3 & Out - Josh Allen OUTDUELS Tua, Bills Take Down Dolphins on TNF

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – 3 & Out – Josh Allen OUTDUELS Tua, Bills Take Down Dolphins on TNF

Date: September 19, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Grant, Michael F. Florio, Stuckey (guest)

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Overview

This episode of “3 & Out” dives deep into the Buffalo Bills’ Thursday night victory over the Miami Dolphins, centering on Josh Allen’s continued brilliance, the complicated appraisal of Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, and the shifting balance in the AFC East. The hosts also explore NFL quarterback tiers, GM/coaching controversies, backup quarterback realities, and preview several key NFL and college football matchups with betting perspectives.

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Main Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bills Defeat Dolphins—Josh Allen’s Elite Play (02:32–05:31, 13:17–16:31)

• Josh Allen led the Bills past the Dolphins, now 3–0 and looking like Super Bowl contenders.
• Allen’s MVP-level talent contrasted with Tua Tagovailoa’s limitations—“Josh is one of the more talented and best players I’ve ever seen” (13:22, Marcus Grant).
• The hosts agree Buffalo will be favorites in the AFC East for the foreseeable future.
• Discussion of Allen’s supporting cast: “He’s not exactly throwing to Andre Reed and Stevie Johnson out there...his offensive weapons…..we got to factor in who he’s playing with here. He’s incredible.” (14:48, Michael F. Florio).
• Bills’ road to Super Bowl success will depend on timely defensive plays in addition to Allen’s heroics.

2. Mike McDaniel: Offensive Genius or Head Coach in Trouble? (05:31–12:23)

• Debate triggered after Rex Ryan called McDaniel “a nerd” and suggested his job is in jeopardy.
• Florio defends McDaniel’s offensive acumen: “He is a nerd who knows a ton about offense and is good at dealing with the quarterback. Last time I checked, that’s pretty valuable.” (09:01)
• Dolphins’ real issues attributed to GM Chris Grier’s mismanagement and organizational dysfunction more than McDaniel’s coaching.
• “The GM is a joke…most people wouldn’t be lined up to work for [the owner]” (13:00, Michael F. Florio).
• Tua’s play has flourished under McDaniel, and Miami’s offensive scheming repeatedly gets receivers wide open: “How many times tonight…does Mike have a play dialed up? Because he is a really good offensive mind.” (08:32)

3. Quarterback Tiers, Greatness, and the Value of ‘Mid-Tier’ Starters (22:04–27:40)

• Discussion of the quarterback “hierarchy”—Mahomes, Allen, Lamar as first-ballot Hall-of-Famers, Tua at the low end of the second/third tier.
• Strongly argues why “mid-tier” QBs like Dak, Cousins, Purdy, Goff, etc. still command big contracts: “Do you see the backup quarterbacks that are playing this week? Wait till you watch some of these guys play…” (23:14, Michael F. Florio)
• Backup expectations are dismally low: “If you win two of [four starts], you have not only earned your salary, you’re underpaid.” (24:14)

4. Overreaction Week: Backup Quarterbacks & College Prospects (25:00–27:26)

• The hosts lampoon overreactions to college QB prospects (e.g., Arch Manning).
• Differences between NFL and college performance scrutinized—most hyped prospects never measure up to NFL standards.

5. NFL & College Gambling Preview with Stuckey (44:59–106:28)

Key NFL Gambling Insights:

• Week 3: Historically an Underdog Week (45:38–48:46)

  • Teams starting 0–2 cover at a 66% clip in Week 3.
  • Public overreactions skew lines, creating buy-low spots on teams like the Browns and Texans.

• Game-by-Game Betting Breakdown:

  • Packers vs. Browns: Take Browns +8.5, whose defense is “playing at an elite level.” (47:01, Stuckey)
  • Texans vs. Jaguars: Texans as divisional underdog after two closer-than-appeared losses. “This would have been a game where I think a couple weeks ago you would have thought … Texans are gonna beat the Jags.” (49:29, Marcus Grant)
  • Khalil Mack’s health for the Chargers, “pretty big blow” if unavailable (52:21).
  • Broncos vs. Chargers: Take Denver +2.5/+3 on the short week; home field for the Chargers “doesn’t exist.” (53:28)
  • Steelers vs. Patriots: Steelers’ defense is banged up, defense “atrocious,” fear Watt’s contract may haunt them (circle back to defensive value and transition era for Tomlin). (66:56)
  • Bears vs. Cowboys: Must-win for Chicago, with the defense decimated: “They quit…they just tapped out…” (72:54, Marcus Grant)
  • 49ers vs. Cardinals: Key will be Cardinals’ decimated secondary; caution on backing Arizona with so many injuries. (81:49–84:30)
  • Rams vs. Eagles: “The offense is broken…no creativity. Rams have this game circled. Sean McVay always ready as an underdog.” (91:17–94:52)
  • Lions vs. Ravens: Ravens usually don’t lose prime time at home, but if likely is healthy and Marlon Humphrey plays, lean Baltimore; keep an eye on injury updates. (99:07–102:25)

Notable College Picks:

• Miami (Ohio) as live home dog vs. UNLV.
• Betting angles for Utah–Texas Tech and Auburn–Oklahoma discussed in detail (102:25–106:28).

6. NFL Culture & Off-Field Storylines

• Owners and league office care only about money and optics, not “integrity of the game." (32:16–37:09)
• Tush Push: Overuse by the Eagles, potential for rule changes due to lack of entertainment value, not rulebook purity.
  • “If they call the false start, that’s four points off the board.” (93:53, Stuckey)
• Tom Brady’s continued off-field influence; compared to Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats ownership, seen as crucial for business by the NFL—“It’s important...the league doesn’t actually care that much if Tom…finds out inside information on some random linebacker” (35:26, Michael F. Florio)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Josh Allen:

  • “Josh is one of the more talented and best players I’ve ever seen.” (13:22, Marcus Grant)
  • "He can scheme guys wide open... This guy should have half the league lined up to coach their offense.” (09:46, Michael F. Florio on McDaniel)

• On Mike McDaniel’s status:

  • “I just think the conversation has taken on a life of its own, where it’s like, the GM is a joke… let’s pump the brakes on just acting like Mike McDaniel should, like, go to high school once he gets fired.” (13:00)

• On Backup QBs:

  • “If you win two of them, you have not only earned your salary, you’re underpaid.” (24:14, Michael F. Florio)
  • “Typically, your backup does not turn out to be Steve Young or Aaron Rodgers. It’s a guy that’s going to bounce on team to team.” (24:26)

• On NFL Priorities:

  • “They never really have. They pretend to care. They only care about making more money.” (36:53, Michael F. Florio)

• On the Tush Push:

  • "If they call the false start, that’s four points off the board...I think they’re going to make an example maybe of both sides, so that could help the Rams.” (93:53, Stuckey)
  • “I wouldn’t be shocked if [the Tush Push] does get banned in this offseason.” (95:48, Stuckey)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:32–16:31] Bills–Dolphins breakdown, Josh Allen, McDaniel’s future, AFC East diagnosis
• [22:04–27:40] Quarterback tiers, value of mid-tier QBs, backup QB reality
• [32:16–37:09] NFL culture: money over integrity, Tush Push, Tom Brady storylines
• [44:59–48:46] Week 3 as an underdog opportunity in NFL betting
• [47:01–54:08] Game breakdowns: Browns, Packers, Broncos, Chargers, Texans, Jaguars
• [66:56–69:35] Steelers’ decline, Watt contract, Tomlin’s inflection point
• [72:54–77:44] Bears/Cowboys, Chicago’s must-win predicament, defense woes
• [81:49–84:30] 49ers/Cardinals: secondary injuries, betting caution
• [91:17–96:31] Rams/Eagles: Eagles OC issues, Rams as live dog, Tush Push officiating
• [99:07–102:25] Lions/Ravens: injury watch, Ravens prime time home edge
• [102:25–106:28] College football: home dogs, upset specials (Miami, Utah, Auburn)

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Tone & Language

Straight-shooting, sharp analysis, candid opinions, and plenty of irreverence. The hosts balance in-depth football acumen (“Wall Street on grass,” “NFL backup QB syndrome”) with colorful football guy banter, always staying relatable (“Do you see the backup quarterbacks that are playing this week? Wait till you watch some of these guys play…”) and some comic bits.

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Recap/Takeaways

• Josh Allen cements himself as AFC’s best not named Mahomes; Bills positioned for a deep playoff run.
• Mike McDaniel’s much-maligned status with Miami is unfair—personnel and organizational dysfunction, not just coaching.
• Challenging the QB hierarchy myths; mid-tier QBs are more valuable than fans admit in today’s NFL.
• The Eagles’ “Tush Push” could face extinction—more for boring TV than rulebook issues.
• NFL betting: Underdogs look primed for Week 3 rebounds, particularly Browns and Texans.
• Injury reports and coaching philosophies drive sharp weekly bets.
• College football upsets: Miami (Ohio) is a sneaky home dog; keep an eye on early kickoffs.
• The NFL is, ultimately, an entertainment business—money and optics rule everything.

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For listeners new to the show:
You’ll get lively, opinionated football banter driven by evidence, experience, and a love for the game’s strategic, cultural, and business layers—all delivered with a gambler’s eye and humor.

Transcript

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All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You know I get down. You come from the urban areas. You understand politics more than you giving credit for. Between Jerry out here mandering all over the place. Hop out boys. Snatching up family members and two wars that was supposed to be done in 24 hours. Not to mention Epstein. We had to reach out to the homie Jamil Hill cuz she gonna keep it a century.

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Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Hey everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks on Move the six. We take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies.

[Bucky Brooks]

To evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

We study the tape, talk to decision makers and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

[Bucky Brooks]

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sundays.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Volum.

[Marcus Grant]

What is going on, everybody? How are we doing? John Middlekop three and out podcast late here on a Thursday night.

[Michael F. Florio]

The fighting Mike McDaniels gave a valiant effort, but the Buffalo Bills, they win by 10 and go to three and oh, and look like one of the best teams in the league. And I do want to Start tonight.

[Marcus Grant]

By defending our as Rex Ryan called.

[Michael F. Florio]

Him the nerd in Miami, who I.

[Marcus Grant]

Would consider a very, very good offensive.

[Michael F. Florio]

Coach who's just in the wrong role. But I think he's being compared to so many other coaches that have failed, and I think we've gone too far.

[Marcus Grant]

So we'll dive into that.

[Michael F. Florio]

The Bills, they're good. I don't know.

[Marcus Grant]

They got a lot going for them.

[Michael F. Florio]

So we'll talk a little Bills, some Tom Brady and the Tush Bush.

[Marcus Grant]

Those topics just haven't gone away all week.

[Michael F. Florio]

We got a lot of backup quarterbacks that are just going to be in the mix over the next, I don't.

[Marcus Grant]

Know, 48 hours playing this weekend. So buckle up.

[Michael F. Florio]

You're going to be like, who's that at quarterback? That's Carson wentz on his 16 in six years, which I read. I think I saw a headline that's an NFL record. Six starts for six franchises, six straight years. Talk about journeyman.

[Marcus Grant]

You know, the guy went from the.

[Michael F. Florio]

Number two overall pick to legitimate journeyman.

[Marcus Grant]

So we'll dive into some of that.

[Michael F. Florio]

As well as Stuckey, who joins us every single Friday.

[Marcus Grant]

Talk, talk gambling.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know, tough slate.

[Marcus Grant]

I'm not gonna lie.

[Michael F. Florio]

I looked at the board for the last couple days. I don't feel great about it.

[Marcus Grant]

So I try to have Stuckey point us in the right direction.

[Michael F. Florio]

Do I do have one game that I.

[Marcus Grant]

That I like a lot? Actually a couple, but. So we'll dive into Stuckey, talk some gambling. And yeah, hopefully we had a lot.

[Michael F. Florio]

Of content this week, so go check.

[Marcus Grant]

It out wherever you may.

[Michael F. Florio]

Listen YouTube, obviously, podcasts.

[Marcus Grant]

Make sure you subscribe to all of our stuff. We have our own podcast feed.

[Michael F. Florio]

We have our own YouTube channel. But first, you know, I got to.

[Marcus Grant]

Tell you about my friends, my partners, and the official ticketing app of this podcast. Game time.

[Michael F. Florio]

Best in the business. Nights like tonight, I'm sitting there with my wife and I go, that place looks awesome. This is the last year of the stadium.

[Marcus Grant]

It's been there since the early 70s, as Al Michael said.

[Michael F. Florio]

And there's just some. There's like a SEC level vibe up there in Buffalo. And if you ever get the opportunity.

[Marcus Grant]

To go to those games, I mean, I know some people that are huge. Bills fans.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like, it's a great time to be a Bills fan.

[Marcus Grant]

It's a great time to enjoy that environment. That place was rocking.

[Michael F. Florio]

Any game you want to go to college, pro baseball games, we got.

[Marcus Grant]

We got the playoffs right around the corner. The NBA, college basketball is not Too far away.

[Michael F. Florio]

Concerts, comedy shows, we got you covered. So take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time. Download the game time app, create an account and use the code John. That's JOH N for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account, redeem the code John. That's my name. $20 off. Download the game time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. You know, I know they lost, but they, they have been a headline. Honestly, going back to training camp because.

[Marcus Grant]

Everyone thought Mike McDaniel is going to.

