Around The AFC In Exactly 48 Minutes

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with select phone trade-in and my plan.

And lock down a low price for three years on any plan with my plan.

This is a deal for everyone, whether you're a new or existing customer.

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

Three-year price guarantee applies to then-current base monthly rate only.

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Let's talk about Bo Nix.

Is he real?

Interesting.

Is Bo Nix real?

Interesting.

That's a take I haven't heard.

Is Bo Nix real?

What is his jeule zécoi?

Hey,

welcome to Heed the Call, an NFL podcast.

I'm Dan Hansis, joined by the great Mark Sessler.

Sassy, big day in the HTC universe for you, me, Justin,

and all the hedonists.

It really is, and I can't think of a better way to we're days away from this season beginning in true fashion, and I can't think of a better way to start it.

Perfect timing.

Yeah, announcement.

Wow,

that was intense, Justin.

It's a big announcement.

Need to bring out all the all the horns.

How about this?

I'll just read from the press release from our new partner that was released wide today.

Am I a little pissed right now that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey decided to pick this particular Tuesday to blow things up?

It's so like them.

It's very like them.

But on Tuesday, it was announced that Odyssey

has partnered with, look at this, veteran sports analysts Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler to handle sales and distribution for their popular, award-winning Heed the Call NFL podcast, comma, further solidifying Odyssey's position as a leader in sports audio content.

Damn right.

It solidifies it.

Yes,

we have a brand new partner in Odyssey.

We're very excited.

They're the perfect

teammate for this show at this moment in time as we begin year two of this journey together, Mark.

And

yeah, that was something that

for the audience, the reason we're starting today's show, and we're going around the AFC in 48 minutes, in just a few minutes.

But

we want to talk about this just because it is a big deal internally.

It won't change much about the show itself.

We'll explain what might change, but nothing in terms of the content or who we are or how we present the league.

But the partnership with Odyssey gives us the type of structure that allows this show to exist now and deep into the future.

And we're very excited about it.

So

I'm proud of you, Mark.

I'm proud of Justin.

And so grateful for people like Connor Orr and Jordan Rodrigue, Michael Shondugar, and James Palmer, all the people that helped us get to this point.

Anyway, heed the call in Odyssey.

That's the big announcement today.

How about that?

And I would say also, you know, like one thing, like, we, I think we've really found what we want this show to be in the last couple of months, especially.

And they saw that too.

So it's like it's been a prize partnership so far.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let me look at this.

Yeah, yes, Justin.

I just wanted to shout out some of our sleuthier listeners and viewers who posted on Twitter, who posted on Reddit.

They saw the logo update and they were like, I see what's happening here.

They sort of broke the news before we could break the news.

But yeah, shout out to you guys for caring that much.

We appreciate it.

And it's true.

You were right.

So good job.

They got it.

They got it.

And yeah, we, you know, this has been the product of a lot of meetings and conversations and

all the things that it takes to have like an independent podcast kind of free of a place like the NFL where we started.

And so we're very excited about the partnership.

One thing is that the press release that got sent out, or I just read the first line, you know, Mark, we got our eyes on it.

And one of the first things that we were struggling with, like, what are we?

Because originally it said journalists.

Right.

And we worked with Hillary, who does an awesome job on the PR side at Odyssey.

And it was like, well, that feels a little, I don't know, disingenuous.

Or maybe like the actual journalists of the universe might have an issue with that.

And then it's like, well, is it, is it veteran personalities?

Like podcast, no, personalities feels very YouTube-y.

It feels like Mr.

Beast or something.

That didn't feel right.

And then I was like, See, what about pundits?

I was like, oh.

Not even in the right sphere, but like, this was one of like 17,000 text messages where we were trying to get it all together.

And

this was one of the more trenchant ones because it's like, exactly, what is our identity at this point?

Well, we landed at Analysts, which is close enough.

Also, not exactly spot-on, but maybe that's.

Some would disagree.

Maybe that's the secret sauce, Sese.

Maybe

we can't quite be defined.

Should I read?

Should I read the quote?

The top 10 football inside.

Yeah, damn.

You could have gone on that.

And we actually, we announced this on the Rich Eisen Show on Tuesday.

Check out that appearance with Rich and Chris Brockman Brockman from the Rich Eisen Show will be joining us,

one of our guests for around the AFC.

Before we get

on to all that, though,

should we read the quote from

the woman that heads up podcasts for Odyssey?

Oh, Leo Dennis.

I would read it.

Lee's great.

Here's the quote.

Give me something dramatic.

Dan and Mark are pioneers in sports podcasting.

Pioneers.

And two of the most respected voices in the NFL media landscape.

Their compelling mix of expertise, authenticity, and humor has built a passionate following.

And we're proud to bring Heath the Call NFL podcast into the Odyssey family as we continue to expand our industry-leading sports audio lineup.

Let's go!

Put that in a frame.

Hey there, Mr.

Pioneer.

Nice work.

And in all seriousness, though, thank you to Lee and everybody at Odyssey.

You've been awesome during this ramp up.

But

as far as what to expect, because people were wondering, you know, during the interim from our previous partner, Underdog, and now with Odyssey, like, how does this show change?

Just know that there's a model.

There's a business model.

So how we get paid is through

primarily through ads.

And so

you're going to be getting more ads certainly than you've had over the past couple of months during this negotiation process.

So just be aware before you come after Mark and Dan

about, oh man, there's too many ads or whatever.

Like, that's how we put food on the table for Sessler.

So if you want Mark to eat,

shut up about the ads.

It's all part of the game.

And we're playing the game and we're proud to play the game because we don't sign this deal without you, the hedonists.

So thank you to everybody and buckle up because it's going to be a fun year.

We love you guys.

Even the investigative nature of finding out our name, to me, is like, it's exactly what you are.

There's no other listener group like it.

So it's been a journey and keep going with us.

All right, enough of that navel gazing.

Enough, sesi.

This is the part of the NFL calendar.

that we love because not only is football getting closer day by day, but we get to do some of our favorite recurring segments ahead of the season.

And yes, as I noted, it's time to go around the AFC in exactly 48 minutes.

And to do that, we need four people.

So it's me and Ceci,

but it's also our guests, two friends of the show.

I welcome Chris Brockman.

from the Rich Eyes in Show, where we just appeared a day ago.

And

thank you, thank you.

From wide left op football, Arif Hassan, welcome back, Arif.

What's up, boys?

Hey, hey.

What up, what up, what up?

Good to see you guys.

Thanks for having me.

Cecily, I feel like this is kind of like because Arif and Brockman have not met before.

I feel like we're setting up a blind date and we can only hope it works out.

It's a double date with the three of us and Justin, if you look at it, so it's like who knows what kind of combinations will form.

This is the least awkward way to set this up for sure.

No, this is like football.

This is like our version of Love Island.

I love football, Love Island.

Let's do it.

Yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

Yes.

Thank you, boys, for joining us.

And we love the football.

We do.

We do.

Easy on that one.

But yes, we do enjoy the football.

And but right now, we're going to focus on the American Football Conference.

Fascinating.

And if you are new to the show, you must know the rules of around the AFC in exactly 48 minutes.

Do the math.

32

divided by two.

16 teams each 16 times 3 48 3 minutes per team let's go let's go come on each take at one team from uh each of the four divisions and a reminder if you go over those uh minutes that allotment

gravedigger in addition to being a mega third wheel romantically here has a dart gun and he will not hesitate in fact he relishes the opportunity to shoot you right in the face with a dart

that

go over That one has zip to it.

That's pretty incredible.

It's a different sport.

So,

is everyone clear on how this all works?

I hope so.

Jesus.

Yes, sir.

Gosh, I just don't want to catch a dart.

Yeah, no, that's you got to be

sighted or long.

Yeah, I just don't want the dart.

And we also have three timeouts in our back pocket.

We don't like to take timeouts into the tunnel, but we can't control that either.

So with the table set on this special day for Heed the Call,

our announcement, our partnership with Odyssey, we are flying high.

We are now digging in, starting with the AFC East.

We have some type of DJs,

South Belmore horn.

Yes, there it is.

Let's get into it.

Starting with the Buffalo Bills and Mark Sessler.

Okay, quiz time.

The Buffalo Bills are A, the equivalent of the Michael Jordan Bulls that needed years to fend off the Pistons to finally unearth a dynasty, in this case, the Chiefs.

B, the slightly Fugesy offspring of the 90s Bills dynasty that at least reached the Super Bowl.

Come on, guys.

Or C, a classic example of man versus self, the conflict device in which they are screaming with potential, yet their own worst enemy.

What say you, Mr.

Brockman?

I have to go see.

I said it last year: that Josh Allen, if he wants to make the Super Bowl, should ask for a trade out of Buffalo.

It just isn't going to happen in the AFC with all the great teams and all the great quarterbacks.

I go see.

Brockman coming in hot on HTC.

What makes you think that?

I mean, the man is the reigning player.

Because I've watched them play football.

I've watched them play.

They had the game one, and then 13 seconds happened.

They're just not going to do it.

I love Josh Allen.

Even as a Patriots fan, I love watching him play football.

He's so awesome, but he's just, I mean, hey.

So you're of the opinion that there is something in the water where always,

always something will go wrong.

Yes, absolutely.

You want to know why?

Because I've seen it go wrong my entire football life.

Listen, there's a lot of people in Western New York that don't want to agree with you, but will

because it's been, this is Super Bowl 60, a reef, right?

