# Patriots-Seahawks and 49ers-Rams Week 1 Previews

An episode of [NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/680904259), 7 Sep 2026, 31 min.

Audio: https://pdrl.fm/91be81/podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/claritaspod.com/measure/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/9ce11dad-e86a-444f-ba83-ae27003475be/597cf514-e748-4d0c-b6ff-b4ba0189e9e5/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=deff018f-4b51-4501-937c-ae27003475d1

Football is back! Gregg Rosenthal and Jourdan Rodrigue get you ready for the kickoff to the 2026 NFL season with their previews of the Super Bowl rematch between the Patriots Seahawks and the 49ers Rams facing off in Melbourne, Australia. Find out who Gregg and Jourdan think will win the game, who will be the x-factors on the field, what they're watching for on both sides of the ball and more! NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily, where we have actual NFL games
[0:09] Speaker 1: to preview in this episode. It's not an episode where
[0:13] Speaker 1: we're talking about, oh, which week one games are we
[0:15] Speaker 1: looking forward to?
[0:16] Speaker 2: Well, what's this going to be like when it finally
[0:18] Speaker 2: gets here? It's actually here. We're in the Chris Wessling
[0:21] Speaker 2: podcast studio. My name is Greg Rosenthal. I'm with my
[0:25] Speaker 2: friend Jordan Rodbrieg. We've made it. We're ready to talk
[0:29] Speaker 2: about two big games, the kickoff game and the game
[0:33] Speaker 2: in Melbourne.
[0:34] Speaker 3: Are you ready?
[0:35] Speaker 4: I'm so excited because we have been anticipating the return
[0:38] Speaker 4: of regular season football.
[0:40] Speaker 3: Need it.
[0:40] Speaker 4: It's on a Wednesday this year.
[0:42] Speaker 3: Gotta have it.
[0:43] Speaker 4: Gotta get going, you know?
[0:45] Speaker 2: I think Wednesday starts could become the norm, especially if
[0:50] Speaker 2: they capitalize on that threat to maybe go to Tokyo
[0:53] Speaker 2: next year. You would just imagine the Tokyo game slots
[0:55] Speaker 2: into the Australia spot.
[0:57] Speaker 4: Hopefully a promise.
[0:58] Speaker 3: Right.
[0:58] Speaker 2: I really hope that happens. They just won't let me
[1:01] Speaker 2: forget about Super Bowl 60. with this Seahawks Patriots start
[1:05] Speaker 2: to the season. We'll start with that game.
[1:07] Speaker 3: Comes up first.
[1:09] Speaker 2: We got the Sunday night football crew. We got Tirico.
[1:15] Speaker 2: We got Collinsworth. It's only a three and a half
[1:18] Speaker 2: point line. I know famously you don't know how that works, but.
[1:22] Speaker 2: Weirdly like they think this is a closer game than
[1:25] Speaker 2: than it was in the super bowl going into the
[1:27] Speaker 2: super bowl even though it's in seattle generally a very
[1:32] Speaker 2: difficult spot for the road team on banner night the
[1:36] Speaker 2: the super bowl champion celebrating we both wrote down just
[1:39] Speaker 2: some questions we without talking to each other that was
[1:42] Speaker 2: sort of the exercise in week one because we've talked
[1:44] Speaker 2: about the season preview of it all of these teams
[1:47] Speaker 2: so much that we have to get back into talking about, okay,
[1:51] Speaker 2: how do these two teams specifically match up against each other?
[1:53] Speaker 2: What is the question that stands out to you the most?
[1:56] Speaker 4: My, one of my biggest questions is about Seattle and
[1:58] Speaker 4: what their run game looks like now featuring rookie January
[2:01] Speaker 4: and price minus Kenneth Walker. Brian Flory is a new
[2:04] Speaker 4: offensive coordinator in Seattle. Clint Kubiak obviously is the new
[2:08] Speaker 4: head coach of the Raiders did a great job last
[2:10] Speaker 4: year with Seattle's offense and, I have no questions about
[2:13] Speaker 4: Seattle's offensive line. I have no questions that Jadarian Price
[2:18] Speaker 4: is going to come in and make an impact right
[2:20] Speaker 4: away and maybe even secure, dominantly secure that lead role
[2:24] Speaker 4: even when Zach Charbonnet comes back, less of maybe even
[2:26] Speaker 4: a two-back system other than in extreme cases of needing
[2:30] Speaker 4: to rest him or those types of things because I
[2:32] Speaker 4: think he is that good. I'm curious, though, what it
[2:34] Speaker 4: will look like and how they attach it to the
[2:37] Speaker 4: screen game and try to make New England's corners and
[2:40] Speaker 4: safeties come down and tackle. And especially because Kenneth Walker
[2:45] Speaker 4: was so effective in that early in the season, and
[2:48] Speaker 4: that really gave them an edge early on against their opponents.
[2:51] Speaker 2: And if you think about the Patriots defense on paper,
[2:53] Speaker 2: probably better stopping the run right now than rushing the pass.
[2:58] Speaker 2: It was more or less true last year as well.
[2:59] Speaker 2: And yet in the Super Bowl, it was Kenneth Walker's
[3:02] Speaker 2: creativity that did it. I can't wait to see how
[3:04] Speaker 2: much juice Jadarian Price has in a regular season game
[3:08] Speaker 2: I think we'll see a lot of George Helani yeah
[3:10] Speaker 2: they trusted in big spots in the Super Bowl like
[3:13] Speaker 2: he was out there he is clearly going to be
[3:15] Speaker 2: RB2 I think he'll play some of the passing downs
[3:19] Speaker 2: but I'm really fascinated by that too I sort of
[3:23] Speaker 2: thought on the other side like which running game would
[3:25] Speaker 2: you trust more right now coming into the game do
[3:28] Speaker 2: you trust the Seahawks or the Patriots, even irrespective of
[3:32] Speaker 2: the matchup, like which would you trust?