[Michael F. Florio]

Get fired and Rex Ryan called him a nerd.

[Marcus Grant]

You know, a couple weeks ago that kind of went viral. A lot of people had different takes.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like, listen, yeah, he's Ivy League guy.

[Marcus Grant]

He looks kind of nerdy.

[Michael F. Florio]

But here's what I do know and I want to defend Mike McDaniel for a second. Not everyone's meant to be a head coach. Vic Fangio is widely considered not just one of the best defensive coordinator in the league, but one of the best like of his generation. He's got an opportunity now. Winning a Super bowl might win another.

[Marcus Grant]

He's been a Super bowl defensive coordinator with Harbaugh.

[Michael F. Florio]

I mean, his resume speaks for itself. He's not a head coach. He is a fantastic coordinator. And I've said this forever, ever about the NFL. It's Wall street on grass. And when I mean, I don't just.

[Marcus Grant]

Mean the hours and how big of.

[Michael F. Florio]

A grind it is.

[Marcus Grant]

Whether you're working on Wall street or in finance or whether you are a.

[Michael F. Florio]

Coach or an executive, you work crazy hours during the season. You do not sleep much, you are drinking a ton of coffee, probably a prescription to Adderall.

[Marcus Grant]

It's the only ways you can keep your eyes open.

[Michael F. Florio]

But it pays a lot. And obviously if you're the head honcho in finance, the CEO, the boss in football, the gm, the head coach, you make millions upon millions of dollars. But guess What? In the NFL, if you're a coordinator, Vic Fangio, you make five or six. And Mike McDaniel has talked about like he's completely over his head. A lot of guys aren't meant to be head coaches. There's nothing wrong with that. Here's what I know. We have seen some guys who are also over their head that honestly have no business even being in the role they're in now. I think Brandon Staley is one of the most overrated coach in the history of football. Definitely since I've been doing this, either.

[Marcus Grant]

Working in football or talking about football.

[Michael F. Florio]

Matt Eberfluss Might just be atrocious at his job. So we see guys that, yeah, they get an opportunity to be a head coach. It's like first round picks. Half the head coaches are going to get fired anyway. A lot of those guys go on to be coordinators and excel. Look around the league. Brian Flores had a lot of trouble.

[Marcus Grant]

Being a head coach.

[Michael F. Florio]

Why? He couldn't deal with the offense. Elite defensive coordinator right there with Fangio as one of the best. Robert Sala kind of over his head being the head honcho, awesome defensive coordinator. And they can do that role for a long time. I'm watching Mike McDaniel. Everyone's making fun of him. It's like he's not the guy picking the players, his gm. We give Ryan polls a lot of crap, rightfully so. I mean he's brought some of this on himself. Self inflicted. He looks like Ron Wolf compared to Chris Greer in Miami. Their roster is atrocious. So yeah, Mike McDaniel is going to need a good GM. He clearly doesn't have one if he was even going to have a shot and clearly knows nothing about defense. I mean they had Vic Fangio in the building. Vick couldn't get out of there quick enough. Now I'd argue whether it was Mike McDaniel or whether it's, you know, give me a high level coach. I don't know if you can win in Miami in this modern day society with the money, with everything going on. I think it is an uphill battle.

[Marcus Grant]

I really do.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know, having to compete against Buffalo. Guess what? Sean McDermott doesn't have to deal with clubs open till six in the morning. Right? It's a completely different animal. There's a lot more to do down there and clearly a lot of guys are screwing off and it's hard to keep guys just focused and dialed in on football. But I know Mike's really good at coaching offense because I see Tua, who's an average talent, look really good consistently over the last three or four years. Now once it gets cold because he's kind of got a pea shooter arm, he's going to have limitations. But how many times tonight on third and seven, on third and eight, on third and six, does Mike have a play dialed up? Because he is a really good offensive mind. So Rex called him a nerd a couple weeks ago. He is a nerd who knows a ton about offense and is good at dealing with the quarterback. Last time I checked, that's pretty valuable. Should he be a head coach? Probably not. Is he going to get fired. All signs point to that, whether that's next week, in two weeks, at the end of the season. I know this. I see a lot of guys get fired as head coaches and they immediately get coordinator jobs.

[Marcus Grant]

And I laugh.

[Michael F. Florio]

I go, I wouldn't touch that guy.

[Marcus Grant]

With a 10 foot pole.

[Michael F. Florio]

This guy should have half the league lined up to coach their offense. He not only can communicate and coach and build up a quarterback who has average talent, he can scheme guys wide open. And I'll never forget, I used to be around the 49ers a lot and Kyle Juszczyk told me one time, this guy is so good with the run game, obviously their run game. Now, Ollie Gordon a couple years ago was really good.

[Marcus Grant]

Ali had a good run tonight. A couple years ago, I mean, he looked like a superstar in college at.

[Michael F. Florio]

Oklahoma State, but countless times tonight, it's.

[Marcus Grant]

Like, I, I think this drive's gonna stall. And then boom, two hits a guy.

[Michael F. Florio]

Who'S literally wide open. And then back to back weeks, the game flipped on. Tua, who I'm sure they're not coaching, stares down a wide receiver the moment the ball is snapped. Both times picked off basically ended the game. But I'm watching Mike McDaniel and everyone's on the guy, and I mean everyone. And listen, I've been guilty too. He's not a head coach, but he's not that bad. And he clearly has a skill that translates to a lot of teams around the league that would be desperate to coach up the quarterback and get my offense rolling in the right direction. Tua has four touchdowns the last two weeks. I thought tonight in the second half, up until the pick, he was playing pretty well. And a lot of that has to do with Mike having guys wide open. Now, I wouldn't call the Bills the 85 Bears on defense, but I, I thought McDaniel was kind of having his way the second half of the game. And you could tell the moment they get the roughing, the punter play go against him, which by the letter of the law, obviously you got to throw the flag. I, I hate that play.

[Marcus Grant]

I mean, I, I really do.

[Michael F. Florio]

I, I, I thought that was one like, you know, malicious intent. He was in the air.

[Marcus Grant]

It's a defensive tackle. It is what it is. But once that happens, you could see Mike screaming. He knows that's, that's the game and that's, you know, it's all, it all feels inevitable.

[Michael F. Florio]

But I don't follow the Dolphins as.

[Marcus Grant]

Close, obviously, as if you're like a diehard Dolphins fan.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know, being on the west coast.

[Marcus Grant]

The AFC east, beside Belichick and Brady, are now Josh Allen. I'm not super dialed in to every.

[Michael F. Florio]

Moment of the jets, but I've read enough articles now just because they've been pretty prevalent. Like, people think that Chris Greer could survive. Why? Because he knows where the bodies are buried. So anytime you have a situation like that, it just shows you how dysfunctional this organization is. I do think it's going to be difficult for them to hire a guy, but I think the conversation on Mike McDaniel, where he's being talked about like.

[Marcus Grant]

He'S Jim Tomsula, is absolutely laughable.

[Michael F. Florio]

And I just felt like I had.

[Marcus Grant]

To defend him because, listen, are the Dolphins going to win that many games?

[Michael F. Florio]

No, they're not going to be as bad as people think, because typically when.

[Marcus Grant]

You have, like, the number one overall pick last year, the Titans, you have.

[Michael F. Florio]

No, no quarterback play. We've seen before, like with the Panthers.

[Marcus Grant]

Or the Jags, you have the worst quarterback play in the league. The one year that the. The Lions went winless or the year.

[Michael F. Florio]

The Colts ended up with Andrew Luck. They have too good of quarterback play not to win some games. So I. I just think the conversation has taken on a life of its own where it's like, the GM is a joke. And, let's face it, I mean, I.

[Marcus Grant]

Think the owner, you know, while he.

[Michael F. Florio]

Has a lot of money relative to.

[Marcus Grant]

The rest of the league, would be.

[Michael F. Florio]

Viewed as someone that most people wouldn't.

[Marcus Grant]

Be lined up to work for. So let's pump the brakes on just acting like Mike McDaniel should, like, go to high school. Once he gets fired.

[Michael F. Florio]

When it comes to the Bills, I feel pretty confident saying this is.

[Marcus Grant]

Josh is one of the more talented and best players I've ever seen.

[Michael F. Florio]

It doesn't mean he has the resume.

[Marcus Grant]

Of some of these guys. And obviously he has a contemporary that already has three Super Bowls and two MVPs.

[Michael F. Florio]

So even if Josh maximizes everything, the chance that he ever gets to multiple.

[Marcus Grant]

Super Bowls, just Super bowl bursts, you know, is going to be difficult, let.

[Michael F. Florio]

Alone become a champion. But, like, we've all watched sports long enough, you know, when you see it.

[Marcus Grant]

You'Re like, this is just. This is different.

[Michael F. Florio]

And I, I do think when you look at the group and one conversation that happens, and I got a DM about this recently because Purdy's often pretty polarizing, goes well. Brock was awesome when he had a bunch of sweet players, and he's not as good without him. It's like, yeah, welcome to the NFL. Last time I checked, Joe Montana was throwing to, oh, yeah, Jerry Rice. Peyton Manning was throwing to Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. When Patrick Mahome hit the scene and became a legend, he was throwing to Tyree Kill and Prime, Travis Kelce. It kind of helps to have some of those guys. I'm watching. Josh Allen Cook is an awesome player, and he. Ever since they've kind of thrown him into the mix a couple years ago, and he's become a stalwart of the offense. He's changed kind of their identity and their franchise. I think they're clearly a better team now with him than they were before. Kind of searching for the running back. I like Khalil Shakir. I root for my small school guys.

[Marcus Grant]

Boise State.

[Michael F. Florio]

He's solid, right? Keon Coleman, I mean, okay, I think he's pretty funny when he makes his Tiger woods jokes at the combine or puts on the coats. But hey, man, when the ball hits your hands, you kind of need to catch it, you know? Palmer, who they got from the Chargers, solid. I mean, he's not exactly throwing to, you know, Andre Reed and Stevie Johnson out there. His offensive weapons from a skill position. He's got some good tight ends, but, I mean, we got to factor in.

[Marcus Grant]

Who he's playing with here.

[Michael F. Florio]

He's incredible. And tonight they started playing with their food a little bit in the second half installed out. But this offense, I mean, one thing I wrote down late in the game, I said the difference between the Bills and what feels like the Ravens these last couple years, obviously the Chiefs and now what it looks like the Chargers is at any given moment for those teams, when they're humming, their defense can just pick six or some incredible pick across the middle or some strip sack. And I feel like the Bills, they win a lot of games just because Josh does Josh things nonstop. He's like an NBA player. It's like, if you don't score 40 tonight, we're losing. Where some of these other quarterbacks can play in individual games. Like, yeah, I had an off game, but my defense had held them to 13 points and they had a pick six and they caused a fumble. It rarely happens with the Bills. And then right on cue, Bernard picks it off on a play that, you.

[Marcus Grant]

Know, Tua just gave to him.

[Michael F. Florio]

If their defense comes through with timely plays, they're never going to be statistically.

[Marcus Grant]

As good as some of the top defense in the league.

[Michael F. Florio]

But if Joey Bosa can stay on the field and they can come up with timely play, Specifically turnovers.

[Marcus Grant]

They can win the Super Bowl.

[Michael F. Florio]

We knew that coming in. I mean, they're clearly were one of the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. But when you have a guy like this in the prime of their career, when you have a bunch of guys who have been in these big games and your defense personnel is what it is, but like they've come through on.

[Marcus Grant]

Some big moments over the last couple years.

[Michael F. Florio]

And to me, for them to win, it's going to be a pick or a big strip. Because offensively when it comes to their quarterback, what they say tonight, for the.

[Marcus Grant]

Last five straight years, he's had over.

[Michael F. Florio]

40 touchdowns passing and running each and every season.

[Marcus Grant]

He's obviously the reigning mvp, feels like.

[Michael F. Florio]

He'S at the point and Lamar got.

[Marcus Grant]

To this point a couple years ago.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's like they just get incrementally better every year. Like every year you see him, it's.

[Marcus Grant]

Like this guy's a little bit better and he's unstoppable.

[Michael F. Florio]

I mean, two admitted it. Two is a guy that got $200 million and 150 of it guaranteed and is going to start in the league for a decade plus was drafted fifth overall. He's like, yeah, I can't even do.

[Marcus Grant]

Half of what that guy can do.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's not like he was, he was just being dead honest. I saw a lot of people trying to, you know, dive into two A psyche on that. Like, what's he supposed to say? I'm as good as Josh Allen? His mom would say to it, you.

[Marcus Grant]

Can'T lie and say that.

[Michael F. Florio]

We all know what he said is, honestly, he's probably being too nice to himself.

[Marcus Grant]

He's like, maybe it's quarter of his good.

