The Packers Are in Panic Mode and the Main Characters for Week 3

For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms, every choice matters. Tramphya offers self-injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tramphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self-inject Tramphya, proper training is required. Tramphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about Tramphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit TramphyaRadio.com. This episode is brought to you by Sharpie. For Jeremiah Love, Sharpie's 2026 Rookie of the Year and third overall draft pick, career milestones deserve a signature that stands out. That's why he signed his pro contract using the Sharpie S-Gel Pen, making sure his mark looked clean, confident, and unmistakably his. Sharpie S-Gel features no smear, no smudge, no bleed technology, and always vivid writing. High performance for a high performer. For life's biggest signing moments, make it Sharpie. Shop now at Amazon. What's up, everybody? It is the Ringer NFL show, Friday, September 25th. Thursday night football. Great night for the Falcons. Bad night for the Packers. What do we make of it? We'll talk about that game. Who's the favorite right now in the NFC North? A lot to unpack there. Also get to our main characters for week three Sunday across the NFL. We'll do picks in the Ringer 107. And Billy Gill, who had a controversial take on the show the other day, is going to defend him saying Brock Purdy is a top 13 quarterback in the NFL. When you ask questions, when you complain on social media, when you leave lots and lots of comments, it turns out some of us do start to see them, and sometimes it requires a little added context. We'll do that today. It all starts right after this. The Ringer NFL show is presented by FanDuel. The NFL is here, and it's your most rewarding season ever on FanDuel. With the all-new FanDuel Rewards Club, every eligible bet can earn you points. Win or lose, the more points, the bigger the rewards you can unlock. Head to FanDuel.com slash Ringer NFL to start earning with FanDuel Rewards Club. 21 plus select states, 18 plus DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. Don Pellicero, Billy Gill, Sheil Kapadia, all here. Stayed up last night to watch a Thursday night football game that Sheil, I just, I like to think the Packers at home, it is their home opener. Short week, even with the injuries, even with all the challenges. I like to think the Packers at home, it is their home opener. Short week, even with the injuries, and Josh Jacobs not being there. You just like to think that they find a way at Lambeau Field to beat a Falcons team that had looked grossly incompetent offensively for the first couple weeks of the season. The first couple drives, it kind of seemed that way. Michael Penix Jr. was, looked like very much like a guy who hadn't played. But the final three quarters or so was all Falcons. I just, I was startled by the dichotomy between the teams. And it looked like it was the Falcons that came to play and the Packers that had no answers for anything. What'd you make of it? Yeah, we all know that in the NFL, sometimes the team's a big favorite and everyone expects them to win and fluky stuff happens. There's a special teams thing. There's a couple weird turnovers. We've all seen those types of games. That's not what this was. If you sat down and you hadn't watched any other game by the Falcons this year, didn't know what was happening with either team, didn't know preseason expectations, you would just come to the conclusion that the Falcons were better coached, played harder, executed better. I mean, you can check every single box you want. They had 498 yards of offense in that game. They rushed for 242. They scored on five straight possessions in that game. So there's a lot of different angles we can get to with this game. To me, the biggest one is crisis mode might be an exaggeration for the Packers, but I don't know. Have you talked to any Packers fans in the last 12 hours? I think that's pretty close to where they are with the way these first three weeks have gone. They're 1-2. Their only win is in overtime against the Jets. Their offensive line is in shambles. Their defense looks like it can't do anything to stop the opponent until Micah Parsons gets back. And all of a sudden, it feels like this season is slipping away for them. So I think my big takeaway, if I had to have one from that game, it's more the panic over the Packers. And of course, we can get into the positives with the Falcons here in a minute. The way the Falcons look, you would think that Michael Penix was the most important person in the league. Because the Falcons didn't look like a good team the first two weeks. And Sheil pointed out 498 yards on offense. They also only allowed 17 rushing yards to the Packers yesterday. The Packers really didn't have answers for anything. They had 10 drives. Five of those 10 drives were five plays or less. They couldn't really do anything right. They had a field goal that was blocked. They went for it again within the 15-yard line. They didn't convert on a fourth and one. The score didn't even indicate how well off sided it was. It could have been 42-14 because there was an interception at the end of the game that they could have run back but decided let's just down it and end this game. It was as lopsided as it could be. And I think that, you know, it's shocking that the Packers are where they are right now. But the Falcons are not a team that should be blowing you out by nearly 30 points in a game. They had almost 500 yards of offense. It looked like there was no answer whatsoever for Bijan Robinson, which you would think. The starting point for the game plan, I don't care who's a quarterback, is let's not let Bijan just run all over the field. I don't know how many tackles he was officially or unofficially credited with forcing, but it was a lot between broken tackles and missed tackles. The number of guys he's juking. And then Drake London goes off in the game too. Kyle Pitts, I'm told Kyle Pitts is still on the roster. I saw him blocking at one point last night, but this is very much a two-man operation. It's Drake London and it's Bijan Robinson. What last night showed above all else, taking nothing away from Michael Penix Jr., is if you just have a quarterback who can get the ball to those guys, it makes a huge difference. Where Cooper Rush from the very first, it was the first snap of the season, right? Where he scrambles and he fumbles and it just felt like this is a mess. Penix, other than the first series or two series, he played well in the game. On the offensive side, I've seen all the criticism of Matt LaFleur. My mentions this morning were flooded with all these people reposting my stuff about him getting a contract at the end of last season. I struggle with how we're going to pin what's going on with the offense on Matt LaFleur. Yeah, he'd love to have more answers. You know, he said it after the game, like, I don't know what's going on offensively right now. They're scuffly. There's no doubt about it. And the offensive line being gutted, you don't have the right tackle, the left guard's out right now. All those things are completely fair. But if the quarterback doesn't play at a higher level than Jordan Love did last night, I don't know, Sheil, how often you're really going to be competitive. You know, we talked about Jameis Winston on Monday night. That's a backup quarterback coming in. You kind of expect maybe he's going to miss some throws, although that was really bad. Jordan Love was missing throws. I know he connected with Christian Watson's healthy and looks really good. Matthew Golden's taking a step. Tucker Craft, you'd like him to get more involved. But Jordan Love is missing throws. And it seems like when the pressure is in his face, he's not able to operate the way that he needs to, which that part needs to improve, Sheil. And if you want to blame coaching for that, fine. But you're highest paid. Your best players need to play their best. And Jordan Love isn't playing his best football right now. Well, the big thing with Love, if you go back to last year, and you're right, is that his splits from when he was kept clean in the pocket, he was like a top five quarterback. And when he was pressured, he was a below average quarterback. And so I was looking at that coming into the season because on paper, that Packers offensive line, I was like, yeah, yeah, I have some questions about this group. And then they get injuries. But the history of the Packers, if they get kind of guys you've never heard of to come in and it's like, okay, the offensive line is at least average. It hasn't been this big issue for them in a very long time. But now with the injuries, with the lack of talent, with the offseason moves, it looks like the offensive line is not as good. And it doesn't look