Speaker 1: Be around the NFL podcast, Three Wise Men Come do another. Additionally,
Speaker 1: around the NFL Podcast, I'm Dan nanzas you joined in
Speaker 1: a virtual room build with sapiros Mark Sessler, Greg rosendal. Um.
Speaker 1: I think and I'll have to double check the schedule.
Speaker 1: The night take Week fifteen is over. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think this is the first ever Tuesday night pod we've
Speaker 1: ever done. Um, and it's also the first Tuesday doubleheader
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I saw since n how about that?
Speaker 1: And of course we have, um, you know, a nice
Speaker 1: little off day tomorrow from games, but then we have
Speaker 1: a game on Thursday, Friday, Saturday's, Sunday and Monday. Is
Speaker 1: that all? Check out? I don't think there's a there's
Speaker 1: no Friday game. Yeah, let's yeah, TVD on that. Greg
Speaker 1: don't be uh you know, let's I was thinking about them.
Speaker 1: We're talking about the NFL slogan and biggest season ever,
Speaker 1: and uh, football was family. But then I was thinking about,
Speaker 1: you know, football is family. What if football actually replaced family?
Speaker 1: The football is family? Like well, I mean it kind
Speaker 1: of became family tonight. Well, we were all at the
Speaker 1: Rams game together with their families in the same section.
Speaker 1: Dan was with his in laws because he's hit a
Speaker 1: doubleheader at a so far on a Thursday and at
Speaker 1: Tuesday night. But Mark with his family, me with mine,
Speaker 1: and you with your in laws. I mean that that
Speaker 1: is football just bringing us together pretty good. I was
Speaker 1: just asked though, Like I mean, I'm old school. I
Speaker 1: come from the unsolved mysteries world, where you know, daddy
Speaker 1: has two families. What about my second family? They weren't there.
Speaker 1: Do they feel left up? I was wondering, and I
Speaker 1: was looking around because I didn't realize that. But now
Speaker 1: I book ended this never ending week of NFL action.
Speaker 1: I was at the first game, in the last game
Speaker 1: UM at Sophi Stadium, and I was looking around for
Speaker 1: you Mark and your second family. You're like six ft
Speaker 1: one amazon blonde wife and your triplets that you have
Speaker 1: with that family, in addition to your beautiful family with
Speaker 1: Simone and the two boys that we shot tonight. Well,
Speaker 1: no it's not. It's not taking away from the primary unit.
Speaker 1: Um they could that conglomerate, but the second family, they
Speaker 1: were in the five sections. So I had to like,
Speaker 1: at one point, if you saw me not around, I
Speaker 1: had had a maneuver to the other side of the
Speaker 1: state and they can't be close together. So you've got
Speaker 1: it's a lot of maneuvering. Den. Well you were you
Speaker 1: were a hero dad here you did a great dad,
Speaker 1: you know you Colton and Simone had to come a
Speaker 1: little later. Um, but you got some quality time just
Speaker 1: Luke Luke early. And I could feel like this inner
Speaker 1: toy turmoil with Mark because you know on this podcast
Speaker 1: he's given the Rams the business sometimes over the years
Speaker 1: and here we are enjoying, um a Rams game, you know,
Speaker 1: some seats and um, you know, kind of as NFL employs,
Speaker 1: we got to we got to go there, and um,
Speaker 1: you could feel the termoil. I wasn't feeling any turmoils,
Speaker 1: just a nice night with the family, wets some football.
Speaker 1: Mark seemed to be feeling like he had been owned
Speaker 1: by by corporation. The Rams have one. I think both
Speaker 1: of my children in this primary unit family family one. Uh,
Speaker 1: these two boys are Rams fans. I cannot speak to
Speaker 1: the triplets, um birth of the giantessts that that that
Speaker 1: the whole in the world of organized crime. Friday nights
Speaker 1: or for the Gumar Saturday nights, for the wife Mark,
Speaker 1: you know, Monday nights or for the club Sunday nights
Speaker 1: are for what club seats? I don't know. You tell me,
Speaker 1: I will tell you, probably not on this show. I
Speaker 1: will tell she's so much taller than you. By the way,
Speaker 1: it's legitimately off putting when I see you together you
Speaker 1: go up to her arm. Tit beautiful woman. That was
Speaker 1: That's something that she was very she found very appealing.
Speaker 1: So what am I supposed to tell you? All Right?
Speaker 1: So you know, it is a long week. It is
Speaker 1: Christmas week, So we're gonna try to move through the
Speaker 1: last four games with some level of urgency. But we're
Speaker 1: also going to hit the games the way you deserve,
Speaker 1: the listener. So we're gonna hit the two Monday night
Speaker 1: games including Mark the Browns, I'm sorry, and then the
Speaker 1: two Tuesday night games, and finally we'll put a bow
Speaker 1: on week fifteen. So let's start with the game we
Speaker 1: were at tonight in Hollywood Park in Englewood, California. Whose
Speaker 1: house is it Ram's house where he looks initially gets
Speaker 1: Rich Rocks the ball down the right seat fully Cooper
Speaker 1: Cup with I can touchdown of the second half high side.
Speaker 1: Cooper Cup was at it again for the Los Angeles Rams.
Speaker 1: The wide receiver caught nine more passes for a hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty six yards and both of Matthew Stafford's touchdown
Speaker 1: passes and a twenty to ten win by the home
Speaker 1: team over the Seattle Seahawks. Bye Bye, Seattle Seahawks. It's
Speaker 1: over for you. You're five and nine. Mark. I mean,
Speaker 1: you've had many takes that have gone sideways in recent weeks,
Speaker 1: but this one, I know, was one that you wanted
Speaker 1: to get right. You got this one right because the
Speaker 1: Seahawks aren't coming back and and fitting to this season
Speaker 1: mark for Seattle where really, I mean you can't even
Speaker 1: go before Russell Wilson's finger injury, but really certainly after
Speaker 1: it when he came back, things were never right. And
Speaker 1: this was another game where the Rams defense dictated the
Speaker 1: flow of the game. Uh, they got after Russell Wilson.
Speaker 1: Wilson missed on some throws and at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, Uh, Seattle scoring ten points in a must
Speaker 1: in game. They were a punchless and I'll take any
Speaker 1: contest at this point where you go in thinking something
Speaker 1: will happen and it actually happens. Um. This was not
Speaker 1: This was not the Rams victory from a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago where we're thinking, like this is the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl streamer. It's like they are what they are, and like, uh,
Speaker 1: they took care of business tonight. Um. I know at
Speaker 1: one point, sitting behind greg who is he pulled his
Speaker 1: little notebook out and he's taking notes about the game.
