NFL 6 Week Review: AFC

On this episode of the Call Your Shot Podcast, Drew and Alix break down the latest NFL headlines, diving into key injuries, blockbuster trades like Amari Cooper to the Bills and Devante Adams to the Jets, and the shifting dynamics of the season. They discuss the Bengals' struggles, the Ravens' rise, and Super Bowl predictions while analyzing team performances, player safety, and what’s next for the rest of the season. Don’t miss their insights on the AFC!

Chapters

00:00 Welcome to Call Your Shot Podcast
00:27 Injury Updates and Trade News
05:15 Impact of Major Injuries on Teams
12:35 Amari Cooper Trade Analysis
18:57 Devante Adams Trade and Jets' Prospects
24:22 Division Standings and Future Predictions
26:42 The Future of Football and Player Safety
28:03 AFC North Insights: Surprises and MVP Candidates
32:06 Bengals' Struggles and Defensive Woes
35:51 Browns' Dilemma: Deshaun Watson's Performance
38:15 AFC South: Houston's Rise and Colts' Challenges
41:07 AFC West: Chiefs Dominance and Chargers' Potential
46:15 Broncos and Raiders: A Season of Disappointment

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Transcript

Drew (00:00.098)
Welcome to the Call Your Shot Podcast, your weekly sports recap podcast where we break down the hottest headlines, dissect the latest injuries, and serve up our own hard hitting analysis of the past week in sports. But that's not all. We're not just here to talk about the past. We're here to predict the future as well. On the Call Your Shot Podcast, we boldly predict the outcomes of the upcoming week's games. Hello, everybody. Thank you for listening. This is the Call Your Shot Podcast with your host, Alix Harrison. Drew Moore.

It's been a bit, it's been a while, but we're back and we have a lot to get into. So we're going to get right into it. We're going to go over some injuries, some trade news and blockbuster trades that we've had over the past couple of days, as well as kind of going over division by division and kind of seeing what the rankings have been like and kind of how that kind of boils up to what the beginning of our season rankings were and what our expectations are going forward. So getting into some injuries, some things that have happened over the past few weeks that we weren't able to touch on ahead of time where it made you leave the Rishi Rice injury ended up, was it?

like LCL, it ended up being like a LCL surgery he had but the ACL and PCL were still attached? I thought it was also a meniscus repair is what I believe it was as well. And if it was that as well, then you know, he's not going to be coming back this season and that was one of the potential outlooks on this injury is that it could be a season ender for them. You know, him being

way more productive over, over the, past seat or over this season than, Olave has been is kind of, it's kind of wild because, you know, going into the season, it was like, okay, yeah, Rashid Shahid. Yeah. Okay. Cool. Whatever. But Olave though, like Olave bro. then, but yeah. And so with him being, I mean, arguably the best receiver on the team right now,

and then, you know, you also have a lobby that's going to be out this next game against, the Broncos. you know, it's, and, and, you know, cars out as well. Like they, and they're, Ruiz is out to their, their offensive lineman. Like they're playing with scraps out there. So it's going to be, and I mean, taste some Hill for what that's worth as well. He's also going to be out. So, you know, it's, it's literally Camara.

Drew (02:24.841)
against the world right now. if the Saints started so hot and now they've lost what the last three or four in a row. they kind of are who we thought they were or maybe it's just the injuries. But. And I mean, I will, you know, kind of, you know, go back and look at some of their opponents like it seems that they were beaten. Now they'll look all that great of wins and stuff.

especially that Cowboys victory where I was like, Whoa, man, like, look at that. think the Cowboys defense looks, you know, top tier, then they gave up, you know, 40 piece last week. And yeah, they they've given up was like 40. It's like something crazy, like 40 points in the last three home games or something like that. yeah, so it's the I think the Saints

While they did start off super hot and everything. Maybe it's the injuries. Maybe it's maybe it's the opponents it's probably as it always is, you know combination of of a both of those factors as well and I I mean, I don't want to say that I told you so but the these this is this is my Saints team right here. This is Hell yeah, this is Andrews here we come. Absolutely. That's what I'm also I'm looking forward to right now. I don't want to see these

these victories out here and I want to see all this quote unquote success. Like what is that? What is that? What are we doing now? moral of the story is, you know, going forward, Rashid Shaheed is probably going be out for the season and that's going to be a major blow to whichever quarterback is out there for the team because that's where they're getting the majority of their points is off of these bombs.

touchdowns. deep threat. Yeah. So, you know, going off to the main Rishi that I meant to talk about was Rishi Rice who ended up having the major injury for the Chiefs. Not sure if he touched on that last time we recorded, but that was the main Rishi I was talking about. So he ended up having his surgery, which kind of repaired his LCL and I guess ended up repairing part of his hamstring, I guess as well. So he's supposed to be out for the next four to six months, ended up being seasoned in surgery.

