Speaker 1: Welcome to NFL Daily. We're fourteen and two just doesn't
Speaker 1: go as far as it used to. I'm Greg Rosenthal
Speaker 1: in the Chris Westleyan podcast studio with my friend Patrick
Speaker 1: Claybahn and looking as always at Nick Shook in Cleveland,
Speaker 1: the Uncle of the year. How was your Christmas Shook?
Speaker 2: It was fantastic, got to hang out with the kids,
Speaker 2: good family time. Ah, Merry Christmas to all.
Speaker 1: Yes, and I hope you had one as well. Of
Speaker 1: course we've talked to Patrick since that previews show. It
Speaker 1: feels like a long time ago already.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because we had NFL games wrapped across like we
Speaker 3: do a daily podcast, they do daily NFL games.
Speaker 4: It was a lot. It was a lot this week.
Speaker 1: It was, and it's gonna be a different sort of
Speaker 1: recap show because TNF is in this game, that game exists, Seattle, Chicago,
Speaker 1: that has happened, that actually happened. I thought the game
Speaker 1: of the week was on Saturday in the in the
Speaker 1: middle window, and we're going to get to that too.
Speaker 1: We're gonna really construct this show like NFC AFC. But
Speaker 1: I first wanted to start at least with what to
Speaker 1: me was the most important game of the day on Sunday,
Speaker 1: the game only game that included two teams over ten wins.
Speaker 5: Let's go to Minnesota second and goal from the nine.
Speaker 6: Sam Darnold goes out of the shotgun, cam Akers joins
Speaker 6: him to his left. Akers jumps to the right, now
Speaker 6: back to the left, Donald out of the shotgun, takes
Speaker 6: the staff, swings it to Acres, turns it up to
Speaker 6: the ten to the five to shop.
Speaker 7: Cam Akers put this third touchdown this season, and Minnesota
Speaker 7: responds beautifully and opens up the lead twenty six to ten.
Speaker 1: Now Vikings and cam Akers wouldn't be.
Speaker 5: The last big play he made in that game.
Speaker 1: Yes, Minnesota got a seventeen point lead, and then they
Speaker 1: held on at the very end twenty seven to twenty five.
Speaker 1: And it was a third down completion to cam As
Speaker 1: on a tricky pass as he's backing away from Sam
Speaker 1: Donald and they're able to run out the clock after
Speaker 1: sweating it out more than they expected to late.
Speaker 5: Very similar to the Week four.
Speaker 1: Game between the Vikings and the Packers, almost played out
Speaker 1: the same way, whereas very one sided for about fifty
Speaker 1: two to fifty three minutes, the Packers made it interesting
Speaker 1: and yet it feels like the better team won this game.
Speaker 1: And Patrick is just beaming because he had faith when
Speaker 1: Sam Donald and the Vikings and I did not.
Speaker 5: You you were right, you were right to pick them.
Speaker 3: It was it was my collective lack of faith in
Speaker 3: Sam Donald in these moments. But we got there again
Speaker 3: once again a third and three where the throughout the
Speaker 3: entire fourth quarter we're doing Game Day Live.
Speaker 4: I'm almost Scott Pioli.
Speaker 3: And there was a first down pass attempt when the
Speaker 3: Vikings were trying to burn clock. After Emmanuel Wilson scored
Speaker 3: to make it twenty seven to sixteen, the Packers go
Speaker 3: for two.
Speaker 4: It's twenty seven to eighteen. Very first play.
Speaker 3: Sam Donald drops back to pass and Scott's like, you gotta.
Speaker 4: Run the ball.
Speaker 3: Kevin O'Connell stuck with the pass, and then they go
Speaker 3: to that final moment where cam Akers eventually stumbles. Before that,
Speaker 3: there's a completion of Justin Jefferson where he not only
Speaker 3: got interfered with, he also got held on that play
Speaker 3: and they get a to make it third and about
Speaker 3: two and Sam Donald comes up with the pass to
Speaker 3: cam Akers. He catches it off his shoelaces there and
Speaker 3: you mentioned that Week four game. The difference in that
Speaker 3: game was it was an on side kick at the end.
Speaker 3: Here the Vikings had to squeeze the life out of
Speaker 3: the Green Bay Packers, and they ultimately did, and again
Speaker 3: not hiding their quarterback, just relying on Sam Donald, who
Speaker 3: was now four touchdowns. If he has four touchdowns, he
Speaker 3: ties Dante Culpeper in two thousand and four for the
Speaker 3: most passing touchdowns in Vikings history in a single season.
Speaker 4: If he can get four in the final game against
Speaker 4: the against the Lions, Greg.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think he nearly stacks up to that
Speaker 1: Culpeper season, which I would rank in the top five
Speaker 1: quarterback seasons of all time.
Speaker 5: I've talked about this before.
Speaker 1: It happened to be in a Peyton Manning season, but
Speaker 1: it was one of the best seas. But it is
Speaker 1: the best Vikings quarterback season since Brett Favre. I don't
Speaker 1: eve think there's any question better than any Cousins season
Speaker 1: or Keenum or whoever else you want to throw out there.
Speaker 1: There was that far season that was pretty electric and
Speaker 1: that faith was telling because Nick Sam Darnold did have
Speaker 1: a couple of plays and Tom Brady's getting nervous at
Speaker 1: the end where he did have an interception in the
Speaker 1: second half, and he had a couple that were close,
Speaker 1: and yet the faith and the belief that O'Connell has
Speaker 1: in him, they keep throwing. And on that second and twelve,
Speaker 1: Donald's on a full sprint. That just shows to me
Speaker 1: how great Justin Jefferson is. He's one of the best
Speaker 1: wide receivers I've ever seen in my lifetime. And why
Speaker 1: he's so great is he's elite at literally every possible
Speaker 1: facet of being a wide receiver, including on a play
Speaker 1: like that, running full sprint, getting interfered with and being
Speaker 1: physical enough to make that catch.
Speaker 5: And I don't need to say that he's clutched.
Speaker 1: Because he's just always great, but he does always seem
Speaker 1: to play his best when it really matters, And that
Speaker 1: was a great throw by Donald as well or else.
Speaker 1: You know, the Packers would have got this ball back
Speaker 1: in a chance to win the game, partly because they
Speaker 1: went for two, and partly because they suddenly just found
Speaker 1: life in the last seven minutes when really before that
Speaker 1: this thing was so one sided.
Speaker 5: At one point.
Speaker 1: Took it was four hundred and something yards to one
Speaker 1: to eighty two like it looked like two teams that
Speaker 1: didn't belong on the same field. Which are you a
Speaker 1: little concerned about the Packers after this?
Speaker 2: Not concerned necessarily. I mean, if you look at who
Speaker 2: they've lost to, all those teams they've lost to have
Speaker 2: like twelve plus wins, it's it's the Lions, it's the
Speaker 2: Vikings twice, it's the Eagles.
Speaker 4: Like that.
Speaker 1: That's basically who they're gonna have to be and maybe
Speaker 1: all three of those to go to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you know what, at least that's your test, Like, yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: maybe that's your ceiling right now, but at least you
Speaker 2: have the tests and the history.
Speaker 4: I guess.
Speaker 2: The only downside of this is the fact that it
Speaker 2: did look so much like the first game that they play,
Speaker 2: and then that it was very lopsided for much of it,
Speaker 2: and then they woke up in the fourth quarter. Packers
Speaker 2: fans have to be thinking, God, I wish you would
Speaker 2: have made those adjustments at halftime instead of the fourth quarter.
Speaker 2: But sometimes that's the way things go, especially against defenses
Speaker 2: that are talented and are equipped to stop your offense.
Speaker 2: So I'm not super concerned. I don't think that the Packers. Like,
Speaker 2: I'm not going to pick them to go win the
Speaker 2: Super Bowl right now, but they'll definitely be in the
Speaker 2: hunt in the playoffs. They're gonna be a tough out
Speaker 2: and who knows, man, I mean, this is a this
Speaker 2: is a weird sport. Sometimes bounce the ball goes one
Speaker 2: way or the other. Maybe suddenly they're on the flip
Speaker 2: side of this, because they were essentially one stop away
Speaker 2: from getting one more shot at going down the field
Speaker 2: and potentially winning this game. So they're not far away.
Speaker 2: It's just it can be frustrating for them. They're still
Speaker 2: a very strong team overall. And by the way, that
Speaker 2: two point conversion attempt that the Vikings failed on, talk
Speaker 2: about ambitious. Huh, little cree, little Ben Johnson out of them. Yeah,
Speaker 2: get a little let's have a little pitch backwards, see
Speaker 2: if it works. That was kind of fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm a little more concerned about the Packers to
Speaker 1: show up. And yeah, the yardage total with about nine
Speaker 1: minutes to go was four hundred and eighteen to one
Speaker 1: thirty seven. I mean, that's that's a beat down. And
Speaker 1: I thought it was about the coaches and the players.
Speaker 1: I thought both sides of the ball Matt Lafleur, and
Speaker 1: you mentioned great great point by you Shook about making
Speaker 1: adjustments late. Lafleur said it after the game that they
Speaker 1: were too late to make adjustments to what Flores was doing,
Speaker 1: and what he was doing was playing man coverage at
Speaker 1: a high rate than he had played at any point
Speaker 1: in the season. After the first time they played, he
Speaker 1: played man coverage at the lowest rate. And that's to
Speaker 1: me kind of the magic of this Vikings team that
Speaker 1: they've been together so long. He can spin the dial
Speaker 1: in so many different ways. It can really confuse great
Speaker 1: offensive coordinators or play callers like Lafleur and certainly Jordan Love.
Speaker 5: Love ends up.
Speaker 1: Eight for fifteen for sixty two yards against that man
Speaker 1: coverage for four point one yards per attempt, and it
Speaker 1: was even worse going into that final stretch, and you
Speaker 1: have Van Ginkel making big plays, you had Blake Cashman,
Speaker 1: everyone was in the right place. He just Jordan Loved
Speaker 1: that has seemed like his head was swimming. We're on
Speaker 1: the other side. Darnald is just firing the ball into
Speaker 1: the middle of the field, and at one point he
Speaker 1: was like twenty two for twenty three over the middle
Speaker 1: of the field for two hundred plus yards, and they
Speaker 1: knew the weaknesses that they wanted to attack on the
Speaker 1: Packers defense, and they were just so disciplined going after
Speaker 1: over and over. So to me, it's coaching and it's
Speaker 1: the players too. Where I looked at these two teams,
Speaker 1: I said, okay, one of them. Now, I would be
Speaker 1: surprised if the Packers are in the Super Bowl, like
Speaker 1: I've been saying, like the Packers are one of the
Speaker 1: five or six best teams. But yeah, I would be
Speaker 1: shocked if they run the table against two of these teams.
Speaker 1: Like let's say they get the Rams in the first round.
Speaker 1: You win that, but you got to win two of
Speaker 1: these teams, beat two of these teams that they've.
Speaker 5: Had trouble with. I would be a little shocked. To me.
Speaker 1: The Vikings and the Lions and the Eagles are are
Speaker 1: a clear tier above. And to Shook Specs, fine, you know,
Speaker 1: not everyone can win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3: It's not like the Packers have gotten run off the
Speaker 3: field by those teams, right, they've they've been in these games.
Speaker 4: They're in this game today.
Speaker 3: They actually get pressure on Sam Donald thirty six percent
Speaker 3: of the time. Problem Miss Sam was ten of fifteen
Speaker 3: for one to thirty three with two touchdowns under pressure. Now,
Speaker 3: he did have that ball that was picked off by
Speaker 3: Karen to Valentine, which gave the Packers their first touchdown
Speaker 3: of the game.
Speaker 4: Kind of let the Packers back in the game at
Speaker 4: that point.
Speaker 3: And there were a couple of passes that sailed high,
Speaker 3: which seems like Sam's having a tendency right now to
Speaker 3: kind of overstride and overshoot receivers and have the ball
Speaker 3: go dangerously. But Jordan love pressure thirty two percent of
Speaker 3: the time four of eight for forty one yards where
Speaker 3: they're kind of figuring out where does Flores send them,
Speaker 3: how is he sending them? And that extra second, that
Speaker 3: extra step slowing down the passing game, got some action
Speaker 3: with Romeo Dobbs late. My concern would be there was
Speaker 3: a lot of Manny Wilson towards the end of the game.
Speaker 3: I don't know if that's saving Josh Jacobs because the
Speaker 3: difference in this game and the five and the six
Speaker 3: seed is like a road playoff game here at so
Speaker 3: far or road playoff game at the Link against the Eagles,
Speaker 3: and so there was something for the Packers to play
Speaker 3: for here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, or even potentially at the NFC South winner if
Speaker 1: they had, if they had won this game and won out,
Speaker 1: but that's not going to happen. I think both starting
Speaker 1: running backs are just b up at the end of
Speaker 1: this game. Yeah, Aaron Jones was not on the field.
Speaker 1: That's why kam Akers was out there, and Josh Jacobs,
Speaker 1: who had a good game, and they ran the ball
Speaker 1: well at first, and then there was just a couple situations.
Speaker 1: They go for it on fourth and two and Brady's
Speaker 1: bemoaning that and they don't get it.
Speaker 5: I don't.
Speaker 1: I don't have a big problem with that. You never
Speaker 1: know if they're going to make the kick. Anyways, as
Speaker 1: we saw, Will Riikert, who's been fantastic all year, missed
Speaker 1: a couple kicks today for the Vikings that kept it close.
Speaker 1: And you got a ball to your best player, Jayden Reid,
Speaker 1: and he dropped it on the play. And then there
Speaker 1: was another you know, on one of Riker's misses. It
Speaker 1: didn't count because they called a kind of a phantom
Speaker 1: off side that made Matt Lafler loose his He called
Speaker 1: Tom ELT's mindial, Yeah, which was amazing. I love that,
Speaker 1: and he was he was right on that one that
Speaker 1: did cost them three points. It just seems to me, like, yes,
Speaker 1: you can look at the pressure numbers shook, but I
Speaker 1: just felt like the Vikings offensive line was much better
Speaker 1: than the Packers offensive line. Like maybe at the end
Speaker 1: of the game Donald's holding onto the ball, they were
Speaker 1: sending some blitz there, but there were many plays where
Speaker 1: Donald had all day to throw and with those receivers
Speaker 1: and the route combinations, like it could have been worse.
Speaker 1: I was watching this game and thinking it was a
Speaker 1: miracle that the Packers were in it late in the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I also today was the first time
Speaker 2: I got the twenty sixteen Falcons vibes with these Vikings,
Speaker 2: and I think it's because of the receiving core. And
Speaker 2: it's really because, you know, you talked about Sam getting
Speaker 2: a little like risky there and throwing a pick in
Speaker 2: the second half and making it kind of close. But
Speaker 2: at the same time, you live with that because of
Speaker 2: the other throws that he makes, the throws that are
Speaker 2: in tight windows, the throw that he makes the Jordan
Speaker 2: Madison for a touchdown, that's just fantastic pocket presence and
Speaker 2: maneuvering before he lets it rip. Like if you don't
Speaker 2: have Matt Ryan back there. Okay, you don't have an
Speaker 2: NFL MVP in twenty sixteen back there. But for the
Speaker 2: first time today I was like, oh, they feel a
Speaker 2: lot like that Atlanta team did and they made it
Speaker 2: all the way to the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: So we'll see Sarnole is playing that that well, I'm
Speaker 1: with you. It sets up a fascinating Week eighteen matchup
Speaker 1: with the Lions. As we tape this, we don't have
Speaker 1: the schedule on Week eighteen, but we do know that
Speaker 1: matchup in the Lions play on Monday night will be
Speaker 1: for the one seed in the NFC. That is absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1: It's kind of all been leading to this. Okay, So
Speaker 1: that was the game of the day. It was the afternoon.
Speaker 1: Everyone's watching that and yet to me, the actual game
Speaker 1: of the week, and we're gonna dive deep into the
Speaker 1: whole AFC playoff picture now was on Saturday. It was Bengals,
Speaker 1: it was Broncos. And yes, that wild card in the
Speaker 1: AFC is a little spicier on Sunday night than it
Speaker 1: was entering Week seventeen. Let's go to pay Corps.
Speaker 8: The Bengals trying to win it from the three yard
Speaker 8: line of Denver Burrow looking to throw his pass.
Speaker 5: It is Tew you're my tea. Hey, guys, touchdown.
Speaker 9: It's Ovengals in the final playoff spot in the AFC
Speaker 9: will not be decided until the final week of the
Speaker 9: regular season. To NATI, Bengals are still alive as Joe
Speaker 9: Burrow hits T Higgins front game winning touchdown.
Speaker 1: Oh great call there by Dan Hord and Dave Lapham
Speaker 1: on w c k Y.
Speaker 5: T Higgins did it.
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow got it done in a game that resembled
Speaker 1: so many other games that the Bengals found ways to
Speaker 1: lose despite their best receivers and their quarterback playing otherworldly football.
