Speaker 1: Welcome to the NFL Daily presented by Draft Kings Sportsbook, where
Speaker 1: your epic sunset is just our Wednesday.
Speaker 2: I'm Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 1: Here in the Chris Westling podcast studio. Beside just a
Speaker 1: lot of men, there's a lot of beef here. We
Speaker 1: have Steve Weisch, the legend been all around the country,
Speaker 1: Patrick Claybond, and to my right, Nick Shook in studio
Speaker 1: for the first time all season.
Speaker 3: For everybody who watches on YouTube, who's tired of my
Speaker 3: face being too big proportion? Everybody in here. Now we're
Speaker 3: all in the same area.
Speaker 1: Now you can see Nick next to me, which is
Speaker 1: also too big.
Speaker 4: You know what's great though, You can tell who lives
Speaker 4: in Ohio. Yeah, he got on like a T shirt.
Speaker 4: Ye right, and we're all like, man, it's like fIF.
Speaker 2: We're all sweater.
Speaker 1: And I opened the show talking about the Rose Bowl
Speaker 1: because I saw this headline this this morning and it says,
Speaker 1: you know, college football fans obsessed with epic at Rose Boys,
Speaker 1: and they should be. Everyone is always like, this is
Speaker 1: the most beautiful sunset, This is the most they should
Speaker 1: have the national championship. Every week we have Nick Shook
Speaker 1: out here supporting his Ohio State Buckeyes, although I thought
Speaker 1: he was a Kent State guy, but.
Speaker 3: Can't stay grabbage grow Ohio.
Speaker 1: So he comes out and he sees a great game,
Speaker 1: and it is great watching that, and I'm watching Kirk
Speaker 1: kirk Street and he's just he's enjoying that sunset more
Speaker 1: than I believe he's enjoyed any NFL action that he's
Speaker 1: called over the last couple of seasons.
Speaker 5: And there's a Pavlovian effect for that, and it.
Speaker 2: Is true, it is like amazing.
Speaker 1: And yet I was thinking, like, well, that's just Wednesday
Speaker 1: in Pasadena, right, That's literally every day. And it made
Speaker 1: me appreciate just that we're lucky to just live out here,
Speaker 1: that that's just like a beautiful that is just kind.
Speaker 3: Of every day. You know.
Speaker 4: My wife is Jamaican. She says the same thing about
Speaker 4: all the tourists to come and visit Jim for a week.
Speaker 3: It's a great place. New Year.
Speaker 1: Well, it's his Tuesday for right exactly. And I've been
Speaker 1: appreciating that they have kind of cranked up. I feel
Speaker 1: like the sunsets over the last two weeks have been
Speaker 1: a special.
Speaker 3: Aren't you Roman Lovely?
Speaker 6: Well, yeah, the winter Solstice was on the twenty first,
Speaker 6: so we're getting them earlier.
Speaker 3: Every gouty in the science and we're.
Speaker 5: All out and able to appreciate it.
Speaker 6: And yeah, like during this time last year, when you know,
Speaker 6: none of us really knew what the future was, I
Speaker 6: started to like drive around La like we take the
Speaker 6: kids to the beach.
Speaker 3: Wow, like this is great.
Speaker 5: I'm gonna appreciate this because I don't know, I don't
Speaker 5: know how long it's gonna be. Yeah, yeah, yeah, everyone
Speaker 5: is everyone is a blessing.
Speaker 1: My family has been gone, so I've had the time
Speaker 1: to go running at the beach a little bit more
Speaker 1: and appreciate it. And it's all like people from outside
Speaker 1: the country that are visiting here, and so it does.
Speaker 1: It does make you appreciate one thing they don't tell
Speaker 1: you about, you know, your family leaving you for the holidays.
Speaker 2: You know, everyone kind of feels bad for me. It
Speaker 2: feels a little bit like a vacation.
Speaker 3: Careful, I have to admit, careful, careful.
Speaker 1: It's like it's also it's sad, but it's also a
Speaker 1: little bit like a vacation. All Right, we are not
Speaker 1: on vacation today. Now she knows that we talk about
Speaker 1: it she's jealous. Our Week eighteen preview, it's a weird week, yeah,
Speaker 1: and we're going to go through the games, and I
Speaker 1: decided let's go through it in chronological order this week
Speaker 1: because that's sort of how our week is going to
Speaker 1: be framed. So, yes, the best game of the week
Speaker 1: and is undoubtedly Vikings and Lions, but we're gonna save
Speaker 1: that for last.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 6: In a take note, if you're one of those horrible
Speaker 6: billionaires that have decided that social media timeline should not
Speaker 6: be in.
Speaker 5: Chronological yes, they absolutely should be.
Speaker 6: We're doing this show for all of you who are
Speaker 6: scrolling trying to find relevant information. We start for the
Speaker 6: division matchup in the AFC North, the Cleveland Browns at
Speaker 6: the Baltimore Ravens. The line is eighteen points in favor
Speaker 6: of Baltimore's Steve the over undred forty.
Speaker 5: One and a half. It's an ESPN game.
Speaker 6: Chris Fowler, Lewis Riddick, dan Orlowsky, and Laura Rutledge on
Speaker 6: the call. Baltimore does need this win, yep, to keep
Speaker 6: pace if the Steelers, who will have a chance to
Speaker 6: watch on Sunday do The Steelers ultimately end up having
Speaker 6: nothing to worry about no reason to play.
Speaker 4: No, no, well, yeah, I mean they'll be the fifth seed,
Speaker 4: you know, if that's the case. But look, that number
Speaker 4: is so significant. I mean, what a slap in the
Speaker 4: face to Bailey's happy.
Speaker 1: And we don't know if there's gonna be the zapp
Speaker 1: Daddy out there on Saturday. But Kevin Stefanski didn't rule
Speaker 1: out that your Browns shook would play both guys?
Speaker 3: Yeah, why not? Seem like that? Why not?
Speaker 1: I mean, well, because you have another quarterback that's better
Speaker 1: than both of them, and they're.
Speaker 3: Actively not trying to win football games.
Speaker 2: This is true tanking. It really happens. But this is
Speaker 2: true tank.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, we've already seen two games of Dorian
Speaker 3: Thompson Robinson. We haven't seen much. I would love to
Speaker 3: see more because he has physical tools, but seems a
Speaker 3: little overwhelmed by the speed of the game. The offensive
Speaker 3: line has been great, the running game does not exist,
Speaker 3: and he's not in sync with his receivers. So what happens?
Speaker 3: He scored three points in a game that was actually
Speaker 3: pretty winnable against the Dolphins, ends up not being winnable.
Speaker 1: Did they cover eighteen against the Dolphins? Claybn is a Ravens.
Speaker 1: You know, honk over here and no, it's just a
Speaker 1: new usage of the word honk. It doesn't even make sense.
Speaker 1: But you were saying, how eighteen points is too much,
Speaker 1: It's crazy. It's the division game. You're you're worried about it,
Speaker 1: and yet Tyler Huntley almost covered eighteen last week.
Speaker 2: It was twenty to three when the Dolphins played them.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and the Browns turned the ball over in the
Speaker 6: red zone. They had opportunities there. And that's Miami. It's
Speaker 6: different in Baltimore's defense has been playing better, but it
Speaker 6: just feels like a touchy game where you want to
Speaker 6: get the win against the division opponent, get twenty two
Speaker 6: eight out of there and have them not have to
Speaker 6: deal with it in the second half. And it's just
Speaker 6: always one of those weird spoiler situations, especially in the division.
Speaker 3: In the last week of the season. The Ravens is
Speaker 3: gonname off the four with them.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, and look, I don't like this cover,
Speaker 4: but they very well could always at their game on
Speaker 4: Christmas when they just destroyed the Texans and talking to
Speaker 4: you know, John Harbaugh and Dnps and some of these guys,
Speaker 4: they love what's going on defensively, namely, and Dean was
Speaker 4: telling me the fact when they move Kyle Hamilton back
Speaker 4: to saying, what's the biggest issue all she's long was
Speaker 4: the deep balls over the head. But Kyle Hamilton, they're
Speaker 4: best defender back there. Those are stopped. Moving Marlon Humphrey
Speaker 4: into the nickel has been great. They're just trying to
Speaker 4: fine tune things defensively because you know, offensively they're good.
Speaker 3: The first half.
Speaker 4: I think the starters played the whole way. They put
Speaker 4: the shoves down on Cleveland. They start resting guys.
Speaker 1: I like seeing Marlon Humphrey make the Pro Bowl. He's
Speaker 1: had a really good season.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Their secondary has been better since they have our Darius
Speaker 1: Washington's made some good y for them.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd love to see them sit there.
Speaker 1: Henry a little bit Like you mentioned, Justice Hill, though
Speaker 1: has not been practicing. Despite John Harbast saying he expected
Speaker 1: him back this week, I'm now not expecting him back
Speaker 1: because he hasn't practiced.
Speaker 3: Honestly, I don't think you even have to worry about
Speaker 3: Dereck Henry. They're still going to dominate them, and I
Speaker 3: think it's really just because of where they've been as
Speaker 3: an offense since they lost to Philadelphia, they go into
Speaker 3: the buy the whole Deontay Johnson didn't want to play
Speaker 3: a thing. You move past all of that, and yeah,
Speaker 3: you played the Giants, but you dominate thirty five points
Speaker 3: in that win, thirty four points against the Steelers in
Speaker 3: a really strong finish, And that was the first time
Speaker 3: where I went, oh, they're peaking. They're peaking at the
Speaker 3: perfect time, and the Browns are not going to stand
Speaker 3: a chance in this game. It's going to be an
Speaker 3: easy win.
Speaker 1: I know we want to go at a faster pace
Speaker 1: today with some of these games, but actually there's a
Speaker 1: lot of intersting things in this game. I do want
Speaker 1: to just mention with the Browns what's been going on
Speaker 1: with the Deshaun Watson contract that they signed. I don't
Speaker 1: think that guarantees him that he necessarily is starting next year,
Speaker 1: or even as much of a chance to start. So
Speaker 1: I think that got twisted a little bit. Just kind
Speaker 1: of wanted to throw that out there, and then thought
Speaker 1: the Miles Garrett comments over the last week or two
Speaker 1: that he wanted to see the plan that the Browns
Speaker 1: had before he decided what his path is was interesting.
Speaker 1: We hadn't mentioned that on the show. That that's a first,
Speaker 1: and then I haven't. I literally haven't seen you. So
Speaker 1: I just want to ask, like, how was the Beyonce
Speaker 1: thing in person?
Speaker 2: Were you watch? Or oh yeah, I was on the
Speaker 2: field here, like what's going on?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, No, no, I was on the field because I
Speaker 4: had to get to the tunnel to interview uh John
Speaker 4: Harbar or Demico. Ryan's coming out, So I'm right there,
Speaker 4: like I'm fifteen feet from post malone. First off, he's
Speaker 4: a lot taller than I thought. He's about sex, sex
Speaker 4: three low, post malone, post malone. But it was it
Speaker 4: was unreal, like I couldn't tell you like a name
Speaker 4: of a song on a new album. But man, that
Speaker 4: performance was ridiculous, super Bowl level. It was probably better
Speaker 4: than any super Bowl. It's the same people who produce it,
Speaker 4: Jess Collins Entertainment, but it was incredible.
Speaker 2: I mean, Justice for Cowboy Carter. I love that album.
Speaker 1: I knew other songs, our producer Jason's Let's Move Please.
Speaker 1: Now we'll spend as much time on this as we form.
Speaker 2: But no, that's it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so good that Laurna and I were convinced that
Speaker 6: Dolly parton was gonna show up.
Speaker 5: Oh, I want to do her part in the song.
Speaker 6: Let's stay in that division in the AFC North, Greg,
Speaker 6: the Cincinnati Bengals with an opportunity to complete the improbable
Speaker 6: comeback that you first told me about on our preview
Speaker 6: show several weeks ago that they still had hope. They
Speaker 6: are favored by two points at the Pittsburgh Steelers, who
Speaker 6: may have no reason to try. Joe, Troy and Lisa
Speaker 6: on the call coming up on Saturday, how do you
Speaker 6: see this one going?
Speaker 1: I think the Steelers can and will win this game.
Speaker 1: If I have to pick, it's a coin flip. They're
Speaker 1: gonna play all out. According to Mike Tomlin, they don't
Speaker 1: care about that the division could be clinched earlier in
Speaker 1: the day. I believe them because they've just been losing.
Speaker 1: They've been a bad team. I think they want to
Speaker 1: prove to themselves that they're not a bad team. They
Speaker 1: lost the last three games by the score commiting score
Speaker 1: of ninety to forty. They haven't deserved any rest. Their
Speaker 1: defense is not played well starting with this first Bengals matchup,
Speaker 1: which you remember was back and forth. So I think
Speaker 1: the motivation will be there, they'll be at home. And
Speaker 1: they also know, and I think this is part of it,
Speaker 1: that the five seed is not the.
Speaker 3: Same as the Saxon seed.
