The Blucifer Brothers
The Blucifer Brothers
Broncos Preseason and AFC Preview
Blucifer talks about the second Broncos preseason game and dives into how they think the AFC could shake out division by division.
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This week on the Blucifer Brothers, Bo Fever is sweeping the nation, but I have, am crumbling for another man that the Broncos drafted. Are the Broncos gonna win the Super Bowl? Dan, play that funky music. Welcome in to another victory week. Ryan here for the boys. While your dolphins are in turmoil, we'll Over to his comments, not your dolphins. Your past, your past lover, you had a brief fling with him. Now you're back with your steady woman and things are looking right, Ryan. Our beau came down from the heavens and just beat the hell out of the Packers. And I, at the end of the last episode, Ryan, I said, I was going to find a way to talk myself into, uh, some wins here. And let me tell you, being in the arena with Dan, the man feeling the energy from the crowd, feeling Bo Nix. Feeling boss, baby crumb, feeling the, uh, fact that for some reason we were playing our starting defense well into the second half, uh, there were some, some. Moments of joy that that it sparked right and so that felt good whether they continue through the season or not It felt good for one night to have some moments of joy. So, how are you doing this week, buddy? Well, I'm Happy that you had a good time at the game That's that's what's important The rest of that seems a little suspect we can get into that next week But I, uh, how am I doing? I am doing good. Uh, it's Thursday, you know, we're recording on a Thursday here. It's, uh, almost the end of the week. I've got zero weekend plans, which always looks, feels good, you know. Like, I, I've really wiped the slate clean. Just gonna hang out and, uh, maybe watch some golf down in Highlands Ranch. Or Castle Pines, wherever they are. That sounds great. Um, all right. So let's get into this, um, objectively funny preseason game. Um, so let's start with Bonix. He's been the biggest, uh, thing. Um, the Green Bay Packers elected not to play any of their top. Let's not bury the lead here. He was, he was announced the starter before you go into the true, like all of this in the context of him being announced the starter, I think that was today. I, yeah, I think it was, yeah, it might've been yesterday, but within the last few days and it was obviously the worst kept secret in the NFL, Sean Payton even alluded to it where he was like, well, I'm, I, I haven't told the guys, he's like, I'm not going to announce every depth chart at every position. He's like, and I think those guys kind of knew, like, and, um, I think everyone in that stadium kind of knew. Um, so Green Bay didn't play their top corners. Once again, preseason. Very basic defense, but bow hooked, uh, highest rated rookie in week two of the pre season. Um, they scored every drive. Um, he was in there. He looked very, very impressive, um, in the 27 to two, uh, victory, uh, and objectively funny score as well. Um, with a Zach Wilson safety being the only points the Packers could muster. So what were your thoughts? I know you went back through you, uh, before the podcast, you were telling me you were watching every, every bone next throw. Um, and. What were, what was kind of your breakdown of him week two? It was more of the same, pretty basic, um, throws a lot of them. They're pretty open, but anything stand out to you or did, did you see anything that, um, you maybe hadn't seen before? No, no, I definitely not that I hadn't seen before. I think he showed a lot of the same stuff that he showed in week one, which was the promise, promising things. It wasn't anything where you were like, Oh, he's not seeing the game well, or he's, um, you know, confused by the speed. He kind of looks fine. He was rushed on a couple throws, but nothing that's alarming. I mean, he's not Zach Wilson seeing ghosts back there. So it's, it's definitely, it all seems to be trending in a positive direction in terms of his development, in terms of him. I, I think the biggest thing that stands up to me, and again, it stood out, uh, and we talked about this last week, was But just him moving around in the pocket. Like, he, he moves around and seems comfortable moving around. Whereas, anytime Russ got moved off that spot in the pocket, you knew something bad was about to happen. And it doesn't necessarily feel like that with Bonex. So that's, that's a positive. And I think he's gonna need a lot of that. Uh, because I don't, I don't know how much help he's gonna be getting. Yeah, there, for me, I totally understand why Bo Nix is the lead, right? Um, obviously, we talked about it. He's the best quarterback of the quarterback room. I just disagree with the decision to start him. And I think we're on the same page there. Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. He's walking into Hornet's nest, uh, week one. Um, and the line's already dropped. Uh, Yeah, it's, it's going to be interesting, but, um, we can talk about that next week, but the players that stood out to me, um, obviously Tim Patrick, uh, feel good, um, to see him get back in the end zone. You could tell the whole sideline erupted when he caught that, uh, play action one, and he obviously had one called back. Um, earlier when Bo was, uh, a little over the line, I think, I think we could say, um, the review didn't take terribly long. Um, but, uh, I thought Tim Patrick and once again, preseason, all of that, but I thought speaking of knowing how to use a weapon, he reminded me of just like, A veteran, like he was sitting down in zones. He wasn't running the like old Tim Patrick routes where like we would throw him jump balls or any of that. I think those days are done. Like you can't tear your knee twice and be like, I'm a burn it down the sideline here. Like that's not his role. But he can be just very smart and very precise and just get into zones and be open. He's also huge. Yeah, and that was what I was going to say, like he just a big possession wide receiver. Um, would, would be, was cool to see. Um, and I think that can be a good role for him. Also, um, Javante had some good catches, um, and then had some good runs as well. Um, we still haven't seen the like 2021 Javante where like he was just truck sticking and it looked like he was. I always remember a early interview from George Kittle with the 49ers where he said, I just got the mindset where I said, I'm just going to try not to let anybody tackle me and see where that goes. Like I'm not going down anymore. I'm not, you know, and that's, was 2021. Javante, where he was like, yeah, I'm, I'm just not going to get tackled. I think is, is going to be my strategy. Um, so he still didn't have that same, but I would say he definitely, in my opinion, solidified himself as the guy who's going to get the start and going to get the bulk of carries. Because. Um, estimate looked, um, I have to say a little small and then the other guy looked like an offensive lineman out there. You were, you were there. So I'll defer to you on this one because I haven't watched every possession. Um, but what I will say is that. Sean Payton's been notoriously tricky to figure out what his backfields are gonna look like. So while Gervonta may be