9-8-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It's here. It's here. It's here. They're back. NFL week one begins today.

And yes, I am yelling. Good morning to you. It's Thursday. It's Thursday, September 8, 2022.

Start today. It's the end of the NFL season. And no, we haven't forgotten about tennis. We haven't forgotten about baseball.

Yes, there's a college football weekend as well. But all of the hope, all of the promise, all of the infinite possibilities, the great anticipation, you know as well as I do, you got to buckle up because the NFL is the best reality show on TV. Boom, baby. It's back. It's back. Bam. Bam.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Thanks for hanging out with us. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. You guys are blowing up our social media. This is what I mean by the power of the NFL. It's just different. It's just different. We are just different when it comes to the National Football League. We throw a fill in the blank question out there on our social media and you have responded in droves.

Show question, very first one of the 22 season. This year, the key to success for my NFL team is what? On Twitter, ALawRadio, on our Facebook page, After Hours with Amy Lawrence because we're getting serious now peeps. We are freaking getting serious.

My mom hates it when I say freaking sorry mom. 2022 NFL season is upon us and so we're going to dive deep. This time, 24 hours from now, 5 a.m. Eastern time or well 5 a.m. Buffalo time on Friday, 2 a.m. Rams time on Friday, earlier on Friday, we will have a game to talk about.

An actual game that counts. If you missed my conversation with Bill's sideline reporter from our Buffalo affiliate, WGR AM 550 Sports Radio, he's actually in Los Angeles for the kickoff along with what he swears are 10,000 members of Bill's Mafia. That's what he thinks. He believes that 10,000 Bill's fans will be crammed into SoFi Stadium for the season opener tonight.

We'll see whether or not they make a lot of noise. But Sal Capaccio joined us live from Los Angeles in the second hour of the show. We're going to bring back part of that conversation because he had some really cool insight on this team and this season and why it's different even than the last two years and the promise and the potential and also the expectations.

The pressure is a privilege as our friend Boomer asides and says. So again, find us on Twitter or Facebook and while you're there, have you joined us on Survivor Islands? We have an archipelago. We have two. I don't know if we're going to have to add a third or purchase a third island. Jay is the one who backs the finances for purchasing islands. The lighthouse keeper, if you will.

They print money every day. It's totally fine. So we've got Isla Nublar and Cocos Island. If you don't get the references, well go back and get the podcast. Very first segment of the show, you'll understand. Maybe though you're nerdy like me and you totally get the references. Love it. So love it.

Anyway, we've got two islands. They work. The links work.

Your login works. All you got to do is try it. I don't know why a few of you, a handful of you are still having issues but it's not on us because we've had lab rats, we've had guinea pigs, we've had... My dog can do it, okay?

My dog and my mom, they can both do it and neither one of them have any idea what a survivor pool is. All you need to do is find the link. It's pinned to the top of our show Twitter after our CBS. Use that link and if you don't already have an existing CBS Sports login, just create one. It's an email, it's a password.

It's so easy. And then our Facebook page too. Again, pinned to the top.

You're looking for... Shoot, Jeff, I forgot what his last name is from Survivor. I did not know. Oh my gosh. Somebody will tell me on Twitter. Jeff Probst. I have watched some Survivor in the past but my brother's family, they're religious Survivor watchers.

I'm an amazing race watcher. Anyway, look for his photo, his gif on the top of our Facebook page and we just want you to join us on Survivor Islands. I don't know if you're gonna get Cocos or gonna get Isla Nublar but either way, you better watch out for those sharks. And also, watch your six because I'm ruthless.

I will push you into the water. I haven't made my pick yet. I have no idea what I'm gonna do. I just know that I've never made it past week six. I've made it multiple times to week six but I've never made it past week six in a Survivor pool. So we've got Survivor Islands but we've also got an office Survivor pool and Jay and I are planning on doing this together. Do you think that means I'll advance past week six? What's your longest that you've ever been alive in a Survivor pool? Last year in Survivor Island, I think I was out in week three.

