Week 7 preview: NFC North hoss fight, C.J. Stroud vs. Jordan Love, Super Bowl rematch
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On this episode of Football 301, Mr. Virts himself, Charles McDonald, joins me to preview week seven. Four juicy games this week that we preview. Texans Packers, Chiefs 49ers, Ravens Bucks, Lions Vikings, plus a mailbag question at the end, DC Marvel movies. That was pretty fun. All right, great show. See you guys in a sec. ♪ music playing ♪

Hello and welcome to Football 301. I'm your host, Nate Tice. We are going to be previewing Week 7. Lucky number 7. Lucky me, because to help me preview Week 7...

is my guy. In the studio again, after a little foray back in his apartment where I got to see the on-air sign, is Mr. Forverts himself, Charles McDonald. How you doing today, Chuck? Looking warm, looking cozy over there. How's the weather over there in New York? It's cold in New York. I'm waking up and I can tell we're a few weeks away from me being the CEO of My Breath when I wake up in the morning. It's crisp. This is one of the worst times of year to me because

It's not quite cold enough to turn the heat on the apartment, but it's still cold. So today when I took a shower, I'm scrambling to get some clothes on because I'm sitting there shivering in my bedroom trying to find some clothes. But other than that, the temperature just magically dropping from 75 to 45 and 50 in the span of three days. I'm doing all right. How about you? Yeah, we're just skipping seasons now. That's it. Summer.

Summer to winter, back to summer, then back to winter. That's what we're doing now. No, I'm doing wonderful. I finally over the cold that I've kept everyone updated on in every show I've been on. So here we're feeling good, feeling good as we go this weekend. The Thursday night game should be some good schlock too. So I kind of like it almost, but it's either, I either want it really good or really bad. You can't just have the mediocre, you know, water world of the world. Like, you know, I don't know if that reference works for you. You ever seen water world?

No, I haven't. No? Okay. Mad Max and water. I don't know. It's in the mid-90s. Yeah, it was like really expensive. It was like a failed production and all this stuff went huge over budget. I think it was like the most expensive movie and it was just like, okay. And I think that's why everyone hated it. So either one a really good or really bad game tonight. I think we're going to get the latter. But

after Thursday, once we get to Sunday, and then Monday night even, great, great slate of games. Fantastic slate of games. So that's what we're going to do today. Charles and I picked out four games that we think are the most interesting. We're each going to break down one side of the ball. We probably have notes on a little bit of everything, but we're going to start with Texans Packers. Then we have Chiefs 49ers, Ravens Bucks, and we're going to cap it off with our Hoss Fight of the Week, which is the Lions and the Vikings. Feels fitting that the NFC North

Battle is the Hoss Fight of the Week. And then we have a little mailbag question at the end, which was in a review. Good for you. And I can't wait to get to that one. It's a fun one. It's not football related, but it is fun. So, but we're going to start off with a really, really fun game. Really fun quarterback matchup too. That is the Texans at the Packers. Packers are two and a half point home favorites. They are also wearing black.

Some phenomenal all-white uniforms that Jordan Love makes look sick. And the Texans have some injuries. Guys have mispracticed. Their linebackers have mispracticed. The defensive tackles are kind of all over the place. Missing practice, coming off and on suspension. So...

we are going to start off with, I'm going to let you go with the Texans offense versus the Packers defense, Charles McDonald. Charles is going to focus on this side. I might have some thoughts as well, but when you're watching Texas offense versus Packers defense, what do you focus on Chuck? Dude, I just, I don't want to sound like a hater here because I'm actually having a whole bunch of fun watching the Texans offense. Uh,

But I feel like I'm having fun watching it for all the wrong reasons, right? Because it's hero ball is what we've devolved into with the Texans offense. I'm not watching a well-oiled machine. I'm not watching, you know, a hyper-efficient offense. I'm watching one guy basically say, all right, it's third down, it's fourth down. I'm going to put on my big boy pants. We're going to get across the finish line. And that's what CJ Stroud has been doing for the Texans offense. And I kind

I kind of don't know if people have realized like how much this has deteriorated around him because he keeps playing well. He keeps showing up. He keeps like quite literally just dragging them across the finish line and games where he's kind of the only thing working. And then you get the, the, this past weekend where, Hey, Patriots, they suck. Starting rookie quarterback. Those are the types of like,

games that a team like the Texans can really blow them out. So when I look at the Texans, they kind of remind me of, like, what if the Giants team from a couple years ago or that Vikings team from a couple years ago where they were both just winning close games and winning by the skin of their teeth, what if one of those teams had an elite quarterback? And that's what the Texans have become this year. So when you just start looking into the numbers, you

If I made you close your eyes and just put away the record, right? I tell you there's an offense, 25th in success rate, 17th in EPA per play, 26th in EPA per rush on first and second down, 30th in success rate on first and second down, 43% success rate on third and fourth down. You'd be like, whoo!

That team sucks, but they're 5-1, you know? And they have one of my MVP favorites playing right now. It's just crazy. The stats don't match it. He should be the MVP because this team stinks around him. And even the fact that when you start watching their games,

The offensive lineman I was used to be, Laramie Tunsell. I mean, some of these guys that we've watched their careers, like they're hitting 30, you know, the backside 30. So they've played for a long time. He hasn't quite looked the same. And when you start watching more and more of the games, it feels like a miracle that like even their pressure rates in the top half of the league on offense because CJ is getting the ball out so quickly. So I think when you start looking at the Packers defense, they –

it's almost like a weakness onto a strength because, you know, the Packers can stop the run, but the Texas couldn't run it anyway. So that's not really anything new for what they're going to have to be dealing with this week. So you're going to be right back in the same place. CJ Stroud, hero ball, third and fourth down. And hopefully, you know, someone can go out there and make a play against some of these Packers DBs because that's,

it's not just like where where they're winning for this game or how they can win for this game it's going to have to be how they win every single game because if you go and put a league average quarterback into that surroundings we're talking about you know could could Garrett Nussmeyer be at Texas next year could your standard be at Texas next year that's how bad this offense is around him right now it is I touched on it last week I wrote about it last week and

It's like CJ Strauss played phenomenal. Like it really is. Even in the game against the bills, Ray, a couple of turnovers late. It's like, all right, but he's the only thing working right now. Going into last week, they had a bottom five run game in terms of success rate since the year 2012. One of the worst five run games we have seen in the last 12 years. That is since the new CPA, basically that last,

Yeah, they're in third and longs over and over, and then Stroud's just making it work. Getting pressured over and over, Stroud's just making it work. They're playing against that Patriots defense that made them a slog until the very end. And that was even with getting some luck from the refs. Ron Tolbert was working his magic in New England. So that kind of like, yeah, oh my God, man.

