Speaker 1: Welcome in What Draven nick Wright Episode four oh nine,
Speaker 1: our final episode of twenty twenty five. Twenty twenty five
Speaker 1: has been an unbelievable year for the podcast. We partnered
Speaker 1: with the volume Demons became a father, we added all
Speaker 1: these great new sponsors, and we really hope twenty twenty
Speaker 1: six is even better. It is also our second to
Speaker 1: last show of the year. Did I say it was
Speaker 1: our last? It's our second last. We have the gambling
Speaker 1: show coming to you tomorrow. Last week we saw the
Speaker 1: real perils of doing an NFL gambling show on Tuesday
Speaker 1: Wednesday heading into the weekend. But despite the results, I
Speaker 1: don't mind the process. This week we are tweaking it
Speaker 1: a bit as Week eighteen as always tricky, but that
Speaker 1: is coming your way tomorrow. We hope everyone had a
Speaker 1: wonderful Crew Smith's wonderful holiday season as we get ready
Speaker 1: for New Year's to Monse. I was telling you before,
Speaker 1: I keep having dreams about your daughter. She's about to
Speaker 1: turn two months old. She'll turn no, two months, she's about.
Speaker 2: Two months, like almost a week exactly, in.
Speaker 1: Just over a week, and my subconscious must think that
Speaker 1: she's way ahead of the developmental curve. Because with them,
Speaker 1: my dreams involved her walking around and talking to me.
Speaker 1: So I I mean, well, I assume Listen, I'm sure
Speaker 1: she's going to be smart, and I'm sure she's gonna
Speaker 1: be athletic since you and her mom were both college athletes.
Speaker 1: But I just what, what I am really trying to
Speaker 1: get to evidently is her turning into a full blown
Speaker 1: person with a personality, and that's going to take a
Speaker 1: few months my subconscious to accelerate that process. But we
Speaker 1: have a ton to do today. We have a loaded
Speaker 1: show after an insane week seventeen, and this morning one
Speaker 1: of my favorite things, the NFL Hall of Fame finalists
Speaker 1: came out, So we will get to all of that,
Speaker 1: and there's always This show is brought to you by
Speaker 1: our friends at boost Mobile, and we bring you straight
Speaker 1: to Voicemail presented by boost Mobile. Yokic left last night
Speaker 1: with what looked like a scary knee injury. Now I
Speaker 1: don't want, as they say in the Poker world, ride
Speaker 1: the broom on this, but it looks like the preliminary
Speaker 1: reporting is he avoided disaster that they think it might
Speaker 1: just be a hyper extension with no real damage. That
Speaker 1: obviously is season changing and more than season changing. When
Speaker 1: you're talking about the best player in the league who
Speaker 1: is just days off of a fifty six fifteen and
Speaker 1: fifteen so and a guy who's never been hurt, a
Speaker 1: guy who's been incredibly durable. It was shocking to see
Speaker 1: him go down and it made me think, like, have
Speaker 1: I ever really seen this guy in pain? And I
Speaker 1: like where he really looks like something something got hurt
Speaker 1: and I couldn't remember it. So ob Be our great producer,
Speaker 1: Daniel is a diehard Nuggets fan. Uh, he's holding his breath,
Speaker 1: but it seems like dating everything's gonna be okay. Uh.
Speaker 1: Luca leads NBA All Star fan voting and Bron turns
Speaker 1: forty one today, which means the numbers are in in
Speaker 1: his age forty year of basketball and he was twenty five,
Speaker 1: seven and seven from his fortieth birthday until today. Pretty solid.
Speaker 1: I understand that some folks would like to make the
Speaker 1: story of the Lakers, you know, swoon over the last
Speaker 1: few weeks that they have a Lebron problem. I would argue,
Speaker 1: if the plan was ever have the guy with seventy
Speaker 1: thousand minutes in year twenty three who just turned forty
Speaker 1: one be our primary lockdown defender. That's probably a roster
Speaker 1: build problem. Speaking of roster build and like rate, subscribe
Speaker 1: review to our channel would be a wonderful New Year's.
Speaker 2: Gift for us.
Speaker 1: Did I I didn't even tell you, guys, I do
Speaker 1: this very quickly before I get to the football that
Speaker 1: I didn't even tell you when I was out there,
Speaker 1: that I talked to Polinka.
Speaker 2: No, when I was in a game.
Speaker 1: When I was in the game, that's INSI when we
Speaker 1: were at the game the day after because I have
Speaker 1: been very critical of Rob Bolinka, some would say mean,
Speaker 1: and when we were at the game the day after Thanksgiving,
Speaker 1: he walked right in front of me and didn't like
Speaker 1: was looking the other way, and I was just like, ah,
Speaker 1: I was like Rob, and he turned around and saw
Speaker 1: me and was clearly just my read on it a
Speaker 1: little taken aback, and I did what I always do,
Speaker 1: which is made things awkward because I don't want people
Speaker 1: to ever say that guy's a coward. So he came
Speaker 1: over and I was like, hey, man, nice to finally
Speaker 1: meet you. Congratulations and he said, oh, thank you. And
Speaker 1: I could have left it at that, but I, yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: but so I could have just left the congratulations, but
Speaker 1: I didn't, and I was like, listen, maybe you know,
Speaker 1: maybe you don't. I've been very critical, but congrats. I
Speaker 1: was like, I was like, but congrats. You know, I
Speaker 1: don't think I said you got Luca, but I just
Speaker 1: kind of motioned over to the team, which at the
Speaker 1: time was rolling and I still think, you know, he
Speaker 1: is in a really good position. And he was like, oh,
Speaker 1: thank you for that, and I was like yeah, and
Speaker 1: I was And that was that. But that was my
Speaker 1: Rob Polinka interaction. Now there is this small chance that
Speaker 1: he had no idea who I was, or that he
Speaker 1: had no idea I'd been very family talking about right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that would have been super funny if he really had
Speaker 1: no clue who I was, just that I was just
Speaker 1: a fan where critical but uh but yeah. So uh
Speaker 1: there's our NBA talk for today as this will be
Speaker 1: an NFL heavy show, and again, please if you could
Speaker 1: subscribe on YouTube it really helps us, and definitely on
Speaker 1: iTunes and or Spotify. Don't need to do both. Also
Speaker 1: demand say do you oh no, that's just a light.
Speaker 2: I thought you had something in your thought like a
Speaker 2: little here.
Speaker 1: No, okay, no, okay, there you go you were, I
Speaker 1: talked about your daughter walking and talking and made me try.
Speaker 2: It's unbelievable.
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about last night's football game.
Speaker 2: All right. So Bijon rolled through the rams last night.
Speaker 2: In the upset, Stafford messed himself up a little bit,
Speaker 2: dropped to number two in MVP. He's at plus three hundred.
Speaker 2: Drake May's now at minus four point fifty after his
Speaker 2: three interceptions. How do you think last night impacts the
Speaker 2: MVP race?
Speaker 1: So I think last night Drake May won the MVP
Speaker 1: and I do not like that at all. And it
Speaker 1: is not because I don't like Drake May. I said
Speaker 1: on this show and on the TV show two months
Speaker 1: ago that there aren't five guys in the league. I'd
Speaker 1: rather have it quarterback than Drake May. And that's not
Speaker 1: just moving forward. That is right now this moment, I
Speaker 1: think he is. I been telling Wilds all year, how legit,
Speaker 1: how much I do believe in Drake May, and he
Speaker 1: is having an unbelievable season. And it is not as
Speaker 1: if him winning MVP I would find it to be
Speaker 1: a travesty or an outrage. That's not my issue at all.
Speaker 1: My issue is MVP has slowly started to turn into
Speaker 1: December Player of the Month amongst the MVP candidates. And
Speaker 1: I don't like that we saw this there have been listen.
Speaker 1: Twenty eighteen, MVP Mahomes was a no brainer. He ran
Speaker 1: away with it. Twenty nineteen, MVP Lamar was a no brainer.
