how y'all doing I'm Paul Ryan your host of the across cowys podcast if you're new to the show thank you for joining us and to our regular listeners welcome back with me as always is my co-host the greatest co-host in the world Mike the pig crumb Mike how are you I'm doing good man recovering from another amazing Disneyland trip no Dallas game so I don't want to hear any damn bitching I didn't BL donon Bland got hurt while he was gone but you know we don't talk about that either sorry no donon Bland I didn't the day before my bad my bad the timeline was yeah I was gone I left uh oh God I don't even remember when did I leave Wednesday or Thursday and I think donon Bland was hurt earlier in the week yeah I was gonna say Mike I was kind of disappointed I didn't see too many churro churo picks this time only two they didn't really have uh different ones for some reason it was uh there's a lot of good food I'll send the Reel that I did on Twitter I'll tag you in it with all the food and the grating that I did for it you know my my out of 10 but there was I only tried two new churros because I don't just get the regular churros they're good but I've had them a million times like I want the specialty churros and they only had like three I think and uh one of them wasn't you it's one I've two of them I've had before sorry the bride and groom churro I had the those last year so I was like well I don't need to get them again I already tried these so I tried the two only two new ones that they had what's the bright and groom shro uh one is uh uh dusted in in white like um it's not powder sugar but it's a type of sugar that makes it look white and then the other is like a cookie crumble black um cookie sugar type and they're just bride and groom because black is groom white is bride and they're they're good don't get me wrong but I I can't just oh let me order a churo I've already tried like I try only the new churros unless it's the like one that's Elite like the fluffer Nutter I'll get every time but it's got to be something like that yeah well for those of you who don't know uh earlier in Mike and I's friendship Journey if you will uh Mike was kind enough to share his churro pictures and that's I think where our uh Bond over food started there yeah churos were the Disney Disney's the reason for all Disney's great sir it's the reason it's a Cowboys podcast and all my stuff around me is still Disney it is what it is Mak sense Mike where can we find you on Twitter sir uh Porn Stash no it's at CD piglet what do you guys think keep it or no I I'm kind of I'm kind of starting to like the thicker mus I see keep it looks good man yeah not but I'm asking the audience now I got one vote for keep it brenan's too young he don't know about growing a mustache so he's not going to like it he he barely has underarm hair so you guys guys uh uh out there you comment Twitter Youtube whatever let me know Porn Stash yes or or cut it back again all right of course enough show is complete without the conductor of the Jake Ferguson hype train Mr Bryan Fergy Smith bryndan how are you you know what I haven't been bullied on this show in a little while and I F I felt weird I'm like wait a minute I'm like oh wait that's what we do I'm doing great Mike the audience want excuse me not Mike but Brendan the audience does want to know can you grow a mustache not great in the Smith family it takes you a little while to get to that age where it happens and then it'll just grow it probably still won't with me just because you know my genetics suck but you know it's whatever I'll stay young forever what about arm what about uh uh underarm hair do you even have that growing yet I'm 21 sir so yes all right before we get two off to upic Brendan where can we find you on Twitter sir you can find me at Brendon smith26 I am Paul Ryan you can find me on X Paul ran5 well boys I can't believe it's finally here after waiting for nine months the NFL will be making its return on Thursday night football with the Super Bowl defending Champion Kansas City Chiefs taking on what some people might say is the best team in football the Baltimore Ravens and of course we can't forget about our Dallas Cowboys taking on the Cleveland rounds on the road which will be our main discussion tonight but before we discuss anything football related we must discuss one thing and one thing only of course I'm referring to my personal favorite segment meatless Monday Mike what was on the menu today today was good we had some uh Char corn on the cob that I chopped off I roasted some uh some little baby potatoes and I got these impossible chicken patties which are the ironic thing is is my my roommate was telling me like uh yeah I can't eat that impossible stuff I'm like if you're eating frozen chicken patties you ain't eating chicken anyway so it don't really matter neither one of them is chicken so I I uh I put those in the oven and chopped it up and mixed the potatoes the chicken and the and the corn together and it was kind of like that the the KFC has those those bowls that have mashed potatoes and corn and chicken I didn't do the gravy on it but uh yeah it was like a version of that maybe a healthier you know version of that so it was it was really good I'm full a healthy famous bowl sounds pretty good man yeah not bad I mean now that I think about it a little bit of like gravy would have been pretty good in there just a touch just a touch of gravy Brendan I know you're on like the the weight loss Journey but H have you had a KFC famous bowl in your day I might have once when I was younger my family and I don't really eat too much uh KFC just because it's not around us there's a Golden Chick and we have like canes and stuff but we mainly do babes that's what we me that when we want to go hardcore on chicken we do babes is IC in my area I don't I don't I in KFC babes is the best like I I don't know other way to describe it other than it's the best chicken I've ever had which to to it's not fast food either it's sit down okay see what I was going to say is to be clear I don't eat KFC or Popeyes y'all y'all should know this by now I'm bougie but uh yeah sit down chicken that sounds good that that I'm I'm in for everything's for family style too like all the sides and everything so you get massive portions and you can share with the entire table it's it's a nice experience with a family and a group of friends God bless babes yes sir yes in for it all right let's start talking some football mike let's get right after it does anything about this the Cleveland Browns scare you yeah yeah a lot scares me I'm very glad that that Nick chub is not playing I I I don't wish for injuries ever I wish he was healthy but as far as a fan looking at the game he he is a big component of the of what works for them um also I don't know which of their offensive tackles if either are playing Conlin was out all year last year with an injury uh he hasn't done anything in training camp and I think Jared Willis Wills is their other one and he hasn't done much they also didn't have their like next three backups either so I don't know who's playing offensive tackle for them uh but as far as scaring uh me their their dline definitely does their dline is excellent their defense overall is excellent and uh when you look