Drake Maye vs Caleb Williams Headlines NFL Week 7 as Rams Implode & Chargers Hit Rock Bottom

Cold Open Power Rankings Roasts

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Welcome back. The missing the point NFL power rankings were every week. Matt ranks 32 teams, and I spend the next hour figuring out which part of the list was written during a gas leak. The Rams are 2-4, despite having a roster that looks like somebody turned the salary cap off in Madden. Stafford, Puka, Devontae, Aaron Donald, Miles Garrett, and they just lost 18 to 16 at home to Arizona, a team we already buried, and we held her funeral, said a few words, lowered them into the ground, and they climb back out specifically just to beat the Rams, I guess. Sean McVay doesn't need an offensive coordinator anymore. He needs an extra assist. And somehow the Chargers are even funnier. They're 0-6. They went into Kansas City, got to the one-yard line, and somehow turned that into a field goal like they were trying to solve a football escape room on hard. We crossed them off weeks ago, and every Sunday they come back just to say, hey guys, great call. Great call, guys. Great, like great decision, honestly. Green Bay beats Dallas in another uh exciting display of both teams being completely incompetent. Congratulations to the Packers, but let's not pretend Dallas didn't contribute heavily to their victory. Um then there's Philadelphia. We're definitely gonna come on to talk about that. I'm not making fun of Jalen Hurts having blood clots. That's a serious and scary situation. I am, however, making fun of the idea that your quarter billion dollar franchise quarterback has a clot issue and somehow winds up on a plane to London. Um that's definitely something we're gonna need to talk about. Uh he's not your uncle's check engine like, guys. He's a pretty valuable asset. I think it's probably a good idea not to kill him with a pulmonary embolism. The 49ers are 6-0, the Chiefs are still the Chiefs, the Vikings are 5-0, and Matt has finally decided they exist, it looks like, based on these power rankings. We love that. My Chicago Bears are 4-2 with Caleb Williams coming back. Drake May is coming to Chicago, and we're gonna save that till the end. I'm gonna hand it off because the MTP Boston guys, Mike and Zach, are here to join me in Matt to talk all things football, but especially that. So we'll dedicate a nice large chunk to everything. Patriots, Bears on a short week in Thursday night football. But I

Rams Panic And McVay Vibes

SPEAKER_00 2:12

do want to start off with this Rams team. Uh, Zach immediately ran to a gleeful level of Schaden Freud in the group chat when they decided to lose to the Arizona Cardinals. Again, a team that we already crossed off, killed, buried, died dead long ago. Not in any way relevant until they do things like this. So, Zach, I'll go to you first since you seem the happiest about the demise of the Los Angeles Rams in this Uber roster that they've assembled. Can they bring it back? Do you want them to? What's wrong with Sean McVay's eyes? All questions that people want to know.

SPEAKER_03 2:44

I I mean, I said in the prediction show they would be like, you know, close to undefeated, and and look quick, look at me. Look how stupid I look now. It's great.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Who would have thought?

SPEAKER_03 2:54

Not me. Certainly not me. Uh yeah, I think 19th might be maybe too high in this uh in this rankings here. I still would have put them below the Cardinals because man, I I don't know. And especially uh Devontae Adams now going down with a grade 27 hamstring sprain. Like you really have to uh you're really gonna lie. No, no, I couldn't I couldn't even keep a straight face for that one. God damn it. Uh yeah, I mean Adams going down too. That's uh that's another huge loss, but might not be because I mean they had this whole super team assembled and they've just been playing like dog shit the whole time. So I don't know. It's just uh the wheels are coming off really fast, and I really I know it's early. Six games is really not much, but at the same time, when you're losing key guys in your offense and your team overall, I don't know. It might maybe the defense might step up, but I think the offense is gonna uh kind of fall apart.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

Mike, I hope this isn't true of all of them, but it seems McVeigh is the latest, bitten by this offensive guru, great offensive mind, sort of can't manage a game book that seems to be going around the place for offensive coaches a lot of the time. Um we saw it with former fired coaches, we've seen it with, you know, even the great minds, the Shanahans of the world, I think have been guilty of it at times. The additional part of this with McVeigh, though, is he seems to be unable to manage a game properly, even though he is this great offensive mind, and also he seems to be cracking the fuck up, dude. So you and I have always been pretty high on Sean McVay, Mike, as if I if memory serves. And and now I'm a little bit like, ugh, should have trusted that the haircut was a sign of a bigger problem.

Michael Marcangelo 4:41

Well, I I think uh I think it's both a catastrophic uh season so far, and it's also too early. Uh, because I I think historically, when you look at when you look at a Sean McVay team, his teams, when they are uh preseason ranked like in the top five, do not perform. They won the Super Bowl going into that the going into that season, they were like a top 18 team, right? Uh last year, or was it two years ago when they started out, was it five and five, and then they just rattled off I think it was six straight wins uh to win that division. Listen, I think we've seen we've seen this in other sports, like when the Heat compiled their super team, they did not figure it the fuck out until year two. I think bringing Aaron Donald back was is all great on paper, but uh if he goes next game without a sack, it will be the longest uh stretch in his career that he's uh that he's gone without a sack. Right now it's four games, uh, he's never gone five. You haven't had um oh god, uh Miles Garrett healthy, and then I I just still trust him. I trust McVay in a playoff scenario more than I trust any other coach in that division. And the Super Bowl champion is in that fucking division. So I don't know what that says about me or if that says it about Sean McVay.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

I do think it's reasonable. You're being very reasonable. That's not what we're doing here. We're here to uh we all piled in to laugh at them. No, you are being reasonable. I I think it's still fair to say it's m it's moved from a disappointing start into an alarming start. I mean, they've they're coming close to as close to a must-win game in October as you can come with their next game uh at Las Vegas. And Matt has them at 19 in his power rankings. They were 12th last week, so yeah, that like you're right around disappointing last week to all of a sudden like shit. 19 might even be too high if if you're like they're still right, and I understand why they're here, Matt. I'm not even criticizing the placement, but it's the idea of like they're 19th because of the fumes of the expectations of the beginning of the season, right? Like it's not because of anything they've really done over this two and four run, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:42

No, yeah, it's they're only here, they're only not at the bottom just because every team beneath them, I think, is absolutely dead in the water. And I still think with this much less in the season left in the season, they have the opportunity to turn this uh scheming pile of shit around. Um, but man, it has been so much fun watching this. I I love this more than that year that the Yankees would spend like like two million, two billion dollars in the postseason, come out and lose the first 30 games. I could watch this team struggle all day long. Sean McVeigh is doing the best SNL character of a coach that's lost his mind I've ever seen. I'm so about it.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

He is. His eyes are crazy. Stop touching your microphone and desk. So the moving moving right along, and I by since we're here in the West, we might as well might as well round it out and finish the uh the NSC West. Um

NFC West Reality Check Debate

SPEAKER_00 7:28

I if I was looking at your rankings, the 49ers, last week they were one, this week they're one. Spoiler alert, everybody. That's fine. Everyone's fine with that. No one's got any dissenting opinions there. Perfectly reasonable. The Seahawks are eighth. Last week they were sixth. I might put this to the group as maybe a little bit too high. Losing 17-14 at Denver, dropping its second consecutive game and third overall. The defending champs are now 500 and three full games behind Division Leader San Francisco. The NFC is floundering to a certain degree. It seems like who's who's gonna make the playoffs is basically the NFC North and Friends. Uh, that's I don't understand how that seems to be occurring, but whatever. Um, at this point, number eight, I don't know. I think it's it's given an awful lot of credit for what we thought they were again, instead of what they've actually been recently. And they're coming up, and I do always say this to you, and I know you're you're not necessarily supposed to be factoring this in, but it's looking really like a three-and-four Seattle Seahawks team considering their next opponent is the Kansas City Chiefs. If they beat Kansas City, all complaints disappear, but Zach, I mean, how do you make what do you make of the team that defeated your New England Patriots in the Super Bowl? Are you taking a little bit of a victory lap on this? Because overall the Pats look better than them this year.

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Uh no, I I wouldn't take a victory lap. I think I think uh any game in Denver, no matter how good or mediocre the Broncos are, is always a tough uh, reasonable and fair about you, also.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Fuck you guys. Just kidding. Go on. Well, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 9:01

But you know what? I it I mean it is eight's kind of interesting. It is, but I I don't know. They are the Super Bowl champs, they're it you do kind of factor that in, even though you shouldn't. It's a new season, new year, different players. Um I don't hate the placement. I think eight's good. And uh yeah, good job, Matt. Mike, any chance you hate the placement?

Michael Marcangelo 9:25

Yeah, I hate the placement. I don't I don't think you can have a you can have a three and three team in the top fucking ten uh the NFL power rankings. Like you just you just can't. And uh it you told me Matt a couple weeks ago, it is about what I I've seen so far and what I think is going to happen. So what the fuck have you seen so far that you think they're in the top 25% of the NFL?

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Well, what I think is gonna happen is I think the team's gonna start to just start. That's not what I asked you.

Michael Marcangelo 9:53

That's not what I asked you.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Listen, uh what here okay. So what I've seen is I've seen the team go up and down, I've seen them beat some competitors, I've seen them lost some really tough ones. And I just here's my thing. When I look below them, other than um the Ravens, with your uh favorite quarterback being out, uh I don't know who I'd put above them as far as who I think the better team is. I just it's not the Packers, it's certainly not the Jaguars who lost a way tougher game in home stadium.

