Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast, Greg secretly wants to deep
Speaker 1: six the money Chacks. Hey you, Greg, Welcome to another
Speaker 1: edition with you Around the NFL Podcast. My name is
Speaker 1: Dan Hansen, coming deep from a room filled heroes, Mark Sessler,
Speaker 1: Greg Froze the Ball, and the great Patrick Flavon. What's up? Gang?
Speaker 1: I mean, that couldn't be more wrong. I have said
Speaker 1: multiple times on this podcast, and I know how the
Speaker 1: interaction always goes that the money tags is my favorite
Speaker 1: part of the show, and then you sour on it,
Speaker 1: and Dan says like, oh why why you you know,
Speaker 1: and the rest of the show, and then I say, no,
Speaker 1: it's just like it's a fun little surprise. It's a
Speaker 1: great entry into the show. Circa two thousand fifteen. This
Speaker 1: was a convo. I love it. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: kill it, alright, Well, I wouldn't mind just isolating the
Speaker 1: end of that particular money tack where it's f you Greg,
Speaker 1: that has legs very vu in fact Erica during the show,
Speaker 1: can you work on that and then um float it
Speaker 1: back up at the appropriate time. I think so. I
Speaker 1: mean it's funny too, because I asked, like I send
Speaker 1: money the list of stuff to record, and that little
Speaker 1: improv at the end was not written down, so that
Speaker 1: was just money recording it like that, And I was like,
Speaker 1: this is so talented radio man, like he can you know,
Speaker 1: he can fly into worlds of new creativity. There. All right,
Speaker 1: welcome to the Thursday Show. We've had a action packed
Speaker 1: week here. You know, everything has been action packed in
Speaker 1: our country, not all of it good, a lot of
Speaker 1: it very bad. But we are talking about the action
Speaker 1: in the football world, which is coming fast and hard
Speaker 1: this weekend because it's Super wild Card weekend. Uh for
Speaker 1: the first time ever, for the first time ever, six
Speaker 1: games played in the first weekend of the playoffs, and um,
Speaker 1: I for one, very excited about it. I'm not when
Speaker 1: I studying the games, Mark, I'm not a hot on
Speaker 1: the NFC slate. I'm really looking. I'm spinning forward in
Speaker 1: my mind already, uh my mind to the divisional playoffs
Speaker 1: on that end of things. But which, by the way,
Speaker 1: he is gonna of course then mean the best games
Speaker 1: are gonna come out of the NFC. But for now
Speaker 1: I'm kind of zoned in on the a f C,
Speaker 1: which has intrigued all over the place. I know for
Speaker 1: you as well, Yeah, I think that that's fair when
Speaker 1: you look at the slate of games in the a
Speaker 1: f C s have um immediate sex appeal and there's
Speaker 1: a couple of dogs in the NFC. But I'm with you,
Speaker 1: I think that can you'd like to think that would
Speaker 1: lead to um premier matchups in the next round. Doesn't
Speaker 1: always happen. But um, you know, we've got the Packers
Speaker 1: hanging out there, a team, a Packer's team that I'm
Speaker 1: excited about, um more than ever before. And we can
Speaker 1: get to that next week. How about we deal with
Speaker 1: what is on on tap for this week right now? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: Patrick Clayband, how you doing, buddy? Uh, great to have
Speaker 1: you back. We haven't had you on the show since
Speaker 1: the Christmas special and it's always a nice time when
Speaker 1: Clay is in the house. Yeah, it's Um, we got
Speaker 1: all the decorations down, so so that was step one.
Speaker 1: I mean the lights that that's going to require h
Speaker 1: ladder and stuff. So I'm giving myself an excuse there,
Speaker 1: but yeah, Lauren got all the decorations down. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: we've got a few needles up and it's it's almost
Speaker 1: like it never happened and we just uh turned the
Speaker 1: page to another year where bad things happen. So yeah,
Speaker 1: we doing doing about as good as everybody else. We
Speaker 1: were all happy and healthy here, alright, very good. Alright.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna go through the games Saturday, which has
Speaker 1: an a f C game at two NFC games Sunday,
Speaker 1: two a f C games, one NFC game. So let
Speaker 1: us begin, less anybody else has something else to say,
Speaker 1: we're gonna start. We're gonna dig in now to super
Speaker 1: Sue Sue Suo suo Super wild Card Weekend. And again
Speaker 1: no one approached us. We're creative entities. We've built this
Speaker 1: podcast from scratch into something that's a global brand. And
Speaker 1: yet when it was coming time to rest up wild
Speaker 1: Card Weekend, uh, instead of consulting with the creatives, they
Speaker 1: just slapped in the super uh fixed super on once
Speaker 1: again claibon and it just feels I'm gonna say it.
Speaker 1: I know this could get me in trouble because they
Speaker 1: are my employer, but shortsighted, I think they take they
Speaker 1: take a long view down. Um. You know, coming from
Speaker 1: my my background with CBS, UM, there are years where
Speaker 1: you can say super on broadcast television because you have
Speaker 1: the game. And then there are years where you have
Speaker 1: just a litany, just a giant list of emails. It's like,
Speaker 1: don't say super Bowl, like Big Game, the Big Game,
Speaker 1: the championship clash. But if you say super Bowl, then
Speaker 1: some lawyers somewhere is gonna, you know, come and threaten
Speaker 1: you with whatever, making your noncompete worse, and then you know,
Speaker 1: firing replacing somebody, somebody straight out of j school. But anyway, Um,
Speaker 1: the NFL flexing again on their power, their grip of
Speaker 1: the words super this time of year, like what what
Speaker 1: what do we own? Oh yeah, super yeah super Well
Speaker 1: Card Weekend. Well, I want to hear you throughout some
Speaker 1: you know alternatives Dan throughout the show. But I also
Speaker 1: would never question the NFL in terms of their branding
Speaker 1: and their naming. I mean, just think of the foresight
Speaker 1: it took to name us and have us change our
Speaker 1: name from around the League to around the NFL so
Speaker 1: we could link up and have the same name as
Speaker 1: a TV show that has now not been on the
Speaker 1: air for five years, and it never featured US, never
Speaker 1: featured us. There were some I had suggested bloated wild
Speaker 1: Card Weekend, which fell on deaf years. Um on the
Speaker 1: third floor unfortunate. And of course, um, this all ends
Speaker 1: with the Super Bowl on the um first or maybe
Speaker 1: second week in February this year. That was coined by
Speaker 1: original Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, who was inspired by his
Speaker 1: son's toy called the super Ball. So I mean even
Speaker 1: that which is now an iconic brand, the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: Uh that very modest beginnings there, not exactly a trillion
Speaker 1: dollar think tank put that them together, and yet we all,
Speaker 1: uh you know, we look to it as Americans apple pie.
Speaker 1: I don't know, let's get to it a f c.
Speaker 1: It starts with an absolute banger. I don't again SEEZ.
Speaker 1: I don't want to keep getting on the link. I
Speaker 1: don't agree with this being an early game. I would
Speaker 1: have flipped it with Tampa Washington at night, but instead
Speaker 1: you have the Cults, the seventh seed traveling to Orchard
Speaker 1: Park to face the number two seeded Buffalo Bills one
Speaker 1: o five pm Eastern on CBS and Mark. I just
Speaker 1: saw some footage floating around on Twitter. Um, a lot
Speaker 1: of bad footage on Twitter right now, but some really lighthearted,
Speaker 1: joyful footage of the Bills practicing and super light on
Speaker 1: their feet, bouncing around, dancing, just filled like a team
Speaker 1: that looks as loose as a team can be, and
Speaker 1: there's no one playing better than the Bills right now.
Speaker 1: That video tells me that the moment's not crushing them.
Speaker 1: How do the Bills not romp this weekend after everything
Speaker 1: we've seen leading into it. I love that you mentioned
Speaker 1: that because that clip of them dancing to you Can't
Speaker 1: Touch This, which I was surprised that was the song. Yeah,
Speaker 1: a little bit of hammer, but there's if you if
Speaker 1: you watch that clip UM at one point, Josh Allen
Speaker 1: Uh kind of sneaks into frame and does like his
Speaker 1: version of what he's trying to dance with the rest
Speaker 1: of the crowd. It reminded me of being like like
Speaker 1: a sixth grade dance when you were back in middle school,
Speaker 1: just trying to do anything you could to not look
Speaker 1: like a total fool. But they looked loose. UM into
Speaker 1: your question, Dan, that vibe that they're bringing, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's new for the Buffalo Bills, and I think
Speaker 1: this is a UM an ideal first test for them.
Speaker 1: It feels like a wild card test. This isn't the
Speaker 1: mightiest UH opponent you could pick in the a f C.
Speaker 1: I guess if you're the Cults. What do you do?
Speaker 1: You want to try to go punch for punch on offense?
Speaker 1: Um and like have Jonathan Taylor do what he's done
Speaker 1: over the last couple of weeks. He's been phenomenal. This
Speaker 1: Buffalo defense is um different than what we talked about
Speaker 1: seven or eight weeks ago. They've they've shored it up.
Speaker 1: They've been a much at or defense, their secondary. I
Speaker 1: think we'll give the Cults fits through the air. And
Speaker 1: I my my answer would be, I don't see anyone
Speaker 1: stopping the Bills, not in this game. I think that
Speaker 1: the Cults are a well rounded team. They've got some
Speaker 1: they've got some stars on defense. I don't think it's
Speaker 1: gonna be enough. I just don't. Yeah, there's not much
Speaker 1: reason to think the Colts win this game. They would
Speaker 1: have to outcoach the Bills. They would have to win
Speaker 1: the turnover battle. You know, they are i think second
Speaker 1: in the league and turnover margin. They've got some playmakers
Speaker 1: on defense that you know, if they get a chance
Speaker 1: or two, they got to take advantage, whether it's Kenny
Speaker 1: Moore or Julian Blackman or DeForrest Buckner Um And they
Speaker 1: don't turn the ball over either despite Philip Rivers there,
Speaker 1: I think third or fourth in the league and the
Speaker 1: fewest turnovers, and so can you can you go plus two?
Speaker 1: Can you shorten the game? Which is my least favorite
Speaker 1: strategy ever because it's just like usually it's shortening the
Speaker 1: time that you know you have a chance to win.
Speaker 1: But when you're an inferior team, and I think the
Speaker 1: Colts are an inferior team, it's maybe not that crazy
Speaker 1: of a strategy. These two defenses are kind of similar
Speaker 1: to me. They're both trying to prevent big plays, make
Speaker 1: you earn it going down the field, hoping for mistakes.
Speaker 1: They've both been pretty good at doing that. It's just
Speaker 1: the mismatch compared, you know, when you compare the two
Speaker 1: offenses is massive. I mean, you have the quarterback playing
Speaker 1: the best in the league and you have Philip Rivers,
Speaker 1: who I love, But I don't think Um played his
Speaker 1: best down the stretch. I would say he's He's probably
Speaker 1: about league average in terms of a starting quarterback right now.
Speaker 1: And maybe even a little word hate Philip. I mean
Speaker 1: I've been Um, I guess there was money. Really, I've
Speaker 1: been saying you're a Hall of Famer for years. It's
Speaker 1: nothing personal. I do think it's a it's a problem
Speaker 1: that everybody you know, kind of highlights Jonathan Taylor as
Speaker 1: the means with which, uh, this this Colts team can
Speaker 1: compete with with Josh Allen and company. Um, it's kind
Speaker 1: of a sign of I think the way we feel
Speaker 1: about Philip Rivers at this point, and really the Colts
Speaker 1: passing attack um and and Greg, you brought up the
Speaker 1: their second internover distrivert ferential, and I guess it's kind
Speaker 1: of a cop out when it's like, well, how can
Speaker 1: the Colts win well by making turnovers? Well, that's that's
Speaker 1: how everybody wins. But honestly, the way people feel about
Speaker 1: this defense where you're you're looking at it's like, uh,
Speaker 1: is this Colts defense really that good? Well, the way
Speaker 1: that they've been staying above water is by making these turnovers.
