The Fumblerooski Podcast
Back With A Vengeance -Ep 290 The Fumblerooski Podcast
conference championship predictions, Super Bowl predictions and opening night. Welcome to the Fumbleruski podcast on our opening special. This is the Fumbleruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a loose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumbleruski podcast by Power88 and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Adam Wright with C.J. Madeiroz Justin Tucker and Chris Kausage. That's right. We have a full house all four of our main co-hosts. This is very rare that this happens, but it's the is quite the occasion for it as we have officially reached opening night. For our opening day special, it is Kansas City at Baltimore, September 5th. This week, this is the final episode before the NFL season starts, which means a couple of things. First of all, no more Sundays without football until February. Number two, our Friday episodes are officially back. That's right. Our game predictions, the game picks where we would get that we would give on Fridays, where we would also pick a game of the week that we would preview. We would also we would also recap the Thursday night football game if it was if it's worth recapping. We're not recapping a blowout. We're not recapping the Jets at the just name the name the bad team. But our Friday episodes are back and we are back in with a full head of steam and we are going to have two episodes a week. So this is going to be a fun this is going to be a fun season for 2024. I believe this is our fifth season covering the league. And with that being said, we are getting into our final predictions for the post season. Like every year, right before the season starts, we pick not only our Super Bowls, but also our conference championship matchups. So guys, we'll go around the table here, give me your AFC predictions, and then your NFC predictions. Don't give me the winner yet because we still have the Super Bowl predictions. So we'll start with CJ. We'll go to Tuck. We'll go to Chris. All right, CJ, lead us off. So the AFC has shifted from previous years with the NFC because the NFC was always seen as that murderers row with all the elite teams and the AFC team really just had like New England, Pittsburgh and occasionally Denver. Now it seems like the AFC is more stockpile with talent. And that's because it is like a bulk of the good quarterbacks are there. A lot of the great skill position guys as well. And you know, I'm not even gonna give you all the platitudes here. First, we got the Kansas City Chiefs because let's be real. So long as Patrick Mahomes is breathing, much like what Tom Brady did with New England, Mahomes could literally just will that team at bare minimum to the AFC Championship game. And as for the other side, that is tough because there's a few people that are interesting. So first and foremost, I feel like we could scrap anyone from Kansas City's division because run first offense with Justin Herber. I don't see posing too much of a threat. The Raiders with two quarterbacks and the Bonix Broncos. I don't see, you know, doing a whole lot. Texans are an interesting team with CJ Stroud. Pretty much any team for the AFC South could pop off and become, you know, go on and run themselves. The AFC North too, especially with Baltimore and Sensi. And then there's the AFC East where, I mean, New England has passed its prime now. They're rebuilding. I'm not really afraid of the jets. The dolphins are just smoking mirrors and Buffalo got of this raid in preagency, which means that to select a challenger for the usual face in the AFC Championship game, I'm turning my sights to the AFC North. And I'm going to throw all conventional wisdom out the window here. I'm going to have to go with a rematch of week one, Chiefs Ravens. And I'm going to tell you why. I'm not afraid of the Bengals anymore. I'm not. Their window is closing fast. Hell, Jamar Chase might not even play because this hold out looks for real. And even still, he's not conditioned. And look, and I get the offensive line, you know, got better and I get they've been working on the defense, but just no more Joe mix in. And like I said, Jamar Chase is I'm playing and this is obviously going to be T Higgins final year. I just the window is closing fast and Joe Burrow has improvement in me could stay healthy. And which is weird because I believe I did in fact have the Bengals winning this division. But honest to God, I'm having second thoughts. Meanwhile, the Ravens. Look, let's be real. The offensive lines a little banged up and they lost Patrick Queen. But you got Derek Henry in a much improved secondary. Therefore, give me chiefs and Ravens. All right. All right. Now that we got a whole compare and contrast essay to get chief's Ravens. I'm just looking at tuck over here. He's got a big old smile on his face. I didn't think anyone else was going to do that. Now I feel like I should switch over because now that the chief Ravens pick is out of the way, I'd go a little bit more unconventional. So my pick would be when it comes to the AFC, I see like three to four teams and CJ has mentioned them. I see the chiefs, the Ravens, the Bengals and the Houston Texans. I'm yes. I believe CJ Stroud is an elite quarterback in the making. I can't just call him a lead off of one year. I can't do it. But I think this year he'll be elite without a question. I think he has the pieces around him to be successful. And I think that Houston defense is something to be reckoned with. So overall, when I see them, I think they have a pretty good chance against the chiefs. I think they have a good and great chance against the Bengals. And I think they have a good chance against us because they're motivated after what we did to them last year after knocking them out of the divisional. So I see the AFC Championship going between Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens, because I believe Houston has the tools to make it that far in the AFC. I don't think there's a team where they can't beat in the AFC, except the Ravens, of course, because I'm the fourth Ravens fan. But outside of the Ravens, I don't think there's a team in the AFC where they can just not win. I think they have the advantage against the chiefs. I think they have the advantage against the Bengals. And as far as everyone else, I think they could dominate them. They