Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast is working for the weekend.
Speaker 1: You know, we are welcome to a Christmas Eve edition
Speaker 1: of the Around the NFL Podcast, scattered across the south Land.
Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hansas, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. Yes, it was
Speaker 1: the night before Christmas and all through the house. I
Speaker 1: wish I prepared a line here that would have rhymed
Speaker 1: and it would have been cool, but I didn't. All
Speaker 1: I can tell he is Daddy's got a lot of
Speaker 1: work to do upstairs. Santa's coming, But the NFL sleeps
Speaker 1: for no one and nothing, including baby Jesus. And so
Speaker 1: here we are to give you a recap of everything
Speaker 1: that happened on the Saturday of week six. This is
Speaker 1: what we went with grave there. It's called holiday beats. Yeah.
Speaker 1: This I don't know. I was looking for something a
Speaker 1: little more traditional. This is a Christmas and Hollis knockoff.
Speaker 1: This is like the in Sync Christmas album. This is
Speaker 1: pretty traditional. Here I can go with this anyway. Let's
Speaker 1: let's talk you guys as you enjoy the football. Alybreody.
Speaker 1: Working from home today is where the big holiday approaches.
Speaker 1: I loved it. I think you know it's it got
Speaker 1: tiresome working from home during Corona obviously, and it's nice
Speaker 1: to be able to do both. But I just had
Speaker 1: a couple of nice cups of coffee, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: making some breakfast, walking around and less clothing than I
Speaker 1: would normally. It was fantastic. And I'll tell you something else.
Speaker 1: You can feel, um that a big chunk of these
Speaker 1: teams are reaching the end. There's a very distinct feel
Speaker 1: to me, for like Christmas week football is really you're
Speaker 1: starting to say goodbye to some of these teams and
Speaker 1: it's about time, and others are rising up and I
Speaker 1: enjoy them too. And you don't have to talk about
Speaker 1: the Titans like that. Mark, Come on, that is rude, Eve,
Speaker 1: says the guy in the Jets sweater. Mark is not wrong.
Speaker 1: So Jets are alive. Jets are alive. And yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean it's it's a big night. Who knows if Santa
Speaker 1: is gonna come. I was when I was at your
Speaker 1: house Dan last week. I liked how you wielded Santa's
Speaker 1: potential coming or not over your kids like a scepter.
Speaker 1: I like to out how to do the dad thing
Speaker 1: until you could weaponize Santa and have the children's behavior
Speaker 1: molded as a result. I mean, my boys want Nintendo Switch,
Speaker 1: you know what, they're probably getting Intendo Switch in reality,
Speaker 1: In fact, I know they are. It's in the house.
Speaker 1: I hope they don't listen to this on YouTube. But however, uh,
Speaker 1: if they were too, I don't know, burned down the
Speaker 1: living room tonight, there will be no Nintendo Switch in
Speaker 1: the morning. So they need to take this thing across
Speaker 1: the goal line, as it were. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's the goal with Santa as a parent, I see
Speaker 1: what you're doing, and I think it's very effective, but
Speaker 1: to tournament sort of a menacing, uh deal breaker eyes.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's a it's a new way too, it's a
Speaker 1: new approach. Hey, listen, you take care of business in
Speaker 1: your homemark. I'll take care of mine. In my house.
Speaker 1: It's a house of fear. Okay, all right, all right,
Speaker 1: let's get into the games. We're gonna do ten games today.
Speaker 1: We're gonna leave the Sunday night game or the Saturday
Speaker 1: and it's annoying, the Saturday night Christmas Eve game. We're
Speaker 1: gonna hit that and the three Christmas games Monday morning,
Speaker 1: so stay tuned for that. Right now, We're gonna hit
Speaker 1: all the early and late afternoon games starting with the
Speaker 1: game of the week. And dare I say, in the
Speaker 1: running for game of the year, let's head to Jerro
Speaker 1: World where the Dallas Cowboys look to keep their NFC
Speaker 1: East hopes alive against the Eagles. Fourth down and ten
Speaker 1: min shoe back for man rosh here they come. He
Speaker 1: hits it back into the end, the polls on the
Speaker 1: crowd and complete. The Cowboys defense was equal to the
Speaker 1: task that time. The Cowboys are gonna take it over
Speaker 1: with fourteen seconds left and that what oh Bongo's to
Speaker 1: start a Christmas Eve gift for the Cowboys and their fans.
Speaker 1: And I endorse it. Because the Dallas Cowboys fell behind
Speaker 1: ten points early. They fell behind ten points again, I
Speaker 1: believe it was twenty seven seventeen at one point in
Speaker 1: this game, but they turned multiple Philadelphia turnovers in two
Speaker 1: points uh and win forty four after getting yes that
Speaker 1: stopped on the final play, fourth down and long for
Speaker 1: Gardner Minshew, who played very well in the place of
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, who might not even be back next week.
Speaker 1: Keep an eye on that. But in the here and
Speaker 1: now means you move the ball against the Dallas defense.
Speaker 1: But Greg when Mike McCarthy made the decision near the
Speaker 1: goal line in the other end to kick the field goal.
Speaker 1: He said to his own defense, don't let them score
Speaker 1: a touchdown. It got a little harry there, but they
Speaker 1: got to stop and they're eleven and for as a result,
Speaker 1: it got real harry. He trusted his defense, who did
Speaker 1: not play that well except for the turnovers, although that's
Speaker 1: a big except for and except for those last few plays,
Speaker 1: although that's the big except for. Because a team that
Speaker 1: had a Gholston in this game, the Dallas Cowboys, that
Speaker 1: is no quarterback, hits, no sacks. Kind of crazy, I
Speaker 1: believe it is another one to look at. You could
Speaker 1: you could go with uh, they get the pressure, they're
Speaker 1: back to back place on third and fourth down. Third down,
Speaker 1: it was Parsons who helped force a fumble earlier in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, and then fourth down, the interior push
Speaker 1: gets Minshew to let go to the ball. I hate
Speaker 1: when a team clocks it like Minshew did there with
Speaker 1: thirty seconds to go. I think if if Jalen Hurts
Speaker 1: was in there, they might have a play called then
Speaker 1: and not waste that down. But big up. So the
Speaker 1: Cowboys defense have been a defense team all year and
Speaker 1: they made the big place there. And I mean you
Speaker 1: mentioned the turnover sight in a game like this, We're
Speaker 1: both games were just sort of at different junctures, marching
Speaker 1: up and down the field. It felt insane to me.
Speaker 1: It just became one of those games where it's like
Speaker 1: you just trusted it would come down to the end.
Speaker 1: But the turnovers. Um, they weren't getting a lot of
Speaker 1: pass rush, but Jron curse, Like that first interception he
Speaker 1: had leaping over a wide receiver led to a touchdown. Uh,
Speaker 1: the fumble of Minshew led to a touchdown. The durn
Speaker 1: Bland pick led to a field goal. So that's seventeen points.
Speaker 1: That's the difference right there. And I mean Minshew otherwise,
Speaker 1: and I you know, not to overrate who he is,
Speaker 1: but if you if you take away the the take
Speaker 1: the turnovers, like his box score looked a lot like
Speaker 1: a lot of Jalen Hurts box scores three dred and
Speaker 1: fifty something plus yards. Both wide receivers went for a
Speaker 1: hundred plus. He just didn't operate on the ground that way.
Speaker 1: But they did have that big you know, fourth and
Speaker 1: one push as well, I thought, Minshew, I mean, I
Speaker 1: know that they're not in must win territory, but he
Speaker 1: can sneak him a win next week, no problem. I mean,
Speaker 1: they came very close to taking this. I thought, yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought it was you know, I thought Dallas really
Speaker 1: left the door open on each of their last two
Speaker 1: s sessions with some suspect play calling and decision making
Speaker 1: by Dac on their final possession where he went out
Speaker 1: of bounds on a scramble on a first down scramble
Speaker 1: UH at two oh one on the clock, which stopped
Speaker 1: the clock. And then with a essentially one more snap
Speaker 1: before the two minute warning, instead of throwing it under
Speaker 1: the back of the end zone, he takes a nine
Speaker 1: yard sack, which allows not only UH the Eagles to
Speaker 1: get that stop and give them one more chance after
Speaker 1: the field goal, it also left Philadelphia to preserve a
Speaker 1: time out and put them in much better position. Um.
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting the quarterbacks in this game.
Speaker 1: Like you said, Minhi was very good. He wasn't perfect, UH,
Speaker 1: and they made him pay for it. When he wasn't perfect.
Speaker 1: He threw two interceptions he could have thrown a third,
Speaker 1: but he also made a lot of big throws in
Speaker 1: this game, and right before the crucial Miles Sanders fumble
Speaker 1: on the penultimate drive for Philadelphia. Um I was saying
Speaker 1: to my dad, Keith, who we were watching the game together,
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know if min she is gonna
Speaker 1: lead them down the field here, but this guy is
Speaker 1: not scared. And it was kind of a bummer to
Speaker 1: see the situation get taken out of his hands there.
Speaker 1: But he did get one more chance. And Greg on
Speaker 1: the deck side of things that early on the first
Speaker 1: possession of pick six and you're thinking, oh my god,
Speaker 1: are they really gonna, you know, blow this game with
Speaker 1: Hurts on the sideline. But he played really well. Some
Speaker 1: of those mental blunders at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: but in general, I thought he really played excellent football.
Speaker 1: He was twenty four for twenty four when the Eagles
Speaker 1: played zone defense for three yards and three touchdowns. To me,
Speaker 1: the biggest play of the game was the fifty two
Speaker 1: yard or to t Y Hilton third and thirty. It
Speaker 1: had been two years since any team had hit a
Speaker 1: third down when it was third and thirty. T Y
Speaker 1: Hilton is back in our life, and Dac when he
Speaker 1: throws a pretty ball to me, it's for some reason,
Speaker 1: it's just prettier than other people. Like the Ceedee Lamb
Speaker 1: pass over the middle two Uh, that was big in
Speaker 1: the game. Like, but that throw a Hilton on third
Speaker 1: and thirty which led to points was part of an
Speaker 1: awesome performance. And other than the pick six, he was incredible.
Speaker 1: They got a little lucky falling on the three uh fumbles.
