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The Heed the Call Podcast

says four more years of football.

Hey, oh, welcome to the Election Day edition of the Heed the Call Podcast.

I am Dan Hanses,

joined as I always am, by the great Mark Sessler, the sess dog, the gravedigger, of course, with us as well.

And coming up, actually, let's bring him in right now.

Connor Orr as well.

Why wait?

Why wait?

Why wait on this very busy Tuesday show?

And I was thinking, just I was thinking about this.

Is that applause for me thinking?

It's rare.

Why is the trade deadline on Election Day?

What is the NFL after?

These are things we could talk about now that we would not be able to talk about back then.

Is there an element, Connor, of voter suppression being involved here?

Some type of interference?

People that are die-hard fans?

Do they lean one way or the other?

And if so, if they are tied to their laptops or other devices to see what their team does, do they miss a window to get out and step into the poll,

the polling booth?

You know, just throwing out, I'm red stringing it just a little bit.

Your thoughts.

We can't be naive and we can't be ignorant.

I would love if, like, Pennsylvania was decided because someone didn't vote because they were so excited about Preston Smith being traded for a seventh round pick from the Packers.

It's just like, oh, this is it.

Our defense is complete.

Like,

the fate of the country will have to wait.

I ain't buying it.

I just think that, Mark, it's like we have to have these conversations, uncomfortable as they might be.

Well, I think that's, you know, one of the

earmarks of our show, this new show that

we've created together as a group.

We can have these discussions.

And, you know, we are not without guilt because we just did a robust, I thought, lively Patreon show that included all four of us, Justin, Connor, you and I.

And we kept people from the booths.

So are we, have we inserted ourselves into the political process on some level?

Just like that.

Yeah, I think

it has crossed my mind before that we are complicit,

even if not intentionally, in so much of the NFL's overindulgence because we're along for the ride and on the teat of the mothership in a lot of ways.

We're on.

So, yeah, the live stream being today was maybe complicating in terms of us trying to call out

345 Park Avenue, but it was a big hit, and that's the most important thing.

The live stream, we had a nice turnout, Patreon exclusive, and a lot of back and forth with the viewers on the live stream breaking down the trade deadline in real time.

And now, let's get into it.

No doubt.

No doubt about it.

No doubt about it.

No, people are saying it was a very, it was a huge turnout.

Like, let's be real.

It was pretty enormous.

Is that your Trump again?

No, no.

No, that's my, those are facts.

Like, it was an enormous turnout.

Coming up a little later today, before we get into that, we will have the big Thursday night showdown between the Bengals and Ravens in Baltimore.

Also, as we hit the midpoint of the season,

let's check in on the power rankings.

But before that, yes, we must, we must hit the trade deadline recap.

You think I'm an idiot?

Do you?

We'll get to Jara in just a little bit, but let's start with the biggest trade that went down on this Tuesday.

The Commanders, who have obviously become a really fascinating team this year with the rise, immediate rise of Jaden Daniels.

They are in the mix for not just a playoff spot in the NFC, but listen, the first seed.

It's all a play.

So the Commanders, they go for it at the deadline.

They acquire former all-pro cornerback Marshawn Lattimore and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the Saints in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round pick.

How about that?

The Commanders, Connor, had an extra third-round pick in their back pocket when they feliced the Eagles on that Jahan Dotson trade.

And now they add Lattimore to the back end, who I'd like to know where you stand on Lattimore in the here and now.

Is he the same player he was when he broke into the league in the late 2010s?

And how much do you think he's going to help this defense?

Big time.

I mean, they're still reeling from the Emmanuel Forbes pick from the year before, and Emmanuel Forbes was reportedly on the trade block, or at least someone that they thought that they could get rid of.

But I think this trade is almost completely analogous to when Philadelphia went out and got Darius Slay from a really bad Matt Patricia Lions team.

And everyone thought, oh, this guy's over the hill.

He's not really going to have anything.

And he really added that critical puzzle piece down the stretch for that secondary, became a huge part of their identity, really changed kind of the specter of that defense.

And I think that Lattimore has the ability to do that too.

And, you know, we mentioned this a little bit on the

trade deadline show.

But Dan Quinn has almost like a mind-meld with some of these veteran cornerbacks, whether it was was Stefan Gilmore or Tron Diggs or A.J.

Terrell, like everywhere he's gone, the Legion of Boom guys, he's made someone better or has prolonged the career of a really good cornerback.

And so I think this is a no-brainer for them.

I mean, I look at the fact that out of nowhere, Washington is 7-2 and very much alive for, like you said, a high seed or the division title.

You have two games remaining with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.

So you've got Devonta Smith, you've got A.J.

Brown, you've got CeeDee Lamb, and why

do anything on the trade deadline other than to patch up a weakness?

And I think this just fits.

It just fits.

And I love the Quinn comment from you, Connor, because he's already brought in a bunch of veterans to this defense.

And while they've not been the strength of the team,

They've grown together pretty quickly.

They basically like melded

in quick order.

And so I think it will work.

I think the trade deadline needs to be like players that work.

You've got to believe in the idea that you're going to come and quickly, quickly kind of mesh yourself with what's happening.