looking good, uh, I, I don't know that I trust Sean to just throw the best running back out there. No, no, no. And the other guys are gonna get run. You're 100 percent correct. He's By committee, all of that kind of stuff. And I don't think that's bad with Javante. It's not like I watched Javante and he was so good that I was like, you have to give this man 2025 touches, build our offense around him. Right. Like it wasn't that it was just nice to see some positives because a lot of the buzz from training camp had been like. Ooh, what if this doesn't get back to a good place? Yeah, I mean, Gervonta is fun to root for, so, and the injuries have been tricky, so I'm rooting for him. Um, on the defensive side of the ball, uh, I think Jordan Love might be underpaid. Um, those two other quarterbacks suck. Holy hell do they suck. That first possession, if that is Jordan Love, we give up pretty easily. Two touchdowns, like they had steps on the corner. Um, and it was also very funny to me how obvious it was that, and, and maybe this transitions us into a different point. Um, but conspiracy Kyle would like to let you know that in the building, Sean Payton was running a different offense. With Bo Nix, then he was with those other two and LeFleur was definitely not showing as much as Sean Payton was. Like, I am sure in the handshake line, LeFleur was sitting there like, Wow, you really wanted Bo Nix to win that job, huh? Like, geez, bro. Cause he was running like The whole playbook and Lafleur was just like basic handoffs basic just like routes Um not showing any of his cards any of his concepts And it definitely felt like sean was uh opening the playbook up And then when stidham and zach wilson got in there, there was not a lot of route creativity. Shall we say? The Where zach wilson got sacked and literally we just had everyone running 30 yards or deeper I was like, well I don't think that's a recipe for success with any of these quarterbacks Um, I think bo nix would have struggled if everyone 30 yards downfield Um, I don't think we would have held up in protection there either. Um The so I I was a little bit annoyed By the Sean Payton, just obvious different offense that he made. It could be different for a reason though, like a hundred percent. It could be that, but I'm also like, dude, if Bo Nix can't just look a lot better than Zach Wilson and Jared Statham, we're screwed anyway, dude. Like, and to me, I was like, Especially Zach Wilson. I was like, we should be trying to pump this guy's value up. Um, either we're going to hold onto him or if there's someone who we can hold three quarterbacks, but they are going to have some good things. Cause you know, nobody, nobody wants to touch Zach Wilson. Not right now. Not right now, but I'm telling you how many times do we see this Ryan where they go, you know Oh, I'll figure him out right like Sam Darnold. He's on a team He's gonna start week one like teams talk themselves into this a lot because he does have arm talent and he does Obviously, Sam Darnold has at least shown flashes of being Uh, remotely qualified NFL quarterback. I don't think Zach Wilson has ever shown a flash of being a remotely qualified NFL quarterback. For sure. I mean, just think about the buzz coming into this game though. The buzz was, Hey, is he number two? And from all of the Denver, from training camp, from Sean Peyton, offensive coordinator was given great quotes. The team was giving great quotes. And I mean, obviously part of that is, you know, blow and smoke, but, What are you going to say? The guy sucks and he sucked on the Jets, he sucked everywhere else. I'm just saying, I thought that Zach Wilson had no chance in this game to look good. Like, I don't think that he I mean, everyone has a chance, I guess, like, but you're playing with a really bad offensive line. And that's the other thing that I noticed, um, was our depth is bad. We were playing Baron Browning into the middle of the third quarter and we are absolutely effed if Baron Browning gets hurt. I was screaming in the stands for us to take Baron Browning out. I was like, what are we doing? That's the hallmark of a bad team, though. Like, I mean, it's, it's I don't disagree with anything you're saying. Uh, again, I'm happy you had a good time. But, uh, this team is gonna be really, really bad. And, uh, I strap in, baby. I'm ready to strap in. Uh, I'm not quite a bow lever. If we could put my, if we could keep track of my scale, um, for ourselves, um, on draft day, I would say I was about a one on a scale of one to 10 and I'm up to a solid four. I'm not in the positives yet. Um, like I'd say I'd actually, you had Dan cause Dan was more positive than us on draft night. So are you at like a. Like, do you have a full on Bowrection? Like, is it a nine or a 10? I'll have a Bowrection until. Oh, wow. I think you should see a doctor about that. Yeah. I was going to say, consult a medical professional. It's hurts and I'm sweating. So you're, you're way up there. Okay. Ryan, are you still down at like a one or two, or has he brought you up to like a three, four range? I, I mean, which by the way, a three four is still very bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You drafted in the first round. No, I was gonna say, and have leaked tons of reports about how you're all geniuses before we've seen him play, uh, one regular season game. It's a little bit like how they signed the extension with Russ before we'd seen him play. Uh, could be any whoel, . I, uh, . I don't. I think I'm more excited, um, but that probably gets me to a three. Like, and it's not even Bo Nix's fault. Like, this defense is going to suck. He's going to be put in terrible positions game after game after game after game after game where he's going to be slinging the ball down 31 to 10 and getting caught. Crunched by an offensive line that's worn down because they spent the first half of the game trying to run Gervonta Williams into the Middle of the Los Angeles Rams defense like this is I'm just painting a picture here what it could look like and so I I'm excited, I guess, at the concept of BoNix, but in the context of the situation, I, I would tamper those, tamper down those expectations and, uh, strap in. I, here is, I guess, and, and this can kind of put a bow on this conversation, ha, bow, um, the, where I am, as a Broncos fan is I either want us to Like I don't care if we don't have a chance to win a playoff game if we sneak into the playoffs Um, that would be thrilling for me at this point Like that would be thrilling win or five years from now. I would one those are you talking about this year? I'm just talking about, yeah, I'm talking about out outcomes. I'm saying I either want that. You'd be thrilled if the, I'd be thrilled they win in the playoffs. Yeah, if they were in the playoffs. Even if you smacked about, thrilled is not a strong enough word. I would like to, the direction that you should have would kill you or I would like to lose. Almost all of our games, 31 to 34. Like it's been since Peyton Manning, since we had a just fun offense to watch. Like it's been a really long time. And so I'm fine with a season in which you have had a fun offense to watch. I was a Dolphins fan last year. It was awesome. Oh, I mean, you didn't have a fun off. Imagine going from The Dolphins to watching this