Speaker 1: And the Forest Buckner that that that move worked out, um,
Speaker 1: one of one of the best interior guys in the
Speaker 1: entire league. Um. And when they get pressure with four guys, um,
Speaker 1: they haven't allowed to touchdown all season? Are friends at
Speaker 1: n GS sentence that this week? And so the problem
Speaker 1: is you're playing Josh Allen and how many times, are
Speaker 1: you willing to just send four guys at Josh Allen
Speaker 1: and give him all day to throw the ball eighty
Speaker 1: yards or whatever he wants to do, whether he wants
Speaker 1: to run it or not. It just it's hard to
Speaker 1: It's hard to envision a circumstance where the Colts can
Speaker 1: just you know, play a regular football game. I think
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to take chances. They're gonna have to
Speaker 1: get outside of their comfort zone, get out of the
Speaker 1: cover two, and might try to mess something up. Because
Speaker 1: if they don't, then I really think this is just
Speaker 1: a breezy seventeen win or something like that. This this
Speaker 1: is yeah to me. The way the only way this
Speaker 1: happens is if Josh Allen falters and you you're not
Speaker 1: hearing about it. It's funny because you heard about it
Speaker 1: back to back years, although strangely not as much this
Speaker 1: year with Lamar Jackson with his struggles uh in the
Speaker 1: past two januaries and is he gonna bounce back from it?
Speaker 1: I remember the podcast after the wild Card round lost
Speaker 1: by the Bills to the Texans last year, and you,
Speaker 1: I mean, I was very hard on Josh Allen. I
Speaker 1: remember Greg who was a late converter as well. To Alan.
Speaker 1: I think we all were because he played so poorly
Speaker 1: in the second half, and not just that he struggled
Speaker 1: from the physical standpoint of doing the job, but it
Speaker 1: seemed like he mentally struggled. Now, that's one of the
Speaker 1: great subplots of the season. That guy. Not only does
Speaker 1: he seem far away, he seems like dead. That version
Speaker 1: of Josh Allen. There's no way he could exist, right,
Speaker 1: And I think that's the only way the Colts win
Speaker 1: this games. And I do respect the Cults, they're a
Speaker 1: good team. Is that if Josh Allen starts putting the
Speaker 1: ball on the ground and throwing the ball off for
Speaker 1: grabs and starts pressing. If let's say, Jonathan Taylor rips
Speaker 1: off an eight yard run and all of a sudden
Speaker 1: it's fourteen to seven late in the second quarter, and
Speaker 1: then Allen's trying to press, and like, that's the only
Speaker 1: way I see it, But I don't because it's that's
Speaker 1: not giving Josh enough credit for what he's done this season. Well,
Speaker 1: that would be one of the biggest surprises of the
Speaker 1: entire campaign. If suddenly Josh Allen went into the game
Speaker 1: and looked like the Josh Allen from last January that
Speaker 1: to your point, I think that's that's ancient mythology. At
Speaker 1: this point, I'd be a little bit concerned. You don't
Speaker 1: have cold Beasley probably, Um, John Brown's gonna have to
Speaker 1: have a big game in this one. Like Stefan Digs
Speaker 1: is not practicing right now, and I sure Anton and
Speaker 1: that video though, I'm not worried game, but I think
Speaker 1: he's fine. I think the loss of Cole cold Beasley
Speaker 1: would matter more probably a week or two from now,
Speaker 1: depending on who the opponent is. I mean, they can
Speaker 1: get by here, um, but unless you get like Darius
Speaker 1: Leonard having the game of his life and you know,
Speaker 1: blowing up Josh Allen on a sack that at this point,
Speaker 1: like you know, creates a turnover in points that you
Speaker 1: wouldn't have expect for the Cults. I'm with you, guys,
Speaker 1: I just I don't see this as a stopping point
Speaker 1: for a Bills team that is on fire. Well, I
Speaker 1: I think the Colts, you know, have the defense to
Speaker 1: slow them down for a quarter or something that the
Speaker 1: Bills remind me a lot of achieve of the Chiefs.
Speaker 1: Do you want to die faster? Do you do, you
Speaker 1: want to die slow, And I think the cults are
Speaker 1: gonna say, we want to die slow. You look at
Speaker 1: the last time Josh Allen looked mortal, it was against
Speaker 1: the Chargers. He struggled in that game. They kind of
Speaker 1: are a similar play it safe, make you earn it
Speaker 1: type of defense. And that's what the Colts are like.
Speaker 1: If you watch the Dolphins game last week, they intercepted
Speaker 1: Josh Allen right off the bat. They stopped them for
Speaker 1: three straight drives, but the score after that was three
Speaker 1: to nothing. Like it's just like the Chiefs, Like, if
Speaker 1: you happen to get an early Allen pick or you
Speaker 1: get three stops, you better put some points up fast
Speaker 1: because it's not gonna last all game. Like they're going
Speaker 1: to adjust. Alan has such a good pocket feel daybole
Speaker 1: adjust like to what the defenses are. You're only going
Speaker 1: to stop them for so long, so you better be
Speaker 1: able to like put up a lot of points in
Speaker 1: the meantime if you do get those stops. And I
Speaker 1: don't really see that because the Bills defense is probably
Speaker 1: playing better than the Colts defenses right now, so even
Speaker 1: if you do get those stops, like it's kind of
Speaker 1: like Mahomes. Yeah, you could spot the Bills ten points
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't be that worried about giving this. It's
Speaker 1: no small thing that this is a playoff game in
Speaker 1: Buffalo for the first time in twenty four years. Um,
Speaker 1: with fans in the stands in good morning football is
Speaker 1: pointing this out and I love it. Fans that have
Speaker 1: never seen Stepan Digs play, They've never seen this version
Speaker 1: of the Bills, and so you know, look at I
Speaker 1: just think this is gonna be a celebration as much
Speaker 1: as anything. And we can keep spinning, you know, narratives
Speaker 1: on how the cults can make an impact here. Surprise us,
Speaker 1: but surprises because I get I do think if you're Indianapolis,
Speaker 1: everyone's just sort of saying you're done and don't make
Speaker 1: it earn it though, like we we don't like the
Speaker 1: NFC slate in some way. I think, because you could
Speaker 1: argue the three worst teams in the playoffs are the
Speaker 1: Washington the Bears, in the Rams, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: the Colts aren't in that group like they I think
Speaker 1: they'll make you earn it. At least they're not like
Speaker 1: a total push. Yeah, I don't want to distress. Yeah,
Speaker 1: We're not disrespecting the cults because they just got they
Speaker 1: pulled a bad matchup in Week one, arguably the last
Speaker 1: team you want to see in this weekend of football,
Speaker 1: even if you even if you bring in the buy teams. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Bills have been playing at that level. And Stepan digs, Yes,
Speaker 1: it's an oblique injury. He's uh downgraded out and practice
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. Remember last time he was on the injury report,
Speaker 1: it was a foot and he didn't practice ahead of
Speaker 1: the Patriots game Week six sixteen, and he had a
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five yards and three touchdowns by the
Speaker 1: beginning of the fourth quarter in that game. So I
Speaker 1: think they're managing a guy that has had a hundred
Speaker 1: catches this year. Claybonny, have any final thoughts on this
Speaker 1: game before we move on? Um? Yeah, if um, if
Speaker 1: if folks are cult fans are or agitated with us,
Speaker 1: like we would just we would just need them to
Speaker 1: play a little bit better against Mike Glennon. Uh, you
Speaker 1: know six days ago for us to feel super excited
Speaker 1: about the Colts. Love you guys, but uh, come on,
Speaker 1: and no, Anthony Costanzo, you know this what this could
Speaker 1: be a Philip Rivers last game. It would be quite
Speaker 1: a Philip Rivers moment to get into a big time shootout.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping to see it, but I'm just not gonna do.
Speaker 1: What What is Greg gonna do when Philip Rivers finally
Speaker 1: walks away from the NFL. I've never I don't think
Speaker 1: I've ever known a person and that includes I know
Speaker 1: Chargers fans who are bigger Philip River, uh you know
Speaker 1: disciples than Greg. He is the next level on this
Speaker 1: from He's the ninth child. He's a hall he's a
Speaker 1: he's a Hall of Fame. Yeah, quarterback. I saw, you know,
Speaker 1: our buddy Will Brenton trying to make some case where
Speaker 1: like Matthew Stafford's a Hall of Famer and he like
Speaker 1: puts Stafford and Rivers and in the same crew. And
Speaker 1: I'm like, Philip Rivers has been a top five or
Speaker 1: six quarterback almost his entire career, and it's like beatty
Speaker 1: Stafford is in. That's the thing. I just And he's
Speaker 1: fun to watch and you've always shown the ability to
Speaker 1: look the other way in January when he stumbled, so
Speaker 1: the winner lose. Greg's not gonna be really taking a
Speaker 1: hit here for the Colts. Well, I'm picking the bread
Speaker 1: Bills to win this by a few scores. So doesn't
Speaker 1: it feel like Philip Rivers isn't gonna leave the game
Speaker 1: because he loves it so much until he's terrible, and
Speaker 1: he's not. If the Colts give him the job next year,
Speaker 1: I think he's back. It's really gonna be up to
Speaker 1: Frank Reik in the Colt So I hope they do it.
Speaker 1: You want to go anywhere else? So the way Rivers
Speaker 1: plays the game, like, is he ever going to be
Speaker 1: like that terrible where you have to pull him off
Speaker 1: a football? Like he he could do this for a
Speaker 1: long time. That's fair alright, So we all have the Bills. Uh,
Speaker 1: moving forward, just like the rest of the world. Let's
Speaker 1: move to the middle game. It is over in the NFC.
Speaker 1: The number six seeded Los Angeles Rams head to Seattle.
Speaker 1: I still call it the Clink, but it is now
Speaker 1: Loomen Field. I don't know why they did that. The
Speaker 1: people Loomen really pinching themselves having the naming rights to
Speaker 1: one of the great facilities in the league. Uh, the
Speaker 1: number three seed Seattle Seahawks. This is a four ford
Speaker 1: PM Eastern kickoff on Fox Um, I guess we start
Speaker 1: with the quarterback position. Greg, where are we at at
Speaker 1: recording right now? It is Thursday, nearly three o'clock in
Speaker 1: the east. On Jared Goff, Well, we don't. We don't know,
Speaker 1: which is annoying because we might know by the time
Speaker 1: people hear this, they'll have to do the injury report.
Speaker 1: The fact that Golf was practicing, you know, makes me
Speaker 1: think he's gonna play that. You know. Ian Rappaport put
Speaker 1: it out there early in the week that it would
Speaker 1: be a challenge, which seemed to go against what we
Speaker 1: saw with our eyes with him throwing the ball pretty well.
Speaker 1: And um, unless McVeigh is, you know, gonna pull a
Speaker 1: fast one and start Walford over Goff when he's available
Speaker 1: to play. If you're out there practicing, usually you're starting
Speaker 1: quarterback is playing. And if you're a Rams fan and
Speaker 1: you know, I feel bad there. I put them in
Speaker 1: the you know, one of the worst three teams in
Speaker 1: the in the playoffs, that's by record. I'm actually picking
Speaker 1: them to win this game, um, because I think it's
Speaker 1: I think it's a defensive game either way, and I
Speaker 1: think they have the better defense in both matchups. They
Speaker 1: averaged more than half a yard per play, more than
Speaker 1: the Seahawks even the last time around. So I've seen
Speaker 1: the Seahawks in eight quarters against this Rams defense and
Speaker 1: it's not great, and I think I think the better
Speaker 1: defense can still win this game on the road. Going
Speaker 1: back to that last game, Uh, it's it. I I
Speaker 1: lean Seahawks here specifically because, Uh, in that tight what
Speaker 1: was a defensive matchup you saw in short yarded situations,
Speaker 1: a RAMS team that needed Jared Goff to do something
Speaker 1: with his legs and it was just consistent that he
Speaker 1: wouldn't do it. And so now he's down an imposable thumb,
Speaker 1: which is tough because it's kind of the foundation of
Speaker 1: our successes a species. Uh So it I can't if
Speaker 1: I'm if I'm evaluating these teams. I love Aaron Donald
Speaker 1: and Jalen Ramsey. Um I think you know, in a
Speaker 1: in an era where teams are scoring more than ever,
Speaker 1: this defense kind of stands out. But if it's John
Speaker 1: Walford or nine fingered Jared Goff, it's just really hard
Speaker 1: for me to go with the Rams in this matchup.