That's coming up.

And since they went four in a row, they haven't been back.

And a lot of bad things have happened, including in those four championship games.

Where do you come down on this, Reef?

I like C, mostly for like narrative reasons.

It feels like a richer story to tell.

But yeah, no, I mean, what am amino kaim say the the bills are secretly a dome team um that's this

that's that's tough right that's real tough i don't know that they can get out of their own way if that's the case um yeah i don't know like the bills are always kind of like two pieces away every time they grab a piece another one slips away

can't do it yeah just i think their new stadium should have been a dome they screwed that up look at why did they not build a dome stadium come on i mean listen we want we want i think i had an issue with even when they did that renovation where they made the Lowe seats have the red heaters.

I thought that was a little soft.

I think the whole team should embrace it.

Just so you know, in addition to having the reigning MVP, they've won five straight AFC East titles.

And I think, Mark, I like them a lot.

I think that they have a real chance this year.

And that's why I took them as an over, I think, at 11.5, which is a big number.

I look at the rest of the division and I think they're going to stack wins and hopefully put themselves in position, if you're a Bills fan, to be hosting the big games at the end of January.

Well, they're often in these big games.

It's the meltdown in the final minutes of the campaign.

They had a plus 24 turnover margin last year.

That's not happening again this time.

Five, four,

three.

Negative table with you.

Two.

Buffalo Bills.

One, two,

and a ten.

Aretha San on the Miami Dolphins.

Well, we were just talking about soft, right?

Deshaun Elliott, former Dolphin, last November, called the team soft as shit.

And Grant Stewart, before the Lions-Dolphin joint practices this year, said, I don't know if they're ready, man.

I'm going to keep it a stack just because I've played at other places and I played against that team last year and I joint practiced against that team twice when I was in Tampa.

I don't know if they practice how we practice.

The reputation is that they're soft.

They're 25th in both third down and fourth down percentage last year offensively and 32nd in short yardage on third or fourth down in the field or all downs at the goal line.

Defensively, not much better in short yardage situations.

23rd.

They added a couple of players.

Some of them I would characterize as not soft.

I think the guard that they just drafted, Savaya Nia, probably not soft, right?

Willie Gay Jr., not soft, right?

They added some talented guys.

I don't know if that changes the character of the locker room, like Minka Fitzpatrick, talented.

James Daniels has movement.

I don't know if you would say that that changes the softness or the toughness of

the team, but

the Dolphins have had all kinds of problems over the years.

It's always fun to watch them in the first half of the season.

But what happens to soft teams in the second half of the season?

They lose.

They typically do.

And, you know, we've talked about it

during the offseason that it does feel like the Dolphins are in a tricky place in their history.

You have Mike McDaniel entering year four.

He's 28 and 23 lifetime.

There's some concerns, I would say,

Chris,

that his message might not be resonating in the same way.

The Tyreek Hill thing looms as a major distraction.

We've talked about that.

And to the point of like, who's gone?

Who's left from a team that struggled last year?

Teron armstead jalen ramsey javon holland calius campbell january smith raheem mostert durham smyth robert jones there's some talent that went out the door here too i don't i don't feel hot about this dolphins team no they're the ultimate hot seat team with the coach quarterback tyree kill all their star players like mike mcdaniel has aged like obama's before and after when he entered and left the white house i don't see good things for this team at all then again tua has never lost to the patriots so maybe i don't know what i'm talking about.

It's pretty good.

I'm concerned when you talk about soft.

I think areas in position groups of concern are the offensive line,

the defensive line in terms of depth, and you've got a bunch of players that you wonder and hope and cross your fingers can stay healthy.

That's kind of the opposite of like the Philadelphia Eagles, for instance, as a roadmap.

I will say one thing, the athletic article on Mike McDaniel did bring me some hope.

It was a really great read.

And it was like, he is driven to change things and to improve things.

Like he's pretty obsessive.

I don't doubt him, but the team around him that they've built and being down in this warm weather environment has classically been Achilles Heel.

Yeah, I doubt him.

We're going to do the hot butts exercise with

no context needed.

With James Palmer next week, and he's going to be high up on the list, I think.

One,

two,

three.

Good start.

The New York Jets.

The Jets have entered their

They've entered into their move-in silence era under new head coach Aaron Glenn.

And thank Christ for that.

The temperature and expectations have been turned way down on this team.

And I think that should work to their advantage as long as ownership, and this is a big part of it with the Jets, has the stomach for what could be another double-digit lost season.

So here's my question.

My gut feeling is that Justin Fields will end up being a one-year patch that sends the Jets down the road to a potential top 10 pick and a new quarterback in 2026 and what's supposed to be a really good, potentially really good draft class for quarterbacks.

Does anybody here see a different fork in the road where Fields finds some more lasting success than he's had in this latest reboot to his pro career, Sesse?

No.

I mean, just because I don't see it yet, I'd need to really see it.

And I think that part of the problem is, is he'd have to,

I think, blow them away to not go down the road of like drafting that college quarterback that enhances the coach's career and like you build a team around.

They've been waiting for that and failing at it for so long that Justin Fields would need to have an incredible campaign and probably take the Jets to at least a winning record to continue to stick around there as the long-term answer.

That's just how I feel today.

Well, he's on a really good contract, right?

Just a two years, what, 40 million, something like that?

Two for 40, 30 is guaranteed.

There is an issue for me is that there's just a ton of talent talent at the top end and not a ton of talent at the bottom end of the roster.

I feel like they're just a team that has no idea what they just traded for Harrison Phillips.

I don't know what that does for them.

Like, do they think that they're going to, because he's not, like, going to be around for five years?

Are they going to win games this year because they traded for him?

I just don't think that they have an understanding of who they are as a team.

I like the moxie of the head coach.

They have a lot of great players around him.

Kind of like you said, depth an issue.

But you know what I know why I know how the Jets are not going to win any games?

Because I've seen it for 50 years.

I know they're not good.

History tells me so, Dan.

Come on.

I mean, you could have said the same thing about the Patriots before Tom Brady and Belichick arrived.

At a certain point, things can change.

That's my,

for me, that's where the optimism is.

And I've been down this road before, as all team, all fans have of teams that are downtrodden.

That maybe this is the leadership that gets them on the right track.

Because that's, I've said it on the show.

Like, that's, I don't need them to have a big year or some type of special year where they make a run to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

That's how long it's been now.

But what I do need is to come out of the season feeling like there's an adult in charge and they have a program in place that they can start to build.

And you saw it exactly what Aaron Glenn just came out of in Detroit.

He's going to have with the Jets, where they're going to come in, they're going to take some lumps, but hopefully start building something as they go toward year two.

Coach of the year, Canada.

I'll take the dart.

From your lips, the gods are Susie.

Give it to me.

All right, the New England Patriots with Chris Brockman.

Let's do it.

You never want to be the guy after the guy, and all the guys with the rings are gone in Foxborough.

So bring back the strong John guy from Yore to lead the way.

One toe dipped in the Patriot way.

Mike Vrabel takes over.

And look, hopes are high, we will admit.

Drake May looks exciting.

Trayvion Henderson could win rookie of the year.

But the real question, can this team be this year's commanders or are they actually closer to picking in the top five for the third straight year?

Hmm.

Mark?

Closer.

I mean, I'd almost take it like somewhere in the middle there because commanders is like franchise changing.

campaign, which I don't see that coming, but they're not picking top five.

If Drake May and Vrabel together can kind of be what we think they can be, like, and Trayvion Henderson is, I think, is going to be the story of the AFC in terms of the rookie class.

And so you put all that together.

It's a different team than last year.

And their schedule is much more favorable than it was a year ago.

So I just think in terms of getting to eight or nine wins,

you don't have to be the greatest team on the planet, but Commanders is strong.

That's strong.

That's wish casting.

Yeah, I just want to see improvement.

I mean, look, they don't need to win 10, 11 games and go to the AFC championship game.

That is definitely unrealistic.

But let's, you know, let's show that improvement.

Let's get seven, eight, nine wins.

Take care of your in-division games, and maybe we can build something for moving forward.

I think that's a healthy outlook as a Patriots fan.

I feel like there was some in the summer a sense that this team was going to be, because that's a team that was a very talented poor team coming off back-to-back four-win seasons.

And to me, a jump to eight and nine or nine and eight, and maybe you're sniffing around the last wild card spot in January, January, would be a huge success.

Um, I'm

not as high on Vrabel as others.

I know that he's he's much better and more qualified than Gerard Mayo was, um, but some of the conversation around him as being this huge culture-changer, difference maker.

I don't put him in that tier of coaches, but I also think that is an improvement in addition to the free agent signings and year two of Drake May.

There is reason for excitement, but I don't know if I'm buying in on some magical carpet ride in New England.

Yeah, I think that, you know, I don't think they're going to pick bottom five or anything like that.

And obviously, a magical carpet ride is pretty difficult to predict, but I think they're closer positioned to that than a lot of other teams.

I'm pretty high on Drake May.

I really liked a lot of the offseason additions.

I thought adding Milton Williams, having him paired with a healthy Christian Barmore, having a nose tackle like Kairis Tonga.

Like they added a bunch of people that I thought could really help them out.

And I just trust Drake May, I guess, a little bit.

That's part of it.

Adding Trayvion Henderson was big.

They might get a surprise in something like an Efton Chisholm with like Matt Collins and Stephon Diggs.