Speaker 5: It just they actually got it done. And it was
Speaker 5: partly because T.
Speaker 1: Higgins goes eleven for one point thirty one in three
Speaker 1: touchdowns and if you hear Dave Lapham kind of identifying
Speaker 1: that that ends the game. Maybe it's because Bengals fans
Speaker 1: have never heard an overtime touchdown. It was the first
Speaker 1: one in franchise history. I don't believe that this franchise
Speaker 1: has been around for a long time. It's literally never
Speaker 1: happened before. Just one of many ways Joe Burrow and
Speaker 1: in this case, Tahiggins are kind of breaking barriers as
Speaker 1: this was happening, shook you. Are you thinking, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is why the Bengals are where they are, or are
Speaker 1: you thinking these are two teams that don't really look
Speaker 1: like playoff teams, or are you enjoying the high moments
Speaker 1: and thinking, Okay, this is the best game of the week.
Speaker 2: I'm shouting at my TV when t Higgins makes that
Speaker 2: touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone. For one,
Speaker 2: we definitely reacted that way because that was a phenomenal
Speaker 2: throw and catch, a great partnership between Joe Burrow and
Speaker 2: t Higgins, who had a fantastic day as you just said.
Speaker 2: But no, I'm not thinking that these teams maybe don't
Speaker 2: deserve to be in the playoffs. I'm thinking, what a
Speaker 2: great football game this is. First off, Denver, what a
Speaker 2: great job you did defensively for most of this game,
Speaker 2: holding Cincinnati out of the end zone a couple of
Speaker 2: times down there. That was huge. I'm also thinking in
Speaker 2: my head, Bengals, you're wasting opportunities. You're going to blow
Speaker 2: it right here, and then when they didn't, I was
Speaker 2: jubilant for them. Because they've been through so much this year.
Speaker 2: I would like to see them actually get into the
Speaker 2: playoffs next week. It's going to cost the Broncos a
Speaker 2: spot if they get in there. But these are two
Speaker 2: teams that are close. They're both deserving of a playoff spot,
Speaker 2: a wildcard spot. These are two wildcard teams in my
Speaker 2: mind to put on a great show on Saturday, and
Speaker 2: now you know, we leave it up to the fade
Speaker 2: of Week eighteen to figure out who it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's disappointing for the Broncos to not be able
Speaker 1: to close it out here, but sometimes you got to
Speaker 1: just give credit to the other team. The third and
Speaker 1: nine that Burrow had navigating the pocket and he just
Speaker 1: fits it into the tiniest window to Tea was amazing.
Speaker 1: You could make a top five t Higgins catches from
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow, you know, plays in this game, and it'd
Speaker 1: be a great highlight, Like go watch that the one
Speaker 1: you mentioned into the corner, like just over and over.
Speaker 1: He Burrow was giving his guy a chance to win
Speaker 1: it and he took fifteen hits in this game. Burrow,
Speaker 1: he was sacked six times the Broncos defense, even though
Speaker 1: they were giving up all sorts of yards.
Speaker 5: I agree with Nick, like did a.
Speaker 1: Good job minimizing the damage and making it hard on Burrow,
Speaker 1: and yet he just kept coming at him and Adam.
Speaker 1: The difference today was or Saturday rather, was the defense
Speaker 1: did enough. They were just like a normal defense. They
Speaker 1: weren't great, but they weren't terrible. And they did give
Speaker 1: up a pretty egregious like late drive to the Broncos.
Speaker 1: But even that one you give, you give credit to
Speaker 1: the Broncos for making a crazy catch.
Speaker 5: Marvin Man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, as the game started to progress and gets into
Speaker 3: the fourth quarter, you really saw that this Bengals pass
Speaker 3: rush did not have it. That they weren't getting pressure
Speaker 3: on bo Nicks without blitzing, and it was actually really
Speaker 3: a gift to them. Where there was a second down
Speaker 3: and Sean Payton called a screen. The Bengals were able
Speaker 3: to blow that up and they got pushed back behind
Speaker 3: the sticks. They and then the very next play, bo
Speaker 3: Nicks throws an interception I believe it was, comes up
Speaker 3: with the interception and that gives the ball back. Eventually,
Speaker 3: t Higgins actually has a fumble forced by Patrick's rattan.
Speaker 4: He makes up for that after that because.
Speaker 3: He pretty much goes nuclear after that with two touchdowns,
Speaker 3: including the game winner. But there were chances that the
Speaker 3: Broncos had to end this game, including at the end
Speaker 3: of regulation.
Speaker 4: Bo Nicks wanted to go for two.
Speaker 3: Sean Payton looking over telling Bo, hey, if we get
Speaker 3: a tie, none of this matters. And then in after
Speaker 3: the Bengals don't score on their first overtime possession, the
Speaker 3: Broncos take it pretty conservatively, Greg, Yeah, give them the
Speaker 3: ball back.
Speaker 4: Leading to that, I think.
Speaker 1: The tie got in Sean Payton's head, and I think
Speaker 1: he made a big mistake. Let's listen, because there is
Speaker 1: so much game management stuff. It was a fascinating game
Speaker 1: at the end here.
Speaker 4: Much worse on the Bengals side.
Speaker 1: I don't think it was as bad as you think.
Speaker 1: Actually I really don't. But the Broncos get the ball
Speaker 1: back in regulation with one twenty nine to go, and
Speaker 1: bo Nicks was all over the place in this game.
Speaker 1: A really poor first half, I would say, just in
Speaker 1: terms of their passing production. Even though he only had
Speaker 1: two incompletions, they were averaging like four yards per attempt.
Speaker 5: They weren't really moving the ball.
Speaker 1: Then he comes out of halftime as one of the
Speaker 1: best throws of the year, like the longest air yard
Speaker 1: throw the year for a touchdown, has that egregious interception, but.
Speaker 5: Has another touchdown drive.
Speaker 1: Then he gets the ball back with one t nine,
Speaker 1: knowing that he needs a touchdown, and they get in
Speaker 1: a tough spot after a couple of nice plays.
Speaker 5: To get to midfield.
Speaker 1: It's fourth and eight and I thought this could have
Speaker 1: been one of the plays of the year.
Speaker 10: Burden the fullback to the left of Knicks, Bengals rush
Speaker 10: four Knicks deep drought. Now Rolls's right blows the ball
Speaker 10: he wants Mems in the corner of the end zone.
Speaker 5: Marvin goes up, makes the catch. That's a different touchdown.
Speaker 7: Stud here at pay Course Stadium, a twenty five yard
Speaker 7: touchdown pass Knicks to Mems.
Speaker 1: I mean when Nicks was facing immediate pressure on that
Speaker 1: play and he's just bailing out to his right and
Speaker 1: he throws that thing up. When he threw it, I
Speaker 1: thought there's zero chance that is going to be completed.
Speaker 1: And Marvin Mims, of all people, mosses a couple of defenders.
Speaker 5: That's just great football.
Speaker 1: And at that point you go for the TWU san
Speaker 1: and he's thinking about the tie and they were going
Speaker 1: for two, but they they checked the play, and while
Speaker 1: they were reviewing it, he changed his mind.
Speaker 5: And you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: If they tied the game, they would have gone to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And I think that got in his head.
Speaker 1: First possession of overtime, he gets conservative. I agree, and
Speaker 1: then they get bailed out and they get a second
Speaker 1: possession because the Bengals dooink a field goal. That was
Speaker 1: the only egregious mistake I think Zach Taylor made was
Speaker 1: not continuing to play offense in the overtime drive and
Speaker 1: kicking that field goal on third down. When your kicker
Speaker 1: is Kade York, I don't care how close you get,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter.
Speaker 5: Just try to score the touchdown.
Speaker 1: Like be safe, maybe with the concern with the play
Speaker 1: calls or whatever, but just keep advancing it.
Speaker 5: Don't just stop.
Speaker 1: You literally lost the game against the Ravens in overtime
Speaker 1: earlier this season doing the same thing. But he misses
Speaker 1: the kick, and then the following sequence, Nicks, you know
Speaker 1: just missed is a throw on third down that was
Speaker 1: pretty open.
Speaker 5: I almost don't want to give.
Speaker 1: The Bengals defense too much credit, Shook, because the reality
Speaker 1: is his Nicks missed two open receivers on third down
Speaker 1: in overtime, and if Nicks literally hits that throw where
Speaker 1: he's stepping up in the pocket in overtime and he's
Speaker 1: got someone crossing, they get a first down there, the
Speaker 1: game is basically over and the Broncos are gonna take
Speaker 1: the tie and it's going to be extremely disappointed. So
Speaker 1: I'm glad he missed it just for the drama that
Speaker 1: we're getting week eighteen. But what did you think of
Speaker 1: the game management stuff and everything that went on here?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were deeping the TI zone at that point,
Speaker 2: and it's one of those situations where you're like the
Speaker 2: Bengals they have to win to stay alive, so they
Speaker 2: got to go full force, but they don't really have
Speaker 2: the game and their control right now because they're at
Speaker 2: the mercy of the Broncos offense. But it really spoke
Speaker 2: to Bonnicks as a rookie, to me more than anything,
Speaker 2: which is he has these highlight moments where he throws
Speaker 2: a fifty one yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims and
Speaker 2: it's like, I didn't even know you had that in you.
Speaker 2: I know you stepped into that to get that down there.
Speaker 2: But what a throw and at least.
Speaker 1: Seven area yards, the second longest in next gen stat's his.
Speaker 1: I will give a cookie to if either of you
Speaker 1: guys know what the longest one is. This is only
Speaker 1: since twenty sixteen that next instance has been keeping.
Speaker 5: Anthony ran on this very show. That is not it.
Speaker 1: I have called it one of the greatest throws of
Speaker 1: all time over and over. It's the PJ Walker to
Speaker 1: DJ Moore throw, which just as a pure throw is
Speaker 1: maybe the best thro I've ever seen in my entire life.
Speaker 5: A couple of years ago. And then wow, the shocking
Speaker 5: yeah he got in one.
Speaker 1: It really was, I mean, situation, accuracy, length, all of
Speaker 1: it was incredible.
Speaker 5: But man, bo Nick's that's it.
Speaker 1: Like he had such crazy highlights in this game and
Speaker 1: he ends up with two nineteen and three touchdowns, one interception.
Speaker 1: You think he played a great game, and it's just
Speaker 1: up and down, which is gonna happen with rookies and
Speaker 1: this defense, I guess Unfortunately it was like a little
Speaker 1: more up and down. The thing I will defend Zach
Speaker 1: Taylor about Shook is at the end of regulation, they
Speaker 1: are going in to try to win the game, and
Speaker 1: Chase Brown injures himself sliding at the one, and they
Speaker 1: were planning to kick the ball with about ten seconds
Speaker 1: to go there and Chase Brown sliding and getting hurt
Speaker 1: changed the math and at that point I understood going
Speaker 1: for the touchdown, Like, did you.
Speaker 5: Have any problem with that?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 5: I got it.
Speaker 1: I am always looking to criticize Zach Taylor, and actually
Speaker 1: I don't think there was anything he particularly did wrong
Speaker 1: here until overtime. You got a little conservative kick, you know,
Speaker 1: kicking that field goal.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that speaks to sometimes you can overmanage
Speaker 2: a game, and I think both coaches kind of did
Speaker 2: in that situation go you know, overtime, Both of them
Speaker 2: coach tight in overtime, which is, you know what led
Speaker 2: to the result and the fact that you miss a
Speaker 2: field goal and everything else. But like I think sometimes
Speaker 2: in that situation you can overthink it and then cost
Speaker 2: yourself an opportunity. And let's face it, this is a
Speaker 2: Bengals offense that was twice in a goal to go
Speaker 2: situation and didn't convert and they had to settle for
Speaker 2: three one time and turn it over on downs another time.
Speaker 2: So you can't like you're not gonna count your your chickens, right, like,
Speaker 2: you're just gonna get it in there when you can
Speaker 2: get it in there in a tai football game, and
Speaker 2: that's what they did. So I was fine with it,
Speaker 2: but I did as soon as Burrow got across the
Speaker 2: goal line, which wasn't an immediate ruling. It took a
Speaker 2: second before the crowd erupted. In the back of my mind,
Speaker 2: I was like, no, no, they got a timeout. They
Speaker 2: still up.
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, but the only they all they could have
Speaker 1: done in theory was like kneel on second down and
Speaker 1: try to score a third and you just take away
Speaker 1: a time out. At that point, the math had changed
Speaker 1: because Chase Brown got hurt. They would have been giving
Speaker 1: the ball back to the Broncos with like thirty five
Speaker 1: forty seconds left, only needing three.
Speaker 5: I actually am I'm with Zach Taylor.
Speaker 1: I'd rather be up seven with a minute and a
Speaker 1: half to go and be able to prevent a touchdown.
Speaker 1: And there's no guarantee, as you said that they even
Speaker 1: were going to score the touchdown. They were stopped in
Speaker 1: the red zone. And that might have been playing in
Speaker 1: his mind too. That's like, let's try to score as
Speaker 1: many points as we could at that point once the
Speaker 1: Brown injury happened.
Speaker 3: Well, I think a big factor that maybe needs to
Speaker 3: be considered is the Broncos were trying to let them
Speaker 3: score the touchdown. That that's what plays the decision making
Speaker 3: for me. Where if you run that quarterback sneak when
Speaker 3: the Broncos are willing to concede the touchdown and you
Speaker 3: don't necessarily have to score on that play, and then
Speaker 3: the Denver Broncos can use the time out. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's it's a very niche scenario because how often are
Speaker 3: you practicing having a quarterback sneak from the one yard
Speaker 3: line that doesn't score. But if the math is to
Speaker 3: have Chase Brown go down, which it was why Chase
Speaker 3: acknowledge that Coach Taylor they told them before, then I
Speaker 3: don't necessarily know how much of the calculus that changes.
Speaker 1: It changes a ton because you're scoring with ten seconds
Speaker 1: left instead of forty seconds left.
Speaker 5: That's a huge difference.
Speaker 3: Five And your pass rush, which hasn't been able to
Speaker 3: get to bow Nicks for the majority of the fourth quarter,
Speaker 3: immediately it haves them go all the way down the
Speaker 3: field and score with fourteen seconds remaining in the ball.
Speaker 5: That's football. It was fun.
Speaker 1: You're here, right though, I mean, commn Burrow, You're right,
Speaker 1: like there was so much to get into mentally and physically.
Speaker 1: But Burrow, it's why I'm really excited that they have
Speaker 1: the voting with the MVP. How they have it now,
Speaker 1: how we've been doing it on Monday nights, shuck. And
Speaker 1: maybe we'll have to revisit MVP here for week eighteen
Speaker 1: that it's a five person ballot because I don't know
Speaker 1: what Burrow.
Speaker 5: Is going to finish.
Speaker 1: Some people are going to push for him to get
Speaker 1: first place. I think he'll get it some first place votes,
Speaker 1: depending on how happens. I think in the end, he'll
Speaker 1: probably finish third or fourth. But I like that we
Speaker 1: have that document and that people will be like that
Speaker 1: he's going to be on the ballot, whereas in the
Speaker 1: past there just would have maybe been zero Joe Burrow
Speaker 1: votes at all. And I like, just as a document
Speaker 1: we see, okay, he's third or fourth. Hell, Sam Darnold
Speaker 1: might be finishing like fifth, sixth or seventh in the
Speaker 1: MVP vote, which I think is incredible that that will
Speaker 1: be a document, and so I think that's cool. And
Speaker 1: he he is playing quarterbacks as well as anyone.
Speaker 5: He would not be my MVP vote.
Speaker 1: We do not need to litigate that here today, but
Speaker 1: my god, he he is playing some incredible football. He
Speaker 1: really reminds me of next generation, like evolution of Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: like more than any other just more athletic, obviously, like
Speaker 1: if Tom Brady, you know, could move, but other than that,
Speaker 1: just he reminds me more of Tom Brady than any
Speaker 1: other player I've ever watched.
Speaker 5: What a performance.
Speaker 1: I'm glad they finally got to win against a team
Speaker 1: with the winning record, So that puts him at eight
Speaker 1: and eight, Broncos at nine and seven. They have not clinched.
Speaker 1: The Bengals then sat back and they decided to watch
Speaker 1: what was gonna happen on Sunday because they knew they
Speaker 1: needed some help. They needed the Colts and the Dolphins
Speaker 1: to lose over the next two weeks. They were hoping,
Speaker 1: can we get one, maybe two of those? During Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: Let's go to MetLife Stadium.
Speaker 10: Lockfall's out signal takes the snap, playfish lock back to throw,
Speaker 10: rolls his luck.
Speaker 4: He's got a lane, He's.
Speaker 1: To the five.
Speaker 5: He goes into the end zel touchdown, and the.
Speaker 10: Giants respawn Drew Locke on a third and goal at
Speaker 10: the five runs it in June fifty seven ago, forty
Speaker 10: one thirty three Giants.
