NFL Week 2 Preview: What You NEED To Know!

Ready to level up?

Chumba Casino is your playbook to fun.

It's free to play with no purchase necessary.

Enjoy hundreds of online social games like Blackjack, Slots, and Solitaire anytime, anywhere, with fresh releases every week.

Whether you're at home or on the go, let Chumba Casino bring the excitement to you.

Plus, get free daily login bonuses and a free welcome bonus.

Join now for your chance to redeem some serious prizes.

Play Chumba Casino today.

No purchase necessary, VGW Group, Void War Prohibited by Law 21 Plus, TNCs apply.

Attention all small biz owners.

At the UPS store, you can count on us to handle your packages with care.

With our certified packing experts, your packages are properly packed and protected.

And with our pack and ship guarantee, when we pack it and ship it, we guarantee it.

Because your items arrive safe or you'll be reimbursed.

Visit the ups store.com slash guarantee for full details.

Most locations are independently owned.

Product services, pricing, and hours of operation may vary.

See Center for details.

The UPS store.

Be unstoppable.

Come into your local store today.

Heed the Call with Dan Hanses and Mark Sessler is on Underdog, so why not start playing on Underdog today?

It's easy, just you against the projections.

Simply choose higher or lower, and you could win up to 100 times your entry.

Download and play on the Underdog app, sign up with the code HTC, that's us, and receive up to $1,000 in bonus cash for our U.S.

audience only.

The Heed the Call Podcast

is feeling the new kickoff rules.

That's not even true.

I got to start moderating these zumdrops.

Welcome to Heed the Call with Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler.

The week two preview is upon us.

Cannot wait to dig into these games, Mark Sessler.

They all say week one's a liar.

Well, we're about to find out, buddy.

Yeah, and you know, it's it uh it meshes with real life as well.

Uh we I was preparing for today's show.

We all were.

And another

earthquake strikes my part of town, your part of town.

And, you know, some people would run for the hills.

They might decide like professional life doesn't matter.

But Dan, I know that you forged on because...

Your professionalism specifically and your determination to continue on with the show and the kind of the showman that you are.

I noted that during this earth event.

During the earthquake, that's what you were thinking about.

I was remaining focused on the job.

In reality, I was laying in bed on my laptop, and I was like, Is that the dog at the foot of the bed, like scratching with his hind leg that's causing the bed to shake?

So, not exactly, you know, it wasn't a disaster film come to life, put it that way,

with the rock starring in it.

Everything's okay, we're gonna be fine.

Uh, heed the call is going just fine, Mark.

We're having fun, we're doing it, uh, but also, we don't live in some ivory tower, uh, unable to hear calls

for change from our strident

vocal listenership.

But as you always say, sometimes multiple times a day, opinions are like buttholes.

Everyone has one.

Always say.

And, you know, people are asking about where's the draft?

Where's the draft?

Well, this is a new Thursday show.

It's a new show in general, and it doesn't quite line up with what we're doing.

However,

starting tomorrow, on patreon.com/slash heed the call, you will get the full draft of week two and you will get it every Friday morning on patreon.com slash heed the call.

Me, Mark, Gravedigger, Connor, going through our picks for who watches what for the Sunday to come.

So if you haven't signed up for patreon.com slash heed the call yet, this is the time.

Big announcement, Mark.

Well, and the draft has like been part and parcel of our weekly covering of the NFL for over a decade, and a lot of, you know, debate and organization goes into it.

So

nice horn as well.

Good that Justin's awake and not under a pillar after the earthquake.

It's a sign he's alive.

But yeah, I think the draft is, I think a lot about it, probably too much, because it's like you want to organize your Sunday and you want to kind of figure out, because that early slate, you're going to have typically two games, and then what do you want to do with your late slate?

It's not just a rando activity.

You've got to put a lot of thought into it.

It matters.

The equilibrium of your Sunday depends on this.

And SestDog, most importantly, the people that are doing the draft have to be the people who are watching the game.

So that's why we're doing it on Friday.

People might say, oh, why don't you do it on a Wednesday with Connor?

I don't want to do it on Wednesday with Connor.

No.

That should be good enough.

All right.

With that said, please join us over there on Patreon.

It's just the beginning of what we have cooking over there.

Rolling Thunder with Zumwalt and Mark coming out.

The Throwback Podcast is heading over there and much more.

So let us now, there it is, welcome in our esteemed colleagues on Thursday.

We call it Thirsty Thursdays, Michael Sean Dugar and Jordan Rodrigue of the Athletic.

Oh, yeah.

Mike, you ready?

Week two?

Round of applause.

I love that.

Now I'm ready.

Only because I heard the round of applause.

That's a real studio audience if people are listening.

Yeah.

They're paid.

They're heavily paid.

And they're sitting in a quiet room in Burbank with this live streaming.

Jordan, how are you?

I'm feeling very lifted by that applause.

Sometimes a girl needs some validation, you know?

Mark, we can never tell them the truth.

All right, here we go.

Speaking of adjustments,

as this new program takes shape, we're going to make some modifications, audibling at the line of scrimmage.

So we are going to start today's show by digging in to the primetime games.

And I want to start with Sunday night football.

And it is the Bears.

It is the Houston Texans.

It is down there

in Texas.

And I am really excited to see, first of all, the Houston Texans' offense coming off a really impressive, well-rounded showing in their week one win over the Colts.

So how does that look against the Bears defense that obviously has a lot of potential?

But I think the big story here is going to be Caleb Williams, who passed for only 93 yards in his debut.

Obviously, not what people are expecting because there was a growing buzz around that player, the number one overall pick, that he might hit the ground running.

Well, not quite, but it doesn't mean he's a bust or anything like that.

And the Bears are still 1-0 because everybody else on the team stepped up.

So here's the issue.

Now, Jordan Rodrigue.

He can't throw for under 100 yards again on Sunday night football because then people are going to start talking.

So there's a little bit of pressure, but it is not going to be an easy assignment for the Rook.

Yeah, I'm worried, too, about his interior offensive line.

That showed up as kind of a huge problem.

We talked all offseason about what a great situation Caleb Williams was walking into.

And he still has a great situation, especially with the playmakers at his disposal.

But he got pressured up the interior quite a bit.

His center got bowled over completely

on one play, on a blitz, sending that schemed up rusher.

And I think this is going to be an issue, particularly the cohesion between not only Caleb Williams making some better decisions on some of those throws, but also between himself and Shane Waldron.

You know, Mike, you brought this up last week as something to kind of look for with Shane Waldron.

I heard Mark Sanchez a couple of times on the broadcast saying, well, those receivers should not be running the same layered type of route.

They should not be running to essentially the same spot on the field five yards apart from each other in a stack.

They should be layering these concepts out.

You heard Mark Sanchez say that a couple of times.

And I thought of you, Mike, because you saw not only some bad decisions by Caleb, but also some really strange concepts with this offense.

Yeah,

I did an interview with the Bears or like some Bears podcast people last year.

I think I might have even mentioned it when Shane got hired, and they were all just frying me for being super hard on Shane after watching him for a few years.

And then Jackson Smith and Jigba did an interview, I think, at the Super Bowl, where he basically was like,

yeah, I don't know if Shane's very good, you know, and more, you know,

in so many words.

And I don't think Shane's bad, but I just think that even if you have a good situation, it doesn't maximize it.

And that's exactly what the Bears have, a great situation.

And you watch that game and you're just like, you would think he was throwing the Will Levis's receivers, you know, in that game.

And he wasn't, you know, it just looked, it looked so bad.

I felt, I kind of felt bad for Caleb a little bit.

But it also, just in a bigger, bigger picture football sense, that game was almost a reminder that as much effort as we put into the quarterbacks and all the discourse that they get, you know, all the hype and everything, the best way to win a game is to run the pill and to play good defense.

It doesn't matter if you take a quarterback first or if he's missed irrelevant like Brock Purdy.

You got to be able to run the pill and you got to be able to play good defense and you'll win games.

You know, hopefully the Bears kind of remember that, but also hopefully Caleb never throws Runder 100 again, particularly on national TV because that's really yucky.

I'm kind of glad that this all happened to Caleb early.

I thought he was inappropriately.

I can't imagine from a human experience that anyone wouldn't be the same way, but really amped up early in that game.

And there could have probably been, you know, to your point, some better ways to get him comfortable.

I thought a lot of the protection issues came early.

And, you know,

it's obvious to anyone that's watched the game for a really long time that what he's able to do in the preseason against

bland pass rushing and bland defense in general, where his creativity could get him out of some jams.

But that did not happen in this game.

And I guess the concern for me is the environment in this game, because I think Houston's crowd is going to be absolutely on fire.

You've got Will Anderson, Daniil Hunter.

It's not going to get any easier.

And, you know, the Bears last week, a total team effort bailed out Caleb Williams against a Titans team that is real hot and cold.

Like that, you're not going to get all those defensive plays and special teams plays necessarily against a Houston team that is as complete as we've seen and came out firing.

And CJ Stroud, his environment just seems to get better and better.

And Caleb Williams is going to be looking across the way and say, wow, you have a different situation from your offensive line under Bobby Sloig, who's a rookie in this year than I do.

So I think Caleb Williams, the test gets tougher right away.

The Bears are 0-7 on Sunday night football, dating back to 2019.

And, yeah, and I know our producer, Gravedigger,

knows this better than anyone.

You watch that game back, it's insane that they won.

I mean,

they were able to turn a blocked punt into a touchdown, a horrendous Will Levis decision turned into a pick six,

and they kind of stole one.

But they're going to have to be more well-rounded.

And I wonder how, speaking of what I'm looking for from Houston, their offensive line was completely dominant against the Colts.

And Joe Mixon looked like he was a second-year player again, fresh legs, just blowing through these huge lanes.

If they are able to do that and show their well-rounded offense, the Bears are going to have trouble stopping them, and I think most of the the league is going to have their hands full with the Houston Texans.

So that is a good Sunday night game.

Let's move to Monday night now.

And another interesting battle here between the Atlanta Falcons and the Philadelphia Eagles.

And it had to be insanely frustrating,

Mark, for the 25,000 Falcons fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

And seriously, you can't let, listen.

I understand the Pittsburgh fans are mad, right?

And I understand Atlanta.

Maybe it's more, you know, maybe South is more college than pro still, you know, and all that.

But it's opening day, and you just got a brand new quarterback, and there's a lot of hope and a new head coach.

And how do you let that happen?

That's an aside.

But you watch that offense with Kirk Cousins fall on its face while the other, you know, areas of your team excelled.

And this was supposed to be over with Arthur Smith off the sideline and Desmond Ritter, like wherever Desmond Ritter is these days.

So what happens?

You want to talk about pressure.

Caleb Williams is under a lot of pressure.

Mark, Kirk Cousins in this Falcons offense, and Cousins in particular is under a ton of pressure because I'll just say one more thing.

The worst Kirk Cousins game I ever saw was two years ago, almost to the day, by the time we get to Monday Night Football.

It was a week two game, Monday night football at the Link against the Eagles, and he was a train wreck.

If we get that version, again,

this becomes one of the bigger stories in the league coming out of week two.

Yeah, and you know,

it's a bit of a cliche, but Kirk at night is not Kirk at 1 p.m.

Eastern.

So that's a concern.

They've got Kansas City prime time next week.

So Atlanta is trying to prevent a free fall.

