NFL Week 8 Power Rankings + MNF Double-Header Recap

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Mark, I know you love a good Monday night football doubleheader, especially the ones that end in the middle of the night in America.

But at least we got a potential NFC championship game preview in Motown.

As Lionel Ritchie would say, all night long.

All night long.

Also, power rankings are back.

Where does your team fall?

Stay right there.

Heed the call.

Starts right now.

Hey, welcome

to Heed the Call, an NFL podcast.

I'm Dan Hanses

with my co-host, Mark Sessler, Justin Graver on the ones and twos on a late Monday night,

Tuesday morning, depending where you are,

after

the latest

double header.

Yeah, I just do, I wonder,

Sese, like,

I wonder if there was, if there's any conversations at Park Avenue

on Tuesday morning when it's like,

Alright guys, so the, you know, the second Monday night game ended like at 1.30 hour time in the morning.

And then the early slate on Sunday afternoon was

the greatest collection of dog shit ever assembled for a 1 p.m.

kickoff.

Sure.

Is anybody looking in the mirror?

Is anybody saying, are we doing this right?

I don't know.

Just throwing that out there.

Well.

My answer would be, of course not.

Like, did the money arrive?

The money arrived.

But i what i love to do is um we're on a text thread all four of us connor included with the three of us and connor like connor dropped off because connor's been sleeping for three hours like a normal human being connor has a newborn baby and it's it's 140 in the morning right now and like i was thinking should we take this text thread to our the one that's i was thinking the same thing and yet we did i decided like it might be fun for connor to wake up and read this conversation and if he's annoyed by it just mute this chat until the morning and that's on my

thought process about not moving it away from the Connor-included text chat was that

if he's not, I mean, if that's dinging at his bedside table, his wife has already murdered him anyway.

So he must have turned off notifications.

That's the only way.

He's gone.

Right.

So, you know, we won't, we're not going to spend the next hour or whatever.

And maybe we'll come in a little tighter than usual because of the late night nature of the show.

We're not going to complain too much about it, but it does strike me, Cecily, is

a little odd.

And

you throw in the fact that, like, if you're a sports fan of other sports, it's game seven of the American League Championship Series between the Mariners and Blue Jays.

Well, think of Seattle fans, right?

Yeah, and I'm thinking like at the Seahawks game.

Like an all-time heartbreak.

Like, if you

if you're a sports fan in Seattle, I would imagine Malcolm Butler

would be the number one heartbreak.

What happened up in Toronto

in the first half of a game being there's a football game being played in Seattle

as George Springer hits the three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to break Seattle's heart.

And for those that aren't baseball fans, the Mariners have never been to the World Series in 50 years.

And they had a 3-1 lead in the late stages of that game.

And then know, you smash cut to

Lumen Field, and it just got me thinking as a sports fan.

And somebody on Twitter got after me, like, you greatly exaggerate how many people are fans of two different sports like that.

It's like, what?

I don't know where you grew up.

Where I grew up, like, and I've been to Seattle.

It's a great sports town.

There were probably tens of thousands of die-hard Mariners fans at the Seahawks

Texans game tonight.

And it had to be a very strange feeling to be sitting in your seat during this like seminal moment and this heartbreaking moment in Seattle sports history.

And now it's like, all right, Sam Darnold, save me from the infinite void.

And he can't, and he can't, and like nothing can.

And like,

you're so right.

They showed, I thought they did a good, in an annoying broadcast, they did a good job showing

Seahawks fans looking at the results of the Mariners game and they looked forlorn.

They looked crushed.

And like, it's like this football game in the middle of the regular sea.

You know, I will compare it only to a human thing.

That's all I can do.

But like,

when I arrived to seventh grade,

it was early on.

I'd had a girlfriend named Bryn Taylor, and she, um, she had gone to California all summer with her family, and she wrote me one letter that was wonderful.

It was a great girlfriend letter.

And then I, like on the fourth day of seventh grade, um, she dumped me.

And it was period two out of seven periods, right?

So it's kind of like tonight.

It's like,

yeah, I'm in Spanish class with Senora Gingris, and I'm going to get a D in that class or a C.

And like,

it's a rough ride.

It's a rough road ahead, and you got to survive it.

And I think we all have survived tonight to some degree.

Well, let's see.

We're not done with the show yet.

Thank you for tuning in.

We will hit the power rankings at the bottom of the hour.

Bottom of the hour.

I love saying that.

But first, let's dig into the two Monday night games.

We'll start with the real one, then the fake one.

Let's start in Detroit, where the Bucs and Lions did battle.

NFC title preview, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Maybe, I hope, but hopefully a better game than this one.

Right?

A little bit of

a disappointing

battle between two Titans

of the National Football Conference.

The Bucs never could find their way.

