NFL Week 1 Preview: What REALLY Matters

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

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Let's get to it.

The Heed the Call podcast

is excited to see actual NFL players on the Cardinals defense.

I mean, not just the Cardinals.

We got 31 teams also that we're excited to see.

Heed the Call, Dan Hanses, Mark Sessler.

Mark, this is it.

This is the preview for week one.

And

this might blow your mind, Sess Dog, but when the ball is kicked off tonight at Arrowhead, obviously there will be a neutral zone infraction of some kind with the dynamic kickoff rule.

It will mark our 15th season together covering the National Football League.

And I think it says something, Cesee,

that

we're here now at Underdog, and this is the most excited I've ever been to dive into a week one and get into a new year.

So, bully to us, huh?

Yeah, it feels fresh.

It feels new.

I'm with you.

To me, I think it's a breath of fresh air in our lives.

And I think when football hits, and everyone can kind of describe it in their own way, it's like you have kids, and you remember when you were like in the delivery room and your first child was coming.

It's like, what will this be like?

And then suddenly the child is born and it's crying.

It is evacuating parts of its insides.

It's like, suddenly it needs a lot of attention.

That's how football is to me.

It's like, it's like it's been quiet.

We don't know what it's going to be like, but suddenly it's going to need our attention non-stop.

And I enjoy that.

Not everyone has a child.

Our producer does not have a child.

I took it.

Secessive.

Did I take this out of reality?

If you were up there in a really sentimental way, I did not expect evacuating your insides to be in the initial response.

You got me on my heels now in a big spot.

Really?

Well, am I wrong, though, in the sense that suddenly life begins and suddenly you are the parent and the voice of a new world?

Right.

No, I got you on that.

It was just the phrasing.

I don't know.

It weirded me out.

And so before we get into the preview for week one, by the way, thank you to all the listeners because when we do our

flagship program on Sunday night, it will be our 15th episode, our 15th year together.

According to all the relevant data tracking measures out there, and I may be tracking other competition around us.

We're doing quite well so far.

So thank you to the listeners.

In a short amount of time, you have heated the call, and we're so excited to get into this.

So let's get going.

And new show, new format to the preview show coming up, something that I have always wanted to do, as Mark knows, for several years.

But at the old place, it was harder to change things than to get like, I don't know, gun control reform in America.

So it's like, now we have a fresh start, and we're going to do some different things with the preview.

So buckle up for that.

And also, before we bring in Jordan and Mike, our regular Thursday contributors, a big announcement.

Effective today.

I'm so excited.

As in right now, the Heed the Call Patreon is launching.

Having a side world, Mark, connected to our show is something that we dreamed about doing for years.

And now, free from shackles, we're going to do it.

Patreon.com slash heed the call.

Head over there if you want.

This is sort of something we planned all offseason while we cooked up this show and i think this patreon allows us to expand our football coverage but we're gonna have some special projects that are non-football related to then

yep in fact we're gonna have starting you could sign up now and then starting next week you're gonna see the rollout of three original new shows.

It's a Friday fun show with Sest Dog and I.

The Throwback Podcast is migrating over to Heed the Call.

So new episodes of Throwback Podcast with Bob Castrone and myself, as well as the archives.

And then Rolling Thunder is a show that I think everyone's excited about.

A Dreamscape hosted by Mark Sessler and Jason Zumwalt.

Yeah, that's Zumwalt.

And Mark, there's also rumors of a periodical Sessler-penned newsletter in the mix, in addition to all sorts of kind of fun opportunities for direct interaction between the heroes and the people.

And again, patreon.com/slash heed the call.

We are so pumped for this as well.

So a lot of things to be excited about.

Final thoughts, Mark.

I'll tee you up.

Throwback is a long time

listener favorite.

I have spent probably three or four hours on the phone with Jason Summalt.

This is an interesting person.

I'll leave it right there for now.

We've cooked up some topics.

It's going to be a show that's unpredictable.

It's going to go in a lot of directions.

And the newsletter is not a rumor.

The newsletter is real.

I've been up in the middle of the night with candles burning, writing what I hope will be kind of like a 1983,

like direct-to-mail type newsletter you get.

It's like someone would be cranking it out on a typewriter, probably a problematic individual.

I hope it will be enjoyable to the reader.

I think it will.

I think it will.

I'm sorry, I was distracted.

I don't remember Trevor.

I ever took a drink of coffee.

I think he spilled it on himself, and then when he put down his coffee mug, he banged his microphone.

It's like, buddy, I know you got some nerves.

It's the first preview show, but let's button it up a little bit.

No pressure, no diamonds, bud.

Nobody would have known that.

I'm not on screen for that.

I would have cut the mics out.

I mean, I did in future tense.

I cut the mic.

But once you distract me, I can't help but react to it, or the audience will think I wasn't reacting

in a natural way to Mark's fine words and the excitement around the newsletter.

So anyway, patreon.com slash heed the call.

Maybe we'll just put a camera on Graver 24-7 just to see what he's up to.

Justin is on acid right now.

And we'll do it.

All right, let's get to it.

Let's bring him in.

Let's bring him in.

Without further ado,

have to deal with our just bloviating about our own BS.

Poor Jordan Rodrigue and Michael Sean Dugar.

Of course, from the athletic, Jordan covering the Rams and doing it beautifully.

And over the NFC West

rival Seahawks, Mike is all over that coverage.

Guys, here we are, the preview show.

Mike, you ready for this?

I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Hell yeah.

And Jordan, I mean, I know you are.

I know you are.

You're a mad woman.

I'm so stoked right now.

The best, you played my favorite drop already, which is.

And you also have cut off Mark in several different ways, unintentional and intentional, I think.

So this is already like an amazing, like iconic start for me as a longtime fan.

That is great.

Fox is checked.

That is great to hear.

All right.

So this is how we're going to do it.

The preview show, a little bit different this year.

Don't fear change.

Embrace it, listeners.

We are going to go around the horn twice each, sharing what matters in this upcoming week of football.

So here's what matters in week one, and I'll get it going.

And we're going to go through every game here.

And we'll start

with Sunday night football.

Why not?

According to a nationwide poll conducted by some upstart journalism outfit they call the Athletic, 98.8% of Lions fans feel confident about about their team entering the 2024 season.

That is the highest confidence level of any fan base in the country.

Yes, that places the Detroit Lions, a team with zero Super Bowl appearances in 60 years and narrowly a back-to-back 10-win season in their existence ahead of the Kansas City Chiefs, who are looking to win their third Super Bowl in a row.

So, wow.

So the Lions have been building to this moment.

Now they get this big stage on Sunday night against the Rams team that kind of is a little bit under the radar nationally in terms of people talking about it.

It just doesn't have Aaron Donald anymore.

He's in retirement.

So, two things I'm excited about here.

On the offensive side for the Lions, it's hard to kind of nitpick with their roster, but depth at wide receiver isn't great.

Jameson Williams, after a couple of years in the shed now, is going to step into a much bigger role, they hope, on this offense.

I want to see how he looks in this game.

On the Rams side, I think Matt Stafford, his Hall of Fame ticket, he's like a borderline guy for me.

Kind of hinges to me on these last couple years, these golden years of his career.

Is this offensive line going to hold up in front of him?

And they at least get the benefit, Jordan, of the, they can wade into this 2024 season pool slowly because I don't know how much pass rush the Lions will be able to generate outside of Aiden Hutchinson right now.

Yeah, I worry more actually about the interior.

Sounds like DJ Reeder might be able to go on Sunday.

And then Alim McNeil is an outstanding player as well, kind of underrated if you talk to Sean McVay about him.

You know, the Rams were so excited about this offensive line.

They poured big money into this offensive line for really the first time in a very, very long time.

Certainly not in the Sean McVay era so far in Los Angeles.

And they signed Jonah Jackson,

former Detroit Lion, in free agency to play left guard, moved Steve Avula, one of the best young guards in the league, to center.

They spent the entire spring.

doing that.

And Jonah Jackson missed the first part of training camp with a hurt shoulder.

He's back.

Well, now he's at center because they needed more help on the left side because they're missing their starting left tackle, Alaric Jackson, to a two-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy.

Meanwhile, on the right side, Rob Havenstein is coming back from a significant

meanwhile.

Okay, keep it.

Meanwhile, so it's like the Rams cannot, first of all, have a normal day week or month, but I am worried.

Pressure, you know,

like guys we know of on the outside right now on the Lions are not.

Like, I'm worried about pressure all around on this offensive line because the Rams,

this wasn't a plus plus for them in the spring.

And all of a sudden, everything everything changed, kind of got turned on its head.

And they're still figuring out what this group is really going to look like going into one of the tougher fronts they're going to face on the interior.

I love that we've watched the Lions growing up right before our eyes.

They were like, can't get a national TV game for a little bit.

And then now they're like, what were they the week one opener last year at the Chiefs?

And now they're getting like a home Sunday nighter in week one.

Damn,

man.

He's like the ongoing coach of the year.

Like, I don't know if he'll ever win the trophy.

But you know know what I mean?

Like, the job he's done to get them to the point where all their fans have hope.

That's like turning around the Knicks.

You know, that's like really impressive.

And it's warranted, too.

Someone just asked me today who I thought would win the Super Bowl.

And I went through the NFC and I was like, hmm, can't trust Dak.

I don't know if I trust the Packers defense.

Kind of went down the line and I was like, the Lions.

The Lions are going to go to the Super Bowl.

And I can't, I'm, you know, I'm 32, and I think the Lions have, what, one division title in my existence?

So to feel confident confident about them, I was like, oh man, good for Dan Campbell and his boys over there.

Yeah, and it's, I think what's so interesting about Detroit is that they came out with such a clear vision for what they wanted to be, and it was build up both lines and really the offensive line.

And, like, we're going to be a Detroit type team.

We're going to run the ball right at you.

You're going to know we're going to do it.

We're going to do it.

And it's Dan Campbell's vision.

And a lot of times, like, you know, it's nice that you're on hard knocks and you can have these ideas.

And then, you know, within a year or two, they melt away.

But I'd ask you a question.

In a post-Aaron Donald world, Jordan, is there concern about the players remaining?

I know there's a lot.

They've done such a nice job of like trusting young guys to come in and fill gaps.

And last year, that worked out.

Specifically, like the run defense against this great offensive line that Detroit brings, is there concern, like right away they play, I think, the Cardinals and the 49ers, too, early on in the season, big teams that want to pound you with a run.

Like, is there concern about where this run defense, how they can hold up against a team like Detroit right out of the gate?

Yeah, probably, I would say the number one concern about this Rams team right now is in a post-Aaron Donald world, you know, you can figure out other ways, different combinations.

