← Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
Buffalo Plus: A Buffalo Bills podcast
NFL's TOP 5 and BOTTOM 5 teams as season begins, breakdown of NFC and a Bills injury update
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They were poorly managed in the front office. Salary cap issues, they never address those things. The cap is real to dumb bad teams. Hey everybody. Welcome to the Buffalo plus YouTube channel. I'm Mike Catalana. Please make sure to like, comment and subscribe. Jenna and Dan on the holiday. Getting some time off. I had time off too, but I can only take so much time off. I need to talk. I needed to talk to you guys. So here is the latest edition of the league podcast presented by Connors and Farris and is brought to you by Stellar Roofing Windows and Siding. We thank Stellar for being with us again this year. We're going to talk league stuff. We're going to talk about the nfc. We're going to talk about the best five teams in the NFL and the worst five coming into the first week of the season. I do have a Bill's note for you. Maybe you heard it today. Dwayne Carter, second year defensive lineman, out for the season, torn Achilles. The reports are that it happened Wednesday at practice. I say reports because we were at practice but we can only watch to a certain point and then we have to leave the field like the regular season mode. When we were there watching, Dwayne Carter was fine and then he got injured during practice. So this is a tough break for that young man in year number two. Year number one did not go great. Couple of moments and then when he came back, didn't dress for the playoff game. He's the third round pick. He's the guy they got when Brandon Bean traded with the Chiefs. Chiefs got Xavier Worthy. Bill's move back eventually got Keon Coleman. They got that extra third round pick. They took Dwayne Carter. They believe, and I'm sure they still do, that he can be that player wasn't really in year one and he was supposed to back up Daquan Jones and now it's a torn Achilles. So he's going to miss the entire season. And they are hurting at the backup position. I mean realistically they had the two rookies when they had Walker and Sanders and then they were hoping that Carter could be that guy, especially behind Daquan. And they signed Jordan Phillips before this happened. I think they're going to need more help. I think they're going to be out looking for another veteran for the roster. So let's see what happens. This is disappointing. This draft pick has not worked out to this point and now you got to wonder about the young man's future. Hopefully he comes back and comes back strong, but he'll be going into year number three. Not really contributing much to the franchise this time with injury. So we'll see how that plays out for the Bills. All right, let's talk a little about the nfc. We have already done a league podcast about the AFC breaking down the entire conference. What we think about it, the guys, the teams, the people in those divisions who are under some pressure. Let's talk about the NFC East. I still think the Eagles are the team to beat. They lost five big starters on defense. Guys like Sweat, Milton Williams, Darius Slay, C.J. gardner, Johnson. They did. But they're still the most talented team in the division. They still have Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, Devontae Smith, best line in the league, all those things going for them. I'll still say the Eagles are number one, but I think the commanders are there with them. And Jaden Daniels, I'm not looking for a sophomore slump from him. I think he's really good and I think he's going to be really good again. I think the roster can be better. It's really good that they signed Terry McLaurin. I know he's a little older. They needed him. He's a really good player. They got Debo Samuel. Samuel. I'm not saying I think he's going to help him that much. He'll have moments. I don't think he's the player he was in the past. They hope Laramie Tunsil helps with the offensive line. I don't think Von Miller is going to do what they think he's going to do to help them on defense to bring in a pass rush. The Giants have some high end talent like guy like Malik Neighbors. Offensive line needs to be better. Andrew Thomas needs to be healthy at left tackle. The defense has some dudes. Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence. Let's see if Abdul Carter is that good. But come on. Russell Wilson's the starting quarterback. I give it four and a half games the under over. I'm going to take the under. The Jackson start. Jarrett Jackson Dart is the starter for them. I know he showed in the preseason. I don't think that means as much as some people are making it out to be. But I do think he's shown ability and he's the future. Brian Dable needs him to be good. He just does. And I think Dable has confidence in him and I think Giants fans want to see a young player who shows that ability. Daniel Jones maybe had a moment. I don't think fans were ever all in on Daniel Jones, even when he was okay at times in his Career. I think they think Dart can be that guy. He's got some talent around him. Tracy in the backfield, as we mentioned. Neighbors. So let's see when they make that move. But I think he's there. And Dallas Cowboys, no Micah Parsons. I'm going to have more on the Cowboys later and what I really think about them. Dax going to need to score a lot of points on this offense and what they've