Patriots-Jets Preview + Pee Scale for 0-2 Teams

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Come on, okay, on to the show.

The Heed the Call Podcast.

Slow down and smell the roses, Titans Helmet.

Hello, and welcome to to another edition of Heath the Call.

Dan Hands is here with my compadre, Mark Sessler.

And, you know, Sess Dog,

life comes at you fast in the NFL.

It feels like just yesterday we were in training camp and signing underdog contracts and now we're barreling toward week three with nearly a third of the league in crisis.

That's how it works.

Yeah, there are some fiery organizational issues happening.

We'll cover that a little later.

I I find in these weeks, like, I don't know about you, but from like around Sunday morning at 6 a.m.

or 7 a.m.

until about after this show, I've not spoken to like another human being.

Like, we're, we're, this is like, I do realize if you look at like the logged hours between you and me, they supersede most any human in my life.

But in this case, you know, it's a, it's a, it's a thrill, not a not a problem, Dan.

It's a thrill.

Well, you know what?

It's a grind.

And

it does remind me of my own

growing up where I did in the coal town.

How sometimes it's just like you go down in that mine and you don't know if you're coming back.

That's the parallel.

You don't know.

And you love your family and you love the idea of free time, but you have a job to do.

And it's going down and going deep into the earth.

And if you have a friend or someone to talk to, yeah, maybe it's that canary down there with you.

If you're lucky.

And putting in a hard day's work is there's nothing wrong with that.

No, and I you know, I appreciate your past, like your childhood and your childhood labor stories, because obviously.

Hang on.

Yeah, I hope you're, I know there's some residual issues.

I've never been in a coal mine.

I know that you have hundreds of times.

So

Dan, it's again, it's a noble aspect to

your lineage, your origin story.

I love how you say that.

I love everything you say.

I believe every word of what I'm saying.

And here's the thing, back to our league and these teams in crisis.

This isn't college football where you can get nipped by Auburn in week one, and then you get blitzed by Alabama the second Saturday, but

your AD is neatly set up a matchup with Our Lady of the Worthless Miracle on the third Saturday in September, and you can get your feet and catch your breath.

No, this is the National Parody League, and there are very few cupcake games.

And if you start 0-3 in the NFL,

the leaves have not even changed, and you all of a sudden have a very narrow path to the playoffs.

So, we're going to get to that a little later in the show.

The teams that are 0-2 and what they're up against.

And we're going to have Joe Person, who covers the Panthers, to get a little more perspective on that 0-2 team after they made their change at quarterback.

But before we get into our Thursday night football preview and the start of our look ahead to week three, let's welcome in our buddy.

Connor,

the very same, Connero.

He's a Homoc name, Connero.

When he's here.

Gone.

This Christmas chip.

Gone.

Through heat and light.

Gone a road.

Take a bite.

Gone a road.

Gone a roll.

Gone a road.

Merry Christmas.

That's tightening the feels a little bit.

Who is that, Justin?

That was Tim Bentley.

Did you guys hear something?

Did you guys hear anything?

That was Tim Bentley.

Tim Bentley, especially, I don't know if I if that's a key change or what that is, but when it kind of went up there, it's like the Connor or like that did it for me.

Connor.

It must be a pinch-me moment now every time you come on the show.

It's like hearing Amazing Grace at Christmastime.

It's really like, you know, or Ave Maria at your wedding, you know?

There's something really beautiful about that.

That one was good.

It gave me, I don't know, Mark, if you feel the same way, like almost like vegetables, smiley smile, beach boys vibes a little bit.

I really understand.

Now that you mentioned that, like, yes, there is some Brian Wilson inventive chicanery in there.

There was a vibe to that.

I don't know.

I think we need to get like, they don't even have CDs anymore, but a playlist that like Connor can play this for, you know, his children in the car just.

They realize your dad is

inspiring people to create incredible music.

It really is on a weekly basis.

It's so amazing.

I really I think a compilation album is something that we can strive toward.

In fact, keep sending us songs because we've gotten a nice collection, but I would love to have like 20 different Connor War songs that we could play.

So send them along to HeedTheCall Football Show at gmail.com.

All right, let's get into

the

week ahead, starting with a Thursday night preview.

Thursday Night Football, the New England Patriots traveling to the Meadowlands to face the Jets.

And

there is, boys, a lot of emotional scarring for Jets fans when it comes to the Patriots.

And you might be surprised to learn that that didn't just end when Tom Brady up and left town.

Outside of a playout the string, I believe it was a week 18 win in January when the Patriots were probably trying to lose.

Anyway, for tank purposes, the Jets never could beat Belchek after that incredible, amazing

playoff win way back when with Rex Ryan at Foxborough.

They continued to struggle to beat that team.

Bill ain't there no more.

Tom Brady ain't there no more.

So this feels like the chance to turn the page in this rivalry that was very one-sided for so long.

However, Sess Dog,

there are elements about this matchup.

While the Jets, I'm sure the desert has them favored by a modest sum, there are elements about what the Patriots have done well through two weeks and what the Jets have struggled with, and the Patriots' ability to play within themselves and they don't even have a turnover this year, that really to me points to a game that's going to go right down to the wire and a game that would not surprise me if it's the Patriots that come out on top.

I'm not being doom and gloom as a Jets fan.

I honestly think this is a good matchup for the Patriots on a short week.

Yeah, I think New England is just a rugged team.

And the way that they've been able to surprise us is that you kind of thought that they'd have non-functional quarterback play behind a terrible offensive line.

And their run game has been their strength, obviously.

They blistered Seattle last week for the second week in a row.

They were productive on the ground.

They are able to work around the fact that against the Seahawks in a tight overtime loss, they had three catches by wide receivers.

And so I kind of look at Alex Van Pelt, who came from Cleveland and worked for three quarters of a season with Jacoby Brissette and coaxed him to 12 touchdowns and six interceptions that year and got him to play pretty functionally, that it's translating to here.

And that team had a big ground game.

They got their tight end involved.

David Njoku had a breakout year last year, but he was good the year before.

Hunter Henry has been a big part of New England.

So I think the Patriots kind of like, we know what we want to be.

We use six offensive linemen on a vast majority of these kind of big packages to go at the Jets.

And we're going to come at you.

We're not going to surprise you with a lot.

But you're going to have to find a way to out-strengthen us and probably hang around in a pretty close game, Connor.

I'm just still still thinking about how weird all these Connor Orr songs are going to sound in like 13 years when I'm doing like marketing for Verizon and I'm just not even covering football anymore.

You should play them at the job interview.

Listen to this.

But I kind of view this as sort of a tipping point game for the Jets season.

And Jacoby Brissette, I went, before you take a look at the hard numbers, I was thinking, okay, this is a classic Patriots quarterback who gets the ball out.

Not so.

Actually, like the third longest snap to throw time in the NFL.

And so right around this time that you have this massive indictment on the Jets needing to get this Hassan Reddick deal done, sustaining an injury to the pass rush, and needing a pass rush more than ever to just get this game out of the way and get to 2-1 above 500, you have the stage set basically for like this game that will basically spell the fate for the rest of your season.

If you are punchless in the pass rush, then you have to go out and have to pay Hassan Reddick.

You get into desperation mode, you fall behind.