Michael Marcangelo 10:18

It might just be the Jaguars, the Packers, the Panthers, the Lions, the Steelers. So listen to the Packers just dog the Packers just dog walked your team, TK. Like this happened. And then yeah, we were fucking terrible that day.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Imagine getting dog walked by the fucking Packers, dude. Holy shit.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Time out, time out, time out. Hold on, hold on. The Packers and are like that one cousin that's always bullied the Bears, like that doesn't count. Them losing to them in October is not a really high marker of how good either team is. Shit happens. It's the oldest fight we have.

Michael Marcangelo 10:52

If the Jaguars had beaten the Bills 45 to 17, whatever the fuck they beat us by, and it wasn't that they beat us, you would have the Jaguars ranked higher than the fucking Seahawks. That's just a fact.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

How many wins did Houston have before they just beat them? One. Okay, so okay. So what am I gonna do? I'm gonna punish the the the reigning champ for losing a tough one to what could have been their Super Bowl opponent because the Jaguars beat a bunch of high school players?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Can I make a can I ask you one question? I I do think you've defended this position quite well, but I I just want to ask you one question. No. Would you be able to defend Sam Darnold being a bottom 10 QB so far this season? Because like if if you don't think he's a bottom 10 QB and you would actually defend the point that he isn't a bottom 10 QB this year, I would refer you to the eye test. That dude has looked like he is has suffered a grade 27, as Zach would put it, head injury this year. And I I like, I don't know. Get him a fucking Guardian cap, or at the very least, take the Dunce cap that he's been wearing off and let him play some actual fucking football. I can't believe you guys lost to Sam Darnold now that I think about it.

Michael Marcangelo 11:58

Like, that's what I'm saying. We didn't, we didn't. We lost to uh Drew Locke.

SPEAKER_00 12:02

So if that makes me right, it's even worse. I forgot he wasn't even healthy. I wonder if he would have won if he had played.

SPEAKER_03 12:09

I would I would I would I would have I wonder if uh yeah that's a two point I think the Patriots probably could have won if Sam Darnold played. I mean we could have won this.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

Might have been better. Yeah, Jake May didn't throw three interceptions in the fourth quarter, but like all those things happen.

unknown 12:22

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

That's a long time ago now. You guys are like a completely different team. Um all things all things revert to the mean eventually. Look, I'm just saying Sam Darnold's quarterback play has really made it hard for me to justify that the that you can say the Seahawks are a top 10 team because I mean I guess it's crazy though, because like the Vikings are a top five team. So uh yeah, it's kind of it is hard. I mean, Kyler kind of looked all right, I thought. Um, but we'll come on to that. Yeah, the NFC West is is interesting. It's certainly not up for grabs anymore. I I think that the San Francisco 49ers are gonna walk that division, and then the Seahawks are already. I mean, six games in, the Seahawks are already looking at a at a wild card berth here in the NFC, which is that's fucking nuts to think about.

Michael Marcangelo 13:06

Um not to not to show your like your thunder here, TK, but would and would you or anyone else still be surprised if by the end of the season the Rams are are have a better record than the Seahawks?

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Nope. Yeah, but they're not gonna win their division, though. I mean, this is the key. No, no, no, no, I know. Like they're they're not I don't think they're gonna be a wild fan. No, I wouldn't. I mean, they're only one game off each other. Uh I that wouldn't surprise me at all. I think the ra I think your point earlier was well taken. I think the Rams can kind of turn it around. The the thing that's really freaking me out about the Rams in the context of this NFC West uh division is the look on Sean McVeigh's face. Like he it's really not filling me with any confidence that that team is gonna turn it around. And I'm a body language guy, I'm a vibes guy, uh you're a stats guy, you know, and I and I and I understand the data is important. Um, but I don't know, man. Like if my if if the guy setups if the guy who dug my foxhole had the look on his face that Sean McVeigh had on his face, I'd be uh I'd be thinking about maybe getting into my rations a little early, you know. Uh get but maybe have one of those uh freeze-dried cigarettes or whatever the fuck was in there because it doesn't seem like it's going well in Los Angeles. Um, I mean it never is. This place is a fucking hellhole. But uh but yeah, I don't know. I mean the Cardinals certainly aren't winning that division. I I don't know if anybody but the 49ers is uh are. Um I think the Seahawks and the Rams will definitely be in a kind of a death battle by the end to get that, get like a seventh or eighth spot in the NFC overall. So we'll see how that goes. Uh the issue with it is you know, you have the NFC North right there, like only one person can win that division, and it looks like all four teams have the potential at the very least, and I'm not big enough my team, but it's all four teams have the potential at the very least to be playoff teams. So it seems like it's gonna be a crowded field like fighting for second across the board here, you know, which is why why I would worry about the Rams and the Seahawks, is that yeah, they might get their act together, but are they gonna be relevant come you know January? I I I have my my doubts, and I did not think that leading into the into the year. Um can we talk about just to touch on a couple of important points

Jalen Hurts Blood Clot Outrage

SPEAKER_00 15:03

here? And I and I do uh appreciate that the the fundamental hierarchy of the power rankings here is is to put them first, but storyline-wise, that's pretty crazy that they let Jalen Hurts get on a plane, Matt. Um I I don't I know I knew the Eagles ran their organization like uh like a cheap body shop in the middle of nowhere, but I didn't know it was this fucking bad. Holy shit. What do you think that is? Do you think that they just like know he can't throw over the middle, so they wanted him to die so they could collect the insurance? Like, I don't understand.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

Well, I here's listen, I understand now very clearly that uh Mr. Soriani is not a medical expert, so um you know he's not a Mensa member either, let's be honest. Holy shit, he said that 15 times. Watching his face, him and McVeigh. You have medical experts that literally work for you, though, sir. We need him and McVeigh to get into like some some like golden mitch boxing class or something. I watch these guys fight for who's got the crazier eyes. Um, it's a tough look, it's a tough looking feeling. I'm starting to love that thing more and more because they're so quick to cannibalize their own people. It is a beautiful thing. They would eat their own young if they were a little hungry. Those cheesesteaks are not filling them up down there.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Uh what do you think the cheese sticks are made of, dude?

SPEAKER_01 16:13

Or really Nick Soriani if he keeps it up.

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Yeah, no, they will. They'll turn on you real fast. That's a group of people that are not the best. Um, Mike, well, I just your managerial experience. Would you ever put somebody in a situation like that?

Michael Marcangelo 16:25

No, it's no, this is it doesn't make any fucking sense to me. A like okay, so I don't think we have all the information. Uh well, the information that we have, this this looks like malpractice of every fucking level. Yeah. And and it looks like Jalen Hurts is the new owner of the Philadelphia Eagles. Like at the very least. Uh like that should fucking. Do you want that? I'm not a doctor. No one here is a doctor. We all know that if you have a blood clot, you should get on a technically.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

I I know it might sound hard to believe, but technically you have to.

Michael Marcangelo 16:54

Like, what's your what's your doctor of the law?

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, I'm a doctor of the law. I have a doctorate.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

It's pretty crazy. I know. I know. Once you get to know him, it becomes more and more ridiculous. I'm not too much.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

You call me doctor. I won't. Yeah, doctor Dipson.

SPEAKER_00 17:09

I don't know how you're the Hollywood upstairs medical school.

Michael Marcangelo 17:13

I don't know how you let him play a game. And then after all of that happened and you all know that on the inside, how the fuck do you let your head coach even answer a question? Like, don't even put him out there. Do not put him out there. Put the team medical uh, you know, doctor out there and just say, We're gonna tell we're gonna tell you what we know and we're gonna be looking at. But the fact is, you tell you said this in uh the pre-show, the NFL doesn't give a shit uh about about the players. It's never been more highlighted than this. They conducted an investigation, they found that the uh the Eagles did nothing wrong, and you pointed out it's because all the owners hired uh Goodell. He works for them. So what investigation is actually gonna yield anything, right? I I don't I don't see or I don't see a scenario where Jalen Hurts doesn't sue and make a fuck ton of money.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Sue his own team.

Michael Marcangelo 18:04

Uh he might not he he might not be able to play again.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

I wonder, Matt, uh, can you speak to this? Would he be under some sort of anti-arbitration clause in his contract? That's a thing. I I often have to sign non-arbitration agreements when I work for companies to basically say like they can mistreat me as much as they want, and I can't sue them because I'm protected by a union. And like these players are protected by a union, so it's like you're you follow your union guidelines, we're not here to protect you. There's I I sign those agreements all the time.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

I'm sure, I'm sure they do, but in case of gross negligence, there's always like a waiver to that kind of stuff. Like, and there's always somebody you can sue if you can't sue the team in the league directly. There's always someone you can't sue, Matt Wilcox. How do we do, baby? We've got to put it on the fucking business card. Ask the Mass State police about me. We figured it out.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

They think they're able to watch this. Uh, that's funny. Um, I don't know, man. I mean, Zach, if this is your friend or brother or or you know, even mild acquaintance, you're you're advocating for him to get something out of this, surely. Like, he's gotta be furious, right?

SPEAKER_03 18:59

Oh, you have to be. Like you said, like this could potentially end his career, which is insane. That's a life. I mean, it could have killed him, yes, but it could it's it seems like it might end his career, which is fucking unbelievable. Yeah, you if you're and like it should not surprise anyone about the NFL conducting a one-day investigation and then concluding it was fine. Right. They they try to uh they try to cover up the whole concussion uh issue for decades and let you know Junior Sale kill himself and all these other players go through God knows what. So yeah, this this is not surprising whatsoever from the NFL standpoint.

