Speaker 1: Week fifteen is upon us, and it kicks off with
Speaker 1: a good one tonight in Santa Clara Brock Purdy, Matthew Stafford,
Speaker 1: Omar Rawiz. All three of them will be at Levi's Stadium,
Speaker 1: and one of them will join us momentarily from the field.
Speaker 1: Can you guess which? Okay, it's Omar. The race for
Speaker 1: the AFC's number one seed is not over just yet,
Speaker 1: but the Steelers and Bills would need some help to
Speaker 1: overtake Patrick Mahomes and the chiefs Our Guy Baldy gonna
Speaker 1: be here to help break down the chances that the
Speaker 1: road to New Orleans will not go through Kansas City.
Speaker 1: There was a time not that long ago that the
Speaker 1: road used to go through Foxborough. Now Bill Belichick taking
Speaker 1: the Painterotway to Tobacco Road. Belichick introduced today as head
Speaker 1: coach at North Carolina. Here from Bill himself on his
Speaker 1: plans to build a winner at the college level. It
Speaker 1: starts with thirty percent for smiling. Welcome inside with the
Speaker 1: insiders alongside Ian Rappaport and Mike Garifolo. I am Tom Pellicero.
Speaker 1: Today is a momentous day because we are fifty nine
Speaker 1: days from Super Bowl fifty nine. There are still ten
Speaker 1: playoff spots up for grabs at this point, and one
Speaker 1: of them maybe more, but perhaps one of them could
Speaker 1: go to one of the teams we are seeing squaring
Speaker 1: off tonight. It is Matthew Stafford, it is brock Perdy,
Speaker 1: it is TNF on Prime video, an important NFC West
Speaker 1: matchup in a playoff picture that in a lot of
Speaker 1: different ways, remains muddle. Now. There's still a path for
Speaker 1: them to get in multiple ways, especially with the Commanders
Speaker 1: there at eight and five in the wild card race.
Speaker 1: But the most likely path is one of these teams,
Speaker 1: the Rams or the forty nine ers being able to
Speaker 1: make a push on the Seahawks, who at this point
Speaker 1: have created a little bit of distance for themselves. From
Speaker 1: more on this game. We head out to Levi's Stadium
Speaker 1: and our guy Omar Ruiz, who is there. He's looking dapper.
Speaker 1: Set the scene for us here, Omark.
Speaker 2: Well, it's a little cloud cover here, tom rain is
Speaker 2: in the forecast at Rained overnight. They removed the tarps
Speaker 2: about a couple hours ago. Here at Levi's Stadium. Ninety
Speaker 2: percent chance of rain in six o'clock hour, which is
Speaker 2: right around when the second quarter would begin, so something
Speaker 2: to keep an eye on for tonight.
Speaker 3: Both these teams played a thriller in Week three.
Speaker 2: The Rams are racing a double digit fourth quarter deficit
Speaker 2: to pull that one out. No George Kittle, no Deebo Samuel,
Speaker 2: no Cooper Cup, no Puka Nakua.
Speaker 3: In that game.
Speaker 2: So both teams expecting a much different game this time around,
Speaker 2: and both teams knowing that they're already in playoff mode.
Speaker 3: Essentially, as you alluded.
Speaker 2: To, Tom by taking a look at those standings, this
Speaker 2: is a playoff elimination game. The forty nine ers have
Speaker 2: activated Drake green Law, who in many respects has been
Speaker 2: a heart and soul piece of their defense. They're looking
Speaker 2: for the desperation style that he plays with to impact
Speaker 2: their defense tonight, just like talanoa who fun does return
Speaker 2: last week against the Bears.
Speaker 3: Really catalysts for their great play should be a.
Speaker 2: Huge one tonight here Tom on Thursday Night Football.
Speaker 1: Good stef Omar and good coordination as well with these
Speaker 1: sound guys who turned on that rock music ten seconds
Speaker 1: after you started talking. It never fails more from you
Speaker 1: on this game and much more. In a little bit,
Speaker 1: Bill Belichick won a whole lot of NFL football games
Speaker 1: in his day, more than almost any coach in NFL history.
Speaker 1: Now he's looking for his first win at the college level,
Speaker 1: officially showing up today as the head football coach at
Speaker 1: the University of North Carolina, a place where he's got
Speaker 1: a lot of history.
Speaker 4: You know, when you're little, you don't remember everything. Obviously,
Speaker 4: I was too young to remember a lot of things
Speaker 4: from Carolina. But as I grew up, you know, you
Speaker 4: hear the same story over and over and over, oh again,
Speaker 4: And so one story I always heard was Billy's first
Speaker 4: words were beat duke.
Speaker 1: But what do you say to people that fear that
Speaker 1: if you do succeed here that you might leave for
Speaker 1: the NFL again in a year or two.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't come here to leave.
Speaker 1: Bill's looking downright, chipper. While addressing reporters earlier today, he
Speaker 1: did get a look at the athletic director's suit with
Speaker 1: the cutoff sleeves. A nice touch, though very weird to
Speaker 1: look at when you're watching it in a press conference setting.
Speaker 1: And you watched this pressure earlier today, what are you
Speaker 1: your takeaways on the breaking news from yesterday? Bill is
Speaker 1: now there. He is officially head coach of the targets.
Speaker 3: No, I was trying.
Speaker 5: I was watching the press comments you said, and I'm
Speaker 5: trying to figure out in my head, like, why won't
Speaker 5: this work right, Because ever since we've been talking about
Speaker 5: this for basically the last two weeks, in my head,
Speaker 5: it's always been like Bill's probably gonna get it, He's
Speaker 5: probably gonna take it, and he's probably gonna win. And
Speaker 5: listening to him today I actually felt more convinceding that
Speaker 5: than otherwise. Yes, I know the college game is foreign,
Speaker 5: and obviously there are some differences, but the college game
Speaker 5: right now is more similar to the NFL than it
Speaker 5: has ever been from the rules perspective, and he mentioned
Speaker 5: it talking to college coaches about what's it like with
Speaker 5: the two minute warning and other rules that are now
Speaker 5: similar to the NFL. You know, Belichick worked They obviously
Speaker 5: had a you know, personnel department in New England and
Speaker 5: all that, but he worked with agents directly. He would
Speaker 5: negotiate famously deals with Drew Rosenhaus and others, you know,
Speaker 5: face to face, or he would be the one doing it.
Speaker 5: He knows agents well, that agents are now very much
Speaker 5: a part of the college game. That is something he
Speaker 5: is going to be incredibly well versed in he has
Speaker 5: been in the media for the last year or so.
Speaker 5: And you know, I'm never gonna say that he's relaxed
Speaker 5: and chill, But that was relaxed and chill as we
Speaker 5: have ever really seen Bill Belichick. It seems a little
Speaker 5: bit like he's been refreshed. And a lot of his friends,
Speaker 5: a lot of his really good buddies, from Nick Saban,
Speaker 5: the Kirk Farrens to Greg Chano, have won.
Speaker 3: A lot in the college game.
Speaker 5: He has spent a ton of time talking to them
Speaker 5: over the last several weeks and months. He looks more
Speaker 5: poison ever to go out and win. The fact Mike
Speaker 5: that it's in college is different, but shouldn't really affect
Speaker 5: the overall product that much.
Speaker 6: I don't think he was so relaxed ian that we
Speaker 6: almost for the first time in history, got bulletin board
Speaker 6: material from a Bill Belichick press conference. He said he
Speaker 6: used to want to go to North Carolina for scouting trips,
Speaker 6: and you would send your assistance to and he caught
Speaker 6: himself and said somewhere else, Like at that point he
Speaker 6: should have just said duke.
