Speaker 1: The Around the NFL podcast. The season's feel longer and longer.
Speaker 1: They do because they are from the Chris Westling podcast studio.
Speaker 1: It's Around the NFL. Um Dan Hansas Heroes here, Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, what is up? Men? Yeah, this used to
Speaker 1: be the last week of the season. Now it's the
Speaker 1: second to last. Our calendars are off. But there. I
Speaker 1: heard a theory this week that I like that the
Speaker 1: second to last week of the season's the best week
Speaker 1: of the season. It's when the most things are decided.
Speaker 1: I have something from the research and notes, Mark, I'll
Speaker 1: tee you up on this. Despite Bill's Bengals being the
Speaker 1: only game where both teams are currently in playoff position,
Speaker 1: fifteen of six team games have direct playoff implications where
Speaker 1: at least one team can still make the playoffs, win
Speaker 1: a division title, earn a higher seed, or clinch a
Speaker 1: playoff by but has not done so yet. Arizona Atlanta
Speaker 1: is the only game that does not qualify. I think
Speaker 1: there is a tangible difference from when we started this show,
Speaker 1: and I mean, obviously this is what the league wanted.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that this is like the exact thing
Speaker 1: they wanted, where a lot of these teams are alive
Speaker 1: because there aren't Titanic kind of dynasties hanging out there
Speaker 1: at this point. But in the past, we would have
Speaker 1: four or five games in a week like this where
Speaker 1: both sides were sort of trash bag operations, and that's
Speaker 1: just not the case with any one of these games.
Speaker 1: But one well said Mark, and I feel like some
Speaker 1: of these teams, like remember when you're a kid and
Speaker 1: you have like, um, someone sleeps over at your house,
Speaker 1: like a during a Christmas break or something, and they
Speaker 1: stay like yeah, sleep and they stay like a eight
Speaker 1: hours too long, and you're kind of like, let's get
Speaker 1: this guy out of here. It's like Denver broncos you're
Speaker 1: still in my living room eating my food. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: like um. And then the kid is like, hey, why
Speaker 1: don't we do another sleepover? Like I know, how about
Speaker 1: you get your mom over here? Friendships? Fine, Yeah, we
Speaker 1: just need a little let's refresh, let's breathe a little bit.
Speaker 1: Should we get into the games before talking about Greg
Speaker 1: Rosenthal's jobs. In mock Turtleneck, it's riding a little high
Speaker 1: right up there? Is that a mock turtleneck, a mock
Speaker 1: turtle elect could be any different than a mock turtle.
Speaker 1: Neck is a little higher on the neck than typical.
Speaker 1: It's like bunching up or something. Yeah, I mean it's
Speaker 1: that time of years. I feel like he's going to
Speaker 1: have really deep, incisive iconoclass takes based on the fashion selection.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have regrets about being a bad dad to
Speaker 1: like my first child. Damn Steve Jobs taking fire. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get to it, as we always do, we start
Speaker 1: with the primetime games before we get to our draft.
Speaker 1: First up, Sunday Night Football. Pittsburgh Steelers seven and eight,
Speaker 1: but not your typical seven and eight. They are a
Speaker 1: seven and eight team feeling itself right now, and they
Speaker 1: go to Baltimore to get the Ravens here ten and five.
Speaker 1: Ravens have clinched a playoff spot. Um, they're still trying
Speaker 1: to win the a f C North, so they have
Speaker 1: a lot to play for here. But regg it is
Speaker 1: the Steelers that have been coming on in recent weeks,
Speaker 1: and this feels like it's going to be a close game,
Speaker 1: doesn't it. I think so. It was just a month
Speaker 1: ago when these two teams played with a sixteen fourteen.
Speaker 1: That was the game where Kenny Pickett started immediately got
Speaker 1: ragged aled by I think it was Roquan Smith in
Speaker 1: that game. Mitch Drabinsky comes in, moves the ball really
Speaker 1: well in that game, but couldn't finish drives. And I
Speaker 1: expect this to be a similar game where it's sixteen
Speaker 1: to fourteen pickets back in there, and to me, pickets
Speaker 1: ceilings a little lower than Drabinsky, but his floor is higher.
Speaker 1: And it's gonna be hard for either of these teams
Speaker 1: to run the ball. This is the number one and
Speaker 1: two run defense in the league since Week tens, There's
Speaker 1: and Ravens, so even though they've both been running well,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough in this game. And I feel
Speaker 1: like the team that can run and ends up winning. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean you mentioned Roquan Smith, and it's like some
Speaker 1: of these trades they go to teams and they vanished,
Speaker 1: and the Bears wanted to move him. Uh, the Ravens
Speaker 1: were the perfect landing spot. Like since he joined the team.
Speaker 1: The only team, the only defense to allow fewer yards
Speaker 1: per game than the Ravens are these Steelers, who have
Speaker 1: allowed seventeen or fewer points in five straight So I
Speaker 1: kind of feel like you're looking at one of these
Speaker 1: classic fill in the blanks seventeen to thirteen type affairs
Speaker 1: where neither team is exploded. Keep getting these in prime time,
Speaker 1: like to do not expect points here, Like we thought
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson would be back for this game, but as
Speaker 1: of this taping, he hasn't been back at practice. And
Speaker 1: just when you thought the Ravens maybe we're getting like
Speaker 1: a little healthier, here are the three players that might
Speaker 1: be out for the Ravens that matter, Lamar Jackson, Clais
Speaker 1: Campbell and Marcus Peters, three of their absolute most valuable players,
Speaker 1: including of course they're their best. Yeah, and the Lamar
Speaker 1: thing is now something to keep an eye on um
Speaker 1: in a in a different way because initially the idea
Speaker 1: was he'll probably be back on Christmas Eve, okay, And
Speaker 1: now a week after that he's still uh trending to
Speaker 1: be out and you just wonder if that knee injury,
Speaker 1: uh either he's had a setback or it's just not
Speaker 1: responding in the way they thought. And you know this
Speaker 1: team and it's a sprain pcl he's got. You know,
Speaker 1: this team's go nowhere without Lamar Jackson. And here's the
Speaker 1: thing about the Ravens and and mark you off and
Speaker 1: get on. The Packers is a team that annoys you
Speaker 1: and you just want to go away. Baltimore doesn't do
Speaker 1: much for me this season. They are not doing much
Speaker 1: for me. And I understand in the a f C
Speaker 1: that they are they should be taken seriously because of
Speaker 1: their ability to run the football and their defense and
Speaker 1: their pedigree. But I mean, when's the last time you
Speaker 1: watched the Ravens game and you felt like alive? I
Speaker 1: think even even it's just like even when Lamar Jackson
Speaker 1: was in the line, That's what I mean. It's like
Speaker 1: it's been going on. I mean, you have to go
Speaker 1: back to early September when the Ravens felt to me
Speaker 1: like a watchable fun operation, and I don't see it
Speaker 1: changing right now. You're bringing in Sammy Watkins off the
Speaker 1: street and then he starts for you five days later
Speaker 1: at receivers had one. Yeah, But but I'm with you,
Speaker 1: like their their weapons poor, they're they're like they were.
Speaker 1: They were celebrated for zigging when everyone else was zagging.
Speaker 1: We're gonna be a ground based attack, but it's like
Speaker 1: you're gonna have You're gonna run into a wall, at
Speaker 1: some point we gotta way out of it. I'm with
Speaker 1: you there, like there's nothing in the in the cupboard
Speaker 1: outside and steel is a the same way. I don't
Speaker 1: find the Steelers to be a fun team to watch
Speaker 1: at all. Sealess Steelers, you can see the beginnings of
Speaker 1: an offense growing. Well, that's what I'm saying. They're in
Speaker 1: a different place in their organizational and their development. And
Speaker 1: and you saw what the late drive picket led uh
Speaker 1: to George Pickens in that dramatic Frank o'harris game. Um
Speaker 1: that they're they're buildings towards something. They have a lot
Speaker 1: of momentum at this point. They're not knocked out of
Speaker 1: the playoffs, although because this game is on Sunday night,
Speaker 1: they could be by then. They have a three percent
Speaker 1: chance according to five thirty eight, and they need with
Speaker 1: the Dolphins beat the Patriots, check your later, Steelers, but
Speaker 1: I still think they can do this thing where Mike
Speaker 1: Tomlin does not wind up with a losing record, because
Speaker 1: it's the most Pittsburgh issh thing ever to have that
Speaker 1: be a fringe e likelihood all season long. And then
Speaker 1: they kind of sweep down the stretch and finish nine
Speaker 1: and eight. I would be a great test test for Pickett.
Speaker 1: I know you're a little dubious about this Ravens defense.
Speaker 1: To me, they were a top five defense in the
Speaker 1: NFL right now, So whether they're in the play off
Speaker 1: mix or not, this is a great test for an
Speaker 1: offense that really has been a lot better. Even though
Speaker 1: it hasn't been all passing, They've been a top ten
Speaker 1: offense in terms of efficiency since there bye week. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move to Monday night football. Oh, Joe, Joe Buck
Speaker 1: and Troy Aigman deserve this. It could be the game
Speaker 1: of the year Bills at Bengals. The number one seed
Speaker 1: in the a f C could be on the line,
Speaker 1: The a f C North could be on the line,
Speaker 1: and you could be looking at an a f C
Speaker 1: championship preview. This is just gorgeous, and I love that
Speaker 1: it's on Monday night. Um, we've talked about it. I
Speaker 1: don't know if we talked about it on the ara
Speaker 1: off that we all love bucking Aigman. What a great team,
Speaker 1: and he kind of missed them on those Sunday Late
Speaker 1: Fox games where so much was on the line. Sometimes
Speaker 1: these Monday night games don't carry as much heat now
Speaker 1: that they've moved over and took the money. This is
Speaker 1: perfectly syncd up. You have the right teams, you have
Speaker 1: the right announcing team. You're gonna have a huge audience.
Speaker 1: They're gonna do, as Mike Francesco say, a huge number,
Speaker 1: the huge number on ESPN. The Manning cast is gonna
Speaker 1: do a huge number if they're doing that, and it's
Speaker 1: just gonna be so fun. The question to me is
Speaker 1: this Josh Allen versus Joe Burrow showdown, who is gonna
Speaker 1: come out on top? Because I would not be surprised.
Speaker 1: I know this could benefit the Chiefs more and they
Speaker 1: could end up getting the number one seed, but I
Speaker 1: love to see the winner of this game get the
Speaker 1: one seed and be rewarded for such a clutch step
Speaker 1: up in this spot. Well, I think the Bills get
Speaker 1: the one seed if they win this game because I
Speaker 1: think they take care of business Week eighteen against the Patriots,
Speaker 1: so it's massive for them. And you mentioned Mark like
Speaker 1: the NFL wouldn't like see all these trash bag teams
Speaker 1: in the middle. That's not the perfect way to get
Speaker 1: parody there. There's not great teams because is like trending
Speaker 1: towards Mr Irrelevant and the disrespect he I threw the
Speaker 1: word trash. But when you kind of take a step
Speaker 1: back and you look at it, the three teams in
Speaker 1: the a f C who are the best teams at
Speaker 1: the end of last year, who are led by the
Speaker 1: three best quarterbacks in the league, that I would take
Speaker 1: to start a franchise with, all have fantastic records, are
Speaker 1: all here at the end on long winning streaks and
Speaker 1: are playing great, and they're probably gonna play each other
Speaker 1: and around Robin here. If this game goes the Bengals way,
Speaker 1: you could see a rematch in the divisional round and
Speaker 1: this game would be just to have home field. I
Speaker 1: have a hard time picking between Josh Allen and Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow right now because you think it's Burrow who's a
Speaker 1: little more consistent. But Josh Allen's running is so incredible.
Speaker 1: He's averaging six point five yards per carry. That's more
Speaker 1: than the average last year when he led the league
Speaker 1: in yards per carry. He has seven forty six yards
Speaker 1: on the ground, but almost all of them are for
Speaker 1: first downs. Like his percentage of first downs is just outrageous.
Speaker 1: He's fourth overall, I think in quarterback rushing, but like
Speaker 1: they haven't had a game under a hundred yards on
Speaker 1: the ground the Bills since last season, So overall, their
Speaker 1: running game is really getting going. And I think that's
Speaker 1: where they could attack in two and fifty four yards
Speaker 1: a week ago. Um only a small chunk of that
Speaker 1: came from Josh Allen, which is a good sign because
Speaker 1: they needed that balance and they're getting Devin Singletary. You're like,
Speaker 1: I like that. I like that. That's there. That's the
Speaker 1: most yards I have in the grounds sixteen. I think
Speaker 1: it makes up and it mass over and it does
Speaker 1: cover up to some degree an uptick and Josh Allen
Speaker 1: turnover worthy throws. It's not just the interceptions, Like if
Speaker 1: you go back and watch these games, there's a couple
Speaker 1: of things happening to Josh Allen within each of these
Speaker 1: affairs where like, wait a minute, that could have easily
Speaker 1: been three or four interceptions, and that that is the
Speaker 1: kind of thing in this because they when you're playing Chicago,
Speaker 1: you can overcome that, and like Josh Allen still does
Speaker 1: these other things. You're like, I kind of don't care
Speaker 1: about the turnover worthy plays because of what what Josh
Speaker 1: Allen does and Alan s ways that like no one
Speaker 1: else can do. But I just look at the Bills
Speaker 1: as a team, like, all right, you're not gonna have
Speaker 1: the wiggle room against Cincinnati. You're not gonna have it
Speaker 1: in this round robin with the Chiefs and playing Cincinnati
Speaker 1: potentially again. Like, do we get a pristine for a
Speaker 1: more pristine version of Josh Allen down the stretch because
Speaker 1: this has been happening, whether it's fumbles or picks, week
Speaker 1: after week. And to his credit, he only has one
Speaker 1: interception in the last five games before last week. But
Speaker 1: to your point, he had two against Chicago, another end
Speaker 1: zone pick, which is that's been weird. That's a lot
Speaker 1: of his interceptions have been in or near the end
Speaker 1: zone and he could have thrown two more in that game.
