 Eric Wettel, Danny Woodhead, the secret, and Eric Woods on the show. It sounds like a law firm, Wood, Woodhead, and Wettel. Call 1-800 up and abs for a free, free, free consult today! Week six, I cannot believe it. It all starts the Commanders in town, Ron Rivera, revenge game, Ron Rivera, getting it from all angles and sides all week about his answer, about what is keeping the Commanders outside of the NFC East. He, of course, said quarterback will dig into all of that with Carmen Vitale, who I believe is one of the strongest voices covering the NFC North and all things NFL for years now. So we'll talk to her. I'd quickly like to shout out Max Issacau, Richard Issacau, everybody in here is boss. His son, Max, watches the show and he's the boss. He's the only one like on the death chart on the hierarchy ahead and atop Richard Issacau. So Max saw that I have some lousy mugs. Marissa McBride's been trying to improve my mug game, but this one is awesome. It's kind of eagles-y, Marissa. But Max, I appreciate you and this show is dedicated to one Max Issacau, my real boss. All right, so let's talk about week six here. We've got great guests, of course, but there's some things that I'm keeping my eye on that you need to be this weekend. And it's really, of course, that game. We got Kansas City, Buffalo, Van Miller is this matchup that we're all excited for and Van Miller is why this team is a Super Bowl contender. He is why the bills went and paid a 33-year-old Edge rusher, 120 million over the last six years. It was the game last week. That's why Buffalo has not been able to get to Mahomes in these crucial pivotal moments of games where it matters most. We've seen it. There's lots of tape on this, lots of information. There's two playoff losses that we can point to. And Mahomes has had a lot of time in the pocket. He's tying his shoes, he's doing origami, he's doing whatever he wants before he has to get rid of the ball out there, throwing for over 350 yards a game and accounting for seven touchdowns while being sacked three times on 84 drop-backs. That, these games against the Chiefs are why Buffalo made this move. And now we can see what it looks like on the field because Van already is transforming this Buffalo pass rush. He's already bringing out the best in the young guys around him. And his presence really increases the effort on the entire defensive front. The bills are now six in a league overall in sacks. He has four sacks of his own already. He's got four sacks already, 21 quarterback pressures. That's the fourth most in the NFL this year. They paid him a lot of money and if they win a championship that's the only way you're gonna convince me and really anybody that it was worth it. And there's going to be a lot of talk about whether or not the Chiefs will miss Tyreek in this game that too, but my eyes are going to be glued of course on number 40 in white out there. All right, other games, you know what we should do? We should bring out that, the notebook with the big game slates. Do we have that? That's not good visual. Put it in the, could be a V card, pop it in. We're trying to get Carmen Vitale connected. Hopefully we get her. If not, I'll break down the bears. There's not much to see there, but there will be a lot to see because as Eric Weddle will tell you momentarily on the show Wink Martindale is a game changer and he gets to take on Lamar Jackson. That's right, the defensive mastermind who took the Giants defense into being a top 10 unit this season gets to try to stop this guy. I love it. I'm fascinated to see how things play out when the team that he spent 10 years of his career a decade with, strolls right into town and both sides are hot and both sides are feeling good. And it's not just the revenge factor that does give me some intrigue here. Wink was the Ravens DC through Lamar's entire tenure in Baltimore. He knows the Baltimore offense, how it runs. He knows what the MVP can do as well as anybody. So the question, does he have the key to stopping him? Is this going to be that sort of a vibe out there? So I'm expecting a chess match of epic proportions and I literally cannot wait to see what happens in that one and we'll see what Eric Weddle has to say about that because he's been really vibing with Mink Martin, his entire career. But before the season even started, he said, watch out for those Giants. And I was like, why is he saying this? Why are we have Eric Weddle on saying this stuff? But he's absolutely right. And he's been crushing it as he revives that G-Men squad. The NFC East is the only thing important in the NFL, like always, right? It's the only thing we talk about. It's like the Kremlin crop. And so we stick with that for my last thing. I'm really looking forward to this weekend and it's Jalen Hertz up against the Cowboys because the Cowboys defense is no joke. They're ranked number three. This is your Sunday night football matchup. And I think it might be the game of the year. Hertz has been brilliant so far this season, but there's a lot left to accomplish if he wants to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is the Eagles franchise quarterback. Remember this off season, plenty of rumblings that the organization was not sold on him. There was a lot, you know, people were saying that he's a leader, right? That that narrative happened. So he's a leader. And sometimes when you hear that, the quarterback play isn't great because when you're focusing on an intangible or something off the field, that sort of comes baked in like, yeah, but can he throw the ball? Can he, yeah, he can throw the ball. And he has been amazing in doing it. So Hertz clearly is the answer. If he can continue to throw like he is and they continue to run like they're running, I see this team going to the Super Bowl. I think with their defense, their defensive line have got some injuries and stuff to take care of. But I don't know, Serrani, the whole nine yards with this team, I love them. They, you know, I'm trying to look at what they have to do and they have to be the Cowboys. That's what I'm looking at. I'm looking at the splits. Two