[Michael F. Florio]

I mean, he can't remotely do anything Josh can do. On one play tonight, where Tyreek probably should have caught it, they just ran a deep post and to let it rip. The ball just floated up in the air. It's like that ball looks and it's not even cold yet. I mean, it's September 18th, but the gap between those two guys, and we talk about this all the time in the NFL, like TUA is on the low end of the second or third tier of quarterbacks. So even if your roster was good enough, your margin for error playing the top guy is slim to none. And then when your roster is clearly. And they got injuries as well. But as shitty as it is, and I, and listen, I tried to bring this into light. Like Brandon Bean gets a lot of credit, right? Eric dacosta gets A lot of credit. Brett Veets gets a lot of credit. Ortiz is going to get a lot of credit. Sometimes GMs fly a little under the radar and the coach takes all the heat. It's like, I don't think Mike McDaniel's picking every player on the draft board. So the talent gap in this game was, was obviously pretty wide, but the quarterback gap couldn't be any wider. And you just got to acknowledge we got no shot, like, we got no shot to win, to beat those guys. That's why the Bills are going to win this division for the foreseeable future. I mean, unless Drake may takes a gigantic step in the next couple years, it's not even going to be a fair fight. And if you're a Bills fan, for as crappy as a lot of this decade was, right. You had. If you're my age, you would have come into your own as a sports fan. Right as they were making the Super Bowls, which they showed the highlight tonight of NORWOOD Kicking that 47 yarder that he missed that Al Michaels was calling in Tampa Bay. I feel like we got to do some sort of study why these kickers legs are so much stronger now. They showed one angle like, yeah, that might have cleared from like 52, 53 yards. How could a kicker struggle to kick long kicks forever? Like, why over the last several years has been like, oh yeah, 60 yards, no problem. It's pretty crazy, but Most of the 2000s, your franchise was an embarrassment. The Patriots beat the living crap out of you. And now you're not only the real deal franchise, you're like legitimately one of the star brands of the league, led by your MVP quarterback and just your overall team. So I'm going to keep saying this all year long about Lamar too. If not now, then when? If not now, then when for both those guys? I do feel confident saying this. If the Ravens or the Bills are not representing the AFC in the super.

[Marcus Grant]

Bowl, it is a failure for those teams. It really is. And you know, obviously they play themselves like they did last year in the, in the second round. Someone has to lose.

[Michael F. Florio]

But I don't see a scenario where it's not devastating. Like one, it would be a incredible.

[Marcus Grant]

Upset if one of those two teams.

[Michael F. Florio]

Is not in the conference championship. I mean, the Bills are going to.

[Marcus Grant]

Be in a pretty good position to have the one seed be a little harder for the Ravens, especially if they drop one of these next couple games. You know, they play the Lions this week. I think they played Chiefs in a couple weeks. You know, their division get a little weird too, I guess burrows out. So that, that helps definitely. But you know, if the Bills get the number one seed, it'll just be like super bowl berth or bust.

[Michael F. Florio]

And that's, that's how it kind of feels. But when back to their defense, when you do have some holes now, we'll.

[Marcus Grant]

See they get some guys back. You know, Ed Oliver didn't play tonight. Their first round pick who's on PUP or IR or whatever will come back in a couple weeks and you know, ideally like he can just be a good player for them at the second half of the season, that first rounder from Kentucky. But the Bills are just, there's a.

[Michael F. Florio]

Fun team to watch and that's the.

[Marcus Grant]

Power of the NFL, right? For most of this decade in the.

[Michael F. Florio]

Manning, in the Brady, in the Aaron.

[Marcus Grant]

Rodgers, the Breeze, the Roethlisberger, the Eli kind of that era, this franchise was a joke. I mean some of their highlights were Fitzpatrick, you know, competing for like eight, nine wins.

[Michael F. Florio]

And now it's like how many games could they win? 15.

[Marcus Grant]

So if you're a Bills fan, you got to feel pretty good about this.

[Michael F. Florio]

And really quick on the backup quarterbacks.

[Marcus Grant]

And speaking of tua, we do this a lot. And I can be guilty of this too. Like I, I'm not immune to this by any means.

[Michael F. Florio]

Is when we talk about the top guys, right?

[Marcus Grant]

Lamar and, and Josh are first bout hall of Famers, I promise you that. Obviously Mahomes already has a resume to be like one of the best quarterbacks of all time. Herbert is coming.

[Michael F. Florio]

If Burrow can just stay on the.

[Marcus Grant]

Field, his resume speaks for itself.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know, even Jaden Daniels, long way to go. But when he's been on the field.

[Marcus Grant]

He'S been pretty good.

[Michael F. Florio]

But then there's that group of guys, right?

[Marcus Grant]

From golf to.

[Michael F. Florio]

I know Jalen won a Super bowl.

[Marcus Grant]

But statistically like passing wise, you know, he can, he can leave a little something to be desired.

[Michael F. Florio]

From Purdy to Dak to Cousins forever, we talk so much about these guys and two is at the lower end of this, it's like why would you pay these guys? Why do you gotta stick. Why are we doing this? And listen, we can argue how much you should pay them. Like should Dak Prescott be the highest.

[Marcus Grant]

Paid person in the league?

[Michael F. Florio]

Of course not. Should Dak Prescott, relative to some of these other guys make like 38, $40.

[Marcus Grant]

Million or purdy make a little.

[Michael F. Florio]

Yeah, but that's not really the way it works. It never really has.

[Marcus Grant]

It's probably not going to change anytime soon.

[Michael F. Florio]

But there's a reason of like, why didn't they just go to someone else? Do you see the backup quarterbacks that are playing this week? Wait till you watch some of these guys play, right? Especially if they have to play multiple games. If you are a backup quarterback, I'd argue and you have to start, let's say four games. If you win two of them, you have not only earned your salary, you're underpaid. If you could win a game as a backup quarterback, I'm not talking about a guy that comes into the game. I'm talking about your quarterbacks out, you're starting, starting on Monday, all week long, the other team knows you're starting and they game plan around you and you can win a game, you've earned your salary. That's how low the bar is because we see it all the time. That's how bad these guys typically are. Typically, your backup does not turn out to be Steve Young or Aaron Rodgers. It's a guy that's going to bounce on team to team. Or ideally, if you got like a Patrick Mahomes and it's a Chad Henny, he never has to play. But every once in a while, quarterback rolls an ankle, hurts a shoulder, sprains a knee and the backup gets thrown in there like Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota. I'll promise you this, my expectations are pretty low. It's why I said about Sean McVeigh when he was kind of worried about Matt Stafford, he said, Jimmy Garoppolo is the best starting or backup quarterback. We think we have the number one backup quarterback who could be a starter.

[Marcus Grant]

Multiple plays in the league.

[Michael F. Florio]

I said, I know you're guessing Muff.

[Marcus Grant]

Sean, but I disagree. And I don't think, especially if you're.

[Michael F. Florio]

Playing a decent team, you would be.

[Marcus Grant]

Any luck to win a game with that guy playing a quarterback for you, not the way that he's played recently.

[Michael F. Florio]

And I think we got to be careful.

[Marcus Grant]

Especially because the draft and the college football now is clearly the second best sport in America.

[Michael F. Florio]

Think about the conversation this offseason in mock drafts. Having Arch Manning as the number one overall pick, honestly sometimes shitting on him, but pains me because my youth when I was a pure sports fan, before I ever got in the business or worked in football or anything, I loved Peyton Manning. Like in the late 90s, early 2000s, Peyton Manning was my favorite player and I used to hate the Patriots. I used to want him to beat him, but he couldn't. So I've Been rooting for the Manning.

[Marcus Grant]

Family forever, but we got to call.

[Michael F. Florio]

A spade a spade. The guy can't complete an out route. And it's like, should the Dallas Cowboys, should the Cleveland Browns tank for Arch? Are we sure Arch is going to be the starting quarterback October 1st? I mean, what are we it in college football? And we were talking about this before we hit record tonight in basketball, for example, a guy coming out of high.

[Marcus Grant]

School, this guy's going to be a top three pick.

[Michael F. Florio]

He could have a bad college season, but more than likely he worst case scenario will be like the fifth pick. In football, the moment you play three bad games, people are like, whoa, what is going on here? And all I heard this college quarterback, this. It's going to be a great college quarterback season. I'm watching these guys. I got Lagway throwing five interceptions. I got Sellers concussed. I got Garrett Nussmire, who I'm rooting for. Let's face it, his ceilings like a Kirk Cousins. So sometimes we overhype because we root for these guys. Most of them, guess what, are not going to turn out to be Jared Goff or Dak Prescott. Won't sniff being as good as Brock Purdy. Why? Because this is really, really difficult. And the moment these guys get hurt and we're sitting on our couch watching some of these games with backup facing backup, you'll realize why they're playing a different sport. And even the guys we try to gas up, J.J. mcCarthy, big time prospect. Am I watching this? What am I watching? Justin Jefferson's wide open. He can't hit him. It's very, very difficult.

[Marcus Grant]

This is really, really hard.

[Michael F. Florio]

The college game, even as the games have morphed, a lot of it does.

[Marcus Grant]

Not translate to two Sundays or Thursday nights or Monday nights double headers.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know what I mean? So I think sometimes we got to be careful about on all these quarterbacks because most of them are not Patrick.

[Marcus Grant]

Mahomes or Josh Allen.

[Michael F. Florio]

But the reality is most of the other guys aren't like Tua. You know, think about that. Tua Tonga, Vailoa is better than like half the NFL, the starting quarterbacks, let alone all the backups that we're going.

[Marcus Grant]

To have to watch this week. Okay?

[Michael F. Florio]

Today's show is brought to you by.

[Marcus Grant]

Our new presenting sponsor, Hard Rock Bet.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's week three, and if you haven't tried your first bet yet on Hard Rock, there's still time for you to get 150 in bonus bets. If you win, just place a $5 bet. If it hits, you not only get your winnings but 150in bonus bets. Thursday Night Football is happening. AFC east the Dolphins go into the Bills. I like the Bills big, not only to cover the spread but every prop. When it comes to Josh Allen, I think he goes nuts, throw several touchdowns, runs for a touchdown. I like to have a massive game and dominate the Dolphins. We got big time college football coming up. I do like a couple underdogs. I do think Auburn, who played Oklahoma really well last year, is going to be feisty in this game. I also think Texas Tech against Utah. I think Utah's pretty good, but Texas Tech had a bunch of guys come in the transfer portal. They've spent a lot of money on this team as well as Tulane against Ole Miss. I like those underdogs to keep it frisky. Hard Rock Bet has a new promos every day. This week's there's profit boost for five straight days of football. That's a Thursday night profit boost. A Friday college profit boost. Another profit boost. Saturday's college games plus NFL Sunday like the Steelers big that weekend and Monday night kind of like the Lions.

[Marcus Grant]

Let's get it on.

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[Narrator/Announcer]

This is the story of the one as head of maintenance at a concert hall, he knows the show must always go on. That's why he works behind the scenes, ensuring every light is working, the H Vac is humming, and his facility shines with Grainger's supplies and solutions for every challenge he faces. Plus 24. 7 customer support. His venue never misses a beat. Call quickgranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Drew Franklin]

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm.

[Matt Jones]

Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be inform and entertaining and twice a week that is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Matt Jones]

What was that?

[Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Matt Jones]

Oh my.

[Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway.

[Matt Jones]

They sold that?

[Marcus Grant]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the.

[Matt Jones]

Drawing board at the Colts stadium.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, might want to go Back to the drawing board on that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I thought the shape we have.

[Drew Franklin]

With pretzels was working pretty well.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's worked for generations.

[Matt Jones]

We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go.

[Drew Franklin]

I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73.

[Marcus Grant]

He is a young 73.

[Matt Jones]

He is spry, I would say.

[Drew Franklin]

I wouldn't fight him.

[Matt Jones]

I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[West West Prop]

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas of comfort, of struggle, you. You understand politics much more than you give him credit for. Feds taking over American cities, government hop out boys hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them two wars that was supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs and of course, the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century in America.

[Narrator/Announcer]

What sales and politics are narratives and storylines. It's like we treat politics like we treat sports, which is part of the reason why we're in the situation we're in right now.

[West West Prop]

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Michael F. Florio]

Can I hit on a quick fugazi Friday? I think sometimes the two biggest conversations.

[Marcus Grant]

This week have been which if you listen to any podcast, watch any shows, just it's kind of been everywhere. It's been impossible if you're in, you.

[Michael F. Florio]

Know, following people on Twitter, on Instagram, seeing a lot of talk on the Tush Push and talk about Tom Brady. And I think one thing, when people think the National Football League, they think like they're. They really care about all this stuff. And one thing I learned a long.

[Marcus Grant]

Time ago, and it really was evident in 2011. And when I think the NFL, I.

[Michael F. Florio]

Think Rog and the owners, guess what? The owners don't always care about what.

[Marcus Grant]

Their GMs and coaches do.

[Michael F. Florio]

Most of the times they don't really give a shit. You know, when the league dramatically changed.

[Marcus Grant]

Was in 2011 during the CBA when.

[Michael F. Florio]

The players were like, we want more money. And the league was like, no. And then the players were like, okay, we'll take a little more money, but we want no more double days. And every fourth day in training camp, a day off and limitations on pads and practice.

[Marcus Grant]

And the owners are like, so wait, we can give you similar amount of money, but you just don't want any of that stuff.

