Cowboys at Giants Preview + Are We OVERREACTING??

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Heed the Call with Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler is on Underdog.

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And one more thing before we get going: Heed the Call is now on its own YouTube channel, and we implore you to subscribe to that new channel, youtube.com/slash at Heed the Call pod.

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On with the show,

the Heed the Call podcast

believes that children are our future.

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

Welcome to Heed the Call.

Dan Hansis.

Mark Sessler.

We're always thinking about the future here on HTC.

Mark, we're always thinking about how

the world is all in front of us.

And after three weeks of football,

you know, I don't think it's too soon to start making some judgments about the league.

And that's what we're going to do a little bit later when we talk about things that we, are we overreacting?

Are we underreacting?

Are we properly reacting the future man that's where it's at yeah I mean we were judging the league and its inhabitants two weeks ago so it's not too late to do it now we've already been doing it but just a cautionary note

to you and to others like that oversimplify the concept of children like not all great not all wonderful no I'm just gonna like like Sometimes there are signals and symbols and behavior patterns that suggest this child not so great.

Let's just be real.

Like cautionary tale here.

You know, keep an eye on.

Don't keep an eye on.

Don't get me started on this, Sessler.

Two weeks ago, we had our episode where we did the dreams, and I learned that this thing about child gangs and attacks that I used to think was just a Sessler bit that he did on a podcast is actually something you have nightmares about.

And now I'm concerned when this comes out.

No longer is it a jovial thing.

It's something that sparks a lot of anxiety for me because you are my co-host and business partner.

I get the business to fantasize about other scenarios.

I get the business partner part of it.

There are news stories written by reputable news agencies about children ganging up on elderly and older people

and having their way.

How about this?

We'll put it on the Patreon, patreon.com slash heed the call.

You have your own show every week where you talk about how dangerous the children gangs are.

Well, until then, you know,

you know, chill.

All right.

Let's bring him in.

It'd be helpful, though.

It would be helpful to society.

So, you know, yeah, Connor Orr has like 14 kids and another on the way.

So I think that he is somebody that we can trust.

Let's welcome in one of our favorite people.

He's a Hobok movement expert.

He's a host of Heat Unlike.

He listens to the griefful dead when he goes home at night.

It's come up,

come

up.

Wow.

Hey, bud.

The guitar work on that was ridiculous.

We got some talented people.

Who was that, Justin?

God.

That was Peter Riordan.

Riordan.

Sorry, Peter.

Your name is difficult.

It might be like the late Cranberry singer, Dolores Riordan.

Is that what it was?

Yeah, Riordan.

Yeah, that must be it.

Sounds gay.

Maybe Riordan.

Maybe they're related.

Connor,

what's going on, buddy?

How you doing?

How you feeling as we get ready to dive into week four of the NFL season?

I'm feeling great.

Like, this is...

This is one of...

Like, this is a regenerative season for me.

I felt like I was a little bit lost in...

cynicism and even though I've tried to leave the or you kidding me Connor behind I was I felt like I was falling back into those traps of anger and hatred.

And this season has really just like blown that up for me.

The NFL feels fun and new.

I like that.

You know what?

I thought the last games of Monday, of week three on Monday night, were helpful to me.

Just to see some offenses absolutely kicking ass,

both

in Cincinnati and in Buffalo.

I was like, okay, we can calm down a little bit with the three yards and a cloud of dust is all we're ever going to see again.

The zigging and the zagging might have already been happening as we speak.

So, yes, we're going to get into some things that have really jumped out to us through three weeks and how we feel about them.

But before we do that, Mark Sessler, let's dig into

the first game of week four and our Thursday night preview.

This is a game being played at the Metal Lands MetLife Stadium where the Dallas Cowboys

coming off another disappointing effort, this time against the Baltimore Ravens, but at least they got back into the game, Mark.

It was as grim as it could be for three quarters before a nice little comeback that fell short the week before that.

Obviously, the embarrassment at the hands of the Saints.

Now they get the Giants, a Giants team that got the win against Cleveland and is looking to pull back to 500.

Here is an NFC East showdown between two teams still trying to find their way.

I am a big fan of teams that can run the ball and stop the run.

And the Dallas Cowboys, to date, do neither very well.

I don't know if that matters essentially against the Giants the way that you would want it to, but this is an incomplete offense that is based around CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, and they were squabbling openly with each other during the loss to Baltimore, which

it's too early in the season for this with the Dallas Cowboys.

I want to tell you something that I think is going to happen in this game.

I don't know if it's too early to unleash my fearless prediction for the week.

I know we typically do that on Thursday.

Well, yes, it would be too early.

If you're asking, yes.

It would be, but I would like to hint at the idea that

we talked about Malik Neighbors and what he did to the Cleveland Browns and what he did the week before to Washington.

I believe that in front of a national audience on Thursday night, a true island game, don't get me too Monday, we don't need two Thursday night games, that we get a true island performance by Malik Neighbors, where he essentially, it's our godfather part two, if you're a Giants fan.

November 23rd, 2014, Odell Beckham electrified the Dallas Cowboys.

I believe that Malik Neighbors is going to literally conceive a performance that looks like the double down on that in front of a national audience.

And the New York Giants will beat the Dallas Cowboys in this game.

I think the Cowboys are like inches away from crisis, and it is Malik Neighbors who can put them into that dark, dirty water.

I love the thought of that.

And I do think that there's, you hate to put like such a do or don't, do or die

label on a game like this, but I feel like if it's not that, right?

And if the Giants come out and play pathetically, that it is sort of the end of whatever that they were trying to build at this moment.

And you hate to say that's true so

little into the season, but if they come out and they absolutely demolish the Cowboys and Malik Neighbors has 100 yards again or has some sort of a spectacular catch, this is a franchise-altering moment.

And if they get their asses kicked, it's you know, it's a season-ruining moment, and it derails what really has been two weeks of solid progress from Daniel Jones, undercover, two weeks of really solid progress from the offensive line.

Like, there's a lot at stake here, and it sucks for the Giants that it's a Thursday night game, a short week, and you have to go back and do it all again.

All right, from the other side of things, if we're going to talk about who we think is going to have a big game, you know, I know who I think does need to have a big game.

The Dallas Cowboys are not bereft of talent on defense.

It just seems like that way right now.

Micah Parsons, like go take a game over.

Like go win a game single-handedly because we know what you're capable of.

We know that what you've produced in your time in the league since 2021 is up there with anyone at your position of your generation.

So we need that guy if we're the Cowboys.

We need a guy that can make up for some of the issues that are happening elsewhere, whether it's coverage or run defense.

You've got to make some big plays.

Statistically, he has one sack in the first three weeks.

He's grading out okay on

pop the hood sites like PFF.

So it's not like his play has fallen off a cliff, but I just, it's popped up in my mind a couple times during

this back-to-back hideous run where it's like, where's Parsons?

Who on this team can step up and make a huge play?

Where's the pick six in the back end that we were seeing last year from Trayvon Diggs?

Like,

where are the big plays that this defense needs to give the offense a chance to reset itself?