Speaker 5: Boom, Bob Papa. I don't know if he was happy.
Speaker 4: Everybody was. The crowd shots are hilarious.
Speaker 5: Drew Lock was happy?
Speaker 1: That was wfan Giants fans maybe not. What if I
Speaker 1: told you Nick that Drew Lock threw for three hundred
Speaker 1: and nine yards in a game where he only threw
Speaker 1: the ball twenty three times. What if I told you
Speaker 1: he had four interceptions and he knocked out a former
Speaker 1: Super Bowl MVP from playoff contention.
Speaker 5: The Colts are done.
Speaker 1: The Giants win forty five to thirty three, and there
Speaker 1: was much celebration in Cincinnati.
Speaker 2: Well, I would tell you that he has Milik Neighbors
Speaker 2: on his team. Yes, because that was what happened on two.
Speaker 2: It was short passes and militic neighbors and all of
Speaker 2: sudden Neighbors was gone through traffic down the field, touchdown,
Speaker 2: another one touchdown. He did spread the ball around really well.
Speaker 2: He went to Wandale Robinson, a good to mount. He
Speaker 2: was a Darius Slayton for a touchdown. He looked sharp
Speaker 2: and the numbers back it up efficiency wise, Like you said,
Speaker 2: seventeen to twenty three with four touchdowns as the best
Speaker 2: game drew locks played in the ENA, and it came
Speaker 2: against a Colts team that had to win to stay alive.
Speaker 2: It was like, this is what happened in the league
Speaker 2: sometimes every once in a while, a team that you
Speaker 2: definitely think you should dominate, who just got dominated a
Speaker 2: week prior by another team fighting for their playoff lives
Speaker 2: comes in and has their best game of the year
Speaker 2: when it means nothing to them, and leaves their fans conflicted.
Speaker 2: Do we enjoy this win? Do we get upset about
Speaker 2: the fact that our draft pick is worse Even when
Speaker 2: things are going well, they're still going poorly for us.
Speaker 2: But it was really fun to watch. It was fun
Speaker 2: to watch Giants fans enjoy a home win for once.
Speaker 2: They were ohnate at home going into this game, and
Speaker 2: Lot comes out and balls out, leaning on Milik neighbors,
Speaker 2: and it opens up the rest of the offense and
Speaker 2: they have a fantastic day against the Colts team that
Speaker 2: couldn't get out of their own way in the first
Speaker 2: half and then mounted a comeback effort a little too
Speaker 2: late and kind of imploded down the stretch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Giants fall to fourth according to Tankathon in
Speaker 1: the draft positioning, still a lot to be determined there.
Speaker 1: There are nine teams that have either three or four losses.
Speaker 1: Four of them have three losses. We'll talk about them
Speaker 1: coming up. But it's kind of a a come to
Speaker 1: Jesus moment, I think for this Colt organization. Patrick obviously
Speaker 1: Gus Bradley's defense in the crosshres.
Speaker 11: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Here, and just to piggyback on what Nick said, like
Speaker 1: this was a Neighbor's performance that just reminded you like
Speaker 1: he's got a little bit of Chasing Jefferson in him,
Speaker 1: that he can do every type of catch there possibly
Speaker 1: is in any yards after catch, like the second I
Speaker 1: wrote that Brian Thomas's wide receiver won in this class,
Speaker 1: like definitively on Twitter. He just went a little extra
Speaker 1: and I think the reasonable minds could disagree there.
Speaker 5: But Neighbors is special.
Speaker 1: But still to give up forty five to the Giants
Speaker 1: in a playoff type situation is tough. And they've spent
Speaker 1: a lot of money quietly on that defense, a lot
Speaker 1: of draft picks too, they have.
Speaker 3: They got the first player drafted on the defensive side
Speaker 3: of the ball. This year they come into MetLife where
Speaker 3: the Giants now thirty four percent of the points the
Speaker 3: Giants have scored at MetLife Stadium this season came in
Speaker 3: Week seventeen against the Indianapolis wo It was it was
Speaker 3: that type of game and joke was talking about the
Speaker 3: Drew Locks career performance. One hundred and five of those
Speaker 3: yards were after the catch for Malik Neighbors. Wow today,
Speaker 3: including that a huge A couple of huge ones after
Speaker 3: the catch on the screen. One was fifty plus on
Speaker 3: a crosser for Malik Neighbors, but the Colts moved the
Speaker 3: ball Joe Fleaco through for three hundred and thirty yards.
Speaker 3: He had two interceptions, including one that ended the game.
Speaker 3: There was a two point conversion that could have tied
Speaker 3: the game where they run the hook and ladder and
Speaker 3: mpj is picked pitching the ball to Jonathan Taylor and
Speaker 3: the pitch came out a little too fast and it
Speaker 3: winds up hitting the ground, bouncing out of bounds.
Speaker 5: But I mean, that's been kind to Jonathan Taylor.
Speaker 1: At a certain point, you do expect this great athlete
Speaker 1: that Jonathan Taylor is to be better at catching the ball.
Speaker 1: It's been a it's but maybe you shouldn't drop that
Speaker 1: play for him because that it's been a problem for
Speaker 1: him since since he entered the league.
Speaker 3: And ultimately that was there were no catches for Jonathan
Speaker 3: Taylor through the or on that pitch. So he did
Speaker 3: have one hundred and twenty five yards on the ground,
Speaker 3: two touchdowns, a strong finish for Jonathan Taylor on the ground.
Speaker 3: But we're we're still sitting here with this Colts defense
Speaker 3: with an opportunity again with a team that has basically
Speaker 3: done nothing at home. And after the game, you know,
Speaker 3: Brian Daboles talking about getting.
Speaker 4: Great play from a quarterback.
Speaker 3: Maybe a sneak disc that's not so sneaky directed at
Speaker 3: senior dimes.
Speaker 12: Have any inkling that you could have a big day offensively?
Speaker 9: You know, it just hasn't been there.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 13: I think if if you get good quarterback play, you
Speaker 13: know you have an opportunity in every game.
Speaker 4: Wow, not wrong, It's true.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a sneak thisss at dives. I
Speaker 1: think it's at the front office. Maybe I'm reading too
Speaker 1: much into it, but I think that's a guy who's like,
Speaker 1: you're gonna you're gonna f and fire me. You're gonna
Speaker 1: keep You're gonna keep this guy who looked like a
Speaker 1: fool frankly on Hard Knocks, Joe Shane, and you're gonna
Speaker 1: fire me because I think that's the expectation right now
Speaker 1: in New York, and I think that's his expectation. And
Speaker 1: I could be reading into it, but I think that
Speaker 1: was his parting shot was like, and I know neighbors
Speaker 1: is the reason they got, They got, you know, so
Speaker 1: many yards and everything. Today he's like, this is the
Speaker 1: situation you stuck me with. If you at any point
Speaker 1: you had given me a quarterback.
Speaker 4: Was was was it?
Speaker 3: Joe shanees called to have de Vito in because if
Speaker 3: de Vito doesn't get hurt, then Drew Lock's not playing
Speaker 3: in this game and having this career performance fair being
Speaker 3: the only touch the only quarterback the season with four
Speaker 3: touchdowns and one rushing touchdown.
Speaker 1: It's been my most lukewarm take that, Uh, Drew Locke
Speaker 1: is a massive upgrade on Tommy DeVito and actually hasn't
Speaker 1: been that bad last few weeks. He just looks like
Speaker 1: a backup quarterback who's gonna have crazy ups and downs
Speaker 1: this game does feel more about the Colts. But it
Speaker 1: is funny to me that shar Sanders supposedly wore kind
Speaker 1: of giants colored theme fleats at his bowl game.
Speaker 5: Did you guys know this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'll go on them. I'd seen them in.
Speaker 1: Kind of amazing and now they're there fourth. Although they
Speaker 1: they could very easily end up with Sugar Sanders, they
Speaker 1: could still end up with the number one pick.
Speaker 5: Like it is all it's all.
Speaker 3: Posserble, it's all in the air. It wouldn't have been
Speaker 3: had they lost. They lost this game, but it's all
Speaker 3: in the air.
Speaker 5: So is the future of the Colts. So the Colts.
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe this that they have made the playoffs
Speaker 1: twice since twenty fourteen. Don't we think of the Colts
Speaker 1: as a better franchise than that? That's that's not much.
Speaker 1: They do not have a division title in the Chris
Speaker 1: Ballard era, which feels like like.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, but they've been in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't know, that's not a great division
Speaker 1: and you haven't won it once in a really long stretch.
Speaker 1: Every other team in the in the division over that
Speaker 1: stretch has won it at least twice.
Speaker 2: Wow, you tie that the quarterback. I mean they've had
Speaker 2: a turnstyle at quarterback since the one great year with him.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well it's like, oh my gosh, and I saw this response,
Speaker 1: so I'm stealing it. I forget Who's It's like, oh no,
Speaker 1: like our our franchise quarterback retired sixty five games ago.
Speaker 5: It's like yeah, Like, it's like, let's get over it.
Speaker 2: They're they're living in a land of delusion where they
Speaker 2: think they're better than they they are and they can
Speaker 2: stop gap the quarterback position. Then they went and drafted
Speaker 2: a guy and he got hurt after a month, but
Speaker 2: showed just enough to make you think, well, if he's healthy,
Speaker 2: he'll be great. And then he came back this year
Speaker 2: and struggle with accuracy to the point you benched him
Speaker 2: for Joe Flacco. Then he sucked, you went back to Richardson.
Speaker 2: He's hurt today, Flacco's back in. There's no stability at
Speaker 2: the position. This is why they have the problems they have.
Speaker 2: They need to look in the mirror and realize we're
Speaker 2: not as good as we think we are. But we
Speaker 2: first need to solidify quarterback, the most important position in sports,
Speaker 2: before we can do anything else. And I think that
Speaker 2: a lot of that will come down to what they
Speaker 2: do with Richardson in the offseason. I mean not saying
Speaker 2: that they're going to move him, but they need to
Speaker 2: work on some of his fundamentals. Work on the accuracy,
Speaker 2: because if he gets that figured out, there's your answer.
Speaker 5: That's fit. They were better without everything. They would have
Speaker 5: been better today with him.
Speaker 3: Quarterbacks, he probably would have won today Quarterback's notwithstanding, Drew
Speaker 3: Locke is going to have a memorabilia in his house
Speaker 3: from this game for the rest of his life. Right,
Speaker 3: if it's Joe Flacco, if it's Nick Shook, if it's
Speaker 3: Greg Rosenthal starting for the Coals, it does not matter
Speaker 3: the New York Giants.
Speaker 4: The twenty four New York Giants scored forty five points.
Speaker 5: That is out righteous.
Speaker 1: So obviously gus Bly's gone and people have been speculating, like, oh,
Speaker 1: Eberflus will come back. That's assuming Stiking's gone. Ryan Kelly
Speaker 1: spoke tearfully after the game. I think he's gonna retire.
Speaker 1: This game reminds me so much of the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: one finale that the Colts had where they completely collapsed
Speaker 1: against the Terrible Jaguars. Team, and it got Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: out the paint basically, and people now it seems obvious,
Speaker 1: but at the time that was kind of surprising. After
Speaker 1: that season, I think this game gets Chris Ballad fired.
Speaker 1: I've just seen enough ways that season ends that this
Speaker 1: is the type of game that a big change happens.
Speaker 1: Whether that means Stikeen goes or not. That could be
Speaker 1: up to the next GM.
Speaker 5: Who knows. You could see a situation.
Speaker 1: But I just have a feeling that Jim Ursay will
Speaker 1: make a change that this game is gonna have some
Speaker 1: big repercussions. So the Colts they're out, They are no
Speaker 1: longer in the hunt. Take them off the graphic. They
Speaker 1: played in the early window, the Dolphins played in the
Speaker 1: late window. Would they stay on the graphic?
Speaker 4: Versten, It's a thirteen yard hunder play.
Speaker 5: Absolutely rolling to his right, he is gonna run with
Speaker 5: the football. Don't concurve me the end.
Speaker 4: Zoe reach in touchdown.
Speaker 5: Wow?
Speaker 2: Tell me, I thought he's going out of bounc He's
Speaker 2: stayed in on his feet.
Speaker 4: What a run by Tyler Huntley.
Speaker 5: What a run? What a performance? What do you know?
Speaker 5: You let a guy practice in.
Speaker 1: Your offense for a couple of months who knows how
Speaker 1: to play at the pro level, and he looks a
Speaker 1: lot better than when you just stick him in there,
Speaker 1: because he's the fourth quarterback that you can, you know,
Speaker 1: put in the lineup. Twenty two for twenty six were
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty five yards and a touchdown through
Speaker 1: the air for Huntley.
Speaker 5: He also led the team in rushing.
Speaker 1: He doubled anyone else in rushing with fifty two on
Speaker 1: the ground. The Dolphins cruise twenty to three. They're eight
Speaker 1: and eight, and there's a real chance here, shook, that
Speaker 1: they make the playoffs.
Speaker 5: And it's not the Broncos.
Speaker 1: If the Broncos lose next week, and it's not the
Speaker 1: Bengals because the Dolphins are ahead of them in the
Speaker 1: pecking order, that it's the Dolphins at nine to eight
Speaker 1: that get into the playoffs.
Speaker 4: What do you think?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the sneaky little back door entry for the Dolphins
Speaker 2: who we all left for dead. Oh, I don't know,
Speaker 2: six to eight weeks ago when they looked awful before
Speaker 2: they even got to a back and even then it
Speaker 2: didn't look too great. And now suddenly here they are.
Speaker 2: They win a game without to against the Browns, team that. Granted,
Speaker 2: if it was pretty much any other team, it would
Speaker 2: have been a closer game because the Browns offense is
Speaker 2: that bad. But the Dolphins go on the road and
Speaker 2: get the job done. Now, I will say this, it's
Speaker 2: late December, it's supposed to be cold here, it's not.
Speaker 2: It's like sixty degrees out, but it started raining. None
Speaker 2: of that mattered to them. They were one dimensional. None
Speaker 2: of that mattered to them because they got timely played
Speaker 2: from Khalais Campbell on the defensive side, and Tyler Huntley
Speaker 2: was super efficient. He got the ball out quickly, averaging
Speaker 2: two point three seven seconds time to throw in this game,
Speaker 2: just quick passes to tyre Qui Hill, quick passes to
Speaker 2: Johonna Smith for a touchdown, runs for a touchdown, scrambles
Speaker 2: for a big third down. You know, this game finished
Speaker 2: twenty to three, and it wasn't until that Smith touchdown
Speaker 2: pass that it really was officially done. But at the
Speaker 2: same time, I'm sitting there and I'm like, there's no
Speaker 2: chance the Browns come back in this game, Like the
Speaker 2: Dolphins have this one in hand at basically ten to three,
Speaker 2: especially when they got a goal line stand on fourth
Speaker 2: down and turn the Browns away when they should be
Speaker 2: proud of. Honestly, like miss, you were going against enough
Speaker 2: adversity to believe this might be where our season ends.
Speaker 2: Oh you mean the Colts lost and two is not playing.
Speaker 2: We're screwed. We're gonna blow it. No, they didn't blow it.
Speaker 2: They wouldn't got the job done.
Speaker 5: No, they didn't.
Speaker 1: Now the Browns are closest to tanking of any team
Speaker 1: in the NFL because they're playing a quarterback that clearly
Speaker 1: doesn't give them as good a chance to win as
Speaker 1: another quarterback on their roster.
Speaker 5: That's DTR.
Speaker 1: I liked what I saw at DTR in those preseasons,
Speaker 1: and I kind of get why they just wanted to
Speaker 1: take a look at them and evaluate, and and they've
Speaker 1: been able.
Speaker 4: To look it over.
Speaker 1: Yeah, forty eight dropbacks tonight and they ended up with
Speaker 1: one hundred and sixty two passing yards. And I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna go crazy giving the Dolphins flowers, but they did
Speaker 1: beat two of the actations that I've been you know,
Speaker 1: throwing their way in terms. I guess you're right, it's
Speaker 1: not as cold, but we killed McDaniel for not getting
Speaker 1: it done without Tua. Earlier in the season and he
Speaker 1: had his quarterback ready to go. Now Tua may or
Speaker 1: may not be ready for Week eighteen. He has a
Speaker 1: hip injury that McDaniel said they that didn't get better
Speaker 1: during the week and that there is risk if he
Speaker 1: got hit again that it could get a lot worse.
Speaker 1: Reading between the lines, I think we're seeing Tyler Huntley
Speaker 1: again next week, which means I don't want to see
Speaker 1: them in the playoffs.
Speaker 5: They have the Jets in Week eighteen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was.
Speaker 3: It was that devastating hip injury that ended to his
Speaker 3: career at the University of Alabama. It was the concern
Speaker 3: coming into the draft. It took a long time for recovery.
Speaker 4: It's it was.
