Speaker 1: Me Around the NFL Podcast his home for the holidays,
Speaker 1: whether we want to be or not. It's the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. I'm Dan Hansas, joined in a virtual
Speaker 1: room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal, Mark Sessler. It
Speaker 1: is the day after Christmas. It's something called Boxing Day
Speaker 1: over Yonder in the UK. So happy holidays to everyone.
Speaker 1: And how are you boys? As we head into the
Speaker 1: week sixteen flagship program, whoa do you know what Boxing
Speaker 1: Day is? No? Alright? So, um, it's basically, you know,
Speaker 1: charts back to ancient England. Not what ancient, but way
Speaker 1: back when where like rich people or owners of servants
Speaker 1: would box up gifts um for their underlings who had nothing,
Speaker 1: no possessions of their own, so that those people could
Speaker 1: go back to their you know, I'm assuming small huts
Speaker 1: in a you know, problematic village with gifts for their
Speaker 1: own family would be given by the um ruling class
Speaker 1: to the not ruling class. That's as much as I know. Wow,
Speaker 1: it sounds like sounds special. Mark, How are you, buddy?
Speaker 1: What's going on? Because we were, you know, going into
Speaker 1: Week sixteen, you I felt really good about the Browns
Speaker 1: beating the Packers, and then you also locked up the
Speaker 1: Cardinals over the colds. So on Christmas you have a
Speaker 1: lot tied up into the NFL action and it all
Speaker 1: went to hell, And of course everyone is wondering the
Speaker 1: same thing is marking to be okay? How are you
Speaker 1: right now? I feel like this is now becoming a
Speaker 1: weekly check in because some things have this kind of
Speaker 1: snowballed on the on the quiet storm lately. Where you at, Buddy, Well,
Speaker 1: I'm the underling that got a box um to go
Speaker 1: give it to my family from some sort of superior
Speaker 1: being that hates me um on some level when it
Speaker 1: comes to football. I'm annoyed, Um. But what's happened um
Speaker 1: over the last I would say since last Monday until
Speaker 1: this moment um? In terms of football results, I'm here
Speaker 1: for the listener to be as professional and plugged in
Speaker 1: as possible, But in terms of my own results bringing
Speaker 1: me any enjoyment at this point, I couldn't be uh
Speaker 1: more far removed from um wishing for anything at this point,
Speaker 1: because it seems to be every time I get uh
Speaker 1: you know, amped up about a B or C, a
Speaker 1: b or C get totally taken apart in every possible way,
Speaker 1: in embarrassing ways on national television. So I am done
Speaker 1: with a B and C M. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's better or worse that you know, these games happened
Speaker 1: yesterday on Saturday. We're taping, of course Sunday Night, the
Speaker 1: flagship show that would have been. That would have been
Speaker 1: a fiery Sessler um. But I don't know if he
Speaker 1: would look as you know, trim and fit in a
Speaker 1: nice new Christmas sweater that he got. So I think
Speaker 1: we got the better version of Sessler tonight. Do should
Speaker 1: we just share a few of the Sessler Christmas Night
Speaker 1: text tweets before we get going. That's fun. It's always
Speaker 1: fun to check in with dark Sessler. Uh. It starts
Speaker 1: with dark Xmas descends that was when he believed that
Speaker 1: the Browns would take out the Packers. A photo of
Speaker 1: himself from the early nineties or eighties. That's par for
Speaker 1: the course. Bring this nerded gift, Santa, and then it
Speaker 1: starts to turn. I believe in no human rules now
Speaker 1: check makes a critical Baker Mayfield tweet. Uh Sessler quote
Speaker 1: retweets your qub is a fat ancient Uh, some type
Speaker 1: of star Trek reference frees me in carbonite until it's
Speaker 1: not that we don't get into that. But that is
Speaker 1: an incorrect assumption on your part. But for John Boring,
Speaker 1: that's a tweet. Christmas is evil, that's a tweet. Everything
Speaker 1: is boring slash prosaic. Every day is dull, flavorless. What
Speaker 1: little joy's existed were dreams. Uh. Desire the Cardinals to win?
Speaker 1: Yet done requesting anything from the biggest season ever. Uh,
Speaker 1: then beyond feelings for any team, some gray, functional and
Speaker 1: vaguely healthy operation will win the Super Bowl. And then
Speaker 1: finally in all caps, and there has not been a
Speaker 1: tweet since Wicked over all things. Okay, so there's Mark.
Speaker 1: That's where he's at. As we begin today's show, Chmas,
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas to everybody. Let's get into the action starting. Oh,
Speaker 1: this is not good for Mark either. Let's head to Foxboro.
Speaker 1: You are loving it. I'm loving it. Challon gonna go shotgun.
Speaker 1: Just snap, keeps to himself. Tosh flings at the Dawson
Speaker 1: Knox touchdown. Touchdown, Buffalo. They're headed to the exits now
Speaker 1: here in Foxboro. But Bill scored a touchdown. Josh Allen
Speaker 1: to Dawson Knox for the touchdown. So John Murphy with
Speaker 1: the call w g R. Josh Allen threw three touchdown passes.
Speaker 1: Isaiah McKenzie had a career high eleven catches, Michael Hyde
Speaker 1: had two interceptions, and the Bills hung on to beat
Speaker 1: the Patriots thirty three to twenty one, puts Buffalo back
Speaker 1: in first place in the A s C. East. Uh.
Speaker 1: There they have the tiebreaker, Greg. The Bills waited three
Speaker 1: weeks for their chance at sweet revenge over the Paths,
Speaker 1: and they got it in a huge moment in their season.
Speaker 1: I wonder this week, could Josh Allen just step up
Speaker 1: in a moment like this and be the guy that
Speaker 1: that Bills fans say he is a top five guy
Speaker 1: who can just take over a game. And that was
Speaker 1: who he was. I mean the first drive of the game,
Speaker 1: he has a third and eleven. It is a running
Speaker 1: theme for the day, hits Isaiah mackenzie, where he's calm
Speaker 1: under pressure. He was making plays from the pocket. He's
Speaker 1: making plays off structure out of the pocket. But after
Speaker 1: the game, you know what the Patriots defenders all said
Speaker 1: was how controlled he was. They played his own defense,
Speaker 1: which was a little overconfident that they could cover these guys.
Speaker 1: I think in zone because the Bills were down a
Speaker 1: couple of receivers in it backfired because Alan played like
Speaker 1: a veteran who has been there before. And the Patriots defense,
Speaker 1: which has gotten a lot of love throughout the season,
Speaker 1: but I think has has real holes, was totally toothless.
Speaker 1: They did not force a punt. That is the first
Speaker 1: time a Bill Belichick coach team has failed to force
Speaker 1: a punt in over four hundred games his entire career.
Speaker 1: They could have played four more quarters, it wouldn't have mattered.
Speaker 1: The Bills would have scored or come close to it
Speaker 1: every time they had the ball, and the Bills really
Speaker 1: could have won this game, I think by three or
Speaker 1: four scores. It was remarkable that it had a chance
Speaker 1: for the Patriots had midway through the fourth quarter. Every
Speaker 1: time I looked up, they were moving the chains. I
Speaker 1: mean they were six for twelve Buffalo on third down,
Speaker 1: three for four on fourth downs. Josh Allen making huge,
Speaker 1: absolutely massive throws and big plays with his legs, and
Speaker 1: so you know, we looked at this series between the
Speaker 1: two as obviously the biggest in the division, but one
Speaker 1: of the biggest in the a f C over the
Speaker 1: last month, and you know, it's one one at this point,
Speaker 1: and I'd love to see them play again. But Buffalo
Speaker 1: totally answered, and this is why you go get Josh
Speaker 1: Allen and you extend them the way you did financially
Speaker 1: because of games like this. I couldn't be more impressed
Speaker 1: with what he performed, how he performed. My goodness, the
Speaker 1: this game and we talked about it on Thursday leading
Speaker 1: into this. This meant so much to Buffalo because this
Speaker 1: was a season where they were heavily favored in the division,
Speaker 1: where things got off to a good start and then
Speaker 1: they started to struggle, They had some ups and downs,
Speaker 1: and then the season kind of bottomed out, uh in
Speaker 1: that on that terrible windy night in Buffalo where they
Speaker 1: lost that narrow game to the Patriots. And after the game,
Speaker 1: you could tell the anger and frustration was just pouring
Speaker 1: out of Bills players as they were forced to answer
Speaker 1: questions about what a genius Bill Belichick was and how
Speaker 1: the Patriots had had their number once again. So you
Speaker 1: could you could sense that this was either going to
Speaker 1: make or break their season. I really believe that going
Speaker 1: into this game. So now that they go and they
Speaker 1: deliver this huge performance, it once again kind of recalibrates
Speaker 1: what I think about the Bills where I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this team can come out of the a f C
Speaker 1: because they showed so much. There's so much metal. And
Speaker 1: I think that last drive where they sealed the game
Speaker 1: and it ended on the touchdown, the flip to Dawson
Speaker 1: Knox that we heard, I mean, that was such an
Speaker 1: onions drive by the whole team. This is a team
Speaker 1: that was missing guys uh to convert on those third downs.
Speaker 1: That place was going absolutely bonkers. Converted on the fourth
Speaker 1: down and Alan just made huge play after a huge
Speaker 1: play after huge play. It says so much about the Bills.
Speaker 1: It really did. And it ran for sixty four yards too.
Speaker 1: There were so many ways the Bills won this game.
Speaker 1: I think the most disheartening for the Patriots would be
Speaker 1: that the Bills O line one, and the Bills O
Speaker 1: line has been a bit of a disaster in their
Speaker 1: losses this year. They were also short a couple of
Speaker 1: starters and lost one during the game. And Matthew jude
Speaker 1: on and this is why you gotta like watch every week,
Speaker 1: and you know, some stories that are stories early in
Speaker 1: the season are taken away later. He's been totally invisible
Speaker 1: the last month for and they are not the same
Speaker 1: team when he is invisible. Barmore had a couple of
Speaker 1: pressures today, but for the most part, the old line
Speaker 1: for Buffalo was winning. Uh. The d line for the
Speaker 1: Bills one enough and so they they one up front
Speaker 1: and there came into this game like looking to take it.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the fourth downs, Dan, You know they go
Speaker 1: for fourth down early on fourth and goal, hit it. Uh.
Speaker 1: They come up short on another fourth and goal later,
Speaker 1: and then they get three other times. The two teams
Speaker 1: in this game combined for eight for ten. I I
Speaker 1: really don't put this on the Patriots offense much at all.
Speaker 1: I know the mac jones numbers look bad, but if
Speaker 1: if you just look at the game, they had the
Speaker 1: ball seven times before garbage time. They scored touchdowns on
Speaker 1: three of those seven drives. The way that the Patriots
Speaker 1: defense was playing, they could have played this ten times.
Speaker 1: And the Bill's offense was just like the unit. The
Speaker 1: Patriots are not built to a play in a game
Speaker 1: like this where they got to score thirty five. I
Speaker 1: think that the Sean McDermott decision to go for it
Speaker 1: on fourth down from the one yard line on the
Speaker 1: third possession. They really essentially scored every time after that
Speaker 1: other than you know, seconds left and a half and
Speaker 1: then the very end of the game. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: set the tone. That's set the tone. And this was
Speaker 1: a demoralizing loss when it happened on Monday night, and
Speaker 1: I think it took some shine off of the Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott era in a sense where they've just been kind
Speaker 1: of going up, up and building and it was like,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, you might be, but right back where
Speaker 1: you started against the Patriots team that seems to be
Speaker 1: ascending faster than you do. So I'm with you that
Speaker 1: that it resets kind of what you think about Buffalo. Um.
Speaker 1: I would love to see them again. I know it's
Speaker 1: it's it's almost at this point we want to take
Speaker 1: the Patriots and say, well that was cute, but we
Speaker 1: don't believe in you. But I still do believe that
Speaker 1: New England could give them a formidable an interesting test
Speaker 1: that they played. The Bills have the Falcons and the
Speaker 1: Jets the next two weeks in Buffalo. It's hard to
Speaker 1: imagine the Bills eat losing either one of those games.
Speaker 1: They win the FC East if they win both of
Speaker 1: those games. The Patriots probably just need to beat the
Speaker 1: Jaguars next week to get a wild card, and so
Speaker 1: uh they could play. But I think one reason why
Speaker 1: I like the the underlying numbers of the Bills all
Speaker 1: season has been so good. It's like they have won
Speaker 1: nine games now by the minimum of twelve points each.
Speaker 1: I know, I know the competition and their losses, like
Speaker 1: they've beaten mostly bad teams, but that is just outrageous.
Speaker 1: That is more wins by twelve points, or more than
Speaker 1: the entire Derek Carr era in in Oakland and Las Vegas,
Speaker 1: for instance. That's a nine year span. Like that is
Speaker 1: it is rare what they are doing when they are winning,
Speaker 1: so they have in them to play better and now
Speaker 1: they well, when they're they're they're point differential is the
Speaker 1: highest for a Bill's team since that Super Bowl team.
Speaker 1: So to your point, yes, they've had some clunkers too.
Speaker 1: I mean, I this helps that they can stay this consistent.
Speaker 1: I'm in, but it's not. It doesn't wipe away every
Speaker 1: sin from the past on any level. So all teams
Speaker 1: have since there there's ups and downs, and now the
Speaker 1: Bills are going up again. I don't I don't missed
Speaker 1: the Patriots. I never did, um, but I think there
Speaker 1: was a rush to judgment to crown the Patriots, especially
Speaker 1: after that game, as this division now runs through New
Speaker 1: England again and it just goes to show you the
Speaker 1: Bills when the Bills are right. I think they're the
Speaker 1: best team in the division. I think the most talented team.
Speaker 1: But if they did meet again in the playoffs, I
Speaker 1: think it's a coin flip game because I think they're
Speaker 1: very close ultimately. Uh, and today was just uh Buffalo's day.
Speaker 1: By the way, the bravest performance, uh in this game
Speaker 1: was not Josh Allen going down the field or Aziah
Speaker 1: Mackenzie being just absolutely a monster in the slot. Beasley
Speaker 1: lost his job today. You know you gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: keep Mackenzie in there. Yeah, if only Colby's it could
Speaker 1: have done something to perhaps this giving this guy an opportunity.
Speaker 1: But the real brave performance that came out of Foxboro
Speaker 1: happened after the game during the postgame press or UH,
Speaker 1: somebody's I don't know, mom, I don't know who it was,
Speaker 1: wandered into the press conference and had this question for
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick. Hi, um, football a side, Sorry, but I'm
Speaker 1: doing a story about New Year's resolutions, and I was
Speaker 1: just wondering if you had any you wanted to share
Speaker 1: with your fans and our readers. Yeah no, not right now, Okay,
Speaker 1: thanks every next week. That was actually a little sweet
Speaker 1: Belichick's comment at the end there maybe next week, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, how did she get in for that, if
Speaker 1: she claimed if she alerted them, No, I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't imagine she's around anymore. I mean, yeah, they don't.