I'm glad other people are catching on. Like, cause it's just, it's, it's a man. I keep, I keep an eye on every week. Cause it's just the operation errors are the things that get me. They just don't know the rules of football. They just don't know them. It's insane to me. I can't believe they don't get punished. They got the game in Brazil. They got rewarded. So, but Laramie Tunsil thing's huge because he's playing, he's supposed to be the,

you know, the linchpin of that offensive line. And he's mid above average, I would say, but not elite. Like we think he is. He gets a lot of penalties. He hurts him as much as he helps them. The wrong games, depending on Joe Mixon making plays right now. And if he, you know, you never know if he's going to be healthy or not. I think he practiced this week and Damian Pierce too, is back a little bit. That does help, but that turns it into like a,

23rd best run game, not top half of the league that this offense has to be. Yeah, it's all Stroud all the time. And he does it without scrambling. Just all pocket play, just

being a baller from the pocket. They're like one of the coolest red zone teams, again, for all the wrong reasons, because you know you're going to get Scott Hanson cutting into, and here's a crucial third down for the Texans. It's third and 13. What's CJ Strzok going to do? He's going to get the conversion about half the time. Like, they're almost at 40, like, almost 50% success rate on third and fourth downs. So,

Which is crazy because it was like nine yards to go on third down. It's not easy for him. It's the highest difficulty scale that he's operating on. Without Nico Collins now, too. Yeah, without Nico Collins, Offense Player of the Year. Diggs is still looking good in that offense, but that's about it. It's not like Dalton Schultz is just there right now. I could kind of mention on the Packers defense is that I really don't know where to stack them. I struggle with where to stack them because they get the turnovers.

They get some pass rush, but it's not consistent. They can stop the run sometimes, but it's not consistent. So it's an inconsistent offense going inconsistent defense, but both make big plays. So it's kind of going to be one who can actually keep their head above water type of games. Also, Bobby Slug is for sure an opening script merchant. You know, he I think the Texans were fourth in EPA per play in the first 15 plays. I think they're 27th.

when they get outside the first 15 plays. So that is a thing. On the other side of the ball, the Packers offense makes me a lot happier. Not only just the quarterback, but just the entire offensive system. They're ascending. Looking at the stats, I like to look at, I kind of think their run game is like a

They, their run game is like fine. This is actually what the Texans need to get to. It's just an average-ish run game that they can rely on. But where they get their explosive at, explosives at, which is a lot of fun watching this Packers game is

The receiver run game. Getting Jane Reed going. Getting Bo Melton going. They have 12 runs to receivers this year, which is the third most in the NFL. They've gotten 134 yards on those. Most in the NFL. That's 11 yards per play. Highest rate in the NFL. They have six explosive runs on 12 receiver runs. So that's how they generate the explosives. You have to generate explosives somewhere. That's how they do it. Texans just rely on...

you know, getting in a game that's a slog and then Joe Mixon gets someone, a guy runs a wrong hole. This is actual design and then players executing it. You're going against this Texas defense that's just built off the pass rush. Everybody knows. I mean, we heard enough when going against the Patriots offensive line last week. And just this is how they're built to win. Will Anderson, Daniil Hunter get after the passer. Mario Edwards was playing fantastic, but got popped with PEDs.

And then now Danico Autry comes back. So I would say swap that out. Same thing. Same thing. Who just got popped for the same thing. So yeah, they just alternate. I wonder who's going to come in for the last six weeks. Where I think this Packers offense could get after him is to play action.

which is Jordan Love is excellent in. They are seventh right now in EPA per play, off play action. They're tied with the Ravens. Texans are okay against it, like success rate wise. They just allow a lot of gashes. And that's the linebackers. That's Henry Toto trying to figure out where to go. That's them just going, Jalen Petrie can get a little excited and try and stop the run so he can kind of be looking every which way. So that's how I think they're going to try and get after him. But it's a tougher defense to go against because that pass rush, but the Packers have just like

a lot of natural answers. They, they just because they're a well-designed team. And then they got this quarterback that, that just throws trick shots and gashes and doesn't care if you blitz them and we'll scramble if you can, if you can, if they're going to run this man coverage. So I think this is the, it's a tough quarterback for this Texas defense to go against and a tough offense because they're willing to run it enough. The Texans have been good against the run better than I expected, but,

They're susceptible to gashes in the passing game and susceptible to scrambles when teams drop back and pass. So,

That's what I'm kind of looking at. I think it's going to be kind of, you're looking for the Jordan love haymakers, which is what you look at anytime you watch this Packers offense. And I'm just really excited to watch Jane Reed and the Texans. And so there's receiver runs his first thing, but the Texans are actually pretty good covering the slot, which actually surprised me because that's how Drake May and pop Douglas got after him. And Jane Reed though, the slot over 50% of snaps are from the slot. 80%.

80% of his yards are from the slot. 15 receptions, 352 yards, three touchdowns according to next-gen stats. Most yards in the NFL from the slot. Jordan Love has a perfect QB rating when he targets Jayden Reed in the slot. That's what I'm looking for. That's the pass game. It's kind of a strength-on-strength thing, but I think that's maybe what they go after on this side of the ball. Do you have any thoughts on the Packers' offense or Texas' defense? I've been pretty impressed with the Texas' defense over...

It's called the past month. Like, I think especially probably since, like, the Minnesota game, they've gotten it together a little bit. Because even when you start looking at some, like, just, like, overall efficiency numbers, they're, like, top 10 success rate, top 10 EPA per play, top 10 EPA per dropout. They're good. But I still think so much of that is just held together. Like, yeah.

We got Will Anderson and Daniil Hunter. And most teams, you're not going to be able to block that for four quarters because someone's going to get loose or someone's going to cause the other guy to get up before pressure. And there's just a lot of havoc plays that can happen in the backfield. So to me, the Texans...

Defense, though, I think what they're going to have to do is hope that Jordan Love just does something stupid and doesn't mistake. But those plays seem to be getting less and less frequent for Jordan Love as the season goes on. So if you're someone who really cares about

you know, offensive infrastructure, offensive infrastructure around quarterbacks and how they can like help their development. This is kind of the game for you because you're going to get to see, oh, here's what a good quarterback in a good offense looks like. And here's what a good quarterback in a bad offense looks like. I think that's, that's, will be helpful. Hopefully by the time draft season rolls around, we can point to one of these games and say, Hey,

When you're looking for a good quarterback and a bad offense, that's what it looks like, not what some of these other things that you're trying to push on us do. So I think that this is going to be a really fascinating game. Who are you talking about there? All draft Twitter for the most part. Yeah, I know. There was one prospect that I had in my mind that I'm thinking that you're talking about right now. A million of them over the years? Oh, my God. Most of them didn't even do a good thing. But not to be a highfalutin jerk on the show. Okay, thanks.

I'm just saying the skill level on this game is just crazy. You're going to see it for different reasons. No, it's two of my... I keep saying this, but it's two of my favorite quarterbacks to watch, period. Two of my favorite players to watch, Jordan Love and CJ Stroud, period. These two are awesome. And just how they do it. Stroud is...

Stroud is every quarterback quarterback coach's wet dream. He's just he's so good. It's so awesome watching him play quarterback. I love it. I wish I could just teach somebody to just go watch this guy. Except also like it's fake how much how well he could throw a spiral no matter what. It's Warren Moon's only Warren Moon, Chris Leak are the other two guys that could think of that are like that every throw.

I was just about to say CJ Stroud, he's like the guy that's like, this is teach tape until someone goes out and tries to do it. And then you're like, oh, that's why we can't teach that. Yeah. Can't teach all of this. Have rare football IQ, rare spatial awareness, and then throw a perfect spiral in every play.