Speaker 1: Don't don't discount clay on the miracles of modern science, though,
Speaker 1: he's you know, you never know the surgery was done.
Speaker 1: I think they put a pin in there. Who knows
Speaker 1: he might actually be feeling pretty good. I wanted to
Speaker 1: see Wford. Well everyone does you know? I I drive
Speaker 1: around and listen to a lot of like l A
Speaker 1: talk radio. I don't know why I do this, but
Speaker 1: people are ready to throw Jared Goff into the sea.
Speaker 1: I mean it's like I get that he and listen.
Speaker 1: I've been a like super critic of Jared Goff, but um,
Speaker 1: the immediacy with people with with which which people are
Speaker 1: done with him is quite stunning. I look at the
Speaker 1: Ram I think the Rams defense is the best group
Speaker 1: in the game, and I and these two teams know
Speaker 1: each other really well. Seattle last week against the Niners
Speaker 1: had a hundred and nine yards of offense heading into
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. They have issues and they don't match
Speaker 1: up real well against the Rams. I mean, their biggest
Speaker 1: weapon is DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey. We all get it.
Speaker 1: He's gonna erase his production to some degree. Metcalf last
Speaker 1: four games against the Seahawks fifty nine yards, twenty eight yards,
Speaker 1: seventy eight yards, forty four and when he's against Ramsey.
Speaker 1: He's had one catch for eleven yards on four targets
Speaker 1: on his past fifty three routes against Ramsey. So that
Speaker 1: is a problem for the Rams to for the Seattle
Speaker 1: to figure out. And I think Brandon Staley is you know,
Speaker 1: he's getting head coaching interviews because they're finding out that
Speaker 1: this is one of the more innovative um defensive coordinators
Speaker 1: in the league. And I just trust the Rams, you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's golf or magical John Wolford to to take
Speaker 1: care of business here in fact, just what I'm gonna do.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna lock up the Rams for the first time
Speaker 1: probably four years. Look at you, Sessler even you said
Speaker 1: you know what I'm gonna do, and we all knew
Speaker 1: we were going and then you could I could see it.
Speaker 1: It was the gears are turned. Am I really going
Speaker 1: to do this? Am I really gonna do this? And
Speaker 1: then he said I'm gonna do it? Well, why am
Speaker 1: I doing this? I don't know, quarterback that's starting a
Speaker 1: second game potentially, I'm going to think about this. That
Speaker 1: is a soft lock and I, oh no, here's the problem.
Speaker 1: I wanted to lock up the Bills, but totally forgot,
Speaker 1: am I not allowed to lock up the Bills, not
Speaker 1: in good conscience? All right, Now it's the playoffs. You
Speaker 1: can lock any team. I don't buy that we've done
Speaker 1: We've done that forever, We've done it. Forever, you lock
Speaker 1: whoever you want. How about this, I will lock one
Speaker 1: of these two teams, but I have currently it's currently
Speaker 1: the Rams that might become the Seahawks. So all right,
Speaker 1: So if it's Wolford, Um, that's very interesting because he
Speaker 1: did play pretty well in that game. After watching it. Um,
Speaker 1: the Seattle offense, like you said, I just don't know
Speaker 1: forever going to see it be exciting again this season,
Speaker 1: and maybe they flipped a switch. I think that's the
Speaker 1: only way the Seahawks are a Super Bowl condender is
Speaker 1: if they go back to the way they were as
Speaker 1: an offense earlier in the season. But maybe that's just
Speaker 1: not possible for whatever reason. Um. And that's why I
Speaker 1: think picking the Rams as tough as it is when
Speaker 1: the quarterback situation is so unsettled. I think both these
Speaker 1: teams are entering the postseason and on shaky ground, and
Speaker 1: I think either team, um, it would make sense to
Speaker 1: me if they ended up losing you know, to nine
Speaker 1: and it was like, oh, I can't believe this happened.
Speaker 1: Jamal Adams is a big piece of it too. Um,
Speaker 1: the strong safety said Wednesday that he is playing quote
Speaker 1: no question in my mind, but this is a shoulder injury.
Speaker 1: This is a guy that makes his game on living
Speaker 1: near the line of scrimmage, hitting people. Will he be
Speaker 1: the same guy? Will he make it through the game.
Speaker 1: That's a major subplot because he's that important to their defense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he is, and they he he's good at rushing the
Speaker 1: pastor and and run support and and the Rams need
Speaker 1: to run the like they That's where they've lost these
Speaker 1: last two games is with you know, they could have
Speaker 1: lost against Arizona because they couldn't. They got three points
Speaker 1: out of two first and goals from the two and
Speaker 1: the same thing happen against the Seahawks where they couldn't
Speaker 1: run it in Um. But I think to get back
Speaker 1: to golf, Like I think people are out on him,
Speaker 1: probably because mcveigh's out on him. He's coaching around him
Speaker 1: a little like like I really believe at halftime and
Speaker 1: this is where the halftime reporters, I think it was
Speaker 1: Aaron Andrews can really give you some information sometimes. McVeigh
Speaker 1: told Andrews coming out a halftime rams Seahawks the first
Speaker 1: time that Goff needs to see the field better. That
Speaker 1: was what was in his mind running off the field
Speaker 1: after watching that first half. The first half were actually
Speaker 1: they moved the ball pretty well, but there were guys
Speaker 1: open and you know Walford was thrown it into those
Speaker 1: type when and he was saying, Goff needs to see
Speaker 1: the field. It's not about his arm, even in that
Speaker 1: even in at his worst golf, like through some beauty
Speaker 1: in that game, like he always has a couple, but man,
Speaker 1: he's like he's not processing, he's not thinking, he's not knowing,
Speaker 1: and he's not doing anything outside the pockets. Like the
Speaker 1: Seahawks were like begging him to just hey here, just
Speaker 1: go run over there please, and he would take it.
Speaker 1: And it's frustrating. It's two quarterbacks that are a little scrambled.
Speaker 1: It's it's crazy that Russell. I mean, I wouldn't put
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson in that category because he still can pull
Speaker 1: off the comeback, but they're both a little scrambled right now.
Speaker 1: It's it's funny going into the this offseason where you
Speaker 1: have these teams that were good, they were legitimately good
Speaker 1: football teams. And because they're playing this division game against
Speaker 1: the team that knows them uh and plays him a
Speaker 1: billion times, there's gonna be this story going into the
Speaker 1: off season where there's like gonna be real problems on
Speaker 1: whatever offense doesn't doesn't win this game, when that might
Speaker 1: not be true. But it's just just for Los Angeles though.
Speaker 1: I mean like that they're not that far off from
Speaker 1: the from the scenario the Eagles find themselves in. If
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh is out on Jared Golf, you know, that's
Speaker 1: for another day, but that's not the way you want
Speaker 1: to hit the off season. And Jalen Ramsey is special.
Speaker 1: He's on that short list of the true great shutdown corners.
Speaker 1: I really do think because dk metcalf is brilliant as
Speaker 1: he's been UM this season quieted down some and against Ramsey.
Speaker 1: I think Jalen had a success against him the first
Speaker 1: time around UM in the season in the first two games,
Speaker 1: So I'm thinking that that will be a situation you
Speaker 1: can trust Ramsey, Tyler Lockett, he's a big figure in
Speaker 1: this game as well. Let's pick it. Yeah, I'm taking
Speaker 1: I'm taking the Rams. Seahawk fans are gonna hate us.
Speaker 1: We get it, you know, Jaren Reid and Jordan Brooks
Speaker 1: and some of you you know DJ Read like like
Speaker 1: they there. You know their defense is better. You have
Speaker 1: a defense too, but doesn't matter. You're gonna lose. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I've got some concern about reads availability for the game. No,
Speaker 1: he was on the report earlier this week. But um,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm not taking um, you know again nine fingered
Speaker 1: Jared Golf or John Wolford over a Russell Wilson is
Speaker 1: going to all of fame. Uh yeah, so Hawks, I'm
Speaker 1: taking the Hawks as well. You wonder, and it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be tested this week, but if they
Speaker 1: did advance, it will be if this defensive rise. When
Speaker 1: you look at some of the quarterbacks they faced in
Speaker 1: the last seven or eight weeks, Um, what would happen
Speaker 1: if this defense got tested against the truly, um true
Speaker 1: elite offense. But that's not a problem here because obviously
Speaker 1: the issues that they have with Golf and the injuries
Speaker 1: and all that. So I like the Seahawks in a
Speaker 1: low scoring game, and I like the opponent of whoever
Speaker 1: wins this game. Next week. Alright, alright, in one in
Speaker 1: one quick thing, I am going to do a total
Speaker 1: about face here and lock up Seattle. Um, here is
Speaker 1: what I see happening. All right. The Rams are gonna
Speaker 1: be up by like ten to fourteen points in the
Speaker 1: third quarter, and then you're gonna get what every seat.
Speaker 1: And it's what happened last week against the Niners. They looked,
Speaker 1: they looked horrible, and then they scored on three straight drives.
Speaker 1: They're gonna they're gonna pull this thing out like they
Speaker 1: always do in the final minutes. No way am I
Speaker 1: picking the Rams and losing that lock Um? It never
Speaker 1: made sense. Get behind that. I don't know what I
Speaker 1: was doing. I mean, looking, it doesn't really make that
Speaker 1: much sense either considered, doesn't Marcus? Why we love you?
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on to the final game of Saturday,
Speaker 1: the number five seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the number
Speaker 1: four seed Washington Football Team, eight fifteen pm NBC. All Right,
Speaker 1: by the way, fill me in. It's Al Chris and
Speaker 1: Michelle late Sunday for Brown Steelers? Is it also Al
Speaker 1: Chris and Michelle? Here? Is this a Tariko right in?
Speaker 1: Dungee Tariko and Donna. I don't think they would fly
Speaker 1: them to to two locations that would be that makes sense,
Speaker 1: all right, So let's dig into this game. Um, the
Speaker 1: Bucks have at a topsy turvy season, up and down,
Speaker 1: up and down, but they were up, up, up as
Speaker 1: the season came to a close and enter at a
Speaker 1: very uh place of high confidence, you would think. And
Speaker 1: they now get Washington. Of course this is gonna be
Speaker 1: in Landover because despite Tampa Bay being eleven win team,
Speaker 1: Washington won their division at seven and nine, so they
Speaker 1: get the home team. Maybe that's something to litigate down
Speaker 1: the road, but in the here and now, that's the
Speaker 1: way it's set up, Claivan, this is this is almost
Speaker 1: now a basic tape uh m as we head to
Speaker 1: the actual game. But I really do see this as
Speaker 1: a trouble spot for Tampa and the matchup not being
Speaker 1: great and the fact that I've seen it this year already,
Speaker 1: Patrick that the Bucks can go from highs up here too.
Speaker 1: Oh there's there's They're like a Ferrari their offense. When
Speaker 1: things are going well, it's wonderful and that thing is
Speaker 1: zooming at ninety nine and it's making sharp turns. But
Speaker 1: then if you put some unleaded fuel in it, where
Speaker 1: there's something going on in the carburetor. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I work with cars a lot. That's what's what I chose.
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, things breakdown very quickly, and I
Speaker 1: could see this Front seven with sweat and Young doing
Speaker 1: that type of damage. You're going back to that Bears game, right, uh, Dan,
Speaker 1: where Khalil Mack successfully made Tom Brady the maddest person
Speaker 1: on Earth, and it had it seemed to have an
Speaker 1: effect like Tom wasn't playing well, not because he was rattled. Legitimately,
Speaker 1: he was so angry he couldn't gonna kill somebody. He
Speaker 1: wasn't thinking about football anymore. He's thinking of murder. Um.
Speaker 1: The the the the problem is, um, you know, it's as
Speaker 1: as much as we can melan Nick Foles. Um, he
Speaker 1: takes shots. Uh, Nick Foles can can make plays that
Speaker 1: at this point and injured And what a great story
Speaker 1: Alex Smith is. But if you are Todd Bowles and
Speaker 1: you have this blitz heavy defense that can do a lot, um,
Speaker 1: how much are you really gonna invest in sending guys
Speaker 1: at this Washington offense? Uh? This this just kind of
Speaker 1: seems like, all right, well, We'll give you guys these
Speaker 1: three yards and uh see if Ron wants to make
Speaker 1: a decision on fourth and one, uh and get Tom
Speaker 1: and them to run out there and score twenty four points.
