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James Palmer
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Jake Seeley
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James Palmer
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Jake Seeley
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James Palmer
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Jake Seeley
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James Palmer
The WWE bars were like brown. You didn't know what that texture was. It was the outside, but it was like it kind of looked like a muddled Hulk Hogan on the outside of it. You know what I'm talking about.
Jake Seeley
Somebody who's drunk that tried to draw the WWE characters. So I tried it once and you're laughing because somebody else brought them up. But the reason why is because I have overrated. His ice cream bars is in this. They're in the same category for Me. So I'm just. I'm not. Whatever the texture. It's not even a cookie.
James Palmer
Like somehow like soft cardboard. All right. It is scoop city on a Thursday. Presented by ebay. I'm James Palmer. We got boots on the ground today. We're bouncing around to all these different facilities. We're going to get a chance to talk to a bunch of our reporters, give us the lowdown on a lot of these matchups that we have our eye on in week four. Don't forget to like and subscribe. I gotta say it, so you gotta do it. Listen, this is what we're gonna cover here. We're gonna get an in depth look from both sides of the Colts and the Rams. Is Indianapolis for real? Will tell you why that a lot of people in that building think they actually. And the Rams lost a heartbreaker to Philadelphia. Does that impact week four? And what's the one key aspect of their game that was exposed in Philadelphia that they need to correct against Indianapolis? And then there is a game between two undefeated matchups that is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Philadelphia Eagles. We'll get a chance to talk to Zach Berman about that exact matchup. And also Micah Parsons returns to Dallas. I'm not sure if anybody's talking about it, but we also have guys from both sides to break that down and one of them will be in an automobile. But we're going to start with the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The BUCS have survived being 3, 0 even though they've won these games by a combined total of 6 points. They've won these games at the 59 second mark, the 6 second mark, and as time expired. But the offensive line is a little banged up. We know that Eagles defensive line is really good, but let's get a look at what's happening in Philadelphia right now. Zach Berman covers the Eagles brilliantly for us at the Athletic. And Zach, I know I read everything that you write. I haven't for some reason. I'm not sure if you have my address. Not received leap year yet. But congrats on the book, brother. Tell me real quick about this book that has just come out by you about this Eagles team from last year.
Zach Berman
Yeah, I appreciate that. Just a quick elevator pitch. It takes you behind the scenes of the super bowl season. It really takes you from the red confetti at the super bowl three years ago to the green confetti last year. And it's called leap year, obviously, because Saquon Barkley made that leap. It happened in 2024. But it examines the leap the Eagles took from where they were to where they are. So you go behind the scenes. You're in the locker room, you find out kind of the drama of the season, and you really learn about the characters under the helmet. So excited for the audience to read it.
James Palmer
I love it. I love it, man. Everybody make sure you go out and grab it. Zach is a brilliant writer. And listen, you talked about being behind the scenes, being in that locker room. The first question I have for you is this. You've won 19 of 20 if you're a Philadelphia Eagle, yet everybody from Drew Brees on down is going, I just don't like the way they play.
Jake Seeley
It's boring.
James Palmer
Does that bother anyone in the room? Do they care, Zach? Like, I want to know what the team thinks of this kind of strange narrative, even though they're winning, that has kind of come about.
Zach Berman
Well, I don't think they care about the perception of it.
James Palmer
Right.
Zach Berman
And, you know, it goes back to what you and I spoke about a few weeks ago, where all Jalen Hurts cares about is. Is. Is winning. But I do think in that locker room, they care about how they're playing. And in particular, AJ Brown and Jalen hurts. You heard it after the game that. That first half against the Rams was bad, and they. They tapped into something in that second half. They got A.J. brown the ball. That was. That was the key. But really, the passing game looked more dynamic. So it's not that they care if someone says they look ugly or that, you know, has criticism of. Of the offense internally. They have a standard that they expect to play to. They didn't look like it in the first half. They did in the second half.
James Palmer
This is always something in the locker room in Philadelphia. We're always curious about what is AJ Going to say after the game. Right? Like, is this going to become a thing everybody says? And you. You mentioned that. He did say, Louis said, like, let our kill. We should let our killers go do what they do. And. And things like, have they been somewhat. It's a new play. I mean, Kevin's calling plays for the first time here. So, like, is it be. Are they conservative in a sense, knowing they have this defense, knowing that Jalen hasn't turned the football over? I think he has the longest active streak right now without throwing an interception. Like, are they getting a sense that going, maybe we're looking for explosive plays to come through our run game because it has in the past. Are all these just kind of factors and maybe that woke up in the no, we still have to be a little bit more balanced.
Zach Berman
Yeah. So I actually agree with AJ Brown. I think they, they do need to be more aggressive. And when you have A.J. brown, Devonte Smith and Dallas Goddard, Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts throwing in the ball, you should be the aggressor. Right. Like, you know, there was an interesting comment AJ Brown had yesterday, which is him saying that there's so much thought in terms of, like, take what the defense gives you, but sometimes you can be the one giving it. Right. Like, it doesn't have to be reactive in that regard. But you are correct. A team that they're playing Tampa Bay this weekend, you think Tampa Bay last year was the down point. That was the low point of that season. They had the bye week and they really determined afterwards they need to reduce turnovers. They had to run the ball. But it was, it was really take care of the ball, win the turnover battle. And I think that's carried over to this year. There's a lot of focus on situational football. So if you're backed up, you know, like they were last last week with some of the kickoffs, how do you react to those situations? But I, I, I think by and large they should listen to what A.J. brown's saying because it has a lot of validity. When A.J. brown's on your team, you throw him the ball, good things tend to happen.
James Palmer
You're exactly right. Especially. And he may not even be open. He will just muscle his way to get the ball. One of the more physical receivers in the season, locker.
Zach Berman
He has always open.
James Palmer
Right, right above.
Zach Berman
Always open.
James Palmer
He's not lying. I don't think he is. I don't think he is. I want to get you mentioned playing Tampa and what happened last year and what's happened actually, for a while now, they've kind of had the Eagles number. And Todd Bowles seems to have something we know he's bringing pressure. It's the, he plays defensive football forever. What is it about the blitzes that he brings, Zach, you think that gives Jalen trouble? Because it has.
Zach Berman
Yeah. So you're absolutely right in that the Bucks have had the Eagles number. I mean, Nick Sirianni has been an awfully successful coach, except when he plays the Bucks, you know, he's 1 and 4 against Tampa Bay. They have two postseason losses down there. And yeah, Todd Bowles's pressure is a part of it now. The thing that I'll say, and I don't mean to sound like a coach, but every game is different. You look, last year they were without A.J. brown, Devontae Smith, Lane Johnson.