I mean, this is like a well-rounded team that's improved their offensive line.

I think they could make a small run.

Six.

Mike Fraba was the one seed with Ryan Tannehill.

Right.

There you go.

Two.

How'd that go, Justin?

Sorry, Justin.

Ryan Tannehill through three interceptions in a game where the Titans' defense had nine franchise record for the postseason, nine sacks, and they lost to the eventual Super Bowl runner-up Cincinnati Bengals.

So one and done.

You know that Justin is watching that tape at least on a weekly basis in his pajamas.

I have not re-watched that game.

I will re-watch a lot of Titans games.

I have never re-watched it.

It's just replaying in your head the whole time.

Why were we watching it?

By the way, shouldn't you be self-darting yourself right now?

I was asked a question about the tape, but it's nothing to do with the Patriots.

Turn that dart gun on yourself, friend.

Gotcha.

Ah, producers incapacitated.

Let's go.

Gotcha.

The AFC North.

Let's start with Brockman on the reigning division champs, the Baltimore Ravens.

Yeah, I'm going to keep this one simple.

If the Ravens don't win the Super Bowl this year, they never will.

They're in the same boat as the Bills.

Until you slay the beast in Kansas City, you're going to see Andy Reid's dancing state farm commercial in your nightmares till the end of time.

Derrick Henry isn't getting any younger.

The questions about Lamar, his ability to to go all the way will only get louder.

It's now or never.

Quote the Raven, nevermore.

Yes.

Yes.

We are well done there.

We're in lockstep on this one.

A couple months back on the show, we were talking Ravens, and I kind of promoted our team slogan episode with like, the Ravens slogan should be, if not now, when?

Like, this has got to be it.

And if it's not, it's got to be it.

Stop telling me every summer that this is the year.

Like, and I thought there were gains, okay?

Like, Ceci, you know what was a gain last year?

I know that once again fell short of getting to the Super Bowl, but I thought the comeback that Lamar spearheaded that ended with the crushing Mark Andrews drop, like to me, at least in my head, and it should for other people, quieted some of the, oh, Lamar in January stuff that's been floating around for years.

Now the last step, obviously, is to then finish off those games, finish off a comeback in January, and finally get over the hump and play in 60.

It was an incremental step because I think it silenced some of the, I think, at that point, tedious.

It's not that I didn't disagree, that I disagreed with the Lamar critique on the playoff front, but it just became a tired conversation.

Their five losses were all by seven points or less.

And that tells me that with a few different game management situations at the end, because they had some late leads they blew, like they could be even better.

And they're a balanced, it might be the most balanced roster in all of football.

And like like they're well coached and there were some changes there but they weren't dramatic changes so it's like can we just do this please please let's go

I mean,

they could be doing this for eight more years and I'm going to buy in.

I don't.

I love this team.

Lamar Jackson, if he can still move, if Harbaugh is still the coach, it's going to be impossible for me not to not to see something happen.

I mean, he's succeeded before.

He's gotten to a couple of Super Bowls, won one of them.

I just think that the Ravens are just such a talented team.

And I think that, like, yeah,

I understand the comparison to the Bills and like, you know, the Bills, you got to get it done.

But the Bills just feel like a much more fragile team.

The Ravens have a much better track record of being consistent.

And so they're always going to be in the mix.

And, you know, if you're in the mix often enough, unless you're like a Marvin Lewis Bengals team, you're going to get something done.

And so I think

I don't know.

I'm just, I'm bought into the mystique and the magic of the Ravens.

You can't convince me otherwise.

I love that Lamar has kind of silenced the questions about the playoff failures early in his career.

What I do want, remember when the Eagles went and got T.O.

and he was just absolutely incredible and they almost won the Super Bowl?

Can we get a TO for Lamar Jackson, please?

Maybe next year.

Maybe next year.

The Pittsburgh Steelers with Mark Sessler.

Take it, Brockman.

Right to the throat.

Oh, they got you in the ear.

Tough, violent.

Violent.

Onlookers urge the Steelers to rebuild, but instead instead they add Jalen Ramsey and Darius Slay and own the league's most expensive defense.

They sign A-Rod, trade for DK, and prance about town throwing money around at pretty women and gambling houses like a seaship captain.

Mike Tomlin does not rebuild.

He reloads.

Arif, are you buying and smelling what The Rock is selling?

Absolutely not.

I'm a huge fan of Mike Tomlin, but I just don't, I do not trust this roster at all.

And the thing is, there's players I like.

I like Roman Wilson, right?

You know, I like, you know, Derek Harmon, unfortunately, been injured.

I don't know how long he's going to be out.

It might be for the season, right?

But I like adding Darius Slay.

I like adding Jalen Ramsey, but I just feel like the bones of this roster aren't there anymore.

You're not getting your money's worth.

TJ Watt, I think, is closer to the back end of his career.

Patrick Queen is just not as versatile a linebacker as a lot of people kind of hope.

I just don't know.

It's such an old roster.

I just don't know that they can maintain themselves.

Yeah, I'm so with the Steelers this year.

I'm the same.

Yeah, go ahead, Dan.

No, I was just going to say that

I commend them on one hand for going for it, and they're trying to get out of this cul-de-sac they've

parked themselves into the cul-de-sac of elite mediocrity.

But at the same time, I just don't think they

pulled the right levers here.

And it's not that Aaron Rodgers is not going to play better than the guys that they've had the last couple years.

I think he can play better, given he could could stay healthy.

I think that's something people have really slept on about 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers playing in the AFC North for 17 games and staying on the field.

But I don't think he's a difference maker at the position.

And then

that now is a separate conversation.

How does he handle the Arthur Smith relationship and not having everything handed to him like the Jets did?

And of course, that was a failure as well.

I just think there's a lot of things that could go wrong, including, by the way, Rodgers and DK Metcalf, who are a pairing pairing that are supposed to be explosive together.

And at the same time, you look back to Garrett Wilson, for instance, who could not wait to stop playing with Aaron Rodgers.

I'm curious if DK, if he doesn't get the ball enough, if that becomes a distraction.

And everyone is.

Is it for Alan Lazard yet?

Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

There's no Reynolds Cobb.

There's no Alan Lazards, which I think is a positive.

Yes.

I mean, DK is going to get fed the ball.

Can they run the ball?

How's the offensive line?

The defense should be okay, but are they going to score 18 points a game to win these close games?

I don't see it.

I do think they have a nasty defense, but I mean, every one of these AFC North teams have a bloodbath schedule, and I just wonder how long the physical body of Aaron Rodgers, who has slowed, like lasts against Miles Garrett and everyone else they have to deal with in the NFC North.

Six, five, the Jets Steelers week one.

I don't need that.

That was the little on-the-nose.

You know, I'm a degenerate.

The Cincinnati Bengals.

The Cincinnati Bengals.

I have a vision.

A vision of television.

A glowing rectangular transmitter all across America and beyond, relaying transmissions of what will be remembered as the greatest quarterback season, or amongst them that we have ever seen with our own two eyes.

Joseph Lee Burrow.

Cincinnati Bengal.

This man is built different.

This man quietly was pro football's greatest quarterback a season ago, but now with better team results, more specifically, 11-12 victories, and possibly an upset division title, there will be no veil that shrouds the greatness of one

Joseph Lee Burrow.

Yes, you heard it here first, the MVP of the regular season, and who knows, maybe Super Bowl 60 rises out of the Queen City somewhere.

Chris Wesling will be watching.

Well, don't start one and four.

That would be the opening salvo to the whole argument.

Is that really his middle name?

Is his middle name really?

Is Lee?

I mean, Wikipedia has never been incorrect, so I'm assuming that it is.

That's a good point.

No, that's a good point.

I honestly,

yeah, the one and four thing, sure.

And you want to talk about things speeding to death.

I get it.

Like, you got to get out of the gates faster.

I think they will.

I think people are, I think people slept on how brilliant Burrow was last year.

And I get it because everything was about 0-3 and then the climb just to get back into it.

The fact that he took that team with that defense to a winning record, and they were alive in the playoff race in week 18 is a testament to what he did.

And I think he's just one of those guys,

Chris.

I think he's one of those special ones.

I think he's in the tier, above the tier, above the tier.

And I think everybody knows that Burrow is great, but I think he has a chance to be one of the greatest in this season.

I just have a feeling.

Just a feeling.

Just a feeling.

I honestly think he's the best quarterback in the league.

I mean, we can talk about Allen and Lamar and Mahomes.

Yeah, they're all great.

I think I'd rather go to war with Joe Burrow.

Did you guys watch quarterback?

He's also the coolest guy ever.

I mean, I think.

There's no question about that.

No question.

I thought, look, but my thing about the Bengals is, what has changed from last year?

Absolutely nothing.

They've ran back the exact same team.

So how are they going to be different than 9-8?

Yeah, I can buy an argument that Joe Burrow was the most valuable or the best quarterback last year.

I can buy into that argument.

That's fine.

But then I'd also have to figure out: well, okay, if this year is different, what else is different?

And I think Chris is right.

I don't know that anything is different.

Are they going to protect him?

Probably not.

That doesn't seem to be their MO, right?

Are they going to give him, you know, more weapons?

Well, he doesn't need them.

He has great weapons.

Are they going to give him a better defense?

This defense looks the exact same, unless you're going to tell me that like Demetrius Knight is going to change everything or Shamar Stewart, who just wasn't able to practice for a whole series of time,

is going to be able to change the pass rush.