But if not, you're two and one, and you're one of the only teams in NFL history that played three games in 10 days.

And that's great.

Yes, the schedule obviously is challenging.

I factored that in and saying I feel like this is a good setup for the Patriots just because the Jets have had such a unique start to the season and dealing with injuries.

I mean, so Jermaine Johnson, it is indeed a torn Achilles.

I'm a little bit surprised, maybe because it was a short week and it's just they didn't have an option to really pivot as quickly as they would have wanted to.

I thought either the Hassan Reddick, you get movement there, but it's really telling, by the way, that it's still crickets on that front.

Or that maybe they would have brought in someone out there.

Yannikin Gakwe is available, Justin Houston, Randy Gregory, Shaq Lawson.

These are all names floating out there.

I kind of would have thought that might have been in the mix, but no.

So

they're going to go into this game a little thin, a lot thin at defensive line.

They're going to hope that Will McDonald's breakout game, three sacks in week two, is something that he can replicate moving forward.

But so much of the Jets defense is kind of about that defensive line holding its own and getting to the quarterback and wreaking havoc.

And then Ulbrick and Sala like to then use their great secondary and mess with the opponent.

So that's going to be a challenge.

It's going to be a test of the coaching staff, a coaching staff that I have had a lot of doubts about at various stages in the last couple of years.

But on the other side of

the ball, again, it's Aaron Rodgers, who I think I'd give him a grade of a B-plus, quite honestly, for what he's done so far this season.

I'm really looking to see if Garrett Wilson breaks out in this game.

The Jet fans are going to be going mad.

This is the first game at the Metal End since 9-11, 23, and everything that went down in that game.

I don't imagine Aaron runs out with an American flag this time.

It'll be interesting to see how they handled the pregame pomp and circumstance.

I'm sure the Jets will nail the tone.

But anyway, I do, I like the idea of Garrett Wilson having a breakout game here, and I'd like to see,

Mark, I'd like to see Brees Hall get it going on the ground because they have not been able to really run the football.

I know the Patriots, I feel very confident the Pats will run on the Jets.

Can the Jets run on the Pats and negate that advantage on some level?

Well, it feels like a good game for that.

I mean, I would like to see a little bit more from Aaron Rodgers in the world of that he's third in air yards, third to last and third in air yards per attempt.

It's been a lot of kind of vertical, like horizontal type stuff, and you've got the wide receiver to go do it.

One little note, though, back to your defensive line for the Jets.

The one area that the Patriots are vulnerable on a short week, especially where these guys don't even have a physical practice.

It's a walkthrough, it's a walkthrough.

You get on an airplane, or in this case, probably a bus.

I don't know what they're doing.

But like, David Andrews is banged up.

Saidi Sao, their left guard, is banged up.

Their left tackle, Vidarian Lowe, is banged up.

Micah Wenwu,

who is a guard playing tackle, was absolutely victimized by the Seahawks a week ago.

So if you're short-staffed on the defensive line, this might be the game where you can still get by with that because I think if you can stop New England on the run, this thing could be over.

I mean, at least it could be over in the sense that you're not going into another game in primetime that's like two points or three points with minutes to go.

I'm just so damaged because this team has been so bad in primetime.

And they kind of need this.

They need to win this game at home to really, as Connor said, kind of launch them into this Rodgers era in a proper fashion.

And if they lose the game, it's just going to be a lot of storm clouds.

So a lot of pressure on the Jets.

Pick the game.

I said that I think the Patriots, it sets up Welfam.

Do I want to reverse jinx the Pats?

Hmm.

Nah, I can't do it.

I tried.

But 24-21, a late field goal is the difference here.

But I think it's going to go down to the wire, and there's going to be a lot of nail biting again for Jets fans coming off a very stressful week, too.

What do you think, Mark?

I've got Jets 23,

Patriots, 16.

All right.

Connor, you want to maybe

pick the patch just so we don't sweep and basically jinx a Jets failure?

Sorry, Dan, but

I got a 3110 Jets W.

Oh, okay.

Well, all right, Justin, what do you got for me?

Give me something, Justin.

I got a stat for you before I pick the game real quick here.

Mark mentioned the banged up Patriots offensive line.

One thing to note, Antonio Gibson.

is second in the league right now in rushing yards overexpected per attempt.

So he's getting a lot more yards than are being blocked for him.

Ramondre Stevenson is 16th.

And Ramondre Stevenson is also in the top five in the NFL in total rushing yards right now.

This is a really good back tandem.

I don't know if the banged up offensive line on a short week is going to be as physical and as good, but that is a huge vulnerability for the Jets.

I am picking the Patriots to cover the six and a half point spread, not to win the game out.

But at least it's going to be close.

It's six and a half?

Oh, my God.

That is

deep.

Let me tell you something.

I'm no money Mike Gagar.

Let me tell you that.

That is way too much wood to be laying to the Jets in primetime against the Patriots, given everything we just talked about.

I'll leave it there.

That's all I'll say.

That's all I'll say.

Let's see what happens.

Oh, booy.

Mark, Thursday night.

I mean, these primetime games, I need, please don't send me to the microphone in a miserable state.

I just don't do it.

You know that if you're a gravedigger or you're Mark, like, there is, I almost don't care about sports at that point.

Just I want the Jets to fare well so that

the whole rest of the evening goes well.

I also don't want to be that guy either.

Like I don't want my fandom to make people around me unhappy and uncomfortable.

So

I got to be a bro who's a pro at the same time.

No, it never has happened.

We're in the clear on that.

It's just the potential of it.

All right.

That's not a great trend.

I don't love the trend.

Thank you, Mark.

Mark with the final comment there.

Let's take a quick break here.

And when we get back, let's get into those are two one-in-one teams facing off on TNF.

We'll talk about the 0-2 teams and what they have ahead right after this.

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Just two games into the 2024 NFL regular season, the Carolina Panthers are making a massive change.

Former number one overall pick Bryce Young is headed to the bench, and veteran Andy Dalton will take over as the starting quarterback beginning this week against the Raiders.

I owe it to all of the guys, the coaches, the staff, the players, everybody involved to be really critical about what we put on film, about what I'm seeing, and to make sure that I'm constantly making the best decision for the team every week.

And it happens to be the quarterback position.

When I came here, I wasn't sure if I was going to get another opportunity to start again.

And so

I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm excited about what's ahead.

And, you know,

it's a tough situation.

I've been on both sides of it.

and it's hard on everybody.

But for me, I mean, I'm looking forward to it.

Yeah, seismic activity down in Charlotte, obviously.

And Bryce Young is benched for week three.

And now we welcome in a man who never gets benched when it comes to Panthers coverage because I think he's the goat down there.

It's Joe Person of the Athletic.

Joe, welcome to Heed the Call.

What's going on, guys?

Well, a lot down where you're at, and we really appreciate you giving us a few minutes here, Joe.

And to kind of get into it, let me say it this way.

And you're right up, and everybody should read Joe's coverage of the Panthers on the athletic.

You know, you said at Bryce Young's level of play, you thought that maybe week four or five made sense as a benching if it continued the way it was.

Instead, it's after week two.

Do you get the feeling being around that team in that locker room that Canales had to make this move at this point?

And where you stand on that in the timing of it all?

