NFL 2025 Week 1 Preview + TNF Recap

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Charlie Sheen is an icon of decadence.

I lit the fuse, and my life turns into everything it wasn't supposed to be.

He's going the distance.

He was the highest-paid TV star of all time.

When it started to change, it was quick.

He kept saying, No, no, no, I'm in the hospital now, but next week I'll be ready for the show.

Now, Charlie's sober.

He's gonna tell you the truth.

How do I present this with any class?

I think we're past that, Charlie.

We're past that, yeah.

Somebody call action.

Yeah, aka Charlie Sheen, only on Netflix, September 10th.

Myark.

Uh, yes.

Miyark.

What now?

Real football starts

now.

Oh.

Oh, my.

Gosh, welcome to Heath the Call week one preview and Thursday night opener recap.

Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler, Connor Orr, Justin Graver on the ones and twos.

Oh, we're about to talk about a game that counted.

Mark, I'm sorry, the preseason, it's over.

Now it's real.

Here we go.

You don't need to apologize to me.

I just feel like to you, I must apologize that the preseason's in the past now.

The regular season has taken over.

And with that said, let's,

we're going to get into all of the week one slate a little bit later, but let's start right now.

Let's get right into it with the recap of the Thursday night opener, Cowboys at Eagles.

Yes, the Cowboys, heavy underdogs at the link when they debuted the latest championship banner for the Eagles.

But the Cowboys deliver a great effort in this game.

They get a very strong game from Dak Prescott, who was a lot better than his stats indicate.

Javante Williams, that moribund or so-we thought running game, he's able to score twice.

In fact, the Cowboys and Eagles pile up points in the first half.

It is 21 to 20 at the half.

Then, unfortunately, Mother Nature steps in.

A lightning and rainstorm shuts everything down.

And when game play resumes at about 11.30, it ain't so fun anymore.

It doesn't have the same juice.

In fact, we get one field goal in the second half, and that was the insurance that the Eagles needed in a 24-20 win.

So the Eagles get off to the 1-0 start, but maybe it was a little harder than we expected.

Saquon Barkley averaged 3.3 yards per carry, and CeeDe Lamb had three monster drops in the second half alone.

That really cost the Cowboys the game, I thought.

Connor, why don't we start there?

I mean, the Cowboys, their defense, after getting beat up in the first half, and you see the articles writing themselves, oh, look, Jerry Jones,

you can't get to the quarterback anymore.

And that is going to be a problem for this team, right?

But at the same time, Connor, they hold the Eagles to three points in the second half, but the offense just could not get that big strike to win and steal this game away.

It's weird, though, because

I left so much more optimistic about Dallas in every way, shape, or form that I came in with.

And I think a lot of that is schematic.

You saw what Matt Eberflus is capable of defensively, and you saw him start to generate a little bit of organic pressure.

And then on the offensive side of the ball, Clayton Adams, the way that he's blocking up some of these run plays, yes, there were a lot of errors, I think,

on the part of the Cowboys' offensive line, but this is like a young athletic unit that I think could build into something pretty special.

I'm not sure about the durability of these backs long term, but I don't know.

I mean, this was not the game that I expected from Dallas in the best possible way.

I thought it was,

I agree with you, Connor, and I thought it was

from a delicious angle, surprising because I wouldn't have been surprised to find out that the Eagles would have won this game 41 to 10 and we're just piling on Jerry Jones and Dallas more.

Instead, I thought for Brian Schottenheimer,

it was

a minor victory.

Like you lost the game, but I saw an efficient offense.

I thought that, you know, beyond the CD Lamb drops, the two wide receivers made plays early.

Dak Prescott played one of the better games I've seen in a long time.

And I thought you made progress.

Like it's like, it's kind of like, wait a minute, I feel differently about, I don't feel that differently about the Eagles, but I feel differently about the Dallas Cowboys after the last couple of weeks of drama to hang around the way you did.

That said, this was a human,

you know, from a sports angle, there was a human and weather and nature and nurture interruption to this game that, like, we saw it in the Super Bowl with the Ravens and the Niners, but it kind of completely contextually changed what happened here because they were just both so efficient, both offenses.

And you come out of that big break, and we're all kind of wondering, like, when will this game end and how is this working?

And I think that affects players and coaches.

And, you know, they kind of both hung around after that, but it wiped out what I thought was a great start by Jalen Hurts.

He looked completely in control and confident and alive.

And you got Saquon from last year to some degree, and it kind of all melted away.

Did we?

Did we get Saquon from last year?

That was a good time.

I think we did to some degree, but none of these guys are playing in the preseason.

So I'm willing to see 40 to 50% or 60% of these players in week one or two.

Listen, this is a game that got away from the Cowboys.

It's very frustrating because you have, in addition to the DAC drops that were brutal,

you know, specifically, I think it was their, it was their drive, I think, coming out of the,

they get a stop coming out of the weather delay, the first time the defense gets a real stop.

And he has a pretty bad drop over the middle.

And then just, you know, just a terrible drop on their last possession.

And then there was on the last play, I mean, on the fourth down, fourth and three after the two-minute warning.

Now, that's a tough ball.

And Collinsworth said on the telecast, I don't count that as a drop.

You got to make that play.

You're Cee Lamb and you expect that.

And it's just a totally different game.

Like, I thought Jalen Hurts was fine in this game, but I thought Dak was the quarterback that really stood out to me.

Some of the throws and the way he was moving and the way physically he looked.

I think the Cowboys are a team that does come out of this game very frustrated because it was right there to steal this game.

But you have a quarterback who looks like he's at the top of his game.

But in addition to the Dak drops, you also had the Miles Sanders.

He rips off a 49-yard run that puts him into the red zone, and then they stall.

They have a penalty, and then he fumbles the ball away.

And that's another big mistake.

So when you're playing the Eagles on the road, you have to be a little sharper.

So you got to keep it on that.

But

to the same point, the Eagles were not sharp at all, Connor, in this game.

In fact, they were penalized, I believe, 10 times for over 100 yards.

And I'm not going to talk about the Siriani thing because nobody wants to hear it.

But his team did not seem focused today.

Let's be real.

They were penalized like crazy.

And then your most important player, don't laugh because your most important player, you better,

as we're taping this, Siriana better be lighting up Jalen Carter's ass to the media for

spitting on the chest of Dak Prescott and getting his ass thrown out of the first game of the year six seconds in.

That was a disgrace.

You got to get control of this team, bro.

I really want to know what Siriana has to say.

Does a head coach need to tell someone not to spit on another person?

Like, does that have to be in his pregame rundown?

Where it's not going to be a good idea.

To my point, our benefits are good.

No, that's also not what I said.

What did I just say?

What did I say?

I said, I want to see what he says.

Because, of course, you don't assume your star defender isn't an idiot, but apparently, Jalen Carter is.

That's about as dumb as you could be.

He's provoked.

What was he provoked?

I don't know.

What happened exactly?

Well, we don't know what story.

Like, there was always a second side to that.

So we don't know.

So the official, so Jason garrett on the broadcast and let's not call him uh an objective observer here but said that dak prescott told him that dak was talking to tyler booker had to spit turns and spits and then when he did jalen carter said did you spit at me And Dak Prescott turned and said, why would I spit at you?

And then Jalen Carter just spit on his chest.

Come on, man.

It's the funniest thing.

Six seconds into the first game of the year.

So awesome.

Jalen Carter, by the way, he's my defensive player of the year pick.

In all seriousness, like, listen, it was an idiotic thing to do.

I don't, he's not an idiot.

Maybe Izzy idiot.

You look at some of his past and why the Eagles got him in the first place when he fell down the draft board.

I mean, keep an eye on it.

But when you have a mistake like that, when you make a personal mistake like that

on that stage, that is something that could stay with you.

And I bet he understands it.

I hope he understands it.

But like, that's another reason why, Mark, the Cowboys have to be kicking themselves because they also got Jalen Carter off the field before the first snap of the game, and they still weren't able to steal it.

So arrow up on the Cowboys in terms of, okay, they might be friskier than a lot of people thought.

I had them go into the playoffs this year.

We'll see what happens.

But

this was a game that was there for the taking.

It changed the tenor of the game because

I think, Dan, like you and I are the age where we remember when Mike Ditka threw like a piece of gum into the stands and it landed in like someone's hair or something.

Like, I mean, these things kind of are the things you remember, but this was the one player that you need to double team the entire affair.

It changed the defense for the Eagles, and it might have helped the Cowboys be in that situation at the end.

It certainly did.

I just was thinking to myself, just from a human angle, like...