And I think the biggest problem, and you're not dealing with TJ Watt this time around, it's guys more like Bryce Huff, and you don't have a TJ Watt evil figure to try to protect against all game.

But every one of those linemen allowed multiple pressures a week ago.

Chris Lindstrom was eaten up.

Do you call him an evil figure, Mark?

Well, I think if you were...

I mean, he's just a high-motor, insanely talented future Hall of Famer, but evil,

like the children you spoke of in your dream on Wednesday's show, they sound evil, the ones that are hitting you with little metal hammers.

But I mean, he's just a ball player.

A different type of evil.

I think to the 46,000 Steelers fans in Atlanta, he was not evil.

But if you're Kirk Cousins, it raised all these questions.

And I think, you know, coming out of that game, I was like, I can't, like, Kirk Cousins doesn't seem like he's totally broken, but he was frazzled and he, you know, he's not mobile.

But then, like, the internet film comes out of him trying to throw off his back.

He just didn't look right, his throwing motion.

It looks like, you know, one, the one pass he had that sailed into the dirt that could have been picked, like something's not right with his throwing motion.

So it's like the questions become more problematic.

And this is also a Falcons defense that cannot really rush the passer.

And it's a great Eagles offensive line, even post-Jason Kelsey.

So, Jordan, I don't love this situation on the road for Kirk Cousins at all.

And it only raises like the, I think, the fury and the fervor around the concept of Michael Pennix that this gets darker and darker.

Not this week, but that situation comes into picture at some point here.

Yeah, I'm super grumpy about the Falcons, to be honest with you.

All they did was throw Kirk Cousins in pistol.

And I've been gushing about the pistol formation since the middle of last season.

And a lot of teams are going to be using it now.

It can be really effective in opening up your entire run game and keeping all of the multiplicity in it the same as if you were under center, where shotgun takes a lot of that away.

Shotgun, you don't want to run play action out of shotgun.

Pistol, you still can.

So not only does it really add another layer for a dual threat quarterback, which Kirk is not, it helps protect a very, very immobile quarterback, which Kirk is.

And that was the big tell for me.

48 out of 50 snaps were in pistol.

They did no play action.

Kirk is the play action king.

And instead, they're sitting there and they're in pistol.

So they're trying to keep some disguise in their run game because they can't do any play action.

The tell is he can't move.

They're not doing any play action because he can't freaking move.

And they're just there.

This is such a huge tell.

He's broken to me.

He also has Bijan Robinson with him.

It's not like

with Bijan Robinson.

It's like they don't have a threat.

This guy is perhaps the most raw talented running back in the sport right now, and you're not making the most of what you could do in terms of trickery.

Yeah, I'm grumpy, guys.

I get it.

So far, by the way, we have a really yucky from Mike and a super grumpy from Jordan.

There's a wholesomeness to the dialogue so far.

Yeah,

we're thriving, all of us, too.

I think we have to decide what we're going to call Kirk's situation.

Is he going to get Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romode, Matt Flynn is an option, owed to Russell Wilson?

Because it's coming.

Well, the only thing, though, the only thing about it is, I know everybody wants to keep talking about it because the Falcons created this situation because they run their organization ass backwards.

But, like, he, the amount of money and the guarantee, it's essentially two years with this guy.

Are you really going to put him on the bench by October 7th if things are going terribly?

I'd be shocked.

I would think that they're going to ride this out until it gets completely untenable.

I'll just, the only thing I'm saying, I'm watching this game.

He's obviously never been a guy that moves well.

He doesn't move.

He's going to move not as well as he did even last year now after the surgery.

If you can't protect him, it's over.

And they have to have some downfield element to the attack.

I think we all grew so used to Kirk because he piled up stats in Washington, too.

But having Justin Jefferson, we can't overlook that that guy's no longer there.

And I like some of their playmakers.

London there and Pitts still could be that guy.

But there's no Justin Jefferson to bail out Kirk anymore either.

So it's going to be fair.

And then if, you know, quickly on the Eagles, because we've got to move, but

this is a nice spot, Mike, for them to really now build some momentum after, you know, the big week one win.

If you get off to a 2-0 start in front of that raucous crowd, all the demons, I feel like, of last year are officially put to bed and you are off on a fresh start.

Not only are they put to bed, but you send them over to East Rutherford and you put the Giants owner on the need for a welfare check particularly if saquon goes off again that's my only one who was just thinking solely about that dude when saquan was going off in brazil i was like oh man mara's probably losing it losing it over there with saquan going crazy uh also one last thing on the on the eagles can they say we got to move um i think i talked a little bit about jalen hurts's kind of weird personality in the past uh and scape did a like a magazine profile on him and the the profile itself is whatever but i did find out that jalen hurts is a crawfish snob That was like the lead of the store.

They brought him crawfish.

And the first thing he says when he sees it is, I'm not eating that.

And then he picks a piece of broccoli out of it and is like, here's why number one.

And then number two, I think it still had like the poop in it.

Like he just went off about like crawfish.

And that was the most authentic Jalen Hurts thing I've ever imagined.

Everything else feels so like contrived and stuff.

That was like the most raw Jalen Hurts unique thing I think I've seen.

Great call.

The poop aspect feels fair to me.

I don't think that would be something I quickly eat.

Broccoli is great for your gut health.

We love a gut health can.

That gut health is important, and I like it.

He's not having it.

He was not having it.

I like a good crustacean, but I don't know, man.

The crawfish gets a little too close to an insect for me.

And it's just a lot of work.

Like, I'm the person that, like, I don't even like at a restaurant.

Like, I'll see, damn, the sizzling fajitas look good.

And look, they're smoking under as they're bringing it out.

What presentation?

But then I have to build it out.

Yeah, you got to do all the

tortilla and I got to do this.

And that

if you're giving me this like little crustacean and saying, go to work on it.

It's like,

pass.

Some irony, you built an entire show twice.

Funny.

All right, let's move now to games that we cannot wait to watch.

And we each get to pick one.

Let's see.

Mark, I'm going to start with you because I think the game that you are going toward is the game of the week in so many ways.

Well, it's Tony Roma would tell us that.

He doesn't want us to go watch Tom Brady.

He's on the call here.

Jim, this is a big game.

I think I like,

I get, it's now everyone's, oh, week two is the real equalizer.

That's fine, but like, I do think there are a couple teams that are, like, got to be questioning who they are.

And I, you know, I was thinking about the Bengals, and I was like,

like, were Holly Hobby, you know, that a doll that children would play with in the past.

I only know it from your references over the last 10 years.

Holly Hobby is.

I still don't know what it is, actually.

It is.

Well, I'm not suggesting that you spend a lot of time playing with it, but Holly Hobbs.

Also, Mark, what's the game that you're doing?

Let's get that out there first.

That's fair.

I'm doing Bengals at Chiefs.

Let's start there.

Right, now back to Holly Hobby.

Yeah, well, I was just going to say, like, if Holly Hobby were personified and went to like Frolic Room, the bar that's up the street from me, very famous, historic Charles Bukowski drank there for many years.

Like, were she to go there and drink like nine whiskeys and take a high-octane edible and then go be destroyed by the New England Patriots?

Like, we'd all get that.

We'd be like, that lines up.

Right.

But assuming that he did not party with Holly Hobby, what happened to Joe Burrow last week?

Like, he finally gets a full training camp.

He opens up at home against a Patriots team that, you know, we threw out of a moving vehicle weeks ago.

And he's pressured only six times on 35 dropbacks.

He throws for 164 yards, finishes 27th in EPA.

Now, I get it.

No T.

Higgins.

Jamar Chase hadn't really practiced since the Bronze Age.

All that is baked into what happened to some degree.

But the biggest storyline for me was was also what happened after where there's footage of him looking at his hand, squeezing it with a bit of concern on his face.

There's the Gatorade bottle thing.

He is three and ones against the Chiefs.

And in typical borough fashion gravedigger, he came out swinging against the internet conspiracy theorists that thought that maybe his body, his wrist, his hand are not right.

But your wrist is your wrist isn't preventing you from throwing any throws that you've thrown in the past.

No, absolutely not.

Have you caught wind of all the water bottle discussions about how you put the water bottle in the vehicle?

Uh-uh.

What did I do?

Apparently, it's just that the window is down and they said they might have been something wrong with the worst and they suck.

Oh, I picked it up weird?

Yes.

Did you feel what you feel like you did?

I don't know.

I drank water.

I can't say I've seen that or know what anybody's talking about.

I don't know what's going on with Burrow, by the way.

Can I just say that the hair, not like it's cool.

Everybody's entitled to mix things up, and it's bleached and everything, but I think he's got some shiny new veneers too.

And he's got a little bit of the tan, almost like he's been in a tanning bed.

I don't know what's going on, but the look is a little off-putting to me, and I'm connecting it to the game much more than the Gatorade bottle gate.

I'd ask you, Mike, like

if we want to just throw last week into a blender, or what's like the panic level, zero to 10 if you're not.

Mark, you have no takes on my takes on his appearance, being the real catalyst for he looks a little

billy idol-ish to me.

I get it feels a little like 80s punk rock sort of attempting.

But he also, he's a month away from being at that fashion show with, I believe it was Jamar Chase, where he marched across the dye as in like a backless shirt or something that looked like a woman's blouse.

So a lot is happening.

A lot is happening.

So that's why, but Mike, are you panicking about that?

The hair, the wrist, the Gatorade bottle, the Bengals, any of it.

Yeah, so this was one of the games I watched the All 22 of because the Patriots play the Seahawks this week.

I know we'll get to that game later.

Yeah, I've been panicking about the Bengals Bengals for a little bit.

Even this is going to sound weird, but like even on their like Super Bowl run, it felt fluky is strong.

Fluky is not the word I want to use, but it just didn't feel like super sustainable.

And I feel like their offense, just looking solely at their offense, has kind of been built on we're more talented than you.

And you just can't keep doing that

year after year after year.

Eventually you're going to have to have some scheme that like throws some people off.

And then against the Patriots, it was very clear.

Their offense was not more talented than the Patriots' defense.

I didn't, I had forgotten all about Christian Gonzalez, you know, kid out of Oregon, huge corner, kind of built like a transformer with 4-3 speed and super long arms.

Real strange.

It's amazing to watch.

Like him versus Jamar Chase was damn near a push.

So you got to take that off the talent part of the equation.

And then no T.

Higgins.

And then everyone else, I couldn't tell you who he was throwing to with or without the audio on the tape.

I was like, yeah, I just don't know.

Don't know who he's throwing to.

See, I'm super panicky because if you don't have more talent than the other team, then you need your quarterback to be like that extra little boost you need.

And Joe's like good to me, but he's never been like that guy to me.

It's like, all right, you don't have the other pieces, but you can go out here and ball out.

Maybe that's because he's not super mobile.

I'm not sure.

It's not the hair.

I love the hair.

As a fellow person who has dyed, like colored hair, you know,

I'm all for that.

But yeah, I'm ready to hit the panic button.

I know they lose week one every year, it feels like, but like, I feel like they're getting caught up to as a cliche in the league.

But if there is a team that's kind of being caught up to, I feel like it is the Bengals offense.

I don't, I'm ready to be wary about specifically the hand/slash wrist if there's something larger going on there.

Everything else about Joe Burrows' ethos, his persona, the way that he goes out and enjoys the world and expresses himself, and also his history as, yes, someone who is more mobile than maybe a glance would show or public perception sort of things.