have the weapons and the talent and the coaching to be successful. And it's about time that they finally take that step to make it that far. I don't see why, based off a last season, that they can't make that step towards the AFC Championship game. And I don't need to talk about the Ravens because we already know how good they were based upon last year. Lamar Jackson, a two-time MVP with more pieces around him, a elite running back in the backfield. I do have some questions about that online, not gonna lie to you. My right tackle spot remains to be desired. Patrick McCarry, if you mess up, we got a replacement for you. Just be aware. But outside of that, I see the Ravens in Houston sections mixing me up in the AFC Championship game right now. I'm gonna go half of that, half of what CJ said and half of what Tuck said. I think that the Ravens, I'm thinking that this time they're not gonna make it to the Conference Championship again now. I'm thinking here on this one, it's gonna be the Chiefs and the Texans. Kind of a mix of what CJ and Tuck said. The Texans are built for this right now and the Chiefs with Mahomes is inevitable. He's basically the 2010s Tom Brady. You are going to find a way to have to go into Arrowhead and try to beat Mahomes and the Chiefs. I'm thinking here it's gonna be the Texans that are gonna have to do that. For all I know, for all I know they might have to go into NRG Stadium to get it done. Either way, Texans and Chiefs for the AFC Championship game from my side. Oh man, okay. So here's the problem. The Chiefs Texans was my pick. And as you can't use it dad, who says you can't use it? Well because you gave me, you gave most of the arguments that I was going to use. But I'll give you, I'll give, I'll add some more context here. So the reason, so I've bet against the Chiefs every each of the last, each of the last two years during the pre-season. And both, both times I've been wound up with Ag on my face. So I'm putting them back in the AFC Championship. You just can't count them out. They're at least going back there. Will they, will they win a three-peat? That remains to be seen. But this team is at least going to be competitive. Granted, I think people are forgetting how shaky they really were last year. There's a reason why they really had to slink their way through the playoffs. The offense was really, really sluggish up until that last game in the Super Bowl against the 49ers. And I think they will be statistically slightly better. Rishi Rice is in his second year. They brought an Xavier worthy. They brought in Marquis Brown. That being said, that's, that's still none of those guys are proven wide receiver ones yet. Maybe Rishi Rice in year two, maybe Marquis Brown finds his old form in his last year with the, from his last year with the, the Baltimore Ravens when he eclipse a thousand yards. But that remains to be seen. One of those guys has to step up in order for them to be the juggernaut they once were in the first four years of Patrick Mahomes' career. Until then, they are very shaky on offense and their defense will be their best, their, their defense will be their best feature on the team. But still, I have the Chiefs going back. Their, their Patrick Mahomes is great in big moments. He's the only quarterback out of the, that young core of AFC, of AFC quarterbacks who has proven that he can elevate his game in the biggest moments possible. He's the only one who's been consistently doing that. The challenger, the last time that I had an AFC South team making the conference championship, I also wound up with egg in my face and I felt like I wanted to put a bag over my head. Yes, it was the, the Jacksonville Jaguars who I had going there and they didn't even make the playoffs after starting nine and three on the season. And even when they were nine and three, they still looked shaky. But I think CJ Stroud, he has a better situation than Trevor Lawrence did. And this is a team that got better, not only from the roster, from a roster standpoint from, but from youth. All of these players are young and are going into their second and third years in the league. Nico Collins, Tank Dell, CJ Stroud, their offensive line is still very much intact. In fact, more, more healthy than it was last year. And history shows that elite quarterbacks in year two usually make the largest leaps. So I think CJ Stroud is a guy who I have going to the conference championship. Another year under his belt after making the playoffs as a rookie and winning a playoff game as well. I think he goes back to the conference championship. So that's my, that is my prediction. It'll be Kansas City at Houston. I think Houston hosts it. Houston's going to have an incredible year all around. They've improved in any way possible. All right, we'll go back around the, we'll go back around the table. Same order as last time. Let's try to be, since we're getting up there in time for this segment on the NFC championship. All right, CJ, lead us off. You're right. No more long-winded essays with a lot of people, as you've mentioned, just don't have the mental fortitude to take them and I could totally get that. So first and foremost, give me the Detroit Lions. I'm more bullish on them than I am on the Texans. I mean for an AFC comparison, just because you know, golf has been there longer. This is like a youngster or not. I mean, they're not as young, but they're still hungry. And a lot of people would say, oh, what about the Niners? Well, I don't have the Niners because believe you, me America, Super Bowl hangover is real. And when you look at the rest of the NFC, it's a complete barren landscape. Like I said, a power dynamic has completely changed, but now this, like I said, was a tough, just tough, you know, division to get at. But honest to God, my gut is leaning towards Philly. Now originally, I was going to say Dallas, but so long as they have Mike McCarthy, they're not going to get passed around to the playoffs. Philly, on the other hand, that is a motivated group. That is a team with a fixed roster and an even hungrier head coach because let's be real. We all know this. Nick Siriani is coaching for his job. He knows he's on the hot seat. Literally two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance. And he's already on the hot seat. And they were, and by the way, I'm in Delaware right now. And if you listen to any Philly station, they