Speaker 1: They Around the NFL podcast Found Love and the Diabetes
Speaker 1: at the Santa Summits. Hello and welcome to a very
Speaker 1: special Christmas Eve edition of Around the NFL, the flagship program,
Speaker 1: Week sixteen. Can you believe it? Dan Hans is here
Speaker 1: with Mark Sessler Greg Rosenthal in our respective homes and yes,
Speaker 1: right now upstairs from where I'm recording this, my in
Speaker 1: laws from Texas are here and they are having the
Speaker 1: traditional chicken spaghetti dinner and then going to church and
Speaker 1: then you know, celebrating with the family. But the three
Speaker 1: of us talking football, all right, that's fine too.
Speaker 2: This is somewhat of a tradition too. I feel like
Speaker 2: we've had a number of Christmas Eve type shows over
Speaker 2: the year, one in the office, so that this one
Speaker 2: I'll take.
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, I mean we had the advantage of working
Speaker 3: from home today, which Greg, I don't know about you.
Speaker 3: We've spent a lot of consecutively together in that office
Speaker 3: and it's perhaps not as vibrant as our last NFL headquarters.
Speaker 3: We're on game days, but I right, I quite enjoyed
Speaker 3: being home on the couch wearing the clothing night shows
Speaker 3: while these games unfolded.
Speaker 1: Very nice, very well, said Mark as always and yes,
Speaker 1: the gift the way the calendar fell was a full
Speaker 1: slate of Sunday action. Also two games to get to
Speaker 1: on Saturday, and just you know, a little program note here,
Speaker 1: a little bit different show here. We're gonna try to
Speaker 1: be a little bit tighter with the games. We're not
Speaker 1: gonna do Sunday Night football. We're gonna hit Sunday Night
Speaker 1: Football and the Christmas triple header on Tuesday morning. So
Speaker 1: we're gonna kind of spin through the league, get you
Speaker 1: caught up where you need to be, and we thank you.
Speaker 1: If you're listening right now on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning,
Speaker 1: or you're hiding in the bathroom because your mother in
Speaker 1: law's driving you insane, you know we're here for you.
Speaker 1: Let's get into it and start with the big game
Speaker 1: on Sunday. It was at what was called a Joe
Speaker 1: Robbie Stadium that is outrageous. Whatever that plays in Miami's
Speaker 1: called I think it's hard rock, where the Cowboys and Dolphins,
Speaker 1: two ten and four teams looking to make a statement.
Speaker 1: Only one could ferguson his nap hold down by Bailey,
Speaker 1: the kickers up.
Speaker 4: It's good at the Miny Dolphins defeat the Dallas Cowboys twenty.
Speaker 5: Two to twenty here at hard Rock Stadium.
Speaker 1: What a last drive by two of his offense.
Speaker 6: Great running by Wilson and Jason Sanders, a perfect.
Speaker 1: Five for five in this game, and that's gonna do it.
Speaker 1: What a finish. What a finish indeed, Jimmy Sevalo and
Speaker 1: Joe Rose with the call WBGG fun fact boys, little
Speaker 1: Christmas gift for you. I did the research myself. Kickers
Speaker 1: were fifteen of fifteen in the four games that I
Speaker 1: tracked today, but nobody was more nails than Jason Sanders,
Speaker 1: who went five for five, including three pipes from fifty
Speaker 1: plus and that game winner chip shot you just those
Speaker 1: are the three points that were the difference in a
Speaker 1: twenty two to twenty win for the Dolphins over the Cowboys,
Speaker 1: Gregi Dak Prescott led the Dallas offense on what could
Speaker 1: have been like an MVP season winning touchdown drive in
Speaker 1: their final possession, but that Cowboys d just didn't have
Speaker 1: an answer for Miami's offense when it mattered most.
Speaker 2: I can't believe the Dolphins win this game scoring one touchdown.
Speaker 2: I had to had to double check that just now.
Speaker 2: As I'm looking at it, and yet it felt like
Speaker 2: their offense was in control this whole time. They could
Speaker 2: not finish drives, but I think on that last drive
Speaker 2: two against the ball, three twenty seven to go down
Speaker 2: to point. They've been trailing throughout the second half, and
Speaker 2: it's very much a okay, what do you got right now,
Speaker 2: Miami Dolphins, and they made it look fairly easy, and
Speaker 2: I think the gravity of Tyreek Hill was such.
Speaker 5: A big part of that.
Speaker 2: On one big third down play where they bring Tyreek
Speaker 2: Hill in motion, or else they would have had to
Speaker 2: kick a longer field goal and they would have given
Speaker 2: cow Boy the clock back. You know, the Cowboys are
Speaker 2: falling down on the ground before the balls even snapped
Speaker 2: a very creative play call from Mike McDaniel. They ran
Speaker 2: the ball a handful of times really effectively on that drive,
Speaker 2: something Dallas could not do. And then a couple of
Speaker 2: throws were just easy because of the gravity of Tyreek
Speaker 2: Hill that they were so afraid of beating him over
Speaker 2: the top. And that was the case throughout the day.
Speaker 2: He went nine for ninety nine. That the Cowboys were
Speaker 2: giving up short passes and Miami just controlled it was
Speaker 2: able to kill the clock, and I thought that was
Speaker 2: a difference between these two teams. Yes, it was close
Speaker 2: in the end, but the Cowboys couldn't run the ball,
Speaker 2: the Cowboys couldn't get their pass rush going, and I
Speaker 2: thought the Miami offense had more schematic and coaching answers
Speaker 2: than the Cowboys did in this game. So it was
Speaker 2: a very deserved one, even though it was close. I
Speaker 2: really felt like the Dolphins were the better team throughout
Speaker 2: the day.
Speaker 3: I think it's definitely a case of what if for
Speaker 3: the Cowboys, and it would have been for the Dolphins
Speaker 3: had they not been able to close it out the
Speaker 3: way they did, because you know, both teams in a
Speaker 3: low scoring game. Dolphins lost the ball on fourth down,
Speaker 3: essentially a drive fizzled out on the Dallas five. Dallas
Speaker 3: had that opening drive fumble where they looked so good,
Speaker 3: and they never really had that kind of drive again
Speaker 3: until Dak went and did what we've been asking him
Speaker 3: to do as an MVP candidate, which just marched down
Speaker 3: the field and generate a touchdown drive. And so in
Speaker 3: a way, it's kind of like the atypical Monday Morning
Speaker 3: Cowboys talking head scenario goals. Dak went and did it,
Speaker 3: and then it was like two of the other guy
Speaker 3: that we kind of don't really trust to go do
Speaker 3: it went and did it too. And it wasn't because
Speaker 3: of him necessarily, but that third and three conversion to
Speaker 3: Tyreek Hill. He's such a special player, and then they
Speaker 3: were able to force the Cowboys into timeouts and you
Speaker 3: get that one Jeff Wilson run in these inflection points
Speaker 3: for that drive for the Dolphins where he converts and
Speaker 3: Dallas is out. They're out of options to that point
Speaker 3: and Jason Sanders you mentioned it Dan on the day
Speaker 3: for kickers, I mean he went three for three on
Speaker 3: fifty plus before that game winner, which was much shorter.
Speaker 3: He's the first Dolphins player in a long lineage of
Speaker 3: mind me Dolphins players to kick three fifty plus yard
Speaker 3: field goals in a game. And that was the difference,
Speaker 3: because you're right, these two teams could not close drives
Speaker 3: and to have a kicker like that on a day
Speaker 3: like this made a big difference.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I had a mega spicy Christmas Eve hot take
Speaker 1: on Twitter that kicking is now too good and we
Speaker 1: have to maybe start doing something about it. A listener
Speaker 1: and tweeter replied that maybe we could do something that
Speaker 1: could mess with a depth perception or vision of kickers,
Speaker 1: which I kind of like that. And this is coming
Speaker 1: from the guy that built the kicker Club, I Rick.
Speaker 2: By the way, I think full kit like his eightieth
Speaker 2: straight kick under forty yards, Remember when he broke that
Speaker 2: record like a year ago.
Speaker 5: It's still going. Actually, I was like, wait, that thing's
Speaker 5: still going.
Speaker 1: This is It's really crazy. What's happened to that position
Speaker 1: over the course of this podcast life, which has been
Speaker 1: eleven seasons now. Yeah, And I'm going to preface this
Speaker 1: because I know Dolphins always have their antenna U when
Speaker 1: I'm talking about their team with the show. I'm going
Speaker 1: to preface this by saying, this is not a shot
Speaker 1: against dak against Tua because the way it's set up
Speaker 1: was was beautiful because it was a back and forth game. Uh.
Speaker 1: Dallas had a big fail inside the five yard line
Speaker 1: on a fumble with the full back, which come on, guys, UH,
Speaker 1: give it to your best players. This game is too
Speaker 1: big for that. Uh. And then the Dolphins fail on
Speaker 1: a fourth and goal from about the five yard line,
Speaker 1: and then it comes down to these last two drives
Speaker 1: and it's and it's like Hey, Dak, this is it.
Speaker 1: This is the type of stage that you all this
Speaker 1: talk and you you mentioned it Mark the talking head type.
Speaker 1: Shut them all up, or this is what everyone's going
Speaker 1: to talk about. And Dak makes so many big plays
Speaker 1: on that drive. He's taking a beating. The offensive line
Speaker 1: is kind of a mess in this game on the
Speaker 1: left side with Tyron Smith out and they keep having miscommunications,
Speaker 1: and Dak keeps on finding away with Ceedee Lamb with
Speaker 1: a couple of big catches one on third, one on fourth.
Speaker 1: They have a bad sack on a blown offensive lineman
Speaker 1: play and they still near the goal line, and they
Speaker 1: still find a way on a beautifu touchdown passing a
Speaker 1: great catch by Cooks. It was like everything you could
Speaker 1: ever want as a Cowboys fan for your quarterback and
Speaker 1: your offense in that big spot they come through. And
Speaker 1: then speaking of Twitter, I then tweeted, okay, now too,
Speaker 1: it's your turn, and there wasn't it wasn't too uh
Speaker 1: that that single handedly drove that Miami possession to the
Speaker 1: game winning field goal. It really was a Mike McDaniel
Speaker 1: masterpiece and the running game and I think and Tyreek
Speaker 1: and I think, what what this game showed uh Me
Speaker 1: and other people that are still kind of harboring some
Speaker 1: doubts about the Dolphins is what they're what they're really
Speaker 1: good at is some of the stuff that doesn't get
Speaker 1: talked about is enough like their their ferocious pass rush,
Speaker 1: how their defense has been really good for the better
Speaker 1: part of the season now, and then their offense ability
Speaker 1: to run the football and scheme up ways to gain
Speaker 1: yardage when it's not those splashy tyreek and waddle plays.
Speaker 3: Right, I would say, I want to say one quick
Speaker 3: thing about Dak because like that drive, he did make
Speaker 3: some key throws. There was one to Michael Gallup that
Speaker 3: was us money. I mean, he had connections with Ceedee Lamb.
Speaker 3: He was on with Ceedee Lamb. But they got to
Speaker 3: the Miami four and you know it. This was a
Speaker 3: legit call, I think, but it was an incomplete on
Speaker 3: second and goal, an incomplete on third and goal. You
Speaker 3: got a lot of heat on him. In general, there
Speaker 3: was a holding that maybe wasn't called on Miami, but
Speaker 3: then on fourth and goal it's incomplete, but defensive holding
Speaker 3: on the Dolphins is then called and reignites that touchdown
Speaker 3: drive and sets it up. That said Dak made a
Speaker 3: I feel like today.
