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All right, boys and girls, we are back with another edition of the Ben Domenech podcast brought to you by Fox News. You can check out all of our podcasts at foxnewspodcast.com. I hope that you'll rate, review, subscribe to this one, and share it with a friend if you find it of interest. Today, I have a conversation for you about the upcoming NFL season, all the different storylines that are going on in the different divisions, and what our expectations can be in terms of sports.
We'll be right back.
Jen Hale, coming up next. This episode is brought to you by Honda. When you test drive the all-new Prologue EV, there's a lot that can impress you about it. There's the class-leading passenger space, the clean, thoughtful design, and the intuitive technology. But out of everything, what you'll really love most is that it's a Honda. Visit Honda.com slash EV to see offers.
Reporting live from under my blanket, I'm Susan Curtis with Dunkin' at Home. Breaking news, pumpkin spice iced and hot coffees are back. I'll pass it to Mr. Curtis with his blanket for the full story. That is so right, Susan. You know, it's never too early to get in a spicy mood. I'm talking cinnamony goodness that's so tasty, people don't want to leave their blankets either. Back to you. No, back to you. All you. The home with Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice is where you want to be.
Jen Hale, thanks so much for taking the time to join me today. Oh, my pleasure. Thanks for having me. Football, let's go. Yes, at long last. I feel like, you know, it's a little weird to always go into these seasons and know that your expectations aren't going to match up.
up with reality. But, you know, at this point, you know, when you're getting ready to go into a season and you're looking at all the different storylines that you're curious about, that you're paying attention to, what are the ones that are the most unclear for you in this moment where, you know, things can go in one direction or the other and, and completely, you feel like they could completely swing in a, in a direction that surprises you. Yeah. Every team's going to the Superbowl going into week one, right? Everybody's going to be a super champion.
Except for the Cardinals. Yes. Hey, miracles do happen. But I'm on that train with you. I think I'd start with Aaron Rodgers and the Jets. Which way is that really going to go? Is this going to be a rebirth of Aaron Rodgers, a fresh start to his career? I think that could truly go either way. Down here in the NFC South, man, such a wide open division. Talk about question marks. Desmond Ritter of the Atlanta Falcons is the longest tenured quarterback in the whole thing.
I'm very curious to see Bryce Young, what he brings to the table. However, he's young. That coaching staff is in their first year. I think they're going to need some seasoning. I do really like the Falcons, I have to tell you. I had their preseason package, and it's kind of crazy, Ben. They had a record-setting $85 million in dead gap money last year. This offseason, they spent $105 million just on that defense.
So really curious now that we're done with the preseason to see when they shed the vanilla looks and really pull out the guns, what that looks like. And then the 49ers, Brock Purdy, how good can he really be? Can they live up to the hype? Was this like a Cinderella season for him? Is that elbow going to hold him back?
Or is this something that he can overcome and be ready to roll for the regular season? A lot of people have them going to the Super Bowl. I personally picked the Eagles, but the 49ers has been a really popular pick as well.
You know, one of the things, the dynamics that's going on right now, it seems like it's everyone looks at the quarterbacks in the AFC and they just see so many of them as being, you know, miles ahead of the most of the talent that we see in the NFC. Do you feel like this is really going to be kind of a test of whether you
need that quarterback in order to be able to field a Super Bowl quality team. Brock Purdy obviously is in a system that really helps and benefits quarterbacks with the type of skill set that he has, but it
it really seems to be something that would be such a monumental achievement just to see the Kyle Shanahan offense be enough to lift him to that level. Yeah, a lot of front offices would certainly love that if they didn't have to pay that huge quarterback money. I think Brock Purdy is an anomaly.
