00:00So we're comparing our guy to Barry, and they're comparing him to Emmett.
00:04It is the 90s all over again.
00:07Yes.
00:07Emmett versus Barry's back.
00:08Let's go.
00:09Yes.
00:09Uh-huh.
00:11But can I at least acknowledge that the Saints got their doors blown off at home?
00:16Gave up 200 yards on the ground.
00:18They're now 1-3.
00:19This is a team everybody's like, hey, they're going to win this division.
00:22Yeah.
00:23And they had an emotional moment at the beginning of the game because it was the two teams that
00:29were playing in the first game back after Hurricane Katrina, and I don't remember who the player
00:36was that had the blocked punt.
00:39Steve Gleason.
00:39Steve Gleason.
00:40Yeah, he was there.
00:41He was there and obviously suffering from ALS, and the Superdome was going bonkers.
00:48Absolute bonkers last night.
00:50So that was a cool moment.
00:52If I asked you today who wins that division, who would you say?
00:56I'm not holding you to it.
00:56Just curious what your answer would be.
01:01I guess Carolina.
01:03Okay.
01:04Because they just handed us a loss.
01:07I don't know.
01:08I'll ask you tomorrow and I can get a different answer.
01:10I just know Tampa has yet to win a game.
01:13Right.
01:13New Orleans only has the one win, although it's in Baltimore.
01:16But again, one in three.
01:17Yeah.
01:18You could start to make the case for Atlanta because of what you said.
01:21Their first couple losses were with not even league average quarterback play.
01:25Now that they have at least something there, they're awake.
01:29Now, I think obviously with Bijon, their running game can be trusted more than Carolina's rushing attack.
01:39And I think that will be more consistent throughout 17 games than Carolina's or Carolina's ability to throw the ball
01:48around.
01:48So I guess that I would say Atlanta, to me, would be the one.
01:52And New Orleans has been beat up.
01:53So not in terms of, yes, there are only one in three, but a lot of injuries that they're dealing
01:58with.
01:59We're at the quarter poll mark, right?
02:01Four games into the NFL season.
02:02So you do start to think, okay, well, what do we think preseason?
02:05And now what do we think?
02:06And that division is a great example of we still don't know.
02:10Well, yeah, but you learn a lot through four weeks.
02:12I mean, going into the season, my first power surge, I said teams that we won't be talking about at
02:17all.
02:18And one of them was the Raiders.
02:20Now they're three and one.
02:21Obviously, we have learned that.
02:23And I'm not going to sit there and say, well, Kurt Cousins is having some monster resurgence.
02:27But when you have a quarterback with experience and he is good with the football, then all of a sudden
02:35you're looking at it going three and one.
02:36And their one was Kansas City.
02:38And they had opportunities to win that.
02:40Right there.
02:41You know, you start to learn about these teams.
02:44And then you look at the Rams going two and two.
02:46And they were literally two minutes away from being one and three.
02:49And, you know, I mean, look at the Cleveland Browns.
02:53Surprise, surprise, yeah.
02:55And I'm, you know, I'm still not ready to talk about them in the power surge.
02:59But they are tied for first with Baltimore in their division.
03:03So, yes, you start to, after a quarter of the season, you reevaluate what you know about this year's version
03:10of this year's teams.
03:12I'd be very careful.
03:13We know Monken uses everything for bulletin board material.
03:15He hears that you're not even considering them for the power surge.
03:18Yeah, well, you might fuel the Browns to yet another victory.
03:22Okay.
03:22But how about we localize this here?
03:23Okay.
03:24Quarter poll.
03:26The Lions lost this weekend.
03:27And I think that's the first loss that puts them, quote, off course.
03:31How have you adjusted?
03:32And this is the Royal U.
03:34How have the listeners adjusted their expectations?
03:39You've heard of the Royal We.
03:40I'm using the Royal U.
03:42248-539-9797.
03:44John, before the year, you thought, what?
03:45And what do you think now?
03:47Well, what were we at in terms of our win total?
03:49I think we were at 12, 13.
03:51I think 12.
03:5212.
03:56I'm backing way off.
03:58Until they do something in the secondary, I am backing way off.
04:01I think this is a 9-win, maybe 10-win, and I think the division is getting close to a
04:08pipe dream.
04:09It's just, you cannot win games playing defense the way that they are.
04:15And if you listen to Dan Campbell yesterday, it's, you know, he's, clearly he understands that the defense isn't good
04:22enough.
04:23But I think there's also a, he's trying to put it on the offense in regard, and I get the
04:29penalties,
04:30and you have the ball with two minutes left, the chance to go win, and sure, yeah, the offense is
04:35not blameless.
04:37But, I don't expect them to be perfect, and they have to be perfect to win games.
04:42I don't see, in that scenario, where you are going to be a division winner.
04:47I just don't.
04:49Not against teams like, and no one's going to sit there and say Minnesota's offense is dynamic.