Speaker 5: I saw those were like two clear penalties on that.
Speaker 3: Bill, so they were, but it's just like that's the
Speaker 3: that's the particulars of the game. But Dak also, I
Speaker 3: thought today had a handful of throws where he was
Speaker 3: absolute money while getting crushed by someone and put it
Speaker 3: right where it needed to go. So there are these
Speaker 3: positive plays that I think you cannot blame anything on
Speaker 3: Dak and anyone does that does that didn't watch this thing.
Speaker 2: Well, the Cowboys defense just isn't that special to me.
Speaker 2: I think that's what we've learned the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 2: And that's when you kind of zoom out and think
Speaker 2: about how he thought this season was going to be.
Speaker 2: I think that a disappointment because I had no faith
Speaker 2: they were going to stop the Dolphins there at the
Speaker 2: end of the game. And when you watch these two defenses,
Speaker 2: I thought that the Dolphins defense made life much tougher
Speaker 2: on the Cowboys. Twelve QB hits, four sacks on Dak
Speaker 2: versus two five QB hits one second. Now, part of
Speaker 2: that is the schematic answers and how quick to it
Speaker 2: gets rid of the ball, and both quarterbacks had their misses,
Speaker 2: But like, I look at these two defenses, and right now,
Speaker 2: I'd probably take the Dolphins over the Cowboys, and that
Speaker 2: that's concerning because as well as Dak's playing, they don't
Speaker 2: really have a running game. You look at the box
Speaker 2: score and it's CD for six point eighteen and then
Speaker 2: the you know, the only other the next one is
Speaker 2: Jalen Tolvert, who kind of caught a prayer ball for
Speaker 2: a for a bomb at one point. It just things
Speaker 2: were hard for the Cowboys in a way that I
Speaker 2: just didn't feel like they really were for the Dolphins, you.
Speaker 1: Know, and it was a nice dride to put them
Speaker 1: ahead late. But god, I feel very similar about the
Speaker 1: Cowboys now that I have.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, they and five and headed to the fifth
Speaker 2: seat again right NOWFC.
Speaker 1: There's really nothing they could do. Now. They're gonna be
Speaker 1: that number five seed. Even if they win another road game,
Speaker 1: they're gonna finish under five hundred at home. And this
Speaker 1: team just does not play with the same swagger and
Speaker 1: at the same level on the road as they are
Speaker 1: at home. And now the path to the Super Bowl
Speaker 1: and this NFC title game they haven't been to in
Speaker 1: twenty five years is once again, you got to win
Speaker 1: one to three road games, so I don't like their chances.
Speaker 1: I think they had a window here these last two
Speaker 1: weeks to really cement that they are different, and I
Speaker 1: know there. I think they're better then they've been the
Speaker 1: last couple of years when they flamed out. But they're
Speaker 1: not much They're not that much better. And you mentioned it, Greg,
Speaker 1: that defense time and time again in this game, even
Speaker 1: if the stats don't make it look like Miami lit
Speaker 1: them up, and they didn't. They scored one touchdown, could
Speaker 1: not get a big stop, could not force a game
Speaker 1: changing play. I thought the officiating was terrible in this game,
Speaker 1: which and it worked. I think more pro Miami than
Speaker 1: pro Dallas. But Dallas did not find a way when
Speaker 1: it mattered most. And now you're gonna be on the road.
Speaker 1: You'll probably beat the NFC South champion and get Wax
Speaker 1: in the divisional round and prove me wrong.
Speaker 2: Well, you never know with the way the Eagles are playing,
Speaker 2: but they probably need the Eagles to lose two out
Speaker 2: of three. Although the Eagles are collapsing so hard, I'm
Speaker 2: not ruling anything out there, but you're right, they probably
Speaker 2: need the Egles to lose two out of three or
Speaker 2: else Eagles win the division.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on. This is a historic day
Speaker 1: in Michigan. Let's go to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now thirty yards
Speaker 1: from the end zone.
Speaker 7: They've got to have down six fifty eight seconds to go.
Speaker 1: Clock will start on the snap.
Speaker 8: Mullins takes the shotgun snap, He's back.
Speaker 4: Mullins looking pressure, comes stepping up, looking, throwing deep down field.
Speaker 7: It is picked off by the Lions, intercepted coming back
Speaker 7: the other way.
Speaker 5: He fought to Malifan Wu.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be over. Lions are gonna win it.
Speaker 1: Lions are bringing the.
Speaker 9: NFC North title back to Detroit.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, bongos deserved. How about this for a Christmas gift, Detroit.
Speaker 1: Your Lions are division champions for the first time in
Speaker 1: thirty years. Jamier Gibbs had two rushing scores. Aman Ross
Speaker 1: Saint Brown went over the century mark receiving and had
Speaker 1: the third quarter go ahead touchdown. And yes, Melifan who
Speaker 1: had the game ceiling interception at the five yard line
Speaker 1: with less than a minute to play, and it allowed
Speaker 1: the Lions to escape the Vikings thirty to twenty four
Speaker 1: at US Banks Stadium. The injury ravaged Vikings the team
Speaker 1: of around the NFL. They made the visitors sweat here.
Speaker 1: They had back to back touchdowns on each end of
Speaker 1: the half, but otherwise the lines were pretty clearly the
Speaker 1: superior team today. They won the turnover battle four to one.
Speaker 1: That was a big difference. Mullins was again ignore the stats.
Speaker 1: Mullins was kind of a mess. Nick Mullins the Vikings
Speaker 1: quarterback in this game. Despite high yardage and some nice throws,
Speaker 1: but he was throwing the ball up for grabs, including
Speaker 1: that interception where he he's just you know, he spots
Speaker 1: the open receiver a little bit too late, he holds
Speaker 1: it too long and then gives a gift wrap interception
Speaker 1: to close out the game. So you know, they were
Speaker 1: the superior team the Lions today. They've been the superior
Speaker 1: team in the division since they beat the Chiefs in
Speaker 1: the first day of the season. And you know what,
Speaker 1: quite clearly we need to hear from Dan Campbell like
Speaker 1: right now.
Speaker 6: And this is special. This is special. It's something you
Speaker 6: don't get to do all the time. They're always special
Speaker 6: to win a division. I don't care how many of
Speaker 6: of them you get, because the work that goes into it.
Speaker 6: But to do something that hadn't been done in thirty
Speaker 6: years for a team, it's special. And that's a special
Speaker 6: group of men back in there that are staying tame
Speaker 6: at this point.
Speaker 1: They're staying tame at this point because the Lions believe
Speaker 1: there's more ahead of them here Greg than the justin
Speaker 1: NFC North title. This is a team that is really
Speaker 1: under Campbell turned into a whole different animal, even from
Speaker 1: I think about what were they won and eight last year?
Speaker 1: One and seven and they've been one of the best
Speaker 1: teams record wise in football for a season and a
Speaker 1: half now, so a well earned division title and a
Speaker 1: home game in the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, back it up even a couple of years, just
Speaker 2: thinking about how ugly that start was under Dan Campbell
Speaker 2: and then to get it going and it's very cool
Speaker 2: to see like the step by step process of a
Speaker 2: team like this and culminate. And they deserved it. And
Speaker 2: he could say that they were calm, but I saw
Speaker 2: some of those locker room videos and like Aiden Hutchinson
Speaker 2: was like breaking out the stanky leg and going wild,
Speaker 2: and it's wild how putting Melafan Wu in the lineup,
Speaker 2: who's been on the team for three years. It hasn't
Speaker 2: had a lot of playing time. It's really made a
Speaker 2: huge difference the last couple of weeks. Last week he
Speaker 2: had nine tackles, a sack and a force fumble. Today,
Speaker 2: two sacks in an interception, and he's kind of that
Speaker 2: roving safety and suddenly you add Chauncey Gardner Johnson along
Speaker 2: with him next week. He's expected to return probably next week,
Speaker 2: maybe week eighteen, and some of their issues maybe on defense,
Speaker 2: will get solved. They also have James Houston might be
Speaker 2: coming back. Lee McNeil like, maybe the it won't be
Speaker 2: a total tire fire by the playoffs.
Speaker 3: I mean, the Chauncey Gardner edition would be huge. I
Speaker 3: think everywhere he goes, he's just like this guy that
Speaker 3: creates change. I think it's like I'm happy when the
Speaker 3: right team wins the division that no more nonsense and
Speaker 3: no more mathematical nonsense. The Lions are the best team.
Speaker 3: And it's like today to me felt like a lot
Speaker 3: of other Lions wins. It's imperfect, but it's like the
Speaker 3: vision is there. Like they're young guys like Jimi or Gibbs.
Speaker 3: Like today there was this one critical third and four
Speaker 3: where he caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage
Speaker 3: and like was dodging between people and dragging tacklers for
Speaker 3: the first It's like, you don't get to this game
Speaker 3: and to this point without your rookie class, which has
Speaker 3: been one of the better in the NFC, and you
Speaker 3: don't get here with all the other guys you brought
Speaker 3: on the team of the last couple of years. You
Speaker 3: also gave up like four hundred yards through the air
Speaker 3: and nearly let the whole thing down in the end
Speaker 3: with Justin Jefferson going nuts with Mulleins, Like it could
Speaker 3: have gone either way potentially, But it's like the Lions
Speaker 3: are gonna do this, and they're gonna they're probably like Dan,
Speaker 3: you said it on NFL Plus on Thursdays, like I
Speaker 3: asked you for what would app to the Lions. You said,
Speaker 3: They're going to whack someone essentially in like a home
Speaker 3: playoff game and then see you later the next week.
Speaker 3: And that's probably who they are.
Speaker 1: But there's so much everyone being eliminated in the divisional playoffs.
Speaker 1: Every team gets eliminated somehow.
Speaker 3: Well they will, but it's like they're not like people
Speaker 3: I was reading are are do we now trust them
Speaker 3: as the Super Bowl team. It's like, no, but I
Speaker 3: do trust that, Like they continue to be more impressive.
Speaker 3: They're really well coached and the Brad Holmes has done
Speaker 3: a great job bringing a roster up that looks just
Speaker 3: like the vision of their head coach.
Speaker 1: And let me let me uh rephrase that because or
Speaker 1: correct myself, because we see the Cowboys lose again, and
Speaker 1: we know the Niners are the Niners okay, and they're
Speaker 1: they're a cut above right now. But anything else in
Speaker 1: the NFC is pretty wide open, including by the way,
Speaker 1: if the Lions, for instance, with Jared Goff get the
Speaker 1: Rams with Matthew Stafford, which seems like something that could
Speaker 1: very well happen. And yeah, I think we all remember
Speaker 1: when Jamiir Gibbs was taken in the first round because
Speaker 1: everyone and this isn't his fat necessarily, but everyone had
Speaker 1: b Jon Robinson fever like he was a cross between
Speaker 1: Gail Sayers and Jim Brown and Ladanian Tomlinson. And then
Speaker 1: when the other guy got taken, it was like, ah,
Speaker 1: it's kind of a reminder that with running backs, you
Speaker 1: come out of college, get on a good team, because
Speaker 1: if you get on a bad team, like Vjeon, you
Speaker 1: kind of get forgotten, but if you get yourself in
Speaker 1: a good situation with pieces around you, him and Laporta,
Speaker 1: that obviously, that is the big difference between this year
Speaker 1: and last year. On offense. It's gonna be really exciting
Speaker 1: to see what their journey is from here on out.
