Speaker 1: To Be Around the NFL Podcast Are brows sometimes Welcome
Speaker 1: to another edition to Be Around the NFL Podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Dan Handless. I come to you from a
Speaker 1: virtual room filled with some heroes, Marxist Greg Rosen. What
Speaker 1: is up? Boards? We made it? You know week fifteen,
Speaker 1: you got the Saturday games. Uh, it means we're really here.
Speaker 1: We're really here. Where where are I don't know if
Speaker 1: we're to the point of the season where like Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler is like, Okay, we've made it to mid season
Speaker 1: that he can start planning his off season a little bit.
Speaker 1: We're towards the end. I think that's accurate. I mean
Speaker 1: this because you can sneaky think like, hey, there's all
Speaker 1: these tent pole moments that we've you know, well, you
Speaker 1: know there's still like nine more weeks of grueling action
Speaker 1: to get through. And um, you know, I'm not I
Speaker 1: don't see midpoint or anything at this point. Just keep rolling,
Speaker 1: put on the blinders and keep flying. Dan North. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I mean in past year is yeah, you can
Speaker 1: start to peek ahead. Because we're very lucky to have
Speaker 1: these jobs. We know that it's awesome working for the
Speaker 1: NFL and talking about football for a living. But by
Speaker 1: the time you get to the middle of December, there
Speaker 1: is a grind element to it. And then you take
Speaker 1: that little peek let's get through when there's all these
Speaker 1: bad teams playing, and then the fun little playoff jaunt
Speaker 1: and then you have a little bit of time to
Speaker 1: yourself to plan things, as you say, but no, there's
Speaker 1: no planning. There's a staggering pandemic upon us as well.
Speaker 1: So maybe we should justice like, stay in this world,
Speaker 1: live in this little bare den that we're in, and
Speaker 1: try to enjoy it is gone, then what do we
Speaker 1: have We don't We have The Australian Open starts like
Speaker 1: minutes after the Super Bowl, and so there you go. Oh,
Speaker 1: there we go. So everyone is all set. Um, Yes,
Speaker 1: this is week fifteen. This is our preview podcast where
Speaker 1: we go through every single game to come Thursday in
Speaker 1: the books. But we have two Saturday games. Always fun,
Speaker 1: always like Saturday games. I'm glad it came back. I
Speaker 1: felt like it was gone for a little while there,
Speaker 1: right earlier or in the middle of last decade, and
Speaker 1: now it's back, and it does it does remind me
Speaker 1: of the holiday season. I enjoy it and I sit
Speaker 1: down and I might have, you know, a Tito's I
Speaker 1: might enjoy myself a little bit in a way that
Speaker 1: I don't when it's Sunday. So that's looking forward to
Speaker 1: that and then a big slate of games on Sunday
Speaker 1: into Monday. Uh. And we do this when we go
Speaker 1: through the game's draft style and it just so happens.
Speaker 1: Now the old looser that's the first overall pick and
Speaker 1: the sitting right there staring him in the face. Potentially
Speaker 1: the game of the year, Kansas City Chiefs, that New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints, whoa potential Super Bowl preview in the super Dome.
Speaker 1: And what's not to love about this game? You have
Speaker 1: the Chiefs absolutely flying high, one loss all season, Patrick Mahomes,
Speaker 1: even last week against the Dolphins when he threw three interceptions,
Speaker 1: still showed how mighty he can be. And the rest
Speaker 1: of the team as well, McCole Hardman with the return
Speaker 1: for a touchdown, the defense getting stops when necessary. But
Speaker 1: you know, the Saints are the team that is more
Speaker 1: interesting to me right now, and we could start they're
Speaker 1: greg because, uh, we don't know quite what's going on
Speaker 1: quarterback situation right now. But the Saints have their first
Speaker 1: loss in two and a half months. Which version of
Speaker 1: the Saints shows up against a Super Bowl champion. I
Speaker 1: think a great version. I think people given up on
Speaker 1: the Saints team too quickly. They are number one in
Speaker 1: d v o A on Football Outsiders for a reason.
Speaker 1: They have been a top five franchise for the last
Speaker 1: four years. It is so hard to have that level
Speaker 1: of consistency. And right now they're kind of the Saints
Speaker 1: team that Saints fans always wanted, like one that can
Speaker 1: win with defense and an offensive line and a defensive line.
Speaker 1: And yeah, you lost in Philly. That was an embarrassing loss,
Speaker 1: but proud teams respond. And I'm like hearing all these
Speaker 1: Saints fans that are just chocking this up as an
Speaker 1: l oh wow, it's oh Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr
Speaker 1: and Drew Lock and ta, you know, had Chiefs on
Speaker 1: the ropes are in a close game in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: but oh my gosh, oh, the Saints couldn't possibly win
Speaker 1: a game against the Chiefs and this game doesn't even
Speaker 1: matter to the Chiefs. I think that means something in December,
Speaker 1: which game does it matter? For more? The Chiefs can
Speaker 1: lose this game and still win home field advantage. It's
Speaker 1: a big game for the Saints. I'm with you, Greg
Speaker 1: in the sense that I feel like Saints fans are
Speaker 1: real down on the team right now. And you know,
Speaker 1: Sean Payton Um acknowledged last week against Philly that their
Speaker 1: first half that was the flattest half of football they
Speaker 1: played all year. I thought they bounced back pretty well
Speaker 1: in the second half. That had a lot to do
Speaker 1: with Um. You know, the Eagles secondary being shredded by injuries.
Speaker 1: But this is the Chief's defense that is I think
Speaker 1: the very productive and underrated, but they are They're giving
Speaker 1: up the tenth most yards to UH mobile rushing quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: So that's that's not terrible for Taysom hill Um. I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I think that the Saints show up to
Speaker 1: this and are being a little bit undervalued nationally right now.
Speaker 1: I think I a lot to do with football is
Speaker 1: has so much recency bias that sometimes we almost refuse
Speaker 1: to even peer back beyond the most recent game. And
Speaker 1: that wasn't you know. Jalen Hurts brought a lot of
Speaker 1: electricity to to Philadelphia. No tape on the guy, and
Speaker 1: that can be a challenge. And I think that that
Speaker 1: maybe through the Saints off a little bit. Um, I
Speaker 1: think they'll respond. There's a lot of tape on the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: The problem is the Chiefs when the even like last
Speaker 1: week against the Dolphins, when they stumble into their own mistakes,
Speaker 1: they're so elastic they find a way to bounce back.
Speaker 1: I wonder if the Saints get into a hole offensively,
Speaker 1: can they bounce back. I feel like we're tilting it
Speaker 1: Windmills a little bit, acting like everyone doesn't believe in
Speaker 1: the Saints anymore. I I they have one loss, but
Speaker 1: they came off a nine game winning streak before. The
Speaker 1: Saints are fun, Saints are awesome. Uh, it's taste. It's taste.
Speaker 1: It's taste, and I get it. And you know he
Speaker 1: has the thing about taste them right now is that
Speaker 1: you don't know. What have we learned about Taysom Hill
Speaker 1: in these starts so far. I feel like I'm still
Speaker 1: kind of in the same place. I guess I have
Speaker 1: a little bit more confidence in him, in his ability
Speaker 1: to throw the ball and drive the ball downfield. Um,
Speaker 1: he's not a totally one dimensional guy. This is not
Speaker 1: Tim Tebow by any stretch. So that I learned, But
Speaker 1: did I learned that this guy is a true, uh
Speaker 1: you know, franchise level quarterback who can be the guy
Speaker 1: that replaces Drew Brees. I don't feel any more confident
Speaker 1: about that, and I don't think Sean Payton probably does either,
Speaker 1: if you if you asked him privately, like Mark, I
Speaker 1: know you and Sean Payton have rubbed shoulders literally if
Speaker 1: the scouting combine in the past. I don't know if
Speaker 1: you ever asked them that that question, but it does
Speaker 1: go back to a little bit. The Chiefs are so
Speaker 1: explosive on offense. If if they get out to a
Speaker 1: quick lead in this game, I don't think a Taysom
Speaker 1: Hill let offense is going to be able to combat that. Well.
Speaker 1: We we we touched very briefly. That's the last head
Speaker 1: coach that I had fisical contact with um and uh,
Speaker 1: you know he's he shared no secrets, but he did
Speaker 1: tell our friends Steve White and Jim Trotter that you know,
Speaker 1: he hinted on their on their show that he thought
Speaker 1: Sean that Drew Brees this was probably the last season
Speaker 1: he intoned that, and that Jamis Winston would have a chance,
Speaker 1: a full chance to compete against Taysom Hill. So I
Speaker 1: think that tells you up. I think you know it's
Speaker 1: early in the week, but Breeze was activated from injured reserve.
Speaker 1: He's throwing the ball of practice. They need to win
Speaker 1: this game. If Breeze has any chance to play, you're
Speaker 1: gonna play him this week and try to get that
Speaker 1: home field advantage so we might see him and it's
Speaker 1: the rest of the team that needs to step up.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs, by the way, could be missing their top
Speaker 1: three tackles. Eric Fisher now has a back injury. Mitchell
Speaker 1: Schwartz hasn't been there for a while, and this is
Speaker 1: not a defensive line in the Saints that you want
Speaker 1: to be banged up up front. This has not been
Speaker 1: a perfect Chiefs teams. They're great, they get it done,
Speaker 1: they win week after week, but I can't call them
Speaker 1: dominant when the defense has as many holes as they have,
Speaker 1: and right now their offensive line has some struggles. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and we're still waiting to see the Chiefs blow the
Speaker 1: doors off teams for four quarters. Maybe that's just not
Speaker 1: who they are. They do tend to lose focus sometimes,
Speaker 1: but this might be the type of game where they're
Speaker 1: gonna be so up forward and know the spotlight and
Speaker 1: it's a Tony Romo Jimmy Nance game that they are
Speaker 1: going to deliver that four quarter effort. You know what,
Speaker 1: you don't get a chance when we do our our lockings.
Speaker 1: We don't get the chance to lock up the Chiefs
Speaker 1: too often, okay, because they're such heavy favorites that we
Speaker 1: have a mirror test and we say, if you can't
Speaker 1: look in the mirror and lock a game up, uh,
Speaker 1: in good faith with yourself, don't do it well when
Speaker 1: it's a game like this, when it's a NFC favorite,
Speaker 1: Absolutely I can look in that mirror and say the
Speaker 1: Chiefs will win and I will lock it up in
Speaker 1: week fifteen, and I'm feeling pretty confident our coming off
Speaker 1: my lock off victory or with the Ravens over your brownies,
Speaker 1: so let's fly. Well. I like that. Um, you're not
Speaker 1: going to be having a lock off with me this
Speaker 1: week because I'm gonna be following suit. Um. I have
Speaker 1: not locked the Chiefs up all season, and I'm about
Speaker 1: to do it right now. And I don't really care
Speaker 1: what you think, Dan, It doesn't bother me at all
Speaker 1: what you think up going down. I picked the Saints
Speaker 1: to win this game. I'm not locking them up. But
Speaker 1: you're both going down and pick the Saints to win
Speaker 1: this game. I am hoping that Drew Brees is back.
Speaker 1: Drew Brees isn't playing. I might flip that pick, but
Speaker 1: I really think if they have Breeze and he's anywhere
Speaker 1: close to they have a good chance to win this game.
Speaker 1: They are better overall team and can win different sorts
Speaker 1: of ways. I don't I don't think it's a questionable
Speaker 1: lock at all. We don't. We don't need to hear
Speaker 1: about you picking the Saints. If you're not locking up
Speaker 1: the Saints, come on in. Keep the record you know
Speaker 1: on NFL dot Com. That's enough, that's right, Just go
Speaker 1: with it. No, I don't succume to peer pressure. You
Speaker 1: know me enough for that. All right. The draft now
Speaker 1: moves to Mark Sessler. All right, I'm gonna go take
Speaker 1: an early game, Patriots at Dolphins. I continue to be
Speaker 1: intrigued by this Dolphins team. I mentioned last week. I
Speaker 1: thought they were up for anything. UM. I didn't guarantee
Speaker 1: that they would beat the Chiefs, but I thought they
Speaker 1: played them tough, and a lot of the elements that
Speaker 1: we've seen from Miami UM showed up in that game.
Speaker 1: And you know, we were on this beat a while ago, Greg,
Speaker 1: and um, I'm gonna mention a research packet that our
Speaker 1: research team put out. We know all the parallels between
Speaker 1: this Dolphins team and the two thousand and one Patriots,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was interesting. This week our research
Speaker 1: department is now doing it and and believe me, I
Speaker 1: think actually the parallels exist if you would like to
Speaker 1: tell you not the Allia Sports Bureau, but they suggested
Speaker 1: as much. And um, you know, Brian Flores this week
Speaker 1: was asked, uh, you know, are your your defensive coach?