And

has actually lifted

what could be potentially a rather stale Cincinnati schematic

and complete offense past, I think, expectations year over year, has an absolute killer mentality while doing so.

I think the biggest concerning thing is you didn't see the killer in Joe Burrow

this last week.

You did see concern about the wrist and about the hand that I think is valid, regardless of what he says on the podium.

And you also, you you want to see that guy come back because this is a guy who does lift his team.

You saw what it looks like.

The offense looks like if he's playing below average, this is a guy who has always lifted his offense past the, I think, the floor

in the medium of where it could actually be without him.

I think you've really seen that.

I also think this is the rope-a-dope of the Cincinnati Bengals.

And Zach Taylor is not a hugely

popular figure.

People are always looking to poke holes in in him as a coach and this team with the slow starts.

And then, right when everybody kind of cashes out, they seem to get hot.

And that even happened last year.

It's forgotten now because Spurrow got hurt in that primetime game and then it was all over.

But they had righted the ship before his injury.

And one of the reasons Burrow is one of my favorite players in the league is because he does have that, he's got the Riz, as the kids say.

He's got that swagger.

He's got that special something to him.

And in this

stage in Arrowhead, where everyone's doubting him and saying he can't even hold a Gatorade bottle anymore, he's washed, all this stuff.

That's when the special ones tend to make statements.

So I'm really excited to see, obviously, the Chiefs coming off their week one and all the positivity around them as the defending champs.

But I think Burrow and the Bengals are the story in this game.

All right, let's now move.

The game that you cannot wait to watch, Jordan Rodriguez.

I'm looking at Lions Bucks, Sunday, 1 p.m.

Eastern on Fox, Kevin Kugler, Daryl Johnston, Laura Laura

Oakman.

She's a lovely woman.

Yeah, I think we're coming out.

Crazy, by the way, did you see her fashion statement on the sideline in week one?

Oh, I did not.

Was she wearing a great

she kind of reminded me of like

I don't know, this is kind of an old head comment, but the Steal My Sunshine video from Len from, you know, the late 90s, early 2000s.

Like, she could have been in the band.

Like, it was like a

bucket hat with, I believe, like, the sunglasses were like tinted.

Oh, hell yeah.

Pretty spicy look from Oakland in a big spot.

I love that for her.

That's awesome.

She always brings it.

I see her out in LA a lot at Rams, and she always brings it.

We're coming off the best Baker Mayfield game I've ever seen in my life.

Mark, if you want to go back and feel some joy right now with all the darkness surrounding the Browns, I do think go watch this game.

You'll find out.

I feel like that will help, Jordan.

No, it's just, I mean, Mark,

you've liked Baker for a while now, haven't you?

Yeah.

So I know.

I know they

Be happy for him.

Yeah, I do like him, and I think you're right.

That was a special performance, and it's like, okay,

can you keep doing that?

Yeah,

I think it is sustainable as long as he keeps getting the protection he has because his pass catchers are subtly and now not so subtly, I think, among the best trios in the league.

Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Jalen McMillan combined for four touchdowns.

And guys, guess who led?

the league in week one in total pass EPA.

Yes, Baker MFing Mayfield, who has apparently been fixed.

And it's all good vibes between himself and Liam Cohen.

Bad vibes on the other side.

They lost three of their four active cornerbacks

and might only get one of them back.

Zion McCollum is working through the concussion protocol right now.

And Detroit, I just watched them up close and personal.

First of all, that environment is so hostile.

That environment is absolutely one of the most electric places to play.

You will be on a silent count the entire time.

If you have two play calls and you check to the second, the crowd gets louder as you check to the second once it realizes what your signal is, which is absolutely astounding to me.

So I am concerned about that element for the Bucs offense that really came in and kicked the door, the door down.

And then also,

you know, with that, their defense looking a little bit sketchy with those injuries.

On the Lions side of things, they did revamp their secondary.

It was super active against Matthew Stafford and his absolutely tattered offensive line and tattered series series of play call, of pass catchers there.

The Lions, one thing I noticed about the Lions that it's going to be tough for the Bucs and Todd Bowles to defend, they're running a lot of their typical plays that they always do, but they're disguising them differently.

And then they finally forget all of that when it matters and when it counts, and they just run the ball down your freaking throat.

So this is still the Lions team.

They may have sputtered a little bit at times against the Frisky Rams defense and

a Matthew Stafford hero ball game.

But the Detroit Lions are still the Detroit Lions, but now they're kind of hiding some things and disguising some personnel packages and some concepts that they always typically run, but they're doing it out of different formations and packages.

So I think that's going to be tough for Todd Bowles and the Bucs to combat.

That's a great thing to watch here.

And on the Baker side of things, yeah, this is a great test for him because it was a nice positive game script for him.

There was a nice opponent.

I don't know if Washington could stop a nosebleed.

You're at home and you're having your way.

Now, you go up to Detroit here, Mike, and you do.

So you want to talk about like, this is almost like statement week in the NFL.

Everybody made their initial

commentary, but if you back it up now with another lights out performance, like, you know, Baker, who got paid obviously over the offseason, is really

humming in a division that's there for the taking.

Let's be honest.

So can I make two fashion statements really quick here?

Because I feel like they're relevant.

First off, I'm looking at Laura Oakman's outfit from the first game.

This is outstanding.

Like, this is not only a bucket, it's a Burberry bucket hat, I believe.

Okay, there you go.

With two gold chains hanging over a black t-shirt.

And I'm a big black t-shirt, gold chain person.

I wear three gold chains every day.

I think I'm wearing three now.

So, like, this is just, yeah, with the, with the tinted, rounded frames that I think are like a peach kind of champagne color.

It's rose, rose cartier is like, rose, yes.

Oh, dang.

Yes, yeah.

Oh, my goodness.

This is out.

I would almost say the same thing.

This is outstanding.

And as it pertains to my other fashion thing, I was in Detroit last year

and that place is nuts.

Jordan's correct.

Like, it's one of the loudest places in the NFL.

I think I've been to like 24, 25 stadiums.

That's up there with the loudest.

And last year, they were all wearing blue ski masks.

It was very, very strange and intimidating.

Yeah, the Seahawks still won.

They won in overtime in the shootout.

And then some of the players took blue ski masks from the fans and like were wearing them into the locker room as they turned up after the game.

But yeah, it's a tough, tough, tough place to play.

I think the Bucs are really good, but I also wouldn't be surprised if because of that environment, because of some of their injuries, that the Lions just put it on them, you know, because of how tough it is to play there.

I see somebody on Twitter said that Laura is dressed like a Peruvian Coke dealer.

So opinions vary, but I'm with it.

I like the risk-taking.

I like the idea of like the people in the truck when she came out on the field.

Like, we can't say anything.

We're just going to let her be herself.

And

she stole the show in week one.

Now, but now, when you start, we're talking about statements, like Ackman in a big spot now has to show up, and you have to top that.

Well, I don't know if there's any topping that because there was a surprise factor to it as well.

Um, you know, I think that your comparison to the band Len, though, probably is going to resonate with more of our listeners than what's been discussed since.

Um, I would say one thing: that like the Lions, for all that they're disguising, and I, I, I love the way that you describe that.

Um,

but Jamison Williams is undisguised at this point, and I think to me,

this is someone that is becoming one of the biggest stories of the entire conference.

And it is a bad matchup to have the Bucs lose.

Antoine Winfield, who I thought was like a defensive player of the year type candidate a year ago,

he is out.

Zion McCollum, your starting cornerback, is out.

They've got other guys that are banged up.

They've got a right tackle that has a concussion right now.

And like, part of all that to me is just like, it's these little matchups.

And Jamison Williams is just unstoppable.

And the way that he torches healthy and unhealthy secondaries.

Like this is the player you're going to get.

Their offense is transformed because you can do all that and then run it down the throat of a tired defense by the end of the game.

I think, you know, we're not going to get like what happened to the Rams with teams week after week because that was week one and stuff.

But I also think the other X factor here, guys, is like Aiden Hutchinson tied Micah Parsons with 11 pressures last week, played out of his mind.

And it's like, you've got to, this did not work well for the Bucs in the playoffs.

So you got to keep Baker Mayfield safe.

I will hedge that he was also pass rushing against guys who are currently wearing like 59 and 54 at practice.

They run out of jerseys to give their offensive linemen because they're rotating that many offensive lines.

It's not a healthy line.

You are right about that.

But Ada Hutchinson is outstanding.

I think this could have potential to be a shootout because, like I said, I think the combination of these Bucs receivers and all of the layers that they build for Baker Mayfield, all the help they give him, plus they're running the ball pretty effectively, hard to do against this Lions front.

But I just think that we have shootout potential here because it's going to be a really big test for both secondaries.

Mike Evans is still playing like he's 27 years old.

He brings me joy.

He does.

I think we could all look up to Mike Evans.

His consistency and excellence is something we should all strive for in our careers.

And Amon Ross St.

Brown, after a quiet week, run, book it, nine for 114 and a touchdown in this game.

I like the idea of a shootout.

My game that I cannot wait to watch.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are in uncharted territory in the National Football League.

Sam Darnold has some positive momentum in his NFL career.

I was so excited to go back and watch you watch this game.

He was nails against the Giants.

I don't care if it's against the Giants or who it's against, but he was nails in that game.

Beautifully clean game.

Made all the throws that he needed to make.

Showed off his underrated, quite frankly, arm strength on a couple of throws.

His one mistake was nothing really on him.

It was a a hit as he was thrown for the interception, thrown a ball that kind of popped up in the air.

It basically made all of us in the Darnold hive,

a hive in which I'm the queen bee, bitch,

look really smart for a week.

Anyway, so, and to that point, Darnold, so you mentioned Baker had the highest EPA of any quarterback in week one.

Darnold had the second highest adjusted EPA of any starting quarterback in the league.

Brock, his opponent in this game,

was first.

So here we go.

We want to test Darnold against a Niners D that just smothered Aaron Rodgers and the Jets in week one.

He's playing, you know,

he also Darnold had a nice pit stop there in San Francisco and a reset in his career.

Kyle Shanahan knows what Sam Darnold does well and doesn't do well.

So that's going to be a big test.

So you put it all together, Mike, and a great setup here for one of the comeback stories of the season around Darnold.

If he plays well against San Francisco, hmm, interesting.

I am so glad there's still a darnold hive i'm still not in there with you i'm still you're outside right smoking a cigarette

still right outside the cigarette's smoked by the bee i almost i'm i'm i'll go in i saw you poke your head in though i gotta be honest with you we were raging out in there and i saw you poke your head in and i even saw some of the smoke coming and the bouncer was like no smoking get out like i'm just saying i saw you peek i saw you peek in well part of it was because my dad uh he's you know he's learning gambling now and he asked me to build him like a 15 15-team parlay on Saturday.

Called me twice to do it.

And so I was like, all right, man.

So I threw a Justin Jefferson Anytime TDE on there.

I think like 13 of them hit too.

I feel bad that it fell short.

So I was very curious if my dad was going to win some money.

So I was paying attention to that game.

I'll walk in if he can ball out against this Niners defense.

Like, I'm very high on their defense.

They have all-pro talent at all three levels.

It's kind of crazy when you think about it.

Some teams are lucky to have like an all-pro player or an all-pro defender, and they have all-pro caliber guys like Trevarius Ward, Hafunga, Fred.

