Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello and welcome back to the Skullcast. I'm Asher Whitmer. This is my brother Christopher Whitmer. And we are two brothers who love to talk about football, any part of football. We are Vikings fans, so we come at it with a, a focus on Vikings and therefore a bias toward Vikings as well.
You know, if you missed it, in our last episode we, we debriefed and recapped the, the comeback on J.J. mcCarthy's NFL debut.
And so we, in this episode, we're not really going to touch on that. There may, there may be a bit of bleeding back into that as we talk about some, especially some of the other NFC north games. But we also watch or pay attention to kind of the league as a whole. And so this episode we're going to dive into just some reflection on what, how things are looking after week one. Obviously there's kind of. And we, and we touched on it a little bit in our last episode, although now I'm trying to remember if that was when we were recording or when we were off, but how the Eagles. You don't want to draw a conclusion on the Eagles too early because they can put things together and go on a Super bowl run with the last six weeks of the season. So obviously there's very limited. We gotta be honest and acknowledge there's very limited conclusions we can really draw from week one. But what are some of your reflections as you, as you think about? Obviously it started with the Eagles versus Cowboys. It started with a spitting incident and all the drama that kind of comes on with, with or at least as someone who looks on to the, the Philadelphia sports fan base. It seems like there's drama that goes on there sometimes. But then it, then you had the, the Chiefs Chargers on the Thursday Friday night game and then obviously the rest of the games on Sunday. What, where, what stood out to you about Week 1 NFL games as a whole?
[00:02:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I feel like every year they, there's for some reason I'm getting, I'm hearing myself.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: I. Interesting. I'm not hearing.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Maybe I'm just talking too loudly.
Okay.
All right. It. Every, like every year, week one is weird. Like you can't react too much to week one. I'm okay with overreactions, but.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:43] Speaker B: So I think, I think that the kind of the initial questions I have are like, the Cowboys looked better than I expected.
The packers looked better than I expected.
Chiefs look worse than I expected. The Chargers Chargers look like a really fun team. The Chargers, Chargers and Bills. Yeah, I think the rave, the Ravens. It's weird how, like, you can put up a 40 burger and I can walk away being like. It's a little bit like the Vikings in the first three quarters where it's like, ah, more of the same.
Um, yeah, I guess those are some of the overarching questions, I think.
Yeah, I've. I have some interesting questions about packers and Lions just as division rivals.
Um, I hope the commanders are able to like, pull things together because I think they could be a really fun team.
I got. I gotta say, Steelers and Aaron Rodgers looked a lot better than I was expecting.
I texted you, I said we should keep our, our Aaron Rodgers takes for after week two.
Yeah, I just feel like.
[00:03:57] Speaker A: Who are they playing?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: They're playing the Seahawks.
[00:04:00] Speaker A: Oh, okay.
[00:04:01] Speaker B: They.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: They played the jets first. Which. The Jets. To be honest with you, I was impressed with the jets as well. I did not expect them to have that offense. Yeah, yeah, no, I'm, I'm with you. There was. I mean, if it wasn't for Jalen Hurts and Patrick Mahomes, the teams that were in this super bowl last year did not look good at all, in my opinion. Like, they. I, I have a hot take. I don't know, should I give hot take now or should. Should we do hot takes later? That we could wait till after week two or something. But the, the, the other thing that stood out to me.
So obviously the, The Chargers looked really good and they, I mean they pretty much controlled that game from the beginning. The Eagles were down early and they wear out. The Cowboys get back in it obviously win.
Was it by 4, 24 to 20. I think the Bills and Ravens game, that is a, a incredible comeback and outstanding play. And what we saw with. With JJ McCarthy, like, it's exciting because it makes us think of. And obviously it's. It's fairly natural for us to go here because Harrison Phillips had had compared McCarthy to Josh Allen before the season even started. But it, you know, makes us think of that McCarthy has the Josh Allen type, at the very least, grit to hang in and, and lead a team back. At the same time. There's a lot about the Bills and Ravens that to me was like, this is. These are the same teams from last year. Like they had explosive offenses. The Ravens issues of dropping the ball like that should have been a Ravens game and they dropped the ball like that. That's why they got balanced in the playoffs. And the Bills issues of a weak defense, that's what they dealt with last year. And so it's kind of intriguing. I do Think there's a very high likelihood that was the AFC foreshadow or preview. Yeah. But at the same time I'm like the issues that they dealt with last year seem to still be there.