Speaker 1: He says it's unrelated for what it's worth, but that
Speaker 1: doesn't mean much to me.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but when when I hear Tua and hip like,
Speaker 3: that's immediately where my mind goes. And of course there's
Speaker 3: the brain injury concerns that a lot of folks have,
Speaker 3: But that was other than the you know, he have
Speaker 3: ankle surgery in college as well. He had that, the
Speaker 3: strap angel ankle surgery. But it was the hip injury
Speaker 3: and all the extensive recovery that he went through where
Speaker 3: he misses these games this season, and as you said,
Speaker 3: you pointed it out, they just weren't prepared to play
Speaker 3: with the backup quarterback. This was the Pro Bowl Tyler Huntley. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we have famously seen. I mean, he comes out there
Speaker 3: and makes those plays. I mean, he made the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 4: Greg.
Speaker 5: It was not his best it was season. He played
Speaker 5: three games.
Speaker 1: He did have a nice stretch the year before, and
Speaker 1: I'm glad this this is one of those games that
Speaker 1: keeps him in the league for an extra three or
Speaker 1: four years. It's good, a little dicey.
Speaker 3: Good because I mean we've we've seen Tim Boyle play
Speaker 3: for multiple teams in four Tyler Huntley, who has a
Speaker 3: Pro Bowl on his record, by the way, I can
Speaker 3: still play. But dtr and the Browns did have a
Speaker 3: fourth and goal and he added an attempt to Jerry
Speaker 3: Judy where Judy had a solid case that Jalen Ramsey
Speaker 3: grabbed him and wrapped around and interfered with that pass attempt.
Speaker 3: But that was the best scoring opportunity. A rough looking
Speaker 3: injury as Chop Robinson went low on Jerome Ford. He
Speaker 3: did not come back into the game, left the game
Speaker 3: with the knee injury there. But this this Dolphins team,
Speaker 3: they get a little bit of help, they can get
Speaker 3: in and I hope they.
Speaker 1: Do, so I don't I'd rather see the Broncos. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even if t was playing. I think to me, the
Speaker 1: Broncos and the Bengals have been more central to my
Speaker 1: experience this season and would just be more interesting. What
Speaker 1: am I even putting the Broncos in there?
Speaker 5: Everyone wants.
Speaker 1: I just want to see Joe Burrow in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: like Dolphins or Broncos whatever, I don't care between the
Speaker 1: two of them. I apologize to you Dolphins, but yeah,
Speaker 1: don't be mad that we all would rather see Joe
Speaker 1: Burrow in the playoffs. And I was saying all week
Speaker 1: weird Tyreek Hill vibes that it was a squeaky wheel
Speaker 1: type of game for him. Nine targets, nine catches, one
Speaker 1: hundred and five yards. All he needed was snow puntley
Speaker 1: to get in there to get off the snide. Although
Speaker 1: there was one play where he got the ball and
Speaker 1: you just thought you were going to see that Tyreek
Speaker 1: for like a long play and they got him by
Speaker 1: the foot.
Speaker 5: No, not that one, another one.
Speaker 1: It's just like and they got him from behind, just
Speaker 1: like by the ankles and like those that's been happening
Speaker 1: a little more with Tyreek k All right, let's take
Speaker 1: a quick break, because that was it for the wild Card.
Speaker 1: It's all set up for a three team battle. The
Speaker 1: Broncos will play the Chiefs next week. Could be against
Speaker 1: their backups. We don't know that for sure.
Speaker 5: We don't know at all.
Speaker 1: The Bengals will have the Steelers tough game, and the Dolphins, Yes,
Speaker 1: they could sneak in the back door against the Jets.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little more about a team. After the
Speaker 1: break that clinched their.
Speaker 13: Spot pistol formation, Herbert takes the snap to throw they
Speaker 13: rush for and takes a shutdown field has mcaukee car
Speaker 13: touchdown Chargers. Let mcconkee fly that plane back to the
Speaker 13: sideline and what away from mconkee to set the Charger
Speaker 13: rookie record for most receiving yards season. He does it
Speaker 13: on that grab a forty yarder for his second touchdown
Speaker 13: of the game. Thank you, Elliott Woolf.
Speaker 1: Oh call him money Talks cass tired by Matt Bunny
Speaker 1: Smith on KYSR. Yes, Money, you said what.
Speaker 5: Some Patriots fans were thinking.
Speaker 1: I was thinking was this is the guy that you
Speaker 1: traded back for to take Jalen Polking. You passed on
Speaker 1: a somewhat undersized white receiver.
Speaker 5: Lad mccakie just eating you up.
Speaker 1: Mccacky won a four rookie receivers to go over a
Speaker 1: thousand yards, by the way, first time in NFL history
Speaker 1: that's ever happened. This Chargers team is awesome. They won
Speaker 1: forty to seven. They only punted twice, They had four
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty eight yards a fifty five percent success rate.
Speaker 5: Herbert just going absolutely nuts.
Speaker 1: They're going for fourth downs at midfield with like twenty
Speaker 1: seven ACKs left in the first half. Total confidence, total trust.
Speaker 1: He comes through in that situation. Great pass, bro Ladd
Speaker 1: is awesome. How dangerous do you think this Chargers team is?
Speaker 1: Now that the offense is kind of cranking up a
Speaker 1: little bit.
Speaker 3: All it took, apparently was the Buccaneers to come out
Speaker 3: here and lay the woods right, and then the past
Speaker 3: two weeks the Chargers have been unstoppable. Where As we
Speaker 3: saw in New England give Buffalo a really solid game.
Speaker 3: I thought that they would move the ball and make
Speaker 3: this know. It was dominant from wire to wire and
Speaker 3: perhaps you know Lad mccauckey extra motivated to get outable
Speaker 3: as money money into me.
Speaker 1: I think he's happy to be playing with Justin Herbert.
Speaker 1: Not that Drake may would be bad, but he's in
Speaker 1: a much better, more stable situation. More on that in
Speaker 1: a second though. A couple of injuries in this game,
Speaker 1: Josh Palmer and Elijah Molden and both got hurt. Elijah
Speaker 1: Mouldens their slot corner, and it'd come back for this
Speaker 1: game that they need it. But man, I do think
Speaker 1: that this matters beating up on a bad defense like
Speaker 1: the Patriots shook, just because we hadn't seen explosive games
Speaker 1: like this from the Charters offense previously, and now they've
Speaker 1: done it two straight weeks. Even JK. Dobbins got going
Speaker 1: at the end. Wasn't amazing, but their success rate was
Speaker 1: pretty high. He was efficient overall. And yeah, man, they
Speaker 1: hit four hundred and twenty one yards to one point
Speaker 1: eighty one total dominance by the offensive line, which granted,
Speaker 1: it's against one of the worst pass rushers I've ever
Speaker 1: seen in terms of the Patriots, but that's what you do.
Speaker 1: You stomp on bad teams. That's what great teams do.
Speaker 1: Maybe the charters of the team you don't want to
Speaker 1: play in the AFC.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when Daniel Aqualley is receiving praise during a blowout
Speaker 2: game as potentially the patriots best defensive lineman, I think
Speaker 2: you know what kind of front you're facing. But I
Speaker 2: will say this, it was a perfect time to activate JK.
Speaker 2: Dobbins from IR and get back and kind of get
Speaker 2: his feet underneath him again. He averaged four yards of
Speaker 2: carry in this game. You can just see how much
Speaker 2: better this offense is when they can run the ball effectively,
Speaker 2: which they have not been able to do without him
Speaker 2: for his duration of his stay on IR. So getting
Speaker 2: him back was big. But yeah, I would agree to you.
Speaker 2: I mean, herb at all data throw like they could
Speaker 2: do whatever they wanted offensively against this defense. It was
Speaker 2: elementary for them. It was just like cruise. It was
Speaker 2: just a Sunday cruise even though it happened on a
Speaker 2: Saturday for the Charges in this game, one of the
Speaker 2: most lopsided games I've seen all year because the Patriots
Speaker 2: the operation is just terrible on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 2: But I don't know if it's I cautioned against it
Speaker 2: because you are playing the Patriots, Like, I wouldn't think, Okay,
Speaker 2: suddenly they're gonna be a team that can just explode
Speaker 2: at any point.
Speaker 1: Fair, but I just thought it was Herbert's two best
Speaker 1: games of the season, perhaps in a row. To do
Speaker 1: it against the Broncos, a much better defense, obviously that's
Speaker 1: more heavily, but to do it again, they weren't having
Speaker 1: games like this earlier in the year, no matter who
Speaker 1: they were playing. Now, the Patriots played a game, unfortunately,
Speaker 1: that is the type of game that gets people fired. Now,
Speaker 1: whether that's coordinators, whether that's Drod Mayo, whether that's Elliott
Speaker 1: Wolf like, who knows, there's really no way to guess.
Speaker 1: But I I think the confusion is just obvious. The
Speaker 1: offense of line is so confused in terms of like
Speaker 1: when to snap the ball, where to go, like just
Speaker 1: really basic stuff. Ramandre Stevenson, according to girod Mayo, was
Speaker 1: going to be benched. He said it thirty minutes before
Speaker 1: the game on the radio. He also said it to
Speaker 1: the broadcast crew. I asked, you know, Chris Rose about it,
Speaker 1: He said it to them. It was actually Van Pelt
Speaker 1: said it came from on you know that he was
Speaker 1: gonna sit to start the game and then he just
Speaker 1: was out there. It's like it's a small thing but
Speaker 1: just keeps happening, like the disorganization. There's some buzz about
Speaker 1: people that have been around at their practices that are
Speaker 1: just like that.
Speaker 5: It's not professional like that. It's just sloppy and it shows.
Speaker 1: Tom Current said something to me that stuck with me,
Speaker 1: which is like, you can't be this bad on the
Speaker 1: field and this bad off and that's what I think
Speaker 1: this coaching staff is and it sucks. Like Keon White
Speaker 1: is out here straight up saying more or less we
Speaker 1: need to change the coaches, like that's some needs to change.
Speaker 5: It's not working, and.
Speaker 1: Drod Mayo again goes on the record and said, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was just a miscommunication.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: We had to talk about it, and they asked White
Speaker 1: about it after the game. He's like, yeah, we talked
Speaker 1: about it, but I stand by what I said. Changes
Speaker 1: need to happen, and it's just it's not great. And
Speaker 1: I think two things can be true, Patrick, because I
Speaker 1: think it's a little bit uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable situation.
Speaker 1: Two things can be true. The New England crowd and
Speaker 1: fan base can be harder on Drod Mayo because he's
Speaker 1: a black head coach than I think they would be otherwise,
Speaker 1: and that it would be unfortunate for Mayo, given a
Speaker 1: really tough situation, to be fired after one year, and
Speaker 1: that there is something to that. And then number two,
Speaker 1: they can be one of the worst coach teams like
Speaker 1: I've ever seen that just on a basic level, it's
Speaker 1: not happening, and at a level that he reminds me
Speaker 1: more of one coach than any other. And it was
Speaker 1: a man that coached Nick Shooks team and it was
Speaker 1: Freddy Kitchens, and that's that's kind of who Mayo reminds
Speaker 1: me of. Because it's it's just a total mess. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's I think it's obvious.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it can be.
Speaker 3: It could be a mess, and there's hopefully another opportunity.
Speaker 3: Uh if this is the end for Gerrod Mayo.
Speaker 5: I I don't know that it will be. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I would just look at the at the roster in
Speaker 3: totality and asking how many how many of these guys
Speaker 3: are going to be contributing to winning rosters years down
Speaker 3: the line. Yep, we've chronicled the problems up front. They
Speaker 3: do get seven points in this game, those seven points.
Speaker 3: I have nothing to do with coaching. It's Pop Douglass
Speaker 3: and Drake may making a play when the Chargers jump offside.
Speaker 3: It's one of the few Chargers mistakes that happened in
Speaker 3: this game that ultimately lead to to seven points. And
Speaker 3: and so I I don't know what the long term aspirations.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, one year, firing after you get
Speaker 3: rid of a legendary head coach after a weird run
Speaker 3: where you've got sneak dishes across multiple venues and documentaries
Speaker 3: and Netflix comedy specials and.
Speaker 5: All of these it's all bad.
Speaker 3: It's all bad that go on where Yeah, it's but
Speaker 3: ultimately I think perhaps it'll be best for both parties,
Speaker 3: Rod Mayo and the Patriots fan base of somebody else
Speaker 3: is coaching.
Speaker 4: I know personally how I feel that.
Speaker 3: You know, I'd love for the Patriots fan base to
Speaker 3: be mad at somebody else and talking about somebody else's mistakes.
Speaker 4: But you know, it's he's a Patriot.
Speaker 3: He came up on the alleged Patriot way, and we'll
Speaker 3: see how things turn out in the future.
Speaker 1: Let's listen to Steve Weisch, our friend who's been getting
Speaker 1: it done lately. I mean he's on Netflix getting watched
Speaker 1: by twenty five million people, and then he flies over
Speaker 1: to Foxborough and he's in an Island game on an
Speaker 1: NFL network. He was with Derwin James and Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: after the game, Justin.
Speaker 7: You passed Peyton Manning for the most passing yards first
Speaker 7: five years and your career.
Speaker 4: What about setting your record and getting a playoff burn You.
Speaker 2: Know, I think it says so much about the guys
Speaker 2: that we've had catching those passes.
Speaker 6: You know, a great offensive line giving me time to
Speaker 6: get the ball off and guys like this getting me
Speaker 6: the ball back.
Speaker 5: So couldn't have done it without him.
Speaker 4: Humble humble right there with what humble man, humble man.
Speaker 4: All right, congratulations, guys, sorry, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: I want the intensity and the happiness which I see
Speaker 1: out of Derwin James after every game.
Speaker 5: It's awesome, much.
Speaker 3: Happier than Justin was about that, and so just even keeled,
Speaker 3: it's like, oh, that's that's neat that I did that thing.
Speaker 5: All right? That is it from Foxborough.
Speaker 1: It is now time for the Sunday Drive, presented by
Speaker 1: the all new hybrid Toyota Camera.
Speaker 5: So Yes, the Chargers. They clinched their playoff spot.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Buffalo where the Bills were trying to
Speaker 1: clench the number two seed in the AFC.
Speaker 5: Clock down to two.
Speaker 7: Here's a step back to pass, has time, rolling to
Speaker 7: his right, try to buy time.
Speaker 5: Heaves it back across the field, looking for.
Speaker 14: Ty Johnson and going up and pulling it down off
Speaker 14: the roof was Keon Coleman for the touchdown.
Speaker 1: That was Keon Coleman getting it done as part of
Speaker 1: a forty to fourteen victory by the Buffalo Bills. It
Speaker 1: was forty to nothing while Aaron Rodgers was in the game.
Speaker 1: Tyrod came in in the fourth quarter immediately led them
Speaker 1: to two touchdowns. If you didn't think a lot of
Speaker 1: people enjoyed that, you're wrong. But this is about Josh
Speaker 1: Allen and the Bills already. Afterwards, Sean mcdermoer indicated that
Speaker 1: there will be some players they want to take a
Speaker 1: look at in week eighteen. I don't know if we're
Speaker 1: going to see a lot of Josh Allen in that game,
Speaker 1: because he played so well all season and in this game,
Speaker 1: they've earned their rest.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and I think it would be a mistake to
Speaker 3: have Josh go out there, because Josh Allen only knows
Speaker 3: one speed, and so those are only bad things that
Speaker 3: could happen in this situation where they didn't really even
Speaker 3: need it. Today, he saw that there was a great
Speaker 3: keyon Coleman touchdown folks bemoaning Amari's targets in the last
Speaker 3: few weeks. He had a chance to go up a
Speaker 3: Massa defender for a touchdown, and meanwhile the Jets could
Speaker 3: do absolutely nothing.
Speaker 4: They had opportunities.
Speaker 3: There was a third and one early on in one
Speaker 3: of their first drives of the game where Kenny boy
Speaker 3: is running a drag. He's wide open, there is nobody
Speaker 3: within five yards of Aaron Rodgers, and he throws the
Speaker 3: ball at his back ankle and then is pointing to
Speaker 3: something after the play, as if as if Kenny Boyce
Speaker 3: should have done something differently on the play where he
Speaker 3: couldn't make a catch that was in the dirt. Then
Speaker 3: Aaron Rodgers had a personal foul pushing down a defender
Speaker 3: after he threw an interception. It was really bad Aaron
Speaker 3: Rodgers game in a dominant win by the Bills.
Speaker 1: We actually have sound of the referee breaking essentially as
Speaker 1: he called the unnecessary penalty on Rogers.
Speaker 7: Rogers had had only one interception in the last eight games,
Speaker 7: matched against fourteen touchdowns, personal foul, unnecessary roughness on.
Speaker 5: Offense number eight.
Speaker 11: He's like, I've never called a late hit on the
Speaker 11: quarterback the opposite way.
Speaker 4: How about that?
Speaker 5: Oh man?
