Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to another
Speaker 1: edition of NFL Power Rankings, presented by Energizer. Still going, Ye,
Speaker 1: Dan Hansas, Colleen Wolf, my wonderful co host. It's Christmas week.
Speaker 1: How are you? I'm great? How are you? It's not
Speaker 1: I'm all right, it's not Christmas Week. It doesn't matter
Speaker 1: in these parts. It's week sixty. It's a lot happening
Speaker 1: this week. And the Power Rankings, as has been the
Speaker 1: case all year, are weird. Um, how weird. The Detroit
Speaker 1: Lions are now prowling outside the top five, and you
Speaker 1: have the Jaguars slipping around ten, and uh, that's interesting.
Speaker 1: And that's a big part of today's show is we're
Speaker 1: gonna get to all of it. We also have Vikings
Speaker 1: fans that are not happy with me. When are they happy? Though?
Speaker 1: They're never happy with you, for sure, but they love
Speaker 1: to come at everyone. And yes, they're saying to me
Speaker 1: in my mentions, we have the greatest comeback in the
Speaker 1: history of pro football. And you drop us in the
Speaker 1: Power Rankings, and it's like hey, Connie, home team, It's like, hey,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't have the biggest comeback in the history of
Speaker 1: the NFL if you didn't fall behind thirty three. Nothing
Speaker 1: to the cults in your building. And that's the conundrum, Connie,
Speaker 1: that's the conundrum. We're gonna talk about them, need to
Speaker 1: talk about them, for sure. This was like such a
Speaker 1: chaotic week, it felt like in the NFL, just like
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of games that went sideways early.
Speaker 1: I mean, you had the Chiefs and the Texans that
Speaker 1: was weird, and especially this one with the Vikings and
Speaker 1: the Colts. And we talked throat on the Around the
Speaker 1: NFL podcast, which you could check out five times a week,
Speaker 1: including the Sunday night Flagship show. It was voice crack
Speaker 1: Sunday for all the announcers across the league because so much,
Speaker 1: so many bankers plays happened near the ends of the games. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to all of it right now. Why
Speaker 1: don't you want to pull up the first quadrant. Let's
Speaker 1: do it. Take us through with Colleen, all right, So
Speaker 1: the Eagles still up there at number one. Of course,
Speaker 1: not having Jalen hurts right now, and they're going to
Speaker 1: affect things. But they stand pat there at one. At two,
Speaker 1: you have the Niners after they beat the Seahawks on
Speaker 1: Thursday Night football, also standing pat there, the Bills up
Speaker 1: one spot at three after beating the Dolphins, and that
Speaker 1: snowy affair and Orchard Park were there. It was cold,
Speaker 1: it was beautiful. I love the snow. The Bengals down
Speaker 1: one spot at four. You got the Chiefs day stand
Speaker 1: pat at five. No movement with the Cowboys either at six,
Speaker 1: even after they lose to the Checks. The Lions at
Speaker 1: seven up three spots you just mentioned them just surging.
Speaker 1: And then the Vikings at eight, down one spot, still
Speaker 1: hanging on to Tier one. Yeah, don't complain. You're in
Speaker 1: the first quad Vikings fans. Hey, by the way, the Eagles,
Speaker 1: and let's touch on this because Nick's Cerriani said on
Speaker 1: Tuesday that he's planning to have Jalen Hurts and and
Speaker 1: Gardner means you both potentially ready for this game against
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. How huge is it, Connie, as an Eggles fan,
Speaker 1: um that you were able to pick up that extra
Speaker 1: game on the Cowboys, uh this week because it does
Speaker 1: give them a little wiggle room now because the idea
Speaker 1: of trying to balance clinching the top seed with doing
Speaker 1: right and protecting your star quarterback and m VP contender.
Speaker 1: That's a little bit of a tricky dance for the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Well, they absolutely needed that from the Cowboys. They
Speaker 1: needed the Cowboys to lose this week. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: just worried about Jalen Hurts now in the long run
Speaker 1: in the postseason. How does this injury affect him? Just
Speaker 1: from I mean not only a mobility standpoint, but also
Speaker 1: the most improved thing of about him is his deep
Speaker 1: ball and just pushing the ball vertically down the field. Now,
Speaker 1: how does this injury affect that go into the playoffs
Speaker 1: like that is a massive concern for the Eagles, and
Speaker 1: that's why his team has been so good. Obviously, we
Speaker 1: know how amazing they've been in the trenches, both in
Speaker 1: terms of blocking front and getting after the quarterback this year.
Speaker 1: I kind of think you roll with Minshew trying to
Speaker 1: steal a win and and see even if you lose,
Speaker 1: you give Jalen that extra week and get you know,
Speaker 1: It's a tough decision though, be interesting to track. Let's
Speaker 1: talk the vikings. Um, you know what, Dan, I kind
Speaker 1: of want to power rank the wild endings we can
Speaker 1: and We can talk about the Vikings through that, because
Speaker 1: we saw so many ridiculous endings to games and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm not going to have these in any type of
Speaker 1: order because I'm not the one who ranks you rank you.
Speaker 1: That's your job, not mine. So I throw them out there.
Speaker 1: I will do it here we go, let's talk about
Speaker 1: we keep bringing them up. Let's talk about the Vikings here,
Speaker 1: because that was the most ridiculous games. It was, and
Speaker 1: it was so fitting that the Vikings they clinched the
Speaker 1: division by the most Vikings way possible. All season, it's
Speaker 1: been a white knuckle finish and this just punctuated that perfectly.
