00:00Setting the tone with the NFL season back tonight.
00:03John, take it away.
00:04Gosh, I love hearing that.
00:06We are finally here and we'll get a chance to see football all weekend long.
00:12NFL football tonight and tomorrow night.
00:14And we'll get a chance to talk more about that.
00:15But here are the teams that you are only going to hear once, I believe, in the power search.
00:22You're going to banish these teams.
00:23This is tier five.
00:24These are the teams that as soon as they take the field, the season is, in essence, over.
00:30The Miami Dolphins, $182 million in dead cap that they're taking this year.
00:36A large part of that, almost $100 million, is to a tongue of Bailoa.
00:39The New York Jets, the Cleveland Browns, who's going to be the quarterback?
00:44We know it's Deshaun Watson.
00:47What is he?
00:48And Shadour, when does he make his arrival?
00:51The Tennessee Titans, Vegas Raiders, Atlanta.
00:56Like, I just, who's going to, they're trying to get Tua back healthy.
01:01They're trying, what are they doing in Atlanta?
01:03Who knows?
01:04The New Orleans Saints, and we all know that the Lions start with the New Orleans Saints,
01:07and the Arizona Cardinals.
01:09They're eight teams.
01:10So that puts us at 24 teams that are alive.
01:15Alive.
01:16Okay.
01:16Yeah, it's a good way to put it.
01:17Tier four.
01:18These are ones where you're just, they're going to win some games, but they're just not going
01:24to wow anyone, and they're maybe, they're either a quarterback away, or they're a couple
01:29of years away because they're just young, and things are unproven.
01:32I'm going to start with the Washington Commanders.
01:36I don't think Jaden Daniels is going to get back to that rookie form.
01:41They've got to find a way to continue to develop him, but give him weapons.
01:46They've got old guys everywhere, and their offensive line is an issue.
01:52The New York football Giants.
01:54Now, I do think, defensively, they're going to be a good team.
01:58We know John Harbaugh is a hell of a coach, but Jackson Dart in his second year, can he
02:03actually stay healthy?
02:04Can Cam Scadaboo?
02:06I love him as a running back.
02:07I love him as a character in the NFL, I just don't think he can stay healthy.
02:13The Pittsburgh Steelers with Aaron as their quarterback.
02:17No farewell to her?
02:18No, no.
02:20But again, they just seem to find a way to win games, and I like Mike McCarthy as a
02:24coach.
02:25The Carolina Panthers, Bryce Young, what are they doing with him, and are they going
02:31to now win a division with another losing record?
02:35I just, I think they take a step back, actually.
02:38Tier three.
02:39These are teams with something to prove.
02:41The Cincinnati Bengals.
02:42Can they prove that they can protect Joe Burrow?
02:44If they do, they're going to jump up quickly.
02:47The Indianapolis Colts with Danny Dyes.
02:50Like, how is he recovering from the Achilles?
02:52We know Jonathan Taylor is going to be a weapon.
02:54And defensively, they're going to be, I think they're going to be really good.
02:57John, they were angling for the one seed before it collapsed last year.
03:00I don't know what to make of the Jacksonville Jaguars and what they have or don't have.
03:08It's just like, I need to see something.
03:10The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
03:12And I think this is one where Baker Mayfield, he is going to be playing with an extraordinary
03:18fire.
03:19But he's got Mika Ibuka, Godwin.
03:22Can those guys stay healthy?
03:23If they do, I think they'll jump up quickly.
03:25Those two Florida teams, the common denominator, Liam Cohn left one, other team started struggling,
03:31and other team got good.
03:33Right.
03:34And Jacksonville may take that step.
03:37I just, I don't know.
03:38I don't trust it yet.
03:39We'll find out if Jacksonville is here to stay this year.
03:41Right.
03:42The Minnesota Vikings.
03:43Again, these are some teams that could take a huge step, but I need to see Kyler Murray,
03:48and it needs to be for more than just the first seven or eight games of the season.
03:56But tier two, and this actually gets into our power surge, because I think there's a clear
04:03delineation of the top teams in the NFL right now in tier one.
04:06There's only four of those.
04:07So I'm going to start with the teams that are just outside the top six, and that is San
04:12Francisco, Green Bay, Chicago, Baltimore, New England, Kansas City, Philly, Detroit,
04:24and the Chargers, and I'm going to get to the other two teams in a moment, but the Chargers
04:28can, can they actually keep their quarterback healthy?
04:32Can they keep their offensive line healthy?
04:33That's been the big issue with them recently.
04:37And then it's turnovers when you get into big time games.
04:41Detroit will spend a lot of time talking about them.
04:43I have questions about the secondary.
04:45They also could be a team that takes a big step forward.
04:47We'll find out week two what they do against Buffalo, Kansas City.
04:51They had more flaws last year than just losing Patrick Mahomes.
04:56Yep.
04:57Can they run the football?
05:00Can they take pressure off of Patrick Mahomes so he doesn't have to be scrambling around
05:04making all the amazing plays that he normally makes?
05:06And how long does it take him to get back to the old Patrick Mahomes?
05:09That's why they got Kenneth Walker, right?
05:11Right.
05:12And New England.
05:13We'll find out tonight, like what's year three of Drake May and the schedule that they're
05:20going to be facing.
05:21If they want to take a step quickly, the big knock on them last year was, hey, they made
05:27it to the Super Bowl.
05:28They played a Denver team without Bo Nix.
05:30They played all these teams and they just didn't play anybody.