[Michael F. Florio]

Do you know who they didn't ask their coaches or their GMs what they thought about it because there's not a coach alive that would have been like, yeah, just get rid of double days. Give us limitations during the season when they can wear shoulder pads and helmets. The owner said, yeah, sign me up. And I think sometimes we think Roger Goodell, who's obviously a pretty polarizing figure over the years, all he cares about, and rightfully so, is making the league more money. And the. The place where they make the majority of their money, I think it's anywhere between like 60 to 65% is on the games, on TV. And I thought Colin had a pretty good take today about the tush push. It's getting overused now. To me, where the play is going to die is because it's really boring to watch. And it feels like every time you watch the Eagles, who are going to be playing in a lot of primetime games, they're using it over and over and over again. But I'll promise you this. Do you think Goodell cares logistically about where guys are lining up, where you're pushing, the integrity of the game, the rule? He doesn't care at all, honestly. He probably likes at times people just talking about football, the tush push. But there gets to a point where he starts going, yeah, people watching this. It's kind of turning people off. See ya. It's over. The Tom Brady situation, It's important. Like back in the day when the NBA let Michael Jordan by the Charlotte Bobcats for actually cheaper than market value because they wanted Michael involved. Why? Because he's the most important sports figure, at least of my lifetime, any sport.

[Marcus Grant]

And that includes Tom Brady.

[Michael F. Florio]

I think the NFL views Tom similarly. Right? He wants to be involved. They want him involved.

[Marcus Grant]

It's just good for business to keep.

[Michael F. Florio]

Guys like him around. Well, then Fox came after him, because Fox was wants to legitimize as this thing changes and streamers get involved. They never want to lose the NFL because if they ever lost the NFL.

[Marcus Grant]

Obviously would cripple their business just like it would NBC, CBS or whatever.

[Michael F. Florio]

And Tom having him, whether it turns out he's really good. Whether he's peaked wherever gives them a lot of credibility with advertisers with the league. It's important. The league doesn't actually care that much if Tom like finds out inside information on some random linebacker that the Raiders.

[Marcus Grant]

Sign in a year.

[Michael F. Florio]

Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh, I'm sure do they don't want. But if you think Roger Goodell worries about that, you're.

[Marcus Grant]

You're high on some good stuff because.

[Michael F. Florio]

He does not give a shit. The problem is is one only Tom.

[Marcus Grant]

Brady could pull this off because this.

[Michael F. Florio]

Headache, if it was the equivalent of Greg Olson, Mark Sanchez, a whoever just some former NFL player that's calling would.

[Marcus Grant]

Not be worth their the headache.

[Michael F. Florio]

And dealing with these questions and getting calls from the Florios and the Big J's be a pain in the ass. But it's Tom Brady. So they deal with it and they probably overlook it and they're like we'll.

[Marcus Grant]

Just deal with it later.

[Michael F. Florio]

But this situation, to think that like they really worry about the integrity. They do not care. They never really have. They pretend to care. They only care about making more money. And in fairness they. That's their job. It's like running a public company. What's their number one role? To do whatever is best for the shareholders. That's all that matters. And for that for Raj and the league office, when it comes to Tush push, when it comes to Tom Brady, the only thing truly they care about is this going to slow us down.

[Marcus Grant]

For making more money.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like that's as cutthroat as this league is. So all this talk about the integrity of jumping off sides and the Tush push and Brady and the knowledge and listen, I've talked a lot about this but at the end of the day, like if you think those people in New York are worrying about it for.

[Marcus Grant]

The reasons that we are fans are. You're just. You're just. That's the biggest fugazi going because they just simply are not.

[Michael F. Florio]

Other than that. I'm pretty excited for college football actually.

[Marcus Grant]

This weekend I was putting together a little parlay.

[Michael F. Florio]

Yeah, I don't quite understand why Indiana.

[Marcus Grant]

Is is favored by so much against Illinois. Because Indiana plays nobody. I'm really rooting for Bielema. But one story that came out and we'll end on this is this college football rule that they're going to get rid of one of the transfer portal times. So you only have one time a year to go into the transfer portal and that would potentially be in the fall. Now Some of the coaches have pushed back against it because some of these teams are in the playoffs and it's complicated. This whole college football thing is complicated and there aren't easy answers to this.

[Michael F. Florio]

I do think one thing they need.

[Marcus Grant]

To institute is like a coach. If I sign a contract, there are stipulations.

[Michael F. Florio]

I can't leave without a buyout and.

[Marcus Grant]

You can't fire me without a buyout.

[Michael F. Florio]

I think if we got somehow that.

[Marcus Grant]

Hey, if you are coming out of.

[Michael F. Florio]

High school or in the transfer portal and you are going to sign an nil contract, right? If I sign a contract with the volume, whatever it stipulates, for a year, for two years, for five years. There are things on both sides where.

[Marcus Grant]

It'S like you can't get rid of.

[Michael F. Florio]

Me without giving me X and I can't go do this without giving you.

[Marcus Grant]

Why.

[Michael F. Florio]

That's usually the way business works. And right now it does feel one sided. And I think a large reason for this is the media was so adamant about these guys not getting paid. Which looking back, watching them paid feels.

[Marcus Grant]

So stupid that we went this long.

[Michael F. Florio]

With like just allow them to have money but with money, like all of.

[Marcus Grant]

Us that earn money in the real world because that's what this is now. They are professionals.

[Michael F. Florio]

Usually there's something behind it.

[Marcus Grant]

Unless you're, you know, Kawhi Leonard and you have a company pretending to plant trees. So people feel good about getting in their private jet, flying to a state, you know, three hours away to eat lunch and flying back and they don't want to feel bad when they're tweeting about certain things and it's a giant. Talk about a fugazi Ponzi scheme. Holy shit.

[Michael F. Florio]

But these guys are clearly being paid. And listen, most of them and Deion Sanders said this last year, like I.

[Marcus Grant]

Only see Travis and Chador in ads.

[Michael F. Florio]

And now Arch Manning. Most of these guys, they're not actually being paid for their brand, they're just being paid to play. That's fine. But there should be some, like, you can't just take my money and then leave three months later. I think it would solve a lot of issues. No different in the NFL. When I signed Josh Allen to a five year contract, even if I cut them after two or three years, there's guaranteed money involved. Like there's a give and take on both sides. And if you look at this thing, I think it would be easy solve even if we just made it two years. You sign a contract for X amount of dollars, maybe if you play better you can increase your value, but you're stuck there for a couple years. Now, obviously if a coach gets fired, if a coach leaves or something like that happens, the transfer portal should open. I've never had a problem with that. But just like, yeah, I don't really like my situation, but I've been paid. Now I'm just going to bounce on you.

[Marcus Grant]

That feels like an easy fix.

[Michael F. Florio]

It doesn't have to be a four year contract, but there should be some rules. Even Nico, Nico was there a couple years and then bounced. Like, I don't even have that big an issue with it. Dumb move.

[Marcus Grant]

Obviously wasn't the correct move. Looks really bad, but you know, Tennessee has, hasn't skipped a beat that they.

[Michael F. Florio]

Easily should have won that game.

[Marcus Grant]

Easily strong, but they should have won the game.

[Michael F. Florio]

But I do think some, there has to be some common sense that comes here and it does feel like we're limping in that direction. And this is the power of the NFL, which isn't tied to academics and all these separate conferences. It's like everything's under one umbrella. Whether they agree or disagree, they all kind of pull in the same direction.

[Marcus Grant]

Their hands all part of the same cookie jar. And in this situation, like, well, Fox.

[Michael F. Florio]

Is paying me here. Well, CBS is paying me here. This conference, you got, you got too many different agendas, too many people pulling in different directions. So it is really complicated. But I think the only way to kind of settle everything down a little bit is to make some just hard.

[Marcus Grant]

And fast rules and you can change.

[Michael F. Florio]

The transfer portal the once a year.

[Marcus Grant]

I still think you would have some similar issues arise.

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[Matt Jones]

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining and twice a week. That is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Matt Jones]

What was that?

[Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Matt Jones]

Oh my.

[Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway.

[Matt Jones]

Sold that.

[Marcus Grant]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the Colts stadium. Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I thought the shape we had.

[Drew Franklin]

With pretzels was working pretty well for generations.

[Matt Jones]

We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go.

[Drew Franklin]

I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73.

[Marcus Grant]

He is a young 73.

[Matt Jones]

He is spry.

[Drew Franklin]

I wouldn't fight him.

[Matt Jones]

I would listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[West West Prop]

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas of comfort, of struggle, you understand politics much more than you giving credit for feds taking over American cities, government. Hop out, boys. Hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them two wars that was supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs and of course the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The American public is used to being entertained. We're a consumption center society. So what Trump figured out is entertain them and they'll never question you.

[West West Prop]

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game, from scouting reports and.

[Bucky Brooks]

Player development to team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning roster.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

[Bucky Brooks]

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots. From college football prospects to the NFL.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Stars of tomorrow, we break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

[Bucky Brooks]

Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Whether you're a die hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

[Bucky Brooks]

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marcus Grant]

Okay, as we head into week three. I, I said this the other day, Stuckey. I, you know, it's like middle of summer and you're like, God, football can't get here fast enough. All of a sudden you blink. We're not that far away from October. Football flies by.

[Michael F. Florio]

College football.

[Marcus Grant]

I mean, we're a week away from basically just being in conference play. The NFL's off and running. I feel like looking at the board these last couple weeks, it's not easy.

[Michael F. Florio]

I feel like the last couple of years I've been a lot more confident. I'm just looking at college, looking at.

[Marcus Grant]

The pros, I don't feel as confident as I have in years. Past couple weeks into the season, maybe.

[Michael F. Florio]

That'S parody all over.

[Marcus Grant]

All over football in general.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, I mean, sometimes you just, you're not, you don't, you don't feel it. You just need, you do. All you need is one. One good Saturday or Sunday and you'll, you'll gain that clarity. But sometimes it's like that in the beginning of the year, NFL this, I will say NFL week three is one of my favorite weeks. It is generally an underdog week. And the reason for that, I mean, if you go back Historically, week three underdogs are 55%. Owen, two underdogs. So teams that are zero and two catching points since 2010, in week three, they're 40, 21 and one against the spread, 66, covering about a field goal per game. Why is that? You don't. You never want to follow any of these things blindly, but it makes sense. So a lot of times what happens after two weeks is the overreactions in the market get pretty wild and you're almost better off just going into a coma for the first two weeks in the NFL, not seeing anything, and then like sticking to what you thought and your priors before the year. Going into week three, for example, like right now, everyone is saying, think about it. You watch Green Bay for two weeks, Green Bay looks like the best team in the NFL. Does anyone want to bet against them?

[Marcus Grant]

No.

[Stuckey]

I mean, I did this week. But then you watch the Browns lose by 24 last week. Does anyone want to bet the Brown Seek? But there's a world where the packers are really good, but they're not elite.

[West West Prop]

Elite like that.

[Stuckey]

And they, they just had a two. It's a two game stretch. If you go back in any season and you pull two random games from the schedule out and then you look at that, that's probably not indicative of what that team became, but because that's all we have. A lot of times people start anchoring to okay now this team's really good. Now the Colts, all of a sudden they're going to be this juggernaut offense. Daniel Jones is good now, right? And then you. So you start to see like now the Colts are four point favorites at Tennessee instead of like, you know, that game would have been under a field goal before. It might have been a pick or the Titans might have been minus one before the season. So you start to see this creep and market overreaction. And generally speaking, you want to look for some of those underdogs and buy low. Some of those 02 underdogs, for example. One of them is the Browns that I played. I hate it. I love the Packers. Packers are my only super bowl future. I bet them in May. I think they're really good. But the you. The Browns defense is playing at an elite level. So maybe Flacco gets, you know, Parsons forces them into three turnovers and it goes sideways. But the, the Browns defense, people don't realize last week that's what happened in Baltimore. Baltimore had 240 total yards. Henry had 11 carries for 20 yards. They couldn't do anything. They had a couple Lamar awesome plays of doing what Lamar does. But. And then the week before they held the Bengals and burrowed a two yards in the second half. So this might not be as easy of a task for, for Green Bay going on the road. So I mean I took the eight and a half there. It's scary. But those are some of the spots that I look for in week three where underdogs, generally speaking reign supreme. And you usually will see a couple outright upsets which we haven't been seeing in the NFL. But I have a sneaky suspicion we might see some, some more chaos this week.

[Marcus Grant]

I think the pushback would be the packers team speed up front and Flacco obviously is probably the most immobile quarterback in the league. Is that, is that fair to say?

[Stuckey]

Yes, that's. That. That would be the scary point.

[Marcus Grant]

How does he get away? I mean Parsons. Parsons looks like he's running around like a DB right now. Obviously now that back healed real, real quick once he signed that piece of paper.

[Stuckey]

Yep. Yeah, that would be the main concern. So the Browns, I mean Judkins look good. So the Browns got to run it here. They got to get rid of the ball quick. But there's also a chance that the packers offensive line isn't fully healthy. And then miles Garrett and Co. They're getting a ton of pressure, they can wreck some havoc on, on the Packers. So I, I took the eight and a half. It's certainly scary though.

[Marcus Grant]

Well, I mean, let's just, let's stay on board with the NFL. I mean one of my favorite, my favorite bet of the weekend is is the Texans plus two and a half at Jacksonville. They just like this is, I mean the kitchen sink came for them. I mean it feels, it's crazy but like we're not even to the end of September and it feels like their seasons on the line now granted their division you think would be a little more open, but if the Colts just keep rattling off wins, all of a sudden you're 2 and 5 and they're 5 and 2. It's pretty, this isn't baseball or basketball. It's hard to make up games.

[Michael F. Florio]

Right.

