Speaker 1: The Around the League Podcast gets in scuffles with Liz Frank.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another additionally Around the League podcast. My
Speaker 1: name is Dan Handis, and I'm joined by a room
Speaker 1: full of hero Mark Sesler. You know, Dan, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be with you. We were we were three strong, should
Speaker 1: have been four. We're down to two. We're to West
Speaker 1: is having car trouble. He's that some type of motor
Speaker 1: dealer dealing with a flat tire issue. Greg was seated
Speaker 1: with us right before the start of the podcast, but
Speaker 1: I knew he is the boss, he's the editor, and
Speaker 1: he had to be. He swept downstairs to deal some
Speaker 1: management issues. So it's you and I Cabridge behind the
Speaker 1: glass of course, and West supposedly joining us. His chair
Speaker 1: is waiting for us. Uh is there for him when
Speaker 1: he wants it. Let's just do our best. Let's just
Speaker 1: do it. We've done this before. You know it's we're
Speaker 1: not gonna panic. We're not gonna panic here. This is
Speaker 1: the A t L debate Clubs is how it started,
Speaker 1: just you and me. I see the fear in your eyes.
Speaker 1: K rich On, you guys are pros. We've been doing
Speaker 1: this all lasting. The funny thing is is before Krich
Speaker 1: just said that she the door was opening and she
Speaker 1: was about to sneak out, and then she came back.
Speaker 1: But we're confident. So let's start with the biggest story
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and Mark you and I will talk
Speaker 1: about it. Aaron Rodgers Monday night. We all know what happened.
Speaker 1: He got tackled at the end of the first series
Speaker 1: of the game, suffered a broken collar bone. He is
Speaker 1: out four to six weeks. Per Ian Rappaport. How does
Speaker 1: this change the Packers? I mean, this is this is
Speaker 1: a disaster right now. I mean you have Seneca Wallace,
Speaker 1: who you know, he was a guy that they just
Speaker 1: kind of brought out of out of the ether, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden he's gonna be asked to help
Speaker 1: win games. I don't know. You you look at the
Speaker 1: list of devastating losses, wouldn't you put Rogers right up
Speaker 1: at the top? I put him above Peyton Manning, Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees. I mean, with them, they've scored twenty eight
Speaker 1: point two points per game. You know what's going to
Speaker 1: happen with Seneca Wallace. We we've got a taste of it.
Speaker 1: It's not pretty. Yeah. I mean he didn't play very
Speaker 1: well at all. And let's face it, I mean it's
Speaker 1: not a really his fault either. He was brought in
Speaker 1: to be just the backup. And but I guess that
Speaker 1: also goes back to the Packers planning with this. Uh
Speaker 1: they they there Graham harrold Um experiment that never worked out.
Speaker 1: They brought in Vince Young that didn't work out. I
Speaker 1: believe there was a H. B. J. Daniel. Well, there's
Speaker 1: a laundry list of guys that sound like they were
Speaker 1: minor league pitchers basically, or just guys that worked at
Speaker 1: like your accounting firm. But it's you know, honestly, they
Speaker 1: are a team now that they almost got lucky that
Speaker 1: happened this year because their running game is so good,
Speaker 1: right with Eddie Lacy. Had this happened last year, they go, oh,
Speaker 1: for however long he's gone, It looks right now that
Speaker 1: he's gonna be out what four to six weeks, And
Speaker 1: the source of the talk to Ian Rappaport said maybe
Speaker 1: closer to four because he's been a quick healer in
Speaker 1: the past, but that's still Thanksgiving four games for now
Speaker 1: is only three weeks away, right, I think, Yeah, they
Speaker 1: they should be able to survive. But at the same time,
Speaker 1: would you be shocked if the wheels fell off without him?
Speaker 1: He's that like you said, he's that important. And listen, Mark,
Speaker 1: we gotta say it, we gotta bring it up, Okay,
Speaker 1: Rich behind the glass, there was a time before the
Speaker 1: season started that you had some grim feelings about this team, right,
Speaker 1: You had a Sessler if you will, Well, yeah, it
Speaker 1: was Sessa. We were doing our NFC North preview back
Speaker 1: in August in the in the hazy summertime, and we
Speaker 1: were I was cooking up my NFC North standings, and
Speaker 1: I like the Bears going in. I think a lot
Speaker 1: of us did. Actually, I had a strange sensation that
Speaker 1: something would take the Packers off course. Al Right, guys,
Speaker 1: I dug deep into the A. T L archives to
Speaker 1: find this sound bite, and I have a feeling something
Speaker 1: weird is gonna happen in Green Bay. It's not so
Speaker 1: much a nine and seven comment on their talent. I
Speaker 1: just think, think something. So you're saying injury, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: just something unexpected. I get these feelings. Sometimes you are
Speaker 1: the leader in the clubhouse. Pick now, I think that's
Speaker 1: not that gutsy I had the Eagles winning, not giving
Speaker 1: Cessler anything, so that Greg did join us for a second.