Speaker 1: How do you He said, hold on, I'm not a
Speaker 1: defensive coach. I'm just basically a football coach. I care
Speaker 1: about offense, defense, special teams. And that sounds like total
Speaker 1: coach data speak, except the Dolphins are that team week
Speaker 1: after week. And I think the Belichick sees that and
Speaker 1: recognizes that the Dolphins right now, you've got the Pats,
Speaker 1: the Raiders and the Bills to close your season. That
Speaker 1: is a rough and tumble, uh slate to try and
Speaker 1: get into this playoff picture. But I think they can
Speaker 1: do it. And it it's very interesting to me to
Speaker 1: watch the Patriots in a division where at this stage,
Speaker 1: they are watching other teams in the a f C
Speaker 1: East rise up while they move and shift into an
Speaker 1: offseason flushed with intense questions. I love this matchup. I'm
Speaker 1: with you, I uh, I think the parallels are there, Dan,
Speaker 1: very similar style of defense, maybe not as deep, but
Speaker 1: coming on strongly. Eight and five. That's the same record
Speaker 1: the Patriots had at this point. They didn't lose another
Speaker 1: game back in two thousand and one. You got Xavian Howard.
Speaker 1: Maybe that reminds me of the the two thousand nineteen
Speaker 1: Patriots with a defensive Player of the Year Canada at
Speaker 1: cornerback making plays every week. And we talked about the
Speaker 1: mirror tests. Dan and I get in in a few way.
Speaker 1: It can go a few different ways, because to me,
Speaker 1: this is the game I feel most confident about all week,
Speaker 1: that the Dolphins will take care of business, that they're better,
Speaker 1: they're barely favored, and I think a season we're a
Speaker 1: season's worth of the desert. Underestimating the Dolphins and overestimating
Speaker 1: the Patriots comes home to roost here because what do
Speaker 1: the Patriots do better than the Dolphins? Absolutely nothing on
Speaker 1: on either side of the ball. Um. But I looked
Speaker 1: in the mirror and like, I can't do it. I can't.
Speaker 1: I remember marked this once locking up against his own team,
Speaker 1: but it says like what sort of fun is the
Speaker 1: world if you're locking up against marrit So that didn't
Speaker 1: pass my own mirror tests. Even though I think the
Speaker 1: Dolphins will win. I mean, if you think of the
Speaker 1: Patriots are already pretty much dead in the water here
Speaker 1: obviously with their record UM at six and seven, but
Speaker 1: this is an elimination game for them. They have to
Speaker 1: win or it is over this incredible playoff streak. And
Speaker 1: then you look at rookie QBS or seven and T
Speaker 1: versus Belichick all time. I'm not saying that to A
Speaker 1: is going to go down in flames here, but would
Speaker 1: I be surprised if Belichick, with his back against the wall, uh,
Speaker 1: cooks up a stellar game plan against the kid. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: be totally stunned at all. But the problem is with
Speaker 1: the Patriots and this this is coming back now. It
Speaker 1: seems like a weekly thing. After they got spanked by
Speaker 1: the Rams last Thursday, Bill belichicked his asked is asked,
Speaker 1: is Cam Newton your quarterback? Starting quarterback next week? He
Speaker 1: says yes, he is, and it's always it doesn't really matter.
Speaker 1: Cam uh is no longer the same guy he used
Speaker 1: to be, and Jared's did him the quarterback hasn't given
Speaker 1: us any reason to think he's the answer, and the
Speaker 1: rest of the roster is simply not good enough. So
Speaker 1: who starts for the quarter at quarterback for the Panthers
Speaker 1: or for the Pats doesn't matter. It's more like Mark said,
Speaker 1: a question of what happens in the off season with
Speaker 1: the Patriots, that's the most interesting thing about them at
Speaker 1: this point. Yeah, I mean, I think there's clearly a
Speaker 1: lack of interest or faith in Jared's did him. I
Speaker 1: don't even know why the question keeps getting asked at
Speaker 1: this point. I mean, they would have put him in
Speaker 1: at multiple times, and I think there is, you know,
Speaker 1: some understanding that Cam Newton is what he is right now,
Speaker 1: but this offense is so limited and you know, like
Speaker 1: they played well with the Dolphins last time, but this
Speaker 1: is a Dolphins team that's different than the last time
Speaker 1: they met. I mean, to coax the Chiefs into four turnovers,
Speaker 1: that's the DNA of this defense, and it's someone different
Speaker 1: every week stepping up. So I just I'm kind of
Speaker 1: with you, Greg that I would be surprised if the
Speaker 1: Dolphins don't show up here entirely um create some havoc
Speaker 1: as they do on a weekly basis against a pretty
Speaker 1: defunct offense. I mean, the only way the Patriots are
Speaker 1: gonna put holes into Miami, I think is a is
Speaker 1: a tremendous rushing attack. Right, Well, they don't they play
Speaker 1: against the Miami strengths like, Okay, you're great blitzing, and
Speaker 1: you're great picking the ball off. We're never gonna throw it.
Speaker 1: And that's you know, That's what the Patriots I think
Speaker 1: will do. That's what they did in Week one. It worked.
Speaker 1: It can at least maybe keep the game close. At
Speaker 1: their defense play as well. But I really like what
Speaker 1: I've seen out of to a tongue of by Low.
Speaker 1: I don't think it totally shows up in the stats
Speaker 1: and everything that you see, but the injury apocalypse they
Speaker 1: had late in that game doesn't look like it's gonna
Speaker 1: hurt him. Pass this week looks like DeVante park Parker
Speaker 1: uh is back to, Kim Grant is back, Kyle van
Speaker 1: noy is back. Those are all key players. You don't
Speaker 1: get Mike KASICKI, but I think they have enough to
Speaker 1: get it done and stay in the race. This is
Speaker 1: almost a must win for them too. I really think
Speaker 1: they are going to gonna need to get to eleven
Speaker 1: wins to make the a f C playoffs. If they
Speaker 1: only got to win, it might might not be enough. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and there is the added benefit here. You get a high,
Speaker 1: you know, vitally important win here. Uh. You also say
Speaker 1: goodbye to the Patriots and kiss them off. And for
Speaker 1: every team in the a f C East, Uh, this
Speaker 1: has been a season of change and finally a release
Speaker 1: of all this tension that New England has brought to
Speaker 1: them over the years. That would feel good too, don't
Speaker 1: make for you. You're more invested in this Patriots season
Speaker 1: at this point than I am. I mean, no, no offense,
Speaker 1: It's just no, no offense taken. But you have to understand,
Speaker 1: and I think you do that. There is a psychological
Speaker 1: impact that the Patriots had over the other three teams
Speaker 1: of the division over twenty years. And now the Dolphins
Speaker 1: get to be that team potentially to say bye bye, Bill,
Speaker 1: bye bye. Go get your rebuilding started. I got a
Speaker 1: lot of work to anybody. If he's watching this, he's
Speaker 1: gonna pound you in the face. Hey Bill, what's up? Greg?
Speaker 1: You're all right for this game coming up? I'm very
Speaker 1: excited UH this week to watch the Washington football team.
Speaker 1: How about that? And I'm getting a third draft pick
Speaker 1: in this UH show going up against the Seahawks. It's
Speaker 1: not a great slate of games here, but this football
Speaker 1: team has has been resilient throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 1: I think it's a great test for Russell Wilson. I
Speaker 1: know Washington has banged up right now. They might not
Speaker 1: have Antonio Gibson. Dwayne Haskins is trending to start at quarterback,
Speaker 1: but that doesn't change the matchup when Russell Wilson has
Speaker 1: the ball. He has not looked comfortable against non Jets
Speaker 1: defenses in a long time, and Washington has exactly the
Speaker 1: type of defense I think that can make him uncomfortable
Speaker 1: with pressure up the middle. Jonathan Allen, to me, has
Speaker 1: not got enough credit this season as being kind of
Speaker 1: the key to that defensive line, always winning in the middle,
Speaker 1: helping out Chase Young, who's coming off his best game.
Speaker 1: Mantez sweat all those guys against the Seahawks offensive line,
Speaker 1: I think, and keep this game ugly can keep it
Speaker 1: closer than the Seahawks are really comfortable with. And I
Speaker 1: think about that game when they were in Philadelphia and
Speaker 1: Seattle had a hard time putting away the Eagles. The
Speaker 1: Washington defense is good enough to ugly this thing up,
Speaker 1: and I think it's a perfect test for where Seattle's
Speaker 1: offense is at, because if they can't beat Washington, even
Speaker 1: if they win the game, if the offense is not
Speaker 1: playing well against Washington, good luck against the Rams next week.
Speaker 1: You're not gonna win the NFC West. How about that
Speaker 1: the Rams? Yeah, I know you love that. Mark Sesler, Well,
Speaker 1: I love it as much as I need to. Um,
Speaker 1: I would say, you know, Seattle's offensive lines a little
Speaker 1: banged up, and I'm interested in watching Washington every week
Speaker 1: based on Chase Young at this point, I love Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: comparing him to Lawrence Taylor to some degree. He's He's
Speaker 1: completely that type of game changing defender. I feel like
Speaker 1: he's sort of a death from above operation that if
Speaker 1: he gets into your grill, he can end a team
Speaker 1: real quick. He did it last week and Seattle was
Speaker 1: given tremendous trouble by the Giants pass rush. So why
Speaker 1: not Chase young against an offensive line that's struggling right now.
Speaker 1: On the flip side, I know we'd like to say Seattle,
Speaker 1: you know, can't rush the passer. And I think we
Speaker 1: mentioned it on our UM flagship show that they league
Speaker 1: the league in sacks since Week nine. They're they're creating
Speaker 1: that in different ways. Jamal Adams has set an NFL
Speaker 1: record for sacks by a dB UM, so he's a
Speaker 1: big part of that. And you know, Washington's offense to me,
Speaker 1: is far from electric without Gibson in there. If that's
Speaker 1: how that goes, Um, they are just not the same operation.
Speaker 1: And I don't really care who's playing at quarterback. I
Speaker 1: will say this, these two teams right now would meet
Speaker 1: each other in the playoffs at the season end of today.
Speaker 1: It's a spicy matchup. And if Washington never got to January.
Speaker 1: You have to look at Ron Rivera as a Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year candidate for what he's done, um, from
Speaker 1: the minute he took over this job, what he's been
Speaker 1: through personally, and where this team is today. Yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't put anything past Washington. Now. They've shown us
Speaker 1: enough against good teams and bad that they can win games.
Speaker 1: They can hang in games, and Chase Young is like,
Speaker 1: you know, he's kind of something to learn from because
Speaker 1: I feel like a month ago we even had this
Speaker 1: conversation this podcast, where's Chase Young? Second overall pick? He
Speaker 1: was supposed to be a dominant force? Well, sometimes you know,
Speaker 1: guys get there in stages and and the fact that
Speaker 1: he's here now and he's exactly what Washington UH selected
Speaker 1: him to be, which is a dominant UH force on
Speaker 1: the defensive line, and that changes so much about the
Speaker 1: Washington is one of three teams that have four players
Speaker 1: with five sacks this year. They have forty sacks on
Speaker 1: the year. And Russell Wilson like, we're saying, yes, take
Speaker 1: out the Jets game, because that's basically a glorified exhibition
Speaker 1: for these contenders. And he can get frazzled in the
Speaker 1: face of pass rush and he has a tendency and
Speaker 1: this is part of what makes him great quarterback to
Speaker 1: to hold onto the ball to try to extend plays.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if that's gonna work with this
Speaker 1: Washington defense. So if they if if the Seahawks do
Speaker 1: have a comfortable win here, it's gonna because because the
Speaker 1: Washington offense imploded, right. I don't mind Haskins being back
Speaker 1: in there. You know, I really enjoyed Alex Smith, you know,
Speaker 1: coming in playing quarterback the story, and I thought he
Speaker 1: played really well his first two appearances. I think he
Speaker 1: progressively got worse as teams got more tape on him.
Speaker 1: And it's not just rookies that you can get more
Speaker 1: tape on and realize their limitations or what the offense doing.
Speaker 1: It's veterans too, And I think defense has had a
Speaker 1: good read on what Smith was doing. Maybe Haskins gives
Speaker 1: you a little more. Maybe he doesn't make quick enough decisions,
Speaker 1: and the Seahawks defense, which is playing better, just shut
Speaker 1: him down. But to me, Gibson's the bigger story there.
