Speaker 1: The Around the League Podcast is wary of shadowy league figures.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Round the League Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansas, and I'm joined by a
Speaker 1: room filled with a fair amount of heroes, Chris Westling,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler. What up? Boys? Hey Dan? What a day
Speaker 1: it's been for uh, for you, Dan especially, but all
Speaker 1: of us, for me especially. But I missed no what
Speaker 1: did you know? It? What a day? Indeed. So, first
Speaker 1: of all, Greg Rosenthal's downstairs. It is a special night.
Speaker 1: It is Sunday night of Week seventeen. There's so many
Speaker 1: things going on, so many things in the air, including
Speaker 1: especially including what's going on with Mark Sessler's Cleveland Brown.
Speaker 1: So Greg had to stay downstairs. So we're manning the ship.
Speaker 1: I am back from New York and I got back
Speaker 1: just in time because right in front of me, Mark
Speaker 1: Sessler is wearing an extra large number fifteen official Tim
Speaker 1: Tebow jersey tucked into his jeans. As per the terms
Speaker 1: of the bet, uh tied into the Week sixteen Brown's
Speaker 1: Jets game. Mark your men of your word? Congratulations you
Speaker 1: Uh you put a clown suit on Mark. I didn't
Speaker 1: mean to. It was just a bet. You know I
Speaker 1: would have been wearing a weed in jersey. But Mark,
Speaker 1: thank you well listen and I you know, I sit
Speaker 1: next to Wesley in the newsroom and I see the
Speaker 1: look of jealousy in his eye that I get to
Speaker 1: wear this for the first time ever. It was yours
Speaker 1: as a wedding gets had to pull the tag off
Speaker 1: of it. So it's not be getting a lot of
Speaker 1: use by you. It's not jealousy, it's pity. Poor Mark.
Speaker 1: He's fine with wearing the jersey. He looks good. He's
Speaker 1: got a nice dress shirt on underneath. He's really pulling
Speaker 1: off the look contrary to expectations. But every sad Sack
Speaker 1: in the building has to come up and ask him
Speaker 1: about it. Why are you wearing a Tim Tebow jersey?
Speaker 1: It has been slightly distracting, um, And we're gonna get
Speaker 1: into it because this, on multiple levels is and it's
Speaker 1: been a tough sledding for any Browns fans over the
Speaker 1: last thirty years, but especially since today. We'll go down
Speaker 1: as another dark factory of sadness type situation. And Mark,
Speaker 1: we're gonna get into it. But let's start with the
Speaker 1: teams that end. Don't take this the wrong way that matter. Um,
Speaker 1: let's go. Let's go through first the a f C.
Speaker 1: The a f C schedule playoff schedule was released. UM,
Speaker 1: we're gonna mix it up a little n NFC excuse
Speaker 1: me for the first two rounds of the playoffs. We're
Speaker 1: gonna mix it up a little this week since all
Speaker 1: games were divisional, We're gonna go through all the a
Speaker 1: f C, um and then take a look at the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Then we'll go through the NFC. Let's start in Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: where Andy Dalton through for two touchdowns, ran for another
Speaker 1: and set a pair of Bengals passing records Bengals Bengals
Speaker 1: on Sunday, leading Cincinnati to at seventeen win that eliminated
Speaker 1: the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens. Um mark. The
Speaker 1: Ravens lost their last two games, finishing eight and eight,
Speaker 1: and they become the fifteen Super Bowl champion that failed
Speaker 1: to reach the playoffs the following season after winning a title,
Speaker 1: and the sixth in the last twelve years. Tell me
Speaker 1: about this one. Well, you mentioned that Dalton threw two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: but he also tossed four interceptions, and you know this game,
Speaker 1: if anything, at home, Cincinnati is a rough deal for
Speaker 1: an opponent. And to imagine that a team can have
Speaker 1: throw four interceptions and still win by seventeen points. This
Speaker 1: is a more of a complete team than they were
Speaker 1: in the past two seasons. There's no question they've got
Speaker 1: the Listen. Tyler Reiffert wasn't on the field today. Neither
Speaker 1: was Jermaine Aggression. That's a huge chunk of the way
Speaker 1: that they moved the ball as their tight ends. These
Speaker 1: guys don't have to play a Saturday morning playoff game
Speaker 1: for the first time in two years. Yes, the Bengals,
Speaker 1: after playing three of the past four years on Saturdays
Speaker 1: of wild Card weekend. They have the one oh five
Speaker 1: pm Eastern UH game, the Chargers at Bengals. That will
Speaker 1: be a CBS game. That's interesting. I just you know,
Speaker 1: I I don't. I don't think Cincinnati's a team that's
Speaker 1: gonna lose that playoff game at home. But Dalton, I
Speaker 1: mean again, they found a way to win around him.
Speaker 1: But that's gonna catch up to them. Obviously, they're all
Speaker 1: grounds up guated to Sundays. No, this is UH. This
Speaker 1: is the most Bengals outcome possible. They win the game
Speaker 1: convincingly and they still don't know if they have a
Speaker 1: quarterback they can win in the break. Marvin Lewis said, uh,
Speaker 1: last week or a few days ago. Look, um, Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton's gonna get criticized until he wins a playoff game.
Speaker 1: And we know that. After the game today, reporters asked
Speaker 1: him about Andy Dalton, he immediately changed the subject to
Speaker 1: talk about the entire team. Andy Dalton is the elephant
Speaker 1: elephant in the room. Four interceptions and it's not just
Speaker 1: that he's throw an interception. They're awful throws, bad decisions.
Speaker 1: These are the worst kinds of interceptions that he's put
Speaker 1: a little on j Gruden two on a first and
Speaker 1: goulf from the one apparently they had to throw throw
Speaker 1: throw a pass that that was picked off. If you
Speaker 1: if you know the guy, maybe it is not someone
Speaker 1: that you could trust at that level. Give the ball
Speaker 1: to Joe Bernard, let him take care of business. It
Speaker 1: is a little bit of Gruden and it's a little
Speaker 1: you know, Dalton has done us before, head picks on
Speaker 1: back to back drives. I remember a lost Browns Bengals
Speaker 1: game earlier in the year, which since he won, but
Speaker 1: Dalton sabotaged them with these ugly throws. And you're right,
Speaker 1: it's on Dalton because his his his passes, his decisions
Speaker 1: are a mess. And let's just let's put the Ravens
Speaker 1: to rest. Um. This a little surprising at eight and six.
Speaker 1: He would have thought that maybe they were the favorite,
Speaker 1: and they ended up going eight and eight. Just I
Speaker 1: just didn't work out for him this year. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean Flacco did not look healthy last week. I didn't.
Speaker 1: I had to go watch more closely what happened today.
Speaker 1: But since his defense put heat on him and he
Speaker 1: didn't look comfortable the entire time, Andrew Luck through for
Speaker 1: two two yards and one touchdown. Robert Mathis reclaimed the
Speaker 1: NFL SAX lead and the and Adam Vinatieri joined the
Speaker 1: two thousand point club Sunday as the Colts routed the
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars thirty to ten. UH. The Colts the a
Speaker 1: f C South champs of now one three straight. That
Speaker 1: matches their longest streak of the season. Um, and now
Speaker 1: they move on to the playoffs, where they will face
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs at home on the Saturday early
Speaker 1: game next week. West. Let me ask you a question.
Speaker 1: I think that winning that game in Casey and obviously
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna put too much in routing the Jags.
Speaker 1: I'm starting to think that the Cults are no longer
Speaker 1: a complete afterthought and they can win a playoff game.