Because the game script for the Cowboys on offense has been so messed up, and it doesn't do them any favors that they don't have, obviously, a proven running game right now.

But at the same time, the defense is putting the offense in a very tough spot.

So, you know, Parsons on one side.

And then

I mentioned it on Sunday that I thought CeeDee Lamb took himself out of that game a little bit.

He was so frustrated, and I get it.

They were getting embarrassed at home for the second straight game, third straight game at home.

If you go back to the playoff disaster last year, and you could see the frustration pouring off him.

But the Cowboys need CeeDee Lamb to do what he did last year, which is just win games single-handedly.

So, for the Cowboys, this is a team, Mark, that is very star-heavy, that they are a front-loaded outfit.

Those guys need to do it, and I'll throw Dak in there as well.

Like, you need to have a big performance.

So, while Malik Neighbors could do it because he has that ability, that big three of Dallas, I'm predicting that they get back on track, and I really like their chances in this game.

I don't trust them.

I mean, maybe

against the New York Giants, you're right.

Maybe they're not.

Well, who do you not trust?

trust?

I mean, of the three players I just named.

It's kind of more my point, you know, that the Cowboys as an outfit, I get, but these guys have the ability against the Giants to take over, and somebody's got to do it because it's not happening.

Yeah, I think they're going to do it about seven or eight times this season.

Like, that's what I'm saying.

I don't trust them to go farther than that.

I don't like the idea of the wide receiver and quarterbacks bickering with each other on the sideline.

Like, not to go too deep on that.

That's That's just one thing that's happening.

I think part of it is the Dallas offensive line holding back a Giants pass rush that, like, in a post-wink Martindale world blitzed a ton and rushed like Deshaun Watson and made life hell for him a week ago.

Dexter Lawrence was one of the best players of any team on the field a week ago.

Eight sacks.

You've got to find a way to not, like, if you're the Cowboys, like keep Dak out of trouble.

If you can, if you're the Giants and you can create problems for Dak Prescott out of the gate, I think

this is a situation at MetLife where the Giants,

they've got the stars of their own.

And I thought Daniel Jones played one of his best games of his career last week.

Like 22 for 34, 236 yards, two touch.

I thought he played well.

He played clean football.

He played clean football, and I think that neighbors allows him to grow on offense in a way that he wasn't before.

That's what I saw.

I thought he played one of his best games.

My thing isn't about Dak, I don't think, or CeeDee or Micah stepping up individually.

It's Mike Zimmer and Mike McCarthy stepping up individually.

So, for example, like if you're Jerry Jones and you're looking at this game on Sunday, I think if the Giants had practiced on Monday, if you were looking back at the injury report, they would be down

to their like fourth potential available slot cornerback.

And so it's like, okay, if you're Mike McCarthy, who, you know, in your year off of football professed to have understood the game at a different different level and studied this at a depth unknown to mankind, find a way to put CeeDee Lamb on the fourth string slot cornerback and just beat the living hell out of the Giants defense.

Like, find a way to do that.

It's possible.

And if you're Mike Zimmer, do what Dan Quinn was doing.

Like, a lot of times we're making something sound so difficult that it's not difficult.

It's like, put Micah Parsons on the worst Giants offensive lineman and just let him beat that guy's ass, just like you did in that rain game.

What was it, week two last year when the Cowboys beat the Giants Giants by 40?

This is all you have to do.

When you have star players, it's relatively simple.

But to me, we've seen it almost work the other way where it's been the Giants coordinators that have been coming up with this magic.

I mean, Shane Bowen going from a 25% blitz rate to a 65% blitz rate against Cleveland, absolutely shocking the hell out of Deshaun Watson.

Like, that's the kind of game that Dallas needs.

And that, to me, is what's necessary.

I mean, I think that Dak and CD and all these guys are so used to all their conversations on the sideline, all this stuff being overexamined.

What they need is good coaching.

And right now, I feel like they're getting scared coaching.

Yeah, that's fair.

And if you watch the Browns' game for the Giants, their defensive line, we talked about it going into the year that that is how they're going to win games with dominance on the defensive line.

The game-wrecking version of Brian Burns finally showed up with some big plays.

He had a strip-sack fumble that led to a turnover.

He also had,

there was

coverage of a wide receiver where dropped into coverage.

I mean, just showing you the

athleticism he has, has Dexter Lawrence obviously had a huge play late in that game and played at a high level.

Kayvon Thibodeau, our old buddy, made some plays.

So that D-line, let's see how the Cowboys can handle that.

And then just to

circle back where we started, Mark, like neighbors, the first touchdown he had that.

Like to your point, what you were saying on Sunday, like he has that special skill set that jumps out at you when you watch him.

And he goes up in the corner of the end zone, high points a ball, and like a ballerina or someone that could divide gravity, the way he was able to kind of turn his body.

And it's almost like other people, it happens really quickly, but it's almost in slow motion, the way he kind of turns his body and then gets his feet positioned.

And then the second toe touches just before the left forearm hit the white of the out-of-bounds marker.

Like, there's very few guys that really, when you watch football, jump out off the page, and Neighbors is one of them.

So, you know, the fact that Dable has targeted him more than any wide receiver has been targeted by any team this season points out that Dable sees it too.

And Daniel Jones,

I'm not on the same page with you, Mark, that I didn't see him playing at such a high level in that game, certainly better than where the season started.

But as long as he keeps firing the ball toward Neighbors, his stats are going to get into a better place this season.

Yes, and

I'm not here trumpeting Daniel Jones as a re-sign target or a revelation.

It's just that when you have neighbors, he turned a would-be interception into a leaping, acrobatic, beautiful catch.

He turned an overthrow in the end zone into a touchdown.

He turned another pass that someone would drop in the end zone into one of the most beautiful touchdown catches we've seen.

So he makes the quarterback better.

You want the quarterback to make everyone else better, but it's neighbors making his quarterback better.

And for this season, that works

too like i think look back at i mean it's hard to fathom this now but i think we there was a time when we were watching josh allen when he was very early on in his bills career and you'd see him drop back and you'd be like good lord like what what is this you know it was blake bordles on ice skates and we had no idea what was happening and then all of a sudden stefon diggs comes into the fold and you're thinking to yourself there's no way that they're going to get this guy a high volume of targets when everyone in the building knows that that's where the ball is going.

But that's where Brian Dable made his money as a coordinator, right?

Was designing an offense to get Stefan Diggs the ball and to get Josh Allen comfortable as a developing quarterback.

And maybe finally, Daniel Jones has that guy now and everything starts to make a little bit more sense, you know.

And to your point about coaching, on the second Neighbors touchdown against the Browns, the coaching schemes it up and gets him one-on-one with a safety, and Neighbors loses him in the end zone within a split second.

That's the one thing I think he does that is so underrated about him.

And

I think that's kind of the reason that the Giants wanted him in there.

He really is a good matchup coach.

A lot of pressure on both coaching staffs in Thursday night football.

All right.

We're going to take a break.

And when we get back, we're going to have some fun.

We're going to dig into some storylines, some things going on in the league.

We got to get some takes out.

Are we overreacting?

Are we underreacting?