Fred might be the best player in football.

Jesus Christ.

Fred Warner was insane.

Oh my goodness.

He's so good.

And then obviously Bosa up front.

Like if Sam can do it here, if he can find a way to ball out against these guys, I'll walk in.

First round is on me in the hive.

I would make sure we have

the ladies bring the sparklers with the champagne.

Oh, yeah.

I'll I'll get us a section inside the Sam Darnell Hive.

It's going to be real tough, man.

That Niners defense is for real.

But if he can do it, I'll be right there with you.

First rounds on me, bottles on B for the Hive this weekend.

We're not cheap.

We're not cheap, I'll tell you.

I think this is one of the more intriguing kind of coaching clashes.

Brian Flores is just like in two.

in a season plus, it's completely changed this Vikings defense, too.

And then it's Kyle Shanahan, and they used the second most amount of motion a week ago, and it's like you're thinking, no, Christian McCaffrey, what a great situation for the Jets.

And on paper, it is until Jordan Mason forces 13 missed tackles and runs for 150 plus.

And I read this piece from Alec Lewis, your guys'

companion over there at the athletic, and he was talking about comparing.

Well, I guess cohort, companion, co-worker.

You love him.

Yeah,

those good people.

Yeah, he wrote this something that I just thought because it's so hard to keep trying to describe what these guys are doing on offense in new words.

And he basically said that like Shanahan's run game is not unlike an optical illusion.

And in quotes, he said, is this player moving there for a reason?

Or is this player moving there to make you think there is a reason?

Only the artist truly knows.

And I love that about Shanahan and the way he described it.

And I think that's like...

Brian Flores, though, here in week two, is kind of the perfect faux for him.

And And I'm really, I want to see how that plays out.

And all I'd say is like, Shanahan's the one coach, because it's like, oh, does Shanahan know how to defeat Sam Darnold because he had him on the team a year ago?

It's like, well, that's the one coach that I do trust to maybe have some inside information and, you know, find some flaws there.

So I, like, the chess match of it all, Jordan, is that's got me going.

Yeah, they're doing this new thing where they start in pistol.

Like, I'm going to be the pistol-obsessed person.

Sorry in advance, but they start in pistol and they motion the running back.

And instead of using him just as a, it looks like a regular old, one of these new motions, these newfangled motions that all the kids are running.

And it looks like that.

And then actually the run play flows in that direction instead of it just being a motion to widen a gap or to move a defender.

And the toss goes to the running back.

So it's basically like you're going to use that guy to open the gap, then you're going to spam the gap that he just opened.

And it's going to be the same guy.

And it's, it's all misdirection.

And it's all like, like Alex so eloquently wrote, um, he's an old school football writer, by the way, for such a young guy.

You guys, I know you guys have read him in the past, like, he writes beautifully.

Um, and it, it's like these, this dark warlock energy between Kyle Shanahan and Brian Flores, it's gonna be absolutely incredible to watch because Brian Flores,

he will run his stuff because he knows that it will affect the quarterback, regardless of how much misdirection, how much motion, how much disguise, optical illusion that Kyle Shanahan is going to use.

But this is an absolutely perfect matchup to understand what the rules of both sides will be because the way that Brian Flores constructs the defense, he exposes all of your offensive tells and all of your offensive sort of troubleshooting and your tendencies, not only when he drops six and even more sometimes back in coverage, but then when he sends all that pressure, you have to spread the field out.

to actually ask the question of the defense.

What are you going to do to me right now?

And in doing so, you find out more about what the quarterback, where the quarterback is going to go on that play, and what his little answers within the scheme is going to be.

So this, we're going to learn a lot about both teams, specifically just because of this matchup between Kyle and Brian Flores.

The Jets defense was seeing ghosts in week one, and Brian Flores said this week, it really doesn't get more challenging.

than Shanahan and the Niners.

Let's see what happens.

By the way, the Niners favored by five and a half on the road.

That's respect.

And speaking of spreads, before we take our first break, you know, I was perusing Athletic during our ramp up to this episode, and I just happened to notice a little sidebar link: like, hey, if you like this, check this out.

You know how the athletic is always like hitting us with that.

Read, keep, go deeper into our content, fall into the wormhole of our journalism.

It's award-winning.

All that stuff.

You know the way they are.

Anyway, Mike Dugar, I see this little graphic pop up.

What the f?

Look at this.

NFL money rankings.

What the hell even is that?

But it sounds something that you would want to be on top of.

And there's Dugar.

He's on the phone with his old man giving advice.

Well, I hope he took it because you won 14 and 2 against the spread in week one.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Got to love it.

Got to love it.

I was telling Gravedigger before we started recording today, I had a week in 2022 where I got every game right.

I believe it was whatever week the Seahawks were in Germany in 2022, I got every game right that week.

I can pick, man.

I can pick, pick, unless there's money on it that I actually put down, then I'm just awful lately.

But no stakes.

There you go.

No cash.

Patreon.com/slash heed the call.

I already, now I've, now it's reached a stage where I'm privately, I'm on the Peloton and I'm privately texting Mike Dugar and I'm saying, hey, this bad boys rewatch, like, I've only seen the first.

I watch all four, and then you and I just chop it up and we talk about like why this is one of the most important franchises that has ever existed in cinema.

Now, like, as a shark, Dugar?

Maybe that's a program, Mark, on the Patreon.

Because we want to give the people what they want and what they need.

And if they can get, what's the name of that thing?

NFL Money Rankings?

What was that called?

Yeah, I guess so.

I didn't know about the title of the rankings, but I'll tell you.

NFL Money Rankings.

I mean, yeah, let's get people money.

I want to see who's in last place.

Like, that's what I want to know:

who's been in the middle of the money.

What if it's their companion

on the beat?

Well, I don't want to expose that.

It's our Atlanta Falcons guy, so read into that what you will.

Oh, wow.

Tough week for the the Falcons.

All right, let's take a break, and we will head to a place that is warm and gooey.

As Mike Dugar says himself, really yucky.

We'll be right back.

I get so many headaches every month.

It could be chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four hours or more.

Botox, autobotulinum toxin A, prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine.

It's not for those who have 14 or fewer headache days a month.

Prescription Botox is injected by your doctor.

Effects of Botox may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms.

Alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition.

Patients with these conditions before injection are at highest risk.

Side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection, side pain, fatigue, and headache.

Allergic reactions can include rash, welts, asthma symptoms, and dizziness.

Don't receive Botox if there's a skin infection.

Tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, including ALS Lou Gehrig's disease, myasthenia gravis or Lambert Eaton syndrome, and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects.

Why wait?

Ask your doctor.

Visit BotoxChronicMigraine.com or call 1-800-44-Botox to learn more.

Heed the call with Dan Handis and Mark Sessler is on Underdog, so why not start playing on Underdog today?

A CD lamb free pick dropped on Wednesday and will be available up until the game kicks off on Sunday.

All he needs is half a yard.

That is a gimme.

So download and play on the Underdog app.

Sign up with the code HTC.

That's us, and receive up to $1,000 in bonus cash for our U.S.

audience only.

All right, we are back.

I failed.

Bad hosting job.

I was ready to go to the gravy boat, but we can't yet because we have not spoken about Michael Sean Dugar and his game.

He cannot wait to watch in week two.

What do you got, Mike?

I have Jets at Titans, which probably makes me one of like three people who can't wait to watch the Titans.

I am actually, I'm just, yeah, Gravedigger being the other one.

I don't know who our third is.

We have to find who that is.

Maybe it's Will Levis' parents or something.

I'm not sure.

But I just am.

I watched.

One of his parents, not the other.

Yeah,

I watched both of these games, the Jets games from last week and the Titans game.

I watched the film of both of them.

Will Levis,

yuck.

But I watched Aaron Rodgers in part because my fearless prediction last week was tied to him throwing for a bunch of yards and winning against the 49ers.

He did neither of those things, but I do think he made me a believer because I already was per se, but I needed to see it.

And he looked good.

Throws look good, moving,

particularly when you compare it to Kirk Cousins, who we talked about earlier in the show, who just looked like he had two cinder blocks strapped to his ankles.

Aaron Rodgers, coming off, you know, same injury and an older guy, was moving just fine.

Flick of the wrist was just fine.

The velocity was there.

You look at that sideline ball he threw to Alan Lazard, not the touchdown, the other one that he threw.

I mean, that's just cash.

The back shoulder kind of fade, jump ball-y thing he threw to Garrett Wilson against Lenore.

Cash.

Like, Aaron Rodgers can still throw it.

It's just hard to throw against the Niners' defense.

I talked about earlier in the show as well.

Like, those guys are just real.

There's quite at least some good matchups here as well.

I think Legeria Sneed and Garrett Wilson should be really good.

You saw the Jets try to get Garrett Wilson away from Charvarius Ward, the cowards that they are.

I hope they don't do the same thing this weekend against the Titans.

I think that should be a good matchup.

I love good

on good.

I love the Titans defense.

I think I mentioned before, they're one of the few teams running the same scheme as the Ravens ran last year that the Seahawks are running now.

The Dolphins are one of those teams.

The Chargers are one of those teams.

And you see them just make Caleb Williams just look very much like a rookie in week one.

So there's like a chess match there going on between that really good, potentially good Titans defense against the Jets offense that is basically Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson, and Brees Hall and then no one else.

Pretty much the occasional Alan Lazard look.

So I'm actually really intrigued by this and the cynical side of me is intrigued because if we get a Jets loss and you get 0-2 and the Jets, I mean, the league is good when the Jets and like the Giants are good.

Like that's fine when the Cowboys are good.

But when those teams are like on the brink of like

implosion, they're way more fun, particularly for people who don't have any emotional investment.

So, if we get a Jets 0-2, I believe their next game is a primetime game.

Yeah, I think they're at the home against the Patriots, I believe, week three for primetime, Thursday night football.

So, you get 0-2, then we get all the hype leading into that with their quick turnaround for their next game.

Stop putting this energy in the works.

Come on, I'd like the Jets

for what it's worth.

I'm a believer in the Jets.

I just like chaos at the same time.

I get it.

You're a chaos agent.

And

I was on the Music City Audible with the two Justins this week.

And

I'm not shaken by the stomping in San Francisco.

I think they got caught flat-footed.

I thought they got out-coached.

I thought it was a tough environment, obviously.

And I'm chalking it up as just a rough start in a dress rehearsal.

I fully expect, Justin, I'm curious, come in on this one.

I really do,

and this is me with an open heart.

I'm one of the few truly optimistic Jets fans that exist in the world, that they're going to take care of business against Will Levis, who really looked bad in that game.

The Titans could run the football, and that's something that could be a problem because the Jets couldn't stop the run in week one.

But I think this game's got 2710 written all over it.

And if I'm wrong, yes, the bad vibes are going to come storming into the meadowlands.

And it won't be just grouchy, super aggro, drunken, entitled Giants fans.

I picked Titan 1716 on the Music City Audible podcast, but I don't have a ton of confidence in that pick.

I do think it's going to be low scoring like that because I think the Titans defense is going to be good.

The one thing I'm really interested to see is does Denard Wilson, who blitz Caleb Williams non-stop last week, blitz Aaron Rodgers, which is sort of like a no-no.

You should not blitz Aaron Rodgers unless you want him to get rid of the ball in under two seconds and torture your secondary all day.