They lose their spiritual leader, Mike Evans, to what might be a season-ending injury or close to it.

Baker Mayfield never finds a groove.

And despite the Lions not being far from the best version of themselves, they have a guy named Jameer Gibbs who does it all.

A career high 218 yards from scrimmage and a pair of touchdowns.

Lions, 24, Buccaneers, nine.

Both teams now five and two.

Yeah, this is

a game that the Bucs were very fortunate, Mark, not to be completely blown out of the building by halftime.

Detroit had a lot of un-Lions-like failures in the red zone and on fourth downs.

Ultimately, Gibbs was the difference maker in a day where not everything was clicking for Detroit.

They still had this guy who's just better than

everyone else on the field.

And maybe it's time to start giving Jameer Gibbs a little bit more shine as one of the very best players in football.

Absolutely.

And

at halftime,

Detroit had 275 yards.

The Bucs, this offense that I've crowed about, had 58.

And Gibbs at one point had 218 yards, and the Bucs had 130.

So it was a dominant performance and on that 78 yard touchdown scamper by Gibbs,

it was an example that the Lions offensive line can be what we've wanted them to be all season.

It was just a it was a great performance by them and I you know the the Bucs had 13 drives six led to punts three ended on downs.

Only two led to points.

It was a pretty dark and chalky evening for the Bucs, and I know you've had them a little lower in the power rankings than I have and others, but

it's a reminder that there aren't that many dominant teams in either of these conferences, but the Lions stand out and the Bucs failed the test tonight.

Yeah,

no victory, Dance.

It's not like I had the Bucs buried.

I think I had them at seven going into this week.

It was just like, I kind of, and I'm different than you.

One thing we're very different, like, I kind of need to see it.

You want to see it sometimes, and that sometimes works in your favor and against me, and vice versa.

With the Bucs, it was like, I kind of needed to see how this team looked in this type of game on the road against the Detroit Lions.

And yeah, they weren't ready.

They didn't answer the bell.

And I think if we get them, if we get a rematch, I feel like they'll probably be in a better spot.

It just felt like every team has a bad night.

This felt like a bad night for the Bucs.

And I do wonder how much the the Evans injury

was deflating.

Now, they're not going to acknowledge that or anything, but

it's a deep pass that actually was going to go for

one of those classic long gainers

where Evans lays out, he pulls it in, and as he hits the turf, the ball just falls away.

And that's when you knew immediately, okay, something's off here because that's not how this guy operates.

He's one of the toughest, grittiest, best wide receivers of his generation.

And he suffers a broken clavicle, in addition to, I think, a potential concussion, which explains why he just was so jacked up.

It was like,

it was tough seeing him that day.

A little alarming, right?

Yeah, it was like, it wasn't your typical injury because when it happened, it just like it's a play you see a hundred times a weekend.

And yet, this one, he landed just the wrong way and suffered multiple injuries on the same play.

And with that, ends, even if he comes back at the end of the season, obviously that ends his incredible streak of 1,000-yard seasons.

And, you know,

what we've seen from Todd Bowles' Bucs

in recent years is their ability to overcome these injuries.

But I don't know, there's something about this Evans injury.

It's not a hamstring where it's like, I'll see you in a month.

It's

I'm leaving you now, and maybe I'll be back, and we'll see.

But losing your emotional and one of your very best players for essentially the season,

potentially.

That's a tough one, and it's yet another challenge that Baker is going to have to rise up and overcome.

I totally agree.

They've had to get this far mostly without him.

People out there are saying,

does he play again ever?

We don't know.

I hope he does.

I hope he does.

Why wouldn't he play again?

Has he talked about retirement?

Well, just that there is an age factor there, and just depending on the injury and depending on the future.

But

again, I hope that's not the case, but this is a Bucks team with no Bucky Irvin, who's a huge part of this.

The balance of this offense, no Chris Godwin tonight.

Like they are playing without very important

individuals on offense, especially.

And it's not that that explains tonight.

I think they faced a better team.

But this wasn't, again, it's the Bucs are one of these

squads dealing with a lot of people out of the lineup.

And it's like, who are they if they have all these guys?

We don't know.

They've found ways to win, but they've been playing on the edge, right?

They've been on the edge week after week.

And tonight, there was no edge.

And, you know, a lot of every team has injuries.

And the Lions have injuries, too.

You got to give credit to Kelvin Shepard, the defensive coordinator

of Detroit.

They put together a really good scheme here that stifled the Tampa offense.

It's just been great all season long.

You know,

they really shut down and they make Baker look uncomfortable.

He never found his rhythm.

28 for 50, 228 through a touchdown, but also an interception.

Interception was a great play where the ball got ripped out of the tight end's hands.

But

yeah,

I think you just got to give the Lions a lot of credit.