Are Are we properly reacting?

We'll be right back.

All right, guys, it's the best time of year.

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All right, we are back.

Week four, right around the bend, but it's not too soon to

have some spicy takes.

You know, that's what we do around here.

That's, Mark, that's the name of the game.

You want to be successful in our business?

Get them spicy takes out.

You got to pump out the spicy takes.

Even if

it doesn't come naturally to you, you've got to become someone artificial and still do it

to keep your job.

I feel like it's harder to do that when it doesn't come naturally to you.

And then you find yourself in mid-sentence being like, I think Malik Neighbors is secretly a murderer.

You don't know how to do it well.

And there is an art form to it.

know.

I don't think he's committed any murders.

We don't, you don't think so.

But

I can't say anything with an absolute degree of certainty.

As Kyle Shanahan says, we could all die tomorrow.

So I don't, I don't.

That's what he's known to say.

That's what he's known to say.

All right, let's get into it.

We're going to take turns.

We'll go around the horn twice here.

I'll start, and it shouldn't be a surprise that I want to talk a little bit more about the quarterback in Minnesota.

Can you throw throw up a tweet from J.J.

McCarthy, the number 10 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Mr.

Graver?

Indeed.

Indeed, Sam Darnold is good at football right now.

And I guess it's notable because about a month and a half ago, there was very real possibility that J.J.

McCarthy was going to be the Vikings quarterback this season, maybe even as soon as week one, or maybe Darnold was just going to keep a seat warm for a little while.

But when McCarthy went out with that knee injury, injury, he's lost for the year, and Sam Darnold takes over.

And obviously, what we've seen to this point has been startling to many, not for those in the inner circle of the Darnold Hive, of course, Sest Dog.

But he is throwing,

he's thrown,

like in baseball terms, about a three-hit shutout right now with 14Ks.

That's his season to this point.

He has eight touchdown passes.

The Vikings are 3-0.

He is fifth in the NFL in total QBR.

He is is completing nearly 68% of his passes.

His QB rating is 117.3,

and he is averaging 8.4 yards per attempt.

And as I said on Sunday,

that the way he's doing it, there's nothing overly flashy, but this is a guy that understands the offense, that works well, obviously, with the play caller, and has the weapons around him to finally be functional.

It's going to be very interesting to see what happens next now, because this could be a blip, and Darnold could come down to earth, like say, Derek Carr did this past Sunday and be a league averages or quarterback the rest of the way.

Or this could turn into one of those special seasons, and Darnold puts up big numbers, and the Sam Darnold MVP odds, Sam Darnold MVP odds, Sam Darnold MVP, those continue to drop.

And all of a sudden, you're talking about a guy that's having just one of the great comeback seasons in recent memory.

So, with that said,

I'm not going to be surprised because of what I said about how it's not like he's, I don't think he's over-indexing in terms of his play right now.

I think he could even potentially be better than he's been so far.

So, I'm already thinking ahead.

I'm saying he's going to have a monster year, and that's why I think it's time for the Vikings to start internally already having the conversation that the Minnesota Vikings should trade J.J.

McCarthy so they can give Sam Darnold all the money, overreaction, underreaction, proper reaction.

Connor, what?

No.

What?

I didn't do that.

What do you mean?

No, I thought you were going in another direction, and I agreed with you.

And then when you said, trade JJ McCarthy, I was like, Jesus, man.

No.

No.

Are you perhaps saying that's an overreaction then?

A little bit.

Let's play a slightly different game.

A game within a game,

as Jigsaw likes to say.

Let's say up till like week eight, he's playing this well.

Week nine, Sam Darnold's playing this well.

Then the Vikings go to him and they say, how does the Baker Mayfield deal sound?

How does the Derek Carr deal sound?

Where it's essentially like three years, $100 million,

kind of a pay-as-you-go thing.

And so after every year, we can get out of it.

And so, okay, maybe it's up to Daniel Jones' territory, $40 million a year.

If you're Sam Darnold, do you take that?

And if you're the Vikings, isn't that the best possible scenario?

Like, we're all going nuts over this Jordan Love thing.

And to be able to create that effect in your own division, and then if Sam Darnold sucks, you cut him, you still have a quarterback on a rookie deal.

I think that's where, I think that's the sweet spot.

You know, you don't want to trade J.J.

McCarthy.

You want to keep him on the bench as long as humanly possible and then let Sam Darnold exhaust his abilities.

I'm with you.

I think the overreaction is the idea that we're talking about a contract right now.

It's like we've got another 14 weeks of football to decide

who Sam Darnold is in the system.

I think it's not an overreaction, Dan, for you, who you're in that hive, to at this point see that a quarterback has matured himself in year five or six or whatever with a coach who's wonderful and like they play

well together.

It is hard to hear.

It is hard to hear.

I will use, it's, you know, I'm so deep in the hive.

I'm not one of these people on the outer edges of the hive pretending like they were here the whole time.

No, you were there the whole time.

We've got the cup with the string, two cups in the string.

Some people were telling me on our old show that this was the biggest draft bust of all time.

I don't think, no, I can barely hear people.

I'm so deep in the hive.

Go ahead, Mark.

You can, I think it's appropriate for you to take your W.

But let's wait and see because you're stacking a lot of pressure on top of Sam Darnold.

I think it's a wonderful fit, and I have no problem with them keeping J.J.

McCarthy, not trading him but keeping him having him on the bench for a couple years if they think sam darnold at the end of the season is that guy the way he's playing right now it's like oh maybe we should all learn that quarterbacks don't arrive a couple of them do but most do not arrive in two or three weeks it's going to take years and if you're if you if you get dropped into a fraught chaotic terrible organization with coordinators that change every year coaches that change and a finicky owner like that's probably not a great environment for a quarterback.

And Darnold out of nowhere suddenly, and like, by the way, the Niners were in a bad place last year, but to go to Minnesota, it's like you're putting a quarterback in a great position.

So I think they could do the same with J.J.

McCarthy.

I'd keep him on a rookie's salary.

He's got to go.

And just basically.

No, because you, but your thing is.

For you, this is like a game of thrones where it's like there can only be one.

So I see what you're doing.

Well, there can only be one guy in the field.

Let me just say why the Jordan Love comparison doesn't really work.

Because to me, that did make sense the way the Packers did it.

It was a risk because Aaron Rodgers won two MVPs, but was also getting older and older and older.

Did you know that Sam Darnold's younger than Joe Burrow?

He's got a Vinny Testa Verde to him where he's younger than everyone around him when he's younger.

He came into the league, yeah.

You know, he came into the league early, and he's he's also on a one-year, $10 million deal.

Um, so yes, that I just, I'm not saying that, I'm not in seriousness saying

time to trade J.J.

McCarthy.

I'm just like extrapolating out if he does end up having the season

as an overall piece

in terms of how he started this year.

That's an interesting situation.

And I think he's going to be, he's already a huge fan favorite.

Did you hear the crowd when he went out with that knee injury and he comes back in?

He said the ovation that he got when he jogged back on the field meant the world to him.

