Michael Irvin bold predictions for Week 9: Panthers vs Bengals, Cardinals vs Seahawks, Bucs vs Rams

Mooch, the Packers last three wins against the Lions have been all by at least four. What about today? More than that. Kurt, the Chiefs have an average margin of victory of 13 points this season. Will they beat the Titans by at least 13? A titch below that. Michael, the Rams beat the Bucs by three in the playoffs last season. Will the Bucs win by more than three today? Yes. Mooch, the Falcons and Chargers have combined for 50 points per since week four. Will they combine for at least 50 today? Nope. Kurt, six of the last seven games have had at least 43 combined points between the Panthers and Bengals. I'm sorry, cat games. Will the Panthers and Bengals combine for at least 43 today? I'm going to say just a titch more. I need quicker answers. The Byrd games have averaged 50 points per since 2020. Will the Seahawks and Cards combine for at least that many today? That's going to be the good game we're not talking about. Yes. Mooch, Travis, ATN has had at least 77 rush yards in three straight. What about today? Nope. Kurt, Tom Brady has lacked exactly one rushing yard in two straight. What about today? Michael, every time we've asked you if someone's going to have at least 88 receiving yards, you say yes. Irv, will Justin Jefferson have at least 88 today? Yes. Okay. There you go. On brand and consistent. Coming up, an hour number two of NFL game day morning. The previous two Super Bowl winners looked like anything else, but yes, who's more likely to turn their season around? The Bucks or the Rams? Strength versus strength today as the Fawn Diggs lines up against the Seahawks. Michael Irvin and Nate Burleson debate who has the advantage in that matchup. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's a matchup. And the Eagles are still standing as the lone unbeaten team in the NFL, but who poses the biggest threat to them? It's 50 seconds. Find out next. I've got to give it up. That's what I do here. We all have to give it up. Yes. We have to give it up. It's week nine, and we thought at this point in time, your choice of Kirk Cousins as an MVP would be a pass date. Right. Honestly? I would be the joker of every show. No. Yes, you would, Rick. No, no, no. I mean, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're six and one atop the division. Right. He goes back to where he once belonged, where he was drafted, by the way, the same year that RG3 got drafted. And then they wouldn't give him a long-term deal until he proved himself. And we all know what's happened since then. Go for it. Do you think he pops one with an MVP-type performance in FedEx today? I do, Rich. And I think this has come so full circle, you know what I mean, when you talk about those struggles he had to go through. And I call them struggles, because you took over for RG3, who had a super rookie year. Yep. He had a super rookie year. So he comes in behind the ball already, you know what I mean? Because people loved RG3 in D.C. And then he goes, he finally leaves there and goes to Minnesota, and he has a head coach that's a defensive-minded guy. Just run the ball. Don't throw the ball. Just run the ball. He couldn't prove over there, and now he'll have an opportunity to prove in Minnesota. Then he gets Kevin O'Connell. And I talked to the guys on his team. I'm telling you, man, this dude here, it's the first time he's playing football free. Free football. He knows his head coach is, his offensive guy is the head coach now. He feels real comfortable. You see him having fun, doing the gritty now. He has the chain on. He's more loose. He's more likable. And, man, he's showing up on the football field. Yeah, if only there wasn't Josh Allen or Jalen Hurts or Patrick Mahomes doing what they're doing. Yeah, yeah. Those three letters might actually land. Right, right, right, right. But he's up there with those guys. He's up there with those guys. And that means right there, that's that cook-a-lunch buddy. That's that cook-a-lunch buddy. You see, I bought that thing right now, man. I love that guy right now, baby. I like that. I like that cook. I like it. Who decided to give Irv a button? I like that, man. Me and Kirk, man, we set a room. Tom Pellisaro's in the D.C. locker room. Kirk, keep doing you, man. I'm in the commander's locker room where players haven't seemed affected by all the drama surrounding this franchise off the field, including Dan Snyder exploring a potential sale. They've won three in a row, including the past two with backup quarterback Taylor Heineke, who told me Coach Ron Rivera does