Speaker 1: It's maybe like a boring super Chalky view of the game.
Speaker 1: But I don't see any other thing happening. I mean,
Speaker 1: we we are are doing this on Thursday, which is
Speaker 1: the last full practice, you know, for Washington and Taylor.
Speaker 1: Heineke was taking most of the first team reps. Now
Speaker 1: that you know Smith is quite stenable. He took a
Speaker 1: lot of reps too. It's a little unclear they might
Speaker 1: go back and forth. I think it's an open question
Speaker 1: which would be a better option because of what Claibron said.
Speaker 1: We don't know much about Heineck. It's not made a
Speaker 1: couple of throws when he came in the game. Here
Speaker 1: here's what Heinek did, and granted they were down by
Speaker 1: two touchdowns, but he ripped it. And you know, he
Speaker 1: went for those deep shots that that he had a
Speaker 1: chance to take against Caroline, and I think you hit
Speaker 1: it on the head, Claybon. You have to do that
Speaker 1: against Tampa. That is their big weakness right now, and
Speaker 1: they don't have Devin White for this game the Bucks
Speaker 1: because of COVID and and he's one of their best
Speaker 1: defensive players. I know it's not like a pass coverage thing, um,
Speaker 1: but their big weakness I think is gonna come against
Speaker 1: you know, big time passing attacks. So what a perfect matchup.
Speaker 1: You're playing the worst, like literally the worst offense in
Speaker 1: the league according to d v o A. And people say, well,
Speaker 1: that includes doing Haskins stuff. It was actually worse with
Speaker 1: Alex Smith by the numbers, um than at any point
Speaker 1: in the season slightly. Basically there was all the same.
Speaker 1: So it's a defensive team and maybe they can keep
Speaker 1: it close. But man, if I'm a Bucks fan, I
Speaker 1: love this matchup and I love the fact that it
Speaker 1: might be hind Niki er Smith And that's why I'm
Speaker 1: locking up the old Bucks. Okay, wait, this is lockable
Speaker 1: or yeah, I've got a mirror over there's no mirror.
Speaker 1: These two guys on our sky Sports thing what's called
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl Challenge, they both they both picked watching
Speaker 1: then win the game. They both picked him to win,
Speaker 1: which I was not totally crazy. I know you can
Speaker 1: lock that if you want. I mean, I think I
Speaker 1: think Um, two things are gonna happen in this game.
Speaker 1: Logan Thomas is going to do something that becomes like
Speaker 1: one of the biggest players of the entire weekend. I
Speaker 1: think that they have been. Logan Thomas is one of
Speaker 1: the more interesting players around in my book. And I
Speaker 1: think the second thing, and it sticks in my head
Speaker 1: what Chris Weslan said about Chase Young about a month ago,
Speaker 1: calling him, uh, Lawrence Taylor esque, because I think he is,
Speaker 1: and one of my favorite subplots um is him basically
Speaker 1: not doing one of this. I don't want to put
Speaker 1: anything on a bulletin board. No, won't even uses bulletin
Speaker 1: boards at this point anymore. Please, he basically said, I
Speaker 1: want Tom Brady. I'm gonna go after this guy. Tom
Speaker 1: Brady has been an eight teen playoff games and never
Speaker 1: sunk so low as to be in a wild card game. Please,
Speaker 1: Chase Young is going to score a touchdown in this scheme.
Speaker 1: I don't think any of that is gonna be enough,
Speaker 1: because this is one of the worst offenses that have
Speaker 1: been in the playoffs um since we've been doing this podcast.
Speaker 1: But I think this is gonna be close at halftime.
Speaker 1: I really do. I don't think it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: stinker that some are suggesting. I think Chase Young has
Speaker 1: one of the has the traits where like you have
Speaker 1: to keep your eyes on him the whole game, and
Speaker 1: he's gonna just cause disruption, but it won't be enough.
Speaker 1: M What do you think, Patrick Um? I I like
Speaker 1: Chase Young, I like Josh Schlitt. I I do think
Speaker 1: that they provide some sort of issue Tom Brady, excuse me,
Speaker 1: but they're going up against a great offensive line. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Bucks offensive line is awesome. They are Um. There's
Speaker 1: just the circumstance that the offense is gonna put them
Speaker 1: in this game. Him, I don't. I don't think it
Speaker 1: bodes well for the defense in terms of looking at
Speaker 1: the the end, the end result, the box score, at
Speaker 1: the end of the game, it's gonna be like, Wow,
Speaker 1: the the football team defense didn't show up like it
Speaker 1: did all year. Well, they were just putting a horrible situation.
Speaker 1: I feel like from their offense. If you if you're
Speaker 1: a Washington fan, you should look at the history of
Speaker 1: Ron Rivera beating Bruce Arians teams and feel good and
Speaker 1: it it sort of makes sense because if Ron Rivera's
Speaker 1: defense do one thing, well, it's takeaway deep passes, and
Speaker 1: they've done that this year. So the last four weeks
Speaker 1: we've seen Brady and this happened so many times. Have
Speaker 1: multiple guys wide open on a given play like that's
Speaker 1: it's just not like multiple guys deep short wherever he
Speaker 1: wants to throw it, you can. It's not gonna happen
Speaker 1: against Washington. They'll make them earn it a little bit.
Speaker 1: That that's the argument for them. So did they say
Speaker 1: that Alex Smith suffered a setback in week seventeen? Now don't? Okay?
Speaker 1: So why why should I think that he's now not
Speaker 1: gonna play? I just thought he was not healthy. He
Speaker 1: was so he hangs up and ineffective because he's banged
Speaker 1: up in in Heineke in theory, maybe gives him a
Speaker 1: better chance. Would think I'm going I think I'm going
Speaker 1: crazy with everybody like getting behind these backups with no
Speaker 1: experience or like it bona fides like we're now going
Speaker 1: to say that Tyler Heineke is gonna win Aula. No
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm locking up the bucks. No, okay, but
Speaker 1: I'm saying, like the the idea that, oh maybe they
Speaker 1: should play Tyler Heineke because Alex Smith isn't quite right now.
Speaker 1: I think this has been building to something with the
Speaker 1: with Washington and Alex Smith. I would love this is
Speaker 1: more you know, storybook, um driven, But I would love
Speaker 1: to see Alex Smith now in a playoff game. He's
Speaker 1: gonna stay on the field, and I understand where they're
Speaker 1: managing him because one false step with that calf and
Speaker 1: practice and he's done. Um. I think he's playing and
Speaker 1: what he's shown he's never gonna pilot an explosive offense.
Speaker 1: He really never has, even at his peak. Um, but
Speaker 1: what he has been able to do this year is
Speaker 1: surprised you. Every once in a while, you know, they're
Speaker 1: very quiet, and then they put together a couple of
Speaker 1: scoring drives and Liz Mark said, maybe Chase Young does
Speaker 1: something very special to shorten the field. Um or Montez
Speaker 1: like gets his hands up and too exa pass and
Speaker 1: cause the interception, and all of a sudden you're like,
Speaker 1: wait a second, the Bucks are a better team here,
Speaker 1: but it's a seventeen fourteen in the fourth quarter. I
Speaker 1: think that happens, and I picked I'm picking Washington. I'm
Speaker 1: staying with that pick because A, it's fun. There's always one,
Speaker 1: there's always one upset. In wild Card weekend last year,
Speaker 1: it was Minnesota going to the superdomea beating the Saints,
Speaker 1: who on this very show a year ago I said
Speaker 1: was the greatest three seed in NFL history. Apparently not
Speaker 1: at thirteen and three. I think this is the pick. Greg.
Speaker 1: I have no problem with your lock. It's a it's
Speaker 1: a solid lock. You're probably gonna be right. But don't
Speaker 1: be surprised if this is a field goal game. It
Speaker 1: does make me, for whatever reason, more nervous than like,
Speaker 1: let's let's say Bill's cults or whatever. But it felt it.
Speaker 1: I do believe in this box team. Ultimately, I do
Speaker 1: think they're one of the seven teams or so that
Speaker 1: can win the Super Bowl. I I really. I know
Speaker 1: it was against some bad opponents, but they are a
Speaker 1: relatively new team. I think Antonio Brown stepping up in
Speaker 1: the last few weeks um is not to be underestimated.
Speaker 1: They're an offensive point team. I'm all about offenses, and
Speaker 1: to me, their offense can can roll with anyone. Antonio
Speaker 1: Brown feels ready to explode at some point. Mike Evans, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I hope it's just on the field. Mike Evans with
Speaker 1: that knee injury, he's up in the air, and if
Speaker 1: he's out there, who knows if he's going to be
Speaker 1: more decoy than anything else. But Antonio Brown looked like
Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen Antonio Brown in week seventeen, like the
Speaker 1: way he was moving, and he now could feel if
Speaker 1: Evans can't be Evans, you trust Brown and Brady in
Speaker 1: terms of the deep threat that he could bring to them.
Speaker 1: But he was running routes all over the field. That
Speaker 1: was scary to see him look that way. Um, all right,
Speaker 1: good stuff. Before we get to the Sunday slate, Let's
Speaker 1: let's take a this is halftime, let's check in on
Speaker 1: go get my lunch. The regular season? How about that?
Speaker 1: As we back in August, we said, uh, let's keep
Speaker 1: everything to the regular season. Let's not have it drawn out.
Speaker 1: Uh So let's go through this. Uh, Chris Westling, the
Speaker 1: Great Chris Westling right now stands seven and nine. Terry
Speaker 1: McLaurin or DJ Shark will finish top five, and wide
Speaker 1: receiver Fantasy points did not happen. Um, And if you're curious,
Speaker 1: If you're curious, the top five receivers were Davante Adams,
Speaker 1: Tyreek Hill, Stefon Diggs, Calvin Ridley, dk metcalf Okay was
Speaker 1: on the wrong team, McLaren yep and all of us,
Speaker 1: Dan Greg and Mark All took up sandwiches there, uh
Speaker 1: next near. Neither Drew Brees nor Tom Brady finished the
Speaker 1: season as the starter. Dan Greg and Mark all made
Speaker 1: sandwiches there. Drew Brees got injured, but he got back
Speaker 1: and played the final three games the regular season. Tom
Speaker 1: Brady through forty touch forty three years old through forty touchdowns,
Speaker 1: gotta get it up. Josh Allen finishes higher than Cam
Speaker 1: Newton and Tom Brady in the final m v P
Speaker 1: index Bingo. Technically, you know, he did make sure that
Speaker 1: I was gonna have to write that, which I've been
Speaker 1: doing the last years it's been sponsored. I don't think
Speaker 1: we got that sponsorship this year, so I never wrote it.
Speaker 1: But hypothetically, hypothetically he would have been in my top
Speaker 1: five for sure, and so he wins that one. Well,
Speaker 1: this well, we won't. We won't get West on the technicality.
Speaker 1: And guess what good job by West who saw something
Speaker 1: none of us did. Because Dan Greg and Mark All
Speaker 1: took him on that. That just shows you how much
Speaker 1: change with Josh Allen. Well, they're hold on, hold on,
Speaker 1: hold on, hold on. I mean we're also like if
Speaker 1: if you don't take everyone up on every sandwich, you're
Speaker 1: you're like, you know that was more active, Brady would
Speaker 1: be better than all. And if you took that night
Speaker 1: you thought you thought Brady would be better than all.
Speaker 1: And if I wasn't in Gregg's camp of like Josh
Speaker 1: Allen is like, shouldn't even be in north But you
Speaker 1: got to take the L because we went the other way.
Speaker 1: I'll take it, but I don't. There's degrees of L.
Speaker 1: But I was, I was horribly wrong. That's why I
Speaker 1: made I lost sandwiches. I dismissing Josh Allen. There's a
Speaker 1: at a spoil. All right, let's move to Mark Sessler
Speaker 1: also seven and nine right now? Please, what will this be?
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford is not on the lines week one roster?