[Marcus Grant]

You, you need stuff out of your control. You need them to lose like three in a row and you cannot your margin for error zero. So obviously the Jacksonville situation, he played more both ways last game, had the big penalty. But you know, I don't know the Liam Cohen, you know, he's a young coach screaming at Trevor Lawrence. I don't make that much of that situation. But I don't know. I, I just think Texans getting points. I mean this would have been a game where I think a couple weeks ago you would have thought like, oh, Texans are going to beat the Jags. But now it's ever like you said, everyone just thinks the Texans stink. Their defense, I mean it's still good. I mean Baker pulled that play out of his ass on 4th and 10. I, I, I, I just listen, I mean I, I think Baker's dramatically better than Trevor Lawrence. And I'm just taking the Texans here could be wrong. I mean I'm out on the Titans. I, I will eventually wave by the white flag. I'm not quite out on the Texans yet.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, I mean I don't play that. This is the, these are the spots you have to look for in week three. And like divisional road divisional dogs that are owing to generally have performed well. And look, The Texans are two plays away from potentially being 2 0, right? The 4th and 10, they had Mayfield there. They whiffed on a sack that would have ended the game. And then against the Rams, like they fumble late and in that game they had a bunch of offensive line injuries. My fear, I mean it is a short week, so it's not the best, but my fear is and Brian Thomas Jr. I don't know if he's hurt or what's going on there, but that that could help the Texans as well. My fear is just that the offense, the Texans offense looks like last year and this was supposed to be an evolved scheme under Nick Kaylee who came from the McVeigh tree that got rid of Slowik. But like you look there's the motion rates are down, the play action is down. Like these are the things that we were supposed to start seeing. Too many early down run. It looked like just the same exact offense that we knew the offensive line was me great. But I was expecting some more innovation and creativity to make up for some of those deficiencies which we're not seeing, which concerns me a bit. And I've liked the Jags offense has definitely improved under Cohen. Like just schematically some of the things they're doing in the run game, in the screen game. And I like that they're playing more zone on defense which matches the skill set of their defense. So I like some of the things that Jags are doing. They should have beat the Bengals, but it's pretty damning that they lost after Burrow went down. So like the Jags can always pull a Jag. So I don't blame you for taking the points there.

[Marcus Grant]

Yeah, the other game is, you know, these are divisional early matchups. Obviously the Chargers beat Denver. They beat every team in their division and they are poised. Especially getting the news yesterday that Khalil Mack, you know, avoided disaster and we'll be back. Because I did think if he was out for the season, it's easy to patch something up for a game that'd be a pretty big blow for them. You know, what he brings to the table just in terms of his play against the run. Clearly they talked about him just like his, his presence with them. Clearly Jim loves the guy. I mean his big thing this offseason was to resign him.

[Michael F. Florio]

But short week, not only short week, like extra short.

[Marcus Grant]

Right. They had a couple hour later kickoff. Now Vegas to LA is not a long flight, but Monday, basically they get nothing out of. So by the time they get to the office, it's 4 or 5 in the morning on Tuesday. They're 24 hours behind a top flight coach and coaching staff in Denver that just had a devastating L. Right. And this is the way you just described it, getting Denver two and a half points. Let's face it, the Chargers have no home field advantage. So it's not like I factor that in at all.

[Michael F. Florio]

Little like the Texans, little less because.

[Marcus Grant]

They already have a win. And you know, listen, they easily could have won that game in Indy. Yeah. This is a big game for Denver. You know I mean the Chargers after winning those two games got a little breathing room. I. I just think two and a half. I actually think I'm not out on Denver. I know some people are a little worried, you know defensively what was the knock right. They didn't really play any quarterbacks last year. I, I do think Daniel Jones is playing pretty well. I mean you just watch the Colts. He's just slinging it to those guys. They have good offensive weapons. It's not like the Colts are just some are. Are the Patriots with nobody to throw.

[Michael F. Florio]

It like they have great really good players.

[Marcus Grant]

Especially if Tyler Warren's going to be this good. Jonathan Taylor Pittman's a good player.

[Michael F. Florio]

So I, I don't think that loss the ending is really bad. But losing to the Colts when we.

[Marcus Grant]

Look back at the end of the year might not look as bad if they're a 10 or 11 win team.

[Stuckey]

Yeah I mean the knock on the Denver defense is it's not on any, not on anything they're doing as far as building that team or the roster. The personnel like they actually like improved their defense. Their defense was the best defense in the NFL last year. It's just that defense is there's. It's highly variant from one year to the next. Like you just don't know some it's very unpredictable in the offense is much more steady on a year to year basis. Going into last year everyone thought the jets and the Browns were going to be like two of the top five defenses and they fell off a cliff. Looks like the Browns might be back like just like because they're all their secondary guys just had a bad year all at once. So the Denver defense might just naturally regress on a year to year basis which would be the knock there. But yeah you mentioned the home field. There's not much the short week. I think that if you get them. Let me look this is the charters have taken some money. You might be able to get a three. So I would wait you know if.

[Marcus Grant]

It'S at three it was two and a half this morning when I look yeah if you.

[Stuckey]

If you can get it looks like it might touch three. I think you have to look at Denver here. I also think it's. It could be a sneaky over like the Chargers offense looks incredible. They're throwing it a ton. They're letting Herbert just cook but in order to beat this Chargers defense which I mean they're so well schooled Under Minter, they run a lot of quarters. They're gonna, they're just, they're, you can't get anything downfield.

[Marcus Grant]

They look, they look good. I mean, they tackle, they look like the Ravens or Mike McDonald. I mean, it's, it's pretty impressive.

[Stuckey]

So what you have to do, you have to, you have to move the ball number one on the ground, you have to run it. And the Broncos should be able to do that really good offensive line and they can move there, but then you have to short pass and efficiently move down. That's kind of the Denver offense. So, you know, it's not like they're relying on explosive plays and like that. The Raiders were trying to, just kept trying to hit deep throws and you're just not going to do that. Against, against. I definitely don't mind those looks.

[Marcus Grant]

I, you know, it wasn't necessary. The score, I felt was closer than the game, but going in, I'm like, Chip Kelly, Ohio State last year against the Michigan guys. And then early on they're just getting punked. I'm like, there's something about his scheme that's different than maybe it was back when he was in Philadelphia, where I thought if you go back and look when they played physical teams, he really struggled.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, I, I, I would agree with you there. Which side, what are you, what are you looking at? Which side for?

[Marcus Grant]

I'm just talking Denver plus two, you know, in that, or, excuse me, the Charger game against, you know, the Raiders.

[Michael F. Florio]

Where it's like, you know, his, he.

[Marcus Grant]

Just, there's something soft about just the way he coaches. And I understand that it's changed. I would say the same thing for Cliff and Washington.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

If you go back, I just vividly remember some of these Eagles games when they would play, you know, a physical front.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

And it's just a problem for, and this is the same thing with Cliff. It's just any spread type offense where there's something with, let's say Jim Harbaugh or John Harbaugh or now Dan Campbell. I think it gets down to the way you practice and the way you practice establishes a physicality, you know, do.

[Stuckey]

You think there's a high correlation between, like, the coach and the identity of the coach and the staff and then the actual physical nature of what you see on the field?

[Marcus Grant]

I think 100%, because I think now Pete Carroll is a tough guy and a physical guy.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

Like, ultimately he has nothing to do with the offensive script. Like, he's not telling Chip what to run. So, like his mentality, like, his defense, they were playing hard. I mean, they have tough, physical guys. Obviously, Max. And you know, Chip, if you give him years, he will build a tough Jamal Adams.

[Stuckey]

It's.

[Marcus Grant]

It's clear who the one that loved Jamal Adams in that trade was. And honestly, it's pretty impressive. Jamal's changed positions.

[Michael F. Florio]

My point is, I guess I understand what Pete likes, but when you are.

[Marcus Grant]

Have nothing to do with the side of the ball. That's what makes Jim so impressive, is.

[Michael F. Florio]

Jim's not the play caller. But what he demands out of his.

[Marcus Grant]

Philosophical belief in offense translates to the defense, something he has nothing to do with because the way they practice.

[Michael F. Florio]

And this is a Coach Reed thing, like, Coach Reed, who is more of a passing game guy.

[Marcus Grant]

All of his players say our camps are really physical. And so if he has the right.

[Michael F. Florio]

Players, right when he got to Kansas City, and then as they've transitioned with.

[Marcus Grant]

Spags, they've got better players again on defense. They've been a really physical defense. Even though you go, well, he doesn't. He doesn't even want to call runs. It's not about that. It's the mentality that you get in practice.

[Michael F. Florio]

Look at the Ravens, like, why do.

[Marcus Grant]

All these guys that go out from the ra. I was thinking about this the other day. Like, Belichick's coaching tree is so shitty now.

[Michael F. Florio]

The Ravens are multiple coaches, right?

[Marcus Grant]

It's Billick and Harbaugh.

[Michael F. Florio]

Think how many coaches they have put out over the last 25 years. All over the league. Not even just head coaches, but coordinators, upand comers. Dean Lynn. I mean, they got guys in college. It's insane, because I think it's like they see in practice, this works. This would work in high school, this would work in the pros, this would work in college.

[Marcus Grant]

It always translates being a good, physical team, because if you're a good, physical team, that means you're mentally tough and you tackle well. Like, how many teams do you watch Saturdays and Sundays? Like, that is a bad tackling team.

[Stuckey]

Yep. Yeah. And plus, you got to give. Carol just got there.

[Michael F. Florio]

Yeah, I'm not.

[Marcus Grant]

I'm not holding him. I'm just saying the Chip scheme, big picture, you know, when they try to get into, like, okay, let's get in the ring and let's throw blows with Mike Tyson. He cannot win that way. He did not. It goes back to when he lost to Auburn. Obviously, he, I would say, has expanded his passing game over the years. You have to. And you know, they have better players and they got Hot in Ohio State. And listen, Gino's a solid player, but like Ash and Genty, it's not, you know, their offensive line, you, what would you say? Average at best for the Raiders.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Michael F. Florio]

So it's like in Astrogen, this was.

[Marcus Grant]

My thing, taking him six overall. It's like you're not getting like Walter Payton or Barry Sanders here. He's a good college player, but he's.

[Michael F. Florio]

Not even think about some of the.

[Marcus Grant]

Best prospects over the last decade. McCaffrey, Bijan Saquon.

[Michael F. Florio]

He's not on. There's not a scout alive that would put him on their tier, including Spy Tech.

[Marcus Grant]

Now, relative to a draft class, you can only go off like, what's presented on that given year. And I, I, I guess I understand it, but I think a lot of people are like, where's Adrian Peterson? Like, guys, that's not what you were getting here.

[Stuckey]

Yeah. And Harbaugh, now, the charges never would have made that move. Like, everyone wanted them to draft the receiver and they went offensive tackle. And that's how, like, Harbaugh is building that identity of how the team wants to be. And look, the passing attack is electric right now.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's crazy.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

And that's where he just, and I know, you know, you saw Roman in Baltimore. Like, Herbert is, I mean, I think he can, he's, if he stays healthy, he can win an MVP in the NFL. Like, he is a special. He can win a Super Bowl. He's an elite talent. And like, they have kind of transitioned. Like, he's our best player, so let's let him rip. And you got to get credit for the Keenan Allen situation. He's just a pro. McConkey's a stud.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know, I, I, what's your take?

[Marcus Grant]

Early on, the running back from North Carolina, Hampton, I was like, you know.

[Michael F. Florio]

He looks a little slow to me. Yeah.

[Stuckey]

Their running game hasn't been as eye catching as I thought it might be, which is maybe why they're going more pass heavy. And it's working. Maybe it's like we'll end up just unleashing Herbert and unlocking the full potential of this offense. But I haven't been overly wowed so far.

[Michael F. Florio]

You can make a difference in someone's.

[Matt Jones]

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[Marcus Grant]

These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options, and free training.

[Michael F. Florio]

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[Marcus Grant]

Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Matt Jones]

Hey, this is Matt Jones, and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining, and twice a week. That is exactly what you're going to get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Matt Jones]

What was that?

[Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, my.

[Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway.

[Matt Jones]

They sold that?

[Marcus Grant]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the.

[Matt Jones]

Drawing board at the Colts stadium.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well for generations.

[Matt Jones]

We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go.

[Drew Franklin]

I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73.

[Marcus Grant]

He is a young 73.

[Matt Jones]

He is spry.

[Drew Franklin]

I wouldn't fight him.

[Matt Jones]

I would listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[West West Prop]

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas of comfort, of struggle, you understand politics much more than you giving credit for feds taking over American cities. Government hop out, boys hopping out the van, snatching up yothio and them two wars that were supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs and of course, the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot, and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century.

[Narrator/Announcer]

The American public is used to being entertained. We're a consumption society, so what Trump figured out is entertain them and they'll never question you.

[West West Prop]

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks on Move the Sticks. We take you inside the game from scouting reports and player development, building philosophies.

[Bucky Brooks]

Coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Every week we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

[Bucky Brooks]

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots from college football prospects to the NFL stars of tomorrow.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

We break down the draft, analyze matchups and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

[Bucky Brooks]

Plus we dig in the coaching strategies, roster construction and the trends that shape the league year after year.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Whether you're a die hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

[Bucky Brooks]

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marcus Grant]

We can talk about the Steelers game now. I would say what the Steelers were most of our like you know, 15, 20 years ago, even up until the last six or seven years that now is going to be the Chargers moving forward because they, they are like parallel Baltimore where I think they could play Baltimore and at least have a chance because they are built like them where the Steelers have turned into this team that you know. Last week I was wrong on Caleb Johnson. I maybe I didn't study him hard enough but I feel like I watched a decent amount of Iowa games. I remember watching like YouTube highlights and thinking like I think this guy's pretty good player. He's been a disaster and that play was bad. Would you be a little stunned if he's not just your classic like healthy scratch this week kind of, you know, coaching move? Yeah, but they get the ball or they have a chance, just get a stop, get the ball back down to touchdown and Seattle scores. It's like I can't. Part of the reason I kind of.