at Dallas and the and the limited time they've had in actual playing like against defenses Dak and and and the o line jelling together and getting all that time they just haven't really had it so having to start off against a defense like Cleveland and like try to get your bearings together not exactly fun so yeah they they they scare me that they Cleveland definitely their defense is scary brenon what about you you have anything add of that or something different that scares you uh no I it's techically an an but I'll go more it's miles Garrett that freakish human being from Texas A&M is like you have a rookie left tackle and you have a right tackle who didn't play well last year and you're like oh boy I think the bigger story is gonna be on what side he plays on the most I have a feeling it might be Terence steel so do because Terence steel can't do anything with power well hopefully he goes back to 2022 but from what we saw last year it's not going to go well they'll have someone else teeing off on Tyler gon because Tyler gon's just a massive human being as well but it's miles Garrett by far the the thing that sues have zarius Smith who yeah he's older but that that guy could rush to passer so no matter which side you go on you're gonna have a rookie going versus a good pass rusher or Terence steel going against a good pass rusher forgetting the fact that that Shelby Harris and David uh Tomlinson the old Giants G uh defensive tackle Dalvin he's in the middle so like their D Line's legitimate what kind of scares me the most is I'm not sure how likely this is to happen but Deshawn Watson just going vintage Watson and tearing up our defense man he it's something he hasn't done in two seasons now at least but in the article I just uh sent in to the editor uh yeah it it that's one of the things I briefly touch on like DeShawn Watson you know you have to worry about him bouncing back because you know he's talented enough it's just he hasn't had time to play and mentally he's had so much other stuff going on and that quarterback is such a mentally you need that as your main weapon over legs arms everything else the better this is the better you're gonna play so yeah him if he bounces back we're going to talk about it later but that would be a struggle for us I thankfully I'm sorry no I was going to say well thankfully he hasn't played that much this off season kind of similar to the Cowboy starter so we'll see how that goes but yeah man that's a that's a um I think that's a fear that not a lot of people think about just because we haven't seen it in so long like you said Mike yeah see you're talking about vintage uh Watson that'll be a vintage Cowboys thing any player comes back to form against Dallas like come on how many time we heard that before man this player sucks he's not going to really do to me why does he why does he have 250 yards passing and touchdowns what what what's happened here and it's just yeah yeah so sticking here with the desan Watson Bron if DeShaun Watson was the player he was in Houston how much of a difference would that make for you and how you view the this Browns team in this matchup completely and you bring back Houston to Shawn Watson the mobility to get out of the pocket so he can run run away well Michael Parson is a freak athlete so I don't think you run much from him but getting out of daa making plays cuz defense well we don't know how they're going to work as well with um Zimmer but breaking out having to guard receivers for four seconds is already difficult enough if you're having to guard them for seven that's that's difficult as hell but and you have marari Cooper you have Jerry Judy David and joku like if you have vintage Watson on that offense that is pretty scary yeah Mike I assume you you feel the same way it's a loss if it's if you're Houston Jackson Watson we can't beat them they'll they'll beat us yeah I'm kind of feeling that same way I think really oddly enough he's what's holding him back but he was also supposed to be the savior of that franchise and it's interesting how everything's gone for him but yeah I I wouldn't be too um optimistic about heading into this match up if WatchON was still that guy yeah I agree are the Cowboys at a disadvantage at all in this game for you Mike uh yeah the limited work of the starters that we talked about so the o line and the QB wide receiver haven't really worked together in games I I understand practice but it just it's not games crowd noise and timing and Defenders really trying to light you up and and doing different stuff and it just uh that that worries me against a good defense and then will our defense have any big mistakes will the rookie Corner play great but bust once and Amari Cooper goes for a touchdown is Trayvon dig at 100% could he go you know can he play 85% of the plays or more uh the young linebackers will they be in the right spots will they be nervous from playing in their you know overshown and Leah House's first real games uh the old veteran dine how's their conditioning going to be you know so yeah they they they have some disadvantages for sure BR anything to add of without any disadvantages you think of you think I he's he touched on but I was I was going to say kayin Carson of course he's a rookie so he he he deserves some Grace some Kickback but you're you're going against two amazing route running receivers in their top two Jerry Judy is no s and then Amari Cooper we know from of course from watching him in here his routes are so crisp like whenever he's 100% dear Lord any even great Corners will get lost in now having a rookie that's just a little worrisome yeah you got a great route Runner and a special route Runner and that that could be a problem that's what Kaylin Carson had problem with in the preseason was against those more crisp cutouts y y'all bring up a point I was thinking about when I was making the show sheet and was talking about something we'll discuss later on but now since we're here um we know that Trayvon Diggs doesn't normally travel with the receiver he usually stays on his side of the field do we think that Mike Zimmer and his defense that he'll do some more traveling especially in this game I I think they're gonna see what they got with Carson and if Carson is getting if they're just putting Amari on Carson and Carson's getting worked me up then they'll uh adjust I got you I got you I swear Mike and I have the same brain sometimes CU my bra I was thinking like dig sometimes fall I'm like wait no they're going to test it first yeah yeah you know one of the bigger disadvantages I was thinking of just because you know we'll get into it a little bit more but um Dallas playing away from home just playing in playing in Cleveland you know Mike McCarthy hasn't been that great week ones I think he's two and three in his time here in Dallas so that was one of disadvantage that I saw I know the weather's not going to be like seriously bad or anything but you know we've had our issues away from home and we know that uh i' imagine that the uh the dog pound is pretty ferocious when they have home games against their opponent so that was something that that I was thinking of um when you compare the skill players are the Browns and cowboys about as even as it gets for you Brendan uh so I as a