Speaker 1: Hey, we got our last Sunday night recap show of
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Speaker 1: It's going on in the playoffs. Go there now, be
Speaker 1: Around the NFL podcast had nothing to do with Nell
Speaker 1: Jeremiah's torn achilles. Really. Welcome back to another distort, the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Ands and
Speaker 1: I'm joined by a room filled with some heroes, Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler and Greg Rose. I thought that, boys, what is that?
Speaker 1: That's true? By the way, about DJ, I know there
Speaker 1: has been some rumors. Uh, Daniel and I, despite having
Speaker 1: the same first name, have had some differences since he
Speaker 1: launched his successful podcast Moved the Sticks We Did Not
Speaker 1: Tear His Achilles. DJ is great. I listened to his podcast.
Speaker 1: I love hearing TD on it. The only thing that
Speaker 1: bothers me a little bit is it feels like TD
Speaker 1: is a little more engaged, a little you know, a
Speaker 1: little more into it, you know what I mean. You know,
Speaker 1: you can't love all the podcasts equally, and I just
Speaker 1: get the feeling you love on this show. There's a
Speaker 1: lot more to do in terms of video production, a
Speaker 1: lot more going on on the scenes. DJ, so for
Speaker 1: right now is kind of like when you guys first started,
Speaker 1: as you know, the You Around the League podcast. You know,
Speaker 1: we gotta grow. We're not at this level just yet.
Speaker 1: You know this, a bit of the backhanded insult I
Speaker 1: would feel like happened just occurred. Is it possible that
Speaker 1: there's too much of you on that podcast? You have
Speaker 1: a large role in it. This is week's seventeen, folks,
Speaker 1: This is the end of the yellow brick road, a
Speaker 1: long regular season. Mark you you've been there, You've been
Speaker 1: down the road. This is the fifth regular season we've
Speaker 1: worked together at the NFL dot Com and another one's
Speaker 1: in the books, and a lot of stuff went down today.
Speaker 1: Did you like the Greg? Did you like it? It
Speaker 1: was great? I love that it was four five games
Speaker 1: are going on. Four of them had big time, meaning
Speaker 1: the NFC seating kept changing every ten minutes. Same thing
Speaker 1: happened early with the a f C wild Cards, which
Speaker 1: we'll get to. That's what you look for. And now
Speaker 1: we're ready to move on to January. I'm always happy,
Speaker 1: but probably the most competitive of all the ones that
Speaker 1: we've worked together, right down to the end. I know, personally,
Speaker 1: Dan and I follow a couple of teams that uh
Speaker 1: continued threat of total disaster shows. Yes, yes, which you'll
Speaker 1: get into a little bit later. And thank you Mark
Speaker 1: for going more macro there, because that's what I asked you, Greg,
Speaker 1: but you you stuck to just talking Sunday. I should
Speaker 1: you like the year? Did you like this year? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Aspects of it. I didn't like the beginning of the year.
Speaker 1: It was a great year at the end of the year. More,
Speaker 1: why what was so good about the end of the
Speaker 1: year less, you know, things that weren't I'm not even
Speaker 1: certain what we're talking about at this point. It's probably best,
Speaker 1: So why don't we get into the games? There were
Speaker 1: fifteen games played before Sunday Night Football, so every team
Speaker 1: played on Sunday. That only happens once a year, in
Speaker 1: Week seventeen. So let's get straight to it. We start
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field, where the Green Bay Packers clinched the
Speaker 1: NFC North in a first round by with a thirty
Speaker 1: over the Detroit Lions. The Packers survived to scare in
Speaker 1: the second quarter when Aaron Rodderers aggravated his cash strain
Speaker 1: was carded to the locker room. Rogers returned, sparked the win,
Speaker 1: come of the win, and then to me, locked up
Speaker 1: his MVP award with with it. But the big picture
Speaker 1: here is the Packers are the number two seed and
Speaker 1: are only behind the Seattle Seahawks and home Field. I
Speaker 1: think for a minute in the news room when we
Speaker 1: saw Rogers go down, it was a thought of not
Speaker 1: only does it, you know, look at what what how
Speaker 1: difference of this difference maker is for that team. The
Speaker 1: entire Super Bowl race completely altered because if there's one
Speaker 1: team that I look at that can challenge Seattle at
Speaker 1: home or in Seattle in the playoffs, it's Green Bay.
Speaker 1: When they're firing on all cylinders, I mean, they looked
Speaker 1: so average when he was gone. Here they go out
Speaker 1: of it. He actually hurts the calf moments before throwing
Speaker 1: a touchdown pastor Randall Coop to make it fourteen nothing.
Speaker 1: He misses the equivalent of half of a quarter I
Speaker 1: would say, of action, and it goes in fourteen zero
Speaker 1: to fourteen fourteen. He comes back in and they win
Speaker 1: thirty twenty. So you do the math. This guy is
Speaker 1: that important to the team, and he's got such a
Speaker 1: great swagger about him. Uh he I saw somewhere on
Speaker 1: Twitter that he came up to Matt Flynn, who filled
Speaker 1: in not so capably, uh in in Rogers's place, and said,
Speaker 1: I got this, went in, first touch, first drive back
Speaker 1: in touchdown, and the Packers never looked back. And you
Speaker 1: know when he comes back in the game, I mean
Speaker 1: this it wasn't just the season could end. It's like
Speaker 1: this game I didn't I wasn't even looking past this game.
Speaker 1: When the Lions come and score those two touchdowns and
Speaker 1: you think Rogers probably isn't coming back in, You're thinking
Speaker 1: the Lions are gonna win this division, and even if
Speaker 1: Rodgers gets to play next week, they're gonna be on
Speaker 1: the road and it's a whole disaster. And then they
Speaker 1: come in and do what everyone expected. It's really amazing
Speaker 1: that he facing that defensive line. Uh, Rogers just came
Speaker 1: back and didn't miss a beat, and he is not healthy.
Speaker 1: So this two week break is vital to not just
Speaker 1: Rogers ability to play at an MVB level, but the
Speaker 1: Packers to have any chance of advancing out of the
Speaker 1: NFC and getting past Seattle. I don't like the fact
Speaker 1: that you're just handing him the m v P. I mean, J. J. Watt,
Speaker 1: had he earned it, had another monster game, your boy.
Speaker 1: He went over twenty sacks on the year. He couldn't
Speaker 1: have a bigger impact than any defensive player we ever
Speaker 1: talked about. We'll get We're gonna get into that one.
Speaker 1: We at West on the phone about maybe that debate.
Speaker 1: But I think what Rogers did here, I thought it
Speaker 1: was beautiful the way, such a great season, one of
Speaker 1: the best seasons in recent memory for a quarterback. He
Speaker 1: capped it with a little Willis Reid magic at the
Speaker 1: end of the game. I think that will stick with voters.
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna that's gonna put him over the top.
Speaker 1: He's had a great year. If you're a Packers fan
Speaker 1: and you're in your forties, even it's been since that,
Speaker 1: you've had nothing but supreme play at quarterback, which drives
Speaker 1: me crazy. That's fair. And the other thing I was
Speaker 1: just thinking just now, and I wasn't gonna say it,
Speaker 1: but since you bring it up, if it was a
Speaker 1: Browns quarterback or a Jets quarterback that went down in
Speaker 1: a heap in the second quarter, his calf would have
Speaker 1: exploded inside his legs and he would he would miss
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and they would go out and play and
Speaker 1: then he'd never be the same player. But I don't
Speaker 1: know if the Packers gifted franchises like this. He's back
Speaker 1: in the second half and they win the game, and
Speaker 1: I'm not I don't want to be sour grapes, but
Speaker 1: it's true. Now that didn't sound sour grapes at l Well,
Speaker 1: they're gonna they're gonna be a playoff by and Rogers.
Speaker 1: With these seasons, Now that he's starting to stack up,
Speaker 1: I mean we're talking about old Packers quarterbacks. At some point,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be stacking up a career that we can
Speaker 1: talk about him versus five. I mean, if this is
Speaker 1: his second m v P, second MVP award, I think
Speaker 1: he's played this year better than he ever played before,
Speaker 1: and he already has an MVP award. La, La, We
Speaker 1: move on. So I said that the Packers have the
Speaker 1: number two seed, the number one seed the Seattle Seahawks,
Speaker 1: once again, the second year in a row, they are
Speaker 1: the top seeded team in the NFC. Pete Carrol's team
Speaker 1: rally back from a halftime deficit to lock up the
Speaker 1: NFC West title the victory over the St. Louis Rams.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks were down in six nothing at the half
Speaker 1: of this game, but took care of business. Now we're
Speaker 1: gonna get on the phone. He is not with us
Speaker 1: in studio today, as we said earlier, but we do
Speaker 1: have him on the line from Cincinnati, Ohio. He's a
Speaker 1: man that's been in Cincinnati for several days now. I
Speaker 1: can imagine his liver is probably in great danger. Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: How are you, buddy. I'm doing great. How very good?
Speaker 1: It's so good. Hearing his voice proves that he's alive. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm doing well, alright, very good. It's great to hear
Speaker 1: you us. So, the Seahawks down six nothing, they come
Speaker 1: back and win the game. Is there any reason to
Speaker 1: think though, that they could be vulnerable essentially late in
Speaker 1: the playoffs? Well, I don't think so. I don't think
Speaker 1: they're invincible, but I wouldn't use the word vulnerable. There. Defense,
Speaker 1: I think is better than it was at any point
Speaker 1: last year when they won the Super Bowl. The offense
Speaker 1: had two turnovers and a failed fourth down today, which
Speaker 1: made the game seem a lot closer than it really
Speaker 1: was for most of the first half. But they were
Speaker 1: clearly the better team and that and that game should
Speaker 1: have been a blowout today, But it was six nothing
Speaker 1: at the halftime. What about their progress on offense recently
Speaker 1: didn't show up? I mean that stunned me, just because
Speaker 1: the Rams look like a dead team last week getting
Speaker 1: trounced by the Giants, and then they go and it's
Speaker 1: a tie game here in the fourth quarter. Well, like
Speaker 1: I said, it was the two turnovers in the in
Speaker 1: the failed fourth town. That's what made it seem like it.