Michael Marcangelo 19:35

On three separate occasions in a week, they put that they put Jalen Hurts's life at risk. They flew him to London when he had this, when he had this. They then kept him up for 36 hours, London playing a game, and then they flew his fucking ass back.

SPEAKER_00 19:47

Oh for oh, sorry, you're forgetting one four ways. They also let him live in the city of Philadelphia. Um, the uh the I mean that's just a fucking that's just a risky endeavor for anyone involved, I gotta say.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Um while he's going to Sinai in New York, he can live with LeBron. So perfect.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

They can commute together. Yeah, LeBron won't even live there, you see. Um LeBron, your your basketball players won't even live in your city, guys.

SPEAKER_01 20:10

Shit hole.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

Um the the best TV show about the city of Philadelphia is about how the worst people in the world live there.

NFC East Dumpster Fire Check-In

SPEAKER_00 20:19

Um, and and the title is ironic. Um, I guess if you look at that division as a whole, I mean the Cowboys are just a fucking joke. I I I couldn't believe them. I I didn't understand uh why they feel that the gang can't shoot straight against the Packers. I think anybody would have looked good against the Dallas Cowboys. I will admit, begrudgingly, the Packers have looked a lot better than I have assessed them over the last two weeks. That being said, uh deep balls are a wide receiver stat, and that's a hill I'll I'll die on. Uh Jordan Lowe still stinks, and uh I I I mean there was about five dudes running around completely wide open all day in prime time, and they still dropped a bunch of passes. So I'm Golden dropped three of them. Yeah, that's bad. That's I mean, we are gonna talk a little bit about AJ Brown too, sorry to say. But I uh you know, there were there was some there were some pretty bad drops across the course of the NFL week six, but I I mean honestly, I I don't think it says much about the Packers beating the Cowboys. I think it says more that they beat the Bears, despite it being a divisional game. I do think the Bears played absolutely trash in that game. And yeah, we had a backup QB in there and we lost four starters in the first quarter in our defense. I don't really want to make those excuses. You can't lose to Green Bay um if you're trying to be a winning team in Chicago. It's it's fucking embarrassing. Even if it is at Lambeau, even if it is, etc., etc. You can't make Jordan Love look like Joe Montana on television. That's it's just completely unacceptable. So hopefully they learn from that. But overall, I mean, uh the Cowboys, I just hope Bobby doesn't get Cowboys games on whatever planet he's currently living on because I don't think it's uh good watch. I I their defense is is atrocious. Their offense seemed like a bunch of talented guys that just met, which seems to be a yearly occurrence for the Cowboys. I don't know. Mike, what the fuck is going on in Dallas? What's going on in this division? And Are the Giants gonna win it? Like, is that actually what's gonna happen? Cam Scattabu had zero touches. That was the big that was the big uh story coming out of out of the NFC East. I don't know.

Michael Marcangelo 22:09

Were the Giants our steel, Zach? Yes. Yeah, because you guys had them at like two wins, right? Uh TK. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

Yeah. I would four wins? They're already gonna streak by both of us.

Michael Marcangelo 22:24

No, I I I think I said I I I could see eight, so Zach probably made me pick six. Um but I think I listen, I thought Washington was gonna be better. I thought Philly was gonna be better, I thought New York, I thought the Johnson be better, I thought Dallas was gonna be exactly who we fucking thought they have always been. They are high-powered offense, but they they are inept. And in not, you know, not cut in time, Dak does always fuck up. And this is not all his fault because this defense, while it's not what was it, 2021 or 2022 level like atrociousness, they're just not they don't have really any playmakers actually making plays. No, they do have Joey Porter Jr., he's just not doing anything. They do have that lineman that they got from Green Bay, he's just not doing anything. Uh so they they need a playmaker. Uh, and I think, yeah, they're they're gonna be one of those teams that just has a good offense and and wins seven or eight games.

SPEAKER_00 23:22

For the record, in our NFL prediction show, we put them at five and twelve, and you guys did steal, and you put them at eight wins. So you're actually looking pretty good. Um, Zach didn't talk you. I mean, I don't know why he caught a stray there in a hypothetical, but he did not talk you down from uh from eight to six. Uh maybe you wanted ten. I don't know. Maybe you really believed in this Giants team and w whatever version of a person you were at that time. Um yeah, I've I've grown a lot since then. Yeah, yeah. I I've really I've really felt the maturity uh when I get like Caleb Williams memes in my inbox on a daily basis. The um I don't fucking make them, yeah, but you share them, which is an endorsement.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Hold on, he's been sending them, he's been sending them directly to me now. We're not even sharing them to you, so oh right.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Yeah, we're just talking about trying to shield you. Yeah, I'm trying to shield you from it. Yeah, that's real love. Appreciate that, mom. Um okay. Anything, anybody have anything else to say about the fucking absolute dumpster fire that is the NFC East? I really thought that the NFC South was going to be the NFC East, but it turns out the NFC South is still just the NFC South, which is also strange. But the NFC East is just I I have no idea. I don't even know what to make of these guys. Anyone got anything on this team? Any any big bold predictions?

SPEAKER_02 24:27

They're just marching to the beat of their own drum and that drum's a uh trash can.

SPEAKER_00 24:32

So yeah, yeah, yeah. It's it's four teams that get an extra 30 minutes on every test, you know, in a s in a special room when they're when they're not done yet.

Michael Marcangelo 24:40

Is the quarterback that they that they got from Minnesota is he actually going to be good until Jackson Darrell comes back, or is that just they weren't yeah, like did JJ McCarthy show that he could actually play quarterback in the NFL in that fourth quarter?

SPEAKER_00 24:55

He's he's doing it. I agree. People don't game plan for him, and then when they do, it goes really badly for him.

Michael Marcangelo 25:01

I mean 243 yards and a quarter is fucking nuts.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Yeah, but I mean then you just figure him out again. You know, like then the next team that actually can be competent just figures him out again. I'm just I I've from the time he got dragged in the back.

Michael Marcangelo 25:12

Did you start him over over Jameis?

SPEAKER_00 25:14

I always like a Jameis game. He's a fucking weirdo. I I like him a lot. I just like him as a guy. I would like to hang out with him. I he's he's a starter in our hearts, if not on the field. Um, who else is interesting? Talked

NFC South Strangeness And QB Takes

SPEAKER_00 25:28

about the NFC West, we talked about the NFC East. I don't really want to touch the NFC South yet. It's a very strange division.

Michael Marcangelo 25:34

And yeah, the Panthers, the Panthers are interesting.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

The Panthers have been interesting. I mean, it to me it seems like this this Bryce Young uh got benched, you know, took a look at himself, took a long look in the mirror, uh, realized the mirror was too tall, had the mirror lowered down, uh, looked again in the mirror and said, you know, you even though despite your obvious physical um impairments, you you can make something of yourself in this league, despite the fact that your name is Bryce, which is like I think consensus the worst name you can have, other than, I don't know, Adolph. Uh it's it's a terrible, it's a terrible situation he was born into. And I really believe in in the power of overcoming adversity. And I think the Panthers are a real uh dis display in that. But the Falcons are better than their record, they're better than two and four, I think. Um the safety. They're better than their quarterback. Yeah, I would I I don't know. I think Penix is alright. I I rate him a little higher than you do, but maybe not as high as Matt does because Matt tied his flag to that mask on the show. I really have to release because it's just becoming contextually ridiculous. I'll do a little uh intro at the start of that game. Um the books, I I don't know. I I thought they could maybe get feisty, but it doesn't look like it. Um, that kid doesn't seem like he really is NFL caliber. I mean, he's better than we thought he was. I I don't know. He he's gonna get confused with the other one. Uh maybe they can trade it.

Michael Marcangelo 26:54

Did you see that his that his wrist uh full of plays got knocked off and they took it to the opposing sideline and then they just shut him down the rest of the game? Because they knew exactly what the fuck he was calling.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

That's crazy. Oh no. That's nuts. You should are you allowed to do that? I mean, I guess if you just like hand intelligence over to the other army, like they're allowed to use it. He got hit so hard that it came off his fucking wrist, and the opposing team just picked up and walked over to their side. What are they gonna do? I think you should know the plays. I don't think you should have one of those wrist things. What do you what do you think? I love that.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I mean, every every quarterback in the NFL has ever had that, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:25

Not all of them. Some of them don't play with it. Brady Brady had him, he's the best one of all time. Okay, but just because Brady did it doesn't mean it's okay. He also mouth kisses his child, which is which is fine.

Michael Marcangelo 27:34

It's fine.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

I mean, I'm just saying, but him doing it doesn't make it right, you know. His 12-year-old child. Well, he did it and it was fine. Yeah, don't kiss your kid on the lips if he has object permanence. I agree, Mike. So the uh like do it before he knows enough to get fucked up by it. I'm I'm totally in Mike's in Mike's camp on that one. It was weird as shit. No, I mean I'm putting plenty of players don't have them, I think. I feel like, and also like, shouldn't they be at least in code? You know, like shouldn't they be like hard to figure out if the other team gets them? Like it just says the plays, it just says like mesh spots on your phone.