They certainly have invested in their pass rush, a couple of young, really up-and-coming players, Jared Verse, their first first-round pick since, oh, yeah, Jared Goff, who now is the star of the Detroit Lions, and they're chanting his name at the Green Day concert, apparently, which is incredible.

And, you know, they've picked Jared Verse in the first round and he looks the part and he's playing the part.

And they get Braden Fisk.

In the second round, they trade up for him.

And these guys are going to be able to rush the passer.

I actually don't doubt that.

It's just that the other side of Aaron Donald's greatness was that he could occupy multiple gaps at once in the run defense.

And this is a guy who really isn't.

was an undersized player for his position, but still could just absolutely maul people in the run game.

And they don't have that.

So yeah, figuring out what this run defense specifically without the size maybe that some other teams have on the interior, they've got a lot of things to figure out.

And I think that this is going to be one of the pivotal solutions that they're going to have to find.

And especially, Mark, to your point, those first three games of the season.

Well, one, I love that you mentioned Jared Verse in a recent episode here.

We picked our...

defensive rookies of the year and I picked verse.

I kind of fell in love with his college tape.

I know he's, you know, all these guys have a little more work to polish up, but there was a ferocity and a madness to the way that he rushed the quarterback, and I kind of love that piece being added to the Rams.

So, you know, maybe a little bit of a cherry on top for Jared Goff's removal to Detroit is like, we're going to bring this guy at you and see how this works.

So

that's an exciting piece to add to the Los Angeles defense.

All right.

So we got the...

The Lions favored by four points, by the way, on Sunday night football, and it will be interesting to see what happens here.

I think it's going to be a party there.

There's a reason, as Mike pointed out, that

they got the Thursday night stage last year and took advantage of that stage, and now they have the Sunday night stage because there's an energy and an excitement around this team, and they're as close as it gets to America's team right now, I think.

Forget about the Cowboys or anybody else.

There's this idea of like the Lions getting over the hump, and if that ever happened, what a massive story that would be.

They came so close in the NFC title game.

So the journey begins for the Lions on Sunday night.

All right, let's move to the next game in our Here's What Matters eight-pack, Michael Sean Dugar.

All right, let's go to

this.

It was a weird one for me to pick, but I feel good about it actually when I thought about it.

The Steelers at the Falcons.

Ooh, spicy.

Yeah, and so.

One of the things that made me think about this was I just had, we just interviewed our Broncos beat writer, Nick Cosmider.

We interviewed him for our preview show on Seahawks Man to Man's Shameless Plug.

And he told us a story about the last time, Russ's last visit to Seattle, right?

It was that season opener in 2022.

And everyone knows it went horribly, you know, and Nick said he got a call from someone within the building the next day.

And their question for him was like, do you think, you know, he's going to survive that?

And I believe that he was like Hackett and Russ.

And that was the day after their first game together.

And obviously neither of them survived that, right?

But it was like an example of how fast things can go downhill if your season opener doesn't go well when you don't have all this goodwill built up with the franchise.

You know, Russ had no goodwill built up with Denver.

He has no goodwill built up with the Steelers.

So, like, his debut, I know the Steelers are a more like stable organization, but his debut is still compelling to me.

I think he's the only offensive captain over there.

Obviously, he was named the starter.

So, his season opener is super compelling to me.

Also, Arthur Smith revenge game.

Love of a good revenge game to start the season.

And then this.

Why is that funny to me?

I just think there's something funny about that.

Arthur Smith doesn't look like the

hair to the FedEx Empire.

It's like, how much revenge can Arthur Smith really have on his mind ultimately in life?

They want revenge on him, I think.

Yeah,

revenge can go both ways.

It could go both ways.

Yeah, that's true.

And then, like, I think...

After drafting Penix,

the presence of the younger quarterback waiting in the wings will loom large, I think, for both of the veterans all year.

You know, I don't think they're in danger of getting bench week one per se, but I just feel like when you have those guys, like everyone falls in love, they're enamored with the potential.

As soon as the starter, the incumbent, particularly when he is an older guy who's not mobile,

is in front of them, it's like, well, let's put the young guy in.

And like, how, how loud are those going to get eventually?

You know, I know that Kirk's making a bazillion thousand dollars, so maybe that doesn't matter for him, but still, they took panic so high, you know, and rux is and russ is making you know chicken scratch so he can get thrown out of there whenever so i just feel this game the more i thought about it revenge game uh both the quarterbacks with the young bucks waiting in the wings with franchises who might be eager to see them you know that i was like hmm

how long before those young guys get in there and what's left for these two young dudes or to the older guys actually How good is Russ?

You know, we mentioned Matthew Stafford's Hall of Fame bid is kind kind of on the line damn near every season he plays.

I feel like Russ's is too.

I don't, I used to feel like he was a lock, and then I started just having more conversations over the years with people who are outside of Seattle and had votes, and I learned he's not a lock just from talking to some voters.

So I feel like his kind of legacy is always on the line too, particularly when he starts this season with a new team.

And then Kirk, Achilles, I think Kirk's like 52 years old.

Like, how good is

36, 52, you know, give or take.

Like, how good is Kirk still, you know, and how good does he look with a new team?

I feel like the quarterbacks make this compelling, whereas the teams themselves are not super interesting.

It's a good way to set it up.

And I think that

Russell Wilson, it's like that old thing with the Hall of Fame that you,

whatever the sport is, like, you make the Hall of Fame in your 30s.

And

his 30s have been pretty rocky, at least the last three years or so.

And I guess

if he has a poor game here against Atlanta, a defense that shouldn't be terrifying terrifying this season, although perhaps improved.

How much rope does Russ get?

I think that's a fair thing to ask.

And I also think, Mark,

and you brought up

the

Tom Brady of it all earlier this week.

I want to talk about revenge games.

You got Greg Olson on this game for Fox, and this is a game he is going to look to just murder from an announcer standpoint, and we'll see.

Yeah, I mean, I really love love that you picked this game because I think this is the kind of thing that, you know, six months ago, it would have felt like a flavorless entree, but the quarterbacks make it super juicy.

I mean, we haven't, Kirk Cousins has been shrouded in mystery.

You're absolutely correct.

And what they did with Penix, like, it was a talking point, obviously, the night of the draft, but it's like to have him come out and throw the ball the way he did in the preseason, then to say, kind of, we're shutting him down because we like this guy so much, we don't need to see any more of him.

And it's the kind of backup that like will have Falcons fans itchy for him if anything goes wrong with kirk or if kirk doesn't look like kirk and then it's arthur smith it's like this steelers offense to me i i really feel like they're the kind of team that could run the ball as much as anyone in the league because behind the scenes they've seen what what we've seen and they're getting this version of russell wilson and mike you were one of the first people to report how russell wilson in seattle was starting to go south in a very bizarre way and like this version of him now this steelers coaching staff they can make him the lone captain they can shove him out there and say he's he's the starter, no questions asked.

I feel like both starters are going to play this year.

Ham and Fields will both play, but I feel like Arthur Smith is going to take Najee Harris and Jalen Warren if he's healthy and just run the ball non-stop in this game specifically, because I feel like this is one of the teams that is going to try to hide their quarterback the best they can.

Am I seeing this incorrectly, Jordan?

No, I think play hide the quarterback is exactly what you're going to see in Pittsburgh.

I think, you know what, I was kind of disappointed in a way of the, I know it was a preseason, so teams aren't really fully showing their hand or showing what they're going to do.

But, you know, when we talk about Art Smith and revenge, how about revenge on all of the stuff you didn't move forward in your run game?

And maybe let's, like Mark, you said one time, it's maybe one of my favorite things you've ever said, like, let's FedEx some weirdness into the, into the run game here.

Let's get some diversity of scheme and some concepts here.

Like we expect from Arthur Smith, who has been crowned over these years

as a coordinator and then at the start of his tenure as a head coach, as a guy who can do that, who will do that.

I think this is a really good proving ground for both teams, really, because what is going to make a young and unproven defense better?

Well, it's getting hit in the mouth a bunch of times and figuring out how to stop it.

And I think Arthur Smith on the other side and the Steelers are going to try to be the ones throwing the punches and figuring out what works and what doesn't work.

And ultimately, like you said, Mark, trying to hide the quarterback.

And yeah, Mike, you kind of have been on the road of this Russell Wilson decline year over year over year.

And I guess I wonder, do you think there's any chance that he puts it together?

So I think the biggest issue with Russ is like how he deals with how he deals with things not going his way.

Like trying to be hidden.

Russ is not no fool.

He'll see what that is.

And

that's not him.

You know, he's all about legacy and winning MVP and leading his team to multiple championships.

So just being the guy that just hands it off and then maybe takes some deep shots outside the numbers here and there.

He's never wanted to be that guy.

He also apparently doesn't like running anymore.

That was like reportedly a point of contention with him and Sean Payton.

You know Arthur Smith's going to try to get him on the move because that's what you got to do with a quarterback like him who has some physical limitations on where he's willing to throw it.

You know, there's so much potential for just combustion up there.

there like there was in Denver, like there ended up being in Seattle towards the end.

And the further removed you get from your glory days, the less benefit of the doubt you have, less control you have over what the offense looks like.

Eventually, it just becomes do what we say because we know best.

But just how well is he going to deal with that?

And then Arthur Smith and his weird mustache, like, how does he deal with that?

How does he deal with George Pickens asking for the ball, you know, or maybe not doing his job?

I just see so many avenues for this to just be compelling.

Maybe a little bit of a train wreck, dumpster fire, whatever you want to do.

But then it's like, it's Mike Tomlin.

How often does he really let a train wreck, you know, get that bad?

Now, So I'm going to be watching the Steelers.

They're my Sunday ticket team this season.

That's interesting.

And their defense is what kind of got them to the finish line last year.

But if you pop the hood on some of the analytics with that defense, it actually wasn't maybe overperformed relative to their ability.

And one more note around the Steelers.

Since 2021, no two quarterbacks have taken more sacks than Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

They happen to be playing here, the Falcons, who are last in the NFL in sacks.

In the last five years and the last 10 years.

Matthew Judon needs to be a dog.

All right, up next, Mark Sessler, keep it rolling.

What's the game that matters to you?

Well, it's funny because Jordan and I were texting about the Texans, who are my Super Bowl pick in the AFC, and that has become unoriginal at this point.

I do realize that.

But she was at Texans camp before they prepared to battle the Rams.

So I will ask her a question in a minute.

But I see a team in Houston that is not unlike the friend that you had when you were like in middle school, the one that grew a foot plus in one year, like and had knee issues and like growing pains.

But it also meant like, wait a minute, this guy's about to be six foot four, too, so it's kind of cool.

Like they're growing up very quickly.

And like, are they ready for this?

That's my thing.

It's like, is there

like for like post-puberty fire?

Are they ready to go to like Mordor and drop the ring in there?

