Speaker 1: To be Around the NFL Podcast, He's never a man down.
Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansas. I come to you from
Speaker 1: a room filled of virtual heroes, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: and Chris Wrestling. What's up boys? Hey? Dan? What's somebody
Speaker 1: he done? What a time? What a time to be alive?
Speaker 1: Week fifteen, Flagship Show. It is getting real now we
Speaker 1: are in it. It is the week before Christmas and
Speaker 1: we had a wild day of games that, um, we're
Speaker 1: gonna make the last two weeks of the season a
Speaker 1: lot of fun to watch. Um. We had a certain
Speaker 1: winless team finally get off the schneide, and we'll discuss
Speaker 1: whether that's a good or bad thing, of course, all subjective,
Speaker 1: and um we'll talk about the Kansas City Chiefs who
Speaker 1: continue to win, and maybe a Saints team that's taken
Speaker 1: on water at the wrong time of the year. This
Speaker 1: what are you thinking right now? Um? I thought the
Speaker 1: afternoon games were as good, uh, like three games slate.
Speaker 1: I don't know, they probably have been some others. But
Speaker 1: if you looked at it on paper and you're just
Speaker 1: thinking this is one game, it's Chief Saints, which I
Speaker 1: think had a lot to sink your teeth into. But
Speaker 1: then the Eagles, Cardinals and Jets rams at the same time.
Speaker 1: It was a nice It was a nice little entree
Speaker 1: for the day. Where's your energy level at Let's pull
Speaker 1: back the curtain as we record this, the Browns and
Speaker 1: Giants getting ready to kick off. Mark Sessler, Uh, you
Speaker 1: know I just heard Steve Kardoncki I believe his name
Speaker 1: is on NBC. Let the audience know that the Browns
Speaker 1: lose their out of the playoffs for the time being.
Speaker 1: Where are you at right now? Take us through it? Well,
Speaker 1: that would lead to nervousness. Um, you know, I don't
Speaker 1: have years of trust to UH bank to put in
Speaker 1: the bank when it comes to Cleveland. So I'm I'm
Speaker 1: pins and needles. Basically, you know, we'll get into it.
Speaker 1: But so it felt like all the the whole a
Speaker 1: f C playoff field held serve today, so that you
Speaker 1: know there is added pressure. It's not like eight, Um
Speaker 1: you know eight eight eight people that they're competing with crumbled.
Speaker 1: They did the opposite, So take care of business against
Speaker 1: the Giants team that, Um, it's not your equal. I
Speaker 1: would I would assume on people, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned. At the end of the podcast, Let's get
Speaker 1: into all the games, starting with yes, a game that
Speaker 1: could very well be a Super Bowl preview. Well if
Speaker 1: the Saints can figure some things out. Let's dig in
Speaker 1: sprint option action. Mahoks keeps it pitches in Lake bactr
Speaker 1: Bell at this right sideline touchdown Kansas City sprint option.
Speaker 1: It was Texas Tech pitching the Michigan State and the
Speaker 1: Chiefs get the coveted two possession lead on a thirteen
Speaker 1: yard sprint option run and pitch by Mahomes. Barrel finishes
Speaker 1: it off another great call by Mitch Holtis of w
Speaker 1: d A. F Yes, Drew Brees returned to the line
Speaker 1: of for the Saints, but it wasn't enough to topple
Speaker 1: the Mighty Cheeks, who improved to and one with a
Speaker 1: twenty nine win at the Superdome. Patrick Mahomes through three
Speaker 1: touchdown passes, had that nifty little lateral to Levy on
Speaker 1: Bell for Kansas City's final TV in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: And despite the New Orleans offense coming to late life
Speaker 1: in the second half h there are still plenty of
Speaker 1: reasons to be concerned. If you're Sean Payton. Drew Brees
Speaker 1: came back west in this game, and he didn't look
Speaker 1: quite right. He looked he looked like a guy that
Speaker 1: was rusty, would be maybe the nice way to put it.
Speaker 1: For most of this game, yeah, I was a little worried.
Speaker 1: From when beginning of fourth quarter, I was wondering who
Speaker 1: was going to have more yards for the afternoon, the
Speaker 1: entire Saints offense or Bears running back David Montgomery. That
Speaker 1: was That was the straight the dire straits the Saints
Speaker 1: were in. And then a nice drive towards the end.
Speaker 1: Spice Tracts boy little Jordan Humphrey made a in appearance
Speaker 1: after they called him up from the practice squad, scored
Speaker 1: a touchdown, pulled the Saints back into the game, made
Speaker 1: a game out of it. But this was not an offense.
Speaker 1: Just scared any team watching at home now. Michael Thomas
Speaker 1: was put on injured reserve before this game, um, which
Speaker 1: means he's out you know, the rest of the regular season.
Speaker 1: Drake Uan Smith gets hurt during the game. Wasn't exactly
Speaker 1: a rocket ship of a passing game before that, and
Speaker 1: Bruce came out, you know, looking looking old, looking indecisive,
Speaker 1: not knowing where you want to throw it. You can't
Speaker 1: really put it on physically, um, because I think he
Speaker 1: made the throws he wanted to make eventually, and he
Speaker 1: did play much better. I think in the second half.
Speaker 1: It just wasted a pretty nice effort out of the
Speaker 1: Saints defense when you forced Patrick Mahomes to punt five
Speaker 1: time in the first half, another time in the second half,
Speaker 1: and you, you know, force a fumble on him. They
Speaker 1: did enough, They did what they could do. They were
Speaker 1: out there fighting and the Saints just kept giving the
Speaker 1: ball back. Uh. And it was a day where I
Speaker 1: think it would just reminded me that my Homes is
Speaker 1: just better than everyone. I mean, he's the best player.
Speaker 1: I think he would be my m v P right now,
Speaker 1: but he's just like better because he had to make
Speaker 1: some ridiculous degree of difficulty plays for them to put
Speaker 1: up thirty two points in this game. Yeah, it does. Um.
Speaker 1: It raised his weekly concerns for me that this is
Speaker 1: a hollow exercise. Um. I mentioned this before the entire autumn,
Speaker 1: leading us to a known result on but the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: I mean there as West would call it a little
Speaker 1: bit of a pyric victory in the sense that Clyde
Speaker 1: Edwards Hilaire at the end went down with that knee injury,
Speaker 1: and then leve Bell got hurt. Want to see what's
Speaker 1: up with Clyde Edwards Hilaire. But um, I enjoyed Tyreek
Speaker 1: Hill drinking um pickle juice on the sideline out of
Speaker 1: what looked like a little shot bottle. Well, I believe
Speaker 1: that's what it was. I mean, I thought it was
Speaker 1: to raise the discussions around the merits of pickle juice.
Speaker 1: A lot of people were into that, But um, the
Speaker 1: Chiefs just feel I don't. It's like we kind of
Speaker 1: mentioned this on Thursday. It's like, sure, go play the
Speaker 1: number one scoring defense, go play anything. It doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1: And they seemed to outwit anything that comes up against them.
Speaker 1: And I know that we'll go through the exercise of
Speaker 1: the they're they're not blowing teams out and X, Y
Speaker 1: and Z. But um, this is the best the NFC
Speaker 1: has to offer in theory along with the Packers, And
Speaker 1: it didn't really seem like that much of a challenge
Speaker 1: to me for them. The last two weeks, they've faced
Speaker 1: two good defenses and we came out of the game
Speaker 1: being like, oh, Miami, Dolphins on defense and more than
Speaker 1: enough to win this game. We say the same thing
Speaker 1: about the Saints here, I agree. But meanwhile, the Chiefs
Speaker 1: put up thirty three and thirty two points in these
Speaker 1: two games, which again just speaks to the greatness of
Speaker 1: Mahomes and this offense. And my my favorite play of
Speaker 1: the game was absolutely the scoring throw. The only Mahomes
Speaker 1: can make this throw to play in the third quarter, Uh,
Speaker 1: nobody opened and Mahomes decides, I'm just gonna throw a
Speaker 1: touch pass, float it into the back left corner where
Speaker 1: the pylon is, and if McCole harman gets there, it's
Speaker 1: a touchdown. If he doesn't, nobody else does. And McCole
Speaker 1: harman got there because they have all these speedy guys
Speaker 1: that can do things other teams can't do. And it
Speaker 1: was just the genius of of Mahomes on display. So
Speaker 1: you know, they they're not blowing out teams, but it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. They they take care of business. I don't
Speaker 1: see a huge flaw in this team. The Edwards Hilaire,
Speaker 1: I don't think we're gonna see him again. Who knows,
Speaker 1: But that did not look good. That injury. It was
Speaker 1: labeled as a leg and a hip injury. Uh Levy
Speaker 1: on Bell, that injury looked like more he was shaken
Speaker 1: up on a face mess. So you think he'll be
Speaker 1: all right. And although I think on balance Bell has
Speaker 1: been kind of what I thought he was with the Jets,
Speaker 1: which is not too impressive, it's a pretty nice pickup.
Speaker 1: Now if you're not gonna have the rookie going forward,
Speaker 1: I think you can't underestimate like how difficult and how
Speaker 1: good a job that the Saints defense did, Like the
Speaker 1: Chief's average four point five yards for playing this game,
Speaker 1: they ended up having ninety two plays. Like I was
Speaker 1: thoroughly entertained. I know, Mark, you say it's like an
Speaker 1: exercise that feels like we know the any and maybe
Speaker 1: that will happen, maybe maybe it won't, but man, that's entertaining.
Speaker 1: On the way I thought my homes made like seven
Speaker 1: or eight plays in this game that like we're that
Speaker 1: almost no one can make, and that he's sort of
Speaker 1: breaking football because the Saints have the best rush defense
Speaker 1: in the league. They're dropping back seven, they're sort of
Speaker 1: not they're begging them to run, and they still refused
Speaker 1: to run, and some of it worked, some of it didn't,
Speaker 1: and it was just like, no, you can do. You
Speaker 1: can throw every defense back there to try to prevent
Speaker 1: us from passing, We're gonna still keep passing. And another
Speaker 1: play that you know that made me think of Dan
Speaker 1: was when Mahomes just starts backpedaling for for yards on
Speaker 1: one third and long before he ends up finding someone.
Speaker 1: It's like, there's there's no defense for that. I am.
Speaker 1: I was thoroughly entertained. Even if we kind of felt
Speaker 1: like we knew what was to happen and this wasn't
Speaker 1: the best Saints team that they're gonna have, you would
Speaker 1: hope that Drew Brees in the offense would be a
Speaker 1: little more in gear once he's back for a few weeks.
Speaker 1: I'm not arguing that they're unentertaining, by the way, and
Speaker 1: I don't mean to normalize what they do every week.
Speaker 1: It's just that they faced great defense. At one point
Speaker 1: they were forced into punts four to five drives. They
Speaker 1: still put up thirty two points. Because you've got given
Speaker 1: it back. You gotta play both sides, you gotta you
Speaker 1: gotta play so well. You gotta fall on the ball
Speaker 1: in the end zone when you have a chance, when
Speaker 1: you get a fumble and special teams. Saints now ten
Speaker 1: and four, they've lost two straight, and of course the Packers,
Speaker 1: who are ahead of them, uh by a game in
Speaker 1: the standings, also now have the tiebreaker in addition, So
Speaker 1: it's gonna take a Christmas miracle for the Saints to
Speaker 1: get that by and get home field advantage not happening,
Speaker 1: and then we are happening as we know, West, you
Speaker 1: don't want to put this New Orleans team like in
Speaker 1: lambeau Field, with this version of Drew Brees. That's a
Speaker 1: huge setback not having home field advantage for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think I put we're stocking this than somebody like
Speaker 1: Greg does. I hate the idea of Drew Breese in
Speaker 1: an outdoor game with any semblance of wind whatsoever. I
Speaker 1: just think it makes a huge difference. And his career
Speaker 1: has been reliant upon plane in a dome stadium. Now
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I feel I almost feel the same
Speaker 1: about Van Roethlisberger right now, and Drew Brees is like
Speaker 1: that times two, two or three. And like you said, Greg,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs at thirteen and one, it looks like it's
Speaker 1: a lot that they're going to have home field advantage,
Speaker 1: and you know, maybe maybe you're right, Mark? Was your
Speaker 1: was your comment that it's already decided that Chiefs are
Speaker 1: gonna win the Super Bowl? Sound like a like to
Speaker 1: be sort of cynical or just sort of throw the
Speaker 1: whole thing away. Um, just that I can't find a
Speaker 1: team out there that's gonna untracked the Chiefs. You have
Speaker 1: to put Mahomes into the center of hell. And even
Speaker 1: with the bang up offensive line, it doesn't seem to
Speaker 1: really matter that much. Show me. I invite a team
Speaker 1: to come show me that they can prove me wrong
Speaker 1: on that. All right, let's move on, and now that
Speaker 1: we know what happened with the Saints, let's uh quickly
Speaker 1: dig into the Saturday games and the Packers, who yes,
Speaker 1: are in the driver's seat in the NFC. Fridgewater under
Speaker 1: center tries to go over top and stocked out of
Speaker 1: his head. It scooped up by Kevin King forty and
Speaker 1: he tackled over midfield. Bridgwater tried to launch on high
Speaker 1: and he got spiked away. It was a follyball swath
Speaker 1: that liberated the ball on the Packers pounce. Did they
Speaker 1: have it in Pantherer territory? When Carolina was on the
Speaker 1: doorstep beaches away nice called by John Sadack of Westwood One.
Speaker 1: Rookie linebacker Chris Barnes poked that ball away from Teddy Bridgewater.
Speaker 1: Kevin King returned to forty eight yards to set up
Speaker 1: a Packers touchdown. That was the swing play of the
Speaker 1: night and the Packer steen win at Lambeau um Mark.
Speaker 1: This was the rare game this season where Green Bay
Speaker 1: had to find a way when Aaron Rodgers wasn't dominating. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I thought that he had strong comments after the game.
Speaker 1: You know, we're we're on alert with the Saints um
Speaker 1: but it was Aaron Rodgers and said, if we're gonna
Speaker 1: play the way we did in the second half, I mean,
Speaker 1: this was a game that looked over to me at halftime.
Speaker 1: They had six point two yards per play in the
Speaker 1: first half, two point one in the second, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know they just to me. Do I come away
Speaker 1: having learned learned a ton about the Packers or what
Speaker 1: this really means? I don't think so. I think that
Speaker 1: they ran into um A Panther's pass rush that was
Speaker 1: more lively than usual. Derek Brown got going, Brian Burns.