Speaker 1: He ran away with it. Twenty twenty it was a
Speaker 1: two man race, Rogers and Mahomes. I thought it should
Speaker 1: have been Mahomes Rogers. There was no issue with that.
Speaker 1: That was a two great candidates. You know, Mahomes rested
Speaker 1: at the end of the year. Rogers won it fine.
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty one, Rogers and Brady. It was a legitimate argument.
Speaker 1: Rogers won, and twenty twenty two, Mahomes ran away with it.
Speaker 1: There was no question those MVPs were relatively easy. Twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three was the first year I saw this phenomenon happen,
Speaker 1: which was there wasn't a clear cut favorite throughout the year,
Speaker 1: and then in December two MVP there were games amongst
Speaker 1: the MVP candidates, Dak Purty and Lamar. And if I
Speaker 1: have it correct, and I'm gonna double check to make
Speaker 1: sure Dak Law, I thought, Dak you know, as far
Speaker 1: I thought Christian McCaffrey had the best argument for MVP
Speaker 1: that year, but it doesn't really matter, Like, that's not
Speaker 1: the point. Dak played poorly in a December game to Buffalo,
Speaker 1: and people were like, well, he's out. Now it's between
Speaker 1: Lamar and Brock Party, and then Lamar and the Ravens
Speaker 1: annihilated the Niners in Party and it was just like, Okay,
Speaker 1: Party's out, now it's Lamar's MVP. That's that. And we
Speaker 1: ended up that year giving MVP to a guy. And
Speaker 1: again this is not anti Lamar, I promise because if
Speaker 1: we didn't get Lamar had a better case last year
Speaker 1: than he did the year before. But Lamar in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty three was fifteenth in the NFL in passing yards
Speaker 1: and eleventh in the NFL in passing touchdowns, and while
Speaker 1: he had an awesome passer rating, it was fourth in
Speaker 1: the league. He did not have MVP numbers, but he
Speaker 1: had the MVP December and so he won it. And
Speaker 1: then last year, Lamar had been the MVP really all
Speaker 1: year long, but Josh Allen had the moment against the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: the sixth touchdown game and a loss to the Rams.
Speaker 3: And.
Speaker 1: He had the finishing surge and because of that he
Speaker 1: was the MVP. And this year, from start to finish,
Speaker 1: Matt Stafford's been the MVP of the league. If we
Speaker 1: look at if you take this season, demonte and put
Speaker 1: the sixteen games each guy is played, and you reorder
Speaker 1: them randomly, and you do that one hundred different times
Speaker 1: with one hundred different orders as far as the order
Speaker 1: of the games, and then stack up the MVP seasons.
Speaker 1: I think Stafford wins MVP eighty five out of one
Speaker 1: hundred of those reordered seasons. But because Week seventeen Drake
Speaker 1: May he throws five touchdowns and Week seventeen Stafford has
Speaker 1: one of his two bad games that he's had all year,
Speaker 1: it's now going to be betting wise, it's over and
Speaker 1: conventional wisdom wise, Drake May won the award even though
Speaker 1: Stafford has thrown for more yards, has thrown for twelve
Speaker 1: more touchdowns, has taken twenty five fewer sacks. They have
Speaker 1: the same number of interceptions. Now Drake Man's a slightly
Speaker 1: higher passer rating.
Speaker 2: One more game too.
Speaker 1: No, they played the same number of games.
Speaker 2: No, And I'm saying, okay, yeah, fair enough. What do
Speaker 2: you mean? I guess they've they've both played their Week
Speaker 2: seventeen game. I was gonna say they've got one more game.
Speaker 2: It's not locked up, But going into the tea yesterday
Speaker 2: I would have easily given it to Stafford the Pigs.
Speaker 1: No, I mean they both have a they both they
Speaker 1: both have a Week eighteen game. By the way, do
Speaker 1: my lights just get really weird? Uh? Okay, can I
Speaker 1: fix that? I don't know how the hell that happened.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep talking to you guys. Oh, now it's better.
Speaker 1: I don't even know what. I didn't even touch anything.
Speaker 1: I don't know what just happened. That was really weird.
Speaker 1: I looked like I was glowing for a moment. The
Speaker 1: bright lights is not a good look for me. I
Speaker 1: need very just regular warm lighting. No, I I just don't.
Speaker 1: It feels to me like MVP is slowly moving towards
Speaker 1: who's hottest at the end of the year, and I
Speaker 1: don't love that. And I just think Stafford And this
Speaker 1: is where I do think when it comes to league MVP,
Speaker 1: it's totally fair to pick nints. I think the fact
Speaker 1: that Stafford has done it in the league's toughest division
Speaker 1: against a brutal schedule where they have played Houston, phil
Speaker 1: the Niners, Jacksonville, the Niners, Seattle, Seattle again those seven teams,
Speaker 1: and I'm that's just me listing the teams they have
Speaker 1: played that have locked into the playoffs, not including games
Speaker 1: at the time that we thought were big like Indie Baltimore,
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay Carolina where he didn't play well Detroit.
Speaker 2: And Drake Mayor just had his five touchdown game against
Speaker 2: the Jets.
Speaker 1: And again he's still he was. I'm not gonna neck
Speaker 1: that game. He was perfect in it, and I think
Speaker 1: he's an awesome player, but I just don't love that.
Speaker 1: It feels to me this is I guess my general take.
Speaker 1: It feels the last three years. This is the way
Speaker 1: the MVP has been done. The first three months of
Speaker 1: the year are to determine who the actual candidates are
Speaker 1: and then the award is given based off who has
Speaker 1: the best December. And I don't love that, and it
Speaker 1: feels like we are And by the way, Stafford Thursday
Speaker 1: night against Seattle, Stafford was unbelievable. That was his second
Speaker 1: most recent game. They scored thirty seven points, He threw
Speaker 1: for four hundred and fifty seven yards. He had three
Speaker 1: touchdowns against that defense and now the team blew it
Speaker 1: at the end. My lights just did that thing again.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's going on. We're just gonna the
Speaker 1: take it to camera now.
Speaker 2: Dropped two in a row, yes.
Speaker 1: But uh, I know they dropped two in a row,
Speaker 1: but one of them was one of them was a
Speaker 1: thirty eight to thirty seven win, all right, thirty eight
Speaker 1: thirty seven loss. And so I just it is very
Speaker 1: diff difficult for and I know Drake Man the great
Speaker 1: comeback against Baltimore, I just don't it doesn't sit right
Speaker 1: with me that it feels like it's becoming a glorified
Speaker 1: December Player of the Month. So that's where So right now,
Speaker 1: my vote would be for Matt Stafford. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's gonna win it. And I also think we've talked
Speaker 1: about this all year that man, it is crazy how
Speaker 1: thin these margins are in sports. But is there an
Speaker 1: argument that not tackling Rashid Shahied on the punt return
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter last Thursday night is going to
Speaker 1: cost Matt Stafford a spot in the Hall of Fame?