So do they do the simulated pressure thing where they load up the line of scrimmage and then most of those guys drop into coverage and they try to confuse him that way?

Or how do they attack him?

Because I think if they come out blitzing, it's going to be a long day for the Titans' defense.

But I was very encouraged by how they performed last week.

I don't want to see Will Levis throw the ball one time.

I'm just going to say it.

He throws a really nice deep pass.

I just, but I'm saying, I think the way you win this game,

Dan, I know you're going to roast me for this, but in Lord of the Rings, our hero saga,

the orcs took down Minas Tidith with a battering ram that was wielded by mountain trolls called Grand.

I would really like to see the Titans' offense go full.

You know, this is going, this is being broadcast to a lot of people, right, Jordan?

I don't care.

I'm passionate about it.

We must defeat them with the orcs on the battle two grand in the caves.

Load up, use Will Levis as a freaking battering ram if you have to.

Use like, load up, run the goddamn ball at this Jets front.

Kyle Shanahan, as he always does, exposed maybe the one really big weakness on this Jets team, which is their run defense.

Titans, in order for the Titans to even have a shot winning this game, in my opinion, they need to load up, go full mountain troll battering ram, and just run the ball at the Jets' front.

That is my opinion.

Crazy stat.

I'm scared.

I'm scared of that.

Crazy stat from last week.

Jordan Mason, who had an incredible game,

finished, he faced the most loaded boxes of anyone in the NFL.

Loaded boxes can kind of be a wonky stack because it's often based on the offensive formation, inviting more or less defenders into the box.

So you really have to look at like differential between how many defenders are in the box and how many blockers.

But at the same time, that's a crazy, like they loaded up to stop the run, and he still did that to them.

Definitely an area of concern for the Jets.

Here's what I do with the Titans.

I always take Justin's prediction, I believe it was 17-16 Tennessee, and add a touchdown to the opponent.

That brings you closer to reality with what will happen on our earth.

So Jets will prevail, and they need to, and they have to, because

out-coached and out-classed a week ago, you've got to turn that energy around.

And to that point, Justin did predict 16-1 for the Titans, so they got to win out at this point.

So you've got to start winning right now.

I'll give the last word on this to Aaron Rodgers.

Here it is.

I mean, I think we always got to stay relaxed.

It's a long season.

I think at times people think the season is like you're out in the prairie or the desert and you're wandering around trying to find water.

But it's more like a nice, slow bolero, you know, where we're just swaying with the music and

reacting to whatever

comes to us and through us and just trying to

not get too high with the highs or too low with the lows.

A little worried about a quarterback talking like this.

Well,

compare that to name that's just saying.

Yeah, compare that to name that's just saying, you know,

I guarantee it.

Like, that was 14 paragraphs of spiritual text compared to that.

All right.

Now, without further ado, it's what everyone's been waiting for.

Let's take a trip literally into the gravy boat.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Well, it's erotic at the end.

You know what?

You want to hear something funny?

Great team here at Underdog.

Everything we need, they provide us with.

And the latest thing that I'm asking for is, hey, can we get an animation for future preview shows of the actual gravy boat?

And I want to have something that's actually

animated, like a cartoon.

And the woman who is helping us out with this project says, okay, great.

But can you draw up

some storyboards for me so I can get a better idea?

So not only do I have to explain this, including the weirdly, like the pleasure that's coming out of Justin while he's drowning in 180-degree gravy, I have to kind of draw it out for this person.

And I feel like it's going to hurt me in terms of my reputation with the company, but that's what we need to do for the show.

It will.

It will hurt your reputation, and I'm attached to that reputation.

So

I like to draw myself, so if you want any help, but I'd rather be

we could even post it once it goes live.

If you make storyboards, they're going at least on social, if not on this show.

Let's talk after the production and we'll

draw the children.

Draw the children, Mark.

Well, yeah, if you let me draw the storyboards, there's going to be other things happening than Justin being dipped in gravy.

I'll come up with it.

When did this become me being dipped in gravy?

Last week it was just a man on a ledge who fired it.

It's very clearly you doing the voiceover.

It's very clearly you.

You're like the guy in a hot dog suit after you crashed into the clothing store.

I can't make eye contact.

We're all trying to find the cat.

I can't make eye contact with you as I listen to this segment audio, Justin.

I have to actively look away from you.

Justin, you're sick.

You got some sick piccadillos.

All right.

Let's go.

Yeah, now that we're in the gravy boat, let's go through the remaining games, starting with Saints at Cowboys.

The Saints had maybe the most impressive showing of any team in week one, and yet the Cowboys are a six-point favorite here at home.

It's a pretty big underdog spread for a Saints team that just hung 47 on the Panthers.

So, my question, is New Orleans going to continue to surprise us this year and be competitive or even beat Dallas?

Or was last week just an aberration and more a product of an inferior opponent?

It's a tough one, right, Jordan?

Like, the Panthers have a chance to be so bad that they might be that team that everyone just gets right against.

But when they're the first game on your schedule, it's really hard to tell.

All we do know is what Justin said is that they played great, but it's going to be a much bigger challenge, especially after Mike Zimmer and that defense really embarrassed the Browns in week one.

Yeah, Mike Zimmer put together a really nice game plan, in my opinion.

I think

in both conversations, you're looking at the inferior quality of the opposing, the opponent, including the Browns offense, and then also certainly the Panthers.

I think what went overlooked with the Panthers is like they signed three defensive backs on off-waivers on August 28th, guys.

Like, that's really troublesome in terms of the talent level, a huge sign of the talent level on this team.

Derek Brown is probably playing through a meniscus issue during the game.

He's their best player on defense.

This is just a, I don't think inferior is the right word.

This Panthers defense is a disaster so far.

However, I was, you know, encouraging the Saints to click out of this like rusty, grumbly, cranky gear that they were in for so long.

And Kubiak, man, and his layered concepts and his play action and his multiple point of contact changing around run game.

It really, again, it lifted Derek Carr up.

It accentuated some of the playmakers they do have on that offense.

And I think this is going to be a much better understanding this week of what these two teams actually are, the Mike Zimmer of it all, and then also the Kubiak Carr of it all.

And I realize now I was accidentally making a car pun the entire time.

Yeah.

Last week.

That's rough, man.

Someone should have stopped me.

That's just really rough.

Sorry about that.

So I think you want to come out of week one with new coordinators looking good.

And that's the case with Kubiak and Zimmer.

And, you know, Kubiak is obviously

baked in that Shanahan world.

There was a lot of play action, a lot of under-center for Carr.

And I think that

fixing Carr from where we were last year from any of those games that got pretty dark is a big development.

But Micah Parsons played as well as I've seen any defensive player play in eons last week.

He was completely dominant.

So this should level it out.

This is a real acid test for Derek Carr and company.

And the Cowboys pass rushers had six sacks against Cleveland.

Derek Carr is a guy that knows, is known to hold on to the ball, and he will

get sacked and doesn't like pressure.

So all these things, I feel like, spins towards Dallas and the Cowboys beat 2-0, but we will see.

Can I give away some money to the audience really quick?

Oh, yes.

Money, Mike.

Trevon Diggs, cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys, got asked about Chris Olave, and he asked if it was a trick question

as of whether Chris Olave brings a challenge to their secondary.

So Chris Olave, anytime touchdown, that should be cash.

Okay,

cash.

This is good for the brand, the Heed the Call brand, if we get an

Lave TV here.

And you know, this will turn.

Money Mike, great job with that one, Jordan.

But we need this.

We need to hit this to really get things going.

So we're all, I'm going to hop on underdog.

I'm going to bang that one myself, knowing that Money Mike is on fire right now.

All right, next game.

Yeah, the higher on Chris Olave 0.5 touchdowns.

All right, next game, Colts at at Packers.

To me, Anthony Richardson is pretty much must-watch TV at this point.

And on the other side of the field, Malik Willis, likely going to start for Green Bay, is the opposite of must-watch TV.

So this is an interesting game.

I'm very curious to see how Matt LaFleur is going to mitigate that quarterback position in this game.

But

unless there are some crazy defensive plays by Green Bay, I feel like Indy can win this one on the road.

Mark, this is going to be a tough watch, the Green Bay offense.

And is there any way that is not the case?

That's kind of the way I'm looking at this game because they kind of made their bet.

And now, as long as Love is laid up with his knee injury, I think they're going to struggle to score points, and it's going to put a lot of pressure on the rest of the operation.

Yeah, Richardson, completely electric.

I mean, you can work on the completion percentage, but what he can do or what the ceiling appears to be so far is makes it must-watch.

And Graver's right.

I would say this.

I was kind of thinking about this game in a different kind of way.

Like,

if I'm the Packers and I know that my quarterback is extremely incomplete, and I know that the Colts gave up 213 yards rushing last week, what if you just go for portions of the game, try it out old-school Wildcat, and you just run the ball non-stop on this defense and try to keep Anthony Richardson off the field as much as you can and just win an old school, like 1961-type Packers game.

I mean, I don't think they had Wildcat back then, but a mix of the old and the new and the kind of old and see what happens.

Get experimental.

Get weird.

I'm down with that.

By the way, Anthony Richardson's touchdown pass, Mike, traveled 65, the first touchdown pass he threw, and maybe he's going to end up being the best throw of the year, traveled 65.3 yards in the air.

The man is one of one.

Yeah, I mean,

I love Anthony Richardson.

I'm all in.

He's probably one of the few quarterbacks who I don't care whether he's accurate.

And that sounds funky because I'm like a big accuracy guy.

You know, talking to Pete Carroll over the years so much, I believed in the power of just like throw a catchable ball as like the baseline requirement for your quarterback.

The other stuff we can work on later.

And Anthony Richardson, like very loudly, does not throw a catchable ball a lot of the time.

Like he sailed some balls on Sunday that were like, oh my God, like, do you belong in the UFL?

And then he makes a few throws like he did.

And it's like, oh, my God, you belong in the Hall of Fame.

It was just, it's just so great to watch.

Also, I'm not really sure.

I feel like we should define what the opposite of Much Watch TV is.

I'm not really sure.

it specifically to watch something else?

I don't know.

I like that, though.

The opposite of must-watch TV.

I'm going to watch this game as much as I can.

Maybe I'll just re-watch it, but I do enjoy that.

The opposite of must-watch TV.

That's great.

That was, by the way, that is the third longest completion in the next-gen stats era.

Off balance, too.

Yeah.

Didn't even have his full stance in there.

My God.

Special.

My goodness.

All right, next.

Gravy Bone.

All right.

One last note on that game.

News we didn't get to earlier in the week.

Yes.

Colts cornerback Juju Brentz, promising second-year player, is done for the year.

We'll see how if Malik Willis can take advantage of that.

All right, next game, Seahawks at Patriots.

Two rookie head coaches both got a win last week facing off here.

This is a key stat that has me very terrified for Jacoby Brissett.

In week one, the Seahawks generated more pressure on a per-snap basis than any team in the league.

Jacoby Brissette was pressured at the highest rate on a per-snap basis of any team in the league by the Bengals last week.

An unstoppable force, the Seahawks pass rush, meets a very movable object in the Patriots' offensive line.

I am fearing for Jacoby Brissette in this one.

Mike, Jacoby Brissette, who was described by his coach as the slowest black quarterback in the league.

Oh, love it.