Speaker 1: He could have four interceptions in that game. And then
Speaker 1: we're talking about this game in a different reframed way
Speaker 1: about what's wrong with Josh Allen after that Chicago game.
Speaker 1: We're not, though, that's not how it works. I think
Speaker 1: he'll be okay, but I think that he will. I
Speaker 1: think there will be a play that he makes that
Speaker 1: gives Cincinnati an opportunity to get it done. Do we
Speaker 1: do we take anything out of the Bengals game last week,
Speaker 1: which was even weirder when they were up twenty two
Speaker 1: nothing at the half against New England and then needed
Speaker 1: a Romandre Stevenson fumble to hang on. I I don't
Speaker 1: really the weather was not nice either, but I take
Speaker 1: away as Burrow pitched a perfect game for two and
Speaker 1: a half quarters there. When he is at his best,
Speaker 1: he is playing as well or better than any quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league. Like I have are time coming up
Speaker 1: with like they you have to do ranking the five guys.
Speaker 1: I don't actually have an m v P vote, but like,
Speaker 1: who would you put ahead of one another? Alan versus Burrow?
Speaker 1: To me, that's a tough conversation. And I love that
Speaker 1: they're going up against each other. I love that Cincinnati
Speaker 1: has had a better offensive line this year. But suddenly
Speaker 1: you lose Lyle Collins now for the season and adenta
Speaker 1: je is in there at right tackle. We spent like
Speaker 1: all of last winter discussing he was the reason why
Speaker 1: they struggled to protect and in this game against the
Speaker 1: Patriots that wasn't change. They absolutely got a ton of
Speaker 1: pressure on Adentajy specifically, and the Bills aren't the same
Speaker 1: without von Miller, but they still have been getting a
Speaker 1: lot of sacks without him. The adentagy thing is the reason.
Speaker 1: I think that obviously sparked their offseason buying spree onlineman
Speaker 1: in general, because it was such an overt week spot
Speaker 1: week after weeks. So I'm with you, like that, to me,
Speaker 1: is a situation you can target. I think the highs
Speaker 1: with Josh Burrow in the highs of the offense. Quell
Speaker 1: concerns over there that if the two that could happen physically,
Speaker 1: that would be an incredible quarter effect, but that's not
Speaker 1: physically possible from what we understand. I would say this though,
Speaker 1: because against the Bucks and against the Patriots they went
Speaker 1: to sleep for a half. But like last week, you
Speaker 1: got the Jamar Chase turnover. Like Burrows picks, I don't know.
Speaker 1: They don't seem to me a trackable thing from week
Speaker 1: to week. He's been pretty amazingly perfect. So I could say, like, what,
Speaker 1: their explosive nature is more proof to me than like,
Speaker 1: did they can they fall asleep against teams like they
Speaker 1: did two weeks in a row? Are you picking in
Speaker 1: this game? Are you picking? I had the Bengals at first,
Speaker 1: and then I flipped it on the Old Game Picks.
Speaker 1: My gut was telling me Bills struggle with it though
Speaker 1: we got you mentioned. The Monday Night schedule, by the way,
Speaker 1: has been rough for Joe Buck and Troy. I mean
Speaker 1: they had a lot of bad luck really with the
Speaker 1: matchups similar on the Monday Night podcast recaps. But this
Speaker 1: is a great finale. Westling is the guests for the
Speaker 1: perfect Um. I like uh, I like Cincinnati. I like
Speaker 1: both these quarterbacks with they're back against the wall, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say it's gonna be Cincinnati just in a coin flip,
Speaker 1: they have the ball last and Burrow does something magical.
Speaker 1: And I hope I think these are These are my
Speaker 1: two favorite teams to watch in the a f C.
Speaker 1: And I think that other than my team, um, but
Speaker 1: I think the Chiefs are the team that you can't disrespect.
Speaker 1: But I really hope it's these teams playing for the
Speaker 1: super Bowl at the end of January, and we should
Speaker 1: want to Bill's win here because then they get the
Speaker 1: one seed. It is huge because the loser of this
Speaker 1: game basically is gonna probably have to be two of
Speaker 1: these three teams with at least one or two of
Speaker 1: them on the road, whereas the other one, whoever gets
Speaker 1: the one seed, only has to play one of the
Speaker 1: other two teams. To me that that's a huge advantage.
Speaker 1: I think the Bengals are gonna win this in overtime.
Speaker 1: Love it. I'd sign up for it. And one one
Speaker 1: other note in Burrow's favor. And who's been like more
Speaker 1: of an m v P this year? When Jamaar Chase
Speaker 1: went down, things kept moving positively. Uh for Cincinnati. I
Speaker 1: don't know if the same thing would happen if Diggs disappear.
Speaker 1: We don't know Dig's Dig's target rate since week ten.
Speaker 1: He went from six and target rate league wide to
Speaker 1: twentie since week ten, so he hasn't disappeared, but their
Speaker 1: offense has changed a little bit and been less explosive
Speaker 1: minus Digs. All right, let's start the draft now, let's
Speaker 1: get into it. Here we go with the Locks. Greggy.
Speaker 1: We picked up a game on you last weekend, the
Speaker 1: Lock Challenge. Yeah. I you asked me to be a showman,
Speaker 1: and I'm trying to raise the profile of the Locks competition.
Speaker 1: It's struggling. You know, if it's too big of a leader.
Speaker 1: You lost intentionally. Okay, that's interesting. Um, so you have
Speaker 1: the first pick in the ten draft Week seventeen. I'm
Speaker 1: excited about this game Vikings Packers in the late window
Speaker 1: Tony Romo. Packers been on a role and they visit
Speaker 1: the team that's kind of owned them lately. The Vikings
Speaker 1: have done a nice job against Green Bay. They certainly
Speaker 1: dominated Week one. We're kind of like coming all the
Speaker 1: way back to the narratives we started the season with that.
Speaker 1: The Packers are trying to prove that they're over, Like
Speaker 1: do they throw the ball too much? With Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: playing hero ball? I thought they did that a little
Speaker 1: too much last weekend. I think they'll be tempted to
Speaker 1: this week when the Packers have the ball because the
Speaker 1: Vikings big weakness to me is their number two cornerback,
Speaker 1: their number three slot cornerback, former Packer Chandon Sullivan. And
Speaker 1: you see how that matchup is gonna be. I think
Speaker 1: Rogers gonna feel like he can make a play. But
Speaker 1: Willie have Christian Watson for this game? We won't know.
Speaker 1: That is when this offense totally turned. If I'm the Packers,
Speaker 1: I want to run the ball more. I think that's
Speaker 1: where their advantages and I don't quite trust Rodgers to
Speaker 1: go back there and just make a play. I actually
Speaker 1: think that's playing into the Vikings hands. Yeah, I'm Aaron
Speaker 1: Jones was banged up against the Dolphins. Obviously, Christian Watson
Speaker 1: is a huge issue. Ca Sean Nixon. I mean, you're
Speaker 1: like a roe right there. They're very banged up. That said, like,
Speaker 1: I loved what they how aggressive they were against Miami,
Speaker 1: like everything was up against them. This went forward over
Speaker 1: and over on four down. I would do that again.
Speaker 1: I don't track a ton from week one, but I
Speaker 1: would say that justin Jefferson in that Week one game
Speaker 1: against green Bay nine catches a hundred and eighty four yards,
Speaker 1: two touchdowns, and look what the Dolphins did before whatever
Speaker 1: happened to too, what happened to uh last week, Like
Speaker 1: they were explosive, and I think green Bay can be
Speaker 1: thrown on. And if you get the Cousins justin Jefferson
Speaker 1: connection alive again. I just like my Minnesota in any
Speaker 1: of those games where that's happening. Yeah, I mean, Jefferson's
Speaker 1: he's gonna get his He'll have a hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: yards or so, maybe love two hundred. He's he's that guy.
Speaker 1: Alexander on him. Let's see he hasn't. They didn't use
Speaker 1: Yer that much on him last time. And I think
Speaker 1: what we have with I don't know, I kind of
Speaker 1: disagree with you, Greg. They have a good running game
Speaker 1: green Bay right now and A. J. Dillon is looking
Speaker 1: more like the guy who was last year. But everybody
Speaker 1: throws on the Minnesota Vikings, everybody stacks yardage in the
Speaker 1: passing game, even they made Daniel Jones look like just
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl level past. So I think it would
Speaker 1: be I don't know, maybe overthinking it to to lean
Speaker 1: more on the run now would have some balance, absolutely,
Speaker 1: But I think this is such as a game for
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. It's a big game for him and what's
Speaker 1: been a disappointing season, he has an opportunity to wipe
Speaker 1: a lot of that away with a big performance here.
Speaker 1: And I did think if you're a Packers fan, when
Speaker 1: they came back, and I know they got help from
Speaker 1: to a melting down in that game, Um, when Christian
Speaker 1: Watson goes out at the half, the offense didn't dry up.
Speaker 1: They were still moving the ball. Romeo Dobbs made some
Speaker 1: plays and Rogers was able to still uh put points
Speaker 1: on the board. Maybe not as many as you'd like,
Speaker 1: but the offense didn't stall out. So even if it
Speaker 1: Watson isn't there, I think they'll move the ball through
Speaker 1: the air against his team. You know what's crazy about
Speaker 1: the Packers too, is that if you look at the
Speaker 1: numbers their past defense, and we've been killing Joe Barry
Speaker 1: for just playing this soft zone all year and blah
Speaker 1: blah blah, Like the numbers are incredible. I know there's
Speaker 1: that one Baker mayfield in the game in there, but
Speaker 1: that they're either the best past defense in the league
Speaker 1: or a top five past defense, and so they have
Speaker 1: to have some confidence at this point that they can
Speaker 1: get pressure on Kirk Cousins. But Kirk's got to have
Speaker 1: confidence that he can hang in there. He's been hit
Speaker 1: more than any quarterback in the league, and he's extremely streaky,
Speaker 1: but he's been clutch and he waits till that last second.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if I really trust this Packers
Speaker 1: pass rush. I guess the eyeball test to me says I,
Speaker 1: I don't still trust this Packers defense. They only two
Speaker 1: teams have allowed more yards to the air and then
Speaker 1: the less yards through through the air than Green Bay.
Speaker 1: So you're right, I don't feel it always looks that
Speaker 1: way to me. But the Packers might have Jenkins, Uh,
Speaker 1: they have, they've had out in Jenkins back, but they
Speaker 1: also might have back for this game and the Vikings.
Speaker 1: It's like, this is why everyone's pulling their hair out
Speaker 1: trying to figure them out. Because even with green Based
Speaker 1: deficiencies on defense this year, even though they do close
Speaker 1: out last week brilliantly, um, they're gonna go through hot
Speaker 1: and cold streaks in this game because they do it
Speaker 1: basically every week where they they look great for a
Speaker 1: quarter or a half and then they let the team
Speaker 1: other team back into it. But with some three and
Speaker 1: out it's like ken Green Bay um take advantage of
Speaker 1: those dry spells from Minnesota. Packards are favored by three
Speaker 1: and a half this week. That's surprised, that's crazy. I
Speaker 1: think it's gotten a little surd in the desert. The Vikings.
Speaker 1: At what point do we I don't know, man, Well,
Speaker 1: they almost never come so I guess I guess I
Speaker 1: just look at this game and like, don't you guys
Speaker 1: expect it to be a one score game to come down?
Speaker 1: And then right, and so who's picking against the Vikings
Speaker 1: at the end of a game. I'm not. I'm like,
Speaker 1: they're gonna find a way to get it done. In
Speaker 1: the Packers, despite the wind streak, will find a way
Speaker 1: to blow it. That's how the past three games and
Speaker 1: freezing weather three and oh these little stats about Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins vanishes and disappears in some of these areas of
Speaker 1: football football environment. Not this year. It's really really funny
Speaker 1: if they wind up going fourteen and three and holding
Speaker 1: onto this too. See, forty Niners are just like every
Speaker 1: week like are you kidding me? And I also, you
Speaker 1: gotta you have to now at least open your mind
Speaker 1: to the possibility that, in spite of all the football
Speaker 1: history and sports history where it's so clear where a
Speaker 1: team is due to regress in a certain category or overall,
Speaker 1: maybe they just do this the entire season, right, that's
Speaker 1: for the different team next season where none of this
Speaker 1: happens to them. I don't know, it's weird. They were
Speaker 1: playing these close games a year ago, in the year
Speaker 1: before that too, not to this extent, but this is
Speaker 1: who they've been collectively for a while. I mean, hitting
Speaker 1: a sixty one yard field goal with the gun it's
Speaker 1: just like absurdity, I know, but I also feel like
Speaker 1: everyone's like like almost wanting it to regress. It's like,
Speaker 1: this is one of the most exciting things about this
Speaker 1: season is that the Vikings are doing this. I hear that.