Speaker 7: If he had said duke, like, nobody would have been like, Oh,
Speaker 7: I can't believe he said that's the rivalry.
Speaker 6: He would have been fine at that point, but he
Speaker 6: had another place that might I'm curious as to what
Speaker 6: that would have been.
Speaker 7: Clemson.
Speaker 6: Perhaps we shall see, But you know, Belichick, and what
Speaker 6: he said is what we've been talking about the last
Speaker 6: couple of days with regard to how he sees the
Speaker 6: NFL game and the college game being a lot similar
Speaker 6: or a lot more similar than they've ever been, and
Speaker 6: it's not just nil. And also the fact that you've
Speaker 6: got he keeps saying salary cap. It's not really a
Speaker 6: salary cap because there is no cap in college. But
Speaker 6: you have a budget and you have to work within
Speaker 6: that budget, whatever that budget winds up being. And that
Speaker 6: budget was a big part of the discussions the last
Speaker 6: couple of days because he needs the money to be
Speaker 6: able to compete with some of the upper echelon programs,
Speaker 6: which at this point North Carolina football is not. The
Speaker 6: goal is for him to take it there. But also
Speaker 6: he talked about how college came to him this time around.
Speaker 6: Wasn't like he was seeking a college job. He would
Speaker 6: hear from college coaches because there were so many rules
Speaker 6: changes recently that were NFL likes, such as the two
Speaker 6: minute warning, the headsets in the player's helmet. So he
Speaker 6: was getting calls about that stuff, and he realized there's
Speaker 6: a lot of overlaps. So he felt comfortable and believes
Speaker 6: that North Carolina is going to be the opportunity for
Speaker 6: him to be successful at that level.
Speaker 7: He's all in.
Speaker 1: There have been a lot of comparisons, including for me
Speaker 1: and yesterday to Dion Sanders going to Colorado, and when
Speaker 1: you have a name like that, suddenly people might want
Speaker 1: to go and play, especially if you're building a team
Speaker 1: like Bill Belichick seems to intend to, which is a
Speaker 1: lot of it through the transfer portal, which is basically
Speaker 1: a free agency. Let's remember though Dion and Colorado went
Speaker 1: four and eight in year one, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: work that goes into building that program. So we'll see
Speaker 1: how quickly they can get it off the ground. Belichick
Speaker 1: once lost a Super Bowl to the Philadelphia Eagles, who
Speaker 1: still have a coach at Nick Sirianni who is very
Speaker 1: much in the NFL right now, and they got a
Speaker 1: big game coming up this weekend, one that well, it's
Speaker 1: been overshadowed to a certain degree by comments made earlier
Speaker 1: this week by Brandon Graham, the longtime veteran defensive end
Speaker 1: who is on injured reserve, talking about the relationship between
Speaker 1: AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts, saying maybe they're not friends anymore. Jalen,
Speaker 1: your thoughts on all that.
Speaker 8: I'm think any En Brandon BG calling him Brandon BG
Speaker 8: knows he's he spoke out of place and he knows that.
Speaker 9: So was your reaction when I'm sure your phone started
Speaker 9: blowing up when that was going around.
Speaker 7: What was your reaction to it?
Speaker 8: I mean, I'm I mean, it's just about the team
Speaker 8: in the end, I think overall that's that's that's where
Speaker 8: my focus is. I think that's what everyone's focuses at
Speaker 8: heart and trying to do what's best for the team.
Speaker 8: And I'm ultimately everyone cares about the team's success, and
Speaker 8: so you know, whenever, whenever something happens and whatever it is,
Speaker 8: I look at myself first, you know, because everything starts
Speaker 8: and ends with me, and I take great pride in
Speaker 8: what I do. I take great pride and the responsibilities
Speaker 8: that I have when I am to the city and
Speaker 8: to this team, and my challenge myself.
Speaker 1: On that, Mike, this all started when A. J. Brown
Speaker 1: said last week basically that the passing game needed to improve.
Speaker 1: They're obviously one of the top running teams. Sakuon Barkley's
Speaker 1: an MVP candidate at this point. But to have this
Speaker 1: type of conversation going back and forth throughout the course
Speaker 1: week before you play a big game against the Steelers,
Speaker 1: what b how big of a deal? If any have
Speaker 1: you gotten the sense this is in the building.
Speaker 6: We're on day three of this story, and it started
Speaker 6: out with is there a riff between Jalen Hurts and
Speaker 6: AJ Brown? Of course, everybody downplayed and said, no, it's
Speaker 6: not that, And the passing game was not just about Jalen.
Speaker 6: It was about the entire passing game. Everybody needs to be.
Speaker 7: Better in that regard.
Speaker 6: The longer this has gone on, I'm less concerned with
Speaker 6: that stuff, and I'm more thinking back to when we
Speaker 6: sat on the field Super Bowl Sunday this past year
Speaker 6: in Las Vegas. The Eagles were not playing, but Jalen
Speaker 6: Hurst was one of the topics that we discussed on
Speaker 6: the game on game day that day, and we talked
Speaker 6: about how the team wanted him to be more of
Speaker 6: a forward facing leader. And this is a great opportunity
Speaker 6: for that because you've got one of the leaders of
Speaker 6: the core that helped win that Super Bowl and for
Speaker 6: the last decade with the Eagles in Brandon Graham overstepping
Speaker 6: stepping out of line. Well, now it's your chance as
Speaker 6: a quarterback to get this thing back in line and
Speaker 6: to build that credibility inside that locker room. I would
Speaker 6: expect Aj Brown to get fed plenty this weekend, like
Speaker 6: plenty last time this happened. He had four catches for
Speaker 6: twenty nine yards when he was upset on the sideline.
Speaker 6: I think was nine for one thirty one the next week.
Speaker 6: I expect that. And if all goes well, Jayalen Hurts
Speaker 6: can sit up their postgame and realize that he did
Speaker 6: everything he needed to do to get this thing back
Speaker 6: on track and that his teammates saw that.
Speaker 5: In Yeah, and if I was still alive in fantasy,
Speaker 5: I would say this was a great This would be
Speaker 5: a great time to have Aj Brown in fantasy. Obviously
Speaker 5: I'm not, but you're right.
Speaker 3: I would expect a focus.
Speaker 5: On the passing game, which is I assume means get
Speaker 5: Aj Brown the.
Speaker 3: Ball just a little bit more.
Speaker 5: But I want to go back to what you mentioned
Speaker 5: about Jalen Hurts being front center here being a leader.
Speaker 5: You know, this has been a COmON for the last
Speaker 5: three days and I think a lot of people were
Speaker 5: wondering what was Jalen Hurts going to do with this,
Speaker 5: how was he going to take it? And so it's like,
Speaker 5: all right, what's your reaction when this happened? You know,
Speaker 5: how much was your phone blowing up? How much did
Speaker 5: everyone talk to you? What are the questions like? And
Speaker 5: you could see Jalen Hurts very cleanly, very cryptically cut
Speaker 5: it off. He did not answer the question, said it's
Speaker 5: about the team. We are trying to get the team better. Ultimately,
Speaker 5: that's what it's about. And whether that's true or not.
Speaker 5: And obviously he did get reaction, he's not going to
Speaker 5: address it. But this is the way a leader goes.