Speaker 1: They were just to me, a two player offense with
Speaker 1: a little Logan Thomas. It was Gibson and McLaurin and
Speaker 1: a good coordinator. But now it's kind of just McLaurin
Speaker 1: and Thomas, and that's a lot to ask. The Seahawks
Speaker 1: should not stuff there to here. They should basically all
Speaker 1: all but clinch a playoffs spot, and then they have
Speaker 1: the division title is gonna be up for grabs next week,
Speaker 1: and I think the Seahawks fans are probably saying, um,
Speaker 1: excuse me, who's gonna be covering DK Metcalf Because if
Speaker 1: this is a relatively low scoring game, you get a
Speaker 1: good game out of him, and this thing could be curtains. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, there there could be some challenges on Washington's
Speaker 1: offense to keep up and for all we've mentioned, um,
Speaker 1: that's why you'd have to tilt Seattle to some degree
Speaker 1: to But uh, it's kind of crazy where we are
Speaker 1: a year ago, like a year ago to today with
Speaker 1: the whole Washington program. I mean, they were as ultra
Speaker 1: boring as you could imagine a football team to be.
Speaker 1: And there's life now, there's narrative. Um, there's things to like.
Speaker 1: I like the uniforms, I like the coach, I like
Speaker 1: the whole thing. So this is a very unusual, um scenario.
Speaker 1: Din No, I'd like to see maybe in this offense
Speaker 1: this offseason, the offense gets better and becomes a little
Speaker 1: more exciting, you know, with all due respect to Alex Smire,
Speaker 1: but on defense, certainly there's something to be excited about.
Speaker 1: And they're playing fun games. All right, it's snakes to you,
Speaker 1: Mr Rosenthal. All Right, I'm going with another early game.
Speaker 1: Bears Vikings can Mitchell Rabinsky disappoint Bears fans one final time.
Speaker 1: This might be the biggest game of the week. It
Speaker 1: really is, because one of these so mean to match
Speaker 1: it is unbelievable. With a punching bag that poor guy
Speaker 1: is that that's fair, But it's kind of an oaky
Speaker 1: dock because you just see the coverage in Chicago this week.
Speaker 1: They have so many people covering the game, They're so
Speaker 1: well represented in terms of their fans, and you just see, like,
Speaker 1: where has this offense been all season? Where was this?
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinsky is naggy back in his two thousand and
Speaker 1: eighteen bags. Wow, they've got you, and you can kind
Speaker 1: of see the hope building and I keep thinking, well,
Speaker 1: I just played the Lions and the Texans. That's where
Speaker 1: it's been. And uh, this Vikings defense isn't great, but
Speaker 1: it's a much better coach in Mike Zimmer and so
Speaker 1: I have some doubts whether Mitch can keep up this
Speaker 1: hot streak. I love loser home games. So we've got
Speaker 1: two six and seven teams here, so that's nice, that's fun.
Speaker 1: It's basically a race to nine and seven. It looks
Speaker 1: like for that final things can change, obviously, but in
Speaker 1: the NFC, get to nine wins and you should be
Speaker 1: in good shape. So whoever loses this game get ready
Speaker 1: for the golf course sizzler. Well, I would just I
Speaker 1: would point out that our our longtime friend of the show,
Speaker 1: Bill Laser us since he's taken over play calling duties
Speaker 1: the auten a friend points a game, well, I would say,
Speaker 1: you know, he just use the friendships where he has
Speaker 1: no we use the sound effect. But yeah, we use
Speaker 1: the sound effect and we talked about it a lot.
Speaker 1: But he's not a friend. But go ahead. I just
Speaker 1: want to make that clear. I would as much as
Speaker 1: we're making friends with anyone, he's he's a friend. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, David mcgomer Montgomery has been a completely different
Speaker 1: back and a completely different rushing operations since Bill Laser
Speaker 1: has taken over place. I don't know what that means.
Speaker 1: It's just that their offense has finally been watchable. And
Speaker 1: if you're the Vikings and someone told you a week
Speaker 1: ago on this show, hey, they're gonna have the ball
Speaker 1: for forty minutes in a Mike Zimmer fever dream against
Speaker 1: the Bucks, They're gonna they're gonna basically just give the
Speaker 1: Bucks very little time to operate with and your kicker
Speaker 1: is gonna cost you ten points and you're not gonna
Speaker 1: win that game. I mean, you've got to put up
Speaker 1: more points here. And I want to believe in the
Speaker 1: Vikings um as you have in the past in but
Speaker 1: to me, part of me is just like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're an eight and eight team and you're gonna take
Speaker 1: us on this snaking course all year long and it's
Speaker 1: gonna and ultimately just result in a record with um
Speaker 1: some things to focus on in a very long winters
Speaker 1: nap off season. I mean, the Vikings very easily could
Speaker 1: have won that game last week. Like you're saying, Dan
Speaker 1: Bailey completely gagged and he collapsed, and you know that happens,
Speaker 1: especially when it's the Vikings. The kickers always tend to
Speaker 1: find a way to destroy a team's hopes. But it's like,
Speaker 1: when you watch that game, did you see a Bucks
Speaker 1: team that was like blowing the Vikings out of the
Speaker 1: water And that felt like a game that could have
Speaker 1: absolutely went the other way without this calamity. So um,
Speaker 1: but you have to I will say this, yes, for
Speaker 1: the past three weeks now, the Vikings have not been
Speaker 1: playing at a very high crisp level. So if that's
Speaker 1: basically now the tenor of their season, I agree eight
Speaker 1: and eates where this is gonna be um. But who knows.
Speaker 1: Maybe they get get right in this game and they
Speaker 1: do close out. I don't rule out them getting to
Speaker 1: night and seven and getting that playoff pick, but they
Speaker 1: need to. They're in a bit of a funk. It's
Speaker 1: time to get out of it. Yeah, what do we
Speaker 1: do with the Bears make the playoffs? I mean, I
Speaker 1: think that that um would be one of the more
Speaker 1: unbelievable endings to this season. I mean, it's very possible
Speaker 1: they got the Jags next week. I think they finished
Speaker 1: with the Packers, who could be resting their starters in
Speaker 1: weeks sevens interesting. It's that's why this is interesting. You're right,
Speaker 1: I mean the Packers if they rest, this is a
Speaker 1: huge game. Oh no, the Bears fans, you guys are
Speaker 1: gonna be so sucked in. I hope they doesn't go
Speaker 1: the way I think it goes, with Mitch killing you
Speaker 1: at the end. Oh boy. All right. Time now for
Speaker 1: a Road to Victory presented by the United States States
Speaker 1: Marine Corps and UH yes, it is time to talk
Speaker 1: about the Cleveland Browns and we just you know, we
Speaker 1: just saw what they did with the Ravens one of
Speaker 1: the great games. Well, at the end of this decade,
Speaker 1: this will be on the list of top ten games
Speaker 1: of the decade. Unfortunately Cleveland on the wrong side of
Speaker 1: final but at the same time, a lot of optimism
Speaker 1: still reigned supreme in Cleveland. Now they go to the
Speaker 1: Meadowlands to face a Giants team that has all sorts
Speaker 1: of issues at quarterback Mark Sesslo. This sets up well
Speaker 1: for the Browns to get that tenth win that gets
Speaker 1: them almost definitely into the playoffs. Almost definitely, you'd think
Speaker 1: so I would have felt a lot better about them
Speaker 1: playing the Giants back in Week four something. Um, this team,
Speaker 1: this defense, uh, you know, they were lash. Their offense
Speaker 1: was lashed by the Cardinals a week ago. But go
Speaker 1: inside that game. There was a turnover where the Cardinals
Speaker 1: had the ball deep and Giants territory and that Giants defense,
Speaker 1: UM put up a pretty valiant goal line stand And
Speaker 1: that tells me who they are. Guys like Leonard Williams,
Speaker 1: Chase Coughlin, these guys are playing really well for Joe judge.
Speaker 1: So I think this is an interesting matchup, and let's
Speaker 1: not look past the fact that because Jason Garrett has
Speaker 1: been put on the COVID list, suddenly, in the one
Speaker 1: of the weirder scenarios of anything I've ever seen in football,
Speaker 1: Freddie Kitchens will be calling plays. The Browns ex head
Speaker 1: coach who was dismissed after one year against the Browns
Speaker 1: and it could be Colt McCoy at quarterback, and it
Speaker 1: could be Jabriel Peppers, it's safety, the player that the
Speaker 1: Browns traded away, and the Odell beckat Maybe you gotta
Speaker 1: get Odell be on the brown sideline throwing tomatoes at
Speaker 1: the Giants, Like did you tell any revenge aspects could
Speaker 1: be going on here? I mean if you hit there
Speaker 1: is a rule. Not everyone knows this, but if you
Speaker 1: get up to three revenge games for one side, they
Speaker 1: definitely win. So Big Blue. All of a sudden, it
Speaker 1: looks like a favorite here. That's amazing. And your son,
Speaker 1: Cole has to be feeling can like the mark. You
Speaker 1: know you you famously named him after Colt McCoy, and
Speaker 1: you have to be like, no, son, we're rooting for
Speaker 1: the Browns tonight. Your namesake, who's gonna rip my heart
Speaker 1: out with Freddie Kitchen. I was thinking about locking up
Speaker 1: this game for the Browns because I do feel like
Speaker 1: they are the much better team here and that Kevin's
Speaker 1: the fancy is gonna prove us something. But all this voodoo,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't want to do it anymore.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be on the wrong side of
Speaker 1: that voodoo. You're nervous because you're so close. Now, you're
Speaker 1: so close. I I think the Browns look at the
Speaker 1: one thing I'd say and the way they got up
Speaker 1: for the Ravens game, and they've done a pretty good
Speaker 1: job of kind of here's the game, here's the result,
Speaker 1: package it away, move on. I mean, they haven't lost
Speaker 1: two in a row all year. Uh, they've found a
Speaker 1: way to bounce back, and I trust them. I think
Speaker 1: they're flat out the better team. Uh, They're They're there.
Speaker 1: They're a great offense in the second half. We saw
Speaker 1: that against Baltimore. Other Browns teams, when you're down thirty
Speaker 1: four to twenty, they fold. Every Browns team I've seen
Speaker 1: this century folds in that situation. This team is a
Speaker 1: little bit different. The go denzil Ward back. I think
Speaker 1: that matters a lot. I mean, you have to look
Speaker 1: at the Giants offense and say, if they're gonna win
Speaker 1: this game, who's gonna do it? Who do you lean
Speaker 1: on from the Giants offense and say they're gonna put
Speaker 1: up twenty four points and take care of Cleveland. I
Speaker 1: I kind of struggle to find that character too in
Speaker 1: the New York big Blue offense, right and you think
Speaker 1: about who's gonna dictate. It's such a great coaching match
Speaker 1: of Patrick Graham, the Giants defensive coordinator, or Kevin Stefanski.
Speaker 1: You know, Stefanski is like a pretty cool guy. He
Speaker 1: you know, he doesn't give off a lot, but when
Speaker 1: you I think about him as aggressive, and I think
Speaker 1: his offense is always dictating to the defense. He's always
Speaker 1: one step ahead. They spread the ball around, whereas Patrick
Speaker 1: Graham on the Giant side of the ball is almost
Speaker 1: always dictating defensively. He is not gonna let like an
Speaker 1: offense come to him. He's gonna make them adjust to
Speaker 1: what he's trying to do. It's an offense first league.
Speaker 1: I like the Browns talent a little bit better on offense,
Speaker 1: but to me, that's a fascinating matchup, and it's one
Speaker 1: I think Stefanski can win because he's got the horses.
Speaker 1: He's got the offensive line, which to me is like
Speaker 1: the ultimate equalizer, maybe the best offensive line in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Have we given any thought because the Browns are analytics mad.
Speaker 1: They love it. They they have all sorts of resources
Speaker 1: tied into that. Kevin Stefanski not the most animated guy.
Speaker 1: In fact, maybe the least animated guy I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: Plus you have a mask over his face. Just don't
Speaker 1: want to rule it out. Is he a humanoid? Is
Speaker 1: it possible he's not a real person. And the Browns
Speaker 1: have taken the analytics tilt here all the way to
Speaker 1: the sideline with a robot, I would I would say
Speaker 1: this If that's the case, Um, I'm fine with that.
Speaker 1: It would it would raise ethical issues the league, by
Speaker 1: the laws of the league. I don't know. It's a
Speaker 1: handsome Robot's robot right there? Good look at robot. It
Speaker 1: would be well, of course it would. If you're gonna
Speaker 1: make a robot, you might as well make it handsome.
Speaker 1: It would be that that would be the most Browns
Speaker 1: thing ever. If they go eleven and five and then
Speaker 1: the NFL you know, uncovers what's going on there, like, no,
Speaker 1: you're not going to the playoffs. You had a robit
Speaker 1: on the sideline that would be that would be terrible.
Speaker 1: But you know what, mark back to serious UH reflection
Speaker 1: on this game. One thing Cleveland has done all year
Speaker 1: is take care of business and it would be shocking
Speaker 1: if they don't do it here they have to and
Speaker 1: then they got the Jets next week. You gotta get
Speaker 1: to eleven wins in this AFC. I think you do. Alright.