career starts against the Cowboys. Philly has lost by a combined score of 78 to 38. Marissa, you can't feel good about that. 78 to 38. Hertz is one in four. One in four in prime time in playoff games overall. Now, Micah Parsons is a monster, so he'll be able to neutralize some of that athleticism, some of the things that Jalen can do on the ground. So this is really a chance for Jalen Hertz, bright lights, prime time where he's one in four to show he can sling the ball. And hopefully he doesn't do it like this. What is this? And if he pulls off, you know, to move the Eagles to six and no, the more intriguing storyline, of course, outside of Jalen Hertz being deserved to be talked about as the face of the franchise going forward, no question. If Cooper Rush somehow loses this game on the other side and the Eagles lose their undefeated season at the hands of their division rival in prime time, we have a genuine quarterback controversy in Dallas. I believe that with all my heart. I tried staying away from it. I've talked about this a lot. Sean Payton sat here with me and said, you're an idiot. Like the second that Dax healthy, he's gonna play. Okay, okay. Let's see how long it takes for Dax to be 100% if Cooper wins on Sunday night. I have a feeling we'll have a Monday morning radio call from Jerry Jones into, you know, Dallas radio. And he'll say, you know, Dax coming along is not really gripping the ball, right? Completely he's got a little cold symptoms, not feeling great. We're just gonna make sure he's 100% because at that point you cannot take Cooper Rush out. You absolutely cannot. They are playing a level of meaningful, simplified football in my eyes that's working for them. Sometimes they, I think try too much when they have DAC out there. Maybe they learn that and adjust, but they're running 20 Pollard looks good, et cetera. So that'll be exciting. Okay, we do not have Carmen Vitale. What's the story? Conrad, you're in the control room, not I can't get you on heads. What's the story? We don't have Carmen Vitale. All right, so we can, I guess, take a break here, maybe. And we'll, we of course, we'll come back with a Bears preview and I'll get you guys ready for this game tonight. Justin Fields is turning some heads. Will he continue to do so? He's got a chance to do it on Amazon tonight. We'll be back. Thursday night football on Amazon Prime. Your thoughts, Bears fans, always up in Adams, especially early in the morning, especially when their team is playing in prime time. So hit me up at Up in Adams show. I did a quick Google search of Justin Fields in the commercial break. We were not able to get our girl Carmen Vitale and we apologize for that, so we'll hopefully get her on at some point this week. Man, development has hit a snag for Justin Fields. Justin Fields' odds of another good game just went up. It is all over the place and that's why prime time matters. It matters for perception. He does have to get better and steady the ship and get better every week. If they win this game and they should, it will be because he went out there and had a great game yet again and had a good performance and looks the part and is the part. And that's what it really has to prove, right? Nobody's expecting the Bears. Bears fans are being a little crazy this year, let's just be honest, but we are expecting progress. We are expecting something to rally around and I can speak well of this and very expertly about this as I am from Chicago and born and raised a Bears fan and our great franchise quarterback is Jay Cutler. So the expectations are a balanced team. It's how we won a Super Bowl back in 85 on our defense. None of that exists. There's questions with Roquan Smith. What his future is with the team, of course they deal Khalil Mack and he's having success. So it is really all about Justin Fields for me in this game. It's not about the commanders but you have to beat the commanders. And if you don't, you still have to have a brilliant performance because you've got a chance. Not only this week, week seven, fact check numerous. I think they've got the Patriots and it's another prime time game. I think it's the Monday night football game. So you've got back to back chances to show everyone just that you're the franchise guy just that the Bears taking you with their number one with their first pick in the round if it was 11th overall for Justin Fields that you are the franchise guy going forward. You don't have to have, you know, you don't have to crush this team annihilate them, whatever. You just have to have a great game. And then you have to build on that the next week and it'll change how people view you. There's not much to rally around in this game. I mean, if we're scraping at Ron Rivera, you know, saying something about his quarterback that's misconstrued, like we're all gonna attack Ron Rivera cause we're looking for some meat on this game. Stop it. You can see it of course on Amazon Prime Video. I'll be watching because I want to see the development of this quarterback, how he's handling himself. He's not really set up for success. We all know it, but give me something to renew my season tickets next year. That's how I feel if I'm a Chicago fan. Give me a reason. And I've got two nieces that live in Chicago, both Chiefs fans, they live in Park Ridge, Illinois, Maya and Natalia, who's turning one on Saturday. I'd like to give them a bit, the one year old, I'll give her a bear shirt and she'll be like, meh, I don't want it. Give me a reason to have her accept that bear jersey proudly. And the only reason to do that is not Herbert, Khalil Herbert, it's not, you know, it's no one else, but not Roquan, not anybody, Montgomery and company. Not, Eberfluss isn't selling jerseys. You know, it's Justin Fields tasked with the weight of this franchise. And that's what I'm looking forward to in this one. Not the most exciting game of the weekend though. I would probably say that's Buffalo and the Chiefs because it's going to be insane and epic. And of course, a matchup of epic proportions from the thriller last year. So let's bring in our very next guest