Summary of The stories teams are willing themselves to believe

Overview of The Athletic Football Show

This episode is about the narratives NFL teams have to sell themselves in August to justify their roster construction, coaching changes, and offseason bets. Robert Mays, Dave, and Derek run through a series of teams that are effectively asking, “If this plan works, what does it have to look like?” The common thread: a lot of these teams are banking on coaching, scheme, internal improvement, or one specific star player to cover up obvious roster limitations.

The biggest team storylines

Jacksonville Jaguars: “We all we got”

• The Jaguars are leaning hard into continuity and coaching.
• Liam Coen’s message is basically that nobody else believes in them, so they’ll just believe in themselves.
• The roster has very few major new additions, so Jacksonville is betting on:
  • internal development,
  • a stable offensive ecosystem,
  • and players like Trevor Lawrence, Travon Walker, and Travis Hunter taking steps.
• The offensive line is a major focal point: the Jaguars think they can win with a decent floor rather than a dominant unit.

New York Giants: old-school football and a CEO-coach culture

• The Giants are telling themselves an old-school, “detail and accountability” story around their head coach, Brian Daboll.
• The idea is that a strong culture, a disciplined staff, and a run/design-run-friendly offense can get the most out of Jackson Dart.
• There’s a clear throwback feel here:
  • more emphasis on physicality,
  • more belief in design runs and RPOs,
  • and more trust in coaching than in pure roster talent.
• The hosts note that this kind of setup is increasingly rare in today’s NFL, where play-calling head coaches have become the norm.
• There’s real concern that this is a staff-dependent path to success: if the hires are right, it can work; if not, the floor can fall out.

Washington Commanders: new ideas will save us

• Washington is betting that schematic change on both sides of the ball will unlock another leap.
• Offensively, the Commanders are telling themselves that Jayden Daniels can thrive in a more diversified structure, likely with more under-center work and less exposure.
• Defensively, they spent heavily to make the unit harder to play against.
• The subtext: they know Daniels is special, but they’re trying to protect him and simplify the offense so he can stay healthy and keep elevating.
• The episode also emphasizes how thin the supporting cast still feels relative to how much the team is asking of Daniels.

Philadelphia Eagles: Jalen Hurts can grow again

• The Eagles are hoping Jalen Hurts can make another leap in a system that asks more of him as a dropback passer.
• The comparison used is Lamar Jackson’s 2023 season under Todd Monken: a more complete passing game with more quarterback ownership.
• The hosts debate Hurts’ ceiling:
  • he’s not viewed as a true top-tier QB by everyone,
  • but he has improved over time,
  • and the offense may be different enough to produce another jump.
• There’s also recognition that the Eagles may not need Hurts to be elite-elite to contend, but he probably does need to be better than he was last year.

Indianapolis Colts: “September 2025 by science or magic”

• The Colts are trying to believe that Daniel Jones can be healthy and functional enough to recreate the strong early-season version of their offense.
• This is partly about optimism and partly about denial:
  • Jones looks healthy in camp,
  • the offense flashed real upside early last season,
  • and the team wants to believe that was real.
• The danger is obvious:
  • Jones has durability concerns,
  • the receiving group has question marks,
  • and the offense may have overperformed relative to its sustainability.

Buffalo Bills: keep knocking at the door

• Josh Allen’s message is the Bills’ message: if you keep getting close, eventually one of these years the door opens.
• Buffalo’s story is built on consistency and urgency:
  • they’ve remained one of the league’s best offenses for years,
  • they continue to make meaningful adjustments,
  • and they’re acting like a team that knows the window is real.
• The hosts praise the Bills for not being passive in August.
• The hope is that the offense remains elite while the defensive changes and added pieces help them finally break through.

Kansas City Chiefs: the pass-catchers are fine

• The Chiefs are telling themselves that last year’s receiver issues were mostly bad luck and injuries.
• The skepticism remains high:
  • Xavier Worthy’s health matters,
  • Rashee Rice’s situation matters,
  • and the overall receiver group still feels fragile.
• The Chiefs are leaning on:
  • Patrick Mahomes,
  • offensive line strength,
  • and a stronger run game to offset concerns at receiver.
• The hosts are not fully buying it, but they acknowledge that this is clearly the story Kansas City is telling itself.

Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys: the defense just has to be functional

• These are two of the simplest stories of the episode:
  • if the defense is merely competent, the team can contend.
• Both teams are being discussed as offenses that already have enough juice.
• The question is whether the defensive units can avoid being liabilities.
• Dallas in particular gets attention for young defensive-player hype, while Cincinnati’s version of the story is more about avoiding another season of being forced into shootouts.

Denver Broncos: “We were a Jalen Waddle away”

• The Broncos are telling themselves they were very close already, and that a single high-end pass-catcher could unlock the next level.
• The joke is that adding the right kind of receiver would make a huge difference without changing the offense too much.
• There’s also discussion of young receiver Pat Bryant potentially helping by giving Denver more size and versatility in the passing game.

Tennessee Titans: Cam Ward and the offensive line can grow together

• The Titans are trying to sell themselves on Cam Ward as the next young quarterback turnaround story.
• A major part of the optimism comes from believing in the offensive line infrastructure and coaching.
• The episode highlights Carmen Bricillo as a key reason to believe the line can be respectable even without elite personnel.
• In other words: the Titans are hoping Ward gets enough support to grow into the job rather than having to survive it alone.

Main takeaways

• NFL teams rarely build rosters based purely on certainty; they build them around the stories they can convince themselves are true.
• Coaching and scheme matter a lot more for some of these teams than raw talent does.
• The most fragile teams in the episode are the ones asking one player, one coordinator, or one schematic change to do too much.
• The most believable teams are the ones with a real star quarterback and a credible plan to stay healthy and adaptable.
• A recurring theme is that the modern NFL increasingly rewards teams that can generate a game-day advantage through play-calling rather than just culture or “CEO” leadership.

Notable insight

“If you keep knocking at the door, eventually it’s going to open.”

That idea captures the Bills’ mindset, but it also applies to a lot of these teams: they’re all betting that persistence, coaching, and a slightly different version of the same core roster will finally produce the result they want.