And it's, it's incredible. His first touchdown on, on the move against the Patriots was like, Oh God, I know. And then loves doing stuff too. Like the, he had to cover zero touchdown against the Cardinals and that's how he plays. You want to try and come after him? He's going to try and go after you. So that's why I'm excited. Cause I think there's going to be gashes. This may Drake may got after him. But it's, you have to hang in there. I will say the Packers do a great job. If you're going to be a blitz team, like the Vikings went against them. They try to get the running backs out.

So what the Texans like to do is that cover one blitz on third down. The Packers are going to have an answer for that, but who's going to win against man coverage? And that's where should be the Packers strength. We have all these options. So that side of the ball is a really fun matchup. I'm very excited to watch it because it's two good units, two fast units, two well-coached units, but both have ways you can pick at them. You have a prediction?

What is he? Spreads Packers 2.5. I mean, my Texas Bills pick was so damn bad at the end of the day. Bills almost got there, though. I know, but it just looks so terrible. Because we were like, oh, Texas got no shot. But we respect the Texas defense more now. They have more answers than I thought maybe a couple weeks ago. Josh Allen, in whatever brain state he was in, go 9 for 30. You get some props. You get some props. But I do think the Packers win this game.

Just a more complete team. And I really do think that this Packers run defense versus Texans run offense, that could be such a mismatch where even a quarterback like C.J. Stroud, bro, you don't want to be third and nine plus every single time you're out there. It's just too tough. I think the Packers defense will be able to put them in just enough bad high leverage spots that can come out with a win. Yeah, I think my biggest prediction is that there's going to be six throws from this game that we'll just see.

over and over on Twitter, and I'll be very happy about it. But I'm also going with the Packers at home. I think they also got like a little – I'm going to ask our guy Justice about this. Packers got a little home field advantage with guys slipping. Every other team going in Lambeau slips away, and guys are just slip, slip, slip, and there's the Packers, Jordan Love, bouncing around like nothing's going on. Wear the right cleats. So that's a big thing for the Texans. You have to wear the right cleats. It can't be the cool cleats. You have to wear the studs.

That's how it goes. It's not fun. They aren't the cool shoes. They're the blocky shoes. I get it, but you have to wear them. So that's another thing. I am going to go with the Packers. I do think this is a fun game, but everything you talked about with that Texas side versus Packers side, Texas offense, Packers defense, that's going to be kind of a...

All right. Who doesn't F up more? That's kind of how it's going to go. So we are going to take a quick break after that. Very, very fun game. And we're going to get to more fun games after the break. See you guys in a sec. All right. We are back.

Moving on to one of the afternoon games, which is the Chiefs at the 49ers. 49ers are one and a half point favorites, which means Vegas is kind of leaning a little Chiefs, just a little bit. This is a Super Bowl rematch from last year. Super Bowl rematch from a few years ago before that. Both Chiefs victories in those games. You have the Chiefs offense against the 49ers defense. I want you to take the lead on this matchup.

I don't even know if it's juicy. It's kind of more of a

Death by efficiency. Yeah. Side of the ball. Like, the Chiefs, the discussion around the Chiefs offense is, I understand why we are here. I really do. Because think about every other iteration of this offense that people, well, not every other iteration. The iteration that people fell in love with. Yes. Fireworks Factory. Right, Fireworks Factory. Yep. Tyreek Hill, Pete Travis Kelsey. It feels like you could score 100 points in every game if you just categorize

kept going. Obviously, things have changed. They're not that super-duper explosive offense that they were in the past, but now they're just... We'll just get five yards every play. And...

We'll see how far that can get us. And I think, like, obviously, you're doing something good when you are first in success rate. Right. That's the goal. First in success rate. They are one of six teams over 50% success rate in offense over the Lions, Ravens, Buccaneers, Rams, and Commanders. We're still unpacking that one. 19th EPA per play, excuse me, 11th EPA per dropback.

They're first in rushing to a success rate. But there are some little walls you run into. I would say if the football field was 80 yards, this would be the greatest offense on turf. And they get to the red zone. And they're 10th in overall red zone scoring rate, but they're 29th in red zone touchdown rate. So they're zooming down the field and they're kicking field goals, which is why...

the scoring, or not why, it's why the scoring output's down. It's why it feels worse because you're just flat out not seeing this team score as many touchdowns as they used to. I mean, there's still good offense though. You know, the goal of the game is to still get it to the red zone. So you're in a spot to score points. And luckily on the flip side, on defense, they've got enough defense where, you know, you can weather some of the lower scoring outputs. But even then, there's no reason to be like,

concerned about this offense in a way that uh like oh could they make the playoffs like yeah like this team can still win the super bowl obviously like they're still probably the best team in the nfl oh yeah number one my power rankings it's just it's just not it's just it's just not what people have been used to seeing and people going well what's wrong with patrick homes nothing's wrong with patrick homes he's doing what's being asked of him and you should kind of be impressed because

you were seeing that he's a quarterback that doesn't really have any holes in this game in terms of what kind of offense that you could potentially run with Patrick Holmes. Like you want to throw it deep and be, you know, the EPA monsters that they were in like the, the 20, 2018, 2019 stretch. You can do that. If you want to be this team that throws, you know, five yards at a time, but you're completing it just about every single time. And you're, you're moving down the field and you're running the ball for five yards a pop.

that's fine too. To me, it's just how do you get more touchdowns in the red zone, which I kind of think it might be something that evens itself out as the season goes along. You know, I don't think you're going to be able to hold Patrick Mahomes to like a bottom five, you know,

red zone offense in terms of touchdowns per trip. That just doesn't seem likely to me. I just found one stat that actually really did make me chuckle, though, with the Chiefs running game. I think that this kind of encapsulates where they are. I hope it's the same one I got. I'm excited. So, like I said, they are first in Russian success rate. They're

But they are dead last by a mile in terms of rushes that go 10 yards or more, 3.1%. I'm like, dude, so you were just living. You're living every play, 5-7 yards, boom, 5-7 yards, boom, 5-7 yards, boom. Which I can say, like, that's a really frustrating way to defend on defense because...

We know for a lot of times, like we know what's coming and we also know it's going to be in front of us, but we still can't stop it. And they're still moving down the field so they can just figure out how to convert those trips into touchdowns in the red zone. I think a lot of our our complaints about the Chiefs offense are going to look silly.

It's, I mean, it's a straight jab offense. It's just, they have, so even you, you went the 10 yard cutoff. So like explosive run is technically 12 and they have zero explosive running backgrounds, zero, but they are, like you said, one of the most efficient run games. And it's not fake. I just studied that wrote about this week. It's, it's a very real run game. They,

They ate their Wheaties this offseason, their vegetables. They cut out all the outside stretch stuff and they started just doing everything inside. They say, who are our best linemen? Oh, our interior three. We should just run behind them every single time. There you go. That really helped the run game out a lot. Yeah. And then Mahomes, when I wrote about this, I said,

why bend over backwards and do something crazy if the defense is going to let you get six yards? Like, why do it? Like, if your quarterback can operate this way, and he can, because Mahomes is a genius, then

Why change it up? Why try to, you know, all these hard plays down the field or harder routes with mediocre receivers that are pass catchers as we think they are? Well, it's working because they can stay in third and manageable. And even Mahomes is scrambling a little bit more on third down, but it's not like last year was third and 11, third and nine. Just think, well, we're everything that,

the Chiefs went through last year is kind of what the Texans kind of going through right now. You know, Chiefs had a little bit more answers in the passing game, but they just kept getting these third and longs because their run game sucks so bad last year. But Mahomes, it was another thing I noticed too, is this, and this is why you have to unbucket runs and passes are our man Griff. You have to unbucket these as they run so many bubbles.