here. A Pro Bowl center, he played nine seasons in Buffalo. He's currently on the Bills Radio broadcast and is the author of a new book called Tackle, What's Next? Eric Wood, are you an author now? I'm an author now, yeah, trying to fill some time. Talk to me, what are you writing? Okay, the book's in back and you bring it out here. What do we got? Yeah, so my career ended after the 2017 season. I played every single snap that year. We break the longest playoff drought in all of professional sports. I signed a contract extension before that season and then I found out at exit physicals after I was the only player on the team to play every single snap that season that I have a career ending neck injury. And so these last four years have been a period of transition and so many people out there are also in a period of transition, whether it's through COVID, job, whatever it may be. And so I feel like this speaks to many veterans and former professional athletes that have hit these big transitions, but also those out there that are just trying to make their next chapter of their life better than the previous one. It's a really beautiful concept, of course. And I think your Buffalo Bill squad could use some of that motivation and some of those words about resilience and tackling what's next with what went on last year and some of these matchups. So 13 seconds from advancing in the playoffs last year, heartbreaking for the Bills ending their season like that. And earlier this week, Josh Allen said that this game is quote important because it's the next one. Okay, Josh, head coach Sean McDermott deflected, saying quote, that is in the past, but how much do you think that lost ways on players going into this game? And be honest, Eric. You know, I think it weighed a lot on this off season. I think it drove them to really put a ton into the preparation to start this season. You know, three out of their first five games, they're resting their starters halfway through the third quarter. That's the way that they're beating teams right now. And I think that 13 seconds has fueled some of that effort to start this season. Now this Kansas City game is less about revenge and more about trying to get home field advantage in the playoffs. The last two seasons, they were bounced from the playoffs at Kansas City. Two years ago, the AFC Championship game last year, the divisional round as a starter at home in the playoffs. I believe my homes is eight and two. And so if you can get him away from Arrowhead in the playoffs, you know, you'd love to give him his third loss at home in this career in the playoffs, but you'd rather just host him at Highmark Stadium and try and get it that way. Well, Josh Allen certainly hasn't let last season affect him. He's saying that, of course, in this year, he looks incredible. He leaves the NFL in passing yards and in total touchdowns. He's got 16 so far already, which is incredible. And you've been very close with the bill since retiring. You guys are still in lockstep there. So what's your takeaway in terms of Allen's progression as a quarterback, and especially without Dabel, because I don't think he's getting enough credit for that. Yeah, I mean, if you look at his overall progression, it's unprecedented. There's never been a quarterback in the history of the NFL to go last in the league his first two years in completion percentage to then top five in year three of an NFL MVP runner up. And now the odds on favorite to win the MVP, the bills are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, according to Fandle and many other sites as well. And so when you look at his progression over his career, it's been incredible. But when you saw him early on, because everyone wants to compare every young quarterback that struggles with Josh Allen now. But when you look at Josh early on, the highs were so high, the highlights were so great that you figured if he can just make some easy throws, take what the defense gives him at times, make less mistakes, and then continue to make those highlights, then we'll truly have something special here. Some of these young quarterbacks that struggle they compare them to, I'm not seeing those same highlights from them. But that being said, he works with Jordan Palmer in the off season. He's had Ken Dorsey there the entire time. Up until this year, he's had the same offensive coordinator. They've added a lot of talent around him. That doesn't always happen with young quarterbacks. They stuck with them and they're seeing the fruits of that now. It definitely matters. But then there's this whole intangible thing that Josh Allen really has working for. I mean, usually you don't get both. You don't get the highlights that you're talking about. And listen, a lot of quarterbacks work with Jordan Palmer in the off season. A lot of them don't look like what we see Josh Allen look like week in week out of the NFL season. And I love Jordan, but it's just true. He's got the talent, but he also has the magnetism. He's got people, players, media fans eating out of the palm of his hand almost. So what, how much does that matter? Give me like a percentage in that locker room of how much that matters compared to how talented he is. I don't want to say it's 50-50. I don't want to say it's 90%, but I'll say this. One, the guys all love him, but they're not going to love you if you're not playing well. If you're not putting them in a position to win each and every week. So they love him. He's a great player, but he's also, you know, Diggs talks about it from the second he got there. Von Miller talked about it this year that Josh Allen reminds him of himself when he was early in his career with the Broncos hosting everybody at his house, whether it's the receivers or the defensive line. Josh is just magnetic. He's got a handshake with virtually a customized handshake with like every person on the offense. And I say this all the time and I talk about this often. I was extended with the bills to be his center. It pains me that I was not his center. I was going to be the veteran for whoever they drafted in the first round that