like Jordan Love is the type of quarterback who can overcome that. I mean, there's been a lot of quarterback discourse this week. And so much of it is just like, what are you willing to make an excuse for, for one guy versus someone else? And I think that's a really good question. me. You can look at Lamar Jackson throughout the course of his career when he's won MVPs. Did you look at that and go, man, great supporting cast, great coaching there? I don't think so. Josh Allen's gone through how many different coordinators and skill guys, and every year they finish in the top five. So I think that's like one class of quarterback. And then you have this next class where the guys are talented like Jordan Love, but the situation needs to be good for them to perform at that elite level. And there's still a question about what they can overcome. And the offensive line was terrible in that game. I mean, the stats, it was like doing 25, 27 quick pressures, which is under two and a half seconds, something like that. And he's getting pressured. Like you said, it's really having an impact on him versus maybe some of the other great quarterbacks in the NFL. And then from a coaching perspective, it's like, you can't run the ball. You're playing from behind because your defense is terrible. You got to throw the football and you know they're going to attack you. And so it was a tough situation all around. I still like LeFleur. I still like Love, but this, it feels like a little bit of a pivot point in kind of that partnership with the way the rest of the season goes. The other thing is you mentioned the 17 rushing yards in the game. They only rushed it nine times, which, you know, there's, there's that, you know, the analytic community will tell you, you don't need to run the ball to set up the play action, but you do need to have the threat of a running game. No one is fearing that offensive line blocking for Marshawn Lloyd and Caleb Johnson and Chris Brooks. So when you don't have the threat of the run, the play action is not nearly as effective. Everybody just assumes, all right, this is going to be Jordan Love throwing the football again, Billy, which puts you in a position where not only are you one dimensional, but you also are predictable in terms of the way that you're going to be trying to throw the football. All that cobbled together has put them in a tough spot. Even though when Matt LeFleur has given Jordan Love layups, it just feels like they're not automatic. And that's not a great place to be. No, I mean, to your point, like, if the run game is not working, at least have a run game going so that they have to defend against the run game and let them dominate you. And then you can kind of get your passes up. But if you only rush nine times, why are you even going to plan for them? You know, you're not going to do it. I think the disappointing part about this game is this should have been kind of a get right game for the Packers in the sense that this is a Falcons team that they should have beat. And they had a win against the Jets last week, but it wasn't an impressive win by any means. If you're the Packers, they could have lost that game and they had to go to overtime. And, you know, it's not panic time at one and two. They're still somehow in their division, but it can quickly get away from them when they start playing division games and when they're playing teams that they should be beating, that they're simply not beating right now. They're at the bottom of their division. And yeah, I think we all think that they're going to be in it, but the Vikings survived at two and oh, without their starting quarterback, their starting quarterback, Kyler Murray is going to be back this week. The Lions are one to one. They're going to figure it out at some point in time. Bears are one and one. Caleb's not going to be out an extended period of time. So at a certain point, you need to start racking up the wins when they're kind of handed to you. And if they're not doing that, then this might be a long season for the Packers. So who's your favorite Billy right now? You just laid it out. The Vikings are two and oh, but they won scoring nine points last week. They've had Carson Wentz for all but two series this season. You got the Lions who they're one of, I think, four teams in the league that have scored at least 30 in each of their games, but they can't stop anybody and they have no secondary. And then you got the Bears who again, 59 points in week one, three points in week two. I understand there's a quarterback and there's bad weather and turnover at the goal line and all that, but it's still, there's some variants. Like right now, if you, if you're guessing who's the team to beat in the NFC North, who is it? I mean, it's looking good for the Vikings just because they survived with Carson Wentz. And now we're going to see what Kyler is. But I mean, the problem with concussions is once over the years that once you have got, whether it be Chris Olave or Tua, once guys kind of have the repeated concussions, you start freaking out. And you also wonder, is Kyler going to be playing a little more conservatively than he's been playing or that he's known to play because he doesn't want to get concussed again. So it might change the way that he's playing. We didn't really see much of him at all in week one. So we don't know what the play style is going to be around him. But if you can make it work with, with, uh, with Carson Wentz, you can make it work with Kyler Murray, you would think. So they have the leg up right now, the Lions. I mean, Sheila and I, both did like our preseason predictions. We both had them getting to the Superbowl. So selfishly, I think we both wanted to work out for them so that we don't look ridiculous. Not that it would be the first time or the last time, but I think we want the Lions to work out. And Caleb, you wanted him to take a step forward this season. Last season was a promising season for him. So you thought this could be a year where he goes to the next level. So the three of them right there, everybody thinks that Jordan Love is this, I'd say tier two, tier three quarterback, maybe when you're looking at it. But right now, it seems like he's stuck there and I don't know that he's had an, has enough to carry the team with all the injuries that he has. Yeah. I'm more concerned, honestly, about their defense. Cause Tom, what you said, like, how do you go into that game? If you're Jonathan Gannon, it's like Michael Penix Jr. making his first start coming off this injury. I don't understand how the whole game plan isn't just, we have to commit every resource we have to Bajon Robinson and not let him go off and let's make Penix hurt us with his arm. And you know, Robinson just, I mean, he, he got them back into that game and then they started making plays downfield. I mean, you look at kind of the defensive coaches in this division and what Brian Flores is doing. And I know we've talked about it before, but you can't talk about it enough. They're two and oh, and there's that graphic that comes up with like Kevin O'Connell and the other coaches who have had all these different quarterbacks and Kevin O'Connell's got such a better record. And I think one of the, one of Kevin O'Connell's greatest strengths is an ability to work with Brian Flores. I mean, I don't know how you can look at it any other way. He hired him, anyone could have hired him. He kept them in the building. They didn't let him go away this off season. And so I think the Vikings right now are probably the most balanced team in the division. If I had to pick one, I'm not getting off Detroit yet because I still feel like if their O-line gets healthy, if Brian Branch comes back, maybe they make one move at, at corner. Maybe there's, I'm scared. If it sounds like I'm scared, it is because I am scared about my preseason prediction, but I would stick with Detroit and the Bears looked awesome week one. If Caleb Williams is coming back healthy, they're in the mix too. So I have the Packers as kind of an easy fourth place right now for me and the NFC North that maybe that's just sticking to my priors before the season. Maybe that's overreaction to the first three weeks, but I do like those other three teams, at least a little, I see a little gap between those other three and the way this Packers team is playing right now. Billy Byers sell the Falcons can win the NFC South. Well, I was, I was going to sell until about an hour ago when I saw it, I was going to sell until about an hour ago when I saw it. I was going to sell until about an hour ago when I saw it. from Bleacher Report. So the Bleacher Report came out and they reported a quote from Bijan Robinson after the game. And I don't know if you guys saw this. Bijan Robinson says, Kevin Stefanski brought the Falcons together with a speech after the Panthers loss that reminded him of Martin Luther