peer player I'll take cidi lamb over Cooper but like Cooper's route running takes him up to a different level compared to others I like Cooks more than Judy Judy's been kind of not a bust but just below average he's a great route Runner but he body catches more than anything he also has a decent amount of drops I'll take fur over and joku running backs are a wash they don't have chub we have bodies that's all I can compare it to then of course I know he's not we don't kind of like count quarterback to skill players but I'll take Dak all day every day over Watson so it is I guess it is 5050 it more depends like what your preference is Mike would you agree with that yeah mine said Lamb's wide receiver one but everything else is pretty even like we like Ferguson better because we uh expect him to take another step but a lot of people would be like well right until we see it I'll take in joku you know because he's he's worked well with Cleveland you know he's been a really big red zone threat and other people will say like well Cooks might be on the downturn he's older we'll take Judy on the upturn I would lean Cooks but I could see people you know being 5050 on that um yeah so other than lamb being the clear I love Amari Cooper He's not at his point right now he's not CD lamb CD Lamb's a top three to five you know at at worst if you're being objective he's top five in the league Amari Cooper might be in that next five to 10 but it's probably in the 10 to 15 range now yeah you know sticking with Amari Cooper we know that the Cowboys didn't get enough compensation in return when they traded Cooper but would lamb be the player he is today if Dallas hadn't traded away Amari Mike I think he'd be the same player because ability wise he's so he's so good that his he was gonna develop into this type of badass what do you have the stats that is a 5050 thing because yeah Amari probably takes away targets but he also takes coverages away to where lamb would have um better options you know uh who he was going against instead of always being against quarterback one and bracket and and double coverages and and everything so um my my guesses he'd be maybe slightly worse statistically but he was always going to be this receiver because that's the type of talent he is Brandon would you agree with that no easily CD lamb has the Alp like sounds I hate saying because it sounds cringy but the alpha mentality like he is the dude he knows it he knows everyone else knows it but having another talented wide receiv receiver on the outside does not hurt in the slightest Mamba mentality yeah that makes that makes it sound so much better yeah definitely does other than that quarterback what advantages do the Cowboys have over the Browns in your opinion B Brendan um I I love Denzel Ward but I think as our uh DBS as a whole including safeties I like our secondary I uh Jeremiah U kma terrifies me because I feel like he just like Dax just not gonna see him for like a split second because he's a little bit shorter guy Uber athletic he scares me but the rest of the linebackers I I don't even think Anthony Walker's on that team anymore so I don't think I really know any of the other linebackers I like I like that more and what Mike was saying sure I haven't done as much research as I should probably but if their own lines out I like ours comparatively like I said running back's a wash quarterback's better and also I think Dak in a year or three uh of an offense will just be much better than he was last year starting off because exe knows what he's comfortable with as far as linebackers go they have a Devon Bush formerly of the Steelers and I believe it name is Justin Hughes who has been a solid player but not like an all pro pro bowl or anything they've got a a solid group of linebackers I think ours will be more explosive besides J like I love him like he is so much fun to watch yeah this kind their their linebacker group is I don't know to me is early similar to what the Cowboys have but you know maybe we'll talk about that a little bit later Mike what about you what advantages do the Cowboys have outside of quarterback lamb they have the better wide receiver one as we talked about that's the main one uh that that really you know Cleveland's defense is excellent on all three levels their their dline improves their linebackers I don't know if our dline improves our linebackers so we might have the better grouping but they may play better because of what's in front of them uh we have more depth in the DV room obviously we lost Bland and and Trayvon DS coming off an injury and we're still like yeah we're pretty good there and that's against really good defensive team uh o line they would be better if healthy but they they they're like and they might be playing offensive tackle five and six in week one I I don't know who's going for them at this point so we have to find that out but either way our interior is going to be as good as anybody even Joe uh B Antonio who's legitimately up there with Zack Martin and Smith as best guards in football he's still up there with R2 so you know our interior is going to be there with them so yeah I I'd say wide receiver one is the spot where I'm like we we got the advantage wait I got one more and special teams players are people to it's butter Aubrey yeah and and the punter we got we got we got legit uh uh kickers we really do yes sir yes sir um what what match up in this game are you most interested in Bryan when I say match up I mean like we were talking earlier Tyler giden versus miles Garrett or Zeke versus the brown Browns defensive line things like that it's like it's what I said on Twitter it is it's like I said the I I know it's against offensive line versus defensive line but it's miles Garrett versus Dak what Dak can do to spread uh shed protection uh push them all to the side how he switches up how he can actually run run around and it's gonna be DeShaun Watson versus m uh I mean why I is holy crap I just had the biggest brain fart Michael Parson's holy crap I think I had like an aneurism but like yeah it's then it's them it's G be that's be the game because you can have all your fun on your you can get wide open if DeShaun Watson's running for his life he's not gonna see Amari Cooper on a post if dak's running for his life he's not gonna see uh Jake Ferguson on a seam route because he's G be trying to run around trying to make a play yeah what about you Mike what what uh matchups give us two if you have to uh Diggs and Amari obviously they've known each other uh digs coming off the injury former teammates I want to see how they line up uh against each other and then I would go BB Smith Martin versus uh dvin Tomlinson Harris like can they can those three interior as good as they are can they move Harrison and dvin Thomasson because zidar Smith and Miles Garrett are going to win most of their matchups they're just they're that good and our our o Line's young and and they're not going to match up with them as well um so I want to see what that middle does can we can we beat them up up the middle do you think we'll see like a formation where uh zidus Smith and Miles Garrett line up on the same side just to can just a mess with Tyler Smith and Tyler giden and Mike Zimmer with with uh Schwarz yeah Schwarz is