Michael Marcangelo 28:05

We know Jordan Love does not have it because he literally just takes a nine-step drop back and just heaves it and just hopes that one of his receivers doesn't drop it.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Yeah, yeah. Just doesn't need all of that. He couldn't read, so that would go, you know. Who Mike Tomlin never had one because he couldn't read, so you know it's not big deal. Mike Tomlin wasn't a quarterback, Matt.

SPEAKER_00 28:21

We're talking about the little wrist things. I'm pretty sure he had a play.

SPEAKER_01 28:25

So dumb it's the playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 28:27

Um, Mike Tomlin is universally loved at this point. Like his stock is like on the rise. Like he's really great at the end of games uh on NBC. So I don't know why you're so against him. Is it a race?

Michael Marcangelo 28:38

Lots of quarterbacks have lots of quarterbacks have the have the wrist plays. Well, Mike Tomlin doesn't he can't ring.

SPEAKER_00 28:43

What the fuck are you talking about?

SPEAKER_01 28:45

You're just trying to shoehorn something in there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Michael Penix Jr.'s name when he's out there kicking ass. Us penis riders, we're gonna keep riding for him.

Michael Marcangelo 28:53

Yeah, dude, he sucks at playing football.

SPEAKER_00 28:56

I wouldn't go that far. He's okay. On panics? Yeah, that guy smells.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

Smells like he's got a couple wins in his in his cleats there, huh?

SPEAKER_03 29:08

Yeah. I didn't say how he smelled, it just smells.

AFC West Chiefs Inevitable Chargers Collapse

SPEAKER_00 29:12

All right, let's go to the AFC and just run through these fucking actually good teams. Um, okay, uh, the AFC West, the Chiefs, the Broncos, the Raiders, the Chargers. The Chargers have lost six games and won none. Uh first coach fired Harbaugh. I mean, it's a matter of time now at this point, right? It's it's any second. We've seen a GM fired, but we haven't we haven't seen any. I mean, I don't know why it's a contract.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

I really hope they just hold on to him for the whole season.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

For the value of the entertainment.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

Dude, this is like I mean, I don't know if there's any value in them tanking to be the to get the number one overall draft pick. I don't know what the mock drafts are saying, but regardless, I just think it'd be great. That's the only thing making them relevant right now is just seeing how stupid Harbaugh sounds every week and just how bad this team is. So why not just keep him out there?

Michael Marcangelo 29:59

Every time they pan over to him on the sideline, it I he just looks like Biden in that in his fucking last debate. Like he's just not there anymore. He's not fucking there. And I think they're gonna keep him. I think they should, he should be like, you should embarrass him because he decided when he took over that team, he was gonna get rid of as many skill players as possible and try to build that offense from the line out. Turns out the lineman that he drafted can't stay fucking uh injury free. They're always hurt. Don't just doesn't have a ball sack.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Yes, Justin Herbert. I will I was gonna come on to admit that your take is completely in stone on that one. You were totally right about him. He's not, he's regressed basically year on year, um, across across the time he's spent playing well. And I think you're totally correct about him. Um, I think I thought he was Trevor Lawrence and Trevor Lawrence was him, and I was wrong. But the and uh yeah, I am confusing blonde white people because you're allowed to do that. Okay, you're allowed. And and I'm getting old, my gray matter is calcifying, and if I'm gonna do that, let me at least do it with the whites. But I have to say, every single pick they picked up on the line was not injury prone coming in. Like, there's been some bad luck. Like, Joald had the best injury stats of anybody in college, like he he played the most snaps of like any human being on a collegiate level. Like, maybe that's why, but like it's just I but the data that they had, they couldn't have known that. Uh, that's my one defense of them. And what I will also say is as we start to talk about mock drafts and tanking, as Zach just brought up towards towards the end of the season. Um, I really do need to release that game because that uh we draft Arch Manning. We tank for Arch Manning thing is crazy because really you're gonna need like the 15th pick to get him at this point. So uh he might get benched. Yeah, so um uh yeah, I I mean uh on name alone, if it was if Matt was power ranking him, you know, he would definitely apply the context, but um not playing well. His his draft stock going down. The Chiefs are looking likely to win that division. The Broncos are a kind of a weak four and two, I would say. I don't think they've looked that convincing being four and two. And the Raiders kind of are just starting to look like a team you don't really want to play. Um they they look like a team you should beat, but at least an annoying hurdle in your season that I'm sure that you guys have have experienced firsthand. I mean, you won the game, but it's you're not a hundred percent sure going in. They might actually have something about them, it turns out. So it is a bit of a kooky division, the AFC West, but um I don't know. Chiefs look like the Chiefs again, and it it's to the point where we're not talking about them at all because they are just inevitable, you know? And it's like you don't want to talk about Thanos too much because then he comes true, you know.

Michael Marcangelo 32:33

It's but it's a little bit different Chiefs team, and this this kind of flies in the face of everything that I've said on this podcast, and I'm just gonna say it now just so get out of the way. It's Kenneth Walker has changed that team. I know he's so good. Wow, that's very big of you, Mike. I really really big of you, too. Now he's not the best player on that team. Patrick Mahomes still is, so if they win a Super Bowl, it will be because of Patrick Mahomes. But Kenneth Walker has changed that team.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

No, no, it's just nice to hear you give running backs credit. It's great.

Michael Marcangelo 33:00

Yeah, you do hate running backs. I hate him. Oh, I no, I don't hate them, I just don't value them. There's a difference.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

Well, yeah, you're in Pittsburgh Steelers front office. I mean, it's just like they just they're not they're not a highly uh coveted uh skill position for you. I get it. I mean, I you're a data guy, and like they're mostly made up of how good their run blockers are, if you sort of correlate the statistics of every running.

Michael Marcangelo 33:21

I'm also a quarterback guy. Yeah, Michael Bay Jr. No, like one that says healthy.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

I will say, like, they do look like a pretty legitimate force and and they do have multiple um offensive weapons now. Uh they handled the Chargers 22-6, exactly what an undefeated heavyweight is supposed to do to an 0 and now six team. Um, they continue to occupy, I think, like a very annoying territory where you, like I was saying, like you sort of take them for granted because winning five straight doesn't qualify as news for them, which they reseated themselves in that position so quickly. The last team I saw do that was you fuckers. Uh so it's it's difficult. They are playing Seattle Sunday night. Definitely the toughest environment they've gone to uh in a primetime game. So let's see uh what the what the actual test is there. And honestly, we we talked about Seattle. I mean, their backs are against the wall, they're gonna have to try to really come out and win this game. It's important. So um I got I'm flagging that one. I got my eye on that game. Um

Steelers Respect And Power Rankings Logic

SPEAKER_00 34:17

moving right along through the rest of the AFC, unless uh anybody got I I got I got one knit to pick, one bone to pick with Matt, really, and the rest of the AFC, and then we can launch into the Bears Patriots conversation if you guys are ready. But um the only bone. Go ahead. Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers were last week were 16, and now they're 16, and they just beat Tampa Bay 26-19. They're four and two. You're I just think your long-standing refusal to respect them in any way, shape, or form is becoming increasingly difficult to defend, but maybe you'll be able to do it this week. You just haven't really yeah, it's yeah, you you've pretty much admitted it's a bias at this point. So they've got the same record as Cleveland and Baltimore, and they've been winning enough different types of games that this doesn't look like a fluke to me. Aaron Rodgers, and this is not fun for me to say, is playing really well. He's playing genuinely really well. He just is. Uh, I again I don't know how sustainable that is for a 57-year-old, 63-year-old, 71-year-old man in December of this year, in which he will have turned 82. But I don't know, they're about to go play New Orleans and they're gonna be probably five and two. And I just I it's I don't know. The Saints did show signs of life, so it's a little bit more interesting of a game, but come on, man. 16 and they didn't even move.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Well, so I could I could sit here and I could go back to my point about the Seahawks and the Jaguars, not respecting the Jaguars being a one-win team, and relate that to the Steelers coming out and being a dog shit Tampa Bay team and having to do it in overtime, which is like kind of embarrassing. But really, what it is is this is my list, and where they are is where they are.

SPEAKER_03 35:46

I I I do completely agree about them beating Tampa. I was watching the game thinking to myself, like, aren't they uh aren't they supposed to be better? As an aren't people hyping up Aaron Rodgers and how he's playing, and here they are going overtime against terrible Tampa team and they're they back up QB.

SPEAKER_00 36:03

We all thought they're gonna be good. We all thought they're gonna be able to cross them off right now.

Michael Marcangelo 36:05

Oh, Tampa's Baker, yeah, Baker's not playing. Right. They got they got Jaden Daniels' uh third long lost cousin uh at quarterback.

SPEAKER_03 36:14

Like, what I don't know what you're gonna do at this current moment, they are terrible. So and in this current week when the Steelers played them, they should have not gone to overtime. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 36:24

I mean, it feels like we apply this logic like when it suits us. You know, it's like we're gonna be able to do that.

SPEAKER_03 36:29

Well, yeah, that's that's the whole point of me being on this book.

SPEAKER_00 36:31

What else are we doing here? I just I don't know. I don't mean to bring down the whole house of cards, but it's like sometimes when it's the Patriots, it's like, well, they can only play with put in front of them, and it's like, well, yeah, any NFL team can beat you. I mean, go on overtime, you never know what's gonna happen, blah blah blah blah blah. And then it's like, oh, the Steelers should have beaten Tampa worse. I don't know. I mean, I'd I imagine that you guys aren't gonna apply.