King. Quote, it was like Martin Luther King was there. They responded with a 21 point win over the Packers at Lambeau Field. Can I just stop us for one moment and verify Billy, are you sure that's a real quote? And that's not AI. That's a nice shot by you, Tom. Let's get a second source on that. I was most definitely skeptical about this. I clicked it. It is the official Bleacher Report account with 20.8 million followers. So if they were fooled, they fooled me. It seems very far fetched that this is a real quote from Bijan, but he said, quote, it was like Martin Luther King was in there. And that's what inspired them to win this week. Greatest orators of our time, Martin Luther King, Kevin Stefanski, who you got? I'm just glad that Billy attributed that. If he was just like, I saw on the internet somewhere, I did not see this quote. We're off the hook. I will say, if you are a Falcons fan to try to get us to an uncomfortable pivot here, if you are a Falcons fan, you're like, hey, I opened up the pod because I thought this is the one time our team's going to get credit. You've been making fun of us all year. That was such a coach team last night. Like even just the sticking with the two defenses, like Jeff Albrecht doesn't exactly have all pros at every position on that Falcons defense. You look at that depth chart and you'd be like, who are these guys? Is this one of the least talented defensive rosters in the NFL? They have a guy, CJ Henderson, who I didn't even know he was still on their roster. He looked like an all pro quarterback last night. So that to me is coaching when it's like, all right, anyone, not anyone, but a lot of people can do it when you are the more talented team, when you are all pros healthy, everyone's good. The reason these guys get paid a lot of money, it's always the Don Draper meme. Like this is what the money's for is when you don't have the guys, you're going up against a veteran quarterback who's making over 50 million dollars. You're going up against a very good offensive coach and you completely shut them down. So on that side of the ball and then offensively, you just have to be encouraged to what you were saying, Tom, that Penix, he doesn't have to be Superman. The ball came out quickly last night, which hasn't always been his strength. It came out quickly last night. He's going to give Drake London shots on the perimeter. Just be like, all right, he's down there somewhere. I'm going to chuck it up. And Drake London has shown he's capable of that. So it was a good reminder that it's only week three because to your question, I'm like, yeah, of course they could win the NFC South. You think these other teams are that much better than them with the way they played last night? It's going to be eight, nine, week 18, and one of them is going to come through. I found additional context to this quote after the game. I bought you some time. - B. John Robinson told Prime Video quote, "I don't know if he drank drank some coffee or something, but he said this speech, it was like Martin Luther King was in there. I want to hear no more about this speech. Was Kevin mic'd up? I love Kevin, but like that, that is hard to, hard to take a stretch. I mean, it's his whole thing, Tom, is that he's even keel, right? That's the fancy, like greatest strength. That's the thing. Now I've seen, I've seen some of his post game, like he can, he can turn it on. Like he has those abilities, but yeah, I just, I've got a lot of, a lot of, a lot of questions. Almost as many questions about how CJ Henderson, who is the ninth overall pick in 2020, and is on his fifth team last night, played like, you know, prime Deion Sanders out there. He should have switched numbers with Mike Hughes. It would have looked a little bit more on par in the number 21 jersey. We got to take a break. I need to, I need to find the video and catch up on it. We got our main characters for week three Sunday after this too. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by FanDuel. Here's something to look forward to between kickoffs this Sunday. With Sunday Spectacular, FanDuel Rewards Club members can unlock exclusive rewards throughout the day with offers tailored to their Rewards Club level. Depending on your level, you could unlock things like profit boosts, reward boxes, points boosts, challenges, choose your reward offers, and more. The best part, new rewards drop throughout Sunday's games, so there's always something new to discover as the day unfolds. Check out Sunday Spectacular in the FanDuel app only on FanDuel Rewards Club. Make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel. 21 plus select states or 18 plus DC or Wyoming. Opt-in required. Refund and bonuses issued as non-withdrawable bonus bets or tokens. Restrictions apply. See terms for all offers at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. This episode is brought to you by Ethos. Buying a house is one of those moments where you realize, oh yeah, I have responsibilities now. And if you have a family, you want to know they could stay in that house if something happened to you. Ethos makes life insurance, painless. Get a quote in seconds. Apply in minutes all online with no medical exam. Take 10 minutes to get covered today with life insurance through Ethos. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash ringer NFL. That is E-T-H-O-S dot com slash ringer NFL. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. This segment sponsored by Orgain. It is week three. Sunday is Sunday. It's coming up. Tons of great storylines, great games. Let's dive in to the weekly feature. It is our main characters for the week three Sunday of the season. And I want to kick this off with a quarterback who had quite a run in the 2025 season right up until the last game. Drake May, one of, if not the breakout star in the entire league, who has had a bumpy ride going back to that Super Bowl. He wasn't totally healthy. He was dealing with a shock. Shoulder injury comes out in week one of this season in Seattle and plays maybe the worst game that he's played. Certainly the worst game since Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels got there last week. They beat the Steelers, but it wasn't exactly an offensive powerhouse performance right now. Drake may one touchdown pass for interceptions for the first two games of the season. He has the lowest passer rating of the 31 qualified passers in the league. Several points behind Justin Herbert, who we've talked a lot about. Now for Drake May this week, he's got the Jaguars. These are the types of games that the Patriots, if you're going to make another run, you're going to go through the playoffs. You got to be able to go on the road and beat a team like Jacksonville. By the way, week four, they're at Buffalo. You lose this one. It's going to feel like that's well, if you don't beat the bills here, you're three games back, potentially in the division. It's over at that point. It's a sneaky big game shield. And I understand Josh McDaniels is a really good coordinator. You have to adjust a lot of things in offense. That's kind of built around AJ Brown when he goes out in the first half of the opener, but they've got to be able to find a rhythm. Drake May needs to play. It seems just with like that same kind of confidence and energy and swagger that he did last season. I'm interested to see knowing that the Jaguars and Anthony Campanile are going to throw a lot at him. What version of Drake May shows up? Because you know, the Drake May that was a pretty good quarterback all last season is in there. Yeah. Physically, he still looks good. He can run. He can throw the ball. I know he's under thrown some passes, but the arm is still there. The big question I would have with Drake May, if I were a Patriots fan, as you see sometimes with young quarterbacks, when early in their career, they're getting hit a lot and they're getting pressured a lot. And last year he was awesome in those situations. I mean, he was probably the best quarterback in the NFL statistically when he was pressured, but then you have the playoffs and it's happening over and over and over again. And now you had, you made some changes on the offensive line, but guess what? The offensive line still is not very good this year. And so when you get that constant pressure for a young quarterback, I think you can develop some bad habits. And I think that's part of what we're seeing here with Drake May. I mean, this is not just a blip anymore. If you go back to last year and include the playoffs, which I think sometimes we hand waved it and said, all right, he was injured. Don't make anything about that playoff run. But if you include it, that's now six straight games where they have had a below average offense. If you look at EPA and the advanced set, they have not, they have not had an above average offensive game for six straight outings going back to last year