[3:34] Speaker 4: The reason I trust more the Seahawks more is because
[3:36] Speaker 4: I trust their offensive line. Listen, I know that the
[3:39] Speaker 4: Patriots went to work on rebuilding and in some phases,
[3:42] Speaker 4: their offensive line, this last off season, it sounds like
[3:46] Speaker 4: things started to get put together with this group, you know,
[3:49] Speaker 4: starting with Will Campbell, Campbell still at left tackle. Elijah
[3:52] Speaker 4: Vera Tucker is there now at guard. It, it sounds
[3:55] Speaker 4: like they started to come along in camp for the
[3:57] Speaker 4: positive and I just, I don't trust him until I
[4:00] Speaker 4: see him against an opponent. And I don't trust this,
[4:02] Speaker 4: this whole system in totality until I see this offensive
[4:05] Speaker 4: line improve.
[4:06] Speaker 2: I want this game to be good. I want both
[4:08] Speaker 2: of these games to be good. The three and a
[4:11] Speaker 2: half line like threw me a little bit. If there's
[4:16] Speaker 2: a path to the Patriots being competitive, possibly winning, leading
[4:19] Speaker 2: this game close in late, I think it's the offensive line.
[4:25] Speaker 2: being significantly better this season in the end than it was.
[4:29] Speaker 3: A year ago.
[4:29] Speaker 2: Now, my biggest question is more about how the pass
[4:33] Speaker 2: rushes have changed for each team in the matchup. And
[4:37] Speaker 2: so I'm hoping to live in a world where Will
[4:41] Speaker 2: Campbell takes a year to leap and he was hurt
[4:43] Speaker 2: in the playoffs last year. He's reportedly had a really
[4:45] Speaker 2: good camp. Elijah Vera Tucker, a big upgrade. if he's
[4:49] Speaker 2: the player that he's been when he's been healthy at guard.
[4:52] Speaker 2: You have a new center who's only a second-year player,
[4:55] Speaker 2: Jared Wilson. Like, how is that going to work? Could
[4:57] Speaker 2: that be an upgrade? We'll see. It's going to be
[5:00] Speaker 2: a pass-heavy offense now against a pass rush that basically
[5:04] Speaker 2: has everyone back except you replace Boye Mafe with Dante Fowler,
[5:08] Speaker 2: which is a downgrade. And yet that's like their fifth
[5:11] Speaker 2: or sixth rusher. They are so deep. That was a
[5:14] Speaker 2: huge problem. in the Super Bowl protecting Drake May. They
[5:18] Speaker 2: did not have to rush five to get pressure. The
[5:21] Speaker 2: pressure rate was exceptionally high. And so I do want
[5:25] Speaker 2: to talk about the pass rush on the other side too.
[5:28] Speaker 2: But on this side, that to me is a big question.
[5:32] Speaker 2: Can the Patriots protect better consistently this year. I just
[5:36] Speaker 2: don't see them being the team they want to be
[5:38] Speaker 2: unless that answer is yes.
[5:40] Speaker 3: Cause I think they got problems elsewhere.
[5:42] Speaker 4: It's a really tough thing to do right out of
[5:44] Speaker 4: the gate too, because what I would imagine Seattle is
[5:47] Speaker 4: going to try to do is just dominate that side
[5:49] Speaker 4: of the line of scrimmage and just throw every type
[5:52] Speaker 4: of rush at these, especially these tackles, especially Will Campbell,
[5:56] Speaker 4: really try to shake the confidence early when you're going
[5:59] Speaker 4: against a bunch of different types of pressure, not necessarily
[6:03] Speaker 4: the fact that you're changing and rotating guys in and
[6:05] Speaker 4: out all the time or stunting or whatever, but all
[6:08] Speaker 4: of these Seahawks players can use, they have different, different
[6:12] Speaker 4: tools in their toolkit that they can use in combination
[6:15] Speaker 4: with each other. They know each other so well, even
[6:17] Speaker 4: with Dante Fowler being sort of quote unquote, the new guy,
[6:19] Speaker 4: still a veteran, they all know each other. They rush
[6:22] Speaker 4: as one, they can throw a bunch of different types
[6:25] Speaker 4: of things. at this Patriots offensive line. And that to me,
[6:30] Speaker 4: them trying to get in the head and, and rattle this,
[6:33] Speaker 4: this group early, it is going to be one of
[6:35] Speaker 4: the biggest tests all season. This Patriots offensive line faces.
[6:39] Speaker 2: Maybe the biggest. I mean, they got the crowd noise too,
[6:41] Speaker 2: which they had in the Superbowl, but not nearly.
[6:44] Speaker 4: Not like this. It won't be like this. Yeah.
[6:47] Speaker 2: Jared Wilson in his first NFL star at center. That
[6:52] Speaker 2: that's a, it's a tough situation for him to be in.
[6:54] Speaker 2: So that that's the, hope for the Patriots on the
[6:57] Speaker 2: offensive line. And I am positioning it in a way that, look,
[7:00] Speaker 2: I think the Seahawks have, if I want to spoil my,
[7:03] Speaker 2: my pick here, like I think they're more likely to
[7:06] Speaker 2: win this game somewhat comfortably, even if it's a touchdown,
[7:09] Speaker 2: that's not the worst result ever for the Patriots, but
[7:12] Speaker 2: they cover comfortably here. I'm operating like that game that
[7:15] Speaker 2: just happened in the Superbowl. It like, We're not that
[7:18] Speaker 2: far removed. How can it be different? On the other side,
[7:22] Speaker 2: where the Patriots are rushing the passer, I personally have
[7:26] Speaker 2: a hard time seeing it be different. The Patriots were
[7:31] Speaker 2: really aggressive in terms of their blitzes. Their defense played
[7:35] Speaker 2: very well in that game. They did not give up
[7:38] Speaker 2: a touchdown in that game until the Seahawks' 10th possession.