shit. Like, truly. I mean, I know he's, we've been talking really good about Bodex and all of, you know, whatever. But like, Sean Payton is not some scheme lord here either. Like, I think he really is the reason You talking about traitorous Tua? The reason that I'm, the reason that I'm not as excited about the team in general, it really comes down to Sean Payton. Like I just don't, I don't think that he, I think he's been given way too much control and I think that that is a bad thing. Yeah, he's not super likable unless he's talking with uh, his people in the media that he clearly likes Um, and then he's like pleasant to them, but it's just so transparent What's going on? The most likable thing that he has ever done is talk shit about uh, The former Broncos. Yeah, like that was the most I've ever liked him. And I was a Dolphins fan at the time.. I was just like, you know what? Good for you. That guy was just awful at his job and it was clear. But then he comes in and it is just equally as bad. Yeah, he wasn't as bad as that. No one could be as bad. Well that, maybe not equally, but like. He was not managing people well or no putting in some or games, amazing screen scheme or taking time outs or doing like all of the same things. Hackett was his own echelon.. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. But Peyton was not exactly Coach of the year candidate on a bad team last year. He was bad himself, so, yeah. Yeah. It's uh. The lack of accountability coming from Sean is actually the, the, like, he better have some something to show for this year or I'm going to be, this podcast is going to turn into Ryan ripping on Sean Payton. I, it's, uh, you, you won't have, uh, me standing in the way. I'll, I'll say that. Um, the, uh, final thing I'll have to say, and I'm sure people talked about it on draft night and I just didn't see it. Um, but. Our tackle from Wyoming, uh, Mr. Crumb, uh, is objectively my favorite Broncos player. And I want nothing more than to watch him play football. Uh, even though there were some times where my man was straight overpowered, um, out there. Uh, if you haven't seen a picture of him, we'll post one to our Twitter. Um, he has so many doppelgangers that are hilarious. He has a baby face. So he kind of looks like boss baby. The like big boss baby guy, super colossal, big fat boss baby. Yeah. Super colossal, big fat bass baby. Then we have, uh, the, uh, you're killing me smalls, uh, there with the curly hair. Um, and then his last name is crumb. So for those of you who are Harry Potter fans, you know, about Victor crumb, and he's seen in which yet the Weasley brothers. Just get Cru cru cru crumb crumb crumbs. So I was just getting the yell crumb, uh, from, from the, uh, seats, which was also very fun. Uh, so yeah, shout out to you, Mr. Crumb. You're the best. The real, the real question is how do we cheer for an offensive lineman? I mean, hopefully Bo Nix is not as bad, whereas we can't just be chanting Crumb before the snap. Like, if that's the point where we get his Broncos fans, I think that's not gonna be a great end to the season. So, while exciting, that's not great. Let me tell you, it was an up and down performance from my boy Crumb. I guess I should ask, is he going to make the team? Oh, he'll make the team. We drafted him. And he, he was getting, um, second team like reps. He looks sort of athletic in these, um, combine photos. Um, my favorite play of his was, uh, on the safety to Zach Wilson. He just didn't have anybody to block. So, he like kind of was getting adulty for a little bit. But he just kind of stood there and I love it. When offensive linemen shuffled their feet with their hands, like there's no one there and they're just ready. They're so ready though. And, uh, I also liked, um, he, um, they didn't have any, a linebacker at the second level for him to block. So he just kept running full speed towards the safety and our guy got tackled, um, after about four yards. But let me tell you, if he could have somehow made that man, this Chrome was coming through like a missile for that safety. And did he cheap shot him after the whistle? You betcha. He did. He's a hustler. That's what I'm hearing. Um, the low lights were when he got just pushed into the backfield and about one second and gave up a sack. And also when a linebacker appeared to get leverage under him and, uh, through that linebackers grace, didn't pick him up and plant him, but Krum was definitely on his tiptoes when this man came into him and blew up the play there, but, uh, it was all playing chess, not checkers. Cause we got the screen touchdown. Uh, so the crumbs guy had been getting in the backfield so much. He did not think that it was a screen. This is enough. This is enough crumb talk. We're talking about the Broncos that we're talking about. The Broncos next week, let's, let's talk about the rest of the AFC. It's infectious. All right. We can't transition. Um, all right. So, uh, let's just start. We're just going to go through the divisions again, just like NFC, uh, except we don't have as many shitty teams, um, because like the Nuggets, we're in a better conference. This might be a little bit of a longer podcast. Especially since we spent five minutes talking about Crumb. It wasn't enough, honestly. Um, Crumb, forgive my brother, you have an open invite onto the podcast whenever you want to come on. I mean, if he wants to come on the podcast, we'll devote a whole episode to his ass, but until that happens, let's move on. How dare you. It'd be a two parter. I'll tell you that. Um, the first part would just be heavy breathing. Two ten minute episodes. Because Crumb can't actually put together two sentences because he went to Wyoming and looks like a Neanderthal baby. How dare he? Yeah. The first we'd ask him about his baby, and then the other one we'd ask him about Sandlot. Um, there we go, baby. Um, all right. So let's start in the AFC West though. Uh, it's where the Superbowl champs are. Um, the Kansas city chiefs, they're going for a three peat. Um, last year feels like they kind of threw the regular season cause the division sucks. Uh, I don't see the division being tons better. Um, we've talked about us. We've talked about, uh, obviously the Raiders. Not huge believers in, uh, you're not, Oh, that's really walk the plank there, Kyle. I mean, listen, go a little stronger with your take down the stretch. Uh, I, I think there's energy. Like, I think there's some people who are going to talk themselves into that. And then obviously Harbaugh is out there and Herbert's out there, but there's not a lot of else out there, uh, in LA and Herbert is just starting to practice again. That doesn't seem good. Um, so yeah, I guess my thought is the chiefs going to throw the regular season again and then just lose me insurmountable amounts of money, uh, when they actually decide to start playing fucking football in the playoffs. I, I think there's a real possibility of that, exactly that happening, Kyle. But we just have to account for it, man. Like, think about how much money we would've won if we just would've been fading the Chiefs early in the season. I, I think the first couple weeks are gonna be really telling here. Because the offense with, uh, the new two, two wide receiver weapons, Xavier Worthy and Marquise Brown, like, They've looked