and then to start this year. So that's concerning it. Whether it's Josh McDaniels, I know he's taken some heat in new England, whether it's Drake May, you can look at the roster construction and I know AJ Brown's out, but you did get Romeo Dobbs. You were hoping that the offensive line was going to get better. There's really a lot of blame to go around. It is only two weeks, but you're right. You know, this is this Jaguars team is tough. This is a very good Jaguars team. You're playing, you're playing on the road and if you don't show up in this game, it does feel like it's going to be heightened a little bit going into week four against Buffalo. And if I'm being honest, I'm not, I like the Jaguars in that game. I think they're a better team than the Patriots right now. I think they're a more balanced team. I think they're probably a more talented team and they're a better coach team. So it's, you know, it's a two and a half point spread. It's kind of like a coin flip type game, but I do like the Jaguars chances here, Billy better than the Patriots, given what we've seen out of both teams so far. The good news about it being a road game for the Patriots is that the Jaguars are in a weird, like two seasons here, right? This game is going to be played at a reduced capacity. So the upper deck is going to be closed. It's going to be a maximum of 42,000 people there. Cause they're currently in the process of renovating the stadium next year. The Jaguars aren't going to play at home at all. Like they're going to be playing between Orlando and London games, but this year they've already started a construction. So 40,000 people in Jacksonville. I mean, you have to contend with like the Florida weather this week, probably, but there are cold fronts coming oddly where it'll probably be in the upper seventies, eighties. So you don't even have the heat factor there. Look, the Patriots defense has allowed 16 points so far this season, right? So if they can keep Trevor Lawrence in check, Drake may just has to kind of slowly be getting it back together. And you know, the, the Jaguars have given up points. They gave up 20 points last week to the Broncos. They gave up 10 points to the Browns, but it's not like they're putting up a ton of points as it is. The Browns, you know, it was 34 point game. It ended up being better than we thought last week, but you know, it's a winnable game. And this is one of those games that it's not just within the division and things start going, you know, down South and the East, this could be a playoff seating thing down the road between the Jaguars and the Patriots. So you want to be winning these conference games because if they let these go, then this could be the difference between, you know, maybe missing the playoffs, but again, maybe being like a six seed or a seven seed. So you can't give them too much time to, to figure it out. He's got to kind of turn it around now. If he, if he's going to shield your main character, what do you got for week three? All right. I have a question for you too. You know, normally we like to plan the show beforehand and, you know, we go through you. Do you, do we want to talk more about Justin Herbert or not? That that's my question. Cause I've got like, I've got three options here. If you, you know, make it Billy you're, you're on the internet, you're getting the pulse of the people you're reading, you're reading the comments, you know, do you feel like people, are they, Herbert it out? Are they like, we've heard enough. We don't want to hear this. Or are they like, give it to us. This is a main character for week three. Help me out here. And then I'll tell you my tech. If we're going to be honest, by the way, that other game, Doug Marone revenge game. We didn't even get into that. He's coming back as a Patriots offensive line coach for the first time since being fired. So keep an eye on Doug Marone. Now in terms of Herbert, you need to tread very lightly here, shield, because you were quote unquote, just reading a text from a friend last week. And you propose this idea of them trading, Justin Herbert to, I believe the Vikings at the time, but you probably in your head have also talked yourself into, well, maybe they should trade him to the giants. So the chargers fans did not like you just quote unquote, reading a text from a friend. I'm just a man. You're also the casting director of these main characters shield. So we look to you to pick your main character. All right. I'm picking Justin Herbert. If we're just being honest, who's the main character for week three? Of course, he's a main character. He has been probably the, the guy who's been most talked about in NFL history course this entire week. And let me try to do something very difficult here. Okay. I'm going to try to have a rational conversation about Justin Herbert. Do you think we can do it? No. Probably not. But we're going to try. I think so. All right. Let's try. They're 0-2. Normal humans. Yeah. Well, sometimes. They're at Buffalo. They're big underdogs in this game. They're trying to avoid going 0-3 with Justin Herbert here. Now, the ball knowers are defending Herbert. They're telling you it's not his fault. Most neutral observers are just tired of hearing that this guy's really good because he's in year seven and he's never made it past the wildcard round. So here's where I am at. I'm trying to bring the ball knowers, the everyman, get us all together in a room. Let's have a conversation about Justin Herbert. So that's what we're trying to do here. I don't think Herbert's playing well. I also don't think he's the main problem with the Chargers. I think he's a good quarterback. And at some point in his career, he's going to have a moment, whether that's he's top five in MVP, whether that's he's in the Super Bowl. There will be some point in Justin Herbert's career where we all look at it and go, it's happened for him. Now, Billy's getting mad at me. Wait a minute. See? You can't even have this. I can't even get through one point. All right. What are you upset with, Bill? No, it's just like the whole argument is he's got to do something at some point in his career. He just has to. And it hasn't happened yet. So he's going to because he has to. No. Well, it could. I'm saying it could be. It's like a Matthew Stafford-like situation where he's just. It's a long time. He could be 33. Maybe something happens with the Chargers. Maybe he's on a different team. And it's like, oh, all the ball knowers are like, see, we told you all along. He's awesome. Look at this. Bad situation. I think there will be some moment like that. But also, I think it's reasonable if you think I'm a dummy and you disagree with that. And you're like, get out of here. Justin Herbert's overrated because I think there's this idea that the analytics on Herbert are great. They're actually not great. The analytics would tell you that he's kind of. He is overrated. Oh, boy. I mean, he's finished outside the top 10 in EPA per play, four straight seasons. He's quarterbacked the top 10 offense once in six seasons. And that's with different head coaches, different offensive coordinators, different supporting cast. So it's like what I was saying earlier. It's like quarterback analysis. Who do we make excuses for? If Mahomes were having to start, if Josh Allen were having to start, if Lamar Jackson were having to start, I don't know that everyone's like, no, we expect better. So I don't think he can be discussed with those guys. So again, I like that issue. I'm curious. Why is Justin Herbert, in your mind, viewed a certain way when you're citing the, as you call them, the nerd stats? There's certainly the no playoff wins. Why do you think he is regarded in a different category than, let's say, Brock Purdy, who Billy will explain later why he's not one of his top 12 quarterbacks in the NFL? Why is it the opposite? The opposite effect where Justin Herbert, most people would say top 10 quarterback when some of those are stats don't bear it out. Well, I think most people or the ball knowers would say, if you swapped Herbert and Purdy and gave Herbert, Kyle Shanahan, and that offense, that he would be putting up monster numbers and we'd be having a totally different narrative. They literally hired Kyle Jr. and Mike McDaniel here. So that's what they're trying. And it's two games, right? It's two games. Yeah. New coordinators, the personnel may not be a perfect fit, the tackles, that's where all your resources are, haven't played well. But it is interesting where, you know, I'm not going to say he's gotten a free pass because he's played really good football at times. And, you know, Stafford's an example. Peyton Manning didn't win a playoff game for like five or six years, I think, at the start of his career too. But there is something here where it seems like we talk about Herbert in a different capacity than maybe some others. I agree with