Speaker 1: Maybe because if they win that game and they are
Speaker 1: sailing to the one seed, I happen to believe if
Speaker 1: they win that game, they'd come out more ready to
Speaker 1: play last night because they know we control our destiny
Speaker 1: for the one seed rather than being locked out of it,
Speaker 1: as they knew going into last night that they were
Speaker 1: locked out of the one seed. And I think you
Speaker 1: saw that lack of attention to detail early. If they're
Speaker 1: the one seed and Stafford has the exact same numbers,
Speaker 1: but in a win, he is going to win MVP
Speaker 1: and maybe and they are the huge favorite to that
Speaker 1: moment to win the Super Bowl, and this now impacts
Speaker 1: the Rams are now demands in a very interesting spot
Speaker 1: in this regard, and this impacts whether or not we
Speaker 1: want to bet them this weekend. Here is the situation
Speaker 1: for the Rams. If the Niners beat Seattle on Saturday night,
Speaker 1: the Rams are the sixth seed, locked into the sixth seed,
Speaker 1: no matter what they do against Arizona. The sixth seed
Speaker 1: means you're either going to Chicago or to Philadelphia cold
Speaker 1: weather January road playoff games. That is, if the Niners
Speaker 1: beat Seattle, the Rams are locked into the six If
Speaker 1: Seattle beats the Niners, then the Rams can be the
Speaker 1: five seed if they beat Arizona, and so whether or
Speaker 1: not they have anything to play for will be will
Speaker 1: depend on what happens Saturday night. I still think on
Speaker 1: a neutral site, I like the Rams better than any
Speaker 1: team in the league. But McVeigh has not and his
Speaker 1: Rams teams have not been great in cold weather against
Speaker 1: good teams, and their road just got so much harder
Speaker 1: over the last couple weeks. Today's show is brought to
Speaker 1: you by representing sponsor hard Rock Bet, Florida Sportsbook, and
Speaker 1: the official sportsbook partner of your favorite Florida teams like
Speaker 1: the Jags, the Jags, Bucks, Heat, Magic, and Panthers. Week
Speaker 1: eighteen playoff spots are on the line. Think you know
Speaker 1: how it's gonna play out, Build a same game, parlay
Speaker 1: on hard Rock Bet and turn game day into payday.
Speaker 1: Or if you're more into hardwood than gridiron, you can
Speaker 1: put up shots on the NBA in college every night
Speaker 1: on hard Rock be your home for hoops action all
Speaker 1: season long. You can even combine your football and basketball bets.
Speaker 1: You've got a week. If you've got a Week eighteen,
Speaker 1: parlay at an NBA bet or player prop to turn
Speaker 1: up the payout. And if you missed the start of
Speaker 1: the game. Don't worry. Hard Rock Bet has live in
Speaker 1: game betting, so you're never too late to bet any
Speaker 1: football or hoops game all season. Find a winner or
Speaker 1: grab that player prop you had circled. Bet live in
Speaker 1: just a few easy taps. If you haven't tried your
Speaker 1: first bet on, hard Rock Bet just plays a five
Speaker 1: dollars bet and if it hits, you get not only
Speaker 1: your winnings, but also an extra one hundred fifty dollars
Speaker 1: in bonus bets. Hard Rock Bets Sportsbook Gap is the
Speaker 1: only legal sportsbook for whenever you're in Florida, and it's
Speaker 1: also live in Arizona, Ohio, New Jersey, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Illinois, Colorado,
Speaker 1: and Michigan. Coming soon to more states too. Plus, hard
Speaker 1: Rock Bet offers new promos every single day, so whenever
Speaker 1: you're listening, just open the app and check out what
Speaker 1: you've got. Any day of the week, down the hard
Speaker 1: Rock Bet app and make your first deposit payable and
Speaker 1: bonus bets not a cash offer offered by the Seminole
Speaker 1: Tribe of Florida. In Florida offered by Seminal hard Rock Digital, LLC,
Speaker 1: and all other states must be twenty one plus and
Speaker 1: physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee,
Speaker 1: or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concerned about
Speaker 1: gambling in Florida, call one eight three three play wise.
Speaker 1: In Indiana. If you or someone you know is a
Speaker 1: gambling problem wants help, call one eight hundred and nine
Speaker 1: with it. Gambling problem, Call one eight hundred gambler Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan,
Speaker 1: New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. All right, deman' say I
Speaker 1: gotta get on a soapbox here for a minute, So
Speaker 1: go ahead.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, we now have a half day decade sample
Speaker 2: of the seventeen game season fourteen game playoff. You said
Speaker 2: you wanted to talk about this. Do you have some
Speaker 2: gripes yet?
Speaker 1: Well, so they expanded the season shortly after COVID. They
Speaker 1: expanded the playoffs during COVID, and it stuck with it.
Speaker 1: I don't love this. I think sixteen game season was better,
Speaker 1: but I understand everything's always expanded like that is a
Speaker 1: that is a fight that's not going to be won,
Speaker 1: and this other one probably isn't either, but I want
Speaker 1: to get on the record on it, and I've advocated
Speaker 1: in the past for the seventeen game season via the
Speaker 1: international week, so I don't have a huge problem with it. Now, though,
Speaker 1: that we have a half decade of the expanded playoffs
Speaker 1: from six teams a conference to seven teams a conference,
Speaker 1: I think the jury should be in that it was
Speaker 1: better at six teams of conference. Because anything in life,
Speaker 1: not any that's too That's what we're stating. Most things
Speaker 1: in life are improved by a little exclusivity, by a
Speaker 1: little bit of man. You could be good, you could
Speaker 1: be deserving, you could do things right and still be
Speaker 1: left out, which makes getting in all the more rewarding
Speaker 1: and gratifying in the greater reward. And when you look
Speaker 1: at the playoff field this year and what has turned
Speaker 1: into a pretty ah Week eighte it is because every
Speaker 1: team that is worth a damn is gonna make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And under the six team playoff field demonse per conference
Speaker 1: twelve team field, the Bills would be in a situation
Speaker 1: where we're headed into Week eighteen on the outside looking in,
Speaker 1: where we have to beat the Jets and get help.
Speaker 1: The Chargers would be in a situation where they've overcome
Speaker 1: all this, had this great year, but because they couldn't
Speaker 1: take care of business against Houston, they have to go
Speaker 1: win in Denver in week eighteen.
Speaker 2: Sorry, they don't like.
Speaker 1: No, no, no, that's I'll do it for the whole league.
Speaker 2: It's not that, no, no, I get what you're saying,
Speaker 2: but like the.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm just I'm looking at the seven and the
Speaker 1: sixth seed. I the it's it's really it is absolutely
Speaker 1: not that. It's that last week's Every game down the stretch,
Speaker 1: run the last last week and this week has felt okay,
Speaker 1: they're playing for seeding, but no one was playing for
Speaker 1: their lives. The Because of the expanded playoff field, the
Speaker 1: Packers can sleep walk on defense through a game against
Speaker 1: Baltimore because they know they're going to be in the
Speaker 1: playoffs anyway. At nine to six and one, they're locked in,
Speaker 1: as opposed to the Packers having to win that game
Speaker 1: to then hope to win this week and have pressure
Speaker 1: on the Bears to not fall like it again. Every
Speaker 1: single team that is any good is in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That's too much. You want there to be a team
Speaker 1: or two that was good but not good enough. Every
Speaker 1: single team in the league this year, with the possible
Speaker 1: exception I guess of Pittsburgh. If Pittsburgh loses this weekend
Speaker 1: that is above five hundred will make the playoffs. That's
Speaker 1: too much. If the Steelers win this weekend, then every
Speaker 1: team in the league that finished above five hundred will
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. That's not what you want, and there
Speaker 1: would be there should be real stakes to the only
Speaker 1: Week eighteen games that feel like they have massive stakes
Speaker 1: are divisional games because the division is terrible. The NFC
Speaker 1: South and the AFC South. That's it. I'm sorry, the
Speaker 1: NFC South and the AFC North. But under the six
Speaker 1: team format, Texans, Chargers, Bills would all know if we
Speaker 1: don't win this weekend, we could be out and one
Speaker 1: of us will be. Under the old format, the Packers
Speaker 1: would have felt going into this Saturday, if we can
Speaker 1: win this game, then we can set up where Week eighteen,
Speaker 1: if Chicago trips up, we're in and they're out and
Speaker 1: so and there is an added benefit. And I'm actually
Speaker 1: glad the Chiefs are not a part of this because
Speaker 1: people would assume this is a Chiefs thing. The second part,
Speaker 1: it also was more fair when there were two buys
Speaker 1: per conference when the one and the two seed gotta buy.
Speaker 1: The Broncos and the Pats have been start to finish
Speaker 1: this year, the two most consistent best teams in the AFC.
Speaker 1: They are likely both going to go fourteen and three.
Speaker 1: The Broncos reward is going to be they get a buye,
Speaker 1: home field advantage, all of it. The Patch reward might
Speaker 1: be the Bills in round one the and that's not
Speaker 1: how it should be. And again that just because the
Speaker 1: way it used to be. I don't know, see the
Speaker 1: winner of the NFC West is going to get a buye.