Speaker 1: Patrick Peterson, he kind of spoke it into existence at halftime.
Speaker 1: All we need is five touchdowns in the second half
Speaker 1: of a game where they were being shut out. So
Speaker 1: I can't believe that they ended up pulling this off.
Speaker 1: I couldn't believe also in overtime that the Vikings they
Speaker 1: get the first possession and then they punted away like
Speaker 1: it just felt like, are you kidding me? Is this
Speaker 1: thing ever going to end? But the only thing we
Speaker 1: knew at a certain point that there was no way
Speaker 1: the Colts would win. It got to a point where
Speaker 1: they might kai, but there was no once Stalvico caught
Speaker 1: that screen pass, there was just no chance that the
Speaker 1: culture going to stop the two point conversions score on
Speaker 1: their ensuing possessions score in overtime. It could only end
Speaker 1: one way. And uh, I don't know, Like, do you
Speaker 1: want me to Should we continue talking this and then
Speaker 1: do the rankings? Yes, but I do have a question,
Speaker 1: like what is more insane the fact that they were
Speaker 1: down thirty three nothing at halftime or that they outscored
Speaker 1: the Colts thirty nine to three. Oh, to me, that's easy.
Speaker 1: It's way more insane that they fell behind by thirty
Speaker 1: three points in the first half at home in a
Speaker 1: huge game for them against one of the worst teams,
Speaker 1: in a hat shame and a Hattan T shirt game.
Speaker 1: And that's and that's kind of what I'm saying when
Speaker 1: I dropped him one spot of the lines moved ahead
Speaker 1: of them is because like, again, everyone wants to to
Speaker 1: give them their flowers here, but it's like there's still
Speaker 1: a lot of compelling evidence in front of us that
Speaker 1: Minnesota is not a team that's built to win big
Speaker 1: games in January. Their offense is very hot and cold.
Speaker 1: See their defense, Well, the defense wasn't the biggest problem,
Speaker 1: and falling behind in the first half. We know how
Speaker 1: bad the defense has been, especially against the past this year.
Speaker 1: And I just think when there's uh the um, what
Speaker 1: am I trying to say? I'm trying to say that
Speaker 1: the margin for error is going to get substantially smaller
Speaker 1: when you play big time teams. And I think the
Speaker 1: Bikes will be caught in that scenario. And I don't
Speaker 1: think they're making a deep run. I just I'm just
Speaker 1: not I don't care about eleven and three. Okay, So
Speaker 1: let's say that they lose that game to the Colts.
Speaker 1: How far do you drop them? They would probably be
Speaker 1: right either ahead or behind the Jets, so they'd be
Speaker 1: in that fourteen fifteen range. They would have been a
Speaker 1: tenant four team at you know, fifteen in the power rankings,
Speaker 1: which again tells you why all the conversation about are
Speaker 1: they a fraud? Are they contender? It's like they showed
Speaker 1: us both sides against the Colts. But you can do
Speaker 1: that against the Colts and survive even in the historic manner.
Speaker 1: This style of play is just not gonna work when
Speaker 1: you're playing the Forts or the Eagles you saw against
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. I mean it's just you know, in a
Speaker 1: different year, Um, where would the Vikings be ranked? Like
Speaker 1: let's just say that you had to pick a number,
Speaker 1: but where would you put that based on let's just
Speaker 1: say whatever, any any just not this year, in this
Speaker 1: in this other reality now that you've created upon me,
Speaker 1: is the version of the the other version of that
Speaker 1: Viking seem also in this league? Are there now two Vikings?
Speaker 1: The cousins? Would they be friends? I'm so confused now,
Speaker 1: like the twenties, maybe it feels like this team maybe
Speaker 1: the like maybe the teens. I just hate that every
Speaker 1: single win is stressed. This this will answer. They feel
Speaker 1: like a nine and eight team masquerading as a you know,
Speaker 1: thirteen and four team this year alright, you know again
Speaker 1: around fifteen or so, it's kind of where they Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, I found it interesting during our show in
Speaker 1: Buffalo on Saturday that Steve Smith Sr. Said that Jeff
Speaker 1: Saturday should be the first interim head coach every fire.
Speaker 1: And he's not wrong. It's pretty rough. You know, Jeff
Speaker 1: could be on a couch in like West Bristol right now,
Speaker 1: just chilling in CONNECTI just calling another run play. Yeah, alright,
Speaker 1: what else we got? Okay, now let's go. Let's go
Speaker 1: Patriots and Raiders. What the hell happened? This is the
Speaker 1: most insane ending. Like final play, Chandler Jones, playing his
Speaker 1: old team, catches the unnecessary lateral I mean, stiff arms
Speaker 1: Mac Jones, steps over him, then has the walk off touchdown.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know laterals are so trendy right now,
Speaker 1: but this one completely blew up in the Patriots face.
Speaker 1: This is this was an insane ending. Laterals are trendy
Speaker 1: right now. I feel like everyone's like, you know what,
Speaker 1: we're gonna do some lateral right now? This was the
Speaker 1: certainly I think the most stunning ending of not just
Speaker 1: this week but all season that I can't believe that happened.