James Palmer
True.
Zach Berman
When you're playing without those three, the offense will look like a shell of itself. So I, I, I think in even you go back to the postseason game that they lost two years ago, AJ Wasn't on the field. The team was a mess then. So there's been, there's been different variations for or, or I guess different reasons for why this has occurred. But the Todd Bowles defense, you, you know they're going to blitz. You saw that.
James Palmer
Yeah.
Zach Berman
From Speake from Steve Spagnolo two weeks ago. And it's up to the Eagles to react to it. And it's, there's a lot on jail and hurts his should J is a different quarterback than the one that really struggled against the blitz the first time he played down there in the playoff game in the 2021 season.
James Palmer
Yeah. It's going to be interesting to see how they react to that blitz. I love that you brought up what Spags did with the pressure because that they believe that. Right. That took away some of their explosive plays or thoughts of explosive plays because the way Spags play. So we'll see if they react differently with Todd Vols. Before I let you go, I'd be remiss if I didn't say this. It seems like with the tush push now you can just hate me because I bring this up, Zach. But like we're now in a new world here. Now it's hard to officiate. Like it seems like everything becomes, it continues to change as people try to get this play to go away. Is that annoying to the Eagles? Like it's okay now you say it's hard to officiate. Before it was this. And in my opinion, if Jalen's getting pushed or not, the complaints about the officiating, it doesn't matter if he's getting pushed or not. So I don't really understand what, where, where it's coming from and I'm wondering if that's bothering Philadel.
Zach Berman
I think in that locker room they're fatigued by the conversation. Right. Because it's been going on for a few years and there's been different rationalizations about it, whether it's injury, whether it's the aesthetics of the play now the officiating of the play. I think their position is anyone can run it like we've discussed and that they just do it better than other teams. Jordan Mylotta said:2 weeks ago, like this is his invitation to the league. Everyone can do it. You should go do it. But I think that, and this is my view, it's. It's a play that they drill. It's a play they have the personnel to do. But if this was outlawed and they just did the quarterback sneak, their efficiency would be near the same, because that offensive line still wouldn't. You know, I think, and this is no disrespect that Dallas Goddard or Saquon Barkley, I think the pushing is very little to do with it. I think a lot of it's the offensive line and the quarterback who squats 600 pounds.
James Palmer
Yeah, you have a. You have a rare offensive line and maybe even more rare quarterback in the way he's built and an ability to understand that we can run this, and we don't think we're putting him in jeopardy, which is the most, you know, difficult position to replace in football. And I think they're comfortable with the way Jalen is built to be able to go do this. And other teams, I don't think, have the same mindset. Zach, appreciate it. Don't sweat too much down there in Tampa. I know the team is going down there early. We'll see if it works. Maybe they'll change your luck. Thanks, buddy.
Zach Berman
Appreciate it. Thank you.
James Palmer
All right. I appreciate that from Zach Berman. And that was the Philadelphia Eagles, who won in dramatic fashion with a walk off of Jordan Davis. The big man, just complete ass going over 18 miles an hour for that touchdown to seal the win over the Rams. And that brings us to Nate Atkins, who covers the Rams and has a chance to bounce back against an undefeated Colts team here. What stood out to me, outside of the big man running, like I said, Nate is the red zone for the Los Angeles Rams. And what happened there, really, you could say lost in the game. Outside of special teams, when you go one for four with Sean McVay and Matthew Stafford as an offense, how do you change that? Is this possibly a get right game considering Indianapolis has allowed teams to do pretty much whatever they want down in the red zone?
Nate Atkins
Yeah, the Rams are going to hope so. Now, their red zone issues have popped up before this against, you know, happened in Tennessee with the Titans, who aren't exactly a juggernaut either. So it's something they've got to figure out. They're a top five offense by EPA metrics, but their bottom five when it comes to the red zone, and it's just been something about, like, when they get down there, you know, they talked about how a lot of the spacing they like to run their Offense with, with devonte Adams and Puka Nukua really freezes up. They've tended to really force feed devonte Adams. He leads the NFL and red zone targets, but they've only thrown once there to Puka Nukua. They haven't really gotten tight ends going. And then I just think in the run game that's been pretty good is they get down in some of these tight situations where teams stack the box and the lack of a quarterback run threat just makes it a little tighter in there and then they've had some bad penalties. So it is a situation where they want to get right though because the, the Colts are allowing a lot on the ground right now and they have issues at outside cornerback with Xavier Howard stepping in, you know, not looking quite like his all pro self at the moment. So it is a situation you've got to, they've got to figure this out and I think that's, that's got to start with going to Puka to Kuamor. Just for a guy that leads NFL receivers in basically every category to have zero receiving touchdowns and one red zone target for as many opportunities as they're getting, that just doesn't add up entirely. So Puka is mostly for them been an answer to zone coverage. And it's sort of like when devonte Adams goes deep and pushes safeties back, there's more space. So it's a little harder to figure out there. But there's got to be something in how Matthew Stafford and Sean McVeigh diagnosed pre snap to figure out some of these matchups. Use play action down there. 12 personnel, which they played a lot more of this season than normally they do in Rashad McVay. Some mix of all of that has got to lead to, to more red zone success because that was ultimately the story against the Eagles. If they turn a few more of those long drives into touchdowns, you know, is, I mean you would like to think when you go up 26 to 7, you're going to win anyway. But it's Eagles in their house. You know, it's Jalen Hurts and it's AJ Browns, Devontae Smith. They've, they've got to be able to, to really, really put the foot on the throat sometimes and that's what they couldn't do on Sunday. That's what they need to do if they have that opportunity this Sunday. They, and not only will it help them obviously get more points on the board, but it helps their pass rush even more when teams get into that must throw situation and that's going to be important on Sunday, too. As well as Daniel Jones has played, you still would rather him drop back every snap against that pass rush than have to deal with Jonathan Taylor. So that is going to be a big key for Sunday.
James Palmer
Yeah, let's talk about that pass rush, Nate, because we saw this Colts offense with Daniel Jones be borderline unfazed by the pressure that Denver Broncos brought. And you can see some similarities between how good both of these fronts are with the Rams and with Denver. And that pressure didn't seem to really make Daniel Jones drop his eyes, didn't make him seem like he kind of found, you know, the pressure bothering him in a sense. How can they make their pressure in impact Daniel Jones differently than, say, Vance Joseph's group with Denver a couple weeks ago?