Speaker 1: When you when you think about how things end, sometimes
Speaker 1: they can be ugly. He had just taken the sack record.
Speaker 1: He's been sacked, I believe more than in a quarterback
Speaker 1: in NFL history.
Speaker 4: Is that right?
Speaker 1: And just after that he threw his interception, his second
Speaker 1: of the day, and then was called for an unnecessary
Speaker 1: roughness penalty on a day where he ends up with
Speaker 1: one hundred and twelve yards. It's easy to forget that
Speaker 1: the game was only twelve nothing at that point. It
Speaker 1: was actually, yeah, the Jets defense was game for a
Speaker 1: while here until it wasn't. But a lot of credit
Speaker 1: goes to Christian Benford, who's had a really nice season.
Speaker 1: Nice game, the defense plays well, and yeah, Josh out
Speaker 1: there throwing some dimes and hell, even Mitch Trubisky was
Speaker 1: throwing dimes late in this game. That's when that's when
Speaker 1: you know, uh, it's time to just kind of move
Speaker 1: to the postseason.
Speaker 2: Shook one for one for sixty nine yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 2: Mitch Trubisky have a day, sir. It's uh. First off,
Speaker 2: I can't believe they gave Nanson Romo this game. First off. Secondly,
Speaker 2: a good good day for the Bills to kind of
Speaker 2: wash away some of those defensive concerns because even the
Speaker 2: Patriots gave him a run for their money last week.
Speaker 2: To just put together a dominant performance like this, especially
Speaker 2: in the second half, that's big. But yeah, look, man,
Speaker 2: there's our There are scores varon Rodgers haters out there
Speaker 2: that very much enjoyed this today. It's a dark time
Speaker 2: for the Jets. They have a lot of things to
Speaker 2: answer in the offseason. But I'll say one thing throw
Speaker 2: away that gift receipt for that pendant, Josh Allen, you
Speaker 2: can hang on to that MVP pendant, especially if your
Speaker 2: rest next next week. I think you got a good
Speaker 2: shout at it. Now, what for the MVP yep?
Speaker 1: Okay, So the pendant was what it was, came from
Speaker 1: his offensive line.
Speaker 2: It was like it was like an encrusted pendant with
Speaker 2: a seventeen. It was a jersey and it said MVP.
Speaker 4: Where the name goes.
Speaker 2: He can keep that.
Speaker 5: That's cool, Well, I mean he can.
Speaker 3: I mean if they say he's the you know, those
Speaker 3: are the voters that matter to Josh Allen the power
Speaker 3: of fringship.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know. I think it's gonna be close.
Speaker 1: All precincts aren't reporting, But I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: know how to.
Speaker 5: I don't know how this one's gonna go. I think
Speaker 5: we need.
Speaker 3: Nobody does, because it's it's kind of nebulous, and it's
Speaker 3: it's vibe based.
Speaker 4: It's it's like the college football playoff rankings.
Speaker 1: I like, who knows. People always say it's a narrative award.
Speaker 1: To a point, it's also a status award. And if
Speaker 1: if Lamar Jackson ends up leading the NFL and yards
Speaker 1: per carry, yards per attempt and has the greatest QB
Speaker 1: rating and touchdown interception ratio in NFL history, which he
Speaker 1: has a good chance for.
Speaker 5: He has it right now.
Speaker 1: In terms of TD interception he's second all the time
Speaker 1: and qbrating like, those are a lot of stats and
Speaker 1: I think I think he'd have a chance.
Speaker 5: And who knows.
Speaker 1: If Joe burghes crazy like maybe that the maybe voting
Speaker 1: for five people have untold. I don't really know why
Speaker 1: that would affect it too much, but yeah, I think
Speaker 1: this game cements Rogers getting booted if him making jokes
Speaker 1: about Brick Johnson cutting him didn't because he actually was
Speaker 1: playing better, And just from a pure football standpoint, just
Speaker 1: because the market is so barren and the contract is
Speaker 1: so difficult, they're going to have so much did cap.
Speaker 1: There is a football argument that's like, actually, he might
Speaker 1: as well be your bridge quarterback. But I think with
Speaker 1: the comments that he made and the way this game
Speaker 1: played out there there's less of a chance. And it's
Speaker 1: also hilarious that Tyrod Taylor has directed three drives this
Speaker 1: season and he has three touchdown So Brick, you were right,
Speaker 1: maybe we should have gotten to Tyrod back in the day.
Speaker 1: That was the Sunday Drive presented by the all new
Speaker 1: hybrid Toyota Camra. Whatever your vibe, it's a camera vibe.
Speaker 1: Learn more at Toyota dot com slash Camery. So we're
Speaker 1: done with the AFC. There bills are at the two spot.
Speaker 1: The three spot's gonna be determined by the AFC North winner.
Speaker 1: That will come down to the Steelers in the Ravens
Speaker 1: in Week eighteen. But what about the NFC West winner.
Speaker 1: We came into the week with that wide open. Let's
Speaker 1: go all the way back to Thursday night in a
Speaker 1: game that you may or may not have watched. That's
Speaker 1: why you got to learn about it. To Chicago.
Speaker 11: Fourth down and ten, Right here, Williams shotgun snap blitz
Speaker 11: is coming.
Speaker 5: Williams throws the ball up for grabs.
Speaker 15: The ball is intercepted if Roland comes near side, knocked
Speaker 15: out of bounds. The first takeaway of the game by
Speaker 15: the Seahawks could not have come in a better time.
Speaker 15: The fans head for the exits, and the Seahawks are
Speaker 15: gonna win this ball game by a score of six
Speaker 15: to three.
Speaker 5: In the words.
Speaker 11: Of Mike Holmgren many years ago, a same score in
Speaker 11: Cleveland between the Seahawks and the Browns. He said, set
Speaker 11: offensive football back thirty years.
Speaker 5: But that's okay, we'll take it.
Speaker 1: Ooh, great job there by our producer Eric Roberts getting
Speaker 1: that sell the team chant in and yeah, they they
Speaker 1: went hard at it during the Amazon postgame show.
Speaker 5: I don't think that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I don't think the Seahawks are gonna win this division either,
Speaker 1: But I wanted to go in chronological order to explain
Speaker 1: how this week played out. The Seahawks are at nine
Speaker 1: and seven. They're well over their win total for the season.
Speaker 1: They basically are the team people are expected, except a
Speaker 1: little a little better, maybe even, but struggling on offense.
Speaker 1: They get a win six to three. Not a good
Speaker 1: day for my guy. Gino did not look healthy, but
Speaker 1: we were stuck watching for the last time shook. Actually
Speaker 1: it could maybe it won't be the last time the
Speaker 1: Bears killing the clock on themselves. I swear this has happened.
Speaker 1: I mean, how many last drives have we watched from
Speaker 1: the Bears that have just been mangled? They got the
Speaker 1: ball back with just under six minutes to go, and
Speaker 1: the game finished on that interception with them on the
Speaker 1: forty yard line.
Speaker 5: Like it took them six minutes to get.
Speaker 1: To the forty yard line when the clock was really important,
Speaker 1: and they only ended up with one hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: nine yards. A lot of them was on that last drive.
Speaker 1: It was just a totally dominant effort by the Seahawks
Speaker 1: defense at least gave them a chance entering the rest
Speaker 1: of the weekend.
Speaker 5: I don't know what you want to say about this game, Nick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I'll say this. I had a flashback to
Speaker 2: being in my grandparents' kitchen and considering a second helping
Speaker 2: of Thanksgiving dinner when I watched that final drive, because
Speaker 2: that looked a lot like they're lost in Detroit moments
Speaker 2: before Matt Eberflus was fired the next day rough for
Speaker 2: the Bears. It sent off a lot of people online
Speaker 2: saying Madden players would be better at managing clock than
Speaker 2: the Bears coaches have been this season, which, okay, all right,
Speaker 2: that's a shot, and you're taking a shot there. But
Speaker 2: this is kind of feels like the way the Seahawks
Speaker 2: have been trending for the last few weeks, which is like,
Speaker 2: you know, you kind of get dominated by the Packers
Speaker 2: once you lose Geno in that game and Sam Holliget's
Speaker 2: in there, and it's just like the out of steam,
Speaker 2: Like they started to figure it out defensively and they
Speaker 2: peaked and now they're just out of gas. Which I
Speaker 2: guess that's still better than what we thought. You talked
Speaker 2: about the win total of their past that so good season,
Speaker 2: But are there moral victories? I don't think there are,
Speaker 2: So it's gonna be disappointing ultimately in the end, and
Speaker 2: this game kind of captured that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Gino wasn't moving well in this game and the
Speaker 1: I don't know if it was the injury, but he
Speaker 1: only attempted five throws over ten yards and most of
Speaker 1: those were late before that there was nothing past the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage.
Speaker 5: He was limping a little bit out there.
Speaker 1: Caleb, by the way, on throws over ten yards, one
Speaker 1: for nine for fifteen yards and in an interception. I
Speaker 1: can I think I know which play that was, which
Speaker 1: was his best play of the game down which came
Speaker 1: on the Was that the fourth down?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Okay, So his next best play in the game, though,
Speaker 1: I thought was telling, which was after he fumbled the snap,
Speaker 1: because it just let him be like, Okay, I gotta
Speaker 1: go make a play. And I do think he's has
Speaker 1: this weird mental thing going on where he's just trying
Speaker 1: to from the pocket and try almost not to make plays.
Speaker 1: And the best place he make, like that fourth down
Speaker 1: to a dunes or the one after the fumble, is
Speaker 1: when he just goes out there and makes Caleb plays.
Speaker 1: I mean, he actually had a number of great throws
Speaker 1: in this game. One was a touchdown that was called back,
Speaker 1: and so you saw what makes Caleb special. But otherwise
Speaker 1: it was gross. I mean, they had seven drives that
Speaker 1: went for under twenty yards in this game.
Speaker 3: There was an opportunity to I believe Keenan Allen in
Speaker 3: the middle of the field that Caleb thought about. It
Speaker 3: just seems like the process is not go out there
Speaker 3: and play football. He's overthinking, trying to do something else,
Speaker 3: and then he'll try to do too much on plays
Speaker 3: where Gino completed like seventy eight percent of his passes
Speaker 3: in this game, the Seahawks just went five of thirteen
Speaker 3: on third down and they couldn't move the sticks when
Speaker 3: they needed to and ultimately leading to this six point
Speaker 3: game where there wasn't like this catastrophic error for them.
Speaker 3: They were just bad.
Speaker 1: They had one fumble, They did reach Bear's territory like
Speaker 1: four or five times out of eight or nine drives.
Speaker 5: But yeah, it was just gross.
Speaker 4: And the Bears had every opportunity.
Speaker 3: But once again, it just seems like the poor management
Speaker 3: that we see at the end of the game is
Speaker 3: also happening during the beginning in the middle of the game,
Speaker 3: but it's a little more glaring at the end from
Speaker 3: the way things are executed, and they're people down right,
Speaker 3: like Thomas Brown has doesn't have the bodies staff wise
Speaker 3: to do the things that the Bears could have done
Speaker 3: earlier in the season because of the firings that happened
Speaker 3: in front of them.
Speaker 4: And so it's just bad. It was bad before, it's
Speaker 4: still bad.
Speaker 1: So and not only that, they're four and twelve and
Speaker 1: right now they have the number nine pick in the draft.
Speaker 5: How is that even possible.
Speaker 1: We looked at it last year and four and thirteen
Speaker 1: would have had you two or three in the draft,
Speaker 1: and now they're nine. So it's like they're getting some
Speaker 1: bad luck there this game. And this is true of
Speaker 1: this entire week. And maybe it's my excuse making for
Speaker 1: why this show is going to have a Week eighteen
Speaker 1: like length, But this Week seventeen has never felt more
Speaker 1: like Week eighteen. And I think that's because of all
Speaker 1: the bad teams this year, because there's not gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of drama in Week eighteen. So there's all
Speaker 1: these like finality type games and do not extend the season? Goodell,
Speaker 1: I don't, I know it'd be good for but I
Speaker 1: do think there is something to it's such a hard
Speaker 1: sport that these teams, even winning teams like the Seahawks,
Speaker 1: you see it, like look at the Dolphins, like it's
Speaker 1: just getting late and just asking them to play another
Speaker 1: regular season game, Like, no, please, don't do it. I
Speaker 1: think seventeen is enough. Just imagine the Bears playing two
Speaker 1: more games this it just should be over.
Speaker 2: This league thrives on parody, right. The parody exists in
Speaker 2: Tankathon now, it's right near the top. This year, I
Speaker 2: don't think we've even completed that parody circle graphic that
Speaker 2: we usually complete every year.
Speaker 5: No, this weird year.
Speaker 1: This is a very non parent you know, there hasn't
Speaker 1: been much parody this year. It has been a year
Speaker 1: of terrible teams. Everything is built towards not making that happen.
Speaker 1: But even good teams, I mean it, by the end
Speaker 1: of the year on some heaviness to them. I think
Speaker 1: that's actually true about a team that's that's won five
Speaker 1: straight games. So yeah, Saturday Night Rams knew that if
Speaker 1: they won the game against the Cardinals, they wouldn't clinch
Speaker 1: at the time, but they would up their playoff probability
Speaker 1: to about ninety nine percent.
Speaker 5: It's almost cruel what's happening to the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: They're just watching themselves die slowly, but at least that
Speaker 1: they won. They did their part this week, and they
Speaker 1: watched on Saturday night and they just hope for the
Speaker 1: Cardinals to come through for them, because then we'd have
Speaker 1: a nice little Week eighteen winning in game?
Speaker 5: Would they get it to Sofi and goal from the five?
Speaker 8: Tyler looks do his sideline justures with his hands.
Speaker 5: Marvin Harrison Junior in motion from his life. Here comes
Speaker 5: the blitz start of the end zone.
Speaker 15: It is Enner second off the chesty attended target, but.
Speaker 5: Divings Ter play.
Speaker 15: Have the front left pylon shot McBride hung up.
Speaker 5: In the air and the Rams clinched.
Speaker 7: The game with back to back interceptions.
Speaker 1: That was JB Long our friend on KSPN, and a
Speaker 1: little cameo there by.
Speaker 5: Maurice Jones Drew, Wow, we're trying to get Maurice on
Speaker 5: the Monday Night recaps putting screws do him. He's putting,
Speaker 5: he's playing coy.
Speaker 1: So if you're listening Adam on Twitter and say you
Speaker 1: want to hear him because you're such big MJD fans
Speaker 1: on Monday Night trying to trying to book them, but
Speaker 1: it's tough. He's a star, so is a Kello Witherspoon.
Speaker 1: A star in his role, and he has stepped in
Speaker 1: he was on the street at the beginning of the
Speaker 1: season into that starting lineup. Him and Darius Williams has
Speaker 1: taken over those those starting jobs and provided some stability.
Speaker 1: And he made a great diving catch on a ball
Speaker 1: that went off poor Trey McBride's head. It was a
Speaker 1: little heartbreaking to see Trey McBride after this game because
Speaker 1: he's had a tough season. He fight gets a touchdown
Speaker 1: in this game. He's an All Pro candidate, one of
Speaker 1: the best players at his position in the league. Goes
Speaker 1: twelve for one to twenty three. But yes, the final
Speaker 1: decisive play in this game bounces off his helmet, doesn't
Speaker 1: get his head around quick enough on a play. There
Speaker 1: was some quick pressure on Kyler Murray and the Rams
Speaker 1: win thirteen to nine. I don't know why I was surprised,
Speaker 1: because this was such a way for the Seahawks season
Speaker 1: to end. It felt very fitting, and it felt very
Speaker 1: fitting for the Cardinals to lose this way, and yet
Speaker 1: I was surprised. I kind of thought Kyler was playing
Speaker 1: well and they were moving the ball better, and that
Speaker 1: they at least were gonna score here and make the
Speaker 1: Rams try to tie the game with a field goal.
Speaker 1: It was not to be, and the Rams are ten
Speaker 1: and six despite their offense struggling so much in this game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and those offensive struggles are ones that I think
Speaker 3: at a certain point because you look back at that
Speaker 3: game against Buffalo and it's like, well, the Rams can
Speaker 3: do this. I've said for weeks the Rams are gonna
Speaker 3: have this puncher's chance, but the players just weren't there.
Speaker 3: Matthew Stafford I did have a nice run in this game,
Speaker 3: but look to be having some trouble getting away from
Speaker 3: this Cardinals pass rush. And as you know, all credit
Speaker 3: to Witherspoon for making that play, but the Cardinals could
Speaker 3: have very easily won this game if Trey McBride is
Speaker 3: able to separate there.
Speaker 4: Maybe there's a flag on that play.
Speaker 3: I know McBride would would have liked to get the
Speaker 3: holding call, but ultimately he gets his head around and
Speaker 3: gets his hands on the football, he catches it. And
Speaker 3: we're talking about Cardinals rams with an opportunity to I mean,
Speaker 3: excuse me, Seahawks Rams with an opportunity to settle it.