I think you have to have a star quarterback to have sustained long-term success and really have a shot at the Super Bowl. When you look at the AFC, speaking of that, you look at the Joe Burrows, the Patrick Mahomes, the Josh Allens.
those are the trendsetters. Those are the new young gun are the, the, you know, of old, the Peyton Manning, the Drew breezes, the Tom Brady's, you got to have those gunslingers. You got to have smart quarterback play. It is still, and I believe will be your most important position, especially with the way the NFL keeps changing rules to benefit the quarterback. The, uh,
obviously there are a lot of different storylines headed into the season. One of them that you mentioned obviously is, is the attempt for Aaron Rogers to get his old crew together in, in New York and really be the difference. You know, you had a ton of people saying last year that, you know, the thing holding the jets back really was their quarterback play. But Aaron Rogers is not the Aaron Rogers of just, you know, even a few years ago in terms of his more recent performance, uh,
How likely do you think he'll really be able to turn that around in New York? I think the jets will be much improved. I do not think they have a super bowl chance in them. Um, I don't think their playoff run will be very long to be honest with you. Um, I question where Aaron Rogers is mentally. Is he locked in? Is he the competitor he used to be? I just don't see it. I will say I do love Robert Sala. I think he's one of the most intelligent coaches I've ever interviewed. And I've interviewed a lot. Um,
I don't think Aaron Rodgers is the long-term answer for the Jets. You had, uh, have a situation now where you've got a lot of these younger coaches, um, you know, people who, you know, are innovators. It's actually very funny. Uh, there's this article in, uh, in Washington circles that gets passed around. Um, if you just Google Jason Lock and Fora and, and
Kyle Shanahan. It's the first one that comes up. And it's him at the time reporting for The Washington Post about all these young idiots that Kyle has hired for his offensive team. And of course, it's, you know, the inexperienced Sean McVay, you know, the Matt LaFleur is there and they can't, you know, these people just seem like buddies of his, you know. And of course, now he's got four different four different of them are all head coaches in the NFL.
So it's one of the things that is kind of a generational shift. With that sort of young coaching crew, is there still a place for the old guys who are still learning new tricks? Or do you feel like that innovative, competitive younger coach is really the way of the moment?
Stephanie, there's been a changing the guard. We just talked about it at quarterback, right? And we've seen it in the coaching ranks too. However, I think there are plenty of older coaches who can mix and match. They can embrace new philosophies. They can combine the best of both worlds. And I think that's where you're going to have a lot of sustained success. Bring in coordinators who are good at what you're not good at.
be humble enough to be open. Let's look at a Sean Payton in Denver, so to speak. He certainly wouldn't be considered one of the young innovators, but he's one of the most innovative offensive minds in the game. I don't think you should count somebody like him out just because he's not part of this new young coaching guard. He's going to be changing things. He's
really curious to see now that he's had three years, now that he has the quarterback and the players in place that he really wants, I think he's going to be a much smarter play caller than a lot of people give him credit for. I'm curious to see what he does when it comes to being innovative. Andy Reid, are you really going to count him out because he's the old guard? That would be a huge mistake. Did you catch who won last year? Yeah. So you mentioned Peyton
There's a lot of people, I think, who after last season's utter debacle in terms of the Denver offense, just kind of gave up on Russell Wilson. Said that sort of, you know, this is the end for him. You know, he's showing all these signs of having problems. And a lot of it, too, though, if you drilled into the analysis that a lot of people were doing for it, he was throwing the ball in different ways than he had thrown it in Seattle and a lot of places before.
Is this a situation where with a new coaching staff, you think that Russell can make that kind of comeback? Or is he someone who's on the downside of his career?
No, I don't think he's on the downside yet because he's smart. And those smart quarterbacks like a Peyton Manning, like a Tom Brady, like a Drew Brees, when they start to age and physically they're not able to do the same things, they can make up for it mentally. And I think Russell's going to be that same way. I think he's got a lot left in the tank, especially with a guy like Sean Peyton.
My question is personality wise, can they gel and work together? And that's what I'm looking to see. Sean's a very strong personality. It is his way or the highway. He is used to having carte blanche. When he was in new Orleans, everything went the way he wanted it to go. There was no stone unturned. People in the hallway sometimes could be intimidated to talk to him. I wonder how Russell is going to respond to that type of coaching. Uh,
You know, there's been stuff out there this week about Sean telling him he's on a short leash, that type of thing. But if they can gel and work together, I think Sean can bring out the best of them. And we'll see another let Russ cook type of situation rearing its head again.