And it just is an example.

I think Dan Campbell,

it's almost like Dan Campbell, the myth or like the folklore around this guy can almost obscure what a damn good coach he is.

The Lions are always ready to play, and I feel like there's something to be said for that, whether they are missing half their roster

or if they're going into a huge primetime game.

And I know they don't win all these games, they've fallen short in the playoffs.

They've had some

failures this season as well in their two losses.

But like, it just feels like, again,

having a guy and a staff leading a team the way he leads the Lions, they are,

I think they're the best team in the NFC, and I think they showed it again.

And just one more time, like Gibbs,

it's kind of an interesting, topsy-turvy year at running back, and we've talked about guys like Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor, and Christian McCaffrey is doing it again this year.

But I haven't watched a player that's as explosive as Jameer Gibbs in the league right now.

Like, he is one of one,

and I think he deserves more credit for being one of one in this league.

I think he's getting credit, but I'm with you in the sense that he's also winning people, their fantasy leagues on a night like tonight.

And

a double-class.

Well, that's the most important thing, Mark.

Well, not my, not, not, I was going to say, I thought that half the people playing in the secondary for the Lions, Nick Whiteside and Thomas Harper, these are people that I thought were in my high school fantasy football league now with my old high school friends.

Like, I've never heard of these people, but they got the job done.

So did Gibbs.

And

you say best team in the NFC.

We'll find out later tonight, but to me,

it's beyond that.

I don't see dominance in this league this year.

It's kind of frustrating.

Don't spoil it.

I don't give it a thing.

I don't give a fuck.

Our rankings tease.

You got to tease, baby.

This is a show.

Well, it's also, even it doesn't matter just what Mark thinks.

There's three other people that can weigh in.

And Connor probably has the Lions at 18 or something.

Well, I guess, yes, make sure you stay tuned.

All right, let's check out the late game, the fake Monday night game.

Oh, my God.

So fake.

This game.

Oh, my God.

This game.

Was this game six and a half hours long?

I feel like I was watching this.

This game was sent from hell.

I swear to God.

It would not end.

And we're in California.

Right.

We are the lead.

Unless we were in Hawaii.

If we were in in Hawaii, we would only be the people who got to complain less.

But poor Justin.

You got to wake up Justin there.

He literally passed out.

I was waiting for like a break.

On with this.

Baba.

Yeah, the Seahawks win 27-19

at Lumen Field.

So, you know, Seattle fans that are...

Bummed out about the baseball squad.

Well, they got a 5-2 Seahawks team.

Jackson Smith and Jigba continues to thrive as NFL leading fifth 100-yard receiving game of the season.

And

CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans offense for much of this game, excepting a four.

It was the fourth quarter that would not end.

I mean, the Seahawks can't struggle to close this game out.

They keep on giving it back.

I thought at one point after one of the quick three and outs or Seahawks turnover, I think it was after the Darnold pick in the fourth quarter.

Like CJ Stroud had just come off the field and and gotten the shit kicked out of him for an entire series.

And I was thinking to myself, I wonder if C.J.

Stroud wishes this wasn't happening right now.

Like, why couldn't Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet just like run out the clock for me?

But instead, he kept on getting sent out there and taking more hits.

Seattle's pass rush mark is the real deal.

And while the offense was spotty in this game, the defense carried the way just getting after CJ Stroud in that overmatched Houston line all night.

Like if Mike McDonald was brought there for a defensive vision, you throw in like Leonard Williams,

you'd have to say this is absolutely working.

Like they're a good team.

They're a very balanced good team.

I'm a little, and I, Dan, I think you feel this way a little bit.

I'm a little bored with Seattle, but I'm not in charge of all of this.

So I'm willing just to see what happens here.

They gave the ball away so much tonight and still survived, which is a credit to their defense.

That's also a sign of how bad Houston is in some ways.

Like their inability to take the gifts that were being handed to them over and over again.

That's the other side of this.

I think that

Houston to me floats

as a

sort of a garbage barge on a lost river.

Like, I don't take them seriously at all.

And

I'm at the point now where I'm like, what is happening to the career of C.J.

Stroud?

Because I know this three-man announcing booth was loving him at times and saying how we've got to keep putting it in his hands.

And like,

he just seems, he seems like kind of lost inside another offense that doesn't know how to protect him

and creates chaos around him.

And Nico Collins is going out with an injury at some point.

Like,

I just don't see good things for the Texans.

And Seattle survived tonight in what was one of the more unwatchable second halves of the season?

AFC South has always been my least favorite division.

No offense, Justin.

And this year is, you know, at least they have the Colts and the Colts are carrying the water

because they are,

you know, quite literally

the nicest surprise of the NFL season, what they've been able to do.