Speaker 1: I don't think they asked the questions. You know, you
Speaker 1: don't have to screen him ahead of time. That that
Speaker 1: was a whild answer. But Belichick's answers to all the legitimate,
Speaker 1: legitimate football questions were no different or no longer he
Speaker 1: he really I think I can't these losses. It's like
Speaker 1: the like someone has sucked all the air and life
Speaker 1: out of his body. And I think of that Parcels quote.
Speaker 1: I have no mental defense for losing anymore as I
Speaker 1: get older, and I think it's like he's like a
Speaker 1: carcass on and he and he knows it. To me,
Speaker 1: that's why you apolog dies last week about it. And
Speaker 1: it's almost like there's nothing he can do anymore. When
Speaker 1: when there's getting Greg Why do you sound so delighted
Speaker 1: with a smirk on your face when you say that
Speaker 1: about your head coach. He's not my head coach. I'm
Speaker 1: not not like it. I just think it's it's fascinating.
Speaker 1: I've seen it before, but I think he's at this
Speaker 1: point in his career where it's tough. It makes me,
Speaker 1: it makes me wonder like he loves he loves it.
Speaker 1: But man, he the losing I think is so hard
Speaker 1: in him. I mean, not as hard as it is
Speaker 1: on Mark. Right now. Mark's face while Dan was talking before,
Speaker 1: is like the face you guys get on me for
Speaker 1: making faces when we're on when we do these uh
Speaker 1: you know remote shows. Mark's face was next level. It
Speaker 1: still is. This is the lay like games that I
Speaker 1: don't want to discuss. It's like, it's like you like
Speaker 1: a normal I would be I would do if nothing else.
Speaker 1: I think it should give Patriots fans some comfort that
Speaker 1: they got They got molly wopped in all three areas.
Speaker 1: There wasn't like like, oh we could have won that,
Speaker 1: or they were a better team, like they were clearly
Speaker 1: an inferior team in a lot of ways. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: they have to be, you know, they make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: It could change. It's like twelve more games to talk about.
Speaker 1: By the way, that's the only one that matters. And
Speaker 1: my and my one word response. Or maybe it's too
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick suffering through losses as boo hoo, I mean
Speaker 1: he might be done right, gould be rich code type
Speaker 1: for a season or two and see how that feels
Speaker 1: to Saturday night. He's back to pass, went looking looking,
Speaker 1: pump steps up in the pocket, moving left, throws back
Speaker 1: of the end. Soon hat it is caught a sliding
Speaker 1: catch in the back of the end. Soon for the
Speaker 1: touchdown Desmond Patton. That was Ryan Radkey Westwood one. Carson
Speaker 1: went through two touchdown passes, including that brilliant strike, and
Speaker 1: it was brilliant to Desmond Pattman. In the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor ran for a hundred and eight and the
Speaker 1: banged up Colts continued their surge with a win over
Speaker 1: the fading Cardinals uh the Cults of now one three straight,
Speaker 1: six of seven, there, nine and six. They got the
Speaker 1: win despite Darius Leonard going to the COVID list earlier
Speaker 1: on Saturday. They were missing four offensive starting lineman. Another
Speaker 1: got hurt during the game and after the game, Greg
Speaker 1: frank Wright called it, this is one of the said,
Speaker 1: this is one of the best team wins I've ever
Speaker 1: been a part of. Considering everything, I'm sure there are
Speaker 1: some other good ones, but this is up there. I
Speaker 1: get it. This was This was a special win on
Speaker 1: Christmas Night. It is incredible. I mean, they're one of
Speaker 1: the best teams in the NFL. I mean, there's nothing
Speaker 1: else you can say when you win nine at ten,
Speaker 1: whatever their streak is, especially the way they've done it
Speaker 1: the last two weeks. When when I heard that Quentin
Speaker 1: Nelson was out in three of their interior offensive linemen
Speaker 1: and then Darius Leonards added to the mix, it ends
Speaker 1: up being eight starters. I just didn't think they would
Speaker 1: have enough. And yet like the offensive line held up
Speaker 1: really well. Arizona, other than a couple of big plays
Speaker 1: in a return like was really struggling. This Cults team,
Speaker 1: to me, is just so well coached. When you when
Speaker 1: you start to shut down one part of their offense,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Taylor for most of the game, the passing game
Speaker 1: was enough on Saturday, and it's worth remembering like the
Speaker 1: Cardinals were similarly shorthanded, and I sort of lost track
Speaker 1: of that that like three of their four best offensive players,
Speaker 1: Rondale Moore, I mean, Rodney Hudson, James Connor, DeAndre Hopkins
Speaker 1: are all gone and then you're throwing more. It's like
Speaker 1: they're not the same team that they were earlier in
Speaker 1: the season. But unlike Indianapolis, they seemed to be a
Speaker 1: little lost right now, like game management, all sorts of
Speaker 1: issues where they just don't look like a well coached team.
Speaker 1: It's it's weeks in a row for Arizona where they
Speaker 1: seemed discombobulated at key moments um and it's it's syncd
Speaker 1: up with Kyler Murray's return. But I think the Rodney
Speaker 1: Hudson lost has led to in each one of these games,
Speaker 1: and it happened last night a totally botched snap that
Speaker 1: creates total chaos. I mean, the Cardinals, like they earlier
Speaker 1: on in the year, they maybe they're just the summertime,
Speaker 1: warm warm weather team and they're and they're not built
Speaker 1: for late in the year, because this is you know,
Speaker 1: under Cliff Kingsbury, this has been characteristic. But early in
Speaker 1: the season, I thought they overcame mistakes because they were
Speaker 1: powerful and they were they were mighty, and they were
Speaker 1: able to do what they wanted to on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball, and and all metrics showed that. But
Speaker 1: now they're the team where if you're gonna get Matt
Speaker 1: Prador melting down UM and Kyler Murray making mistakes, you
Speaker 1: know he's he's an m v P candidate as of
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, not now, because he is
Speaker 1: magical to watch and does incredible things, and there were
Speaker 1: moments of that last night too, But there are too
Speaker 1: many plays left on the field, and you know, we're
Speaker 1: a week away from Carson Wentz creating all sorts of
Speaker 1: questions with a five completion game. I I saw Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz last night and thought they can win the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl with this guy if he plays this way. That
Speaker 1: was my like takeaway. Uh, and he's done. It's happened
Speaker 1: before this season. And I know he's not a steady
Speaker 1: quarterback and necessarily one you could absolutely trust, but sometimes
Speaker 1: he'll flash that twenties seventeen Carson Wentz and and if
Speaker 1: that guy gets hot and that guy sticks around, I agree.
Speaker 1: There is no ceiling on this team. This is a
Speaker 1: super Bowl level team. And on the game ceiling drive,
Speaker 1: he made three huge plays he had a second and
Speaker 1: seventeen uh conversion Uh that um move the chains in
Speaker 1: a big spot. He had a deep, deep shot down
Speaker 1: field a dime to t Y Hilton and then that
Speaker 1: throw again you heard it to begin the conversation, But
Speaker 1: that's one of the best throws of the year, like
Speaker 1: in with the pass rush coming in on him, moving
Speaker 1: with the speech, dropping down side arm and then throwing
Speaker 1: a perfectly placed strike to the back of the end
Speaker 1: zone where only his receiver can get it. Like that
Speaker 1: wasn't a throw he was making in Philadelphia the last
Speaker 1: couple of years. And when you look at his road
Speaker 1: stats and and after Tennessee's big win UM earlier this week,
Speaker 1: they're gonna win that division. So the culture probably going
Speaker 1: to the playoffs and they're gonna be on the road.
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz has twelve touchdown, zero interceptions, a passer it
Speaker 1: over a hundred on the road. He is not a liability,
Speaker 1: or at least he wasn't last night now. But even
Speaker 1: that game he was pretty up and down, Like you
Speaker 1: didn't come until that last drive in which he was sensational,
Speaker 1: and you're right, it was one of his best moments
Speaker 1: in a long time. He was he was struggling, but
Speaker 1: what he wasn't doing was killing them, and you had
Speaker 1: to like kind of keep the context of the game
Speaker 1: in mind. Like they lost Jack Doyle and Eric Fisher
Speaker 1: two injuries in that game, two more starters on top
Speaker 1: of everything I said coming in, so their ability to adjust.
Speaker 1: It's funny because I remember that that Colts lost the
Speaker 1: cults media even like great good cults. Media like was
Speaker 1: really getting hard on Frank Reich and they were starting
Speaker 1: to talk about next season at two and five. It is.
Speaker 1: It is crazy how long these seasons are. It as
Speaker 1: a reminder like this, this won't happen too often, but
Speaker 1: at least one or two teams have years like this
Speaker 1: where you start that poorly and now they are they
Speaker 1: are the proverbial team no one wants to face. And
Speaker 1: the laughs if you if you win a division and
Speaker 1: you gotta play the Cults first week of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: that's not gonna and the Cults are The Cardinals feel
Speaker 1: like the reverse of that. Well, they looked invincible for
Speaker 1: months on end, and I was wooed by them entirely,
Speaker 1: and now I'm not certain that they aren't one and done.
Speaker 1: If if the environment isn't perfect for them in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I mean they've clinched a spot, they backed into a
Speaker 1: playoff spot. Yes, the Cardinals will be in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: but they are watching the division float away, which seemed
Speaker 1: inconceivable a couple of weeks ago. And the cults, yes,
Speaker 1: like we're saying, started oh and three, and now they're
Speaker 1: nine and six, and that is pretty damn good. All right,
Speaker 1: Let's now move to the second. It's gonna be the show.
Speaker 1: Get better, mark, once we get through these first three games.
Speaker 1: That's the only thing we could promise you. Let's move
Speaker 1: to the second game that was played on Christmas. It
Speaker 1: was actually played earlier in the day. It was in
Speaker 1: lambeau Field, Mayfield, shotgun, fates, back throws, middle intercepted, He's downfield.
Speaker 1: Fourth interception by the Packer defense today, the second for Douglas,
Speaker 1: and that will submit the day for green Bay. Forty
Speaker 1: three seconds to go, Packer pull up to John Saydac
Speaker 1: with a call for Westwood one. On the day that
Speaker 1: Aaron Rogers pass Brett Farr to become green Bay's all
Speaker 1: time leader in touchdown passes. It was the Packers defense
Speaker 1: that saved the day. In the end Russell Douglass with
Speaker 1: that interception on a Baker Mayfield pass. It was the
Speaker 1: fourth interception by Mayfield in the Packers to win over
Speaker 1: the Browns. Cleveland nearly came back from a twelve points
Speaker 1: second half deficit before the Douglas I n t an,
Speaker 1: I NT. That probably should have been a defensive holding call,
Speaker 1: it should be said, but there was no flag, and
Speaker 1: that was the game with forty three seconds to play.
Speaker 1: Mark The Packers aren't closing well lately, but they keep winning. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think of the Bears game we watched
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, where you know, Chicago kept
Speaker 1: making big plays and hanging around until green Bay broke
Speaker 1: it open. There's the fact that you know, they nipped
Speaker 1: Baltimore a week ago, and then this Browns game, and
Speaker 1: I you know, they're just the Packers are a rugged
Speaker 1: team with star players. They're well coached, they know how
Speaker 1: to win these games and and the the opponent did not.
Speaker 1: And I mean it's for the Browns. I thought it
Speaker 1: was a killer loss because it's one of those defeats
Speaker 1: where a your season is on the brink um, we
Speaker 1: don't believe in you anymore. You can't close games in
Speaker 1: real time, But it also leaves you with lingering, poisonous
Speaker 1: thoughts about the future of that team because your quarterback
Speaker 1: big spot after big spot, week after week, month after month.
Speaker 1: This season is not showing up and is killing them.
Speaker 1: And I know that that Russell Douglas final pick um
Speaker 1: was controversial. I thought it was a hold, but I
Speaker 1: don't really even care because the other three interceptions were
Speaker 1: hideous and and Baker Mayfield is not seeing the field
Speaker 1: at all. Um. The other thing is, look at you
Speaker 1: have Nick Chubb playing out of his mind. He has
Speaker 1: not looked great against stack boxes a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: in a row. He was on fire yesterday. I think
Speaker 1: that it raises questions about Kevin Stefanski's play calling in
Speaker 1: the clutch too. It just left it left me with
Speaker 1: so many bad taste in my mouth about this season,
Speaker 1: this team it's been. You know, I know, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: you could go be a Jaguars fan. It's much worse,
Speaker 1: I guess, But there's just we're in these different worlds
Speaker 1: where like the team, the team is so has been
Speaker 1: has been as frustrating an Okay teen that I can
Speaker 1: recall Brown's wise in my entire life. I mean, they
Speaker 1: just they cannot close games. They're gritty enough to hang
Speaker 1: around and then they break your heart and the Packers
Speaker 1: do the reverse. I mean, they're just they understand how
Speaker 1: to manage a regular season. I can't believe they closed
Speaker 1: the game with five straight Baker throws. Just crazy. It
Speaker 1: was crazy when you know, I picked the Browns to
Speaker 1: win two. You know, I thought when they got the
Speaker 1: ball with two or three left, I was like, they're
Speaker 1: gonna win this game because you don't even need Baker
Speaker 1: to do anything. They're gonna win this game handing the
Speaker 1: ball off and maybe throwing a screenplay screen pass. And
Speaker 1: the only nervous in my mind then was like will
Speaker 1: their kicker maker missed the kick? It's like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: if you know, how close can they get it for him?
Speaker 1: I just had no question the way their offensive line
Speaker 1: missing again three starters, uh was handling Green Bay. I
Speaker 1: thought they were handed a beautiful gift with Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: the best receiver in the league, dropping a wonderful throw
Speaker 1: by Rogers or else the Browns maybe aren't in that spot.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, and and that's how the drive started.
Speaker 1: You know they run it a couple of times. Baker
Speaker 1: did hit one throw at third and six, but even
Speaker 1: even one of his throws there was like well behind
Speaker 1: the receiver. And I just couldn't believe that they ended
Speaker 1: the game with three straight throws from Baker Mayfield. The
Speaker 1: way he was playing and the way they were running.
Speaker 1: They had plenty of time, they had time outs. Baker
Speaker 1: was two for nine on throws over ten yards. He
Speaker 1: was two for nine for twenty one yards and three interceptions,
Speaker 1: and it's just like he wasn't playing well, like and
Speaker 1: you didn't need him to play well. It really drove
Speaker 1: me crazy the waste Fansky handled the end of that.
Speaker 1: It did make me think, you know, you're talking about
Speaker 1: it right now. I'm thinking about the previous Saturday when
Speaker 1: Carson went through that terrible interception against the Patriots and
Speaker 1: Frank Reich was like, Okay, I'm taking the ball out
Speaker 1: of my quarterback's hands. And I think if there's a
Speaker 1: big difference is like I think Stefanski just fully believes
Speaker 1: in Baker. I think that coaching staff still sees Mayfield
Speaker 1: as a difference maker, and I just think there's enough
Speaker 1: data now where it's like Baker is just a guy.