Speaker 1: The Seahawks in three or four times in many yards.
Speaker 1: I think here's the Rams at half and they were
Speaker 1: just down six to nothing because they turned the ball over.
Speaker 1: So to me, those were a couple of flute plays
Speaker 1: and they got back on track in the second half
Speaker 1: and pretty much dominated the game. Wesley and I see
Speaker 1: Lynch had eleven or fourteen carries and then they had
Speaker 1: Turban with eleven. What was going on there? Why the
Speaker 1: committee to situations? I have no idea. I didn't hear
Speaker 1: any explanation. They just decided to kind of rotate the
Speaker 1: two backs throughout the game. This whole Lynch thing's bizarre.
Speaker 1: Like he starts he misses the first quarter every other game.
Speaker 1: It seems now they're splitting carries with Turban. He did
Speaker 1: have a lost bumble today, maybe that was a factor
Speaker 1: in it. But it's just it's such a strange thing
Speaker 1: because he's playing great, and yet there's always this little
Speaker 1: extra stuf. Are they resting him tho, I mean that
Speaker 1: would make some sense maybe, I really, I really have
Speaker 1: no idea. There was back and forth between two games,
Speaker 1: and I didn't hear any mention of it, I would
Speaker 1: assume Turban was playing well, so maybe that factored into it.
Speaker 1: West we're burying the lead. By the way, though, that
Speaker 1: the St. Louis Rams didn't finished seven and nine, they
Speaker 1: finished six and ten? Was that a mistake and you know,
Speaker 1: bookkeeping or something? How did this happen? Well? Did they
Speaker 1: go night last year? Maybe they hit the kind of
Speaker 1: swing that that's seven eight wind Platzau that they love
Speaker 1: to hit. They didn't get there this year. What does
Speaker 1: it mean? Well, their quarterback was out all years, so
Speaker 1: maybe if Sam Brandford was in there, there would have
Speaker 1: got seven. That's What kind of setup do you have
Speaker 1: there in Cincinnati that you're working with. I am at
Speaker 1: my brother's house in a part of town called Cheviot. Okay,
Speaker 1: I mean, are you like in a basement by yourself?
Speaker 1: What you know? Are people all drinking and partying around you?
Speaker 1: What's happening? There's no drinking going on today. Everyone is
Speaker 1: recovering from the previous four or five days. Wow, that's
Speaker 1: an upset. Wait, Wesley and I downstairs. I put the
Speaker 1: over under at beers drank by Wesley at eighty. You've
Speaker 1: been there since Tuesday, so I think that's actually that's fair,
Speaker 1: that's maybe even conservative. Where does that land? Where do
Speaker 1: we land with that? I haven't came with them, but
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think they I will say this.
Speaker 1: Does that mean it's far more than for any of
Speaker 1: our younger listeners? You know, the key when it comes
Speaker 1: to ingesting alcohol is a drink responsibly inside the house.
Speaker 1: You know, you said, Lesling, that could count all all
Speaker 1: seven brothers. There are a lot of brothers are single
Speaker 1: handedly keeping the American beer industry afloat. All right, Let's
Speaker 1: move on to Marco Murray and Des Bryant each brookes
Speaker 1: single season franchise records, leading the Dallas Cowboys to a
Speaker 1: seventeen victory over the Washington Redskins on Sunday. The Cowboys
Speaker 1: finishing season at twelve and four and will host the
Speaker 1: Detroit Lions next weekend to Jerry World West, bring it
Speaker 1: back in. The Cowboys proved this all wrong this season.
Speaker 1: You buying in on the Boys as an NFC contender, Well,
Speaker 1: I buy in that they could beat the Lions in
Speaker 1: the first round. But after that, we'll see what happened
Speaker 1: if they go to Green Bay or Seattle. I don't
Speaker 1: think they're going into either one of those places and win. I. UM,
Speaker 1: I don't like one I'm seeing from DeMarco Murray. He
Speaker 1: had a hundred yards today. UM looked okay, but he's
Speaker 1: not explosive. A lot of it was because the Redskins
Speaker 1: were so bad at tackling today. UM, I don't think
Speaker 1: he's today. They're terrible at tackling every week. They were
Speaker 1: even worse today. Watch his touchdown run and it looks
Speaker 1: like they didn't even try. Um. I just don't think
Speaker 1: he's a tackle breaker that he was earlier in the year,
Speaker 1: and it looks like those carries are kind of taking
Speaker 1: their tool on his body. I'm kind of surprised for
Speaker 1: you to give up on the Lions so quickly, because
Speaker 1: that's kind of been your team. You did a very
Speaker 1: nice preseason call of them as a playoff team, and
Speaker 1: you got that right. I'm a little surprised. You're just
Speaker 1: assuming they're gonna lose it. Dallas, Well, they'll be the underdog, UM,
Speaker 1: And I think that's probably right, but I also think
Speaker 1: they could certainly go in there and beat them. It's
Speaker 1: just to me, I don't know. I saw I had
Speaker 1: the tackles game on in the background today and how
Speaker 1: many passes Stafford missed. UH and that's been a trend
Speaker 1: for him all year. So if he if he is
Speaker 1: not making passes, it's gonna be hard to back him.
Speaker 1: But they think overall they have a more talented team
Speaker 1: than than the Cowboys. And what about Tony Romo. I
Speaker 1: was seeing a lot of tweets out there that people
Speaker 1: are surprised that he was in this game for so long.
Speaker 1: He ended up throwing thirty four passes. UH played very
Speaker 1: well again and obviously one of the best, if not
Speaker 1: the best statistical season of his career. Why was he
Speaker 1: in for so long? I think um Jason Garretty had
Speaker 1: a different plan than every analyst and tweeter in America.
Speaker 1: Today was some kind of outrage about him playing his
Speaker 1: starters and he was clearly playing to win the game.
Speaker 1: I would have thought they would have take him Murray
Speaker 1: out when they got when they jumped out till its
Speaker 1: twenty seven to seven lead, but they kept him in
Speaker 1: and then the red Skins had a couple of players
Speaker 1: to get back in the game, and at that point
Speaker 1: it was probably too late to take them out. What
Speaker 1: you know, Robert Griffin, he goes in, he throws three
Speaker 1: thirty six yards touchdown in two picks. I mean they
Speaker 1: go into the offseason. I know there's a lot of reasons,
Speaker 1: but a couple of weeks ago to think he might
Speaker 1: not even be back with Washington next season, and you've
Speaker 1: watched him play a couple of weeks in a row.
Speaker 1: What's you take. I would not pay attention to the
Speaker 1: box for it all today. I thought he was terrible.
Speaker 1: He threw two red zone interceptions on back to back series,
Speaker 1: lost a fumble it was at a strip sack fumble
Speaker 1: that went for a touchdown deep in his own territory,
Speaker 1: and as too longest places of the game came on
Speaker 1: play action passes behind the line of scrimmage that de
Speaker 1: Sean Jackson and Pierreg Song did most of the work on.
Speaker 1: So I think the box score is incredibly misleading for
Speaker 1: him there. It has been all year. Really. There's a
Speaker 1: quote after the game j Grun when asked about Griffin,
Speaker 1: and the quote was a lot has to change. I
Speaker 1: immediately save that one for the morning people because that's
Speaker 1: that's a good better press. That's a good post there,
Speaker 1: And I do want to give Jason Garrett credit this
Speaker 1: is the opposite of kind of the old Jason Garry.
Speaker 1: I like the fact that they played to win this game.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense of Murray's out there for so long,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna kill a Cowboys team for stomping on
Speaker 1: a team on the road taking care of business. And
Speaker 1: for a few minute Sunday afternoon, it looked like the
Speaker 1: Cowboys were gonna get it by. You gotta take a
Speaker 1: chance and try to get that by. Yeah, and that's
Speaker 1: the final score is a really reflective. I mean, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys work control game. But at one point I believe
Speaker 1: it was twenty seven to twenty and then the RG
Speaker 1: three fumble happened, and another I think Dunbar had a
Speaker 1: long run, So it was it was kind of piling
Speaker 1: on at the end there. But you know, you can't
Speaker 1: argue with the Cowboys winning four games in a row
Speaker 1: and blowing teams out entered the playoffs. He said, there's
Speaker 1: there's the momentum you want, all right, So the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are going to the playoffs. One team that is not
Speaker 1: going to the playoffs as the Niners, who sent Jim
Speaker 1: harbow out a winner on Sunday, a victory over the
Speaker 1: Cardinals at the Jeans Youth Hostel in San Francisco. The
Speaker 1: Niners then an now shortly after the game that the
Speaker 1: team had quote mutually parted ways with Harbaugh, who, of
Speaker 1: course at the Niners to three NFC title games and
Speaker 1: one Super Bowl in his four years. So a huge
Speaker 1: move by the organization, one that we all saw coming
Speaker 1: for months, but finally official. West have the Niners to
Speaker 1: use a job phrase from rest of development. Well, the
Speaker 1: Niners one day look back at this and say, I've
Speaker 1: made a huge mistake. They're sending Jim Harball back to
Speaker 1: whence he came Um, college football, I guess, But um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they have. He has more wins and four
Speaker 1: and I think four years than they had the previous
Speaker 1: eight years, forty nine of them. He made a point
Speaker 1: to point that out in his postgame press conference. He
Speaker 1: thought it was fitting he's going out forty nine wins. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't think he's blameless in any of this. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously he wears out his wes welcome pretty easily, so
Speaker 1: he can't He's not blameless. And I don't know. I
Speaker 1: guess Trent Bulkings the power struggle, and I doubt that
Speaker 1: the owner was really behind Jim Harball for the for
Speaker 1: the last nine months. So there's there's a lot going
Speaker 1: on behind the scenes. But yeah, I think that the
Speaker 1: next coach they had will probably have a lot less
Speaker 1: success than than Jim Harball. If this was Frank Gore's
Speaker 1: last game as a forty nine or really these last two.