Speaker 5: You know what, I am redirecting this conversation to improving
Speaker 5: as a team. And you know that's so much of
Speaker 5: what the quarterback's job is. It's to help the locker
Speaker 5: room focus where it needs to be. H This was
Speaker 5: a good example of Jalen Hurts as a leader in
Speaker 5: r and I would expect pretty good performance from him
Speaker 5: on Sunday in relation to the passing.
Speaker 1: Game Eagles Steelers in the four to twenty five pm
Speaker 1: Eastern time window, same time for the kickoff of the
Speaker 1: Bucks and the chart who were excuse me, what wow?
Speaker 1: The Bucks and the Chargers, who certainly need a wind
Speaker 1: coming off of last week. Thanks everybody, I just became
Speaker 1: a man. Justin Herbert dealing with an ankle injury, also
Speaker 1: had a quad injury on the hit that he took
Speaker 1: last week. Ian He downplayed it when he talked to reporters,
Speaker 1: but certainly he's dealing with something there.
Speaker 5: First of all, congratulations Tom and the Boyscrack.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much waiting for it lone.
Speaker 5: So first of all, they should put Charlie Horse on
Speaker 5: the injury report.
Speaker 3: It would make us all.
Speaker 5: It would just be a little more specific. That looked
Speaker 5: like a bad one and I'm sure that it hurt
Speaker 5: a lot. So Justin Herbert was back at practice today
Speaker 5: for the Chargers, spotted on the field by local reporters.
Speaker 3: That's a good sign.
Speaker 5: He also joked early in the week that you know,
Speaker 5: he had one ankle injured at the high ankle sprain
Speaker 5: that we really, I would say covered extensively here on
Speaker 5: the Insiders as he mentioned now it's the other ankle,
Speaker 5: so he's got both covered. I would expect Justin Herbert
Speaker 5: to go out there and play, and I think there's
Speaker 5: one thing we learned early in the year that he
Speaker 5: can be as hobbled as he was. He can glimp
Speaker 5: around the facility as reporters spotted him doing and all that.
Speaker 5: When it is time to get out on the field,
Speaker 5: there's not a lot that could stop him. There's not
Speaker 5: a lot that can knock him away from being the
Speaker 5: quarterback that he is. It's an important game. They're all
Speaker 5: important for one of the NFL's really good teams, for
Speaker 5: a team that's marches to the playoffs. I expect Herbert
Speaker 5: to be out there and if history is any indicator,
Speaker 5: probably look pretty normal.
Speaker 1: In more serious news, there was another robbery of an
Speaker 1: NFL player during a game on Monday Night. It was
Speaker 1: Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow whose home was broken into during
Speaker 1: Monday night football in Dallas, the latest home invasion of
Speaker 1: a pro athlete's home. Nobody injured in the break in,
Speaker 1: but the home was ransacked, according to a report provided
Speaker 1: by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. The NFL issued a
Speaker 1: security alert recently after several similar robberies, including of Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes and Travis Kelcey. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed on
Speaker 1: Wednesday the FBI is involved the league in the players union,
Speaker 1: encouraging all players to take as many precautions as possible,
Speaker 1: especially on game days. Twenty twenty five NFL Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: games presented by Verizon are back and the roster is
Speaker 1: up to you. But a tough season for the Browns,
Speaker 1: but they still got some top individual players. You can
Speaker 1: go to Pro Bowl dot com slash vote to cast yours.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Browns, one of their for an office executives,
Speaker 1: Katherine Hickman, was a participant in the Front Office Accelerator
Speaker 1: over the past several days in Dallas. She joined ian.
Speaker 3: Kat, you have been coming to the accelerator for years.
Speaker 5: Take me through some of the benefits of this accelerator
Speaker 5: program that the NFL puts on.
Speaker 10: I mean, it's a great program and there's a few
Speaker 10: of them. One the networking opportunities you get with the
Speaker 10: other participants, your peers across other teams, to the opportunities
Speaker 10: you get in front of ownership and you know, team
Speaker 10: team executives. And then really a third piece is the program.
Speaker 10: The program in itself.
Speaker 11: There's a ton of research that goes into this.
Speaker 10: Blinda and her team really trying to find sessions that
Speaker 10: are going to help us professionally develop.
Speaker 11: So I think those three things are the keys.
Speaker 5: You contribute for the Browns, And really all facets have
Speaker 5: a lot of high level conversations. Give me a specific
Speaker 5: example of your experience that kind of separates you as
Speaker 5: a candidate.
Speaker 10: I think it's the proximity that I get to decision
Speaker 10: making and how I can contribute to those And that's
Speaker 10: really a credit to Andrew Andrew Barry and how invested
Speaker 10: he is in developing his staff and giving us those exposure,
Speaker 10: those situations where we get to have a seat at
Speaker 10: the table and actually contribute to some things that you know,
Speaker 10: other people may not get exposed to until they actually
Speaker 10: get the job. So that's been really beneficial.
Speaker 5: Interesting, and you know, for you, you again contribute in
Speaker 5: a lot of different ways. Take me through how much
Speaker 5: of your job is scouting, Like how much of your
Speaker 5: day for instance?
Speaker 11: Does that make up great question?
Speaker 10: It's actually one of the parts that I enjoy the most.
Speaker 10: I was just working with something with Andrew laughtering was
Speaker 10: like can I go back to watch college? Like, That's
Speaker 10: really what I want to do right now. It's a
Speaker 10: big part of what I do because I'm so involved
Speaker 10: in player acquisition, strategy and roster building. But I think
Speaker 10: the beauty of my role is also all the other
Speaker 10: verticals that I touch.
Speaker 11: I oversee over fifty.
Speaker 10: People within our organization on the football operation sides, and
Speaker 10: again work very closely with Andrew on strategy and planning.
Speaker 10: So the well rounded, I think element of my role
Speaker 10: is really what I enjoy a lot.
Speaker 5: And this is not as fun as subject. But obviously
Speaker 5: it's been a tougher year for the Browns, tougher than
Speaker 5: I think a lot of people imagined. What are some
Speaker 5: lessons you've learned from this year in Cleveland?
Speaker 11: I think some of the processes we've built and.
Speaker 10: Doubling down on those processes and knowing that, of course,
Speaker 10: in every year, you want great outcomes, that's just what
Speaker 10: we all here to win.
Speaker 11: We all want to win. Now.
Speaker 10: I do think some of the things we're establishing are
Speaker 10: going to be sustainable and they are going to create
Speaker 10: long term results in in sustainable winning results. So I
Speaker 10: think That's one of the learning is like, Okay, how
Speaker 10: can we continue to build on those, invest in those
Speaker 10: in making sure that we tweak them along the ways
Speaker 10: and not get to you know, driven or sidetracked sometimes
Speaker 10: by outcomes that can be really difficult, like this is
Speaker 10: National Football League, Like they will be tougher years. So
Speaker 10: staying through to that I think has been in learning.
Speaker 3: Got thank you.
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson and George Pickens. Friends. Maybe Brandon Graham can
Speaker 1: shed some light on that as well. Will we do know?
Speaker 1: Steelers Eagles to monster game for both teams on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Sarah Walls Brian Baldly are going to be to break
Speaker 1: it down right after this Sunny Insiders.
Speaker 7: The Battle of Pennsylvania.
Speaker 6: Yeah, seventy six West takes you to Pittsburgh East. Well,
Speaker 6: depending on where you are, I guess, and just don't
Speaker 6: go at certain times.
Speaker 7: Baldy's listening right now.
Speaker 6: He knows what I'm talking about, because seventy six Siest
Speaker 6: just can be jammed up.
