Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast won't have a bye until February.
Speaker 1: Damn right. Welcome to another edition of the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL Podcast, presented by the United States Marine Corps. My
Speaker 1: name is Dan Hansas, coming to you from a room
Speaker 1: filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Westling, and Greg Rose
Speaker 1: withal What is up? Boys? Hey? D Week sixteen flagship show.
Speaker 1: Can you even believe? It? So much to look forward
Speaker 1: to if you're an NFL fan, if you're a podcast fan,
Speaker 1: not only do we have a lot of big games
Speaker 1: coming up, the playoffs, the Super Bowl. Also, as we
Speaker 1: announced at the end of our show, on Thursday, the
Speaker 1: Around Around the NFL Live podcast from Miami. Oh my goodness,
Speaker 1: the Thursday of Super Bowl Week from the Miami Improv.
Speaker 1: If you want to get tickets, hit Miami Improv dot
Speaker 1: com Slam Events and just uh roll down the calendar.
Speaker 1: You'll see it also on our Instagram page. Uh The
Speaker 1: A t N Pod, The A t N Podcast. Yes,
Speaker 1: you could get the link in the bio as well
Speaker 1: of our profile. Get tickets, Bring your friends, let's party,
Speaker 1: Bring many friends please, We'll tweet it, We'll pin it
Speaker 1: on the Twitter account Around the NFL two, we'll try
Speaker 1: to get some special guests, maybe Gloria Estefan wow An owner,
Speaker 1: one of the Williams sisters. Basically, yes, the entire ownership
Speaker 1: group of the Dolphins we're gonna gun for. And if
Speaker 1: we can't, Mark Sessler personally will spend time with each
Speaker 1: and every one of you after the show. Yees so
Speaker 1: well and I whenever we do these traveling shows, and
Speaker 1: it's been a couple of Super Bowls, it's it's a treasure, uh,
Speaker 1: emotionally to find out, you know, we're very big in
Speaker 1: Miami and it's just that we're that's being confirmed through
Speaker 1: uh a lot of factors, factual things. So exciting, you know,
Speaker 1: it was quite a point um all right, So yes,
Speaker 1: be there. That's gonna be fun. We're looking forward to it.
Speaker 1: We have a lot to get to. Oh my goodness, Greg,
Speaker 1: this is one of your biggest weeks of the season
Speaker 1: in terms of UH playoff computations. This is when we
Speaker 1: really lean on you and you understand that you know
Speaker 1: that I've been you know, preparing, I got extra sleep,
Speaker 1: did push ups. That's calculator buttons, you know, don't don't
Speaker 1: press themselves. The plus you your families out of town.
Speaker 1: They've left you for Japan, and you now have all
Speaker 1: this time to yourself. I don't know what you're doing
Speaker 1: with all this time. I've heard some um strange reports.
Speaker 1: I just hope all that free time doesn't lead to
Speaker 1: faulty computations. I hope, so, I mean, I hope you're right.
Speaker 1: All right. So we're gonna get to all the games.
Speaker 1: There were three games, of course on Saturday, and we'll
Speaker 1: get to them in fairly short order. But let's start
Speaker 1: with a couple of Sunday games that really jumped out
Speaker 1: to us, yes, including one that could very well end
Speaker 1: up deciding the NFC East. So let's start in the
Speaker 1: City of Brotherly Love. Prescott Hi. Prescott steps up. He
Speaker 1: is firing deep at it as complete and complete by
Speaker 1: Sydney Jones, whobody go player the play against the Giants
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. Well, Sydney Jones just made the play
Speaker 1: of the day because he is stride for stride down
Speaker 1: the sideline and able to get the football out intended
Speaker 1: for Michael Gallup down that left side. So this game
Speaker 1: is not over yet. Oh but it was Brad Brad Sham,
Speaker 1: the sham god in Babe Laughingberg with the call for
Speaker 1: kr L d yes, Sidney Jones broke up Dak Prescott's
Speaker 1: sport down past the Michael Gallup in the end zone,
Speaker 1: and then the Eagles were able to uh run for
Speaker 1: a couple of complete a first down, past run for
Speaker 1: another first down and end the game. They win seventeen
Speaker 1: to nine over the Eagles, and the Cowboys had a
Speaker 1: chance west to win the division, didn't come close in
Speaker 1: this one. And the Eagles are the team there, played
Speaker 1: like a true team when it matters most and the
Speaker 1: Cowboys that just into the busting a part of the seams. Well,
Speaker 1: I think it's the second time in three weeks where
Speaker 1: you look at the Cowboys operation and the blame just
Speaker 1: gets spread across the board, starting with the coaching staff. Um,
Speaker 1: they were just running into stacked boxes. Seemed like the
Speaker 1: entire first half on early downs when the Eagles cornerbacks
Speaker 1: were injured, they were lining up to take numbers at
Speaker 1: the medical tent. For a while for the Eagles, there
Speaker 1: were so many injuries and the matchups you could you
Speaker 1: could tell was the Cowboys wide receivers on the Eagles cornerbacks,
Speaker 1: and they kept running on early downs and then you
Speaker 1: spread the blame to the players because you know Amari
Speaker 1: Cooper drops, Jason went and dropped, Randall Cobb, a couple
Speaker 1: of drops, Michael Gallup drop Dak Prescott, who's got a
Speaker 1: bum shoulder, a couple of misfires, especially at Tavon Austin
Speaker 1: Um got wide open on the final drive with the
Speaker 1: chance for a long touchdown. There was a third down
Speaker 1: throw that Dak ms to Mariy Cooper. Uh. The defense
Speaker 1: could not stop the Eagles screenplays and Miles Sanders. It
Speaker 1: was just a poor effort across the board. And I
Speaker 1: this is to play like that with the season on
Speaker 1: the line twice in three weeks. Just terrible. I look
Speaker 1: at the passing game, and I know Dak Prescott's injured,
Speaker 1: but it's two thousand and nineteen and you're dropping back
Speaker 1: to past forty four times and the Eagles didn't really
Speaker 1: have much pressure on him. They ended up with four
Speaker 1: QB hits on the day, didn't have a ton of hurries.
Speaker 1: If you look at the PFF pass blocking grades, it's
Speaker 1: all great. So you get great pass protection, you got Doc,
Speaker 1: you gotta mar you got Cobb, you got all these players,
Speaker 1: and you can't throw the ball against a team that
Speaker 1: in the Eagles, that's given up some pretty big point
Speaker 1: totals to some pretty bad offenses lately, and it's I
Speaker 1: feel like whoever lost this game was gonna face essentially
Speaker 1: a home city firing squad, because you know, Troy Aikman
Speaker 1: noted called this the Eagles win, the best team win
Speaker 1: he's ever seen, which that shocks me because it feels
Speaker 1: a tad feelings. Yeah, I just feel is a tad
Speaker 1: hyperbolic because it wouldn't be surprised if next week the
Speaker 1: Cowboys went out and wiped out Team X and the
Speaker 1: Eagles lost and they're both eight and Nate I just
Speaker 1: the Eagles. To me, it's it's Dallas Goddard guys stepping up.
Speaker 1: With Zach Ertz is out. That's huge and that's a
Speaker 1: big win. But it's still a very inconsistent team, both
Speaker 1: of them. I think Troy's referencing the fact that even
Speaker 1: if the Eagles were healthy, the Cowboys have a much
Speaker 1: better roster at this point, and they weren't healthy. They
Speaker 1: were decimated by injuries in the Cowboys still have an
Speaker 1: incredibly more talented roster than the Eagles at this point
Speaker 1: in the season and the undermanned Eagles just took it
Speaker 1: to the Cowboy. And if you want to make the
Speaker 1: case that Jason Garrett has overstayed his welcome and it's
Speaker 1: finally time to say goodbye, I understand it. And I
Speaker 1: think anybody that says that's not something that should be
Speaker 1: done really had better have a good reason why, because
Speaker 1: Garrett has not made the most of this team. But
Speaker 1: then it's like the other thing, and I bring this
Speaker 1: up occasionally this podcast. The other thing that gets on
Speaker 1: my radar a little bit when people get mad at
Speaker 1: coaching a coaching staff, our head coach is man, where
Speaker 1: is the accountability on the players in this game? To
Speaker 1: your point, West, how many big plays and game changing
Speaker 1: plays that Tavon Austin, overthrow by Dak, the drops by Gallop,
Speaker 1: These plays are absolutely on the on a play a
Speaker 1: team that is not stepping up when it matters most
Speaker 1: when it counts, And maybe it's a personnel issue as
Speaker 1: much as it is a coaching issue. And that's just
Speaker 1: the story of this Cowboys season that everybody kind of faltered. Uh,
Speaker 1: it wasn't just a head coach's fault. I agree with
Speaker 1: that that the players have to take some of the
Speaker 1: brunt of the blame, but it's on the coaches to
Speaker 1: stress the urgency here and and for the past month,
Speaker 1: the urgency here for a team that is way more
Speaker 1: talented than any other NFC East team and that hasn't
Speaker 1: been done. And a guy like Joe Banner, who you know,
Speaker 1: I know, some people like him, don't like him, used
Speaker 1: to be the president of the Browns president of the Eagles,
Speaker 1: spent the entire game pointing out the specific areas and
Speaker 1: twitch Jason Yes on Twitter, the specific areas in which
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett was being out coached, in which the Cowboys
Speaker 1: defensive staff was getting out coached. And then you see
Speaker 1: things like Jason Garrett punting on fourth and one in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, and then the next very next drive
Speaker 1: going forward on fourth and eight, and the drive after
Speaker 1: that going forward on fourth and nine, and it's like,
Speaker 1: where what's the logic here? And on the key snap
Speaker 1: of the game, Amari Cooper's not in there. Amari Cooper
Speaker 1: told reporters he was pulled out by coaches. That wasn't
Speaker 1: a case of him pulling himself out. There was also
Speaker 1: a key third and one where Zeke apparently you know,
Speaker 1: hit his helmet to that he wanted to be taken out,
Speaker 1: which is going to get attention, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the big I know, I'm sure he was tired and
Speaker 1: and all of that, but that that's a play that
Speaker 1: you expect Ezekiel Elliott to want the ball and to
Speaker 1: be on the fields. They have three more wins the Cowboys, dude,
Speaker 1: then the New York Giants. It is completely unacceptable from
Speaker 1: where we were at the beginning of the season. You
Speaker 1: looked at this roster up and down that the blame
Speaker 1: is spread everywhere, but the coaching staff has found a
Speaker 1: way year after year to not maximize the roster they can't.
Speaker 1: I really do think there is something you unique about
Speaker 1: Dallas that because of Jerry Jones and the way he
Speaker 1: treats his players, because the way the city treats are
Speaker 1: players that they struggle with success and just because it
Speaker 1: keeps happening every single time they have a good season
Speaker 1: and they expect the next season is gonna be everyone.
Speaker 1: It never happens. Because football there's such a small margin
Speaker 1: between these teams. When you lose a little bit of
Speaker 1: that edge, it's huge, and I think the biggest mistake
Speaker 1: Jones made in the Garrett era was two thousand thirteen,
Speaker 1: after their third straight eight and eight, when we were
Speaker 1: when Garrett had blown so many game management situations over
Speaker 1: and over and over again, and to me, that felt
Speaker 1: like the time where he had shown that he wasn't
Speaker 1: your coach. And here you are another six years later,
Speaker 1: headed to an eight and A and maybe the playoffs.
Speaker 1: You said it, I can totally see them them winning
Speaker 1: next week and the Eagles losing that game to the Giants.
Speaker 1: That Cowboys have the redskins. I mean, I don't think this.
Speaker 1: We've mentioned this before. I do. This season has been
Speaker 1: so up and down. I think the Eagles will win
Speaker 1: and by the way, But it's just possible that you'd
Speaker 1: like to think that. But were weird are things have
Speaker 1: happened in our universe than two weeks from now we're
Speaker 1: talking about the Cowboys in the wild Card round having
Speaker 1: shocked a team at home, or the Seahawks or the Eagles.
Speaker 1: And I just want to give the Eagles the credit
Speaker 1: they deserve here because Carson wentz uh leading the way
Speaker 1: for the past three weeks. How could you not be
Speaker 1: ultra and pressed with him? In the last two years
Speaker 1: he's been basically sidelined by injuries this time of year,
Speaker 1: and what you've been able to see and even today
Speaker 1: another example we already have. He he has almost nothing
Speaker 1: to work with at the wide receiver position. This game
Speaker 1: he loses zach Ertz, who is his security, play blanket,
Speaker 1: his all everything. Some quarterbacks would go into a shell
Speaker 1: at that point and he would have a perfectly good excuse.
Speaker 1: In this case, Dallas got it and to got its um,
Speaker 1: you know, to on on him. Good for him. He
Speaker 1: was able to step up in a big spot here
Speaker 1: nine and a touchdown and they just made the plays.
Speaker 1: And he's played mistake freeball and his sloppy as Wentz
Speaker 1: was when they were struggling. Uh, these last three weeks,
Speaker 1: he has been exactly who they've needed. Greg Ward outplayed
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper today And we touched on this in the
Speaker 1: preview of this game, that the Eagles have something on
Speaker 1: offense now that they didn't have a month ago. Greg Ward,
Speaker 1: Dallas Goddard, zach Ertz, Miles Sanders. This is way more
Speaker 1: than they had working for them a month ago. And
Speaker 1: and Carson Wentz And when's the difference today? I thought
Speaker 1: was in these third and short situations. In these third
Speaker 1: down situations, Wentz found a way to move the chains,
Speaker 1: whether it was by rushing, whether it was avoiding pressure
Speaker 1: and hitting receivers. Dad did not find a way to
Speaker 1: make those plays. And as good as Wentz has has
Speaker 1: been playing late in the season, Miles Sanders has over
Speaker 1: three d yards in the last two weeks. That is monster.
Speaker 1: You're getting Christian mccapp Granted it's two weeks, but he
Speaker 1: had some games before that. But you're getting Christian McCaffrey
Speaker 1: production out of Miles Sanders last two years. He's now
Speaker 1: one of five rookies in history to have five hundred
Speaker 1: yards rushing and receiving in the same rookie seasons. UH.
Speaker 1: The Eagles are a win at the Meadow Ends against
Speaker 1: the Giants away in week seventeen from the NFC East title.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. The Saints are team that will be
Speaker 1: playing UH postseason football, and they had a chance to
Speaker 1: strengthen their chances at a buy in Nashville. What happened
Speaker 1: breeze under center here, I formation Joshul Molson's left, the
Speaker 1: right breeze is gonna look for throws go into his
Speaker 1: right close and it's caught and guess who Michael Thomas
Speaker 1: from two yards out. Mike Thomas gets the touchdown back
Speaker 1: and he now extends his lead a hundred and forty
Speaker 1: five receptions in the one football season. With a game
Speaker 1: to go, look out now, Zack Street, Saints Radio Network
Speaker 1: with the call yes. In week fifteen, it was Drew
Speaker 1: Brees making NFL history. In Week sixteen, it was Michael
Speaker 1: Thomas's turn. Thomas set the single season catch record and
Speaker 1: caught the game icing touchdown pass you just heard in
Speaker 1: a win over the Titans in Nashville. At twelve and three.