You know, it's just funny that I can't think of two more different personalities in terms of how corny Russell Wilson is, you know, in comparison to Sean Payton. Stop kissing babies. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I think Russ practically invented that. In New Orleans now, obviously, you have a change of circumstances for Derek Carr. How has he looked so far, and do you think that...
you know, I mentioned how the NFC has fewer top tier quarterbacks. Do you think that the NFC is going to be a good home for him? You know, a change in, in venue, perhaps being something that can, that can give him more opportunities for success. Absolutely. Look, it had expired a long time ago in Las Vegas for him with the Raiders. He's doing great in new Orleans. That's where I'm based. Yeah.
So I get to see day in and day out how he's doing. And look, we talked about it a little bit ago. That division is ripe for the taking, right? You feel like Bryce Young's going to come along, but you wouldn't think in this first year they're going to be world beaters. You got the Falcons. Of course, it's not a quarterback on quarterback competition. And I do really like the talent around Desmond Ritter. But I would take Derek Carr over Desmond Ritter and then Tampa Cowboys.
I think they have a huge rebuilding project on their hand down there in Tampa, for sure. So I think Derek Carr has so much opportunity. I think he has a ton of respect here in New Orleans that he wasn't getting in Las Vegas, and he's blossoming under that. I think he's at a great point in his career that he still has plenty left in the tank. He hasn't started that physical decline that we talked about earlier, but he's got enough years under his belt, enough skins on the wall that he knows his stuff. Right?
Right. You're not going to surprise him with defensive coverages. You're not going to sneak up on him. I think he's at a great point. This is the sweet spot for him. How much benefit are we going to see for Chris Alave?
Huge. Huge. To me, the question mark is Alvin Kamara. And when he comes back from that suspension, what will he be like? Is he going to walk the straight and narrow? That really hurts the Saints. Kamara has been an incredible safety blanket for New Orleans for so long. And that...
That hurts. And then Michael Thomas. I'm not worried about Chris Alave. I want to see what Michael Thomas does. Does he buy into this new system? It certainly seems like he and Derek Carr have developed a wonderful chemistry. And hats off to Derek, those smarts again. You know, he courted Michael from the very beginning of his arrival in New Orleans. And...
had his injury problems, but I think he's also had some head issues. Do I buy into this system? Do I buy into this philosophy? Do I feel valued and wanted? And Derek has really reached out and tried to make sure, hey, this is you and me. Will that work long term? Will that hold all season long? To me, those are the two critical things that will determine the Saints season. And then I do want to look at this defense because they lost a lot. They replaced. But David Onyemata...
Ellis both going over to the Falcons and then Ryan Nielsen leaving the Saints and becoming the Falcons defensive coordinator. That's a big hole. I'll be curious to see how the black and gold rebound from that. Let's go to the NFC East for a minute. Obviously, all eyes are going to be on the Cowboys and Dak and the hopes that they have for this season, you know, I think are really huge. But it's also, you know, I think a team that has already shown
you know, the capacity to be very brittle, you know, in a lot of different respects. And as much as, you know, people are picking, you know, Micah Parsons to have another amazing season and for, you know, Dak to really prove himself, there's just a lot of questions about Dallas as there always is. And of course, you know, you feel like
you can just sense that game, you know, two or three weeks into the season where Dak throws a, you know, two and two bad interceptions and the camera just goes to Trey Lance on the sideline and people start and people start, you know, murmuring and talking on, on, on Twitter on X or whatever about, about making a change.
What is your view of the Cowboys' possibility this year? How high are you on them, or do you think that they still have some significant flaws? Yeah, another Aaron Rodgers-Brice Love situation coming to a rear assembly head. I like the Cowboys. I don't love the Cowboys. They're going to have some success. They're going to make some noise.
Dak and Micah will be good. They're going to win some games that are close and that have fantastic finishes. But when it comes to matching up with the Eagles, I'm taking the Eagles in that division. I just, I think they're a stronger, more complete team of,
The pieces that they lost, I think they did a really good job replacing. And I don't know that I'm sold on Mike McCarthy as a head coach over there. I wonder how much Jerry lets him truly be Mike and truly be a good coach. So, again, I think they'll make noise. I think they'll have some success. I don't think they're going to make a run to the Super Bowl.
In New York, you have Brian Dable pulling out a pretty impressive season from Daniel Jones in a way that not a lot of people expected him to be able to pull off. Do you think that's a fluke or is there a repeat? No, I think they are going to build on the success that they had last season. I think they are building in a methodical way. I think they're putting the right pieces in place. Yeah.