Speaker 1: Ultimately that yeah, listen, you were that is a Sessler.
Speaker 1: Now what I'm thinking, did you get any heat from
Speaker 1: any a t L podcast listeners that remembered your prediction?
Speaker 1: I did. I got a couple, you know, surprisingly from Tristan,
Speaker 1: who is a loyal listener. Um, I guess maybe he's
Speaker 1: a Packers fan. I'm not sure. He dialed that up
Speaker 1: that evening and said this is on you, but you
Speaker 1: know it isn't because you know it wasn't that. I
Speaker 1: think it is on you. Well, let me ask you this, Mark,
Speaker 1: So let's talk about the bigger NFC playoff picture. The
Speaker 1: Packers are now five and three. That's a three way
Speaker 1: to high in the NFC North with all teams not
Speaker 1: named the Vikings. And when I look at the standings,
Speaker 1: oh look at this. Walking into the podcast studio right now,
Speaker 1: there is Chris Westling four tires all inflated on his car.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast, Chris? What up? Boys? What what
Speaker 1: has happened to you today? What do you mean? It
Speaker 1: just sounds like it's been a rough twelve hours. You
Speaker 1: got I got the manic phone call uh in the
Speaker 1: newsroom last night that you wouldn't be able to make
Speaker 1: your softball game. You wanted me to relay that message.
Speaker 1: And now hours and hours later, you're stuck at a
Speaker 1: some type of auto shop dealing with all issues. You
Speaker 1: sent an agitated text to Greg. It sounded like it
Speaker 1: was kind of a tough day for Chris west. Well.
Speaker 1: I wasn't happy about missing softball. Uh. I got stuck
Speaker 1: in traffic and in the construction zone. Somehow my tire
Speaker 1: went flat. I blame the construction workers, of course. Uh
Speaker 1: So then it got toged to Costco. You go there.
Speaker 1: You can't just get a tire, you have to sign
Speaker 1: up for a membership that takes forever while you go
Speaker 1: through the zoo of people, most of whom should be
Speaker 1: in cages. Really, I mean, come on. So that took
Speaker 1: forever and then, uh, thanks said it would take an hour.
Speaker 1: It took longer than that. I walked around and got
Speaker 1: my hair cut, did a few things. You don't have hair,
Speaker 1: I know for the first time like two years. I
Speaker 1: I I left a little on top and just interesting,
Speaker 1: gonna experiment a little bit, see how much of a
Speaker 1: cheap pat I look like I was gonna say, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna track this very closely day by day. Well, welcome
Speaker 1: to the podcast. We're glad that your car, Um, your
Speaker 1: high performance vehicle, is back in working order. We were
Speaker 1: talking about the NFC North and what's going to happen
Speaker 1: now that Aaron Rodgers is out of the picture. You know,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of teams that, um, you can
Speaker 1: make a case for as playoff teams. And I'll go
Speaker 1: down the list. We have the Lions, Bears, Packers, Saints, Panthers, Seahawks, Niners,
Speaker 1: and if you want, if you're feeling really generous, the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: So I'll throw to you West first. If you have
Speaker 1: to pick one of those team teams not to make
Speaker 1: the playoffs, because there's probably gonna be at least one
Speaker 1: of these that don't. Who would you pick throughout the Cardinals?
Speaker 1: Throughout the Cardinals, I would pick the Bears. I don't
Speaker 1: think their defense is good enough. Um, I think that
Speaker 1: Packers can hold on until Rogers gets back, and then
Speaker 1: at that point they become the best team in the
Speaker 1: in the NFC North. Again, Randall Cobb and Clay Matthews,
Speaker 1: we should be getting back around the same time or
Speaker 1: a week or two later. I think they take over.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I don't trust the Bears defense. Mark, well,
Speaker 1: that's a good point. You know the Bears have. I
Speaker 1: think one of the worst defense is giving up points
Speaker 1: number one in the NFL. But also their scoring offense
Speaker 1: is been first or second in a ton of categories
Speaker 1: across the board. I like what's going on in Chicago.
Speaker 1: I like what Tressman's done without skipping a beat going
Speaker 1: from Cutler to McCown. I thought they rose to the occasion.
Speaker 1: I think they might have even beaten Green Bay with
Speaker 1: Rogers in there, but that's probably not the case. Who knows.