one of those dudes he'll bring crazy blitzes kind of similar to what Zimmer likes to do yes yeah he uh Schwarz is a little bit more Blitz happppy than uh Zimmer is yeah um Zimmer is kind of a you know a straight up and then do stuff on third down to try to get yourself off the field where um uh Schwarz has a little bit of Quinn in him he's trying to get turnovers trying like hey this play we're trying to jump something that you know we're trying to make big plays here um so yeah he he's like in between Quinn and and Zimmer I got you so what you guys have kind of touched on this match up but Amari Cooper versus our secondary really you know I wouldn't say I'm excited to see this but interested more so is how Cas Carson does against Amari Cooper I know Brendan you mentioned that against those better route Runners case and Carson had difficulty in the in the uh in the preseason but he just with all the glowing reports I'd like to see how he does in real life action he has the the confidence and the mindset that you want from your defensive back there so I'm interested to see that matchup it might not go so well for for uh Carson right but you know anytime you can uh you know your your first NFL game lining up against a receiver like that it doesn't uh you know get much harder than that so it'll be interested to see how he handles that um that that first test and then second uh it was Mike Zimmer versus Ken dorsey's offense that's a good one because dorsy is he he's he's dealing with injuries to his main area that he attacks from but when he has his o line and Nick chub he's he's his offense is tough to deal with yeah it was interesting last year whenever he got let go by the Buffalo Bills you know you look at that offense it didn't really seem like he was the problem there but uh Browns got themselves a good one atound s like yeah yeah they did they uh the the bills luckily at Joe Brady is a really great offensive line so they were able to jump to another good one and and kind of use the other guy as a scapegoat yeah exactly how big of a test is this game for the Cowboys Brendan honestly of course besides all these injuries it's a big one like you g to see what Mike Zim's defense is with these players you g to see is he gonna show is he gonna show everything no week one but this is our first true taste to see like oh oh the players really mesh well with this scheme we're like oh no the players are getting lost and we get to see what year three of what Mike McCarthy offense looks like we have no idea if it's GNA flourish or we're gonna say the same it's been great it's been good each year great certain matchups but we don't know and then you'll see your rookies it's just a big this isn't like playing the Panthers or the Giants week one you're not Gonna Learn any almost anything from that like I'm sorry but you're not besides Dexter Lawrence and Brian Burns that team doesn't scare me on the Giants and then Carolina's gotten nothing so you don't really learn much there but you got some really proven players at each position that we're gonna have to find out if Dallas ni to keep up or this is just another week one where Dallas starts off slow Mike what about you anything to add to that I think he nailed it it's a it's a huge it's a huge game mainly because what the Browns do well in 2023 was Cowboys weakness they like to run we were bad versus to run um they're uh their uh dline is uh one that could rush for and play back so we got to see if the o line can keep up so um yeah we're we're gonna see uh we're gonna see right away if we've gotten better at all yeah kind of crazy to think about your week one matchup is not the biggest test of the seon Season obviously but to get uh to get tested the first week of the Season you know I don't feel like that's usually the case yeah I agree not not to that level you know not exactly yeah you know with the way the offseason went with Dak and McCarthy being on one-year deals how much more important if at all is winning the game than it would be any other season for you Mike uh none really and remember I'm gonna come at it like I always do I was gambling since I was 11 years old I come at it from a gambling mind if you lose to the Browns it doesn't affect your tiebreakers at all I'd much rather lose to Browns or Ravens than the Saints just because that just how the tiebreakers work out and as far as like momentum or thought process for the team n none of the the Ravens game will matter the ners game will matter Philly will matter other than that if we be CLE if we walk into Cleveland a playoff team last year and beat them like we did the Giants say we win this game 38-13 right we wiped the floor with them in Cleveland n no Nick chub Cleveland's not the same without that Deshawn watt is not the same player you know not a big win who cares what are they going to do in the postseason what are they going to do when the ners show up what are they gonna do against Detroit we'll see in Baltimore we'll see what they do in a couple weeks in Baltimore so really theame game the game would only matter if it was more impactful on on on playoff standings and it's one of the least least impactful games of the year win or loss so I like good great points there Bron anything out of that do you kind of have that same thought I have the same thought it's it's kind of weird to say that it's either like how you win or how you lose if you lose in a blowout fashion no one shows up and you're like well doesn't this remind you of the Packers game it's like oh there's just another hangover on that part or if you do blow them out you're like okay hey we're click clicking on all cylinders we're going to see how it keeps going and you see the momentum will carry you but a win will speak a lot more than a loss unless it's like you know we get our ass kicked he just answered the next question for me yeah so would a win or loss say more about the Cowboys for you Mike uh well it it it's exactly what he said how yeah you know how did they How do they win or lose I think matters if it's the same problems where Dak does great we can't run they run for 200 something yards Dak ends up throwing a uh two turnovers or a sack fumble returned for a touchdown and an interception and we lose by you know uh uh two scores or or enough you know seven to 10 points I think it would it would mean more you know than just if we play battled 50-50 game and kicked the field goal to win it at the end that's great that we got the win but it would be more important that we didn't lose in the same ways that we were losing last year where every team punked Us in the face early got ahead everything rolled downhill then teams were able to just run on our face and and punk us basically long as that doesn't happen we're we should be pretty good yeah great great points there by by both of you guys who's going to score the first touchdown Mike uh I have it you know what again what did I say I come at it from a gambler's point of view so my thought process was Turpin Turpin with the new kickoff rules will probably have something he gets a shot at punt returns um I don't see Cleveland's offense going up and down the field on us all game so a good shot there uh he's gonna get re receiving receptions uh slot outside tries and he'll probably get a