 The Bill's Rams won't win a game all year. It's overreaction Friday, and it starts now. Okay, now show me the Rams one. Is there a Rams one in their tunnel after that game? Probably not. Not much to talk about on that side of things. Actually, there is. That of course, the more stunning side. Welcome to Up in Adams. I'm in LA. I went to that game. I missed the first quarter because traffic here is absolutely horrendous. I know it's tough to bitch about that all of the time and everyone, I can't stand it. I was there with Marissa McBride, our producer, and had the best time of year we're wearing my friend Brian Barton, our stage manager and super producer. That's right, seven, one, six. You must be feeling pretty good. Can I see a little dance? Like, you know, Von Miller had a little something. I do not do, I don't dance, but. It was so incredible and so fun and so much to talk about. The Super Bowl favorites showed up and they looked incredible. The Bill send a message that they're here to play. They're in mid-season form. They look like it's week 10 out there. Outside of a few turnovers, it was legit. Josh Allen, surgical. He got the ball out super quick. Aaron Donald couldn't really get you. We did, of course, once or twice, but not really. Gabe Davis, that connection continues and they relied on the run game a little bit more. That's what we heard yesterday. Cassworth Fitzgerald said, you know, we heard. Josh Allen hints during training camp about kendoorcy, about wanting to run that ball more. It's something I always wanted to see. The real stud in this game on the bill side for me is Von Miller. He deserves all the credit because something was missing from the Ram squad and it showed up because we all know that the Bill's pass rush was the one thing that was missing. The one element from this Bill's team to make them contend and get them over the top. The Bill's couldn't get, let's just remember here, the Bill's couldn't get anywhere near Patrick Mahomes in those two playoff losses, right, Brian? That's correct. Couldn't get near him. They looked, mwah, chef's kiss with Von Miller last night. They paid for him handsomely, of course, six years, 120 million, but he wasn't only a force on the field, but you cannot tell me that his presence out there didn't elevate everyone. Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News on our show explained that she went to the pass rush, I could never say that freaking phrase, pass rush summit that Von Miller so incredibly puts on and he had invited all those young Bill's pass rushers to join him. It's obvious, he elevates everybody's game. They didn't even have it all over for the whole game. He was out the whole second half. No Trey White, which I was, oh, little Trey White, Cooper Cump's gonna go crazy. So congratulations to the Bill's. Enjoy the moments and more to come, of course. But the more stunning story is the Los Angeles Rams in their building, Sean McVeigh loses. His first home opener as a head coach, he said after the game, something to the extent of we weren't ready. Well, yeah, like it looked like it and it really did. The Rams looked pre-seasony. I don't want to be, listen, I'm not gonna get caught in this thing where we all saw what the Packers looked like week one against the Saints and then they went on and they were strong and you had your MVP there. But the Bill's straight up looked like seasoned, like seasoned week seven situation. It was a very bizarre on the Rams side of things. And so we gotta talk about Stafford. That's my thought here. We're gonna preview the games, of course. I want your thoughts on Twitter. Please hit us up at Up and Atom show, but Stafford was stifled. He's undefeated. Here's how simple it is to me. Undefeated as a Ram when he doesn't throw an interception. Undefeated, he's six and oh. He threw three last night. That is the story. And here's my take on this. There could be a lot of reasons for it, right? There's the O-line glaring reason, seven sacks. It doesn't happen there without offensive line under McVeigh. He's only been sacked in a game more once and that was way back in 2018. No Andrew Whitworth. Note Boom, bit of a rough debut. A lot of few sacks. They couldn't afford to run armstead, right? That was the offensive line. We were all looking at who's going to get him the bell. Well, they couldn't afford him. They have a lot of pieces and they cashed in last year, right? So they cashed in, they got their Super Bowl. I don't think they regret it. I don't think they'd do anything different, but it's hard to keep some of those pieces and it's so glaring even in the season opener. They couldn't draft anyone because F-S-M picks, right? They didn't ask me any t-shirts though. Okay, so last night I'm seeing Roger Saffold, who they cut a couple of years ago as a casualty because of the cap. He's thriving on the bill side and it's tough. You can't afford everything for so long. They did cash in. This year might be a little bit different. And speaking of the offensive line, there are some people who we know and respect. You might be Hall of Famers who think that their coworkers might get calls this morning. Richard Sherman last night, I love the live tweeting. I knew Odell would do it because he's at the game and he'd sit there, but Richard Sherman, I don't know if we have it here, was tweeting about, oh, we don't have it, but he was tweeting about how Andrew Whitworth is gonna get calls this morning. They were joking about that on their preseason coverage on Amazon Thursday Night Football and I wouldn't be surprised if he does, Brian. No, absolutely. There's a huge gaping mess there. Yeah, you're just happy, I get it. You're just sitting there. It was a long night. You don't wanna talk about the rounds. Okay, so there's the O-line, right? So it might be that. It also might be the Super Bowl hangover. We talked about that a lot with Sean Payton earlier this week, but I also just want everyone to understand it is okay to say it could be the elbow. It is, I don't know why we tiptoe around this. I know we're not doctors. I certainly am not one, but I'm not. It's okay to say that he didn't look right, okay? And I don't think it's crazy to connect those two together and say that one has to do with the other. Surgery is a big deal. Here's, objectively, the ball just did not look like it was going where he wanted it to go and coming off surgery can be a different animal and as much as we wanna downplay it, it could be a thing. So those were some of my thoughts. We're of course gonna have recap on this. We've got Darius Butler coming up next