Nate Atkins
I think one of the issues from that Denver game is that the Broncos looked, probably rightly so, at Daniel Jones's career and realized he's really struggled with the blitz and so they wanted to come after him and he just tore them up against the blitz. And I think the big difference here is that the Colts have so many receiving weapons right now. Tyler Warren has really changed that, is that it's just hard to really limit your numbers and coverage against this team. And so I don't think the Rams are going to do that now that they've seen how Daniel Jones is handling the blitz. They're not that they're not going to do it because I promise you they will bring a safety on a blitz a couple times this game, but it's not going to be the thing that they rely on because they've they have enough guys in the front four to really get after it. You got Jared Verse on one side, Byron Young looks really good on the other side. They've mixed in a rookie and Josiah Stewart, Braden Fisk and Kobe Turner can get after it. And they'll do some stuff with the alignments, I think, where they'll overload certain sides and they'll flip the matchups between Verse and in Byron Young. But I think they'll have a little bit easier time because I don't think Colts right guard Matt Gonzalez is going to play. He's currently in a boot right now. That's been a huge part of what has helped the Colts out as they all of a sudden found a right guard who looks like a star out there to replace Wolf Rice, and it's all coming kind of come together for them. I think they've got to win, win those matchups and then just blitz at the right moments. But it'll be a little easier to justify the blitz too, if, if Alec Pierce doesn't play. He currently is in concussion protocol. And so it's not quite if, if Gonzalez and Pierce both miss, it's not quite as many answers to teams that bring pressure as they had before. So I think, think. I think the Rams will mostly stick with their front four, just move guys around a lot and then they'll save the blitz for moments that they hope are when. When the Colts don't see him coming.
James Palmer
All right, last one after. I was going to talk to you about Puka, but we kind of covered that in the first one about the way he has played and the way he's played in the slot and the targets he has gotten. I'm also equally interested in Devonte Adams and, and the time that he missed with Matthew Stafford, you know, and the amount of time that Stafford missed during training camp. Obviously. Two ventures that know everything about their respective positions, the ins and outs. And Devontae is about as good of a route runner still in the NFL as you can see. Is there still some thought though that of like this is going to continue to build as the year goes on and they get actually more reps together because the feel between them with that could take that as a really, really, really good option too, I guess, to, to Stafford and Puka?
Nate Atkins
Yeah, I think so. Because right now you look at it and Stafford is just throwing almost everything to Adams and Nakua. He is currently on pace to be the first quarterback in 25 years to throw 79% of his passes to wide receivers. And those two are the top six in the league in target share. But if you look at it, Nakua is a lot more efficient on the catch rate than Devonte. And part of that is Devontae is running deeper routes, but it has felt a little forced at times, specifically in the red zone. They've gone to Devonte eight times down there and it just hasn't, it just hasn't all worked. It's felt a little, a little rushed at times. So I think it will be something that builds because you see how Stafford and Akua kind of looks like an unstoppable tandem right now. I don't think it will quite get to that level with Devonte. Cause like I said, he runs more deeper routes and they try a few more explosives with him. But it should be something that gets better because they didn't have any training camp. And even some of the plays they have made have been some, some of these back shoulders that work at times, but when. When Stafford's throwing it before, Devonte's out of his break. But there have been times it hasn't. They had him for a kill shot in the fourth quarter on a deep post that Stafford released when he cut out of his break. But they couldn't time that up and that happened a couple different times. So it should be something that builds. I don't know if. If this is the week it'll take off because Devonte is currently dealing with a hamstring injury, missed Wednesday's practice. He typically sits out Wednesdays as it is. And that's been part of the challenge, is that they're not getting a lot of in season practice reps either. The games are really where they're starting to figure this out. But you see enough of. Enough of the flashes so far just in their first three games together to think that if they get more time doing this, and especially as defenses have to give more attention to Puka Nakua now that he's leading the NFL and receiving, I think it's going to open up a little bit more for Devonte Adams and they'll take advantage of it for as long as the two of them can stay healthy. That's kind of a concern when Devontae has the hamstring and Stafford's managing the back. But as long as they're out there and they're getting those reps in the game, I think it's going to take off. It's going to be a really good tandem.
James Palmer
Yeah, I'm excited to watch that one grow. If there's like a duo that I'm waiting to see kind of grow because of their history, it's one of those in this league that I got my on Nate. Appreciate it. Enjoy the game. Maybe, you know, this is a big thing for you. You know, you used to cover the Colts.
Nate Atkins
Exactly. They decided to get good right when I left. So that's really nice.
James Palmer
Nice. But it will be.
Nate Atkins
I think it'll be a really good game on Sunday.
James Palmer
Hard, man. Enjoy it. All right, so we got the Rams side of things. Now let's get the Colts side of things because these Indianapolis Colts are off to a 30 start. They have been absolutely on fire on offense. 103 points through three games in 2025. The only Colts team to score more through the first three games, 1967. Johnny Unitis won the MVP that year. I think that was also the year John James Boyd was born. James, how are you doing outside of that Colts facility. Is Tyler Warren out there fishing? Give me the latest.
James Boyd
He is not out here fishing just yet. I think he has to get ready for practice. And as far as you talking about my age, I turned 30 this year and I got a couple gray hairs coming in. But it's not from stress covering these Colts this year. They've been very good, very easy on my assignments, I must say.
James Palmer
Oh, it's been a blast so far, but I'm going to put a little cold water on it right now. What I'm curious about is last year we saw the same Saints. They put up 47 points in the opener, 44 points in the second game and then everything falls apart. They lose seven straight, they win five games on the year. Why is this Colts offense and team performance, which is shocking, a lot of people around the league, in your opinion, perhaps more sustainable than maybe a team like the Saints that came out of the gate hot a year ago?
James Boyd
I think the biggest reason why it's sustainable is looking at what the Colts have done previously. So they're 1717 over the last two years. And if you look at the quarterbacks they've had during that span, it's been Anthony Richardson, Joe Flacco and Gardner Minshew. Those are not great quarterbacks in today's game. And also they've had a defense that has not finished better than 24th and points allowed per game over the last two years. And so you factor all that in and this team is still.500. If you give them a boost with the steady quarterback, a better, more aggressive defense with Luana Rumo now and charging things on the decent side of the ball, I think that this team could be a little more serious than what the national media or maybe the national narrative could be. Now I'm not saying Dan Jones will go out there and win MVP like Johnny Unitis did back in the day or like Peyton Manning did the last time they were 3 and O to start the season. However, this feels like it's more sustainable because of the infrastructure around the new pieces. The biggest one being Daniel Jones.
James Palmer
Yeah, you brought up Daniel Jones. And by the way, this show will take no Gardner Minshew. Blasphemy. I dig it.