Speaker 1: That was Road to Victory presented by the United States
Speaker 1: Marine Corps. All right, moving along, let's step back into
Speaker 1: the Saturday schedule and talk about the Carolina Panthers at
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers. The Packers, of course, moved into the
Speaker 1: number one slot in the NFC playoff UH structure with
Speaker 1: a win last week, coupled with the Saints law, so
Speaker 1: they have it all out in front of them. If
Speaker 1: they win out, they have the number one seed and
Speaker 1: they have to buy the all important buy there's only
Speaker 1: one this year for each conference, and then of course
Speaker 1: home field for the two games in the NFC playoffs
Speaker 1: if they get that far. The Panther us they've lost
Speaker 1: seven of eight as we know, uh, So it feels
Speaker 1: like it's going to be more of the same, a
Speaker 1: hyper uh motivated Packers team mark with Aaron Rodgers with
Speaker 1: a passer rating damn near one twenty this year and
Speaker 1: knocking on the door of forty touchdowns. It's been astounding
Speaker 1: to watch what he's done this year. And you and
Speaker 1: you had a sandwich bet way back in the summer
Speaker 1: that he uh could be the m v P And
Speaker 1: he has nine All Pro and that's in the best
Speaker 1: I think he's gone. I think he could he could
Speaker 1: pull off both of those awards. He has nine games
Speaker 1: with three or more touchdown passes in zero picks this season.
Speaker 1: That is the most by any quarterback in NFL history.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what else you want him to do.
Speaker 1: And I would say that the Aaron Rodgers Davante Adams
Speaker 1: connection is the most dangerous thing that any NFC playoff
Speaker 1: team can offer right now. It's been completely unstoppable. And
Speaker 1: you know, I know people are down on Mike Petton,
Speaker 1: but I still think that Mike Petton in the defense
Speaker 1: can do just enough. You know, he's got a copy
Speaker 1: of the Warren Commission in his Bookshelf back at home.
Speaker 1: I think the guy's an interesting character. We're gonna get
Speaker 1: a little Matt Rule on national television. I like this
Speaker 1: game a lot, and you know what, green Bay winning
Speaker 1: the bye. That's great. This is one of the true
Speaker 1: home field advantage setups because you probably are going to
Speaker 1: get a team from sunny little Tampa Bay coming into
Speaker 1: Green Bay. You're gonna pull the scenes out of the
Speaker 1: pretty little dome. They're got to go into horrible weather
Speaker 1: and this could be the year the Green Bay says, listen,
Speaker 1: this is the setup for us to get back to
Speaker 1: the super Bowl. People said that we should have gotten
Speaker 1: to five or six other times when Mike McCarthy was
Speaker 1: the coach. You brought up the Bucks as the example.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady made his bones winning super Bowls up in
Speaker 1: New England, so I don't know if he would be
Speaker 1: like taken aback by the but that's that's He also
Speaker 1: said he never wanted to move or be a new
Speaker 1: in the in the in the Northeast ever. Again, he
Speaker 1: has a nice tan in December. He's a warm weather guy.
Speaker 1: Now you know he's got all that well, I'm not
Speaker 1: I'm not going that far, but his arms fine. I
Speaker 1: think Drew Brees is the guy that you want throwing
Speaker 1: the ball in frigid Lambeau in j Annuary, and yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right there only three wines away. It's hard to
Speaker 1: imagine the Panthers sticking in this game. Their their offensive line,
Speaker 1: they're really an offense. First team is really banged up.
Speaker 1: They might be missing two or three starters. And you
Speaker 1: think about Rogers this year compared to last year, and like,
Speaker 1: the team's not that different, But to me it's it's
Speaker 1: sort of a great example of that even the all
Speaker 1: time greats, I think, go up and down with the
Speaker 1: people around them, whether that's coaching, um, you know, continuity, synchronicity,
Speaker 1: everyone being on the same page. Like it really is
Speaker 1: the ultimate team sport. It's kind of a cliche, but
Speaker 1: I actually think we almost make the quarterbacks into too
Speaker 1: big a deal because if someone as good as Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers in the middle of what should be his prime
Speaker 1: can still have three or four straight pretty down statistical years,
Speaker 1: to me, that is kind of proof. Not that he's
Speaker 1: like part of the Dalton scale where he's rising and falling,
Speaker 1: but even the great ones need the entire team and
Speaker 1: his coaching staff to all be playing well together and
Speaker 1: and this is a perfect way to show it because
Speaker 1: they didn't add anyone. It was like like if we'd
Speaker 1: be putting it all on like a free agent edition
Speaker 1: or a draft pick if they had added anyone, but
Speaker 1: they didn't. Like it's the same team, but they're all
Speaker 1: playing better. And No, I think there's a lot of
Speaker 1: logic to what you just said, But I don't want
Speaker 1: to take anything away from Rogers and what it took
Speaker 1: for him to scale these heights again, these heights of
Speaker 1: supreme greatness. I mean, he's he's gonna win potentially his
Speaker 1: third m v P. And I think there it took
Speaker 1: buy in from Rogers and maybe some changes to his mindset,
Speaker 1: maybe some changes physically in the offseason. I don't know
Speaker 1: so much about that, but to get to where he
Speaker 1: is now, this has been something that I think even
Speaker 1: transcends a little bit about those factors. You talk about
Speaker 1: something that he did that made him this way again,
Speaker 1: and it's been kind of a marvel to watch really.
Speaker 1: And you think about the Panthers defense, there's this whole
Speaker 1: idea of in the NFL, well, make make teams go
Speaker 1: down the field ten twelve plays. Eventually they'll make a mistake.
Speaker 1: That was the Lions plan last week. I mean, the
Speaker 1: Packers offense like did anything they wanted against the Lions,
Speaker 1: but it was only a touchdown game at the end
Speaker 1: because they slowed it down. It's like, good luck, that's
Speaker 1: not gonna work against Rogers. He's not gonna make any
Speaker 1: of those mistakes. He's just gonna take your ten plays
Speaker 1: and he's gonna score a touchdown. He's gonna cast those checks.
Speaker 1: All I say is Caroline is not a team that
Speaker 1: gets blown out. Though this season they're They're imperfect, They've
Speaker 1: got a ways to go. Teddy Bridgewater is not playing
Speaker 1: his best football right now, but they hang around in
Speaker 1: these games. And I we're probably gonna get a seventy
Speaker 1: eight yard Joey Slive field goal attempt at some point
Speaker 1: because Matt Rules seems obsessed with that. But I think
Speaker 1: this will be an interesting game. But green Bay is
Speaker 1: too powerful. Probably no Christian McCaffrey again, as he now
Speaker 1: deals with that thigh injury. Um so that obviously is
Speaker 1: not great. And watch out. It's gonna be very frustrating
Speaker 1: a few Panthers fans because the Packers are converting of
Speaker 1: their third downs this year, which is the best rate
Speaker 1: in I believe, almost thirty years. And the Panthers are
Speaker 1: at the bottom of the league just about they give
Speaker 1: up about a lot of conversions. A lot of conversions
Speaker 1: and another huge day for Davante Adams coming. Let's move on,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, back to the draft, back to you, Well,
Speaker 1: I gotta pick a late game to organize how we
Speaker 1: cover these contests on Son, I'm gonna go Philadelphia at Arizona.
Speaker 1: And you know, I was staying away from the Eagles
Speaker 1: the best I could for the last couple of months
Speaker 1: because you know, I'm sitting here trying to cover a
Speaker 1: game and it would I'd fall into a deep sleep
Speaker 1: about sixty five minutes into half of their contests because
Speaker 1: they were one of the most boring attacks I've seen.
Speaker 1: With Jailing Hurts, I thought he brought life. He brought
Speaker 1: some urgency last week. Um you know, the first quarterback
Speaker 1: around to run for a hundred yards in his first
Speaker 1: game like as he did. I think he brings an
Speaker 1: element to Philadelphia's offense where they kind of operate a
Speaker 1: little bit as a berserker right now, when we like
Speaker 1: to use the term for teams that can disrupt playoff
Speaker 1: hopefuls down the stretch in Arizona. Right now, you you
Speaker 1: have to deal with the Eagles, the forty nine and
Speaker 1: the Rams. They are on the brink, are on the brink,
Speaker 1: and I'm not seeing the best version of their offense
Speaker 1: right now. But you did get a little bit more
Speaker 1: from Kyler Murray on the ground last week. I think
Speaker 1: he's healthy, he's ready to rumble. Um. This is a
Speaker 1: fascinating quarterback matchup. I want to watch it for that reason.
Speaker 1: And I think the Cardinals defense, you know, they're pretty frisky.
Speaker 1: They're not perfect, but they have guys that seen to
Speaker 1: make plays every week. Eight sacks last week, costs On
Speaker 1: Riddick had five of those. I mean, they show up.
Speaker 1: So this is an intriguing matchup against a bad Eagles
Speaker 1: offensive line. Reddick had twelve and a half sacks his
Speaker 1: entire career before Sunday, So that was a long overdue
Speaker 1: big afternoon for a guy that hasn't always lived up
Speaker 1: to the hype. Yeah, it will be interesting to see
Speaker 1: Jaleen Hurts. Everybody wants to see an Eagles team without
Speaker 1: Um Carson Wentz because that offense had flatlined and now
Speaker 1: they have a pulse again, So yes, I like that
Speaker 1: for draft pick purposes. Kyler Murray, I'm not going to
Speaker 1: go back to the well great because you don't like
Speaker 1: to hear it, especially for some reason. But you know,
Speaker 1: he had the shoulder on the Thursday night. If you
Speaker 1: look at the numbers and he's studying with how this off,
Speaker 1: it's his changed in those three weeks. Maybe it's just
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with it, but they are not
Speaker 1: doing anything outside the numbers anymore. They're not creating big
Speaker 1: plays outside the numbers since that Thursday night when he
Speaker 1: had the shoulder injury. Maybe it has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with because he made some really nice throws where he
Speaker 1: showed off the arm strength, but they they have not
Speaker 1: been as explosive this month. They weren't in September though either.
Speaker 1: I mean, he ran well last week and he threw
Speaker 1: the ball really well a couple of weeks ago in
Speaker 1: terms of his armching, so I'm not worried about that.
Speaker 1: I would like the Eagles in this game to make
Speaker 1: some hey here, coming off their best offensive game of
Speaker 1: the year. It's almost like in Philly they're trying not
Speaker 1: to hurt Carson Wentz his feelings by pointing that out.
Speaker 1: But the Eagles lost three defensive backs in that game.
Speaker 1: They lost their right tackle, Jack Driscoll, who was their
Speaker 1: backup right tackle but actually been playing pretty well. So
Speaker 1: like right when you have something good happened, they lose
Speaker 1: another four starters. Uh, they're not even out of it.
Speaker 1: Forget Berserker. They're only a game and a half back
Speaker 1: and they finished with Washington. So if they could win
Speaker 1: another one of these games and get a little bit
Speaker 1: of help from Ohton, they're not out of it. And
Speaker 1: this Eagules team does have a history of doing that.
Speaker 1: In December, I learned that Mark by reading one of
Speaker 1: my favorite books. This is called Fearless by Doug Peter.
Speaker 1: It's just like life lessons and um wise thoughts and
Speaker 1: kind of just inspiration to me from a guy who
Speaker 1: reached the mountaintop and it accomplished everything in life and
Speaker 1: just beautifully written. One of my favorite Christmas books to
Speaker 1: give to people. Fearless by Doug Peterson. I know you're
Speaker 1: a big fan, Mark, and if I could, just if
Speaker 1: I could piggyback off that Mark, I just want to say,
Speaker 1: once a champion, always a champion. Sorry, you should keep
Speaker 1: that in mind too. Before you criticize Doug Peterson, Mr. South,
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not going to critique him. I mean,
Speaker 1: if if he can again, um have Carson Wentz sideline
Speaker 1: and the backup quarterback comes in and leads them to
Speaker 1: another playoff appearance, playoff wins in a Super Bowl. You know,
Speaker 1: write a sequel to that book, still Fearless, book, Fearless
Speaker 1: too Fearless. Uh. You know there was talk about, you know,
Speaker 1: going into last week's game. Oh, you know the Eagles
Speaker 1: they stink it off and so much as anybody believe
Speaker 1: that Doug Peterson is going to be able to adopt
Speaker 1: adapt with this new quarterback, well this seem like they
Speaker 1: did a little bit last week. So I'm with I'm
Speaker 1: with you. This is a good value pick. Mark. All right,
Speaker 1: let us spin right along. Let's get back to the
Speaker 1: Saturday slate. The Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos. Nice little
Speaker 1: game here. You know, the Broncos are so kind of
Speaker 1: up and down. M They're They're not a They're one
Speaker 1: of those are the are they the best bad team?