Like, Minnesotans, they're going to fall in love with Sam Darnold over the course of the year if he continues to play at a high level.

And it's just going to be an interesting thing.

And he's like apple pie.

He's like a human apple pie.

He's so.

I mean, I get that.

He is not a Midwestern guy, but he is so Midwestern in certain ways.

So it could be a very interesting situation, obviously.

That either way, it's a great setup for the Vikings.

And we'll see what happens.

But, you know, you know who else likes him?

Bill Belichick.

Here's what he said on McAfee this week.

You know, but I'll say this.

everybody has liked Darnold except the Jets.

You know, the people in Carolina that I talked to, they really liked him.

He was, you know, at the Rams and not for very long.

They liked him.

I think they wanted to re-sign him.

You know, he was looking for more of an opportunity then to play behind Stafford.

And then,

you know, I know that Kevin and some of the coaches in Minnesota, they really liked this guy too.

So it seemed like the only people that didn't like Darnold were at the Jets.

All right, Bill.

All right, Bill.

Calm down.

You know, the Jets, Bill's a colleague and a friend, but like,

the Jets did like him.

They took him third overall.

And I believe he's thinking of Baker Mayfield, who was the guy that was with the Rams.

And by the way, Carolina could have re-signed Sam Darnold.

He left as a free agent when his rookie deal lapsed.

I'm like fact-checking like a Trump speech.

I'm just fact-checking my colleague Bill, who

I largely love.

But it does underline, I think, the bigger thing from that Belcheck thing that I wanted to play was like,

there ain't no no way, like, we could cook up all the scenarios that Bill ends up going back into coaching.

The fact that he still finds a way to try to twist the knife on my Jets is just fun, and he's never going back there.

He might go back to the Metal Ends,

but he ain't going back to the Jets.

Do you think Bill Belichick is even functionally aware that we are his colleagues?

It's not too soon to change that.

Maybe we could, maybe there's an interoffice email

or a doc that has his cell phone.

Maybe we could reach out to him some way.

I don't know.

Just like

all lowercase text, like, have you signed up for health insurance?

Question mark.

How about Count Markula,

middle of the night, like a 4 a.m.

text.

You get his number and you're just like, you up?

And like, did you read the bell check letters yet?

Well, you know what?

Can I tell you like a pull the curtains back story?

Someone in our company asked me to send that article to them so that they could actually show it to Bill.

The long form you wrote about just for people that the long form that I wrote about.

Yeah,

as a young college student, I wrote letters to Bill Belichick when he was the Browns coach, and he or someone from the, I believe it was him, wrote me back multiple times, wrote an article about it with a bunch of personal type of long form story stuff in it.

What?

It was a tremendous piece that you wrote.

Well, sure, I wouldn't say that myself.

I mean, thank you.

But like, so when I sent the link over from NFL.com, our glorious former employer,

none of the pictures, graphics, or Belichick letters are long, or no, are able, you can't see them anymore.

It's just my pros saying that this happened with no proof.

And like,

that's what they're going to forward over to our colleague, Bill Belichick.

So just to clarify, so we, so they nuked your long form on Belichick.

Our YouTube got nuked.

I don't know.

Sometimes you got to connect dots.

That's all I could say.

All right.

Who's up next?

I could throw one at you.

Yeah.

If you'd like.

You know, not even a year ago, but even three weeks ago,

the Carolina Panthers were a poison, like a

pariah, a social no-go.

We don't like them from ownership on down.

We've got a lot of issues with ownership.

We've got issues with the rookie quarterback.

Suddenly,

Andy Dalton, who has had one of the better makeover scenarios of all men that I know, like his hair suddenly looks glorious.

He's like movie star hair.

He went from like a 6.1 to like an 8.9 or 9.1 as a man.

But that's not really where I'm going here.

But I'm just saying that's who's running the show now.

David Tepper suddenly probably will take credit for this, looks good, like because the team is going to start to win.

And there's another team the Washington Commanders that in the last 24 hours everything that we think about the commanders like change your name you're probably going to change it again you had the worst owner in sports we don't really know the new ownership group sort of a disaster we'll see what happens I am saying that my idea for what happens this season, because this is one of the weirder NFL seasons, and even the fact that we just spent eight minutes on Sam Darnold as an MVP candidate is proof in the pudding of that.

But then here we are.

I believe that the NFC is going to get a shocker when we get a playoff game involving the Commanders and the Panthers.

That midstream completely changed what we thought about them early in the season.

I think they're going to be the story of the lower echelons, mid-echelons of the NFC.

They're not the best teams, I get that, but like they're going to be berserkers down the stretch that go on winning streaks, that get functional quarterback play, that get good coaching with a lot of veterans on both teams.

Both teams suddenly, like you had Terry McLaurin, who, like, the whole story of Monday Football was like, I, you know, I'm willing to not have more than 40 catches this year because we have a rookie quarterback.

Look at me, I'm such a great teammate.

But by the end, he's making huge plays of that game.

And you've got all these Carolina Panthers teammates that are like, our careers are over because we are attached to a rookie quarterback that cannot play.

But now we've got Andy motherfucking Dalton on the field.

And I see two playoff teams here.

Am I overreacting?

Am I pumping them up too much?

Am I underreacting?

That seems like a stretch.

Or am I properly reacting to what these two teams will do?

Justin, I think you had it right there.

Go ahead.

Daddy, chill.

I thought I was overreacting to a small sample size.

And then here you go, four quarters against the Raiders, for Christ's sake.

I mean,

what are we saying?

That was like, that was a great Sessler segment moment because it started to veer off into just like a prediction segment.

But then I think you brought it back to the overall theme that it is, that Andy Dalton is going to now have a big year and the Panthers, as a result, are going to be a playoff team.

Is that what it is?

I believe that the Panthers and the Commanders...

If they, now, I don't want to get too particular.

What do the Commanders have to do with this?

I said the Commanders with Daniels last night that they changed everything, that the Panthers and Commanders are on a clash, a postseason clash course like they're going to clash with each other in january and it's going to be one of the more surprising things that has happened to the nfl in many many times many years okay oh this is this is unbelievable

why is it so crazy because like why

it's okay so it's a commanders panthers prediction are that both those teams make the playoffs is it an overreaction essentially i mean it's two different topics so um

I don't know.

Connor, you go first.

I have a commander's point

or

related topic coming, but I will say that it's a slight overreaction to say that the commanders will make the playoffs, and it's a

massive overreaction to say that the Panthers will make the playoffs.

Although, it's very good for my brand right now to be associated with the Panthers.

Panthers said something nice about me on social media, which I really when what'd they say?

So, where?

So, do you know the when you do your picks, and now like it's a cool thing for like

the shittiest teams in the NFL when they win one game to be like, oh, raise your hand now.

Who picked us?

You know, nobody.

And it's like, yeah, it's because you suck ass, right?

But I was like one of three people to pick the Panthers and then they tweeted it.

This,

the difference being last year, the Ravens did this to me, and they were like, attention, Connor Orr, who didn't pick us, but I did.

They just made it up.

And then I had like, I had like 500 people from Delco telling me to f off in my Twitter mentions.

