Speaker 1: CBS Sports brings out their six NFL football writers and
Speaker 1: they project every single division. All right, NFL division, So
Speaker 1: you and I are going to play along here and
Speaker 1: maybe early but remember tomorrow opening night for the National
Speaker 1: Football So they break it down every single division and
Speaker 1: then they go to the super Bowl. They got their
Speaker 1: playoff teams. We don't necessarily have to do that, but
Speaker 1: I do want to know who is your winner in
Speaker 1: each division. So we'll start with the AFC East. That's
Speaker 1: where you got Buffalo, you got the Jets, you got
Speaker 1: the Dolphins, you got the Patriots. I think the consensus
Speaker 1: is that New England is the worst team in the division.
Speaker 1: If they're not the worst team in the NFL, then
Speaker 1: you have to decide is it going to be Buffalo again,
Speaker 1: is it going to be Miami and to is led offense?
Speaker 1: Or is it going to be the chic pick that
Speaker 1: everybody has with the New York Jets. Who wins that division?
Speaker 1: I suppose a lot of this comes down to who.
Speaker 2: Do you believe?
Speaker 1: Like do you believe who do you give edges to?
Speaker 1: Who's the best coach of those? Is it Mike McDaniel,
Speaker 1: is it Sean McDermott, is it Robert the Law, you know,
Speaker 1: the kid from Dearbort, Who is it? Who's the best
Speaker 1: quarterback of that group? Who's got the best defense? Those
Speaker 1: are the different questions you're probably asking yourself. So who
Speaker 1: wins the AFC East in your mind? So for me, Look,
Speaker 1: I think the Jets are going to be good. I
Speaker 1: don't know if Aaron Rodgers are going to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: I'm going to take Buffalo again, and Buffalo is a
Speaker 1: chek pick to miss out on the playoffs. But I
Speaker 1: think Josh Allen is still one of the best players
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and I worry about the lack of
Speaker 1: tent that he has, and I worry that they lose Milano.
Speaker 1: That's a big loss. But I do believe collectively they're
Speaker 1: still the best team in the division. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go Buffalo for one more year. Who's gonna win the
Speaker 1: AFC East?
Speaker 2: I'm going Buffalo as well, and I'll take it one
Speaker 2: step further. I think are they a better team without
Speaker 2: Stephan Dicks? Of course not. They got worse by losing
Speaker 2: Stephan Dicks, but I think that frees up Josh Allen
Speaker 2: to be even more of a superman than he already
Speaker 2: has been, and I think you could see Josh Allen
Speaker 2: win an MVP for the first time in his career.
Speaker 2: This seems interesting, So I'm with you on the Jets.
Speaker 2: Won't expand on it too much because our listeners know
Speaker 2: how I feel about Aaron Rodgers. I just think the
Speaker 2: hype is ridiculous right now for so many question marks
Speaker 2: around that team judgment though.
Speaker 1: Does that cloud your judgment when when you hear the
Speaker 1: Jets look, I can just to picture you in the studio,
Speaker 1: I mean, in the hair on the back of your neck.
Speaker 1: Don't let that interfere with what you think truly.
Speaker 2: Is what the team's going to happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Jets have a really good defense man, okay,
Speaker 1: and many people feel like it's a team that was
Speaker 1: a quarterback away from reaching the postseason a year ago.
Speaker 1: So you may hate for Aaron Rodgers. That's fine. I
Speaker 1: don't necessarily blame you, and I sure as hell don't
Speaker 1: necessarily disagree with you, but that shouldn't cloud your judgment
Speaker 1: on whether or not you think they're gonna win. You
Speaker 1: can root against him, but from a mental standpoint, from
Speaker 1: a smart standpoint, do you honestly believe that they're a
Speaker 1: playoff team if he's healthy, they are. I truly believe
Speaker 1: they are.
Speaker 2: Well. So here's the thing. All this discussion about the
Speaker 2: Jets and the rhetoric all offseason has been exactly what
Speaker 2: you said, which is great defense. You Dragons drop a
Speaker 2: decent quarterback in there. All they need is decent quarterback play,
Speaker 2: and they should be at least a playoff team, if
Speaker 2: not winning that division. My thing is the last time
Speaker 2: we saw Aaron Rodgers fully healthy for a full season,
Speaker 2: he was okay, he wasn't anything spectacular, and then you
Speaker 2: roll in the injury and I just too many question
Speaker 2: marks for me to pick him. I'm gonna go with
Speaker 2: the team that's won that Vision five six years in
Speaker 2: a row. Okay, that's fine.