And I think this is one of those moves.

And

this was someone on the trade deadline on the block for a long time.

And

the Saints are floating away.

But out of nowhere, here come the Commanders with a very nice addition.

And Lattimore, it's notable to me that a day ago, Dennis Allen was fired.

And Allen was obviously a disciple of Sean Payton.

And Sean Payton was obviously there for the rise of the Drew Breeze era in the Super Bowl.

And Lattimore was part of that great draft class in 2017 when the Saints revitalized themselves and made one more big push with Breeze.

So now Dennis Allen's gone.

The Payton regime is finally wiped out.

And now Lattimore, who was obviously a gem of that draft class, is also gone.

So the changes, they have come to New Orleans and perhaps not a moment overdue.

In other news, the Lions acquire Cleveland Browns edge rusher Zadarius Zadarius Smith in exchange for a 2025 fifth and a 2026 sixth round draft picks.

Detroit also gets a 2026-7th round pick from Cleveland in the deal.

This is just the latest big name that the Browns are shipping off.

Amari Cooper went, obviously, to Buffalo a couple of weeks back.

And just like Mark with Washington, who sees a weakness in their defense as they are trying to make a Super Bowl run, Detroit,

with the absence of Aiden Hutchinson, they had a hole there on their edge rusher department, and now Smith can very likely fill that for them in a big way.

I really love the player.

Like, I love, I think Smith has been really good with the Cleveland Browns.

It's going to change their defense, but that's not the big story here.

He has 26 pressures this season.

That's 17 more than the next closest active available Lions player.

They've been getting pressure from their defensive tackles post-Aiden Hutchinson.

And this is someone that can come in and create a difference right away.

And it's kind of like the Dan Quinn argument in Washington.

You kind of just believe that when these when the Lions go and add someone to their mix or they draft someone we didn't expect, it works and this is going to work.

Like I think that Zadarius Smith was quietly a big reason that Miles Garrett was defensive player of the year last year.

I really do because he created a need for attention on the other side of that defensive line.

It's a big loss for the Browns, but this is the beginning of pain for the Browns who owe a defunct quarterback $70 plus million two years in a row.

You're going to have to start to cut price and cut roster.

And Smith is under contract for next year, too.

So this could be part of not just this season, which could be a Super Bowl season for the Lions, but the future as well.

One reason I love this too is

who are two of the teams that Zadarius Smith has the biggest problem with and is on record trashing on his way out, the Vikings and the Packers.

He's going to play both of those teams again this season.

And Dan Quinn loves people like that.

I mean, Amon Ross St.

Brown walked into that Packers game with the Green Bay sucks hoodie.

Notice I said it fast to get.

But

he wants that.

He invites that.

Zadari Smith hated his contract in Minnesota, complained about that.

He said that the Packers treated him like a zero when he was hurt and injured.

So there's something very deeply passionate about Zadarius Smith and the rest of that division.

So I love this deal.

Swinging over to the AFC, the Steelers are having a nice season so far, and there's a lot of optimism around the Russell Wilson offense.

And now they add a guy that potentially matches up very well with Wilson's skill set as that moonball thrower.

The Steelers acquire wide receiver Mike Williams from the Jets in exchange for a 2025 fifth round pick.

Williams, the writing's been on the wall with him and the Jets ever since New York went and got Devontae Adams a couple weeks back.

And for the Steelers, it adds a nice weapon and a nice one-two punch, Connor, in their wide receiver room.

You got to like this trade, right?

I think so.

And we watched the way that Russell Wilson played in his first start.

And it's while there are some kind of nuances to his game that have changed.

One thing is he really does like to challenge downfield.

And he was throwing the ball to like Pat Fryermuth to try to do some of these back shoulder fades, some of these balls where you have to turn around and come back for them and fight for them.

And I think really that was sort of a whistle to the Pittsburgh front office to say, get me a couple more guys that can do that.

Like Van Jefferson is not going to be able to do that.

Mike Williams can beat up some of your other cornerbacks.

He's going to be more physical, just like the rest of the AFC North.

He's going to fit in well with the division and he's going to go up and get those balls, which is what Russell Wilson needs him to do.

Yeah, I think he adds

a really interesting element to this offense that, you know, under Arthur Smith,

They're going to be who they are, but like it's it's helpful for George Pickens.

And we had someone on our Patreon ask, is it so much of an upgrade over Van Van Jefferson?

And I'm with you, Connor.

I think it puts Van Jefferson where we need him.

Calvin Austin, like, what I like about the Steelers kind of in general is they've got some younger players, like a Jalen Warren, speed.

Calvin Austin, speed, punt return, touchdown, and a big deep bomb catch last week.

And then you've got someone like at the tight end position along with Fryermuth, Darnell Washington, who is about a foot taller than any other human in the stadium and a dangerous player.

Like you can kind of feel like this offense growing into what it wants to be.

And adding a healthy Mike Williams gives them a component that they lacked before.

So the Steelers are going for it.

And I know last year I kept touting them as like they're going to win multiple, like 12 games, but it was a bit of a Fugesi Steelers team.

I don't feel that way with this one.

I think they are what they are.

They're not as dynamic as some teams.