I just don't buy it.

Different defensive scheme.

Trey Hendrickson, they fixed that situation.

They gave him, I'll take the dart.

They gave him a little bump to bring him into the building, and that's a great thing.

We get into the part of the show where Dan just starts going an extra 45 seconds to a minute after each.

And then I do.

Just keep taking the dart.

Yeah, take the dart in your face.

Yeah, and Al Golden's the new DC there.

They moved on.

So you're right.

I understand why there is

trepidation and the idea that this is the same team.

But I choose to believe it could be different this year.

They win some of those.

They lost so many games that were just outrageous.

All the defense needs to do, all this defense, I'll call timeout.

You want me to call timeout?

I'll call a timeout.

I'll use my first timeout.

Timeout.

All right.

All this defense needs to do is not be finging pitiful.

Okay.

I don't need them to be good.

They have such a talented quarterback and arguably the best wide receiver.

You know, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase are the two best in the league.

They bring back Higgins.

If Burrow's healthy, they're going to put up a lot of points.

Just be okay to bad on defense.

And I think this team can win 11 or 12 games.

That defense at one point has to face the Vikings, Broncos, Lions, and Packers in a row.

Again, there's

a lot of reference.

They can't be, but then it's Baltimore, Buffalo, Baltimore.

It's like it's almost impossible to ask the offense to, because it's not just Burrow, it's what's around him.

Like, to go do that again.

That just doesn't typically happen two years in a row.

You know what I most want for Joe Burrow?

I don't want a good defense.

I don't want Mike Brown to finally start paying people.

I want the man to get his Batmobile.

Like, come on, he had to cancel.

Yeah, that seemed injustice because of the break.

I want the Batmobile for Joe.

Yeah.

That was the saddest part of quarterbacks.

All he wanted was

a custom-made Batmobile.

He was legit.

It's like a sad boy who lost his puppy.

Wasn't he wrong?

Totally wrong.

I was like, children or something.

If I had finally gotten to a moment in my life where I could get a Batmobile and then I lost it, I would be inconsolable for the rest of time.

Yeah, I'm with you.

Do you want to, speaking of the Bengals, you know, always being the Bengals, do you want to hear Boomer and Asaison destroying them for

being cheap?

Okay, let's play.

Let's play Boomer, the former MVP, and Bengals great.

If you are traveling in for the weekend from out of town, we have secured a block of rooms at the

Residence Cincinnati Downtown Hotel.

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

Renaissance, Renaissance,

a block of rooms.

Usually when people say a block of rooms, it's like a wedding thing and you have to go on there and say, I'm part of this party.

Yeah, but

this is why they sent it.

So the Renaissance Cincinnati Downtown Hotel at a preferred discounted rate.

So I can book my group rate for the renovation.

Pause this for one second.

so please book them.

Just for

context, Boomer size and there's like a ring of honor induction going on, and the Bengals are asking Boomer and anyone else involved with the ceremony to pay their own way.

All right, keep going.

It's insane.

Directly for early and the best rate.

We'll look forward to hosting you in the jungle for an unforgettable weekend.

Don't hesitate to reach out to me or another guy on the staff with any questions.

Thank you and Hooday.

Unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

What do you think they are?

Maybe you pay for your own hotel room.

That's what I would say.

You think I'm an elitist if I say no to that?

No.

How is he not already in the ring of honor?

I don't even know.

Is it Boomer that's going in, Justin?

Or what's going on?

Boomer is in the ring.

They are inducting a couple of new people, and they're inviting the rest of the ring to come out for the ceremony.

And part of this conversation that I didn't include, because it it was pretty long, was that, like, oh, we'd understand if it was just past Bengals that needed to pay for their own hotel room.

But guys who are already in the ring coming to welcome new members.

No, you got to get your own room, sorry.

You know, Boomer's, you know, he was a millionaire as a football player, and now he's the number one radio guy in sports talk in New York City.

So it's like, he's doing all right, but still, you don't.

The gesture is important, I think.

Especially, I mean, it's the Renaissance.

Like, I don't want to be a hotel elitist, but like, that's not the most expensive hotel in the world, right?

Like, you can just book that out.

Lock up hotel rooms.

Wow.

Yeah.

We have, all right, time in.

The Cleveland Browns with a reef.

Sure.

I mean,

do I need to do this?

Okay, so it's like the scene in the Babaduke, right?

Why can't you just be normal?

What is that to say?

Right?

So they need a solution at quarterback.

They grabbed the decrepit corpse of Joe Flacco, the warmed-over remains of Kenny Pickett, now gone, R.I.P., and drafted two mid-to-late round quarterbacks, right?

One of whom is a national spotlight, not unlike Tim Tebow.

And then the guy drafted in the fifth round played like a fifth rounder, and everyone is mad.

I feel like any other franchise could handle that level of scrutiny, but maybe not the one that keeps finding themselves signing guys who make you think that they're one of the most incompetent cartoon villains you've ever seen, whose only motivation is to make you hate them.

I like the rest of this, or a lot of the rest of this roster.

I liked adding Mason Graham, Carson Schlesinger, especially knowing you wouldn't get JOK back.

I like that secondary a whole hell of a lot.

And maybe they could have done more receiver, but

this is a workable team if it wasn't just for the Browns-ness of it all.

That's it.

That's my take.

Yeah.

That was kind of the point I made around draft time.

And See, you know, looked at me a little a certain way, but I didn't mean it to get you fired up.

It was just like there are teams that I might trust in the Shadura situation.

The Browns aren't one of them.

And they did.

They did.

This is the other thing that kind of annoyed me about the Kenny Pickett trade.

He gets traded.

They sign him or trade for him, you know, and they give up a fifth-round pick.

Then they keep him for like three months or something.

Who does this?

Who's talking in this building to each other?

And then they turn around and trade him to the Raiders because they needed a quarterback.

And then Ben Solak on ESPN's like, oh, I give the Browns an A for this trade.

It's like,

what are we giving any A's out for this?

What are we doing?

Why are we even writing about this, by the way?

But like, in general, the general idea, like, are the different factions of the Browns talking to each other, or is this just like an every man for himself situation going on?

I think they're very much a committee, and I'm not saying that in a positive way, because, you know, as we mentioned on the Eisencho, it's hard to pinpoint who made this litany of insane decisions.

Because I will say, if I weren't, I'm not trying to, part of my thing on the show is to defend them and all this, but there is a laundry list and a history of insane behavior.

And I know they're rebuilding for the fifth time now, and they've got 10 draft picks.

You also have 14 quarterbacks who can't play.

Like, it is one of the more planless offenses I've seen in a long time.

Because to Arif's point, I think there are other good parts to this roster and young players, and they're getting really young.

But it's like, how do you keep a locker room together during this shitstorm of a plan?

I don't know.

It's getting me.

Now I can start to get annoyed.

Yeah, we were wondering on our show, does Pickett get to put his name on that quarterback jersey with everyone else?

Because

I

yeah, I mean, listen, at the end of the day, they they landed kind of where they need to land.

They have the two, they have all the draft picks.

You're going to want to see Gabriel and Sanders.

Let's keep Flacco the progress stopper to a minimum of four starts.

Come on,

maximum, I should say.

I'll take the dart.

Listen, I misspoke.

I'll take the dart.

There's no reason for 40-year-old Joe Flacco to be getting extended playing time with where the Browns are organizationally.

It's obvious.

Dylan Gabriel is the number two, by the way, on the official depth chart behind Flacco with Shador third.

All right.

Let's take a break.

Hey, we have a rule there, Justin.

When we're coming out of a division, heading toward a break,

no darts.

And yet, you can't take the darts out of my jugular.

You can't undo it.

So how about we get a little less trigger-happy?

Melfeasens.

No promises on the less trigger happy thing give me a break did you guys see weapons i haven't i must i will no okay there's a bit of a ponderous moment in the film that involves like a floating spoiler alert not really uh ak-47 above a house and i just picture that just floating above justin's palatial dallas rental home guy's just gun crazy now

Sounds about right, yeah.

So I spent my time watching like K-pop demon hunters.

I didn't get to get the weapons.

man i just started watching that it's did you

it is oh you have my son that's right that's right he's five and a half and so you know he has friends and they're he's trying to stay cool so yeah there's a weird k-pop demon hunters thing going on so i have a son who just turned 11 entering fifth grade just started fifth grade and him and all his friends know all the songs and all the words.

And I'm like, They're bangers.

And they are bangers.

They got it.

There's hooks for you.

They're hooks for days.

But like, they're not real.

I feel like as an 11-year-old boy, like your friends, you're like, oh, yeah, there's this new girl group that we like all their songs and they're

great to look at.

But these aren't even real.

These are cartoons, right?

What is this?

It's 2025, man.

I don't know what to tell you.

I can't.

Yeah.

Arif, I can't understand the times in which we now live in.

Yeah, like

I was into the Spice Girls for all of the obvious reasons that an 11-year-old boy would be into the Spice Girls, right?

And I get what you're saying.

It's not relatable to me, but it's just I've I've stopped questioning it.

It's like, yeah, that's reality.

You know, we spent like 40 hours a week watching He-Man, so I'm not sure what reality has to do with.

Well, I'm not talking about

Transformers.

Come on.

I get that.

I get that.

