and Rick Spielmans saying, "Yeah, but if he becomes that guy he was 11 years ago." 46:20 So you're going to see a little bit of this with Bryce Young, where it's like, oh no, what we saw from that 5'6", we'll, he'll get shorter every time we mention him, kid running around at Alabama was identical to what we saw with Tua Tagovailoa, and all the things that happened in between, that's the mirage. 46:35 Yeah, and, and I'll be real here that my daughter bringing down her new Surpur keychain as a lucky charm into the office- Oh... will not make Panthers-Bengals the circle it game for the week for me. 46:45 What, what is the circle it game? Ravens-Bills. Okay. And, you know, I, I think that, you know, we put the Ravens on the circle it game last week against the Cowboys, thinking chaos would happen. It almost did. Yeah. 46:57 Coughing up a 28 to six fourth quarter lead. I need to see them go up against a playoff caliber team similar to Kansas City and hold their own, eh, before we can start to take the Ravens seriously again. 47:08 Because if you're gonna blow fourth quarter leads two weeks in a row, if you're gonna struggle to close teams out as you did a year ago and let teams off the hook, you have no business competing with a team like the Buffalo Bills. 47:18 And conversely, how do the Bills respond? They, they've had two strolls through Central Park over the last two weeks. You have a very desperate one and two Ravens team- Mm-hmm... 47:30 now coming in, looking to build their identity, climb back to 500, lean into the, the wrecking ball experience of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, Ravens-Bills. A lot of fun. 47:44 I, I, I was just checking, 'cause it's like, first of all, the analytics still loves the Ravens. 47:49 The analytics sees in the Ravens a team that came down to one play in, in week one, and then in week two, uh, the fluky things against the Raiders. 47:57 There was all kind of chaos at the end of that game with penalties and bad third down decisions and everything else like that. And then in week three was dominant. So the, the analytics still loves the Ravens. 48:07 I was looking for a bargain on, on the line, and the line is Ravens minus two and a half right now. They are favorite against the 3-0 Bills that is smoking everyone. 48:16 So m- I, I, I'm kind of in wait and see mode in terms of what happens, but with that line, I gotta take the Bills with that line. I gotta get Bills and points. I'm gonna get Bills to wait, what's the money line? 48:25 Bills money line is plus 110. I'm gonna jump on that. Lock that in. Lock it in. Lock it in. I'll, I'll play it, and seven injuries will happen, this I can guarantee. 48:37 [laughs] Make that Tuesday bet, you're waiting for that Wednesday injury report to be like, "Oh, the flu, the flu has landed here in the Buffalo, uh, uh, locker room." 48:46 Mike, any fi- uh, parting shots, final thoughts going into week four? 48:50 I just think you should get as much Surpur merchandise as possible, or conversely, if only there was a, another team that had like a black cat, uh, uh, motif that you, that you might have a relationship with that you could like convince your daughter, like the Penn State Nittany Lions. 49:09 How- Yes. Yeah, how, how have you not been able to turn her? 49:12 We, we did take her a- and her brother to their, their first Penn State game, uh, against Bowling Green, which I thought we'd leave at halftime and get ice cream. Turned out to be- Yeah... 49:22 a, a fourth quarter comeback against Bowling Green. Anyway, by the third quarter, Penn State's on defense, and everybody's like, you know, loud, trying to s- disrupt- Oh... 49:30 the Bowling Green offense, and my daughter stands up on the bleacher next to me, and she's screaming at the top of her lungs, and I'm like, "Oh, okay, I got, I got my little Penn State fan here. We're ready to go." 49:40 Uh-huh. I thought you were gonna say she got scared by the noise, and now she's kind of scared off the experience. No, she- Oh, no, she was all in. 49:45 She, she like jumped in with both feet to make noise and be disruptive on defense. It was a very proud father moment for me. 49:52 Wonder, but now you're gonna tell me that they don't actually have cute lion merchandise, because Penn State is too much of a storied old franchise to have a c- Is that what it is? 50:00 You can't get cute little- She's, she's got a couple Nittany lions, and her brother has a Nittany lion pillow and a little stuffed Nittany lion, but for whatever reason, she's latched onto this panther thing. 50:09 Maybe it's the color scheme, who knows? But, uh, they're gonna get a real test against another big cat, Burrow's Bengals- [laughs]... this week. Maybe it'll convert her, give her a real chance. 50:20 Maybe it'll convert her, or maybe she'll swear off football forever, and that's not a terrible thing either, because life can be happier when you're not living week to week with the NFL. Absolutely. He's Mike Tanier. 50:29 Follow him on Threads, @miketanier. Be sure to subscribe on Substack to Mike Tanier's Too Deep Zone. 50:35 You won't find the kind of analysis Mike provides anywhere else, from the deep analytics dives, the humor, the insight, all of it. Go subscribe. You can follow me on Threads, @mattbombardonfl. 50:45 You can subscribe to Between the Hash Marks on Substack, and as well as the Between the Hash Marks podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and YouTube. Mike, this was a lot of fun. Can't wait to see what week four brings. 50:56 You got it, man. Enjoy the games, and we'll catch you next week