a good job shielding us from all that. Obviously, we hear a lot of stuff, Heineke said, but he tells us when you're in the facility, you're here for one reason, and that's to play ball. Heineke has been balling in place of an injured Carson Wentz. Today he goes up against the Vikings, who cut Heineke back in 2017. Every time I go out there, I pretend it's my last time playing, Heineke said, because I've been at that moment. I leave it all on the field. I think that makes the guys play a little bit harder. Kirk, will Heineke propel the commanders to the playoffs? I'm going to say no to this, and I'm a big Taylor Heineke fan. I'm the only guy here on the set that's picked him in both of his starts this year. But this team, they've beaten four teams. All those teams are below 500 teams. Taylor Heineke's won five games in his career starter for the commanders, and I'm sorry, he's won nine games. Five of those have been one-possession games. So I look at this team, and I say they're not a great team. They're going to have to win close games over and over and over again, and I just don't think any team has that formula. I'm not sure Taylor Heineke has that in him or this team is good enough to dominate. So I'm going to say they're going to miss the playoffs, but they're going to knock off a couple teams along the way. Huge game in Chicago between two young quarterbacks. Let's head out there to Stacey Dan. Well, Kirk, Dolphins QB Tua Tungovailoa leads the NFL with nine yards per pass attempt and a 113 passer rating, and it's all about his efficiency this year downfield, especially compared to his first two seasons. That passer rating has almost doubled on throws of 10 or more yards. But beyond that, it is the leadership. I talked to his starting left tackle, Teron Armstead, this week, and he told me, especially of late, it's his overall command of this offense and then demanding more accountability for others in a really good way. And Armstead telling me, ultimately, he has turned it up another notch in terms of his pursuit of who he wants to be as a player and as a leader. Can he get win number six today? Or Steve Mariucci, will it be Justin Fields with the upset? And how does he do that? Okay, Stace, thanks. Yeah, Justin Fields. Big game over here. You know what, people? The Bears are getting better. Look out. They're the leading rushing team in the National Football League. We know that. But as a team, they're getting better. They scored 29 points against the Dan Quinn Dallas defense. They scored 33 points against the Belichick defense. Are you kidding me? The team's getting better. And they signed Chase Claypool to help them out in the passing game a little bit. Watch out for these Bears, because this could be a trap game for those Miami Dolphins. And here's Justin Fields. He'll be here soon, man, and he's ready to go. He's getting a lot of confidence. Stick around, everybody. Hurry up, offense. It's coming right up. A late window game. Just two late window games. The Bucs in the home of their Super Bowl championship two years ago taking on the Rams fresh off of their Super Bowl season. Steve Weiss kicking off our two, Steve. Well, it's Buccaneers linebacker Devin White, considered one of the best players in his position, has faced some pretty immense criticism the past few weeks, especially after the team's recent loss to the Baltimore Ravens, mainly for ineffective play. So I spoke to his position coach this week, Larry Foote, who said, look, the plays, the negative plays that have been amplified, don't compare to the positive plays overall, but White has to own his shortcomings, which is something he's done this week, Foote said. To quote him, he said, he is locked and loaded and ready to play against the Rams. He will be ready. He understands what he has to do. He also could be getting some help. His defensive tackle, Akeem Hicks, out since week two with a foot injury, is expected to return. Now let's take a look at the recent playoff history between the last two Super Bowl champions. This is the matchup that so many of us were anticipating. Brady leads the defending Super Bowl champion. Be relentless and let's dominate. Brady settles in, he's hit. It's an avalanche. Big throw, down the right side, touchdown Cooper Cup. The first half, all Rams. Come on. Huge mistake by the Rams. Touchdown Tampa Bay. Do you believe in miracles? They're under pressure now. What did we just witness? Go Stafford for a sixth time tonight. This is a Tampa Bay team that is struggling to find itself offensively. I did not expect this. And as you could see, the drop off is real. It is significant.