pretty explosive and the offense was what was holding them back in the regular season. It was not, the defense was elite and so like, if that offense, I think part of the reason why they were playing such like, uh, almost, uh, what am I thinking? The animal that plays dead? Possum. Possum. They were playing possum in the regular season. Is they, uh, They just didn't want to use Travis Kelsey. They didn't want to get him hurt. They were, they put him on the shelf and I think they're going to do that again. But I also think they got better weapons around Travis Kelsey. So I'm very interested to see these first couple of games. But to your point, if they start slow, I think it is sort of a fade the chiefs situation here, uh, in the regular season, and then be also keeping an equal eye on their Super Bowl odds. Because if they lose three or four games here, like, to start the year, I don't know what their schedule looks like to begin, but I think, uh, they could definitely be, they could definitely be a team that everybody sort of starts to look at cross eyed like everybody did last year. Uh, and I think that's a mistake. I mean, they're still my, like, I'm, I'm not, I haven't done my Super Bowl prediction yet, but I, I'm going to have a hard time not picking the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl. Yeah, they basically, Everything last year told you that the Chiefs were a bad football team. They were minus 10 in turnover margin. They were negative in penalties. They had terrible EPA. They couldn't make an explosive play to save their lives because old Stonehands would drop it if it came anywhere near him. Um, and then like you said, they just took the Ferrari out of the garage in the playoffs and Did the thing and kind of just smacked everybody around obviously the Super Bowl they were down and There were signs. Good Lord. I thought they were gonna lose. So But if the defense falls off a little bit though, I think I think that that's that's tricky, right? Because I mean they're gonna fall off But if they have a simultaneous like regression on defense and the offense remains a little stagnant Then you're gonna be in trouble like that's where I think you're not you can't turn on both engines at the same time, right? like You kind of have to either have the offense holding up the defense, which is how they won their first two Super Bowls, or you have to have the defense holding up their offense, which is how they won their last one. The chiefs are going to win this division. Okay. Oh, well, uh, vision is a wrap the charters and let's talk about the chargers though. Okay. I was, I just wanted to go through quickly for you just for betting purposes. Uh, obviously they play overseas in Baltimore. Um, then they have Cincy at home away, Atlanta chargers, and then New Orleans at home, and then they get there by. Before they go away to San Francisco. I could see them being 4 1. I could see them being 4 1. Would it also shock you if they were just 3 3 out of those? Like it wouldn't shock you. No, not shock. I mean the Bengals, like, yeah. We're going to talk about a lot of these teams. Yeah, and we will. I think, um, It's, it's not shocking, like, I, I think part of the, the variation of the Chiefs and why I want to see it through the first couple weeks before I really start to lay any money on them is the variability is huge, and it's not that I don't think they're a good team, like, I think we just need to assume that they're going to be in the Super Bowl until they're not in the playoffs anymore. Um, but it, it could get ugly in the regular season here. Um, so yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, I think they've been pretty mindful about the rest and about all of that and they're pretty, Hey, we have Patrick Mahomes, we'll win, we'll steal a few, and then we'll just beat all the bad teams. Um, kind of like the Spurs of all, but they'll, they'll, they'll, the new weapons will really help this offense. I think so. Yeah. Um, any, uh, chargers, uh, they're obviously a buzz team, but I thought they would be getting like more like, Hey, Harbaugh, Herbert, they're going to figure it out. Who cares that they lost some weapons here? Like, but it kind of feels like people are like, I don't believe in Herbert as much anymore, which to me is a mistake. I, I guess I hadn't heard as much of that, but I, if people are saying that I vehemently disagree. Um, I, this, this talking about this makes me sad. Um, mostly because I, Like, Herbert doesn't have any weapons, and so I do feel like he's probably gonna fall on the sword for some of this offensive production, which might be a little lackluster, and Harbaugh's just gonna run the crap out of the ball. Like, that's what every report has been saying, is that he's just gonna run the ball. Um, I think that to me, they're the second place team in this division with a bullet just because the Broncos and the Raiders are going to be so bad. It's not like I think they're, they're going to be challenging for that wild card, but it's a health bet to me. Like they have to stay healthy and that wide receiver core has to stay healthy because they're bad already. Like they can't afford to get into their depth. Uh, cause there isn't any. Yeah, I, um, Are you a lad and conky believer? Not hugely. I, um, I mean, for me, the bigger concern here is their front seven is pretty bad. And like, that's with Bosa. And so, it's kind of like, Ooh, like, this is a guy who's had injuries, and so, you already don't have depth and don't have a lot of talent, and you just know he's gonna miss some games. So like, I think I'm less worried about the lack of wide receiver depth. Cause I think Herbert is truly unbelievable. And I think with some good coaching, he can make some guys look better than maybe they normally would. But I think the defense is going to let them down in this. And I don't think there's enough talent elsewhere. Um, to, to kind of make up for that. So I, I'm hoping, you know, I, I was wrong on the chargers last year. I was pretty all in on them. I thought that they were going to win the division. I was correct that the chiefs were going to regress a little. But, uh, the chargers put new pressure on them, um, and just kind of continued blowing it, uh, on a pretty historic level. So as much as it pains me to say, uh, the AFC West is, uh, still firmly the chiefs, uh, the, the chargers though, they're kind of the opposite of the chiefs. Um, they get to start off really nice here. You get the Raiders at home, then you have the Panthers, then you have the Steelers. Do you get to, then after that you have to chief. So that's a hard one. Um, at Kansas city, then you get a buy and you get Denver, Arizona, New Orleans. So like, you gotta start hot if you're this team. And I think that's where like Herbert missing training camp, new coaching staff, all of that kind of stuff hurts you. Yeah, yeah, I think all of that makes a lot of sense. That they shouldn't there, and then you're like, F. You're, you know, your schedule's getting a little harder. Where they have, uh, Bengals, Baltimore, Atlanta. And this wild card race is gonna be crazy. It's gonna be nuts. They do get to close Denver, New England Raiders. So that's going to be nice as well. Um, all right. Uh, what's, uh, what's the next division? What's the next, uh, most