Jake Seeley
I do not.
James Palmer
I do not appreciate it. That's my guy. Listen, you mentioned Daniel Jones and I think the quarterback and the quarterback playing consistent football and I know Shane Steichen kind of preaches that is a big part of team success. There's still a stigma around Daniel Jones, right? That this won't be a consistent Thing for the course of the season. What is different in him as a quarterback in this short period of time that the Colts see that is maybe the exact opposite or just the antithesis of what we've seen from Daniel Jones. Jones up into this point as a NFL quarterback.
James Boyd
I think a lot of it has to do with how he's handled the blitz, quite honestly, and perhaps that's because he has a better offensive line around him. But even when he's had pressure in his face, James, he's been exceptional. I believe he has, a league high right now, 435 passing yards against the Bliss, which, again, most quarterbacks struggle in those scenarios. And for Daniel Jones, that was perhaps one of his weakest areas in New York. I mean, everyone knew, if you want to rattle this guy, just get after him. But this time around, that has not worked. The Colts have been blitzed among the top players or top teams, I'm sorry, in the league. And they've had an answer almost every single time from Daniel Jones. And I think the reason why that is is one, like I said, infrastructure, the offensive line is better, but two, how obsessive he is about the game. Shane Stykin's telling us, hey, this guy will text me at all hours of the night. Michael Pittman Jr. Said he's late to every team dinner because he's watching film. You know, Jonathan Taylor was telling us the other day, hey, when I'm going to get breakfast in the morning, I'm grabbing my bacon. This guy's telling me, hey, did you get that check that I told you about on this certain play call? So that's how obsessive he is about the game. And it's translated to a lot of wins, obviously, early on for the Colts.
James Palmer
I love it. That's the inside information we have James on for when we're talking about bacon, we're talking about late for dinners. This is. This is. This is what we get. I love it. I think that's a great point to bring up because of what he can do against the blitz. He did it against Denver. If he can do it against the Rams and other talented defensive lines, maybe after this week, everybody will be believers. Oh, go cast a line, James. We'll talk to you soon. And good luck on Sunday. Enjoying a really good one between the Rams and the Colts.
James Boyd
I'm never going to complain about being in LA this time of year, so I appreciate it.
James Palmer
All right, James is outside the Colts facility. He's fishing with Tyler Warren. But now we're going to a Con key matchup that is going to be really one of the ones we're talking about on Sunday night. Micah Parsons going against his former team just about a month ago, trading to the Green Bay packers. And that's why we're going to bring in. I feel like we do this all the time, gentlemen, Matt Schneidman and John Machota. The three of us talk a lot, it seems like guys about these two teams. So I'm going to throw a question out to both of you to start off with so often all of us in the press box pregame, you're looking down on the field, perhaps you got the binoculars. Where's Jerry? Where's Micah? Where's Jerry? Where's Micah? Will there be a pre game conversation between the two, you think before this one kicks off on Sunday night? I'll start with you mat that.
Matt Schneidman
I would venture to say no, I don't think that. Or you know John, you know Micah better than I do, so you can detect whether he's lying on this. But he really does claim that there is no bad blood or hard feelings from his end. He said that it seems there are from Jerry's end. So I don't know if Jerry's going to seek Micah out pre game for a handshake or anything like that. I'm not sure Micah is going to seek it out either. In fact, listening to him talk yesterday, I'm almost certain he's not going to seek it out. But you know, Michael was talking yesterday about how he still talks to the Cowboys defensive lineman. He still talks to Trayvon Diggs once a week. He was talking to CD Lamb recently about keeping his spirits up through his injury. He had nothing but really good things to say about Dak and the Cowboys offensive lineman who he kind of mentored this summer as he held out through training camp. So it doesn't seem like there's any real bad blood between Micah and the players. Obviously, John, you can tell me if I'm wrong from your end, but it seems like it's just still the lingering feeling of he was disrespected throughout this negotiation process. But, and I don't believe this for one second, Micah claims it's just going to be any regular old game that's not possible. But, you know, we'll see how, how that translates and how that motivation and fuel translates to what he does on the field Sunday night.
John Machota
Mike, I would be very, very surprised if there's any type of meeting between those two before the game. And it has nothing to do With Micah, like Micah and the Cowboys players, I think he's cool with a lot of them still. You go back to the night when the trade happened. Several of them went over his house and celebrated with him. You know, Tyler Smith talked about going over there. Trayvon Diggs is one of his best friends. You know, so there's CD Lamb, he's really close with. So, no, the players will be fine. But no, Jerry holds grudges like no other, and he can say whatever he wants and he'll say that everything's fine. But I believe that it got to a level to where it was personal with Jerry and that's why this ultimately happened, and he ended up parting ways with a star player. So it is interesting that all this happens during, while this Netflix series comes out. So you can compare it to, on one side, the Herschel Walker trade, but also the Charles Haley trade that came to him. But then also you can compare it to the Jimmy Johnson and how long they held a grudge against each other. And I certainly feel like when I heard Micah tell you guys yesterday, Matt, that he hasn't talked to Jerry since that OTA meeting on the field and just being at all a training camp and seeing how much they were on the same area together, and they would never talk, never walk by. Yeah, Jerry would be up in the tower, Mike would be leaning up against, down at the bottom of the tower. They never really talked at all then. So I would find it very hard to believe that Jerry's going to go seek him out on the field before the game one day, but it won't be this Sunday.
James Palmer
All right, John, real quick. What will it be? Like you mentioned before the game, after the game, when Jerry talks to all of you guys post game of every game, and this is a nationally televised game with a dominant defense that only got better with Micah Parsons. If the game is dramatically lopsided, what does that do for this Cowboys season and the perception of Jerry? Does it grow to a level we haven't seen before? What. What would be your take if that is what ends up happening on Sunday night?
John Machota
I don't think it'll grow to a new level because it's already at a pretty high level right now. When you just look at where these two teams are at and just how bad the Cowboys defense is. And with Micah Parsons, this would still not be a very good defense. They would be much better than they are, but it wouldn't be a good defense. There's just too much, too much negative things happening on the back end. Of that defense. Too much miscommunication and things like that for it to say, oh, if Micah was here, that pass rush would just shore everything up and they would be fine. No, there's. There's definitely some issues back there. So it's already at a level where I think most people are out on Jerry Jones in Dallas and don't think he knows what he's doing. So I don't think there's anything that can happen in this game. The only way I think that you could get people back on Jerry's side would be in a couple of years when you see what he gets for those draft picks and in a couple of years when you see what Mike of Parsons does in Green Bay. But if he delivers a Super bowl to Green Bay, I don't think Jerry ever comes back from this one.