Speaker 1: As far as the Vikings go, Listen, here's here's the
Speaker 1: positive spin. Okay, the team of ATN all but dead
Speaker 1: according to according to ESPN's Football Power Index, which is
Speaker 1: quite a title for something. Sunday's loss brought the Vikings
Speaker 1: chance of making the playoffs down to twenty five percent,
Speaker 1: which is actually, you know, one out of four they
Speaker 1: went out there in Still there's still there's still a path.
Speaker 1: And yet even with Justin Jefferson back in being a superhuman,
Speaker 1: the quarterback play is killing them. And you know, I
Speaker 1: found myself pining for Joshua Dobbs again because and I
Speaker 1: know Jaron Hall's out there is too, because but Nick
Speaker 1: Mullens just throwing those balls up for grabs. They just,
Speaker 1: I think more than anything else, quarterback play ruined their
Speaker 1: season and these last three or four weeks, and it's
Speaker 1: it's frustrating because I thought This team really did have
Speaker 1: a lot of DNA to be a fun, exciting group
Speaker 1: to follow as the team of ATN. But it's tough spot.
Speaker 3: They lost too many guys, but they've got They have
Speaker 3: Green Bay at home, and then they go to Detroit,
Speaker 3: and who knows what Detroit's doing in week eighteen, I would.
Speaker 1: Imagine, just don't trust them against anybody.
Speaker 2: Right, I don't either that that Packers game is basically
Speaker 2: an elimination game. But the thing that surprised me most
Speaker 2: after all the results that have come in in the
Speaker 2: Vikings and Packers are seven to eight, is that, like,
Speaker 2: if either of the Packers or Vikings win their last
Speaker 2: two games, they're almost definitely in which it feels like,
Speaker 2: how is that still possible? But if just because of
Speaker 2: all the teams that are playing each other, Yeah, according
Speaker 2: to New York Times, if Vikings did win those two,
Speaker 2: they'd have a ninety six percent chance.
Speaker 5: So it's in front of them.
Speaker 2: I don't trust them to actually do it, partly because
Speaker 2: their defense, like as fun as they've been, you know,
Speaker 2: they didn't get after Jared Goff. The Lions had answers
Speaker 2: today only three quarterback hits with all those Blitzer and everything.
Speaker 2: Everyone's like, oh the Blitz versus Jared Goff, the Lions
Speaker 2: were better than the Vikings defense.
Speaker 1: When you guys checked the game out, let me know
Speaker 1: later this week. But like, I'd be surprised if Sefanski
Speaker 1: watches this film. You know, Dobbs got benched for being
Speaker 1: mistake prone and Mullins could have thrown five interceptions in
Speaker 1: this game. I wonder if we see the rookie on
Speaker 1: the field of the season on the line, which is
Speaker 1: a tough spot. But like several other teams across the league,
Speaker 1: it's it's dire straits at the quarterback and you're just
Speaker 1: you're just looking for a miracle. Let's give the final
Speaker 1: word to Taylor Decker. He's in his eighth season with
Speaker 1: the Lions. He was born in nineteen ninety three, the
Speaker 1: last time the Lions had a home game. He was
Speaker 1: emotional after this win. When you.
Speaker 3: When you love the guys that you're playing with, it
Speaker 3: means a lot more.
Speaker 1: Ben Boscher tweeted, He's been a Lion for twenty seven
Speaker 1: and ninety six days and for the first time he
Speaker 1: could call himself a champion. And you know it, boys,
Speaker 1: I feel like we're kind of champions because they were
Speaker 1: the team of ATN where when they were dirt, when
Speaker 1: they were nothing, and we believed.
Speaker 3: Maybe this means that the Vikings, you know, a year
Speaker 3: from now, are doing something similar. We've been that prescient again,
Speaker 3: just not at the moment.
Speaker 2: I felt bad for these little because in my heart
Speaker 2: watching this, it's like I kind of want the nice
Speaker 2: things for the Lions, even though the Vikings are the
Speaker 2: team of atn Cynthia Friedland, Kevin Patra, all the great
Speaker 2: Lions fans out there enjoy this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how could you root against the Lions? All right,
Speaker 1: let's keep moving. How could you root against the Cleveland Browns?
Speaker 10: Harris you in the backfield of the left Lacko from
Speaker 10: under center from the twenty five play, fake to Hunt
Speaker 10: and a roll out to the left, Flaco Eyes down field,
Speaker 10: deep shot left sideline.
Speaker 1: What's Cooper? He hasn't funny for the twenty At the ten.
Speaker 10: Touchdown, the Maury Cooper is in the end zode with
Speaker 10: a seventy five yard touchdown.
Speaker 1: That is what you call a tone center. Amari Cooper
Speaker 1: set a franchise record with two hundred and sixty five
Speaker 1: yards receiving. Hey, everybody, this is the semifinals of the
Speaker 1: Fantasy Playoffs. My goodness, I think Greg, your powerhouse daughter's
Speaker 1: team took a dirt nap because of that.
Speaker 2: I mean, she's still got a chance as we're taping,
Speaker 2: but yes, Cooper dropping fifty two on her is put Thank.
Speaker 1: God, that's legendary. I mean, that's not. That's not Alvin
Speaker 1: Kamaro with like seven touchdowns of Christmas Day in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty legendary. But it's it's close anyway. Cooper two sixty
Speaker 1: five and two touchdowns and he added a two point
Speaker 1: conversion because why the hell not? And the Joe Flacco
Speaker 1: piloted Browns beat the Texans thirty six twenty two. They
Speaker 1: are in great shape to play relevant January football. Mark,
Speaker 1: What a fun time to be a Browns fan, and
Speaker 1: what a damn performance by their number one wide receiver.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 3: It was an incredible game for Browns fans. And I
Speaker 3: can only imagine, you know, Andrew Siciliano, you know calling this,
Speaker 3: who has been a Browns fan since he was a child,
Speaker 3: and watching something that seems so atypical once again for
Speaker 3: typical Browns teams. And it's like Flacco made it very clear, right,
Speaker 3: away that Amari Cooper was going to have a huge game.
Speaker 3: Within like minutes, he had whipped a fifty three yard
Speaker 3: bomb to Cooper that set up a quick touchdown for them.
Speaker 3: There was later on a seventy five yard touchdown. We
Speaker 3: just saw it just kept coming. At the end of
Speaker 3: the first half. Flacco had eleven completions for two hundred
Speaker 3: and forty six yards at the end of the first half.
Speaker 3: Like he right now leads the NFL since Week thirteen
Speaker 3: with four hundred and eighty six yards on deep passes.
Speaker 3: At the end of the game, he had three hundred
Speaker 3: and seventy. And this was a weird game because it
Speaker 3: was clear Cleveland's gonna win. But they took Flacco out
Speaker 3: and they took a Mariy Cooper out minutes into the
Speaker 3: fourth quarter. And you know, Cooper at that point was
Speaker 3: nine yard shy of Josh Gordon's single game receiving record
Speaker 3: with the Browns, and you could see him talking to
Speaker 3: Stefanski kind of playfully, like you want to throw me
Speaker 3: back in there so I can like get this thing
Speaker 3: done before and Stefanski sort of hell, according to CBS,
Speaker 3: was just like no, absolutely not. But then Houston did
Speaker 3: a bunch of garbage time, theatrics came back into it,
Speaker 3: Flaco and Cooper come back into the game, and so
Speaker 3: then there's a huge third down completion to Cooper that
Speaker 3: essentially set the record, And I think that probably prevented
Speaker 3: a lot of annoying conversation this week about Stefanski not
Speaker 3: putting him in there for that final couple plays.
Speaker 1: Mark Mark if Antonio Peers can call some fugazi and
Speaker 1: then like a sixty nothing game to get DeVante Adams
Speaker 1: a touch in one of the great plouts ever. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: when Cooper's done something that special, you let him cap
Speaker 1: it off and put his name in the record books.
Speaker 3: I'm with you, and I'm glad it ended up that way.
Speaker 3: There was a really strange b line today because with
Speaker 3: all the kickers succeeding Cleveland, who Dustin Hopkins has been
Speaker 3: absolute money in the bank for them and won games
Speaker 3: for them. He had a hamstring injury very early, and
Speaker 3: so from the very first moments of the game, they're
Speaker 3: having to go for two on every touchdown. They're having
Speaker 3: to like go for it on fourth and eight from
Speaker 3: the sixteen. Like Stefanski was asked at halftime, do you
Speaker 3: not have anyone else, like even your punter that could
Speaker 3: kick a field goal, and he's like, we flat out
Speaker 3: do not, And so it caused them, I think, to
Speaker 3: be more aggressive. And it was kind of a case study.
Speaker 3: And if like a kicker free roster because a couple
Speaker 3: of that's set that to set up more touchdowns where
Speaker 3: it could have been field goals. But it's like it
Speaker 3: leaves you concerned because their punter also was banged up.
Speaker 3: So they come out of the game like in great
Speaker 3: position for the playoffs. But if the Hopkins thing is real,
Speaker 3: you're taking like a massive factor to their offense away.
Speaker 3: But I just cannot believe what their defense was. Their defense,
Speaker 3: I cannot believe what Flacco has done over these couple
Speaker 3: of weeks. It's got to be one of the most
Speaker 3: predictable things, unpredictable things we've seen in ten years covered
Speaker 3: and doing the show well.
Speaker 2: I mean, they averaged one point eight yards per carry
Speaker 2: and they put up thirty six They had under thirty
Speaker 2: rushing yards last week when they ended up winning that
Speaker 2: game against the Bears. I give Stefanski so much credit
Speaker 2: because he's just leading on what's working and the kicker
Speaker 2: being hurt. Absolutely you know, got them an extra couple
Speaker 2: of touchdowns because I mean one of those theft fourth
Speaker 2: and eight one where Flacco is basically in the grasp
Speaker 2: and throws an opposite hash throws to Cooper on the sideline,
Speaker 2: and Cooper had maybe one of the best games I've
Speaker 2: ever seen any receiver have because of the difficulty of
Speaker 2: all these throws. I mean, they were great throws, but
Speaker 2: it's unreal the plays that they made. It wasn't even
Speaker 2: bad defense most of the time. The Browns are going
Speaker 2: to the playoffs. I know it's not official, they're ten
Speaker 2: and five, but they're basically going and heck, they actually
Speaker 2: have a little chance here to win the The.
Speaker 1: AFC is Wonky. Our favorite Canadian, Stacy Dall's, was at
Speaker 1: the game and she spoke with Amari Cooper, who predictably
Speaker 1: was feeling good about himself. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean, every time I step on the field, you know,
Speaker 4: I try to put forth my best effort.
Speaker 5: I do truly feel like I'm unguardable.
Speaker 3: You know, it's all about opportunities, and I had a
Speaker 3: lot of opportunities today, so I was able to take
Speaker 3: advantage of him.
Speaker 1: You know, I booted Amari Cooper out of the Superstar
Speaker 1: club a couple of years ago, and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that he's going back in this summer, but at the
Speaker 1: same time said he had like a really interesting career
Speaker 1: like he is, even if he's not a superstar per se,
Speaker 1: whatever that means in terms of how you view it.
Speaker 1: He is an absolute legit number one for the Browns,
Speaker 1: and you know he was for the Cowboys there for
Speaker 1: a while too. He's had he's had a great career.
Speaker 2: And Mark Flaka the second player ever to have three
Speaker 2: two hundred yard games for three different teams too being
Speaker 2: the other one, which says a lot.
Speaker 1: Three different team. Where's the other one?
Speaker 5: The Raiders?
Speaker 1: Come on?
Speaker 5: You know that's sure?