want his head on a spike. This entire off season, they were outright calling for Bill Belichick to take his job. And well, I think he hears it. And if I know Nick Siriani, I know he's not going to take that down. And I know it's an uncou, laying down. So I know it's an unconventional pick, but give me the lions hosting the Eagles. It's their time. So quick question. And this is a serious question. When we were talking about the NFC East, when we were previewing every division, you had the Cowboys winning the division. Do you still have that prediction or have you changed that? No, I still think Dallas is going to win the division. And I do think they get bounced around one because Philly is going to be one of, because I feel like they're probably Dallas and Philly are only going to be one game apart, if that makes sense. And Philly is going to be one of those teams that to put it nicely is going to be vastly overqualified to be a wild card team. Okay, so they make it in as a wild card. Yeah, a wild card team like double digit wild card. Underdog Philly. All right, tuck. Okay, so you had Dallas winning the division and then losing in the first row. Only Dallas can get away with that because they're allergic to prosperity now for the actual prediction. I have the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers as my picks to the NFC Championship game. Last year, Jordan Love showed me a lot in that playoff game against Dallas. And I think this year he'll take another step for with the team surrounding him. Again, they're one of the more younger teams in the league. But I think that youth is going to be do them well overall. They have an upgraded running back, I believe in Josh Jacobs. Jordan Love, again, not elite yet. But I believe he'll make the steps being towards elite. He has weapons all around him. He has the coaching all around him. And I think that defense will be better than what it was last year. So overall, I think they have a pretty good chance. San Francisco, the moment they got brain and now you can the Trim Williams back, I was like, okay, property's going to be fine on the offensive side of the ball. And I'm not really worried about their defense right now. Because hopefully they all stay healthy. But if they stay healthy, I don't really see a team that's going to be a problem with them until they get to the NFC Championship game. Maybe the division around, depending on how you see Detroit. But outside of that, I still have faith in them to make it to the NFC Championship game. Because they made it four of the last five years. I can't ignore that. So the way they've been running the NFC, I still have the San Francisco 49ers making it that far. Because they're still a pretty damn good team. Yeah, I'm also going to go with the lines on this one. But much like Tuck, I'm going to keep the Niners out of it on this one. But a team that I'm going to choose to face the lines to go into Detroit is Big Curco himself in ATL, the Atlanta Falcons going to Detroit. Look, Newegg coach, they got Curco on that offense. That offense is actually going to be used to its fullest potential. This defense is going to be on its ass the entire season. And Detroit, Detroit's hungry. They got those first two playoff, or they got to the conference championship game. They are hungry. That is a hungry, hungry team. You know, obviously CJ is talking about Nick Siriyani coaching for his job. But for all we know, Siriyani is not even going to make it past week four. Detroit is on the rise. They are here. They're going to host a conference championship game. And it's going to be one of the loudest crowds we will ever see. And ATL is going to be the one to face them in that conference championship. Kirk Cousins having postseason success is an interesting take. But I think there'll be a playoff team, but I don't know how much faith that I have in Kirk Cousins to play and play well in big moments, especially in the postseason. But I agree with you on your Lions take. I think the Lions are going back to the conference championship for the second year in a row. And that's something. This is a team that, yes, they lost the conference championship, but not by much against the 49ers team that was loaded last year. And I did pick this team to go to the conference championship. And I abandoned them as a Super Bowl pick during the regular season because they looked very shaky. But when I saw them once they made it to the conference, they made it very, I mean, they almost won that game. So the way I look at it right now is for all the reasons that Chris, you and CJ have had them in the conference championship, I'm going to add a little more to that. First of all, their glaring weaknesses were on their defense. They had a very good pass rush, but their run defense and their secondary sucked. They improved in both areas. They completely revamped their secondary. So that's something that just can't be ignored. They got all the way to the conference championship, nearly won against the baddest bully on the block, and you improve your team afterwards. Now that bad bully on the block is facing that Super Bowl hangover that every team faces once they lose it, I think it's Detroit's time. I think it is. And I think they are going to be the team, they were going to be for a week, they are going to be America's team to potentially go to the Super Bowl. All right, we're going to step aside. Now that we have our conference championship matches set, we're going to give our winners of those matchups and then who is winning the coveted Lombardi Trophy, the Super Bowl victory. That's next. This is the Fumble Ruski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws. Back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spots. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast, Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker, and Chris Kausich. We have a packed house tonight and we are going to give our predictions for the 2024 NFL season. Who is winning the Super Bowl? We're going to give our, so we'll go in, we'll do it all in one go. Each of you give your matchups first and then right after give who is winning. All right, CJ, start us off. So my matchup is going to be the Chiefs and the Lions. I just, no offense tuck. I just don't know if Lamar, I mean, he hasn't shown the ability to really go over the hump yet in the playoffs. And as much as I like, you know, like I said, to make the ANSI Championship game, I don't see them getting past Detroit because at the end of the day, I know Sierra is coding for his job, but Detroit is just tougher. And that's why I think it's going to come down to, and I think it's going to be, truthfully, an ugly game. It's going to be a gritty game, maybe not like 2018, but close enough. And I think I have the Lions coming out and like a really, it's going to be a defensive slug best, I tell you. But overall, I think the Lions just eke it out. Give me Detroit winning their first ever Super Bowl here in the 2024-25 season. All right, tuck. I have the Ravens and I have the Packers, but the Ravens going over. What a fricking surprise that is. Wow, no bias there. I don't think it's being that biased that we look at the team itself. We have a multiple times Super Bowl champion at quarterback who I think by now we have to accept his elite. Our line, I believe, is worse than what it was last year, even though I have hope in our rookie right tackle if Patrick McCarry doesn't do his job properly. I think the defense is the same, we just lost our DC, and we just replaced him with this underline. So the way I see it, we really haven't taken that much of a step back. We just need to finish the job, and I believe we'll do that this year. I believe Green Bay will take a step forward and get over the hump, which they got stopped in the divisional round last year, and they'll make the Super Bowl. The question is, who do I see winning that? And I see the Ravens winning it, despite what I saw in the preseason. I'm going to go, and this obviously Kirk Cousins and his playoff success is one thing. I'm not taking the Falcons in that NSC Championship game in Detroit. Crowd's going to be two bonkers, it's going to be the Lions to take the NSC Championship, and they're going to face the Kansas City Chiefs. It's my home. He's inevitable, and Texans, like, obviously we're talking about CJ Stroud, year two, and he's going to have an amazing up year for him in year two. But I don't know if the Texans are just so young that it's hard to put them in a Super Bowl spot in year two of being this good. Obviously, there are examples of young teams such as the Bengals that were able to make it in their second year of, well, in Joe Barrow's second year, they were able to make it to the Super Bowl. But there are a few examples of that happening, but I just don't see that happening with CJ Stroud and the Texans. So Lions Chiefs and the Super Bowl and the Chiefs are going to repeat, and this one, the Lions are going to continue to suffer, unfortunately, and the curse will rain on Detroit one year longer. Okay, so I am also going to put Detroit in the Super Bowl. Again, I abandoned them as a Super Bowl pick last year to make it there. This year, I'm putting them in. And again, for all the reasons that I mentioned before, this team nearly got there last year, and then they approved on top of it. And history shows there's not much of a hangover from losing the conference championship. I think this team will be more motivated. They were this close last year, they just got a taste of it. They're going to go back and they're going to win it over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles, they had so much to prove they're going to be a very bruising, very, they're going to have a chip on their shoulder. The problem is going to be that they are too much of a run first team. And the Lions are more multi-dimensional. Because of that, I think they will have more ways, the Lions will have more ways to beat the Eagles than the Eagles will have to beat the Lions. And for that, I have the Lions going to the Super Bowl. On the AFC side, AFC, I think, listen, the Chiefs are that team that can, that will show up when it matters most. And I believe that they will. The thing is, again, they look more shaky than people give them credit for, or than people like to point out. Their offense is, their offense, your best pass catcher is 35 years old. That's not something that you can just ignore. I mean, tight ends around this age, they always start to decline. They always do and they all, Travis Kelsey already have. I'm not saying Kelsey isn't still a good tight end. He is, but he's definitely not the player he was. And that's something you can't ignore. And unless Rishi Rice, Xavier Worthy, or Marquise Brown, step up, then this team is not going to the Super Bowl. And as of right now, I do not have the Chiefs going back to the Super Bowl for a third year in a row. That being said, the Houston Texans, this is a team that is very exciting, and they're ready to play, they're, they're ready to play some football. And because of that, a team that really has improved on everything, they're young, they're energetic, they have a lot of good things going for them. I have the Houston Texans going to the Super Bowl to face the Detroit Lions in Super Bowl 59. And my winner will be sometimes today, Adam. Yeah. The silence is even worse than going on. Yeah. Drum roll, my use, my winner is going to be the Detroit Lions. Lions are going to win it, they have the experience, they're going to beat them with experience. The Lions don't have weaknesses. They just don't, maybe they're too aggressive, but if their defense holds, then they won't have that to be a problem. And the Texans, their time will come, but they're just too young right now. They're old enough to play good football and make it to the Super Bowl. They're just not going to win it all. And CJ Stroud is going to have an uphill battle, the climb of losing his Super Bowl debut and trying to get back and win it again, because so far it's been a long time since a team has since a quarterback has lost his first Super Bowl and then went back to win it. So that's going to be something to look at. But Detroit Lions, I have them not only going back after I picked them last year and abandoned it, but I'm taking them to win it all. I like it. I like it. All right. So opening night, Kansas City at Baltimore, we're going to preview that game, our first NFL game since February, and our last Sunday, it's going to be our last Sunday or Thursday without football until February. And we're going to preview all the ins and outs of the game that's going to be in two days. Next, this is the Fumble Ruski podcast. It may not have always shown