done, but we'll get back to the Cowboys a little bit. Let's talk about the North. I think it's the best division in the nfc, top to bottom. The packers right now. I think they're the team to beat, though. I still have a lot of faith in the Lions in Dan Campbell and company. But Parsons really is a difference maker. I mean, Jordan Love's got to be better. He's talented, he's good. Don't love his wide receivers. Let's see what they get out of Matthew Golden. Maybe he can make some big plays for them. They need a little bit more from the wide receivers. Tucker Kraft at tight end. Josh Jacobs, a heck of a running back. Micah now is the difference maker they've needed on defense. And if you're old enough to remember he's not Reggie White, because Reggie White was one of the great players in the history of the NFL. Micah could get there. He's got the ability. But they got Reggie White from the Eagles. Was a little older, but he was the reason Brett Favre got his super bowl championship. So I'm not saying that's what Micah does for Jordan Love, but he's going to help. They've got Xavier McKinney, Edrin Cooper. Like, they got some pretty good dudes on defense, but this guy will make the difference. The Lions have stars. Jared Goff is really good, but he's got Jameer Gibbs, Aman Ross, St. Brown, Sam LaPorta. Penn A. If you can be a star on the offensive line, he is. Aiden Hutchinson is back. You know, they've got Anzalone Campbell, Brian Branch, Kirby Joseph. Like, they got some dudes they just weren't healthy last year. They lose Aaron Glenn, maybe bigger. They lose Ben Johnson. Coordinator. He did a really good job with them. Where's he go now? Yeah, goes to the Bears. All right, Caleb, now you got an offensive guy. Let's see how good Caleb Williams really is. Let's see if he can get something out of Roma Dunes. I was really disappointed. DJ Moore is a good player. Watch out for Luther Burton. You probably drafted him in your league, right? Tell Me leave a comment. Did you draft him? I think the guy I heard be a little wacky, but I think that dude can play. So let's see what you get out of Luther Burden to help out. But I think the Bears are a talented team. They're trying to change this O line again. They brought in Joe Tuni, make him a guard where he belongs. They need the defense to be better, Right? They just do like they were. Okay. Kevin Byard still playing like, I don't love that. But see where the Bears are and then the Vikings is a wild card. Is J.J. mcCarthy any good? I got. We don't know. It's just like they handed it over to JJ McCarthy. Could they have signed Sam Darnold? Yeah, I think the way Darnold looked at the end and in the playoffs made them go, okay, we're going to go with the kid here and see what we can do. And then they say to him, hey, jj, here's JJ for you. Is Justin Jefferson, superstar. That guy makes plays no matter who's out there at quarterback. Incredible player. Jordan Addison suspended. They're waiting on him. I love that they got Adam Thielem back. Thielem is still good. Thielem is still good and he wanted to be back in Minnesota, so they got him. They've got Hawkinson. They've got some pretty good players on defense. Brian Flores, very good coordinator, very aggressive. Let's see where they end up. But it comes down to the quarterback, right? Is McCarthy any good? I have no idea. I really don't know. The guy I saw at Michigan, I don't know. Then the Vikings draft him in the first round. Everybody's like, he's going to be the guy. So let's see how it plays out for them. The south, the Bucks, you start with Baker and Mike Evans. Pretty good place to start. Mike Evans, just as steady as it gets. Comes back from injury, still a thousand yards. Incredible. Godwin not back. That's big. The guy they got from Ohio State, I think, can be really good. We say this every time. Rookie wide receivers, let's see how it plays out. Tristan Worfs is the guy who holds it down on the O line. They've got Via Vea Levante, David, Antoine Winfield, Jr. I loved senior. I love Junior. Hasan, Reddick. Dude, do you want to play? Let's see if he's good. He was great for the Eagles a few years ago. Then he went to that jets thing, thing and didn't want to play and traded him. And now he's going to get his shot in Tampa. Let's see how he does. Okay, I'll say Atlanta. It's kind of like the Vikings a little bit. We saw a little bit of Pennix. That guy's got ability. But let's see how good he can be because he's got Bijan, he's got Drake, London, Kyle Pitts. Let's go. Right, let's go. Everybody thought you were going to change the tight end position. Let's see what he's got. The defense, I like baits. I like. I like Xavier Watts coming out of Notre Dame. They've got Leonard Floyd. You know he's going to get 10 sacks back in Georgia. Let's see how he plays. I like their talent a little bit. Carolina, Bryce Young showed me a lot when they got him back on the field. Ted McMillan, rookie. He just looks the part. Let's see how good he is. Xavier Leggette made some big plays and dropped some easy ones. Their front seven was atrocious last year. It's got to be better if they're going to be anything. Can they be that 7, 8 win team this year? Probably. I think the Saints stink. I'm sorry. You know, Kellen Moore is going to try his best to get Spencer Rattler started. Tyler Schoff will eventually play that Chris Olave. He's got the concussions. They were poorly managed in the front office. Salary cap issues, they never address