interesting, I did just want to say we're kind of skipping the Raiders and we talked about them a little bit, but. I, uh, the only thing that I wanted to say about this is that Warren Sharpe literally highlighted their punter in his, why you should bet the over for the Raiders. And I think that that just says so much about their team because there's so bad that he was like, I don't know, they've got a really good punter there. He could flip field position. What a weapon. Yeah. To me, this feels like the classic. Like guy closes the season a little bit strong and, you know, they haven't been a very well run organization in general. And so they're like, ah, we got to get this. This is going to keep going. And then it's like, Oh, actually it's a very stupid decision. Let's go to the North. Okay. Um, North is always. Um, this year it feels like there are three teams and traditionally when we've said that we've meant the Steelers, Ravens, um, Bangles and Bangles of late, but, um, I think we mean the Browns, the Bangles. And the Ravens here. Have you looked at, have you looked at these division odds at all? Uh, I haven't, uh, I'm looking at them right now. Okay. It's pretty shocking. I would say Ravens minus one 20. I would say Browns plus one 60. Uh, I would say Steelers plus like 700 and the bangles bangles plus one 80. Okay. So you, you didn't do terrible, but I can tell you that you should go and put some money on the Browns. Okay. Uh, because in order, it goes Bengals plus 140, uh Ravens plus 145, Browns plus 600, and Steelers plus 800. I mean, I won't be putting any of my hard earned money on Deshaun Watson. Um, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Uh, I don't want to cheer a single moment for him. Um, but that's wild to me. Their defense is so good. Yes, they're unreal and they kind of loaded up on weapons again. Yeah. Like I, I, I, in my notes, I just have down injuries, injuries, injuries for them. If they're healthy, and Deshaun Watson looks even 75 percent as good as he was in Houston, they're gonna be filthy. Yes. I, yeah. So, to me, the Ravens are a clear favorite here. I just think, Lamar in the regular season I didn't disagree with what you said, to be clear. I, I Lamar in the regular season is awesome. When I, when I looked at it, I was like, how the Ravens In. I mean, Joe Burrow is not throwing footballs. So like, what are we talking about? I mean, I like the Bengals, but their, their quarterback isn't playing. So, and has an injury that nobody's heard of and nobody in, in the NFL outside of lineman has. So like, that's what I was going to say. What are we talking about? Like, yeah, I, I don't understand that at all. This. This, this to me, it's so wild and, um, because it, I think the injuries, injuries, injuries thing, you could put it for any of these top three totally, right? Like the, one of these three teams is going to have a year from hell. I actually think you're going to have Lamar miss time. You're going to have burrow miss time. Or, um, Deshaun Watson's going to play. Um, there's one of those things is going to happen. I actually think that this is sort of an overarching point. It's I'm glad you brought it up because it's an overarching point that I thought about for all of these AFC teams. I really think that like, there's so much talents and talent in the conference in general, that so many of these teams, when I was going through them, I'm like, well, if they're healthy, They're a pretty good team. I could see him making the playoffs, but if they're not healthy, it's a train wreck. And I think this division really does sum that up in the most clear way to your point of just. Even the Steelers, I mean, hell, like, who knows if, if somehow Russell Wilson gets hurt and Justin Fields starts to get, uh, some playing time, then maybe he'll find a rhythm and become a good quarterback. Like, who knows what'll happen? Um, but it's I hate the Steelers. Can I say that on this podcast? I hate them so much. The amount of bullshit that goes the Steeler's way all while they fucking complain is insane. I, the Fields was on a podcast and he was talking about the, I'd forgotten about it, the Monday night game where the ref backs up into the linebacker as he's running off the field celebrating and throws the 15 yard flag to help big Ben's dumb ass out. Like two years they just have bs like that and then they go I were just so gritty and yeah, dude, you just get every fucking call Your whole offense has been based about throwing the ball in the air 50 yards and just falling down And then getting bullshit flags. I hate them. They suck. They're terrible for the league I hope that they lose every game by a million points And I hope nothing good happens to the city of pittsburgh Uh, I hope that all of your mills close down. I hope that the PBR runs out. I hope that, uh, your stupid, stupid team folds. No, but they all like crappy beer. Hey, they don't give out blue ribbons for nothing. You don't disparage PBR on this podcast. Do not disparage, don't disparage. This is, this is the true test of. Of Mike Tomlin's witchcraft. Like, if he can But Tomlin, they just cheat! I, I'm, I, Kyle, Kyle, I get it. But like, the guy does have an insane win streak. It doesn't happen in the NFL. What he's doing doesn't happen. So, this will be a true test. Because if he can win nine games If he can win nine games With this team They had the they sucked last year and they had the best luck ranking in the whole nfl like they are gonna be I think with how good this division is I do gonna be in contention for if you like putting a bet down on worst record in the nfl Oh, you could do worse than the steelers because their division is brutal The AFC is brutal. They play a really hard schedule. They have an easy schedule last year and they had the highest luck rankings in the whole NFL. I think the Patriots are on that list too, but we can get to them later. I, uh, yeah, the, nobody is going to, I agree with most of what you said, I guess, in terms of, uh, what, how I feel about the Steelers, particularly the Steelers team, especially with Russell Wilson on it. Uh, but I will say that I do feel bad for George Pickens because that guy is awesome and he just doesn't deserve this. Like, this, uh, he's too good to be having these guys throw him the ball. No, he's kind of the opposite of Jerry Judy. Um, he actually makes plays and then doesn't complain as much. Um, which must be nice. Um, but, uh, okay. The other, the last point I wanted to make with this division and why I give the Ravens a huge, uh, an edge, if I was, um, going to bet it is what you're going to say, Harbaugh, like the coaching difference here is like, I like Stefanski. Like, I'm fine with Zach Taylor. Harbaugh is unbelievable. He was one of the first coaches to embrace analytics. He was the, the stuff that they do as far as self scouting and improving themselves year after year after year is really, really good. And you talk about teams that had injuries, the Ravens had injuries last year and still were able to put out a really, really great product. And I think that's where the tiebreaker would go for me. Obviously, if Lamar gets hurt, they're f'ed. You know, that's a lot of teams with their starting quarterback. If he goes down for an extended period of time, right? Like, yeah, I think