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From Paris with Gold
19 Plays4 months ago
Chris and Jarod talk about Team USA winning Gold in the Olympics, news and notes from around NFL Preseason, give some BOLD predictions about the upcoming NFL season and so much more!
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Transcript
Excitement for Football Season
00:00:35
Speaker
us to the episode number 189 of straight to the point. My name is Chris. Here are my guys. What's good? What's good? What's good? Hey, man. Listen, football's around the corner. College and NFL. College, football, and NFL football both around the corner. Definitely have to talk about what we are looking forward to in the regular season coming up. You know, it's our our favorite, my favorite time of year. I don't know about you. It's my favorite time of year, football season. You know, when the the leaves are changing and, you know, every Sunday I can kick my feet up and watch seven hours of commercial free football courtesy of NFL Red Zone. My favorite time of the year.
Team USA's Basketball Victory
00:01:13
Speaker
Jared, we have to talk all about that, but let's start first and go backwards and talk about Team USA winning goals.
00:01:22
Speaker
in Paris, against all odds. Had to play all the heavyweights. Beat them all. Yeah. We talked about this on the pod before about how we shouldn't behold this team to the standard of 1992.
00:01:39
Speaker
But now there's a lot of talk that this team is better than the 92 team. There's a lot of talk that this is the greatest Olympic basketball team ever or something. That might be fair. Where are you standing?
00:01:51
Speaker
I
The Greatness Debate: Team USA vs. Dream Team
00:01:52
Speaker
don't know if it's better than 92. I definitely think it's better than a redeem team. I do. I think it's better than a theme team and but then daily because they were d band i'm heavy like so real heavy ah kobe broad mellow wave c p three and with darren wings on the redeem team.
00:02:15
Speaker
Possibly. I think it was Darren Williams or or Jason Kidd. Somebody was on the redeem team. I think Kidd was on the team. Bosch was there. Bosch Boozer who never played. So like, yeah, I think this talent is way better than the talent on the redeem team, right? Like, yeah for a fact, I know if you look at this through the stat lines, it was Wade, LeBron, Chris, I mean, now it was Wade, LeBron, Carmelo, Katie,
00:02:43
Speaker
ah What team are we talking about? The Redeem team didn't even have KD on it. I don't think you had KD. So yeah. So it had Boozer, Kid, Bron, Darren Williams, Michael Redd, and those on the team. Yeah. Mike Wade, Kobe, Dwight, Bosch, Paul, Tayshaun, Prince, and those. Yeah. This team's way better than the Redeem team. Because at that point, it was literally just Kobe, Bron, Wade,
00:03:07
Speaker
Dwight and Carmelo. That was like, that was the team. What do you mean? What do you mean? You got Kobe. You got Brown. You got Wade. You got Bosh. You got Mellow. Now I got Steph, D-book, LeBron, Katie, Joe, and B. Even ADF the best. And Edwards. ADF. It's a way better team, man. It might clear the redeem team a lot. It might clear it by a lot. Is it better than 92? No. Who on the 19 team? Who on the 92 roster? The 92 roster. I know Barko was on it. I know Jordan. Magic. Oh, Magic. Oh, Bird. Carl Malone was on it. Malone was definitely on it. Who was the center? Scottie Pippen was on there. Pittman was on it. Who was the center? Dave Robinson was on there. That was the starting center, Dave Robinson.
00:03:57
Speaker
Yeah, no, I don't think they're better than that. So of the 92
International NBA and World Champions Debate
00:04:01
Speaker
team, Christian Leitner, who was on Duke at the time, was there, Dave Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullins, Charles Barkley, and Matt Stockton. No, yeah, no, yeah, no. 92 team still is still the best team ever assembled.
00:04:20
Speaker
It's still the best you've ever assembled. But then again, they run was easier, if we be honest. Their run was easier. Because there was nobody really, there was no comp. Like there's comp now. Like there's comp now. Like again. Way better comp. Way more competition. We talked about a number. NBA guys on their teams now. We talked about the previous, like we talked about in the previous pod, the staggering number, I think between 92 and now, where the game has clearly evolved, where each national team has multiple NBA players.
00:04:48
Speaker
And then you're talking about not even just multiple, you got like guys that are like all pro NBA talent. Serbia has Yogesh. Greece has Giannis. Germany has Franz Wagner. Dennis Schroeder, who is the champion. You have um missing a team. Sylvania has Luka Danci. Right. Australia has France has literally everybody you could think of when it comes to Wen Vinyama, Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Nick Butoum.
00:05:17
Speaker
I mean, they got guys. And then Australia has players, Patty Mills, now Josh King. Even South Sudan. Think about how many and NBA guys South Sudan had. Yeah, and they're young and athletic. Like, they were they were raw this season, but they're young and athletically gifted guys. Yeah. and got yeah Every every n b but NBA game doesn't necessarily automatically always translate well internationally. And vice versa, sometimes their international games translate well to the NBA.