And I was like, is this for real?

Anyway,

Delco's probably not right.

It's more South.

But anyway,

they're more Eagles fans, I guess.

But

I don't know where I'm going with this, but I don't think the Panthers are going to make the playoffs.

Yeah.

I think it's a nice thing.

And I think that winning seven games.

for this team or six games would be like an a massive hurdle for them to clear and would instill an incredible amount of confidence in someone like Dave Canalis.

Yeah, they're a real football team now, as opposed to the first two weeks where they were the saddest team in the league.

So I would say at the same time,

overreaction to the Panthers making a playoff run.

And I would say, based on what we saw with the Commanders yesterday, a proper reaction that they could make the playoffs.

But if they're together, then I have to choose because now they're put together.

I'll say

that is

an overreaction overall, Mark.

That's where I'll come down on that.

Because I made a sandwich out of it.

I get that.

Like, I could have just picked

one.

I get that.

Connor, you're...

I specialize in that.

All right, we got another one.

Another one.

Last night really.

He's a top 10 football insider.

Last night really exposed like the Irish in me where like everyone's enjoying this Jaden Daniels thing and in the back of my mind I'm like what could go wrong and I was thinking about the fact that it's like oh the sun is shining and it's like oh it'll burn all the crops you know but um when I was watching Jaden Daniels play and light it up while keeping in mind the fact that the Bears were struggling and Caleb Williams is probably going to need an offensive head coach at some point and used to play with Cliff Kingsbury and you know the Bears interviewed Cliff Kingsbury all this stuff you know kind of connecting it in the, you know, Pepe Silva board that's in my mind here.

But,

you know, could Jaden Daniels play so well that he loses his offensive coordinator, right?

And the more that this thing comes together,

the more someone is going to have to come in right behind him and try to replicate something that maybe only Cliff Kingsbury can do, which I do think is kind of an interesting thought.

Is that an overreaction that he, this could be, you know,

he could play so well that he could lose part of the very important thing that's making him play so well.

I think,

like, so Cliff Kingsbury getting a head coaching job somewhere else essentially like months from now.

Yeah.

I think it's a bit of an overreaction only because I think more time

is needed for another owner to take the Cliff Kingsbury joyride.

Like, I think it went so poorly at the end for the Cardinals.

Like, part of the head coaching job is, like, we love you potentially as offensive coordinator, and we're not doubting that you you can do that.

And I do agree with you that, like, his image has, his Q rating has shot up by simply what he's done in three weeks with Jaden Daniels.

Like, there's no doubt that he was the biggest figure of suspicion around the Jaden Daniels experience.

It was like Cliff Kingsbury, of all people.

Like, we already saw that that didn't work.

He almost was like a Chip Kelly in the sense that, like, come in, do your college thing with Kyler Murray, and it went completely wrong.

So, another coach is, or another owner is going to have to say, I want that as as a head coach, but also everything else that comes with a head coach.

And he wasn't particularly problematic with the press or anything.

But I think we're like a year or two away from him getting his second chance.

Like kind of the same way with Dan Quinn, where like you go somewhere, you're a defensive-minded head coach, everything goes south, but then you go to Dallas for a couple of years and build a really nasty defense.

And we like Dan Quinn the person, so he becomes a head coaching candidate.

I don't know if someone's going to jump on Kingsbury, also because there's so many other, like there's Kubiak, there's Petsing, there's all these other OCs out there that are not damaged goods on any level that like I think like people would jump on first, Dan.

My counter to that though is that the list is not as long as you think it is.

Okay.

Like I was going over it in my head, you know, while I was while I was crafting this point.

And, you know, after Ben Johnson, you have Bobby Sloick, and those are your two kind of guys that you would expect to get a job like that.

And then Kubiak, you need that full body of evidence, just like you do with Cliff Kingsbury, obviously.

But after that, I do think you start, you know, after those two guys, you know, I do think you start talking about that.

Okay, now we're going to talk about defensive coaches.

Now we're going to talk about some other good assistants.

And I do think the desperation for quality quarterback coaches is such that we could see someone maybe pull the trigger early on him again.

Just to be clear, are you saying as soon as 2025?

Yeah, I think if Jaden Daniels wins rookie of the year, I think he gets head coaching interviews.

All right.

I think it's a slight overreaction, but I know exactly what you're saying because he does, this year has the potential to being huge in terms of image rehab.

But he's also, I think there were a lot of people that were surprised that he even got this job

after the four years in Arizona where not only did...

you know, he squander in the eyes of some the potential of Kyler Murray.

And then if you go back even people who follow college, we'll say he had Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech and that he never really could make anything work.

at Baker.

He never could make anything work and build a winner.

But you're right.

People have a short memory.

And if Jaden Daniels is a stud, that's going to lift all boats, including the Cliff Kingsbury side.

And then you get to, then it becomes a part of your sell.

Like he's still just, yeah, he's in his mid-40s.

Like he has time to interview well and explain how he's different than he was then.

So yes, I think he can get a job, but it might take

two years, I think.

If you were saying by 2026,

knowing that Daniels, we've just seen one truly great Daniels game also.

You've got to factor that in well, as well.

But if he continues to ascend here, a slight overreaction, but I know exactly where you're coming from, bud.

So I like it.

It was good.

It's too, it's informed by the...

the whole Jalen Hurts thing, right?

Where Jalen Hurts got good enough to earn a second contract just as Shane Steichen was being extracted from the situation and has since fallen off a cliff.

You know, and

is that possible that this all happens at the same time as my house is melting down?

Yeah, what is happening?

All right, this is what we're gonna do.

We're gonna take a break.

There's animals and children.

Yeah.

Connor's gonna do, speaking of the Irish Catholic, he's gonna take his belt and he's gonna hold the strap up and say, Everybody, quiet down.

So while Connor takes over, takes control of his home.

We'll take a break.

We'll be right back.

Heed the Call with Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler is on Underdog.

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audience only.

All right, we are back, and Connor is now, he's texting with his wife and that's always a pleasant text when you got to be like, hey, get control of the situation up there.

And then maybe there's a shot back.

And then here you are trying to podcast at a high level.

Connor, many children in the house, dogs.

How are things with you after that meltdown?

It's hard because perpetually, like still, I mean, I'm 14 years into my career and no one thinks that I have like a real job.

And it's so hard for me to be like, can you please be quiet because I'm talking about football in the basement?

And it's just like, it's absolutely, you know, there's been so many times where like, you know, I've had like my in-laws or people come over and they just look at me like,

what are you actually doing?

You know, I don't believe that this is real work.

So it's hard.

It's a challenge.

It's something we have to overlook.

I know, Dan, I know that Connor, like, sometimes Connor and I just text about, you know, life.

And he was telling me that he's very much a disciple of the Harrison Butker husband-wife dynamic, where he'll like the text lands with enormous gravity and weight.

Like, she will listen, and those dogs have gone quiet.

You don't hear the children right now.

The dogs don't even exist anymore.

The hammer has been dropped.

The hammer of Thor, the hammer of Orr has dropped.

All right, let's get back into it.

Overreaction, underreaction, proper reaction.