Speaker 1: What was I think? Oh? When was this done? Like
Speaker 1: I was, I it doesn't matter, It doesn't matter. Dan,
Speaker 1: greg and Westall made sandwiches. Um so no games will
Speaker 1: be canceled, Slash postponed due to COVID and this was.
Speaker 1: This was a touchy one because we were all dealing
Speaker 1: with the throes of a global pandemic. None of us
Speaker 1: felt comfortable with it, so we all just said no
Speaker 1: on general principle, we're out. West did take you up
Speaker 1: on it, so you lost, but just one sandwich. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we didn't want to root for COVID. You put us
Speaker 1: in a bad spot. Well, now that was I remember
Speaker 1: that exact moment, and there was a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: mount pious activity going on, and so it's like when
Speaker 1: you pick guys to get hurt and we're supposed to
Speaker 1: like then it was you. I simply won't be involved
Speaker 1: in a in a wager about COVID. I can't handle that.
Speaker 1: That is a man of ethics, you understand, right. Well,
Speaker 1: the atmosphere at the time there was this line weird
Speaker 1: takesman thing where it's like, if you showed any sort
Speaker 1: of concern about the virus, people will be like, oh,
Speaker 1: you're rooting for the virus, and it's like, oh, God,
Speaker 1: go away, getting a whole al right. Up next, Bill
Speaker 1: Belichick will be asked about interactions with UFOs or life
Speaker 1: beyond Earth. Uh, take the listener behind your thought logic.
Speaker 1: There Mark, Dan Gregg and Westall made sanguages well, well
Speaker 1: that thought was through the Super Bowl. Um, although he
Speaker 1: doesn't that probably is over because he's not doing a
Speaker 1: lot of done with him, he's done with the media. Sure,
Speaker 1: Um well no, I mean, if you if you track
Speaker 1: um actual news about UFOs, there's been a ton of
Speaker 1: activity and rep from reputable news sources saying it's it
Speaker 1: feels like the government is creeping towards trying to tell
Speaker 1: us something they have been for years. And there's been
Speaker 1: a hike and uptick in that over the last three
Speaker 1: or four months. So that's sort of where I was
Speaker 1: coming from. But um, I was, you know, told very sternly,
Speaker 1: and I would have followed this rule not to suggest
Speaker 1: to like Mike gr or someone else that they asked
Speaker 1: the question as a plant and no one on their
Speaker 1: own volition decided to go there. And Belichick, I was
Speaker 1: gonna say, reporters are afraid to ask Bill Belichick of
Speaker 1: cam Newton's starting week seventeen. Like the idea that someone
Speaker 1: would have the nards to do that, I mean, I
Speaker 1: would have respected it, but it never felt it's somehow
Speaker 1: not even the dumbest um wager that I came up
Speaker 1: with now Stafford thing please, well, you've got another one
Speaker 1: coming that you're gonna lose. Three. Daniel Jeremiah becomes an
Speaker 1: NFL general manager prior to Super Bowl fifty five and
Speaker 1: quote largely ghosts the A T N podcast crew. That
Speaker 1: one's still up in the air. But there are seven.
Speaker 1: There are seven, almost the quarter of the league looking
Speaker 1: for gms. But there are no indications that DJ is
Speaker 1: in the mix on that. So that looks like you're
Speaker 1: gonna fall to seven and twelve. I could get the
Speaker 1: ghosting us part of it, right though. All right, well
Speaker 1: you need to hit on both right, right, Well, that
Speaker 1: would be nice. Greg. Eight and eate the Rams and
Speaker 1: Chargers make the play offs? Got you those three missing
Speaker 1: wins in the mix in the Los Angeles every year?
Speaker 1: Uh cost you? They're three sandwiches. Uh. The forty Niners
Speaker 1: don't make the playoffs. You nailed that one, but Mark Mark,
Speaker 1: good for you. You You didn't take them up on it.
Speaker 1: You believed as well that they weren't making the players.
Speaker 1: Dan and West both took took the hook on that one.
Speaker 1: You were very down in the Niners. But you know,
Speaker 1: in retrospect, Greg, the only reason they didn't make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Was all felt like all these the avalanche of injuries
Speaker 1: that happened after your prediction, you were picking for different
Speaker 1: reasons pretty much, although the injuries kind of started even
Speaker 1: by the time I made it, um so that that
Speaker 1: played into it. But you're right, Uh, the injuries pretty
Speaker 1: much did it for me. Otherwise they would have made
Speaker 1: it all right. And this one you got popped on
Speaker 1: Teddy Bridgewater has more yards and challenge just doubling down
Speaker 1: on the Allen eight. Alan, I looked us up, finished
Speaker 1: with forty hundred yards four thousand five Teddy, who was
Speaker 1: not very good this year, three thousand, seven hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty three yards. Yeah, that's not a bad. If you
Speaker 1: had told me Teddy was going to get thirty seven hundred.
Speaker 1: I think he missed the game and a half too.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, I think you have my top, Alan,
Speaker 1: not so much. A Yeah, Teddy wasn't so bad. He
Speaker 1: had fifteen touchdowns. He was about what you would expect
Speaker 1: for for where he's been in his salary. He was
Speaker 1: like Bettler here him reigning this back, moving the goalpost.
Speaker 1: You you were ready, I mean, if you want to.
Speaker 1: He played very well. The first half of the season.
Speaker 1: So if you want to judge us on our salaries,
Speaker 1: I'm doing weight. I'm I'm being far too productive. I
Speaker 1: should be doing you know, much less. All right, here's
Speaker 1: the old juicer right now, ten and seven looking good.
Speaker 1: Gronk plays in three sandwiches there, Levian and this one.
Speaker 1: I might have an issue with that. Yeah, an off
Speaker 1: season one. Yeah, levy on Bell isn't on the Jets.
Speaker 1: In when ended, Levian Bell not on the Jets. How
Speaker 1: come it's in red? According to Go Get My Lunch,
Speaker 1: Nick fourth tier. I think it was a week because
Speaker 1: he was on the Jets. Yeah, it was. At the time,
Speaker 1: it was he was he wasn't ever gonna make it
Speaker 1: to the Jets. Greg and Greg and Mark made sandwiches.
Speaker 1: That one's disputed, but i'll let it go. Jets enter
Speaker 1: week seventeen with a mathematical path to the playoffs. Okay,
Speaker 1: three sangwiches. They're obviously terrible. The Jets are oh and
Speaker 1: thirteen at one point. But I must say I was
Speaker 1: very upfront that I was only picking something I wanted
Speaker 1: to happen. I never believed in my Jets this year,
Speaker 1: but I'll take the loss there Aaron Aaron Rodgers earns
Speaker 1: All Pro honors in Not only is he gonna get
Speaker 1: All Pro honors, Uh, he's gonna get the m v P.
Speaker 1: And I got sandwiches off all you guys nobody. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I probably will never have a better one than that. Uh.
Speaker 1: This one was one of my favorite wagers ever. It
Speaker 1: didn't work out, but almost did. Clay Bonne, it was
Speaker 1: almost set up to work. Kai four Bath hits a
Speaker 1: game winning field goal within the final minute of regulation
Speaker 1: or overtime. He wasn't on a team at a time,
Speaker 1: but I figured he'd get in on a kicker carousel
Speaker 1: on a team, and then I just needed a little luck.
Speaker 1: He ends up signing with the Rams midway through the season,
Speaker 1: doesn't perform too well in the first couple of games,
Speaker 1: and then suffers an injury to I R. So it
Speaker 1: was there, and then it was kind of pulled away
Speaker 1: from me. Yeah. But the thing about picking a kicker
Speaker 1: to have a kick in that circumstances when whenever, like
Speaker 1: they signed somebody off the street, invariably that person will
Speaker 1: always end up in a game winning kick situation always,
Speaker 1: And he just didn't happen with guy. And finally for me,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy is one and done in Dallas. Damn. That
Speaker 1: was tracking pretty the only one that took you up
Speaker 1: on that. Like West and Mark were like, now he's
Speaker 1: probably gonna be what the one and done? Well? I knew, yes,
Speaker 1: I Mark has never been a fan of McCarthy or
Speaker 1: that higher, so that makes sense. West. That surprises me
Speaker 1: a little bit, But that was tracking pretty decent entering December.
Speaker 1: But McCarthy appears to be safe. Okay. Finally, Ricky Hollywood.
Speaker 1: Good for Ricky. The producer historically has been terrible at
Speaker 1: this game, like insanely bad. But Ricky went with Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson have over five hundred rushing yards, Dan, Greg, Mark
Speaker 1: and West All took her up on brang it and
Speaker 1: I believe he had about six hundred. It slowed down
Speaker 1: by the end of the season, but he was not
Speaker 1: not the bell cow guys six o four. He finished
Speaker 1: with a three point yards per tote and sevent t
Speaker 1: d s Uh. You had some injury helped there, DeAndre Swift,
Speaker 1: But credit to you, Ricky, and you know what, it
Speaker 1: wasn't just a shot in the dark because all day
Speaker 1: Purple Jesus always seems to find some type of role
Speaker 1: in any offenses in and you were right to follow
Speaker 1: that path. Thanks. Yeah, I'll take a postmate, skift card
Speaker 1: or whatever you guys want to do your breath. I'm good.
Speaker 1: All right, there you go. And by the way, he
Speaker 1: won m v P. Of course, Adrian Peterson in two
Speaker 1: thousand twelve when he ran for two thousand yards. Is
Speaker 1: Derrick Henry you're gonna get an m v P boom in. No.
Speaker 1: I don't think he won't because of the way this
Speaker 1: whole thing is set up, but he should. I would
Speaker 1: like them to change the voting thing. Ricky also had
Speaker 1: a Julian Edelman will catch eight touchdowns which which did
Speaker 1: not come through for her. How many did he get? No?
Speaker 1: Was that this year? I don't think that was this year? No,
Speaker 1: I one year said that when he tore his a
Speaker 1: c L that he was this that was this year.
Speaker 1: Cam Newton only threw eight touchdowns the whole season, so
Speaker 1: that was not gonna happen for you. Alright, But Ricky,
Speaker 1: you know what it stands. Good job by you. You're hey,
Speaker 1: you Greg the unedited version. I love it all right,
Speaker 1: back to the playoffs. Okay, that was nice. That was nice.
Speaker 1: I gotta get Claybon involved in the same way next year.
Speaker 1: Let's get the next time we do wages we do
Speaker 1: for Super Bowl. Patrick, please join us um and have
Speaker 1: a prop ready to go. I'll have several. All right,
Speaker 1: here we go, Here we go. Moving on Sunday, the
Speaker 1: number five seed. This is it. This is my favorite
Speaker 1: wild card game in year's number five seed Baltimore Ravens
Speaker 1: at the number four seed Tennessee Titans one pm on
Speaker 1: a s ABC slash e ESPN. Who Doggie Patrick, Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson obviously five straight wins. They go from out of
Speaker 1: the playoff picture to the number five seed. Uh. And
Speaker 1: now they get a Titans team that, yes, Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: two thousand yard rusher, Ryan Tannehill forty touchdowns this year,
Speaker 1: Corey Davis uh and A. J. Brown, both of them
Speaker 1: either at or right at one thousand yards receiving an
Speaker 1: awesome offense. Uh. But do you think the defense is
Speaker 1: gonna get enough stops on Lamar Jackson to go to
Speaker 1: the next round? I don't. I mean, I'm obviously a
Speaker 1: Lamar stand and a Ravens fan. At this point. I
Speaker 1: think anybody that that you know it's heard me talk
Speaker 1: about anything and knows that. But going back to the
Speaker 1: game last year, which obviously has no bearing on anything,
Speaker 1: there were two fourth downs where the Titans defense got
Speaker 1: a stop and then followed up by two huge bombs
Speaker 1: from Ryan Tannehill. Um. Just the way that this Titans team,
Speaker 1: in this defense is played down the stretch. Do we
Speaker 1: see them making that type of defensive stand at any point.
Speaker 1: It's tough to It's tough to imagine them doing that.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned Lamar coming back, so you know he
Speaker 1: asked covid he comes back. They scored thirty four, thirty
Speaker 1: eight points. Uh, consecutively. The twenty seven point game was
Speaker 1: against the Giants where they kind of shut it down. Uh,
Speaker 1: could have could have scored more, Uh if they needed to. Um,
Speaker 1: it's they were a great offense last year. They're doing
Speaker 1: it differently this time around. They had to make some adjustments. Uh.