Speaker 1: I I before the season felt the Green Bay would
Speaker 1: go nine and seven and missed the playoffs. I'm sticking
Speaker 1: with that. That's my team that won't make it in
Speaker 1: the NFC. Well, let me just go down the schedule.
Speaker 1: Because West, before you got here, we were talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, without Rogers, and while so that's a tough
Speaker 1: spot there, their schedule isn't too tough. So let's think
Speaker 1: let's assume he misses, Rogers misses through Thanksgiving, Okay, and
Speaker 1: I think that's fair. That's the next four weeks. Uh,
Speaker 1: you have home to Eagles at Giants, home to Vikings
Speaker 1: at Lions on Thanksgiving, which is gonna be a tough
Speaker 1: game obviously, but those are three pretty too potentially bad
Speaker 1: NFC teams. And then the Eagles, which who knows what
Speaker 1: to make of them, but they've had some very bad games.
Speaker 1: Why can't they win uh two of these four games
Speaker 1: and be okay all of them? Well, I don't know
Speaker 1: about all well, and they do, have you listen. The
Speaker 1: thing to like about green Bay is their defense has
Speaker 1: gotten incrementally better with every game, a couple of games
Speaker 1: in terms of the yards they've given up. They are
Speaker 1: pounding the ball. That running game is for real? Should
Speaker 1: tagoes not the defense they're gonna face every week? We
Speaker 1: saw gigantic barn doors open Freddie Lacy, But even against
Speaker 1: some of the better defense is green Bay has been
Speaker 1: able to run the ball week after week. The Bears
Speaker 1: defense Monday Night look like the same one that allowed
Speaker 1: Brandon Jacobs to rush for a hundred yards. Well it
Speaker 1: was that was an issue, but yeah, I fully expect
Speaker 1: them to make Eddie Lacy and James Stark's the focal
Speaker 1: point of that offense. Now when the Bears dared Seneca
Speaker 1: Wallas to beat them in the late late third quarter
Speaker 1: and fourth. They also shut down the Packers running game,
Speaker 1: So we can't assume that Lacey and Starks will stay
Speaker 1: the same production level with Wallace as they did with Rogers.
Speaker 1: You know, I look at the Giants. One of the
Speaker 1: one we're saying it's that's an automatic win. New York's
Speaker 1: run defense has been stout. It's not It's not a
Speaker 1: bad at all. And I think if teams can, with
Speaker 1: some time to plan, put Wallace in a position where
Speaker 1: he's got to make the play, that's where I see
Speaker 1: green Bay running into a ton of trouble. Mark. I
Speaker 1: don't appreciate you putting words in my mouth because I
Speaker 1: did not call it on automatic. I think it's I
Speaker 1: think we can look the schedule. I'm not saying you did,
Speaker 1: but you sort of did. Now you look at me,
Speaker 1: that's what we see. Oh, Vikings Giants, that's two and
Speaker 1: oh nice easy, soft soft. They could go and four
Speaker 1: or four and oh over the stretch. Yeah, but I
Speaker 1: would think, you know, if you can get if they're
Speaker 1: five and three now and let's work under the assumption,
Speaker 1: although maybe we shouldn't that he'll be back Sunday Night
Speaker 1: Football against the Falcons Week fourteen. If they can get
Speaker 1: to that game seven and five, I think I'm completely
Speaker 1: confident that they'll get to the playoffs if Rogers gets
Speaker 1: back my pick, by the way, because I know you
Speaker 1: guys are waiting for it. Um, I'm I know this
Speaker 1: is kind of sacrilege. Everyone's excited about the Panthers. I
Speaker 1: still need to see the Panthers beat some good teams.
Speaker 1: I need to see them win some close games. And
Speaker 1: I think in a in a conference that has some
Speaker 1: really good teams. Until I see them kind of make
Speaker 1: that leap against quality opponents, I'm not ready to buy in.
Speaker 1: I was actually going to say, I hope the Saints
Speaker 1: make the playoffs because the Panthers are winning that division well.
Speaker 1: And you know it's I understand the argument if they
Speaker 1: haven't beaten anyone, but you know what, against these lesser teams,
Speaker 1: which is not the case in the NFL this year,
Speaker 1: they've gone out and slaughtered They've smoked him. And here's
Speaker 1: what's going on in Carolina. The defense has been the
Speaker 1: same all year. I don't know if people realize that
Speaker 1: the Falcon scored a touchdown in the first half last week.
Speaker 1: That was the first one the Panthers allowed all year
Speaker 1: in the first half. That defense has been every bit
Speaker 1: as impressive as the Chiefs, and now Newton is catching up.