Speaker 7: It's a terrible expressway.
Speaker 6: Anyway, here are your clinching scenarios for the Eagles and
Speaker 6: the Steelers. Steelers can get in the postseason, Eagles can
Speaker 6: seal up that NFC East here before Christmas with a
Speaker 6: win and a Washington loss. Sarah Walsh will be flying in.
Speaker 6: She won't be driving in for this game in Philadelphia.
Speaker 6: Brian Baldinger, will you be there as well? I don't
Speaker 6: know if you'll be there, but you're always there because
Speaker 6: you always got one eye on the Eagles, an eagle
Speaker 6: eye on the Eagles, Sarah Jalen hurts today. J Brown
Speaker 6: can only hope to have the kind of working camaraderie
Speaker 6: that like I have with you and us with Baldy
Speaker 6: as well, and not say like somebody like I don't know,
Speaker 6: wrap up, But the Eagles have to play this game nonetheless,
Speaker 6: and they got to get this passing game going.
Speaker 7: AJ Brown said it after the game on Sunday. That
Speaker 7: led to a whole bunch of stuff. How do they
Speaker 7: get the passing game going well?
Speaker 12: This week, Mike Tomlin called Saquon Barkley the acquisition of
Speaker 12: the year in the NFL. And when you are having
Speaker 12: a franchise record breaking season, a potential NFL record breaking season,
Speaker 12: there's nothing wrong with playing the strength that is the
Speaker 12: Eagles running game.
Speaker 13: But you alluded to it.
Speaker 12: A lot of drama for a team that's got a
Speaker 12: really good record, simply because aj Brown was asked, what
Speaker 12: can this offense do better, and he said passing now.
Speaker 13: To give some more context his answer this week.
Speaker 12: He said, obviously, when I'm asked that question, running the
Speaker 12: ball is not the issue.
Speaker 13: Saquon's about to win.
Speaker 12: The MVP said, so, what's the other thing that it
Speaker 12: is that we do on offense? It's passing now. Jalen
Speaker 12: Hurts has taken care of the football. Since Week six,
Speaker 12: He's had just two giveaways, but in his last couple
Speaker 12: of games, In fact, his last four games, he only
Speaker 12: has two passing attempts of over twenty yards. This week,
Speaker 12: Hurts said that dynamics have changed. He said, this offense
Speaker 12: since the first four games of this season is tremendously different.
Speaker 12: But he did conceive that, yes, I could be in
Speaker 12: rhythm better. He said that he could get the ball
Speaker 12: out quicker, and he said that that's something.
Speaker 13: That he will own and that he will be better at.
Speaker 12: But maybe his best point when asked if it's hard
Speaker 12: for him to not be as big a part of
Speaker 12: the offense as he has been in years pass as
Speaker 12: at harp of you, he said, there's.
Speaker 13: No difficulty in winning.
Speaker 12: Nobody cares about getting the job done if you are
Speaker 12: getting the job done, and I think, Mike Gee, a
Speaker 12: lot of teams would trade being eleven and two no
Speaker 12: matter how you get it done.
Speaker 6: I'm telling you, if you've got aj Brown, you're on
Speaker 6: your fantasy team, You're in the playoffs. Start him with
Speaker 6: confidence this week. Unless he drops a couple of passes
Speaker 6: or something's bad at the line.
Speaker 7: That's not my fault.
Speaker 6: There's going to be targets though. That's what I'm saying, Baldy.
Speaker 6: Flipping it to the other side here. Last week, the
Speaker 6: Steelers expected George Pickens to go up until game day.
Speaker 6: This week, they've been practicing the whole week without him.
Speaker 6: By the way, he still not practicing, knowing that he's
Speaker 6: probably doubtful here. Knowing the Steelers and the mentality throughout
Speaker 6: the entire building, I'm expecting a heavy lean on the
Speaker 6: running game.
Speaker 14: You well, yes, I am I And they've lame on
Speaker 14: all year. I mean, like the Eagles, they run it
Speaker 14: more than they throw it. It's not the most exciting offense,
Speaker 14: but Russell Wilson takes care of the football. They lead
Speaker 14: the league in takeaways, but their run game. I mean
Speaker 14: it features two rookies inside, Zach Frazier and Mason McCormick.
Speaker 14: They played pretty well together and they have a wide
Speaker 14: variety of runs that they like to attack you with,
Speaker 14: and so they will lean on that and they will
Speaker 14: attack you. In fact, one of my favorite runs in
Speaker 14: the league right now, it's like the hottest run the league.
Speaker 14: Like this is the triple trap double scoop. What's the traps?
Speaker 14: All see McCormick, put the trap. You're gonna see sale
Speaker 14: models sixty six, seventy three, sixty five, they're all gonna trap,
Speaker 14: all right, three traps, triple trap. But it's not enough
Speaker 14: just a triple trap. You got a double scoop like
Speaker 14: watch seventy seven and fifty four Jones and Fraser and
Speaker 14: look at the alley. Look at it out. That's a
Speaker 14: lot on this runt of the game by either a
Speaker 14: Brown or a Steeler last week right off triple trap
Speaker 14: double scoop. Like the key is when you scoop, got
Speaker 14: a scoop flat and like both Fraser and Jones do
Speaker 14: that and look at the beautiful uh data alley that
Speaker 14: just gets created right there. The Steelers will find runs
Speaker 14: like they will keep trying to find runs that they
Speaker 14: get hot with, and they'll lean on that. Whether it's
Speaker 14: Naji Harris, Jalen Warren, for Darryl Patterson, Russell Wilson. They've
Speaker 14: got a variety of ways to run it. But that's
Speaker 14: my favorite play in the league right now. If you're
Speaker 14: not running it, you're not serious about the run game?
Speaker 7: Is triple trap? Double scoop a real play call? Is
Speaker 7: that a ball? The original?
Speaker 14: No, that's like that's straight out of Warren set flavor
Speaker 14: book right there.
Speaker 1: Sap told me about I give all the credit to
Speaker 1: double kick.
Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right, You're right, Sarah.
Speaker 7: I had a double scoop. It had nothing to do
Speaker 7: with football.
Speaker 6: We talked about George Pickens again, still not the saying
Speaker 6: what's the latest. There any indication he's got a shot
Speaker 6: to go and if he can't go, we talked about
Speaker 6: the running game, but you have to throw it at
Speaker 6: some point.
Speaker 13: Yeah, we know both of these teams rely on that
Speaker 13: ground game.
Speaker 12: It was a week ago today actually, that that hamstring
Speaker 12: started to bother George Pickens. I was at the Steelers
Speaker 12: game last weekend and it was really believed that he
Speaker 12: was probably going to play on Sunday, and I think
Speaker 12: the Steelers probably thought he was going to play on
Speaker 12: a Sunday and then they had to reassess that and
Speaker 12: what they found out and Mri showed revealed that injury
Speaker 12: and Mike Tomlin said a little more significant than they
Speaker 12: had imagined. They didn't want a small problem to turn
Speaker 12: into a big problem, and he said they want to
Speaker 12: get him healthy as quick as possible. But Tomlin was
Speaker 12: just realistic and he said's probably doubtful that he would
Speaker 12: go this week. He has not been practicing this week.
Speaker 12: So now guys are going to have expanded roles. Their
Speaker 12: offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith said, when you lose a Pickens,
Speaker 12: when something like that.
Speaker 13: Happens, you have to adapt.