Speaker 1: I know they ended up losing the Chargers game, but
Speaker 1: he had a myster performance for him to put up
Speaker 1: a hundred and forty four yards in his last game
Speaker 1: in San Francisco and run out the clock on the
Speaker 1: end and help deliver a victory for the around the
Speaker 1: NFL crew, We've had a year long competition against our
Speaker 1: feature departments and picks, and this forty Niners win clinched
Speaker 1: it for and and it is a greg a very
Speaker 1: greg like moved to get behind the inconvenient truth at
Speaker 1: a time when you know most people can put the
Speaker 1: focus on hardball, you gotta get the inconvenient truth. Whatever
Speaker 1: it was. Game said after the game of his press
Speaker 1: or where he was very reflective, he said, Frank Gore
Speaker 1: is gonna be playing football somewhere next year. And you know,
Speaker 1: louded how great he played, how how funny was that
Speaker 1: the whole press conference was weird. When he left the
Speaker 1: press conference, they literally announced the move one minute later,
Speaker 1: so they were waiting till his press conference ended, then
Speaker 1: they announced the move. He quoted dirty Dancing. Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: had the time of my life. And he's like, it's
Speaker 1: like that song and he's got a smile on his face.
Speaker 1: What a weird. It's a perfect way for him to
Speaker 1: go out up because that he his press conferences were
Speaker 1: stuff of legend. And I guess if he's going to
Speaker 1: Michigan or wherever that's uh, you know, he's gonna do
Speaker 1: well there too. And it only sets up by the
Speaker 1: way hardball he's gonna he won like crazy at the
Speaker 1: NFL level. He's gonna go to Michigan. I'm sure their
Speaker 1: program will get better with him there, and then another
Speaker 1: four or five years from now he will be a
Speaker 1: guy that gets paid more than any coach in the
Speaker 1: history of the NFL. With some sad sack franchise, I'll
Speaker 1: guess it will be the Dolphins pays him all the
Speaker 1: money in the world to bring him back to the
Speaker 1: national I'm surprised that he's going to college football. I
Speaker 1: know the money is massive, and as we tape this,
Speaker 1: we don't know it officially, but it sure looks that one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I think that there's something about
Speaker 1: him in the NFL that clicked, and I I thought
Speaker 1: it all along he would want to put another NFL team.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's about the money and Rappaport, you know, reports
Speaker 1: is more than eight million dollars a year, which is
Speaker 1: insane money. It's more than any NFL coach is making
Speaker 1: except for maybe Bill Belichick, which we don't know. Before
Speaker 1: we move on, we know the Cardinals are going to Carolina, Chris,
Speaker 1: do you have any Cardinals Ryan Linley as the starter
Speaker 1: thoughts going into the park for it. It's it's hard
Speaker 1: to kind of take apart his game and feel like
Speaker 1: the Cardinals have a chance to go in to win.
Speaker 1: I mean, he had his best two drives of his
Speaker 1: career to open the game and then to close out
Speaker 1: the first half, the two touchdown drives, and then he
Speaker 1: threw three interceptions and had one more that was in
Speaker 1: and out of the hands of a defensive back with
Speaker 1: no wide receiver within five yards of him. So it
Speaker 1: should have been at least four interceptions had Happy Feet
Speaker 1: stared down. His receivers still look like Ryan Linley. But
Speaker 1: I guess a little bit of progress, and I still think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's gonna be funny to see a team
Speaker 1: with four more wins in their opponent go in and
Speaker 1: be an underdog on the road in the playoffs. It's annoying.
Speaker 1: They should change the rules and you should be able
Speaker 1: to host this help that to happen. Yeah, And if
Speaker 1: the Cardinals were going to be a playoff factor this
Speaker 1: year with their backup quarterbacks, they needed to be with defense.
Speaker 1: And they gave up almost six hundred yards last week,
Speaker 1: and they gave up almost four hundred yards here to
Speaker 1: allows forty Niners offense. So they're not really playing well
Speaker 1: at any West. We're gonna bring you back in a
Speaker 1: little bit to talk a little J. J. Watt and
Speaker 1: the m v P race. All right, Okay, so the
Speaker 1: Cardinals lose and they are not They are going to
Speaker 1: the postseason, and the Carolina Panthers are also going. That
Speaker 1: will be the opponent of the Panthers, who won the
Speaker 1: NFC South with a convincing thirty four three victory over
Speaker 1: the Falcons at the Georgia Dome. It's hard to walk
Speaker 1: into the Georgia Dome and win. But now they did it.
Speaker 1: The Pathers did it. They finished seven eight and one
Speaker 1: UH four game winning streak. They'll host the Cardinals next week.
Speaker 1: Greg the Pathers run the historically in f NFC South,
Speaker 1: it was Ron Rivera's dream game. He won a game
Speaker 1: by thirty one points in which is leading receiver caught
Speaker 1: one pass for twenty eight yards. I mean, that's Ron Rivera.
Speaker 1: He just wants to run the ball. And they did
Speaker 1: it for a hundred ninety four yards. And they found
Speaker 1: an identity over this last four weeks with the run
Speaker 1: game with Jonathan Stewart, with Cam Newton as a big
Speaker 1: part of the run game, and a pass rush that
Speaker 1: they didn't have early in the year mostly Charles Johnson,
Speaker 1: but Startle had a big day today, Coney Eli's popping
Speaker 1: up a little bit here and there, and and they've
Speaker 1: looked like a team that is kind of playoff ready.
Speaker 1: I don't like this matchup for Arizona also because of
Speaker 1: the way Caroline is Secondary is playing. I thought they
Speaker 1: did a very good job against Cleveland last week and
Speaker 1: then today they held Julio Jones to fifty eight yards. Well,
Speaker 1: I think It starts with the pass rush. Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: had a terrible game. He threw two pick six is
Speaker 1: he averaged in the Gabbard zone five point five, but
Speaker 1: it was because he was forcing passes while under pressure Roman.
Speaker 1: When Roman Harper is returning the ball for a pick
Speaker 1: six with his gray hair, you know you got problems.
Speaker 1: But first of all, you know it's okay that have
Speaker 1: some gray hair. Second of all, last week you said
Speaker 1: that it was Matt Ryan's division NFC South. You said
Speaker 1: he took it from Drew Brees. But how about Cam
Speaker 1: Newton sticking it in Rosenthal's face, saying, take this pipe
Speaker 1: and smoke it through yards. No, maybe I'm the best
Speaker 1: quarterback in the back to back NFC South champions, and
Speaker 1: that's never happened. No one's ever gone back to back
Speaker 1: to run the out it is Cam Newton's division. I
Speaker 1: think I thought Matt Ryan had a better year overall,
Speaker 1: but there's no doubt who is the bigger difference maker
Speaker 1: over the last month. I mean, Newton missed that game.
Speaker 1: Derrick Anderson kept it moving. But you saw it in
Speaker 1: the Browns game. This guy just got a car accident.
Speaker 1: That's the amazing thing. Four wins that are narrative. In
Speaker 1: the middle of this thing, his car tumbles three times
Speaker 1: over an intersection, you know, and he's back a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks later, and he's winning games in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: The box score show six rushes for fifty one yards
Speaker 1: in a touchdown, which looks good but it's not insane.
Speaker 1: But those were such big plays in this game, and
Speaker 1: so many of them looked like they were gonna be
Speaker 1: a sack to set up either third and twenty five
Speaker 1: or just to punt it, and instead he gets out
Speaker 1: and ends up running for fifteen yards. That that was
Speaker 1: the big difference in this game. I saw that last
Speaker 1: week to where he was a converting third downs with
Speaker 1: his feet, and you know, a lot of the times
Speaker 1: with running quarterbacks, it's oh, they take off at the
Speaker 1: wrong times, that's what they trust more. But not with
Speaker 1: Newton recently, looks like he's making good decisions when to
Speaker 1: run and killed Cleveland last week. Obviously did a nice
Speaker 1: job today as well. For the record, And I don't
Speaker 1: know if I'm going out on a limb on this,
Speaker 1: but I would be He's shocked if the Panthers lose
Speaker 1: next week to the Cardinals, who you know, they don't
Speaker 1: have a quarterback and they're just too many losses. They're
Speaker 1: playing in Charlotte. I think the Panthers are gonna win
Speaker 1: convincingly and advance of the divisional playoffs. Got a week
Speaker 1: to talk about that we do. We do twelve quarterback
Speaker 1: hits in this game in six sacks for the Panthers.
Speaker 1: That was impressive. I don't I don't totally rule Bruce Arians.
Speaker 1: Nobody can believe in us out. But you're right, they
Speaker 1: look they look like the better team, but we're just
Speaker 1: we shouldn't. Well, you're not going to deal with Atlanta's
Speaker 1: offensive line next week, not that Arizona. Is this a
Speaker 1: whole lot better and and we're probably not gonna deal
Speaker 1: we should say with Mike Smith next year as an
Speaker 1: NFL head coach, and he seems like a great guy,
Speaker 1: but this was the opposite of everything he preached in
Speaker 1: the preseason, and which was running and toughness. All they
Speaker 1: can do is throw the ball little bit, and I
Speaker 1: think by the time a lot of people listen to this,
Speaker 1: he won't be the coach. How the Falcons and Jets
Speaker 1: very conveniently switch head coaches. I see Rex Ryan going
Speaker 1: to Atlanta reforming that team, and then the Jets getting
Speaker 1: Mike Smith, who I like that he brings an era
Speaker 1: of calm to the Jets. Calm hell, both of you.
Speaker 1: You know what, you know what, Mike Rex. As I
Speaker 1: said in the last show, Rex needs to go somewhere.