Anywhere you go right now, there are roughly, if you're in a city, in a cityscape, there are 20 to 25 cameras on you you're in an nfl stadium with like high octane media equipment like what do you think you're going to accomplish there and get away with like or is it just you're so heated up and because we know you're not supposed to do that are the players actually because from a serial angle and i'm not going down that road because we split uh we were a fork in the road on that one but like honestly like

Doesn't this player need to know that you don't do that in an NFL game?

And it's literally from an NFL angle, they were focused on this sportsmanship thing so hard that the conspiratorial part of me was like, oh, that's about the best thing that could happen for the NFL is something like this to happen on the, not even the first play, right after the kickoff.

And then we make it the biggest conversational point of the week, that sportsmanship, spitting, fill in the blank, because there were three, I think, three sportsmanship issues in this game penalty-wise.

That doesn't become, that doesn't become the big storyline.

And of course,

for like a week or two, then they show, right?

And Florio, of course, has a post up by the end of the first quarter that

because of this new guidelines on sportsmanship and respecting your fellow player, could Jalen Carter face potentially a suspension off this?

I mean, I'd be surprised, quite honestly, because he was essentially suspended for this game, although he got paid for it, so it's very different.

But yeah,

that was a crazy, put it this way.

The first play of the NFL season, if it's any indication of what the season is going to be like, a player gets carted off the field and then arguably, you know, a top three defender in the entire league gets ejected for spitting on maybe the top three most famous quarterback in the league, which is wild stuff.

Anything else from the game itself, though?

From the game.

From the game.

I think it's very interesting that, again, we had A.J.

Brown, who was at a level last year of indifference that he was reading on the sideline and trying to pass it off as self-help in the playoffs.

And now we have him not targeted until very, very deep in that game.

Had never before, I think, been not targeted that deeply into a game.

The Eagles drastically reduced their usage of 11 personnel.

They were in bigger formations with new offensive coordinator Kevin Petullo.

To me, this is a sign of like, hey, buddy, this is what it's going to look like from now on.

Like, it's going to be Jalen Hurts kind of running point, couple yards at a time.

And maybe even our deep shot options are going to be guys like Jahan Dotson, who was actually really good in the preseason and a lot of practices, according to Eagles reporters, at getting those deep shots down the field.

And so, I mean, are we just going to have very few and far between A.J.

Brown games from here on out?

And can you keep him interested enough?

I think that's going to loom large.

Who I drafted in fantasy literally a night ago.

So everything is arrow up.

Let's be.

Yeah, like that's that's another challenge.

And then this isn't a Siriani thing, but any head coach of a defending champion after you just reached the mountaintop and then you had an all whole offseason where you were celebrated, and then you go through the summer being told that you guys are going to do it again.

Um, yeah, there's going to be challenges.

Like, the Brown thing is a thing to watch.

We talked about that a couple weeks ago, Connor.

It's like, I don't know if Sirianni defused that situation in the playoffs when he was reading the book so much as the defense took over and they just had a great team overall run, which you give credit to the coach for that as well, of course.

But, like, AJ Brown needs to get the ball.

And I would imagine they'll be feeding him in week two after this because they don't want him to be a headache.

That's just the way it is with a lot of number one wide receivers.

They have the ego and you have to feed the ego.

So he could be the most high-volume targeted receiver in the league.

But at the same time, the Eagles don't throw the ball a ton.

So

they don't.

And it's difficult, I think, for someone like A.J.

Brown to look at someone like CeeDee Lamb, who Brian Schottenheimer and Clayton Adams did a really good job of manufacturing targets for him, like especially mid-range targets early in that game when everybody on the field knows that's that's where the ball's going.

Like

third down, gotta have it plays.

We're going to CeeDee Lamb.

So if you're A.J.

Brown, you have every reason to throw your hands up and be like, dude, I'm right here.

One weird note.

Reported before the game that Cherise Parsons, the mom of Micah Parsons, traveled to this game to watch it.

Why?

I'm unclear why.

Like that occurred.

She appeared at this game and watched it from start to finish.

That's an odd.

You want to see something else odd?

Here's Jason Kelsey's

tweet, former Eagles center and now media star, after the Jalen Carter incident.

This is the most wild start to an NFL season of all time.

First play of the game, one player is carted off, the other ejected.

I mean, everyone knows you don't spit.

You swallow Avi.

What is going on?

Where are we?

What's happening?

Drinking edibles.

I'm not sure.

I mean,

what are we doing here?

I don't know.

Keep an eye.

Speaking of the Eagles' offensive line, Landon Dickerson, he left the game with a back injury.

He didn't come back after the weather delay.

So, you know, not a perfect week one for the Eagles, but they got the win, and now they go to Kansas City to face the Chiefs in a Super Bowl rematch.

The Giants, the Cowboys get the Giants at home.

So

there you go.

That's the first game of the year.

Very interesting first game.

A weird first game.

Is it a precursor for the strangest NFL season of all time?

I'd like that.

I'd be happy with that.

Sign me up.

All right.

Let's take a break.

And when we come back, when we come back, we will dig into all of the week one slate.

Stay right there.

I'm Scott Hanson, host of NFL Red Zone.

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All right, we are back.

The Thursday night opener in the rearview mirror, but there's so much more football to get to.

So yes, new...

New format this year on Thursdays, the preview episode.

What we're going to do, we're going to break it down in two windows, the early window on Sunday, the late window on Sunday.

Sometimes we'll open with the early window.

Sometimes we'll open the late window.

Okay,

we took a look at the schedule.

And Mark, this was an easy one.

Where to start for week one in terms of where's the most compelling action from where we stand right now?

Well, the action is clearly in the late window.

And this is probably a trend of football in general.

I can give you, if you'd like, my absolutely locked down game of the week.

Okay.

Do we want that, Connor?

Is that what we're looking for from Mark in this episode?

Yeah, I think that Mark has shown he's got an eye for programming and he's got an eye for television.

So let's hear what he has to say.

I like that.

I wasn't sure if we wanted to lean more on Mark for some like esoteric musings today or some left field, like down dirty on the Hollywood pavement vibes.

But we want for just strategy, strategy for programming.

That's Mark's lane today.

So take it away, Cesi.

I can provide it all over the course of a day of production and broadcasting, but the Detroit Lions

visiting my Super Bowl pick, the Green Bay Packers, in a delicious late window showdown.

And I think like the thing I love about week one is like there's just all these things we've been talking about forever.

And it's like leaning hard on the fact that the Detroit Lions are shifting away from two proven culture-changing coordinators innovators and now you've got john morton calling your offense and kelvin shepherd cost call doing your defense and it's like dan campbell like we trust him has a kind of a global umbrella over all of that it's a challenge and now you've got to go deal with like what happened a week ago changes this matchup entirely right because now you've got to go deal with suddenly a green bay defense with micah parsons in it and it's like, it's simple, obvious stuff in week one, but there's all these questions to be answered.

And I find the matchup fascinating because if you're Green Bay and you want to do what I say you're going to do, me predicting you to go do all this, like, this is where it starts.

You've got to handle your own division.

And is Detroit going to look the same way that they did a year ago when they would be innovative, mess you up with trick plays, and use the second half to destroy you?

Well, it's Micah Parsons versus Panay Sewell.

It's major matchups.

What does it mean for Rashawn and Gary?

I think it's just this,

I've never been as interested in a Detroit Green Bay game in my lifetime.

Oh, that's wonderful.

And I would have said the same that this was the game.

After all, this is your Super Bowl winner in your predictions on our last episode, Mark.

Me and Justin both had the Lions in the Super Bowl.

Did you have the Lions winning, Justin, the Super Bowl this year?

No, I have them losing to the Kansas City Chiefs.

But we both had them coming out of the NFC.

The one thing to keep an eye on, one of the things to keep an eye on, Micah Parsons is a member of the Packers now.

I don't know how much of Micah Parsons we're going to see in this game or what kind of impact he's going to have in this game.

Now, he's such a special player that he could have a huge impact, but he's dealing with some issues with his back, that he was going to get an injection for the back.

The latest that we're hearing as of recording us, Matt LaFleur said that Parsons, quote, was able to do what we had planned for him today.

So whether Connor Parsons is a decoy in this game or maybe he's a game wrecker in this game, but

I would imagine the Micah Parsons that the Packers traded for and gave all that money for is somebody who's going to materialize later.

Maybe week one could be asking a lot.

I think it's asking a lot, but what I think is available to the Packers is the ability to at least screw up the things that you can screw up.

with a player that you're not really sure where he's at health wise.

And especially if you have a Lions offensive line that is replacing their center from a year ago.

And the center, as everyone knows, is kind of the hardwire center of that offensive line.

He's helping out with protection calls.

He's making sure that everyone's spaced out where he needs to be.

Jeff Hafley can create chaos.

That Green Bay ethos on defense is, it thrives on showing you different looks up front, making you uncomfortable.