[Michael F. Florio]

Believed in this team was I thought.

[Marcus Grant]

Their defense going to be really good. They've been atrocious. Now they're going to New England who I don't think is really that talented. If, if, if the Steelers are going to be anything, they go on the road and they win this game. And obviously they would win, they would cover this. But I just don't have that much faith in Pittsburgh. I think this has got to be this week kind of a rally the troops all time Mike. If Mike Tomlin still has it then he gets it this week. If he doesn't like we might be looking at truly the beginning of the end of this situation if like Mike Vrabel and this pretty average roster can take down this highly paid bunch of veteran Aaron Rodgers led squad.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, the problem for the Steelers this, I mean maybe this is the first year they finally have a losing record which hasn't happened in many moons. Never under Tomlin the problem with the Steelers, they have so many defensive injuries right now, so I don't even know who's going to play. They might be down four or five starters, key starters. So we'll see like Highsmith, Porter, if they have Elliott, they have injuries all over. The defense has been horrendous and it's been bad. I mean they paid a lot, all that money. But Watt is clearly not the same impactful player that he once was. And if you used to look at the, the splits with the Steelers when he was on and off the field, when he was, you know, injured for a couple games, they were drastic and like that's what they look like right now.

[Marcus Grant]

Think about which wouldn't that be a problem? They just invested $100 million. Let's use the other two guys. Miles Garrett still looks elite. I would say watching Max against the Chargers, I know his team's not good. Every team in the league would sign up for Max Crosby on that contract. If Watt is falls off that tier.

[Michael F. Florio]

Of those three guys that just got.

[Marcus Grant]

Paid, you got a financial problem on.

[Stuckey]

Your hands big time. I would not have done it but like I can see why they had to do it. It's like Watt, he's the face of the franchise but you already have like other good edge rushers and he was just his age and I, I, I would not have dedicated like the Steelers. What they need to do is they need to reset this whole thing. Like they've just been this 9 and 18 for since Ben left and then they're not like they just get the, they get the, they sneak into the playoffs and lose and they need to just full reset it. That contract didn't help especially if wide it's going to fall off. But think about what how the jets looked against the Steelers and then how the jets look last week. Like that's the state of their defense. The Seahawks in Week 1 against the 49ers versus last week, they're going up and down the field. So yeah, that defense is problematic. The Patriots defense has also been bad. But they might get Christian Gonzalez back. That could be huge. He practiced yesterday the first time since July. So with the points, I if it's New England or nothing for me. By the way, you mentioned that Caleb Johnson play there. The only other time I can remember that happening was actually another Steelers rookie. It was, I don't know if you remember this game. He ended up going on to have a good career. I forget his name, Perry or something. He was a rookie running back. I think 90 in the 90s at Candlestick against the Niners. The Niners kicked it off and it just landed at the 5. And he didn't know that he had to. He had a field stood there and he just stood there. And then the 49ers picked it up and scored. Like that's the only other time it was funny because it was also a Steelers rookie, so maybe he can bounce back. But yeah, that was a huge blunder.

[Marcus Grant]

I just, I mean that visual, you know, Danny Smith is probably one of the more famous special teams coach of the NFL. He's. He's pretty. He's like a smaller, shorter version of Pete Carroll, always chewing gum, stomping around and you just see him in the background and Caleb's walking toward the sideline. It's like, what are you doing now?

[Michael F. Florio]

It was also kind of sketchy. I didn't slow mo version.

[Stuckey]

Did.

[Michael F. Florio]

Did he have possession before he fell out of the end zone? Like, it was kind of.

[Stuckey]

I was shocked they didn't talk about that. Look at that more. I.

[Michael F. Florio]

It did not seem like he caught.

[Marcus Grant]

It like two yards in and just was celebrating.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like he rolled out of the end zone. Was the ball in his hands?

[Stuckey]

Yeah. I don't know why they didn't. Everyone was confused. I think because it's like this new rule. I think everyone on the field, the refs, the announcers, everyone was confused. And I don't know if he had full possession for like that. It was just so bizarre. And yeah, he was just jogging off the field like, okay, go ahead offense, it's your turn. What a disaster. Didn't. It ended the game pretty much like 17, 14.

[Marcus Grant]

And then, you know, Rogers talking about like the league, you know, I know the league's binary, but we can't be like that. Aaron, you're not 34. You didn't just sign a five year contract. It's all about wins and losses this year. Like this is an all in situation. This isn't Nick Saban in the process for you guys. Like this was about you trying to be a 10, 11, 12 win team, win a playoff game, you know, have a successful season.

[Michael F. Florio]

This is not about like for the.

[Marcus Grant]

Next five years teaching the squad. What the fuck are we talking about? Yeah, and I think he's saying that because he knows, like maybe we're not as good is. I thought when I signed up and that's, you know, like when Favre did the thing with Minnesota, you look back like, yeah, they had a pretty good roster. You know, that team was a Pretty.

[Michael F. Florio]

Was pretty stacked. They had this other guy, I think it was like 24 years old, named Adrian Peterson that was unstoppable. Like, if I put Adrian Peters on.

[Marcus Grant]

The Steeler team, they're probably a little bit different. And they just handed him the ball a lot.

[Michael F. Florio]

He's a freak show.

[Stuckey]

I agree. It's a big, big, big week for the Steelers. I mean, it's huge. I. I think you get a break because maybe the Vikings and Bengals are coming up on your schedule. So you get a break that like, no Barrow, the Vikings injuring quarterback situation. You host the Browns, so that could help. But this will be a very telling game, as you alluded to on, like, where this team is and where Tomlin is.

[Marcus Grant]

I think the two teams that it's borderline must win, given the hype and how much we talk about these two teams. Steelers in Chicago and, you know, the Chicago thing. We talked about it last week. It was hard because you only had the one game evidence with the Lions. It's pretty clear. Lions at home, I mean, they're gonna be pretty explosive in the dome. We'll see how it plays out. Obviously, they have a massive game Monday night where a couple years ago your squad beat the living piss out of them. I remember watching that game on my couch, and it was. It was over before. It even wasn't like 28 nothing after the first quarter.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, it was 35 nothing at one point. It was one of the easiest bets I've ever won. My. They're three point favorites at home.

[Marcus Grant]

It was. It was a joke. Now maybe this Lions team who we'll dive into in a second is like a lot of the core guys on that team are much more established, better players now a little older. So it's. It's probably a little bit different animal, though, the coaching, probably worse. This Chicago thing, I mean, that was. I mean, they quit. I mean, they just. They just tapped out. Even their coach admitted it. Like, we got to start judging guys a little harsher in practice because in his comments this week, like, he's under fire. Obviously, the GM's under fire, the quarterback's under fire.

[Michael F. Florio]

Dallas gets a little house money.

[Marcus Grant]

They. They. You know, one thing I learned when I was in the NFL is like, when you talk about guys in zone defense, a linebacker especially is like a zone dropper. It's so easy to be justified for him. Like, well, I just dropped back my seven yards and two yards over. That's the landmark you told me.

[Michael F. Florio]

And then there comes to a point where you, like, kind of got to be a football player. And the linebacker just dropped back. Ferguson is 2 yards away from you. Yeah, I know you're supposed to be there, but the fucking guy is right next to you. Cover him.

[Marcus Grant]

I mean, that's just. That's like Football 101.

[Michael F. Florio]

Saban and Belichick would puke. Mike McDonald like, they can't even fathom. So I just.

[Marcus Grant]

Dallas got pretty lucky, I think. Get that completion. Now, their kicker, they benefit from, their offense is good. I mean, they got two good wide receivers. Chicago's injuries in the secondary, the Eber flu Bowl here. This would be something. You know, I know from a gambling standpoint, you got to be careful about the narrative, but you can already see if Dallas were to win this game and they get a couple stops on defense and Caleb looks a little weird.

[Michael F. Florio]

Eber flu is coming in, handed him.

[Marcus Grant]

The game ball after the game because you know that would happen. This is. This is must win for Chicago. From the simple fact of their season could just become like, the negativity surrounding them. It'd be impossible to shed off their schedule is.

[Stuckey]

Look at the division they're in. Like, they. They have to win this game. Yeah. There are secondaries in shambles. That was part of the reason why Detroit.

[Marcus Grant]

Well, Jalen's out for the year now, right?

[Stuckey]

Yeah, it looks like. I don't think it's confirmed, but it looked. That's the word.

[Marcus Grant]

He's definitely out this week.

[Stuckey]

Yeah. Yeah. And Kyler Gordon, he's week to week. He's like the MVP of their defense, their other corner. So, like, their corners now are in shambles. And. And Campbell was running it up, too, and he wanted to stick it to Johnson, but they're. They're like. Number one corner is Tyreek Stevenson now, who's not good. He should be like, your three. Maybe not even your three. He's given up a 158.3 perfect pass rating so far this year. So that's not great against Lamb and Pickens, but I think you have to take. I mean, so their defense is a mess. They're not even getting pressure. They can't get pressure. They're just playing a ton of man like Dennis Allen, man. And they don't have corners. So, like, what do you. What do we even.

[Marcus Grant]

What happened to Montez Sweat? I thought he was good.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, he might be falling off a bit, but they just. They don't have a bunch of. They don't have any other passwatch. He gets a ton of attention. So, like, they're not like, it's. I, I don't know. It's very bizarre. They're just playing like Dennis Allen's a man guy and obviously every team mixes it up with man. But as far as like percentage of man, they're. They're on the high end and like you don't have the corners to do that or so at least you gotta blitz or do something. Like the, the Dolphins, you'll watch like their secondary so bad and it's so injured like similar to the Bears that they're just blitzing like 60 of the time. Because, I mean, why not? You're not. You're not going to stop anything. You can't give a quarterback time because you can't cover. So you gotta like just try to create chaos and try to force the turnovers. I don't know what the Bears are. Maybe they'll switch it up this week, but I think you have to bet the Bears this week. Look, number one, first of all, they should have won week one. Like they should be one on one. The Cowboys easily be owing to now that the Bears are catching points at home. Like this is the Cowboys outdoors. There might be some weather. They're coming off of an overtime game. Their defense is also horrendous. Duron Bland probably won't play. So their secondary is in shambles. Can Caleb Williams actually make the throws? I. It's hard to trust them. But look, they just lost by 30. It's usually when I jump in teams that after the week after losing by 30, 55% historically like sample size of like 300 games as a dog or a favorite of less than a field goal, that that number goes up to about 61%. So yeah. Oh, and to underdog here, desperate spot. I think Johnson and Johnson who owns that Eber flu defense and that Iber flu defense is just not going to work with the. With Dallas's personnel. Number one, you don't have Parsons anymore. And then especially on Bland, your secondaries in shambles. But you're. They don't have the linebackers and that's like the whole key to. You were just mentioning dropping zones like in order for Iver flu to run his zone heavy defense. It is super reliant on number one. You're going to have to get pressure naturally. That's where they're going to miss Parsons. But it's super reliant on those really athletic linebackers that can fill voids and, and work the middle of the field freeing up others. Like they just don't have that their linebackers aren't that good. So I think you got to trust the spot. And the Bears bouncing back like it helps that it's outdoors. And Dallas's offense just isn't the same there. But it's scary. Like they're going to have to score. Caleb's going to be good because their secondary right now is just not going to hold down Lamb and in Pickens all game.

[Marcus Grant]

I mean this game, I mean both these two teams could be like six win teams. But it's the Tom Brady who's obviously back in the headline. There'll be a lot of people watching this thing. You know they're going to be. You talk about takes flying Monday. There'll be a lot of people having thoughts on this game because you know the niners, Cardinals, which 2, 2 and O teams. Now granted, you know, Cardinals played nobody in the Niners, just got to play the Saints. But I mean this is. I was looking at they, I was watching at the gym. McAfee put up like all the records of all the divisions this division, seven and one.

[Michael F. Florio]

Right.

[Marcus Grant]

And one of the losses came because they played each other in Seattle and San Francisco.

[Stuckey]

Gonna be a war all year.

[Marcus Grant]

Yeah, but this is why like the schedule matters. And I understand, like I was like on Collins show and Edelman was there and he got offended by saying easy schedules. Now he's been taught by Belichick. But there's a big difference of playing Mac Jones on the road against the Saints instead of playing the Bills or the Packers. Like, I'm sorry, like they, they benefit like if The Niners go 11, if they're an 11 win team, if they.

[Michael F. Florio]

Had a hard schedule, they could have.

[Marcus Grant]

Been an eight win team. It's really going to impact them, especially as they're playing young guys. Mac Jones. I'm sorry.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Michael F. Florio]

I don't know if the Cardinals are good.

[Marcus Grant]

I do know that they have been a problem in Kyler specifically. Even in losses for the Niners with him scrambling around.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like when they have been well coached.