Speaker 1: There's an established quarterback. Matt Ryan is the guy, but
Speaker 1: I don't want to play in that massole. And a
Speaker 1: lot of people feel like at is a very good
Speaker 1: good selection for Rex. That there's good jobs available this year.
Speaker 1: I mean San Francisco is an incredible job and Atlanta
Speaker 1: is a really good job, I think just because of
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan and Julia Jones. Alright, so we move on.
Speaker 1: The Eagles will not be one of the teams in
Speaker 1: the postseason this year, but they closed out their season
Speaker 1: with a thirty four win over the Giants at the Meadowlands.
Speaker 1: The Eagles survived another monster day from Odell Beckham Jr.
Speaker 1: And avoided the dreaded nine and three to nine and
Speaker 1: seven fade. I don't think we need to get too
Speaker 1: far into this game. We got a lot of games
Speaker 1: to get to of more consequence, but I guess just
Speaker 1: the middle post mortem for the Eagles and the Giants, gentlemen,
Speaker 1: I think Philly. I mean, if your Chip Kelly, You've
Speaker 1: got to think about two years in a row underwhelming
Speaker 1: quarterbacks have been able to work this offense to some degree.
Speaker 1: But the Eagles passed up on a quarterback in the
Speaker 1: draft last year. Now it looks look well, look ridiculous.
Speaker 1: But they passed up on man'zelle. Now that looks smart
Speaker 1: at this point. But a couple of other but a
Speaker 1: couple of other quarterbacks too they could have had. And
Speaker 1: so do you go into next season there in the
Speaker 1: quarterback market. I think they have to be. They have to,
Speaker 1: whether it's free agency or the draft. You have to
Speaker 1: be adding and offers nothing. So it's got to be
Speaker 1: the draft that's fair. And what about the Giants? It
Speaker 1: was Tom coffin back, yes, and no Mark greg Yes.
Speaker 1: I expect that. Ian Rabbitport reported it was looking that way.
Speaker 1: They had five dred yards of offense again this week, uh,
Speaker 1: this time against Philly. Last week it was against the Rams.
Speaker 1: The offense was humming at the end of the season.
Speaker 1: They weren't efficient in this game, so they ended up losing.
Speaker 1: But I think you gotta stick with what's working. You
Speaker 1: don't want Eli had to start all over. I think
Speaker 1: confident will be they'll probably get it. Maybe a new
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, get rid of Perry Fuel. By the way,
Speaker 1: this offense was very good this year. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: with Eli Manning having the best statistical season perhaps of
Speaker 1: his career. And next year you get Victor Cruz back.
Speaker 1: Hopefully he comes back like Victor Cruz of old and
Speaker 1: you've got uh, you know, Odell Beckham was I think
Speaker 1: in a touch today, if I'm Ben, it's insane the
Speaker 1: run Beckham's. If I'm Ben McAdoo, I buy Odell Beckham
Speaker 1: like a horse drawn carriage that leads to a brick
Speaker 1: in mortar mansion somewhere in upstate New York that he
Speaker 1: could just spend his offseason and he saved his job.
Speaker 1: I like that, alright. So the you know, the Johnson Eagles,
Speaker 1: they're sad teams, but no one's sadder than the Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay Buccaneers, who blew a fourteen points second half lead
Speaker 1: lost the New Orleans Saints. The Bucks do get a
Speaker 1: nice consolation prize, however, in the form of the number
Speaker 1: one overall pick in the two thousand fifteen NFL draft. Uh. Gentleman,
Speaker 1: we have to assume that topic will be spent on
Speaker 1: a quarterback, right Josh McCown and Mike Glenn and the
Speaker 1: NFL's worst dancer. They it comes down to if there's
Speaker 1: a quarterback that people really all we're hearing and we
Speaker 1: don't know anything about the college players for the most part,
Speaker 1: speak yourself, well, Dan, you last watched the college game
Speaker 1: in Honestly, like, I'm not sure there is a number
Speaker 1: one pick quarterback now. We don't know anything now. And
Speaker 1: it's not just us. I mean Daniel Jeremiah, as much
Speaker 1: as he knows, doesn't know who the number one pick is.
Speaker 1: We're not even sure who in this very studio that
Speaker 1: everyone is excited about Marcus Mariota being the god. Maybe
Speaker 1: he's not a guy that you should necessarily count as
Speaker 1: being a real NFL player. But what a way to
Speaker 1: lose this game. It was a what was it? Sixteen?
Speaker 1: Nothing in the quarter? It's the one person that watched
Speaker 1: this game. No, I didn't. I didn't watch it. Dan
Speaker 1: actually did. But I'm just saying they were up two
Speaker 1: scorers going into the fourth quarter and they were gonna
Speaker 1: lose that number one pick to Tennessee. Who knows who
Speaker 1: that one pick will be, but maybe that'll change the
Speaker 1: fortunes of the Bucks. The fact that Josh mc down
Speaker 1: couldn't get it done against this lousy Saints and Josh
Speaker 1: account stinks. I don't care what anybody says on the
Speaker 1: other side of the ball. I'm curious, you know. I
Speaker 1: feel like that was a shot at West, but he's
Speaker 1: not here. I don't want no, I don't want to
Speaker 1: take shots at West, but I just never bought it
Speaker 1: on account. But I will say that the Saints shut
Speaker 1: out the Bucks on the second half. I know, not
Speaker 1: a big, big achievement, but Rob Ryan all pumped up
Speaker 1: on the sidelines at the end of the game. So
Speaker 1: maybe that's where you can make a case a keep
Speaker 1: me for a third year. Do you think rob Bryan
Speaker 1: gets a shot to again, uh, you know, revitalize his
Speaker 1: career after a terrible sophomore season in New Orleans. I do.
Speaker 1: I think he'll be back. You know, Kenny Vacaro, who
Speaker 1: might not be the greatest source in the world, which
Speaker 1: is weird, said Rob Ryan will be back last week.
Speaker 1: I do. I think Sean Payton and him get along
Speaker 1: and they want to turn it around. But this is
Speaker 1: a team we we've mentioned here to just kind of
Speaker 1: keep an eye on. I don't know if do you
Speaker 1: think they get along? I think so. I think. I
Speaker 1: mean they yell at each other on the sidelines, but
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of respect there. I think
Speaker 1: compared to Spagnolo for instance, who was there, and some
Speaker 1: other defensive coordinators, you know, fighting who becomes of available.
Speaker 1: Because the bottom line whether or not you you buy
Speaker 1: into Rob Bryant, like statistically his defenses have never really
Speaker 1: been good outside of two seasons. It does feel a
Speaker 1: little odd though that after such a disappointing season, and
Speaker 1: this is this is a dread, there's a Super Bowl contender.
Speaker 1: A lot of people thought that now there would be
Speaker 1: no changes after season. This is bad for the same thing.
Speaker 1: Usually it's a coordinator that's to bite the dust, to
Speaker 1: pay to pay the price. Right, that's a good point.
Speaker 1: Something could happen, maybe them the Denver Let's move to
Speaker 1: the a f C. The Denver Broncos locked up the
Speaker 1: number two seed in the conference with a forty seven
Speaker 1: fourteen pasting of the Oakland Raiders. Mark Sessler Peyton Manning
Speaker 1: didn't throw a touchdown past in this game. But forty
Speaker 1: seven points tells us there should be no panic about
Speaker 1: this offense. As we had to January. He didn't need to.
Speaker 1: He didn't need to have one of those games where he's,
Speaker 1: you know, ripping the defense through the air. I mean
Speaker 1: he he threw for two hundred and seventy three yards.
Speaker 1: He looked sharper obviously than he did to me on
Speaker 1: Monday night. This was the conditions were different. This was
Speaker 1: his kind of game. Land's defense. You know, Khalil mac
Speaker 1: was not healthy. I think he's been dealing with that
Speaker 1: hamstring and it really came down to Denver just getting
Speaker 1: early lead and just nursing it. I mean, this is
Speaker 1: this is the Oakland Raiders. What do you want me
Speaker 1: to tell you? By the way, too many although Tony's
Speaker 1: Bruno buried the balls, UH some nice wins in the
Speaker 1: back half of the season or the in the twelve
Speaker 1: games and coach, but too many of these losses I
Speaker 1: would think for him to be considered on any level
Speaker 1: to uh to get the interim tag removed. This was
Speaker 1: probably his last coaching hurrah in Oakland. That was something
Speaker 1: that that I thought to watching this game because there's
Speaker 1: been with their offense especially you've got a game like
Speaker 1: last week where Car and the whole thing, the attack
Speaker 1: looks good, and then you think there's there's promise. But
Speaker 1: then the next week they go out and they had
Speaker 1: something like the six of their like six of the
Speaker 1: first eight drives had a negative yardage. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: like they completely melt down when they deal with the
Speaker 1: better teams. So they've got to get someone in there
Speaker 1: that can get more talent, protect Car better, and just
Speaker 1: build that team around him like Car too. But I
Speaker 1: don't think that's happening when we all expected. It would
Speaker 1: have been a stunner if the Broncos and my loss,
Speaker 1: but it is big for them because they're banged up
Speaker 1: at linebacker and other positions. To get healthy. Get that
Speaker 1: by get a home game in the divisional round, hope
Speaker 1: that the Patriots lose and who knows, and then you
Speaker 1: could get a home game. Most likely they're more likely
Speaker 1: to go to Foxborough for the a f C Championship.
Speaker 1: They do. Get Ronnie Hillman back here today at least
Speaker 1: getting a lot of carries wouldn't surprise me if he's
Speaker 1: a big factor in the playoffs. And how about the
Speaker 1: Marius Thomas that like him going over six yards this year,
Speaker 1: franchise record big. By the way, I still resent anybody
Speaker 1: that picked up C. J. Anderson on waivers and Fantasy
Speaker 1: nine touchdowns and three today, you're all garbage. That seems harsh.