Speaker 1: Perhaps be frisky in January thoughts. Yeah, I agree, this
Speaker 1: is they've turned their season around. They are they have
Speaker 1: an edge on other a FC teams, and that they
Speaker 1: now have an identity. They've ditched that power running game
Speaker 1: and they are now a ball control offense based on
Speaker 1: the quarterback. It's a short passing game. They the rushing
Speaker 1: numbers look a little bit better because they ran with
Speaker 1: a huge lead in the fourth quarter, but they passed
Speaker 1: the entire game. T Y Hilton had career highs and
Speaker 1: receptions and receiving yards just after halftime. He they were
Speaker 1: throwing to him almost every time, and they controlled the ball,
Speaker 1: kept the ball out of their kept their defense off
Speaker 1: the field. Their defense is allowing less than ten points
Speaker 1: a game over the last three weeks. This is a
Speaker 1: different team they've dominated and this and so it took
Speaker 1: the Cults way too long to adjust out of Pep
Speaker 1: Hamilton's what he'd like to do. Is there any concern
Speaker 1: in your mind though, that when they get into a
Speaker 1: tight spot in the playoffs, are gonna go revert back
Speaker 1: to what makes him comfortable? Or have they re thought
Speaker 1: the way they're gonna approach teams from now on out.
Speaker 1: I think this is a legitimate metamorphosis, Like they've changed
Speaker 1: what they're doing, they change who they are. I think
Speaker 1: they've realized they can't run the ball like they want to.
Speaker 1: And you know, coaches are stubborn. They have these philosophies
Speaker 1: that they haven't come by by accident. But through many
Speaker 1: years of coaching, it takes longer to make a change
Speaker 1: than we thought. That's why, to me, the most fascinating
Speaker 1: story of the season was Ron Rivera's epiphany. To me,
Speaker 1: that's just shows I love the open mindedness to be
Speaker 1: willing to make a change. We have thirty two games
Speaker 1: of Andrew Luck to look at now. Um, I'll throw
Speaker 1: it to us. What would you grade lux second season?
Speaker 1: Regular season? You know I I give it an a minus.
Speaker 1: I thought I thought his numbers would be a lot better.
Speaker 1: But I can't kill him for losing Dwayne Allen and
Speaker 1: Reggie Wayne and an offensive line that was supposed to
Speaker 1: be upgraded and didn't play any better than last season.
Speaker 1: You know, a minus might actually be not even generous enough.
Speaker 1: He really carried that team at times, just looked like
Speaker 1: a three or four win team with him doing all
Speaker 1: the heavy lifting. I was impressed with him. I still
Speaker 1: think if I was starting a franchise, I'd probably start
Speaker 1: with him. I mean, you plug an average guy into
Speaker 1: this in the quarterback on this team. They're five and eleven. Yeah.
Speaker 1: The Miami Dolphins were eliminated from the scramble for the
Speaker 1: a f c's Finals wild card birth Sunday by the
Speaker 1: New York Jets, who thrived in the role of spoilers
Speaker 1: with a win in Miami, eliminating handsome Hanks Dolphins and
Speaker 1: also perhaps officially saving Rex Ryan's job, although um it
Speaker 1: was there was there's been reports that it was already
Speaker 1: saved before the game. Doesn't matter. The Jets finish eight
Speaker 1: and eight. Woody Johnson came out after the game and
Speaker 1: said that Rex will be back in two thousand four. Yes,
Speaker 1: and it speaks to the to the minds and the
Speaker 1: hearts of Jets fans that I speak for many Jets
Speaker 1: fans when I say that we're really happy about how
Speaker 1: this season turned out, and we're feeling really good and
Speaker 1: we're in a great mood today. But ultimately it's eight
Speaker 1: and eight and it's three straight years about the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But bottom line, Ryan was that was the right move
Speaker 1: to keep him, considering how much change there will be
Speaker 1: of other coaching staffs this season, what they would have
Speaker 1: been contending with that Ryan had them playing hard. That
Speaker 1: was the right move to me. But let's look at
Speaker 1: the Dolphins and here was another team eight and six,
Speaker 1: destiny in their hands, as much as destiny could be
Speaker 1: in any man's hands, right guys, right Chip Kelly, and
Speaker 1: they fall on their face in a really gruesome way.
Speaker 1: I believe they were outscored thirty nine seven against the
Speaker 1: Bills and Jets to end the season at five hundred.
Speaker 1: I mean, what do we take from the Dolphins and
Speaker 1: what does this mean for the their coach and their
Speaker 1: general manager. This was exactly why I didn't want to
Speaker 1: see them in the playoffs. They don't do anything well.
Speaker 1: They're not a bad team, but they don't do anything well.
Speaker 1: I think they've scored one touchdown in the last three games.
Speaker 1: This is not a team that's They're not doing anything
Speaker 1: on offense and not do anything on defense. I love
Speaker 1: Ryan Tannehill's progression this year. I think he doubled his
Speaker 1: touchdown total from from his rookie season. There are positive signs.
Speaker 1: They do have pass rushers on defense, but this isn't
Speaker 1: a team that strikes you in any way as distinctive.
Speaker 1: I don't know what they're gonna build on. Well, and
Speaker 1: you just talked about the Cults as one of the
Speaker 1: few a FC teams on the lower run of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: squads that have an identity. Miami had zero identity against
Speaker 1: the Bills last week, and you know, I thought, oh,
Speaker 1: listen this exactly. They come out today and they they
Speaker 1: look awful, and it's not all on Tannehill, but it's
Speaker 1: it's not been a good stretch for him. They were
Speaker 1: eight in six and we had a discussion that week
Speaker 1: about which coaches might be on the hot seat, Which
Speaker 1: wouldn't you have to look at the last how much
Speaker 1: changed over the last two weeks where now it's you
Speaker 1: know what, what is this team's direction under Filmin? It's
Speaker 1: it's been about as uninspiring as you can imagine. I
Speaker 1: can't kill Tannehill. He his offensive line is is just depleted. Uh,
Speaker 1: he lost heartline during the game. Lost Dustin Keller early
Speaker 1: in the season, lost Brandon Gibson, his slot receiver. He's
Speaker 1: lost a lot over the course of the season. And
Speaker 1: I think as far as throwing the ball, he exceeded
Speaker 1: my expectations. He had a good year as a passer.
Speaker 1: West I know you love either late Sunday night or
Speaker 1: getting up early Monday and watching game tape. I implore
Speaker 1: you to watch what Ryan Tannehill put together today because
Speaker 1: in this game, he's the reason why the Dolphins are
Speaker 1: going in the playoffs. He had a at a seven
Speaker 1: seven nothing lead. In the second quarter, d Milner got
Speaker 1: burned by Mike Wallace. Wallace is wide open for an
Speaker 1: ad R touchdown. He badly overthrows him. I mean, he
Speaker 1: it's on that on that past it's fourteen nothing and
Speaker 1: it's you know, probably pretty much all she wrote. As
Speaker 1: it turns out, he doesn't hit on it. They punt,
Speaker 1: the Jets score and it's seven seven. It's a new game.
Speaker 1: He was missing on throws all day. He was missing
Speaker 1: high and I agree, and if you look at his
Speaker 1: numbers twenty three touchdowns, thirteen interceptions, he was better this
Speaker 1: season and he still has a bright future. To me,
Speaker 1: But that's a disheartening way to go down with him.
Speaker 1: No showing with the rest of the offense back to
Speaker 1: back weeks. Right, that's fair, Yeah, that's totally fair. I
Speaker 1: think you can you can definitely knock him for two things.
Speaker 1: He's inconsistency and he holds the ball too long in
Speaker 1: the pocket. Um real quick before we move on, Ireland,
Speaker 1: Fillman in or out. Mark, I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: one in one. Joe stays, Ireland goes. Ireland's kind of teflon.
Speaker 1: I don't think he'll ever be fired. I'm with Mark,
Speaker 1: Ireland goes Philman, stays, and then Philman gets to enjoy
Speaker 1: what Rex went through this year New GM and he
Speaker 1: needs to. We say one real quick thing about x
Speaker 1: because what we talked about before the year was when
Speaker 1: you get strapped with Geno Smith or just rookie quarterback
Speaker 1: in offense with no talent on it. This is Rex
Speaker 1: Ryan's best coaching job since he's been with the Jets,
Speaker 1: because what he did, he's he saved his own job.
Speaker 1: He really did. And I and I think it's good
Speaker 1: for New York that they're keeping him. And it shows
Speaker 1: that Zac isn't a complete automaton that decided this months ago.