Speaker 1: Then I've seen this sort of discussion among Vikings fans
Speaker 1: and it's true, like, enjoy this. Vikings fans like, you
Speaker 1: went through all these anointing seasons with Kirk guns this
Speaker 1: is fun. Well, they're also they've been through a lot
Speaker 1: of heartbreak, and there's a lot of Viking fans are like,
Speaker 1: I know what's happening here. You know how Wait, don't
Speaker 1: follow a football team, but we're on a magic carpet, right,
Speaker 1: Not that easy. Mr says. I'm saying that other fan
Speaker 1: bases would take this as their season, their team doing this.
Speaker 1: And you have a buddy that's a Vikings fan. If
Speaker 1: you if you have a personal connection with a Vikings
Speaker 1: fan in your life, you know what they've gone through.
Speaker 1: And there is not a doubt that every Vikings fan
Speaker 1: in the back of their mind is a little concerned
Speaker 1: that this is all building towards something ironically termed They
Speaker 1: were concerned a year ago in the year before that,
Speaker 1: in the year before that, like the like there, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm not like crying huge tears for the Vikings fan base.
Speaker 1: Right now, they're on fire. Let's talk in January. I'm
Speaker 1: sure it will go south. I don't think they're gonna
Speaker 1: win the super Bowl, but like, it's not like this.
Speaker 1: There's I can I can think of situations that are
Speaker 1: more you know, chaos late and at the moment there
Speaker 1: are all right, let's take a break and we'll be
Speaker 1: right back. All right, welcome back. The draft rolls on
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler's Uh, well, I I love this like Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers Buck situation um a ghastly division where they lodged.
Speaker 1: In any other division, this would be a dirt knap
Speaker 1: situation where neither mattered at all. But it really is
Speaker 1: like like kind of the story. And I think that
Speaker 1: what Carolina did last week against Detroit on the ground
Speaker 1: was one of the more powerful showings by any team
Speaker 1: in this division where there's you can't point to the
Speaker 1: Bucks and say they do this great. They should be
Speaker 1: better than they are at all these things, and they're not.
Speaker 1: That's why they're a disappointing watch. After week, the Panthers
Speaker 1: were one of the most disappointing teams in the league.
Speaker 1: And then when they get hot and they can run
Speaker 1: the ball. Because I know the Lions, for instance, they
Speaker 1: don't have a good run defense, and they've been better
Speaker 1: than they were to start the season. But it was
Speaker 1: so crystal clear. The Panthers are telling you week after week, Oh,
Speaker 1: Sam Donald's been clean and he'll make some passes, but
Speaker 1: that's not what our offense is about. We're just gonna
Speaker 1: run at you, and Tampa Bay we're gonna do the
Speaker 1: same thing at you. And I do think if you're
Speaker 1: on the flip side for Tampa Bay, like they're probably,
Speaker 1: I'm giving up any hope for them to be anything different.
Speaker 1: We talked about Vikings fans like Bucks fans just have
Speaker 1: to accept like this is probably just who you are.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be a sleepy operation for three and a
Speaker 1: half weeks and you're gonna lose that game like you
Speaker 1: did against the Niners, or Tom Brady is gonna do
Speaker 1: Tom Brady things for half a quarter and you're gonna
Speaker 1: win in overtime, or you're gonna win in regulation in
Speaker 1: a bizarre way. I do like that. Right now, We'll
Speaker 1: see what happens, but practicing at this point in the week,
Speaker 1: Tristan Worth's and Donathan Donovan Smith, because I think if
Speaker 1: you love if you don't have those guys in there.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady to me looks like a different quarterback last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, with the turnovers and probably just trying
Speaker 1: to not get hit and getting rid of the ball.
Speaker 1: It just does not seem like if if his name
Speaker 1: were you know, Tom Fabeats, we would not be thinking
Speaker 1: this guy is definitely I would go f A B
Speaker 1: I t Z I had a E t Z. Well
Speaker 1: that works. There's different ways to because when you come
Speaker 1: to the Statue of liberty, you can just choose, choose
Speaker 1: what you want way back and they choose for you,
Speaker 1: or they choose for you unfortunate Brady probably an easier
Speaker 1: way to God. Does Tom Brady right now look good? No?
Speaker 1: I think we should refer to him as fabeats uh
Speaker 1: moving forward until he comes back to being Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: because you're right, the last few weeks are the first
Speaker 1: time that I can remember as a Brady apologist believer,
Speaker 1: always thinking like, look, if you get everything around him working,
Speaker 1: he he actually was playing better in that than you
Speaker 1: thought same thing this season last couple of weeks. I
Speaker 1: don't know. He's not playing with confidence. He's waiting till
Speaker 1: the receivers are open before throwing it. So he's not
Speaker 1: confident in his receivers. He's not confident in himself and
Speaker 1: his accuracy, his his time to throw his one point
Speaker 1: eight last week, which is just preposterous. He just doesn't
Speaker 1: want to get hit. This looks like an old team
Speaker 1: who knew what it was like to play in real games. That. No,
Speaker 1: they're not a real team waiting to be put out
Speaker 1: of their misery. I think the Panthers out the team
Speaker 1: to do it. Yeah. I think the thing with Brady
Speaker 1: in this offense is they could thrive in spurts now
Speaker 1: and then if that leads to a win. You know
Speaker 1: people that could just focus on that, like Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: He does it again, he six for six and overtime.
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, but the bigger picture is yeah, he's
Speaker 1: not playing at a high level. The offense hasn't played
Speaker 1: at a high level all season on the Panthers side.
Speaker 1: I don't know, Greggy, I I I don't know what
Speaker 1: to make I don't know how to make sense of that.
Speaker 1: Lions game. But that's not the only time they've done
Speaker 1: that on the ground. It was But but wait a second.
Speaker 1: They also had twenty one yards on the ground the
Speaker 1: previous week against the Steelers, which is not to you know,
Speaker 1: take away from what they managed against the lines. But
Speaker 1: I just like, I don't know what happened with Detroit.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to the lines later. But some of
Speaker 1: those defensive fronts, the way it even lined up, it
Speaker 1: was like anybody could have had a huge game, the
Speaker 1: way they ran the ball a hundred yards by their
Speaker 1: second possession on the ground three by the end of
Speaker 1: the game. Is that going to continue against Tampa Bay? No,
Speaker 1: because I think Tampa Bay will deliver an actual professional
Speaker 1: outing on defense and make it harder. Now I have
Speaker 1: to and you know, Sam Donald apologist, but he uh
Speaker 1: with that running game, which what quarterback wouldn't benefit from that?
Speaker 1: Uh maybe Zack Wilson. Um he really played well as well.
Speaker 1: And he you want to talk about how Tom Brady
Speaker 1: doesn't look confident, Sam Donald's playing with confidence right now.
Speaker 1: He's playing like a guy. He knows it's his job,
Speaker 1: he knows the offense, he knows where to get the
Speaker 1: ball and he's not flashy, and he's not a star,
Speaker 1: and he's not as good as what the previous team
Speaker 1: wanted wanted it to be when he made him a
Speaker 1: number three overall pick. But he's somebody that could lead
Speaker 1: this offense playing at this tempo, and I think I'm
Speaker 1: just happy for him personally, and I hope it continues.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. Look, I think that he's in the
Speaker 1: perfect place for him if they're going to not ask
Speaker 1: him to do everything's not in an air raid scheme
Speaker 1: or something. Um, he's looked really clean. He's not turning
Speaker 1: the ball over. They did run for a hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy on Tampa last time. I'm not trying to keep
Speaker 1: the game was a dominant game. That was also the
Speaker 1: PJ Walker like throwing all over the place. So just
Speaker 1: as in you know, it has been inconsistent for Carolina.
Speaker 1: But Tampa's defense, which I think you know there's if
Speaker 1: you're not watching the Bucks, you're thinking, oh, there's still
Speaker 1: a great defense, like they were destroyed by the Niners.
Speaker 1: Not that that's the only team that the Niners haven't
Speaker 1: done that too, But then when they've been bad, they've
Speaker 1: been a floodgate and I just I think the but
Speaker 1: what's more perfect than the Bucks just fizzling out? Though?
Speaker 1: I think they lose this game, but you know, and
Speaker 1: nothing would surprise me. I think it's a coin flip essentially.
Speaker 1: But Donald's development, to me, is the biggest thing for
Speaker 1: the Panthers. They're gonna really miss J. C. Horne, who
Speaker 1: changed their defense to me as a top ten cornerback
Speaker 1: in the league right now and may even return if
Speaker 1: they make the playoffs. It sounds like or maybe even
Speaker 1: week eighteen, he had surgery, but he's definitely out this week.
Speaker 1: But Donald's development is the reason I give this team
Speaker 1: a chance. I think he's had the best month of
Speaker 1: his career. I know he had some high points late
Speaker 1: in his rookie year again when he was with the Jets,
Speaker 1: and he showed more high level play during that stretch,
Speaker 1: But to me, he never looked like a quarterback, like
Speaker 1: he never knew how to be an NFL quarterback. And
Speaker 1: by that I just mean go through his progressions and
Speaker 1: make good decisions. I think he's doing that now. I
Speaker 1: think he's comfortable, like he's getting into his second and
Speaker 1: third read. Yeah, he's been put in a good situation,
Speaker 1: but he just looks like a guy that's like getting
Speaker 1: it a little bit, and I think they can get
Speaker 1: excited about you. You're in this situation. He's he's never
Speaker 1: he's been attached to bad teams where there's no state,
Speaker 1: you know what. Like the other part of it is
Speaker 1: like we could say that and that's true, like he
Speaker 1: was always attached to floating trash bags, as we like
Speaker 1: to say when but on the Panthers, his head coach
Speaker 1: is an interim head coach and the offensive coordinat there's
Speaker 1: a guy we've mocked on the show, mercilessly, Ben McAdoo.
Speaker 1: So it's like, whatever is happening in Carolina is a
Speaker 1: great football mind. He saw Gino as a star well there,
Speaker 1: and so I'm just saying, like it's on paper, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: now he's in a healthy situation. Well it seems that way,
Speaker 1: but he does deserve credit. And Greg, one thing that
Speaker 1: you and I went back and forth on um in
Speaker 1: the past was like you called Donald one of the
Speaker 1: biggest bus ever. I think this is kind of who
Speaker 1: he can be and he showed that at times with
Speaker 1: the Jets, like Zach Wilson, ironically a guy that hadn't.
Speaker 1: He's he qualifies as that to me, there is basically,
Speaker 1: but it's basically start your career as a jet and
Speaker 1: then half a decade later you become Geno Smith or
Speaker 1: you get you become Sam Zach Wilson. Five years from
Speaker 1: now we're talking about comeback player. I'm just but Donald
Speaker 1: was a bus Now. If he can do this and
Speaker 1: reclamate some of it, I don't think you roll into
Speaker 1: you don't pitch him as a starter next necessarily, but
Speaker 1: he saved his career in a Baker Mayfield quay too.
Speaker 1: He's a He's a free agent at the end of
Speaker 1: the year. This is a huge game though, for him,
Speaker 1: I mean, and for this franchise. They win this game,
Speaker 1: they controlled the NFC South. They'll still have to win
Speaker 1: though next week, so they don't clinch it. The Bucks
Speaker 1: clinch the division if they win this game. Donald's has
Speaker 1: has the tougher opposition to me, uh in terms of
Speaker 1: the defense that he's playing. If he plays well this week,
Speaker 1: that that is a franchise changing, career changing type of win.
Speaker 1: And I think I just mean Wilkes. Wilkes gets there,
Speaker 1: you know, he keeps that. Oh, I think so let's
Speaker 1: move on, uh, the old zooster on the clock. And yes,
Speaker 1: let's talk about Sam Donald's former team, the New York Jets,
Speaker 1: traveling to Seattle to face the Seahawks. This is uh,
Speaker 1: this is a loser goes home match, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: Both teams seven and eight, both teams struggling. The Jets
Speaker 1: are officially eliminated. They lose, So there you go, loser
Speaker 1: goes home five of six. Uh. Seattle has lost. The
Speaker 1: Jets have also lost five of six straight. UM. So
Speaker 1: the way things broke um for New York after the
Speaker 1: Thursday Night to Bacle with Zack Wilson was beautifully They're
Speaker 1: they're very much in the race. They win this week
Speaker 1: against Seattle and in Miami next week. One Patriots loss
Speaker 1: and they're in. So there is a path here for
Speaker 1: the Jets. It's not far fetched. Now they have to
Speaker 1: play better. Um. And it's not just I think one
Speaker 1: thing that got papered over with how miserable Wilson was
Speaker 1: in the apparent end of his Jets career, because, by
Speaker 1: the way, as we talked about on the Tuesday show,
Speaker 1: Mike White cleared on mon Day, Zack Wilson not even
Speaker 1: active for this game, so he's inactive again. He's out
Speaker 1: of the picture. Joe Flacco is the backup. UM. So
Speaker 1: the Jets played poorly in all phases. UM against the Jaguars,
Speaker 1: the defense, which has been so good this season, they
Speaker 1: got beat on the last drive by Detroit, and then
Speaker 1: really we're not sharp against Jacksonville after their initial drive
Speaker 1: where they forced to turn over. It was kind of
Speaker 1: downhill at that point. UM, So they need to play better. Seattle,
Speaker 1: on the other side, is a team that's really struggling
Speaker 1: in almost every phase. So I think the way this
Speaker 1: sets up is two teams, uh that that are not
Speaker 1: playing well. Somebody's gotta win. Um. There could be a
Speaker 1: situation where this is a is an ugly game and
Speaker 1: one team wins an ugly fashion and then gets quickly
Speaker 1: wiped out the week after. I don't know about that.
Speaker 1: We'll see. But it's just nice to see Mike White
Speaker 1: back in because I think that's gonna lift all boats
Speaker 1: for the Jets, because I think Wilson was just a
Speaker 1: negative suck on the entire operative. Mike White and I
Speaker 1: think that this stuff matters. I I hear all these people.