Because last year, it's like CJ Stroud grew up so quickly, and he burned this particular Colts defense for nearly 650 yards in two games.

I mean, Nico Collins torched them for like 240 yards and two touchdowns.

And their line, which was banged up all last year, is healthy now.

They've got a great offensive coordinator.

I think this system is baked in like Shanahan, cinnamon, and goo.

It's beautiful.

And you also have this, but the Colts, to me, are not being talked about enough.

I think you've got a potential shock job at quarterback, a star running back, and a bunch of like six foot nine guys on defense.

Their secondary is young, but this is a tough team.

And I know they've underperformed in terms of some of the parts they brought in, but it's a tough group of defenders in general.

And I do wonder if the Texans out of the gate, are they able to live up to what they were down the stretch right away?

Or is Shane Seichen, who is no Wilting Lamb, does he have a surprise up his sleeve for this young Texans team, Jordan?

Yeah, yeah, to your point on the, I think the Colts are incredibly underrated entering this season.

I think when you have an injury that's significant at quarterback, you just aren't talked about maybe as much in that regard.

And plus, you know, failed expectations over the last several years in Indianapolis, despite all the excitement and the hope that's now growing there.

I think they're going to have one of the best fronts on defense in the NFL, despite some of the injuries that they took earlier this season.

And I also think that they're going to hassle C.J.

Stroud early, and they're going to try to get to him and rattle him a little bit.

My thing, though, is I don't think C.J.

Stroud is rattleable.

I don't think he is effiffable.

I think that he reminds me of a combination of Matthew Stafford in terms of that like cool, like kind of, you know, killer vibe that's very like calm on the surface and Joe Burrow, the way that he can, you know, process things, the way that he can read pressure, the way that he can manipulate, but he also can move and he has the arm angles and he has, again, that mentality where, you know, I was talking to some people in Houston and it was like, this guy walks in the building.

One of the biggest things that you have to do if you're a rookie quarterback is you have to immediately be the guy who not only can what they call sell the huddle, so you go into the huddle and you really fully

bring to life the plays that you're about to run in a way that inspires belief and also makes things very, very four-dimensional for the players all around you, but then you go out and do it.

And CJ Stroud had that on day one talking to people in that building.

And so I think that that is so important when you're, you're, you're coming into the season and they are Super Bowl favorites for a couple of people, you know, myself included, I believe they're going to the Super Bowl this year.

I've picked them and, you know, you've got to pick someone every year.

And I do think in the AC, they are going to the Super Bowl.

But I also know that that's become popular and you hear that.

I don't care if you pretend you shut it out as a player.

You hear it.

But what I saw, and Mark, we were texting about this.

What I saw in Houston was an incredibly professional team despite their youth.

So what I like about this matchup, A, just from a Seattle perspective, is the quarterbacks.

Because if you guys remember in their draft, the Seahawks had a really high pick, right?

So there was all this talk about whether they would take a quarterback.

They had just paid Gino,

but there was a thought that they could basically do what the Falcons ended up doing with Kirk and Pennix.

And I remember talking to some people from the Seahawks, you know, after they went on their little tour of visiting all the quarterback pro days and taking selfies with them, which is a whole thing.

I just remember them talking up both of these guys as their two favorites in that class.

I remember one, somebody who was on the Seahawks at the time, no longer with the Seahawks, but they were like, Mike, this CJ kid is a real deal.

Like, he's the best one.

He throws the best ball out of all of them.

And they knew Anthony Richardson would be kind of raw, but they were just like, there's going to be times where he's just the best athlete on the field, and it doesn't matter.

I kind of said that was kind of Lamar-ish a little bit, not just from an arm standpoint, but just like, he's just going to be able to run around and do things that the other team just can't plan for.

So sometimes when I do watch them, I just imagine like, damn.

What if they were here?

You know, and the setup, if they had taken CJ, was really good in Seattle.

And now I think it's even better in Houston.

CJ might have one of the better setups from pass protection.

He has maybe the best left tackle, probably the best receiving room, a really good OC, probably like a top

eight or nine-ish OC.

Like, he's just set up just really well.

So my thing, I push back on the Super Bowl thing.

I don't believe in them quite yet.

And it brings me back, though, to a quote from Lamar Jackson.

I believe I was reading this in our athletic writer, Jeff's Reeback, story this week.

Lamar basically admitted what we all could see that the they lost the AFC championship game because of maturity.

You know, they lost to a team that knew how to respond to getting hit in the mouth, to maybe being down or things not going their way.

And the Chiefs, or excuse me, the Ravens just didn't know how to deal with that, right?

They had to take their lumps.

We see this in basketball.

We see this in football with postseason teams.

Sometimes you just got to take an L, you know, in your first or second year, and then you bounce back.

So I do wonder if the Texans maybe need one more L in the playoffs.

Maybe it's in the AFC title game.

Maybe it's they get down and don't know how to figure out quite yet against a more experienced team.

Maybe they lose to like the Bengals or something, a team that's been there and done that.

The Texans, because of the youth, because they still have some pretty important holes, I feel like, particularly in the secondary, at just the second level of their defense in general, outside of Derrick Stingley Jr., I feel like they're like that team that's almost there.

Almost like last year's Lions, I think, about them.

Like they got the pieces, but they're just like one more lump away from being the team that's mature enough to come back from, you know, down nine on the road in a division around game.

You know what I mean?

And the Lions, yeah, the Lions famously got turned away at the door of the Super Bowl there last year.

So that feels like that's their lump.

So now this time,

do the Texans need that?

Because I agree with that.

Sometimes a team on its way up to, you know, titleville needs that real stomach punch loss that kind of takes them and puts them in position the next year.

One last kind of overarching note around the Colts, and I can't wait to see Anthony Richardson, as we're talking about here.

And in general, this division, and hopefully, Gravedigger, his quarterback, will get to Will Levis in a bit.

But yeah, Stroud, if Anthony Richardson's a player and Trevor Lawrence all in that division, that's a lot of fun.

Those are three young, dynamic passers through seven years as the Colts' general manager.

I read this, I believe, in the athletic.

Chris Ballard has won zero division titles.

They have one playoff win, and now three straight years without the playoffs.

So it's time for the Colts to move.

Or I don't know what Steichen's future is.

They seem to like Steichen a lot, but the GM, it's in a weird spot.

All right, up next,

it is Jordan Rodriguez.

Okay, guys, I'm going to hit you with a lot of stuff here, so buckle up.

Okay, let's go.

Okay, I'm starting with Green Bay versus Philadelphia Eagles Friday night in Brazil.

This is so cool.

We're going to get to that in a minute.

The really interesting, awesome international aspect.

Okay, I've got three subsections of the game that matters to me.

And all of these three things matter to me.

It matters.

I'm overusing that now.

I understand.

That we're watching two young quarterbacks.

No, I like it.

That's the hope.

It's an homage to you there, Dan.

We're watching two young quarterbacks enter pivotal moments in their careers right now.

Jordan Love obviously got paid four years, $220 million.

The way he ended the 2023 season really showed what his long-term potential could be.

Tied for six in EPA per drop back overall, tied with CJ Stroud, a guy that, as you guys know by now, I am extremely high on.

This team did get their gut punch already, this Packers team.

Week nine against the Rams in the rain and the mud and like no sign of any offense played anywhere on that field was rock bottom.

And then from week 10 onward, Jordan Love was tied for two in EPA per drop pack.

per drop back, tripling his season average over that time, 18 touchdowns, only three interceptions, and then he got paid.

And the Packers started playing this really free, like devil-may care style of offense that was schematically very sound, but also accentuated by Jordan Love and really his confidence.

You could see it growing.

And on the other side of this, Jalen Hurts, like what he's dealing with this year in terms of a pivotal moment,

he's kind of, it's more intangible because I don't think it can be argued how great of a quarterback he is and how much dimension he adds to the offense that he plays in.

he's dealing with like whispers about his head coach, loud whispers about the future, the long-term future of his head coach.

And whether it's fair or not, a lot of times a quarterback is so tied to the ebbs and flows of what that coaching tenure is.

He lost Jason Kelsey.

He's going to be stepping forward into the spotlight as someone who does a lot, you know, with the new center, Cam Juergens, together and collaborative with

between the two of them, doing a lot at the line of scrimmage.

And the curse, I think, like I said, the curse of a quarterback in his situation as great a player as we know he can be is when there is unrest in the offseason in the building, when there's big questions about the head coach, everybody squeezes a little tighter.

What will really help him though, and I cannot wait to watch what they do in this passing game and the run game because he's got one of just three pairs of wide receivers who had 1,000 plus receiving yards last year.

Devontae Smith, Skinny King, and A.J.

Brown.

And I also know I'm not the only one excited to see specifically the combination of Jalen Hurts and all the dimension he has and the misdirection pre-snap that he can do with Saquon Barkley, who we know is more scheme diverse than perhaps he's looked over the last season and has this potential behind one of the better still one of the best coach and will be one of the better offensive lines in football.

I'm fascinated by the, we're seeing, you know, we just talked about rising young quarterbacks, but we're also seeing like these two young quarterbacks who are established at this point in the NFL, and they're hitting this like pivotal moment.

It all happens on a Friday night, on a Friday night of all times, guys.

It's incredible.

I'm a little, I'm, I'm torn on it.

I mean, because you know, it's never going back now.

You know, we're always going to have a Friday night game for the rest of time.

And for a long time, I've been saying on our show that the NFL will figure out how to do a game every week, and we're getting there.

We're close.

So, this is the new thing, but it's also the new normal.

We'll be in Moscow next year.

So, you know, bundle up.

I don't know what's the weather like in Moscow.

It's probably warm.

I don't know.

But yeah, I think

it's a great matchup.

The Eagles and the reboot of the machine is going to be very interesting to watch.

I still have a lot of doubts about the locker room and how they'll be able to handle that.

And you've lost some key veterans there, both in terms of their ability on the field, Jason Kelsey to meet chief among them, but also their locker room presence.

So you got to watch for that.

But also, Jalen Hurts wasn't healthy at the end of last season, and that made a big difference in what they were able to do.

So I want to see, I want to see it, Mark.

I want to see the Eagles come out.

And for all the belly aching from people like me, they're like, everybody gets so excited about the Eagles in the offseason and how he nailed it again and all this stuff.

But like, show me that you're a functional unit again, that you're organized, that you're cohesive and not like quietly a train wreck behind the scenes.

And if you kick ass on Friday night, that's going to put a lot of that to bed.

It's that simple.

That's what they need to do because it's like you can look at a team like Jacksonville that totally blew up down the stretch, but we're not talking about them the same way.

It's like there is this residual

that guy.

There's some residual questions about the head coach, about the head coach's relationship with the quarterback.

And for the second year in a row, you've got two new coordinators.