Speaker 1: And Luke, my child asked me like, why aren't you
Speaker 1: taking notes, daddy, And it's like, I'm just not the
Speaker 1: same level of professional because in the green jacket, living
Speaker 1: in the moment, right, that's so not true that that
Speaker 1: actually did happen. That actually did happen. He's like why
Speaker 1: because my you know, my child is very into what
Speaker 1: Dan and Gregor are doing. It's like, why is Greg
Speaker 1: taking notes? Not? It's like everyone's got its own everyone's
Speaker 1: got their own thing is is is? Every time I
Speaker 1: turned around during the game, he just likes to say, I,
Speaker 1: I have no idea what's happened in this game. I'm
Speaker 1: watching my children. I'm not sure exactly what's happened. I'm like,
Speaker 1: you've got the general idea. You know, there's only six
Speaker 1: points in the first half that Dan, damn. Dan summed
Speaker 1: it up nicely. I was didn't start watching or started
Speaker 1: thinking in the second half of this game, like, how
Speaker 1: how much could more could a receiver due to try
Speaker 1: to win an m v P than Cooper Cup is
Speaker 1: doing right now? Like the two throws that the two
Speaker 1: throws that cut caught down the field. It wasn't like
Speaker 1: he won on those two routes. He just he He
Speaker 1: just won and had the confidence of Stafford that he
Speaker 1: was gonna go make a play. And that's great, Like
Speaker 1: we've seen receivers like that, But they're also using him
Speaker 1: in so many different ways, like in the screen game,
Speaker 1: in every sort of way possible, and the numbers are
Speaker 1: just outrageous. I think I would have a hard time
Speaker 1: doing it. But it is a weird year where quarter
Speaker 1: backs haven't totally been as good as they normally are,
Speaker 1: and like this game, like they don't win this game
Speaker 1: without Cooper Cup. They looked a little sluggish. They didn't
Speaker 1: practice much because of all their COVID issues. I think
Speaker 1: we think because most of they got these guys are back,
Speaker 1: they were still missing four or five stars. Everything's fine,
Speaker 1: I don't know. The play was a little sloppy in
Speaker 1: general across the NFL offensively this week, and certainly the
Speaker 1: Rams had these penalties and mental mistakes. But they got
Speaker 1: over it in large part because they have Cooper Cup
Speaker 1: on their team and no one else does. Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: not here to carry any water for the league. I mean,
Speaker 1: you gotta call it like it is. And COVID is
Speaker 1: rampaging through the sport right now, and just the nature
Speaker 1: of this new variant, you're just seeing it every day,
Speaker 1: name after name after name. And yes, some of these
Speaker 1: guys are asymptomatic. Some of these guys are able to
Speaker 1: clear before kickoff. But you're taking people out of practice,
Speaker 1: You're taking teams out of routines, and I think it
Speaker 1: is causing uh. I think the last two days there
Speaker 1: was not a lot of good football in terms of
Speaker 1: what you see. The Tuesday afternoon game at four pm,
Speaker 1: you know, which the whole thing just how could it
Speaker 1: not feel weird? It was? It absolutely was. And and
Speaker 1: the Rams placed up to twenty nine players on the
Speaker 1: reserve COVID nineteen list over the past ten days. They
Speaker 1: played without three starters. Now Seattle's missing some starters to
Speaker 1: including Tyler Locket, who I think was badly missed. But
Speaker 1: I want to point out to me the play of
Speaker 1: the game, and it really spoke to so much of
Speaker 1: what has kind of haunted the Seahawks and what's now
Speaker 1: a lost season. It is seventeen to ten the Seahawks
Speaker 1: at a ten three lead early in the second half.
Speaker 1: The Rams even it up on a cup touchdown. They
Speaker 1: go ahead on another cup touchdown, but Seattle has a
Speaker 1: chance to draw even and on a third and fourteen
Speaker 1: at the Seattle thirty eight with seven and seven fifty
Speaker 1: six to go on the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson drops
Speaker 1: back to past. He gets protection, which was not a
Speaker 1: case throughout the game, and he has dk met Calf,
Speaker 1: who has Jalen. Uh, he has Jalen Ramsey beat by
Speaker 1: a few steps. And you guys, you were there in
Speaker 1: the stadium. Two were in the same section. Uh, that
Speaker 1: is a touchdown. If I don't know if it's Russell
Speaker 1: Wilson's finger, I don't know, if Russell Wilson just having
Speaker 1: a bad year. I don't know what it is. But
Speaker 1: he hangs up and we all know. Our old producer
Speaker 1: TV famously said, Russell Wilson throws a sexy deep ball.
Speaker 1: If he puts a little more into it and leads
Speaker 1: his receiver, it's seventeen seventeen at the midpoint of the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter and the Seahawks are in business, and instead
Speaker 1: he hangs the ball up. Now that's a tough throw,
Speaker 1: but that's a throw that that Russell Wilson has made
Speaker 1: a thousand times. It's the type of throw it's gonna
Speaker 1: put him in the Hall of Fame one day. And
Speaker 1: I just thought that made me think he hung it
Speaker 1: up and allowed uh Ramsey to get back into the play.
Speaker 1: Knock it away. They punted it, and that was the
Speaker 1: closest they ever came. That really stood out to me.
Speaker 1: I agree he you know, he mislock it lock. It's
Speaker 1: been the true one, not Metcalf, you know, since since
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson came back, but really throughout the course of
Speaker 1: this season, Metcalf gets twelve targets tonight, a lot of
Speaker 1: him in garbage time and not a lot of production.
Speaker 1: There is some part of me that just thinks, no
Speaker 1: matter how hard Russell Wilson threw that ball, that Jalen
Speaker 1: Ramsey will somehow just like sprit and catch up with it.
Speaker 1: Because I I spent the the game watching that matchup,
Speaker 1: just watching Jalen Ramsey basically every snap, So I felt
Speaker 1: like I was missing a lot of like nine yard
Speaker 1: Rashad Penny runs, but there was Jalen Ramsey on DK Metcalf.
Speaker 1: I would say about two thirds three quarters of the snap.
Speaker 1: Someone with stats will prove me wrong, but just watching it,
Speaker 1: that's what it felt like. And my god, like his
Speaker 1: like closing speed and his ability to kind of guess
Speaker 1: what Metcalf was was gonna do. Is like DK Metcalf
Speaker 1: is not the type of route runner that's gonna give
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey problems in general. Maybe he was beat on
Speaker 1: that play, maybe he wasn't gonna catch up in general,
Speaker 1: but that was watching a guy Dalen Ramsey just like
Speaker 1: at his absolute peak, pretty much dominating another great player.
Speaker 1: And then and then to your point, Dan, that one play, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: you're right he had him beat because it's a different
Speaker 1: game and it's a dead story around, right. That's one
Speaker 1: play though in general, like they're trying to sell these
Speaker 1: inside moves and stuff, he's not biting and his closing speed.
Speaker 1: It was just it's just crazy. This team has the
Speaker 1: best receiver in the league, the best cornerback, and the
Speaker 1: best defensive tackle on the same team. I think also
Speaker 1: another story for the Rams, like Sony Michelle games in
Speaker 1: a row now has dominated carries and been good for them,
Speaker 1: and tonight it wasn't you know, he wasn't the story
Speaker 1: of the game. But it's like they've found something on
Speaker 1: the ground in Sony Michelle, which was, you know, not
Speaker 1: not someone they knew would come in and dominate. He's
Speaker 1: been a big part of with their offense and it
Speaker 1: gives them some balance. All right, So there you go.
Speaker 1: And yes, the Seahawks, it's it's pretty much a rap now.
Speaker 1: That is their ninth loss. So any chance to get
Speaker 1: back to the playoffs, they have to win out in
Speaker 1: some crazy stuff. Rams have a chance here to get
Speaker 1: up to like I mean, they could get really high,
Speaker 1: but they're tied with the Cardinals in the division. Uh,
Speaker 1: they don't have the tiebreak now, but the Cardinals have
Speaker 1: a tough schedule, so do the Rams the next three
Speaker 1: we but they can go win that division. Are there
Speaker 1: any like I know, we'll go through the other games quicker,
Speaker 1: but were there any uh kind of like experiences at
Speaker 1: the game mark that that stand out to you in
Speaker 1: this one? Any or any like like game experience. I'll
Speaker 1: point out one when Jim Everett. Um as they were
Speaker 1: trying to snap the ball. They were already coming back
Speaker 1: from commercial and Um, I believe it's Kirsten Watson Um
Speaker 1: who was doing the you know, the in game. She
Speaker 1: works with with Henry. You guys bet her the other day.