Yeah, Gerard Mayo was like, yeah, he made some plays with his legs, which is surprising because he's probably the slowest black quarterback in the league.

And it's one of those funny things.

Yes, it's funny because he can say it.

Oh, it's great.

And then I can laugh at it.

It's outstanding.

And then yesterday, Mike McDonald

when he was talking to us, someone asked him about Jacoby Brissette.

And Mike McDonald described Jacoby as underratedly mobile, which is basically the same thing that we call all fast white guys, basically.

Sneaky athletic, deceptive speed.

And it just feels like we're making so much progress in race relationships.

The way we talk about quarterbacks, if we can acknowledge that, like Jacoby Brissette is not a natural athlete.

He's not naturally fast.

You know, he's he's slow.

He's a slow.

You know what?

He's bringing us all together in a way, if you think about it.

Like we're all the same.

We all bleed red.

Jake Brisket is slow as fuck.

And one more serious note on this game.

Well, too.

I enjoy the trolling being done by the Patriots.

You know, they beat the Seahawks at Super Bowl 49.

This is the 10-year anniversary of that season.

They're bringing back Malcolm Butler, who had the interception that sealed the game.

He's going to do whatever their pregame ceremony is, Keeper of the Light.

I don't know.

I'll be there for it, whatever it is.

uh him and like 20 other people from the game so i love that pettiness i love the trolling there uh the steelers do something similar whenever the seahawks play in pittsburgh they play highlights of super bowl 40 which is when they beat them uh that matt has back shot bring the refs back for that one

i think we just opened up a sore spot for seahawk fans so i won't i won't uh dwell there too long but on a serious note in terms of schematics i do enjoy that This is a clash of similar styles, but both teams arrive there differently.

Like the Patriots are like, we have to shorten the game, grind it out, run the ball because we stink.

And whereas the Seahawks are just like, well, we have a ton of offensive talent, and they still want to play almost that same exact way.

So it's kind of cool that the two youngest head coaches, you know, cool to me at least,

are kind of playing old school football despite replacing dudes who are, you know, 100 years old.

You know, I think that that's kind of cool.

I don't know, Mark, if you're as intrigued by that as I am, but I like that.

from the two youngest coaches in the league.

I read what you wrote about Ryan Grubb and how last week they struggled to run the ball early, but there was this determination to make it happen in the second half, and it did.

And it's like they didn't abandon their philosophy.

And like Connor Orr, who's been on our show a bunch, like, he's talked a lot about Grubb and pace and what he wants to do with that offense.

So I am intrigued just to see what happens in the next month or two with that whole coaching stuff.

Can I just say, like, Mike, what is up with the

handoff at a shotgun in the back of the end zone almost?

What are we doing there?

I have a love-hate relationship with shotgun runs.

Like, when they work, they can look really beautiful, particularly if you have pullers.

And then, when they don't, it looks like your coach doesn't deserve it.

Yeah, but when you're standing in the middle of the end zone, standing on the Seahawks lettering, you usually don't call the halfback draw there on shotgun.

That's all.

No, you're right.

That also reminds me, Dan, can you have it a graphic request if you can?

Yes.

Since you're in charge of that now, I would like that for when Jordan makes references to the pistol, we have like some type of Yosemite Sam type of thing.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Did you get that?

Make a note of that, please.

Yes.

Please.

That's my contribution to the graphics.

And you've done it.

You've done it.

All right.

Next game in the gravy boat.

All right.

Next game is Giants at Commanders.

Washington, they're not really a rival, said Kayvon Thibodeau of his very clear division rival.

Now, these could be two of the worst teams in the league this season, but Jaden Daniels is my personal favorite rookie to watch.

I tapped him for rookie of the year.

I predicted he's going to run for a thousand yards a season.

So I'm tuning into this game for him.

The Giants have their own very exciting rookie, obviously, and Malik Neighbors led all rookie receivers in receiving yards last week.

He should be able to do more damage than he did last week against a horrific commander's secondary that just got torched by Baker Mayfield, as Jordan said, his best game of his career.

Jordan, you have, these are like the two little brothers of the NFC East, the runts of the division, and one of them is going to be in a very bad way after this game.

Yeah, this is going to,

honestly, this game, I think, forces, will force a lot of really difficult conversations for New York if New York loses this game.

I mean, not only difficult conversations about Daniel Jones and whether he should continue playing and starting for this team, difficult conversations about the coach, difficult conversations about the front office.

I mean, I think that for the Giants, somewhat ironically, because this Washington team does not look very dangerous yet, I think it will over time.

Somewhat ironically, this game and the stakes of it and the closeness of the contest even, whether it's a win or a loss, will actually be a catalytic force against the New York Giants in actually having some of these conversations.

And also, it kind of depends on what the Eagles are doing too, because Saquon and the owner and all that stuff at the same time.

I love watching Jaden Daniels play.

It was a really heartbreaking day for me as a former Sun Devil when we lost him.

We could not keep him the quarterback there, and he just continued to ascend and ascend and ascend.

You know, it is kind of what we expected.

A lot of running.

Dan Quinn kind of mentioned he doesn't want to be running that much.

But what are you going to do with some of the protection?

And then Cliff Kingsbury's building exactly what we thought Cliff Kingsbury would do.

A lot of the quick elements, the bubbles, the screens, those types of things.

I think Jaden Daniels is just going to continue to settle.

I actually am more skeptical of this Washington defense.

They might give Daniel Jones a shot here, and certainly Malik Neighbors, as Gravedigger mentioned.

But again, this is going to be,

ooh, this is going to be, the stakes of this game will not be reflected in, I think, the sloppiness potential here.

Where have you gone, young and sweaty?

A pass rush would help the secondary.

Maybe we can get that generated somehow, some way.

Any other thoughts on this game, guys?

Oh, young and sweaty.

Oh, Montez.

I thought you were like referring to someone as like

Chase Young.

I'm with you now.

This game, I think, is, we have found our definition for the opposite of must-watch TV.

It is the Giants versus the Commander.

So this is must-flee TV.

Okay, we got it.

You enjoyed New York's melting downs factor, so this is the stage for that.

That's true.

Although I do think the Giants are going to win, but if they do lose, I feel like Brian Daybull, it's one of those Charlie and the Charlotte Factory.

I can't remember if it's the original or the remake where the girl gets really big and is blue and they have to roll her out of the thing.

Like, Brian Daybull is going to turn into that, just red.

He's going to just get so red if they lose, they'll have to roll him out.

Wait, what were you referring to?

The Willy Wonka in the Charlotte.

I kind of missed the beginning of that, and then I thought you were referring to what's eating Gilbert Grape, but that yeah.

Remember when

she eats the thing and turns super blue, and they have to like

floats away.

It's a very um I saw that as a young child, and like it was very disturbing to me.

Yeah, I think that's that's Brian.

It's going to be Brian Daybull if they lose, just the red version.

He's just going to just get super red and look like a cherry and then just have to just get pushed out of the out of the facility if they lose.

I have a

green cream wreck for him, if so.

One of the best parts of being in a long-term relationship is just the inside jokes that form.

And for many years, my wife and I, when we're commenting on, you know, our appearance or whatever, we're not feeling so good.

You quote the Gilbert Grapeline, I didn't always look like this, you know.

I haven't always been like this.

Callback.

All right, go ahead.

Next game in the gravy boat.

All right.

Before we move on, I will say I'm picking the Giants to win this game.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Justin.

Next game, Chargers at Panthers.

All right.

You never really know if we.

No, now I feel bad.

Justin, I think that's not a crazy pick.

I think people are going way too nuts.

You have those dirtbag fans outside the Meadowlands going off on the team after one bad game, and Washington's certainly not overly imposing.

It could absolutely happen.

I hope it does.

But then I'm rooting for those people that

I'm annoyed with.

But yeah, go ahead.

I was going to do a fearless prediction of Daniel Jones' three touchdown passes, but then I backed off, backed off.

Well, we didn't need that.

I mean, if you're going to do it, do it.

If you're not, you know, keep it.

All right.

It's out there as a prediction, just not officially on the radar for record.

Mark, that is, see, that's actually a big party foul in the fearless prediction game.

If you're going to predict it, you got to predict it.

Well, it used to happen a lot on our last show where someone would suggest, like, I was going to do this or this or this, but here's what I'm doing.

That's four predictions.

Right.

Make the prediction.

And so, Justin, I think you got to sign up and hang yourself with it and see how it works.

On to the next game.

All right, on to the next game.

Chargers at Panthers.

You never really know if week one means anything.

So I'm curious to see just how bad Bryce Young and the Panthers look in week two.

Another meeting of rookie head coaches.

I would be much higher on the Chargers' chances for a blowout if this wasn't an early kickoff on the East Coast.

That's always a tricky thing for these West Coast teams.

Yeah, I'm rooting, Mike, for

Bryce Young here.

I really feel bad for this kid and for the season to start the way it did.

Is there any hope here?

Is there any hope that we can get some positive momentum around the former number one overall pick in this game?

I think the only chance of hope is that maybe the stadium's loud because I'm pretty sure you can, they might pay Panthers fans to show up.

You might even have to buy a ticket they might just walk around downtown Charlotte and be like here here's 30 bucks you can come in the stadium drinks are on us the same setup we're gonna have if Sam Donald wins like in the hive where we got the bottles and everything they might start providing that for Panthers fans to persuade them to show up because it is just really tough over there so Pepper be scalping

oh man yeah I feel yeah I do feel bad for Bryce I do think they're gonna get their boots smoked on Sunday unfortunately I'm I'm rooting for Bryce hope he can turn it around.

I like Dave Canalis, you know, the homie from back when he was in Seattle.

Just seeing them just get wrecked on Sunday, that hurt.

But like, I think technically these are both rookie head coaches because they're in their first year, but the coaching acumen level probably couldn't be, there couldn't be a wider gap perhaps than somebody as young as Dave and as new as he is versus, you know, Harbaugh, who's done this for so long, built so many programs and just knows how to kick ass.

That's part of why I think they're going to get their boots smoked.

I don't know know if Jordan would like to be more optimistic than me, but I just can't do it, even though how much I love Dave Canales.

I just feel bad.

I mean, it's just like, I want better for Panthers fans,

just all around.

Yeah, it just, they're going to be missing Derek Brown, obviously.

And they kind of only had half of him really in that game because he was clearly dealing with something in-game.

Jim Harbaugh is going to run the ball at them constantly.

I don't know if Justin Herbert's going to have to do more than just hand it off.

And when he does, again, it's a totally battered secondary and pretty susceptible middle of the field as well.

And, you know, it's Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa and a little Morgan Fox on the interior.

And it's just like, I mean,

you just think about the smother potential of this for Bryce Young.

And, you know, they've got to get him.

I will say they've got to get him a little bit more help in terms of when extra pressure or design pressure is coming, get him more hots in his reads, get him more things that can actually help support him.

Dave Canalis said that the coaching staff left him a sitting duck against some of the pressure that he faced last week, but that's only a piece of it.

This is just, there's so long to go here.

And, you know, I want better for Panthers fans.

It's just like, there's so long to go here.

You don't.

know how patient the owner is going to be, but you have to at least get a clean evaluation of the quarterback.

You have to at least build something around him or get to a place where you can figure out whether he can be the quarterback or not.

Because at that point, you determine, you know, how long this rebuilding is going to take.

And you're also developing a very young head coach, too.