[7:42] Speaker 2: They held the Seahawks to 4.2 yards per play in
[7:44] Speaker 2: that game.
[7:45] Speaker 3: Overall, they had a good... defensive plan.
[7:48] Speaker 2: Are you confident they have the horses to do it
[7:52] Speaker 2: again and give the Patriots offense a chance in this
[7:56] Speaker 2: game to do what they couldn't in the Super Bowl?
[7:57] Speaker 4: Repeat pressure has always been a worry with Sam Darnold
[8:02] Speaker 4: in his career. That being said, I said it on
[8:04] Speaker 4: a previous show, I think we're going to get a
[8:06] Speaker 4: better season overall from Sam Darnold. I think that if
[8:10] Speaker 4: you want to talk about confidence and ownership and empowerment
[8:14] Speaker 4: within a system and also this plan that these guys
[8:19] Speaker 4: have taken upon themselves, including, you know, again, Brian Flory,
[8:22] Speaker 4: to build a any kind of answer you need with
[8:26] Speaker 4: some of the layers that they have in their passing game, including,
[8:29] Speaker 4: you know, use of the two, the two backs in
[8:31] Speaker 4: some cases, use of the backs in the passing game,
[8:34] Speaker 4: use of the tight end, AJ Barner, use of like
[8:36] Speaker 4: very layered threats in the receiving game and, and JSN,
[8:39] Speaker 4: obviously being able to draw defenders back and like widen
[8:42] Speaker 4: the space out a little bit for Sam Darnold and
[8:44] Speaker 4: maybe make it less, uh, likely that you send all
[8:47] Speaker 4: that extra pressure because if he gets you once on
[8:50] Speaker 4: one of those blitz beaters then you're not gonna be
[8:53] Speaker 4: feeling like you want to run it again so for
[8:55] Speaker 4: me I just think that I trust the Seahawks to
[8:59] Speaker 4: be better against those looks and and that in part
[9:03] Speaker 4: to me is because I do have a lot of
[9:05] Speaker 4: confidence in their offensive line and.
[9:06] Speaker 2: They blitz like crazy in that game five six they
[9:10] Speaker 2: blitz more than half the time they got an appropriate
[9:14] Speaker 2: level of pressure it wasn't extraordinary, but they had to
[9:19] Speaker 2: do that to make it work. Zach Kerr did a
[9:20] Speaker 2: great job in the postseason with all of his blitzes,
[9:26] Speaker 2: but this is not the same pass rush. The biggest
[9:28] Speaker 2: concern I have as a Patriots fan is that Harold
[9:32] Speaker 2: Landry is not healthy. Caleb on chase on is gone.
[9:36] Speaker 2: So now you're starting edges are Draymond Jones who comes
[9:39] Speaker 2: in as you know, from Tennessee and in Baltimore, and
[9:43] Speaker 2: it's not really a great pass rusher. Your other starter
[9:45] Speaker 2: is probably Elijah Ponder, uh, who's a good up and
[9:51] Speaker 2: coming young player who could have a good career. And
[9:53] Speaker 2: then the depth isn't that good behind him. And I
[9:55] Speaker 2: know they have their defensive tackles. That's the centerpiece of
[9:58] Speaker 2: their defense.
[9:59] Speaker 4: That's why I think they're going to break off this
[10:01] Speaker 4: wide zone and middle zone run game immediately with Jadarian Price.
[10:05] Speaker 2: And that's a chance for them, but you combine that
[10:10] Speaker 2: with questions at cornerback right now. Carlton Davis hasn't been
[10:13] Speaker 2: that healthy. The safety position is different for the Patriots,
[10:16] Speaker 2: a little slower. You have Kevin Byard. Back there, they
[10:19] Speaker 2: lost Hawkins to the Ravens. And so I think there's
[10:23] Speaker 2: a lot of questions about the Patriots defense going into
[10:26] Speaker 2: the season that I didn't have in the playoffs and
[10:29] Speaker 2: concerns me. And you have the full offseason of Rashid Jahid.
[10:32] Speaker 2: What is another question you want to throw out there
[10:35] Speaker 2: before we move on to the Australia game?
[10:37] Speaker 4: To me, it's a question of what on paper it
[10:40] Speaker 4: looks like we know what personnel the Patriots want to
[10:43] Speaker 4: live in. It looks like they want to be an
[10:45] Speaker 4: 11 personnel team. They have A.J. Brown there now. Now, obviously,
[10:49] Speaker 4: they have the three deep of receivers and Hunter Henry
[10:51] Speaker 4: is their only proven tight end. They have Eli Raritan,
[10:54] Speaker 4: who they drafted, who apparently had an amazing training camp.
[10:58] Speaker 4: So they could go to 12.
[10:59] Speaker 2: Hey, don't forget undrafted rookie Tanner Arkin. Wouldn't shock me
[11:04] Speaker 2: if he plays as much or more than Raritan, a
[11:06] Speaker 2: good blocker.
[11:07] Speaker 4: Yeah. So for me, this is the question because you
[11:10] Speaker 4: see their talent in the receiving room and you think
[11:15] Speaker 4: this is a team and especially with Drake May being
[11:17] Speaker 4: as willing to throw the ball and push the ball
[11:19] Speaker 4: as he is. they would probably want to live in 11, right?