Yeah, I think there were two things going on that this franchise was in danger.

Dave Canalis was in danger of losing the locker room, and the owner was in danger of further alienating the fan base.

I'll start with the fan base.

Here's their first home game of the season, guys.

Awful, awful display of offensive football.

There was booing.

Okay, that's fine.

But guys,

fans with bags over their heads and fans chanting for Tepper to sell the team.

This is week two.

Obviously, it's a fan base that's been waiting

to go back to the playoffs

since Tepper bought the team.

They haven't been since he bought them in 2018.

So anyway, that's part of it.

And the second part, locker room-wise, you were starting to see, again, in week two,

guys like Adam Thielen throwing a sideline tantrum on a play where he was wide open.

Bryce didn't climb the pocket and throw it to him, throw it to him, but kind of escaped, left, and quickly got sacked by Joey Bosa.

Thielen gets upset.

Deontay Johnson, who we know

doesn't take a lot to push his buttons.

He was mostly okay after the game, but I asked him, were you surprised at the lack of downfield throws?

And he said, oh, yeah, we all were.

And so if that's what they're saying to us publicly, then you know there was more behind the scenes.

And, you know, like I said, it was a good question, yes.

I do think it had to be done sooner rather than later.

I'd ask you this question because I thought that a couple of the lines in your write-up, you can tell you're close to the team.

You've seen Bryce Young behind the scenes, and they've spent all this time with him.

And Canales came in and said, I'm going to build this guy up after a train wreck year one.

And yet I feel like I still don't have a great read on Bryce Young's personality as a pro quarterback.

But you called him the anti-cam in terms of energy.

And that even when Dalton this week is brought before the media and shows that verve and that spirit that you kind of want from your quarterback, like along with the shattered skill set that we've seen in two games, like

there were obviously concerns about Bryce Young, his energy, his personality, his confidence.

Like does that play into it too?

Are they just worried that he's already maybe broken or just not really a natural leader?

I think it all kind of is combined to

influence Dave Canalis and Dave Tepper, all their decision.

Yeah, he's a guy.

It's not his personality.

We've asked him about it before, and he's just, he is a real low-key guy, and that's okay if you're winning.

But I don't know.

I mean, there were, and later that clip you showed at the start of Canalis, right after that part, and this, you kind of had to be looking for it, but he said something about, I can stand in front of the team now, and he sort of indicated he had done so Monday, and I can demand that I get everybody's best passion and play style were the two words he used, two phrases he used.

And like, it's one thing if you got a low-key left guard that doesn't have a lot of juice and bring a lot of energy.

And listen, everyone's going to have less energy than Cam Newton did when he was here.

But still, it just, you know, you would have liked to have seen a little more pump out of, you know, out of Bryce Young when he was gathering the team in the huddle.

And not to say never did it, but the body language, especially Sunday on the field, was

pretty bad.

Joe, I was curious,

you know, David Tepper,

whatever the stat was between all of his franchises and teams that he owned, went through something like a million head coaches in three weeks or something like that.

And I know that's something that obviously bothers him, but it's something that Dave Canalis knew and everybody else knew when they were interviewing for the job.

How much of this decision is tied to a new head coach

just concerned about the unpredictability of the man in the office above him and just needing to win games just to feel himself on solid ground?

Yeah, I think that's part of it.

I mean, here's the interesting thing, guys, is we have heard all offseason and in through up through week one from Dave Canalis and Dan Morgan, the GM, also a first-year hire, although he was the assistant GM,

all about we're not putting expectations.

This is not all on Bryce's shoulders.

Retooling, they wouldn't call it a rebuild, but Dan Morgan said it is definitely a retooling type of season.

And then to have that change so quickly does seem to be a little at odds with that.

Now, something else that's interesting, I mentioned Thielen.

And there are a lot of older guys on this team, which is a weird makeup

for,

and the age, average age, I think they were the second oldest roster week one.

And some of it gets skewed because they've got a long snapper, J.J.

Janssen, who's 38.

Andy Dalton's 36.

But still,

and that was another quote, a comment that Thielen made after the game.

It's like, you know, some of us, we want this to happen now.

We're toward the end of my career here.

I got frustrated, you know, got my emotions boiled over.

And so

they had some young guys, yes, clearly.

But then they had these other guys like Thielen and Deontay Johnson's in a contract here.

And he came here and they did not, you know, they did not extend him or give him a new deal.

And so I think those guys, I keep talking about them.

And I just think they were like, wait a second,

we just threw for 84 yards in a National Football League game.

What's going on?

Yeah,

on 26 pass attempts, which is almost hard to do.

And again, because you are boots on the ground, the idea of Tepper and his ownership has almost become a larger than life story, almost cartoonish on the outside, where now he is taking on the persona

for some of us as like the guy that you, the exact guy you don't want to have as your owner, that he's overly hands-on, that he could be volcanic with his temper, that he is going to be the problem as long as he's there.

And I'm, Joe, I'm a Jets fan, and I know that everything rolls downhill when you have a bad owner, and that leads to systemic issues that continue to plague a franchise.

Like, how, what is your vibe on Tepper, both in this very sensitive time with the franchise, really ever since the trade, and then obviously picking young Over Stroud to where he is now?

Is he a guy that you always sense is ready to blow, or is that overblown a little bit on the outside?

Incidentally, about the Jets, with their win on Sunday and the Panthers' loss, the Jets moved to one game ahead of the Panthers since the start of the 2018 season, especially when

Tepper bought the new era, baby.

A little of it is overblown.

I've had plenty of conversation.

Tepper, when he first got here,

he's the kind of guy that you'd like to kind of sit and have a domestic beer with.

I don't think he'd want to drink a craft IPA, unfortunately.

But I mean, and he kind of did that.

He was going out to tailgates and drinking a Bud Light.

And at one point, I think I wrote that he felt like the billionaire next door.

And so he's not like this,

you know, he's got a pretty approachable, decent personality, but very impatient, which we've seen.

And

they're really taking great lengths this year to try to keep him in the background.

You know, they

just

really

be, you know, be don't be seen or heard, really.

And

obviously, it is the franchise quarterback whom they traded the farm for 18 months ago.

So he had a big role in this decision.

But I don't think it was only his decision for the reasons that we've already talked about.

I mean, I would ask this, like, Canalis inherited this.

Quarterback's not the only problem on this roster.

And organizationally, it's dotted with major concerns and question marks.

So you got a coach who's probably a little powerless and is looking back on how the last two coaches were treated and dismissed early,

but you also came in as the guy to fix this quarterback who's now been benched.

Like, if you had to kind of look into your crystal ball a year now, a year ago from now, like, whether Canalis is there or not, like, where's Bryce Young?

And

what more do we learn from Bryce Young between now and then?

Yeah, it's a great question.

I kind of asked Dalton that same question.

And, like, guys

like Bryce Young.

I mean, he's, you know, I mean, other than what we talked about on the field, I mean, he's a bright guy.

Dalton said he had gotten pretty, has gotten pretty close with him, but I don't know.

I mean, I don't, I can't imagine Jimmy Sexton, who represents Bryce, is going to just sit idly by and let this guy, you know, be a number two quarterback for the next three years.

So

is there a market to trade him this year?

I don't know.