Speaker 1: I don't think Baker's a bad quarterback, but he's certainly
Speaker 1: not a great quarterback. And on a day like this,
Speaker 1: when he already had the three first half interceptions and
Speaker 1: he threw another one right into the bread basket of
Speaker 1: a Packers defender that was dropped, it was just like
Speaker 1: if there was ever a day like you guys just saying,
Speaker 1: just feed it to Chub, who's just running through arm
Speaker 1: tackles all game. Matt Lafleur said after the game it
Speaker 1: was their worst tackling game of the year. They were
Speaker 1: ready to go down. So that is, yeah, that's that's
Speaker 1: a frustration. But I mean, ultimately it does make you
Speaker 1: think that the Browns have two division games here to
Speaker 1: clean things up and maybe the playoff spot. And even
Speaker 1: though it seems unlikely, what is the future with Baker Mayfield? Like,
Speaker 1: are these games changing perhaps the perception of where he's at.
Speaker 1: We'll have time to talk about that, but it's hard
Speaker 1: not to think about it. After it's a referendum season.
Speaker 1: I think it's totally I think everything is totally changed,
Speaker 1: and and you can talk about his shoulder, the health,
Speaker 1: his overall health, but I mean some of this just
Speaker 1: goes beyond. Kurt Warner made a really good point, you know,
Speaker 1: just pointing out sort of how he wasn't opening up
Speaker 1: his shoulder when he was thrown to his left, and
Speaker 1: that's what a great like analysis can do. They showed
Speaker 1: it and you could see it, like his his left
Speaker 1: shoulder was just totally dead and so his feet facing
Speaker 1: one way, his arms throwing the other. And that that
Speaker 1: was like one of his misthrow So that that did
Speaker 1: get me thinking, like it is a factor for him
Speaker 1: throwing the left, but a lot of it's just like
Speaker 1: bad decision. That's right, don't tell me about the shoulder.
Speaker 1: If you keep I was thinking, they win that game
Speaker 1: with Nick Mullins that game was there, win that game
Speaker 1: with Nick Mullins playing the way he did last year
Speaker 1: last week, it's just like he cost them the game
Speaker 1: and if he's not physically there. Jones also like make
Speaker 1: up play people's Jones. I mean there's it's like I
Speaker 1: don't like it on Twitter where it's like no, it
Speaker 1: was that call's fault, or no it's Baker's fault. It's
Speaker 1: like it can be it could be everyone's fault. That said,
Speaker 1: all right, here's the scenario, Mark, Uh, they play Monday
Speaker 1: night football next week. Okay, next week. It's not not complicated,
Speaker 1: but it's not it's not not complicated. I'm just saying, Okay,
Speaker 1: next Sunday, the Bengals can go win the division if
Speaker 1: they beat the Chiefs. But if the Chiefs win that game,
Speaker 1: and if the Rams beat the Ravens on Sunday too
Speaker 1: likely results, then the Browns play the Steelers Monday Night
Speaker 1: with a chance to force a winning in game. Browns
Speaker 1: beat the Steelers, then it's winning in Bengals Browns a
Speaker 1: f C North title game. You would assume they would
Speaker 1: make that the Sunday night football game in week eighteen.
Speaker 1: That is all very realistic. I think the hardest part
Speaker 1: is the Browns winning two games. What about the Marks Hart,
Speaker 1: Are we worried about Marx hard if two more prime
Speaker 1: time games with that much at stake, potentially, I don't
Speaker 1: know if we need that. We want to keep Mark
Speaker 1: around for the long haul. Here, I get what's happening
Speaker 1: with the NFL. It's like your team is is raging
Speaker 1: junk in late December, but hey, you're still around and
Speaker 1: you still have a mathematical chance. I don't care. You've
Speaker 1: you've earned nothing. Go if you go do it, I'll
Speaker 1: hang around. But it's like there's nothing that I see
Speaker 1: visually that tells me they're a playoff team on any
Speaker 1: level right now. And I'm not going to get all
Speaker 1: jazzed up about it. All right, the Packers moved to
Speaker 1: twelve and three. They are in command um of that
Speaker 1: number one seed in the by that comes with it.
Speaker 1: And oh yes, they're also undefeated at home. Even if
Speaker 1: that looked like it was in doubt there, but the
Speaker 1: defense stepped up. All right, We're gonna take a break,
Speaker 1: then get Nick Shook on the line up. Next, Barad
Speaker 1: of the gun catches the Hopkins snap fires down pretty
Speaker 1: down the middle of the field of ten. Yeah, who
Speaker 1: result in the end zone touchdown sixty eight yards. Borrow
Speaker 1: to boy, Welcome back, Dan Horde, Dave Lapham, go nuts
Speaker 1: in the Cincinnati Bengals UH play by playbox w c
Speaker 1: k Y. What's it called? Joe Burrow is a bad man,
Speaker 1: the baddest man. The second of your QB set a
Speaker 1: franchise record with five hundred twenty five yards passing, and
Speaker 1: the Bengals rolled to win over the COVID and injury
Speaker 1: decimated Ravens. We now welcome and Nick shook the pipe.
Speaker 1: Hey pipe, we are all witnesses. Yeah you're telling me.
Speaker 1: Let this real quick like that. Uh, we are all witnesses.
Speaker 1: You know. I was making this argument the day. I
Speaker 1: don't remember to who it was, but I'm thinking. I'm saying,
Speaker 1: you know, Joe Burrow, I think is a few more
Speaker 1: steps away from entering like borderline elite category in this league.
Speaker 1: But just from what I've seen this year, this was
Speaker 1: like the culmination of that and not getting in the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl and everything else, and the Ravens not having
Speaker 1: anybody except warm bodies and their secondary left. It all
Speaker 1: came together and he just lit them up all afternoon.
Speaker 1: Teamed up with this, you know, two young targets and
Speaker 1: Tee Higgins and Jamaar Chase. It was a dominant performance
Speaker 1: from them, you know. I mean, we know what the
Speaker 1: Ravens are trotting out offensively, but with Hay, with the
Speaker 1: vegas of the ball, they were lighting it up. And
Speaker 1: they look pretty strong right now. Joe Burrow set the
Speaker 1: all time record for a number of yards against a
Speaker 1: particular team in a season. I love that stat he
Speaker 1: had nine and forty one yards against the Ravens this year.
Speaker 1: They put up a forty burger on him twice. The
Speaker 1: Westling Brothers locked it up early in the week. In
Speaker 1: their defense, they didn't know it. Jeff Johnson starting, uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know this. This is seismic stuff when you
Speaker 1: have a when you have a quarterback like Burrow, everything changes.
Speaker 1: He's absolutely I don't know what elite means or like
Speaker 1: like where that line is, but a season, I think
Speaker 1: he's been a top five quarterback. I would have him
Speaker 1: fifth right now. You know, he's somewhere between four and seven,
Speaker 1: depending on how you like it. And that is an
Speaker 1: incredible realization for a second year quarterback who's who's just
Speaker 1: so in control of every situation he's in. That's what
Speaker 1: impresses me the most. I do think that um A d.
Speaker 1: D pointed something out interesting about this that the way
Speaker 1: that they destroyed Pittsburgh a couple of weeks back that
Speaker 1: got on my radar big time, basically using the run
Speaker 1: to destroy the Steelers. But two times against the Ravens,
Speaker 1: it's been these massive plays through the air. I mean,
Speaker 1: these are division opponents that have dominated Cincinnati forever. I
Speaker 1: think it's fair that we have to note that the
Speaker 1: Ravens were down to like one of their top eight cornerbacks,
Speaker 1: and not that the Cincinnati wouldn't have just flat out
Speaker 1: one this thing anyways, because I look back at the
Speaker 1: the matchup is not good for Baltimore. But this is
Speaker 1: one of those losses or you know, showdowns in general,
Speaker 1: where we kind of forget, you know, weeks from now
Speaker 1: what Baltimore has has been dealing with and was dealing
Speaker 1: with in this game, I mean, just not functional in
Speaker 1: a secondary. Let me to just to back up what
Speaker 1: you're saying, they're settler the the Ravens. The walls fell
Speaker 1: in on the Ravens in this game. And this has
Speaker 1: been something that's been happening for the past month as
Speaker 1: I think a lot of factors have led to where
Speaker 1: they're at now, which is they are below average NFL
Speaker 1: team at this point. You're seeing it with the results.
Speaker 1: They went into this game shook with thirty three players
Speaker 1: eiven either on I R or the COVID nineteen restricted lists.
Speaker 1: Thirty three players. I mean, no team, I don't care
Speaker 1: who it is, will survive that. And we were trying
Speaker 1: to talk ourselves into the Ravens like, well, they've always
Speaker 1: had history on their side with these a f C.
Speaker 1: North have nots. And and Tyler Huntley he's been there
Speaker 1: two point conversion away and all the same people were
Speaker 1: gone last week from beating the Packers. So that that's
Speaker 1: why Tyler Huntley was shaping up as a guy could
Speaker 1: step in and handle things. And then he gets covided
Speaker 1: out of the scenario. And it's just like sometimes it's
Speaker 1: just not your year. And yes, while you have to
Speaker 1: temper that when you factor in the dominance of the Bengals,
Speaker 1: that's a part of this story that the Ravens. It's
Speaker 1: almost unprecedented what's happened to them this year. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: you have to give them credit for the fight that
Speaker 1: they've had. I mean, they were fighting throughout this game,
Speaker 1: and they had it at a ten point game just
Speaker 1: before half of in the Bengalis scored one more time
Speaker 1: to extend their lead. They battled, and they've been battling
Speaker 1: through all of this all season, and like mars or,
Speaker 1: like Greg said, you know they nearly beat the Packers.
Speaker 1: It's just how many losses can you take? I think
Speaker 1: I wrote the what we learned for this I think
Speaker 1: we're below critical mass for them, Like I just think
Speaker 1: that they've suffered so many losses that this was the one,
Speaker 1: like this was the week where it was you know,
Speaker 1: they they have a clear path to the wild Card
Speaker 1: if they went to and know, but that would include
Speaker 1: beating the Rams much less you know, the Steelers and
Speaker 1: week team, and it's just hard for them to imagine
Speaker 1: them beating a team like this. But still, like those
Speaker 1: plays Higgins is making, It's like, you can it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: I know, he's taller than whoever they're putting in for Baltimore.
Speaker 1: It's like te Higgins is a great NFL receiver, and
Speaker 1: Mixing is a great running back, and Chase is a
Speaker 1: great receiver, and it's like these player are great. So
Speaker 1: I just think it's almost like the rest of the
Speaker 1: coaches and everything else, they just got to not get
Speaker 1: in the way. Here's here's how you get to five
Speaker 1: twenty five yards receiving. By the way, Tee Higgins twelve
Speaker 1: for one ninety four two touchdowns on thirteen targets. Remember
Speaker 1: when he was quiet earlier this season six or seven games,
Speaker 1: who just got picked for the Pro Bowl? Seven for one,
Speaker 1: five on ten targets, Tyler Boyd three for eighty five
Speaker 1: and a touch on five targets, Joe Mixon six for
Speaker 1: seventy and a touch on six targets. C J. Was
Speaker 1: Usama five for thirty six, Drew Sample two for nine,
Speaker 1: some R. J. P Rhyn two for six, who added
Speaker 1: up thirty seven receptions five twenty five yards, fourteen yards
Speaker 1: per catch, four touchdowns and it all came from Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: Who I'm with you, shook. I think when I have
Speaker 1: to do my Superstar Club column later this spring, uh,
Speaker 1: it's time to put Joe in there because he's just
Speaker 1: shown it all year long. Yeah. I thought the whole
Speaker 1: he's not making the Pro Bowl because he leads the
Speaker 1: league interceptions and his thing was kind of unfair. And
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take this moment right here to stump for
Speaker 1: this because this is you know, we have a billion
Speaker 1: advanced metrics now right, Well, let's introduce earned an unearned
Speaker 1: interceptions because good amount of Joe Burrow's interceptions have not
Speaker 1: been earned. Baseball has it with pictures, why can't we
Speaker 1: do with quarterbacks. I think if you took that into account,
Speaker 1: his Pro Bowl case becomes a lot stronger he's going
Speaker 1: to be there before. Plus it was Lamar who just
Speaker 1: didn't deserve it over him, and my homes didn't either.
Speaker 1: If you had but mahomes, at least you can make
Speaker 1: the case it's absurd. We don't have that metric, that statistic.
Speaker 1: At this point, it's your You've got the platform, it's
Speaker 1: a fifteen billion dollar company company. You've got some juice
Speaker 1: right now here? Are the next gen stats guy? Just
Speaker 1: start saying that as if it is an official stat
Speaker 1: and is and you need like visual judgment. You can't
Speaker 1: just use tracking data for it. You need to be like, oh,
Speaker 1: Jamar Chase dropped that pass into an interception, which he
Speaker 1: did this year once. Well, Chris Collinsworth has made a
Speaker 1: billion dollars of PFF and that's just watching the stats
Speaker 1: and putting numbers. Do it. Hey, before we move on,
Speaker 1: one of the things that we like about Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: is that he's got a little like pissing vinegar to him.
Speaker 1: He's got a little moxy to him, and uh, he
Speaker 1: didn't take too calmly to wink Martindale, the defense coordinator
Speaker 1: of the Ravens. Uh kind of you know, having a
Speaker 1: little fun at his expense, saying let's not put a
Speaker 1: gold jacket on Joe Burrow just yet. Leading into this game,
Speaker 1: well after five, he was asked about that. I didn't
Speaker 1: think it was a necessary comment. I wouldn't say I
Speaker 1: was offended by it. I mean, I'm in year two.
Speaker 1: Who knows what's going to happen down the road. I
Speaker 1: didn't think it was a necessary comment on your Maybe
Speaker 1: he's wearing a Santa hat while saying all this, and
Speaker 1: they were throwing in the fourth quarter as he was
Speaker 1: howling up those yards. A very very fun team to watch.