Speaker 1: She she's like trying to take the microphone back from
Speaker 1: Jim Everett because the game is about to start, and
Speaker 1: Everett it's like grabbing the microphone being like I've always
Speaker 1: wanted to do this. Whose house? And I'm just thinking, like,
Speaker 1: are they already back on Fox, like waiting for this
Speaker 1: delay in the game. I enjoyed it, and I was
Speaker 1: enjoying it. I was getting some Susie Colber vibes off
Speaker 1: the whole thing. And I'll leave it at that. It's
Speaker 1: a It is very interesting again having gone to the
Speaker 1: Thursday game against the Cheese where there was Chargers they're
Speaker 1: set up, and then going Tuesday for the Rams game
Speaker 1: they're set up. It's a very different, very different fan experience. Um.
Speaker 1: And I think, uh, that's by design. I think the
Speaker 1: Rams and Chargers, I mean just the Rams flex in general.
Speaker 1: Their whole slogan is whose house is this? It's the
Speaker 1: Rams house that is a very pointed I think very pointed,
Speaker 1: not just to get the fans pumped up, but hey, Chargers,
Speaker 1: you live in our house. That's that that's kind of fun.
Speaker 1: I I like the heat you sense between the Rams
Speaker 1: and Chargers, whether it's the billboards or how things are presented.
Speaker 1: It's fun and it's a beautiful stadium. It really was.
Speaker 1: That was a lot of fun. I think they grabbed
Speaker 1: that slogan UM early and with authority, and that was
Speaker 1: good for them. I mean, my my one note would
Speaker 1: be that this was the first time that I took
Speaker 1: my two boys to any NFL game and you had
Speaker 1: that experience, um, both of you in previous times. It's
Speaker 1: just like, uh, that was pretty crazy. And that's why
Speaker 1: I think I'm a little bit in another world right now,
Speaker 1: because they it really really affected them and they loved it,
Speaker 1: and so they did. They were having a great time,
Speaker 1: and they gave all all children or I guess adults do.
Speaker 1: I didn't grasp on to mind, but they gave all
Speaker 1: um humans like little flags to wave if you wanted
Speaker 1: to wave them, and I gave mine to I mean,
Speaker 1: our children had all all the flags, and like they
Speaker 1: love that. So but I'm a mess, Like I'm a mess.
Speaker 1: I had a great night, and like, honestly, I don't
Speaker 1: really care that much about anything. It's like, after what
Speaker 1: happened with the Browns game, which we'll get into, it's
Speaker 1: like I need football to eat equal, something positive, something
Speaker 1: at all that it has meaning, and tonight did so
Speaker 1: I really appreciate that we got to go to that game. Wow,
Speaker 1: that was emotional. Perhaps Mark, you're waving the white flag
Speaker 1: on your issues with the Los Angeles Rams as a
Speaker 1: football organization. I have put my issues with them, which
Speaker 1: were largely you know, um, yes you could, but I
Speaker 1: have put them in the past. So it's like, you
Speaker 1: know when sometimes like when Hulk Hogan and Randy Macho
Speaker 1: Man Savage back in seven to that handshake in the
Speaker 1: middle of the ring and everyone could feel it. Maybe
Speaker 1: that's what's happened. Maybe that's what's going on right now.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe Mark, all right, let's all right, Well whatever
Speaker 1: I can sign I can sign off to. If you
Speaker 1: two want to have a real conversation about that, we
Speaker 1: need to have youcause we're heading to Cleveland next. This
Speaker 1: will be a forty eight yarder for the wind Dead
Speaker 1: on Yes, Sorrayters side on explodes. I give a jackpot partner, Jack,
Speaker 1: Hey Musburger, come on, Bud. I know, listen, we're all tired,
Speaker 1: but that's a big win for the team that you've
Speaker 1: covered and link at Kennedy's telling you to hit the
Speaker 1: jackpot in the big spot because Daniel Carlson stepped up.
Speaker 1: That guy's a good ass kicker, drills the forty eight
Speaker 1: yarder at the gun, allowing the Raiders to escape, and
Speaker 1: I stressed the word escape the dog Pound with a
Speaker 1: sixteen to four team win a game. Speaking of COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen obviously played a big role here. It's why the
Speaker 1: game was moved to Tuesday. It's why Nick Mullins was
Speaker 1: the starting quarterback for the Browns. That's why Jarvis Landry
Speaker 1: wasn't anywhere near the field, It's why so many players
Speaker 1: were out and yet Mark Sessler Cleveland really did put
Speaker 1: together a strong effort here, especially on defense. Mullins I
Speaker 1: thought played well. He played within himself. Um. But ultimately,
Speaker 1: when they needed to get one more stop and they
Speaker 1: were missing yet another player Myles Garrett was banged up
Speaker 1: with a groin injury, they couldn't get that last defensive
Speaker 1: stop and Derek Card. He get he deserves credit for
Speaker 1: getting that team set up for the game winner. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think the stop came after a Brown drive that, um,
Speaker 1: I think fairly has received some criticism where they ran
Speaker 1: the ball three times in a row. I get what's happening, Like,
Speaker 1: you don't have Kevin Stefanski there. Alex van pelt Is
Speaker 1: in their calling plays and he's not gonna go, um,
Speaker 1: you know, uber creative or create some sort of controversial
Speaker 1: type call. I think that's you know, a little bit
Speaker 1: of a factor. But uh, the Browns on that drive
Speaker 1: I thought were a little conservative when they had a
Speaker 1: chance with Nickmullins, who was warming up at that point.
Speaker 1: This was a but you know, I know they lost.
Speaker 1: It was a courageous um performance by the Browns. And
Speaker 1: I don't say that in a cheesy way. I just
Speaker 1: think that they with all the stuff stacked against them, like,
Speaker 1: it had the feel to me as a you know,
Speaker 1: forty year Browns fan of a game that they were
Speaker 1: gonna win. I really felt that up until the very end.
Speaker 1: You tweeted it out when they were down, like I
Speaker 1: can't remember what the score was, was it ten nothing?
Speaker 1: At the time you tweeted that out something like that
Speaker 1: or four. It was like thirteen three, and you were like,
Speaker 1: the Browns are winning this absolutely, you're right, You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: I felt it and like, um, it didn't happen. Um
Speaker 1: in it obviously pivots Cleveland season to such drastic um
Speaker 1: measures because they would have been leading the division. Not
Speaker 1: that they deserve to, um, but not that they deserve
Speaker 1: to be last in the division either. Because I think
Speaker 1: they're plucky. I think they have fight. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: you look at who they did not have in this game.
Speaker 1: I thought the defense for weeks in a row has
Speaker 1: carried them, and they carried them in this game too.
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, if you look at the first
Speaker 1: quarter plus, you would have thought that maybe Derek Carr
Speaker 1: and the Raiders would have just taken control of this
Speaker 1: game and won at to ten or something. That they
Speaker 1: were moving the ball well. But Cleveland's defense heated up,
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins, heated up. Um. They just they didn't have
Speaker 1: enough guys. There have enough dudes like on the field,
Speaker 1: and like enough stuff happened to counter they're they're apparent
Speaker 1: attempts to to win this game. Um, it broke my heart.
Speaker 1: I think this is a Browns game that hurt me
Speaker 1: more than the Chiefs lost last year in the playoffs
Speaker 1: and many many losses this season that have been frustrating.
Speaker 1: It just was like the quintessential attempt at all the
Speaker 1: odds stacked against you. You've got a chance, They had
Speaker 1: a chance. I thought they made the most of it. Um,
Speaker 1: you don't have your head coach on the field. How
Speaker 1: many times can that happen to Cleveland? That twice in
Speaker 1: the last you know, seven calendar months. Well whatever? Uh?
Speaker 1: And I you know what I I I left. I
Speaker 1: left a little broken and and and then and then
Speaker 1: it was like, now sit down and watch the Bears
Speaker 1: and Vikings please. I I honestly, it kind of it
Speaker 1: kind of slapped me over the head and said this
Speaker 1: season is over. But actually, and you know, it was
Speaker 1: Greg who sent us a text in the minutes after
Speaker 1: this game that said, I see a fight in this team,
Speaker 1: this Browns team. I'm not sure the season is over.