Because the bubbles are part of their run game, which if they handed all those off, their run rate would be even higher. But they're just making defenses like they're playing this simple, efficient offense that

And then everyone's just really scared of going like, well, we're not going to let Patrick beat us. We're not going to let Mahomes beat us. All right, we'll take five yards. All right, we'll take eight yards. All right, we'll take six yards. And I think it's working. But like you said, get a little bit better in the red zone. Mahomes has done it before. And Andy Reid usually has a fever dream offense in the red zone. So I think they'll figure it out. Going against this 49ers defense.

I think they actually have some answers because they like using all the tight ends for another struggle against that. They also can have some play action looks out of that. So I do think they have some natural answers going against that defense. You also got Andy Reid coming out of the bye week. He's 21-4 after a regular season bye week. 20-2 when the opponent played the previous week.

And 5-1. Although the 49ers have a mini-bye. They got the Thursday night game. So I don't know if that counts. But yeah, 22 and the opponent played the previous week. 5-1 with Mahomes as a starting quarterback. Only loss was last year, though. It's the Eagles. Wow. Back when I was gambling, that was...

That one hurt. I don't remember that game. That one hurt. But going to the other side, though, this 49ers offense is –

Kyle Shanahan's going to make it work. It doesn't matter who's back there at running back. This is the whole Shanahan shtick. They're going to make the run game work. It's just that it's not explosive run game. That is what the element of this offense that they've lost, and that's Christian McCaffrey. I mean, obviously, when you lose that 99 overall player, that's going to hinder the thing that he's best at, which right now is the run game, the explosive plays in the run game, and then that's their red zone scoring. They're the other team that's been struggling in the red zone. We've talked about it, but that's really just CMC.

Like him not being there changes the whole operation when they want to throw the ball down there. So when they get inside the 10 becomes a totally different thing. So you might get a lot of field goals in this game. But I'm curious if that 49ers offense does go to if it sticks with Isaac Arendo, the rookie running back, who is a boom bust running back. I know him from Wisconsin, and then he transferred to Louisville. He needs a runway to get going.

So this offense needs explosive plays, but you also don't want to get in third and long against SPACs. So does Patrick Taylor come onto the field and keep them efficient, keep them, you know, heads above water. They can run the ball on them, but what's different about this Chiefs defense that we've seen last year when they became like a top five, top six defense. And now this year they don't let up explosive plays. They just don't. I had a fun stat on this one. Where the hell is it? My fricking beautiful mind notes.

Not this year. They've allowed the explosive pass.

Oh, I'm sorry. They have yet to allow an explosive pass this year when they're in base. And they've only allowed two explosive runs. That is usually how you get after SPACs. Get our big bodies, get 21 personnel, 12 personnel out there, fullbacks and tight ends, make them nice and simple, and then run the ball and we can pop one. They're just not letting that happen right now. So that's something that's just kind of interesting to me that is what the 49ers are going to bet on. Are we going to keep chucking it? Are we going to try and drop back? Our offensive line's been eh. What?

a little bit okay. Trent Williams has gotten banged up before. You know, the pass protection is a little iffy. So that it's really going to be a Purdy. It's going to have to scramble a little bit. Purdy's going to have to make some big plays. And I, it's going to be really interesting because in the past, the chiefs have showed so many answers and Spags have showed so many answers against Shanahan offenses. These are the offenses he tees off against. They used all the condensed splits. So you see all the corner blitzes and all the funky stuff.

Yeah, I don't know. They have their number in the past, but it's the regular season. It's not playoff specs. So that's another thing, too. So I'm curious of what the new answer is for Shanahan. He's got the little mini body, like I said, if there's a new layer with the injuries that they have with their running backs. Is it more Debo touches? Does IU get going now? Is it a Kittle game? You know that I'm curious of how what their answers are going to be. They'll find one, but it's always hard against SPACs. What's your prediction for this game?

I think the Chiefs win, actually. And I think they kind of handle business here. It feels crazy, but when I look at these teams, I just think the Chiefs

as much as people want to get down on visually what they're seeing, this is still the best team in the NFL. And even going on the road, right, to San Francisco? That's not like a real obstacle anymore when you have Patrick Holmes and you have Andy Reid. That's just another football game. I think they handle business. I think the Chiefs offense, again, just mows them down because it's not like this is not the 49ers defense from...

the past where you know you're you're getting not only top five offense on the other side but you're also getting like damn near historical defense to play on the other side this is a quality defense with some good players but they can be beat uh and the last thing i have on the chief's offense is you know when you start looking at the the totality of andy raid's run as the chief's head coach um

That stint where he had Tyreek at his peak with Mahomes, that's pretty much become the anomaly of how he's actually called this offense. That's not really what this has been for the most part. That was like a two or three year stretch. And the rest has been this for the most part. Even with Deshaun Jackson back in the day with the Eagles. That was just occasional shot plays. This was his...

This is his operation. This is the Andy Reid offense. It's West. This is like, if you ever want to like close your eyes and picture a West coast offense, like a real West coast office, this is it. Burgers and wine shirts, baby. Yeah. It's, it's,

Are you guys mac and cheese recipes still? Yeah, I do. I still do. Did you say it was amazing too? It is amazing, but I was also like 24 and it's also very expensive. So I only made it one time. Okay. Okay. That's good. Yeah. That's funny. He can make a weekly. Uh, yeah, no, I,

The foreigners will always find answers. But it's a top 10 offense and not a top one offense. You know, it's not a juggernaut right now. It's a good offense. But the Chiefs defense is good, like really good. And that's why I think I agree with you. They're the best team to me. They have Mahomes. They have a good offensive line who are allowing the lowest pressure rate that Mahomes has ever had as a starter. They're running the ball better than they ever have. And they have, you know, Spurs.

spags and andy reed like i'm not betting against that no matter who the pass catchers are that's a formula to win god they have turned really into the patriots where it's like everyone's like nope this is the year this is the year and it's like nope they just find a new answer uh so i'm also going with the chiefs but i i'm really excited for this game because mostly scheme stuff because shannon's already shown some cool stuff like he had what sorry sorry to do a little scheme one right here last week he did a

trap draw with Debo in an offset position. Like, so he like motioned him to offset and then it ran a draw and then had Kittle trap it. And that was, uh,

That was a new one for me. That was, that was a, okay, you're still throwing on some new stuff. So yeah, they'll, they'll find the answers, but curious which ones they are. Random while we're just still on run game stuff. This is not related to this game at all, but I saw speak to me, baby. There was a clip from the Falcons pants game this past weekend where they

they had Charlie Warner motion inside like on a gap run and block three technique like the tight end then he kicks up to the second level and blocks the linebacker I was like ooh that's the stuff that gets me going you can keep the pass coverage stuff that's what I want to see those six yard gains that's why I did the Chiefs breakdown and I'm like it was just all five six yard gains and I'm just like

Ooh, yeah. Oh, yeah. There we go. Look at that double team. Oh, yeah. Fall forward Carson scale. Yeah, there we go. There's another five yarder. I think that stuff's much more exciting than just another little...

