0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Is Puka shelved again this week?
0:04Maybe not. Coming up on the NFL Report, encouraging news from Los Angeles on one of the best receivers in the game.
0:12Are you sliding all your chips to the center of the table for the Raiders?
0:16How about the Niners? Maybe the Cowboys? We're gonna play contender or pretender as we get ready to hit the NFL quarter poll.
0:24And what is really going on in New England?
0:27Some of the questions today were kinda eye-opening. That's coming up next on the NFL Report.
0:32It's a road show again from Cleveland. Hey everybody, I'm Andrew Siciliano.
0:36Thanks for being here for Wednesday's show heading into week four.
0:40My name is Andrew Siciliano presented by Nationwide. I'm here ahead of the big Brown Steelers game to open up week four.
0:47We'll get to that coming up in a second.
0:50But for now, let's get to what's news to me.
0:53Our latest headlines. And we'll begin back where the studios are in Los Angeles.
0:58We're encouraging news today on Puka Nakua. He was limited in practice, which I guess is not that positive.
1:04But Sean McVay says he does expect Nakua to play Sunday for the first time since week one in Australia.
1:11The Rams are in Philadelphia to play the Eagles.
1:14I mean, he's one of the best receivers in the league.
1:17You know, he's a great player both with the football and also without it.
1:22He brings great play energy to our team. You know, he loves the game of football.
1:27His passion, you know, rubs off on everybody in the huddle.
1:31So, you know, obviously, you know, if we get the chance to get him back excited to have him back in our
1:38huddle, but really just excited for him to because I know it's never fun to miss time when you're battling trying to get yourself back out there.
1:47It's always difficult. So just happy for him that he's feeling good enough to, you know, try and test it out this week and see how he's feeling.
1:56Oh, by the way, Sean McVay said today that the league said they should not have been DPI on Josh Wallace, but that's neither here nor there.
2:05We also have this from L.A., and that is that Aaron Donald didn't practice today.
2:10He has a sore back. No indication he won't be able to go Sunday.
2:15Again, Rams, Eagles, Philadelphia, third consecutive years two years ago, the snow in the playoffs last year.
2:20That amazing double blocked field goal game there where the Eagles pulled out a victory.
2:25We already gave you Puka. Do you want more wide receiver injury news?
2:30Well, you're going to get it regardless. Nico Collins was back on the practice field today.
2:35He is officially limited. It's a hamstring injury, has not played for the Texans since week one.
2:40No idea on his status for Sunday. It's going to be the Texans at 0-1-3 trying to get their first win against the Cowboys.
2:48His battle of disappointing Texas teams. Wide receiver update not nearly as good from Minnesota, but Justin Jefferson has not yet been ruled out.
2:56He did not practice today for the Vikings. It is an ankle injury.
3:01It happened to the win Sunday in Tampa. The Vikings get the Dolphins in Minneapolis coming up in week four.
3:07London. Jayden Daniels on the practice field. That is good news.
3:11The news is that he's in London. I mean, that is the big headline here.
3:16It wasn't officially a practice today for the commanders after they landed on the overnight flight from Washington.
3:22But Dan Quinn said if it had been a practice, let's play make-believe, that Daniels would have been listed as limited.
3:29He is not yet technically ruled out for Sunday.
3:32If he doesn't go, Marcus Mariota will go. The story is getting crazier in New England for the 0-3 Patriots.
3:38On the WEEI Morning Show today, a show that features former Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins, there was a story that suggested
3:45a source said Drake May and Mike Vrabel may have issues and that May, quote, isn't his guy.
3:51Let me just tell you why I'm here. I'm here because Drake was the quarterback.
3:56Believe it or not, I had choices to where I wanted to coach.
4:01I wanted to coach here because Drake was the quarterback.
4:04So, you know, I don't have really much other to add to that about, you know, a comment that from an unnamed source.
4:11But I'll just tell you what I've told numerous people if they want to ask me why I'm here.
4:18Mike Vrabel's been one of the best football coaches I've had in my life.
4:22You know, I think, you know, one of the biggest things why, you know, this has been, you know, so enjoyable for me is playing for coach.
4:31And I think we all feel that way in the locker room.
4:35You know, he pushes us hard. I've loved playing for him.
4:39And it's not going to change. And it hasn't changed.
4:42And it won't change. You know, the way he pushes me and coaches the quarterback in a way that, you know, I really respect.