week to talk about Eric Whittle. Eric Whittle mentioned the pain that Stafford went through into sort of being able to play through some of this stuff. It's just tough. I'm gonna bring Conrad Company, who was also at the game. I didn't get to see you there. I think it's your birthday, my friend. It is my birthday. Happy birthday. Thank you so much for remembering. Thank you. Please squared. Oh, look at that. Oh, wow, wow. Our team is good. He's that with our Microsoft DOS paintbrush from before you were born. What'd you make a last night? Do you agree with anything I'm saying? I know it's no scathing take. And by the way, not saying that the Rams are screwed and it won't turn this around, but they gotta turn it around quick. Well, I mean, we talked about it yesterday a lot, right? Matt Stafford didn't get that time with a lot of these guys in the preseason with that elbow injury. And it looked like he was singling out Cooper Cup every single time. There was no chemistry with Alan Robinson. He threw a Tyler Higbee. We can't say that. Okay. We can't say he didn't throw it out at Robinson and that might be a chemistry issue, but you cannot tell me he just threw it at Cooper Cup because that's not true. Well, I mean, he did throw it to Cooper Cup 13 times last night. And Cooper Cup's always open. Don't, don't get me wrong. He's always open. But the biggest thing to me was the Tom Brady factor is I think people like to say is, how do you beat Tom Brady? You rush for and you drop back. And that's what they did to Stafford yesterday. They didn't blitz him at all. He's good when they blitz, though. He's got the highest passer rating of anyone in the league last year when he's blitzed. I hear you, but it's, it's hard to have the high pass rating when you're on your butt the entire game. Yeah. I mean, with that, that four man pressure and we, we, we can't overstate the impact of Von Miller. Like, can we just talk about Von Miller real quick? He's amazing. I mean, I know he was the biggest free agent acquisition this season, just from a number standpoint, but his impact was immediate. His energy is immediate. And you can tell from both sides, Aaron Donald last year, we had Jordan on yesterday talking about how Aaron Donald just thrived with Von Miller the second half of the year. Yeah, hard to do it along. And now Von Miller has all these young puppy bills. And he's just getting them hyped up. Yeah. The bills look legit. The Rams defense, though, the way I look at it, you know, last year, it's so incredible that I give them so much credit for last year. Stafford, elbow, playing through pain, all of that wins, doesn't throw the interceptions in the weird moments like we've seen with him thriving in that system that is so much credit to Sean McVeigh. That defense wasn't one of the best last year. Bottom half in a lot of important categories, Von Miller, like you're saying, helped them out a lot. But Jalen Ramsey, that was a bit out of sorts last night too. This is a shutdown corner. He is the best in the game, not just Darius Butler, our friend of the show, but honestly, objectively, anyone that first touchdown, he's running to Josh Allen, leaving Gabe Davis open, playing soft zone. This is a Ferrari, why are we dry? Like, I don't know how we're handling all of that. And they've gotta figure it out. You know, the Packers looked off a week one. They went to the playoffs, but the Packers, you know, turned it around quickly. And that's what I'm expecting of this Rams team. You know, when I was there and I was in the building, and obviously I was with the Buffalo Bill side, so they were not obviously, but that's where I was, and they were all so excited. But the Rams were reminding me, Conrad, of that wild card game against the Rams that the Cardinals played. And I used to say this on Good Morning Football, and no one disagreed with me, no fan. I would like to hear from Rams fans, just like a soulless performance. Like, you didn't show up. And I don't know if that Super Bowl hangover vibes or whatever, but they gotta turn it around and they can. I think they're still looking for a lot of things to happen. You know, I think Jalen Ramsey, you know, Jordan was fantastic yesterday with her analysis on Jalen Ramsey and how they're trying to truly make him an unavoidable player. They're saying, if you move guys, we're going to move Jalen too. We're going to have Jalen in the box. That's what I'm thinking, you know? It was the same thing with Jamal Adams. They want Seattle to try and turn in Jamal Adams into something that he wasn't a safety anymore. They wanted him in the box. They wanted him to bring pressure, which is great. But then when you put him in the secondary again, he's not a great safety. Jalen Ramsey is the best cornerback in football. There's no doubt in my mind that he is going to come back with more fire than ever. But we talked this morning too. Did he play with too much fire last night? Yeah, it was like overdoing it. It was the Jalen Ramsey, it was out of sorts for sure. But I'm going to be patient and not be overreaction Friday. Congrats to the Bills. And you know, the Bills fans watching right now are saying like, why are you even talking about them? Just talk about how amazing we are and how great Stefan Diggs is, what she was and all of that. And you are amazing, but I expect that as you being a Super Bowl favorite. Wrap it up so we can hit break. Can we talk about one last thing real quick? How the Rams do not have a home-filled advantage? Somehow we were two opposite sides of stadium yesterday. I felt like it was 70% Bills. Shout out Bills Nation. I had a bunch of Buffalo Bills cookies that I didn't want to eat as I was leaving the stadium. I had a terrible experience going to the stadium, leaving the stadium, I'll tell you that in a bit. But I had these cookies and I could not find Bills fans to give them to. There were so many Rams fans everywhere and I was so impressed by that. We're going to take a short break. We're going to get Marissa McBride in here. I got daily fantasy people that you need to put in your roster, including Brandon Cooks, The Arrow, oh, it's a thousand yards, and Saquon Barkley, Do Not Go Anywhere. Oh, we got to get to this too. Odell Beckham Jr., Bills Mafia. Odell, come on our show before you sign. Can we just do that? Just like you're in LA, stop here and then shoot yourself up to New York. We'll be back and up and out. We're too much to study, we can't fight, we can't work. I'm under them tears, I can't be caught, I can't be caught. I'm throwing a blade in front of your blade, I can't have