[11:23] Speaker 4: Because if you look on the other side of the ball,
[11:26] Speaker 4: Seattle is still trying to figure out whether or not
[11:28] Speaker 4: it will have Nick him and worry. First of all,
[11:29] Speaker 4: who's there there. I call him the power slot on
[11:32] Speaker 4: their defensive side and he's a personnel neutralizer. So it
[11:34] Speaker 4: doesn't matter if you're an 11, 12 or 13, he
[11:36] Speaker 4: just sort of makes everything neutral because of how he
[11:39] Speaker 4: can cover and tackle in the slot. However, not totally
[11:42] Speaker 4: sure if he's going to be available coming off of
[11:44] Speaker 4: that ankle surgery in the summer, but You know, Julian
[11:47] Speaker 4: Neal is somebody who they drafted to be their smaller
[11:50] Speaker 4: nickel corner. And he's dealing with injuries as well. Kind
[11:54] Speaker 4: of repeat injuries have come up. They're sneaky thin there.
[11:57] Speaker 4: Avery Smith can play inside. He might be somebody John Snyder.
[12:01] Speaker 4: Schneider was just talking him up the other day. They
[12:03] Speaker 4: even are at the point.
[12:04] Speaker 2: But he's an undrafted rookie that just spent training camp
[12:06] Speaker 2: with the Chargers and he's playing week one.
[12:08] Speaker 4: Exactly. All my point and Trayvon Diggs is even on
[12:11] Speaker 4: the practice squad could get called up. My point is
[12:13] Speaker 4: their third corner that they really, really rely on in
[12:15] Speaker 4: this defense. It could really be predicated on how the
[12:20] Speaker 4: Patriots come out because they'd be okay probably living in
[12:24] Speaker 4: that smaller sub package with a smaller team. corner in
[12:27] Speaker 4: the slot, if all the Patriots want to do is
[12:30] Speaker 4: stay in 11 personnel, they are talented enough where I
[12:33] Speaker 4: think they would be very, they'd be fine just sort
[12:35] Speaker 4: of patching that up until they have their healthy players back,
[12:38] Speaker 4: the Seahawks. But if the Patriots do decide to go
[12:40] Speaker 4: 12 personnel, which they sort of sneaky can, but it's
[12:44] Speaker 4: not really being talked about because we just haven't seen
[12:46] Speaker 4: them do it really with this group, then that to
[12:50] Speaker 4: me is where there might be a little bit of
[12:52] Speaker 4: a matchup gamesmanship happening and that's what i'm really curious.
[12:56] Speaker 2: About yeah i think they're gonna wind up playing uh
[12:59] Speaker 2: nehemiah pritchett a decent amount on the outside kind of
[13:02] Speaker 2: replacing reek woolen and so again you look at the
[13:06] Speaker 2: seahawks and you forget that statistically they were one of
[13:09] Speaker 2: the most dominant super bowl championship winning teams of the
[13:12] Speaker 2: last 25 years and i feel neutral about like where
[13:17] Speaker 2: they are now to where they were that's a very
[13:19] Speaker 2: high level whereas i The Patriots, I feel a little
[13:21] Speaker 2: worse about in a few ways, but the one way
[13:24] Speaker 2: I think they might have an advantage in this game
[13:26] Speaker 2: where that they didn't previously is what you just talked
[13:28] Speaker 2: about in the secondary, especially if Imanwari isn't there and
[13:32] Speaker 2: compare it to the depth of... of receivers that the
[13:35] Speaker 2: Patriots have with DeMario Douglas now established as the three
[13:39] Speaker 2: behind Romeo Dobbs and AJ Brown. And you start thinking about, well,
[13:43] Speaker 2: what are the matchups going to be? You have Devin Witherspoon. Sure.
[13:45] Speaker 3: But then it's Job and then it's Pritchett.
[13:47] Speaker 2: And then you're going to have some matchups that you
[13:49] Speaker 2: can dictate with a quarterback and an offensive coordinator that
[13:52] Speaker 2: I think are confident in what each other is going
[13:54] Speaker 2: to do. And that's, What I want to see more
[13:56] Speaker 2: than anything is them play fast. Like all this off
[13:59] Speaker 2: season talk about pace, pace, pace, and that they give
[14:02] Speaker 2: it a shot and that they, they play fast. They
[14:04] Speaker 2: try to keep the same personnel groups on the field.
[14:07] Speaker 2: And if I have a hot take for this game,
[14:10] Speaker 2: it's points that I, I like the Seahawks in the game,
[14:13] Speaker 2: but I like the points even more.
[14:16] Speaker 3: Than the Seahawks.
[14:16] Speaker 2: Cause I think both defenses are not at the level
[14:19] Speaker 2: necessarily that they probably were at last season. Sometimes you
[14:22] Speaker 2: see an ugly week one. I think this is going
[14:24] Speaker 2: to be a fun score fest of a week one.
[14:27] Speaker 4: Me too.
[14:28] Speaker 3: I mean, I, well, I don't score fast. Let's go.
[14:33] Speaker 2: Let's go like 29, 22. When the C if you
[14:36] Speaker 2: get over 50 and the Seahawks are involved, that's a score.
[14:38] Speaker 3: Fest to me.
[14:39] Speaker 4: Well, I think the Seahawks are going to win this game. I,
[14:42] Speaker 4: I also think it's so interesting you mentioned tempo and
[14:45] Speaker 4: pace because Nicky Manwari is going to be one of
[14:48] Speaker 4: those players where we don't, we just, at the time
[14:51] Speaker 4: that we are recording this podcast, we don't know whether
[14:54] Speaker 4: he's going to play or not. If he can play,
[14:56] Speaker 4: it's okay if they freeze you in the same personnel. Again,
[14:59] Speaker 4: he neutralizes anything you want to try to do when
[15:02] Speaker 4: he's on the field. And you can't necessarily use pace
[15:07] Speaker 4: and tempo and no huddle as a weapon.
[15:09] Speaker 3: But is he the same Nicky Manwari?
[15:11] Speaker 4: That's the big question. He is the most, to me,
[15:13] Speaker 4: he's one of the most important players on the team.
[15:14] Speaker 4: He's one of the most important players in the team.