And so what if Micah Parsons isn't a game wrecker, but five, six, seven, eight times, he just comes out and lines up over the center.

And all of a sudden, holy shit, Detroit's got to adjust.

Jared Goff's got to get a little uncomfortable.

And we've seen him in situations where it's not exactly the best situation for him.

The pocket gets a little muddy, and he can throw some picks.

And so, and Green Bay can get them.

And so, I think that he can be a bigger presence in a chess match scenario than just as a purely physical power pass rusher.

Conner, I'd ask you a quick question because you're around a lot of coaches and stuff.

Like, he's been there for mere days.

Like, how

drenched can he be in the game plan?

I mean, I know you can just unleash him versus like a strategic offensive player, but

how do you think they will use him?

I think that's one of the most fascinating aspects to the game itself, where he'll line up and how deep he is in the game planning.

I think that there's one thing where it's grasping because defense is not as much plays.

If every coach like Brian Flores or Pat Graham or any of these really good defensive coordinators, if they had their way, they're not calling plays, especially towards the end of the the season.

They're handing everything over to the players and they're allowing the players to almost in a guerrilla way communicate and try to just short circuit the defense and rely on what they're seeing.

So I think that's what's interesting is you have a lot of veteran talent on that green bay, especially in the secondary at the safety position.

You have guys who know what they're doing.

And can they just get him lined up and in a position where he can rush the passer?

That's what I want to know.

And I want to see.

I'm just, I'm dying to know the snap count in this game right now.

And I think that you can get him to the point where he's at least having an advantageous rush situation.

So I don't think that's out of the norm.

You mentioned it, Mark, the play callers for the Lions.

I tend to think the Lions will come down a little bit in wins and losses in the regular season.

But still, like I said, I picked them to go to the Super Bowl.

I think they'll be fine in the long run.

I do imagine that the early part of their schedule could be challenging as they adjust.

And I'm really, we talked about it over the summer.

The quarterback series, you got such a great glimpse of Jared Goff and Ben Johnson and the connection they had.

John Morton, does he, you know, I imagine a lot of the offensive principles are going to remain, but there's a reason why Ben Johnson was the hottest coach on the market.

I mean, the guy had earned a reputation as one of the most

smartest, most innovative young play callers in the league.

How much is that going to hurt this offense?

And we've seen, as much as we've seen Jared Goff thrive in his career, and he's really had so many high moments, We've seen that man get put in a blender also.

Week one with a new coordinator against a Packers team that suddenly has the best edge rusher in football, arguably

coming toward him.

It's going to be a lot of fun to see if the Lions are a work in progress or they just pick up where they left off.

Here's the one thing, though, and to close the book on this game, the one thing that even Jeff Hafley said that they needed to do this offseason was to get better against the run, get better in the interior.

They traded interior help for this generational pass rusher.

And the Lions still have David Montgomery.

They still have big dudes up front.

They can survive an offensive coordinator change just by running duo up the middle and making you regret your life choices.

I'd say one last little quick thing is that I think we shine on or we smile upon in-house coordinator promotions.

Like the scheme is going to stay the same.

Like you've been in meetings with these players.

It doesn't always work.

It just doesn't.

It's like it's a human talent to be creative and innovative and throw people into a blender if they're your opponent.

It doesn't always work.

It's true.

It's true.

I remember when the Lions were on hard knocks and Colleen and I were doing the podcast and we were saying, who is Ben Johnson?

Where is Ben Johnson?

The entire show is focusing on Deuce Staley, who is an assistant coach/slash running backs coach, who I think kind of got fired after the season.

At that time, though, Ben Johnson was relatively anonymous.

and now he's this superstar hot shot.

Who knows?

Maybe this is Morton's time and he'll be, he'll turn into the next big thing and he'll get a coaching job, a head coaching job out of this.

It will be great theater.

Now, the rest of the late slate, it's all good.

It's all good.

I'll even throw a bone to Justin.

He's got the Tennessee Titans, who, by the way, are number 30 in our power rankings.

But it's the number one overall pick.

Cam Ward making his debut at Mile High against against the team of HTC, the Denver Broncos.

That's a nice game, but I'm going to move the focus, though, to another one that, to me, is spicy.

I love the number 11 49ers at the number 18 Seahawks.

Because, and that's why this is so fun, because we've talked all summer, like, oh, this is the year of the San Francisco bounce back.

Here's a nice little test, Connor, right off the, right off the bat.

And then you have a really fun storyline in Seattle where Sam Darnold replaces Geno Smith.

They have a new offensive play caller there.

How does that offense look?

This is going to be a really great game and a fun division showdown right off the bat.

So two years ago when the 49ers were in the Super Bowl, I did a story about what it's like to pitch Kyle Shanahan a play.

And he's,

you know,

I guess long story short, it's not fun.

It's not easy.

He makes you feel really bad about yourself and totally self-conscious because he just picks it apart immediately.

But Clink Kubiak used to be that guy.

And he would come in and be like, I have this awesome idea.

And Kyle Shanahan would just rip it apart.

I have an awesome idea.

And then he'd just rip it apart.

And now he's a coordinator foe in that division.

More than a lot of other guys, I would say, save for Mike McDaniel.

He has been bred and molded in that system.

And now he's practicing against Mike McDonald every day, who was hired in part to shut that system down.

What grows from this kind of Petri dish?

That's what I'm dying to see because I think this is going to be so exciting.

And Dan, you mentioned this a couple shows ago.

We kind of lost the script on Clint Kubiak with the Saints last year because injuries undid that team in multiple ways.

But they were an outrageous offense in those first two weeks.

And I get that people adjust and it's kind of like that flower lost its bloom there.

But you've got Clint Kubiak versus Robert Sala.

And I look at this Niners defense.

I think one of the unanswered questions, we want to just ticket them for 12 wins.

There's like six new major players on defense and young players and key foundational parts of that defense have missed, have vanished away.

So out of the gate, it's like if Kubiak and Darnold have built a chemistry together, there is a chance to take advantage of a very inexperienced, at least sections of this defense for the Niners.

And it's in Seattle.

That matters a lot.

Seattle's,

I believe, an underdog in this game, which is unusual.

They've always played historically very well at home.

But I understand why San Francisco is the favorite here.

But at the same time,

there's a path.

There's a path here where Seattle, what Seattle does well, is going to go up against what San Francisco really struggled with last year.

San Francisco could not stop the run last year.

And I like the Salah hire.

I think he was a great, it's great to bring him home, and I think he will stabilize things.

But just like with Detroit, it might take some time.

They believe they put in, they added some players that could help that run defense.

But I love Kenneth Walker this year if he could stay healthy.

And I love Zach Charbonnet as a one-two punch.

And we talked about how I think the reason Ryan Grubbs got fired is I think they want to get back to being a run-heavy attack in Seattle.

And that will not only, you know, chew up time possession, keep the other offense off the field, that is the best setup for Sam Darnold.

The Darnold hive is back.

We have shifted over to Seattle.

And if they could run the damn rock, Darnold is going to eat in this offense, I think, especially with in play action.

So look for, if you're looking for early signs of, oh shit, did we talk way too much about San Francisco?

Seattle could run over the 49ers in this game, and then we're going to have a lot of questions about how serious we should be judging them in the NFC.

Not been an easy road for Ryan Grubb.

He's now attached to an Alabama team that collapsed over the weekend as their play call or so.

I love, I love

this time of year when Mark is super plugged in on college ball.

He has

two weeks.

I know it does, but I always, I always savor it.

I just like, I know for two weeks, for a fortnight, I'm going to be, I have Mark just locked and loaded with a college take, and that was a good one right there.

Great example.

Grubb continues to struggle on the lower level.

Multi-millionaire.

Let's shift to another interesting intra

inter-conference.

We've never known.

Number 15 in the HTC power rankings.

Texans at the number number 15 Texans, I should say, at the number 14 Rams.

What do you like about this one, Mark?

Well,

it's just another major question of like

the Texans.

If you want to look at one of their strengths, it's Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter going up against a Rams line where Alaric Jackson missed the entire month of August with blood clots.

And we're like the big hanging question mark is: how does Matthew Stafford survive this campaign?

We've talked about it a ton,

but now we find out because you can't hide him in tents and metallic vehicles and space age healing cells.

Like now he's got to go actually do the thing which is tough, which is to deal with large men coming at you 75 miles an hour.

Is that going to be on the sideline, by the way?

Is the tube going to be on the sideline?

That feels like I think that's another great question.

That's a great question.

Hey, look at us about this game.

We have it on the sideline.

Like

they airlifted in

on like a giant helicopter right before kickoff.

Look at us.

And then

the steps come down, and then a bunch of smoke pours out of it.

And who walks out of it?

Matthew Stafford, looking like he's 24 years old again.