Speaker 1: Let's move on. The Baltimore Ravens locked up the sixth
Speaker 1: seed in the a f C Playoffs with over the
Speaker 1: skidding Cleveland Browns. Mark Joe Flacco in the Ravens offensive
Speaker 1: struggled in December. Do we believe the light will turn
Speaker 1: on in January? We know what happened last time Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco played in the playoffs. It's weird because I don't
Speaker 1: see one thing about Baltimore that tells me why they
Speaker 1: have completely fallen apart on offense the last few Today
Speaker 1: today it looks like you look at the score and
Speaker 1: you look at the fourth quarter and maybe they bounced back,
Speaker 1: but you're right, and left tackle are injured and they're
Speaker 1: not playing. I think that's one thing that really today.
Speaker 1: Cleveland put a lot of pressure on Flacco, and I
Speaker 1: think that seven of the first eight drives into a
Speaker 1: punt or one of them was they went forward on
Speaker 1: fourth down in the red zone and didn't get it.
Speaker 1: So Cleveland did a very nice job defensively secondary shutdown
Speaker 1: Baltimore's receivers. Then Flacco. You know, they just got hot
Speaker 1: at the end. They got hot and they and they
Speaker 1: started to make some big plays down the stretch. But really,
Speaker 1: I I would be concerned about the Ravens in general.
Speaker 1: I don't think I think they're one and done in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I mean, they got blasted by Houston. That
Speaker 1: was a blood bath. How dominant the defense of the
Speaker 1: Texans was in a big game for Baltimore last week.
Speaker 1: They don't have the two tackles and they're losing ten
Speaker 1: six midway through the fourth quarter to Connor Shop. You
Speaker 1: gotta give him credit for winning the game that you
Speaker 1: gotta win. But this is a run based offense, number one.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that's what they want to be
Speaker 1: and they can't do They haven't been able to do that.
Speaker 1: When you've got your left and right tackle on the game.
Speaker 1: I know, people don't you know what's so what's happened
Speaker 1: to the wide receiver in the right So well, no,
Speaker 1: they fundamentally have like two far vastly less interesting players
Speaker 1: in there at those positions. They do get back, Uh,
Speaker 1: what I think was a first team O Pro this
Speaker 1: year in Helodi Nada for the playoffs. So that's a
Speaker 1: nice little it's a nice little addition to the team.
Speaker 1: You know, you got one of your best players. Defense
Speaker 1: hasn't been their problem though, at least not today. Damask
Speaker 1: floated Nada as a Jenga piece his theory that every
Speaker 1: team has a player that they cannot live without. They
Speaker 1: have not been the same team with him out of
Speaker 1: the out of the lineup. But maybe that's not the
Speaker 1: main reason. Mark. Let's talk about the Browns a little bit,
Speaker 1: because let's not and I know, I know, I said this,
Speaker 1: I said this downstairs that they're sitting at seven and four. Uh,
Speaker 1: And it seemed like, no matter what would happen, even
Speaker 1: if they didn't make the playoffs, this would be seen
Speaker 1: as a season of growth for the organization, and perhaps
Speaker 1: it is in terms of stability at up top. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, it could not have ended worse
Speaker 1: with the five game losing streak. Manzell goes gets in
Speaker 1: plays terribly, then gets hurt, then he has some more
Speaker 1: off the field issues missing. Uh what was it a
Speaker 1: some type of treatment session and got a five house
Speaker 1: party basically and then had a house party that apparently
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon maybe went to and that led to him
Speaker 1: missing a walk through and got him suspended. Justin Gilbert
Speaker 1: is hated by every player on the roster. He's a
Speaker 1: first round pick. So I mean, the what's it transpired
Speaker 1: over the last five weeks is an absolute nightmare. That
Speaker 1: really puts into puts into concern what this franchise is
Speaker 1: gonna do in the offseason. That's that was again predictable.
Speaker 1: If you had had a house party dropped somehow in
Speaker 1: their little kid in play action, that would have been
Speaker 1: something the way to be prepared TV. I know you're
Speaker 1: going that route, but I did think about that though.
Speaker 1: That was weird in the house party three, by the way,
Speaker 1: when out of nowhere a kid who was only famous
Speaker 1: for his big high top showed up with dreads or
Speaker 1: he got dreads as part of them. I thinking of
Speaker 1: a Class Act Act actually a pivotal moment. Your knowledge
Speaker 1: of it, Your knowledge is much more than I anticipated.
Speaker 1: Class Act is a terrible movie. But anyway, what were
Speaker 1: we talking about? The Browns. They're an embarrassment. I just
Speaker 1: look at It's so weird because I'll never forget. I
Speaker 1: went over to watch that that lashing of the Bengals
Speaker 1: when they went six and three. After that and sat
Speaker 1: alone atop the a f C. North, I thought the
Speaker 1: same thing. At worst they go nine and seven and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of, you know, reasons for hope, and
Speaker 1: they maybe even have two quarterbacks, not one. And now
Speaker 1: you find out basically after this week they had the
Speaker 1: same questions they did last offseason, which is, what's up
Speaker 1: with Josh Gordon in the future of our team? Do
Speaker 1: we have anything at quarterback? Do we need to start
Speaker 1: over there? You know, there's basically what's the situation with
Speaker 1: our front office? Can they pick players? There's so much
Speaker 1: they're they're gonna keep petting and they're gonna keep Ray Farmer.
Speaker 1: That's you know, you have a coach and a coordinator
Speaker 1: that you like, an offensive coordinator, that's those are two
Speaker 1: big things. A lot of people I understand the circus
Speaker 1: route with Cleveland that all these players are going crazy.
Speaker 1: And the thing is, anyone that's been watching Cleveland since
Speaker 1: that's not unusual. This has been happening a lot, but
Speaker 1: none of those players have been held accountable. Isn't that
Speaker 1: the biggest disappointment though that we're even talking about this
Speaker 1: after we did. But I like Petton at least saying,
Speaker 1: you know what, if you're not going to respect your
Speaker 1: teammates and be all in for your team, you're not
Speaker 1: gonna play and and and you know, and some can say,
Speaker 1: is Petton's culture one of the reasons this is happening.
Speaker 1: I don't know Hasn'll find out, hasn't made some strong
Speaker 1: statements saying, doesn't matter what round you were drafted, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll get rid of guys. Essentially, I'm paraphrasing, you know,
Speaker 1: if they don't turn around. I mean, the problem is
Speaker 1: Gilbert and Manzel are too prominent guys featured here. They're
Speaker 1: the first round picks. Manzel's supposedly the future quarterback, and
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon is the best player on the team other
Speaker 1: than Joe Thomas, and he's he was suspended for the game,
Speaker 1: so I don't even know if he's gonna be back
Speaker 1: on the team. I sort of expect that they're just
Speaker 1: gonna give up on Joshua. One last thing. You can't
Speaker 1: just give up on Josh Gordon. Have him wind up
Speaker 1: on the Bengals next season though, or something. I mean you, uh,
Speaker 1: you just can't control and he's not he's not helping
Speaker 1: the team. You've said it yourself, Mark, This offense was fine.
Speaker 1: They weren't like Gangbusters, but they were fine until Gordon
Speaker 1: showed up, which is ironic, and they went in the tank. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they also made a quarterback switch to someone that's
Speaker 1: not prepared to play the Well, you said you thought
Speaker 1: Connor Shaw looked better than Johnny Man. I didn't think
Speaker 1: anyone to watch the game would say. I mean it
Speaker 1: was he was serviceable, He looked comfortable, he looked prepared.
Speaker 1: I thought the worst first round of the last ten
Speaker 1: years was the Browns in two thousand twelve with Whedon
Speaker 1: and Richardson. They might have doubled down early, but it
Speaker 1: is early. But I would say that after one year.
Speaker 1: After one year when it was Whedon and Richardson, there
Speaker 1: was a lot of reason to think that Richardson was
Speaker 1: a very promising player. You can't look at Gilbert right now.
Speaker 1: Major figures on this Browns team went after justin Gilbert
Speaker 1: in the press, which only lets you know that something
Speaker 1: bad is going on behind the scenes with that guy.
Speaker 1: Man Zell seems like a train wreck. So we believe
Speaker 1: in wake up halls for in these situations, and that
Speaker 1: doesn't often. I give Gilbert a better chance just because
Speaker 1: he plays cornerback than Manzel, but either way, it's not good.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on. Justin Houston recorded four sacks,
Speaker 1: following one half sacks short of the sham NFL record
Speaker 1: held by Michael stra straighthand leaving the Chief's hot take
Speaker 1: scorching pack to a nineteen seven win over the Chargers.
Speaker 1: It was a winning in scenario for the team of
Speaker 1: around the NFL, but Greg, the Chargers just had too
Speaker 1: many injuries to pull off another unlikely wind. Well, let's
Speaker 1: stop calling them the team of a t L. We
Speaker 1: we chose them, and they were official, but they were
Speaker 1: never in our hearts. We picked totally against them. Against
Speaker 1: San Francisco, I thought Philip Rivers had an amazing singular
Speaker 1: performance to come back in that game. But what the
Speaker 1: team showed up today is the team that they were
Speaker 1: a mediocre team that had no one on offense, that
Speaker 1: was gonna die in the playoffs. Super Sunday A super
Speaker 1: sorry to talk over you. Well, I'm having a hard
Speaker 1: time collecting myself. I'm sure the listeners are feeling the
Speaker 1: same way after that kind of you never were on
Speaker 1: board with this team to begin with. Greg I liked him,
Speaker 1: I liked them early in the year, but it just
Speaker 1: I thought it became clear that they were a team
Speaker 1: on defense that was just didn't really have an identity,
Speaker 1: not a good enough pass rush. Kansas City, They're not
Speaker 1: that good, but at least you knew what they were here.