next year. That next year, I'm the bills radio guy. He owes me nothing. We didn't even play together. And he sends my son a video for his birthday in January in the playoffs in the middle of his first playoff appearance in 20. This was in 2020, makes him a video. He comes to my charity event this past Monday night and I'm the bills radio guy. Now we both work with the same children's hospital up there, but it's unbelievable. He's asking me about my son and I'm showing him a highlight video of him scoring a touchdown in a flag football game. He just gets it. He's perfect for that city. I asked Ron Fitzpatrick about it because to me, Fitzpatrick is a guy that has always owned whatever locker room is in. He's a captain the first year he's with any team and that's a record amount of teams that he started games for. And Fitz said, okay, Josh's tangibles on the field are so much better than mine, but his intangibles in the way he tries to carry no ego with him at all times is what makes guys love him even around the league to where a guy like Ryan Fitzpatrick is sitting there before a game on the field where the bills are playing the dolphins a couple years ago and he's bragging on Josh Allen from the other sideline. Yeah. That is a really incredible short story about your son and you know, you don't do the respect. Of course you're a player and everything but he didn't have to do that especially in the midst of the playoffs the context of that really matters and speaks volumes. Do you think they would get him any more help? He's got Gabe Davis who's looking and you know, continues the emergence that we saw shades of last year. But you know, I had Boomer on my show who broke the news that you know, I don't know if it's news broke the rumor that the team would potentially be interested of course, lots of connective tissue there between the Giants and Buffalo Bills to bring Saquon up. This week it was all about Christian McCaffrey of course, a bit of a fire sale situation after the Panthers and Tepra Part-Rays with Matt Rule. Do they get a running back in free agency or via trade rather? You know, the Bills are rumored and for a reason because they don't necessarily have a top running back right now. They drafted two guys in the third round, Zach Moss and Devin Singletary who have been productive. They drafted James Cook in the second round last year who's been productive but no one's that top tier running back and no one's really emerged out of that group. And so it would make sense to bring one of those guys in but I'll say this, Brandon Bean's always active. He's always on the phones. If you're there, hi, I was announcing a pick for the Bills one year and they said, well be ready because Brandon Bean is always on the phone. And so that being said, yeah, and they traded up in that draft and took Cody Ford early in the second round. Brandon Bean will be listening to offers but it would have to one make financial sense. They're not gonna mortgage the franchise and take on a big contract that makes them. Bean, it's the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl. Look what they do with Bob Miller. Are you kidding? Of course they can do that. Yeah, but Vaughn, and we'll get to Vaughn, but that being said, I don't know that a running back is the one missing piece from this team because it's very hard to be great running the ball and passing the ball. I mean, look at the Chiefs. I mean, people would say any running back that you put back there is gonna be productive. Everyone's focused on the homes but it's tough on the offensive line being a former offensive lineman. When you're always pass blocking in games to get in a rhythm in the run game is not always easy. And so I don't know that just bringing in a Saquon or Christian McCaffery makes a ton of sense unless financially you can really make it work because those guys are so dynamic. Yes, they're gonna make most teams in the NFL a little bit better, but it's not something I don't think they're going out trying to hunt one down and that's the primary focus right now. If you, if Brandon Bean took a couple of days off and went to Bora Bora and he said, Eric, I'm gonna let you take over and you wouldn't bring in a running back. What position would you bring somebody in it? If financials didn't matter to sort of complete the puzzle. Wow, that's a great question. If you would ask me this last year, I would have said pass rusher 100% because that was the one separating factor was that against playoff teams last year they only had five sacks in the regular season. Those numbers were skewed. They ended up having 41 on the season but against playoff teams they only had five sacks last year. And so I would have said it's gotta be pass rusher. Now you're putting me on the spot there and I would probably say running back because that's that shiny object. That could be a lot of fun. The Bills lost Micahod to a neck injury for the season right now. So if you're telling me they gotta bring in someone right now, maybe you had some experience on the back end of the defense. Cornerback, they've been really thin but they're about to get Trinavia's white all the way forward back. Are they though? Eric, are they? Yeah, he just got activated this week. Let's go. He's my favorite. And I do think that they miss him, especially in games like this where they're gonna have to defend Travis Kelsey who they notoriously, I mean, he had four touchdowns last week but I'm looking even in these splits, six touchdowns that passed four games against the Bills and in those games the Bills had to defend both Kelsey and Tyreek Hill. So I ask you, how does that change now for this weekend's game specifically not having to defend Hill but not having white? Yeah, so can you bring your safeties down a little bit more because you don't have Hill on the field? Mahomes average target has gone down this year without having Hill on the field not having that explosive playmaker over the top of the defense. And so that being said, can you devote more attention to Travis Kelsey? I would hope so. You know, the interesting strategy by the Raiders is