Speaker 1: Are the worst good team type teams? For me? So, uh,
Speaker 1: they are a worthy challenger at home against the Bills.
Speaker 1: But I ask you this. I'm gonna ask a straight
Speaker 1: question just to get this conversationation going. Mark Sessler, is
Speaker 1: Josh Allen a superstar quarterback? You know, I'm starting to
Speaker 1: think I'm starting to think so. And I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess the definition of that would be, you know, it
Speaker 1: would be up to me versus someone else's definition superstar.
Speaker 1: But watching the last couple of weeks and also I
Speaker 1: think that, um, if you look at the arc of
Speaker 1: his development and all the pressing questions about Josh Allen
Speaker 1: coming into the season and people kind of looking at
Speaker 1: his game and saying, these are things that can't get fixed,
Speaker 1: I think he's fixed a lot of them. And I
Speaker 1: think that he makes the entire offense uh a hurly burly,
Speaker 1: dangerous operation, tough to coach against. Um, he's incredibly powerful.
Speaker 1: I don't see too many things he can't do. And
Speaker 1: if he can reduce the mistakes which he's done, they
Speaker 1: can beat any team in the league. So that checks
Speaker 1: a lot of boxes for me. I mean, maybe there's
Speaker 1: tiered superstars, but he's in that conversation, UM convincingly for me. Well,
Speaker 1: you do the superstar club, which I think is uh great.
Speaker 1: The way you do it. I think being a superstar
Speaker 1: takes some longevity and consistency, you know, and so I
Speaker 1: think Alan's on that path. But if he flames out
Speaker 1: in a playoff game, you know, if for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: the end of this season doesn't go like, no, I
Speaker 1: don't think he's there yet. Like Caron Wentz, we might
Speaker 1: have put him there, you know, too quickly. Jared Goff
Speaker 1: had a little stretch like we Derek Carrs had stretches.
Speaker 1: People have stretches, and Alan is more compelling to me,
Speaker 1: um than those guys. I guess Wentz was certainly back
Speaker 1: in seen just because of his story and because of
Speaker 1: his physical traits. So as long as he stays on
Speaker 1: this path, uh, he is. But he's he's got to
Speaker 1: keep doing it like I'm not. That's crazy to say,
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm with you. You definitely want to
Speaker 1: see a big playoff run, and maybe that happens as
Speaker 1: soon as this January, UM, and maybe even another year
Speaker 1: of this before you kind of put him in that
Speaker 1: like top top tier of superstar quarterbacks, guys that actually
Speaker 1: change the game just by being there. But he is
Speaker 1: on pace to finish this season with basically every Bill's
Speaker 1: record for an individual season highest completion percentage, which is
Speaker 1: nearly which was a major aspect of his game that
Speaker 1: people questioned, most passing yards game, most touchdowns. He's got
Speaker 1: a shout at forty touchdowns this year a good shot.
Speaker 1: Had a passer rating that is in the one oh
Speaker 1: five territory. So, I mean, it's been an amazing ride.
Speaker 1: And uh, Denver, the Denver defense. I know they've had
Speaker 1: moments this season and they're not a total pushover, but
Speaker 1: I don't imagine they're gonna be able to stop stop them.
Speaker 1: So then it becomes to me, does Drew Lock have
Speaker 1: the magic that he somehow conjured last week to keep
Speaker 1: this game close? I watched that Broncos game hoping for
Speaker 1: like a great Drew Lock performance, and you know what,
Speaker 1: I don't think that was the case. I think he had.
Speaker 1: I think it was more about the scheme and wide
Speaker 1: open receivers and really wasn't like a crazy He had
Speaker 1: a couple of nice throws, but guys were opened by
Speaker 1: fifteen yards. He did make a couple of bone headed plays,
Speaker 1: Um had a key fumble, could have had a late
Speaker 1: interception that gave the Panthers the game. So let's see it.
Speaker 1: I've seen though that the Broncos fans trot out, and
Speaker 1: now I think a lot of fans are gonna do
Speaker 1: this with the quarterbacks that they believe in too much,
Speaker 1: their homegrown guys that they want to stick byd trot out. Hey,
Speaker 1: here's Drew Lock's first fifth Sean starts, here's Josh Allen's first.
Speaker 1: But because but, and I don't think that. I don't
Speaker 1: think that makes sense. But Josh Allen's first, you know,
Speaker 1: a year and a half, Like that's gonna it's gonna
Speaker 1: work that way because those stats are terrible. Yeah, except
Speaker 1: that Josh Allen is bringing things to the field that
Speaker 1: Drew Lock could only dream of doing just based off
Speaker 1: of you know, natural gifts. I I I think that
Speaker 1: if if Josh Allen takes the Bills to the a
Speaker 1: f C title game and they go down to the wire, um,
Speaker 1: I do put him in a superstar category. But I
Speaker 1: maybe we just have seen this differently. I mean, we
Speaker 1: we put to Shawn Watson in that category quickly. Longevity
Speaker 1: didn't apply to that quarterback. I I disagree though. To me,
Speaker 1: he's been a top seven or eight quarterback for three years,
Speaker 1: like that's how good he's been and so I want
Speaker 1: to see that. What's it Probably just takes one more
Speaker 1: season of Allen doing it, But you're right, like the
Speaker 1: decisions that he was making against Buffalo, the pocket movement,
Speaker 1: like that's showing maturity, Like that's showing the stuff that
Speaker 1: Watson was showing his second and third season two. That
Speaker 1: to me is like, you're gonna stick as a quarterback
Speaker 1: if you're like that, right. This is a great Saturday game,
Speaker 1: late season game. Because usually you're not. They don't give
Speaker 1: you like a huge, big time match up in these
Speaker 1: Saturday games at the end of the regular season. But
Speaker 1: if if you're lucky, you'll get a frisky one. This
Speaker 1: is a you get to watch the Bills and ascended team,
Speaker 1: the Broncos, as I said, they they're frisky to hang
Speaker 1: around in games, and you get to, you know, pour
Speaker 1: yourself a little Tito's and and and really sit back
Speaker 1: and enjoy. And I did, like, I want to give
Speaker 1: a guy a little bit of love. He's not popular
Speaker 1: around these parts. I understand. Uh. I like the Pat Shermer.
Speaker 1: If you want to talk about that Broncos win over
Speaker 1: the Panthers, dialing up that deep shot to kJ Hamler
Speaker 1: to essentially clinch the game. I like when coaches go
Speaker 1: outside the box a little bit and say we're not
Speaker 1: gonna run it three times to kill the clock. We
Speaker 1: want a stick of a dagger through the heart. I
Speaker 1: don't think that Shermer's m O. Really, that is all
Speaker 1: about what Drew Lock likes. Drew Lock is a born
Speaker 1: gun slinger who just wants the opportunity to do that
Speaker 1: all the time. So it was good to see that
Speaker 1: aspect of the fence uh in a big spot and
Speaker 1: only took a little bit of love. Only took three
Speaker 1: plus months to you know, dial up a risky they got.
Speaker 1: They got enough talent there. That's I think Wylock season
Speaker 1: has been so disappointing is because you cannot put it
Speaker 1: on the supporting cast or even the offensive line, which
Speaker 1: has been better before. He quickly fangio is a test
Speaker 1: for quarterbacks to pass. He really is. He makes things difficult.
Speaker 1: He makes even veterans like Teddy Bridge on Our hold
Speaker 1: the ball not really know what they're seeing. And so
Speaker 1: I I don't think this is an easy test for
Speaker 1: Alan at Off. He if he blows the doors off
Speaker 1: the Broncos that's super impressive. The Broncos, to your point, uh, Greg,
Speaker 1: have drafted four wide receivers or tight ends in the
Speaker 1: first two rounds eighteen Jerry Judy, kJ Hamler, Noah Fense,
Speaker 1: Courtland Sutton. Sutton not there of course this year, but
Speaker 1: there is a lot of pieces there if you could
Speaker 1: ever get consistent play behind center. Lock has This is
Speaker 1: another audition for him at the end of the season.
Speaker 1: He's got to nail it. I would think to stay
Speaker 1: seriously in the plans as a first strink quarterback for them.
Speaker 1: In all right, let's move forward. The old Zeuser up
Speaker 1: in the draft and let me go with all right,
Speaker 1: did hammana Hamana hammana hammana uh Tampa Bay at Atlanta.
Speaker 1: I want to see the Bucks. I want to see
Speaker 1: what's going on with these Bucks. Then. I love the
Speaker 1: way they looked against the Vikings last week. I thought
Speaker 1: they would come out of that by and you know,
Speaker 1: be a little sharper than they were. Um on offense especially,
Speaker 1: I will say it looked really bad early on. Brady
Speaker 1: looked out of sorts again, missing open receivers, and then
Speaker 1: they kind of put it together. Um down the stretch
Speaker 1: on offense, and made made enough plays uh to get
Speaker 1: it done. But you have now Ronald Jones. Uh, he
Speaker 1: is at the time of this taping up in the air.
Speaker 1: He had surgery first of all, got a pin put
Speaker 1: into his pinky, which obviously is not a great thing
Speaker 1: for a running back. And then he got moved to
Speaker 1: the COVID list And I don't know. I think we
Speaker 1: don't know if it's a close designation sich wation, which
Speaker 1: would mean he could be cleared for Sunday, or if
Speaker 1: he actually has the coronavirus, which would put him out obviously,
Speaker 1: So there's some unknown factors there. Leonard Fournette wasn't even
Speaker 1: activated out of the by which tells you that that
Speaker 1: that experiment is not going how Bruce Arians would have
Speaker 1: wanted it. Tom Brady like sent a note an email
Speaker 1: to Bruce Arians during the buy or they met up
Speaker 1: and he was just like, let's let's get out of
Speaker 1: their show. This is uh. And my other thought before
Speaker 1: a throw to you guys on this because I'm going
Speaker 1: to be more bucks leaning in terms of my focus
Speaker 1: of this game is Scotty Miller. He has a big
Speaker 1: fifty yard touchdown, while Antonio Brown just I guess settles
Speaker 1: into a possession receiver, averaging about seven or eight yards
Speaker 1: a catch. So that experiment hasn't quite worked out for
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay as it turns out. Will their offense be
Speaker 1: better in this game, we'll see. So I I have
Speaker 1: such a problem with this Bucks team. I don't know
Speaker 1: what to think, and I think I've come to something here.
Speaker 1: And that's that Arians. Even though we think of him
Speaker 1: as you know, like this bombs away guy, no risk it,
Speaker 1: no biscuit, he's kind of conservative in the way that
Speaker 1: he represents like old NFL values. First of all, he
Speaker 1: never goes for it on fourth down and he kicks
Speaker 1: a field goal in the last play of the half
Speaker 1: at the one yard line, give me a break. But
Speaker 1: in in the other way, he's what I remember people
Speaker 1: used to talk about about the Peyton Manning Colts, and
Speaker 1: Arians was on that staff. And so that's what made
Speaker 1: me think of it too, is that it was like
Speaker 1: the teams like the Patriots who game plan each week
Speaker 1: and change things up in motion and do all this
Speaker 1: thing to dictate matchups, which at the time not every
Speaker 1: team was doing. Or there's like the Peyton mann and
Speaker 1: Colts who are like an execution offense. We're gonna do
Speaker 1: what we do. You kind of know what we're gonna do,
Speaker 1: and you gotta try to stop it. And like and
Speaker 1: that's like how the Seas defense has been over there,
Speaker 1: Like defenses are certain ways like that and that that
Speaker 1: could work with the amount of talent they have, and
Speaker 1: it's worked for Arians throughout his career, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: work when like all these players are new together and
Speaker 1: Brady is relying on timing, and like the timing just
Speaker 1: isn't there. And so I think that's why you see
Speaker 1: such inconsistency. Like when it's working, it looks great for
Speaker 1: a quarter, but like when defenses kind of know what
Speaker 1: you're gonna do, it's pretty hard. I mean, you go
Speaker 1: back to to flip it to the Falcons that when
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan switched UH coordinators and El Shanahan came in
Speaker 1: that first year was you know, it's easy to forget
Speaker 1: he was not the same old Matt Ryan. And then
Speaker 1: the next year lights out Super Bowl appearance, and you know,
Speaker 1: it's this has been a process for Tom Brady, it's
Speaker 1: been a process for all them. I also think you're
Speaker 1: getting the you're getting, You're truly getting the latter stages,
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and and um, you know, there's just no
Speaker 1: way around that. But I'm watching Matt Ryan right now
Speaker 1: and he's he's stilling five touchdowns and six picks over
Speaker 1: the last four weeks. He had to apologize to the
Speaker 1: team after his last appearance, and you know, you got
Speaker 1: a coach and Raheem Morris that if he keeps his
Speaker 1: job and these games were the main matter. They play
Speaker 1: the Bucks twice over the next three weeks. They've had
Speaker 1: one of the weirdest schedules all season. Um, but you
Speaker 1: know you want to keep it. He's not keeping this job.