Speaker 1: The Saints remain in the hunt for the number one
Speaker 1: seed in the NFC Greg This was another impressive win
Speaker 1: for a Saints team that looks ready to do some
Speaker 1: damage in January, regardless of where they fall in the
Speaker 1: playoff bracket. They look like a super Bowl team to me,
Speaker 1: and I think super Bowl teams have these check marks
Speaker 1: games that they have to go through. And they lost
Speaker 1: that tough one against the forty nine is a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago. But down fourteen three on the road,
Speaker 1: you have two of your starting offensive lineman out of
Speaker 1: the game, your offense and Drew Brees was just furious.
Speaker 1: Through the first five drive drives of this game, they
Speaker 1: had one field goal in four punts, and you're playing
Speaker 1: a good team on a short week, and they score
Speaker 1: five touchdowns in their next six possessions, and they put
Speaker 1: up thirty eight points in Tennessee. And Tennessee is a
Speaker 1: little banged up in the in the secondary. They were
Speaker 1: without Derrick Henry Uh in this game as well. UH
Speaker 1: and Jeffrey Simmons was out. They might have been looking
Speaker 1: a little bit t too week seventeen, just in terms
Speaker 1: of those decisions, but they were playing as hard as
Speaker 1: they can and for an offense to just take over,
Speaker 1: that's the Saints to me, and and I really love
Speaker 1: their chances of getting a bye. We'll have to see
Speaker 1: what happens in the next couple of days or next
Speaker 1: week or so, but they are putting themselves in position
Speaker 1: to be in the Superos. A lot of bubbling up
Speaker 1: on Twitter of when they were struggling against the Titans
Speaker 1: at one point in this game that, oh, it's just
Speaker 1: just like every other Saints team you play outside, They're
Speaker 1: not gonna be able to do anything that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: But now I think that there's a reason for that
Speaker 1: belief because it has been true of Dome teams, and
Speaker 1: it's been true of Drew's Drew Brees, but it hasn't
Speaker 1: been jure of this New Orleans Saints team. There's six
Speaker 1: and one on the road this year versus six and
Speaker 1: two at home. They have the best record in the
Speaker 1: NFL on the road over the last three years. So
Speaker 1: if they got some bad luck and did have to
Speaker 1: play some games on the road and don't get that
Speaker 1: by like like they're hoping for, I do think that
Speaker 1: this is a team that can be anyone anywhere in
Speaker 1: the NFC. How did Alvin Camaro look? He looked like
Speaker 1: a different Alvin Camara, especially on his touchdown run. Just
Speaker 1: the speed was there. He still didn't make guys miss
Speaker 1: in the open field, but I felt like a relief
Speaker 1: for him to get that forty yard touchdown run. He
Speaker 1: had added another touchdown later in the game, had add
Speaker 1: ten total scrimmage yards. So I think they feel uh
Speaker 1: much better when he's running like that, especially because they
Speaker 1: will get their linemen back they believe. I don't. I don't.
Speaker 1: The one thing that happened in this game that I
Speaker 1: to me was just a ghastly moment officiating wise, and
Speaker 1: it deserved a longer look. Was the Calif Raymond fumbled
Speaker 1: for the Titans, where you know what, stopped by one defender,
Speaker 1: but the second one coming in. I saw a helmet
Speaker 1: to Helmett contact and you mentioned that the broadcast didn't
Speaker 1: really kind of let it float by. That's the kind
Speaker 1: of thing that was a key moment in that contest.
Speaker 1: Intend it kind of killed Tennessee's chance. I mean, it
Speaker 1: goes both ways. It's such it's become impossible to kind
Speaker 1: of accurately get that right because the game is moving
Speaker 1: so fast. And how many times have we seen fifteen
Speaker 1: yard penalties assessed on a team that did not land
Speaker 1: a head to head But in that case it was
Speaker 1: it was stopped because they were checking. It was on
Speaker 1: a turnover to set that you call that on challenge.
Speaker 1: You could have Mike Rabel did um you know, no, no,
Speaker 1: after the game, Look, they looked at that play, and
Speaker 1: when they look at that play, they can look at
Speaker 1: everything there. You know, that's one of the things that
Speaker 1: they can look at. So that happened on a turnover.
Speaker 1: Calif Raymond fumbled the ball like right when he got
Speaker 1: hit apparently it appeared to be contacted in the head.
Speaker 1: The Saints pick it up and then they go for
Speaker 1: a touchdown in the fourth quarter to go up ten.
Speaker 1: So it was a huge spot. The Titans fought really
Speaker 1: well all game. Uh, and I guess the the officiating,
Speaker 1: you know, back in New York decided it wasn't enough
Speaker 1: to to overturn it. And the Derrick Henry sitting out. Sure,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of fantasy owners that were devastated
Speaker 1: by that, but that could end up being a brilliant
Speaker 1: move by them because they still they're in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They gotta beat the Texans and then they need the
Speaker 1: Steelers to lose to the Ravens. Uh if I'm correct, Greg. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they just they just need to win. That's all they need.
Speaker 1: Win it in. They didn't know that when they started today,
Speaker 1: but they knew that next week was going to be
Speaker 1: the key game, and Pittsburgh loss helped them out. They
Speaker 1: could also get in with the Pittsburgh and Indianapolis loss.
Speaker 1: If those two teams lose next week, Tennessee wouldn't even
Speaker 1: have to win. But it's a weird day for Tennessee
Speaker 1: because they came out of it despite the loss in
Speaker 1: better shape, uh than they were going into it because
Speaker 1: of the Pittsburgh game, and feeling even better about Ryan Tannehill.
Speaker 1: It took a couple more sacks, but got It's amazing
Speaker 1: how well he's throwing the football. He's throwing the football
Speaker 1: like the ball as well as I would say any
Speaker 1: like a top five quarterback. He threw it great. Again.
Speaker 1: It was the only reason they were in this game.
Speaker 1: There were a ton of big plays in both directions.
Speaker 1: He made some great I saw a couple of players
Speaker 1: where the Saints were right in his face and his
Speaker 1: grill and he got the ball. It just looks like
Speaker 1: a completely different player than he Wasn't a concerned would
Speaker 1: be their their offensive line, which was definitely a problem.
Speaker 1: He held the ball too long a few times, but
Speaker 1: Taylor Lauen had had a rough day and in general,
Speaker 1: he had to make some tough throws. And the Texans
Speaker 1: are likely locked in to their seed or they can't
Speaker 1: make a move into the by so you would imagine
Speaker 1: the Titans might be facing a Texans team that's not playing.
Speaker 1: Everybody were playing big snaps next week, so this that's
Speaker 1: it's gonna be one of the stories, not to you know,
Speaker 1: spoil you know, like what teams do want to play
Speaker 1: next week, because the Texans will in theory have seeding
Speaker 1: to play for no matter what. It's the three and
Speaker 1: the four seed. Though, so how much how much do
Speaker 1: you care about that? And you're gonna need to get
Speaker 1: help uh to to move up and get that three seed.
Speaker 1: It might not be well, that's for Sexans are shaler.
Speaker 1: They need to keep their players healthy. All right, let
Speaker 1: us now check in on the Saturday games. Let's roll
Speaker 1: through them, and we'll start with a Saturday night game.
Speaker 1: Up at the bag ball bottom roppoo in the gun kittled.
Speaker 1: It was left Ny Moster to his right, existed the
Speaker 1: front roppolo, gonna throw a deep shot to all the field.
Speaker 1: A little sad Gus has got it. They never touched him.
Speaker 1: He could still run right think touched them down? And
Speaker 1: any about the forty guys unfair of all range. He
Speaker 1: is Robbie gold time. What a shot there. On third
Speaker 1: and sixteen, they pick up forty six on the pulk
Speaker 1: trop to a Manuel Sander, Greg Papa with the call
Speaker 1: for the forty nine is Radio Network the under seed
Speaker 1: to be involved in late game Dramatics every week. This
Speaker 1: week they were on the right side of the ledger
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Sanders forty six yard catch set up a chip
Speaker 1: shot Robbie gouldfield goal this time ran out win thirty
Speaker 1: four to thirty one over the Rams. The loss eliminates
Speaker 1: Los Angeles from postseason contention nearly eleven months after they
Speaker 1: made it all the way to the Super Bowl. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, this is a game that is still coming
Speaker 1: down to Niners Rams next week. But you wanted, uh
Speaker 1: Niners team coming off that really bad Atlanta game. You
Speaker 1: didn't want to lose another one here and put yourselves
Speaker 1: in a situation where you feel like you're trending downward
Speaker 1: in the wrong direction. So credit to them. Also, you know,
Speaker 1: that's a that's a tough game against the Rams team
Speaker 1: that was desperate for a win. The Rams needed to
Speaker 1: win twice and get Minnesota to lose twice to get
Speaker 1: back to the playoffs, and instead they get the job done.
Speaker 1: And if if on the Rams side of the ball,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it was such a frustrating season, uh
Speaker 1: for the Rams. After the three and oh start, they
Speaker 1: just could never really get things going. And you wonder
Speaker 1: what lies a head for this team. But I thought
Speaker 1: it was just fitting the way that this game. You know,
Speaker 1: the play that you just heard went down where Jalen
Speaker 1: Ramsey and the and the safety had a miscommunication. I
Speaker 1: don't think it was Ramsey's fault, but the Ramsey called
Speaker 1: out safety Taylor rap Is saying after the game that
Speaker 1: he blew the assignment. I don't know if you want
Speaker 1: players saying that about each other, but that's I mean,
Speaker 1: Charles Davis said it on the broadcast, Taylor raps Garden Air,
Speaker 1: Ramsey got beat on the PLA and whatever the whatever,
Speaker 1: who was responsible for what it let It was a
Speaker 1: coverage bus that absolutely could not happen in that spot
Speaker 1: and kind of a crushing way for your season, essentially
Speaker 1: be ruined to to break down mentally in that spot.
Speaker 1: So the Rams go home and the Niners are feeling
Speaker 1: good against a compromise Seahawks team coming up in Week seventeen.
Speaker 1: Feels like there's been so many crucible moments for Jimmy
Speaker 1: Garoppolo over the second half of the season. He's won some,
Speaker 1: he's lost some, But I don't get the doubt at
Speaker 1: this point. We know that at this point he's not
Speaker 1: a guy where the moment ever seems too big for him.
Speaker 1: I mean, despite his lack of experience, uh coming into
Speaker 1: this year, who's more battle tested for January Jimmy G.
Speaker 1: As we had had toward the playoffs. They went from
Speaker 1: a team that won a lot of games by a
Speaker 1: lot of points to about seven straight weeks, many of
Speaker 1: which against really good teams, have all been you know,
Speaker 1: knuckle what do they call him? Knuckle knuckling down? I
Speaker 1: don't know, white knuckle? Why does that even mean? The
Speaker 1: white knuckles just so tight that I think like working
Speaker 1: men of the past knew what that meant. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure we do. It's like your hands are on the
Speaker 1: steering wheel and all you can see is white knuckles.
Speaker 1: And he didn't even play that well in this game.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the weird thing about this game. You watch,
Speaker 1: It wasn't a great Jimmy G game overall until the end,
Speaker 1: and Jared Goff played incredible. It's one of the weird
Speaker 1: things about this Ramp season is you couldn't like get
Speaker 1: everything going right at the same time. Jared Goff made
Speaker 1: four or five throws in this game that we're as
Speaker 1: good or better than anything. Yeah, And one one mistake,
Speaker 1: but you put up thirty one on the forty Niners,
Speaker 1: even giving up a pick six, you expect to win
Speaker 1: that game, and it could have repercussions. Mike Silver hinted
Speaker 1: at that in his column that Wade Phillips could be
Speaker 1: a goner after this year, and maybe Todd Gurley too.
Speaker 1: And from the forty Niners at this point, you wonder
Speaker 1: what their identity is, And to me, it just seems
Speaker 1: like it's George Kittle hop on his back. Let one
Speaker 1: of the five best players in the NFL take you there,
Speaker 1: and he will too. Third to third and sixteen conversions
Speaker 1: setting upeus field goal. The second being that coverage bust
Speaker 1: that we mentioned. I think the one thing that jumped
Speaker 1: out to me a little bit that I'd be concerned
Speaker 1: with if I was a forty Niners fan was the
Speaker 1: offensive line. Garoppolo didn't have a lot of time in
Speaker 1: this game. Here. There were a lot of times the
Speaker 1: pocket was pretty jacked up, and we know they lost
Speaker 1: uh Weston Richberg the center to an injury. Some bad
Speaker 1: snaps in this game also, Uh in general, Uh, you
Speaker 1: imagine not every team has an Aaron Donald and Dante Fowler,
Speaker 1: but in January. They're gonna send you know, they're gonna
Speaker 1: becoming after Garoppolo, and you can't protect him. He's gonna
Speaker 1: make mistakes. He's not He's not a mistake. He's not
Speaker 1: a flawless quarterback, and if you put the pressure on him,
Speaker 1: he could throw a game away. I think you would
Speaker 1: anyone have a problem with Kyle Shanahan winning coach of
Speaker 1: the Year. I guess it's no outside of the Ravens
Speaker 1: situation that to me he stands out. I think it's
Speaker 1: John horrible. I wouldn't have a problem though. Those would
Speaker 1: be my two. And it seems basic because they've you know,
Speaker 1: they've got the best records. But I also think you know,
Speaker 1: in Harbaugh's case, they have the most creative offense, the
Speaker 1: most creative defense, and he's the one that put it up,
Speaker 1: you know, put it in charge. But in Channion's case,
Speaker 1: what team has overcome more adversity in terms of injuries
Speaker 1: and been competing every week? Even their three losses were
Speaker 1: all you know, at the last second, he's done a good.
Speaker 1: They don't have that outlier game or two where they
Speaker 1: just didn't show up in every single week. Their team,
Speaker 1: it's kind of the opposite of the m their team
Speaker 1: seems to pick each other up. I'd be a little concerned.
Speaker 1: The defense isn't nearly as dominant as it was early
Speaker 1: in the year, but they still have the personnel there
Speaker 1: where you think that with the right matchup and in
Speaker 1: the playoffs that they're certainly like last night, when I
Speaker 1: see him healthy, When I'm watching this fort defense, I'm
Speaker 1: always thinking their defense is going to make a play,
Speaker 1: and they did, and they did make a couple. I
Speaker 1: feel like the arrow has been pouring up on Girly
Speaker 1: in the second half, and I know, due to his contract,
Speaker 1: would be very hard to get out from under it.