I hadn't done them all that often in the past so... Oh no. So I have to carry you? No, I mean I've got the idea of it. I think we'll be alright. But last year, see my thing is, my problem is I tend to save teams where it's not about that.

No, you don't get cute. You survive in advance. Who cares what happens down the road because for the most part you're likely not to even need to worry about it past week 12. That's it.

I mean very few people survive all the way to the end. So yeah, you go with the easy pick. Not that there is an easy pick in the NFL but you go with the obvious. Yeah, I had the Jets. I picked the Titans over the Jets last year in week three and then of course that was one of the two games the Jets win all season.

Yeah, thanks. But yeah, usually I get weighed. I get too cute. I'm like, oh, week eight, look at the Bengals matchup.

I'll save them for then and then I'm out by then. No, we're not doing that. We're absolutely not getting cute. I mean... I agree.

No getting cute. We're gonna go straight savage winners. That's what we're gonna do. See, I need you on my team.

Now I got a chance. Okay, but I just need to know who gets the finals say is my question. What if we did like you pick three and I'll pick three if we have ones that match?

That's very complicated. It's not that bad. Okay, so you pick three, I pick three and if we have one in common, but what if we have the game in common but not the winner in common? Oh, then we avoid that game completely.

Like the plague. Okay. This sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun. So join us on Survivor Islands. Do that Facebook or Twitter and don't delay. Also save your pick. Just save your pick. Save it ten times. Wait until the computer tells you your pick is saved.

Then you can breathe more easily. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We're not quite done with baseball nor are we done with tennis.

And I'll just quickly drop this in on you for those of you who are waking up on this Thursday morning. Yes, we're going to talk about football, but we also have a drought ended in tennis for Americans at the semifinals of the U.S. Open. First American man to reach the semifinals since 2006.

I'll do the quick math. That's 16 years since an American male, a red-blooded American male has survived to the U.S. Open semifinals. It's our tournament for heaven's sakes. Good for you Francis TFO. First trip to the U.S. Open semis with a victory on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Now this is the same guy who knocked out Rafael Nadal. He had some big time fire power in his box like Bradley Beal, the Wizards all-star guard. TFO grew up in Maryland.

Is that what we were looking at? He grew up in Maryland. So the fact that he's still alive now, it's almost house money if you will. He's the 22 seed, first black American male to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Arthur Ashe going back 50 years. Andy Roddick was also in the stands on Wednesday who was the last one from the U.S. to get to the semifinals in New York. It's cool because he's fresh faced with a fresh game, but it's also awesome because he understands what this means for American tennis.

He says, hey we're all rooting for one another. As much as we're competitive and it's an individual sport, we want U.S. tennis to be back on the map. We're all pushing each other. I still happen to be a guy doing a run right now, but I'm sure coming next year in the slams they'll be doing just exactly the same. Everyone's super capable.

American tennis is in a great place, so we're all starting to really get into our primes and we'll see what that takes us. Get this. Are you ready for a nerd alert?

This is a dubious nerd alert. It's like something along the lines of what we'd give you for the U.S. men's national team in soccer and how bad they are most of the time. Entering this year's U.S. Open, American men have gone 74 consecutive majors without a title. That's brutal.

I'm not super happy with the amount of Americans here. That's brutal. Andy Roddick, the last American male to win a major championship in 2003. 74 majors in a row and I get it. It's the era of Roger and Rafa and Novak and even Andy Murray. Enough is enough. This is our national tournament.

Let's go. Francis Tiafoe, 22 years old and among active American men it's just him and John Isner who've ever even reached a major semifinal. Right now he is among a group of semifinalists who don't have any major wins, so it's wide open. If you missed it, it actually just ended a few hours ago, one of the top seeds remaining is Carlos Alcaraz. He survived a 5 hour and 15 minute, 5 set battle against Yannick Sinner. They played on Wednesday night and it was well past midnight. In fact, if I remember correctly, it didn't even end until our second hour or close to our second hour. So New York time, it was well past 2.30 when this match was over because our update from Pete McCarthy actually was during the match.