Speaker 1: People think Chicago has greatly improved, right, and they use
Speaker 1: primarily their quarterback as the reason. Right, people, This is
Speaker 1: what I hear. They were seven and ten a year ago.
Speaker 1: Caleb Williams is gonna make a big difference. I got
Speaker 1: news for you, man. The Jets were seven and two
Speaker 1: or seven and ten rather. So you don't think Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers can make that big of a difference. You could,
Speaker 1: You don't think he can make a three win difference.
Speaker 1: I believe he can.
Speaker 2: I think I think he could. But again, that's it,
Speaker 2: and maybe I'll pick him to make the playoffs. I
Speaker 2: don't know, but that doesn't.
Speaker 1: Sound like you did. You picked Miami. I think here's
Speaker 1: what I think you can't. Stan Rogers correct. You are
Speaker 1: tired of the national hype. You don't think it's warranted
Speaker 1: for the for the Jets. So you've let your emotions
Speaker 1: get in the way.
Speaker 2: Maybe a little bit. But I just I mean, if
Speaker 2: I if I got to pick a division winner, I'm
Speaker 2: going with Josh Allen, and I'm going to Sean McDermott,
Speaker 2: who I think is the best coach in that DIVI so.
Speaker 1: Good enough, good enough. That's why I I heard you
Speaker 1: say Miami is gonna make the playoffs. Nothing about the Jets.
Speaker 1: I'm not a Jets apologist. I'm just telling you I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna.
Speaker 2: Be a lot better most people do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I'm with them. I'm not you know, I'm
Speaker 1: not part of the sheep herd. I just think if
Speaker 1: he's healthy, it's going to be a big difference. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you can make the playoffs, or if you if
Speaker 1: you can win seven games last year with that quarterback situation.
Speaker 1: If this guy can stabilize it, it'll be interesting, all right,
Speaker 1: AFC North, that's the Bengals, that's the Ravens, that's the Browns,
Speaker 1: and that's the Steelers. Baltimore is the incumbent. Bengals went
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl just a couple of years ago
Speaker 1: with Joe Burrow right, just a few years ago. So
Speaker 1: who is it. I'm gonna take Baltimore again. I think
Speaker 1: their coach is at excellent. I think their quarterback and
Speaker 1: the hunger that they possess. I'll take Cincinnati second, but
Speaker 1: I think Baltimore is the team to beat in the division.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think both those teams make the playoffs. And
Speaker 2: for what it's worth, Vegas has both teams at ten
Speaker 2: and a half wins as they're over under Samos the Lions,
Speaker 2: by the way, and we'll talk about that later, I'm sure,
Speaker 2: but I'm gonna agree with you. I just think Lamar's
Speaker 2: too good, Joe Burrow too many question marks similar to
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers actually coming off injuries, and has it really
Speaker 2: stayed healthy since their Super Bowl run? So give me
Speaker 2: the Ravens.
Speaker 1: Still arguably the best quarterback in that division. I would
Speaker 1: take Joe Burrow over any other quarterback in that division.
Speaker 2: AFC South.
Speaker 1: That's the Texans and the Jags and the Titans and
Speaker 1: the Colts.
Speaker 2: Now here's the thing.
Speaker 1: For as much as you kind of shake your head,
Speaker 1: scratch your head and go, oh man, I'm still tired
Speaker 1: of the Jets, everybody's picking the Everyone's got Houston. There's
Speaker 1: a love fest for Houston too, you know. And I
Speaker 1: get it.
Speaker 2: C J.
Speaker 1: Streull with an incredible season a year ago, but it's
Speaker 1: one year.
Speaker 2: What have they proven to you? Yeah, they also did.
Speaker 2: Really they're gonna use it until late in that season
Speaker 2: where Trevor Lawrence is hurt.
Speaker 1: This is winner by default because it's such a bad division.
Speaker 1: But you've got to take Houston. You have to because
Speaker 1: Jacksonville hasn't shown you anything. Tennessee is awful, and the
Speaker 1: Colts are fragile too. So it's easy to take Houston
Speaker 1: because they wanted a year ago. But the vibe there
Speaker 1: and the improvements they've made as much as anything else
Speaker 1: will Anderson's going to be a son of a gun Stroud.
Speaker 1: You can't imagine him taking too much of a step back,
Speaker 1: if at all, Stefan Diggs, he gets another. Their wide
Speaker 1: receivers are arguably the best collective bunch in all the NFL.