Speaker 1: And I kind of take something from that because the
Speaker 1: a f C is so weird, it's so convoluted, it's
Speaker 1: so beguiling that who knows what will happen over the
Speaker 1: next three weeks. I don't count them out yet, but
Speaker 1: I'm not pleased with what happened with what occurred yesterday.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure the better team won on any level.
Speaker 1: This Raiders team is a floating ship. Of course, you
Speaker 1: can't count the Browns out because just like said, if
Speaker 1: they won yesterday, they would have been in first place
Speaker 1: and they lost, so there in last place. So that
Speaker 1: division is so wide open even by you know these
Speaker 1: people say that all the time. Oh, it's a wide
Speaker 1: open division. No, the a f C North is a
Speaker 1: wide open division. So that is far from over. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, the Browns have been such an up and
Speaker 1: down operation all season, uh that I think in a
Speaker 1: weird way, putting their back against the wall with all
Speaker 1: these injuries made them more likable and made them kind
Speaker 1: of back. They're kind of back in that underdog corner,
Speaker 1: which I think Mark, you were you and so many
Speaker 1: other Browns fell in love with this Baker Mayfield BRANDU,
Speaker 1: so you were back in that corner. Now, I'll say
Speaker 1: this because I think the the Raiders on this podcast
Speaker 1: were counted out by a certain host after last week.
Speaker 1: And here's the thing. I'll give the Raiders credit, uh
Speaker 1: for winning this game, but I think the only way
Speaker 1: the Raiders are seven and seven right now is an
Speaker 1: act of God. And let's count I don't know who's God,
Speaker 1: but let's count this COVID nineteen variant as that act
Speaker 1: of God, because I think the Raiders are still ready
Speaker 1: to go home at seven and seven, but they just
Speaker 1: happened to find a team that was so beat up
Speaker 1: that they were allowed to hang in that game. And
Speaker 1: credit to Derek Carr, who looked like he had thrown
Speaker 1: the season away with the interception, he gets another chance,
Speaker 1: takes him down the field. I thought, here's the thing.
Speaker 1: The Browns. Yes, they played a strategic brand of football.
Speaker 1: On their last drive. They said, we're gonna kill the
Speaker 1: clock as much as we can. We're gonna get rid
Speaker 1: of the time outs. It's a basic game plan that
Speaker 1: we've been hearing forever that maybe is not as popular anymore.
Speaker 1: The only reason I disagreed with it, Greg was the
Speaker 1: Nick Mullins. I know he's was just on the practice
Speaker 1: squad and has barely played in a year, but he
Speaker 1: was so smart the way he played, and he wasn't
Speaker 1: taking crazy risks, and I kind of trusted him in
Speaker 1: that spot to either make the play or not make
Speaker 1: a hideous mistake, and they just didn't give him the
Speaker 1: shot there. I I would have liked to seen it.
Speaker 1: But I also didn't have a problem with the play
Speaker 1: because it was third and three, because they had gained
Speaker 1: seven yards on the on the last two runs, you know, like,
Speaker 1: and they were giving it to their best player. If
Speaker 1: it was third and six, they would have thrown it.
Speaker 1: It is a shame because Nick Mullins is the master
Speaker 1: of the four to five yard throw. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: what he did the whole night. He played within himself.
Speaker 1: You said it, you know, until he really needed to
Speaker 1: play out, like on that fourth down. Like he had
Speaker 1: a really clean, nice game, and yeah, if you had
Speaker 1: done some sort of play action or something where he
Speaker 1: has a couple of options quick, I would have trusted
Speaker 1: him to do it. But the reason they got back
Speaker 1: in that game wasn't Nick Mullins. It was Nick Chubb
Speaker 1: going over left tackle where Joel Betonio was playing out
Speaker 1: of position on those sweeps and stuff like. Those were
Speaker 1: the big plays, and so they went back to what
Speaker 1: had been working and we got them seven yards on
Speaker 1: the two previous place. So I I didn't have a
Speaker 1: huge problem I just think it didn't work on that play,
Speaker 1: and that was that was also so unfortunate because at
Speaker 1: that point when they interset to the ball, and in
Speaker 1: Mark's first words, he said to me at the Rams
Speaker 1: game today, we're just like I'm broken. I you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can get back to football
Speaker 1: after yesterday. I felt so so bad, so said, But
Speaker 1: I get it because it was an inspiring game. The
Speaker 1: Raiders did not deserve to win it. They went out
Speaker 1: of their way to freaking gag it. I mean that
Speaker 1: game should have been over so many times earlier. Car fumbles,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a good play. J Ok has been
Speaker 1: amazing for Cleveland. Just what a player I've been using
Speaker 1: meaning to say like he is a home run, uh
Speaker 1: draft pick. But they they're dropping it mostly wasn't car,
Speaker 1: but they're dropping passes. They're making all these mistakes. And
Speaker 1: then and he fumbles the ball, they give up the
Speaker 1: lead to Mullins. Then he throws the interception and you
Speaker 1: only have to get one first down to win it.
Speaker 1: At that place, at that point, Cleveland was on fire,
Speaker 1: like Shook was killing himself that he didn't go to
Speaker 1: that game down the street. Uh. And then a few
Speaker 1: minutes later, he was like, yep, that's why I didn't go.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you saying that, Like I mean, I like
Speaker 1: j OK number one I think is um I know
Speaker 1: we missed some games and that kind of took some
Speaker 1: of the heat off of his uh you know, Q rating,
Speaker 1: but like what a player he has been. Um, I
Speaker 1: this game hurt me to the point where today is
Speaker 1: not is totally surreal. What happened after it is totally surreal.
Speaker 1: It's like, how quickly can I get an uber that
Speaker 1: I ordered to drive off the I TN where is
Speaker 1: the female assassin? Like it's over? Like you feel like,
Speaker 1: here's the thing, here's the thing, the North schedule, and
Speaker 1: it's like I don't want to hear about it, Like
Speaker 1: I don't care. All they gotta do is go win
Speaker 1: their last two games in the North, which is what
Speaker 1: Steelers Steelers Bengals. Even if they lose to the Packers,
Speaker 1: if they if they win those even if they lose
Speaker 1: to the Packers this week, if they win those two
Speaker 1: division games, I think that's doable. I think they've shown
Speaker 1: some fight these last two weeks. I do a fight,
Speaker 1: they do a fight. But that's just simply to set
Speaker 1: me up to get pulled back in because I I
Speaker 1: already know everyone's like they're gonna get romped by the Packers,
Speaker 1: will probably beat the Packers, and then I will be
Speaker 1: so far pulled back into this um anti matrix just
Speaker 1: hit me with a bow and arrow. So can we
Speaker 1: just mark and you know, we all and I know
Speaker 1: the listeners do appreciate your fandom and how passionate you
Speaker 1: are and how you you live and die typically die
Speaker 1: with the Browns. But can we just dispense with the
Speaker 1: charade in future seasons about when you go through those
Speaker 1: things where you don't care about the team anymore and
Speaker 1: you don't really it doesn't matter because you've been down
Speaker 1: on this team all year and now you're saying your
Speaker 1: life is basically up in flames because they lost last
Speaker 1: night to to fall to seven and seven. I and
Speaker 1: I'm saying, I'm all for your passionate, I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: just this is your This is the one of the
Speaker 1: most important things in your life. This football team. We
Speaker 1: know it. You don't have to tell us that it's
Speaker 1: not true, because we know it, and you hear it
Speaker 1: in your voice right now. It is. It is important
Speaker 1: to me, Um, I have multiple defense mechanisms up. Obviously, Um,
Speaker 1: there there are a charade to you who listens to this,
Speaker 1: but to me, they aren't like they do. That was
Speaker 1: to now now we're getting to it. They they had
Speaker 1: been up and they came out like they came all
Speaker 1: the way down for that Mullins game, like when they entered,
Speaker 1: especially by the time they intercepted that pass and had
Speaker 1: the ball, they were down. The walls had been on
Speaker 1: fire and then suddenly the enemy. Well, that game hurt
Speaker 1: me because like the idea that Nick Mullins, who I've
Speaker 1: always kind of loved Nick Mullins to be honest, Um,
Speaker 1: the idea that he would pull it off, and he
Speaker 1: came so close. It almost became one of my favorite
Speaker 1: Brown's wins of all time. Like I'm talking top three,
Speaker 1: top four, top five, and it turned into Satan's baby
Speaker 1: inside of my mouth. Gross. All Right, we better stop
Speaker 1: talking about this game. It's getting a little weird. Um, Raiders.