handoff or two and with our o line has a chance to break one so I went with the with the with the uh you know gamblers mine and said kavante Turpin give myself like well now will it be as a receiver or will it be on special teams hey man we don't that that's not I just said whole reasoning I don't want to cut my chance in half by saying how about you Brendon um fuson and well I that's the that's the fun one um but I love how we're not even gonna think about like how last year we start off with a Noah IG bogany you know block kick for a touchdown Which was I remember we all like oh dude it might be Rico oh it might be Tony par oh it could be this no nugy but no I think it's gonna be if if it's Dallas gets the ball first it'll be Zeke because they'll drive down to the one he's gonna you know put his shoulders down and then every person that has been saying Zeke's back to form is going to come screaming on Twitter he's on Pace for like 20 touchdowns guys like what this is what we do like okay so I'll say Zeke seven carries 24 yards and two touchdowns and Zeke would be 2016 Zeke and I take it because he only got seven carry that's that's perfect usage for me but I would understand you know that they're using him like that or a lot of people would be like thousand yard season upcoming the Jerome Bettis role for eiku Elliott in 2024 exactly honestly yeah I would not be mad about it I went with Amari Cooper um you know I guess when I was doing this I thought maybe that the Browns might get the ball first and I this is kind of a in my mind probably a Revenge game for Amari wanted to show the cow wish for an office that he still got to like you know that they made a mistake and I would imagine the Browns are going to probably try to do everything they can to make sure he has a good game although they don't really have a lot else going for them right on offense outside of Amari Cooper so it's probably not that hard but yeah I went with Amari Cooper as my answer give us a score prediction Brendan uh you know what I'm gonna be I'm gonna say 287 Dallas okay Mike this game was hard at the the beginning of the year I picked us and then the lamb stuff happened and I'm like damn our guys are just not going to be in Rhythm their defense is good then I started thinking about no Nick chub their offensive tackles I don't even know who's going like this was a a real three four times I put Dallas gonna lose Dallas gonna win Dallas gonna lose and I said you know what when we did the prediction show I picked Dallas I don't want to switch it up this early so I said Dallas 24-9 oh okay I uh have have it a bit low lower scoring than you guys I guess just listening to sports radio really the fan they kind of a lot of most people think that this is going to be a bit of a not necessarily a sled Fest but low scoring game I still had it at 34 points 2014 Dallas but uh yeah so I guess we're kind of all along there thinking that Dallas might win this one Mike your views from the sidelines what three things will we be looking for and I I I did this cuz usually do an article what three things you learned after watching a game so I'm curious as to what you'll be looking for prior to the game or during theame hope I'm hoping if KD likes what I did I came up with my own thing called well I guess kind of shout out to Nick eatman because he has a he has a show called storylines so it's like the five storylines going into the episode so I did um both teams running games because Nick chub's out and we have no idea we're getting out of our you you you nobody could guess who's going to get the most carries the most snaps the most like nobody knows right now you know um oh we lost Paul right we it's okay we could finish it up I also I also did like um our linebacker room uh our DB room with Diggs being hurt and uh and uh uh kin Carson being a rookie so those are some examples of the five so the things I'm looking forward to is uh the Run game uh impact and who runs the ball that would be from both teams like who's getting handoffs for them who's getting handoffs for us and how are they uh you know efficiency wise the other is run defense which kind of centers around the same thing but this is more us because it's been such a weakness how does our run defense go against a team that doesn't have their full offensive line and running backs but will go in trying to run the ball like that is their focus and then the other is Diggs uh lamb ability um how are they playing Diggs off his injury Lamb with no real train training camp can they play 80% of the snaps uh do they look strong are they limping at all uh do they look behind in their coverages or their routes or their their movements or their conditioning so those are my three big things from the uh Sidelines um I know the other thing he was going to ask is if I have a week one uh ritual or game one ritual did you have that uh an answer to that Brendan I no I really don't I I'll sometimes wear a jersey and then have a jersey doesn't work out like you know what nope doesn't didn't work and I'll like start thinking off like CBO maybe like maybe I can't wear it but no I just get in the mood for football this is this is my ritual I will eat before football starts I will sit at 10:00 and put on probably Red Zone and I will watch Red Zone until something happens like the Philly games at the end and I want to see what's happening or there's something that I noticed that I changed the channel but it's basically Red Zone then I watch the Cowboys game I do not cook Sundays I will order in food we will get pizza or something from door Dash and I just watch football all day all the way through and typically it's Red Zone all day and then the night game is normally Dallas this year it's morning Red Zone order food uh before the Cowboys game starts watch the Cowboys game um set up my article and then get ready for Sunday Night Football that's that's going to be the ritual for me for uh week one go ahead Paul you're back we're on uh other games that we're excited to watch we're about to set up that that story story yes sir so Brendan I I assume you already shared your ritual for your week one ritual I really don't have one honestly yeah I'd like to share mine real quick because I've actually got two um the longest one going on nine years now is being that every week one game me my mom my sister my cousin my wife and son all get together we order Wing Stop and watch the game together and the other tradition is my wife son and I go to a restaurant called ginger Browns I'm not sure if you've ever heard of it Brendan but they're famous for their cinnamon rolls and depending on the time of the game we either go over there for lunch or for breakfast that's something my wife and I started doing the first year of our marriage so I've got two week one Traditions that I that I look forward to every year um but other than the Cowboys game the games I'm most excited to watch one being Rams versus Lions on Sunday night I think that's going to be a pretty high-scoring Affair and then I'm interested to see the Jets and the 49ers I know uh you know Aaron Rogers not playing very much and then him wanting to be a 49er that that storyline is intriguing and not really knowing what to expect so much from the 49ers with I don't know if Trent Williams