PodcastFrom NFL: The Insiders
The NFL Report: Which team Rules the AFC North? + Nick Shook Joins the Show
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
25 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 13, 2026
Published
Tue, October 13, 2026
17
Player insights
14
Players mentioned
Topics
James CookJosh AllenLamar JacksonChase BrownDarius CooperDeVonta SmithJordan LoveJustin JeffersonJustin WatsonKenneth Walker IIIKyler MurrayKyren WilliamsRhamondre StevensonSaquon Barkley
Player analysis
Player insights
Chase Brown
NegativeRole7:58
Subject of a depth chart question regarding whether Samajee Piran might be the better running back option for the Bengals, suggesting potential role uncertainty or competition for carries.
Insight pageDarius Cooper
PositiveRole20:20
Darius Cooper, an undrafted free agent in 2025, has been a touchdown scorer for the Eagles offense; he is one of the few bright spots in an injury-plagued and depth-depleted Eagles offense.
Insight pageDeVonta Smith
NegativeInjury20:00
DeVonta has been banged up; he is one of two best players on the Eagles offense currently dealing with injury concerns alongside Saquon Barkley, which compounds offensive line depth issues following Lane Johnson's retirement and Cam Jurgens' trade.
Insight pageJames Cook
NegativeUsage0:58
Fumbled twice in Monday night overtime loss to Rams; one fumble was punched out by Nate Landman in critical moment, contributing to Buffalo's defeat.
Insight pagePositiveUsage5:35
Turned to frequently in Monday night's game against the Rams; helped Buffalo overcome a late fumble and contributed to the dynamic offense's ability to win the game.
Insight pageJordan Love
PositiveProjection10:03
Jordan Love exploded against Chicago with 367 passing yards and two touchdowns, getting the Packers back on track at a crucial time in the season against a divisional rival.
Insight pageJosh Allen
PositiveProjection0:27
Completed 210 passing yards and 121 rushing yards in Monday night overtime victory; ended his 0-7 overtime losing streak with the win against Rams.
Insight pagePositiveRole4:59
In Monday night's game against the Rams, Allen did not have to throw the ball nearly as much as usual because the passing game wasn't working; instead he took it upon himself to evade the rush, take off, and use his legs to propel the offense forward, unlocking Buffalo's dynamic offense in an explosive second half with great play design.
Insight pageJustin Jefferson
PositiveProjection21:40
Justin Jefferson caught a touchdown over triple coverage in Minnesota's win over New Orleans, demonstrating his ability to make plays in difficult situations; the source notes this was a throw that looked questionable in the air but resulted in a score, exemplifying Jefferson's elite playmaking ability.
Insight pageJustin Watson
PositiveRole24:00
Justin Watson has been signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad; he previously played for the team from 2022 to 2024 before signing as a free agent with Houston. Andy Reid praised him, saying he was a good player, willing to do everything, knows the offense, and is a smart kid; he could become one of the explosive play contributors alongside Kenneth Walker.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveUsage24:10
Kenneth Walker is generating explosive plays coming out of the Chiefs backfield; the source notes his dominance in the running game and suggests Justin Watson could become another explosive play contributor alongside him.
Insight pageKyler Murray
PositiveProjection21:55
Kyler Murray is finally getting comfortable with the Vikings offense after a slow start; he demonstrated the ability to make the best out of bad situations, including escaping cage rushes and finding downfield completions that set up scores, signaling offensive improvement for Minnesota.
Insight pageKyren Williams
PositiveUsage0:51
Scored a touchdown in Monday night overtime victory against Buffalo; featured prominently in Rams' game-winning drive in extra session.
Insight pageLamar Jackson
NegativeInjury2:35
Suspended two games without pay, barring a successful appeal; will miss the Rams game against the Cardinals and the Raiders in week seven.
Insight pagePositiveInjury6:22
Dealing with an ankle injury suffered in the win against the Titans, but trending in a good direction. Head coach Jesse Minter indicated Jackson is doing better and doing everything he can to get back out there, with more clarity expected by mid-week.
Insight pageRhamondre Stevenson
NegativeInjury6:17
Suffered a high ankle sprain during last Sunday's win over Vegas; expected to miss multiple weeks. Surgery not required, and he is not going to hit the IR, which may signal a return before four weeks, possibly within three weeks.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
NegativeInjury20:00
Saquon has been banged up; he is one of two best players on the Eagles offense currently dealing with injury concerns alongside DeVonta Smith, which compounds offensive line depth issues following Lane Johnson's retirement and Cam Jurgens' trade.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. The Ravens, they could be the Kings of the North.