But the Steelers are, if you have to go play them in the playoffs, and if this Mike Williams thing works, like that is a rough road.

Mike Williams was a

bust for the Jets, but it's more like

on the Jets.

Right.

The Jets being a bust of an organization right now in terms of how they handle their acquisitions and find a role for them.

Before he went into the Aaron Rodgers doghouse earlier in the season, it was blinking.

You miss it, but he made some contested catches, which is a specialty downfield where he used his size and won in one-on-one matchups.

And it's not hard to imagine him having success in a similar role

with

Pittsburgh.

And yeah, if you are on the Jets side of things, like they fashioned themselves still alive in this race.

And I know Alan Lazard just went to IR and he's going to miss at least three more games.

I'm a little confused why they didn't just stick with it, but I think if I had a guess, once they made the Addams move, it was kind of understood between player and team that we're going to get you out of here.

So they make that move and the Jets will just have to find guys like Malachi Corley or whomever else to step up and fill that void as the number three receiver.

In other Steelers news, they also make a move.

On their defense, they acquire edge rusher Preston Smith from the Packers for a 2025 seventh-round pick.

Mark Smith has never been a dynamo, but he was for several years a very consistent pass rusher for Green Bay.

In fact, he had eight or more sacks in each of the 21, 22, and 23 seasons.

Hasn't been playing as much this year, but if there's a team that could find a way to turn a situational pass rusher into an impact player, I trust the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Yeah, because I wonder if that's a bit of the Jeff Hafley system in Green Bay.

I'm just not sure.

But I would say this, that...

Finding

decent pass rushing help at this point in the season is a challenge for lots of teams.

It's probably one of the highest priorities at the trade deadline.

And the Steelers go and do it, and it makes them better because

they are an injury away from being thin at the edge position.

So I think Preston Smith, who before this season was a pretty consistent producer for Green Bay and their leading sacker in 2020

or 2022, I believe it was, like, I like the ad.

And again, it's just like these teams that are buying and you trust the coaching staff,

it's a big win for the player as well.

With Green Bay, too,

this move is significant because they were the only team in the NFL to come into the post-roster cutdown with an average roster age under 25.

They were like 24.7 or something like that.

Preston Smith was one of the oldest players on that defense.

I think he was 31 after this trade.

And if you're looking to buy on a team for a long term at this point, like Green Bay wants to invest in guys like Lucas Van Ness.

They want to increase his reps, give him a higher volume, you know, all that.

And so they're getting this guy out of the way and really going all in on the youth movement there, which I think is really interesting because they are so young.

It's crazy.

The Cowboys also add a wide receiver.

They acquire Panthers wide-out Jonathan Mingo and a 2025 seventh-round pick in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick.

And this move was immediately met with a ton of derision online.

The idea that Mingo could be seen as a bit of a draft bust, 2023 second-round pick of Carolina, who has not done much to give up a fourth-round pick as Dallas did.

Connor seems maybe a little rich, but at the same time, and I believe this is floated out of Jarrow World

or the star after this trade.

This is a guy that they always valued around the draft, and they say they could turn Mingo into the player that he never became in Carolina.

Yeah, I would say say what you will about the state of the Cowboys right now.

But like Will McClay, like their personnel department has found really good players, you know, and are consistently good at that.

And Jerry Jones has been really good at resurrection projects too.

I mean, you know, guys that have had, you know, blown out knees that he's drafted early in the draft and allowed them to rehabilitate, whatever you want to call it.

A lot of different examples there.

And I just generally, I mean, you brought up the Jahan Dotson trade, which has not paid dividends for the Eagles, but I am generally a fan of trying to discount the wide receiver.

market because the cost to entry is so high.

Like it's 35 million now for a premium top flight wide receiver.

You're not going to get those guys and you have to have high draft capital.

And Dallas, while they might be up there this year, needs so many other things that, hey, this is just a shot.

You know, it's a lottery ticket to try to get a quality player.

And again, if you like them, then take a shot.

And isn't it just

a byproduct of the time in the NFL calendar?

Because we're parsing what...

wide receivers went for in terms of a fifth round pick or a fourth round pick.

I mean, in general, I don't really value a fifth or fourth round pick if you can get a player that you can, if they liked him, you know, before they were not able to select him.

I do find it interesting from the Panthers angle because I get why you're sellers in theory, but you've given away Deontay Johnson.

You've given away Jonathan Mingo, and it's like, wait a minute, you're a young team starting over.

Like, why are you giving away all this talent?

Like, what are you trying to build?

And, like, what message is.

Not Adam Thielen.

You're right.

Exactly.

Like, it's just, and I know that they've struggled to send any message to their fan base that is hopeful at all, but it's like, so you're sellers, but you're also in a massive rebuild?

Okay.

After two of Bryce Young's,

unarguably the best game of his career last week, and then one of his better games the week before.

But again, I mean, he is also like Jalen Coker's, an undrafted free agent that they've had, is getting heavily targeted.

Like, I do think he's looking in other directions.

They have...

Not enough guys because this is a terrible roster, but I agree with you, Mark.

I would have liked to have seen them invest more in Bryce at this point to try to see if he can get something going before the end of the season.