Speaker 1: I personally, I don't think you have, Like this is
Speaker 1: a year where another NFC team definitively deserves one, but
Speaker 1: Chicago and Philly going into this weekend feeling like, man,
Speaker 1: we can get a bye, get some rest and all
Speaker 1: of that, as opposed to going into this weekend feeling
Speaker 1: like how important is this game really? I just don't
Speaker 1: love it. And so I don't mind the seventeen game season,
Speaker 1: but the playoff field was better when it was more
Speaker 1: exclusive and when good teams got left out, like it's
Speaker 1: if you go back. I mean, the most famous example
Speaker 1: is probably two thousand and seven two thousand and seven,
Speaker 1: or sorry, two thousand and seven, two thousand and eight.
Speaker 1: The eleven win New England Patriots eleven wins absent Tom
Speaker 1: Brady obviously did not make the playoffs. The there were
Speaker 1: good teams. That was just like, man, you had, you
Speaker 1: had a hell of a year. You should be proud
Speaker 1: of yourself. Not good enough. The nine and seven teams
Speaker 1: missed them all the time, obviously, but you would have
Speaker 1: with some regularity ten win and sometimes didn't happen. A
Speaker 1: lot eleven win teams miss and that's just never gonna
Speaker 1: happen again. And that to me. We had the in
Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, the ten win Jets missed out, twenty fourteen,
Speaker 1: the ten win Eagles missed out. Like the pressure the yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I And it makes the end of the
Speaker 1: season feel like it just has a little more stakes
Speaker 1: to it, which I personally enjoy. The twenty ten the
Speaker 1: Giants were a couple of years removed from winning the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. The Giants and Tampa in twenty ten both
Speaker 1: won ten games, neither made the playoffs in the same conference.
Speaker 1: I just think that was a superior UH set up
Speaker 1: and it would have made Week eight. It would make
Speaker 1: Week eighteen a matt like Bill's Chargers. Texans, you if
Speaker 1: you're the Chargers this week and again, and then I'll
Speaker 1: stop ranting about it. If the Chargers felt like we had,
Speaker 1: Like if we're sixteen playoff and the Chargers be like, well,
Speaker 1: the Bills are going to beat the Jets, so they're
Speaker 1: gonna get to twelve wins, and the Texans are playing
Speaker 1: Riley Leonard and the Colts, they're probably gonna get to
Speaker 1: twelve wins. We're gonna be out of the postseason if
Speaker 1: we don't go to Denver and win. That then makes
Speaker 1: Denver have to obvious. Denver's playing for the one seed
Speaker 1: matters to them. The Patriots all of a sudden, they're like,
Speaker 1: holy moly, you know we are alive for the one seed.
Speaker 1: The Jags say, well, if Denver loses were just one,
Speaker 1: you know we can jump up to the two. It's
Speaker 1: just the exclusivity is good. All right, Let's talk about
Speaker 1: that Eagles Bills.
Speaker 2: The Eagles escape Buffalo with a win despite not completing
Speaker 2: a pass in the second half. The Bills had a
Speaker 2: chance Josh Allen kind of whipped on the two point conversion.
Speaker 2: With the playoffs coming up. Who was this game more
Speaker 2: alarming for.
Speaker 1: I think it was more alarming for Philly as far
Speaker 1: as the quality of their team, but it was super
Speaker 1: alarming for Buffalo as far as their path. Now, right,
Speaker 1: had Buffalo won, they're gonna be They're alive for the division.
Speaker 1: But they again would need the Pats to lose to Miami,
Speaker 1: which could happen, but I don't think it's likely, but
Speaker 1: there were the Bills would then be in a position
Speaker 1: beat the Jets were the five seed, we get whatever
Speaker 1: fraudulent team comes out of the AFC North, and we'll
Speaker 1: see if Josh Allen and this Bills team can get
Speaker 1: its first ever road playoff victory. Now they're in a
Speaker 1: spot where Round one demons they are playing either in
Speaker 1: New England or in Jacksonville on the road. The entirety
Speaker 1: of the playoffs and their path just got so much harder.
Speaker 1: And the other thing on the Bills that I will
Speaker 1: say is this because we just have the fare is fair.
Speaker 1: And you guys know how highly I've talked of Josh
Speaker 1: Allen this year early the last couple of years. He's
Speaker 1: got to be better. In that game, I thought the
Speaker 1: fumble was a bad call, but you can't stand there
Speaker 1: and argue about it rather than chase after the fumble.
Speaker 1: That's the first point. You got your offensive lineman running
Speaker 1: thirty yards downfield. You're standing there yelling at the rev.
Speaker 1: That's the first one. The taking the twenty yard sack,
Speaker 1: knocking you out of field goal range when that field
Speaker 1: goal would have mattered. That was bad. And he just
Speaker 1: missed the game winning play. It was open, It was
Speaker 1: not that hard of a pass. He just missed it,
Speaker 1: and that game mattered for them. And so you guys,
Speaker 1: I've talked a lot, so I don't have to do
Speaker 1: too much more on it. How much pressure I think
Speaker 1: is on the Bills this year. We have We have
Speaker 1: not talked about McDermott or Allen in these in like this,
Speaker 1: because the Ravens have been struggling, The Chiefs are out,
Speaker 1: the Bengals are are out. But man if demonds, the
Speaker 1: Bills end up with the sixth seed, which that's what
Speaker 1: it looks like they're going to be, and they go
Speaker 1: to Jacksonville and lose. Man I wonder or if Sean
Speaker 1: McDermott survives that like we the we haven't if they
Speaker 1: go one and done by losing to the Jags. Even
Speaker 1: though I think the Jacks are really good, it feels
Speaker 1: like it when the all the other veteran excellent quarterbacks
Speaker 1: the field is, you know, are removed from the field.
Speaker 1: Then you this had this has to be the Bill's moment. Now,
Speaker 1: I did think their defense was excellent, and the defense
Speaker 1: has been the question mark about the team on Philly.
Speaker 1: I don't know what people want me to say. I
Speaker 1: they had negative passing yards and a half. Demon's for
Speaker 1: the third time this season, so they have played two
Speaker 1: halts teams. Literally, No, they're the only one. You played
Speaker 1: thirty two halves of football. Three of them you had
Speaker 1: negative yards passing one in ten. That's insane the end.
Speaker 2: No, it's just really weird.
Speaker 1: He Yeah, and then you got Sirianni yelling at the
Speaker 1: Bills fans in the tunnel. AJ Brown's clearly annoyed by him.
Speaker 1: It's I understand they win, and I I feel like
Speaker 1: winning in Buffalo, which has been happen It's happened twice
Speaker 1: in the last two years that a team's gone to
Speaker 1: Buffalo and win should be like an unimpeachable type of victory.
Speaker 1: But that wasn't unimpeachable. They're up thirteen to nothing and
Speaker 1: then game seventeen second half yards as a team and
Speaker 1: negative yards passing, And so I we'll see how everything
Speaker 1: falls seating wise, because they could be the two or
Speaker 1: the three. And if they're the two, they get the Packers,
Speaker 1: but if they're the three demons, they get either the
Speaker 1: Rams or the Niners.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I.
Speaker 1: Like either of those teams to go to Philadelphia and win.
Speaker 1: I understand the weather could be a factor, and but
Speaker 1: I just feel like those teams have been so much
Speaker 1: more consistent throughout the year and they don't go through
Speaker 1: these just inexplicable, indefensible droughts. And and listen, aj Brown
Speaker 1: was not wrong. His delivery might have been wrong the
Speaker 1: way he did it, all of that, but his concerns
Speaker 1: were correct. This the offense has been an issue all
Speaker 1: year long, and Saquon can't save them. So I I
Speaker 1: don't know how you know. On one hand, they're the
Speaker 1: first defending NFC's champion to win it again in more
Speaker 1: than twenty years to the defending Super Bowl champion. They
Speaker 1: just went to Buffalo and one. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: we just watched that game, and man, that offense goes
Speaker 1: through droughts the likes of which no other even average
Speaker 1: team does. All right, let's talk Niners Bears.