It didn't seem like anything was fixed. And maybe that's enough if the Chiefs are not as good. But I guess I compare to somebody like the Chargers. The Chargers looked a lot tighter defensively. Even offensively I thought they played well. And so what. What are the Bills and Ravens going to look like when they bump into a team like the Chargers? I guess that's kind of just something I'm. I'm going to be watching as the season progresses here. It could just be these are two explosive offenses and defenses are always going to get 30 plus points put up on them. The, the packers the X factor and I don't think we didn't record anything after the Parsons trade. So I'm. I can't remember. I would have to go back and listen how much we talked about the packers.
[00:07:00] Speaker B: But.
[00:07:00] Speaker A: But what you and I messaged about after the Parsons trade was just that the Parsons doesn't solve their biggest problems. Like he certainly helps them improve and we saw that how, how much they he. He getting pressure to the quarterback in the pass rush was able to fluster Goff and Goff is not good when he's flustered. He needs to have a clean pocket. There's also the element of. Well, the Lions didn't really do much in the off season. They. And they lost some pieces on the offensive line, on the O line. So was that impressive by the packers or was it a weakness of the Lions? I don't really know. To me the big X factor is Jordan Love. It's like Jordan Love has had six to seven games of really good QB that make that made me think. I think I had compared him to Pat Patrick Mahomes to you and you had kind of spotted that a little bit a couple of years ago.
Well then last year he wasn't good. He was turning the ball over even in the game against the Lions. He should have there. There should have been two interceptions against him. The problem is the Lions committed penalties on that play on the, on each of those plays. And so the interceptions got wiped away. He looked good. He started out strong. The middle portion was weak again and. And that's where some of that potential turnovers happened and so forth. Then they ended strong. Their defense looks good. Give them that. The X factors for. For me is kind of the Jordan Love play. He's the One holding them back from a deep playoff run. But, yeah, kind of. What. As. As fellow NFC north teams, how do you come away when you compare how the Vikings played against the Bears? Do you come away. Do you agree with Tom Brady that the packers and Lions are in the top 10 of NFL teams? Or is there. Is it not that worrisome to you? Yeah, you had the Vikings winning the division.
[00:08:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I still think the Vikings can win the division. I think. I think those. Those two games are actually very similar in the sense that it kind of depends on what the Bears go on to do and what the Lions go on to do.
If the Lions bounce back and into their old form, obviously, we'll also be seeing as. We see if the Lions bounce back, we'll also be seeing if the Green Bay packers sustain it. But there is kind of this sense of, like, the Bears might be better than we think, and the Lions might be worse than we think they. The. And so, like, I agree. Like, I think it does come down to Jordan Love. Can Jordan Love sustain it?
Can he play at a high level? I think he was injured last year, which was something I hadn't really taken into consideration was how much his play last year may have been hampered by, like, an injury in that Brazil game against the Eagles.
And that's a very fair point to make. And it may end up being that I underrated the packers because I wasn't. I wasn't considering that in that case, the packers could be very, very good and they might be top three. I think that's a.
A completely okay argument to make.
I.
Sorry.
I. I don't think the Lions. This might be a hot take by the end, but, like, I don't think the Lions are a top 10 team, and I think that that's okay. I think that that's okay. I don't think Lions fans should panic, and I think it's okay if they feel like that's a disrespectful thing. I just.
That game against the packers and, like, with kind of how decimated they are on the O line, like, I think everything that they have been is getting.
Is getting to need to be, like, reevaluated because they no longer. They lost Ben Johnson and they lost Aaron Glenn, two really good coordinators. And that happens to everybody. That happens to the Eagles. It hasn't happened to the Chiefs as much.
Um, which probably is part of why. Yeah, the Chiefs have. Have sustained success.