All right, let's wrap up this spin around the trade deadline with a little 8 o'clock delight, shall we?

The Ravens,

they fashion themselves Super Bowl contenders, but they got to fix that back end of their defense.

So they go and they get cornerback Tredavius White from the Rams.

White was once upon a time a star with the Bills, had fallen out of favor with the Rams.

Mark, now they have him in the building.

Let's see if he can help.

Well, yeah, he, I mean, injuries really derailed his career, but I hope they can find something better of him.

I think it's a bit of a, you know,

lottery pick.

Let's go try.

All right.

The Bengals are missing running back Zach Moss, at least for the end of the, until the end of the regular season with a neck injury.

So they go and they make a move, a death move, Connor, adding Khalil Herbert, formerly of the Chicago Bears.

Love this.

Herbert is a top 15 yards after first contact rusher, and he can catch the ball a little bit.

Perfect compliment for the Bengals in their background.

Yeah, Chase Brown will continue to see the rock a lot there as well.

The 49ers, they're busy as well.

They acquire defensive tackle Khalil Davis from the Texans for a 2026 seventh round pick.

Also in the NFC West, the Cardinals acquire outside linebacker Baron Browning from the Broncos in exchange for a 2025 sixth round pick.

Mark, the Cardinals being buyers, another hint that they see their development a little ahead of schedule.

I think they do.

They kind of remind me of the Commanders in the sense that they're growing up quickly and their defense made a major impact last weekend with a ton of pressure on the quarterback.

And finally, multiple reports around two of the top picks of the 2023 draft.

Bryce Young, who's back in the starting lineup for the Panthers.

No trade talks went anywhere with the Panthers.

So Young, obviously, will stay there.

The number one overall pick in the 23 draft, the number four overall pick, Anthony Richardson, also not going anywhere.

The Colts, Connor, aren't even picking up the phone on those calls, or so we're told.

As they shouldn't.

And with Carolina, I think the deal is this.

If you're going to build around him, build around him.

And if you're not, you have to at some point stop being David Tepper and, you know, take some cues from some of the other owners around the league and just get that guy somewhere where he's going to actually enjoy his career.

Absolutely.

That is eight o'clock.

Delight.

All right.

We're going to take a break.

Still a lot to get to here.

But

just for our listeners overseas, I know our live stream,

you know, it did did not come without consequence because everyone's favorite show over there in the UK and surrounding territory, Seymour and Harry on the DVC.

That was preempted, Mark, by the live stream spectacular today.

I know.

And I think, you know, look, we're in a world now where there's so much content to digest or attempt to digest.

And Seymour and Harry has been, I'd say

it's one of those rare shows that's for the entire family.

So it affected families.

But I really give people credit for

dealing with this, going to treat our content the way it should be treated.

And then Seymour and Harry comes back to you.

Does anyone know?

Is it a real show?

Oh, it's a real show.

Stay right here.

And we got a treat for all you Seymour and Harry fans.

We have the episode that you missed.

Yeah.

Stay right here.

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audience only.

Seymour and Harry is filmed in front of a live studio audience.

Seymour, did you take my pudding?

I did nothing of the sort, Harry.

I don't believe you, you checky bastard.

You've got proof and the evidence.

Come on now.

Yeah, mate.

It's all over your face.

Oh, Harry, you cut to the core of me.

Great F.

Great F of Seymour and Harold.

We got it to you.

Thank you for that.

Turning point for lifting their rights embargo.

Sounds like you got into an argument with the dad from Bluey.

But I had googled, like, because I was embarrassed.

I thought this was like a pinnacle piece of British television.

And I googled it while I was during the break.

And like, there was someone named like Seymour Harry who died.

And I was like, geez, what the fuck is this?

So I was so confused.

This was great.

I loved it.

It is pinnacle programming.

And I'm so happy, again, thank you to BBC2 for allowing us to broadcast it in a one-time airing.

Well, I was picking them, and I think they understand, you know, the nature of, you know,

cross-the-pond cooperation in terms of programming, and that was an example of that.

I'm pretty sure that that last line about you cut your deco Rami, I think that's the catchphrase of the show.

Oh, wait a minute.

If we finally get the merch going, I think that might be some merch that we have to get out there to the people.

Yes, no, that's used.

That's sort of like, you know, what you're talking about, Willis, from the old school Different Strokes show.

It's used at least once an episode.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right,

let's turn our attention to the power power rankings, the heed-the-call power rankings, uh, the only power rankings that matters, uh, the power rankings of record.

And we've been doing it every week for the past month or so, and uh, we've been keeping you up to date.

You've seen it in the scroll underneath each episode.

We'll you know allude to it regularly on the Thursday show, but we haven't talked about it since the quarter poll of the season.

Now, at the midpoint of the year, it's time to check in and see where we are at.

So, without further ado, let's take a look at the latest HTC PRs.

Starting with the first quadrant, we have number eight, the San Francisco 49ers.

I think we're all buying in on them making a push here.

Number seven, the Green Bay Packers, down one spot from last week.

The Minnesota Vikings coming off a win, they are up one spot to six.

The Washington Commanders holding firm at number five.