Drew (04:46.861)
think it was like ended up being a pick that Patrick Mahomes threw and then it kind of was just kind of like a scramble thing. And then basically Mahomes ended up running right into his knee. And so he was having a major season for them. The first few weeks of the season, he was the clear number one over Travis Kelsey and everybody else. And now they're kind of without him going forward. And now they've, know, Travis Kelsey has kind of come back to life and the scraps of Juju and Kareem Hunt and all them stuff. So the Chiefs are still finding a way, but Rasheer Rice definitely a major injury for them. So.

thoughts on that injury and you feel like it'll affect the Chiefs going forward and still undefeated. So, and that's the, that's the wild thing too. It's like, you know, no matter, no matter who you take away on this team, like they don't matter. They're like, they're like a Phoenix from the ashes. Like they just keep on rising up again and, just winning and winning and winning. It's all they know how to do. And it's all they'll continue to do because, you know, the back half of their schedule is actually

It actually lightens up quite a bit to where, you know, they were supposed to, like the first couple of games, was like, okay, you know, we'll see, we'll see how they do and you know, how it kind of shakes down and where they'll be at going into this, this late scheduled. but now it's like, well, like, like who else, like who else? I mean, obviously they're gonna, they're probably gonna, you know, they're not going to go and defeat it. Right. But.

I mean, at the same time, like I, I mean, I do like San Francisco this week for put that out there. But okay, but after that, you know, it's it's Vegas, Tampa Bay, Denver. Okay, Buffalo, maybe now since they have Mario Cooper, we'll see how that goes for them. But then it's Carolina, Las Vegas, the Chargers, Cleveland, Houston, okay. And then Pittsburgh, Denver. So I mean, realistically, like,

let's see one to Navy three losses coming up here. So you have definitely already passed the toughest part of their schedule. Ravens, bangles, Falcons, saints. Saints out there. But but yeah, no with, I think it was kind of kind of crazy too, with, with the reishi, that they're like, well, you know, he

Drew (07:04.169)
He might, he might not be out for the whole season. He might, they might still be out. I'm like, dude, like what are you talking about? Like that thing is gone. What were they waiting for? Do you feel like, like they kept saying like, you know, it might be a week or so until they like reevaluated. Were they waiting for like swelling to go down to get a full evaluation? Or you think they were just kind of like dragging their feet, trying to prolong the inevitable? I honestly have, I could not tell you because it's, it's, it's one thing to

you know, okay, maybe the the it was an inconclusive test that they did, you know, then on the field because, you know, the hamstrings are a little bit overactive and guarding. So you're not going to have that that much of an accurate test if you're if you're doing like a lock bins or anterior drawer or whatever. know, but then that's where you have the swelling calm down and then you have them do an MRI and then you can literally see like, okay, is the ACL there or is it not there?

Like, you know, and it's, it's pretty quick, like you, you know, and so I'm, I'm not sure why. Like why they wasn't, they weren't just going straight ahead for it. That, because there's some, some reports out there saying that it wasn't the ACL. Other reports are saying that it was the ACL.

They said they repaired the LCL and the MCL ACL and meniscus were not part of the procedure. Interesting. Interesting, very true. So I mean, maybe that's why then, like they were doing that second opinion, because the first opinion that they had, they were like, be fear that he has ACL tear. Yeah, I've seen this quote here. It says,

Rishi, his surgery was not his ACL, it was PCL, actually, sorry, posterior lateral corner, which is meniscus. And there was damage to, okay, yeah. So basically, it wasn't the ACL, it was more so the posterior lateral corner, which could have been, like you said, the LCL as well too, and maybe a little bit of the meniscus.

Drew (09:24.237)
As far as that goes, like it's a lot better of a prognosis than ACL, but at the same time, obviously, give you call for the season. yeah. Thanks. Additionally, one of the other major receivers that we did...

see fall to injury was Nico Collins, who was arguably the best wide receiver in the league. in the first five weeks was averaging like 110 yards per game, nearly a touchdown. It was basically just like the number one target for CJ Stroud ended up having a hamstring strand. believe he was placed on IR. So he'll be out for the next, I think two or three weeks now going forward and, Stefan digs and, tank, Dale gonna have to step up in that regards, but Nico was killing it honestly. Yeah. And I mean, it's, it's,

where we might be able to see the revival of Tank Del too, which is nice because he's kind of been a no show this whole season. yeah, Nico is a major part of this offense and we're going to see how that's going to affect them going forward. I don't think that it's going to be too drastic, but I think most of the time whenever it comes like the betting line,

you know, wide receivers and other skill skill positions don't really affect the line all that much, maybe like a half point to a point. Like if it's like, like if it's somebody significant, like, you know, Randy Moss or something like that gets injured, okay, maybe a point. Okay, obviously, not you. But anyways. But in terms of like how they how they've schemed all of their plays based around him, you know, we'll

Maybe maybe he is worth a point in terms of like how that impacts the types of plays that they can run because Stefan Diggs as much as I love him, he's always open. can run, rouse around anybody and everybody. He's not Nico Collins. He doesn't have the same size as him. Tank Del, love him too. But again, not the same size player but I a long shot. So.

