NFL Week 1 Monday Night Football: Jets vs 49ers | Full Game PREVIEW

If I didn't think we could win the Super Bowl, I wouldn't be playing. I'm not trying to coast into irrelevance. There were some dark days, heartbreak and sadness. There wasn't a lot of wins to celebrate, but there's some beauty to be found in the void. Being counted out, an afterthought. An underdog has been kind of my path. I've had a chip on my shoulder ever since high school. Junior college Division one being a backup, getting overlooked on draft day, three years as a backup. We've got breaking news. Aaron Rodgers out for the season. His career may very well be over. Would be kind of unprecedented for a four year old quarterback to come back off an Achilles injury play at a high level, I don't think anyone's ever done that. How much personal motivation does that bring to you? More. Now that you mention that. All right. If that doesn't fire you up for Monday night Football, I really don't know what else would. The time has come. Aaron Rodgers is back and it's a homecoming of sorts. A California guy going back to the Bay area to play the 40 niners on Monday Night Football Primetime. Aaron Rodgers with the Jets. It did not go how we thought it would last season. Four plays and his season was over. Jets fans, football fans in general are hoping for a different outcome this time around. Back here on HQ, Jacqueline D'Agostino with Tommy Tran and we have Kyle Long and Mike Renner for a Monday Night Football preview. And we heard that reporter's question right at 40 years old, coming off of an Achilles injury, it's very unprecedented to come back and play at a high level. Kyle we'll start with you. What do you think Aaron Rodgers is going to look like when he steps on the field? I think he looks like Aaron Rodgers. We're going to see in the pregame. He's going to have that spunk about him. He's going to be looking like the A-Rod that we've come to know over the last couple of decades. But look Aaron Rodgers the cast of characters is different for this guy. The protection is going to be there. They're going to be able to run the football effectively with Breece Hall. And I really do think that this New York Jets football team will play complementary football takes the pressure off of Aaron Rodgers. We all know the teams that Aaron Rodgers has been responsible for where it's like as he goes, we will go, no, this is going to be a team. New York Jets football team. That's exactly what it is. Yeah I think you hit the nail on the head there. It's not so much what is Aaron Rodgers look like. It's what does the supporting cast look like. Because it's completely different than it was a year ago. You have two new tackles. You have a new wide receiver two a new wide receiver. Three like the cast should be much, much more upgraded. Aaron Rodgers might not have to do much to win this game. I really like what they've done up front and I think they might lean on the running game a lot to kind of ease Aaron Rodgers in, and they could still win doing that, so that will be interesting because you guys are both sort of focused on obviously his side of the ball. This was a team last year that was in playoff contention for most of the year because of its defense. Mike, if I were to ask you, entering 2024, is this the same type of level of elite defense that we'll see on the field? This year? I think it is. I think the only loss they had really. Bryce Huff I think you're going to see Will McDonald, last year's first rounder, really replace what they had. He looked great in preseason. And if there's anyone who I trust to go and stop Kyle Shanahan, it's the guy who is DC for him for forever, Robert Saleh. So they have the talent at all three levels to match up with this 40 Niners offense that they're just trying to get new pieces up to speed themselves. Yeah, they had to grow up a lot together last year and the onus was on that defense to keep them in games. And to your point, they were nearly a playoff football team with that defense without a pro caliber quarterback. So this defense grew a lot last year. And we're going to see that the culmination of that this year with complementary style. And, you know, one of my fantasy leagues, I managed to snag Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson. So I double stack. Yeah. So my enjoyment in that league is certainly dependent on the Jets and their season. Let's talk about the Niners because they are the favorites to come out of the NFC. They did get those deals done with their stars. Trent Williams Brandon Aiyuk. But there was a hold out situation. They didn't go to training camp. With that in mind Mike are you maybe expecting a little bit of a of a slower start for them to all gel and then also considering the Christian McCaffrey of it all where he's questionable with that calf injury I am, I think you just have to look and