Daniel Jones, so many times these young quarterbacks, there's so much pressure that first year. There's so much pressure initially, and they need time to marinate. They need time to come along, and I think they have found a really good combination in rhythm. I was impressed with Daniel's decision-making last year. I was impressed with his voice. I think he's comfortable in this system, and I think this is just another more time, more time on task.
to fine-tune and curtail this system to exactly what's going to make him sing and make him be successful. And I think that's where you have your long-term success. I think they're in for another fun season.
Sam Howe was obviously a top flight draft quarterback possibility the season before his last in North Carolina. But then, you know, both due to some injuries and due to the fact that they lost wide receivers to the NFL, he ended up having a really down year and ends up getting picked later in the draft by the Washington Commanders.
There are a lot of people I know in the fantasy side of things who are actually quite high on him, thinking that he's going to have to throw a lot and that they like the wide receiver set. But do you think that that team can really accomplish anything, especially given that they're in a division that is fairly, within the NFC terms, quite strong? Sam fell a lot further in the draft than I thought he would. That was a big surprise to me.
I think his challenge is going to be the culture in the system and everything that the commanders have going on, all the outside noise around them. Hopefully better for them and that squad than last season because they do have some really good people there. But I think I kind of equate them to the Raiders. They've dug themselves a pretty deep hole. Now, I do think you're going to see some –
SportsCenter top 10 highlight reels, some highlight catches that are going to be fun to watch. But no, I don't think in that division they're going to come out winning the division or making a deep postseason run at all. It is one more question about them.
the shift of Eric B enemy obviously was one of the most talked about kind of things that happened in the off season, him going from, you know, a view of being able to, you know, run an offense with Patrick homes versus running an offense with a really, you know, inexperienced NFL quarterback was something that surprised a lot of people, but there was a feeling that he sort of needed to come out from under Andy Reed's shadow in order to prove himself. Do you think that that's going to be a situation that benefits him or is it going to be looked back on as, as a mistake?
No, I think it's absolutely going to benefit him. What more did he have to accomplish in Kansas City? He'd done everything he could possibly do. You know, I've asked several general managers, several front office staff members. I know this is a flashpoint topic over diversity hires, but how has he not gotten a head coaching spot? And I heard over and over again,
He doesn't interview well. He doesn't come across like a leader. He doesn't come across as somebody who can get those guys to run through a wall for you. And that's what you need in your head coach. So I think...
Andy Reid is such a powerful overall figure. He's such a great offensive mind. This is going to be great for BNME to grow and spread his wings some and have a lot more ownership. I'm sure there will be some moments where learning moments for any of us when we're in those types of new situations. But it was absolutely to me the right move for him, the right next step, because you've got to grow. You never grow if you don't make yourself a little uncomfortable.
Let's go to the North. The situation, obviously, there is dramatically changed by Rodney Karcher. You know, but we all saw, I mean, that Vikings team, not that I was, I mean, I was constantly fading them in terms of their, you know, just feeling like this is a team that doesn't really match up with its record, even though, I mean...
how can you not like Kirk Cousins after, after seeing that Netflix documentary and all that? I mean, it's, it's just, I mean, he's such a, I find him to be just such a lovable dork. It's like, you know, it's just, I can't, I can't help but like it. But the, the, the thing that, you know, you kind of have to ask now is,
does that clear a path for the Vikings or do they have something to worry about? And the fact that, you know, you've got a Justin Fields, uh, who seems to have kind of figured things out over the course of the back half of that season. Uh,
And, you know, and, you know, certainly, you know, seems to be a bigger threat. And even if the Packers are in rebuilding mode, you have all of those normal rivalries that that come into the fore and you have a Lions team that a lot of people are high on and think, you know, might even be, you know, a wildcard team and make the playoffs. What are your thoughts on the way the North shakes out?