Drew (11:38.571)
It's going be interesting to see who's going to step into that role and kind of help carry them through some of the back half of the schedule there. Thanks. So those were the major ones. You can just kind of bullet point these next ones if you want to stop anywhere. We already kind of touched on Derek Carr. He's already missed the last game. He's doubtful for tomorrow for Thursday Night Football. You have your boy Cooper Cup who returned to practice.

today as well as Nick Chubb who ended up logging a full practice coming off of the ACL injury that he had last season. Evan Ingram ended up returning and I think those were the major injuries. Did you have any thoughts or notes on them? James Cook as well missed last game as well. I think it was a toe injury. They're saying that he should probably be okay going forward, but I think those were the main ones. No, yeah, not really much on those guys. mean,

I feel bad for Nick Chubb because they're not going to be able to throw the ball. So they're just going to stack the hell out of the box and just say, Nick Chubb, here's 30 touches. like, welcome back. Good luck. And that's the crazy thing too. Hopefully they're smart enough to just not give them all of these ridiculous carries.

just all at once. You know, maybe they'll, they'll slowly ease them in and everything. Or maybe they'll just give them 30 carries and they run them into the ground and then have another situation where it's like Deshaun Watson 2.0, you paid the man and now he has no, nothing to, nothing to play for because his body's broken. So, and you know, with that too, it's like, you know, they have,

They were supposed to have a pretty, pretty solid offensive line, right? but in actuality, they have one of the worst offensive lines, that are out there. So I don't, I don't, I don't know, man. I don't know what to tell you about that team. they, the, the one player that they have that has a half decent, chance of doing any kind of blocking is Wyatt Teller.

Drew (14:03.533)
is a PFF grade of 75 when it comes to run blocking. But other than that, that's it. That's it. That's it. So. Thanks. Yeah. Browns are really starting to clean up shop at this point as well too. So that transitions us into the Amari Cooper trade that ended up having yesterday a couple of days ago. So the Cleveland Browns ended up trading Amari Cooper to the Bills for a third round pick and a seventh round pick.

So the Bills kind of pick up a big key weapon and kind of like a number one wide receiver as they obviously lost to Fond Diggs last season and kind of were having like Khalia Shakir be like the number one go-to guy or Dalton Kincaid and stuff. So now you have Amari Cooper who could be a go-to number one who I kind of felt bad for because there's been a lot of like talk about like, I guess you could say like his effort and stuff over the past couple of seasons. But like if I'm playing for Deshaun Watson, he's throwing me the ball. I don't think I'd be too happy in Cleveland anyway.

So yeah, so now you have Josh Allen. They just came off the wind with the Jets. So I guess we'll get a little into as well with Devontae Adams trade. But how do you feel that that helps the Bills who are now four and two with the addition of Amari Cooper? And do you feel like this makes them contenders in the AFC if they weren't already? mean, yeah, obviously it moves the dial for them, especially, you know, like Khalil Shakir, like

He ain't Coleman, he ain't it either. Too young. There's been a lot of locker room stuff with him as well, showing up late to practices and all that stuff too. Yeah, it's for half. Yeah, exactly. It's going to make a difference. We saw Mario Cooper, he can be a dominant wide receiver out there when given the opportunity. That's the thing.

when given the opportunity because literally, think it was like he, what is it? It's like, so he, of the catchable targets that he has, or no. So of the targets that he has, he has like one of the highest target shares of any team or of any player in the league right now. but then of those targets, only 50 % of them are catchable and

Drew (16:22.733)
but they still count against him. So now his receiving percentage is 48%, which looks like dog water, right? But 50 % of the time, it's fault. catchable. And that's literally within like a, I think it's like within a five foot kind of radius is what it is. So that can just tell you alone how bad Deshaun Watson has been.

I don't want to I want to go down that rabbit hole of how bad he is. Yeah, definitely think it'll help them going forward. They definitely kind of gives that Josh Allen the number one. We talked about Josh Allen in the past two about how he's like kind of spread out the ball. We even talked about like Dalton Kincaid possibly taking a step forward this season, who's obviously still a great tight end, but kind of just isn't that like number one go to target like a Travis Kelsey in his prime or anything like that. So I think Amari Cooper definitely will help them.

Take a little bit more pressure off of Josh and open up the running game for them a little bit more, even though running games and pretty good. We talked about James Cook kind of battling through some injuries, but Ray Davis has looked good and stuff for them. So I think it's just going to open up the offense for them little more. And their defense who hasn't been terrible, it's been that middle of the pack. So I think that'll help them improve following off of that.

We do have Duvante Adams who additionally was traded. So it was weird because the Jets and the Bills played each other on Monday night football. And then the next day on Tuesday, it comes out, but both of them traded for these wide receiver ones. So the Jets ended up trading for Devante Adams from obviously the Raiders. I think it ended up being a third round pick, which is a conditional. like if I think the, if the Jets make like the AFC championship or if like Devante makes like a pro bowl or all pro, then it like turns into a second round pick or something like that.

Kind of knew that Devante was unhappy and then you have the hamstring injury comes up with the past three weeks. I don't think he was hurt because they're saying that he's probably going to be a full go for this weekend. But yeah, so it gives Aaron Rogers some more help. The Jets honestly looks pretty good against the Bills. I'm not going to lie. They weren't able to capitalize a lot on some of those kind of like red zone drives, but and you know with the wind in the field goals and all that kind of stuff. But I mean, I feel like that.

Drew (18:28.621)
they look the penalties. if you had Devontae Adams, and he replaces like a Mike Williams, who's kind of been dog water for them. I think that's going to be a disgusting form of offense. It looked good on paper. Garrett Wilson, Devontae Adams, Breeze Hall. mean, she Yeah, there's two and four, though. I don't know if they're making playoffs still. I mean, and that's the thing too, is like, again, with with playing the schedule game. You know, the

beginning of the season, I wouldn't say that it was stacked, but it had some pretty formidable opponents there. You start out the season right off the bat with the Super Bowl runner-up. that's L right there. But then it lightens up a little bit, play against Tennessee, play against New England. beat the trash and then they lost to everybody else. Lost to Denver. Minnesota, they're undefeated.