All right, so maybe I went out on a limb a little bit there with the J.J.

McCarthy thing.

But you know, calm down.

All right.

I believe.

But how about this one?

I think this one's going to

win over some people.

I don't like the landing zone.

I don't like

the colored graphic overlays the network puts on the field.

I don't like

dumb-looking squib kicks.

Ooh, strategy.

I don't like the announcers saying dynamic kickoff and explaining the rules over and over.

I don't like all the players starting on the same side of the field.

I don't like that Justin Tucker added muscle to his frame so he could tackle better and now he can't kick straight.

I don't like that we still get a relentless number of touchbacks.

I don't like the elimination of traditional strategy like the surprise onside kick.

I don't like the obvious optics here,

how this is supposed to be so much safer, but a bunch of insane athletes are still getting a running start at the ball carrier and are tackling with the brute force of a pack of lions converging on a gazelle.

You know what?

Take it, McConaughey.

Yeah, Fagazi, Fagazi.

It's a Wazzi.

It's a Woozy.

It's a

fairy dust.

It doesn't exist.

It's never landed.

It is no matter.

It's not on the elemental chart.

It's not f ⁇ ing real.

When I was a kid, me and my cousins used to play wiffle ball every day during the summer.

And as the older cousin, I provided much of the structure to the games.

Perhaps not a surprise.

And there was one famous line that me and my cousins still make reference to to this day that I would shout out, rule change!

That would be an in-game adjustment meant to improve the experience for everyone involved.

You know, we don't.

I would need that so much.

Yes, sorry.

This is the most Dan, childhood Dan element I've ever heard.

Rule change.

Listen, we don't need to wait until everyone is hungover at a luxury resort in Arizona to change this rule.

I say lose it.

Like now, like starting Thursday, it sucks.

It's dumb.

Most of all, it doesn't work.

And

I don't need some crooked numbers cooked up by 345 to tell me that it actually is working.

I'm watching the product and the product is howling in pain.

Heal the pain.

Make the dynamic kickoff melt away uh

so uh this is the conceit here uh dynamic kickoff gtf oh subtitle rule change parachute out of the fukakta dynamic kickoff like db cooper did with northwest orient airlines flight 305 out of portland now

okay overreaction underreaction proper reaction you bring up db

I'll agree with whatever the hell you say.

I'm with you.

I think it's like I like it's it's a tough one because I agree with your reaction.

I think it's the proper reaction.

The expectation that the NFL midstream

admits they did anything incorrect on any level.

No, they're not playing wiffle ball with your cousins.

That's a problem.

Like they're a multi-million billion dollar business

entity that's like, I don't think they're going to change anything.

I think it's sticking around.

I think one argument against it is that what it was before had faded too because of rule changes.

Like the kickoff from a year ago was even more of a pastoral, nonsensical item.

Because it would be maybe unfair or a little bit dickish if I were to just bury this new rule without an idea to replace it.

You want to make the kickoff a play again?

Back up the kicker to the 25-yard line, 10 yards, and let's play some football.

And I understand it.

Like

old school kickoff returns back in the day.

Because these guys all kick the ball 10 to 15 yards further now.

So get the kick.

And then they're going to say, oh, but it's more dangerous and all this.

It's like, I don't believe the data,

there's probably,

I want to be respectful because I understand there is, with the league, they are very serious about ways to find

ways to make the game safer.

And if they thought this was...

in the best interest of the players health, I respect that.

But I also don't know if you actually get down to it.

There's still collisions of bodies at high speeds with this current rule, whether they want to admit it or not.

And we're still getting a ton of touchbacks right now.

So it's not helping the level of play.

I'm just saying, like, either it's a play or

it's not a play.

And

if you can't figure it out, like, this is not it.

This ain't it.

That's the only thing I do know is that this ain't it.

Keep trying.

Go back to the drawing board.

I can just tell you, I agree with everything that you're saying, but let me just tell you exactly what's going to happen.

We're going to reach peak frustration and boredom with the dynamic kickoff.

And then, like week 11, there's going to be three spectacular kickoff returns for touchdowns.

And then some dumbass online is going to be like, imagine hating the dynamic kickoff, you know, and then everyone's just going to be like, yeah, imagine not liking it.

And then, and then it's just going to be this complete head fake, Like we all loved it all along.

And then we just move the line of vision.

And then we forget that the old kickoff even existed.

Yeah, I don't know.

The Twitter echo chamber, if they get their hands around that as a narrative, that's going to be a problem.

But I don't sense that right now.

Are the nerds?

Gravedigger, are like the football, it's the Cognicenti, are the nerds...

pro or con kickoff?

I have not really tracked that, but like the super nerds, like the AP class football people.

I don't know, but I do know what they have talked about as a potential solution to every frustration Dan is voicing right now, and that is that the touchback penalty is not severe enough.

The 30-yard line, teams are like, okay, sure, start at the 30-yard line.

We will kick it through the end zone every time, and you will have five yards better field position than you had when we did that last year.

It needs to be like you kick off out of bounds.

It's the 40.

Nobody kicks off out of bounds on purpose.

Why not 45 midfield?

Make it so these teams do not want to give up the touchback.

And then you will see return rates skyrocket.

I think that's the only solution.

All right.

I don't want to make it so much of a penalty that it's like flipping these games.

So

there's that too.

It's like put the ball to 50 because you hit it in the end zone of the kickoff.

I mean, that seems a little extreme also.

There's a solution out there.

And I just hope that people aren't so busy patting patting themselves on the back for coming up with this that they're not actually having real conversations about, oh, this sucks.

Like, we got to go back to the drawing board, you know?

All right, Mark, you're up.

I

don't think we've ever had a historical equivalent to a coach that has won coach of the year twice,

who sits on a hot seat and could be a couple months away from being completely dismissed from his job.

And I, you know, I don't talk about the Browns that much on the show.

I really don't.

But I watch what's happening right now.

And I am of the mind that if they stick to the course, the expensive, ridiculous course they're on with Deshaun Watson, and this season continues to look the way it did on Sunday against the New York Giants, one of the worst Cleveland Browns performances I've ever seen.

If you weigh the roster and the strength of the roster versus the actual performance on the field.

There are not many examples of Cleveland Browns football where the roster has so many talented players and they've gone out and played the way they did on Sunday and that's happened multiple times this season already that this coach and this general manager could go down with the Deshaun Watson ship.

A finicky owner who's been pretty quiet and calm the last couple of years for decent reason.

But if you look at Kevin Stofansky, the only time we've really celebrated him or hoisted him up and made him coach of the year was when he had the quarterback more recently that he didn't even plan to have.

He did wonders with Jacoby Brissette and got due credit for that.

He did a great job with Joe Flacco.

His worst coaching has been attached to Deshaun Watson.

And I wonder if the negative energy around this If you don't have the guts as an organization to simply move on from a quarterback who is not what you signed up for, and you bring in Jameis Winston, which you're already doing on scattered plays here and there.

If you don't take this into your own hands and say, ownership, everyone else, we're going to do this.

We're going to do what's best for the Cleveland Browns.