You'd be trading him pretty low,

selling low, I should say.

And

the optics of that would be very bad for this franchise.

Because we could trade him for Connor if we wanted to at this point, I think.

Even so.

You know what?

I mean, they gave up so much for him.

And then what are you going to turn around and take a fifth-round pick for him?

I mean, it's just so.

I don't know.

Maybe the hope, although Dave Denalis did not say this yesterday, which I found somewhat telling.

Maybe the hope is

sit him down, let him regain the confidence, let him see how Andy Dalton's doing things.

But boy, like I said, he had every opportunity to say that yesterday, and he did it, which might tell you where things stand.

Yes, I think it might.

Joe Person, we appreciate you giving us this time.

And if nothing else, Joe, there's a lot to write about.

It's not boring down in Charlotte right now.

So catch all Joe's coverage of the saga around the Carolina Panthers.

Thanks a lot.

All right.

Thanks, guys.

All right.

There he goes.

Joe Person giving us that boots on the ground account of everything that's going on with the Panthers.

The Panthers boys are one of

nine 0-2 teams as we enter week three.

And

I think this would be a good time to pivot to today's conversation, which is, you want to talk a little P-scale for these teams that are 0-2 entering week three.

And for those that are new to the program or did not listen to the older program,

this is 0.0

P scale means underpants completely dry.

No problems at all.

Your confidence is in a good place.

Shit happens.

That's life.

You're going to be fine.

10.0 means underpants soaked.

Forget it, doesn't matter.

You put on a diaper, doesn't matter.

You're still screwed.

You're soaked.

And you're filled with fear and trepidation and anxiety because you feel the the world has caved in on you.

So let's go through these teams.

I think, Connor, a good place to start, I guess, is the Panthers.

And I feel like they are.

And the reason why we wanted to talk to Joe was because for me, they're at 10.0 because of obviously the way they lost.

They got blown out twice.

Vibes seemed bad.

Vibes seemed bad enough that you got rid of the number one overall pick out of the starting lineup and you're turning to an older backup to try to steady the ship.

That promises nothing.

So both in terms of the season itself, itself and i guess that's where we want to focus this conversation just on the 2024 season i put them pretty high on the list but maybe dalton lowers it a little bit just from the perspective of 2024.

for me it's a 10 because

you're like joe said i mean he made a great point about the age of the roster and normally when you're retooling the bonus is that you have these perpetual top five picks that are going to develop on schedule and are going to to develop together.

And there's going to be this cost-controlled situation.

I would say, at best, Carolina is hoping for some sort of a veteran sell-off at the trade deadline and then just to allow Dalton to absorb the punches for the rest of the season while they figure out what on earth to do with Bryce Young.

But it's a 10-2 for me because,

as a Jets fan, Dan, you understand this, and a couple other fan bases understand this.

Bryce Young, mark my words, will be good somewhere else for Mike McDaniel, for someone in the Shanahan tree, for Sean McVay, some other quarterback.

Bryce Young is good.

And this is not Dave Canalis' fault.

This is David Tepper's fault for allowing the roster to get to this point where he's completely short-circuited.

Bryce Young, that is.

And so I think it's a 10 because we have not even...

drilled deep enough to

fathom the depths of these consequences.

Yeah, like everything there is is absolutely part of the problem for the Panthers.

And I put it at 9.9 because 10 could be like if, you know,

a natural disaster were to rip the building in half and like everyone falls into a chat.

It was week one and two.

Yeah, well, psychologically, you're right.

And I think, though, for me, like, because I think if you're Dave Canalis, like where you are right now, there is an opportunity with Daltons fill in the blank, rest of the team, win the locker room back, and kind of like show who you are as a coach.

So there is a chance there for Canalis to come out looking better than we'd think.

But when your team, when the issues, the poison runs deep enough to the very, very top of the ladder, the org chart,

then I think you're kind of in a dark period.

It's like your middle ages.

And I don't like that for any sports team.

Browns, Jets, fill in the blank.

We've all felt it.

But the Panthers have gotten so dark from ownership on down that I don't see a way out of this until that changes.

You know this too, Mark.

It's like the Browns in particular.

This is, it's totally analogous to me, right?

It's the constant mismatching of head coaches and GMs who want different things, and then you put an incongruent group of people onto a roster.

Some guys are too old, some guys are young enough that they're not going to get the experience, and this goes on and on and on until you absolutely like burn the opium fields down and start over again, you know?

Yeah.

Yeah,

when you're a lost team and you're also an old team, that is bad vibes there.

The next four games for the Panthers at at Raiders, who's coming off a huge win in Baltimore,

home Bengals, at Chicago, home Falcons.

So that is, I think we're all in lockstep.

This is a team in a lot of trouble and potentially blowing it up again.

Let's stick in the NFC.

There's three NFC teams that are winless.

The New York Giants upcoming schedule at Cleveland, home Dallas, at Seattle, home Cincinnati.

Brian Dable smashed that headset to the ground in a a blind fury.

And that's what happens is kind of brought up on the Sunday show when you score three touchdowns, you don't give up a touchdown, and you lose the game.

And it doesn't get any easier going on the road now to Cleveland, Mark.

I would put the Giants at a solid 8.6

on the P-scale because of, in addition to the hole they're in and the schedule, which is tricky, not good at all, actually.

You have quarterback questions as well, so that adds to the toxic stew.

Yeah, I have them at 9.2.

Can that change?

Yes, but I think you've got other stuff going on.

Little, to me, little breadcrumbs that suggest major problems are like when you get Brian Dayball,

who I typically have liked as a coach, but he's like staring down reporters now in his press conference.

Like that's started to turn kind of evil.

And you've really agitated, you've agitated your owner in a way that is reminded every Sunday, Thursday, or Monday night, depending when the Eagles play.

I know that Saquon dropped that ball at the end, but the point is, he's still a major factor in your division.

And so the whole team building process that Dayball and Shine put on the table is like, well, that's not working.

This isn't Buffalo 2.0.

You got the wrong quarterback.

You're listing a kicker as active when he's basically unhealthy.

And

that caused them the game a week ago or on Sunday.

So, Connor,

I kind of see a stew of problematic scenarios for a once very healthy organization.

So you make a great point.

And I don't know if you guys remember a couple of years ago when Joe Judge had that highly bizarre press conference where he was like criticizing Ron Rivera for some reason and just like went off on a tangent.

Before that moment, he was safe.

After that moment, he was not safe.

And there's these little things that I think when it comes to the Giants that just simply matter.

I mean, Ben McAdoo made the playoffs, botched the benching of Eli Manning, failed to sell it publicly, and then was not safe.

And the same thing I think goes with Brian Dable, who is well-liked.

I mean, he made the playoffs that first year.

I think he got the best out of Daniel Jones when everything else is working.

He's just got to maintain composure.

So I put it at a five.

And the reason that I put it at a five is I think we are pre-earthquake.

I think he's got a chance to turn this around.

If you get a big win in Cleveland, we forget that Daniel Jones played better last week.

Malik Neighbors had 10 catches on 18 targets.

Yes, he dropped the big one, but he's getting the ball to the playmaker.

All this stuff is happening that is positive.

It's just, you know, this sort of fluke occurrence that caused him to lose a game.