Speaker 1: He he kind of started the season slow. He was
Speaker 1: taking too many chances down the field, his arm with
Speaker 1: scatter shot, his footwork was a mess. He's fixed a
Speaker 1: lot of that. He's taking dump offs, which we kind
Speaker 1: of criticize other quarterbacks for joined but with a defense
Speaker 1: like the Panthers, he can afford to do that, and
Speaker 1: with his running ability, they can afford to do that too.
Speaker 1: They're becoming a well balanced offense. They get Jonathan Stewart back,
Speaker 1: They've got Ron rivera kind of wrong galvanizing the team
Speaker 1: with his aggressiveness. This is a different team and I
Speaker 1: am really looking forward to the forty Niners game this week. Well,
Speaker 1: I think that's in our in house. That's become our
Speaker 1: game of the week because it really is a test
Speaker 1: of a Carolina team that seems like it is surging.
Speaker 1: Is there any scenario, I think Seattle, we'd have to
Speaker 1: be nuts to say they aren't a shoeing for probably
Speaker 1: a buy unless the wheels fall off any scenario where
Speaker 1: San Francisco reverts back to where they were a little
Speaker 1: bit earlier in the year and somehow doesn't make it
Speaker 1: in as a wild card. I don't see that happening
Speaker 1: with Crabtree coming back. I mean that was the problem
Speaker 1: earlier in the year, the wide receivers couldn't separate from
Speaker 1: man coverage. We can't assume Crabtree will be pre injury form,
Speaker 1: but manning Ham also coming back. This looks like an
Speaker 1: offense getting stronger, not weaker. Alright, fellas so the Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers injury and of course all the fall out in
Speaker 1: the NFC is the biggest on field football story this week. Kay, Rich,
Speaker 1: can you tell us about the rest of the news
Speaker 1: around the NFL? Oh? Okay, Okay, Rich, how are you
Speaker 1: doing right now? I have been on a high all
Speaker 1: week long until my Eagles losing with Aaron Rodgers out.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of optimistic. Yeah, that you deserve to be optimistic,
Speaker 1: and it seems to be to me anyway. There's a
Speaker 1: renewed confidence in your eyes. Once West walked in the studio,
Speaker 1: it was I think the podcast got a little bit upbeat,
Speaker 1: and to continue that upbeat nous I'm going to start
Speaker 1: with the news, starting with defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, who
Speaker 1: was picked as a Houston Texas interim head coach until
Speaker 1: Gary Kubiak returns. Well, yeah, I mean Phillips had a
Speaker 1: bit of an up and down, mostly down tenure with
Speaker 1: the Cowboys, but uh, at least they had someone in
Speaker 1: the house here to hold things down. Now, what remains
Speaker 1: to be seen is if this even matters from a
Speaker 1: competition standpoint. Are they already too far back for a
Speaker 1: t even matter? I find them interesting right now. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: And I don't think we liked the play calling that
Speaker 1: happened down the stretch on Sunday, but we probably have
Speaker 1: to give the Texans a pass for that because sidering
Speaker 1: the shock they had at half time, and Rick Dennis,
Speaker 1: in their offensive coordinator, was is considered one of the
Speaker 1: most respected coordinators in the league, got some head coaching interviews.
Speaker 1: I think he's a guy you can trust to call
Speaker 1: the right place. He's considered basically one of the top
Speaker 1: five running game coordinators in the NFL. They might miss
Speaker 1: kubi x passing game prowess a little bit. One thing
Speaker 1: to watch out for this Arian Foster back issue. It's
Speaker 1: still kind of hazy what the deal is with it.
Speaker 1: Um they've lost they've lost Brian Cushing and now they
Speaker 1: don't have their coach. If they if they lose Foster,
Speaker 1: can we really get behind them at all? Is a
Speaker 1: team that can get I know, Wes, you're very big
Speaker 1: on case Keenum, but his wouldn't Foster being almost like
Speaker 1: the final nail in the coffin. I think if it
Speaker 1: depends on how Ben Tate runs. He wasn't himself last week.
Speaker 1: If he's closer to I don't think they'll miss Foster
Speaker 1: that much. Foster is a better player, but Take it's
Speaker 1: one of the best backups in the NFL. They can
Speaker 1: run that offense with Ben Take and Keenum is. He's
Speaker 1: not just completing you know, short conservative passes. That guy's
Speaker 1: winging it down field. He's completing I think it's something
Speaker 1: like eight passes over twenty five yards. I mean, I
Speaker 1: love his Maybe he doesn't even know what he doesn't
Speaker 1: know at this point, and they're kind of just saying
Speaker 1: go out there and play some football. They just, for
Speaker 1: the first time this season, looked like a fun team
Speaker 1: to me. And because of Mr Fat Randy's missed field goal.