Speaker 1: I mean Justin Houston, Tom Boie. They were getting after
Speaker 1: Philip Rivers today. That was the difference, and it shouldn't
Speaker 1: have been nineteen seven. I thought Andy Reid coached the
Speaker 1: terrible game. If he didn't let Chase Daniel throw so
Speaker 1: much in key situations, especially in the red zone, I
Speaker 1: think it would have been a blowout because they looked
Speaker 1: far better. And if J. J. Watt didn't have a
Speaker 1: transformative season and was just blowing everyone away and placing
Speaker 1: himself among the legends. Justin Houston's a defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year, but he just Houston bad time to have
Speaker 1: such a magical it's weird. It's like going completely under
Speaker 1: the radar what he's done. From a sack count perspective.
Speaker 1: In any other season, it would have been something good.
Speaker 1: Every week. That's a good point. He had about five
Speaker 1: plays at the end of the game where he could
Speaker 1: have tried to where he could have broken the record.
Speaker 1: One of him he got close to Rivers, and West
Speaker 1: has pointed out often that Houston's really good at run
Speaker 1: defense too, so he's one of the best defensive players
Speaker 1: in the league. At least they have something there to
Speaker 1: build off of. It felt like they maxed out of
Speaker 1: their talent, though, which is not good. When you go
Speaker 1: nine and seven. It's like, I don't think this Chief's
Speaker 1: team could have done any better than this. If I'm
Speaker 1: a Chiefs fan, I just I want to see something
Speaker 1: different on offense next season. I'm not saying blow up
Speaker 1: the machine, but you cannot. You cannot expect to go
Speaker 1: back to the playoffs with a scenario where you don't
Speaker 1: throw a touchdown to a wide receiver all season. This
Speaker 1: is not Pop Warner. That is absolute outrage. I think
Speaker 1: Albert Wilson's okay, they bow came happy yard short, fumbled,
Speaker 1: and Kelsey it's almost like he tried to do it
Speaker 1: there by the way, I remember I made a somewhat
Speaker 1: you know, joking making the leap for Chase Daniel that
Speaker 1: last seas. Oh yeah, well he did it one year later.
Speaker 1: Her victory the key victory here today. That's pretty bad though,
Speaker 1: when a little grim for the Chiefs, when there's Alex
Speaker 1: Smith goes out with a lacerated spleen and then Chase
Speaker 1: Daniels comes in and you don't miss a beat. I
Speaker 1: don't think there was a huge downgrade with the way
Speaker 1: that he's used to. There were some quotes before the
Speaker 1: game from the Charges They're like, we don't think it's
Speaker 1: that big a difference between Daniel and Smith, and I
Speaker 1: think that's somewhat true. I mean, Smith is better, I
Speaker 1: think over time, but it's not what didn't look like
Speaker 1: that big a difference for someone with the last name
Speaker 1: Daniel Dan It's it's tastes Daniel, not Daniels. We really
Speaker 1: dislike it when people add an s on the back end.
Speaker 1: Hey listen, I am, and do you dislike it? Who's
Speaker 1: we imlogged in the well? That would make if I
Speaker 1: if I did that, that was an error. But you
Speaker 1: don't say I'm an outsider in the Daniel game because
Speaker 1: I'm in your sat Daniel by the way, so you
Speaker 1: know you're looking down on everyone Daniel by the way. Well,
Speaker 1: it still ends. Many said of names do you have?
Speaker 1: Don't worry about it, man, you're mysterious. You name yourself
Speaker 1: after a touchdown, and then you have your last name
Speaker 1: begins with saint. I think we're starting to see some
Speaker 1: sort of unified theme here. The big takeaway TV potential fraud.
Speaker 1: I just don't know where to go with this. All right,
Speaker 1: So the Chargers aren't going into the playoffs. Neither are
Speaker 1: the Houston Texans. However, J J. Watt bolstered his MVP
Speaker 1: argument with three sacks, including a fourth quarter safety that
Speaker 1: helped lifted lift the Texans to a seventeen win over
Speaker 1: the Jaguars. Watt finishes the season with twenty sacks, becoming
Speaker 1: the first player in NFL history to do that twice.
Speaker 1: Since that staff became official on nine two, It's time
Speaker 1: to bring back Chris Westling on the phone, West What
Speaker 1: else does Justin James Watt have to do to win
Speaker 1: an MVP award? Expositions, I know, I know Greg is
Speaker 1: driving this train that JJ Watt for m v P trains,
Speaker 1: and I won't have any problem if he wins it.
Speaker 1: But to me, Aaron Rodgers is the best player in
Speaker 1: the NFL and clearly the most valuable to his team.
Speaker 1: Do you think the Texans would have won today if
Speaker 1: it wasn't for what I didn't watch the game. Uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they probably would have, but it would have
Speaker 1: been close. I mean, it could have on either way.
Speaker 1: If he didn't play, they were in control most of
Speaker 1: the game. Portals came back and scored late, but the
Speaker 1: Jack Wars offense was pretty useless all day. They have
Speaker 1: one pick six on case Keenum that was there was
Speaker 1: a big part of that game. Nine and seven. They
Speaker 1: go and this is not a lot of people are
Speaker 1: saying the same thing, but it is absolutely true. This
Speaker 1: is a three and thirteen, four and twelve team that
Speaker 1: happens to have the best defensive player potentially since Lawrence
Speaker 1: Taylor and their nine and seven and they missed the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But you know, if I'm a Texans fan, I feel
Speaker 1: great because I have a once in a generation superstar
Speaker 1: just hitting his prime. I just need to locate that
Speaker 1: quarterback and we're gonna be okay. This Texans team reminds
Speaker 1: me a little bit. That's a good point about lot.
Speaker 1: They remind me a little bit of the Dolphins team
Speaker 1: when Pennington came there and one come back player of
Speaker 1: the Year, and they had the easiest schedule we had
Speaker 1: ever seen in one eleven games, and people thought they
Speaker 1: would be good the next year. The Texans have one
Speaker 1: of the easiest schedules this year that we've seen in
Speaker 1: a long time, and it don't be surprised if they
Speaker 1: take a step back next year. Yeah, I agree with
Speaker 1: the schedule. I do think they played their best at
Speaker 1: the end because the defense, other than what was very
Speaker 1: generic most of the season, and they made the Ravens
Speaker 1: last week look like an amateur hour. I mean that
Speaker 1: was a blood bath. They have boardles go fourteen for
Speaker 1: thirty three today. They were playing pretty good. They would
Speaker 1: have been more dangerous I think in the playoffs than
Speaker 1: the than the Ravens are. Maybe Romeo Cornell needs to
Speaker 1: get some consideration for that Assistant Coaching Year Award. I
Speaker 1: don't know about that. Well, it's not is that a
Speaker 1: real award, that's a new this year first year. We've
Speaker 1: mentioned it probably seventeen times. I know. I always thought
Speaker 1: you guys are just joke. Is that do they actually
Speaker 1: make it? Is that like a made out of men?
Speaker 1: Be like something they give it honors. I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure, not real gold. It's probably like stainless
Speaker 1: steel or just another byline that has to be cranked
Speaker 1: out super Bowl week, Wesley, one question for you, like,
Speaker 1: don't you feel I look at this season by what
Speaker 1: and I understand who's gonna argue with Rogers get an MVP.
Speaker 1: He's an m v P level quarterback in his season
Speaker 1: has been pristine. But the award feels like a sham
Speaker 1: to me because if you well know, because if and
Speaker 1: lets it's gonna go to a quarterback year after year
Speaker 1: almost and we're not. We could go twenty thirty more
Speaker 1: years without seeing a season like this by a defensive player. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, if you're asking me, I don't think it's
Speaker 1: a sham. I think I mean, I don't know what
Speaker 1: you want Aaron Rodgers to do. I just feel like,
Speaker 1: in a way, it's the award itself is basically just
Speaker 1: out outside of a few outliers best quarterback of the year. Well,
Speaker 1: that's the way the game is played. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: Vince Lombardi has a quote saying he would tell if
Speaker 1: cronies that football is the perfect team sport, except for
Speaker 1: the glaring imbalance of the quarterback because and I don't
Speaker 1: know how you escaped that the Defensive Player of the
Speaker 1: Year award for a reading assessor. Why you pop Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers of stones? Quit popping the stones. I don't even
Speaker 1: know what that means, popping the stones. That sounds that
Speaker 1: sounds rather ugly to me. I'm not discounting Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: The point is, yes, there's no way to outdo what
Speaker 1: a quarterback's worth is do a team, especially Rogers, and
Speaker 1: especially what we saw today. If you want narrative and
Speaker 1: everything else, it's just that I think we could go
Speaker 1: decades and not see a season like this from what
Speaker 1: unless it's what doing it again next season? That's true?
Speaker 1: Ye think. Wow, I can't believe it took so long. Wow.
Speaker 1: T d T was doing all the work behind the glass.
Speaker 1: He's also doing our video content. Uh, if you check
Speaker 1: out NFL now, we did our Big three takeaways from
Speaker 1: week seventeen, and he's really proud of himself. I am,
Speaker 1: And uh, I'm all in for J. J. Watt because
Speaker 1: I know what it's like doing it all by yourself today.
Speaker 1: You know, so you've been doing something I've not been
Speaker 1: aware of that. Well, West. Sorry, I didn't get you
Speaker 1: anything for Christmas, but I did let you watch case
Speaker 1: Keenum start one last time because he's probably not starting
Speaker 1: in the NFL ever again. So that was it and
Speaker 1: I had the flagsline high today. All right, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: continue to not be drinking beer. All right, we'll do.