0:05Our analyst makes the call on why the Ravens can keep flying high.
0:08Plus, we'll tell you the most intriguing team in that division.
0:11And welcome to a brand new edition of NFL: The Insiders.
0:15I'm Mike Yam. My good friend Nick Shook is going to be joining me in studio.
0:19We'll get his take on what transpired last night in a Monday night football matchup.
0:23Not to mention the Eagles. It feels like it's going in the wrong direction.
0:27We'll put into context just how bad the season has gotten for this Philadelphia squad.
0:31But we start with the latest headlines and what better place to start by finishing out or at least revisiting what happened
0:37last night in the Monday night game right across the street from our studios at SoFi Stadium.
0:42Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, the last two league MVPs.
0:45Well, this game, it was really a show, especially late.
0:47We picked this thing up late fourth quarter. How about this?
0:51Finish Kyren Williams get into the end zone. This game featured six lead changes, four in the second half alone in the extra session in overtime.
0:58James Cook, you're feeling like Buffalo. This could be their opportunity.
1:01Nate Landman, absolutely monstrous time to come up with the punch out.
1:04And then if you're a Rams fan, you're like, oh, we got this.
1:08We got this. Two fumbles, by the way, in the game for Cook a little bit later.
1:13Harrison Mevis from 48. Okay, I'm just going to let that one sit for a minute.
1:17Kind of a buzzkill if you're a Rams fan.
1:20More on the fallout from this failed game winning kick in just a moment.
1:23By the way, three field goals missed so far by Mevis in the season.
1:27That is the most in the NFL. Josh Allen, talk about his ability as a quarterback.
1:32That includes the run game. Ran for a buck 21, threw for 210 in this one.
1:36Pickup of 19 there. And Tyler Bass, by the way, this is how you close a game using your foot.
1:42Josh Allen, 0-7 in overtime games. That streak now officially over.
1:45That will put a smile on his face. We also heard from the winning quarterback when it was done.
1:50It's football. You can be down and out one play.
1:53The next play, you're on top of the world.
1:56And again, that's just how it rolled for us today.
1:58You know, our goal is to go 1-0 each week.
2:01We wanted to go 2-0 this West Coast trip.
2:04And you can't go 2-0 without getting the first one.
2:06And so we hit our, the first part of our job.
2:09We've got to have a really good week on a short, short week going against a, you know, really good team in the Raiders.
2:16Enjoy this one tonight. Flush it and get on to the next.
2:20Listen, you're playing a really good football team in Buffalo.
2:22You know, you're going to have to fight tooth and nail to go get a win.
2:27And give ourselves some opportunities. Didn't come away with it.
2:30Disappointing, obviously. But short week. We've got to move on and be ready to rock and roll.
2:34Well, emotions running very high. And by the way, that's a preview.
2:38All shook up. Nick Shook is going to be with us here in just a moment.
2:42We just, we like the Elvis flash so much.
2:45We decided to play it here. Meanwhile, Aleric Jackson actually struck linebacker or struck the Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb right after the game.
2:51You can see this altercation, not exactly what the NFL wanted to see.
2:55In fact, Adam Schefter putting it out on social media, suspending him two games without pay.
2:59Barring a successful appeal, Jackson is going to miss the Rams game against the Cardinals and then the Raiders in week number seven.
3:06Mike Garofalo putting this out on social media. Harrison Mevis talked about missing that game when he field goal and the fact that it got blocked.
3:13He has now officially been released from the squad for a little bit more.
3:17Nick Shook without the wig, the Elvis deal. That's still to come is with us.
3:21All right. I think back to special teams. We set this season up for the Rams.
3:25They were the super team, all these stars, offense and defense.
3:28But a year ago, Rashid Shahid, week 16, 58 yard punt return for a touchdown, fighter coordinator, the muffed punt in the playoff game.
3:35And now this, it feels like this is a growing trend on special teams for the Rams.
3:40It's beyond the trend. It's a major issue for this team that they said they were going to fix in the offseason and they didn't fix it.
3:47It's just as bad, if not worse this year than it was last year.
3:51And what do they do? And as a result of that, they cut their kicker today.
3:56Well, it's more than just the kicker. It's the blocking unit.