So all. All that to say, like, I. I don't. I. I would be very concerned about That O line with how Jared McGough, Jared McGough.
[00:11:30] Speaker A: Jared Goff thrives.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: I've been saying McCarthy too much.
[00:11:35] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, we're throwing the Mick in on everybody.
[00:11:39] Speaker B: Jared Goff is very good when he's got a great O line and a good, in a good rush, good running game.
Without that, he tends to fall apart.
[00:11:54] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:55] Speaker B: So, I mean, I think, I think my hope, my hope would be that maybe they made some good hires. I don't really know their coordinators. Maybe, maybe they'll get it together and by the end of this, end of this year, they could be back in their, in their form. It just feels like the O line and in those coaching losses, they've just lost their identity. And the reason I don't think fans should panic is because that happens to everybody. And, you know, give them a year, they'll find a new identity.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: And they may, they may find it by the end of the year, but yeah, the Packers, I don't know, I just, I just don't think, I still don't think, like, if McCarthy plays like he did in that fourth quarter enough times in this season, he doesn't need to play that way every game, but enough times the rest of the season. I think that they could very easily win the north, the Vikings. And so I don't know. I'm still not, I'm still not a believer in the packers as far as, like, that they are a top three team, but I think that that's an okay argument to make.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Yeah, sorry. I'm going to close my shade. The sun's getting in on my camera a little bit.
[00:12:58] Speaker B: I do apologize for.
Oh, I was saying. I apologize for sipping earlier. Everybody with misophonia was probably very irritated at me. I was just sipping away.
[00:13:10] Speaker A: There are some, some high end podcasts or high end names where people like will stop and drink in the middle of it. And I usually don't think about it, especially in conversation, if it's happening when the other person is talking or something. But sure, even Nick Wright, I think on his, his podcast with his. I forget what it's called.
[00:13:32] Speaker B: Ask.
[00:13:32] Speaker A: Ask Nick Wright or something.
[00:13:34] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, what's up with Nick Wright?
[00:13:37] Speaker A: Or what's up with Nick Wright? And it's, it's just. I was listening to it. I wasn't watching it and it's just like, ugh, like you could at least mute that part of.
So you're talking about. Yeah, you were talking about the, the packers and the Lions and you know, The Lions lost 27 to 13. So basically exactly two.
Two touchdowns, two possessions. They didn't do that at all last year. And their two losses were one possession differences. Four points to Tampa Bay and six points to the Bills in 23. They started out hot because they beat the Chiefs, who had just won a Super bowl, and they beat the Chiefs 21 to 20.
The Chiefs were missing, if I'm remembering correctly, I think they were missing both Travis Kelsey and Chris Jones in that game. But that's, that's kind of the game that got every. Like the Lions were on the map for everyone that year. Different people had them going to the super bowl that year, but they did, they did lose fairly significantly. They lost to the Ravens 6 to 38 that year. They were blown out even to the Bears at the end of the season. They lost to the Bears 28 to 13. And that December 10, 2023 is the last time that the Lions had a, a loss by more than one possession. So I guess I'm wondering on one hand, like, I personally have always thought the Lions defense is overrated. Even with Aiden Hutchinson. They weren't. You know, when you looked at the weeks that Aiden Hutchinson was playing for them last year, they weren't. They were fairly middle of the pack. Obviously, Aiden Hutchinson himself is an incredible defensive player, but it's a lot like the Cincinnati Bengals in the sense that you have one of the best defensive players, le NFL leader in sacks last year, and yet on one of the worst defensive units.
And so I've always felt like, and I don't like, Aaron Glenn is great. He showed a masterclass of bringing out and, and surprising a team, surprising someone like Darnold of how to do that. But I, I never was terribly impressed with Aaron Glenn. I'm very grateful Brian Flores is still the DC of the Vikings, but I always thought like he kind of got slighted the fact that he wasn't. I don't think he was even interviewed for some of these jobs. And Aaron Glenn got a head coaching job. Obviously Aaron Glenn has history with the jets and everything. So all that to say, I could see the Lions being reminiscent of the 23 team where they, they do get blown out here and there, but then they still have a good offense.