But we also, on our Friday fun show on Patreon, check it out, we talked about how there's just a thriving, growing movement of AI boyfriends and girlfriends out there where people are substituting actual human partnership for, you know, artificial versions.

I guess this is just an extension of

more dangerous to me than just like liking the image of a character.

I think there's like a little bit of a barrier there.

The AI stuff is terrifying to me, but like, I don't know, just

pretty girl.

It's digital, whatever.

Maybe the Browns should do an AI quarterback for this season.

That would be ideal, I think.

That is a great concept.

That's less dangerous than all of the worst stories I've heard about.

It has to be better than Flacco.

And they could pre-load it to be the greatest quarterback who ever lived he'll still end up on the back of that job i mean you i would just go ai entire franchise

all right let's take a break and when we get back uh the other half of the afc

calling all hedonists if the big show three times a week is not enough you have patreon.com slash heed the call with all the bonus content you could ever imagine starring one mark sessler we've got rolling thunder coming up down the road we've got our friday fun show which is an absolute blast.

And Dan, I know you got something special coming up.

Oh, yeah.

Oasis has come back to America, and me and Bob are going to be there, boots on the ground.

And of course, the Throwback Podcast has to tackle that topic.

So we have a very special Oasis Live 25 edition of the Throwback Pod coming up next week.

I mean, what else could you ask for?

Sign up for the Patreon.

Be a hedonist.

Be a part of the solution.

Help Mark.

Help Mark.

He needs it.

These are sexy times.

All right.

Back to the show.

All right.

Welcome back.

Hey, before we get to, where are we up to?

The AFC South?

Do we have to do the AFC South?

I don't know.

I don't think so.

Does it exist?

The contracts are obligated?

No, you guys can just tune into the Music City Audible and you'll get everything you need.

Look at that.

He works in a plug of his own.

His own vanity pod.

I love that.

Well done.

Before we get into the AFC South, we will hit it, but check out the Titans pod with the two Justins.

Anyway, let's do a quick rundown of notable cuts.

Cutdown Day was on Tuesday.

Let's start with those Browns.

Dustin Hopkins, Deontay Johnson, cut.

Deshaun Watson was put on the pup list, by the way, to start the season.

Key gone.

Let's see.

Wide receiver Trey Palmer and quarterback Kyle Trask to be cut by the Bucks.

Tommy Cutlitz,

Lil Jordan Humphrey, friend of the show, cut by the Giants.

By the way, again.

This isn't going after ESPN, but because I mentioned Solak, who's very good, great writer.

Love Solak.

But, you know, he gave the Browns an A for the for the trade of Kenny Pickett.

Well, someone had to.

But

we don't.

We actually don't have to grade

the trade of Kenny Pickett for a fifth-round pick.

We don't.

I'm just saying that's how it works, though.

It's like going, everyone's going in this direction, go in that direction.

And we're talking about you right now.

We just don't have to grade it.

That's all.

But anyway,

Tommy DeVito, it popped up on, like, I clicked into the article on ESBN.

So I guess I'm part of the problem that Tommy DeVito was cut by the Giants.

And there's the big playback of Get Up for ESBN's morning show.

And it's like, in a very serious face, you have Greenie,

we have big news to announce.

And then they like smash cut to Schefter live on the set, ominously, like Walter Cronkite on 112263, explaining that Tommy DeVito has been let go by the Giants.

And I'm like, what?

This is breaking news?

We're going live with this.

The fourth thing.

Shifty smoke.

Like Walter Cronkite?

You got like Schefter like taking off his glasses and just like collecting

that is the culture now that we're like, if I like on Instagram, I follow Schefter and like every single cut is breaking colon.

And it's like, I had literally have never heard of this person.

Like, I don't even know who this is.

You know whose fault this is?

I know whose fault this is.

Dav motherfing Kleinman.

There we go.

Seeing him in AI.

AI Israelites.

Pretty confident he's not running that

Twitter account anymore.

He is.

You could be very confident confident that he is not.

Yeah, we kind of have announced that he died on this show, so we don't talk about him anymore.

So let's keep going here.

Desmond Ritter, cut by the Bengals.

Isaiah Simmons, once upon a time, a first-round pick of the Cardinals.

And Micole Hardman, cut by the Packers.

MVS, Marquez Valdez-Scantling.

Damian Martinez, running back cut by the Seahawks.

Hunter Renfro doesn't make it with the Panthers.

Blah, blah, blah.

A lot of different stuff here.

Deuce Vaughan, our boy.

A little guy.

Carson Steele cut by the Chiefs.

That feels good.

Yeah, that one's surprising to me.

Carson Steele running back to the battle.

What about his Allegators?

KJ.

Or his allegator get cut, too.

Oh, really?

K.J.

Osborne cut by the Commanders.

K.J.

Hamler cut by the Bills.

Robert Woods misses the cut with the Steelers.

Da-da-da-da-da.

Let's see.

Oh, Malachi Corley, third-round pick, cut by the Jets.

Yeah, no matter what.

Yeah, he's two things he's known for.

The draft day inspired a text between Sala and Joe Douglas with a photo of Corley in college, no matter what, reply, no matter what.

And then he dropped the ball before he got to the goal line last season, I believe, on a Halloween night game.

That was how he'll be remembered in Jets history.

Cole Strange released by the Patriots, former first-round pick.

The Falcons are releasing former first-round pick cornerback C.J.

Henderson.

Taysom Hill will start the season on a pup list.

That's a little side note.

And

that's about it.

Hold on, I just want to bring up this thing about Cole Strange.

He was the guy that McVay was like, oh, I thought he was going to be there, like the fifth round.

Right?

Right, right, right.

Never a good sign when that's an opposing

executive saying that.

Well, they were giggling at Billichick, right?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I think they were also very intoxicated while they were doing it because they did not have a first-round pick.

Yeah, they were just vibant the whole time.

In the Rams, like the Rams party house that they always have.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Malibu beach house.

All right, let's get back to it.

Let's head to the AFC South.

Mark Sessler, get us going with the Houston Texans.

Mark needed the, he needed it.

I needed it.

He's got the horn.

Go.

Overhaul the offensive line with five-plus new big bodies.

Check.

Find a new play color for C.J.

Stroud.

Check.

Keep patting a saucy young defense.

Check.

Stare at a division that largely smells of death.

Check.

Wax the bolts in the playoffs.

Excuse me.

And barely lose to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Check.

Be vaguely ignored all season, offseason.

Why?

I could have read that better, but I feel like they kind of accomplished a lot here, and they have been roundly ignored and not part of the conversation.

And they've won playoff games two years in a row.

and destroyed the Chargers a year ago and almost beat the Chiefs, almost tied the Chiefs in playoffs.

You know what i think even though it wasn't your intention a little bit of the halting delivery there is that is a disastrous read yeah i i just there's just something about them that doesn't that doesn't excite me they're missing i'll say this i'll say this and i think you agree with that mark i don't i don't hear you go going on and on about i was more

asking the question because it's like i'm with you that i can see them in the lower like a little bit of a lower section i'm interested i'm interested in year three of cj stroud i really am i i think that

it's easy to forget, but he was Jaden Daniels entering last season.

And then, you know, it wasn't really his fault, obviously, because the offensive line was a disaster and the wide receiver room got decimated.

But he played a role in it, too.

He took a step back.

So I think one of the, actually, I'm going to say this, Arif, I think one of the big...

underrated subplots in the AFC is Stroud in year three and what version of him we get.

Is he a guy that settles in as a solid starter or does he have that top of the top tier in signal callers?

I think that's fair.

I do want to say that the beginning of the AFC South segment is exactly how awkward I expected a blind two and a half date to go.

So this really fulfilled my expectations.

It all works.

Overhauling the offensive line, I think, is great in theory, but I don't like most of these players.

Obviously, Minnesota guy.

I love Ursury.

He's going to be great.

But

I just think, yeah, Ed Ingram, also a Minnesota guy, I know he's not great.

Yeah, Lakin Tomlinson, I think, is a little bit past what he was able to do in the past.

Jake Andrews or Jared Pat, I don't know who's going to be the center.

I don't love that.

I don't know that just changing the offensive line is enough, and that's my concern.

But I love the receiving group, obviously, and they were able to add to it.

I think Nico Collins might be the most underrated receiver in the NFL right now.

And that defense is great.

Will Anderson, Daniil Hunter?

Holy crap.

I think that they're going to be really good.

They kept Stingley, obviously.

They're going to keep him around for a long time.

I still want to add a little bit more to that secondary, but I think that there's a lot to work with.

But that offensive line really worries me.

Totally agree, kind of across the board.

This team is as good as Stroud is.

Can he be a top 10 player?

I think so.

But Joe Mixon, what are they going to do in the run game?

That kind of worries me the most.

All right, moving on, the Indianapolis Colts with Chris Brockman.

It's been six years since Andrew Luck shocked the NFL and ruined fantasy teams nationwide, most notably O.J.

Simpsons, by announcing his retirement during the preseason.

And Indie has seemingly been in a free fall since.

And that's not going to stop this year, unfortunately.

Look, the late Jim Merce's daughters are taking over the team.

Their leadership style is a big unknown.

And so it seems curious that Shane Steichen and Chris Ballard would leave their football fates in the hands of Daniel Jones and possibly Anthony Richardson.

How do they have any positivity for this year, or should they quietly tank for one of the top quarterbacks we expect to be available next April in Pittsburgh?

Quietly tanking.