Speaker 1: Raiders get drew locked this week, They're not. They're probably
Speaker 1: gonna lose, and the Browns, Yeah, the probably lose at
Speaker 1: Green Bay on Christmas, probably, but you never know. In
Speaker 1: the season, don't even know who's gonna be playing. Don
Speaker 1: Madikowski could be quarterback for the Packers by Christmas. Who knows,
Speaker 1: So don't assume anything, but yes, Greg is right. Um,
Speaker 1: they have two division games against teams that are no
Speaker 1: better or no worse than them, the Browns to wrap
Speaker 1: the season. Um. I thought it was so sweet Mark
Speaker 1: when Gregg complimented your rookie linebacker and you went, thank
Speaker 1: you for saying that, because you know what you know,
Speaker 1: Greg and I have talked about that previously. It's just like,
Speaker 1: I don't know anybody else that would respond to a
Speaker 1: football compliment like that, Like it was personally like somebody
Speaker 1: had complimented you about something you had done. Well, it
Speaker 1: matters to me that Greg sees what I feel I've
Speaker 1: been seeing and like we've talked about it's good j
Speaker 1: okay before and we agree, let's let's take a break
Speaker 1: and we're gonna bring in a special guest to talk
Speaker 1: Eagles Washington. And there he is. You know he is, Well,
Speaker 1: you don't because I haven't announced it yet, but maybe
Speaker 1: when the podcast is out, you're gonna see it in
Speaker 1: the little summary. Maybe Ricky gives him the headline the
Speaker 1: name of the show. Maybe he's in that. I think
Speaker 1: he deserves it because I think he's a big Yeah,
Speaker 1: he is the great John Gonzalez. Gonzo, what's that baby? Gentlemen,
Speaker 1: good to see you. What's up? Man? How are you you?
Speaker 1: You performed? We are lying on you so much. Eagles Washington.
Speaker 1: You know game here because you know we were at
Speaker 1: another game, so you could see anything happened. The dictionary
Speaker 1: definition of out of pocket uh for Washington Eagles. So
Speaker 1: let's hit the highlight and get into it with Gonzo.
Speaker 1: The native Philadelphia Hurts again is rolling. He's looking, Hey,
Speaker 1: here's firing touch Hey gonna to Greg Ward who spun
Speaker 1: around and what it was? Chucked? Ah? The great Merrill
Speaker 1: Reese with the call. Jalen Hurts was back in the
Speaker 1: lineup and he said, darn mean shoo. That's a nice story.
Speaker 1: But I'm that guy. I'm that kid. He ran for
Speaker 1: two touchdowns through for another. Eagles come from behind to
Speaker 1: beat the COVID nineteen ravage Washington football teams seven to seventeen. Uh.
Speaker 1: Eagles moved to seven and seven. They are alive and
Speaker 1: well in the playoff race. Washington now fading at six
Speaker 1: and eight. Gonzo, you watched this from Um Gonzalez manor
Speaker 1: with perhaps your lovely wife Connie Fox the tiny box.
Speaker 1: What were your takeaways, uh from this? I think anytime
Speaker 1: you can beat a quarterback that I hadn't heard of
Speaker 1: before he started on a Tuesday great NFC East really
Speaker 1: really up there with all of the other Tuesday night
Speaker 1: games that they played. The last time they played a
Speaker 1: Tuesday night game, Rosie tweeted at me about this, they
Speaker 1: lost to Joe Webb after a blizzard. Uh, and the
Speaker 1: then governor, Governor Rendell had called everybody wusses for not
Speaker 1: playing the game, which then launched a book called Nation
Speaker 1: of Wusses. So this Tuesday night game greater than symbol
Speaker 1: that Tuesday night game. This was better. This was better
Speaker 1: than the night when um Michael Vick's m v P
Speaker 1: Dreams went to die. Come on, your Eagles are seven
Speaker 1: and seven. This is a frisky, little, frisky little outfit here.
Speaker 1: Ganza at least got to be getting behind this this team,
Speaker 1: because absolutely what was the wreck? They were like two
Speaker 1: and five and now they're seven and seven and they're
Speaker 1: maybe the best running team in the league. That you
Speaker 1: would think that's a team that the the Eagles could
Speaker 1: get behind, that Philly could get behind. I'm so something
Speaker 1: that I've learned through um years of watching this team
Speaker 1: is never believe. Like it's with the exception of the
Speaker 1: year that they won the Super Bowl and we were
Speaker 1: all there, Uh, never believed. And specifically, like you said
Speaker 1: that they are first each team who have they beaten
Speaker 1: that's any good? The Saints is their best win. And
Speaker 1: if they could end up with ten wins this season,
Speaker 1: because they've got, you know, the three division games left,
Speaker 1: and there's a chance that who knows, the Cowboys sit
Speaker 1: their starters in that last game, but then they'll have
Speaker 1: ten wins, nine of which are largely hollow, and then
Speaker 1: the other one is the Saints. So I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know how frisky this. Do you trust them
Speaker 1: even if they make the playoffs? I don't, I'd ask
Speaker 1: you this. I mean, I don't. I'm not sure any
Speaker 1: team is good in the NFL this season. But secondly,
Speaker 1: like they did go through a metamorphosis where they said
Speaker 1: we're just gonna run the ball at everyone, and and
Speaker 1: tonight again against this Washington defense that I know there
Speaker 1: they were covid stricken um but they did get some
Speaker 1: guys back along the defensive line. Before this game, Philly
Speaker 1: still ran for two thirty eight yards. It's like, we're
Speaker 1: gonna do this every week. They did it again. It's like,
Speaker 1: you gotta give him a little credit for the fact
Speaker 1: that this is their identity. They lean into it and
Speaker 1: it works. It's working, Gonzo. I've got a little history.
Speaker 1: Maybe this will provide some perspective and maybe you will
Speaker 1: start to get a little more exciting. I think he's
Speaker 1: just nonplus because he was he was like watching us
Speaker 1: talk about the Browns game. He was like, let's get
Speaker 1: on with it. He's like, I've got something yards rushing.
Speaker 1: They became the first team with a hundred and seventy
Speaker 1: five plus yards on the ground and seven consecutive games
Speaker 1: since wait for it, the nineteen eighty five Chicago Bears.