Michael Marcangelo 36:53

Here's a this is a perfect segue, DK. I'm just you right now would would say that the Bills are a really good team.

unknown 37:00

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:01

I mean, I have huge question marks about their defense at this point, but sure they're a good team, yeah.

Michael Marcangelo 37:05

Okay, I'd say good. They haven't they have an easier schedule this year than we did last year, when nobody nobody's even talking about it. So there is bias.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

People are talking about it. I think people are talking about it. There's definitely bias, but bias towards the Bills, though. I mean, I pointed it out last week on this show that that when Josh Allen makes a mistake, when he throws a deep interception, they call it like an arm punt.

Michael Marcangelo 37:23

Like, I don't, you know, like I I when they barely beat the Raiders, it was like, oh, they got by a pretty good Raiders team. Like, we again we beat them. They said the same thing about seventeen.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

No, but they said, but but they they applied the same logic. It was like, oh, they fucking like they waxed the Raiders. Like it's just the Raiders, like, no big deal. Like, this is what I'm saying. They like the goalposts move all the time based on how you beat teams, and I really think the metric should be. Yeah, I think so. I I think it's I should maybe my tone is as aggressive, but I just think no, I agree with you. It's it's like, sorry, no, I am I am purposely agreeing with you. It's like it's uh but but I think you're also agreeing with my point in relation to the Steelers. It's like I think so when if you win a game, you win the fucking game. That's what I think the metric should be. It's like, oh, they didn't win the way we wanted them to. I just don't know if that's necessarily fair. I mean, the fucking Packers barely beat the Buccaneers. If the Steelers barely beat the Buccaneers, like both, like nobody, you didn't hear anyone in the NFL media other than me uh be like where I was applying the logic differently to suit my agenda then. Uh the it's you didn't have anyone be like, oh, the Packers only barely beat the Bucs. No, everybody had a had their fucking yellow and green dicks in their mouth right away, right afterwards, right? So it's like, whatever, they won the game. Like you got you gotta pick a lane here. I mean, I don't, but everyone else does.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

What diseases would make their dicks yellow and green?

SPEAKER_00 38:37

I don't know, but there's something in the fucking water up there in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a place I will never visit, because why would you go there?

Michael Marcangelo 38:43

No, trust me, it's definitely so if it was if it was Bears Packers NFC title game, you wouldn't go there?

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Uh to Lambo Field to see the Bears.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Um to your point though, about like how these teams win games in the like I think there is something a lot different for regular season games, and especially for these power rankings, that if you win your game in the playoffs, you're going on to the next round, the other team's gone. And yes, you can debate the quality of the win and what have you, but at the end of the day, if you win the last game of the year, you're Super Bowl champs, and that's all you can really be judged by. But for these regular season teams in these rankings, for the sake of saying which team is better, I mean, there is an ultimate goal to look at these rankings and say, this is who we think are the best teams in the NFL and who's gonna be the last men standing going into playoff time.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Yeah, I think it's true. I mean, you aren't desperately trying to figure out who's good and who's not all all for the first like half of the season at the very least, right? Like it's you're it's a bit of a scramble.

SPEAKER_03 39:46

Aaron Powell Yeah, because these team records are gonna be kind of uh Fugazi in a way, with you know, I think the Vikings 5-0 record is just gonna be a total sham when they finish the year like eight and nine or whatever. Uh so I think the same thing applies for the Steelers that these you know that they're playing well, Aaron Rodgers playing great so far, but is his 89-year-old ass gonna keep up by week 17, 18? Probably not. And they're gonna look like shit by the end.

Michael Marcangelo 40:11

I think he's gonna I think he's gonna have a renaissance here because he's told everyone this is it. You know what I mean? I I I think I and I hate the fucker, but he he does he does look pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 40:21

I do think you have to look at it in context. Like, I what if take both things, right? Take both scenarios. Like if you look at all the the situate, the whole situation on like why you think he might he might crap out or the Steelers might crap out, right? Injuries, his body being old, uh fossilized, corpsified, um, you know, these are all like easy things you can reach for. What I will say is having an offensive system guy in McCarthy, come coach an Aaron Rodgers team, a guy he knows how he plays. Like, I I don't know if there's a ton of gas in the tank, but with that combination, but it is a championship-winning combination. It is uh it is a combination that, yes, of course, not at his age now, but it they did play some pretty electric fucking football over the years in Green Bay, you know, as difficult as that is for me to admit. So, you know, can they go to the well for championship level? No, but I think 16th worst team in the NFL as uh at four and two across these many weeks is my only point. You know, I I just think yes. If it was a can they sustain it power rankings, if it was a what what were they, what we think the power rankings are gonna be in December power rankings, maybe. But as of right now, you're just going off the body of work, right? And and you know, if you're if you're taking and applying the context of what we thought they were gonna be coming into the year, at least some of it has to be what they are, which is a four and two team in a tough division playing good football. I that's the only thing I'll say about it.

SPEAKER_03 41:48

So, do you know what's what's funny is uh I'm pulling up the ESPN power rankings, they have Pittsburgh at 17.

SPEAKER_00 41:58

That's funny.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

Um so Matt likes the Steelers more than ESPN and all the experts there.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

So super fair to the Steelers.

Michael Marcangelo 42:07

I don't know why it needs to be said that way, but it actually it it sounds better for a podcast when you stand across the room and tap away from the microphone. I was celebrating.

SPEAKER_01 42:16

Next time I'll celebrate on camera, you're right. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00 42:18

Oh, yeah, yeah. Because ESPN is the end all and fucking be all. And you're if you're aligned with them, you're really aligned with the top sports minds in the world. Yeah, that's the rule that we're gonna go on here at our competing podcast. Talk my power racing. Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

Yeah, they suck though. They suck, and they don't take enough ivermectin, that's clearly the problem. And maybe if they took a little bit more, they'd be better. I don't know. Topical joke there, Matt.

Michael Marcangelo 42:39

Uh it would be and I'm not, I don't want to put this into the universe, but let me just put this into the universe. It would be wild if McCarthy and Rogers uh won a championship uh for the team that they beat for that same championship 16 years ago. Yeah, that's there's there's something to that. Very good point. I mean that now.

SPEAKER_03 42:58

You know what? That sounds I don't know, maybe it's just like a dumb brain moment. Completely forgot they beat the Steelers together. Completely forgot about that. Just didn't cross my mind. I sometimes forget that Aaron Rodgers won a championship because he had so many years of just being really good and fucking irrelevant.

Michael Marcangelo 43:16

Anti-science beat anti-consent, and it was uh it wasn't that close of a game.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

He shouldn't have actually uh neither of those teams actually should have been there if you look at the whole context of that Super Bowl. The Bengals were actually the best team in the uh AFC and Burger. Carson Palmer. Carson Palmer, I mean, got hurt, got his leg absolutely pulverized that that season. Yeah, just exploded. And they went to the Super Bowl. And honestly, if you look at all the advanced metrics of that season, the the that was gonna be the Bengals year. And uh the Bears met the Packers in the NFC um championship game, and Jay Cutler quit and started riding the bike and smoking a cigarette on the sidelines. I blacked out so hard that I was screaming um uh 70% of the earth is covered by water, and the rest is covered by the Bears defense. At the commercial breaks, I'm told. I don't know. I don't I don't remember this. I was screaming at the television and I kind of came too and they had lost. Um, Cutler quit, obviously, and uh the rest is history, but yeah, it was a year.

Michael Marcangelo 44:13

And I uh sorry, Matt and uh Zach, I just had to ask DK this one one last question about this because I did put this into the universe two years ago and I was like, I think Aaron Rodgers is gonna be the Steelers, and I put that out there and kind of wrecked his entire summer, and then it happened. If it's the Steelers versus the Bears in the Super Bowl, what happens if Aaron Rodgers is?

SPEAKER_00 44:34

Is that really a question? Is that really a fucking question? Or you ask me where my loyalties are gonna lie? No, no.

Michael Marcangelo 44:39

What happens when Aaron What happens if Aaron Rodgers beats you again?

SPEAKER_00 44:43

I it the scenario you're painting to me right now is what if the Bears get to the Super Bowl and then the other side of that game is a 40-something year old Aaron Rodgers. I will fucking bite your hand off for that scenario, my friend. I would fucking love it if that was the case. If I could like, it doesn't matter that he's an old man. I still want that ass whooping back. I want it wouldn't happen. Wouldn't happen. Wouldn't that something I would even fucking entertain? Would not happen. Absolutely would not fucking happen in a minute.

Michael Marcangelo 45:13

How miserable would you be to deal with if what I just said happened, happened? Um week after for the show.

SPEAKER_00 45:18

I mean, you'd have to, it would be probably miserable for Leah to organize my funeral arrangements, I guess, from the suicide. I don't otherwise, like, I don't know. I wouldn't be that hard to deal with. I'd be dead. So um uh yeah, that's uh that would go. Don't fucking paint these pictures to me, please. I uh this is like very upsetting.

SPEAKER_03 45:34

The February 16th podcast is gonna be great.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

You just hear fucking undertaker bells. Um it's like, oh, the music's different. All right. Uh we've we've kind of jumped around all over the place.

Bears Patriots Thursday Night Preview

SPEAKER_00 45:48

I think it's probably time we talk about this Pat Spears game, uh, a thing I wasn't necessarily looking forward to doing uh with the three of you, but I am gonna hand over hosting responsibilities now.