Speaker 1: Would they be that desperate, uh to lose him. I
Speaker 1: know he didn't have a big yardage day in this game,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. He has been moving better in
Speaker 1: the second half. I guess maybe they're looking for a
Speaker 1: fresh start. Maybe we're in that A lot of changes
Speaker 1: could be coming to the I mean in Mike Silver
Speaker 1: noted it, but you know this is they put themselves
Speaker 1: in a kind of win now mode where they're not
Speaker 1: winning now and they have no draft picks coming up.
Speaker 1: You know, you there are some questionable transactions and moves
Speaker 1: attached to that front office Silver's column, which was very good.
Speaker 1: Made it seem like McVeigh was more pressing for more
Speaker 1: changes after this loss than the Super Bowl loss that
Speaker 1: he took this one harder. All right, let's check in
Speaker 1: on the early game on Saturday. Empty backfield now for
Speaker 1: Janis Winston. Here's the snap Winston quick throwing. That's our
Speaker 1: sept that at the forty yard line to Leila die
Speaker 1: with the pick. The Texans have the ball at thet
Speaker 1: with one seven left and the Buffs with all the
Speaker 1: one time out. Mark Vandermere with the call for the Texas.
Speaker 1: Here we go. Oh all that Texas copland fallow that
Speaker 1: Texas fall that Texans? Did you miss this last week? Mark? Totally? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Bring me the girl, sacrifice her to the great piece,
Speaker 1: Miss Mark those smooth? Why am I the last person
Speaker 1: remaining in that graphic? That's how we'd be in real life? Huh.
Speaker 1: The Texans force five turnovers Robbie returns return. The Texans
Speaker 1: were the recipient of five turnovers, four from the quarterback
Speaker 1: Jamis Winston, including a pick six. The six pick six
Speaker 1: by Winston, tying an NFL record, And yes, that interception
Speaker 1: you heard basically put the Bucks in a body bag
Speaker 1: Texans win clinching the a f C South for the
Speaker 1: fourth time in five years. Mark, we had an idea
Speaker 1: that the Houston Dbs could have some opportunity with Winston
Speaker 1: missing his top two receivers, and that's exactly how it
Speaker 1: played out. What a roller coaster. I mean, the day
Speaker 1: started with Ian Rapp report of NFL and they were
Speaker 1: reporting that the Bucks intend to bring Winston back based
Speaker 1: on this hot month, that he's had leaked that out
Speaker 1: until after week seventeen, that's the last that's well, yeah,
Speaker 1: the timing, you know, and then hours later that this
Speaker 1: stat absolutely is fascinating to me that we when we
Speaker 1: went to to London and we saw Jamis Winston against
Speaker 1: the Panthers throw five interceptions. That announcing booth included Rich
Speaker 1: eisen and he did the game yesterday long Joe Thomas
Speaker 1: in his first day as an announcer, Joe Thomas all
Speaker 1: insane opening fifteen or twenty minutes. But Rich Eysen lead
Speaker 1: booths have now witnessed nine Jamis Winston interceptions in the
Speaker 1: course of two games. I mean, and I will say
Speaker 1: this about the Bucks though, and watching this at home.
Speaker 1: It made me just love Saturday football just I never
Speaker 1: this would have been one I would have caught on
Speaker 1: game pass and condensed late. But the way that it
Speaker 1: unfolded and it was finally you get that Tampa Bay
Speaker 1: field under clouds and it looks glorious. Forget that hideous
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay son. But I mean, the Bucks to me
Speaker 1: struck me as very resilient because a number of calls,
Speaker 1: you could point to a number of calls that went
Speaker 1: against them that were seemed totally ridiculously unfair. And Bruce Arians,
Speaker 1: I thought was gonna maybe get booted from this game
Speaker 1: at one point because he was red hot, furious with
Speaker 1: the officials, and there was a moment where an officially
Speaker 1: came over to circle back in and kind of explain
Speaker 1: the latest debacle, and you could sort of see Arians saying,
Speaker 1: get the f out of here. I mean, his face matches,
Speaker 1: his red hat and his red polo head does stack
Speaker 1: it at the stage in his life. I worry about
Speaker 1: the man's health. I heat, but he had a reason
Speaker 1: to be hot. And you know the Texans, the Bucks
Speaker 1: run defense has been lights out for a long time,
Speaker 1: and they they absolutely smothered what Houston tried to do
Speaker 1: on the ground two point six yards per carry Deshaun Watson.
Speaker 1: You know, they lost will Fuller, and I think that
Speaker 1: seems to happen every week to them, and then they're
Speaker 1: passing game. Never really I thought God unhooked. For the
Speaker 1: most part, they put it to Houston. I thought this
Speaker 1: game was gonna go Tampa Bay's way for a while
Speaker 1: because it's one of those things where it was started
Speaker 1: so ugly for Winston and the rest, and then they
Speaker 1: still were only down like ten three and hanging around
Speaker 1: in the in the the Texans and they're and up
Speaker 1: and down team were refusing to put them away. But
Speaker 1: you know, Winston did what he does at the end.
Speaker 1: Did feel that way like this was a game that
Speaker 1: Houston to let get away and they would it would
Speaker 1: destroy them, and but it didn't because to the Texans credit,
Speaker 1: they do find a way usually and they have they
Speaker 1: have their hiccups every every so often, but they are
Speaker 1: they they do a good job closing games out. But
Speaker 1: the same time, one of my big takeaways from the
Speaker 1: game was, uh, that they're in trouble again because and
Speaker 1: I thought with the will Fuller injury, it's another soft
Speaker 1: tissue injury. This time it's a groin and uh, it
Speaker 1: doesn't look good. And Bill O'Brien after the game, he
Speaker 1: was fairly blunt in his assessment, but he's saying what
Speaker 1: everybody else was thinking. You can understand why frustration has
Speaker 1: set in. Here's the quote. He's a great guy and
Speaker 1: I love coaching him, but it is hard for him
Speaker 1: to stay healthy. That's the bottom line. And we you
Speaker 1: there's put tons of next gen stats and anywhere you
Speaker 1: look that will point out how much better this offense
Speaker 1: has been with Fuller on the field. But it's almost
Speaker 1: gotten to the point where you just have to assume
Speaker 1: he's not on the field, and that's something that they're
Speaker 1: gonna have to look to address in the office. That's
Speaker 1: why that Kenny Stills edition by B O B makes
Speaker 1: him again that those early season trades made some sense
Speaker 1: for the Texans. I mean, Jamis was when Jamis Winston
Speaker 1: was missing his two top two receivers and he moved
Speaker 1: the ball. And that's perhaps a little bit unfair because
Speaker 1: he can throw calls into the wind when no consequence
Speaker 1: is better. Lately, it's better than well, I don't know
Speaker 1: about better. It's physically impossible It's physically impossible for Winston's
Speaker 1: decision making process to ever factor in risk. I mean,
Speaker 1: he could have thrown another couple in this game. And
Speaker 1: we talked about he's going to this game. He was
Speaker 1: six picks away from the hollowed Actually, no one's ever
Speaker 1: established it yet. Thirty thirty club, thirty touchdowns, thirty picks.
Speaker 1: He is now up to twenty eight. It seems like
Speaker 1: a mortal lock that he's gonna set happen. He mentioned
Speaker 1: after the game that his goal for the final game
Speaker 1: would be to protect the ball and avoid turnovers, and
Speaker 1: it's like you'd have to change you're wired. The first half,
Speaker 1: to me, was the culmination of his entire career. It
Speaker 1: was everything. It was them falling down seventeen three, him
Speaker 1: having all of those turnovers right off the bat, then
Speaker 1: getting it all the way four turnovers I believe in
Speaker 1: the first half, yeah, and and three by him, but
Speaker 1: getting it back, but to seventeen all at halftime, including
Speaker 1: a terrific play right before the half to tie it,
Speaker 1: and that they were leading in yard artage two eighty
Speaker 1: one to eighty three. But it was a tie game,
Speaker 1: and like that, that is that is the Bucks experience.
Speaker 1: I mean, in this game, they held the Texans to
Speaker 1: two yards. And that's not just because you know they're
Speaker 1: giving short fields with all these turnovers and they get
Speaker 1: extra possessions. It's because the Texans couldn't really move the ball,
Speaker 1: throwing or passing. If there's one thing I think Bucks
Speaker 1: fans should feel I think there's a few things Bucks
Speaker 1: fans should feel good about. One, this offense is working.
Speaker 1: I mean, whether Winston should be the quarterback or not.
Speaker 1: I think that's a that's a totally fair question. Maybe
Speaker 1: he shouldn't be, and finding another one's not easy, but
Speaker 1: I don't know. You put someone else here with Bruce
Speaker 1: arians and and Godwin and Evans, and I bet it's
Speaker 1: gonna be pretty good too. And then the defense is
Speaker 1: the main thing that surprised me. Their young secondary has
Speaker 1: stepped up. I mean Murphy Bunton, Bunting, who you've talked
Speaker 1: a lot about, West, who has played great, Um Carlton
Speaker 1: Davis shut down DeAndre Hopkins pretty well. It's about five
Speaker 1: weeks where their defense has played well. So I think
Speaker 1: I'd feel pretty good about that. If you're a Bucks
Speaker 1: fan and Deshaun Watson was grabbing at his ankle at
Speaker 1: multiple points in this game. We mentioned it earlier that
Speaker 1: they can't really move too much in the playoffs. You're
Speaker 1: gonna be the three seed or the four seed. There's
Speaker 1: a lot, you know, you can make a case for
Speaker 1: keeping one Watson on the on the bench and getting
Speaker 1: him ready for a wild card matchup right, and they
Speaker 1: would need a Chief's loss, uh even to have a
Speaker 1: chance to move up. Uh. Anyhow in week seventeen, which
Speaker 1: is is unlikely the way that the Chiefs are playing
Speaker 1: in general. Uh So that it is a fair question.
Speaker 1: I don't wonder, and they're they're very possibly going to
Speaker 1: be hosting Buffalo Saturday afternoon. Uh in that first wild cards,
Speaker 1: Buffalo is locked into the five seeds spoiler earlier, and
Speaker 1: the Texans would most likely be the team hosting. What's
Speaker 1: changed for me with the Texans is I don't believe
Speaker 1: in their ceiling the same way I did six weeks ago. Then,
Speaker 1: the idea of ceiling being if you play the way
Speaker 1: they were capable of when they blew up the Patriots,
Speaker 1: that they're gonna do that three games in a row
Speaker 1: in the play FC is a little deeper to or
Speaker 1: it's better at the top. You know a lot of
Speaker 1: times it's the Patriots maybe one other team. Now you've
Speaker 1: got at least two or three teams that are going
Speaker 1: to be tough to get through. Are there more Texans
Speaker 1: games than Bengal games? On West of US? Now? West?
Speaker 1: Has it reached that point Saturday early wild Card round
Speaker 1: game that the Bengal was dominated throughout the early part
Speaker 1: of this decade? Well by Domino, you mean lose. They
Speaker 1: were dominated in the games, but dominated the time slot, right.
Speaker 1: I think they started out with three years in a row.
Speaker 1: But the Texans have caught up to them. And how
Speaker 1: do you put the Bills at the as the early game?
Speaker 1: They are prime time fifth fifth, the winning season out
Speaker 1: of six for Bill O'Brien, another another division championship. It's
Speaker 1: not nothing, you know what I mean. It's like coach,
Speaker 1: it's not good job for coming around on this. David
Speaker 1: calledwell the Jaguars GM is supposedly coming back. The Jaguars
Speaker 1: have one season with more and five wins in his
Speaker 1: seven years in charge, and he's keeping his job. And yeah,
Speaker 1: Bill O'Brien, you know, I mean they went in the
Speaker 1: division alright, Um, the Texans were not the only team
Speaker 1: that clinched the division. On Saturday. Fourth and Gold stop
Speaker 1: team the putsches coming, Alan running for his life, walts
Speaker 1: it towards the back of the end zone, A man
Speaker 1: there and it's knocked down in complete. J C. Jackson
Speaker 1: breaks it up in the quarter of the end zone,
Speaker 1: knocking it away from Cole Beasley and that should be
Speaker 1: enough to give the New England Patriots Everie levinth straight
Speaker 1: a f C East title. Westwood one with the call.
Speaker 1: I don't know why, but that's what we have. The
Speaker 1: Patriots rule the a f C East for another year.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen marched the Bills inside the Patriots ten in
Speaker 1: the final minutes, but the New England defense held se
Speaker 1: clinches the division and keeps the Pats in line for
Speaker 1: their unprecedented n consecutive playoff. By my own, um, listen,
Speaker 1: here's the thing, this is my takeaway from this game.
Speaker 1: If you're Patriots fan, you you finally have something to
Speaker 1: feel good about now as you get closer to January.
Speaker 1: Because I thought this was a really good day for
Speaker 1: their offense. Moving the ball on the ground. Sony Michelle
Speaker 1: really moved well. Uh had nearly a hundred yards, had
Speaker 1: a hundred and forty three in total, and that ability
Speaker 1: uh to keep the defense honest, really, I thought healthed Brady,
Speaker 1: who was crisp and efficient and was accurate with this throw.
Speaker 1: So the first time in sometimes and sometime and this
Speaker 1: is not gonna be a world beating offense. But if
Speaker 1: you take this version of New England's offense and combine
Speaker 1: it with their defense, they absolutely and you give them
Speaker 1: a short playoff field with a buy and home games, yes,
Speaker 1: this is a team that can get back to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl if they play like this. Now, can they
Speaker 1: continue to string these games together? My concern is that
Speaker 1: they can, and they've it on a recipe that they're
Speaker 1: gonna ride hard here because it's not particularly interesting fun
Speaker 1: football to watch either. But that was my big takeaway
Speaker 1: on the New England side, that they had something here
Speaker 1: and will they be able to replicate it as we
Speaker 1: go down into the playoffs. Guys made played for place
Speaker 1: for Brady. I know there was a lot more that
Speaker 1: went into it, and they certainly protected him pretty well
Speaker 1: against you so so passed rush of the bills, but
Speaker 1: guys made plays for him. Burke had made a contest
Speaker 1: a couple of nice plays. Edelman made contested catch. You know,
Speaker 1: he leads the NFL and drops he made some tough catches.
Speaker 1: Jacoby Myers made a contested catch, Mohammed Sanu made a
Speaker 1: contested catch to keep a drive alive, and nikkil Harry
Speaker 1: did It really felt to me like that was the
Speaker 1: number one thing watching this game was these guys are
Speaker 1: never that open, and in this game, Brady was more accurate,
Speaker 1: but more importantly, the receivers made catches with guys on
Speaker 1: them and it just kind of kept them on the field,
Speaker 1: which is just gonna make everything look a lot better.