And I know that you can look at the career of Vic Fangio and say, we can trust this guy.

Kellen Moore, to a lesser degree, but he's been around.

But they both were with a team for one year and they're gone.

And it's like Kellen Moore is going to change this offense a lot.

The Eagles were 30th in the league a year ago in pre-snap motion.

You mentioned Saquon's in there.

But now Kellen Moore, where he was, they were fourth with the Chargers.

So that offense is going to look a little bit different.

Whenever there's transition versus consistency, I think that concerns me with any team starting the year off in any way where it's like you aren't just doing what you've been doing for years as a quarterback inside of an offense.

We're going to ask more of you.

It's going to be different.

And it's just like this team that last year rolled out of the gate and looked like they were going to go right back to the Super Bowl completely imploded.

And it's, to me, that's coaching.

That goes back to the head coach.

And it's like, who is Nick Siriani right now?

I just think there's concerns.

And lost behind the Jalen Hurts stuff was an Eagles defense that was battered against the pass.

And I think what I see is a Packers team that I think picks up from where it left off.

I don't know who the Eagles are right now.

That's the big question.

And I'd ask you guys, and Mike, like, the loss of Kelsey to me is one of the more, it's like every team loses offensive linemen, but the tush push was like their heart and soul and who they were, and no one else in the league could duplicate it.

There's no way to expect that to ever be duplicated by the Eagles at this point.

So that's a major heartbeat in what they did amid an offense that's changing on its own.

Dan, I started my journalism career covering the Idaho Vandals.

So when you said we might be in Moscow next year, I was like, why would they play a game in Idaho?

But it hit hit later but i was like this dude's nuts like i don't the kibby dome's cool but i don't think like the nfl is going to a 16 000 seater or whatever it is

that was just in my head for like two minutes i was like this guy dance tripping now i know what you meant though but that's how many people start their career in roster idaho right yeah no i i got it now mark i'm with you on the defense being a big part of the eagles issues you know because i saw them once live last year and they got walked down by drew lock you know like a 90 yard drive you know, Monday Night Football.

And then their best corner, no, maybe their second best corner, James Bradbury, just got torched for every yard on the drive, including the game winner by a rookie in Jackson Smith and Jigba.

So I'm super concerned about them.

I don't necessarily believe in Vic Fangio anymore.

Maybe that's just because I watched a bunch of Dolphins defense last year and I was just like, this dude don't got it.

And it's not even that like he didn't forget how to coach ball.

His scheme is still fine, but your scheme is only as good as it's relative to how well the players buy into it.

And it was very clear that Miami's defensive players just were like, nah, this dude, we just don't like what he's saying for whatever reason.

And that was very similar to what happened with Sean Desai last year, who was the Eagles defensive coordinator.

So I just don't really, because I'm not a big Fanzio guy, I believe in the scheme, but like, as soon as you lose the ability for players to buy into you, you're just, you have no value as a coach.

Like zero, absolutely zero.

And I also just don't believe in their secondary right now.

Like, I love Slay, but like, outside of that, I got a bunch of rookies back there.

I I don't remember if they still have my guy Ed Reed blankenship, but like their secondary just concerns me.

I don't know if Howie cares about inside linebackers at all, really, you know, or if he knows how to scout them.

So like I do think their offense could be okay.

I believe in Kellen Moore's ability to fix them because the fix is just so easy.

With Kelsey and their previous like setup offensively, they just ran the ball at you and you could do nothing.

I remember there were guys on the Seahawks last year telling me, Mike, their scheme is simple.

They run like five plays.

They just run them really well.

So all Kellen's got to do is just maybe run 10, you know, and the problem's probably fixed.

So I'm not worried about that side of the ball, but when I look at their defense, I'm very concerned outside of their front.

Like, I trust their front, but they remind me of the Giants a little bit.

We're like, I trust your front, but what happens when the ball comes out?

Like, can you stop it?

I think that's the issue they're going to have in Brazil.

Speaking of Eagles linebackers, Devin White has a guy that they brought in, a guy that's kind of known for freelancing and maybe not being the guy that you want to bring into this Eagles team.

Well, he's not even going to play.

He's got an ankle issue, and I don't think he even won a starting job at a camp.

And then the one other thought I'll share personally about the Packers, who otherwise I really like.

I think I have him going to the Super Bowl, so I must really like them.

But I'm a little nervous about behind Josh Jacobs right now, a guy who hasn't always stayed healthy,

you have not much depth at all.

Third-round rookie Marshawn Lloyd has missed weeks in camp with a hamstring issue.

Emmanuel Wilson is

on the depth chart right now.

And then behind Jordan Love right now, what do we got?

Malik Willis?

Jesus.

My God.

Stay healthy, kids.

Stay healthy.

All right, let's take a break.

And when we get back, we'll go through another round of what matters in week one.

You know, Dan, we had a softball team for years, and I touted myself as the manager, and it's because I couldn't see anything.

So it's like, who wants wants to put me at the plate?

So it's like time, it's like, I'm an adult.

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And I walked by Warby Parker here in L.A.

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And I look up at trees now.

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Mark, I get it.

And we would have loved to bat you cleanup and had you at center field for that softball team.

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All right, we're back.

All right.

Let's move to Monday night football.

Jets at Niners.

Niners favored by four and a half.

Okay, sure, why not?

So,

by the way, Hassan Reddick never showed up.

My column.

What the f ⁇ ?

I still like the New York defense, Sans Reddick, but he felt like the final piece in what could turn a good defense into a potentially great one.

So now I have to hope Will McDonald, the fourth,

has to live up to his draft stock, and he's a spicy prospect, but I don't know.

I have my concerns.

I think he's like 140 pounds.

That seems to be a problem.

And apparently he's one of those guys, like get him off the field when it's a run situation, but he's got a nice spin move.

So anyway, Reddick, what's up, bro?

As for the game, there's a lot going on here.

Stars on both sides of the field, obviously, Aaron Rodgers returning from the injury and going against the team that finally, you know, famously left him in the draft green room.

Remember, sad guy with the soul patch?

Hashtag.

Never forget.

As for the Niners, I wonder if this is quietly a tough spot for the offense.

I mean, think about it.

Brandon Ayuk, a ghost all summer.

Trent Williams, 100 years old himself, and missed the entire training camp and preseason.

Not that he would have played in the preseason.

Anyway, Christian McCaffrey missed much of camp with a calf injury and just started practicing again.

I can imagine, I could see it, Ceci.

I could picture your boy Brock Purdy floating some wobblers over the middle of the field with Quinn Williams crashing in through the middle of that line.

How about you?

Yeah, I guess the Niners feel like it's kind of like when you are back at work on Monday after like a 10-day vacation abroad where it was just essentially a bender.

Like a lot's been going on in the last couple of weeks for the Niners.

And it's, yes, they've got everyone back in house.

But whenever you've got like a wide receiver finally practicing, finally showing up,

you wonder about health, about what's going to happen, the chemistry of the offense.

They have played together so much that I kind of tend to just feel like the Shanahan attack is kind of bulletproof from that kind of stuff.

I mean, for me, the psychological weight, and it goes just beyond the nature of the rosters.

Like, I'd take the Jets' defense over the Niners from a roster angle, but the psychological weight of the Jets having to go back on primetime in Monday night after what was an apocalyptic organizational meltdown a year ago,

that I just wonder, like you talk, we talk about the Texans needing another punch in the mouth before they learn how to get over the hump.

Where is this roster?

Where is this coaching staff?

Because it feels like they're so combustible, so implodable if anything goes wrong.

So it's like, can show up in an environment like San Francisco against a team that just came off a Super Bowl loss and be who they are?

Like, can you be who you are in this game?

It just feels like the Jets to me are different than almost any team in football, any team in sports, where it's like, my questions are more about, can you live up to the talent on a very talented roster?

Can you show up and get the job done without getting in your own way, Michael?

Yeah, the Jets are weird.

They have a guy who took the oldest red shirt season ever, Aaron Rodgers, 40-year-old redshirt year, pretty much.

I did enjoy, and my colleague Mike Sandoz, quarterback Tierra, there was an anonymous quote, I believe, from a head coach who, and talking about Aaron Rodgers, was like, yeah, look at those last four plays from last year.

He wasn't very good.

And I was like, how the hell did you draw a take from those?

I don't even remember those plays.

I couldn't even remember if he threw the ball.

I had to go back and read the play-by-play.

I was like, wow, that

really hate two dropbacks or three dropbacks was under pressure every single one the offensive line was no good that's that was clear yeah no that yeah that there's a lot of hate there guys get their hate off and the the and sandals call them every year but i was like that's real hate like that guy really does not like aaron's degree

i i'm i'm a big i i believe in aaron rodgers because there he's one of those quarterbacks who i got to see you be bad i don't want to be feel try to get ahead of the curve on when you're going to fall off the cliff you know maybe it should be because i'm i'm really close with a patriots fan and so we talk about that trent dilfer like rant on that Monday Night Football game about Tom Brady.

I think it was 2014.

He was just like, Tom Brady's not good anymore.

And obviously, that was like the worst take ever.

So I just never want to be that for some reason.

So I need to see Aaron Rodgers be bad before I believe that he's like over the hill.

Because honestly, in that last time we saw him, he was fine, you know.

And I think the skill player is set up really well.

I think chemistry with your OC matters.

And I think he'll have that.

I think that's really important.

I trust their defense.

You know, I think Sauce and DJ Reed is the best, it's the best cornerback duo in the league.

And I'm not even really sure how close it is.

Honestly, I love those two guys.

Really good, really disciplined.

Don't give up a lot of touchdowns, which is obviously huge.

So, yeah, I actually, I'm maybe one of the few people on this side of the, you know, in this time zone that's like, yo, the Jets are a real deal.

I believe in their defense.

I'm with, I'm with you, Dan.

I believe in them, you know, without Hassan Reddick, it would be nice to have him, of course.

But Salah is a guy I believe in that regard.

There's just some people I need to see you suck before I think you suck.

You know, Jordan,

I think they're going to go to San Francisco and make some noise down there.

If we're doing picks, I do think they're going to win.

I do think they're going to win.

Wait, is that your fearless prediction?

What is your fearless prediction for week one?

We're all going to share one.

Yeah, I'll drop mine now.

Yeah, I think Aaron throws the 300 and a win.

Oh, hell yeah.

And a win.

Duke are in the house, baby.

Oh, yeah.

Jordan, just for the record and people that were wondering, the reporting around Rodgers is that he was moving well well post-Achilles.

He kind of looks like a 40-year-old quarterback, but he doesn't.

This isn't Vinny Testa Verdi hobbling back onto the field for the 99 Jets, 2000 Jets.

So everything seems in order physically.

What possibly could go wrong?

This should be a fun stage.