00:05:44
Speaker
But when you have talented guys that can play and assimilate to both styles, they're going to make their way. Like, if you're good enough, you're going to make your way to the NBA. Like, if you're good enough to play, you're going to play in the NBA. yeah I think there's no... This translates to the Noah Liles conversation. Remember, it was like, if you call yourself an NBA champion, you're a world champ. You are, though. Even if you... na They just won the Olympics, so obviously they're world champions. But when you won an NBA championship,
00:06:11
Speaker
you're also a world champion because NBA is no longer are just United States guys, it's international. like if they took If they took the world champion of Greece, the Greece team and Greece professional ball or whatever, if every if every professional league took their champion and played in like a tournament of champions type thing, the NBA team would kill 97% of other teams and then would beat the other 3%. I mean, that's obviously what
Olympic Performances of Team Canada
00:06:42
Speaker
happened. That's what the Olympics is in in a hindsight. That's what the Olympics is. And it did happen. Because let's think about it. Canada, right? Team Canada didn't even we do didn't even get to see them because they lost early in the eliminations because Jamal Murray couldn't really hack it in this Olympics. Shea was playing out of his mind. But then Dylan Brooks and Udort are the same player they've been in the NBA. Like, it's just the same guy. But now they can play a little more bully ball.
00:07:06
Speaker
I just think when he had world champions of what, when he, that now I think revisionist history, we look at that argument, I think more so now, top five players at NBA, depending what your list is, three of those top five are international players. Regardless of where you have your list, three, you can even say four if you just throw in like Shay, Luca, Embiid, uh, Jokic. Even if you don't throw Janus in it, Janus, that makes top five or your top 10 players are any international guys.
00:07:34
Speaker
The NBA is now a world sport, right? Like it's not just a sport that's, forna it's a world sport. So when they won a championship, it's a world championship because you're connecting the entire world. Players are from all over the globe are playing the NBA. And when they win that championship, they want it in front of the entire world. It's a world championship. Yes. yeah they They can quote you can just legitimately say that now.
00:07:55
Speaker
Whatever. like You want to split hairs about calling someone a world champion, whatever the case may be. I don't think you can split the hair a little more, because they just won gold. So like now his ah his whole flawed argument is over, because they won gold. OK. How? if you want argue If you want to argue the the the validity of his argument, OK, whatever. I don't really care. Because you're never going to have a, like his his argument is never going to have a ah conclusion, because you can just move to gold books, like I said. Every time. You're never going to have, you're not going to have a tournament of champions from every country's best athletic, so you know, basketball association. It's not happening. It's not happening. Like I said, the NBA team would kill the 97% of the field and then would beat the 3% handle. I'm not even going to lie to you. If you put South Sudan team in the NBA, they might end up like the Detroit Pistons. See the thing, of okay. The thing about the Olympics is that for the most part, it's a single elimination tournament, right? Because basically you get one game, show the hell up. Yeah.
00:08:55
Speaker
You can catch, I mean, you can catch somebody on a good night. And hey, Chris, I'm not saying that they're going to. South Sudan had
NBA Legends' Career Reflections
00:09:03
Speaker
the game, like collectively had the game of their lives. They played, they played great ball every time they played Team USA or any other team vice versa. But what I'm saying is that they came to NBA and now had to play a regular season where the game's down the line. They could end up like the trip is. Why? Because the talent pool is just not there. They could probably be, they could probably be Portland. Can they though? Probably.
00:09:24
Speaker
In a single nation, yeah. Yeah. But I'm talking about NBA season. Oh, they see them twice. 82 games? 82 games? Their record is going to speak for themselves. They don't struggle. Charlotte. They're going to be Charlotte. That's better than the Pistons. So fair, fair, fair call. Not so long. They got 52 million dollar man, Tobias Harris. I thought we weren't using his name anymore, but hey, shout out to Tobias. He got into the podcast. That was complete sarcasm. He got into the show today.
00:09:50
Speaker
yeah But yeah, Team USA was fire, man. It was great. That last game was electric. Steph Curry did exactly what he said he was going to do in the private jet, where he was like, I got to do something. I got to have something to play on, I got to have something to drink about that guy. And I got to get an Olympic gold. And he said he was going to do it with his coach, Steve Kerr, who's now retired as Olympic head coach. He's like, I'm going to go get this gold. And he did it. And he played phenomenal, where at first, we were all waiting for him to erupt, right? like We think about it, like even in the qualifiers, you were like they weren't really doing much. And single elimination.
00:10:18
Speaker
he was here and there spotty shooting two for eight and then he played Serbia and then he played France and he was a man on a mission eight threes here uh seven threes he was just shooting the lights out of the gym and it was fantastic well it was fantastic to watch him do that knowing that if you think about it in hindsight Chris Steph, Katie, LeBron will more than likely not be on this Olympic team the next time they play.
00:10:44
Speaker
It's all completely different. No, honestly, the NBA's look completely different because Steph, Katie, was brought by the NBA for much longer. So we get to still see these guys who are at a high level. It's amazing. A lot of people are romanticizing it. It's like the end of an era, blah, blah, blah. It kind of is, though. Who knows? Listen, how many times have we can't go by standards that we've seen in the past before? Yeah, we know LeBron is 40.
00:11:15
Speaker
But who knows if he can, you know, he might play another three seasons, four seasons. I
NFL Preseason Highlights: Raiders Focus
00:11:22
Speaker
don't, I don't, I'm not knocking. He has another son. He has another son. But here's the thing, you don't know. Think about it. That's what I'm saying. He can't walk away. Now I'm not saying he will or won't. I'm saying. But Bronz way back, Bronz still is at a,
00:11:43
Speaker
above average for, this is LeBron James standards we're talking about here. He's not the player he once was 10 years ago, right? But him right now at age 40 in season 22, it's still better than a lot of guys in the league. yep And at Bron, and who knows how Bron's gonna be at age 42, year 24,
00:12:13
Speaker
Who knows? He might want to go for 25 seasons in the NBA. And called it he might go for 25. He might. He might. He might go for 25 years in the NBA. That's going to be fantastic. Like, again, but the same thing. If he goes for 25, I still don't see him playing anymore. But so like you my point is, like, I get the point. The romanticism is, like, because they're on the same team, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, OK. You can be romantic about it. But this is not, like, their swan song, and you'll never see them again.