Eight-yard out route. One-on-one. We didn't like mid-90s basketball. We like the space and pace stuff. That's what the run game is. It's motion and movement and everything. So I'm with you on that. All right, going into another AFC-NFC battle. Another kind of two teams doing well right now. We have the Ravens going to Tampa Bay. The Bucs are three-and-a-half-point underdogs at home.

On Monday Night Football, the non-ESPN Plus one, the main primetime one, because Chargers and Cardinals got ESPN Plused, which, yeah. I'm protesting that one. They truly said, here you go, sickos. And I'm like, ah. You could have caught me six weeks ago paying for Cardinals, but not anymore. No, you're not.

Get some dudes on defense and we'll come back ESPN. Right, right. I said after the bio, I'm going to check back in on them, but that's in a couple of weeks. So you are going to be starting off with the Ravens offense against this Bucs defense. Chuck, what you got on that side of the ball? When I was on my way into the office today, in our little group chat, we've been passing them back and forth a bunch of like old songs with the old rap songs, old rock songs.

I was listening to like my, my playlist from when I was in like fifth or sixth grade. Is that what's going on? Yeah. That's what started it. Cause it will get the Carter two in there. Right. Yeah. Yeah. It started as a music project, like mapping samples back and forth, like through the eras. And then it just turned into me listening to stuff. But yeah,

I was listening to Ludacris, move B, get out the way. And I was like, that's the Ravens offense. Get out the way, move, get out the way or you're going to get hurt, bro. That's what they've decided to become. And it's what they've always wanted to be with Lamar Jackson, but they have reached the purest Nirvana form of get the absolute hell out my way before you get hurt by signing Derek Henry. And I also got to say, back then,

in August. I said worst offensive line of football. Definitely not the worst offensive line of football. Not at all. Very passable. Still room to improve, but

In the run game, dude, they have gotten so much better, and they're straight up mashing people. So, I mean, the run game's where you have to start. And this is even before you get to how Lamar's performing as a passer. No team has generated more EPA on Zion Rushes than the Ravens. In the second half alone, they have a 53% success rate running the ball. They're first in yards per carry before contact, at three yards per carry before contact, they're fourth in yards per carry after contact. I mean, they are just blasted.

bludgeoning people, bullying people off the ball. And it's awesome. It's awesome. It's so funny because sometimes we try to complicate football to a degree where we've got all these scientific formulas and we're moving people around. And the Ravens said, no, we are going to get the biggest, strongest, fastest running back of this era. And we have a quarterback who is...

like of all of his mobile quarterback precedents that have gotten to this point, he's easily like the most advanced one that we've seen up to this point. And the offensive line has gotten so much better. So this is just a one plus one equals FU moment for the Ravens where they are just steamrolling people every single time they get the ball almost. I've been a little bit surprised at how quickly they've been able to get this

under order and say, no, like our offensive line was bad. We had the tragedy passing up our offensive line coaching, offensive line coach pass before the season started. We've got a new running back. We've got some new players in here. No, this has all come together in such a way that now they're, they're unequivocally one of the best offenses in the sport. Lamar Jackson's having another MVP season. I,

under his belt, potentially could have three MVPs by the time the season's over. There's no voter fatigue. And not only are they running the ball well, but they're playing the style of passing that's fun when you can run the ball. They are six in air yards per attempt. They're like 30 EPA per drop back. Right. So we're smashing the ball and we're chucking it. That is, that's beautiful football. Like that's what this is supposed to be. And I don't really see that stopping this week against Tampa Bay because I

Outside of Vida Veya, who you got that's going to get in here and get their nose dirty and actually hit someone? I know Levante David, mentality-wise, that's not an issue, but he's not the same player that he used to be. It's tough. So I would expect the Ravens to score a lot, a whole lot of points. I think so, too. Yeah, I was trying to find the angle for the Bucs defense when I was just kind of glancing at the side of the ball. So my good old...

My good old sex rate. I'm going to call it SBA, SPE, right? Successful explosive play, right? Bucks are dead last when they're a base personnel and that matters because they match face to face. Meaning when the other team puts tight ends and fullbacks on the field, they match it. The Ravens have run 265 plays with two or fewer receivers on the field. The league average is 124. Yeah.

So almost double, more than double. And I think there's only three or four teams over 200 and they're at 265. They pass the ball out of it. They run the ball out of it. They're explosive. They're first in EPA per play out of these looks. So they run the most of these looks and they have the best expected points added out of these looks. And then they're playing against a Bucs team that

This has always been how you get after bowls. It's the same thing with spags. Yeah. I know I sound like a broken record with this stuff, but this is the thing. This is what coaches look at every week. So this is why I bring it up to, and you bring it up every, every week too, is, but the bucks are not good out of base. Like you said, they is good. He'll have a little bit of a size matchup, not a little bit, a lot of bit of a size matchup against tower Linderbaum. Um,

But the thing is, the linebackers are just not there. You can chuck it on them. They've allowed an explosive pass on a quarter of those dropbacks out of base. And that's how the Ravens attack. They're just going to, like you said, bludgeon you. And then Lamar chucked a dig route. And the wind in that game in Baltimore is a little bit more than I expected. I didn't realize that. I kind of saw it with the flag.

He threw a digger out like 25 yards on a line and the DB made a decent play on it, but I couldn't believe that he like just threw it in rhythm. And the thing didn't even like just cut through the wind, didn't even move or split sides. That was great. Little 3d. I didn't mean to do that. It was like a 3d movie, but yeah, that, and it's just, that's what he can do. He can chuck it over the middle. That's like you said, he's different than most running quarterbacks. And he's always been underappreciated with it that he could just sit back there. It looks like a Wisconsin offense, right?

It does. Eye formations, tight ends, fullbacks. All right. Now we're going to chuck it deep. And what happens when you go bully ball, defenses load the box. And now you got one-on-one with Zay Flowers and Rashad Bateman who are cooking guys right now.

It's not easy. It's not easy to go against. And then they put Nelson Aguilar in. He's a great dirty work guy. They have Justice Hill in there. He does a lot of great things. So, yeah, a guy that might be the leader and MVP with a great run game and just cool designs that aren't, I mean, nothing crazy, but just some really cool stuff Todd Monk is doing. They're so tough to stop. They're so hard. They're so tough to stop in the second half, too, because when they get the lead,

and they can sit on the ball. I remember I played with a running back in college, and he used to be like, man, I love it late in the game when they're stacking the box. I was like, man, what are you talking about? That sounds like pain to me. He was like, no, because if I can make one guy miss, I'm gone.