He looks great from an attractive angle compared to his early career where he had a sort of a round face and he now he's bearded.

He just done a nice LA transition.

One other thing, Connor, like, I mean,

there's no Joe Mixon,

and you've got Nick Chubb in there.

They've got a young back, Woody Marks, I don't enjoy a man,

that gets hotter.

I'm just going to end my comment there because I don't know what I could add to that at this point.

I was thinking about that health trailer, or whatever you want to call what Matthew Stafford was stepping in on.

Because my wife and I were watching the biggest loser documentary the other day.

Oh, I saw that.

That's great.

Troubling Doc.

Jillian Michaels, like the one trainer in the documentary, when she gets a sense that her team of large humans isn't doing well, just starts just pumping them full of caffeine pills.

Eat up, Patty.

Very dangerous.

But if you're this space trailer kind of company, you should probably also just inject Matthew Stafford with HGH because you don't want him to get hurt immediately after coming out of the space trailer.

So I think that there's a lot to think about there.

Big week for the space trailer.

I don't love the marketing dilemma.

Yeah, the second round rookie left tackle against Jared Verse.

I don't love that for the Texans.

I also,

I'm very excited.

Yes, Justin.

They're very high on him.

That's all I'll say.

The Texans love Ariane Ursurgi.

That's great.

They think he can be an impact player, but I agree how many second-round Texas players.

That's my point.

It's like you're putting a lot on that kid's place versus one of the

most talented young edges in the league.

Well, they had Tunsel, and they decided they wanted to go in a different direction.

We'll see how it goes.

And let's see if he holds up in protection, if we get a bounce back year.

I think it's one of the big subplots entering 2025.

Is C.J.

Stroud going to kind of get back to where he was as a rookie, or is he going to settle into that second tier right side of the Dalton line, but maybe not too far away from it?

I'm very interested to see what Stroud looks like in year two,

and we'll see what happens.

All right.

Put a bow on it there.

By the way, Nico Collins is going to have 1,600 yards receiving this year if he stays healthy.

Top four wide receiver, right?

Do we agree?

Top five?

If he stays healthy, he's going to ball out.

All right.

Justin, jump in.

You don't have many late games.

Before we spin over to the, you're going to be parked in the early window with the Titans the entire year, pretty much.

But you get it, you get a nice little late window here.

America is going to be able to see them.

Yes.

Oh, contra.

The Titans have five 4 p.m.

Eastern kickoffs this year, and the rest is a lot of them.

That must have been a mistake.

Yeah.

Because we're going to get to flexing that scenario pretty quick.

They might have to check in on the AI technology that builds out that schedule.

Remember how proud of them.

Remember how proud of themselves Parker Avenue used to be?

And they'd be like, let's get Connor's mentor, Peter King.

Let's put him behind the closed doors of the schedule makers.

And he's going to park in there.

You see, yeah, and there's all these guys eating Subway sandwiches and ripping

note cards everywhere, taping it up.

And now, what, it's like three keystrokes on a computer?

Three keystrokes on a computer, and then you have to fax it to Jeff Bezos, and then he rearranges it and sends it back, and you have to say, okay, sure.

That's how it works.

Maybe Bezos is a huge Titans fan.

He's like, we got to get him out of the 10 a.m., 1 p.m.

5 o'clock slide.

I am Bezos.

I am Bezos.

I would argue that the Titans caused Jeff Bezos to become involved in schedule making because he's like, if I have to have this damn team on Thursday night football one more time, I'm going to cancel it.

All right.

But anyway, good luck to your Titans.

Thank you.

For real, though, this is such a Brian Callahan prove it game.

You have the best defense in the NFL from last year.

You have the best cover corner that you probably can't throw at in this game.

It immediately eliminates a read for Cam Ward right off the bat.

You don't have a lot of options in terms of immediate check down help.

What are you scheming up for this kid?

Because they are going to come screaming off the ball, knowing that you drift in the pocket.

This is, I mean,

this could be the game that we find out whether or not

he can wear the pants.

I've rolled the ball about 65 times.

Yeah.

I'll tell you.

People forget Caleb Williams went 14 of 29 for 93 yards in his NFL debut last year against the Titans, by the way.

Yeah, I mean, it's a tough, like, emotional place.

Okay.

He had a fine season, but the first game is like week one.

Are we really going to put much stock into it?

Yeah, go ahead.

Go ahead, Justin.

It's an emotional battle here because it's the team that I love.

I'm wearing my Psych Ward, Cam Ward t-shirt today.

Hold on, hold on, slow down, slow down.

You have genuine issues, Justin.

Wait a second.

Are you guys trying to make Psych Ward a thing?

Holy shit.

I have made Psych Ward a thing.

Yeah, I came up with it during the draft process.

I said it a bunch of times on the Music City Audible.

That is the cutest thing.

That is the cutest thing I've ever

made this shirt adorable.

Justin Osnoff, the nickname they created for their defense that was literally slammed verbally by one of their players because of the tongue.

The Tennessee Tickle Monsters.

The Tennessee Tickle Monsters.

Jeffrey Simmons didn't like that very much.

I don't think he got it, though.

Like, I don't think he understood it.

I don't know.

That wasn't sound intact.

That one, yeah.

You know, NFL players,

very talented athletes.

Not a lot of them have a very keen sense of humor for, like, I don't know,

like ironic twists of a phrase.

You know what I mean?

Like, that's not really how their brains are typically wired.

The Tennessee tickle monsters, I get it.

They're like, what do you mean, tickle?

Like, they don't like that shit.

You know what I mean?

Like, they're not, like, into that shit.

Look at us.

Kayvon.

Mark tries to ask a big spoon, little spoon, and

it's like a scene out of Philadelphia, the level of gay panic that struck our studio that day.

Well, it was a very, it was a trendy.

It was like the first act of Philadelphia.

Right.

I felt disrespected as a reporter in that sense.

It only got worse from there.

You best not be asking that question again.

It's like, all right, how about a

tone down the machismo, guys?

Anyway, psych ward better than Tennessee tickle monsters.

How about that?

And I would absolutely wear the shirt if you sent it to me.

We're right on the edge.

We've been working on the body a little bit.

We've gotten it down from XL to large, but it really depends how this shirt is cut.

It's nice, it's comfy.

I don't want

nipples tight against the fabric.

I need a little breathability.

So

it's a good-fitting,

comfortable shirt.

This little, like, this thing on here is a little like you can feel it a little bit, but it weighted.

Is it a soft material?

It's a soft material.

Yeah, the shirt itself is quite comfortable.

Anyway, I've been trying to find an excuse to play this drop, and you keep cutting me off, so I'm just going to play it.

Oh, oh, God.

Yeah, oh, God is right.

If I swear to God, the Denver Broncos, after this summer of the hype that we've poured on you and everyone else, if you trip on your dong at home against the Titans,

we're going to have an issue.

We're going to have an issue on this show.

Jimmy, I love this team.

All right, that's great, Mr.

Payton, but you better not trip on your dong.

All right.

Good PSA.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Just remember, week one is crazy, and it rarely translates to the rest of the season.

So

sounds like you're predicting the Titans to win, and I love it.

All right, let's take a break, and then when we come back, we'll take a look at the early window.

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All right, we are back.

Here we go.

So we told you things are going to be a little bit different.

The early window traditionally has more games than the late window.

And what we're trying to do here with the preview and year two of heed the call, it's kind of a viewer's guide.

How should you, the listener, viewer,

attack Sunday?

So with that said, we're debuting a new segment.

Oh, baby, let it roll, Justin.

Welcome to the.

Find a way to pound this thing in there.

I'm annoyed now.

I don't enjoy a man.

It gets hotter.

Quad box.

That was well done.

It was awesome.

All right.

What is the quad box, Mark?

Let them know.

So, quad box, you know, for those of us that aren't

going to a sports bar to watch one game, you've got every game up on that.

You've got every chance to look at every single game.

You got to pick those four games, though.

And it's a real choice.

What do we focus on?

What are the four most key games?

You got them up at the same time.

It's utter chaos if you're covering the sport.

It's utter joy if you're just a fan.

A lot's happening at the same time.

So what are those four games in that early slate when there is bullets flying in like 12 different contests?

Yes,

we're going to give our opinion on what should be the four four games in your quad box.

And we'll each take one.

Connor, Dan, Mark, and Justin.

Connor, what's one of the quads?

All right.

So this is not going to be surprising, but this actually has nothing to do with broadcast television.

The Giants and Commanders,

for

about a hundred reasons, I'll try to truncate them right now.

First of all, this is the first Tom Brady game without Tom Brady rules, and I want to see how opponents that the Raiders play, common opponents, fare against the Raiders.

And so I'll be tracking that throughout the season.

