We’ve officially hit the halfway point of the season, and hosts Peter Fenger and Justin Walstead are breaking it all down on The PTL Blitz! In this midseason special, the guys dive into the current standings to separate contenders from pretenders. Who’s alive in the playoff race, and who’s already done? They go head-to-head in a rapid-fire Buy or Sell segment—deciding which teams and players are worth believing in—and close with bold early predictions for playoff seeding. Packed with insight, debate, and a little chaos, this episode is your ultimate midseason checkpoint.
Transcript:
Peter:[00:00:00] well, welcome to Primetime Blitz. This is, uh, your host Peter Finger, and I'm joined here with my, uh, co-host Justin Walstad. Hey Justin. How are you doing?
Justin:Doing good. How are you doing?
Peter:Yeah, I'm doing great. Uh, it's week nine and soon this season we'll be retiring and for some of us we'll be able to put this behind us sooner than later.
And for others, the, uh, postseason will be a complete and exciting mystery to see who will, uh, make it to the Super Bowl.
Justin:Yeah. Crazy. We just felt like we just started yesterday and we're already halfway, more than halfway past the mid part, so see how the second half plays. There's been some interesting things so far in the first half.
Peter:Well, before we go into some of the surprises [00:01:00] for this season so far, I know you wanted to go over the week nine matchups, so why don't you lead us?
Yeah,
Justin:I just wanted to get your thoughts on it, see if there was anything that stuck out to you. There's some couple of interesting storylines. I think. Cardinals obviously getting their first win over the Buccaneers. I mean, I'm, I've been waiting for them to get a win. I feel like the, the Cardinals in the first half have kept most of their games very close.
There hasn't really been a blowout situation. If they had just a little bit better quarterback, I believe they could have won some of those games. So, and you know, I'm kind of, I feel like the more you go without a victory, it's kind of like hot potato. I feel like someone's just gonna land on that game.
And it happened to be the bucks so. Congratulations to Will on getting his first win. And then, uh, I think another highlight for me personally was the matchup of the week where you had the number three team going against the number four team, which was the Patriots and the [00:02:00] Cols. I know that we've discussed in the past, Peter, that the Colts have been kind of inconsistent in their gameplay.
I mean, don't get me wrong, they only have one loss on the Vic on the season, but I know probably from what they're hoping for, they haven't played in this up to their level yet. Mm-hmm. But I think this, uh, victory over the Patriots is a definitely statement win 30 to 14. I know a lot of people probably thought that would be a lot closer, so, you know, congratulations to the Colts really making a stamp on, um, that victory.
So those are kind of the couple of big games that stuck out to me. Anything stick out to you?
Peter:No, I mean, you know, I think we're starting to see some of the trends as we lead into the playoffs. You know, the Eagles looked really good against the Cowboys. It's divisional game, so somebody's gonna, you know, make mistakes or it's gonna be kind of a wacky one.
Uh, hard to say, like how teams perform and how you can look at a team in a divisional game. But, you know, they dominated the cowboys and the cowboys have been playing [00:03:00] above their belt. So, you know, I think that that's a pretty quality win. Another divisional game, I think was a close one, was, uh, the Baltimore Ravens versus the Steelers.
You know, it looks like in games like this, you just start to see some distance building in the divisions to where the, uh, cream of the crop really distinguishes themselves. You know, I think of like some of the maybe closer in, wins losses. I think we're starting to see those start to separate and, uh, the divisional winners start to get a considerable lead.
So, those are two games that I thought were interesting.
So let's continue. I know, uh, you talked a little bit about having some surprises this season. I wanna get your thoughts.
What teams have surpassed your expectations?
Justin:You know, when I was looking through the teams, there was only one that really popped to me, and I, I have to say it's the Saints currently sitting five and three leaders of their division. And, um, you know, one key re I [00:04:00] mean, I don't remember them ever really being discussed in the off season.
It seemed like the bucks were the clear favorites to take the NFC. And so, you know, and, and, and some of their victories, like over the Titans and 49 ERs are pretty respectable victories. You know, those are two playoff teams. So, you know, I think Saints have really surpassed what my expectations are and, um, you know, I've been looking, I looked at their second half of te of the teams they're going against, and I only saw about two or three tough matchups where I think they, they might not win it.
Mm-hmm. But I could see the squad going 11 to five or 10 or six, and I don't think that was necess. I don't think, I think that was more than I would've expected at the beginning of the season.
Peter:Yeah, that's for sure. Yeah, again, this is another one of those situations where I think that there's distance happening in that division and then the Saints are just the ones that'll sort of capitalize on, on that.
I, I too had a different idea of how the Saints might [00:05:00] perform, but it certainly looks like opportunity presented itself for them to take the division and, uh, they're stepping up into that role. I'm also a little surprised by the Seahawks. I sort of had this idea that, you know, with a, uh, youngish caliber quarterback, that they might be able to perform a little bit differently in that division.
But you know, we know that the Rams were gonna be number one. I don't think anyone had any doubt in that. And the 49 ERs have a pretty good squad. I just think that with the performance that we're seeing from EJ Henderson they're. The rest of their team hasn't quite looked as good as that one player.
And so, uh, I, you know, I, I, I think that Rock does a pretty good job of managing a roster. I guess I just thought that the division might turn out a little bit differently from their win-loss record.
Justin:Yeah. And I, I think piggybacking off what you're talking about, teams that kind of fell short from what we [00:06:00] expected, I would put Chargers on that list for similar reasons.
You have Drew Brees he spent the off season bringing in talented wide receivers around him, and he's currently sitting at three or five. I think this could have been partially a playbook issue. Like the playbook he was putting out there just maybe wasn't meshing with his team. I've seen better results out of him since he seemed to switch over to the Broncos.