plans on playing until he gets his new deal and we know that Brandon iuk has held out for as long as CD lamb did so he hasn't had a lot of reps with with uh Brock pie and you know he's not NFL fast I guess if you want to call it that like most starters are going to be so it'll be interesting to see that that offense that kind of out of seek offense against a Jets team that a lot of people are expecting to potentially win the NFC e or excuse me the AFC East yeah you had one of mine Rams Lions is one and then I also had Jacksonville uh at Dolphins uh I didn't count I only did Sunday games because by the time you know Friday is Philly and uh Green Bay they're in Brazil and uh Ravens Kansas City's Thursday so by the time Cowboys come around we're already going to know the outcome so I stuck to Sunday's games and I went with those two like that like that what about you Brendan I uh the only the main one that caught my eyes is the first game of the year is Baltimore versus the Chiefs I like first off it's two very competitive teams so you can never go wrong because Thursday Night Football last year was super depressing because it was Lions versus Chiefs and that game was so boring like I like I love watching football I I'm a nerd I'm like I'm GNA get into try get this I was watching with Cooper I'm like should we just turn this off like we'll look at the on the end like who cares like this game's so boring yeah pretty bad oh yeah but momes has it basically kind of like a new offense you get to see what Xavier Worthy's gonna do how they work with if r Rice if like if he's still messed up or not you know that's a whole other thing and what if Maris Brown is gonna uh be hurting against this hurt this team with him not being out there because he's injured and all of course you'll see Lamar just being Lamar so that's be a more more fun thing to watch and you got to wonder how Travis Kel's going to look with you know he's been pretty active this offseason not so much football-wise but aen Taylor Swift doing movies and TV shows and commercials and things like that he's getting a year older a lot of people are expecting a decline from him in fantasy so interested to see what he's is like in you know playing real football um now so they got his replacement yeah absolutely his direct backup if his his predecessor if you will back here we are I'm just I'm just kidding my God Brendan's bashing college football Edition uh Brendan here you can bash any college team player coach matchup or anything College related from this past weekend um well first off I don't watch terribly too much college football I'm gonna put this out here so like I didn't know that I'm a TCU fan TCU usually sucks so like I don't really watch much well uh of course I watch every year but like this uh season when we popped off was great but TCU won against Stanford that was fun but it's got to be LSU like it's got to be LSU and their coach it's what is it's something Kelly I'm completely forgetting my Kelly Brian Kelly my brain when I think of Kelly It Go automatically goes to chip and so I'm like no that's not it I'm like Brian Kelly being so pissed off like you can be pissed off as a coach calm the F down dude it's week one your team did get uh upset and all that but like you gotta be more professional than that but also LSU losing in general to USC kind of gross Lincoln Riley upsets in his first game of the year yeah I was uh watching a little bit of that last night when I was having dinner with uh my wife and her parents I didn't get to see the end of it apparently UFC won like in the last couple of minutes to to get the upset so I didn't see any BR I Brian Kelly ran or anything so I'll have to check that out on YouTube I I guess it was more of him on the sideline I got you I'll check that out all right Mike over under Micah Parson's one and a half sacks week one I'm gonna go over uh Watson hasn't been a mobile guy as much and with all the offensive tackle um issues in Cleveland uh he's also I think had two different season openers with two sacks I I think so I'm going to go I'm going to go that he gets that this week over Bryan over under I was gonna say under but Mike brings up all the offensive line issues I'm like oh that's something and also you know Mike has been like dying to play and all that we saw that from his rookie year he was wanting more play play in the preseason he didn't play at all and so he's just waiting to hit someone and he's already posting about it and all that I I gotta go the over I think he's just G be on a man on a mission yeah initially I had this under as well and when I was doing my research for for the podcast I didn't really see a lot of news about the uh Cleveland offensive line so Mikey kind of uh shocked me there with you know letting me know about all those injuries so I'll have to go over as well what if he gets three has he had a three set game yet I think he's had one one thre set game okay I thought maybe two and a half was the most that he's ever had but I couldn't remember it could be could be all right here we are with top five and tonight we're doing the top five most important NFL players and when I say important it's like as if they they were to go out for the season the team would fall apart and their season would be over for the most part so Mike give us number five Jordan love for me um I think they their defense is okay and their weapons are are good but they don't have true like number one guys a guy that a younger quarterback could lean on where Jordan love has built up with a lot of these young guys over years playing behind uh uh Aaron roders and stuff so I think he has a rapport with more of them and so it makes them all the offense work together so I think Jordan love would be really important without them I don't think Green Bay has a shot at the division oh I like that one Brenan how about you oh first off this list should be all quarterbacks it should I'm just gonna play this out there and pretty sure that's what Mike did so we're gonna we're gonna see the real list from Mike but I I did try to SP I do have quarterbacks on here but I try to spread out a little bit I did say Trent Williams because he's just a dominant player pie is a little mobile but your Blind Side getting blocked by arguably the best left tackle in football is pretty great and if he's out which we might see week one that he's out because of contracts or he's gonna see because you can see Christian mccaf but you know uh uh they're uh the way they run the ball like it's going to work next man up mentality you can say the same thing with receivers or whatever but Trent Williams that's a huge loss I will say I I think I think you are right I think Trent Williams should have went above Jordan love for me he he's you look at P's numbers without Trent Williams playing they're not good and that team is a Super Bowl team where Green Bay is like Hey we're battling in a really good division we made the seven seed last year let's see how we develop you know they don't have a lot of star on their team where you're like this team's going for it all I think you're right if if if I would have thought of TR Williams has been gone so out of sight out of mind if I would have thought of Trent Williams I would have put him ahead of Jordan love