Speaker 1: We'll see us soon. Let's move on to the New
Speaker 1: York Jet Tropolitans and likely what was Rex Ryan's last
Speaker 1: game as Jets coach, and Jets wiped out a ten
Speaker 1: point deficit on the way to a thirty seven four
Speaker 1: win over the Miami Dolphins at sun Life Field. If
Speaker 1: West was here, I would ask him the name of
Speaker 1: the stadium and then he would make uh sarcastic comment
Speaker 1: about that Ryan. Ryan got the gatorade bath from his
Speaker 1: players after putting the final touches on a four and
Speaker 1: twelve nightmare season and Gotham, which you know, it's a
Speaker 1: very Jets move, I'll just put it at that, but
Speaker 1: also tells you how much these players genuinely love Rex Ryan.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna miss this guy. Uh. And I'll ask you,
Speaker 1: and I'll ask you Mark, is there any case that
Speaker 1: can be made why Ryan should stay? Yeah? Because I'm
Speaker 1: not sure who you bring in as a head coach
Speaker 1: that's going to be a a better defensive coach number one,
Speaker 1: or be it just a better kind of presence. I
Speaker 1: think Jets fans love Ryan for good reason. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, I think that from the ownership on down, well,
Speaker 1: Greg is smirking me. But I I like Ryan and
Speaker 1: I think that Ryan if he if he wanted to
Speaker 1: make a case to keep Ryan, he'd have to completely
Speaker 1: give over the offense, which in theory he's done, but
Speaker 1: to someone completely maybe Mark Trustman. You paired Mark Trestman,
Speaker 1: Rex Ryan. I mean, here's the thing, and you're right,
Speaker 1: Jets fans do love Rex because, uh, you know, he's
Speaker 1: such a charismatic guy. But I think Jets fans also
Speaker 1: get that it wouldn't be a bad idea to blow
Speaker 1: up them. This is four years in a row. Here's
Speaker 1: the thing, though, who like who do you right now?
Speaker 1: Who do you see who excites you as the potential
Speaker 1: next coach? As a coach of the Jets, I could
Speaker 1: potentically run their video department or even be like Fourth
Speaker 1: and Charge started its gathering. He's burying balls he was
Speaker 1: with the Browns. I'd be there coach like five years
Speaker 1: from now. I mean, he hasn't had a winning season
Speaker 1: in four great seasons, and one of those two greats
Speaker 1: sasons the nine and seven. I mean, he doesn't know
Speaker 1: anything about offensive. If he could play every game in Miami,
Speaker 1: he'd be Vince Lombardi. But that's not possible. Every great
Speaker 1: moment that Rex Ryan's ever had is in Miami. He
Speaker 1: either gets a contract extension, Gatorade bath, it's terrific. Here's
Speaker 1: the good news. John edsics out. There's no way coming back.
Speaker 1: You know it sounds everything we're hearing. You know, we're
Speaker 1: hiring Charlie Casserley, Ron Wilson involved. All this stuff is
Speaker 1: going on for a reason. Uh and most likely Rex
Speaker 1: is gonna be out too. So the Jets. The Jets
Speaker 1: have Here's let's talk about the game. By the way,
Speaker 1: I just gotta say Gino Smith, nobody else did what
Speaker 1: Gino Smith Diday did today, which was have a perfect
Speaker 1: one fifty eight point three passer rating. He played brilliant football.
Speaker 1: He had one bonehead fumble, but he was accurate. He
Speaker 1: had a beautiful deep all. He had five passes of
Speaker 1: thirty yards or more. He made Eric Decker look like
Speaker 1: he was playing with Peyton Manny again. Decker almost at
Speaker 1: the single season or single game record for the Jets.
Speaker 1: He had well over two hundred yards and a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Gino Smith and Greg, you've been riding the Geno Smith
Speaker 1: Geno coaster for some time though about a month since
Speaker 1: and this, and I don't I don't like to throw
Speaker 1: the glacier John ze too many compliments. But Ezec was
Speaker 1: supposedly behind the decision to bench Bick and go back
Speaker 1: to Gino, and it turned out to be the right
Speaker 1: move because Gino kind of saved his season a little bit,
Speaker 1: and it all came to a head in Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: where he played brilliantly. He actually did flash signs of
Speaker 1: being a Pro Bowl quarterback. But there isn't Geno Smith
Speaker 1: a reason that a lot of candidates potentially would be
Speaker 1: scared to take this kind of They don't have a quarterback,
Speaker 1: so that is something to be scared of. But Geno
Speaker 1: Smith is an option, and I don't think he's a
Speaker 1: terrible option. I have been saying you would love it
Speaker 1: as a Patriots fan. Now I think I just think
Speaker 1: he's gotten dumped on more than necessary and He's played
Speaker 1: fairly well over the last five weeks if you just
Speaker 1: watched those five weeks in a vacuum since that first
Speaker 1: Dolphins lost, I think he's been He's shown a lot
Speaker 1: of promise when you watched him. He looks like a
Speaker 1: guy who might be a guy and on the Dolphins side,
Speaker 1: just another terrible awesome to me. It's so silly that
Speaker 1: Stephen ross Uh just basically said, welcome back, Stephen Uh,
Speaker 1: welcome back, joins fan. I know it could be worse.
Speaker 1: I tweeted that, and then Uh Handsome Hank notorious dp
Speaker 1: Uh tweeted back at me, watch what you say. I
Speaker 1: don't want to ruin our relationship. And I get that,
Speaker 1: but so British and so severe. I know you gotta
Speaker 1: you gotta feel for Dolphins, SAIDs who were stuck with
Speaker 1: philmin and then Mike Wallace might not be stuck with
Speaker 1: Mike Wallace for too much long group because he was
Speaker 1: benched for behavioral reasons. He had an attitude issue of
Speaker 1: some kind. Well, he pulled himself from the game. Initially,
Speaker 1: it was and it's probably not that much different that
Speaker 1: he was benched for attitude issues and that there was
Speaker 1: some reports that he got into a scuffle with a
Speaker 1: coach verbally. But then Jeff Darlington from NFL Media talked
Speaker 1: to a couple Dolphins sources that said that he basically
Speaker 1: after Charles Clay scored a touchdown right before the half,
Speaker 1: Wallace walked off the field and told film and I
Speaker 1: don't want to play anymore. It's shade shades of Santonio
Speaker 1: Holmes also in Miami, walking getting getting in into it
Speaker 1: with his team. It's very strange and it makes me
Speaker 1: think Mike Wallace might not won't be in Miami next year.
Speaker 1: Moving on, Teddy bridge John Teddy Kail, we were wasting
Speaker 1: the jaunty song on this game. Teddy Bridgewater through a
Speaker 1: go ahead forty four yard touched on passing the third quarter,
Speaker 1: guiding the Vikings to a thirteen win over the Bears.
Speaker 1: Day Cutlers returned to the lineup was uneventful as Chicago
Speaker 1: gears up for an off season of great potential change.
Speaker 1: Do we have anything we want to add on this game? Gentleman?
Speaker 1: What away for Ja Cutler to keep that trade value
Speaker 1: nice and low? I read something that the Bears would
Speaker 1: actually have to maybe take give up picks to trade
Speaker 1: Jay Cutler seriously, they would have to trade like Cutler
Speaker 1: and a fifth to get a sixth back just to
Speaker 1: dump this out. So they went from this past January
Speaker 1: giving him a hundred thirty million dollar contract to the
Speaker 1: following January maybe having to give up picks just to
Speaker 1: get the ad them off their hands. That that's a
Speaker 1: bad season. Nice little season two by the Vikings seven
Speaker 1: and nine, Teddy Bridgewriter looks solid and it's something. You
Speaker 1: got a coach, you got a quarterback. I think they
Speaker 1: can be a little excited to get Agent Peterson back.
Speaker 1: Probably not maybe who knows, but it is, you know,
Speaker 1: stranger things have happened. That's not a bad team. It's
Speaker 1: weird than a year ago. The Vikings fans probably couldn't
Speaker 1: have been more depressed with their quarterback situation because you
Speaker 1: had Christian Ponder and who knows what else, and the
Speaker 1: Bears are feeling great. The Bears are feeling great. One
Speaker 1: year later, I think that poor Bears fans are among
Speaker 1: the most depressed in the league because everything's about to
Speaker 1: get blown up. All right, that's enough of that game.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to another scorcher with Kyle Orton threw
Speaker 1: one touchdown, Anthony Dixon ran for another touchdown. The Bills
Speaker 1: finished their first winning season in ten years. That's good,
Speaker 1: seventeen nine win over the Patriots. This is a game
Speaker 1: that meant nothing for the number one seeded Pats. But Greg,
Speaker 1: you have some concerns as they entered the playoffs, don't you. Well,
Speaker 1: I don't think they've played good on offense for more
Speaker 1: than a month. They peaked offensively in the Indianapolis in
Speaker 1: Detroit games, and then over the last month they've struggled
Speaker 1: against Green Bay, San Diego. They had a good half
Speaker 1: against Miami, the Jets, and now the Bills. And I
Speaker 1: know they were sitting a lot of people with Brady
Speaker 1: played half the game and the offense didn't play well
Speaker 1: and he was out there. It's just a fact. It
Speaker 1: doesn't mean they can't respond, but they haven't played as
Speaker 1: well on offense. Well, the same Bill's team that took
Speaker 1: care of business against Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are
Speaker 1: tough to deal with on defense. We've learned that. And
Speaker 1: Brady left at half with six points in about eighty yards.
Speaker 1: Passing did not look good. Now Edeland's not in there,
Speaker 1: robbed and there they had a bunch of subs. It
Speaker 1: was really almost a preseason affair for the New in
Speaker 1: England the way they handled it. They pulled Brady at
Speaker 1: halftime and comes Jimmy Garoppolo. I don't know, I mean
Speaker 1: New England. I think they're gonna get it right. This
Speaker 1: is a team that knows how to fix itself over
Speaker 1: the bye week in two weeks are gonna because I
Speaker 1: think there's a lot to be worried about. Yet Bills
Speaker 1: have to be kicking themselves for losing that game to
Speaker 1: the Raiders. It could have been exciting, and and the
Speaker 1: Broncos to just watching this, they could have forced the
Speaker 1: paid she has to play this game because you just
Speaker 1: never know and get that home field and great. You
Speaker 1: want to give a little credit to Mark and I
Speaker 1: we told you four hundred tons and all the times
Speaker 1: you were worried about this team they'd go twelve and
Speaker 1: four and be the one seed. What happened. I give
Speaker 1: you guys all the credit in the world. Either, we're
Speaker 1: sears a pair of them, all right, Let's move on.
