FiredUp Network
Thursday, September 5:Time Out NFL
Welcome in to fired up network. It's time out and we are breaking down week one of the National Football League. It's finally here. The best place to follow all of it is on that True TV Plus app. You can watch it from anywhere you watch your Smart TV right here on fired up network True TV Plus. It's on Amazon, Roku, on Google Play, on Chromecast, on your phones on your TVs, wherever. Joined by Alex Gamble and Alex, thanks for being back for the National Football League season. We're kicking off week one right here in Kansas City. Are you ready for the Chiefs to take on the Baltimore Ravens? I'm definitely ready. I've been looking forward to this game for months, you know, pretty much since I took that first look at the schedule over the summer, you know, because it's such a huge match up between what you expect to be contenders. And I think that, you know, that leads me into like my first thought about that game is that, you know, the Chiefs, they're in oddly different spots. The Chiefs vying for their, you know, third consecutive title at this point certainly look poised to do so. And maybe don't need this win as much at home on the surface. And I know I said that last week, but then you kind of look at the other side of the coin too though. And the Chiefs were five and four at Arrowhead last year. They had to really battle through and you don't really want to have to depend on my homes to be, you know, this, you know, swashbuckling, you know, hero when it comes time, you don't have to rely on them that much. So, you know, he's going to do great things, but you can't ask him to continuously over and over again. If you're going to win the third, you know, protecting that home field advantage would be wise. So that actually it's a valuable game for the Chiefs to put in their pocket, you know, right away. So I can see both sides of it. I still think that the Ravens come out on top here. You know, I just, for like I said, I just think there's a lot more pressure on the Ravens to perform week one because of where they're at. They've been contenders several years. They haven't even won the playoffs, let alone gotten to the Super Bowl or close. Now, and it's, it is in the staff, both teams are very well established programs. I was checking out a little bit of Ravens coverage from gentlemen who covers the Ravens that we've had on former Ravens Samuel and Doku. The Ravens have the most homegrown players of any team in the league on their roster. They're 72% homegrown, which is a pretty impressive number. That's telling you that they've built a program. They have a style. So you're not going to see any huge major changes. They're going to try to pound the rock. They're going to try to play hard defense. Lamar is going to throw it a little bit more, but honestly not that much more. I mean, your main receivers are Richard Bateman and Zae Flowers. Mark Andrews is at a really hard go over the off season with a car accident. And then he had the injury last year and, you know, dealing with type one diabetes. I mean, I don't know how long he's going to keep going and be a major elite tight end. So there's plenty of questions. And from the chief's perspective, yeah, winning in that opener would be huge. Last year, I said it last night on timeout, Casey. I mean, they legitimately won the opener. Caderius Tony lost it. They lost to the Lions by a boy. And that was without Travis Kelsey, without Chris Jones and with Caderius Tony deciding that he was a setter in volleyball and setting the passes up for a nice interception. Well, he's not there this year. It's going to be a little bit different. You would think now, you know, the fans want to hear crazy excitement and over the top from their head coach. Here's what Andy Reed said to open the press conference though. Look for the chance of playing the Ravens. Good football team, good players and good coaches. John does a phenomenal job there, always Zach Todd and Chris in their spots with the offensive special team. So we know they're well coached. We know they've got good players. And so we go through our preparation this week. Today's the first main day of practice and we'll start off. So with that time, George, there you go. There's the fiery intensity you're looking for, right? Super intense. I mean, it's true. I mean, they obviously they know each other well. John Harbaugh was a special teams coach for Andy Rico and way back to the Philadelphia Eagles now, which doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it was 13 years ago. He was not seeing that long ago. Yeah. I mean, I don't know. I mean, what do you take from that? I mean, it is just one game. The NFL is more one game is far more important than one game is in baseball and basketball and soccer, but but now there are 17. Now there are 17 and they lost the opener last year and didn't and won the Super Bowl. So, you know what I mean? Like there's just the obvious argument that says like they don't, you know, they don't necessarily need it much that when it comes crunch time, and I think you see that congruent in like multiple sports where, you know, at some point, Tiger Woods didn't play every tournament. And let's be honest, LeBron James really turns it on in the second half of the NBA season, you know, and especially in the postseason, you know what I mean? Yeah. That there's a different intensity in those in those moments. So that early season like this, like you said, you do see it in other sports, but especially from the absolute transcendent, you know, talents in the sports, you see them kind of pick their moments better as time goes on. And, you know, like we've talked about before, I think the NFL specifically with their salary cap system and the amount that the quarterback contracts are costing drives itself into a position where you have to perform this sort of, you know, salary cap miracle and, you know what I mean? To do it. So you have to kind of follow the system where you're not going to look, Tyree kill isn't here anymore because he's a very expensive wide receiver. You know what I mean? Like it's just just so you can't have like these incredible, you know, weapons that you can show off, you know what I mean? It's out. Look at the shoes receiving court last year, they barely made it through. And I mean, they're better now. Sure. But, you know, noticeably better, but not not anywhere close to greater elite, you know, so. But I do believe in the greatness of my homes, ultimately, though, you know, throughout the season. So and I think they've gotten better in a couple of spots. I have been very impressed with Kingsley. Sumatiah, the rookie left tackle who comes from a heavy passing college system at BYU. He's part of the bloodline. Samoan dynasty. So Roman Reigns is going to acknowledge the Chiefs this year with Kingsley. He's going to be your left tackle. He was the highest rated rookie offensive lineman in preseason during the amount of time he played. What was supposed to be the big competition to training camp? It was over before the first preseason game. There was no competition. He was going to be the starter. Wanya Morris is a swing tackle and former draft pick Lucas Nyang. He's sitting on the practice squad now. So the Chiefs, I think, have gotten better at offense blind. I think they've gotten better at wide receiver since last year and they won it last year. Dig it a chance to get Andy