those things. The cap is real to dumb bad teams and that's what the Saints have been. So they're going to be bad this year. The rams have Sean McVay. If Matthew Stafford is healthy. They got dudes on that team. Stafford obviously being one of them. He has shown that even at his age. I think he's 36. He's got the back. Not great to have a quarterback with a back injury. Puka Nakua. Can you. Is Nakua. I want your comment here. Where is he in the league? Is he. Can I say he's top five wide receiver? I think he's top ten. You tell me where you have him. Runs great routes, runs over people. Now he's got Devonte Adams, a great route runner with an adult quarterback this year. Let's see where he is because I think he's still got juice left. Kyron Williams is tough. Plays a lot of snaps all three downs. And that team, they used to throw away first round picks. Now they know how to draft, especially on defense versus awesome. Byron Young, Brandon Tisk, Fisk. It's late. Yeah, they've drafted well on Defense. I think they're the most talented team. The Niners have names, you know, Brock Purdy, you know, Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Iuks. On the PUP list, George Kittle. George Kittle was probably still the best tight end in the league last year. Tell me, who was better catching the ball, right? Maybe Trey McBride, who's in the division. But Kittle does so many things well. Still really good. Juan Jennings thinks he's better than he is. I think he's a good third receiver. He thinks he's a number one. He wants to get paid. Ricky Purcell's got to stay healthy. Trent Williams is still a monster tackle, which will help. And they got Bosa and Warner, two of the best players in the league. Shanahan's a really good coach, though he does some weird stuff. He's still really good. It depends on how healthy they are. Seattle's the team. I don't know what to make of them. I mean, if you just said Sam Darnold before, you be like Sam Darnold, then he won all those games with Minnesota. Now he goes there. They've got Cooper cup, you know, let's see. Kenneth Walker in the backfield. Mike McDaniel, Mike McDonald, excuse me, can coach defense. He was with the Ravens. I think the sum of the parts is better than the individual parts with Seattle, I think their defense is good. Let's see how they play out. Depends on Darnold. I know it sounds easy to say it's about the quarterback, but it is. Speaking of quarterbacks, you got Kyler Murray with Jonathan Gannon. They got fantasy football guys that you're all drafting. James Connor, Kyler Murray, Marvin Harrison Jr. Trey McBride. I. They just don't move the needle with me. My friend Matthew bovet from Channel 7, he always says, I like the Cardinals. Last year, he's telling me he likes the Cardinals. I said, they're going to be the Cardinals. They ended up being the Cardinals. Buddha Baker, like they've got some good players. Hey, Jonathan Gannon, you better get that moving or you're going to be another Cardinals coach. They never last more than three years. Most of the cases, I think they've only had a couple guys ever last five. So let's see where Gannon is in that division. So when you look at it that way, I would say it's those divisions kind of stay the same, you know? So when you look at them, let's pick the divisions, right? I still think the Eagles are going to win the East. I think Washington can push them all year. Long. The teams play twice at the end of the year, two games. Eagles and Commanders. The Bills play the Eagles right in the middle of those. So that's going to be wild. I think the Giants will be better. And I'm saving. Like I said, I'm going to save. Where I'm going to pick the Cowboys right now. I'll say third for the Cowboys and you'll get what I mean. And then the Giants fourth. And then in the. The north, the best division. I'm still going to go Lions. I think the packers are going to be really good. I'm still going to go Lions. I think I trust them more. I don't know why. And I think the packers are going to be really good. I think they've got more guys on offense and if the defense is healthy and Dan Campbell gets them going, you know, two new coordinators. Let's see how it plays out in a close one. I'm going to have them beating out the Packers. I got the Bears third and the Vikings fourth. I just don't have faith in McCarthy right now. He could prove me to be so wrong, but I don't have faith in him. And the other two divisions I'm going to look at, I'm going to go Bucs number one. I'm going to make it. I'm going to say Atlanta, Carolina and the Saints, and that's probably the last time I'm going to think about that whole division outside of the Bills playing that division, individual teams, I just don't care. I think they're going to have one playoff team, and I think it's going to end up being the Bucks. And then I'm still going to go with the Rams to win the West. I'm going to say Rams 1, Seattle 2, Niners 3, Cardinals 4. How's that? How's that for a division? Tell me where I'm wrong. Maybe you have other opinions on it. Let's see. All right, and the other thing I wanted to do, by the way, I wanted to remind you, we are going to be at the Thirsty Turtle. That's coming up on Thursday night, five to seven. That's in Victor, New York, right near the East View Mall. We did a show there last year. Jenna, Dan and myself are all going to be there. Come out to the Thirsty Turtle on Thursday, 5 to 7, and then 7 to 8 will record the podcast. It's night one