00:12:42
Speaker
Literally, you're going to see these guys or in some cases many years to come. So let's pump the brakes. I think it's just like whether or not they'll do the Olympics again. I don't know. Oh, that's different. That's the that conversation. I think, but but of those guys, who do I think would be more likely to do the Olympics again is Katie.
00:13:03
Speaker
No, yeah, I think so. Of the three. Of the three. I think he would be doing just like the same way LeBron is going to now. He would do it as like the older vet. I can see that happening. I don't think Steph would do it again. I don't. I think out of all the other outliers, Steph is done. Well, well, well, well, well, well. Isn't the next Olympics in Los Angeles? Yeah, it will be. LeBron might do it. He might. He might. Hey, I'm home. I can come. Yeah, I can come check.
00:13:32
Speaker
i check right you know He gonna get old, all all his slang gonna get old all of a sudden. Check Rob. See, he gonna be feeling it, some way or another. Listen, wait till he finagle Bronny on that Olympic team. No, that would be crazy. Wait, you just wait. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. You heard it here first. That would be crazy. August 2024, I predicted the future.
00:13:58
Speaker
Jared, speaking of predicting the future, let's talk about preseason NFL. Let's kind of lay the land out. ah Talk to me a little bit about what you've seen. I know you've intently watched every preseason game taking meticulous notes. I know you're out in Vegas covering the Raiders. That's who I've had to watch. but thank you oh How has your adopted team worked?
00:14:20
Speaker
Uh, I mean, they look like a team that can yet again be second in their division and be for being fairly honest, like they can do it. Uh, they'll play the Cowboys tomorrow on a preseason game. Uh, this is where you'll see the decision be made after the game. Obviously you'll see the decision be made between Aiden O'Connell and Garner Minshew, who will be the starting QB for the team. i Is there any indication, I don't mean to interrupt, is there any indication as to who Is the start like whose job is it? to move It's still looking like Aidan's, if I'm being realistically honest, I know he didn't score in the last game. He did a drive from the four yard line all the way down to the goal line. He basically he ended up getting stopped, unfortunately, but he didn't make that drive on seven for nine, including like seven for his passes. And then they pulled them after he couldn't make the goal line touchdown. Then they played Garner.
00:15:08
Speaker
and Garner ended up throwing, I think like six for 12, but he ended up throwing a touchdown for 104, but he ended up playing the entire second quarter. So this game, you'll see more of the same thing, Aiden will get the start, or if they decide to flip it, it'll be Garner get the start and then Aiden comes in, but I'm assuming Aiden gets the start. I'm believing Devontae Adams might end up suiting up for this preseason game. He missed the last one due to the birth of his child. Congratulations to him. So,
00:15:34
Speaker
this will be the game that's like, and make or break it. Cause I think they're still neck and neck with the slightly being Aiden because Aiden just flows with the offense. He was there last year and he is still quitting, right? It's low on all cylinders. Like he was driving the ball down the field with ease confidence, right?
00:15:51
Speaker
Um, if you go into that saying, Oh, maybe garden would take it i right now. I just don't see it. I know he's been playing good ball, but I just don't see it happening. This is still the makings of a team that I think is going to finish second in their division. Their defense is going to be their focal point. Like they have a monstrous defense when it comes to that defensive line. Like this is really, it's really not talked about enough, but you're talking about a max Crosby, the attic Christian Wilkins. They still have two of their young guys there. I don't see them not being good. I know they have, um,
00:16:21
Speaker
Jacob's from New England that who had gotten waved previously last year, they brought him in this year ah to be their starting quarterback. So that's gonna there's a lot of players there, Trayvon Morig, they got guys on the defense that's going to have to really buckle down and do it because offense is going to be real fluctuating, shaky.
00:16:38
Speaker
um
00:16:41
Speaker
is there a Is there a player at Raiders camp that has made some waves that you think people should be on the lookout to you know on and maybe on the national stage the right way maybe normal no more pop but They're talking more about Zameir White. Again, they're talking about running a dual running back tandem, run by committee approach. But Zameir White's looking like he's going to be the focal point for this team, especially now that they lost Josh Jacobs. I know they brought in Alexander Madison, but this season last year with the Vikings, which wasn't all that you stellar knowing that the think people should be Vikings on let go the of Dalvin Cook. He was lookout to, you know, supposed to really on the, maybe on the national showcase himself. stage? He's the guy. He didn't do it.
00:17:20
Speaker
Zamir White has a real opportunity to do it. He showed some flashes last season where
Eagles' Preseason Analysis
00:17:24
Speaker
he had a great game against the Chiefs. When Josh equals it down, he had about 120 some rushing yards and touchdown. If he follows that this season, skies would worry the limit because this is an offense where he could just flourish as a running back. Because what's the one thing that the Raiders have always been really good at if the quarterbacks play hasn't been that great? Running the ball. So if he comes in with the same motor and gear that Jacobs did, but now a little bit better as a pass catcher.