If Dable himself can maintain composure and keep cool and not just like randomly flame a poor innocent coach in his division for absolutely no reason or, you know, physically assault a reporter, then I think he's going to be okay.

And I don't think he will do that.

I think he will be able to save this.

Yeah, and we've all seen it.

And Connor, you covered both of the New York teams that the losing and the stress and the pressure around that can change coaches fundamentally

how they carry themselves, the way they speak, their spirits.

I'll make another example.

You might have even been at the press conference, Connor, the famous Snoopy Bowl game where

Rex Ryan left Mark Sanchez in the fourth quarter of a game behind a bunch of third string and undrafted free agents, and he busted up his shoulder.

He was out for the year, and then Rex had that infamous press conference where he was, you know, I'm going to say it this way, and I'm going to say it this way, and how do you want me to say it?

And it was just like, you knew at that moment they couldn't have been further away from those back-to-back AFC title games, and we were watching the beginning of the end.

I can say anything I want.

That's the beauty of this country.

I can answer it 100 times.

Here, I'll stand backwards and answer the question.

I'm going sideways.

I don't want to see Dable go there because you saw the Joe Judge era end very abruptly where he started in one place and really liked by the fan base and then they turned on him and he, you saw the darkness roll in with Joe Judge.

It's going to be very interesting if Dable can avoid that same fate.

Were you at the Snoopy Bowl press conference?

Gosh, there were so many.

I'm not sure,

but I know, like, this is just a random thing.

The Jets used to have the Snoopy Bowl post-game press conference in an open,

in an open area where people were were passing by to leave the stadium and so it was all clear windows around the outside and like at peak jets mania like you'd be like rex um uh it looked like you switched from a three four to a four and then like someone would just kick in the door and be like yeah baby

just like start like it happened so many times that they moved it into like more of like a sequestered area in the uh

um i don't think that was the case i can't remember uh off the top of my head if i was there or not uh all right the final nfc team 0-2 0-2 entering week three is the Rams.

And man, these are the teams in the NFC.

There's some AFC teams that I feel better about.

I don't feel about any of these, good about any of these teams because we know, and we talked about it on the Monday night recap, Mark, that the Rams have been besieged by injuries, the offensive line, both their star wide receivers.

And the one I'm really worried about now is Stafford, who's been banged up in the first two weeks.

And if you're behind an offensive line that doesn't protect you, it's just a matter of time, it feels like, not to put that out there in the universe.

Before Stafford goes out, when you factor in the division they play in, I got to say I feel

poorly about them as well.

I'm going to give them a little bit of that Sean McVay bump to keep them from being hopeless territory, but I'm going to say 7.1 on the P scale for the Los Angeles Rams.

Where do you come down?

Wow, I'm much lower.

I have them at 3.3.

Now, I mean, in terms of like, are they going to make the playoffs, if that's the core question?

Hey, before you, I'm sorry, I should have said this, Mark.

Yeah.

Their upcoming schedule, home 49ers, at Bears, home Packers.

Jordan Love probably be back by then, you would think.

And then home Raiders.

And the immediate schedule obviously factors in as well here.

Go ahead.

No, it does.

It does.

I mean, Chicago feels winnable.

Green Bay, depending who's playing quarterback.

I mean, for me, like, if I'm a Rams fan, I realize this happened two years ago to them.

You know, they are extremely banged up.

You've got a Mia Culpa on offense, especially, and they've

starting to lose their secondary, too, where it's like it's not Sean McVay's fault.

It's not the GM's fault, it's not the quarterback's fault.

These things that are like our organization is on fire because of A, B, or C.

That's not the case here.

It's it's fate, it's systematic.

Like, I also trust the Rams, when we start to get some of these bodies back, that they can go on a streak and win like five or six games.

Like, I think, you know, last year they showed us they can become two different teams in the course of a season.

So, I'm not panicking, and even if it's a year where, like, you look back and say, this killed us, like, this, nothing, there aren't going to be major changes in the offseason because of anything that's happening right now.

Playoffs or no playoffs.

How about you, Connor?

You have it like a 4.49.

But if we're talking about this year,

sure, it's a nine, right?

Like that's bad.

And you're going to have to scratch.

Just to be clear, that is what we're talking about.

Yes.

The 2024 season.

Correct.

So, you know, you're going to have to scratch and claw.

You're going to depend on the back end of that receiver room to replicate what is like a really complicated process.

And I know that Jordan Rodrigue can explain this far more eloquently than I can, but if you don't have receivers who are tied into this scheme and can block really well, you don't have a Rams offense.

It just doesn't exist.

And so, yeah, that's a really bad thing to have your two best receivers in this offense be bad.

However, I think in the long term, a top 10 pick would be the greatest thing that ever happened to Sean McVay.

It would allow him a passage into a new era post-Matt Stafford.

Like, this team has needed a hard reset for a long time.

And if McVay is willing to coach his way through it, I mean, we don't know.

That break that he has been talking about or suggesting that he needs is always sort of imminent to me.

It feels like it could happen at the end of any season.

But if this is the season that gifts him the new quarterback to move on or gifts an opening somewhere else where they can get a free agent who is definitely going to want to play for Sean McVay, almost every quarterback does, I don't see the bad thing in this as long as the largely non-existent Rams fan base doesn't care that they're going to lose a couple of games this year.

Yeah.

That's like it reminds me of the Colts once upon a time who were a juggernaut and then Peyton Manning suffers the neck injury and it seemed like the worst thing that could ever happen to the organization, but that led to them going, you know, 3-13 or whatever, and then getting Andrew Luck and trading, or they didn't trade him, but Manning moving on.

And at that time, the Colts had, it worked out in the long run.

This is a different circumstance, but still, maybe what you're saying is is true, Connor, that even if this season does go sideways long term, it's not the worst thing for the Rams.

Let's move to the AFC.

Start with the Ravens here.

Obviously, the Ravens are a team that many people saw as a Super Bowl contender.

I still do.

Both losses, the Chiefs loss, it came down, obviously, to

a heel touching some white or a toe, big toe touching some white in the back of the end zone.

And then, you know, it's hard to understand what happened with the Raiders in week two, but it did happen.

So now they have at Dallas versus Buffalo, home, at Cincinnati, home, Washington.

I'm going to put this a little higher than I in my mind initially, I was thinking because that schedule is tough, and you don't want to get yourself in too deep a hole.

I'm going to put them in an even five, so I am nervous about this team and the way they've started the season.

And also, Connor catching Dallas after that huge embarrassment of a loss in week two, the timing is not great for the Cowboys, who I think are a much better team than they showed there.

And they're going to go through a whole week after being humiliated, quite frankly, and wanted to come out on fire in their building against a big-time Ravens team.

So that could be a tough one to get out of Dodge with a victory.

I don't know.

I have this at

a 1.5 or a 2.

And I don't know if this is,

I swear this isn't a hot take.

This isn't like the game I used to play when we were all at our former place of employment together, where we would all do the power rankings together, and I would just completely mess with the algorithm to get my teams where I wanted them to.

I promise you, I'm not doing this.

I really do think they're going to win all these games, or at least two of these games, and I'm fairly confident in that.

I think they have a really good coaching staff.

I like Munkin.