Speaker 1: And it was to me, easily their best game of
Speaker 1: the year on bost You know, overall, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I have to wonder if quietly Bill Belichick has enjoyed
Speaker 1: this coaching experience and what he's got out of all
Speaker 1: three phases. I mean, because it's special teams every week
Speaker 1: and the defense is playing at magical levels of times,
Speaker 1: and I just I've never really I can't think. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to think of another team that has had been
Speaker 1: so hamstrung on offense and found a way opponent to
Speaker 1: opponent to squeeze the life out of whoever they're playing
Speaker 1: and win in very weird, strange ways. In some cases
Speaker 1: I got way hooked into this emotionally because I felt
Speaker 1: myself just rooting, rooting hard for the Bills because I
Speaker 1: just I know what, They're so imperfect, but I love
Speaker 1: them and I and I just wanted this city to
Speaker 1: experience a win over New England because the Patriots, you know,
Speaker 1: but I know that's another thing, is the Patriots. I've
Speaker 1: often totally expected, but at one point in every season,
Speaker 1: I hate it. I hit that wall with the Patriots
Speaker 1: where I'm done with it, and then they they'll they'll
Speaker 1: pull me back. Mark Sessler. The Patriots advanced beyond quote
Speaker 1: dumbly annoying close quote to open quote death ray ponderous
Speaker 1: close quote levels. They're soft bellied fanatics, fanned and fed
Speaker 1: grapes as if they'd accomplished literally a particle of tangible
Speaker 1: progress in their own lives, floating in soft ecstasy. Foxborough
Speaker 1: thicks vicarious goons, and this, uh, this led to some pushback.
Speaker 1: I would say that that's fair. Who came out? Do
Speaker 1: you get some bar stool goons? And I stopped looking
Speaker 1: because it was it still local radio guys, the full
Speaker 1: entree of New England and I and it's fair. I mean,
Speaker 1: I put myself out there to be around Lee abused
Speaker 1: by these people and that's what's that's what's unfolding at
Speaker 1: the moment as we speak. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Speaker 1: My my thoughts on the Bills is the same one
Speaker 1: that's kind of been holding for a while now. The
Speaker 1: Bills are good. It's their gift and it's their cur
Speaker 1: curse there. And when you're good, you could beat terrible teams,
Speaker 1: and you can beat bad teams, you can beat mediocre teams,
Speaker 1: and probably more often than not, this Bills team could
Speaker 1: beat other good teams. But once that, once you hit
Speaker 1: that next level. And I don't think the Patriots are
Speaker 1: a great team, but Greg, this is my scientific analysis,
Speaker 1: they're a very good team. Uh, they just don't get
Speaker 1: it done, and we've seen that multiple times this season. Now,
Speaker 1: the positive of this is one you're going to the
Speaker 1: playoffs anyway, and that's gonna be fun too. With two
Speaker 1: narrow losses to the Patriots this year, you know that
Speaker 1: this gap is not wide any longer, and it's something
Speaker 1: that you're trending in the right direction. It's something to
Speaker 1: build on next year because everyone in the a f
Speaker 1: C East. The number one goal now entering this season
Speaker 1: is knocking the Patriots out of their division chair uh
Speaker 1: and the Bills are closer than anybody else in that
Speaker 1: division right now. They're just not there yet, and I
Speaker 1: think that's what's gonna haunt them when you get to January,
Speaker 1: when you play better than good teams. But there's nothing
Speaker 1: to be ashamed of anything they've done this season. Good
Speaker 1: for them for hanging tighten this game. We've been through
Speaker 1: almost two years, two seasons of Josh Allen, and I
Speaker 1: understand that he's often the problem there, but I don't
Speaker 1: get like this skepticism that he can't possibly develop into
Speaker 1: a good quarterback. He's been confused by the Patriots twice now,
Speaker 1: and I know that's no small thing. But in the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, when you throwout the game plan and asked
Speaker 1: the quarterback to win the game for you, and he
Speaker 1: didn't come through, but that drive was really impressive. When
Speaker 1: I watched his plane style athletic ability, he's the closest
Speaker 1: I've seen to a young raw John Elway. He just
Speaker 1: has so much similarity to him as far as athletic ability,
Speaker 1: arm ability to make plays when it breaks down ability
Speaker 1: to drag the team down the field, and I mean
Speaker 1: nothing close in terms of accuracy. That's well, Greg, you
Speaker 1: didn't watch John Elway when he was young, and he
Speaker 1: was incredibly inaccurate, and he was just as raw as
Speaker 1: John is. Josh Allen, you had some hideous box scores
Speaker 1: back and then he was not a NFC type quarter
Speaker 1: great throws. Look he did. They think the Patriots defense
Speaker 1: played their normal game, a really good game. They didn't
Speaker 1: force a single turnover, so that's abnormal. But the Bills
Speaker 1: were in this game because Josh Allen had two just
Speaker 1: gorgeous throws. The touchdown at the end of the first
Speaker 1: half the Dowston Docks, which seemed like it would be
Speaker 1: a killer considering how well the Patriots had played that
Speaker 1: half to go and tiede uh and then the touchdown
Speaker 1: to John Brown where you know Brown eight up Stefan
Speaker 1: Gilmour and and Devin mccordy. Those were unbelievable, and the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter drive was awesome too. The problem is he
Speaker 1: also had layups that he missed throughout the first He
Speaker 1: had some layups in the first half that just ended
Speaker 1: drives and then and you just don't the thing I
Speaker 1: it's so it seems obvious. But the thing it took
Speaker 1: me a weird long time to realize is like every
Speaker 1: NFL quarterback is gonna make completions if he's protected, every
Speaker 1: single one. It's there, that's how good they are. But
Speaker 1: Josh Allen does not all the time. And so that
Speaker 1: like the fact that he doesn't fit into that bucket
Speaker 1: where I think, you know, even the Mark Sanchez or
Speaker 1: whoever they're going to complete passes when they're protected like that.
Speaker 1: It just worries me. But he obviously has a lot
Speaker 1: of other good qualities that makes up for it and
Speaker 1: and puts them in this position and he's entertaining to watch. Yes, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: I uh, I don't know this. Uh. The way that
Speaker 1: game ended with Kyle van Noy getting two straight pressures
Speaker 1: was to me kind of an under undersung. Part of
Speaker 1: it is he beat their left tackle Dion Dawkins two
Speaker 1: straight times. He is their best pass russure. He is
Speaker 1: their best player in the front seven. It was too
Speaker 1: bad he didn't make the Pro Bowl in my mind,
Speaker 1: but that was kind of a classic wave. Their pass
Speaker 1: rush stealed that game. They got him for the sack.
Speaker 1: Allen and then they it was basically a jailbreak, it
Speaker 1: looked like in the last play of the game leading
Speaker 1: to the incompletion. So they have to beat the Dolphins
Speaker 1: next week. That is essentially a you know, a playoff
Speaker 1: like game for them, whereas if they beat the Dolphins,
Speaker 1: then they advanced to the divisional round. I love they
Speaker 1: don't see Brian Floors being involved in some ping pony
Speaker 1: stuff that allows New England to fly right through Miami
Speaker 1: like a break through a piece of paper. You got convinced.
Speaker 1: I mean Ryan Fitzpatrick right exactly. I mean first laid
Speaker 1: down for anyone, um. But they did play once earlier
Speaker 1: in the year in the Patriots Dolphins. Plenty of time
Speaker 1: laying down to the Bengals towards the end of that.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say that save Dolpin's b lead earlier
Speaker 1: they won it. Let's move back to Sunday, empty backfield.
Speaker 1: Jackson out of the shotgun. What's the old Blootz pressure coming?
Speaker 1: Jackson hit Lobs to the ends all touchdown, Mark and
Speaker 1: Andrews ad lived to perfection from Jackson to Andrews and
Speaker 1: the Ravens converts in the final minute of the half.
Speaker 1: The Hey will soon be in the barn. Jerry Sandusky
Speaker 1: w B A L. Yes. Lamar Jackson threw three touchdown passes,
Speaker 1: two to Mark Andrews late in the second quarter, and
Speaker 1: he ran for another hundred yards. Lamar Jackson, this is
Speaker 1: if there was any doubt, this kind of removed it.
Speaker 1: He is the m v P. You'll find out for
Speaker 1: sure in about a month, but uh yes. The Ravens
Speaker 1: clinched the top seed in the a f C Playoffs
Speaker 1: for the first time in their history with their eleventh
Speaker 1: straight win over the Browns. Mark Baltimore's offense took some
Speaker 1: time to get going, but there's an inevitability and inevitability
Speaker 1: about this team. They just always get you in the end.
Speaker 1: They do, and they're the reason I asked you to
Speaker 1: play that highlight was that it capped um or. It
Speaker 1: was right sandwiched in between a sequence that went from
Speaker 1: the end of the first half early into the third
Speaker 1: that highlighted for me everything that's wrong with the Browns
Speaker 1: and everything that's right with the Ravens, where basically all right,
Speaker 1: there there's a the Browns are up six nothing and
Speaker 1: had done a really nice job on defense of making
Speaker 1: this a tough world for Lamar Jackson and the rest
Speaker 1: of the offense, and they had another marketing and fumble,
Speaker 1: which happened the first time they beat Baltimore. Things were
Speaker 1: going their way and they their offense, you know, is
Speaker 1: has issues Cleveland, but they basically so the Ravens go
Speaker 1: on what is a very quick to place sixty three
Speaker 1: yard touchdown march, all right, takes about a minute. The
Speaker 1: brown march. Yes, I don't know if that's a march.
Speaker 1: You're just like basically just threw a rope for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: The Browns get the ball back and they're down seven six.
Speaker 1: You've got to find a way to get out of
Speaker 1: that half before just stop the bleeding, get out of
Speaker 1: that half, because you're you're kicking off to Baltimore. So
Speaker 1: what do they do. They fire off a string of
Speaker 1: passes there, there's three and out in the in their drive,
Speaker 1: takes twenty three seconds. You give the ball right back
Speaker 1: to Baltimore on a short field and that just happened
Speaker 1: the highlights. So suddenly it's fourteen six, you come out
Speaker 1: of half, you kick the ball back to Baltimore. They
Speaker 1: ripped down the field on thirteen play sixty nine yards,
Speaker 1: taking up eight minutes nearly of the set of the
Speaker 1: third right, that's a march and they're up twenty one six,
Speaker 1: and you know the game is over, and the game
Speaker 1: is over because they are well coached, They understand situational awareness.
Speaker 1: They understand how to deal with the final two or
Speaker 1: three minutes of a half and maximize it and use
Speaker 1: it in a way that destroys their opponent. In Cleveland
Speaker 1: is absolutely the opposite end of the spectrum. They looked lost,
Speaker 1: completely lost. You have by the end of this game,
Speaker 1: Odell Beckham screaming at Freddy Kitchens on the sideline. Now
Speaker 1: they said later because this was the Browns climb back
Speaker 1: in and went for an early two point conversion when
Speaker 1: they would have needed another touchdown to tie, and you
Speaker 1: know you got, you got Baker Mayfield throwing to Ricky
Speaker 1: Seals Jones where Odell Beckham is basically that Tony Romol
Speaker 1: thought he was annoyed at Freddie Kitchens for saying, why
Speaker 1: isn't the ball obviously going to me? Why why is
Speaker 1: not the whole play on our season is on the
Speaker 1: line with a very you know, very little oxygen left,
Speaker 1: and we're throwing to Ricky Seals Jones and you know
Speaker 1: that after the game, Freddy Kitchen said, no, it was
Speaker 1: Odell upset about the Ravens and the way the Ravens were,
Speaker 1: you know, playing physical with him. I I just don't
Speaker 1: know what I buy at this point, because every game
Speaker 1: to me is a reflection of a coaching staff and
Speaker 1: an overall an organization that had spent the whole year
Speaker 1: cannot get out of their own way. And today was
Speaker 1: against your mortal enemy, the Baltimore Ravens, the team ripped
Speaker 1: from you and the team that's going on to have
Speaker 1: the success that you should have if you were a
Speaker 1: functional organization. The Brown cannot make it happen. And it
Speaker 1: was one of the more depressing losses. And you have
Speaker 1: to there it is well, it is inexcusable. For fifteen weeks,
Speaker 1: Mark and what has been since I known him, the
Speaker 1: most disappointing Brown season. Given how exciting everything was heading
Speaker 1: into it, Mark for fifteen weeks was in pretty good
Speaker 1: shape in the newsroom, did not really get upset, did
Speaker 1: not get very annoyed. Uh kind of un it as
Speaker 1: in its own level of inevitability. But for some reason
Speaker 1: this game is the one that got you the maybe
Speaker 1: not the storm was so quiet as if to be
Speaker 1: non existent for fifteen weeks, but today the quiet storm raged.
Speaker 1: Well they've squeezed and I you know, Brown's fans, I'm
Speaker 1: sure at this point are just they find new ways
Speaker 1: to to author terrible seasons. And this this just is
Speaker 1: any team where you don't add up to the talent
Speaker 1: of your roster. We talked about it with the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: It's just inexcusable. And you know, by all accounts we
Speaker 1: met with Freddy Kitchens. I like the guy, seems like
Speaker 1: a good guy. It's not a personal thing. But I
Speaker 1: don't know how you argue that you bring the staff
Speaker 1: back for next season. There's just no way. And it's
Speaker 1: another one and done scenario. It's embarrassing, but you have
Speaker 1: to hope you can get someone in here that can
Speaker 1: work with this locker room. Mark Ingram left this game
Speaker 1: with a injury of some kind. Is it anything to
Speaker 1: worry about? I you know, he at one point he
Speaker 1: was hurt. Lamar Jackson was hobbling around, Mark Andrews was
Speaker 1: hoppling around, and I just they need they need rest.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the deal with and Adam Scheff
Speaker 1: to report it. It's a strain, right, and there's no
Speaker 1: structural issues or anything like that. So it's it sounds
Speaker 1: like I just you went, you might not see him
Speaker 1: next week when they play the Steelers, right, and then
Speaker 1: that's three weeks off for them, which is tricky. But
Speaker 1: they're wrapping up, you know, one of the great regular seasons, uh,
Speaker 1: the last twenty thirty years. That's how good this Ravens
Speaker 1: team is that I'm not surprised that the Ravens defense
Speaker 1: kind of choked out this Brown's offense eventually, because that's
Speaker 1: what's changed the most most since they met in Week four.