Speaker 1: They were covered all three fumbles in this game, but
Speaker 1: Dac deserved it. It just shows you though defenses are
Speaker 1: a little overrated. It's like neither one of these defenses
Speaker 1: could get a stopped. There was one punt in this game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I do. I am concerned. I want to see what's
Speaker 1: going on with Lane Johnson. He left the game, went
Speaker 1: to the tent, and you know he was a little
Speaker 1: banged up last week too, so that's a major development
Speaker 1: for the Eagles. But I'm with you on dec I mean,
Speaker 1: I think he hit what sixteen straight throws after that
Speaker 1: pick six? I mean, and when he's on, and this
Speaker 1: offense functions with him completely flipped on, like the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are pretty unstoppable. So it's like, I guess for me,
Speaker 1: the hope is that like if they meet again, you
Speaker 1: get this version of Dallas. Because this was sort of Dallas.
Speaker 1: I mean, they weren't perfect, but they were operating. I
Speaker 1: thought that they were not scared of the moment. The
Speaker 1: run game wasn't even as good as it's been in
Speaker 1: other games today, and they still they put up a
Speaker 1: ton of points. And so it's it makes me hopeful
Speaker 1: that Dallas doesn't melt away in the playoffs, as I
Speaker 1: feel like I've seen thirty seven times in my life.
Speaker 1: He still they still give me that feeling of a
Speaker 1: team that that could do that. And like I'm saying,
Speaker 1: some of the mental mistakes and some of the play
Speaker 1: callings like it was, are the cowboys and the rubber
Speaker 1: meets the road and the crucible of the playoffs gonna
Speaker 1: do the right things to win big games against top teams.
Speaker 1: We shall see. But one thing we do know on
Speaker 1: Thursday when we're previewing this game, if they got got
Speaker 1: beat by Minshew, um, they're gonna they feel really fraudulent. Um.
Speaker 1: And the fact that they took care of business here.
Speaker 1: They are coasting now of the playoffs and still in
Speaker 1: the mix here and we wait to see where Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts is physically and how the Eagles proceed there. But
Speaker 1: they still need one win in two games or Dallas
Speaker 1: loss and they will take the one seed. Philadelphia will
Speaker 1: Should we keep moving? Boys? I mean it is Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1: Oh who locked it up? Who locked it up? I'm
Speaker 1: sorry everybody? In a surprise move and a late Twitter
Speaker 1: Twitter lock, the Westling grows locked the Cowboys. Okay, did
Speaker 1: they not get their initial lock in under the ahead
Speaker 1: of the Thursday preview? You seem to have deadlines in
Speaker 1: place at this point. Nick was a little busy, so
Speaker 1: you never know what's going on in the zoo. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it could have been a grill on the loose.
Speaker 1: You know. Hopefully they're they're listening. They are hosting Lakisha
Speaker 1: and Link in Cincinnati, so that's I hope they're not listening.
Speaker 1: I hope they're having a wonderful time together sitting around
Speaker 1: the heart. Uh. Merry Christmas to the Westlings and the
Speaker 1: uh Lakeisha Link everybody and all the brothers and everybody.
Speaker 1: All right, let's keep moving now, let's head to the
Speaker 1: I was gonna say the Metrodome is no longer the Metrodome.
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful, gleaming temple to football US Bank Stadium,
Speaker 1: where the Vikings look to continue their insane winning ways
Speaker 1: and one score games, of course against the Giants that
Speaker 1: had to come down to the last play. Sixty one
Speaker 1: yard try Wright hash Ye show ship with the Big
Speaker 1: Lake's plus this cook jeans Pep the Giants plentiest twenty
Speaker 1: four jose I mean, we live in a world now,
Speaker 1: and that's Paul Allen, by the way, k f A.
Speaker 1: And you heard Brad Sham the Sham God before. Where
Speaker 1: a kicker that's not even known as necessarily you know,
Speaker 1: a big time kicker, Greg Joseph can just smoke a
Speaker 1: sixty one yard field little it's a gun. I think
Speaker 1: that's one of the most underappreciated aspects of how pro
Speaker 1: football has changed, Mark Sessler, even since you and I
Speaker 1: joined the company way back in two thousand ten. The
Speaker 1: kicking game is outrageous, and that's why it's celebrated on
Speaker 1: this show. Greg Joseph, sixty one bang right down the middle,
Speaker 1: and the Vikings beat the Giants Province New York and
Speaker 1: clinching a playoff spot. Vikings already locked up the North
Speaker 1: and this was another field would win for a team.
Speaker 1: Mark that is eleven and oh in one score games,
Speaker 1: and they could thank the kicker for that. I mean
Speaker 1: it was just days ago on the Thursday Show where
Speaker 1: we were kind of challenging the vikings for you know,
Speaker 1: maybe once this season, just win a big game, but
Speaker 1: make it, you know, take the drama out of it.
Speaker 1: How about the zero drama element and just go do
Speaker 1: it and become a playoff team and instead, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: this is naturally how they are. This is their DNA,
Speaker 1: this is woven into their bloodstream. And I thought it
Speaker 1: was just incredible to watch once again the idea that
Speaker 1: they they didn't top last week, but it's just like
Speaker 1: another version of the madness that unfolded last week and
Speaker 1: every other week their historically, this team, no, no other
Speaker 1: team has done this. And I do think the thing
Speaker 1: is that I believe and it is like justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: setting the single game, single season record today, t J. Hockinson,
Speaker 1: who they traded for, like that's totally completely worked, Like
Speaker 1: he had got thirteen catches for a hundred plus today
Speaker 1: and two touchdowns. I just think it's a it's a
Speaker 1: nod to the entire coaching stuff that he melded right
Speaker 1: into the offense and has been a big difference maker.
Speaker 1: And some of these huge games that have come down
Speaker 1: the last second. Yeah, but two minutes left in the game.
Speaker 1: This Vikings team is the best team ever. They're as
Speaker 1: focused as Mark Sessler, you know, reading the highlights while
Speaker 1: cats are climbing all over him. And in the background,
Speaker 1: if you check it out on YouTube, he is locked in.
Speaker 1: And that's a professional. He's not a cat lady, He's
Speaker 1: a cat man. I wouldn't say that they have one
Speaker 1: more games in the final minute than any team in
Speaker 1: the history of the NFL. Six they have one more
Speaker 1: one possession games than any hit team in the history
Speaker 1: of the NFL. Eleven. Uh, it's crazy and and people
Speaker 1: can just keep on pounding the table. Myself included for regression.
Speaker 1: But maybe the regression comes next year. Maybe regression isn't
Speaker 1: even a thing. I don't know, but eleven and oh
Speaker 1: and one score games is crazy. The only reason it
Speaker 1: got to this point, Um, I thought, when when the Vikings,
Speaker 1: because you know the way these coaches are now with
Speaker 1: the analytics, I thought, when the Vikings had a chance, uh,
Speaker 1: when they scored the touchdown to go up seven, I
Speaker 1: out they were gonna go for two and win the game.
Speaker 1: If they get to their up nine Instead, they kicked
Speaker 1: the extra point. There are up eight points and that
Speaker 1: left the door open for Daniel Jones, s Kwon Barkley
Speaker 1: and the Giants and a drive that ends with a
Speaker 1: twenty seven yard touchdown run right up the gut on
Speaker 1: fourth and two with two oh one to play. Jones
Speaker 1: follows with a two point conversion. It's the Minnesota defense
Speaker 1: is not good and we could, we could, we could
Speaker 1: apologize for doubting Minnesota. We can, we could pump Viking
Speaker 1: stands of puff out their chest and say you can't
Speaker 1: argue with results. I mean, we're gonna make a deep
Speaker 1: run of the playoffs, but you see a week after
Speaker 1: week that you can move the ball on the Vikings
Speaker 1: and Daniel Jones looking like Phil Simms and super Bowl
Speaker 1: twenty one here was just the latest example of it.
Speaker 1: Um So that's not ever gonna get better for the Vikings,
Speaker 1: but their ability to make big plays. And I was
Speaker 1: saying it a Keith today. T J. Hopkinson, great edition there.
Speaker 1: He's been a perfect uh. His role is perfect and
Speaker 1: filled a void for them. But justin Jefferson, every time
Speaker 1: this team needs a play down the stretch, that guy
Speaker 1: is there. And I know he's not gonna win m VP.
Speaker 1: But take a look at every big drive when they've
Speaker 1: had all these dramatic wins. How many times has Jefferson
Speaker 1: made one of the big plays or the big play,
Speaker 1: and that's been a major difference. It's him, He is him,
Speaker 1: and I'm on the list. I believe he should be there.
Speaker 1: He absolutely is m v P worthy. I know it.
Speaker 1: He won't get it, probably because I think he's already
Speaker 1: liked the the top five. I think to me, he
Speaker 1: would be three or four on my personal Listen, you
Speaker 1: can maybe this year is a little different too, because
Speaker 1: nobody you're not gonna give it to Cousins because usually
Speaker 1: when the wide receiver as a massive year, you give
Speaker 1: it to his quarterback. But Cousins doesn't fall into that category.
Speaker 1: Maybe this is the year where a white owl could
Speaker 1: sneak in and take that trophy. But he certainly deserves it.
Speaker 1: I just see I could see voters splitting their votes
Speaker 1: to some degree where m VP goes Mahomes, but Offensive
Speaker 1: Player of the Year heat that Jefferson dominates that vote.
Speaker 1: I just I just wonder if that's how that could
Speaker 1: play out. Um, I mean, I one giants thing about
Speaker 1: this because I don't know what they're gonna do with
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones. I think he's been better than advertised in
Speaker 1: a lot of these games. He's he's had high profile gaffs,
Speaker 1: but really for the most part, like I think he
Speaker 1: threw his first pick in weeks and weeks this this
Speaker 1: this week, and like he's playing, he's throwing to Isaiah Hodgens,
Speaker 1: Richie James and Darius Slayton. There's just very little around
Speaker 1: him and to you even see the Giants in some
Speaker 1: of these games. I mean, it helped to see Barkley
Speaker 1: play better today than he that slump he was in.
Speaker 1: But um, I feel like this is a sinking balloon
Speaker 1: and we're just catching on the way down. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think Jones disagree with that. I thought the Giants played
Speaker 1: well in this game. And I think they had four
Speaker 1: hundred and forty five yards of offense, uh three four
Speaker 1: through the air through Jones, and their defense is not
Speaker 1: good enough to get stops against this Vikings offense in
Speaker 1: a big spot. But they also I thought in general, uh,
Speaker 1: this was a back and forth game that they they
Speaker 1: lose on a sixty one yard field goal on the road.
Speaker 1: I think the Giants are going to make the playoffs,
Speaker 1: especially with Washington not being able to pull off an
Speaker 1: upset today, And I think I would not be surprised
Speaker 1: if they're in another very close game down the stretch
Speaker 1: because I think they've refound themselves a little bit when
Speaker 1: they were in that slump before the Washington game. I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna hang around and be a tough out
Speaker 1: every week. Well, I think they're gonna probably I could.