Michael Marcangelo 45:56

Yeah, I don't know why you're not looking forward to this because uh uh I'm not gonna do what we do on Instagram or what we do in the in in the chat. I'm gonna be I'm just gonna be as honest as as I can. I was rooting for this game for the Super Bowl last year. These two quarterbacks are my favorite quarterbacks uh that come that that that that came out of that draft. Right now we have the Patriots at four and two, the Bears at four and two. Drake May had an abysmal first three games, and he's turned it on the last couple of games. Uh and Caleb recovered from his injury, came back, and beat the shit out of uh a terrible quarterback in uh the Falcons. So I I think Vegas has this right. Like right now, uh the Patriots are underdogs. Uh, I'm not gonna go to you, DK, first. I want I want to go to Matt. Matt, do you think that the Patriots are a worse team than the Bears? Should they not be favored in this game?

SPEAKER_01 46:45

Uh I think that the line is the accurate line. I think it should I think it should be Bears minus three. Um, not because I I don't think they're a better team. I think the teams are are shockingly evenly matched. Um but I think when you look at our injuries and you look at the offensive line, I think that's the right line. I'm I'm I'm nervous about this game. We're in Chicago, it's a Thursday night. Um, I think historically Drake has not performed that well midweek, which is always fun. Uh it's a fun stat to look at. But uh I think it's a fair line. I think it's a fair line. I think the Bears look very good. I think they look very competent. I think they've got fingernails uh my hamstring hurts back. Um and I think that this is a real test for Drake.

Michael Marcangelo 47:23

See, I didn't do that. I did not do that. Uh Zach, uh is is do you think based on everything that you've seen so far that uh that that that the line is right? We should be underdogs going into Chicago?

SPEAKER_03 47:34

Uh I think the old school logic is always that uh you give the home team for three points. It's not exactly the real logic, but that's just kind of the uh the saying there. So they kind of think it's like uh pick them at this point. Um I mean yeah, I if you were to tell me uh if you're to tell me hey, you have to pick one of these teams to be a favorite, yeah, I would say Chicago for sure. Uh getting the quarterback back, he's looked more I mean I know Drake May is Yeah, he's he's looked more electric out, I would say. Uh excellent, but electric electric. No, electric is well. Like, I mean, there's more exciting plays. I I feel like they I feel like Drake May still, even though he's played well these past few weeks, he's still trying to figure it out, and this is gonna be the first real test for him since looking like dog shit the first three weeks. Uh so I I mean that Chicago defense is is good as well. Like it's just not at you think that is he right now.

Michael Marcangelo 48:33

You don't DK, you don't you don't think it's it's good? Is he right in saying that the Chicago defense is the first test as opposed to like Buffalo or the Buffalo is what week three or week four?

SPEAKER_03 48:45

No, week four week four. Early enough.

Is The Bears Defense Actually Good

SPEAKER_05 48:50

Is the Bears defense defense?

SPEAKER_01 48:53

No, no, Bears defense is good. Buffalo's defense is horrible.

SPEAKER_00 48:55

No, no, the Bears defense is not good. We're we're riddled with injuries, uh, first and foremost. We have a lot of we have a lot of high profile injuries. Um we have four four very important starters out coming into this. They're weird, is what they are. They're a strange defense, is what they are. They they Dennis Allen, I think, recognized the personnel that he was given both last season and this season, and there's just gaping, gaping holes in in our actual personnel room. I think what he does really well is he knows that if he teaches the right things and he goes for explosive defensive plays, that will paper over some of the every down cracks that the Bears have. I think one thing he's done really well efficiency-wise, is he somehow, and I'm not really sure how this how he did this, but it's some sort of reverse of the way Ben Johnson thinks about the offense. We somehow became the best third-down defense in football over the first uh six weeks. And you guys are actually the best third down offense in football. I don't know if you knew that, but that combination I think immediately favors you because I think it's a fake stat for the Bears. Like I think we I think we lucked into that. I don't know how we fucking started that. I really have no idea. Our entire secondary is made up of rookies and a clapped Jalen Johnson who just looks a shadow of his former self, and now we're hiding him. We hid him in the in the Falcons game. That's what we did. And anyone that thinks he just didn't have a bad game is realizing, is not realizing that we made the rookie safety just come and cover his side every single play. So it's not great. Um we can't get pressure on the quarterback with four guys, so I wouldn't worry that much about your O-line. I think you're gonna get a lot of encouragement, and Drake's gonna get a lot of time. Uh, I I'm very worried about the Chicago defense. Like, I really they give up a lot. They they statistically somehow have like slid into the middle ground in the NFL of like not looking entirely incompetent. But and they do we do get turnovers, which is nuts. I don't know, I don't know really how, but like we seem to just be riding a lot of luck in that regard. Like it just seems to work out.

Michael Marcangelo 50:53

But and they are like you put the opposing team in a in a sh in a position where they only they can only throw. Like you know that they're gonna have to throw to the biggest.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Yeah, but look look what we did when we did that to Green Bay. Like, it was bad. Like, uh, you guys have deep shot ability with AJ Brown, and I don't think he's gonna just like I don't think he just forgot how to catch the ball. I just think he was coming back from an injury and he like looked a little fucking rusty. Like, I'm really worried that he's just gonna murder us in in in the in in deep ball situations. And I think Drake, Drake Maya essentially, over the last season and a bit, has been the best deep ball quarterback in the NFL. So I'm entirely worried. Yeah, like I just watched this get fucking cut up by deep balls, and now this guy's fucking coming to town and he's pretty fucking good at him. So, like, yeah, not great. AJ Brown, best deep ball receiver in the NFL for for the you know the majority of his career. I don't, I don't know, man. It's not, it doesn't feel great. It really doesn't feel great. Um, there's one bright spot, and that's Kyler Gordoner, who I think is one of the more athletic players in the NFL coming back um after this weird foot thing that he had, and you know, three sacks of forced fumble. He looked fucking electric coming off the line and and blitzing, but uh, I mean, I I'm hoping my offense can score more points than your offense. That's that's what I'm hoping. That's that's my absolute fingers crossed situation here. I I don't think that the defense is gonna win us this game.

Michael Marcangelo 52:09

Matt, how good are you feeling going into this uh game after a you know, just the eye test, like a a bad win against the Jets. Like again, Drake May did not have a great stats, right? But he the one thing that he did do that game was not turn the ball over, because if he had turned the ball over, we would have lost the fucking game.

SPEAKER_05 52:25

Right.

Michael Marcangelo 52:25

So all he had to do was just play, you know, play a safe game that way. Uh, I guess my question is knowing what you what you know, Caleb goes 30 of 36 or 300-something yards and four touchdowns or three touchdowns against the Falcons, they can score at will. How worried are you about our offense being able to keep up?

SPEAKER_01 52:43

I am worried. I'm absolutely worried. I'm worried about Kyler Gordon coming up the side and killing Drake. I'm worried about him having to improvise too much against uh you can you can insult your secretary you want. They're very fast, they fly across the field. I don't think that's very good when you have to be mobile. It's a Thursday night, it's a loud crowd. Um yeah, I don't feel good. I don't feel great about it. Um I I thought that um here's here's here's my real problem. Atlanta had a late push for uh some points that game. I'm not gonna say his name, I'm not gonna bring up Hanks, I promise. Um but 24 for 24 from a clean pocket for 250 yards. Um your boy Caleb's on fire right now. He looks uh like a like a beast, and the improvised plays where he has to get out of the pocket, those look good too. That makes me really nervous when our defense is is is damaged and I hate our offensive line. Like I really hate our offensive line. It drives me nuts watching them out there. I'm just I'm not I'm not very confident about this game.

SPEAKER_00 53:40

If I was gonna tell you my worry though, uh on the other side of the ball, honestly, it's it's it is that is because the the Patriots defenses looked incredibly competent over the first few

Caleb Clean Pockets Versus Patriots Pressure

SPEAKER_00 53:51

weeks. They allow 18-ish points a game, right? Like that's really good. And it's essentially what the team's built on. I mean, what there's all this talk of Drake May, but it's Mike Vabel in a defensive team, right? Like that's what that's what your identity really is. Of course, the the narratives are going to be around Drake, and yeah, like you're gonna win and lose games at the quarterback position. I I get that. I'm not saying that that that's not important. I'm just saying that if like Christian Gonzalez is back, right? So you can put Caleb in a situation that honestly doesn't benefit him a lot of the time, and it's what Minnesota did. They can start to put pressure on him, which makes him drop back a little bit too much, hold the ball a little bit too much. This is still a quality in his game that I've that that's lurking around this season. 24 out of 24 in a clean pocket. The biggest thing I take from that, yes, great, unbelievable efficiency, 100% efficiency. He had 24 passes in a clean pocket. The Patriots are not going to give him 24 passes in a clean pocket. That is not on the fucking table on Thursday. It's just not going to happen. So if he takes the layups, if he remains patient, sure. But playing the Patriots defense on a short week and playing Atlanta and the way they looked, very different kettle of fish. Also, I think Christian Gonzalez is one of the better, if not the best, uh secondary players in the NFL. And he's gonna decide who to take off the field. And I think he's gonna not take Roma Dunze off the field. I think they're gonna be smart enough where he's gonna realize that he's gonna go cover Luther Burden. It's gonna be an incredible matchup, but I it's one that I don't think Burton's gonna win. Unless maybe you give him to him in the flats and let him make plays. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. But I there's to me, and this might just be worry on my part, but to me, there's just so many more ways New England can win this game. There's so many more things that can go wrong for Chicago, in my opinion. Our secondary, if say, for instance, right, like what's been Drake's big thing this year? If you can get to him, right? If you can get to him, you can sort of eliminate that the Patriots offense. He hasn't played well once once under a lot of pressure. Dennis Allen's big thing is he gets addicted to blitz if they start to work, and if they stop working, he still blitzes. And and I really feel like I've seen Drake achieve way wonderful things in that exact situation. And I'm just I'm just a little worried about that too. I get it because I play Madden. I get addicted to blitzing too. I totally understand what like what happens in your head when when you start just pressing blitz every time, like it's gonna work this fucking time, strip sack. But I don't know. I I I I appreciate the compliments, but I'm shitting myself. I'm out. You guys talk amongst yourselves. I got Ajina.