James Palmer
That's. That's a strong word right there, and it's a ways away. But there's a reason why that John brought it up, Matt, is that this team is talented enough to go to a Super Bowl. They're talented enough to win a Super bowl in Green Bay. Obviously, offensively, that wasn't the performance they wanted against granted, a very good Browns defense. What. What does do you need to see from Jordan Love and the way he runs this group after going against that Browns defense to. To against this Cowboys Evenson makes you go, okay, that was maybe an anomaly or maybe there's something that you're concerned with with this offense right now.
Matt Schneidman
Well, yeah, I've been covering this team for seven years now, and that is right up there with the most stunning losses I've ever seen. We knew the Browns defense was good, but I think the most telling stat from that game was through the first two weeks of the season. This is Next Gen stats. Jordan Love led the league in average depth of target with 12 and a half yards per pass attempt. And in week three, he ranked last in the NFL with 1.6 average depth of target. So that defensive line over there in Cleveland gave Jordan no hope to really develop anything downfield. The packers were down two starting offensive linemen. They're going to be down two starting offensive linemen in Zach, Tom and probably Aaron Banks again this week. So what I'm looking for from the packers offense this week is give Jordan Love a chance. Give him a chance to, you know, throw some of those intermediate to deep routes. Because right now, I don't know the exact rankings, but going into week three, Josh Jacobs was facing the fifth highest percentage of stacked boxes among all running backs. And then in week three, he faced the second highest percentage of stacked boxes among all running backs. So they need to find a way to get teams to take a guy out of the box. And the only way you're going to do that is by hitting a shot or two downfield or at least taking a shot or two. But they didn't even have time to take a shot or two. So this offensive line needs to hold up and give Jordan Love some time so that they can manipulate opposing defenses better than they did last week.
James Palmer
Yeah, you know what? On the other side, John Dak has taken a lot of shots downfield. I think there's a lot of people around the league think Dak's playing pretty good football through three weeks. And now you lose CD Lamb, someone he has unbelievable chemistry with with, you can't replicate that. Right. That's just kind of something the two of them have. But talking to some people over this course this week, this is an opportunity for George Pickens, like, not just for the Cowboys, but for 31 other teams, possibly as he's on this one year. Prove it. Deal. What do you think we'll see from Pickens in this opportunity that he may have for. For a couple weeks here? And it starts off against this packers defense?
John Machota
Yeah, I think he's going to play well. I think he'll put up some good numbers just because I expect the packers to score almost every time they have the ball against this defense. So there will just be that type of a game. So if you had CD Lamb, he's the clear one. That's the best rapport that Dax had with any pass catcher in his career.
James Palmer
Yeah.
John Machota
And so that's a big loss for them. And George is a really good player. But George and Dak are not on the same level as CD And Dak, so it'll have to come in a variety of ways. But I think. I think George will play well. He had a costly drop that turned into an interception last week, and he was really beating himself up about that. But we've seen glimpses of him being that number one type receiver, and he'll have opportunities to do this, but I just don't see any way that that's enough.
James Palmer
Yeah, he has the skill set. We all know that he has the talent to be a true number one on a lot of teams. But you're right. You can't replicate what Dak and CD Have. I do like that Jay Ferguson's been balling. He's on my fantasy team. Listen, talking about number one, wide Receivers. Matthew golden is kind of somebody that everybody was excited about coming in, Matt and, and I'm just kind of curious what, what the take has been so far with rookies. You never know how quickly it develops. Right. What the process is. What is the take on Matthew golden right now? As you know, this was, this was a guy that we go, oh wow, we're taking a receiver in the first round and now we want instant results. That hasn't entirely been it yet, but what's the, what's the consensus on, on golden right now?
Matt Schneidman
Yeah, it's not necessarily for a lack of opportunity or a lack of ability. If you think back to their Week 2 win over the Commanders on Thursday night, Jordan Love under threw him on what should have been about a 35 yard touchdown on a fourth down early in that game. And then Jordan Love overthrew him after golden beat two Commanders DBs deep and that should have been a 92 yard touchdown. And then last week against Cleveland, backed up in their own end zone on third down, Jordan Love hits Golden down the right sideline for what should have been another 92 yard touchdown. But golden didn't realize he had as much space again against the safety and his momentum kind of took him out of bounds. They made more of a concerted effort to get him involved last Sunday. The first pass, quick game right to Matthew Golden. He's going to be involved. You know, whether he breaks that long one, that's, that's only a matter of time. But I think the, the ability that we saw during training camp, the talent, it's still there. It's just a matter of when everything comes together in terms of Jordan Love's accuracy, Matthew golden getting open, the right situational stuff. I understand that everybody, and maybe this is partially my fault because I pumped him up so much because of how.
John Machota
Good he looked in camp.
Matt Schneidman
Wants this kid to produce right away, but I think especially with how the packers passing game works and how many options they have, it might take a little time for him to fully establish himself as that true number one. But without Christian Watson here for the next couple weeks and, and Jaden Reed for perhaps the next couple months, Golden's certainly going to have his opportunities before we run.
James Palmer
John, I just thought of this and I got to ask you, I know it's early, but what Caleb Williams was able to do last week, what, you know, Russell Wilson was able to do two weeks ago, and those quarterbacks have had some of their struggles this year. If there's another poor defensive performance, is there a chance Matt Eberfluss doesn't survive the season as the defensive coordinator in Dallas.
John Machota
No, I think he survives that. I mean, Mike Nolan survived it in 2020. There's a lot of 2020 feel going on right now that McCarthy's first year. So, you know, a regime change, new coaching staff there. This has got a lot of that same feel to it, including a random win that they probably shouldn't even have won, which they did against Atlanta that same 2020 season. Now, they did get it on track a little bit towards the back half of the season. The problem is with this Cowboys team is that that's the toughest part of their schedule for them to have any hope of making the playoffs. They were to get off to a hot start. And so when you watch the way that they played against Caleb, you're looking at it like I saw just him sail just as many throws as he sailed the first two weeks. But the Cowboys defense is so bad that he went from being somebody that was being ripped and there's concerns about his future to now he's NFC offensive player of the week because of just how bad that Cowboys back half particularly is. And then the fact that they didn't sack him even one time. So they get. They're most likely gonna have Jdevy and Clowney out there, probably play 15, 20 snapshots, gaps, that'll help, but it's still not going to be the thing that I don't see any way that it stops Jordan Love. And really what's interesting about this game is that I don't think the Cowboys have recovered from the last time Green Bay was in town. And that's that playoff loss a couple years ago that. That that team is. It's still been reeling ever since then. They never recovered the following year. And now, you know, you have a new coaching staff and just the way they're playing this year, that's as good as I've ever seen Jordan Love play until this Sunday. I think he'll play even better than that. I mean, I'm not joking. Like, go watch. I mean, they're back after their defense is so bad. Like, that's my one thing about when you watch pro sports especially, I mean, even in college, but pro sports especially, if you're really bad at something one week, that following week, that thing might still be bad, but you'll at least see a little bit of improve. There's no improvement. They were just as bad, if not worse, on the back half for the defense. And they're playing the Bears and the Giants and they're doing that again against them. So when they're playing against really good teams, I don't know how that all of a sudden gets fixed.