Speaker 1: It played out as we thought in August, and we
Speaker 1: talked about this. If they go eight and eight or
Speaker 1: even seven and nine, Rex deserves to keep his job.
Speaker 1: I would have put too much into to John Zac's credit,
Speaker 1: though this could have been Wood he driven still, which
Speaker 1: might really tell you where Zac falls within that. We
Speaker 1: knew Wood he was a Rex guy, but I don't know.
Speaker 1: At least there's doesn't seem to be an overt power
Speaker 1: struggle there, agreed, levy on Bell ran for nine yards
Speaker 1: and a touchdown, and the Steelers kept their playoff hopes
Speaker 1: alive momentarily anyway, by dropping the lifeless Cleveland Browns twenty
Speaker 1: to seven. Uh. The Steelers, of course, we're in line
Speaker 1: to grab that sixth seed, which would have been a
Speaker 1: huge upset and something none of us saw coming. Um. However,
Speaker 1: Chiefs kicker and the game will get to a little later.
Speaker 1: Ryan suck Up missed a forty one yard field goal
Speaker 1: that would have beat the Chargers. They end up losing
Speaker 1: that game. Chargers are in Steelers dead, and let's get
Speaker 1: to Rob Chatzynski. Mark Sessler, it was reported by Ian
Speaker 1: Rap Report that he has been let go. He's been
Speaker 1: fired as the Browns coach after one season and now
Speaker 1: they're starting over again. Not good, No, it's I mean,
Speaker 1: it's an epic disaster. You're looking at a team that
Speaker 1: is about to hire since it's seventh coach, it's had
Speaker 1: twenties starting quarterbacks, zero playoff wins. It's the it's a
Speaker 1: recipe for decades of anguish. But this this came out
Speaker 1: of left field. They just asked Ian on air, scale
Speaker 1: of one to ten, how surprised are you with everything
Speaker 1: that you knew that we don't even know? He put
Speaker 1: it out of nine and I this is the and
Speaker 1: I said on the show two weeks ago. No, no, no no, listen,
Speaker 1: he's part of a long term plan. Uh well, yes, Rich,
Speaker 1: what's going on? Hey? Long time no talk? Heyka, Rich
Speaker 1: a long talk, A long time no talk. I heard
Speaker 1: Mark alluding to what he said two weeks ago, and
Speaker 1: I got a treat for you guys. It was actually
Speaker 1: last organization brought shut in to not just blow it
Speaker 1: up one year later like they've done over and over
Speaker 1: and over. There's absolutely literally no, it's not being written
Speaker 1: about or discussed because it's already known. It won't happen
Speaker 1: this offseason. There's just no question. Yeah, well I'm wrong,
Speaker 1: I mean, but that also is what this morning when
Speaker 1: we all got to work, That's how that was the narrative.
Speaker 1: That's how everyone felt. This didn't there there were no
Speaker 1: hints of this happen. That wasn't a pylon moved by me.
Speaker 1: But the reason we were talking about it was but
Speaker 1: it was. However, the reason why I asked car Rich
Speaker 1: to cut that was because I had brought up in
Speaker 1: the podcast last week. Isn't it a little weird that
Speaker 1: he was completely under the radar. They were a team
Speaker 1: that was slipping and sliding down the stretch heading towards
Speaker 1: the four and twelve. Maybe we shouldn't have been so surprised.
Speaker 1: And maybe when a couple of weeks back when we
Speaker 1: talked about coaches on the hot Hot seat, we kind
Speaker 1: of we missed it by not including Chudd because they
Speaker 1: were a team in a free fall at four and
Speaker 1: twelve and that usually leads to someone getting canned, and
Speaker 1: that's exactly what happened. Why is it so shocking and
Speaker 1: why is it so disgraceful to dump a guy when
Speaker 1: the team went in the tank that way? It's shocking
Speaker 1: because it's even even the coaches going into a free fall,
Speaker 1: like you said, when they're there, when they're they're in
Speaker 1: the first year of a new regime bringing that guy in,
Speaker 1: it's still shocking that they didn't stay with him longer
Speaker 1: than one year. He was hand picked by this by
Speaker 1: Joe Banner and Michael Lombard in a season when you
Speaker 1: know and listen whether or not they won the Trent
Speaker 1: Richards and trade, it was clear they're rebuilding, and they
Speaker 1: send their star offensive player away early in the year.
Speaker 1: They saddled Chud with a terrible group of quarterbacks. He's
Speaker 1: not picking the players. So it is surprising in the
Speaker 1: sense that should he be put on the hot seed
Speaker 1: in our eyes because he goes four and twelve. Yes,
Speaker 1: but organizationally, the message all along was we love this guy.
Speaker 1: This is the guy we picked. We didn't inherit him
Speaker 1: like Homegren inherited Mangini. We're sticking with him. So yes,
Speaker 1: it is surprising. It's not something we should have seen
Speaker 1: ten days ago, when no one else saw it. First
Speaker 1: of all, this is all even more depressing talking because
Speaker 1: I feel for you, Mark, because I'm I'm a part
Speaker 1: of a kind of a loser following the Jets, and
Speaker 1: you are the same way, but only worse. Uh, because
Speaker 1: what happens year after year with your franchise. It's even
Speaker 1: more depressing that you're wearing a Jets jersey. All this
Speaker 1: is happening, and that ties back to a Brown's failure
Speaker 1: as well. It's like working on multiple levels right now.
Speaker 1: It's very meta. But let me ask you a question,
Speaker 1: and I'm being vaguely serious about this, how much more
Speaker 1: can you take? Come to the dark side? Mark? I
Speaker 1: think I think you go one of two directions. You're
Speaker 1: either getting more and more angry and become more hostile
Speaker 1: and involved in it, or you become every You know,
Speaker 1: I'm getting killed week to week because I'm emotionally dead
Speaker 1: whether Cleveland is winning or losing games. And by the way,
Speaker 1: I kept telling Greg and you and the rest, they're
Speaker 1: gonna lose this game, and yes they would. I'm more
Speaker 1: in the move of emotionally dead. I can't drop them
Speaker 1: because it's it's too far gone. But he did it
Speaker 1: at a different point in his life. It's like, I
Speaker 1: can't do that, but I'll tell you what they have
Speaker 1: and they're gonna meet with reporters tomorrow, their brain trust.
Speaker 1: They've got a lot of explaining to do. And if
Speaker 1: this is the question, you're gonna go bring in someone
Speaker 1: that's gonna blow everyone away, they'd quickly forget about your
Speaker 1: dynski the fan base. But if you bring in Ken
Speaker 1: wizzen Hunt, or you bring in some guy that has
Speaker 1: a lot of baggage and is don't have a lot
Speaker 1: of belief in them to begin with, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: tough sledding. If they bring in Lombardi's boy, Josh McDaniels,
Speaker 1: can we take a can of spray paint to your
Speaker 1: tebow jersey since he'll be quarterbacking for the Browns? Anyway,
Speaker 1: was that from you? Thought that was a sound bite
Speaker 1: that because I just it's almost too much for my
Speaker 1: brain to handle that the day that you wore this
Speaker 1: tebow jersey, chud gets unexpectedly can and there is a chance,
Speaker 1: a actual chance that the coach that replaces Judd could
Speaker 1: get Tebow the brand of the Browns you listen could happen.
Speaker 1: There's too many variables that make my head spin, my
Speaker 1: head hurts. It's like, well, we're working. We just to
Speaker 1: bang out the copy and followed the news. But when
Speaker 1: I had to get home lion bed and ponder what
Speaker 1: happened in the last twelve hours, like none of it's
Speaker 1: it's all surreal. It's moved into the into the atmosphere.