Reed's comments on what can you take from the championship game. The last time these two teams, Matt and the Ravens last meaningful game, here's what he said to that. Yeah, they didn't play a whole lot in the preseason. They're main guys. But we know who they are. Again, Ora's coming in and he's familiar with the whole group, but he's going to do what he does from a defensive standpoint. So there'll be some changes. I mean, there are going to be changes that take place. And it happens early in the season for the first few weeks until you know, until you get kind of settled on what they do best. And so you got to be flexible on your end. And we'll just see, see how it goes, but you can definitely take away the primary scheme or take away from the game, the primary scheme. You can just feel the excitement in the room. He didn't mention the big edition that the Ravens made during the offseason was obviously Derek Henry. King Henry is going to be your starting running back. Do you think he still has enough in the tank to be a dominant running back paired with Lamar Jackson? Because you got a couple of big running threats you're going to have to look out for now. I mean, last year was a different Derek Henry than I think we've seen. And I just, you know, it's hard for me to believe that a running back, you know, at this point in his career is going to have a bounce back here and do better than the year before. It just doesn't normally happen. So I think you have to go off last year's production. Do I think he's capable of, you know, 850 yards? Yes, more than that, I doubt it. That was a horrendous offense he was playing with last year. I had a bad, bad, bad offense. I had to go in into Tennessee. If you stop him, you win. But he's had great. I have a little bit easier path. It's true, but he's had years when teams have completely loaded the box and lined up to stop him his whole career. I mean, that's that's really nothing new. You know what I mean? And the Titans have had arguably underwhelming talent for most of his career as well. That's also nothing new. And he's put up historic numbers. You know what I mean? But again, and I'm not trying to criticize him at all. It just happens over time when you, when these athletes, especially at that, especially at that position, when you typically have that one drop off year, that next year is almost always worse than that year, even if in the best case scenario, you're on that level. So like I said, 850 yards or so, which I think would be a huge contribution to have almost a thousand yard rusher to that offense would be it would be a huge contribution. Exactly what they're after at this point in his career. So I think that would be a, you know, rousing success for him in the franchise. I think it's safe to say he should be a bigger impact than Odell Beckham Jr. was. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And his dad's probably not going to be complaining on the sidelines about the quarterback being bad. No, I don't, I don't believe that'll happen. I don't think we've ever heard from Derek Henry's father, not that I know of, you know, about any complaints about the roster, which not a good luck. Let's think of like here, here's the power rankings. This is from the NFL on Fox. So we're getting to start off league play, the number one chiefs against the number eight Ravens talked about that. Take a look at some of the other teams that are ranked up high. Couple of surprises. The Lions sitting real high at the number two spot. Come on. The Niners at three, the Eagles at four and ascended Houston Texans at five. Jordan and love getting ready for the massive check. Yeah, six, a returning Joe burrow with the bangles at seven. The bills slipping a little bit to nine. The Browns surprisingly at 10. Your Dallas Cowboys and the LA Rams, the New York football jets J ETS jets jets jets, hoping that Aaron Rodgers can stay upright. Number 13, her cousins and the Falcons at 14. Baker Mayfield in the box at 15 and the Miami Dolphins coming in at 16. Take a look at that first half. Anything that jumps out at you there is being a little bit out of place. Yeah, the first thing is the Lions. I look, I know they made it to the NFC title game and I love the roster still. I love that they decided to retain golf and just kind of build around him and their offensive line is arguably best in the league and I think that's a key piece. There's an offensive light. When you have the best offensive line in the league and there's literally an offensive line shortage, that's normally a good thing. So the Lions have a very good thing and I think that's why so many people are very high on them. But at the same time, I don't think they have the weapons at the perimeter to be considered in that echelon of top three team in the NFL. Laporta had a really good first year. We'll see how year two goes. I like Montgomery. I like Gibbs. It sounds like Gibbs might miss some time. If St. Brown misses a chunk of time, that receiving core is destitute. So it will be a heavy run in tight end offense and especially considering that you have a blocking tight end as your head coach. I think the expectations are awfully high. Matter of fact, I don't think the Lions are going to win the North this year. I don't think they win the NFC North. I think the Packers either win either probably sweep them in the series this year. I would estimate because the Packers, it's interesting. I just think the Lions, especially with the head coach of Dan Campbell and his attitude and how it leads through the team, they are a very good hunter. I'm not sure they are how good they are going to be as the hunted. Well, I don't think there are team that's built to outscore people. Yeah. I think Brown's a terrific player, but after him, those receivers kind of go off a cliff and you're not going to be adding a lot to it because you're paying the same Brown so much now. The Packers do seem to be the more explosive offense and a team that really came on strong during the second half of last year. Yeah, I am a little surprised that the Lions get the number two slot and the Packers are down at six. Obviously, there hasn't been a game played yet, so these numbers are going to move around. The Niners, if they can stay healthy, they probably are the best team in the NFC still, won't you say? Yeah, if they can stay healthy, absolutely they're the best team in the NFC. But boy, do they have a noisy off season. I mean, the noisiest off season in the NFL, the holdouts of two of their most key players, arguably their most key player Trent Williams. And then of their top live key players, certainly Brandon Ayuk, both look like they may not be there any longer for a time this year. That's that's stressful. We haven't really seen a lot of them. They're an aging roster. You know what I mean? There's I talk about pressure on Baltimore. There's even more pressure on the 49ers, but there's a pressure because they are so talented, you know, and there's a lot of other looming questions. This is the Brock Purdy option year. Yeah. Yeah, Fox ticket. Clocks ticking on everything. This is the this is the block Brock Purdy option year. So you got to decide to pick it up. And it has over let me ask you this. Over the last 10 years, have you seen a quarterback where there's there's less of an obvious choice whether or not to pick up that fifth year option? Well, it's not a fifth year option. It's a fourth