Speaker 1: We forget that actually brought them back into field goal
Speaker 1: range at the end of that game with very little
Speaker 1: time left. He's played. Well, what else is in the news?
Speaker 1: K rich Al? Right, next up? Unfortunately, I think we
Speaker 1: might be hearing about this for a little while. The
Speaker 1: NFL p A seeks a meeting between Richie Incognito and
Speaker 1: Jonathan Martin's representatives. We're not going to. I'm sure there
Speaker 1: are a lot of people that want to talk about
Speaker 1: this all day and take one side or the other
Speaker 1: and talk about what it is to be bullied and
Speaker 1: what hazing means. I don't think we anybody in this
Speaker 1: room wants to do that. But I guess you know,
Speaker 1: from a from a standpoint of the Dolphins, you know,
Speaker 1: this is just such a bad situation that they've lost
Speaker 1: now two fifths of their offensive line over this mess,
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know how this is gonna
Speaker 1: end up. But it doesn't sound like Incognito is gonna
Speaker 1: be back, and I don't know Martin is gonna be
Speaker 1: back either. How do they move on from this? I
Speaker 1: would really love to dig deep into this issue, but
Speaker 1: there is a shadowy leak figure standing over me with
Speaker 1: a sickle in his hand. He's got an actual sickle.
Speaker 1: I don't even I didn't even know they made those anymore.
Speaker 1: So I guess we'll just talk about the state of
Speaker 1: their offitive line, which was poor to begin with and
Speaker 1: and is now going to get worse. Martin incognito. Both
Speaker 1: were playing at a subpar level, which tells you that
Speaker 1: the guys behind them have to be very bad. But
Speaker 1: like you said, they're not losing Joe Thomas and like
Speaker 1: an All Star Guarden, I mean, like these guys. Martin
Speaker 1: probably was not happy at all to see McKinney come
Speaker 1: in and take a spot that I feel like triggered
Speaker 1: some of this to some degree. But this is a
Speaker 1: line that's gotten Tannehill killed all season and it only
Speaker 1: gets worse. And Marcus, I sit across from you every day.
Speaker 1: You you're not really two into seeing on your Twitter
Speaker 1: feed these people that seem to have the pulse of
Speaker 1: this locker room. In this situation. You don't want to
Speaker 1: hear from these people, do you. I just know, listen,
Speaker 1: everyone's fine, everyone can come and all they want. I
Speaker 1: just think that a lot of people have know there's
Speaker 1: a lot more I think that's gonna come out on this. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think this is this is going to continue to snowball,
Speaker 1: and I think it's gonna be a problem for the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. It seems like there are beyond
Speaker 1: even Incongnito and Martin. There are issues in that locker room, right,
Speaker 1: And you wonder, from from my standpoint especially, or excuse me,
Speaker 1: from the Dolphin standpoint, what happens if this team, if
Speaker 1: this snowballs and then the team kind of tanks a
Speaker 1: little bit, is Joe Filman gonna lose his job? And
Speaker 1: would this be a big part of the reason why
Speaker 1: I can't wrap my head around that Joe Philbin that
Speaker 1: we saw with a sterling reputation coming out of Green Bay,
Speaker 1: one of the nicest guys in the NFL, and seems
Speaker 1: to there seems to be some kind of code red
Speaker 1: situation going on with people ordering income Needo to do
Speaker 1: this to Martin. I don't know what's going on there,
Speaker 1: but I think he has to be held responsible in
Speaker 1: some way if that did happen. Well, we'll continue to
Speaker 1: see how this unfolds. K Rich anything else in the news, Yeah,
Speaker 1: one more thing, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles. My eyes
Speaker 1: are glimmering right now, and Cleveland quarterback Jason Campbell topped
Speaker 1: the list of Week nine Players of the Week. I
Speaker 1: just thought this was funny, being how did this get
Speaker 1: into I thought, you know what this is? This is
Speaker 1: on me. I just thought it was funny that number
Speaker 1: one that Nick Foles, which is k which is boy,
Speaker 1: and Jason Campbell, which has become Sessler's boy. You know
Speaker 1: that these yeah, by default all accepted um that these
Speaker 1: two players were somehow the offensive players of the week.