4:50And I'm looking forward to, you know, getting going and proving, you know, to coach that I can lead this football team and play good football.
4:59All right. Let's try to unpack all of this by giving you numbers first.
5:03The difference between last year and this year is stunning.
5:06There's an article written by Chad Graff today in The Athletic.
5:10He covers the Patriots. Where the headline was, is Drake May, Mac Jones 2.0?
5:15Yikes. Which means, as we say hello to Brett Coleman, NFL pro, every Monday and Friday with Trevor Sikama on the NFL channel.
5:22Which means, Brett, that Mac Jones got benched midway through his second year and it was over for him in New England.
5:29Now, before we say what's wrong with Drake May, we should point out here that for the first time today, he showed
5:37up on the injury report with a shoulder. He was officially limited.
5:41He says he's fine. What do you see? What I see is called a regression of the mean if you want to.
5:48This is a very hot and cold offense almost by design.
5:52It's very similar to, you know, let's say the prime late 2010s Golden State Warriors shooting a lot of threes if those threes stop going in.
6:00That's the comp to me. They're taking more deep shots this year than even they did last year.
6:06And they were the best deep ball team in the NFL last year.
6:10They were 19.7% of all their attempts going vertical last year.
6:14They're about 21.3% this year. The difference is their completion percentage on those balls.
6:19If you're looking at completion percentage over expectation, right?
6:22So there's an expected completion percentage on those kinds of throws, which is low as it is.
6:27The Patriots last year were plus 13.7%. So they were completing those more than the average football team would.
6:33This year, they're negative, negative 1.8%. And when you take away that deep ball, they really didn't have a whole lot else going for them.
6:42Even last year, they weren't really good at breaking tackles after the catch.
6:46Their quick game was mediocre. So looking at this Patriots offense, when you take away their comfort zone, which is working those
6:53deep balls down the boundary, if they don't have that, they don't have a whole lot else.
6:59And we're seeing that play out this year. It's just ugly football when their fastball isn't working.
7:04I would also say, looking at the Drake May versus Mac Jones comparison, I think that's a little disingenuous for me.
7:11Mac Jones could never make the kinds of throws that Drake May was last year.
7:16It wasn't even close to the same in terms of arm talent, mobility.
7:21This, to me, is a very talented quarterback that's in a little bit of a rut.
7:26I think he's a little bit in his head.
7:29All six of his interceptions, it's greater than two and a half seconds after the snap.
7:34So the longer the play is going on, the more he's second guessing himself.
7:39He took a lot of sacks last year also because he kind of second guessed himself, even if the yardage per sack wasn't that bad.
7:47It's just a young quarterback. Reminder, he's the second youngest starting quarterback still in the NFL, even in year three.
7:53And he's working through some issues as soon as he gets that deep ball accuracy back.
7:59And I truly believe he will, especially once AJ Brown gets back.
8:03The offense is going to be fine. Will it be as good as it was last year?
8:08Probably not. Because as of right now, the receiving court still has yet to break a single tackle on the entire year,
8:16which is an absurd stat, but it's real. There still are other issues.
8:20I think they can at least be solid, though, once they get that go ball back, once they get that comfort zone back.
8:27I have faith in the talent. I have faith in the coaching staff.
8:32It's just ugly because it's an 0-3 football team that was in the Super Bowl that everybody thought was going to be good.
8:39And they are very decidedly not good right now.
8:42All right. You watch the NFL Report here. We're presented by Nationwide.
8:46Let's look at the AFC North standings. Everybody is 2-1.
8:49How about that? The winner of Thursday night football, the Browns and the Steelers in Cleveland open up week four.
8:56We'll take sole possession of first place in to week five, regardless of which team win.
9:01Here's who's in and here's who's out. Rico Dowdle, Joey Porter Jr.
9:05The first one not surprising. The second one, I kind of thought he was going to go.
9:11Jalen Ramsey says he has a broken wrist. He's got to cast it.
9:15Whether or not he plays is anyone's guess. The big one there for the Browns, as we welcome back Brett Coleman, is Elton Jenkins.
9:23The Browns starting center is out, which means Luke Whipler, who does have starting experience.
9:28Brett, he started six games in his career from Ohio State center.
9:32He moves in to the starting lineup. Let's flip it to the Steelers side.
9:37Last week in a shootout, which I don't think anyone saw coming with the Bengals, he pressed the ball downfield.
9:43What do we see on Thursday? The dink and dunk Aaron Rodgers or the try to stretch the field Aaron Rodgers?