you caught, I can't have you caught. Just aim for the target, bow, bow, bow. Fan of Ziva Paula's back. Let's hit some DF, yes! DFS, of course, a huge part of the game. I'm so excited to do it and I love you all so much. Then I was in traffic for 97 hours yesterday in Los Angeles. I decided to put together some top value players for this weekend in daily fantasy. I'm pretty good at this, so pay attention. Jaylen Hertz, he was a top 10 fantasy quarterback last year. You cannot overstate what he can do with his legs. He led all quarterbacks with 10 rushing touchdowns. Double-digit rushing touchdowns, boom. Sign me up, get him in your lineup. He had 784 yards on the ground. You gotta put him in up against the Lions defense. It is an absolute no-brainer. Next up, Saquon Barkley. People don't wanna trust him. I trust him implicitly, all right? I love the value for what we know that the ceiling can be. We're from Giants Camp, by the way. All training camp is that he looks as good as he ever has. So remember, in the one healthy season he ever had, what did he have? Over 2,000 yards total and 15 touchdowns and he is so dangerous as a receiver at the backfield as well. And you have a rebuilt offensive line and nobody's talking about the fact that you have Brian Dable. He's calling the shots. So I'm very excited to see how he sort of uses them and cooks them up all over the field. This weekend it is the Dolphins and I'd like to snag him now while the price is low and I would maybe go get him if somebody's saying, why don't I draft him in my season long and you say, bro, let me take him off your hands because I actually think he'll be a lot better than people think. Brandon Cooks, I'll give you a wide receiver here. It might be, I don't know if it's boring or what it is and I know he moves teams a lot so there might be some like fantasy trust issues there but one thing you can always bank on is Brandon Cooks being productive. No matter what team he's ever been on or who's getting in the rock, he is always getting his 1,000 yards. He's consistently overlooked and I know that matters for season long, specifically for daily though. The Cold Stevens is tough but it is one full game that he played in Indy with Davis Mills at quarterback last year and in that game racked up nine catches for 89 yards he was targeted 13 times. All right, Kyle Pitts, lastly he put up over 1,000 yards last year and silently like nobody cares or is talking about it, I don't know why but showing off that talent, I think it's going to pay off. He was obviously drafted really highly as a tight end but he only scored one touchdown. That's the problem. That's why people aren't loving him as much. That's going to change. He's super athletic, his size, all of that. He's also said to be the number one target. It's Marcus Mariota up first in this offense with Calvin really on the shelf so I think we're going to see him sort of be the star and start off a sophomore season up against the Saints with a bang. There you have it. Those are my daily values. I hope we have like a board. We should have like this is what we should do. We should have them written out or I could have like a board and show you guys what your picks are here. So let me just recap them. Jalen Hertz, Saquon Barkley, Brandon Cooks and Kyle Pitts for this one. All right, and you can use those picks when you play on Fandals, $3 million and it fills Sunday million contests, $4 to enter. One million dollars goes to first place, a total of $3 million in prizes I do believe which is absolutely insane. So go ahead, use my picks, yell at me if they don't work out, sorry. But if you win, then buy me a car because I need one. You can get in on this weekend's big college football action by playing the Saturday Slice Challenge, apparently. We'll get to that at some point. I'm not sure why, what I'm reading here but it's sponsored by DeGiorno and you can enter the Free Daily Fantasy Challenge for a share of $10,000 prize pool. We'll get to that in a bit. More to the game though. I went with Marissa McBride. We got to hang out with our incur, oh, here it is. There you go. Build your best seven man roster. This is what we're looking at here. Go get it done, not sure. And I'm not really hearing anything in my ear either. So Conrad, Conrad, any time you wanna like, I don't know, play music or tell me to shut up or Conrad, you know, I know it's your birthday, but. I don't wanna do any of that for you, Kay. I do not wanna tell you to shut up. I do wanna get music in your ear. I did wanna do that. I feel like music, was there no music in that whole segment? Am I just Mrs. Kay goes to Washington here? What's happening? Just Mrs. Cold Open Kay. No graphics, no, we're just rollin' here on a Friday. We love it. We had you. I had you, actually. But okay, Marissa McBride was at the game with me. She's our amazing producer. You're seeing all of the fun elements on her show that she's putting together. We got to hang out with our CEO, Amy Howe. Thoughts on the game in general, the vibe, all of it. You're still wearing your bracelet. Literally, I literally am also still wearing my bracelet. That's fine, couldn't find so many. We got home so late. We got home so late, it's fine. The vibe was amazing. The energy was electric. I don't know what Conrad's talkin' about, but I saw so many Rams fans. It was crazy. So many Rams fans, and I'm honestly impressed because living in LA for five years, I haven't felt like a huge wave of sports fandom here, and I was kind of impressed. I was really impressed with the turnout. Why did you feel about the fact that I told you we were going to sit with the bills in their suite, and then you showed up and you were the only person wearing an LA shirt? Okay, you know what? It was an LA Dodger shirt. I thought it was cute. I thought I could get away with it, and I was very much impressed. You were just covering it with your hair the whole time, and it was really funny. But Amy Howe, our incredible CEO, took so much time and was so welcoming, and she was there with all of her sons, just rooting and going crazy. They're so amazing, so we just wanted to say thank you. And then we saw an Ozzy Osbourne concert as well. Yeah, there's Amy. We had the best time. I, of course, missed the first quarter. Everyone's texting me that I'm missing. And we missed the sushi bar. In a gutter. Yeah, that's me watching Ozzy Osbourne. That's why you took me there. Listen, there's a bunch of high school kids in back of me literally taking naps. Who is this crazy lady? I've never felt so old, but... We were the only ones dancing. When