Speaker 1: Now that Bears team was known obviously for its great defense,
Speaker 1: but obviously they did some things right offensively as well. Now, well,
Speaker 1: you're gonna tell me, Gonzo, I guess is that because
Speaker 1: the opponents have been so bad, you can't put too
Speaker 1: much into the running game. But the fact that they
Speaker 1: imposed their will upon opponents week after week and they
Speaker 1: have this exciting kid behind center that makes people miss
Speaker 1: and could throw the ball a little bit too. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is more fun than last year's Eagles team, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, everything's relative more fun than last year's Eagles
Speaker 1: team is a low bar. Look, the running game has
Speaker 1: been fun. You're absolutely right about that. And this is
Speaker 1: something that early in the season was driving Eagles fans
Speaker 1: insane because they weren't running the ball as much and
Speaker 1: everybody was clamoring for them to run the ball. And
Speaker 1: then all of a sudden, they start running the ball
Speaker 1: and they have some success. So that parts to the
Speaker 1: good I'm all for that. The part about the exciting
Speaker 1: kid under center, Dan, you just revealed how not Philadelphia
Speaker 1: and you are because that the jury is still out
Speaker 1: on that one and that Gardner Minshew game, nobody looked
Speaker 1: two things that Philadelphia loves run the ball and the
Speaker 1: backup quarterback. So as long as there there is a
Speaker 1: backup quarterback existing, somebody somewhere in Philadelphia and frankly several someones,
Speaker 1: lots of someone's will be clamoring for that guy to
Speaker 1: be the quarterback. So yeah, like Jillen tonight was, he
Speaker 1: was good the early like early in the game, he
Speaker 1: made some bad decisions which he's wont to do. There
Speaker 1: were turnovers that led to those first ten Washington points
Speaker 1: and after that he settled down and they got going. Um.
Speaker 1: But also I said, they beat a guy who what
Speaker 1: was he doing on Thursday before they signed him on?
Speaker 1: He was on the Patriots practice squad, Garret Gilbert? But
Speaker 1: you know he doesn't play defense. They put they put
Speaker 1: up five hundred yards of offense against a Washington team
Speaker 1: that's been pretty good. And I know they were missing
Speaker 1: some players, but they got most of them on my
Speaker 1: Gilbert Godfried callbacks, you know the Godfried callack like, so, gonza,
Speaker 1: what's the vibe at the house? Are you guys like
Speaker 1: just ain't super? Is there a lot of negging going on,
Speaker 1: a lot of like negative energy about around the Viking
Speaker 1: or the Eagles? Are you excited about what You're more
Speaker 1: still emotional about the Browns conversation you got. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to find out what what the vibe is where you're
Speaker 1: I mean, you seem to be coming in from a
Speaker 1: bit of a a little bit of a down said
Speaker 1: to you take you take a win anytime you can
Speaker 1: get a one. Let's put it this season has been
Speaker 1: consistently uh, results oriented in terms of feelings. So after
Speaker 1: Giants loss, they're the worst team in the NFL. They're
Speaker 1: not going anywhere. And after the Jets win, sorry, Danny
Speaker 1: ramovs uh, you know what, book your tickets. You're coming
Speaker 1: out to l A because maybe this team could go
Speaker 1: on a run there or maybe they're they're frisky, like
Speaker 1: Rosie said, so at seven and seven, it's like it's
Speaker 1: been every single weekend has been a roller coaster. I
Speaker 1: mean even going back to uh the Falcons game, which
Speaker 1: is their their first game of the season, which they won,
Speaker 1: and we thought, okay, maybe there's maybe there's a little
Speaker 1: something to this team. Ultimately, it's hard for me though,
Speaker 1: to like really believe in the Eagles because there's just
Speaker 1: been so much conditioning over the years. Like with the
Speaker 1: exception of one year, it usually turns out terribly. Um
Speaker 1: and people should also know it's past nine pm on
Speaker 1: the West Coast right now, so it's John's bedtime as well.
Speaker 1: Just a bad I think, so if he seems a
Speaker 1: little like low key that that plays in as well.
Speaker 1: Look I'm up and energized for you guys. I had
Speaker 1: a full day of doing stuff and working and hanging
Speaker 1: out with Connie Nightcap. You've got You've got your sports
Speaker 1: illustrated podcast starting soon, don't you? Mid January? Yeah. So,
Speaker 1: by the way, Gonzo and I did a cross country
Speaker 1: trip from well across half the country from l A
Speaker 1: to Houston for a super Bowl and he stayed up
Speaker 1: quite late many of those nights, and we had adventures
Speaker 1: that we can't speak of here on the show. So
Speaker 1: I love that all of a sudden, I'm being painted
Speaker 1: as old man Gonzo, who, well, you'd like to take
Speaker 1: We've been there, We've We've done weekend trips with you.
Speaker 1: You're a guy that likes to get his seventeen hours.
Speaker 1: Oh I love a nap. I mean, who doesn't like
Speaker 1: a nap? And nap is it can be uh really rejuvenating.
Speaker 1: Um before we let you go? And this is this
Speaker 1: is kind of a we're like overarching question and I
Speaker 1: feel it would be a good like profile story, but
Speaker 1: it's probably already been written so doesn't matter. But you
Speaker 1: mentioned it that why why does Philadelphia love the backup? Why?
Speaker 1: Why don't Why are they always looking past the guy
Speaker 1: that is probably the guy to the guy that probably
Speaker 1: isn't the guy, but hypothetically could why what is the
Speaker 1: psychology behind that? For the city. It's a sickness. We
Speaker 1: all have it, We've all caught it. It's a quarterback
Speaker 1: covid for us, going back to Randall Cunningham with Jim
Speaker 1: McMahon right up through basically every backup that was ever
Speaker 1: a backup for McNabb. I mean, like the greatest quarterback
Speaker 1: in in franchise history, they wanted to replace him the
Speaker 1: entire time. I don't know. I don't know what it is.
Speaker 1: I mean, like, I think I think it's part of, um,
Speaker 1: the lack of success. Like again, I keep saying that
Speaker 1: the one season where they won the Super Bowl, but
Speaker 1: they wanted with the backup quarterback. So, um, maybe we're
Speaker 1: onto something, maybe we knew. Maybe it's like a lack
Speaker 1: of self cont inner self confidence. I don't know, civics,
Speaker 1: civic wide before before you guys cut me loose though,
Speaker 1: um is, does Rosie always make those faces as you
Speaker 1: guys are as you other two are talking? Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the approving faces, the resting Greg face. Don't reading
Speaker 1: that I'm because I'm making I'm I'm making conversation with
Speaker 1: everybody here and all I see is a pained look
Speaker 1: on Rosie space. There's a big there's a lot of smiles.
Speaker 1: It's a lot of smiles personally, and like I start
Speaker 1: to then I start to rail on it verbally. I think,
Speaker 1: you know what I am pained is because you're because
Speaker 1: you're just like dismissing. Jalen Hurt says, I like, go
Speaker 1: over and look and look, say, oh, Reagor had a
Speaker 1: thirty four yard or I haven't watched this game at
Speaker 1: devote Smith got he has forty five seven for one
Speaker 1: thirty five, Like I always wanted to watch an athletic quarterback,
Speaker 1: like Jalen Hurts is one of the best running quarterbacks
Speaker 1: uh in the NFL. And he's a second year starter,
Speaker 1: like a second round pick, Like what more? What more
Speaker 1: do these people want? And you get all excited about
Speaker 1: Gardnerment was like yeah, yeah, Scot, you get all excited
Speaker 1: about Gardner Mint floating a couple of seven yard passes
Speaker 1: that people run with after the catch, you cannot win.
Speaker 1: Greg is coming at you with a minor nuclear bomb
Speaker 1: that's gonna land right in the middle of your head. Uh,
Speaker 1: Dallas Gott it looked good. Jalen Hurts made a couple
Speaker 1: of really nice throws, one of which was to Greg Ward.
Speaker 1: I like, I honestly, I was like, my god, I
Speaker 1: forgot about Greg Ward. He's still on the team for
Speaker 1: a touchdown, so that was good. How are you happy
Speaker 1: now that he's saying these things? Greg's just make you happy?
Speaker 1: Will you sleep tonight? But Greg, I'm honestly of like Philadelphia, Uh,
Speaker 1: Philadelphians who have watched every Eagles game this year. Despite
Speaker 1: the way that you're interpreting this, I'm probably higher on
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts the most. So that tells you where everybody
Speaker 1: else's rights are proving grunts and noises from him. You
Speaker 1: can find it now formally of the Wringer. Now he's
Speaker 1: over at s I. He's got a podcast that's coming out.