00:17:49
Speaker
He can really take off. And they've been talking about that a little bit more. And then the other rumors or debates are just who's going to be the starting tight end. Brock Bowers or Michael Mayer. You know, they do great tight ends back to back years, you know. I think they're going to stick with Mayer. And then they're just going to run. Are they going to run a two-tight end system? Easily. Easier in a two-tight end system. Brock and Mayer can both block. Both are vertical threats. Are there, do you think there's going to be opportunities for either one of them to line up on the outside?
00:18:18
Speaker
I can see Brock more than Mayer lining up on the outside because you can utilize him a little bit more. he's Me personally, when you think about their games and their skill set, Brock has better hands than Mayer does, and Mayer's a bit of a better blocker than Brock Bowers is. But again, we've never seen any real footage on Brock in the NFL except for the couple of preseason snaps that he's gotten so far. So that might be back to differ, but just based on last season.
00:18:43
Speaker
Mayer was dropping a lot of catchable balls, could have just been rookie jitters. He kind of picked it up the second half of the season, which is then when also Aiden O'Connell took over second half of the season, turned that team that was at one point four and nine and then went on that winning streak that they went.
00:19:02
Speaker
Yeah, after they told Joshua Daniels to get the hell out and don't have a return. I think they were four and four when he took over at the end of the season, eight and nine, second in their division, obviously, because the Chiefs best, the front runner still yet again. The Chargers are in their revamp now, and then lo and behold, the Broncos are the worst team in the division. So not much to talk about there. Let's talk about your hometown team, the Eagles. That was the team that we were talking about.
00:19:30
Speaker
ah Give us your thoughts on what you saw in the last preseason game. Going back to to the game before when he Baltimore. Can you pick his backup? That's what I've seen. I've seen exactly what the Steelers knew. Should should he be the backup? Yeah, I think he'd be fine. Again, I'm not pressed about who the backup quarterback is for the Eagles because again at the end of the day, you have to go. I have to i have to ah interject here.
00:19:58
Speaker
the back of quarterback who he was once won the Super Bowl. But Kenny Pickett is not on the level of the Nick Foles, I'm sorry. He's not. But is Tanner McKee? No, not from what I've seen. I mean, he's performing him too. I don't think so. I think you're completely... You don't think so? I don't think so at all. I watched Tanner McKee. I've watched him the last couple of pre-seasons. At first, you kind of think he's just like, all right, another vanilla armed quarterback, whatever. But I watched him in that Baltimore game.
00:20:30
Speaker
Come in, he led the team down the field and clutch, clutch, quote unquote clutch in a preseason game. But those situations where you have to put points on the board, he got them, he got them in the field ball range. Elliot misses the kick, defense returns the ball. Elliot gets the kick again and they win the game of Baltimore. Same thing in New England. They flip flop with him and Will Greer. Will Greer gets a series, doesn't really do much. They throw McKey back out there after having him out in the first you know couple of series after pick it.
00:20:59
Speaker
He goes, leaves the team down the field, they win the game 14-13. He's shown good good accuracy in the pocket, stepping up moving when he has to. He's shown a little bit of mobility, not great. He's not sneaky athletic, quote unquote, sneaky athletic, but he's moved a little bit. I think he's looked way more in command of the football after he throws it, way more accurate.
00:21:25
Speaker
at least this preseason that Pickett has been, I don't think Pickett has been anything spectacular to just anoint him the job. Now, if you want to say he has a little bit more experience in playing NFL games than Tanner McKee, then sure. But even compared to Drake May, I heard everybody's surfing Drake May on television today.
00:21:46
Speaker
But Drake made it look better than Tanner McKee to me. And that's not just me being a homer. Like, go look at the tape. Like, McKee was putting passes in catchable situations, wasn't loose with the football, played smart, didn't take a lot of hits. Like, that's what you ask of your quarterback. You want to talk about a quarterback whose stock drops in my eyes is a quarterback who takes bad sacks, a quarterback who can't throw accurately,
00:22:15
Speaker
quarterback who just, you know, you're not in control of this offense. And I see that across the state in Western Pennsylvania. I think I'm more concerned.
00:22:30
Speaker
I'm not. Concerned about Nick. He's already made his decision with Kenny being the back. I'm not concerned about the back. I'm not. I'm not arguing. I think I'm more concerned for me when it comes to this defense, right?
00:22:44
Speaker
the exaggeration that we've gotten on James Bradbury's successful transition as a safety, right? it was so It was greatly exaggerated. That might just be coming from me. But what I saw in that Patriots game was him utterly looking lost at times. Like he looked cooked from time to time. And then the the biggest mistake for me was on that four yard walk-in touchdown by Drake May. He made like a very, like what, corny attempt at the fake handoff before he tucked the ball. Yeah, Drake May, you could tell he was gonna run it. And that could have been Bradbury's hit right there. And he just, like I don't know where hit the mental apps was for him, but he bid on the handoff. And throughout the game, there were plays where he just wasn't,
00:23:41
Speaker
engaged fully for me as a safety where he was getting beat still wind up man it wasn't there all the time again I guess in practice it's easy for you to practice when you know your guys right you know the tendencies you're going up a battle against them multiple times you can get some stops but now you're going against guys that you've never played against or you don't play against enough this is where the exposure starts to come and I could see him getting exposed a little bit. Again, I don't know if Jane Driver was going to really keep his spot or not, but I know for the money that he's still getting paid under contract for, if the Eagles cut him or not, I think at this point is kind of time to cut your losses. I don't think they want to cut him. You don't think so either? I kind of don't want them to, but I think they're going to cut their losses. I don't think they want to cut him because they still have a lot of young guys in the secondary and the big overarching theme that at least the Eagles broadcast tried to
00:24:28
Speaker
present was that the veterans are helping the young guys. I think they like him in the locker room. I think you can just throw Dijon there or just leave Maddox, let Maddox in. I'm not saying he's going to play whole games as safety, but he's going to get snaps at center. He's going to get snaps at corner. He's going to get snaps in the slot. He's going to get snaps of safety. They going to need him in case of injury because it's going to happen. It's football.
