บทถอดความฉบับเต็มของ 2014 NFC mega preview & Jon Beason

imagine it as he has some bungalow or something in in the Bay Area, and he has a stack of files and he has to go through each one and like that Josh Gordon when it seems really important to us. But he's got a lot of other cases to arbitrate first, and he's just going through them one by one. Maybe that's what happens. Well, that would be reasonable from his angle, but there were other angles here. I don't know. So it's been announced, so it's here at least. So do you think were you getting hopeful that there was gonna be less games? And do you think this offense can survive? The first question there was I think some hope from a lot of people that thought, if it's taking this long, there must be something complex that suggests maybe something other than a full year. But they ruled that way. I'm not entirely surprised at that either. I think that's what we initially thought would be the home run result. Here. He's gone and a stlee even with him in the lineup. There were a lot of issues with this offense, but stripping him off of any team would have been a huge loss. In Cleveland. You can't find another playmaker on that offense besides Josh Gordon. Unless Jordan Cameron were to truly repeat what he did last season, there is a lot of reason for concern that Cleveland could be a bottom five, bottom three office. Sahan has kind of Shanahan has produced numbers, fantasy yards and whatnot everywhere he's been. That's a true statement. Should he be given a little bit of credit, I mean I mean a little bit of Hey, this guy has a proven track record of producing a lot of yards wherever he's been. Give him credit those players he had in the past two some of those early Texans teams. I guess you're right. They've got a Hall of Famer and Arion Foster was the best running back in the NFL for a minute or two. And there was a stat on Gordon in terms of how many yards he's had in the first two seasons compared to everyone else in NFL history, and and he's right there at the top. So it's it's a devastating loss for the Browns. The timing was unfortunate. Um, I don't know, dud. We were going to do the Browns potentially as team of well, I think the shelf really no way. They are currently the most boring team in the NFL to me. By the way, the only two receivers with more yards than Gordon in his first first two years since the a f L NFL merger Randy Moss and Jerry Rice. That's a good list. Titans might be a little more boring if you. I would rather watch like three Titans games than one Browns. All right, we'll see. Let's move on to the other big news of the week, Logan Mankins traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You know, it's a big trade. And and in exchange, the Patriots got back a worth round pick and they got back Tim Right, who was a guy who was supposedly on the roster bubble and Tampa we'll talk about him in a second. You know, it's a big trade. When I heard three or four different just exclamations throughout our newsroom every thirty seconds or minute when

they learned this new just go whoa, like, hey, wow, you know what I mean? Did you hear those little eruptions as that was one of the ones you were, well, I mean I did hear someone on Twitter correctly point out that it is one of the lamest reasons the Twitter ever blew up. But it's six b Yeah, exactly it did. Though, you know, des Bryant, there was breaking news on him yesterday. There was this Seahawks find three hundred thousand dollars. There's this Josh Gordon news. You know, it's going to be the most read story out of all of those on NFL dot com. Logan Mankin's, by far would probably be something like some goofy helmet some kid boar or some player war and then everybody or some out of noe are fine for something. People eat that stuff up. People love trades. That people love trades. One of the most picture of a helmet with a bunch of stuff going on that will get clicks all over. One of the most popular stories today, seriously is Broncos trade for Giants kicker Brandon McManus. People love their trades. Do we give the Patriots too much credit that we just see them trade away a six time pro bowler who played well last year and we just say, oh, well, it's the Patriots. I guess it must be. Okay, is that too much credit? I don't know. Asking they win every year. I mean, when you gotta, you have to give him credit. Bill Belichick knows what he's doing to me. You immediately think of lawyer Malloy cut about this time, a long time ago, and that was the first sign of how cold and calculating the Patriots are on personnel matters. Do you think of Richard Seymour getting rid of him as his salary started to outpace what they expected him to do on the yield, getting rid of Rainy Moss when it shocked everyone because he wanted more money and they didn't think he was that player anymore. So there is plenty of precedent here. When the precedent goes back twenty two years when Belichick, who's always been you know, cold hearted is not a bad term if you're a talent evaluator, he cut Bernie Kozar when everyone that town absolutely melted, saying this guy won't do anything else at the NFL level, And he didn't. And he's built up so much goodwill in Boston, but not enough that the sports radio still doesn't get upset about stuff like this. They still get upset, which seems silly to me. We found out from Ian Rappaport, our NFL media insider, of course, that Logan Meggants was asked to take a pay cup before they trade him. He was not interested in doing that. They clearly just did not see him as an elite talent. I think Marcus Cannon, who was on the bench for them, is a factor in this that they think he can be a really good starter. Maybe it's not going to be a huge drop off, and I don't think they planned to have Mankins on the roster next year at that salary, so they thought, instead of cutting him after the season, let's get an interesting tight end in a in a mid round draft pick for him. Unless you're a former offensive lineman or a former coach, if you hear anyone analyzing this trade and saying the Patriots were wrong, I mean, just ignore him. How could you possibly know how good logan Mankons is right now? Well, I know that he used to be. He just used to be the rare guard that would do a lot of things you would actually notice in the running game, especially, you would just be devastating and be fun to watch. You didn't see that quite as much. And you saw him give up more sacks last year, for sure. I mean you could see him give up seven eight nine sacks. He struggled a little bit in past protection. He's known still as a good run blocker, and the Bucks are desperate. They needed some line help better than rich Incognito. Well, I don't think the Bucks fleeced. I mean, no one got fleeced here necessarily. But I would say that the Patriots are a successful organization, pointing to the deals West talked about, because they trade players right for they decline, you get some value. Bad organizations trade players after the decline is evident, and then they get fleeced and deals. How about the gamesmanship by the Bucks on this one, bringing Richie incognito just to get the Patriots to pull the trigger on the trade. I like that. I don't know if that's what happened, That's what I'm going with. Ian said that the Bucks initially called looking for one of the backup guards on New England, looking for some depth, and the Patriots were kind of like, how about that Tim Wright guy? And then in the Bucks, well how about Logan Bankings? And then it gets going. I like that's how trade should happen. Yeah, that's that's how the sausage gets made. Do we think Tim writes it much of a factor here? I think he can be. He'll obviously have to learn the offense. He has very intriguing wide receiver skills for a tight end. He's not This has nothing to do with Gronkowski and being ready for week one. Everyone keeps bringing that up. They don't play the same position. Yeah, that doesn't matter. He plays another pair of hands and they're thin at that right. He plays the move to in the air in her named is rule. He's six four two twenty. He's built like Julio Jones, not like Rob Rob Gronkowski. Yeah, he's closer and probably what they'll ask him to do to Julian Edelman, even though they're obviously completely different body types and players. But ultimately, this guy's a slot receiver. They're gonna they're gonna move him around. He was playing wide out a lot for the for the Bucks, weren't there weren't they talking about potentially using La Fell as an Aaron Hernandez type. This is a better fit, it seems. Yeah, And and he and Lo Fell aren't that different in body type. They're they're gonna have a lot of receivers that have six for ninety one game and then go off the map for two more. Because between Avendola Tompkins, now I'd throw right into that mix. Edelman is probably the only one that's going to be consistently a guy that you get targeted. Here's some fantasy advice that we didn't throw out on our last fantasy football