It wasn't done yet. And so that's how late Alcaraz had to play and that's a marathon. 5 hours and 15 minutes and Francis Tiafoe of course will be a little bit fresher, a little bit younger. And so this is an opportunity for him to be able to make even more noise and carry the US flag to now the finals of the US Open.

So this is pretty exciting for Francis. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Baseball, on Wednesday we had a pair of double headers for both New York teams. Both New York teams locked in battles in their divisions. The Mets had started the game, started the day I should say, tied with the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East, but they end up sweeping a double header from the Pirates. Jacob DeGrom, if he's got no more restrictions it appears, he gets the win. 7 scoreless innings in the second half of the double header against the Pirates. Only allows 3 hits. He strikes out 8. Meanwhile it's a pair of RBI doubles for Francisco Lindor that provides most of the pop for the Mets in that second game.

I set up from day one. It's going to be a tight race. It should be a tight race. The whole entire time they have a good team. Philly as well. The 3 teams are competing for the playoffs in this division. So Francisco Lindor makes reference to the Braves who were playing just a single game in Oakland.

But yeah, with those RBI doubles, with the pitching of Jacob DeGrom, you don't need much more. It really was a blowout in that second game. And the way that the Mets had lost 3 previous to teams that were dead last, and that includes one game against the Pirates.

The teams were in the basements of their divisions. And the fact that they had only scored 4 runs over the course of 3 losses had to be a concern. But Buck Showalter said, hey, it's a much longer season than these 3 games. It's a track record that we've established here. We're going to figure it out. We're going to get it together. And they do, in fact, get a sweep of the Pirates on Wednesday.

So what about the Atlanta Braves who were in Oakland for a day game? And Von Grissom sends one in the air to right field. Pretty deep. Back goes ground.

He looks up. That ball's out of here! Holy smokes! Von Grissom with an opposite field shot that just kept carrying. The next pitch to Swanson swung on. Hit in the air to left field. That's got a chance to get out of here. You can wave goodbye to that one.

Wow! Way up those steps in straightaway left field. Dansby Swanson has just given the Braves a 3-2 lead. His 18th homer.

His 80th RBI. So this is a game in which the Braves got both the pitching and the hitting. Remember, they had to score 10 runs on 13 hits or something like that to survive the A's on Tuesday. But they get 6 solid innings from Spencer Strider. In fact, he gave up 2 runs in the first inning and then went 5 more innings scoreless to earn his 10th win. He was excited about it plus the offense.

It's probably the one I'm going to be most proud of so far. Just came out in the first and had no command. Each pitch I was backing off a little bit, searching a little bit. Came in and just reset. Then by the third inning I thought, hey, my fastball has been great the last few innings. Why am I being passive?

So I just kind of stepped on the gas and made it work. As you hear on Braves radio, it was Strider but it was also Von Grissom, the rookie second baseman. As the Braves now have a 7 game winning streak. And get this, this almost seems sacrilegious. They're sharing bats every now and then and it may not be just the hitting that's contagious.

It may be the power of that particular bat. We're having a bunch of fun. It's making it super easy because we're all having fun.

We're all seeming to be gelling already. So it's been real cool to just play with these guys. And I got to mention Grossman used a bat too and then he ripped a double. We used the same one.

He sounds like a rookie, doesn't he? Robbie Grossman batting in the 9 hole apparently used the same bat and was able to get a hit and also had two RBI. Here we get to go shopping together. So for the Braves, the World Series champion, it seems like nothing can derail them. They just keep on coming. But by virtue of the double header, the Mets have the half game lead atop the NL East. Another wild finish for the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rays have won 8 out of their last 9. And the Astros win on a walk off wild pitch so a lot happening in Major League Baseball.

