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00:00Welcome back to Newswire here on SportsGrid. Adam Kaplan, our SportsGrid NFL Insider, is
00:07with us to go over some of the results in the NFL yesterday and things moving forward
00:11as well. Adam, great to have you back here on Newswire. Let's jump right into it with
00:16the limited time that we have you. Let's take a look at the Eagles and Browns. Yesterday,
00:20the Eagles, a game they absolutely had to win. The narrative this past week was, oh,
00:25a bye week, going to come out flying, going to come out swinging. I don't know. It kind
00:30of held serve, I guess, against the Cleveland Browns. If the Browns had any other quarterback
00:35playing in that fourth quarter, I think they may have lost this game. In fact, the Browns
00:39also lost their starting running back in this game also. But look, your record is what it
00:44is. It's the NFL. And for the first time all season long, what we thought was going to
00:49happen, Adam, happened in the NFL this week. It was the first time all season long, no
00:54huge upsets. There was almost one, though, with Cleveland, I thought, yesterday.
00:59Yeah. You know, it's interesting. When you look at the point spreads, I always tell Pharrell
01:04this, that it starts around week five or six. The first three or four weeks are really difficult
01:08to call games. I typically don't call games very well early on. And I look at the way
01:12that I picked, I picked almost every favorite. And naturally, we finally had a week, as you
01:17just talked about, where the favorites won. Now, I do like Philly to cover that number
01:21because, as you mentioned, Cleveland's terrible. Now, I'll say this about Deshaun Watson. He's
01:25a bad quarterback, okay? He's a bottom five, bottom three quarterback. But he did make
01:29some throws yesterday. He definitely did. He was under pressure. They were down to the
01:34third, the Browns were down to the third string center. They were down to, they were down
01:38actually three safeties for this game. So naturally, from a personnel standpoint, when
01:42you're trying to break it down, you see a huge advantage for the Eagles. Nick Cerrani
01:46is now 4-0 after the bye, but he's under fire here in Philly, man. The fans, he's getting
01:51into it, by the way. I don't know if you're aware of that. Got into it with the fans,
01:54which is kind of embarrassing for an NFL head coach, but they found a way to win. They've
01:59got a very favorable schedule. I felt all along they'd be a 11-1 team. I'm going to
02:03stick with that. I think some people believe that. I'm out of my mind thinking it'll be
02:0611 wins or more. They have one of the best schedules in the National Football League,
02:09probably the NFL's hardest last season, which would explain why they were 10-1. Then they
02:14would wind up losing six out of seven. But yeah, look, it's not a good division, okay?
02:19The Cowboys are absolutely terrible. We talked about them in a minute, but the Eagles are
02:24the best team and probably the NFL's weakest division.
02:26Yeah, I still am thinking Washington is going to be there in the end. I thought they played
02:31great yesterday, too, but you mentioned Dallas. You know, what's interesting, Adam, is that
02:34when we talk about the Super Bowl and people like you, people like me, and we say, you
02:39know, give me a few teams to potentially win the Super Bowl, we start, you know, maybe
02:42it's San Francisco, and maybe it's Kansas City, and then we reach down, maybe it's Baltimore.
02:48I mean, it's possible to say that the Lions are still an underrated team to do that, to
02:53go to, I mean, I know that the FanDuel Sportsbook would tell you otherwise, that they're about
02:57the fourth or fifth best odds to win it all. But I gotta tell you, Adam, I mean, we're
03:02talking about Dallas, and I know they stink. Okay, fine. So they're going to win some,
03:06they're going to lose some. They're going to be 8-9, 9-8, 7-10, whatever they are. Lions
03:10are great, man. Like, the Lions, when they got you down, they don't stop. It's just a
03:14really impressive team, second year in a row that they're doing this, and I think people
03:20should be talking about them more.