I think he's going to be able to adjust here.

And I view Dallas as kind of the paper tigers in this scenario.

And I think that Baltimore has that, that possesses that toughness.

That said,

you know, this is an older team and it's a team that's breaking an offensive lineman.

But teams that are breaking an offensive lineman, as long as there is general health, seem to kind of trend upwards.

And I do think that Baltimore will be a similar case where I think they're going to trend upwards as an offense.

Yeah, I have them at 2.7.

I would say, though, because that tacked onto the schedule you mentioned is Tampa Bay at the end of that.

With each loss over the next month, I'd be willing to raise it by a point because it's going to be tough to win this division.

But I look at them as a team right now that just what I've seen, ugly loss, obviously, like to lose to the Raiders, who we give them no chance for the Raiders to win that game.

But I do just have 16 years of muscle memory with John Harbaugh and this team in general to feel like they're going to work themselves out of it.

They've got another team in their division that we'll talk about that's also 0-2.

The Browns are beatable.

The Steelers are beatable.

So inside your own division, and that's always the trick with the AFC North, is like they've still got a chance.

They've still got a good quarterback.

I worry a little bit about them, like psychologically, Dan, with each mounting loss and

what that does to Lamar Jackson and kind of just the way these seasons have ended for them.

But can they get themselves out of a hole?

As much as anyone on this list outside of one, I'd say yes.

All right, let's stick in the AFC North here with the Cincinnati Bengals.

They flop at home in week one against the Patriots, and then they, I mean, just a brutal, obviously lost an arrowhead, you get beat by a point at the gun by a field goal, and now you have home Washington on Monday night football at Carolina, home Baltimore at Giants, feeling very good about the Bengals still,

despite the frustration, obvious frustrations of the first two weeks.

I'm going to put the scale for this one for me at 2.5

because I think Washington at home, that's got to be a layup.

You got to take care of your business there.

At Carolina, what else needs to be said?

Every team wants to play Carolina right now.

And then Baltimore is going to be tough, obviously, but then at Giants, which is another game that they should win.

So I feel like they're going to come out of this and have their season reset.

Feel very good about the Bengals.

How about you, Mark?

I do, too.

I put them at 0.7, just sort of because of where the Ravens are, too.

Like, this is the team that I've got.

Not 0.8?

Nope, 0.7.

That was just the number.

I like it.

It's my favorite number.

I kind of just went there.

Sometimes there's just that element to it.

Wait, is seven your favorite number?

Yeah, seven.

No, 0.7.

That's fair.

That's a fair clarification.

Seven.

So 0.7.

It sounds like T.

Higgins will be back this Monday night.

I think they win that game against the Chiefs if you have T.

Higgins.

I mean, you look what happened in the red zone.

I think

this is what this team is.

It's like we've got Joe Burrow and two wide receivers that can beat anyone.

Then we are off and we're running.

They haven't had that.

I will also say that the Mahomes, it matters what they did against the Chiefs.

Mahomes threw for the second fewest yards of his career.

And Lou Anarumo is the kind of guy that is a matchup guy, and week to week is going to bring them an advantage.

So, consistent coaching staff, you've still got your pieces in place once Higgins comes back.

And that schedule right there, they should win all those games.

And I include that over the Ravens.

I really think that they have a chance to be four and two

four weeks from now.

Connor.

Yeah, I've met a zero,

0.0.

And I think that the reason

with the algorithm again, I know.

Um, all I needed to see

all I needed to see was Joe Burrow have a decent game.

And I, you know, I realize that this is a little bit of blind faith and maybe a little bit of homerism on my part for Joe Burrow, but I all I needed to see was him playing the way that he did against the Chiefs.

And even if they were like 0-3 or 0-4, in the back of my mind, I'm still like, this team is going on a run, and I think they're capable of going on a run.

Now that you have this kind of lineup of tomato cans in front of them, too, not only do you get the wins, you probably get Jamar Chase involved, which, and I think you build that groundswell, that momentum that is the key part of every season, that like pivotal turnaround moment.

And you get to manufacture that against teams that, you know, are very easy to beat the hell out of.

All right, let's pause here.

We'll take a break.

And when we get back, we will hit the rest of the 0-2 teams.

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audience only.

All right, there we go.

That was the AFC North.

And by the way, one last note on that.

I still like the Ravens and the Bengals in some order finishing 1-2 in that division.

So I think we're all on the same page

that these teams have the ability to get out of the muck.

Now we move to the AFC South, though.

And the AFC South is a little bit of a different beast.

You got the Texans off to

the 2-0 start.

Everyone else is winless.

So let's start with the Colts.

And as I look at the Colts' upcoming schedule at 0-2 after a very narrow loss to the Texans in week one,

that was a bad loss in Green Bay.

I mean, the Richardson didn't play well.

You get beat with Malik Willis as the quarterback.

When the football gods hand you a gift the way they did there, you have to take advantage of it.

So now you got Chicago at home, Pittsburgh at home, at Jacksonville, at Tennessee.

This is factoring in that Richardson's been a little more hot and cold than I would have liked through two weeks, but also understanding he hasn't played a lot, so he's still finding his C-legs.

I'm going to set this P scale at

6.8.

How about you, Connor?

I would go with a five, and the reason being

the Colts lost two games that they shouldn't have, but by virtue of the Richardson scale, they're also going to win two games this year that they shouldn't have.

And that's the nature of dealing with the quarterback that when you really think about it, the last time he was a consistent week-to-week starter entrenched in the game plan was in high school, basically, right?

And when you were so superior size-wise and athletic-wise to everybody else, you know, then that's what, you know, it's a different thing.

And now he's just tying that together.

I don't think we've given enough attention to how much of a project that this has been and will continue to be over time to get this kid ready.

Now, I do think there's a lot of talent there, but we saw in Green Bay when he tries to turn it on without any sort of foundation or basis behind what he's doing, you end up with these wild sort of Jackie Moon style, you know, shots that end up making no sense.

And so Jackie Moon reference.

But I do think that you do get that back on the back end, right?

There will be a 390-yard passing game where he also runs for 98 yards and four touchdowns.

And so I do think that, you know, I had the Colts in my preseason projections finishing, I think, 8-9.

I still think they're going to end up very close to that.

And a couple of those games will include very spectacular performances from Richardson.

I have this at a 5.9.

I think there's a lot of unknown because I like Shane Steichen.

I like the idea that if you get a blooming, developing Anthony Richardson, some of the hot and cold roller coaster nature of this calms down.

He was six.

of 16 on passes of over 10 air yards for 100 yards, a touchdown, and three interceptions.

One of them was a Hail Mary, but two bad picks.

I think you're going to have to work through games with him.

And I don't like teams with a really specific weakness.

And two weeks in a row, because we saw Houston against Chicago, and they did not run the doors off.

I know Mixon got hurt in that, but even before that, that wasn't the same as week one.

They have allowed 474 rushing yards, by far the highest in the league.

I don't like the schedule.

Chicago, Pittsburgh, Jacksonville to some degree, but Tennessee, those are tough defenses.

And I think the Colts are a rugged, ruggedly built team.

But when you can get beat up on the ground that way, if that stays, you're in a lot of trouble.

You're keeping Anthony Richardson off the field.