Crazy Train plays, you dance. Dan, didn't Crazy Train make a comeback with Trolls? Like, wasn't that a cool hot bop in that song? So I'm cool, everyone, that thinks that I'm not. Those 16-year-olds that were like, this is the only... We were the only ones dancing. What was up with that? Yeah, Conrad, maybe we can get into senior frogs with these later. Yeah, I was about to say, you guys had a whole separate time than what I did. I was up in the 500s. I could barely see Ozzy. I got to see the back of Ozzy, actually, which was so great. He was fantastic, though. Did you guys know that was coming? I did not know that was coming, but I love Marissa so much more than you that I had to take her. Oh, sorry, Conrad, I know it's a birthday. Even on my birthday, you were like, Marissa's still 1A. I don't know if I'll ever go back there without an exit strategy. Like, I'm sitting on the 7-Eleven. I couldn't even go into the 7-Eleven. I'm waiting for the car. We need to get snacks, no provisions, no anything. It was treacherous. We've got so much to get to, though, in this show, and so we will be back because we have to talk to a lot of reporters about what's going on. Pony is going to be here. If you don't know Pony, if you're a love fan duo, then you know him. If you don't, then Andrew will be introduced to you. He will talk all Steelers. He will make fun of me for my bill of prediction. We will be back on Up and Adams on a Friday. All right, Bill's saying Hollywood. Oh, I get it. We get it. All right, Bill's, we understand. Brian, do you get it? He doesn't. Do you? He's not laughing. I am. Brian's camera shy, and I didn't know. Buffalo Bill's takedown. The Rams here to kick off the 2022 season. We weren't worried, darling. Okay, Buffalo Bill's social and Fuego. We love it. All right, welcome back to Up and Adams. We are going to have some awesome reporters joining us, John Michoda included, but let's quickly look back to Monday when Sean Payton talked about the Cowboys. I like Dallas in this game. I think Dallas' defense is improved again. I think Dan does a great job. Those guys play with great speed to the football. They'll turn it over. I like them winning this game. Cowboys hosting the Bucks, a premier game this weekend. So there's Sean Payton's prediction, as you heard. Here is John Michoda saying that Dak Prescott said his ankle issue won't limit him on Sunday. No, not at all, not a chance. All right, so let's bring in John who covers the Cowboys for the athletic. It's so exciting to have you read your stuff all the time. This is really amazing. And we want to talk about Dak Prescott because he was added to the injury report yesterday, but claims that he is good to go for years. I feel like the Cowboys offense has been strong. They're putting up numbers. Will they be able to protect him though now? Man, that's a great question. I honestly don't know. And I don't think they know for sure. I mean, they're going to be starting a rookie left tackle and Tyler Smith, who they had planned to be their left guard. And that's where he worked all of training camp. And now Tyler and Smith goes down. And so they're like, rookie, go out there and go be the left tackle. And so I think that they'll be able to protect Dak to it enough to keep him upright. But I think it might lead to a boring game plan. I think that it'll limit what they're going to be able to do on offense and you're obviously going to have to put up points against Tom Brady. So yeah, this is a major issue. This is the weakest offensive line on paper that Dak Prescott has played behind. Whoa, I was literally about to ask you, was it the weakest one that he's had? And you think so. So this is, yeah, glaring issue. And they're going to have to figure that out. We saw anything in last night's game. It's offensive lines matter in a big way. And we saw the Buffalo Bills have a great one and the Rams are really struggling to keep their quarterback upright as we saw Stafford go down seven times. Another difference in this offense is that Amari Cooper is now gone. Now I, yes, last year was like CD Lam can do it all, break out player. What is going to change in that offense and does Gallup have the goods? I think Gallup will be fine, but it won't be for another couple of weeks. He just started working into individual drills this week. And he looks pretty good, but they don't want to rush him back. So I don't think he'll be back for this. I know he won't be back for this game and he probably won't be back next week for Cincinnati, but week three is kind of what they're targeting right now. Without him, you know, they know what they have in CD Lam and they feel good about what they have in Dalton Schultz, their number one tight end that they franchise tagged in the off season. But after that it is, Jerry Jones is as guess as good as ours on what they're going to end up doing at those other receiver spots. And that's so important. I mean, Dakad, that was such a thing that you could just count on. They have Gallup, Amari, CD the last couple of years. And now it's like after those top two guys, you really don't know where it's going to come from. They do have some interesting options, but they're just not proven ones. Nobody outside of CD Lam in the wide receiver room has caught a touchdown pass in the NFL. Hi, is there any name you can put on my radar that I should be looking at somebody that might be able to shine and give some optimism to Cowboys fans that want hope? Yeah, it's Kavante Turpin for sure. The kid was the USFL MVP and no team was really that interested in him outside of the Cowboys. He's a kid that played at TCU. So there's a little bit of a natural connection there, but he kind of came on the scene a couple of weeks ago in their preseason game, having a punt return touchdown, a kickoff return touchdown. And the talk around here is they kind of let the secret out of the bag with him. And so he can work into the offense. They're working on a set of plays for him, but he's a small guy. He's like five seven, one 55, one 60s. But that's the guy to keep your eye on for sure. Okay, quickly, I'm trying to just be hopeful. I want to give some optimism to this fan base. And I know you have Mike McCarthy's press conference to go to, but you know, Cowboys offensive line, weakest they've ever had, but let's not pretend, you know, the Bucks line isn't anything to write home about. And the Cowboys can wreck that line. Are you confident in that at least? Yeah, for sure. I mean, their offensive line, particularly up the middle for that's where Tom Brady wants his best protection. And