We're going to put a quarterback in there who can function.

We're going to change the energy of this team, and we're going to ride it out, and we'll ride it out financially.

They're not going to do it.

They're not able to because it's too expensive, and they're hamstrung by ownership and everything else.

But I think GM and coach are very vulnerable and could be gone by the end of this season if this doesn't change.

Am I overreacting?

Are they just going to stick with them?

Am I underreacting?

I don't know how that would be.

Am I properly reacting?

Where am I going with this?

What is your statement?

That I think that they're on a collision course to be fired.

Oh,

I think that is a proper reaction

because

Watson has the ability to get everybody fired if this play continues.

I thought you were going in a different direction.

In fact, it was one that I kind of had in the holster,

but I wanted to give it space in case you wanted to talk about it.

I was like, get rid of Watson now, like overreaction, underreaction, proper reaction.

Like, should you just bench him or release him outright?

And I understand, oh, you can't do that.

All the salary cap and all this shit.

Like, no, like, you can do it.

You can absolutely pull the plug on Deshaun Watson right now, and you could stick his ass on the bench until January.

And then when he has two years, guaranteed years left on his deal, you could figure out what you could do, whether that's trading him for a seventh round pick, conditional, or releasing him outright, which I don't imagine he would have any trade value at this stage.

And I think that is not an overreaction either.

I think that would be a proper reaction.

But yeah, to what you're saying, yeah, Connor, I think the coaching staff, everyone's in peril as long as this guy keeps playing at this level.

I don't think Kevin Stefansky is in trouble.

I think you would probably scapegoat the GM if you were the owner in this situation and you would keep Stefansky.

I think he's on solid ground there, at least as far as I understand.

But to your point, you guys bring up something interesting.

If you're Kevin Stefansky, why wouldn't you just bench him now?

And if the organization freaks out, go to them and say, okay, then trade me.

Trade me as a coach somewhere else, because I bet half the teams in the league would want him and he wouldn't have to deal with the fallout of the Watson thing.

Because if Stefansky survives Watson, I can tell you right now, Watson's going to end not at the end of his contract, but with like Russell Wilson with like $90 million of dead cap space that you're going to have to swallow at some point on a roster that is getting very old very quickly and you're not going to want to be the coach there anyway.

So if you're Stefansky, why wouldn't you get ahead of it?

bench him now, play Jameis Winston, and show everybody that you can let it rip with just about any other quarterback.

You did it with Flacco.

You're establishing yourself as a quarterback whisperer and you're separating yourself from the fallout of Watson, which is going to be earth-clearingly, astronomically bad.

I promise you that it's going to be that bad.

Take back the agency.

But do you think, but here's the thing.

Here's why I fashioned my question about them just going to the end of the year with Watson and then everyone's sinking.

Do you have autonomy enough, if you're Kevin Stefansky, to outright bench?

Deshaun Watson?

I don't believe he has that.

But that's almost beside the point, right?

He does, but you just do it anyway.

Like

who was the manager that philip seymour hoffman played in money ball the oakland a's guy and uh that was art how bean art how right and oh art how yeah and they would just

they would give him the lineup and then he just wouldn't do it so then they just cut all the players that he wouldn't that he was putting in instead of the ones that he wanted like if you're so fansky be like okay andrew berry uh you know paul depodesta come down from the booth and tell me to put him back in to my face on the broadcast.

So you do it on Sunday, right?

Like you don't, like, it's not a thing you're talking about in a committee.

You do it on Sunday drive.

Insurrection.

You play the opening drive, and then you say, take a seat.

Right.

Or you, yeah, you bench him in-game, and then at the post-game press conference, you say that, you know, we like the way Jameis looked and we intend to move forward with him and dare the Browns to turn it into a huge story.

Like, that's how you take the onus back of the situation.

If that's indeed what's going on

with the Cleveland Browns,

if the head coach Defansky is held hostage, and I think there's a, I don't know if we, do we know the whole story?

What is the reporting out there?

Like, who truly was responsible for this?

Who actually believes in Watson at this stage?

But if Stefansky is somebody who's been dragged along this whole time, yeah,

I guess you're risking

you're taking the risk that to make, that's like an act of war against your own front office.

And if you do that, that might make you someone that other teams would shy away.

It's a boys' club after all.

Other owners would shy away from hiring you.

but screw that.

Like, you only live once, and you would win the public opinion war for being the guy, the coach that said, this is ugly.

This is toxic.

I don't want this guy bringing me down, so I'm moving forward.

Like, I dare you to stop me.

I mean, let's do this.

Let's go.

And no one loses the PR war against Deshaun Watson.

Like, if you're the coach that did that and fights with your own GM, no owner or organization is going to frown on that.

Just do it.

Can we do it?

Let's do it.

Deshaun Watson, you're benched.

No, it doesn't work that way.

Okay, never mind.

Who's the last coach that did something like this, that gave the middle finger to ownership, that got boxed out of the Books Club?

It's Jim Harbaugh.

And he came back, and everything is fine.

It's absolutely fine, right?

Was that the Kaepernick Alex Smith?

The Harbaugh.

I think he was just constantly feuding with Jed York, and then they tried to trade him to the Browns at one point

before he took the Michigan job.

I guess all roads lead back to the Browns.

Anything dysfunctional related.

All right, one more.

Connor, take us home.

All right, so we saw what happened with the Commanders on Monday night football.

They looked awesome.

We saw what happened to the Giants in Cleveland on Sunday.

The Giants lost to the Commanders simply by virtue of the fact that they didn't have a field goal kicker.

They played really well and had a kind of budding star performance against the Browns.

Their only loss came against the Vikings and Brian Flores, and the first time that anyone had faced Brian Flores with this new defense.

Am I overreacting or underreacting or properly reacting when I say that actually the Giants are pretty good, and I don't think it's out of the question to think that they could finish second in the NFC East and compete for that fringe seventh playoff spot?

Mark, I think they absolutely could finish second.

We have evidence that Brian Dabel really coached them up two years ago when there was health throughout the offensive side of the ball, especially.

We've talked about it on the preview for Thursday night.

They've got a genuine star that changes the level of their quarterback play.

I thought Devin Singletary was a big step up.

Their defensive line wrecked Cleveland's offensive line, banged up offensive line, but wrecked them on Sunday.

There's a lot to like.

I think what happened last year kind of muddies the picture, but to finish second in that division, like the Cowboys are a mess.

The Eagles, I think, are a very good football team.

So you've got to knock out the Commanders.

I think it's very possible.

I think the Giants, but I don't know if second means playoff team, though.

But second, yes.

I don't think that's too much to ask.

I don't think that's an overreaction.

I think it's an overreaction.

To finish second.

I think, yeah,

I'm not now thinking the Giants are any good.

But I will say that I don't think the NFC East is very good.

So that would be the, like, they could come in second and won't mean that they had this like big turnaround or like surprise people.

It's just like they went 7-10 or they went 8-9

rather than 6-11 or 5-12, what everyone thought after week one or whatever.

That's a really good point you make about week one because there was a lot of obviously bad energy around Daniel Jones entering the season and how the Giants didn't take a quarterback in the draft.