[15:16] Speaker 4: In this matchup. And regardless, I think the Seahawks are
[15:19] Speaker 4: going to win. They're just they're just too good of
[15:21] Speaker 4: a football team. And they're at home and it's banner
[15:24] Speaker 4: night and it's going to be really fun. But I
[15:26] Speaker 4: also think the way they do it is going to
[15:28] Speaker 4: be fascinating to me.
[15:29] Speaker 2: Three and a half just begging you to take the Seahawks.
[15:34] Speaker 3: I don't like that.
[15:34] Speaker 4: Reeling you in.
[15:35] Speaker 2: Rams and the 49ers are a fascinating game because it's
[15:38] Speaker 2: in Australia. We love our Australian listeners. I hope you
[15:41] Speaker 2: guys are enjoying this week of 49ers content.
[15:45] Speaker 4: Yeah, it's literally just the 49ers.
[15:48] Speaker 3: Right. Them hanging out there.
[15:50] Speaker 2: Like the Rams are the team that like pushed to
[15:52] Speaker 2: have the Asian rights and they're the home team here.
[15:54] Speaker 2: And yet the 49ers are actually doing the legwork of doing,
[15:57] Speaker 2: you know, some of the media and everything.
[15:59] Speaker 3: And they're out there. It's very cool.
[16:01] Speaker 2: But One of the reasons I like this being the
[16:04] Speaker 2: game on top of Seahawks Patriots is you have these
[16:10] Speaker 2: three NFC West teams like all right at the beginning
[16:15] Speaker 2: of the season. But in my mind, something we talked
[16:17] Speaker 2: about in the show with Patrick is you have the
[16:20] Speaker 2: two super duper powers. starting off the season against two teams,
[16:25] Speaker 2: Patriots and 49ers, who I think a lot of us
[16:27] Speaker 2: believe are contenders, like obviously they're playoff contenders. And it's
[16:31] Speaker 2: a chance to stamp the start of this season, how
[16:34] Speaker 2: they stamped last season as like, actually, no, you might've
[16:40] Speaker 2: given us tough opponents week one.
[16:42] Speaker 3: We're going to.
[16:43] Speaker 2: Stomp them and show you that this season is going
[16:45] Speaker 2: to be about these two superpowers. And the Rams have
[16:48] Speaker 2: an opportunity to do that. If the Seahawks, you know, complete,
[16:52] Speaker 2: a victory on Wednesday night. What is the question? And
[16:56] Speaker 2: this is a Friday game, by the way.
[16:58] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[16:59] Speaker 2: In Australia, but Thursday night for us. What is the
[17:02] Speaker 2: question you wrote down first? You're most curious about answering.
[17:05] Speaker 4: The very first question I wrote down is will George
[17:08] Speaker 4: Kittle play? And he traveled with the team. There was
[17:11] Speaker 4: even questions about whether he, he was going to or not.
[17:15] Speaker 4: It sounds like he's pushing to try to return after
[17:18] Speaker 4: that injury last season. And yeah, he's, he's absolutely a,
[17:22] Speaker 4: an X factor for them. Now, what version of him?
[17:25] Speaker 4: I don't know. We, we just don't know until we
[17:27] Speaker 4: see it, but I'm really curious because I do think
[17:30] Speaker 4: he's one of those mathematically changing players when he's on
[17:34] Speaker 4: the field, even if he's not 100% back to his
[17:37] Speaker 4: full self and his normal self, he still changes how
[17:40] Speaker 4: you are going to structure your defense. what types of your,
[17:45] Speaker 4: what types of A plus and B plus personnels you
[17:46] Speaker 4: are going to go to first in your call sheets,
[17:48] Speaker 4: how you're going to leverage your blocks, you know, and,
[17:51] Speaker 4: and all these things. I just think that he is just,
[17:55] Speaker 4: his presence on the field is such a math changer
[17:58] Speaker 4: that when you combine him with a Christian McCaffrey on
[18:01] Speaker 4: that side, and then, you know, Mike Evans, who I
[18:04] Speaker 4: can't wait to see play and Dijon Stribling and Debo Samuel,
[18:07] Speaker 4: which is like the Rams will have deja vu.
[18:09] Speaker 2: Weird.
[18:09] Speaker 4: Debo Samuel is involved in this game. But factoring in
[18:14] Speaker 4: George Kittle, if he is going to play, which we
[18:16] Speaker 4: might know, you know, soon, we don't know yet.
[18:19] Speaker 2: They're going to bring that up into, and even I
[18:22] Speaker 2: think closer to game time. And even if he's out
[18:24] Speaker 2: there practicing, you won't know for sure until he's out there.
[18:28] Speaker 2: You know what I saw going through my notes from
[18:31] Speaker 2: these matchups last year?
[18:32] Speaker 3: A lot of Jake Tonjes.
[18:34] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[18:35] Speaker 3: And Big Todd just is a.
[18:36] Speaker 2: Good player who has value as a second tight end
[18:40] Speaker 2: that can be amplified if Kittle is on the field.
[18:42] Speaker 2: They're that much dangerous. much more dangerous together than they
[18:46] Speaker 2: are apart. That's what they say about Jake Don.
[18:48] Speaker 4: Miles Garrett will be on the field for the Rams.
[18:51] Speaker 4: And so I would hope that you put more tight
[18:53] Speaker 4: ends out on the field or you feel like you
[18:54] Speaker 4: might have to because one of them's got a chip, right?
[18:58] Speaker 4: I would imagine they really hope George Kittle and sort
[19:00] Speaker 4: of his maniacal energy can try to at least throw.
[19:03] Speaker 2: The best effort.
[19:04] Speaker 3: Not the chip on the shoulder. And not a championship.
[19:06] Speaker 4: Chip block.
[19:07] Speaker 3: A chip block. Chip block.