But it certainly helps when you get six gimmies in your own division

because between the Texans and they're obvious, like, they're stuck in the mud organizationally right now.

They're no different than the Texans of last year.

They're actually probably a little bit worse, quite honestly.

And then you have the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The last two weeks has been a major like

Scooby-Doo, take the mask off at the amusement park and see who they really are.

Nightmare.

You can't take them seriously.

The Titans are the Titans.

And it's just like, what is going on in the AFC South right now?

Because, yeah, Stroud, he got hit.

It's a bad part of town.

It's a bad part of town.

It's a very ugly part of town.

And Stroud was taking so many hits in this game.

And Leonard Williams, my former jet,

it was at the center of it, just constant menace in the backfield.

He's getting hit over and over to the point where he was gun shy by midway through the fourth quarter.

He wasn't stepping into throws.

He was just kind of flicking, especially after Nico Collins went out.

I guess I'll give him credit.

And again, like, I'm dead serious.

The Seahawks' failures to just take the air out of the football in the fourth quarter first added 30 minutes of real time for all of us, but also it kept on putting him back on the field.

And you could just tell the energy of the

even the Texans were like, Are you really gonna make us make this a one-score game?

We don't want to make this a one-score game.

And the booth is like, Oh,

this is a one-score game.

And while we're here, can I just do a quick audible like here and talk about the booth?

Yeah, you can

you have a willing audience.

audience.

I don't want to be, listen, they're colleagues in a way, right?

We're all

contemporaries in the sports media.

I don't want to be a jerk about this.

And Fowler,

he's innocent.

He does his job.

He's a little dry for my taste, but he's polished and he's got a ton of experience.

You could trust it in Fowler's hands to get you through the mechanics of three and a half hours.

Riddick and Orlovsky are where I run into it a little bit.

And here's what I,

during that endless fourth quarter, I think I figured it out finally.

And it's been a couple of years now where I've been like, why, why do I keep bumping against this booth?

They are both of them.

They're guilty of too often telling us what the team that they're watching, the teams they're watching should do.

Oh, they got to run the ball here.

You know what?

This needs to be a play action.

They should be sending the house here.

Stop telling me what you think they should do.

Just explain to me what I just watched.

I'm not looking

for an armchair quarterback with like this, I'm sorry, like unearned sense of confidence.

I want an analyst.

It's also like, here's the other part of it, Mark.

It's a little bit of a booth hack.

When you're constantly predicting or explaining what they should do, there's a pretty good chance you're going to look good.

The odds are with you that either they're going to do what you said they should do and then you look like Mr.

Smart Football Guy, or they don't do what you said they should do, and it doesn't work, and then it looks like they should have done what Orlofsky or Riddick said in the booth.

And you look smart, right?

There's just like this whole air of, I told you so, with the way they deliver their

from that booth.

And

I don't know, it's like, I feel like there's a lot of criticism around this booth, and I would imagine it's getting back to Bristol.

But

I feel like this is, this has been going on for a few years now, but I don't know.

That's just the thing.

I was trying to figure out, I was trying to pinpoint it, Mark, what it is.

And I think that's what it is.

Too much.

I think it's affecting people differently.

And that's certainly well said by you because I think that's apt.

Well, I'd start here.

I think that Orlofsky, for

I'll point him out.

Both of them are good

in studio on

talking football just like during the week.

So it's like they both seem like likable people.

Like maybe my problem is they're too likable.

Like

I think that they three-man booths are my problem to begin with.

I think it's really weird and it doesn't really work.

But sure, I think Orlovsky would be in a better position just on his own with a play-by-play guy.

But my one concern about them from a human angle is that they're both so earnest.

And

I know their habits are so much better than mine and their health and their diets and their exercise are so much better than mine.

They're very like

righteous.

As like fathers, they're better.

Yeah, they're just, you know, it's like Mark's watching this being, you know,

like they're doing everything better than Mark is.

Yeah.

So it's like, I, in general, I run away from people doing things much better than me.

And the game went on for five and a half hours tonight.

So

I'm with you.

Yeah, I don't know.

Anyway, yeah,

this was, I think, like, it's funny, both teams that won.

I'm a fan of both of the teams.

And I'm a fan of the Bucs, too.

But, like, with the teams that won today, the Lions, they played their C game and the Bucs still couldn't rise up to the challenge and beat the Lions on a day where they played their C game.

I thought the Seahawks played like a C or C minus game and the Texans, it was basically a miracle this ended as an eight-point game.

So the Texans are far away from being a real

contender in the league.

They're closer to the bottom than the top.

Let's be real about it, and we'll get to that in the power rankings.

And the Seahawks, yeah, they got to clean a couple things up.

Like, Darnold started off really well, and he had, as he's had every game this year, some beautiful passes.