It is an interesting

situation there because I thought it was notable that Shane Steichen was so strong about, you know, we're going to open the, he didn't say we're going to open the season with Daniel Jones and see how it goes.

It was like, no, Daniel Jones is our starter and we intend for him to be the starter

for the whole season.

It was a full-on washing of their hands of Anthony Richardson, which is really a distraction, obviously, in addition to being a huge organizational setback.

And it just makes me wonder, yeah, I think you're spot on.

Like, this is a team that revitalized itself twice in the Ursa era, in the final 25 years of the Ursae era, with big-time quarterback draft picks.

Would they secretly like to go three and 14?

They'll never say it out loud, but probably would be the best chance long term for the organization.

The problem there is I don't think Steichen and his coaching staff survive if they

get the number one pick.

And you know what I mean?

It's like you got it.

You're at odds with what you want.

I mean, I know that Chris Ballard is pretty unkillable through multiple regime changes and all these densely.

He can't be the one that picks that quarterback, by the way, if this season goes

down the toilet.

I'm just saying, like, maybe he's a victor in the power vacuum there with F Durce's passing.

T-minus one minute.

Yeah, I mean,

I do like you noting that there's going to be a change in ownership because we don't know the the leadership style.

I do know that one of Yurse's daughters has always had the radio.

She's been on the sidelines a lot.

And that's been portrayed as a positive because she's educated and knowledgeable and kind of understands what's going on, knows more about football than most people do, even people inside football organizations.

But there's a flip side to that, which is maybe she intervenes a lot and maybe that's not a good thing.

So it is really kind of concerning.

But I'm just

kind of confused about like who the good players on the team are, especially if, you know, Quentin Nelson's not playing up to the level that he did two, three years ago.

I, do they have a player who's top five at his position at any of these positions, except you know, maybe the rookie Tyler Warren?

I don't know.

This is like, this is one of the worst teams I think we've seen in a long time.

Like, maybe not as bad as that, you know, Jaguars team that won two games, or you know, the Bills team that's an 18-point underdog, but this is an awful team.

Four, three.

Do you dare, Trocl?

One,

two,

three,

guy knows how to stay alive.

They had him, they had a Manning once.

I'm just saying.

You know what I mean?

I'm just saying.

Was that worth the dart?

Kind of.

What is the...

I really am pushing this.

I don't think it's going to get...

Some people are saying March for Arch, right?

He's staying, isn't he?

Yeah, well, that's what they say.

As of today, we don't believe that.

Not if he wins the Heisman Trophy and the national championship.

I'm I'm partial to, I'm trying to get this off the ground, PU for nephew.

Oh, I like that.

That's good.

We got to get that one going.

That's way better than March for Arch.

All right, up next.

If Arch wins the Heisman and Texas wins the national championship, Brockman, then Connor will be very mad at me because I will win some money.

Ayo.

Justin has a virgin and gambling problem.

That was a critical update.

Thank you.

Great addition to the audience.

Oh, degenerate.

I'm rooting for you.

All right.

The Jacksonville Jaguars with Arif Hassan.

Cool.

Yeah.

Are the excuses for Trevor Lawrence excuses or are they reasons?

We know he has arm talent and accuracy.

We know he has athleticism.

It's legitimately the case that Urban Meyer didn't know what he was doing, and the problems with Doug Peterson and Press Taylor, the ones that he had with Carson Wentz, were more than just interpersonal.

Press Taylor doesn't know how to run an offense.

So at what point are we listing off all the reasons he's doomed to fail and start listing reasons that we know he'll succeed?

It's kind of hard, right?

We know quarterbacks can eventually succeed after failing for years.

We just saw it with Geno Smith and Sam Darnold.

We have a bunch of examples.

Alex Smith, Brian Dan Hill, Drew Brees, Phil Sims, Terry Bradshaw, Randall Cunningham, tons of examples.

I could go all the way down the list.

And the Jaguars have been really injury-ridden, bereft of talent.

When they've had a team that was about as close to league average in terms of talent and health as you could be, with Trevor at the helm, he was a top-10 quarterback in multiple statistics, adjusting that years per attempt, EPA per play, whatever, right?

So maybe there's something there, or maybe I'm just searching, but I just remember that this was a team that featured LaQuan Treadwell.

They made bad picks and LaVisca Schnalt.

They surrounded him with a bunch of wide receiver threes like Gabe Davis, Christian Kirk, Zay Jones, kinda Calvin Ridley.

But now they've got Brian Thomas Jr.

and DeAmi Brown, and they added Travis Hunter.

And it feels like we should see something this year, but this has to be the referendum year, right?

Has to be, right?

And that Brian Thomas Jr.

was a major hit at 24 overall or in the first round last year and 24.

And now you have in Travis Hunter.

The way when we've had our fun with James Gladstone the boy GM on this podcast but the way he talked him up makes me think that they believe that he is the player it's not just gonna unlock this like fascinating exciting two-way otani like talent um he's also gonna unlock Trevor Lawrence like that I think that's part of what this this sell is that this isn't just a regular player this is a franchise shifting talent so I don't know that put it that here's one way to look at it like I'm excited to watch Jaguars games for the first time in a while because I want to see what this kid can do.

If they play them, you know.

Yeah, I think about Liam Cullen and what he did for Baker Mayfield last year.

Do you think it's more likely Mayfield has a repeat season without Cullen, or this is Trevor Lawrence's year to have that Baker Mayfield type season?

I mean, I would look back to that heightened end of the one campaign where Lawrence looked like the finished product.

And it was very easy to believe in what was ahead.

And we just haven't seen it since and for me i think one of the beguiling things about um like looking at football players or quarterbacks is like he physically looks like he should be the part and i think it delays my assessment of his actual play because it's like of course he's going to be great at some point but it's just because he's six foot six and has long blonde flowing hair but like this year he's got to go do it on the field

He also should get a haircut.

Oh, maybe it's like a reverse Samson situation, right?

That's going to come at some point.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I like that take.

Yeah.

I thought you're coming after the lie.

Is it because you go fully Sean?

Is that?

Is there a connection point there?

Three, two.

Maybe.

You can make the connection you want.

The Tennessee Titans.

We have the number one overall pick playing quarterback, and nobody's talking about us.

Wah.

Takes giant sandwich by vape rip, downward angle selfie, thirst trap pick to send to his fiancé at work.

That's he, the call producer, Justin Graeber.

And let me tell you something:

he has a point.

He has a point.

The Titans might have fallen short this summer in terms of hype, but that won't matter if Cam Ward hits the field in a week and a half and returns a sorely missing sense of juice.

Juice and excitement around Tennessee football.

Ward, he doesn't get the weepy C-poem love letters from his GM like Hunter, but he's a prospect that he's obliterated all the challenges he's ever faced on a football field.

He balled out at all three stops in his college career.

This was a zero-star recruit

that then crushed the draft process, became the first overall pick.

He's got the guts of a burglar, burglar.

He's got the

cannon of a

really strong burglar.

I wouldn't say I'm excited to watch the Titans this year, but I'm certainly more excited than I've been in many years.

And it's because of QB1.

So let's bring in the Gravedigger, the biggest Titans fan I know.

Yeah.

Well said, Dan.

I think you should be excited to watch the Titans.

We'll know, I feel like, pretty quick if they are going to be exciting or not.

But if like, if the offense looks decent the first couple of weeks against the Broncos and the Rams, then we know we might be in for a treat.

And conversely, if they don't look great, I remember the early Jackson Dart starts, for instance, and he wasn't even a number one pick, but like I remember how much he struggled early on.

Bo Nix, excuse me, the early Bo Nicks start in Denver last year.

Yeah, very similar.

And you saw where he progressed.

So he's going to get a long runway, right?

Brockman, and he's also, there's no threat to his playing time.

Like he is the locked and loaded guy.

Let's see how he looks in year one.

Yeah, barring injury, we're getting 17 games from Cam Ward.

And I, too, am excited.

and I too think that we should probably be talking about the number one overall pick in a draft more.

I mean, look, this guy's a dog.

You've just seen some of his, you know, training camp comments and the quotes.

He's cursing, which I like.

He seems to have that edge and moxie to him that has been sorely missing with this Titan team.

I think you said the perfect word.

Juice.

This team has juice and excitement.

We're going to see them on red zone, even though they're playing every single game in the one o'clock Eastern window, which I think is some kind of record.

Yeah, they don't even have the obligatory Jaguar Titan Thursday night poop fest that we all come to hate.

I am excited to see Cam Ward play.

I think he's going to be the real deal.

I'm not taking a darkness done.

You know, I'm going to call it timeout and

just to get a little deeper on Ward and give Justin and Mark if you want to jump in on this one.

Do you think he has been set up roster-wise?

Obviously, we all like Calvin Ridley, and I think Tyler Lockett was a good signing by them.

But do you think in terms of offensive line, running game, Tajay Spears, by the way, was he on the IR or the pup list?

Do you think he's set up to have success here?

I'll go first, Mark, because I'll give the extremely optimistic bias take and

come in with the realistic, you know,

wake up, set me straight call.

I think the Titans roster is definitely better than last year.

The offensive line in preseason looked good.

Oh, what does that mean?

Nothing, but they have upgraded at multiple spots on the offensive line.

So we have higher expectations for them this year.

I think the run game is going to be good.

I think it's that I think they're going to lean on the run game more than people might expect from Brian Callahan.