Speaker 1: I could see a high like percentage likeliness that they
Speaker 1: play the Vikings again in the playoffs. I'm more saying,
Speaker 1: like I just think if you run into a Niner's
Speaker 1: team or the Eagles again, This Giant's team to me
Speaker 1: is like, are they going to seek into the playoffs? Yes,
Speaker 1: Like I was on the side of wanting them to
Speaker 1: be fun and joyful and it's like they're a bit fraudulent, Uh,
Speaker 1: but they are what they are, and like I do
Speaker 1: get I do still think they've been well coached from
Speaker 1: wire to wire this entire season. Like it is a
Speaker 1: win for Brian Dable. Yeah, the results for Week sixteen,
Speaker 1: spoiler alert is going to help the Giants as chances
Speaker 1: of making the playoffs. So they lose this game. Because
Speaker 1: the Cowboys won, the Cowboys all but assured themselves of
Speaker 1: getting that five seed versus the six. Uh. But Giants
Speaker 1: are are much less likely to follow out of this,
Speaker 1: and the Vikings are still alive here for the two seed.
Speaker 1: They are the two seed, and that that really does
Speaker 1: make a big difference. So that's something that them in
Speaker 1: the forty Niners are playing for down the stretch. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on now. Speaking of the forty Niners, they
Speaker 1: welcomed those commanders into their building, and you know they
Speaker 1: just suffocate their opponents. It happened again. Bertie under center, toss,
Speaker 1: gonna fake it and roll to his laptom, will throw
Speaker 1: wide open Kittle underneath twenty block ten five charge Kittle
Speaker 1: touch down again, touch down sand France. Let's go what
Speaker 1: action there by brock Fur Brocket and rolling baby off
Speaker 1: the keeper. He's gonna hold this football as long as
Speaker 1: he can. Man Brocken and rolling is some real dad energy.
Speaker 1: I'm in though, Greg Popa and Tim Ryan with the
Speaker 1: call k n BR. They're inevitable, these four Niners right now.
Speaker 1: Rock Purty threw two more touchdown passes to George Kittle
Speaker 1: and the Niners take out the Commander's thirty seven to twenty.
Speaker 1: That's eight straight wins for San Francisco and Greg Purdy
Speaker 1: is now three and oh uh since taking over for
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo. He's not doing it alone. The whole team
Speaker 1: is playing well right now, but he has fit in
Speaker 1: nicely and they are just rolling. Yeah. I think this
Speaker 1: was perfect for them because they were really tested offensively.
Speaker 1: I know they had big scores where Kittle got wide
Speaker 1: open and Shanahan coming out a half time, really picked
Speaker 1: on the linebacker situation and created some mismatches that that
Speaker 1: Kittle took advantage of. But before that, they were struggling
Speaker 1: to move the ball uh. And I think that was
Speaker 1: good because Purdy had to make plays under pressure. They
Speaker 1: got unlucky with an interception that Jowan Jennings dropped. Uh.
Speaker 1: And they were tested, I think by a playoff caliber defense.
Speaker 1: It's not a player playoff caliber offense for Washington, but
Speaker 1: it's a playoff caliber deef deef defense, and so they
Speaker 1: were tested. But in the second half it was just
Speaker 1: like Downhill. They had four out of five possessions in
Speaker 1: the second half that started in forty Niners territory. Because
Speaker 1: Heineke kept turning it over and there was especially in
Speaker 1: there was another Um special teams play, and so they
Speaker 1: just kept getting the ball. It honestly could have been
Speaker 1: a fifty burger in this game because they were stopped
Speaker 1: on short drives in Washington territory so many times in
Speaker 1: the second half. Yeah, like when we talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe defense doesn't matter in that Philly Dallas game, and
Speaker 1: you're right, um in that situation, like the Niners defense
Speaker 1: keeps mattering week to week. I thought they completely uh
Speaker 1: turned Tom Brady's season into total darkness a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago. They basically unplugged Geno Smith a week ago,
Speaker 1: I mean, kind of changing that narrative, what the way
Speaker 1: we viewed Geno Smith changed, and they just got Terrell
Speaker 1: Heinike Benched. I mean it's like they they're that early
Speaker 1: goal lines stand that they had which flipped around into
Speaker 1: the Ray Ray McCloud seventy one yard sweep with a
Speaker 1: great block by Christian McCaffrey. It's like their stops turn
Speaker 1: into points and like they had the same thing. I
Speaker 1: thought the fourth and one stop of Heineke when it
Speaker 1: was fourteen to seven, and then bangs. Seconds later, it's
Speaker 1: seven because Purty Is you know, overcomes the interception completely,
Speaker 1: data wipes that from his memory and Mine mills with
Speaker 1: George Kittle, which he did for the rest of the game.
Speaker 1: Then they've got a strip, sack and interception. They just
Speaker 1: like to your point where it was just downhill. They
Speaker 1: never stopped. And Washington is a very compromised team. They
Speaker 1: kind of remind me of the Giants in the sense
Speaker 1: that little things you like, but if you get caught
Speaker 1: into the bad game flow and you start to get behind,
Speaker 1: I don't really trust Washington to work the way out
Speaker 1: of it. I don't really care if that's Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: or Taylor Heinecke at quarterback. I kind of hated the UH.
Speaker 1: I understand everyone's aggressive all the time now, but that
Speaker 1: decision by Riverboat run uh, fourth and one at his
Speaker 1: own thirty four. You gotta convert it. If you're gonna,
Speaker 1: you gotta go. I mean, I you better love your
Speaker 1: quarterback and trust your offense, because against this team, if
Speaker 1: you don't get it, guess what, you don't get it.
Speaker 1: And then two plays later it's one seven, and I know.
Speaker 1: Then Washington came back and scored again, and you give
Speaker 1: him credit for that to keep the game interesting, But
Speaker 1: that to me, the game felt over at that point.
Speaker 1: And a couple of things that jumped out to me Greggy, Um,
Speaker 1: we haven't taught I feel like we haven't talked about
Speaker 1: Nick Bosa ton On on the show this year, or
Speaker 1: maybe I'm just forgetting it, but he's been beast this year.
Speaker 1: He definitely deserves serious consideration for Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: He's up to seventeen and a half sacks now. He
Speaker 1: had two sacks and a forced fumble in this game.
Speaker 1: And then the other part of it. Obviously, Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: replaces Heineke, and Um, I would anticipate Greggy that Carson
Speaker 1: went stays in the line up now because it just
Speaker 1: felt like Riverboat had an itchy trigger this whole time
Speaker 1: with Taylor. Yeah. It's funny because I think Heineke was
Speaker 1: so lucky all season, playing poorly and getting by and
Speaker 1: this was the reverse. I thought he played a good
Speaker 1: first half. You know, they get stuffed on the goal
Speaker 1: line where Fred Warner makes a great play in the
Speaker 1: running game or else that Washington could have been up
Speaker 1: fourteen seven. Heineke made a number of good throws in
Speaker 1: good decisions, and then two quick turnovers in a row,
Speaker 1: which one came on the boast of strip Sack, which
Speaker 1: I don't know if that was really on Heineke, and
Speaker 1: then an interception, and Wentz came in and played, well,
Speaker 1: he's in one drive. He had like the most Carson
Speaker 1: Wentzy stuff happened, making a miraculous play as he's falling
Speaker 1: to his knees that turns into twenty five yards a
Speaker 1: total dime for a touchdown. But also had what should
Speaker 1: have been a turnover by Wentz too, but he got
Speaker 1: the touchdown, got another good drive after that, and my guests,
Speaker 1: as you're right, they play the Browns next week. They
Speaker 1: are still in position for the playoffs, but only half
Speaker 1: a game up, so it's it's wide open for that
Speaker 1: seven spot and they have the Browns and the Cowboys
Speaker 1: to finish up. And uh, the one good thing I
Speaker 1: think they get Chase Young back and he made a
Speaker 1: difference in this game. He looked good. He wasn't coming
Speaker 1: off an injury looking bad, so that's one thing to
Speaker 1: be happened. The Mails, who have a star in Johan Dotson,
Speaker 1: I mean, they really have weapons because if it's him
Speaker 1: and McLaurin, like, and I the one thing I'd say
Speaker 1: about Heineck that was different than Wentz when he came
Speaker 1: in for the first kind of month of Heineke. For
Speaker 1: all the issues, he had great chemistry with McLaurin, Like,
Speaker 1: the splits were completely different. And then they've they've just
Speaker 1: become such a ball possession ground team. That's what they
Speaker 1: want to be and they couldn't do that today to
Speaker 1: some degree. But I like, I know we don't care
Speaker 1: about this, but I would love to know what the
Speaker 1: majority of the locker room UM thinks about Wentz in
Speaker 1: there over Heineke. The person I just do. I just
Speaker 1: have a sense that there's Carson. Wentz seems to have
Speaker 1: struggled to attach himself to a locker room everywhere he's gone.
Speaker 1: Heineke slammed his helmet down when he was taken out
Speaker 1: of the lineup and was seen arguing with her very
Speaker 1: and just one quick thing, Dan, I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think both probably one the defensive player of the
Speaker 1: year today. Um. Just the way the Cowboys defense has
Speaker 1: fallen apart, in the way Boss is playing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think Heinek is a guy that has liked in that
Speaker 1: locker room, but that the coach doesn't think he's a
Speaker 1: good quarterback. It's it makes sense why they would look
Speaker 1: to Wentz as a spark here and here is speaking
Speaker 1: of Wentz. What was that thing Colleen did on Tuesday?
Speaker 1: Was she like simmed all of the holiday films or
Speaker 1: she somebody did and she was reading it like like
Speaker 1: a a a sim watched like a thousand hours of
Speaker 1: Hallmark Holiday films and created its own script. This, this
Speaker 1: quote from Carson Wentz feels like a sim Like they
Speaker 1: uploaded every Taylor Heineke pass ever into Wentz and then
Speaker 1: a reporter stuck a recorder in his face. I this
Speaker 1: is Carson Wentz on Heineke's first half. I thought he
Speaker 1: played well. I thought he was dealing. I thought Taylor
Speaker 1: played well. Obviously, the way the game ended was strange.
Speaker 1: The way ended that's from Nikki Javal. He's so afraid
Speaker 1: to offend anyone, and I don't I don't blame him.