Speaker 1: At this point, all right, we'll we'll move on for now,
Speaker 1: we're gonna be talking about this. Let's say a worried
Speaker 1: about the Steelers. Go ahead, West, It's a shame that
Speaker 1: they're not in the playoffs. I couldn't agree more. They're
Speaker 1: playing better than any of the a f c UH
Speaker 1: contenders for that six concluding the Chargers, or in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But really have no right to be the way they
Speaker 1: showed up today. But go on. Steelers are eight and
Speaker 1: four in their last twelve games. The only reason they're
Speaker 1: not the playoffs and this there's nothing really they could
Speaker 1: have done about it. Levi On Bell had a foot injury,
Speaker 1: Heath Miller coming back from a knee injury in September.
Speaker 1: They didn't have an offense. If they had the same
Speaker 1: offense now as they did then, it is a shame
Speaker 1: they are. They looked today fantastic. Levyan Bell can run.
Speaker 1: He looked as good today as he had all season.
Speaker 1: It's a shame, because this team at eight and eight
Speaker 1: could give anyone in that conference a challenge. What if
Speaker 1: the Steelers did get in at eight and Nate, and
Speaker 1: of course the Ravens did not, would that mean the
Speaker 1: Steelers then would have lost their first round pick because
Speaker 1: of sideline Gate, and and then maybe it's better that
Speaker 1: they didn't get in. I don't think there's any first
Speaker 1: round picks involved. I think there was only late round picks.
Speaker 1: I think the whole picks. Yeah, they're just keeping they
Speaker 1: were trying to keep Tomlin hemmed in about the situation right. Anyway, Mark,
Speaker 1: if you ever, if you want to jump in with
Speaker 1: more chud venting, the stage is yours. But I just
Speaker 1: know that let's move on. There are you know, listen,
Speaker 1: there are are twelve teams that made the playoffs. Yes,
Speaker 1: we will, and we there's plenty of podcasts to talk
Speaker 1: about the Browns. Chris Johnson ran for a d seven
Speaker 1: yards and a touchdown and what might be and what
Speaker 1: really almost definitely will be his final game with the Titans,
Speaker 1: who beat the Houston Texans sixteen ten on Sunday. Really
Speaker 1: not too much to get into this game, but I
Speaker 1: will say this, that's fourteen straight losses for the Texans,
Speaker 1: which is just hilarious. And that wraps up. They have
Speaker 1: the number one pick in next next Maze draft, in
Speaker 1: which uh, they'll almost certainly take a quarterback right west. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you have to. They don't have a quarterback
Speaker 1: on the roster. They're not gonna go with case Keenum.
Speaker 1: Matt Shob is probably out of Houston. They need a quarterback.
Speaker 1: It's funny. Someone tweeted at me today and this is
Speaker 1: this is not on McNair, uh for saying this, but
Speaker 1: he sent me an old link to an article that
Speaker 1: was Bob McNair explaining why he passed on pursuing Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning and free agency, and it's because, uh, Matt Shob
Speaker 1: was coming back from his list Frank injury. He was
Speaker 1: he has a great arm, and they were set at
Speaker 1: quarterback and they didn't need to look in another direction.
Speaker 1: They could fortify the roster elsewhere, and that did not
Speaker 1: quite work out. Legarrett Blunt ran for a career high
Speaker 1: on nine yards what and then two touchdowns and had
Speaker 1: too long kickoff returns what as the New England Patriots
Speaker 1: clinched the first round a f C by with a
Speaker 1: thirty win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, the Patriots
Speaker 1: are twelve and four. As if we ever doubted the
Speaker 1: Patriots would somehow get to that twelve and four mark
Speaker 1: and get that by they do it every year. And
Speaker 1: if Greg was here, I would I would kind of
Speaker 1: get upset and and just moan and how things never changed.
Speaker 1: But let's, you know what, with Greg not being here,
Speaker 1: let's just keep it between the three of us and
Speaker 1: carriage behind the glass and the audience. Great job by
Speaker 1: the Patriots this year. Yeah, I'll tell you what concerns
Speaker 1: me about New England spending this forward is and Greg
Speaker 1: made a good point, they are greater than the some
Speaker 1: of their parts because you've got La Garrett blown for instance,
Speaker 1: is the mark of this team. This guy that no
Speaker 1: one wanted in Tampa. Trade him for a track star
Speaker 1: that ended up doing nothing and he's running over people.
Speaker 1: But the defense big issues That lewis throwing for eight
Speaker 1: point five yards per attempt today, the same thing happened
Speaker 1: in New England last week. I do I I'm concerned
Speaker 1: about this team going into the playoffs. Yeah, they've done well.
Speaker 1: They've had as many injuries as anyone to key players,
Speaker 1: and to end up twelve and four is is almost miraculous.
Speaker 1: They've done so well. But defense they keep winning while
Speaker 1: they're giving up career games two opponents I cant. I
Speaker 1: don't know, like I have no confidence in any Dalton
Speaker 1: succeeding in the playoffs unless he goes to New England
Speaker 1: and plays a passing defense that gets worse by the
Speaker 1: week mark. You say you're concerned about the Patriots, but
Speaker 1: aren't they on some level? I know what the Patriots.
Speaker 1: It's almost like the Yankees during their postseason run, where
Speaker 1: they're always expected. If you don't win the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: it's considered failure. But as in the kind of house
Speaker 1: some money, no one's gonna get too down on them
Speaker 1: if they get knocked out this year, considering all the
Speaker 1: guys are missing and how great Denver is this season.
Speaker 1: You know, they win a playoff game and get knocked
Speaker 1: out uh in the a f C championship game, that
Speaker 1: would kind of be a success. You know. I think
Speaker 1: it's probably a good thing that you aren't part of
Speaker 1: New England's front office with that attitude, because they don't
Speaker 1: think that way at all. And one of the reasons
Speaker 1: of twelve and four despite all the disaster. Other clubs
Speaker 1: would be six and six and ten after what happened
Speaker 1: in New England. They are that well coached, and whenever
Speaker 1: you've got Tom Brady running the show, I think they
Speaker 1: have to be thinking super Bowl. They wouldn't. They didn't
Speaker 1: come this far to think anything less. It would be
Speaker 1: a disappointment. I agree with Dan. If I was a
Speaker 1: fan and they lost, I agree with this. This house money,
Speaker 1: after everything has happened to them this year, I think
Speaker 1: it's unreasonable to expect a Super Bowl. If they get there,
Speaker 1: that's great. But if you're a Patriots fan, uh at
Speaker 1: twelve and four is in a completely emotionless experience, and
Speaker 1: it really the season really starts now right kind of yes,
Speaker 1: and I and I will bring the analogy again because
Speaker 1: I am a Yankees fan, so I do understand how
Speaker 1: Patriots fans think. This is like the Yankees during their
Speaker 1: great run of ninety six to two thousand eleven or
Speaker 1: two thousand twelve excuse me, where yes, they were gonna
Speaker 1: win games every year. And while that was an achievement,
Speaker 1: that really meant nothing. So it's all about the postseason
Speaker 1: and that that comes out. There's a certain burden that
Speaker 1: comes with that. And even as underdogs this year, they'll
Speaker 1: get heat if they lose. I bet you do two things. Uh.
Speaker 1: This is the eighth by in Bellichicks fourteen seasons as coach,
Speaker 1: and for the Bills, they missed the playoffs for the
Speaker 1: four straight year, the league's longest streak. And one last thing.
Speaker 1: The Patriots will play the late game these primetime game Saturday,
Speaker 1: January eleventh, of Division Round weekend. Mark and I were
Speaker 1: at a bar the Cozy in two years ago, the
Speaker 1: last time the Patriots played on a Saturday night. That is,
Speaker 1: and this will be a call back to earlier in
Speaker 1: the podcast, the death of tebowmaany Uh that was the
Speaker 1: blowout of the Broncos. A week after that Steelers Uh miracle.
Speaker 1: Moving forward, Peyton Manning set the NFL single season yards
Speaker 1: record and threw four touchdown passes to clinch the top
Speaker 1: seed in the a f C Playoffs with the Denver
Speaker 1: Broncos with a thirty four fourteen victory Sunday over the
Speaker 1: Oakland Raiders. Uh. Peyton Manning geez one half is all
Speaker 1: he needed two quarters uh to get the yardage record
Speaker 1: UH seventy seven, eclipsing Drew Brees is two thousand eleven
Speaker 1: record by you one yard and also to throw four
Speaker 1: more touchdowns to get up to fifty five on the season.