Yeah, it can always get worse in most things, but I actually don't think that it could have gotten worse for you last year there, Dan, or for the Jets.

I got to say,

I really, this Jets defense, and I'll push back even a little bit further.

I think they have three league leading corners because Michael Carter in the slot, I mean, I think he is one of the best, maybe top two who they just re-signed.

Right, who they just extended.

Yeah, and he is, that trio to me is absolutely fantastic.

You know, Bob Sala and Kyle Shanahan have had some really epic battles against each other for years in the closed doors of practices.

They know each other down to the bone marrow at this point.

And I think if there's ever going to be a time to capitalize on the like bowling ball covered in knives rolling down a hill that the 49ers offense is going to be at some point this season, it's going to be right now when they all have just gotten back in the dang building together for the first time all season when Christian McCaffrey is coming off, you know, of missing a little bit of time and just trying to be cautious with him.

And I also think that, you know, I watched,

somehow, I watched a lot of Jets.

I don't know how this happened.

I watched a lot of Jets games last season.

And I do believe in the capability of this defense.

I do worry about the password situation.

I have some like,

Dan, we're going to have to sit down and have a long like Joe Douglas conversation at some point.

But at the same time, I watched Robert Sala just like clench tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter and tighter on the sideline as everything went by and he had to be like the spokesperson for this unpredictable catastrophe of a season.

And I think he's ready to freaking unload, man.

I think he's ready to go out and, in his words, throw some hate, some haymakers.

And I think that he is going to make this 49ers team earn it every single step of the way.

I'm

Douglas.

I can't say negative things or point out negative things about Ballard and Indianapolis without pointing out that Douglas has done squat, despite, let's be fair, he's built a very good roster.

Now we're going to see what happens.

A great Monday night football game.

All right, Mark, you're up next.

All right, let's go to Cleveland.

It's the Browns and the Cowboys, the announcing debut of Tom Brady.

And what matters to me, I have been a Browns fan since rough like 35 years, okay?

I'm old.

And what matters to me is who are the Cleveland Browns?

I find them, this version of the team, to be strange in many ways.

They seem stuck with their chosen partner under center because they were happier.

I feel like Kevin Stefansky seemed happier with Jacoby Brissette.

He was happier with Joe Flacco.

And now it's like all preseason long, and you look at their social account, it's like Jameis Winston is the quarterback that's like pumping the team up with his wild verbal pep talks.

And Deshaun Watson has no discernible personality that

I can detect.

I mean, Flacco lifted the players around him.

He won games, took him to the playoffs, and then he's pushed out of town for being like too Bernie Kozar-ish, too much of an asset, too likable.

So this is the biggest game to me of Deshaun Watson's career.

I don't care about the playoffs in Houston.

That feels like a million years ago.

It's not a career that we're able to feel passionate about.

Can he change the trajectory against a new aggro defense in Dallas led by Mike Zimmer?

Can we take the Browns seriously if they at home in week one with this defense, if they cannot handle this bit of business, are they to be taken seriously on any level?

I think they can try to capitalize that that defense especially should, like kind of similar to what I was just talking about with the Jets, like maybe capitalize or try to with some

physicality and some scheme on really an offense and defense that seems to be in huge question and just sort of all over the place and messy.

And, you know, getting CD back for the Cowboys is great, but there's so many other things that are in question.

And, you know, I think Mike Zimmer is a great defensive coach, but I don't know how this defense is going to look.

I don't know that it's, I mean, like, like, I think he, Mike Zimmer is going to have to depend a lot on scheme to try to fill some of the holes and some of the deficiencies that this defense only on paper could have or some of the streakiness that it has.

And

Jordan,

like Mike was saying about Fangio, I have the same questions about Zimmer at this stage.

He's a guy that he's an old school guy.

I mean, it's almost like comical at this point how that's become like the driving aspect of his personality that he's an old cranky man.

But I don't know if that works anymore.

I mean, maybe it does, but like being a Parcells guy in goddamn 2025, I don't know if that's a thing.

Yeah, old cranky men are out.

Female Female Rage is in.

This is what the magazines say, apparently.

So

thanks, Alanis.

You're back.

Double national anthems here in the summer.

Yeah, I do have serious questions about the Cowboys.

I have not been shy about that.

But I think if you're the Browns, you really lean into your potential on defense.

And the offense, I mean, there are so many questions.

Mark, to your point, on that offense, it's almost like, okay, throw a dart at a board and pick one at this point in terms of you got to get some stable quarterback play to even get a fair evaluation, I think, of what this offense can do.

And you had glimpses of it with Flacco at the end of the last season, but you know, this defense in the interim, as you're figuring all of that out, and let me be clear, they've been figuring it out for trying to figure it out for a couple of years.

But I think you lean on your bread and butter, what really got you a strong foundation last year, and then see if you can roll through the back half of the season.

What do you think, Mike?

Mark, I love your analogy there because it kind of reminded me of the Browns and Watson, pretty much with the partner.

I just officiated a wedding a couple of weeks ago, and there was this couple there who, like, they have a kid together, but they're not together, but they still live together.

So they go to like certain events like that, and like, you know, you got to put on the face, you know, like we have to.

That's a show.

So, yeah, no,

it was very kind of awkward.

A good time.

But you officiated there?

No, I didn't officially.

Not that couple.

I was officiant, but that was not the

couple.

No, no, no, no, no.

Different, different, different.

But, like, because the Watson, the Watson thing is so weird.

You know, you factor in all the weirdness that got him there, but then also, like, he is part of the poster child for like the, I don't know, toxicity.

Is that how you say that?

Around like these private QB coaches, you know, like, I feel like it's just only going to get worse there.

And like, his guy brings an element to it that's got to piss the Browns off.

I also don't think like Deshaun's that good anymore, anymore, which is a problem.

And it's unfortunate for them because you look at their roster, their defense, even some of their skill guys, who I'm not super big on, but like Cooper and Njoku is good enough.

He just has to not stink.

And I'm not even sure how good he can be at that at this point.

His arm looks cooked sometimes.

The mobility is fine, as we saw in that game against the Ravens last year.

But like, I'm high on the pretty much the rest of the Browns roster.

I'm high on their coach.

It just feels like, man, they're in a tough spot.

Because, you know, they can see the same stuff we're seeing with Deshaun, but you can't do nothing about it right now.

You just got to go out there.

You got to go to the wedding.

You got to try the drinks.

You got to eat together.

You got to take pictures together, even though you know, like, this is not working for us.

You just got to do it.

So, yeah, they're like the unhappy couple, the Browns, and Watson.

It sucks because I think their team is really, really good.

Yeah, they are an older team.

They're in a weird spot in time.

I think we know that.

Like, if Watson isn't someone who can regain his former glories, they're in a a lot of trouble.

They have 13 players that are 30 or over.

They've obviously had offensive line issues with injuries throughout the summer.

We don't know if we'll see Nick Chubb this year.

Maybe we'll see him

and hopefully he does come back in the next couple of months.

But if he does, what kind of role will he have?

And so the Browns are kind of an intriguing X factor in the AFC.

By the way, this game...

Time for my fearless prediction.

And by the way, we're going to be tracking these fearless predictions, the four of us.

We're going to have standings for these fearless predictions.

There's going to be a trophy for the winner of fearless predictions.

Mike, think about it.

Think about being involved with the show, and now you might have something

tangible

at the end of the year.

I mean, I know that gives you goosebumps, doesn't it?

Yeah, I mean, I'm a big trophy guy.

I have the trophy from my fantasy league sitting over there.

I think we do like a plaque or something at the athletic for our expert picks, whoever has blast records.

No, no, no, no.

I think I've got like this is going to be a trophy.

Well, I say that to say something tangible is a motivating factor for me.

Just like giving, just saying, oh, Mike was the best.

That's fine.

I need something tangible that I can hold that I can give to my daughter and hope that she doesn't drop.

You know, like, give me that, and I am motivated.

I want to have something that I could FaceTime my parents in New York, hold it up, and say, Proud of me now, dad.

How about now?

At long last.

All right, here's my fearless prediction.

We said this is the game.

This is a huge media story, huge NFL story.

Tom Brady is calling this game.

By next Thursday, I, me, I'll be able to produce photographic/slash digital evidence of no less than three articles on Tom Brady's debut in the booth with Fox that feature the word roast or roasted in the headline or lead.

I mean, it writes itself.

Oh, NFL fans roast Tom Brady after a shaky debut.

Or he'll do great, and maybe Tom Brady roasts expectations.

I think it's going to be too hard for the headline writers of America and the journals out there to not tie these things together.

It's just right there for me.

I need to produce three, and I have to do it by next Thursday's preview show, or I get it wrong.

But I think I'll get it right.

You can't influence the journalists out there because I think the one problem I have here is that now that you've verbalized this, there will be a writer assigned.

Even the Athletic has a number of these guys assigned to

cover the media and they're going to shy away from doing this or shy toward it based on how they want you to fare in this competition.

So we'll see what you're influencing.

I get that.

And I'll just say, Jordan and Mike, obviously, I don't imagine they're going to be writing media columns on this, but they are

exempt from this.

So even if they did, yeah, even if they did, I wouldn't be able to tap into that.

So I'm even putting myself at a little bit of a disadvantage.

These are two major national writers on the scene.

So it just shows, again, the confidence I have in my own choices and my own fearless predictions.

Well, you also have the machine, the machine of search engine optimization is on your side on this, Dan.

I mean, writers picking headlines are no match for the machine that is SEO because Brady and Roast, probably the most Google-searched phrase of the summer.

And so I think you've got like the giant wheel of our universal arc as a society on your side on this point.

Dan wants this trophy.

I promise you.

I want a bad.

Friend of the show, Nikki Glazer,

who

was the person who famously roasted Brady at a level that

turned it into a much bigger story, is now hosting the Golden Globes.

So a friend of the show,

of ours, Mark, we had Nikki on before the Brady Roast.

And now, fast forward, like seven months, and she's hosting the literal Golden Globes.

So, that is the power of the Heed the Call Empire.

And sign up for the Patreon.

Yeah, I think it only tells you where Jordan and Mike will be six months from now.

I mean, that's the trajectory and the power of this episode and this production.

I can just picture Dugar in a full white tuxedo doing a dance number to Bad Boys 3 or 4.

Where are we at on the Bad Boys franchise?

At the Oscars.

Four of them.

Yeah.

By the way, speaking of the Patreon, patreon.com/slash heed the call,

a Michael Sean Dugar like rewatch of all the bad boys.

I'm just saying, these are ideas and they just pop up.

He's a film buff.

He's a real cinephile that Dugar.

Absolutely would do that.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Up next, I believe, is who?

It's me.

I don't know.

Even if it's not, I'm taking the baton by force.