Speaker 1: At this point, as we all, let's decarted to really
Speaker 1: go ahead and start to take command. Not too late, Carson,
Speaker 1: not too late, and I Greg the calculators. We go
Speaker 1: to our first break it's Washington needs to win their
Speaker 1: last two games. The Giants need to lose their last
Speaker 1: two games. Does that sound about right? Washington's in the
Speaker 1: playoffs right now, so they're trying to hold off Detroit
Speaker 1: in Seattle and Green Bay and that half a game
Speaker 1: up going into the final. Man, NFC got real sloppy
Speaker 1: in the back of that wild card race. Yea, here
Speaker 1: I am they can. Washington was cooked, but they are
Speaker 1: very much alive. So Wentz has a big opportunity for
Speaker 1: some personal redemption. Let's take a break and we will
Speaker 1: roll on. Alright, we're back in case you're just joining us.
Speaker 1: It's Christmas Eve and we're talking football because we can't
Speaker 1: get enough. Baby. All right, let's move on. San Francisco
Speaker 1: takes care of business. How about the Cincinnati Bengals who
Speaker 1: are rolling themselves and they have the Patriots up next,
Speaker 1: and what felt like a blowout turned into something entirely different.
Speaker 1: Mac Jones waiting for the shotgun snap hands it off,
Speaker 1: Stephen said, stacked up calling backward ball, tackle is out
Speaker 1: outing turnovers. He covers turn over that should they well
Speaker 1: the nails bam bam bam. Oh my goodness, Greg, if
Speaker 1: I didn't hate the Patriots so much, I'd feel bad
Speaker 1: from these less two weeks have been insane. Throw that
Speaker 1: Vikings game in there too. Oh thanks Dan Horde and
Speaker 1: Dave Lapham with the call. W c k Y. Here's
Speaker 1: the breakdown here and this is one of my games. Um.
Speaker 1: The Bengals absolutely dismantle the Patriots in the first half
Speaker 1: in Foxborough. It is two zero at half. I believe
Speaker 1: the first downs between the teams. I believe the number
Speaker 1: was twenty two for Cincinnati and three for New England.
Speaker 1: It was that ugly. And then the Patriots do what
Speaker 1: the Patriots do. They pick up a defensive score pick six,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, like all right, and they
Speaker 1: missed the extra point. It's six, and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, the Cincinnati offense goes totally cold. Um, after
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow threw three touchdown passes and the Bengals offense
Speaker 1: just did whatever they wanted in bad conditions in New Engham,
Speaker 1: they go cold. Meanwhile, on third and forever from midfield,
Speaker 1: Mac Jones throws up a prayer. They get swatted from
Speaker 1: one hand into Jacoby Myers as for a touchdown, and
Speaker 1: now they're within uh. Ten points, they kick a field goal,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden they have the ball
Speaker 1: after a turnover by Jamaar Chase. The Patriots do and
Speaker 1: they're going down the field, only for Stevenson to fumble
Speaker 1: the football inside the ten when it looked like the
Speaker 1: Patriots are gonna have one of the more unlikely um
Speaker 1: wins of the year after the most unlikely loss. So
Speaker 1: in the end, it was a crushing um loss for
Speaker 1: New England. Final score was eighteen, so New England has
Speaker 1: a chance to really stay in the mix in the
Speaker 1: a f C playoff race. Instead, they're in a lot
Speaker 1: of trouble now. In Cincinnati's winning streak extends, even though
Speaker 1: you're not feeling too hot about after you watch the
Speaker 1: last two quarters, I mean, or or the first two
Speaker 1: quarters against the Bucks last week where Tampa Bay looked um,
Speaker 1: you know, playoff ready all of a sudden before falling
Speaker 1: off a cliff. I think Zach Taylor said it, like
Speaker 1: when you're up to me too, nothing fifteen nothing. You
Speaker 1: gotta find a way to like put these teams away
Speaker 1: if you want to be a super Bowl team, And
Speaker 1: I I kind of they're not a team I worry
Speaker 1: about slump wise. I think burrows turnovers occasionally like today
Speaker 1: caused a big problem for them, and like, but but
Speaker 1: who do you trust more to work themselves out of it?
Speaker 1: I mean, they've essentially off New England at this point.
Speaker 1: I cannot I do find from a New England side
Speaker 1: that if you look at the way the last minute
Speaker 1: of the last two games finished, or the last ten seconds,
Speaker 1: it's mistake prone. Um, it looks disjointed, it's very unbelled
Speaker 1: checking in and it's an odd, strange end to a
Speaker 1: season that started this morning with rumors that Bill O'Brien
Speaker 1: might return as the offensive coordinator next season. The funny
Speaker 1: thing is, it's like I'm thinking, as a Patriots like,
Speaker 1: oh great, I would love a Bill O'Brien at this point.
Speaker 1: It's like that would help you. Now. That said, they
Speaker 1: were so close to what would have been like a
Speaker 1: stirring victory, and I didn't hate their strategy at the end.
Speaker 1: They were trying to make the Bengals burned time out.
Speaker 1: They were running the ball. Well, it was the only
Speaker 1: two minutes of the game I watch, I'll admit, is
Speaker 1: the end. So I got that dagger right right at
Speaker 1: the end, and that probably should be a forward progress
Speaker 1: um like blown dead. I think that's that's a pretty
Speaker 1: clear call in most situations. Uh. And they answered it
Speaker 1: after the games, saying they just thought he still had
Speaker 1: his legs moving. But that's that's not what forward progress
Speaker 1: is about. Once you're moving backwards and you're held for
Speaker 1: like three straight yards, they'll call that. But that's that's
Speaker 1: been this Patriots season. I think all the good fortune
Speaker 1: the Patriots have had for twenty years, it's like there,
Speaker 1: it's cashing in the other way this year. Just pile
Speaker 1: it up all in one year. Well, if it makes you,
Speaker 1: I don't want to worry you, Greg, But if that's
Speaker 1: the theory that's actually taking hold, I think of imagine
Speaker 1: being a fan of a team of that hates the
Speaker 1: Patriots and feeling like that happened for twenty straight years,
Speaker 1: so maybe it will. Well, here's one thing, um in
Speaker 1: your favor here, the Patriots would have knocked out the
Speaker 1: Jets with a win. Here if if Stevenson had had
Speaker 1: won that game. But know and it felt in and
Speaker 1: also not for nothing, but old Zeuser locked up the
Speaker 1: Bengals and it's twenty two nothing and I'm I'm coast
Speaker 1: into the finish line and then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: this game gets totally bizarre and wacky, and uh, it
Speaker 1: did feel like they had the Bengals right where they wanted.
Speaker 1: They had them on their heels. They're running the ball
Speaker 1: really well and Stevenson and it's just a kind of
Speaker 1: a snapshot of their season in general. The frustration um
Speaker 1: of New England to just take do the type of
Speaker 1: things that we we kind of just expected them to do.
Speaker 1: But you you saw another uh, defensive score. Like I said,
Speaker 1: Marcus Jones, Um, it was Marcus Jones, right with Marcus
Speaker 1: Jones history. That was a beautiful play by Marcus Jones
Speaker 1: who not only picked it off, he then tight tight
Speaker 1: rope down the sideline for the touch on Kendrick Born
Speaker 1: makes a beautiful catch in this game back Jones didn't
Speaker 1: do a lot here, but he made a few throws,
Speaker 1: so it all it was kind of a rip your
Speaker 1: heart out loss for a New England um and for
Speaker 1: the Bengals. It's one of those things like I don't
Speaker 1: know what happened here, but we did win. Just like
Speaker 1: last week. They don't know what happened in the first
Speaker 1: half either, And Mark, I guess The question is do
Speaker 1: you does that make you nervous that four of their
Speaker 1: last eight quarters have been terrible or does it make
Speaker 1: you feel more confident that you came out of both
Speaker 1: of those games with wins. So it doesn't It doesn't
Speaker 1: concern me. Not that I you know, and brushing it
Speaker 1: rushing and off is nothing. But they're slumps are different
Speaker 1: than other teams slumps. I think the Bills we could say,
Speaker 1: you know, they didn't lose during their slump, and the
Speaker 1: Bengals are finding ways to win these games. To me,
Speaker 1: it's like this is this is part of the roadmap
Speaker 1: that you go through, and I just look at one
Speaker 1: thing about New England, like I feel like there's this
Speaker 1: is a theme this year of a couple of really
Speaker 1: good defenses that got completely hung out to dry by
Speaker 1: their offenses. I think of New England because it's been
Speaker 1: a really well coached defense and been typical for most
Speaker 1: of the season. And like Denver, it's like these defensive
Speaker 1: players the text threads must be absolutely on fire with
Speaker 1: what they're dealing with from the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: I would love to read them. I think they'd be
Speaker 1: very spicy. I would to Marcus Jones quickly is the
Speaker 1: first player, uh or the second player in NFL history
Speaker 1: to have a career forty yard UH catch punt return
Speaker 1: and UH interception return. The only other person in NFL
Speaker 1: history to ever do that is Dion Sanders and Marcus
Speaker 1: Marcus Jones has already done it as a rookie, not
Speaker 1: just you know, this is talking about entire career. He
Speaker 1: had a big catch on on offense too. In your
Speaker 1: lock sound there, dan Um reminds me of when we
Speaker 1: started this lock competition six years ago. I went back
Speaker 1: and listened to the last time we did a Christmas
Speaker 1: Eve show just to see if I get get some
Speaker 1: fun stuff there, and uh, it was the lock competition
Speaker 1: had just started back then in the middle of that season.
Speaker 1: Actually just kind of uh impromptu. Let's let's take a
Speaker 1: listen after Mark Sessler three and oh whoa. We are
Speaker 1: flying with the locks now and the cop we put
Speaker 1: we've put it into the safe. We spin you know
Speaker 1: the wheel thing or like the what is it? It's
Speaker 1: like a circular it's almost like a pirate ship wheel
Speaker 1: almost kind of like a we spin the pirate ship
Speaker 1: wheel lock and then we leave it there and then
Speaker 1: we go get it on on Saturday. Don't need to
Speaker 1: think about it again. I gotta wait till Sunday for
Speaker 1: the Steelers. Bad job. I should have picked the lock
Speaker 1: that was on Saturday. No lollipops today. Anyway, You're no Liberaci,
Speaker 1: but you know we then Liberaci comes up a lot
Speaker 1: on the show. Um, and great to hear Chris of course,
Speaker 1: and Greggy to think, just think of all the joy
Speaker 1: and like the Grinch coming down from the mountain trying
Speaker 1: to kill the lock segment. Shame on you. That's part
Speaker 1: to the fun. I just like we were still talking showmanship.
Speaker 1: He called me the strong and silent type, which was
Speaker 1: a running joke and the whole thing it was. It
Speaker 1: was nice to hear his voice. I remember we were
Speaker 1: in the studio that night. Yes, always good to hear Chris,
Speaker 1: especially on Christmas Eve. Lay All Collins, by the way,
Speaker 1: went out with a knee injury. Keep an eye on that.