just leaving completely uncovered for his fourth touchdown of the game. Say, well, maybe you won't go to him if we just leave him completely uncovered. Didn't work. He's gonna get a lot of attention from the Bills but Travis Kelsey, I mean, he gets his verse everybody in the league. Leslie Frazier said it this week in his press conference. He's not a guy you hold to one catch. You know, Mark Andrews came into the Baltimore game against the Bills this year and was leading the league in reception yards for tight end, like top four in the league, all players and the Bills had on the one catch for 15 yards. I don't think you can do that against the Travis Kelsey. To me, he's just too good a receiver. So you try and keep him in check and limit the big plays. So will it come down to Von Miller because I've made the point to start the show that Von Miller got this bag from Buffalo because of that game against the Chiefs because that's what they needed. And it's a whole you obviously know that they filled. And Bean did his thing in the past two drafts. He tried shoring up the past rush as much as he could. But now he brings in a guy to make it fly. Is it working out so far and will it pay dividends in this week's matchup? It is working out so far. The Bills have pressured the quarterback way better than they have anytime under Brandon Bean and Sean McDermott. And Von Miller is the reason. And the reason is for a couple points. One, Von is a premier pass rusher. He's a Hall of Famer. And when everyone said he might be over the hill he's just proved all of them wrong. And he did it on the opening night against his former team in the Rams to really put it on full display for the country to see. But then you bring him in and he brings a veteran presence around a Greg Rousseau who they drafted in the first round last year. And now he has four sacks, top 10 in the NFL. But guys on the inside they bring back a Jordan Phillips, a Dayquan Jones bringing a Tim Settle. You drafted Ed Oliver in the first round. Those guys are all playing better because now Von Miller is getting all the attention. There's, he's been double teamed on pass rush snaps more than any other player in the NFL. Well, that's helping out the rest of the guys. So will Von Miller get four sacks this week and change the game? I hope so. But if not, he will benefit all the other guys. You're saying what you hope. So obviously, you know, there has to be some level of objectivity in this game. How does it shake out on Sunday? You know, I think the Bills will go in there and get a victory. They did in the regular season last year. And to me, they're just playing better football. When you look at the Bills, they're number one in the NFL in offense, number two on defense. And right now they're playing better football. Kansas City always scares me in the playoffs and they've just done it. They've done it the last three or four years. And so I think the Bills get the win this week. You know, I saw it's like a three point spread and it's likely going to be another close game and a close match up against probably the two best teams in the NFL. So it'll be fun wanting to call it. I'll say that. Yeah, I'm sure. You're calling the game. So is there something that we missed? Like is there an X factor in this? When we hit Gabe Davis a little bit, we didn't really get into digs in Josh Allen's special relationship. Is there something that we're missing that I need to be looking for in this one? Well, Gabe Davis is back. He had four touchdowns in the AFC division around game. He injured his ankle earlier than season. Fantasy owners were all upset that Gabe Davis everyone trapped him in the second or third round. Well, he's back from his ankle injury from earlier in the season that he didn't miss much time with, but he just wasn't the same player last week. He has a 98 yard touchdown in the third play of the game and really looks like he's back. And so digs will get a lot of attention, but a guy like Gabe Davis could be the guy that kind of takes over this game again because of his size and ability on the outside. And with all the attention, rightfully so, that'll go to Stefan Diggs, who himself is averaging over a hundred yards of game receiving this year. I just want, can we do it? I want it all. I want the high scoring game, but I also want defensive, I want sacks out of on Miller. I want Chris Jones to get some retribution because he got that stupid roughing the passer last week. Like I want everyone to just have a great game. I know that you care. I almost don't care who wins. Like as an objective, I'm not rooting for either side. I just want what we sort of have been waiting for this season is these epic, Brady Rogers was awful. And I got myself so excited about Brady, terrible from my perspective. I was like, what am I watching? What am I doing here? So it looks like what we have tonight. I was like, some of these matchups are lackluster. This is the blockbuster. This is the, I'm taking my allowance from my mom. And I mean, I'm little and I'm like, I have $2 for this. I'm spending all of it to go see this movie. It is the summer blockbuster of the season. And I hope it lives up to the ticket, Eric. We appreciate you, Eric Wood. He'll be broadcasting for the game. And he's got this book in back of him. Tackle what's next. Where can people pick it up? Yeah, just grab it on Amazon. That'll be the easiest way to do it. Do you remember when Amazon just dealt books? Remember those days? It was just a book company, unbelievable. Eric, we appreciate you. Good luck to your bills. And we'll talk to you soon. Up next from one Eric, from an Eric Wood to an Eric Weddell. That's kind of spit it out and we don't have him. Oh, there he is, Eric Weddell. On the program, we will stop talking Buffalo and Chiefs. There's other teams in the NFL. I know, I know, I know, I know. Everyday wins make your day so much better. And that's why FanDuel Casino has a new daily free-to-play game reward machine, the free game that gives players the chance to win up to $2,000 in casino bonus every day. All you have to do is log in daily and spin