Speaker 1: There's no momentum that none of this has to do
Speaker 1: with human It's all numbers and analytics. You're talking no,
Speaker 1: no no, I mean like no no. Momentum is also
Speaker 1: an analytics community. Like claimed by many too that none
Speaker 1: of this stuff is really just like it is, you're
Speaker 1: good or you're not good kind of thing. But Mike
Speaker 1: White has generated four d and fifty plus total yards
Speaker 1: and four of his six starts, so like, there is
Speaker 1: a tangible difference in this. Well, this is a great
Speaker 1: set up for the Jets, and it's a great set
Speaker 1: up for them to be balanced, for them to make plays,
Speaker 1: and like you see just a complete difference when he's
Speaker 1: in there. And I will say one thing about Robert
Speaker 1: Solid because I think like year two for him, uh,
Speaker 1: this was a big season and maybe they don't go
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. I don't know what happens here, but
Speaker 1: he handled as much chaos at quarterback as you could
Speaker 1: ask and having to flip flop back and forth, and
Speaker 1: he's been nothing but even keel about it. And in fact,
Speaker 1: I'd say that there's been a human side too, where
Speaker 1: you could allow a lot more angst and anger to
Speaker 1: come from within the building towards Zack Wilson because Zach
Speaker 1: Wilson's a kind of guy right now with the trajectory
Speaker 1: of his career that could cost a different type of
Speaker 1: g M if you hadn't had a great draft class
Speaker 1: and a coaching staff their jobs and all you ever
Speaker 1: did was prop up Zach Wilson and try to show
Speaker 1: him some dignity. And now Zach Wilson mercifully is inactive
Speaker 1: and he should stay that way and he probably never
Speaker 1: plays in the Jets uniform again. But Solaced proven to me.
Speaker 1: I think that he is the kind of guy you
Speaker 1: want as your head coach because through all of this
Speaker 1: he's just been that dude. He's not going up and down.
Speaker 1: He's just been steady, and I think that's a great
Speaker 1: mark of someone who could stay around in New York
Speaker 1: for a long time. They have not had that coach.
Speaker 1: Although they lose these two games, I think there's a
Speaker 1: significant chance Robert salins, well, that's that'd be a terrible decision.
Speaker 1: I agree. The whisperers have already started. There was a
Speaker 1: report in the Washington Post Woody Johnson did not hire
Speaker 1: Robert Sala. He would get so much pushed back. I
Speaker 1: think if this comes out there, I know you're saying
Speaker 1: no because you don't want this to I don't think
Speaker 1: they're gonna lose this game, and I think they should
Speaker 1: be favored in their next two games, so none of
Speaker 1: it matters. But I've seen Woody Johnson ter decisions. I
Speaker 1: do not care what the watching post says everyone that
Speaker 1: anybody that knows what's going on with this team knows
Speaker 1: anything negative with this season is connected to a terrible
Speaker 1: decision quarterback. But if they lose sixth straight to miss
Speaker 1: the playoffs, in these next two games, you will have
Speaker 1: Mike White back. I do want to see their defense
Speaker 1: step up to me their favorite in this game. They
Speaker 1: are in Vegas as well, and I think it could
Speaker 1: be even more. They're a better team to me overall.
Speaker 1: And we've heard this is a great Jets defense. Show up,
Speaker 1: be a defense that just be an offense that was
Speaker 1: just dominated by Kansas City that's struggling up front. It's
Speaker 1: been very erratic, uh running the ball like show up
Speaker 1: and dominate this game and you won't have to worry
Speaker 1: about it. But it would be very Jetsy if they
Speaker 1: lost sixth straight and he'd be out and people watchington
Speaker 1: posts aren't the only one thinking about it, Like I
Speaker 1: think there's been some whispers around that team. If the
Speaker 1: Giants make the playoffs here and they lose sixth grade,
Speaker 1: that's nothing with surprise, Absolutely awful and how scouting if
Speaker 1: that's what they do, Because what would you point to
Speaker 1: Robert Sala as the problem here? Anybody feel we're wasting
Speaker 1: our time even having this conversation. Robert sal is not
Speaker 1: going anywhere. I don't care what happens these last two games.
Speaker 1: Like that's crazy to me, Gregg, that's something that's even
Speaker 1: being speculated or being floated. I mean, this team is
Speaker 1: going in the right direction, and a lot of it
Speaker 1: is connected to him. They played hard for him. That
Speaker 1: defense has gone from the worst in the league to
Speaker 1: one of the best in football under him and his
Speaker 1: Toutelage is the defensive mind that came over from San Francisco.
Speaker 1: They missed on Wilson. That's hurt them this year, as
Speaker 1: did the briefe Hall injury that really hurt their offense
Speaker 1: and the offensive line issues. This team. Next year, when
Speaker 1: they're healthy and get a better quarterback in the building,
Speaker 1: a lot of people are gonna be very high on
Speaker 1: this team. It actually makes me nervous. Thinking about it
Speaker 1: that people are gonna be talking about them being an
Speaker 1: acre next year. I think they're gonna make the play off.
Speaker 1: My point is this year. I think they're making it.
Speaker 1: This year. I think they're better than the Dolphins and
Speaker 1: the Seahawks. Maybe Woodward and Bernstein should operate and focus
Speaker 1: on something else down at the Washington Post in the
Speaker 1: solid situation. Let me say this, but I asked, I
Speaker 1: don't think it's bad reporting. I they're not the only
Speaker 1: ones kind of talking about UM. I never do this,
Speaker 1: it's been It's very rarely happened on this pod. But
Speaker 1: I did grow up in a coal town. And when
Speaker 1: you grow up in a coal town, UM, you're told
Speaker 1: to temper hope. Sometimes hope isn't a good thing. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it's just better to go down in the hole, as
Speaker 1: we called it, do your work, come home, have dinner
Speaker 1: with the family, go to bed, and get up for
Speaker 1: the work the next day. Um. But with that set,
Speaker 1: I will have hope here because I have watched his
Speaker 1: team all year, and I think I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: play really well in this game, and I think they're
Speaker 1: gonna win this game, and I'm gonna lock up the
Speaker 1: new York Jets. And you could say it's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: tugboat setting himself up for failure maybe and whatever. I'll
Speaker 1: deal with that if that happens. But I think White
Speaker 1: will make this offense much better. They will move the ball,
Speaker 1: the defense is going to be hyper motivated. Um, every
Speaker 1: one's going to be hyped for this game, and Seattle's
Speaker 1: going in the wrong direction. I think the Jets are
Speaker 1: alive going in this weekends. I love that. I think
Speaker 1: that's you're putting it where all this fan hope businesses.
Speaker 1: That's the right thing to do. I like this situation
Speaker 1: for you. Um, you are one of the rare people
Speaker 1: attached to a coal mining village with like your own
Speaker 1: theme song and like a voice where you can you know,
Speaker 1: do a little soliloquies on a nationally broadcast, internationally broadcast show.
Speaker 1: Not the typical coal miners. You know, I made it out.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure you were in it, but you were
Speaker 1: made out of town in the country is like five
Speaker 1: nicest places to retire if you have a lot of money.
Speaker 1: Nobody retires in Pearl River. But it does get my
Speaker 1: mom angry when I when I bring up the coal mine.
Speaker 1: Why because it's fabricated. Well, what's angry? And I should
Speaker 1: ask go talk to her as I will, because I
Speaker 1: I sense that her frustration could be valid with this
Speaker 1: entire narrative. But um, let's move on to snakes of
Speaker 1: the zeo, sir, Let's grab that other a f C
Speaker 1: East game. Um, Dolphins of Pats from Gillette weird weird,
Speaker 1: wild stuff. Carson Um Teddy Bridgewater probably starting this game.
Speaker 1: It's been announced now Okay, So Teddy Bridgewater starts in
Speaker 1: place of Tua, who was diagnosed with a concussion after
Speaker 1: being placed in concussion protocol. Uh so, obviously disappointing there,
Speaker 1: and you hope um he is in a good place
Speaker 1: um as he recovers from his latest head injury. Um.
Speaker 1: So Teddy now steps in to face a Patriots team
Speaker 1: that just found ways to lose in just crushing fashion
Speaker 1: and back to back weeks against Vegas and then Cincinnati. Um, Greg,
Speaker 1: to your credit, Uh, after that ugly Monday night football
Speaker 1: game against the Cardinals, you predicted this team was gonna
Speaker 1: go down in flames and there would be more ugliness
Speaker 1: to come. Well that's happened, and I just wonder, like,
Speaker 1: you know, did you watch the game. Yeah, we all
Speaker 1: watched that game and it was bad, And you just wonder, Greggy, like,
Speaker 1: if this is all kind of heading towards some type
Speaker 1: of grand finale of dysfunction with with the mac Jones
Speaker 1: situation and how unhappy he is with Patricia and Belichick.
Speaker 1: Are we heading towards a big finale? Uh? I would
Speaker 1: like to see it, but I don't think it could
Speaker 1: happen emotional explosion, something something like mac Jones gets benched
Speaker 1: or something after another apple or something. Well, we've also
Speaker 1: gotten through the whole Belichick needs to change the offensive
Speaker 1: staff or else, so he might not be there next year.
Speaker 1: I do think there will be a surprise firing or two.
Speaker 1: I think these three a f C East teams are
Speaker 1: all candidates um to just have something out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: Fir to No, Well, he wouldn't be fired, but we've
Speaker 1: already talked about it. Well, I think it's pretty clear
Speaker 1: Craft is telling every reporter possible that if he doesn't
Speaker 1: make changes, then we're getting Bill O'Brien's name Florida there.
Speaker 1: I think they probably wanted Bill O'Brien last office. That's
Speaker 1: off for later, Like this is essentially a playoff game. Uh.
Speaker 1: For these two teams. The Dolphins UH could theoretically get
Speaker 1: in still if they get a loss. The Patriots need
Speaker 1: to win these two games. I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: trust anything about this Patriots team. Nothing about last week
Speaker 1: made me feel any better about their offense. To me,
Speaker 1: it's unsalvageable. But it's going against the Dolphins defense that's
Speaker 1: also been really disappointed, led by former Patriots assistant Josh Boyer. Like,
Speaker 1: these two units have really let their teams down. Because
Speaker 1: the Patriots defense they played great. They have a lot
Speaker 1: to be excited about in the future. The Dolphins offense
Speaker 1: has has, you know, taken a step back lately, but
Speaker 1: they've done their job. And I'm not that worried about
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater. I don't think it's gonna be a big decline.
Speaker 1: But like which of these two groups, Patriots offense Miami defense,
Speaker 1: which has been so disappointing this year, can step up
Speaker 1: for a week. I tend to trust Miami more. I
Speaker 1: would trust Miami or any defense against New England's in
Speaker 1: the center. So I think New England creates as many
Speaker 1: problems for themselves on that side of the ball as
Speaker 1: almost any team in the league. I mean, I know
Speaker 1: the second half against Cincinnati paints a different picture, but
Speaker 1: they this is typical for them. He had seventy yards
Speaker 1: of offense at half. Mac Jones had thirty four yards passing.
Speaker 1: How many halves have we seen like that from mac Jones?
Speaker 1: Where whatever it is, if they get in some sort
Speaker 1: of a hole, and I think Teddy Bridgewater stands out.
Speaker 1: There is a top three or four backup quarterback who
Speaker 1: has been through a lot, who knows this. He's gonna
Speaker 1: do fine in the system. It's not gonna be a
Speaker 1: big step down for him. Uh. You still get the
Speaker 1: wide receivers they have create these big plays. It's not
Speaker 1: coming from to the same way it would be from
Speaker 1: m Patrick Mahomes or something. So I think you can
Speaker 1: generate the offense, still be explosive and handle a Patriots
Speaker 1: team that. Frankly, the only reason they're still hanging around
Speaker 1: at this point is because the league is what it is.
Speaker 1: They're not a playoff team on any level to the eyes.
Speaker 1: You know the idea of Miami going on the road
Speaker 1: now to New England with a backup quarterback, I don't
Speaker 1: know they've They've lost, they haven't won a road game
Speaker 1: since Week nine. Um, but I do agree with you
Speaker 1: on the Teddy thing. I think that it's not gonna
Speaker 1: be might be less erratic than to it. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: he I could. I can absolutely see him moving the
Speaker 1: ball with this offense. And then if they can do
Speaker 1: that and they can score some points, then you're putting
Speaker 1: the pressure on New England again to find ways because
Speaker 1: look at like New England one thing, it's also getting
Speaker 1: lost a little bit and how bad the offense is.
Speaker 1: Look at last week, for instance, they nearly dug out
Speaker 1: of that twenty two nothing hole. One touchdown was on
Speaker 1: yet another defensive score. Uh. And then they had essentially
Speaker 1: a third and forever Hail Mary type throw from midfield
Speaker 1: that got deflective receiver's hands for a touchdown. Uh. And
Speaker 1: then when they finally actually moved the ball down the field, reminder,
Speaker 1: Stevenson blows the game with the fumble. It's just it's
Speaker 1: just so dysfunctional that it just feels like to me, Greggy,
Speaker 1: um to what you were saying a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: that this is all heading a certain direction and it
Speaker 1: makes more sense to me that the Dolphins of the
Speaker 1: team that is moving on and playof football, not the
Speaker 1: Pets still alive in Week eight team It does to
Speaker 1: me as well. Now the now the Dolphins could lose
Speaker 1: this game and then beat the Jets next week, and
Speaker 1: if the Patriots then lose to the Bills, you know,
Speaker 1: both pretty realistic outcomes, then the Dolphins would be the
Speaker 1: team that gets in. So this is less of a
Speaker 1: winning in uh like elimination scenario for the Dolphins. The
Speaker 1: Patriots do need to win this game. I am curious
Speaker 1: the Week one, I know is early in the Dolphins season,
Speaker 1: but the Patriots defense did a fantastic job against too
Speaker 1: uh and and they've exploded essentially the next week. And
Speaker 1: they played a similar type of style that the forty
Speaker 1: Niners did and the Chargers did when this whole thing started,
Speaker 1: which is, I don't think they have the cornerbacks to
Speaker 1: actually play press man right now. They're also missing uh
Speaker 1: three of their their their top three cornerbacks are out
Speaker 1: of practice, Dan Marcus Jones, Jack Jones, and Jalen Mills.