Speaker 1: You can go to Houston and win a playoff game
Speaker 1: versus potentially going back to Baltimore, which I don't think
Speaker 1: they'd be afraid of. But that's a big difference. And
Speaker 1: so I think we're going to see a different Steelers team.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they win or not, it's a
Speaker 1: coin flip, but I think we're going to see them
Speaker 1: play all out.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you want to talk about like motivation, There will
Speaker 3: be no more motivation than an NFL game this weekend
Speaker 3: outside of Sunday Night, than this game right here. And
Speaker 3: it's because the Bengals have to win to try to
Speaker 3: preserve their hopes to get in the playoffs, of course,
Speaker 3: but it's also because the Steelers and Mike Toman have
Speaker 3: a point to prove. They have not looked like the
Speaker 3: same football team over the last three weeks. You could
Speaker 3: speak about the offensive struggles, you could point out Russell Wilson,
Speaker 3: but it's been a total team failure. Defensively, they haven't
Speaker 3: held up well either. That's usually their strength. And if
Speaker 3: anybody wants to get right back on track before the
Speaker 3: playoffs and prove his point. It's Mike Tomin. The standard
Speaker 3: is the standard, and regardless of what happens before, they're
Speaker 3: gonna try to play odd. I'm very excited to see
Speaker 3: this well.
Speaker 4: First off, George Pickens is supposed to be back, yes,
Speaker 4: you know, and Greg we've talked about him out of
Speaker 4: the lineup. This offense is not the same right now.
Speaker 4: He killed the Bengals earlier this year. I was at
Speaker 4: that game. It was the score there forty four to thirty,
Speaker 4: but it was just the Bengals offense just went up
Speaker 4: and down the field on them, regardless.
Speaker 3: They just couldn't stop the Steelers.
Speaker 2: He's got some turnovers basically, yeah, right.
Speaker 4: The turnovers and the ten yard dump offfs Tanashi Harris
Speaker 4: across the middle of the field. That probably will happen again.
Speaker 4: The Bengals will take it. I'm taking the Bengals in
Speaker 4: this game. They are too red hot all of their receivers.
Speaker 4: The fact that t Higgins has all of a sudden
Speaker 4: left right to the front of the buffet line is
Speaker 4: a problem now.
Speaker 3: And I really like the possibility.
Speaker 4: Of the Bengals getting the number seven seed having to
Speaker 4: go to Buffalo week one, while you think the Bills
Speaker 4: want to see them, No, no, I mean so we
Speaker 4: not granted the Broncos. Some of the teams have some
Speaker 4: things to say about this. Cincinnati's playing good football right now.
Speaker 4: I like them in this game of Pittsburgh. I like
Speaker 4: looking back and I know it was earlier this season.
Speaker 4: Was Week ten, Russell Wilson played arguably the best game
Speaker 4: we've seen since Maximum Russ's cooking in Seattle, the twenty
Speaker 4: nine to thirty eight for four hundred and fourteen yards.
Speaker 4: The one interception was possibly a defensive pass interference that
Speaker 4: wasn't called on George Pickens. They come back out and
Speaker 4: score that next drive. The Bengals could do nothing, could
Speaker 4: do absolutely nothing to stop them. And I can't get
Speaker 4: that out of my mind.
Speaker 6: With the potential for the Steelers to play, with the
Speaker 6: stakes that you guys mentioned where, why not go ahead
Speaker 6: and eliminate the We're talking about how nobody wants to
Speaker 6: play the Bengals. Why not just go ahead and get
Speaker 6: rid of the Bengals right now?
Speaker 3: Yeah, like, yeah, yeah, petity.
Speaker 1: Two things can be true that no one wants to
Speaker 1: play the Bengals, and I still think what's happened over
Speaker 1: the first fourteen to fifteen weeks of the season matters,
Speaker 1: and I think the Steelers team was a little better
Speaker 1: than these nine and eight types of.
Speaker 3: Steeler teams agree, But if they lose this.
Speaker 2: Game, maybe they're not.
Speaker 1: And the Bengals team, I do think there is like
Speaker 1: a loser gene in there that they're finding ways to lose.
Speaker 3: And they they let, they let.
Speaker 1: They left the door open last week for the Broncos
Speaker 1: to take it. It didn't quite happen for them. But
Speaker 1: I do think there's something in these two teams this
Speaker 1: seasons in their bones. That the Bengals find a way
Speaker 1: to lose this game.
Speaker 3: And let's not forget this too.
Speaker 4: Russ who doesn't turn the ball over, turns over what
Speaker 4: four times the past two games, so that I mean
Speaker 4: those that's probably more of the anomaly than you know,
Speaker 4: than a trend.
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin, though, was careful because on the broadcast they
Speaker 1: tried to blame one of the inner receptions on Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson's receiver at the end of the game, the one
Speaker 1: in the end zone right there last week, and Tomlin
Speaker 1: went out this week and said, Nope.
Speaker 2: That wasn't the receiver's fault. There you go, he didn't
Speaker 2: do anything.
Speaker 3: Still's time.
Speaker 2: That was just rus I like it. Holding those feats
Speaker 2: of the fire.
Speaker 3: Joustin feel's gonna get ten snaps and more than running packages. Maybe,
Speaker 3: who knows.
Speaker 6: Leave the Steelers in their opportunity against the Cincinnai Bengals,
Speaker 6: who also have one, and go to the NFC to
Speaker 6: wrap up Saturday night, it is New Orleans at Tampa Bay,
Speaker 6: where the Buccaneers shook are favored by thirteen and a
Speaker 6: half points. Kevin Burkhart, Tom Brady, Aaron Andrews, and Tom
Speaker 6: Rinaldi on the call. The Saints have struggled in the
Speaker 6: past few weeks. Can rizzy ball in the hopes of
Speaker 6: a division rival, No.
Speaker 3: No, it's not going to happen. The way that the
Speaker 3: Saints have played football over the last couple of weeks
Speaker 3: has just been increasingly more and more disheartening. You can
Speaker 3: talk about the agenda and Spencer Ratler and the first
Speaker 3: half where he has successes, in the second half where
Speaker 3: he doesn't, but as a team overall, they're just not
Speaker 3: playing football cohesively. It's not just the defense. It's not
Speaker 3: just the offense, it's the entire group, and against the
Speaker 3: Buccaneers team that is absolutely white hot. I mean Baker
Speaker 3: Mayfield going off last week with five touchdown passes against
Speaker 3: the Panthers. This is one of the better offenses, one
Speaker 3: of the best offenses in the NFL when everything is hitting,
Speaker 3: and I think against a team like the Saints, who
Speaker 3: are one week away from the offseason, it's gonna be
Speaker 3: pretty easy. Now we are in the NFL where things
Speaker 3: weird things happen.
Speaker 2: But and it is a.
Speaker 3: Divisional game, and Patrick, you spoke about that earlier with
Speaker 3: the Ravens and the Browns. But much like that game,
Speaker 3: I don't expect this to be much of a contest.
Speaker 4: Yeah, first out, shout out to everybody in the five
Speaker 4: h four. You know what happened down in New Orleans
Speaker 4: New Year's Eve. The Saints are a huge part of
Speaker 4: that city. So you know they're gonna be behind the Saints.
Speaker 4: The Saints are going to be behind that. But like
Speaker 4: you said, Nick, they just have been playing bad football. Yeah,
Speaker 4: they are packed up for Cabo. It is Tampa Bay.
Speaker 4: They you know, I think they cover the one thing
Speaker 4: that every time I really want to buy into the Buccaneers, though,
Speaker 4: their mental grit just gets real wobbly. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 4: I just don't know. Again, I think I think they
Speaker 4: win this game. I think they win the NFC South.
Speaker 4: I think they're probably mentally tougher than any other team
Speaker 4: in that division. But it's it's just one of these
Speaker 4: things like, Okay, instead of being real white hot like
Speaker 4: most of these playoff teams to get in and you know,
Speaker 4: they got a shot in a wildcard round, it's kind
Speaker 4: of like, all right, okay, who in the ns He
Speaker 4: doesn't want to get that fish, he can go down
Speaker 4: to the Tampa Bay.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean to that point, though, I was impressed
Speaker 3: by how they bounced back from the fact that they
Speaker 3: couldn't get over the hump against Dallas. That was a
Speaker 3: game that we all expected them to win. They're allowed
Speaker 3: to lose. That's like one.
Speaker 1: You know, they've won five out of six or whatever
Speaker 1: it is since they'reby I'm afraid of this offense. It's
Speaker 1: to me, the best like offense in the league that's
Speaker 1: not led by an MVP candidate.
Speaker 2: No offense to Baker. This has been almost a joke.
Speaker 2: I feel bad for Baker.
Speaker 3: I should have brought the hat right though, if you're
Speaker 3: talking about Bucky.
Speaker 1: Irvin, now I feel bad that he didn't make the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl and people were like, oh, he's snubbed. But
Speaker 1: for a snub, you have to say who should have
Speaker 1: He should have made it over and he shouldn't have
Speaker 1: made it over Jared Goff, Jayden Daniels or Darnold just
Speaker 1: because there's too many negative plays. If you add up
Speaker 1: sacks he leads the league and interceptions like he has
Speaker 1: more of those than any player in the entire NFL
Speaker 1: other than Caleb Williams, who blows everyone out of the
Speaker 1: water because of the sack total. But he's playing really
Speaker 1: well and it's such a mismatch against the Saints defense,
Speaker 1: their offensive line versus this Saints rush defense. I mean,
Speaker 1: Bucky's gonna go crazy versus this pass defense. He'll have
Speaker 1: all the time in the world, and that the Saints
Speaker 1: have given up I think the fourth most according to
Speaker 1: Next Gen Sets yaku to receivers of any team since
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Not in this season, but every season. So
Speaker 1: you get a player into their secondary, like no one's
Speaker 1: making any tackles out of their linebackers. I'm glad you
Speaker 1: mentioned those Steve, you know what happened on Bourbon Street
Speaker 1: and they're playing that Sugar Bowl tonight, and your heart
Speaker 1: just goes out to everyone affected by that and that city.
Speaker 1: And it did get me thinking, like how many times
Speaker 1: this team has been in a position to try to
Speaker 1: play for their city And there is something about that
Speaker 1: he almost feels fortunate that this game isn't isn't in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. I don't know, but you just you think
Speaker 1: about that, But you also think about just on the field.
Speaker 1: There's a reason that number is so crazy, thirteen and
Speaker 1: a half because these two teams are just at different
Speaker 1: points in their season.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and it's a long road back to look at
Speaker 6: how the Saints offense was with Clint Kubiak at the
Speaker 6: start of the season to the way things have kind
Speaker 6: of fallen off in there, but still you know something
Speaker 6: to play for.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Shout out to Twist and Tristan Wurfs by the way.
Speaker 1: I'm just throwing out some Pro Bowl news along the way,
Speaker 1: especially guys that I think should be All Pro. And
Speaker 1: tackle is a tough one because there's so many good tackles,
Speaker 1: but I think in the end I would go Worfs
Speaker 1: in sewell as my two first team All Pro tackles,
Speaker 1: which means you're leaving Lane Johnson off and that's really difficult.
Speaker 2: But that's how good Tristan Wurf's I believe.
Speaker 4: Well, then that's also, you know, the big star for
Speaker 4: the right tackles. Yeah, that's what I was gonna say,
Speaker 4: you know, think about it. Yeah, the right tackles are
Speaker 4: going in.
Speaker 3: They don't get paid as much as they the left side.
Speaker 3: But hey, at that couple rows right there.
Speaker 1: And the Bucks have the highest pressure rate in the
Speaker 1: league since their bye week, and that Spencer Ratler is
Speaker 1: giving up or facing the most pressure of any quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league this season if he qualified, So that
Speaker 1: should be ugly.
Speaker 2: Let's take a quick break.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get back and finish out the NFC South
Speaker 1: in those early ten am West Coast Best Coast.
Speaker 2: Games week back on NFL Daily.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess the headliners of the early games are
Speaker 1: the NFC South games because the Bucks need to win
Speaker 1: obviously to win the division, but it just would be
Speaker 1: so shocking if they didn't win that it makes this
Speaker 1: Falcons game feel a little less you know, poppy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and we could get an opportunity to get to
Speaker 6: get the spoilers. Yeah, Bryce and Adam Thielen of the
Speaker 6: Carolina Panthers to play spoilers in Atlanta, where the Falcons
Speaker 6: Steve are favored by eight points with an over under
Speaker 6: of CBS forty eight on CBS Iron Eagle Charles Davis
Speaker 6: and Evan Washburn on the call.
Speaker 5: Can the Panthers bashed the Hopes after the Hopes got
Speaker 5: bashed in overtime for Falcons.
Speaker 4: First off, one of the Falcon's been an eight point
Speaker 4: favorite Watchingry Young and the Panthers. That's going on here? Well,
Speaker 4: here's here's they are watching, and they are watching Jean Robinson,
Speaker 4: you know, and you know we're talking about Pro Bowls
Speaker 4: right here. I won't say he's a snub, but he's
Speaker 4: got to be one of those guys next in line.
Speaker 4: If it weren't such a great year for so many
Speaker 4: running backs, he would be recognized because what he does
Speaker 4: is amazing. I don't trust the Falcons to cover division game,
Speaker 4: but they're they're all over the place. But you know,
Speaker 4: another player again for the Falcons, again, not a snub,
Speaker 4: but a friend, Kaden Ellis linebackers. I mean, how good
Speaker 4: of a player of a value guys is He's apps amazing.
Speaker 4: I do think their defense and Kaiden Ellis, you know,
Speaker 4: slows down Bryce Young and these guys at defense is
Speaker 4: actually playing a little bit better, not great, but a
Speaker 4: little bit better, no better. You're right, So Atlanta covers,
Speaker 4: I don't. I just don't think it's it's gonna be
Speaker 4: I don't know. If they do cover, I should say,
Speaker 4: but I don't think it's it's gonna be mean anything.