We'll try to cram in a little more. Aaron Judge with another home run. But as promised, the Buffalo Bills will kick off the season in Los Angeles. And we had a chance to catch up with sideline reporter Sal Cappaccio of our Buffalo affiliate, 550 Sports Radio, also Bills Radio Network. And I wanted to bring back a little bit of that because he does a great job of setting the stage. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. That'll be an interesting feeling for sure. And I've talked to a few people that have played in coaching this game before. And just really the unanimous thing that they were talking about was it feels like playoff atmosphere.

We got to understand that going in, not get too high, not get too low, understand the flow of the game and just try to put our best foot forward and try to win the game. It's just another game. We understand there's going to be a lot of people watching. It's an anticipated wait to the NFL season. We're excited for it and I know the Rams are excited for it.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. Except it's not just another game. It's just not.

That's not the truth. Thanks for hanging out with us on this Thursday morning. It is now the day that the NFL season kicks off. 2022 and it begins with the Bills in Los Angeles at the Super Bowl Champion Rams where there will be a banner raising ceremony. And Josh Allen got some advice and some counsel on how to weather that emotional storm.

Though it sounds like there are a lot of Bills fans in LA. We had a chance to catch up with Sal Capaccio, who is the sideline reporter for the Bills Radio Network and with our Buffalo affiliate WGR 550 Sports Radio. And I started out by asking him whether or not he believes Josh Allen that it is in fact just another game. I think he tries his hardest to make it just another game.

I believe that. But I also think he knows it's not just another game, right? It's the game. It's the opening of the NFL season.

It's not going to make or break the season. But it's definitely not treated like a Sunday in early November at the Jets. Let's just say it that way. Yes, let's say it that way.

Good point. What's been like so far in LA with Bills Mafia and the build up to the kickoff? I mean, you know the way it is. It's crazy with this fan base. They travel so well.

They always do. There's transplants everywhere. This is the destination city and game for a lot of people. It's either LA or Miami I think this year. Most of the road cities for this schedule this year are in the Northeast. It's going to places like Baltimore or Cincinnati or Chicago.

And those are fine cities. But you know, Bills Mafia getting a chance to go out to LA or down to Miami. That's like, okay, let's do that. So make LA the first game of the year.

Give people a chance to kind of rev that up and think about it. What it's like to go out to SoFi. First time maybe seeing that stadium for so many people, including myself. There's a lot of people out here. Lots and lots of Bills fans. And we're estimating. My personal estimation is probably over 10,000 Bills fans in the stadium Thursday night.

Yeah, I think it's going to be pretty crazy. There were a lot of people on my flight. I'll tell you this. I didn't even fly out. I normally fly out. I chartered with the team because I'm the radio sideline reporter.

I didn't do that on this trip. I came out a day early because my family came out. My wife and my son are here. They're going to the game. You know, people are making a week out of it like we are.

And that's what they're doing. And, you know, there's a big Bills Mafia event down in Hermosa Beach tonight. I was a part of that.

Raising some money, some charity stuff and just seeing some people doing some radio work. And it's just insane. It was just absolutely incredible tonight.

Why? Why is the excitement so high, Sal? Well, this is the, really it's the most anticipated season in a quarter century. Twenty five years since this team went to a sewer bowl in the early 90s, 90 through 93.

You know, it's been a long, long time. And we know that they came very close last year to beating the Chiefs and then hosting the A.C. championship game. Many of us, including Mabel, even if they do that, they probably get to the Super Bowl. No disrespect to the Bengals who did win in Kansas City.

I understand that. But people think that, you know, the Bills would have been that team representing the AFC if that was the case. The expectation is high. You have the pull up. You have the play on the blank. And look at our fill in the blank here in Buffalo is if this team doesn't if it's the what the bar is, is winning the Super Bowl. They don't win a Lombardi. It is not a successful season in a lot of ways.

Now, you know, you could look bad. There's a lot of factors, right? Injuries, things like that.