Raiders at Chargers Sunday at 1.05 p.m.

It matters that Justin Herbert is not actually on the injury report this week.

Yes, he's been back at practice after spending some of the preseason in a walking boot dealing with plantar fasciitis in his foot.

A super painful injury, but it does matter that he is not actually on the injury report.

That sort of officializes he is a full go heading into this matchup.

I am worried about this.

I'm going to be keeping an eye on this particular injury over the course of the season because Justin Herbert also told reporters this week that he's going to be managing this all year.

It's pre-practice, post-practice rehab.

So prehab and post-practice rehab.

Lots of icing, really pain management of this.

Like this is not something that just disappears into the night.

And so that's something that I'm concerned about.

I'm not actually going to waste any time talking about things that, and if we're talking about things that matter, talking about the Raiders offense.

really,

I am really, really disappointed in sort of the management of this quarterback situation over there.

I find it egregious that they are wasting Devontae Adams' prime.

You don't want your star receiver, who's one of the best players in football right now,

addressing questions about potential dissatisfaction in the first lead-up press conference against a division nemesis.

You just don't want that.

It's a mess.

Raiders fans who participate in the Athletics Hope Bo Meter survey expresses 39%

optimism, among the lowest.

And I think if they had a quarterback, Tom Tolesco, if they had a quarterback, I bet that would skyrocket past 90.

It matters to me that the Raiders have gone about pairing Christian Wilkins with defensive end Max Crosby, who was in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation.

He played the most snaps of any pass rusher in 2023, 1,037.

And because his offense has sucked, he has had to defend the run more than any of them because teams can go ball control against this defense with a lead.

So he played nearly 40% of run defense snaps, had 90 tackles.

And I was talking to a couple of alignment this summer and they, first of all, Max Crosby is not talked about enough in this league, in these O-linemen's opinion, and they compared him to like a really chatty, annoying spider who like you're watching coming through like maybe a crack in your floorboard or something in your window screen.

And he's just like puts one arm through and there's like no space for him to rush through and he puts one arm through and then another and all of a sudden he is here and you just feel dread watching it.

He and Christian Wilkins are going to be an all-smack talk team, in my opinion.

And Christian Wilkins is actually going to free him up to rush a little bit freer.

And 14 and a half sacks without that kind of help last season, I think you're going to see really big things from Max Kraussy.

That does matter about this Raiders team.

Again, do not be wasting all

NFL talent at receiver, like great potential with Brock Bowers coming in, and all NFL talent on defense because you can't figure out the quarterback question.

And also,

Joe Alt and Max Crosby cannot wait to watch that.

That matters.

10-foot wall of brick, Joe Alt.

That's going to be really, really fun.

Finally, and this is special for you guys because I think you're really going to like this guy.

It matters that instead of burning Sage in the building or plugging in a Glade Clean Linen Scent diffuser to get the stink of mediocrity out, Jim Harbaugh is a Kool-Aid man bursting through the walls with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.

Got the old GM out, ironically now at the Raiders, placed his guy, Joe Hortiz, in.

And most importantly, the whispers, whispers around the league is that one of the most underrated moves any team made all season who's hiring a new coaching staff is Jim Harbaugh bringing in the old strength and conditioning coach from Michigan, Ben Herbert.

They say he's the secret sauce in overhauling that building.

Dan, you and I have talked a lot about when you do have turnover like that, the language of a building changes.

Well, in this case, it was a good change.

You needed to take that energy out of the building by force and install an entire new full season year-round strength and conditioning, injury prevention, body maintenance plan because we've seen what's happened to these Chargers teams over the years.

And Ben Herbert is that guy.

I want to read a line to you from a Fox Sports feature on Herbert by Michael Cohen, who works over there at Covering College Football.

So motivational tactics that Ben Herbert uses.

At Wisconsin, where he was before, meant using house plants for an extended metaphor that underscored the importance of nutrition.

Herbert named one plant the governor and gave it plenty of water and miracle grow.

He named the other plant the deacon and gave it a diet of Miller High Life, bourbon, Oreos, Doritos, and DiGiorno pizza.

Within days, the deacon began to rot and reek, at which point Herbert hammered home his point about proper foods and fluids.

He brought the governor and the deacon to Michigan in 2022.

His own mother is quoted in this story saying she thinks his intense eye contact makes some some people nervous.

This is everything I want in this building.

This is everything I want to overhaul that culture.

And again, to get that mediocrity stench out of that building once and for all.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

So you have, first of all, I love Jordan.

Your level of research is incredible.

The fact that you focused more on a guy named Ben Herbert than Justin Herbert is commendable.

And I will also add that John Harbaugh, SESDOG, is in the uncomfortable eye contact hall of fame.

Freaks me out the way that man just looks through one's soul when he speaks, whether it's the media or his own players.

Have you got a second guy in the Uncomfortable Eye Contact Hall of Fame?

I mean, this could go one of two ways, but there's an intensity back with the Chargers that we have not seen, maybe ever.

Yeah, and I mean, this was a Raiders team that this is inexplicable, but they put up 63 points on the Chargers last December, in the middle of December, and that's not happening under Jim Harbaugh's watch.

I can promise you that.

I think of, you know, the great thing about coaching switches is like we get to find out what they want this team to be right away on Sunday.

And like, this is a magnetizing game to me because I think we've seen Jim Harbaugh do this.

He did it with the Niners.

They were a terrible team the year before.

They won six games, and they started like 9-1 when he rolled into San Francisco with Greg Roman, and they just piled on to defenses with heavy sets and ran the ball.

I think J.K.

Dobbins is a huge kind of comeback player of the year type of dude.

He's looking good already.

Like they're going to run the ball a ton.

I think it's a great setup for Justin Herbert, assuming he stays healthy.

I'm with you on Joe Alt.

It's just like sometimes there's a football player, like just the human nature of how they look, their stature.

It's like, I cannot wait to go see him next to like a five foot seven running back and just see what that

contrast of those two human bodies.

They're going to punish teams, and I don't like the situation for the Raiders.

out of the gate on any level.

I'm with you.

It is reprehensible to be one of two or three teams in the entire league that thinks you're going to sell your fan base in a new stadium, in a new city.

Hey, what we're going to do is put no one you trust under center and see how that goes.

Because we all know how it's going to go on.

I don't think that was the plan, though, right?

It was just the same thing.

Well, they got outdrafted by all the other teams.

Like, Denver taking Bo Nix.

But look at your teams.

Well, I'm just saying.

You think it'll be aggressive and move up to the throwing flowers.

While everyone was throwing flowers at the feet of the end of 2023 Raiders because they were beating some teams when it didn't matter, Like, they were just hurting their own future in a way.

And Antonio Pierce, now you're doubled down because you kept the guy that got you pumped up to play out the string

at the cost of a quarterback.

I would think if the Raiders end up being this bad, Mike, as people expect them to be, they'll be able to get the guy that they want next year, assuming there is someone in the draft class that really jumps out to them.

But yeah, this does feel like a gap year.

And another reason why, yeah, the Max Crosby, and you don't want to waste another year of his prime, and why Devontae Adams was saying, you know, I'm not unhappy.

We're at headline to start your season.

Why he makes so much sense as a trade candidate for a team that probably needs all the assets they can get as they look to truly rebuild this thing.

The no quarterback talk, it really hurts my heart because Gardner Minchu, as a WSU grad, is responsible for one of the best college football seasons in our program's history.

We went 11-2 in 2018.

We had Game Day for the first time that year.

We beat Brock Purdy's, Iowa State with Cyclones or whatever.

We beat them in the Alamobull, I want to say.

So dismissive, Cyclones or whatever.

I can't remember.

It's a weird mascot.

I hate mascots.

That's probably a discussion for another pod, but I realized I just think mascots are weird.

But anyway,

I just, I love Garden.

Wait, writing this down.

Mike hates mascots, another Patreon show, potentially.

Okay, go ahead.

Yeah, now I patched things up with the Seahawks mascot blitz, but it was

pretty one-sided communication there.

He was tweeting me.

I was like, bro, how are you tweeting me?

You're not thumbs, you know, but he didn't like that.

You know, well, I guess I don't know if Blitz is a he per se, but yeah, Blitz

did not like that.

I do agree that the Raiders quarterback situation is not ideal, but I just selfishly want to have faith in Gardner Minshew because that 2018 season,

it just warms my heart.

I do think that the Chargers are probably one of the more interesting teams just because Jim Harbaugh is just like like a weirdo you know i'm which on the eye contact thing i guess if there's a second place person i've had weird eye contact with marshawn lynch a few times you know i didn't cover him initially so when he showed up in 2019 like he didn't know me but he's like the few times he was there we just every time we locked eyes it was very much like

there's that uh there's that clip of jewel lolli and asia wilson going on i forget where that is but it's like it was like that and we've done it like twice so he's on like my weird eye contact like mount rush more I don't know who else is on it, but Marshawn certainly is.

But I'm big on what Jim Harbaugh can do for the Chargers, mostly because I think we talked about this last time we were on.

The biggest compliment I can give a team is that you're shaped in the image of your coach.

And Jim Harbaugh's teams, like he wants them to be a certain way, and he gets them to be a certain way.

If the Chargers can get to that, even if they're throwing to a bunch of UFL all-stars, I feel like they can still be productive just because of how Jim Harbaugh gets his teams to play.

Yeah, and I want to say, I want

it starts.

I want to push really quick too back.

I know we want to move forward, but I ramble, so here we are.

I actually never, ever, ever hold it against an interim coach for trying to win football games in a lost season because that might be the only shot that he ever gets on his resume in order to put some good tape out.

Understood.

And so I really do think.

And the only reason I say that is because in terms of missing in the draft and missing in

free agency and missing, missing, missing, like I'm looking squarely at the GM here.

I'm saying I think the GM has some serious priorities that he's got to make, that he's got to serious decisions he's got to make.

And I think that, especially because you've got a locker room full of guys who will go to battle for Antonio Pierce, you are looking squarely at a GM who has a spotlight right on him to get this situation fixed.

And that's somewhat ironically, Tom Tolesco, who drafted Justin Herbert, one of the best quarterbacks in football.

All right, let's move on.

Let's One more to go here.

And that's, I'm with you, Jordan.

Listen, Antonio Pierce, he deserves a lot of credit because they were an embarrassment.

And then he took over and made them functional.

It just did come at a bit of a cost potentially in terms of the long-term franchise.

I'm with you.

I'm with you.

All right.

Close it out.

Last part of the eight-pack.

Michael Sean Dugar.

I'm going with the Carolina Panthers at the New Orleans Saints.

Oh,

okay, Mike.

And thinking about this one, I read about also all the Tom Brady Fox stuff, and it just, my conclusion from all of it was, man, Greg Olson, team player.