Speaker 1: Good for the Westling brothers. I wish Chris Westling was here,
Speaker 1: obviously for so many reasons, but to just hear his
Speaker 1: thoughts on these bangles and where they're at right now. Maybe,
Speaker 1: just maybe we could have gotten him back to the
Speaker 1: Bengals with this team. In this quarterback Fate said otherwise,
Speaker 1: all right, we got one more game with Shookie. Uh,
Speaker 1: let's head to Philly back again, Ghost Glenn and the
Speaker 1: passes unaccepted running down this timeline, Alex Singleton and he
Speaker 1: is and for a second NFL coach found Meryl Reese
Speaker 1: with a called w I p Jalen Hurts do a
Speaker 1: five yard touchout de Lane Johnson and linebacker Alex Singleton
Speaker 1: returned an interception for a touchdown. The Eagles continue their
Speaker 1: pushed for the playoffs with a thirty four ten win
Speaker 1: over the moribund New York Giants Shookie. Like last Tuesday,
Speaker 1: the Eagles got out of the gate slow, but turned
Speaker 1: it on against an inferior division opponent. Yeah, probably could
Speaker 1: have had a lot more points in this game if
Speaker 1: they would have stopped shooting themselves in the foot in
Speaker 1: the first half, which if they hope to sneak into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, you know, went out sneaking to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They're gonna they're gonna have to clean that up. But
Speaker 1: say and half, they turned it on and even after
Speaker 1: losing Miles Sanders, they still found a way to rush
Speaker 1: for hundred thirty plus. I mean, this is the league's
Speaker 1: best rushing team in terms of total yards and and
Speaker 1: they found a way to do it again. They're fun
Speaker 1: and there there are fun to watch just because they
Speaker 1: got these young guys running around. Jalen Hurst is a
Speaker 1: fun quarterback to watch. I love the report that he's
Speaker 1: developing with Davante Smith. And he's not the only guy
Speaker 1: in that receiving corps. Jalen Rayor is kind of a
Speaker 1: fun punt returner to watch. I mean, it's it's a
Speaker 1: it's an enjoyable team to watch him against a Giant
Speaker 1: well and as a receiver, but you know, uh and
Speaker 1: and and it's against the Giants team that you know
Speaker 1: Joe Judge can tell you during the week all he
Speaker 1: wants the changes. Has it's happened. We've turned the corner
Speaker 1: and we're gonna show it. Well, they're so far from
Speaker 1: showing it right now. And I know they had to
Speaker 1: play Jake From and they From was so bad they
Speaker 1: went to Mike Glennon in the second half. Um, oh
Speaker 1: my god. Really just can't wait to get to the
Speaker 1: for performance reasons, they went away from the rookie and
Speaker 1: a game that meant nothing. Don't you just gotta look
Speaker 1: at it for better word? Please explain to me how
Speaker 1: Jake From's like twenty dropbacks for twenty five yards looked
Speaker 1: just with your eyes. One of the next gent stats
Speaker 1: we pulled it was Jake From. It was one for
Speaker 1: five and I came over the exact scenario for negative
Speaker 1: two yards. That's the kind of offensive six or seventeen
Speaker 1: for twenty five yards is something you need one two
Speaker 1: often that doesn't even count. And then you threw a
Speaker 1: pick to start the third quarter that set the Eagles
Speaker 1: up for their first touchdown in the day, and from
Speaker 1: there they were rolling and from was done for the
Speaker 1: day and Joe Judge had had enough. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just too very uneven. Dan. I know that you like,
Speaker 1: look at the Dolphins worst the first type scenario, not
Speaker 1: first place, but they're surging back after a terrible start.
Speaker 1: The Eagles were two and five, they're now eight and seven.
Speaker 1: I find it easier to believe in this team than Miami,
Speaker 1: just because they seemed like if they got into the
Speaker 1: wild card and they were headed there at this point,
Speaker 1: you know, barring a collapse, they're just dangerous. They've never
Speaker 1: had a rushing attack franchise. Why this is a historical
Speaker 1: franchise since nineteen They need to clean up the penalties
Speaker 1: a little bit, seems to linger and a lot of
Speaker 1: these games for them, but they're just explosive. Their first
Speaker 1: half they were suppressed and that it totally went wild
Speaker 1: in the third and fourth quarter. We talked about it
Speaker 1: on the Friday TV Show, and she should everyone should
Speaker 1: check out at airs on Saturday on NFL Network around
Speaker 1: the NFL broadcast that, Yeah, that Philly is great upfront
Speaker 1: and they got off. They have a quarterback who can
Speaker 1: make plays with his legs. I guess it comes down to, like,
Speaker 1: can he make enough throws? Uh and shook. I'm curious
Speaker 1: where you're at on his development as a passer so far,
Speaker 1: because they absolutely agree with you, Mark, if they get
Speaker 1: into the dance, they profile as a team that could
Speaker 1: pick off a favorite. He he looks like a second
Speaker 1: year quarterback at times. I mean there's you know, a
Speaker 1: goal to go, third goal to go situation where you know,
Speaker 1: if he waits a beat longer, he might find a
Speaker 1: guy open the end zone where he targets a guy
Speaker 1: because he's right crossing right in front of him, you know,
Speaker 1: three or four yards short of the sticks. There's those
Speaker 1: are the situations where you you know, he could make
Speaker 1: a better reader a better throw. But the talent is
Speaker 1: there and when it shines, it it really shines. I mean,
Speaker 1: and like I said, that rapport with vant A Smith,
Speaker 1: they've they teamed out. They had a great connection where
Speaker 1: Davante Smith made a and maybe he caught it maybe
Speaker 1: he didn't. It was overturned in the review, and then
Speaker 1: the review was reviewed and they overturned it back to
Speaker 1: a touchdown. It's kind of it was kind of strange. Yeah,
Speaker 1: uh a nice toe tap catch, a well placed pass.
Speaker 1: I mean there's there's glimpses and um, I think with
Speaker 1: more time, he's just gonna continue turning forward. Not to
Speaker 1: mention the fact that you know they can run with
Speaker 1: him as well, and they've used that to their advantage.
Speaker 1: They've benefited from a soft schedule. But what are you
Speaker 1: gonna do? N SHOOKI we we appreciate you stepping in
Speaker 1: into a spot that no one else wanted to take. Frankly,
Speaker 1: you were the Giants Eagles beat writer over the last
Speaker 1: uh four weeks. You handled both of those games, and
Speaker 1: you handled them beautifully. Unbelievable. Yeah, you know, one was
Speaker 1: a low scoring affair, one not so much. I'll tell
Speaker 1: you what, this blowout made it a lot easier to
Speaker 1: write today. It was an easier pipe. What's going on
Speaker 1: with your personal life? You? Uh, I know you're close
Speaker 1: to perhaps some an engagement ring scenario. Oh yeah, well,
Speaker 1: you know, let's just say the gears are turning the
Speaker 1: process has been gun and hopefully we didn't just ruin
Speaker 1: the surprise. Does she listen? Is she in the room?
Speaker 1: You have an ear in her ear piece in right,
Speaker 1: she's I mean when you buy that engagement ring, I
Speaker 1: don't know what the percentage number is one, but it's
Speaker 1: meant to be what like your salary or something. It
Speaker 1: was like what was the old saying two months salary
Speaker 1: or something like that. It's not that, but it'll do.
Speaker 1: You should What you should take is and this will
Speaker 1: save you a lot of money is because you are
Speaker 1: the pipe. You just take a lead pipe and then
Speaker 1: you get a saw and you just kind of crudely
Speaker 1: saw at the very top of the pipe, fashioned as
Speaker 1: a ring, and then just sand it down a little bit.
Speaker 1: You don't wan any jack of engines. And then to
Speaker 1: slip that on miss pipe. You know, I could add
Speaker 1: to this, you know, tie in our our journey together
Speaker 1: and get it from like some old Cleveland pipe that
Speaker 1: was years. She's a gym rat too, So you guys
Speaker 1: should just get like married in a gym or something like,
Speaker 1: you know, to have like a whole you know, workout theme.
Speaker 1: Everybody shows up in. I think Dan is giving you
Speaker 1: terrible advice, do not follow that. That's not taking you anywhere.
Speaker 1: So you're telling me that party favors that are packs
Speaker 1: of Way protein, not not theod No matter what. To
Speaker 1: Mark's point, uh, stick with the whole lead pipe ring,
Speaker 1: but have a real ring on backup. If she says no,
Speaker 1: it gets offended by the lead pipe ring. You know
Speaker 1: she wasn't the girl in the first place. If she's like, oh, pipe,
Speaker 1: I'll go anywhere with you and wear anything, then he say,
Speaker 1: all right, baby, flick off the lead pipe ring, give
Speaker 1: her the rock, and we're bait and switch. Okay, alright, alright,
Speaker 1: well we're taking We got notes here. These aren't notes
Speaker 1: about that, but we could write these notes down. All right, Chuckie,
Speaker 1: thank you for your work all season long, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you next Sunday. All right, guys, thanks man Chook
Speaker 1: is good dude. All right, let's move back into the
Speaker 1: action of Sunday. Let's send to Minneapolis. Here's Pal at
Speaker 1: the other end of the field coming up to take
Speaker 1: it out. The forty stumbles through us. Right, he's got
Speaker 1: mid field in the block. He's about the forty Minnesota
Speaker 1: down the right sideline. Twenty ten five puts down a
Speaker 1: brand and Powell goes somersaulting into the end zone with
Speaker 1: a punt return for a touchdown. JB. Long, my buddy,
Speaker 1: it feels like so long ago that we were in
Speaker 1: the park watching that yacht rock cover band just shred,
Speaker 1: and one day we will again the next season. Every
Speaker 1: season I have a hang out with JB. Long and
Speaker 1: his family. Spring is right around the corner, and I'll
Speaker 1: leave it at that. Brandon Powell returned to punt sixty
Speaker 1: one yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, a
Speaker 1: huge play for the Rams on their way to a
Speaker 1: thirty to twenty three win over the Vikings. As we
Speaker 1: said earlier, the win um gives rent the Ramsey advantage
Speaker 1: of one game lead in the NFC West over the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: That also allowed the Cardinals to clinch a playoff spot
Speaker 1: and uh, interesting game here. Here's the thing. The Vikings,
Speaker 1: who were a flawed but interesting team for so long
Speaker 1: that kind of got thrown out here because this in
Speaker 1: this game, they were just the inferior team. The Rams
Speaker 1: are playing at a very high level right now, and
Speaker 1: even a game where Matthew Stafford did not play well
Speaker 1: and he had too many throws that were just throwing
Speaker 1: them up for grabs and and allowed the Vikings to
Speaker 1: hang around. You kind of felt Los Angeles in control
Speaker 1: of this entire game, and I think that says a
Speaker 1: lot about where Los Angeles has come from after their
Speaker 1: slumber last month. They are now playing very, very good
Speaker 1: football at the end of December, and as a result
Speaker 1: of Vikings look like they are going home after Week eight. Team.
Speaker 1: I love this so much for the Rams. That you
Speaker 1: get a bad Stafford game that you know a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks past, like bad Stafford games mental loss. Uh,
Speaker 1: they found a way to win with him really subpar play,
Speaker 1: and I mean I know they lost Darrell Henderson, Ernest
Speaker 1: Jones went out, they were already hit with COVID, they
Speaker 1: didn't have left tackle Andrew Whitworth. I mean, it says
Speaker 1: a lot about them to overcome all that because the
Speaker 1: Vikings are still a quality team in this world we
Speaker 1: live in right now. And I mean justin Jefferson being
Speaker 1: held to what like forty yards by Jalen Ramsey, Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald looking like he should be Defensive Player of the Year.
Speaker 1: They have stars, and their stars are playing well and
Speaker 1: and those guys you don't know are stepping up like
Speaker 1: like a Powell, I mean like a Sony Michelle. I'm
Speaker 1: kind of amazed that Sony Michelle is getting twenty seven
Speaker 1: carries and Darryll Henderson is getting one because Henderson just
Speaker 1: so much more explosive. But I think it speaks to
Speaker 1: what Sean McVeigh wants, which is if we block four,
Speaker 1: get four, and if Michelle, who's running really hard, can
Speaker 1: get six, great, But Henderson, who's more of the home
Speaker 1: run hitters on the bench right now, it's really changed
Speaker 1: their offense. They've they've run it quite well and no one,
Speaker 1: no teams had a better month than the Rams. I
Speaker 1: mean they've they've caught three games on the Cardinals in
Speaker 1: three weeks. You know, they came into that game it
Speaker 1: was only twelve days went or was it thirteen fourteen
Speaker 1: days ago against the Cardinals, down a couple of games
Speaker 1: in that division. Now they're up a game with two
Speaker 1: to play that you know, it's just switched so fast.
Speaker 1: For them to get to eleven and four and feel
Speaker 1: like they're hitting the playoffs and totally in stride is awesome,
Speaker 1: And they still have a chance for the one seed.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't need a little help but it's possible. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Vikings didn't get a touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: until to play, and it cut the lead to then
Speaker 1: they needed their defense to make a stop and it couldn't.
Speaker 1: They gave up a field goal and the game was over.
Speaker 1: That was that, And that touchdown drive at midway through
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter was the only one of Minnesota's first
Speaker 1: nine possessions that went for longer than fifteen yards. So
Speaker 1: this was, like, you know, we talked about it on Thursday,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins. These don't always have to be Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: referendum games. And I don't think they lost this game
Speaker 1: because of Kirk Cousins, because the past protection wasn't great.
Speaker 1: There was no Dalvin Cook, Adam Theeland was clearly not
Speaker 1: one or seven on that ankle um. So it was
Speaker 1: just the offense just kind of stuck in mudd a
Speaker 1: little bit here. Uh. Sometimes, like we were saying earlier,
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to all be on one player or
Speaker 1: one coach. You could just look at the team and
Speaker 1: be like, the Minnesota Vikings did not step up in
Speaker 1: a game they absolutely needed at home, and they're seven
Speaker 1: and eight and probably heading home as a result. So yes,
Speaker 1: Justin Jefferson got his one hundred yards, but it wasn't
Speaker 1: a real Jefferson uh dominant performance. In fact, I know, Greg,
Speaker 1: you were singing Jalen Ramsey's praises for his performance the
Speaker 1: previous week against DK Metcalf and the Seahawks. He was
Speaker 1: so so good and because the matchup was so great, uh,
Speaker 1: maybe the best matchup you'll see all season, Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 1: against Justin Jefferson. There was a lot of ISO replays
Speaker 1: of the game and I'm sure the all twenty two
Speaker 1: tape heads are gonna dissect dissected over the next couple
Speaker 1: days and have a lot of fune with it. And
Speaker 1: what you're gonna see is Jalen Ramsey not fighting for anything,
Speaker 1: steffor step every bit the athlete Justin Jeffery sin is.
Speaker 1: And it's just a reminder in another game where Aaron
Speaker 1: Donald was constantly in the backfield causing havoc that when
Speaker 1: you have these two superstars, these two Hall of famers,
Speaker 1: in the primes of their career, uh yeah, that makes
Speaker 1: up for a lot of mistakes your quarterback can make,
Speaker 1: and they're allowing them to travel a little bit more
Speaker 1: the last two weeks. Now, maybe maybe that was because
Speaker 1: the opponents because of the unique skills of Metcafe and Jefferson,
Speaker 1: but he had been kind of staying in the slot,
Speaker 1: not playing as much outside traveling with the best receivers,
Speaker 1: and so that maybe that's changing with the playoffs coming
Speaker 1: up that the Vikings do, and they've gotten a little
Speaker 1: boring the last couple of weeks. It's disappointing. I wanted
Speaker 1: this team to be fun through the end. They do
Speaker 1: have the Packers next week. They do have a chance
Speaker 1: to set a record though dan Um uh the lowest
Speaker 1: margin over like a full season that any team ever played. UH.
Speaker 1: Next Gen Sets sent that out. I think it's like
Speaker 1: five point five is the average margin right now and
Speaker 1: in any of their games, and so that that's something
Speaker 1: to keep an eye there. You go, Yeah, I'm with you, though.