Him and Jackson Smith and Jigba

just have wonderful chemistry, but he also got strip-sack for a touchdown in the end zone.

He threw a pick in the second half.

They were a mess.

Yeah, they also had a weird, stupid trick play when they were really humming on offense, and they had Cooper Cup throw pass.

And that's the thing.

Yeah, one thing, because I went and I was kind of digging into that one and an editor at the athletic Daniel Shirley wrote that Jeff Van Gunda used to say on like NBA broadcasts good broadcaster um that cute gets you beat and that was just too cute guys just stick to you're playing a dead offense like what was the cooper cup pass there and why did that need to happen but that would be the textbook definition of the playing with your food it's like this is not real so anyway Seahawks

congratulations on the Wynn Seahawks fans.

If you're also Mariners fans, I hope that this is something that

you could take.

When you wake up in the morning, I've been through it, we've all been through it as sports fans.

When you wake up in the morning after a dreadful loss, Giants fans woke up this Monday morning after that all-time meltdown against the Broncos, and then you remember what happened, and it's like getting stabbed in the chest again.

Like,

at least you have the five and two Seahawks sitting atop the NFC West with a lot of potential.

I'm just looking at Justin, and it's like one in the morning in Texas, and he looks like he wants to kill us both.

No, I know.

And I understand that.

They're one and six.

Christ.

What is this?

Oh, the NFL's doing this again?

From Buckeyes to the big leagues.

We got Stroud and Smith and Jigba.

What are we doing here?

Photoshop half in their Ohio state uniform, half in their Seahawks and and Texans uniforms.

Okay, listen, they got to find something to sell it.

They did it.

All right, let's take a break.

And when we get back,

let's go straight to the power rankings.

It's late.

We got a producer.

Here's my concern.

Like, let's be real about this.

All right, actually, stay right here.

When we get back,

I'll tell you my concern.

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We're getting to the point, we're recording this at 11.05 p.m.

Pacific time in Los Angeles.

Justin moved to North Texas last year or earlier this year,

which means plus two, which means it's 105.

I do have a fear that if the edit starts too late, it's going to be one of those situations where his head falls on the keyboard and he wakes up at 8 a.m.

and the show never got edited and published.

So, as a result, Justin,

looking out for you,

we're going to move right past the little news portion of our Monday show and jump right into power rankings.

Is that okay?

It's fine.

You know, I made like six lower thirds, had to add two headshots of guys that weren't in the library, but

now you have them in the library, right?

It's in an archive.

Yeah, yeah, now I have Brandon Graham in the library, and

who's the lime, Dre Greenlaw?

They're in the library now, so if we ever need them, they're in the library.

And those are prominent players, man.

That Brandon Graham, he could end up in the ring of honor for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Yeah.

They're in the Dewey Decimal System.

You're fine.

It was a middle win.

Now I feel bad.

You ready?

Check this out.

You ready, Justin?

I want you to run all these lower thirds and speed for them.

You ready?

Okay.

Three.

Two, one.

Sources, defensive end Brandon Graham

finalizing deal to rejoin Eagles.

Rapsheet says he doesn't expect Mike McDaniel to be fired this week.

Bryce Young likely to miss week eight versus Bills with high ankle sprain.

Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw suspended one game for unsportsmanlike conduct toward a referee.

There you go.

You know what's sad?

Isn't that just how we absorb news

today, anyways?

Do we really need to dig into any of those items?

You got everything.

All right,

let's

dig in on the power rankings.

All right, week eight.

We're nearing the halfway point of the season.

Can you believe it?

And

last week, we had the Chiefs.

And this is a little bit of a sigh of relief, although I'm comfortable with our process and my process that I knew it was the right thing, even though they were three and three.

Would the Chiefs take care of business this week and look like a number one team?

And they did.

So I'm going to assume they're still number one, but let's see where we're at.

Yes, they are number one.

They

shut out the woebegone Raiders, and I have them at one.

Ceci at two,

Connor one, Justin one.

We could have had a Connect 4, Ceci, on the number one team, but you wanted to be a fancy boy because you wanted the Detroit Lions to be number one.

See, this is my tissue.

Like, watching the Lions today,

like, not a great Lions performance by any stretch.

So, what, like, why are they, for you, jumping from wherever you had them last week to here?

Well, I had the Bucs very high

coming into this week, and I think Detroit just keeps passing every test.

And I think they could,

I don't think there's a huge difference between one and two also, but

I'm confident with Detroit as my number one team.

But apparently everyone else feels quite a bit.

I have Matt 2, Mark 1, Connor 4, Justin 2.

Moving up one spot to number three is the one.

Maybe call Connor on the phone.

Four,

it's only three in the morning there, but it's like, well, how do you have the Lions at four?

Well, maybe he saw the same thing I did, which is like, you know, he didn't like what he saw today in some respects.