Speaker 12: Some things are by committee, he said, some things they
Speaker 12: may not run. I spoke with the receiver Calvin Austin
Speaker 12: within the last hour and he said, with the Pickens out,
Speaker 12: I go, do you have this feeling, this idea that
Speaker 12: other guys have to step up to make up for this?
Speaker 12: And he said no, not really, because he said, the
Speaker 12: way that we're coached, we believe. He said, every receiver
Speaker 12: in that room believes we're the number one guy.
Speaker 13: We're just as good. He's like, that's how we're focused.
Speaker 12: He said, so when we go out there, we don't
Speaker 12: have that feeling or that mindset that we have to
Speaker 12: make up for somebody that's not out there. He said
Speaker 12: that it all goes down to how coach Tomlin prepares them.
Speaker 12: He also said, these are the matchups you live for
Speaker 12: the Pennsylvania State Championship. Mike g as Tomlin is building
Speaker 12: this thing. He said, the Eagles are on fire. He
Speaker 12: told me it is up to us to put that
Speaker 12: fire out this weekend.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 6: It was a double scoop of Sarah Walsh there in
Speaker 6: that segment.
Speaker 7: Brian Baldingers back.
Speaker 1: Later, triple scoop, a Baldi triple in this show.
Speaker 7: Here triple yeah.
Speaker 6: Well I had triple trap, triple trap of Baldy, double
Speaker 6: scoop of Sarah.
Speaker 7: Thank you very much. I'm gonna get out here before
Speaker 7: I say something stupid.
Speaker 1: Rams forty nine ers tonight And what in the world
Speaker 1: is this? If anyone can explain it, please dm me.
Speaker 1: Is this a takeoff from the Rocky movie where they're
Speaker 1: running on the beach and then they're hugging It's part
Speaker 1: of the training. Once again, the stadium is not in
Speaker 1: San Francisco, definitely not within range of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Speaker 1: We'll let all that slide because it's a printy, good game.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Insiders, Tom Pelviso, join now by
Speaker 1: Mark Ross and our buddy Omar Ruiz, who is on
Speaker 1: the field in Santa Clara, not San Francisco. Ahead of
Speaker 1: this one, Omar, what's an exciting matchup we should be
Speaker 1: looking for tonight on Prime?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 2: Maybe to answer your question, Tom, first of all, alluding
Speaker 2: to the water that could be in the forecast for
Speaker 2: tonight's game, the rain expected to hit Levi Stadium into
Speaker 2: the second Quarterback as far as the matchup to watch,
Speaker 2: one I'm looking for is the battle the trenches between
Speaker 2: some fantastic rookies. Third round pick for the forty nine
Speaker 2: ers this year, right guard Dominic Pooney has become a
Speaker 2: dominant player for the forty nine ers at right guard
Speaker 2: and really excited for this matchup. Obviously hasn't yet to
Speaker 2: play in an NFL playoff game, but pushing his way
Speaker 2: to get there. He's excited to face Jared Vers and
Speaker 2: Braden Fisk, the Rams first and second round picks who
Speaker 2: have come into their own versus excited to go against Poony.
Speaker 3: He said they trained together in the pre combined.
Speaker 2: Process and feels like both of those players, Fisk, Poony,
Speaker 2: and Verse have all become so much more polished since
Speaker 2: they first faced each other in Week three of this year.
Speaker 2: So that is a matchup to watch and could be
Speaker 2: one that certainly defines the game. Mark this battle in
Speaker 2: the trenches between the Rams and forty nine ers.
Speaker 1: Well, Mark, you sound like Baldi there.
Speaker 15: We got Baldi coming up next segment, but you're talking
Speaker 15: about the trenches in there, and continuing on that theme,
Speaker 15: Trent Williams is out, first ballot, Hall of Famer Trent
Speaker 15: Williams is out. So you mentioned all those those young
Speaker 15: guys for the Rams front as we've seen all year.
Speaker 15: So Jared Verse really has to eat against the replacement there,
Speaker 15: not just Cooney, but he's got to make things happen
Speaker 15: byra Young's got to get in there and make things happen,
Speaker 15: because you have to take advantage if you're the Rams
Speaker 15: front of missing a guy of Trent Williams caliber, and
Speaker 15: especially after last week's debacle of giving up six touchdowns
Speaker 15: against Josh Allen and the Bill so it's really going
Speaker 15: to be incumbent on that front to really redeem themselves.
Speaker 15: Take control of the game, not just pass rushing. But
Speaker 15: we know the forty nine ers really feed off of
Speaker 15: that run game, so slow that run game down first
Speaker 15: so they can feast in the past game. It will
Speaker 15: help if Matthew Stafford of that offense continues that hot trend.
Speaker 15: Matthew Stafford ten touchdowns, no interceptions the last four games,
Speaker 15: so if he's hot going to Pookah Cup, those guys
Speaker 15: can really feast in the end, control the game.
Speaker 1: Not Hot Street for Matthew Stafford. No surprise coincides with
Speaker 1: Pooka Nakua getting back out on the field after missing
Speaker 1: a chunk of games because of a knee injury. Omar
Speaker 1: you see it. Every week Poga makes a play or
Speaker 1: two that just make you say, wow, how good can
Speaker 1: that guy be? As these rams try to make a
Speaker 1: playoff push.
Speaker 2: Well, he's certainly a star, and it seems like he
Speaker 2: saves his best moments for these biggest games in Buffalo
Speaker 2: a gotta have it game. Last week, twelve catches one
Speaker 2: hundred and sixty two yards and that touchdown some of
Speaker 2: those high flying electrifying catches that he makes, certainly spurns
Speaker 2: the Rams offense and certainly a motivational boost for the
Speaker 2: way he plays, the style of football he plays. I
Speaker 2: asked him, because remember he also set the rookie record
Speaker 2: for receiving in that playoff game they had last year
Speaker 2: in Detroit. Why he's able to show up in such
Speaker 2: big moments? And he says he stays present in the
Speaker 2: preparation for the week. He realizes that on a Monday
Speaker 2: walkthrough at their facility for the Rams, he can't beat
Speaker 2: the forty nine ers in that but as they get
Speaker 2: closer to the game, when game day arrives, he realizes
Speaker 2: the opportunity in front of him and does not shy
Speaker 2: away from that challenge.
Speaker 3: Is one way he.
Speaker 2: Was able to explain how he's able to show up
Speaker 2: in such big, critical moments for this team. But Mark,
Speaker 2: you hinted at it the great play of Matthew Stafford,
Speaker 2: the ten touchdowns no interceptions the last four games. And
Speaker 2: in fact, when you look at the production of Pooka
Speaker 2: Nakua and Cooper Cup, only Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase
Speaker 2: have more receptions than Stafford and Nakua. Stafford and Cup
Speaker 2: since they both returned in Week eight, so they're clicking
Speaker 2: on all cylinders here down the stretch. Matthew Stafford had
Speaker 2: a similar run last year in weeks thirteen through sixteen,
Speaker 2: a four game stretch where he threw ten touchdowns no interceptions.
Speaker 2: They're looking forward to Matthew Stafford continuing his hot play
Speaker 2: tonight on Thursday Night Football.
Speaker 1: That Puka catch at the sideline. I could watch that
Speaker 1: one hundred times. I still understand the physics of how
Speaker 1: he gets his feet down in bounds. Omar enjoy the game.
Speaker 1: Stay warm out there, Mark, stick around war from you.
Speaker 1: In just a little bit, Ian.
Speaker 5: Tom, you had the guys running under the bridge splashing
Speaker 5: water around. I got Harry Potter, Mike Evans, and Harry Potter.