Well, full disclosure, LSU fan, you cannot bring up Florida State. That is a no-go. We cannot talk about that debacle last Sunday. But, of course, you should. I was going to ask you the last question about that. Go ahead. Mercy. Please, mercy. That was humiliating enough. You're a Justin Jefferson fan, so I think they're still going to have success because when you have J.J. on that squad –
You're going to win games and you're going to have fantastic plays and you're going to make defenses be accountable. But maybe I'm drinking the Kool-Aid.
high on the Detroit Lions. I picked Dan Campbell as coach of the year. I love Aaron Glenn. They've retooled that defense. They really had some holes in the secondary that I think they've plugged this offseason. We'll find out starting on Thursday night football. I tell you what, the NFL is high on them because there's no way if the NFL didn't believe in the Lions, they would put them opening night versus the Super Bowl champs. They need a competitive game, not a blowout.
I think the Lions are going to make a lot more noise than people think. I know Lions fans are high on them, but outside of the division, outside of Michigan, I
that's my sleeper team. I think they're going to go far. I think they're going to surprise a lot of people. They're going to win some games that you didn't expect. Maybe even this Thursday night matchup, especially if Kansas city is without Kelsey and Chris Jones, they'd be missing two of their three top best players. I really liked the lions. So when you look at the, when you look at the West, obviously the,
Most people are sort of saying, you know, it's probably the Seahawks, you know, in the way that that division goes. But there's so much...
There's so many flaws, I would argue, on so many of those different NFC West teams. You know, it's hard to kind of bet on one of them, you know, above the others to be, you know, a team that you can have a lot of confidence in just because, you know, obviously, you know, as much as you have, you know, a dominant system in Kyle Shanahan's offense, you know,
you know, they've shown the ability to fall off and the ability to have, you know, struggles due to injury in the past. You know, the Rams team, you know, is basically, you know, one or two players away from looking, you know, really bad. They had the worst, you know, performance of any reigning Super Bowl champ, you know, in terms of last year. You know, do you view that division as basically being, you know, rebuilding mode for everybody but the 49ers? Yes. However, I'll say this.
Love Geno Smith. Would love for him to have continued success. Love him on and off the field. And Pete Carroll continues to surprise us. I cannot believe I didn't bring him up when we were talking earlier about old guard coaches who were innovators. I mean, that guy, he's still out there pregame throwing passes. Yeah.
That is a coach that gets the most out of his players. And he's smart enough to realize what makes different players tick. Because, you know, you can't motivate everybody the same way. And Pete can change his approach depending on who he's dealing with, what type of personality he's dealing with. So I wouldn't count the Seahawks out. But yeah, in that division, I love the 49ers. I think what Shanahan and John Lynch have built there, again, talking about time on task and building slowly each season, I think they're coming into their own and
if it weren't the Eagles, the 49ers were definitely my next choice for Super Bowl champs. Nothing, nothing says front office success like the fact that you are dealing away this quarterback that you dealt so many picks for and nobody's mad about it. You
That just says how much success they've been able to find. The West, on the AFC side, of course, is the opposite situation, just stacked. I mean, in terms of the competitiveness and what you're going to see in...
coaching and quarterback play, et cetera. Do you think the chargers are going to be able to have a repeat success, you know, uh, with, uh, with Eckler and with Herbert and everything else like that? Or do you think that that was kind of a flash in the pan for them?
I think they'll be good. I don't think they'll be great. What I would like to see from Justin Herbert is him to have more leeway at the line of scrimmage to change plays, to read defenses, to react. I think that part of his development is something that coaching staff would love to see progress a little bit more. Austin Eckler, what a great weapon. What a great safety net to have in your back pocket. They're going to be good. They're going to do some nice things.
But no, I don't see them challenging some of the powerhouses week in and week out. Is there any reason to bet against Patrick Mahomes to have repeat success and get back to another Super Bowl?
Yes, because I think that type of sustained success is so freaking difficult. You get complacent. You can't help it. It's different when you're chasing something you've never had before. I mean, granted, Nick Saban has done it in Alabama and I don't know how it is the bane of my existence in my college football fandom, but, but I think it is, it is so tough to keep a team motivated. Uh,
Maybe not Patrick Mahomes specifically, but shoot, the grind that it takes, the commitment that it takes to reach a Super Bowl, everything that has to line up besides that. The injury gods play such a huge part in that equation as well. I can't give you a reason other than that. I can't point to a hole in that team other than to say I just can't believe the odds would stack up again for them to win it and be able to repeat. I don't see it.