Speaker 1: Not as much straight up power. Uh they're getting They're
Speaker 1: getting Orlando Brown on the move running just QB counters
Speaker 1: and Hollywood. As much as I've been frustrated with Hollywood,
Speaker 1: he started to make some plays as he received that
Speaker 1: now or is he yeah? He Well, there wasn't There
Speaker 1: was a part where like he was Cerritos Brown, but
Speaker 1: he has moved his way, you know, closer to the
Speaker 1: West Side at this point. Now, yeah, he might be
Speaker 1: where I live, and you know, he kind of fits
Speaker 1: down here. But it's, um, there's I don't believe it's
Speaker 1: just blind hope for me. The way I feel about
Speaker 1: this game, I do uh see the Ravens getting some
Speaker 1: stops where it's not just you know, late in the
Speaker 1: game like it was last time or in the overtime
Speaker 1: lost to the Titans, where it's just, um, they go
Speaker 1: man up and Derrick Henry beats you uh, and they
Speaker 1: there's no Roger Staffold and it's you know, as much
Speaker 1: as I love Henry, I I just I don't see
Speaker 1: them running all over this defense. Again, Like I get that,
Speaker 1: and I picked the Ravens to win. This is what
Speaker 1: I call a thread the needle game because they're like
Speaker 1: I think they're three and a half point favorites and
Speaker 1: I have them only winning by two. So it's like
Speaker 1: somewhere in between, Ravens win. But you know, maybe not
Speaker 1: as much as you think. But the worst, the worst
Speaker 1: take I keep seeing all week is like, oh, this
Speaker 1: is a great matchup for the Ravens. It's like, what,
Speaker 1: this is the worst matchup for the Ravens, Like, we
Speaker 1: we have proof that they do not match up well
Speaker 1: with the Titans for very specific reasons that do carry
Speaker 1: over from the last two times they played. Number One,
Speaker 1: Tannehill can handle a Blitz. He threw an interception against
Speaker 1: him last in Week eleven against the Blitz. But man,
Speaker 1: if there's a guy who's not that worried about you
Speaker 1: about to crush him as he goes one on one
Speaker 1: deep down the field against your your great cornerbacks, but
Speaker 1: he's gonna take a shot like that's Ryan Tannehill. Uh.
Speaker 1: Number two, they're the reason they're so bad is because
Speaker 1: they're the worst, one of the worst pass rushes and
Speaker 1: past defenses in the league and the way Lamar is playing.
Speaker 1: I think they can take advantage of that. But the
Speaker 1: Ravens are not a passing team. They're they're thirty second
Speaker 1: in the league and yards because they're a run first team,
Speaker 1: and so do the Do the Ravens take full advantage
Speaker 1: of what should knock the Titans out of the playoffs
Speaker 1: with their passing tam I ultimately think they can and
Speaker 1: they will, but it's not like the Ravens are like
Speaker 1: this past first team. The Titans are literally the only
Speaker 1: team to come back from double digits down against the
Speaker 1: Ravens in the last two years. So in terms of
Speaker 1: like matchups, it gets me a little worried when I
Speaker 1: see the graphic that that that the NFL networks sending
Speaker 1: out and every single person except for Colleen Wolfe is
Speaker 1: picking the Ravens. It's like we've dismissed this Titans team
Speaker 1: quite a bit. They are a top three or four
Speaker 1: often you're one of them. I don't, but it's partly
Speaker 1: because that's what I want to see happen. Much like
Speaker 1: in something close to a coin flip game, I'm taking
Speaker 1: the team I want to see when, and that's the Ravens.
Speaker 1: But this game worries me very much. I think it's
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's gonna be close, and um,
Speaker 1: for me, I would think differently about um Tennessee's ceiling
Speaker 1: in this game if it weren't this version of the
Speaker 1: Ravens and I and I get that, you know, this
Speaker 1: isn't the past first Baltimore team, but um, they remind
Speaker 1: me of like a dude walking down like you know,
Speaker 1: it's some sort of part of town with like a
Speaker 1: sock filled with pennies, just knocking people out left and
Speaker 1: right there tough. I mean, um, this is not the
Speaker 1: same you know. Have you ever dealt that? Have you
Speaker 1: ever dealt with that? Like I had when I was
Speaker 1: in a room where I didn't get pelted with it,
Speaker 1: but there was this rather drunken fellow swinging a sock
Speaker 1: fold with like pennies and dimes, and you don't want
Speaker 1: to be on the other end of that. And the Ravens.
Speaker 1: We No, I was not, thankfully, although I'm sure some
Speaker 1: of that activity like nor it was not a family
Speaker 1: member either, Um, thankfully. But I think they've been destroying
Speaker 1: people in the first half of games week after weeks,
Speaker 1: So yeah, this is not like a team that scared
Speaker 1: you through the air. But you're gonna have to slow
Speaker 1: their run offense, which has been you know, their first
Speaker 1: drive last week they gave the ball to four different guys.
Speaker 1: I mean, there, it's not it's so opposite of Tennessee
Speaker 1: because it's not the one. It's not that it's Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry or or Bust on the ground. It's all these
Speaker 1: different characters and I think that they're just um supermotivated
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson pointed to that Titans game. He's pointed to
Speaker 1: it over and over. I think this matters to him
Speaker 1: about his legacy to win this thing. I think you're
Speaker 1: gonna get a supermotivated Ravens team. I mean to think
Speaker 1: about what would happen if if Jackson played poorly in
Speaker 1: this game. I mean, it would just be three years
Speaker 1: in a row they were one and done, and it
Speaker 1: would just it would be something that he would continue
Speaker 1: to carry. But I also think it's the type of
Speaker 1: thing that just wanting it more isn't probably going to
Speaker 1: make him play well either. It's just it's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: Everything's gonna sync up, and he's gonna have to play
Speaker 1: free and easy like he did down the stretch when
Speaker 1: he just looked excellent, basically looked like the m v
Speaker 1: P of last year. And I love the Titans, I
Speaker 1: mean I love it's that in terms of like where
Speaker 1: we've come with this organization on this podcast, even during
Speaker 1: the Mariota years where they're very difficult to watch the
Speaker 1: acquisition of Ryan Tannehill and the rise of Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: to one of the great running back of his generation.
Speaker 1: Um has made them an exciting watch, but also if
Speaker 1: you watched every game, it's like, how do you trust
Speaker 1: the defense to get you out of the out of
Speaker 1: this game? I just don't. I mean, I don't want
Speaker 1: to be labor the point, but you look at it.
Speaker 1: Half their games this season they gave up thirty points
Speaker 1: half eight out of the sixteen and then he said, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe they're starting to maybe they'll figure it out down
Speaker 1: the stretch. Heading to the playoffs, Week six team their
Speaker 1: last big spotlight game, they lost forty to fourteen in
Speaker 1: Green Bay. Even last week against Houston, which we knew
Speaker 1: was gonna be trouble because Shaun Watson was gonna ball out.
Speaker 1: You knew he would, and he did thirty eight. They
Speaker 1: could not get a stop down the stretch. I just
Speaker 1: see more of the same. And I think it's not
Speaker 1: a game that I would think about locking up because
Speaker 1: it could go either way, and I think it's a
Speaker 1: field goal or a touchdown game. I think this has
Speaker 1: got forty thirty seven overtime classic written all over it,
Speaker 1: and I'm sort of offended that they that that it is.
Speaker 1: It's not in prime time, and I whether that would
Speaker 1: have been replacing Pittsburgh Cleveland. But what Washington UM Tampa Bay.
Speaker 1: This isn't This isn't the matchup that everyone's waited to
Speaker 1: see all year. I don't know what it's doing in
Speaker 1: the in the early morning spot if you listen live
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, you're still getting a couple of coffee
Speaker 1: during there. To do a huge rating, it will be,
Speaker 1: it will be massive. But you're right, one o'clock Eastern
Speaker 1: is pretty early to this. How about that justin Tucker
Speaker 1: versus Gustkowski matchup like that? Honestly, that was I I
Speaker 1: struggled to pick this game. And the Ravens have one
Speaker 1: of the best special teams in the league. I think
Speaker 1: their second or third you know that includes coverage according
Speaker 1: to a football said Titans are and their kicker stinks,
Speaker 1: Like I'm not sure the Ravens defense is good. That's
Speaker 1: sort of the X factor. Like we we think they're
Speaker 1: good because they're wearing the Ravens uniform. But the the
Speaker 1: only like sentient team they've played over the last five
Speaker 1: weeks is the Browns on offense, and who put up
Speaker 1: forty five against them, and they're pretty banged up, Like
Speaker 1: they they're not the same Ravens defense that worries me
Speaker 1: in future rounds, But I think they'll have enough here.
Speaker 1: It's brown tea with ub they can run the ball,
Speaker 1: and Henry obviously they can run the ball. I do
Speaker 1: think if the Ravens are able to successfully kind of
Speaker 1: get that image of you know, Derrick Henry running into
Speaker 1: the end zone by himself and overtime or turning um,
Speaker 1: you know, Earl Thomas around, like if if they can
Speaker 1: get past that, uh and and just kind of move
Speaker 1: away from this Titans team like watch out, um, you
Speaker 1: know Scott's limit. Um. Greg, We didn't touch on it,
Speaker 1: but I feel like it would be a mistake not
Speaker 1: to at least mentioned that both you and I are
Speaker 1: very worried about in terms of special teams, Johnny Hecker
Speaker 1: being a liability in a playoff game, potential ability potentially
Speaker 1: it's I don't like that this is the world we're
Speaker 1: living now, but there's something going out Johnny Hecker up
Speaker 1: there in l A. Well, it's weird. You just he's
Speaker 1: the you know. West West has long said Hecker is
Speaker 1: the greatest punter he's ever seen, maybe the greatest in
Speaker 1: NFL history. Bill Belichick has said the same and he's
Speaker 1: only thirty, but he's not Hecker right now. He's struggling.
Speaker 1: It's very weird because I guess he just sort of
Speaker 1: like got fensive lineman. You like think left tackles don't struggle. Well,
Speaker 1: they're human too, they can struggle, and he is. He
Speaker 1: is slumping hard. Johnny Hecker, I mean, at the pivot
Speaker 1: point of the rams is is their punter they've got,
Speaker 1: They're probably gonna have some issues to begin with. It's weird.
Speaker 1: It's like, what can we have believen if Johnny Hecker
Speaker 1: is not booming? I mean we kind of see it
Speaker 1: like if if you are a finally tuned billion dollar
Speaker 1: air superiority fighter and something's going wrong just a little bit.
Speaker 1: It doesn't take it doesn't take much. Uh didn't take
Speaker 1: much to mess you up, which makes you respect Justin
Speaker 1: Tecker Tucker all the more. He is the exception, just
Speaker 1: a machine, all right, middle game? All right? Well, I
Speaker 1: mean real quick, I got so I got the Ravens
Speaker 1: and a nail biter to anybody got the Titans here.
Speaker 1: I really want to switch my lock to Baltimore. I
Speaker 1: hate that it's it's all on the Ravens because if
Speaker 1: if they lose, I'm not gonna want to watch football
Speaker 1: for the rest of the day. And I didn't realize
Speaker 1: that you were surprises me. Yeah, alright, good, I'm a
Speaker 1: very into that, by the way. So okay, here we
Speaker 1: go middle game and it is could be the clunker,
Speaker 1: but again you never know. Number seven seed Bears go
Speaker 1: to the super Dome and face the number two Seeds
Speaker 1: Saints for for d p M. Eastern CBS also a
Speaker 1: nickelodeon about that. I think Nate Burlson is going to
Speaker 1: be involved with that telecast. Uh. There'll be green slime,
Speaker 1: virtual green slime in the m zone for touchdowns. Okay,
Speaker 1: you gotta get the kids locked in. Um Clay Bent
Speaker 1: will start here the Bears. Nobody given the Bears a
Speaker 1: chance and and that's that's fair because the Bears fattened
Speaker 1: up on some really bad defenses to get back into
Speaker 1: the playoff picture and then went back to sleep when
Speaker 1: they faced the Packers team. Uh in week seventeen, why
Speaker 1: should we think that this is gonna be anything other
Speaker 1: than uh, well, I guess we'll go with the theme
Speaker 1: right that we've done this a few times today on
Speaker 1: the way. Hypothetically, it could go wrong for the tea.