Speaker 1: I'm just like amazed looking at Lamar Jackson going over
Speaker 1: a hundred yards again rushing and it's not even a
Speaker 1: big deal anymore that he ran for a hundred and
Speaker 1: seventy six times this year for over twelve hundred yards,
Speaker 1: averaging you know, almost seven yards per carry, assuming he
Speaker 1: threw for thirty six touchdowns too. By the way that
Speaker 1: I know, we're just like used to it at this point,
Speaker 1: because but to think of if anyone had thought that
Speaker 1: this was possible in August, even his biggest fans like that,
Speaker 1: that Lamar Jackson, of all these guys, who was drafted right,
Speaker 1: is the m V m v P and m v
Speaker 1: P playing football And it's just, I don't know, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's amazing. In the time we've done this podcast,
Speaker 1: we've had some really incredible individual season in individual seasons
Speaker 1: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, Patrick Mahomes last year,
Speaker 1: but this one just feels unique. It's like we've never
Speaker 1: seen anything like that. And it's the way the whole
Speaker 1: organization bought into this, where you know, when the entire
Speaker 1: rest of the NFL doubted that it be done and
Speaker 1: it was, oh, it's a nice it's five or six
Speaker 1: games stretch last year and then they were figured out
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and it's not gonna work. And it's like, no,
Speaker 1: everyone's rusty. That playoff loss where he looked, you know,
Speaker 1: so exposed for three and a half quarters, that was
Speaker 1: the last time we saw him before this happened. Uh,
Speaker 1: it's just remarkable what he's turned into in such a fast,
Speaker 1: expedient man. And it's a team. He's the key and
Speaker 1: they built it all around him. But it is like
Speaker 1: his success and the m v P is a is
Speaker 1: a is a team thing because he wouldn't be able
Speaker 1: to only throw the ball twenty five times or less
Speaker 1: in every game since weeks six unless their defense was
Speaker 1: playing that well, unless every you know the offensive line.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's the key that makes them all look better,
Speaker 1: and that's why he's the m v P. But it's
Speaker 1: pretty remarkable that they've been able to keep with that
Speaker 1: formula every single week. I think Baltimore is an underrated
Speaker 1: place to have to go play, and they have home
Speaker 1: field advantage. I I just don't know who's gonna take
Speaker 1: him out at this point. We will see Greg what
Speaker 1: you care to guess whether John Horrible was going to
Speaker 1: play r G three for at least court recorders next.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna play them, maybe the whole game,
Speaker 1: because Garafolo did indicate earlier this week that they would
Speaker 1: probably sit Lamar Jackson. So I wouldn't be surprised if
Speaker 1: RG three starts, and I wouldn't be surprised if the
Speaker 1: Ravens backups or at least, you know, you can't sit everyone.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if the Ravens backup beat the Steelers.
Speaker 1: These we saw it in two thousand four. I remember
Speaker 1: when the Steelers back up it's the Steelers backups mostly too.
Speaker 1: But yeah, right, that's what that's partly what I mean, Like,
Speaker 1: I think the Ravens backups with r G three can
Speaker 1: can have a good chance to beat Duck Hodges and
Speaker 1: whoever the Steelers are lining up. I wouldn't say that
Speaker 1: that's uh just a game that you chalk up. I
Speaker 1: just remember so distinctly that two thousand and four Steelers team,
Speaker 1: which was great, who had the one seed, sat everyone
Speaker 1: they played, Willie Parker and their backups in in week seventeen,
Speaker 1: Bills fans got knocked out of the playoffs with a
Speaker 1: home game thinking that they're gonna beat their backups. I
Speaker 1: don't know this Ravens organizations specially. Thing i'd say is
Speaker 1: whenever RG three has been in there, I mean they
Speaker 1: be as like it falls that offense falls into unwatched.
Speaker 1: What does it matter? Doesn't It don't matter for the Steelers.
Speaker 1: But yeah, um, alright, we're gonna get to the Steelers
Speaker 1: in a second. But there was another upset, uh to
Speaker 1: dig into this in the NFC three receivers in the
Speaker 1: game shotguns that Honey's gonna throw looking to his left,
Speaker 1: and trouble gets Hip breaks out of there, rolling right
Speaker 1: to the twenty, to the fifteen, cuts back to the
Speaker 1: left of its end. He's at the five and he's
Speaker 1: got the first down as he dives to the three
Speaker 1: yard line. Oh my goodness. I mean you literally had
Speaker 1: a Seahawk with his arms around his waist in the pocket.
Speaker 1: Somehow he got out of that and then an incredible
Speaker 1: run by seven. Um Man, I want Ron Wolfie at
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving dinner next year, thanks Christmas dinner. Simply invite him.
Speaker 1: I'm sure, I'm sure he would do that for Ron
Speaker 1: Wilfy and Dave Pass on the play by play for
Speaker 1: the Cardinals radio network. Guess Brad Hunley remember him. He
Speaker 1: replaced an injured Kyler Murray, and he gave the Seahawks
Speaker 1: fits on defense, making big plays to close out a
Speaker 1: rather surprising upset win over the Seahawks in the Clank Greg.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks can still win the NFC West with a
Speaker 1: win next week against the Niners. But you know, this
Speaker 1: loss and some crushing injury news kind of puts the
Speaker 1: whole their whole season in a different category. Now, no
Speaker 1: team had a worst day. They lost Dwayne Brown. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, before the game even started. And it turns
Speaker 1: out he's gonna need a knee surgery. That's their left tackle,
Speaker 1: Mikey Yapotty, their guard went in and out of this game,
Speaker 1: missed most of the first half. Chris Carson is expected
Speaker 1: to miss the rest of the season after supper hip injury.
Speaker 1: C J. Prosise, who came in as Carson's backup, also
Speaker 1: got hurt and will be out UH four week seven
Speaker 1: is already out, broke his arm. And who's the defensive
Speaker 1: player that I'm now forgetting got hurt. We'll get back
Speaker 1: to Jenavion Clowney didn't play in this game and maybe
Speaker 1: he'll return in that will help. And they could have
Speaker 1: used him because even before all these injuries kept cascading,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks defense had nor You always some relative. He's
Speaker 1: him and Jadaveon Clowney although you met each other once
Speaker 1: and you interviewed him with this guy for all the
Speaker 1: talking points. Is never on the field, Well, factually that couldn't.
Speaker 1: That's totally wrong. Until this year. He played a higher
Speaker 1: percentage of snaps over the last three years and literally
Speaker 1: almost any this year. He he's always playing through and
Speaker 1: getting the way of our muck raking journalists this year,
Speaker 1: He's definitely been off and on and that has hurt
Speaker 1: them big time. Uh. It's remarkable and yet not totally
Speaker 1: shocking to see their defense I go against the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: The bigger surprise was that Russell Wilson could not come
Speaker 1: up with anything offensively throughout the entire day, even before
Speaker 1: these injuries were happening. They had a first drive touchdown,
Speaker 1: and then after that they couldn't get anything gone. I mean,
Speaker 1: I mean, you looked at this, DK Metcalf targeted once
Speaker 1: a drop and that was it. And then Tyler Lockett,
Speaker 1: a guy we were just singing the praises of heading
Speaker 1: into this game, um because he was healthy and making
Speaker 1: plays again, he shows up in this game and he
Speaker 1: finishes with one catch up for twelve yards on eight targets.
Speaker 1: This is not what we expected ever from the Seahawks offense.
Speaker 1: And I know this doesn't as I laid out at
Speaker 1: the top of this, this does not end their season
Speaker 1: this loss, but it's just something seemed very wrong with
Speaker 1: how many people out there lost their fantasy championships today
Speaker 1: and probably maybe even't get there because of what's happened
Speaker 1: to Chris Carson. And then how many one because they
Speaker 1: had Kenyan Drake, who has six touchdowns in two weeks
Speaker 1: and went off for a hundred and sixty six yards, stayed,
Speaker 1: turning David Johnson once again into a raging afterthought. Two
Speaker 1: carries for three yards for David Johnson, who was once
Speaker 1: viewed as like the future of the position, and the
Speaker 1: Kenyan Drake's a free agent, so they have to decide
Speaker 1: whether to pay him and cut David Johnson, or pay
Speaker 1: both or what's going well, they're gonna cut. They're definitely
Speaker 1: cut David Johnson. And they did say they want to
Speaker 1: sign Drake. His price tag went up, but he fits
Speaker 1: that offense. I give Cliff Kings very so much credit
Speaker 1: and it was almost fitting that his best moment as
Speaker 1: a coach, a rookie coach was with Brent Hunley on
Speaker 1: the field running plays. The fact that they were able
Speaker 1: to still have a decent running game, and some of
Speaker 1: it was just improvised Hunley scrambling, but some of it
Speaker 1: was Kenyan Drake's runs that were very creative that even
Speaker 1: with Hunley at quarterback, they were able to move the ball.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks did come back, you know, they were down
Speaker 1: twenty seven. They cut it to it's ten minutes left.
Speaker 1: The clink is going crazy, and you think, Okay, they're
Speaker 1: gonna come back and win this game. That's what they do.
Speaker 1: And then the Hunley led Cardinals go on a nine play,
Speaker 1: seventy eight yard, five and a half a minute touchdown
Speaker 1: drive to in the game. That was the most surprising
Speaker 1: thing I saw a day. Chandler Jones four sacks, two
Speaker 1: forced fumbles now Joinsbert Mathis as the only players in
Speaker 1: history with nineteen sacks and eight four forced fumbles in
Speaker 1: a season that includes guys like Deacon Jones before the
Speaker 1: sack was invented. Per Pro Football Journal, which has researched
Speaker 1: all the back from the ProFootball Journal from that, he's
Speaker 1: got to be in the year too, Okay, And I
Speaker 1: get that he's been one of the most underrated guys.
Speaker 1: He should probably be an All Pro. But take a
Speaker 1: game like today going against the backup left tackle Jamarco Jones,
Speaker 1: and like, I want to see you do it against
Speaker 1: the best left tackles the league. Here's one thing I
Speaker 1: love about Chandler Jones. One of those forced fumbles was
Speaker 1: him running seventeen yards down the field and knock the
Speaker 1: ball out of David Moore, and that was one of
Speaker 1: the things I loved watching him when he was on
Speaker 1: the Patriots. He is just a man on fire every
Speaker 1: play in terms of his hustle, and that's sometimes why
Speaker 1: he gets these like clean up coverage sacks. So credit
Speaker 1: to him. But I did want to quickly mentioned how
Speaker 1: poor Pete Carroll handled this game. In my mind, it
Speaker 1: was just it was just it was a Pete Carroll game.
Speaker 1: Fans know what I'm now, there's how I've done it.
Speaker 1: Sahawks corner. Now it's his turn to get all right third,
Speaker 1: third and one, Russell Wilson throws the ball d p's
Speaker 1: at around the forty I think he past the forty
Speaker 1: yard line early in the game. He ends up throwing
Speaker 1: it deep taking a shot on the third and one.
Speaker 1: He said after the game it's because he assumed they
Speaker 1: were going to go for it on fourth and one,
Speaker 1: but nope. He's got Pete Carroll as as a coach,
Speaker 1: he should know better. Not only did they not go
Speaker 1: for it, they punted the ball instead of kicking a
Speaker 1: fifty one attempting a fifty one yard field goal later
Speaker 1: in the game. Jason Meyer's the same kicker hit a
Speaker 1: fifty two yard or with room to spare to that
Speaker 1: same end in the in the in the fourth quarter, Uh,
Speaker 1: they had a fourth and three, I believe in the
Speaker 1: red zone where they decided to kick a field goal
Speaker 1: to make it twenty to ten. So they're trying to
Speaker 1: catch up with field goals instead of going for it
Speaker 1: on four down. And then there's also a third and
Speaker 1: three before one of these field goes where you hand
Speaker 1: it off to Travis Holmes. That's the one that got
Speaker 1: me fourth string running back. You're on your fourth string
Speaker 1: running back and you're still trying to establish the run.
Speaker 1: And look that their offensive line can't protect Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: So it's kind of your damned if you do, damned
Speaker 1: if you don't. But give russ a chance. All right,
Speaker 1: that's fair. Do you feel better? Uh? And Chandler Jones
Speaker 1: nineteen sacks the record quote unquote twenty two and a half.
Speaker 1: Michael Strahan, give that record. It's dignity back. It was
Speaker 1: stolen when Brett Farbs slid at Michael Strahan's feet on
Speaker 1: the final game in the two thousand one season. A
Speaker 1: disgrace well, taking it away from Jet's great mark Eston.
Speaker 1: Now give it. It's dignity back. And what does he
Speaker 1: need nineteen somebody to do the math? Another game like today,
Speaker 1: Another game like today that's against Jared Goff and the Rams,
Speaker 1: whose offensive line is not exactly a shining star. Get
Speaker 1: that record. It's dignity back, the further get away from
Speaker 1: the Brett five. It's really funny he did that. If
Speaker 1: you think about it, like at that he would liked
Speaker 1: straight hand that much, and then he was just like
Speaker 1: collegial enough. That is a much revisioned his history. Here,
Speaker 1: isn't it a bootleg? He turns around his straight hands
Speaker 1: in his face, so he decides to take a plan.
Speaker 1: It was. It was late in the game and the Packers,
Speaker 1: I believe, had it sewed away, and it was pretty
Speaker 1: clear that they set it up. Himself said he basically said,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna roll this way and set it up. Because
Speaker 1: there he's admitted that. Yeah, I mean, it's it's a
Speaker 1: disgrace what happened, all right, Kyler Murray. I didn't even meant,
Speaker 1: you know, in a hamstring injury. They probably he made
Speaker 1: a couple of good plays before he left, but you
Speaker 1: would think, well, we'll see he heard his hamstring and
Speaker 1: who starting it running back for the Seahawks in the
Speaker 1: biggest game of the season. Travis Homer. Yeah, d run
Speaker 1: his deep and we're not in Mark Yastino's record. Who
Speaker 1: was the chest bothers me a little bit. My franchise
Speaker 1: has nothing. Kristen Michael and speed Uh or well they
Speaker 1: richardson Mark Well they also just they worked out Robert
Speaker 1: Turban last week's all right? The other big upset on
Speaker 1: Sunday four and seven. Hodges in the shotgun pre Receiprens
Speaker 1: Jets putting in all out plits. He funds the snuff.
Speaker 1: Carls went up the liddle the field. It's inlet. They
Speaker 1: missed to Smith season. Greg Williams brought the house. Then
Speaker 1: the Jets get the stop on downs and it will
Speaker 1: be victory formation for New York. Yeah, Bob Wish shoes
Speaker 1: and with the call the Jets radio network. Uh, the Steelers,
Speaker 1: they're not taking care of their own business. Pittsburgh's path
Speaker 1: to the playoff playoffs got a lot murkier after sixteen
Speaker 1: ten loss to the Jets at the Meadowlands. This was
Speaker 1: a game that featured a Duck Hodges benching a Mason's
Speaker 1: and Rudolph injury, a Duck Hodges return, but no Steelers
Speaker 1: magic on offense. It's a trend West and he's all
Speaker 1: important December games. What has changed for this Pittsburgh offense
Speaker 1: from where they were three weeks ago when everybody was
Speaker 1: feeling good, to where they are now. I think luck
Speaker 1: like Duck Hodges was always a little over his head
Speaker 1: that he wasn't good enough to be playing. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was your boy, though anyone who wasn't Mason Rudolph
Speaker 1: was my boy. I think this is being way misery representative.
Speaker 1: Every time, every time I talked about Duck Hodges, I said,
Speaker 1: he has obvious limitations, doesn't have an NFL arm, and
Speaker 1: it's an undrafted free agent rookie. Well you said he
Speaker 1: was clearly you know, the best quarterback is sitting on
Speaker 1: the bench and unfre Unfortunately, this was a the last
Speaker 1: two weeks have been a Mason Rudolph. You know, like performances,
Speaker 1: I mean seventeen throws for eighty four yards and two
Speaker 1: picks of this game, Well, there was an eight possession
Speaker 1: sequence from the end of last game through the beginning
Speaker 1: of this game where he threw five interceptions and had
Speaker 1: three three and ounce and there went the Steelers season.