And that's what happens. Right. That's what happens with the Ravens, right? Because you're sitting, okay, we're down by 10. We know that we know. We got to get Henry down. We got to get him down. And it's no secret. We know for a fact they're going to run the ball. And they're going to just turn it back and just hand it to Derrick Henry and let him get behind a 300-pound fullback and mash you. But once Derrick Henry, if they can get to the second level, we've seen it.

a bunch of times this season, whether it's the Buffalo game or some of these games that they've closed recently, if he can get past the second level in the heavy box, it's gone because no one can catch him and no one can tackle him. So that's what's made it so difficult for them to just like, for defense to just get him off the field because they're

they're good at the thing that everyone knows that they're going to do. And that's really possible to stop. Okay. All we have to do is hit his fastball. All right. But he throws 103. All right. We got to hit it though. That's it. It's like, yeah. Okay. All he throws is a fastball. Okay. Can you hit it? I don't know. Like that, that's what you feel like going against this team. And the other thing is when they put big bodies on the field, then you got a bunch of linebackers and defensive ends trying to tackle Lamar. Right. Like the other way.

Like, have fun. Yeah. Going to the other side of the ball, the Bucs offense is actually cooking. So I... It is. And the Ravens defense is allowing a lot of cooking, passing game-wise. They are good stopping the run. The Bucs found...

Some guys to run the ball, Bucky Irvin, Sean Tucker, who apparently likes to say his own name as well. I went on Twitter. Sean Tucker runs like his name is Sean Tucker. And someone goes, he'll probably say the same thing. And I was like, ha ha. I didn't know it was a meme that he says that. Like he says his name in the third person. So Rashad White is coming back. Our guy, Graham Barton, is coming back. Low key Haas fight. That buck's on the line.

Uh-huh. It's looking decent right now. It's looking pretty good. Uh, so low key house fight here could get after him a little bit, but they got to tackle the Ravens defense. Uh, they're going to throw plenty of screens to Chris Godwin. The two quarterbacks throwing the most receiver screens are my homes and Baker Mayfield and my homes is, are more of the bubbles Baker and the bucks are those straight, you know, smoke screens to Chris Godwin, who has just been, do you see a stiff arm last week? Oh yeah. He put the guy through to turf. Uh,

I'd love Chris Godwin. Oh yeah. And he's playing great. Evans Evans didn't practice today or yesterday. So keep an eye on that. But you know, that's, you never know with him. He's a vet. So they might just be doing that.

They're a good offense. It's not always perfect, but Baker's going to give him chances. He's going to have some moments where he gives the ball away, but this Ravens defense is allowing chances when you chuck the ball. So I think that's what it's going to be. Can they stop them from those 50-50 balls? Easier said than done. You know, you got Mike Evans and Chris Godwin out there and Sterling Shepard apparently.

partying like it's 2015. So, you know, we got that going back there too. So yeah, that's a, that's one side I am going to look at. I think the Ravens will stop their run game fairly well, but I think they will allow some explosive passes. So I think there's going to be some fireworks in this game, but it's yeah, both sides and it's whether they can keep up.

Like I said before, the Bucs are three and a half point favorites or underdogs, I should say. Are you what is your prediction for this game? I think the Ravens run off the field. Honestly, I know that the I really do think that the Bucs can have a chance to score. Yes, some points, but I don't know. It's just it's just tough because I think the Ravens offense is almost as big of a weapon for their defense, especially right now as they're still trying to figure things out, because that's an offense that could truly just sit on the ball and say, nope, keep away.

And the Ravens, too, like I made a big deal about how many, you know, big personnels they're using. They can get an 11 and do the same thing. So it's not like, you know, Lamar can chuck it. He can drop back. The offense aligned. That's what you get worried about. But, you know, he can sit back there and chuck it. You don't want to blitz him too much because he can scramble. Like, that's why you never that's the scary part about blitzing Lamar. And also he'll chuck it deep. So, yeah.

They have natural answers, which is always like, you know, they don't have to change their game. They're efficient. They're explosive. It's one of the best offenses in the league. Bucks are letting have some leakiness there. So I'm also with you with the Ravens, but I think there'll be some fireworks in this game. I'm pretty, pretty excited to watch. All right. We are going to take one last break and then we're going to come back with our house fire of the week. And then one mailbag question. See you guys in a second. All right. Black and blue division.

with a black and blue team, actually. The Lions at the Vikings, U.S. Bank Stadium. It's an early game. I'm very fired up for this game. The Vikings are one and a half point favorites at home. Our Hoss Fight of the Week as well. There's some several Hoss Fight potentials in this week, but we're going to go with this one. It felt right going into this division. But Charles, when the Vikings offense and your boy Sam Darnold have the football, what are you checking out?

Okay. Is this another Darnold rant? No. Well, yes, kind of, kind of. Because I was, you know, sometimes the season, it can go by so fast. You have so much going on that when a team takes a bye week, sometimes I'll forget a little bit in my head what they look like. So actually this morning before I got to the office,

I skimmed through like the Vikings offensive snaps versus the Jets that they had in that London game. And I was like, oh my God, I'm so out on this right now because Sam was awful in that game. He was terrible. A lot of scary plays in that game. Yeah, a lot of scary plays. And even the plays that weren't scary, like they just weren't ending up close to anyone. So I know that they got back, they got by and they won that game. But I was just like, oh my God, like, dude, if that's,

If they're getting back to like the meme on Sam Darnold, that's kind of scary to me. And then I started looking at, you know, just some like the rate stats in terms of like their play calling. And I was a little surprised to see that they're just kind of like above average in terms of play action rate and what they're calling. Because it felt like, you know, when I'm going back and I'm watching some of these games,

so many of the big plays are coming off of play action or like you're, you're either in play action or if it's not play action, it's Sam, like doing some stuff in the margins on non Justin Jefferson targets, doing stuff in the margins, like right where, you know, there's almost like some survivor buyers coming with some of the throws that he's making. But at the same time,

I still believe in the offensive infrastructure. Yes. Okay. I'm glad you got to that point. All right. And this is a good offense. But the last time that I watched this offense, I was like, oh, that's why you didn't know once Tim Donald to be your starting quarterback because a game like that is possible. But luckily they have the defense to survive.

performances like that. They should still be able to run the ball. Offensive line is still solid. You still got Justin Jefferson. So, like, you have answers to some of the questions that I have after that Jets game, but

Man, if that's going to be where your quarterback play is or if that's like if let's say like the top of the season was the peak of Sam Darnold and then that Jets game was basically the low area of Sam Darnold and you're going to be made in the middle. That's a little scary to me as far as like long term prognostication goes. But against the Lions defense, yeah.