[19:09] Speaker 4: And the other guy's got to catch passes for you.
[19:11] Speaker 2: Famously, the 49ers, no championship. They've gotten close here in
[19:16] Speaker 2: the Kyle Shanahan era. And the one that probably took away,
[19:20] Speaker 2: maybe not their best chance because they were a drive away,
[19:23] Speaker 2: a play away from beating the Chiefs. But, you know,
[19:25] Speaker 2: Sean McVay won the biggest matchup that these two guys
[19:28] Speaker 2: have ever had. And yes, Kyle has the record overall
[19:31] Speaker 2: over him. It's 11 to 8. You count the playoff game.
[19:34] Speaker 2: But it's been a little more in the Rams' favor lately.
[19:37] Speaker 3: I went and looked.
[19:38] Speaker 2: They've never played in week one. And they've never played
[19:41] Speaker 2: in Australia. They've never played in Australia. They have played
[19:43] Speaker 2: in week two and week three. So it has happened
[19:46] Speaker 2: early in the season. But I do think week one
[19:47] Speaker 2: is its own.
[19:50] Speaker 2: Mini season within a season because you haven't seen anything.
[19:53] Speaker 2: And it is delicious that these two coaches who already
[19:58] Speaker 2: play such a deep game of, I know, you know,
[20:00] Speaker 2: that I know, you know, that I know, you know,
[20:03] Speaker 2: that I'm going to do this, putting that into week
[20:06] Speaker 2: one where you can break out some funky stuff and,
[20:10] Speaker 2: is really fun to think about. And as much as
[20:14] Speaker 2: that record is interesting between the two of them, they've
[20:19] Speaker 2: only played three games with Brock Purdy. at quarterback between
[20:24] Speaker 2: these two teams. Isn't that crazy? Cause Purdy's been hurt
[20:28] Speaker 2: during some of the matchups. I think there was a
[20:30] Speaker 2: week 18 games. Like they Brock Purdy's 49ers teams are
[20:34] Speaker 2: one and two against the Rams.
[20:36] Speaker 3: It's kind of crazy. That is a, that's a wild thing.
[20:38] Speaker 2: So this version of the rivalry has not really gotten
[20:41] Speaker 2: to take hold. I.
[20:43] Speaker 4: I was there for some of the Nick Mullins games, man.
[20:46] Speaker 2: So not good. I, I want to think that everyone
[20:49] Speaker 2: watching and listening is, in our first preview show of
[20:55] Speaker 2: the season, has been with us every single episode of
[20:58] Speaker 2: the offseason. These are the NFL Dailians that we love.
[21:01] Speaker 2: But in case you're just joining us, this is our
[21:03] Speaker 2: first show on NFL Channel of the season two. And
[21:07] Speaker 2: if you're listening to us, you can also catch us
[21:09] Speaker 2: on YouTube if you want to see the excellent clothes
[21:12] Speaker 2: that Jordan wears that looks more like me each and
[21:16] Speaker 2: every day. This is a long buildup to point out
[21:19] Speaker 2: that If you haven't followed along with camps, I do
[21:22] Speaker 2: think news is important with these two teams. They've had
[21:24] Speaker 2: very different camps. The 49ers have overall had a very
[21:27] Speaker 2: bad camp. They haven't gotten Michael Williams back their first
[21:30] Speaker 2: round pick from a year ago when he was removed
[21:32] Speaker 2: from their run defense. It really changed their run defense.
[21:34] Speaker 2: The Rams took advantage of that in both the games.
[21:36] Speaker 2: I know they only won one of them, but they
[21:37] Speaker 2: ran all over them. Mike Evans has been hurt. He's
[21:41] Speaker 2: expected to play in this game, but he's missed a
[21:43] Speaker 2: lot of time. Ricky Presol is out for the season.
[21:46] Speaker 2: Christian Kirk is on an injury list. The Kittle news
[21:49] Speaker 2: has been positive, but he's coming off a torn Achilles.
[21:52] Speaker 2: Nick Bosa went to Australia as well. He's optimistic about playing.
[21:57] Speaker 2: He hasn't even come close to fully practicing until this week.
[22:00] Speaker 2: Fred Warner's coming off of a big injury. I'm not
[22:03] Speaker 2: saying that the Rams don't have any questions. Myles Garrett
[22:05] Speaker 2: missed a lot of time, but he's expected to be fine.
[22:09] Speaker 3: But ultimately.
[22:11] Speaker 2: there is a big question of just like, which 40,
[22:13] Speaker 2: what team is this? Am I seeing, I tend to
[22:16] Speaker 2: think that the 49ers are catching or the Rams are
[22:19] Speaker 2: catching the 49ers at a good time just because of
[22:21] Speaker 2: the variability.
[22:22] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[22:22] Speaker 4: Because I think a team like the 49ers, they pick
[22:25] Speaker 4: up steam as the season continues. You see it almost
[22:28] Speaker 4: every year with them, especially like, when they are dealing
[22:30] Speaker 4: with injuries, they start to sort of have that snowball
[22:33] Speaker 4: rolling down a hill effect where they just grow and
[22:36] Speaker 4: get and gather themselves and get stronger and stronger and stronger,
[22:39] Speaker 4: especially when they've had people who have come back, you know,
[22:43] Speaker 4: after a month, after a few weeks. So yeah, catching
[22:46] Speaker 4: them and, and, and just a, just a crazy off
[22:50] Speaker 4: season in general for, for this team, for both of
[22:53] Speaker 4: these teams, for different reasons.
[22:54] Speaker 2: Let's review it for a second because the Rams, not
[22:58] Speaker 2: last year, but in general, have started slow too under
[23:00] Speaker 2: Sean McVay. A lot of twos, two and threes, a
[23:02] Speaker 2: lot of three and threes, a lot of one and
[23:04] Speaker 2: twos in there. But yeah, this offseason has been crazy.