Speaker 1: You know what I kind of I kind of glanced
Speaker 1: over his Raiders' career. That's where he started and he
Speaker 1: got traded, Yes to the Cowboys. Man, We've been doing
Speaker 1: this long time, the Flacco mark. He keeps on going
Speaker 1: through my head. The Flacco nineteen ninety eight Vinny Testaverdi
Speaker 1: season keeps spinning in my mind that this you know,
Speaker 1: kind of forgotten big armed pocket passer who actually did
Speaker 1: have something left in the tank. Even if people didn't
Speaker 1: think that necessarily to be the case goes on a
Speaker 1: special run and the team starts believing, Yeah, why can't
Speaker 1: this is actually a good year mark and we could
Speaker 1: we could lament you know, their injuries and imagine if
Speaker 1: Nick Chubb was here to help Flacco that we're talking.
Speaker 1: Maybe they're they're a true like super Bowl contender, but
Speaker 1: in the AFC, Like, why can't the Browns get and
Speaker 1: win some games? Like I think this is a great
Speaker 1: exciting time in Cleveland.
Speaker 3: Well, their defense, you know, which has never complained the
Speaker 3: whole year, is really well coached, is playing with a
Speaker 3: lot of the same players with intense confidence compared to
Speaker 3: an organization compared to a year ago. Are getting helped now.
Speaker 3: I mean it's like you're through for two hundred and
Speaker 3: fifty yards in the first half. I you know, the
Speaker 3: Texans are without c. J. Stroud or you know and
Speaker 3: other players. A bunch of them were easy pickens today,
Speaker 3: but Cleveland destroyed them in the first half. And so
Speaker 3: I am left one of that. I would say one
Speaker 3: little football note, Dan, like I don't think that Bill
Speaker 3: Parcells goes after Vinnie Testaverdy in that situation, in that
Speaker 3: time period, if Bill Belichick wasn't part of that staff
Speaker 3: or part of that who had gotten him in Cleveland
Speaker 3: in ninety four. I've getten a lot of tweets today
Speaker 3: about Vinnie Testaverdi taking Cleveland to the playoffs and their
Speaker 3: last playoff win before Baker Mayfield as an aging quarterback
Speaker 3: for the Browns when they beat Parcels and the Patriots
Speaker 3: in the playoffs. So it all like comes full sert.
Speaker 1: Of any kind of washed out from baltim Or to
Speaker 1: get to the Jets. You're right, interesting, All right, let's
Speaker 1: and yeah, I don't know what else we really need
Speaker 1: to say about the Texans other than it sucks because
Speaker 1: the injuries have been an absolute nightmare for them, and.
Speaker 2: Take it a lot drowd back next week and they're
Speaker 2: still tied for first place, so it was not a
Speaker 2: damaging loss for them, right.
Speaker 1: Uh So they get Stroud back and hopefully he stays healthy,
Speaker 1: and we'll see if they have a run in them.
Speaker 1: But time's running out. Time is also running out for
Speaker 1: us to take the Jacksonville Jaguars even a little bit
Speaker 1: seriously because their struggles continued on Sunday.
Speaker 4: Here's the snap on first down from the twenty two
Speaker 4: Bayfiel throws.
Speaker 1: Toward the endzone.
Speaker 5: Cop Myke Covene touch down Tampapee. Haven't chasked to today, Harry.
Speaker 1: Christmas, Michael m m Merry Christmas, the Jean Knucker off.
Speaker 1: If he celebrates, you don't know, We don't know. Producer
Speaker 1: Eric find out if Gene Deckerhoff is Christian. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield threw for two hundred and eighty three yards
Speaker 1: and two touchdowns to help the NFC South leading Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers defeat Trevor Lawrence and the stumbling, bumbling Jaguars
Speaker 1: thirty to twelve. That is four straight wins, four straight wins.
Speaker 1: Now for the Bucks, who you know I was talking
Speaker 1: about Amari Cooper's had a weird season. The Bucks have
Speaker 1: had a weird season. It started out strong, Mark and
Speaker 1: then it went into a deep tailspin and they were
Speaker 1: a complete afterthought. And now they got to be seen
Speaker 1: as a pretty substantial favorite to win the South and
Speaker 1: again a team that can make noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: If you get this version of Baker and the team
Speaker 1: playing at this level in terms of confidence.
Speaker 3: Right now, man Baker Mayfield and that you know Dan,
Speaker 3: we again we kind of we keep nailing it with
Speaker 3: these Thursday plus segments on Greg we talked about Baker
Speaker 3: the Lions having their mow, which wasn't wholly unpredictable, but
Speaker 3: then also like the rise and fall of Baker Mayfield,
Speaker 3: then the rise again because this version of Baker Mayfield
Speaker 3: what he did today, I was just like, this, this
Speaker 3: is a team that could go into a weird NFC
Speaker 3: and be the team you kind of don't want to
Speaker 3: deal with. They're going to be at home that they
Speaker 3: win this division, but not to get ahead of ourselves.
Speaker 3: I just thought that he today once again, it was
Speaker 3: very much the kind of performance we've seen for him
Speaker 3: over and over. I mean, he galvanized the sideline and
Speaker 3: the entire offense with a string of key like third
Speaker 3: down conversions on the ground. He's sort of underrated. He's
Speaker 3: not going to go run for forty one yards, but
Speaker 3: he will barrel over people to get us six yards
Speaker 3: on third and five. His connection with Mike Evans, after
Speaker 3: watching that connection with Tom Brady a year ago be
Speaker 3: so frustrating, has been absolutely on and it's like he
Speaker 3: kept getting the team out of jams with great throws.
Speaker 3: He had a pristine first half, but this doesn't happen
Speaker 3: also without the full and entire meltdown of Trevor Lawrence.
Speaker 3: On the first drive, a terrible interception to Devin White,
Speaker 3: he is destroyed on a sack on third and twelve
Speaker 3: on the second on the second drive, a terrible interception
Speaker 3: on a miscommunication with Evan Ingram on the third drive,
Speaker 3: I mean, and then he stripsacked to open the second
Speaker 3: half with the team down, you know, like twenty seven
Speaker 3: and nothing. They never climbed back in. And then to
Speaker 3: top it all off, Trevor Lawrence, who probably should not
Speaker 3: there's I don't even know if he was healthy coming
Speaker 3: into this game. He did not look right. He only
Speaker 3: practiced once this whole week. He was completely off with
Speaker 3: an offense that's missing a bunch of wide receivers. And
Speaker 3: then he left with a throwing shoulder injury that we
Speaker 3: don't know exactly what is going on with that too,
Speaker 3: And so it's like tough year, right. Shaguars are like
Speaker 3: we for weeks, we've been seeing their kind of disappearing
Speaker 3: before our eyes. I mean, they are hardcore disappearing. I
Speaker 3: don't know what will happen, and they can sneak back
Speaker 3: into this playoff race at this point, but they look
Speaker 3: like the opposite, the polar opposite of the defense and
Speaker 3: offense that we knew mark from even a.
Speaker 1: Month everyone lost in the South. So like back, there's
Speaker 1: still that.
Speaker 3: I get that, Yeah, you know that stuff starts to
Speaker 3: get me annoyed because I get that I'm saying that
Speaker 3: right now. The quarterback is hurt, he's playing terribly. They
Speaker 3: have no running game. Their defense is a hot mess
Speaker 3: and was totally eating up today. So it's like, it's
Speaker 3: not the way I want any team to go into
Speaker 3: the playoffs.
Speaker 5: That's all right.
Speaker 2: I had that on our Wednesday show. It was my
Speaker 2: bold prediction that they're not gonna make the playoffs. I
Speaker 2: just don't think they're a good team. And Lawrence I
Speaker 2: think has played better than his numbers have shown most
Speaker 2: of the year, but that's not true the last three
Speaker 2: or four weeks as he keeps taking these injuries. I mean,
Speaker 2: they were down thirty to nothing in this game. I
Speaker 2: think they're even though the because of their schedule, the
Speaker 2: you know, projections have them making it because they have
Speaker 2: I think Panthers Titans and so those are relatively easy matchup,
Speaker 2: like they're capable of losing to any team right now,
Speaker 2: including the Panthers. The way the Panthers are playing late
Speaker 2: in the season, so everything is sort of falling apart
Speaker 2: at the same time that it's coming together for the Bucks.
Speaker 5: The Bucks are a.
Speaker 2: Week eighteen win away against the Panthers, and in between
Speaker 2: they have the Saints, and then they can really fit.
Speaker 2: They can finish it first. But even if for some
Speaker 2: reason they lost to the Saints, all they really got
Speaker 2: to do is beat the Panthers in Week eighteen and
Speaker 2: they're almost certainly the NFC South champs. And the way
Speaker 2: they're playing well offensively, they're a better offensive team than defense.
Speaker 2: Why wouldn't they beat the Saints next week?
Speaker 3: Anyways, Hey, I think Todd Bowles. There's a lot of
Speaker 3: Coach of the Year candidates, but Todd Bowles like.
Speaker 2: The oh my gosh, you wouldn't be in my top ten.
Speaker 3: Wouldn't be I'd say one thing he's done really well
Speaker 3: is like too far, he's kept his team together and
Speaker 3: like I will say one defensive player of the week.
Speaker 3: Here's another prediction. Antoine Winfield interception, forced fumble, like a
Speaker 3: huge sack on third down. He's been really good, but
Speaker 3: like he was a huge nuisance to the Jaguars the
Speaker 3: entire day.
Speaker 5: My all pro. He's been so good all year, so good.
Speaker 1: Hey, the Bucks might not be a great team, but
Speaker 1: they're they're in a great division to be an okay team,
Speaker 1: and they're playing better than okay right now. And you
Speaker 1: mentioned they scored in their first four possessions, two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: two field goals. They held the ball for more more
Speaker 1: than eighteen minutes in the first test, they outgained the
Speaker 1: Jacks two twenty four to eighty four, and they went
Speaker 1: into halftime up twenty nothing. They just they ended the
Speaker 1: game immediately. So the Bucks, and don't tell me Baker
Speaker 1: and Yolo mode if they do close this division out,
Speaker 1: which I think that they will, and the Cowboys coming
Speaker 1: to Tampa on like a Saturday night, that ain't a
Speaker 1: gimme it ate. Like last year when Dak carved up
Speaker 1: a Brady Carcass Bucks team, this could be a little
Speaker 1: bit different.
Speaker 5: So it is crazy.
Speaker 2: This offense is unquestionably better than the Tom Brady Bucks.
Speaker 5: Like there's not even a debate about it.
Speaker 1: I mean, Brady was like seventy four at the time.
Speaker 5: Yet it I know what you mean. It's still kind
Speaker 5: of crazy.
Speaker 1: All right, one more game before we take a break.
Speaker 1: Let's head to Atlanta, where another NFC South team, the Falcons,
Speaker 1: was looking to kind of stay in the race.
Speaker 4: Lined up at the right side of Indianapolis's offensive line,
Speaker 4: and here is Minshew on a drop. He'll be forced
Speaker 4: up in the pocket, going to take the shot for Pierson.
Speaker 1: Who else has picked it?
Speaker 4: But Jesse Bates on his feet forty five and tripped
Speaker 4: up at the forty three and for Baits, that's his
Speaker 4: sixth interception of the year. Boy, you cannot throw the
Speaker 4: ball late down the middle with a guy like that
Speaker 4: guy in the middle.
Speaker 1: Nope, can't do it. Means shoe Jesse Bates with another
Speaker 1: big play to seal it. Taylor Heineke did not turn
Speaker 1: the ball over a quarterback. That's I mean, that's a win.