Speaker 1: I thought they caused disruption and you just didn't get
Speaker 1: the normal um full like a full four quarters from
Speaker 1: Green Bay, which you know, if you look at the
Speaker 1: Cults game, Um, there's there's some share DNA with what
Speaker 1: happened there a little bit. And uh, you know, for me,
Speaker 1: it's like these Panthers games seemed to all come right
Speaker 1: down to the end one way or another. And uh,
Speaker 1: I'm with you that turnover this was if you're gonna
Speaker 1: go deal with Aaron Rodgers, it's not that unlike dealing
Speaker 1: with the Chiefs, like if you're the Panthers. Um, they
Speaker 1: got a lot of production out of DJ Moore and
Speaker 1: other guys, but you can't make the killer mistake or
Speaker 1: two they made it. They lost in a close one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the next game the Packers play is against Tennessee and
Speaker 1: that would be you know, a great playoff tune up
Speaker 1: because you win that game, then you got the Bears
Speaker 1: in week seventeen. You've already got to buy the Packers.
Speaker 1: All they gotta do is been one of their two
Speaker 1: final games. So it's a big game for them. But
Speaker 1: if you know, you have your week off, who knows
Speaker 1: if they're gonna play starters or not. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: freak out too much that the offense had a bad
Speaker 1: half after they kind of took control of the game
Speaker 1: with their offense. It is disarming to see them have
Speaker 1: nineties six and net yards passing though against the Panthers,
Speaker 1: like a week after Drew Lock lit him up. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's surprising, um, but ultimately it's like they did
Speaker 1: what they needed to do to win the game. They
Speaker 1: put it. They got a huge lead early, they got
Speaker 1: the yards that they needed late, like that's what good
Speaker 1: teams do. Yeah, it's a little alarming because it's a
Speaker 1: few times now that we've seen that. Mark mentioned the
Speaker 1: Colts game. You know, you saw it through the whole
Speaker 1: the totality of the Bucks game. Well, you think the
Speaker 1: pack the Packers can just turn it on at any point,
Speaker 1: and when they don't turn it on, it starts to
Speaker 1: get worried. So their guards, their guards are struggling right now,
Speaker 1: and you're used to seeing their offensive line be so good.
Speaker 1: But after Corey Lindsley got hurt, then you moved Jenkins
Speaker 1: to center and the guards got eight up, eight up
Speaker 1: by Mark's boyd Derrick Brown and a couple of others.
Speaker 1: F a Obata, the big sack about that. Every time
Speaker 1: f a Obada does something good, I know about it
Speaker 1: because Henry Hotchon tweaks at immediately that is a England's
Speaker 1: shining sun. So it's good to see him making plays
Speaker 1: week after week. Um. I thought it was interesting. Matt role,
Speaker 1: Matt Rule was um. At halftime, he told Melissa Stark like, listen,
Speaker 1: we don't stick the ball out at the goal line,
Speaker 1: which is the old Bill Belichick thing, opening his criticism
Speaker 1: there of Teddy, but not in a you know, mean
Speaker 1: spirited way or anything. I think that's just a frustration
Speaker 1: because the pastors at four and ten this season. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, they I think have been an eight one
Speaker 1: possession games now the season, and I think, uh, I
Speaker 1: don't think it says anything bad about Rule or the Panthers,
Speaker 1: but four intent probably not really what their record should be.
Speaker 1: And who knows, if Christian McCaffrey's there yesterday could have
Speaker 1: been a totally different game. I want to see, Like,
Speaker 1: I don't know a little more out of this Packers
Speaker 1: defense in general. I guess they did again in this game.
Speaker 1: They did a job. I'm not sure if I'm at
Speaker 1: the point of trusting them in general, they're pretty weak
Speaker 1: up the middle. You can run on them. Their linebackers
Speaker 1: aren't great, their pass rushers aren't quite the same as
Speaker 1: they were a year ago. So that makes the NFC fun.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's even though they're the one seed,
Speaker 1: I feel like all the like, every single team making
Speaker 1: the NFC has some big flaws. I mean some of
Speaker 1: those um, some of those Panthers one possession games have
Speaker 1: been like Joey Slide kicking the ball from like mid
Speaker 1: mid court, you know, at the end of the game there.
Speaker 1: But um, I do think that that would be the
Speaker 1: takeaway for them because they've done a nice job developing
Speaker 1: young players, um their free agents at in productive So
Speaker 1: there's something good going on. But you have to learn
Speaker 1: to close games, because you could argue they should be
Speaker 1: like six or six seven win team right now. Did
Speaker 1: anyone else think when Rule and it had some people
Speaker 1: scratching their heads on Twitter when Rule chose to kick
Speaker 1: the field goal to get it from ten to seven
Speaker 1: as opposed to try to get into the end zone
Speaker 1: like he did that so he wouldn't be in a
Speaker 1: situation where we're sending out Joey Slide for another seventy
Speaker 1: yard like, is it in his head at this point?
Speaker 1: And one point Joey Slide has got to be like dude,
Speaker 1: like I you know, you know my ceiling, like stop.
Speaker 1: You know we've talked about this, coach, you can't send
Speaker 1: me up there. I thought it was more that rule
Speaker 1: had had, you know, the Panthers, you know, plus eight
Speaker 1: and a half. That was what it was. It cut
Speaker 1: it. It It cut it to eight, and then they kicked
Speaker 1: that field goal. I was like, wow, because you're at
Speaker 1: that point, you're counting on and they and they did
Speaker 1: get the stop, but you're counting on a stop, a touchdown,
Speaker 1: a two point conversion, and winning in overtime, which is
Speaker 1: it's a lot to ask for. All right, let's check
Speaker 1: in on the Saturday game, which decided a division. Now
Speaker 1: the snap, Rocos rush five, Josh gets away from pressure,
Speaker 1: gonna keep it in, run with it inside the fifteen,
Speaker 1: inside the tent, hit it for the end zone. Touchdown.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen twenty four yard touchdown run for the Buffalo Bills.
Speaker 1: He made it look easy. Nobody touched him. Nobody touched him.
Speaker 1: Oh goodness, gracious, calm down there, Steve Tasker. I know,
Speaker 1: and it's been a long it's been in twenty five years,
Speaker 1: but you know, let's let's be professional in that booth.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen accounted for four touchdowns, two on the ground
Speaker 1: and two through the air, leading the Bills to an
Speaker 1: easy nineteen win over the Broncos to clinch Buffalo's first
Speaker 1: a f C Title East title since Yes nine. When
Speaker 1: Wonder Walls on the charts, I mean, we're going back
Speaker 1: in times, Sester. This is you on the Colorado River
Speaker 1: with your buddies in the flannel to some degree west.
Speaker 1: The Bills are getting more and more fearsome by the week.
Speaker 1: They are. We have we've expressed doubt about their defense
Speaker 1: at certain point, I have expressed the sentiment that smoked
Speaker 1: Brown is a bit of a Jena peace for this offense.
Speaker 1: We've worried about their running game. We've act we've acted
Speaker 1: like the Broncos have a pretty good defense. Throw all
Speaker 1: those factors out the window, because this was a absolute
Speaker 1: tail kicking from start to finish. Pay no attention to
Speaker 1: the score. What it should have been even worse than that,
Speaker 1: and Josh Allen had one of the better games you'll
Speaker 1: see total QBR point too. Total cute QBR doesn't go
Speaker 1: any higher really than So that's how you know how
Speaker 1: good of a game he had. His throws were just unreal.
Speaker 1: I know, the Broncos don't have any cornerbacks. You know,
Speaker 1: they're they're starting guys that they cut and we're on
Speaker 1: other teams earlier in the year, and you know that
Speaker 1: that's part of it. But so many of these throws
Speaker 1: were against pressure and they were just like you know,
Speaker 1: the throw where he's falling down was amazing. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: touchdown to Kumro and you see it with him and
Speaker 1: Herbert more than anyone. Arm strength matters in the sense
Speaker 1: uh most that like defenses don't have time to make plays.
Speaker 1: It creates you know, touchdowns like that to Kumara where
Speaker 1: they can't catch up to it, but it also creates
Speaker 1: yards after the catch because the defense time is getting
Speaker 1: there for the tackle much worse. And Alan is on
Speaker 1: a freaking roll. I mean that is it is fun
Speaker 1: to watch right now. They are They are the team
Speaker 1: more than any team. I feel like that is the
Speaker 1: peaking in December team. If that's the team you want
Speaker 1: to be, they are that team even more than the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, um they beat up bad teams. Um,
Speaker 1: they hang out and win against good teams. Uh. We
Speaker 1: asked last week if Josh Allen is a star, and
Speaker 1: I think my definition is different than others. Um, I
Speaker 1: know what most of Western New York would say. I
Speaker 1: think that he has bloomed into something that no one expected.
Speaker 1: Super super well. I mean like he's getting there, he's
Speaker 1: getting there, he's on that path and and you know,
Speaker 1: there's different ways to measure these guys, but um, I
Speaker 1: just think he's playing with extreme confident. Um. The connection
Speaker 1: between him and Stefan Diggs is a huge victory for
Speaker 1: the organization. Uh. They probably only have a couple more
Speaker 1: weeks with Brian Dable, who has been an awesome play caller.
Speaker 1: With Josh Allen, maybe not so much UM at previous stops,
Speaker 1: but he fits here. There's just a lot of things
Speaker 1: that fit really well with the Bills. I'm a little
Speaker 1: concerned about if they got into a scenario where they
Speaker 1: need the run game to thrive. Um week after week.
Speaker 1: But who cares? Like team finds a way. That's funny
Speaker 1: you say that, Mark, because one thing that I took
Speaker 1: from yesterday's game, and this has been building. It's not
Speaker 1: just what happened yesterday is that No, Josh Allen is
Speaker 1: not Patrick Mahomes and the Bills aren't the Chiefs on
Speaker 1: offense necessarily, but they might be edging into that territory.
Speaker 1: It's like, who cares if they running game doesn't do
Speaker 1: much Because what Josh Allen does both as a passer
Speaker 1: and with his legs, they're fine. They're always gonna be
Speaker 1: able to score points, especially when you have Stefan Diggs
Speaker 1: doing what he's doing. And oh, by the way, Cole
Speaker 1: Beasley after another big game is knocking on the door
Speaker 1: of a thousand yards too. That's that's been a huge
Speaker 1: development for them. We talked about how John Brown his
Speaker 1: loss was big. Beasley is stepped up in a big way.
Speaker 1: So even if they never do establish the running games,
Speaker 1: some teams, you think to yourself, like, I'll use the
Speaker 1: Cults as an example, they need to figure out a
Speaker 1: running game to balance out their offense. I think Josh
Speaker 1: Allen has hit this level west where they're gonna be
Speaker 1: okay if he's just the man front and center all
Speaker 1: the time. Yeah. I think this is a is a
Speaker 1: relatively new idea and football circles and the Chiefs started
Speaker 1: it in a lot of people's minds in the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, did a run is almost a waste
Speaker 1: of a play when you've got Patrick Mahomes And if
Speaker 1: you're a Bills fan, I don't really want to see
Speaker 1: a run. Zack Moss does not excite me at all,
Speaker 1: not one bit. Does that guy excite me? Josh Allen
Speaker 1: excites me, right, And you only need to run when
Speaker 1: you need it. I mean, I don't think it's too
Speaker 1: different from the first five years of the Patriots, you know,
Speaker 1: two thousand tens, and they they used a run when
Speaker 1: they needed to. Like that's what I loved about this game.
Speaker 1: They ran the ball really well actually when they wanted
Speaker 1: to run, which just they didn't bother because why would
Speaker 1: you want to when you have Josh Allen, you had
Speaker 1: Alan Moss and Singletary. I'll rip off a few runs
Speaker 1: like they sprinkled it in here and there. But I
Speaker 1: love when you have the lead and you just keep throwing. Also,
Speaker 1: like like the mere threat of Allen on the ground,
Speaker 1: even if he doesn't run, is part of your running game.
Speaker 1: Where if you had you know, Joe Flacco back there
Speaker 1: in two thousand and seventeen, the defense is not going
Speaker 1: to view you in the same way. I mean not
Speaker 1: even within two universes of the same way. He's just
Speaker 1: been so good this year. It's it's one of the
Speaker 1: real storylines of this season where where Alan came from.
Speaker 1: Think about where we were, and there's still playoffs to
Speaker 1: be played, but where we were the conversations we're having
Speaker 1: about him this year after that meltdown against the Texans
Speaker 1: in the wild card round of the nine playoffs, and
Speaker 1: now the guy looks like an absolutely a towering force.
Speaker 1: All right. Now the Bills are the a f c
Speaker 1: S champions. Congratulations to them. Let's now head to the
Speaker 1: boy him of the division where something weird happened. It
Speaker 1: is third down in six at the Rams forty eight
Speaker 1: yard long. If the Jets get a first down on
Speaker 1: this play, the game is over. They will have victory
Speaker 1: formation on the other side of the two minute warning
Speaker 1: waiting for them. Donald takes the snap, drops to throw,
Speaker 1: dumps it over the middle. It's caught. It's the first down.
Speaker 1: Frank Gore's got it. A big fist pump from Frank
Speaker 1: or he knows it. That secures the first down and
Speaker 1: that should secure the Jet victory. There he is. Bob
Speaker 1: was schusing great played by play man completely absent on
Speaker 1: this program this year because the Jets had never won
Speaker 1: a game until now. Yes, Sam Donald dropped back found
Speaker 1: all reliable Frankie Gore, who took the ball across that
Speaker 1: first down market a clinch a win. Four guess the
Speaker 1: Jets in the biggest upset of the season, at least
Speaker 1: according to the Desert. With the win, the Jets avoid
Speaker 1: becoming the third oh and sixteen team and under that history,
Speaker 1: but also fall behind the Jaguars on tiebreaker in the
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence sweep steaks and we'll get to that in
Speaker 1: a second. Greg, how did the Jets shock the Rams today?
Speaker 1: How did this happen? By giving the ball to frank Gore?