for a free chance at rewards. FanDuel wants you to win. Play reward machine for a free chance at everyday wins only on FanDuel Casino. Turn it up, hey, we're fighting the time, you. It's never been up, I ain't done with a shot. I'm all of a zone, I'm all of control, I'm all of control. I'm whipping the song, somebody that calls me bringing it home. Turn it up, turn it up, turn it up. Our resident gritless professor, a Super Bowl champion, a Whole Foods expert, and a family member here at Up and Atoms every Thursday, Eric Weddell. They wrote that in there. Are you a Whole Foods expert? Whole Foods, wow, they're just trying to hike me up a little bit. I know. I tried to eat right, not always the case, but hey, listen, Kate, it's OK to have defensive games. Like, it's not the end of the world to just see great football, OK? We don't need 45 points every game for it to be a great game. I didn't say that. I said I want it all. I said, maybe I don't know if your beard started growing into your ears, my friend, and you weren't able to hear what I said, but I said. I always saw the last snippet, so, OK. I want Von Miller. I want Von Miller sacks. I want retribution for, of course, for Chris Jones. I don't know what that noise is. I don't know what's happening in the studio today. It's wild. It's always when Eric Weddell's on that something starts feeling crazy, but listen. Like the lights going out? Yeah, something's going crazy always. Your old coach made a bit of news yesterday. It's kind of fun, and usually I'm asking you, what's wrong with the Rams? Well, let's do it this way. McVay noted in a press conference that the Rams' latest offer to OBJ was not the last one that will come from us, which I liked seeing. And you won a Super Bowl there last year with Odell. Does he belong back on the Rams? Of course. I mean, not just what he brings on the field and the special physical ability that he can bring and help the team, but just his charisma, his game and ship, his professionalism. A lot of people don't really know Odell like we know Odell. And his time with the Rams, even before I got there, was nothing but tip top shape, right? And he loves the game. He works his tail off every single day. He studies. He is the typical professional leader that you want within your organization to lead the young guys, but also give you what you want on the field. So you can only hope that it works out. You never know with this crazy game and organizations around the clock trying to better their team. So I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up somewhere else, but I'm hoping he ends up back with the Rams. Well, I'm hoping you end up back with Wink Martindale. And I'm hoping that when you do that, you'll still come on. Winkers. You'll still come on our show. Winkers, is that what you call them? That's what, you know, Wink and I go back a long time. So I guess we could segue into the matchup. Yeah, it's a big one. Look at you, you're like hosting. I don't even, I'm your cruise control. You know what's happening versus clapping. Versus clapping that you know what's next. You didn't try to be a pro, right? You are a pro. You do, you try your best, but like you said with the Ravens, with Wink, the history there, Wink being one of the best defense of minds in the game. And I enjoyed my time in Baltimore, obviously, but when Wink took over and really gave ownership to all the players, to own the defense, own your role and be able to improvise and switch responsibilities on the fly to give your defense an advantage. And it really set the tone of trying to push the defense to the limits and really put the onus and the mental capacity on the players. Like this is your job. Let's push the limits and expect more out of us. Not just sit here, hey, we got this call and they line up in this formation and we don't have a check or we can't get out of it. Like those are the tools that we all need. And he really gave that to us and really, you know, hence why we were number one defense my last year in Baltimore, which was a huge credit to him. What's the key for the Giants and him as he's, I mean, he has tools, he's creating tools, optimizing them for sure there with the Giants. What's the key for them to get a victory and stopping Lamar and company? Shoot, it's obviously easier said than done. Winx has some experience with the Ravens obviously and he's seen Lamar. So he's gonna know the ins and outs, what Lamar likes and doesn't like and vice versa. You know, you have to cloud the pitcher for Lamar and give them different looks, try your best to do so. And when you have an open blitzer or open rusher, that you can't miss those opportunities because when Lamar gets out of the pocket or he makes a guy miss when you do bring those blitzes because Winx is gonna bring those blitzes and try to confuse the quarterback, different looks, different disguises and you hope that you capitalize on those instances where we bring the blitz for the Giants. And on the flip side, you know, the Ravens just have to be the Ravens. They got to run the football and punish the opponent when they do try to blitz them. And it's gonna be a great back and forth battle. I don't see a lot of points. I see both defenses are really good. They played well, the Ravens played extremely well against the Bengals last week. So low scoring game and man, it's a great matchup. Who would have thought the Giants would be four and one right now? And a lot of credit to Wink and the defense. I mean, the offense hasn't been blowing teams out by any means. So the defense has had a lot to do with their record right now. It's so true. And then, you know, when you're preparing for this one, you're not only looking at the record or you're looking at Dable, right? Defensively, I'm talking like, you know, let's see, let's hit this from the Raven side of that. Sometimes you overlook a guy who, like Daniel Jones, you're nobody's doing that this year, right? Like in approaching this game and you're seeing what he's able to do as dynamic of a weapon as he can be if he's used the way he's being used and you say Kwan looking the way he looks. What's the key for them? What's the key? It's a crazy thing that I'm asking myself. What is the key for the Ravens defense to stopping this Giants offense? Well, just like they did last week, playing sound, fundamental defense and keeping everything in front of you. When you play together and don't give up big plays, you see how hard it is to drive down the field. 