It's a solid team. were in that game too. They had a chance to win that. another thing too that that's also changed over time as well is the types of plays that they're running and the amount that they're letting Aaron Rodgers cook, so to speak. Because in the beginning of the season, you know, he wasn't really throwing the ball. They were more so focusing on the run. And that's kind of what we talked about. That was going to be their identity going in.

And we were like, exactly. But then, you know, they were like, yeah, no, this ain't working. And I'm sure that Aaron Rogers, you know, had to, had something to do with that. and because ultimately after it was a week, three or so, that's when they started to, have Mr. Rogers start Aaron and not a little bit more and have them, have them thrown about like 35 times.

an up per game. So that's more, more so of the game plan that's going to end up winning them games as opposed to trying to run this offense, where it's, it's clearly not working most of the time. And then when it does work, then that's when they they can end up running some play action pass. But thankfully, now Nathaniel Hackett is also not calling the plays.

Drew (20:53.973)
So hopefully that'll also change for them as well. cause he was never good at anything that he did. quite frankly, but yeah, I mean, yeah, I feel like he's just there cause Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Rodgers is like judge, jury and executioner. feel like at this point, because like you said, they originally like, okay, you know, running the ball through breeze, that's going to be our identity. And then you have like a formidable quarterback in the, in the backfield that can actually make the throws on these play actions and stuff as opposed to having Zach Wilson.

But then, you know, you start the transition, starting week three and week four, trying to air it out more. And then Robert Sala gets fired and then they move Nathaniel Hackett from not calling plays. And then they bring in Devante and all that kind of stuff. So I feel like it's just kind of like a circus going on there. And it was a little fun fact for you. like the Jets through six weeks last year were three and three and scored 113 points this year. They're two and four and they scored 113 points. So it's like the defense is still doing their job. The defense is still elite.

But the quarterback play has not quarterback play has not.

They were the number two ranked defense going into the Bills game. And that's the that's the interesting thing too. Because like, I'm not sure that I'm not not completely sold on the on the Jets in terms of their defense. Yeah. What do you want? What more do you want from them? I mean, again, you know, if we play the schedule game and see, you know, the the teams that they did play and looking at the you have to sure.

You know, they they're holding the opponent to X, Y and Z amount of points throughout the year. But at the same time, you know, 20 points a game. OK. And they're all they also played against the Broncos. We know how good the Broncos are. They held the 49ers, the Vikings, the big played against the played against the the Patriots. We know how good the Patriots are. When they played against the 49ers, they also played against them without Christian McCaffrey as well, too. And they still gave up 32 points.

Drew (22:54.069)
And then, you know, they gave out 17 points to Will Levis and almost lost that game. well, I mean, you how good Will Levis is as a quarterback? The goat? Okay. Sure, you know, they, they, they did pretty well in terms of holding, holding the Vikings only 23 points, but at the same time, it's still 23 points. And then the Bills, they were missing a bunch of guys on the O line. And then also,

No James. Yeah, no James Cook either or I believe Kloosh Akira is out as well. So like he played he was just in limited. Okay, so I'm not I'm not completely sold on it. And I think it's it's one of those things too, where you know, you you're playing your ass off all these all these games and stuff and the offense isn't coming to the party. They've scored more than 20 points once. Exactly. And so

That's where that's where it's like, okay, I think that they're starting to decline a little bit and they're starting to lose faith. But now, know, Devante Adams coming in, it gives the whole team another boost. And you know, maybe it can help improve some of that. Some of that morale, because they were talking about how they're starting to lose the locker room going forward as well, too. So hopefully this can turn it around for them. But only time will tell.

So that's the major news that we have. we're kind of going to pivot into going over some of these divisions, kind of going over some major notes with the current standings are, and then maybe touch on a few of the teams that we have going forward as contenders. So I guess since we've been talking about the ASEs, we can just touch on that real quick. Obviously the Buffalo Bill is leading the division at four and two, followed by the Miami Dolphins who are just trying to keep their head above water, who are sitting at two and three until Tua comes back who it's been reported that, you know, he is going to come back after IR. So I think they have their own

but are they on by right now they only have like one or two more weeks until two does return. Yeah, they're just they just got a nice to. Gotcha. So I think they have at least one more game without two. So and then the Jets now are two and four, even though they kind of have a revamped offense, I guess you could say with Devante Adams and then the Patriots obviously a one and five one of the worst teams in league. So I think both of us did have I don't know if you had the dog.

Drew (25:16.351)
I had the bills, but I think like it's kind of shaping up the way I thought. mean, obviously I didn't think that the dolphins would be this bad because we didn't expect to it to be hurt. but I did kind of have higher expectations for the jets because I thought their offense was going to be a little bit improved compared to Zach Wilson. but I was wrong about that. But other than that, I mean, it's kind of so far it was about what we predicted. Yeah. yeah, right now in my, in my ratings, I have.