There's a number of people I know who are very high on the Steelers' chances, but then there's also a number of people I know...
who think that this could be the first year under Tomlin that you see a kind of drop-off in their performance and not be able to live up to things. Are you a believer in Kenny Pickett and in that offense's ability to compete with Joe Burrow, with what people expect to be a frisky Cleveland team and the like in the North?
I'm a big believer in Mike Tomlin. And if anyone isn't, you just look at that record. Who else has never had a losing season? I think he's going to bring Kenny Pickett along. I'm excited to see where Kenny is, where he is in his development. They chose him for a reason, and they watched his kid. He was in their own backyard. They watched him forever while he was at Pitt. They know what they have. They know where his weaknesses were and how to address them. I think the Steelers are going to be really good. And, again, I just –
Mike Tomlin, to me, he's the picture of consistency. No matter who he's had, who he hasn't had, he has found ways to win and be competitive season in and season out. Maybe not the Super Bowls people wanted, but you never had a season where you went, oh my gosh, this team is atrocious. This team is an embarrassment. And Tomlin's been there long enough. You would think that would have happened at some point. So why do I have any reason to believe that this season is going to be a first?
Lamar Jackson is back. There was, you know, a lot of questions about whether that was going to happen or not, whether he was going to end up going somewhere else, but he's back and,
How high are you in terms of Baltimore, in terms of their offensive scheme and his performance after the kind of difficulty in the offseason and everything else that we saw? That was a head-scratcher to me. I still do not understand why this Lamar watch took so... Why did this deal take so long to get done? What else were you going to do, Baltimore? It just...
it seems like unnecessary drama, unnecessary water under the bridge, unnecessary hard feelings. How much of that can Lamar put aside? Does he still have a chip on his shoulder from it? Is he going to put in the same work and put in the same type of devotion and total self-sacrifice after all of that? I'm very curious to see how he responds and if there's still any bad blood, if they can put that aside and just get down to business.
again, to me, it took so long. I don't see how there couldn't be some lingering feelings of resentment. In the South, a big part of the debate there is how good the Jaguars are going to be. What are your thoughts on them? Yeah, I'm excited about that one. Look, I think their quarterback situation, you have been waiting for him to come into his own for so long, right? You've seen so much promise. I think
this season they're going to take a big jump. I actually have them week three. I cannot wait to see them in person from the sidelines. I think that's a team that's going to make some noise if you're looking for a sleeper squad, if you're looking for some real value and fantasy players that are flying underneath the radar. I think the Jaguars might be the place to find that type of value. I'm ready to see what they bring to the table, and I think they're going to be a lot better than a lot of people give them credit for.
You know, you have, you know, in terms of the expectations, you know, for them, you know, a lot of people I think are going into the season, you know, sort of saying, you know, which half of the season were they? You know, were they the first half or the second half? And I think that the rationale that I've heard from some folks is it takes you about half of the season to just get
the Urban Meyer stench kind of out of the building. And so if you're a believer in that, I think that they definitely are a team to watch. And then, of course, you've got the situation in the East. You've got a Patriots team that still has quarterback uncertainty but is always going to be frisky. But a lot of people, I mean, I think are looking at what's going on in Miami and sort of saying, is this an opportunity for them
uh, to, you know, live up to what clearly has been some, some hopes they spent, they spent a bunch of money in on this team. You know, they brought in Tyreek Hill, they did all of these different things, you know, last year. And, and now, you know, you're sort of looking at McDaniel. He is by the way, another one of those, uh, of those unknown youngsters who was on that, it was on that, uh, Shanahan squad back in the day. Yes. Um,
And, you know, clearly he's one of the – he has a lot of character. He's kind of on the sidelines and that kind of thing. What are your thoughts on their possibilities? Well, first, let me go back to the Patriots. You had asked me earlier about perhaps old guard coaches that just wouldn't –
come around that would be left behind. If you asked me to put a name to that, I wonder if Belichick would be on that list. He has not been himself since losing Tom Brady. You had all the drama with Mac Jones kind of seeming to buck the system and, and, and bridle against his control. I'm, I'm, that's one of the situations I'm watching as far as the chemistry and can Belichick give a little and, and change somewhat with the times. Cause I don't think his style of coaching is,
really works if you're not having that amazing success. I think the only reason people followed it for so long is because they were winning Super Bowls, but that hasn't been the case without Tom Brady. As far as Miami, I love Mike McDaniels. How can you not? The t-shirts he wore last year...