05:34And then they got manhandled in the Super Bowl.
05:37Beating the Jets and Dolphins doesn't win you respectability.
05:39Beating the reigning champs could.
05:40No.
05:41And teams that are still in year two, but are in the top six.
05:47Who did I not say so far in the NFC East?
05:51Cowboys.
05:52The Cowboys.
05:54How about them Cowboys?
05:55And offense has never been an issue.
05:58Dak's going to put up some big numbers.
05:59They've got a tandem of wide receivers in those guys.
06:04It's the offensively.
06:06Now they did suffer an injury on the offensive line and that's going to be a big hit.
06:10But with Quinnen Williams, Rashawn Gary, Caleb Downs, and a very competent linebacker crew,
06:19you've got guys at every level that can make plays.
06:22If they find a way to create turnovers, if they find a way to get the ball back to that
06:27offense and continue to score points, they're going to be a team that's to be reckoned with.
06:31And then number five, I know Tom will be very excited about this one.
06:34This is the Texan Toms.
06:37Houston.
06:39Defensively, I think they're going to be right there with teams like Seattle, with the Rams,
06:45with Denver in regards to who's got the actual best defense in the NFL.
06:50They will terrorize, terrorize quarterbacks with the tandem of Daniil Hunter and Will Anderson.
06:59That's the top end of Tier 2.
07:03Tier 1 in the top four teams, I've got the Denver Broncos with a healthy Bo Nix.
07:09And no one's going to sit there and say Bo Nix is going to light the world on fire.
07:12But it's Sean Payton, his developing of a quarterback, his ability to put his team in
07:18position to win offensively, and a dominant defense that led the league in sacks last year.
07:24Again, you want to talk about terrorizing opponent quarterbacks.
07:27Is this in order, by the way?
07:28Is Denver four?
07:29Yes.
07:29Okay.
07:30Yeah.
07:30Denver's four.
07:31Number three, the Buffalo Bills.
07:33Josh Allen.
07:34Enough said.
07:35Probably there, but they have gone with the youth movement defensively.
07:38And for them, it's just simply, can we stay healthy on the defensive side of the ball?
07:43Josh Allen and the running game, all of that will take care of itself.
07:46They're going to score a ton of points, but what can they do defensively?
07:51Can they just be in the top half of the NFL?
07:55And if they could be a top 10 defense, look out because they could be on the way to their
08:02first Super Bowl championship.
08:03Number two, and some of this is because of the fact that they are the defending Super Bowl
08:10champs is why they're here.
08:12And I know that they lost Kenneth Walker III.
08:14He's now in Kansas City.
08:16He's going to help Patrick Mahomes.
08:17But can Sam Darnold still be the ultimate game manager?
08:23Can he distribute the ball to JSN?
08:26Can he orchestrate the offense on the field to pair up with one of the better defenses?
08:35Mike McDonald is, I think, a terrific coach and does a great job of organizing that defense.
08:41They're going to be a terrorist on defense.
08:43And then number one is the LA Rams.
08:46I don't know how you can't put the LA Rams starting the season as your number one team
08:52defensively.
08:53Now, I know Aaron Donald's not playing in the first game.
08:55He's not making the trip to, what is it, Australia.
08:59But getting Miles Garrett on that defensive front, this is a situation where in Cleveland,
09:07he set the record for the set for amount of sacks against teams that were playing with
09:12the lead.
09:13They weren't throwing the ball as much as opponents will be throwing the ball against
09:16the Rams because there's going to they're going to have leads.
09:19I don't even know what this looks like with him going against teams that are going to
09:25throw the ball on average seven or eight times more per game, sometimes more.
09:31He's going to have more opportunity.
09:32And then offensively, like a tandem in the backfield, Matthew Stafford, for them, it's
09:38all about health.
09:39If they stay healthy, they are going into this season with and they're going to be favored
09:44I probably in every game.
09:47So I think this is pretty logical.
09:48I didn't have anything that jumped out as a huge issue that I would take with this.
09:52Tom, do you have any objections to John's tiered rankings?
09:57I just say the only thing with the Seahawks is I think the loss of Kubiak is being overlooked
10:02significantly and what he did for Sam Darnold.
10:05And can that be matched?
10:06Because if we get normal Sam Darnold, I don't know if they're a playoff team.
10:10Right.
10:11So you look at, hey, he's with Kevin O'Connell and has a great season, then goes and plays
10:16with Kubiak in Seattle.
10:18They go on and actually take it a step further, win the Super Bowl.
10:21I agree that that's going to be a huge issue.
10:24I need to see what it looks like.
10:26And this is some of it's out of respect for the defending world champs.
10:29And I get you need to see some of this happen.
10:31But like I circled Baltimore, who you have in tier two, they could certainly end up in
10:34tier one.
10:35The same with Philly, Detroit, Kansas City.
10:38Yeah, there's just there's a lot of prove it.
10:42I just need to see it on the field and we'll find out.
10:46As some would say, let it play out.
10:48Yes, I would probably put the Texans ahead of the bills, honestly, and it's because of
10:52their defense.
10:53I think it's going to be I think it has a chance to be generational.
10:56I really do.
10:58I agree with you.
10:59The reason I didn't was because of CJ Stroud.
11:01And that is that's why they're they're still in tier two.
11:04He's going to have to prove that he can be that quarterback he was in year two versus
11:08what he's been the last couple of years.
11:12That's the power surge kickoff the NFL season.
11:14Ninety seven one.