Speaker 1: I mean the owner said he practically had to go
Speaker 1: out love and I know he's four and four it now.
Speaker 1: He's done a fine job. I think he has done
Speaker 1: a good job. I don't know what like he He
Speaker 1: is not dealing with a full deck of cards in
Speaker 1: terms of this roster, and they've improved. But you're right,
Speaker 1: I think they'll do a wide search. But um, good
Speaker 1: for him. I mean, I watched Falcons. They can't run
Speaker 1: the ball. But we're not getting Matt Ryan right now.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure we see see Julio Jones again this season.
Speaker 1: So if the Bucks can't answer, you know, the challenge here,
Speaker 1: Who are the Bucks? I'm I'm kind of with you
Speaker 1: guys that I thought earlier in the year that this
Speaker 1: was a team that would be on fire at this point,
Speaker 1: and instead I find them puzzling and kind of um
Speaker 1: a one and done playoff team potentially. I mean, it
Speaker 1: really is. It is. There's something to take from it
Speaker 1: because it happens every year, and it's the Bucks this
Speaker 1: year that sometimes a team not to write them off
Speaker 1: because there is a lot of talent there, but if
Speaker 1: they if they continue on this traject three where they're
Speaker 1: okay and maybe they get into the playoffs, but they're
Speaker 1: not not necessarily a big time player. Teams peak sometimes
Speaker 1: in October and we'll take it them for the super
Speaker 1: Bowl and then it's like, wait a second, this is
Speaker 1: a long season. They're looking right now. But things got
Speaker 1: so I think I think we all did well. They
Speaker 1: all they looked when they were at their peak in October.
Speaker 1: Everything was humming. The defense was as good as any
Speaker 1: defense in football. Tom Brady had cranked back the clock
Speaker 1: about five or six years. Uh. He was getting on
Speaker 1: the same page with his playmakers. It just was all
Speaker 1: there and then for whatever reason they have not been
Speaker 1: able to keep it at that place. Maybe it's a
Speaker 1: schedule plays into that as well. Here's the thing, though,
Speaker 1: if they're the seventh seed or the sixth seed, and
Speaker 1: you're the Packers or you know, the Rams or some
Speaker 1: team the Bucks, I totally have the capability to go
Speaker 1: win by thirty in the wild card round and then
Speaker 1: lose the divisional round. But they like they could just
Speaker 1: beat anyone on anything. Don't that. I mean I could
Speaker 1: see them winning, I don't. I don't see anything from
Speaker 1: this team to say they would go into the playoffs
Speaker 1: and blowbody out, right, I don't know. Well, I think
Speaker 1: I would have said that, you know, seven weeks ago,
Speaker 1: hanging they're hanging out with that defense, creating some turnovers.
Speaker 1: But you love them, You love them, Greg because they
Speaker 1: they are favorably d v o A. They seem balanced
Speaker 1: and favorable and all that stuff, right, But I like
Speaker 1: to the eye, um, you know, they have these moments
Speaker 1: in these halves where they do that. But to me,
Speaker 1: just I want to see more consistency. And they're not
Speaker 1: a very special running attack. I mean to the fact
Speaker 1: that you've got healthy scratches from guys who were you know,
Speaker 1: starring for you if you want to use the word
Speaker 1: starring a couple of weeks ago. They don't feel like
Speaker 1: a very balanced attack on win this game, and they're
Speaker 1: in the playoffs almost definitely. That gives them at nine
Speaker 1: and five. Uh, and they play the Lions and then
Speaker 1: they play the Falcons again. Well, they're lucky there in
Speaker 1: the end, they're getting in, they're getting all right, let's
Speaker 1: move on. I will it's Snakes the Older and I will,
Speaker 1: uh take a look at another playoff bound team playing
Speaker 1: against a dead dog team, Houston at Indianapolis, and uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: this feels like a really set up. It's really set
Speaker 1: up well for the Colts. Who you know? This this
Speaker 1: rise of Jonathan Taylor changes kind of so much about
Speaker 1: the way I look at the Colts, because my whole
Speaker 1: thing has been I don't trust Philip Rivers. He's gonna
Speaker 1: get him killed at some point with a terrible mistake
Speaker 1: because there's gonna be too much on his plate, and
Speaker 1: he probably still will kill the Colts. Ultimately, I do
Speaker 1: believe he's got one of those moments in him, even
Speaker 1: if it happens in the divisional playoffs or something. Like
Speaker 1: that or even the NFC title game. You never know.
Speaker 1: But I just love what Jonathan Taylor has brought to
Speaker 1: this offense, the balance, and then you look at it
Speaker 1: and I don't want to be like, I don't want
Speaker 1: people to misconstrue this because the Chiefs are the class
Speaker 1: of the conference. But you can make the case that
Speaker 1: the Colts have the most balanced team in the a
Speaker 1: f C when you look at them from each positional group.
Speaker 1: So I expect them to take care of business against
Speaker 1: the Houston team that's just completely shredded. We know on
Speaker 1: defense they don't have anything, uh, to the point where J. J.
Speaker 1: Watt was so downtrodden saying, we're not even competitive, and
Speaker 1: then Deshaun Watson doesn't have a lot to work with
Speaker 1: on offense because the suspensions and COVID and UH injuries. Uh.
Speaker 1: It feels like a great spot for the Colts to
Speaker 1: get to win ten and really crank up the heat
Speaker 1: on the Titans to keep up. I think it does.
Speaker 1: But I also remember that game two weeks ago they
Speaker 1: just played, and it could not have been more evenly
Speaker 1: played between these two teams. There were very lucky to
Speaker 1: get out of that. Well. They also beat the Packers
Speaker 1: in a in a game where you know you wouldn't
Speaker 1: have thought that would have happened at halftime. I I'm
Speaker 1: with you, Dan, and I see them as balanced, but
Speaker 1: I don't see them as special necessarily. Um. Their offense
Speaker 1: has been held by Taylor. They've been helped a ton
Speaker 1: by t Y Hilton. After essentially playing the role of
Speaker 1: a ghost early on in the year, last three games,
Speaker 1: did you do that on purpose? They call him ghost liked,
Speaker 1: not recesses of your mind? I feel like you didn't
Speaker 1: know that, say of these nicknames, I don't track like,
Speaker 1: I don't know why are we calling him over nicknames?
Speaker 1: I mean, well, what so Tom Brady? So I have
Speaker 1: to call Tom Brady the Pharaoh? Well, no one actually
Speaker 1: calls that, but for for whatever is? And am I right?
Speaker 1: I'm not? I'm not even sure I'm right here. I
Speaker 1: don't know what is? What is? The nicknames? Saying that
Speaker 1: he is able to slip through defens and days of
Speaker 1: old Basically you can't find him, you don't know where
Speaker 1: he is, you know, Well, that's how the Colts offense
Speaker 1: felt for a large chunk of the season. Now he's
Speaker 1: materialized into someone we can see in the flesh. Doesn't
Speaker 1: It's not even on Pro Football Reference, which, like Marcus saying,
Speaker 1: if it's not there, it's not really Hilton ghosts. And
Speaker 1: you'll be taken to one three inc. Dot com, the
Speaker 1: official online store of t Y Hilton the Ghost you
Speaker 1: can get some ghost material. Maybe I'll get you some
Speaker 1: for Christmas. I mean you've got that, You've got the
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson biography. You seem like the likely candidate to
Speaker 1: the three of us to have, uh, you know, t
Speaker 1: Y Hilton Ghost um pair of mill as well. It's
Speaker 1: a good bit um. How about a little Frank Reich
Speaker 1: appreciation In the year everyone is getting mentioned for Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year. He's not going to. But you watch
Speaker 1: this team and I think it's just a really well
Speaker 1: run offense. I think if you gave about twenty five
Speaker 1: coaches this offensive personnel, uh, they wouldn't be doing nearly
Speaker 1: as well as Frank Reich is doing with it. He
Speaker 1: presents a lot of problems for defenses. That's why I'm
Speaker 1: with you, Dan, they should beat the Texans. I just
Speaker 1: remember that game from two weeks ago so well, and
Speaker 1: division games are weird, and it was so evenly played.
Speaker 1: The Colts were really lucky. You're putting them in that club, Greig.
Speaker 1: I like your your old theory that there's only a
Speaker 1: handful of coaches and I don't know if you ever
Speaker 1: put a number on it. Yeah, that truly matters. And
Speaker 1: for this year we haven't give him in a lot
Speaker 1: of pop. But I think he's he's like a step
Speaker 1: below Kyle Shanahan or whatever. But in terms of offensive
Speaker 1: game plans and everything. Yeah, I love Frank Craig. So
Speaker 1: does Carson Wentz remember him. So do Eagles fans. Um.
Speaker 1: That's gotta prove it. He's got to prove it a
Speaker 1: little more. I mean, you would think do it. That
Speaker 1: speaks to my point, you know, but what made Maddiel
Speaker 1: for the bearded boy just can't get all right? Give
Speaker 1: give Frank Riik, Aaron Rodgers, see what happens? Um, all right,
Speaker 1: let's move on, and that will now take us to
Speaker 1: Mark Anthony Sessler not my middle, Yes, Edward is my middle.
Speaker 1: Edward Anthony was the I think the bassist in van Halen.
Speaker 1: How about that? I think also a historical figure in
Speaker 1: ancient times as well. Mark also the original Eddie Spaghetti.
Speaker 1: Mark Eddie Spaghetti Sessler. That's true. That was my nickname
Speaker 1: in a parallel universe. I have no idea what you're
Speaker 1: talking about. Dan. I'm gonna go, Well, there are a
Speaker 1: lot of dogs left at this point. There's not a
Speaker 1: lot to pick from, and I've already given one of
Speaker 1: my games to Shook. So I'm gonna go Jacksonville at Baltimore.
Speaker 1: You gave one of your games that Shook. We've already
Speaker 1: discussed this, you know, he he's got he is very
Speaker 1: busy on the NFL dot com desk. They're whipping Fessler
Speaker 1: making trades mid show. Well, it was a request from
Speaker 1: Shook and it was the least I could do. Uh,
Speaker 1: he will be getting New England at Miami, So I
Speaker 1: still have to pick a few here. I'm going to
Speaker 1: We're putting the clock on this one. Did you go
Speaker 1: through the never necessary league back channels to make that
Speaker 1: trade legitimate? It is legitimate as of right now because
Speaker 1: I chose to make it legitimate. Um. Listen, one little
Speaker 1: notable element here with the with the Hollywood Brown and
Speaker 1: Miles Boy clock in this, Ricky, sorry to cut you
Speaker 1: off there. I mean, can I possibly get three seconds
Speaker 1: into this segment? This is absolutely unbelievable. I have one
Speaker 1: minute to talk and you guys have interrupted me twelve
Speaker 1: times combined. I'm down, Relax, We're just we're setting up
Speaker 1: the mechanisms of the show. We before the program began,
Speaker 1: we set aside four games to set the speed clock
Speaker 1: on two minutes, real style, and then you're not gonna
Speaker 1: get just one minute, mark, here's two minutes. You want
Speaker 1: to talk for two minutes, talk for two minutes. This
Speaker 1: is your world, baby, I do not want to talk
Speaker 1: for two minutes. I will mention that Hollywood Brown and
Speaker 1: Miles Boykin days after that Monday Night game have been
Speaker 1: put on the COVID list. Now to your point with
Speaker 1: the last game, we don't know if this is they
Speaker 1: have Corona or they are close contacts. If they were close,
Speaker 1: they could play their expectation. That's the expectation, so you
Speaker 1: get them back. That's still a little bizarre to me. Um.
Speaker 1: You know this is the Ravens team right now. I
Speaker 1: think coming out of Monday Night, they've been launched out
Speaker 1: of a cannon and you're playing a Jacksonville defense that
Speaker 1: last week was terrorized by Derrick Henry. So the setup,
Speaker 1: um for a team that wants to come in and
Speaker 1: run the ball all day long feels inviting for Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I don't. I don't have a whole lot to say
Speaker 1: about this game other than if Baltimore ever slipped up here,
Speaker 1: it would be one of the bigger um stumbles that
Speaker 1: we've seen by a a f C North heavy like
Speaker 1: the Ravens and year. It's not happening. It's not happening.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna watch games. I'm gonna sit here. I'll
Speaker 1: have a It'll be Sunday earlier coke. I don't take
Speaker 1: this one. Yeah, oh, I love blowouts, but it's also
Speaker 1: gonna this is gonna be I don't care about Miles
Speaker 1: Blinken or Hollywood Brown or anything. Well, but what if
Speaker 1: they have the disease? I would feel a little. No,
Speaker 1: I don't care about that in terms of this game,
Speaker 1: in terms of it's competitive, I really hope those gentlemen
Speaker 1: are healthy and if they are ill, that it does
Speaker 1: not become a serious situation. I think Lamar is going
Speaker 1: to shred this pitiful Jacksonville defense, and I need Gardner
Speaker 1: Meanshew as the starter to get me a W so
Speaker 1: the Jets don't need to go winless to get Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 1: But I don't ask Trevor. I don't ask Minshew to
Speaker 1: win this game. You're not gonna hear me burying Minshew
Speaker 1: on Sunday Night's podcast. Well, I might because he can't
Speaker 1: get the win against the Ravens. I need one win
Speaker 1: against the Bears next week. Not asking Ford here. I
Speaker 1: think the Ravens defense is a problem. This is probably
Speaker 1: not the week it shows up. Wouldn't surprise me if
Speaker 1: Minshew puts up some points in like a forty two
Speaker 1: to twenty seven game or something. But I think they're
Speaker 1: a problem. They got a lot of issues right now.