That could go like one of either ways because we've seen them have situations where they're not great, you know, from a down-to-down perspective. And then you watch this Cowboys game where, you know, Terran Arnold looks like Darrell Reeves is damn near out there. And Brian Branch is making great plays. He's a great player, but yeah, but just making great plays. So where I get scared in this game is

I know Justin Jefferson's going to eat because he's Justin Jefferson. I don't care who's on him. He's going to get something done. But when you start looking at the rest of the skill position, especially the wide receivers versus, like, the Lions DBs, that seems like an advantage towards where the Lions are right now. And if I get Sam Darnold in the game where he's going to have to be making tight win the throw after tight win the throw after tight win the throw, I get a little concerned about where that could go. But at the same time, I still do trust Kevin O'Connell to try and, like,

limit his impact on the game because I know Kevin's probably watching that last game and saying whoa we should probably scale this back a little bit because not all those passes are just going to end up incomplete or hit the turf some of them are going to end up in the hands of defenders and I would be interested to see if this is a game where maybe they decide to crank up the play action use it use it just a little bit more

Um, maybe you don't need to quite as much because Aiden Hutchinson's out. So you're not dealing with quite as much, uh, on the pass rush side and you can just run more straight drop backs. But I still think after what I just watched this morning, this is probably just overreaction. Maybe just make the, the, the, the screen a little bit cleaner for, for Sam, make the picture a little clearer. So he's not putting the ball in harm's way.

I always appreciate O'Connell's like willing to stay aggressive, but sometimes you gotta save your players from themselves. Like it's like Sam Darnold's like, okay, I've been struggling. You want me to stay aggressive? Sure. And it's like, okay, okay. Let's maybe keep it safe for him. Screen, um,

QB draw, you know, something of that sort. No, I'm with you. I do think that's the... I kind of jinxed that. I was like, well, we haven't had the same blow-up game yet. And then he literally, those words came out of my mouth, and he has the blow-up game in London. I was like, oh, great. But like you said, if that's the floor...

All right. Could be worse. Yeah, could be worse. And he can make some high end plays still, but it's just that you have to survive the three bad plays. That's Sam Darnold experience. You have to survive those three. He's now on a team that can, that Vikings defense and everything. I'm curious if they just keep running man coverage. Like, are you going to dare to man up Justin Jefferson? In the past, Aaron Glenn has kind of tweaked their attack, you know, done a little bit cover two in there, some two man coverage.

uh, has been a thing for them where they're, you know, so they get two eyeballs on Justin Jefferson. So when my favorite Kirk cousins throws is when I think it was a couple of years ago, he just kept saying like, screw it. It was just thrown to Justin Jefferson, no matter, or, uh, no matter what the coverage was. And it was kind of like,

Yeah, I'm never teaching that because he's triple covered there. But all right, there you go. That's what you have to do. So I'm curious if they run that. If you do run two man, no eyes on the quarterback. Is this a Sam Darnold scramble game? And, you know, get some more of his legs. He is a good scrambler, just hasn't had to do it too much yet. So that is something I'm keeping an eye on. The Vikings run game is solid, but the Lions run defense has been good. Awee McNeil got paid. Yeah, a football 301 favorite.

Congrats to Lee McNeil getting a bag. But even Aiden Hutchinson out, I still think they got the horses to stop the run. But like you said, if they can't get the pressure to heat them up,

That makes it a little iffy, but I think McNeil and some of the interior guys can create some pressure on the Vikings' weaknesses that interior their offensive line. So, yeah, it's an interesting matchup. I'm curious who blinks first. That's kind of one of those. Does Aaron Glenn go, all right, we're not letting Jefferson beat us. All right, make Sam Darnold find other guys. We're going to run man on everybody else. We'll double Jefferson. Addison's got to beat us. Naylor's got to beat us. Like, that is what I'm curious about. Could call in the play action stuff, too. That's kind of...

If I was Aaron Glenn, I honestly might give my guys a chance. I would too. We'll bracket Justin and fight for your lives. We draft you high for a reason. Right. This is why you get drafted in the first round. You got to do the stuff. It's not like number 18 is going away. If you're Terry and Arnold, if you're good and have a long career,

You're going to see him literally the rest of your career. So might as well get your feet wet early because they're not going to shy away. The other side of the ball is really fun. The Lions offense Vikings defense. This is a great game. I broke it down on a field network this morning, which was fun. But the Vikings are one of the most blitz happy teams. We all know that Brian Flores.

The Lions are the best team against the Blitz. Whatever rate you want to look at. EPA, sex rate, all this stuff. They are the best offense against the Blitz. It's because they're sound. They have a good offensive line that's seen every look. They have Ragnow and Goff get them set. David Montgomery is fantastic in protection. They have Penny Sewell blocking two guys at once. And then Ben Johnson will line these guys up and take shot plays on it. And then even run game wise, stop me if you heard this before,

But the Lions are really good at running duo and the Vikings defense, not very good defending duo. So that's how you kind of wad it up and make it clean. But like legit, Lions are the best team success rate wise running duo. They're first in 60%.

of their duo runs are successful. 60%. Only been stuffed on 3.3% of their duo runs, which is the lowest rate in the league. So it's just positive yards, positive yards, positive yards, which is so important against this Vikings defense because you don't want to get a third and long because then they just make it hell for you. Even if the Lions do have answers, you don't want to live that way. It's against any blitzing defense. But I

I think this is going to be a great execution matchup. The Vikings are coming off a bye. Are they adding new layers on defense? They see this too. The Lions also have some tells. Jameer Gibbs, if he's in the game,

He ain't pass protecting. It's five man protection or they're running the ball. So Brian Flores with six weeks of film, does he kind of go, okay, it's a divisional matchup. They faced each other before. So that there's, there's some interesting things. Sam LaPorte gets hidden a little bit blocking. So that's another thing you maybe want to attack, you know,

you know, put in, put on maybe a beefier guy on him. So I think this Lions offense is the best equipped offense to go against this Vikings defense, but still you have to execute. They've done it, but you still got to do it. And that's what's cool about Brian Forrest. He goes, all right, do it. All right, you got us there. Do it again. All right, you got us there. Do it again. And I love that. I love when the coaches are like that because that's, let's prove it.

Yeah, it was a good game.

because honestly, the only poison pill that I really see for, at least personnel-wise, for the Lions offense is if Jared Goff is stuck in these third and longs, which I don't really see happening, but if it does happen, that's where Brian Flores can kill him because to me, that's the exact type of quarterback that Brian Flores can get. One that's not going to scramble. He's going to need...

everything to be clear in front of him. And that's when you can kind of get a quarterback like Jack off, but obviously much easier said than done getting the lines to third and long. And you're talking about like, you know, making it easier if they're going to move so much, like if the other side of the ball,

is going to be funky and move everybody you want to move less so that's why i love duo is that it's there's no pullers there's nothing it's straight ahead so that's why it's good against a team that wants a slant blitz a guy and move another guy drop another guy off you just mow them down just i don't care where we move we're going straight and we're going to shove you down it's same but on the other side if you're playing a bunch of motion and all that stuff what have defense has been doing quarters

Cover two. Nope, we're going to just play it safe back here. We're not moving because you guys are doing all the moving. So this is just the run game version of that. It was outside zone. Now it's duo, which is a-okay for me. Prediction? Vikings one and a half point home favorites?

Ooh, that's tough. I know. This is the only one I don't really have. They jumped me with that question on NFL Network, and I panicked. I was like, Vikings, shoot. I just broke down the Lions for 15 minutes. Yeah, I think I'll go Lions just as a head nod, too. Yeah, you just won by 40 points on Sunday. I don't really feel strongly as who could win, but I will be locked in this game for sure.