Speaker 3: I think the Bucks end up getting that.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw out a question to you guys. So,
Speaker 1: since Bryce Young re entered the starting lineup, PFF has
Speaker 1: a stat all the time throws number one in the NFL?
Speaker 1: Since then, is Joe Burrow number two? Bryce Young?
Speaker 3: How about that? That's that's that's great to hear.
Speaker 1: And so my question for you is who, if you
Speaker 1: had to start your team twenty twenty five, would you
Speaker 1: take out of this these two quarterbacks Michael Pennix or
Speaker 1: Bryce Young? And you have to just base the decision
Speaker 1: on all the info that you have today. I think
Speaker 1: I would take Bryce Young just because I've seen.
Speaker 3: More I mean sample size alone. Yeah, he's got more
Speaker 3: games played. Penx has had two starts Pennix probablys the highest,
Speaker 3: and I'm sure you can you want to elaborate on that.
Speaker 3: I'm been so surprised, shocked, impressed by what Bryce Young
Speaker 3: from when he got bench to where he is now.
Speaker 3: It like at one point I was like, did he
Speaker 3: have a body double in there for the first you know,
Speaker 3: season plus two games? Because this is a completely different player.
Speaker 3: This is the guy that they thought they were drafting
Speaker 3: in the first round out of Alabama. He creates with
Speaker 3: his legs, He's comfortable, he makes throws under pressure, the
Speaker 3: anticipatory throws. Got a lot of Drew Brees and him
Speaker 3: in that regard, and all that has come together to
Speaker 3: make basically turn around the Panthers outlook. They don't have
Speaker 3: to worry about quarterback anymore. I'm completely convinced this is
Speaker 3: their guy. Adam Dieland has upped a lot with that.
Speaker 3: You know, he's had a really good year, really good
Speaker 3: back half of the year. But I'm super excited about
Speaker 3: the future for them. Sunday, however, Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: But Penne does he have?
Speaker 1: Like why why is Pennix a higher upside? He's a
Speaker 1: year older, So that's part of it for me too.
Speaker 1: Is that Bryce Young is a year younger and I
Speaker 1: just have more data of him playing at this level
Speaker 1: where it's Penix.
Speaker 2: These last two weeks, I've been impressed.
Speaker 1: I just feel like I don't know, you know, he's
Speaker 1: been a little up and down too with his accuracy.
Speaker 2: As a prospect. There was a lot of different opinion
Speaker 2: on Penix.
Speaker 6: Well, I think what we've what we've seen right, especially
Speaker 6: accuracy wise, is he's making the right decision.
Speaker 5: But but there's perhaps footwork issues.
Speaker 6: I know I'm no throwing guru, right, but some sort
Speaker 6: of issue that's causing and I think he gets those
Speaker 6: balls down where it needs to be a lot of
Speaker 6: them were sailing, yeah, And but the difference where they're
Speaker 6: separated right now is the way Bryce Young is managing
Speaker 6: the pocket. Where you know, Caroline has made those improvements,
Speaker 6: especially in the interior. I think the offensive line has
Speaker 6: played better down the stretch, but we still see Bryce
Speaker 6: having to manage the pocket make those plays, especially in
Speaker 6: the run game where Michael Pennix Junior just doesn't have
Speaker 6: that in his game right now. It doesn't mean he's
Speaker 6: not going to be able to develop it, but it
Speaker 6: seems like the rush gets to him quicker, and probably
Speaker 6: that's right handed bias.
Speaker 3: I don't know that I'm looking at.
Speaker 6: It, but it's just Bryce when pressure is coming with
Speaker 6: guys in his face, I feel.
Speaker 3: There's a difference in processing, and I think that just
Speaker 3: comes from experience more than anything.
Speaker 1: This is a sneaky test I think for Raheem Morris
Speaker 1: in the in the Falcons just taking care of this game.
Speaker 1: This is a big game. I think they're there. I
Speaker 1: think it's a dangerous game because Caroline is a division game.
Speaker 1: They're just good enough to win this game on offense
Speaker 1: and Falcons offense. They should take care of business, put
Speaker 1: up a lot of points. Bijon should have a big day,
Speaker 1: and they should just go out and win. I just
Speaker 1: feel like that the offseason is gonna feel different, and
Speaker 1: this will show me something. If they win this game convincingly,
Speaker 1: that'll show me something because it is a big game
Speaker 1: for them. If they stub their toe and they lose
Speaker 1: a couple straight here, disappointing to end the season.
Speaker 2: They just have a different vibe.
Speaker 3: That's all I want to say about the helmet. Greg.
Speaker 4: You can't fly with a bird with a wing down.
Speaker 4: You're gonna go no place. But circles are down. You
Speaker 4: gotta have them both up like the Eagles. But no,
Speaker 4: here's my thing for Pennix, and this is talking to defensive.
Speaker 2: Course, my favorite life.
Speaker 4: It's an all inside beat rder thing for the Falcons.
Speaker 4: But with Brian Shauk and talking defensive coordinators. They love
Speaker 4: his decision making, they love the actors, everything we talked about.
Speaker 5: But they're like, there's nothing wrong with it.
Speaker 4: You really have to have the perfect roster and you
Speaker 4: have to design for nothing more than his height. Yeah,
Speaker 4: you have to build it like how the Saints did.
Speaker 4: Would you bring guard to guard great guards in a
Speaker 4: great center?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 4: With Pennis, I think he opens up your offense a
Speaker 4: little bit. You seem to already with the Falcons, right,
Speaker 4: You've got someone who can bounce it a little bit
Speaker 4: of can boot leg a little bit. That's it's opening
Speaker 4: up a lot of stuff for Bijon. I just think
Speaker 4: you can probably build a little bit more. There's nothing
Speaker 4: wrong either way. I would just take Pennix for some
Speaker 4: things you could do with your offense and his versatility
Speaker 4: you got.
Speaker 1: You gotta have the right system around him. It's like
Speaker 1: it's like with me, you gotta have chairs that go
Speaker 1: up and down for my co hosts, like, we got
Speaker 1: a difference, you go down for it, We.
Speaker 5: Pop down a little bit.
Speaker 6: There's has been improvement for the Carolina Panthers in terms
Speaker 6: of rush EPA. Their defense not the worst in the
Speaker 6: next gen Stat's era. Nice this season. Uh that's the
Speaker 6: tw twenty four Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 5: Wow.
Speaker 6: Actually the worst in terms of rush EPA on defense.
Speaker 6: In there are our next team playing host to the
Speaker 6: Washington Commanders greg who were favored by four and a
Speaker 6: half points after paunching their ticket for the postseason game
Speaker 6: on Fox. Adamme, Mark Sanchez, and Christina Pink There, the
Speaker 6: Cowboys won't have their chance to spoil their division rival.
Speaker 5: Do you think the Cooper rush has one more in them?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 1: This one seems too low. These two games talking about
Speaker 1: them back to back. The lines are where they are
Speaker 1: because of motivational differences. The Falcons obviously have to win,
Speaker 1: and I think Washington it's a little lower because maybe
Speaker 1: they're looking at and yet I think they are playing
Speaker 1: to win. Dan Quinn has said it. They want to
Speaker 1: get that seed for whatever that's worth. And I think Dallas,
Speaker 1: even though they put up a great fight, they beat
Speaker 1: the Cowboys the first time around. If anything, that'll make
Speaker 1: the Commanders more ready for this game more alert. You
Speaker 1: mentioned the rushing yards. They actually put up over four
Speaker 1: hundred yards on the Cowboys last name, So even though
Speaker 1: they lost that game, it's not like they weren't moving
Speaker 1: the ball. And I would be much more surprised if
Speaker 1: this game was close at the end than that Falcons
Speaker 1: Panthers game. I think Washington Dallas if we were back
Speaker 1: doing the survivor, you know, like, I think they win
Speaker 1: by a couple of touchdowns and it's not close.
Speaker 3: I think that with Cooper Rush and with the Cowboys,
Speaker 3: it's largely been bad, but every once in a while
Speaker 3: it's kind of good, like that Buccaneers game kind of good.
Speaker 3: Wasn't the only one this year. So it's tough for
Speaker 3: me to say unequivocally that he's going to be terrible
Speaker 3: and that they're going to lose this game. But if you're
Speaker 3: just looking at it on paper, no matter the motivation,
Speaker 3: Washington is the better team. They have the better quarterback,
Speaker 3: they have the more explosive offense, and what I saw
Speaker 3: from the Cowboys against the Eagles recently really made me think, oh, boy,
Speaker 3: you want to talk about tickets to Cabo, this is
Speaker 3: a team that might be going to cabover.
Speaker 4: There was not a whole lot a lot of let's
Speaker 4: win this one for Mike McCarthy in that effort now,
Speaker 4: and that's what I'm interested to see. This game's in Dallas.
Speaker 4: How many Commanders fans are in the stands?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 4: We've seen other opposing teams that not name the Packers
Speaker 4: over takeover that stadium this year, So I'm wanting what
Speaker 4: the environment is.
Speaker 3: I do like Washington this game.
Speaker 4: I think Dallas is gonna be a little bit tougher
Speaker 4: initially out of the gate than what we're thinking against Washington.
Speaker 4: But I'm with you dan Quinn, knowing him talking to
Speaker 4: some folks, or they're just trying to tighten up a
Speaker 4: couple of things now. They're trying to get a little
Speaker 4: bit better go into the playoffs with a young team
Speaker 4: on a roll. They like what they're doing some things defensively.
Speaker 4: I don't think they play Marshall Lattimore here.
Speaker 1: I think they could like rest people if they have
Speaker 1: a big lead or something. The way he made it sounded,
Speaker 1: I don't think they're playing to win.
Speaker 3: I think they're playing to win. I don't think they
Speaker 3: want to rest people.
Speaker 4: I mean, you still want to get Jay and Daniels reps, right,
Speaker 4: Austin Eckler might be coming back, right, so you may
Speaker 4: want to do some things with functionality of the offense
Speaker 4: that way as well, and based on the way Dallas
Speaker 4: is playing, can get a little practicing, so to speak.
Speaker 4: So I like Washington in this game four and a
Speaker 4: half seams about right. I don't think it's going to
Speaker 4: be a wipeout. I think Dallas is going to compe
Speaker 4: a little bit. They got a few proud guys on
Speaker 4: that team.
Speaker 1: No seelamb though he is for the season. No Ezekiel Elliott,
Speaker 1: who was released to give him a chance to sign
Speaker 1: on with the playoff team.
Speaker 5: Which it's good to want things, Greg.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know if that's every Look, everybody wants
Speaker 3: a pony on Christmas. They don't always get pony. There
Speaker 3: is an opportunity.
Speaker 6: Cliff Kingsbury was at the mic acknowledging his desire to
Speaker 6: be a head coach. Again we mentioned this historically bad
Speaker 6: Cowboys run defense. The Commanders had negative thirty two yards
Speaker 6: over expected in Week twelve, running the ball with their
Speaker 6: running backs against this Dallas Cowboys defense, there's an opportunity
Speaker 6: for Cliff to have some improved We're gonna throw it
Speaker 6: fifty times. Well, we'll see. Because the rich folks making
Speaker 6: them decisions like points. So no matter how they do
Speaker 6: it well, Washington would like to get those. Let's go
Speaker 6: to another game for another fan base that would like
Speaker 6: some points. Their quarterback needs six hundred and seven yards
Speaker 6: to throw for four thousand yards in industry, that's Kayleb
Speaker 6: Williams of the Chicago Bears at the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 6: who were favored by ten. Greg Kevin Coogler, Moose Johnson
Speaker 6: and Laura Oakman on the call. The Packers only lose
Speaker 6: to very good teams. How do you feel about their
Speaker 6: matchup against the Bears.
Speaker 1: They want to go into the offseason to the postseason
Speaker 1: with a better taste in their mouth in terms of winning.
Speaker 1: But the motivation for this game is a little odd,
Speaker 1: like they're playing for that six seven seed, but the
Speaker 1: Commanders have the pole position for it. So is it
Speaker 1: something they could be scoreboard watching or they have Jordan
Speaker 1: Love out there for a quarter and a half and
Speaker 1: they feel good about it. I feel like that's in
Speaker 1: the cards in this game, and yet I feel like
Speaker 1: they're just better than the Bears enough that they could
Speaker 1: play backups.
Speaker 2: And win the game.
Speaker 1: We've seen Malik Willis, We've seen Emmanuel Wilson, like, we've
Speaker 1: seen a lot of their players who don't play a lot,
Speaker 1: like maybe get Luke Musk Graves some extra snaps.
Speaker 2: So this is a merciful end our.
Speaker 1: Our producer hythem, you know, because the scheduling isn't back
Speaker 1: there today, but I was gonna congratulate. I just wanted
Speaker 1: to congratulate them that just like this is over. This
Speaker 1: just feels like the No fan base I feel like,
Speaker 1: is ready for the season to.
Speaker 3: End more than the Bears. Exactly. No, it's been. If
Speaker 3: this was at like week fourteen, I'd be like, oh, man,
Speaker 3: Caleb is in for one because the Packers defense is
Speaker 3: gonna get after him. But if they are resting guys,
Speaker 3: they're still gonna get after him. Because of how bad
Speaker 3: the Bears offense is, it takes a little bit of
Speaker 3: the juice out of the game overall. But what I
Speaker 3: would like to see from the Bears if the Packers
Speaker 3: end up playing, you know, some backups and everything else,
Speaker 3: a little bit of momentum, a little bit of rhythm,
Speaker 3: a little bit more than you've shown in the last month,
Speaker 3: because that offense has been really really hard to watch.