And like, I think Cam Ward's pass attempts are going to be lower than people think per game.

The defense could be one of the worst in football.

It's most likely going to be a terrible defense, but that might help Cam Ward's

award runs because the Titans' offense is going to need to keep scoring if they want to stay in games.

Will they be able to?

That's obviously like the big question.

But I actually think he's set up decently well.

There's three rookie pass catchers that...

If just one of them becomes a contributor on offense, the weapons look a lot better than they do right now.

It feels like what a lot of first overall picks have to deal with.

My biggest question, because I think that's well said, Justin, and I'm not down on Cam Ward.

I want to, I can't wait to see what we get in the first month.

And I think that will change the attention around him and the excitement and the narrative.

But for me, it's just like, I feel like Brian Callahan was pulled from the belly of Zach Taylor.

And I equally had questions about Zach Taylor for years and still do.

And I just don't have it.

I don't feel like Brian Callahan has a real identity.

I know his father is, but it's like, is this the right coach to pair with this so incredibly important player?

We don't know yet.

Zach Taylor, you know, I know everybody's down to Zach Taylor.

That guy went to a Super Bowl.

I mean, Callahan,

I was with you.

Before who in the world is Zach Taylor?

I get it.

Before that.

Yeah, there's a nondescript nature to Callahan that almost he's almost like out of like

background extras for what like a coach that will be fired after two seasons looks like like even by his name.

Yeah, no, I mean, I um I'm, as a, as a prospect, a long-term investment, I'm in on Cam Ward.

As a rookie, I'm out, and that's not his fault.

I just, when I look at this roster, I just think, yeah, yeah, it's better.

But, like, if Cam Ward needs to solve a problem, who's going to help him do that?

I don't look at any of these players in the offense and see,

you know, an answer to that question.

So, to me, I just think that anytime they're going to run into some trouble, again, not going to be his fault.

There's just not going to be a lot of solutions available there for him.

And so

I'm a little bit out on what they're able to do and hey you you mentioned like three rookie uh pass catchers i just looked them up they're all fourth-round picks come on man i that's that's that's a that's a long shot there they are elekai manner was projected day two pick who fell

he's and he's a he's an athletic freak i love him but he's like the one guy that has a chance gunner helm could be like

midway through the season the titans you're 100 right though a reef the titans are missing stars and without stars it's really hard to win a lot of football games Good luck to you, Justin.

We're rooting for you, buddy.

Thanks.

Last division, AFC South.

I'll start it with the defending conference champion Chiefs.

First off, obviously, congratulations, Travis and Taylor.

Even though you kind of took away the shot.

Cut down day, really?

Yeah, cut down day, but also the announcement of Heath the Call's partnership with Odyssey.

The press release definitely got backseated.

Not cool.

All right, start the clock now.

Well, I just want to say I think they're adorable.

I don't care who knows it.

Do you think I start the clock?

Do you think she's aware that it's cut down day, Taylor Swift?

I believe that she's really caught up.

Yes, she knows.

She's dying.

She knows the difference between cover three and cover four.

She's dying.

Yeah, Mark, she does.

Well, I also believe that she does, so I'm just going to leave it right there.

I don't know about that.

But let's move forward.

Anyway, the Chiefs.

They are going to annoy a lot of people again this year.

I won't be one of them.

I have backlash to the Chiefs' backlash, which will make me, by

some scientific measure, a full-on supporter of this sustained run of excellence.

And I believe they should be seen as a very credible threat to become the second team, I believe, ever to appear in four straight Super Bowls.

So I think we've heard a lot of good things about the rookie offensive lineman, the left tackle, Simmons.

So I buy into that.

People we trust have been singing the praises there.

So I think if the left tackle is solved, that's going to be a big help, even with Tooney Gon.

I think the line should be better.

I believe the pass catchers will be better with the benefit of full health.

I believe the quarterback has a lot of motivation here to go into righteous kill mode after what's been a humbling few months.

So those cooking up visions of Casey's demise are, I think, about to be disappointed again.

What do you think, Mark?

I am with you 100%.

Like they went 15-2 last year.

Our friend friend Aaron Schatz, his FTN football almanac, says that last year's Chiefs team was the NFL's highest overperforming team since the 1970 merger.

The biggest team ever.

Yeah.

I mean, so there's that, but I think they fixed some of their key problems.

And it's like year after year,

no matter what we squawk about in the offseason saying they're missing this, they're missing that, they find a way.

I'm not going to

take away anything from them until I see it because because I think they've got the Bills number.

And Patrick Mahomes apparently has looked absolutely lights out in camp.

Titan is bad, too.

Kelsey.

I think

when I look at the Chiefs in this preseason, you know what I liked?

Mahomes was throwing it deep.

He was airing it out.

He wasn't this check-down Charlie from the last few seasons.

And I think that's an exciting element.

And if you're the rest of the league and the NFL, that's got to scare the shit out of you that suddenly Mahomes has re-found the deep ball.

And my God, you know, look, every bounce isn't going to go their way.

They may not win 15 games again, but they're still going to be one of the most scariest teams offensively.

And that should just freak everybody out.

Yeah, that's that's what I was going to talk about.

They put an emphasis on the deep ball.

They're going to chuck it.

They've been chucking it in camp.

And obviously he looks good doing that.

And, you know, getting back to, you know, what makes them such an exciting offense is going to make them fun again.

And I think we're actually going to see fewer people that, you know, that

Dan is backlashing against.

We're going to see more, we're going to see more people actually enjoying the Chiefs again.

And the thing is, I think a lot of people always underrate this Chiefs' defense.

That secondary is still outstanding.

You still have Trent McDuffie, you still have Jalen Watson, you still have Brian Cook.

You still have

a pass rush that has Chris Jones.

Maybe they could add a little bit more of that pass rush in time.

But I just really like defensively what they've got the capability of doing, adding a deep-throwing offense.

That's awesome.

Three, two,

one,

two.

Justin, do we have any timeouts?

You're like the clock management specialist that we need.

This is our last timeout.

Oh, good.

Last timeout.

Get down on the Chiefs.

Yeah, I think in the world of the Chiefs backlash, and it's real, and

Brockman, as a Patriots fan, you once felt this as well because there was certainly a Patriots backlash, especially in the back run of that girl.

Dominant era that they had.

In the case of the Chiefs thing, there was actually some real juice to it because it not only does it seem or it has it seemed that like the calls went their way, they stopped playing fun football.

Like it stopped being exciting and fun to watch, at least compared to their own very hard bar that they had set in the earlier Mahomes years.

So, yeah, I think, especially knowing, Arif, how much this team's going to be on TV and the fact that they're very, very likely going to be playing a lot of those prominent January games again.

Adding that deep attack is something that we might as well root for

because otherwise we're just I'm kind of going to watch them either way.

You might as well be yeah, we're going to watch them either way, but I would rather watch a team that is a little more unpredictable than what we've seen the last couple of years.

Wouldn't you say that when it comes to the exhaustion, like it feels to me that they're on television three times a week?

Like it's there's an oversaturation.

So they can be more fun, but people aren't going to start rooting for them, but they are patients.

We don't go that far.

Yeah.

I mean, that's that's fair.

I don't think it's going to die down.

But I think part of the reason that that people and this is not the whole reason obviously a lot of it's fatigue but part of the reason people were upset with the chiefs is there was like a very much like they can't keep getting away with this kind of approach to what their offense was doing and how they were just just managing these drives it just felt very unlikely

Yeah, exactly.

I also think too, it was you're watching the game where they're getting every call and they're getting every bounce.

And then when they go to break, Andy Reid and Travis Kelsey and Patrick Mahomes are in every commercial.

You couldn't escape them.

So like to Mark's point, it felt like they were living with you in your house.

You saw

that often, right?

They played six out of the seven days of the week last year.

They're all over it again.

They're opening on Friday night, wherever Rio de Janeiro.

Is that where it is?

I don't know.

But

like, it's happening again.

So give us some exciting football.

Yeah.

Bring back that.

I actually do think, though.

When the Chiefs dynasty is over, and it will be over at some point, we're going to miss them, just like we missed the Patriots.

And if if you go back to other sports, we're going to miss LeBron James.

I don't know.

Chris, only you miss the Patriots.

He certainly does.

We're going to have to shut you down.

Because dynasties are good for sports and good for leagues.

You need someone to hate.

That is

collectively.

Every other 31 team to hate, and we all hate the Chiefs.

I'm not going to cop the missing the Patriots, but I do think that argument is correct.

Yes.

Thank you.

Wright Church.

I miss Tom Brady every day.

The church.

With Sassy.

Sassy.

Time in.

We've got this world where

we've spent this program talking about a string of dominant AFC teams.

And not beyond the Chiefs.

To me, it feels like the Bengals, Ravens, and Chiefs are also playing each other on a weekly basis in an island game spot.

And it's good.

And it's great for the AFC to have that.

I remember back in the 80s when they didn't win a Super Bowl for like 14 years.

When it comes to the Chargers, because I think they've been talked about as having this vision under Harbaugh, and they're going to go and destroy people physically.

They just lost for Sean Slater, which I think is a massive loss.

You have to move Joe Tellt over to left tackle.

That immediately changes the physicality and what you can be.

But we had Jordan Rodriguez go to camp and say that they are a massive size team and they are powerful.

Do you think that they're built correctly?