Speaker 5: By the way, Mike Evans happened to be a huge
Speaker 5: Harry Potter fan.
Speaker 1: My kids read the books pretty good. I've seen a
Speaker 1: couple of the movies decent.
Speaker 5: Anyway, it does seem like the Bucks are gonna have
Speaker 5: to get a little bit of magic. I guess magic
Speaker 5: to win against the Chargers this Sunday afternoon. Very pleased
Speaker 5: to bring in Brian Baldinger and Jeff Tredea to break
Speaker 5: down this game. Baldy, I want to start with you
Speaker 5: tell me what you are looking forward to for this
Speaker 5: big time matchup Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 14: Well, I mean, look, an, if you're a Harry Potter fan,
Speaker 14: you know what a muggle is. You know, a muggle
Speaker 14: is when you lose your powder. Like the Buccaneers. They
Speaker 14: were a muggle last year. They were last in the
Speaker 14: league in rushing. Well they've lost that. They've got a
Speaker 14: superpower now, like Harry Potter often does. They were the
Speaker 14: thirty second ranked rushing football team in the league last year.
Speaker 14: Right now they're ranked four. I mean they're averaging over
Speaker 14: five yards of carrot, very high average. And it's all
Speaker 14: three guys. It's Bucky Irving, it's Rashad White, it's the
Speaker 14: young Sean Tucker. Like they're running the football really effectively.
Speaker 14: And you know, the last time the Chargers saw a
Speaker 14: good running football team was the raven Now they run
Speaker 14: it differently in the Ravens. They don't have Derrick Henry,
Speaker 14: but they ran it down their throats and so I'm
Speaker 14: looking you know, if you if you're.
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay fan, they won three in a row. They
Speaker 1: got off that losing streak.
Speaker 14: They've beaten up on some bad teams in Carolina and
Speaker 14: the Giants, you know, and the Raiders. But still you're
Speaker 14: gaining confidence. And it's a little bit of everything. It's
Speaker 14: Liam Cohen and his scheme. It's the addition to Bram
Speaker 14: Barton and Ben Breeds. It inside, it's a healthy right
Speaker 14: side and developing Cody mack like. I like the way
Speaker 14: that they're running the football. They're athletic, they get physical.
Speaker 14: Tristan Wurs's back in the lineup after being hurt against
Speaker 14: the forty nine Ers a month ago. I think they're
Speaker 14: on the right tracker. This is gonna be a good game.
Speaker 14: I want to see if the Buccaneers can continue this
Speaker 14: trend on the ground, because all it does is hel
Speaker 14: Baker Mayfield out.
Speaker 16: Yeah, well, you're talking about offense and Tampa Bay that
Speaker 16: to me is one of the most underrated in the NFL.
Speaker 16: A team that's scoring twenty eight points a game, which
Speaker 16: is fifth overall in the league. But really what Baker
Speaker 16: Mayfield is concerned about with this game is the defense
Speaker 16: they're going to face with the Chargers defense that is
Speaker 16: first in the league in scoring in points allowed, and
Speaker 16: it's very multiple. Mayfield talked about just when you see teams,
Speaker 16: usually you have a couple pass rusher that you're concerned about.
Speaker 16: They got four guys that really can create havoc up front.
Speaker 16: And then he really mentioned Derwin James in the year
Speaker 16: he's been having, saying he's probably having the best year
Speaker 16: of his career, and they use him as such a
Speaker 16: chess piece in that defense that they run down there
Speaker 16: with the Chargers, So he knows that he's got to
Speaker 16: be mindful of all these different elements, this pass rush,
Speaker 16: the secondary, the depth, and look, the Buccaneers, this is
Speaker 16: the last winning team they're going to face before the
Speaker 16: regular season ends. They got a great chance to stay
Speaker 16: on top of the NFC South. They got to find
Speaker 16: a way to beat this defense and win this game.
Speaker 5: Wow, that is a really favorable schedule for the Bucks.
Speaker 5: He's got to get through this one and we'll see
Speaker 5: they can cruise on to the playoffs. Chidia Baldi, thank
Speaker 5: you very much. We will actually stick on the Chargers
Speaker 5: right here because their assistant general manager Chad Alexander joined
Speaker 5: our good friend Judy Bautista earlier in the week at
Speaker 5: the December league meetings.
Speaker 17: Chad You've been to a few of these front office
Speaker 17: accelerator programs. Now what are you getting out of this one?
Speaker 9: You know, I think it's a great opportunity to build
Speaker 9: relationships with your peers, obviously my colleagues around the league,
Speaker 9: and then also to get some FaceTime with decision makers
Speaker 9: and ownership. And it's great. I mean, it's great programming.
Speaker 9: I think Melinda Gardner and Jonathan Bean from the League
Speaker 9: Office to an outstanding job of bringing in presenters not
Speaker 9: only people that work in the league, which they did
Speaker 9: an excellent job of bringing in people from different teams,
Speaker 9: but also people from different industries to give us just
Speaker 9: advice and different pointers and things we can use for leadership.
Speaker 9: So it's been it's been really cool.
Speaker 18: You've been in the NFL a long time twenty.
Speaker 17: Five this years, twenty six years.
Speaker 18: Didn't want to age twenty six years.
Speaker 17: How have you seen sort of the evolution of work
Speaker 17: for minority candidates in these areas.
Speaker 9: Yeah, I've seen a lot of attention being brought to it,
Speaker 9: especially in recent years. And I've actually been around the
Speaker 9: NFL for longer than that because my dad was an
Speaker 9: assistant coach. He started with the Cowboys in nineteen eighty
Speaker 9: nine and had a long career in the NFL as
Speaker 9: a coach. And you know, when he first started, there
Speaker 9: were hardly any black coaches or any diverse coaches or scouts.
Speaker 9: But but now just to see where it's come, it's
Speaker 9: really it's really unbelievable the way it's taking a turn.
Speaker 9: And we still have work to do, but it's it's
Speaker 9: it's we've come a long way, for sure.
Speaker 17: I know you've got a networking event too that comes
Speaker 17: up with owners, which again you've you've done before, Like
Speaker 17: how have you sort of seen that payoff for you?
Speaker 9: Yeah, I think it's cool, you know, just to be
Speaker 9: able to relate to them on a personal level and
Speaker 9: like I said, be able to get in front of
Speaker 9: decision makers and have these relationships that you normally wouldn't
Speaker 9: get an opportunity to to to have and and just
Speaker 9: talk to them about about everyday things and about you know, life,
Speaker 9: about strategies, about football, and you know, it's it's cool.
Speaker 9: I think that it's you know, it's during the labor meetings,
Speaker 9: the labor seminars, and but it gives you an opportunity
Speaker 9: to kind of step away from the intensity of the
Speaker 9: season for just a couple of days. And like I said,
Speaker 9: build relationships not only owners but also your colleagues and
Speaker 9: people that you want to build relationships with in the
Speaker 9: personnel department.
Speaker 17: All Right, the Chargers are in a playoff spot right now.
Speaker 18: Good season. Whenever we talk to players, we hear about.
Speaker 17: Jim Harbaugh like energy, joy, those are the words they
Speaker 17: throw around.
Speaker 18: What do you think is working for the Chargers.