Speaker 1: There is a kind of magical aspect, even if sometimes
Speaker 1: it was black magic or the Viking season. Really since
Speaker 1: that Thursday night Pittsburgh in the second half, it's just
Speaker 1: been more like they're not very good on offense, and
Speaker 1: as a result, the defense isn't able to pick up
Speaker 1: the slack. It's just kind of the the fairy tale
Speaker 1: is over. If if, if there was one in the
Speaker 1: first place, all right, let us take a break and
Speaker 1: then we will hit more NFL action, kill me William
Speaker 1: and they fake it to sling it cut by Pringle
Speaker 1: off the hid dark backing side touchdown Chess City Byron
Speaker 1: Pringle with an outstanding catch and run, dusting two Steelers
Speaker 1: and into the sweiten Actor and the chiefly twenty nine
Speaker 1: to nothing. M interesting little trend here. The superpowers are
Speaker 1: starting to get right. We see the rams over in
Speaker 1: the NFC what they did today? How about the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Smitch holt Is with the call there for w
Speaker 1: d a F. Patrick Mahomes through yards and three touch
Speaker 1: touchdowns Byron Pringle caught two of those touchdown passes. The
Speaker 1: Chiefs roll the Steelers, clinching their sixth consecutive a f
Speaker 1: C West title. Think about that six consecutive a f
Speaker 1: C West titles mark. The game also allows the Chiefs
Speaker 1: to stay a game ahead of the Tennessee Titans for
Speaker 1: first place in the a f C. Eight straight wins
Speaker 1: now and they look the part. I mean, whatever concerns
Speaker 1: we had about Kansas City a month ago, um, just
Speaker 1: do not look relevant to me at this point. I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't have Travis Kelsey in this game, Tyreek Hill,
Speaker 1: you thought, well, look, everything will go his way. He
Speaker 1: had two catches for like nineteen yards. It was Byron
Speaker 1: Pringle playing one of the best games he's had in
Speaker 1: his entire career. Guys like Derek Moore who had a
Speaker 1: huge fifty yard catch in this game. Nicole Hardman made plays,
Speaker 1: Darryl Williams, Blake Bell, I mean, just like everyone else
Speaker 1: stepped up. Holmes had hit nine different targets in the
Speaker 1: first half. I think the other side of the story though,
Speaker 1: is that their offense is heating up and their run
Speaker 1: game is as well. They did lose Clyde Edwards Hilaire
Speaker 1: to a collarbone injury that looks pretty serious. Um, they
Speaker 1: lost the Honey Badger as well. I don't know what
Speaker 1: will happen with him. Was a quad injury. But you
Speaker 1: are playing a Steeler's offense that we understood that issues
Speaker 1: and just was completely and totally broken down in this game.
Speaker 1: I mean, they had like a hundred yards at half,
Speaker 1: ten minutes of possession and the second half was just
Speaker 1: garbage time. And it's just like Kansas City you know,
Speaker 1: with they had did another kicker either, and they brought
Speaker 1: this guy and he keeps sitting kicks too, So it's
Speaker 1: like Kansas City just looks to me, legit, they're heating up. Um.
Speaker 1: They found a way to win today in a different
Speaker 1: type of game. That kind of just shows you that
Speaker 1: Andy Reid. You know, they talked about Andy Reid during
Speaker 1: the week, talking to the announcing crew, to Romo and
Speaker 1: Nan saying, I don't really care who's in there, like
Speaker 1: we're going to find a way and that that's nice
Speaker 1: to say, a lot of teams will say that same thing.
Speaker 1: But they did today and it showed they flex their muscles,
Speaker 1: that showed their power. And the Steelers, who we've kind of,
Speaker 1: you know, viewed as sort of this walking zombie, I
Speaker 1: think the head has been chopped off at this point.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that they couldn't go win, and I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna go eight eight and one, but they
Speaker 1: are a fraud when it comes to being a playoff team.
Speaker 1: Big Ben had no answers today and it just they were,
Speaker 1: you know, they're imbalanced, they've got line issues, and what
Speaker 1: we've not believed in all year reared its head in
Speaker 1: the worst possible time for Pittsburgh. I'm just gonna say it.
Speaker 1: They're the worst seven, seven and one team in NFL history.
Speaker 1: How did this team? How did this team win seven games?
Speaker 1: It's well because of what you and I have said before, though,
Speaker 1: like they find ways to suddenly get against you for
Speaker 1: a quarter and on a half in there in it.
Speaker 1: You know, right, on one hand, I want to give
Speaker 1: Tomlin credit because like they've won seven games. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, you know it is his defense, and I
Speaker 1: know they've had a ton of injuries, but they're they're rund.
Speaker 1: They're a soft team whatever. You remember everyone was calling
Speaker 1: the Bills soft because like they gave up a couple
Speaker 1: of big runs against the Patriots in a game they
Speaker 1: allowed less than fifty yards. I mean, the Steelers defense
Speaker 1: is soft. They are the definition of soft. Like at
Speaker 1: point in this game, the Chiefs ran like nine straight plays.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs rookie offensive linemen and the way they constructed
Speaker 1: that offensive line in general, to me is one of
Speaker 1: the bigger, like long term stories in the a f
Speaker 1: C this year. They hit home runs with Tray Smith
Speaker 1: and Creed Humphrey and that's who they're running behind on
Speaker 1: all these short yardage places and those are rookies. Those
Speaker 1: guys are gonna be there. Tuny is gonna be there
Speaker 1: for a while. They should probably resign Orlando Brown. They
Speaker 1: really did fix that in one fell swoop. They're they're
Speaker 1: hesitant to run. I know this game wasn't about the run,
Speaker 1: but it's just to me, it's like, who who are
Speaker 1: the Steelers If you can't stop the run, especially when
Speaker 1: you're playing the Chiefs. Yeah, I would. I think you're
Speaker 1: probably more right, like I think maybe the head was
Speaker 1: finally taken off the zombie. But it is the a
Speaker 1: f C. North and we'll have to see they got
Speaker 1: that tie in the mix. And Cincinnati has shown us
Speaker 1: before that they could look like world beaters one week
Speaker 1: and and stumble the next. But probably and and beyond that,
Speaker 1: we all know where this Pittsburgh team is, which is
Speaker 1: they just they just exist. They're not They're nothing to
Speaker 1: get excited about. And the Chiefs, I think of the
Speaker 1: big story here because if Patrick Mahomes is able to
Speaker 1: keep rolling with Kelsey out of the lineup, um, what's
Speaker 1: going to happen now as the season goes on? So yeah, oh,
Speaker 1: by the way, you skip around to the playoffs at
Speaker 1: this point, you know, if they can, if they can
Speaker 1: hold serve here at the next two It's great that
Speaker 1: she's had never won back to back division titles before
Speaker 1: Andy Reid, and now they won sixth straight. That that
Speaker 1: says a lot about Andy Reid. What little note about
Speaker 1: the Steelers real quick, sorry, but they have trailed by
Speaker 1: seventeen plus points in the fourth before the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: nine times in their last nineteen games. That happened to
Speaker 1: Big Ben nine times in his first and forty three starts.
Speaker 1: I mean, they are just a broken down snaro. I'm
Speaker 1: not declaring that they're not gonna win another game to going.
Speaker 1: They do play the Browns next week, So I'm saying nothing.
Speaker 1: I'm not. It's just not something I'm not doing this again.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying they're an eight eight and one team.
Speaker 1: We're going to get that. You know, I've been wondering
Speaker 1: why Mark has been hitting this eight eight and one
Speaker 1: thing so hard, and then, like as it always does,
Speaker 1: it kind of connects to something else that I didn't
Speaker 1: realize that that was one of the sandwich props. Nick
Speaker 1: four Tier of Go Get My Lunch gave us an
Speaker 1: updated rundown of all the sandwich props, so that that
Speaker 1: adds a little bit of I honestly had no I
Speaker 1: had no memory that I had made a sandwich prop
Speaker 1: off of that. I don't believe you. I believe me.
Speaker 1: I I it's totally slit my mind. I've been consistently
Speaker 1: fascinated with the idea of it happening. Got it all right,
Speaker 1: let's move and check it. I don't know what do
Speaker 1: you want me to say? I don't believe you. The
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers looking to get back on track after
Speaker 1: last Sunday Night's embarrassing loss. Good thing the Panthers were
Speaker 1: on the slate. Buccaneers neither touchdown to finish this deal.
Speaker 1: Don't we we lead? Two six snap to Brady inside
Speaker 1: hand off road. You'll running lamp tough stop Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: Nobody laid a hand on him, been duck her off
Speaker 1: the call. W F you As Tom Brady through for
Speaker 1: two thirty two and a touchdown. Antonio Brown made a
Speaker 1: successful return to the lineup as the Bucks routed the
Speaker 1: Panthers thirty two six. This surprised me. The Bucks their
Speaker 1: first NFC South title since two thousand seven. They won
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl last year as a wild card team
Speaker 1: and had not one a division title before that and
Speaker 1: h since two thousand seven. Anyway, Mark nice to take
Speaker 1: care of business. Win for the Bucks who follow up
Speaker 1: that loss against the Saints with a T shirt and
Speaker 1: cap win. Yeah, it kind of reminds me of the
Speaker 1: game we just talked about, because we know that, you know,
Speaker 1: the Bucks are without Mike Evans, without Chris Godwin, without
Speaker 1: Lenny for Nett, with you, without even Brashad Pereman, who
Speaker 1: offered a deep threat for them, and it led to
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown arriving at just the right time for them.
Speaker 1: Whether you like his personality or not, Tom Brady likes
Speaker 1: what he's doing on the field, that likes the Antonio
Speaker 1: Brown like. Who's in the big fan club at this
Speaker 1: I don't know every single person who listens to this,
Speaker 1: so I'm just putting that out there is a probable
Speaker 1: scenario that most do not. But targeted fifteen times, caught
Speaker 1: ten of them a hundred and one yards. They were
Speaker 1: a little discombibulated early, but you could feel Brady and
Speaker 1: the you know, the cast of characters that came in
Speaker 1: there getting a little more comfortable. Cyril Grayson had a
Speaker 1: sixty two yard catch. At one point, he Shaan Vaughan,
Speaker 1: who has been in the doghouse um had a fifty
Speaker 1: five yard run for a for a touchdown. I mean,
Speaker 1: little guys that just have not been a big part
Speaker 1: of the story stepped up. But why it reminds me
Speaker 1: also of the game we just talked about Kansas City Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Was that you had the Panthers who are driving me
Speaker 1: nuts with this situation. This. I lost my patients watching this.
Speaker 1: It was this dueling piano player scenario where Cam Newton
Speaker 1: came in and let a field goal drive. Then he
Speaker 1: throws a pick on the next drive. So incomes Sam
Speaker 1: Donald who made one big play, but in general was
Speaker 1: just back and forth between these two guys. Um, it
Speaker 1: totally bizarre plan that did not look like anything an
Speaker 1: NFL team should be doing. I understand what Matt Rule
Speaker 1: said about it after that, it's just like, you know,
Speaker 1: he wasn't thrilled with it either. But um, they let's
Speaker 1: hear from that rule, uh, Cessler, Because I know we've
Speaker 1: been told the reports that Matt Matt Rule's job is safe.
Speaker 1: I am not buying it, and I don't imagine a
Speaker 1: quote like this, getting run helps, but I believe it's
Speaker 1: one thousand percent working. I just know no one can
Speaker 1: see it. And I apologize. I tell our team all
Speaker 1: the time. It took jay Z, like seven years. It
Speaker 1: took him seven years. He had to start his own
Speaker 1: agency to to become famous, to become an overnight sensation,
Speaker 1: Like it takes time. And he says it, and see,
Speaker 1: and we've we've spoken with him. Seems like a really
Speaker 1: nice guy, good dude. But I don't know, man, this
Speaker 1: this that thing I saw when I saw rap sheets
Speaker 1: report this morning that Sam Donald was gonna play and
Speaker 1: come in after a couple of series, and it's like
Speaker 1: everything he does with this quarterback position is weird. Just
Speaker 1: start Sam Donald, Like, what are we even doing in
Speaker 1: the first place here? Having Camp start the game and
Speaker 1: then lifting him after the second possession ends at an interception.
Speaker 1: It's like, all right, what are we doing here? I
Speaker 1: just don't understand the game plan at Charlotte. Maybe it
Speaker 1: was like give Cam one last start in Carolina. I
Speaker 1: don't know. Yeah, it's because I think Donald will probably
Speaker 1: start the next couple of weeks, which makes some sense.
Speaker 1: By by the way, not that not that it really matters,
Speaker 1: like the Panthers fans booing him. He's talking all about
Speaker 1: the process. The jay Z thing felt like, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: how how you know that, Steve BISHEMI mean, like, how
Speaker 1: are you doing their kids? Like what? First of all,
Speaker 1: like reasonable doubt, like jay Z's first record is like
Speaker 1: one of the great first records ever. So that part
Speaker 1: didn't even makes sense to me. I I don't know
Speaker 1: him talking about the process. It sounded like he was
Speaker 1: making a case for his job. I think entirely. I
Speaker 1: think entirely because I mean, you know, there was a
Speaker 1: lot of hope around Matt Rule and then the wheels
Speaker 1: have come off in a in a fierce way and
Speaker 1: chanted fire Rule during the game. That it kind of
Speaker 1: made me think of, like, I know that I've been
Speaker 1: tough on Teddy Bridgewater, largely because like Greg pumps him
Speaker 1: up as like someone that came down from the Evans.
Speaker 1: But when you think about Teddy Bridgewater mentioning that this
Speaker 1: offense was disorganized a year ago, well a year later, um,
Speaker 1: it is extremely disorganized and they fired the offensive coordinator
Speaker 1: that Teddy was critiquing. So it's like you go back
Speaker 1: through the roots of what's happening here, and it's not
Speaker 1: been a great plan and it's not working. It doesn't
Speaker 1: visually look pleasing. Uh and uh, let's just uh one thing,
Speaker 1: Greg clearing up the meme that you were referencing that
Speaker 1: Steve Bushmi saying how do you do fellow kids? I mean,
Speaker 1: I sounded like Steve bushemy. There After the game, Antonio
Speaker 1: Brown also got very snippy with a reporter who dared
Speaker 1: to ask him, um about all the nonsense that surrounds
Speaker 1: him as a person, not a player, as a person.
Speaker 1: Uh and uh shut down a reporter who was their
Speaker 1: first chance to have a conversation with Brown about his
Speaker 1: suspension tied to the fake vaccine card. Uh. And he
Speaker 1: was kind of a jerk about it. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is Antonio Brown is a jerk, but he's productive
Speaker 1: and he was again today and he's an important part
Speaker 1: of their offense, whether we like it or not. Because
Speaker 1: with um, Mike Evans ailing, with Chris Godwin out of
Speaker 1: the picture, with Lenny Furnett out, Tom Brady needs and
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown and he was there for him. So that's
Speaker 1: that's a big development for them on the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Teams have tons of jerks on them. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is just that no one's if they win the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: no one's gonna care that Antonio Brown was on this
Speaker 1: team at all. No one will all right, let's now
Speaker 1: move to Houston. Upset alert or is it? I mean?
Speaker 1: With COVID, it's hard to really make sense of any
Speaker 1: of this. But a team that was expected to win
Speaker 1: did not. This game was played in Texas. Bills quick
Speaker 1: pass up a Bud add song the Dagger touchdown Poston.
Speaker 1: My goodness, they're gonna do it. I love it. Oh yeah, Ricky,
Speaker 1: good job. Give the Texans the bongos they deserve it from.
Speaker 1: Come Come, Come, Come Come, Mark vandermere K, I lt
Speaker 1: with it called. Davis Mills and Nico Collins connected on
Speaker 1: the clinching touchdown rex Burke. Rex Burke had ran for
Speaker 1: a career hight hundred forty nine yards and two touchdowns
Speaker 1: in The Texans took advantage of three turnovers to beat
Speaker 1: the Charges nine. This game featured two teams are missing
Speaker 1: more than a dozen players each because of COVID nineteen protocols.