Speaker 1: Um and oh, by the way, that Broncos clinched the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the a f C and they
Speaker 1: are the they have home field advantage throughout the a
Speaker 1: f C playoffs. Hey, Mark, you wanna know how to
Speaker 1: get Dan really hacked off? Just cheesed off. You're a
Speaker 1: little man up further into the board has been to Mattie. Okay,
Speaker 1: I know that your dander has been raised. Something sticks
Speaker 1: in your crawl. Okay, okay, I like that one. Uh
Speaker 1: ask Dan who's in the conversation with Peyton Manning for
Speaker 1: m v P. Dan, who's in the conversation for m
Speaker 1: v P. You know I was on I can't say
Speaker 1: who it was on Twitter today because there was someone
Speaker 1: within the NFL media umbrella and if I were to
Speaker 1: attack said individual, a large, shadowy league figure would come
Speaker 1: down upon me with his iron fists. So I won't. However,
Speaker 1: I will say this. Someone tweeted today that Matt Forte
Speaker 1: deserves to be in the m v P conversation because
Speaker 1: he's had a great year and yes, Matt Forte has
Speaker 1: had a very nice season, but there is no conversation
Speaker 1: for the m v P. And you know why why,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you why. Here are Peyton Manning's final statistics
Speaker 1: for the two thousand regular season four and fifty of
Speaker 1: its fifty nine passing that's sixty eight point five thousand,
Speaker 1: four d seventy seven yards. That's a record fifty five
Speaker 1: touchdown passes, just ten interceptions, a one fifteen point one
Speaker 1: passer rating. This is a line that may never be topped.
Speaker 1: And I know things always records always get broken, but
Speaker 1: this will always stand as one of the greatest, if
Speaker 1: not the greatest season ever by a quarterback for the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the a f C. This is
Speaker 1: the biggest slam dunk m VP that I could ever remember.
Speaker 1: The last time I saw the end of season stat
Speaker 1: line like that was me playing super Tech Move Who
Speaker 1: who is in Montana? I think it was Jim Kelly.
Speaker 1: Jim Kelly was a great tech moball player. These Broncos
Speaker 1: playing at a level there. Listen, whatever they few bumps
Speaker 1: in the road earlier in the year, can they be
Speaker 1: stopped in the a f C West? Sure by who? Anybody?
Speaker 1: Can have it off day. They don't have a defense.
Speaker 1: You saw them against the Oakland Raiders. Who knows. The
Speaker 1: Broncos play the late game on Sunday, January twelve of
Speaker 1: the Divisional playoffs. Of course at Mile High and UM.
Speaker 1: Last year they had the early game Saturday, and Raheem
Speaker 1: More already requested. I got a text not to go
Speaker 1: any further into that game. But they have the late
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, And yes, Manning and the and the
Speaker 1: Broncos amazing season. But that kind of like the Patriots.
Speaker 1: But even more so, Manning has to get to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl this year or it's gonna be seen as
Speaker 1: a failure. Well, this is not house money for any level.
Speaker 1: This was a two or three year project with Manning,
Speaker 1: and you've got to get it done. I agree, this
Speaker 1: is totally This is the opposite of the Patriots. You've
Speaker 1: got to do it. This year. The San Diego Chargers
Speaker 1: ended their three or playoff drought with a four overtime
Speaker 1: victory over the Kansas City Chiefs UH to advance as
Speaker 1: the number six seed in the playoffs. This was a
Speaker 1: game the listen. Plenty of credit to the Chargers, who
Speaker 1: won four straight games five and seven and dead, but
Speaker 1: they also needed two things. They needed the chief set
Speaker 1: twenty of twenty two starters, including their entire defense. Charges
Speaker 1: are playing at home, and this game is over and
Speaker 1: the Steelers are in the playoffs. If the Chiefs kicker
Speaker 1: hits forty one yard field goal, to the Chargers credit,
Speaker 1: They wiped out a ten point deficit in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter before that suck up miss, and then they won
Speaker 1: it in overtime, so you give them credit. And winning
Speaker 1: four in a row, including a road win in Denver
Speaker 1: to keep their hopes alive, they deserve it, But this
Speaker 1: is they got very lucky. I mean, they got losses
Speaker 1: from the Dolphins and the Ravens and a very lucky
Speaker 1: win today and now they're in the postseason. You're a
Speaker 1: lot more generous than I am. Credit credit they need.
Speaker 1: They got a missfield goal by one inch to save
Speaker 1: them from losing a game at home to a team
Speaker 1: benching twenty of two starters. They'll get no credit from me.
Speaker 1: And one of the starters, ironically, was the guy that
Speaker 1: missed a kick, So it's uh, you know, you couldn't
Speaker 1: get more lucky than I guess. It wasn't half Chase
Speaker 1: Daniel played pretty well. Yes he did, making the leap
Speaker 1: candidate quarterback controversy, but yeah that. Even though I'm happy
Speaker 1: to see UH Philip Rivers and his big swinging bolow
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, I've kind of lost any excitement for
Speaker 1: the Chargers as a January football team after watching how
Speaker 1: they performed at home today. I'm kind of shocked that
Speaker 1: they won the game because it's such a classic San
Speaker 1: Diego meltdown. They will be playing Sunday one oh five
Speaker 1: pm Eastern at Cincinnati. UH. Two games that two teams
Speaker 1: that nobody's really gonna believe, and somebody's gonna have to win.
Speaker 1: So in the rematch of the coldest game in NFL history,
Speaker 1: Give me some history. What was I don't know, it
Speaker 1: was eighty two. I think maybe UH Chargers come in
Speaker 1: the dawn fouts Kellen Winslow, West Chandler, Charlie Joyner, Chargers,
Speaker 1: that air Corriel, lighten up the scoreboard. Chargers spent half
Speaker 1: the day with their hands in their pockets, those front
Speaker 1: pockets on those Jangles angles off tip line comes out
Speaker 1: sleeveless for a game that was minus thirty seven Winchiell
Speaker 1: back when West actually paid some amount of attention to
Speaker 1: the Bengals As a fan, I was in love with
Speaker 1: the Bengals. They broke my heart just to go over
Speaker 1: it again. Chiefs at Colts next Saturday at four thirty five,
Speaker 1: and then Chargers at Bengals Sunday at one oh five Eastern.
Speaker 1: All times Eastern. And let's move to the NFC now.
Speaker 1: We'll start in Atlanta, where Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes,
Speaker 1: Greg Hardy crack and had a team record four sacks,
Speaker 1: and the Carolina Panthers clinched the NFC South title by
Speaker 1: beating the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. The Panthers clinched the
Speaker 1: first round by and home field advantage for at least
Speaker 1: one game, and they are the number two seed in
Speaker 1: the NFC, the team of around the league this year. West.
Speaker 1: How confident do you feel going into the dance? Not
Speaker 1: very Uh. It's it's their offense. I love the way
Speaker 1: the defense is playing. They will keep them in almost
Speaker 1: every game they play without Steve Smith and this this
Speaker 1: was big to get him back. We don't know if
Speaker 1: he'll be back or not, or what condition he'll be in.
Speaker 1: Jonathan Stewart, we don't know will and who will be back.
Speaker 1: They're just not moving the ball um. They have one
Speaker 1: of the worst wide receiver cords in the NFL. Cam
Speaker 1: Newton was sailing passes all over the stadium today. I
Speaker 1: think Greg said it best. When your third and long
Speaker 1: play is a quarterback drawl, you've got some major issues
Speaker 1: on offense. I still like Carolina's chance. Let's assume that
Speaker 1: Seattle wins its first playoff game. I still like Carolina's
Speaker 1: chance better than the Saints or another team he wanted.