I don't know.

But it's not a big deal.

Four is not a crazy thing.

Or he did his power rankings at 6 p.m., but

that's fine, too.

It's not like putting the Bucs number one last week.

It's not like an atrocity or anything.

Let's see.

The Colts up to number three.

The Bills on a bye, they move up one spot to number four.

A tie.

This is a first, right?

Yeah.

The Bills and the Rams.

I don't think we should do that.

I don't think that's a real power rankings thing.

In fact, I don't think Farbik would like this at all.

There's no such thing as ties in the power rankings.

Yeah, I don't like it.

In fact, I would go as far as to say I hate it, but I wasn't sure what to do.

Well, you got to consult.

The show is literally called Heed the Calls, Dan Hansis and Mark Sessler.

Like, talk to Dan Hanses and Mark Sessler.

Well, that's what we're doing.

We're doing it right now.

And before we go to the show, it's doing the show now.

We've got a

show graphic goes out tomorrow.

We'll sort this out.

But being presented in a graphic on the show.

This is the second week in a row, Justin, where we've had some type of discrepancy with the tears.

And then you say, oh, yeah, we'll work it out for social media.

No, this is the show.

This is it.

Yes, I agree.

In the past.

Justin is going to kill my cat like two days from now.

He's going to fly here and kill my cat.

One less cat.

Not a bad thing.

Go ahead.

In the past, I have taken like whichever team between the two when they're tied, because we've had like the average be the same before.

It's not that crazy.

But we've always had one of the teams has a higher ranking.

And whoever gets the highest of the four, like if somebody had the bills at three, I would have broken the tie with that.

But I had nothing to break the tie with this week.

Whatever team was higher the previous week.

bills then bills are four okay okay that feels right too right up three spots uh the seahawks stay at six uh the the eagles jump two spots uh after that um nice offensive showing in week seven slump buster aj brown devonta smith go nuts jalen brent uh

jalen hurts has a perfect qb rating so they're back into the top seven up two spots uh the bucks yes right right where I had them last week.

Everybody else had to come meet me down here.

There you go.

The Buccaneers.

Daniel.

Look at you.

I know this pleases you, but it's not.

Of course it does.

Because I was catching shrapnel last week and was like, am I watching the same team?

I'm the number one team in football?

Hell no.

It's the power rankings, not the power standings.

No, they have like half their offense hurt, but sure.

Everybody's hurt.

Tier two.

Please.

Everybody's hurt, Sessler.

We're hurt.

We're playing hurt right now.

All right, here we go.

The Packers, they win, but you know what?

We're all kind of like, I don't know about you guys.

So

they are down one spot.

I actually dropped them, I think, four spots off a win, which I don't like to do because it is an acknowledgement that I maybe didn't have it right the previous week, but it's more important to get it right, even if you have to

eat a little poop.

And that's what I did.

And that's what the old Zeuser is all about, integrity.

Eating nuts.

That's nice.

And the only reason the Packers didn't stay where they were last week is because you dropped them.

The other three of us had them here.

So just an interesting little wrinkle how averages move around.

Well, that's a good little wrinkle.

Thanks.

Nice little wrinkle.

Nice little nug there from the grave digger.

Number 10, the 49ers up two spots, creeping their way up as they

the gutty, gritty San Francisco 49ers.

I like this.

The Broncos, yes, they had one of the great comebacks in the history of the NFL on Sunday, but there was also a lot not to like in the first three quarters.

And even in that fourth quarter, where is this vaunted Denver defense?

It's a little different when it's the Jets that you're bullying around.

It's one thing, but when Jackson Dart and

Wandell Robinson and Theo Johnson are lighting you up in big spots and Jackson Dart is looking like Fran Tarkinton, let's clean it up, Denver, if you want back in on the top 10.

This one, I don't understand why I'm the only one, which is ironic because I hate the Patriots.

I'm the only one that's giving the Patriots respect on this show.

I have them in the top 10.

I have them at 11.

Well, you don't have them in the top 10, Sese.

Well, it's not a slanderous move, but

sure if we want to go from that angle.

You have Connor has them at 14.

What do they have to do?

I think it's the schedule.

I mean, it's not their fault.

You can only play who's on your schedule, but...

All right, let's check a look.

Let's take a look.

I think it's the easiest schedule in the league.

Along with the Niners, yeah, them and San Fran, which we have the Niners ahead of New England, but they're doing a lot with a lot of injuries, so that we're giving them a lot of people.

I don't have a problem with them as a top 10 team, but it was kind of like I'm looking at I put the Packers at 10.

I'm just saying they have

they're five and two, they lead their division, they've won four straight, they beat the Bills in Buffalo.

It's not like they haven't beaten anybody, that's a big primetime win.