Speaker 1: You know, everyone would have been chopping at the end
Speaker 1: of this game. Let's be real though obviously it wasn't
Speaker 1: the key to the game, but when it came down
Speaker 1: to it, you had to get a couple of first
Speaker 1: downds to go win it. And and if they had
Speaker 1: handed it to frank Gore giving it him the ball
Speaker 1: five straight times like they did and it hadn't worked,
Speaker 1: all anyone would be doing is killing Adam Gate. So
Speaker 1: I enjoyed seeing, you know, my favorite player since we've
Speaker 1: been doing this podcast, have an big eight yard run,
Speaker 1: pick up a first down on the ground, and then
Speaker 1: have that catch where he's just like calling Sammy, throw
Speaker 1: me the ball and you could see and I watched
Speaker 1: some of the interviews afterwards, you know, Donald said it
Speaker 1: was an amazing feeling and Gore said, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a happy Christmas. Like these are all professionals, they mean,
Speaker 1: it means a lot to them. It was mostly the
Speaker 1: Jets defense, and it was I think if you're a
Speaker 1: Jets fan, the best thing about this game is watching
Speaker 1: quinnin Williams and Aaron Donald go back to back and
Speaker 1: forth kind of as these game records. And quinnin Williams,
Speaker 1: until he got concussion unfortunately or checked for a head injury,
Speaker 1: was holding his own and was dominating and it was
Speaker 1: a huge, huge part of this win. It really was
Speaker 1: about their defense. It was that it's unbelievable the Rams
Speaker 1: could not get anything going in the first half. The
Speaker 1: Jets built a thirteen nothing lead. One one of the
Speaker 1: weird stats of this season. The Jets have the worst
Speaker 1: offense in football, but now they have eight straight games
Speaker 1: where they've scored on their first possession. Go figure. They
Speaker 1: get on the board first to put go seven nothing
Speaker 1: on a Ty Johnson screen pass touchdown, and I think
Speaker 1: that was huge because it it I think tightened up
Speaker 1: Los Angeles. It's like, oh, wait a second, could this
Speaker 1: really happen? Is this happening? Is this happening? And even
Speaker 1: though a couple of crazy things in the second half,
Speaker 1: because you knew if you're if you follow this team,
Speaker 1: the Jets all season, they've been in games at halftime,
Speaker 1: and then the adjustments are made and Gates gets his
Speaker 1: ass kicked in that department and the other team is
Speaker 1: going away. And that's what happened again here the Rams
Speaker 1: offense figured it out at halftime, came out at the half,
Speaker 1: started putting up points, looked like they actually took this
Speaker 1: took the lead on a cam Aker's touchdown, and we're
Speaker 1: about to with the pH t called back on holding.
Speaker 1: Then after the Jets three and out, they get the punt,
Speaker 1: They get a punt, they nearly take it to the
Speaker 1: house and the Jets uh punter And maybe it's an
Speaker 1: infamous name now for Jets fans, depending where your perspective
Speaker 1: is Brandon Man saves a go ahead touchdown for the
Speaker 1: Rams on a punt return, and then the Jets are
Speaker 1: able to somehow miraculously close it out. It's a brutal
Speaker 1: loss for the Rams, who see their chances to win
Speaker 1: the division take a crushing hit. Uh. And if if
Speaker 1: you're a Jets fan, you're trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: to make sense of this. Although it's kind of like
Speaker 1: and in a way the past election we just had,
Speaker 1: if you already had decided where you came down on
Speaker 1: what the two options were here, you weren't going to
Speaker 1: change your mind. Now. I've been in the camp of
Speaker 1: I hated this oh and sixteen thought. I thought it
Speaker 1: was completely um unfair and terrible to think the only
Speaker 1: way to get the number one overall pick is to
Speaker 1: go oh in sixteen. So it was like there was
Speaker 1: a no win situation. And then I thought to myself,
Speaker 1: why are the Jets even in this position? The Jets
Speaker 1: would still be a team that should have the number
Speaker 1: one overall pick. Who's finished one in fifteen and didn't
Speaker 1: get the number one overall pick. Well, in a non expension,
Speaker 1: you're could be the New York Jets for the first
Speaker 1: team Ever. According to NFL research, only one team did
Speaker 1: not have the first overall pick after going one in fifteen.
Speaker 1: It was the two thousand one Panthers. And that's because
Speaker 1: the Texans came into the league as the expansion uh
Speaker 1: UM team. And Mark that what that tells me and
Speaker 1: West you say it all the time. History is instructive.
Speaker 1: Minshew Mania Chicago Bears next week. Come on, get it done,
Speaker 1: do it baby. The problem is you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: if it's if this relies on the positive sort of
Speaker 1: psychic connection between you and Gardner. Min too. I I
Speaker 1: see a lot of problems and you're getting what you want.
Speaker 1: But I'm with you that, I mean, I the hope
Speaker 1: is you get out of here one in fifteen, you
Speaker 1: get the first overall pick and you don't have the
Speaker 1: stink of o N sixteen, which um having been through
Speaker 1: it like, if the team gets good, no one talks
Speaker 1: about that season anymore. So it has almost no effect
Speaker 1: on me as a person fan wise. But I think
Speaker 1: you and I might be in a little bit of
Speaker 1: a different camp on that. And um, I would hate
Speaker 1: to see them lose out on what is one of
Speaker 1: the most exciting quarterback prospects of the last twenty years
Speaker 1: because of Frank Gore and uh, you know Adam Gates.
Speaker 1: But that said, I mean, let's see where it goes. Um.
Speaker 1: I like Sean McVeigh I thought after the game, he said,
Speaker 1: this is it's this is going to be embarrassing. Um.
Speaker 1: I'm sick to my stomach. And I do think that
Speaker 1: that is about as rugged a loss as you could
Speaker 1: take as an NFC or a f C contender to
Speaker 1: fall to a team like this at this point in
Speaker 1: the season, and the way they did in the whole thing,
Speaker 1: and they've got to package this thing away and you
Speaker 1: know they got West. They gotta bury that ball like
Speaker 1: that's this is one of the weeks and the soft
Speaker 1: l a you know, landscape, dig a hole, put the
Speaker 1: ball in it, patch it up, move on. If you
Speaker 1: want to take time out of your week to do that,
Speaker 1: if you're even allowed to do that anymore, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure what we were allowed to do anymore. Okay, I
Speaker 1: don't think you can count on the Bears. This team's
Speaker 1: averaging thirty one points a game since they're bye week
Speaker 1: four weeks ago. They're a different offense right now. The
Speaker 1: Bears are m all right, I'm not gonna necessarily pack
Speaker 1: in my hopes because Mitch Drobiski has had a couple
Speaker 1: of months. Yeah he never know. Jack's have been competitive
Speaker 1: with some with some good teams, so it certainly wouldn't
Speaker 1: be a total stunner. They are trending in the wrong way,
Speaker 1: but so are the Ramps. I mean, the problem with
Speaker 1: this Rams game is that it looked too similar to
Speaker 1: a few others. So I think of the first half
Speaker 1: there was a five drive sequence where uh, the Rams
Speaker 1: had two total first downs and an interception. I mean
Speaker 1: the Rams. The Rams defense actually did everything they could
Speaker 1: to keep them in this game. Uh. They basically shut
Speaker 1: down Donald for a big chunk while while the Rams
Speaker 1: offense is just handing the ball all over in perfect
Speaker 1: scoring position. And it wasn't all on golf this time.
Speaker 1: The offensive line for the Rams was really bad. Um,
Speaker 1: And but that's a problem. You know, their interior line struggled.
Speaker 1: Maybe when wit Worth comes back that helps. I think
Speaker 1: the defense is solid, but it's an offensive league. The
Speaker 1: only thing I'd argue with you on dan On on
Speaker 1: anything is that that this game was was devastating for
Speaker 1: the Rams. Chances they went out they win the division,
Speaker 1: So that was that was the same. That was the
Speaker 1: same coming in because they have the tiebreaker on Seattle UM.
Speaker 1: They obviously lose a margin for error here, but the
Speaker 1: big game is next week. They got to regroup though.
Speaker 1: I mean, you can't be losing to the Jets. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying that's not embarrassing, but you you beat the
Speaker 1: the Seahawks and the Cardinals and you and you win
Speaker 1: the division. I just I feel like with the Rams
Speaker 1: that you know about ten minutes into a game which
Speaker 1: version of the Rams you're gonna get and not every week,
Speaker 1: but it just kind of feels that way. They're either
Speaker 1: on or off, and I can't like there's a lot
Speaker 1: of reasons to like the Rams. Do I trust that
Speaker 1: they're gonna get into the playoffs and destroy three people
Speaker 1: in a row? Not at all, but proved me wrong.
Speaker 1: Who who would you in the end? NFC? I guess
Speaker 1: maybe the Packers, But you're right, Greg, Two things desert
Speaker 1: stuff the Jets. Uh, we're seventeen points was the spread
Speaker 1: of this game. It's the second largest upset win for
Speaker 1: New York in the Super Bowl era. The only larger
Speaker 1: upset was what West Super Bowl three correct, And if
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear from Bob was shusing for the first
Speaker 1: time this season. Damn well, right, we're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: Keith Hands. His name is Keith. He'll get about what
Speaker 1: he called say games he today, Well, the Jets upset
Speaker 1: the Rams today with a great victory. But I have
Speaker 1: to tell you, as one of the most die hard
Speaker 1: Jet fans, today was one of the most difficult days
Speaker 1: where actually at the very end, I was rooting against
Speaker 1: my team, which I never do, so that to me
Speaker 1: was very strange. But I'm happy to day one and
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens before the season ends. But that
Speaker 1: was a new one for me. I mean, my dad
Speaker 1: is not into any of that stuff like tanking and
Speaker 1: all this stuff. My dad is like tried and true
Speaker 1: fan of his team. He turns them on to see
Speaker 1: them win on Sunday. So for that to happen tells
Speaker 1: you how strange and bizarre this was. Yes, I'm hoping
Speaker 1: this garden Meanshu Karma is gonna come back, come back
Speaker 1: to haunt me. Market you You are the exception. Dan,
Speaker 1: By the way, it really feels like Jets fans truly
Speaker 1: were If if internet polls are to believed. Jets ends
Speaker 1: really did brute again. They're upset, They're they're they're totally
Speaker 1: piste off. But one one last thought, we don't know.
Speaker 1: Trevor Lawrence could be amazing. Did Jets can get Trevor
Speaker 1: Lawrence still? But justin Fields could be better or whoever
Speaker 1: could be better. There's this assumption that you're missing out
Speaker 1: on Joe Montana. We don't know anything, So just try
Speaker 1: to live in the moment. I'm going alright, let's uh
Speaker 1: move on. So we talked about what happened with the Bills,
Speaker 1: uh and the Jets. Now let's swing over to a
Speaker 1: former Jet and his Seattle Seahawks. Giving the ball off
Speaker 1: to Hide. Did he breaks free inside the forty down
Speaker 1: of the thirty, He's on the run twenty He's gonna
Speaker 1: go in touchdown? Seahawks Steve rabel k i r Oh
Speaker 1: Carlos Hide ripped off a fifty r touchdown and the
Speaker 1: Seahawks season defense continued it's second half surge and a
Speaker 1: win over the Washington football team. The victory, as we
Speaker 1: know because we just heard, helps Seattle immensely in the
Speaker 1: NFC West Race, and it also represents the clinching of
Speaker 1: their ninth playoff birth and eleven seasons of Pete Carroll.
Speaker 1: What a run, Greg. It felt like Watchington's defense was
Speaker 1: gonna make Seattle work in this one. That's what we
Speaker 1: talked about heading into this game. Is that how it
Speaker 1: played out? Yes, and no, you know, I played to type,
Speaker 1: but it was also twenty three, you know, mid third quarter,
Speaker 1: and it felt over. It was almost like the Seahawks
Speaker 1: ran the ball too well, and I and I and
Speaker 1: you feel this creeping in on this team that Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll is more comfortable focusing on the running game. Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson I think had about ninety something yards on his
Speaker 1: first twenty dropbacks. If that they were they were really
Speaker 1: you know, playing good past defense. But Seattle was moving
Speaker 1: the ball, you know, they the Washington offense looked terrible.
Speaker 1: The biggest surprise was that the Seahawks offensive line, I thought,
Speaker 1: really controlled this game. You know, for the most part,
Speaker 1: they protected Wilson well, and they controlled the game on
Speaker 1: the ground. But then suddenly Haskins puts two nice drives together,
Speaker 1: gets the ball back even in the in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: with the go with the chance to go win the game.
Speaker 1: This is who the Washington football team kind of is.
Speaker 1: Is that it looks ugly and you can say, all
Speaker 1: this game looked over, it was a mispatch. Well, they
Speaker 1: got the ball back with four minutes to go and
Speaker 1: with a chance to win. And this is kind of
Speaker 1: how Seattle is playing, where teams are playing tight to
Speaker 1: them and Washington always finds a way to you know,
Speaker 1: be in these games more than you expect them to.
Speaker 1: It feels like a legit concern for the Seahawks to
Speaker 1: they're winning now by playing opposite of the way they
Speaker 1: were winning and in September and October when we thought
Speaker 1: they were playing at their best and most imposing. And
Speaker 1: like you said, Greg, it's trending in the direction we
Speaker 1: don't want it to trend as far as our offense goes. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's weird, you know in this game specifically, you know,
Speaker 1: he threw it twenty seven times for twenty one yards.
Speaker 1: So like you you couldn't even kill them for you know,
Speaker 1: running so much. It was more effective for a chunk
Speaker 1: of the game. Uh, their offensive line I think is
Speaker 1: better at doing that. You know, give Washington credit. They
Speaker 1: always find a way to make a couple of plays,
Speaker 1: whether it's in the red zone, or to force a
Speaker 1: turnover to make it look closer uh than it felt.
Speaker 1: But you're right at this Seattle team, like, how confident
Speaker 1: are you, like Mark, like in them winning three straight
Speaker 1: in the NFC. It's like, I don't know, Well, no,
Speaker 1: I think to you to your point before that, it's
Speaker 1: hard to find any team in that conference, but Seattle's
Speaker 1: they're freaky enough that, um, I've seen them do it before.
Speaker 1: They've got a little they can get a little magical.