Mm-hmm. So, I wanna put him in as a rebound team for the second half, but I was looking at his schedule and it's just brutal. hope he can back rebound, but just some of the teams he's facing in the second half he gets the cults next, the Jaguars, the Ravens, the Titans, and then, you know, the Broncos and the Raiders.
And I feel like that's just a brutal schedule to get through. But I do think his squad is there. It just, I think it may, may maybe took too long to figure out the playbook issue.
Peter:Yeah. Yeah. It, you know, they definitely have a, a growing team. And I know we had a [00:07:00] lot of buzz around them for picking up some really quality veterans.
But you're right, I do think like it's just a series of unlucky schedules and unlucky matchups there.
Justin:I had a, a couple of more teams that I. I thought are falling short. The next one, it's gonna sound weird. And I'm, I don't mean this in any disrespectful way, I just mean like the Vikings to me, they're five and three, they're a playoff team right now, and I have no doubt they'll probably be a playoff team by the end of, of everything.
I just feel like with the amount of time and effort they've been putting in to bring in all those studs on offense, it feels like they should be doing better from where they are. Mm-hmm. Um, I will, I will caveat this to say that I still think they have a chance to get hot and if that happens in the second half, they could be a team to really go far in the playoffs.
So I've just, I, I, it's no disrespect to the team, it's just I think they've, and I, I think Justin would agree, he, he probably would expect to perform a little bit better than where he is at with that talent and, you know, the [00:08:00] seasoning of like how good he is as a GM in general. Mm-hmm. So, um, that's just kind of a team like, I, it's kind of a weird thing.
They're not doing bad, they're in the playoffs, but it's, you, you, you expect them to do better.
Peter:Sure. Yeah, absolutely. You know, and it's tough. Like I'm looking at the you know, their, their schedule and I think, you know, there's a, there's a loss streak there, but then they broke it going into win streak.
The teams they lost against, you know, I think Packers, that's not too surprising Bears, it's surprising, but it's also divisional game. So I'm like, okay, they'll probably rematch and then be able to win that and kind of split it. I think it's the Chargers, you know, this was after they had lost Trent Green just might have been an unlucky week.
So, I'm curious to see what they look like after week 14. And the reason for, it's because they're playing a bunch of teams that are outside their division. I mean, they could easily [00:09:00] be, nine and four at that point, and looking pretty good. I do think that they're looking at a wild card round.
I don't know if they ever had aspirations that they would like lead the division just because of what we know about the Packers and Brett Favre, Aman Green.
Justin:Speaking of the Packers, we have the rematch between the Vikings and the Packers. In week 10, do you think there's a chance they split or do you think Packers sleep?
Peter:I mean, it would be advantageous for you if the Vikings won because that would, what do you,
Justin:what do you think will happen though? Do you think there's a chance, do you think their squad's good enough to make a, a split? I mean, it's the big Nah,
Peter:probably. Nah, probably not. If I'm looking at the power rankings, like the Packers have just performed at a elite level.
They've got no losses. So there's really nothing to show any weakness on that team. So yeah, it's [00:10:00] sort of my opinion. I don't think that the Packers are losing, but if they're gonna lose, they're gonna, they, they, and they lose that game. They lost to a very good team.
Justin:Yeah, I only had one more team on here that I think has fallen short of what, what was expected, and that's the bucks sitting at four and five.
So sub 500, I mean, everyone kind of had them taking the division and making the playoffs, and right now they're sitting only one game behind the Saints. Mm-hmm. Um, I can go into it later in one of our other later sections of comeback players. I think they, they're, they're still very much in this division, mainstream four and five Saints are five and three.
And Bucks hold the tiebreaker currently over the Saints because they won earlier this season. So I don't think it's a, they're dead by any means. I just, I think like, you know, the loss yesterday or the loss yesterday to the Cardinals, you know, that kind of stuff. You would, you expect those to be [00:11:00] wins. So, I'm curious to see what, how they do in the second half.
Peter:Yeah, I, yeah, yeah, I kind of agree. I, I think that the caliber of their roster is much better than their win-loss record. It does look like they might have gotten some bad luck. But I don't know. I think I, I do think that that was the team that we probably predicted to win the division. I think that there's still a chance for them to sort of flip it.
They're only one game behind the Saints. So there's a chance, and if anybody's can, and if anybody can do it, it can be those, you know, the teams in the South.
Justin:I, I mean, I think the NFC South is still up for grabs
Peter:personally. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Justin:So I, I, I haven't counted anyone necessarily out yet.
Peter:Yeah. Yeah.
I, I, I mean, I think what you're highlighting, this is just maybe the lack of elite [00:12:00] talent that's coming out of that division. Uh, there just really isn't a team that I would feel very hopeful in the playoffs to win more than just an appearance.
Yeah. All right. But you never know, I mean, again, if anybody's gonna do it and represent a, a good post-season run, it would be Neil. He's a good, good gm. The team I would put up there would be Darren but he didn't really have an off season to pick his team. And I just imagine that that team might be going through maybe some more changes before the end of the, uh, trading deadline.
But we dunno. We dunno.
Justin:So that was sort of the, the observations I had on teams that sort of surpassed and under performed in the second or in the first half.
Peter:Sure.
Justin:Yeah. I, I think there's still a whole lot of football to play, so play, you know? No, you know, still a lot of time for them to turn their seasons around.
Peter:Absolutely. [00:13:00] Absolutely.
Justin:Alright. Pete, so, uh, next up I wanted to discuss there another big topic for the first half was, I think QB injuries. I think that was very significant. From all the years I've been here, I can't remember a time when I've seen so many QBs go down.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:And you know, like I put together a list a couple, like a week or so ago, before the last two matchups.