stravaganza. On this offense, ignore everyone but Edelman, Brady and Verne Fanzyzy football Fantasy. You can take your flyers on Cambrell, Tompkins, Ridley might frustrate you a little bit, but basically, Verene Edelman Gronk TD, where why can't we get some backup singers or something with that you know in here? You old old producer kid, which that was she had? That's right, Remember she would make some songs or something that wasn't one of those tracks. I remember. I'm just saying production value. We've got videos coming in here, wouldn't it be cool? I don't want to get you excited, Greg, but I mentioned this on the last show. I still this is. I see New England as a sneaky playoff type entry, and well, I didn't want to kind of an upstart. I didn't want to compliment the Patriots in all their previous trades and stuff. Will be the first sessler that actually happens, all right, although Aaron Rodgers injury, Yeah, that was you kind of made. It's like the only one that happened. You made your reputation on. All right, that's enough news because we want to get to our NFC preview and uh, without further ado, I think let's just get into it. Let's start with the NFC East and Chris, you've been waging an internal war over the last two weeks Washington Redskins Philadelphia Eagles. You had one team in front at first, Now you're leading another way. Why all the confusion? There is still an internal struggle here. There's a duality in me. I uh, you know, I've been thinking Redskins all off season because I thought r G three was returning to two thousand twelve form. There's no reason why he should not. There is a reason that he's not a pocket passer yet, and his struggles in the preseason have really concerned me, And just on a visceral level, it just disturbs the hell out of me that he doesn't know how to do a baseball slide. Yeah. I can't get over that. And if you want to avoid an injury, look, I mean, honestly, this six year olds can do baseball slides. This is just stubbornness. So that bothers me. But I guess I'm torn because I know the Eagles have been lucky. They got lucky on injuries, third downs, turnovers last year. Those things tend to even out the next year. But at the end of the day, are you taking Chip Kelly, are you taking Jake Gruden? I'm taking Chip Gilly I'll take I'll take the one who is a genius in the conversation. Here's an idea about that sliding, which also got Cam Newton injured because he doesn't know how to slide either. There are at least three Vick, Newton and Griffin who cannot slide. Jake Locker takes a lot of unnecessary hits too, although he should be able to slide because he was a baseball player, but he's just kind of reckless. Make that an event at the combine quarterback quarterback slide thirty yards and then down or twenty. You know, it would be ten best idea since yesterday's get rid of the Offensive Player of the Year. The awards, Oh yeah, we'll get into that on Friday. We're gonna do our awards. Show what we can

talk about the most useless of award in the history of sports. Uh, you're taking the Eagles mark, who are you taking in second place in the NF and that division? Don't think that really matters? Well, you still have to put the teams in order and some some sort of or before we put the Redskins to bed. But we're happening in bed. We can keep talking. I believe that their defense is significantly better. Jason Hatcher. We've killed that signing because he started two years old in the game, a lot of money up front. He looked great. He put a how did you phrase the clown suit thing? Mark an ornately crafted clown suit. He put it or late or night and they crafted clown suit on Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda last week bull rushed him right back into Flacco. He looks good. Keenan Robinson is an upgrade on on um London Fletcher, last year's version of London Fletcher. I think they're upgraded on defense altogether. The problem is they didn't upgrade their defensive coordinator. I he loved Jim hands Well, I think he's fine, But why why does he keep that job year after year? They do look pretty good on paper. He's friends with Grood and I guess so that's it. Well, it's not a meritocracy. It's not based on Oh you know what, you dialed up one of the most horrid, most offensive situations ever on defense last season, So you know what, it's a good idea to keep you around. Are you guys excited for the Keenan Robinson era. Yeah, I mean he seems like a little flashy, flashy player there that I mean, they could rush the past there. Look, London Fletcher hit a great borderline Hall of Fame career, but he was a liability list. He's Griffin could play mediocre and have okay numbers. That's the thing. I think, there's so many weapons there that he could be somewhat disappointed, disappointing, but it will be masked by Pierre Garsone taking it a ten yard dump off pass seventy yards and de Sean Jackson doing the same thing, and Jordan Reid messing up your mind. I don't know, have you come up with who your second place team was? But yeah, well no, i'd I'd come up with it last week, and it's it's Washington, just based on I thought of any team in the division, they went out and added the most on offense. And yet the preseason concerns me for the same reason it concerns West. But I look at the Giants and I see a very bland team, and then Dallas is a downright disaster on one half of the football. So Washington second place. But again I'm telling you, it doesn't matter. They these three teams will be completely adrift. The NFC East is as down as it's been in a while, and it's kind of been stuck there for a few years. Is there a chance though, that they I feel like, you know that we might be underrating the Eagles, that they have a chance to go twelve and four, thirteen and three. They get the point, they get to play the a f C South. That's nice. Everyone looks at their schedule, they see forty Niners and Seahawks because they gotta play that that division out of dion util It looks hard, and yeah, that's hard, but maybe you can beat San Francisco in Philadelphia. Why not You get the a f C South out of division and you get six games against the rest of this lousy group. Couldn't they go five and one, six and oh against the some of these NFC East teams. Yeah, it's possible. I don't think we're underrating them though. I don't think they're as good of a team as last as they were in the second half of last year, and I think they'll miss to Sean Jackson. They they ranked fairly low in our power poll for a team that we all had winning the division other than Chris Westley at least a week ago. That's what he had. They are tenth, which is below teams like the Cardinals