I remember that's how it was when Roma was the quarterback in Dallas. He cared a lot more about those guards and centers and the protection up the middle. So that is, that's a huge advantage for the Cowboys, particularly with their defense with Micah Parsons to Marcus Lawrence, they'll be able to cause some problems for sure for him. And here's the biggest thing, if you're looking for optimism as a Cowboys fan, going into this season, the hype isn't behind them at all. And in those seasons, when the hype hasn't been there, that's when the Cowboys have been at their best. 2014, 2016, people are down going in this season. Those are the best seasons that Cowboys have had in the last decade. And this could certainly be that, just because they've lost players, it doesn't mean that they can't still get back to the playoffs and make a deep run. It just looks a little different back in even those years. They were an offensive minded team. Now it sounds like they're going to be sort of lying on the strengths of their top five defense. Very interesting. John Machoda, enjoy Mike McCarthy's press conference. Tell him I love him and hello. And we'll talk to you soon. Thanks for making the time. Anytime, thanks for having me. All right, we're gonna move on here. Thank you. With our other reporters, Matt Schneidman is incredible. And he is talking about Aaron Rodgers from the locker room, all other teams in the NFC North. It seems like every year I think they're fan-based and their teams feel like this is our year to win the North. That comes from the back-to-back MVP. Has it really been the case during my time for the most part? So let's welcome in Packers' beat reporter. Also for the Athletic, I mean, the Athletic loves the up and out show, which I love Matt, good to see you. How are you? Thanks for having me. Good, I love your tweets. Quick thoughts on last night's game and the takeaways. I know we wanna talk Packers, what do you got? I think the bills are for real. I mean, the Packers lost 38-3 in week one last season and then went on to win 13 games. So I know not to read too much into week one, but man, the bills look really good and the Rams did not. But I'm sure they'll still be in the conversation when all is said and done. Matt, speaking of reading into things too much, let's talk about Aaron Rodgers. And this storyline that he called out as wide receivers during training camp, there was all of that hoopla. What should we expect out of the Packers offense this weekend? It's really anybody's guess. I mean, the wide receivers he mainly was calling out was the young guys and that's the rookies, Romeo Dobbs, Christian Watson, Samori Turei, all of whom made the 53-man roster, obviously. The big question mark going into this weekend is, is Alan Lazard gonna play? Rodgers has touted him as the clear cut number one guy without Devonte Adams or Marcos Valdes-Scantling. Lazard hasn't practiced this week. He missed a practice last week as well after Matt LaFleur said someone stepped on him. He's been running pretty well out at practice this week on the side, but it's officially an ankle injury. We'll see if he practices today. They have practiced in about an hour and a half and then we'll know more about his status for Sunday's game against the Vikings, but I think they're gonna rely heavily on Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. Aaron Rodgers said the other week that we have to get our best 11 on the field and both of their running backs are in their best 11. They only ran 24 plays last year with two running backs on the field at the same time. You're gonna see a lot more of that. Both are proven pass catchers, really good runners. And I think this could be for the first time in a long time with Aaron Rodgers as the quarterback, a team that really emphasizes the running backs more than the passing team. Kayana Pell is so weird this year. You're saying that we're talking Cowboys defense taken with the promised land insane. Matt, talk to me just a little bit about the Vikings offense, right? We know what the Packers have. Super incredible defense that's gonna help the MVP sort of get to where he hopefully needs to go to make it deep into the postseason. But in this game, do you think the Packers offense is able to keep up with what the Vikings got going? Cause they really do got a lot. It's gonna be tough. When we were talking to Packers defensive coordinator Joe Berry yesterday, he said, it's rare you play a team that has top three players at their position across the entire NFL at both wide receiver and running back. And he said the Vikings have that in Justin Jefferson and Delvin Cook. You think back to last time, the Packers played a Vikings team with Kirk Cousins at quarterback cause Sean Mannion was the quarterback when they played late in the season in Green Bay. The Vikings won 34-31 in week 11 last year, just plastered the Packers defense all over. But Packers didn't have Rashon Gary and Jair Alexander that game to our, you could say two of their best four defensive players along with Kenny Clark and Devandre Campbell. So listen, the Packers defense has been talking the talk all summer. They really don't have a weakness on paper. Yeah. It's their chance to walk the walk and they have a really good test on Sunday. Do you feel good about the Packers? Do you feel in quickly, just like a different energy in that room? Anything special going on or is it just? Yeah, I think so. Look, you know Aaron as well as anyone, he will never say it publicly, but he's a guy who likes to prove people wrong, but he doesn't like to openly say that cause he doesn't want to let people know that he hears and listens to everything people say, but he does cause he's human and that's fine. But I think part of him this season really wants to prove that he can do it without Devandre Adams. And you know, I'm a believer in statement games, however cliche that term is, and Sunday is won. He's going to want to go out there and he's not going to say it, but he's going to want to say we still have the back to back MVP. Who cares who we have our receiver? Who cares if I'm throwing a Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb, both running on one good knee and a couple of running backs and Robert Tanya coming off a torn ACL. I'm still the back to back MVP. And I think he does that. I feel good about the Packers. There's no reason they can't contend for a Super Bowl. It's so rare when we're talking about a team and a Super Bowl contender and we're breaking it down from both sides of the ball and the quarterback, the head coach name just