[23:07] Speaker 2: The one thing I want to make sure we got
[23:09] Speaker 2: in here was like, I feel like we haven't talked
[23:10] Speaker 2: about Trent McDuffie at all this offseason when he's the
[23:14] Speaker 2: guy that you gave up these future picks for, that
[23:16] Speaker 2: he's the guy that you gave the contracts to. So
[23:19] Speaker 2: let's just think about this secondary. They also add his
[23:21] Speaker 2: former teammate, Jalen Watson, who's a big cornerback and is talented.
[23:25] Speaker 2: And you pair those two with cam curl and cam
[23:27] Speaker 2: kitchens in Quinton Lake. And you get a lot of flexibility.
[23:31] Speaker 2: You've watched these, this matchup so much. What do you
[23:34] Speaker 2: think about kind of that secondary? Obviously they're going to
[23:36] Speaker 2: be supported up front with, by a good pastor, but again,
[23:39] Speaker 2: they're secondary against what Kyle Shanahan wants to do.
[23:41] Speaker 4: Well, it's, it's so interesting to me how much the
[23:43] Speaker 4: Rams were informed this off season. by, first of all,
[23:47] Speaker 4: their own flaws previously because their perimeter corners just were
[23:50] Speaker 4: not up to par last season, then also how really,
[23:55] Speaker 4: really good defenses such as the Seattle Seahawks can just
[23:58] Speaker 4: neutralize personnel by the type of defenders that they have
[24:01] Speaker 4: on the field. I'm not even talking about the front.
[24:04] Speaker 4: I'm talking about all of the defensive backs that you
[24:06] Speaker 4: just mentioned because Jalen... First of all, Jalen Watson having
[24:10] Speaker 4: the length that he does, they have not had that
[24:12] Speaker 4: at corners since Jalen Ramsey was around. And so to
[24:16] Speaker 4: have him... Potentially them playing a little bit more man.
[24:19] Speaker 4: They're a zone team, but playing more match zone, playing
[24:22] Speaker 4: a little bit more man coverage, especially when the pass
[24:24] Speaker 4: rush gets there and teams try to go into a
[24:26] Speaker 4: little bit more of a quick game against them. Playing
[24:29] Speaker 4: stickier coverage, having a Jalen Watson be able to go
[24:32] Speaker 4: up against a receiver like a Mike Evans and really
[24:36] Speaker 4: make that a fun matchup to watch instead of one
[24:38] Speaker 4: that you're always sending like all this extra help to.
[24:41] Speaker 4: That also lets you bring more players down into the box.
[24:44] Speaker 4: Cam Curl, in my opinion is at his best when
[24:47] Speaker 4: he's playing around the line of scrimmage, Quentin Lake is
[24:49] Speaker 4: going to be their power slot on the defensive side. And,
[24:53] Speaker 4: and they have this ability to be so multiple Trent
[24:57] Speaker 4: McDuffie can play inside or outside. They can add, they
[25:00] Speaker 4: like to add safeties in their sub packages, dime linebackers,
[25:03] Speaker 4: Jalen McCullough. They like to add defensive backs and for
[25:06] Speaker 4: them to be able to just stay on the field
[25:09] Speaker 4: and present a bunch of different types of looks. We
[25:12] Speaker 4: know Kyle Shanahan loves to run such a variety of looks.
[25:15] Speaker 4: He's got Juszczyk, he's got Christian McCaffrey, he's got Kittle,
[25:18] Speaker 4: all these mathematical changers. To be able to basically re-transform
[25:23] Speaker 4: and have counters as a defense, corners who can tackle,
[25:27] Speaker 4: corners who are going to basically do so much else
[25:30] Speaker 4: other than defend receivers on the perimeter, but also can
[25:34] Speaker 4: do that, is really, really important.
[25:36] Speaker 3: But also, their first game together, it's a good test.
[25:38] Speaker 3: They are veterans.
[25:41] Speaker 2: Played a lot of football, McDuffie and Watson together, but
[25:44] Speaker 2: they're in a, in a new scheme. And so the
[25:47] Speaker 2: first time these guys are all playing together and how
[25:51] Speaker 2: multiple does Chris Shulo want to get?
[25:53] Speaker 3: It's going to be fascinating.
[25:54] Speaker 2: I'm going to throw out just like a little bit
[25:56] Speaker 2: of a speed round of just things to watch in
[25:57] Speaker 2: this game.
[25:58] Speaker 1: Yeah.
[25:59] Speaker 2: Number one, we could see two future hall of famers,
[26:03] Speaker 2: Trent Williams and miles Garrett, just matching up against each other.
[26:06] Speaker 4: That would be fun.
[26:07] Speaker 3: That's pretty good.
[26:09] Speaker 2: Last year, going back to these games, the biggest mismatch
[26:12] Speaker 2: by far was the Rams offensive line versus the 49ers front.
[26:18] Speaker 2: And so I think that's a huge test of the
[26:22] Speaker 2: young defensive tackles who didn't look that great for the
[26:24] Speaker 2: 49ers last year. They have a rookie, Edge Romello-Height, who
[26:27] Speaker 2: I think is going to play. I'm really excited to
[26:29] Speaker 2: see him play. That's more in the passing game. Ose Odigizuo, again,
[26:31] Speaker 2: he's a little bit more of a pass rusher. Can
[26:34] Speaker 2: this team hold up in the running game? Number three, CMC,
[26:37] Speaker 2: just how does he look? the 49ers struggled to run
[26:41] Speaker 2: the ball against the Rams. These games felt a little
[26:43] Speaker 2: more one-sided than the final score showed a year ago.
[26:46] Speaker 3: And then... We got Fred Warner back on the field.
[26:49] Speaker 4: I'm so excited.