see the Cincinnati Bengals and how slow they started and how hesitant Joe Burrow was to go jamaar chase his way to know that it's not as easy as it looks to get those guys, even if you played together all last year, the timing and the rapport that you build in training camp is invaluable. So for them, CMC, Trent Williams, Brandon Aiyuk to not have taken any snaps this entire preseason with that first team offense, there will be growing pains and this is not a defense you want to have growing pains going up against. Yeah, and they've got Christian McCaffrey highlighted on the graphic there. And rightfully so. If Christian McCaffrey is not 100% particularly with a calf as you and I both know, these calves are brutal to deal with. And for a guy that cuts and can be so speedy up and down Christian McCaffrey is going to be limited I think. And also Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk, they didn't go to college together like Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. And they still couldn't get it figured it out on Sunday. So for the reasons that Mike is talking about, I have some concerns about this offense. I'm not worried about Trent Williams one bit though. Yeah, Trent Williams, he is a dude's dude. He's going to be able to get right in and slot i. Fine. You brought up Brock Purdy Kyle this is a team where they have been built to win. And we've seen them get to two Super Bowls over the last handful of years. Not be able to get through. Brock Purdy last season. Went through the entire gambit. What are your expectations for him here? And two, it's a career year. It's a career year for this guy. And I know that he's a ho hum, very humble dude. You know, he's in the farmer commercials, John Deere commercials. But at the end of the day he understands what's going on in the National Football League, how much money these quarterbacks are getting. And regardless of how he feels about keeping the band together in San Francisco as a as a player in the national football League, you want to maximize your earnings. And Brock Purdy career year looking to really lick the envelope and stamp this thing? You know what I'm saying? I think sometimes we forget he's only in his third season. I mean, where was Jalen Hurts come from year two to year three. He made himself a massive leap in his early years with the Philadelphia Eagles. So if we see a similarly from Brock Purdy and he could because this offensive line should be much improved. I like what they added in Dominique Pinon at right guard. So maybe obvious passing situations, they'll have a better chance and better protection for him if that's all the case. And all these pieces jell early on here, I mean, we could be having an MVP conversation with Brock Purdy there very, very dangerous. And Brock is more than capable of being in the MVP conversation. Yeah, it's crazy when we think about somebody who was, you know, once the Mr. Irrelevant talking about potentially an MVP potentially earning 5550 mil a year in that conversation. We want to get your takes on on who's going to win the Niners. They are the favorites. We're you know a lot of questions around Aaron Rodgers. What's he going to look like Christian McCaffrey with the calf injury. We talked about it all. But Kyle who wins. It's about who has more to play for. And I feel like the New York Jets are looking to reintroduce themselves to football fans all across the world. San Francisco 49 ers. You talked about it. They've been in the big game a number of times in the last handful of years. The Jets want to show the world put everybody on notice. New York Jets are back. Yeah I'm going Jets as well. And we talked a lot about this 40 Niners offense. But I have some worries about the 40 Niners defense being able to replace guys like Dre Greenlaw who's still out with his own Achilles, Erik Armstead who went to the Jacksonville Jaguars I think the Jets can run on him by the way, just to follow up on that, you mentioned that that run defense for San Francisco. What's the level of concern for you heading into this year? Mike. It's a little concerning. I mean, they're going to have to kind of piece it together, especially without Dre Greenlaw. If he was healthy and in the lineup. Those guys can make up for defensive lineman being wrong, but they don't have the guys that can hold up to double teams that they've had in past seasons. They're going to have to create havoc, do a lot of different stuff up front to stop the run. But with this Jets offense and with Breece Hall, if there's a crease he can take it to the house. Okay. Tonight it goes down in Santa Clara Leonard Floyd, by the way, who took down Aaron Rodgers last year as a Buffalo Bill, now a part of the San Francisco 40 Niners will be in that game tonight guys. Certainly appreciate it. Pushing the pile with Kyle Long and Mike Renner four times aeek on YouTube or