it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back-to-back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a loose, loose scenario for both sides. Welcome back to the Fumble Ruski podcast by Power88. Secret weapon consulting, I'm Adam Wright with CJ Medeiros. All right. We have our first NFL game in months. Adam, who else are you here with? You just said me or do we have CJ Medeiros, Justin Tucker and Chris Costa. It's been a while since we've had a full house or more than two more than just two co-hosts. I can leave. We've all been busy. Honestly, get out. All right. I will. It's been a long time since we've had all four. My apologies. Muscle memory. We've all had a busy summer. It's been a long time since we've been able to have everybody here, but opening night. It's going to be at Baltimore starting at 820 on NBC. The Kansas City Chiefs at the Baltimore Ravens. Our thoughts on this matchup will go around the table. CJ, what are your thoughts? Chiefs Ravens. Rematch the AFC Championship game. This time in Kansas City, I can think of no better way to kick off the new season. Even though I had Kansas City winning in the AFC Championship game, I would not be shocked. In fact, it's going to be my prediction that Baltimore steals this one. Because look, we all know Kansas City lost last year. I know that's not even a measuring stick, but well, the Ravens offensive line is questionable and they did lose Patrick Queen. Adam, I think, did have a point when he said Kansas City isn't as solid as you think they are. Because, yeah, I know you guys, Xavier Worthy, but the guy you got in for agency, Hollywood Brown, probably isn't playing. Kelsey, he's okay. Thank you, Chris. He's not getting any younger, Kelsey. And I'll talk about that. You lost the jerryist's need. I didn't even say, oh, Larry, that was all talk. Oh, wait. Oh, I was wrong. I'm sorry. Thank you, Tuck. You're very generous. But, well, as I was saying, they don't have a need anymore either. And it's just the game plan for Kansas for Baltimore is literally just going to be okay. Throw over McDuffey isn't. And also, come on, Derek Henry. I know he's a shiny object, but he's a pretty damn good shiny object if I do say so myself. So all in all, I think I'm going to have to take Baltimore. Just because look, I know Casey is different in the postseason. This isn't exactly the postseason. Now is it? I think it's my time to shine. All right. I think this game is going to be different towards the playoffs, because I do think these teams will see each other in the playoffs. I think this game is more like a feeling out process, not necessarily showing their best football, because I believe that will be ahead of them. But I do think this is going to be a very physical matchup between the two teams. Kansas City lost the opening game last year and still managed to win the Super Bowl. So if they lost this game this year, I don't see it really hampering them. So with that being said, I'm picking Baltimore. I believe that will run the ball more effectively than we did in the AFC Championship game. If not, I want Coach Harbaugh fired. No easy way to say it. Just come out and say it. We have Derek Henry. We have to run the ball better than what we did in the AFC Championship game. And I believe we will. I believe we'll have a question on whether or not the offensive line is good enough. And I believe it will be tested now that we have to see another team with, you know, in all pro like Chris Jones. So that will answer the test on whether or not I trust this O line. But overall, I don't think the defense as a whole is that as good as it was last year because CJ just said they lost luxurious. Snead they lost a few pieces. And overall, I like the Ravens team a little bit more than I do the Chiefs, but of course they have catchable home. So anything is possible with Kansas City. I think it's going to be very close. I think it's going to be very physical. And I do think some fighting will break out, but I have the right things winning this one in a close one, a field goal type game. We'll go something similar. It spreads at three. I don't like that. Bring back the decimals. I don't like this even BS, but I'm going to go Ravens on this one. It's, I don't know what it is. Like a lot of the, a lot of Super Bowl winning teams don't end up winning on opening night. It's something weird with maybe it's the flashiness of the opening ring ceremony, the unveiling of the banners. I mean, the Patriots have lost one or two opening nights as you can look at the Ravens lost on opening night, but granted they kind of got screwed over and they had to go to Denver when it should have been their opening ceremony. But points still being a lot of these Super Bowl winning teams do end up losing open last year. Chiefs lost opening night. So that's why I'm going to go with the Ravens. I'm expecting, I'm going to, here's my prediction on this one. I'm going to expect more straight-up handoffs for Derek Henry than we see Lamar Jackson actually on the run. If he's going to be on the run, it's him escaping the pocket. I'm expecting a big run attack from Derek Henry and a big pass attack from Lamar Jackson. I'm going to go Ravens by seven. Okay, so I think this Chiefs team got overall better. There are some ways that they've fallen off a little bit, but there are other ways that improve so much that I think this Chiefs team actually got a little better. Namely, they're pass-catching core. Even if none of those players that I mentioned, Xavier Worthy, Marquis Brown, Rashie Rice, don't pan out. None of, even if none of those players pan out as wide receiver ones, there's still three twos that you just didn't have last year. You had Rashie Rice, but you have Rashie Rice in year two, where he should be getting a lot better. From reports and training camp, everyone is saying Rashie Rice got much better than he did last year. And he's not going to face any suspension this year. If it is, it happens next year. So that's pretty big. Travis Kelsey's gotten older. That's, I guess you can say that got a little worse, but he's still an elite tight end, still going to be one of the best in the league. Their defense got a little worse. That is something that is the most notable on this team. They lost luxurious need. And the reason I don't think that's a huge loss is because if you have a good front seven that leads a league in sacks, then as