year for him because he was drafted so low. And the question is, you're not going to be able to retain him for just, Hey, let's just give you a 20% more because he's making nothing. He's making less than Will Howard's making at Ohio State to go to Ohio State quarterback. So the question is, do you feel confident enough in Brock Purdy to give him a Baker Mayfield like contract, a $90 million contract or $120 million, four year, 30 million? Or do you think, Hey, wait a minute, when we've looked at Brock Purdy, when Deebo was out for a game, if Trent's out for a game, if Brandon's out for a game, if Christian's out for a game, we suck. So is he just the guy that can drive the boss when everything's good? We got the best end and we got the best tires. Man, we got exactly far out of the bus. Everything's good. This is a beautiful cruise bus. And I just think that, but then, yeah, we go to a Greyhound bus. Oh man, we fall apart, you can't drive it. Yeah, like that, that front office, because it is everything isn't like in they lose, and they lose. And like I said, it's an aging roster. And it's all about their key pieces. Look, if Trent Williams is down for a significant amount of time, the offense is going to struggle. We saw it last year, if D goes down for, and certainly if CMC, those are really the key pieces. Trent Williams, CMC, and really Shanahan are the absolute keys to that team. And also, pressure on Shanahan, you know, right now too, to make it all work. I mean, so just pressure all around on the 49ers. Of course, the tragedy, you know, with with Ricky Piersall that happened sounds like he's doing a little better is out of the hospital and everything. So, you know, they're interested in family. But just crazy, like the turbulent, crazy off season they've seen, I don't know, over your lifetime. And mine, that has not been a good marker for a strong season historically. Things, you know what I mean? Contract disputes specifically that languish on until August, not a strong, not a strong, you know, thing to happen. Well, and they're kind of placed into a bad position because of the league's collective bargaining agreement. The actual collective bargaining agreement has stopped them from negotiating anything out with Brock Purdy and has created this deadline because you cannot extend players without that option year until the end of the third season. So, they can't do anything with them until the end of the season. But then you have a question, okay, do we extend him or do we walk because hey, we've won with multiple quarterbacks. We're paying everybody so much money. We can let him walk. He's just a guy. He's benefited from the system. We'll get somebody else and we'll be just fine. That's what you got to find out. If he's just a guy, I think they'll know by week six or seven of this season, really, because they're going to deal with an injury and you and of one of those players, it's the, you know what I mean? Their roster is too old where they depend on it the most. So, for that reason, they're going to have CMC or Trent Williams or someone is going to get injured and you're going to find out if he's got, if this is the year he ascends to the point that he can still carry the team in that moment. Well, here, let me ask you. We'll just, well, make it a, instead of an abstract, we'll make it a concrete choice. Niners have an injury. They bomb it. They don't make the playoffs. Do you take a couple of assets and trade and do whatever to get Carson back in the first round and then you have four years, five years, knowing you're not going to pay the quarterback a ton of money. You get a guy who may be coming off a winning consecutive NCAA championships or do you roll the dice and resign Brock Purdy to a big money deal. Okay. So if the season falls apart because one of the older stars gets injured and Purdy is not able to get us to the postseason. Purdy is fine, but he's just a guy. Okay. But he's just a guy. So, yeah, I've got to look at, I've got to look at moving on from him at that point because it is the option year because this is the time that we have to decide it and that made, really the reality made the choice for us. However, at this point, you know, at this point, I would lean towards paying Purdy just based on what I've seen so far. It's not like he doesn't have, you know, a book of business here and it hasn't been completely awful in the moments that they've had injuries. Like as you just pointed out, close games. They did look awful against the Browns, but a lot of teams have. I like to listen to a lot of the older NFL analysts. Peter Costas to me breaks down film better than anyone. And what he says about Brock Purdy, I think, is just nails it right on the head is that he's an elite processor of information and that's hard to see with the naked eye, but he can read, diagnose and manipulate a defense in a way that a viewer and even devout football fans cannot recognize. And that's what allows them to make decisions a little quicker. And I, you know, you got to lean towards his expertise. I do anyways and thinking he's correct about that because Purdy, if you look at his sack rate, gets sacked like the third least of any quarterback in the NFL with or without Trent Williams. And he's not athletic, so he's getting the ball out pretty fast. You know what I mean? So I kind of agree with that being able to read and diagnose the defense, getting the ball out pretty fast, you know, break down. So I think there is something to that. And I all I personally would hold on to him. You know what I mean? To me, there's a lot of similarities between Tim and the greatest quarterback of all time. There's a lot of similarities. I hate comparing the two, but there are a lot of similarities. Now he has, he's definitely a good to excellent game manager quarterback, which is a compliment. It's been turned into an insult, but that is a good trait to have the purpose of the position. The elite quarterbacks also manage the game. They just have flair. You know what I mean? Like they just they just do it. They just do it and make splash plays at the same time. There's there's like literally that's the part of the job description of quarterback and NFL or a college team is to manage the game. Manage just this. Let's see. A couple of the other teams that are ranked in that top half that seem a little bit off. I think are the bangles in the position? Is Joe Burrow healthy? He hasn't really practiced at full speed yet. Obviously if he's there, it adds a different dimension to the bangles game. Do you feel good with them at number seven? Yeah, I think it's tough. You know what I mean? It's just this week one prediction and stuff. It's it's so hard in college football when like things are imbalanced and everything here in a totally even system where you know upsets happen every week preseason week one. Pretty hard to tell who's the best you know top 10 teams with Joe Burrow you know not being in full health and we don't really know and also struggling with the injuries he has over the last couple seasons. I totally get it and even when he was healthy by the way, bangles have not started hot you know even even in his greatest years that was the number one issue they had in the regular season was it's like they got off to these slow starts. You know one that kind of jumps out to me is definitely how low the Rams are. I'm much higher on the Rams than that. I would put them above