Speaker 1: I can't believe the Patriots or the team that makes
Speaker 1: these mistakes. Now, I'm not hating it if you're someone
Speaker 1: who suffered through New England's dominance for multiple decades, as
Speaker 1: I did from on a direct level terms of AFS
Speaker 1: East fandom, but as everyone did in a way that
Speaker 1: was sick of seeing this team win dramatically. Some of
Speaker 1: these dramatic losses they're now incurring, are they don't suck suck,
Speaker 1: But also the Raiders have had some of the most
Speaker 1: dramatic losses and dramatic wins to this whole season. Feel
Speaker 1: like they are just a very extra team. I hope
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be in Pittsburgh for Christmas Eve that game.
Speaker 1: I really hope that the Raiders do something again that
Speaker 1: maybe tops that. Who knows. Yeah, six team feels right
Speaker 1: for them right now. Um, I think I've seen them
Speaker 1: for weeks as a team that's way better than their record. Um,
Speaker 1: can they win out? Yes? I think they could win out.
Speaker 1: They have the Niners and the Chiefs after the Steelers.
Speaker 1: Could they win out? I think they are capable of it.
Speaker 1: Do I think they will know? Even if they did,
Speaker 1: would they in the wild card round? You know, you
Speaker 1: have thirty three nothing on a half time at halftime
Speaker 1: and blow the game? Yeah? Probably? There's no way for
Speaker 1: Raiders fans out there. It's been a very exciting season,
Speaker 1: but just no, there's no way this ends. Well, just
Speaker 1: prepare yourself for that mentally, which I know you probably have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I have. Okay, So the Patriots, sloppy first half,
Speaker 1: all of it. I don't know what's going on. With
Speaker 1: them there at seventeen, let's go to Cowboys Jags. Cowboys
Speaker 1: you have at six, and as we said, they didn't
Speaker 1: move at all there, and then the Jags there at eleven.
Speaker 1: But the Cowboys. Look, last week they needed a ninety
Speaker 1: eight yard drive to beat the Texans with one win.
Speaker 1: This week they blew a seventeen point lead to the Jags.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a famously tough a f C sell
Speaker 1: let me tell you. Yeah, Well the Jaguars are legit
Speaker 1: now they don't. I said it on the show last
Speaker 1: week that I think people, and especially if the Cowboys
Speaker 1: think they're going to Jacksonville and it's give me. It's
Speaker 1: just not the case anymore, especially with Lawrence making this
Speaker 1: jump to star status. So I don't really kill them.
Speaker 1: I know it's a bad lossy with less than six
Speaker 1: minutes playing the third quarter. But in the NFL, leads
Speaker 1: aren't what they used to be. I mean this stuff,
Speaker 1: these like multiple score leads disappear so quickly, uh in
Speaker 1: our league. So the Cowboys are at six, I would
Speaker 1: feel nervous of I'm a Cowboy fan because this does
Speaker 1: a lot have some of this d n A of
Speaker 1: so many Dallas years in the past where they get
Speaker 1: scorching hot, they present themselves as a top team in
Speaker 1: the league. They were number two in these power rankings
Speaker 1: two or three weeks ago, and then they just start
Speaker 1: to kind of slowly trend downward. And then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, they're down ten points in the third quarter
Speaker 1: of their first round playoff game, and you're like, oh,
Speaker 1: is this happening again. I hope it doesn't happen again.
Speaker 1: I want I don't. I like the Cowboys involved in
Speaker 1: their way over due to get back to the NFC
Speaker 1: title game, But right now my antenna is up, and
Speaker 1: I think all Cowboys fans probably feel the same way,
Speaker 1: especially with the interceptions and Dak Prescott, like those a
Speaker 1: lot of them, you're not fixing themselves. He has eleven
Speaker 1: in the last nine games, more than he had all
Speaker 1: of last season, I mean, four straight games right now
Speaker 1: out with a pick. But now they get the Eagles
Speaker 1: coming up without Jalen Hurts, they have Gardner Minshew. I
Speaker 1: think also it's kind of interesting that the Cowboys lost
Speaker 1: to the Eagles in October when they didn't have Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott with a broken thumb, and now they got to
Speaker 1: play the Eagles without Jalen Hurts, so who knows. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm sad because I wanted to see these teams at
Speaker 1: full strength play each other, and so I just feel
Speaker 1: like we have we've been cheating at this point. Maybe
Speaker 1: we'll get that next month. But if this is the
Speaker 1: way it plays out and Hurts is out, no excuses.
Speaker 1: Cowboys gotta beat Gardner minshew, Um, just the show that
Speaker 1: they're for real. If you go, if you lose again
Speaker 1: this time to the Eagles, back up your schedule, you
Speaker 1: go to Tennessee and then Washington. Listen, they're going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs, but you gotta go into plaoffs feeling good
Speaker 1: about themselves and when over Philly would do that, whether
Speaker 1: or not Hurts is involved. Are the Jags going to
Speaker 1: the playoffs? Up six spots? Up six spot? I think
Speaker 1: they're winning the a f C South, so yes, I
Speaker 1: think they are clearly the best team in that division.
Speaker 1: Now the Titans free falling, the Colts and Texans also involved,
Speaker 1: so yes, I think they are going to keep winning.
Speaker 1: I they have a big Thursday night match up against
Speaker 1: the Jets that will be difficult. Um, obviously for their offense.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be a real check heat check on really
Speaker 1: how hot Trevor Lawrence is. Because the Jets with Sauce
Speaker 1: Garden are leading the way, uh and maybe getting Quinn
Speaker 1: and Williams back. But it doesn't help that it's on
Speaker 1: a short week. That's gonna be a big challenge for
Speaker 1: Jacksonville's offense. But at the same time, I think they
Speaker 1: catch a break two because we found out on Tuesday
Speaker 1: that Zack Wilson will be in the lineup for the Jets.