Speaker 1: It's a weird universe we live in. I think it's
Speaker 1: a this season in particular, we've gotten strong, but also
Speaker 1: a ton of play from backup quarterbacks. There's been there's
Speaker 1: been so many number ones that have gone down and
Speaker 1: in the in the past it was like you had
Speaker 1: a Seneca all us all over the place. A lot
Speaker 1: of these guys have come in and been preferable. You
Speaker 1: know what we've learned from this. If you have a
Speaker 1: struggling former first round pick and he's not getting the
Speaker 1: job done, yank him. That's right. The guy behind him
Speaker 1: might give your life, give your offense some life. I
Speaker 1: mean we saw it twice in Cleveland now with two
Speaker 1: different backup that's how bad Weedon was playing. And I
Speaker 1: went back and watched even the last game where Campbell
Speaker 1: went out for one series, and the energy when Weedon
Speaker 1: comes in. And I don't want to pile on this
Speaker 1: guy at this point, but the air in the stadium
Speaker 1: and of the offense came in through a minus two
Speaker 1: yards screen pass and then somehow avoided an intentional grounding
Speaker 1: penalty on the next play, and those were his two plays. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think in retrospect, the high point of the weed
Speaker 1: In ears when he came in for hoy Er. They
Speaker 1: won that game on Thursday night, But that's it. I
Speaker 1: think that will be the last positive moment of his
Speaker 1: tenure in Cleveland. I think now that there is no
Speaker 1: the rookie wages are reasonable now. It used to be
Speaker 1: if you paid a guy like JaMarcus Russell, you couldn't
Speaker 1: bench him. Now there's no reason hold the rest of
Speaker 1: your team hostage just to suit the first round draft.
Speaker 1: And these coaches that are working a hundred plus hours
Speaker 1: a week, they don't have four or five years to
Speaker 1: develop a guy. If it doesn't happen in a year
Speaker 1: and a half, especially in a city like Cleveland, you're out.
Speaker 1: So you've got to get it done, all right. Thank
Speaker 1: you for the news, Crystal. Here lies the Oakland Raiders,
Speaker 1: who overcame the dire predictions of genius pundits, but cannot
Speaker 1: be taken seriously as a contender in the middling American
Speaker 1: Football Conference. We stick a fork in the Raiders, but
Speaker 1: it is Wes who may eventually stick a fork into
Speaker 1: his softball pants. Listen, the it was a bad, bad
Speaker 1: game for the Raiders at home. Nick Foles sets all
Speaker 1: sorts of records. Um, so this wasn't It's basically two things,
Speaker 1: by the way, and people, some people might be confused,
Speaker 1: why us the softball pants and the Raiders fork are
Speaker 1: two totally different things. I don't think that. The Raiders
Speaker 1: and we all agreed the four committee got together, agreed
Speaker 1: that the Raiders stand a chance of getting to nine
Speaker 1: wins or in that area to make a playoff run.
Speaker 1: But they still can get the six wins, which would
Speaker 1: mean that Westwood gobble up some ester um. You know,
Speaker 1: you have the zipper, which is a mental product all
Speaker 1: sorts of unsavory things for your'n like. Unlike the other
Speaker 1: teams which we forked, the Raiders actually have something to
Speaker 1: play for they do. I don't know if they They
Speaker 1: probably don't know that. In fact, I can almost guarantee
Speaker 1: you they don't know that. But yes, you're right, Mark,
Speaker 1: What do you think about this? I think it's funny
Speaker 1: that we, oh so Philadelphia rolls into Oakland and handles
Speaker 1: business big time, wipes him out right. Philadelphia's four and five,
Speaker 1: and had they lost, they'd be three and six. I
Speaker 1: think we still wouldn't have forked the Eagles because they're
Speaker 1: in a division that really any one could win. But
Speaker 1: if you're Oakland and you're three and five right now,
Speaker 1: it's over because you're in a division with two teams
Speaker 1: that are gonna have twelve plus wins, if not third
Speaker 1: team plus. The a f C has littered with too
Speaker 1: many four and five win options right here. I think
Speaker 1: Oakland deserves some respect for the fact that we wouldn't
Speaker 1: have been surprised before the year if they had not
Speaker 1: won a game at this point. They've played some gutsy football.
Speaker 1: Their defense has shown up beyond what we thought they
Speaker 1: would Terrell prior a bit of a surprise. But they
Speaker 1: aren't a complete team on any level. But I think
Speaker 1: that Dennis Allen has made the leap to some degree
Speaker 1: we will find out. I agree. I still think this
Speaker 1: is a roster which has many holes when you look forward.
Speaker 1: They have a lot of band aids on defense, older
Speaker 1: players that they just signed to short term deals. There's
Speaker 1: not really a whole building block here. McFadden is going
Speaker 1: to be a free agent. I don't think he'll be back.
Speaker 1: They can build around prior, but there are still questions
Speaker 1: on whether he's a passer or not. But there's still
Speaker 1: more of a feeling of optimism than there was in August.
Speaker 1: So the Raiders joined and the Stick of Work um series.