3:59It's all parts of the special teams. And it's also how the coach approached this final period here.
4:04Sean McVay taking a very conservative approach to this final few minutes.
4:07And it kind of just mystified everybody in the moment because we thought, do you know who your special teams unit is?
4:13Do you know that your kicker is not trustworthy?
4:16Or why are you not trying to get closer at least?
4:19And it cost the Rams a game. So they do have to make changes.
4:23He admitted that they need to. And this is the first of those changes.
4:27I don't think we'll see another coordinator firing in season like last year.
4:30But there's definitely plenty to clean up here. Okay.
4:33The theme of week five was late game drama.
4:35And it did feel like in a Monday night game, that caps week number five.
4:40Why not end the way that we did in this one?
4:43It's a, you know, never say die kind of attitude here.
4:46There's there's some positives and maybe some negatives, some teachable moments, maybe the best way to describe it from a Buffalo perspective.
4:52But what did you see? I saw Josh Allen being Josh Allen and being Josh Allen in a way that's a little bit different than usual.
4:59Not that he's not, you know, a prolific runner because he is.
5:03It's one of the most successful plays in football is a Josh Allen run.
5:06But he didn't have to throw the ball nearly as much.
5:10The passing game wasn't really working that much for this team.
5:13So he took it upon himself to evade the rush, take off, use his legs, and use all parts of his strengths to propel this offense forward.
5:20This was a slower moving first half. It was, I believe, a one-point game.
5:24And it ended up becoming an explosive second half with really great play design on both sides, whether it was Sean McVay or it was Joe Brady.
5:32And Josh Allen was the key that unlocked that Buffalo offense.
5:35Not to mention James Cook. They turned to him plenty.
5:37And they were able to overcome a late fumble that could have cost them the game.
5:42So it's a dynamic offense. And they did enough to win this game.
5:46You know, it's odd. A couple of years ago, these two teams played.
5:49And that is a game that featured over 600 yards of offense from both of those teams.
5:54I think it was like 80-some-odd points that were scored combined in that matchup.
5:58But there wasn't a sack and there wasn't a turnover.
6:01Sort of an entertaining game, but the exact different kind of playbook.
6:04It was fun to watch regardless. More from you coming up here in just a moment, including the win in action.
6:10So I think we just played it to get them going.
6:13Just a smidge there. All right. From a New England perspective, not great news.
6:17Rabion Henderson suffered a high ankle sprain during last Sunday's win over Vegas.
6:20Expected to miss multiple weeks. Now, surgery, keep in mind, not required.
6:24But he is not going to hit the IR.
6:26So even though he's missing multiple weeks, the fact that he's not on IR maybe signals it'll happen before three weeks.
6:32Or I should say four weeks. Maybe he's back in three.
6:35An important win for the Ravens in week five.
6:38Noah Lamar Jackson, Snoop Huntley handled business in the ATL on Sunday night football.
6:42Jackson dealing with the ankle he suffered in that win against the Titans.
6:45Here's his head coach, Jesse Minter, on his status.
6:48He's definitely doing better. You know, Wednesday, I'm not sure about exactly how that practice will look.
6:52But again, to Lamar's credit, he's doing everything he can to get back out there.
6:57I thought he was awesome. There's a lot of cool pictures and clips of him on the sideline, you know, in between
7:03series, talking to Snoop and hyping guys up. And what a wonderful teammate and leader that he is, even when he wasn't playing.
7:09So very, very proud of Lamar for handling himself like that.
7:12And again, he's doing everything he can. I think we'll know more definitely by the middle of the week.
7:18All right. So it feels like it's trending in a good direction for Lamar Jackson, who, by the way, is truly one
7:24of the best dudes in the NFL. His team is four and one.
7:27We're in our production meeting earlier today. And we're just kind of going back and forth on this division.
7:33You're like, no, this is still the Ravens division to win.
7:36You feel the most confident in their ability to take this north.
7:39But when it came to the most intriguing team, you had a different answer.
7:43It was the Cincinnati Bengals because of what they've done so far and how much they can improve as the season progresses.
7:49This is a team that we know really has an explosive offense.
7:52We know Joe Burrow and the usual suspects of T.
7:55Higgins and Jamar Chase. There's questions to answer on the offense.
7:58Like, is Samajee Piran potentially your better running back than Chase Brown right now?
8:02And the defense has been excellent up front. And that's a caveat with the up front because the secondary has not been as good.