Speaker 1: He was extremely erratic on Sunday against the Lions, and
Speaker 1: I think Jacksonville is going to take advantage of Wilson's
Speaker 1: listen at best mediocrity, at worst, he's holding that team back,
Speaker 1: holding a team hostage. So I'm in on the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: I think they keep winning. They were thirty one after
Speaker 1: losing to the Commanders in Week one. Look at them now,
Speaker 1: back to back wins. I said last week that I
Speaker 1: couldn't imagine the Cowboys would lose to the Jags. So
Speaker 1: here I am sitting eating crow and that's fine. Or
Speaker 1: maybe it was a reverse Jinx. Maybe it's the other
Speaker 1: way to look. I don't know, we don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know anything about Urban Meyer. But you know when
Speaker 1: you some things about you, we know some things when
Speaker 1: we see Trevor Lawrence going up and down the field
Speaker 1: and that stadium going off and Duval and the Jaguars
Speaker 1: being clearly now a team on the rise in the
Speaker 1: a f C. Do you think he thinks like, man,
Speaker 1: if I just kind of gave a crap, maybe I
Speaker 1: would be one of the hottest coaching properties in the
Speaker 1: National Football League right now. I mean, but he didn't,
Speaker 1: so he's not. And that is what it is. But
Speaker 1: crossed my mind. Okay, So how would you rank these finishes? Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go, all right, number one. I think you
Speaker 1: gotta go to the Chandler Jones game one, the Jaguars
Speaker 1: game that's got to be number three. And we'll go yeah,
Speaker 1: Minnesota too with the silver medal, right, because it was
Speaker 1: all just come back and I sound overly critical of
Speaker 1: the Vikings now, they have done a great job getting
Speaker 1: off the mat uh this season and winning all these
Speaker 1: close games. That was pretty incredible what they were able
Speaker 1: to do because not only did they come back from
Speaker 1: that deficit, the game officials had a terrible day and
Speaker 1: took away two touchdowns from their defense, the same dude
Speaker 1: in fact, and they still made it happen without a doubt.
Speaker 1: They're playing hard and getting done for Kevin O'Connell. Okay,
Speaker 1: so you agree with those rankings, I think so top
Speaker 1: that's the top of the top of the list for sure.
Speaker 1: And the Patriots are the Patriots have been a you know,
Speaker 1: a controversial team all season, uh in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: stuff going on behind the scenes and you know, but
Speaker 1: it's the Patriots and it's belchick, they'll figure it out
Speaker 1: situational football. And then that happens and it's like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, like, did they just ruin their season on
Speaker 1: one of the stupidest things that you've ever seen? That
Speaker 1: was pretty I don't know what Jacoby Myers was thinking.
Speaker 1: He wasn't he was trying to make a play. And
Speaker 1: they all after the game, they were very careful to
Speaker 1: say that the coaches didn't tell us to do it
Speaker 1: because they don't want to get fired the players. So, um, yes,
Speaker 1: it was myers decision. Uh. Stevenson did hand it to
Speaker 1: Jacoby Myers, thank you for that Christmas gift. Um. I'm
Speaker 1: sure Jacoby was thinking afterwards because he was just supposed
Speaker 1: to go down with the ball. It was a one
Speaker 1: in a million play, and then the Vikings game was
Speaker 1: a one in a million game. Quite a week of
Speaker 1: football football. It's good, it really is. Okay. So those
Speaker 1: Raiders they're in quad to let's take a look at
Speaker 1: who else quad to Daniel want to take this sure,
Speaker 1: Chargers stay at number nine. I like the Chargers. I
Speaker 1: like where they're at right now, and I think when
Speaker 1: you look at their schedule, they're gonna take this thing
Speaker 1: and grab a wild card spot. The Dolphins up one,
Speaker 1: up one and losing Buffalo and they go up one
Speaker 1: because you know, like they're I like the cut of
Speaker 1: their jib. After that game, the Jags, we talked about them,
Speaker 1: six to eleven, the bigger Banks rise over the week,
Speaker 1: Ravens down four to twelve. You know that offense. I
Speaker 1: don't know, man, I don't know if they're gonna get
Speaker 1: a fixed. They just waiting for Lamar to come back,
Speaker 1: but they were having issues with their passing game when
Speaker 1: Lamar was healthy. Giants, the g men stopped their free
Speaker 1: fall in these carts. Uh they jumped six spots after
Speaker 1: the primetime game uh over against the Commanders, and thank
Speaker 1: you referees. The Jets are down too. They seem to
Speaker 1: be dropping about two spots every week. Now, it is
Speaker 1: what it is. Commanders down one to fifteen. Their playoff
Speaker 1: hopes took a big hit on Sunday night, and then
Speaker 1: the Raiders up to to sixteen, and it's like, how
Speaker 1: is that happening? How are the Raiders still? How are
Speaker 1: they in quad to after all the bad things that
Speaker 1: have happened. Well, let's get into all of it, but
Speaker 1: we've gotta take a break. Stay right there, We're back
Speaker 1: are our rankings? Before we get to Quad three? Can
Speaker 1: I take a look at Quad two again? Sure? Drew
Speaker 1: the producer behind the glass, the silent one, the seven
Speaker 1: ft seven giant. He doesn't have to speak to carry
Speaker 1: a larnched it. Sure? All right? Here we go? Yes,
Speaker 1: I had mentioned the Dolphins real quick, and I would
Speaker 1: just want to hit on the Dolphins of Ravens. Two
Speaker 1: teams in playoff positioning right now, um and two teams.