10, 12, 14 play drives. It's just hard to do at any level, let alone the Bengals and all the weapons that they had. And obviously, not having T. Higgins was a big drop off for their production. You could double on chase and so forth. But I think just that and have the ability to pressure when they need to, but also having that extra guy in the box to limit say Kwan, the offense runs through say Kwan, both in the pass and run game, the explosive plays that he's given their offense in the timely manner has been what has given them over the top in these close games. So in another shout out to Debo, like if there's ever a doubt that he wasn't the man for this job and the job he's doing, you gotta give Kudos to coach because he's just doing an incredible job with that team. He's so is, what he did with Josh Allen, the fact that that's stuck. People are saying like, oh, well, he left and Josh Allen's fine, like that's a credit to Debo. That he was able to help him along his way and then leave and everything's still working. That is the leader. That is somebody who does their stuff the right way. And I think he doesn't get enough credit for that as well. But let's give some credit to the best defensive team performance you saw on week five. Well, yeah, I mean, there are a couple of good ones. I would put the Ravens up there for what the job they did against the Bengals. But I have to go with the Patriots defense and to shut out the Lions who were close to averaging 40 points a game in the shootouts they've been in to shut them out. Man, I don't think anyone was expecting that. And I think a lot of people were expecting the Lions to beat the Patriots the way the Patriots have been playing the last couple of weeks. So just a typical defensive minded effort from Belichick and those guys and really it was poetry to watch quite honestly, the different looks, the pressure. How about Matt and Judan? Yeah, Judan had a couple of sacks. My guy, it was just, it was fun to watch and you got to give props to any team that shuts out an NFL opponent. I mean, it's hard to do like I did earlier in the season. When you get a shutout, you're probably gonna have the best defensive effort for my segment. I love it. You're giving the Patriots some love. I'm sure they're appreciating it up there. You know, when there was something going on in back of me and I don't know what it was, it was like, I thought it was Gremlins. I thought it was something else, but it was really, I love Eric. There's a disturbance in the forest. I feel like there's something just happening here. Conrad, get out of my ear. Yeah, he's here. Woody! What is up, my dog? How are we doing? Love it. Let's go. What are you doing, buddy? Doing great, man. I've been, I've just seen you, I've seen your face, wait. Well, it's a little windy today, man. It's up to 20, 25 mile an hour and it's kind of cold. So like, there's no chance I'm getting out there. Okay, you wanna jump in? What's up? How are we doing? Well, you, well, well, I'll host the show. Well, it literally is doing a takeover. Little by little every week and I love it. Danny, my question is, how does someone get a hold of you? Because we've been trying every day for two weeks for this to happen. But you're out on the golf course. Do you put your phone away? Like, what are the rules that we can, no one can get a hold of you. You're like, I was golfing. Well, you're golfing. The phone buzzes in your pocket, no? Well, the thing is, if we reach out through email, it's a little bit more difficult. Got it. The delay will be there. The delay will be there regardless. That's why you need my phone number. Yeah. That's why you have to have my phone, have your producers send me a text. I'll say yay or nay. And I'll jump on the show. Great, I love it. And that's where it is, it zooms. Eric. I didn't say it. You did. Eric, there's friendships and then there's you two. You two are like, yeah. What is this pick collage? I need to know. This is my first question. Oh, jeez. Who made this? Because this is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Yeah, I mean, I'm a relationship type guy and over the course of my career, I hold on to those people that I call family and I would do anything for. And I mean, this dates back to our early years in San Diego to when I picked up Woody on his day, he was signing with the Ravens. You know, just a lot of great men who were playing off-season softball with all the charter players right there. What was your name right there, babe? Merle. Merle. Merle. So, you know, I don't have any pride in telling someone I love them and I appreciate them. And that's really what it is. As I love Woody, I love the man he is, the father and the teammate he was from to me and the friend he is. So, I have no qualms about sharing that with anyone for that matter. But I also on the flip side is I won't deny that you're a wrong person or did me wrong. So, we got it both ways. Never would have guessed that from you, bro. Not at all. Danny, I heard a story that Eric accidentally recruited you to the Ravens. Is this true? I mean, accidents happen, right? That's just what it is. There is no accident about it at all. What happened? So, E-Dubb and I, obviously, we go way back. I mean, we would work out when we were in San Diego, it would be who could get there first. It would be 445. Next thing you know, E-Dubb's coming at 415. It's like, what are we doing? Like, what are we doing? So, the relationship started then and there. We would work out together. We'd hot tub, cold tub, sauna, the works. I mean, we were tight. And when he left, obviously, not in an awesome way. Not, I wouldn't say, his fault. But when he left the Chargers, it wasn't very exciting for myself. And so, we obviously