the Cowboys the Browns and probably right right there below the Bills. The Jets had 13 pretty interesting but that's just because I no matter where you put the Jets, I think it's pretty interesting. I just like whatever take anybody has in the Jets because the reality is nobody knows. You have a 40 year old quarterback who hasn't played well in three seasons. You know what I mean? Like a lot has gone down. They've tried to scramble around and rebuild the offensive line. I think they've done an okay job but they aren't proven commodities so we still really don't know not in every position so we really still don't know. You know what I mean? We don't know. So wherever you put the Jets I think it's interesting because it relies so heavily on Aaron Rodgers and that so much to me is a mystery. The only other thing I will say is really interesting is the Falcons. I would put them higher as well. Arguably right there with the Lions as far as the offensive line. I think when you put the season they had last year together this the acquisition of Cousins and now Pennix on the roster. I think there's a feeling of calm and there's also a feeling of you know resolution on the direction that they're going in the entire franchise even from the outside which is which is exactly what you would want in the position they're in and a very winnable division which I think they will win this year. Pennix I think is a capable backup right now based on his college experience and how accurate he is and how well he recognizes leverage and tight coverage. He's phenomenal. Specifically what NFL quarterbacks need to do and he's still a rookie. He's going to make mistakes but I really like the Falcons a lot even if they have to put half Pennix in there for a little while. Yeah you know and you got to think that the biggest thing that hurt Atlanta last year was just the horrendous quarterbacking play. If Kirk Cousins is healthy it's a dramatic improvement and I agree with you if Pennix gets in there he's going to be a lot better than Riddler was. I mean they just had a really really really bad quarterback with a pretty good team and I agree I don't see the Jets getting much of anything done that always followed the Jets got a lot of family from there but man I mean I just don't see that working. It just seems like such a bad idea and like it's a vanity project for Aaron Rodgers and yeah I don't know and now obviously Kirk Cousins in the same position they're both all the quarterbacks both coming back from probably the single worst lower leg injury you can have still. It's the one where the surgery hasn't really gotten dialed in. Rodgers seemingly was making an amazing recovery but he never actually pushed it to the point of getting in there and playing last year so it'll be an interesting week one coming up Monday night for him. The Rams they're talking about this maybe being the last year for Matt Stafford there was a rework at the contract. They were looking really good towards the end of the season. I do think that's a little bit of a low ranking for him because the Cowboys just seem to have a world of problems and the Browns they have 99 problems but the biggest one is the quarterback to Sean Watson. He's rolling back-to-back days. And it's the contract you know that he's eating so much up of that salary cap and just not being a productive asset to the level he needs to be and arguably that's just what it is and what it has since day one since day one it's been like that and I just think that is such a tough pill to swallow and get through it. I mean I'll offer a round of applause at how well they have navigated it so far because you know if you told me that that Watson was going to implode on the Browns which I kind of suspected given the issues he had but and they would still be considered top 10 in the power rankings preseason this year three years into that. Wow remarkable remarkable what they did with flacko remarkable I mean nothing short of amazing people like to applaud flacko for that and I do too you know but but for the organization for the coaching staff absolutely remarkable to be in this position with the the handicapped of having to deal with what's going on with Watson and what has gone on with Watson the entire time the draft capital you gave up to get him the amount of money you paid him the whole thing's the headache so yeah yeah well and the fact that the guy to let go for nothing is looming just behind them in this power ranking I think another team that's a little bit low coming in number 15 the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Baker Mayfield he's journeyed through the wilderness of the NFL he's got his quarterback number one contract again with the Buccaneers they keep Mike Evans I think they're going to be significantly better I feel better about them than I do the Jets the Cowboys the Browns or honestly even the Bills I mean the Bills seem to be pointing down a little bit because you're replacing wide receiver number one with Marquez Valdez Scanlan I don't think he should be on the field let alone be the guy you're counting on yeah no like well we just talked about it before how you know what I mean these quarterbacks are expected as they get older these elite ones are expected to do more with less right I mean we saw Bray do it his entire career and that's really been the expectation ever since and so I mean the last like elite quarterback that I can remember that it was like acceptable that like he you know had elite wide receivers his entire career is probably Peyton Manning now now the elite ones don't get elite wide receivers their entire career so so that's that's where Josh Allen is now and like I think the Bills already relied on Allen too much and that was part of the problem as I've said before they have not established a true running game you know during his time not first the same period of time they've struggled to rebuild the offensive line over that exact same period of time with a franchise quarterback on the roster it's a poor thing to struggle at and they just haven't it's really a lot of hero ball by Allen and I don't see them getting away from that with a worse roster no no so time will tell here but let's take a look at the week one matchups right here of course we've talked about the Chiefs and the Ravens you're taking the Ravens I think the Chiefs will pull that one out we get a Friday night game in a Brazil yeah the Eagles try to fly Eagles fly over the Green Bay Packers that could be a key matchup in the NFC how do you feel about that game well that one for me is who steps up on defense both the defenses were bad especially in the second half of last year both hired new defensive coordinators and you know I think ultimately that you know whoever steps up on defense will be the winner of that game it's that one's hard to predict I like like I said the Packers to win to win the North I like him in that game love to me is is going to have a great year just based on how well he's he's it was like we got CJ Stroud and now it's now it's Jordan Love I mean that that's you know what I mean like that he's the next one up it really seems that way I think those two are going to be prime MVP candidates so I think that Green Bay has more firepower you know ultimately so I'll take I'll take the back I think the Packers had a much more stable offseason too yeah there's been a lot of kickback against Siriani from both players and