Grant and Danny
Blitzing The NFC East
Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21+ and present in Colorado, first online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issue does now withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com, gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. And we start on the Cowboys with Donovan Lewis Midday's 96-70 ticket, Dallas, sitting now at 2-2 in the NFC East after they beat the Giants in prime time. But Donovan, that was kind of a hold-your-nose win against New York, wasn't it? Oh, I don't think I've heard it described like that, but yes, I think you're right. It is a hold-your-nose just trying to survive against a bad team, and you needed that win. Leading up to what we all said, it was a must-win four weeks into the season, and that's exactly what it was, and that's exactly what they had to go get. So while it wasn't pretty, it was definitely needed, and now we've got to see if they could sustain some type of defensive stand against the run like they showed against the Giants. So, Donovan, it looks like they're a little bit beat up now. Give us some injury updates. Well, the market's launch was placed on IR, so he'll be out at least four weeks, but they expect that to be a lot longer than four weeks. Micah, they're still listing as doubtful, but I just don't think he's going to play. He looked really hobbled when he got off the bus on that Thursday night coming back from New York, so everyone's expecting him to miss at least Pittsburgh and maybe Detroit. And if he does, then yes, this defense is going to be hobbled without the top two pass rushes. And everyone thought that the strength of this team was the pass rush on defense, and now you've lost the two guys that can get to the quarterback. So it's going to be a struggle on Sunday night against Pittsburgh. Yeah, I saw you guys signed KJ Henry, former commander. They drafted at a Clemson in the fifth round off of a practice squad. So, who probably signed a Henry? It wasn't buried, but it was... The exact right Henry is here. Probably not the Henry you guys wanted. What do you think about the matchup, just personnel-wise, the way the Steelers want to play, the way Dallas plays, and how that lays out? Sunday night football this weekend. Yeah, you know, it's funny because Justin Fields is probably the most dangerous runner that they have. I know they had some injuries to Warren and Harris. I don't know their availability. But if you keep Justin Fields in the pocket, then I think you have a chance, which may do a little... It sounds weird, but if you're not just totally able to rush the passer, maybe he sits back in the pocket, and that's maybe your best chance to win it. So as long as he doesn't get outside and can use his legs, I seriously think the Cowboys can have a chance in that game. But if he gets outside with their inability to stop the run, you know, the couple of weeks before, this is like they fixed it against the Giants. But I don't think the Giants have anyone like Justin Fields who's able to get outside and run, even Daniel Jones can't do that. So they still have their issues with that. So I think the strategy is to try to keep him in the pocket and make him use his arm. If they can do that, then I think they'll be able to survive defensively. Now on the other side, man, that Pittsburgh defense is really good. And the Cowboys offense, even in the win, they just haven't been that impressive. So unless they can run the football, which they haven't shown the ability to do that, and they can get someone else involved other than CDLAM to kind of loosen it up, I think they're going to have their issues scoring the football against Pittsburgh this week. So it should be an interesting matchup. Donovan, where's the deck press got approval rating? I'm thinking of like those old school applause meters where the guys are going up and down from a zero to 100. Where are we at? Man, that is a great question. It is one of those like it seems like everyone in Dallas has a lower approval rating because they just have seen so many years of him not being able to get it done when it matters the most. But overall, in the NFL, these are really good quarterback. And you've got to have a guy like that in order to try and get to the place where you haven't been. So it's one of those, I don't want to evade the question. But I guess it's about maybe 60, 65% approval rating. But man, I think sometimes that goes even lower than halfway when we add Cowboys fans around here. Is there a thought that they're good? No, it's not. They're going to have to show seriously. They're going to have to prove it to their fan base and probably prove it to themselves that they're good. Now, the only asterisk you could put on it is the fact that it doesn't appear that the NSC East anyone's going to run away. Like Washington's been really good, but can they sustain it? And Philadelphia is what Philadelphia is. And they feel like that they're going to be up and down also. So it doesn't feel like you need to have an 11, 12, 13, when year to win the NSC East. So even if you're at nine and two wins, they may get you the opportunity to make the playoffs and anything goes when it comes to the playoffs. So I think that's the only saving grace to what everyone feels is just pretty much an average team. Well, remember the commanders don't punt. So, right, exactly right. They can use that roster spot for someone else. So they don't use that. So, yeah, no, it's interesting to see if they're going, if they can sustain this and what they're doing right now with Cliff King Barry in that offense is how it's going to be boy. That's something I don't think anyone expected this year. So it feels like if that's the case and the Cowboys got to step it up. And now they have their roughest part of the schedule right in front of them right now. So it gets interesting. Everyone thought maybe they'll be two into going into this week against Pittsburgh, but then it's Detroit, then it's San Francisco, then it's Atlanta, then it's Houston, then it's Philadelphia. This is a gauntlet for the Cowboys to try to prove themselves. Donovan, thank you as always, man. Have a great week. My pleasure. I'll see you, buddy. Dara, sit that deagle's sounder, please. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sportsbook. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real moneyweights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now a throwable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. Tom Kelly on WIP. Be kind enough to join us to talk about Philadelphia. Tom, give me kind of a system check here. Is it glass half full? I know it's funny talking about Philly fans, but is glass half full because they're in it without some of their best players, or is the sky falling, cancel the rest of the season? Yeah, it's more of a whatter after that game on Sunday. I mean, a terrible performance from the defense. We knew the defense wasn't going to be that good, but the real concerning thing guys gave it hurts. I mean, the turnovers, seven turnovers now in four games for him to start the year. If he just is not protecting the football and we know with the Eagles, they're built around the offense. If they're not going to score a ton of points, they're not going to win a lot of games. And even without the injuries, I mean, Jenna, can't you turn the ball over? That's a big concern here right now. So I'm trying not to beat up on hurts that much because he's got no weapons right now, either. I mean, Jahan Datsen was starting and is not getting targets or catches. You don't have the wide receivers. It's Barkley and Pray for Rain basically. Having said that, I mean, there's basically been one year that's not like the others for Jalen hurts when you really look at it. It's that MVP caliber year where Philly got to the Super Bowl. Everything else has been very different and it feels like that's just the outlier. Is that overstated? No, it's not. And I think there's an extra, I guess, sense of anxiety for Eagles fans. Come off the Carson situation. I mean, you guys had Carson down there and it was very similar trajectory where his second year was so incredible, he never reached those heights again and you don't want to immediately kind of make that comparison. But with what we saw from Carson went to what we're seeing now from Jalen, them having the same kind of problems, it's hard to not let that fall under your mind. Tom, let's just come to an agreement that we just won't mention Carson. Why it's free for both of our benefits anymore. Like just for fun. Like just never say, no, no, all good. You mentioned the defense. I thought this group would be a little bit better. I didn't think good by any stretch of imagination and there certainly had their moments. I didn't think it could be back to that like 80 sack as a team thing they did a couple of seasons ago, but I thought they'd be better than last year. How disappointing has it been? Where's room for improvement? Give me kind of state of the union there. Yes. I'm really disappointed. I mean, the big signing on defense was Bryce up from the Jets. They gave them three years, 51 million, 17 per year. And he has, I think, one tackle in four games, hasn't had a quarterback hit, hasn't had a sack. And I mean, that's a huge issue considering you traded a son, Rick, and we know his situation right now. But yeah, they're not getting the pressure off the edge and unless that changes, it's hard to see this defense really improving in a significant way. An early buy in week five is normally a bummer, just stinks, right? But the way it lays out here with how banged up they are might actually be perfect to regroup, come out of the buy. They've got the Browns, the Giants, we'll see what the Bengals are at that point, but under the Jaguars are soon thereafter. Is this working out potentially about as well as it could for them right now at two and two? Yeah, and I think that's kind of the hope is we all thought it would be the early buy, but considering the injury situation, you hope after the buy, you get AJ Brown back, you get the Monte Smith back, and you're in a much better spot. So that's kind of thinking at this point, is this by even though it didn't seem like it was coming at a great time before the season, it certainly seems like it is now. You got to go to the betting window this afternoon. Would you bet on or against the Eagles winning this division this year? Well, honestly, right now, I probably bet against. I mean, we thought before the year, it would be a two horse race between the Eagles and the Cowboys. And if that were the case, I'd still feel, still feel pretty confident. But with what we've seen from your guy, Jane Daniels down there, that is a scary element added to this division now with Washington. So that means right now you would expect Washington to win the division. Right now, that would be my pick. Yeah, I mean, I've been incredibly impressed by what Jane Daniels has done. That offense is playing at a really high level. I think Dan Quinn's done a really good job kind of setting the culture there. And right now, I think considering the way these other teams have played Dallas and the Eagles, I think Washington's got to be the favorite. So as you look at what's coming out of this by week here, Cleveland Giants, Bengals, Jaguars, maybe not what you thought before the season, not, not, I mean, Utah, but like someone like me that thought Cleveland would be pretty good since an ad it would be, you know, Super Bowl contender. The Jaguars are windless. The Giants are pretty terrible, I still think. So I think all of a sudden post by week, if guys are healthy, we can have a totally different narrative here as they head to that week 10 tilled at Dallas. Is that something that's on your mind in terms of this opportunity coming out of that by week? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And that's something that if you're looking at the positive side of it, that's why you'd be positive is this schedule coming out of the by. I mean, they got to go at least three and one in the next four games here because you got two and two, you're four and four, then you have a difficult part of the schedule where you go to Dallas and a few of those divisional games that are tougher than, than they seem before the year. So yeah, I think the Eagles really need to come out of this by on fire and at least when three out of these next four. Tom, thank you, buddy. I appreciate you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Be good. The club pulling up the rear right now, and that's a team that is doing so despite looking better the last couple of weeks, the New York Giants, Ryan Dunley, he joins us as we blitzed the East on Grant and Danny, the New York Post, Ryan, they beat Cleveland after narrowly missing out on the chance to beat Washington down a kicker, then they've got the Cowboys and crime time had a golden chance to win, but didn't. What's the temperature on the one in three giants as they get ready for the Seahawks? Well, they're not terrible. Right? I mean, they're not terrible. I would, temperature is like, eh, if that, if that makes sense, the Giants are. We're familiar with half. We know. We've done here, Ryan. For a long time. Yeah, the Giants are not as terrible as some people thought, including myself coming into the season, but they're certainly not anywhere near a playoff caliber team. It just looks like a team that's going to sputter along to a, you know, six, five win season. And that'll turn up the pressure on Brian Dayball and it'll turn up the pressure on Joe Shane as you get there and see how it looks like. I mean, they're not scoring, which is driving the fans crazy, driving people inside the building crazy because the big thing after last year was to find a way to up the points and their averaging 15 points a game and just to kick five field goals on the Cowboys and they could tell you all they want that it's about red zone struggles. But when you're kicking a 50 yard field goal, you aren't exactly in the red zone. So Ryan, this is probably a tough question to answer. And I'm sure it's hard to quantify, but I got a buddy who's, who's a Giants fan who texted me something along the lines of what you just said. And he's livid. He's furious and I can relate to this as a longtime Washington fan. He's like, we're not terrible enough to be terrible so that no one can hide and everybody gets let go and they stop pretending Daniel Jones is the thing, but they're also not good enough to be good. They're in the worst possible place where everybody can excuse things away and have things like you just said, they go, that's red zone struggles and maybe convince ownership that they deserve more shots at this thing. I wonder, Hey, how common is that sentiment and be your thoughts? Yeah, I think that's where they've been for five years, right? They've been picking six or 10th or fourth or 12th or they're in that no man's land where they can't break through and become a competitive team and they, you know, aren't picking number one or the year they had the number two pick, they used it on say, Juan Barclays, so who's no longer here, obviously. So no, I mean, they are coming. No man's land. I mean, they obviously wanted to replace Daniel Jones has passed off season preferably with Jaden Daniels or Drake May and they weren't able to trade up and get him and Malik neighbors looks phenomenal, but who's going to be throwing him the ball in the long term? It's not going to be Daniel Jones. So and this doesn't look like a quarterback deep draft, so they're going to have a big question at the most important position going into that season and that's not where anybody wants to be in the fourth year of a regime. You mentioned Malik neighbors. I just don't think a wide receiver can win the rookie of the year award over a good quarterback. We saw last year with Pooka Nakua breaking records and still losing out CJ Strauss, who was amazing for a rookie, but just kind of pretty good statistically for a quarterback normally when Nakua had 100 catches and 1500 yards and still didn't win it. So neighbors might be the biggest threat to Daniels, but I can't see him beating Daniels out if Daniels plays at this level, but how about 10 for 127 against Washington, 12 for 115 against the Cowboys. He had two touchdowns against the Browns, but he's been ridiculous. He's on pace for one catch shy of the NFL record right now. Yeah, something like over 200 targets too, he's in the concussion protocol right now, so we don't know if he'll be able to play on this Sunday, and that's really the only thing that's going to slow him down, honestly, is a potential injury. He's tremendous in every regard, the separation, the leaping ability, his hands, I mean, every regard has been tremendous and you're right. I don't know that a receiver can beat a quarterback if they both play well. I think in a year where all the quarterbacks were average or whatnot, it could happen, but I mean, what Jayden Daniels doing is incredible. And I think it probably Brian Dable's best case to make ownership or the fans is like, Hey, the whole world saw on hard knocks. I loved this guy. So like, let me find my next Jayden Daniel. Ryan really appreciate the time, man. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Yeah, be good. It's Ryan Dunley, the covers the Giants for the New York Post, and that is how we blitz the East. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sports book partner of the NFL.