I think the question for me is when you look at how the Lions played, when you look at how the Bears played and the jets, like, again, speaking of Aaron Glenn's defense, like the jets didn't have that strong of a defense, obviously some people are going to be like, it's Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers all that. I think that's probably going to be on the higher end of points that the Steelers get. We could be wrong. Talk to us in a, in another week or two, we may have to walk back our conclusions on Rogers and the Steelers.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: We play them in Ireland.
[00:16:53] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. We'll see firsthand what they're like. But I guess the question that I see a lot of people circulating is like, oh, Dan Campbell's a fraud. He, he needed Ben Johnson. Aaron Glenn. I think you could say the same thing about Aaron Glenn or Ben Johnson. It's like they needed each other and the personnel, like it was a, it was a perfect marriage last year with the Detroit Lions. And you, you have to wonder what things would have been like had they had their full defensive personnel active going into the playoffs. Yeah, I, I, I guess I'm just kind of rambling a little bit. There's really just a lot of questions, like, what are they like? I think they're a regression from last year. If for no other reason, the fact that the Vikings and the packers got better and so there's going to be stiffer competition. The Lions play at number one seed schedule, and so they're going to have it tougher, naturally.
And it'll just be interesting to see are they totally kind of falling apart or is it going to be more reminiscent of the 23, where they still won the division but wasn't as maybe dominating as last year was for them?
[00:18:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:18:08] Speaker A: What did you, what did you make of the Bengals being held to 17 points against the Browns and not like Jamar Chase? I have Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow in one of my fantasy football leagues.
They did not really do anything.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: I, I have no faith in the Bengals, which is kind of a bummer because I, I really liked them when they made their super bowl run, but I think, I think that with everything that was going on with them this off season, with the holdouts and some of the weird ass and just not paying their players, but then not paying. It's kind of like the Cowboys, like, not paying their players, but they ended up paying a lot of money to their players.
And you know, in the end I just, that's not, that does not do good things for your team culture, for your team enthusiasm for the season.
They always start out slow. And so there's a part of me that's like, talk to me in week five. Like, maybe they'll, they'll get it going. Guess is that's because players like Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase get Super Competitive and in our like rallying the team and like, let's go, let's go. Obviously, you know, they're one and oh, but 17 and six against. Against the Browns. I mean they're. Yeah. Their defense, their defense was not good last year and I just don't see where they're going to get it from.
[00:19:36] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the thing that surprised me was that it like their defense actually played pretty good this game. They got sure at least two takeaways, two interceptions of Joe Flacco and.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: And I, I will say the Browns are also a dysfunctional organization, but Kevin Stefanski is a good coach, like two time coach of the year.
They've got good players on that team. The Browns, you know, made that Joe Flacco run a couple of years ago. They have Joe Flacco again. Obviously like the whole draft situation has a lot of media drama, but they're all like one twos and threes, you know, two, two, two and three strings. So. So the Browns may also just be better than it feels like because they've been so dysfunctional. Both of these teams are just kind of dysfunctional.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. They don't feel like very well run organizations that.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: Yeah. I think if I'm a Browns fan, I probably come away almost feeling better about that game than if I'm a Bengals fan. I don't. Obviously I'm, I'm neither one, so I don't know how people are feeling. But you expect Joe Burrow and Chase and Higgins to, to put up big numbers. The one thing I was listening to a recap of it yesterday and obviously I didn't watch that game, so I, I'm not privy to how it all progressed. But neither team was able to get the running game going. And I think especially in, in light of how the Vikings came back, the running game is a crucial piece too. I don't think we as Minnesota Vikings fans, it's been a long time since we've had a good running game paired with a solid pass game. Little bit with Dalvin Cook. But then there were. There were other organizational issues that, that held the team back.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: I'm just trying to think the AP.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Era that was primarily running that.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm trying to think the last time we had a good pass, like obviously we, I, we did with o' Connell and Cousins, I guess. But before that like all my life it was like defense and running.