so as much as I knocked about it should be all quarterbacks basically I think you nailed five I he he he belongs in the top five yeah I was uh heard of stat that like in his last 920 plus snaps Trent Williams has allowed one sec only he's so awesome he's dirty he's dirty I will never forgive what he did to Leighton I won't but damn he's good I don't mind dirty players a little bit of no he I was say no but he he rode Lon down to the ground and you know he's at neck issues already I don't I don't forgive him for that but yeah number five for me I'm GNA I'm gonna go with Justin Jefferson I know that the Vikings season might already kind of seem lost after losing JJ McCarthy you know thinking that he might be able to come in the last half of the season and get them back to the playoffs but if Sam darnold doesn't have Justin Jefferson you just imagine how bad that Vikings team is going to be especially with all the other issues they have I don't know how good their defense is going to be this year you know Jordan Addison he might be getting suspended T.J hackinson is not playing until like week eight the Run game they have Aaron Jones he's obviously older than Tai Chandler I just don't you know not really have too many high hopes for Minnesota even with Justin Jefferson so to lose him I think that'd be a pretty big blow for that team samory that's a team that's laying face down in the mud and if you if you lost Justin Jefferson it would just be like somebody stepping on the back of their head when they're all it would just cause them to die faster so yeah that that's they're they're going to die but no Jefferson would be like just just shoot him with a shotgun in the back of the head instead of letting him drown right number four on my list you already mentioned him brenon but I had Trent Williams as well that's so good like he he is he's just so dominant watching him on toss plays is probably one of my more favorite things because he's so massive but he gets the edge and I'm like you see like a 5 foot 10 corner like 180 pound like oh no this is murder and he seems to get slammed number four on your list Brendon uh I think this is pretty obvious just from last year it's Aaron Rogers this team went from oh hey they can win the AC they might be able to make some move oh no we're done oh this season's over and now they don't like Zack Wilson isn't a good quarterback he's not but now they don't have basically anything behind Aaron Rogers so like they have nothing like oh we're super last okay well hopefully we don't have the first overall pick that's all I'm hoping for and that's how it is because Aaron Rogers they some made a team without a player playing a single uh single game for him they made that Team all around him and it's either boom or bust it's funny you said Aaron Rogers because I almost had uh Garrett Wilson on my list thinking that without Garrett Wilson what would that receiving cord look like kind of you know the points Mike brought up when talking about CD lamb potentially going out for this offense what what what would that offense look like without a Garrett Wilson but so I say I think Rogers would be fine because his last year's in uh Green Bay you he had Adams but outside of that nothing so if Adams had to miss a a few games he still dealt and even before then the courts of Jordy Nelson and then Rand Cobb like that's doesn't put any fear in you but then he did well with that as well yeah fair enough Mike what about your number four on your list I got Rogers is four so that that same as he said and I know people say well they won seven games last year without Rogers yeah that's a Super Bowl team Super Bowl team went two went two games under 500 because they didn't have him so yeah that that's important uh my third is Dak um you you take him off this team and they're they're toast like they have no they have no running back you could lean on regardless of how good the line is if you're giving any of these running backs 20 carries they're they're going to get they're not going to be getting better the more carries they get not this group um so yeah without Dak they're and then they they only have CD lamb as like a like a you know it's not AJ and Smith there's not Addison and Jefferson there's not Wadd and Hill there's CD lamb and then Cooks is a very good second receiver when you have a great quarterback but when Cooper Rush is rolling out there you're effed yeah Bron number three on your list I went it sounds weird I went with two players in the same team but I went Fred Warner because just like TR Williams he's a freak every time because they've gone through so many defensive coordinators because you know they either get more you get head coaching jobs or they get just more placement somewhere else like Robert Salah and Deo Ryan he is the captain of that defense he sets everyone up and he's just everywhere like Drake Greenlaw is a hell of a player but if you have it's kind of like what we talked about of course Dr Green law is so much better uh than any linebacker we have but if you had to put anyone outside of Kendrick to the mic you're like oh shoot why are we doing that why are we put that all on their plate it's kind of the same same way but Fred Warner is just the best linebacker in the league and it's not even a question so they lose their leader it's gonna be you better hope uh Nick Bosa goes off for 18 sacks this year I like that one number three uh I kind of feel silly for having this one now when we talked about their defensive line earlier but I went with Miles Garrett just because I don't know you know they have a good secondary Mikey talked about their defensive line and Brenan he touched on their linebackers but nobody on there like there's not there's only one miles Garrett in the NFL I don't know what would happen to their defense without miles Garrett but I don't think it would be as good as it was last year with as good as their other surrounding pieces are I just don't see who else on there like takes their defense to the level that Miles Garrett would yeah to be clear he's like CD lamb like yeah cooks and and Ferguson and uh and and torbert or Brooks or Turpin or whatever they look pretty good when you have a CD lamb you take W Garrett off and all of a sudden that defense becomes like damn sedarius Smith is there like even Dallas you take Michael Parsons off tank is better than anybody they have and I'd say Osa as a pass rusher is better than any uh uh interior uh defensive lineman they have like just as a pass pressure so yeah they they would they would struggle without miles Garrett he he elevates he makes a above average defensive line great with his presence on it especially if deshun Watson you know just is is cooked and he just never returns to form like you take miles Garrett away from that team and it's like wow what really are they yeah agreed number two on my list I went with TJ watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers I mean you know we Russell Wilson people think that he might be done Justin Fields is still a a uh work in progress they've got George Pickins and they don't really have a wide receiver too after that they've got a decent Run game but as far as their defense goes I mean it's TJ Watt and good players but I can't think of any that like