and the Chargers. Uh, you guys had the Redskins. Second, I had the Redskins. Last I actually had. Uh, but you hate the Redskins. That's been verified. Oh, I'm not a I don't think they're gonna be good. It's a rule defense. As a rule, you don't you don't like the Red Well, they had this whole long era, uh, Jim's orn a little before that, where they were always on national TV all the time, even though they were the most boring team ever. And I think I've held that against them. That's how I feel about the Giants. That's how I feel about the Cowboys. So it's how we feel about most of the NFC's What about the Giants? Though they still have a coach that's won a couple of Super Bowls, they have a defense that you could argue was one of the best seven or eight defenses in the league last year without Jameson Pierre Paul being healthy. They added some talent in the secondary. Couldn't the Giants be a little frisky? I love this argument that the Giants were one of the six or seven or eight best defense when they gave up thirty five points a game over the first six weeks of the same stunk at the beginning, and there's six of the six games still count half of those Eli Manning picks. Uh. You know, they had to deal with a lot of interceptions, a lot of bad luck. They were pretty good down the stretch. I would have no issue with New York going like eight and eight. That's what you know. That's who they are this year. I think they're they're a nice more interesting question that was you just put our host right under the bully. Now, please ask some questions how Eli Manning he's gonna enter a contract year in two thousand and fifteen. If he has another year this year like he did last year, gown, so he's gone. I think so the old loyal you said this year like last year. So that's leading the league and interceptions by a lot by and if they stuck with him again after that, that's their fault. That's like following someone on Twitter that annoys you. He's an icon. He's got to be a first ballot Hall of Famer because he won two Super Bowl v P tro If he's that were stolen from Justin Tuck and Michael Strahan. You've been you just always hold that up. This is weird. There's a lot of anger from this group around this division. Yeah, but you know what, they've got a coming. We're gonna

ask John Beeson a little bit about it later. But I mean there's anger even within their own team. Ben McAdoo, the new offensive coordinator, he's watching this lousy offense in in New York and he's and p o at practice. I don't blame him. Hey, you've got a number one Pickett wide receiver that simply refuses to get on the field. You've got a quarterback that is, as they say, a first ballot Hall of Famer. According to some who seems perplexed, and they know on preseason games they've looked completely stillborn. What about week? How about we get it together? The season is like ten days away. Uh. The team we disagreed on the most, actually me versus the two of you or the Dallas Cowboys. I had him very close to the middle of my power poll. I actually had them second in the division. I had the Giants third and the Redskins fourth, and you both, I believe had the Cowboys as one of the worst teams in the NFL. I think I had them about definitely the lowest team with an actual quarterback, right, which is why I picked them in the middle of the pack. Any team with a quarterback, you know and and Dez Bryant, Tyronne Smith, I don't know, you win seven games in this division. I'd like their chances against teams like Washington and New York. I just don't buy the argument that the defense can't be any worse because they finished thirty second. Defenses get worse. They defenses break new records every year because that's the era we're in, and they could definitely be worse. They have less talent than they did last year. If offenses are going to continue to break records, the ineptitude of defenses will have to do the same. That's just how it works. But I had them atty, which might be unfair because you are right, Greg, If Romo Brian and DeMarco Murray are healthy, they well it's it's an if, but it's but Murray and Romo don't have the best track records the last couple of years. For staying out of the trailer. They don't know they don't, but I mean they're they don't. I think you have to be completely inept on offense and be in a division that's housing you, and they're in a bad division where they're gonna sneak some wins. So I might have been wrong on thirtieth, but I I wouldn't have. I have no issue saying that there will be a bottom seven or eight team. All right, we've gone through the NFC East. We gotta go right now into the around the league, around the NFL. It's gonna take us a while to get used this elimination chamber. Ah, that's what that's what we do when you get eliminated. And for new listeners, we are trying to pick a team that we can support as a podcast all together. Last year it was the Panthers that was our team of two thousand thirteen. We're slowly going through the teams and trying to pick who's going to be our team of two thousand fourteen. We hope to have a team before Week one, but it has to be unanimous, and I have a feeling it's not gonna happen before a week one, but let's at least throw some teams out, alright, NFC East, the whole division. They're gone. They're just gone, the whole division. Is there any case sounds ass make you angry? The Giants make me angry. The Cowboys make Mark angry. And I don't want the Eagles of the team of eight. I would not vote against the Eagles. I'd vote for the But I don't know how if this needs, if all three of us needs to need to clear them through. The Eagles are out. Well, there is a factor here. There is a man that's not in the room right now. And I can just hear Dan hands is laughing hysterically at the idea that he would somehow allow a Chip Kelly lead team to be the team of the Around the NFL podcast. And let's save ourselves a couple of weeks from now when we debate this and eliminate the entire division. No love for the Redskins. They're out. They're out. No their quarterbacks terrible. I feel, Plus they feel lighter. Well, first of all, you've gone. The Redskins employed Joe thisman, So that's all I need to say. Moving on, before a shadowy league figure walks in here, Let's talk a little bit about the NFC North then I'm first, I'm gonna go through our power Poll rankings of the the Green Bay Packers number one in the NFC North, number two overall, and UH will be should prominently in my predictions throughout, So we really like the Packers to win the division. We have the Bears UH in second, the Lions after that, and the Vikings fourth, but overall not ranked two low twenty three overall, which is pretty good for a last place team. Do you think there's any chance any of these three teams actually make a run and challenge the Packers? I have you know, we did these predictions a bit ago, and I know Greg and I both are warming up to the concept of the Vikings being a sneaky team. All four of the this is the opposite of the NFC East. All four of these teams can make the playoffs, and it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, any any combination of the four can make the playoffs, and I would be fine with that. Vikings would be a fun playoff team. Good story. Ever since Aaron Rodgers did his William takomps a Sherman impression and blazed through Georgia in two thousand and ten on the way of the Super Bowl. He's won his games. That means the Packers are going twelve and four even if the defense is okay. I think the defense is much better. I think the Packers are the class of this division and no one else comes close. The best group of weapons Aaron Rodgers have has ever had. I think maybe maybe you could make an argument his second year. I don't think it is. I keep hearing that, and here here's why. Because weapons aren't just wide receivers. The wide receivers are great, but you have three different running backs which right now look pretty good. And I think the offensive line, if you want to count that as a weapon, I think it's It's not perfect, but it's probably in better shape right now than it's been since Rogers took over. If they still had jam Michael Finley, I would agree with you, But I just I don't think they're the receiving weapons