Speaker 1: But I mean when you have dk Metcalf and Tyler
Speaker 1: Lockett combining for less than eighty yards, Um, that's getting
Speaker 1: to West's point. I think we're getting away from what
Speaker 1: built trust, in my opinion, in their explosiveness and their
Speaker 1: ability to win shootouts. I don't know if Carlos hide
Speaker 1: is what you're anchoring the efforts around heading into imposed
Speaker 1: Christmas part of the season. Here, this does guarantee, by
Speaker 1: the way, that no NFC e's team um leaves the
Speaker 1: regular season with a winning record, which I feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, it was a safe game, but yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel like that's ultimately what's gonna you know, cost Washington
Speaker 1: right that their offense a stat flashed up before they
Speaker 1: woke up in the second half when they kind of
Speaker 1: went back to over the last two games, and the
Speaker 1: offensive output had just been grizzly. Um as good as
Speaker 1: frisky as this defense is, they're gonna muck up games
Speaker 1: like this and hang around and steal one occasionally, but
Speaker 1: they just need to get better on offense. Well, Haskins
Speaker 1: I thought was a step down even from Alex Smith,
Speaker 1: although Alex Smith was taken on water and I think
Speaker 1: was struggling more each week that he played. Haskins struggled,
Speaker 1: made some pretty bad decisions. They were struggling to pass
Speaker 1: the ball. But then he puts together two nice you know,
Speaker 1: he put two nice drives late. DJ Reid looked like
Speaker 1: Darrell Reevs for the Seahawks in the defensive backfield. So
Speaker 1: they put together some nice games. But if the Seahawks
Speaker 1: offense is struggling, you get the Rams next week. That
Speaker 1: is a prime kind of playoff get ready test? All right,
Speaker 1: let's move move on and check in on another NFC
Speaker 1: playoff hopeful. In fact, two of them. Two seconds to go,
Speaker 1: Cardinals lead by seven, wall on the Cardinal thirty one
Speaker 1: Eagles out of time outs hurts in the gun play
Speaker 1: clock at one snapped, the Hurts rolls to his lap.
Speaker 1: Hurts lobs at the middle of the end zone. Four
Speaker 1: guys down their passes knocked the way in complete. Cardinals
Speaker 1: win Byron Murphy got a piece of it. Cardinals get
Speaker 1: their eighth win. They hang on to beat the Eagles
Speaker 1: thirty three to twenty six, and they can start to
Speaker 1: smell the postseason. But it wasn't easy, was it. You know, Ron,
Speaker 1: we we cut these highlights. One of the reasons we doom.
Speaker 1: It's for you, Wolf. We want you to bring up,
Speaker 1: bring us something real interesting. Comments to that end of
Speaker 1: the call. We didn't get it today, but there's always
Speaker 1: next week. K c Are with the call. Dave Pash
Speaker 1: also there. Jalen Hurts played valiantly, but his last second
Speaker 1: hell Mary fell incomplete, clinching the six win for the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: Hurts was the focus on Football Twitter in this one,
Speaker 1: but Kyler Murray returned to game wrecking forum. Uh, and
Speaker 1: that's a big storyline going forward. Mark, This is a
Speaker 1: fun one between two exciting young quarterbacks. Yeah, this kind
Speaker 1: of reminded me back in the day when you know,
Speaker 1: we'd be sitting at our desk um, you know, banging
Speaker 1: out these what we learned, and I was like thinking,
Speaker 1: if I had to write one on this game, I
Speaker 1: would have been, um quite annoyed because it was a
Speaker 1: game with like forty five different, um incredible things that happened.
Speaker 1: I would really suggest someone check this out on game
Speaker 1: pass um for the quarterback. These two Oklahoma quarterbacks going
Speaker 1: back and forth, they made their share of mistakes, both
Speaker 1: of them. But I mean Kyler Murray, UM, I don't
Speaker 1: think that his game to me looks like his box
Speaker 1: score where he threw for four and six yards, but
Speaker 1: he kept producing. That's four touchdowns. Jalen Hurts will be
Speaker 1: the talk of the week because we've got the morning
Speaker 1: beginning with reports that Carson Wentz doesn't want to be
Speaker 1: a backup quarterback to Alon Hurts or anyone else in Philadelphia. UM.
Speaker 1: So then it's like, will we see once again this
Speaker 1: season or ever Hurts comes in today and I just
Speaker 1: again brings total life to this offense. A week after
Speaker 1: he ran for a hundred yards UM. He accounted for
Speaker 1: four touchdowns today, which something that Carson Wentz has not
Speaker 1: done since the beginning of the eighteen season. All I
Speaker 1: can say is guys like um, zach ertz uh, Greg Ward,
Speaker 1: all these all these other players on the offensetead have
Speaker 1: been ghosts and traveling um like another world for so
Speaker 1: much of the season are involved now and it was
Speaker 1: it was a fascinating game for that reason. And it
Speaker 1: was Um the Eagles lost their punter. Excuse me, there
Speaker 1: were like four or five scenarios where they kept going
Speaker 1: forward on fourth down. Was like, what are they doing?
Speaker 1: Like five other things were happening during this game, and
Speaker 1: they lost their punter and their and he he serves
Speaker 1: as their holder as well. So Doug Peterson just trusted
Speaker 1: Hurts to go forward on fourth and six, um, and
Speaker 1: in a couple other situations, and he kept delivering. I
Speaker 1: mean again, he made a few mistakes here and there,
Speaker 1: but this was, um, sort of me a quarterback situation,
Speaker 1: a quarterback duel that would not have happened ten years ago.
Speaker 1: I don't think either one of these guys would have
Speaker 1: been put into this situation or even have been developed
Speaker 1: the same way that they are now. And um, you know,
Speaker 1: Hurts went through a lot in college. Um, his future
Speaker 1: appears very bright, and part of me wonders, I think
Speaker 1: a lot's gonna happen with the Eagles. Part of me
Speaker 1: wonders if he could even save Doug Peterson's job because
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson has looked a little bit more flexible and
Speaker 1: a little bit better, um during all this with Hurts
Speaker 1: in there doing what he's doing, so UM, you know,
Speaker 1: I think it just leaves the Eagles with immense, immense questions, um,
Speaker 1: you know, in whispers between now and the rest of
Speaker 1: the of the of the season and then into a
Speaker 1: very huge offseason and the in the Cardinals, Um, if
Speaker 1: they get in, they deserve it. They're they're just enough.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins was amazing in the fourth quarter in this game. Uh.
Speaker 1: Their defense is not the greatest on the planet, but
Speaker 1: they disrupt, they caused turnovers. Hassan Reddick had another huge
Speaker 1: game today. It seems to be two or three p
Speaker 1: popping up on that defense every week in Arizona. That
Speaker 1: that report before the game. Sometimes I think these agents,
Speaker 1: who I'm I'm just gonna assume it's coming from you know,
Speaker 1: you don't know, but it's either an agent or the
Speaker 1: player that's saying that he's not happy. I think they're
Speaker 1: doing a disservice, you know, to their client. You know
Speaker 1: they're they're putting it out there that well, it makes
Speaker 1: him looks sort of petty, doesn't that he's not happy
Speaker 1: and a how about you go watch your teammates play
Speaker 1: a thousand times better without you, because that's gonna hurt
Speaker 1: your value a lot more than your agent putting your
Speaker 1: value out there to get some team's interests. I'm not
Speaker 1: saying he wouldn't have interests or that his career is over,
Speaker 1: but let's just look at it. I'm not sure if
Speaker 1: Hurts can save Peterson, if that is the direction they're going,
Speaker 1: if Peterson is the one that was was pushing to
Speaker 1: keep went in the lineup, because if anything, it looks
Speaker 1: like he wasted a lot of time wasting so long
Speaker 1: with the dead quarterback when he had hurt sitting there.
Speaker 1: I saw you tweet about that too. I gotta push
Speaker 1: back on that one, Greg. I just I think it's
Speaker 1: so easy to to say that now because Hurts is
Speaker 1: coming and and he was okay last week and he
Speaker 1: was really good today. But again, it's that bigger picture
Speaker 1: of what Wentz was and what he represented entering this season,
Speaker 1: and the head coach that had loyalty to his starter
Speaker 1: for the past three years and was kind of waiting
Speaker 1: for that guy to come back, and he just never did.
Speaker 1: And it it's submarine their season in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: But it was to me like one of those football
Speaker 1: things that it just happens like and there's no way
Speaker 1: to explain it. If you would ask a hundred of
Speaker 1: the smartest people in the football world entering this season,
Speaker 1: nobody would have thought Carson Wentz would have had the
Speaker 1: season he had. And Peterson is in a very difficult
Speaker 1: position of navigating that in real time. So if you
Speaker 1: you're saying he should have put him in three weeks
Speaker 1: before he did, all right, But I guess these decisions
Speaker 1: don't get made in a vacuum. They're they're bigger than
Speaker 1: just um, you know, stats, And in that situation specifically,
Speaker 1: Monty play such a huge part of it, more than
Speaker 1: most quarterback controversies because it's hard for the Eagles to
Speaker 1: get rid of Carson Wentz after this year, trade, release,
Speaker 1: what have you. It's just hard for him. So so
Speaker 1: if you're the head coach, you gotta you gotta try
Speaker 1: to make it work. You do. It's it's just that
Speaker 1: he was so lost and and Peterson used the reason
Speaker 1: that they're trying to win the division and that going
Speaker 1: to the backup is like, you know, sending a message.
Speaker 1: They're given up. Well, guess what they're by far? You know,
Speaker 1: they're two best offensive games of the year by far,
Speaker 1: are since they benchent Wentz by the way, they're not
Speaker 1: out of this NFC East race. I know that sounds crazy,
Speaker 1: but they play the Cowboys in Washington. So if you
Speaker 1: win those two games, all you need is Washington to
Speaker 1: lose next week against Carolina. Like you, you don't need
Speaker 1: that much to happen. If they can win those two games,
Speaker 1: they actually have a little bit of life. If they
Speaker 1: hadn't come into this game losing three defensive back starters
Speaker 1: their best three, on top of another offensive line like
Speaker 1: who you know? Who knows? This guy could just put
Speaker 1: up three thirty eight and three passing sixty three running
Speaker 1: And I'm just I'm just saying it's not as good
Speaker 1: as it gets. We've talked about that Eagles Washington game
Speaker 1: is potentially the prime time Sunday night affair in week seventeen,
Speaker 1: which had people would have boss it's a month ago.
Speaker 1: It makes it just makes more sense now than ever before. Shockingly,
Speaker 1: Al Michael is gonna be like, I'm gonna take another
Speaker 1: week off just to be safe. You got this one, Mike.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. Another big game with huge implications for
Speaker 1: the playoff race in the NFC went down in Minneapolis.
Speaker 1: Staff back to Kirk Cousins. He's moving, he's launching, he's
Speaker 1: going into the end zone, and I'm a pass He's
Speaker 1: battered away in the end zone. Sherrick Mpannis, Bears, British
Speaker 1: to deal. They take one in Minnesota. Fade too black,
Speaker 1: You're still alive. It's seven and seven had a thirty
Speaker 1: three twenty seven win over Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: Jeff jon Yacht with the called w BBM. See, like,
Speaker 1: of all the things, a five and one start gives
Speaker 1: you so much rope that you can completely collapse for
Speaker 1: most of the season that follows, and then you get
Speaker 1: a hot a little bit, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: here we are right in the middle of everything. The
Speaker 1: Bears are. Kirk Cousins threw up a prayer, but there
Speaker 1: would be no Christmas miracle for the Vikings became the
Speaker 1: latest team to feel the pain of Mitch Trabinsky and
Speaker 1: the resurgent Monsters of the Midway Bears thirty three, Vikings
Speaker 1: twenty seven. Yes it was a loser goes home match
Speaker 1: and it was the Vikings who say goodbye to relevance
Speaker 1: in the NFL for another year. Greg, is something special
Speaker 1: happening in the Windy City? What exactly what's happening here?
Speaker 1: I don't know about special, but the intonation and uh
Speaker 1: in our play by play man's voice forgetting the name
Speaker 1: just told me everything I want to know. Like they're
Speaker 1: getting back on the Mitch train, like they're excepting, they're
Speaker 1: getting into this. This game had everything I wanted from
Speaker 1: like a week fifteen game with two flawed teams need
Speaker 1: to eliminate the other and like all this backstories. At
Speaker 1: one point, the Bears had scored sixth straight times, sixth
Speaker 1: straight possessions, and I was about to like I had
Speaker 1: a tweet already. It's like, if you give up seven
Speaker 1: straight scores to the Bears, like you have to take
Speaker 1: the rest of the season off. But at that very moment,
Speaker 1: they intercepted Mitchell Robinsky when the in the red zone
Speaker 1: in the end zone, when the game looked absolutely over,
Speaker 1: so for the ending, so for the ending to go
Speaker 1: Mitchell interception, then the Vikings can't pick up a third
Speaker 1: and one or a fourth and one with Cousins back
Speaker 1: pedaling uh to ever forever. And then then Naggie doesn't
Speaker 1: trust Mitch at all, doesn't let him even throw a pass,
Speaker 1: just says, oh, you know, we're gonna just kick a
Speaker 1: field goal, like we don't even want Mitch to throw
Speaker 1: another pass. You try to go score a touchdown. And
Speaker 1: then Cousins setting up for a hail Mary and throwing
Speaker 1: these short passes, and it's tough with only a minute
Speaker 1: left and no time out. But after the game he said,
Speaker 1: our entire goal was to set up for that for
Speaker 1: a hail mary, and and we got to that. And
Speaker 1: sometimes Kirk Cousin says these things after the games, and
Speaker 1: and and I don't say that, Wait, what what are
Speaker 1: you talking about? There's fifty five seconds. That was your
Speaker 1: your whole goal. You got the ball at the thirty.
Speaker 1: You only moved at twenty yard like you only that
Speaker 1: that was your goal. I don't get it that this
Speaker 1: Vikings team deserves to go by by the one thing
Speaker 1: that really impresses me with the Bears um and if
Speaker 1: you go back to the when they were falling off
Speaker 1: that five and one record into um, a total pit.
Speaker 1: They had huge Corona issues along their offensive line. They
Speaker 1: had injuries along the line, and it sounds like, um,
Speaker 1: from some stuff I read today that David Montgomery, who, um,
Speaker 1: we're finding out what kind of running back he can be.
Speaker 1: Because you know how many um weeks and months in
Speaker 1: a row did we hear from the Bears. We the
Speaker 1: run game matters to us. We want to establish the
Speaker 1: run game. Then they go run for thirty one yards
Speaker 1: and it's like, please, um, shoot an arrow into my
Speaker 1: head if I hear that one more time from Matt Maggie.