I have the Dolphins currently sitting at a nice pretty 29th Americans based on the games that they've played so far. obviously, know, I mean, we will we've seen what it looks like without without a lot of I feel like the Dolphins should have done their due diligence. You see how like, like teams like even like the Panthers with Andy Dalton, how they look like a formidable offense, or like Joe Flacco with the Colts and how like these backups that actually like in the you know, they're like

$3 million contracts and stuff like that. I don't even want to talk about Skylar or all the what's been going on there, but it's been bad. It's been bad. it was also, there's also bad timing too with the, with the injuries with a Chan and stuff like that too. And most heard and then so, you know, it's, it's one of those things where in time, in theory, it'll get better. But we

So like a doll for family, it's a miniature right there. I for two his sake, I hope that he he's able to play football again. But for his family's sake, I hope that he doesn't play because I want to see him, you know, out there doing commercials, doing whatever, be coaching a team or whatever, something like that. I don't want to see him, you know, risking his life in one of these situations where

I can be life threatening. So it's so unfortunate too, because we've talked about it in the past. It's like, obviously it's his decision and what he wants to do. But the fact that like even a couple of seasons ago when he was having all of those concussions and problems and everybody was like talking about retirement and then you go a whole entire season last year and he doesn't have any injuries, but then it just happens so quickly and it happens just like that. And then it obviously looks terrible. like, I kind of am with you, like I, you know,

Drew (27:41.043)
hope the best for him and I hope he is healthy if he does want to play but like I feel like it's again that that's a situation that I wouldn't want him to put his family or his future in you know just because of football I mean like he's already going to be financially secure but they've already talked about him coming off IR and going to play so I mean I guess we could just hope for the best when it comes to that situation so

moving on to the AFC North, have Baltimore who after their loss to the Chiefs have really turned it around in a four on one since. they're sitting at the top of the division at four and two Lamar and Derek Henry are both MVP candidates. And a lot of people thought that Derek Henry would take a step back this season, including myself. And he's just like, nah, I'm a lead league in Russian, lead league in touchdowns, lead league in big yard plays, like just doing Derek Henry thing. So it's been great for Baltimore.

Pittsburgh surprisingly I feel like is one of the surprises of the NFL sitting at four and two with Justin Fields report came out that this week though that Russell Wilson is taking the first team reps, so They're transitioning I guess away from Justin Fields. I don't know exactly what's gonna happen, but I mean real quick though Do you feel like that was worth it? I mean Justin Fields hasn't been playing great, but I mean at the end of the day He's not losing them these games and he's sitting that four and two so Do you feel like you would have made that move to rest even if he is healthy?

Drew (29:06.669)
I hope I can't hear you.

There we go. Pause my mic there. He's Mr. Unlimited. So in theory, you he should be better, right? And will he be? Who knows? hasn't really he's a better passer. But I mean, it's a little bit more versatile. Well, and that's that's the thing, too. It's like it was kind of funny because Mike Tomlin was talking about how, you know, he how

Russ is a little bit less mobile than Justin, which makes sense. at the same time, their offensive line isn't at all what it used to be. They're giving up pressures left and right. And I guess that's one of the reasons why Fields is getting out of the pocket so much, because the pocket's just collapsing and he doesn't really have a chance to do anything.

except for get out of the pocket and throw, which is which I should say, which before was Russ's specialty, right? You he'd get out the pocket and make some backyard football. Yeah, exactly. Like that was his thing. But now, you know, my guy's getting a little off their age. And so a little bit less mobile, but he's still Russell Wilson. And I think that he'll be able to, I want to say give the team a spark, but he'll be able to

improve the offense in a way that that will allow them to not only just have a running game where they can hand the ball to Najee for, you know, 800 million times and then hope that he does something good, which he finally did. But I think that it'll also open up the passing game for for pickings and maybe even Friar Muth as well too. only problem with that, the Muth is Luth. The only problem with that is that the rest doesn't really

Drew (31:06.955)
target the middle of the field, he more so throws towards the boundary, which could be a problem because a lot of the routes that, you know, the majority of their players run except for Pickens is over the middle. And that's where a lot of teams leave the field open is over the middle. So, it's curious to me that they would make this transition after

You know, fields are still, he's not losing them games. Like they're still four and two after all. but at the same time, like he ain't winning them. Yeah, exactly. So, and along with that too, one last thing at, the, Steelers have a pass blocking grade of, 60.7, which is currently ranked 24th in the league. So we'll see how that goes for them.

Yeah, so it is a good chance that Russell Wilson does end up starting for them. We'll see how it goes going forward with that. The Bengals who are sitting third in the division are currently sitting at two and four and they're really facing an uphill battle because they ended up going one and four the week prior ended up winning this week against the Giants. But now they're, you know, sitting third in the division and now kind of have this huge uphill climb in order to try to get back into playoff contention. it

no, hasn't necessarily been because of their offense. They feel like their defense has really been letting them down because that, I mean, like against the commanders who again, I think have been one of the other teams. We'll get into them later that have been like kind of the surprise of the league. Ended up giving 38 points up to them. Then they played the Ravens, ended up losing them to overtime and Joe Burrows playing phenomenal football. Actually probably would be MVP candidate if they had a winning record, but

They're giving up 41 points. They're giving up 38 points and their defense isn't really able to stop anybody Obviously they're able to the Giants seven points last week But it's the Giants and they didn't have Malik neighbors as he was dealing with this concussion situation But I mean do you have any hope for the Bengals going forward their next game is against the Browns? But they play the Eagles Raiders, and then they play the Ravens So I mean there's a chance you can go on a little streak, but I mean that's still just a huge uphill climb Yeah, I mean it