even coaches on the staff so it's a very I would say next to the 49ers the second noisiest off season and their similarities you know there so and it really it's a Hertz prove it year too because it's been a while since he's had a lot of success you know so it there's a lot of pressure on the on the Eagles as well you know what I mean and I it's it's crazy how with the added a game in week one it's it's like well this is a must-win you know what I mean like that but that's kind of you know what I mean like because you got to get off to a hot start I mean especially if you you know struggled a little bit you got the swirling off season issues you know what I mean it's it's an imperative so now we can accelerate through a few of these games the Carolina Panthers yeah they try to reestablish Bryce Young as a legitimate quarterback Dave Canellis your new head coach coming over from being the coordinator or Tampa they take on the New Orleans Saints in a game that will be watched by you know what 30 40,000 people it'll be on a truck in New Orleans nowhere else the Minnesota Vikings trying to reestablish Sam Darnell as an NFL quarterback after JJ McCarthy goes out for the year takes on the returning Danny Dimes in the New York New Jersey Giants uh um must win for the Giants right I mean if the Giants the Giants win this game you may as well start uh looking for a new head coach and a new quarterback that's another one that's early and really important for that almost same reason like Daniel Jones is is like the poster boy for overpaid quarterback so at this point so you know he's this is it's been a prove it year for him forever to me Jones just makes too many mistakes Darnell probably doesn't make quite as many mistakes although that's been his issue as well but Jones to me just him and Justin Fields make just an insane rate of literal like mistakes that you normally see quarterbacks move past in year three four five if they're going to be successful um Darnell to me is a steadier hand uh I the Vikings also have a better roster um I think they're gonna finish the in the bottom of the NFC North this year but man I like the Vikings a lot I like him in this game as well they'll win this game yeah the Giants are awful if the Giants aren't the worst team in the league because I remember they don't even have Saquan Barkley anymore he's with the Eagles now yeah and Saquan was the Giants offense last year that was that's a horrible football team this team may be worse Jared Mayo bring in and the new England Patriots they take on the Cincinnati Bengals the Bengals get one extra preseason game uh the Bengals win this one right yeah the Bengals win I've heard maybe Jamar Chase might not be there because like his you know contract issue and that doesn't matter they're gonna win without him even like burrow could not be there chase could not be there the Bengals are gonna win most of that most of that um Patriots team is isn't on the 2D on a lot of NFL teams uh they're just really devoid of talent all across the board I think they here's the issue is that they've up until now they've had Bill Belichick which can make a defense schematically insane he you know what I mean and that causes players to play above their their capabilities in some regards they could they find themselves in the right spot because the scheme is just that good I think you know same thing in football with Saban I think you know what I mean both defensive masterminds that people kind of you know undervaluate in a way um because of you know for Belichick how it ended but look I think they really struggle on defense this year after losing Judon um you know after a joy in the secondary yeah by choice by choice yeah the secondary eroding not improving since last season uh the offense also I think getting worse I'd briss set to me as a totally uninspiring quarterback at this point um they're not gonna put in May because they can't because the offensive line is too bad and that returns you know really that points to the absolute weakest point I don't know how you even draft a quarterback when you don't have uh all tackle a tackle on the roster the NFL quality literally yeah they probably should have taken the tight end and the Raiders could have taken the quarterback a lot of no Drake May's the quarterback anyways the Steelers they get to start off against Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons Russell Wilson trying to take after his wife's the era and level up do you think there's anything left for Russell Wilson uh I think we saw the most that he has in his last year in Denver uh with uh with that coaching staff I think that that was really probably the ceiling you're gonna see I don't think he's gonna play better than that now under Tomlin and with this offense I you know no I don't but um the Steelers defense should be pretty good um just like they generally are I mean they have the highest defensive payroll in the NFL and have you know forever um and so uh you know I think that they're going to end at the end of the day ask him to do less than in Denver so he he wasn't Denver so if he can't hit that same point if he can complete 64 or so percent you know what I mean and not throw a lot of picks and mostly just move the chains and yes kind of be a game manager if he can just do that which he's totally capable of as a passer then I think that they can find themselves in the wild card hunt I really do um because the defense is that good because Tomlin's that good because the coaching staff in general is that good uh you know I think that I think that the the roster you know is capable of that um but do I think that that means that Russell Wilson is Russell Wilson again I don't think that will ever happen again for him although you know do you think they're playing the right quarterback because the Steelers on that list of home grown talent on the team they're like number two so they have their identity we're going to play tough defense we're going to run the ball we're going to try to win 20 to 14 17 10 I mean that's where they want to live would they be better off with another running threat in the backfield in Justin Fields and basically say hey we want to play like Kenny Pickett did last year we're gonna run the ball pawn and we want you to hit three or four bombs a game and if you do that we're good especially with the issues on the offensive line you know what I mean yeah absolutely I see that I see that point but the thing is it's like I said you know I there's a reason I mentioned him earlier because I knew this that we were going to talk about this game too Fields makes too many mistakes he he makes too many mistakes he will turn the ball over um and I know in Chicago it was a little hero ball like I talked about with Josh Allen and I think that caused more turnovers but at some point um like I said year three year four it's the same reason I look at Daniel Jones the same way it's too many mistakes with the ball there's there's just too many turnovers too many times you tuck and run when you don't have to too many times you hold it too long which is a strange problem to have both and an inaccurate throws the over throws both are strong arms Fields is an elite athlete and I'll be interested to see where Tomlin because he's already hinted at putting him several places in the offense and of course the Steelers franchise has a history of moving players around the different positions