The Buffalo Bills also hold at number four,

actually down one spot because the Baltimore Ravens jump up to the number three spot this week.

The Chiefs holding at number two despite, yes, the

undefeated record.

I guess too many one-score games.

I don't know.

None of us had them as a number one team.

And then number one for the second consecutive week, the Detroit Lions sweeping.

All four of us have the Lions as the best team in football right now, and they're up two spots since week six when we last had this conversation.

Connor, what do you think about that top eight?

Are you the Super Bowl winner in there?

Is the Super Bowl in it?

The two teams in the Super Bowl is it here in this group?

I mean,

preseason I had Alliance Chiefs Super Bowl.

I feel really good about it.

My only point of contention here, it looks like I'm the only one that had the Chiefs at three and the Ravens at two

because

I feel like power rankings are an identifier of power in this moment right now.

And I do feel like Baltimore is playing slightly better.

They're playing a better schedule, and they have beaten teams that the Chiefs have beaten more significantly.

And they beat the Buccaneers with a full complement of players.

Now the Chiefs get the Broncos next week after Baltimore throttled them.

So let's see what the score differential is there.

Yeah, I guess the only thing, and I'm not putting too much into it because I obviously like them a lot too.

I have them at number three in my personal rankings.

You know, you got beat by the Raiders and the Browns.

Like, that's something that's not going to happen to the Chiefs or a lot.

A Raiders team that was one Gardner-Minshew drive away from beating the Chiefs as well.

But that's the difference, though.

The Chiefs do find a way.

The Chiefs are a toenail, are an Isaiah-likely toenail and a Gardner-Minshew slippery hand away from being the Ravens.

You sound like me talking about the Patriots 10 years ago.

The Chiefs are inevitable.

Let's check out the second tier, tier two, Quadrant two, I call it.

Let's start with 16.

The Bengals

down two spots from the last time we did a check-in week six, but up three spots from last week.

The Rams, I'm surprised they haven't moved up more.

They hold steady from last week at 15.

The Falcons fall two spots after a win.

What's that about?

That's great.

They are at 14.

The Cardinals, they're in the Twilight Zone on our rankings, up one spot to the number 13 spot.

The Chargers, they are at number 12.

Wow, we're going to have to have a conversation, Cessed out, because you and I are in a very different place on Jim Harbaugh's team.

There, they come in at number 12.

Number 11, the Houston Texans, down two spots from last week and down five spots since we last did this in week six, trending downward.

The Pittsburgh Steelers hold at number 11 and up two spots.

The Philadelphia Eagles, excuse me, the Steelers are 10, and it is the Eagles in the number nine spot up two spots.

So they crack the top 10, and the Eagles are the biggest riser, the second biggest riser in this group.

They're up seven spots since week six.

The Rams are up ten spots since week six.

A three-week game winning streak will do that for you.

But let's talk about the Chargers real quick here, Sesdog.

I had them at number 10.

I'm buying in on this Chargers team.

In fact, I had them as a playoff team, so I've never really been out on them, but they seem to be figuring things out.

With Herbert healthy, playing at a high level.

Connor, you have him at 11.

Justin, you have them at 12.

But Mark, you have them at number 17.

What do you have against this Chargers team?

Well, I don't know if it's that I have something against them because I also picked them to go to the AFC title game.

This entire group.

This is Sassy.

It's a very best weekly staple of.

Mark,

why are you having them at 17?

Why?

I think it's because of the rest of this group.

If I had to look at the Chargers holistically, I believe that a healthy Rams team could beat them.

I believe that the Bengals are too low in this

to begin with.

I think a good Falcons team could beat them.

And I think they could lose to really any any team on this list.

So I have them a little lower than you guys.

That's it.

I think they're very solid.

I'm not blown away by the height of their power.

Like they're winning.

Mark, you seem to have a Los Angeles bias thing going on here.

I look at the Rams.

We're like, why did the Rams move?

They're playing well.

They're on a streak.

I had them at 14 on my list.

Connor, 13, Justin, 13.

And then you have the Rams buried at 18, who you just literally said had beat the Chargers.

How about this?

Like, when I, when I, at our old workplace, when I'm trying to like drive my car into my, into the parking garage and there's 7,000 guards and 4,000 people and a bunch of jabronis running around in jerseys because they decided to put our workplace literally next to the stadium.

So yes, I have bias against them and I will judge them.

I need to see the top of this list again because I don't know if Mark has like real NFL teams in the top 10 anymore.

It is questionable.

It's not like Tottenham or like Manchester.

It's not great when I'm looking at my own rankings and wondering what's happening.

But no, look at it.

I'm not that far off course from the rest of you.

On the well, as we've talked about, Connor, we both are professional power rankers, and Mark's a novice.

And instead of mocking him, I think we need to help guide him just to a level of basic competence.

We're not there yet, but that's the goal.

That's the goal.

Let's check out the third quadrant.

That's big of you.

Just basic competence.

That is an absurd comment by kind of both of you, to be honest.

The

Cowboys down two spots since last week, down to 24.

By the way, Cowboys down 12 spots since we last did this in week six.

The Dolphins, we are in lockstep on the Dolphins, who just refused to make a move on any level in their season.