00:24:57
Speaker
It's football. I don't think you cut him. Because he's still a veteran. At the end of the day, whether or not you want to say he's cooked or not, whatever. He's cooked, but it's not his fault he's cooked when you got to think about the fact that the Eagles have gotten so much, like, unkempt talent. If you like think about it, like, Keely Ringo, phenomenal. Isaiah Rogers has been playing out of his mind a lot. Phenomenal's a bit much. Yeah, phenomenal to me. Phenomenal. Real good. Real good, man. But wait, how can you how can you say that?
00:25:25
Speaker
You've praised Kenny Pickett, and you've praised Keely Ringo. And neither one of them has. Huh? Keely Ringo from last season was playing great football, and he's kind of carried over into this preseason. It's been the same. Not as much as everyone. Not as much as everyone. Ringo was arguably our best corner when Slay went down. No, I'm sorry. Sorry. That's wrong. I'm not arguing with him this year, because they got hooked. They were getting cooked last year. And he was locking it down. He was locking it down.
00:25:53
Speaker
but yeah he's The defense got, they were getting cooked last year. And then I still like what we drafted, cornerback wise. I like what we've got. that Again, Bradbury's kind of, he's he's kind of a it's kind of like, subtraction by addition. As we add more, somebody falls down the death chart. It's unfortunately been- That phrase you're looking for is a addition by subtraction. Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. I kind of flipped it, didn't I? You they definitely flipped it. You didn't kind of flip it.
00:26:23
Speaker
aye Very true. Fair call. Uh, shit. Yeah, I did flip that. I did. I just, that is what that is. Okay, continue. Go ahead. Continue. We've established you flipped it. Go ahead. Oh, no. I'm just saying, like, Bradbury-wise, where is he falling right now? If you think about it, just give me your starting three. Give me your starting three. I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, Does Mitchell start? The I can word out of the camp has been, he's, we'll be like, he's going to start. He's going to be the slaw guy? Cause I'm not, I'm sorry, not Ringo, I'm sorry, not Ringo, Rogers, Slay Rogers Mitchell. So Roger is going to be the, I'm not mad at that either. Cause I'm, again, it's been, you got so many guys and we haven't seen any Dijon because of the injury. So like, does he didn't, didn't you just insert him in?
00:27:17
Speaker
Or do we just say, okay, we got to kind of wait and see now when there's a game where he's, said we are available to throw him in. Like, does he come back for this last piece in the game? I mean, I don't know. I think you're going to see a lot of, this might be a, this might be a stretch, but hear me out. I think they're going to use a lot of Cooper de Jean, the same way that the Cardinals use with a Baker.
00:27:38
Speaker
Ooh, I don't like that. my cms safety I see him at corner like see him but buddha still rest started though a lot remember buddha was still playing almost damn there and ninety percent it snap yeah i understand that but he was but he was using them at different spots you don't don't
00:28:07
Speaker
Yeah. So like you, you're, you got plenty of willing, I guess, decent bodies. I think the question mark comes in. Sydney Brown still, still recovering from ACL there. Yeah. The Eagles defense has more question marks than the offense. That's my, I think the whole thing. But I think the Eagles, but I think the Eagles defense, the question marks about the Eagles defense is more so How was personnel going to line up, not yeah where's the talent at? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not. And not that's not a talent perspective for me. Cause obviously I think the defense is vastly talented. I just think where you line up, as you said, how the venue was going to utilize all these guys. Cause you got now, if you're an Eagles fan, you know all the names, even if you're not an Eagles fan, you know the names. Like you've got so many guys, the depth is there. How do you do all of them? And if you don't use all of them.
00:28:54
Speaker
Where does it lie that, what what's the clear outlier for you to start this guy over another? Am I, and that's kind of the question you guys are asking, right? um That can like, arguments can be said about like, Nicole B. Dean, how how how far off is he from there? I don't think you're starting Dean. I don't think so either. I really don't, but how far off is he from the starters? Same with Nolan Smith, how far is he from there? I think Nolan Smith is closer to starting than Dean by far. Dean started last year and the injury happened again.
00:29:22
Speaker
Even when he wasn't injured, he was he couldn't cover. Yeah, he was late on a lot of things. I'm not saying he's not good, but he has a lot to write. People were talking about him being a steal of the draft and he has not shown up. I was i was
Surprising NFL Teams Predictions
00:29:37
Speaker
we're talking about Nolan Smith being steal of it. And he's not like these guys gotta show up. no we get stand That's the thing. No, it's Jordan Davis. Jordan Davis. Jordan Davis has six games. Jordan Davis has six good games to start his rookie campaign. And then then the bull rush was it. They knew about the bull rush. and It was over. Yeah. Uh, Jill and Carter, we kind of already knew what he was going to be. Um,
00:30:01
Speaker
Bryce Huff, I think he's going to be a good fit. but yeah and i I don't really have a lot of questions about the offense. Makai Beckton solidified himself as a a right guard. I want to see how that works, actual NFL game, not preseason game, because we only saw him for like seven snaps. And he looked good in those seven snaps. But but apparently but terribly he he's he does ah apparently he just ran away with the competition.