kept communication open. And did we, was it a dream to play together again? Yeah, I mean, without a doubt. And I really think it would have lasted probably two to three more years if it weren't for the hamstring tendon breaking off my bone, off my butt. And so, he's just a special dude. There's a lot of guys that you meet and you build relationships with. They're great. And then there's relationships like E-Dubb and I have. And it's something that'll last forever. It's not a, sometimes you have these relationships that you built in the NFL, then everyone goes their separate ways when they're retired. And this is just different. We're literally, you know, we're brothers. And he said, we don't have, he doesn't have a problem telling someone he loves him. I mean, every time we're on the phone, it ends with love you, man, we'll talk to you later because we literally love each other. It's the way it should be. Eric Weddle, Danny Woodhead, we're gonna take a short break and come back. I need to know if that love translates to the golf course because of a feeling it doesn't. I have a feeling it does not between the two of you. So we'll get into that. We have to hit the Great List, the grittiest place of week five with Eric Weddle and more with Danny Woodhead after this. I'm looking for you too. Wow. Unbelievable. Back with BFF forever, Eric Weddle and Danny Woodhead and Danny, I know why you're really here. It's not to support your best friend. It's cause you want to know who's on the Great List. Let's look at week four's winners. Just before we start here, these is who we had. We had Bobby Wagner taking down the civilian. Now it's the winner and that is the defending champion, Durwin James, body slamming Travis Kelsey. That was a fan favorite and a favorite of Eric Weddle. And then Kenny Pickett smiling after the Quinn and Williams hit. So Bobby Wagner taking out the fan is the number one play. Show us how it's done, Eric. Here we go. We got the first up is Pierce, the rookie for the Texan, just literally manhandling the entire Jacksonville defense and if it wasn't for a lonely mangled ankle tackle, he literally would have went through the entire defense. This is true grit. I mean, Woody, talk about this grit play right here, man. I mean, the dude keeps his legs moving. Obviously, I mean, he gets what he wants. Maybe not the most heralded name, but look at him. Look at him go. Love it. Love a second right here. Now not just grit, grit is toughness. It's witty, it's being on your toes, but it's also elegance. It's also explosive plays. It's also athleticism. I mean, we got Derek Carr right here throwing off his wrong foot on the run and drops a complete dime to Devonte Adams in a tight game. Just the only thing that ruins his play is the coach went for two instead of one. I agree, man. I mean, look at him. He's athletic. He's beautiful. And just drops it right in the spot. What's the double coverage? Oh, gosh. That is grit right there. And we got final right here. Nick Chubb touchdown run against the entire Chargers defense. Ms. Tackle, Ms. Tackle coming up cutback. And this is the most impressive at all. The stiff arm on, I mean, that is Khalil Mack, Woody. Khalil Mack getting stiff armed. Like you just don't see that. Chubb is one of the best backs in this game. And it just, it gave a balance to everything he could bring. The cutback, the toughness, the physicality and the stiff arm late in that run. It's walking grit. He doesn't even wear armbands. Doesn't wear anything that looks clear. Look at his face mask. Look at his face mask, right? That's gritty. No wristbands, just plain Jane out there, making the Chargers look silly on that run. Wow. Bro, I honestly, I don't know how you didn't have the NFL fans in on the grip. NFL fans. Anyone that watched the Broncos Colts game, they get a badge of grit. Oh my God. Anyone that watched it and said, hey, I'm going to continue watching the NFL. You have grit. Wow. So now there's four nominees for the grillers. I could agree more. I could not agree more with you, Vinny. Wow. Dancing. All right. But we need to see. Go ahead. I had to speak the truth. I mean, I, as I'm watching, I'm like, what am I doing with my life? Push through with my, push through. Push through with grit. All right. Let's look at the, the one and for all. Yeah. Go for it. Updated list. B-wag still has a top honor. It's going to take a heroic effort to, to, to unseat him. Then I mean, I was so impressed that Chubb played that Chubb takes number two and, and obviously Jerwin James body slam tackle is one of the best times I've ever seen. So there's my top three. It's going to be hard press to get, to crack that, that top three. But if anyone has them, send them out, let us know and we'll make a new list next week. You are amazing. Okay. Here's how we're going to wrap this up today. First, Danny and then Eric, Thursday Night Football. Another one for you to push through with grit. It's the Bears and the Commanders in Chicago. And thank you both for coming on. Danny, give me a one sentence prediction in Y and then Eric and then we got to bounce. Go ahead Eric or go ahead Danny. Commanders, Carson Wentz ignores the noise. Bears, bears, bears. Excellent analysis always. You two are amazing. I don't know, I think Danny you have to come on every week with Eric on the second half I'm just saying. We'll talk to you guys. Just get my phone number. I will, I'll get your phone number. You guys are amazing. We'll talk soon. Thank you. We'll be back on up and out and show you. To watch college football get it on the action win part of $20,000. It's a prize pool part of Twisted T's college football picks contest. Free to enter, you'll make six picks and you can earn some points. If you get to pick right, get a certain number of points right and you'll win part of the prize pool. Let's catch up here. All right. Okay, go to, geez Louise. Go to Fandall.com to enter. We've got 10 seconds left in the show. Enjoy tonight's action between the Commanders and the Bears and we'll get you guys covered with storylines for Sunday and your recap tomorrow morning. Bye.