So this list has been updated, but I just wanted to, you know, I, I saw 13 QBs on the injury list at once, you know, and some of them are big names like Trent, Trent Green was out for the season. Chad Pennington for the Jets was out for 11 weeks. You know, those are some of the big names. Uh mm-hmm. I know you had a, a, the loss of Michael Vick.
Mm-hmm. He's almost on the coming back and stuff. Um, I just wanted to get your thoughts. Do you think that's just random, just chances of, uh, the game just going in one direction, or do you think there's any cause to it?
Peter:So, like, I did a little bit of [00:14:00] research around this just to kinda dig a little bit deeper.
Again, my quarterback being part of that, it just leads to a lot of frustration and trying to ask questions. Why, you know, I, if we're looking at these teams and their quarterbacks, we're seeing like a lot of rookies starting Brian St. Pierre, Cara Palmer, Chris Sims, Brooks, Bollinger, cliff Kingsberry, those were all quarterbacks drafted in this last.
Draft and they all got injured at some point or another. You know, of the nine quarterbacks, five of them started, so 56%. So over half of the drafted quarterbacks ended up playing and got injured. Um, if we're looking at a league as a whole, like 13 quarterbacks outta 32 teams, that's like 40% of the league is sitting there starting quarterback.
So, going [00:15:00] back to maybe some of the reasons why you know, we're looking at it like a drop in OVR, we have a lot of young teams and a lot of young quarterbacks. The correlation I didn't really find is, is that I didn't really feel like a lower injury stat. You know, was the true reason why a lot of these quarterbacks got injured?
And I can dig and dig, right? Like, I could go and look at O lines and see how offensive lines have changed or who might not be dealing with the best offensive players. But I think if everything, anything, it comes down to like lower OVR subpar awareness, you know, and your quarterback takes sacks. In fact, I didn't really see a lot of quarterbacks that are injured, taking more sacks than others.
So I can't really say like, quarterback to SAC ratio is, uh, is any [00:16:00] worse. I, you know, I didn't really look into maybe like QBR or I dunno, maybe like past performance to recognize anything, but if anything, the big headline is, is that there's a lot of young quarterbacks and quarterbacks get hit.
I think it's just part of the game. I don't think that it's a pandemic enough for, you know, like folks to dive into the program to see if they need to change these numbers. I think in a couple of seasons we're probably gonna be putting something like this behind us and, uh, we should see some better seasons than, uh, this one we're seeing right now.
Justin:Yeah. I would agree with that. Um, I think it's probably just comes down to a lot of, you know, them being rookies and whatnot and
Peter:mm-hmm.
Justin:Having that awareness. It's a crucial part. The sad part is developing young quarterbacks is already hard enough and, um, this just takes away from that time they can get.
[00:17:00] Progression points, so.
Peter:Sure. Hopefully, I mean, like, let's just, just thinking about the, like, current list of rookies who have, have survived. Uh, of those nine, you know, you're looking at Giants, Steelers, dolphins, lions, those were the starting quarterbacks that have lasted nine weeks so far. And I can't tell you if like any of those have stepped out due to, uh, injury, but yeah, I know.
It's just, it's, it's a pretty, pretty tough landscape for rookie quarterbacks.
Justin:Yeah. Tony Romos seems to be benefiting from it because they're gonna have the best stats, I think, out of the, uh, young quarterbacks, at least in passing yards.
Peter:Certainly.
Justin:All right. So, yeah, that's all I wanted to kind of just cover that real quickly and see, uh, what your thoughts on that were.
I agree with your observations and stuff. I also wonder if there might be something to do with playbooks. [00:18:00] Um mm-hmm. You know, some playbooks, you know, you're gonna be more in the pocket than the other and are, you know, I, I haven't did any deep diving, so I don't know. I, I can imagine if your young rookie is getting more shotgun type passing situations, then it opens them up to getting hit and sacked.
So I don't know if that's, if that's a contributing factor. I haven't done the, the research as much, but it's just something to kind of think about. So.
All right. The, uh, next topic I, I wanted to move on to, I'm calling it Night of the Living Dead. We're getting close to the Halloween season. August apparently is the kickoff of Halloween in the country. So. Let's go with it. So we're, in this section we're gonna look at sub 500 teams, and I just want you to simply tell me if you think they're dead or alive.
If they're dead, that means their season's over. If they're alive, then they, they have a chance of making it to the postseason or, you know. Sure. Not dead yet. So I'm just, I just updated the records starting off with the [00:19:00] Bengals two and six. I will start off and say they're dead. Uh, I think that division's hard and I think the wild card's gonna be taken.
I don't see them with, with Carson Palmer out. And even when it comes back, he's a rookie. I don't see that changing.
Peter:Yeah. They, uh, the Bengals are not thinking about a playoff run this season. You know, you lost your starting quarterback. Uh, that's already a tough enough division. They're looking at postseason.
Justin:Next up in the same division is the Browns one in seven. I say dead. I think they're
Peter:Yep.
Justin:Now for pick 1.1.
Peter:Yeah, I agree. They're, they're dead.
Justin:Heartbreaking. But jets sit here, sit at the four and five because the division is tough and they just lost their quarterback for 11 weeks or so or whatever.
It's now. I don't think they can come back. So I'm gonna say they're dead.
Peter:Yeah, they're dead
Justin:Dolphins. Same division three and five. They don't have [00:20:00] a, you know, real elite quarterback. I, no,
Peter:they changed their roster. They're, they're going, they're building young.
Justin:So they're alive.
Peter:Mm-hmm. No, they're too young.