Speaker 4: Instead.
Speaker 3: It's another one of these late season losses for the
Speaker 3: Cardinals where they're so close. But whether it's offense, whether
Speaker 3: it's defense, and a lot of times it's Kyler turning
Speaker 3: the ball over. I don't I know that there's folks
Speaker 3: that say that Kyler could have put a better ball there.
Speaker 3: He had Train McBride in the face. Yeah, regardless of
Speaker 3: the exact position of where the football is, he hit
Speaker 3: him in the face.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Kim Kitchen's had a big interception earlier in this game.
Speaker 1: And if it sounds like we're being a little hard
Speaker 1: on the Rams, they were doubled up in terms of
Speaker 1: first downs in this game. They gave up four hundred
Speaker 1: yards and yet Nick, to give them credit, their pass
Speaker 1: rush was pretty great, and especially in big moments, Verse
Speaker 1: and Fisk and Turner and Young, who have really been
Speaker 1: such a story for them, held up enough to let
Speaker 1: the offense get into the game eventually and get the
Speaker 1: win thirteen to nine.
Speaker 2: Yeah, this team is becoming a chameleon because they've won
Speaker 2: in so many different ways this year. They've looked bad,
Speaker 2: really bad early in the season. They figured it out
Speaker 2: to get back to five hundred. Then I feel like
Speaker 2: they spent all of their offensive energy in the shootout
Speaker 2: win over the Bills, because in the last three games
Speaker 2: they followed under twenty points each time. But they've won
Speaker 2: all three games because now suddenly they're a defensive team.
Speaker 2: I guess, twelve to six over the Niners, nineteen to
Speaker 2: nine over the Jets, thirteen to nine over the Cardinals,
Speaker 2: And it starts with that front you just mentioned. That's
Speaker 2: why I love their draft. When they selected Fisk and
Speaker 2: Verse in the first two rounds, I thought it was
Speaker 2: a great way to build from the interior on the
Speaker 2: defensive side of the ball, where they were lacking in
Speaker 2: the past. And if this is who they are, the
Speaker 2: only thing that we're missing now is playoff implications and
Speaker 2: what would have been kind of a gross low scoring
Speaker 2: off against the Seahawks next week, based on how the
Speaker 2: Seahawks played against the Bears. But congrats to the Rams.
Speaker 2: You're a ten and six now with one game left
Speaker 2: to play, And I think this is one of those
Speaker 2: stories that despite the success they had last year, when
Speaker 2: we looked at them in Week four this year, nobody
Speaker 2: would have thought they would have been here at this point.
Speaker 2: Fair here.
Speaker 5: They are fair.
Speaker 1: They scored forty four in that game against the Bills.
Speaker 1: They have scored exactly forty four in the three games since.
Speaker 5: And McVeigh wasn't really that happy after this game.
Speaker 1: Jordan Rodrigue, the athlete, kind of pointed out to me,
Speaker 1: and I went back and watched it, and yeah, he
Speaker 1: was very clipped with his answers, and you could say
Speaker 1: he was saying the right thing that the years in
Speaker 1: his league has taught him that he wants to enjoy it.
Speaker 1: But you can tell there's a little bit of frustration there.
Speaker 1: Under two hundred and sixty yards on offense for a
Speaker 1: couple of straight weeks, and it's actually not that different
Speaker 1: than a lot of their season where the defense really
Speaker 1: held on for them to win games. There was a
Speaker 1: twenty to fifteen game against the Raiders. There was that
Speaker 1: game against the Saints where they didn't score in the
Speaker 1: first half. The first Seahawks game, their offense did not
Speaker 1: play well the whole game, and the defense held on
Speaker 1: until Matthew Stafford made some magic late. So you never know.
Speaker 1: This team is chaotic, it's unpredictable. Maybe they crank it
Speaker 1: up one more time. I'm very curious to see how
Speaker 1: where the NFL puts this game. Maybe you'll have an
Speaker 1: answer by the end of this show.
Speaker 3: By the way, the Cardinals did almost have the ball
Speaker 3: for forty minutes. Yeah, I think the Rams only got
Speaker 3: fifty four offensive plays, so that may have played a
Speaker 3: role as well.
Speaker 4: And they did a lot of that without James Connors too.
Speaker 1: That's the thing is Kyler had five or six awesome
Speaker 1: throws in this game, and he ran the ball well.
Speaker 1: He keeps saying he wants to run more. He wants
Speaker 1: to run more next year. Jonathan Gannon had a bad decision.
Speaker 1: I thought at one point to kick a field goal,
Speaker 1: he ends up having to go for a much longer
Speaker 1: fourth down Later, I thought McVeigh after a really long
Speaker 1: Cardinals drive, made a bad decision not to go for
Speaker 1: it on fourth and inches. I'm a little worried how
Speaker 1: Cooper Cupp has kind of not produced late late in
Speaker 1: the season. He's clearly not where he was. But it's
Speaker 1: just putting too much on Pukinakua. So yeah, the Rams,
Speaker 1: they went into Sunday needing a handful of victories and
Speaker 1: strength of victory. As we're taping this, we're still waiting
Speaker 1: to see what happens on Sunday night. So let's go
Speaker 1: to the NFC East where the Eagles still had some
Speaker 1: business to do.
Speaker 8: They go to episcol formation. It goes back to Barkley.
Speaker 8: Barkley breaks the tackle. He's at the forty, he's at
Speaker 8: the thirty. He has at the twenty five yard line.
Speaker 8: He has done at the twenty five yard line. Let's
Speaker 8: see what he has right now as he goes to
Speaker 8: the twenty five yard line.
Speaker 10: He has just because the two thousand yard worship bark
Speaker 10: Shake on one.
Speaker 8: Barkley goes into NFL history.
Speaker 1: Love that Merril Reeze, Mike Quick wip. Eagles went forty
Speaker 1: one to seven. Nice touch by Nick Sirianni to take
Speaker 1: a time out. It's like kind of an NBA style
Speaker 1: where you take the stars out of the game with
Speaker 1: two minutes left so the whole crowd could really cheer.
Speaker 1: I hope that was Nick Sirianni leaving Saquon in for
Speaker 1: his thirty first carry to break two thousand so he
Speaker 1: can rest him next week. We'll see, because he's only
Speaker 1: one hundred plus yards away from breaking the rushing record.
Speaker 1: I also like he broke twenty sixteen games.
Speaker 3: Yes, it was so all the asterisk folks out there
Speaker 3: will have a chance to talk about it with Brock
Speaker 3: Bowlers and Mike Ditka here in a little bit. But yeah,
Speaker 3: he does it in sixteen game. It's and just an
Speaker 3: incredible season for Saquon. In a game that seemed dicey
Speaker 3: at the start where Cooper Rush has come out, he
Speaker 3: survives a pick six from CJGJ who really just caught
Speaker 3: him peeking on an inbreaking route and comes comes up
Speaker 3: with a pick six. But Cooper Rush comes right back
Speaker 3: down the field. He gets a touchdown pass to Jalen
Speaker 3: Tolbert on Quinnon Mitchell, and you're thinking, oh, this is
Speaker 3: going to be The Eagles absolutely washed them out after that, including.
Speaker 4: Some of the guys who who couldn't make key plays.
Speaker 3: Late in the loss of the Washington Commanders, Dvante Smith
Speaker 3: had two touchdowns, could have verily easily been three touchdowns.
Speaker 3: I already talked about CJGJ. He got another pick after that,
Speaker 3: and remember he got run from the game for multiple
Speaker 3: personal foul calls.
Speaker 4: And this is it. This is what this Eagles team
Speaker 4: can be.
Speaker 3: Despite this late season spoiler Dallas team that we believed
Speaker 3: again in the air in the Carolina Panthers against them,
Speaker 3: they actually kind of blew them out. The Tampa Bay
Speaker 3: Buccaneers their season hinges on these last couple of weeks
Speaker 3: because they couldn't get a win against this Cowboys team.
Speaker 3: And then they come in there to Philadelphia against their
Speaker 3: backup quarterback and get blown out forty one to seven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, surprising and a great show of force that DeVante
Speaker 1: Smith could go six for one to twenty, gets a
Speaker 1: couple of touchdowns. Saquon gets one to sixty seven in
Speaker 1: the game to get over two thousand and Yeah. Kenny
Speaker 1: Pickett who actually left the game after taking a painkilling
Speaker 1: injection for his ribs according to Mike Florio before the game,
Speaker 1: and at halftime, and they're running in with the touchbush
Speaker 1: a little dicey there. He scores a touchdown. Then Tanner
Speaker 1: McKee comes in. This line might be even better than
Speaker 1: Trubisky shook. He only threw four passes, he had two
Speaker 1: touchdowns for fifty four yards. He's feeding Davanta and aj
Speaker 1: Brown's fantasy owners. Way to go, Tanner McKee.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those of you who thought that the Eagles might
Speaker 2: have a tough time because they're backup quarterback. You got
Speaker 2: both backups and they still dominated. No. I mean, this
Speaker 2: is one of those wins that you expect from a
Speaker 2: team that's superior, but it's a rivalry games, so you
Speaker 2: never know. And yet they came out and just dominated
Speaker 2: front to back. And you know, like you just said,
Speaker 2: sakuon breaks two thousand rushing yards. That's fun. I would
Speaker 2: like to see him play next week just for history's sake,
Speaker 2: But it doesn't matter. You're one of the playoffs.
Speaker 5: I really hope they don't.
Speaker 1: I just think that's so stupid and short sighted. What
Speaker 1: a great advantage it is to know your seeding when
Speaker 1: you don't have the advantage that the top seed will
Speaker 1: have in terms of the bye week, and you can
Speaker 1: rest a guy who needs to be fresh and has
Speaker 1: had a huge workload. I personally will be be shocked
Speaker 1: if they go for the record.
Speaker 5: Also, it's not gonna play. I think the seventeenth game thing.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, but you're going for a record, where
Speaker 1: like you, you would need the seventeenth game to get it. Anyways,
Speaker 1: he's at three hundred and forty five carries that the
Speaker 1: stats of guys who go that high, it's usually not
Speaker 1: good for the rest of their career, so let's just
Speaker 1: save them. It just seems so obvious. I really think
Speaker 1: they will, Actually, I really think they will. They're an
Speaker 1: anachally analytically minded organization. I think they will sit him.
Speaker 3: It is the only sensical play to not play Sakwon Barkley.
Speaker 3: You could make the case then having him in to
Speaker 3: get this carry to go over two thousand yeards, I
Speaker 3: think might have a questionable call as well. But it's
Speaker 3: good to hit the number. It's good for the offensive line,
Speaker 3: it's good for Saquon. You heard the explosion from the
Speaker 3: fans there in Philadelphia that got to see it at home.
Speaker 3: I think it may be worth doing just to have
Speaker 3: Saquon be able to celebrate with those folks. The link
Speaker 3: if this is a road game, and it may be
Speaker 3: a little bit different, but yeah, don't.
Speaker 4: The game was you.
Speaker 3: Know these the seventeenth game was was added for a
Speaker 3: whole bunch of reasons that had nothing to do with
Speaker 3: records and a whole lot to do with, you know,
Speaker 3: compensation for people who aren't Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 4: Right, I think it's fine.
Speaker 3: Saquon's compensation is finally set here you know, we had
Speaker 3: some some issues with that previously.
Speaker 4: Why play well.
Speaker 1: Also, life is short and they got to do something
Speaker 1: really special that they'll remember for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 1: And it was a little risky, but you got it done.
Speaker 1: To get to have to get over one sixty five
Speaker 1: to get it done is kind of amazing. He's at
Speaker 1: almost twenty three hundred yards from scrimmage. It's just a
Speaker 1: magical pickup. I'm really looking forward to watching them in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They're gonna have the two seed. We have
Speaker 1: to wait to see and find out who they could
Speaker 1: be playing. A few different options there. Let's let's take
Speaker 1: a break. There are a couple of games here after
Speaker 1: the break that maybe didn't have the playoff implications that
Speaker 1: you know, the previous games had, but there were there
Speaker 1: was a division that still needs to be decided. We're
Speaker 1: gonna end this show with NFC South. Oh after we
Speaker 1: take a trip to the Superdome and just kind of
Speaker 1: get a couple games out of the way.
Speaker 5: Powers Ad Myers both to the right. Shotgun. O'Connell's looking
Speaker 5: that way.
Speaker 14: He's scrambling, he's trying to escape the pocket he's throwing. Oh,
Speaker 14: there's a wide open man in the end zone back pylon,
Speaker 14: no signal yet for Tucker touchdown.
Speaker 5: Raiders.
Speaker 14: Oh Connall, let it get out of the pocket. He
Speaker 14: was looking and looking that Tucker was wide open. That's
Speaker 14: six for the Raiders and they capitalize on the Jack
Speaker 14: Jones picks for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Drank up the Las Vegas Raiders two game winning streak,
Speaker 1: ruining their draft position. Now they should be trying to
Speaker 1: win for Antonio Pierce and Aidan O'Connell should be out
Speaker 1: there trying to prove my most lukewarm take right, which
Speaker 1: is that Aiden O'Connell is an NFL quarterback and that
Speaker 1: he's gonna have like a nine year career as a
Speaker 1: perfectly solid NFL backup.
Speaker 5: And that's an excellent.
Speaker 1: Outcome for a backup quarterback. Taken in the fourth round.
Speaker 1: And I think he's putting it on tape. I think
Speaker 1: he knows how to play, and I think he played
Speaker 1: really well for most of this game. Raiders win twenty
Speaker 1: five to ten. That's their fourth win of the year.
Speaker 1: Saints fall to five and eleven. That was Jason Horowitz
Speaker 1: on KRLV, by the way, and one of the more
Speaker 1: surprising things you just never know shook in a day
Speaker 1: like this is that you can watch a Raiders Saints
Speaker 1: game on your second screen in the morning, and you
Speaker 1: could say the quarterback play in this game between Rattler
Speaker 1: and AOC in the first half was awesome. They both
Speaker 1: were playing really, really well and AOC mostly kept it
Speaker 1: going and Rattler didn't.
Speaker 5: And that's why you look at the final score.
Speaker 2: And that's the story of the Saints. And then Spencer
Speaker 2: Ratler experience. You know, just when you think he's starting
Speaker 2: to build a little bit of steam, he throws a
Speaker 2: couple of picks that makes second guess. And have we
Speaker 2: ever seen a team that feels they've already fired their coach,
Speaker 2: that feels more like they're gonna make more changes in
Speaker 2: the offseason than these Saints. Like you're playing a Raiders
Speaker 2: team that, yeah they're coming off the high of winning
Speaker 2: last week, but it's still the Raiders. It's still you
Speaker 2: let am Mirramdula go twenty for one fifteen on you.
Speaker 2: This is a team that has struggled in that area
Speaker 2: for decent portions of this season. I mean, I don't know,
Speaker 2: I not to go with losers first in this situation,
Speaker 2: but I'm just like Saints, but what do you booked
Speaker 2: your flights to can Kun Already.
Speaker 1: It's a tough it's been a tough season. They don't
Speaker 1: have many offensive players out there with Spencer Rattler for
Speaker 1: him to throw the ball to, and Juwan Johnson had
Speaker 1: a big drop in this game.
Speaker 5: There were other mistakes.
Speaker 1: I came up with the scenario that could possibly get
Speaker 1: Mickey Loomis fire that it would have to be something drastic,
Speaker 1: which would be losing in primetime and an embarrassing shutout
Speaker 1: and then losing to the Raiders convincingly at home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it happened. He hit the parlay, so we'll see.
Speaker 1: I think that there's great mystery there. The biggest story
Speaker 1: of this game where the records that brock Bauers set.
Speaker 5: There's a lot of them.
Speaker 1: Number one, he set the all time receiving yards record
Speaker 1: for rookie tight ends and as you mentioned, it broke
Speaker 1: Mike Dicka's record, which was a record for over sixty plus.
Speaker 4: Years nineteen sixty one.
Speaker 5: That's incredible when you have a record that long.
Speaker 1: It's like Norman van Brocklan still has the single game
Speaker 1: passing yard record, which is.
Speaker 5: Crazy if you think about it.
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're adjusting for inflation, Dicka going for
Speaker 1: that much back then is like seventeen hundred yards. He
Speaker 1: was never the same again because he had so many injuries.
Speaker 1: Still had a Hall of Fame career, but never a
Speaker 1: season like that. So that's really impressive, But that's not it.
Speaker 1: He also brock Bauers broke the PUKA rookie receptions record
Speaker 1: for anyone.
Speaker 5: That's pretty cool.
Speaker 1: So receiving yards at tight end, he had already broken
Speaker 1: the tight end record for receptions like weeks ago rookie receptions.
Speaker 5: And then I think this is an underrated one.
