Colleen Wolfe, NFL Network Reporter

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How are you? Oh, I feel like I'm in the zone. I'm ready to rock. This is great. Thanks for having me. And Colleen and I share something in common. Whenever Angelo Cataldi was on the radio for so many years, it's weird to now say that he's no longer on the air. After a great career at Sports Radio WIP, he would always say, my best two interns were Colleen Wolf and Zach Gelb. And I'm like, I'm in the class of Colleen Wolf? Like, come on.

I can't believe I'm in the class of Zach Gelb. Well, that's nice of you to say. Look at us now. This is great. Yeah, I take your job over to the one that I have right now and probably the paycheck, too.

All kidding aside. So this has been a crazy time for you. L.A. to London. You've been hosting Good Morning Football in New York. I appreciate you coming in with all the crazy travel.

Oh, I mean, listen, no problem. I'm in New York. I love New York.

If I had the opportunity to come here more when the weather was like this, I'd live here year round. But I'm operating on a very strange schedule right now. I have no idea truly what time it is or what time zone I'm in. And I feel a little dead inside, but I'm ready to rock. Well, you have some good food options here. You can get the New York slice. You could go to Katz's Deli and get a pastrami sandwich. You know what I did?

Like, have you been eating well? I went to Pucillo's. Oh, oh, right in fine dine. One of my favorite sandwich spots. Whoa. I had no idea that this thing was like a barbell. It was so heavy. And I added all of this extra stuff, not knowing how large the sandwich would be.

And the seated roll that it comes on? Phenomenal. Oh, my God. Incredible. There was like, I added salami, arugula, tomatoes, mozzarella. It was everything.

It was great. And you have a meal for three days. Like, I'm a large human being.

My friends think I could eat like everything. I had Pucillo's for Bruce Springsteen last time when he was playing in MetLife a few weeks ago. And I said to my friends, I go, we need to bring a car for having Pucillo's because there's going to be leftovers. And it was to die for. I'll think of that sandwich actively for years. I'll never forget it.

It puts you in a food coma. Also, I'll say this. When the pandemic first hit and we were watching NFL Network, the Thursday night crew that you guys had with Michael Irvin and Steve Smith. I was always wondering what was really going on behind the scenes then, because it would be like the craziest things I'd ever heard on TV. I know.

I know. We had such a great time on the road. Those shows were fantastic. And then once the pandemic hit and we were all separated into our well, the guys stayed at home. And so they were having trouble, I think, sometimes staying awake because these games were not always the greatest. And then I was alone in this massive studio, like a cavernous space. So it was just a weird time like it was for everyone. But I definitely miss being on the road because, man, that atmosphere.

It was the craziest thing I've ever done in my career. Colleen Wolf here with us from the NFL Network. So tonight's game, I can't really talk it up that it's going to be this great football game.

And then sometimes it ends up being a great football game when you least expect it. But the biggest storyline for me going into this game is that Taylor Swift is reportedly going to be in the building. What do you make of all the TV coverage surrounding Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift and whatever their relationship is?

I have massive Taylor Swift fatigue and I'm so sorry to report that I had it immediately almost. I don't like when things are forced upon me and I feel like it's being forced upon everyone. I like to see who she's sitting in the box with and then I'm good. Then I'm done. Like I don't I don't really need to know if they like what this relationship is about.

It's fun, but like it feels kind of like a lot at this point. However, I guess like, you know, we'll see tonight how it goes on Thursday Night Football because we haven't seen Taylor Swift on an Amazon Prime game yet. And I feel like they do things a little bit differently. So maybe they'll change my mind. So what I just gathered is Colleen Wolf is not a Swiftie. That's brave because you're going to have all the Swifties come after you now. It's not that I'm not a Swiftie. It's just that I listen to a lot of other I listen to a lot of music.

And she's, I think, a very talented musician, but not I don't really know a lot of her songs. Do you feel like it's a genuine relationship? Some people just believe they have the theory that this is for publicity for Travis Kelsey and Taylor Swift with the great tour she's on right now. Well, if it is for publicity, it's working. They are nailing the strategy.

Everything seems to be coming up. The Kelsey's at this point, their Netflix doc, the 400 percent sales increase on his jersey. It seems like, though, it could be a little manufactured, but who knows? Honestly, who cares? Like, if they're happy, that's great. But it is sort of I can't believe the storyline that it is.

But I guess they're two massive stars. So it's nice. Talking to Colleen Wolf, get into that game tonight. It's kind of crazy because I opened up the show talking about Russell Wilson.

And now I go into this game just saying, can we just get a game in the fourth quarter? It's wild to me how far Russ has fallen ever since going to Denver. You know, when you take his play in the first half of games, he's really, really good. And he is really, for me, not the problem right now. It's the defense that is really killing them.

And they really have to clean up so many different things. But Russell Wilson, it seems like he, like from last year, I feel like he's really come a long way. And I would love for them to get better in so many different areas. The run defense needs help. Like Sean Payton kind of walked into the situation thinking that he, just being Sean Payton, I think was going to be the solution. And he's experiencing a lot of the same problems that Nathaniel Hackett had last year. And after he said everything that he did during training camp about it being one of the worst coaching jobs he's ever seen in his life.