00:30:20
Speaker
Dude, I mean, the guy is a six seven left tackle that now is getting converted to guard the game. Yeah, and now the now the games easier for your guard because because your feet were slowly before being honest like because he was a good guard, you know for a fact.
00:30:36
Speaker
It's easy for you in that guard spot than that tackle spot because you now you're really protecting that quarterback's blind side more. You're slower on the feet. You're getting better. You think as much. You don't got a defensive end. You can trust that right tackle next to you. And that's lane time. It's not even just that. it's like As a left tackle, you have so much you have to worry about. You have arguably the team's best edge rusher as your one-on-one assignment at every time. you You're trying to get a good snap on that snap count. You're trying to you know get a good jump.
00:31:05
Speaker
You've got so many factors that's going on there. I think you have to really think a lot as alignment, especially as an attacker. When you're a right guard, it's not as much responsibility because inside get contained. There's still calls you have to make and everything like that, but there's less responsibility on just useful. And then, unfortunately, with the injury to Tyler Steen and him getting Carter off, it kind of Edged him up a little bit more, if we were being honest. It propels you when injury occurred, unfortunately. For me, Chris, I think we should talk about the surprise teams, right? Like teams that might surprise you this season. And what? Oh. Go to bed. Good ain't bad, playoffs wise. All right. Give me your team first. You know it's me with the microphone that directs the traffic around here. I. So you. I'll go first. I'll go first.
00:32:04
Speaker
As you should. I'll give you my good team. That's a surprise though. Like sneak up on a lot of people. Here we go. Let's see. Let's see how people are feeling about this. See, the team I think is is going to sneak up and surprise a lot of people is the Los Angeles Chargers. A lot of people are already thinking that this is going to be a rebuild for the Chargers. And the expectations are kind of low. But you have a fifth year of Herbert. You have Jim Harbaugh, who is not like he hasn't coached in the NFL before. Yes, they lost Echler. Yes, they lost Keenan Allen. I'm not saying that they're going to be this explosive offensive team. But it's not like this team is the void of all weapons. If Quinton Johnson can quit can catch,
00:33:00
Speaker
then maybe they got something. That's a big effort. Because the job description numero uno for a wide receiver is to catch the ball. And he has trouble with that. So you're already kind of working from behind. But I think that the Chargers still have Joey Bosa, still have Camille Mack, still have Derwin James, still have these defensive stalwarts that can carry a defense that shouldn't be asked to hold teams to 20 points so they can be engaged because the offense can't put up points because, you know, whenever charges offense shows up, the defense lets them down, defense shows up, offense lets them down. I think a lot of that had to do with Brandon Stanley. I put that squarely at the feet of Brandon Stanley because you saw it for his entire tenure there ever since he left.
00:33:58
Speaker
the Rams, after they won the championship, they went to the Chargers, that team was up and down the entire time he was there. And their ups weren't, you know, like, oh my God, this team could win a Super Bowl. Their team, their ups was like, okay, yeah, they beat Jacksonville. You know what I'm saying? Like, they in that middle of the pack at best range was feeling. At their worst, they got their ass kicked by the Raiders. Yeah. So,
00:34:24
Speaker
I think Harbaugh, who's coming off a national title in at Michigan, who I think has a lot to prove his second go round in the NFL. We talked about Denver's situation. we don't you know They got Bo Nicks. Maybe they're good. Maybe they're not. Whatever. Maybe Bo Nicks is the second coming of the Drew Brees. We'll see. You talked about all the the the things that the Raiders have on offense. They don't know who the starting quarterback is going to be. Are you going to really buy with Aiden O'Connell?
00:34:53
Speaker
and ah in a first full year of Antonio Pierce in that division. And if anybody can come up with a game plan to be to win a game against Mahomes, it's got to be Harbaugh. When he was in San Francisco, he was among the elite head coaches because of his offensive his offensive schemes and what that team did. Don't forget who was cooking with Alex Smith first before he went to the Chiefs. It was Jim Harbaugh when he got to San Francisco. Don't tell me he can't turn around Justin Herbert. Don't tell me that. I think the Chiefs are the turn. The Chargers are my good surprise team that I think will make some noise in the AFC and will, they will catch, you will see by week seven, you'll hear people talking about the Chargers. Like, oh, I knew they were going to be good.
00:35:43
Speaker
da da da da You ain't hearing none of that right now, because nobody's saying it, but I'm saying it right now. I got the charges. Jared, who's your good team? I think you're going to hate me for this. I really do. As a team, you disdain, like, really disdain this team. Or the other team, but you really disdain this team a lot. I don't know why, but I have a strong feeling the Titans are going to be good this year. Really strong feeling the Titans are going to be good this year.
00:36:15
Speaker
Yeah, you got, I mean, you got will not, but you got first year head coach Brian Callahan comes. Changing the defense, changing the offense, changing the offense. They're in a division where you don't really know what you got with Indianapolis. I kind of, I see where you're going with that. I mean, again, the Texans, I don't think they're one and done, right, obviously. But now teams have scripted. They've seen C.J. Stroud. They know what's capable of. I know they brought in Diggs. I know that defense is still there.