Speaker 1: In the long history of the Raiders Oakland, Las Vegas,
Speaker 1: Los Angele, no one has ever caught more passes. Brock
Speaker 1: Bowers broke that record today too, and he did it
Speaker 1: in a tight little sixteen games, breaking Darren Waller's record
Speaker 1: from a few years ago. So Brock Bowers, I love
Speaker 1: you man. The celebration in the lock in the very
Speaker 1: crowded Saints locker room was cool. They all were like
Speaker 1: really celebrating with Bowers. So a nice movement for the Raiders.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and again a message that if you don't get
Speaker 3: your quarterback, if you fall back in the draft sometimes
Speaker 3: you know, it's like, oh, well, we'll just have to
Speaker 3: take this guy who maybe going to Campton one day,
Speaker 3: and you live with that.
Speaker 2: You need to do that again. Can you do that
Speaker 2: two years in a row?
Speaker 4: I don't think so.
Speaker 5: No, you can't.
Speaker 1: Cam Jordan was staying after the game. According to the reporters,
Speaker 1: they are taking pictures with his family on the field.
Speaker 5: So it could be his last game.
Speaker 1: He said, it's not up to him that he plans
Speaker 1: to play football next year, whether it's with us. He
Speaker 1: really hopes it's in the Black and Gold, but that'll
Speaker 1: be up to the Saints obviously.
Speaker 5: Could be a lot of changes there.
Speaker 1: Let's go to another game which is going to have
Speaker 1: a big impact on draft seeding, draft positioning. It's the Jaguars,
Speaker 1: It's the Titans. It's in Jackson, empty backfield.
Speaker 5: Mac drops the throw he's looking, fires it to the.
Speaker 14: Left side Portlands on Cot touchdown Brian Thomas Junior for
Speaker 14: the score.
Speaker 5: Where are teams gonna.
Speaker 4: Learn to not cover Brian Thomas Junior.
Speaker 7: And man coverage?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Maybe next season. It seems absolutely crazy. Nice ball there
Speaker 1: by Mac Jones. I watched way too much of this game.
Speaker 1: That was Frank Brangy and Jeff Logoman on w j
Speaker 1: XL because we got this picks competition on game debut,
Speaker 1: and I've kind of felt like, for some reason in
Speaker 1: my heart that this was gonna be the swing game,
Speaker 1: and I was wrong.
Speaker 5: I picked the wrong team.
Speaker 1: And Mac Jones did not play well in this game,
Speaker 1: but his two touchdown throws.
Speaker 5: Were both awesome plays.
Speaker 1: That was a great throw by him, great catch by Thomas,
Speaker 1: and then the first one to Parker Washington was an
Speaker 1: incredible toe tap by Washington. Jaguars win twenty to thirteen
Speaker 1: in a game they got out thirteen to nothing, shook
Speaker 1: and never looked back, at least not too much.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of one of those weird games where
Speaker 2: you're like, both these teams are not very good. Both
Speaker 2: of them are playing with backup quarterbacks, but one team
Speaker 2: has an awesome receiver and his name's Brian Thomas Junior.
Speaker 2: Like they did whatever they could to get hitting the
Speaker 2: ball as much as possible, kind of like Milik Neighbors
Speaker 2: earlier in the show. They ran an ender like a
Speaker 2: jet sweep to him as well, and it picked up
Speaker 2: a big game that proceeded a touchdown the touchdown pass
Speaker 2: to Parker Washington. Their offense moved enough to put those
Speaker 2: points on the board, and then they just kind of
Speaker 2: held on. Josh Hines Allen had a couple of really
Speaker 2: nice splash plays in a row. The weird thing about
Speaker 2: this is for two teams that came in at three
Speaker 2: and twelve, they had a lot of energy, Like, I know,
Speaker 2: you're playing for your job obviously, right, you're playing for
Speaker 2: future employment and everything else and for pride and whatever else.
Speaker 2: But they were fired up and it was ran like
Speaker 2: crazy in Jacksonville. The conditions weren't great. Travis etn should
Speaker 2: have had a touchdown run and he slipped as soon
Speaker 2: as he got through the hole, which is a big
Speaker 2: bummer for because I want to see him score. But
Speaker 2: they played with a ton of passion and it felt
Speaker 2: good to see them, you know, come away victorious, get
Speaker 2: the season sweep with the Titans, and you know do
Speaker 2: it with by leaning you know on Brian Tom.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Shout out to the fans that stayed for that game.
Speaker 1: It was tough conditions, a lot of empty seats. But
Speaker 1: the Jaguars fall down to fifth according to Tank Thon
Speaker 1: in terms of the draft, the Titans are up to second.
Speaker 1: The Patriots are potentially playing the Bills back up next week,
Speaker 1: so that I'll give the Titans something a root for.
Speaker 5: They could wind up with the number one pick.
Speaker 1: Either way, they're in a good position if they lose
Speaker 1: next week. I believe against the Colts, I don't know
Speaker 1: if we need to say too much. Brian Thomas eighty catches,
Speaker 1: eleven and eighty one yards and ten touchdowns.
Speaker 3: That's a solid rookie year. And we look at what
Speaker 3: neighbors did. Jayden might win the award. How did LSU
Speaker 3: lose three games last year?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 1: I have no IDEA great point? All right, let's get
Speaker 1: to the NFC South. So we saved this for the
Speaker 1: end because obviously Sunday Night five football involves the Falcons.
Speaker 1: It's pretty simple either the Bucks or the Falcons are
Speaker 1: gonna win the NFC South. The Falcons have the edge
Speaker 1: entering the week. The Bucks, though, they have a chance
Speaker 1: here because it's really a three team for two spot
Speaker 1: situation between the Bucks, the Falcons, and the Commanders. So
Speaker 1: even if the Bucks didn't win the division, they know
Speaker 1: they might have a chance at this wild card. Obviously,
Speaker 1: they had to get the win over the Panthers. Let's
Speaker 1: go to Raymond James Stadium.
Speaker 3: That hacker hasn't plucked temper Bace got it, stupid score chan.
Speaker 7: J Russell, Buccaneers doing it from all angles.
Speaker 5: Chefs kiss.
Speaker 4: It's the Duccaneers.
Speaker 5: I love it.
Speaker 1: Great job there by Patrick. A professional host like Patrick
Speaker 1: or Ion Eagle would have set that up a lot
Speaker 1: better by telling the audio audience that there's a duck
Speaker 1: on the field right before the Panthers are setting up
Speaker 1: to punt. And yeah, that punt block is what made
Speaker 1: this thing a laugher, But it was on the way.
Speaker 1: Forty eight to fourteen an offensive masterclass by the Buccaneers
Speaker 1: and Baker Mayfield. Five incompletions, five touchdowns. Bucky Irving was
Speaker 1: over one hundred yards from scrimmage in the first half
Speaker 1: of this game, goes over one hundred and seventy yards
Speaker 1: from scrimmage total for the second time this season against
Speaker 1: the Panthers. He's had an entire season just against the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Forty eight to fourteen, and I've never seen a quarterback
Speaker 1: play better than Bryce Young in a game that they
Speaker 1: lost by thirty four points. But it really didn't matter.
Speaker 1: This is what the Buccaneers can do. And I don't
Speaker 1: even think I'm test driving this case. This is the
Speaker 1: case making shook. The Buccaneers are the team you don't
Speaker 1: want to play in the NFC and by and now,
Speaker 1: if you say that, you have to kind of say, well,
Speaker 1: there's only you can only say one of those teams
Speaker 1: are the teams, and they can't be one of the
Speaker 1: best teams. So basically the options are like Rams, Bucks, Packers,
Speaker 1: or even you know, whatever happens with the Falcons Comminters.
Speaker 1: You have to kind of pick one of those teams.
Speaker 1: And I say the Buccaneers are that team because to me,
Speaker 1: the Buccaneers they'll have their down games defensively, but I
Speaker 1: do think the best Buccaneers game on offense is right
Speaker 1: there with the Bengals and the Bills and the Ravens,
Speaker 1: and I don't want to play that team. And that's
Speaker 1: who the Bucks are to me. And I know this
Speaker 1: was against the Panthers, but we've seen it against a
Speaker 1: lot of teams.
Speaker 2: Especially when you go when you have a guy like
Speaker 2: and I know his name is Bucky, but today he's
Speaker 2: Ducky Irving from scrimmage. I had to squeeze that one
Speaker 2: in there. No. I think that if you look at
Speaker 2: the way they played against the Cowboys, like they couldn't piece
Speaker 2: it together right, and then suddenly they explode for a
Speaker 2: touchdown drive and they nearly get down there again at
Speaker 2: the end of the game, and it shows you that
Speaker 2: like you can't count the mountain, that they can just
Speaker 2: sneak up on you and explode at any time, and
Speaker 2: that's what makes you a scary team in the playoffs,
Speaker 2: like you said, so, I'm kind of on board with that.
Speaker 2: I'm more on board with that after what we saw
Speaker 2: with the Packers today against the Vikings that I might
Speaker 2: have been a week ago. And when you have Baker
Speaker 2: Mayfield go twenty seven to thirty two for three fifty
Speaker 2: nine and five touchdowns, that kind of justifies it. Which,
Speaker 2: by the way, you said probably the best game from
Speaker 2: a quarterback I've seen, and then paused. I was like,
Speaker 2: is he gonna get Baker Flowers and then you pivoted
Speaker 2: to Bryce Young.
Speaker 5: Oh.
Speaker 1: No, Baker, Baker was incredible. Let's throw up his passing
Speaker 1: chart from today. This was one of his best games
Speaker 1: of the season. Anytime he missed the throw I was
Speaker 1: stunned because he was just so accurate. Most of it
Speaker 1: was to the middle of the field, but he was
Speaker 1: really spreading it all around three hundred and fifty nine
Speaker 1: yards five touchdowns. It's just some laser shots over the
Speaker 1: middle was so sharp, really well protected, it must be said.
Speaker 1: And that's been a huge part of their four formula
Speaker 1: all season and they ran block really well today. But
Speaker 1: the vision and the patients out of Bucky Irving combined
Speaker 1: with the accuracy of Baker is just like, this team's
Speaker 1: awesome when it's rolling. It's not gonna do this every
Speaker 1: week or else they'd be fifteen to two, but they
Speaker 1: are capable of doing this.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the whole offensive option playbook was available against the
Speaker 3: Panthers team where Bucky Evern goes a thousand yards rushing
Speaker 3: on the season, two hundred and sixty five of those
Speaker 3: this season have come against the Carolina Panthers here in
Speaker 3: the past five weeks.
Speaker 4: And so that you know everything's available to them.
Speaker 3: They beat this divisional opponent at home when they needed to.
Speaker 4: They can do this. They can also be.
Speaker 3: The team that struggled against the Dallas Cowboys in a
Speaker 3: game that they needed a couple weeks ago.
Speaker 5: Yeah, but that was their only loss in a while.
Speaker 1: Although they struggled against the Panthers, they probably should have
Speaker 1: lost that game in overtime a while ago, and it
Speaker 1: was big that they pulled that out. Their defense is
Speaker 1: to me the bigger concern. They got the Panthers off
Speaker 1: the field quite a bit. They were pressuring Bryce Young
Speaker 1: more than he normally is. But man, like I said,
Speaker 1: he ended up with two hundred and three yards and
Speaker 1: two touchdowns in this game on twenty eight throws. Like
Speaker 1: the first drive of the game, he hits a thirty
Speaker 1: one yard slot fade, just a beautiful throw to feel.
Speaker 1: In second throw of the game, he's backing up while
Speaker 1: he's under total pressure, gets slammed while he hits Jalen Coker.
Speaker 1: And then the third throw of the game is an
Speaker 1: absolutely perfect red zone I mean, a seventeen yard throw
Speaker 1: to thiel In over the top, and it's just like
Speaker 1: he can do it all. And he had a number
Speaker 1: of really nice throws in this game. Now, they had
Speaker 1: some empty drives, but they had absolutely no rushing game.
Speaker 1: Juba Hrbard is now out for the season, and he
Speaker 1: was under a lot of pressure. Just that story is continuing.
Speaker 1: Bryce right now is kind of like I am with
Speaker 1: Drake may He's He's not the only thing that matters
Speaker 1: with them, But if you're a Panthers fan, you just
Speaker 1: want to see him continue to play well and maybe
Speaker 1: they don't hurt their draft seeding. That happened the the
Speaker 1: Buccaneers got a ton of yak in this game. Evans
Speaker 1: had a big game, eight for ninety seven and two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and he really might do it Patrick. He is now
Speaker 1: eighty five yards away. This is also his sixth season
Speaker 1: with ten or more touchdowns, which I think is pretty cool.
Speaker 1: Not that he needs to add much to his Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame case, but he's doing it.
Speaker 4: He's in.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he really is.
Speaker 4: And he was before the season.
Speaker 5: To me, Yeah, I think he was too.
Speaker 1: It's tricky when you haven't made a lot of all pros,
Speaker 1: which he hasn't, but plenty of guys have made it
Speaker 1: in without those if they've stacked up seasons like he has.
Speaker 1: Jalen McMillan, by the way, inducked him into the Fantasy
Speaker 1: Football Playoff Hall of Fame. In terms of if you
Speaker 1: picked him up, I guarantee you he is on a
Speaker 1: million championship teams two touchdowns. Good job to all the
Speaker 1: owners out there that played him throughout. Good job by you,
Speaker 1: Patrick Claybond. Once again we say goodbye to you before
Speaker 1: we move on to a very important Sunday.
Speaker 4: Night football game. Play the game, guys, I enjoyed my time.
Speaker 5: Uh yeah, he's getting it done with Scott Pioli.
Speaker 1: Let's go to Sunday night football in Landover and places
Speaker 1: ready to explode.
Speaker 10: Two forty five to go in overtime, third and goal
Speaker 10: at the two, Jayden and the gun.
Speaker 4: Rodriguez to his right to tight end. Still up, here's
Speaker 4: the staff. Game's gonna throw forward. He does think he
Speaker 4: is one seconds.
Speaker 5: The playoff tuck down walk again they went over time.
Speaker 5: We'll see you.
Speaker 4: Freaking Jimmy, this is a missile.
Speaker 12: But Tayda Tallils that was a missile and I want
Speaker 12: to go to the playoffs, fram Weinstein and London Fletcher
Speaker 12: w b ig one of the calls in the year
Speaker 12: for one of the moments of the year.
Speaker 1: The Washington Commanders have done it. They come all the
Speaker 1: way back from a miserable season and dan Quinn's first
Speaker 1: year with Jade and Daniels. They are playoff bound with
Speaker 1: a thirty to twenty four overtime victory over the Falcons
Speaker 1: and Nick. When I think back on this season, I
Speaker 1: will think about so many different signature Jadeen Daniels moment.
Speaker 5: It feels like he is the.
Speaker 1: Center of this season, even though they're a six or
Speaker 1: a seven seed in the NFC. It's the win over
Speaker 1: the Bengals on Monday Night football. It's the Hail Mary
Speaker 1: against Chicago, which started the Chicago tailspin, by the way,
Speaker 1: and kickstarted this Washington run. It's the victory over the
Speaker 1: Eagles after that fourth and long last week, and then yes,
Speaker 1: a thirty to twenty four victory over the Falcons out
Speaker 1: dueling Michael Pennix, who was up and down but pulled
Speaker 1: off some jade and Daniels magic of his own with
Speaker 1: some fourth and longs to force overtime. But when that
Speaker 1: coin flip landed on Washington, and maybe I'm being a
Speaker 1: little emotional because I had the Falcons winning this game.
Speaker 5: It's crucial. It was to me. I'm rooting for the Falcons.
Speaker 1: But when I saw that coin flip land on tails
Speaker 1: for the Commanders, as like, there's no way the Falcons
Speaker 1: are stopping them here.
Speaker 5: They're not going to force the field goal.
Speaker 1: I've watched this entire game, and I've watched this movie
Speaker 1: over and over and again. It's amazing that a rookie
Speaker 1: quarterback just feels that bankable in the biggest moments.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what a game, I mean, what an experience for
Speaker 2: Commanders fans. And this is the fitting way for them
Speaker 2: to reach the postseason. It truly is because of the
Speaker 2: moments that you just described, the Hail Mary, the game
Speaker 2: against the Eagles recently last week. It's just it's been
Speaker 2: a magical season for this team. With a rookie quarterback
Speaker 2: who was not the consensus number one. He was the
Speaker 2: next guy off the board. You didn't know what you
Speaker 2: were gonna get, and we saw it early in the
Speaker 2: season and it ends not for the year, but it
Speaker 2: ends with a big landmark moment him getting them to
Speaker 2: the playoffs by overcoming what was kind of a bit
Speaker 2: of a fourth quarter meltdown. They had the holding penalty
Speaker 2: on the goal line, which wiped out a touchdown, they
Speaker 2: have to settle for a field goal, they give up
Speaker 2: that drive to tie the game, and then they go
Speaker 2: three and out immediately after. You know, there was a
Speaker 2: period there that when the Falcons were driving down the
Speaker 2: field late where I almost sent you a text and
Speaker 2: sent too much time for Jaden because they were within
Speaker 2: range outside two minutes. Obviously, he doesn't end up with
Speaker 2: that much time, but that just speaks to the power
Speaker 2: of this kid. And imagine that he brings to the Commanders.