Speaker 1: I feel very different different about I thought Miami, and
Speaker 1: in particular to his ability to go into those conditions
Speaker 1: in Western New York makes so many good on target,
Speaker 1: on time throws after he was doing none of that
Speaker 1: the previous two weeks. His numbers would have been even
Speaker 1: better had his receivers caught some of the throws he made.
Speaker 1: Um some key drops by Miami as well. So while
Speaker 1: they are in a three game losing streak, and if
Speaker 1: you wanna, if you want to not pop the hood,
Speaker 1: you can just say, oh, this is one of those
Speaker 1: Dolphins collapse seasons. I don't see it that way. I
Speaker 1: think they're going to right the ship and get one
Speaker 1: of these wild card spots. The Ravens, on the other hand, Connie,
Speaker 1: I think they're very like legitimate concerns here about this offense.
Speaker 1: And I think the Bengals are going to run away
Speaker 1: and hide in this division. Um, and now it's just
Speaker 1: a matter of just Baltimore full on collapse like they
Speaker 1: did last year. Uh and a team ends up taking
Speaker 1: their spot. I think that's within the realm of possibility,
Speaker 1: even with their record the way it is it is.
Speaker 1: And I will say just first on the Dolphins, like
Speaker 1: I thought that that first half was really surprising, the
Speaker 1: way that the Dolphins came out. They ran the ball
Speaker 1: well too. With Raheem Mostard they had four hundred and
Speaker 1: five total yards. They ran for more than a hundred
Speaker 1: yards for the first time since Week ten. They were
Speaker 1: able to do things that I didn't think that they
Speaker 1: would do, especially in the conditions. But actually the conditions
Speaker 1: weren't even that bad until the fourth quarter. Like it
Speaker 1: was cold, but it wasn't snowing, wasn't anything. It wasn't
Speaker 1: like winds whipping through the stadium or anything like that.
Speaker 1: And then the fourth quarter came and the sky absolutely
Speaker 1: opened up, and it felt like that's exactly when the
Speaker 1: Bills kind of gained their momentum and Josh Allen started
Speaker 1: breaking off some of those runs and ultimately they ended
Speaker 1: up scoring. And then Baltimore like their offense right now,
Speaker 1: it's a disaster. They've been held to sixteen or fewer
Speaker 1: points in three straight games. Like they need Lamar back.
Speaker 1: There's no way I think that they can continue to
Speaker 1: succeed and make a run or make any noise at
Speaker 1: all without him. Well, you know they and they are
Speaker 1: nine and five, so they really probably need just one
Speaker 1: more win and they're home against the Falcons this week,
Speaker 1: and the Falcons have a rookie quarterback that's very well
Speaker 1: set up to take care of business. Get to those
Speaker 1: ten wins if you if you let that game get away.
Speaker 1: You have Pittsburgh, which is playing better, and then at
Speaker 1: Cincinnati to close the season, and then it gets dangerous.
Speaker 1: So this is a very big game obviously for Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Let's check out Quad three. Kindie, take us through it. Okay,
Speaker 1: this is what I like to call the life support quad. Oh,
Speaker 1: that's interesting. The Packers they are up five spots after
Speaker 1: their win on Monday Night football. Did you see Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers his postgame conversation, He was like, I'm tired. Well,
Speaker 1: he corrected, I believe it was Lisa Salters on the
Speaker 1: records of one of the remaining opponents, and made it
Speaker 1: clear that he's tracking this closely. We gotta win out
Speaker 1: and then we need all the different permutations of the
Speaker 1: schedule to go our away, and so far things are
Speaker 1: going very well. He's like a fan the way he's tracking. Interesting.
Speaker 1: What you're saying is he's not taking it one week
Speaker 1: at a time, looking ahead. And finally it's good to
Speaker 1: hear some player finally say that it's not just the game,
Speaker 1: we get it. Uh. At eighteen, you have the Patriots
Speaker 1: down five spots, the Titans down four spots. At nineteen,
Speaker 1: the Browns they're up three twenty and then you've got
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, they are just falling, falling at one they're
Speaker 1: down five spots, the Steelers at two, up two spots.
Speaker 1: You got the Bucks, they lead the NFC South at spots,
Speaker 1: and then the Panthers right there at four down four
Speaker 1: you can point out and the way we have it
Speaker 1: on the screen we're looking at you can't see it
Speaker 1: to appreciate the true majesty of it. But right now,
Speaker 1: and this was not done on purpose of something I
Speaker 1: noticed late last night. I have the Bucks, Panthers, Saints,
Speaker 1: and Falcons all in order twenty three six. So NFC
Speaker 1: SOUTHA was the gentleman. It's a tight race. You can
Speaker 1: say that AFC South the Titans man. They were number
Speaker 1: six four weeks ago. They beat the Packers on Thursday
Speaker 1: Night Football, uh four weeks ago, and everyone and I
Speaker 1: mean everyone, myself included, was just waxing poetic about this team,
Speaker 1: about how everyone kind of doubted them and they started
Speaker 1: the season slow at oh and two, and then they
Speaker 1: figured it out, and they always figured out because they
Speaker 1: have this incredible coach and Derrick Henry and even without
Speaker 1: a J. Brown, Ryan Tannehill's rock solid quarterback and they
Speaker 1: are gonna be there in the end and they might
Speaker 1: even contend for the buy and then everything collapsed. The
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator got a d u I uh, they fire
Speaker 1: the GM and then they lose. They lose, they lose,
Speaker 1: they lose, and I just think this is something that's
Speaker 1: going to continue. Now. I I think they're in a
Speaker 1: lot of trouble here. The crossroads are so far in
Speaker 1: the distance. Now, remember they were at a crossroads, and
Speaker 1: now now they're definitely in a ditch jeep down. And
Speaker 1: we talked about on the show last week that playing
Speaker 1: the Charger is a perfect set up there because the
Speaker 1: Chargers are a team that just when you buy in,
Speaker 1: they kinda will let you down. It felt like the
Speaker 1: Chargers and the Titans might flip spaces, but instead, again
Speaker 1: the Chargers get it done. The Titans cans. They don't
Speaker 1: score enough points. And now the Jags are breathing down
Speaker 1: their neck right with one game in between them and
Speaker 1: and they already lost to the Jags to start this streak.