Speaker 1: I don't need anything else with that team. Just don't
Speaker 1: turn the ball over a quarterback for the Falcons and
Speaker 1: that was enough, adding one touchdown pass, leading Atlanta to
Speaker 1: a twenty nine to ten win over the Colts. I mean,
Speaker 1: come on, Indy, get blown out here by the Falcons.
Speaker 1: The Falcons keep themselves in the mix whe whether or
Speaker 1: not we want them there. Greg they're here, They're still around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the formula they came into the season with hoping
Speaker 2: for I was finally there.
Speaker 5: This was a very.
Speaker 2: What's the opp just game? Just like there was nothing
Speaker 2: extraordinary about this game. But it was exactly the Falcon
Speaker 2: nothing burger like Bajon for one hundred and twenty two yards,
Speaker 2: like an entire drive coming out of halftime. That was
Speaker 2: all Corterrell Patterson, Tyler al Jeer and Bajon Robinson, Kyle
Speaker 2: Pitts with like a long early touchdown they ran for
Speaker 2: one seventy seven. Other than giving up an early long
Speaker 2: touchdown drive by the Colts, they basically just shut him down.
Speaker 2: And I think it's all because Arthur Smith's kid wanted
Speaker 2: him to get rid of the facial are He's back
Speaker 2: to the no mustache.
Speaker 1: Let's listen.
Speaker 7: The last time you showed up without a mustache, she said,
Speaker 7: it was like a three am impulselve.
Speaker 1: I had a change momentum. But you know, clean up,
Speaker 1: church myself up.
Speaker 5: Loadays hey, he's got to church himself up. They're not
Speaker 5: that seven to eight.
Speaker 1: The charisma is just as exploding out of my laptop
Speaker 1: scream right now.
Speaker 2: You know, there was no Michael Pittman for the Colts,
Speaker 2: Like at some point when what's his name, Noah Grayson
Speaker 2: and Will Mallory are your two leading receivers, Like you
Speaker 2: just don't have enough on offense, and Heinegi got lucky
Speaker 2: on like one pass that could have been a pick Sex,
Speaker 2: but other than that was very steady hit open receivers
Speaker 2: was solid. The Falcons finish at Chicago at New Orleans.
Speaker 2: Even if they won those two games, they probably wouldn't
Speaker 2: get in, So they are still kind of just barely
Speaker 2: holding on.
Speaker 3: And I mean, I've been like touting the Colts is
Speaker 3: a solid team, and they are. They have been a
Speaker 3: solid team, and they've been consistent, but like you cannot
Speaker 3: have Gardner Minshew getting sacks six times and having tribes
Speaker 3: fizzle out, you know long they you know, they had
Speaker 3: Jonathan Taylor back and that looked like it would make
Speaker 3: a difference early, but like they just fell apart today
Speaker 3: and I don't know, I'm struggling. I'm trying to find
Speaker 3: teams to believe in, and it's like, I guess the
Speaker 3: Cults are just another one of these flotsom jets and operations.
Speaker 2: Here's a hot take Dan the AFC South is worse
Speaker 2: than the NFC South. At least the NFC South has
Speaker 2: some teams that have outscored opponents this year. There's no
Speaker 2: one in the AFC South that's done that. So hopefully
Speaker 2: C J. Stroud saves us there, because yeah, the cold
Speaker 2: schedules so easy that they might get in and I
Speaker 2: don't know, I just don't think they have enough Firebarer,
Speaker 2: Mark about this.
Speaker 1: You got the Browns Man, that's a team to believe in.
Speaker 1: Just ride Baby's card. I think it's just like it's
Speaker 1: it's we can't force these like bottom of the wild
Speaker 1: card teams to be something they're not. They're inconsistent and
Speaker 1: sometimes good, sometimes bad, and they're they're seat fillers come
Speaker 1: January ultimately, no doubt.
Speaker 3: But then I also don't need to go down avenues
Speaker 3: like with deep math constructions to figure out how like
Speaker 3: a completely lifeless operation is going to sneak into the
Speaker 3: seventh seed. I just that's not doing it for me either.
Speaker 1: Don't need to do it.
Speaker 3: I'm not going to.
Speaker 1: Remember that Netflix summer, remember that, Mark, or you just
Speaker 1: got up and left the studio for that series? That comment?
Speaker 1: I could do that right there. Whenever we're doing a
Speaker 1: premiutaations of a team that you don't believe in. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you don't have to walk away. Just do the Tiki
Speaker 1: Barber move when he got mad at Joe Beningo a
Speaker 1: few months ago. Just turn the mute button off, sit back.
Speaker 1: We won't get mad.
Speaker 3: We'll get it, Okay, message received.
Speaker 1: Anything else on this one, Gregy, No, we're good, all right, good,
Speaker 1: good for you. That was. And by the way, I
Speaker 1: got my Jets Christmas sweater on Mark. You have a
Speaker 1: nice red plaid shirt. And Greggy is best of his
Speaker 1: foot right now with his Santa hat.
Speaker 2: You know, we're trying to help oh Eric on the
Speaker 2: edit here Christmas Eve. But there's a little bee before you.
Speaker 2: But yeah, you can check us out. I think this
Speaker 2: will go up on YouTube.
Speaker 3: There wasn't awkward dynamic though, because Dan like, you know,
Speaker 3: this is all for the show, like like entreated you know,
Speaker 3: Greg and I to go find our like ugly Christmas
Speaker 3: sweaters which in the past we owned, and like Greg
Speaker 3: couldn't find his, and I was like, I don't even
Speaker 3: know where mine exists.
Speaker 2: I think I moved and I lost a lot of
Speaker 2: clothes on purpose, but I got rid of I think
Speaker 2: it was gone in the move.
Speaker 3: But there was a sense that like early this morning
Speaker 3: is the games were kicking off, Like I think we've
Speaker 3: really disappointed Dan, and I'm not sure how this is
Speaker 3: going to go down on the show. But you've been
Speaker 3: very you understand how it is to move and have possessions, and.
Speaker 1: It's tough. You just don't know where everything is. Listen,
Speaker 1: I'm the blind ambition of the show, Like I want things,
Speaker 1: I want to do things and try things, and and
Speaker 1: sometimes it gets you know, eyebrows go up, and like
Speaker 1: why is he even worrying about wearing matching Christmas gear
Speaker 1: on the four box or the three box on the
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve show. I just think it's nice. I think
Speaker 1: it makes the show three percent better.
Speaker 5: Three percent that's pretty big.
Speaker 1: Eric. I'm sorry for the f bomb, but you have
Speaker 1: to admit that Greg's hat is festive as fun it is.
Speaker 1: I will it's worth it. It's worth it a couple
Speaker 1: of all Right, let's take a break and we'll keep going. Yeah,
Speaker 1: drop that beat, hip hop, Santa, Santa's coming tonight, Santa's
Speaker 1: having a nice year, a nice year for the kids,
Speaker 1: Jack and Harrison, some you know, some high points, some
Speaker 1: low points, but overall enough where they don't get cold.
Speaker 1: And what is the big gift that's arriving in your
Speaker 1: respective homes for your children? For me, let me just
Speaker 1: make sure Santa Santa's got the PS five coming with
Speaker 1: the Spider Man game bundled in there, and you know
Speaker 1: the people are just going to be going off in
Speaker 1: the house at about seven thirty am tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we did our Christmas last weekend because my kids
Speaker 2: are now they've arrived in Japan. It's already Christmas there.
Speaker 2: They've already opened their second load of gifts from Santa there, which.
Speaker 1: Is our time zones. Pretty crazy when you.
Speaker 2: Think, yeah, it's way ahead. And but I did the
Speaker 2: thing where they opened their presence. They were happy, and
Speaker 2: then it's like, oh, I think there's one more thing.
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know if this is a
Speaker 2: little risky, this is gonna work. I think there's one
Speaker 2: more thing I left upstairs. Bring it out was a
Speaker 2: PS five as well, and.
Speaker 5: They went freaking.
Speaker 2: They went nuts, like like, no, no, that was that
Speaker 2: was when we were here. That was when we were
Speaker 2: here last.
Speaker 1: But it was it was made in Japan, so yes,
Speaker 1: go ahead, Mark.
Speaker 3: I was Greg, I was gonna say, you think you
Speaker 3: should have had two ponies waiting upstairs. That would have
Speaker 3: been theatrical. So Luke is very into plane spotting. He's
Speaker 3: got his own Instagram site that is kind of it's exploding.
Speaker 3: So he got a flight simulator console or he's getting
Speaker 3: it tomorrow. Colton's at the age and this will happen
Speaker 3: to you soon where he's just like, yeah, just give
Speaker 3: me like money so I can go buy what I
Speaker 3: want when I want, Like, okay, that's easy versus you know,
Speaker 3: targeting a gift that a child doesn't want. That that
Speaker 3: is you can't force that.
Speaker 1: Yes, along the lines of what you did, Greg, I'm
Speaker 1: taking a page out of a Christmas story with the
Speaker 1: red Ryder bb gun. You know, after all the toys
Speaker 1: were open and Ralphie was like, ah, like he didn't
Speaker 1: want parents to know he's disappointed, but he was PS
Speaker 1: five is gonna be in a little different area and
Speaker 1: that will be like, oh, you do one of these moves,
Speaker 1: and this is you know, I'm now father of a
Speaker 1: nine year old and a seven year old, so you know,
Speaker 1: I've had a lot of years and I heartily endorse
Speaker 1: this to any young parents out there, do the old
Speaker 1: rope adope, let them open the presence, the one that
Speaker 1: they want most, they don't get and then all of
Speaker 1: a sudden, Oh, what is that. You want to go nuclear?
Speaker 1: You want to see the house explode? I can't wait.
Speaker 1: I actually I'm more excited as a as a parent
Speaker 1: for Christmas morning than I was as a child. I
Speaker 1: didn't think that was possible. That's one of the great
Speaker 1: things about being a parent. And my kids are getting
Speaker 1: older and I know there's only so many years that
Speaker 1: it's special like this. So cannot wait. Let's get back
Speaker 1: to the games. And you know, I just shared some
Speaker 1: intimate feelings about how I feel about family. But I'm
Speaker 1: also very passionate about the Sunday Drive presented by the
Speaker 1: first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Let's head to the Saturday games,
Speaker 1: starting with Cincinnati Peters Lean Is twenty.
Speaker 6: Four to eight, all corporate s Bengals bringing the Blitz
Speaker 6: touch pattern down the left sideline and it's Trada comes
Speaker 6: George Pickens to the ten of five touchdown.
Speaker 1: He beat corner or loosing Bentley And I'll tell you what,
Speaker 1: Mason Rudolph played it in there perfectly. He sure did yeah,
Speaker 1: Mary Cooper was probably in most starting lineups. I don't
Speaker 1: know about George Pickens, but if he was, congratulations. Mason
Speaker 1: Rudolph threw for two hundred ninety yards and two long
Speaker 1: touchdowns to George Pickens, who's been under fire for some
Speaker 1: of his effort and tued this season to say the least,
Speaker 1: and the Steelers gave a little jolt to their fading
Speaker 1: postseason dreams with a thirty four to eleven win over
Speaker 1: the Bengals. Gregy, I'm so mad at myself. Last week
Speaker 1: we did the fearless predictions and I said the Steelers
Speaker 1: were done winning this season. But I forgot the golden
Speaker 1: rule of pro football, which is Mike Tomlin literally can't
Speaker 1: have a losing season. And I wish if one of
Speaker 1: you just would have said it to me in the moment,
Speaker 1: I would have pulled back the reins on everything. I
Speaker 1: would put up a hard stop sign and pivoted. I
Speaker 1: think maybe you did that on purpose so I could
Speaker 1: look like a fool today because they absolutely stomped the
Speaker 1: Bengals in a game where everyone was not only counting
Speaker 1: out Pittsburgh entirely. Everyone that already was busy writing the
Speaker 1: obituaries about Tomlin in Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens down
Speaker 1: the line, but for now they're still alive, right.