you. And because isn't a great quarterback, you're supposed to be able to make up for stuff? And if this was a situation where he was like top five statistically and the offense was top five statistically and the defense sucked or whatever, then that's an easier conversation to have. It's like he has nothing to do with the defense, but the offense has not been good for once in six years. The offense has been good. The passing game has been good twice in six years and not since his first two seasons. So I felt early in his career when he first came in, when they had the Terod Taylor thing, I'm like, this guy's a revelation. He's incredible. Look at this arm. He can move. This guy's going to win an MVP someday. And I just think it's fair to be disappointed with where he is now compared to where we were after two seasons with Justin Herbert. And again, that comes from someone who is still like a believer and thinks it's going to happen at some point. Billy's ready to crush beyond. No, no, not crush at all. I'm just wondering. Could it be as simple when you're saying, why is it that we don't talk about Justin Herbert the same way? Could it be as simple as the nerds, as you put them, and the ball knowers, as you put them, simply don't want to admit defeat on him? Of course. They had this belief in him. They thought he was going to be the next coming of whatever. It still could happen, right? But it hasn't happened yet. So instead of just saying like, maybe we were wrong on this one. It's just, well, you know, he doesn't have the right pieces. He didn't. Right. He doesn't have the right OC. His head coach, who, by the way, was also one of these beloved figures within the ball knowers and nerd community, Brandon Staley, until he wasn't. Well, then it was his fault. So we were able to sacrifice him to not be wrong on Justin Herbert. And Justin, again, it's two games with Mike McDaniel. But the conversation with Mike McDaniel on Tua was, well, if he had Justin Herbert, things would be totally different. And now he has Justin Herbert, and they are not totally different. In fact, they're slightly worse than they were with Tua, which is kind of dumbfounding at this point. But again, it's two games. So is it just, we don't want to admit that maybe we were slightly off on Herbert? No, we don't want to admit that. We've got offensive coordinator. We've got offensive tackles. It's like these other quarterbacks, you know, that are performing at a high level. They don't always have those same things. So this is a big spot for him. I mean, they're going to Buffalo, and they're huge underdogs. It's a defense that's gettable. You would like to think that if there was something like, you know, if there's something there in the foundation with Harbaugh and Herbert, that this is a week where you would want that duo to respond. And even if they don't win, it's like, okay, we're going to win. I mean, it's Buffalo, and then it's Seattle. This is absolutely, it's a brutal stretch. I would say this in defense of Justin Herbert and just the entire operation. Like, those are two bad losses. Okay, when you're looking at the schedule, you're thinking, okay, well, at least we got Arizona and the Raiders to kind of transition into this. It's still so early. They're doing things so differently, and none of it looks in sync. You know, it's not just Herbert. It's, didn't Joe Alt have like three pre-snap penalties last week? You've had dropped balls. Your investment on the line is in the tackles. They're not playing well. Your center got hurt. You had to shuffle the interior. You don't have a lot of speed on the team. Mike McDaniel's offense is built for speed, and they don't have a lot of it. I do think that the offense will improve, in part because it can't get a whole lot worse. I mean, there's, I don't think there's any world where we would have sat there and said, Justin Herbert threw two games against the Raiders and the Cardinals. He's the 30th in passer rating in the NFL. Just, it can't get a whole lot worse. So, I do believe it's going to get better. The question is, how quickly can it get better? It also does occur to me that maybe at some point, playing in the preseason might be a good thing. I think Herbert played his first three preseason snaps ever this year. Like, this is what it looks like when you have new schemes, new coaches. You don't have game reps. I know that we've gotten away from that in general, and September is kind of the preseason now. But not when you have a new team. Not when you're the Chargers and you lose those games. It's one thing to be figuring out your identity in the early going. It's another thing to be figuring out your identity while losing games you have to win before you go into the games that on paper nobody expects you to win. I think he's capable of being. He just hasn't shown so far this season. But you're going to have to win either at Buffalo or at Seattle. You're going to have to win a game like at Kansas City or at the Rams. You have to win these games. Like, you just have to, or your season's done. And, you know, to follow up, you could relay this to, you know, whoever was mad at me, Billy, for the, you know, reading the text message. I'm trying to help you here. Yeah, I understand. As the kids say, you chose violence today, Shield, because you could have gone in any number of directions. In terms of main characters, you could have picked any game. I like Herbert. I'm trying to, I like Herbert, Billy. Did that not, I actually like him. I think he's good. But I actually think that if this does go disaster mode for them, I don't think, it's not trading Herbert. I mean, it's going to be. Another coach, I don't know what they're going to do at GM. But then now you're going to have this list of here are all the people that have gotten fired since Justin Herbert came into the league. What is that the answer? That's the only thing you have to ask yourself is like, is another change the answer to help Justin Herbert? Or is it, let's ride this out as bumpy as it might be. Let's look at this as a two-year plan. I mean, Jim Harbaugh's got two years left in his contract beyond this one. I don't see the Spanos family eating that money if they lose this season. Justin Herbert also has a no trade clause. So even if you get big offers, he could go, hey, my fiance lives in LA. I don't want to leave. I'm going to stay here with the Chargers. There's a lot of moving parts. We are pretty early into this entire thing. As I'm looking at Billy, he's got a look on his face. Like he really wants to say something here. No, there's another team in LA with an aging quarterback. You know, maybe there's like a transition plan. If this doesn't work, then your girlfriend doesn't have to move. And sometimes if a team decides, hey, we want to trade you, that might be a good time for you to go. All right, you're done with me. I'm done with you. We're not at that point with Justin Herbert. All right, Billy, main character. Who do you got for week three? I was between two here because she'll kind of had, she was like the A-plus student that had multiples here that he was going to go to. Then he picked one. So I felt the pressure to have more than one. I'm going to go with Sean Payton, I think, this week as a main character. So this is a big game. It's the Rams at the Broncos. It's a measuring stick game. Both of them had, disappointing first weeks. Tom was there for the Rams in Australia. That was disappointing. Broncos were in Kansas City. That one was a blowout. Last week, they both had kind of bounce back games, get right games. But I mean, this is going to be one of those weeks that we kind of see exactly who the Broncos are. They had a game against the Jaguars last week that they won. That was a big AFC win. But this will show us where they are just within the NFL and how they hang with the Rams. The Rams obviously are still a little bit banged up, but it's also a question mark for Sean. Because Sean, you know, we talked about a little bit of turmoil earlier this week when Mike McDonald's story came out about Sean Payton and the accusations of cheating. And then there was maybe possibly a confrontation in or outside of an elevator on the floor of a hotel in Indianapolis that ended up being a giant nothing burger, some people say. And they didn't really say anything to each other. It's just like, hey, coach, hey, coach. And that was the end of that. He then says he called and reached out to Sean Payton and apologized. And this is a whole embarrassing situation. So, now it's a situation where is Sean kind of a little bit sensitive? Does he have the toughness to run this hard-nosed Broncos team that we think they are? He's got to prove it this week against the Rams. He's got an opportunity to have a big win here. Very fun game. I like Sean Payton. It feels like could probably be the main character, like 12 out of 18 weeks. Major main character