James Palmer
John's on the heater, but we got to run. Who can't leave Matt in a car too long, especially with the windows up? Guys, appreciate you joining me. Enjoy the game on Sunday night. I know we're going to be reading everything that both of you write out of this one because I don't know, there's no shortage of storylines that you can kind of COVID in this one. Appreciate both of you. Take it easy.
Matt Schneidman
Thanks, guys.
James Palmer
I love bouncing around the league with all of our beat reporters. They know so much. They're in that locker room. They take us inside the locker. They give us information that you can't get anywhere else. All right, coming up on Scoop City, you got information you can't get anywhere else. And that's with Jake Seely. Jake Seeley's going to give us what kind of players are cooling off and related to that, his favorite ice cream flavors. He always ties everything together with a little bow every Thursday and on Monday, by the way, we will be live with Chase Daniel giving you his quarterback breakdowns. Obviously, we'll talk Jackson Dart against the Chargers and also Diana Rossini giving you all the latest breaking news. You'll get that live on Monday on Scoop City. We'll be right back. You saw that play when your quarterback dropped back, looked off the safety and threw a dime deep for the go ahead touchdown. Well, that's not just hall worthy, that's wall worthy. And you can own a piece of it when you shop the unrivaled selection of trading cards and memorabilia on ebay, the home of collectibles since 1995. Huddle up with 132 million users around the world to find that rookie autograph you can't find anywhere else. Premium trading cards, singles and sealed boxes. Unreal Live card breaks. Truly unique game use memorabilia. All the epic finds you need are right here on eBay. Plus, with the eBay authenticity guarantee for trading cards, you know what you buy is the real deal collection. Collect with confidence by downloading the ebay app on the app store or by going straight to eBay.com TheAthletic that's right, your collection journey kicks off right here, right now@ebay.com theathletic come through and collect with us today only.
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James Palmer
All right. Welcome back to Scoop City, presented by ebay on a Thursday. I'm James Palmer, and you know what a Thursday means. It's Jake. Seeley and I chatted up somewhat about fantasy football, somewhat about our fantasy lives. Jake, how you doing?
Jake Seeley
I'm doing great. Although I'm really interested to see why you have beef with my top 10 list this week.
James Palmer
I do have beef with your list this week. This week's list list is the delicious treats you would get when you heard that song. You were out there. I'm playing stickball with a broken hockey stick with a bunch of my buddies and a one bounce tennis ball. And you'd hear that noise. And here comes the ice cream truck. And what are you running with the change in your pocket to buy out of that ice cream truck? You have the turtles, number one. I think we have a Ninja Turtles like, situation going on with most of these lists, now that I think about it, with video games. And.
Jake Seeley
I actually ranked the top 10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Village villains last year, so I could always bring that one.
James Palmer
Yeah, bring it back.
Jake Seeley
No, but it's. See, I did turtles because it's my favorite of all of them. It's any of the characters. Spongebob, Spider Man. Any of those soft. I don't even know if it's ice cream. Whatever that texture of stuff was, that.
James Palmer
Fruity stuff between softball served and ice cream, but in a ridiculous color.
Nate Atkins
Yes.
James Palmer
Yeah, that's the way it worked. I like a lot of the lists. I like. What I wish was higher was the bubble play at number seven. I was a huge bubble play guy.
Jake Seeley
A lot of people didn't know what that was.
James Palmer
Really? Oh, I love the bubble play.
Jake Seeley
Yeah. See, I put it down the list because I felt like I was replicating one. Like, if it was my true choice. I would probably rank it 4 in front of Strawberry Shortcake because of when I. How often I would get it. But I kind of felt it's just a repeat of one.
James Palmer
Yeah. How many push up pops do you think you could have? Have? I could have it. Flintstone Push up pops?
Jake Seeley
Oh, it just, just.
James Palmer
Yeah, I said.
Jake Seeley
But like the worst case scenario is when that paper, every once in a while it would start to disintegrate underneath it. And then all of a sudden you just had it running down your hand.
James Palmer
Oh, 100%. But you felt like you had to keep the plastic part for some reason. I was like, I feel like I could do something with this. But there's nothing you could do. I have, I have four that were really high on my list and that are not on here. Okay.
Jake Seeley
Oh, God.
James Palmer
Trust me, everybody. We will get the fantasy football. The Mouseketeer bar, which was vanilla ice cream with a hard shelled ears for Mickey Mouse on the top. And you'd bite through the top of the ears.
Jake Seeley
Never had it.
James Palmer
Okay. And then the WWE bars that were like brown. You didn't know what that texture was. It was on the outside, but it was like it cut of look like a muddled Hulk Hogan on the outside of it. You know what I'm talking about?
Jake Seeley
Somebody who's drunk that tried to draw the WWE characters. So I tried it once and you laugh because somebody else brought them up. But the reason why is because I have overrated his ice cream bars is in this. They're in the same category for me. So I'm just, I'm not. Whatever the texture, it's not even a cookie.
James Palmer
Like I don't.
Zach Berman
No, it wasn't a cookie.
James Palmer
It was like soft cardboard is what it tasted like.
Nate Atkins
Yeah.
Jake Seeley
But it was like soggy at the same time somehow. Like I don't understand it. But the problem is I'm not a huge vanilla person. And so, so it's. There's so much vanilla. And as soon as you bite into that thing, it's. If you don't finish it in 10 seconds, that thing just melts out the side of it.
James Palmer
That's why, that's why Hulk Hogan just starts to fall apart. And maybe this is just being from Philly. We had Italian water ice cups right there. I mean all the time. I'm sorry. Italian water ice. As people would say, Philadelphia Italian water ice. W O O D E r. Get yourself a cherry or, or a mango or whatever and it's almost in like a little white cup. Just pull the top off and spoon it.
Jake Seeley
Oh, now I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You buy those and then you say hello to your mother for me.