But this is it. I mean, like this is the best roster in the NFL, I believe. And many people do with maybe the best quarterback, if not certainly close to it in the NFL. They have a terrific coaching staff, a terrific front office. They sign a guy that's going to walk into the Hall of Fame five years after his career retires to close out games and get to the quarterback.

And you don't make a move like that unless you're doing it to get over the hump to finally win a Lombardi and bring a championship home. And that's what this is all about this year for this team. Would you say that same standard applied before 2020 kicked off and then 2021? Or is this really the culmination of what they've done over the past several seasons? No, it definitely wasn't before 2020. That was like people thought that that could be a really good team.

And, you know, hey, let's you're playing with house money, right? I mean, it's a team that just broke in the playoffs throughout a couple of years before that. And for them to get to the AFC Championship game in 2020 was really it was remarkable. It was awesome. And, you know, they were one of the best teams in the AFC, but it was also a season. I remember the pandemic.

There weren't fans in the stands. It felt different. You know, then everybody said, OK, OK, they go to 2021. And, you know, everybody knew that they could get there.

And we might take a break here or a break there. And it was still Kansas City, the team to beat. I think they all once they got to Kansas City, they lost the way they lost was viewed as a disappointment, right? Thirteen seconds. You should have closed the game out. But going into the season, it was not the same.

It is the way it is now. Now it's like you've got you've gotten there. You've reached the AFC Championship game and 13 seconds before an AFC Championship game.

There's no excuse now. You've been there twice. You've got to get over the hump.

And then you went and got Von Miller and Josh Hill in his fifth year. You know, this is this is it. There's no more taking a step back. There's no more falling short.

Now it's finally getting over the hump and doing it. We're spending a few minutes with Bill's sideline reporter, Sal Cappaccio, the Bills radio network from L.A., from the L.A. area, where it is party time for Bills fans. He says potentially 10,000 of Bills mafia will be in the stadium come Thursday night for kickoff against the Rams.

It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. We know there are a bazillion strengths we could list for the Bills roster. And it may be one of the strongest rosters in the NFL, certainly in the AFC.

What are a couple of weaknesses, maybe an Achilles heel for this team to start out? Well, it could be their new offensive coordinator, right? And I don't mean that Ken Dorsey is going to be a bad offensive coordinator, but we don't know.

He's new. And Josh has never had a new offensive coordinator. Josh Allen has gone four years with Brian Dable. And Ken Dorsey was his quarterback's coach for the last three years. Well, now you're elevating Ken Dorsey. And look, Thursday night is going to be the first time he's going to ever call plays in an NFL game, a real NFL game, not preseason. And what does that look like? What happens when he only has 30 seconds to make an adjustment, to make a call, to get the play in and out?

How does that dynamic work? And the whole quarterback room has turned over. You have Brian Dable and assistant quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney and Davis Webb and Mitch Trubisky all gone now.

Now you have Ken Dorsey and Joe Brady and Case Keenum and Matt Barkley. And that's a great room in itself, we think, and everybody talks well about it, but it's a change. So I think that could be something that, if it's not working early in the season, maybe that's why. Maybe it's an adjustment that, hey, Josh has never had to make this adjustment, now he has. And then the other one, obviously, is Tredavious White's injury towards ACL on Thanksgiving night. And there's been a really good battle at that spot for his starting spot. Now, Dane Jackson will start at one corner spot. He's a third-year player. He's not super experienced, but the Bills really like him. He filled in well, and Tredavious went out last year, and I think he'll be fine. But opposite him, it's first-round pick Kyar Elam and sixth-round pick Christian Benford of Villanova, who's had a fantastic camp and preseason. But you think, okay, well, shouldn't the first-round pick win that job?

And I would think you would think that would be the case, but that's not been the case. It's not because Elam's been bad, necessarily, but even thinking about two rookies who now have to go against Allen Robinson and Cooper Cupp, an entire re-kill a few weeks from now, and what does that look like as the season goes on? Could that spot be somewhere where teams could take advantage of that? So there are a few. I mean, the roster may be loaded, but just every now and then, you could see where there could be a couple of weaknesses.