Because, boy, I'd be raising hell

if I was if I was in his spot.

Kudos to him for, I didn't even know if he was still at Fox after all that mess.

But anyway, the game itself, I'm still, this kind of goes back to my interest in that draft class, Bryce Young's draft class, you know, the quarterbacks there.

Because I just want to, they're all so intriguing in their own different way.

Like Bryce, with his, like, the measurables part like dude you are built like a teenager but yet like there's just faith in this organization for you to lead them to the promised land you know and he's got a guy who

I feel like of the coaches that got hired, Dave Canales is probably talked about the least.

And there's reasons for that.

Like his roster stinks.

Dave's not like much of a known name.

He was kind of buried in Seattle for a little bit.

You know, was never even the OC here.

Came to Seattle with Pete from USC.

So he's a little bit unknown on the national level, but I do think there are reasons to believe in him

because he's one of those guys who he's very, he knows who he is.

And that's really important for the head coach, too.

You just can't be trying to do what's hot, you know, or what's trendy in the league, whether that's offensively, defensively.

If like Fangio style is hot, you just can't go adapt that.

And if Seattle cover three is hot, you can't go adapt that.

And if

all these exit motions and stuff like that are hot, you can't go adapt that.

You just got to know what you are and do you and be willing to go down with the ship there.

And I feel like Dave is that type of guy, he's really good with QBs.

I've seen that up close now with multiple quarterbacks, with Russ, with Gino, you know.

So, I do believe that he could be one of those guys who's like next up, you know, in terms of the quarter, excuse me, the head coach kind of hierarchy.

Mike McDonald in Seattle is kind of viewed that way, and for obvious reasons, but I feel like Dave could be right there.

And if he changes Bryce around, because Bryce was bad, it was very much Urban Meyer, Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville type of situation for Bryce last year, bad roster, bad coach, just unseriousness all around.

You know, I feel like if Dave could turn that around,

you know, particularly against an opponent who Bryce sucked against last year, so we can kind of see the growth, we'll be able to like quantify it because he was really bad in the rematch against the Saints last year.

I think he completed like 36% of his passes, which I don't know how you humanly do that.

That's really awful.

So I actually really am compelled by the Bryce aspect of this, the Dave Canellis aspect of this.

Mark, I'll toss it to you.

Like, how, am I bugging here?

Am I tripping to believe in Dave being able to turn around the number one overall pick from last season?

I think it's the opposite.

I think you're not bugging because, like, the Baker Mayfield body of work matters too.

And he's done it two years in a row with quarterbacks that people had sort of, you know, moved on from.

And Bryce Young really was in a situation a year ago where the environment, like we talk about CJ Stroud being in a situation that was escalating in positive ways for him, and there's a lot of talent around.

Terrible offensive line.

They added Robert Hines, that's a big addition.

They added Deontay Johnson, and it's a small sample size, but what I thought from his preseason work, Bryce Young, was that he's dealing with a better playbook.

He's working with a coach that helped him look more decisive at the line of scrimmage.

He got the ball out quicker.

Their wide receivers and targets were more open than they were a year ago.

I mean, just so much last year looked frenetic, chaotic, and he looked completely lost.

And then on top of it, his own body type can't really.

It's the opposite of like being a, you know, a Cam Newton where you can find a way to just out-physical people and solve problems.

He was the opposite.

And so this, it's, what, I'll go to that Bills game in the preseason.

There were a couple things that happened in that game.

And again, it's just a couple drives.

And I was like, I like the connection of him and Canalis.

So I think there's hope.

And it needs to happen because

That GM, the previous GM, left the Panthers in such a rough spot.

And you picked the wrong quarterback, and we know this with the Jets, too.

Everything goes south.

Canalis is the right kind of hire versus a defensive coach.

And I'm interested very much to see what happens because I think if he goes into New Orleans, you want to talk about a team that I think their fan base is on the brink of chaos.

New Orleans is one of these teams that I think you'd look at and say, why are they organized the way they are right now?

And so if Bryce Young went in and

pulled out a win, I think you put a team inside your own division into a very dark corner right away

after week one, Jordan.

Jordan, the Saints are at the bottom of that fan confidence rating.

That's a team that I think had a winning record last year, but no fan base is more dreading what's to come, and there's a lot of different reasons for that.

Derek Carr is high up on the list, but in general,

there just seems to be a...

They're trapped in a cul-de-sac of some kind right now.

So

if they don't find a way to start the season with a win at home against the worst team in football a year ago, I don't care if we think that they might be better.

It is going to be, yeah, as Mark's saying, there's going to be chaos around this.

Do you guys, do any of you drive stick shift cars or have ever drive

stick?

No.

I have, I have many, many years ago, but I would not be able to do it now.

Right.

I mean, I would not be able to do it now either.

But in learning, there's that noise when you're stuck between gears, right?

And you start to panic.

Gas clutch.

Oh my God.

Break out.

And then the transmission like you're like I could ruin this car forever

and that sound it's that sound that you hear that is the sound that I think that that like grow growling crank that like lurches your stomach it's like the auto audio of what a stomach lurch feels like that is the sound of what the saints are doing right now they're just stuck in that like between place.

They're stuck in that gray, that growling sound of, you know,

there are clear paths to take here.

There have been four years in order to actually capitalize on a struggling, now maybe not as much struggling,

NFC South.

And that time is quickly passing.

And suddenly, they could be the ones without the transmission and is stuck on the 405 somewhere.

Like you, you really have to, you have to take these swings soon if you're this.

And I think that's what you're hearing from the fan.

It's like, do the thing.

You've known the thing you have to do and yes the i do think the saints defense is still going to be great and that has really been the only thing that has made this this thing all look like cohesive there or or even like functional there is is that defense and and a couple of really bright young talented players on offense who have struggled getting, you know, who's throwing the ball to them consistently?

What is the plan there?

How are they developing?

What is, you know, and so I think that that's where you're hearing and feeling some of this angst from Saints fans is like, that's how it feels.

It's like a nonstop 24-7 stomach lurch and also your car might explode.

So I think like if the Panthers can capitalize on this, and like I've said.

passionately before, like I really, really just want to get a clean evaluation of Bryce Young.

I think that's the starting point here is really figuring out what he could be capable of and protecting him and mentally hoping he comes back from what must have been probably one of the most, if not the most challenging mental years and confidence years of his entire life at such a young age.

I think that like just getting a clean eval on him is where we start with him.

I would really like to see that.

But if you're the same, I mean, this is, this is,

I kind of like that you picked this game, Mike, because this is like, get your popcorn, like you might be watching the beginning of one thing and the end of another.

It's almost you could also look at it from the other perspective of it's like watching a train wreck reality TV.

And you might feel guilty as you watch it, depending on how the season goes for both these organizations.

All right, let's take a break.

Those are eight games.

That's the eight-pack.

Those are the things that matter.

But it's week one.

Everything matters.

So we're going to take a break and then we're going to wrap it up with a little speed

before we say goodbye.

Eating healthy always sounds great in theory, but let's be real, doing it every day?

That's the hard part.

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All right, back to the show.

All right, we are back.

And yes, now that we've gone through our picks for games, why don't we take a trip over to the gravy boat?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

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

What?

What?

Dan, what, what, what just happened?

Not for me.

Sounded like, to me,

a man

sounded kind of like Justin, losing his balance, taking a terrifying fall backwards, landing in a almost industrial-sized gravy boat, probably warm gravy, dark brown,

thick gravy, maybe nearly boiling, but almost at the end there, Mark.

There was almost like an enjoyment to it.

There was almost something erotic about the.

I mean, there's a lot to unpack.

That's all I'm going to say about the gravy boat.

He grew into the experience, the man on the mic there.

It is notable, and I'm sure, Jordan, a long time listener, that like half of Dan's sound effects, because I know around this time yesterday he was coaxing Justin into creating this.

Well, these sound bits, like

almost half of them, like involve an adult male in a very uncomfortable sort of groaning slash moaning scenario.

So that it makes me wonder and have curiosities about you.

I don't know what you're talking about.

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All right, let's get to it real quick.

We're going to go through each of the remaining games.

I'm going to throw it to one of you, share something, and then we're going to move.

All right, into the gravy boat we go.

Ooh, it is warm.

All right, Arizona at Buffalo.

Everybody wants to know how the Bills offense is going to function.

Stephon Diggs, Gabe Davis, Curtis Samuel, gone.

308 targets vacated from last season.

But I'm more focused on their defense.

I think Dalton Kincaid on the Bills is an emerging star at tight end.

They still have Josh Allen.

They're going to figure it out.

They're going to make it work.

But on the other side of the field is another emerging star tight end, Trey McBride for the Cardinals.

Here's a stat for you.

The Bills, with Matt Milano on the field last year, allowed zero touchdowns and picked off five passes while covering the middle third of the field.

Without him, they allowed seven touchdowns and zero interceptions.

I kind of feel like Arizona might cover the six-point spread.

Wouldn't be shocked if they win this game.

Very curious to see how the Bills' defense functions.

That's a saucy one.

What else, Mark?

Mark's got a little something on this game, I feel like.

So maybe I should toss it to you.

Yeah, this might be a good spot for my fearless prediction.

Here we go.

It is headlined.

Update.

Kyler Murray still relevant.

Nobody seems to give a shit about Kyler Murray, but guess what?

He's about to throw Josh Allen into the laundry.

The biggest upset of the week is upon us as Arizona squeezes the life out of Buffalo and a high-octane thriller.

It's going to be an interesting year in the desert.

All right, what else, Justin?

All right, moving on.

Titans at Bears.

It's Caleb Williams' debut at home.

Need I say more?

Probably not, but I have a little bit more.

I wonder how Denard Wilson, new defensive coordinator for the Titans, he's going to unveil some exotic blitz packages.

Is this going to impact Caleb Williams?

Will it even matter?

Because I think Caleb Williams' head could be spinning, wondering where is the pressure coming from.

But I also think his athleticism, his playmaking ability to create stuff stuff out of structure, evade pressure, get out of the pocket.

It's going to be interesting to see how ready Caleb Williams is for this moment.

My answer is

extremely ready.

I think that...

I cannot wait.

I cannot wait.

Yeah, I agree.

The combination of his out-of-structure ability and also the fact that he's got three bona fide dudes at receiver, I think that this is going to be a lot of fun for Caleb Williams.

And even DeAndre Swift, like they've been talking him up big, and

it's crazy.

Like I, to look at the difference between the number one pick last year and this year and the way they're set up,

I think there's going to be a lot of buzz around the Bears and a football star of city to have something competent.

What else is in the news,

Justin?

All right.

Patriots at Bengals.

News item.

Jamar Chase is practicing.

Hasn't signed a contract as of this recording, but he was back on the field on Wednesday in a limited role.