Speaker 1: So that's like Marcus Jones has been a difference. That's
Speaker 1: a bit of a disaster. But the Patriots are the
Speaker 1: team that would actually play some press man. How McCarthy back.
Speaker 1: They're playing kind of that cover one look and almost
Speaker 1: dare Teddy Bridgewater. They can rush the past or two.
Speaker 1: They have their third in the league and takeaways their
Speaker 1: second in sacks. So there are elements to like Belichick's
Speaker 1: coaching the defense along with people trust. They got bar
Speaker 1: Mower back, who is a breakout player. He's made the leap.
Speaker 1: Judan is great. Uh, They've somehow turned Juwan Bentley into
Speaker 1: a good player, and they have some dynamic safeties. Like
Speaker 1: it's a pretty good defense, It's just that's not the
Speaker 1: side of the ball that's gonna be enough. Do you
Speaker 1: think might be enough to win this game? Though? I
Speaker 1: wouldn't shock me. I had to pick the Dolphins. Speaking
Speaker 1: of hot seats, do you think Mac Jones in these
Speaker 1: next two weeks could be playing for his job? I
Speaker 1: think we've said that on the show. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's on the Patriots next season. I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: think these two weeks are gonna make or break him.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be on the Patriots next year
Speaker 1: for sure, and whether he has competition or not, that
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think they want to see without
Speaker 1: think Belichick is not blind love each other right now,
Speaker 1: If Belichick is there next year, then assume it's with
Speaker 1: a new offensive coordinator. He's not blind. I think he's
Speaker 1: want to see mac Jones with a different uh. I mean,
Speaker 1: we've seen it. We saw it with McDaniels early part
Speaker 1: of last year. Jones kind of got bang a little
Speaker 1: bit here. But I wonder, I'll say, because I wonder
Speaker 1: if the relationship with Belichick, with the whole situation just
Speaker 1: needs to refront. We don't know what's going on, but
Speaker 1: like you're what you're saying, we're gonna start, will we
Speaker 1: see on like an emotional explosion over the next two weeks.
Speaker 1: We've been seeing it for a month plus. Like, I
Speaker 1: don't think Belichick loves his quarterback doing that on the
Speaker 1: sideline and having to be the number one narrative surrounding
Speaker 1: the Patriots. Belichick obviously is the king, you know, kingmaker there.
Speaker 1: He believed that mac Jones enough to make him a
Speaker 1: first round pick. Obviously, his strategic decision making and coaching
Speaker 1: hires hurt mac jones development. I would say it's more
Speaker 1: likely that they just redo the offense um. But we'll
Speaker 1: less things are you know, ugly behind the scenes, certainly possible.
Speaker 1: Let's take a break and we'll roll on. All right,
Speaker 1: welcome back. It's time now for the Sunday Drive presented
Speaker 1: by Toyota Mark. You're up in the draft, all right,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna pick my late game. I'm gonna go Niners
Speaker 1: at Vegas. Um, it's gonna be a strange trip to
Speaker 1: Vegas this time around. The Raiders, we just talked about
Speaker 1: a team what will lay with their quarterback. I think
Speaker 1: we were suspicious that Derek Carr would be back with
Speaker 1: the Raiders a year from now. There were a lot
Speaker 1: of reasons to suggest that Josh McDaniels and Derek Carr
Speaker 1: were not maybe totally copasetic. He's been shut down for
Speaker 1: the rest of the year. He's left the team to
Speaker 1: not be a distraction. Jared's Stidham, old Patriots quarterback, will
Speaker 1: be starting against the Niners. I feel like you're Jared Stidham.
Speaker 1: You're thinking, wait, this is the week that you're play.
Speaker 1: Offensive line is collapsing, and uh, now we're going to
Speaker 1: play the I have to deal with Nick Bosa in
Speaker 1: the flesh in a few days. The Niners defense right
Speaker 1: now is so incredibly dominant on this eight game win streak,
Speaker 1: they have allowed twenty or fewer points under three passing
Speaker 1: yards and under a hundred rushing yards and every one
Speaker 1: of those games. That's the first team to do that
Speaker 1: in eight straight games since the ninety two Bears led
Speaker 1: by George Hallis. And it's like there are only a
Speaker 1: couple of defenses out there that we trust. Week after week,
Speaker 1: the Niners are doing it, and certainly against Jared's did
Speaker 1: Him Well, no, I think this, this feels like I
Speaker 1: like to pick a blow out here and there. This
Speaker 1: has that the ear markings of that bar and something
Speaker 1: really weird. I mean, I don't think Josh Jacobs is
Speaker 1: a very happy camper. If you listen to his comments
Speaker 1: from after last week. Run Josh Jacobs to another team.
Speaker 1: He Jared's Didham also a free agent. You know, Jared Stidham,
Speaker 1: Who's San Francisco is awesome right now. I moved them
Speaker 1: up to number one of the power rankings Rock Parties
Speaker 1: three and oh I got a little bit of an
Speaker 1: issue with them. Okay, well we can talk about that.
Speaker 1: But the the fact that the offense is continued to
Speaker 1: hum along evenent Deebo Samuel out and now the third
Speaker 1: string quarterback in and the defense being absolutely dominant. It Um,
Speaker 1: that's enough for me to say that they're the best
Speaker 1: team in football right now. And and well, let's talk
Speaker 1: about that pushback just very quickly. Yes, there's no way
Speaker 1: on a neutral field I have taken any team led
Speaker 1: by Brock Purty against Josh Allen, Joe Burrow or Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes and those teams just no chance. What about Jalen
Speaker 1: Hurts and Eagles or them maybe either? Are you are
Speaker 1: you factoring in beyond the quarterback? What about the defense
Speaker 1: going against those those two teams meet in the Super Bowl?
Speaker 1: No way I am picking Purty except pretty has actually
Speaker 1: outplayed Jimmy Garoppolo statistically. You gotta beat these Do you
Speaker 1: think this is irrelevant bias by you? I'm talking about
Speaker 1: the reason it's more defensive based, But it's the fact
Speaker 1: that he's been able to hit the ground running. They
Speaker 1: don't feel to me like they've lost anything with him there.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I just three A teams are the
Speaker 1: best three teams, not the number the number one according
Speaker 1: to the are burying the lead here. Derek Carr is
Speaker 1: no longer going to be at the Raiders. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: that one. This one annoys me a little bit. And
Speaker 1: they could say like, oh, we we have to bench
Speaker 1: him because we decided he's not part of our future
Speaker 1: and we can't risk him getting injured. They won't even
Speaker 1: say that, And all that is just like whatever, what
Speaker 1: happened to just having some basic decency, Like this guy
Speaker 1: who who every day for you know, eight years, like
Speaker 1: represented or franch as well, played his butt off. Sometimes
Speaker 1: it was great, sometimes not so hot, but always represented
Speaker 1: the team I thought in a in a professional way
Speaker 1: and was a good player. And this is how you
Speaker 1: just kick him out the door, and you you shut
Speaker 1: him down and embarrass the guy this way, and it's
Speaker 1: like whatever, I don't like the way. I get the
Speaker 1: reason why you're doing it, but sometimes I feel like
Speaker 1: there should be when you're doing business, a classier way
Speaker 1: of handling things that I think the rates tied probably
Speaker 1: from if you're looking at it from a front office angle.
Speaker 1: If he were hurt over the next two games, which
Speaker 1: is highly unlikely. He's very durable quarterback. You're on the
Speaker 1: hook for thirty two million. But like Dan, I'm not
Speaker 1: disagreeing with you, Like I think they treat him terribly.
Speaker 1: I just think like there were technical problem of reasons
Speaker 1: why they shut them down. But I said, I mean,
Speaker 1: I said that Mark in the set. I'm saying you
Speaker 1: could point the reasons why you shouldn't play him because
Speaker 1: you have to protect your franchise interest. But how about
Speaker 1: you just show some respect to some of them if
Speaker 1: it's not Josh McDaniels running the show here, I don't
Speaker 1: know if it happens that way. I just don't think
Speaker 1: it does. I don't think it was Josh McDaniels who
Speaker 1: made this decision. Based on Vic Tafer of The Raiders
Speaker 1: that there was back to back nights of meetings between
Speaker 1: Josh McDaniels and his GM and it sounded like they
Speaker 1: were leaning towards keeping Car in the lineup, And according
Speaker 1: to Tafer, he thinks it's Mark Davis, who's never really
Speaker 1: been in love with Derek Carson. Essentially like, look, if
Speaker 1: you guys have decided you're moving on from Derek Carr
Speaker 1: in the off season, which they had, I don't want
Speaker 1: you starting him. Uh. He He wasn't as explicit. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying he was reporting that, but that's what he
Speaker 1: believes happened, and that would make sense because he was
Speaker 1: trying to get rid of Derek Carr for Tom Brady
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. They might be trying to
Speaker 1: get Tom Brady again. I do understand why Derek Carr
Speaker 1: leaves the team. It really does sound like the two
Speaker 1: sides met and they tried to be adults about it,
Speaker 1: like here's the situation, and and both sides understood it's
Speaker 1: time to go. And I do think they will be
Speaker 1: able to trade him. They signed him to a contract
Speaker 1: last year which turns out to just be essentially a
Speaker 1: five million dollar rays. We said it at the time,
Speaker 1: this was not really a long term commitment. But he
Speaker 1: has a no trade clause as part of that, so
Speaker 1: he is going to control the situation. We'll get into
Speaker 1: all that in the offseason plenty. But if Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: with his forty million dollar dead cap hit, UH can
Speaker 1: get a third round pick, and I know once was
Speaker 1: you know, cost too much? Uh, Derek Carr can absolutely
Speaker 1: get some of the learned from some of those deals.
Speaker 1: I think there's some but one one third round pick.
Speaker 1: I don't think his contract is crazy, so I think
Speaker 1: they'll be able to I feel like Derek Carr will
Speaker 1: be the He will be seen when he's traded somewhere
Speaker 1: someone that's gonna go absolutely elevate another roster. And I
Speaker 1: never viewed Derek car that way. I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: go somewhere to be like Derek Carr will solve these
Speaker 1: problems average quarterback, and this has a lot of value.
Speaker 1: And I think that part of the issue is like
Speaker 1: in the NFL today, some of these front offices are like,
Speaker 1: that's not good enough. We need to swing higher and
Speaker 1: find the big guy. But you might end up way worse,
Speaker 1: Like you might end up with Tom Brady at age
Speaker 1: forty six next year playing the way Tom Brady might
Speaker 1: have Matt Ryan or Carson Wentz. Derek Carr. This level
Speaker 1: is a is a better option, and there will be
Speaker 1: a team, whether it's the Jets or the Commanders or
Speaker 1: the car like the Cardinals. For some Kyler very happy
Speaker 1: to have a plan here because that's how you get
Speaker 1: fired if you bring in someone who's way less than
Speaker 1: Derek Carr and you suffer another terrible season. And like
Speaker 1: above the tree tops opening the kimono, here a little
Speaker 1: bit like not for nothing, We'll go look at the numbers.
Speaker 1: Derek Carr's production in the last three years or so
Speaker 1: under John Gruden compared to what he did with Josh McDaniels.
Speaker 1: With Davante Adams there. Now you could say that Derek
Speaker 1: Carr has has blamed for his numbers going down. Sure
Speaker 1: he does, but maybe there's some scheme in there involved
Speaker 1: two and then that's your head coach and the guy
Speaker 1: that's running your operation on the field. Now, it wouldn't
Speaker 1: surprise me, and this would drive Raiders fans crazy, but
Speaker 1: just be ready for it. Wouldn't surprise me if we
Speaker 1: hear some Davante Adams trade rumors. Remember that he went
Speaker 1: there to play with his buddy from college. That was
Speaker 1: the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota Greggy. I am taking
Speaker 1: the team of a row in a big spot, huge
Speaker 1: spot at home against the Chicago Bears. You know, you know,
Speaker 1: nice matchup to prove that last week was one off
Speaker 1: for the Lions. Two hundred and fifty eight yards. That's
Speaker 1: how many yards they gave up to the Bears the
Speaker 1: last time they played in a game they narrowly and
Speaker 1: I would say luckily one in Chicago. And yet I
Speaker 1: think this team is going to respond defensively. I think
Speaker 1: they're much better when they play with a lead, and
Speaker 1: I think they can get the lead in this game,
Speaker 1: and I think that they're going to protect Jared Goff
Speaker 1: very well against a defensive line for the Bears. It's
Speaker 1: not been good. The Bears defense playing a little with
Speaker 1: a little more energy since thereby, I'll give them that credit,
Speaker 1: but it's not going to be enough. And that's why
Speaker 1: I'm locking up the team again. Like that. I mean,
Speaker 1: they betrade you in the lock camp, but I like
Speaker 1: that you're showing that respect to them. You're saying that
Speaker 1: was a fluke. You're not alone, by the way, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: I intended to start this off with an apology for
Speaker 1: not being on last week, but then Dan calls me
Speaker 1: out on Christmas Eve, acts like I'm the bad guy
Speaker 1: for not having time to do the video last week.