Speaker 1: He's storyteller. Make sure you fall him on Twitter at
Speaker 1: John Gonzalez. Yeah, you know who it is. It's Gonzo.
Speaker 1: John Ron Gonzola Sport March twelve nine is an American
Speaker 1: sports writer who was married NFL media broadcaster Colley Wolf. John,
Speaker 1: who was a Pisces, resides in Los Angeles with his
Speaker 1: wife and two dogs. Also, I look forward to my
Speaker 1: mentions being full of that tomorrow. That bit still wan't die.
Speaker 1: So thank you, and I also we all want to
Speaker 1: thank you. In the time where you never feel like
Speaker 1: you could trust anything anymore, things are always changing underneath
Speaker 1: our feet. We never have to change that drop, but
Speaker 1: always all the bio information is exactly the same as
Speaker 1: it was five years ago. We should actually we should
Speaker 1: add that he got the J and J shot because
Speaker 1: we are brothers and the J and J and we've
Speaker 1: been through this adversity together. I feel like that's like
Speaker 1: the next the next most defining aspected guns of life.
Speaker 1: As far as I'm concerned, it's It's depressingly true, Dan,
Speaker 1: none of the information has changed. You're right, we like
Speaker 1: we can care. Everything is exactly the same, all right, buddy.
Speaker 1: Thank you for staying up and doing the with us.
Speaker 1: We really didn't need, did need the help, and you
Speaker 1: delivered it. Buddy. We'll see you soon, all right, Love
Speaker 1: you guys. There goes Joan Joanni Gonzalez. Love that guy.
Speaker 1: We have one more game to hit. Uh. It wasn't
Speaker 1: the best game of the week. In fact, it might
Speaker 1: have been the warst game of the year on the
Speaker 1: primetime slate. We're gonna do it. Anyway, hit it Ricky
Speaker 1: Pats j K hands caught touch down justin Jefferson. That's
Speaker 1: left to the end zone. It's such a twelve yard touchdown.
Speaker 1: Hits number eight this season four j J Man, Paul Allen,
Speaker 1: you can make anything sing. Even that game seventeen nine.
Speaker 1: The Vikings won, uh to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Speaker 1: Greg and I locked it up. That's a good job
Speaker 1: by us. But it was a game. First of all,
Speaker 1: the Bears just a total mess. Uh. Five personal vouls
Speaker 1: anyone by the head coach. I could have swerved, but frowns.
Speaker 1: Late in the second quarter, I thought that Matt Maggie
Speaker 1: was leaving the stadium the handcuffs. I guy was certain
Speaker 1: he was going to inflict bodily harm on someone and
Speaker 1: run a foul of the law. That did not happen,
Speaker 1: at least not that I know of. But ultimately, the
Speaker 1: Bears as an operation are just as Mark we called them,
Speaker 1: and perhaps a floating course. So they are now four
Speaker 1: and ten, uh, and they are just waiting to get
Speaker 1: to the finish line. Now the Vikings, Greg, this theme
Speaker 1: is interesting, UH every week except for this week when
Speaker 1: they played the Bears. So the Bears obviously have some
Speaker 1: type of magical power. I thought taken out of this
Speaker 1: game as someone who has kind of rooted for the
Speaker 1: Vikings and has enjoyed the Vikings this season, who was
Speaker 1: a little disturbing for Kirk Cousins to have a second
Speaker 1: Dog game in a row in December and finished with
Speaker 1: eighty seven yards passing a career low against the Chicago
Speaker 1: defense missing so many players uh that they were calling
Speaker 1: up guys from the practice squad to play defense. Their
Speaker 1: entire defensive backfield was on the COVID list, are injured,
Speaker 1: and yet Cousins could do nothing And it doesn't seem
Speaker 1: to bode well for the Vikings offense, or am I
Speaker 1: putting too much into it? Because the Vikings week the
Speaker 1: week completely reboot themselves, right like next week they have
Speaker 1: the Rams who are going to be on a short
Speaker 1: week and you can almost see Cousins it'll be indoors,
Speaker 1: you know, throwing for three thirty again. And yet I
Speaker 1: can't like this these this last month. It's really if
Speaker 1: you look at his season, it peaked about mid season
Speaker 1: and and personally he's been a little on the decline since,
Speaker 1: but this was outrageous. He dropped back to past twenty
Speaker 1: eight times. They average two point two yards per play,
Speaker 1: and like Zimmer had no confidence in him by the
Speaker 1: end of the game, But who could blame him? And
Speaker 1: what did it matter because his defense wasn't given up
Speaker 1: any points. It It was just kind of crazy crazy.
Speaker 1: It was partly his interior offensive line, which has been
Speaker 1: a problem all year. It's partly Adam dealing being out.
Speaker 1: But he just gets in those modes, like when he
Speaker 1: threw here the ball out of bounds on the hail
Speaker 1: Mary and to end the first half because he didn't
Speaker 1: want to mess up his touchdown to interception ratio. I thought, like,
Speaker 1: that's a that's why people don't like Kirk Cousins that play,
Speaker 1: because that's what he did. He didn't want to mess
Speaker 1: up the TV to the interception race. You know who
Speaker 1: tweet all about that former quarterbacks. Former quarterbacks are the
Speaker 1: ones saying that, Like everyone's saying they'll move there when
Speaker 1: quarterbacks don't want to do that, and like Tom Brady
Speaker 1: would do the same thing on some level. Two, I
Speaker 1: believe that did you throw underneath, but he's great to
Speaker 1: back it up. Son. You can throw underneath and then
Speaker 1: they get you know, forty one yards and get tackled
Speaker 1: at the fourteen and the half's over anyway, so the
Speaker 1: defense doesn't care. That would have been the move if
Speaker 1: he was really looking out for his stats. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know. That's yeah, I like it. I like the theory,
Speaker 1: though You're You're probably right. No one play over ten
Speaker 1: yards in the whole game by their passing game. I
Speaker 1: don't know that. Like I know, I know that. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the Bears are a thing of the past
Speaker 1: at this point and we don't need to focus too
Speaker 1: much on them. But like you said, Dan, to have
Speaker 1: your entire secondary wiped away by COVID, I mean this
Speaker 1: team was all of all of these games happened because
Speaker 1: these teams were wiped out by the coronavirus slash omnikrown. Um,
Speaker 1: I get it. But I mean the Bears defense, I thought,
Speaker 1: put forward like they put forth an incredible effort in
Speaker 1: this game. They really did. I mean, it's like, um
Speaker 1: Acheam Hicks was all over the place. I mean just
Speaker 1: it's it's lost in the shuffle. But the their offense
Speaker 1: finished the game with three drives um that ended on downs,
Speaker 1: and they had a terrible missfield goal in this game.
Speaker 1: They had a terrible bumble by the quarterback. I mean,
Speaker 1: there had a couple of turnovers all over the place.
Speaker 1: It's like they allowed the Vikings just to continue to
Speaker 1: pound on them. When had they gotten a even vaguely
Speaker 1: vaguely competent performance by the offense, they would have been
Speaker 1: fine with what the defense didn't score. They didn't score.
Speaker 1: They didn't score, I don't care. It's so that's fine.
Speaker 1: But they moved the ball. But it was like, and
Speaker 1: you know, they're they're coaching staff also impacted. So Matt
Speaker 1: Naggi is calling the plays again. Bill Lazer is out
Speaker 1: of the picture. And yeah, they they out threw in
Speaker 1: terms of passing to fifty five to sixty one. They
Speaker 1: out gained Minnesota three seventy two one ninety three. UM.