8:09So there's room for growth here. And yet this team right now is only one game behind the Ravens.
8:14They're locked in a three-way tie of sorts, if we don't think about division record, with the Browns and the Steelers.
8:20There's so much season left to play. And this division is so close that it can go in a number of different directions.
8:27But when I look at the teams and the way they're constructed right now, it's the Ravens and it's the Bengals.
8:32They're the ones that are going to be battling for this division.
8:36How impressive have you been, though, with the front side of that defense, considering all the questions we had coming into the season?
8:42It's that man right there. Number 97, Dexter Lawrence.
8:45I mean, he has been a transformative player for this defensive front.
8:48He was worth the first-round pick they sent to him in the trade with the Giants.
8:52He's helped make everybody around him better. We've seen some of the other additions in the last couple of years with his boy, Amafe, Shamar Stewart.
9:00You know, he can continue to go down the list.
9:03Also finding success because they're playing alongside Dexter Lawrence, a guy who blows up run games.
9:07He blows up play actions. He gets after the quarterback.
9:10He does a whole lot. And he looks – I don't want to say he didn't look great last year, but he
9:16looks like a different player this season. That's the best way to describe it.
9:20He also looks like he slimmed down, which is saying something, because he still feels like the biggest dude on that football field.
9:26By the way, the team that Cincinnati just knocked out was the Miami Dolphins.
9:30We got some news surrounding VES organization. It was kind of cool here.
9:34The Dolphins actually announcing a historic $100 million raise for cancer research to the league's number one annual fundraising event, the Dolphins Cancer Challenge.
9:40Now, they celebrated with a check presentation on the field during halftime of Sunday's game against Cincinnati.
9:45That moment paid tribute to a record accomplishment while acknowledging those directly impacted by the funds raised through the Dolphins Cancer Challenge.
9:51What an amazing cause here. And, you know, cancer obviously affecting a lot of us at home.
9:56So, good job. Kudos to that organization. Meanwhile, wins always feel good.
9:59A little bit sweeter, though, when you take out a rival.
10:03Jordan Love got the Packers back on track. We hear from Matt LaFleur.
10:06Nick explains what this game signals for them the rest of the season.
10:10Back here on NFL Report, we got some news in Big D.
10:13Dallas, the defense hasn't been great so far this season.
10:16Brian Schottenhamer announcing the hire of Mike Pettin as the Cowboys' new senior defensive assistant.
10:20Both of those dudes coordinators under Rex Ryan with the New York Jets.
10:24The unit right now for Dallas, 26th in the NFL in points allowed, 25th in passing touchdowns allowed.
10:29That's not good. Here's Shottie. I think Pett's experience not only in football, but his experience in this system of what we
10:35do, his understanding of the 3-4 family. He has the awareness of some of our players, Kenny Clark, Rashawn Gary.
10:40You know, he was the coordinator when CP was there.
10:43So, I think it's just a great fit and a guy that, you know, certainly brings a bunch of experience to the entire staff, myself included.
10:51And if you think about it, you know, we have someone like that on the offensive side with Ken Dorsey.
10:56And so, very excited to having Pett join us.
10:59Just going to get a secondary voice in the room, I would imagine, too.
11:03Cowboys, by the way, their defensive coordinator, Christian Parker.
11:05His first job, Pett actually gave it to him in his days with the Green Bay Packers.
11:10And for what it's worth, Parker going to be moving to the booth.
11:13Get a holistic view of everything that's happening out in front of him.
11:17I actually love that personally from a coordinator perspective.
11:20I think you just see the fields better. I'm also short.
11:23So, when I'm on the sideline, I don't see a ton.
11:26It's been a tough start for the Packers. Things seem to click, though, at the perfect time.
11:30Got a hated divisional rival in Chicago. That was the opponent.
11:34Jordan Love exploded. 367 passing yards. Two touchdowns. But the head coach, Matt LaFleur, was thinking about the other side of the ball.
11:40I thought our defense across the board played. It was a complete game from the front to the backers to the secondary.
11:46I thought all the guys played really well. Certainly, are there some things that we need to clean up?
11:51Absolutely. And I guess that's encouraging, right? When you win a game and there's still a lot of room for improvement.
11:57We had a few mental mistakes that can't happen with kind of base calls that have been in since OTAs.
12:03And so, sometimes that can happen with game plan type play calls.