Speaker 1: Greggy David Culley has these Texans fighting hard to the
Speaker 1: end and playing aggressive on offense. I said it a
Speaker 1: week ago with how they closed out that Jaguars game.
Speaker 1: I was even more struck in this game that with
Speaker 1: a small lead of one score lead in the red
Speaker 1: zone with under four minutes to go, instead of trying
Speaker 1: to bleed clock on first down, they got Davis Mills
Speaker 1: throwing slants. Because he's shown he's pretty good at throwing slants.
Speaker 1: Davis Mills is playing good controlled football. This was one
Speaker 1: of his best games because as it didn't have the
Speaker 1: kind of mental mistake rookie mistake that he's usually has
Speaker 1: even in his good games. He had to baller throws
Speaker 1: in the first half, and it really felt like in
Speaker 1: another world, like this was like a quarterback shootout between
Speaker 1: him and Herbert. There were very few stops in this game.
Speaker 1: You at Herbert's line and you think, like Herbert struggled.
Speaker 1: They only got stopped. You know, they didn't punt the
Speaker 1: whole game. The Chargers, you know, they fumbled it once
Speaker 1: and Herbert got picked off once where he got a
Speaker 1: little too aggressive. It was just they couldn't keep up
Speaker 1: with Davis Mills in the Texans. I don't know, I mean,
Speaker 1: I look back on I mean, do we not like
Speaker 1: this some of these COVID situations, It's like, okay, cool,
Speaker 1: Like I'm glad for Davis Mills, but no Austin Ekeler,
Speaker 1: no Mike Williams, Corey Lindsley's out. I mean, these things matter,
Speaker 1: and I mean it's bo so Is out. Jones was out.
Speaker 1: They were missing fourteen players or thirteen places. But guess
Speaker 1: what the Texans were missing eighteen so including like Brandon Cook.
Speaker 1: So it's just like it's crazy easy. They were missing
Speaker 1: over thirty total players in this game. You're right, it's
Speaker 1: hard to know what to know. It was the first
Speaker 1: press conference where, you know, reporters coming out of it
Speaker 1: said that Brandon Staley, who has been one of the
Speaker 1: best young coaches in front of the mic around UH,
Speaker 1: had a bit of a thousand yards stair. That it
Speaker 1: just I think it took a lot out of them,
Speaker 1: And I understand that it's frustrating if you're a Chargers fan,
Speaker 1: because yes, you could point to the COVID issues, but yes,
Speaker 1: both teams had to deal with it. At the end
Speaker 1: of the day, with two games remaining in the regular season,
Speaker 1: the Chargers are kind of right back where they always
Speaker 1: seem to be. There at eight and seven, and the
Speaker 1: season go one way or another. And they've let a
Speaker 1: lot of winnable games get away. And I wouldn't say
Speaker 1: they're they're chargering in the same way we know them
Speaker 1: to charger in the past. But uh, to not be
Speaker 1: able to close out the Chiefs at home on Thursday night,
Speaker 1: which could be turned out to be a turning point
Speaker 1: in their season, and then to fole that up with
Speaker 1: a road game against Houston where you just get out played,
Speaker 1: you just get beat use, your defense gets beat up
Speaker 1: on by Davis Mills. And here we are now they're
Speaker 1: nine and eight. We'll see if they what they have
Speaker 1: and if we talked Brandon Staley very good on Mike,
Speaker 1: we'll see we'll learn a lot about him as a coach.
Speaker 1: We're gonna learn a lot about Justin Herbert. How does
Speaker 1: this season end for the Chargers? We got that they
Speaker 1: got the Broncos and Raiders next, so division opponents winnable games,
Speaker 1: you probably have to win them both. Uh. It was
Speaker 1: interesting seek that old story, the old friend the Chargers
Speaker 1: run defense get lit up for a hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: nine yards by Rex Burkhead and Royce Freeman. Royce Freeman
Speaker 1: is not even like like the best random freeman picked
Speaker 1: up off the street. That's running the ball like that's
Speaker 1: DeVante like like. It was crazy to see them going
Speaker 1: up and down the field running the ball with those
Speaker 1: two guys. Hard to believe. All right, let's take a
Speaker 1: break and then check in on the a f C.
Speaker 1: West Car's gonna throw it. Snaps it off White open
Speaker 1: first down the row, deep in the territory. He's at
Speaker 1: the Broncos thirty five yards yard. Wantta go? They crossed
Speaker 1: everybody up. Raiders are headed for their eight win. Brent Musburger,
Speaker 1: of course, with the call for k r l V
Speaker 1: on third and two from their own thirty six yard line,
Speaker 1: nursing a four point lead late in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: Derek Carr didn't do what was expected, which would have
Speaker 1: been handing the ball off to Josh Jacobs, who had
Speaker 1: done damage all game. Instead, he dropped back to pass,
Speaker 1: dropped a tear drop into the hands of Foster Moreau,
Speaker 1: who's twenty eight yard pickup allowed the Raiders to run
Speaker 1: out the clock on that win. And after the play,
Speaker 1: as he was jogging down field, he animate and inanimate
Speaker 1: way pointed at the Raiders sideline. During the celebration, potentially
Speaker 1: not to Greg Olsen. I don't know. Maybe Greg Olson's upstairs,
Speaker 1: the offensive coordinator, I don't know, but he was. He
Speaker 1: was happy that they gave the ball to him and
Speaker 1: said win the game, and he did so. Here the
Speaker 1: Raiders again, I was dismissing of them after the Browns win.
Speaker 1: Everyone was, it seemed like, but the Eights now find
Speaker 1: a way to beat a Broncos team that's not very good.
Speaker 1: But it's still a good win, uh, for a team
Speaker 1: that are not collapsing in December like in past years.
Speaker 1: In fact that these two wins, they are right in
Speaker 1: the mix, still in the a f C. What was
Speaker 1: going on with Denver's ground game, which has been spicy?
Speaker 1: Um at moments. I love Javonte Williams, but they had
Speaker 1: what fifteen yards on the ground. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: not a two backs at eight yards total on fourteen carry.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing I want to Derek Carr had a
Speaker 1: miserable interception right before the half on a screen pass
Speaker 1: pass where Bradley Chubb jumped up, grabbed it, took it
Speaker 1: to the goal line. They went in a play later. Um,
Speaker 1: and that was such a big play in this game.
Speaker 1: Because it wasn't high scoring and it just kept things close.
Speaker 1: But the Raiders dominated, Uh this game. The Broncos could
Speaker 1: not get anything going on the ground through the air. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that's what you're seeing in that game. The Vegas defense,
Speaker 1: which has not always been a big time unit's stepped
Speaker 1: up here. Of course it's Drew lock that's prominently involved.
Speaker 1: And always have to factor these things in. Who's the
Speaker 1: quarterback playing? Teddy Bridgewater stuffered that scary head injury. He
Speaker 1: was held out as a precaution, locked in and too much.
Speaker 1: But yeah, when the running game wasn't there to pick
Speaker 1: up the load. Uh, that was it. Uh for a
Speaker 1: team that didn't really even have the ball that much.
Speaker 1: If you look at the breakdown of the game. Uh,
Speaker 1: they only had eight first downs the whole game. They
Speaker 1: only ran forty total plays a hundred and fifty eight yards.
Speaker 1: So the offensive the Raiders still not very good. Darren
Speaker 1: Waller out of the lineup, but the defense took care
Speaker 1: of an inferior unit. I guess you could say, Greg,
Speaker 1: because I know you'd like to get your little Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater celebrations in where you can This might be a
Speaker 1: different outcome with a more proficient guy at the controls
Speaker 1: of the offense. I mean, they w probably have had
Speaker 1: more than Yeah, they probably would have had more than
Speaker 1: eight first downs, although three drives I gotta say ended
Speaker 1: on plays. Receivers could have made drops for Drew Lock.
Speaker 1: You know, I did watch this one trying to knock
Speaker 1: it out early, and they were just bad all Judy
Speaker 1: had a really bad drop. I think that had one.
Speaker 1: And it's tough to give Alberto a drop on that
Speaker 1: last drive where where the Broncos still had a chance
Speaker 1: to go win the game, but he had a chance
Speaker 1: to make a play that would have put them deep
Speaker 1: into field goal range and they didn't make the play.
Speaker 1: It's pretty You've got to be pretty bad too win
Speaker 1: the turnover battle three to nothing and lose the game
Speaker 1: to the Raiders. I mean two of the Broncos your
Speaker 1: ten of the Broncos points, as you mentioned, came on
Speaker 1: drives totally in five yards, so it's like they basically
Speaker 1: didn't move the ball the whole game. That's pretty rough.
Speaker 1: And you write the Raiders are eight and seven, so
Speaker 1: they're tied with the Chargers and the Ravens as we
Speaker 1: speak now for that last spot, technically the Ravens have
Speaker 1: the tiebreaker. Now it doesn't really matter, but those three
Speaker 1: are all at eight and seven, and the Dolphins can
Speaker 1: join them on Monday. I do wonder if we find
Speaker 1: out that Derek Carr is more banged up. I know
Speaker 1: he finished the game, but he looked like he had
Speaker 1: separated shoulder at one point. He's he's a tough dude, man.
Speaker 1: He went to the blue tent. He went to the
Speaker 1: blue tent to the point where the uh ANOUTCI team
Speaker 1: confidently said a new quarterback was coming into the game.
Speaker 1: And then you came back from break and there's Derek
Speaker 1: Carr on the huddle. So unless you break his leg
Speaker 1: or yeah, break his leg, basically he's playing uh football
Speaker 1: for your team, which also should be considered when you
Speaker 1: talk about Derek Carr, the quarterback who's not a great quarterback,
Speaker 1: but he's not as bad as the people who want
Speaker 1: to tell you. Also he's good. He's a good quarterback.
Speaker 1: Is that good enough for you? It should be. If
Speaker 1: you have a good quarterback, you're surrounded with a really
Speaker 1: good team, you can go places in our league. I
Speaker 1: don't think he'll be there a year from now, but
Speaker 1: I agree with you really, no, I do. He's very
Speaker 1: cheap under I don't think. I don't think it's because
Speaker 1: um they wouldn't want him. I think that we're going
Speaker 1: to get him. We're gonna get another scenario where he's
Speaker 1: gonna want out because he's not into rebuilding with that
Speaker 1: clubs interesting that John Gurdon Fever dream game. He loves,
Speaker 1: he loves games like this. I wonder if he's watching
Speaker 1: some I imagine he is, But who knows. All Right,
Speaker 1: So from one h a f C contender or a
Speaker 1: wild card contender that we don't really believe in necessarily
Speaker 1: to another in the NFC, Let's go to Atlanta. Preg
Speaker 1: Reynolds out of the backfield. Here's boil throwing it accepted.
Speaker 1: Lokan is gonna win at court. Atlanta shortened to the
Speaker 1: Sweet West Durham w z g C with the Gulf
Speaker 1: could call Matt Ryan through a tiebreaking twelve yard touchdown
Speaker 1: past the Hayden Hurst early in the fourth quarter, and
Speaker 1: the Falcons got that late interception from Foyer Aluicon to
Speaker 1: beat the Lions, preserving their playoffs hopes. Slim as they
Speaker 1: may be, Atlanta improved the seven and two in one
Speaker 1: possession games, including four wins by no more than four points.
Speaker 1: Mark to quote Adam F. Dirret's the Falcons are hanging
Speaker 1: around this town on the corner. They are they are,
Speaker 1: and the Lions mean conversely or one six and one
Speaker 1: and one score games. It feels like they're okay, Uh,
Speaker 1: go ahead. I don't know where to go from after that,
Speaker 1: Dan like I we can go into accounting crowls discussion
Speaker 1: if you'd like instead. I mean, this game felt What
Speaker 1: are you holding over your shoulder? You look like John
Speaker 1: Snow right now? What you've been wrapping, even wrapping that
Speaker 1: sweater around your neck. At various points in the show,
Speaker 1: it's there is a window, and I understand that I'm
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, so there's no complaints, but it's freezing
Speaker 1: into you want to pull over in your head and
Speaker 1: just really snug up here. For the balance of the show,
Speaker 1: we could stop down to say it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: want to be taken like in a van to like
Speaker 1: the middle of the country and just dropped into the night.
Speaker 1: At this point, I want I were doing the best
Speaker 1: we can hear. But if you'd like to hear about
Speaker 1: the game, I'm happy to tell you you've been tracking
Speaker 1: this thing on his shoulder the whole show, and it's
Speaker 1: been sweaters. Yeah, well it's a sub part. When he
Speaker 1: was getting annoyed at me talking about Belichick talk earlier,
Speaker 1: he was actually like wrapping it around his neck in
Speaker 1: a way that it looked like it might cut off
Speaker 1: circuit lation because I was like, I hate when people
Speaker 1: do this thing where they eighties bad guy the like,
Speaker 1: I hate that stuff. So I was just putting it
Speaker 1: over one shoulder to warm that region. You were like
Speaker 1: wrapping it around the neck many times, and I saw
Speaker 1: a vain popping now or something. It's almost like he
Speaker 1: was pantomiming what he wanted to do to you. At
Speaker 1: that exact moment, I was feeling better about it. You
Speaker 1: must have enjoyed this game. It was over. I must
Speaker 1: not have en it was over. I looked up. It
Speaker 1: was pm here on the West Coast, in the game
Speaker 1: had ended. That has to be the quickest NFL game
Speaker 1: in this entire season. I think one of the reasons
Speaker 1: that happened was that the Lions, and this is so
Speaker 1: true to their nature, kept going forward on fourth down
Speaker 1: over and over and they and they kept succeeding and
Speaker 1: keeping drives alive. It moved at a quick pace on
Speaker 1: They didn't get the dominant ground game that they've gotten
Speaker 1: in other weeks, but there is something and I know
Speaker 1: it was Tim Boyle, and there's not much that this
Speaker 1: team has gone at this point, but Tim Boyle played well.
Speaker 1: And I'm on Ross st Browns in a touchdown again,
Speaker 1: like that's my takeaways that you've got a wide receiver
Speaker 1: to build around here. He's been really good. And if
Speaker 1: you're the if this is your fantasy team related Dan,
Speaker 1: but Kyle Pitts made two or three plays in this
Speaker 1: game that we already know he's amazing. But he had
Speaker 1: a breakout game that helped set up points for them
Speaker 1: over and over and did a couple of things that
Speaker 1: just visually were magnetic. It was still looked like a
Speaker 1: lot of other Falcons games where it's like the defense
Speaker 1: gets tricked here and there. It wasn't a terrible performance,
Speaker 1: but Matt Ryan has zero protection. He's getting hammered left
Speaker 1: and right, but does just enough Matt Ryan things to
Speaker 1: keep it alive. And it came down to the end
Speaker 1: and I did enjoy to some degree because of the pace,
Speaker 1: but it wouldn't be the football game I'd sign up
Speaker 1: to like um watch you know seven thousand times on
Speaker 1: a VCR tape in the early eighties, go ahead to ahead.
