00:00Last season going in, I was watching Lance.
00:03I was listening to Lance Risland.
00:06I was listening to everybody that was at Brook Park,
00:09and I promise I'm going somewhere with this eventually.
00:13And everybody's like, the offensive line is bad.
00:16Shador Sanders doesn't look ready.
00:17They're not giving him any opportunities.
00:19Dylan Gabriel, you know, Daryl Ryder basically trashed him
00:23like left and right as much as he can.
00:26And Joe Flacco is 39 years old.
00:28And in the back of my head, I'm like,
00:30I watched this guy with the Colts last year.
00:32He wasn't all that good last year anyways.
00:33And I don't think another year of being alive
00:36is going to help you out a little bit more.
00:37So I came into the season being like,
00:39yeah, they're probably going to win five games.
00:42We're probably going to see all four quarterbacks
00:44and nobody's going to be that good.
00:45So my expectations were on the floor.
00:47And I'd get to Sunday and I'd be somewhat excited,
00:50but I wasn't really that excited.
00:52And so now for the second straight season,
00:55365 days later, I'm at the exact same spot.
00:58The offensive line looks better, but it's five new guys.
01:01The wide receivers look better, but it's a lot of rookies.
01:04I don't like Deshaun Watson.
01:06Just point blank there.
01:08There you go.
01:08The defense, you lost Jim Schwartz,
01:10who I was really, really high on.
01:12And I even thought that they should give him
01:13a real legitimate look to be head coach this year.
01:16And you lost Miles Garrett.
01:18And as good as Jared versus is going to be this year,
01:20you can't replace that guy.
01:22So I'm now for another season.
01:24And I think it's just compounding on me to where I'm just at a point,
01:27I feel like, where I'm just so neutral about everything
01:32that I just don't – my level of care for the wins and losses
01:37and how things go, it's just on the floor.
01:40Yeah.
01:41I mean, like I mentioned earlier in the show,
01:44like I've accepted the quarterback situation for what it is.
01:46I don't think this team is going to be very good this year.
01:48I don't think they're going to be awful.
01:49Like, everyone who's talking about them like they're going to be
01:52with the worst teams in the league, I completely disagree.
01:55Why?
01:56I mean, there's nothing that they've given me throughout training camp
01:59to show me that they're not going to be a 4-5 win team.
02:02Okay.
02:03You and I have different, like, definitions of that, though.
02:07Like, I think if they're a 5-6 win team, like, you would consider that.
02:10They're not going to be like a 2-3 win team.
02:12They're too talented.
02:14They're going to –
02:14Right.
02:15They have the easiest schedule in football.
02:16Their talent alone will win them games this year
02:20with just adequate quarterback play,
02:22which they're not going to get awful quarterback play in every single game.
02:25So, like, if you can go –
02:25I don't know about that one, Mike.
02:26Not in every single game.
02:27But, like, I mean –
02:29Did you see Deshaun Watson in that Bills game?
02:31I saw him in the Bears game, too, though.
02:33He was competent.
02:34He didn't look great.
02:35But he was competent.
02:36Yeah, he was competent.
02:37But how am I supposed to know that the defense is –
02:39Like, again, everybody's just sort of, like,
02:41setting and forgetting the defense.
02:43Like, there haven't been seismic changes.
02:45You mentioned the defensive line that it's very thin.
02:47Like, that's not a recipe for it to be a top-five defense
02:51to where you just have fine enough quarterback play
02:53and win a bunch of games 6-3.
02:55Okay, well, yeah, but if Deshaun's bad,
02:57he's just going to –
02:57they're just going to put Shador in.
02:59And, like, Shador will be at least –
03:00Shador had a 350-yard passing game last year that they lost.
03:04Yeah, but that was, like, start number four.
03:06He couldn't beat out Deshaun Watson.
03:08Dude, he couldn't –
03:09Deshaun Watson literally got booed off the field.
03:11We all saw that.
03:11That's not –
03:12We're like –
03:13Shador still could not win that game, that competition.
03:17But what I'm saying, though, is they still won five games last year.
03:21And I understand they had Myles Garrett.
03:22And you're putting Jared Verson where, yes, he's not Myles Garrett,
03:25but he's still going to help.
03:26Like, this defense is still good enough, I think,
03:28to limit other offenses,
03:30especially ones you're going to play this year, Anthony.
03:31They play the Jets this year.
03:33They play the Raiders, probably with a rookie quarterback.
03:35They play Tennessee this year, who –
03:37Talk about an offense that did not look good in the preseason.
03:39I mean, there's a reporter that isn't allowed to go to games anymore
03:43because he went at Cam Ward.
03:44But, like –
03:45I mean, they played some of those games last year.
03:47I know the schedule's a lot easier than last year,
03:49but it's not like they had a first-place schedule last season.
03:51But what I'm saying, though, is they're still going to win games this year.
03:55Whether – they're too talented not to.
03:58Like, there's going to be a game where they can just run the ball
04:00and they'll run for 250 yards, maybe.
04:02And they'll be able to win a game 17-13 or 13-10.
04:05Like, there's going to be games this year that they are going to win
04:09just because they're more talented than the other team.