Speaker 1: It's gonna come down to the last game of the
Speaker 1: season where they play each other, and the Jack's already
Speaker 1: have one win in hand against Tennessee so yes, the
Speaker 1: Tennessee is fully aware they need to somehow right the ship.
Speaker 1: I just don't know if they can know their their
Speaker 1: offensive line is a mess. Ryan Tannehill was in a
Speaker 1: pressure cooker all day. They were number six four weeks ago.
Speaker 1: You said number six four weeks ago, just a month
Speaker 1: and and the Lions were number thirty one about two
Speaker 1: months ago, and look where they are now at seven.
Speaker 1: It's been a weird year. I'd love to know the
Speaker 1: variation this year is how does it compare two years passed?
Speaker 1: On the rankings? It is actually a crazier year. Yes,
Speaker 1: this is a different year. I think anyone that's following
Speaker 1: the game it feels that way. And then when you
Speaker 1: do something like the power rankings and you're kind of
Speaker 1: in it in a different way, you're seeing it. You're
Speaker 1: seeing like these teams. Usually a team like the lines
Speaker 1: are a perfect example. If you're one in six in
Speaker 1: week eight, there's no coming back. You might get hot
Speaker 1: and win two or three games, but then you'll give
Speaker 1: back a couple of games and at the end of
Speaker 1: the year, one and six team is gonna finish six
Speaker 1: and eleven or whatever that's or worse. Um to have
Speaker 1: these big this big variants where these bad teams are
Speaker 1: going off like the Jaguars also, and then these good
Speaker 1: these quote unquote good teams um are just free falling
Speaker 1: out of nowhere. It's like it is a strange season.
Speaker 1: It's entertaining but also kind of destabilizing, especially if you
Speaker 1: do this. Speaking of destabilizing the Seahawks, they were a
Speaker 1: top ten team at the beginning of November, and look
Speaker 1: where they are now. They can't get a stop and
Speaker 1: they're putting too much on Gino now, who's had a
Speaker 1: great year, But you can't ask, you know, to be
Speaker 1: a superstar quarterback. He's not. He's he's a guy that's
Speaker 1: made a jump from a journeyman to legitimate starter. But
Speaker 1: when you don't play good defense, and they haven't for
Speaker 1: weeks now, and you can't run the football, bad things
Speaker 1: are gonna happen, especially when you play. So they were
Speaker 1: number twelve two weeks ago, is that right? And now
Speaker 1: they're twenty one, So that it is just an insane
Speaker 1: drop and we've seen it, like you watch the games.
Speaker 1: You can feel the drop every single week. And some
Speaker 1: of that might be on me, the Powerings guy. Maybe
Speaker 1: they should have never been that high. Maybe they were
Speaker 1: closer to a fifteen team, but they legitimately felt like
Speaker 1: a top twelve team at that time, like all the
Speaker 1: phases of the game we're working at that time, and
Speaker 1: things have just dried up a little bit. It was
Speaker 1: a four week stretch where they had one but two
Speaker 1: of those wins were against the Cardinals, and I want
Speaker 1: to say, I don't know, I'm trying to think who
Speaker 1: the other team was pretty questionable team when they went
Speaker 1: off on defense and had that really good month. Looking back,
Speaker 1: the one thing that me and others should have really
Speaker 1: took more and is who were they beating in those games.
Speaker 1: That's fair because they were beating I'll tell you who
Speaker 1: they were beating Cardinals, Giants, Chargers, and then Cardinals. That's
Speaker 1: that's Cardinal. Cardinals have had a terrible year, Chargers when
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert was still not physically great, Giants who have
Speaker 1: one of the worst offenses in the league. And then
Speaker 1: Arizona again. So right, you know, these things happen. But
Speaker 1: I mean, look, they lost to the Niners with Brock Purty,
Speaker 1: who they look really good right now, even though they
Speaker 1: don't have Deebo Samuel either. But they controlled this game
Speaker 1: wire to wire. The NFC West has one good team
Speaker 1: right now, and it's the Niners. Yeah, I think that's
Speaker 1: fair to say. And then let's one other team that's
Speaker 1: got me messed up a little bit as the Panthers right. Um,
Speaker 1: not that I've ever bought poor Panther. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: they're not there. I've never thought they were good. It
Speaker 1: was the division they were winning, and and it did
Speaker 1: seem like they had found a formula here. And then
Speaker 1: the Steelers just said, no, We're just gonna do that
Speaker 1: formula better than you. So that was kind of for
Speaker 1: me the performance I needed to see. It's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna really take this Panther's team too seriously.