So we'll see if he's out there.

Joe Burrow makes his return to the field here after the injury last season.

Will there be any rust?

New England's defense, surprisingly top 10 in DVOA last year, but now obviously Bill Belichick's gone.

So can Gerard Mayo keep that continuity and keep this game a little closer maybe than people are expecting?

I don't like that they don't have Christian Barmore too.

I think this offense is a non-starter.

If we're upset about the Raiders, The Patriots, statistically on offense, were an absolute disaster last year.

The offensive line is a mess.

I don't know how you, I don't like the situation for either quarterback at all.

And I think that Cincinnati, they're not a good run defense at all, but that's really New England's only way into this.

It's a good spot for the Bengals and Joe Burrows' return.

I think this is the lowest over-under of the week as well.

I think it's 40 and a half, which is just disgusting.

That is like Big Ten noon kickoff territory relative to like NFL over-unders.

I think this is going to be some bad ball.

I might just catch the highlights on this.

I think New England's going to be the biggest train wreck in the league.

Probably by a moment.

If you look at their schedule, it's going to be tough to find

their first win.

What else?

Next game.

Jacksonville at Miami.

Now, these two teams, in my opinion, have way too much in common.

First of all, they're both in Florida, but beyond that, they both hired new defensive coordinators this offseason.

They both just paid their franchise quarterbacks extremely lucrative contracts, and both teams faltered down the stretch last year,

blew a chance to win their division by losing to a division rival in week 18.

However, the Dolphins are 6-1 in September under Mike McDaniel.

So I'm wondering if that will matter in this game.

Can they keep it rolling?

Will the Jags turn things around after last year's horrible collapse?

Jordan.

Yeah, Miami always notoriously gets off to a fast start.

I'm really excited to watch the All-22 from this game particularly because I'd like to see what Mike McDaniel has up his sleeve.

I'd also like to watch this continued journey of trevor lawrence i think he's got all the talent in the world um as i've said uh before you know i i really like that he's got some uh you know just complimentary playmakers around him there are um clear traits and clear roles for for some of the guys on his offense now i think the defense is going to be solid but i still am waiting for trevor lawrence like the structure around him from a coaching perspective to collaborate with him and take that next step forward.

This would be the year to do it.

And like I said, I'm going to be watching that Miami All-22 to see what's coming next in offense.

I do not pick against the Miami Dolphins at home in September.

Next,

Vikings at Giants.

Sam Darno.

Is going to be very interesting to see how he does under Kevin O'Connell's tutelage.

But more importantly to me, in this game, we have on one side of the field, the best receiver in the NFL.

And on the other side of the field, one of the most hyped rookie receivers to enter the league that I can remember in quite some time.

And I know Marvin Harrison Jr.

is like the best receiver in this draft class, but I feel like all the preseason hype has been about Malik Neighbors and he's just going to be a guy that's super electric.

I can't wait to see how he does, but I wonder, can Daniel Jones get him the ball enough for him to make an actual impact?

Mark, Daniel Jones was a very fortunate person to keep his starting quarterback job after what happened last year.

Now they give him a true number one.

This is going to be interesting.

Yeah, I mean, I feel like Jones came out of the preseason with his Q rating about as low as possible.

I want to give him a little more grace than I did verbally a couple weeks ago, just because he is coming off of an injury.

Neighbors, like we talked to Connor Orr, who is very close to the Giants, and he talked about Neighbors kind of being the number one leading face on a much more physical Giants team.

They love their draft class and the guys they brought in.

That team needs some attitude.

So maybe you can make up for some of the up-and-down nature of Daniel Jones if Neighbors is, is.

I said he would be rookie of the year, offensive rookie of the year.

That's tough as a wide receiver, but I'm sticking with it.

Next.

Broncos at Seahawks.

News item.

Pat Sertan is now the highest paid defensive back in NFL history with a four-year $96 million contract.

But

we don't really care.

We're tuning in for Bo Nicks, baby.

He was named a team captain earlier this week.

However, I have a lot of fear for Bo Nicks.

His first ever NFL game.

He's going up against Mike McDonald's, new Seattle defense.

Got some fun pieces to play with there.

Devon Witherspoon, first-round pick, Byron Murphy.

They can kind of replicate a little bit of what McDonald was doing with the DBs in Baltimore and with Namdi Matabuke, formerly Justin Matabuke, up front.

I do wonder, though, if it's going to take time.

When Mike McDonald first took over as the Ravens defensive coordinator, it took about four weeks for him to really figure it out.

They were like a bad defense.

And then he started shifting people around.

He found the role for Kyle Hamilton.

He really started to figure things out.

And obviously, the defense took off down the stretch of that season and really hit their stride last year.

So is it going to take Mike McDonald's defense a week, a month, a season to reach that height in Seattle?

That's what I'm curious about.

Mike, you know McDonald.

Yeah, I think Caleb Williams and Bo Nix could really struggle against this defensive scheme.

You know, you guys mentioned Denar Wilson.

He's running the same thing Mike McDonald is running.

The Chargers are running it.

The Dolphins are running it as well.

It's just, you just don't know what's coming from where.

And that's just tough for a rookie.

I don't really care how talented you are.

You know, time on task matters at that position so i do think it might take a little bit for mcdonald's defense to gel but i do think also when you get a rookie quarterback to start the season it becomes a lot easier to just confuse the most important player on the field so yeah i think i think they're gonna just smoke denver i think

caleb williams getting the c uh makes sense to me i feel like there's a little bit of a whiff of the broncos really trying to make boneks a thing vibe going on in denver which i get but it's like that feels a little forced uh what else How many more games we got here, Justin?

Last game, Washington Commanders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

And I think Todd Bowles speaks for all of us when he was answering a question yesterday's press conference.

You're pretty stoic.

Don't show a lot of your emotion.

What's the season opener like for you when you walk out of that tunnel?

It's exciting!

Yeah, Todd, that's the guy.

So I personally,

I cannot wait for the Jaden Daniels show.

Jaden Daniels is my pick for rookie of the year.

One thing I'm watching is how quickly Daniels gets rid of the ball this weekend because during the preseason, Jaden Daniels' average time to throw was 1.9 seconds.

For reference, Tua led the league last year at 2.32 seconds.

So he's almost half a second faster than who was the fastest quarterback in the league last season.

Now, a lot of this is because they ran almost nothing but RPOs in the preseason outside of like the one deep shot that Daniels hit to Diami Brown.

So I am curious to see: was this a preseason offense thing, or are they just going to run an RPO game to death and let Daniels make these super quick decisions, get outside the pocket, use his legs?

Tampa Bay's defense is going to have their hands full here, but this applies to all the rookie quarterbacks.

Washington's odds of winning this game are stacked against them.

Rookie quarterbacks overall, not just like first overall picks or first-round picks, overall, rookie quarterbacks starting in week one are 0-7 and 1 in the last five years.

The last rookie quarterback to win a week one start was

Sam Darno.

Oh, hell yeah.

Up in Detroit, threw a pick six on his first career pass, but they did end up stomping a bad lines team.

Jordan, your thoughts?

Yeah, I mean, if we're talking about new era defenses being tough on rookie quarterbacks, like let's give Todd Bowles a little flowers for some of some of the pressure that he's brought over the years.

And he's just, he doesn't hide it.

It's just coming right at your face and it's going to hit you in the mouth if it can get to you.

So yeah, I think they're going to try to get Jaden Daniels to get the ball out fast.

I do think, you know, in terms of Caleb and

Jaden Daniels, the way that it's on, it's all over their tape.

The way that they've worked out of structure makes them actually less susceptible to this type of crazy pressure because they can innovate on the fly.

Jaden Daniels will have a little bit of help with some of the screens and some of the RPO stuff that you mentioned, Justin.

But at the same time, like when we're talking about a rookie quarterback like Bonex, who thrives in structure, who thrives with like timing and rhythm and all of those things.

I'm not saying he can't move, but he thrives with that type of system around him.

I'm less worried about these young rising stars, and I'm excited to see what Jaden Daniel says.

Less excited about his protection, less excited about going against a defense that I'm just not willing to look over, even with these new exciting defenses coming up on the radar.

Yeah, the gravy dish, in fact.

Isn't it all?

I think everybody can relate to this.

You have the buddy or the person you know, maybe it's a colleague that's very quiet and isn't known for any level of like kind of

outbursts or any type of, you know,

what we just saw from Todd Bowles there.

And then it's like the still waters run deep.

And then it's like, I don't know if I wanted to see that, but in Todd's case, I enjoyed it.

And I want Todd to express himself and show what's going on beneath the surface.

All right, before we say goodbye, we have two more fearless predictions, if I'm not mistaken.

Because remember, there is going to be a trophy.

It's going to be a the tro, not to build things up, and this is going to be on Justin in a lot lot of ways to have to shop for this and tie it to our production budget.

This is going to be a trophy you're going to want to have.

It's going to make the fantasy plaque that you have look like child's play.

What is your prediction, Jordan Rodrigue, for week one?

Yes, and I totally fumbled this by not mentioning it when we were talking about the Sunday night football game.

But Iek one.

I know.

Working out the kinks a little bit.

I am predicting Amon Ross St.

Brown to catch the first touchdown pass from either team in Lions Rams on Sunday night.

Amon Ross St.

Brown, who I think is solidifying himself as one of the top young receivers in this league.

He's a stud.

And Gravedigger, we watch you win on this competition.

What do you got?

All right.

My fearless prediction for week one is that we will see

a kickoff returned for a touchdown at some point in week one across all the games.

That doesn't feel quite bold enough to me.

So to make it fearless, I will say an opening game kickoff will be returned for a touchdown sometime this week.

I love that.

Wait, so what do you mean, Thursday?

Like the Thursday game, the game tonight?

No, just like one of the opening kickoffs.

Oh, the first kickoff of the game.

You know what's funny?

I would have been cool with you with the dynamic kickoff and everything with that.

You just go in any kickoff, but it's got to be an opening kickoff.

All right, baby.

It's got to be an opening kickoff.

It's fearless.

Still giving himself 16 possibilities here.

So let's not, you know,

give me 66.

All right.

That's, you know what, Jordan?

The competitive juices are flowing right now.

I want that damn trophy.

That's a nice-looking chart, though.

I'll tell you what.

He's all of our predictions.

Very clear.

Yes, check us out, of course, on YouTube where you can watch every episode.

Every Thursday, yes, we preview.

We're going to be back later tonight, Mark and myself covering the results, of course, of tonight's big opener in Kansas City.

So make sure you're there for that.

And then the flagship program as well.

And yes, as we mentioned, top of the show, patreon.com slash heed the call.

Get in on that if you'd like more content from us.

I can't imagine right now you would because we gave you everything you need for week one.

Until tonight, heed the call.

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