are is good? Boy Can is unproven. I have no reason to believe he's He looks good though when he plays, I have no reason to believe he's as good as James Jones. He hasn't really stood out in the preseason yet. I don't think Davante Adams is ready to cont that's a problem. So I don't think they're as good as they were in two. They got the running game, that's a big fact. Eddie Lacey's a monster factor. Well. I wrote a piece today on Packers coaches saying they believe Lacey could lead the NFL and rushing this year, and I don't think that's a stretch at all. Well, that suggests also that they're willing to take some of the heat off of Rogers having to do everything. Rogers is one of the handful of quarterbacks that if you have a receiver that might not flourish in another team, they will in Green Bay system. And you talked about the continuity that the Saints have over the years with all the same players. I mean, you have Rogers and McCarthy and enough offensive DNA that's been around with them together that they can just do things in a more advanced way than other teams. I love them this year. I think they're winning the Super Bowl. There my pick. I guess we blew it. We gotta do our Super Bowl picks another show. But that's basically I like a lot of these teams. I have the Bears in the playoffs, uh, I'm I believe I'm the only one that has the Bears in the playoffs. But Chris Wesley and you have a surprising team out of this division in the playoffs. I have the Lions as the sixth team in the NFC playoffs. I feel like there are five obvious picks really in the NFC, Your NFC East winner and then Seahawks, Packers, Saints, and forty Niners. So to me, it comes down to who's the best team out of the field. And I feel like the Lions have too much firepower for everyone else. I I I struggle to trust them. Ay they play inside, which is hard on the Minnesota's outside. You know, the other night I was forced to watch the Lions play and then they switched the TV over to the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle, and it's like suddenly human life entered being waterboarded. At the time, Detroit Stadium silent, like the middle of the night in someone's house, other than maybe you can hear some electricity and some piping. Go to Seattle and it's an explosion. I cannot root for a team that plays inside of a dome. And I'm not just kidding around. I mean it and if they do, will veto that till the end. Well, it's a problem, Mark that we had to pay all this money to bring along another around the NFL writer this year just because you refused to cover games inside a dome and that left such a big hole in our schedule. Well I didn't. I didn't have a problem going to the super Bowl, which was in the dome. Yeah. Well yeah, William, you get sound like domes are quiet. Domes are often the noisiest places. I mean the super Bowl. Well, not in Atlanta and not in Detroit, not on television. This shows how much down a wormhole here, but shows how much stock you have around here that they did hire someone just to replace your production and don't aware that was the dynamic. I don't think Detroit's gonna make the playoffs for other reasons. They're gonna find a way to crumble like they always do. Sometimes it just comes down to human nature. Matthew Stafford is not the guy they say, Oh, this guy is completely reborn this and that we'll find out, Yeah, find out. I'm not buying it. Stafford's at the point of his career. He's kind of like getting to where Jake Cutler has now been for a year or two. He's kind of at the point you gotta show that you're different to believe it anymore. That he's a very good starting quarterback, maybe you know, slightly better than average, which is worth a lot. You know, if you line up all thirty two quarterbacks, Stafford is probably he's ranked above the median point. But is he ever gonna take that next step? Have you seen any reason to believe that the median point is the A D skill? Right? Well? I kind of was thinking the media is like sixteen, because that's probably where Stafford is fourteen, fifteen, something like that. I don't trust this defense. Can you name their defensive coordinator right now? Tarrell Austin? Tarrell Austin never really been coordinator at the pro level. I don't know. I'm not I'm not too excited about just how Party's grandson is in the league. The Bears defense any better, It's terrible. The difference is that I really trust Mark Trustman, Cutler, Marshall. I do trust cut How do you trust Cutler? I trust Cutler under Trustman because Trustman made him a better quarterback last year. He helped make Josh McCown better. He's turning Jimmy Clawson around. He got played by his backup last year. Who yeah, by a little. What I trust is Mike Simmer's ability to get the most out of his defense. And I like Norv Turner at the coordinator level. We've already seen his effects on Matt Castle. They've got Cordarrel Patterson, They've got Kyle Rudolph. There's a lot of things. Yeah, they're frisky. You know. I like this team. They're playing outdoors in Minnesota through the thick of winter. This is a team I can get behind. I know, I like this team. I picked the Bears to the playoffs. It's been a week almost a Marika. You know, I would think about the Vikings. I think they're gonna be frisky, but I'm sticking with my Bears pick. We've gone through the division. Now let's talk about which teams should at least survive this round of a Limon Nation for the Team of the NFL podcast. Uh. I know the Packers are a good a great team. Are they too good to consider? I mean, we we are picking them pretty far. I'll keep them well, okay, that's fine, but I mean we're gonna pick these is the team of NFL. I think they're a big part of the team of a tale is who's fun to watch? Alright, the pack they're in the top three for me, I'm fun to watch the Packers can make it through. I guess they're never gonna be the team. No, why bother, Let's kill him? You want to kill him? I'm I want to save all right, he

wants to push him forward. We'll push him forward. I want to save every team is division except for the Bears. But I know you guys like the Bears. I think we should save the Bears. I'd like I would be willing to vetell the Bears. Let's get rid of the Lions. Though there's no way we're choosing the Lions as the team of of the NFL. I would agree with you. All right, Okay, they're never gonna make it. The deciding factor the Packers are either. Probably the deciding factor is people laugh about this. Marks absolutely right about Dome teams. Sorry, all right, Lions, you're out. The Vikings are interesting and uh. Twitter follower Tim Gomez told me today, and the Vikings become the team of around the NFL, he will help me eat my softball pants. I don't know if that's allowed. Is that allowed? We don't want to There could be legal reasons. Yeah, I'm not sure. We suddenly started bridging the rules around that penalty that you've drawling upon yourself. That's interesting that we can try, Chris, Okay, um, just two weeks away, right, what is it? Two and a half weeks now? We need to get the season get here already, just get here. We need to get someone to contact the Food Network to make sure all this is done safely. Wait, now, it's a week from tomorrow this season starts. Got Okay, that's great. I'm glad. It doesn't even feel better this week's But this has been a tough month. Let's get through August. Come to the NFC South. Yeah, we