So they're docked at 23.

The Jets coming off that, I was going to say an upset, but I still don't understand they were favored actually against the Texans.

They're up five spots from last week to number 22 with their big showdown in Arizona coming up this weekend.

The Colts hold at 21.

The Seahawks hold at 20, but the Seahawks are down seven spots since our last week six check-in.

The Bears are going in the wrong direction.

They are down two spots to 19.

The Broncos hold at 18.

And the Tampa Bay Bucks, even off a loss, they don't plummet.

They almost beat the Chiefs.

They're down one spot.

They're at number 17.

And here's the thing, Connor, Mark and I talked about it at length on Monday night, so we don't have to relitigate.

But, you know, Todd Bowles' failure to kind of seize that moment and seize the day there with a two-point conversion try.

Were they on this list if they beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead last night?

I mean, I feel like they'd probably be hovering around 13 or 14.

If they beat the Chiefs in Arrowhead without their top three wide receivers.

I mean, and that was something that almost happened.

I don't know if I'm necessarily,

I don't know if I'm necessarily banging Todd Bowles for this one, though, because one stat that I saw that blew my mind, two-point conversion attempts are down in success like 25% this year.

It was like 50% down to almost like 32% this year.

And granted, the Giants are a big part of that because they're 0 for 6.

So they're going to drag down the totality of it.

But I do think there's something to a lot of these defenses now, just the way that they're built, sometimes the two-point conversion play is just a little bit easier for them.

Maybe a lot of these teams are repeating the same plays, whatever it might be.

And that could have played into his reticence because I bet the analytics have changed on this a little bit with the failure rate the way that it is this year.

Can't you see it, though?

That's a great point, and it's fair to keep that in mind if teams are starting to get a little noivous about going for two.

But like, can't you just see

in that moment, Baker, you know, flushed out of the pocket, scrambling,

and then running through an arm tackle and then barreling his way into the end zone.

Yeah, Baker,

for all of his faults, the guy has a june zé qua to him where the moment finds him and many times he does seem to meet the moment and that moment was right there.

And I think there's a lot of people who have been in the middle.

No team tackles in space better than the Chiefs.

That would have never happened.

It would have been stopped for a loss of five yards.

Our argument, Connor, on Monday night was

don't just give it back to Mahomes and the Chiefs because we've seen this so many times.

Now, they still would have gotten the...

The other argument is had you gone for two and even gotten it, they still would have had time to,

some time, to go try to kick the field goal, and they probably would have done that, too.

So it's just a frustrating situation.

I mean, you can't, what is it, the fallacy of the predetermined outcome.

But they did actually then try to go down the field to win the game with the field goal, and that failed.

We've already talked about this.

All right, final quadrant.

I'm surprised

you don't believe in Baker there.

You think he would have been stuffed.

I think he would have, I don't know, he's just got something about him yeah i don't know i love baker bayfield but but the this chiefs defense shut down like christian mccaffrey in the super bowl like there's not any like rangy player that's going to outrun they weren't having a great night they were not having a great night on defense either maybe the tackling is sound but in general that wasn't like they were all right finally the uh carolina panthers oh connor just says crazy stuff

The Panthers remain docked in the 32 spot.

They were in the 32 spot last week.

They were in the 32 spot since week six.

So that's where we see the Panthers even coming off a win.

That's rough.

The Raiders, with all their drama, are down one spot to 31.

The Saints, firing coaches, trading cornerbacks,

are down two spots to 30.

The Pats hold at 29.

Justin's Titans up three spots.

Yummy after their victory against the Pats.

And, you know, Brian Callahan, God bless you, buddy.

They are at 28.

The G-Men

down a spot to 27.

The Jaguars down a spot to 26.

And the Brownies down a spot to 25.

And that was before the Zadarius-Smith trade.

But that sounds about right.

This is the doomed mark quadrant of the NFL right now.

There is a lot of junk occurring in this Final Eight here.

I like that

something that I think is kind of Connor-ish is that he refuses to put the Panthers at 32.

He puts them up at 30 and has the Saints buried down as the worst team in football.

No hope if you're Mickey Loomis and friends.

Well, we're talking about power in this point is like the Saints, you are in the middle of an absolute garbage freefall because not only do you have an interim head coach, but you have all these other veteran players on the roster.

Like, why didn't I get to get off the island?

Like, Marshawn Lattimore's gone.

Why do I have to sit here and ruin the rest of my career for this season?

And Derek Carr, who, you know, who knows?

I mean, is he going to be able to galvanize this team?

I mean, it's literally like

a pickup basketball team full of 34-year-old men.

You know, we need that sitcom laugh track for will Derek Carr galvanize these men?

Come on, Ari.

Come on, Ari.

But the best.

do you think Derek Carr is going to have a go in the locker room?

Come on, all right.

Go ahead, Connor.

But I really just want to talk about the Raiders coaching staff, which is now my favorite thing.

I'm too immature for sound drops.

The Raiders coaching staff is now slowly becoming my favorite thing ever because Scott Turner is the offensive coordinator.

And so they just hired Norv Turner.

And then Marvin Lewis is there and Joe Philbin and like Tom Coughlin's helping out.