Speaker 3: It's not been fun. The defense has been up and down.
Speaker 3: It's been better at times, but this is this The
Speaker 3: Bears as a team are a viewing experience, not very fun.
Speaker 3: So kind of because the Packers, like you said, seating wise,
Speaker 3: don't necessarily have everything to play for it, especially if
Speaker 3: they're scoreboard watching, we might get kind of one of
Speaker 3: those a little bit of a lull of a game,
Speaker 3: but overall, yeah, it's still a Packers, you know win.
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're gonna be scoreboard watching because you know, they
Speaker 4: want that six seed to come to LA and not
Speaker 4: have to go to Philly.
Speaker 3: As the seventeen.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean that that's a real important distinction there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the ten. The ten's gonna cover Green Bay.
Speaker 4: The way they play, the physicality that they play with
Speaker 4: I love. I mean, even though they haven't beaten the games,
Speaker 4: I love the way they're playing football.
Speaker 3: They're going to take care of the Bears. They've been
Speaker 3: in Cabo unfortunately.
Speaker 4: But I like how Nick you said they need to
Speaker 4: take a page out of Matt Eve refluce his book
Speaker 4: and finish strong with someone.
Speaker 3: Well except mana's the clock better? Let's not.
Speaker 5: Oh, I want Caleb to manage the clock in the pocket?
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, sixty seven sacks this season. Fifty one of
Speaker 6: those sacks have been on plays that were longer than
Speaker 6: four seconds.
Speaker 3: Yeah, in the pocket to make a mistake. Who cares
Speaker 3: get rid of the ball?
Speaker 5: Yeah, whether it's whether it's a bad check down, a
Speaker 5: wrong shoulder throw, a pick like make plays man, trust,
Speaker 5: don't be scared.
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's just no trust.
Speaker 1: So there is something confusing about, you know, the four
Speaker 1: seed and the Rams and everything. The Rams are not
Speaker 1: playing their starters. So the whole idea of we want
Speaker 1: to be at the seven to avoid the Rams, no,
Speaker 1: to avoid Philly, to avoid Philly. Right, that makes sense
Speaker 1: because the Rams are probably going to fall from the
Speaker 1: three to the.
Speaker 5: Four, So it's can they fall off the clocked in
Speaker 5: Bucks I.
Speaker 1: Believe will pass them if the Bucks or I know
Speaker 1: the Bucks passed them if the Bucks win and the
Speaker 1: Rams lose, which you know is well favored to happen.
Speaker 1: So it's interesting that the Ram we'll get to the
Speaker 1: Rams and everything, but that they don't really seem to
Speaker 1: care about who their opponent is, or maybe they do
Speaker 1: and they.
Speaker 2: Have some master plan. I don't really understand.
Speaker 1: Shout out to Eddrian Cooper, by the way, it crossed
Speaker 1: my mind, if he had been healthy all season, he
Speaker 1: might have been defensive Rookie of the Year.
Speaker 2: That's how good he's been playing.
Speaker 5: Very good. Something something for us to note, as you
Speaker 5: know the there was fan voting right for the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 5: It's something for us to canologe thirty three percent of
Speaker 5: the Pro Bowl was the fan vote. If you're bemoaning
Speaker 5: a quote unquote popularity contest, literally, that's what happened. Is
Speaker 5: we get to our next game.
Speaker 6: It is the New York Giants at the Philadelphia Eagles.
Speaker 6: The over under is thirty seven and a half on CBS,
Speaker 6: Andrew Cattle on, Ticki Barber, Jason mccordy, and aj Ross
Speaker 6: on the call. Nick, where we will not have Saquon
Speaker 6: Barkley playing in this game. Nick Sirianni making what I
Speaker 6: believe is a correct decision. Yep, Eagles favored by three.
Speaker 6: It's the I know Drew had the game of his life,
Speaker 6: but three points.
Speaker 3: That's why that's right there, because well, we see we
Speaker 3: saw one game in which Drew Locke just lit it
Speaker 3: up against the Colts team that was actually fighting for
Speaker 3: their lives at the time and couldn't hold up. And
Speaker 3: we also know that Vehgles are not going to be
Speaker 3: playing Saquon. We've seen what they've done with Candy Pickett
Speaker 3: and Tanner McKee. They put up a lot of points,
Speaker 3: but on face value alone, not the strongest, most lopsided
Speaker 3: matchup in one direction or the other, even if you're
Speaker 3: looking at these two teams. But yes, those four points.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm taking the Giants.
Speaker 3: Is anybody watched the Giants this year? Taking it?
Speaker 1: This lock, this Locke revival lock to neighbors like Montana
Speaker 1: to Rice.
Speaker 3: Season Tyrone Tracy's Roger Krug.
Speaker 1: It may have to do with the fact that I'm
Speaker 1: trying to catch up with Cynthia and our other show,
Speaker 1: But I actually do think the Giants have a good
Speaker 1: I mean, it's an interesting thing to wonder, like, is
Speaker 1: the NFL is there enough parody that most team starters
Speaker 1: would beat the other team's backups because the Eagles are
Speaker 1: gonna be resting everyone that they can. Lane Johnson Saquon Barkley.
Speaker 1: We'll see about Jalen Hurts. That one is a little
Speaker 1: confusing whether they want to get him back into the mix.
Speaker 3: Well, a little bit.
Speaker 2: There's no reason he would risk us to get some reps.
Speaker 1: And then Saquon did speak about it over during the week.
Speaker 2: Let's listen to Saquon.
Speaker 7: I mean, he asked me if I wanted to play,
Speaker 7: if I want to go for it. I said on Sunday,
Speaker 7: you know, I probably didn't care too much for it.
Speaker 7: When I slept on it, it was like it was
Speaker 7: an opportunity to imploint my you know, my name in
Speaker 7: the football history. May never get another opportunity like that again.
Speaker 7: So I'm down, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 7: like I don't care for putting the team at risk.
Speaker 2: And he went on there and said he was down.
Speaker 1: I liked how honesty was that initially he didn't care,
Speaker 1: then he slept on it. He really he wanted it,
Speaker 1: and so he was a little down and some of
Speaker 1: the offensive linemen were down. But he went on to
Speaker 1: say how how he totally understood it as well, and
Speaker 1: he'll be there to support his teammates and the right decision.
Speaker 4: I think because he had tasted that playoff air very often. Yeah, right,
Speaker 4: you know he wants to be ready. Look, this is
Speaker 4: this is interesting because you know we also have the
Speaker 4: big picture of play Brian Dayball. You talk to people
Speaker 4: around the NFL like day Ball is a really good
Speaker 4: head coach. But the way they finished, how are you
Speaker 4: going to be able to sell to a frustrated fan
Speaker 4: base who's tired of this stuff that he needs to
Speaker 4: come back, him and Joe Shane coming back next year.
Speaker 4: I could see Dayball, but Joe Shane coming back next year,
Speaker 4: especially getting rid of Saquon, I don't see that happening.
Speaker 4: But then you know it's usually a package deal.
Speaker 3: Yep, there it is. So you know we've heard.
Speaker 4: John Marra say, hey, he doesn't want to get rid
Speaker 4: of me, he wants both of them back. That was
Speaker 4: well before they started playing. They've been in Cabo too.
Speaker 4: Those hotels in Cabo can be loaded with some NFL
Speaker 4: rosters right there. So if they if they come out,
Speaker 4: and they especially if they take a ba al to
Speaker 4: Philadelphia their backups, I can't see how you can make
Speaker 4: an argument to keep Brian table again. He's people will
Speaker 4: tell you though, he is a very good coach. This
Speaker 4: doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: It has stupid because on the flip side, I can
Speaker 1: totally see the scenario where Drew Locke has back to
Speaker 1: back good games and they win too in a row,
Speaker 1: and in John Marra's mind, for whatever reason though, that
Speaker 1: just makes him want to keep keeping much more. And
Speaker 1: I think I kind of think that is what I
Speaker 1: think will happen, because ultimately I'll take one team starters
Speaker 1: over the other team's backups if I have to chase
Speaker 1: it's close.
Speaker 3: Probably it's just the old Eric Mangini. Win the last
Speaker 3: four games of the year to save your job for
Speaker 3: no reason. The next year, my name's A two Sam,
Speaker 3: which was the king of that. I'll never forget.
Speaker 1: Doune Moron went one and one as the Jaguars interim,
Speaker 1: but they were against good teams and the eight week
Speaker 1: eighteen was a win and they kept him off of
Speaker 1: that that it just was spicy.
Speaker 6: Yeah, if the roster size was ninety, I could see it.
Speaker 6: We're we just get to fifty five the seventeen prior
Speaker 6: squads if you include the international player pathway.
Speaker 3: Uh, it's just it's true.
Speaker 5: Still going to be very good Eagles playing in this game.
Speaker 2: As they have to be, especially on defense.
Speaker 1: They're there, they're backups, and you can only rest so
Speaker 1: many guys. You're right that it could be tough, but uh,
Speaker 1: let's go. Let's go Drew Lock, let's uh shock the world.
Speaker 1: Let's take a quick break, and we will be back.
Speaker 1: We'll wrap up those early games, get to the late ones. Eventually,
Speaker 1: we're going to get to that Sunday night football game.
Speaker 2: Back on NFL Daily.
Speaker 1: Should have mentioned Tanner McKee is the likely starter because
Speaker 1: Kenny Pickett is hurt for the Eagles, and that reminds
Speaker 1: me of different quarterback situations, different injuries. By the way,
Speaker 1: the Browns have announced we already did this game by
Speaker 1: one another, but as we're taping, the announced Denzel Ward,
Speaker 1: David and Joku, Jordan Hicks, Pierre Strong, Jerome Ford all
Speaker 1: out for Saturdays. Out the tank is on and it's
Speaker 1: different in Buffalo. But we did get clarity during the
Speaker 1: week about the quarterback situations here. Patrick Josh Allen is
Speaker 1: going to start, but it's expected that he will just
Speaker 1: kind of keep his streak going and sit pretty quickly.
Speaker 2: Drake May will also start for the Patriots, and.
Speaker 6: There was some consternation coming out of New England about
Speaker 6: why why I haven't played Drake May in this game?
Speaker 6: With the goal ultimately being what you can accomplish in
Speaker 6: April is we get to the matchup between the Bills
Speaker 6: and the Patriots, the Bills favored by just two, Mitchell
Speaker 6: Trubisky potentially going the way after Josh Allen secures the streak,
Speaker 6: Steve the over under thirty eight. Spirodidas at of Marshal
Speaker 6: Letta and A. D. D. Kinkwala on the call. The
Speaker 6: Patriots came close to shocking the Bills a couple of
Speaker 6: weeks ago. What happens here, Well, they also got absolutely
Speaker 6: mopped at the game. I was hap by the Chargers
Speaker 6: the other day. I got a forty burder hung on him.
Speaker 4: Look, the one thing I saw on the page is
Speaker 4: Drake Mays is legit right, He is the real deal.
Speaker 4: But some of these other guys, it was not a
Speaker 4: lack of effort. They got their heads kicked in by
Speaker 4: the Chargers. There's just no fuel left in the tank, yep.
Speaker 4: And so again I think they're gonna come out and
Speaker 4: give a valiant effort, but it's just they don't have
Speaker 4: it to sustain for four quarters. So can they pull
Speaker 4: the upset against the Bill's backups. Maybe I don't think so.
Speaker 4: This two point seems fine to me. I like Buffalo
Speaker 4: in this game, just because I just honestly being upfront
Speaker 4: and center with the pages. They're just not there. They
Speaker 4: are unleaded with less than a quarter take of fuel.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, and it's not even just fuel too, it's
Speaker 3: just a lack of organization. Like the entire offensive operation
Speaker 3: is not great. I know, you start Cole Strange's first
Speaker 3: start at center last week, but everybody around him, they
Speaker 3: can't even get the snap count down. I mean just
Speaker 3: it was to the point where I sent Greg at
Speaker 3: textan I was just like, their whole operation is a mess,
Speaker 3: Like there's nothing good doing here. That's why I'm shocked
Speaker 3: to just see the two points. But then again, Bill's
Speaker 3: playing backups resting. Oh recently they took him to the brink.
Speaker 3: That factors in there as well. But yeah, I mean
Speaker 3: the Patriots, that's another team that's going to Cobo. And
Speaker 3: that's another team that's going to Cobo and may not
Speaker 3: even have the people in charge, the old chaperone in
Speaker 3: charge to the drip.
Speaker 1: I think they'll be Yeah, if I had to guess.
Speaker 1: I think I think they'll be back as well. Maybe
Speaker 1: they change the offensive coordinator. That's just a guess. I
Speaker 1: think a win here would help, and I kind of
Speaker 1: think it'll happen. They've been every other week. It's very consistent. Actually,
Speaker 1: if you look at the last eight weeks of the Patriots,
Speaker 1: they have one week where they get absolutely rolled, and
Speaker 1: then they've always bounced back and responded. The next week
Speaker 1: they almost beat the Rams, which I consider, you know,
Speaker 1: almost beating a good team is a win for them.
Speaker 2: They played well that week.