I agree with you. I think they deserve to be the real favorite here. And it's, I thought you were going to talk about their rest advantage. Um, yeah, they're the only ones with one there too. Yeah. And I think, uh, but they do play a pretty tough schedule. So I, Also, we didn't even say Derrick Henry's name. Uh, him in this backfield with Lamar Jackson is going to be absolutely electric. I just can't wait to watch them stand next to each other. In those uniforms too, like those purples on a Sunday night against the Steelers. That's chill stuff right there. That's exciting. Yeah. It, it feels like it's either going to be a, Oh, Derek Henry has cooked or it's going to be a, Oh, wow. This is one more throwback year. He knew this was a super bowl year and he just took care of himself and he's a beast, which he's kind of him on that Titans team. He was the only one that was good. Like, the entire offense revolved around him, and so I'm just, I'm excited to see what he, uh, what he can do. I want to talk about the East. I think this is the next most interesting, uh, division. We got Jets. I'll run through the odds. We got Jets, plus 180, Bills, plus 180, Dolphins, plus 200, Patriots, plus 2, 500. Uh, to me, so, I'll start this off, I mean I'm the requisite Dolphins expert here. This is, this is a division you, you know intimately. I think in terms of the Dolphins, the offense is going to be unbelievable. Like, I really believe in Mike McDaniel to make this happen again. Uh, the defense is taking a step back. Uh, and a step back from what was already not great. Um, their schedule is also way harder this year. Uh, they beat the hell out of bad teams last year and then lost to pretty much everybody good. So, I think that that could be a problem. Um, and I, like I said, I think they're going to be insanely fun to watch, but I don't think that they're going to be a threat for this division win. I think they're going to be more in that wild card hunt. If they're lucky, honestly. Um, and then in terms of, I guess, any dolphin's thoughts? Uh, I would just say, um, I love Mike McDaniel. I wish he was here. I do think that, and we'll see what he is this year, but it felt like sometimes last year, there was a bit of stubbornness. As far as like, sometimes he would play it. Like, Hey, we're going to, we think this concept is going to work and we're just going to keep going through it. Keep going to keep going through it. Whereas McVeigh and Shanahan have proven to be a little bit more adaptable thus far, more experience. So that's fine. I think within games, you're right. But I think game to game, I actually do think Mike is like, Oh fuck, that didn't work. Like, I think he's a good self evaluator in that way. But. I agree with you in game. He can just be like, okay. Well, this was the game plan. I don't know what to do now Uh, yeah, I don't like it just because like you said the schedule Um, I mean they close green bay jets houston san francisco cleveland jets again. Oh my god Yeah, that's brutal like they're another team who can get off to a good start Depending on how you feel about Jacksonville, um, because they have Jacksonville, Buffalo, then Seattle, Tennessee, New England by Indy, Arizona. It's like, could start hot, but you need to again. Let's talk about the jets. Dude. Can I just say, I think they're going to be dysfunctional again. And I don't think they're going to be good. I, I understand where the hype is. I totally get The things, but there's just all these distractions, all these red flags. And I think that there is no world in which. Aaron Rodgers is coming off of an ACL, um, Achilles and Achilles. I know he, you know, went on a darkness retreat and took shrooms and sniff. Iowasca not to just keep correcting you. He, he did all those things. Yeah. He's very big on facts, that guy. Um, so it's important that we get them right. Um, and I understand that everyone's going to take Brees Hall, uh, insanely high in their, in their draft. Um, and call me crazy. Uh, I just think that at this point, Aaron Rogers is more interested in being a celebrity than being a football player. And I think the whole reason this team could have been good was based on the fact that they have Aaron Rogers. Right. Um, and we have holdouts. We have, uh, Robert Sala, who has. No, it looks great. Um, can we say as a head coach, he was awesome as a defensive coordinator, but maybe it's a Kyle Shanahan's just unbelievable. And maybe everyone who's getting around injuries too, like straight. I mean, I'm just saying, even if they don't have injuries, I don't think the chemistry is there. I don't think this is a team that can like go through it. Um, and I don't think there's like tons and tons of talent. The defense is really good. That's just my, that's just my take. I don't like the vibes. I think the defense is going to be a top five DVOA. But I also agree with you, uh, that I don't, I don't think that they're going to be good. Uh, here's what I said. If, if somebody told me, Hey, the dolphins, or I'm going to eliminate two teams, you know, like the old 50 50 on who wants to be a millionaire, and they just say the Jets or the dolphins are going to win this division. I'd put all my money on the dolphins. Yeah, I would not spend a single cent on the jets to go back to your point about, I can't remember who you were making about, Oh, Harbaugh with the Ravens. Like just go to the coaching. I mean, if we're, if we're just going to have that conversation, go to the coaching, see who you like more there. Yeah. I think that is a pretty cash money. Um, so I, yeah, I think this team, um, while obviously the Patriots are going to be the worst in this division, um, I think. Jets fans are going to be sad again and, uh, disappointed. And I think they're going to be just good enough to get to that middle ground where it's miserable. Yeah, I mean, this is a heartbreaking season for them. Like they're not going to be They're tied to, they're tied for the best odds. Right, they're tied for the best odds to win the division like that. They're not gonna do that So yeah, this is gonna be a devastating season as a Jets fan We just got bills. Oh Right, we should talk about them. Yeah, obviously they lost digs. Obviously, they lost their whole secondary Can I just say though, they were insanely banged up last year. Um, and Josh Allen is awesome. Thankfully for them, they, uh, just got rid of all their players that were banged up who also happened to be all of their good players, but, uh, so yeah, I guess you could look at it two ways, you know, they were really banged up, but they don't have any of the players that were banged up, so, you know, um, and. I think they had tons of success last year, obviously. Um, They got the new coordinator in there. Um, they started being a little bit more too tight end, but then their tight ends got hurt. So I think if this team can keep two passing, you know, like tight end threats on the field and keep them relatively healthy, I think this offense has a chance to be absolutely filthy. Um, obviously the biggest cheat code is. One, having a running quarterback, which Josh Allen is. Two, is like the ability to run. multiple things that are very dangerous out of the exact same look. And the definition of that is being able to have tight ends now where you can go, Hey, we'll