9:50I would hope that they try to stretch the field and try to score from outside the red zone, because if you're
9:57looking at what the Browns defense did to Carolina last week, I mean, you watched it in person.
10:03They forced field goals from their own 17, the 22, the 35, which ironically NGS said Carolina should have gone for it, but they kicked.
10:12And then they forced another field goal from the 19.
10:15So they were keeping them from converting into sevens.
10:18They were keeping them to threes. So if I'm the Steelers, I'm trying to score from outside the red zone.
10:24If you're looking at what Aaron Rodgers did specifically, he had 15 attempts, at least 10 yards down the field.
10:31His most as a Steeler on dropbacks longer than two and a half seconds, which isn't normally an Aaron Rodgers kind of thing in Pittsburgh.
10:39He was 11 of 21 for 213 yards. That is 10.1 yards per attempt, three touchdowns in a pick.
10:45Again, going back to the Browns defense, if you're looking at throws over two and a half seconds by Bryce Young last
10:53week, they were really good at containing him and putting kind of an umbrella over the top.
10:58He was down at 5.8 yards per attempt over two and a half seconds.
11:03So this is a feisty Browns defense, to say the least.
11:07Yeah, that had a ridiculous pressure rate last week of 51% against Bryce Young.
11:11But as you pointed out, Bryce Young is not Aaron Rodgers.
11:15Watching that Steelers-Bengals game again this morning, he takes the play clock down to one every single time and then gets angry
11:22if he's got a call timeout or if his teammates don't, you know, figure out what it is he wants to do
11:29with one second on the play clock. Thank you, Brett.
11:33Let's move on to a battle in the AFC West from the AFC North.
11:37How about the fact that the Chiefs and the Raiders are both 3-0?
11:41This is the first time these two teams have met beyond week two with both teams undefeated.
11:47The game is in Vegas. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a very hostile environment.
11:52I'm trying to take me back to those Oakland Raiders days.
11:56And so I'm excited just for the challenge, you know.
11:59I mean, they're playing great football. You can see it on tape.
12:03That 3-0 record is real. They've been playing great the entire season.
12:07And so for us, it's another step, another challenge that we have to go up there and match.
12:13On the other corner, you have Kirk Cousins who takes his teammates to in and out as he promised after a victory.
12:20He has thrown nine touchdowns this year, which is just absolutely ridiculous.
12:24The Raiders are the story of the NFL, but he also knows that he's got to keep scoring points if he's going to beat the Chiefs.
12:33I think he's certainly fun to watch, you know, and sets a great standard for quarterback play across our league.
12:39And, you know, if they were to, you know, put up a lot of points, then, you know, you got to keep up.
12:47You also know that if you were to get ahead, that no lead is safe.
12:52You're just aware of how capable they are at any moment of scoring points and making it hard on you as a team.
12:59So a lot of respect there, and they've proven it and earned that over many years.
13:04And, you know, it'll be a great challenge for all of us on Sunday.
13:09It's always fun when you get these two teams together.
13:12By the way, Andy Reid has the most wins in Allegiant Stadium, including the Super Bowl at 6-1.
13:18He's trying to make it 7-1. Here are your five undefeated teams.
13:22Niners, Vikings, Bills, not surprising. Chiefs, eh, maybe. Raiders, yeah, surprising.
13:26So let's play a game. We're going to call it Contender or Pretender.
13:30Welcome, Brett, back to the show. If you told me you had the Raiders a 3-0, Brett, I'm going to call you
13:37a liar, although I'm not going to call anyone a name here today.
13:42Are the Raiders contending or pretending? What's their ceiling here, man?
13:45I think contending for what is the right question?
13:48Contending for a Super Bowl? Probably not. Contending for a wildcard spot?
13:52I would say absolutely. You're hedging. This team's superpower.
13:55Oh, I'm definitely hedging. I'm definitely hedging. But I really do believe in the formula here because it's such a unique formula.
14:02We talk about offense. We talk about defense. We never talk about special teams.
14:07The average starting field position for the Raiders is the 39.9 yard line.
14:11Call it the 40. So if you're starting every single possession from your own 40 yard line on average, that is absurd.
14:19They also have the best differential between their average starting field position and their opponent's starting field position because their special teams unit is so good.
14:27It's about 12.2 yards. Doesn't sound like a lot.
14:30But if you took the average number of possessions per team, per game, which is about 11.