doesn't come up. You know, I can easily have talked to John about the Cowboys and my only thing would be like, yeah, but it's Mike McCarthy. He's got a lot to prove and you know, of course, no Mike McCarthy super well. They're covering those Packers. Where does he fall in all of this, especially in such a pivotal moment where you don't want to waste that talent, the greatest talent there is in the sport? I think the biggest thing that Matt LaFleur has done is make this a player's team. And as cliche as that is, Rogers has nothing but good things to say about him and whether that's empowering Rogers to let him take the reins of the offense at times or installing a basketball hoop in the facility to let guys play around. Or I know I want to give proper credit here. Rogers was on busing with the boys with Will Compton and said when LaFleur makes corny jokes, they actually find him and make him pay money. So I understand LaFleur's the coach and they have the hierarchy there, but it really seems like it's a working relationship and Rogers kind of shot back at the notion that he and Mike McCarthy had their ups and downs the other day, but let's be honest, they did. There is no hiding that regardless of what he says. And I really haven't seen that here. It's been a really open line of communication, really good collaboration. And look, we both know Matt LaFleur is never gonna win coach of the year as long as Aaron Rogers is his quarterback. But ask anyone in that locker room, including Rogers himself, and he'll say Matt LaFleur is as big a part of what they're doing as any. I haven't caught up with Aaron. I was gone. He was gone and then back. Does he seem different? And lighten anything different in demeanor? Cause I already thought he was halfway to Woosa worlds last year and now now. Is he full tilt? What's going on? Well, yeah. You probably didn't catch up with him cause he was busy on his three-day Iowa Oscar trip. So he was a little preoccupied, but I think he's refreshed. And over the past couple of years, he's learned to love himself and appreciate himself. And there are people out there watching this. You go, oh, who cares? Just play football. But for someone at this stage in their career, you have to feel that to want to keep doing this. Like he's in year 18. You have to have that desire. The appreciation for what you're doing and appreciating yourself and how good you are at it. It can get old. Someone like him just trying to appreciate everything he does and he's gotten to a much better place of self-love and appreciation. And he talks more about that with Pat every Tuesday than he does us normally. But I think now in my fourth year covering him, I've seen an Aaron Rodgers who's a lot more comfortable in his own skin. Not that he wasn't before, but he's become a lot more open and understanding of everything that's going on around him. He wants to talk. I feel like he is a man who doesn't think he has anything to prove and even though we think he has something to prove. And I think he's one that feels like he has things he wants to say. And I respect the hell out of him for wanting to say him. And I love and respect you as he does himself and everyone else and I'm in for joining us. We appreciate you. Let's get to the revenge game. Of course, Baker Mayfield going up against the Browns. No one better to break it down than Mary Kay Cabot. Miles Garrett relationship with Baker Mayfield slightly complicated. He's rooting for Mayfield to succeed. Oh, that's nice. And he's a hell of a competitor. But now that he's the opposition, I've got to take him out. Mary Kay Cabot doing her thing for Cleveland.com as always, it isn't honestly to stop right down right now and honor to have you on the show. Thank you. Well, it's an honor to be here. I'm a huge Kay Adams fan. So excited to be with you. Amazing. Big, big game. And I got to say, I've got to take him down. There's like zero players that I'd be more terrified to hear that from. Then Miles Garrett. So Baker's got his hands full. Of course, it's complicated. But what do you expect from the Browns defense in this one? Well, I think Miles is going to be raring to go. He's obviously going up against a rookie left tackle. One who has struggled a little bit with pass blocking this summer. So I think Miles is going to be champing at the bit to get after Baker here. I know he was really excited about it. And I know that's going to be a huge part of the game plan. Those guys will probably try to hem him into the pocket a little bit, maybe get their hands up on some balls. But they for sure want to disrupt him, get him off of his mark and make sure he doesn't beat his former team. Now Baker Mayfield facing the Browns. You covered him for years. How do you think he approaches this game? Oh, you know what? I mean, this is Baker's MO to get himself fired up to have a chip on his shoulder, to have his back against the wall, to get something to be so fired up about going against the Browns who he feels disrespected him. You know, maybe lied to him is his version of that. And really cast him aside for DeSean Watson. So he is very, very fired up with this matchup and it's really going to have a lot of drama. Speaking of drama, I mean the Browns are never short on drama, especially this off season outside of Stefansky. And if it is Stefansky, then I would love for you to sort of go into that. Who's the emotional leader? Who's sort of keeping it together? Cause it could go off the rails really quick with everything that's gone on. Well, I, you know, I have to say that Jacoby Bresset has done a phenomenal job of holding this team together in the wake of the DeSean Watson suspension. I mean, he just has a quick wit about him. He's got an easy going demeanor and he's done a really nice job of manning the position and kind of just being that leader that they need him to be. So he's done a terrific job. Browns at Panthers, Miles Garrett. Oh, a nightmare for Baker Mayfield. Mary Kay Cabot, we appreciate you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Enjoy the games. Kick off with last night. We'll talk more about the Bills and the Rams, of course. But we do have some news on Lamar Jackson. No news is news, I guess. Did he sign? I don't know. Let me look at my phone. We're back. Welcome back to Up and Adams. We do have some breaking news to get to, but we have a big giveaway as you can see. You can enter to win a football jersey of your choice by following Fandall Sportsbook and Fandall Casino on either Twitter or Instagram. The giveaway is happening now until Tuesday. Do not miss out. Ian