put these guys in the box and we'll look heavy as shit. And if you don't bring guys in, we'll just run it at you. Um, and they started to get some improved running back play. But also if you start coming down in that box, we are going to play action and get these tight ends out there. Um, we're going to get some guys going deep. We have a huge arm out there. All those kinds of things. And I think that plays better in the playoffs for them. Um, with what always seems to happen where they have 12 feet of snow. Um, and previously their whole team was built around burners. And so early in the season, it would be like, how do you stop the bills? And then it'll be like, ah, their, their weather will stop them. It it's fine. Um, so I am nervous more about this defense than the offense. I think people are underestimating Josh Allen because he had some boneheaded pics last year, but I think he was, I think the digs stuff was worse than we probably knew. Um, I think that, I mean, I just think digs didn't like the coaching staff didn't, didn't feel like he was going to get the money he wanted. And so he was, you don't think any of that was Josh Allen. I mean, I think the digs brothers are insanely confident in themselves. And. But, I mean, Josh Allen went to bat for him pretty much the whole time and was insanely professional and nice about it. Yeah. I don't know. I think Josh is underrated and I think the Bills I think the Bills win this division and I think that they have a pretty good season. Uh, I, I agree with pretty good season, I guess. I don't think they win the division. So you're taking the Dolphins? Are you, are you Jets guy? No, no, I think I would, I think I would bet on the Dolphins right now. Um, just . Yeah. Yeah. Like odds. I'm not betting on the jets for sure. Uh, but I think this is a division you wait on betting. Uh, again, I, as people, long-term listeners to the podcast will know I'm not a futures guy. But, um, no, no, no, no. Uh, especially on this division, if you're betting on the A FC East, it's a future. Just shoot us a message. Like, we'll put you onto some better short term bets. Yeah, I just think If I, if I had to say highest ceiling, I think the builder, because I think Josh Allen is the best quarterback. I'm going to say, I think high ceiling is the dolphins. I mean, I, like I said, the talent on that offense is so good. The tech, like Devon, a chain, like you're, you're forgetting that he was unbelievable. I was scrolling Twitter last night and this guy was breaking down how he like analytically tried to isolate running backs. Outside of their thing. And Devon A Chain, uh, last year was up there. Let me tell you like all the time. And what I mean, like Daniel has been doing some weird stuff with his tight ends where he's been moving them to get different angles on the run blocks. And like, there's all sorts of, I mean, that guy is just an evil genius and that offense is going to be awesome. I really don't care what happens. I am also really high on Jalen Waddell. Um, yeah, I, I'm actually a little bit lower on Tyreek, uh, uh, if anybody cares, I actually would take his under in passing yards. I think he, he's shown that these soft tissue injuries have started cropping up more and as an aging fast guy, like that stuff doesn't go away. So, yeah, yeah, no, I, I mean, maybe there's a world in which we're way under selling the Jets. Um, but, to me, it's That defense is legit. I, but I just agree with you. The vibes are all off. Like, it's just, the, they're not, I, I struggle to see a way where that offense, I don't think Aaron Rodgers is going to be healthy. I'll just put it out there. Like, that's the Also, for all their talent, like, their, uh, their wide receiver room, it's like Mike Williams second after Gary Wilson. Garrett Wilson is also filthy. Yeah, he's really good. Um, but yeah, I think, uh, that's, that's the east. Now we've got the south. Um, this is like the NFC of the AFC. Um, the Texans are really fun. And that's kind of it. Do you see anybody else in this division that you're like, Oh, this is fun. Oh, are you getting on the Titans? No, I'm wagging. Nope. Jaguars bandwagon. Certainly I'm not. Uh, I'll just, I'll, I'll give you a couple of quick notes. So. You mentioned the Jaguars. I've just been hurt by them too much. Uh, I, I was an early Trevor Lawrence believer. Like, he's, they're just gonna have to show me at this point. I, I can't get, I can't get behind it. Their schedule is really hard. Uh, and I think their season could actually go pretty ugly pretty quick. And let's see who else do we have in here the Titans I don't want anything to do with that team first year head coach young quarterback Losing Derrick Henry lots of turnover. It seems like they should be tanking. It's also sort of a wizard Yeah, he's he was amazing. I don't know why you fire that guy You should honestly a part of the reason was I was like they should have by a bad karma for firing one of them Maybe the top five best coaches in the nfl like you should just be punished for that a little um the texans I I can't put my finger on it, but i'm worried I, I don't know exactly what the, like, everything that I'm reading is not necessarily negative, right? Like, it's not overwhelmingly positive, but they just overperformed so much last year that I'm a little worried that it's going to take, like, uh, Grizzly's sort of step back, where even before the job rant stuff started happening, like, they just sort of looked way worse in that second year. Um, and CJ Stroud is unbelievable and I don't think that this is going to be his fault or his doing. But I just could see the structure around it starting to crack. And it's honestly, it's a little bit of a hot take, I think. And I don't, like I said, I can't put my finger on it, but I am a little worried. Yeah, no, I, I mean, I think coming into this last year, everyone was like, there's no talent on this team besides CJ Stroud. And then you hit on a few wide receivers with who both went down at the end of the year, by the way, um, and are coming off injuries and you've gotten aging Stefan Diggs and that defense is still not very good. Um, Demetrius Lyons is a great defensive coach, but Correct, and I think he covered up a lot of things, but Also, the other thing I will say, Houston, fun city. Hey, if you're not, if you're thinking those guys are going to, it is a very fun city, Kyle, it's great. James Harden got jerseys, retired and strip clubs out there. All right. Uh, I think. Some teams may have, uh, got snuck, uh, having a little, a little too good of a time being like, it's the Texans. We're fine. Um, and they had a lot of dramatic victories, a lot of big play stuff, um, that I think people now just respect Stroud too much to give up as much of that. Like you see it. Now, like the ultimate respect as a quarterback now is teams are just like, we're not giving something up over the top. We just talked about it with the Dolphins. If we blitz, you're going to do that. We are going to make you work this ball down the field. Mike McDaniel with the Dolphins was able to just like evolve on his system. And the Texans are going to have to do that with CJ Stroud because they put a lot on tape. Like, I don't know what exactly to do against it, but those, those other teams will, and it's how you adapt to