And you can't go backwards on some of this stuff.

You have to actually push this organization into, you know, this century of football, this era of football.

And it's going to take patience and it's going to take, again, making the correct decisions and not reacting suddenly and then making the wrong one.

And this is not me pining for the good old days with the prior owner, Richardson, but under Tepper,

do you have everything with, and as a Jets fan,

I know this as well as anyone.

Everything kind of starts with ownership.

And if you don't have an owner that can be patient and let his football people figure things out, you're just going to keep hitting the reset button.

And that would be my big concern.

And you used to cover that team,

Jordan.

You know, they've got a passionate fan base that deserves to watch a winner.

But if the owner keeps meddling, that is only going to make this more difficult because you know he's going to, I would say he's ripping his hair out, but that's not a thing.

Like, this is an issue for them.

And we're going to see when does Tepper be talking?

Because a bad loss here, and you might start hearing from him.

Yeah, I got to tell you, it's a beautiful community of fans down there when the team even gives them something to hope for, let alone not, they don't even have to be great or even good.

Like when they have something to hope for, the tailgates, the community swell, like the city just comes alive in this really beautiful way.

And so many people come together in the community over this team.

And like, it's just, it's hard to watch, man.

I got to tell you, it's hard to watch.

All right.

What's next in the gravy boat?

All right.

We got four more games to get through.

First up next, Browns at Jaguars.

Now, with all the distractions caused by Watson's off-field conduct, it's kind of easy to lose sight sight of the disaster that's happening on the field for the Browns, but the wheels are really falling off this wagon.

The Browns placed four players on IR yesterday.

That doesn't include David Njoku, who's already been ruled out for this game.

Jedrick Wills, as of Wednesday, still was not practicing.

This has get-right game written all over it for Jacksonville after they fumbled away, quite literally, a late lead against Miami last week.

Mark,

I agree.

It's hard to project what we watch from Cleveland

to correct itself

in Jacksonville.

You know, the Jaguars, they gave up big plays through the air to Miami, but they did a good job stopping the run.

And I look at the Browns offense that like last week when they couldn't run the ball, they're completely exposed.

And I just don't see a way out of this with all the injuries.

The tackle situation, both right and left.

I like Dewan Jones in general, but like did not fare well.

These guys just were massacred last week by the Cowboys.

and I think for me it's like and it kind of reminds me of the Jets situation a little bit to the Niners I was like to see how out coached they were that they had no plan there was no adjustment they were trapped and I really felt minutes into the game like they don't know what they're doing here like they're broken and for Jacksonville I mean

Tank Bigsby to me was a big story.

Like they could run the ball.

And if you didn't have that Travis Etienne fumble, that game's really, really different.

It goes to 24-7.

And so I look at a team that was very close to upsetting Miami.

I don't see that in Cleveland.

I'm not trying to be hopeless, but the overall energy, everything that's happening off the field, on the field, is pretty poisonous.

So it would be an upset for me if Ken Dorsey and friends rescue the Browns from this situation.

The latest legal woes around Deshaun Watson obviously is a putrid backdrop for this team, but they signed up for that, obviously.

And I'll just say this, Mark, is, you know, it is, it was just one game.

And it was a game, yeah, it went poorly, and they got caught, but that's still

like Robert Sala, who's never had success in the league, got coached, out-coached by Kyle Shanahan.

Like, I think Stefansky is a good coach, and he's, he's proven it.

I, I would not be surprised if they bounce back here, but, like, missing all those pieces, Jordan, that's, that's a fair, very fair thing to make sure we're talking about here because beyond just the Watson situation, to be out-manned, and that's not even talking about that Nick Chubb isn't there.

This is just a team that's not full or complete right now on any level yeah it's hard to see them putting together something cohesive at least on the offensive side against jacksonville that's jacksonville is very much looking to get back on track after after that loss and certainly i i was really impressed on the converse i was really really impressed with some of the the things that we saw from trevor lawrence and company it looks like everyone's got a role all of the these offensive weapons he has now everyone has a clear and defined role everybody has um space on the field that they're sort of, I guess, in charge of that they manipulate.

Trevor Lawrence made some incredible throws, some tight window throws.

Was really impressed with him.

I've been saying I'd really like to see him with all his potential take another step forward.

This is going to be a good, really good challenge for the Jaguars' offense against the Browns defense, which, again, despite all of the mess and chaos that's going on on the other side of the ball,

just kind of always seems to hold it down.

And I know it's tough times and you can't, you just get exhausted at a certain point, Mark, when,

among other reasons, when you just have to keep carrying

the rest of your team, essentially, on that side of the ball.

But yeah, I just think that this is going to be a big opportunity to get right for Jackson.

And just a reminder, they will not be playing at Everbank Field or Stadium or whatever this week.

It will be.

Everbank is now Trevor Bank.

Wow, Electrics.

They actually did rename it Trevor Banks Stadium for this game.

And I did think Trevor Lawrence looked good in week one.

Justin, what else in the gravy boat?

All right, Raiders at Ravens.

A Raiders beat writer was caught on a hot mic on Wednesday saying, quote, Gardner is going to get his ass kicked by Baltimore.

Jackpot, baby!

I agree with this statement, and the odds makers in Vegas also agree.

This is the biggest point spread on the week two slate, Ravens by nine.

I think it's a a huge bounce back spot for the Ravens.

And I know NFL, any given Sunday, all that.

This one might be over by halftime.

Money Mike, your thoughts?

Oh, man.

I thought you were going to play audio of who said that, which Raiders beat Ryder.

Because

my homie at the athletic, Teshawn, I guess my guy.

But I always...

keep making fun of him for like pushing an anti-Gardner Minshew agenda.

So I was afraid you were going to play audio of him being the one to say that, but he's pretty aware of a hot mic.

So I'm glad that.

At least I think that wasn't him that said that.

Yeah, this might be bad.

My fearless prediction was going to be tied to this at first.

Sorry, I'm doing that thing.

I mean, I can double up on fearless predictions if you'd like that

Lamar Jackson like runs for more yards than the Raiders have total.

Like this could get really, really yucky to quote myself there.

I'm actually really high on Baltimore in their offense.

I know they lost week one.

I'm also really, really low on the Raiders and their offense.

This just looks like it could be just as much of a train wreck as Carolina with less attention paid to it because they don't have a number one overall pick at quarterback.

But yeah,

I'm with Vegas on this one.

I think the Raiders just get

their boots smoked too.

I'm surprised this spreads not as or I'm surprised the Carolina spreads not as high as this one because yeah, I'm predicting a blowout.

I came out of the Chiefs game.

I've been pretty low on the what I think the Lamar Ravens can actually accomplish when it really matters just because of history, but they look different to me.

Lamar looked different to me.

And I think one of the biggest developments was Isaiah Likely.

I know, forget the last play.

Like, that was a dominant performance.

And now they've got two tight ends that can go against anyone.

It's a big game changer to me.

And Lamar just looks, he looks different to me.

I think he looks fitter.

He looks faster.

I think there's something mental in a good way going on with him.

They are going to blow the doors off the Raiders, which means they'll probably win by three.

Another gut health king, by the way.

Yeah, I think that getting Mark with a K, Andrews, back and actually healthier, you know, as time passes, he was in a pretty scary situation right before the season started.

Getting him ready to go to pair with Isaiah Likely, I love that connection.

Something kind of weird that comes up in my mind when after watching that game is the other Ravens receivers, maybe below expectations a little bit.

And Lamar was checking into runs quite a bit in that game.

That's a good thing when you can move like that and you see the contours that open up for you in that regard.

I think that's a great thing that shows collaboration with the offensive coordinator on that front and leadership as well from Lamar to do that.

But it also is a little sketchy with the other receivers not named Isaiah likely.

And certainly he's got that connections with Mark Andrews down.

The other thing, I do think that the Raiders defense.

You will probably gas out at the end.

If, again, you're a defense that's just holding it together for your entire organization at this point.

But the combination of Max Crosby and Christian Wilkins, I think they do force Lamar to move more.

I think they will get after Lamar a little bit more.

The guard play, particularly in Baltimore, frightens me a little bit and will probably prompt Lamar to, again, show what he did last week, which was he's going to move around quite a bit.

And the out-of-structure connection with likely then comes up big in that front.

After the absurd punt by Antonio Pierce in week one, the defense did let down and give up the game-deciding touchdown drive, but otherwise was very good in that game.

So I'm glad you pointed that out,

Jordan Rodrigue of the Athletic.

All right, we got two more.

Fish it out of the gravy boat.

These ones are at the bottom.

They've sunk to the bottom.

What's left?

Yeah.

All right.

We got Rams at Cardinals, another matchup of 0-1 clubs.

The Rams are another team dealing with a ton of injuries.

I'm sure Jordan can expand on those in a moment.

But key stat, Sean McVay is 13-2 against Arizona in his career as coach of the Rams.

Just one of those weird NFL things.

Makes me wonder if the Rams' injuries will even matter.

Will they, Jordan?

Yeah, I think they'll matter.

I think that, though,

this is probably one of the games where they'll matter the least of what's coming up on their schedule.

They've got San Francisco and Chicago right around the corner.

So this is really a time to, A, stay healthy, and B, put some other facets and elements of this offense into play without all but one starter on your offensive line down to their third left tackle, their second right tackle, their second left guard, their third center.

Perhaps their second right guard, Kevin Dotson, is supposed to play, but we just don't know with a foot injury that he's not practicing right now.

Tyler Johnson is Puka Nakua's backup.

I don't know how many more times I need to say this to the public, the fantasy football community who I love dearly, are blowing up my phone all week.

Tyler Johnson and a combination of Jordan Whittington, hook'em horns, Graver,

are Puka Nakua's backup, and Jordan Whittington will especially be involved in the run game.

Kyron Williams,

and they need more elements, by the way, in this Rams passing attack than just Cooper Cup, as fun as that is to watch.

In terms of actual game strategy.

I know that wins for fantasy football, but in game strategy, the Rams are one and six when Cooper Cup is targeted 15 or more times in a game by Matthew Stafford.

They easily switch into Hero Ball.

They cannot switch into Hero Ball because they lose football games that way.

So I talked to Sean McVay this week about keeping more dimension in their offense.

It really helps that Tyler Johnson is emerging in that Robert Woods role that Puka Nakuo was in.

It also really helps to have Demarcus Robinson, who, when Matthew Stafford is in chaos and fluctuation, as he will be because he has no lineman, he always looks for Demarcus Robinson, who learned how to work out of structure with playing by playing with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson.

And so Matthew Stafford, he's like his out-of-structure chaos security blankets, looking for DeMar Jack or Demar, Demarcus Robinson downfield.

I was talking too fast.

Okay.

I totally disagree.

I feel like 21 targets a game for Cooper Cup are great.

I also have him on my fantasy team.

And the Cardinals, real quick, because we we do have to move, but very Jekyll and Hyde in week one.

You know, which version shows up?

And is the coaching staff able to do a better job of reacting to taking a counter punch?

Because they did not do well in that department in week one.

Gravy, last game.

I like James Conner rushing yards higher in this one.

All right.

Last game, Steelers at Broncos.

It is sad that we will probably not get Russell Wilson's return to Denver.

But even sadder, I think, are

Bo Nix's prospects against this ferocious Pittsburgh defense.

The rookie struggled against Mike McDonald last week.

His task does not get any easier despite being at home against the Steelers this week.