energy. That's well said. I don't think he minds that at all. I was very encouraged. By that Broncos game last week. I thought the way their defense really kind of put the clamps down in the second half, their defensive backs played awesome. Riley Moss had a big interception. So, this is a tough spot, I think, for the Rams where, you know, it was like, all right, week one, don't overreact. It was weird. Australia travel plans. Week two, they're fine. But it's like they beat the Giants with Jameis Winston. And now I know they've still got the Puka Nakua injury. Maybe we can do a little what's Tom hearing on that one. I know they've got some injuries. To the rest of their offense there. But I think this could be a tough spot for the Rams going up against the Broncos team that maybe is more likely to have put week one behind them than this Rams team has. Considering how generally optimistic Sean McVay is about injuries, the fact that he doesn't sound really optimistic about Puka is worrisome. I know they've said it's not a sports hernia. It's not a core muscle thing. They don't think it's that. But you're talking about his second injury, because Sean said it's different than the one in camp to like the, the whole groin. So as area down there. And when you're having repeat issues, like if you don't give those time to rest, they're not going to get better. So that would be, you know, another huge loss. It didn't determine at all last week against the Giants. They're also facing a way better defense this week in the Denver Broncos. Sean is, I think that the whole, it's a classic like made for our 2026 society story that Mike McDonald is telling just like a funny story that he doesn't think is on the record, even though he probably should have been aware ultimately. And then like he gets out and everybody's got to apologize. Like these guys don't care. They want to, when they face off in week six, they're going to want to slit each other's throat. It's not because of that, but because it's a big game. They want to beat each other. That's it. All right. There's, we don't need that. Oh man, he hurt my feelings. He said that I was mad at him. Like I think I mentioned the other day, it's like no one's, no one's surprised that Sean got pissed off at somebody and came, came at him. Like that's just Sean. That's his personality. And that's fine. Then Mike's got a little bit of, you know, serial killer. Like I'm not going to let you mess with me energy to him as well. And so it's a classic type of clash. They come across differently. I don't think I'm sure we're gonna be talking about it going into week six. I don't think that that really had much of an impact in building from everything I understand in Denver. It's one more thing out there. Sean addressed it once for this week. It's just, it's a, it's a really good game. For the Broncos to once again, go and show what they could do. They responded really well. Week one was a disappointment, came back and beat a good Jaguars team at home last week. Let's see what the Rams coming in. Now it does feel not a, not a pivot point game, but definitely sort of a, okay, who are we on the level with right now? If anybody said it's Broncos, Rams and the super bowl going into the season, you'd be like, yeah, it sounds like a reasonable argument. Well, here we are getting that game right now in week three, tons more to come. We got a 49ers injury update. To get to. And speaking of the 49ers, it's time for Billy to defend himself against the comments. How is Brock Purdy? Not a top 12 quarterback in the NFL. Billy's got his list after this. This episode is brought to you by Chevrolet. Chevy drivers need a truck that shows up the same way they do. That's why Chevy Silverado is number one in manufacturer loyalty. So they can go where others won't make their own way there and always get it done. And as long as Chevy people keep showing up, we'll keep building trucks that do the same Chevrolet together. Let's drive visit chevy.com slash trucks to explore the lineup. This episode is brought to you by nationwide. A football team is so much more than a set of players. It's a complete roster filled with depth and grit. It's offense and defense coming together to make something unstoppable. It's like how nationwide is so much more than a great insurance. They're one of America's largest financial services companies to insurance and financial services together. That's a whole team in and of itself team nationwide for your insurance and financial needs nationwide is on your side nationwide investment services corporation member FINRA Columbus, Ohio. This episode is brought to you by zip recruiter. My favorite team was looking for a new coach. It felt like it was taking forever. All the other teams are hiring. Coaches. What are we doing? And then boom out of nowhere, we found the perfect most qualified candidate. If you're hiring save time with zip recruiter, try it free at zip recruiter.com slash ringer NFL. It's the number one hiring site based on G2. And that's because it matches you with the most interested qualified candidates in literal minutes. Four out of five employers who post on zip recruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Go to zip recruiter.com slash ringer NFL to try it free. That's zip recruiter.com. Slash ringer NFL zip recruiter. The smartest way to hire. Stop us. If you've heard this one many, many times over the past several years, a 49ers with a concerning injury to a star player popping up on a Friday, Nick Bosa popped his calf. According to ESPN, going to miss at least a few weeks added to the list. Bosa was just coming back from. He really didn't do a whole lot in camp. Looked really good in that opener against the Rams. Now, you know, we'll see if he ends up on injured reserve, but he's not going to be out there this week. And for some time, it seems to come here. 49ers already had their challenges, a wide receiver. They're signing Brandon cooks off the street. They're just trying to piece the thing together, which all brings us to the man who so often holds it together. And that is quarterback Brock Purdy. I brought it up on the show the other day. Highest passer rating. He doesn't have the qualified number of passers, but if you put him up against Lamar and Aaron Rogers, highest passer rating by some margin, by multiple points in NFL history, I asked you guys, if you'd have Brock Purdy in your top five, you both lean. No, she'll, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but I believe you said probably not probably top 10, not top five. Then Billy doing what he normally does, which is then just push it a little bit further said, ah, maybe got him in the top 13, which when we posted that clip, the social media and my only frame of reference, I'm not sitting there scrolling the comments, but I will, you know, I'll see the little red dot that I've got some stuff on Instagram and I will win there. And it's just people murdering Billy over, over his Brock Purdy take. So Billy, you challenged yourself even more than we challenged you or the internet challenged you. Give us your top 12 quarterbacks and whether after further thought and examination, you found Brock Purdy in there. Well, okay. Thank you for the context on the front end, because I will say this. People were upset when that clip went out, which I feel like, you know, have the whole context, right? wasn't there. Sheil said he's a top 10 quarterback. And I said, top 13. So no one was mad at Sheil saying top 10. And I simply said, maybe there's two more between then 11 and 12. Don't turn it on me, Billy. I had nothing to do with this. I have nothing but nice things to say about Brock Bird. And if I'm to say he's a top 13 quarterback, there's nothing to say he's not number seven on that list. I'm just saying he's in the top 13 semantically. So what I did as Sheil knows, because we did this whole thing when Mike Sandoz list came out, Mike Sandoz goes and he gives the quarterback tears every year. And he goes and he interviews all of these GMs and coaches and all this stuff, all anonymous, all cowards that don't want to put their name on it. And Mike Sandoz himself, not to call anyone out, a coward, because he won't put his name on his own list. He blames everybody else in these anonymous sources. So as Sheil knows every year, I'll do my quarterback tears as well. But I don't go and I don't source these from other people. I go and I do the work myself. So I have the tears. They're in no particular order, similar to Mike, no particular order, but I have separate tears. And that's how I get in the top 13-ish. And I'll explain it a little better. Okay. So the first tier we have is top of the mountain. Okay. In the top of the mountain tier, we have Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford. Okay. In no particular order, we would all agree top of the mountain, that tier of quarterbacks, right? Are