Speaker 1: So that's to go into Seattle and with that defense
Speaker 1: put some heat on Russell Wilson. There's no question in
Speaker 1: my mind right now the forty Niners are a better
Speaker 1: team than the Panthers. Well, they're more complete team, that's
Speaker 1: for sure. Aaron Rodgers fired a forty eight year touchdown
Speaker 1: past the Randall Cobb in the final minute and the
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears thirty to capture
Speaker 1: the NFC North championship. This was Roger's back after missing
Speaker 1: seven games with a broken left collar bone. Found a
Speaker 1: wide open Reggie cob on fourth and eight at the
Speaker 1: forty eight to wipe out at one point deficit with
Speaker 1: thirty eight seconds left. This was, I will say, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, the number one moment in the NFL media
Speaker 1: news room all year. When you hit that pass, everybody
Speaker 1: kind of kind of blew the roof off the place.
Speaker 1: It was only one of four times I got out
Speaker 1: of my chair all year, the other time being about
Speaker 1: ten minutes earlier when Ryan suck Up missed the field
Speaker 1: goal double chair. I was hopping all over the news
Speaker 1: room today. Who wants to deal with Green Bay in
Speaker 1: the playoffs? I mean, it doesn't matter what the record
Speaker 1: is going in. I mean, suddenly you had Rogers hitting
Speaker 1: Cob on this huge These are the guys they didn't
Speaker 1: have all this time. How about the onions on Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: He hits a fourth down conversion to Dy Nelson, and
Speaker 1: then with a game on the line, fourth and eight,
Speaker 1: he gets away from the rush by sometime, hits Cobb
Speaker 1: and stride game over onions. My friend, It's it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a tough matchup against the forty Niners. Very tough matchup.
Speaker 1: And one thing that would concern me if I was
Speaker 1: the Packers beyond their defense which has been pretty poor,
Speaker 1: Eddie Lacy wasn't cutting like Eddie Lacy. He couldn't put
Speaker 1: weight on that ankle. He wasn't the same player. James
Speaker 1: Stark's actually actually looked better than Lazy today. That's an issue.
Speaker 1: I don't think we're gonna see Kaepernick go run for
Speaker 1: almost two hundred yards this time, No neither do I
Speaker 1: yeah that, I mean that was a game that was
Speaker 1: Kaepernick's true coming out moment, where all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: all bets are off as to what that guy could be.
Speaker 1: He hasn't been. Although he's gotten better as the season progressed.
Speaker 1: I don't see him all of a sudden becoming that
Speaker 1: phenomenon again. So I think this will be a closer game.
Speaker 1: But ultimately the Green Bay defense has let them down
Speaker 1: and back to back playoff years. Still a little suspect
Speaker 1: that they'll be able to little suspect its defense just
Speaker 1: isn't very good. A little shameless promotional plug. Brian Baldinger
Speaker 1: uh NFL Media Zone, not the guy that sent that
Speaker 1: tweet earlier today, will be breaking down Green Bay's final
Speaker 1: drive in his Drive of the Week and you can
Speaker 1: see that NFL dot Com this Tuesday. Uh, should we
Speaker 1: do some type of post mortem of the Bears because
Speaker 1: this is a devastating loss. And there's a picture that
Speaker 1: everyone's gonna see if you didn't see it already tonight tomorrow,
Speaker 1: Brandon Marshall face down on the soldier field turf, just
Speaker 1: stunned all in front of them. Another team with where
Speaker 1: they had it all in front of them. They lose
Speaker 1: back to back weeks and and heartbreaking fashion to a
Speaker 1: big rival. I just wonder, are we gonna was this
Speaker 1: Cutler's last game? He played pretty well today. We can't
Speaker 1: blame him for that loss. My gut feeling is the
Speaker 1: Bears franchise Tag Cutler and then trade him. I think
Speaker 1: they have so much work on defense to do. They
Speaker 1: they need bodies all over that defense. They need whatever
Speaker 1: assets they can get in the former draft picks, and
Speaker 1: they need the salary cap space. Cutler will take probably
Speaker 1: seventeen to eighteen million a year. You can sign, You
Speaker 1: can resign McCown for three or four million, and then
Speaker 1: draft a first round guy and then fix your defense.
Speaker 1: That's kind of where I think they're headed real John
Speaker 1: again caught a twenty four yard touchdown past and read
Speaker 1: forty nine yards for another score to lead the New
Speaker 1: York Giants to a six victory over the Washington Redskins
Speaker 1: on Sunday and what might be and probably will be
Speaker 1: Mike Shanahan's final game as the Redskins coach. Don't need
Speaker 1: to say much about this game, right, Well, it was
Speaker 1: a nice parting gift for Mike Shanahan to say about TODG.
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins trade value so much for the narrative that
Speaker 1: kirk Cousins was going to use these final three games
Speaker 1: against the soft schedule to create a horrendous um quarterback controversy.
Speaker 1: And maybe it's for the best because we would have
Speaker 1: had to deal with that for the entire offseason. I mean,
Speaker 1: the one thing is that a year ago, Shanahan was
Speaker 1: edging back into genius territory, and uh, it doesn't look
Speaker 1: like a genius today. The Redskins ended the season on
Speaker 1: an eight game losing streak and they are the number
Speaker 1: two pick in the NFL draft. However, that goes to
Speaker 1: the rams to handsome general manager less needs. So guess
Speaker 1: what r G three is if there wasn't enough pressure
Speaker 1: on him to get right, get healthy and be the
Speaker 1: guy who was as a rookie. Now that trade is
Speaker 1: even amplified even further of him having to be that guy. Hey,
Speaker 1: he'll return with a furious vengeance in two thousand four,
Speaker 1: that you know. So while the Lions are dead and
Speaker 1: gone and they'll probably have a new coach potentially, uh
Speaker 1: going forward, it's always fun to get Kevin Patra, the
Speaker 1: a t L Chicago correspondent, on the line. So why
Speaker 1: don't we do that? Kevin Patra? Are you there from Chicago?
Speaker 1: Kevin Patra coming at you? What's up? Kevin? How's it going? Fellas?
Speaker 1: How are you? How cold is it where you are
Speaker 1: right now? It's freezing? Why does anyone live there? I
Speaker 1: got sunburned yesterday. All right, here we go. Rookie Cordell
Speaker 1: Patterson scored two more touchdowns, including the go ahead catch
Speaker 1: in the end zone the on the fourth quarter in
Speaker 1: the Minnesota Vikings be the Detroit Lions fourteen thirteen on
Speaker 1: Sunday in the final game at the Metrodome after thirty
Speaker 1: two seasons. Just a minor in side. I don't need
Speaker 1: to hear anything about the Metrodome. I went to the
Speaker 1: Metrodome with my buddy Greg who's a Vikings fan, back
Speaker 1: in two thousand and six for a Jets game at
Speaker 1: Places A dump. No one really has any connections with
Speaker 1: it except for maybe Kirby Puckett fans. It's gone. It's over.
Speaker 1: It's over for the Metrodome anyway. So the Vikings and
Speaker 1: Lines both out of the playoffs. Um, Patrick seasons over.
Speaker 1: You're happy it's over. I as soon. I'm thrilled, just
Speaker 1: how I dreamed it up. Both lost everything looking like crap.
Speaker 1: Oh it was beautiful, beautiful. But here's the good news.
Speaker 1: Reggie Bush, the greatest running back to ever live. The
Speaker 1: Reggie Bush hype train rolled straight past the thousand yards
Speaker 1: for the second time. He didn't enjoy bells first rby
Speaker 1: tannem to go five hundred and five hundred together in
Speaker 1: the same season. They have shown promise, although they only
Speaker 1: they only combined for sixty three yards on the ground today.
Speaker 1: Lamous stats. What that doesn't mean anything. I will let
Speaker 1: me the first time ever history record book that Joycell
Speaker 1: has is in the record books. How about that one.