Speaker 1: I was just saying, I know you were pumping that
Speaker 1: fist um when the Lions kicked that field goal under
Speaker 1: four minutes to go to make it only a four
Speaker 1: point game and get it raining inside that Georgia though,
Speaker 1: we got another fix for the Rainmaker. The Browns came
Speaker 1: through on Saturday night. The Lions come through on Sunday
Speaker 1: two and oh up to five and oh, I think
Speaker 1: I've ended the Rainmaker after going five and oh right,
Speaker 1: this is the this is the tremendous disconnect. You screaming
Speaker 1: into a microphone that the Browns came through the Rainmaker.
Speaker 1: About the result, I saw some people tweeting at us,
Speaker 1: saying they made some Christmas things, which this is what
Speaker 1: I'm telling you. And this is why you have to
Speaker 1: have an altruistic viewpoint on this. Great can't be just
Speaker 1: about you. I want to retire five and oh no,
Speaker 1: you have paid for Christmas. You're paying for braces, you're
Speaker 1: paying for car payments, you're paying for prep school, you're
Speaker 1: paying for plumbing issues. You're playing for the new roof.
Speaker 1: This is your chance to give back to the community
Speaker 1: of fans that have given so much to you. Greg. Well,
Speaker 1: they gotta need a new roof with all this rain
Speaker 1: coming down. Nice, I love it, Greg. That's awesome, good, good,
Speaker 1: come back. And I'm on fire with you right now.
Speaker 1: And now I'll have to do something I didn't want
Speaker 1: to do because I didn't even want to give them
Speaker 1: the respect of checking the NFC playoff picture. But you
Speaker 1: know what, Falcons, You've won enough close games where I
Speaker 1: don't recognize you as a true player in this thing.
Speaker 1: But you are in the mix. So where are you.
Speaker 1: You're seven and eight, your third in the NFC South.
Speaker 1: You're in tenth place with a schedule favorable because you
Speaker 1: have the Lions up next. Okay, there you go. That's
Speaker 1: my check in on the Falcons. Well then all the
Speaker 1: Lions up next, but they games against the lines. Oh sorry,
Speaker 1: that's that's on NFL dot com. Who should be updating
Speaker 1: there next? And Bills in the Super Bowl. So NFL
Speaker 1: dot com, how could we be uh putting up a
Speaker 1: playoff picture on our website that's not updated by Sunday night?
Speaker 1: What are we doing? I'll say no more I'll say
Speaker 1: no more. You just hung out the old zeus are
Speaker 1: to dry In the middle of the Round the NFL podcast,
Speaker 1: the award winning Around the NFL Podcast, I went to
Speaker 1: our website and you hug me out to dry well.
Speaker 1: I think you appropriately took your employer and threw them
Speaker 1: under a moving bus. So you knows you it was
Speaker 1: deserved and you did it. You know what I did
Speaker 1: that get dot com. I peeled my body off the
Speaker 1: pavement after they got me backed over with the bus
Speaker 1: and I chased them down like the Steelers zombie, and
Speaker 1: I grabbed whoever is running NFL dot com and I
Speaker 1: threw that son of the under the bus and then
Speaker 1: he got rolled over by the same bus. Could be
Speaker 1: a she, but that's fair. But are you are you
Speaker 1: recap the Lions Falcons? I mean you could have could
Speaker 1: have adjusted there? Are you annoyed Dan that I pointed
Speaker 1: out the air verbally? Should I have just let it slide?
Speaker 1: Because you know, I think it's important. I think it's important.
Speaker 1: They're only one back. I mean, that's a fact. There's
Speaker 1: two weeks left in the season and the Falcons are
Speaker 1: one game back. That's those are just the facts. They're
Speaker 1: hanging around this town on the corner. Let's move to
Speaker 1: the metal ends here they come. Wilson alludes the rush.
Speaker 1: He's gonna take off. He's got plenty of running room,
Speaker 1: and he's gonna stamper for a big game. Thirty still
Speaker 1: in bounds at the twenty, makes a miss of the ten.
Speaker 1: He could go. Wilson dives touchdown, touchdown, New York Jets.
Speaker 1: Zack Wilson on a fifty five yards stamper, breaking tackles,
Speaker 1: staying in bounds and just like that, the j E
Speaker 1: t s are on the board. It's six more New
Speaker 1: York m the boy, the boy made a play all
Speaker 1: hell the boy Bob was shusing with the call for
Speaker 1: w E p N. Zack Wilson did something no other
Speaker 1: Jet quarterback had ever done. He ran a touchdown fifty
Speaker 1: five yards on the ground, going around, going around Jacksonville defenders.
Speaker 1: One defender thought he was going out of bounds, and
Speaker 1: he said, whoops, see you later, and as a state inbounds,
Speaker 1: towed to the sideline, did down the south line and
Speaker 1: into the end zone. It did remind me and many
Speaker 1: other Jets fans that are feeling a lot of trepidation
Speaker 1: about this latest um Jets quarterback who is supposed to
Speaker 1: be the future. There is a lot of athleticism and
Speaker 1: a lot to like about him as a physical prospect.
Speaker 1: He throws the hell out of the ball. He really
Speaker 1: moves well in the pocket. If there's been a lot
Speaker 1: of negatives, but we've seen week after week how well
Speaker 1: he evades pressure, is able to reset. Uh. He's not
Speaker 1: making plays once he resets his feet, but he's putting
Speaker 1: himself in a position to do that and maybe one
Speaker 1: day he will. So that's optimism. I'll give you a
Speaker 1: little optimism there as a Jets fan. Uh. And they
Speaker 1: got a defensive goal line stand at the end after
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence used his legs to set up the Jaguars
Speaker 1: um at the goal line, but the Jags, in their
Speaker 1: Jaguar ways did not get up to the line with
Speaker 1: with everyone known what to do, the whole play was
Speaker 1: out of whack, leading to an incomplete pass uh, ceiling
Speaker 1: a win for the Jets. UM. I saw Brian Costello.
Speaker 1: I like Brian Costello. He's he's been a long time
Speaker 1: beat writer of the New York Post. But he had
Speaker 1: one of those sardonic, kind of pessimistic tweets like enjoy
Speaker 1: the wind now lamented, come the draft or whatever, and
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I don't want to hear it anymore.
Speaker 1: I want I know that this hurts the Jets in
Speaker 1: their draft positioning. Uh. And I would have been okay
Speaker 1: if they would have lost this game, but I don't.
Speaker 1: We don't need beat reporters, cynical beat reporters telling the
Speaker 1: fans that they shouldn't be rooting for it. In fact,
Speaker 1: I want to play something for you guys. My brother
Speaker 1: Kevin Danger Hans is his home for the holidays. Uh.
Speaker 1: Watched the game with Keith Hansas, and my dad's a
Speaker 1: big proponent of I watched the Jets hoping to see
Speaker 1: a win. My dad is not about tanking. He want
Speaker 1: he his joy comes from the Jets winning. It doesn't
Speaker 1: matter what the situation is in the season. My brother
Speaker 1: there was nice in us to get us some real
Speaker 1: content here and got hidden recording of Keith. On the
Speaker 1: play before the big stop at the goal line, a
Speaker 1: pass was thrown by Trevor Lawrence right into the hands
Speaker 1: of C. J. Mosley, went through his hands and for
Speaker 1: a complete pass for Jacksonville at the one yard line.
Speaker 1: And this was Keith's reaction to a near interception by
Speaker 1: Moseley that turned into a completion for the Jaguars. I
Speaker 1: don't went right through his hands. It went through front
Speaker 1: the seventh hands stream. I can't believe that it didn't
Speaker 1: catch it. Oh my god. Oh man, that's a fan.
Speaker 1: My dad's a real one. And you know what, he
Speaker 1: was rewarded with a stop and a win. Draft positioning
Speaker 1: be damned. But also like, like, if you can get
Speaker 1: some sparks out of Zach Wilson, you're going into next
Speaker 1: year with this with him as your quarterback. Barring like
Speaker 1: stuff that becomes more common in these days, like the
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray move. But I would just say that probably
Speaker 1: they are like I don't need them to have the
Speaker 1: number one pick and like get some momentum. And I
Speaker 1: know your head coach wasn't even coaching this game. And
Speaker 1: you know Ron Middleton, you know, former NFL tight end
Speaker 1: is one of like eighteen guys to win games without
Speaker 1: the head coach and there but I am with your
Speaker 1: dad a little bit of optimism to close what to
Speaker 1: close what's been a ghastly campaign. Otherwise, yes, and they
Speaker 1: were the Jets are missing their head coach, it's a
Speaker 1: nice win. I don't care who's a game, right, I
Speaker 1: I agree, but it was a really disappointing final sequence.
Speaker 1: I mean, admittedly this is the only sequence I watched
Speaker 1: this play this game, but make a play, Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1: I mean, you get you get into that position, first
Speaker 1: of all, And I know Jaguars fans have been talking
Speaker 1: about this, there's some disagreement. It's like he had one
Speaker 1: cornerback to to beat to maybe go score a touchdown.
Speaker 1: I know he was thinking about stopping the clock and
Speaker 1: staying in bounds, but it's like, you are a great runner,
Speaker 1: go make a guy miss and if you get tackled.
Speaker 1: He still had time that was not that big a concern.
Speaker 1: And then to back that up with and I think
Speaker 1: they had an incompletion on first down. You should you
Speaker 1: should have thrown up what would have been a game.
Speaker 1: Then interception to Mosley. Then they spike it. I don't
Speaker 1: know if that's his decision or the coach, but they
Speaker 1: were so discombbuland they spike it with plenty of time
Speaker 1: left on third down. That was crazy. And then they
Speaker 1: can't get set up for fourth that it's not all
Speaker 1: on Lawrence, but he did make some bad plays there,
Speaker 1: and they he definitely was not comm under press. It
Speaker 1: was one of those plays where, even if you're not
Speaker 1: someone that understands the nuances of pre snap alignments and
Speaker 1: what's allowed to happen and what's not, I count myself
Speaker 1: as one of those people you knew, oh, this is
Speaker 1: gonna be a penalty because there's guys moving all over
Speaker 1: the place in front of Lawrence, and and the play
Speaker 1: by play guys didn't make the call, which in retrospect,
Speaker 1: I mean hindsight, but Trevor Lawrence probably was better off
Speaker 1: taking a delay of game. It was so out of whack.
Speaker 1: It was the last play a game. The clock was stopped,
Speaker 1: and then you could have your fourth and goal from
Speaker 1: the six yard line, maybe even a little bit more
Speaker 1: space to work with and try to win the game.
Speaker 1: So yeah, and a season filled with disappointment for first
Speaker 1: round pick quarterbacks. I agree with you. I thought that
Speaker 1: Lawrence did a lot of good things in this game.
Speaker 1: I thought he probably outplayed Zack Wilson in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways. But Zack Wilson made I had two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: not no turnovers, and Lawrence wasn't able to make the
Speaker 1: big play, and it hasn't happened enough this year, like
Speaker 1: Lawrence making the big play. One little mini wasn't ready
Speaker 1: for that moment. And that's fine, he's a rookie. But
Speaker 1: some rookies are already a little more under control of
Speaker 1: what to do, and that's been put in a terrible situation.
Speaker 1: But I mean looking to the future of Trevor Lawrence,
Speaker 1: like the it was rap sheet that reported that it's
Speaker 1: Byron Leftwich, Jim called Well and Doug Peterson who were
Speaker 1: on the early radar as head coaching candidates for the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguarso, man, they have to get this higher right
Speaker 1: and somebody with experience that you know is going to
Speaker 1: be able to run a ship in a professional way
Speaker 1: that makes sense. Um, and all those names kind of
Speaker 1: check those boxes. So we shall see what happens with
Speaker 1: the Jags, but we won't learn about that for a
Speaker 1: couple more weeks. Uh, Let's take a break and then
Speaker 1: finish off the week. Sixteen Sunday Bears are going for
Speaker 1: the win. Here Foles gone, lifts his right leg, moves
Speaker 1: to his right, checking it, throw it back of the
Speaker 1: end zone. Catch made, and he couldn't hang on, they're
Speaker 1: gonna say it's good for the two pointer Tamere Bird
Speaker 1: back of the end zone. It is good and the
Speaker 1: Bears have the lead here in Seattle. Thank you Bears.
Speaker 1: By the way, as a Jets fan, uh Jeff Joniac
Speaker 1: with a called w BBM, Bears don't care. Nick Foles
Speaker 1: through a late touchdown passing with the chance to tie
Speaker 1: the game, Matt Nagy said, effant, let's go for the
Speaker 1: two point good version converted successfully thanks to a beautiful,
Speaker 1: beautiful catch by wide receiver Demire Bird. Chicago followed with
Speaker 1: a stop on defense and the Bears steal over the
Speaker 1: Seahawks in snowy Seattle. Greg, that was unbelievable, that sequence,
Speaker 1: the Jimmy Graham touchdown and then what a play by
Speaker 1: Bird though that it was such a great ending for
Speaker 1: this game. I mean, of course, the game wasn't too exciting.
Speaker 1: It was a snow game, but Nick Foles had one
Speaker 1: of the more exciting game winning touchdown drives of the
Speaker 1: entire season. He gets the ball back after the Seahawks
Speaker 1: totally blow the game should have been over. They had
Speaker 1: a second down with three minutes left at the bears
Speaker 1: twenty eight yard line, Russell Wilson takes a terrible sack
Speaker 1: that Carol gets on him about after the game they
Speaker 1: missed the field goal, and then Folds goes right down
Speaker 1: the field like a thirty yard play on the first
Speaker 1: um snap where he gets hit. And then you mentioned
Speaker 1: it that Graham catch was like, I don't know, I know,
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham's not very good anymore, but it got me thinking, like,
Speaker 1: could Jimmy Graham just catch those jump balls till he
Speaker 1: was like forty seven, Like that's the only thing he
Speaker 1: can do? It so great at it. It It was a
Speaker 1: it didn't long too. Yeah, it's like a Knicks fan like.
Speaker 1: It reminds me of late period Patrick Ewing where he
Speaker 1: lost a lot of his athleticism, but sometime against like
Speaker 1: an inferior opponent, you could just pour it to him
Speaker 1: in the paint and he could do an old move
Speaker 1: to get a get a bucket, like he's that's what
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham is like thirty four year old Patrick Ewing.
Speaker 1: I mean yeah, and fall falls turned back the clock.
Speaker 1: I thought had a solid game overall, and then the
Speaker 1: catch that Demere Bird made. I don't blame the play
Speaker 1: by play guy for thinking he was gonna go out
Speaker 1: of bounds because there was no way he should have.