Speaker 1: They were my pet team just for one week, one
Speaker 1: week on are you? And now I had to I
Speaker 1: had to give the pet back who to who? I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know, kill shelter. Did you take
Speaker 1: it to kill shelter. I would never do that. I
Speaker 1: had to take that. I had to take them to
Speaker 1: a farm. Um and listen, they got all the land
Speaker 1: they could want to run around and be comfortable, which
Speaker 1: is the gentleman's kill shelter. That's terrible. I would never
Speaker 1: but they can still win this trash division, believe it
Speaker 1: or not. You know, the NFC is kind of annoying
Speaker 1: to me because we're gonna have the NFC South champion
Speaker 1: and um, you know, maybe like the Giants and I
Speaker 1: know the Jets are kind of a good story. I
Speaker 1: guess who would you rather? Giants or Commanders? Yeah, for
Speaker 1: reasons that go beyond football, but yeah that's let's check
Speaker 1: out Quad four to don't read into that they're not
Speaker 1: good either. The Falcons down one. Maybe we know why
Speaker 1: Arthur Smith did not want to play. The rookie doesn't
Speaker 1: matter green one way to put it, stunner Baker Mayfield
Speaker 1: magic lasted one week or down one spot the ranch.
Speaker 1: The more he learns, the worst he is exactly. The
Speaker 1: Brown goes up to eight off a win as Nathaniel
Speaker 1: Hackett tries to keep his job. Bears twenty nine, Cardinals
Speaker 1: thirty Cults thirty one, Texans thirty two. I almost I
Speaker 1: almost moved the Texans out of the bottom slop because
Speaker 1: they are playing. Yeah, good teams very hard right now,
Speaker 1: but the Cults have been through so much. I did.
Speaker 1: I gave him a little bit of juice for being
Speaker 1: up thirty three nothing and kept him at thirty one,
Speaker 1: but could easily flopped him, could have flopped him. But
Speaker 1: I can't believe you have the Texans at thirty two
Speaker 1: with all of the glowing things you say about them.
Speaker 1: Now I feel like maybe it was only around the
Speaker 1: NFL podcast. It just feels like you said you talk
Speaker 1: about the Texans in a different light after the game
Speaker 1: with the Cowboys. I give I give Lovey Smith credit.
Speaker 1: Here's the Lovey Smith thing is interesting because they fired
Speaker 1: their coach last year one and done Culli, and then
Speaker 1: they bring in Lovey Smith. And then there's this five
Speaker 1: that he could be one and done two and then
Speaker 1: you think to yourself, well, there one, twelve and one,
Speaker 1: so that's bad. But they've had seven games now where
Speaker 1: they've either been in the lead or tied entering the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. And it's like, is that good or bad?
Speaker 1: Is that? Does that reflect well on Lovely Smith that
Speaker 1: they're in all these games? Or poorly that they've been
Speaker 1: in all these games and still only have one win.
Speaker 1: These are decisions that ownership needs to make, you know what.
Speaker 1: It feels a little like the Lions last year when
Speaker 1: they would be sort of in it, but they could
Speaker 1: never get over the finish line. So maybe next year,
Speaker 1: maybe the Texans are the new lines. Are they on
Speaker 1: hard knocks? Oh? I hope not. Coll Okay take us,
Speaker 1: take us. Where are we going next? Okay? We are
Speaker 1: going to um cough a little bit. Hey, Okay, so
Speaker 1: what we're gonna do here? I am, Well, it's debatable
Speaker 1: because it's Christmas Week. There's a lot going on. It's
Speaker 1: six it's week sixteen. But also I have to fly
Speaker 1: to Pittsburgh for Christmas Eve. So I just feel like,
Speaker 1: you know, my timeline is moved up a little bit
Speaker 1: and the Christmas deadline is always looming. But I did
Speaker 1: want to go through a couple of things here in
Speaker 1: terms of gifts and gifts, the gifts and I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get answers and shipping, and it's just like I
Speaker 1: have a full year's notice every year. I know when
Speaker 1: Christmas is going to be, and I still miss the
Speaker 1: deadline every single year, Like I'm giving Christmas presents in
Speaker 1: June sometimes like, hey, totally forgot about this. Um It's
Speaker 1: coming your way though, so anyway, it is it is.
Speaker 1: I do also love to tell people what I almost
Speaker 1: got them, but just couldn't pull it off. That's annoying.
Speaker 1: I don't like when people do that. Yeah, that's a
Speaker 1: that's a staple resolution for you. Maybe, But I almost
Speaker 1: got you this, but they either didn't have it or
Speaker 1: then I found it was too expensive. But I almost did.
Speaker 1: That's that's every year, to John, to Kristen, to everyone
Speaker 1: who's really close to me. When do I get a
Speaker 1: gift from you? July? Maybe? So in the in the
Speaker 1: spirit of Christmas, I wanted to go through a couple
Speaker 1: of things with you. Um, it's not Christmas until okay,
Speaker 1: so just the markers that come in and you realize,
Speaker 1: you know what, this is the holiday season. So I
Speaker 1: have three things here for you. The first one, it's
Speaker 1: not Christmas until someone cancels Christmas. This is a rich
Speaker 1: Wolf tradition. I grew up with this. Um, it's kind
Speaker 1: of how we ring in the holiday season. There were
Speaker 1: there was always fights over light placement on the Christmas tree. Um.
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve, my family usually does meatballs and sausage and
Speaker 1: red sauce in the croppot. My brother gets, are you
Speaker 1: upset if like the sausage is in cut properly? So?