Speaker 2: I was one of those everybody's I thought the Bengals
Speaker 2: were gonna drop a hammer on him. Pickens goes Randy
Speaker 2: Moss four for one, ninety five and two. He has
Speaker 2: an eighty six, a sixty six, and a forty four,
Speaker 2: almost all of them on a woozy one was the
Speaker 2: first one was a little flukey, was you know, it
Speaker 2: was a nice throw. But Dax Hill comes down and
Speaker 2: takes out two defenders by taking a bad angle, and
Speaker 2: suddenly he's off. But the Bengals are just kind of soft.
Speaker 2: They're zero to five and the AFC North, which is crazy.
Speaker 2: It was symbolically, I think there was that play where
Speaker 2: Warren just decleted the Bengals linebacker Jermaine Pratt on the
Speaker 2: Calvin Austin rushing touchdown, and then on the opposite side,
Speaker 2: the Bengals are just stuck on like the one yard
Speaker 2: line or was a five yard line media yard and
Speaker 2: they can't get a foot for three straight plays, So
Speaker 2: then they try to throw it and they don't get that.
Speaker 2: It's just like they're not tough, and for this game,
Speaker 2: the Steelers are tough, and at least they kind of
Speaker 2: they brought the Bengals back into their mucke. It's like,
Speaker 2: if we're probably not going to the playoffs, you're probably
Speaker 2: not either.
Speaker 3: I mean, this was sort of the Steelers offense we
Speaker 3: were expecting when they fire the oc or hoping for
Speaker 3: not expecting. But Mason Rudolph, who's been an afterthought, it
Speaker 3: was kind of surprising that they even brought him back,
Speaker 3: Like this season, is throwing the ball with confidence downfield.
Speaker 3: It's like the connect between him, him and Pickens had
Speaker 3: a lot to do with the fact that he's sort
Speaker 3: of like fearlessly tossing deep balls and they're working. And
Speaker 3: I'm with you, Greg, Like my one concern for the Bengals,
Speaker 3: it's like, yes, Jake Browning, it massed over a lot
Speaker 3: of sins and you know, he had a couple of
Speaker 3: terrible interceptions in this game. But like they both lines
Speaker 3: seems so easily dominated. And this defense, which has been
Speaker 3: like not talked about, I think a lot nationally is
Speaker 3: having like major issues, like completely fell apart, and so
Speaker 3: at this point this very I thought there were the
Speaker 3: most hopeful notes that we had in the AFC because
Speaker 3: of Browning. Reality struck hardcore yesterday.
Speaker 1: It does feel like these quarterbacks, even the ones we
Speaker 1: believe in, and I'll use Dobbs as an obvious example,
Speaker 1: Browning as well, some of them. You know, once once
Speaker 1: a few games pass and there's some tape that they
Speaker 1: get exposed a little bit. And I hope that's not
Speaker 1: it with Browning. I hope he bounces back. Who do
Speaker 1: they have after this? Greg? What do we have left
Speaker 1: for his chiefs?
Speaker 5: In the Browns at Kansas City?
Speaker 1: That's tough. That's obviously, that's a tough close for Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: and I think.
Speaker 2: They want them both. They're probably in. That's the thing
Speaker 2: with all these teams, because they probably won't win them both.
Speaker 5: That's the thing.
Speaker 1: No, like you gotta win, you gotta win the Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: game when the Steelers are on their back, and they couldn't.
Speaker 1: So that is that. So we'll see in terms of
Speaker 1: for Mike Tomlin, how this could change his future even
Speaker 1: if they don't make the playoffs, if they they close
Speaker 1: out with him winning record, you know, does that quiet
Speaker 1: anything about him being fired or traded? I don't know.
Speaker 1: But one other take I have is in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter when there were Mason Rudolph Chance. He's been there forever,
Speaker 1: and you know, he's been all sorts of stories around
Speaker 1: Rudolph forever. He'll probably be I don't know. I was
Speaker 1: gonna say he'll be somewhere else next year, but he's
Speaker 1: been around Pittsburgh for a long time. They're playing Rudolph
Speaker 1: the Red Nose Reindeer on the PA after the game,
Speaker 1: and if he's being interviewed, and when the sideline reporter
Speaker 1: mentions that to him, he kind of rolls his eyes, like,
Speaker 1: don't bring up this damn song again. I don't like it.
Speaker 1: It does nothing for me. It's way on the nose,
Speaker 1: Red Nose nailed it. Let's just move on.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 2: I did like how much Alex Heismith, this teammate, was
Speaker 2: gassing him up, just like this guy's the man. Like
Speaker 2: the players, I think, like Bason Rudolph, and they were
Speaker 2: all but saying like, don't go back to Kenny Pickett,
Speaker 2: and I kind of don't think they will. I think
Speaker 2: they'll they'll give Rudolf another try.
Speaker 1: Oh do you see Kenny Pickett in Chabinsky next to
Speaker 1: each other as the crowd is chanting. I was thinking,
Speaker 1: what's going through those minds? Do they share any words together?
Speaker 1: Is seventy thousand? Like hammered? Pittsburgh Yinzers are going nuts
Speaker 1: channing Mason Rudolph's name. Bengals playoff chances down to fourteen
Speaker 1: percent after the loss, So yeah, they're in a bad way.
Speaker 1: That was the Sunday Dry presented by Toyota Let's Go Places.
Speaker 1: Learn more at toyota dot com. Slash Grand Islander Saturday
Speaker 1: Night Football at SOFI Stadium.
Speaker 4: Let's go right to Allen takes the snap pocket collapsing,
Speaker 4: has to roll out to his right to buy time.
Speaker 1: Looking downfield, He's got Dave Davis over the.
Speaker 7: Shoulder, caught it to fifteen, and he drives his way
Speaker 7: into the end zone.
Speaker 1: For the touchdown. Wow. Josh Allen buys time, rolls out
Speaker 1: and drops it over Davis's shoulder. Then he drags a
Speaker 1: defender the last eight yards.
Speaker 9: For the score.
Speaker 1: That might have been. Eric Roberts was at the game
Speaker 1: with family. The Bills fan producer Eric in the call
Speaker 1: from Chris Brown, the most important throw of the season
Speaker 1: for the Bills. We'll see they're down ten to nothing,
Speaker 1: and you know gave Davis hasn't done a damn thing
Speaker 1: in a couple of weeks, and Alan hits him. He
Speaker 1: drags the dB into the end zone with him. It
Speaker 1: gets them on the board, calms the game down. Josh
Speaker 1: Allen helped to do the rest. He rushed for two
Speaker 1: touchdowns through for that one, and you needed the twenty
Speaker 1: nine yard field goal from Tyler Bass with twenty eight
Speaker 1: seconds to play to escape with a twenty four to
Speaker 1: twenty two win over the Chargers. Mark A loss to
Speaker 1: the rudderless and Herbert free Bolts would have been, especially
Speaker 1: after what happened the previous game for the Chargers, who
Speaker 1: gave up, you know, a sixty burger and everybody got fired.
Speaker 1: That would have been an absurd and almost fitting stumble
Speaker 1: for this particular Buffalo team, But they narrowly avoided catastrophe,
Speaker 1: checked the box for the w and their playoff and
Speaker 1: division hopes are still alive as a result.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess it just like almost doesn't matter how
Speaker 3: they got the win they did, but it kind of
Speaker 3: reminded me early on because they were real sleepy. It
Speaker 3: reminded me of the way they showed up in London
Speaker 3: against the Jaguars where it's like, what's going on with
Speaker 3: this Bills team. I mean, if anything, it was.
Speaker 1: Much send year, excuse me, too much of that this year,
Speaker 1: too much of that.
Speaker 3: It looked like other Bills games on that front, and
Speaker 3: they got in their own way. They had a you know,
Speaker 3: James Cook, who was awesome a week ago against Dallas,
Speaker 3: had a killer fumble that nearly caused them this victory.
Speaker 3: The Josh Allen interception was on an incredible throw across
Speaker 3: his body. It was just a wild interception and a
Speaker 3: great play by the defense. But guys like Ed Oliver,
Speaker 3: you know, I think like Razulla Douglas, they bailed out
Speaker 3: this offense until it got going, and I mean, you're
Speaker 3: still gonna get I think Josh Allen down the stretch
Speaker 3: on third down, through the air and on the ground,
Speaker 3: He'll always do these incredible things. But it didn't leave me.
Speaker 3: It just kind of left me like encouraged by their
Speaker 3: defense to some degree about late what happened kind of
Speaker 3: later in the game. But again I'm just wondering what
Speaker 3: when the Bills season might just end because they don't
Speaker 3: show up for four full quarters.
Speaker 5: Well it's nine and six.
Speaker 2: I think Collinsworth was fair to keep hammering the like
Speaker 2: short week coming off an emotional high. It is hard,
Speaker 2: I think for these teams to get emotionally as high
Speaker 2: as possible for each one of these games. The fired
Speaker 2: coach principle is real three and zero this year. I
Speaker 2: know the Chargers didn't win this game, but they were
Speaker 2: eleven point under dog give Smith. I mean they were
Speaker 2: played hard and like Brad and Staley's watching this game
Speaker 2: thinking like, oh my god, he complete eatly changed our
Speaker 2: defense and it's totally working. Derwin James around the line
Speaker 2: of scrimmage, like doing different concepts and Easton sticks playing
Speaker 2: clean ball like it just it was a tough night
Speaker 2: for Staley, but like Alan also made the plays, like
Speaker 2: he had to get a field goal basically to keep
Speaker 2: their playoff, you know, likelihood going. And he hits a money,
Speaker 2: very difficult throw to Stefon Diggs on third and eight
Speaker 2: and then hit Shakir which what looked like a touchdown
Speaker 2: at first, but they ended up calling it back, but
Speaker 2: that was still a money play by him, Like they
Speaker 2: got it done. You just got to escape these things.
Speaker 2: And I have a feeling we'll have a better performance
Speaker 2: next week. Those fumbles are what killed them. The Bills,
Speaker 2: by the way, before this were one in seventy two
Speaker 2: on the road when being negative three in turnovers. The
Speaker 2: only other win was against Sam Darnold and Adam Gase
Speaker 2: in Week one in twenty nineteen, so like they overcame
Speaker 2: a lot, they got out of there with a win.
Speaker 2: I suspect we'll see a much better Bills team the
Speaker 2: next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: Come on, clean it up, guys. I mean, how long
Speaker 1: are we going to be doing this to turn it
Speaker 1: over three times until your season hanging in the balance
Speaker 1: and need your kicker to make sure you know, if
Speaker 1: your kicker slips or someone blows a blocking assignment, your
Speaker 1: season's like all but over. And it's just like, guys,
Speaker 1: we just can't keep flirting with disaster like this. Eventually
Speaker 1: your season is gonna be ruined because of its shout
Speaker 1: out by the way, you know two hashtag too easy
Speaker 1: for Kickers Cameron Dicker, who had a listen a commendable
Speaker 1: social media post put out by the Chargers in the
Speaker 1: wake of that disaster against the Raiders where they had
Speaker 1: some fun with Dicker trying to gain a Pro Bowl spot,
Speaker 1: and it was kind of a fun viral video. That
Speaker 1: obviously nice to follow up a viral video like that
Speaker 1: with a five for five performance in prime time, but
Speaker 1: it just it was not enough for the Chargers. And
Speaker 1: by the way, Greg fired coach principal. That's fine, but
Speaker 1: it's the Pasachia bump.