Speaker 1: But here comes Bill Laser, here comes some combination of
Speaker 1: new play calling. And I think the line today sounded
Speaker 1: like they were pretty dominant against the Vikings and it
Speaker 1: opened up big holes from Montgomery and this is sort
Speaker 1: of closer to what the Bears have been advertising to us.
Speaker 1: Is it sustainable? Um, I'd be concerned if you if this,
Speaker 1: if we get too much it's too excited about this
Speaker 1: and keep all the parts in place. But um, it's not.
Speaker 1: They're not boring at least. I mean, that's sort of
Speaker 1: what when we're killing the Bears It's not just that
Speaker 1: we want them to lose. I'm tired of the Bears
Speaker 1: being um an eyesore and they are not over the
Speaker 1: last month, Mitch was your guy. You're getting back in no.
Speaker 1: But for a quarter of the season now, David Montgomery
Speaker 1: has averaged a hundred and forty four yards from from
Speaker 1: scrimmage and a touchdown in a half per game. M
Speaker 1: That is getting it done. That's huge they did. He
Speaker 1: did have the open holes. He ran great. Mitchell ran great.
Speaker 1: That was exactly what m. Zimmer mentioned coming out a
Speaker 1: half time is that we need to shut down Trabinsky's legs,
Speaker 1: which really did create a lot on third done. He
Speaker 1: Mitt Rabinsky. You know, they only asked him to do
Speaker 1: so much. He only about twenty one throws here. Um,
Speaker 1: but he until that interception, and then he always leaves
Speaker 1: you with something. Until that interception. He played terrific. I mean,
Speaker 1: he he was accurate. He Mooney and Robinson are a
Speaker 1: great one to my boy, Darryl Mooney out of two lane,
Speaker 1: looking like a real keeper. Like they're they're not bad.
Speaker 1: They're gonna get to that Week seven team game. I
Speaker 1: think they're gonna beat the Jaguars. I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: get that to that week seventeen game alive. They don't
Speaker 1: need some help. They they punched it on their first
Speaker 1: drive and then they scored every other drive until that interception.
Speaker 1: And it's just, um, it's the unpredictable, unpretictability of sports
Speaker 1: and of the NFL that you know, if this Mitchell
Speaker 1: Drabinsky saga ends with his fourth season being this like
Speaker 1: crazy ride to take a playoff spot, I don't know
Speaker 1: what that does, and there's no sense really speculating on
Speaker 1: it because it can all go to hell next week.
Speaker 1: We've seen enough bad tape from Mitchell Drobisky know not
Speaker 1: to put too much faith in him. But it would
Speaker 1: be kind of fitting if this this kind of crazy
Speaker 1: soap opera around the Bears and and what happened on
Speaker 1: draft Day and then giving up on him entirely, not
Speaker 1: picking up the option, and then saying Nick Foles, we
Speaker 1: want you to save us. I mean, you could, I
Speaker 1: guess say, and I know Trabisky had a shoulder injury
Speaker 1: in there somewhere, Greg, but you could I guess say that, uh,
Speaker 1: Naggie maybe would have been better having less loyalty for
Speaker 1: Nick Foles and getting Mitch in there sooner the way
Speaker 1: he's playing right now. The Bears fans have certainly said
Speaker 1: that Travisky is a free agent. They didn't pick up
Speaker 1: the fifth year option. Um just knowing this ownership, though,
Speaker 1: I think if they want out, I think I think
Speaker 1: that would save Naggie's job. You know, if they beat
Speaker 1: the Packers, there's no way they're firing Matt Naggie. Now
Speaker 1: what they do with Trabisky, that'd be a little harder
Speaker 1: to figure out. I also think I just wouldn't be
Speaker 1: shocked if Kirk Cousins names comes up this offseason. We
Speaker 1: don't need to get into that conversation now, But this,
Speaker 1: to me was like the opposite of the Mahomes game,
Speaker 1: where Mahomes to me looks so much better than the
Speaker 1: box score showed. This was a Cousins did not look
Speaker 1: as good as the box score showed. He did not
Speaker 1: play his best game here, alright, So Cargo, they keep
Speaker 1: themselves in the mix. Minnesota, Bye bye, And now the
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Buccaneers they look to solidify their playoffs standings.
Speaker 1: Here's what went down in Atlanta. Transition prop looks off.
Speaker 1: Heel wants all of the tose told together kind a
Speaker 1: receiver all with hitch that Tonio Brown touchedtop Champa Bay
Speaker 1: Buckingers take the lead for the first time of the
Speaker 1: game and Brown has his first touchdown is a Bucaneer.
Speaker 1: Jane knocker Off w f U s with the call God,
Speaker 1: I love that guy. I want Chris Westling to write it.
Speaker 1: This is what I want. I want Chris Westling to
Speaker 1: write a book one day, okay, and I want west
Speaker 1: to be like, I put so much time into this book.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing the voice over too. I'm not doing
Speaker 1: the audio book. Found somebody else and then I'll say
Speaker 1: we'll get Jean decker Off to do the Chris Westling memoirs.
Speaker 1: What do you think? Wes A final choice you could
Speaker 1: not make. Tom Brady connected with Antonio Brown on the
Speaker 1: go ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, leading the Bucks
Speaker 1: to win over the Falcons. That moves Tampa Bay to
Speaker 1: the doorstep of a playoff. Berth Um They're nine and five.
Speaker 1: The Brady the Brown connection marked the fifth consecutive scoring
Speaker 1: drive for Tampa Bay and Um in the in the
Speaker 1: second half. They entered halftime trailing seventeen nothing and it
Speaker 1: was as bad as it looked not only was the
Speaker 1: offense doing that thing that it does on occasion this
Speaker 1: season where you know, Tom Brady looks at a swords
Speaker 1: and they somehow despite all these weapons, we're not seeing
Speaker 1: a lot of separation, and it's just like, uh, they
Speaker 1: can not getting the running game going. It's just like,
Speaker 1: what's going on here? And then a flip got switched
Speaker 1: and they scored on five straight possessions after halftime, four
Speaker 1: touchdowns and a field goal, and so they were down
Speaker 1: seventeen zip. They come out of the locker room, uh,
Speaker 1: and they score a touchdown, and then the defense let's
Speaker 1: down and gives up a touch on right back to
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan, who played well, really well for most of
Speaker 1: this game. So it's back to a seventeen point deficit
Speaker 1: a few minutes into the third quarter, and then the
Speaker 1: Bucks kind of took control of the game from that point.
Speaker 1: Atlanta failed to pick up a first down on four
Speaker 1: of its last five possessions, UH, the only exception being
Speaker 1: a drive that ended with Young Hoku Young hokus fifty
Speaker 1: two yard field goal with a twenty two that gave
Speaker 1: the Falcons lead. But then Antonio Brown made the first
Speaker 1: big play of his Buck's career, so you know it's
Speaker 1: a game that you'll watch it. In the first half
Speaker 1: you would be like, oh, the Bucks are an afterthought
Speaker 1: when you talk about who are the real Super Bowl teams?
Speaker 1: And then you'll watch the second half in bag Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean you could. You can see it. You can
Speaker 1: see if if some if they just if they flipped
Speaker 1: the switch again and they got hot, like the way
Speaker 1: the Bills are now and the way they were in October,
Speaker 1: maybe they would be a tough out in January. You
Speaker 1: got both sides of the coin today in Atlanta. I
Speaker 1: give them credit for being like consistently inconsistent or like
Speaker 1: consistently streaky, because it seems like, um, every game, can
Speaker 1: you can pick two quarters you know what they'll be,
Speaker 1: but they'll go to sleep and then there'll be another
Speaker 1: two quarters where you get this. I think I tweeted
Speaker 1: out at halftime like the Buccaneers are boring because I
Speaker 1: feel that's the way I feel when I watch them
Speaker 1: when they're when the light switches off. But then they
Speaker 1: make you look like a fool two hours later, and
Speaker 1: so I I am completely flummixed and have no idea
Speaker 1: what to make of this team or what its destiny
Speaker 1: will be. I mean, is it the some of its
Speaker 1: parts on offense? No, sometimes it was the second half,
Speaker 1: it was sometime half. Yeah, I mean it's they're not
Speaker 1: I think you put it well, consistently inconsistent. That's not
Speaker 1: usually what gets you Super Bowl victories. But it was
Speaker 1: enough to beat the Falcons today. Well, they're boom or
Speaker 1: bust on both sides. You know, even the defense is
Speaker 1: boom or bust. So it just leads to a lot
Speaker 1: of variants where they go on these streaks. It's been
Speaker 1: that way since like since week two, really even week one,
Speaker 1: like they have been that team. You're right, mark every
Speaker 1: step of the way. Um, but for Falcons fans to
Speaker 1: watch Tom Brady come back on you, I mean we
Speaker 1: I know it's and these comebacks feel like they happen
Speaker 1: a lot. I mean, this is the biggest Bucks comeback
Speaker 1: since and uh, to watch Tom Brady come back like
Speaker 1: that while you still got the old you got Matt
Speaker 1: Ryan back there going you know, three and out punt
Speaker 1: negative six yards, three and out, you get a field goal, drive,
Speaker 1: another three and out and then four and out downs
Speaker 1: game over. I mean, as if these Falcons fans haven't
Speaker 1: been through enough. It's another kick in the groin. Why
Speaker 1: they why they rank high in the pain ranking. Well,
Speaker 1: if they're still watching these then they're put setting themselves
Speaker 1: up for this disappointment. But you know, there are things
Speaker 1: you could be doing outside, um, you know, walk around
Speaker 1: your town. Maybe I don't know. Yeah, Raheem Morris is
Speaker 1: not keeping this job. And and Matt Ryan is another
Speaker 1: interesting figure as you look ahead to the NFL and
Speaker 1: some of these veteran quarterbacks potentially at a crossroads. He
Speaker 1: was thirty four or forty nine, three fifty six yards,
Speaker 1: three touchdowns, this without Julio Jones, who missed another game
Speaker 1: with that hamstring. But in kind of true Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: form and not to call back to again, but after
Speaker 1: he connects with Hayden Hursts for a seven yard touchdown,
Speaker 1: uh in the third quarter, it was basically lights out
Speaker 1: for the offense. It's just like a switch got flipped
Speaker 1: for them too, or more like somebody pulled a you know,
Speaker 1: a cord out of the wall and shut the whole
Speaker 1: operation down. So, you know, good good for the Bucks.
Speaker 1: That would have been a bad long u this time
Speaker 1: of year. So that the fact that they were able
Speaker 1: to turn it on. Good for them. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, if you're a Bucks fan and I know
Speaker 1: I know one, uh my buddy Shellin, he's he's been
Speaker 1: up and down all season with his emotions about the team,
Speaker 1: and he's not alone. They're They're a hard team to
Speaker 1: kind of figure and a tough team to love. Quite frankly,
Speaker 1: young Way Cou deserves better. He's an All Pro second team.
Speaker 1: I don't care what anybody you know, just the Tuckers
Speaker 1: number first team. But young Way Cou deserves it. He's
Speaker 1: been automatic all right, Uh, let's move to it intra
Speaker 1: conference game. I don't know why. Fake Tannehill deep drop,
Speaker 1: looking deep, throwing deep going for Davis. Davis has got
Speaker 1: it at the thirty, at the puts on the move
Speaker 1: to the tan, another move to the five. Okay, d
Speaker 1: c d seventy five yards churchdown Titans prey Davis too?
Speaker 1: Is intra Did anyone never decide this? We don't know.
Speaker 1: I can never figure it out. It's never Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: never gonna stick with me. I always say, out of
Speaker 1: conference the publice. There's nowhere else in life where I
Speaker 1: need to know. The definitive conference is definitely inside the
Speaker 1: conference intro. That's inside cross conference across. That's a conference game.
Speaker 1: Why say intra conference? Just say conference because sometimes with
Speaker 1: the language it's it's just wanting to have the victory
Speaker 1: and one day the victory will be mine. What about
Speaker 1: a FNFC crawl pollination tilt uh, Mike Keith and Dave
Speaker 1: Beginnis with the called w g F X. Ryan Tannhill
Speaker 1: ran for two touchdowns, he threw three more UM and
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry ran for a hundred forty seven yards at
Speaker 1: a score to move the Titans closer to the third
Speaker 1: playoff season in four years. They route the lines, Mark
Speaker 1: Henry gets the pub and he deserves it, and he's
Speaker 1: still two thousand yards is there for the taking if
Speaker 1: he delivers a couple more games like this. But Ryan
Speaker 1: Tannhill has been nothing short of brilliant in his two
Speaker 1: seasons in Nashville. Thank you that That was my takeaway.
Speaker 1: And I really just enjoy watching the Titans and who
Speaker 1: they are on offense and it's UM. It's a real
Speaker 1: pick your poison attack. We know that they have a
Speaker 1: high floor UM they produce week after week. It is Henry,
Speaker 1: but Tannehill is just completely UM, fearless, when it comes
Speaker 1: to taking a shot, seeing someone downfield delivering the ball.
Speaker 1: The Corey Davis has been um consistently great for them
Speaker 1: for you know much of this latter part to the season.
Speaker 1: A J. Brown is there, John Nu Smith had a
Speaker 1: big catch today. They just look unstoppable on that side
Speaker 1: of the ball when they get going. And um, you
Speaker 1: know this this game, I would say raised a small
Speaker 1: alarm for me. I mean, the Lions eliminated today, so
Speaker 1: we don't need to worry about the bandwagon and all
Speaker 1: the other business with them. That thing went off a
Speaker 1: cliff into a hideous wilderness. But the Titans are alive.
Speaker 1: My one concern is that, you know, you have Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford coming off a week where he didn't practice and
Speaker 1: Chase Daniel coming in and throwing for four hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty yards on this defense that that has zero pass rush. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean the Lions hung around because and we saw
Speaker 1: this with Cleveland, and we saw this in games where
Speaker 1: Tennessee kind of gets worked over. I mean, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have to win shootouts. They can do it, but at
Speaker 1: some point, um, you know, you'd like to see that
Speaker 1: the Tennessee defense step up and do something today. They
Speaker 1: had just no answers for um An offense. It's been
Speaker 1: better under Darryl Bevil, at least much more watchable. Same
Speaker 1: story all year with the Titans defense. Keep waiting for
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks to pool play better. I think we've stopped
Speaker 1: waiting for any sort of pass rush whatsoever because it's
Speaker 1: just not happening. You look up every game and it's
Speaker 1: zero sax. They're They're right there, though, I think with
Speaker 1: the Chiefs and the Packers, is the best offense in
Speaker 1: the league. Some of this, like the explosion the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, is partly scheduled base but I believe
Speaker 1: I think those are in the Bills. You sorry for
Speaker 1: sorry Bills Mafia for forgetting you know, putting them in.