Speaker 1: So I'll take Houston.
Speaker 2: In the AFC South real quick.
Speaker 1: Who do you got there?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Same, okay?
Speaker 1: And then in the AFC West, Now, Kansas City's the incumbent,
Speaker 1: You're crazy to pick against him. Chargers might be on
Speaker 1: the come, though.
Speaker 2: So let me phrase it like this, then, Chep, I
Speaker 2: think we're both going to pick Kansas City to win
Speaker 2: that division. Of course, do you think LA makes the playoffs? No,
Speaker 2: I don't, not this year, but you think they're on
Speaker 2: the coming up, I do.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think I would pick them second in
Speaker 1: that division, but I think the AFC North is too strong,
Speaker 1: and I think when you've got Miami and the Jets
Speaker 1: in that mix, I think Miami and the Jets are
Speaker 1: better than the Chargers. And I think if you're going
Speaker 1: to take the Ravens, I think Cincinnati and Cleveland are
Speaker 1: better than the Chargers as well. And that's the reason
Speaker 1: I don't think they make the playoffs. Now, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you this real quick, and then we're gould do the
Speaker 1: NFC on the way back. In the AFC East, of
Speaker 1: the six writers for CBS Sports, four of them picked
Speaker 1: the Bills, one took the Dolphins, one took the Jets.
Speaker 1: Somebody actually picked the Bills. Third in the division, one
Speaker 1: writer did. In the AFC North, three picked the Ravens,
Speaker 1: three picked the Bengals. None of them picked either one
Speaker 1: of those teams any worse than second. In the AFC South,
Speaker 1: everybody took the Texans, and the AFC West, everybody took
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, then the Chargers, and then five of the
Speaker 1: six took the Broncos. Third.
Speaker 2: The AFC is done.
Speaker 1: When we come back the NFC, this is where things
Speaker 1: might get interesting. The NFC East. Now CBS came out.
Speaker 1: They have six writers. One writer took Washington.
Speaker 2: Big Daniels fan must be or Dan Quinn or both
Speaker 2: or both? Yeah or Big Jaden Daniels believe I should
Speaker 2: say not fan.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I'm gonna take Philly. I think Philly has
Speaker 1: a bounce back year and I'm gonna slip into a
Speaker 1: Trent Valley trap. Here the national love for Dallas and
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott. You get irked by the Jets to a
Speaker 1: certain extent. I do too, but they're so far removed
Speaker 1: because in the AFC doesn't bother me. The Dallas love
Speaker 1: bothers me more and again. I try to think with
Speaker 1: my head, not my heart. I think Philly's better. I
Speaker 1: picked Dallas second. They'll probably make the playoffs. And I
Speaker 1: had this conversation with a trainer at my gym yesterday
Speaker 1: after the show. He's like, man, Dallas, I just you know,
Speaker 1: they're not very good. He was just ripping on the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: and the talk show hosting me immediately stands up and says, Jason,
Speaker 1: this is his friend, friend of mine. Jason. He says,
Speaker 1: I said, they've won twelve games in each of the
Speaker 1: last three years. Man, you may not like Dak Prescott,
Speaker 1: you may not like Mike McCarthy, but if your team
Speaker 1: and his team's the Packers, he loves the Packers. If
Speaker 1: your team won twelve games three years in a row,
Speaker 1: thirty six games over an extended over a three year span,
Speaker 1: and you weren't getting any respect, you'd be pissed, right.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, that's a good point, but they just
Speaker 1: don't win in the playoffs. I said, that's fine, and
Speaker 1: you're right about that. But they went undefeated at home
Speaker 1: last year. They had the second best record in the
Speaker 1: NFC last year to San Francisco. There's a little respect
Speaker 1: earned there, regular season respect. You don't want to pick
Speaker 1: him in the postseason. I get it, but regular season
Speaker 1: they got to be under consideration. And what would be considered,
Speaker 1: especially with Philadelphia, you gotta play Philly twice. Washington wasn't
Speaker 1: very good last year. Giants weren't very good last year.
Speaker 1: They had a decent schedule. The Cowboys had a decent
Speaker 1: schedule last year. But I'm going to take Philly to
Speaker 1: win the NFC East. And only one writer took the Eagles.
Speaker 1: Who you taking.
