Which team will come out of the NFC? | You Pod to Win the Game
Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson and 12-year NFL veteran Will Blackmon of the Upsets + Underdogs podcast, discuss the top teams in the National Football Conference, and tell you who they think will be the team to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Hear the full conversation on the You Pod to Win the Game podcast. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: What about the NFC? That's another-- you know, I mean, I guess it's similar to the AFC, in that when you look at, oh, the Rams look good, the Bucs look good. We can go down the list with all the best teams in the NFC. Give me-- here, I'll rattle off-- OK, so let's see. We got the Packers, 8-2. Got the Cardinals, 8-2. Cowboys, 7-2. Like the Cowboys a lot. Obviously, there's Tom and the Buccaneers, 6-3. Rams, 7-3.
I mean, honestly, like if you told me right now you're like, hey, I'm going to tell you right now, any one of those five-- just name one of those five teams, you're like that's who's going to be in the Super Bowl. I'd be like, yeah, totally, you can make an argument for that.
WILL BLACKMON: You could make an argument. I think it's impressive that the Cardinals right now are 8-2. I'm talking about adversity, right? One game, you don't have your head coach, you win. One game, you don't have your star quarterback, or still don't have a quarterback yet in Kyler, and they're still trying to figure out despite having that loss.
For the Cardinals and the Packers, I love the fact that they always look limited on supply. But they're a good team. They ended up just finding a way and figuring it out, right? Green Bay, when they made that adj-- when they lost Davante Adams due to a positive test, they went to 20 personnel. Like, I got these two backs here. Like, let me just give it to them. Because Aaron only had about 158 yards. He didn't do anything special that game. But they gave it to the two backs that got it done. AJ Dillon is catching momentum. He's figuring the league out right now, and nobody wants to hit him.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Yeah, man.
WILL BLACKMON: And then the Rams. You know, the biggest issue for the Rams is they cannot run the football, period. At this time of year, if you can't run the ball, you don't have a chance. And you saw it on the opposite side of the ball with the 49ers, running it down their throats.
I had a call from my former coordinator at Boston College, Dana Bible, who also coached Russell Wilson and he coached Matt Ryan, he coached Mike Glennon. And I remember a famous quote he would say, because we were a big running team at Boston College. He was like, if the bodies are laying north and south, he said that's a good play. And you did. You saw guys just getting tossed all over the place on the Rams defense. They were making those two safeties, Fuller and Rapp, come down and tackle. And they're both only 200 pounds apiece.
And trust me, when I moved to safety, I was 205. And for me to go in the box and make tackles, I didn't mind doing it. But physically, it took a toll on me. I just was so exhausted and abused. So if the Rams don't figure out a way to cause some havoc on the ground-- that goes back to Staley's comment about, it's not so much about getting running yards, it's about an attitude and being physical. And they're not able to scare anybody with that.
And then, you know, the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys are standing. Like, I'm high on the Cowboys. Yes, the Denver game was one of those weird games, right? But what I do like about Dallas is the teams that they're supposed to blow out, they do. They absolutely just lay-- I mean, they're averaging over 30 points a game. They actually do just blow teams out that they're supposed to. You know, the first Philly game, they dropped 41. You know, Carolina, they dropped 36. Giants, they dropped 44. You know, the Pats, they dropped 35. Just last week, they dropped 43 points. So they're doing what they're supposed to do with the people that they have.
And now their defense is in the top 10, you know what I'm saying? As an overall defense, I think they're like fifth or something like that. They're in the top five. Yeah, they're fifth-ranked defense. And so right now, I'm really high on them. I said on my show earlier this year that the only team that can really give Dallas issues is Dallas.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Given the particular injuries in the secondary, can the Buccaneers-- do you think they got another one in them? Another ability to sort of rally in the last month and pick up the momentum going into the playoff? I mean, one thing that's gonna be really important this year, clearly given the way this season has played out, that number one seed has never been more important. The number one seed in the bye, I'm like, you should be killing for it right now, because it is so important to face one less opponent. Because that one less opponent could be the one that just shows up that day.
WILL BLACKMON: Yeah, I mean, they're still my pick to go back and get it done again.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Oh, OK.
WILL BLACKMON: Yeah, I'm not going to waver, simply because they have Tom. I mean, that's a huge deal. When he got there-- because before he got there, you know, they were a 7-9 team, but they were a good football team. And then he came in there and pretty much taught them how to win. Right now, Tampa is still a top 10 defense. I believe they're ranked eighth.
But like I said, they are missing Sean Bunting, JPP right now, and Carlton Davis, which they were huge players for them last year. And so it's still midseason. I mean, I won't hit the panic button until towards we get to the end, because you just never know what's going to happen. But I still like them. They still can go there and get it done. The craziest things have happened. It's a super-long season, so the health of all the other teams is unpredictable. And obviously, COVID is still a huge factor into the NFL. So weird things can happen with they can play into Tom's favor, and you know, they can go back there and get it done.