stand out to me God if if it terrifies me that that if Dak does go somewhere else the Dallas answer is going to be Russell Wilson oh it's get off sorry to get off topic but I was thinking about that today I'm like please let it be jamus Winston at least somebody fun dude low key like if I'm gonna go through hell I would like to be able to watch you know Mr Crab Legs himself be at quarterback the Jerry Jones we we need to get a quarterback that could get us over the top in the playoffs Russell Wilson's been there he knows how to do it and clutch situations I'm telling you it's goingon to be Russell Wilson sorry I feel like jamus would be the perfect Bridge just because he's entertaining he says crazy things he's like Jerry Jerry's nephew or something I feel like him and Jerry would get along really well I would buy Indie Games Jerry sell sell jamus as a Super Bowl yeah like to to dumb fans remember Jerry smart fans don't buy what Jerry's saying anyway so he's talking to his idiot fan base so the idiot fan base Russell Wilson we have this improved offensive line from him to get time he's won he's been to a Super Bowl he's won a Super Bowl he can't jamus Winston's he's he doesn't have that I don't think Jerry could sell hope with jamus Winston he can sell hope to stupid fans there's people right now that believe Zeke's gonna go for like 1400 yards like legitim on Twitter like they think he's gonna be a 250 carry 14400 yard 10 touchdown back and what do you if they think that about Ezekiel Elliott who hasn't been a good back in three years what do you think you're going to think about Russell Wilson well he played pretty well at the end of that time with sea pton him and Shawn Payton just didn't get along I'm telling you Russell Wilson sorry number two I got sad well yeah well I can talk about jamus Winston more but uh my number two is Dak Prescott like what we saw of course 2020 was just you know absolute crap shoot but if you're if you have Dak out so first off Cooper Rush is going to make your offense probably 28th in the league bare minimum pray to God you can score 20 like you're like you're hoping for everything that you can score 20 points but then you need your do your defense to be top five with Dak Prescott your defense G be top 15 and you're still gonna be competitive and there's the sun is now behind Paul I don't know what's going on I have no idea what happened but but it's a foregone conclusion that you're is praying to God CD lamb breaks tackles and somehow has 180 yards a game it breaks the record that's what you're gonna need but yeah it's Stak that's a good Mike number two on your list uh Josh Allen uh Buffalo lost a lot and they lost a lot in the receiving core their their offense is like Josh Allen's arm Josh Allen's leg legs and if he's gone they're they're gonna beis baby they're in they're in some trouble already because Josh Allen's kind of a gunslinger he doesn't really have the weapons to be that guy but uh without them that they would be cooked all right number one on your list momes they're going for like they're they're different this isn't like well can they survive and win nine games and still make the playoffs like they're trying to win a three PE and you it's him like last year it was him and a good defense this year they gave him a speed guy but if you drop even a a decent quarterback into that offense with Danny Reid they're still not Super Bowl contenders you gotta have one of the special guys for them to be Super Bowl contenders with what with the way they built that team and so momes goes out they'll they're not going to fall apart but their their chance of winning a three Pat which is their season their their season is they three Pat or it's a fail that's that's what it is for Kansas City now so the minute he goes out the the year is over like if he went out for the year first week season's over for them they're not gonna win the Super Bowl and that's all that really matters can you imagine if Mahomes went out though and Andy Andy Reed took Chad heny to the Super Bowl with the Chiefs that would be insane Nick FES comes out of retirement that oh God it's Carson Wentz now right he's is he the direct God yeah no you're not wrong oh you're not wrong oh man it's all over if Mahomes goes down how insane would it be though Carson Wentz went back to the Super Bowl but with Andy Reid or if fin only got to play in the Super Bowl but with Andy Reid that would be insane yeah holding yeah holding a field goal all right Brendan number one on your list I went okay so I was more thinking this is all a regular season because that changes because like I think a great coach is the Chiefs came to go that's why you don't say pry because you you trust uh you trust them to go be able to do that I went with Tyreek Hill two like Wadd is great Tua needs Tyreek Hill a player that can take a slant to a touchdown a player that oh fumble he's gonna go pick up and he still runs for a touchdown like that team and also does fantasy uh people need Ty kill they randomly go 40 points give give 40 points he'll be close to 2,000 yards and so they need they have a lot of running backs I understand that which is you know I I'm jealous because we have nothing but like it's Tyre Hill wd's great but he's a great number two any might a number one on that offense and then I I don't know who the third receiver is the the reason that that is a good answer is because Miami's Run game works because because you have to worry so much about waddl and Hill yeah play action yeah you can't play up on them and with the speed they have they they are able to gut you running because of how you have to pay play their pass offense just off the threat of Tyreek Hill so yeah he works I I think that's a good fit number one for me I'm going with CJ Stroud I know that the H the Texans have a good defense they've added pieces in the off season they go out and they get Stefon digs have a pretty Elite wide receiver Trio there with Stefon Diggs now Nico Collins and tank Dell then they go out and get Joe Mixon so they have a solid running game but how good is any of that man with Davis Mills as your quarterback to be honest that's fair 30 touchdowns 30 interceptions they'd have to go get another QB they would have to go get one if they lost if they lost uh CJ stra for the year they would have to go out and make a move to bring in a a average level maybe they call Pittsburgh hey which one you know do you want to get rid of let us have one of them you know and see and they go from there so yeah that they they would it would hurt them a lot yeah well I enjoy the discussion tonight gentlemen as always Mike where can we find you on Twitter sir CD piglet guys letter c letter D piglet Jordan don't 5050 it Dash or no make a call put it in the comments or on just make it shorter that's what you meant 5050 you don't got to lose all of it you just gotta lose a part of it well that means trm it that's because I've always had a mustache just do you want it back to the old way or do you want the old porn stash to stay that rhymed yes sir Brennan where can we find you sir you can find me at Brennan smith26 guys I'm Paul Ryan you can find me on Twitter _ ran5 we appreciate you join us and we will see you guys next week do you think this works better as the plum