Speaker 1: Their offensive line really crumbled Cincinnati after that. Okay, let's
Speaker 1: move now to Soldier Field where the Bills, you know,
Speaker 1: they know the Cincinnati's breathing right down their neck as
Speaker 1: they try to lock up home field Avenge in the
Speaker 1: a f C time to take care of business against
Speaker 1: the Bears. Josh takes gonna keep it and try to
Speaker 1: run on himself round the right side. Josh ticks to
Speaker 1: the interne easy and touch down Buffalo. Josh Allen runs
Speaker 1: it in from three artown touchdown, Puffalo. Bill. The Bills
Speaker 1: did get it done, maybe not as easy as they expected,
Speaker 1: at least early on, but in the end, Devin Singletary
Speaker 1: James Cook both had long TVs in the third quarter,
Speaker 1: Alan scored as you heard, and Buffalo coasted to a
Speaker 1: win in one of the coldest games ever played in Chicago. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I should mention that as a t Mark Sessler here
Speaker 1: all across the country just hideous weather. Um and luckily
Speaker 1: we're not traveling this week. But um, these games, some
Speaker 1: of these games really were impacted by the weather. One
Speaker 1: of the games, Tennessee and Houston even had to be
Speaker 1: pushed back an hour because of a power grid situation.
Speaker 1: Unbelievable anyway, get into it. Mark had the Bills win
Speaker 1: this game. I think the weather had a real effect
Speaker 1: on this, as it did on a lot of these games.
Speaker 1: You mentioned that they just weren't really the same operation
Speaker 1: through the air. It wasn't it wasn't like completely visible
Speaker 1: to the eye that they couldn't move the ball Josh
Speaker 1: Allen through the air, But like we're really what stood
Speaker 1: out to me today was because we've, you know, mid season,
Speaker 1: we're kind of questioning the balance of the offense, like
Speaker 1: if they needed to, could they really run the ball
Speaker 1: in a situation and do it without a major issues?
Speaker 1: And today was the day where I mean think we've
Speaker 1: seen that bubble up, especially Alan against the Dolphins. I
Speaker 1: thought had a big day at another forty one yards
Speaker 1: and that touchdown we just heard today, So that's part
Speaker 1: of their offense right now, especially in weather like this.
Speaker 1: But it was Devin Singletary you mentioned a hundred and
Speaker 1: six yards. James Cook had two hundred and fifty four
Speaker 1: yards at eight point two yards per carry off thirty
Speaker 1: one of toats. And what I loved about it was
Speaker 1: the two touchdowns you mentioned, was like they were just
Speaker 1: really looking for an explosive spark, and back to back
Speaker 1: drives you get Cook and Singletary blasting for long touchdowns
Speaker 1: and it really just put it away on the flip side.
Speaker 1: The reason I thought, you know, we've seen these bears
Speaker 1: hanging these games and it's always been about justin fields.
Speaker 1: They had a good plan for fields, Um they were
Speaker 1: dealing with and they have they have nothing in their
Speaker 1: offense from through the air, and so it's him or nothing.
Speaker 1: And he had when the Bills at one point we're
Speaker 1: up twenty one nothing at a hundred and eighty one yards,
Speaker 1: Fields had seven and he finished on the ground with
Speaker 1: eleven yards off seven carry. So if you're gonna take
Speaker 1: that element out of Chicago attack, um, see you later, Bears.
Speaker 1: Bears still got a chance for the number one pick.
Speaker 1: By the way, they're only half a game behind the
Speaker 1: last two months, right, they they're close every week. And
Speaker 1: then look, the Bills clinched their third straight a f
Speaker 1: C East today. That's impressive with two weeks to go.
Speaker 1: In this division that we were saying looked like the
Speaker 1: best division in football, they end up being the class
Speaker 1: of it by far. Always say how hard it is
Speaker 1: to like be the best team year after year, and
Speaker 1: we look up and here it is. It's the Bills
Speaker 1: in the chiefs again. And you nailed it, Mark. I mean,
Speaker 1: being able to run to win is really important for them.
Speaker 1: And it wasn't like those running backs loaded up on
Speaker 1: like fifty carries. It was twelve for one oh six eleven.
Speaker 1: That's a really good sign for them. That is for
Speaker 1: Chicago fan base that no, they're going to watch a loss.
Speaker 1: And I don't know how many people. I'm sure there
Speaker 1: were a lot of empty seats there. But the temperature
Speaker 1: kickoff was nine degrees with a minus twelve win chill,
Speaker 1: only three degrees warmer than the record low for a
Speaker 1: Bears home game. And it's their coldest road game for
Speaker 1: Buffalo by temperature since at least nineteen sixty seven. I mean,
Speaker 1: what causes people to go to these games? I I
Speaker 1: respect it, but it does strike me as a whiff
Speaker 1: of madness. There were empty seats. There were a ton
Speaker 1: of empty seats in Foxboro, in Cleveland, and I assume
Speaker 1: in this one mark but I didn't really check out
Speaker 1: this one. I didn't track the seats scenario um that closely,
Speaker 1: to be honest, But I will say that one time,
Speaker 1: what happens, Well, there's a lot going on. Like at
Speaker 1: the one time, I do recall getting um like tangible.
Speaker 1: I went in snow. It was like deathly frost bite,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't feel my toes even like in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night. Was the first game I ever
Speaker 1: went to was a week fifteen Chiefs Giants game in
Speaker 1: East Rutherford, New Jersey, and it was like this kind
Speaker 1: of temperature and it was like what I had the
Speaker 1: same question as you, then, what am I doing here?
Speaker 1: There is as anyone that grew up in the Northeast knows,
Speaker 1: if you go to a game at Giant Stadium in
Speaker 1: the eighties and and d s into the two thousands,
Speaker 1: and it is a late kickoff, four PM kickoff and
Speaker 1: you are on the side of the stadium that is
Speaker 1: in the shade, you are going to suffer for many hours.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure you were on the wrong side of
Speaker 1: the stadium on that day. My friend, Well, I'm a child,
Speaker 1: I'm not. You know, you can't like have whiskey and
Speaker 1: do things that would warm up the body. You're just
Speaker 1: sort of left out to dry, right exactly, all right.
Speaker 1: Let's move to Charlotte, where the team of at L
Speaker 1: look to keep things rolling against the Panthers fighting for
Speaker 1: their playoff lives in the saggy NFC South. This one
Speaker 1: did not go to plan. Trips left the snap stream
Speaker 1: pass back to DJ. He's got the five reaching two
Speaker 1: of the end zone ball comes out at the end,
Speaker 1: touchdown Carolina d J. Moore and the Panthers lead at
Speaker 1: thirty to seven. We're about twenty four minutes and twelve
Speaker 1: seconds away from a game against Tampa next week with
Speaker 1: first place in the division on the law. Wa what
Speaker 1: good call do we have? A? Greg Rosa? What why
Speaker 1: do you? J? Moore? With the score there? But this
Speaker 1: was about the running game for the Panthers. Dante Foreman
Speaker 1: ran for a career high one hundred sixty five yards
Speaker 1: and a touchdown. The Panthers had a franchise record three
Speaker 1: twenty yards on the ground and they defeat the team
Speaker 1: around the NFL. Greg, how do you give up three
Speaker 1: twenty yards on the ground in this spot? It felt
Speaker 1: like more the sad the sad a t N music
Speaker 1: team of a ten music is back. M h. It
Speaker 1: felt like a moral victory. What what what? What? It
Speaker 1: was to forty At halftime? I got the Google what's
Speaker 1: the all time record for rushing yards in a game?
Speaker 1: I mean they were on no, they had they were
Speaker 1: on pace for it at that point. So never good, yeah,
Speaker 1: never good. I mean five place seventy eight yards on
Speaker 1: the first drive and they were all runs The first
Speaker 1: play of the game was a thirty five yard run
Speaker 1: and they were just huge holes for Donte Foreman and
Speaker 1: Chewba Harbard to run through and bad tackling in the
Speaker 1: secondary by the lines. And it started that way, and
Speaker 1: you just that that happened sometimes and you figure like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is gonna get under control, and it it never
Speaker 1: really got under control. The Panthers set a franchise record
Speaker 1: with that rushing total, but they also set up franchise
Speaker 1: record just for yardage. I mean, they've been around a
Speaker 1: while now. Five and seventy yards is a lot. And
Speaker 1: Sam Donald, when he had to make a play in
Speaker 1: this game, made a lot of high level throws. They
Speaker 1: just destroyed this team, the Lions defense, at least not offensively,
Speaker 1: but it was crazy. The Panthers had seven runs to
Speaker 1: your point crag of twenty yards or more. And the
Speaker 1: Lions had been very stout against the run defensively in
Speaker 1: recent weeks. They had been averaging uh just eighty four
Speaker 1: yards rushing per game in the last five weeks. UH
Speaker 1: and then Foreman and Hubbard both go over the century
Speaker 1: mark in the first half, so halfa is the first
Speaker 1: time that had happened in any game since uh d'angelo's
Speaker 1: Williams and Jonathan Stewart's Insane. Yeah, and Mark, I guess
Speaker 1: this is we'll see, We'll see what this means for Detroit.
Speaker 1: Is this another game? By the way, a temperature is
Speaker 1: twenty degrees to kick off wind chill of nine. Maybe
Speaker 1: this is a dome team that that just bid it.
Speaker 1: But we'll see if they bounce back from this. This
Speaker 1: seems like a pretty humbling loss. Well, I think golf
Speaker 1: splits on you know, at home versus um, not only
Speaker 1: on the road, but like when he's been outdoors are
Speaker 1: unbelievably varied, Like he's not the same person in this
Speaker 1: outdoor weather. And so I did score awesome in this game.
Speaker 1: I'm coming into this, coming into this game like he's
Speaker 1: like literally of his production has been like an indoor weather.