They're not ready for a playoff game.
Justin:Texans one in seven. I say they're dead. Yeah. They don't
Peter:have a quarterback. They're,
Justin:they're in the race for pick 1.1 at this point.
Peter:Yeah, they're dead.
Justin:Chargers, I hate to say it, but just because their schedule's so tough. I think they're, I think they are figuring out their team and what works.
Mm-hmm. But I just, I don't, that's a really hard stretch to go through. I have to say they're dead and they're,
Peter:yeah. The, uh, the Chargers are looking at a, at next season, right now,
Justin:bears three and five lost their rookie quarterback. Even when they get him back, he's a rookie tough division and tough conference.
I say they're dead.
Peter:Yeah. There's harder teams in that division. They're, uh, looking for postseason
Justin:lions sitting at one in [00:21:00] seven. I say they're looking for pick 1.1. I say they're dead.
Peter:Yeah. They don't have a chance.
Justin:The bucks I am saying are still alive because of reasons I gave earlier. I think that that division's still open and I think they have a compete a competitive roster.
Peter:Yeah. I think statistically. There's a chance I just,
yeah. Statistically there's a chance. You look at their schedule and they've got a pretty good one. So Yeah. I'll, I'll agree They're alive. We might actually see them slip in
Justin:Falcons, bro. Three and five. I, I'm saying you have a pulse.
Peter:No, there's no chance. You look at my schedule. It's, uh, it's been unlucky season, unlucky schedule, unlucky injuries.
We're not, we're not going anywhere.
Justin:And I, but I argue that I think that you have a strong defense. You gave the [00:22:00] 49 ERs a close run for their money. If it wasn't for a rookie kicker, you would've won that, that game. And I think that you, you're getting Michael Vick back. So, and I think you've, you've shown like your run game is a serious threat.
If you could just get your passing game and your running game, don't start like matching up. I think you have some serious strengths on your team.
Peter:Mm-hmm. Thank you. But, uh, that being said, uh, I'll, I'll advertise this. If anybody's looking for defensive line upgrades hit me up. I've got a strong defense, strong front to, to, uh, to bolster yours.
Justin:He's taking himself off life support. Okay. Um, next up we have, uh, division rival Panthers. I think that the GM obviously is solid. It seems like he's more interested in selling at this point though, so it seems like he's not that invested in the season, so he's dead.
Peter:Yeah, I mean, like, you know, Darren's a great [00:23:00] gm.
There's a chance that he just starts building fire. But I think that there's some other teams he is gotta go through that makes it a little bit harder.
Justin:Okay, next up is my division. We have the Seahawks three and five. You know, it's hard to say rock's dead. It just, it's hard. I've had too, I have PTSD of being in the division too long where he just seems to know how to figure things out and but I'll have to say he is dead, but maybe has slight pulse.
Peter:Mm-hmm. Yeah, he's dead. There's too many games they've lost. And there are other teams in that division plus you, SO also including another matchup against the Rams, which is an automatic loss. It, it just doesn't look like a good schedule for them.
Justin:And then finally on the schedule, you have the Cardinals who are no longer windless, who are now one in seven.
Unfortunately they're dead, but I think they're pretty eager to get that. Uh, pick [00:24:00] 1.1.
Peter:It's a, uh, it's a tough competition though. Cardinals, lions, Texans, browns, they're all, they're all gunning for it. But that being said, you know, in a couple weeks there's going to be one of those is gonna get another win and make that an even slimmer competition.
Justin:Alright. Um, so there's, that's the teams that are currently with sub 500 records and what, what, how we feel about the rest of their season going. I do want to segue that to the, the second part of this segment, which is basically don't count them out yet. So these are teams with Sub 500 that have struggled in the first half, but we feel optimistic that they, you know, they could make a run or they could do something special in the second half and kind of maybe end it with a winning record or something.
Or at least 50 50.
Peter:Yeah. So,
Justin:The, the team, the main team I have on this list, which I probably will believe will be the. Comeback team of the year would probably be the best chances of that would be the Buccaneers.
Peter:[00:25:00] Mm-hmm.
Justin:Um, as we've stated before, I think they have a playoff caliber team. They have a very favorable second half schedule.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:And the division is filled up for grabs.
Peter:Yeah. I mean like, and they have, they have a
Justin:tiebreaker over the saints.
Peter:Even just a quick look at like net points, you know, they're hitting the positive amongst the sea of negatives. So there's a good chance that they can, uh, they can leap over. They even have a better net positive than the Saints do.
So if Madden is suggesting something, it might be that there's a chance they overtake
Justin:Another team I wanted to look at that I think has a good chance of bringing it to the, that potentially have a good comeback in the second half are the Cowboys. They get their QBI back in potentially two weeks.
They're past the most difficult part of their schedule. They only have about two tough teams remaining. So, I would not be shocked if they can still consider [00:26:00] going nine and seven. I'm not sure if that's enough to secure a playoff spot, but could keep 'em in the conversation. I feel like they have a, I mean, we saw what Chris Sims did in the, the first few games he's in and, you know, when he gets back he could potentially f you know, start where he left off.
Peter:Yeah, that's true. The cowboys have been really surprising to watch. Again, they had a, a lot of heat building into them at the beginning of the season and sort of tapered off injuries doesn't help. But what's really exciting is that they also have like a very young team and they're, they're building.
So what you might see as an opportunity for maybe the division to thrive while Apollo's cowboys are still building, I feel like that window might be closing pretty quickly. If anything, the cowboys might not see a playoff spot, but they're certainly seeing a promising team to go into next year.