Speaker 1: You know, some of us have real jobs. We don't
Speaker 1: just sit around watching football and talking about our lives
Speaker 1: all day. You know, we have to go into work
Speaker 1: put hours in lead people. You guys, go ahead and
Speaker 1: give me a hard time for not doing the video.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which, I'm not getting paid to do this.
Speaker 1: Your ratings have since I've been on. I want to
Speaker 1: get paid next year. My agent will be in touch.
Speaker 1: But in the meantime I will give you this one.
Speaker 1: We will be locking up for the first time this year,
Speaker 1: the team of a t L. You're the music justin
Speaker 1: lock it up? Wait? Did did Nick? What a broadcaster
Speaker 1: he's becoming? Did he pause there for the two beautiful? Nick?
Speaker 1: I'm sorry I called you out a Christmas evel of
Speaker 1: all I mean based on their results? Are you at
Speaker 1: all concerned? Greg? I am a little bit. My plan
Speaker 1: was initially to lock up the Eagles and other people,
Speaker 1: and now it was it was the Eagles. But now
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurt sounds like you might return. We'll get to that,
Speaker 1: and that that doesn't pass the mirror tists as well.
Speaker 1: I do think that they will respond. The thing that
Speaker 1: concerns me in this game is, like I said, I
Speaker 1: think the Bears defense has been played with more energy
Speaker 1: and that they still have justin fields. But if you
Speaker 1: can't take care of business at home against the Bears,
Speaker 1: what are we talking about? All this flowery stuff we
Speaker 1: talked about the Lions was wrong and I don't believe
Speaker 1: they're that team. I believe they're a better team if
Speaker 1: you go back to when they played the first time.
Speaker 1: Justin Fields had one of his most explosive days on
Speaker 1: the ground thirteen carries for a hundred and forty seven
Speaker 1: and two touchdowns. Detroit gave up three hundred and a
Speaker 1: million year yards of last week, so it's like that
Speaker 1: that weakness still exists. But I'm with you if you
Speaker 1: are the Lions and you can't offer this Bears team
Speaker 1: a bad defense itself, because golf and the offense weren't
Speaker 1: the problem last week against Carolina, like they should be
Speaker 1: able to put up points. Golf splits at home or insane.
Speaker 1: And I think the Lions, you know that they're going
Speaker 1: to be going right. They're learning to become this team
Speaker 1: that's a different type of Lions team, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: have these up and down weeks. This will be an
Speaker 1: up week. Is that? Does the head coach have the
Speaker 1: motivational ability to get this team ready after a humbling
Speaker 1: lassit here from Dan Campbell, I feel like they do. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say this again. It stings. It's awful, um,
Speaker 1: but man, it's the best thing can happen to us,
Speaker 1: you know, um, Because I think no matter who you
Speaker 1: are and whatever you do, some of your best work
Speaker 1: is when you get your face kicked in, And so
Speaker 1: I mean that literally. I don't know everybody gets their
Speaker 1: face kicked in, but but I do know. Man, when
Speaker 1: your backs against the wall and you get trotted on
Speaker 1: and it's and everything that it's worse. You either just
Speaker 1: stay down there or you get up and you come
Speaker 1: back motivated and upset um with calculated energy and aggression
Speaker 1: and men you go and there's a purpose. And so
Speaker 1: I think this is the best thing for us. You
Speaker 1: don't think he's setting the town this week. And by
Speaker 1: the way, for people out there, that is absolutely great advice.
Speaker 1: Everybody gets kicked every once in a while. I gotta
Speaker 1: get back up the measure of a man or a woman.
Speaker 1: Sometimes you can be the kicker too. If you want
Speaker 1: to give someone else that gift, if you're saying it,
Speaker 1: give them, hey, this is for you. Yeah, you grow
Speaker 1: from it. I'd like them to give the Bears that gift.
Speaker 1: Then their offensive line kick them in the teeth, like dominate,
Speaker 1: don't let fields run. They didn't really run with fields
Speaker 1: last week. I do wonder if that is a little
Speaker 1: bit of preservation. They're not gonna sit fields, and I
Speaker 1: expect that although abral Flus said absolutely not, even though
Speaker 1: he got his footstepped on and he his left shoulder
Speaker 1: was aggravated that injury. At certain point, it's like, I
Speaker 1: get it, But they have the number two overall pick
Speaker 1: right now. They could end up moving up to number
Speaker 1: one a win. Uh, this is how you end up
Speaker 1: with Zack Wilson instead of Trevor Lawrence and people at
Speaker 1: the time we're like, oh, yeah, try your hardest, and
Speaker 1: it's like, well they are rising eight came losing streak
Speaker 1: the longest in team history. So you took about these
Speaker 1: coaches that are like on hot seat. Is Aberflus just
Speaker 1: automatically safe? No, But I have noticed, like no one
Speaker 1: ever comments that the Colts defense got better and that
Speaker 1: I know there's a million reasons why the Bears defense
Speaker 1: is terrible, but he is a defensive coach and they're
Speaker 1: like the worst defensive league. It's worth mentioning. But he six.
Speaker 1: So it's back to me. It's back to me, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to make a selection. That's how it works.
Speaker 1: Very clear. I'm going to make us selection in this draft,
Speaker 1: and that selection is Giants Colts. Let's do that. Okay,
Speaker 1: why did you pick that correct. Why don't you I
Speaker 1: could guess on the off chance the Giants have a
Speaker 1: layup chance to make the playoffs and the Cults beat them,
Speaker 1: and he can just dance because I wasn't ready and
Speaker 1: do a jig. It wasn't ready. I think you made
Speaker 1: a terrible pick. But just like, knock this game out.
Speaker 1: I think I think the Giants are gonna play better
Speaker 1: in this game. I think it's a great challenge for
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones in this offense. I think people have been
Speaker 1: slamming Isaiah Hodgens and Darius Slayton like a little too
Speaker 1: much now each week. It's like, look, Daniel Jones is
Speaker 1: out here, and like his receivers are Darius Slayton and
Speaker 1: Isaiah Hodgens. Last month, Isaiah Hodgens is a good player.
Speaker 1: I think he has a like a future in the
Speaker 1: NFL now that he wouldn't have had if he didn't
Speaker 1: get this opportunity. Like he's been more durable and consistent
Speaker 1: as sort of a possession receiver who can can win
Speaker 1: someone on one matchups in eight areas. And Darius Layton's
Speaker 1: a good player. He's gonna be a free agent this year,
Speaker 1: and it's like, why do they always bench steriously. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying this is a dynamic receiver group, but those
Speaker 1: two guys have stepped up. Daniel Jones has stepped up
Speaker 1: paying better. It's a tough matchup though for Evan Neil
Speaker 1: in this offensive line, which has struggled against a good
Speaker 1: Colts defense. So I think it's the perfect setup. It's
Speaker 1: a challenging game for their offense, but ultimately a comfortable
Speaker 1: game for the Giants and they can celebrate a playoff
Speaker 1: victory at home. That would be pretty special for this team.
Speaker 1: I know because of the nature of the season, because
Speaker 1: started so well and they've been in you know, ah
Speaker 1: precipitous decline with the exception of that Sunday night win
Speaker 1: over Washington that it doesn't feel like that anymore that
Speaker 1: they're having a good year. But if they win this game,
Speaker 1: as they should and I think they will, it might
Speaker 1: not be pretty, but it very rarely is when when
Speaker 1: they win this game, feen or whatever, uh, and they
Speaker 1: are celebrating that playoff but that's a huge um. That's
Speaker 1: a huge victory for the organization, uh, for the head
Speaker 1: coach and everyone in that building. Daniel Jones in a
Speaker 1: crucial year, in his development and with his UH contract situation. Um,
Speaker 1: they this is something that no one expected. Who predicted
Speaker 1: the Giants to make the playoffs this year. There were
Speaker 1: tons of tons of reasons to not go down that room.
Speaker 1: And they're they're winning in and just the way the
Speaker 1: NFC looks, they could lose and get in the way
Speaker 1: the NFC looks. But I get it, get it done with. Well,
Speaker 1: you have no business losing this. I also think that
Speaker 1: you're playing a cults team that is found a way
Speaker 1: to become as broken as possible. I mean, you don't
Speaker 1: have Shack Leonard or Jonathan Taylor at this point, but
Speaker 1: your offensive line, which was perceived to be a strength,
Speaker 1: is given up fifty six sacks and you put Nick
Speaker 1: Foles back there, who looked absolutely washed and awful on
Speaker 1: Monday night. So I to me, it's like, this is
Speaker 1: a great situation for Dexter Lawrence, for our friend cave
Speaker 1: On Thibodeaux to haveau Thibodeaux have a great game, and
Speaker 1: that won't help my friendship with him. They they got
Speaker 1: a Dorry Jackson back in practice this week. I think
Speaker 1: this is it's important for the Giants. I think they've
Speaker 1: played a little better lately, as Ezolari, who injured last
Speaker 1: week also as a practice, so they're getting healthier. They
Speaker 1: actually have a good defensive line. That's something they can
Speaker 1: build around. There's there's some outrageous stats out there, and
Speaker 1: I was hoping I could find it before you guys
Speaker 1: stopped talking, but you didn't. You guys stopped talking too soon. Um,
Speaker 1: but do you want me to talk again? I mean
Speaker 1: it's always an yeah exactly, but it was just yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: I will. Um. The cults know have been outscored an
Speaker 1: absurd amount of points at the fourth quarter under Jeff Saturday.
Speaker 1: And I know there's uh, you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: people want to to dunk on Saturday and dunk on
Speaker 1: the Colts operation for it, and I'm not here for that.
Speaker 1: But whatever the intended, um, what what was intended by
Speaker 1: ursay here hasn't played out. It's actually led to kind
Speaker 1: of a little bit more embarrassment for the organization when
Speaker 1: they could have just installed someone from the coaching staff
Speaker 1: and ended the season with some level of modicum grace. Instead,
Speaker 1: this feels like a circus, uh. And it's been just
Speaker 1: and they're keeping by the way that was news falls
Speaker 1: will start falls doesn't want to play the last two games.
Speaker 1: Fowls also like basically had quotes saying he never expected
Speaker 1: to see the field this season on any level. So
Speaker 1: it's like, I'm assuming he's a hard worker, but it's
Speaker 1: like this is a bizarre reality for him to suddenly
Speaker 1: be thrust into this situation. The thing I like the
Speaker 1: least about this Cults team is that they're putting Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan out to pasture with the worst ending possible, and
Speaker 1: they're putting Super Bowl hero Nick Foles probably these are
Speaker 1: the last starts of his career. Come on, insane. India
Speaker 1: has been out scored in the fourth quarter since the
Speaker 1: there was that Dallas thirty three points. No, my nug is,
Speaker 1: I'm locking up the Giants beat the Jags this week
Speaker 1: and when next week they have a chance to push
Speaker 1: Indie to fourth place in the a f C South.
Speaker 1: The sandwich prop is alive. Just throwing it out there
Speaker 1: heady times. Pinch me. Uh was the Desert say about
Speaker 1: that game? By the way, it's like a five point spread.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on, Mark back to you. All right,
Speaker 1: I'll go Cleveland at Washington. Obviously Cleveland eliminated Washington plane
Speaker 1: for a lot right now, and you're putting Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: back in there. I think Greg likes this move um
Speaker 1: better than I do. Um. I don't have this innate
Speaker 1: trust and Carson Wentz excepting I think that well, you
Speaker 1: were saying that you like you Kineke, you call the
Speaker 1: worst quarterback in the league, which I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: have any innate trust in Carson Wentz, but I do
Speaker 1: like the move. I think I think that Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1: If anything, it's like they did need They needed to
Speaker 1: get away from some of Heinekes, like self inflicted wounds
Speaker 1: and the turnovers, and you just got to find a
Speaker 1: way to beat a Cleveland defense that I think you
Speaker 1: can run on. Washington wants to run the ball, and
Speaker 1: Cleveland's offense has, you know, not to go down this
Speaker 1: road over and over. But they've looked so disjointed that
Speaker 1: if you look at the worst two quarterback ratings passer
Speaker 1: ratings in the league, the second worst is Zach Wilson.
Speaker 1: Somehow the worst is the Shawn Watson and it's looked
Speaker 1: that way. And my bigger issue with Cleveland's offense is
Speaker 1: that it has completely affected what their strength was, which
Speaker 1: is Nick Chop. I mean, he just is not in
Speaker 1: the same situation as he was before. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of shotgun going on. Washington's defense is better. I think
Speaker 1: their offense with someone like Jahan Dotson, who has seven
Speaker 1: touchdowns this season despite missing five games, has become a
Speaker 1: big playmaker. You've got Terry McLaurin. You can move against
Speaker 1: this Brown's defense. It's in Washington, everything's on the line.