Speaker 1: He somehow reached it out, reached out, caught it with
Speaker 1: one hand in total traffic. Looked like he was gonna
Speaker 1: get pushed out, got his shifted down and demere Bird
Speaker 1: is a hero. It made one of the places was
Speaker 1: a sick catch to not only to survive the initial
Speaker 1: throw in coverage, to come down, stay in bounds and
Speaker 1: then hold onto it with one hand. One of the
Speaker 1: catches of the year. Yeah, in inclement weather, and it
Speaker 1: kind of it completely masked what I thought was an
Speaker 1: incredible performance Seahawks wise from Carlos Dunlap, who was all
Speaker 1: over the place for shot Penny. And you know after
Speaker 1: the game, listening to Pete Carroll, he just seemed um
Speaker 1: a little more listless and willing to accept total responsibility
Speaker 1: and couldn't believe they lost. I couldn't believe they lost
Speaker 1: this game either, but that they they play to keep
Speaker 1: games close with their style and and uh yeah, when
Speaker 1: you face face b d n Old Nick Foles, he
Speaker 1: still got that b D n energy. Sometimes he can
Speaker 1: get it done. I want to make a prediction that
Speaker 1: this is the week we've been kind of we've been
Speaker 1: waiting for it. This is the week where we get
Speaker 1: the Capital T Capital S story, the story from someone
Speaker 1: a leak out of Seattle, either about Pete Carroll or
Speaker 1: about Russell Wilson. It's gonna heat up coming off an
Speaker 1: ugly loss like this. All right, let's the time is
Speaker 1: ripe for us to move on to Sunday Night Football.
Speaker 1: MP backfield foreman rush and that is intercepted. It's the
Speaker 1: Marcus Lawrence down the sideline. He goes and look at
Speaker 1: that into the end zone. Boy, I tell you, if
Speaker 1: it's not Diggs, it's not Parson's, it's not Gregory. Don't
Speaker 1: forget about that guy, well said by the legend himself,
Speaker 1: Al Michael's friend BC, the Cowboys author to masterpiece on
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football. Yes, the opponent wasn't great, but it
Speaker 1: was a display of might that should make them a
Speaker 1: figure of intimidation. In the NFC final score fifties six
Speaker 1: to fourteen, Cowboys over Washington. And you heard al they're
Speaker 1: piping up the defense and all the playmakers and Clark,
Speaker 1: including Demrcus Lawrence, which is absolutely true. But then you
Speaker 1: have to look at the other side and an offense
Speaker 1: that piled up for Dak Prescott touchdown passes in the
Speaker 1: first half alone in building a forty two seven halftime lead,
Speaker 1: and Mark, that is just like what you're talking about
Speaker 1: with the Cowboys, Like when they are in full flight,
Speaker 1: they look as impressive as any team in football. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, they are becoming a light in the NFC.
Speaker 1: And I I just was thinking towards the second half
Speaker 1: of this game when, like you know, the actual minute
Speaker 1: by minute details started to fade away into the larger
Speaker 1: picture that if you track like Super Bowl appearing in
Speaker 1: Super Bowl winning teams, they typically have a couple of
Speaker 1: wins like this. Um, I know it's just a post
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving its only time, but it's like late in the
Speaker 1: season where they assure you that they are dominant. And
Speaker 1: we have been dogging Dallas with a series of questions
Speaker 1: about their offense, sputtering to some degree, not quite reaching
Speaker 1: its potential, not as many questions about the defense, and
Speaker 1: quite the opposite. Tonight, you saw everything come together, and
Speaker 1: I think for me, it starts with the totally pristine
Speaker 1: performance of Dak Prescott. He looked healthy, he looked perfect,
Speaker 1: He used all his weapons. Amari Cooper has nothing to
Speaker 1: complain about this week, two reporters. It's has kind of
Speaker 1: showed you like there are a couple of teams hanging
Speaker 1: out there going sideways and in the wrong direction. We've
Speaker 1: talked about a bunch of them. Tonight, Dallas suddenly looks
Speaker 1: completely different to me. Maybe with the way one is
Speaker 1: none of this will linger and carry on. But I
Speaker 1: kind of see that differently because they have they're one
Speaker 1: of the rare teams with the defense that can stomp
Speaker 1: you out. And when the offense plays this way, they
Speaker 1: are what they were tonight, totally unstoppable. I don't care
Speaker 1: if it was Washington or anyone else. Right, Dabban dak
Speaker 1: was unconscious at one point. He was two thirty. And
Speaker 1: those throws weren't all easy. I mean that the touchdowns
Speaker 1: were like the guys are wide open. But he had
Speaker 1: one throw full sprint to the left on the money,
Speaker 1: the type of athletic throw that he hasn't made a
Speaker 1: ton this year since the injury. Another couple on the
Speaker 1: run to the right, so good, and then when they
Speaker 1: line up on third downs, it seems like they're kind
Speaker 1: of going with Gregory and then on the outside Parsons
Speaker 1: on the other side, and then Tank Lawrence and Gallimore
Speaker 1: inside like good luck, one of those dudes is just
Speaker 1: going to have some matchup where he recks shop and
Speaker 1: they did, and Digs is covering McLaurin. It's fun to see.
Speaker 1: And they've had this kind of cape cupcake schedule here
Speaker 1: for a while. That ends like they got the Cardinals
Speaker 1: next week. They got the Eagles in Week eight, team
Speaker 1: which probably will matter because they might be going for
Speaker 1: that one seed and then they'll have a playoff game
Speaker 1: and they they're fascinating, these five teams that have all
Speaker 1: made the NFC playoffs, you know, just to kind of
Speaker 1: recap the day, you know, we knew the Packers were in,
Speaker 1: but the Cardinals, Rams, the Cowboys, and the Bucks are
Speaker 1: all in now. All five of those teams are are
Speaker 1: pretty fascinating teams. And the Cowboys have the star power
Speaker 1: to match any of them. Even their special teams got
Speaker 1: in the mix of the second half of the punt
Speaker 1: block um for a touchdown, so um Bones Fossil he
Speaker 1: gets into the mix as well, And Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: I agree. The defense they've been doing, they've been on
Speaker 1: a massive heater. Uh had that streak of the last
Speaker 1: three weeks before Sunday Night where they had the four turnovers. This,
Speaker 1: of course another affair filled with interceptions and big plays,
Speaker 1: but I think that Dak Prescott performance is the one
Speaker 1: that really does stand out because if if he does
Speaker 1: get back to the guy in the first four or
Speaker 1: five weeks, and he combined it with this uber talented,
Speaker 1: playmaking minded defense, and it's a really well coached team.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know Mike McCarthy has gotten some slings
Speaker 1: and arrows on the show and and it's been deserved
Speaker 1: it in a lot of ways, but I mean he
Speaker 1: leads a really sound coaching staff. They have an offensive philosophy. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the defense has really come to life under Dan Quinn,
Speaker 1: and McCarthy is a good guy to kind of be
Speaker 1: overlooking if they just seem really uh set up well
Speaker 1: for a playoff front. Now we've said that about the
Speaker 1: Cowboys before, and there's a reason why they've gone a
Speaker 1: quarter century without a Super Bowl birth. But this version
Speaker 1: of the Cowboys can beat anybody in the league. It's
Speaker 1: not just that Washington is totally cooked and Washington is cook.
Speaker 1: Taylor Heineke did not want to be on that field.
Speaker 1: Neither would I have if I'm telling reporters that I
Speaker 1: couldn't even take the laundry basket, uh down the steps,
Speaker 1: and then I'm in an NFL game against all these
Speaker 1: superstar defensive players. Uh no, wonder he had that look
Speaker 1: in his eye by the third quarter. And I'm glad
Speaker 1: that we're not making a big deal out of it.
Speaker 1: But the Durron Payne Jonathan Allen thing, um, I just
Speaker 1: found interesting. But I don't think it's that uncommon, and
Speaker 1: like I guess, just seeing football players, I think it's
Speaker 1: I think it's pretty uncommon too for a guy to
Speaker 1: to try to punch Colin's Earth was saying he's literally
Speaker 1: never seen that in a football game. Well, there's people tweeting,
Speaker 1: people tweeting that it's they've seen it too many times.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not happening every week, but it's anything
Speaker 1: like arguing and yelling. But like if he knows more
Speaker 1: than any of us. And Ron Rivera at halftime seemed
Speaker 1: to not make too much of it. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: a passionate game and a guy's obviously getting embarrassed. I mean, Washington,
Speaker 1: we don't need to dwell on them too long, but
Speaker 1: to go from where their season was a few weeks
Speaker 1: ago to just being completely taken out by COVID to
Speaker 1: this primetime performance. Um, they will have plenty of time
Speaker 1: to talk about their future, but you would think it
Speaker 1: near the top of the list is quarterback. Not that
Speaker 1: this was a Heinek loss, but they're just not competitive
Speaker 1: against the big time contender and they need to start
Speaker 1: trying to get there. I think they're broken down. I
Speaker 1: mean these teams at this point like they went through
Speaker 1: a they went through the COVID ringer. Yeah, Heineke I
Speaker 1: think has shown a lot of this season, but not
Speaker 1: enough to be a starter. And you know, Ron Rivera like,
Speaker 1: you've got a team where you just you met the
Speaker 1: Cowboys at the peak of their powers at the wrong time.
Speaker 1: And I like, honestly, uh, you know, Arizona's fade may
Speaker 1: not be over. I don't like their chances at all
Speaker 1: against this Cowboys team. If they show up looking like
Speaker 1: they did tonight, I don't think anyone in the NFC
Speaker 1: can bet them. It's a good call about you know,
Speaker 1: how Washington's broken down, because I think that's gonna be
Speaker 1: a major So we kind of spin forward, like above
Speaker 1: the treetops here COVID his broken down rosters. Obviously he's
Speaker 1: taking a ton of guys out of the mix, but
Speaker 1: it's putting other players in a situation where that you know,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of snaps being played, a god of
Speaker 1: guys that have to play through injury because rosters are short.
Speaker 1: And how these teams navigate this completely unprecedented situation is
Speaker 1: a huge subplot and I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: And I know I remember Mark, we talked about it.
Speaker 1: You did some data digging on it. The numbers are similar,
Speaker 1: but this feels a lot different than last year. Well,
Speaker 1: there are bad's backloaded. You know, the numbers of players
Speaker 1: that got COVID in the last week where it was
Speaker 1: extraordinary and was even higher than the week before. Like
Speaker 1: it's it's all coming now and it's not slowing down,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't stop the injuries either, Like Washington lost
Speaker 1: three defensive starters to injury last week, so that showed
Speaker 1: up I think again. So it's like it's tough. This
Speaker 1: happens at the end of every season, but now we
Speaker 1: got an extra week. There there are a handful of
Speaker 1: teams that are just trying to trying to get and
Speaker 1: that sweet that sweet couldn't have been more ancient twenty
Speaker 1: four hours after I put it out because of the explosion.
Speaker 1: But I think there's something to be looked at that
Speaker 1: when players come back from COVID, there seems to be
Speaker 1: um a week or two dragon their play. And so
Speaker 1: when you have these teams that had nineteen guys out like,
Speaker 1: they don't come back at maximum force. So it's just
Speaker 1: it's a it's a long season. Some of these teams
Speaker 1: are drifting away into the mist. It's the biggest season ever. Know,
Speaker 1: that's their terminology for it, markt quote right before we started,
Speaker 1: I feel close to the edge, so we're gonna get
Speaker 1: out of it. Has been a bit of a rugged
Speaker 1: um it is. Did you guys have a nice Christmas?
Speaker 1: We didn't even you know, hit that at the top,
Speaker 1: you guess, No, I did not. I think I made
Speaker 1: that before that. I count the Christmas before that. I
Speaker 1: will tell you this, I love Christmas. I love Christmas
Speaker 1: before I had kids. Now it's even more special. Uh
Speaker 1: now that that I do have kids, and my wife
Speaker 1: and I are very lucky. But uh, it is a
Speaker 1: lot um in the middle of this NFL season, especially
Speaker 1: when it's the day after Christmas. This is one of
Speaker 1: those days where you just we're champions, were grinders and
Speaker 1: we're getting through this is this is a tough day
Speaker 1: on the calendar. I think we did it, though we
Speaker 1: did it, and before we go, I also want to
Speaker 1: just send a very belated congratulations to our old producer
Speaker 1: law said we we haven't given her a shout out
Speaker 1: on the podcast, and she she got married and before
Speaker 1: she married her Disney prince, so you know, all the
Speaker 1: listeners that made it this deep, you know, just like
Speaker 1: firebomb her mentions with congratulations. Totally confused because she got
Speaker 1: married like a month ago at this point, but she
Speaker 1: took amazing pictures and it'sid and she deserves it all.
Speaker 1: And by the way, she's a she's a delightful presence
Speaker 1: and she married um like a bona fide hunk. So
Speaker 1: I I from just from an overall objective standpoint, I
Speaker 1: feel that Dan, I'm correct and say that to say that, yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say he's he's a hottie. And she looks exactly.
Speaker 1: I think she always aspired to be a Disney princess
Speaker 1: and she looks like one and she seems like one.
Speaker 1: And what a producer as well else, So like one
Speaker 1: of those like triple threats. Don't you agree, Ricky? I
Speaker 1: do actually, And I was the one that texted Sydney
Speaker 1: in our group saying congratulations before any of you, and
Speaker 1: I told you about her wedding and sent her the pictures.
Speaker 1: So don't make it out. Don't make it out like
Speaker 1: I'm sitting here like Matt. I was the one that
Speaker 1: sent the screenshots and was like, you looked amazing, so Sydney.
Speaker 1: So the fact that in your left hand right now
Speaker 1: you have a Sydney voodoo doll and you're sticking pins
Speaker 1: in it. That's not like in a wedding dress. Yeah no, no, no,
Speaker 1: that that just has to look alike separate. Sayah right right, Sydney,
Speaker 1: We love you. Congratulations and the best of luck to
Speaker 1: everything to come because yes, now married and hopefully kids
Speaker 1: on the way. That that really does make the holidays special.
Speaker 1: I loved it was your Christmas good, Greg, Oh yeah
Speaker 1: it was great. Yeah you're right, kid, kids, kids make
Speaker 1: it um the big gifts. The boy got a skateboard
Speaker 1: trained set. I mean it was all it was fun.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of fun. It really is like,
Speaker 1: you know, their best day of the year or it's
Speaker 1: up there. You know, you hope it like reaches like
Speaker 1: their expectations than it does, and you feel like you
Speaker 1: want the children have to work hard screw it up
Speaker 1: to so right, that's true. It's like the worst day
Speaker 1: of the year, kid's best day of the year. No, no, no,
Speaker 1: Like like you asked me, I didn't think. We think
Speaker 1: overall it was I would call it a mixed bag
Speaker 1: of a day. But the better part um with the
Speaker 1: children was was fantastic. It was tough. You know, we're
Speaker 1: watching those games on Saturday and it was like, shoot,
Speaker 1: this is what we were worried about with that, with
Speaker 1: how that Saturday is gonna play out. But you you've
Speaker 1: came through it all right again, Mark, you've been such
Speaker 1: a pro during this take slump, I have to say,
Speaker 1: I gotta figure out something to put it down the resume.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, we'll make wrong takes, will continue to
Speaker 1: show up and punch the clock and do the things.
Speaker 1: So alright, good stuff. We'll be back on Tuesday, the
Speaker 1: return of Connie Fox. She'll be sitting on the show
Speaker 1: on Tuesday, so make sure you check that out. Thank
Speaker 1: you for everybody for to listen for listening. Merry Christmas,
Speaker 1: Happy Boxing Day, and New Year's Eve coming up right
Speaker 1: around the corner. Still the holiday season, get loose everybody,
Speaker 1: all right until then Tuesday, that is, Keep the car
Speaker 1: m three