Justin:[00:27:00] Yeah, definitely. And then you argued me on this, but I still think Falcons have a chance. Call me naive, but I still think with I'm, I haven't seen enough of Michael Vick yet. He's a. He's a caliber qb. I think he could be, uh, great down the road, and I'm just curious to see what you do with him. But that's contingent on if you, uh, sell your defense.
So if you sell your defense, then I take that back.
Peter:Yeah, IJ it just doesn't look like a very favorable s schedule. So I think, uh, we're looking at a series of losses until we finally get to like the last two weeks where we get some teams that I think we're a little bit more evenly matched. So, pending a, a different kind of schedule.
We might have looked at a different outcome, but, uh, I think we're in it and the trend isn't improving in the next couple weeks.
Justin:All right. Is there any other teams that's, um, you have faith in that? I might have left off my list.
Peter:You [00:28:00] know, I thought that the Broncos are doing something special, very similar to what the, what the Cowboys are doing, what they sold their team and, uh, are rebuilding. But I think that that that period of young developing players is closing very quickly.
It's kind of a tough division because both the Chiefs and the Raiders and the the Chargers all have some pretty solid talent. You know, put them in a different division and you might have been able to see some seriously different outcomes, but the record shows that they're doing something special with that Ross Day.
So I think that that's impressive as well.
Justin:Yeah, I agree. They're a 500 unit right now, so they can have a really great second half. that ends my dead or alive segment. Just wanted to get your thoughts real quickly on if we, we can expect any, uh, comebacks. And I think we, uh, covered pretty much ev all the teams that we feel have that [00:29:00] opportunity.
If it's good with you, I wanna move on to the final segment on my list, which would be the, uh, buy or sell mid-season edition. You know how the game works if I'm gonna read you a statement and you just tell me if you buy or sell.
Peter:Sure. Let's do it.
Justin:All right. So starting off, Cardinals will secure pick 1.1, buy or sell.
Mm-hmm.
Peter:You know, I'm gonna go back to a statement you made earlier where you said that the Cardinals are one quarterback away from having a decent roster. And that decent roster sands quarterback, Mike g just enough for them to lose out on 1.1. Now I know we went eight weeks and they didn't see any wins. It doesn't look like their schedule's getting any better, but
Justin:you mean that the s they could win there.
That's, that's a toss up.
Peter:Yes.
Justin:Be Bengals are your [00:30:00] young qb. So that's another toss up. 49 ERs most likely wins, right. Has the brown, it's just
Peter:looking at the competition like of one in seven teams. They're just, there's four of 'em. And so it just doesn't give me a lot of confidence knowing that, you know, we still have a number of teams that are fighting for that one, one spot, but is it a chance?
Absolutely. Do I think that they have a, a, a strong chance at maybe winning enough games to lose out? I think that that might be probable.
Justin:So you're selling,
Peter:I'm selling,
Justin:you know what, I was a buy on this, but you using my words against me has convinced me to. I do think they have a good roster. They haven't been blown out by any team.
And I, you know, I think a lot of, there's several games there that it could have easily gone their way.
Peter:Mm-hmm. And,
Justin:and down [00:31:00] the stretch there's a lot of winnable games. The most anticipated should be them versus the Browns. I think Browns and them probably would be two top contenders for pick 1.1. So, yeah.
You know, we'll see. Uh, moving on. Uh, another name that's been really popular to bring up in the, uh, chat room is EJ Henderson. A lot of people are high on him on during the draft. Um, he got an A plus in some of the grades and, um, he seems to be living up to the bill.
Peter:He just picked up another 3 cents this weekend.
Justin:That is correct. So my, my statement is, EJ Henderson will win the defensive rookie of the year I buy, I don't think that's even in contention.
Peter:Yeah, I don't think that there is anyone that's going to compete with that, especially as a rookie. I maybe even defensive player of the year, you know what I mean?
Like go all the way up to the pros. [00:32:00] So, well some people's, a lot been
Justin:so bullish on him. That leads us to our next statement. They think he's MVB equality. EJ Henderson will be MVP. Do you buy or sell that one?
Peter:Uh, you know, it's MVP is kind of a popular vote. Uh, it kind of goes with the player that people feel is deserving.
There's also sort of a legacy thing. But, you know, there's a pretty strong narrative. I could see folks throwing EJ Henderson an MVP vote.
Justin:I think he will be part of the conversation for sure. I think someone will nominate him and put him in the MVP racket, and I have no problem with that. I just don't think he, I don't, I don't think he wins over Brett Fav.
I think Apollo mentioned in the, and in the chat that it could be due to schedule. He's had some very favorable matchups, so. Mm-hmm. You know, he's going against the young QBs that gives him a lot of opportunity, but he went against the tough team, you know, the guy didn't get much action, so, it could just be opportunity.
He's getting [00:33:00]
Peter:Sure.
Justin:And his schedule.
Peter:Mm-hmm. Um,
Justin:I mean the, the same thing could be said with Brett Favre. I mean, it's not like he's been going against playoff caliber teams every time, but I just think that Right. EJ Henderson, this is just his first season in, and I'm sure he's gonna have better seasons moving forward, even with how great this season is.
Sure. And I mean, I guess how I see MVP is like, if you took that person out of that roster, that team's success would be completely different. And with the current record of three and five, I don't feel like, do you feel, I don't currently feel that if you took AJ Henderson out of that roster, it would be much different.
Peter:Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I, I, I can agree with that. I mean, you're talking about Brett Favre, who's leading all three categories of passing, leading right here. Yeah. Whereas EJ Henderson is only topping one. You know, even if you're looking at a numbers thing, it seems to skew toward Brett Favre.
Justin:Right. So, I mean, I'll sell, but I'm curious to see what the, the [00:34:00] conversation will be at the end of the season for sure.