Speaker 2: And we saw it in overtime and.
Speaker 1: It's a team game, and the Commanders have found a
Speaker 1: way to get just enough stops. It's a complimentary game.
Speaker 1: They come out of halftime down seventeen to seven. Strange
Speaker 1: first half because I thought Washington was really getting whatever
Speaker 1: they wanted. But they had a really nice play called
Speaker 1: where Kaden Ellis intercepted Daniels. They confused them with kind
Speaker 1: of a designer look and it worked, and they did
Speaker 1: force a couple punts went because of a bunch of
Speaker 1: penalties on Washington, but they were running the ball so well.
Speaker 1: Jaden Daniels ends up with one hundred and twenty seven
Speaker 1: yards on sixteen carries. Just felt like he could get
Speaker 1: it anytime he wanted to on the ground, and Brian
Speaker 1: Robbinson chip in sixty. But they're down seventeen to seven
Speaker 1: at half time. They come back and their next three
Speaker 1: drives are seven minutes and forty seven seconds long on
Speaker 1: a fifteen play touchdown drive, seven minutes long on a
Speaker 1: fourteen play touchdown drive, and it's mostly on the ground.
Speaker 1: And then they have that long field goal drive that
Speaker 1: takes up five and a half minutes. Yet that yeah,
Speaker 1: they had the touchdown called back and they end up
Speaker 1: kicking the field goal, and you just think, man, this
Speaker 1: offense and Cliff Kingsbury are beating all the allegations. I'll
Speaker 1: get to the Falcons mishandling things in a second, but
Speaker 1: I do appreciate that it's an offense first team. And
Speaker 1: dan Quinn kept going for it on fourth down. They
Speaker 1: were three for three on fourth down. He has some
Speaker 1: game management things to work on perhaps as well, but
Speaker 1: he kind of knows where his bread is buttered. He
Speaker 1: had injuries on both sides of the ball, but especially
Speaker 1: on the offensive line, and yet he could see it
Speaker 1: like we're picking up yardage until he was aggressive, kept
Speaker 1: going for it on fourth down, and they leaned into
Speaker 1: what they do well and they're going to the playoffs
Speaker 1: because of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and the way that they come through in these
Speaker 2: clutch situations is really what stands out to me, because
Speaker 2: this is a team that wasn't supposed to be here.
Speaker 2: This is a team that was at the worst defense
Speaker 2: in the NFL last season. They're under a new head coach,
Speaker 2: they got a new quarterback, and you speak about those
Speaker 2: fourth down conversions, the one to McNichols where he catches
Speaker 2: the ball and then extends beyond the line the gain
Speaker 2: for the first down just one of many great plays
Speaker 2: and key spots, and that's who this team has been
Speaker 2: for so much of this season. It hasn't been perfect
Speaker 2: by any means, But how do you not get on
Speaker 2: board with that? You know, you get a little emotional
Speaker 2: because you have the falcons there. How can you not
Speaker 2: get emotional about this if you just love football? What's
Speaker 2: a fantastic game with saw?
Speaker 5: What I say emotional too?
Speaker 1: I just mean like it's almost like I'm a fan
Speaker 1: of the team and I'm just thinking, oh, there's no
Speaker 1: way they stop now. And it's because I'm loving watching Daniels.
Speaker 1: But it's a great point. It shook because the first
Speaker 1: is the key ist touchdown. Great great play by Daniels
Speaker 1: in the first half, throwing it against his body, but
Speaker 1: really good catch on a night where McLaurin has seven
Speaker 1: targets for five yards. Aj Terrell with an awesome performance
Speaker 1: covering him most of the day. That touch down catch
Speaker 1: to win the game by Ertz Fletcher was right. That
Speaker 1: was a missile and it was like two inches off
Speaker 1: the ground. I didn't think he caught it live because
Speaker 1: I just thought it was such a hard catch and
Speaker 1: you saw it going to the ground and I thought,
Speaker 1: oh man, they're gonna have to take everyone off the field.
Speaker 1: But no, he clearly caught it like great strong hands,
Speaker 1: that great play by Mick Nichols. Zakias had big plays.
Speaker 1: Crowder stepped up the last couple of weeks, so you know,
Speaker 1: props to them. Dante Fowler had some plays defensively. You know,
Speaker 1: they did pick off Penex. They forced a couple fumbles
Speaker 1: by Penex. They weren't lucky enough to fall on either one,
Speaker 1: but but they forced the couple and so they do enough.
Speaker 1: Now let's start with a negative with the Falcons. Raheem
Speaker 1: Morris just doesn't show the calm and the quick thinking
Speaker 1: in big moments with the clock that you know your
Speaker 1: average Madden player would be all over And I know,
Speaker 1: I know it's I know it's different, but I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna and give him slack on this one because it's
Speaker 1: your job and it wasn't a confusing situation. They get
Speaker 1: the ball back after one of the most surprising three
Speaker 1: and outs of the entire season. You're right, Pennix leads
Speaker 1: them down to a courageous drive and we can get it.
Speaker 1: We can talk about that longer in a second if
Speaker 1: you want. But they force a three and out from
Speaker 1: Daniels where there's a drop on third down. You know,
Speaker 1: he was a little inaccurate and first down, and they
Speaker 1: get the ball back with over a minute to go, no,
Speaker 1: rather forty seconds to go. Pennix, who's had a lot
Speaker 1: of nice deep outs in this game, throws it to
Speaker 1: Mooney for twenty five yards to the falcons forty four
Speaker 1: yard line. They don't take a time out there. It
Speaker 1: was about thirty three seconds left, and they blow sixteen
Speaker 1: seconds off the clock. Well, surely that's got to be
Speaker 1: the little last time out, right, No, No, you had.
Speaker 5: Two left there.
Speaker 1: It's not even a thought like, of course, you can't
Speaker 1: blow fifteen seconds. They end up not even using the timeouts.
Speaker 1: They go into overtime with an extra timeout and they
Speaker 1: only use another one to get set. Like it was
Speaker 1: with the clock stop. They didn't even end up using
Speaker 1: another one of those timeouts. They get up PI on
Speaker 1: their second to last play in regulation that gives them
Speaker 1: a fifty six yard attempt. Riley Patterson comes up short.
Speaker 1: He's a guy who's bounced around. He's a replacement kicker.
Speaker 1: It happens. I thought it, like most viewers probably thought
Speaker 1: it was going in and the Falcons are winning this game.
Speaker 1: But it just reminds you they would have had two
Speaker 1: three more plays there, And it's just crazy because it's
Speaker 1: it's an unforced there, and it's a rare thing that
Speaker 1: we can say from the outside, you one hundred percent
Speaker 1: just made the wrong decision.
Speaker 5: And so I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2: It honestly, that's fair. But I also not in defense
Speaker 2: of them, but you know, just to give him a
Speaker 2: little bit of a break in some grace here. I
Speaker 2: think the environment had something to do with it, because
Speaker 2: Washington had a hard time getting organized too. At some
Speaker 2: point in that overtime drive, they called him time out
Speaker 2: just to get jan and Daniels a breather. There were
Speaker 2: multiple instances, especially in the fourth quarter, where both teams
Speaker 2: struggled to get lined up, get set before the play clicks.
Speaker 5: They looked tired.
Speaker 1: I thought Raheem Morris should have used his timeouts in
Speaker 1: overtime just to get his defense that he didn't.
Speaker 5: At all, But that's fair. I think they were just
Speaker 5: fancy night.
Speaker 1: I think like people are always like defense gets tired,
Speaker 1: like offense gets tired too. Washington was on the field
Speaker 1: like that whole second. I appreciate that. And it's a
Speaker 1: good shout out to that Washington crowd, who I've seen
Speaker 1: it when they've been good, certainly of the RG three
Speaker 1: year and there's been other little pop up years, but
Speaker 1: you get a feeling that they're waiting to be one
Speaker 1: of the best crowds in the NFL. And they're back
Speaker 1: and it's awesome, and they were worried about disaster scenarios. Okay,
Speaker 1: Pennix gets the ball back with four point thirty two
Speaker 1: to go after Atlanta finally forces the field goal with
Speaker 1: the help of the timeouts, and he has multiple fourth
Speaker 1: and longs on that drive and he hits them, and
Speaker 1: he has a couple of nice outs, and he also
Speaker 1: misses some throws. He just has surprising inaccuracy on some throws,
Speaker 1: but he makes really difficult throws to the outside and
Speaker 1: that fourth and long that he hits to Pitts with
Speaker 1: how much time was left one nineteen go, You know, that.
Speaker 5: Could have been one of the throws of the year.
Speaker 5: That's like a rookie stamping.
Speaker 1: His moment where Riley Patterson hits that freaking kick. All
Speaker 1: we're talking about is how great Penix was to finish
Speaker 1: this game and he never even gets the ball back
Speaker 1: in overtime. So props to Penix, who I thought had
Speaker 1: an up and down game, but the flashes were there
Speaker 1: and the finish was absolutely awesome, and through no fault
Speaker 1: of his own, they end up losing this game because
Speaker 1: he doesn't get the ball in overtime.
Speaker 2: What was the number one attribute when he came out
Speaker 2: of college that people talked about positively with him?
Speaker 5: Armstring, poise exactly.
Speaker 2: Guess what showed completely on that drive and on that
Speaker 2: throw the Pits on fourth down. That live arm.
Speaker 9: Baby.
Speaker 2: He fit that thing in there and Pitts made a
Speaker 2: great catch. Fans of Kyle Pitts, who think he's been
Speaker 2: in jail since he's been with the Falcons, are eager
Speaker 2: to see his release. If he's got a quarterback like
Speaker 2: Michael Penix who's not afraid to throw them the football.
Speaker 2: It was fun. I mean, they lost the game, but
Speaker 2: it was so fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And they might not make the playoffs now though
Speaker 1: because of it.
Speaker 5: So they're eight and eight. Commanders are in at eleven five.
Speaker 1: They're actually the sixth seed right now and the Packers
Speaker 1: are the seven depending on how much they care about seeding.
Speaker 1: We'll find out in week eighteen. We can get into
Speaker 1: that during the week. But if the Falcons had hit
Speaker 1: that kick, Nick, Commanders would have been in a situation
Speaker 1: next week where they had to beat Dallas to guarantee
Speaker 1: their spot in the playoffs, and Dallas beat them before
Speaker 1: Dallas is at home.
Speaker 5: You just never know.
Speaker 1: That could have been a nervous, frisky type of situation
Speaker 1: Commanders fans, especially after you know, potentially having blown this
Speaker 1: lead at the end, that would have been a very
Speaker 1: nervous week. And staid it's the Falcons who now go
Speaker 1: into next week without control. And if you're a Falcons fan,
Speaker 1: you're just adding this to the list of improbable, just weird,
Speaker 1: tough ways for seasons to end. Because the Buccaneers are
Speaker 1: hosting the Saints, and the Buccaneers win the division if
Speaker 1: they beat Spencer Rattler and a dead Staints team, and
Speaker 1: there's no I know, surprising things happened in the NFL,
Speaker 1: but it sure feels like the Falcon season is over
Speaker 1: because of this little sequence. And that's why that time
Speaker 1: out thing it looms. It's not like the whole game
Speaker 1: came down to that. You know, the Falcons defense is
Speaker 1: getting run over, but I think their season is essentially over.
Speaker 1: They have the Panthers next week and they'll probably win
Speaker 1: that game and they'll probably end up out of the
Speaker 1: playoffs at nine and eight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then when you take stock of the entire season,
Speaker 2: what do you come away with? Because you went to
Speaker 2: the whole Kirk Cousins ordeal, you saw him bench, you
Speaker 2: saw the start of your future, hopefully at quarterback with
Speaker 2: Michael Pennix. But where do you go from here? Are
Speaker 2: you happy about this year or do you feel like
Speaker 2: you missed an opportunity based on how you started this year?
Speaker 1: It's somewhere in between, because I think Raheem's defense showed
Speaker 1: some progress over time tonight, Yeah, not really in the
Speaker 1: second half tonight showed some progress down the stretch, and
Speaker 1: you're starting kind of a new regime but this was
Speaker 1: also a go time type of season because they have
Speaker 1: so many young, talented players. That's why they gave Kirk
Speaker 1: all that money. I think you got to feel good
Speaker 1: about what happened with Pennix over the last two weeks,
Speaker 1: and hopefully he closes strong, but it's gonna feel like
Speaker 1: a missed opportunity. They also would have been underdogs in
Speaker 1: that first game against either the Vikings or the Lions,
Speaker 1: so ultimately it was probably just changing the week that
Speaker 1: their heart was broken and they maybe we wouldn't have
Speaker 1: been close.
Speaker 5: Drake London was awesome in this game. Kayden Ellis was awesome.
Speaker 1: Actually, I think there's some good things to feel if
Speaker 1: you're a Falcons fan and look that they're gonna get
Speaker 1: with a better record. All Right, so let's set up
Speaker 1: next week's schedule before we go for the last time
Speaker 1: this season, the Browns are in an Island game. I Apologizeck,
Speaker 1: I apologize to everyone else. The schedule makers, understandably because
Speaker 1: there weren't really many options, decided to go with AFC
Speaker 1: North on Saturday. I think if the if the Falcons
Speaker 1: had won this game tonight, the schedule would have been
Speaker 1: totally different because I actually think the Rams would have
Speaker 1: been playing on Saturday. It would have been a totally
Speaker 1: different setup. But this is the schedule we have now.
Speaker 1: Ravens eleven and five. They're playing on the early game
Speaker 1: on Saturday, that's at one point thirty Eastern. If they win,
Speaker 1: they win the division. Before the Steelers even play Saturday night.
Speaker 1: That game is gonna matter Steelers Bengals. Steelers could be
Speaker 1: playing for seeding, which could be important because it's the
Speaker 1: difference between playing either the Ravens again or the Texans.
Speaker 1: I just knowing the Steelers, they're going to play to
Speaker 1: win in that game. The Bengals will be playing to
Speaker 1: try to keep their playoff hopes alive going in to Sunday.
Speaker 1: The Sunday morning slate will be when the NFC South
Speaker 1: is decided. Both the Falcons and the Bucks will play
Speaker 1: in the morning games. That's really the only thing that
Speaker 1: matters in the morning games. Washington playing for seeding. Green
Speaker 1: Bay as well, but it's six seven, it's not that
Speaker 1: big of a deal. In the afternoon slate, we finally
Speaker 1: have the Chiefs and the Broncos, and that will be
Speaker 1: the Broncos most likely playing for a playoff spot, but
Speaker 1: either the Dolphins have to win at the exact same
Speaker 1: time or they'll know if the Bengals had won on Saturday.
Speaker 1: And yes, I should have mentioned that the Dolphins still
Speaker 1: an important part of Week eighteen. They are at one
Speaker 1: twenty five, opposite that Broncos Chiefs game and some other
Speaker 1: games that don't matter as much like Seahawks Rams.
Speaker 5: It's kind of crazy because the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: And the Rams, it's like the division's over, but they're
Speaker 1: literally gonna tie potentially if the Seahawks win that game
Speaker 1: in record, division record, conference record, common opponents like they
Speaker 1: are down to the fifth tiebreaker. But we just already
Speaker 1: know how it's all gonna work, even if the Seahawks
Speaker 1: win that game, and that's why they are eliminated. And yes,
Speaker 1: Sunday Night football Lions and Vikings for the one seed.
Speaker 1: Fun way to end the season reminds me of a
Speaker 1: couple years back when the Lions technically had nothing to
Speaker 1: play for shook and they played their hearts out and
Speaker 1: they beat the Packers knocked them out of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: And to me, that was they had already had a
Speaker 1: lot of moments that you knew they were legit, but
Speaker 1: that to me was the next level moment. So I
Speaker 1: look forward to that with you next Sunday.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that'll be fantastic. That was the start of the
Speaker 2: lines as we know them now when they took it
Speaker 2: to the Packers and winning the offseason with a lot
Speaker 2: of momentum. We not the same setup for this Sunday night,
Speaker 2: but a lot of not still at stake on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: Okay, So I guess I don't know if Patrick would
Speaker 1: agree that momentum can continue from one week to the
Speaker 1: next in the playoffs? Does that count or is it
Speaker 1: just within a game? Who really knows. We'll find out
Speaker 1: next week. Hit the music, it's time. Who fired up?
Speaker 1: We only got.
Speaker 5: Sixteen games left of the regular season, Shook, No.
Speaker 1: Seventeen because we got a Monday Night. It's gotta be
Speaker 1: beautiful me and Shook. Look when Jaden Daniels is stamping
Speaker 1: his status as a freaking legend as a rookie, that's
Speaker 1: what you know. Football is back. We'll see him Monday