And it's just like this, like this fun board of mad libs of all the coaches that you heard of between 1994 and like 2002.

It's just this incredible, like Antonio Pierce is doing such a grand disservice to the interim head coach, turn full-time head coach that like

nobody is, no team is ever going to hire an interim again because of the absolute insane, like, think about it.

He's, like, we talked about last week, benched quarterback three times.

He's now on his third different starting quarterback, who he picked off of another team's roster, fired his entire offensive staff.

Now, like, Norv Turner's back?

Like, this is.

Yeah, I'm not.

I'm not.

Jack Putt, baby.

I'm not being flip here.

Like,

if you would have told me that Norv was no longer with us, I would have been like, oh, I kind of forgot that, man.

That's sad.

But, like, to the idea that Norv, like, who's next?

Joe Gibbs?

Like, who else are we going to bring out of Mossballs?

Joe Philbin.

Like,

yeah, I mean,

they're there.

Is Joe Philbin?

Rob Ryan is on this coaching staff?

Like,

this is awesome.

I'll take a look at the Joe Gibbs situation.

Joe's still with us.

Thank God.

83 years old.

Born in 1940.

Whoa.

That guy.

That guy predates the Pearl Harbor attack, folks.

All right, let's, before we say goodbye,

let's spin out of power rankings and talk about week 10.

Holy shit, week 10.

That's kind of a benchmark.

When you get to the double-digit weeks,

that happens fast.

Mark, it was just yesterday that we were signing our underdog deals, and now we're about to begin a week 10 preview.

Yeah, it always alarms me when you get to out of the single-digit weeks.

So I'm with you.

Like most of these things, I just feel what?

Are you a pull string doll?

What do you mean?

Yes, it always alarms me when we get to the week-digits.

I am responding to your comment.

I am experiencing enjoyment.

Yes, the time seems to move faster with each passing year.

Dan.

Like, bye.

Week 10 begins with a humdinger.

The Cincinnati Bengals,

who are looking to, again, I mean, this is like Roundhog Day.

They are after a slow start to the season.

They have started to turn it on.

They have won three of four.

Of course, you know, it was the Raiders that they blew out last week, and it was the Sean Watson Browns in their previous victory, and the Daniel Jones Giants, the victory before that, with a mollywap at the hands of of the Eagles as the meat in that sandwich.

So, in a lot of ways, just speaking out loud here, boys, the Bengals haven't shown a shit yet.

Here's their chance to show us that they actually are a team to be taken seriously in the AFC to take on the mighty Ravens.

And, Connor, I love, love, love this game.

I've said it for a couple years now.

Joe Burrow is my favorite player in the league.

I just love watching the guy play.

I love what he's made of.

I love his connection to Cincinnati.

It makes me think of Wes and

the working-class people having this guy that get behind a local kid made good.

It's all good.

It's all good with Burrow, right?

And he's having a fantastic season.

I love him going into Baltimore in primetime.

I don't know if they're going to win, but I'd be very surprised if they get blown out because it feels like this is the season in a lot of ways.

I think this game will be close, but the numbers here still concern me very much in that even over this run where the Bengals have played the row of tomato cans that you just outlined, they are still 16th against the run in that four-week stretch.

And Baltimore is just so far and away in that same stretch, the best rushing team in the NFL, the most efficient offense in the NFL, period.

And like, I think we can dream up a lot of scenarios where Joe Burrow has the ball and maybe they're down eight and he's going to try to come back and tie it at the end of this one, but nobody is able to push around Baltimore right now up front.

It's crazy.

I mean,

we're not that far removed from the Bengals losing a contest in which they scored 38 points on the Ravens.

They lost an overtime 41 to 38.

In that game, Jamar Chase had 193 yards and two touchdowns and 10 catches.

The quarterbacks combined for 750 yards and nine touchdowns.

So to me, a blowout doesn't feel correct.

It's possible that there's a script for a game like that to occur again.

That's what I'd see more.

I get why Burrow is your favorite player.

There's one thing I'd say about him because we are getting year after year these weird stuffs happen in the Bengals post-Super Bowl.

Like last year was a disaster.

Burrow's been through a lot.

You get the slow starts, but Joe Burrow, the person, has been the same guy through it all.

There's just this B-line of his sort of persona and fearless.

charisma and willing to fight, willingness to fight.

I think

last week was I looked at the team like the Dolphins, like, this was your season.

You need to go beat Buffalo for me to believe in you.

The Bengals need to go get this game, and I think they can do it.

They are missing.

I think the T.

Higgins thing, if T.

Higgins, who did not practice on Monday,

they're built around star wide receiver play in their quarterbacks.

So if you don't have T.

Higgins, you're a different injury.

You're an injury away from, I think, a victory.

They got it done against the Raiders with a lot of guys who are second and third string people.

You need T.

Higgins against the Ravens.

don't think, I don't know if you're going to get him.

Yeah, Higgins really makes that offense go.

I know they won their most recent game without him, but they've been kind of lost without him in the other weeks.

And, you know, just to put this into perspective statistically, Baltimore's struggles on defense.