12:06But we got to make sure that our base calls are executed at a high level.
12:11Okay. So, maybe it's just good timing. Maybe you find your stride and it's an opponent where you've had some success against
12:17Cowboys and Packers head-to-head last six meetings. By the way, it's just weird.
12:20I mean, I know we had a tie already with the Giants and the Commanders.
12:25I always think it's weird when I see that in an NFL matchup.
12:28But that was the case in week four of last season.
12:31But it has been a heavy dose of the Green Bay Packers in these matchups.
12:35Now, time for All Shook Up. By the way, you've got to take a closer look at the Elvis thing there.
12:41I actually, and I'm almost embarrassed because I actually asked.
12:44I'm like, oh, are you an Elvis fan? I knew it was coming.
12:48You're like, no, it's just a song. All Shook Up.
12:51It's just a song. Bad job by me. Bad job by me.
12:54That's fine. So, all right, what's got you fired up right now?
12:57Number one on the list. Besides the wig. I mean, well, I'm going to avoid wigs.
13:02They're itchy. They're uncomfortable. I like being a bald guy.
13:05All right. Number one on the list is your Green Bay Packers.
13:08Are they back? Was last week's victory over the Bears a sign of things to come?
13:12Jordan Love looking spectacular throwing the ball downfield. A defense that caused all types of problems for Tyson Bajon and eventually Case Keenum.
13:19And a team that prior to this game on Sunday was 20th in the league in yards per game at just over 300 yards.
13:25Put up 428 on the Bears defense. A Bears defense that was playing better than most had expected.
13:30Most importantly, Christian Watson being a big play guy.
13:33Can they get Tucker Craft even more involved? Can they continue to roll?
13:37You saw the board there with all those Cowboys scores.
13:39All those games required 30 plus points. One went over 40 for them to win.
13:44So, they're going to need to keep scoring. And I think they might be able to do it.
13:49All right. I already got fantasy on my mind.
13:51If you're talking about a whole lot of points in this game, that's where my head goes.
13:56By the way, you have to fantasy show on Wednesdays here on the NFL channel.
14:00Patriots, you buy in all of a sudden a Drake May that's got eight total touchdowns in the last two weeks?
14:06It's all questions this week. Is the Patriots resurgence for real?
14:09Because they look like a terrible outfit through the first three weeks of the season.
14:13The last two, they look like the AFC champions we knew them to be from last season.
14:18So, what are the Patriots? Well, they're a team that is quarterbacked by a guy who is settling back into his comfort zone.
14:24Who is enjoying throwing the football downfield to Kyle Williams.
14:27He's finding Hunter Henry. He's got all day to throw.
14:30Even lost his left tackle in the game. And Will Campbell, Caleb Lomu comes in and does a pretty good job.
14:36Mike Vrabel said he was pretty pleased with it because he didn't hear about him much afterward.
14:41So, if you can stay solid up on the left side and keep Drake May protected and allow him a little bit
14:47of time to run afterward, too, I think you're going to be fine.
14:50I think this resurgence might actually stick. And by the way, we gave the news on Henderson, which is not great news.
14:56We still really haven't seen A.J. Brown and his ability to change this offense.
15:00Not since week one. Right? Like, and he comes back.
15:03I feel like there's another level to this team that could shine.
15:06Yeah. I mean, I don't know if I want to hear their color commentators.
15:10Scott Zolak being like, we're back, but they may just be back.
15:14Yeah, possibly the case. From a Denver perspective, Sean Payton.
15:17I think some Denver fans were like, all right, there's going to be a massive boost offensively.
15:21They won. That's good. There was a boost in sideline chaos.
15:24There was a boost in maybe some frustration with how the offense is performing so far.
15:29Can Sean Payton figure this thing out? He is an offensive mastermind.
15:32Historically speaking, he's been one of the best. He takes the play card back from Davis Webb, his offensive coordinator.
15:38He's got his hand on the button to put the plays in.
15:41And all there is is disorganization on the sideline and a team that needed four of its five scoring drives to start
15:47in Chargers territory just to put points on the board.
15:50One for 12 on third down. 224 total yards.
15:53Two touchdowns on five red zone trips. A disastrous of sorts goal to go situation in which they can't decide what play they want to call.
16:00They take a timeout. Later, they take a timeout and they get a delay of game out of the timeout.
16:05Things have to get cleaner. This operation has to get cleaner.