03:22You're right, you're right. We don't, but we're going to have to talk about him now
03:24because of the Hutchinson injury, which is devastating. He'll be out for the season,
03:28tibia and tibial fractures. Not only is he their best defensive player, you could argue
03:34he's their best player on the football team, and not having him is devastating. See, this
03:39offseason, Craig, they, talking to them about what they wanted to do with their football
03:43team, they wanted to address their defense, specifically their secondary, okay? So they
03:46started their corner. They drafted two corners. So they think they've solved that issue, and
03:50by the results so far, you could agree that that's, it was a good move, but they didn't
03:54add any pass rushers, and that's the problem now. So you take Hutchinson out of the mix,
03:58they're going to have to address the trade market. They're going to have to do it, and
04:01they're going to have to pay, because I agree with you, based on what they've done so far,
04:06Jared Goff is playing phenomenal football. Jameson Williams having a breakout season
04:10at wide receiver. Arguably the NFL's best offensive line. Best running back to him in
04:14the National Football League. Great offense. Maybe the NFL's best offense. But defensively
04:18now, you take out a premium defensive player, edge rusher, a leader like Hutchinson out
04:24of that lineup, and it's going to be devastating. It's going to be hard. I always worried about
04:28their pass rush, even with him. Now you take him out of the mix, it's a problem, but now
04:34the thing is, can they withstand it? Now going forward, we have to look at them differently,
04:37though. We absolutely have to look at them differently. So if you're playing future numbers
04:41now, I got to put the Niners above them. I know you look at the Niners, they're 3-3.
04:46I get that. They had a great win. They dominated the Seahawks on the road. I expect them to
04:51get better, but their issue now is getting McCaffrey back. He's still week to week. They're
04:55hoping to practice over the next two weeks, but not having him as a game changer for the
04:59Niners, we all know that. Yeah, it is, but maybe there's an edge rusher on Cleveland
05:04or Las Vegas that can make their way to Detroit at the trade deadline. I see a couple of rumors
05:09out there, but who really knows? All right, Commanders, Ravens. Washington played great,
05:15man. I know their defense failed in the end, but that's what happens when you go against
05:18Derrick Henry. Baltimore barely covers this number. If Washington converts on a late third
05:24down and scores a touchdown, they don't cover the number. So I take away from this, and
05:29at least listening to all the Ravens after the game, Adam, talk about the way that Washington
05:33played. I mean, they got some really high praise after this game. Ravens are once again
05:37a Super Bowl contender. Washington, I believe, is going to not only be in the playoffs, but
05:42has a chance to make some noise, too. They do. Now, look, when you get a lead quarterback
05:46play, and James, I give him credit, it is so hard as a rookie to play in Baltimore.
05:51This is not a vintage Baltimore defense or secondary is a problem, but when you really
05:56look at Washington's issues, it's putting talent around Daniels, right? Not a great
06:00offensive line. They need help with opposite McLaurin. That's going to be something we'll
06:04address in the offseason. Not a lot of talent on defense, but they play super hard with
06:08great energy. Knowing Dan Quinn a little bit, it doesn't surprise me with the energy they
06:13play. It's been a great story. They're fun to watch. It's funny, when I had to pick the
06:17game on Friday, or I guess it was Thursday, it was six and a half. I'm like, man, I think
06:22it's going to be close. I'm going to lean towards Baltimore because I can't see Washington
06:26upsetting Baltimore in Baltimore for Daniels' first time there. I just don't see it happening,
06:31but they play their butts off. I agree with you. It's a good call. They're very, very
06:35competitive and look, would it surprise me if they won the NFC East? No, but this team's
06:40kind of in a, not a rebuild, but they're in a retooling of that roster with the commanders.
06:46Still favorites, by the way, to win the NFC East. They'll play Philly in that thing. Yeah.
06:51Plus 120. That'll get worked out. The two will play each other and that'll be determined.
06:54Any lean on tonight's game at all? I've been pretty strong on the Jets here. I feel like
06:59you fire a coach and, and, you know, players just all of a sudden say, see, it was him.
07:03A hundred percent. I heard you on the, on the segment before I came on here, you and
07:07I are thinking the same thing. I saw, I felt that way as soon as it was changed.
07:12Me too.
07:13It was immediately changed and I'm expecting him to post a field interview.
07:15All right, Adam, back to you.