Speaker 1: They have they they have gone seven and three in
Speaker 1: their last ten games and then three losses. They've averaged
Speaker 1: nine points. And I would say Hodges's credit, he he
Speaker 1: threw two early picks which led to the benching. He
Speaker 1: comes in on that last drive. He throws a pretty
Speaker 1: nice ball to James Washington in the end zone on
Speaker 1: third down, and Marcus May, who had a nice game
Speaker 1: for the Jets, did a really nice job and one
Speaker 1: on one coverage with Greig Williams, he was aggressive. He
Speaker 1: went after him twice in a row, and then on
Speaker 1: fourth down a snap that he drops. It wasn't a
Speaker 1: great snap, but Hodges probably should have caught it on
Speaker 1: a fly. But he even recovered enough to give give
Speaker 1: Juju Juju Smith Schuster a chance. And this just has
Speaker 1: not been Jujus year. He didn't even really come close
Speaker 1: to it. But uh so, Hodges didn't totally flame out
Speaker 1: in the last possession like he did the previous week.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, West and you talked about this,
Speaker 1: uh downstairs earlier. It's just another reminded of the Steelers
Speaker 1: are paying for their sins of never finding a real
Speaker 1: capable person to put behind Big Ben. Well, every team
Speaker 1: whips on some guys. But whereas the Patriots find at
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo and the Jacoby percent, the Steelers have had
Speaker 1: Landry Jones, Josh Dobbs who they traded away, Mason Rudolph
Speaker 1: who flamed out and they had to turn I mean,
Speaker 1: how many times have you ever seen a playoff contender
Speaker 1: play an undrafted rookie at quarterback? No, but they they
Speaker 1: loved Mason Rudolph in the what you couldn't see him
Speaker 1: in real games, but the reports on him, whether the
Speaker 1: coaching staff was smitten with his you know, traits and abilities,
Speaker 1: and then you get them in real life games and
Speaker 1: you realize and like we were, we are a week
Speaker 1: away very possibly having an eight and eight team in
Speaker 1: the a f C make the playoffs. And there are
Speaker 1: put the Steelers in that flock of clubs that have
Speaker 1: to look back on a game like today, in a
Speaker 1: series of games that just like, could any of these
Speaker 1: teams get hot and get it get and make it happen?
Speaker 1: I mean, this is there's any scenario happening at the end, right.
Speaker 1: I think if you're the Chiefs, who at least right
Speaker 1: now are holding the three seed. You look at the
Speaker 1: differences in danger compared between Tennessee and anyone else that
Speaker 1: could get the sixth seed, which at this point is
Speaker 1: just Pittsburgh and Oakland. Who who will get to and
Speaker 1: to me, the Titans are a very dangerous team, uh
Speaker 1: if they get in as the sixth seed, and right
Speaker 1: now they are in position to do that, whereas Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and certainly Oakland would be a list. Well, and Dan,
Speaker 1: you talked about how Duck didn't he didn't do so
Speaker 1: badly on that final drive, but after they put him
Speaker 1: back in and even before they put him back and
Speaker 1: he played scared too too much in this game, Dan,
Speaker 1: he got rid of the ball too quickly. He was
Speaker 1: afraid of pressure. He played scared. I saw your tweet
Speaker 1: and it reminds me just basically everything happen in Cleveland
Speaker 1: where uh there was the report that the locker room
Speaker 1: is down on Gaze for what his tough guy acting
Speaker 1: that they've been responding more to Greg Williams and I
Speaker 1: feel like, you know, there are predictions that the two
Speaker 1: of them could but heads not that they are, But
Speaker 1: does it change the way I mean, are were probably
Speaker 1: gonna say. My point I was gonna make two before
Speaker 1: he moved on, was that Adam Gates is a profoundly
Speaker 1: unpopular figure among Jets fans and perhaps inside his own building.
Speaker 1: But to his credit, after that one and seven start, uh,
Speaker 1: they have a chance to go seven and nine if
Speaker 1: they win on Sunday, And that is nothing to celebrate,
Speaker 1: but that tells you that this team never quit on
Speaker 1: Gaze despite all the you know, setbacks and disappointment and
Speaker 1: injuries and and some of the offensive play calling which
Speaker 1: has not been good, and it wasn't good in this
Speaker 1: game either after an early touchdown. And I just want
Speaker 1: to throw one thing out there, Greg Williams, when you
Speaker 1: talk about assistant Coach of the Year discussions, he's not
Speaker 1: gonna get it. Nobody's ever gonna give Greg Williams any trophy. However,
Speaker 1: what he's been able to do, He's turned that Jets
Speaker 1: defense into a top ten unit. Uh, And the number
Speaker 1: of injuries that group has had and the lack of talent,
Speaker 1: what he's been able to scheme his way to really
Speaker 1: deserves some credit. Whether you like the guy or not,
Speaker 1: the Jets defense has been good this year. And no,
Speaker 1: I want to go that far I want to go,
Speaker 1: but we don't get on a New York City for it.
Speaker 1: But I don't know if he's gonna be back either,
Speaker 1: because you know, he's a guy that burns out quickly
Speaker 1: behind the scenes as well. But he gets credit for
Speaker 1: that um t J Watt big force fumble in this game.
Speaker 1: Maybe he helps his defensive Player of the Year case.
Speaker 1: And then Mike Tomlin, who I never bought that he
Speaker 1: should have been in the coach of the ear race,
Speaker 1: but that's definitely over after the if you're not compared
Speaker 1: to John Harbaugh to me, I mean in the race,
Speaker 1: it could be right, but it's like that in what
Speaker 1: in what the Ravens head coach is getting head coach? Well,
Speaker 1: you know I'm on board with that at this point.
Speaker 1: If not for that t J watch strip sack, that
Speaker 1: Steelers probably finished the game with three points instead of ten.
Speaker 1: That's fair. That's fair, dog, all right. Speaking of the Raiders,
Speaker 1: can take this opening drive in their second half into
Speaker 1: the back hits and zone touchdown Raiders opening from third quarter.
Speaker 1: Staying alive, that's the theme today, and staying alive so
Speaker 1: far all four other things that had to happen today happened.
Speaker 1: Did now the Raiders win this and they'll go to
Speaker 1: Denver with a chance to be the sixth seed in
Speaker 1: the a f C. He wasn't true. You can't say
Speaker 1: that's not accurate, Friend, Musburger k CBS West. Before the
Speaker 1: show is on fire that people are plugged in on
Speaker 1: this Raider's chances of making the play offs. Man, what
Speaker 1: does Saturday teach us? You want good teams because you'll
Speaker 1: get good football. You guys keep rooting for bad teams.
Speaker 1: Greg and I were discussing by the Raiders. Whoever does
Speaker 1: get that playoff spot is they're not long for this
Speaker 1: world regardless. But anyway, Oakland Raiders, they keep their playoff
Speaker 1: hopes alive. Seventeen over the Chargers in front of a
Speaker 1: sea of silver and black at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Speaker 1: What a mess the whole situation. Um Charges were going
Speaker 1: with a silent count on offense because the road fans
Speaker 1: were so loud. Mark uh This stat from the great
Speaker 1: Neil Reynolds of Sky Sports over in London entering Sunday.
Speaker 1: The Raiders had a one and two chants of making
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They'll wake up Monday with a one and
Speaker 1: eight shot in week seventeen. Well, you know, I understand
Speaker 1: West's point that UH rooting for a team like this,
Speaker 1: just pointing out that statistically they made a huge jump
Speaker 1: in terms of playing. I like things like this in sports. Um,
Speaker 1: how do you not win the Jaguars game? Well, that's that.
Speaker 1: It makes it makes last week's inexcusable loss even tougher
Speaker 1: to fall them right, they would be tied right now
Speaker 1: at eight and seven with the Steelers and the Titans.
Speaker 1: It's it's unbelievable. And because this was as much of
Speaker 1: a home game as that was, and and and the
Speaker 1: broadcast crew pointed out they were there because you can't
Speaker 1: tell on TV. It seems like there's a lot of
Speaker 1: Raiders fans. They put it at like noise level and
Speaker 1: support level for the Raiders, which is, you know, we
Speaker 1: can get to that in a second. But the reason
Speaker 1: I picked that uh cap drive capping touchdown right there
Speaker 1: was that this game felt to me, And I mentioned
Speaker 1: to you guys call times utterly formless, and I was
Speaker 1: like struggling to find anything from it that was even
Speaker 1: vaguely relevant. But then the Raiders open, They're up fourteen
Speaker 1: seven and looking very Raiders ish and the Chargers have
Speaker 1: already gone to sleep. I don't know what that what
Speaker 1: what is happening with them, but they are up fourteen
Speaker 1: seven and put together an effective nine minute drive that
Speaker 1: did two things. I thought it tired out the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles defen and they never really were the same after that.
Speaker 1: And basically just challenge Philip Rivers, who spent the entire
Speaker 1: game with his right thumb taped up, and you know
Speaker 1: he was not in a good place. He had a
Speaker 1: glove on his other hand just to even be able
Speaker 1: to protect the ball well. And you know that Raider
Speaker 1: that Chargers game from a couple of weeks ago where
Speaker 1: Rivers went up, was on fire and joining at people,
Speaker 1: and it was the Jaguars. It makes that seem even
Speaker 1: the more ridiculous because two weeks in a row they've
Speaker 1: they've not gotten the job done. I don't know what
Speaker 1: to say about Oakland. I mean, they just have no
Speaker 1: weapons at all, and they don't have Josh Jacobs right now.
Speaker 1: And it's a little bit of Hunter Renfro, it's a
Speaker 1: little bit of Darren Wallers, a lot of Hunter Renfro
Speaker 1: who today, to Greg's chagrin, he is the Janga piece
Speaker 1: of that offense, he's the guy that keeps everything together
Speaker 1: in that passing attack, he goes over a hundred yards.
Speaker 1: He he is the evolutionary Wayne Crabet and everybody knows it. Well, okay,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'll side with you on that one. I
Speaker 1: just coming out like I do. I'll take the Renfro
Speaker 1: has come along. Well, it's been one of the best
Speaker 1: four hundred and ninety yards in a while. Well that's
Speaker 1: all they have. But they I just cannot imagine what
Speaker 1: is going to happen to this Chargers team. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's not something that the that the NFL wants people
Speaker 1: to to talk about and complain about. When you put them,
Speaker 1: well you put them into an eighties seventy stadium, what
Speaker 1: is going to be the weekly the optics silent Snap
Speaker 1: Catalyst counted home it was. It was Yeah, it's well,
Speaker 1: it's a huge disadvantage to the organization, but it's one.
Speaker 1: It's one that they created, that the Chargers created. I
Speaker 1: did want to mention this article that crack me up
Speaker 1: from our old friend Gilbert Manzana, remember, and it was
Speaker 1: he was asking some of the Chargers players if they
Speaker 1: knew the name of the of the stadium they played in. Uh,
Speaker 1: and they didn't. You know, are a few of many
Speaker 1: of them did not. Austin Nekeler guests it was Divinity
Speaker 1: Health Field, which is not. Some of them call it
Speaker 1: the dig which I didn't know about. But this is it.
Speaker 1: The was the stubhab it turned into dignity to the colisseum,
Speaker 1: and this was it. And so it was a three
Speaker 1: years of Sure they don't, they don't have fund memories
Speaker 1: that the key was. Yet the players all said, I
Speaker 1: we are ready to get out of here. These corporate
Speaker 1: name stadiums changed their name every year. I can't blame
Speaker 1: players for not keeping up with it. Uh, let's move up.
Speaker 1: Thirty gold three Jones in the shotgun, Barkley to his right,
Speaker 1: he calls out, signals, takes the snaff, He's back to
Speaker 1: throw far as when right, touchdown Giants Tayton Smith. Then
Speaker 1: they went in overtime, second touchdown cat for Smith, Jones
Speaker 1: Smith touchdown pass of the ball game, and the Giants
Speaker 1: win it in overtime on thirty five Bob popa w
Speaker 1: f A and Yes, Daniel Jones through for three fifty
Speaker 1: two yards and a career high five touchdown passes, including
Speaker 1: that game winner in o t lifting those Giants whom
Speaker 1: five over the skins Jones, he wasn't the only young
Speaker 1: Giant star on shining display. S Quon Barkley steady franchise
Speaker 1: wreck gird Gentleman. I mean, this is a decorated franchise
Speaker 1: who seventy nine yards from scrimmage too long touchdowns. It
Speaker 1: was a Davy Gentleman fever dream, um. And that's the
Speaker 1: thing that my takeaway from the Giants at the stage
Speaker 1: that they have so much work to do and it's
Speaker 1: been a terrible season, and it's been a run of
Speaker 1: bad football for this team, um for the most part,
Speaker 1: outside of one largely forgettable. Who's the head coach with
Speaker 1: the really bad hair, Ray Hanley? No, no, no, they
Speaker 1: went eleven and five or ten and six. I mean
Speaker 1: he's the best. Why did I dial that he had
Speaker 1: like a comb? I mean he's the best Giants coach
Speaker 1: of the decade, including Tom Alright, you lost twice, you
Speaker 1: got beat twice, Yeah that was and forty six is
Speaker 1: never going away anyway. They have so much work to do,
Speaker 1: the Giants, and Dave Gentleman doesn't deserve a raid because
Speaker 1: a lot of his moves haven't worked out. But there
Speaker 1: are worst places to be in than to have a
Speaker 1: high draft pick. And I don't know the salary cap situation,
Speaker 1: but uh, to have Daniel Daniel Jones. And this is
Speaker 1: not his first game the season where he's piled up
Speaker 1: these monster stats. I I meant to go back and
Speaker 1: check it out. According to Gil Brandt on Twitter, Jones
Speaker 1: is the only rookie since at least nineteen fifty with
Speaker 1: three fifty plus passing yards, five plus passing TVs and
Speaker 1: zero interceptions in a game. And Barkley this is the
Speaker 1: performance you expected more of these type of games, but
Speaker 1: it's just a reminder of how incredibly talented he is.
Speaker 1: He is the type of guy that you could get
Speaker 1: on his back and take you to the super Bowl
Speaker 1: if you have the right team around him. So as
Speaker 1: far as John's goes, they have so much work to do,
Speaker 1: but they have two potential big pieces. Barkley, we know
Speaker 1: he's already a superstar, but Jones is shown certainly enough
Speaker 1: in his rookie year to make you think they have
Speaker 1: a guy that they can really build around. I found
Speaker 1: an interes staying this report that when Dwayne Haskins went
Speaker 1: out with an ankle injury that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder
Speaker 1: told him not to come back in the game. What
Speaker 1: or is that not? Skins clarified after the game that
Speaker 1: the doctor told him not to and then has and
Speaker 1: then the owner basically said listen to listen to the doctor.