Speaker 9: I think it's just that, I mean, he brings an
Speaker 9: outstanding energy every day, extremely energetic, very smart, really passionate
Speaker 9: about what he does. He's really inquisitive, He's always asking questions,
Speaker 9: he listens extremely well, and I think he and Joe Ortiz,
Speaker 9: our general manager, do an outstanding job of just connecting
Speaker 9: the building and building relationships throughout and and they're both
Speaker 9: extremely passionate, extremely loyal, extremely accountable, and they have a
Speaker 9: vision that they're that they're executing right now. And just
Speaker 9: couldn't be more proud of the guys the team, and
Speaker 9: you know, and ownership has also done a great job
Speaker 9: of connecting the building and the Spanos family really appreciative
Speaker 9: of them and UH and the opportunities that they've given
Speaker 9: all of us. And I think the players have rewarded
Speaker 9: us with their play on the field, so it couldn't
Speaker 9: be prouder Chad.
Speaker 18: Thanks so much.
Speaker 7: Are six twenty six through a tango bolo out of
Speaker 7: the shot?
Speaker 19: Please protect his prows A canzone touchdown Dolphins Smith John
Speaker 19: Oo's Smith?
Speaker 3: What they catch it?
Speaker 16: Proud Dono Smith?
Speaker 3: Oh tal to it it?
Speaker 1: Throw by two off?
Speaker 3: Good night team Dolphins got away.
Speaker 6: Campbellf joining us down the insiders alive from these studios
Speaker 6: there in Englewood, California. The Dolphins cam still breathing, uh
Speaker 6: through their blowholes, right, That's how they breathe, I believe.
Speaker 7: So what is the mindset for this?
Speaker 6: Put some mindset to this Dolphins team as they try
Speaker 6: to make this playoff push.
Speaker 19: Here, Well, they're not thinking about how to breathe. Mike
Speaker 19: uh uh. I'll tell you this. I was in the
Speaker 19: locker room. I was in the locker room after the
Speaker 19: Dolphins versus the Jets and Kalais Campbell came up to
Speaker 19: me and essentially was saying, hey man, this is the
Speaker 19: restart of our playoff run. Obviously last week didn't go well,
Speaker 19: but this is a reset for us. But he said,
Speaker 19: we need some help every time we need a team
Speaker 19: to lose.
Speaker 1: They don't lose, cam we need those teams to lose.
Speaker 19: Can you help, Sorry, kalays I cannot help the Broncos
Speaker 19: or the Chargers lose, but the Dolphins can certainly take
Speaker 19: care of their own business. But they have to win
Speaker 19: out and it starts Sunday versus the Texan team. If
Speaker 19: they finished ten and seven, there is a chance, but
Speaker 19: it's gonna rely on this offense. Defense has been up
Speaker 19: and down this year, but since Toua has returned from concussion,
Speaker 19: he's been one of the best quarterbacks in football. He
Speaker 19: leaves the NFL and completion percentage and when I was
Speaker 19: at the Jets game, I talked to a couple of
Speaker 19: defenders who were just mesmerized at how he got the
Speaker 19: ball out of his hands so quickly. Forty seven throws,
Speaker 19: zero quarterback hits. That is Tua's skill set that is
Speaker 19: coming in and it's going to be an interesting challenge
Speaker 19: against the Texans defense that has really done well rushing
Speaker 19: the passer, Will Anderson Daniel Hunter combined for twenty sacks.
Speaker 19: Can they overcome to his quick passing And one thing
Speaker 19: that may help the Texans tront Armstead, the left tackle
Speaker 19: for the Dolphins, is dealing with the knee injury. He
Speaker 19: told me it's more serious that most players will play
Speaker 19: with and he is very much in it up in
Speaker 19: the air for playing Sunday against Houston.
Speaker 7: Yeah two is groo. Yeah two is grooving.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 6: If you still don't think he's a legit NFL quarterback,
Speaker 6: you got something against the left handers. By the way,
Speaker 6: Dolphins can stay underwater for eight to ten minutes apparently,
Speaker 6: is it true.
Speaker 7: I don't know. It's on the internet. It must be.
Speaker 7: On the other side, what is the key for CJ.
Speaker 6: Stroud and the Texans to have a strong day here
Speaker 6: and get a win over Miami.
Speaker 19: Yeah, Mike, the key is consistency for the Texans. It's
Speaker 19: really the last seven games we've seen a different Texans team.
Speaker 19: They're three and four and c. J. Stroud's been in
Speaker 19: the bottom five and a lot of categories like completion
Speaker 19: percentage and passer rating. And I think one thing that
Speaker 19: will help them is this bye week, a little bit
Speaker 19: of a reset. They had a late by before three
Speaker 19: games in the next eleven days, concluding on Christmas versus
Speaker 19: the Steelers. But funny enough, it's gonna be CJ hending
Speaker 19: the ball off to someone else, not forcing him to
Speaker 19: be superhero, and Joe Mixon is that guy. Joe Mixon
Speaker 19: is having the best season of his career in Houston.
Speaker 19: He's third in the NFL and rushing yards per game,
Speaker 19: and when they give the ball to Joe Mixon, they
Speaker 19: have a lot of success. I mentioned it earlier. This
Speaker 19: Dolphins defense has been up and down this year, and
Speaker 19: so look for Joe Mixon to have a huge impact
Speaker 19: on the game plan. Houston can actually clinch their division
Speaker 19: today or this weekend with a win and a Colts loss.
Speaker 19: So even with the up and down year, Texans in
Speaker 19: position the hostal playoff game once again.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and the Dolphins need this one to stay alive,
Speaker 6: to keep breathing. When I said that earlier, our producer
Speaker 6: got in my year and said, they're playing with a porpoise.
Speaker 7: That's what he said.
Speaker 19: That's good, that's good.
Speaker 6: We're providing content and I don't know something else. Cam
Speaker 6: Wolf wolf pen going on, got about three buttons open.
Speaker 7: That's you for you.
Speaker 6: The ladies appreciate you, cam Wolf. Looking forward to your
Speaker 6: coverage of Dolphins Texans coming up.
Speaker 20: The race for the af see number one overall seed
Speaker 20: is on and we are going to talk to Baldy,
Speaker 20: Mark Ross, and Jeffrey Chadia about that after the break.
Speaker 21: Here on the Insiders, the top two offenses in the
Speaker 21: NFL are facing off Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 5: Man, a lot of good games in that four pm slot.
Speaker 5: This is one of them, Bills Lions, no whether to
Speaker 5: deal with. It is going to be indoors. It is
Speaker 5: going to be a track meet, hopefully for us. And
Speaker 5: there's a lot at stake for these teams. Obviously, we
Speaker 5: see the AFC playoff picture right there, Kansas City at
Speaker 5: top at number one, but right there the Buffalo Bills
Speaker 5: certainly a team that is trying to challenge the Chiefs,
Speaker 5: the Steelers, same exact thing. We will see if anyone
Speaker 5: can actually catch Kansas City. I want right now to
Speaker 5: bring in Brian Baldinger, Mark Ross, Jeffrey a lot of action,
Speaker 5: a lot of info, a lot of insight. So Baldy,
Speaker 5: I want to start with you. You just saw the
Speaker 5: AFC playoff picture. You see the Chiefs right there. This
Speaker 5: Bill's game is as big as it gets in the
Speaker 5: regular season. Can anyone catch Kansas City?
Speaker 14: Well, I think if anybody can, it could be Buffalo.
Speaker 14: I mean, first of all, they beat in Kansas City.
Speaker 14: It's not often you score forty two points in a
Speaker 14: game and lose, like we saw Buffalo.
Speaker 1: Just do to the Rams.