Speaker 1: Same thing happened against the Colts, where they dominated that game,
Speaker 1: found a way to lose, But that's a good game
Speaker 1: for get rolled. The next week, come back competitively, play
Speaker 1: against the Bills, and with the Bills, you know, being
Speaker 1: out there that they're resting everyone, that's a pretty big advantage.
Speaker 1: Gives girod Mayo a chance here. Shout out to Christian
Speaker 1: Gonzales did not make the the Pro Bowl. I think
Speaker 1: he's got a chance to be an All Pro though,
Speaker 1: first or second team. I really value the opinions of
Speaker 1: Johnny Ledyard, Ali Connelly, you do a right podcast. They
Speaker 1: they thought he's right there with Certana's the top two
Speaker 1: cornerbacks in the entire NFL right now and getting slept
Speaker 1: on a little bit, and you.
Speaker 3: Just ask, hi, you just look at physically.
Speaker 1: To me, he's maybe the most physically impressive cornerback there
Speaker 1: is out there, no Christian Just in terms of next
Speaker 1: to just in terms of what you test on and athletically,
Speaker 1: I'm putting them right there.
Speaker 2: I'm putting them right there on the table.
Speaker 1: Nope, we have Josh Allen's not going to get to
Speaker 1: make a little final MVP case.
Speaker 2: But that's fine, he doesn't need to.
Speaker 5: Speaking of MVP cases, there's two quarterbacks in the NFL
Speaker 5: who have a positive e p A on tight window throws.
Speaker 5: One of them is Lamar Jackson. The other Drake may.
Speaker 1: Wow, but I know we passed it. But I we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens after Monday. But I actually think Lamar
Speaker 1: Jackson is the favorite for the m v P.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: I I think the way this this thing is gonna
Speaker 1: finish that Lamar is going to have such an overwhelming
Speaker 1: statistical case that he wins it even people.
Speaker 4: Don't know voters, voters like he's got two fatigue.
Speaker 2: We'll see.
Speaker 3: It happened to Lebron for years vibes based award.
Speaker 5: Let's get parameters so it all makes sense.
Speaker 6: And I know Kate takes the quote unquote fun out
Speaker 6: of the MVP discussion, but who's having fun? We have
Speaker 6: to cut down very good football players to lift another
Speaker 6: one up. I get tired of anyway, well said, Let's
Speaker 6: go to our next game in the AFC South. It
Speaker 6: is the Jacksonville Jaguars against the Indianapolis Colts, who are
Speaker 6: favored by five.
Speaker 5: The over under is forty four. Jason Benedti, Brady Quinn,
Speaker 5: and Sarah Coustack on the call. Greg, we have seen
Speaker 5: Mac Jones and Brian Thomas Junior surprise folks, especially down
Speaker 5: the stretch. What are they doing against the Colts defense
Speaker 5: that was powerless to stop Drew Locke with like the
Speaker 5: gym of Siderak, with like the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand.
Speaker 1: I hate picking this game. That this game counts equally
Speaker 1: for our picks for the season.
Speaker 2: Five points is too much.
Speaker 3: I agree.
Speaker 1: Could be the last game for Doug Peterson. He expected
Speaker 1: that it will be doubt it would be the last
Speaker 1: game for Shane Steichen, but crazier things have happened. Could
Speaker 1: be the last game for Chris Ballard as the GM.
Speaker 1: It's mac Jones's seventh start this season. By the way, Wow,
Speaker 1: been a lot of mac Jones. I don't have much
Speaker 1: more to say on this.
Speaker 3: I mean, if you just talk about mac Jones specifically,
Speaker 3: he had some nice throws Park Washington with a great
Speaker 3: touchdown catch toe tap last week, and then there was
Speaker 3: a lot of misses. And that's basically the mac Jones
Speaker 3: experience right now. It's a gross game. It's two AFC
Speaker 3: South teams that are eliminated. This is what this division
Speaker 3: produces from time to time, especially in Week eighteen. So
Speaker 3: I feel the same way. This shouldn't count the same
Speaker 3: in picks, and yet it does. If I had to
Speaker 3: lean I lean Coltz because if the Jags are expected
Speaker 3: to fire their coach, what really are they playing for
Speaker 3: other than the fact that they have a budding star
Speaker 3: in Brian tom It could matter for Ballard.
Speaker 2: What do you think about Ballard? Do you think he's back?
Speaker 5: Steve?
Speaker 4: No, No, They've they've got to shake up something it's
Speaker 4: not And I'll get to it in the second first time.
Speaker 4: I like Jacksonville in this game to pull the upset.
Speaker 4: And here's why. There's like because the culture not paying attention,
Speaker 4: but there's just such murmuring chaos. Anthony Richardson came out
Speaker 4: this week and said like he couldn't play last week
Speaker 4: because he had to crawl, he had all these back issues,
Speaker 4: and then throws the sweetener on top of him, explaining
Speaker 4: that it may be chronic. Oh no, I've been dealing
Speaker 4: with this since eighth grade. Just mean, what, like, what
Speaker 4: in the combined medical evaluations are we missing?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 4: Yeah, this is the case. Or is he saying like
Speaker 4: why is he saying this? So with everything he has
Speaker 4: done to be in and out of the like honest
Speaker 4: to a fun he's honest a fault and it's all true.
Speaker 4: But it's like, oh my gosh, we got this now
Speaker 4: to deal with. They can't get into Cabo. They're already
Speaker 4: an Acapolca, all right, they're they're there. I like Jacksonville
Speaker 4: to finish out with a dub, you know, send Doug
Speaker 4: out Trump Balki out.
Speaker 3: With a nice man.
Speaker 2: You're kind of convincing to me here.
Speaker 3: I was stunned.
Speaker 1: I read that was like flipm P, like why I
Speaker 1: also can kind of just see them like win one
Speaker 1: for Doug. It's almost the flip side of not having
Speaker 1: much to play for it. They've I've watched these Jaguars games.
Speaker 1: I don't think that I like that they kept dug
Speaker 1: this whole time. They've been good, They've been playing hard.
Speaker 1: It's not they're just not good.
Speaker 6: Yeah, at Indy with the Colts being favored by five,
Speaker 6: after what we saw from this defense, I think we
Speaker 6: can ask questions about Ballard and Stich And this is
Speaker 6: the end of the road for Gus Bradley for sure. Yes,
Speaker 6: on that side of the ball. And it's kind of
Speaker 6: it's Schrodinger's Jags at this point. I don't really know
Speaker 6: what to expect, but going on the road feels different.
Speaker 6: To play in this last game in Duval, so I've
Speaker 6: got confidence. And whether it's whether it's Flacco or Anthony Richardson,
Speaker 6: just one one positive memory for this Colts team that
Speaker 6: did have a chance but kind of wilted at the end.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Flacko will throw for a good amount of yards.
Speaker 3: Hopefully he avoids turning the ball over. Yeah, hopefully he
Speaker 3: can move around more than he hasn't. He's showing his age. Yeah,
Speaker 3: like he just he doesn't navigate the pocket. Will a
Speaker 3: nim jumped on.
Speaker 6: Him an opportunity for one more one last job for
Speaker 6: Joe Flacco coming up in twenty five h checks as
Speaker 6: we get to the Houston Texans at the Tennessee Titans.
Speaker 6: The Titans favored by one and a half in Nashville
Speaker 6: against the Houston Texans, who are going to the Wow.
Speaker 6: The over under is thirty seven. Tom McCarthy, Jay Feely,
Speaker 6: Ross Tucker and Amanda Ballyonis on the call. We've seen
Speaker 6: a whole lot from this Texans team, some good.
Speaker 3: Probably more of it bad, shook. Why are they not.
Speaker 5: Favored against the Tennessee Exactly? They're gonna play two quarterbacks here,
Speaker 5: Oh my god.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And that's the problem. Like, there's a lot of
Speaker 3: teams that are like, oh, we're going to the playoffs,
Speaker 3: like we can rest our, guys. The Texans don't have
Speaker 3: the privilege, not because of seating, because of performance, correct.
Speaker 3: I mean that game they played against the Ravens was
Speaker 3: absolutely embarrassing. That is a bottoming out of a team
Speaker 3: that's going to the playoffs. There's a lot of teams
Speaker 3: that we talk about going to the playffs that you
Speaker 3: don't want to face. Everybody wants to play in Houston, Texans,
Speaker 3: and they're saying it out loud. Yeah, they're not afraid
Speaker 3: of them. Their offensive line's been bad all year. They
Speaker 3: can't generate much the run game unless it's anccasional Joe
Speaker 3: Mixon one hundred and twenty five yard game.
Speaker 4: C J.
Speaker 3: Stroud. The wear and tear mentally of not trusting your
Speaker 3: offensive line and losing two of your top receivers very visible,
Speaker 3: to the point that he's missing checkdowns. He's not even
Speaker 3: under pressure. Very concerned about this team. Probably one of
Speaker 3: the worst playoff teams in their current state going into
Speaker 3: the playoffs. I can remember since the Steelers, God was
Speaker 3: that twenty twenty, twenty twenty one. And it's really a
Speaker 3: bummer because this defense has played so well, but they've
Speaker 3: also taken injuries on that side of the ball. As
Speaker 3: it pertains to this game, I could see why they're
Speaker 3: not favored. I'm really worried about what we're talking about
Speaker 3: next week. They're gonna smoke the Titans. Yeah, I think
Speaker 3: they're gonna smash Well.
Speaker 1: No, they're not favored because Demiko Ryans has made it
Speaker 1: sound like he's gonna play his starters for a little
Speaker 1: bit and then take him out. No, that's why they're
Speaker 1: not favored. That's the extent.
Speaker 4: Well correct, He's gonna play him, Demiko is gonna play.
Speaker 4: Then maybe he pulls him after halftime. I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I think he understands exactly what you're talking about. They
Speaker 4: have not played good football.
Speaker 3: CJ.
Speaker 4: Shroud is like you nailed it. He is not trusting
Speaker 4: no anything with the operation of this offense. He has
Speaker 4: got to get it going. When the Ravens is started,
Speaker 4: it's a double team Nico Collins or jump in with
Speaker 4: you know, with leverage points he had no go to.
Speaker 4: He's got to trust his other guys right here, regardless
Speaker 4: of who they are. The fact that they've had an
Speaker 4: extended time for him to have some practice reps with
Speaker 4: these guys should help.
Speaker 3: I think they come out. I think they just put
Speaker 3: it on the.
Speaker 4: Titans because he's else Shier back on defense. He's gonna
Speaker 4: help in the with their run defense. I think they
Speaker 4: get back on track. What does it mean for the
Speaker 4: following week, I don't know, but they'll they'll start to
Speaker 4: look a little bit better than the good Titans seems
Speaker 4: we've seen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm picking the Titans.
Speaker 1: I think if the Texans are playing all out to win,
Speaker 1: it's close to a coin flip. I just think that's
Speaker 1: the level the Texans are at now, and I don't
Speaker 1: think they'll they'll play to win. That's what that number
Speaker 1: on that. That's what the number is about. Is that
Speaker 1: when the coach says they all got to I told
Speaker 1: them all to be ready.
Speaker 2: They got to be ready. They're gonna go out there.
Speaker 1: It's like, I don't think he's gonna leave him out
Speaker 1: there because if they're playing all out to win, it's
Speaker 1: not They're just not capable of stomping on a team.
Speaker 2: So it's gonna be close.
Speaker 1: And I just think then you insert Davis Mills into
Speaker 1: the mix and.
Speaker 3: That's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: So that's how they that's how they build those casinos,
Speaker 1: you know, getting everyone to bite on the Texans and
Speaker 1: you know they know they don't gave us.
Speaker 3: Funny and that Titans. Well, that's the thing. You have
Speaker 3: a lot of faith in Mason Rudolph here or we'll
Speaker 3: love us. We're gonna see both of are we what they.
Speaker 5: That's what I've seen out of Nashville this week.
Speaker 6: It's you know, it's the the will Levis evaluation has
Speaker 6: gone and then stopped, and then it's coming back.
Speaker 5: There was injuries and then they weren't.
Speaker 1: But the one reason I would go Texans on this
Speaker 1: is because the Titans really lean into this old Oilers
Speaker 1: uniform stuff where they always wear the home Oilers uniform
Speaker 1: and sends out the logo on social now whenever they
Speaker 1: play the Texans, and that's such bad juju.
Speaker 2: I just feel like they deserve to lose.
Speaker 1: They did lose this game last year in overtime when
Speaker 1: they did that when they wore the Oilers uniforms, and
Speaker 1: they're like like sending it out.
Speaker 2: They're like sticking in their face that they're cheapest.
Speaker 3: Owners have no idea who the Houston Oilers.
Speaker 1: Well, I know it doesn't affect the players, but it's
Speaker 1: just it's like it's like cosmically you're cheap. At the time,
Speaker 1: owner didn't want to pay for a great fan base
Speaker 1: in Houston and bolted, and now you're sticking it in
Speaker 1: their nose a little bit.
Speaker 2: I don't like it.
Speaker 3: I don't like them.
Speaker 5: Yes, I don't know how strangsh that was the thing
Speaker 5: was lined up.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's time for the game of the week for
Speaker 4: some of my Draft Kings sportsbook.