00:36:43
Speaker
But we'll have his calories now there. Boyd's now there. Hopkins I know is injured, but he'll be back. He's there. they Yeah, they might've lost Derek Henry, but that might've been a blessing in disguise for this team, because now you have to revamp your entire playstyle under this new head coach, right? Yeah, you brought in Tony Pollard, but as they still eat, that's a guy that can do it every down back, he can pat you can catch, and he can rush if you need him to. This team's gonna be, I think, more centric focused on the pass a little bit, which is gonna be good for them with the talent that they have and the arm that well well Levis has displayed.
00:37:20
Speaker
With that being said, I can honestly see the Titans being good this year. Is that something
Challenges for the Bills and Coaching Pressures
00:37:26
Speaker
that that'll make us cringe a little bit? Obviously, because we've known Chris, he hates the Titans with a passion. I don't hate the Titans. Don't be out there spreading that up. I just think they suck. That's all right. They do. i Come on. I'm not telling. There's nothing personal. There's nothing personal.
00:37:45
Speaker
Listen, if they were in black and yellow, they'd be the Steelers. Give me your team, you're saying it's going to be bad. I get what you're saying, Lenny. That was definitely a Pittsburgh this.
00:37:58
Speaker
um um a little bit Who's your bad team, sir? My bad team? I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. I think this one's easier than most people are predicting. All right, no, it might not be that easy.
00:38:13
Speaker
I kind of have the ah Jets being pretty bad. I'm not gonna lie. I don't see the Jets being all that good. I think they're going to be a competitive team, but when we talk about the good team, I'm throwing you in like top five, top eight conversation, right? I don't see them being there. I don't.
00:38:37
Speaker
Okay, I can see that because I was just thinking like that's that's that's probably easy. trick I think I can see that just thing going up off the hinges real quick. But it's like the just me. Yeah, they got Rodgers fully healthy. That's great. You got all that abundance of talents and Breeze Hall Gardner Wilson.
00:38:53
Speaker
They can easily be nine and eight. They can easily be 13 and four. ah like you co they could They could be seven and 10. I have no clue. And then like with all the off the field stuff, they still got that sign rec stuff going on. Like this team could be, oh yeah, you could be super great. Or I can see you really being a like six win team.
00:39:16
Speaker
even with Roger because of the fact that maybe there's some like type of chemistry thing going on this ah or there's some type of coaching thing where he's not a big fan of willie the office coordinator him or getting on with the plays being called from or knock on wood like just the Jets always have that one that one thing that just ends up hindering them and I can see it happening again in a division that's very much stacked like it's it's a stacked division not not New England let's just go not New England The other three teams include like the Jets, Dolphins, Bills. I still think the Bills are going to be very good. And I don't know why I say that, but I do. Keon Coleman, the way they're revamping the offense, it's not just dig centric. They kind of have more receivers that I like now. Again, I wasn't a Bay Area Davis fan, so that's why I kind of was always off on them a little bit. It just now comes down to how good is Josh Allen? Do we finally get to see Josh Allen be unleashed and be great? Or are we just going to say, oh,
00:40:07
Speaker
He was great because of dicks, right? O-line is a little bit more polished. i I can see the Bills being good again, or I can be completely wrong in the Bills or the worst team in the division, not the New England. That's kind of where I'm thinking. I think the team I think is going to struggle this year, my team is the Bills. And now I'm going to even take you one further. I don't think Sean McDermott last past the season. If they stink like that, no, he's gone. I don't think.
00:40:33
Speaker
Now, I don't think that offense is going to be as, now, I could be wrong. I could easily, and I readily admit this, but I didn't want to just take an easy layup. I kind of wanted to be a little spicy. So I'm picking the bills to be the team that I think is going to underachieve most in most people's eyes. But the thing about that is, like, they could win nine games and make the playoffs in the AFC, because I think the AFC is kind of a log jam.
00:41:02
Speaker
but If I told you the Bills would be 9 and 8, that seemed like it's underachieving. Yeah. But even with that being said, if they go 9 and 8 and they lose like the first playoff game or whatever, I don't think McDermott keeps his job. If they struggle at all out the gate, I think McDermott loses his job in the middle of the season. Oh. like I think McDermott, if I had to rank the coaches, I think, on the biggest hot seat this season,
00:41:33
Speaker
like who the biggest, like, will not make it through the season potential. One is Mike McCarthy. Yeah. Two is Sean McDermott. Yeah. And three might be Sirianni, to be honest. I think switch it, switch it, flip it. I think Sirianni's one. I think McCarthy's still two. And then I'm putting McDermott at three. I think the Bills are,
00:42:01
Speaker
going to be good. That's where I'm just looking at it. But if they come out the gate slow at any for any reason, if they're three and six. I think that's literally the argument that you make for the Eagles. And that's why like we always say the Eagles are like so net better. I understand that. But let me, but let me but the Eagles offensively have way more talent than Buffalo. Yes, which is why they have to perform. It should be more talent than Buffalo. The Eagles are a better team than Buffalo.
00:42:29
Speaker
Yep, this is why I think you see on is the number one. OK, and that's based on what you said. OK, but ah the reason I think McDermott is one is because Sirianni at least has made it to the Super Bowl and was three points off of 83 in the homes. OK, Sirianni didn't lose the Super Bowl.