Speaker 1: You know. Well that feels less controversial. Yeah, well that's
Speaker 1: the way it was fun After the game. The initial
Speaker 1: report was curious. So that's what Haskins told the media.
Speaker 1: And then a Redskins spokesman came out immediately like no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: that's not how it played out. Him came in and
Speaker 1: and almost led them to victory. But because the Redskins
Speaker 1: defense was so bad and lost it in overtime, you
Speaker 1: got the Redskins with the number two pick in the draft,
Speaker 1: which in this draft, especially with Chase Young sitting out there, Uh,
Speaker 1: it's very advantageous. They just need to lose once more. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that in fact possible. I was kind of blown away
Speaker 1: that after uh case Keenum led the Redskins on a
Speaker 1: ninety nine yard touchdown drive to pull them within one point,
Speaker 1: and with gets to play, they opted to kick the
Speaker 1: extra point and play for overtimes, like, what are we
Speaker 1: doing here? Yeah, the movies to go for two there
Speaker 1: either win or lose. And by the way, wink wink,
Speaker 1: throw it over the crossbar and let's let's get to
Speaker 1: town with Chase Young. But anyway, he'd kicked the extra
Speaker 1: point and Daniel Jones did the rest. I like, I
Speaker 1: set up all that gentleman stuff, and it was just
Speaker 1: silence in the room because nobody likes to talk about
Speaker 1: Dave Getleman was waiting for someone else. Every time one
Speaker 1: side says look at the scoreboard, the other side looks
Speaker 1: done for a month. I would like to have a
Speaker 1: parade for him. That would be fun. Just means it
Speaker 1: hasn't gone well, and they now they're set up for
Speaker 1: the number four picket. Looks like they'll stay ahead of
Speaker 1: Miami next week as well in terms of strength of schedule,
Speaker 1: so if they don't win that, they're at him. But
Speaker 1: I'm not crazy. Jones has had he's stacked together. I
Speaker 1: know he's had bad games too. He's had monster game.
Speaker 1: He's had some monster like bang on a banged up
Speaker 1: NFC games. Uh, it's been up and down, but there's
Speaker 1: definitely been those big time moments. I mean this game
Speaker 1: had twenty eight points before there was an incompletion. Has
Speaker 1: you know the running games and Haskins and him, We're
Speaker 1: going back. If Baker or Donald throw five touchdowns and
Speaker 1: zero picks last game, we would be running around the
Speaker 1: building with no clothes on it. And the thing with
Speaker 1: the whole thing, it would be treated differently, would it
Speaker 1: be great? And the whole thing with the with going
Speaker 1: back into the game and the owner that you could
Speaker 1: lay that out and put team X and everyone would say, oh,
Speaker 1: we know who what team was responsible for the Shenanigans
Speaker 1: or this controversy and that's a problem there. All right,
Speaker 1: Let's move on straight eye formation slot right. They handed
Speaker 1: off Philip Lindsay straight ahead and lives his nest. Lindsay
Speaker 1: and sideventeen high steps inside the five touchdown. Denver Fello
Speaker 1: up Lindsey his seventh rushing touchdown of the year. That's
Speaker 1: a scamper of twenty seven yards and it extends the
Speaker 1: Broncos lead to seven. Team was six nine left Dave
Speaker 1: Logan with a call that was the final score of
Speaker 1: the game. Philip Lindsay seals it with that touch down
Speaker 1: and Drew Lock delivered another promising performance. Sobroncos over the Browns. Lions.
Speaker 1: Excuse me, who have now dropped eighth straight West? You
Speaker 1: picked this game for the grass field the men would
Speaker 1: play on. Did you get anything else out of it?
Speaker 1: So Lindsay looks good, uh Drew Lock. You can't really
Speaker 1: take a whole lot out of this one. It was
Speaker 1: mostly the Philip Lindsay show. He did lead an impressive
Speaker 1: drive where he threw the ball to day Shawn Hamilton.
Speaker 1: He might have had the best game of his career.
Speaker 1: I was just wondering a week or two ago if
Speaker 1: this guy just isn't very good and will never be
Speaker 1: a starting caliber receiver for the Broncos. But he had
Speaker 1: a pretty good game today. Uh Lock was good and
Speaker 1: the Lions had their first lead of December for a while.
Speaker 1: I mean that's saying something. They they had a Jamal
Speaker 1: agnew return punt return for a touchdown, and Kenny Galladay
Speaker 1: played well as he always does, and uh Blow shrunk
Speaker 1: against pass pressure as he usually does. Now, wait minute,
Speaker 1: well let's all right, but if I'll have to go
Speaker 1: check out this game extensively myself, I mean, by the
Speaker 1: very nature of your club, you have to stick with
Speaker 1: the quarterback. Well, thank you, I was gonna. I did
Speaker 1: notice that the blowhards who support David blow um along
Speaker 1: with the bohemians who are both Scarborough fans. Those two
Speaker 1: players combined and one of them is a quarterback for
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty one total yards. So we're gone.
Speaker 1: We're gonna go through some tough stretches supporting these guys.
Speaker 1: But if you think that we're gonna jump ship at
Speaker 1: some point, uh well, David blow will do something in
Speaker 1: his life. We will report on him no matter what
Speaker 1: he's doing, whether it's on the field or not. A
Speaker 1: lion's up to the number three pick. Gotta snuck in there.
Speaker 1: Gotta snuck in there. If the Redskins mess around and
Speaker 1: and bet the Redskins next week is like a nine
Speaker 1: game losing streak to end your season, that could really
Speaker 1: do one. Undoubtedly Bob Quinn will do the right thing
Speaker 1: with that. That draft slob. Let's move on, move Onield Jackson.
Speaker 1: While four quick, bro, that's Freeman the catch touchdown. Atlanta
Speaker 1: caught it at the two and then just kind of
Speaker 1: backed his way into the end zone. He took to
Speaker 1: Rod Wilson and Trey Herndon wooded so DeVante Freeman on
Speaker 1: the board, on the ground and through the air and
Speaker 1: it's thirteen nothing Atlanta West Durham and the Falcons radio network.
Speaker 1: DeVante DeVante Freeman scored two touchdowns before the Jacksonville Jaguars
Speaker 1: even took a snap, and uh that was enough and
Speaker 1: the Falcons beat the Jaguars. And a matchup between two
Speaker 1: two teams thinking about whether they want to fire their
Speaker 1: head coaches yep, the Hot Butt Bowl. Uh So this
Speaker 1: would be another positive Sunday on the save Dan Quinn
Speaker 1: front because they have a chance after one and seven,
Speaker 1: start to finish the second half of the season six
Speaker 1: and two. And that's the type of stuff that makes
Speaker 1: ownership think twice, unless, of course, Arthur Blank already decided
Speaker 1: at one and seven that he wanted to hit the
Speaker 1: reset button. We'll find out soon enough. Um. And a
Speaker 1: couple of things. We get the report for me and
Speaker 1: Rapp report this weekend. Same thing. Why let's hold off
Speaker 1: on this stuff that Doug Moron after the Tom Coughlin
Speaker 1: firing might actually be safe and he might continue on
Speaker 1: in is the head coach along with David Caldwell. With
Speaker 1: David called all the GM although Tony con who we've met,
Speaker 1: very nice man. He can end up having a greater
Speaker 1: role potentially, uh in the decision making of the team. Um.
Speaker 1: And then you go out in the Jaguars, you know,
Speaker 1: lay another egg in a game that is kind It
Speaker 1: was not even it wasn't even that entertaining. Uh, your
Speaker 1: boy Minshew did nothing until the very end of the game,
Speaker 1: nineteen yards passing, like with minutes to go in the
Speaker 1: second quarter. I know, but he's your guy, so I
Speaker 1: don't know. Um. And I want to focus on Julio
Speaker 1: Jones before we move on, because Wes, he made a
Speaker 1: good point when we were in our conversation about the
Speaker 1: All Decade team. Uh that uh almost you know, he
Speaker 1: flies under the radar a little bit. How great this
Speaker 1: man has been. On Sunday, Julio Jones had his fifty
Speaker 1: fifth career one yard receiving day. UM. That is the
Speaker 1: most among active players, the fourth most all time. And
Speaker 1: if he manages eighty four yards next week, he'll tie
Speaker 1: Jerry Rice. Yes, Jerry Rice, for the most fourteen hundred
Speaker 1: yards seasons at receiver. And so Julio is gonna do
Speaker 1: it six years in a row. If he does six
Speaker 1: years in a row. And keep in mind Jones is
Speaker 1: still just thirty years old. It's been remarkable what him,
Speaker 1: oh what he and Matt Ryan have done together. Yes,
Speaker 1: they blew the Super Bowl, but it's not all about that.
Speaker 1: What this these two guys have done as a tandem.
Speaker 1: By the way, Julio Jones didn't blow this. Yea, he
Speaker 1: made the catch that should have locked up the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl against the Patriots, but that's a different conversation. This
Speaker 1: is a tremendous player. We get to watch greatness every Sunday,
Speaker 1: even if the Falcons aren't very good. Left footed kicker
Speaker 1: gets this one away a high spiraling kick. He turned
Speaker 1: it over, backing up nine lines inside his twenty. Now
Speaker 1: near side numbers thirty five, forty forty five down. The
Speaker 1: dear sunline has the putter theatre, so he's at the
Speaker 1: thirty's at the twenty. He's gonna go ninevehnes up punt
Speaker 1: return for a touchdown. HIGs takes it all the way
Speaker 1: back the cla nothing. Matt Taylor, Colts Radio Network of
Speaker 1: the Call, and Nwhaim Hines became the first NFL player
Speaker 1: in seven years to score two punt returns in the
Speaker 1: same game. And he set up another touchdown with a
Speaker 1: long return early in the game. I mean, it's like
Speaker 1: one of the Greig six win for the Cults over
Speaker 1: the Panthers is one of the best special teams performances
Speaker 1: the NFL history based on what I'm seeing here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you don't know what you're gonna see when
Speaker 1: you sign up for Colts, Panthers and Eats sixteen, but
Speaker 1: you got one of the great punt return performances. It
Speaker 1: was only three returns. One was for forty yards, which
Speaker 1: set up there for touchdown, and then their next The
Speaker 1: next two was an eighty four yard touchdown, which we
Speaker 1: heard and that the seventy one yard touchdown return in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter was even more electric. It wasn't just
Speaker 1: the blocking, it was him making guys miss. It just
Speaker 1: made me wonder, like, why was Naim behind not the
Speaker 1: pun return until this week? You gotta get gotta get
Speaker 1: bones fossil and Carolina is their next head coach. Let's
Speaker 1: put this in perspective. There's only six guys who have
Speaker 1: more punt return yards all season than Naim Hines had
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Right, we're in NFL where they love thisn't
Speaker 1: happening anymore. And it was essentially Eric metcalfeean you know,
Speaker 1: which is it too late to make the Cults the
Speaker 1: team of around the NFL a little bit? Yeah, so
Speaker 1: he he set it up. There wasn't there wasn't too
Speaker 1: much else. I know. Our friend Spice Rack had a
Speaker 1: lot of hopes, hopefully just hopes pinned on Bill Greer
Speaker 1: today and based on the text that felt like a
Speaker 1: lot was on the line. Well, he was over seven
Speaker 1: with three interceptions on deep passes today and we were
Speaker 1: told to watch for deep pass they did. He his
Speaker 1: first throw was like fifty yards down the field. It
Speaker 1: was pretty well covered. It was Alrea incomplete. Uh. Two
Speaker 1: of those interceptions were uh in the last three minutes
Speaker 1: of the game. So sometimes garbage time goes goes wrong,
Speaker 1: you know, But he didn't. He didn't really make any
Speaker 1: plays that made you excited. Interesting when garbage time goes wrong.
Speaker 1: Ian reported that the Cults will take a long look
Speaker 1: at the quarterback position and would be open to drafting someone,
Speaker 1: and that they're you know, of course, I mean well
Speaker 1: not of course debating that on Thursday, but I think
Speaker 1: you have too with this. I think the thing is
Speaker 1: will they go after like a veteran because you could
Speaker 1: get out of his contract easily enough. Jacoby Brissette, that is,
Speaker 1: who did not play well today. I mean he didn't
Speaker 1: look any better than Will Greer. Anybody's stock on lower
Speaker 1: in the last eight weeks in Jacoby Brissette to where
Speaker 1: he is playing in theory through an injury. Um, but
Speaker 1: he's just so inaccurate. All his balls, his passes are
Speaker 1: are sailing. They somehow scored thirty eight points with him
Speaker 1: completing fourteen nineteen yards. But you have him Hines and
Speaker 1: a rugged running game racked up over a couple of
Speaker 1: hundred yards. You know you're gonna do it. Anthes just
Speaker 1: wait for that offseason vacation at the Colts have a
Speaker 1: playoff chance, right Greg, No, they're done. They are done.
Speaker 1: But they am glad you said this just so that
Speaker 1: I can But they all wait. They are they are
Speaker 1: a factor in a playoffs scenario because here's what they
Speaker 1: can do. We forgot to mention with the Raiders. We
Speaker 1: should at least spell it out what needs to happen.
Speaker 1: The Colts are involved in the Colts if they win
Speaker 1: at Jacksonville West next Sunday, they could be part of
Speaker 1: a four way eight and eight tie that would send
Speaker 1: the Raiders to the playoffs because they would win that fight.
Speaker 1: For for that to happen, not only do the Colts
Speaker 1: have to win, the Steelers have to have to lose
Speaker 1: at the Ravens not impossible, The Titans have to lose
Speaker 1: at the Texans, not impossible. And the Raiders have to
Speaker 1: win in Denver and that would send them to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And they just need some help from the hem Hims
Speaker 1: and a few other teams and Spice Rack. Nobody has
Speaker 1: any idea where you are anymore, but wherever you are,
Speaker 1: Merry Chris, We're bounced back. This was just you know,
Speaker 1: as a as a fleshmound, do any of these precious
Speaker 1: little calculations take into the fact that the Texans are
Speaker 1: probably gonna arrest all their players and it won't matter anyway. No,
Speaker 1: the tech well that uh yeah, that would that would
Speaker 1: be a problem. Yeah, all your little twelve percent goes
Speaker 1: down to like point one point point. Allow people to
Speaker 1: dream to Miami we Go, I mean from the dirt
Speaker 1: knap guy. That's funny. It's the only one that's your
Speaker 1: Raiders where it is off the hole. Sanders trying to
Speaker 1: hold the down. Kick is up and the tick is
Speaker 1: good and the Biby Dolphins at the feet of the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati bengalst thirty five and overtime. Livy goes to four
Speaker 1: and low level of the season. The Bengals called the
Speaker 1: one at fourteen and one of the most usual games
Speaker 1: in the history of the stadium. I mean, let's hear
Speaker 1: it that you don't get many with Jimmy Seplo, Dolphins
Speaker 1: Radio Network. The Dolphins gave up sixteen points in the
Speaker 1: final twenty nine seconds of regulation, but somehow regrouped, getting
Speaker 1: at Jason Sanders thirty seven yard or five dub for
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. Miami had a thirty six lead, excuse lead
Speaker 1: with less than seven minutes to play, but watched Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton go ginger nuclear force overtime. The big picture mark
Speaker 1: the Bengals are one in fourteen and now own the
Speaker 1: number one overall pick in the draft, and you can't
Speaker 1: take it away from him. Hello Joe Barrow, Yeah, I thought,
Speaker 1: I mean for a minute that we were witnessing insane,
Speaker 1: glowing red Gingerman revenge on the organization he'll likely not
Speaker 1: be with next year. By orchestrating this ferocious comeback. And
Speaker 1: you know, had they won and it didn't, and had
Speaker 1: something stuff happened next week, uh, you know, they would
Speaker 1: not have the number one overall picking Joe Burrow would
Speaker 1: be going somewhere else. Potentially would have been a delicious
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton narrative to close the year. I mean, if
Speaker 1: I were the if I were the Bengals owner, I
Speaker 1: would have called down when they were trying to essentially
Speaker 1: tie the game to go into overtime with a with
Speaker 1: a two point conversion, and they I would have said,
Speaker 1: you listen, if Andy Dalton doesn't fire this ball into
Speaker 1: the stands, everyone down there is gone. And instead they
Speaker 1: let they they they're toying with fate going in overtime.