Speaker 1: And so I mean I think that helps them the
Speaker 1: way they're built to. I mean, to me, it's like
Speaker 1: I don't sure the Lions, they've been so improved, but
Speaker 1: like they were kind of do I thought for a
Speaker 1: step back at some point. I mean, I'm just some
Speaker 1: surprised by Carolina being able to dominate this way. They've
Speaker 1: been really hot and cold because they had sixty four
Speaker 1: yards rushing against the Bengals. It's like, all right, well
Speaker 1: that plans out the window. Then the next week they
Speaker 1: put up two hundred and forty against the Falcons on
Speaker 1: the ground, then thirty six against the Ravens, then a
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty five against the good Broncos team, then today,
Speaker 1: So it's like, when it works, they're essentially unstoppable. But
Speaker 1: then the next week they completely as the beds. So
Speaker 1: I'm not you know, It's like, I don't know who
Speaker 1: to trust in any of these situations. Right, They're gonna
Speaker 1: play the Bucks no matter what happens on Christmas, and
Speaker 1: they are in a winning in situation. If Carolina beats
Speaker 1: Tampa next week, they are in first place and then
Speaker 1: they could clinch the division. I think Dartle makes a
Speaker 1: huge difference away he's playing. He's played the cleanest month
Speaker 1: I think of his career. Maybe he had some more
Speaker 1: spectacular moments with the Jets, but he's just made good
Speaker 1: decisions and he wasn't like the headline here today. But
Speaker 1: there were a couple of spots in game where they
Speaker 1: needed a throw and he made some really high level
Speaker 1: throws and and they needed to keep scoring because the
Speaker 1: Lions offensively, we're fine in this game, Golf, I thought
Speaker 1: actually played pretty well overall. They were stopped inside the
Speaker 1: ten yard line twice, once on downs with I think
Speaker 1: it was a batted pass and once they fumbled a
Speaker 1: snap on a first down. You know, they put up
Speaker 1: three d an eight yards in twenty three points, like
Speaker 1: it was really their defense had had no hope in
Speaker 1: this game. I'm happy for Sam Donald who just getting
Speaker 1: and then a shot at this NFL thing after a
Speaker 1: horrendous start to his career. And we are it is
Speaker 1: within the realm of reality here that Sam Donald starts
Speaker 1: a home playoff game. Uh, this, this could happen. Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay is not a team to trust. Keep an eye
Speaker 1: on this because the Panthers now and I know that
Speaker 1: it was a disappointing loss last week but against Pittsburgh,
Speaker 1: but to bounce back like this, uh, that is pretty impressive.
Speaker 1: They had five yards in this game, the most ever
Speaker 1: on the coldest day that the history of that stadium.
Speaker 1: I really hope that Steve Wilkes gets a legitimate, real
Speaker 1: chance to continue as coach because I think this is
Speaker 1: one of the better interim runs there's been. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: wonder if they like lost two straight weather it would happen.
Speaker 1: But today it felt like, Man, I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: keep wind up, keeping this job. I did notice Dan Campbell,
Speaker 1: like I thought he blinked at one point there was
Speaker 1: a fourth and one at his own thirty six, and
Speaker 1: they had been moving the ball well and that was
Speaker 1: a play that they've gone for in most situations all year,
Speaker 1: right before halftime, and he decides to pun it away
Speaker 1: and his lousy defense ends up giving up points in
Speaker 1: that situation. Anyway, you didn't see the aggressive call from
Speaker 1: Dan Campbell on and a day they needed to, but
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have mattered. I just and and by the way,
Speaker 1: I do see that golf had a major box score today.
Speaker 1: I was more mentioning that like coming into this game
Speaker 1: it did. It was one question about the Lions because
Speaker 1: they've been so explosive at home that like, can you
Speaker 1: go win on the road in a big spot? You know, well,
Speaker 1: their home next week against the Bears, and then they
Speaker 1: might be on the road week eighteen. That could be
Speaker 1: the Sunday night game in a cold weather situation against
Speaker 1: Green Bay. All is not lost for team over around
Speaker 1: the NFL. They had been on a run here. But
Speaker 1: if you win these last two games, you're probably in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Yes, just that we're gonna stay positive here.
Speaker 1: I don't like giving up ground yards in a game.
Speaker 1: It makes me nervous that they have been exposed in
Speaker 1: a profound way. But we're not gonna happen again. They're
Speaker 1: not going to do that again, not exactly at least. Right.
Speaker 1: All right, let's take a break and we'll row through
Speaker 1: the rest of the games. All right, there is welcome back.
Speaker 1: We have a three team race top the a f
Speaker 1: C trying to get that number one see the all
Speaker 1: important buy and home field advantage throughout the a f
Speaker 1: C playoffs. We know the Bills one, knew the Bengals one.
Speaker 1: How about the Chiefs? Did they keep pace against the Seahawks?
Speaker 1: Kelsey three stands to the left or keeps the ball
Speaker 1: in his right hand, trying to stay alive, eyes for
Speaker 1: the firefront pylon. Did he get it? Did he get it?
Speaker 1: Are they gonna give it to a touchdown? Chance city?
Speaker 1: All precincts, final reporting, And they give it to Mahomes
Speaker 1: on another rushing touchdown, the twelfth of his career. And
Speaker 1: the Chase have broken it open at twenty three to three. Whoa,
Speaker 1: he said, it was just the twelfth rushing touchdown mahomes career.
Speaker 1: That can't be right, Is that right? It feels like
Speaker 1: they all were to win the game though. Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: with Jalen Hurts out with an injury, has a chance here,
Speaker 1: uh to really put the m v P race in
Speaker 1: his favor. And he got it done today, throwing two
Speaker 1: touchdown passes from no interceptions, adding that rushing score that
Speaker 1: you heard, and the Chiefs do take care of business
Speaker 1: and moved to twelve and three with a twenty four
Speaker 1: to ten win over the fading Seahawks. That was Mitch
Speaker 1: Holtess of course, uh for w d a f and
Speaker 1: Greggy yes another is this another case just kind of
Speaker 1: grinding their way through these things? But what did you
Speaker 1: take out of this game that their defense needed to
Speaker 1: step up? I really wanted their defense to show me
Speaker 1: a little something more and they did for the most part.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of stopping the Seahawks on fourth
Speaker 1: downs like in their territory. Because Seattle could not finish drives.
Speaker 1: They turned it over on downs three times and Gino
Speaker 1: through a red zone interceptions. Those four times, they were
Speaker 1: inside the forty with zero points to speak of. But
Speaker 1: Chris Jones was dominant. I think he's second in the
Speaker 1: league in terms of interior pass rushers and pressures. He
Speaker 1: had four quarterback hits. Lagarius Snead was really good against
Speaker 1: DK Metcalf when he was lined up against him, and
Speaker 1: the defense kind of just did what they needed to
Speaker 1: do and waited for the offense to put him away.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get the one seat here if they can
Speaker 1: just win a couple of division games against Denver in Vegas.
Speaker 1: I think that's huge because in the a f C
Speaker 1: in theory, Buffalo Cincinnati, like, you don't to play two
Speaker 1: of those teams. You would only have to play one
Speaker 1: of those teams if you can get the one seed.
Speaker 1: I mean, was this another um miniature. I don't want
Speaker 1: to over emphasize it, but but maybe come down to
Speaker 1: earth or step back for General Smith, because what I
Speaker 1: kept seeing early on was that on key uh fourth
Speaker 1: down plays he was throwing short of the sticks that
Speaker 1: created two turnovers on downs, and they I think they
Speaker 1: had three or four of those situations in Kansas City territory,
Speaker 1: where you know, I know they're compromised. Like Kenneth Walker looked.
Speaker 1: It seemed like you had a better game today, but
Speaker 1: you don't have Tyler Lockett and it's just like they're
Speaker 1: not able to This isn't the same environment that Gino
Speaker 1: Smith was sort of thriving in a month and a
Speaker 1: half ago, two months ago. No, this was one of
Speaker 1: the coldest days in Kansas City. Um, in Arrowhead history too,
Speaker 1: which is maybe why mahomes numbers were pretty low and
Speaker 1: in the eight struggled at some points. But yeah, they
Speaker 1: they're not protecting him. I think Charles crossed. Their tackle
Speaker 1: went out of this game, the Seahawks tackle and Gino
Speaker 1: was getting hit, Gino was missing lock it and you're right,
Speaker 1: they kept throwing it like eight yards on fourth and
Speaker 1: nine and it was killer. Greg Let me get the
Speaker 1: calculator out, help us out, um, because obviously I'm confused
Speaker 1: about it. So the Giants are in great position even
Speaker 1: with the low Still, what is what does the rest
Speaker 1: of this NFC Wild Card field look like right now? Well,
Speaker 1: it's pretty simple. With the Commanders lead, their only half
Speaker 1: a game up on Detroit in Seattle. Seattle's got the
Speaker 1: tiebreaker there, but that that's all they gotta do is
Speaker 1: make up one game in two weeks Commanders Lions, Seahawks,
Speaker 1: maybe the Packers in that next Well there's also the
Speaker 1: fact that if there's if those two get Seattle in
Speaker 1: Detroit get tangled that insane game from earlier in the
Speaker 1: year that Seattle won, they win the head to head
Speaker 1: over Detroit too. Um. If you want a real positive
Speaker 1: sign for the Chiefs, that's the first time in ten games,
Speaker 1: uh this season that the Chiefs did not commit a turnover.
Speaker 1: That's kind of been a little bit of an issue
Speaker 1: for him this year. So cleaner football, Harrison Butker cleaned
Speaker 1: things up. He's been off this season. So we'll see
Speaker 1: where they're at as we finish out the regular season.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Andy Reid um on Christmas Eve
Speaker 1: was given a gift by his team in the locker room.
Speaker 1: Uh listening, thank you, hey, you all get a gift
Speaker 1: as great as this. Cheeseburger is a paradise. So the
Speaker 1: game a wrapped gift and it was a cheeseburger in
Speaker 1: the box. Uh and uh because he's like cheeseburgers, because
Speaker 1: he's Andy Reid. Do you what percentage of the locker room, Mark,
Speaker 1: do you think got the Cheeseburgers and Paradise callback to
Speaker 1: Jimmy Buffett like ninety seven? I think it still gets
Speaker 1: played pretty widely at you know, pubs and things like that.
Speaker 1: I think you could still have heard it in college
Speaker 1: and various um, you know pubs and taverns maybe, But
Speaker 1: I'm with you that it's it's an Andy Reid reference.
Speaker 1: It's dated. Andy Reid was probably talking about it, you know,
Speaker 1: thirty years ago, so uh, yeah, you're aging yourself something.
Speaker 1: One little takeaway was if you go back earlier in
Speaker 1: that interview, when they gave him the box, they wrapped
Speaker 1: it and everything. He shook it violently and so I
Speaker 1: was like, we knew it was a cheeseburger. I'm like,
Speaker 1: that thing is going to be an absolute tatters when
Speaker 1: he ultimately opens the the packaging and it was completely fine.
Speaker 1: So it's like someone must have speared it um from
Speaker 1: head to toe so that it wouldn't get you know, ramshackled.
Speaker 1: It was a class experience scenario. That's a good giving.
Speaker 1: Great work. Great work by Javis Kelsey there spearing the burger.