So, in this year, two under Harbaugh to toy with the Chiefs, Bills, and Ravens, or

are they just sort of a secondary trinket that we're waiting to at some point evolve?

Dan.

No, I'm with you.

I think if you are going to contend, and I think that which is the best division football,

to me, you're going to need to have a real personality.

You're going to have to have a way to play and to be the big, strong bully that can run the ball down your throat, to have a quarterback who can make plays and potentially be special in his own right, and then a defense that was the number one scoring defense in football last year.

They have the pieces

and they have in many matchups during the season, they're going to have the advantage on the coaching staff as Matt Money Smith told us.

It's not just John Harbaugh.

This is top to bottom one of the better coaching staffs in football.

It's hard for me to poke holes in this team and not see them as one of the playoff teams in the AFC, if not the division winner.

I think for me, it's I take a look at this team and I think like, oh man, can they overcome the Broncos and the Chiefs?

And I just think, you know, typically we take a look at these coaching staffs and changes in teams and and we think like by year two, we'll have a good understanding of who they are.

I look at this roster and I feel like, yeah, I love those changes that they made to the offensive line.

I like Lad McConkey, but honestly, I feel like they're still a year away from us seeing their full potential.

I think they need to add a couple more pieces before we can really consider them serious contenders.

And I'm a huge Justin Herbert guy.

I think that he is like right there on the cusp of being a top five quarterback.

I think he's an outstanding player if he can just kind of get out of his own head and unleash what he was able to unleash as a rookie and be an aggressive player, I think he's awesome.

But I just, I don't see them getting that close with this roster, especially the one that they have on defense,

without just one or two more key additions, which is not going to happen until we get another offseason.

Justin Herbert is one of the quarterbacks under the most pressure this season.

And I wonder if he lays in bed at night combing his beautiful hair, thinking about what if we drafted Malik Neighbors instead?

10, 9.

Yeah, that would be the missing guy.

And the Mike Williams retirement was annoying.

Maybe Keenan Allen has some gas in the tank, but he's not Malik Neighbors.

One.

No.

All right.

The Denver Broncos, the much buzzed about Denver Broncos with the reef.

All right, I'm not going to talk about the defense.

The defense is great.

It looks like it got better.

Let's talk about Bo Nicks.

Is he real?

So everyone talked about how great his season was last year.

I understand it, but I think what was lost is how different the front half and back half of Bo Nick's season was.

On the whole, great.

He finished 18th in adjusted net yards per attempt, 19th in PFF grade, 19th in EDPA per play.

That's pretty good for a rookie.

And honestly, I think those numbers actually surprised people as low because of the discourse surrounding him.

But in the second half of the season, he ranked 11th and 13th in those metrics.

So he seemingly got better.

But the reason is because the first half of the season, he was passing deeper, taking more chances, throwing more aggressively.

They were 16th in the league in percentage of passing yards coming after the catch.

It wasn't working.

His turnover-worthy play rate was low, but his big-time throw rate was also very low.

He was averaging 5.9 yards per play.

That's not workable.

So they changed it.

They gave him less to do.

The second half of the season, Denver ranked number one in yak percentage, and Nick's dropped from seventh in depth of target, number seven, all the way to 31st.

So can an offense work when it's 26% screens, number one in the NFL?

Because it wasn't working when it was at 18%, which was around the NFL average.

And I think at some point, offenses like this get figured out, and Bo Nix needs to be like a real quarterback in order for this to all to come together.

Interesting.

Is Bo Nick's real?

Interesting.

That's a take I haven't heard as much.

I guess my answer to that is yes.

I certainly saw enough from a rookie quarterback.

I mean, what that huge throw he made in January where it's just like eye-opening.

That was great.

That his physical skills and his tools.

And he has, he's one of those lucky guys, one of those lucky young quarterbacks that has a really gifted coach/slash play caller and Sean Payton, who maybe knew exactly how much to punch the accelerator in year one.

And I'm just going to give them a little benefit of the doubt that there is going to be more wrinkles put into this offense in year two as the trust and bond develops and the experience continues to build with Knicks.

I just think it's arrow up for that quarterback.

But it's interesting.

You bring up something that I wasn't aware of how they shifted that to protect it.

I think what I like about Bo Nicks, too, he's...

charismatic, magnetic.

He's got moxie.

I think he's really tough.

He looks like maybe the quarterback you'd hate in one of those team movies.

I like that bad guy.

But there's something about him, and I can't really put my thumb exactly on it.

But look, I was thinking about them as a possible division winner and maybe Super Bowl contender over the summer before the bandwagon filled up on that.

So I still kind of really like them, and I think they're going to push the Chiefs in this division.

I just think when it comes back to young quarterbacks, paired with a coach, with a team with a great defense and a number of weapons on offense, like I like his prospects for year two.

There were one in six and one score games last season.

I think that's a mark that says they're going to win more games.

11 games, no problem with that.

Six.

Is Bomix real?

What is his jeuneis écroix?

Brockman closes out with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Guys, America's youngest teenager, Pete Carroll, is back.

The oldest teenager.

He's the Dick Clark of the NFL.

And we are better for it.

Las Vegas bandstand should be a scene this entire season.

They made the giant draft splash with Ash Gengenti, hoping he's their version of Marshawn Lynch.

Yeah, Geno Smith is there.

Amari Cooper's back.

Max Crosby, too, is still anchoring that defense.

I'm wondering how much Tom Brady is really pulling the strings behind the scenes.

But my question for the Raiders is this: what needs to happen around them to not finish fourth in the AFC West?

I would say that the Chip Kelly offense, which flamed out of the NFL and has gone through changes, and I get all that, and the parts are different, but the Chip Kelly offense needs to work.

It needs to work with Geno Smith.

It needs to work with Ashton Genti.

This has been one of the most dull football watches for a long time.

If Tom Brady did anything, he kind of helped change the energy.

Pete Carroll does that.

But your offensive coordinator and how you deal with this offense, because they were one of the worst running teams around.

They were a mess

last year.

It's like, make it sing, and you got something here.

There's a lot of new faces on the defensive side of the ball.

There's a lot of turnover there, but that's Pete Carol's specialty.

And I guess the question is: like, at 72, 73 years old, is Carol going to be reinvigorated to be back in football,

or has the game passed them by?

I think that's a subplot around this because the division is very difficult.

The one thing, and I've never been a Reef, a big Gino guy.

I know Gino is a major driver of discourse amongst the football cognizante.

But I think he's in a good spot here to continue what's been a very strong back end of his career.

And part of that is because the quarterback position has been so dire in Vegas.

So he's going to be a big upgrade.

And if Genti is the real deal, that gives him a big playmaker right behind him for a three-down back.

So I think the offense is going to be a lot better.

The defense, we'll see.

In the division,

it's a tough spot.

It's tough to pick them anywhere other than fourth.

Yeah, I think the offense is going to be a lot better.

I think just by it just has to be, right?

You know, having a better quarterback like Geno Smith and having, you know, Ashton Gentie there.

But I am a little bit worried about the pass catcher situation there.

I'd like to see them add a little bit more talent, but I do like the offensive line.

I think it's an underrated one.

I do like that tight end group.

Defensively, I think that there's like areas to see them kind of turn around because they've made a lot of changes.

I don't know that these are guys that like move the needle a ton for me, but they're not bad players.

Landon Roberts, Jermaine Pratt.

You know, I think that those are guys that have value.

Jamal Adams seems like he was always destined to be a Raider from the moment he entered the NFL.

Finally, he's there, right?

So maybe you can kind of see him do some stuff at the linebacker position.

But they've got a lot of big bodies that hit people hard, like Jeremy Chin and Terrell Edmond.

I think there's something that can be done.

Four, three,

two,

one,

two.

We've done it.

We've covered the entirety of the AFC in exactly 48 minutes.

Don't look down.

Maybe more.

Maybe more than 48 minutes.

But we came, we did it.

We did it.

And that's all I could say.

We did it.

Chris Brockman,

what a performance.

You're going to get Rookie of the Year.

Forget about that running back in New England, but

you're getting Rookie of the Year votes for your first Heed the Call performance.

Check out Chris.

Gentlemen, thank you so much.

Thank you so much.

And Darif, what else needs to be said?

Great to be with you.

Great to be with you.

What is this?

Your third appearance?

At least, right?

At least.

Fourth, even.

Just a stud.

It's possible that I'm the fourth, yeah.

But yeah.

And so I see this as what with a five-legged blind date, fairly successful.

Yeah.

Everyone got lucky.

We're all going home happy.

No, thanks again, guys.

That's very, very good.

And And thank you to all the listeners and everybody watching on YouTube.

And remember, we're going to do the same exercise on the other side of football in the NFC with our friend Andrew Ceciliano.

Can't wait for that.

So thank you to everyone.

Until next time, do what you must.

Be the call.

Don't miss the EV lease incentive, ending soon.

And now, well-qualified current FCA lessees, get an ultra-low mileage lease on the 2025 Cheap Rango Sport S4xE for $189 a month, for 24 months with $3,079 due at signing.

Tax, title, license extra.

No security deposit required.

Call 1-888-925-GEEP for details.

Requires dealer contribution and lease through Stellantis Financial.

Extra charge for miles over 10,000.

Current vehicle must be registered to consumer 30 days prior to lease.

Includes 7,500 EV cap cost reduction.

Not all customers will qualify.

Residency restrictions apply.

Take delivery by 9:30.

Jeep is a registered trademark.