Speaker 1: Andrew luck through for a hundred and sixty yards and
Speaker 1: two touchdowns before sitting out the final two quarters, and
Speaker 1: the Colts won their finally got final game of the
Speaker 1: regular season win over the wolfele Tennessee Titans. Uh. That's
Speaker 1: a Titans get the number two pick in the draft
Speaker 1: and the Colts will play next week in the wild
Speaker 1: card round. Uh. The Colts entered January with a lot
Speaker 1: of lot to prove, though, don't they? Mark? I think so.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, Wesleyan has pointed it out on
Speaker 1: the on the show a few times, and the offense
Speaker 1: is an up and down operation. I don't think there's
Speaker 1: something overly special about the defense. Andrew Luckto finishes the
Speaker 1: year with more touchdown passes than any quarterback in the game,
Speaker 1: and I wouldn't want I wouldn't want to deal with
Speaker 1: him in the playoffs. Frankly, a lot of upsets in
Speaker 1: this game. One Jordan Palmer through passes in the NFL
Speaker 1: this season, three of them in this game. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's pretty crazy. The Titans through thirty one passes in
Speaker 1: this game between him and white hairs for fifty yards.
Speaker 1: I've never seen that. If one team wanted, I'm not
Speaker 1: sure this would be a shocker. But if one team
Speaker 1: wanted to say one and done, We're We're not excited
Speaker 1: about what happened this season. Ken wizen Hunt could not
Speaker 1: have done less to undo the reputation of him being
Speaker 1: a quarterback whisper. Well, that's one thing when you get
Speaker 1: a young big ben, but his record over the final
Speaker 1: couple of seasons in Arizona into this year is abominable
Speaker 1: and he's shown very little ability to develop a quarterback
Speaker 1: the way. Unless you're Bill Walsh, I'm kind of all
Speaker 1: set on the quarterback whisperer move. Yeah, I'm kind of
Speaker 1: done with that. Well, right, we've we've maybe not us,
Speaker 1: but everyone including us, enough of the whispering everybody. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what that really means, but it doesn't
Speaker 1: really check out over time. The solid point someone named
Speaker 1: Zerlan Tipton. I know that guy, and nine carries in
Speaker 1: this game. I just wanted to point that out. What
Speaker 1: this is Week seventeen, and that's that's where we are,
Speaker 1: all right, Mark steps out, Greg and I will finish
Speaker 1: the show, and we finish it by talking about Sunday
Speaker 1: Night football, Yikes, where Antonio Brown returned up big game.
Speaker 1: We're Antonio Brown returned to find a fair touchdown and
Speaker 1: sealed the a f C North for the Steelers with
Speaker 1: a sixty three are touchdown reception late in the game.
Speaker 1: The Steelers went seventeen over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Football. That is an a f C North championship
Speaker 1: for the Steelers, who really rebounded in the final month
Speaker 1: of the season after being obviously up and down in
Speaker 1: the first two thirds of the season. And it also
Speaker 1: gives them a home game against the Baltimore Ravens next
Speaker 1: weekend and the Bengals. Where the Bengals go, they will
Speaker 1: be heading to Indie and Apolis Sunday to two teams
Speaker 1: I thought for certain were first round knockouts. Obviously one
Speaker 1: of them will not be knocked down in the first round.
Speaker 1: But let's talk about this game. Greg, your takeaways on
Speaker 1: a big win for the Steelers. Oh, there's so much
Speaker 1: to talk about, but Levy on Bell's injury and then
Speaker 1: A J. Green's injury on top of that. We're kind
Speaker 1: of my takeaways because these are two playoff teams. Levy
Speaker 1: on Bell no structural damage, something we'll be talking about
Speaker 1: a week. There seemed to be some optimism after the game.
Speaker 1: It wasn't that serious short week for the Steelers, right,
Speaker 1: And it's just they're just not the same dangerous team
Speaker 1: without him. I I've talked him up as an m
Speaker 1: v P gannit they only had twenty nine yards rushing.
Speaker 1: They managed to win this game despite a few things
Speaker 1: going wrong for them, But they got a punt return touchdown,
Speaker 1: they got big turnovers when they needed it, and and
Speaker 1: they survived in advanced Antonio Brown is the best wide
Speaker 1: receiver in football in two thousand fourteen. Listen to these
Speaker 1: stats are nine receptions, one thousand six yards a team.
Speaker 1: Receiving touchdowns obviously makes an impact on special teams as well.
Speaker 1: As we saw. He won't be getting any MVP votes,
Speaker 1: but Antonio Brown is a monster stud. I think he's
Speaker 1: finally on everyone's radar, and with good reason. The guy
Speaker 1: is a superstar. He will be Wait wait, what what
Speaker 1: am I lying about? I'm just saying, give me Odibes
Speaker 1: twelve weeks over. How about do it again next year?
Speaker 1: Antonio every year. I'm not saying he's the best. If
Speaker 1: a baseball player missed forty games, though, you wouldn't really
Speaker 1: consider him to have the crown as the best player.
Speaker 1: So I think we should give Brown is do I
Speaker 1: think you can make a case for Damarius Thomas but
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go along. Dan's right, get big Brown fan.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, you know what he also did. He
Speaker 1: had a signature game winning touchdown to win a division
Speaker 1: in the a f C North, one on un coverage.
Speaker 1: The Steelers didn't play it safe. They threw the ball
Speaker 1: a couple of times right at the end of the game.
Speaker 1: One got knocked down and then the next one Brown
Speaker 1: takes at sixty three yards to win it. That's what
Speaker 1: big time players do. Yes, and I love me some
Speaker 1: model Beckham, but let's see him doing some impact games
Speaker 1: and then we'll get back to him being the best
Speaker 1: wide receiver in football. Alright. You know what, Calvin Johnson
Speaker 1: didn't set the touchdown record, so you know, pipe down.
Speaker 1: I think the other thing that's your real name. I
Speaker 1: think the other thing we saw in this game was
Speaker 1: a Steelers defense that's continuing an upward trajectory. He wasn't
Speaker 1: a bad game for Andy Dalton, really, and he had
Speaker 1: the early interception. The other one was bad luck. He
Speaker 1: really had some bad luck when A. J. Green fumbled
Speaker 1: that bass. At that point, I thought the Bengals were
Speaker 1: making a comeback. But overall, the Steelers are getting more pressure,
Speaker 1: and they look like a better defense over the last
Speaker 1: month of the seas. I thought this was a positive
Speaker 1: game for Andy Dalton to go into the playoffs. And
Speaker 1: he made some throws off a J. Green doesn't fumble
Speaker 1: up all. Who knows what happens. But let's uh, you know,
Speaker 1: let's not bury the lead. Uh. This game clinched for
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal the around the NFL Picks title. You ended
Speaker 1: up beating me by one game in the standings. Yes,
Speaker 1: although this one Mark had a chance to tie me
Speaker 1: in this game. That was a swing because he had
Speaker 1: the Bengals. There's no reason anyone should ever get behind
Speaker 1: Cincinnati in prime time. I didn't. I chose the Steelers,
Speaker 1: so I finished a game behind you. But congratulations, that's
Speaker 1: your second This is and this is the lead of
Speaker 1: the entire show. We might even move it to the
Speaker 1: You're looking at me with too much sincerity? Right, I do. Also,
Speaker 1: there's a Shadowy League figure. You mentioned the other Oh, yes,
Speaker 1: that he wanted to make sure we mentioned that he
Speaker 1: beat all of us. Well, yeah, we had this competition
Speaker 1: with the feature group, the Shadowy League figure, Mr Marvel.
Speaker 1: He did have the best individual records. Some there have
Speaker 1: been some questions about whether all his picks were in
Speaker 1: time each week, but you know he had the best
Speaker 1: record in the I'm not touching that I could. I
Speaker 1: could get in trouble. Then I thought Mr Marvel did
Speaker 1: a fabulous job really reading the tea leaves week for
Speaker 1: a week. But Greg, as far as the around the
Speaker 1: league group, around the NFL group, you win the title
Speaker 1: down cap, moving on. That's it for Week seventeen and
Speaker 1: the end of the regular season. Throw you are sitting
Speaker 1: on your with your number one seed Patriots and your
Speaker 1: PIS title and your fuffy white sweater. Life is good
Speaker 1: for Greg Rosenthal. We will be back on Wednesday, is
Speaker 1: that true. I think we're gonna come back Tuesday this
Speaker 1: week back because the New Year's Day, we want to
Speaker 1: come back a little earlier. Yeah, we'll come back on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: and we'll start digging into these great, great ish wild
Speaker 1: card matchups and start digging in on the playoffs, which
Speaker 1: is a lot of fun. Do we have a Jim
Speaker 1: Mora sound drop? No, we don't. Okay, cool, cool, cool,
Speaker 1: that's not on you though, you can't read my mind.
Speaker 1: I like how your bathed in darkness right now, and
Speaker 1: some uh kind of like a Marvel character speaking. So anyway,
Speaker 1: we'll be back on Tuesday. Thank you for listening. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is Dan hansis signing up uh for the Sizzler.
Speaker 1: Are you getting emotional by I am? You know it's
Speaker 1: in a fun season, fun right for this season you know,
Speaker 1: seventeen Sundays of his late podcasts and uh, you know
Speaker 1: only people great that we're putting it up. It will
Speaker 1: be up you know by one two in the morning,
Speaker 1: East Coast and Jim Harby era. I'll miss that to
Speaker 1: a lot of fun, you know six am in London
Speaker 1: or seven am. I mean we're gonna be hitting him
Speaker 1: three times a week and have a patrol will be
Speaker 1: listening to this while he just breaks his own benchmark
Speaker 1: bench press record. So anyway, this is Dan Hans, this
Speaker 1: signing off for the Mailman, the Sizzler, The Boss and
Speaker 1: t D Behind the Glass. A great regular season indeed,