He's just such a character. He's one of those coaches that, you know, the analogy is always, can you get guys to run through a wall for you? And he can't, and he doesn't look like it, right? When you see him in person, you wouldn't think of this as this leader of men of NFL powerhouses. I think they're going to have a lot of fun down there. Tyreek Hill, how much does he have left in the tank? That's the question for me, though. And let's finish up in Buffalo. Obviously, you had
a very unique situation with them last year. The, the DeMar Hamlin situation and everything else that came out of it, you know, when you're playing on emotion, I remember the Washington team, the, you know, with dealing with the death of Sean Taylor, that it, those kinds of emotional teams, you know, often they kind of, they just, they, it takes a lot out of you energy wise. And then you can run into a competitive force that, you know, where, where,
Things kind of just can fall apart on you. How do they respond to the crushing way that their season ended last year? Do you think that they've got enough in the tank to be able to take on the Chiefs to rival them? And do you believe that they're the biggest threat to the Chiefs to come out of the AFC?
Remember the Bengals? I picked the Bengals to go to the Super Bowl, and I really debated Bengals versus Bills. I got to spend some time with DeMar Hanlon actually this summer doing some stuff for the American Heart Association.
A, he's my comeback player of the year, no doubt. I don't know how anybody can pick anybody else. Number two, I think his story, because it's not done. I agree with your point about the emotion that those types of situations can be galvanizing, but then the letdown on the other side can be completely depleting. I don't see the letdown happening, though, because we're going to see him back out in a game situation. We're going to see him leading the charge. We're going to see him. It's going to be such a success story. I think it's going to continue to galvanize that squad.
And you got Josh Allen. I think this is Josh Allen's year. I still got to go with Joe Burrow overall to get to the Superbowl, but, but I think Josh Allen is going to continue to be an incredible force. I think he's still getting better. I don't think we've seen him reach his ceiling yet. And when you got a guy like that, and when you have a motivator like that, and when you have a fan base like that, uh, that fan base reminds me a lot of the saints fan base, the passion and the commitment they have to their team. Um,
Yeah, the Bills are going to be a lot of fun to watch this season. So I do have to ask you about your attitude towards your beloved LSU. Things were going so well today. It's hard to lose. It's hard to lose. But isn't it harder to lose with a coach who just is disliked as opposed to a coach who was...
you know, a beloved character. I mean, the losing feels different when you're like, ah, you know, and so I guess I just have to ask you, in terms of the fan base, what has the reaction been in your community?
How do they feel about it? You're disgust. Paying all this money, a guaranteed 10-year contract. And it would be one thing if they were blown out all game and just outmatched, maybe not prepared. But the first half was fine. It's as if we just laid down in the second half. And that's when the embarrassment comes out. At least fight to the end. At least give them a run for their money and be able to hold your head up high and say,
Gosh dang it, we left everything out there on the field. And they didn't. And when the team quits on you, which is what happened, that's a scary sign when it's the first game of the season and you've got a long season with a bunch of SEC opponents to go. So disgust, worry. There's a ton of pride down here. People identify. People take a lot of self-worth, right or wrong, out of their football teams. And there's a lot of angst.
Um, one more question before I let you go, uh, when you are going out there on, on and doing the kind of sideline reporting, what's, what's the place where you have the best time just in terms of the experience of game day, the stadium, the people, a place that you look forward to going just because you know that it's going to be a great experience. Okay. That's like asking someone a favorite child. First of all, totally unfair. Um,
I'm an old soul in terms of like favorite stadium, favorite venue. I love the historical stuff. So Lambeau, you really, really do get chills. If you're a football fan and you haven't been there, you need to go to a game.
You just feel something spiritual when you walk in that stadium, for sure. And then, of course, you know, as we've obviously established here, I'm a New Orleans girl, graduated from LSU. I love the Superdome. It might not be the fanciest bells and whistles stadium out there, but man, it is going to be loud. People are going to bring it every home game, doesn't matter what time.
They're going to have been drinking and cooking for hours before, even if it is a noon kickoff. You're going to have a good time if you go to a Saints game. It's going to be a party. Thank you so much, Jen, for joining me and for walking us through all of this. And, you know, good luck with what I'm sure is going to be an exciting season. Thanks for having me. I had a blast. More of the Ben Domenech podcast right after this.