all take the Saints to win the division. You guys have the Saints number one. Really, this is the team you guys think is gonna win the Super Bowl. Chris, you you made a big wrote a big poem to them the other week on the podcast. I'm gonna throw it to Mark. Why why are you just so convinced that the Saints are the team for this year? Well, I feel like we talked about them recently, and it's for me. I think they've you know, again, it's a team where you've got Sean Payton, Drew Brees. That team doesn't do anything but win twelve games unless there's an injury to Breeze. It's the only way they don't have a winning record. They're gonna win the division. I don't see a big problem with that. In the NFC South, they've gone out and they've added weapons. You got Jared's Bird on defense at safety along with Kenny Vicaro. I think people at the end of this year will they'll be in the discussion is the best safety duel along with Seattle and there's there's there's a good reason for that. On offense, we love Brandon Cooks obviously, and you know Wesley has been hot on the revival of mark Ingram and they've got an interesting backfield. They found a way to redo their wide receiver group and their backfield and get faster and younger, and what's not to like. I don't think just handing them that. You can't just hand them the division on paper. You're right, they're good, but you know, they didn't win the division last year. They didn't win a division before. They didn't think they were good last year. We correctly identified their weaknesses last year. They have addressed them and they will win this division. But they were pretty good last year. They ended up being about a top eight team. That was about where they deserved to be. And we realized all along they were flawed when we predicted the Panthers to beat them for the division title. They had too many weaknesses last year. They have no weaknesses this year. On a down year with Peyton and Breeze, you you you still win ten eleven games. Yeah, they Their defense has never been this good or it never been this promising. I know it was good last year, but to add Bird in the second year of Rob Bryan, now we actually no junior lat and keep Hicks is looking better and Cameron Jordan's I mean it should that Dome should be rocking. The only thing I could think is maybe some cornerback depth teams could throw on them a little bit. But that's it's tough. We were talking about it coming back from lunch today. We couldn't come up with what's a good weakness for this team. Maybe offensive tackles. The tackles well, they love their left tackle even though he's untested. They that Breeze said, you know, in a couple of weeks ago, he's been outstanding. So we all love the Saints. Second place in this division? Who you got I've got? I think I have the falcon. Yeah, but it's not like they're way better than the Bucks of the Panthers. To me, it's it's kind of coin flip territory or paper rock. Sers is on all three of those teams. I just to me, I have total confidence in their offense. I do believe their offensive line is much improved. Julio Jones and Roddy White are awesome. They're both healthy, and I don't think their defense is quite as as ad as everyone thinks. What do you see as their biggest weakness? I would say the defense, even though it's not as bad as everyone thinks, it's still mediocre. They don't have any pass rushing to speak, they don't have anyone exciting. Who are you getting excited about on their defense? That's bad. That's what I look for in defenses. Where where are the players that are gonna win one on one matchups consistently make big plays. I don't see it, and and you you better hope those young quarterbacks Alfred and Trufan are as good as you know some people think, because if they're not, they could be a disaster on defense, and they haven't looked that good in the preseason. For what it's worth, I had Caroline is my number two team. I think that we you know, we saw it was happening back in February and March and it felt like the roof was caving in and here comes the wind. But they've done a fine job, I think with the you know, Gettleman is so determined to get this team out of their situation cap wise. But Kelvin Benjamin, they had to hit on this guy in the early returns suggests that they have and that was had that not worked, had they gone and got Odell Beckham and he's gone for a month, sitting around that team is a disaster house. But I I think that they've got a deep backfield and if Cam Newton is less

hobbled than he looks right now, I'm all right with them. He's the thing. They weren't that great enough an offense last year, and they have the number two seed in the NFC, so all they need to do really is to minimize how much worse they get, and hope the defense is still this good. And on paper, we've seen the secondary flying around in the preseason, and on paper, the front sevens as good as any team in the NFL. They could have the number one defense. I don't think we'd be stunned. We're missing their big weakness here. Yes, everybody talked about the wide receiver's all offseason. The offensive line is more of a problem. Yeah, Byron Bell got worked over by Chandler Jones. He's not a good left tackle. Nate Chandler at right tackle is a converted defensive end who's unproven. The guards did the two starting guards did not play for the Pants last year. One is coming off in a c L. It's it's a patchwork offensive line. Well, it's four or five linemen are new from last season, and that often just no matter what's going to take part of the year for them to even learn how to play together, and then by then Carolina will figure out that at least two of them don't belong on that line. And it's exacerbated by the fact that cam Cam Newton isn't moving well right now and now he has a fractured rib on top of the ankle, so they're gonna win games like nine to eight. Our power poll, that's when we aggregate all our rankings, including Kevin Patrare Chicago Correspondent actually had the Panthers as the number two team in this division, the Falcon and the number nine team in the NFC, the Falcons number eleven, and the Buccaneers bringing up the rear at thirteen. I think all these teams are ranked a little too low in our rankings. I think at the end of the year we could be talking about this is the best division in football because the Buccaneers they could be pretty spunky. I mean them and the Vikings are kind of the two NFC teams I like that aren't getting picked to go to the playoffs too much, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they have that sort of ten and six type of year. I like that the Bucks have some difference makers. Lavonte David and Darryl McCoy are, you know, arguably the best at their positions. Vincent Jackson's great, Doug Martin's good. I believe in Josh McCown. I think it's a very shallow roster overall, though, there's no depth on either side of the ball. If a starter gets hurt. Did we maybe uh get freaked by what we saw in the first preseason game or two where Josh McCown was just getting swarmed by the I mean, their line is an issue. We didn't just get freak. The Bucks got freak. They they've had Richie Incognito coming in there just account isn't necessarily a quick release quarterback either. So it's you know, you do wonder that offense has been shrouded in mystery all offseason, but we just don't know what we're gonna get. I love the love E Smith higher and I think they could be a top five defense right now. So if you haven't inherited that potentially right But he's a good defensive coach on top of that, So he's a good defensive coach. Inheriting a lot of talent, you have a top five defense, you can maybe get a little lucky with some you know, maccown magic at the end of games or something, and you know, win nine games, all right. So we have the Buccaneers in last