Speaker 1: Up front. You can't blitz when you don't have your Interrex.
Speaker 1: But this ship, they have the nice matchup this week.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move right along. Greg, you're up next.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm gonna take the forty Niners and the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Set the clock, Ricky, We've got two minutes. This is
Speaker 1: truly a dead game. Uh, it is our last chance
Speaker 1: to watch. Uh. Cowboys fans convinced themselves that they're not
Speaker 1: totally out of it, and they like they're coming off
Speaker 1: a blow out victory and they're putting thirty thousand people
Speaker 1: in the stands to watch this dog team. Hey, how
Speaker 1: about have some self respect? The Dolphins fans and the
Speaker 1: Browns fans are making more noise with their seven thousand
Speaker 1: fans outside than you're making with inside. Good jobs Dolphins
Speaker 1: fans too. I noticed last week. It's also the last
Speaker 1: chance for Mike, Kyle Shanahan and Salah to like win
Speaker 1: a game and us to say, wow, what a great
Speaker 1: coaching job they've done this year, because I don't know
Speaker 1: if they're gonna get another win, but I see one
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Uh, maybe George Kittle's back, maybe not. Nick
Speaker 1: Molins is starting. I don't care. I'm locking up the
Speaker 1: forty Niners alright, Like haven't haven't been home in a month,
Speaker 1: the forty Niners. That could be a problem, not coming
Speaker 1: off a very good game. But I'm I'm having annoying.
Speaker 1: How annoying is the Deebo Samuel season this year? Never
Speaker 1: could get his body right and then he pops a
Speaker 1: hamstring on the first possession. Last week He's done Kyle
Speaker 1: Jannah and said that you know you'll see him probably
Speaker 1: next year. So, uh, that's a big part of that
Speaker 1: offense lost, and with it get another reason for me
Speaker 1: not to care about the forty Niners at this point. Samuel,
Speaker 1: to me, is so fun to watch. He's not in
Speaker 1: the picture. Cowboys should roll here, and Andy Dalton he cowboys,
Speaker 1: Cowboys should lock up. Yeah, I know I disagree with you.
Speaker 1: I think Andy Dalton has installed the floor with this
Speaker 1: offense and they're gonna take care of business. Well, I'd
Speaker 1: be surprised that Dallas rolls in this game, but I
Speaker 1: mean anything could happen. But Zeke Elliott doesn't seem very
Speaker 1: healthy right now. He's not been very good to begin with. Um,
Speaker 1: you know the Niners health, the nine US have tried
Speaker 1: on defense. I think they put a lot of effort
Speaker 1: into stuff. But Rahee Monster has also hurt. It's not
Speaker 1: just Deebo Samuel. I mean, maybe they made a deal
Speaker 1: with the football gods and said, put every one of
Speaker 1: our injuries into this season and keep us clean the
Speaker 1: next two. Maybe, you know in our locks competition. Um,
Speaker 1: if you can get a w here because Mark and
Speaker 1: I both locked up the Chiefs, if somehow the Saints win,
Speaker 1: which could obviously happen, and you get a Niners victory,
Speaker 1: you are coasted to the There's a lot on the
Speaker 1: line for Boys next game. I'm up again, and uh,
Speaker 1: I guess I'll take that Jets Rams Gamey's coasting, baby,
Speaker 1: not just you. It doesn't really matter. Um, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be focusing more on that Chiefs Saints game. Don't care,
Speaker 1: but someone's got to take this Jets Rams game. I
Speaker 1: am interested to see, uh what the Rams do in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, them running that two tight end
Speaker 1: set so much, and it really got me thinking about
Speaker 1: how the Rams have evolved since they lost the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: They're way more able to be multiple. I think they're
Speaker 1: not as predictable. I think that Super Bowl loss helped
Speaker 1: them go that way. And you know, they lose their
Speaker 1: left tackle and somehow they're the most rugged running team
Speaker 1: in the league all of a sudden, and that matches
Speaker 1: up obviously well for this week for the Jets, but
Speaker 1: even for the playoffs. I think it helps them that
Speaker 1: you don't know what kind of UH formation and what
Speaker 1: you're gonna see out of this Rams team. They're also
Speaker 1: the best team in the league. I think using tempo,
Speaker 1: that's something Jared Goff should get some credit for it.
Speaker 1: I mean, they snapped that ball with about thirty seconds
Speaker 1: six seconds left on the clock. It's pretty amazing. And
Speaker 1: they caught the Patriots big time using tempo. And that
Speaker 1: Thursday night game, there was one mom this is not
Speaker 1: really Jets Rams specific, but I love watching that NFL
Speaker 1: miked up, which you know will pick five or six
Speaker 1: games to dig in on, and they did Patriots Rams.
Speaker 1: And there was a moment where Belichick came up to
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh after that game and that what you know,
Speaker 1: it feels like a year ago, but it was Thursday
Speaker 1: night and he basically said, you had a great play
Speaker 1: and and you know it's it's it was two coaches
Speaker 1: congratulating each other, but McVeigh sort of said, appreciate it, man,
Speaker 1: And like I could see like genuine emotion in Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh um, and I think it meant so much to him,
Speaker 1: and so it made me think a little bit differently
Speaker 1: about this Rams team. And the one other thing I'd
Speaker 1: say about Sean McVeigh is that he I thought made
Speaker 1: an excellent choice back in the day to hire Wade
Speaker 1: Phillips as a defensive coordinator and to move on was
Speaker 1: a bit controversial, but then he went and found Brandon Stalely,
Speaker 1: and I think that this is one coach that does
Speaker 1: as good a job as anyone at finding the rest
Speaker 1: of his staff, because Brandon Stalely has been a star
Speaker 1: for them and could be a head coach much sooner
Speaker 1: than we think. So you know, the Rams are very
Speaker 1: solid and consistent on that side of the ball. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is not going to be another ugly day for
Speaker 1: the Jets and their fans. Stay away, keep your eyes
Speaker 1: closed and if you want to, if you're looking for
Speaker 1: some hope, just looking ahead. As as a Jets fan,
Speaker 1: look at the Rams, look at what they did. Jeff
Speaker 1: Fisher was a laughing stock at the end of that tenure.
Speaker 1: We saw it on a hard knocks and an all
Speaker 1: or nothing and then Sean McVeigh comes in. Everything has changed.
Speaker 1: It takes one guy sometimes changed the culture you trust
Speaker 1: from Jets to find that guy. But sometimes even a
Speaker 1: blind sc that's the saying, right, I believe it is.
Speaker 1: I don't know how are we identifying that squirrels are blind?
Speaker 1: Who's digging down to find out if that's the case. Um,
Speaker 1: when I big unfeeding a squirrel in my backyard, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be I wouldn't get too close to squirrels and
Speaker 1: doesn't sound like a good trend. You're got suddenly you're
Speaker 1: gonna have about you. I've read this story. You know
Speaker 1: the uh lead singer of that that god punk band
Speaker 1: who's living in Venice and has a whole house of
Speaker 1: squirrels living with him right now, Johnny Rotten is the
Speaker 1: is the name? Remember old Johnny right the sex pistols,
Speaker 1: sex Pistols? Yeah, the damn punk band. Well, I was blanket.
Speaker 1: I was the g D was at myself. Are you
Speaker 1: like a are you like a parent in whales in
Speaker 1: or something? It was the swearing was at was at myself.
Speaker 1: I couldn't think of the name um. But you know,
Speaker 1: he starts feeding those squirrels. He's just living. They're all
Speaker 1: living in his house, and like you feed one, they're
Speaker 1: all gonna start coming. Okay, No, I got this guy.
Speaker 1: We call him Gus, and he trusts us now And
Speaker 1: it's not the right thing to do. But I think
Speaker 1: it's certainly UM driven in some part by the pandemic,
Speaker 1: this need for uh increased intimacy with anything that's living
Speaker 1: in outside the house. I think there's some type of
Speaker 1: psychological tie in. While I'm feeding this going, I feeding
Speaker 1: this squirrel feanuts Erica. That is all I'm feeding it. Okay,
Speaker 1: So we don't need Orson Wells in that spot, Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean we we couldn't get the lock sound for
Speaker 1: my game, but it's Orson Wells is just hanging out
Speaker 1: in the back room. I have multiple questions for Dan
Speaker 1: on this topic, but I'll take ahead. No hit me.
Speaker 1: Hit me with one more question, then I'll move on.
Speaker 1: I mean, it just doesn't sound safe. You're you're is
Speaker 1: the squirrel eating the peanuts out of your hand. Really,
Speaker 1: it feels that it's definitely pulled from sort of um
Speaker 1: like an emo nineties film starring like Robin Williams or something.
Speaker 1: But um, I I don't know, Dan. I wish you
Speaker 1: luck on this front. I'm really psychic prestige picture where
Speaker 1: like a simple minded man, uh spends his days in
Speaker 1: the backyard feeding well, we got that part right, you know.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's it's that's a situation, all right. I
Speaker 1: don't know where to go from here. We still mean
Speaker 1: shut in at this point. You don't let anyone near you,
Speaker 1: so it don't come after me. I'm just trying to,
Speaker 1: you know, find some love out there in the world
Speaker 1: and and spread my seeds beat seen squirrels attack and uh,
Speaker 1: it's good you have him on your side. But what
Speaker 1: is this. I don't let anyone near me. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're in a pandemic. I'm not allowed to go anywhere
Speaker 1: like that's that's not that's another nice cover story, bro.
Speaker 1: I don't know where to go. I don't know what
Speaker 1: what's happening at this point. All right, mark it, it
Speaker 1: finishes with you before we I think we have one
Speaker 1: more primetime game. Uh what do you got? Um? Well,
Speaker 1: I have one choice. It's Detroit at Tennessee. And you
Speaker 1: know I can't get enough of the Detroit Lions in
Speaker 1: mid December, and so I will say Detroit interesting that
Speaker 1: they announced that they would speak to Lewis riddick Um
Speaker 1: for their general manager open They added Rick Smith that
Speaker 1: former Texans GM did that list. Thomas de Mitchroth was
Speaker 1: was put on that list this morning. So it's an
Speaker 1: interesting wide net. I mean, we've talked about the future
Speaker 1: of Monday night football. Pulling Lewis Riddeck out of the mix.
Speaker 1: Who else is going to speak with the Texans would
Speaker 1: be interesting? Um? As for this week, I mean Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford is very banged up. Um, he's not practicing, But
Speaker 1: Darryl Bevil said number one, I don't really care if
Speaker 1: he doesn't practice all week, we'd still be willing to
Speaker 1: play him. And Matthew Staffords has said I want to
Speaker 1: play in this game, So I think that's a TVD
Speaker 1: right now. I wouldn't be surprised if he does. And
Speaker 1: here's your job. Stop a offense in the Titans, where
Speaker 1: I think the highest floor outside of the Chiefs in
Speaker 1: the league, Like they just don't have bad games on offense.
Speaker 1: And what we saw from Derrick Henry and A. J.
Speaker 1: Brown and Tannehill a week ago, Um, I think they're
Speaker 1: on a tear. They kind of remind me on offense
Speaker 1: of the Ravens a little bit, where, um, you're gonna
Speaker 1: have to cause mistakes to slow him down. I think
Speaker 1: Cleveland didn't get lucky, but they you know, they were
Speaker 1: fortunate to some degree that they stuff Derrick Henry on
Speaker 1: a fourth and one in the next next next drive
Speaker 1: caused a fumble and that's through Tennessee off their game script.
Speaker 1: As people like to say, Um, that's your that's your move.
Speaker 1: Can Detroit do that? Um? I don't foresee that, but
Speaker 1: they've been friskier under Bevel, They've been more interesting to
Speaker 1: watch on offense. I love this stat from NFL research.