I'm just a a little surprised that they haven't cracked the top 10 yet.

We'll see.

I've mentioned over and over that this is just the 2001 Patriots all over again.

They're going to win the Super Bowl.

So I'm with you.

Oh, don't you put that on.

Actually, you know what?

Go ahead.

Keep doing that.

Yeah, I'm just getting on their streets.

Tell me more about it.

Tell me more about the Patriots.

I'm not going to side with any team ever again at this point.

The 2001 Patriots, there are parallels.

I'm getting mail with

strange powders in it at this point, so I don't need that.

I will always move out of the way, Ceci, if you want to wax poetic about the Patriots and get behind them.

No, I won't.

Your dark magic.

Maybe Thursday.

All right.

The Steelers

lose a shootout on Thursday night, drop two spots to 13.

That is the Twilight Zone, which is perfect because what are the Steelers?

I don't know.

And neither

collectively, we're all in the same boat on that.

The Bears up four spots to 14.

I don't feel great about that.

I have them at 15.

Mark, you're the same,

even a little further down on them than I am.

You have them at 17.

Like, they're a classic team.

They're like what the Jaguars were two weeks ago, where I was like begrudgingly putting them in tier two and thinking to myself,

I don't believe what I'm doing here.

I think I need to see more from Chicago.

Yeah, we'll be jilted at some point.

Yeah.

The Cowboys, they've kind of been a bit of a yo-yo team on our power rankings.

They are up five spots now to number 15.

I have them at 13.

Justin has them at 15.

Mark and Connor have them at 16.

Right in the middle, it is the Washington Commanders.

A lot of injuries they're dealing with.

They've definitely looked like a compromised unit this year.

They're at 16.

Let's move to tier.

Actually, should we take a break here?

Yeah.

Let's take a quick break here.

And when we get back, we'll hit the last two tiers.

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 to put me at the plate?

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

It's time to get glasses.

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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I couldn't see anything before.

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Mark, I get it.

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

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Let's go to tier three.

Tier three, the Los Angeles Superchargers, tumbling dice, down three spots to 17.

The Falcons, they cannot build any momentum coming off a disappointing showing in primetime.

They're down one spot to 18.

Those Jaguars, after their second straight stinker, this time getting blown out by the Rams in London, down three spots to number 19.

The Vikings continue to just float, and they are at number 20, down one spot.

The Panthers can't get no love.

They're on a three-game winning streak, but they just move up one spot to number 21.

And yes, as you heard in our very detailed news segment today, Bryce Young looks like he'll be out of the lineup.

A little glowing ginger man

could be heading our way

in week eight.

The Bengals, they have what I thought was a potential tide-turning victory, especially if Joe Flacco has some

sprinkled pixie dust on him.

They're up four spots to number 22.

Let's see how they build up.

Let me check out that Bengals schedule real quick.

Connor has them at what 19.

I have them at 26.

Daddy is six.

daddy is biased oh boy

i would maybe you know what that i could have that would be one where i don't ever admit to doing anything wrong but like um i could have received i'd like to see who's a yeah i'm gonna take a very close look at uh who's ahead of them on 23 to 25 for sesi

um but let's see they have that's on mark home against the jets this is mark's fault home against the bears you've got a whole file of me calling me out Got you.

Got you, Justin.

Well, you said you'd never do it, and you've done it because I have it.

But it's fine.

Home Patriots.

Okay.

Just, you know, it's not a crazy schedule.

They just got to stack some wins.

The Giants, breaking hearts.

In the Heed the Call universe, stay at 23.

The Ravens on bye, stay at 24.

Let's head to the tier you do not want to be in, tier four, and the tier that houses all of our favorite teams.

What a year.

2025.

The Texans, after a really uninspired effort that we just watched tonight, fall four spots to 25.

The Cardinals, they had the crazy stat about the Cardinals, they're like,

it was like the first team in a bunch of years to blow three straight games when they had a seven-plus point lead in the fourth quarter, going into the fourth quarter.

That's a sign of a bad team.

They're at 26 in the rankings.

The Brownies up three spots.

Look at you, Mark.

Oh,

they might be the worst team in the league.

No, there are five teams that are worse than the Cleveland Browns right now.

You're living in a penthouse.

But I mentioned that in my standings here.

I think I've.

I know, but that's not last night.

Remember, Justin, you were there for that.

Wake up, Justin.

Oh, am I allowed to be emotional about my childhood team, or is it like just this?

Wait, are they your team or not?

I mean, you're dating around.

You're slutting it up all across the NFL.

Well, they're still annoying.

They're annoying me.

Poor.

Let's see.

The Saints stay at 28.

Big old slut.

The Raiders down two spots to 29 and sinking like a stone.

The Dolphins, and probably still employing Mike McDaniel, down one spot to 30.