[26:51] Speaker 2: With his Robin and Dre Greenlaw going up against, you know,
[26:54] Speaker 2: these Rams tight ends.
[26:56] Speaker 3: We got our guy Terrence Ferguson.
[26:58] Speaker 4: I literally wrote 13 personnel, 12 personnel Rams equals Fred
[27:02] Speaker 4: Warner's music. Like to watch him, if he can be,
[27:05] Speaker 4: look like himself, and I hope he does, to watch
[27:08] Speaker 4: him play that chess match, against these heavier personnel sets
[27:12] Speaker 4: that the Rams are going to run 13 and the
[27:14] Speaker 4: Rams are going to run 12. I saw more 12
[27:16] Speaker 4: and 13 at Rams practices this year than I saw
[27:19] Speaker 4: 11 personnel for the first time in my entire career.
[27:23] Speaker 4: And so for me, it's like having a linebacker like
[27:25] Speaker 4: Fred Warner is just the cheat code. For deciding, first
[27:28] Speaker 4: of all, how you're going to defend that and what
[27:30] Speaker 4: you're going to do against it. But then also just
[27:33] Speaker 4: trying to stop the bleeding a little bit. They're so
[27:35] Speaker 4: successful in those heavier personnels, run and pass. They do
[27:39] Speaker 4: it to pass and they also can run out of it.
[27:42] Speaker 4: And their success rate led the league in any heavier
[27:44] Speaker 4: personnel last year.
[27:45] Speaker 3: I wish I had my notebook with me. So this
[27:47] Speaker 3: is why you write these notes.
[27:48] Speaker 2: Because one of my notes during that game last year was, 45%,
[27:50] Speaker 2: 13 personnel in the week 10 game. That was the
[27:54] Speaker 2: highest that the Rams had done all season at that point.
[27:57] Speaker 2: And they creamed the 49ers. And you're like, okay, 49ers
[28:00] Speaker 2: fans are like, we have the horses now to better
[28:04] Speaker 2: handle that.
[28:05] Speaker 3: That's true.
[28:06] Speaker 2: What's also true is you had picked up Keon White,
[28:10] Speaker 2: I believe just a few weeks prior, he was active
[28:12] Speaker 2: for the first time in that game and he was starting.
[28:14] Speaker 2: He's still starting. They actually haven't really improved their edge depth.
[28:18] Speaker 2: If Nick Bosa is not, out there like it's a
[28:21] Speaker 2: it's a weakness I'm looking for the Raheem Morris effect
[28:24] Speaker 2: he is the new defensive coordinator for the 49ers there's
[28:27] Speaker 2: a lot to look forward to if it's not clear
[28:29] Speaker 2: I'm being a little unfair to the 49ers that I
[28:31] Speaker 2: think the Rams are catching them at the right time
[28:34] Speaker 2: I said 29 22 I believe in the first game
[28:38] Speaker 2: I am going with an entertaining game that ultimately is
[28:44] Speaker 2: is the Rams feeling comfortable 31 17.
[28:51] Speaker 4: And it's the travel science matchup too, which team, you know,
[28:54] Speaker 4: that could be a big factor. It could be a
[28:57] Speaker 4: big factor. Cause this is what a 17 hour flight.
[28:59] Speaker 4: So you're thinking about injuries. You're thinking about the age,
[29:02] Speaker 4: the Rams being one of the oldest teams in the NFL.
[29:04] Speaker 4: You're thinking about how terrible it feels to sit on
[29:07] Speaker 4: a fight for any amount of time.
[29:09] Speaker 2: That's a little bit of a stretch, but I guess
[29:10] Speaker 2: if you're talking Stafford specifically.
[29:13] Speaker 4: No, I mean, this is unprecedented territory, in my opinion,
[29:16] Speaker 4: for how long this flight, and it literally is unprecedented.
[29:18] Speaker 2: And the Rams did it to London, which is about
[29:23] Speaker 2: five hours shorter. That's pretty significant difference.
[29:27] Speaker 4: I'm interested in both teams because one of the, one
[29:30] Speaker 4: of the things about these international matchups is you really
[29:32] Speaker 4: can see who's affected by the jet lag. If it
[29:35] Speaker 4: does affect them or who's not, The difference was very clear.
[29:39] Speaker 4: Jacksonville versus Rams last year.
[29:41] Speaker 3: Right. And you never know. Sometimes it's a little weak.
[29:43] Speaker 3: One sloppiness.
[29:44] Speaker 2: There's so many questions. It is so cool to see
[29:48] Speaker 2: a Shanahan-McVay combo in week one.
[29:51] Speaker 3: I saw what you did. You didn't pick the game.
[29:54] Speaker 4: Fine.
[29:55] Speaker 3: You're just not going to do it?
[29:58] Speaker 4: No, I'm going to pick the Rams.
[29:59] Speaker 3: Okay, I won't test you and make you give a score.
[30:02] Speaker 2: Maybe we'll add some gamifying into our preview show, which
[30:06] Speaker 2: you're going to be on each and every week this year,
[30:09] Speaker 2: just like a year ago. That is not the next
[30:11] Speaker 2: time you will see us or hear from us on
[30:13] Speaker 2: the podcast.
[30:14] Speaker 3: We are going to be back.
[30:17] Speaker 2: With a very special Power Players episode featuring a very
[30:21] Speaker 2: big name.
[30:21] Speaker 3: Do we want to spoil it?
[30:22] Speaker 2: Spoil it.
[30:22] Speaker 3: Or just be a surprise?
[30:24] Speaker 2: Do it. Jesse Minner on Power Players with Jordan Roderig
[30:26] Speaker 2: next in the feed.
[30:28] Speaker 3: I can't wait for that.
[30:29] Speaker 2: We also have our Tuesday show with a lot of news.
[30:31] Speaker 3: We will see you then. We're off and running.

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