Sal Cappaccio is with us from LA. How do the Bills combat what they're going to see in Aaron Donald? Because, depending upon who you talk to, of course, there can be better defensive players, but we know he is a wrecking ball, and he's got so much experience, not to mention the confidence that comes with a Super Bowl ring. Well, you know, I think X's and O's, I can't give you the secret potion on how to combat it, because there is none, right? I mean, X's and O's, if there was one, he wouldn't be Aaron Donald, who everybody recognizes as maybe the best player in the entire NFL, regardless of position, which is insane to say for a defensive tackle, but that's how good he is.

But let me just throw this out there for people to think about. The Bills offensive line coach is Aaron Cromer. Aaron Cromer was the LA Rams offensive line coach for, what, two, three years, just a couple years ago. He went against Aaron Donald almost every single day in practice. They also had Von Miller on their defense. Von Miller lined up next to Aaron Donald for half the season last year. They at least have some guys in the building who may have a little insight into maybe some things that could challenge Aaron Donald a little bit more. I'm not saying to beat him. That's asking too much. But hey, when you have the offensive line coach of Aaron Cromer, who went against him every day, and he might have seen him and said, look, there's some things that if you do, maybe we can have a little more success, but you can't do this.

You can't do that. He's gonna wreck that. You have Von Miller who you could say, you could tap into him and say, what gave you guys some trouble while you were there? What did teams do against you where you said, you know what, those are the things that we struggled a little bit against.

I think those are the kinds of things you have to lean on when it comes to him. But I mean, he's so fantastic. The Bills have a very good center in Mitch Morse. Ryan Bates is one guard.

And then who's on the other side? Roger Saffold. Roger Saffold is a guard who played for the LA Rams. So they have a little bit of, I think, intel and insight into this Rams team, simply from the personnel and the coaches that are around.

But obviously, you still got to go out and execute. The guy is fantastic and he can be a game wrecker. Two years ago, the Rams went to the Bills. The Bills were up 25 points. The Rams came back and took the lead. If the Bills didn't score in the end, it would have been, I believe, the worst comeback loss the Bills ever had.

Like the biggest lonely they ever had. In that game, the reason the Rams came back, almost strictly because of Aaron Donald on defense. He completely dominated the football game in the second half. Aaron Cromer was on the team, on the Rams for that game. And I would think that Sean McDermott and other coaches would say, what did you guys do in that second half to help you against us?

And maybe use that to a little bit of their advantage. It is a relatively small fraternity in the NFL. And yeah, there are a lot of guys who are now lining up with or against former teammates or guys that they used to talk smack to. It's going to be a lot of fun.

Cannot wait. If you want to hear the rest of that conversation with Sal Cappaccio, there is more to it. Bill's sideline reporter and he's in L.A. for the kickoff along with 10,000 of his closest Bills mafia friends. It's on the podcast. As always, the entire show is podcasted, broken up into individual hours and the interviews are also podcasted separately. After hours, AmyLawrence.com available minutes after we end the show every weekday morning.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. It's on. It is on. Bill's radio, John Murphy. And it's just the beginning.

Pretty soon, highlights from games that count in 2022. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. I feel like I have a deer in the headlights look right now. I'm not quite yelling the way I was when I encountered the rat on the way into the office last night. It was involuntary yelling. It just wasn't quite that pitch, but it just came out of my mouth when I saw the rat and he saw me or rather heard me go.

And then he ran. Thank God, because I didn't know what I was going to do. I was ready to run back to my car and not come into work. Jay would have had to come out to get me with the rat brigade. I guess the more noise I make, the more the rat has no idea what's happening. Very disoriented.

And I know rats are good for a lot of things, but blocking the door to work is not one of them. It just happened. There was involuntary yelling.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence. There might be some involuntary yelling at the TV when football is back, baby, on this Thursday night. And we've been asking you to fill in the blank.