But this is a fascinating chess match game because it's literally Brian Dable coaching for his life against a team that will prevent him from doing absolutely everything that he does well.

The commanders are going to move fast, which means that they're going to limit the pass rush.

Then the Giants are going to have to find a way to slow the game down to such a painful rate that the commanders get out of their rhythm, that they're able to rush the passer, that Russell Wilson's comfortable in this kind of pace-setting offense.

And so I just love the idea that this man literally has to coach the ever-loving shit out of this game in order to make it go well.

But at the same time, they were a field goal kicker away from beating this team last year.

So I think there's a lot of intrigue here.

I love everything about Commanders Giants.

They lost to them by three points and they lost to them by two points.

These were tight contests.

And I want to learn and find out

what Jaden Daniels year two, how have the Giants and other teams learned to to contain this player who started to blow up, I think it was the Monday night game against Cincinnati, where he really became like a national story and changed what we thought about what a quarterback could do as a rookie.

And we've been talking about it.

You've got a Giants pass rush that could create problems right out of the gate.

You've got Abdul Carter, looks fantastic as a rookie, Dexter Lawrence, our friend Kayvon, Brian Burns.

Like, how if you're Washington, you've got the oldest roster in the league right now.

And I think there's some agreement that they kind of fit as about a potential regression candidate after a magical season.

Like, is this Giants team that I have been hyping up?

We've been hyping up, especially on defense a little bit.

Who are they?

What are they?

Can you find a way to do what most people would think would be the most unlikely result here and take out Washington in week one?

It's going to be fun watching Daniels.

Last year, when the Giants and Commanders played the first matchup, I believe it was week two.

It was early in the season, and they got after him.

I think they sacked him five times in that game.

He did not play well,

but when they met late in the season, he wasn't sacked once, and he was doing the damage.

But this is the Giants.

The optimism around the Giants is understandable because there's some fun pieces here.

And there's a way,

to me, you have to squint a little bit, but there is a way to see if this team can survive, especially early on and don't bury themselves in 0-4 or 1-3, where they could hang around in this race.

And maybe if Dart hits the scene and lights him up, or Russell Wilson, as Connor has been telling us all summer, plays better than we expect, or just is playing at a much higher level than the previous Giants quarterback in recent years, this team can hang around.

But it starts by winning games like these.

So I think it would be a great statement for the Giants.

And I don't know how many years, I know they picked up Kayvon's

fifth year option,

but I don't know how many years they're going to have Abdul Carter, Dexter Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns, and Kayvon all together.

This is a very fun experiment this season.

And would I be stunned, Connor, if they went off and got Daniels Grill and made this a bit of a rock fight game?

I wouldn't be stunned.

But if they can't, if the pressure can't get home, look out.

This one can get ugly.

My only concern here, and this is something that the Giants even were talking about later on this week when Shane Bowen, the defensive coordinator, gave his press conference.

Cordell Flott and, you know, Deontay Banks, neither of them are really healthy at the same time this season.

Those are your kind of A cornerback positions, and you still really don't know what you can get out of them, how dependable they're going to be, who you're going to play at this point.

And if you have chaos in the back end, that really impacts your ability to rush the passer.

Like so many things.

The point I'm trying to make here have to go right in order to maximize Abdul Carter in this game.

Can you do them all?

How long is Russell Wilson's leash?

Guess the more I've been thinking about it,

you know, could it be as short as a couple games?

If this, let's say, let's say this does not go his way, he plays poorly the offense.

You know, they put up 10, 13 points, and then they have trouble again.

Could it be as short as a couple games?

It's going to be Dayball's biggest choice he'll make as Giants coach is when to pull the trigger and bring in the rookie.

I'm curious how long he can hold.

Their schedule is brutal.

So

if losses are are mounting it may not be because russell wilson is the

the problem but he could be scapegoated because the one thing i always think is like i always predict the under on how quickly a rookie will get in there um at quarterback but if you find something in jackson dart then brian dable is seen differently over an aging russell wilson who if he's fine like what does that really mean for this organization so i always tend to think it's going to happen sooner than we predict i think the one obvious game if you're looking at early in the season, week five, Sunday, October 5th at New Orleans against the Saints, you're on the road.

There's not a lot of pressure.

That bye week's not until week 14.

There's no easy transition point here.

And the one quick point I'll make is if you looked at the Dart offense in the preseason and the Russell Wilson offense in the preseason, they're completely different, even though you were running out of vanilla game plan.

And if the Giants feel stuck and I think that they need to move in a different direction.

direction and at a different speed, keyword, I think Jackson Dart's going to make it in sooner.

The funny thing is,

I did the

Sheck's new show, Football America.

Don't forget the slammer.

I said the same thing on that show.

Keep an eye on Sunday, October 5th against the Saints, the beginning of the Dart era.

But could be sooner or later.

We shall see.

All right, Justin, how about you

throw something up in the quad box?

All right, I am going to go with a game that I think

this game has a lot of intrigue, even if I'm not super interested in the two teams.

These two teams are ranked 26th and 25th in the HTC preseason power rankings.

It's Panthers at Jaguars, and the main draw for me in this one is how is Travis Hunter used as an NFL player?

How many snaps is he getting on offense?

How many snaps is he getting on defense?

Does this new Liam Cohen offense with Trevor Lawrence look as dangerous and threatening as the anonymous coordinator made it sound in those quotes earlier this week.

Is Trevor Lawrence finally taking that step?

And on the other side, the Panthers had, you know, historically bad defense last year.

Has that been fixed at all?

Has that been addressed at all?

And they draft their own highly regarded rookie receiver, Intet McMillan, who I'm also interested to see.

Like, what's his usage?

Is he coming in to be this?

this team's wide receiver one right away.

I think there's some interesting stories here, even if, again, the teams aren't like my favorite to watch.

I think you nailed it because I like when we're focusing on our first real look at some of these players, and I'd put Cam Ward in that box too, because it's like, you know, no matter how unmagnified his like rise was over the summer, I can't wait to watch him play.

But Travis Hunter, I mean, I think it's the kind of person that just can change.

It's the kind of player that can bring tons of new fans to the game because he's going to be that kind of highlight real individual.

I have one quick annoyance because I'm in two fantasy leagues.

I'm not going to go to spend a lot of time on this because no one gives a flying F, but

I took Travis Hunter in both leagues and I learned

in my high school friends league that here is the problem.

I get points for what he does on offense.

But if someone has the Jazz, if he had eight interceptions and a pick, like two pick sixes, whoever, if I were playing the Jaguars defense, they get points for Travis Hunter scoring a pick six on me when I have him as a player.

Now, try to explain to me how that makes sense.

All right, first of all, relax.

The chances that this happen are very, very slim, but it could happen.

A pick six could happen.

I have to say,

and I know

you're kind of in James Gladstone's church a little bit about like this guy is going to revolutionize pro football in the southern area of North America here, like or United States.

Like,

is he?

Like,

is he?

All right, let's say he's a great wide receiver.

Great.

There's a lot of great wide receivers, unless he's going to do Odell Beckham type shit for 2014.

He's probably just going to be a good wide receiver, maybe a great one.

Okay, now he's going to be, let's say, best case scenario, he's like a really good cornerback.

All right, then nobody's really going to throw at him.

I mean, the idea that he's going to bring in a trillion new fans to the big chlorine tank in Jacksonville, like you might get Fred Durst on the sideline in a travel.

But what if he's Dion?

What if he's Dion?

Okay, but how many Dions have there been in the history of pro football?

Well, that's why I'm saying it would be special.

That's why I don't be.

The whole logic behind

Gladstone's speech continues to irk me all these months later.

I just, I don't know, I don't know.

There's a lot going on here.

Yeah, but at the same time, like, you know, I had my fantasy draft earlier this week.

I took Travis Hunter.

He was later in the draft.

You take guys, this is our old friend, Chris Wesling, our late great friend.

He's in my head all the time with different things and one of them is with fantasy like take chances on special athletes especially in fantasy don't don't try to get to some the middle tier the middle floor try to go for your ceiling so maybe he is special and maybe maybe

maybe

trevor lawrence is special we'll find out nobody's going to be if liam cohen can't do it this year there will be no more excuses

And I can't wait to see how he looks in this offense.

I think that there's so much intrigue here because when you do what James Gladstone did, you're essentially handing the head coach a hot plate of, you know, doo-doo mess to try to sculpt into something by the time you get to Sunday, right?

You're like, this is one of the most exceptional players we've ever seen, a guy who can change football.

Here, now you go make it happen, right?

Because I'm not worried.

I'm aligned with the owner.

I'll do whatever the F I want.

You know, I'll be here.

Now you, you're the one that has to make it happen.

I still, I said this maybe six weeks ago after the draft, whenever that was.