Speaker 1: Great work by Mark noticing that and then commenting on
Speaker 1: the podcast. Well, let's move to Baltimore, where it was
Speaker 1: also very cold. Man, it's nice living in southern California.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's seventy three degrees today in Colborn, No Joe
Speaker 1: watched the games outside hotly off of the shotgun in
Speaker 1: the empty backfield, lobs in the back of the end
Speaker 1: zone looking for DeMarcus Robinson. He makes the catch, touch
Speaker 1: down Ravens and the red zone drought is over. A
Speaker 1: terrific touchpath from Tyler Huntley to DeMarcus Robinson and a
Speaker 1: back side of the end zone. This crowd is happy
Speaker 1: for the first time this afternoon. Hey, it hasn't been
Speaker 1: easy for the Baltimore Ravens on offense for a while now.
Speaker 1: Uh and it wasn't easy again, but they did get
Speaker 1: it done. Jerry Sandusky with the call w b a
Speaker 1: l Tyler Huntley through first half touchdown pass too to
Speaker 1: Marcus Robinson. The Ravens defense did their job, kept the
Speaker 1: Falcons and Desmond Ritter out of the end zone. Final
Speaker 1: score seventeen to nine, ten wins mark for the Ravens.
Speaker 1: They're going to the dance and m another game without
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson, but they want two of the three without him. Now,
Speaker 1: I mean this would be another team i'd point to
Speaker 1: where the defense could quiet be like, excuse me, um attack,
Speaker 1: please start to operate on in somewhat functional level. I
Speaker 1: mean they're just getting by. Like before that to Marcus
Speaker 1: Robinson touchdown, they ran the ball eleven times. They really
Speaker 1: are very one dimensional. We I think we know that
Speaker 1: about them. Outside of Mark Andrews, you're getting like guys
Speaker 1: with fourteen yards on the entire day. They just don't
Speaker 1: have anything there right now with Duverney also out in
Speaker 1: Rachad Bateman. But it was their defense. Their defense is
Speaker 1: marvelous and it kind of makes you think, like you
Speaker 1: if they if they're gonna win an ugly clayoff game,
Speaker 1: you could do it with this defensive thing. Alright. I
Speaker 1: wish I had not used that word, but like they
Speaker 1: basically clipped. They clipped the Falcon. This looked like also,
Speaker 1: I feel like nine pc of Falcons games are exactly
Speaker 1: the same um in the sense that they just don't
Speaker 1: quite get it done. On offense. They had four drives
Speaker 1: inside the Baltimore twenty that resulted in three field goals
Speaker 1: and a loss on downs and and you know it
Speaker 1: was just little moments where Tyler Algio, we know he's
Speaker 1: been great, he's my guy, but he was stuffed on
Speaker 1: fourth and goal was six minutes to go, yes, and
Speaker 1: like he just um that. That to me felt like
Speaker 1: the game was over. I mean there was a they
Speaker 1: have even got the ball back again and they were down,
Speaker 1: you know, seventeen seven or seventeen to six. And Desmond Ritter,
Speaker 1: you know, second game, got his handoff messed up in
Speaker 1: kind of clipped Algiers. He was running on a fourth,
Speaker 1: second and goal situation that just led to another field.
Speaker 1: They just could not punch in touchdowns against a very
Speaker 1: good Ravens defense. While the Ravens offense they can run
Speaker 1: the ball and do very little else. And so this
Speaker 1: game felt exactly what you thought it would be in
Speaker 1: this in this weather. I mean, they're in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: This was a huge win for them, especially they were
Speaker 1: very vulnerable Greggy. If they would have lost this game,
Speaker 1: things would have getten very walky. So good for them,
Speaker 1: and they turn uninspiring playoff entry right now though, I mean,
Speaker 1: I I hear you, but to me, you throw Lamar
Speaker 1: back in there, and it's a different world. I know,
Speaker 1: their offense had struggled with him. But I just mean
Speaker 1: in a playoff situation. Let's say right now, the playoff
Speaker 1: matchup would be them, uh spoiler alert at Jacksonville at
Speaker 1: the a f C South Champion. And if you're the
Speaker 1: you're the Ravens, You're like, okay, we can party with that.
Speaker 1: But you're right there there, feel like they're back in.
Speaker 1: Here's here. Out of their last six games, here are
Speaker 1: five of the scores thirteen three, ten nine, sixteen four three, thirteen,
Speaker 1: seventeen nine. But these are just like these are boring.
Speaker 1: Next sixteen four that can't be right, sixteen fourteen, sixteen fourteen, Yeah,
Speaker 1: against the Steelers four would have been fun. Sammy Watkins
Speaker 1: had a forty yard catch in this. I'll, i'll, I
Speaker 1: think I was killing them on Thursday show. So the
Speaker 1: whole marvelous things. Sometimes, if you like the Ravens, Stephen
Speaker 1: gets gets a pass and we forget about some of
Speaker 1: those marvelous meltdowns they've had this season. I'd like to
Speaker 1: see them in a big spot down the stretch and
Speaker 1: maybe in January playoff where they need to get a
Speaker 1: stop and get it done. But in general, they have
Speaker 1: if this defense hasn't been as good as it's been
Speaker 1: for most of the season. Their five and tenants at
Speaker 1: a tenant five, that's how kind of off this offense
Speaker 1: has been for much of the year. So what they've
Speaker 1: given up over twenty points once since early November, and
Speaker 1: even going back then it was just low twenties. I
Speaker 1: think that Roe Kwan Smith is another trade like t J. Hawkins,
Speaker 1: and some of these teams have made good trades like
Speaker 1: Roquan Smith was a transformative addition for them. All right.
Speaker 1: And by the way, bye bye Falcons. Holy God, you
Speaker 1: are eliminated. And I am so happy because for two
Speaker 1: years straight you've been an annoying, boring team that just
Speaker 1: gets in the way. And now we don't have to
Speaker 1: think about you anymore. Go figure out who your quarterback
Speaker 1: is and all that other good stuff. We'll see in September.
Speaker 1: Let's move on whatever. Sometimes sometimes you just gotta say
Speaker 1: goodbye to a team, you know what I'm saying, Mark Sessler. Sometimes,
Speaker 1: just like later I do, I think we've run out
Speaker 1: of um enthusiasm for that operation. It's just getting out
Speaker 1: of some of these NFC South teams. By Cleveland, Let's
Speaker 1: keep doing it, all right, Cleveland let's go, let's go.
Speaker 1: It's Christmas Eve four to throw Saints Rush three. Watson standing,
Speaker 1: He'll pull it down, He'll run and that is gonna
Speaker 1: be it called. Granderson wraps him up at the twenty
Speaker 1: five yard line for the sack, says Defense answer the call.
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas. I love that Ranking and Bass Rudolph Special.
Speaker 1: Obviously it's iconic, but I've watched every year for forty
Speaker 1: years or whatever. I don't know if it's just the
Speaker 1: changing times, but it's it's getting more and more cruel
Speaker 1: to Rudolf. Everyone treats Rudolph like a pos in that special,
Speaker 1: including Santa himself. Well, it's it's unfair because I mean,
Speaker 1: in general, Rudolph has a pretty heroic resume of saving
Speaker 1: the holiday once or twice, So I don't know why
Speaker 1: you need to be dumping on him. I think it's jealousy. Jealousy,
Speaker 1: I think. And there's an arc obviously to Rudolph. Pays
Speaker 1: pays off for him in the in the special itself,
Speaker 1: but I think some people have the look in the
Speaker 1: mirror um after that adventure. Um, all right, so my
Speaker 1: cost w W. L Al Mukamara taysom Hill bolts score
Speaker 1: and the Saints um make a stop late to get
Speaker 1: a seventeen ten win over the Browns, and just like
Speaker 1: the Falcons later Brownies Leygown, they're also eliminated from contention.
Speaker 1: Mark a game that they had a lead here, didn't
Speaker 1: they They had a tend nothing lead. And we're talking
Speaker 1: about the third coldest game in the history of Cleveland football,
Speaker 1: and you're playing a team from New Orleans that operates
Speaker 1: inside a dome and who was tougher down the stretch
Speaker 1: the Saints were. I mean in the Saints defense, it's
Speaker 1: been really hot and cold. So I look at this
Speaker 1: and I think this is one where you know, this
Speaker 1: assumption that Kevin Stefanski um escapes unhindered from this year's disaster.
Speaker 1: I repointed to possessions, the final two possessions for Cleveland.
Speaker 1: That it's seventeen ten in the fourth quarter, with about
Speaker 1: six minutes left, and they have Watson throw the ball
Speaker 1: on essentially second in two and third and two, and
Speaker 1: they're both in completions from Watson, just another up show
Speaker 1: of disjointed nous inside the attack. They get the ball again,
Speaker 1: al Right, it is second and ten and third and
Speaker 1: ten from the New Orleans fifteen. And then this time
Speaker 1: Watson hits Donovan People's Jones catchuble ball, David da Joko
Speaker 1: catchuble ball. Both are dropped. This is happening to Cleveland
Speaker 1: kind of week after week. And on fourth and ten,
Speaker 1: completely out of his head, Watson is tossed to the ground.
Speaker 1: The game is over. He had sixty two yards passing
Speaker 1: in the first half. If I'm not mistaken, you of
Speaker 1: the worst passerrating of his entire career in this game. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's like he also does a couple of things where
Speaker 1: you like, I can see the old Shawn Watson just
Speaker 1: for a minute or two here. But this game is
Speaker 1: all about the fact that the Saints decided, they even
Speaker 1: reported this before the game. I don't know why this
Speaker 1: would get to the press, but that this was going
Speaker 1: to be a Taysom Hill game. They're just gonna lean
Speaker 1: on him big time. And that's sort of exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: I think it's like eight of their yards in the
Speaker 1: first half somewhere around there. And it was not a
Speaker 1: spl s in this situation by the Saints offense on
Speaker 1: any level, but they got enough done. And then and
Speaker 1: you're playing a Brown's offense that looks way worse than
Speaker 1: it did a month ago. Hundred and ten yards from
Speaker 1: scrimmage from Camara. Camarra has had a couple of manly
Speaker 1: games here in a in a day where the Saints
Speaker 1: only had to forty four. This was the coldest game
Speaker 1: in Saints history, uh, which isn't a huge surprise. And
Speaker 1: of all the cold games here this week, this was
Speaker 1: the coldest. So the passing game numbers, uh, they're not
Speaker 1: surprisingly low. But this game, which I watched the end of,
Speaker 1: there was no one in the crowd Dan. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't blame I don't blame him, but it was
Speaker 1: so called that there had to have been less than
Speaker 1: five thousand fans there, I would guess by the end
Speaker 1: of that. But I want to know about those five thousand,
Speaker 1: right there are all of them going to be literally frozen.