Speaker 5: The most impactful game in the AFC this week it
Speaker 5: is the backups of the Kansas City Chiefs Steve playing
Speaker 5: against the Denver Broncos at home. Favored by ten and
Speaker 5: a half. They win, they are in the playoffs. Jim Nance,
Speaker 5: Tony Romo, and Tracy Wolfson on the call. Can the
Speaker 5: Kansas City Chiefs backups step in here and bounce the
Speaker 5: Broncos from the playoffs?
Speaker 4: Yes, this is an egregious point spread. Yes, I agree
Speaker 4: with that you guys are under selling Carson Wentz plus.
Speaker 4: But here but here's no here. But here's something. Here's
Speaker 4: something you have to say. What do we would talk
Speaker 4: about the Chiefs when they weren't playing well all long?
Speaker 4: Their offensive line?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Who can they sit Tony?
Speaker 1: Supposedly they're going by the way, dude, he's a stun
Speaker 1: I think I think he's in battling a little bit
Speaker 1: of some nagging injuries.
Speaker 3: He said.
Speaker 2: Tony is among the guys. Chris Jones is one, but.
Speaker 4: I could see Tony. He's sitting and they put in
Speaker 4: the rookie from Brigham Young who started there. But they
Speaker 4: can't sit a ton of guys. They just don't have
Speaker 4: the depth. They've taken too many hits. But to me, though,
Speaker 4: this is more about Denver. Do they have the playoff medal?
Speaker 4: I have loved everything I've seen pretty much had a
Speaker 4: BONEX this year. I think he's got it. Does everybody
Speaker 4: else in a game like this? Can they stand up
Speaker 4: Chiefs backups or not? I I Am not going to
Speaker 4: be stunned if Kansas City number one seed in hand
Speaker 4: Beast Denver and Denver door remains open for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Speaker 4: It makes me more trying to get the Bengals into
Speaker 4: the playoffs, you know, emotionally, Yeah, but I just this
Speaker 4: seems like one where Denver, Denver, Denver, and then they
Speaker 4: just come out just do not play a great game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, I don't like to carry over
Speaker 3: one result to the next because I think that the
Speaker 3: Broncos suffered a heartbreaking loss that they probably could have
Speaker 3: just taken to a tie last week. I don't really
Speaker 3: think it matters that much. But matters more in this
Speaker 3: game is coaching. And it speaks to what you just
Speaker 3: said about the chiefs Andy Reid being the greatest currently
Speaker 3: active head coach in the NFL who has done a
Speaker 3: masterful job with the team that is weak in the
Speaker 3: offensive line, that missed their running back for a good
Speaker 3: portion of the season, that lost, you know, two receivers,
Speaker 3: and just got Hollywood Brown back recently, and now they're
Speaker 3: kind of ascending. Some of these guys might not play,
Speaker 3: but the guy who pushes all the buttons is still there.
Speaker 3: It's a lot of faith in Carson Wentz, though. And
Speaker 3: that's where I get a little worried, because the Broncos
Speaker 3: are playing for their lives. They've had this great season
Speaker 3: under Sean Payton. This is why we hired Sean Payton.
Speaker 3: Bo Nicks, take all that hate that we got when
Speaker 3: we drafted in. We're gonna shove it right where you
Speaker 3: now because we are going to make the playoffs right now.
Speaker 3: We're going to make the playoffs by beating a team
Speaker 3: and adding some fuel to the fire of this rivalry.
Speaker 3: And boy would be really really embarrassing and disappointing if
Speaker 3: he lost.
Speaker 4: Boyd if you never saw what Andy Reid did with
Speaker 4: Doug Peterson back in the day in those final games
Speaker 4: of the season.
Speaker 1: They have rested guys in one games in the past,
Speaker 1: so it's not unprecedented. The Broncos overall, I don't think
Speaker 1: are playing their best football of the year. Nicks was
Speaker 1: up and down. He had some major ups last week,
Speaker 1: but I think he's been a little up and down
Speaker 1: as the season ends. This was a close game though
Speaker 1: that the Broncos probably deserved to win the first time around,
Speaker 1: And so that informs me that these two teams know
Speaker 1: each other well. And I know the Chiefs have owned
Speaker 1: this matchup, but the matchup this year was close. With
Speaker 1: the starters in and with so much to play for
Speaker 1: it it's hard for me to go against the Broncos here,
Speaker 1: Like defensively, you just feel that they would have a
Speaker 1: lot of answers. And when they say the players that
Speaker 1: are sitting for the Chiefs, you know it's only you're right.
Speaker 2: You can only sit so many.
Speaker 1: But then you see the names, and the names are
Speaker 1: Chris Jones, Trent McDuffie, Tony Patrick, freaking Mahomes, the running
Speaker 1: both running backs apparently are are gonna sit Trent.
Speaker 2: These are all their best players.
Speaker 1: So it does if you if you can't win Denver,
Speaker 1: you certainly don't deserve to be making the playoffs.
Speaker 6: It's some a JP Ryn in a revenge game well,
Speaker 6: there it is Harris the Broncos advance blitzing on thirty
Speaker 6: eight percent of dropbacks.
Speaker 5: It's one of it's the third highest rate.
Speaker 3: Probably would blit him at fifty percent on Sunday.
Speaker 5: Why not? What but an opportunity for Carson Wentz to
Speaker 5: go out there and perform revive. We've seen Baker and
Speaker 5: Sam have revivals revival a few years ago.
Speaker 4: No, okay, different, I can't wait. I can't wait to
Speaker 4: hear this Jimmy g argument later.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but to not do that, but it's not dead.
Speaker 1: Let's put it in that uh little shout out to
Speaker 1: Quinn Minors. I don't think there's a ton of Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl snubs, but people that I trust, Brian Baldinger being
Speaker 1: high amongst them.
Speaker 2: But hease.
Speaker 1: Quinn Minors has an argument to be the best guard
Speaker 1: in football, full stop, like first team All Pro, Like
Speaker 1: he is the guy now and sometimes with offensive lines,
Speaker 1: it takes a year for the voters to catch up. Like,
Speaker 1: I think he has a decent chance to make All
Speaker 1: Pro but not Pro Bowl, which happens to some guy sot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just shout out to Quinn Minors.
Speaker 3: Good shout out, all right.
Speaker 1: That was our Game of the Week. Download the DraftKings
Speaker 1: Sportsbook app now use the Code daily. New customers can
Speaker 1: bet just five bucks. He had two hundred dollars in
Speaker 1: bonus bets only at DraftKings Sportsbook with Code Daily.
Speaker 2: The crown is yours.
Speaker 6: Looking forward to that game, of course, because there's gonna
Speaker 6: be a few teams watching it paying attention, including the
Speaker 6: Miami Dolphins who would like a Chiefs win.
Speaker 5: They are favored by one point greg against Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 5: and the New York Jets with an over under of
Speaker 5: thirty nine. Joe Davis, g Rag and Pam Oliver on
Speaker 5: the call. We saw Aaron Rodgers throwing bounce passes last week.
Speaker 5: How do you feel about the Finns by one.
Speaker 1: I just assumed I would come up with a way
Speaker 1: for this Jets team to lose this game, because they're
Speaker 1: the Jets, and that's just it's happening. And yet toront
Speaker 1: arm Armstead left last week, has not been seen at
Speaker 1: practice all week. They put Kendall Lamb on injured reserve,
Speaker 1: who actually had a great game a week ago, mostly
Speaker 1: blocking Miles Garrett. So you're down your two starting tackles
Speaker 1: if Armstead isn't playing and Tuas sounds like he's a
Speaker 1: long shot as.
Speaker 3: We hate this playing Okay, snoop, so that's.
Speaker 1: Tough, Like, yeah, you could beat you could beat the Jets,
Speaker 1: but it's not gonna be I'm not I'm not just
Speaker 1: chalking that up as a win one.
Speaker 2: You know, one point that feels.
Speaker 1: About right that this is a It's crazy how important
Speaker 1: this game is because the Dolphins could be playing on
Speaker 1: wild card weekend. Everyone is just mentally counted them out,
Speaker 1: and yet it's a realistic opportunity. They're they're more realistic
Speaker 1: to me than than the Bengals because they're ahead of
Speaker 1: them in line.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's that's yeah, what matters more than anything
Speaker 3: in that tie breaking scenario. But I am actually stunned
Speaker 3: that I even have to consider the fact that I
Speaker 3: that the Dolphins might not win. And I think a
Speaker 3: lot of it is because it's new Puntley and the
Speaker 3: way that he has gotten a couple months of time
Speaker 3: with this offense and has a much better understanding of it.
Speaker 3: He got the ball out incredibly quick last week against
Speaker 3: the Browns. He's fully capable of leading into victory. And
Speaker 3: I also have no faith in the Jets, like we're
Speaker 3: again another team going to Cabo or beyond who knows,
Speaker 3: because they're they're headed Towarden Office's and change. I've written
Speaker 3: the same story about Aaron Rodgers talking about if they
Speaker 3: want me back, I'll come back. But I don't know
Speaker 3: for the last month, like the vibes are bad, his
Speaker 3: body language is bad. I just cannot put any stock
Speaker 3: in this team. They all know that change is coming yea,
Speaker 3: and the Dolphins have everything to play for, so I
Speaker 3: don't care if it's Huntley or Tua. I just believe
Speaker 3: more in them and the way they've played recently.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think the Jets are going to Sarasota, oh,
Speaker 4: by the way, instead of Cabo. I think they're saying
Speaker 4: domestic a little bit older tirement communities Aaron Sarasota.
Speaker 3: I have no faith in the Jets none.
Speaker 4: I mean they just I mean the stuff bout Garrett
Speaker 4: Wilson Aaron Rodgers back. I may want out like what
Speaker 4: they they want out as badly as anybody.
Speaker 1: Meanwhile, they they broke some ground this week. They are
Speaker 1: the first NFL team to ever interview an NFL Daily guest.
Speaker 3: It is a studio guest.
Speaker 1: Ron Rivera interviewing for the head coaching jobs. So we're
Speaker 1: trying to build our own coaching tree here at NFL Daily.
Speaker 1: It's a strong I was amazed that was that was cool.
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan is apparently.
Speaker 3: Getting told GM and so you might not run it
Speaker 3: back that.
Speaker 6: Yeah, let's not mention that so we can build up
Speaker 6: coach rivera l Yeah, because I kind of this.
Speaker 3: Won't be Ron. I will say this. I will say this.
Speaker 3: I don't think it's gonna be Ron's last interview. It
Speaker 3: shouldn't be. No, I don't think it's I think it's
Speaker 3: gonna have several.
Speaker 6: The The problem for the Dolphins last week. The leading
Speaker 6: rusher was Tyler Huntley. Yes, he got in the end zone.
Speaker 6: He had fifty two yards on the ground. This is
Speaker 6: the number thirty two rushing of fish and see offense
Speaker 6: in the NFL, and coach Mike Mack has struggled to
Speaker 6: get his team to be able to run the ball.
Speaker 6: The Jets defense actually improving against the run in the
Speaker 6: past few weeks. The problem might be over on the
Speaker 6: offensive side of the football. Let's go to a team
Speaker 6: that isn't having problems on offense right now. All they
Speaker 6: needed was to get run up and done up by
Speaker 6: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 5: Since then, the Chargers on fire. They are favored by
Speaker 5: four and a half points against the Las Vegas Raiders
Speaker 5: and aoc at quarterback. It's on CBS Kevin Harlan, Trent Green,
Speaker 5: Mellon and Collins. The over under forty one and a half.
Speaker 5: The Bolts have been rolling, shook. Do they keep rolling
Speaker 5: against Las Vegas?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I do. And that's not even I'm not taking
Speaker 3: anything away from the way the Raids have played in
Speaker 3: the last couple week because I think they've played much
Speaker 3: better football. I would like to see it save Antonio
Speaker 3: Pierce's job, but probably not. I still just can't go
Speaker 3: against these Chargers, and I think I've been the guy
Speaker 3: who was throwing cold water on them when we recap
Speaker 3: their most recent games, because I was like, well, you're
Speaker 3: playing the Patriots. But what we saw from in their
Speaker 3: last few performances is finally giving Justin Herbert a little
Speaker 3: bit time to throw the football down the field. Now,
Speaker 3: granted he throws a lot of those the lad mccackey,
Speaker 3: but Stone Smart's starting to get involved a little bit more.
Speaker 3: His offense itself is just becoming more well rounded with
Speaker 3: the return of JK. Dobbins and against the Raiders. I
Speaker 3: don't know, it's just on paper strength versus weakness or
Speaker 3: whatever it might be. I just I feel very comfortable
Speaker 3: with the Chargers in this game.
Speaker 4: Charge is gonna gonna. I wouldn't be surprised if Harwall
Speaker 4: plays these guys all the way through.
Speaker 3: Yeah, he says he is.
Speaker 4: They want to get another team openly says we want
Speaker 4: to get that number five seed. Yeah, there's seating thing
Speaker 4: in play here and getting JK. Dobbins back. You saw
Speaker 4: some of the positivity again against the Patriots.
Speaker 3: They want to continue to get him going.
Speaker 4: They know how important he's going to be if they
Speaker 4: advance in the postseason. So I think this good offensive
Speaker 4: line is gonna keep working more.
Speaker 1: Ladred, I mean, love me and that let's practice on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Do wonder if they'd ever consider being a little safer
Speaker 1: with him, who's had a lot of knack.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's a game guy, and he gets tagged.