The Carolina Panthers are going to run at this guy when he's on defense to try to impact his health when he comes back out on offense.

They're just going to do it.

They're going to run tosses.

They're going to run powers.

They're going to force him to tackle and they're going to force him to be less ready for subsequent drives.

And that's what I want to know.

If you're Jacksonville, how do you avoid that?

Because even if you step, if you're just a little bit slower, if your step is just a fraction off, you're not going to be able to get off the line of scrimmage.

And what have receivers said about Travis Hunter?

Exceptionally talented.

However, still has to develop as an at-the-line technician.

And if there's a little bit of fatigue there that sets in, how does that impact the totality of what we're talking about?

I know I'm raining on this guy's parade, but I just, I just have to see it all first.

And then I'll be his biggest fan.

Yeah.

It's like, it's like tens of thousands of people bursting through the turnstiles.

Did you see it?

He won four for 81 in this game and a touchdown.

And then he had two pass breakups.

Get me in this building.

Get me in the building.

I'm suggesting it's happening this week.

You know what I'm saying?

I get it.

I do.

Maybe he's special.

Maybe Gladstone.

Maybe the kid was right all along.

We'll see.

Next quad, third quad box.

I'll go Steelers Jets.

There's so much.

There's so much to this game that's juicy.

I'm glad they didn't stick it in prime time and force that.

Get the Jets.

Get the Jets

off the grid a little bit, but they can't be totally off the grid in week one because Aaron Rodgers is now the opponent against the Jets because Park Avenue or the bot or whatever's doing it has a sense of humor.

So, how Rodgers plays, how that offense in Pittsburgh for Pittsburgh looks with Rodgers at the controls and Arthur Smith, and

that dichotomy between Rodgers, a control freak that thinks he knows everything, and Arthur Smith who's saying, like, no, bro, you're in my offense.

You are not the offense anymore.

If Aaron Rodgers and Smith can jibe, yeah, I think he can be an upgrade over what they had with Russell Wilson.

And yes, Justin Fields, who is now the quarterback of the Jets.

So you have a lot of good quarterback juice here.

But I think, at least from the Pittsburgh side of things, yes, you're going to want to get out of this with a win because the Jets are not going to probably be a very good team this year.

And you have a schedule that's not overly forgiving.

So go get a win in the Meadowlands against the potentially bad Jet team.

But from the Jets side of the things, guys, I really think this is a huge game and maybe the biggest game of the year

because there's so much riding for Jets fans who suffered

through their optimism for the Aaron Rodgers era and having your chests out and being proud of him as your quarterback.

And then for him to fail and for the team to fail and the ownership to fail you.

And now you don't want him to come into the meadowlands and throw for 303 touchdowns in this game.

It's just like if you really want the Lol Jets era to end, if Aaron Glenn has come here to bring dignity back to this organization, it starts right now.

It starts with playing well, shutting down Rodgers, limiting big time plays, and winning this game.

What a statement it would be for Aaron Glenn to say, not only did I fire this guy's ass, I beat his ass in week one because this is a new day for the New York Jets.

So I think there's a ton of pressure right now on Glenn and the Jets to get it done.

And I can't wait to see how it plays out.

It's

just having done this show with you, like the opener for the Jets two years ago.

I don't know if I could probably put together a top five Dan is in a bad mood or in a defeated mood moments.

And that had to have been

at number one for me.

Lowest moment of my sports fandom, bar none, was that when the Achilles blew, yes.

Right.

It truly started as this like

incredible wellspring of hope.

I don't know if I agree that this is the most important game because what I want from the Jets is to grow.

But this is the kind of game that WFAN is on tilt all week heading into this.

And callers are calling in about all the feelings that they're feeling about Aaron Rodgers.

And you said it.

Aaron Glenn, I thought he put his flag in the dirt right away by saying, Aaron Rodgers, you're out of here.

I'm not doing this anymore.

We're building a different type of team.

Now, the question real quick is like, the Steelers know Justin Fields really well.

And in reverse, the Jets know Rodgers, but not, it's different.

That's Aaron Rodgers.

Like, how do the, how does a really nasty Steelers front, which I think we're looking at the Steelers and saying boring team, kind of just sitting there in the middle.

Their defense is nasty.

And you got a Jets coordinator, Tanner Engstron, who is, you know, he was birthed inside the Detroit coaching staff post-college.

So he knows Glenn well, but That's just another X factor.

We found out right away that a Jets OC went south in 10 minutes two years ago.

Who is this guy?

What's the offense going to look like?

And go from there.

Because I think what this team needs is growth.

But this game symbolically means it means a lot for Jets fans.

Yes.

I'm watching alignment, alignment, alignment, alignment.

Arthur Smith went out and did things like get Jonu Smith, even though they had three other really capable tight ends.

And what they're trying to do is kind of do a Walmart version of what San Francisco has been able to do in the past.

I want my ex-wide receiver to be able to play over here at Z.

I want my tight ends to be able to line up out wide.

I want my tight ends to play fullback.

I want you to never be able to understand what we're trying to do from the snap.

And I want to move all these guys around.

Rogers ties into this in a very real way.

He mentioned during training camp how often he gets corrected by his own offensive linemen who are trying to keep him, I think, on the rails, running these plays, doing them the way that Art Smith wants them to.

And I want to see him conduct an orchestra in this manner because I think it's interesting And I think it's going to be secretly very sneaky hard for the Jets to shut down.

And last point, I mentioned in our last show, but Elijah Vera Tucker is indeed out for the season.

He tore his triceps in practice on Tuesday.

Huge loss for a Jets offensive line that needs to be the engine of that offense and the running game that they're counting on so much.

Most likely, Joe Titman, who was in a camp battle with Josh Myers at center, is going to kick to right guard.

And he was supposed, and what Vera Tucker, in addition to being the Jets' most talented and versatile guard up offensive lineman, he was going to help take a little pressure off the first-round pick.

Arman Membu at right tackle.

But now you're going to have somebody that might, you know, in Titman playing out of position a little bit.

It's, it's dicey.

And

I don't want to dwell on it any longer because I'm pissed about it, but that's football.

Injuries happen.

Let's see how they handle it.

All right, Mark, finish the quad box.

All right.

Pretty easy for me.

Kind of surprised it's still here.

I thought maybe you guys were were being nice to me here.

Bucks and Falcons.

Now, the Bucs,

I see them as like an NFC title game.

And I think, Connor, you're there with me, contestant.

They were swept by the Falcons a year ago, and it was Kirk Cousins who threw for 785 yards over two games against a Todd Bulls defense.

Everything's changed, though, because now it's Michael Pennix Jr.

And it's like what this is what I love about week one is because we've got Baker Mayfield with a completely new coordinator for the third year in a row.

Michael Pennix Jr., the whispers out of camp have been

really encouraging.

Like from the neck up, he just seems to be someone that's picked up the offense.

He's dynamic.

They trust him.

And he's a very aggressive passer in the small sample size we saw, but it was a really small sample size.

And it's like, what does this, this offense?

was frustrating for years because you've got these like massively talented athletes who are not being used in concert together.

And it started with Bijan Robertson for a little bit.

It certainly was Kyle Pitts.

But Kyle Pitts specifically has apparently had really good chemistry with Michael Pennix Jr.

So I guess for me, it's like this Falcons team, floor pretty high, because I think they're just sort of a basic team that's going to win a certain amount of games.

But what's the ceiling?

And what's Baker Mayfield this year?

Did we get it all over again?

Like, I used to be quite annoyed by the NFC South matchups in general.

They weren't my cup of tea, but this this is my cup of tea this Sunday.

The Buccaneers just extended their offensive line.

You know, they have their bookends locked in for the foreseeable future.

And I think that that's a harbinger for this game because they historically tried to run the ball down Atlanta's throat.

And I think they're going to do it again in this game.

Grady Jarrett not being in the fold for Atlanta is something that I think that we're not talking nearly enough about.

They're lacking leadership at that defensive line position.

You're putting a a lot of stress on the resources that you did pour into edge rushers, right?

And then trading back up to get a second edge rusher, you're still leading yourself vulnerable.

This Bucs offensive line is one of the best in the NFL, and they have two really good, capable backs.

Like, I know we're talking about Baker Mayfield and the first-round pick out of Ohio State, and Chris Godwin, and any, you know, the heights that this offense can reach.

I think that they're going to be nasty.

I mean, I think this is going to be like a five and a half, six yards a rush game, and Atlanta is going to have to gut up and really try to match physicality in this one.

Baker coming off his best season.

A major reason why Baker has continued to be successful despite the play caller changes is Tristan Wurfs.

Wurfs, unfortunately, is on the pup list

dealing with injury that he's recovering from right now.

That's pretty huge.

Charlie Heck.

Charlie Heck will be the left tackle.