place. We love the Saints. Obviously. Let's go through each team and decide if they're a candidate for the Team of the NFL podcast is that even what are we called? It sounds so strange. We'll come up with something, alright. The Saints, do we want to consider them? You guys do have as the top team in the league, and they are a super Bowl favorite. But I'm I'm sending them right on through to the next round there. I'll send them through. You guys had number one, and uh yeah, I lived in New Orleans. I've enjoyed that best place in America. Send them through New Orleans, all right? The Bucks, I'd like to send the Bucks through. I could send them through, all right. And then we have the Falcons, who, despite being on hard knocks, not not really getting me excited. They play in a dome and it might be Mark's least favorite stadium in the NFL. It is. But I don't dislike the team necessarily. I wouldn't. It's just not an automatic veto for me. But you're not gonna win out against the other teams that we've already put through. Extremely confusing. Since you guys trying to figure out this whole team of a t L A very forget about that, thanks, and let's talk about the Panthers so quickly. Uh, they were our team last year. We have to consider the fact that we might not actually pick our team until a couple of weeks in the season. So do we want to eliminate them right now just because Cam Newton's injured? I would say that an ongoing rule that the previous year's team automatically gets through this round. They get grandfathered in. All right, Uh, we're just killing the Falcons right now. Seven teams through out of the last two divisions, right or No? We got rid of the Lions, so six teams so so far? Six in the NFC. It's all right, Let's move on to the final division, the NFC West. Everyone seems to think it's the best division in football. I guess I would agree with that, although the other two teams in the NFC, the North and the South, are pretty good too. Did you think at all about not making the Seahawks the division winner? Not for one second? Neither for I for one second, not even one Yeah me, neither? Could they be a fifteen and one type of team? Again? Why why are we so convinced there's not going to be the Super Bowl drop off that seemingly every Champion has had lately. They don't operate that way in my opinion, I remember teams from my youth, like when the Giants won eight six and then just something caught up to them and the and it was whether it was hubris or just disorganization, the whole thing collapsed. There was a strike that year. Every year something seems to happen with the Champions where they

chemically change a little bit. Seattle. To me, nothing's changed, and watching their preseason and the way they operate, they are a fifteen and one type operation that they get is awesome, and yet you think the Saints are better, Well, there is a dilemma because we are probably suggesting that New Orleans has to go into Seattle. No, I'm not suggesting that. I think Saints finished with a better regular season record. That's the only reason I have them in the Super Bowl because I think whichever these two teams gets home field advantage will win. The Seahawks. I don't think we'll go fifteen and one. As we pointed out innumerable times on this podcast, they are an unbelievably historically great team at home, and they're not unbelievably historically great on the road. They can be beaten, right, and they're still fallible. It's a football team. It's not we've built them up at this point. It wasn't that almost at home. They did lose that home late in the season to Carson Palmer, with threw four interceptions at home, so things happened. One thing, though, I think what we're discounting, though, is that this isn't a team at the peak heading towards declined phase. There's a lot of young players getting better in Seattle. I think Russell Wilson's gonna host a new spanded offense. I think get better. I really do think that Seattle is not We've not seen the best from them. I think the Cardinals won that game because Russell Wilson was in a month long slump, and I don't think we'll see that this year. I think you're right about the expanded offense. Bucky Brooks has written about this. They're gonna open the playbook. Percy Harvan will be used creatively, more creatively than he ever was in Minnesota, even though it's the same offensive coordinator. I believe they have bigger plans for him. I just think the offense is way better than it was last year the defense, they lost some veteran bodies. It doesn't matter because they are it doesn't matter. They're so deep, they're just gonna bring in guys who are even better. They've got guys like O'Brien Scofield, a Cardinals reject, just terrorizing quarterbacks right now. We had the forty Niners as a group number four in the NFC. YouTube had them in the playoffs. So did Kevin Patrick. I have them out of the playoffs. I think just too many things They're gonna go wrong for them, maybe have some drama, and they'll just get squeezed out in a very very good division in conference. You know, they might end up with a nine and seven record and just miss out that. We have the forty nine fourth in our power ball though as a group Cardinals five. I have the Cardinals in the playoffs. Mark Sessler has the Cardinals in the playoffs. I like it. We're in step. Join me and my Cardinals fever. I just I'm a big believer in Bruce Arians and I get that the defense um has issues, but we've seen so many players, so many teams make the playoffs with trouble defenses. Offense leads the day, and I really think that Arizona has gone out and improved. They've gotten faster, They've got one of the deeper wide receiver groups in the entire conference. Arians knows how to coach up his quarterbacks and he knows how to call a great scheme. I I I think that Arizona is going to equal it's win total from last season. I think that the only case you've got to make for the I've been making for them is their offensive gains will make up for what they lost on defense. It's an issue to me, there's not much difference between the Cowboys and the Cardinals right now. The Cardinals have a slightly better defense. They've lost way too much talent on that defense. Uh and Carson Palmer can't be trusted as much as Tony Romo. Both of them will be in shootouts, I think. But you are right that they've lost a lot of talent on their defense. But let's compare that defense to the team you talked about, like the Cowboys or the Falcons. We couldn't come up with a player that's a difference maker on their defense. They have Calais Campbell was one of the very best at his position in the league. You have John Abraham getting older, but at least was a factor last year, suspended probably for a short time, thirty six years old. I would not downt on John Abraham, He's probably not. They have no pass rusher behind John Abraham, right. They have Claias Campbell, who's good. I'm just saying they have Patrick Peterson. Plais Campbell. You have Patrick Peterson, you hopefully get Honey Badger back. I'm not counting on him being Honey Badger, but there is more talent they like. They like their first round pick bu Canon. I'm just saying there is some town out of all of these two teams. According to you, the Cowboys have the best defensive player in Henry Milton. The big problem for Arizona, and the reason that my prediction could look obscene three months from now, is that, well, let's let's be humble. It could be a complete disaster the car. The Cowboys play in the NFC East, where they're gonna just pick up wins off of other bad teams. You can't do that in the West. And on top of it, they're playing the Broncos, and they're playing the rest of the a f C West, which has the Chargers, if if schedule, if the forty Niners go down the rabbit hole, like Greg suggests, this is not nearly the best division in football. The Rams. I don't understand why people thought they were good in the first place. Now they have, they lost their starting quarterback. They have question marks at almost every position on offense outside even outside of quarterback. I would think they're in the mix as the worst team in the con And if I didn't sort of see this as such, isn't such a Jeff Fisher season, Like when things were totally wrong for him in Tennessee, that was when he would do his best and they would just have they would just have an eight and eight type of year. I'm just saying his teams don't tend to collapse. They tend to fight through back. Jeff Fisher's best teams being when Steve McNair and Eddie George were unbelievable and