Speaker 1: But the Dolphins, who had an incredible game today from
Speaker 1: Yan Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is just playing as well as
Speaker 1: anyone around at this point. Uh, they squeaked it out West.
Speaker 1: You watch this too. I don't do have anything else
Speaker 1: you wanted. It was this game started out total yards
Speaker 1: one fifty nine to one Dolphins over Bengals. And I
Speaker 1: had written in my notes when I turned the game
Speaker 1: off with about forty seconds left, I really stay with
Speaker 1: it for a long time. This game not nearly as
Speaker 1: close as the final score will be, and that was
Speaker 1: thirty five to nine games. It was with thirty seconds left,
Speaker 1: and then the Bengals uh scored a touchdown and fourth down,
Speaker 1: had a two point version, had a successful onside kick,
Speaker 1: had a twenty nine yard touchdown with the clock hitting
Speaker 1: hero then had an untimed two point version, all in
Speaker 1: the final thirty seconds of the game. I don't think
Speaker 1: we've ever seen that before. No, that was that was
Speaker 1: remarkable that they did that, and it worked out perfectly because, yes, West,
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, what would be more Cincinnati Bengals
Speaker 1: than this being you know, they'd lose that on borrow
Speaker 1: because of this insane one in a trillion scenario, and
Speaker 1: then whoever it goes with the first quarterback, well it
Speaker 1: ends up being you know, the next Tom Brady. That
Speaker 1: nothing would be more Bangles than that. So let's just
Speaker 1: be thankful that the Bengals fans had a fun little
Speaker 1: moment there. Andy Dalton had maybe his last great moment
Speaker 1: in a Cincinnati uniform, and they still got what they
Speaker 1: needed to get. Well, fast forward to late April. No
Speaker 1: one knows who Mike Brown's gonna take until they're on
Speaker 1: the clock, and there will be some speculation. You know,
Speaker 1: it's already started that he'll take Chase Young because he
Speaker 1: loves Ohio state guy and he's a once in a
Speaker 1: generation place and it's just Mike Brown. So we won't
Speaker 1: know until they actually called the pick. But well, you know,
Speaker 1: we've got four months to talk about business. The joke
Speaker 1: and scouting circles is the Bengals will draft the best
Speaker 1: Big Ten player available for a year, so of course
Speaker 1: it would be Chase Young. But there's another factor here.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are very This goes for all Cincinnati sports teams.
Speaker 1: They love Ohio people and Joe Burrow is from Athens,
Speaker 1: Ohio perfect, so they'll probably take him because they do
Speaker 1: love the local Bengal Is it this should be covered?
Speaker 1: Is it just assumed that the right coach for Joe Burrow?
Speaker 1: And filled the blank? Is you know I'm saying, is
Speaker 1: are we sure that they're bringing him back? I think
Speaker 1: we know enough about Bengals, what Zach Taylor has had
Speaker 1: with him this year, and do we know anything about
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow? I don't know it. This Dophen's team, we
Speaker 1: were quiet, we were questioning their very integrity early in
Speaker 1: the year people, you know, not the players and coaches, right,
Speaker 1: but the organization. And they now they're now they're in
Speaker 1: the fifth pick. You know, they won four games, they
Speaker 1: played too well. That could say that we were wrong
Speaker 1: for questioning the front office for trying to tank a season. Sure,
Speaker 1: but just more of that the NFL there was talking
Speaker 1: and we had it on this podcast. At the talent
Speaker 1: level really wasn't that different ultimately because it's the NFL
Speaker 1: and all these players are at least good enough. Bryan
Speaker 1: Fitzpatrick now has as many four or more four touchdown
Speaker 1: games in his career than Matt Ryan or Tony Romo.
Speaker 1: Put him in put him in Canton, al right. Now
Speaker 1: on to Sunday Night. They're done in five for the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Wiswall of the Bears. No score, big rush to the outside,
Speaker 1: Homes will scramble. He's at the town. He's the five
Speaker 1: touchdown city. Patrick Mahomes runs it in from twelve yards
Speaker 1: from The Chiefs get a touchdown on their first drive
Speaker 1: of the game. Mitch Holt does Chiefs Radio Network. Yes,
Speaker 1: Sunday Night Football. It looked like a mismatch on paper,
Speaker 1: and that's exactly how it turned out. Patrick Mahomes got
Speaker 1: the Chiefs going with that rushing touchdown, the knee looking
Speaker 1: pretty good, I might add, uh, and the Bears never
Speaker 1: really threatened to three. The final score, Kansas City moves
Speaker 1: to eleven and four, keeping themselves in the conversation for
Speaker 1: a first round by As we head toward week seventeen,
Speaker 1: the Bears playing out the string, and Bears fans who
Speaker 1: were loyal enough or you know, they're already in the
Speaker 1: hole for the tickets to go to this game at
Speaker 1: Soldier Field got some booing in on Trabinsky and the
Speaker 1: Bears offense, which was inefficient as ever Greg rosn Tall,
Speaker 1: but that's story for another time. The Chiefs keep rolling.
Speaker 1: It's part of the story here because this Chief's defense
Speaker 1: is good enough, especially stopping the past to hold a
Speaker 1: really bad offense to twenty six yards of passing a
Speaker 1: half time, which is what the Chiefs did today. They
Speaker 1: are able to just strangle these poor to teames, and
Speaker 1: we saw it last week against uh the Broncos, to
Speaker 1: the point where you feel like Patrick Mahomes in these
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, it's like, you know, it's like Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan's going out on like a back to back against
Speaker 1: the Suns that we only need like twenty seven and
Speaker 1: you know five out of you tonight. Let's save the
Speaker 1: real fireworks for the bigger challengers up the road. Chris
Speaker 1: Jones and Frank Clark are healthy upfront. They had Terrell
Speaker 1: Suggs one one Thornhill and Honeting Badger. I feel like
Speaker 1: they're playing as one of the best safety duos in
Speaker 1: the league over the past month and this past defense
Speaker 1: gets better every week to the point where I think
Speaker 1: they're as good as teams like the Saints. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean what defenses. Look, the Patriots, Patriots and Bills have
Speaker 1: better secondaries. Probably they do. But even even the best
Speaker 1: defenses that are making the playoffs, and I include the
Speaker 1: Patriots and the fort in this, I just don't feel
Speaker 1: that they're gonna come in like shut teams down every game.
Speaker 1: And in the Chiefs have holes, but their defense is
Speaker 1: good enough they're gonna be competitive with anyone. I don't
Speaker 1: think they're gonna be the reason that that they don't
Speaker 1: go a long way the winning games. I mean the
Speaker 1: last year, it was, you know, every game, you know,
Speaker 1: you you knew the defense was gonna give up twenty
Speaker 1: seven points, and you had to have monster performances from
Speaker 1: the homes and the rest, and yeah, you're playing a
Speaker 1: bad opponent's day. But they made the Bears look as
Speaker 1: bad as ever. I mean, drives of fourteen four thirty
Speaker 1: two yards in the first half, a total disaster. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Bears offense is offensive to the eyes. And I
Speaker 1: it's we are a week away from saying farewell to
Speaker 1: twenty teams and they are the one. And I think
Speaker 1: their fans would agree that I cannot wait to say
Speaker 1: goodbye to They need a long winters nap and I
Speaker 1: don't want to hear from them until August. After six
Speaker 1: prime time games this year, I'm guessing it was six.
Speaker 1: That's the map they they'll they'll be down to let's
Speaker 1: say two to three, Yes, and maybe if they truly
Speaker 1: deserve a punishment for inflicting six primetime games upon us,
Speaker 1: including the kickoff game, just give them a Thursday night
Speaker 1: game next year to re establish their value. Robert May's
Speaker 1: made a good point, Robert May's of the ringer who
Speaker 1: does good work over there. He made Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: this game was the connection obviously between Patrick mahomes Um,
Speaker 1: who has picked after Mitch Trobinski famously infamously Chicago traded
Speaker 1: up to go get Rabinsky um while there were superstar
Speaker 1: quarterbacks to be still on the board. May's Road. Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes was an incredibly difficult evaluation who landed in a
Speaker 1: perfect situation. Deshaun Watson was one of the greatest college
Speaker 1: kubis ever. Passing on him is the franchise altering mistake. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's just this game is a reminder and one fans
Speaker 1: in Chicago are booing uh loudly. It's because this is
Speaker 1: gonna stick in their craw for a generation that they
Speaker 1: picked the wrong guy. And now that that decision, uh
Speaker 1: will be big. What what are the Bears do next
Speaker 1: to that possession, whether it's bringing in competition or finding
Speaker 1: a way out of the relationship entirely. But I want
Speaker 1: to make one more point about the Chiefs defense. We
Speaker 1: as we've established, is playing really well right now. This
Speaker 1: is their fifth consecutive game now where they've allowed seventeen
Speaker 1: points or less um. And in these five games they've
Speaker 1: allowed all wins seventeen nine, sixteen, three and three points.
Speaker 1: It's just different. It's when we talk about the Patriots
Speaker 1: are different this year the offense is just different. The
Speaker 1: thing with the Chiefs is maybe they're not scoring the
Speaker 1: way there and Mahomes isn't his like your eyes aren't
Speaker 1: popping out of your head watching what he's doing on
Speaker 1: a weekly basis. But this is a more more rounded
Speaker 1: team and they continue to kind of lay in the
Speaker 1: weeds in the a f C is a team not
Speaker 1: to look past and a team that can absolutely going around,
Speaker 1: especially if they close out and they take care of
Speaker 1: business at home against the Chargers and then get get
Speaker 1: some get to get a break. And what is the
Speaker 1: break they need to get up? They need the Patriots
Speaker 1: to lose to the Dolphins. That's the It's the type
Speaker 1: of thing that hasn't happened in this Patriots run where
Speaker 1: they end up giving the break to another team that
Speaker 1: would make their life. That the Chiefs. That is a
Speaker 1: lot easier. But they are seven and one on the road,
Speaker 1: and if any team could beat New England and Baltimore
Speaker 1: in a row on the road, I think it's this
Speaker 1: Chief's team. There one road loss was that crazy game
Speaker 1: in Tennessee, which they should have won a few different ways,
Speaker 1: and and even if the score wasn't that high, it's
Speaker 1: like Kelsey is healthy, and Tyree Hills healthy, and Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes as he saw with the speed on that rushing touchdown,
Speaker 1: is healthy. They barely touched you know, Cleo Mac had
Speaker 1: the only quarterback hit on Patrick Mahomes the entire night.
Speaker 1: They're not touching him like everything is just if you're
Speaker 1: a Chief fan, you just want to get past next
Speaker 1: week healthy and get on because I think they got
Speaker 1: a chance here. All this is true. We all love
Speaker 1: how they're playing. It should be acknowledged that during this
Speaker 1: stretch where they're allowing nine point eight points per game
Speaker 1: on defense, they've played the Chargers, Raiders, Patriots, Broncos embarrass
Speaker 1: There's not a good offense in the bunch, right, That's
Speaker 1: why they'll give up points in yards against a good team.
Speaker 1: But I think they can. They can score with anyone.
Speaker 1: And I know Ravens fans don't think it matters much,
Speaker 1: but they've had that. They had the Ravens numbers last
Speaker 1: two years. They beat him pretty soundly. Is Mitch Drabinsky
Speaker 1: the week win starter in Chicago? Now next year? I
Speaker 1: just don't know how you can do this again. But
Speaker 1: I've been tough on them, maybe overly so at times.
Speaker 1: But you know, unless than their GM one Executive of
Speaker 1: the year, well well in amid making all these decisions
Speaker 1: and their hands so that yeah, the award is the
Speaker 1: award is not indicative of product, but ran past and
Speaker 1: great gray hair, and uh, he'll get a chance to
Speaker 1: rebuild this team. I don't know if Rabiscy will get
Speaker 1: a chance. No, it's not gonna hair. I got a
Speaker 1: text Ryan pays text while we were recording the podcast
Speaker 1: today from an unnamed um highly um esteemed member of
Speaker 1: talent here at NFL Network saying Ryan pays great hair,
Speaker 1: good looking. Dig dig in on that. But as in
Speaker 1: question if the if a little bit of a surprise
Speaker 1: that did we kind of miss the boat on this
Speaker 1: and I certainly will be doing it. Feels like a
Speaker 1: David Ealely text, Uh, I said talent um. Alright, let's now,
Speaker 1: let's get out of here. It's a long day. A
Speaker 1: reminder again the Miami Improv the Thursday before the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl January thirty pm, we will be doing our live
Speaker 1: podcasting now annual Super Bowl show. Tickets available at what
Speaker 1: I believe is not not an offensive cost. And and
Speaker 1: you get to have a good a good football show
Speaker 1: that gets you ready for the big game exactly West
Speaker 1: is that's just pumped up about it, and we will
Speaker 1: be back. Are we going up Monday night with the
Speaker 1: show or Tuesday? We'll figure that out, but we will
Speaker 1: be giving you all the content you need on on
Speaker 1: Christmas week. Do not worry. We'll have the wrap up
Speaker 1: of week sixteen with that big Vikings Packers tilt and
Speaker 1: then you know, the Christmas holiday and then right on
Speaker 1: the other side of that, yes, the preview of week seventeen.
Speaker 1: We don't stop. Other people stop, no break, We do
Speaker 1: not stop, all right, Stan handsOn signing out for a
Speaker 1: quiet storm, the mailman, the old Boss, Ricky, Holly, Hollywood,
Speaker 1: and everybody behind the glass. Thank you till Tuesday.