Speaker 1: I think this is ron game. No, I'm not, but
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna do it. I thought you were
Speaker 1: going to do it. No, I can't believe the Browns
Speaker 1: have missed the playoffs nineteen. There's a graph of if
Speaker 1: you want to sign YouTube years or on NFL networks right,
Speaker 1: thank you for uh. This is a very winnable game
Speaker 1: for them. But my thing with Wentz is that I
Speaker 1: think his floor is similar to Heineke. Heineck was more
Speaker 1: or less can assistant as who he was, and I
Speaker 1: think Wentz will give you that at worst, which is
Speaker 1: a couple of decent plays and a couple of plays
Speaker 1: that drive you absolutely crazy and overall it's bad. But
Speaker 1: the better level of Carson Wentz and we've seen plenty
Speaker 1: of it, including in Washington. Uh this year. Like even
Speaker 1: a good Wentz game or the good Wins games you
Speaker 1: got from the cults, those are all better than the
Speaker 1: good Heineke games to me. So to me, the ceiling
Speaker 1: is higher. I don't think the floor is getting any lower.
Speaker 1: And I think it's really telling. With Ron Rivera and
Speaker 1: a playoff spot on the line and new ownership supposedly
Speaker 1: coming this offseason, this is riverbolt Ron if there ever
Speaker 1: was one. This is as gutsy as a pick as
Speaker 1: there is, and he trust Wentz. I'll give it to him,
Speaker 1: and it does feel like ahead and start. This is it.
Speaker 1: This is everything that we built up through the summer.
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz is a goal to take command on the
Speaker 1: private jet. Maybe one more take would have been good.
Speaker 1: There he's so wishes he never recorded. If he doesn't
Speaker 1: play well, um or even if he does play well,
Speaker 1: he would have to play outstanding football. I think otherwise
Speaker 1: we're gonna see a complete reboot of this organization. Way
Speaker 1: to bring car ownership, maybe head coach, quarterback. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of change for a team that's still in
Speaker 1: the mix. I think there is that possibility. If they
Speaker 1: lost out, Yeah, they're another team. If they lost out,
Speaker 1: it would be bad for once because he lost to
Speaker 1: win an in games to close last year on a
Speaker 1: different team, so there's no way he'd stick around in Washington.
Speaker 1: If that's the case, you gotta win this game. Chase
Speaker 1: Young return last week and really looked like Chase Young.
Speaker 1: So they have a huge strength upfront that will make
Speaker 1: it harder on Cleveland. And this is a great game
Speaker 1: of like do steaks matter? We really get into like
Speaker 1: this team's gonna try harder this week. This is this
Speaker 1: is a perfect test case of like the Washington Commanders
Speaker 1: have everything on the line. They the brown do not.
Speaker 1: Their season is absolutely over into even teams. You would
Speaker 1: think that should be a difference. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's a difference, but it should I think matter a lot.
Speaker 1: Then the Commanders win this game and perhaps perhaps uh
Speaker 1: it could not be a more fitting way for Cleveland
Speaker 1: season too to end. Then the way that game went
Speaker 1: last week, Mary Cooper slips wide open in the back
Speaker 1: of the end zone, uh to miss a surefire touchdown
Speaker 1: past that's a four point play, and then Donovan Peoples,
Speaker 1: Jones and David and Joco both failed to come up
Speaker 1: with really good Deshaun Watson passes that would have uh
Speaker 1: stolen that game and kept them in the mix, but
Speaker 1: it didn't. So it was just yet another um on
Speaker 1: the previous drive to throw the ball on close to
Speaker 1: the end zone on second and two and third and two,
Speaker 1: and then Watson gets dropped to the ground on fourth
Speaker 1: and two. It's like, what were you the Browns? For
Speaker 1: Watson to show some semblance of his talent in the
Speaker 1: last two weeks, I think they would. They would love
Speaker 1: to see that. They need that. It's like a narrative
Speaker 1: change to that point. If he gets a little help
Speaker 1: from his teammates. People are saying he had a good
Speaker 1: game last week, but he didn't. But he doesn't comfortable,
Speaker 1: kind of like I was talking about with Donald previously
Speaker 1: in his career, Like, yeah, he could have made a
Speaker 1: couple of throws that I think anyone in that system
Speaker 1: could have made, but he isn't going through his programming.
Speaker 1: He's just not playing quarterback. Well, he's been out for
Speaker 1: two years. It's like, yeah, well, whose fault was that?
Speaker 1: Like you knew that when you signed, Well, they went
Speaker 1: from fifth in yards per game. He wasn't recovering from
Speaker 1: an a C L he was recovering from something that
Speaker 1: got him removed from the NFL. Truth Truth. Let's take
Speaker 1: a break, We'll be right back. Welcome back. All right,
Speaker 1: let's wrap this draft up. We got five more games.
Speaker 1: Let's roll through it. Let's start with the New Orleans
Speaker 1: Saints at Philadelphia Eagles. Interesting, the Saints improbably still alive
Speaker 1: at six and nine, uh in the NFC South Race,
Speaker 1: So this game matters a lot to them. And here
Speaker 1: are the Eagles now at thirteen into What do the
Speaker 1: Eagles need? What do they need to do? They gotta
Speaker 1: clinch the number one seed. How do they do it?
Speaker 1: Win a game? Win a game. Who's the quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Eagles. It's the latest as of taping right now,
Speaker 1: Greg rose Doll. Jalen Hurts is gonna be on the field.
Speaker 1: He was on the field to start practice on Thursday
Speaker 1: throwing some passes. They don't know what his official designation is,
Speaker 1: whether that means he's returning or not. But I do
Speaker 1: think our guy Ian Rappaport put it out there on
Speaker 1: Wednesday that, like, keep an eye, Jalen Hurts might end
Speaker 1: up playing in this game. We have some sound from
Speaker 1: Nick Serrianti on Jalen Hurts, he was a tough man.
Speaker 1: He will continue to see how how he progresses throughout
Speaker 1: the week. Um, you know, does he have a chance.
Speaker 1: Of course he does, because his body heals. His body
Speaker 1: just knows how to heal. He's he's a freak, and
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens as the as the week progresses.
Speaker 1: How does his body differently for everybody else? If you
Speaker 1: and him went up and you does shot baskets together,
Speaker 1: he'd whoop you. If you guys went out and you
Speaker 1: guys raced against each other, he'd whoop you if you
Speaker 1: guys went out And uh, let's see try to throw
Speaker 1: the football. So he was to throw up more accurate
Speaker 1: or further and so his body heals faster, you know
Speaker 1: a sports reporter, Yeah, you know, I guess he's just
Speaker 1: saying he's an athlete at a higher level. But I
Speaker 1: understand yet anybody else noticed a little h Kevin Patrick
Speaker 1: energy with Nick Sirianni, what about see where you're coming
Speaker 1: from a little bit. So, I mean he's been talking
Speaker 1: about this for two weeks now, Sirianni, about what a
Speaker 1: freak Hurts is, So I'm expecting him to play at
Speaker 1: this point now, because you don't just keep on talking
Speaker 1: about how top a guy is and now he heals
Speaker 1: so quickly and then keep him out an extra week.
Speaker 1: So if he does play, I think Eagles role in
Speaker 1: this game. If Gardner Minshew plays, maybe it's a little tighter.
Speaker 1: But either way, I think this is a game that
Speaker 1: Philadelphia is going to grasp the moment understand they don't
Speaker 1: want to mess around and push this thing to Weka
Speaker 1: teen where things get freaky. I predict a blowout. Eagles
Speaker 1: are the number one seed in the NFC comes Sunday night.
Speaker 1: You also don't have Lane Johnson, so you're you're potentially
Speaker 1: with or without you're starting to go back you don't
Speaker 1: have it. Sounds like Lean Johnson will be back for
Speaker 1: the playoffs though, which is that is a show of
Speaker 1: um fortitude and strength as well because he's dealing with
Speaker 1: a peck injury. I think it's an abdominal tendon injury.
Speaker 1: But then think about it, if if they take care
Speaker 1: of business here without Lane Johnson, they think he could
Speaker 1: be back by the place you have the buy, which
Speaker 1: means he misses essentially one game that matters and you
Speaker 1: have him back if everything goes to plan in the
Speaker 1: divisional playoffs. I would say the thing of the thing
Speaker 1: that's optimistic no matter what happens with all this is
Speaker 1: that Minshew against the Cowboys, um, we we thought he'd
Speaker 1: play well. We I think Minshew is shown he can
Speaker 1: do that is his numbers have been good career wise,
Speaker 1: but they didn't have to go change the offense a
Speaker 1: lot for him. I think it's like you, you you don't
Speaker 1: have to cope to be something completely different hurts. It's
Speaker 1: gonna obviously give you something on the ground, and you
Speaker 1: can base an entire games scheme around that if you want.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna happen with Minshew to some degree at all,
Speaker 1: but he makes the throws. I thought that. I thought
Speaker 1: for the Eagles, offense is so balanced that you just
Speaker 1: need him to not make mistakes. What happened last week,
Speaker 1: I thought it was closer than it needed to be
Speaker 1: at times because Minshew did make a couple of mistakes,
Speaker 1: so you need him to be error free. The Saints
Speaker 1: defense has been played, has played better lately. You know
Speaker 1: they've They've been a little closer to what you expected
Speaker 1: coming into this season. I would say the last six
Speaker 1: or seven weeks, if Dennis Allen wants to uh prove
Speaker 1: that he should stick around and that he's a great
Speaker 1: defensive coach and that this all was just a lot
Speaker 1: of bad luck because there were a lot of injuries
Speaker 1: and there were let's see it you shut down the Eagles, Uh,
Speaker 1: then we believe it. I don't believe it. I am
Speaker 1: curious how the Eagles will respond here. They've only lost
Speaker 1: once all year, and you think like, oh, they're gonna
Speaker 1: come out with their hair on fire. Remember the last
Speaker 1: time they lost, they almost lost to the Jeff Saturday Colts.
Speaker 1: They were down sixteen six and they got it done
Speaker 1: in the end. But it's not like they came out
Speaker 1: playing great and the Saints team is okay. I I
Speaker 1: wanted to lock this up. This is like the lock
Speaker 1: that I feel the most confident. But I looked at
Speaker 1: the line before we taped. It just moved from six
Speaker 1: to six and a half. I kind of see with
Speaker 1: Hurts possibly starting, it'll move over that. So I I
Speaker 1: couldn't look in the mirror and do it. But just know,
Speaker 1: I think the Eagles will win this game about thirty
Speaker 1: four to ten, even if Garden Bye they're nice. It's
Speaker 1: it's been annoying. See your next summer uh game six
Speaker 1: snakes to me. Broncos at Chiefs. All right, let's roll
Speaker 1: through this one. The Broncos obviously a team in turmoil.
Speaker 1: They fired their head coach after dropping again a fifty
Speaker 1: burger dropped on him by Baker Mayfield and the Rams.
Speaker 1: So that's where they're at. By the way, I was
Speaker 1: on Ricky's ram Jam podcast over in rams Land, Erica
Speaker 1: tam Pose yesterday, so check that out. And also Ricky
Speaker 1: gonna join us on the Friday fund. I did that show.
Speaker 1: It's a delightful vehicle coming out of a little football,
Speaker 1: a little bit of fun. It's very Ricky esque, very Ricky.
Speaker 1: Let's move on into the game talk. I think the
Speaker 1: Kansas City Chiefs gonna take care of business here. This
Speaker 1: is an easy win. It's almost been a weird Chiefs
Speaker 1: back into the season where I feel like the schedule
Speaker 1: has been very soft and every week it seems like
Speaker 1: they you know, just that. Let me take a look
Speaker 1: at this schedule because it feels like maybe I'm crazy,
Speaker 1: but let's look at it. Say they had they had
Speaker 1: a bad Rams team. They had since a Nati lost
Speaker 1: play field goal at Denver at Houston Seattle and Flames Denver,
Speaker 1: and then they get the Vegas. They couldn't possibly be easier,
Speaker 1: so they should absolutely go fourteen and three. Uh. And
Speaker 1: then you just hope that the Bengals beat the Bills
Speaker 1: and Walla the Chiefs of the number one seed. I
Speaker 1: hope that doesn't happen because I don't think they're the
Speaker 1: best team in the C, but they certainly have the
Speaker 1: best pack. I see these three teams in the a
Speaker 1: f C as like basically equal because only one of
Speaker 1: them has my homes the I'm sick of the Chiefs
Speaker 1: hosting the AC championship. It's totally fair, and they would
Speaker 1: have the easier path. I think there are some things
Speaker 1: to watch for for them in this game in the
Speaker 1: next two weeks. Number One, their defense, like under spack Nola,
Speaker 1: has shown a propensity to be very mediocre throughout the
Speaker 1: course of the season and then suddenly pick it up
Speaker 1: at the end, and so just keeping an eye on that.
Speaker 1: They did play well last week, like can they dominate
Speaker 1: this game coming to the the postseason feeling a little
Speaker 1: more confident about who they are and in their offense. Look,
Speaker 1: they were first in the league and e p A
Speaker 1: expected points added right there by, so much like number
Speaker 1: two was way behind. So their offense is still playing well.
Speaker 1: But if you look over the last six weeks or so,
Speaker 1: their fourth in the league, and they're so they're back
Speaker 1: to just being like a really good offense. And I
Speaker 1: think to your point, Dan, for them to be the
Speaker 1: best team in the NFL, they need to be the
Speaker 1: best offense. They need to be putting up points. They
Speaker 1: can't just be a top five offense. They have to
Speaker 1: get exactly. They gotta get back to just lighting teams up.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna put a fifty burger feel good about you.
Speaker 1: They're legitimately a different attack than they were a year ago,
Speaker 1: and it's it's Tyreek Hill. I mean, Kelsey's on on
Speaker 1: pace to break his own personal career records. So you
Speaker 1: still have Kelsey, but they have twelve players with multiple touchdowns,
Speaker 1: which is the most in the NFL. The record in
Speaker 1: the NFL is thirteen. Mahomes has been using his running
Speaker 1: backs in his tight ends so heavily this season that
Speaker 1: they're literally just a different attack. McKinnon has been huge
Speaker 1: for them. I want to see more narious Tony two.