14:36Okay. Well, times that by 12. That's about 130 yards a game that you're getting on special teams.
14:42You don't get credit for it offensively and defensively, but that's a lot of hidden yardage.
14:47It's a big reason why this team's three and oh, they don't have the best offense.
14:52They don't have the best defense, but they're good enough.
14:56And when you pair that with an elite special teams unit, that's how you're winning games.
15:01We saw it happen in the Saints game. You know, their average field position in the fourth quarter where they generated four
15:08turnovers, obviously, but you start one at midfield. You start the other inside the opponent's 10.
15:13Like, yeah, you're going to be an efficient scoring team if you don't have that many yards to go.
15:20They are a feisty group. They're well coached. They they're sound and they got their super weapon back in Brock Bauer.
15:26So they can give Kansas City a game here.
15:29I really do believe it. Yeah. What's crazy is that they got their first two wins without Bauer's and then he came
15:37back and once again, look like one of the most uncoverable weapons in the NFL.
15:42All right, let's get to the Vikings because they don't right now have an offense.
15:47We told you about the Jefferson injury earlier. They are winning, not with Kevin O'Connell, the quarterback whisperer, making magic with Kyler Murray.
15:54They're winning, Brett, because of their defense. Contender or pretender?
15:57Similar kind of thing, not a Super Bowl contender.
16:00You need to have at least some kind of potency on offense to be a Super Bowl contender.
16:06But as of right now, they're in the pole position for getting one of these NFC wildcard spots and hell, they might
16:14even win the division if they keep winning like this.
16:17I don't necessarily think it's Super Bowl winning football, but it could be division winning football.
16:22When you have a defense that is this good, right, that can kind of overcome lackluster at best offense because you're getting
16:29six sacks on defense and you're just putting unfathomable pressure on, say, Jordan Love back in week one where he had like 20 pressure dropbacks in that game.
16:39Like, yeah, they're not very good at scoring, but neither are you.
16:43And so if they can just score a little bit more than you, yeah, they're content to win 15 to 13, 17 weeks in a row.
16:51They don't care. A win's a win. So it is very, it's untenable when we're talking about January football, but September to
16:58December, this could win a lot of games. And they can go to 4-0 this week.
17:04They get the Dolphins coming into Minneapolis. Kyler Murray, look, he finally gets back in there after week one.
17:10He's on the road last week in Tampa against a Todd Bowles blitz-a-thon.
17:14If the Vikings don't come out and, I don't want to say blow the Dolphins out of the building, but if Kyler
17:21doesn't look like this is going to work, I think the conversation next week is going to be very, very interesting.
17:28Cowboys 1-2. Let's move on to them, Brett. The Cowboys get the desperate Texans this week.
17:34Houston's 0-3. The game's in Houston. Are the Cowboys contending or pretending?
17:38As a Texans fan, believe me, they are desperate.
17:41And I really do believe that the Texans, just to kind of derail a little bit, they lost that game based on clock management last week.
17:49A very similar story, ironically, to the Cowboys. These are two teams that opted to do a touchback very late in the
17:56fourth quarter against an opponent that just needed a field goal to beat them.
18:01And today, if you're giving an offense the 35-yard line to start, you're just one big play away from being able to kick a field goal.
18:10And both the Ravens and the Colts were just one big play away and managed to do that.
18:16So I think game management-wise, both teams probably snatching defeat from the jaws of victory here.
18:21Hopefully they learn from those lessons. But I would say the Cowboys, out of every team you've talked about, they're the real
18:28Super Bowl contender of the bunch because they can score with anyone.
18:32And while the defense, if you're looking at the box scores, hasn't necessarily improved, I would say on tape, they look a
18:39lot better than they did in that soul-crushing week one against the Giants where they could not get off the field.
18:46There's less blown coverages, less blown assignments. We're seeing the emergence of Jayshon Barham.
18:51The pass rush, I still think, has a little work to do, but everything else is starting to come together.
18:57I very much believe once we get to late October into November, we're going to see what this Cowboys team can really be.
19:05And I think that's a top three to four team in the NFC, even if the record doesn't reflect it right now.
19:12Real quick, are you saying you think the defense is going to get fixed, like give Christian Parker time?
19:18Or are you saying they're a contender because they're going to just outscore everybody?
19:23A little column A, a little column B. I think they are going to outscore everyone and the defense is going to get better.
19:31So maybe the average win, average victory margin, I guess you could say, is going to start to get pretty steep by the end of the season.