16:08And then maybe the Broncos will finally find some lead because right now it's all on the defense.
16:13All right. By the way, if this team does figure it out offensively, I don't remember where you had them, but a
16:20lot of us on NFL.com had said, hey, like this could be a Super Bowl team.
16:24I know they're not flashing that right now, but there's that upside here.
16:28We haven't even seen the impact of Waddle right now on this offense.
16:31Exactly. Waddle's had a really rough start, I think, this season.
16:34He's had some tough drops. He had a tough one over the middle on Sunday in their comeback win over the Chargers.
16:41But there's a reason I'm keeping them inside the top 10 of the power rankings.
16:45A little spoiler right there. It's because this defense is that good.
16:48This defense can keep them in pretty much every game and buy their offense time to figure it out.
16:53They've scored 45 points in the first, second, and third quarters combined in every game this year, 52 scored in the fourth.
16:59Okay. They have to get to the fourth quarter to be within range.
17:03Luckily, they have a defense that can do it.
17:06By the way, I'm glad you mentioned power rankings.
17:08It is coming up in just a couple minutes right here on the NFL channel.
17:12I know that you love that San Francisco 49ers squad.
17:15They're not going anywhere from that top spot. I'm spoiling your own rankings.
17:19That's fine. Fly Eagles fly. Well, they've been grounded.
17:21Philly OC Sean Maddie tells us what he can build on and it gives some context on just how far this team has fallen.
17:28All right. If you're a football fan, I got something for you.
17:31NFL plus, you can keep the NFL in reach stream live local and primetime games.
17:35That grab is ridiculous. So was that one triple coverage.
17:38Just saying you, by the way, I was checking this out on and some of those advanced analytics on NFL plus for some of those grabs.
17:46We got seven exclusive live games this season. By the way, you can listen to live game audio and more NFL plus premium get NFL red zone.
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18:03Meanwhile, one guy who's been tearing it up is Bryce Young.
18:06Dude's been balling. Panthers quarterback ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns and passer rating.
18:12His head coach, Dave Canales was asked to explain his success.
18:15It's timely and this type of attention is earned by working hard every day, by trying to find out how good you
18:22can be mastering different parts of your game. His natural growth and progression just continues to take strides every week as he
18:28learns new things about certain defenses, as he learns new things about his guys.
18:32Yeah, dude's an absolute stud. Meanwhile, I'm looking at Nick Shook's week six power rankings, teams 25 through 32.
18:37All right. This is crazy here. I just want to give everyone some context.
18:41Preseason. I'm checking out power rankings. I see where you had the Eagles and I'm like, all right, like I can buy what you're selling.
18:48You had them fourth. They are free falling right now to 26.
18:51They're matching up against Carolina team who, by the way, we just heard from Dave Canales.
18:56It's like that's going to be a tough draw from that defense like that potentially is going to be a little bit of an issue for them defensively.
19:03So when I throw that out there, I know Sean Manning's trying to find some level of optimism around this team's offense.
19:10Yeah, that's the issue. That's the issue with this group right now is that they're all...
19:14We came out in the second half, had some third down conversions, had a close call on the deep shot to Wicks.
19:20You know, I think there were some, you know, some chances there that we just didn't quite capitalize on.
19:25But ultimately, as a staff, I'm looking every week to put ourselves in the best position possible, you know, kind of leaving halftime to extend those drives.
19:33I think we're closer. You know, I know the result hasn't been what we want or what we hold ourselves to as an offense.
19:40But I felt like we were getting closer in the second half.
19:43We really just have to finish some of those drives.
19:46Well, they were knocking on the door from finishing one of those games in London.
19:50It doesn't happen for them. Just explain to me, because I think this is a unique situation.
19:55Of all the teams in your power rankings at the bottom, I know that they're sitting at 25.
20:00I think that's a potential to go up. Saquon's been banged up.
20:03Devontae Smith has been banged up. That's two of their best players on offense.
20:07Lane Johnson goes and retires. Cam Jurgen goes and gets traded.
20:10This situation for Sean Manning, not ideal for a first-time OC.
20:13Yeah, not to mention the fact that they also, their first-round draft pick, Mekhi Lemon, has been absent in this offense as well.
20:20They're just not getting much. I mean, Darius Cooper was an undrafted free agent in 2025.
20:24It's been a touchdown scorer for them. This is where they are right now.