04:54No one's going to sit there and say that the Bears are a complete team.
04:57They may be the most complete team with the way that their defense is playing.
05:01Neither you or I thought they would be this good defensively, or at least through four games.
05:07Green Bay is kind of a dumpster fire, but we're tied with them.
05:13Yeah.
05:14I kind of put us in the same category as Green Bay right now.
05:17Yeah.
05:17Like, you guys listen to the show.
05:19You know we were high on the Lions coming into this season, but it's undeniable what we've watched.
05:23And as you wake up today, they are no longer the betting favorites to win the division.
05:27They don't deserve to be the favorites to win this division.
05:30I no longer expect them, John, like you, to win this division.
05:34I thought there was a path at the beginning of the season to, with the way that the season was
05:39going to start
05:40and the teams that they were playing, that they could keep their head above water.
05:44Now, they're not drowning.
05:45No.
05:45Well, but I thought that they would be able to keep their head above water until Brian
05:50Branch came back, and no one's counting on Kirby Joseph.
05:54I think we have 100% seen the last of him.
05:58But Brad Holmes has to do something.
06:02If he does nothing, I think I'll go back to a Stoney quote, since we're waiting on Stoney
06:08to speak.
06:09Like, it's malfeasance.
06:11That if he doesn't do anything to improve the secondary, it's malfeasance.
06:17I think you have been spot on with, they were late to the party on the O-line in 25.
06:21They are late to the party on the defensive backs in 26.
06:25And are they really going to accomplish anything more than they did a year ago?
06:29You're down to 9 to 10.
06:30I'm probably right in that same boat.
06:33I think they could still sneak into the playoffs.
06:36But in terms of believing a division crown or playoff wins, it's undeniable how bad this defense
06:42has been.
06:43I think there are so many people that were high on this team are now pulling back to
06:49what we're talking about.
06:50Nine wins, 10 wins, maybe.
06:52I think it's going to be really hard to get to double-digit wins.
06:55You still have, you know, Dolphins and Titans.
06:57But when you've seen this defense look this way, you start to look at all those games and
07:00say, well, nothing's a gimme.
07:02And last year, at about this time, we started talking about the trade deadline because it's
07:05what, five weeks away, five, six weeks away.
07:08It's November 10, week 10 of the NFL season.
07:11Um, it's, and we identified this.
07:15It's really hard to acquire offensive linemen at the trade deadline.
07:18We went through all the different options last year, and I know the, uh, the chargers
07:22did acquire one, didn't end up being very impactful, but historically it is more likely that you
07:31can acquire a corner.
07:32In fact, one has already been acquired this year in a trade at the trade deadline or leading
07:37up to the trade deadline.
07:38I just hope they don't wait till November.
07:40I think if they wait till November, it might, it might already be too late.
07:43So we're doing this at the quarter pool.
07:45The next quarter, the midpoint, they'll be out of the buy branch.
07:51You'll be back.
07:51And they damn well better have added somebody to the secondary.
07:53And then maybe we're revisiting it.
07:55Maybe they've beaten the Packers and Vikings and they're to an own.
07:57You know what I'm saying?
07:58But as we sit today, I said it, that, that loss put them off course.
08:02That was supposed to be a win in Carolina.
08:04You are off course.
08:06And the defense is this bad as bad as you could have thought.
08:09Like we took calls from, from, from people who were like, Hey, this team's not going to
08:12make the playoffs.
08:12And you go, okay, those are, you know, those are the longtime lions haters.
08:16I think even those fans who thought the defense was going to be bad, didn't expect this level
08:21of bad.
08:21No.
08:22And this is with, okay.
08:23Last year, defensively, you didn't have a Lee McNeil.
08:26And even when he came back, you had one game, I think it was against Tampa where the first
08:30one back where he was on fire.
08:32And we thought, Oh, here, baby, he's coming.
08:34He's back.
08:36He's playing better.
08:37So was Tylee Williams.
08:39Hutch is Hutch.
08:39And yet, and, and yet you are no better defensively than you were last year.
08:45In fact, you probably worse than you were last.
08:48Numbers say you're worse.
08:49So what is it?
08:50Yards, points, explosives, third down, almost every measurable category defensively.
08:56You're, you're 31st or last.
08:58Yeah.
08:59Well, those are the same thing.
09:00Oh, I'm sorry.
09:0032nd or last.
09:01Yes.
09:02Yes.
09:02There's 32 teams.
09:03There are 32 teams.
09:03Yes.
09:03All right.
09:04I won't hold, I will hold that against you.
09:05My brain was thinking too fast.
09:07I didn't even let you finish.
09:082, 4, 8, 5, 3, 9, 97, 97.
09:11All right.
09:11We got a lot to do today on campus at 635.
09:14Want to ask Lions fans, how have your expectations changed a quarter of the way through the season?
09:18It's 97.1.