long as you're putting that pressure on, that front seven is going to make that secondary much better. So I think when you don't have the time to throw, it doesn't matter where Trent McDuffie isn't, he's going to, they're going to make the opposing quarterback make mistakes. And I think whichever defensive back they have back there is going to be able to make them pay for it. And this, this defense will still be elite. So I still believe this, this chief's team is elite and they're still going to be a little shaky, but overall they're better than they were last year. That being said, I have them losing week one because the chief's just have a tendency to lose in these games against these big time teams in the AFC, the Bills, the Bengals, the Ravens are all teams that they lose to quite often in the regular season. The postseason is a different story, but I think the, as many pieces of the Ravens have lost on the offensive line in their defense, they're still a really good team. And when you have, when you have the elusive Lamar Jackson in your backfield, that offensive line doesn't need to be as good as you might think. And you still have Derek Henry to throw, to, to hand the ball off to, to keep him guessing and run option plays, something, an elite, an elite running back that they really haven't had, at least not to this capacity during the time that Lamar Jackson's been around. You pair these two together and you also have a decent passing offense with Zaflowers and Mark Andrews. You still have Rashad Bateman back there. That's still a really good team. And I think this Ravens team is going to be, again, a very good regular season team that's going to beat the Chiefs yet again. Word. I agree. I also just did some research in regards to Super Bowl winners in week one of the following season. And now it would prove, it would serve that what I just said would be wrong granted. I was more trying to say that it has happened. Sometimes it hasn't happened the majority of the time, the majority of the time that the Super Bowl winner in week one, they actually win. And there's actually a stretch from 2000 to 2012, where the majority of the games, or all of the games, were won by the reigning Super Bowl champion. And it was straight up, also won the spread. And most of the games also went over. So keep that in mind for all those that are betting. And the amount of times that the Super Bowl winner, or the defending Super Bowl champ, one week or lost week one, is actually three, yeah, three times. So, or four times, excuse me. So yeah, Kansas City last year, New England in 2017, Baltimore at Denver in 2013, and the Giants against Dallas in 2012. Keep that in mind. Yeah. And actually, actually, I'm forgetting another one, the Rams lost to the bills week one of the following season as defending Super Bowl champions as well. So there's five right there. Yeah. And there, it never fazed the Patriots. There were so many slow starts that they had. And if we're going to compare dynasties here, if we're going to mention Patrick Momes eventually, in the same breath as Tom Brady, we have to, we have to start making those comparisons. I'm not saying it'll be there yet. But those teams had very slow starts the regular season two. In fact, it happened pretty regularly, especially later on in that dynasty. Namely, 2014 was an abysmal start. They started two and two, but it was a bad two and two. 2016 was an exception, but it's not forget about 2018, how terrible that team was coming out of the gates. So the Chiefs had a rough start last year, and they continued to look bad, or at least pedestrian during the regular season. I just kind of think this Chiefs team, I just, I'm not fazed if they lose. I'm just not. This is one of those teams I look at where no matter what happens in the early part of this season, I'm still going to favor them to at least go to the Super Bowl. It's week one. Well, I don't know. Are you saying that Patrick Momes has the same level of or as old man Brady? Is that what you're telling me? Yes, don't make me say it again. Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of all time, but Patrick Momes is getting up there, and I think he's he has it right now, it all matters about longevity, longevity with him. That's what that's what's going to count for Patrick Momes. Can he sustain what he's doing? If you're getting, asking me to give my quick take on Patrick Momes is one of the greatest. I think if you were to retire tomorrow, he's in the Hall of Fame, and a lot of people, based on whether or not he can, if he plays the rest of his career and he's in contention every year, and he only ends up winning three Super Bowls, I still have him top three all time. If he if he retires tomorrow, he's still not. He's barely top 10, but that's because he only played six years. So it's, I mean, it's going to be a complicated conversation to have. It's not a conversation we want to start yet because he's only played six years, but with what he's done, I mean, we haven't seen anything like this since Tom Brady with this level of dominance. So it's just longevity at this point, right? It is longevity, yes. If Tom Brady, if Patrick Momes wins seven Super Bowls like Tom Brady did, then there's going to be arguments made for Patrick for Patrick Momes to be better. If he wants to play as long as Brady, he'll be like, oh, or Pete checks like Brady. Well, I mean, that's that's another question. That's another question to be asked, right? Because with the way Patrick Momes plays, you look at Patrick Momes during his early career days, right, which are right now, and Brady when he played his, which one would you have bet would be able to play deep into their careers into their deep into their 40s. It's obviously Tom Brady with the with his play style. Patrick Momes has much more athleticism. He relies more on throwing the ball at weird angles that just makes it makes him look super human. It just makes it work athleticism that's bound to a road as the as his career moves, as his career moves forward, especially in his late 30s and early 40s, if he plays there. So it's going to come down to that. So if he's, if he's at, let's say he's at four, five Super Bowls and he's in his mid third is mid 30s and the wheels fall off. I'm sorry, but you still have to give it to Tom Brady because Brady had the longevity. He was able to win Super Bowls, not only in