Rappaport, my friend the Rapsheet, saying the Ravens and quarterback Lamar Jackson did not reach a long-term deal before today's deadline. GM Eric DeCosta announces, if we, let's see, let's go through the Twitter and take a look at that. He said, despite best efforts on both sides, we were unable to reach a contract extension with Lamar Jackson. We greatly appreciate how he's handled this process. We're excited about our team with Lamar leading the way. We'll continue to work towards a long-term contract after this season, but now we're looking forward to a successful 2022 campaign. And it can be successful, but if it's not successful, it's not only not a success, it is an utter failure and it is an absolute disaster. So let's bring in Andrew Filiponi. He's incredible. He's a sports betting analyst, but he's also a sports stock radio host from 93.7, the fan in Pittsburgh. You know, the division, well, inside out, I'm not surprised this happened. I'm kind of bummed, but now I'm in this sort of like, I don't know, maybe you maybe don't feel this covering Pittsburgh, but hope it works out for Lamar. Well, because of the way he plays, okay, if there's a quarterback who you would think would be pushing and demanding the guaranteed money and maybe even taking a little bit less guaranteed money to protect himself, it would be Lamar. And so I think when the Deshaun Watson contract got guaranteed, it threw this whole thing out of whack. You add on top of that K that the guy doesn't have an agent and he was negotiating this deal the entire time. When we were getting on the air, I just looked at it on the fabulous Fan Dual Sports Book app. Lamar Jackson is 20 to one to win the NFL MVP. If you believe that this is one of these Joe Flacco situations, remember K in 2012, 11 touchdowns, zero picks and that Super Bowl run, then there's some value in Lamar at 20 to one. But my big question is because he's not a pocket passer, me personally, if I don't have the guaranteed money, I would not want to absorb as many hits running the ball. I would not want to put my body on the line with 15 carries a game. So that's something that I'm very mindful of here. And I wonder if it's weighing on Lamar Jackson as he goes into this season, K, without a long-term contract. Understood, but if he's not going to go out there and play the best that he can, get them, you know, he's gotten better every year. I talked to Eric Weddle about this, who played with him in his rookie season. I talked about it just yesterday. And I asked him, hasn't he gotten better? You played with him, then you played against him in your MVP year and he completely mopped the floors with your entire defense. He's grown, he's evolved. You can't tell me, I know he uses his legs a lot. You can't tell me that he's not grown and developed is reading defenses better, that every year his deep ball game has not improved. I know the offense isn't built that way. I sort of hate that he's put into his own category. I understand it from a fiscal standpoint. But if you're Lamar Jackson, Pony, you've got to go out there and give it everything you got. And we saw what happened. You know, Flacco, total, light the earth on fire, got his contract deal with Dak Prescott, also in a similar situation, gets hurt, the worst case scenario happens, but he also ended up getting paid. But you're making the savvy remark, of course, that it's about wear and tear and it's about the style of play. No doubt. And he's negotiating this deal. So supposedly, so he's been thinking about it. I mean, there's only so many hours in the day, Kay. There's almost so much you can concentrate on your contract and also on the game. And so I actually think, for our betters out there listening, I actually think that the Jets are a very good play in this game. They're a touchdown underdog right now on FanDuel. You've got Lamar, who probably won't have J.K. Dobbins either in this game. They did not do enough, in my opinion, a wide receiver to help him develop as a passer. Rashad Bateman, unproven. They got rid of Brown. Is his best target other than Andrews, exactly. And I think the Jets defense is very underrated going into this game. Salah's a defensive coach. They get mostly back. They get Lawson back up front. They draft Sauce Gardner. They bring in Jordan Whitehead from Tampa. Kay, I think the Jets will upset the Ravens and win that game outright on Sunday. You were very convincing. Did you have that idea before this news was made? And you just figured that with all this going on. Cause that's, you're very convincing. Well, I just, human nature is if he's negotiating the deal on his own, I don't know how he puts 100% of himself into this game. Now, maybe next week in the following weeks, it'll be, you know, what's done is done. But this week he was actively negotiating a contract while trying to get ready for a game. And I think it could be easy, not just for Lamar, but to take the Jets lightly because they know Flacco. They probably think he's limited at 37 years old. Oh yeah. You know, he's going to be out to prove something. I just think this is a tricky spot on the road for the Ravens to start the season. Wow, you heard it here. First pony breaking it down. All right, let's hit up some other games. You know, the Steelers inside and out. So let's go Steelers at Bengals. What do you got? Okay, you know the Bengals inside and out. You rode them last year and what a carpet ride that was for you. I was very envious of that as a matter of fact. Because I don't see the Steelers, the team I cover. I don't see it happening this year. They're 80 to one. It's the worst Super Bowl odds they've had in the Tomlin era. We're going to start with Trabisky. And this offensive line is in tatters, Kay. You watch the Bengals give up 50 sacks and get Joe Burrow killed. Mitch Trabisky better tighten his cleats in this game and get ready to run because the Steelers have nothing up front. Their quarterbacks got killed all preseason. Hendrickson and Hubbard, the bait situation got solved. And last year, Kay, the score was 41 to three in the fourth quarter. The Steelers were down 38 points, six and a half is the line in this game. I think the Bengals cover. And I think they've got a chip on their shoulder. On FanDuel, the Bengals are middle of the pack in Super Bowl odds. Crazy. The Ravens were actually the favorite in the division on FanDuel. I think they're ready to show people that last year was not a fluke. And you have a Bengals new look offensive line. They're trying to protect Joe Burrow, so that doesn't happen right out the gates. And the Steelers