Speaker 2: Uh party, He's peaking three hundred yards, three touchdowns without
Speaker 2: all his guys. He had five touchdowns in the game
Speaker 2: before you were gonna end the party debate after back
Speaker 2: Jones came in earlier in the season bought out, you know,
Speaker 2: assistant quarterback stuff. How close are we to reopening that conversation?
Speaker 2: I got to save Brock parties looked amazing, He's looked great.
Speaker 1: There is there is no argument. I mean, he's at
Speaker 1: back to back five touchdown because he had three touchdowns
Speaker 1: through the air in two. He's running, He's been awesome.
Speaker 1: I it is maddening to me that we are somehow,
Speaker 1: I'm just in an endless loop of me making statements
Speaker 1: that seem unprovable about the Niners quarterback situation. They then
Speaker 1: get proven and folks still saying I'm wrong like that
Speaker 1: that Which is this the Jimmy the original statement, Jimmy Garoppolo,
Speaker 1: don't care that he wins. He's not very good. Oh
Speaker 1: but look at how he wins that he they went
Speaker 1: to a super Bowl with him. My statement, I think
Speaker 1: if you dropped any starting caliber quarterback in his spot
Speaker 1: with that team, they would perform at that level.
Speaker 2: You think in the last two games would have like, okay, ahead.
Speaker 1: Just hold on. Just They then put literally the last
Speaker 1: pick of the draft in Jimmy Garoppolo's spot. He performs
Speaker 1: at an even higher level. They go back to a
Speaker 1: super Bowl and people are like, see, Nick, you were wrong,
Speaker 1: Like wait, what didn't we just saw it? Then brock
Speaker 1: Purty has this run prior to this season. They go
Speaker 1: to the Super Bowl, we were like, give him more credit, Nick,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I listen, he's he was underdrafted. He's clearly
Speaker 1: a starting caliber quarterback. He might even be good, But
Speaker 1: I think most of the credit should go to the
Speaker 1: Avengers on the team. They're like, well, what do you want?
Speaker 1: You want to see him do it without those guys.
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, he probably won't ever have to, but yeah,
Speaker 1: if he did it without those guys, they didn't have
Speaker 1: a season where all those guys are hurt. The team
Speaker 1: goes in the tank and I'm like, see the thing
Speaker 1: that we didn't think we'd be able, this is the
Speaker 1: second time the thing we didn't think we'd be able
Speaker 1: to test we tested, And I was right, We're like, no,
Speaker 1: it's not fair. This year comes out, he's out for
Speaker 1: two months, a guy that everyone agrees is not a
Speaker 1: good quarterback, Mac Jones steps in, looks awesome, the team wins.
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, another test, and then Bertie comes back
Speaker 1: is better than that guy? And we were like, see, Nick,
Speaker 1: you're an idiot. I don't know what people want me
Speaker 1: to say here. Now. Do I think mac Jones is
Speaker 1: as good as brock Purty? Obviously not. Do I think
Speaker 1: mac Jones could have done what brock Purty did the
Speaker 1: last two weeks? No? Do I think brock Purty is
Speaker 1: proving himself to be a pretty good NFL quarterback? And
Speaker 1: does that surprise me? Yes, all of those things. But
Speaker 1: all the folks arguing with me two months ago when
Speaker 1: I said, see this is why I wouldn't have necessarily
Speaker 1: paid Purty fifty three million. We can get that level
Speaker 1: of production from mac Jones, we're quietly agreeing with me,
Speaker 1: which is why they stopped arguing with me. And now
Speaker 1: he's on this heater, and certainly if he's playing at
Speaker 1: this level, he's worth fifty million dollars. I don't think
Speaker 1: this level is sustainable. But he's been great. But my
Speaker 1: biggest thing is and I know people, and I've done
Speaker 1: it to myself, so I'm not whining. Look at me
Speaker 1: as a party hater. But the other way to look
Speaker 1: at it is I just want the right people to
Speaker 1: get credit. And the story of this Niner season is
Speaker 1: not a Rock Purty story. He has played half the games.
Speaker 1: The story of this Niner season is about two people
Speaker 1: more than anybody, Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey who
Speaker 1: has been available and used like a pack mule all
Speaker 1: year and Shanahan, who has been in his bag to
Speaker 1: even by his standards, an insane degree. That's the story
Speaker 1: of the Niner season. Now, the story of the last
Speaker 1: two weeks, Isy has been utterly brilliant, and I give
Speaker 1: him credit, but I don't. I can't. I feel like
Speaker 1: I'm in a time loop on the Niners quarterback arguments,
Speaker 1: and I keep throwing out their things that I believe,
Speaker 1: but I'll never be able to prove. And then somehow
Speaker 1: we get real life samples of it. Replace Jimmy Garoppolo
Speaker 1: with mister irrelevant. See what Purty looks like without his
Speaker 1: star players? See it? What if you dropped mac Jones
Speaker 1: in the Niners offense what it would look like, and
Speaker 1: every single time it looks exactly like I say it would.
Speaker 1: And then people are like, Nick, You're still wrong. I
Speaker 1: just I'm gonna lose my mind, all right, Go ahead
Speaker 1: with some follow ups.
Speaker 2: You think that Shanahan should win Coach of the Year
Speaker 2: at plus one point fifty at number two and Cee
Speaker 2: mc at Offensive Player of the Year at plus two
Speaker 2: seventy five. They're both numbers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, who's number one for both of those? Because those
Speaker 1: would be my picks. I think Shanahan's been coach of
Speaker 1: the year. Oh, you know, Christian McCaffrey should win often
Speaker 1: to play the year over js N as good as
Speaker 1: jays N's Christian McCaffrey is are the most important non
Speaker 1: quarterback in the league this year and rave Will's favorite
Speaker 1: for the other one. No, I would give it to
Speaker 1: Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey.
Speaker 2: The Niners they're playing for the one seed on Saturday.
Speaker 2: How alive for a real run at the title? Do
Speaker 2: you think they are? And do you think this should
Speaker 2: have been a Sunday night football game?
Speaker 1: No, I'm I'm fine with the winning you're in game,
Speaker 1: being Sunday Night football. They want Raven Steelers, Rogers, Lamar.
Speaker 1: It's fine, and it might not be Lamar.
Speaker 2: And I think we're gonna's I mean, yeah, we'll get
Speaker 2: to that.
Speaker 3: We'll get to the Lamar stuff. All Nick's a hater.
Speaker 3: Nick doesn't know what he's saying about Nicks making things up.
Speaker 3: Uh I told you so, guys. But let's stay here
Speaker 3: for a minute.
Speaker 1: Uhud, he's hurt. The Okay, we'll get to it. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll we'll get to the Lamar stuff. The I don't
Speaker 1: think the Niners defense should be good enough to win
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl, but with the way the offense is playing,
Speaker 1: and the with the way the offense is playing, and
Speaker 1: if they win on Saturday, getting the buye and having
Speaker 1: all the games come through Santa Clara, obviously they've got
Speaker 1: a great shot at it. I'm shocked by that. And
Speaker 1: that speaks what I was saying about Shanahan and McCaffrey
Speaker 1: and how will party has been playing. All right, let's
Speaker 1: talk Bears just for a second.
Speaker 2: After it Bears, after Atlanta defeated the Seat after no, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. I was like, what on the Bear side
Speaker 2: Caleb had a shot to win at the end, but
Speaker 2: he came up short. Is this a team that you
Speaker 2: feel comfortable with bed money onto.
Speaker 1: The playof listen. I think there's been a great year
Speaker 1: for Chicago, and I think that if they win against
Speaker 1: Detroit and get the two seed, I think they'll beat
Speaker 1: the Packers in round two. In round one, their defense
Speaker 1: has just as many questions as the Niners. And while
Speaker 1: Caleb I think was awesome in that game, I don't.