Speaker 1: But that's that's your top four. You're already dead over
Speaker 1: the course of the entire season. To me, they are
Speaker 1: right there with the Chiefs and the Packers. Yeah, their
Speaker 1: top gear is as high as anyone's. And talked about
Speaker 1: it on the Thursday preview show. Like Derrick Henry, I
Speaker 1: think he needs about three yards uh to get to
Speaker 1: two thousand, which is obviously doable for him. In the
Speaker 1: last two weeks since he's basically averaging that every week.
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill is on pace for like thirty seven touchdowns
Speaker 1: passing and like seven touchdowns rushing. It's like pretty crazy.
Speaker 1: And then we all know A. J. Brown how special
Speaker 1: he is as a receiver. Corey Davis has had a
Speaker 1: nice season for them too. It's it is quite an
Speaker 1: attack they have. It really is impressive to watch, as
Speaker 1: bad as the defenses that often scores them at a
Speaker 1: holes all the time. I'm really curious. We'll see what
Speaker 1: how next week goes, because the Colts and the Titans
Speaker 1: both have really tough games, the Cults of the Steelers
Speaker 1: and the Titans of the Packers. But depending on how
Speaker 1: you go in to week seventeen, how how much does
Speaker 1: a division championship matter to you when you know you
Speaker 1: are just you know, gonna be playing the next week?
Speaker 1: And then how much is two thousand yards matter to you?
Speaker 1: For Derrick Henry, because if the Titans somehow clinched going
Speaker 1: into it, it's like, I don't know why why, I
Speaker 1: don't even know if I would play for a division
Speaker 1: championship that's sort of an existential question. Or would you
Speaker 1: worry about resting starters before we move on. Just say
Speaker 1: a few words in respect of Alexander Meyers, who was
Speaker 1: done away with by a Derrick Hendri stiff arm today.
Speaker 1: Let's listen to that because it sounded like a gunshot
Speaker 1: stiff And I know that this is an audio medium,
Speaker 1: but you could hear that stiff arm. Alexander Meyers, My goodness,
Speaker 1: he is unbelievable. It sounds like someone being hit across
Speaker 1: the head if they were wearing like a motorcycle helmet
Speaker 1: with a two by four. Right, we don't, we don't.
Speaker 1: We all don't get to pick what our legacy is.
Speaker 1: And maybe Alexander Myles uh Myers will go on to
Speaker 1: have a successful NFL career, but that might be his
Speaker 1: football tombstone right there. Oh, he was the guy that
Speaker 1: got stiff arm seven ft underneath the ground in week fifteen. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, let's move on. Twenty eight seconds to go,
Speaker 1: fourth and five, game on the line. Here we go,
Speaker 1: Watson waiting on a shot gun, Staff takes it, looking
Speaker 1: fires upfield. It's a tight window. Put my kicky, he
Speaker 1: taught him. Stiff bubbled into the zone. Who's got who's
Speaker 1: got the football? There's a scrumpt no signals in the
Speaker 1: Colts habn it's a touch back. The Cults have bubbled
Speaker 1: or recovered the bubble here the end zone. K Cuti
Speaker 1: had it and as he was crossing the goal line,
Speaker 1: the balls put it up the field the end zone,
Speaker 1: and like Pults having fabio uriki, it happened again. Matt
Speaker 1: Taylor w f and I with the call. The Texans
Speaker 1: yards away from the potential game time score. The Colts
Speaker 1: punched the ball away. This time it's and Andy fell
Speaker 1: on the ball in the end zone. They secure a
Speaker 1: twenty seven to twenty wind. Uh. And it goes to
Speaker 1: show you there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Speaker 1: And that's a bizar saying, because who would skin a cat?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't like guests, but who would do
Speaker 1: such a going? Um? I thought that I don't like
Speaker 1: some allergic. Who has some allergic? It's different. Um. So, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: the Titans absolutely dismantled their opponent. The Colts win. They
Speaker 1: find a way. They get it done against the Texans,
Speaker 1: who are obviously always gonna be a frisky opponent with
Speaker 1: the Shawn Watson. And if you're Watson, you're like, you know,
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, when the center fires the
Speaker 1: ball at his shins, leading to the game design goal
Speaker 1: line fumble against the Colts. He sat on the bench
Speaker 1: for the next ten minutes with a towel over his head,
Speaker 1: just shocked that, you know, this season has gone so
Speaker 1: terribly and how crushing that loss was this time he
Speaker 1: kind of had like a be mused look on his face, like, Hell,
Speaker 1: this is this is not my year, this is not
Speaker 1: our year. Let's get the hell out of here and
Speaker 1: hit the reset button. Uh. So, a good fight by
Speaker 1: the Texans, but the Colts take care of business. They've
Speaker 1: won three straight, they retain a share of the a
Speaker 1: f C South lead with the Titans, and uh they
Speaker 1: survive and they advanced greg even though maybe it's not
Speaker 1: the uh type of win Colts fans want to see
Speaker 1: against a lesser Texans team. Yeah, division games, they know
Speaker 1: each other so well, especially watching that game two weeks
Speaker 1: ago so closely. I'm not surprised because they looked about
Speaker 1: as even as can be. But DeForrest Buckner who got
Speaker 1: injured on Thursday, to to play this game on limited
Speaker 1: snaps and and hurt and get three sacks, um is
Speaker 1: kind of under underscores what he's meant to this team.
Speaker 1: It hasn't always shown up in the box score. Today
Speaker 1: he did it did and he dominated well. And to
Speaker 1: see great players made great plays. Darius Landard the play
Speaker 1: he made on that fumble, come from behind and swatt
Speaker 1: it out, just punched that ball out, perfect time and placement.
Speaker 1: Good for him, and that was the key in the game.
Speaker 1: It's uh. I mean, it just shows you. With the Texans,
Speaker 1: they lost by six in overtime to Tennessee. They lost
Speaker 1: to the Colts by six and seven points a year
Speaker 1: ago when trilling at halftime. They were four and five
Speaker 1: in those games, oh and nine this year and one
Speaker 1: score games they were seven and three a year ago,
Speaker 1: two and six. And it's like you've got a quarterback
Speaker 1: operating at the highest level of doing everything he possibly Again,
Speaker 1: he's had nobody's at wide receiver weeks in a row
Speaker 1: and they're still hanging around. So, I mean, there is
Speaker 1: I think if you get a new coaching staff in
Speaker 1: here like there is, you could just say you have
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson will figure the rest of this thing out. Um.
Speaker 1: The Cults are a better football team this year. I'm
Speaker 1: encouraged to see they can run the ball um at
Speaker 1: this point in the year. Jonathan Taylor had sixteen carries
Speaker 1: for eighty three yards and a touchdown. He looked especially
Speaker 1: good early on in the game. And he's just a
Speaker 1: you know, a great tough runner, um and his rise
Speaker 1: has been important to them and will continue to be
Speaker 1: important to them. Philip Rivers he's you know, he really
Speaker 1: does gain from that. He was twenty yards and two scores, so, um,
Speaker 1: you put that together. Darius Leonard makes the big play
Speaker 1: Deforrece Buckner has the huge game. It was, you know,
Speaker 1: the culture, a well rounded team and they get They
Speaker 1: have a great kicker in Rodrigo Blanket Ship who kicked
Speaker 1: another nails d plus yard field goal. He's been doing
Speaker 1: that all year. Um. It's just a great balanced team
Speaker 1: and uh, they're going to be a trouble for somebody
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. They did not feel like a twelve
Speaker 1: and four team, but that is on the table right now.
Speaker 1: All right. Another team that is surging right now, the
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens. They got the Jacksonville Jaguars at home. It
Speaker 1: went as we thought it would. Jackson wants to throw
Speaker 1: back pedaling at the twenty. Now he'll dart over to
Speaker 1: the left, extends the play fires at the end, yall
Speaker 1: touchdown Dez Bryant his first as a Raven and I'll
Speaker 1: flash the X to the stands. I'm so happy for
Speaker 1: this man. Yeah, we were just talking about that mark
Speaker 1: on the Thursday night game last week. That would have
Speaker 1: been a for a guy that made it all the
Speaker 1: way back. And then Blue was Achilles with the Saints
Speaker 1: last year, and then for that ridiculous covid UH designation
Speaker 1: he got hit with, not that it was ridiculous, but
Speaker 1: the timing of it with the Cowboys game coming up
Speaker 1: for him now to score his first touchdown in years,
Speaker 1: that's nice. Jerry Sandusky w b a L. No drama
Speaker 1: for the Ravens this week. Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes,
Speaker 1: ran for another score. Ravens built up a twenty six
Speaker 1: point halftime lead, coasted to a fourteen win mark. The
Speaker 1: Ravens are back. There's no doubt about that. Man. They
Speaker 1: are If you're gonna get this version of Baltimore, and
Speaker 1: why aren't we going to get it? This is who
Speaker 1: they are right now. Um. They lead in yardage two
Speaker 1: twenty one to sixties sixty one. At halftime. And this
Speaker 1: is where you get a little bit concerned about your gardner.
Speaker 1: Minshew hopes and dreams just they just they had they
Speaker 1: had no chance in this game. Lamar Jackson started a
Speaker 1: little rough and tumbly. He was picked off in the
Speaker 1: end zone on their first drive. But then right away
Speaker 1: the Ravens defense stepped up and dropped Minshew for a safety. Uh.
Speaker 1: Then the Ravens just got going. On their next drive,
Speaker 1: it was suddenly nine nothing and like you know, you
Speaker 1: know how we do this one is are just like
Speaker 1: this game was over four minutes ago, but as officially
Speaker 1: over right now. They ran all over ja Xonville to me,
Speaker 1: you know. And I will say one weird thing. This
Speaker 1: game had a safety. The Eagles game that I covered
Speaker 1: had a safe, had a safety, and the Detroit game
Speaker 1: that I covered had a safety. I cannot remember a
Speaker 1: time in my life when I covered three games on
Speaker 1: a Sunday that all had safeties. I guarantee you that's
Speaker 1: never happened. Let Sports Bureau, I'll call him up. Sure,
Speaker 1: I'll call him up. Um. Yeah, the Dez Bryant was
Speaker 1: it was to me, I think a little bit of um,
Speaker 1: a little spice about what this team is right now,
Speaker 1: Like that thing could have gone differently and it would
Speaker 1: just sort of show the Ravens and and you know, Dan,
Speaker 1: you mentioned that you thought they were gonna win out
Speaker 1: and Um, I'm with you. They're gonna go eleven and
Speaker 1: five and they're a very dangerous team right now. Janak
Speaker 1: and got Way had a fumble recovery. It's sort of
Speaker 1: seemed like everyone um took out a lot of aggression
Speaker 1: and anger on the on the Jaguars today, who do
Speaker 1: not look to me um any better than the Jets. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's that's a big power ranking's decision to make video
Speaker 1: that is that's gonna be that'll keep you up at night.
Speaker 1: Speaking of let's call the Associated Press on that. This
Speaker 1: is the This is my favorite thing. By the way,
Speaker 1: speaking of Gardner Minshew, this is the greatest Gardner Minshew
Speaker 1: stat line ever. He's the best of this. Two six yards,
Speaker 1: two touchdowns, no interceptions, a passer rating, final score four Ravens.
Speaker 1: He's good at that. His numbers always look good, even
Speaker 1: when the score doesn't look so good. Mm hmm. Ravens
Speaker 1: gotta feel good just throwing the ball a little bit.
Speaker 1: They gotta throw they know they know who they are,
Speaker 1: but they also need to have some efficiency throwing. So
Speaker 1: I don't care if it's against Jacksonville's B teamers or what,
Speaker 1: just to get something going in terms of Lamar's yards
Speaker 1: per tempt like he did, you know in the crunch
Speaker 1: time against Cleveland. That's a good thing, all right. Now
Speaker 1: it is that time, yes, where we say goodbye to
Speaker 1: once one handsome bald man and say hello to another.
Speaker 1: Nick Shook, welcome to the show, Chris Westling. Any final
Speaker 1: thoughts before you signed off for another night. Oh, it's good.
Speaker 1: Didn't make it through and this was a tough one
Speaker 1: for me, so Shook. Bring that energy level up for
Speaker 1: the other guys there. God, you have west great lawyer.
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Mr Westling. Uh, the wife and I have
Speaker 1: a delivery head in your way. Uh, Chris, So stay tuned,
Speaker 1: stay by the door, stare at the door. That will
Speaker 1: give you something to do this week. All right, let's
Speaker 1: continue to roll through the rest of the week. Fifteen
Speaker 1: Sunday schedule up next, The Throne of Ease in Trouble.
Speaker 1: They're gonna go for it on four thousand three, Damn
Speaker 1: Newton shotgun quick Myers in motion let's come on, and
Speaker 1: they got to him. They caught her. It's a it's
Speaker 1: ninth sack of the year. I've been stuck on eight.
Speaker 1: Good to see him get nine. And what a great
Speaker 1: time to get it. Jimmy just all but end the
Speaker 1: football game. Jimmy Well, I'm agnanimous of er Jimmy Cefalo
Speaker 1: and Jason Taylor with the call w q A M. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the big stop at the game on Cam Newton clinched it.
Speaker 1: Undrafted rookie Salvin Ahmed and veteran Matt Breida combined for
Speaker 1: two eight yards rushing to leave. The Dolphins played twenty
Speaker 1: two to twelve victory over the Patriots. The Patriots who
Speaker 1: have been eliminated from postseason contention. It's the first year
Speaker 1: they will not be in the playoffs. Way back with
Speaker 1: two thousand eight, that was the Tom Brady for an
Speaker 1: A c L season shook. Uh, how did this one go? Twelve?