Uh, we talked about this a little bit. I gave you my reasons earlier. Bucks will be the comeback team of the second half. I can buy that.
Peter:Yeah, we can, yeah, we could, we could buy that. The bucks are in line for a comeback, that's for sure.
Justin:Okay. This is not necessarily for our, this season, but just in general speaking, going forward, we will see a team finish se uh, season undefeated.
Before we'll see a team finish a, a season winless, do you buy or sell that?
Peter:Yeah. It, it seems like the program is sort of skewed in that way. I know we saw it when in the SFL with the Patriots of a undefeated team. So very possible. We haven't quite seen the impossible breakout for Winless teams.
Justin:I agree.
I buy, I, I feel, I feel like, as I told you before, I feel like it's a game of hot potato and just you're gonna [00:35:00] be unlucky landing on that one team that just hasn't gotten thrown a bone and they get thrown that week and then they go back to losing the rest of the season. So, Brett fav, we just, we've just mentioned him, uh, in our MVP conversation, Brett Fav will finish the season with the most yards thrown highest QBR and most TDS thrown.
He will win the T tri, the trifecta.
Peter:I, I mean it certainly looks that way. You look at some of the people that are sort of following him and the only category I could see him losing out on is in passing yards. He's looking pretty good at QBR and, uh, head and shoulders over touchdowns. So it's possible I'll buy it.
Justin:I'll buy staying with the packers. They've also been having success on defense, specifically with cornerback. Sean Springs currently leads the league with the most interceptions. He will finish the season with the most interceptions I will buy.
Peter:Hmm. I am just taking a [00:36:00] look at the schedule here. Yeah.
I think that they're facing some teams where like. Either they're in injured, their quarterback's injured, or they're just facing young quarterbacks, so there's a real opportunity for them to, uh, step up on defense. I, I'll buy it. I think Sean Springs ends up winning with most interceptions.
Justin:All right.
Final topic. Sticking with the packers, have the packers have two games in the first half where they've scored 50 plus points. In the second half, they will have three more games where they score 50 plus. Do you buy or sell finishing the season with five games where they scored 50 or more points?
Peter:Yeah.
You know, I know we just talked about how they have a good schedule. I, I, it's possible. Very possible. So yeah, I'll buy it.
Justin:It's possible, but I think it's probably [00:37:00] improbable, so I'll sell. Sure. Um, moving on to another big name, quarterback Peyton Manning. Currently has 11 tds and nine interceptions, so he's almost scoring as much as he is turning it over.
Peyton Manning will finish the season with more interceptions than tds.
Peter:No, his QBR suggests that he'll have a better touchdown than interception. So I, I sell,
Justin:I sell on that too. It usually seems like even if it's close, the TVs usually pay out.
Peter:Yeah.
Justin:Uh, moving on to another another playoff team, uh, with the Vikings.
Uh, this might be an, uh, uh, indication to why they've been not living up to the level we expected in the first half, but Dante Cole Pepper has been sacked and whopping 23 times in the first half. My question is will Cole Pepper finish the season with 30 plus sacks by the end of it? [00:38:00]
Peter:Yeah, I mean, I think that that's a pretty easy bet to take.
You know, about 40, we have 40, sorry,
Justin:how about 40 plus?
Peter:Hmm. That's a little harder because I certainly think that Deacon Pass 30, there's only, you know, we have x amount of games. He's practically taken two sacks a game, you know, so surpassing 30 is definitely in the looking glass. I don't know if he's gonna get to 40, 35.
Might be pushing it too.
Justin:So, yeah, I mean, but this, it's interesting that he is been sacked 23 times that can indicate yeah. That, that, uh, the defenses are finding pressure on his qb and that's why we're not seeing explosiveness out of that offensive right now.
Peter:Sure. I mean, there was a game where he, he two games where he went back to back five sacks.
Yeah, that's, that's tough. He just faced the t faced the Chargers team where he [00:39:00] got sacked four times. He had a team against the Packers where he got six sacks. Geez, man. That is brutal. And he still, he still healthy, managed to have a QBR reading of 76 after all that. Yeah, it's pretty wild. That's pretty wild.
I wonder what's going on. I know that they had a pretty good o line in the off season.
Justin:Yeah, I mean, I, I, when I was doing, when I was pulling these things, I thought that was, you know, unusually high. So I just thought it was interesting.
Peter:Yeah, that is unusually high.
Justin:All right. So we, I think we both buy on that one and we sell on 40 plus.
Peter:Yep.
Justin:Uh, next up, uh, I want to look at rookie QB Sims was hot before he went down. So before he, he went down, he had, he hit, uh, with the injury. He had a QBR of 114.7. so my first question on him is, do you think he will finish the season with a QBR of a hundred plus? Do you buy or [00:40:00] sell?
Peter:Yeah, I would sell that.
You know, if we're only looking at a guy with two games, was it two under his belt before going down, both of those games look really good. Right? You know, you're looking at nearly 50% completion, two touchdowns each game. That's really good. You know, I think when you start to see other games, you get other scripts and, uh, you might not be so lucky.
So I'm gonna say sub 100, but probably a quality play that you get excited for next season.
Justin:I mean, I like his schedule moving forward. Yeah. Next up is the Giants, Redskins, jets. Then he has Tough Packers, then he has Lions, tough Eagles, Panthers, Redskins.
Peter:Sure. Yeah. I mean, not to say that he won't win a few of those games, but, uh, I still think defenses might eat him up,
Justin:Sticking with him.
Do you think he'll finish the season with nine plus tds?
Peter:[00:41:00] Let's see.
Justin:He currently has four tds, one interception and two sacks.