And when he's on it, we don't know what we're going to get.

So I think I said 5.9.

I'm right about there.

And shout out to you, Connor, because

he can lose you games, but he's also going to win you some games that you should.

Well, you didn't say that.

Anthony Richardson is losing the team games, but you were saying that he has the ability to steal losses and

turn them into wins.

I'm with you.

And because of that, I'm lowering it from 6.8 to 5.7 because 7 is Mark's favorite number.

So it's like, it all ties together.

Well, that's noble, too.

Like you're able to adjust on the fly to get a more professional result, one that you feel in your heart.

And so I think, again, Connor, it just talks about Dan, the broadcaster, not just the man.

I like the ability.

I have, this is like the first time in my life that I've ever convinced anyone of anything.

And just normally I have that look look where if I'm explaining it to you, you're like, good God, I need to do exactly the opposite of what this man is telling me.

It's all changing.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are up next.

All right, so

you get beat late by the Dolphins, and then you can't score

against the Browns, and you lose 18-13, and you attempt an onside kick on a punt,

according to Connor.

And

I just don't

know what to make of this team team right now, Connor.

Now, you got to go to Buffalo,

and then you got to go to Houston, and then you're home for Colts and Bears.

And I think there's a very good chance that this team

is sitting on one win in the middle of October.

So I'm going to put this one higher.

I'm going to put this one at an 8.8.

I'm going to go with 9.69.

And the reason.

You're on this beat.

Yeah.

The reason being, this has so many more, like it's this season, and I know we're supposed to stick to the narrow frame, but I'm going to do the lawyer trick where I'm going to still trick everyone into considering the broader perspective here as well.

You usually don't say that out loud.

You just kind of stick it to people without them even realizing what you're doing to them.

Right.

I'm like Kathy Bates in the new Matlock.

I'm just totally free.

I'm not totally free.

That innocent.

We don't need to connect.

99.

We'd like you to be innocent, please, Kathy Bates.

At this point,

This lawyer won't play by the rules.

And the reason why I feel that way is because let's think about this for a second.

You trash this season.

You don't make the playoffs.

If you're the Khan family, you have to hire another head coach.

And the first time that you hired a head coach, you thought it was a sure thing that was going to fix the quarterback.

And then that ended up being so bad that you literally had to burn the film and fire that guy for kicking another human being, right?

And then you bring in another head coach with reputation to work with quarterbacks, and this is turning out to, you know, sour.

And so the pressure on this next hire

becomes, this is the difference after this season between Trevor Lawrence becoming Matt Stafford in Detroit and then going to be great somewhere else, or Trevor Lawrence becoming, you know, a quarterback that just simply took a little bit to blossom with his current franchise, which has also happened.

I mean, that's a realistic thing that could happen too.

I had this at 8.1.

I agree with what you said because you have been saying, you know, this is a treasure job if you're someone out there.

And like, there's a world where if you're the cons, you can take Bobby Slubbick away from your division rival and put him right into place with a Shanahan-esque offense and your quarterback.

We are moving right along to 25 in Jacksonville.

Well, you know, here's the thing, though.

When I watch them, because I watch the Browns game closely, and like, and just in, like, they just, they're not part of the story.

I just don't, can it change?

They just don't feel like part of the story in the AFC.

And I don't know.

Like, it's some of the stuff that lingered from last season carries over.

And I think part of it is how is the team constructed?

How are they organized?

Like, I feel like they're just missing some parts.

I like the way they ran the ball in week one a lot.

And like, there's, I think they can win some games, but they feel like a seven-win type of team to me after the slow start.

It's like in the swimming pool at Trevor Bankfield.

There's a little bit of a staleness to it.

There's a little bit of discolor.

and maybe the filter needs to be changed.

You know what I mean?

We're getting to that point.

They did cut to that pool.

I mean, obviously, the whip, but like I was watching on Sunday, and

there were a lot of children without any parental supervision.

And that to me means a lot of, I'm not going to get out and walk four blocks around a wet state, a stadium where I'm wet to go to the bathroom.

I'm going to do it right here.

That's a different type of P scale.

The P scale at the Trevor Bank field is

11.0, put it that way.

Yeah, children are free.

Like, they do what they wish.

I have an issue, by the way, with public pools.

It's something that's something that's grown as I've gotten older where I just, I can't really do it anymore.

I just can't.

I mean, since we're talking P-scale, I literally can't.

And then, and then you hear the horror story is like, you know, when we go down, you know, Jersey Shore and they have this great public pool, but sometimes it's like, oh,

you know, we had to drain the pool on Tuesday.

And then it's like, do you want to ask the follow-up question?

No.

The moment

you see a BM in a water park pool is the moment that your life really does change irreversibly forever.

Exactly.

Like, you're just not the same after that.

You're like the guy who came home from war and saw too much.

And you see him just staring straight ahead.

And there's just innocence lost in every possible way.

Yes.

All right.

Let's see.

What else do we got here?

Who else do we have as we we come to

the finish line?

We have the Tennessee Titans.

Oh, how could we forget about the Tennessee Titans?

A team that was mocked by some, well, mocked by many, but mocked by one Titans podcaster as potentially a 16-in-1 outfit.

Well, now that's already impossible.

And I'm getting a text.

This is actually hilarious.

Listen to this, guys.

Before we started this segment, Justin says to me, hey, man, you know, I don't really have a ton to say on this.

So, you know, I'll lay low.

Maybe I'll have something

on the preview, but like, I don't have much right now.

And I said, oh, cool, all good.

I get a text just now, pops up on the right-hand corner.

I actually do have a few thoughts here, LOL.

Stunner.

Breaking news.

Hit it.

We got breaking news here.

Justin has Titan stakes.

Go ahead, buddy.

What do you got?

Because let me tee you up thusly.

I'll just tee you up like we're doing with everybody else here.

The test.

Well, that's what I thought was going to happen.

I didn't expect you to read our text exchange aloud.

Go ahead.

Well,

it was funny, though.

It was funny.

Your own two.

You lose 24-17 every week.

Your quarterback does something insane once a week.

You have home against the Packers.

Maybe Jordan Love, maybe not.

At Miami, maybe Tua, maybe not.

An open date.

You get the bye week in five, and then home Colts and at Buffalo.

I won't even say my score.

I want to hear yours first.

And be real, Justin.

And that even means if you're 0.0, you could be real there too.

But as someone that was bullish about the Titans, picked them as a playoff team, are you bailing after two weeks?

I am close.

I'm going to go 6.23.

I think that there have been a lot of positives.

What's everybody throwing in these extra decimals?

It's showing up Sessler and I.

It makes it look like you guys prepared more with your numbers.

I had a very analytical number crunch to calculate that number.

No, but look, the Titans are doing some good things and they're doing some bad things, obviously.

The Titans are 0-2, despite allowing the fewest total yards in the entire NFL.

They've allowed the fewest yards by an 0-2 team since 1994.

They have the ninth best DVOA rank on defense.

The defense is legit.

The one thing they're not doing, they are one of three three teams in the NFL who has not forced a turnover on defense.

They do have a fumble recovery on a kickoff return.

Velas Jones muffed the kickoff, but have not forced a turnover on defense, only three teams.

So they have the ninth best defensive DVOA despite not forcing a turnover on defense.