Drew (33:26.797)
It's not looking good for sure. But there is, you know, the silver lining out there to where, you know, they, they always start slow, right? When we know that, but at the same time, one in four, okay. Well, you know, slow, slow, but the, big thing too is like, they just on third down, man, like they just can't convert at all. Like,

I don't know what it is about it, but they're one of the worst teams in the league when it comes to third down conversions over expected and as well as EPA per play on third down as well too. I'm not sure. I'm not sure what the solution is to that. Maybe it's calling a little bit better scheme on first and second down, getting them in position to have a third and short.

but at the same time, you know, with, without much of a running game, this is, this is kind of what happens. You know, you're not able to move the ball as well. you have to rely on Joe burrow, which, you know, he does his thing, but at the same time, know, can be prone to a couple of errors here and there, which can be costly. And especially if the defensive side is going to hold up there into the bargain, then, you know, they, they ain't doing nothing. Exactly. So.

And I mean, you sure. Yeah, they look great this past week against me against the giants and who didn't have Malik neighbors didn't have to hurt. So like, yeah. So that's my that's my point there is like the defense looked improved. OK, they had a players only meeting, but also is against the the the Giants. So we'll see when they play against some actual competition what they can do.

Yeah, well, you talked about when it comes to the conversion rate for third downs, but I mean, their offense, like you said, is all well been. It's been great. You have Jamar chase, you have T Higgins now, and then you have Yoshi of us has been like a great rookie for them. The running game has not been that great. Talked about Zach Moss is kind of losing his job to chase Brown because they're trying to see if he's a kind of a younger, more explosive back and see if they can give them a spark. But their defense has really been letting them down. So something that they really need to improve.

Drew (35:51.382)
improve going forward. So we'll see when it comes to the Bengals. And then as we've talked about a little bit earlier, unfortunately, the Browns are the Browns and Deshaun Watson is sitting at one to five, one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. the best quarterbacks fans still talked about how this is our quarterback and they feel that Sean Watson gives them the best chance to win. Bullshit. But it's been absolutely abysmal. And then like you talked about,

now Amari Cooper has been traded. David and Joe Koo has been in and out of the lineup with injuries and things of that nature. So, now it's basically, I don't know, Jerry Judy to the moon or something. Like, I don't know Nick Chubb to the moon. Like I don't, I don't even know what the Browns are going to do at this point. And like I said, they can't really eat any of the contract for at least another year and they're kind of stuck. So I mean, I mean, I don't know, maybe they're just now just going to tank and just try to get a high traffic and then try to eat the contract next year. I don't know.

Do know what's crazy? DeJon Watson makes $2.5 million per week. Per week. Light work. And he has a success rate of 33 % on offense. Do know how bad you have to be? He is 6 % technically, we'll get technically here, about 5-ish percent away from the next person in terms of success rate this season. Only to Bo Nix. The next person is Will Levis.

Well, Levis has is 7 % higher than in terms of success rate for for quarterbacks this season. Like that. That is yikes. Yeah, yeah, it's bad. I even think that they deserve to be talked about anymore. So that's the bounds the trash. The actually I'm not even gonna. not even gonna. No, no, no.

to a very good team at ASC South starting with Houston. They're at five and one. We talked about it with Nico Collins and stuff, but they've been a great team. The defense has stepped up. Well, Anderson has kind of really come on of late. I think this is like a third season. The defenses looks good. Offenses looked great. And now Joe mixing this hopefully back and he's healthy and stuff. And he's obviously just a great back. I know you don't like Joe mixing, but we're good back for them. don't want to hear how to give it a deal call his try.

Drew (38:15.565)
Yeah, CJ Stroud probably would be considered an MVP candidate probably in the top five to seven. So the Texans have looked great. Followed up by the Colts who, obviously Anthony Richardson has been hurt over the past couple of weeks. And we talked about it earlier and in the pre-seasons. Yeah. In the pre-seasons, plays like Cam Newton, looks like Cam Newton, but you're going to have the realities of Cam Newton. If you want to play like that, don't want to slide, you want to try to run everybody over.

So he's been battling with those injuries. Joe Flacco, randomly just comes in as the backup and then just started slinging that thing, whether it be on the Browns or the beyond the Colts, making Josh Downs out here looking like Randy Moss and stuff. So, they look like a formidable offense with him. And this is without Jonathan Taylor, who's been hurt with a high ankle sprain. So he's been out. So, the Colts are sitting at three and three and, know, have a chance, to maybe try to squeak in as a wild card. that's followed by the Tennessee Titans with Will Levis, who has looked abysmal.

Will Lewis finds ways to turn over the ball like he's creative with it. Like I've never I'm like, I never thought about that one. And you think you could do that? don't know. I don't know how. Like, I don't know how they they still trot him out there and say, Yeah, this guy, he's I mean, it's different than than Deshaun Watson, right? Because they're gonna start with the big ass on their rookie contract. Yeah.

They're not giving him $2.5 million a week. Like they're not tied to him. They can do whatever else they want and they should do whatever else they want other than have him back there trying to do whatever it is that you might want to call quarterbacking. Cause it is certainly not that like I get it. Like he's like the prototypical quarterback size or even kind of like that Bo Nix type frame. He's athletic. He has a big arm.