James Palmer
All right. It's a great list, though. Maybe we brought back a lot of memories to playing stickball with my buddies. Let's get on to some fantasy football and I want to start with one tonight because we kind of got our eye on the Cardinals. Right on what's going to happen now that James Connor's down.
Jake Seeley
Yeah. Trey Benson stepping up. I think in fancy purposes people might be thinking this is a sell high opportunity because, hey, I just walked into a potential top 20, maybe better running back. I actually think I'd hold on this one because we knew the tal to Trey Benson. The Cardinals already showed us this year that they were ready to use him in a timeshare similar to like Jalen Warren with the Steelers when Najah Harris was the lead. And part of that might be the fact that James Connor has been hurt so much throughout his career. But we've seen Amari DiMarcado before. Like we know that he's just a timeshare piece. I don't think DeMarcusado is coming in and taking 40% of the snaps like Benson was taking from James Conner. So I think this is one of those scenarios where I'm holding unless you can think that like somebody tossed us out field. Yates was on the podcast yesterday and tossed this back at me and made me think really long and hard for a second. He's like, if you had Genti and somebody came you with Benson, would you take Benson or Genti? And I'm like, wow, I can't believe we're having that conversation. But that just presents my point in the fact that, that we're talking to the value of Benson is real and you found yourself a nice ticket going forward. It's going to be in the top 15 conversation.
James Palmer
The guy's got six yards of carry. I know small sample size right now, but I mean he's, you know, but I. What I am curious about is Genty. Yeah, big time. We can get. We'll get to kind of Genti related topic in a second. But they are playing a Seahawks defense that I don't know anybody gets in the end zone. What is it? 17. 17 and 13. I think it's Smith. They gave it.
Jake Seeley
They really get in the backfield easily both against the quarterback and running back. That being Seahawks. So I will say that if Benson comes out and struggles and he, you know, 17 for 51. Be patient. Don't panic. He'll be fine. It is one of the tougher matchups. Similar Jackson dart. They both have tough matchups in their first real starts.
James Palmer
Yeah, I'd love to face Jesse Minters defense in my first NFL start. Where is Derwin James? Where is Derwin James? Okay, we're talking ice cream. We're talking cooling off, possibly. That's kind of the topic you were going with this, right, Jake? So, like, what are some other players we're going to keep an eye on this week that could potentially be cooling off, but maybe not. What's happening.
Jake Seeley
Yeah. So three wide receivers I want to start. It's a good thing. We're positive because now I'm going to be throwing the cold water ice cream on the other three. First is going to be the Raiders Trey Tucker and I know everybody's excited. We should have seen this coming. He did it last week in week three. He did it again in week three. The Trey. Week three. We should have just known. But I said say last year because he's out there just as much as he was last year, running 90% of the route since week three of last year. This isn't different. Trey Tucker's still the number two wide receiver. It's just seen. He's seen a bit more targets from Geno. And I don't think that's so much the Trey Tucker issue as it is. You've seen it as well as I have. Something's off from Brock Bowers since week one, and it's probably the injury. He doesn't look like Brock Bowers now, if this injury lingers the entire season, all 17 games.
James Palmer
Cool.
Jake Seeley
Trey Tucker, thumbs up. Wide receiver, three or four in fantasy. But I think at some point, as Bowers gets back to 100%, you're going to have somebody fall off and Jacoby Myers is Jacoby Myers. Tucker will still have big games. It's just going to be very volatile. So I will say the excitement is warranted. Pick them up, use them. Good matchup this week. But just be cautious in the fact of expecting that all of a sudden you found a top 25 wide receiver. Unless you're seeing something different in Brock Bowers than I am.
James Palmer
No, I agree with you. I think it's the injury. I think he's almost playing a little bit of a decoy out there. Like, yeah, Brock is out here, guys. He's still the best tight end in football. Look over here. Brock's not running like we usually see him. And I think that's you know, something that defenses have kind of noticed. So I kind of see what you're saying with, with, with Trey Tucker and you know, maybe, you know, everybody who owns Ashton Genti right now in a fantasy league is going, could you please throw it outside the numbers? Can you please spread out a defense in some capacity our offensive line cannot block right now? What else do we have at the receiver position?
Jake Seeley
So two more and I'll give you one that's kind of in between and then some massive cold water for the last one. But for right in between right now, take Taek Thornton. He is a right now guy. We know Xavier Worthy. I'm baffled by the, I don't got to put this in quotes. Full practice because a separated shoulder that probably needs surgery at some point with the brace and I know it's a soft brace and all that, but like the full practice really makes me go. I don't know if I believe you here because talk about a decoy. But the good thing about Thorton is that he's top five in the league right now for his team's air yards percentage. And the fact that that not only is Patrick Mahomes throwing downfield more than he has the past two years, he's doing so in connecting with Thornton. And you want to talk about a good matchup for that this week. And we know Rasheed Rice is coming back, but we're still three weeks away from that. So Thornton right now if you told me Tucker versus Thornton, I would actually take Thornton. But knowing that it's a limited window, you know, it's probably going to end. It's probably going to turn into, you're not going to know the good games from the bad games once Rasheed Rice is back. But until that happens, you can use Thornton, the one I'm going to pull the cold water on. And I love the talent. Like this is somebody I had in my top five wide receiver talent coming out of the draft is Luther Burnin. But we've already played this game with this teammate. We just played this game with him, Roma Dunes last year drafted to a team with two wide receivers. The year before that, Jackson Smith Ojigba, drafted to a team with two wide receivers. Unless D.J. moore gets kicked to the curb, traded, benched, we're talking about somebody who just played 30% of the routes. We're talking about I went back in history and the last time. So Tyler Boyd within the last 20 years is our best case scenario of a third wide receiver being productive and fantasy. And he was still only wide receiver 40. You go back before that. You want to know the 1. Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Bolden and Steve Breaston. I don't think we're going to get Kirk Kurt Warner throwing the ball. I don't think we're going to get Caleb Williams going 4,500 yards and 30 plus touchdown touchdowns this year for all three to have value, including the fact we still have the tight ends in the backfield. And all that being said, so it's very rare. And if you want to know the one before that, this is a super history major here situation. I didn't even think of this one. It was the Titans. They actually did it two years in a row with old Drew Hill. Not Dru. Drew Hill. For those who want to listen to the songs after this, the other Drew Hill.