04:11Like, look at the truly, like, worst teams in the league.
04:15The Dolphins, the Cardinals.
04:17The Browns are better than those teams.
04:19They will win more football games this year than those teams.
04:21I think they'll win more games than the Jets.
04:23But, okay, are we splitting hairs between, like, two and four?
04:26Like, because that doesn't seem –
04:27You know, the Cardinals over-under right now is 3-1⁄2.
04:30The Browns over-under is 5-1⁄2.
04:32But when you're talking about needing a rookie quarterback next year,
04:34it definitely matters because –
04:37Well, I'm just talking about, like, how this season's going to pan out.
04:40Well, yeah, but –
04:41Because it's looking like another 4-5 win season
04:43just like I felt like last year.
04:44Anthony, I think it's black and white.
04:46There's playoff teams and there's not playoff teams.
04:47Like, if you're not a playoff team,
04:49the Steelers, when they miss the playoffs at 8-9,
04:52are just – are the same team as the one who just went 3-14 to me.
04:56Like, to me, it's black and white.
04:58Like, and I understand, like, that sounds crazy,
05:01but, like, you still miss the playoffs.
05:03So, like, you're still going into the next season with,
05:06okay, we've got to try to make the playoffs this year or do whatever.
05:08Like, every team comes in and hopes spring's eternal.
05:11But if they win 8 – if they go 8-9 this year or 7-10,
05:16if – I will set the bar here.
05:18If they're in the playoff hunt photo in week 17,
05:22not even the final week of the season.
05:23On the graphic, yeah.
05:24Todd Munkin's coming back.
05:26You have to give a serious look at whoever the quarterback is for 2027.
05:30Things are clearly trending in the right direction,
05:32even if they end the season with seven wins.
05:35And so that's not the same thing to me as if they go 4-5,
05:38as to where, like, yes, they're more talented,
05:41but they're that much further away than they were last year.
05:45I feel like they are still significantly further away
05:49from even being an 8-win team.
05:50I don't think they're that far.
05:52I disagree with you there.
05:54Like, this team has talent.
05:56Like, they're not deep at all.
05:57Like, and that is entirely fair.
06:00Like, it's not a deep team.
06:01If they get injuries this year, it could go downhill extremely fast.
06:05They will not win a lot of games.
06:07But, Anthony, their 22 starters are pretty good.
06:11They're pretty good, but a lot of them are very young.
06:13Yeah, but they're still – like, they're still good.
06:16And you're talking about last year's rookie class,
06:18now in their second year.
06:20You're hoping to see good things out of the rookies this year,
06:22which I understand they're rookies, but we're optimistic.
06:26Again, nobody's asking for top-tier quarterback play from these guys
06:30because you just know you're not going to get it.
06:32Can they just be adequate?
06:33Can they go in there?
06:34Can they protect the ball?
06:35Can they keep the chains moving?
06:37Can they execute the offense?
06:41Look, if Deshaun Watson can't do it, they're going to take him out.
06:43Like, they're not going to have him play all year.
06:45They'll shift to Shador, who I think probably can do it.
06:48And maybe – he'll have some games where he'll probably lose you games.
06:51He might have some games where he, you know, puts you in a position
06:54and they find a way to screw it up somewhere else.
06:56Like, I'm not trying to – I'm not saying that you're wrong.
07:01I just think we can be a little bit more optimistic.
07:05Like, this is not a three-win football team.
07:06They're not that bad.
07:08They're not going to be that bad because how did they get worse from last season?
07:12Yeah, they lost Miles Garrett.
07:13They got a damn good player back in Jared Verse, who is not Miles Garrett.
07:17But that's still – like, it's not that significant of a drop-off
07:21that you're saying they're going to be, like, three games worse than they were last year?
07:25No, I –
07:25So, in what way are they worse than last year when they won five games?
07:28I believe that they're going to win four games this season
07:30because the quarterback play is the worst – one of the worst in all of football.
07:35But it was that bad last year, Anthony, and they won five games.
07:37Right.
07:38You're saying they're going to win four?
07:39Or they're going to get worse with an easier schedule?
07:42I'm splitting hairs here, man.
07:43That's basically, you know, if Aaron Rodgers doesn't get scared of Miles Garrett,
07:48if one play goes wrong here and another play goes right there, like, you're –
07:53if you're a five-win team, I'm not feeling any more optimistic at the end of the day
07:58than if they were a four-win team.
07:59Well, no, of course not.
08:01But, like, I just – I don't think it's wrong to think this team could win six, seven games.
08:06Like, I don't think – I don't think that that is an incorrect thing
08:11because that's just natural progression.
08:12And I understand Miles Garrett's not here anymore.
08:15I think people are way overdoing the defensive coordinator thing.
08:18Yeah, guys, Jim Schwartz was fine.
08:19Jim Schwartz also lost this team games last year.
08:22He lost them the Tennessee game.
08:23He lost them the –
08:25Was he throwing the football?
08:26Was he calling the plays on offense?
08:29Was he making the final decisions as the head coach?
08:32Part 2 –
08:32Let's begin.
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