But I mean, that's it. I'm like, cause I think it's in between the ears when it comes to the negativities. I don't know if you can fix that at that point. And it's weird because like, you know, they're, guess you could say they're older, but you have good receiving weapons. DeAndre Hopkins. feel like it's still, he's no nowhere near elite. Like he wasn't this prime. I think he's still a good receiver. Ridley as proven by the Jaguars last year, still a good receiver. think last game Calvin really had nine targets with zero receptions.

Drew (40:37.965)
I mean, don't know what the time is. That's what I'm saying. so yeah, that's that. And then, know, you have the Jacksonville Jaguars who have looked completely terrible. They just fell off the rails. Like last season they started, I think it was like eight and three and then ended up losing like five out of their last six games and ended up getting kicked out of the playoffs when they were like originally like, think 95 % chance to make the playoffs when they're sitting at eight and three. And then since then, I think they're like literally like two and nine. And then to start this season, they're one and five.

So like, it's weird because it's like, I feel like they have good talent too. Like I feel like, Trevor Lawrence, I think he's overrated. Like, don't think he should have got that contract, but I mean, you're kind of in that weird situations, like, okay, well we have a average, or I guess you could say slightly above average quarterback. He's young and we don't want to, we want to secure our future at quarterback. So you pay him and then you have, you know, Christian Kirk, even though Kevin really walked, you still have Evan Ingram and then you draft,

the who I remember the junior Brian Thomas, Jr. Yeah. So I mean, like you feel like you surround him with good weapons and good talent, but like they have not been able to get anything clicking on offense. So I'm not sure what the Jaguars are even going to do at that point either. So any thoughts on any of those couple of teams? Yeah. I mean, I mean, as far as the the Jaguars go, I believe that they're

remember correctly, they every every just by every game except for maybe one, they've given up over 400 yards of offense. So like, I'm not sure what the hell's going on with their defense. But clearly past four games 47 to the bills 24 to the Texans 34 to the Colts who they somehow ended up beating in the shootout. And then they just gave them 35 points to the Bears in London with Caleb Williams soon.

Who's a man? Don't count that rookie of the year out. Hey, hey, I'm just saying four and two. That's all I'm Whatever. Flu gazing. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, with with that. And then there's also the fact that I mean, you know me, I've never been a fan of ETN really, because he's not that efficient of a runner. I like to go to college.

Drew (42:59.691)
Yeah, that was the thing that college is college. Like, World Leavis looked good in college too. so, know, you don't really, well, they didn't really have a running game. Maybe now they do with Tank Bixby, but they also, he's hurting out too. Yeah, exactly. So they also, you know, have Brian Thomas Jr. out there who looks great when they get him the ball, but the key is getting him the ball.

And Trevor Lawrence will occasionally do that competently. But then he'll also occasionally give the other team the ball, which bodes not too well for an offense trying to make a comeback whenever they're down by 14 points because their defense can't stop a nosebleed. So I don't know what to do with that team because their defense...

has some talent there on the D line and they are getting healthier and healthier, sure, but at the same time, they're not right now. So that doesn't help them if they're going to get healthy and they already have all these losses. But this is basically, like you can chalk it up to a dead season for them right now because at this point you're not going to be, I mean, maybe you run the table, but you're not going to be in the running really for

for a wild card spot or for obviously not for, for the division either. So, you know, maybe Doug, Doug Peterson is the next one to go, in terms of firing coaches and stuff, but, I, don't know. I don't know. It'll be, weird. This is like Trevor Lawrence. I don't think it's good, but like, like this season, he hasn't been, he hasn't been bad.

It's like he sees about about top 10 in yards. He's topped around top taste 12th, but 12th and touchdowns. He only has three interceptions on the seasons, but they like just haven't been able to capitalize. They haven't been able to capitalize on the red zone. Yeah, and all of these other things. Like you said, the defense isn't terrible and they have some talent. It's just they haven't been able to put anything together. So then you thought, you know, with maybe the return of Evan Ingram and you have your full array of weapons and options for them. Yeah, they're getting a lot of targets or receptions, but it's not

Drew (45:20.567)
turning into any points and then you have, Caleb Williams out here carving you up and stuff too. So like, I mean, I don't, like you said, I don't know where you go from there. Doug Peterson probably is going to be on the chopping block and, you're kind of like in the, said like one of the worst things you could be in the league is like average or mediocre. They're like, they're worse than that, but they're in like an average mediocre mentality. Cause it's like, you're not going to draft a new quarterback. You just spent all this money on Trevor Lawrence. I mean, you just spent this high draft pick, on Brian.

Thompson Jr. And like, mean, what are you going to do? Cause like you have ETN. I've been so like, I don't, I don't know. Maybe just bode more well on the defense, but yeah, I don't even know what you do with that for the Jacksonville. yeah. moving on to the AFC West, as we mentioned, the Kansas city chiefs is sitting at five and no doing this without Rashi rice, doing this without Isaiah Pacheco. who needs them insert Juju insert, Kareem hunt and you don't miss a step.