SPEAKER_01 56:17

But if we're gonna go coach versus coach, it's fucking Ben Johnson. I mean, he is like, come on. I love Raybell, and you know, again, we're seeing he would, but uh, it's fucking Ben Johnson. He has looked so confident in in these past couple weeks. Uh your quarterback goes 24 for 24 for a clean pocket, but that's amazing. He's not making mistakes. That goes to your offensive scheme. That is all planning and preparation. That's all that that is. Um so I think I give obviously uh Chicago the nod, or at least the the edge on the coaching decision.

Michael Marcangelo 56:47

So scare me the most, Zach. Um I'll just throw this right to you. Uh the things that if we the things we don't do well is rush rush the passer, which as Matt and DK just pointed out, if if you give him a clean pocket, he's perfect. And we also don't protect the passer that well. So do you think that our strengths are bet like uh good enough to overcome uh our weaknesses against a really high powered offense? Ugh man.

SPEAKER_00 57:16

I mean are we a really high-powered offense? That's hard for me to accept. Accept it.

SPEAKER_03 57:23

Yeah, I if I were to pick one to be more concerned about in terms of like not getting the quarterback or protecting Drake May, definitely protecting Drake May is the issue right now. Well, they got three injuries on the offensive line last game. Uh it's just been rotating guys left, right, center, up, down, god knows who's maybe we'll have a tight end playing center this week at some point. Who knows? Uh, but that's that's definitely my bigger concern whether or not DK thinks that the uh the uh Bears defense is actually legit or not or good or not. I I still think when you have or even banked up, but regardless, I think when you have this many offensive linemen going through, it's it is a concern. Thankfully, they've actually looked pretty decent these past few weeks despite the injuries. I I guess it's because they're just not facing great defenses. I don't know.

Michael Marcangelo 58:17

Um, but I mean you put they held up against Max Crosby, so whatever you want against the Raiders, they they they kept him in check. And I would say that that means that they did a pretty good job.

SPEAKER_03 58:27

And I and I'll say this about like the coaching matchups too, like because Matt brought it up. While I do think Ben Johnson is probably one of the more creative offensive minds in the NFL and a great offensive coach, and a lot of Patriots fans give Josh McDaniels a lot of shit and have for two decades, despite the fact they've won six Super Bowls in that time. I do think Josh McDaniels is extremely under what's that? He was there for three of them, but it's fine. Wasn't he like an assistant? He was like an assistant coach. Yeah, okay. Yes. The point being though is he's he's underrated in the sense of getting the most out of what he's given. And especially when there's injuries and they need to focus on certain players to make sure they don't ruin their day. Uh big example would be Aaron Donald in Super Bowl 53. You didn't hear his name pretty much at all. Um, but you know, it's not to say that it's perfect either. I mean, Miles Garrett had a billion sacks last year, but he also set the single season record in sacks last year as well. So uh, but it does always feel like when you feel like shit's gonna go sideways or there's gonna be some sort of issue that uh Josh McDaniel somehow cooks up something that is not necessarily some home run ball or crazy stat padding type of uh result, but more of just making sure it's it's uh it's cutting down on the potential disasters.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:05

I think I think you should be playing home run ball, to be honest. Our biggest issue, the biggest defensive issue the Bears have is we give up a shitload of explosive plays. Like we have the craziest, we have literally, if we kept the time of possession stats throughout the whole, like on average, throughout the whole rest of the season, we'd be number one in NFL history by like a million miles. Like it's we've had the we hold the ball for so long, and yet still we give up such crazy explosive plays that we let and yeah, we pulled the starters, like whatever. You know, this has been a debate in Bears' circles all week after the the Falcons mounted like a kind of whimpery comeback, but I got nervous, like I fucking sure shit cut the shits up me for sure. And I just I you know I think he should be making home run plays. I think the Bears have put enough on tape to say like we should be going for these fucking guys. That if he can do that with getting the ball out of Drake's hands relatively quickly, I think you could you guys can honestly slice us up.

Run Game Keys And Explosive Plays

SPEAKER_00 1:00:57

I I what I would watch for just for to give you guys a little perspective on because you haven't watched the Bears as closely as me, and I would love the you know similar insight on the on the other side. If you if we can establish the run early, I think you might be a little bit in trouble. I I I think if we if we like the Bears are number one running team in the NFL right now, I don't think Manungai is gonna play, which is big, but essentially the blocking for the run game for the Bears looks really, really competent. Like they really just look like they can run the ball. And if you can start to get us in second and long situations early, I think that's a really, really big um positive for you guys. I I think that's gonna be the main defensive game plan for Vrabel and the Patriots is stop the run because there's a little, you know, look at the left hand, look at the left hand with Ben Johnson where it's like, look at Caleb Williams. Like, look how many times he threw the ball against against uh Atlanta, look how good he was in the clean pocket. Everything we do is based on the run. Absolutely everything we do is based on the run. And like Caleb, he might be able to yank victory out of the jaws of defeat at at any given time if we can keep the game close, but we're not gonna convincingly beat you unless we can establish the run. And as much as I love Caleb Williams and I think he's a great quarterback, and I and I love that it's basically definitive now. And I was wondering if we were going to talk about this, but I love that it's basically definitive that there's two guys in that draft class and it's my guy and your guy, and I love that. I really do. But I think and whatever happens, Johnson builds his whole offense behind the run. So keep an eye on that early. I would say to Patriots fans, just keep an eye on that early. Longer second downs, longer third downs, that's a really, really good sign for New England. And that's when I start to get worried when I watch this Bears offense.

Michael Marcangelo 1:02:37

Yeah, I was really gonna say, DK, my biggest concern was that if we if we can't force Caleb to throw, we're in trouble. Because one of the biggest pitfalls of the Patriots uh is our run defense is not good, but we've been able to uh overcome that or just kind of mask it by the fact that we on offense uh recently have been scoring a lot of points. So other opposing offenses can't run against us, they have they have to throw. I mean, we were able to beat a pretty competent Raiders team with our starting four corners out. So I'm not worried about our our secondary for whatever reason they can figure that out. My big worry is our offensive line, our ability, inability to stop the rush, and then your X factor. I think your X factor outside of Caleb Williams is Luther. And I and he I don't know what the Patriots have. I don't like I would say, like, is Pop Douglas that on our side? I don't know. I think Lutheran, yeah, but I think Luther is a step above that. I agree. I agree with that. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:34

I would also take a look, also uh, you know, as you start to watch these drives unfold, and I'm sure we'll be like texting about it or whatever. And as much as everyone's hearing us talk right now, and it's like, oh, they're all being very reasonable. That's not how the group chat goes. So uh I don't know what changes the dynamic, but it just didn't basically stop talking to each other on on Monday nights after football week until until this show. Um yeah, unless there's like a funny meme about Caleb Williams that you want to send me. But um uh uh the important thing to I think watch out for is if we start to move the ball on you early, I wouldn't even get that worried because we have a really inefficient, surprisingly inefficient red zone offense um this season. I I think if you play Ben Don't Break, it might really work. Um that being said, like for all the the jokes and the backs and forths about uh the quarterbacks and everything, like Drake May is playing phenomenal football the last couple of weeks. I I did I I am so flabbergasted as to how they turned it around as quickly. And I think to Zach's point, McDaniels deserves a lot of credit there, but I I I don't know if I've ever seen a quarterback play as badly as he played for those couple of weeks and as well as he's been playing in such a in such a swift turnaround. And I think it's a it's a credit to the fact that he's gonna be around a while. Like I think he's he's they're gonna be debating who who would you have drafted, who if all things go according to plan, who would you have drafted for a while? And no one's saying Jaden Daniels anymore. So here we are. You know, I mean, a bit Bo Nicks is a meme. Uh it it's all reverted to the mean a little bit, and and I do I do like that these guys are gonna be inextricably linked forever, and I think that they're both hopefully have decently sized forever, if that makes sense. So I would love for this to be a Super Bowl preview.

Caleb Versus Drake Draft Debate

SPEAKER_01 1:05:14

Let me ask you guys this. If this is their first time meeting in the pros, and like you said, this could be going on for the next 10, 15 minutes. First time meeting in the pros?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:22

No, the Patriots beat the uh beat the Eberflus um Bears uh their rookie year.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:28

They played the killer start that game?

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

Uh yes.

unknown 1:05:32

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:32

Did Drake play that game? I don't think one of them wasn't playing. Well are you sure? I think so. Right, because did I look it up, but continue time.