19:40I think they've been playing with a little bit of a boat anchor around their ankle so far this year, which is
19:47the defense trying to figure out this Vic Fangio inspired system.
19:51Once they get it down, and it is rather complicated, and they do have some young players.
19:56Once they get it down, this defense has a very high ceiling.
20:00I think they will get there. Right now, they're losing heartbreakers.
20:04Eventually, they're going to be so far ahead, they're not going to have an opportunity to blow it, ideally.
20:10Ideally. Imagine the headline, though, on Monday, if this is the get right game for C.J.
20:15Stroud and the struggling Texans offense. Just something to ponder here.
20:19Thank you, Brett. Moving on here on the NFL Report, the team the Cowboys faced last week, the Ravens, get the Titans
20:26this week, which means Derrick Henry faces his old crew for the very first time.
20:31That game's in Baltimore, which is where we go next on the NFL Report.
20:36You're watching the NFL Report. The Buccaneers are 0-3, and they got the Packers coming to town, the well-rested Packers.
20:42No Baker Mayfield. He's out at least three weeks with that dislocated thumb.
20:47His backup experience? No, quite the opposite. It's undrafted rookie free agent Jalen Daniels, who was experienced in college, 45 career starts
20:54in Kansas, but this ain't Kansas anymore. This is a dream come true, and obviously your first start, you get one first start.
21:02There is no, like, you don't do it twice.
21:05So just living in the moment, I think that that's everything.
21:08Being able to live in the moment, being able to take every single emotion in, being able to go through every single emotion.
21:16I think that that's something somebody told me before.
21:19Every high, every low, every good, every bad. Go through every single emotion because it builds you into who you're going to
21:26be, and it builds character for every situation you're going to come through down the line.
21:31By the way, big Jalen Daniels fan, L.A. kid.
21:34Again, 45 starts at Kansas. Happy that he's getting an opportunity.
21:38An opportunity for Derrick Henry coming up on Sunday to face his former team for the very first time.
21:44The Ravens at home facing the team for whom Henry carried the ball for eight years.
21:49It's a whole different logo. They got a whole different thing going now, so it'd be a whole different logo than when I was there.
21:58But, yeah, I mean, it's going to be, you know, a crazy moment to be playing against a team that I, you
22:05know, came in the league playing for. So, yeah, but I ain't trying to make too much of it, though.
22:11I knew the right ones on the wall, you know, throughout that season, and they were ready to move on.
22:18And, you know, no good things don't last forever, so it was time for me to find a new home.
22:25And I knew what that home, I wanted it to be, and it was here.
22:30So God is good. Coming up on Sunday, let's get some quick hits in here.
22:34Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin native, is going back to Wisconsin for all those issues on the Packers O-line as they had a little bit of a mini-bye.
22:43They're bringing in the 14-year veteran. This is bad news, however, in Green Bay.
22:48According to Adam Schefter, Matt LaFleur said Jaden Reed, the wide receiver, will undergo neck surgery, and it is a season-ender for Jaden Reed.
22:56Carolina just insane this past Sunday. They lost both starting corners in one game, a loss in Cleveland.
23:02JC Horn on IR. He has a quad injury.
23:04Mike Jackson on IR. He has a groin injury.
23:07They are both on the shelf for, at a minimum, of four weeks.
23:12How about this in Atlanta? Jervon Dexter, congratulations. Defensive tackle contract in season, four years, and $78 million, according to Schefter.
23:19$46.5 million for Jervon Dexter. That's a good one.
23:22All right, so this, Jameis Winston, what is bear crawling?
23:25I have no idea what that is. Meantime, listen to this from John Harbaugh about Jackson Dart.
23:30The timeline doesn't really change too much. I think he tweeted out he's going to be back for the playoffs.
23:37Did you put that out there? Thank you, yeah.
23:40No? No? Maybe he just texted me that. Oh, s***.
23:43It's in the draft. Oh, no. It's in the draft.
23:47That's news now, right? It is news. That was my one more thing before we go.
23:52Did you see what John Harbaugh did there? He didn't know the difference between a text and a tweet.
23:58It's much like my dad. Hi, dad. I will text him, and he will respond with an email.
24:04Funny how that works. Thanks, Brett Coleman. Happy he was on the show.
24:08I'm Andrew Siciliano. So long, complete, everybody. This is an iHeart Podcast.
24:12Guaranteed human.