Peter:Yeah. I mean, like even if he ends up getting eight, he's looking at a, you know, even if he ends up getting like eight touchdowns, I mean a touchdown per, that's looking at, you know, over nine touchdowns in the season.
I think that's very possible. I'll buy that. Okay.
Justin:I'll buy on that too. And then finally, do you think he will finish this season with less than five interceptions? N
Peter:no, that's probably not gonna happen. It would be very surprising if he did, and I would be taking a very close look at the game plan. But it certainly seems like there are times when Madden just throws like a three or four interception game and guys just come screaming back to earth.
I think we will. We'll, we'll see a game that will hurt Chris SIM's stat line before the end of the season. [00:42:00]
Justin:Got it. It was pretty impressive. He only had one interception for a young dude, though.
Peter:Yeah, absolutely. No, it's very encouraging. Like I said, the Dallas Cowboys are doing something special, so, you know, if anybody can unlock that, it, it'll be Apollo.
But I don't know if he can avoid some of those traps that we've seen in other QB performances.
Justin:I know he's been knocked out with injury and I haven't, he has, I haven't been done a, haven't done really a lot of research on rookie, offensive players.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:But would you still consider, do you think he's still in the conversation for rookie offensive player of the year?
Or do you think the No. Eliminated that?
Peter:Yeah, probably not. We'll probably give it to some. I I think somebody else will probably step into it. It's tough because the landscape of quarterbacks is pretty slim, but it certainly looks like Tony Romo might be the favored quarterback in that, just stat wise.
You got it. [00:43:00] So I wanna talk to you about maybe the predictions go going for playoffs. I know we talked a little bit about some of the comeback teams, but let me just focus on we'll focus on the NFC first, and then we can go into the a FC. And just to sort of help me paint the picture of who you're expecting going into the playoffs.
Predictions there. So one, two Rams Packers. I'm looking at both your guys' schedule and the only one that I see flagged is week 15, where it's Packers versus Rams that I really see like any opportunity for one of you guys to take up a loss. So, who do you think is going to get number one seating?
Hmm.
Justin:I mean, it's a coin toss really for me. I don't, I don't wanna jinx myself. So what do [00:44:00] you think?
Peter:Sure. Yeah. I think that you have a chance of going 17 and now There's nothing in your schedule part, like a, a terrible injury. That says that you guys will have any problems going forward.
Justin:I'm looking, I expect you to be, I'm looking at list, I'm looking at, I'm looking at team stats here. I mean, like total offensive leader packers, lead one, Rams two. You have the pass offensive leader, Packers one, Rams three, rush offensive leader, Packers three, Rams four. So all off the main offensive. Were pretty neck and neck.
It might come down just to defense. I really, I wouldn't be surprised if our matchup is a low scoring game. Yeah.
Peter:Yeah. It'll be touchdowns and reigning bombs. That's, that's what I would expect.
Justin:So it might come down to defense. I think both of our offenses are clicking, but [00:45:00] I mean mm-hmm. You know. All right,
Peter:so clear one, one, and two.
Whoever First seat is, is a coin toss. Third position is likely the eagles. I don't see them losing ground on where they're at and I don't see teams below them doing much better or doing any better than the the eagles. So then going into four, that's a Saints, that's gonna be somebody from the A FC NFC South.
And uh, we're saying saints are Buccaneers. So I think that that's the coin flip there. And then five and six wild card
Justin:sticking on the, the Saints. Real quickly, if the buck somehow take the division, do you have, do the Saints miss the playoffs?
Peter:Oh yeah.
Justin:Yep. So you don't think they can, they can make a a wild card?
Peter:No, there's not a chance where I, it's possible just because the caliber of that sixth, sixth seed. But I [00:46:00] imagine that it's gonna be somebody else.
Justin:All right. So basically it's a division winner or bust?
Peter:Yeah. Yep.
Okay. The only that,
Justin:that's the only thing that seems up in the air to me right now.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:Um, I think Vikings and 49 ERs are. I don't see anyone really challenging them for that spot.
Peter:Yep. They seem like a lock for, for the, uh, the wild cards. I agree. So, Rams Packers,
Justin:NNC to me, seems pretty locked at this point.
Peter:Yeah. Yep. Yep. Otherwise, other than the, uh, the NFC South and everybody else is a, pretty much, pretty much locked. All right. Going into the A FC where it's a little bit more banged up than, than the an C so Colt's number one, I, I don't see anybody challenging them. Would you agree?
Justin:Uh, I agree. I think that the team that was gonna give 'em room for the money just got handed their, uh, passes, so.
Peter:All right. Then number two [00:47:00] is the Ravens and number three is the bills, and number four is the Raiders. All of those with the same record. Who do you think is the strongest of those three?
Justin:Raiders. When do they get their quarterback back? They have three weeks.
Peter:Yeah. At least, at least three more weeks.
Justin:So then it's hard to put them at the top.
Peter:Right. They had Raven's also dealing with an injured quarterback too.
Justin:I think out of the top four bills right now are probably the team to look at.
Peter:Yeah. And it's surprising because we haven't talked about the bills at all. Right. If they're like the number two. Well, I had
Justin:a buy, I did have a buy or sell comment that I added here.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:And I wanna ask you, do you think the bills will win the a FC South South?
Peter:You know, it, it comes down to the bills versus patriots.
And I think that those are the [00:48:00] games that are really going to determine who wins. Now, the last matchup, the Patriots lost against the bills, so there's a chance that they sort of flip, but that happens next week. So, that'll be a very exciting week. 11 for them. Sorry, Patriots are on a, on a buy next week.