He's bounced around the league in a couple spots.

He hasn't shined anywhere yet.

So, heck, against maybe it's James Pierce, the first-round pick for the Falcons.

Keep an eye on Baker and

if they can keep his jersey clean in this one.

All right, there you go.

That was the quad box.

Quad box.

We need some type of vocal.

Quad box.

We could just like double-track it, quadruple drop.

Wait, he was taking off the pup worse, but he's not playing.

Is that correct?

That's correct.

Yes.

That's correct.

Yes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That's why you need a producer.

Off-pup, but not active.

And what does it mean?

If you're not active, what does it mean?

It's like, same thing.

Like, Mark's like, this is my cup of tea.

Does Mark actually drink tea?

Let's ask the real questions.

Not really.

Yeah.

So it just rocked my world.

All right.

That's the quad box.

That's the early window.

When we get back, we'll spin around.

Check in on some other angles of week one, the Sunday.

What you need to know.

Stay right there.

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All right, we're back.

You know, we just did all these game previews, but we can't forget the game that ostensibly is the one that the NFL cares about the most.

It's the highest-rated show in all of television every single year.

It's time for.

Oh,

yeah.

Oh yeah, Sunday night.

Let's talk about it.

Stupid.

All right.

It's Ravens at Bills.

It's number five.

Number five.

And we'll work on that one.

Number five in the power rankings at Ravens at number four in the power rankings, the Bills.

So there we go.

Mike Tarico, Chris Collinsworth.

I love Bills.

I love Lamp.

I love the idea of this being the year the Bills get over the hump and win the Super Bowl.

And to do that, they're going to have to do things like open the season by holding court against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

Because if there is any team that's as desperate to come out of the AFC as the Buffalo Bills, as they've been on this rise the last half decade or so, it is the Baltimore Ravens who also have

can stake the claim for the team that's like the most like overdue to finally get out of the AFC.

So the stakes are there.

The storylines are there.

It's arguably the two best quarterbacks in the league.

It's a perfect way to end your Sunday mark.

Yeah, because I see a mirror quality, as you mentioned.

The Bills feel this desperation to do it finally, like get through that window, go to the Super Bowl, win it.

But the Ravens are 3-7 versus the Bills and Chiefs since 2019 and suffered a painful playoff loss to the Bills a year ago.

They're so similar.

Like they were second and third in scoring a year ago.

They have the first and second red zone offenses, both of these teams.

The Bills were phenomenal last year, losing the ball only eight times.

The Ravens were third best in that category.

Like they're just regular season powers.

And for me, it's what football is today.

Today's NFL is this high-powered merry-go-round of, especially in the AFC, these superpowers that seem to play each other so often.

And I look at the Ravens and say, here's one thing.

Like, if you look at the team's month plus opening schedules, I think the Bills after this week play like six teams that had a losing record a year ago.

The Ravens get the Browns next week.

Now, a year ago, they lost to the Chiefs in the opener, then lost to the Raiders, and they were 0-2.

It's kind of easy to forget about that.

But after that Browns game, they've got the Lions, Chiefs, Texans, and Rams.

That is a gauntlet.

So you've got to find a way, I think, if you're Baltimore to go on the road and somehow eke out out a win here because you know it's going to be close.

I don't know if it's going to be an eking.

And I'm going to say this for the first time.

And I'm probably going to say this about 620 times this season about the Rams.

So just get ready.

What they did last year, I don't think a lot of people noticed, was that they ran plays for Lamar Jackson that were almost like planned scrambles.

He's gotten so good at scrambling in the backfield that he can make it look like he's going to run, but really it's now part of a passing play.

And this is a big part of the Ravens offense.

They were gouging people with it last year, and not a lot of teams are prepared to stop it because just imagine you're breaking down the defense's coverage plan in real time.

Buffalo spent so much time, so much energy this offseason trying to bolster everything basically on the defensive side of the ball.

But how do you handle a situation where Lamar, it's not the freezing cold, it's a nice day out, he's going to be comfortable in that situation, and he's going to be able to unleash something that I really and truly don't think that the NFL is prepared to stop.

It was in drips and drabs last year.

It was very effective when they did do it.

And I'm just dying to know what it's going to look like.

I think he's going to run less, but I think he's going to force defenses to plan and play him like he's running more.

And I'll just add this.

I've had a sandwich over here for an hour and a half.

And unlike Justin, I have not touched it.

touched it toasted tuna fish on sourdough bread.

I've been looking at it for the last tuna sitting out, huh?

Yeah.

For an hour plus.

I don't know about that.

So we'll see.

Let's see.

Disciplined.

Let's give Connor some grace.

You want to turn your camera off and your mic?

Because Mark has mesophonia.

So take a big old bite of that sucker while I make my point about this game.

We're going to give you that grace if you'd like it.

Okay.

Thank you.

You're also wearing a Bill Belichick.

Like, we're somehow going in even a more extreme direction than our last show with your dressing style.

You're wearing a sweatshirt cut off at the sleeves and the collar.

You're dressed like a professional wrestler, like a Hamenager, like the Brooklyn brawler you're dressed like now.

Okay, I'm the king of Hollywood.

The fashion police is here.

I had no idea this was a meeting with HR.

Is there a dress code for this show that I need to be aware of?

I had a Peloton class before.

I am, listen, Mark is the king of Hollywood.

I am the dad of El Segundo.

It's very different.

I'm not casting aspersions or judgment.

I'm just saying it's

an amazing fashion choice and a big spot on our Thursday show reboot.

Here's the thing that that you guys don't get about me and will never understand about me.

The thing.

My underwear is more expensive and comfortable than anything that you guys have.

The totality of what you have on in your body, I spend on the important things,

the legitimately comfortable things, the things that make my body feel good, and f the rest of it.

Like, what am I trying to do?

Walk outside of my house and pick up a second wife?

All right, we have live via satellite justin tuck to give you another talk

here he is justin no

all right let's get back on track do you want to take a bite of the sandwich you want to go dark for a second yeah i'm going to go dark take dark all right um

yeah real quick because we got to move but derrick hunt derrick henry i'm not saying

sorry mark I'm not saying Derrick Henry was slept on last year because he certainly wasn't, but he did as a 30-year-old something that we really haven't seen in the league.

Turned 31 in January.

Not only were his numbers outstanding last year all his pop the hood uh analytic numbers showed that he had not just not dropped off that he was just as good as he's ever been if not better sorry justin earmuffs but does that continue again when i think about the the ravens and the bills it's like the window and people always like what do you mean the window josh allen's 28 and lamar jackson's 28 the window is these come in waves sometimes you get if you have a true great quarterback you'll probably have a couple different windows but i'm just saying this window this current one has Derrick Henry as one of the best players alive, okay?

Doesn't mean they can't reload with a different set of

skill players around Lamar down the line, but right now you have Derrick Henry.

And let's see if they can finally get over the hump with Henry.

He absolutely destroyed the Bills run defense last year.

He had almost 200 yards in their first meeting.

He bawled out again in the playoffs.

And by the way, yes, the playoffs, as we move off this, the last time these two teams played was in January.

The dreaded Mark Andrews dropped past.

So you want to talk about a little revenge?

You want to talk about juice?

It's all over the place on Sunday night football.

Welcome back, Connor.

Thank you.

Connor, how was that sandwich?

It's good.

Toasted sourdough.

So I think really added,

really levitated the flavor of everything.

A little fuel in the tummy.

Yeah.

You know, Peter.

I think Dan, you and I are suspicious of tuna being left in any room for an hour plus.

I would be, personally.

Also, like with the cutoff sweatshirt, like you could tell Connor's caught up in the protein craze right now in America.

Absolutely.

Stop it.

You know, that's an important thing that you just put into your system.

No?

Don't yeah.

No, I just feel like that's that's sort of a pedantic look at what I'm trying to do

from a fashion perspective.

That's sort of a stern take by Connor right now.

I love stern Connor.

Like, where are you guys going in your collared shirts?

Like, where, where, like, is there something you have to do afterwards or no?

To the Izod store where I stay.

You're going to take it off and you're going to put on something like this as soon as you get done.

I want to see you take off that shirt.

Every layer.

How many layers are we working with there?

Meow.

All right, let's

listen.

This is the preview of the week.

There are some games we haven't talked about.

So how about

let's put three minutes on the clock, okay?

We call this segment the other ones.

Okay.

And if you're annoyed that your team is in the other ones,

then play well and they'll not be in this segment of the show here we go hit the clock the other ones

go all right here we go cincinnati at cleveland ceser give us something interesting about this game well cincinnati is getting dragged down into the other ones because um they're playing the browns who've got to understand you're not the centerpiece of pro football this season um if you are a browns fan i'd say number one thing

You look at the young players.