It really is, I think, a tough pill for him to swallow to experience all of this and kind of go through the same thing and not be able to fix it. Nick, I thought he looked like a fool last week. Like just putting it nicely when you talk all this smack and then the Jets don't even have that. It would be one thing if you get destroyed and they have Aaron Rodgers. But now they have Zach Wilson and the guy that you went after was the offensive coordinator that was a part of exposing your team. The nice thing though for the Broncos is that they'll get Javonte Williams back. And Jaleel McLaughlin looked great. That was the silver lining for them last week.

So I'm interested to see how the touches are distributed. But that's a nice part of their game that they have that running game. And on the other side, Kansas City scares the crap out of me. Because everyone's talking about everybody else in the AFC. And we haven't even seen this Chiefs offense really get going yet this season.

No, we haven't. Especially week one, you're missing Travis Kelce. He's questionable tonight but they're expected. He's expected to go and play.

But even when he's not 100%, he's still so much better than everyone at 100%. So we saw it last week when he came back from the ankle injury. And he basically willed that entire touchdown drive. Like he made that whole thing happen. The vice grip, third down catch that he had and then the touchdown itself.

He's so talented. We saw that first week when he was not out there against the Lions. They just couldn't get anything going with the receivers that they had. And it was such a struggle.

There were so many drops. They haven't gotten what they've needed out of Kadarius Toney. And it's always, it was ever thus with the wide receivers. Do they need a number one wide receiver? Is that going to be their Achilles heel? But like Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs have proven before that they don't need that wide receiver to win a Super Bowl.

But they really do need to maximize the window that they're in right now to get it done. I love that they're using Isaiah Pacheco the way that they are. And Andy Reid, it always seems that you're, at least me, I'm always yelling for him to run the ball a little bit more.

The Philly girl coming out of you. Exactly. But that and then I would love for their right tackle to maybe clean up the penalties a bit.

He leads the league in penalties. So we would like to not see that. And by we, I mean all of the Chiefs fans. So the Chiefs are still the team to me as Colleen Wolf joins us right now in studio from the NFL Network that are the best team in the AFC. After that, who do you trust the most when you look at all the other AFC teams if it's not Kansas City? It's funny because during training camp and when the season was approaching, it was like the AFC is so stacked. It has so much talent. And the NFC is just like, you know, you have the Niners and the Eagles and everybody thought the Cowboys.

Well, that is not the case anymore. But hey, the Niners and the Eagles, they've lived up to the expectations. They're both undefeated at this point.

But in the AFC, the Dolphins, I think, have been a team that have been really, really fun to watch. Mike McDaniel, I think, is just revolutionizing offenses with all of the motion and press conferences. Oh, my God.

And aviators, one one pair of sunglasses at a time. This guy gets it. I love it. He's funny. He's entertaining. And he's a brilliant game planner, like an amazing play caller.

The things that he schemes up, the pre snap motion, all of it. And I just think that that team, the speed that they have, it just really does kill. And it's so entertaining to watch them. They have five of the fastest ball carriers in the NFL on the team. And Tyreek Hill is just one of the most explosive players I've ever watched. So the Dolphins, they're up there. The Bills, I have questions about at this point. The whole Diggs relationship just seems off to me with what happened in the offseason. But we've seen that before from him. And we've seen it from wide receivers in general before who they want the ball.

They want to make something happen. The Bills just kind of came into that game in London and they looked jet lag. They look how I feel right now. Do you think that was a real thing, though, because they traveled so late in the week? Well, I know that so much is made of when these teams travel, but they did look sluggish.

They did look tired. I think the main reason that they lost the game and had so many issues is because of all the defenders that were injured in that game. And then prior to that game, because coming in, they didn't have Tredavious White gone for the season.

Gregory Rousseau, he was not playing it out there. And then you lose Matt Milano, who is the best at his position. He is like the heart of that defense. And it was just really hard, I think, to overcome all of the injuries. Daquan Jones, it was just, I think, really tough for them. And not only that, both of their tight ends now on the offensive side, they're banged up, too. So right now, it's just a tough point in the season, but it is still so early. It's week six we're going into. So for the guys that aren't coming back, that's a tough blow. But they did get Von Miller back for the first time.

He had his season debut in London, and hopefully they can find some solutions along the way. The Bengals, to me, are also fascinating. Because the next three weeks, it's a monster schedule. They've already dug themselves at a deep hole at two and three. You have Seattle, you got the bye week, then you got the 49ers and the Bills. It's like, can they win two out of those three? And then I don't, Burrell says he's feeling better right now. But I don't know how to really judge it after one game against the Cardinals. Yeah, and it's almost like, well, are the Cardinals an elixir here?