James Palmer
Oh my gosh, man. Listen, I'm with you on Thornton. I think they love him. From people I've talked to there, I think they've. This dates back to camp, but we all know the target share that Rasheed Rice gets when he's healthy and how that kind of changes things and what will happen there. And by the way, with the separated show, I was thinking before the Ohio State Texas game when I was in college and Vince Young was coming to play my Buckeyes, we were playing a little game called Donkey Kong where you roll kegs down the stairs and you try to jump over them. I landed on top of one of the kegs, fell back backwards, dislocated my shoulder, played through it. I'm not on the team. I watched the game holding my left arm to my chest in the stand. So I think I played through it too. And we lost, which was a real bummer. But we gave it back to arch Manning & Co. And the other one with. With Burden like I, I do understand how that offense is working. I understand how they want it to work moving forward. And I'm not sure the role is exactly what some people might think it is after this kind of hot start. Look, Colson Loveland supposed to be a big part of what they want to do. I'm not giving up on that yet either. And one last one I want to ask you because we were talking about this before we jumped on, because I have him on my team and I want everybody to be curious about Calvin Ridley. We're changing play callers, we have some drops, but we still are kind of a big deal. This offense, should I be keeping Calvin Ridley? This is.
Jake Seeley
I would, I would, I would keep Calvin Ridley. I mean at least one more week. Because again, it's not another good matchup. I mean, the Texans defense, so I mean, that's concerning for Cam Ward. But I think that the good news is this. He's leading the team in almost everything. Routes, targets, opportunities, areas, blah, blah, blah. You can go. And that's the metric side of things. Watching it, you've seen the same thing I have. Like their opportunities might be there, but they're not connecting. Cam Ward and Calum Ridley just aren't in like symbiosis over here. We're talking about the fact that IU manor looks better with Cam Ward. So I would still hold on to Calvin Ridley. He's still a top two option. He's still seeing a great option opportunity. But if you're in a 10 team league where there's options out there like Cedric Tillman, if you want to make the swap, like, I, I wouldn't go that far. There's still a higher ceiling with Calvin Ridley, but I get it. Like, if you need the production, I'm going to be okay with it. The biggest one I'll give you before we get out of here is that if you want to swap him for Alumannor and I Manor's out there. I'm not going to say that's a dumb idea because at least Kim Ward is looking at alumna in the end zone where Ridley hasn't had a target yet.
James Palmer
Jake's got a direct line to Bo Hardigree who's now calling the place here for the Tennessee team. Titans. Yeah. I love it, man. Good chatting with you. And now I'm hungry. And now I want Super Mario Bar was also one that I was thinking of, which was pretty rad where Mario's head was like super wide. But it's also in that same vein of a lot of the other ones you listed coming up on us.
Jake Seeley
Took it and stretched it wide. Yeah, they did.
James Palmer
They kind of put it out really well. It's almost like a Yoda shaped head the way it is. All right, coming up on Scoop City, presented by ebay. Thanks, Jake. I'm gonna give you my extra point. And it's about the trapper Travis Hunter trade. You saw that play when your quarterback dropped back, looked off the safety and threw a dime deep for the go ahead touchdown. Well, that's not just hall worthy, that's wall worthy. And you can own a piece of it when you shop the unrivaled selection of trading cards and memorabilia on ebay. The home of collectibles since 1995 huddle up with the 132 million users around the world to find that rookie autograph you can't find anywhere else. Premium Trading Cards Singles and sealed boxes Unreal Live Card Breaks Truly unique game Used memorabilia All the epic finds you need are right here on eBay. Plus with the eBay authenticity guarantee for trading cards, you know what you buy is the real deal. Collect with confidence by downloading the ebay app on the App Store or by going going straight to eBay.com TheAthletic that's right, your collection journey kicks off right here, right now@ebay.com theathletic come through and collect with us today.
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James Palmer
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Date: September 26, 2025
Hosts: James Palmer, Dianna Russini, Jake Seeley, with beat reporters Zach Berman, Nate Atkins, James Boyd, Matt Schneidman and John Machota
This episode of Scoop City: Inside The NFL provides an in-depth, boots-on-the-ground look at critical Week 4 NFL matchups—with a particular focus on whether the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (featuring Baker Mayfield) can hand Saquon Barkley and the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles their first loss of 2025. The hosts bring in reporters from The Athletic for exclusive insights on locker room dynamics, key player matchups, X's and O's, and emerging fantasy trends. The episode also weaves in conversations about other major NFC games (Rams vs. Colts, Cowboys vs. Packers), notable player trades (Micah Parsons), and a deep-dive on trending and cooling-off fantasy assets.
[03:36–11:50]
Eagles Locker Room Mood:
Offensive Aggression & Play-calling:
Bucs’ Defensive Pressure:
The “Tush Push” Conversation:
Rams: [11:51–18:28] | Colts: [20:59–25:09]
Rams’ Red Zone Struggles:
Colts’ Offensive Sustainability:
[25:13–37:59]
Micah Parsons Faces Old Team:
Cowboys’ Defensive Collapse:
Packers’ Offense Needs Protection:
Cowboys WR Situation:
Dallas Defense—Coaching on the Hot Seat:
[40:49–53:06]
Running Back Notes:
WRs Cooling Off:
Calvin Ridley Watch (Titans):
A.J. Brown’s View:
"There's so much thought in terms of, like, take what the defense gives you, but sometimes you can be the one giving it,"
— Zach Berman relays A.J. Brown's mindset (07:15)
About the Tush Push:
"Anyone can run it... We just do it better... It's the offensive line and a quarterback who squats 600 pounds."
— Zach Berman (10:32)
On Micah Parsons’ Trade:
"Jerry holds grudges like no other... If Micah delivers a Super Bowl to Green Bay, I don't think Jerry ever comes back from this one."
— John Machota (29:17)
| Segment Topic | Start | End | |--------------------------------------|----------|---------| | Eagles-Bucs preview | 03:36 | 11:50 | | Rams’ red zone / Colts preview | 11:51 | 25:09 | | Parsons homecoming - Packers/Cowboys | 25:13 | 37:59 | | Fantasy Football segment | 40:49 | 53:06 |
The conversation is candid, insider-heavy, and mixes X's and O's analysis with fun banter—especially during Jake Seeley and James Palmer’s ice cream truck memories and fantasy football “cooling off” analogies. Player personalities and locker room atmosphere get as much focus as on-field trends.
This episode delivers exactly what Scoop City promises: inside access, storytelling, and actionable football intel for fans and fantasy players alike. The Eagles' everlasting adaptability, the Colts’ sustainable play, Rams’ red zone puzzles, and the Cowboys’ defensive disarray each get multi-angle treatment. The episode closes with a look ahead—particularly at the Browns’ draft strategy, the Travis Hunter trade, and next-gen team-building in the NFL.
Notable Quotes Recap
For in-depth Week 4 analysis, locker room vibes, and fantasy advice, this episode is essential listening for NFL fans!