This team is going youth movement.

Carson Sweschinger, Dylan Sampson, Mason Graham.

Like, go watch these guys who are your future.

If you're Cincinnati, Zach Taylor, one and five in season openers, you got Trey Henderson back in the building.

Like

go get out of the gate 3-0.

Who?

The Bengals.

Get out of the gate 3-0 and start to make an impact early and be what we are urging you to be.

The Browns, check you later.

All right, a week ago, a year ago, the Bengals had a perfect setup to start 1-0.

They got beat in their building by a bad Patriots team.

Yes, take take advantage of your soft schedule to start the season.

Up next, Miami at Indianapolis.

Connor.

This is an incredible chance for Daniel Jones to get a W in an early season game.

The Dolphins have no idea who's playing for them at this point.

Darren Waller just popped up on the injury report.

Their secondary is a mystery.

They have injuries now, new injuries on the interior offensive line.

I think that this could be the start of a really bad beginning of the season for the Dolphins.

And conversely, just imagine if you can get Daniel Jones rolling a little bit and Shane Steichen gets comfortable, gets in his bag there.

That Miami game is always tough early in the season.

They always play well early in the season.

What if they don't?

What if they're just too banged up?

And so that's why I have an eye on this game.

And we got Mike McDaniel in the Otome Brown, you and Danger Girl category, a loss against the Colts team.

Many people think will be fighting for the first pick.

That would be not ideal.

Up next, Las Vegas at New England.

You know, this is the season of Drake May.

That's what we're hearing.

Is the offensive line going to protect him?

This was the worst, or if not one of the worst, offensive lines in all the league.

And they now have retooled it with four new starters, including top five pick Will Campbell.

You need this to work.

Max Crosby is obviously on the edge on one side.

Malcolm Koontz coming back from an ACL last year.

He's coming off the other edge.

Can that New England offensive line revamp, hold up, and let Drake May be the potential star that he can be?

And finally, the Arizona Cardinals and the Saints.

I know you have a sweet spot for the cards, Mark.

Take us away.

Well, you've got to start off strong here because I think there is a concept.

I picked you as a playoff team.

You cannot go into New Orleans and lose to what many believe is the first or second worst team in the league.

That would be inglorious.

I think the Cardinals are going to handle them.

They've added a ton of players on defense.

And what

Kyler Murray, what version of him do we get?

I'm in too deep with the Cardinals.

I drafted Kyler Kyler Murray and Trey McBride.

I don't know why you needed them to be good.

I think the Saints are winning this game.

I think Kellen Moore is going to move fast.

It's going to be a fun college-style office.

Con Spencer Rattler is going to light it up.

Let's go.

And under the buzzer.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

Saints.

Ellen Moore.

Are going to win this football game.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore.

It's become a farce at this point.

I think Connor's, you know.

Ellen Moore.

Ellen Moore has been unraveled.

I love that.

I love it, Connor.

You just picked the Saints to win a football game.

Speaking of ballsy picks, let's move to our final segment of today's show.

Now, we're going to end this preview with a new seg.

I think, listen, Ceci, I think people are going to be very excited by what's about to happen right now.

Well, and if they're not, that's on them.

That's not his fault.

This is something that there's been an outcry.

People say, we love the new show.

We love being hedonists.

We're all in it.

We're mad for it.

But we miss something.

We miss the locks.

Locks are back, baby, in 2025.

Let's go.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, if there's ever been a time for the horns, Justin.

Yes, the lock.

Yes, after a one-year absence.

It's like a school band on edibles.

But with a twist, because this is...

But with a twist, because the locks...

There are no reverse gears in this tank.

Okay?

The locks are back, but this year with a twist.

These are going to be blind locks.

Okay?

Let me tell you the rules of this.

I think I have this right.

I think I remember what we talked about this morning.

Blind locks.

We had a very tangled conversation about this.

Yes, we were.

Throw it up.

Give a look at all of the week one schedule.

And we're going to track this, obviously, all season, and we'll have a locks champion.

Okay, you might remember on the old show we had the mirror test the mirror test is no more uh but also there is a way to keep you honest we are going to pick a straight winner of a game each of us however however if you try to get cute and you take a favorite who's favored by more than six and a half points so seven or higher you're locked in with that pick and your team that you pick has to cover double what the spread is.

So it's a major penalty.

You want to be cute about this?

You want to go ahead and you want to pick a team that's, that's clearly going to win the game.

You better not touch seven points because if you do, all of a sudden it's two touchdowns and two PATs you got to cover and then you're going to feel like a real bag of dicks.

This is like...

This is like a Japanese game show where it's like you go in under a stated purpose and then it's like, also you have to eat dog food.

Like, I don't know.

Yeah.

Heavy genitalia talk on this episode, but

always, the best shows always have that.

So, without further ado, we all, and these are all the lines that we're, we don't have the line, we don't see the lines, we don't need

right, it's been a gentleman's agreement that none of us have been looking at the lines.

That's not really what we're about anyway.

So, it's totally blind.

Okay.

So, if you take a big favorite, you better beware that they're not too much of a favorite.

Mark, you go first.

Okay, I'm actually

slightly concerned about this, but I am taking a road team, and I'm taking, this is a team that's really struggled early in the year, and they've got to turn that around.

I'm taking the Bengals

over the Browns in Cleveland.

All right.

That'll ruin this thing.

It may not be the edgiest pick, but I got to win.

Bengals over the Browns.

Geez.

God, that could be on the edge, See.

I know.

I don't know where we're at with that.

Okay.

Again, again, that could be a problem because all these are just straight picks unless you go over the six and a half and then you have to cover.

That's the penalty.

Okay, I am going to go.

Oosh, this is hard.

You know what?

It's early in the season.

I'm just filled with optimism.

Why am I doing this?

Don't do this, Dan.

Uh-oh.

Don't do this.

Oh, shit.

I'm going to do it.

I'm going to take the New York Jets.

You know, when you don't go into MetLife Stadium, by the way, I was at MetLife Stadium for for the Oasis concert.

What a dump that place is.

As ugly as it looks from the outside, somehow it's even worse on the inside.

How do we mess this up?

Don't get me started.

But the Jets win and get the Aaron Glenn era off on the right foot.

What could go wrong?

All right.

Up next, Connor.

Give me the Vikings over the Bears on Monday Night Football

In Chicago, Gutsy.

Road Warriors.

New quarterback.

New quarterback.

That would be a big letdown.

I think Chicago's there.

You know,

it doesn't fit, right?

Oh, it certainly fits.

It doesn't.

It certainly fits.

And it's what we've known all along.

Brian Flores can pull anyone's pants down.

And Caleb Williams, he's already done it.

He's been doing it with regularity.

He knows what this kid is uncomfortable with.

Doesn't matter what Ben Johnson can do.

He can put you in bad situations.

Pants down.

All right.

All right.

Justin.

I will go with the Buccaneers on the road because I am scared to death that the Falcons defense just relying on rookie pass rushers is not going to get the job done against this Bucks team.

All right, there you go.

Now, I guess it's time.

Should we do it?

Should we do the reveal?

All right.

Let's see if anybody's in the danger zone.

Did anybody go over

the six and a half?

All right.

Jets, two and a half are underdogs, but we're covered there.

What else?

Everybody good here?

I got close, but

Vikings, one and a half are favored by one and a half.

So you're actually on the side of Vegas in terms of that.

What did you have, Mark?

I had Bengals over Browns, and they were giving up

5.5.

Whoa, see, that's almost as good as a guess.

So you don't have to worry about doubling up.

They just now they just have to beat your Brownies.

So that's a great.

Did you wait, you picked the Browns?

You locked against the Browns in week one?

Well, see, you and I did very different things.

You fell into a trap voting for your childhood favorite team, and I've learned that the Browns will only disappoint me, and so I'm going against them

as often as possible.

It's sometimes you could be both smart and disappointing, and that's for me

where you've come in on this exercise.

But that's smart.

I feel very good about where you're at.

Okay.

let's see.

Oh, man, if somebody took the commies, they would have been under the zone there at minus six.

So, there you go.

We're going to track this all season, and the winner will get something.

I don't know.

A bag of genitalia.

I don't know.

Something.

We'll figure it out as we go along.

If that's what you want, I don't know.

Untoward.

All right.

Very good.

Very good.

All right.

A lot of fun.

Great start

to

the preview portion of things.

Remember, Patreon, Patreon.

We will be back on the Friday fun show.

We'll be back to doing our draft of the games that we're all going to be assigned to watch on Sunday.

So, if you want a little companion piece to this episode, you can find that on Friday morning on Patreon.

You could go right from this episode to that episode.

That's Synergy, and that's it for the show.

We'll see you on Sunday.

And as always, thank you for your hedonism.

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