[Marcus Grant]

Under d' Amico and Salah, like good, good lane discipline and being in there. It's hard to coach against this little fucking guy because every time I look up when they're playing the Panthers or they're playing the Saints and games that like, it's like whatever they're going to win this thing. You just see this little guy running around back and forth. He.

[Michael F. Florio]

You talk about backyard football with Caleb.

[Marcus Grant]

There is no more backyard football player in the NFL than Kyler Murray, which he's really Talented.

[Michael F. Florio]

So it makes like if he's on.

[Marcus Grant]

It's hard now Marvin Harrison, like, that pick was the wrong pick. Like he's never going to be Malik neighbors.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

And they. McBride's a good player. They have some offensive weapons. Defensively, they have more talent on defense. But what's your take on the Cardinals? To me, my, my bet on this one, Niners backup quarterback, like, it makes.

[Michael F. Florio]

Me a little nervous though. I, you know, as we're recording this.

[Stuckey]

On 30, definitely out.

[Michael F. Florio]

I keep seeing he's not definitely out.

[Stuckey]

So they're probably going to sit him like they're 2 0, right.

[Michael F. Florio]

I think after winning that game, it.

[Marcus Grant]

Gives them a little breathing room. Yeah, I like the under in this game. I looked this morning, it was 45 and a half. Like, I can see this being a lower scoring, kind of ugly game, but to me, Kyler is just. I could see him just like having a rushing touchdown in the second half in a tie, like in a 13:13 game. All of a sudden the Niners are down and they struggle to score with Mac Jones. That would be the.

[Stuckey]

That's.

[Michael F. Florio]

That's their.

[Marcus Grant]

That's the Cardinals path to winning. Is Kyler just making shit up?

[Stuckey]

Yeah. Mac Jones, he looked, he looked decent enough last week, by the way. I had that over. I talked about that over because like, I was like these two play callers indoors and it luckily got there, but I was sat down to watch it and I'm like, oh, also the 49ers have a new kicker. And of course the new kicker misses an extra point. I'm like, this is. Maybe this is a 49ers thing, that.

[Michael F. Florio]

They'Re just never going to get the same one takeaway.

[Marcus Grant]

The Saints offense is better than the perception, I think, by people that aren't paying attention. They have good wide receivers, tight ends, good player. Kamar is good. Rattler is not terrible.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, he's playing like at an average level so far this season. We'll see if he can keep it up. Like, obviously he's been at home.

[Marcus Grant]

He's not the perception of him though, I think.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, they had the ball late in like both games.

[Michael F. Florio]

Twice.

[Stuckey]

Like.

[Marcus Grant]

Yeah, I mean, they had it twice in the Niners game with a chance, you know, down four, five points.

[Stuckey]

Yeah.

[Michael F. Florio]

Yeah.

[Stuckey]

The, the problem with this game, like, I don't. The Matt. I don't know who's going to start Mac Jones or if it's Purdy the car. The. One of the biggest things to keep an eye on the Cardinals secondary, we just talked about secondaries that are in shambles. The Cardinals cornerback room is decimated. They all their three starters got hurt last week. So one of them lose their.

[Marcus Grant]

One of their best corners in training camp for the season. I think they lost.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, they lost a corner in training camp but they. Will Johnson who didn't practice yesterday I haven't seen today, he's looked outstanding but he got hurt. Melton got hurt and they put Williams on ir. So they might be without three starting corners and their corners were starting to look pretty good. I like the room because Will Johnson hit and like shocker if. Yeah seriously. But now like it's not. If you lose your one corner and then like another couple weeks later, like that's bad. But three in the same week and then you got like that's. And they run a lot of complex stuff. They run some of the best stuff schematically in the league. So I, I don't know like that is. Are the 49ers fully capable of exploiting that with their passing attack?

[Marcus Grant]

Maybe Pearsall looks good. Jennings. Jennings made some plays last week.

[Stuckey]

Yeah. So it could be a disaster for the Cardinals defense. I don't know how they're going to handle it. They might just go. They might be forced to just go super conservative and play insane coverage and just prevent explosives and. Or they just switch it up and say we're going to come after I. So I don't know how they're going to play it. I also don't know exactly if like all three are out. So as of right now I can't bet it. But that if you want to bet that game and you're just looking into it. Keep an eye on the injury report for the Cardinals because it would be pretty bad if they're without. Let me see if there's an update yet. I mean they're on the West Coast. Yeah. So Gary Williams went on. He's on ir and I mean. Yeah. Earlier this season they lost. I mean Murphy Bunnings out. Sterling Thomas is on ir but Will Johnson and Max Melton if they're out like you're talking about. I mean I, I know most rosters I don't even know like Denzel Burke I think who like that's probably who would start. He's another rookie wasn't supposed to play like I don't even know. Their other corner is like you're talking like you'd also the kid, this guy Clark who will probably play nickel. So like I. They're. They're secondary could be in complete Shamble. So that's, that would be my hesitation for the under and then that would be my hesitation for like wanting to back the Cardinals. So like, if you want to get on San Fran under three, I wouldn't blame anyone because it just could be a very bad situation.

[Marcus Grant]

I, I think the, the other thing that. This is why I always say in the draft there is no such thing as a high floor.

[Michael F. Florio]

Right?

[Marcus Grant]

I mean, talented guys from big programs or Ashton Genti who almost shatters Barry's fan. You just never know. Everyone's like, Marvin Harrison cannot miss.

[Michael F. Florio]

Well, what if he can't?

[Marcus Grant]

Because the quarterback in him, they have no cohesion. He keeps saying like, hey, just.

[Michael F. Florio]

Kyler always has weird comments like, the situation now is, it wasn't just last.

[Marcus Grant]

Year, it's carrying into this year. He's got 11 targets through two games.

[Michael F. Florio]

And every time I hear like, see a clip of Kyler, like, it doesn't feel like he's ready to force feed him the rock. I mean, I, I clearly Kyler doesn't.

[Marcus Grant]

Think he's as good is the way everyone told me that Marvin Harrison was as good.

[Stuckey]

Yeah. And they like, the Cardinals are like, I think they're staff is really smart. Their coordinators, their head coach.

[Marcus Grant]

Totally agree.

[Stuckey]

And, but, and they're building this team in the right way. Obviously it'd be so much better if they had neighbors, but they need like, this is a team. Like, I bet them to go to the playoffs this year. This is a team that. Their win total was like eight and a half. Like, they're expected to be a winning team in order to get there. And like we just talked about, this division is going to be a war. They need Harrison to hit like, yeah, yeah, the run game is going to be good and McBride's going to be good, but look at their other receivers. It's like Zay Jones and Michael Wilson. It's so like if Harrison doesn't hit like you're, you're building that offense on like, okay, you got McBride a good run game and then we have our top pick, that's going to be the stud number one. And then you can have role players, but if he's not the alpha one, it just doesn't work in the ceiling of that offense is so much lower.

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[Drew Franklin]

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm.

[Matt Jones]

Drew Franklin, and this is NFL Cover Zero. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining, and twice a week. That is exactly what you're gonna get. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game.

[Matt Jones]

What was that?

[Drew Franklin]

Looks like something that should not be sold.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, my.

[Drew Franklin]

So that was my other big Colts takeaway.

[Matt Jones]

Sold that.

[Marcus Grant]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

Might want to go back to the Colts stadium. Yeah, I might want to go back to the drawing board on that.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

I thought the shape we had with pretzels was working pretty well.

[Michael F. Florio]

It's worked for generations.

[Matt Jones]

We're just here trying to enjoy it. We hope you all will join us throughout the year. And let's go.

[Drew Franklin]

I hope I'm as youthful as Pete Carroll is at his age. He's a young 73.

[Marcus Grant]

He is a young 73.

[Matt Jones]

He is spry.

[Drew Franklin]

I wouldn't fight him.

[Matt Jones]

I would listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[West West Prop]

All right, West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You already know our get down. If you grew up in our urban areas of comfort, of struggle, you understand politics much more than you giving credit for feds taking over American cities, government. Hop out, boys, hopping out the van, snatching up your Theo and them two wars that was supposed to be solved in 24 hours. Jerry just out here mandering all over the place, the turfs, and of course, the Epstein of it all. Well, this week we decided to shoot our shot, and boy, did we pull up from the logo to see if we could get somebody to come tap in with us. And the one and only Jamil Hill pulled up from the Spolitics podcast to keep it a whole century.

[Narrator/Announcer]

Because in America, what sells in politics are narratives and storylines. It's like we treat politics like we treat sports, which is part of the reason why we're in the situation we're in right now.

[West West Prop]

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

What's up, everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game. From scouting reports and player development to.

[Bucky Brooks]

Team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Every week we Study the tape, talk to decision makers and share the insights you won't find anywhere else.

[Bucky Brooks]

It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots. From college football prospects to the NFL.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Stars of tomorrow, we break down the draft, analyze matchups and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

[Bucky Brooks]

Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction and the trends that shape the league year after year.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Whether you're a die hard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture.

[Bucky Brooks]

If you want insight that goes beyond the box score, this podcast is for you.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marcus Grant]

Okay, two more games. Let's go. Rams Eagles.

[Michael F. Florio]

You know I saw the highlight.

[Marcus Grant]

I remember last year in that playoff game, was it the first drive where Jalen busted a long run? It was like the first couple plays of the game and clearly if he's running around making plays, their offense is different animal. You watch them this year. I mean their passing game is atrocious. People, people making fun of Chris Jones for saying the comment. All he's saying is like you don't get to say you didn't do a goddamn thing beside the tush push. You're throwing 100 yards a game. You're the defending champs. Like I, I'm on Chris Jones side. They're like yeah, we lost the game. But like you don't get the boast. You know, of all the people, I, I just think they're passing game like the thing with Philly and you know, having grown up there that it's good they're 2, 0, they're defending champs.

[Michael F. Florio]

But the undercurrent is like what's up with our offensive coordinator?

[Marcus Grant]

And we have seen this now twice.

[Michael F. Florio]

In the last four years.

[Marcus Grant]

Their coordinator, when they get it right, they're unstoppable.

[Michael F. Florio]

Well right now the passing game, something just looks off.

[Marcus Grant]

It's not like A.J. brown's not there. It's not like Devontae Smith's not there. It's not like their offensive line's not there. Something's off now luckily their defense is well coached. They got the Chiefs who struggling offensively. But some something concerns me and it's hard. Listen, I'm never betting the Titans again Stucky until like Steve McNair 2.0 shows up. But the Rams I think look pretty good. I mean if Stafford's healthy like I like the Rams in this spot.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, I agree. I play The Rams getting Goddard back, I believe he should play. That'll help the Eagles. But yeah, the offense is broken. Like there's no creativity. There's. They're telegraphing their plays. Like when what formation they're in is. You can tell when they're running or passing. It's really bad. It could just be a Brian Johnson 2.0 situation. Think about this. They've only completed two passes over 10 yards in two weeks. One of them was just a jump ball to DeVontae Smith down the side, all out blitz. Yeah, that was it. That's it. And they played the Cowboys who just gave up 7 trillion passing yards to Russell Wilson. And then they play the Chiefs who has issues on the back end like the Chargers. Rip them apart like this is not the same chief secondary and they couldn't do anything. And yeah, the Rams, their offense and the Eagles defense is going to take a step back. They lost a ton of talent. They're not getting as much pressure. So yeah, I mean this is big revenge spot for the Rams. McVeigh 18, 11 and 2 against the spread as an underdog of more than three points. He also, his teams are always ready and prepared for these east coast games. I don't know what he does, the routine that they have, but he's has had, he has had as much success as any head coach. NFL going west to east. He's 14, 7 and 1 against the spread in the eastern time zone. 67% covering by about six points per game. Just look at last year. Like with older Stafford in the Snow, they were 20 yards away from beating the Eagles who went on to dominate the Super Bowl. So yeah, I mean the Rams have had this game circle. Their defense is playing well. Their offense is on fire. Devonte Adams has been an upgrade. Stafford is playing out of his mind. He's apparently ageless. The other thing is this is like really in the weeds. But if I had, if I, if I could bet this, I would. All this discourse around the tush push and McVeigh went to the league this week on Wednesday and he used to be on the rules committee. He went to the league and wanted to talk about the Tush push. Well, everyone's talking about this. Everyone clearly saw that the Eagles went, you know, they were lining up off sides. There was a couple false starts that they didn't call. Now there's also a couple neutral zone infractions that weren't called. But all this talk about it, every show is talking about it like all over Twitter. So what I think is going to happen this week is you're going to see like, I don't know, three or four penalties on it, depending on how often it gets run. But it's just such a huge swing play. And here's the thing, if it's on the defense, so if they're going to.

[Marcus Grant]

Like say, okay here, neutral zone, it.

[Stuckey]

Doesn'T really matter because the Eagles were going to get it anyway. So it's just five yards. But the difference between Eagles, like fourth and one at the goal line, oh, they're going to score. But if they call the false start, that's four points off the board. Yeah, if it's at the 50 yard line and you call it instead of keeping your drive going, that's a punt. So it's way more detrimental to call it on the offense. I think they're going to make an example maybe of both sides, so that could help the Rams. I think you're going to see those calls. Also, like the Eagles, when they're laying, they're like the, the new Chiefs. Like when they're laying over a field goal, like this offense just looks like it can't build margin. But if they're winning by a field goal, like they're more likely than any team, the NFL to win by just a field goal. Because if they have the ball up, a field goal with like nine minutes to go, they're going to go three yards, three yards, Tosh push, Tush push, four minutes off the clock, three yards. It's like service academy. And then they're, and then they're going to go 30 yards down the field in eight minutes and then take knees. And then if you bet the Eagles, you're like, oh my God. But yeah, I like the Rams here. Look out the penalties in the Tush push.