Speaker 5: My bad. I was going and using the Brad Spicer
Speaker 5: you know we're you're right.
Speaker 1: That's eighteen you certified, bro, Like, what are we doing?
Speaker 1: My bad?
Speaker 5: You know, I regret you did.
Speaker 1: It's okay if you don't. If you think fire coach
Speaker 1: principle is better than.
Speaker 5: Now, it's not Bisachia bump just rolls out the tongue.
Speaker 1: Anything else on this one.
Speaker 2: Bill's got to win these next two. I know they're
Speaker 2: nine and six, so it seems like they're super safe.
Speaker 2: But of all the teams tiebreaker wise, if they go
Speaker 2: ten and seven, like if they win next week against
Speaker 2: the Pages then lose week eighteen against the Dolphins, they're
Speaker 2: probably out, which is I think would be surprising to people,
Speaker 2: even though they'd be ten and seven, so they probably
Speaker 2: got to win both.
Speaker 1: They're driving me crazy. I want to get behind them.
Speaker 1: I want to see them as and Eric. I want
Speaker 1: to see your team as like the real AFC team
Speaker 1: that could just blow through January. But I mean they're
Speaker 1: they're hard to trust, but they survived. You know who
Speaker 1: else survived? The Packers against a bad Panthers team. What's
Speaker 1: so bad today? In the shotgun?
Speaker 8: Here's the snap right shunk looking around close the middle
Speaker 8: gods Man had him playing on inside of thirty five down,
Speaker 8: not even time, running down down to one second goal.
Speaker 8: They get the ball, spice and do they have a
Speaker 8: chance for a field goal try?
Speaker 9: And the officials are conferring trying to figure out fast
Speaker 9: hit the ground was zero on the pocket.
Speaker 1: The game is over and there is your Christmas Eve
Speaker 1: the dagger all right, Wayne and Wayne Larravie with the
Speaker 1: call WRNW. I didn't think it was even a chance there.
Speaker 1: I was watching them for the first time.
Speaker 5: It was so close. It was like half a second.
Speaker 5: They got it right, but it was so close.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Jordan Love threw two touchdowns, ran for another, made
Speaker 1: some big throws to set up and Carlson's go ahead
Speaker 1: field goal nineteen seconds left. And yes, the Panther's painfully
Speaker 1: run out of time on that last gas rally hold
Speaker 1: on thirty three to thirty Greggie. The pack defense still
Speaker 1: obviously stinks. My god, come on, guys, but Love and
Speaker 1: company did enough to survive a two to thirteen opponent.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I thought it was a really mature effort by Jordan Love.
Speaker 2: It helped the Aaron Jones is back, getting over one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty yards on the ground, but they kept
Speaker 2: having to score, and they kept scoring like he had
Speaker 2: to answer there when Bryce Young tied it up at thirty.
Speaker 2: It was obviously Bryce Young's best game of his career.
Speaker 2: I thought from the beginning he made a lot of
Speaker 2: good throws and people will be like, oh, the Packers
Speaker 2: defense sucks. He was hit ten times in this game,
Speaker 2: and so the Packers eveense sucking was part of it.
Speaker 2: But watched if you ever do watch this game, like
Speaker 2: he was on the run, made a great touchdown throw, there,
Speaker 2: had a two point conversion overturn. A lot of these
Speaker 2: were while getting hit. So I thought he had a
Speaker 2: really nice game, but not as nice as Love, who
Speaker 2: was didn't have as many difficult throws to make. But
Speaker 2: I just thought it was really mature and he had
Speaker 2: to deliver late and had a dime to Dobbs. That
Speaker 2: was a controversial call. That Panthers fans were upset about
Speaker 2: looked like he might have dropped it. I think they
Speaker 2: were right to keep the call on the field. Then
Speaker 2: another dime to Craft and they're winning again with like
Speaker 2: these rookies and guys like Bo Melton who picked off
Speaker 2: the scrap heap. It's like, it's very impressive what they're
Speaker 2: doing offensively defensively, they stink.
Speaker 3: It's got to be tough to be Joe Berry, because
Speaker 3: you're getting talked about week after week. You know you're
Speaker 3: gonna be without a job in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3: Here you gave up three hundred and ninety four yards,
Speaker 3: twenty six first downs, and six point four yards per
Speaker 3: play to an offense that has been almost entirely unwatchable.
Speaker 3: And so I am glad for Bryce Young. And it's
Speaker 3: not just because of Green Bay. You're right, it's we
Speaker 3: needed to see this. I think if you're a Panthers fan,
Speaker 3: you're dying to see some shred of evidence that this
Speaker 3: first overall pick has something inside of them that speaks
Speaker 3: to more than what we've seen. Like, I think guys
Speaker 3: like there are these unsung heroes on that offense, like
Speaker 3: an Adam Feel and who it feels like week to
Speaker 3: week was just cast off as a useless free agent signing.
Speaker 3: He's been there a week for a week, he had
Speaker 3: to He had nearly two hundred yard receivers today Bryce Scheung,
Speaker 3: which would have been quite different than what he's experienced.
Speaker 3: But I mean, Green Bay's defense to me, is like
Speaker 3: putting Jordan Love in this terrible spot week after week,
Speaker 3: and it's like it almost is just like ride this
Speaker 3: thing out. I get it there. They can go nine
Speaker 3: and eight if they want, But it's like it's just
Speaker 3: like you've got to change so much on this side
Speaker 3: of the ball.
Speaker 1: Mark imagine they followed your Thursday game plan a ran
Speaker 1: the ball fifty times. Bryce would never have this moment
Speaker 1: where he could build off it. This is whenever you
Speaker 1: have Joe Barry defense. Uh it is It's like all
Speaker 1: bets are off. It seems like we should try to
Speaker 1: get out who are they playing next?
Speaker 2: Let's get on to that roster, Nick Mullins in the
Speaker 2: in the Vikings in the elimination game.
Speaker 1: Basically, yeah, let's let's find a way onto the Vikings roster.
Speaker 1: Like will be Uh, we could fill in behind uh
Speaker 1: Hockinson as tight end Mark, we're gonna put you at
Speaker 1: uh the number three wide receiver. Greg We're gonna put
Speaker 1: you in a nice scatback role, and we're gonna charge it.
Speaker 1: We're gonna put up about three hundred total yards combine.
Speaker 1: I feel it. I feel it, and there's nothing Joe
Speaker 1: Barry can do to stop us. All right, let's move on.
Speaker 1: Let's head to Nashville, where the Seahawks were looking to
Speaker 1: keep their playoff hopes alive after that dramatic Monday Night win.
Speaker 9: Third down and goal from the sixth Parkinson on the left,
Speaker 9: Gino looks that way, throws back shoulder. Parkinson has the catch,
Speaker 9: touchdown Seahawks. A perfect back shoulder throw by Gino and
Speaker 9: the Seahawks go up nineteen to seventeen.
Speaker 1: Steve Rabel with the call Kiro Gino Smith threw his
Speaker 1: second touchdown pass on the fourth quarter, that five yarder
Speaker 1: to Kolbe Parkinson. With fifty seven seconds to play, Seahawks
Speaker 1: they are in the playoff picture for sure, in clear
Speaker 1: focus by beating the Titans twenty seventeen back to back victories. Now,
Speaker 1: Mark last year was Drew Locke playing the hero. Today,
Speaker 1: Gino got in the act.
Speaker 3: It was, you know, before the game, because when we
Speaker 3: did our draft on Thursday, it was my impression that
Speaker 3: when Greg took Green Bay Carolina at the end of
Speaker 3: the lineup there that he was he labeled it as
Speaker 3: the last available game. But sitting out there was Seattle
Speaker 3: at Tennessee, and we've got a true Geno file here.
Speaker 3: So I like, I DMed him this morning and said Greg, like,
Speaker 3: if you want this like Seattle game to see your
Speaker 3: guy like, and he was like, no, I'm actually fine
Speaker 3: with what I picked. So I went on to enjoy
Speaker 3: Gino Smith's fourth comeback victory of the year, which leads
Speaker 3: the NFL among all quarterbacks. And it took a while
Speaker 3: for him to get going. You know, it was a
Speaker 3: bit of a sleepy star for Seattle and Tennessee. I
Speaker 3: got to give them credit, and I really think Rabel
Speaker 3: like this is this is the sign of Mike Rabels,
Speaker 3: Like Tennessee battled in this thing. They just simply they're
Speaker 3: Outmann offense, but they just battled and they gave Gino
Speaker 3: Smith a lot of troubles early on. But this drive
Speaker 3: I wrote down this is Gino's moment with three twenty
Speaker 3: one in the fourth quarter, down seventeen to thirteen. Go
Speaker 3: show me Gino Smith that you can do exactly what
Speaker 3: Drew Locke did a week ago. And he unfurls a
Speaker 3: total money throw to Tyler Lockett on third and six.
Speaker 3: He is destroyed on a sack, but he does not
Speaker 3: give up. He hits on third and fourteen Jackson Smith
Speaker 3: and Jigba for eighteen. Another couple of big conversions to Lockett,
Speaker 3: then a deep shot to dk Metcalf that this happens
Speaker 3: all the time, but it drew a Pi gave them
Speaker 3: first in goal. Zach Charbonay slammed twice, but then he
Speaker 3: hits Colby Parkinson on that touchdown. It was like Gino
Speaker 3: just made these throws. I think he was like six
Speaker 3: for six, five for five or six or six with
Speaker 3: like sixty yards when it mattered most. And then the
Speaker 3: defense put the coffin on Ryan Tannehill and the Titans
Speaker 3: offense in the final last gap gas ptend. So Seattle,
Speaker 3: I believe you if you're gonna go win win games
Speaker 3: like this, Like what's not to like in the NFC?
Speaker 3: I mean they can do it with two different quarter
Speaker 3: backs in six days.
Speaker 5: Hmmm, very similar games too.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: The Titans of us five games by four points or less.
Speaker 2: This is kind of like every Titans game.
Speaker 5: It's just like this.
Speaker 2: They could have had a very different season, and so
Speaker 2: cond Seattle like they've will won a lot of their
Speaker 2: games just like this. I think Gino now is tied
Speaker 2: for the league lead in game winning drives. It's not
Speaker 2: necessarily like even a stat that means you're doing great.
Speaker 2: I think Kenny Pickett is also tied with him, and
Speaker 2: like Ritter's up there. Uh, but they've won a lot
Speaker 2: of these games. On the last drive, Pickett and Ridder
Speaker 2: up there.
Speaker 1: We got to eliminate the whole stats.
Speaker 5: You don't know what That's what I mean. That's like
Speaker 5: I saw. It was like, wow, Gino has four.
Speaker 1: I think I QB wins in the Twitter COGNACENTI we
Speaker 1: gotta we gotta come for the late game drives too.
Speaker 5: That's I I'm with that.
Speaker 2: I'm not really into the game winning drives thing, but
Speaker 2: uh made it happen when it mattered most. And they
Speaker 2: get to eight and seven and they're they're in pole position,
Speaker 2: but their two games are are pretty tricky with the
Speaker 2: who is it?
Speaker 5: It's pits and then I forget who it.