The Titans, they are.

Look at you, Justin.

You've finally moved them out of the cellar in your own rankings.

They're at 31.

And the New York Jets, four across.

Connect for the New York Jets, the lone winless team in football.

Number 32.

Jets and Raiders, Connect Fours, the only two this week.

There you go.

Many of these teams,

unrewarding.

Especially in tier four.

I think Dan, was it you said this?

Like, maybe it wasn't.

I don't know.

The bad teams this year are freaking bad, man.

Yep.

Like, the top five picks in the draft might combine for five wins this season goodness trust me I've been thinking about that because I do want

I do want the Jets to win a game but you have one two three four one win teams and I I assume

I assume the Ravens will win a few games and maybe several more games but the Dolphins They could be a 2-15 team.

The Titans could be a 2-15 team.

The Saints certainly could be a 2-15 team.

The Saints and Titans play each other late this season, so somebody's going to get a second win, maybe, unless they tie.

But

you want that number one pick.

Yeah, as I understand it, Justin, you're our college beat guy.

Like,

let's see, the Jets, the Saints,

potentially the Dolphins,

maybe the Cardinals, certainly the Browns, the Raiders.

These are all teams that are going to be desperate for a quarterback

at the draft.

Right now, is there a clear-cut top quarterback in the college game?

I would say there are two right now.

Fernando Mendoza at Indiana is leading Indiana to like their best season in school history right now so far, is up there.

And Ty Simpson at Alabama, who had a shaky start to the season, has really come on strong in the last few games.

Those are the two guys for me.

There's a couple other in the mix.

The guys that we expected to be at the top coming into this season are not.

So that's the biggest story in college football: Arch Manning, who probably wouldn't have

entered the tree anyways, but has struggled.

It's getting a little bit better, though.

Yeah, no, Garrett Nussmeier was expected to take a huge step and be that guy this year for LSU.

He's struggled a lot.

Drew Aller was a guy who could have declared last year, and many people thought he should have because it was considered a weak QB class.

And then he is now out for the season, suffered a season-ending injury.

So, we'll see what that does to his draft stock, or maybe he'll go back to Penn State for another year.

But it's been a weird year for the college quarterback scene, yeah.

And you know why, from my standpoint, all I heard last during the spring was, oh, yeah, this is a bad quarterback class, but wait till next year.

It's a great quarterback class, and I don't, it doesn't sound like there's a Joe Burrow waiting for anybody right now.

Mendoza could be special, but you never, you never know with these guys.

I mean, come on, yeah, yep, that's true.

I mean, look at Joe Burrow, he was a guy that came on kind of out of nowhere, right?

Yeah.

Okay.

Coming up on Wednesday, by the way, end around Arif Hassan, our boy, rejoins us.

And we're going to

do our version of a trade deadline primer.

The trade deadline is less than two weeks away.

Am I correct?

Maybe a right.

Maybe it's a good one.

Yeah, it's like what, November 1st or something?

So it's no, it's like 11, 12 days.

It's two weeks from Tuesday, which is today-ish, more or less.

And so you get to the world.

So we'll throw out some trade talks.

And then also,

Arif is a Minnesota guy.

I believe the Vikings are on the Thursday night football schedule this week, if I'm not mistaken.

Chargers, Vikings, yep.

Chargers, Vikings.

Interesting.

And maybe we'll see J.J.

McCarthy.

Maybe we won't.

But we'll talk about that as well.

So thank you to everybody.

Let us know.

Sound off in the comments.

Nailed it on the power rankings about where you think your teams should be, what we got right, what we got wrong.

The Patreon is popping off, patreon.com slash heed the call,

brand new Rolling Thunder with Mark Jason.

Oh, it's spicy.

Ooh, and Zumwalt, do you want to give a little

quick summation?

Very quick.

It's the only time we ever did a football-based Rolling Thunder, but it's not football the way that this, that another show would do football.

It's in Mark and Jason way.

So

all right, so Rolling Thunder,

there is a throwback podcast with Bob and I on the horizon.

And yes, the draft returns, of course, as it does every week on Friday morning.

So check that out.

Be a part of the revolution.

And that's it for tonight.

Justin, good luck.

Hit us up with anything.

Take caffeine pills if you must.

Any type of pills, anything you could put in your body.

Snort it, pop it, inject it, just stay awake and get this podcast up.

The people need it.

Great advice.

The good news is, if anyone out there is listening to this, that probably means I didn't fall asleep and I got the pot up.

So that's a good thing, right?

We love you, Justin.

Absolutely.

Good luck, Justin.

And thank you to everybody for your support.

Till next time, do what you must.

Heed the call.

Nationwide is so much more than a great insurance company.

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Like how I'm more than just Peyton Manning.

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