[00:21:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. I can remember some of the early Culpepper that much. Yeah, that's what I think of Like Culpepper and Moss were pretty good together. But then, you know, Moss moved, went on and, and ushered in kind of the, the Adrian Peterson era of the Vikings. But oh, what I was going to say on that is that I did not realize just the crucial effectiveness of a run game until we see what Jordan Mason was able to open up. Like that totally changed how the Bears schemed or like what their anticipations were and so forth. When all of a sudden you had a guy who could break loose and then it gives little bit more cushion for on the RPO plays for McCarthy to, to actually keep it and pass. It was fun to watch the other, the other game that is.
[00:22:33] Speaker B: It'S like.
[00:22:34] Speaker A: What do you make of this? Is the Colts blowing out the Dolphins 33 to 8 with Daniel Jones?
[00:22:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I was, I was thinking about that game too. Um, I think, okay, three, three things. I think a top level thing is that I think the Dolphins probably are just not good this year. Like I, I, I don't think that McDaniel has, what's his name anyways? It doesn't matter.
No, the, the coach, the coach's name.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Mike.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: Mike, Mike McDaniel. I don't think he has like a commanding sort of leadership capturing of the locker room. Um, and so I think he's kind of a whiz kid, but hasn't like, like galvanized that team very much. And, and I think it shows. I think Tyreek Hill kind of wants out. I, I think TUA super injury prone. I, I get a pit in my stomach when I think about the Dolphins just because of how good they could have been and then how like injury prone TUA is. And there's a part of me that just feels like, just wonders like if I feel that way, how does that team feel? And maybe there's a sort of like a couple years ago when TUA was getting really injured, if, if they just kind of lost their, their enthusiasm.
So that's my overarching thing. My, my subplot is that I think the Dolphins just aren't good. I think it could be that Daniel Jones has found a spot.
And a kind of a third subplot is that did spending six weeks with Kevin o' Connell fix Daniel Jones where.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: He didn't actually play in, in an NFL game, but yeah, he was just.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: Sitting in meetings and like hanging around and eating from the good A rated food that the Vikings always have.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: I think, I think all three of those could be true. Like it'll be interesting. I do think the Dolphins are probably going to be bad. I thought maybe they might be a team people are sleeping on that end up being better, but it just doesn't seem like there's good chemistry coming out of there.
If Tua is not the starter under Mike McDaniel, they typically haven't done well. And so I think that does expose a little bit weakness in coaching. And so all that to say, but I do, I do also think Shane Steichen's very much of a good coach that he may have found, like he may have finally gotten somebody in his first time with the tenure of being the Colts head coach that can actually do more of what he'd like to have done in offense. And so, and it's probably easier because Daniel Jones is coming instead of coming straight out of the failure of the Giants. He's coming from what was at the very least kind of a, a place to maybe at least identify like, oh, this is what I was doing wrong or this is where I could be improving. And like, I'm sure there's a lot of coaching that the Colts staff has done as well because they've actually prepped him to play and had him play and so forth. But that I, I don't think, especially in what we've seen from Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold in recent years.
I don't think it's a small thing to even go and, and sit behind really good QB coaches and kind of regroup from what you've experienced beforehand.
[00:25:58] Speaker B: You.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: Yeah, okay. Well, I will, I, I think we'll kind of wrap it up. It'll be interesting to watch how the, how the season unfolds. The, the question marks in my mind and what's going to happen with the super bowl teams because they look like they could be bounced early in the playoffs with how they played in Week 1, especially with some other teams chomping at their bits with the Chargers and the packers maybe sticking, sticking out the most in Week one. Obviously we're Vikings fans, so we think Vikings have a chance of, of being a threat as well. But in our next episode, or if you haven't, we're recording this between our recap and our picks. But if you because of how our schedules are, the, the picks for week two will actually probably be published before this one. So go check it out like and subscribe to the channel so that you get whatever order these come out in and share your thoughts. What are your reflections? What stood out to you? Maybe you're a team, a fan of a team that we didn't even touch on mentioned here that you're saying, wait a second. Did you see the Jaguars blow out the Panthers? And maybe there's a reason we should be believing in the Jaguars more than we are. But it'll be interesting to see how the season unfolds.
[00:27:14] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be fun.