Speaker 1: Congratulations on your seven and nineteen with to yard receiving
Speaker 1: running back. I love the lines right now. But um,
Speaker 1: you had uh, you had Mickel Leshore who came out
Speaker 1: uh this week and said, I just want to eat
Speaker 1: whoever will feed me the rock is where I want
Speaker 1: to be. All right, bro, good job with that and
Speaker 1: then you all. Said Matthew Stafford this week, I was
Speaker 1: asked about having some type of QB guru to maybe
Speaker 1: fix his woeful mechanics. Like I'm good. No, I'm good.
Speaker 1: I don't. I'm good with that zero determination to him.
Speaker 1: I mean, if I'm Kevin Patrick, I'm feeling great about
Speaker 1: the future. That that his whole um personality toward all
Speaker 1: he did it earlier in the year, was not wanting
Speaker 1: to have a team meeting. It's just nonchalant, and that's
Speaker 1: it's kind of frustrating to be honest with you, and
Speaker 1: I think that's one reason they need to bring in
Speaker 1: a new coaching staff to kind of light a fire
Speaker 1: under him. Well, answer, the answer to all of your
Speaker 1: problems can be flipping your hat backwards, oh a little.
Speaker 1: Do you know? I do it every day, answers every question. Kevin.
Speaker 1: We will be in touch with you throughout the UH
Speaker 1: post season and then into the off season. We will
Speaker 1: break down how the Lions will finally get to the
Speaker 1: super Bowl. But we're going to move on from now,
Speaker 1: not not against you, but against the Lions and the Vikings,
Speaker 1: who we don't respect at this stage. All right, man,
Speaker 1: I'll talk to you. That was a shot at Stafford,
Speaker 1: not at Patra. Only game featuring two teams that probably
Speaker 1: or most definitely will fire their head coach. Correct, Let's
Speaker 1: move on. Phil Dawson kicked the forty yard field goal
Speaker 1: as the game ended to lift the San Francisco forty
Speaker 1: Niners to twenty victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Speaker 1: That locks in the Niners as the NFC's number five
Speaker 1: playoff seed. That from my perspective, and I you know,
Speaker 1: it's silly or whatever, but I've never seen a team
Speaker 1: that there was this good have to work. It is
Speaker 1: hard to get into the playoffs like every other team.
Speaker 1: Look at the Steelers almost made the freaking playoffs this year.
Speaker 1: The Niners had to go twelve and four and they
Speaker 1: and they had to earn every one of those wins.
Speaker 1: But they're in the dance and they're a player. They're
Speaker 1: the hottest team in the NFL right now. They've won
Speaker 1: six games in a row. The offense you wouldn't even
Speaker 1: recognize them from earlier in the year. They've Kaepernick has
Speaker 1: gone over a one eight passer rating in five of
Speaker 1: the past six games. That's sublime. This is the game
Speaker 1: of next weekend to me, San Francisco forty Niners at
Speaker 1: Green Bay Packers four for d p m. Eastern on
Speaker 1: Fox the Joe Buck Troy Anklin Special. I really like
Speaker 1: this game. And you know, I think we talked about
Speaker 1: it little earlier about Kaepernick what he's gonna bring. But
Speaker 1: you know, there's no reason to think that the Niners
Speaker 1: can't beat any of these teams in the NFC. In
Speaker 1: their building, They're they're just built for this type of football.
Speaker 1: They're shown it the last two years. I mean, are
Speaker 1: they Where do you guys, where do you rank the
Speaker 1: Niners right now? In terms of power rankings for NFC?
Speaker 1: If they played on an utrue field, I would have
Speaker 1: them even with the Seahawks. Yeah, I see. That's the
Speaker 1: issue for me is that if they're gonna deal with Seattle,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be in Seattle. That's such a game changer.
Speaker 1: But you know, West is right, you you look at
Speaker 1: the whole conference and man, what more does San Francisco
Speaker 1: need to do at this point to not be as
Speaker 1: under the radar as they are? I'm sure they love
Speaker 1: it because honestly, all the attentions heaped on Seattle and
Speaker 1: actually Caroline at this point and the Niners, You're right,
Speaker 1: they struggled to get here, and they're much more balanced
Speaker 1: than they were two months ago, totally different teams. They're
Speaker 1: Vernon David's concussion against the Panthers and and a mob
Speaker 1: Brooks penalty call against the Saints away from being fourteen
Speaker 1: and two and one quick post mortem on the Cardinals
Speaker 1: ten and six this year, it's pretty good. That's a
Speaker 1: pretty good season in a very tough division. One thing
Speaker 1: I'd say is, I think at mid season we all
Speaker 1: kind of figured they'd be among the teams looking for
Speaker 1: a quarterback in the first round of the draft. I
Speaker 1: think Carson Palmer's done enough in the second half of
Speaker 1: the season that they'll be comfortable with him starting next year.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think they're gonna get one, but they
Speaker 1: don't have to start a guy right away. What an
Speaker 1: impressive job Bruce arians did. I'd still call him coach
Speaker 1: of the year potentially. Malcolm Smith returned an interception thirty
Speaker 1: seven yards for a touchdown. Marshawn Lynch added a two
Speaker 1: yards scoring run. The Seattle Seahawks clinched the NFC West
Speaker 1: title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs with nine
Speaker 1: win over the St. Louis Rams. Um, Seattle matches it's
Speaker 1: franchise record for wins in a season, and they get
Speaker 1: that number one seed after failing in their previous two
Speaker 1: weeks to lock it down. As Turning Corner would say,
Speaker 1: I believe I had this one. Three touchdowns, Kellen Cleming
Speaker 1: stars a pick six. Come on, they're very excited West.
Speaker 1: I like when to get excited. Um, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: that minor hiccup last week. Aside, I still view Seattle
Speaker 1: as the big favorite to win this whole thing, and
Speaker 1: I view the NFC is it's gonna be tough. I mean,
Speaker 1: there the Seattle Seahawks. They play the early game Saturday,
Speaker 1: January eleven against the lowest remaining seed in the NFC.
Speaker 1: That's how these things work. And um, I like their
Speaker 1: chances to get out of this conference. But do you
Speaker 1: have any concerns over their passing game? Percy Harvin isn't
Speaker 1: walking through that door. No. In fact, I'm seeing reports
Speaker 1: that he could be heading towards I Are any time now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they've went through these funks where the offense looks really
Speaker 1: bad and that is something to watch out for it.
Speaker 1: But I just I get the feeling that they'll turn
Speaker 1: it on the playoffs. I feel confident, feel confident with
Speaker 1: my predictions still that the Seahawks will romp at MetLife
Speaker 1: Stadium February two, if that's the day of the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl General circling the bases Grand Slam. Drew Brees passed
Speaker 1: for four touchdowns and ran for another score, and the
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints clinched a wild card spot with a
Speaker 1: seventeen win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. The
Speaker 1: Saints will head to Philadelphia to play the Eagles on
Speaker 1: Saturday night at eight ten pm Eastern and NBC. Uh guys,
Speaker 1: we know that the Saints are a team that's grade
Speaker 1: at home, but they're not gonna be at home in
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Are we taking them seriously? You have to
Speaker 1: take them seriously. It's not like the Eagles have a
Speaker 1: shutdown defense. But Drew Brees had as high as passer
Speaker 1: rating of the season today, the fourth highest of his career,
Speaker 1: and my takeaway was, it's it's essentially meaningless. They've averaged
Speaker 1: thirty or four points per game at home and eighteen
Speaker 1: on the road. They're a different team on the road.
Speaker 1: That's an issue, although the Eagles didn't win at home
Speaker 1: for months to start the season. But this is a
Speaker 1: This is one of the more fascinating matchups of the
Speaker 1: of next week's action. I can't wait to see what
Speaker 1: happens here. But I could never rule out the Saints
Speaker 1: with Breeze at the helm, especially as West said, against
Speaker 1: the defense that is still discovering who they are. I think,
Speaker 1: who do you think will be favored in this game?
Speaker 1: You've gotta you've got to give it to the Eagles.