Speaker 1: And they play on Sunday afternoon, and they're watching that
Speaker 1: Saturday Bengals game with a lot of interest rooting for
Speaker 1: the Bengals so that they could possibly move up and
Speaker 1: pass the Steelers. Now, if the Steelers win that, they'll
Speaker 1: know that. Does that affect their plan? Hard to say.
Speaker 1: Harbaugh says that they're playing all out and they're playing
Speaker 1: so well offensively that I tend to think they could
Speaker 1: do what the Texans would like to do.
Speaker 2: But I don't have faith in.
Speaker 1: Which is just play so well early that you can
Speaker 1: rest some guys, and I think they could absolutely do that.
Speaker 5: So big opportunity for the Chargers in Las Vegas, and
Speaker 5: I'm just I'm just glad that we get to see
Speaker 5: Aidan O'Connell, this new version of Aidan O'Connell, greg that
Speaker 5: likes to scramble, Yeah, get back there and make place.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, even he even broke double digits once.
Speaker 1: The subject of my least hot take ever, which is
Speaker 1: that Aidan O'Connell is a perfectly capable NFL backup and
Speaker 1: is going to have a solid, like nine to ten
Speaker 1: year career, which is a great result for a fourth
Speaker 1: round pick.
Speaker 2: So like, let's stop picking up old Adon O'Connell.
Speaker 5: Not his fault.
Speaker 2: He's on this team and has to play a lot.
Speaker 1: I do wonder if Antonio Pearce wins three straight games
Speaker 1: to end the season under the old regime, I would
Speaker 1: think that would keep him the job. Now that we
Speaker 1: think Tom braid out, Tom Brady is this shadow owner.
Speaker 2: That might not save him.
Speaker 4: It just it just depends on who they can get.
Speaker 4: You know, you hear a lot of conversation about Mike
Speaker 4: Rabel going there, and that's okay.
Speaker 1: That would that would make a lot of sense in
Speaker 1: terms of friendship and experience and all that. All right,
Speaker 1: let's take one final break. We're gonna go through a
Speaker 1: couple of NFC West games and then get to the best.
Speaker 2: Game of the weekend. Maybe if the entire regular season
Speaker 2: vikings lines.
Speaker 3: Back on NFL Daily.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Anthony Richardson crawling around on the ground, Yeah.
Speaker 3: Back injury.
Speaker 2: But he's not the only one trying to play hurt.
Speaker 2: You know, Nick's got a little sniffles.
Speaker 3: No, it's not sniffles. It's just legal. You a bigs.
Speaker 3: You see it from the Cyberg sent falls. You don't
Speaker 3: got a long runway the little Rose Bully cod I'll
Speaker 3: tell you what I earned.
Speaker 2: I gotta say, I thought that was risky. It's fine.
Speaker 1: I know you love coming out to LA used to
Speaker 1: live out here. Yeah, I thought it was risky and
Speaker 1: then they put it on. They put it on them
Speaker 1: for you, I have to.
Speaker 3: I mean I made a promise. I saw them losing
Speaker 3: Columbus one time to Oregon and I was like, if
Speaker 3: they get back there to the Rose Bowl and play them,
Speaker 3: I'm going no matter what, there it is.
Speaker 4: Oh, it's a commitment, Yes, loyalty. You know, Ryan Day's
Speaker 4: the best coach in the NCAA.
Speaker 3: Right now, there you go. That's coming here for Columbus Ohio,
Speaker 3: pending results in the next couple of weeks. Let's let's
Speaker 3: hold off on that.
Speaker 6: The Seattle Seahawks six and a half point favorites across
Speaker 6: the street at SOFI Stadium, Steve against the Rams the
Speaker 6: over under thirty eight and a half. Kenny Albert, Jonathan Bilba,
Speaker 6: Megan o'levy on the call, where we've seen the variants
Speaker 6: of outcomes for the Rams, the Seahawks would like to
Speaker 6: have been in a better position here.
Speaker 3: Can they just come out and finish the season? Show?
Speaker 4: Well, Patrick, I want toss this back to you since
Speaker 4: you were talking about backups. You' viving there career in
Speaker 4: Jimmy g Jimmy Garoppolo. It's going to be throwing to
Speaker 4: Xavier Smith. Guys like that for the Rams.
Speaker 3: Jordan Wittington.
Speaker 1: Jordan Whittington shout out to Rams preseason game attending big
Speaker 1: early season.
Speaker 5: Right, Yeah, well it's it's the theme. Rest is the theme.
Speaker 6: Jimmy was dealing with a whole lot of stuff for
Speaker 6: the past few years, injury wise, coming in and out
Speaker 6: of games. We heard it from Saquan explaining his decision
Speaker 6: right where post playing.
Speaker 5: The game was like, no, I'm good. I just played
Speaker 5: a game at running right and then he went to sleep.
Speaker 5: He's like, oh, maybe I could do it.
Speaker 6: He ultimately listens to postgame Saquon, I think rest, Jimmy
Speaker 6: G is a factor here and the Seahawks win this game.
Speaker 6: But six and a half feels feels a bit rich
Speaker 6: for me considering that we get arrested James Richard Garoppolo,
Speaker 6: who multiple times this season I forgot was on this team.
Speaker 3: Same when they showed he was suspended to start.
Speaker 1: When they showed the Kyra and Williams Man of the
Speaker 1: Your video, which was really cool, Stephen Jackson came in
Speaker 1: for and Jimmy G's at the front with like a
Speaker 1: cool new haircut. I was like, wait, what's he doing
Speaker 1: there is the best of my guy, right, Like, I
Speaker 1: like your theory, and I'm gonna take your theory and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna raise you one. I think it's a tough matchup,
Speaker 1: but I think there's a higher percentage chance that Jimmy
Speaker 1: Garoppolo is starting games for this Rams team next year
Speaker 1: than then the public would.
Speaker 5: That's hotter than I thought you were gonna make that
Speaker 5: searing well.
Speaker 3: Just now higher. Now.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's likely. I'm just saying it's more likely.
Speaker 1: I think that people would think and that maybe he's
Speaker 1: part of their future as like a one B or
Speaker 1: whatever competition who knows if Stafford was.
Speaker 3: It gives them options and then contractually if they if Stafford,
Speaker 3: then one of the part ways there's a way to
Speaker 3: do it pretty think it out. Yeah, it's they're not
Speaker 3: strapped to him by any means because of money, So
Speaker 3: that makes sense. There's also the the idea we just
Speaker 3: saw it this past year. Sam Darnold played one game
Speaker 3: for the Niners last year, goes to the Vikings and
Speaker 3: now look at what he's done. If people like to copycat,
Speaker 3: then they would maybe do the same thing with Jimmy
Speaker 3: except he might not even have to change teams. So
Speaker 3: now I was not on board ninety seconds ago, and
Speaker 3: I'm completely sold I could be bought.
Speaker 2: He is turning thirty four next season, so.
Speaker 4: He played too many full seasons either, like sand Now,
Speaker 4: so I, uh, well, we'll continue this conversation at a difference.
Speaker 5: In a one game scenario. Though, Jimmy g wrestler Gino,
Speaker 5: you know he got that, he got that special offseason workout,
Speaker 5: which is why he was not playing the first Patrick.
Speaker 3: We got to put this one on greg No here.
Speaker 1: Well, we get a lot of back Some things play
Speaker 1: their backups and there's not like a crazy drop up.
Speaker 1: I feel like the Rams are a very star heavy,
Speaker 1: top heavy team where they're if they're resting their best
Speaker 1: players on both sides of the ball, then the backups,
Speaker 1: it might not be pretty, and the Seahawks team.
Speaker 3: Is pretty good.
Speaker 1: I think I would have maybe taken the Seahawks to
Speaker 1: win this game if the Rams were playing. So yeah,
Speaker 1: they lose on the fifth tiebreaker, but I don't think
Speaker 1: a seven season in this game is some massive disaplain.
Speaker 3: If they win this game, they've got ten wins, and.
Speaker 1: Their defense they got there's some proof of concept to me.
Speaker 1: For Mike McDonald as a head coach, you want to
Speaker 1: show what do you bring to the table, because I
Speaker 1: don't think every head coach brings something to the table.
Speaker 1: And I think the way I've seen this defense come
Speaker 1: together and kind of turn into the defense that he
Speaker 1: wants it to be, I see the proof of concept.
Speaker 2: So he's shown me something, that's all.
Speaker 5: And with another offseason to get more of his guys in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they'll be the key in.
Speaker 6: The second year. I mean they were having to do
Speaker 6: it with the trade deadline. They go salvage Ernest Jones,
Speaker 6: who's been great, rescue him.
Speaker 2: Pay him.
Speaker 3: They're gonna have to pay the man though, pay him.
Speaker 5: He's been great, a solid addition and will stay in
Speaker 5: that division. Because the San Francisco forty nine ers are
Speaker 5: at the Arizona Cardinals, who are favored before the over
Speaker 5: under forty two and a half Chris Myers, Mark Schlaier,
Speaker 5: Jen Hale, the Seahawks could have got some help from
Speaker 5: Trey mcbod's mc brad's face mask. A week ago, Greg
Speaker 5: now Kyler and company at home trying to finish the
Speaker 5: season strong against the forty nin ers team they would
Speaker 5: also like to finish the season strong, but they're both
Speaker 5: Sam Lucas bound.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a shame.
Speaker 1: It's a shame because that Rams game would have been
Speaker 1: a perfect Week eighteen game too. I feel like to
Speaker 1: figure out who's the thirteenth fourteen team instead, that's dead.
Speaker 2: This one's dead. Kyle's bad years. It's weird.
Speaker 1: He's made the conference title game four times in the
Speaker 1: other four seasons. The forty nine ers are twenty two
Speaker 1: and forty two, so when there they've gone bad, they
Speaker 1: haven't gone eight to nine or nine and eight. They
Speaker 1: haven't won more than six games. And I don't think
Speaker 1: they'll win this one because they think that, you know,
Speaker 1: you're probably playing Josh Dobbs here over brock Purdy and Kyler.
Speaker 1: I think they would love to finish out. I think
Speaker 1: an eighth win actually would mean something to them, and
Speaker 1: it should. They have improved since last time.
Speaker 3: I do like the Cardinals in this one for that
Speaker 3: reason as well, and it's also it would feel good
Speaker 3: for the Arizona Cardinals to go into the offseason with
Speaker 3: a solid performance against the Niners defense that's just not
Speaker 3: as good as it's been in past years. Now they
Speaker 3: got who fung it back relatively recently and he's been
Speaker 3: one handed one handed, yeah, and he's still made a difference.
Speaker 3: But like, the one thing I've wanted from the Cardinals
Speaker 3: is just consistency. I don't want you to be in
Speaker 3: third and long and you got to make Kyler go
Speaker 3: make a hero play, and they've struggled to find that
Speaker 3: in a lot of these games. They feel very much
Speaker 3: like their record, But it would feel a lot better
Speaker 3: going in the next season at eight to nine than
Speaker 3: seven and ten, even if it's only one game difference,
Speaker 3: because of the bright moments from the season and what
Speaker 3: you can build on after year two with Jonathan Gannon
Speaker 3: and plus the fan base.
Speaker 4: I think people who follow the Cardinals are you are
Speaker 4: tired of them tapering off on.
Speaker 3: The back half of the season.
Speaker 4: So if they were able to finish this game against
Speaker 4: the forty nine ers team again, they're going to be game.
Speaker 4: They're just beat up, right, they just don't boast on
Speaker 4: these guys. I don't think they're playing, so you know,
Speaker 4: we'll see. But Kyler, he's I think I think, frankly,
Speaker 4: for Kyler's sake, he needs to have a good game.
Speaker 3: He has looked so upset in the last few games,
Speaker 3: like just not like just dejected, like.
Speaker 1: Just what he wants it and he can't quite figure
Speaker 1: out how to get it done. And he keeps saying
Speaker 1: to reporters and of the broadcast because next year, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna run more. Now I want to start running more.
Speaker 1: And it got me thinking, like what is the issue
Speaker 1: with Kyler? And I just don't think he has as
Speaker 1: good of a feel for what he should do to
Speaker 1: make himself the best. That's some of the great quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: like a game manager essentially. I thought I always believe
Speaker 1: Jay Cutler could have had a great career. I think
Speaker 1: he was bad at this. I don't think he knew
Speaker 1: what he needed to do in certain situations to bring
Speaker 1: out the best in himself and his team. I think
Speaker 1: there might be like a little bit of Kyler with that,
Speaker 1: where he's always trying to self correct what mistake he
Speaker 1: made in the past. Like he's obviously a good player,
Speaker 1: but he's always like I'm pushing hard in that direction.
Speaker 2: Now I'm gonna try to do this. Now I'm gonna
Speaker 2: che that.
Speaker 1: And maybe he doesn't have like this natural feel that
Speaker 1: the great somehow have of like when to push. It's
Speaker 1: hard to put words to it. But does that make
Speaker 1: sense to you?
Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you know what are we saying about
Speaker 3: Jad and Daniels.
Speaker 4: He's decisive, right, he knows when to run and we're
Speaker 4: we're especially seeing it down the stretch here, he's taking
Speaker 4: the ball and going with it.
Speaker 1: Jane's a great example of someone who I feel like
Speaker 1: has a great feel of what to do at different points.
Speaker 4: Well again, and he's not gonna wait for the free
Speaker 4: rusher and Cliff Kingsbury scheme to get to him, make
Speaker 4: that move before he gets there.
Speaker 3: Where's Kyler?