on offense so um you know what I mean so we might see a little a little uh Fields in at quarterback maybe at wide receiver a little bit even I've heard kick returner which is interesting I think it's a terrible idea because he's so likely to get injured doing that but but I think it's not a bad thing at all though at the same time to have a quarterback who's a Super Bowl champion veteran like Russell Wilson and and also a capable backup like Justin Fields that can win in an NFL game and certainly as an elite athlete and like you said can play right into the hands of that ball control rely on your defense offense that you like to play anyways well in its decision time coming up the end of this year for Fields too now obviously they got Russell Wilson for essentially nothing so yeah you can't argue with that but with Arthur Smith running the offense who former head coach of the Falcons former coordinator with the Titans when the Titans had their good years with a super run heavy offense I think it would be a better fit for Justin Fields because honestly I mean Matt Uber flus and Luke Gatsy should have been sued for malpractice with the coaching they were doing with the Bears it was it was horrendous you got a guy who's the most dynamic running quarterback in the league and you're telling him be a dropback passer it's no wonder he was making mistakes and was confused most of the time that was just a horrendously badly coached team yeah no I I agree I agree so I like I said I I'm interested to see what he can do with this coaching staff I am that said it's just to me the the rate at which specifically the pad they're too many turnovers in the passing game I know that that dropback west coast style wasn't for him but like nonetheless you know what I mean like if you look at if you look at his numbers it you know what I mean he's under 60% he's got a really bad touch down to interception ratio you know what I mean lifetimes he's got three years now to look at I like Justin Fields I think there's still some upside there but I would prefer Russell Wilson and somebody who's again like a bad game for Russell Wilson is gonna be two turnovers that's terrible he's gonna hold out of the ball a lot better and and when you have a ball control game like that it's about holding on to the ball the the margins when you try to win with defense the margins are so much slimmer so if you win the if you if you lose the turnover battle you will lose the game if you if you if you're a defense first team that is inarguable and I think that Fields puts him at more risk lose the ball yeah and that that's what the decision came down to let's continue marching along the Houston Texans CJ Stroud taking on Anthony Richardson returning from injury and the Indianapolis cults of Texans should win that right yeah the Texans are an ascending team I love their offense there there are acquisitions in the offseason and then like Richardson can he play a game without getting injured and here I mean flat out ass when we had on Ian Valentino last year breaking down the draft he just had flat out he was a back quarterback at college so can he actually do it in the NFL we really haven't had much of a chance to see it's got a good offensive coordinator good coaches within Indianapolis so it'll be interesting basically an extension of his rookie year though yeah the Cardinals Kyler Murray coming back they take on the Buffalo Bills uh good week one for the Buffalo Bills you got to be able to win this game right yeah at home another one that's a pressure cooker got to win it got to win it but you should and let's look at the second half of the game the Tennessee Titans it's gonna be a just gonna be an awful team they take on the Chicago Bears Caleb Williams gets a good week one uh Matt Eberfluice trying again he's getting a second quarterback and I guess he's got to be fortunate that he can say hey at least we're not the white Sox do the Bears do anything did they make a mistake keep an Eberfluice I thought he should have been gone last year that was a just a horrendously coached football team keeping Eberfluice was the mistake and you know what I think about defensive coaches like keeping Eberfluice was the mistake there they should have moved on from him um but that said I mean it's obviously there are huge expectations for Williams um I I don't think he's going to go out and be a pro bowler this year I I don't even think Williams will be the best year one rookie quarterback out of the out of the bunch necessarily um but uh I do I do think he has a ton of upside and I'll think I think it'll be the best watch all season that's what I'm banking on Williams for is to light up the one o'clock hour because they're all one o'clock games and like there's not a lot else on even if you have you know Sunday ticket and can see him all like he's really going to be the main attraction from one to three thirty eastern every Sunday for this season there's going to be so many you know eyes on those bear games um especially if he starts to perform well so you know who knows uh they could catch lightning in a bottle I suppose uh I don't think it's likely I think ultimately that's a really really tough division they're in um you know historically the franchise has never done well at quarterback and unlike a lot of people I think that that does matter um because I think that again I believe that so much of this is about like especially early like this is about that pressure I keep going back to it for a reason and you've got to think a bears quarterback that's drafted first overall a franchise that's never even even in winning Super Bowls has never had a great quarterback you know what I mean never literally never they've done so poor at quarterback compared to almost every NFL team um for you now to what be MVP from that exact same team to be of that echelon to be you know to top tier like to be of the you know it's going to be uh Mahomes vs Williams you know this year you know kind of echelon no like I there's a lot of pressure to become that uh and I and I I got to think that like it's going to be tough because again the division is so tough you'd have to be the Lions twice you'd have to be which I think they're worse than from a roster standpoint outside of that quarterback position and your one golf is easily better than Williams so even at the quarterback position sure uh so if either the Packers the Vikings are a pretty talented team although I think the Vikings I don't know how much worse they are with Sam Darnold than they would have been with JJ McCarthy but a little bit a little not much though I think they'll finish bottom of the NFC North but but they'll be the best fourth place finisher in in the league in the Bears do you think third probably like yeah yeah like yeah eight and nine you know right around five hundred ball I think an improvement because they have there's so much improved they have made improvements on the offensive line obviously upgraded at wide receiver lot of offensive talent yeah a lot of offensive talent you know what I mean so like yeah I expect I expect them to improve the the Bears to me are the most interesting team in the NFC they're the ones that could really push the whole thing I think I think the Lions are talented enough that they'll they'll be locked in as a wild card team at worst they could win the division who knows you know what I mean but I believe the Packers like I said