Speaker 3: Is in Pittsburgh in Arizona.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they probably have to win both of them to
Speaker 2: get in. They could, they could win one and then
Speaker 2: get some help. They'd have a better chance than most teams.
Speaker 5: But we'll see.
Speaker 1: All right, Let's head to the Meadowlands where the Jets
Speaker 1: jumped ahead big and then had to hold on for
Speaker 1: their lives against the Commandos.
Speaker 11: Out of the hold of more steat to try and
Speaker 11: put the Jets on top. Fifty four yards away, Fannessy
Speaker 11: will snap there, it is the placement down, it's away,
Speaker 11: it's got the distance.
Speaker 9: It is gone.
Speaker 5: Greg Sarlock does it.
Speaker 1: Five seconds to go, and Bob was, Susan, you're the call.
Speaker 1: I mean, calm down. Let's calm down with you.
Speaker 5: He's partying tonight. He's partying.
Speaker 1: What I mean every day is just it's the Jets
Speaker 1: are God's cruel joke. Greg Zerline kicks a fifty four
Speaker 1: yard field goal five seconds to play, and the Jets,
Speaker 1: after blowing a twenty point third quarter lead, hold on
Speaker 1: with the They don't hold on. They actually lose the lead.
Speaker 1: They go down twenty eight to twenty seven, and then
Speaker 1: Zerline bails them out another kicker having a monster year.
Speaker 1: He's missed one kick all season, fifty four yard or
Speaker 1: with five seconds left. That was enough. And I say
Speaker 1: that it's the Jets are a cruel cosmic joke, because
Speaker 1: the day begins with Brian Costello of The New York
Speaker 1: Post reporting via direct conversation with Woody Johnson that indeed,
Speaker 1: Robert sala is coming back, and so is Joe Douglas,
Speaker 1: and we're running this thing back. Essentially, this entire year
Speaker 1: was a mull again. And this isn't necessarily a surprise.
Speaker 1: It feels like it's been trending that way. I don't
Speaker 1: necessarily agree with it, but this is kind of how
Speaker 1: it's been trending. And it would have been so on
Speaker 1: brand for the Jets. Then to blow a twenty point
Speaker 1: lead to one of the worst teams in football at
Speaker 1: home on Christmas Eve, no less, and and and it's
Speaker 1: also kind of funny in a sad way that they
Speaker 1: find a way to thread the needle where they don't
Speaker 1: even give us like just a real fun afternoon. We
Speaker 1: had to suffer through the second half, and then they
Speaker 1: make the kick that actually makes our draft kick pick worse.
Speaker 1: It just they are masters of the craft. I have
Speaker 1: to almost give the Jets credit for what they do
Speaker 1: to their fan base. But anyway, you should know this
Speaker 1: about the game. And shout out to Jake Briskett, who
Speaker 1: once again came in for Sam Howe. And we're going
Speaker 1: to get into that in one minute, but first let's
Speaker 1: hear from Bob Sala, who has very strong takes that
Speaker 1: might might upset one Patrick Clayboon, but wouldn't necessarily a
Speaker 1: complacency or anything. It was just momentum shifted and listen
Speaker 1: the blowing that lead. It was just momentum and there's
Speaker 1: nothing you could do, nothing you could do about it.
Speaker 2: But they got it back like they it didn't. It
Speaker 2: didn't they did something about it, you know, because then
Speaker 2: they were that's.
Speaker 3: An NFL coach telling, you know the world where we
Speaker 3: sit with momentum, So you know, just it's you just put.
Speaker 1: Its four dollars a year to coach football. So am
Speaker 1: I going to I? Am I going to sit up there?
Speaker 1: Check would say on Mount Pius, you'd say that he's wrong.
Speaker 2: Shout out to Greg Zerline, by the way, hitting that kick,
Speaker 2: just I just feel like it helped the mood of
Speaker 2: this this whole show, you know, like we this would
Speaker 2: have been a dark day for the Jets.
Speaker 5: I feel like, I know, I know, you're got me
Speaker 5: all wrong.
Speaker 2: Greg's fun, but I'm just saying if they had on
Speaker 2: the day they announced Salah is getting the job blown
Speaker 2: that lead to the commanders, it would have been a little.
Speaker 1: Totally a piece with it, Mark Greg. I was totally
Speaker 1: a piece with them losing the game because of the
Speaker 1: draft pick, and it provided very little joy the fact
Speaker 1: that they won because they played so damn poorly. I
Speaker 1: want to just give a little shout out to Jake Briskett, who,
Speaker 1: at one point factoring in the last week's game and
Speaker 1: this week's game had five executive touchdown drives, which is awesome.
Speaker 1: And I really have to you have to say, we
Speaker 1: know Ron Rivera is not part of the future in Washington,
Speaker 1: and we don't need to say much more about this game,
Speaker 1: but like we know, he's not the future in Washington,
Speaker 1: but now Ron is benched Sam Howe like two weeks
Speaker 1: in a row, and how played like dog poop in
Speaker 1: this game, and he wasn't getting a lot of help
Speaker 1: from his offensive line. But to see Jacoby Brissett, who
Speaker 1: we all like in respect, but a career backup coming
Speaker 1: and just for the second straight week, light up the
Speaker 1: opponent and get his team back in the game. It's
Speaker 1: like you would make even in a playing for nothing situation,
Speaker 1: you might go with Brissette the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: I don't know if Rivera will, but I think Sam
Speaker 1: Howe is really mortally wounded his opportunity to be the
Speaker 1: quarterback of the future in Washington with these last six weeks.
Speaker 1: The play has just not been there. And I feel
Speaker 1: bad for him because it's a tough situation there. But
Speaker 1: he's you know, he hasn't been playing the guitar. Put
Speaker 1: it that way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's. I'm with you. I think he's.
Speaker 3: You couldn't be in a more perfect storm of problematic
Speaker 3: scenario for future young quarterback with issues. Ownership change happened,
Speaker 3: coaches gone like I don't like it for Eric b Enemy,
Speaker 3: who finally became a soul play calling OC who's gonna
Speaker 3: be out of there? And it's like Sam Howe's probably
Speaker 3: gonna be swept out with the rest of them.
Speaker 1: All right, one more game it is the Chicago Bears
Speaker 1: and Cardinals. Hold on to your butts.
Speaker 7: Field's under center brings morning in motions, DJ Mortal left
Speaker 7: snap play fake fields fakes the end around the morning
Speaker 7: now rolling to his right band Chase zings it into
Speaker 7: the end zone, wide up, Marcedes Lewis touchdown, touchdown, Bears
Speaker 7: one yard toss hand the fortieth career touchdown for Marcedes Lewis.
Speaker 1: Marcedes Lewis everybody our buddy, MJD's favorite dude, always talking
Speaker 1: about Marcedes Lewis in the theater on Sunday nights.
Speaker 5: I think they were in the same draft, like literally
Speaker 5: the same draft class.
Speaker 1: Believe Marcedes Lewis has now caught touchdown passes in the
Speaker 1: National Football League in two thousand and six, in two
Speaker 1: thousand and twenty three. That's cool anyway, justin fields through
Speaker 1: for that touchdown to Lewis and ran for another score.
Speaker 1: The Bears beat the Cardinals twenty seven to sixteen. Cole
Speaker 1: Comet had another big game in this one, four for
Speaker 1: one oh seven, even though he missed the second half
Speaker 1: with the knee injury. Hopefully he's okay. Khalil Herbert goes
Speaker 1: for one to twelve and a touchdown. So the Bears
Speaker 1: bounced back after you know, melting down against Cleveland the
Speaker 1: prior week. And uh, you know, the Bears have four
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty yards of offense in this game, two
Speaker 1: hundred and fifty rushing. So we're talking about how this
Speaker 1: team and is it too little, too late for the
Speaker 1: coaching staff. I don't know, but they do seem to
Speaker 1: have an identity and fields. While he wasn't perfect in
Speaker 1: this game, he had a bad interception in the red zone,
Speaker 1: but he started out beautifully. He throws for one, he
Speaker 1: adds ninety seven yards rushing, and I just you know,
Speaker 1: it'll be interesting to see how he closes here and
Speaker 1: what that means for Chicago.
Speaker 3: And it's like it's such a there were two things happening,
Speaker 3: and we talked a little bit about on Thursday that
Speaker 3: you nearly have Green Bay falling to Carolina. Instead, they
Speaker 3: nip Carolina and the Green Bay Packers can celebrate tonight,
Speaker 3: but they brought the Bears one step closer to having
Speaker 3: the first overall pick that they can do whatever they
Speaker 3: want with and maybe change the future of both teams
Speaker 3: in that division for the next fifteen years.
Speaker 2: Bears and Jets both win both at six and nine.
Speaker 2: They are the eighth and ninth pick in the draft
Speaker 2: right now, so the Bears happy they have the one
Speaker 2: pick on top of the eighth pick and they're not eliminated.
Speaker 5: How about that.
Speaker 2: We're going into week seventeen. The Bears are technically still alive,
Speaker 2: and again a lot is technically live. The Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 2: Mark I, just as I was looking for eliminations, are
Speaker 2: still alive for the one seed in the AFC.
Speaker 5: That you know, how many things could happen.
Speaker 1: So is that the the Browns win out and everyone
Speaker 1: loses out.
Speaker 2: More or less, Yes, to get the one seed. But
Speaker 2: I think they have a chance to win the division
Speaker 2: in a more realistic way than people would understand, because
Speaker 2: they would win the tiebreaker over the Ravens if the
Speaker 2: Ravens lost twice.
Speaker 3: Well, that is not I mean that's not probable. That
Speaker 3: is we're at the point where that is far from impossible.
Speaker 1: H Kyler Murray, by the way, their passing game, you know,
Speaker 1: he's given them a little boost, but their passing game
Speaker 1: just is not clicking. And that was the sixth game
Speaker 1: of Murray running the offense. So they they have work
Speaker 1: to do. I know, Greg, you're you're pretty confident that
Speaker 1: they're running it back with him, but it would be
Speaker 1: nice to see him have one of those like vintage
Speaker 1: Kyler games before we fold up the tent. And I
Speaker 1: don't really have anything else to add about this game.
Speaker 2: No, I just want to wish you guys a merry Christmas.
Speaker 2: Good luck on the you know they we're a big
Speaker 2: reveal tomorrow, Dan, I want to hear that are I
Speaker 2: want to tape it at the time. I have mixed
Speaker 2: feelings about that. You want to you wanna be in
Speaker 2: the moment, so I sort of pleaded with Emmaica to
Speaker 2: tape it quietly, like and I am glad that I
Speaker 2: have it because I've watched it a few times since.
Speaker 5: It makes me happy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's it is the eternal quandary Christmas morning. I
Speaker 1: could still picture my mom deb in you know, nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety with that big old video camera on our shoulder
Speaker 1: and we hated it, my sister parents and I just
Speaker 1: despised it. And my brother was younger so he didn't
Speaker 1: you didn't care. But do we want to do that
Speaker 1: same thing? However? Mark, Like, this is a different culture
Speaker 1: now and and cameras are everywhere, the phones are always out,
Speaker 1: so kids aren't nearly as self conscious as we once were.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of uh, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: different angles to look at it.
Speaker 3: From this, I think I would I would get the
Speaker 3: moment recorded and sort through the feelings around that at
Speaker 3: a later at a later time.
Speaker 1: With a licensed there therapist. That would be a good
Speaker 1: but yes, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate, and thank
Speaker 1: you for listening to this show and every show, and
Speaker 1: until next time, which will be Tuesday, do one thing,
Speaker 1: have yourself, Merry Christmas and heed the call