his 20s, but his 30s and his 40s too. And win MVPs in all three of those, in all three of those, those age groups too, the longevity counts. And that's what it's going to come down to. Yeah, as much pain me to say all of that. See, I saw you making some faces. Did you have anything to add there? No, I was originally going to chip in and say it. That's like, as he gets older, there's no debate. He's going to have to start playing more from the pocket. But yeah, now you pretty much hit the no right on the head. That's a lot of people don't realize like these guys, you know, like the really athletic ones, even this extends to like Lamar Jackson and especially Josh Allen, like their novelties right now, but these scramblers, I'm not talking about quarterback who can scramble. I'm talking about like these guys, which I would also classify Allen in this, which is a very controversial quarterback. So when you snap the ball, their first instinct is run, their shelf lives are very short. That's just it. Like, because I feel like my homes can at least play from the pocket. And that's, like you said, a lot of it's just injury luck because Brady never really got hurt, except for like one year. But I mean, that's kind of the problem. Patrick Mahomes can beat you in multiple ways. He can beat you with your legs. It's not his best feature, but he can do it. And if he's sitting back there in the pocket, he's also going to beat you. So it all depends on what on if he can on how he is going to be able to to continue to dominate later in his career, because a lot of the things that he's doing today, he won't be able to do later in his career. It's just not possible. I mean, I guess Aaron Rodgers is the closest comp to playing deep in your career while being able to do what Mahomes does, because he kind of rolls out of the pocket. He throws off his back foot, but he also gets hurt a lot too. And it's happening more and more as he gets older. I mean, like the Mahomes getting hurt a lot. The only real freak injury he had was when he dislocated his kneecap. That was the only real injury that he's ever had so far. Yeah. Oh, and that he's been pretty healthy. And like, if we want to go off of the comparison of, you know, deeper in your deeper in his career, he's going to have to change up his play style. Yeah, he's probably going to have to change it up where it's going to be more of like the Aaron Rodgers type. And yeah, he's mobile, but he's probably, I don't, maybe he's not as mobile. Look at Mike Vic after he got out of prison and went to the Eagles, he had to, he was an older, ended up being an older quarterback by the time he came back into the league and had to change up his entire play style. He couldn't be the same, uh, high flying guy that he was in ATL. He had to stay in the pocket a little bit more and use more of that pocket awareness to make throws and move around the pocket rather than just scramble about. So how, how deep into their careers do you think that they will be able to go? We are our, our comp, our comp right now for an old quarterback being able to play with the play style Mahomes is that is doing right now in his late twenties is Aaron Rodgers. We're about to see that this year. How late do you think Rogers can play with the style that he's been using? I feel like with the Achilles, he's going to have to kind of tone it back a little bit and stick more into the pot, which obviously does a lot anyways, but we might not see him be as mobile. Will he still get out of the pocket and make throws? Yeah, but I think he's going to have to kind of dial it back in and what not, especially with the Achilles injury. So I see it. I, I said this before, I could see him given like another two years maybe and that two years max. One thing Mahomes has been great at his, this is one thing that I will, that I will credit Aaron Rodgers for is he is the greatest quarterback of all time at not throwing picks at not turning the ball over. There's no one who can do it better. And part of that has been being able to buy time by rolling out of the pocket. He runs and he doesn't run to get the first down. Sometimes he does, but he runs to buy time. And if there's no one there, he throws it away, which is, I mean, you can criticize him for not being, not taking enough risks in order to win games, but you can also give him credit for doing what quarterbacks need to do. Part of that is not turning the ball over. If he's not able to roll out of the pocket and he's not as mobile as he once was, he may be taking a lot more hits, a lot more sacks than he used to, which could provide more punishment means a shorter shelf life in the NFL. That's what happened to Brett Favre. He wasn't able to be as mobile and he ended up taking ridiculous amount of hits. Right, which is what he was able to do his whole career, but like, I remember he also threw a lot of interceptions his whole career, but he threw so many touchdowns, it didn't end up mattering. I remember that game against Chicago where he got knocked out of the game, or it looked like he was going to get thrown on a stretcher. All right, so this, that's all of our scheduled content. And usually I ask if we have any other thoughts and like, I'll still do that, but I wanted to ask this last question since we're on Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is the last quarterback of our generation that we grew up with from that elite quarterback's era. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Ben Rothlessberger. If he makes a Super Bowl, or at least makes a run in the playoffs, as much as we didn't like him during his time, do we almost root for him? Since none of us are our Packers fans or Jets fans, I want to ask the answer honestly. Is it just me? I just hate the Jets. No, it's not even a Jets thing or an Aaron Rodgers thing. I just, eh, not really. I mean, I mean, I don't say I don't even think he will. He's a pretty much a regular season quarterback, you know. I didn't even want Peyton Manning to get another ring. I just mean, Rodgers doesn't wow me as much, you know, it's like, I'm not gonna lie. If he manages to win a ring with the Jets, that's pretty damn impressive. All things considered because it's the Jets and they're not supposed to win. So if he's able to pull that off, my head goes out to him. He might go like top four, top five. He's top ten all time for me, but top five, if