Speaker 1: The Titans are the six team since nineteen seventy average
Speaker 1: thirty points per game. They're right at thirty right now,
Speaker 1: and a hundred and fifty plus yards per game. And
Speaker 1: four of those previous five teams featured an m v P,
Speaker 1: including last year's Ravens, and four of those five teams
Speaker 1: one fourteen games. I mean, that is unbelievable. It shows
Speaker 1: how bad he is. And also one other crazy stat,
Speaker 1: Derek Derrick Henry has a has a real path to
Speaker 1: two thousand yards rushing, and Ryan Tannehill is a good
Speaker 1: chance of setting the team's all time passing touchdown. I mean,
Speaker 1: the offense is just off the charts statistically. You don't
Speaker 1: need to teams do come on now, don't pull the
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs here. Where do we come Greg? Try to
Speaker 1: because I know you're a little cynical about fantasy at
Speaker 1: this stage of your life, But where do you come down?
Speaker 1: I just don't play it, okay, So then you're a
Speaker 1: good quick person asking this, where do you come down? On?
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs? Going out of his way last Sunday morning
Speaker 1: to put on Instagram. Uh, sorry, fantasy heads out there,
Speaker 1: I'm not playing and and you absolutely was playing. He
Speaker 1: was active, He went in people's pockets potentially, and then
Speaker 1: afterwards he gave him like a digital middle finger, like
Speaker 1: uh an emoji with emoi. You don't want to see it.
Speaker 1: But I ask everyone no, for for real, like if
Speaker 1: you can't do that, but I also ask you to
Speaker 1: put yourselves in a twenty four, twenty five year old
Speaker 1: shoes who's getting crap about fantasy all the time. He's
Speaker 1: had a very disappointing season and has gotten probably hundreds
Speaker 1: of d ms over the course of the season. Are you,
Speaker 1: as a twenty five year old who's at the top
Speaker 1: of his profession, are you gonna have um the self
Speaker 1: control not to fight back and do something stupid one
Speaker 1: time that I just think it has to be put
Speaker 1: in context with that, because because people are coming after them,
Speaker 1: is tough. The other wrinkle to that was that Gruden
Speaker 1: had to pull him aside and say, look, I have
Speaker 1: been around the great running backs and I'm gonna bring
Speaker 1: up names like Walter Payton and others and say they
Speaker 1: didn't they didn't only play when they were healthy, they
Speaker 1: played through pain. They played when they were hurt. And
Speaker 1: I think that impacted maybe even post Instagram post or
Speaker 1: tweet whatever it was. Um, Josh Jacob's sort of role
Speaker 1: in thinking in that game. Gruden came down on him hard. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but do it. But the behavior is unappealing. It doesn't
Speaker 1: justify it. But I just think that is the reality,
Speaker 1: and so I think it's more understandable, you know, if
Speaker 1: you put it in that context. He's putting his hand
Speaker 1: in people's pockets. You know. I'm now I've reached a
Speaker 1: stage in life where my fantasy season doesn't dictate whether
Speaker 1: I could like pay rent. But I've been in that
Speaker 1: place before, like where I had no money and no
Speaker 1: business being uh you know in certain leagues. Uh, and
Speaker 1: especially coming during the Fantasy playoffs, that was it. But
Speaker 1: you're right, Well, they'll make a league rule, honestly, if
Speaker 1: they haven't already, just because of how that affects you know,
Speaker 1: some of their part ors, the NFL as partners with
Speaker 1: this DFS company. So if you suddenly had players like
Speaker 1: giving misinformation, that's problematic too. Um. All right, let's wrap
Speaker 1: things up with Monday Night football Pittsburgh at Cincinnati. Really
Speaker 1: nice set up for Pittsburgh here, obviously because uh, they're
Speaker 1: coming up back to back losses. They're they're certainly kind
Speaker 1: of at a sink and a bit of a funk offensively,
Speaker 1: if if if you're not talking about the drops, which
Speaker 1: have been plentyful, you're talking about the general scheme which
Speaker 1: has been uh pretty static and unimaginative and a running
Speaker 1: game that doesn't get going. So there's a lot of
Speaker 1: things not working on that Steeler's offense. The good news
Speaker 1: is the Cincinnati Bengal steak and they're ready to go home.
Speaker 1: Uh So it feels like markould get right game for
Speaker 1: the Steelers, you would hope. So for them, well, they
Speaker 1: don't get right. I mean, I think the media news
Speaker 1: cycle will go absolutely ballistic. Um, they've got to handle
Speaker 1: this game. They've gotta handle it with ease. I want
Speaker 1: to see that run game, UM reach turn and get balanced.
Speaker 1: I don't trust that it will. Their offensive line has
Speaker 1: not been, you know, in top shape. They've had corona issues,
Speaker 1: they've had injury issues. Zach Taylor did mention that Brandon
Speaker 1: Allen did not practice today on Thursday because of a
Speaker 1: knee issue that Ryan Finley took first team reps. Um
Speaker 1: like Brandon Allen better than Ryan Finley. I don't like
Speaker 1: either of them much at all, So I don't know
Speaker 1: why that should matter at all. I mean, Pittsburgh, I think,
Speaker 1: needs to look at this game as a shut the
Speaker 1: entire football world up. Um, I don't care who it's
Speaker 1: coming against. Go in and drop a nuclear bomb on
Speaker 1: a Bengals team with zero direction right now. This game
Speaker 1: can't be seven six at halftime. I know Pittsburgh, even
Speaker 1: when things are going right on offense this year, they
Speaker 1: would go through little lulls where they would disappear for
Speaker 1: a quota or two. Don't put us in that situation
Speaker 1: as viewers. Give us something fun to watch, even if
Speaker 1: it's a blowout. Yeah, the uh it does make me think,
Speaker 1: is Ben Roethlisberger a guy you want playing in cold weather? Uh?
Speaker 1: It's kind of funny to think about that in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But his arm strength is not the same and and
Speaker 1: I do think that affects quarterbacks. It's that's why I
Speaker 1: wouldn't be as worried about Brady. Arm strength is not
Speaker 1: his problem. Um, But Ben, I don't know. It's so
Speaker 1: weird to think he might not be a cold weather quarterback.
Speaker 1: Our buddy Tyler Dragon broke the news that Geno Atkins
Speaker 1: UH and the Bengals are gonna be same goodbye to
Speaker 1: each other in the off season, and Atkins is officially
Speaker 1: out for the rest of the season. So good job
Speaker 1: Tyler Dragon with the scoop. What a career Gino Atkins
Speaker 1: had there, but not quite the same? And how about
Speaker 1: a little shout out that Jesse Bates. The Bengals have
Speaker 1: one Pro Bowl player on their team. His name is
Speaker 1: Jesse Bates, a safety having a fantastic season. He should
Speaker 1: make the Pro Bowl. Has been one of the best.
Speaker 1: I gotta wonder if a J. Green would um link
Speaker 1: up with Gino and get out of there as well.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure. Let me who wants a J.
Speaker 1: Green at this point? What was that guy done the
Speaker 1: last couple of years to show that he can play? Though? Well,
Speaker 1: I'm not he'll get a job. He'll get a job,
Speaker 1: but you're right, the market's not going to be super
Speaker 1: aggressive for a J. I don't think Geno will have
Speaker 1: a market. I would think, even if he's not quite
Speaker 1: the same guy either, A J. Green um all right?
Speaker 1: There you go. That is the full Oh Ricky, who
Speaker 1: are you locking up this week? We you know, we
Speaker 1: always have to hold you to a a standard um
Speaker 1: of giving us heads up on this and you know
Speaker 1: no mid morning locks on a Sunday from the West coast.
Speaker 1: When you get a chance to lock up the chiefs,
Speaker 1: you do it well, all three of you know this
Speaker 1: is payback. Um, you know this is this is just
Speaker 1: h jessel Nick and Rosenthal vanity project, um, synchronicity, loyalty.
Speaker 1: Here she's she's teaming up and taking you guys down. Um.
Speaker 1: You know since we worked together elsewhere, use about where
Speaker 1: you're going with that. I was like, oh, you want
Speaker 1: to take them down? So yeah, you're helping you're you're
Speaker 1: helping me out? Are you sure? Have you seen that
Speaker 1: forty Niners team? The way they get coached up week
Speaker 1: after week by the Great Dan is wildly for in
Speaker 1: these cowboys give I'll tell you what if you want
Speaker 1: if this is this is unappealing, this three um, no,
Speaker 1: I would happily lock up the Browns if you would
Speaker 1: allow me to go ahead. Well, I don't want to
Speaker 1: hear a bunch of white noise about that's you're not
Speaker 1: there's no mirror like. I don't have to do that either,
Speaker 1: but if we want, it's more interest. I don't like
Speaker 1: it when anyone complains about anyone's luck. That's why you
Speaker 1: have to have rules there there within the guidelines. But
Speaker 1: I have a guy that wants to kill the game,
Speaker 1: wants to install the rules. It doesn't work. The whole
Speaker 1: point of wanting to kill the game is the game's
Speaker 1: got to have rules for you to play it. But
Speaker 1: j I've got some breaking news about the Browns game.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you have the sound effect here, Erica. Oh,
Speaker 1: James Bradberry, the top cornerback for the Giants, has contracted
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen and it's just the red carpet is being
Speaker 1: rolled out. He will not only miss this game, but
Speaker 1: based on the timing and that he did test positive,
Speaker 1: he might miss two weeks. Which wow, he's been great
Speaker 1: of them. Well, I have no problem whatsoever, Mark. I
Speaker 1: debated all week between or all morning between the Browns
Speaker 1: and UH in my forty nine pick. I think that's fine. Well,
Speaker 1: what let's let's let's just think about one thing. If
Speaker 1: I ever locked them up two weeks in a row
Speaker 1: and they lost both of those games after it was
Speaker 1: one game behind Gregg. It would be a classic crash
Speaker 1: and burn scenario that, um, you could sing about for
Speaker 1: the entire off season A few We can't. We can't
Speaker 1: spend the whole season saying how frisky the Giants are
Speaker 1: and how we like them and uh and the Browns
Speaker 1: are a little overrated. To totally switch those narratives in
Speaker 1: one week, just all right, I'll do it. I'm I'm
Speaker 1: with you. I could see the Giants winning. It's not
Speaker 1: I'll do it. I'm switching. I'm switching, and i'll alert
Speaker 1: you know. It's possible that it's the locked on Twitter
Speaker 1: man is not following this at this point, so I'll
Speaker 1: let him know as well. I want, actually, I want
Speaker 1: you to go back to the Chiefs. I like that
Speaker 1: one better. Well, all right, there you go, so Ricky,
Speaker 1: it's locking up the Chiefs of me. Mark actually bailed
Speaker 1: on the Chiefs because of Erica. Think about that. It's
Speaker 1: pretty fun. She got in my head. I think the
Speaker 1: Browns would have won in real time if she had
Speaker 1: not done the last week. She she created a major
Speaker 1: ripple effect that I don't do not find rewarding. What
Speaker 1: Erica's mush powers. Do they actually extend to the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs? What a test this will be? Well, let's see,
Speaker 1: maybe everything changes now she's she's been mathematically eliminated. We've
Speaker 1: only got seven weeks left in the season. She's she's
Speaker 1: eight back. Maybe she goes on a hot streak now
Speaker 1: the pressure is off. She's the Berserker and Mark just
Speaker 1: switched themself into total misery. No, I think it's more
Speaker 1: she's the Berserker jumping on other people's locks and then
Speaker 1: that person loses their lock. That's Berserker. What happens if
Speaker 1: the Chiefs take care of business? Berserker locks it up,
Speaker 1: the Zeuster locks it up, and then somehow the Giants
Speaker 1: beat the Browns. What version of Mark Cesler are we
Speaker 1: going to have for the show? If all of that happens,
Speaker 1: it's a good thing on Sunday night. At least it's
Speaker 1: a Sunday night game. He'll only be miserable for that
Speaker 1: last ten minutes, if it, if it counts or anything.
Speaker 1: I do think the Cowboys are going to beat Oh no,
Speaker 1: thank you, you're the Berserker now, so I'm in. Everything's
Speaker 1: turned upside down all right? Now? One little news stuff,
Speaker 1: one little side note. I don't like to promote things
Speaker 1: at all, but I'm doing an A M A on
Speaker 1: the reddit board, the subreddit around the NFL board tomorrow
Speaker 1: at ten am California Times. So nice. Um. I'm not
Speaker 1: specifically telling you too that I don't expect you two
Speaker 1: to care, but just for anyone that's listening, I'm already
Speaker 1: logged into the room and waiting for your arrival. All right,
Speaker 1: ask me anything. Make sure you check that out the subreddit.
Speaker 1: I believe it's a fifteen thousand strong and Mark will
Speaker 1: be there. Good stuff, all right, that's it, stan Anson
Speaker 1: signing off four Quiet Storm, the Old Boss Ricky Hollywood
Speaker 1: high in the virtual glass until the Black Ship Show.