So a very exciting game to come back into. And they're at Buffalo and I think that that might be the home field advantage, and that's the difference of the Bills walking away with the wind there and securing their hold on the A FC East.
Justin:Yeah, it's been very back and forth between Patriots and Bills.
Like right now the bills are in lead, but I could easily see Patriots getting back in that position. You know, they had a tough matchup against the Colts. Sure. So, and, uh, bills squeaked a win by in their first matchup. It was pretty even. I could see Patriots. And easily taking it the next time. So who knows?
Peter:But yeah. Right.
Justin:I like the [00:49:00] Ravens to win that division. I don't think they have, I mean the closest that would come to stopping them is the Steelers, but they have a rookie. Yeah. And they're currently sitting four and four.
Peter:Yep.
Justin:So I think they're pretty safe. Do you think the Ravens keep the second seed?
Peter:No, I see them falling and I see them falling to maybe like three or four. It really comes down to if the Raiders get their quarterback with enough time in order to collect some more wins. I see the Raiders, so Colt's one, we know that. I see Bills two and I see Raiders three, and then Ravens four,
Justin:Patriots
Peter:five.
I think that the Patriots stay at five. Yeah, that's, that, that sounds right to me. Like they already have a strong win-loss record. The bills are the ones, the top, but you know, they sort of like eat each other. I think the Patriots are the ones that take the five C and I don't think anybody else is close to finishing with their kind of record.
It's the six [00:50:00] seed that really makes it interesting because right now it's the Titans and the Jaguar is fighting for it, but the Chiefs are not far behind. The Steelers aren't far behind. The Broncos aren't far behind. I think we can count the Jets, jets out, but that's five teams all fighting for one spot.
And currently Titans and Jaguars are, uh, are the ones leading. Uh, I, you know, and it's funny because I know there was a lot of frustration from Brian at the beginning of the season, but it seems like fate. Rewards him with playoff spots. So I feel like they're the team to beat for the succeed.
Justin:Also, Jags have been struggling with the QB injury.
I think he's coming back though if he's not already back.
Peter:Yep. And that'll be a big, big advantage. But the titans haven't lost their quarterback and that's important.
Justin:Yeah. I, I think that, I think the, that team is a lock for me, the [00:51:00] playoffs.
Peter:Yep.
Justin:I think Jag's are the closest thing right now to take it from 'em.
'cause they're doing same division. Mm-hmm. Um, I haven't studied the other, the other teams moving forward schedules.
Peter:Mm-hmm.
Justin:I think the Broncos had, I think while the Broncos have been doing well, and I think they're, they, I mean they had that impressive win over the cults earlier this year. They have a tough schedule coming up, so there's no.
It's no guarantee, but you know, Anthony has gone, Anthony's obviously a shrewd GM that hates losing, so I'm pretty sure he could figure something out, so I won't count him out. Mm-hmm. But it's not gonna be easy cakewalk into the playoffs at this point, especially if, especially like what's the Titan schedule moving forward?
Titans have Jaguars, so that'll be a good matchup to watch. Then they go against the Bronco. [00:52:00] So the Broncos have a chance there to get a tiebreaker over them if they can pull off a win there. Mm-hmm. Um, then they go into the Bengals, Texans. That should be easy. Wins chargers. That should be another interesting one, just because I think of, uh, chargers might have figured something out with their roster.
Chiefs are gonna be without a qb, so they should be able to win their jets. They should be able to win there. And then they finished the, the week 17 with the cults. So I don't know.
Peter:Yeah, there's a chance you have some
Justin:interesting matchups going on forward. Yeah,
Peter:yeah, yeah. I just, it, it kind of feels like sometimes some teams just fall into success and I, I think that they're, they're ones that are primed to sort of fall upward into that space.
Justin:I mean, they're, they're in a position to lose it all or win it all right now. I mean, they're the ones with the, the record, if they can just keep playing. If they could just keep getting those wins, then they're gonna, they'll, they'll find themselves with the succeed.
Peter:Sure. Sure. [00:53:00] Any other teams you wanna discuss before we uh, we finish our show as we sort of analyze everything up to the halfway point?
Justin:I think the AFC is more of an interesting conference right now. It feels like the NFC as we were discussing is kind of more straightforward.
Peter:Yeah. Yeah, you're looking at nine teams with sub 500 records. That's not too talented.
Justin:Yeah. I don't know. Do you think there's gonna be any big surprises in the second half?
Peter:Nah, not really. We've kinda locked things up at this point. You just play it out and watch everybody sort of fall into the same spot that we've seen.
Yeah. It seems like things were kind of written already by week four.
Justin:Yeah. Seems like the race for, uh, 1.1 is gonna be interesting though. [00:54:00]
Peter:Yes.
Justin:All strong contenders.
Peter:Yep. Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. We're already looking at 14 teams that are making up the first half of the draft with a number of other teams still fighting for success.
Yep.
All right. Well, uh, let us know your thoughts of who you think might be fitting into the Wild card seeds in the comments. And, uh, we'll read your remarks in our show next time. Otherwise this has been our show. We'll be back again likely at the end of the season to cover all the locked in playoff spots and our pre playoff predictions as well as a peak into off season as well.
So, uh, that should be fun and, uh, look forward to chatting with you then, Justin.
Justin:Yeah, same with you, Pete. Looking forward to, uh, seeing how the rest of the season goes, um, seeing what the post season's gonna look like.
Peter:[00:55:00] Absolutely. Absolutely, absolutely. And best of luck with you and your team as you're sitting with eight wins and a very bright future with a, a perfect season on the brink right there.
Justin:No pressure.
Peter:So that's gonna do it for the show. Look forward to seeing everyone at the end of the season and, uh, best of luck.
Have a good night. Bye.