Speaker 1: So they got things to work on. Uh. And just
Speaker 1: because I don't want to denigrated at all what the
Speaker 1: Chiefs have done. It is hugely impressive what they've done
Speaker 1: in the Mahomes eras starting twelve and four made to
Speaker 1: the conference title game, twelve and four won the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: fourteen and two lost the Super Bowl, twelve and five
Speaker 1: lost the conference title game, and now twelve and three
Speaker 1: and they've beaten the Broncos fourteen straight times, which is
Speaker 1: an embarrassment for Denver. That's why I'm locking it up now. Alright,
Speaker 1: gonna go Jacksonville at Houston. Trevor Lawrence at speaking of
Speaker 1: weird records, has never beaten the Texans. Now. Two of
Speaker 1: those games obviously happened last year when Lawrence and the
Speaker 1: Jaguars were held hostage by Urban Meyer. Uh. I think
Speaker 1: we've already talked about Lawrence a ton. What's happening here
Speaker 1: is really special. I thought the Jets game was sort
Speaker 1: of a in terrible weather. Another example of Trevor Lawrence
Speaker 1: kind of like with Patrick Mahomes. From Patrick Mahomes has
Speaker 1: we always knew he could run, but his legs have
Speaker 1: been a real difference maker in that Kansas City offense,
Speaker 1: and I thought against the Jets, Lawrence showed that he
Speaker 1: has that element of absolutely and like, I think that's
Speaker 1: when it matters when you're there are a lot of
Speaker 1: different type of running quarterbacks and it's not this type
Speaker 1: of size, but to be six ft six and you're
Speaker 1: watching it right here on the clip if you're watching
Speaker 1: NFL never like just to run the way he does
Speaker 1: with his power. I think that's just something that is
Speaker 1: another special element to a player that at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the season was real up and down. It's a
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson obviously bump as well. The coaching helps, but
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence just seems to me, ever since that London game,
Speaker 1: which he noted where something clicked in his mind where
Speaker 1: it is time to become who you can become. And
Speaker 1: I think they could beat any team in the league
Speaker 1: right now. And I know the Texans have been really
Speaker 1: well coached. A couple of weeks, they pushed the buttons
Speaker 1: of the Chiefs not to too too long ago. They've
Speaker 1: been winning winning games here and they're they're not just
Speaker 1: the team that we just dismissed out of out of hand,
Speaker 1: but Jacksonville, this is a huge moment for them. You
Speaker 1: gotta set up that week at they're going to win
Speaker 1: this game. But because it just comes down to week
Speaker 1: because the matter, because they still have an outside shot
Speaker 1: at the wild card each week eighteen, but ultimately it's
Speaker 1: down to Week eighteen. So really, Jacksonville doesn't need to
Speaker 1: win this game. And they've also lost nine straight as
Speaker 1: a franchise to the Texans. Change those records, just keep rolling.
Speaker 1: They've been changing record alright, Uh anything else in that game? Boys,
Speaker 1: I think the Texans are finding some young players. Jalen
Speaker 1: Petriet has been playing great for them. Obo o'caran Quo
Speaker 1: has made some money. He's going to be a free agent.
Speaker 1: The Jaguars made a point to say they're not going
Speaker 1: to rest any starters. Doug Peterson doesn't want to rest
Speaker 1: and uh, yeah, this is a great streak. To end
Speaker 1: nine straight losses is a lot and they've they've ended
Speaker 1: a lot of these streaks like haven't won on the road,
Speaker 1: haven't done this, haven't done that, and this one because
Speaker 1: this will show t laws improvement. He was not good
Speaker 1: in that first game against the Texans at all. It's
Speaker 1: got to be like the Houston's wins over the last
Speaker 1: like straight, Houston and the fans all know this. Stay
Speaker 1: right where you are. There is one number one pick
Speaker 1: right now. Don't win another game. There is one more
Speaker 1: thing in this game. I'm locking up the Jaguars. Is
Speaker 1: he gonna do it? Is he gonna do it? What's
Speaker 1: the spread of that one? It was quite you're is
Speaker 1: It wasn't too crazy thinking that the Jags could wrestle me.
Speaker 1: I think maybe they're maybe they're pointing to some of
Speaker 1: these bizarre Houston Jacksonville trends that we've it's four. I
Speaker 1: think the Texans are The way they've played over the
Speaker 1: last month have has engendered. When was the last time
Speaker 1: they didn't cover? I guess with jackson was playing well though.
Speaker 1: That's a good luck Marky. By the way, what is
Speaker 1: the checking on the lock standings? Where are we at
Speaker 1: as we head towards the penultimate week of the regular season? Penultimate?
Speaker 1: It does go through the playt Yes, it does. Basically
Speaker 1: the final locks standings give Greig the trophy. I'm at
Speaker 1: twelve and four. I'm literally only one game up with
Speaker 1: eight weeks to go. I like this is like the
Speaker 1: old school of the NFL standing sixteen game schedule, Greggy,
Speaker 1: twelve and four zoos an five mark your name spelled right,
Speaker 1: and the correct record is that. Yeah, I don't know what.
Speaker 1: I don't know. That was a sort of a gag
Speaker 1: that died out. I haven't seen that in mind, whoever
Speaker 1: made one? Third place? There? Ten and six, the West
Speaker 1: Brothers hanging around at nine and seven, and Grave Digger
Speaker 1: at this point, Grave Diggers in the Mike Tomlin camps, like,
Speaker 1: can I just finish over five? Grave Digger? Yeah, honoring
Speaker 1: his team, the Titans by being a seven win team
Speaker 1: with um. All right, let's move on, Greggy. Oh, we
Speaker 1: have games to go. Let's go Rams and Chargers. It's
Speaker 1: the battle for l A. I just said that and
Speaker 1: said it. I just tacked it up. Okay, we're just
Speaker 1: we're making it a thing. You should go the showdown
Speaker 1: in the south Land. That's good. I do like that
Speaker 1: these uh like the front offices, don't like each other
Speaker 1: like I think the ownership, Like the war on the
Speaker 1: West Coast, there is a whole thing between the ray
Speaker 1: Ums and Chargers that's similar to Giants Jets back in
Speaker 1: the day when the Jets were a tenant of the
Speaker 1: The Giants creates a little bit of heat. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: the charge he called a giant stadium. That's been a
Speaker 1: little bit of a slap. Let's make no mistake. The
Speaker 1: Chargers are tenants of the Rams and uh, I'm sure
Speaker 1: they would love those Super Bowl rings. But right now
Speaker 1: they're the toast of the town. They're the heavy favorite.
Speaker 1: They're the defense that over the last five weeks is
Speaker 1: the top five defense in terms of de v O
Speaker 1: Way and they can snuff out this Baker Mayfield story.
Speaker 1: I love what Brandon Staley has done. I really think
Speaker 1: he's he's kind of change what he does on a
Speaker 1: week week basis in a Belichickian way, and I think
Speaker 1: the players finally get it, like they understand the defense
Speaker 1: enough and he's being able to coach it enough that
Speaker 1: they can be flexible about who they did. They designated
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa to return off I r that just means
Speaker 1: he's practicing, doesn't mean he's playing in that what a
Speaker 1: great sign for this team. Derwin James is in the
Speaker 1: concussion protocol, so it sounds like he probably won't play
Speaker 1: it is I mean, it does help that I think
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh knows Brandon Staley's defense I think that in
Speaker 1: other situations when he's familiar with the defensive coordinator. It
Speaker 1: what happened last week, Like I know that like the
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield thing. It's not unlike Sam Donalds me, at
Speaker 1: least a month ago, we were wondering at Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: because of his sort of personality makeup. He wouldn't be
Speaker 1: a backup. He'd be Curry creating problems. Like he's changed
Speaker 1: his career with this whole Sean McVeigh thing, and I
Speaker 1: think it's changed the Rams end of their season. And
Speaker 1: he was like twenty three of twenty six under pressure
Speaker 1: last week, but two touchdowns, so it's working. And they
Speaker 1: have all their stars out, so I think it's it's
Speaker 1: you know, I would heavily favor the Chargers in this,
Speaker 1: but what the Rams did against so the Dolphins was
Speaker 1: real to me. They match up well because Akers is
Speaker 1: really playing with juice. He's changed his uh trajectory over
Speaker 1: the last couple of weeks, like he looks fantastic, And
Speaker 1: I do think you can run against the Chargers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think. Um, you know, if I'm Baker, I know,
Speaker 1: if you finished the season strong, you're gonna want to
Speaker 1: test the market and see if maybe there's a stay
Speaker 1: right here. I agree, I think maybe there's a case
Speaker 1: to be made for him staying in l A play
Speaker 1: behind the old man quarterback, and you're probably gonna get
Speaker 1: another opportunity now, whether he takes the long game or
Speaker 1: I assume the Rams would be interested in staying in
Speaker 1: business with him he finishes strong, It'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how that plays out. Um and if they if
Speaker 1: they could win this game, it is kind of like
Speaker 1: their super Bowl. They would love to beat the freaking Chargers.
Speaker 1: They would love to meet him. Yeah, And and on
Speaker 1: the Charger side of this, you know the Chargers are
Speaker 1: an interesting team is that they're a playoff team. And
Speaker 1: as a fan of a Star Cross team, I like
Speaker 1: when a team takes care of business the way they
Speaker 1: did against the bad Colts last week. Just clinch the
Speaker 1: playoff uh spot and don't let any of the demons
Speaker 1: into the building. And now you have a chance against
Speaker 1: the Rams team that I know. They destroyed the Broncos,
Speaker 1: who obviously have all sorts of issues, but they're there.
Speaker 1: They're not a good team this year. And then they're
Speaker 1: at Denver, who were the team that the Rams destroyed
Speaker 1: they can go into the playoffs feeling really good, potentially
Speaker 1: at eleven and six and be a heart out with
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert in his first playoff game. So I think
Speaker 1: there's incentive for the Chargers to keep rolling here while
Speaker 1: resting the guys that are banged up. Finally Cardinals, we
Speaker 1: mean finally Cardinals Falcons. This is the one dead game
Speaker 1: you referred to. There's only one this week. This is
Speaker 1: a trash bag game. This is trash bag teams right now,
Speaker 1: and it's it's tough, it is, it is what it is, though, Greggy,
Speaker 1: I watched the Hard Knocks. Um there's a lot of
Speaker 1: cult McCoy involved. Yeah, I don't know. It just is
Speaker 1: so depressing that I just thought, how are they going
Speaker 1: to handle this thing with? We got a lot of
Speaker 1: J J. Watt Or is that next week's finality? I
Speaker 1: guess so perfectly. I was curious about that too. I
Speaker 1: got fast forward to some of it. But they they
Speaker 1: didn't know he was gonna retire, clearly because they didn't
Speaker 1: have anything extra. It's been a lot of Trey McBride
Speaker 1: going to Denver. It's been cult McCoy, a lot of
Speaker 1: cult McCoy. Uh. I've I've enjoyed parts of it, but
Speaker 1: it's sad. It is sad. I love vance Joseph. That's
Speaker 1: the one thing that this thing has made me feel.
Speaker 1: I want I kind of want them to win, just
Speaker 1: for the hard stake of it. Win a game. This
Speaker 1: is there miserable. I think everyone's I think it's there's
Speaker 1: gonna be turned over in the coaching staff and just
Speaker 1: get one win to go out on at least. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean they put food a baker on I R
Speaker 1: which it sounded like, you know, he thought he was
Speaker 1: hurt before and he suddenly was healthy days later. But
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting that Cliff Kingsbury he finished
Speaker 1: that game too, and made a tackle right on the
Speaker 1: goal line against the Bucks, like with a broken shoulder.
Speaker 1: That dude is crazy. Not a great look for Cliff
Speaker 1: Kingsbury to not even know that J. J. Watt was
Speaker 1: going to retire. Am I reading too much into that?
Speaker 1: That feels like a weird what's a personal decision? And
Speaker 1: I don't know J J. Watt did it how he
Speaker 1: wanted to do it. I'm not gonna Yeah, it just
Speaker 1: seems very Cardinals asked to have no concept. I feel
Speaker 1: like nothing matters with the Cardinals. Right now, with the Falcons,
Speaker 1: at least you could point to Desmond Ritter was a
Speaker 1: day to draft pick um in a bad quarterback draft class,
Speaker 1: I would imagine the Falcons would be very active looking
Speaker 1: at quarterback options in the off season. Could Desmond Ritter
Speaker 1: with a couple of good games at the end of
Speaker 1: the season changed in minds. I know it seems silly,
Speaker 1: Oh who cares what happens in the last two meaningless
Speaker 1: games of the season, But teams do put stock into that.
Speaker 1: Consider played well, it's good tape to look at, he
Speaker 1: played a say it's worthless. But sometimes I think too much.
Speaker 1: I think they overdo it. Like coaches saved their jobs
Speaker 1: by a great Week seventeen or Week eighteen something. So
Speaker 1: their fourth and sixth in the draft order right now,
Speaker 1: so that's what matters. And they can get some nice
Speaker 1: tight ends there, you know, get another wide receiver, another
Speaker 1: tight end. Um. All right, we're good. There you go.
Speaker 1: That is the Week seventeen preview. Check back in on
Speaker 1: Sunday night when we do our flagship podcast on a
Speaker 1: t N and cover every game that we just previewed here.
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Speaker 1: it all. Happy New Year, everybody heat the call SA