Michael Marcangelo 1:05:40

We had Jacoby Brissett. We went we went because Drake made his first his his rookie year.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:47

Yep, that's right. So let me ask you this right now, as we stand right now that this early stage of their careers, who would you have drafted at the moment? Me? Everyone. I think that's the one. Nobody can say yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:00

Has to say their guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:01

No, I would take Caleb at the moment. Interesting. I like the way he plays, man. I like that, I like that fast-paced fingernails flying in the air. I love that.

Michael Marcangelo 1:06:09

You also like fingernails panic, so I'm not really sure that this is an added bonus. I I would say it's it's a toss-up, but it it's it's so much of a toss-up that I think you gotta take your quarterback. You know, like that's fair. Yeah, I wouldn't find it offensive if TK was like, you know what, I would take Drake, and I would say I would take Caleb because I think it's that that can that comparable.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:29

Caleb hasn't gotten that first three games of the season that we saw this year, though. You saw a crack in the phone in the foundation year. That made me a little nervous. Right now, probably I'd stick with Drake, but overall, he went two and ten his rookie year, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:40

We we like he Yeah, well, one of those wins, I did just look it up. It was against the Bears. He did play. Uh he was 15 for 25, 184 with a touchdown and a pick. He also carried the ball four times for 24 yards. And Caleb, 16 for 30, 120 yards, no touchdowns, no picks, and was sacked nine times on his way to that uh most sacked ever rookie QB record that he still holds.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:01

So that's an everfused loss, not a Williams loss.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:04

Let's hope so. I will also say Caleb did not, maybe it was because he didn't have to, but he didn't scramble at all in the uh in the win against the Falcons, and I do think that that is hamstring related. So if that's something that's keeping him on a short week, if that's something, if that's a weapon he doesn't have, he was elusive, but he didn't scramble, if you know what I mean. Like he in situations where he had to not get sacked, which I will say, I mean, he's fucking hard to sack, dude. I hope this isn't a jinx, but goddamn, Caleb Williams is fucking hard to sack, bro. Like he's he's got some crazy elusive tendencies.

Michael Marcangelo 1:07:35

Make sure you clip this uh for either one, either if he if he gets if he gets sacked 12 times or if we never sack him, that's the perfect clip.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:43

I know, I know. I don't I really don't want to have any influence over this game whatsoever. I just I want to be completely kept out of it. It's really the stakes. I I would be such a liar if I was not saying that the stakes are higher when playing the Patriots because I have to talk to three fucking Patriots fans every week about the fucking NFL, right? Your whole life, your whole life. Yeah, my entire life I've been surrounded by by the by you goons. So it's just it's the the fact of the matter is I've always liked being from New England and leaving gave me great clarity on the New England Patriots because what I did get to witness in the Brady Belichick era was greatness, and I know what I want my team to be uh striving for now. But what I need you guys to understand is that we're different, we're we're made of completely different football DNA because of what I've seen and what you've seen out of your team and my team respectively. I've seen nothing but trauma and damage. I come from a broken home. I I'm Eminem in the trailer in 8 Mile, and you're you know, you're living across. They didn't make a movie about you guys because it was too boring because everything went too well. So, like, I I'm just saying, like, I don't know how to deal with this. I don't know how to have the conversation. I I mean maybe I can pull from other teams in my life, and and I I know how to win in certain sports, but in football, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop, guys. Like, I'm still waiting for this of when when K I thought Caleb's hamstring was done, was actually his Achilles, and that was the season. The the yeah, a darkness and a sadness descended on me, and and hello, darkness, my old friend. But all I could think was like, of course, of course. I this is why I don't get to have nice things. So the idea that you know you're saying things like you have a high-powered offense, I'm like, shut up, dude. Like, what if God hears? He'll take it from me. So, like, I don't I don't know how to deal with this. So I really don't. I mean, I to the point where I was so defensive coming into this, I had so many mean things written down to say, and then you guys were generally sort of nice. So I don't like I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:39

So in that analogy, is that in that analogy is Rex Grossman your mom if you're Eminem?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:45

Uh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I I love I love thinking about him.

Score Predictions And Thursday Night Weirdness

Michael Marcangelo 1:09:51

I know that you said you don't want to have any uh any impact over this game. Uh uh and I appreciate that. So give me your prediction.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:58

Um I think it's gonna be I think it's gonna be Bears 38 and Patriots 31. Matt Patriots 21 Bears 38 Williams. Apparently he's having the worst day of the season so far. I think he's gonna be the name of both the boys. I mean, it is Thursday. You don't you have no idea what's gonna happen on a Thursday, that's the other thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:26

Uh 24-21 bears.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:29

Wow. Trying to reverse jinx it, I see you.

Michael Marcangelo 1:10:32

Uh at 31-28 Patriots. That'd be a fucking thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:38

We're all predicting the most electric Thursday game of all time except for Matt.

Michael Marcangelo 1:10:42

Or it's gonna be 9-6. Yeah, it is Thursday. I know. It will it will not be in between. It will either be the worst game ever or the most exciting game we've ever fucking seen in our game.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:51

It might be it might be nice for all of us if nobody leaves with bragging rights, like if everyone just plays like shit. It's like, alright, I hope the rest of the season goes well.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:58

It just like to that point about Mike about like being either like the high-flying best game or just like shit. It just really all comes down to how the offensive line is for mainly the Patriots, but I guess both teams. Both teams, right?

SPEAKER_01 1:11:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:11

Because it if if Drake has time and is able to launch it down, uh I know you mentioned you know AJ Brown, best deep ball. But the like every thursday night always has weird shit, and there's always just the one Kyle Williams game, and this is gonna be the Kyle Williams getting a 69-yard touchdown, and it's just gonna be something stupid. Uh so I mean it could be a really high-scoring game if the offensive lines can keep it up, but I don't know. Just between injuries and all that, I just I'm really nervous that I don't want to be all hyped up for this game. This should this should have been a Sunday night game. Really should have been, and they put it on Thursday and it's sucked. On Monday.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:48

Yeah, that's true. I think it it does kind of suck that it's on Thursday. And I take every bear snap personally, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:53

And like, I mean, they they they know what the schedule is. Well, they know who the opponents are beforehand. Like you would think that they would just throw, you know, Titans Jags on a Thursday or something.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:03

I know they but they also thought this was gonna be two good teams coming into the season and like playing relatively well. So it's like that's why they're doing it. Yeah. They're doing it for the sake of Thursday night football, which nobody wants.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:15

Nobody wants to such a waste.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:17

And no one hears at all. One more fun thing about the game, it's gonna be 60 degrees with a light breeze. So you're not getting any weather here to impact either guy. It's who's ready to go.

Michael Marcangelo 1:12:27

This might be the last time that the Patriots play the Bears in Chicago. It might be in Indiana next time.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:34

Oh, well, I wonder, I was wondering if an Indiana uh reference was gonna come limping over the horizon. I think that's it for uh I turn it back over to you, DK.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:41

Yeah, thank you so much. What mean stuff did you have written down? Yeah, uh I can go where's my head?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:49

I got one right here.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:50

I said I said that the blue better have might all in it for Caleb. Um you said that out loud. But nobody heard it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:56

I didn't hear it. My head my headphones are smaller than yours, Mike, so I didn't hear it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:03

Where are my notes? Give me a second. That's fine.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:08

I love watching this humility on Dave because I know he's blood in this situation before. This is a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:12

I had this this is a little a little uh you guys said a lot of my things, which was kind of surprising. But I um I had why are you why is your team three and my team is seven? Both are four and two, and Vegas has me favored. And then you started with the with the thing, so I was gonna start off aggressive, but it didn't it didn't work out that way. Um, and I was gonna say something along the lines of congratulations on Drake's six game volume stats. Caleb missed three games. We can't compare them because I thought maybe Mike was gonna talk about overall numbers, which he didn't do. Um I had May had six interceptions in his first three games. Like, that's a fucking clown show. I had that. Um I said that I had the 24 for 24 from a clean pocket thing. Then Matt brought it up. That was annoying. Uh I had the Bears are better on third down on both sides of the ball. That was gonna be a that was gonna be a declarative statement. Um, but I didn't really have to defend them. You guys were like, I don't know, I don't know how it's gonna go. Um and then uh I had you're about to play the number one rushing offense with a damaged offensive line on the other side, which uh didn't need to say because you guys are being nice. Um and then I was ready for I think Matt to say that the four and two is fraudulent because Bajan and Keenum won two games. And I was gonna say that's actually an argument for Ben Johnson, and then Matt made that point, which uh was annoying. And then if they bring up Green Bay, I was ready to be like, yeah, we got fucking murdered, and then my quarterback came back. I was ready to say that. Uh and I was gonna say um uh a whole thing about how if the draft happened again today, uh I might take Caleb Williams first, but Drake would hope that I would take him because of what a dumpster fire the Patriots organization has been since he got drafted, which would have been too mean. So I'm glad I didn't say that. Um there you go. That was that

Mean Notes Reveal And Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_00 1:14:51

that was my mean things that I had that I didn't say. So McLamore. Um McLamore. Um, yeah, I mean, listen, this was a really fun power ranking show. I always love when we get uh the four of us together. Nice little mini MTP Boston embedded in there. Glad that you guys had me on that show. Thank you so much for the invite. And uh yeah, Bears Patriots Thursday night. I'll get this show out as soon as I can so that it has a little time to marinate and um good luck. May the best man win. I don't mean that. And uh, you know, that's a good idea.