Speaker 1: I think they're probably a year away from real contention now.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean they can't do it, but it would
Speaker 1: surprise me. And so if they now, if they fall
Speaker 1: to the three and they have to play one of
Speaker 1: those NFC either the Niners again, obviously they can win
Speaker 1: that game, but that would be tough, or the Rams,
Speaker 1: I don't think i'd like them. I certainly wouldn't pick
Speaker 1: them against the Rams, and I might not pick them
Speaker 1: against the Niners. But this is a great year for
Speaker 1: Chicago no matter what. The NFC playoff field, just the
Speaker 1: three NFC West teams, Chicago and Philly, it's a tough field,
Speaker 1: all right. Now we can do NFC South.
Speaker 2: So yeah, after Atlanta, of setting the Rams. The Panthers
Speaker 2: Bucks race a little bit more complicated. If the Falcons
Speaker 2: win next week this against the Saints, Tampa Bay will
Speaker 2: be out. So it's totally possible that your two Super
Speaker 2: Bowl picks don't make it to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. So the Falcons winning was a big
Speaker 1: problem for Tampa because it's no longer as you explained,
Speaker 1: a winning your end situation for Tampa against Carolina, because
Speaker 1: now it's weird because the Falcons can't win the division,
Speaker 1: but they can get to eight and nine, which is
Speaker 1: because the Bucks just keep losing awful games. That's where
Speaker 1: the Bucks would finish if they beat Carolina, and if
Speaker 1: it if it's a two way tie between Tampa and Carolina,
Speaker 1: Tampa gets it. If it's a three way tie, Carolina
Speaker 1: gets it. So here's the What the Bucks have done
Speaker 1: since the start of the year is unacceptable on so
Speaker 1: many levels. Since starting five and one, they have two
Speaker 1: victories a good win in New Orleans to get to
Speaker 1: six and two. So I really should say that since
Speaker 1: starting six and two and then a skin of their
Speaker 1: teeth win against a terrible Cardinals team while losing to
Speaker 1: the Patriots, getting blown out by the Bills getting blown
Speaker 1: out by the Rams, a bad loss at home to
Speaker 1: the Saints, giving a game away to the Falcons, a
Speaker 1: terrible loss to the Panthers where Baker threw a pick
Speaker 1: at the end, and a lost to quinn Ewers and
Speaker 1: the Dolphins. It is unforgivable for Tampa to need help,
Speaker 1: to need to win and get help to make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Now I think that their upside is higher than Carolina's.
Speaker 1: Who again, I don't know how many people are actually
Speaker 1: watching the Panthers on a week to week basis. But
Speaker 1: Bryce just had one of the worst games of the
Speaker 1: NFL season this year. Twenty four pass attempts for fifty
Speaker 1: four yards two point three yards per attempt, zero touchdowns,
Speaker 1: one pick, and he's had a few. I mean, that
Speaker 1: was his worst game, his worst game of the year,
Speaker 1: but he's had a number of rough ones. But neither
Speaker 1: of those teams, Carolina deserves it more, to be honest,
Speaker 1: The only team in that division that's playing like it
Speaker 1: wants to me in the playoffs is the damn Saints.
Speaker 1: But even Tyler shucked. But they just started, uh, they
Speaker 1: started too far behind, all right. Let's talk AFC North.
Speaker 2: Demanse Pittsburgh had their chance to wrap upon the division
Speaker 2: against the Browns this weekend. They failed. The Ravens won
Speaker 2: without Lamar Tyler Huntley. I like what he was doing
Speaker 2: out there, Derek Henry, just run the ball. Now. The
Speaker 2: FC North title is up for grabs on Sunday with
Speaker 2: his Ravens showdown against Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, listen. Pittsburgh's loss on Sunday was one of the
Speaker 1: most unacceptable performances of the NFL season. By the way,
Speaker 1: Joker hyper extension in his left knee will miss at
Speaker 1: least four weeks. Not bad, but what it does do
Speaker 1: to Monsey, it probably eliminates him from being able to
Speaker 1: be MVP because the six games. Yeah, so, and they're
Speaker 1: I mean, they were already down three starters. So this
Speaker 1: has I mean we're about to see right, I mean,
Speaker 1: they're gonna right, they'll be they'll be fine for the playoffs,
Speaker 1: but not fine for seating. And this has massive implications.
Speaker 1: But that you do have a sigh of relief that
Speaker 1: he's okay, you know, miss a month maybe more. Uh
Speaker 1: My guess is maybe they hold him out through All
Speaker 1: Star that'd be like a month and a half, and
Speaker 1: you know, then he comes back. But that is and
Speaker 1: but it does probably eliminate him from being eligible for
Speaker 1: the MVP, which sucks because he's been playing so great.
Speaker 1: Helps share a lot in his ability to win a VP,
Speaker 1: keeps Lucas Sneaky alive for m VP. It opens up
Speaker 1: for a lot of people all right back to this, Rogers'
Speaker 1: performance on Sunday was unforgivable. I don't know if he
Speaker 1: was just trying to avoid Miles Garrett to bee. It
Speaker 1: was so bad. And and his decision on fourth and
Speaker 1: one to throw a deep fade to Scottie Miller, his
Speaker 1: decision on the final drive to only target NBS. He
Speaker 1: was awful, and they brought him in for that moment.
Speaker 1: And if the Steelers had won that game, they're in
Speaker 1: really good shape Demons. If they win that game, they
Speaker 1: are locked into the four seed. They can rest. In
Speaker 1: Week eighteen. They get a home game against either Texans,
Speaker 1: Chargers Bills, who will have just come off games that
Speaker 1: they well, no, it wouldn't be the Chargers, but the
Speaker 1: Texans are Bills, and again not an easy game, but
Speaker 1: teams that would have just had to go theoretically, well,
Speaker 1: I don't know if those teams are gonna go all out.
Speaker 2: In Week eighteen.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter who Bills probably aren't, but regardless, a
Speaker 1: home game and rest instead, you have to win a
Speaker 1: playoff game to make the playoffs. And I just thought
Speaker 1: Rogers was awful, just really really awful. I I believed
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh this weekend because I thought Shador would make
Speaker 1: a few just egregious mistakes. He did, and they couldn't
Speaker 1: take advantage of any of them. It was pathetic, and
Speaker 1: that to that be a game that you know, it
Speaker 1: was as if they thought Baltimore was gonna lose the
Speaker 1: night before, so that game wasn't gonna matter. But Baltimore
Speaker 1: won the night before. You knew that game mattered, and
Speaker 1: you knew if you want it, you won the division.
Speaker 1: You just can't. You can't score six points. And I
Speaker 1: know the Browns have a good pass defense, They've been
Speaker 1: allowing twenty seven points a game in the last month.
Speaker 1: Like that's just so it's as bad of a loss
Speaker 1: as it gets. And now we get to Baltimore. Derrick
Speaker 1: Henry was unbelievable. Snooputley did his thing, but Derrick Henry
Speaker 1: was great. And Derrick Henry, by the way, since he's
Speaker 1: been a raven leads the NFL and rushing yards leads
Speaker 1: the NFL and yards rushing yards per game, leads the
Speaker 1: NFL and rushing touchdowns, and is second in the NFL
Speaker 1: in rushes. He has gotten his fair share of touches.
Speaker 1: He's been awesome. But the story in Baltimore is Lamar
Speaker 1: and Demon's you can get mad at me here. I
Speaker 1: am just going, like, so, there was that article in
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Sun that was a torched Lamar yep by
Speaker 1: a guy who has written at the Baltimore Sun since
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty three, Okay, a forty two year writer in
Speaker 1: Baltimore local columnists. Now, it doesn't mean that he doesn't
Speaker 1: play favorites. It doesn't mean that everything's saying is fair.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying what I'm saying, but right, and I
Speaker 1: have been trying to tell you guys all year that
Speaker 1: something is off with Lamar and Harbaugh and I'm not
Speaker 1: just guessing. And what we are now seeing is a
Speaker 1: situation where for the third time there have been Like
Speaker 1: I want to be fair here, but I think the
Speaker 1: fairest way to put it is to just give you
Speaker 1: the timeline on it in real time, and I will
Speaker 1: read you exact quotes because people get very mad at me.