And Jones was so miserable last year, and he had this big contract.

And Saquon left in part because of the money that they had to give to Jones to keep him in the building.

And then he throws that terrible interception and plays like hell.

But then you look at against the Brian Flores defense, who are the two quarterbacks that have faced Flores since?

It was C.J.

Stroud last week, and it was Brock Purdy the week before.

And both those guys publicly

let it be known that that was, you know, either by their expressions on the sideline or what was reported, reported, what was said after the game with Purdy, in Purdy's case, that, man, we're all confused and can't figure out this Minnesota defense.

So Daniel Jones on some level didn't have a chance in that game.

So I'm kind of talking out of both sides of my mouth.

I understand that.

But do I think the Giants are actually sneaky good?

No.

Do I think that they could finish in second?

Yes.

Does that mean the Giants are some success story if they do?

No.

Because do I think the NFC East is any good?

I don't think so.

Like, I don't know.

That one's a little tricky.

That's a tough one to dig through a little bit.

I mean, I've been digging in on the Flores defense, and so not a single quarterback that has faced Brian Flores has had a positive EPA per play.

Daniel Jones was by far the worst.

He was double as bad as C.J.

Stroud.

Brock Purdy was about even, which is

another whole discussion, which I think Brock Purdy is really good.

What he's been able to do with the players that he's gotten, and if you talk to some of these experts who are watching him play, it's phenomenal.

It's something that we haven't seen before.

And so the Giants were legitimately blindsided week one.

Let's say that they faced him week five, week six, week seven, and then you flip their schedule around a little bit.

There's a world right now where they're two and one, even.

That's not that hard to believe.

And I don't know.

Let's see what happens Thursday night.

That will be a good test because that will offer a lot of clarity about

it.

And the Cowboys.

And tying it all the way back around for this segment, the defense of the Vikings with Brian Flores has even made the Sam Darnold conversation tricky because he's been putting such incredible game scripts every week.

And they've set the quarterback up and that offense up for success.

Flores is just doing the damn thing right now.

And he's turning the leagues upside down.

All right, good stuff.

Good conv.

Some people say convo.

I'm even shorting it beyond that.

I can't believe children had play, you know,

wiffle ball with you.

You, you know, exerting power and changing rules left and right.

They're just young children who look up to you as a cousin.

Well, what about Connor's children?

They got put in a storm cellar and they're going to be left there until school tomorrow.

That's a punishment.

That's unrewarding as well.

That is podcasting.

You need to be quiet.

You used to be afraid of dads when they came home with like a briefcase, or I had a friend who had a cop dad.

And then, when he came home, you were just like, Well, I don't want to be here anymore.

Like, I would immediately try to time my mom's pickup with when I knew he was getting home.

Uh, he had like very Wonder Years dad vibes, you know.

Um, but now if you like, you're walking out of the basement in like a, you know, Fulham jersey and sweatpants, and like your little podcast mic, and you're like, Dad's home from work now.

It's time to talk about all the, you know, it just doesn't work.

Well, yeah, like authority it starts with not dressing like a child yourself,

And that's part of the problem.

Yeah, you should be wearing a button-up shirt, short-sleeve with a bad tie, Connor.

Coming home exhausted and pissed and see how they say how they deal with you.

Start smoking like unfiltered camels.

And just, yeah.

You know, we just missed it, by the way.

Dad Corner here.

And Justin, you could just listen in, fireside chat.

Like

the amount of responsibility for our generation of dads

compared to every generation prior is outrageous.

Like it used to be, it used to be you could just, if you went, if you had a job and you helped put food on the table and you, you know, mowed the lawn and did certain home improvement tasks, that's it.

You are doing the job.

And now, like, I'm a coach on like 14 different teams.

You know, I'm taking the kids to the arcade.

Like, no dads were taking the kids to the arcade in the 80s.

You know, it's just a wiffleball.

We were talking about wiffleball.

I'm organizing neighborhood wiffleball games for the children, putting in rule changes in 24.

It wasn't happening in the 80s and 90s.

No.

We're taking on a lot now, and we deserve the credit.

God damn it.

I think it does speak to your nobility, though.

I think Connor and I would agree to that.

So would Justin, that, you know, there's a very noble aspect to all that you're taking on.

Sometimes I...

Anna's right.

when I organize the neighborhood whiffleball game, I go to the field and I can't do it because Mark has already organized his neighborhood whiffleball games with

no.

Mark has found a loophole to some of what we're discussing.

It's not a joyful one, but there are loopholes.

Take that for what it's worth.

All right.

Before we sign off, Justin,

there is an important notice I'd like or a challenge to the audience.

How are we doing over on the old YouTube subscription?

It was suspiciously nuked last Friday, the entire account, but

thankfully YouTube working with our fine partner, Underdog, got that clarified, got us back on track.

You had put out a challenge for 10,000 subscribers to the Heed the Call YouTube channel.

Have we succeeded in that?

Right.

So this is the 11th day now.

This Wednesday is the 11th day of existence for the channel.

We are not quite to 10K.

We are at a little over 8,600.

And every time I refresh the page, that number ticks up by one or two.

So that's great.

That's a good situation.

By the way, disappointed dadface.

Just got home from work.

Dinner's not ready.

Disappointed dad face.

Yes, let's keep pushing to 10K.

We're not there yet.

Again, even if you don't actually watch the show on YouTube, you just listen to it on the audio pod.

Can't be that hard to open up your YouTube app, search Heed the Call with Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler, press the subscribe button.

And then all right, well, how about this, Mark?

How about this?

Yes, give us the number.

Give us the number.

Mark, the challenges to the audience, get us to 10 before the week four preview episode.

I love that.

And I think also anyone listening to this has,

if you don't have children of your own, and if maybe they are online or they're not, hopefully they are.

Hopefully they're very invested with online activities.

You have wives, you have husbands, you've got uncles and aunts.

Even if they have never heard of our show, have them subscribe to.

Like,

it's a real kind of of phone tree grassroots campaign.

Get everyone involved, you know.

Beat communism.

That's sort of what we're trying to do here on some levels.

Because someone, like a communist-type power, conked us out a week ago.

And I'm not unconvinced it wasn't some sort of dark energy corpo-type move.

I don't know what corpo.

You could do it.

Right, exactly.

We don't know who did it or how it happened or what happened.

We just know it happened.

So fight back against the powers that be by getting us to 10,000.

And to prove that, you know, we don't just say things without also doing them ourselves.

Like, I have subscribed with the Music City Audible channel, with my personal channel, with the Heed the Call Football Show at gmail.com channel.

Like, all the accounts that I have are subscribed.

So, you guys should be doing the same thing, I feel like.

That works under the assumption that everyone else has seven YouTube channels, but I don't know if that's true or not.

But if you do, please.

All right, thanks to everybody for listening.

Connor, love you, buddy.

See you Sunday for the next flagship program, or even before that, over on Patreon when we do our week four draft.

Until Thursday with Money Mike and Jordan Rodrigue, do what you must.

Heed the call.

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Wow.

I might have just set the hushing record.

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