Speaker 1: A slock? Yeah, a little bit of a slog, especially
Speaker 1: in the first half, and and kind of like what
Speaker 1: I wrote in uh and what we learned for this
Speaker 1: in a game between Bill Belichick and a guy who
Speaker 1: used to serve on his staff in Brian Flores I mean,
Speaker 1: could we really expect anything other than that we're gonna get,
Speaker 1: you know, a total of sixteen points by the late
Speaker 1: third quarter between these two teams. You know, it's pretty
Speaker 1: much I was like, yeah, alright, this this makes sense, um,
Speaker 1: But the Dolphins gotta give him credit and really gives
Speaker 1: to a talk a lot of credit as well, uh
Speaker 1: for picking it up in the in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: And the fun thing about watching the Dolphins in a
Speaker 1: week to week basis with two at quarterback is every
Speaker 1: time you go through the course of the game, he
Speaker 1: makes a mistake early or or he's just a little
Speaker 1: slow to react and it costs the Dolphins any key
Speaker 1: situation early and then he runs into another similar situation
Speaker 1: later in that same game and learns from it and
Speaker 1: applies what he's learned to make the best out of
Speaker 1: a situation. Whereas like in this game, for example, he
Speaker 1: was on New England's three, he threw an interception. Uh,
Speaker 1: they didn't come in with any points there, obviously they
Speaker 1: cut You find themselves in the same situation early fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: he takes it himself, escapes the rush, gets across the
Speaker 1: goal line for the first of two rushing touchdowns for him, so, um,
Speaker 1: you know, they kind of came to life as he
Speaker 1: got more comfortable, which is something that you see in
Speaker 1: a weekly basis with him, is throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the game, he just gets more comfortable and kind of
Speaker 1: sparks their offense. Statistically, it's not there for him right now,
Speaker 1: but that's okay because as they have a running game
Speaker 1: that they can rely on, Uh, you know with Uh
Speaker 1: Ahmed and uh and Matt Brita who you know, twelve
Speaker 1: rushes for eighty six yards today looking as fast as ever. Um,
Speaker 1: they played with some decisiveness offensively in the second half
Speaker 1: and really executed better than I thought that they would
Speaker 1: or that they have in a while. But yet we
Speaker 1: had to fight through a little bit of that mud
Speaker 1: in the first half between two very good defensive coaches.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're they're missing Grant Parker and Gisicky and
Speaker 1: I came into this game thinking they're gonna win because
Speaker 1: flores is the chosen one. And you watch this in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, the Belichick disciples. Wasn't Mangini, It's
Speaker 1: definitely not Patricia, wasn't McDaniels. Floress team comes together, they're
Speaker 1: greater than the some of their parts like those Oh
Speaker 1: one Patriots marks mentioned throughout, And isn't this, uh such
Speaker 1: a No. One Patriots type of game where all your
Speaker 1: skill position guys are hurt and you go win the
Speaker 1: game with Durham Smith, Lynn Bowden and Isaiah Ford as
Speaker 1: your top three, none of whom like, we're teams that
Speaker 1: guys anyone really wanted. The Raiders gave up on butt them,
Speaker 1: The Dolphins gave up on Foard they traded him to
Speaker 1: the Dollar, the Patriots a month ago. They're only taking
Speaker 1: them back because they're in desperation mode. Um, it's I'm
Speaker 1: just not surprised because there's you just watch them each
Speaker 1: week and I think they're really well coached. They have
Speaker 1: a maybe they have a low ceiling, but I don't
Speaker 1: know in the in the a f C, Like, what
Speaker 1: does that even mean in in a single game elimination tournament.
Speaker 1: You're telling me they wouldn't have a chance against you know, anyone,
Speaker 1: maybe not the Chiefs, but against just about anyone else. Well,
Speaker 1: this is gonna be really cliche, but they're winning with defense,
Speaker 1: and defense can win you a game in the playoffs
Speaker 1: if you get to the playoffs, And right now they're
Speaker 1: in a pretty good position. And it's hard to argue
Speaker 1: with where they stand right now because week after week,
Speaker 1: whether it's against the Chiefs they lost a close to
Speaker 1: one last week, they were very competitive, or it's against
Speaker 1: the Patriots, who obviously at the Patriots of old, but
Speaker 1: are still a team that you have to expect that
Speaker 1: you have to you have to come out and play
Speaker 1: really good football in order to beat them. They've done
Speaker 1: it on a week to week basis. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: think you're right, Greg. The ceiling is not super high
Speaker 1: to us. Still a rookie and they're missing those guys
Speaker 1: like you mentioned, But they're a team that you have
Speaker 1: to watch and you have to take seriously because of
Speaker 1: how well coached there, and they had an attitude. Man,
Speaker 1: they really play with an attitude, especially the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. They really embody their coach. What a turnaround,
Speaker 1: What a turnaround. I thought that really stood out when
Speaker 1: they got into you know, huge fights on the field
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, and it was Flores who
Speaker 1: led the charge marching out onto the field. I mean
Speaker 1: you think I think I could tell you a lot
Speaker 1: of coaches are not going to do that, and um,
Speaker 1: they may not have the highest ceiling on defense or
Speaker 1: offense or special teams, but the floor for each of
Speaker 1: those UM is impressive. They're very watchable, they're very balanced,
Speaker 1: and yes we've said it, they're well coached and what
Speaker 1: a day. I mean that if I were to point
Speaker 1: to one thing, it's because of injuries and other stuff
Speaker 1: that is not worked for them. They could not support
Speaker 1: to UH with a ground game through so many of
Speaker 1: these weeks and to today with all the guys you
Speaker 1: mentioned out of the lineup UM, the fluid and fluidity
Speaker 1: and flexibility to go run for two hundred and fifty yards.
Speaker 1: That reminds me of the Patriots when a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys are going on, we're just gonna change who we
Speaker 1: are going to throw it an attack in a different way.
Speaker 1: Ahmed who was actually he's had a couple of good games,
Speaker 1: So I mean they find dudes to step up, and
Speaker 1: it's every week it's different names. So I'm with you
Speaker 1: that in the A s c UM they could pick
Speaker 1: off anyone they called. They made life difficult for Patrick Mahomes.
Speaker 1: It's not enough, but they but whether they're one of
Speaker 1: the few teams that did that. By what was a
Speaker 1: thirty yard stack, the worst stack of Mahomes career. I mean,
Speaker 1: so today they went and put it to a um
Speaker 1: an offense that has a putrid smell attached to it.
Speaker 1: In New England, the Patriots have been sent off to
Speaker 1: the cornfields before Christmas. It's it's kind of hard to
Speaker 1: believe after all these years, that's your Christmas gift in
Speaker 1: from us? How did Scotzolac take it? And the snapbacks
Speaker 1: you didn't get, fourth down captains and troubles cat has
Speaker 1: got a good stack, and kep saying anything to the
Speaker 1: Dolphins are celebrating, So it really it was the kif
Speaker 1: that song given he's a Jelly of the Month club.
Speaker 1: What does that mean? Jelly of the month club? Like
Speaker 1: a low wattage gift or I guess you keep getting it,
Speaker 1: he said, the gift that keeps on giving. So I'm
Speaker 1: guessing he's like talking about turnovers or giving away negative
Speaker 1: plays and you get one each week or month. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know they didn't hire Zolac for his word play.
Speaker 1: It was just that, you know that that bright intelligence.
Speaker 1: All right, let's there's gotta be more. Is there anything else?
Speaker 1: There's two thousand eight last time of the Patriots did
Speaker 1: not make the playoffs until campaign. That's gross. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'd rather take one like the Ramps. I guess the
Speaker 1: team that okay on paper and structuring, coaching, there's a
Speaker 1: lot better on us right now. You could take it
Speaker 1: your tail kick like that, not from this or unmanned
Speaker 1: team just took it to you down in South Florida. Oh,
Speaker 1: the disrespect of the Dolphins, right he referred to them
Speaker 1: as a unmanned team. Undermanned, undermanned they were because they
Speaker 1: were banged up, you know, because they were missing, because
Speaker 1: they were because they won in the same way. And
Speaker 1: that's why I've I've believed in them. They went in
Speaker 1: the same way every week and every losing team like
Speaker 1: trying to turn it away from the Patriots and back
Speaker 1: to the Dolphins page. Take us, take us through your
Speaker 1: thought process right now, Greg, it's finally over. You're just
Speaker 1: another This is it. I came into this game with
Speaker 1: living and dying on it, and it it hurts. It
Speaker 1: hurts us one of us well. And he's the lack
Speaker 1: of saying he would rather lose to the Jets. We
Speaker 1: could arrange that two weeks from now, Mrs Alack, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I guess I had so low never it
Speaker 1: was never to it. You. You are more invested in
Speaker 1: this team than than I have been, and I'm I'm
Speaker 1: happy for you. Dan Well. I I mean, listen, I
Speaker 1: get things all wrong all the time, we all mess up,
Speaker 1: but I have this one nailed. I knew the Patriots
Speaker 1: are in trouble with Cam Newton and wait, you told
Speaker 1: me all season that I was. Wait, you actually many
Speaker 1: times kept saying all season like you're way too done.
Speaker 1: I don't know why you don't think they're contenders. I
Speaker 1: was like, I don't. Never I think there are six
Speaker 1: or seven win team, like back in Week three. I
Speaker 1: have never come off my messaging that the Patriots were
Speaker 1: a seven to nine win team that was not special.
Speaker 1: And and when everybody was going nuts about about Cam
Speaker 1: and everything early in the season, it never I never
Speaker 1: called on. Maybe I just because I didn't want it
Speaker 1: to cut catch on, but it never did. And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, are we gonna see Jared's Stidham the rest
Speaker 1: of the year. That's that's something I think they're telling
Speaker 1: us what they think about Jared Stidham. Oh that's true too,
Speaker 1: all right, And Scott hanging there. I'm sure there's another
Speaker 1: generational quarterback right around the corner for you. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on finally, San Francisco at Dallas, Dalton's under sudder.
Speaker 1: Why he's gonna give it a Pollard calling on the
Speaker 1: right side, first down rights to tackle, running the light off,
Speaker 1: Tony Color straight tip touchdown roun Tony Pollard. Zekiel Elliott
Speaker 1: was a late scratch on Sunday. So Tony steps up
Speaker 1: and plays like a star. Scores twice, including that game
Speaker 1: ice and forty yard scamper. Late in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: they added another touchdown on a Seedee Lamb on side
Speaker 1: kick recovery, and the Cowboys keep their playoff hopes alive
Speaker 1: with a three win over the Forts. What a world,
Speaker 1: Nick Shook? What a world? Yeah? What a world? I mean,
Speaker 1: you don't help yourself when you when you go down
Speaker 1: to Dallas, you're already underman. Speaking of underman, the Niners
Speaker 1: are probably the most underman team in football, or one
Speaker 1: of the three most undermanned. Uh. And you immediately turn
Speaker 1: the ball over twice deep in your own territory and
Speaker 1: basically gift them two scores, and you dig yourself a
Speaker 1: fourteen nothing hole before you can even blink. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's how fast it was. Um, you don't give Nick
Speaker 1: Mollins the ball expecting to throw you in to a
Speaker 1: multi score comeback win. And yet there they were right
Speaker 1: there in perfect position, and then gave it away again
Speaker 1: Mollins with a crushing interception late. And then see Lamb
Speaker 1: showing off his athleticism after they get a field goal
Speaker 1: to try to cut it to a one score game
Speaker 1: and he takes the onside kickback for a touchdown. It
Speaker 1: entered the realm of the absurd by the end, capped
Speaker 1: by the Tony Pollard touchdown. It's probably not what we expected.
Speaker 1: We might have expected a lot of points or a
Speaker 1: decent amount of points from the Niners, considering the Dallas's
Speaker 1: defense is still a mess. But you didn't expect it
Speaker 1: to blow up like this and and have people, you know,
Speaker 1: celebrating on a Sunday in December and what was what
Speaker 1: could be a lost season if that division wasn't so bad.
Speaker 1: I had so much hope for this Niners team, and
Speaker 1: I think that there they seem, you know, and it's understandable,
Speaker 1: sort of psychologically broken. At this point. They've used over
Speaker 1: seventy five players. Um this season. You know, it's easy
Speaker 1: to forget, but they were forced to move to a
Speaker 1: different city a couple of weeks ago, and I think
Speaker 1: it's just added up to be too much, and it's
Speaker 1: too much to overcome. And you know, now it's we
Speaker 1: we learned today that not surprisingly that Jimmy g won't
Speaker 1: play again this year. Why would he? Um? But I
Speaker 1: wonder if I'll ever play again for them. It's it's
Speaker 1: it's one of those lingering offseason questions. And um, I
Speaker 1: don't need the Cowboys to go on a run here
Speaker 1: and make the playoffs. And I would hope their fan
Speaker 1: base doesn't need that either, but I'm sure they say
Speaker 1: they do. I'm not. I'm not getting sucked in that
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are gonna follow this up with another big performance.
Speaker 1: But I mean, if you told the Cowboys fans six
Speaker 1: weeks ago that you're gonna enter Week sixteen with a
Speaker 1: chance to win the divisions, so you think, really, if
Speaker 1: you told them on Thanksgiving after they got destroyed, uh
Speaker 1: in their building, if you that they were gonna have
Speaker 1: a chance to win the division, however slim it maybe? Uh?
Speaker 1: So you know you have that you get to celebrate
Speaker 1: Christmas and then look ahead to a game that matters,
Speaker 1: which I don't think anybody predicted, so well, someone's gotta win.
Speaker 1: They play the Eagles, so one of them, one of
Speaker 1: them is gonna win. And then that is a true
Speaker 1: elimination game. You don't get a ton of those, not
Speaker 1: even just met a oracle like like the Vikings are
Speaker 1: you know, technically still alive. Actually, that is a true
Speaker 1: elimination game. And C. J. Beathard, by the way, will
Speaker 1: be starting for the forty Niners the final two weeks.
Speaker 1: Shanahan confirmed what was the what was it? Did he
Speaker 1: play play the sec now he came in for a
Speaker 1: junk drive? But what's the Mullins got hurt too, but
Speaker 1: he said, regardless of the injury, is going to give
Speaker 1: Beth to Mullins is killing you with two or three
Speaker 1: um disastrous throws the game outside of being otherwise sort
Speaker 1: of productive. It's yeah that in the Niners, you know,
Speaker 1: with all the injuries and everything that dealt with, they
Speaker 1: also have not taken care of the ball. Uh. The
Speaker 1: negative eleven UH turnover differential one of the one of
Speaker 1: the worst in the league. And it's gonna kill you.