Speaker 1: But I don't know what you want me to say. Okay.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty one, which was the first year that
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson was playing for the Ravens, in the midst
Speaker 1: of wanting and deserving a contract extension that the Ravens
Speaker 1: were unwilling at that time to give him. And you
Speaker 1: add to the context, Lamar does not have an agent.
Speaker 1: And I know everyone says, well, his mom does it
Speaker 1: for him, which is fine. However, this is an important detail.
Speaker 1: Lamar's mother is not a certified nfl PA agent. Here's
Speaker 1: the only reason that matters. It means the team is
Speaker 1: not allowed to talk to her. Okay. They she can
Speaker 1: handle stuff for Lamar once he gets it, but the
Speaker 1: team can only talk to Lamar. And that has been
Speaker 1: weird up to an including that we found out through
Speaker 1: court filings over the summer that when they were trying
Speaker 1: to negotiate a contract with him the summer, he asked
Speaker 1: for the trade demons is in the court filings. He
Speaker 1: said the microphone on his phone wasn't working and because
Speaker 1: of that they couldn't talk. So like it's been the weird.
Speaker 1: It's a weird contract negotiations situation. And as someone as
Speaker 1: someone who uh has you know, done negotiations. One of
Speaker 1: the reason you have an agent is you go to
Speaker 1: you want to make you know, one hundred million dollars
Speaker 1: from the place you're working. The place wants to pay
Speaker 1: you eighty million dollars. They are going to explain to
Speaker 1: you why you're actually not worth what you think you're worth.
Speaker 1: You're worthless. That can hurt feelings. It's like, well, actually
Speaker 1: you're not good at this or is good at that.
Speaker 1: So the agent does the negotiation, keeps the relationship between
Speaker 1: both sides, you know, happy where you don't have to
Speaker 1: say nasty things to each other. Yeah, you don't have
Speaker 1: an agent, it makes it a little tricky. Again, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean you have to have an agent. I'm just
Speaker 1: giving you, guys the skin the context of it, additional
Speaker 1: context that is not lost on me. What was the
Speaker 1: big one of the big stories of this Ravens season
Speaker 1: that they removed all those video games and toys from
Speaker 1: the locker room And what was one of the kind
Speaker 1: of weird huh pieces from that column for Mike Preston
Speaker 1: that they think Lamar stays up all night doing what
Speaker 1: playing video games? So there was a lot of not
Speaker 1: so subtle what's. And the other thing in that story
Speaker 1: was Lamar wants a new contract. Ye, he's the back
Speaker 1: to back defending first team All Pro quarterback. He's won
Speaker 1: an MVP since his last contract. A bunch of quarterbacks
Speaker 1: have passed him in the pay scale. Seems reasonable. Also,
Speaker 1: the Ravens right now, he's got a cap hit of
Speaker 1: seventy five million each of the next two years, so
Speaker 1: they certainly want to rework his contract. He wants to
Speaker 1: extend his contract. So I give all of that context
Speaker 1: while trying to be fair, and then I remind you
Speaker 1: guys of this in twenty twenty one, when the Ravens
Speaker 1: were in the midst of trying to make the playoffs
Speaker 1: and Lamar wanted and deserved, by the way, a second contract.
Speaker 1: He hurt his ankle in Week fourteen. John Harbaugh said,
Speaker 1: going into Week fifteen, I'd say he has a chance
Speaker 1: to play Week fifteen. It's one of those things where
Speaker 1: it's an ankle sprain. If he starts feeling good and
Speaker 1: everything is all right, we'll check him out probably pregame.
Speaker 1: He's in all the preparations. We'll see where we're at
Speaker 1: week fifteen. He did not play again that season and
Speaker 1: the Ravens missed the playoffs. After the year, John Harball
Speaker 1: was asked about why Lamar didn't play. He said, quote,
Speaker 1: Lamar felt like he was going to be back. The
Speaker 1: first week, he thought he had a chance. The second
Speaker 1: week he assured me, he said, I'll be back. I'll
Speaker 1: be back. So in twenty twenty one, Lamar got hurt.
Speaker 1: At the end of the year, the team thought he
Speaker 1: would be back. He was not back. He was in
Speaker 1: the midst of a contract negotiation. He did not get
Speaker 1: the contract in twenty twenty two. Lamar Jackson obviously deserved
Speaker 1: a new contract, they had not given him one. He
Speaker 1: got hurt on December fourth, in a game that removed
Speaker 1: from the game. John Harbaughs said, it's not a season
Speaker 1: ending type of knee. We'll get more tests tomorrow and
Speaker 1: let you know how long it's going to be. We'll
Speaker 1: see if he can be back this week. If not,
Speaker 1: he'll be back sometime after that. Shortly, he did not
Speaker 1: play again that season. They did make the playoffs. Everyone
Speaker 1: thought he would be back for the playoff game. He
Speaker 1: did not play in the playoff game, and then he
Speaker 1: tweeted after the season that it was a grade two
Speaker 1: PCL sprain bordering on grade three, which was not what
Speaker 1: Harbaud said Schefter had said any of it. So in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, he suffered an ankle injury. The coach
Speaker 1: thought he'd be back. He never came back. He was
Speaker 1: in the midst of a contract negotiation. In twenty twenty two,
Speaker 1: he suffered a knee injury. The coach thought he would
Speaker 1: be back. Schefter said he'd be back, and I'm not
Speaker 1: picking on Schefter here, just like meaning the team was
Speaker 1: telling him he'll be back. He did not come back,
Speaker 1: and he missed the playoff game. In twenty twenty five,
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson evidently has been in a contract negotiation. He
Speaker 1: suffered a hamstring injury against the Chiefs. He missed time,
Speaker 1: the team did not play well. When asked about why
Speaker 1: the team would be better after the bye, John Harbaugh said,
Speaker 1: our quarterback is going to be back. That's a big one.
Speaker 1: Lamar then was not back after the bye. And if
Speaker 1: you remember, there was the issue with I'm trying to
Speaker 1: remember what game that was before the weird what was
Speaker 1: the weird game this year. Oh that was after the
Speaker 1: hamstring injury. That's what it was. After the bye when
Speaker 1: he had when they had to change the practice designation, remember,
Speaker 1: and they got in trouble for it. It was like, oh,
Speaker 1: that the about whether Lamar was a full practice or
Speaker 1: not a full practice. And now Lamar Jackson suffered what
Speaker 1: his coach called a back bruise in Week sixteen while
Speaker 1: in a contract negotiation with the team and missed a
Speaker 1: must win Week seventeen game, and we don't know if
Speaker 1: he is playing in Week eighteen. That's the timeline of it.
Speaker 1: Folks can draw whatever conclusions they want, and folks can
Speaker 1: act like I'm just being a ship stir for no reason.
Speaker 1: But I feel like I can say with full confidence
Speaker 1: that the Lamar Jackson John Harbaugh partnership is ending and
Speaker 1: it is very likely that Lamar has played his last
Speaker 1: game with the Ravens as with John Harbaugh being the coach.
Speaker 1: Let me say that better because I do not think
Speaker 1: the Ravens are gonna move on from Lamar. But I
Speaker 1: don't know that I believe Lamar is gonna play again
Speaker 1: this season, and I don't think there is any realistic chance.
Speaker 1: John Harbaugh is the coach next season. And here's the
Speaker 1: last thing I'll say on it. And this is supposed
Speaker 1: to be a quick show, but they never are. And
Speaker 1: we still have a bunch more stuff today. We might
Speaker 1: not get to all of it. Demands there's to me.
Speaker 1: Tell me if you think this is fair. There are
Speaker 1: two ways to look at this, because Lamar does want
Speaker 1: a new contract.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The either.