In 2022, the key to success for my NFL team is what? Jay, are you prepared to answer this question? Are we skipping you?

You're not prepared. OK, here's the deal. Jay and I just had a this is why I have a deer in the headlights and this is why potentially he has deer in the headlights. We just filed our entry and we jumped into the survivor pool here at the office.

We're doing this as a joint venture. In other words, I paid and Jay is piggybacking on it. Is that really what that means? That is not what that means. The next drink is on you. Just that's how it's putting this. We are splitting it. So the next drink is on you.

That's where I get my money back. Anyway, we looked at week number one and rut row. We already can't agree on anything. And I don't feel comfortable with anything in week number one.

You just don't know what's going to happen. I think we flip flopped what, like seven or eight times? Just in that like 45 second span. You flip flopped seven or eight times. I just stood there looking at it. Just bamboozled by it. Yeah, I was flip flopping.

Oh, man. I have the schedule open in front of me and I still am not remotely comfortable with any of these games. So my first thought, well, we had many first thoughts, but my first thought was something along the lines of Baltimore at New York. Meaning the Ravens, Lamar Jackson against the Jets, who will have Joe Flacco as their starting quarterback.

So that was one of my first thoughts. But then I was thinking, OK, maybe the Packers and the Vikings. But I don't love that because it seems like the Packers have stunk to start the season the last couple of years. Remember last year they were in Jacksonville against the Saints. This was the game in which they were they were pounded.

Was it twenty to three or am I remembering that wrong? It was bad. And my grandmother's assessment of the Packers was thus.

I don't think they were trying very hard. Right you were, Grammy. Right you were. So I was thinking about that, but I don't trust the Packers out of the gate. They got a lot of changes on their receiving corps. Then I was thinking Titans over the Giants. But the Giants, that's Jay's team. And we don't want to root against Jay's team in week number one. It's not week one. What about, the problem is we can't, I was thinking that maybe Bengals against the Steelers.

But Jay's like, heck no. That's a divisional game, which I agree. San Francisco at Chicago?

I like that one. The Niners, but it's Trey Lance's first game. What if that Chicago defense rears back and just gives him the welcome to the NFL?

It's true. I mean there's so many, you can do this whole list for every single game. Well you just don't know what you have in week number one. Because you've only seen preseason and that does not matter. Well it matters to the Ravens, but otherwise. We should go Ravens. Ravens. Can you imagine if we get ousted by the Jets? Like last year when I got ousted by the Jets?

Yeah, I can. But in week one, we'll be the laughingstock of the office. I feel like a lot of other people are going to take that game. The Ravens over the Jets.

It also makes me want to break out in hives. What was your brilliant idea for Monday? For Monday?

Yes. My idea for Monday? What's the game on Monday night, Jay?

Oh, I didn't realize that was the Monday night game. Yeah, that's the Bronco Seahawks. You'd feel comfortable with that? I would.

I would feel comfortable. Against the 12th man? Pete Carroll? I think the Seahawks are the worst team at football, by far. Well we haven't seen them on the field yet. Well right, but I gotta go off something.

Worse than the Jets? Yeah, I think so. I think so. Huh. Huh. Do you know Smith?

I'm betting on that. But generally I do not. So for those of you who don't know, I've been a Broncos fan since age 13. I try to stay away.

Look at me, I'm stuttering. Try to stay away from my team. Because it makes me break out in hives. Pick my team to win anything. I mean, you're going to root for them anyway, right? Well, I don't know. I don't know what I'm going to do.

I don't root when I'm working. So sometimes I have to wait until after the fact to get excited or be depressed. But I'm just telling you, if the Broncos lose in Seattle, it wouldn't blow me away. I mean, I wouldn't love it, but it wouldn't blow me away because it's the Seahawks. They have incentive too. I know they have, well, quarterbacks.

Many quarterbacks. But it wouldn't stun me considering the fans there in Seattle. Do you think they'll welcome Russell Wilson back with lots of cheering?