That's exactly what they needed, and maybe it is. Because I think he did look a little bit better, Joe Burrow, and he certainly played that way. It seemed like he had a little bit more mobility in the pocket when he was moving around. It didn't seem he was as hindered as before. And clearly that connection with Jamar Chase is still there. We saw it in the game. But the Bengals started the season so slow. They did the same thing last year, though, too.

So maybe they're just kind of warming up. So I got thrown into this 49ers-Eagles debate. Everyone thinks I'm an Eagles fan just because I went to school at Temple and then lived in Philly three years after graduating. Tell the truth. I'm a Patriot fan.

That's the truth? Yeah, I grew up as a Patriot fan. Andre Tippett is like family friends with my uncle, and he's from Framingham, Massachusetts.

My dad worked on Sundays. I may or may not have done Eagles postgame on 97-5 the night when the Eagles won the Super Bowl as a Patriot fan. No, you did not. Oh my gosh, are you okay? How are you feeling?

They've been outscored 72-3 the last two weeks. I was in the penthouse for three. I had like 9,000 Priscilla sandwiches for 3,000 years. And now they're like, all right, go eat some crappy ham sandwich or something and tell me that it's going to be really good.

So it's weird because it's tough for me to get really annoyed with all the success that I had. But when you had the two bozos and Judge and Patricia last year running the offense. Oh my gosh. And now you have an actual offensive coordinator in Bill O'Brien, but no wide receivers. It's the first time I say, Bill, like, what are we doing here? And I could start to envision life without Bill Belichick at one page. Wow. I just, I never thought I would see the day. It seemed absolutely impossible.

Yeah. Like the fact that they haven't gone back to the playoffs since. They made it once after Brady. That was Mac Jones' rookie year.

I was at that game in Buffalo when it was negative two degrees and Josh Allen, every time he had the ball, they scored. Oh my gosh. So they just, they've really struggled clearly. And I just think that maybe, maybe it is time.

Maybe it's time for like a reset, refresh. But it just seems wild to even think about the Patriots without Bill Belichick because Bill Belichick is the Patriots. And their schedule coming up is bad too.

Yeah. The season's already over. I'm already sitting shiva for the Patriots season. It was over before it even started. So before we let you run, I was saying how I got involved in this Eagles 49ers whole thing because Deebo Samuel didn't like some of the questions I asked him. This was you? You started that? That he hung up on me?

No way. That was me. That was right here on this show. What a moment. It was funny because it's kind of like your time zone differences.

When the video first went out, it was all Eagles fans. I love this guy. He's awesome. And then when the West Coast started to see it hours later, it was like, bleep this guy. He's the worst human being in the world.

He should have never been born. Like, ah, I got the worst things in my DMs. Welcome to my life. Yeah. So anyway, I can't wait for that game.

Yes. But also, I think it's inevitable they're going to meet up in the playoffs. You being a Philly person, we know who you're rooting for. What's your message to 49ers fans? Or excuse me, 40 whiners fans.

Oh, wow. So I am not stepping into that because right now I think the 49ers are the better team. Better than the Eagles. Right this minute, yes, because I don't think that the Eagles have completely reached where they can go with the offense.

Like, they just haven't hit that next level yet. And I think as the season goes on, the offensive line, the defensive line for Philadelphia is so strong. And it will, as attrition hits these other teams, if they could stay healthy, which I think they will, that strength will really show and really pay off.

And that's why Howie Roseman, the GM, has sunk so many resources into the lines of scrimmage there. But I just think, you know, the 49ers, they're so good right now. And will they sustain this?

I don't know. I mean, they did. They seemed to last year and then they hit some bumps along the way right at the wrong time. And it just so happened that it worked out for the Eagles. But right here, right now, I think that the Niners are the better team than the Eagles.

But in the long run, I think the Eagles will leapfrog them. I'm going to say, you cleaned that answer up nicely. I was going to say they won't let you get any more cheesesteaks at Telesandro's or Mama's. What am I tap dancing around here? Last thing I'll ask you, Collie Wolfe with us, NFL Network. Baker Mayfield with the Bucks.

How legit are they? Wow. I did not see this coming. It's just, I think, one of the biggest surprises of the year.

And I love the surprise because the surprises that are negative are just a bummer. And this is nice that this team is so successful right now with Baker Mayfield. Imagine filling the shoes of Tom Brady.

Mac Jones is sort of doing that right now. And it's not working out great. But Baker Mayfield having experienced what he did leaving Cleveland, leaving Carolina, and now going to Tampa Bay with the it's like an omnipresent chip on his shoulder.

It's working really well. And now they are first in the division. They're coming off the bye, which I kind of hate the early bye. I hate the early bye for any team. But I think that they have a really nice shot of of going on a run here. And if they can continue at this pace, it's really only just the beginning because this is his first season there.

So they'll kind of get some stuff going even more as the season progresses. She's the very talented Colleen Wolf from the NFL Network. Colleen, appreciate you coming on and doing this.

Thanks so much for having me. Go Angelo Cataldi and WIP. Well, well, well, shopping for a car? Yep. Carvana made financing a car as smooth as can be.

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