Speaker 1: I think the whoa wait a second, Oh, we have
Speaker 1: to congre I can't believe it took us this long,
Speaker 1: this terrible job, I asked Cage frying the glass, a
Speaker 1: huge Eagles fan, Eagles all the way. Congratulations, Carriage, thank you.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts? I appreciate that. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I feel like everyone after this game, they're like, can
Speaker 1: the Eagles really keep up with the Saints? But this
Speaker 1: is my thing in our division, These games are always
Speaker 1: like this. It's always underwhelming, more so than what you expect.
Speaker 1: We expected this game to be really good, but when
Speaker 1: we step out of the NFC East, our games we
Speaker 1: put on shows, So I'm looking forward to this Saints matchup.
Speaker 1: Well yeah, I mean, there's no reason why we would
Speaker 1: ever write the Saints off against the Eagles, because, with
Speaker 1: all due respect Harrich, I don't think anybody thinks the
Speaker 1: Eagles are a great team. They have capability to the
Speaker 1: capability to be great in spots. But look what they
Speaker 1: did their last home game last Sunday night against Chicago.
Speaker 1: They just blew the doors off. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: you wonder if the Saints defense will be up to
Speaker 1: the challenge of playing in that spot. They remind me
Speaker 1: of Denver and one aspect, not personnel wise, but the
Speaker 1: ability when they get hot to just dump twenty one
Speaker 1: points on you in a quick amount of time and
Speaker 1: close opponents out if they get hot. They really they
Speaker 1: That's why they're a total wild card, bizarre team to me.
Speaker 1: Heading into the playoffs Philadelphia, my sense is the Saints
Speaker 1: will actually be the consensus pick to win this game.
Speaker 1: We shall see going against you guys. I like that, see,
Speaker 1: I like that's heat. That's an example of heat. West
Speaker 1: asked what is heat in the last podcast Through Life
Speaker 1: experience is what it is. I hope it's becoming more
Speaker 1: clear than the A D scales to me. Well yeah yeah,
Speaker 1: but the A D scale to you, I mean this
Speaker 1: is I got nothing. By the way, the boss, the
Speaker 1: one guy in this room, not in the room, but
Speaker 1: in our on our team that picked the Eagles way
Speaker 1: back when to win this division. Well, let's talk about
Speaker 1: the Eagles. The Philadelphia Eagles went into Dallas facing a
Speaker 1: Cowboys team without Tony Romo, and they got the job done. Win.
Speaker 1: They got the big stop, the big stop on the
Speaker 1: two point conversion at the end of the game. And
Speaker 1: then and this is where it gets a little weird.
Speaker 1: They get the Cowboys, get us stop, get the ball back.
Speaker 1: First down for the Cowboys, they have to go about
Speaker 1: sixty yards to get in the field goal range. First
Speaker 1: pass intercepted, orton intercepted, game over. And it really makes
Speaker 1: you think, First of all, you know, there's no Romo
Speaker 1: to blame for that pick. It feels like there's ghosts,
Speaker 1: ghosts in that building for the Cowboys, which you don't
Speaker 1: want ghosts in your home building that just opened. Ever,
Speaker 1: not a good not a good fit. I think they're
Speaker 1: just not a really very good football team. Yeah, and listen,
Speaker 1: Orton played. He did a solid job tonight through for
Speaker 1: the second most passing yards that the Cowboys have had
Speaker 1: in the game this year. M Yeah, I mean he
Speaker 1: played and you could hear it and Chris. It was
Speaker 1: funny because Chris Collinsworth was actively rooting for Orton. I
Speaker 1: think he saw him as an underdog character and he
Speaker 1: kind of got behind him and you could hear and
Speaker 1: in Collinsworth's voice after that interception because he knew that
Speaker 1: that Orton had just thrown away all that he achieved
Speaker 1: in that game with that bad pass through behind his receiver.
Speaker 1: Game over. And you know, Orton also made the wrong
Speaker 1: read on the two point conversion try. He looked like
Speaker 1: he had wit and open as that might have been
Speaker 1: the better read instead of firing it towards does Brian
Speaker 1: who's covered. But on balance, you've got a really good
Speaker 1: start out of Orton, and to the Cowboys credit, they
Speaker 1: at least showed up in this game. But ultimately the
Speaker 1: Eagles were the better team and they won the game. Yeah.
Speaker 1: We you want to see the better teams get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and that's what's happened here. But secondly, I
Speaker 1: hope that we don't spend the next uh five six
Speaker 1: months in the offseason hoisting up a completely average product
Speaker 1: that's come out of Dallas four years on end. This
Speaker 1: is the quintessential average team with an average coach that
Speaker 1: cannot get it done. There's sloppy. I do not want
Speaker 1: to see this team put on six more now aationally
Speaker 1: televised games next year. It gets my I know that,
Speaker 1: but that's but again, it's the one team. No matter
Speaker 1: how they do, we just put them up there. We
Speaker 1: crown them. This are a completely mediocre football This is
Speaker 1: where I disagree with you, Mark, because we have a
Speaker 1: fundamental it's their eight and eate. But they they weekly
Speaker 1: and they did it again tonight. They play exciting, fun
Speaker 1: football games to watch. They get great ratings, and that's
Speaker 1: what NBC wants. That's what the primetime audience is looking for,
Speaker 1: competitive games with popular teams. That's why the Cowboys are there.
Speaker 1: And I will say one thing, Jerry Jones in the box.
Speaker 1: We've seen it so many years now, the Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: disappointment face. This was the Jerry Jones raging anger where
Speaker 1: he actually came up out of his seat, stormed away
Speaker 1: from his seat, and you could see him shouting in
Speaker 1: the box. Is Jason Garret and survived this? Yes? I
Speaker 1: think he will. Actually, we'll see. I guess they've invested
Speaker 1: much money in him that maybe he does, but I don't.
Speaker 1: He hasn't earned it. He hasn't in wait. My argument
Speaker 1: is that their average there eight and eight for the
Speaker 1: third straight season under Garrett. I understand that you find
Speaker 1: them entertaining on television. I don't. I don't disagree with that,
Speaker 1: but I'm calling them. I'm saying that they are average
Speaker 1: and they are a five team for the third straight year.
Speaker 1: I don't know this to be a fact, but they
Speaker 1: seem to lose an inordinate number of games through clock failures,
Speaker 1: bad play calling down the stretch, and every time there's
Speaker 1: a closed game, it seems like they're on the losing
Speaker 1: the GMS job, safe for in danger, infallible. Alright, that
Speaker 1: does it for tonight's podcast. We will be back on Tuesday. Mark,
Speaker 1: guess what what we have during January. Throughout the postseason,
Speaker 1: we will have different days. I guess one day, Tuesday
Speaker 1: We're gonna do Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wait, Thursday too. You're
Speaker 1: all thrown out a whack Alright, So the podcast is
Speaker 1: Sunday Tuesday, Thursday through January, which means we will be
Speaker 1: back on Tuesday, and that gives us market an entire
Speaker 1: new platform to talk about the Browns. Look, I don't
Speaker 1: think we need to spend another second on the Mark
Speaker 1: is going to go through the glass and attack care Rich.
Speaker 1: But you know what, I'm taking care Rich. I'm taking
Speaker 1: care Rich in this. She seems like she'd be feisty,
Speaker 1: and I'm just gonna go home to my house and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna cry. I've like k Rich might no krote.
Speaker 1: You know, I do not want to fight her in
Speaker 1: a physical or mental battle. I just I don't know.
Speaker 1: I'm staying clear of Rich. Well, your brother not Feames
Speaker 1: have been awake and working for twenty hours now, I know. Mark,
Speaker 1: Just go home. That's what we do in week seventeen.
Speaker 1: It's just grind. We're all machines and Mark, congratulations. This
Speaker 1: is the conclusion of both of our fourth seasons at
Speaker 1: the NFL regular season. Well, right back at you then, historic, Yeah,
Speaker 1: let's Stephen who cares? All right, we'll be back on Tuesday.
Speaker 1: Signing up. This is Dan Hansis for The Mailman. The Sizzler,
Speaker 1: the boss you know in spirit. Kevin Patrick cuming at
Speaker 1: you car Ridge behind the Glass until Tuesday,