will uh and if not if the if the Packers don't then I think that like they'll probably get the wild card there's not gonna be three playoff teams from the NFC North so to me the Bears are the ones that could blow it up if they could be the Lions once the Packers once the Vikings twice then we're talking about something I think that's the ceiling but then we're talking about something yeah yeah you gotta think it's it's favoring the Lions and the Packers but the Bears probably pretty solid third so they got to get the Lions once it sold your field maybe win one on the road and in Lombardi you know what I mean or you know yeah I think I think that's uh that's that's that's a that's a feasible thing I think they could nip one from both and beat the Vikings twice and be in the conversation but I think that's the ceiling and I'd be I don't know I don't think that's likely to happen the Battle of Florida the Jacksonville Jaguars taking on the Miami Dolphins um Jaguars yeah you know I mean they they should be good the Dolphins should be good yeah how do you feel about that one that's that's they're both kind of pretty even game one of the more even games of the week yeah it's a great game they're you know you know in state rivals so to speak you know what I mean it's almost like a college atmosphere in that way um they are both good teams that are contenders in their own conference uh you know what I mean like yeah they're you know what I mean that's to me it's a great matchup um it's a proof of ear for both you know what I mean I love that too it's again it's another one of these games that like a hot start is important because these are one of the teams that you're going to need to prove to but when somebody looks at your schedule later on this year and says well but they beat so-and-so this is one of those teams so yeah probably good to win this game uh you know what I mean so uh yeah exactly and the the pressure on I would say specifically Trevor Lawrence right now is immense that you know he's everybody was so high at him after he wins the playoff game and it's been a lot of nothing since and a few injuries mixed in you know what I mean at this point going into the year healthy having arguably the best roster on offense that he's had it's it's time like Lawrence has to really you know prove it this year and push to win the division and even within the argument of the power rankings this should be a pretty darn even game you got number 16 going up against number 18 I'll go with the Jaguars I think they have a little bit better a little bit better defense the dolphins dolphins really need everything clicking offensively to make it work I actually like the dolphins for that exact same reason because they think offense care I think offense carries over year to year and they they brought everybody back for the most part defense doesn't necessarily carry over year every every year year to year no matter what you do so you kind of have to see first I like the Jaguars defense and I do think they're talented but I think the offense wins on day one there okay the Russell Wilson Memorial ball is next the Denver Broncos running bow nicks out at quarterback trying to become the reincarnation of Drew Brees taken on your sea at all Seahawks Seattle I guess I think this is a great one I think this is one of those it's like one in a field goal in the end because we just you know nicks is so young I really like the Broncos uh in the longer run I think they're young nicks is looking good nicks is looking good he looks like he's gonna be a steady hand he certainly looks the most pro ready if you watch the tape from college especially last year I mean he's just everything it's you know I think I can't remember what quarterback pointed out but it's like when you can hit all the layups and do some of the good stuff that's when you're that's when you're entering that territory most rookies aren't there yet that's what I'm unsure of of Caleb Williams that's what I'm still unsure of with Justin Fields you know what I mean it can you hit even all the layoffs you know nicks so far has nailed all the layoffs in preseason so like he's looked great always did the same thing at Oregon very safe with the ball explosive at times but only when the window existed to be explosive which is awesome it's very careful with the ball and so I think he's gonna be great a great coaching staff there that has certainly done it before and look at the magic they did with Russell Wilson I think he takes a step back too like I said for the same reason uh you know what I mean but yeah I like I like the Seahawks in this game because they're at home it's gonna be a tough one and that's the team I'm picking yeah I don't think either of these teams do much of anything this year Bo Nix did benefit from playing a couple of styles in college he played to the aggressive you know get the big play style at Auburn and then a lot of ball control at Oregon was very effective with it the raiders tried to bring the double tight end formation to the forefront they are the opponent for Jim Harbaugh's return to the national football league the Chargers if they're going to do anything they need to they need to thump the Raiders yeah the the Chargers needs to this is another one where it's like it's proof it time like Harbaugh needs to come out and make a statement in week one to show the the rest of the the rest of the NFL that like hey I'm back this roster is loaded and we're gonna contend to year one I think that's the mindset that he's trying to put knowing Harbaugh and seeing what I saw in Ann Arbor you know what I mean I'm from the Ann Arbor area like he is a different kind of guy he just he carries a different he talks about attacking every day with a level of enthusiasm unknown to man that's like his mantra and then he lives it and it's a lot I don't think he'd be a guy you'd want to have a drink with I don't but but he is a hell of a football coach and he has that team ready in a way that they have not been ready certainly weren't ready under the last coaching staff like I would look out especially since he's already got arguably day one the best quarterback he's ever had as an NFL coach Kaepernick wasn't this good so he's got the best roster arguably he's had this is better than the 49ers roster in a lot of ways especially on defense he's got a very Michigan-style defense and by the way he brought mentor his Michigan defensive coordinator who was also with the Ravens who knows NFL football you know what I mean with him so mentor again like I really like the Chargers even right away people are like well it's going to take a while why it's not like they're waiting on rookies to to to you know grow into great players they've already got at all the positions on defense they've got the edgershhers they've got the secondary okay they've got the weapons on offense go for it yeah and I think all they need to do to paraphrase dick for meal the first thing you need to do to win is stop doing stupid stuff a line that had gotten repeated a lot over the last couple of years is hey they're great until they start charging they're not going to charge her this year you're not going to see them make a bunch of stupid mistakes they're not going to go for it on fourth and 25 when you could punt it away and get the ball back and count on your all-pro defensive ends to get a stop they're going to do things smart they're going to play a