there any debates there? So far, I think we'd agree they're all in the top tier. Yes. Sounds fine to me. So far, I would say they're all safely top 10 quarterbacks. Obviously, there's variance year to year. But I think most people would say those guys all belong somewhere in their top 10, if not their top five. Yes. Exactly. Okay. Thank you. So again, another important piece of context is these are done before the year. Okay. So we don't adjust the rankings during the year based on two weeks performance. That would be very short-sighted. So before the season is when these tiers were done. My next tier is I know they can tier slash I think they can tier. Okay. And these are quarterbacks that I either know they can, or I think they can. All right. This tier is slightly larger. The little engine that could tier. So this tier is Sam, again, no particular order, Sam Darnold, Jalen Hurts. They've done it. We know they can. In the, I think they can portion of the, I know they can. I think they can. We have Trevor Lawrence, Drake May, who was right there on the doorstep last year. I think Dak Prescott, Jared Goff, Baker Mayfield. These are, I know what they can. I think they can based on what we've seen. And then we go to the following tier, which is, I need to see a little more. Okay. You had 12, by the way, there's your dozen. There's 12 there. And I will say this, I will say this, the person who was closest on the list to get out of the, I need to see a little more into the, I know they can. I think they can was Brock Purdy, but we can't just have tiers that have seven, eight, nine people. And then we have to break them into tiers. So this is seven in that last tier, but not eight or nine. So this next tier, okay. I need to see a little more. We have again, in no particular order. We have Justin Herbert, Caleb Williams, great season. Need to see a little more. Bo Nix, great season. Got hurt. Not sure if he can. Brock Purdy. Jaden Daniels. Now, why is it that Brock Purdy falls from? Cause you're going to say, well, you have Sam Darnold in there. He won a Superbowl. You have Jalen Hurts in there. He won a Superbowl. You know, we have Brock Purdy. He hasn't won a Superbowl, but he's got into a Superbowl, which is why you have Drake May in the, I know you can. I think they can. Right. The reason is Brock Purdy was in the, I know you can. I think you can tier last season as she'll knows this season. He fell out of it in part because of an embarrassing playoff performance. You can't stay when you lose 41 to six to, to lose and end your season. Like you can't get blown out. I know that the wins are not a quarterback stat, right? We'll all say that 51 to 46 for a career, even though it's not a quarterback stat, not that impressive. So we need to see a little more. It's not to say that he can't get out of this tier. Wait, what number is that? 51, 46? 51, 46. These are just numbers that we've seen out there on the internet, you know? So these are things that we need to take into consideration. That's not his record. You made it sound like that was his record. That's not Brock Purdy's record. What is 51, 46? These are the, Sheila, if you want to defend your top 10, we'll give you the opportunity to, that you say that he's in the top 10, not the top 13, but 41 to six is a bad loss. Okay. We would agree on that. So we just need to see a little bit more. Jaden Daniels is in that tier. He had a great first season. He hasn't been healthy. Caleb Williams, not healthy this year. Bo Nix, we need to see more. Justin Herbert. I think we feel pretty good about that. I need to see more tier for him this year. So that's all I'm saying. I'm not saying that he's necessarily, you know, number 13, I guess, technically in this tier, he could go all the way back to 17, not to agitate 49ers fans even more. We just need to see more from him. And I don't think that's unfair to say. All right. So Tom, he doesn't, I do think we have to issue a correction. He's not a top 13 quarterback. He's a top 17. Right. Cause he's somewhere between 13 and 17. I don't know. He cannot get to 12. He just told us he cannot get to 12. The last one out of that tier. So he could have been as high as six. Fundamentally. I don't know how Brock Purdy, who I think is in year six and Justin Herbert in year seven can be in the same category as third year guys, right? The guys who have gotten their contract. And I don't, I guess where I'm struggling to follow the logic, Sheila, you can comment on this too, is how we're having Trevor Lawrence, Dak Prescott in a tier above Brock Purdy, where both of them have put up numbers. They haven't put up numbers. I don't think that's fair. I would have him closer to that than some of the other guys who I do think it's fair. Okay. Can you put it together over multiple years, which those other quarterbacks, the third year guys have not yet been able to do. I would agree with that. I think you could also say if you swapped Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold in that playoff game last year, what's the score and who wins? And does Brock Purdy go and win a Superbowl? But I know you, you like data 51, 46. You don't like to deal in hypotheticals. Let me ask you this. Who is it? Billy, tell me the leading receiver who had the most receiving yards for the 49ers in that playoff game. In the playoff game last year? I will give you, I will give you seven guesses and you will not get it. As to who Brock Purdy was throwing to. The most receiving yards of any 49ers player in that playoff loss to the Seahawks. Last year, you're saying? In this past year, that 41 six you keep talking about, like it's a Brock Purdy stat. Yeah. Tell me who was the leading receiver in yards. No cheating. So the 41 to six game, you're saying, hold on. Let me think here. Don't pull up the box score. Just take a guess. Tell me who you think it would be. Let's think here. You got to guess while Billy's taking his time. Demarcus Robinson? No. No. One guess. No. You get seven guesses between you. Demarcus Robinson's a no. Seven? I don't want seven. Keep saying names of guys on the team. You're not going to get it. Yeah. Well, it's not McCaffrey, Kittle. No. It wasn't McCaffrey or Kittle. Juwan Jennings? No. It wasn't Demarcus Robinson. He already guessed that. It wasn't Kendrick. It wasn't Kendrick Bourne. Not Kendrick Bourne. No. Was it one of the other tight ends? There was another tight end. It wasn't there. Three deep if I'm not including the McCaffrey and Kittle non-guesses. Not Brian Robinson Jr. You check. No. It wasn't him. It's none of those guys. The answer, final guesses. I don't think we're going to guess Billy. It wasn't Pearsall. Jake Tongis was the leading receiver for the 49ers in the playoff game. No offense to Jake because he was a really good solid player. He's out for the season with that MCL tear that required surgery. Let's take the context in. The 49ers, the fact that they got to that game is a credit to everybody who was still upright, including Brock Birdie. Obviously, Mac Jones filled in for a stretch when Birdie was hurt. I think it's hard to hold that against him knowing what they were dealing with last season. Can I make amends? Because I feel like this, you know, I feel like you guys, if I'm going to be blunt, we're bad teammates in this segment and you did not defend this whatsoever. You just threw me to the wolves. The whole point of the segment was for you to defend yourself. Yeah. I will say this. I'm willing and, and Sheil, you know, this is un, un, unforeseen. We've never done this before. This is not common in any place. I'm willing to move Brock Birdie up a tier to, I know they can, I think they can for the season. And I hope for the 49ers and for Brock that they don't make me look foolish in doing so. So I can down, I stand on a boo is already cutting the social clip. That's going to show you defending the list. Don't now change the answer. Well, a boo take out that 51 and 46 is, I don't know where that came from. Yeah. All right. You know what you guys are, you know what? Internet 49ers fans, Tom is right. Okay. Brock birdie does not deserve to be a tier higher. He deserves to be exactly where he is in the 13 to 17 range. So Tom, I'm sticking by you as a good teammate. Brock staying there. All right. She'll ringer one Oh seven. We got some, we got some picks. Tell us the standings too. How is, uh, it's really, it's you and Billy, but how is the team ringer NFL show doing here? Well, real quick, I'll apologize to Mike Sando, my friend, and Mike Sando for Philly's remarks. Yeah, also that. What are you necessarily? Unnecessary shrapnel for Sando who spends more time camped out in Marriott skyways than anyone getting people to talk to these things. We love you, Mike Sando. Billy might be coming for your corner because those were some pretty good tears. But I'm just saying, we appreciate what you do as well. All right. So today's Ringer 107 is brought to you by FanDuel. Make this your most rewarding season. Download the FanDuel app to check out all our 107 picks and boosted teaser every week this season. All right. So the updated standings. The Ringer NFL show in first place. Wow. Six and four through two weeks of the season. 