Speaker 4: I think he's like, Okay, I'm gonna show I'm a
Speaker 4: sure guy who can play from the pocket. Well that's
Speaker 4: not working, so let me run. He's been through a
Speaker 4: couple of different things. He's had such a mashup of
Speaker 4: a roster, Like they still have not had an offensive
Speaker 4: identity with him there and the first couple of years
Speaker 4: of Cliff I think they did, but they just don't.
Speaker 4: They still haven't had it yet. Is that on him?
Speaker 4: Is that on just you know, the roster around him?
Speaker 4: Is that on the coaching staff? I think that's something
Speaker 4: that kind of leads to him being into something I'm.
Speaker 2: Looking forward to him next year and another year in
Speaker 2: this offense.
Speaker 3: I think there's a lot of promise here.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the consistent thing has been inconsistency, yes, throughout his
Speaker 5: tenure in Arizona, and so that that would be my
Speaker 5: hope would be to see like a cohesive unit coming back.
Speaker 5: We'll know more about the search bar on defensive side
Speaker 5: at the game, and they won't be the search bar anymore.
Speaker 5: We'll know these guys, some of them playing really good
Speaker 5: football in their first year in the NFL, and the
Speaker 5: offense gets another opportunity to add some talent and we
Speaker 5: can see and not be reaction and overcorrection to everything
Speaker 5: that goes wrong as a season.
Speaker 3: And I think a lot of that starts just at
Speaker 3: the ground level, taking what the defense gives you, and
Speaker 3: I think he tries to go too much in one
Speaker 3: direction to the other, and that could be the first
Speaker 3: step forward to fitting in within this scheme and how
Speaker 3: they accentuated strengths going forward the entire season.
Speaker 5: The entire Week eighteen NFL schedule leads to one thing.
Speaker 3: Let's get it.
Speaker 5: It is a game for the number one seed in
Speaker 5: the NFC between the Minnesota Vikings, and Sam Darnold and
Speaker 5: Jared Golf and the Detroit Lions were at home, favored
Speaker 5: by two and a half the Overarmers fifty six and
Speaker 5: a half. Since sight s Rico Chris collins Worth Melissa
Speaker 5: Stark on Sunday Night Football, this is this is this
Speaker 5: is why we do this, Shook.
Speaker 3: This is actually the first matchup in NFL history between
Speaker 3: team two teams with fourteen wins twenty eight combined wins,
Speaker 3: highest ever previous high twenty five. So you want to
Speaker 3: talk about importance, it's not for the division title or
Speaker 3: the NFC's top seed. It's also arguably, at least statistically,
Speaker 3: the most important regular season game in NFL history.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, look, I love this is so tough
Speaker 4: to call, but I like Detroit because it's at home.
Speaker 4: I think the atmosphere is going to be insane because
Speaker 4: we know what thetoy has been through organizationally, but knowing
Speaker 4: that the playoffs could come through the Motor City I
Speaker 4: think means a lot. I like the way Dan Campbell
Speaker 4: went to that game again San Francisco, saying, understand what
Speaker 4: we're about now. You talk about the standard being the standard,
Speaker 4: this is the standard, yep. And you know, they had
Speaker 4: a tight game with the Vikings earlier in the season Minnesota.
Speaker 4: The way it's playing now is frightening, with Jordan natisony
Speaker 4: Mercy the way he is, Hockinson being a much much
Speaker 4: more integral part of the offense. The two and a
Speaker 4: half seems good because I think this is going to
Speaker 4: be a great game. And the way that the Vikings
Speaker 4: generate takeaways, we cannot underestimate that, whether it be the
Speaker 4: strip sack, fumbles, force off of the run pressures that
Speaker 4: they generate, and the interceptions. I think that's going to
Speaker 4: be the fact that if the Vikings generated takeaway or two,
Speaker 4: they win if the Lions are able to protect the ball,
Speaker 4: which they've done a good job of. By the way,
Speaker 4: can we talk about how amazing Jimir Gibbs looks now
Speaker 4: that he's the Belle Kyle Yeah, oh my god.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: I got a little nervous in that game though. There
Speaker 3: was one run to the side of the where I
Speaker 3: was like, oh, go down, healthy please.
Speaker 1: I think I think he's huge for them in this game.
Speaker 1: That I do think there is a way that they're
Speaker 1: great players just have to be greater than the Vikings
Speaker 1: great players like they need Gibbs to be special in
Speaker 1: a way that Aaron Jones is great but is not
Speaker 1: as special as Jamir gets. And they need their offense
Speaker 1: who is averaging I just did some scratch math here
Speaker 1: thirty seven and a half points per game the last month.
Speaker 1: So I was like, how do you get an over
Speaker 1: under a fifty six? We have one team that's averaging
Speaker 1: thirty eight points a game, So as their defense has collapsed,
Speaker 1: they've needed to keep scoring, and they've done it against
Speaker 1: decent defenses like the Packers and the Bills and the
Speaker 1: forty nine ers, Bears like those are. It's not like
Speaker 1: they're sieves and they just need that greatness to be better.
Speaker 1: I'm almost surprised their favorite because to me, they feel
Speaker 1: like the underdogs now feel I guess so they feel
Speaker 1: like the underdogs, like the Vikings have clearly been better,
Speaker 1: I think late in the season than the Lions, and
Speaker 1: yet there is something intangible here that I just believe
Speaker 1: in with the Lions that's like more than football. It's
Speaker 1: this journey that they've been on and it's them overcoming
Speaker 1: a lot in different scenarios and it's just like I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm on Dan Campbell's team and I have
Speaker 1: to believe in them because of that, although the Vikings
Speaker 1: have all of that too, except maybe better players.
Speaker 3: Overall, it's crazy.
Speaker 5: In terms of watching what the issue has been. And
Speaker 5: I know Sam Donald has come through.
Speaker 6: That's why I picked them last week to beat the
Speaker 6: Green Bay Packers, but they were still late in the
Speaker 6: game watching Sam Donald sail some throws through the interception
Speaker 6: that ultimately led to the Packers having a chance. That
Speaker 6: was their first time down in the game. Where the
Speaker 6: problem for Jared Golf has really been the defense that's
Speaker 6: been it. Golf has been so lights out that despite
Speaker 6: how good Sam Darnold is playing, he's not playing Jared Golf.
Speaker 5: No football is anybody though, and that's Joey Burrow.
Speaker 1: Joey Burrows, Joe Burrow, Lamar Alan, Yes, but that's the
Speaker 1: that's the company he's keeping. When people have been saying
Speaker 1: Donald should get MVP votes, I'm like, no, it should
Speaker 1: be Jared Golf.
Speaker 3: He's been in the top five of my QB Index
Speaker 3: all year.
Speaker 6: And so like you, you're missing high against the Green
Speaker 6: Bay Packers. And I know Xavier McKinney has been solid
Speaker 6: and we will talk about you know the Pro Bowl
Speaker 6: and the snubs, Kirby.
Speaker 5: Joseph's leading the NFL and intercept.
Speaker 3: Right now, crazy, it got to so good.
Speaker 6: And I know Dan Campbell's like, we're gonna try, we're
Speaker 6: gonna play, We're playing all our starters. When Kirby Joseph
Speaker 6: ha got that pick and he's running it back, I'm
Speaker 6: like slide. Like of all the issues that they've had
Speaker 6: injury wise, on defense, he and Brian Branch have been special.
Speaker 6: And I don't think Donald can afford to make just
Speaker 6: one mistake here because all they need is one stop.
Speaker 3: And here's the inside story.
Speaker 4: When I was at Lion's training camp this year, they're
Speaker 4: talking about man Jamison Williams is really matured. You're going
Speaker 4: to see this guy over the course of the season
Speaker 4: blossom who has really blown up Jamison Williams. The reason
Speaker 4: why they say he's matured was Teddy Bridgewater's presence on
Speaker 4: their roster last year. Well, guess who's back on their
Speaker 4: roster now the past few weeks. Is going to be
Speaker 4: there for as long as the're posting And.
Speaker 2: Who just had his best game of the season, Williams.
Speaker 4: I mean, I'm telling you, they say something about the
Speaker 4: way that Teddy can connect to the young man who's
Speaker 4: gone through an awful lot in the early parts of
Speaker 4: his career. That's something to keep an eye on. Really
Speaker 4: starting to feel a little bit better. So there's a
Speaker 4: little inside intel.
Speaker 3: I like that, And you know what, I think it
Speaker 3: just bolsters their strength already in this game specifically, and
Speaker 3: I think we saw a little bit when they played
Speaker 3: at San Francisco last week. They got the turnovers they needed,
Speaker 3: which you just talked about. But what if they don't.
Speaker 3: What if they don't. If they don't, we're looking at
Speaker 3: a shootout because they have to put up these points
Speaker 3: just to win these games. Because they know they can't
Speaker 3: lean on that defense.
Speaker 1: They just stick with that scheme, like you don't know
Speaker 1: what Brian Flores is going to do in this game,
Speaker 1: and that's a big time advantage. In the first matchup,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Garnard got after Taylor's that got after he actually
Speaker 1: dominated that matchup. Van Ginkel and Gernard both made the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl team, which is pretty cool.
Speaker 2: Great great job by quesci this often.
Speaker 3: How about that.
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
Speaker 1: They could have Alex Azeloni back on Detroit's side. Adam
Speaker 1: Schefter reported it was a realistic chance that he will
Speaker 1: be back. I think that's really important because I think
Speaker 1: for all the problems they've had, you know, on the
Speaker 1: defensive line, they've got a lot of those guys back
Speaker 1: where teams like the forty nine ers are picking on them.
Speaker 1: It's the middle of the field. Donald's great there. The
Speaker 1: Vikings have so much talent there. They actually were very
Speaker 1: good the first matchup there. So Angeloni would give them
Speaker 1: a big upgrade from the types of guys that they've
Speaker 1: had out there.
Speaker 4: And the communication, because the line's because of all their
Speaker 4: energies played just a ton of own. Oh yeah, it's
Speaker 4: a ton of own. I mean, so teams just pick
Speaker 4: them apart. The communication Angeloni could give them would be huge.
Speaker 1: You really just gonna keep blitzing them like crazy. Donald's
Speaker 1: I don't think so. Donald's so good at holding the
Speaker 1: ball forever. There was a stat from next Gen that
Speaker 1: him and Herbert hold the ball the longest for guys
Speaker 1: that don't scramble like they don't. They hold the ball
Speaker 1: and they throw it and they're extremely efficient, which is
Speaker 1: a tough way to live. It means you're inviting getting
Speaker 1: hit a lot. And those two guys have been hit
Speaker 1: quite a bit.
Speaker 3: To his credit though, when he's under pressure, when rush great,
Speaker 3: it's been great, very sharp.
Speaker 6: And he's allowing those very very good receivers gense right
Speaker 6: be covered for longer.
Speaker 1: Wait, so we're all leaning Lions. This doesn't feel haven't
Speaker 1: we learned anything?
Speaker 4: No, I'm I'm kind of leaning vik Okay, I'm notat
Speaker 4: Lions because of the home I think I love that
Speaker 4: huge here.
Speaker 3: I think I think that the emotional part that you
Speaker 3: described was last year's Lions, and I think it's more
Speaker 3: about we got to get home field advantage to ensure
Speaker 3: that we don't find ourselves in the situation we were
Speaker 3: in Santa Clair a lot.
Speaker 4: But they're undefeated on the road. That's the one thing
Speaker 4: I love about the Lions. If they have to go
Speaker 4: to Philly, they can play outdoors and back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, I ash If whoever loses this game, this story,
Speaker 1: I can easily imagine Gin in three weeks time before
Speaker 1: the NFC Championship, the narratives going into that game like
Speaker 1: they lost that Week eighteen game, but they knew what
Speaker 1: their season wasn't over and they went on the road
Speaker 1: and won two games. And credit to both these teams.
Speaker 1: You can imagine either one of them doing it and
Speaker 1: getting back to either a rematch or the NFC Championship.
Speaker 5: Very very within the realm of possibilities for teams cra historic.
Speaker 3: That is uh, that's it, guys. We did it for
Speaker 3: Across Dick in the House T shirt was great. Well done.
Speaker 5: Shout out to Ryan Day for making this possible.
Speaker 3: You know, thank you.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm happy that you were able to spend the
Speaker 1: holidays with your large family, yes, a lot of siblings,
Speaker 1: and that you were able to go back to Cleveland.
Speaker 3: But we do miss you here.
Speaker 2: And yeah, you know, I remember when you were when
Speaker 2: you were in the newsroom with us every day.
Speaker 3: It was fun. Yeah, but you know, we moved here
Speaker 3: right when I moved to Cleveland. I don't even get
Speaker 3: to hang out in these nice digs, but it's always
Speaker 3: great to walk in and see familiar phases, just like
Speaker 3: you guys.
Speaker 2: Well, I'll I'll see you soon on your little box.
Speaker 3: Yep, I'll be back in the box. Everybody my oversized head,
Speaker 3: let's get out of here.
Speaker 2: Appreciate you guys. We will be back on Friday.
Speaker 1: Cynthia and I making our weekly picks we'll keep that
Speaker 1: going through the regular season. And then, yes, we got
Speaker 1: QB Island returning, we got the the recap.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when can't wait to see what you have in
Speaker 3: store for us?
Speaker 2: When we got
Speaker 1: Sixteen regular season games left, you know football is finally
Speaker 1: back