Speaker 1: Lamar has suffered, by my count, hamstring, knee, ankle, toe, back,
Speaker 1: five different injuries this year that were legitimately severe enough
Speaker 1: that two of which he missed games and three of
Speaker 1: which he missed practices. That a guy who turns twenty
Speaker 1: nine next week. It's a running quarterback who doesn't run
Speaker 1: as much anymore and is coming off his worst year,
Speaker 1: suffered five separate from semi significant to truly significant injuries
Speaker 1: and wants a new, big, guaranteed contract. That is one option.
Speaker 1: Another option is that these injuries are not quite so significant,
Speaker 1: but because he is in contract negotiation, he is leveraging
Speaker 1: his injury status. I don't see, And if the producers do,
Speaker 1: or you do, or anybody a third door to walk through,
Speaker 1: I think it is a or B. And my response
Speaker 1: to that is if it's just a or B. Is
Speaker 1: that a player that you are comfortable giving a top
Speaker 1: of market guaranteed contract to either a guy who who
Speaker 1: is not playing in do word eye games as contract leverage,
Speaker 1: which is a real indictment that I am not levying,
Speaker 1: or a guy who suffered five different injuries this year
Speaker 1: that made him miss valuable time. Either way, that's a
Speaker 1: risky investment. And that's where I stand. People can say
Speaker 1: I'm unfair. I know I'm not wrong, and I know
Speaker 1: that's your guy demandsay, and I apologize for putting you
Speaker 1: in this spot.
Speaker 2: But yeah, the time I believe, like a year after
Speaker 2: year December of the contract negotiations, I'm gonna sit out,
Speaker 2: I mean, and then even just seeing the play where
Speaker 2: it is where like his back got hurt, it was
Speaker 2: fast he ran into it.
Speaker 1: And seeing hardballs make it clear on Monday this past
Speaker 1: week ago, it's a bruce.
Speaker 2: It's a bad bruise, but it's a bruce. It would
Speaker 2: be unfortunate if he was just I also like go
Speaker 2: ahead like leveraging his injury, especially at this time of
Speaker 2: the season. But I will say that if he does
Speaker 2: end up playing next week, win or lose, I think
Speaker 2: that's huge. I just I hope, I hope he plays.
Speaker 1: But I but so they're also in a weird spot.
Speaker 1: If he doesn't play and they lose, that's obviously awful.
Speaker 1: If he doesn't play and they win, Man talk about
Speaker 1: pressure on him to finally perform in the playoffs. If
Speaker 1: you know, if Derrick Henry's rolling and Huntley plays, fine,
Speaker 1: there's just just a lot there. And I know Marcus
Speaker 1: Spears and a lot of people I really like don't
Speaker 1: like any of this Lamar commentary. I get it, and
Speaker 1: they think some of it's unfair. I just something's been
Speaker 1: weird with Lamar and Harbaugh and the Ravens all year.
Speaker 1: Mike Preston shined a bit of a light on it,
Speaker 1: and to me, it's pretty obvious where this thing's going.
Speaker 1: So are you thinking about upgrading to the all new
Speaker 1: iPhone seventeen Pro, designing the most powerful iPhone ever? But
Speaker 1: you're also thinking about the traffic on your way to
Speaker 1: the store and the hassle of transferring all your data.
Speaker 1: Good news, when you order a new phone online with
Speaker 1: Boost Mobile, they'll send an expert to your homer work
Speaker 1: to deliver your brand new iPhone seventeen pro and get
Speaker 1: you all set up on boost Mobile within minutes, no hassle.
Speaker 1: Visit boosmobile dot com to get started. Delivery available for
Speaker 1: select devices purchased at boostmobile dot Com. Terms do apply,
Speaker 1: all right, Before we get to our quick hitters, demanse uh,
Speaker 1: let's do the Pro Football Hall of Fame here.
Speaker 2: The NFL announced its finalists for the Hall of Fame
Speaker 2: class at twenty twenty six. We talked, as we do
Speaker 2: every year, about it, and you gave out your finalists.
Speaker 2: The final the semifinalist were announced. Let's take a look
Speaker 2: at how you did with your.
Speaker 1: All right, so the here are the finalists, Drew Brees,
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald, Willie Anderson, Luke, Keithley, Terrell Suggs, Jarry Evans,
Speaker 1: Tory Halt, Eli Manning, Adam and and Terry, Reggie, Wayne,
Speaker 1: Darren Woodson, Marshall Yonda, and so I. The other finalists
Speaker 1: are Frank Gore, Jason Witten and Kevin Williams. I did
Speaker 1: not think Gore and Witten or Kevin Williams would be finalists.
Speaker 1: They were, but otherwise this went about from the semifinalist
Speaker 1: to finalists went about how I said I anticipated it.
Speaker 1: I believe this will be the Hall of Fame class
Speaker 1: of twenty twenty five. I said this on the other show.
Speaker 1: I've thought more about it. I believe Breeze and Fitzgerald
Speaker 1: are no doubt first ballot guys. I think that they
Speaker 1: are going to have too hard of a time debating
Speaker 1: between Keighley and Suggs. Keighley higher peak, Suggs such a longer,
Speaker 1: more decorated career. Both similar as far as A plus honors,
Speaker 1: So I think they put them both in, and then
Speaker 1: I think they put in one offensive lineman, and you
Speaker 1: could make the case for Willie Anderson, Jarr Evans, Ri Yanda.
Speaker 1: I think they will end up going with the person
Speaker 1: who's been waiting the longest, in Willie Anderson. So I
Speaker 1: think the Hall of Fame class is gonna be Breeze, fits,
Speaker 1: Sugs and Keighley along with one offensive lineman Willie Anderson.
Speaker 1: Eli Manning's gonna have to keep waiting, uh Mark, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe Evans or Yond to get in. I bet one
Speaker 1: of the offensive lineman get in, and I don't see
Speaker 1: any chance Frank Gore Jason Witten have to get in
Speaker 1: first ballot, all right, let's do uh the other games quickly.
Speaker 1: The Jags beat the Colts. It was the first not
Speaker 1: great Jags game in a while, not great Trevor game,
Speaker 1: but unlike previous years where they have these not great games,
Speaker 1: they won it. Anyway. They are still alive for the
Speaker 1: one seed, but they would need Denver to lose to
Speaker 1: the Chargers backups and the Patriots to lose uh to Miami,
Speaker 1: so they are probably going to be the three seed.
Speaker 1: I would I was really hoping we would get charge
Speaker 1: Jags Chargers in round one. It looks like we're probably
Speaker 1: gonna get Bill's Bill's Jags in round one, which is
Speaker 1: a bit of a bummer, but is what it is.
Speaker 1: Cowboys beat the Commanders in a meaningless game to all parties.
Speaker 1: Vikings beat the Lions in justin Jared Goff disaster class
Speaker 1: on Christmas, just as bad as it gets as the
Speaker 1: Lions season from hell continues. Broncos beat the Chiefs in
Speaker 1: one of the worst performances in a win a team
Speaker 1: has had all year long. The Texans beat the Chargers
Speaker 1: in a game that neither quarterback played well, and if
Speaker 1: you're the Chargers, you're a little anxious after that performance.
Speaker 1: Going into the playoffs. Patriots beat the Jets. We talked
Speaker 1: about it earlier in a game that might have won.
Speaker 1: Drake made the MVP. Saints beat the Titans as Tyler
Speaker 1: Shuck keeps rolling, He's played well, Bro, Bengals beat the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: show Burrow having fun again, and Giants beat the Raiders
Speaker 1: in a game literally nobody watched. All right, like great?
Speaker 1: Subscribe review to the show Gambling Show. We're gonna record
Speaker 1: it now. It will come at you tomorrow. We will
Speaker 1: try to rebound from a tough week seventeen. That is tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: the volume, Blue Dock, Hard Rock Boost and Zena all
Speaker 1: our wonderful sponsors. Talk to the guys tomorrow for the
Speaker 1: Gambling Show. What's Right