of the NFL season. Bill, start out with the Ravens. We got content like crazy all week long, but make sure you go out there all Right. I'm going to do this every week or we are going to do it. Top five, bottom five in the NFL and I'm going to have a little fun my in my own way. Top five. I'm going to go from five to one. Bill's number five. I'm worried about the defense. I'm worried about the depth. I think it can be good. I think it will get better. I'm really worried about them week one, but I still think they're going to be very good. And they got Josh Allen. I got him at 5 right now in the NFL for I didn't pick them to win a division but I have the packers at 4. I think talent wise they're there. I'm only giving the Lions the edge because they've done it the past couple of years. But I think the packers are going to get better as the year goes on. I think Parsons is going to make big plays with them. I'll put them four. Chiefs at three. We're still the Chiefs and I think the offense is going to be better. It's been pedestrian. I think Mahomes is tired of hearing that he's not that guy anymore as he goes to try to make it to his fourth straight Super Bowl. I have the Eagles too. A defense is going to have some adjustments. The offense is still going to be really good. The O line is really good. Hertz plays great in big moments. AJ Devonte oh Saquon. They got those dudes. I say two and I got the Ravens number one. I think their roster got better. I love what they did. Malachi Starks to go with Kyle Hamilton as my dream safety spot for the Bills and the Ravens have both of them. So I got the Ravens as the best team starting the year. Five worst. This is as much organizationally as it is players on the on the field. This is just this is not a Bills Dolphins thing. But I got the Dolphins five. I think they're going to be a mess this year and it's not about to it. And Mike McDaniel can coach some offense but that culture is bad. They've lost players. The defense always gets beaten up. Tyreek Hill is going to talk his way out of there. I got them as as the fifth worst. I don't really know if I think they're the fifth worst but week one I just don't like what their offseason look like. I think they're going to start getting rid of guys Giants at four but I think they're going to be the opposite I think they're going to get better. I think that roster needs to be better. Let's see how good Dart is. I think if you see him and he's good, you'll know that they're not bad. I don't know how many games they'll win, but I think they'll look better. And they've got some talent. They've got some high end talent on that team. The Browns 3. You could easily make the Browns 1 and leave them there. They have no idea what they're doing at quarterback. They've got four guys that nobody wants to have on the roster at the moment. Sorry, Joe Flacco, but they don't. Certainly not as your starter. And they have desean Watson and then they show up to watch Arch Manning and he plays terrible. So that should tell you something. He probably wants to stay in School. Browns 3. Two is the saints because the roster's terrible. They've handled the cap terrible, terribly and they probably are the worst team. I didn't put the Titans in there because I think the Titans might be a little bit better and I think Cam Ward will play well for them. I didn't have them in my bottom five, but maybe roster wise they are. And number one, this is just because of the stupid thing Jerry Jones did. I have them as the worst team in the NFL. Now they're not. They're not the least talented, they won't have the worst record, but I'm giving them that title for this week because it was stupid. You gave away Micah Parsons. He is a top 10 player in the league, top five defensive player, and I might be underselling him. He gets to the quarterback every defensive offensive coordinator looks. Where's 11 when it starts? He is a dude's dude out there. That team knows it. Every other team knows it. The packers knew it. Jerry wanted to sign him. Then he lies to Cowboys fans and says, oh, we've been talking about this trade. Jerry. You weren't. You screwed up with the agent, you screwed up with Micah and you got rid of a generational talent because you should have signed them two years ago. So it's dumb. When I feel badly for Cowboys fans, you know it's bad. Sorry, Cowboys fans. You guys screwed up. You're going to pay for this for a while. Two picks that are going to be in the 20s or higher is not worth this guy. He's too good. Dumb trade. Boy, Dak, you better throw for 5,000 yards to score some points because the defense isn't going to stop anybody so let's see how it plays out. Let's have a little fun. All right, that's going to do it for me sitting in. Dan, Jenna, a little time off, but they're going to be super busy with us this week. Bill's content all week long as we get you ready for the Bills Ravens coming up on Sunday night. Thirsty Turtle, we'll see you there Thursday night or watch listen right here on the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel for the live podcast and all the other content that we post on there. And thank you to Stellar who always comes through for us. Stellar Windows, roofing windows and siding. They do it all. Thank you for being our sponsor of the league and that's going to do it for me. Mike Catalana, please make sure to like, comment and subscribe and we'll see you as a team the next time on the Buffalo Plus YouTube channel. SA.