Speaker 2: There's a statistic out there that has been beaten into oblivion,
Speaker 2: but I'm gonna bring it up because it matters. There
Speaker 2: has not been a back to back champion in the
Speaker 2: NFC East since two thousand and four, when McNabb and
Speaker 2: t O did it. It has been a different team
Speaker 2: every single year, whether it's Washington, New York, Philly, or Dallas.
Speaker 2: Dallas won a last year. I'm with you. I'm going
Speaker 2: with Philly.
Speaker 1: Okay, I didn't know that statistic. It's a great one though.
Speaker 1: Should tweet that out. Okay, We'll save the NFC North
Speaker 1: for last. NFC South that's Tampa, that's Atlanta, that's New Orleans,
Speaker 1: and that's Carolina. No, it's taking Carolina, right, I'm taking Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Tampa wanted a year ago. I'm taking Atlanta this year.
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins, I think Steady's that ship and I think
Speaker 1: he's got a lot of weapons. I'm gonna take the
Speaker 1: Falcons to win the NFC South.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I hate to just tell you on all these
Speaker 2: but that's the right answer. I'm picking the Falcons as well.
Speaker 2: Too many weapons. NFC West.
Speaker 1: It's hard to pick against San Francisco, but half the
Speaker 1: writers CBS took the Rams. I'm not going against the Niners.
Speaker 1: They've got the best running back. They have the best obviously,
Speaker 1: just a wide receiver, but a dual threat in Deebo Samuel.
Speaker 1: We'll see if Trent William How much longer can you
Speaker 1: say a thirty six year old's the best tackle, even
Speaker 1: though we think it's Penney Sewel. I think they have
Speaker 1: one of the best defensive ends. I think they've got
Speaker 1: the best linebacker and Fred Warner. It's hard to go
Speaker 1: against San Francisco. I'm gonna keep it with the Niners.
Speaker 1: Rams will finish second in the division with San Francisco Rams, Seahawks,
Speaker 1: and Cardinals.
Speaker 2: I think the Seahawks are better this year. They make
Speaker 2: that division a little bit more competitive. I think even
Speaker 2: Arizona's improved. I'm gonna take LA. I think LA and
Speaker 2: San fran are both gonna finish with twelve wins. LA
Speaker 2: will have the tiebreaker by beating them twice.
Speaker 1: How about that is one of those wins opening night?
Speaker 2: No f Lions get them start one at all? All right?
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Lions, NFC North Lions, Packers, Bears, Vikings,
Speaker 1: four of the six writers pick the Lions. No writer
Speaker 1: picked the Lions worse than second. One writer actually picked
Speaker 1: the Bears second. I'm obviously I'm going with the Lions.
Speaker 1: You know how I feel about it. I think they're
Speaker 1: going to the super Bowl. So I'm taking the Lions
Speaker 1: than the Packers, than the Bears and the Vikings. But
Speaker 1: I do not expect Chicago to make the postseason.
Speaker 2: No, I don't either. I'm with you. I think the
Speaker 2: Bears are almost in Jets territory for me, where they're
Speaker 2: getting talked about to the extent that it is annoying
Speaker 2: and it's irritating. But I'll leave my feelings out of it.
Speaker 2: Like you said, everyone knows how we both feel about
Speaker 2: the Lions. They're winning twelve games again, They're going to
Speaker 2: the super Bowl. You and I both think they got
Speaker 2: a real chance to win. The damn thing I do.
Speaker 2: The Lions are gonna win this NFC North.
Speaker 1: It's an interesting pairing for the six writers. Again, this
Speaker 1: is not gospel, but just giving you an idea of
Speaker 1: the six men who follow the NFL and have done
Speaker 1: it for a long time and who they think ready
Speaker 1: for the Super Bowl predictions. One writer has the Packers
Speaker 1: over the Bills, One writer has the Bills over the Rams,
Speaker 1: one writer has the Lions over the Texans. One writer
Speaker 1: has the Bengals over the Lions, one writer has the
Speaker 1: Chiefs over the Niners, and one has the Packers over
Speaker 1: the Jets. There are as you can deduct three teams
Speaker 1: who are multiple options from the six writers. The Bills,
Speaker 1: one has them winning, one has them losing. They've appeared twice,
Speaker 1: the Packers. Two writers have them winning it all, and
Speaker 1: the Lions. One writer has them winning it, one has
Speaker 1: them losing it. So I think it's fair to say
Speaker 1: and considering for the sixth pick them to win the division.
Speaker 1: None of them picked them worse than second. The respect
Speaker 1: for the Lions is true and fair, just like we
Speaker 1: have it.