tighter brand of football and as we saw at Michigan with JJ McCarthy when you need to throw the long ball they'll do it and it's going to be easier because you've hammered the line 30 times during the course of the game correct and they're they're loading the box and you know what I mean and they're they're ready to stop the run and then you throw it over their head they're going to go play bully Michigan football there and I think it's going to be downright effective downright effective especially when they can control the way they do on defense I think that mentor and that defensive staff is is going to vastly improve look if they're just lined up in the right spot for the most part they're going to vastly improve on defense like there they'll be when you have the head coach sweatily sweatily uh saying I call the defenses it's not a good look it's not a good look so this is this is a vast improvement especially with the skills positions that they have on defense I think they're going to be really good I think look out for the Chargers I they finish right behind the Chiefs in that division yeah they they got I think they got second place cemented the best line for a Chargers press conference all last season was on the head coach I don't know if it's just to find anything to the fans why don't I have to answer that um that's how you keep your job man that's what we're doing at the press conference you're trying to need to okay the Dallas Cowboys thank god Deshawn Watson and the Cleveland Browns wow a couple of quarterbacks who are the center of attention for different reasons deck Prescott coming up on time to get paid or time to walk and Deshawn Watson um just continuing to be quite possibly the worst contract in the history of the NFL uh the Browns a great roster otherwise what do you think of that one the Browns against the Cowboys I'm gonna say I'm gonna say the Browns uh pull it out somehow but uh that's gonna be a tight game because both teams have good rosters and just keep trying to shoot themselves in the foot I agree I agree I think the Browns are going to pull it out because I think they're going to win at the line of scrimmage on defense I think this the this Cowboys offensive line is getting a little older it's lost a few pieces and now you're going to start to see maybe a small step back I think they've been so so good for so long um they face a a great defensive front in the Browns it's proven um so like I I really like the Browns here at home uh in Cleveland I don't care who they trot out at quarterback um it's over the last few years it hasn't mattered so you know what I mean and um and and then also McCarthy calling the plays I think it went really well last year but he doesn't have a lot of experience doing that so I'll be interested to see you know how that goes year two uh how how CD lamb looks now that he's paid a lot of times we don't see we see the great play before they get paid and then you know especially a wide receiver so I'm now I'll be interested to see that um and and really um they they have the most desolate running back room in the NFL and Dak is something crazy like eight and eighteen when they don't run the ball over a hundred yards in his career he's got a terrible record when they don't run the ball and they're not going to be able to run the ball so that I think hurts him and worse than anything this year is not having a running game the expectations don't quite match up with the roster this year no the commanders taking on the Buccaneers uh I think the Buccaneers get that one I'm gonna I'll give Baker Mayfield a win I think he's feeling the wind out his back and yeah yeah roll roll ahead to Sunday night football the Detroit Lions taken on it's the Matt Stafford revenge tour again the Detroit Lions and Jared Goff taking on Matt Stafford and the LA Rams yeah that's the Stafford Goblin Rams looked pretty good that's that's going to be a tough game got a couple of things that I think are really on the upswing yeah and and I expectations in Detroit and it's a home game and this is the first year like I said the Lions are the hunt dead instead of the hunter and really anxious to see how they come out I would imagine they come out of the gate firing all cylinders because of Dan Campbell um but really anxious to see how they come out in that game I like the Lions at home in that game but Rams this year to have ultimately a better season I'll go with the Rams I think that's going to be a close game though that should be a good one and then Monday night Aaron Rodgers makes his hopefully triumphant return for the New York J ETS Jets Jets Jets taking on the 49ers and Brock Purdy I just don't think the Jets are a very good team all around and I don't know what's left in the tank for Aaron Rodgers I'm going to go with the Niners I think the Niners get that win yeah give me the Niners lead one yeah give me the Niners and that one well and as we're winding it down here we're at the getting down to the two-minute warning and we'll get out the championship belt here from wrestling spotlight for weekly champions and we'll go ahead and introduce the segment and then Alex I'll get your championship from wrestling spotlight you can see that on the true TV plus app 2 this week we're previewing all out the follow-up to AEW all in that I was at last week in Wembley game this time they're in Chicago we'll have that on wrestling spotlight you can obviously hear in the fired-up network but Alex who's your champion of the week uh champion of like by predicted champion of next week right that's okay of this NFL ever you want oh okay well whatever that's what my mind was that's what I'll stick with who's going to be the champion of the week all right I like of the of this first NFL weekend my champion of the week to be Lamar Jackson I think that like I said a lot of pressure there he's gonna have a big game he's known for regular season performances especially early I think it's gonna be a special one well and I'm gonna go with a guy who just really got a big trade up over the last week from his scenery surrounding amount of the team gets to leave the New England Patriots and head back to the Kansas City Chiefs to be the fill-in week one for Hollywood Brown Juju Smith Schuster's back here's what Patrick Mahalams had to say it's uh it's super exciting I mean just the person man that being the being in the locker room being in the meeting rooms he gets it man he gets out of be a pro and then he works hard I mean he's out here he looks great and so I'm excited for him just to continue to learn the little things that we changed in the year that he wasn't there but I mean he's picked up a lot of the stuff really fast it's good to have that type of guy in that receiver room and they had some good chemistry Juju and Patrick I got my Juju Smith Schuster bobblehead right here he's all set and ready to go ready to have a big game so I'm a Juju Smith Schuster my champion of the week because I don't think anybody got a better upgrade from the week going from playing for a Patriots team that may win two games getting passes lobbed at them by Jacobi Versat and Terre may do starting for the Kansas City Chiefs week one game one of the season legs so Juju Smith Schuster you get it yeah and for the fired up network thanks for watching time out we'll be here throughout the NFL season for Alex Gabble I'm Jero Bentley stay tuned for more sports entertainment right here