Speaker 14: But you know, if they can go in there to
Speaker 14: Detroit and somehow outscore Detroit because it's going to be
Speaker 14: a shootout. You know, they face New England twice in
Speaker 14: the Jets down the stretch, so they could gain some ground.
Speaker 14: If they could win out right here, they could have
Speaker 14: a chance. Kansas City's got a tough schedule, three or
Speaker 14: four on the road. They got to go to Pittsburgh. Still,
Speaker 14: they still got to go to Denver. Pittsburgh got a
Speaker 14: tough schedule, go to Philly this week in that battle
Speaker 14: in Pennsylvania. They still got to go to Baltimore on
Speaker 14: the following Saturday. They still have Kansas City, which could
Speaker 14: be throw a wrench into this whole thing. So there's
Speaker 14: a lot of key games that are left to be played, guys.
Speaker 14: But I think if there's one team that could take
Speaker 14: them and maybe win a tie breaker if you get
Speaker 14: to that spot, it's Buffalo simply because a month ago
Speaker 14: they beat the Chiefs thirty to twenty one.
Speaker 15: Percent agree with you, Baldy. And for people that don't know, yeah,
Speaker 15: that tie breaker head to head is the first high
Speaker 15: breaker rule that would put the Bills over the top
Speaker 15: of the Chiefs if they end up with the same record.
Speaker 15: And you mentioned the Chiefs tough schedule. But as Jeff
Speaker 15: those we all see, it doesn't matter who the Chiefs played, it's.
Speaker 7: Going to come down to the last play.
Speaker 15: It's going to be something crazy that their good fortune
Speaker 15: gets them over their top. They're winning ways combined with
Speaker 15: the good fortune. So does that finally run out for
Speaker 15: the Chiefs in this last four game stretch? That down
Speaker 15: the stretch to say, okay, if they slip up twice,
Speaker 15: here here comes Buffalo. As you mentioned about Pittsburgh, I
Speaker 15: mean that's just too tough for them. I think down
Speaker 15: a stretch at Philly at Baltimore back to back, then
Speaker 15: play case and then you know Cincinnati gives everyone fits,
Speaker 15: you know, with that offense.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think there if.
Speaker 15: It is the team, this is the game for the Bills.
Speaker 15: They have to beat Detroit the rest of the three
Speaker 15: games or layouts for them. So this is the season,
Speaker 15: This is the number one seed right here, for Buffalo
Speaker 15: to go get it.
Speaker 1: Jeff Yeah, Marcus Good.
Speaker 16: As the Chiefs have been in those one score games,
Speaker 16: this is the stretch that they've been looking for and
Speaker 16: knowing that it's going to be a defining stretch for
Speaker 16: them because you're talking about three games in eleven days
Speaker 16: coming up here with the Browns, the Texans, and the
Speaker 16: Steelers the Broncos. In the back end of that, you're
Speaker 16: throwing the Chargers. That's five of the best pass rushing
Speaker 16: teams in the league, and with fourteen that's got the
Speaker 16: pass protection issues the Chiefs have.
Speaker 7: That's a pretty scary thing.
Speaker 16: They were hoping DJ Humphreys could come in here and
Speaker 16: solidify left tackle. He's hurt his hamstring, so we don't
Speaker 16: know when he's going to be back. Yanye Morris has
Speaker 16: been a disaster, which is an understatement that left tackled lately.
Speaker 16: Patrick Mahomes has been sacked thirty five times this year,
Speaker 16: which is more than ever in his career, thirteen times
Speaker 16: in the last three games. So they got to find
Speaker 16: way to protect because these games coming up with the
Speaker 16: Miles Garretts, the Will Anderson's, Dell Hunter, t J.
Speaker 1: Watts, it's gonna be rough.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it doesn't get any easier, and I'm I'm a
Speaker 5: sort of at the point of the week where I'm like,
Speaker 5: all right, can we just can we just play these
Speaker 5: things so we can.
Speaker 3: Figure it all out.
Speaker 5: Guys, thank you very much for hanging out. Always appreciate
Speaker 5: your time in your and your insight.
Speaker 1: Broncos feel like they've got their quarterback of the future
Speaker 1: in bow Nicks, and now they've got demand of protextas
Speaker 1: blindside locked up as well, the team and their veteran
Speaker 1: Garrett Bulls agreeing to terms today on a four year,
Speaker 1: eighty two million dollar contract extension with upside eighty six million.
Speaker 1: According to r Ian Rappaport, so certainly something Bulls wanted
Speaker 1: to get done to finish his career in Denver. Here,
Speaker 1: he would have been one of the top free agents available. Instead,
Speaker 1: he's staying with the Broncos. The Panthers feel like they've
Speaker 1: hit on one of their draft picks, the Xavier League Yet,
Speaker 1: who has battled through some injuries this season but also
Speaker 1: shown flashes of why they were willing to go and
Speaker 1: draft him at the bottom of the first round this year.
Speaker 1: He's also shown well that there are some interesting parts
Speaker 1: of being raised in that area of the country, including
Speaker 1: something that can only be called a regional delicacy. Are
Speaker 1: you raccoon? You are?
Speaker 18: I see that? I say, what do you What do
Speaker 18: you mean raccoon?
Speaker 7: Like the raccoon, like a raccoon that you see in
Speaker 7: the chain?
Speaker 1: Where do you even eat that at? Where do you
Speaker 1: even get that? I hunted, I skinned him? Coolhoon out it.
Speaker 7: So when was the last time you had a raccoon?
Speaker 3: I give you.
Speaker 1: Ian. You are our resident grill master. We've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of things to your social media over the years.
Speaker 1: Here you ever grilled or broiled or blackened or raccoon?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 5: No, no, no, no?
Speaker 7: Is he done?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: Yeah, nope?
Speaker 7: Would you have it? Would you have an idea if
Speaker 7: you had to?
Speaker 5: I could do it if it was a thing. But
Speaker 5: it's definitely not a thing. I've spent two years of
Speaker 5: missing years now Abama, nobody.
Speaker 3: Was cooking raccoon.
Speaker 7: I don't see what we're again.
Speaker 3: I'm just saying no.
Speaker 6: Xavierly Get is welcome to come to my house anytime.
Speaker 6: We had so our shorehouse, we had raccoons living and
Speaker 6: I woke up one night to the sound of raccoons
Speaker 6: in our walls. They were getting in through the attic
Speaker 6: and into the walls. Knock down the house rebuilt, okay,
Speaker 6: and now they're terrorizing me Outside. I find raccoon turds.
Speaker 6: Can I say turds? I find them all over the place.
Speaker 6: I'm out there watching TV. I've got a nice little
Speaker 6: outdoor patio set up. Raccoon just walks right up. Nice Xavier,
Speaker 6: welcome anytime, pal. Got nice grill too.
Speaker 1: You know they say they say you are what you eat,
Speaker 1: So technically the raccoon is garbage. Xavierly get occasionally eating garbage,
Speaker 1: which is raccoon. I guess brings garbage.
Speaker 7: The raccoon eats garble, garbage itself.
Speaker 1: No, you are what you eat. The raccoon eats garbage.
Speaker 1: He is garbage. Whatever's in the raccoon, that's the garbage.
Speaker 1: And then it just gets free. Purpose what to take
Speaker 1: you through? Like the fourth grade lesson on food chase,
Speaker 1: You need to get on this show.
Speaker 7: You I know we're at the top of it.
Speaker 16: To us.
Speaker 1: You're not going to get an organic raccoon at the store.
Speaker 1: You know it's uh, it's a gamble. Just don't put
Speaker 1: you back tomorrow. I think see it