Speaker 1: I'm sure if you listen to the podcast, you know,
Speaker 1: but if you haven't stick a fork, when we stick
Speaker 1: a fork in the team, we are guaranteeing that they
Speaker 1: don't make the playoffs. If we're wrong on any of
Speaker 1: these predictions, we will never never do this segment again.
Speaker 1: And Greg, since he's not here, we'll have Greg donate
Speaker 1: a healthy sum of his December paycheck to a charity
Speaker 1: of kay Rich's choice. Thank you. Yeah, what do you
Speaker 1: think of k Richards Off the top of your head,
Speaker 1: in terms of a charity anything with children regarding the holidays,
Speaker 1: That sounds like the Salvation Army written all over it. Um. Okay, So,
Speaker 1: by the way, here's the fork list, just you know,
Speaker 1: a little housekeeping here. The Jags, now, the Raiders, the Vikings,
Speaker 1: the Falcons, the Bucks and the Rams. I think those
Speaker 1: are all our four teams right now. And now let's
Speaker 1: move forward and say so long to the Raiders from
Speaker 1: a UH contender standpoint. But we will be talking about
Speaker 1: him for softball reasons. But what about other teams? Now,
Speaker 1: the committee got together only name the Raiders as a fork.
Speaker 1: I was thinking we talked about this downstairs. Steelers and
Speaker 1: Bills are two teams that are really hanging by a
Speaker 1: thread now as contenders in the a f C. How
Speaker 1: about a god old fortune uh? And they happen to
Speaker 1: be facing off on Sunday. How about a good old
Speaker 1: fashioned fork off with the loser getting forked? Well, I uh,
Speaker 1: I had to send him my absentee ballot to the
Speaker 1: fork committee since I was out tendling cost co issues. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I did vote for the Raiders to be forked,
Speaker 1: but if I was in the committee, I would have
Speaker 1: voted for the Buffalo Bills before the Raiders. I think
Speaker 1: when you don't have a quarterback you have a problem.
Speaker 1: And I know Bills fans love EJ. Manuel with good reason.
Speaker 1: There's a reason to be positive about his future, but
Speaker 1: right now he's not a good NFL quarterback. I don't
Speaker 1: think they can come out of that division or even
Speaker 1: contend for a wild card spot with that big of
Speaker 1: a question mark at quarterback. I don't disagree. I think
Speaker 1: that this game coming up between Buffalo and Pittsburgh is
Speaker 1: a great way to decide this. I would have voted
Speaker 1: actually for Pittsburgh above Buffalo because I just watched that
Speaker 1: Chiefs game against the Bills where honestly, you know, and
Speaker 1: you can't look at football this way, but two or
Speaker 1: three plays kept Buffalo from winning that game, and had
Speaker 1: they had they overcome the Chiefs, we wouldn't even be
Speaker 1: talking about them this way. Pittsburgh, to me, I think
Speaker 1: the reputation they've had one losing season in ten years,
Speaker 1: we just don't believe that they can be as bad
Speaker 1: as the record is right now. But I don't see
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh going what they'd need to do, probably go seven
Speaker 1: in one to finish nine and seven and and squeak
Speaker 1: into the playoffs. Don't see it happening. I was ready
Speaker 1: to vote for Pittsburgh. Others were not. And then, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, Greg isn't here. Greg has been pushing hard
Speaker 1: for the Giants for a couple of weeks. It just
Speaker 1: didn't feel right. Uh, the committee members decided to fork
Speaker 1: a team coming off a two game winning streak. Now,
Speaker 1: if they lose this week against the Raiders, I think
Speaker 1: you have a very clear case to fork the Giants.
Speaker 1: But we'll see what happens, see how the week plays out.
Speaker 1: So I think with the Giants you have to touch
Speaker 1: on history here too. Every time people have counted the
Speaker 1: Tom Coughlin Giants out is when they turned their season around.
Speaker 1: Do we want to be the next Mark? I don't know.
Speaker 1: And also they are in the NFC East, which which
Speaker 1: anyone could get hot for even half a month in
Speaker 1: being the driver's seat. Right, So two and six you think, oh,
Speaker 1: maybe they could stream together. It might just need as
Speaker 1: Mark you've said all season, it might just be eight
Speaker 1: wins that wins that division. Could they go six and two,
Speaker 1: It's possible. Could they go seven one? So they have
Speaker 1: the Raiders and then Seneca Wallace. Yeah, they could be
Speaker 1: in the middle. All right, let's move on to Thursday.
Speaker 1: Night Football. We move on to Week ten season, just
Speaker 1: flying along. We have the Washington Redskins facing the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: I do not understand. How are we keep on? How
Speaker 1: do we keep on getting these Vikings primetime games? God? No,
Speaker 1: God please, no, no, no, no nice touch k Rich.