might have something to say about it. They of course led the entire NFL last year with 55 sacks. So we'll see how it turns out. Okay, Patriots at Dolphins pass and never liked playing in Miami. No, you know, Belichick's record there all time Kay is nine and 13. Not good. It's not good. And one of the things that I don't put any stock and I love Miami in this game minus three and a half. They went there early because of humidity. That's like sometimes better say, oh, look out for the altitude in Denver or, oh no, a West coast team can't come east and play at one o'clock. I don't put stock in that stuff. I think the Dolphins are much better on paper. I'm gonna lay the three and a half with them. Raiders, chargers. Yeah, the Dolphins, by the way, have won four of their last five over the Patriots. What do you got in the ACS? Yes, they did. You know, I think this game is gonna be a good one, by the way. And it looked, I watched the Rams. You were there having a great time dancing to Ozzy Osbourne. Congratulations on all your success. No, I think that Raiders offensive line is gonna look like the Rams offensive line last night. They cut leather wood and here comes Bosa and here comes back. I like the Raiders skill players, but I think the chargers get pressure on car. He doesn't move great and the chargers are gonna cover that three and a half points, Brad. I love it. Raiders four and two against the chargers over their last six. Do with that what you will. Question for you. I had bold predictions this week. I said Michel Trebisky will start every game for the Steelers this year. Given the offensive line, trouble wanting to protect pickets, do you think I'm right or wrong or crazy? I hope you're wrong and I hope you're crazy. They pick Kenny Pickett 20th overall. He's 24 years old. He made 50 college starts. Don't believe the small hands stuff, Kay. I don't. I believe in protecting. I believe in protecting my young quarterback. I believe in letting him sit and develop and Michel Trebisky might or might do well. What are you talking about? I'm just a Trebisky believer. Well, I watched Pickett in college. I did a show with him. He's got mature beyond his years, pinpoint accuracy. I think at some point he takes over a Steelers quarterback. He will ride in on a white horse and get them close to 500, Kay. I'm looking at you. A true Pittsburgh Steelers mouthpiece. We love it. Andrew Piliponi, you are awesome. I appreciate you hopping on. You can of course catch him on fan duel as well. All right, we had Ian Rapaport. Now, Shefti get in the mixed quarterbacks line for a new deal next off season. Now include Lamar Jackson, that's right. He did not come to terms. Takasa said, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Let's focus on 2022 and they will. Lamar Jackson said, I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Once the season starts, well, the season has started. Joe Burrow, who I love, Pave and Mad Herbert could make more than all of them and like we will. Oh, I don't know, this was happening. Bengals, you're always welcome back in the jungle, hey Kay. That was a lot of fun last year. Might have been talking to Mr. Burrow, not Joe Burrow, but his family who I love and I'm always wishing them the best. And Conrad Pony's just given me the business. We clearly have a lot of Steeler Bengal issues. I mean, I get it. It's the AFC North, Kay. I mean, I also have those Ohio roots. The AFC North is brutal to one another. They beat each other up all the time. Yeah, but that game is going to be really fun. It's probably one of my favorites because people are so quick to underestimate and throw away. What did Pony call it, a magic carpet ride? Yeah, magic carpet ride. It was not real as if it was not repeatable. They have a new look offensive line. You talked about it with me at five in the morning. Today, Lyle Collins, they're showing some things up. They have a bona fide top 10 wide receiver in Jamar Chase, one of the best quarterbacks. I think they have two. Yeah, of course. I just don't, I don't know why I don't get why not. Why we wouldn't be able to do it. The Ravens, I think, are a lot scarier than the Steelers. So I'm excited about this game. I think he's a little sour. I know it was the point differential in those two games last year, 65 to 20 that the Bengals beat them. It was something that outrageous. So I know Pony can't defend himself and that's not nice. I mean, listen, listen. We get Bengals all the way. No, I mean, the Ohio boy and me wants to root for the Bengals so hard this year. I mean, Joe Burrow is the epitome of everything that Ohio people love. He's cool, calm, he has moxie, he loves football and that's all he cares about. Yeah, the other game I'm really looking forward to, obviously, you want to see Justin Fields do what he can and be a bright spot, as Carmen Vitale told us, for that Chicago fan base to sort of get up for something. But Trey Lance, we're gonna get Trey Lance right out the gates here, taking on Chicago. How do you think that's all gonna go? I'm very curious. I don't know, that's why I want to watch. Well, I mean, no, I'm just saying, if Trey Lance comes out and he does not ball in the first half, do you think like there's any like instant panic or are they just, hey, let's let it ride out? Jimmy G is not over shoulder. We live in a business of instant panic, so that's just sort of what happens. But I thought it was really interesting what was all said this week about how teammates, even, you know, Joe Staley saying that the teammates might want Jimmy Garoppolo tells you that they like Jimmy Garoppolo because there's some switch that will be flipped at some point and it also tells you that maybe Trey Lance has not won everyone over as far as being that guy. Cause you want some of those veterans in a locker room to say, stick with Trey and preach patience and I hope that that's what's going on over there. But you know, Kyle Shanahan, we'll see. The story I read the other day was that Trey Lance, this off season really worked on leadership and he really wanted to be a captain. And what did they do? They did not make him a captain. They had an extra captain chair for him. They didn't, they didn't give it to him. Well, you're our captain and you look absolutely absurd with these balloons. I know we gotta go here. We gotta get out of here now. It's okay, I'll time the show. Don't worry, I can, I got it. I'm juggling it all today. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. Captain Conrad Company, I love alliteration. I love you guys for watching. We'll see you guys on Monday.