[Marcus Grant]

Well, you're right. If they, if they call the false start on the offense, the Tush push is dead right. If that happened on, on that individual drive now, I haven't broken down every time. Obviously they don't jump every time. They clearly were doing against the Chiefs.

[Stuckey]

You know, and they should have lost that. They should have lost that Chiefs game. Kelsey catches, that play was worth negative 7 and a half expected points. Go from a touchdown to 60 yards the other way and then a touchdown like that was as big of a swing as you'll ever see in an NFL game. So yeah, the Eagles, Eagles have certainly been a bit lucky, which is covered up. They're still good and. But like I think about all the drops that CD Lamb had, like the Cowboys could have beat him week one.

[Marcus Grant]

They. Well, they better take advantage of it. Do you expect the touch push to get banned in the middle of the season?

[Michael F. Florio]

Probably not, right?

[Stuckey]

No, I don't think they can do it. They'd have to do it in the off season. But I think now, the last year.

[Michael F. Florio]

Right.

[Stuckey]

Yeah. Because there were two votes short and now like, I think that game on, like that game just magnified it and it probably swung a couple people. I think that 12 of their plays this year have been the Dutch push, which is insane. So I'm sure the NFL doesn't like it because, like it's, it's just boring. Right. And they're trying to like increase action and points and like part of the kickoff rule was that. And like the Eagles going on an eight minute rugby drive probably isn't the, the best entertainment product. Which at the end of the day that's partly what they're. They're trying to put out. So, yeah, I wouldn't be shocked if it, if it does get banned in this offseason.

[Marcus Grant]

I don't think before I jumped on, I was going over the board and had Coward on in the back and you know, his. He was basically. And I totally agree that, you know, the shift wasn't that big a deal when a couple teams did it here and there for a player or two. When everybody did it for every guy in the lineup, it became like, we can't watch this anymore. Hack a Shaq for Shaquille o', Neal, no big deal. But when you start hacking, literally every big guy that can't shoot free throws, no one's going to want to watch this.

[Michael F. Florio]

Like, it was a tough watch last.

[Marcus Grant]

I mean, this is ultimately entertainment and it's really boring to watch when part of football is you don't know what's going to happen. Even someone DM me, like, why don't you just ban the quarterback sneak?

[Michael F. Florio]

Because quarterback sneaks get stuffed all the time. Yeah, and the other thing is like.

[Marcus Grant]

That anyone for the Eagles could run it.

[Michael F. Florio]

I disagree. Because if you put Tanner McKee on.

[Marcus Grant]

The play where Chris Jones jumps over.

[Michael F. Florio]

And grabs Jalen, I don't think Tanner McKee has the strength to drag Chris Jones.

[Marcus Grant]

But Jalen is no bench.

[Stuckey]

Like, he can squat like 600 pounds.

[Michael F. Florio]

So like, yeah, his quarterback of all time, who's also, you know, even like Cam and Josh, they're leveraged because they're so much taller. They're like basketball players. Jalen's built like Saquon, so it's, it's it's an outlier situation. It's as much him to me as.

[Marcus Grant]

The offensive line, which obviously they have a powerful offensive line, but they have.

[Michael F. Florio]

This quarterback who's built like a little tank.

[Stuckey]

That's a huge part of it. He also has, we talked about this last week. He also has the knack for where to go. Yeah, some quarterbacks don't have Josh Allen. Yeah, they're just like, oh, I don't.

[Michael F. Florio]

Know where to go see it in college.

[Marcus Grant]

A lot. Like, that play does not work in college often.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, yeah.

[Marcus Grant]

Arch, Arch was a disaster that first week.

[Michael F. Florio]

He was like.

[Stuckey]

But it shows you the one thing that the difference in that game, which was so apparent is that because when it's fourth and inches, you should be able to sneak it most times. And like, when you need it and the Chiefs don't have a sneak. And I've been screaming this because they won't do it because Mahomes is hurt. Like, he got hurt one time doing it seven years ago. He's like, what other quarterback ever seen get hurt on a sneak? So the Chiefs refused to do it. They got stopped on a fourth and one, like, just blown up. There was. And the Eagles. Meanwhile, in every fourth and one, those huge swing plays, I've been yelling this, that every team should just have a guy that if you don't want your quarterback, if you're afraid of quarterback, have a guy that just practices it. A big guy, big strong guy, practices snap, and then do it. Like the Chiefs, they, they don't have a run game. So on these fourth and ones, like, they got to get so creative, and it's just not as efficient as just going up and sneaking it. So it was very evident that game.

[Marcus Grant]

Okay, Monday night, I, I, I, I just, maybe I'm overreacting to one game. But, like, I do think the Lions lost to the packers, aged a little bit better once we saw the packers play another game. I do think they, you know, the players that got their ass kicked by the Ravens, who honestly got to be one of the better teams to not win a Super bowl over the last 25 years, when you factor in, they had Lamar Jackson like, in his prime and one of the great defenses of its era with Mike McDonald calling defense. So, I mean, that team, I think if you simulate it five times, win some Super Bowls, maybe three of the five times, maybe four of those five times. But I just kind of feel like I like the Lions and the points in this matchup. Maybe I'm overreacting to last week. Clearly the Ravens are good. I do just. I don't know. I mean I think this kind of an easy rallying cry too for a lot of those guys were a part of that ass kicking. I know golf, outdoors, different animal. I think he had a comment it could be the Bears. That's the best pass protection he'd ever had in a game in his career. So not, not a great indication of the Bears front, which clearly the Ravens are going to be better. Every time I look up, I mean Wiggins, do the Ravens ever miss on a pick? I mean it's like they just get this guy at the end of the first round and he's just fucking making.

[Stuckey]

Usually receivers they hit on, but for 20 years they couldn't hit on a receiver. They. It was a blind spot for their entire scouting department who usually is nails on but could have been Cor, you.

[Marcus Grant]

Know, Flacco's for a lot of that period of time wasn't exactly Peyton Manning.

[Stuckey]

Yes. But even before, like, even like you go back Ray Lewis, Flacco. Yeah. Like, well, like Kyle Bolt, they also couldn't draft the quarterback. It's quarterback, wide receiver they got, they hit, they hit on Flacco, but the Kyle Bowler pick, that was rough. But guys like Travis Taylor, I mean there's a Mark Clayton guys that just never hit. Like in order to get over the hump they had, they went out and got bold and like. And that's how they won the Super Bowl. They had to go out and sign him. Yeah. The two things you really want to watch here, like, like I mentioned last week, like I don't take too much from the Lions running it up. They were at home. The Bears had no secondary. They were playing a scheme that is you don't want to play against golf. You don't want to play man. And if you're not going to get pressure, that won't be the case in Baltimore. It'll be a completely different animal. So I think the lines look somewhere in the middle of what we saw in week one and week two. The, the, I mean Lamar and Harbaugh, they don't usually ever lose these prime time games at home. I the two guys that I'm watching to see. The Ravens offense isn't the same without likely apparently he's practicing today. If he's back, their offense becomes so much more difficult to defend. Like they got a practice guy up there and more and Mark Andrews isn't the same guy and they have a practice guy that's getting snaps. That is just the like that they don't really have to pay attention to, but when they have likely it's a whole different offense and it's so much harder to defend schematically. Like what are they going to do? And you can go in so many different formations and you can put. You can put the defense in compromise situations. So if he's back and then Marlon Humphrey who got hurt over the weekend, if he's back, that's huge. They need him in the slot, especially against Amon Ra on that offense. So that's what I'm waiting for. I. My initial gut says Ravens, but I haven't bet it yet. It'll be a great game to watch, so highly entertaining.

[Marcus Grant]

Yeah, I can't wait. Okay, before I get you out of here, any Tulane, any big upset alerts in college, I got a little home favorite parlay. Utah, Oklahoma. You get about plus 125 parlay. Those just money line in my, in my. You got Texas Tech, Auburn, like either one of those teams to ruin my parlay Tulane. What are you thinking about that group?

[Stuckey]

They know. They know Jackson Arnold well, that Oklahoma defensive staff. So they should have have some really good stuff dialed up.

[Marcus Grant]

Their defense looks sweet right now.

[Stuckey]

Yeah, their defense is really, really good. Kendrick Falk for Auburn. Keep it. He's an NFL player, maybe a first rounder. He's gonna have to wreck havoc in this game for Auburn. Auburn also has secondary injuries, which isn't great. But Kendrick Falcon in this Oklahoma offensive line is their one weak point and they've had injuries and they got two freshmen in there. If he can like wreck the game, that's probably Auburn's best shot. Yeah. And Utah. Yeah, Utah, Texas Tech. I don't have a great feel on it because just because neither team has played anybody. So Morton looks great. The passing offense for Texas Tech, the O line for Utah's unbelievable. One of the best in the country. Texas Tech went out and got dudes on the defensive line. They have one of the best of that matchup's great. The Utah receivers aren't great and the Texas Tech corners aren't great. So like does everything washes out? It's going to come down to like. And then one of these teams wants to run it. One of the. It's like air raid versus like a run raid for lack of a better term. So like good contrast to style starts at 10am what time is that?

[Marcus Grant]

Mountain time.

[Stuckey]

10Am Mountain time. It's local so the people will talk about the altitude. Not that big of a deal because Utah Salt Lake city is like 4,500ft. People don't realize lick's like 3,500. So like Lubbock is in probably like the seventh or eighth highest college town in the country. But weird start. So like I bought in Texas Tech. I'm. I don't know if I'm. I'm probably happy about it. You don't want to play Rice echoes at night places the zoo but I don't have a show.

[Marcus Grant]

It's almost like Utah couldn't turn down. I mean there's a lot of people watching this game, right?

[Stuckey]

A big new kickoff.

[Marcus Grant]

Yeah.

[Stuckey]

It's probably good to like to just because they don't get any exposure. No one's watching their games as far as nationally so no strong feel there. One a random one I'll throw out.

[Marcus Grant]

I just brought it to Lane because they're undefeated. They're obviously pretty good. You know obviously Ole Miss is good.

[Stuckey]

Too but I I don't mind too laying there.

[Marcus Grant]

I look this morning.

[Stuckey]

NIU is a good bet against Mississippi State. Thomas Hammock, the coach for niu is like 5 and 21 against the spread as a favorite and he's like 22 and 6 against the spread as an underdog. Like we saw him beat Notre Dame last year. He went into Georgia Tech and beat them because they just will scrying this game down to an absolute halt. Like they were at Maryland last week and like they lost the game was like 18:6 in the fourth quarter. They know how to go in and he has them ready for these like big games. And plus Mississippi State has Tennessee and Texas a and M1 deck sleepy spot 21 1/2. And then my favorite bet this is really random but Miami of Ohio at home noon kick against UNLV. Like first of all it's a 9am body clock game for UNLV out of conference going up to Oxford Ohio like really weird spot. My Ohio hasn't won a game yet. They're looking for the first win but they played all they have played is Big Ten teams and UNLV has one of the weakest UNLV's. They're 3 0. They played UCLA who they barely be who is in shambles. They fired their coach at the they just lost by 35 and on the New Mexico so they beat UCLA to beat Sam Houston who's probably the worst one of the three worst teams in the country and then Idaho State who they almost lost to at home. So their profile is a complete fraud. Huge strength of schedule disparity big special teams edge from Iowa. Like a bunch of the little things. Weird spot for you. One of the I think Miami Ohio gets it done at home. Noon Eastern on espnu. I'll be one of the seven people watching that.

[Marcus Grant]

You are a true sicko. That's why we love you. Have a good weekend, Stucky. Talk to you soon.

[Stuckey]

Absolutely too, brother.

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[Matt Jones]

Hey, this is Matt Jones and I'm Drew Franklin and this is NFL Cover Zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

[Drew Franklin]

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[Matt Jones]

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[West West Prop]

All right, West West Prop here from Hood Politics with Prop Podcast. You know I get down. You come from the urban areas. You understand politics more than you giving credit for. Between Jerry out here mandering all over the place. Hop out boys. Snatching up family members and two wars that was supposed to be done in 24 hours. Not to mention Epstein. We had to reach out to the homie Jamil Hill cuz she gonna keep.

[Narrator/Announcer]

It a century in America. What sells in politics are narratives and storylines. It's like we treat politics like we treat sports, which is part of the reason why we're in the situation we're in right now.

[West West Prop]

Listen to the Hood Politics with Prop podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Hey everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here and I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six. We take you inside the game. From breaking down college prospects and NFL.

[Bucky Brooks]

Rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

We study the tape, talk to decision makers and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

[Bucky Brooks]

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Marcus Grant]

I'm Marcus Grant.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

And I'm Michael F. Florio and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast.

[Marcus Grant]

Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

[Michael F. Florio]

Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

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[Stuckey]

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[Marcus Grant]

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[Daniel Jeremiah]

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[Marcus Grant]

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast.

[Daniel Jeremiah]

On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or.

[Marcus Grant]

Wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit toyota.com NFL now to learn more.

[Narrator/Announcer]

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