Speaker 1: And it's been like a rash because it's three times
Speaker 1: in four weeks. How is and twice in six days
Speaker 1: at one point, So you know we are I understand
Speaker 1: it makes sense. I guess when they made the schedule
Speaker 1: they had the m v P and Peterson. This was
Speaker 1: seemed by I guess some people as an ascendant team.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, we're getting to see a lot
Speaker 1: of the Vikings on a prime time stage. West. I'll
Speaker 1: throw it to you, what what are you looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing in this game? This was the hardest game
Speaker 1: for me to pick all week. Um. I when I
Speaker 1: went back, I watched the Vikings game. Everybody got worked
Speaker 1: up about the Adrian Peterson touchdown run the entire game.
Speaker 1: He runs so violently and he punishes you for I
Speaker 1: don't know how people tackle him like he I don't.
Speaker 1: I guess that's how great NFL defenders are. Because Adrian
Speaker 1: Peterson looks like he's about to run for three yards
Speaker 1: on the next next team he goes against. Is there
Speaker 1: a game that could highlight at this point two of
Speaker 1: the more disappointing teams of the year. This is this
Speaker 1: was what they outlined to be. Listen to NFC hopeels,
Speaker 1: especially Washington. But you're Mike Shanahan and you're gonna go
Speaker 1: through this. I'm gonna go three and five, three and
Speaker 1: six and try to sneak back into it. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of I think a lot of If you
Speaker 1: remember before the season started, you had all the uncertainty
Speaker 1: around r G three, so we didn't really know what
Speaker 1: we were going to get from him, and a lot
Speaker 1: of people I think all of us picked the Vikings
Speaker 1: to finish uh in the lower half of their division.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think that it became a situation
Speaker 1: where it's almost been a worst case situation scenario for
Speaker 1: both teams. If I were Washington, though, the best thing
Speaker 1: you could have done for RG three, who yes and
Speaker 1: probably they knew would need a month to cook up,
Speaker 1: is to build something other than a complete train wreck
Speaker 1: on defense. Right and to me, I guess the favorite
Speaker 1: in his game will be the only will be the
Speaker 1: defense that shows a backbone. I think the Redskins offense
Speaker 1: is playing pretty well right now. They're moving the ball,
Speaker 1: the running game is really in tune. Uh, Pierre Garcona
Speaker 1: is playing great. R G three is playing better than
Speaker 1: he was earlier in the year. I could see the
Speaker 1: Redskins scoring thirty five or forty points in this game.
Speaker 1: I could also see Adrian Peterson rushing for three yards. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I personally I picked the Redskins to win the
Speaker 1: NFC East and uh, they've disappointed the season and this
Speaker 1: is the game. I mean, if you've had faith in
Speaker 1: them that they're gonna turn it around. If it doesn't
Speaker 1: happen here, you know, turn out the lights, it's over.
Speaker 1: So you you would think that the Redskins are more
Speaker 1: motivated team here. Did anyone take the Vikings to win
Speaker 1: this game? I took the Redskins And if you look
Speaker 1: at it, it's crazy that they're they're actually in better
Speaker 1: shape right now than they were at this time last year. Uh,
Speaker 1: they're a half game better in the standings, I think.
Speaker 1: And with the caveat that r G three isn't a
Speaker 1: top five quarterback this year like he was last year.
Speaker 1: This team still looks like they could do some damage
Speaker 1: in that division. Well, they're only you know, a game
Speaker 1: back if they win this thing in the East. And
Speaker 1: like we said, the East is up for grabs for
Speaker 1: even probably a couple of weeks from now. The Redskins
Speaker 1: has scored a lot of point and slately it looks
Speaker 1: like r G three has some chemistry with garsone. We
Speaker 1: love read a tight end and then you know what
Speaker 1: they're running the ball. Well, I have the Redskins too,
Speaker 1: and I just I think that they're actually they're they're
Speaker 1: starting to get it together. We'll see. You know, I
Speaker 1: took the Redskins as well, but uh you know, that's
Speaker 1: not necessarily an indictment of uh or it's not a
Speaker 1: vote of confidence. I just think the Vikings stink, so
Speaker 1: they should be able to beat them. But we'll see,
Speaker 1: all right that we'll do it for the Around the
Speaker 1: League podcast, we will be back on Friday, where we
Speaker 1: will I guess, talk about that Redskins Vikings game and
Speaker 1: go over the rest of our week ten picks and
Speaker 1: preview all those games. This is Dan Hansis signing off
Speaker 1: for The Mailman, The sizzlerk Ridge behind the Glass and
Speaker 1: of course lyle The a t L intern until Friday
Speaker 1: until Sunday, oh