20:28They're missing a number of guys. I'm highly concerned about their offensive line, because you don't just recover from losing a franchise
20:34legend like Lane Johnson at right tackle. And trading Cam Jurgen's, I mean, look, he's moved over to guard because they needed
20:40him to play guard because of injuries elsewhere with Landon Dickerson.
20:43I don't know if you can recover from that, you know, lack of depth on the offensive line.
20:48And I think that hurts the whole offense. But you're right.
20:51If they can get some guys back and they can find a bit of a rhythm, I think that they can maybe
20:58turn this thing around because they still have Vic Fangio's defense.
21:01Yeah. By the way, also, this division is not exactly filled with world beaters right now.
21:05I know the Giants were fortunate to get a tie.
21:08It's wide open. It really is at this point.
21:10And Dallas' defense is certainly keeping that page open.
21:13Speaking of defense, Minnesota right now, undefeated, my God, back in the top 10.
21:17How does an undefeated team... Now I sound like one of those dudes that get into your email.
21:22You sound a lot like an email I got on Sunday.
21:25But explain to me, like, you're showing this team some love and it does feel like it's well-deserved.
21:30Yeah. Look, it's a championship caliber defense and it's an offense that finally found something in New Orleans.
21:35It took a while for Kyler Murray to get comfortable, but he's finally started to get comfortable.
21:40He found Justin Jefferson for a touchdown over triple coverage, like you said.
21:43A throw that you basically were saying as it was in the air.
21:47Why did you throw that? Oh, wait, never mind.
21:49It's a touchdown. What I really liked about this game was just that Kyler was able to make the best out of some bad situations.
21:56At one point, you know, they're cage rushing him.
21:59They're boxing him in. And he accepts it, sits there, frantic feet, waiting, waiting, waiting, finally finds a guy downfield for a
22:05long completion that sets up a later score. So they're starting to piece things together offensively.
22:10They had no life offensively prior, which is why I kept them out of the top 10, regardless of how good their defense was.
22:16You pair an all-right offense with the potential to improve with an elite defense, probably the best defense in the NFL.
22:22Then you got a real shot and you deserve to be in the top 10.
22:26Yeah. I was actually walking through our hallways and I ran into Steve Smith.
22:30We just happened to be talking about the Justin Jefferson touchdown.
22:33He's like, that was one of those throws you go, ooh, I don't know.
22:37And because it's Justin Jefferson, he figures out a way, which was kind of cool to see.
22:42All right. I know you got power rankings coming up in just a bit.
22:46You need to go and get to the studio.
22:48Good job, Ayew. Get ready. He legitimately has the hardest job in the building.
22:52Like no one is ever really happy with Nick unless their team is sending number one.
22:57I don't live to make you happy. Yeah. Just one of those.
23:00All right. Get after it. Do your thing. We got some quick hits for you and get you updated on a couple other stories.
23:07And we start here. Ian Rapoport putting this out on social media.
23:10Ante Sweat's actually been suspended for the club's next two games for violating the NFL's performance enhancing substance policy.
23:15That according to the league. You know, we just showed some of those highlights there in Minnesota and New Orleans.
23:21This is not great, man. The Saints, you know, they came out on just offensive fire, but the losses continue to pile up.
23:27Gail Benson, turn it up the heat here. I will not make excuses and I will not accept this level of performance as our standard.
23:34I am committed to making the decisions necessary to improve this team.
23:38Everyone in this organization understands the urgency. Yeah, you can understand like there's a little bit of disappointment with this one and four star.
23:44Meanwhile, Cam Wolf putting this out on social media.
23:47Not great news. Will Campbell write MCL knee sprain expected to miss some game action.
23:51It is good, though, that it is not a completely torn MCL, which would have cost him the entire season.
23:57So some good sprinkled in with some bad there.
23:59Patrick Mahomes will throw this out there. He's got a new target.
24:03We know they are signing Justin Watson to the practice squad.
24:06Taequann Thornton moved to IR. Watson actually played to Casey 22 to 24 before signing as a free agent with the Houston Texans.
24:12Andy Reid said, quote, he was a good player for us when he was here.
24:16He's willing to do everything. He knows the offense.
24:19He is a smart kid. And we know what the dominance of Kenneth Walker now coming outside of that backfield.
24:24Other guys, some of those explosive plays. Maybe Watson becomes one of those dudes.
24:28Appreciate you watching. We've got power records coming up next.
24:31This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.