Chris Johnson was rushing for two thousand yards. I'm thinking some of the I'm thinking not his best teams, but I think some of his best coaching performances were rising some of those Late Titans teams in the late you know, um two thousands with Vince Young and Carrie Collins. I mean, they had a number two seed right with Carrie Collins as their quarterback. That's pretty amazing. That's not a coach the Panics. I mean, he's, he's, he's he's been here before. I think the Rams, to me, are a team that if they win seven games six seven in games, a couple are gonna come inside the division and and they're gonna pick off one or two division teams. I don't think this is in any way not still the best division in football there is. We We can talk about the forty Niners falling off a clip, but that doesn't happen yet. Right I'm the only one talking about it. You guys have them in the playoffs, as do most people, and I don't think they're gonna fall off a cliff. I do think their offensive line, it's weird how bad they struggled in the preseason. We'll see if that really carries over. The defense is the bigger problem. Losing a lot of talent. I mean, Alden Smith. You can't just replace Aldon Smith. We're waiting to hear his suspension. You can't just replace Navarro Bowman. Those are two of the best twenty ten defensive players in the league, no doubt that's but those guys will be back in time. See that's they'll have time to do what the offense. Bowman might not be the same guy though, I mean, he's coming off a pretty bad pretty bad. But didn't we see this last year with von Miller and other players where it's like, oh, you know, we here in August when someone's out for six weeks, our vantage point is of a freak out. There's not how do they succeed? But then it's suddenly it's November. The guy has been back for four weeks, and you forget about it until people in last dog is not to worry one bit about von Miller because the Broncos were that much better than everybody in the general. We can't say that about that's fair, but in general, when when we look at these suspensions, we can overreact to them. It's a long, long season. That's true. They're gonna get Alden Smith back. You know their schedule early in the season, uh, is pretty difficult. They open, actually it's pretty generous. They open in Dallas in their home for Chicago at Arizona, you got the Eagles and the Chiefs. It's manageable. It's manageable. Then they're at the Rams. That's a managable to go four and too early, something like that, and then you know who we don't know in Smith people are concerned about this offense. If after three weeks we still are against those defenses, then we know there's issues. All right, Well, let's go through this division and decide which teams are still alive. As the team of the NFL podcast, anyway, we throw the defending chain Amps into the mix. I would throw the whole division out, throw the whole division out. What Well, now that I think about it, the Cardinals, I would really push hard to push forward. I would. I want to push the Cardinals for Give the Cardinals a chance. West. You love, you love Bruce Arians, you love John Brown, you love Larry fifth Gerald, you love Michael Floyd. This is a down you love downtronned fan bases. Don't they deserve something? All right? That's an impassioned speech, and I'm behind you on that. All right. So we're gonna keep the Cardinals and eliminate the rest of the division. You're gone, all right? Also gone? Uh from the show me. I'm gonna leave and let you guys talk. He gotta let you guys talk to John Beason. I know we're running a little long, so I gotta get out of here and go to some high, high auctane meetings corporate things. And uh, I'll let you guys handle that. And well, we did get a note that Beeson was uncomfortable speaking with That's really what's going on here. So why would that be. I don't know. I just made that. All right, I'll see you guys later, have fun with John. All right, all right, we're very excited about this, Chris. I'm sitting here with Chris Wesley and we have a chance today to interview one of the league's premier linebackers for a period of time. Now, John Beeson, the former first round pick of the Carolina Panthers out of Miami, now currently with the New York Giants. John, thanks so much for joining us today. How are things going? They're going great, man, Just uh, you know, hanging out here, you know, doing the store appearance with with the Giants and met Life Stadium is going well. Now where are you at Met Life Stadium at the moment? At the moment, yea very nice. You guys are getting close to the regular season starting. I think one of the you know, for us covering all thirty two teams, it seems like with New York, one of the issues and one of the narratives that's bubbled up is with the new offense. Eli Manning has been in the same offense forever. You practice against this new Ben McAdoo outfit, you know, all summer long, every day. What what is your take? It seems like things to the outside have not gone incredibly smoothly. Well, I think everybody needs to kind of, you know, pump the brakes a little bit. You know, if you put too much stock into the preseason, you'll get fulled every time. You know, you look at a team that you could win every preseason game and have an awful year, a team lose every game and then turn around and win the Super Bowl. So, um, you know, you want to go out and you want to see some execution, and you want to see guys you know, you know, just go out and tackle and block, you know, the basic fundamentals of football. And um, you know, I think we've done that for the most part. Um, And once the season starts, you'll see, uh, an offense that's gonna open up when you when you started scheming and game planning UM against opposing defenses. UM, you know, having um seeing the offense and what they've been able to do instead of being innovative and moving guys around and getting guys involved and