I mean, last year,

you know, one of the most well-balanced

NFL teams ever not to make the Super Bowl, the Ravens.

You know, they had the MVP, a quarterback, and on defense with Mike McDan Daniel, they ranked first in points, allowed sacks and takeaways.

They were the

first team in NFL history to win the triple crown like that.

And this year,

they have,

under defensive coordinator Zach Orr, and maybe a little shot against the Orr community, Mark Connor,

just not for nothing, but through nine games, Baltimore ranks 21st in yards allowed, 23rd in points allowed,

in past defense, and this via ESPN.

The Ravens have allowed 26 completions of 25 or more yards, which is also the worst in the NFL.

That's all from Jamison Hensley of ESPN.

It's a real thing, and Tredavius White's walking through that door.

Obviously, he's not going to probably step in the door and be, first of all, the old Tredavius White and also even have an impact on this game on a short week.

So

it's a problem.

And if this team is the only,

this is the Steinbrenner doctrine come to life, the old anything short of a world championship is failure.

That's where the Ravens are at.

If they get got, it's because this defense isn't good enough this year.

Yeah, I just, you know, keep my, keep my cousin's name out of your mouth.

You know, that's all I'm saying.

It's perfectly fine.

Respect, respect.

But no, you're right.

I mean, in all seriousness, I do think that there is something to what the Mike McDonald defense did so well last year was it continued, it had success early, and then it continued to evolve on itself.

And I've heard people describe it as almost like a disease, the way that it evolves and strengthens itself.

Like a virus.

Like a virus almost, right?

And so the Raiders have, or the Ravens have kind of missed the opportunity to get the snowball rolling on that.

They're still trying to find a different identity, a newer identity right now in order to build on themselves defensively.

They talk about the first time play caller on offense that your mind is swimming, that you're underwater, that people can't even understand how tough that is to just pick up out of the gate.

I don't know if it's the same for defense, but there is a tangible change.

They are healthier in the secondary than they were a couple weeks ago when they got flamed by Cleveland.

I think that's a good

sign.

I want to see what Deontay Johnson does for them as well.

I mean, like there are trade,

these are teams that traded for people, and let's see how quickly they become part of this.

I think if you're the Bengals, you need to get your new running back involved soon.

And I believe he will be.

All right.

Let's see.

What's this Jermaine Burton situation that's going on?

He did he miss practice on.

I think he, so I remember I really liked him coming, watching his tape coming into the NFL.

I think he's a very good athlete.

I think what happened was there was a lot of concern about.

I love that tweet, by the way, Justin.

Go ahead, Mark.

Yeah, there was a lot of concern, I think, character-wise, about him in general.

Like, is this a driven person?

And so he missed Saturday's practice

when they were planning to have him be a large part of the game plan against the Raiders, and he somehow missed Saturday's practice.

And there was some vague tension between him and Burrow on the sideline during the game.

And then Justin just sent us a video of him arriving at the game in pajamas.

And then, I don't know,

I saw another tweet that was seen at a casino or something yeah so something's going on right now and he's playing like a fee you know like he's still like he's getting another chance and and I I I feel like the boomer just like crawling out of me like the like the beast and alien like now I'm not gonna give anyone a chance anymore since I've had a life full of third and fourth chances so you know but like we we have now like him playing this weekend like Tyreek Stevenson sat like two drives after he literally didn't pay attention to a play.

And I'm like, come on, let's, you know, let's, let's, let's get, let's go back to people getting in a little bit of trouble here, you know?

Right.

Like a game trap.

Yeah.

Oh, this is unbelievable.

Yeah, we'll see what kind of role Burton has this week or doesn't have.

But anyway, great game, great way to kick off week 10.

And

I think that that about does it.

That about does it.

Yeah, that's just, I would say it's important as we wrap things up to, you know, why,

why is the trade deadline on Election Day?

These are the questions that,

again, Connor is someone that graduated from Syracuse, an esteemed

organization and university, obviously, in terms of creating journalists and

practicing a code.

And I think curiosity.

is an important part of it, isn't it?

It is.

Or you could argue that we are created as part of the deep state establishment.

And so me trying to redirect you right now to ending the show is really my way of protecting the NFL and the government as they, you know, travel down this conspiratory.

Are we wagging the dog?

Is that

I think we are.

That is being wagged, that animal.

I'm texting all you guys right now.

Be careful.

All right.

Good stuff.

We're back.

I love football.

And by the way, if you missed, correct me if I'm wrong, Justin, if you missed the live stream and you're a Patreon member, you could still watch the live stream after the fact.

So patreon.com slash heed the call.

We're going to do a lot of those live streams in the future.

So again, sign up.

Sign up for it.

You have Throwback Podcast.

You have Rolling Thunder.

You have another Sess Dog I See in Red

newsletter.

I dream and read.

I dream and read, a very right-leaning uh publication no it is not it is not and it also it includes um an incredible page dedicated to uh from connor or something that he wrote that is trench it's not right

connor offers connor offers the counterpoint his column's called i dream in blue so that's good

Wow, Mark, just fanatical with some of your political takes in I Dream of Red.

I don't allow a political party to own a color.

How about that?

And these colors don't run.

Till next time, heed the call.

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