That means the defense is playing pretty dang well.

They have the lowest turnover differential in the NFL at minus four, not tied for the worst.

That is the worst, number 32 out of 32.

So I have a little bit of confidence.

They've also outgained their opponents in both games.

Part of that is because the defense is limiting the yard so much.

But the offense is moving a little bit.

Now, Will Levis is the big question mark here.

If he can just eliminate those two massively boneheaded plays and just not have any more of those going forward this season, the Titans should be able to win some games enough to put them in like the wild card race by, you know, we're Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Like in that span of time, I think the Titans will be in the race.

And that's why I have a 6.2.

But I am definitely backing down on my Titans to to win the division claim.

Okay, yeah,

it is, that's fair.

I also think watching them in week two, yeah, I think their defense is legitimate.

And

you have Harold Landry, the third, has gotten out off to a great start for them.

Jeffrey Simmons is obviously a monster, and he looks like fully healthy.

Legarius Sneed shut down Garrett Wilson, and he's going to be a menace in the secondary.

If those big guys, especially, stay healthy, I think they're going to keep them in games.

And then, yeah, the reason I have him at a 7.3 is if I can't trust you, the quarterback, I can't feel great about the team's prospects.

And I feel like he will give away more games.

And that will be the difference to me between, let's say, 9-8 and,

you know, 7-10.

So I have to put him at 7.2.

I have them at

7.3.

I think they're, because I think they're, if we're talking immediately this season, I don't think they're making the playoffs, but I do think their defense gives them a chance.

Like, first of all, like,

there's a huge argument that they're 2-0.

I mean,

there's no argument that they're 2-0.

That's part of the problem here.

That's the whole story, Mark.

Yeah, but week one.

If they were 2-0, they wouldn't be in this second game.

Look at everything.

I get it.

I get it.

But, like, in week one, you needed to come up with the most creative loss of all time to drop that game.

And you need Will Levis to do clownish stuff two times in a row, but they're not getting their doors blown off like a couple of the teams on this list.

Like, I think they're going to get back into the action.

I will say this.

If Malik Willis plays this week and he is a true revenge game, all most of these are nonsensical revenge games.

But if he comes in and beats the Titans in any possible way, I don't care if he completes four passes and they win, it goes up to 9.7 and is a fire because that is about the worst possible timeline for Titans fans who are protecting them to win 12 games and go to two games into the playoffs.

That was never reality.

So let's settle down with that.

Donner,

not to be a dick to Justin, but I'm going to read more text messages.

When I predicted all 272 games for SI, I sent it around to a few people because I had not seen the Titans in camp.

And so I texted a few people who had seen the Titans in camp, and they were like, six games is way too low for this team.

Like, you're going to look like an idiot.

And so I texted Justin, and I was like, God, I don't know, man.

And I was like, you know, what if I can get him to eight wins?

Is that insulting?

And he said, said, he had him at nine and eight, LOL, but no, eight and nine would not be insulting.

And then I went back to six wins.

I couldn't, like, I felt really bad about it.

But I do also feel kind of good about it.

So I would say, oddly, I have them at like a five on the P scale because I think Brian Callahan is so close to just using Will Levis as a battering ram and not allowing him to be an integral part of the passing offense.

Like almost where Brian Dable is with Daniel Jones, where it's like, you're just going to run most plays until you get hurt.

And this is going to be like almost punishing him.

Like punishing the opponent, but also punishing the quarterback at the same time for being such an ox, like a lump-headed ox.

Remember the Titan-style Veer offense that just absolutely pummels him into submission.

And so I think that we're probably close to that.

And

Will Levis would be a really, really fun, consistently mobile quarterback.

So I don't know.

I think they could still figure it out.

He's like Anthony Richardson for me.

He's going to win them two games that they shouldn't have won this year, too.

Oh, okay.

All right.

I'm not as bullish on that angle, but fair enough.

Finally, the Denver Broncos.

Thank you, Justin, for your input.

It was helpful.

Sweet.

Always appreciate that.

Gravy says, dog.

He's never going to text any of us again.

All right.

The Broncos.

They are having trouble on offense, obviously.

They lost in week one at Seattle, tough spot with a rookie quarterback.

Then they lose at home against Pittsburgh and look mostly listless in that game on offense.

And now they have two road games at Tampa, at Jets,

then home Raiders, then home Chargers.

After that, they're at New Orleans.

I don't know if they're going to be a favorite until week eight when they get the Panthers.

So this one, I think that this is a team that's a long way off.

So if we're talking about 2024,

I got the P scale in terms of if we're talking about whether a team wants to make the playoffs, yeah, this one's

an even nine, a 9.0 for me because they just, I think the quarterback is going to learn on the job and it's going to be very rocky.

And then it's just a matter of does Sean Payton have the stomach to deal with that or is he going to end up turning to another option?

Yeah, I have him at 8.9.

I kind of feel like, number one, you got a bunch of tough defenses coming up.

The Sean Payton thing, like, even if you are working around the quarterback, my expectation was that Sean Payton taking over another team, it'd at least be watchable.

It would be, there'd be something creative and enjoyable about it.

And we remember why he's one of the great minds.

And instead, they're pretty much one of the most unwatchable teams around to me.

I get it.

Like, you're working with a rookie quarterback.

So I think things could change even this season.

I think, like, last year,

with issues all over the place, they went on a run at the end of the year.

And it's like,

are they going to be that good of a record at the end of the year?

I don't think so.

But to me, I think there's problems.

And it's always a lingering issue for me.

Like, does Sean Payton get to a point where he's like, I don't want to do this anymore.

I don't want to go into a second straight offseason looking for another quarterback.

So I think there's a lot of TBD here with what happens with Knicks.

I mean, he did the, I don't want to do this anymore with his own franchise and like feigned retirement while secretly negotiating with the Dolphins and Tom Brady.

So, I mean, that's always a possibility, right?

And I don't discount the fact that, you know, maybe he's looking at other veteran quarterbacks right now to bring in.

And, you know, I mean, look at Bryce Young.

This is not a forever decision that they made with Bo Nix.

It could end up six weeks, eight weeks, whatever it is, right?

And I like Bo Nix.

I think he's going to be a good NFL quarterback.

And so for this season, it's absolutely like a 9.5 with the one caveat that I do, I did have them winning that Jets game, and I do think that he would go to like space jam levels of effort to try and not lose to Nathaniel Hackett twice after what he said about him.

But other than that game, like I don't understand where the

you just look at the roster where the totality of talent is going to come from to form the backing of a legitimate victorious game plan.

Yes, and he did lose to Nathaniel Hackett last year as well.

Probably the best game that Hackett called all of last season, by the way.

Right up at Mile High.

And just so you know, you got to get hot quick if you're the Broncos because their season closes, by the way, just if you're curious, at Chargers, at Bengals, home Chiefs.

So we need to start winning football games.

ASAP.

All right, there you go.

That is the look at all of the 0-2 teams.

That is the P scale.

And that is another episode of Heed the Call.

We'll be back on

Thursday with two episodes, of course.

It will be our preview, our full preview of week two, and then our TNF recap of Patriots Jets.

So, thank you to everyone for their support, and we will see you right around the bend.

Till next time, Heed the Call.