Can Pittsburgh win another game just by riding their defense and their kicker?

Mark, this thing, it a little annoys me, especially as now the season has taken shape a little bit.

And it's kind of systemic about Sean Payton and this decision to put Bo Nix, who I did not think was ready, for that assignment in Seattle in week one.

And then you have Pittsburgh Steelers defense

in week two.

You put him in a very difficult spot to start his career.

And yes, I'm second-guessing it already.

Well, yeah, I mean, I think coming off of the preseason and what else they have as other choices kind of led to that because he looks sound.

He looked, you know, he looked like he was ready for the moment.

He comes off.

This is the preseason.

He's a perfect example of why people put too much in the preseason.

That's fine, but it's not like, hey, you know, there's some sort of flaming prospect sitting on the roster next to him.

I think it was kind of you dive in, you see what you got.

I'm with you.

It didn't work out last week at all.

He looked lost, especially throwing downfield.

He was two for 12

with two picks on throws over 10 air yards.

So he was so bad in that game.

No, he's terrible.

I'm not defending him.

I'm saying I can see why coming out of August that it crescendoed to that decision.

But

I would disagree with Gravedigger on one thing.

I'm not missing seeing Russell Wilson play the Broncos this week.

I don't have a problem.

nothing for me either, to be honest.

No, and it's not Russell Wilson going up against the Seahawks a number of years ago.

And you asked if the Steelers can win.

This sets up to me just as well as last week would have because they leaned on a kicker going six for six and TJ Watt playing like what he is, which is the defensive player of the year leader right now.

You've got a guy in Garrett Bowles, left tackle, who whether or not he plays, he's not healthy.

I don't like that situation at all.

So yes, I think the way that we keep getting these Steelers teams that are incomplete to nine wins every year dating back to like 1972 are games like this.

And I think this is a way to go and win two games in a row on the road.

And if you can get a little bit more from Fields, who Fields and George Pickens worked well together on some throws.

It was imperfect, but if you can just put together a game plan that gets a little bit more out of Fields, yes, they can win this game.

I think Denver is a pretty vulnerable team, even with Patrick Staten.

All right, let's take a break here and finish the show out with some fearless predictions for week two.

Popsicles, sprinklers, a cool breeze.

Talk about refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing this summer?

A brand new phone with Verizon.

Yep, get a new phone on any plan with Select Phone Trade In MyPlan and lock down a low price for three years on any plan with MyPlan.

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

Swing by Verizon today for our best phone deals.

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

Additional terms and conditions apply for all offers.

Heed the Call with Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler is on Underdog, so why not start playing on Underdog today?

Underdog now has streaks.

You can enter for $1, build up a streak, and win as much as $1,000.

Plus, you can cash your streak out anytime.

So download and play on the Underdog app, sign up with the code HTC, that is our show, and receive up to $1,000 in bonus cash for our U.S.

audience only.

All right, here we go.

We are wrapping things up now.

Week two, just around the bend, and it is time now to check in with our fearless predictions.

Reminder, it's going to be a huge,

just like a mega, a mega killer trophy for one of us at the end of this season.

Before we make our week two predictions, let's check in on our week one predictions.

Let's start with the Zuzzer.

I had three articles

will be out there on Tom Brady featuring Roast or Roasted in the title.

Brady, of course, debuted in the booth for Fox, the $375 million man, Cowboys Browns.

All right,

let's count them out, Gravy.

All right.

Number one.

This is from the Sun over there in the UK.

Fans claim Jason Kelsey was 1,000 times better than Tom Brady on TV debut as QB Legend continues to be roasted, all capped out, by the way, on social media.

Number two,

Tom Brady gets roasted for first broadcast, which included a mid-game burp.

Ooh.

And number three, I missed the burp.

And number three, Evan Roberts roasts Tom Brady's broadcasting debut, colon.

He's an embarrassment to the profession.

Jesus Christ.

Come on, Evan.

I like Evan over at the fan, but let's calm it down a little bit.

That is three headlines with Rosso.

I am 1-0.

All right, next.

Sorry, guys, I nailed the prediction.

I'm about using the sun as a reference, but fair enough.

I did like your targeted Vons ad.

That's dad life right there.

Mark Sessler.

That is funny.

Kyler Murray outplays Josh Allen, cards win.

I don't even know what was it because outplays is the type of stuff we have winners.

Well, no, I was just predicting a Cardinals upset and win, and I

did not get it.

No, I'm 0-1.

Jordan Rodriguez, Amon Ra.

St.

Brown scores.

First touch on an SNF.

Amon Ra.

St.

Brown.

I struggle with that one, as you can tell.

Had a quiet week one.

Sorry, Jordan.

Couldn't have been.

And also a little bit of a tame prediction.

Let's step it up in week two.

Michael Sean Dugar, Aaron Rodgers throws for over 300 and a win over San Francisco.

You and me both were wrong on that one.

Mike and Gravedigger, at least one opening kickoff return TD in week one.

This was a classic.

You went too, too deep.

There was at least one.

I think two.

DJ Dallas had one, and was there another one?

Maybe it was just that one.

There was one for Arizona, but otherwise, but you said it had to be an opening kickoff.

All right, let's make the prediction.

So I have one game lead after one week and feeling great.

I will start.

I talked about on Wednesday's show.

The first round rookies, there are seven of them, had a

quiet and in some cases, catastrophic week one.

Marvin Harrison Jr., chief among them.

All right, how about this?

Five of them are active.

We're not going to have Roman Dunze with Chicago.

I don't believe he's dealing with an MCL sprain.

Obviously, Piercell in San Francisco is on the men, so he's out.

But three of the five active first-round wide receivers in week two will either have 100 yards of offense or a touchdown.

So big bounce back for the young guns of the wide receiver class of 2024.

What are you smirking for, Cesi?

No, I like that.

That's fair.

That's a strong prediction.

right.

I think, well, what I have is I'm just trying to march to 0-2 as quickly as possible.

This is my sports lock of the week that the heads of Vegas bookies will spin round and round like the sweet little girl and the exorcist when we get a tie in week two.

I'm predicting a tie.

It's not even competitive right now.

Even if I get it right,

it looks prophetic.

Yeah, but it's still only worth like one.

It's not like it's worth more because it's

a sports lock.

I said it's a sports lock.

Are you even in this competition or is this just going to be bits?

Do you even care?

I do care.

It's not a bit.

I think this will happen.

Don't you want a trophy?

I know you're a guy that's a little Spartan when it comes to his possessions, but don't you want a great trophy like right behind you?

I think I'm getting one.

This is not a ruse.

I feel like this will occur.

How about this, guys?

Does everyone agree if Mark gets a tie in week two, we triple his total?

He gets three wins for it.

Deal.

Deal.

That's fine.

I do think there is one game with tie potential as as well.

Which one?

Giants and Commanders has tie potential to me.

I think they tied before, if I'm not mistaken.

They came very close to it.

I think they tie once a year.

He's building markup.

He's building markup just for a while.

I like that, Mike.

Thank you.

I remember a Sunday night football game in about 1997.

Washington Giants, Gus Farrat, the Washington quarterback, scored on a run, the only score of the game, and he bashed his helmet into the wall behind the end zone and jammed his neck to the point that he had to come out of the game.

He couldn't play anymore after that, and the game finished in a tie.

I believe it was 7-7.

Anyway, next prediction, Jordan Rodrigue.

I believe that Justin Fields is going to have 60 or more rushing yards against the Denver Broncos, who you can run on, by the way, and then secure the starting position regardless of when.

Russell Wilson is back from this semi-interaction.

To get this right

to get this right, though, let's be clear, because everything needs to be settled by Thursday.

You have to have Tomlin come out and say that Fields is our guy by 9 a.m.

Pacific time when we tape this on Thursday.

I accept.

Okay.

I accept.

That's how we'll go, I think.

Mike.

For the show.

We did mention during the Stills Game preview that Russell Wilson had his pads on despite being inactive, which I thought was absolutely hilarious.

By the way.

And the Giants and Commanders did tie in 2022.

I do remember that now.

I remember that because I was in LA and it had tiebreaker implications for the Seahawks who were in the wild card hunt.

And I remember asking during the, towards the end of the game, like the fourth quarter, asking someone at a Seahawks PR, hey, what do you guys want to happen in this game?

And they were like, it doesn't really matter for us as long as they don't tie.

And I just thought that was kind of funny.

He kind of spoke it into existence.

So now I'll never let him live that down.

As for my fearless prediction, I am predicting a fat guy touchdown of some sort.

A lineman.

Defined fat.

Specific.

Defined fat.

A lineman.

Either offensive or defensive lineman.

Fat guy touchdown.

This doesn't include Keenan Allen or Marvin Harrison Jr.

in this.

Specifically, a lineman.

Score a touchdown.

Oh, damn.

Brilliantly named by Golick, Mike Golick, as a thick six, predicting.

Thick six.

Oh,

guys.

And yes, November 23rd, 1997, Washington Giants 7-7 final.

Got that one too.

Finally, the gravedigger.

All right, my prediction is that J.K.

Dobbins runs all over the Carolina Panthers to the tune of at least two, if not three, but I'm saying two touchdowns.

Two touchdowns, at least, for J.K.

Dobbins, who, if he was on your waiver wire, I hope you went and got him.

I put in a claim,

didn't make a high enough bid.

Let's hope the worst team that we've seen in roughly 14 years can stop J.K.

Dobbins from doing that.

Ooh, spicy.

I think the person who's going to stop J.K.

potentially is Gus Edwards.

He's good for that.

Yeah.

When J.K.

broke into the open on that 50-yarder or whatever, and he had the piano on his back, I was like, I love the story here, but

I don't know if he's the 1,500-yard guy

that week one hinted at potentially.

I don't know.

We'll see.

I admire everybody's relatively safe picks.

Mark and I are Thelma and Louising our way off the surface of the Grand Canyon right now.

So

we're touching the sun, guys.

So

I had to pull back after I went and marked up my prediction last week.

Oh,

I'm with you.

Do you use mark as an adjective?

Exactly.

Did you just use mark as an adjective for the second straight week, Justin?

You're trying to make it a prediction.

Yes, when you make a prediction that is too specific, that is defined as marketing.

You mark it up.

Yeah.

Well, it's called showmanship, Justin.

That's what I'd call it for the show.

All right.

Thank you to everyone for listening.

Thank you to Jordan and Mike.

And obviously, follow everything they're doing over at The Athletic,

including their game coverage.

And a reminder, yes, a draft of the games for the Sunday flagship show.

You can get that exclusively at patreon.com slash heed the call.

That will go up early, early, early Friday morning.

Until next time, do what you must.

Heed the call.

Listen.

That's the sound of the fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron.

The sound of captivating electric performance.

Dynamic drive, and the quiet confidence of ultra-smooth handling.

The elevated interior reminds you this is more than an EV.

This is electric performance, redefined.

The fully electric Audi Q6 e-tron.

Did you know Tide has been upgraded to provide an even better clean and cold water?

Tide is specifically designed to fight any stain you throw at it, even in cold.

Butter?

Yep.

Chocolate ice cream?

Sure thing.

Barbecue sauce?

Tide's got you covered.

You don't need to use warm water.

Additionally, Tide pods let you confidently fight tough stains with new Coldzyme technology.

Just remember, if it's got to be clean, it's got to be Tide.