Speaker 1: And they just had so many mistakes and and some
Speaker 1: you know, bad luck with certain things, getting feet down
Speaker 1: in the end zone, bobbles, things like that. UM. But
Speaker 1: when you just added all together the whole stew you know,
Speaker 1: there are like fifty thousand Bears fans that went to
Speaker 1: that game, and they were just subjected to just continual
Speaker 1: disappointment possession after possession. So, yeah, the Bears are a
Speaker 1: mess that the Vikings are the relevant team here. But
Speaker 1: I just think as I just don't know how much
Speaker 1: longer the Vikings will be relevant because I don't know
Speaker 1: if I buy Cousins snapping out of this slump. This
Speaker 1: this has been going on for a while now. It's
Speaker 1: been a little bit under the radar because he keeps
Speaker 1: throwing two touchdowns every game, and so that keeps fantasy
Speaker 1: owners uh satisfied, and they're winning more than than they're
Speaker 1: losing the last month or two. But they are not
Speaker 1: the same offense and he is not the same quarterback.
Speaker 1: And I think that to me is simplified as it
Speaker 1: may seem. Was the big thing that jumped out to me,
Speaker 1: like I'm not the Viking. The Vikings have been very
Speaker 1: entertaining an interest in I think they could snap back.
Speaker 1: It would be very typical of them. They have the
Speaker 1: Rams and the Packers the next two weeks to at
Speaker 1: least win one of those, but get to get get
Speaker 1: to Week eighteen with like a little bit of hope
Speaker 1: and then lose to the Bears in the rematch. That
Speaker 1: that feels like the way this like, let's these are
Speaker 1: two teams that are part of our previous existence. They
Speaker 1: do not exist right now, Mark, get him, buddy, I'm
Speaker 1: forking both of them. They're both out. I mean, we
Speaker 1: already forked the Bears back into this could have working
Speaker 1: the Vikings right now. I'm forking the Vikings right now.
Speaker 1: Coming after that Rounds game, these teams were both they
Speaker 1: had the bulls eye on them for at Sessler Nation.
Speaker 1: Now this was that this was the worst primetime game.
Speaker 1: I think I had a weird memory. Um back in
Speaker 1: like two thousand and five or two thousand and six,
Speaker 1: when I lived in l A. Knew nobody. UM fell
Speaker 1: into relations with this one UM young starlet type girl
Speaker 1: that was forget about it, I mean, and then it
Speaker 1: went start. She was a successful actress, had that vibe
Speaker 1: to her. I'm just saying back then, and the whole
Speaker 1: thing ended. And it was a two or three week
Speaker 1: scenario that ended UM in a bar fight in Culver City.
Speaker 1: And I'm just gonna leave it right there. But like
Speaker 1: I spent the next two weeks, you know, it was
Speaker 1: the football season. I'm watching football and it was just
Speaker 1: like nothing had any meaning. And that's how I felt
Speaker 1: about this Vikings Bears game watching it. It had zero meaning.
Speaker 1: My heart had been broken earlier in the day, Ricky,
Speaker 1: can you jump in a second? Nothing mattered on any
Speaker 1: let's go on with Mark nothing. Yeah it was. I
Speaker 1: feel like we should probably just dropped the show. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, don't try to come at me. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: Bears Vikings game that is now, You're right, we don't
Speaker 1: need to spend a lot of time on this more
Speaker 1: after that and stuff like Starlet's leaving you at a
Speaker 1: bar fight, and there's a lot that we need to
Speaker 1: unpack as like a family here. So I feel like
Speaker 1: we should just like hit the outro music and Vicky
Speaker 1: just like we gotta end this. This is already tricks,
Speaker 1: like we gotta we gotta plane to catch in the morning.
Speaker 1: And you know, I'm getting up at three forty so
Speaker 1: I'm getting up in like six four hours. More games,
Speaker 1: sixty minutes. That's how we do it, all right. So
Speaker 1: Week fifteen is in the rear view. Mark is gonna
Speaker 1: be okay. I know some people might be alarmed a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, he's fine. Today's show, He's gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: And he's got he's got three games left with his
Speaker 1: Cleveland Browns, uh and they have a chance still to
Speaker 1: win a division makes the noise. They're not like the
Speaker 1: Vikings or the Bears. They're not dead. They're alive. They'll
Speaker 1: tell you that. Just just wait, just wait for Christmas
Speaker 1: morning when Mr cecler unwraps a Brown's game with his family.
Speaker 1: Good luck, Let's go brown We're all Browns fans. Did
Speaker 1: he really need to put the Browns on Christmas? Rod?
Speaker 1: You know yet? We got to pick up the boys, guys.
Speaker 1: We gotta take your eye anyway. So this is our
Speaker 1: obviously functions as are. It's a little different than a
Speaker 1: regular Tuesday episode, but that's what it is. Thursday, you'll
Speaker 1: get the preview of week sixteen, and then we'll be
Speaker 1: back Sunday night, which is the day after Christmas, recapping
Speaker 1: everything in Week sixteen. Let's just cross our fingers because
Speaker 1: things just seem to get worse and worse because this
Speaker 1: virus is just so contagious that I just don't know.
Speaker 1: I I worry, knock on wood here, I worry how
Speaker 1: we're going to finish the season, even with the different protocols. Well,
Speaker 1: hopefully things get calmed down and we get a normal
Speaker 1: week of football next week. But there's a lot of
Speaker 1: indecision in the world. But we can tell you or
Speaker 1: a lot of things that we don't know right now,
Speaker 1: we can tell you we will be here. There could
Speaker 1: be sixteen games next week, there could be zero games
Speaker 1: next week. The Around the NFL podcast will be here
Speaker 1: for you. Unless you know other things dictate that we're
Speaker 1: not here. It's all up in here. We will we
Speaker 1: will be here. You can't imagine here until they tell
Speaker 1: us hit the street, hit the bricks. All right, that's it.
Speaker 1: I am sorry for us stepping on the godfree joke.
Speaker 1: You know, um a bad habit of mine personal growth.
Speaker 1: I want to improve on that. But everyone could have
Speaker 1: been a great, great call back, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: if if we went back to the replay, I might
Speaker 1: have kind of come in off the turn buckle on it.
Speaker 1: And maybe what I wanted you to do is like
Speaker 1: step out of the way so the Gottfried elbow drop
Speaker 1: could land. So that's not something you have to do either.
Speaker 1: So it's just maybe one of those things where we
Speaker 1: both could have been a little bit more delicate with it,
Speaker 1: and we just we're used to being in the studio.
Speaker 1: We're used to being together in the studio. By now
Speaker 1: that we're um, we're back to like working out the Kings.
Speaker 1: Look at you too? How cute this is? So? Who's
Speaker 1: the starlet? Kirsten Dunns, a young Dominique Swain? Who are
Speaker 1: we talking here? I mean not there was no actual,
Speaker 1: you know, professional attachment to that now, but like if
Speaker 1: you had to compare her to someone like Molly Ringwald,
Speaker 1: Christina Molly Ringwald throwing the names out, we gotta go.
Speaker 1: We got maybe a young Bardo. Yeah wait, no, Mark,
Speaker 1: who was that actress from from your time? My time?
Speaker 1: She was really vague and uh Betty David, you know
Speaker 1: in like the twenties in the What does that mean?
Speaker 1: What do you win? Oh? Yeah she was. She was
Speaker 1: good when they made the transition to the talkies, right yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: when they went silent film to color not color, no, god, no,
Speaker 1: not color. When they yeah yeah, right, that's who you're
Speaker 1: really saying. You're old, Mark, But I think you look
Speaker 1: great for your Well that's fine, I'm not I won't respond.
Speaker 1: Al Right, we are going down. You get what you're
Speaker 1: trying to do. Dan Anon signing off for Quiet Storm,
Speaker 1: The Old Boss Gonzo Ricky Hollywood Hills, The s