Speaker 1: We think it's gonna win. It's it's kind of like
Speaker 1: like I saw a headline today about uh potential discussion
Speaker 1: in league circles that Deshaun Watson could maybe ask for
Speaker 1: a trade hypothetically. Like so I'm just gonna hedge like
Speaker 1: that because that's you know, that's that's the way things
Speaker 1: are done. Now. Um, we saw how Jalen Hurts beat
Speaker 1: the Saints. Um, maybe we get new Mitchell gets out
Speaker 1: there and runs a little bit and uh put some
Speaker 1: stress on the defense and and um, you know the
Speaker 1: Saints kind of bogged down on offense. I don't necessarily
Speaker 1: think that's gonna happen. Michael Thomas is back with Breeze
Speaker 1: for the first time, which feels like all season where
Speaker 1: it's been Michael Thomas and Brees hopefully Alvin. Uh did
Speaker 1: they play one game together yet? I think mere quarters
Speaker 1: Like it's a week one and then maybe some in December,
Speaker 1: maybe a game, I don't know, Yeah, but it's it's
Speaker 1: been very small and so um, you know, hopefully uh
Speaker 1: Camara was know asymptomatic and comes back healthy. But but
Speaker 1: if not, um, the you know, and the swing passes
Speaker 1: aren't there and new Mitchell has the game of his life. Uh, khalil,
Speaker 1: that causes some problems. Maybe they squeak by with a
Speaker 1: overtime when on a fumble recovery touchdown like that. Other
Speaker 1: than that, this is this is my I'm less concerned
Speaker 1: about the outcome being weird in this one than than
Speaker 1: Washington and Tampa Bay like honestly. Adam Schefter reported today
Speaker 1: that Alcamara is participating in live practices remotely. Uh. This week.
Speaker 1: The source said that Kamara has a live video dacoder
Speaker 1: at his home to watch practice and can hear coach
Speaker 1: Sean Payton, who has a microphone to guide Kamara through plays. Uh.
Speaker 1: This is allowing him to watch the Saints as they
Speaker 1: implement the game plan for Sunday's game against the Bears
Speaker 1: and mentally go through the assignments. Oh my god, so
Speaker 1: their video is encrypted as top secret? How did we
Speaker 1: get here? How do we get home? Go ahead, guys? Alright,
Speaker 1: Saints by forty now that I heard that news. The style,
Speaker 1: the style, the Saint style. The style they play sometimes
Speaker 1: invites close games because they're kind of a slow moving
Speaker 1: offense with not a ton of possessions. You know they
Speaker 1: did go to overtime against the same Bears team um
Speaker 1: in Week eight. I believe a game that the Saints
Speaker 1: were missing most of their receivers. I know of it.
Speaker 1: The one I think reason to be concerned if you
Speaker 1: were Saints and I'm not. This week, I think their
Speaker 1: offensive line will dominate. I think Mitchell Drabinsky has not
Speaker 1: been good. I don't think people are watching these games
Speaker 1: that are saying he's good. He's twenty seven out of
Speaker 1: twenty eight since returning. It's just people are dropping interceptions.
Speaker 1: I swear like people are watching. People are just watching
Speaker 1: him on the red zone and like, yeah, they've been
Speaker 1: scoring touch on and they have called plays well with
Speaker 1: your boy Bill Laser and so that that's great and
Speaker 1: they and they have some good players around him now,
Speaker 1: like Robinson commits playing a little better, Darnell Mooney is
Speaker 1: banged up. The only thing that could ever go wrong,
Speaker 1: I feel like is the Bears play a solid defensive game.
Speaker 1: Breeze throws an early pass that gets picked off and
Speaker 1: he gets a little tight because I'm telling you, Breezes,
Speaker 1: I don't think Breeze is playing that well. I thought
Speaker 1: last week the Panthers had a number of chances and
Speaker 1: it didn't look great. It was against it was some
Speaker 1: with some backup receivers, but I don't know. You know,
Speaker 1: Breeze hasn't played well in the playoffs lately, and they
Speaker 1: know this could be it for this entire run. And
Speaker 1: it's like, what if you get an unlucky break or
Speaker 1: two early and you fall down. How is Drew Brees
Speaker 1: gonna play against like a competent defense? How is he
Speaker 1: going to My one note, my biggest concern for the Saints,
Speaker 1: and it's sort of ethereal, but it agree. I agree
Speaker 1: with you Greg that them coming out and playing tight
Speaker 1: um because they've been really like resilient um coming off
Speaker 1: of terrible playoff losses three years in a row. But
Speaker 1: there's a lot on the there's just a lot happening here.
Speaker 1: With Drew Brees likely in his last year. I'd I'd
Speaker 1: be shocked if became back at this point and you're
Speaker 1: you're heading into cap hell. A lot of their key
Speaker 1: players are becoming free agents. I mean, this team is
Speaker 1: on the cusp of looking very different, and how do
Speaker 1: you deal with that? Mentally? I mean, do they get tight?
Speaker 1: I trust that they trust they'll be fine, because I
Speaker 1: think Sean Payton, he can you know, this is not
Speaker 1: the DNA of that type of a team. That's like
Speaker 1: your disaster scenario. But the Bears thing, look at I
Speaker 1: think they've been a much better overall offense, but you
Speaker 1: look at what happened. They lost to the Lions. They
Speaker 1: beat in the Texans, the Vikings and the Jaguars, I
Speaker 1: mean dead defenses, and they played really well and their
Speaker 1: offensive line has been better. But that's all sandwich between
Speaker 1: two losses to Green Bay where they gave up seventy
Speaker 1: six points. I just I think this is what it is.
Speaker 1: They're an eight and eight team. Credit for them, Credit
Speaker 1: to them for you know, getting through some of their
Speaker 1: own issues to have a much more exciting offense. But
Speaker 1: but Greg, I'm with you that it's not that Mitch
Speaker 1: Drabinsky is suddenly this guy that you think about in
Speaker 1: future terms. They've gotten here, you know, and I give
Speaker 1: them credit, but they are what they are. It would
Speaker 1: be it would be very disappointing for the Saints. That's
Speaker 1: the stumble here. It would be shocking. Oh, it would
Speaker 1: be more disappointed, more than disappointed, be absolutely crushing. And
Speaker 1: they've had their fare of postseason struggles in recent years,
Speaker 1: and a lot of that has been misfortune. That of
Speaker 1: course is the Minneapolis miracle with Stefon Diggs, and then
Speaker 1: everyone knows what happened um with the p I call
Speaker 1: or the non call that got the Rams of the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl against the Patriots. Even last year against the Vikings,
Speaker 1: I believe there was a non call that that had
Speaker 1: New Orleans fans up in arms. So you know, I
Speaker 1: see those as less of collapses and and more just
Speaker 1: like man, they're due for to get on a nice
Speaker 1: run here in the playoffs and have some things to
Speaker 1: go their favor. I can't lock the game up in
Speaker 1: good conscious because the desert has it double digits. But
Speaker 1: I'm not There's no team I'm more confident in than
Speaker 1: the Saints to moving into this round. I I would
Speaker 1: have locked it too, but I knew you guys would
Speaker 1: would push back for for everything I just said about Breeze.
Speaker 1: I do not think that's a factor this week with
Speaker 1: Sean Payton calling plays and our guy Baldi has been
Speaker 1: talking up to Ron Armstead, their left tackle, as the
Speaker 1: best offensive lineman in football right now. And who am
Speaker 1: I to argue with Baldi? So that he's going to
Speaker 1: be shutting down potentially Cleo Mack their best player, or
Speaker 1: Robert Quinn, you know when they flip sides. But Ram
Speaker 1: checks great on the other side. I mean, it's a
Speaker 1: great line, It's a great defensive, light team, the great
Speaker 1: the team is one in the trenches. It's so weird
Speaker 1: to me that Breeze is one of the biggest concerns
Speaker 1: of this team. But not playing the Bears, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a great team, like a full team. They
Speaker 1: should blow him out. Alright. We all have the Saints obviously,
Speaker 1: which takes us to the final game of wild Card Weekend,
Speaker 1: and one Mark Sessler has literally been waiting two decades
Speaker 1: for the Cleveland Browns getting the shot to knock off
Speaker 1: the hated Pittsburgh Steelers. This game will be played in
Speaker 1: Hines Field. These teams just saw each other in Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: but of course, Mark, it was not uh the same
Speaker 1: game because Ben Ralph's Burger and several their key Steelers
Speaker 1: were not playing. The Browns got the w to get
Speaker 1: in just barely. And then of course the developments of
Speaker 1: this week around Cleveland not great. Josh McDaniels um will
Speaker 1: not be on the side excuse me not Josh McDaniels. Um,
Speaker 1: Kevin Stefanski will not be on the sideline COVID. Joel Bottonio,
Speaker 1: the standout guard, he will not be playing covid. UM.
Speaker 1: Mike Preefer pre for the special Teams coach of ill Renown.
Speaker 1: He will be the acting head coach in this game. Mark,
Speaker 1: it's it's us against the world. Feeling for the Browns
Speaker 1: right now, and as a fan because I've seen been
Speaker 1: tracking your Twitter and it seems like you're drawing some
Speaker 1: power from all this doubt around your favorite team. Well,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of the opposite of a week ago
Speaker 1: when I think Cleveland was in a you know, sort
Speaker 1: of a no win situation because if you beat the
Speaker 1: Steelers as you beat the Steelers B team, um, and
Speaker 1: if they lost, it's an utter embarrassing way to to
Speaker 1: finish the year losing to the Jets and Steelers. So
Speaker 1: they had to just take care of business. Um. You
Speaker 1: never would have expected. I mean, I guess this year
Speaker 1: you could expect something like this, but you don't think
Speaker 1: that if you wait eighteen years for the Browns to
Speaker 1: get into the playoffs that one of the reasons they've
Speaker 1: gotten this far. Is Kevin Stefanski that he's going to
Speaker 1: be home and you know by n IF a lot
Speaker 1: of people are asking can he be involved UM during
Speaker 1: the game at all. No, we cannot, Like the minute
Speaker 1: they leave the locker room. You know, he has zero
Speaker 1: ability to interact with the team and NFL given the circumstances.
Speaker 1: I don't know I get that, but but I think
Speaker 1: the NFL has sort of said, UM, flexibility is not
Speaker 1: on those fronts. It's not We're not It's not a
Speaker 1: competitive issue. That why he's not in there. So I
Speaker 1: don't know that is what it is. I think losing
Speaker 1: Batonio UM, especially when you look at Batonio, is importance
Speaker 1: on perimeter runs for that team. UM, that's huge. This
Speaker 1: is an offensive line that's played obviously really really well,
Speaker 1: but not against Pittsburgh and they've been all right, but
Speaker 1: they gave up four sacks the first time, and they
Speaker 1: gave up four sacks last week with Pittsburgh's you know,
Speaker 1: T J. Watton, Cam Heyward not in the game and
Speaker 1: and some of those are on Baker Mayfield. I think
Speaker 1: this game boils down to Baker Mayfield and we've seen
Speaker 1: it UM in the first half against Tennessee. We saw
Speaker 1: it in the first half against Baltimore, playing a perfect
Speaker 1: version of his game. Uh, that's a lot to ask,
Speaker 1: and I think that you know, you guys can win.
Speaker 1: I'm concerned on the flip side that you don't have
Speaker 1: Olivier vernon the Browns just that get to a point
Speaker 1: where if you take away enough, I'm not sure how
Speaker 1: you hang with the team that I think will be
Speaker 1: ultra focused. Um, this Steelers team has been through a lot.