I would think so. I do. I do. I think he'll get a nice applause.

He had a good time there. It didn't end that ugly, I wouldn't say. All right. All right.

But, yeah, I don't know. The 12th man is definitely a factor here, but they're going to need like 14 or 15 men to on the field, not just in the stands. I think to beat the Broncos.

Right, right. OK, so this is what we asked you to fill in the blank in 2022. The key to success for my team is what?

Jay, are you prepared to answer or are you taking a pass? Well, my team needs it's a long list, but offensive line, that's all just for the New York Giants. Just give me solid offensive line play. Let me know we have something to build on. And that's all. I'll be happy. All right. Offensive line.

It is the anchor of any NFL team. So let's run through some of your responses on Facebook. Again, you can find me on Twitter, ALOL Radio, if you haven't yet signed up for our Survivor Islands. We have an island chain. We've named them.

I mean, we're ready for you. Just bring your sunscreen. Jay doesn't know that yet. He actually put on tanning oil instead of sunscreen at the beach on Saturday. And he looks like a Robster.

That's very true. A red Robster. It's now seven days later and he still looks like a red Robster.

Finally got in the sun and I was like, oh, maybe I shouldn't have done that. Igor on Facebook. Packers to stay healthy, especially the O-line and special teams better play above a high school level. Oh, I think they're going to with Rich Pessacci as their new special teams coordinator. I have faith. Thomas, the key for the commanders is for Carson Wentz to believe it's 2017 and prayer would help. I don't know about that.

I'm not sure that prayer will help. I think you got to go with Carson Wentz and MVP form. Kevin on Twitter is also a Giants fan. He wants Daniel Jones to limit his turnovers. That's the key to success. The O-line to block better for Saquon Barkley to stay healthy and play all season.

Well, those are multiple keys to success. Interestingly enough, all on the offensive side. Does no one have any concerns about the Giants defense? No, there's concerns about the entire roster.

Another post on Facebook. Aaron says holding teams in the final two minutes of each half. That's the key to success for the Vikings in 2022.

Chris says it's health for Baltimore. Gene, a Lions fan, loud and proud, though he doesn't actually have a picture. He's got just a shadow box for his avatars. He's hiding on Facebook for the Lions to be successful.

They need grit, no quitting and consistency. And I got the Lions emoji. You got to admit there's no better emoji when it comes to NFL teams than the Lions.

It's pretty sweet. Randy doesn't give me a key. He gives me a prediction. I don't want your predictions. When you make predictions, the NFL laughs in your face. Eric says for Jerry Jones to fire himself as GM. I mean, these are keys, not wishful thinking.

Peeps. Let's see. Stephen, different Stephen says the Cowboys have to cut way back on penalties. If Zeke can finally come out of his two year slump and then improvement from the offensive line. Yeah, questions about the O-line for the Dallas Cowboys yet again. Dawn, another Ravens fan.

The key is to stay healthy. Last year, Baltimore decimated with injuries. It seems like a common theme, and it's not just last year at the end of Joe Flacco's tenure with the Ravens. It was every year. It seemed like half their roster was on the IL, the DL, the IR.

I can't keep them all straight. There's so many injured reserves and lifts and all other kinds of things. Allen says if my Steelers can keep the quarterback upright and keep the defense off the field, they should do well. I like the Steelers defense. I actually picked the Steelers defense in fantasy. So I think if your Steelers defense is on the field, you're in pretty good shape. Jordan goes with the Bengals offensive line to protect Joe Burrow. Phil says defense for his Niners. Kenny, the new coaching staff and Daniel Jones for the Giants. Let's see.

Looking for some other ones. Dominic says with the Dolphins, it starts up front. The O-line needs to give to a time. Curtis says Trey Lance has to have a good season. And Jim says the Chargers head coach needs to relax on the analytics. All right, we're back tonight to talk about Bill's Rams. Baby, don't miss it. After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Boom!