creating mismatches. It's it's been extremely impressive. UM. I think it's gonna be a very very difficult offense to to uh the play against. And I'm looking forward to that part of it, the actual game planning that goes into uh, you know, the regular season. Right now, we're just not trying to show anything. And that's my take on it. Honestly, Hey, John, the Giants defense gave up about thirty five points a game through six weeks last season, and then they traded for you and got Will Hild back from suspension. It had to be a little bit more complex than that, right, Like, what was what was it that turned that defense around last year? Well, you know when I when I showed up, I looked around the room and I was saying to myself, I was like, wow, I was talented every every position. Um, you know, why not? And it didn't make sense. But you know, we just kind of you know, took a step back everybody collectively and instead of you know, trying to figure out why not just look at yourself, you know, start with yourself. What's what's the scheme, What's what's the call? Are you doing your job at a consistent level? You know, how often are you making plays? You know within the within the confinement of the scheme, And that was really the difference has brought into too. You know the call you know, and um, you guys on the same page as It's scary because now it's a that's where you know your true talent ability can can be displayed. You know, it must have been a tad bitter sweet for you to leave Carolina and that happens to be the season that bang. You know, they with Cam Newton, they end up in the playoffs. They had a very nice season last year. That front seven is nasty looking at their games this year, we've kind of noticed that Cam Newton coming off that that ankle surgery, obviously not as mobile in the past. Do you feel, with what you know about his game him as a pocket passer, can he be as effective a quarterback if he isn't able to use that rushing ability that he has in the past to the same extent. Well, I think, um, you know, he obviously he he has has a talent um to stand in the pocket and make all the throws. And I think mentally he's he's come along, um extremely fast in terms of um you know, what he's done, um since his rookie year and and you know, going from one coordinator to the next. But um, you know, I still think a big part of his game is his ability to run and scramble, and um that's always an outlet for him. It's a safe haven and um, you know, it's something that I think he's gonna need to do to be um as effective as as Cam Newton can be. But um, you know, in terms of what they did last year, man, like you said, it was, it was extremely bittersweet. Although I was happy to be, um, you know, a giant and then the situation that I was in, I was more pleased um with you know the guys and how you know what you know, we said we're gonna do this. We put the work in the off season, guys sacrificed, um, you know, tremendously and to see it all kind of you know, come to fu wition and it was. It was a good sight to see and you know, keep up when I can and talk to those guys, and I can't because they're still uh you know, still my brothers. Um from Afar. Hey, John, we know in the past you've been really high on Luke Keikley. Uh you were saying, even like last season, you knew he was going to be the defensive leader looking around the rest of the league and I, you know, please do not hesitate to praise another one of your ex teammates Thomas Davis here, but who else are the linebackers you see that are just difference makers in the NFL right now? Well, you know what that's the thing man, you know you uh, you laid that question for me. Um, I really feel like, you know, Thomas doesn't get the notoriety that he should. I mean, he's you know, he's a true freak man. I I you know, I played with alongside him. You know, we were that you know, dynamic duo for a long time. And Um, to see what he's been able to do after three a p l s and you know how he is. He is the matchup killer. I mean, you know, you you take a guy like Jimmy Graham. You put them on one side of the field and you put you know, Sprosy on the other, and it's like, you know, what are you gonna do? Or you can bring a safe down and and cover you know, Jimmy Grammers or or Sprows, but you know one of the two. You you kind of got to pick your poison. But Thomas, you can put on the guy and he has the ability to just completely neutralize a guy. He's he's, uh, you know, a weapon that doesn't get praise enough. And he's he's a guy that you know, if I were talking about, Hey, who's the first outside guy, I would take, you know, the stand up next to me. Um, you know, he's that guy. He's a he's that special and he doesn't get enough notoriety. Real quick, what do you see from Lavonte David? Is he a guy that you're high on as well? Oh? Absolutely? Extremely active. I think his football i Q is through the roof based on the type of interceptions he gets. You can tell it's based on film study and knowing route combinations. And then um, you know, ability wise, Uh, you can run match up with anybody great in space, A consistent tackler, um, you know, a huge fan of his, obviously playing the NFC South for a while, and you know he's just burst on the scene. A guy who should have made the Pro Bowl last year, but but then with first team All Pro. So it's funny how that works out. You know, another underrated guy. But um, he is a truly, truly, truly special talent. Now that you've been in New York for enough time to get to know the locker room, you're a fellow Giants teammates. If you had to spend let's say, six months alone on a desert island with one giant, who would it be? Who could you stand being with for that amount of time with one giant? Well, you know what I've I've become, um, you know, really close with Stevie Brown and uh, though I have some some really good friends. Obviously Intro were extremely close. But in Tro doesn't cook as well as

Stevie. Stevie's It's important is a chef. This guy is gonna be, you know, like Emerald Live real soon when he's done playing ball. He might you know, get up to about two sixty five or so. But but he is, Uh, he's a special, special dude, making really cook and his instagram is uh, it'll get you hungry man. So you got through the chance to check out Stevie Brown's instagram. That's very smart of you to pick someone that can prepare food in that scenario. I like to exactly. And uh, now you know, I know you're you're tied into this durrist Cell thing. You know. Durst Cell also sponsors our weekly Pis column, which is gonna launch here in a couple of weeks, where we are a little writing team. Week by week we go through all the games and we try to get those right. I want to ask you a prediction. It's about your Giants. Now. I want you to I want you to be honest with me. Let's pretend you were on the outside looking in. Where do the Giants finish in the NFC East and how do you see this team faring overall? Where they going this season? Well, you know what, we realized that we are at the hunters and sometimes it's good, you know, not to have that target on your back. You know, I'm sure Philly is like, you know what, we got a good, good thing going. We have a good team, we got we got good pieces and you know, we want to build on what we did last year. Um, but everyone keeps talking about it. Everyone keeps talking about it. And you know what, Dallas has taking note, and so is Washington, and and and so are we and and if you, if you you get in a situation where you know everyone gutting for you're gonna get their best every week, it makes it, it makes it more difficult. So we're right where we need to be to take care of our business. I I it would be hard pressed for me to say that I don't think we're gonna win a division, but I know that we have a shot to win it. And you know what, now, it's about the preparation, It's about the sacrifice. It's about, um, the day to day grind of just trying to be consistent. And um, if we do that, I think we're gonna gonna be good enough to win a division. Well, you know, after missing out last year in Carolina, we'd love to us so you get that chance to get back to the playoffs. And thank you so much for your time today joining with us, and was a pleasure to talk with you. And just good luck getting out of the MetLife traffic there. Thanks man. You guys have a good with thank you. All right, Well, Chris, that was enjoyable, wasn't it. Yeah, John Beason really nice guy, a very nice fellow. Listen, we're out of time. You gotta get you gotta get back down to the news room and crank out some more high octane posts. I've got to go home apologize for that. So everyone's gone, I guess for Mark Sessler here and the mailman, and not a shred of another individual will say farewell well I'm here. Well that's right, TD, behind the glass. I'm only looking in the immediate room. In this in the room next to us, t your host again. You know this was a smooth exit until you jumped in there. Goodbye. M