he wins one with the Jets. I don't know if I could throw him top five just because of that, but I'm probably close, maybe six. They haven't won since the 60s. I can make an exception for Aaron Rodgers just based off that. I hate the Jets and I hate Aaron Rodgers, but I respect Aaron Rodgers. And I think I look at it the same way that I looked at Manning, which is I hated Peyton Manning. I hated the Broncos. I hated the fact that the Patriots in 2015, when they should have won the suit, won the Super Bowl that year, lost in an upset in Denver. Joe, come on, that entire team was like injured to hell and back. They were not going to win. Yeah, but they still, I still think they should have. They shouldn't have gotten injured. I think there's a lot of there. Oh, you can. Got injured. Don't worry. I'll tell Joe burrow that for you. That team, I'm telling you, that team shouldn't have been playing that game in Denver. It should have been in New England. It wasn't like you're losing. You guys lost. You lost in the regular season. You didn't get take the game in Miami seriously. This is all besides the point. I was rooting. I did not like the Broncos. I did not like Peyton Manning. I respected the Broncos. I respected Peyton Manning. And I think in that same breath, I think they deserve, Rodgers deserves more rings than just one. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. And there are so many quarterbacks who have just won one ring, who he is so much better than. Okay, cool. Then maybe he shouldn't have made the NFC Championship for straight years and went 0 and 4. No amount of MVPs can hide the fact because the MVP is a regular season award for a regular season quarterback. Aaron Rodgers is like Peyton Manning in a sense. He's a regular season guy. And then, and all I hear are these stupid Aaron Rodgers fans, not Packers fans, mind you, Aaron Rodgers fans are like, but my defense, it's like, okay, cool. I guess defense is the reason why the Niners didn't even score on offense at all. I'm still one against Rodgers, but I digress in terrible weather. I should add as well. It was snowing that day. Perfect weather for Green Bay to run a muck on San Francisco. And they did, they did Jack. Their defensive have been bad. I'm not giving them excuses for that, but their defenses have been terrible. I will for 2019. They're have only been, they're have only been 11 teams in the Super Bowl era who have ever won a Super Bowl without a top 10 defense. Out every single year, Rodgers was in the league outside of the one he won the Super Bowl. They had a defense outside the top 10 every single year. So that is something that you can look at. On top of that, his stats in the right in those postseason games, I'm not too much of a box score checker, but he did play performance rise on the on the stat sheet a little better than people give him credit for. I'm just saying, I'm not saying that he's anywhere near Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Joe Montana, not even Patrick Mahomes at this point in his career. I'm just saying that there are some things that they have a point on. I think they take it too far when saying he'd have more rings if he were in Tom Brady's position that no, he wouldn't. That's taking it too far. But if he was if he had better defenses, he would have won a couple more rings. I do think so. I mean, it's just and you brought up his stats. I mean, he's been in five championship games, right? He's one in four. He averaged 276 passing yards in each completion percentage of 64.8. I mean, this solid, but nine touchdowns and eight picks. And for someone who says he's great at not throwing picks. So I forgot to tell him that in the NFC Championship games, because I mean, his play gets worse in the regular in the postseason. I agree. I'm just saying it's not. He's only besides there's only ready for this. And I kid you not. There has only been one time in the NFC Championship where he's been sacked more than three times. So like my point is like, I can't stress enough. Like, I just, I don't know. I agree. He's better in the regular season than he is in the postseason. But nobody gave nobody gave Peyton Manning that excuse. Because Peyton, Peyton Manning is significantly worse in the he's even worse than Rogers is. Oh, yeah, no, I never give anyway. He's still a top three greatest quarterback of all time by most people's rankings. So like, yeah, I'm not I'm not arguing he's better. I'm not arguing he's better than anybody. I'm just saying he's better than winning one ring. That's all I'm saying. That's all. If he had better defenses, he probably would have won more Super Bowls. I'm not saying more than anybody else who we have mentioned in the in the top in who are in the top five, not more than Tom Brady, not more than Peyton Manning, most likely. Not more than Patrick Mahomes, not more than Joe Montana. But he'd still win. I think he'd win at least two. Maybe not more than Manning because if that if he could he could win three, I don't know. He'd win more than one. I'm I'll say that much. Yeah. All right. Um, do we have anything else before we end the show tonight? No, no, I'm good. I mean, not besides Trent Williams getting paid, but you knew that was going to happen. Yeah. Pretty impressive by the 49ers front office. They're such a professional buttoned up organization that managed to. I mean, they handled the situation as good as they possibly could have. Granted, Brandon, I, you acted a little bit like a child. They wouldn't move it. They figured it out. They talked to them. They reasoned with them. And they managed to figure it out at the end of the day. You can say all they want about how they haven't been able to win a Super Bowl. But they're a very, they're a very professional organization who figures things out like that. Um, all right. So that'll do it for us tonight. Thank you for listening to us. We have new episodes out on Tuesdays and Fridays, Tuesdays at 7.30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and Fridays at five. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel. We have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcast, iHeartRadio, Google podcast, and so much more. Also, be sure to follow our Instagram @FumbleRuski_podcast. And our TikTok @FumbleRuskiPod to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL. Otherwise, we will see you next week. Over and out.