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For me, one of the most interesting things about this upcoming NFL season is going to be watching the way that offenses respond and adapt to circumstances and rules that are designed to truly benefit quarterbacks and the throwing game over everything else. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And I think that one of the things that is likely to happen, given that there is so much of an emphasis in that direction across the league, is
is that someone's going to figure out something different to do. We all know the success of the Shanahan-based, movement-based running game. That type of zone read situation has been enormously successful in terms of racking up rushing yards. But other than that, there aren't a lot of approaches that are leaning on the running back position anymore.
this time around. And that's something that I think has obviously been seen within the growth and development of a lot of young star wide receivers, a lot of strong armed quarterbacks, and really shifts in the way that
People call offenses and look at the situations that are in front of them. I think that that means that there's going to be something that goes in the opposite direction where someone says, you know what, I'm going to go toward big linemen who, you know, are able to really road grade and I'm going to have, you know, bigger running backs that are designed to beat up some of these defenses in different ways than they're used to.
We see that obviously in the college game in a lot of different circumstances where some of these run heavy, motion heavy offenses that are designed to really expose defenses that are used to fighting up against past wacky sort of spread offenses. It's something that we've seen there and I think that it's inevitably going to come to the NFL. I'm just curious when and where. Somebody's going to do it and whether it's a quarterback injury that prompts them to do it
whether it's just realizing that your personnel is better at doing certain things than perhaps you thought about it going into the season or not. I'll be curious to see who ends up trying to do that kind of thing and if they're able to find the success that I think they will by going against the trend as opposed to with it. The other thing that obviously is going on within the NFL industry
are massive moves when it comes to the media side, the business side of what's going on. And certainly there's a, I mean, there's a cover story about, um, uh, about Roger Goodell, uh, in variety in the context of this, he's someone who is obviously viewed as being a major, uh,
having a major effect on the world, not just of, of, uh, sports related media, but media deals in general because of just how outsized the NFL viewership is in a time when most people are not watching live TV. And I think that that's something that's going to absolutely, uh,
be a major factor in terms of how all of these different things shake out within the world of media, in bundles, in working with Amazon, in streaming across multiple platforms. And we've seen the effect that that's had in terms of the way that people are changing the way they watch games.
You've seen YouTube, for instance, take over the Sunday ticket package in the way that they have. And I think that that's going to have an outsized effect on the corporate kind of media landscape in ways that are still to be seen. And then finally, I think that one of the things that we
have to keep in mind about this is that these young quarterbacks, you know, who have had so much early success, you know, also, you know, reach a point where they're not immortal anymore, where they run into adversity, where they run into the inevitable injury bug, uh,
And when one of them goes down, it can be the difference between whether you're able to make it to not just the Super Bowl but to the playoffs or not. We saw what happened with the 49ers when they went through that murderer's row that resulted in them really not having a quarterback in the very end. And that's something that could happen to any team at any time. It's obviously...
where the ability to make it to a Super Bowl or not is assumed to be dependent on it. So we'll see what happens when one of these younger, highly respected quarterbacks runs into that. We don't know.
We don't know if it's going to happen this season or not. Knock on wood. The NFL is trying to do everything it can with its rules to keep that from happening because they understand how bankable those quarterbacks are and the teams that they run. And that's something that I think is going to be a continued issue for them in every season. Personally, I just like the idea of getting back to the NFL. Whenever it's gone wrong,
It just seems like there's something that's absent from conversation and life in America. It's so dominant as a force. And it's something that, you know, really draws people together in the sense that it appeals across boundaries of class and race and politics in ways that few other sports or even, you know, few other events really do. And that's something that I appreciate, not just about sports, but particularly about the NFL.
So good luck to everyone. And I hope that you enjoy this season as, as much as possible. It's one of the, in a time when so much upheaval is happening in American politics and cultural life, at least we can turn to football as some, some form of escape in a time of such division.
I'm Ben Domenech. You've been listening to another edition of the Ben Domenech podcast brought to you by Fox News. We'll be back soon with more to dive back into the fray. Listen ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members can listen to this show ad-free on the Amazon Music app.
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