00:00One NFL game in the books, a full weekend ahead.
00:04It's the Thursday touchdown.
00:21All right, guys, the Lions open the season on Sunday against the Saints.
00:25Which Lions player will you be focused on the most in week one?
00:29So I'm going to cheat the system a little bit.
00:31Come on.
00:32On the first question.
00:33And it's left guard.
00:36Okay, so it may only end up being one player.
00:39But I'm going to be focused on them because I want to see,
00:43is it going to be Ben Bartsch?
00:45Is it going to be Christian Mahogany?
00:47And what level of play are they going to get?
00:50And if they do rotate those guys,
00:52how does it affect the chemistry of that offensive line?
00:55I am going to be focused on that position.
00:57And hopefully it's only one guy.
00:59If not, then I've got to include both.
01:02Tyleek Williams, year number two for a first round pick.
01:06Stop the run.
01:07Stop ETN.
01:08And then that will allow you to rush the passer and get to Tyler Shuck.
01:12I'm going with Rocky Asin.
01:15If he can hold his own out there,
01:16I think it's going to be a very good sign,
01:18regardless of what else is happening on the defense.
01:21All right, the Lions have a lot of candidates for most improved player this season.
01:24Who do you think it'll be and why?
01:26Sam Laporta.
01:27Oh.
01:28Thousand yards as a rookie.
01:30Big moments in the playoffs.
01:32But his yards, his catches, and his touchdowns have all gone the wrong way.
01:37I think with Petsing, unlocking him, playing more like his first season,
01:41I think he gets back to form.
01:43You're going the wrong way.
01:45How do they know where we're going?
01:48I'm going to go with Aileen McNeil, kind of on the same level as you in regards to
01:52he made the return from his ACL surgery, and we saw him against Tampa,
01:55and we're like, oh, wow, he is back.
01:58And then he disappeared for the rest of the season.
02:00I think Aileen McNeil, another year removed from that surgery,
02:04and the fact that we've heard him talk about,
02:07I've had nightmares about what happened last year,
02:10nightmares about a lot of things in the defensive production
02:14or them being a liability defensively.
02:18I think Aileen McNeil, whether it is stopping the run
02:22and his ability to stop the run along with Tyleek Williams,
02:26getting him to play at a higher level,
02:28I think Aileen McNeil has a large part to do with that,
02:30and then being able to pressure the passer.
02:33So with Laporta, also a contract year,
02:36and it's interesting the two guys you picked
02:38because Aileen got his contract before that season started.
02:41Laporta hasn't.
02:42Therefore, there's question or doubt within the organization.
02:45You look at Branch, I think he would have been locked up
02:48if he didn't have the Achilles.
02:49I think they're treating Branch more like Hutch.
02:51They wanted to see him on the field before they gave him the extension.
02:54But yeah, Laporta could be playing for huge bucks here.
02:57He could be one of the most valued free agents available,
03:00although I think they would franchise him if it got to that.
03:02There's a lot of hype surrounding the Dallas Cowboys this season.
03:05Are you buying into the hype?
03:07And isn't the NFL better when the Cowboys are good?
03:10The NFL is better when the Cowboys are good because it's a great story.
03:13It's very entertaining.
03:14Jerry Jones is very entertaining,
03:16and everything that goes on with Dallas is the drama that surrounds it.
03:23And are they going to get a postseason win?
03:24Are they going to do anything in the postseason?
03:26Listen, I'm cautiously buying in to what they're doing.
03:32And part of it is because I know how good of a coach Brian Schottenheimer is
03:37when you look at what they have offensively.
03:40The offense has never been their issue.
03:42But the only question I really have offensively is they lose Tyler Smith
03:46for however long left guard.
03:49But again, we're talking about the left guard here.
03:51I think they could cover it up for a period of time.
03:55CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens.
03:56I don't know that they run the ball like they need to,
03:58but defensively, this is where the big upgrades have come.
04:01Obviously, the trade for Quinn and Williams.
04:02They got Rashawn Gary.
04:03Kenny Clark is still, I mean, older,
04:05but he's still a very productive defensive tackle.
04:08And then you look at what they added in the secondary with Caleb Downs.
04:12I think this may be the most impactful rookie that we see this year.
04:17Could be the most improved defense.
04:18It has to be.
04:19They were the worst in football a year ago.
04:21You're buying.
04:22I'm buying.
04:23Friend of the show, Mike Tirico, is buying some Cowboys hype as well.
04:26And his point is a good one.
04:28There hasn't been the typical noise and distractions out of Dallas leading into a season.
04:33It's been a more buttoned-up, laser-focused approach.
04:36Just the brawls with New Orleans.
04:38I think they'll be much improved.
04:40I think they made a very wise decision when they dealt Parsons.
04:44They sneakily got Clark in the deal and then retooled with that trade last year,
04:50being a buyer when they were under .500 and getting Quinn and Williams.
04:53I think it's changed the entire dynamic of that defense.
04:57Is Jerry Jones now in the running for executive of the year?
05:01I don't know about that, but I thought they were wise with what they did with Parsons.
05:06The question is, which team from Texas are you higher on, Texan Tom?
05:12Texans, because their defense is already proven and elite.
05:15Speaking of them, C.J. Stroud recently said that pressure is a privilege.
05:20Does C.J. Stroud have the most at stake of any NFL player this season?
05:24I like how you phrase this, at stake, because I could argue there's pressure on guys like
05:27Lamar and Josh Allen to get over the hump and win a Super Bowl.
05:30But with what's at stake, tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake for C.J. Stroud.
05:37Their defense is good enough to win a Super Bowl.
05:38If he isn't, he gone.
05:42Well, he's there for another year.
05:44Well, they could move on.