Speaker 1: That is exactly I know, yes, that's what it was,
Speaker 1: canceled the sage, you know, so yeah, just canceling Christmas. Um,
Speaker 1: it's not Christmas until it's cancel So someone screams out,
Speaker 1: this is the last time. I hate to do this,
Speaker 1: or you know what, We're not doing this anymore. There's
Speaker 1: no party. Christmas is canceled, and I'm like, oh, now
Speaker 1: I feel all warm and fuzzy because it is here. Okay,
Speaker 1: So there's that one in my family. A Facebook thread
Speaker 1: going on right now about the location of the Christmas
Speaker 1: Eve party and people are like saying, I can't do it, No,
Speaker 1: I can't do it. And then someone came in off
Speaker 1: the top turn buckle. Well, I guess is you just canceled?
Speaker 1: Going further? Wells here, Yeah, someone's preemptively okay, go ahead.
Speaker 1: I love that. Also, like when you don't get invitation
Speaker 1: to one of the holiday parties family wise, that is
Speaker 1: will be canceled forever. In my family, another one, it's
Speaker 1: not Christmas until graphics are dripping in lights. So I
Speaker 1: love when I have a Christmas game and you see
Speaker 1: like NBC or who oh, here it is on the
Speaker 1: screen if you're watching us, right now yes, and there's
Speaker 1: snow falling on the score. Maybe sometimes Rudolph comes out
Speaker 1: of nowhere. There's presence, there's colorful lights. I love colorful lights,
Speaker 1: like I don't. I'm not only a white light person.
Speaker 1: I want to be. And I know I've probably had
Speaker 1: this taken in the passes. I'm looking at the score
Speaker 1: bug for Fox. It has the old school lights around
Speaker 1: the score and the time and the down and distance.
Speaker 1: But I've always had a little bit of issue with
Speaker 1: the snow falling, actually the animation of it falling. But
Speaker 1: then I think it builds as the game goes along.
Speaker 1: It does, and I kind of like that. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: if it doesn't, it does. We take confirmation from producer Drew.
Speaker 1: The accumulation of the snow on top of the bug
Speaker 1: is an inspired bit of you know, I love it.
Speaker 1: It's so fascinate. Yeah, Like I mean, I love a
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving graphic, but Christmas really brings it home for me.
Speaker 1: I put the Fox robot in Christmas sweaters and stuff.
Speaker 1: You know, I could be cynical, but it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's fun. Everybody's having fun back in Okay, and then
Speaker 1: finally it's not Christmas until someone mentions the Eagles fans
Speaker 1: boots Santa. I can't take it. I can't take it anymore.
Speaker 1: How about you don't do it in the first place,
Speaker 1: and then you don't have to live with it. It's
Speaker 1: over and done with. It was so long ago. Find
Speaker 1: something new to figure out and to dunk on Eagles
Speaker 1: fans about, because that's not it anymore. And I will
Speaker 1: tell you that during the Phillies playoffs, they showed Santa
Speaker 1: on the big screen and everyone shared them. So play
Speaker 1: off Philly fans, Okay, because you're trying to rewrite history.
Speaker 1: But that's not how history what. Maybe Santa deserves to
Speaker 1: be Boots sometimes, maybe that's what it is. Maybe Santa
Speaker 1: didn't show up for you, Kyle leans on tilt and
Speaker 1: she just had the Santa sucks take some Christmas is maybe,
Speaker 1: unless you're talking about the creepy mall Santa. I cry
Speaker 1: every time I had to get a picture with Santa.
Speaker 1: All of my pictures of Santa just me and hysterics
Speaker 1: when I was little. So when you go back to Philly,
Speaker 1: well it's terrifying. Yeah, I understand that. When you go
Speaker 1: back to Philly, is it Colleen and Philly or Aunt Doreen. Oh,
Speaker 1: oh my god. Aunt Doreen loves the holiday. She's drinking eggnog,
Speaker 1: she's singing songs. She has so many sweaters, so I
Speaker 1: have a bin of Christmas like gear, way more sweaters
Speaker 1: than days in December to use them every year. The
Speaker 1: whole house is covered in lights. I love Christmas. I
Speaker 1: love Christmas cards. I love getting I don't send them out,
Speaker 1: but I love getting Christmas cards. It's a great tradition.
Speaker 1: Aunt Doreen, she's bad, is there you go? I like that.
Speaker 1: It's fun to celebrate the holidays. Merry Christmas. Uh, do
Speaker 1: you have any did you roll your eyes when you
Speaker 1: just said Mary Christmas? Not intentionally? Listen. It's week sixteen,
Speaker 1: is where it is. Christmas is very stressful, Connie. I know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've got a couple of things from doing
Speaker 1: okay you all right? You know, speaking of Santa's Santa
Speaker 1: is very busy this time of year, and he's also,
Speaker 1: you know, trying to balance multiple podcasts and writing things
Speaker 1: and families, franking kids and who's there are rankings for children?
Speaker 1: But that stays internal. Um, But I love Christmas, love
Speaker 1: doing the show with you, and we'll be back next
Speaker 1: week with another round of Power Rankings. It's getting close,
Speaker 1: just like the big Man coming down the chimney. We're
Speaker 1: nearing the end of the regular season. We're gonna take
Speaker 1: you through the end of the regular season and beyond.
Speaker 1: Next week, we'll be back Merry Christmas later m hm H.
Speaker 1: NFL Power Rankings is a production of the NFL in
Speaker 1: partnership with I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.