00:42:48
Speaker
No. He didn't... Maybe he didn't win it, but he didn't lose it, right? Yeah, no. He didn't step in his own... You know, he doesn't call the plays on... Well, we don't... He didn't call the plays that season. He didn't... He didn't call the plays that season. He doesn't call it defensive plays. McDermott calls the plays on defense. McDermott's defenses or the team, for some reason, someway, somehow collapses at the same point every year. Right? At least with Sirianni, you could say he hasn't... He hasn't had that...
00:43:18
Speaker
You've seen this from McDermott for how long now? This is what, eighth, ninth season as they go to the Bills? So at a certain point, I mean, I don't think you're going to get a Belichick 21-year run, not without six Super Bowls. They haven't been to the AFC Championship. They've been to what, one AFC Championship game? Yeah. He was a defensive coordinator at Carolina.
00:43:46
Speaker
And they made this Super Bowl in 2016. He was hired the next year, so 17, so he's been a head coach since 2017. Yeah. Like, come on, come on. At a certain point, you gotta make, you gotta do something. Literally, like that that is the truth. That's why, I mean, even with, because McCarthy being one is because you don't gotta give up on his contract, but
00:44:13
Speaker
How many times, McDermott, they've won how many more games? They've won how many, you know, how many games they've won with McDermott? Double digits every year. Team looks great. They can't, they don't show up in the playoffs. Yeah. Every time. So if they come out the gate, if they come out the gate struggling, I think McDermott's done. I'm not going to see it. They've already fired, they've already fired the offensive coordinator after they will left. They will left. They fired the replacement.
00:44:43
Speaker
Middle of the season. Like, come on, man. Come on. I can see it happening. i'm i I'm not against it. I can see it happening. It's just, man, this abundance of talent in your, you're the owner. I'm not even arguing with Syrian. I'm not even arguing with Syrian, right? Because I agree with your points. Yeah. You're just thinking, you're you're looking at that bills. You're like, man, this is something I shake. They've already, they've they've they they've regressed on offense. Yeah.
00:45:12
Speaker
Talent wise, now um if Keon Coleman come in and like the word on fire or, you know, if just, whatever, what i if they come out and they look great, then whatever. But if they don't come out to get hot, same with Sirianni, you could be looking at a new coach. and I can see the bills getting, yeah, right. you I can see it. The bills getting rid of their coach before. And you know, and you know, and you know, there's a certain guy who's available and would love not only stick it through the wind but to stick it to the jets one more time
00:45:43
Speaker
which is all you know rumors is oh he'd also love the eagle's job like like love it like in the him and war been good compadre. Can you stop? Can you stop with this? I'm just saying. Every time. Every time you try and bring it back to the to the to the people. What? Because I want to be mad at Belgian being a head coach for you. Yeah, you're going to be mad to as hell when he dropped the putter in the third round. You'll be mad at him. I'm going to be not only screaming. He's going to be pissed. stick it to New England, What are we doing? But he doesn't he doesn't but to stick it to the Jets drive. one more time. I rode the dress. So, yeah. It's true.
Chicago Bears' Season Outlook
00:46:13
Speaker
it so
00:46:16
Speaker
Bill to get what he wants. How are you giving up that power? Are you crazy? Can I ask you your opinion on Chicago Bears? What do you think? the guy We haven't talked about the number one guy.
00:46:28
Speaker
Kill Williams is there. The offense is a revamp. The defense is still a defense. I'm gonna make this as quickly as possible. They've upgraded at the most important position on the field. Thank you all for listening to another episode upstream to the point. If you like what you hear, make sure you tell a friend and tell a friend to tune in. We're still a five star rated podcast on iTunes. So if you listen to this through there, please leave us a review. Make sure you follow me on all your favorite socials. I'm back at underscore Chris Cross.
00:46:56
Speaker
Follow me at underscore JW Hughes. I kind of was frozen. The fact is that I'm back back. You forget it. You took your hiatus from social media pages. Uh, yeah, all of us, man. Check us out. Big things are always coming now. The season's here. It's time for us to get right over the NFL season college football. Is it coming? Make sure y'all get ready for Alabama to win the championship. Just one thought out there, Alabama championship.
00:47:21
Speaker
don't Who's the head coach Alabama right now? jerry quickly we go First of all, Joe Miller is the quarterback Chris. Don't worry about who the coach is. coach but will take go Joe Millroy is our quarterback. maybe I have to put so much faith in him. Who's the head coach? The Bower. The Boar? How do you say his name? The Boar? The Bower?
00:47:40
Speaker
I don't, you the fan, you the, you the out, you roll times here. You tell
Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:47:44
Speaker
me. I know his name's Callen, but I don't know how to say his last name. Cause every, I'm not sure. Don't say something real, real, don't but say something real bad. Keep that to yourself. A lot of, a lot of last names are finicky. Um, but yes, uh, as long as we have Jelen Milrow, who I think is going to have a huge week this season, Chris, sky's the limit. But then again, Texas is looking nice. You have Quinn Ewers in Archie Manning just waiting in the lane.
00:48:06
Speaker
George is there. I'm trying to end the show. Yeah, but you did that. All right, so like I said, thank you all for listening to another episode. Come on, you've been trying to give analysis. I already rapped. Hey, man. thank Thank Chris for shouting out Tobias Harris on the podcast. He loves that guy. Make sure you tune in next time. I'm going to get a runny tally of how many times I can slander Tobias Harris on this show. I thought you was editing the show, Chris. I thought you was editing it.
00:48:32
Speaker
Not for some Tobias Lander, we'll stay open