So I mean, they are who they are going to have a key matchup with the Super Bowl rematch against the 49ers this weekend. So that's going to be a big marquee game. I think we're going to touch on a little bit more towards the end of the show. And then coming up in second place, you have the Chargers who have looked good in spots. You have Harbaugh obviously with the new mentality of like using Justin Herbert a lot less and running the ball with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Gus Edwards obviously has been hurt and now is on IR. So it's the J.K. Dobbins show. But

I Trevor's kind of battled through injuries this season as well. So that means I don't know if you have any different outlook on the Chargers. I think they're a good team. think they can like have like a week where they surprise and upset an elite team, but they can also have one of those games where they kind of let down and lose to a team that they shouldn't. So I don't really know how to feel about the Chargers. I think they'll be a wild card team at best, but I know if you have any different opinion on that. mean, the Chargers are interesting team because, you know, a lot of people were high on them because of Harbaugh and everything like that too.

but the, thing that was kind of, that was kind of, you know, holding folks back was okay, like they want to run the ball, which is great, but who the hell are going to get the ball to? And then all of a sudden emerges, turns out that Barry Sanders reincarnation over here. and the other part of it too, was that like their, their offensive line wasn't

Drew (47:42.925)
projected to be particularly all that great and you know, they're still middle of the pack in terms of O-line like run blocking and pass blocking in general, but that's because they've had a lot of injuries and they have a lot of guys coming back. I believe it's Joe Alt who is one of their top 10 draft picks there. So he came back last week. So that'll be a major help for them going forward.

And then they're also getting a couple guys back this week too. So with that being said, like they, they very well could be in the mix. you know, I don't want to say that they can knock off Kansas city, but they can, they're always, they're always competitive with them. They're like the, it's like the Seahawks against the, against the 49ers or the, you know, the Cardinals against the 49ers or anybody in the AFC or NFC West there.

Like the games are always competitive, at least one of them is. I mean, not both of them, but at least one of them is, god damn it. And you know, with the Chargers and stuff too, their upcoming schedule looks pretty nice. It, you know, it's shaping out to be pretty decent with Arizona this week, New Orleans, Cleveland, Tennessee, Cincinnati, who, you know, they have a solid team, but you know, apparently the Chargers also have a solid defense now too, like they're top five.

Then you go Baltimore, then you go Atlanta, Kansas City, it gets little tough there. But then it lightens up at the back half, know, Tampa Bay, Detroit and New England, finish up with Las Vegas. So it's a very doable schedule for them, but do I think that they're going to, you know, take home the bacon? No, I still like Kansas City, obviously, regardless of who they put out there.

It did the system just works. You know, I'm not calling not calling my home's assistant quarterback or anything. But also this year, he also is averaging five point two air yards per game, which is the lowest in the league. I'm not saying anything, but I'm saying that he might be Charlie check down right now. So I digress. So sitting in third at three and three, you have the Broncos who, mean, based off of how they started the season,

Drew (50:07.405)
I guess is surprising because obviously they start owing to losing to the Seahawks and Broncos and they have like one of the upsets of the year so far beating the Buccaneers like Molly walking the Buccaneers 26 to seven. And then they have the close win against the Jets, then they beat the Raiders and they lose the Chargers. So I think that they're going to be one of those teams that are they have kind of, I think they're going to be probably finishing like around seven and 10. That's Broncos. Bonix has showed flashes, but he's also showed some, really ugly throws and poor decisions at times.

so don't know if you have any changes or, many expectations for the Broncos. mean, they don't really have Cortland Sutton and Javante Williams. mean, I don't think they have the greatest weapons. mean, no, mean, they, they are who they thought they were. ain't good. So, and I mean, they, they might win tomorrow, just because like, injuries nobody is playing on, like they're planning. It's a high school team. So.

And it's strong Payton's return to to Nolans so do this for me Mm-hmm might see a bounty gate come out. I'm just saying I'm just saying I'm just saying I don't like Sean Payton. Anyway, you got the Raiders and we talked about obviously traded Devante Adams They've been without him the past couple weeks as he's been battling through his quote-unquote hamstring injury while he was preparing to buddy back up with Aaron Rodgers

so, you know, they transitioned away from Gardner Minshew and they brought in, who is their quarterback now? can't remember his name. Aiden O'Connell. So Aiden O'Connell ended up starting a few games for them last season towards the end after Jimmy Garoppolo got hurt. And now, he's starting for them. So I feel like the only bright spot that has been for the Raiders is the fact that Brock Bauer has probably been one of the better Titans in the league. other than that hasn't looked very pretty. their Superbowl is probably beating the Ravens in that comeback.

But I mean, yeah, I don't know where you really go for the Raiders. They're probably going to go to the draft when it comes to a quarterback for this season. Other than that, I feel like they're probably just going to clean shop and then probably tank. Yeah, I mean, that's really all you can do. at least now, like subtle, subtle victories take the wins where you can get them. Right. And so they have they have Tom Brady as a as a partial owner now. So

Drew (52:32.619)
Maybe that can draw in. requirements and restrictions. No. He's not allowed to watch practices. He's not allowed to be super involved when it comes to game plan and game script. He's not allowed to be in certain places. He's not allowed to talk about certain things. They put some requirements on this man. They're like, hey Tom, why don't you get back there and throw the pigs in around a little bit. Just put on O'Connell's jersey and they'll never know. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if that man comes out of retirement.

But I mean the Dolphins, you know imagine the Dolphins with Dom Brady right now like that'd be that would mean the Dolphins with Joe Flacco right now, right? mean she and they to both playing that thing to Tyreek on him So that is the that is the AFC Was there any other teams that you wanted to or any other thing that you wanted to cover about the AFC before transition to the NFC?

No, that's that's pretty much it. Super Bowl pick? Say what? Any changes to your Super Bowl pick? You know I got the Chiefs still, so. Nah, no changes. I'm holding, holding strong. Eagles.