Speaker 1: I mean, how do you not how do you not
Speaker 1: take the names and numbers of every fan that went
Speaker 1: to this game and send them a Rolex or something,
Speaker 1: because they are the die hard of the die hard.
Speaker 1: If you're one of those fans that are listening to
Speaker 1: this game, wherever you were in these sub zero temperatures,
Speaker 1: I have so much respect for you, but I'm also
Speaker 1: wondering what's going on in the bigger picture of your life.
Speaker 1: Saints are still alive for for one more week. They
Speaker 1: got some bad luck when the Eagles lost that game.
Speaker 1: That means the Eagles will be playing next week. Their
Speaker 1: starters and and have a lot to play for, assuming
Speaker 1: against the Saints, and they could knock out the Saints then.
Speaker 1: But the Saints uh stay alive for one more week.
Speaker 1: And it was sorry not to think about how they
Speaker 1: had swung and miss for Deshaun Watson. They really thought
Speaker 1: they had Watson and they didn't get them and then
Speaker 1: they end up ending in season. Right, And yes, if
Speaker 1: the Bucks lose tomorrow, they're playing tomorrow, right, Yes, they're
Speaker 1: playing the Arizona Cardinals in primetime tomorrow. Three way tie
Speaker 1: at six and nine. Nice, let's move, it's Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1: Let's move, let's move, let's move. Let's move up next,
Speaker 1: A blast, blast, We got one more? Is this it?
Speaker 1: Let's go to Nashville where it was cold as hell
Speaker 1: there to two o'clock start. What Davis gets the snap
Speaker 1: looking stepping to his left, Nills throwing to the end zone,
Speaker 1: caught by Brandad Cooks. Touchdown, Houston. Flag is down, but
Speaker 1: the Texans take the lead and this should stand as
Speaker 1: a touchdown. Their hands to the phase defense number two
Speaker 1: that could at least the time was all the players
Speaker 1: touchdown and the Texans have the lead nineteen fourteen to
Speaker 1: fifty two to go on the fourth and they're gonna
Speaker 1: go for two right here. That is a man that
Speaker 1: I don't think we've heard this year, Mark vandermere K.
Speaker 1: I l t maybe once we heard him. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: heard him once and now twice, you know, justin um
Speaker 1: and good for the Texans. But let's get the sad
Speaker 1: hard knocks music on because let's because you just gotta
Speaker 1: be by the Texans at home. Which said was going
Speaker 1: to happen on our preview show, I said, we all said,
Speaker 1: we all said it. It felt like it could happen,
Speaker 1: and it did. Davis Mills through a six yard touchdown
Speaker 1: past the Brandon Cooks Yes, with two fifty two to play,
Speaker 1: the Texans snap a nine game losing streak by beating
Speaker 1: the Titans NTO. As I said, this game was delayed
Speaker 1: because of power grid issues connected to this vicious cold
Speaker 1: snap across the country really in many parts except for here,
Speaker 1: where it was seventy three and Sonny Um, but grave digger,
Speaker 1: you got one in a touch from Henry. But that's
Speaker 1: a little misleading to Well, it's interesting. This is the
Speaker 1: third straight game that Henry has gone over a hundred
Speaker 1: yards and the Titans have failed to score more than
Speaker 1: twenty points. They I guess they got to twenty one
Speaker 1: barely on a garbage time touchdown. Um. But yeah, you usually,
Speaker 1: you know, common knowledge would say if the Titans can
Speaker 1: run the ball, well, if Henry successful, then their offense
Speaker 1: is successful. But it just hasn't been the case. They
Speaker 1: cannot drop back to pass without giving up just crazy
Speaker 1: numbers of sacks and with Malik Willis under center. Plus
Speaker 1: the Titans are one of the most injured teams. Honestly, like,
Speaker 1: good for Houston. I'm glad they gotta win. I'm happy
Speaker 1: for Lovey Smith. This Titan season feels like a lost
Speaker 1: season with all the injuries that have happened. And I'm
Speaker 1: not even like super upset because I kind of accepted
Speaker 1: it a couple of weeks ago. Yikes, Well, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to watch them play the Jaguars in Week eight
Speaker 1: teen with a division online, So I don't care how
Speaker 1: much you've accepted it. That's gonna be a big spot
Speaker 1: for a playoff spot no matter what happens next week,
Speaker 1: in week seventeen, with Malik Willis starting, and you know,
Speaker 1: if we're trying to evaluate, is Milik Willis a franchise
Speaker 1: quarterback or whatever. He's now started three games. He's appeared
Speaker 1: in seven games total. He's thirty one for sixty one
Speaker 1: on the season, which is fifty point eight percent for
Speaker 1: just two hundred and seventy six yards. That's four point
Speaker 1: five yards per attempt, zero touchdown passes, three interceptions, and
Speaker 1: the one thing that we thought he could do really
Speaker 1: well no matter what, run the ball, he only has.
Speaker 1: I mean, he has twenty seven carries for only a
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty three yards and he scored us for
Speaker 1: touchdown today. He honestly hasn't looked like that great of
Speaker 1: a runner outside of that nice touchdown run today. And
Speaker 1: you know, he looked pretty good as a runner in
Speaker 1: the preseason, but he hasn't shown it in the NFL.
Speaker 1: And I know his supporting cast is so banged up,
Speaker 1: and his like best receiver as a rookie in trailing
Speaker 1: Burke's and he was down three starting offensive linemen today.
Speaker 1: But I don't know. He doesn't really like the guy,
Speaker 1: absolutely brutal. I I can't, I can't believe it happened.
Speaker 1: But as you pointed out when we were texting back
Speaker 1: and forth justin earlier today, you know, in addition to
Speaker 1: a lot of band losses, these injuries and the roster
Speaker 1: wasn't deep enough to handle it this year, and they
Speaker 1: just have went into a tail spin. And what I
Speaker 1: was saying about Henry, yes, he didn't have the two
Speaker 1: dred yard game like he always has against Houston. He
Speaker 1: had one twenty six, but outside the forty eight yard
Speaker 1: touchdown run, he was held to three and a half
Speaker 1: yards per carry. So the running game was on balance. Uh,
Speaker 1: not great. The passing game is horrendous, and they didn't
Speaker 1: get enough stops on defense. Good for Levy Smith, like
Speaker 1: you said, they have played the Howboys, Chiefs and Titans
Speaker 1: down to the wire. Here they now they get another win.
Speaker 1: Lovey can make a case here if they finished strong
Speaker 1: like I got. These guys playing hard. Now give me
Speaker 1: some better players, give me another year. We shall see.
Speaker 1: They've been a well coached team for like a month
Speaker 1: plus and and frankly, like I I've been on Mike
Speaker 1: Rebel all year, longest coach of the year. Not the
Speaker 1: case now, I like, justin, I don't know if this
Speaker 1: is like my thing is when I'm watching Tennessee in
Speaker 1: the way that Houston just ripped down the field on
Speaker 1: that five play touchdown drive to take the lead. I
Speaker 1: know they didn't get the two point conversion. It's like,
Speaker 1: I know they're banged up. All sorts of teams are
Speaker 1: banged up. It's been worse for Tennessee. But I don't
Speaker 1: see a team that like has the same identity they
Speaker 1: had six weeks ago. And I don't know, um if
Speaker 1: it's ever coming back because the general manager that crafted
Speaker 1: that that was his entire vision has essentially been told,
Speaker 1: we don't want your vision. You're out of here. You
Speaker 1: have no idea what's gonna happen with Ryan Tannehill. The
Speaker 1: team could look completely different. They need to restock on offense,
Speaker 1: like this could be a completely different looking offense than
Speaker 1: the one that we've been used to for three or
Speaker 1: four years. I hope, so it needs to be. At
Speaker 1: this point, this version of the Titans has run its course.
Speaker 1: Henry is only going to be another year older next year.
Speaker 1: Tannehill has no guaranteed money on his contract next year,
Speaker 1: and the Texans get a win and maintain the top
Speaker 1: pick in the draft, which is kind of nice for them.
Speaker 1: I guess here's the good news. Justin. It's Christmas. That's Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's the queue for the Christmas music. Um, we're going
Speaker 1: to sign off. Now. We have one more game that's
Speaker 1: being played tonight, Las Vegas at Pittsburgh. Um, Mark, you
Speaker 1: locked up the Steelers. Yes, Greg did not come clean
Speaker 1: with us or the audience that he had locked up
Speaker 1: the team of a T and it took the loss.
Speaker 1: So I mean did not come to graver I forgot.
Speaker 1: I mean I didn't believe. I believe you hit it
Speaker 1: from the audience. That's the host job. Well I did.
Speaker 1: I brought it like Woodward and Bernstein. I had to
Speaker 1: bring it up from deep with It was my gift.
Speaker 1: It was my gift to you to justin to Mark,
Speaker 1: let everyone back into the competition. You just paralleled yourself
Speaker 1: to the two men that broke Watergate. Essentially, I don't
Speaker 1: get the I don't I compared myself to Santa, one
Speaker 1: of the great men out there. Well, you both have issues.
Speaker 1: I have to say this, Um, everyone, it really doesn't
Speaker 1: matter what you celebrate. Have a great holiday, um, have
Speaker 1: a great weekend. Um, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah. One are
Speaker 1: the holidays we've got going on, all of them. Celebrate
Speaker 1: it with your families. Thank you everybody for listening. We'll
Speaker 1: be back on Monday with two shows, a recap of
Speaker 1: the remaining games ahead of Monday Night Football and then
Speaker 1: Greg's m n F recap with a great Jordan Rodrick. Wow,
Speaker 1: that's a big Monday. Thank you everybody for listening, and
Speaker 1: you boys have a merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. To Merry
Speaker 1: Christmas to both and to all listen. Justin Graver, I
Speaker 1: love everybody. Happy Exsimus war is over. Heed the call.
Speaker 1: Now that's it. Now, it's now it's time to begin Christmas.
Speaker 1: Were allowed to use this music? I don't know, probably not.
Speaker 1: Don't tell any shadowy league figures, uh Sydney. That is
Speaker 1: it for the Christmas Eve edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast. Thank you to everyone who if you're watching
Speaker 1: on periscope, that's a good job by you. Hap hoday
Speaker 1: across the globe. Yes, so thank you very much for listening.
Speaker 1: Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Greg, Happy Hanaka and uh we
Speaker 1: will see you on Tuesday. Until then, the Stand Hanson
Speaker 1: signing off for a quiet storm, The Mailman, the Boss,
Speaker 1: and new money behind the glass.