Speaker 1: No matter who's in the field. And Zeke missed missed
Speaker 1: with this caffe injury that's been lingering. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a high paid veteran running back coming off his
Speaker 1: worst season of his career, and he wally pip possibility
Speaker 1: here with Tony Pollard. Did you did you like the
Speaker 1: white Pollard look or was this seemed like a one
Speaker 1: off for you show? I mean it depends do we
Speaker 1: take this seriously to get sucked into the whole playoff hunt?
Speaker 1: Because is this a team? This is gonna be my
Speaker 1: question earlier? Is this a team that even if they
Speaker 1: made the playoffs? I mean, you're I just mean Pollard? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean he had that nice touchdown run at the
Speaker 1: end of the game. Um, he's he's a nice complimentary
Speaker 1: back to I think what Ezekiel Elliott is which better back.
Speaker 1: He's a better back than Ezekiel out today. I thought
Speaker 1: that is going to help their offense. I don't think
Speaker 1: you're gonna watches the Cowboys can argue otherwise this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: That's the thing is Zeke has had a bad year.
Speaker 1: He's looked bad for the entirety of this season. And
Speaker 1: Tony Pollard when you come to the change of pace
Speaker 1: is faster, he's he's shiftier, he's smaller. Um, yeah, he's
Speaker 1: a better option right now, which is sad to say
Speaker 1: considering how much money they're paying Zeke. But again, how
Speaker 1: much do we really you know stock we're putting into this?
Speaker 1: You know, are we are we paying attention to the Cowboys?
Speaker 1: You know we're really watching closely in the final couple
Speaker 1: of weeks, um, you know there they could have a
Speaker 1: home game in the playoff break their way. Um. And
Speaker 1: while I check over the cap dot com to see
Speaker 1: what the salary situation is for Ezekiel Elliott, we pause
Speaker 1: now before heading to Sunday Night Football Night, Jones and
Speaker 1: motion Mayfield? Who's right for Landry? Who holds on for
Speaker 1: the touchcot? It was that easy for the Cleveland Browns
Speaker 1: on Sunday Night. Is Baker Mayfield? That's twenty seven of
Speaker 1: thirty two for two touchdowns, no interceptions, two nineties seven yards,
Speaker 1: actually had three hundreds and lost then and I coulive play.
Speaker 1: But that's the only negative thing for the Browns in
Speaker 1: a twenty six win over the New York Giants, taking
Speaker 1: Cleveland one step closer to her first playoff appearance over
Speaker 1: a decade. Here we are with two of the biggest
Speaker 1: ground stands you'll find, Nick Shook and Mark Sessler. Shook,
Speaker 1: I'll start with you. Uh, this is what they've done
Speaker 1: all year, show kie. They take care of business. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean another complete performance. Um. I'm a little concerned
Speaker 1: about their ability to stop the run. Showed up kind
Speaker 1: of early. But uh, for the most part, I mean
Speaker 1: they maker Mayfield with a solid game. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: they had a good pace offensively, he was letting it ripped.
Speaker 1: There were nine for thirteen on third down. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: there's nothing to really complain about when the Browns have
Speaker 1: the football. Um, even after they suffered an injury right
Speaker 1: guard when they lost Chris Hubbard who was playing for
Speaker 1: White Teller who was inactive, and then the late round
Speaker 1: pick Nick Harris comes in. I was a big fan
Speaker 1: of him out of Washington. It was nice to see
Speaker 1: him play well, uh, coming in and relief his first
Speaker 1: big time professional action in his first year. So, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, this is what I expected this from the Browns.
Speaker 1: I'm sure these amount of people did. Um, and they
Speaker 1: keep moving forward. Greg, you're smiling, what's up? Well, it's
Speaker 1: just it's just like the Browns are it's like making
Speaker 1: the playoffs for the first time in thirteen years, and
Speaker 1: it's just like ho hum the brown you know, it's
Speaker 1: just like moving forward. It's almost like they're so good,
Speaker 1: they're they're boring. It's amazing. Wait, I don't know now,
Speaker 1: but they're they're all, they're all. But well then, so
Speaker 1: they could have slipped up here and that would have
Speaker 1: been um egregious on a day when everyone else that
Speaker 1: mattered in the A F C. One. Um, And it
Speaker 1: kind of felt this game to me. I mean, part
Speaker 1: of it is because we take part of our show
Speaker 1: and then you you dive into SNF when it's when
Speaker 1: when we're done with that. But um, to me, sort
Speaker 1: of like when you when we when we used to
Speaker 1: go to work, we go to the office and you'd
Speaker 1: have a day like a random Wednesday. That meant I
Speaker 1: don't have real memories from it. Um, I didn't do
Speaker 1: anything terribly wrong. I got the job done. For the
Speaker 1: most part. That felt like this Browns game. And it's
Speaker 1: weird that, um, that's actually a win for them. I'm
Speaker 1: so with you. Shook On the offensive line performance, Bill
Speaker 1: Callahan has been the secret Sauce the All Star for
Speaker 1: this coaching staff, and um, Nick Harris played really well,
Speaker 1: and it was pointed out by Chris Collinsworth, UM smartly.
Speaker 1: I don't know. My thing with the Browns is this,
Speaker 1: like when you get this version of Baker Mayfield where
Speaker 1: he's not making big miss stakes and stuff like, um,
Speaker 1: they thrive and it was. It was sort of just
Speaker 1: a workman like performance. And I my my concern, like
Speaker 1: the the jaded Browns fan version of me, is just
Speaker 1: don't go in and drop these two games to New
Speaker 1: York and have like this season and in total calamity.
Speaker 1: And so you're halfway from that not happening. That is
Speaker 1: what I've thought about deep in the middle of the night. Um,
Speaker 1: that's where I'm at mentally, and so take care of
Speaker 1: your business and you move on for another week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the point I was gonna make, is it Old Browns?
Speaker 1: The old Browns would lose this game. The old Browns
Speaker 1: would that that fake field goal would work, uh, and
Speaker 1: the Giants would have scored a touchdown and and the Browns,
Speaker 1: the old Browns would have fallen apart. They would have
Speaker 1: lost this one. It would have stretched in the next
Speaker 1: week they would have lost the Jets and it would
Speaker 1: have fallen apart like Mark described. But that's not this team,
Speaker 1: which is exciting to see. It's ho hum. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: there was probably eight or nine minutes left in the
Speaker 1: fourth and I was watching with my girlfriend and I
Speaker 1: just looked her and said, this game is over, like
Speaker 1: there's there's we could do the majority of our recap
Speaker 1: right now because the majority of this game is over.
Speaker 1: And that's a that's a really good thing for the
Speaker 1: Browns who have not been that team in twenty years,
Speaker 1: if not in most of your lifetime, I mean, like
Speaker 1: the vast majorities of your lifetime. I thought that Joe
Speaker 1: Judge Um called this game for the Giants with almost
Speaker 1: an admirable level of desperation. He knew he was in
Speaker 1: a lot of trouble here with Colt McCoy is his
Speaker 1: quarterback and um Freddy Kitchens as his offensive coordinator. And
Speaker 1: you saw that when they go into the red zone
Speaker 1: um three times and the three first three possessions. But
Speaker 1: like we said, going for it on fourth down that
Speaker 1: didn't work, trying a fake field goal that didn't work.
Speaker 1: It was just not gonna happen. And the way things
Speaker 1: are with Colt McCoy. Yeah, he's had good for Colt McCoy,
Speaker 1: he's set himself up for life over the last ten years,
Speaker 1: being a backup for most of those years. But he's
Speaker 1: a tough guy to watch, to be honest. And that's
Speaker 1: why this game definitely felt very much in the bag
Speaker 1: once the Browns went up by two scores because the
Speaker 1: Giants just didn't have the firepower. Yeah, came down to
Speaker 1: those two plays, the fake field goal and uh they
Speaker 1: failed fourth down in the red zone. But it just
Speaker 1: got me thinking this game, I mean, there's only fourteen
Speaker 1: drives in the whole game. I'm big in the drives
Speaker 1: and like and two of them were the Giants kneel
Speaker 1: on it once at the end of the second quarter.
Speaker 1: And then there was like a minute at the end
Speaker 1: where Garrett got a sack, uh, where the Giants weren't
Speaker 1: trying to do anything. It was really twelve drives in
Speaker 1: this game. For comparison, like the forty Niners and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys each had fourteen drives. And so I'm thinking back
Speaker 1: to and I'm thinking Mark Sessler fell in love with
Speaker 1: those old Callahan Washington are works and he was just
Speaker 1: like Hey, they might be losing, but they go on
Speaker 1: these long drives and they get Mark righting up to
Speaker 1: what we learned nice and early. And that's what these
Speaker 1: Browns are. Callahan, he heard Mark. He went to Cleveland.
Speaker 1: And this is what they do each and every week
Speaker 1: their touchdown drives. Thirteen play seventy five yards, ten plays
Speaker 1: nine yards, fourteen play a hundred and fifteen yards if
Speaker 1: you count the the extra yards they had the game
Speaker 1: for penalties. Like, that's what the Browns do. And they
Speaker 1: kind of do it every week. They usually do it
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. Now they do it a little earlier,
Speaker 1: and they're doing it all for Mark Sessler. And it
Speaker 1: really is it just and for Nick Shook and and
Speaker 1: for and for Cleveland. And it's um to me, uh
Speaker 1: what the difference is with Kevin Stefanski. And it's nice
Speaker 1: to watch the game this time, Dan, I didn't watch
Speaker 1: it in the garage. For a couple of minutes. I did,
Speaker 1: then I went right back inside. I watched it with Simone,
Speaker 1: and Simone doesn't hate watching Kevin Stefanski coach of football game.
Speaker 1: I think, um, there would be other people that would
Speaker 1: agree with that. But you're right, Greg, that Bill Callahans,
Speaker 1: you're saying your wife's hot for Stefanski. Is that what
Speaker 1: you're saying to the point where like she likes watching
Speaker 1: the game war just because he's I'm just saying she
Speaker 1: noted that he was not. You know, among the there's
Speaker 1: the Vic Fangio's. I'm not saying he's an older man.
Speaker 1: But then there's the Kevin Stefans Ken Stefanski sex got
Speaker 1: angle harder than Mark. He ever connect out at a
Speaker 1: certain point. I don't know. I don't know about that
Speaker 1: part of the god um the god aspect, but I
Speaker 1: would say he's you know, he's a new a new age,
Speaker 1: new wave coach young. Um Oh, I don't have to
Speaker 1: gain a hundred and fifty pounds because I'm coaching a
Speaker 1: football team between August and December. It's like I actually
Speaker 1: can keep my shape. Um, I will keep my wits
Speaker 1: about me. Um. I love I just I think that
Speaker 1: hep side. If he gained a hundred pounds, maybe they'd
Speaker 1: be undefeated right now. Did you think of it that way? No,
Speaker 1: I definitely did not think of it that way. That
Speaker 1: makes literally no sense. But you don't want to paint
Speaker 1: yourself in a corner. What if, like year eight, you've
Speaker 1: got two super Bowls under your belt and he just
Speaker 1: starts letting it go, and you know he should at
Speaker 1: that point. I would love him to just balloon up.
Speaker 1: And I think Nick would Nick Shook would balloon up
Speaker 1: at that point two super Bowls, Like I think you
Speaker 1: already have ballooned up, if you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I mean, at that point, you're just riding out right
Speaker 1: in the wave. You're you're beyond it, You're but what's
Speaker 1: there to live for? You already achieved the success. Might
Speaker 1: as well just gorge yourself and all the train off
Speaker 1: the um. Alright, So the Browns ten and four they
Speaker 1: are ready, they are ready for January. The Giants um
Speaker 1: not out of it with the NFC East being the
Speaker 1: state that it's in, but obviously damaging loss of them.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna see how that all plays out. Before
Speaker 1: we signed off, let's check in on the lock of
Speaker 1: the week's standings. Greg finally takes an ol needed that
Speaker 1: we needed that Greg had the bad job. You know,
Speaker 1: just just go with your your head and your heart.
Speaker 1: Just go against the Patriots. That's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: Did in other forums and didn't have the guts to
Speaker 1: do it here on the season. Good job by you, Mark.
Speaker 1: You got behind your your hometown team. Well you're opted
Speaker 1: hometown team. Well you've never been in Cleveland before. But
Speaker 1: the Browns and the Browns win. I took the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs win, and Ricky oh, Ricky joined me with
Speaker 1: the Chiefs and and broke that curse as well. So
Speaker 1: good job everybody. Just tightened up the standings a little
Speaker 1: bit there, Greggy, And I know you act like it
Speaker 1: doesn't bother you, but you want it. You need it,
Speaker 1: you want that title. You want to go back to back.
Speaker 1: Just got a little trickier. Hey, it's always it's always
Speaker 1: gonna be um, yeah, it's always gonna come down to
Speaker 1: the final weeks, right. I guess it didn't last year,
Speaker 1: but you know that's what you expect with a bunch
Speaker 1: of competitors, you expect this thing to go to the end. Well,
Speaker 1: Well I'm competitivefessional answer. I liked it all right, good stuff, Shook,
Speaker 1: Thank you, good man, look at you shook. On top
Speaker 1: of the world. He's got a he's got a pricey
Speaker 1: condo high rise in Cleveland with the girl of his
Speaker 1: dreams eating popcorn and watching the Browns walked to a
Speaker 1: win on Sunday night with a with a little thing
Speaker 1: in his pocket. He's ready to pop out on Christmas Eve.
Speaker 1: Maybe even that's that's too much. I'm not sure what
Speaker 1: that means. You mean a ring Okay, yeah, no Stefanski
Speaker 1: situation there. And we'll be back on Tuesday. We have
Speaker 1: one more game from week fifteen that we'll be breaking down.
Speaker 1: That's uh, Steelers Bengals, and we have a Christmas week
Speaker 1: filled with content, so make sure you stick around for
Speaker 1: all that. Thank you all the listeners, and of course
Speaker 1: Chris Westling, who again week after week shows up for
Speaker 1: this show when he's not at a percent or close
Speaker 1: to it, and there's that's so commendable and we are
Speaker 1: proud to call him our friend. We love you west
Speaker 1: all right. That's stand hands a signing off for a
Speaker 1: quiet storm. The Old Boss Nick shook Ricky Hollywood behind
Speaker 1: the virtual glass until Tuesday