Great scheme game. I, yeah, tons of good players in this. I got to go with the Vikings, but that's only because they're at home. But I do think this is going to be such a good game. And I'm very excited for this one. And it's a morning game, which is great too. Noon central time. So that is it for our game breakdowns. We are going to get to a mailbag question right now, which was in a review.

You want to jump the line of questions, leave a review. That's what we're doing. That's the VIP system here. It's like Disney World. Welcome to the club, baby. This is the fast pass. But yes, leave a five-star review. The question will give you priority. So this is from UJR616. It is not football related. This is just life. What are your favorite Marvel and DC movies? I have too many. I was trying to narrow it down. But Charles, what are your favorite Marvel and DC movies? People hate me for this take.

Oh, no. But of the MCU movies, I have two that are tied at the top. And it's just Meathead just dumb guy. I'm trying to think where you're going with this. The Hulk movie with... The one-off Hulk movie? Okay, it's not a one-off. It's not a one-off because actually, it's kind of a sequel to the Eric Bannon movie from...

2003 because at the end of that one he ends up in Brazil and where did they start this one in Brazil so and I love that movie as a kid solely for the scene when they're in Eric Banner's house and he's like he's like no but please like stop hitting me like I'm about to get angry well like you get him angry and he starts to get big and they shoot him one time and the bullet bounces off his skin and he goes

And I love it for that part. And I thought the sequel was good too. The second one that I absolutely love, the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, to me, is just a masterpiece. Such a good movie. And I also feel dumb for saying Rocket is like a top three MCU character for me. I think he's hilarious. That's a great movie.

That's a good call. I like that. Okay. Well, yeah, Hulk and rocket. And then I got to figure out the third. All right. But there's a scene in the first guardians of the galaxy movie where they like, after they break up, break out the prison and they're kind of like milling around the galaxy. The first time they all go to a bar or a club, uh,

And Rock is drinking something. And I don't remember exactly what the context is. But he has like this laugh that he admits that makes me like cry laugh every single time I see it. Like I'm going to have to watch the movie tonight so I can clip it up for you and send it to you. It's just it's this two second segment where he is laughing and it sends me into hysterics every time. And if we're going to go out MCU, Venom.

awesome movie. Don't care what anyone says. I like it. No, they're great. They're great. No, no, no. Because people will be like, oh, that wasn't a good movie. It's a buddy cop film. It's not a superhero movie. Embrace. Yeah, embrace. Those are schlock in a good way. But they know they're schlock. And that's, yes, it's like, yeah, it's like a Carpenter movie. No, it's like they know it's a B movie. And that's

that is it. Once you know it, they don't act like they're changing the world. It's not an Avengers movie. It's just supposed to be a fun buddy cop movie. Yeah, I love those movies. I forgot that the third one's coming out soon. My favorite MCU movie, which is actually the first movie my wife and I saw together, which was Thor Ragnarok. And we're going to watch a lot of snooty movies. Thor Ragnarok was our first movie. Love that one. The opening scene on where it's like, oh, we're going comedy.

Oh, it works. And the director, Takito Wakiti, I really like him. But Captain America Winter Soldier, I actually really like. I really like that one. I like all the Captain America movies. All right. So this is in so much MCU. We'll go to other Marvel movies.

uh take a little right turn here the spider-man animated movies oh yeah into the spider-verse across the spider-verse love them five stars oh the first one was one of the most like

And that's what first one I saw. I was we had just been fired by the Raiders. We yeah, we and I. And I was just and I saw that movie that made me so happy when I really needed some happiness. And so I have a special place in that movie. Also, Spider-Man 2.

I like that one a lot. The original Spider-Man 2. Yes. Sam Raimi. Doc Ock. Yes, Doc Ock. Which one of my favorite scenes in any superhero movie ever is the Doc Ock coming alive scene. Yes. Because it becomes like an evil dead scene with Sam Raimi. Yeah. It's a horror movie. Like the women screaming or clawing and stuff. Yeah. Love that scene. Blade. Blade.

What'd you say? Blade. You ever seen the first blade? Yes. Yes. The first, the only blade. I was thinking, uh, I was just thinking when you said Dr. Octopus thing, did the, some of these villain reveals, they still hit. Cause the other night I was watching revenge of the Sith. And when Darth Vader, Darth Vader comes up on the table, you like that breath for the first time. I'm like, that still goes crazy. 20 years later, that goes crazy. Just ignore the no afterwards. Forget that part. Forget that part.

But that part still goes crazy. We are also 30-year-old men with careers and money. And you have a family. We'll see. You know? But hey, we're still firmly attached to our childhood at some point. It's good for you. Otherwise, I have like five more. X-Men 2? Great.

X2 is phenomenal. I'll watch that once a year. I haven't seen that movie in so long. It's so good. It still holds up. It's a Marvel movie, but it's not an MCU movie. It's just a different tone. It's darker. I love X-Men. That was my entry into Marvel more than anyone. Logan?

Also great. Great one. Oh, and then if we go DC, it's all Batman. Dark Knight, the Batman, which I usually have my poster, which I consider as a peer to Dark Knight, which some people consider blasphemous. No, it's a peer. I love the Batman. And if Batman Returns with Michael Keaton and Danny DeVito as the Penguin.

Yeah, that one's a good one. I was five years old, I think, when I saw that originally. I was like, what is this when Penguin's biting a guy's nose? That still stuck out with me. But now as an adult, really, really like it. And now as an adult, it makes a lot of sense. Why? Of course, Danny DeVito is biting someone's nose. Like, of course. I know. Now I know what Danny DeVito is. I'm the trash man. Yeah.

You're a sunny guy, aren't you? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't watched it in a few years. Just hiding in the couch, come out all sweaty. That was another one. Oh, man. Well, that was fun. That was great. On Tuesday, Matt will be back joining me to recap these games and maybe do some other stuff.

I am a Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice. Where can they find you, Charles McDonald? You can find me on Twitter at four verts. I will be making fun of Sean Payton, no matter the result of the Broncos game later. So yeah, you'll, you'll, there's going to be, that going to be on or over by the time you listen to this, but I can promise you the hysterics will not be. No, no. I love Thursday night football. I love Thursday night football, Twitter.

Like it truly, cause it's all of us in media are just letting loose. Like we're all like done with our chunk of our weeks and we get to take a deep breath. And I think,

Yeah, you can tell some people are loose on there. So I always enjoy that, especially when we get a nice schlocky game like this tonight, which should be interesting. But if you want to hear more answers from us, send in your mailbag questions. Football301mailbag at yahoosports.com or leave us a review, five-star review. Leave a little question there, jump the line or throw me a question on Twitter. Oscar Bobo asked me another question about tight ends. We will get to that one in the future. Subscribe to us.

Follow us, rate us, five stars, hopefully. Watch us on YouTube, on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel. Follow Yahoo Sports on Snapchat as well. Thanks to Brett, Stone, and Adi behind the scenes for making us look good and sound good, hopefully. But enjoy your weekend. Enjoy a great slate of games that we have. Enjoy college football if you're watching that. Enjoy Thursday night, Friday night, every night of this weekend. Thank you for listening. See you guys next time.

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