that and how you can scheme throughout the off season, it's going to be really interesting because they do. I mean, if Diggs is even remotely what he used to be, that's going to be an amazing weapon for this team. Um, I, to me, the most interesting and most exciting team in this division is the Colts. Uh, I love Anthony Richardson. I actually kind of am buying that they're going to be way better than they should be. Uh, but it's, it's again, health. Uh, the one thing that I will throw out there from, uh, just reading, uh, Warren Sharpe's book is we should all, I made a note to myself, but we should all be looking at first half lines in the Colts games all year. Shane Steichen is just so good. He's the one who was just blowing teams out with the Eagles like two years ago. Every first half and they sat They were able to sit Hertz and all those guys that rested them all the way to the Superbowl. Like I think they could be doing some things in the first half. And this is a team that isn't projected to win a lot of games. So they could be actually be underdogs in a lot of these first halves. And we could be taking money lines if it's under a touchdown and making some, uh, nice money. So I, uh, also have strength of schedule here, 26th. So the 26th. Um, easiest schedule for the Texans and the seventh for the Colts like, so if you're going to try to take some long odds here, um, not that the Colts, I don't think they can, I don't think they have the talent yet to do anything in the, like post season, but if you wanted to take a team to sneak in or AFC South it up, right? The problem is Kyle, one of these weird teams is going to go in a division. Like one in each conference is gonna win a division. So I think we've identified a couple of fun ones in the AFC in terms of for sure the brown, I mean, browns aren't fun, but that is a plus 600 or fun odds. Uh, and then the Colts are really fun. Plus three, 10, uh, who else did we say? Oh, we had the dolphin. I said the dolphins plus 200, but that's not super fun. Uh, but yeah, I think there, there are some in very interesting divisions in the AFC, uh, yeah, I mean, there's just tons of, so I think, obviously you mentioned it, people really like the jets. Um, and part of that is easy schedule. We forgot to mention that, uh, the chargers have the easiest and the jets have the 30 easiest. So people like the jets, people like the bangles. People like the Chiefs, obviously, there's Ravens love out there. Like, there's just a lot of teams that are coming in from the AFC and going, if things break right for us this year, we're Super Bowl contenders. And there's just not as many of those out in the NFC. We're like, I mean, obviously every team is telling themselves that on some degree. Um, but like, there's a difference, right. Between like really believing that and being like, well, we'll see. Like, you know, like, I just think that there's a lot of potential, uh, in this AFC for this to be an insanely good and insanely fun playoffs. Where you don't have those matchups where that you typically have, where like the number one seed is playing someone and you're just like, Oh, they're going to beat the hell out of them. Or there's that one really crappy wild card that you have to watch on wild card weekend and people try to talk themselves into that. It won't be bad. And then you watch them and you're like, Oh, this is terrible. Holy shit. I can't believe we have to watch this. One of the bets that jumped off at me is you can bet on the stage of elimination. Whoa, excuse me, the stage of elimination, uh, for each team and the Colts to lose in the wild card round is plus 240. Uh, and you know, obviously it's sort of a ridiculous bet, but I think they're probably going to get a wild card. Like I, I just, I I've got the, you know, a lot of these teams fall out of the playoffs. We haven't talked about that. I don't think this year, but usually there's about 50 percent turnover for them year to year in terms of the teams that make the playoffs. So you do have to be looking at these teams that like. All right. Or the Browns and these teams that made the playoffs last year. Like, do we really think they're going to make the playoffs or are we sure? Uh, so it's, it's going to be a fun, uh, AFC year for sure. Not for the Broncos necessarily, but, um, Hey, don't spoil next week's episode, Ryan, I'm still, I'm still talking myself into some things here. I'm getting my own Mike Tomlin witchcraft brewed up, um, to, for the boys. Namely, I've, I've, uh, LeBron James style, uh, just been sending letters to Roger Goodell. Saying, can we be allowed to cheat this year? Um, and I think that that'll be helpful. He hasn't gotten back to me yet, but I'll have the update next week. Um, to see if the Broncos are going to be allowed to cheat. He's notoriously responsive, so yeah, no, I, I don't think it's a personal thing. I think he's, you know, he's got a lot going on right now. And once things calm down, kind of, um, feels like week one is under control. He'll respond back. Um, appreciate that Raj. Uh, as I know, um, anything else, Ryan, before we get up, get up out of here. Um, nope. I think that's pretty much it. All right. We're we're almost here. We almost did it folks. Um, we've, we're going to get some, some college football going here soon. Um, we're going to do a Broncos preview. Uh, we'll have, uh, some. We'll, we'll break down every game next week. We're going to get our, our on the record things. Uh, I'm going to try to bounce back from my humiliating 11 win prediction, um, last year. Uh, which it looked way worse earlier in the season. They ended up pulling some things out of the, the deep crevices of their buttholes, um, to make that not look as bad for me. Um, but it, uh, it, it still didn't sit well with me that we missed by so much. So we're going to try to look at our process, uh, and get, get some better results out there this year. Um, and Ryan will be there to, uh, Ebenezer Scrooge his way, um, through any joy and happiness, the, uh, the Broncos fans might be trying to find in their hearts right now. So that that'll be something to look forward to. Yeah, I'm trying to see if I can quickly find what my prediction for the Broncos was last year. Uh, 6 and 12. Yeah, you're pretty, pretty close there, bud. Um, that wasn't bad. Yeah. That wasn't terrible work by you. I'm, I will have my full, um, win loss for everybody as I do every year, next year, or next week. Maybe we can end with that, just me spouting off 32 teams win loss record to go on the record. I don't hate it. Uh, alright. Alright. Um, so thank you for listening. Um, we'll have full Broncos preview next week. Um, we'll be getting ready to have a lovely time. Um, maybe we'll have some bets on opening a week cause I, I think it'll be getting started that upcoming, uh, I think we should, we should create our contest and we should, uh, start it next, next week. Yeah. Well, maybe we'll get a survivor pool going again, uh, no, I don't want to do that. Thank you though Yeah, it's so much fun Uh, no, it's not i've never uh Well, I it's hard to hard to beat me in those, um, just kidding we both got eliminated But Uh, thank you for listening. A big shout out to our producer, Dan, the man crafts, and we will talk to you next week. Blucifer brothers is a crab shell media podcast.