Speaker 1: Their offense looked fine to me last week and Cleveland's
Speaker 1: defense is a mess. Then the awards a big factor
Speaker 1: that that to me would be a killer because I
Speaker 1: think the mismatches in terms of the receivers against Cleveland
Speaker 1: secondary's pretty significant. I mean I watched that game and
Speaker 1: I was kind of surprised. No one, no one was,
Speaker 1: you know, told me like, hey, Mason Rudolph kind of
Speaker 1: balled out. Like Mason Rudolph looked pretty good. Like Robert
Speaker 1: Jackson did not ball out. Know, Like, we never want
Speaker 1: to admit when bad players have good games, but it
Speaker 1: happens like their professionals. Maybe he got better, I don't know.
Speaker 1: He he made a number of throws where I was like,
Speaker 1: would better made that throw? I don't. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't think so as much hot as much as
Speaker 1: going against Cleveland. You know, ultimately it's Batonio and Vernon.
Speaker 1: That's like those are big losses, but you're still kind
Speaker 1: of best on best here. The Browns have four of
Speaker 1: their offensive linemen that have been awesome, Like when they
Speaker 1: run behind Conklin and Teller, they dominate. Those guys are there,
Speaker 1: you know, it's against this Steelers defense. As as the
Speaker 1: week has gone on, I've kind of come around to
Speaker 1: like thinking that the Browns will keep this game close,
Speaker 1: versus like that it's such a big deal that that
Speaker 1: Steelers rested four guys last week. The Steelers haven't shown
Speaker 1: enough to believe that they're gonna run away and hide
Speaker 1: against um a good offense, and that's what the Browns are. Like,
Speaker 1: I totally expect this to come come down to the end.
Speaker 1: I just want to see, you know, Austin Hooper make
Speaker 1: a play. Austin Hooper, make a play David, and like,
Speaker 1: let's get these tight ends against these Steelers linebackers and
Speaker 1: make up play Austin Hooper. I'm sick of it, and
Speaker 1: I think any anything that we're concerned about going on
Speaker 1: Baker's shoulders is really just gonna end up being put
Speaker 1: on chub shoulders. Uh. He gets he gets another look
Speaker 1: at the same front that really hasn't been the same
Speaker 1: since Bud Dupree has has been out. And so they
Speaker 1: can I think they can shorten this game. Not not
Speaker 1: that we are super concerned with been and the Steelers
Speaker 1: running off and scoring thirty uh, the way that they've
Speaker 1: looked down the stretch, but I think there's a realistic
Speaker 1: hope that the Browns could feel a competent offense even
Speaker 1: without Patonio and with Kevin Stefanski stuck like all of
Speaker 1: us kind of helplessly watching every game. They really do
Speaker 1: and it helps out their defense. They are the team
Speaker 1: that shortened games more more than anyone with these long dives.
Speaker 1: And when with you that the the Chub is the
Speaker 1: heart of this the engine of that offense. But there's
Speaker 1: a game script concerned that if the defense of Cleveland
Speaker 1: struggles are leon Pittsburgh gets out to a quick lead,
Speaker 1: that you can start to mess with that, and then
Speaker 1: you do put it on Baker and it becomes a
Speaker 1: big test for Baker Mayfield. I think that's one of
Speaker 1: the things as a fan, Um, that I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to see Baker in a big spot, especially if things
Speaker 1: go sideways. The last time that was the case, it
Speaker 1: was a great Baker performance. And Monday night when they
Speaker 1: nearly beat Baltimore and they fell behind multiple scores and
Speaker 1: you could have just ground it out with Nick Chobb
Speaker 1: and you needed Baker to make a bunch of big throws.
Speaker 1: He did, so that there's a lot of hope there
Speaker 1: for me. Um. I I like the Steelers here. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna lock them up. Mark. It has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with our relationship. In fact, if I lose the lock,
Speaker 1: I win because Mark's happy. Um. But I just what
Speaker 1: I saw from the Steelers the last two weeks, not
Speaker 1: just uh the Mason Rudolph game, but the Week sixteen
Speaker 1: game in the second half was them finally say all right,
Speaker 1: we need to open this offense up. The deep throws
Speaker 1: both by Ben against the Titans and then throughout the
Speaker 1: game UH against the the Browns in Week seventeen tells
Speaker 1: me that they now understand that they have to spread
Speaker 1: this out. And if they could do that, then the
Speaker 1: big bread, big Ben bread and butter underneath throws will
Speaker 1: work as well. And I just don't trust the Cleveland
Speaker 1: defense with No Vernon and Myles Garrett being up and
Speaker 1: down in the second half of the season, and the
Speaker 1: secondary the way that it is, I just feel like
Speaker 1: they're going to move the ball through the air on
Speaker 1: the Browns and put up points. Uh So, I think
Speaker 1: this is a you know, thirty to thirty four type
Speaker 1: stealers win. Whenever they've beaten Big Ben and the Steelers,
Speaker 1: and it's it's happened UM very few times. When I
Speaker 1: look back at those games. There's been a couple of them,
Speaker 1: and it's not this year's team, but they have made
Speaker 1: life very difficult on Big Ben and it's usually come
Speaker 1: with one or two plays where a not great Browns
Speaker 1: defense UM generated points. And there have been a couple
Speaker 1: of games this year where a not great Browns defense
Speaker 1: had to generate points UM to win. And so they
Speaker 1: have that in their DNA to some degree. But I'm
Speaker 1: with you, UM, if Denzel Award was unable to be
Speaker 1: in this in this performance, UM, I put Cleveland's win
Speaker 1: percentage down in the twenties. I really would, because part
Speaker 1: of what happened last week was Robert Jackson, who's never
Speaker 1: played in an NFL game, is getting torched by Chase
Speaker 1: Claypool and he's gonna be back in there again. And
Speaker 1: what will change over six days? The Stefanski thing, we
Speaker 1: have no idea how big a deal it is because
Speaker 1: this is kind of like unprecedented territory. But I mean,
Speaker 1: he is the head coach of the football team, and
Speaker 1: it's a special teams coach that is gonna be on
Speaker 1: the sideline as the leader of the men, and it's
Speaker 1: just like, oh man, what does that mean. I I
Speaker 1: really do feel for you market all, honestly, like, this
Speaker 1: is not how you want to go into your first
Speaker 1: playoff game. It just feels like the deck is stacked
Speaker 1: against them. I do say, and you're you did a
Speaker 1: great work mark on the Power Ranking Show this week.
Speaker 1: Thank you for coming up. Great work. But no, but
Speaker 1: you were great. We talked about this. The one thing
Speaker 1: I'll say, and this is why the lock you know,
Speaker 1: doesn't sit too well with me. In terms of confidences.
Speaker 1: I could see Baker feeding off all this and getting
Speaker 1: hot and confident and getting that swagger going. That's how
Speaker 1: the Browns win. I think the whole team, the whole
Speaker 1: team and I think, like Alex Van Pelt calling plays, um,
Speaker 1: he's worked with Stefanski in games all year long to
Speaker 1: decide how drives and stuff would go. I think Stefanski
Speaker 1: is a really good play caller, So I don't I
Speaker 1: think there's a drop off there. But that factor concerns
Speaker 1: me a little bit less than the player is not available. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would agree, especially because Stefanski is coaching the team remotely.
Speaker 1: They said, he's basically you know, everything's remote anyways this
Speaker 1: week for them, the fact they haven't practiced, like that's
Speaker 1: an next factor. But but we know, yeah, we know,
Speaker 1: like coaches always say, play calling is a little overrated.
Speaker 1: We know that his first twenty players are going to
Speaker 1: be the Stefanski plays. After that, it's on Van Pelt
Speaker 1: to adjust that. That is the great unknown. But like
Speaker 1: they need, they need Garrett like and you know, it
Speaker 1: did worry me last week that you know, he was
Speaker 1: really not looking himself. He did have a pretty good
Speaker 1: Week sixteen game, but that those his matchups on the
Speaker 1: defensive line are basically the same this week as they
Speaker 1: were a week ago, except you're without Vernon and the
Speaker 1: only pressure they got was really from Sheldon Richardson against
Speaker 1: the Steelers backup center. For the most part, the Steelers
Speaker 1: quietly have a rookie right tackle I think Dots and, uh,
Speaker 1: who's been awesome, Like that's why the Steelers are the Steelers. Man,
Speaker 1: they draft Chase Claypool and some rookie right tackle you
Speaker 1: never heard of that's been awesome all year Dots and
Speaker 1: and Alex Highsmith, who got a sack on Baker. I
Speaker 1: think those sacks were more on Baker last week, Like
Speaker 1: who's playing Well, it's like they just a year after
Speaker 1: year they they Kevin Colbert gets it done and and
Speaker 1: I don't know, they're a little deeper. I hope not.
Speaker 1: I hope this is wrong. We need to get the
Speaker 1: Browns over the hump because if they don't win, it
Speaker 1: kind of won't feel like they got totally over the
Speaker 1: hump unfortunately. Yeah, and you mentioned Myles Garrett and which
Speaker 1: is just the really unfortunate kind of pandemic part that
Speaker 1: brings it all in, right, is just the variance of
Speaker 1: the ways that people react to the virus. And Miles
Speaker 1: has you know, been honest like this, he's struggling with
Speaker 1: this and so if he can, uh, maybe he turns
Speaker 1: a corner. Uh, and he can make some plays. Uh.
Speaker 1: As you know, Dan mentioned that that's the secondary. Um.
Speaker 1: Granted it was Mason Rudolph and so some of those
Speaker 1: were like lollipop balls, but like they were in position
Speaker 1: to make a play. You just get most and so
Speaker 1: like you turn that around. Uh, you know, the stranger
Speaker 1: things have happened. This feels like a big Chase Claypool
Speaker 1: game too. I could picture Chris Collins where it's singing
Speaker 1: Osanna's about Chase Claypool after another, you know, volume down.
Speaker 1: This is the game the public is on. You know,
Speaker 1: I attracked these things, and this is the game the
Speaker 1: public is on most unanimously all for the Steelers. Everyone
Speaker 1: going to all Steelers, wait more than the Saints over
Speaker 1: the Bears. Well in terms of like you know, the
Speaker 1: thing that Trent these things, in terms of things moving
Speaker 1: where it's just like everyone thinks the Bears the Steelers
Speaker 1: are gonna romp. So to me, that's a good full musburger.
Speaker 1: It's a good sign for the Browns. I feel like
Speaker 1: that's a good sign alright, like think, please there you go.
Speaker 1: How about that the Browns in the playoffs. We're gonna
Speaker 1: watch that. No bummer. It's on Sunday night. It's in
Speaker 1: the middle of our podcast. We're gonna work it out.
Speaker 1: We're gonna make it work. Mark, Well, it's not the
Speaker 1: middle of our podcast. We're gonna do it after What
Speaker 1: do you mean it's the middle of our podcast. We're
Speaker 1: gonna start at eight. You got, and we're gonna do
Speaker 1: I mean, you know it. You're gonna get my my
Speaker 1: true emotional response to the game, like minutes after it ends.
Speaker 1: That's can you give the people what they want? Cause
Speaker 1: I know the way it is because it happens with
Speaker 1: the Jets too, But people are gonna want your reaction
Speaker 1: throughout the game. Can you just give the people the cam?
Speaker 1: The webcam just four hours that a webcaming. People love you, Mark,
Speaker 1: they want they want to live, they want to live
Speaker 1: vicariously through you on Sunday Night. Give the people what
Speaker 1: they want. I get tweets like when they're losing, Like
Speaker 1: I'm really sorry they're losing, but I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see how you feel about this on the show. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: we're not um, that's not helping our somebody to check
Speaker 1: on ader Mark Sessler, all right, Patrick, thank you said
Speaker 1: it all you did it again. Thank you guys, thrilling.
Speaker 1: Clayburn has been incredible all season, helping to fill in
Speaker 1: on the West chair, and we thank Patrick for that.
Speaker 1: Thank all of you listeners for following us all season long.
Speaker 1: As we now dive into the postseason, we'll be back
Speaker 1: Sunday night recapping all six of these games and of
Speaker 1: course any other developments in the NFL um as we
Speaker 1: get further away from New Horizons Monday. Oh yes, it
Speaker 1: never stops. Mark, here we go. Dan Answ signing off
Speaker 1: for Patrick Claybourne, the old Boss with Quiet Storm and
Speaker 1: Ricky Hollywood behind the glass virtually until Sunday Night. SA