05:45They picked up the fifth year option.
05:46Okay, there are a lot of teams.
05:47Wouldn't Minnesota love to have C.J. Stroud after this year?
05:54I think there are a lot of teams.
05:55Arizona, wouldn't they love to have C.J. Stroud?
05:58I mean, there's a lot of teams that I think would be in that category.
06:00And I think the one that maybe has the more at stake is the guy that was taking a couple
06:04of
06:04picks higher, and that's Bryce Young.
06:07He, as well, same draft.
06:10They picked up his fifth year option.
06:12And if he doesn't perform, like they made the postseason last year, and he performed
06:16better towards the end of the year.
06:17He's never had that year, that rookie season like C.J. Stroud had.
06:22And I'm going to give you a wild card in this one.
06:25Marvin Harrison Jr.
06:26Oh, yeah.
06:27Has there been a receiver recently that has come in with can't-miss talent, and he has
06:35been anything but can't-miss talent going into his third year?
06:38Yeah, I don't get it with him.
06:40I mean, of all the Ohio State receivers, I thought he'd be the last one that would kind
06:44of, you know, just be meh.
06:46They're all better than him.
06:48Yeah, exactly.
06:49The Colts were 8-2 last season before losing seven in a row to finish 8-9.
06:53Are the Colts the most volatile team heading into 2026, or is it a different team?
06:59I'm going to say it's Cincinnati.
07:00It's boom or bust.
07:02A few years ago, we thought that Joe Burrow was going to be a regular in the Super Bowl.
07:06Cincinnati was going to be there.
07:08And since then, it's been injury, injury, injury.
07:11And they lose the first, what, two games of the season.
07:14And then all of a sudden, they're trying to make this great comeback.
07:17Then he gets hurt.
07:18They can't.
07:18Like, I think Cincinnati, it's either boom or bust.
07:22And I think they are the most volatile team going into this year.
07:25And who knows what they're going to do with Zach Taylor as their coach.
07:30They are an organization that is very loyal to a flaw.
07:34I think he's a good coach.
07:36What do they do with him if they don't make the postseason or if it's an underwhelming year?
07:40Yeah, I looked at this as like, who's a hard team to figure out?
07:43And to me, it's the Giants.
07:44There's the Harbaugh effect where he can come in and clean them up right away.
07:47They've got these dudes that can get to the quarterback on their D-line.
07:50At the same time, I'm not a dart guy.
07:52I think he takes too many chances and risks.
07:55Him and Scadabo play with reckless abandon.
07:57They might not even finish the season.
07:58So I think there's a volatility to what could happen in New York.
08:02But there's also, they could have that one magical year where both of them stay healthy.
08:07And now all of a sudden, we're talking about the Giants possibly in the postseason.
08:12Yeah, and I'd expect the Giants to be the type of team that beats the other bad teams
08:16because of that defensive line, because those other bad teams probably have bad quarterbacks.
08:21All right, last season, Mike Rabel won NFL Coach of the Year.
08:24Who do you think will be named Coach of the Year this season?
08:26Jesse Minter.
08:28Get Baltimore back in the postseason.
08:30Flirt with a one seed.
08:31Get them back to playing the defense they expect in Baltimore.
08:35Possibly.
08:36I don't see it because I just don't think Lamar Jackson can stay healthy.
08:39And at some point, Derrick Henry has to hit a wall, right?
08:44Does he?
08:45I mean, he just keeps running through the wall.
08:46Stiff arming father time every year.
08:47I'm going to talk about a guy I already talked about, Brian Schottenheimer.
08:50If he is able to take this team, I don't think they're going to be consistent enough
08:56through the season to win the NFC East.
09:00But if they do, and if they win a postseason game,
09:05I think Brian Schottenheimer is going to be in that conversation.
09:08Because remember, he was hired, and most people thought that he was just a placeholder
09:12for a year.
09:14And now, could Dallas finally be a part of the equation and relevant?
09:18Will either of these guys potentially have an offseason affair next year?
09:22Just kidding.
09:23Typically, we see about five teams make the playoffs that miss the playoffs the previous
09:27season.
09:28Give me your top five teams that could pull this off this year.
09:31This is a difficult one, not because of trying to come up with five teams,
09:35but to narrow it to five teams.
09:38Kansas City, it's kind of an oddity that they were out.
09:41I think most people believe they'll be right back there in the playoffs.
09:44I think Detroit is right back there in the playoffs.
09:47And then you have other contenders like Baltimore, you brought up.
09:52Indy, if Danny Dimes stays healthy.
09:54Dallas, that we just talked about.
09:56How about Tampa and Baker Mayfield?
09:58I mean, obviously, in conversations this morning, you love yourself some Baker Mayfield.
10:01I mean, it's Texan Tom and Baker Mayfield love all day with Tom.
10:06And then Cincinnati, like there's seven teams right there.
10:09We could have a year where there's a huge turnover in playoff teams.
10:13Vikings would be.
10:15I'm not.
10:16They were nine and eight.
10:20You don't like that little guy.
10:21I don't like the little guy, yeah.
10:22I think that he's going to flame out at some point.
10:25And is Carson Wentz going to be enough?
10:27Look at you and more people like Kyler Murray, Colin.
10:30Is Carson Wentz going to be enough to get them into the postseason?
10:34So who are your five teams?
10:37I just gave you all the teams.
10:39You got to pick five.
10:40This guy.
10:41Just give yours five.
10:42Kansas City, Detroit, Indy, Baltimore, and Dallas.
10:49Okay.
10:49I'll just answer the question.
10:51Lions, Chiefs, Ravens, Cowboys, Bucks.
10:56Is that so hard?
10:57That's the Thursday touchdown.
10:58Yeah, 97-1.
10:59No context.
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