10 picks down, 97 to go. You hit on the tees, right? You hit on the tees last week. No, Tom. I've missed the tees two weeks in a row. If we didn't have to do the tees, who knows what our record would be? But you had saints. We had the saints last week. That was a nice pick. We had them plus eight. So listen, we're just going to stack three and two weeks. We're not trying to be a hero here. That's all we're trying to do. So for those who don't know how the contest works, you make. During this podcast, I will make three picks and one teaser. And then before the games on Sunday, there will be an additional pick making five picks for the week. If you have any questions, Billy's email is somewhere on the internet or in the show notes here. Okay. First pick. Carolina Panthers. Minus two and a half at the Cleveland Browns. It's gone under the radar. Bryce Young has played maybe his best two-game stretch of his career through the first two weeks of this season. I think he looks good. I like a Dave Canales. I think their wide receivers have been good so far this season. And maybe that week one defensive performance against the Bears was a little fluky because they came back last week and their defense looked incredible. So Deshaun Watson is going to start this game at home for the Browns. I think. I think those fans are going to be ready to boo him if things don't go well in the first half of that game. I like the Panthers minus two and a half. How are we feeling? I like it. Good? I think it's good. Yeah. Okay. My question isn't the booing if he does bad. It's what is the level of cheering if it goes well? Is it that easy to flip around everything? He goes out and throws another bomb to Denzel Boston, who looks like a rookie of the year candidate so far on the first drive. You can't tell me that place isn't going to be pandemonium. It's not. Yeah, we are simple creatures and people will cheer regardless of how they feel about the past four years if they're looking good on offense. First home game plus they'd be two and one. You're right. You're right about that. That could be a under the radar story to keep an eye on here this weekend. All right. Second pick, the New York Jets plus six and a half at the Lions. I know I said the Lions are still the favorite in the NFC North, but right now that secondary is so rough. The Jets have looked competent. Tough OT loss last week. I didn't like how they handled the end of that game. Obviously the game management stuff that's been discussed. Their defense has looked really good through two weeks, but they faced the Titans and then they faced the Packers in bad weather last week. I'm really curious to see if Aaron Glenn has this defense playing. You know, the whole is going to be greater than the sum of the parts. That's what it's looked like through the first two weeks. Let's keep it going. J E T S Jets, Jets, Jets. Six and a half at Detroit. All right. Third pick here. We go to Brazil, the Baltimore Ravens minus three and a half against the Cowboys in Brazil. There's questions about the playing surface down there, which in my take on that is always that affects the pass rush maybe more than anything. So I think we could get a lot of points in this game. I just don't buy that that Cowboys defense is ready for a matchup like this. I don't think they showed much. They didn't show much improvement last week against the Commanders. I think it was just the Commanders and they left some touchdowns on the table. So I think the Ravens offense played well for the most part last week. They learn from that loss to the Saints. They come out and they say, you know what? We're in a different class than this Cowboys team. We're going to beat them by more than three and a half points. So that's the third pick there. And then the teaser. We got to hit on one of these. We got to hit. I think this is the week. Okay. Now you might disagree given what the first leg of this teaser is for those who don't remember. The teaser means you make two picks and you can move the line six points in any direction. So are you ready for the first leg of this teaser? It's going to shock you. Let's hear it. Bring it on. The Los Angeles Chargers plus 13 and a half at the Bills. Come on. Show a little fight. Herbert, Harbaugh, McDaniel. Show me a little fight in Buffalo. Don't get blown out. Plus 13 and a half Chargers at Buffalo. They are seven and a half. Three and a half point underdogs in this game. We're moving that up to 13 and a half. Let's see how I'm feeling about Justin Herbert by the time we get to Sunday night. So that's one leg. Other leg, Seattle Seahawks down to one and a half against the commander. So they are seven and a half point favorites. They just got to cover one and a half. If they do that at Washington, if the Chargers cover 13 and a half, then we win the tee. So those are the picks. The last pick will be on social media. We're on the ringer later this weekend, but to recap real quick, Panthers minus two and a half at Cleveland jets plus six and a half at Detroit Ravens minus three and a half against the Cowboys in Brazil. And then the teaser Chargers plus 13 and a half Seahawks minus one and a half. Those are the ringer one Oh seven picks. Today's ringer one Oh seven is brought to you by FanDuel download the app now to find all our one Oh seven picks and make this your most. Rewarding season FanDuel play your game odds subject to change. So there you go. Billy, how are you feeling about that Chargers? That Chargers pick in there? I feel like we're unnecessarily playing with fire on that game. Like you're just trying to kind of, you know, I feel like you're feeling good in first place and you're just like, let's do something crazy here. Let's see how good we are at this. It wouldn't be fun if you're just picking chalk. I like it. Shields pushing the envelope, picking the same games, the ones everyone's going to be locked into. It's part of the magic. I just want to come back and be able to say, see, I believed in you, Herbert, if he plays well. I believe that earlier. I believe in your ability to not lose by 14 points. You got to start somewhere. Yeah. I guess. It's one bar to clear for the Chargers this week. I figured out what the 51 and 46 was 51 games played 46 starts a couple of columns over. If we did merge, I would buy a ringer NFL shirt. That's 51, 46. The look on my, on my face and shields were both going, how is he started 99, 97 games. It didn't feel right when I said it too, but I had it in my notes and I was like, this is the danger of like scrolling on two different like computers and like jotting it down. Listen, my daughter's sick not to make excuses. My dog had a tooth removed. There's a lot going on in the gill household right now. Yeah. Okay. All right. Good stuff. That's our fault. Not mine. If anyone's back at home and she'll, I wouldn't put it on merch yet cause I'm sure I'm going to say something dumber. It's only week three. Good stuff. Fellas. Thanks to everybody for watching, for listening. We are back with another one on Monday. We're on every Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, Spotify, Netflix, everywhere you get your podcasts. I'm sure there's some other really cool stuff that I don't even know about yet. And someone will inform me later. So thanks to Arjuna, Chris, the whole team behind the scenes for shield. Billy, I'm Tom C. 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas star casino or 18 plus and present in DC or Wyoming gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-RESET. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/gamblingproblem. That's chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24/7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPENY or text HOPENY in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-78. That's why Chevy Silverado is number one in manufacturer loyalty so they can go where others won't. Make their own way there and always get it done. And as long as Chevy people keep showing up, we'll keep building trucks that do the same. Chevrolet, together let's drive. Visit chevy.com/trucks to explore the lineup. This episode is brought to you by Core Power Protein Shakes. In football, staying ready isn't just about what you do on game day. Good recovery is just as important to be prepared for your next matchup. Core Power Protein Shakes help you keep going after your workout with high-quality protein to build muscle and electrolytes to help hydrate. This shake has all your recovery needs in one bottle. Available in 26-gram and 42-gram protein options. Visit corepower.com to learn more. Six-seven.