Speaker 1: Checking off Oswalder got the first Swidler touchdown. Bwidler. Good
Speaker 1: for you, brock Oswidler, and good for us that Colts
Speaker 1: Broncos is over and what will probably be forgotten but
Speaker 1: should be remembered as the brock Osweiler game. The Colts
Speaker 1: come out, I mean, the Broncos come out on top
Speaker 1: to thirteen over the Colts. This is Greg Rosenthal. I'm
Speaker 1: sitting in for Dan Hansis, who's usually here kicking off
Speaker 1: Thursday night, and I'm alongside Mark Sessler, who had his
Speaker 1: Star Wars plans Star Wars plans delayed here absolutely worth
Speaker 1: it to witness this. This the contest. You know, Vance Joseph.
Speaker 1: People have been starting to talk about his future and
Speaker 1: a game like this, I don't know if it changes
Speaker 1: literally anything at all, but the idea that brock Oslaer
Speaker 1: stepped in and did his coaches solid. The skycam, I
Speaker 1: think on these games allows you to see passing lanes
Speaker 1: and the way to the backs throw and what they're
Speaker 1: seeing in such a unique fashion. I'm not I don't need,
Speaker 1: I don't need more skycam in my life. I like
Speaker 1: it though. It's great, and it showed how that there's
Speaker 1: an opening interception by Trevor Simeon, which was one of
Speaker 1: the worst throws you're gonna see all year. He soon
Speaker 1: went out of the game with an injury. Ostweller came
Speaker 1: in and made similar throws that he was hitting lasers.
Speaker 1: I mean, who was this guy? He he was great.
Speaker 1: I look at the numbers now and I realized they're
Speaker 1: not crazy impressive twelve of seventeen one yards and two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: but so many of his throws were great. I mean,
Speaker 1: you you know, there there's some guarantees in life, death
Speaker 1: taxes and brock Oswelder against the cults, he beat him
Speaker 1: twice as a member of the Texans last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it made a beautiful, beautiful past to Cody Latimer for
Speaker 1: a touch. I just took over the third quarter. I
Speaker 1: love the Mike Terko call. Though, good for you, brock
Speaker 1: As there's a little bit of condescension there. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: it's like they did. It sounded like they spent the
Speaker 1: week talking to him about all that he's gone through,
Speaker 1: from you know, being with the Texans to like a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks with Cleveland. That was at this, asked
Speaker 1: her he winds up in Denver and that he said,
Speaker 1: this is the minute, like the plane hit Denver soil.
Speaker 1: He felt like he was home again. And you know
Speaker 1: that didn't seem to prove much early on in the
Speaker 1: season when he played, but this was a different guy tonight. Well,
Speaker 1: now that Broncos don't even have to worry about taking
Speaker 1: a quarterback and then they have one. You've got Brock,
Speaker 1: They've they It's been a weird journey, but you've found
Speaker 1: him again. I don't know what else we're gonna take
Speaker 1: from this game. Cody Latimer's winning himself some free agency
Speaker 1: money perhaps, Uh Frank Gore went over yards from scrimmage.
Speaker 1: He's looked good. He's done it in eleven straight season,
Speaker 1: so him and Emmett Smith are the only players to
Speaker 1: ever do that. But otherwise, another you know, blown lead
Speaker 1: from the Colts in the season full of them, Broncos
Speaker 1: get to five wins. It was good to see that
Speaker 1: Brandon Williams who was hurt the Colts tight end early
Speaker 1: in the game and that's stopped that slowed things down
Speaker 1: for about fourteen minutes or so. That he's in a hospital,
Speaker 1: but he it was a head injury, but he has
Speaker 1: movement and feelings, so it sounds like he'll he'll be okay.
Speaker 1: That was good news. It was a bad game for injuries.
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Sanders got hurt, left the game. Trevor Simeon dislocated
Speaker 1: his left shoulder, the same shoulder he injured last season.
Speaker 1: And you make a good point. Advanced joseph Ian Rappaport
Speaker 1: said that they really they're really hoping not to make
Speaker 1: any changes barring something being terrible down the stretch, and
Speaker 1: now they've won a couple of games, it would seem
Speaker 1: like he's safe. Yeah. It was like for the first
Speaker 1: game in a while where the offense and defense and
Speaker 1: Denver we're not giving each other, you know, ugly looks
Speaker 1: all game. So we're gonna throw it over to Dan
Speaker 1: Hansas and Chris Wesleyan in the house today in preview
Speaker 1: the rest of the week fifteen games. Um, but are
Speaker 1: you are you excited before we do that? You're excited
Speaker 1: to go off to Star Wars tonight? I want to
Speaker 1: see it. You know, I already have noticed that Erika
Speaker 1: tampost he behind the glass is taking shots at the franchise. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a young filmmaker, Erica tamp post He maybe
Speaker 1: maybe taking shots Lucien ran Johnson. Not a great idea.
Speaker 1: Louise Cannon sitting in for Fulton tonight, and she tweets
Speaker 1: out right before we started really subtweeting, Mark me. You know,
Speaker 1: she puts her normal Amy Schumer Jeff out there and
Speaker 1: and and call says that's her while all the dweebs
Speaker 1: are waiting in line for Star Wars, Marks, I just
Speaker 1: noticed that it's a it's a g off, not a
Speaker 1: not a jiffs. Listen. I got a lot of T
Speaker 1: shirts at home. I just chose to wear this one tonight.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, no more Delayne you have fun tonight,
Speaker 1: thank you, and having to a concert. I hope I
Speaker 1: am going to concert as well, and have fun listening
Speaker 1: to the week fifteen preview sending it over to Dan.
Speaker 1: But before we do that, give me your best chepo Mark,
Speaker 1: I need it. No, I don't do it. I don't try.
Speaker 1: I don't have a Chewbacca impression. That's all you're getting
Speaker 1: from me. Be Around the NFL Podcast brings two generations together.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast,
Speaker 1: presented by Head and Shoulders. My name is Dan Hansas,
Speaker 1: and I am joined by a room filled with heroes,
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler, Christoff Wesling and Greg Rose withal what's up boys?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I don't appreciate that comment off the top
Speaker 1: if that's a shot at West and I being like
Speaker 1: five years older than you guys or whatever it is
Speaker 1: that the money the money drop that has nothing to
Speaker 1: do with the younger side of the table. Well, I
Speaker 1: mean it's interest constant rampant age ism, and that is
Speaker 1: forbidden in our work. That's a good point. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's interesting in your mind went there. Maybe it was
Speaker 1: like the generations of families listening to our show together
Speaker 1: over the holiday. I like that. I like that. Mark,
Speaker 1: thanks for coming in and talking a little bronchos cults.
Speaker 1: By the way, you really a nailed that. You owe me. Um,
Speaker 1: we have a great show a week fifteen already. Wow, Mark,
Speaker 1: can you can you feel it? I will see that
Speaker 1: that that Mexican sunshine upon you as you are on
Speaker 1: one of your solo jounts and you're just spread out,
Speaker 1: your man spreading on a chair and you got a
Speaker 1: bucket of coronas next to you. What man spreading? He's
Speaker 1: so many questions about this so called and the and
Speaker 1: the waves are gently lapping in post Erica, we can
Speaker 1: just add this all in and then the waitress comes
Speaker 1: over and like, monegone, can I get you anything? And
Speaker 1: You're like, I got everything I need right here. I'm free. Baby.
Speaker 1: There is literally no way that I would be allowed
Speaker 1: to travel alone to Mexico if I pulled off a lot.
Speaker 1: I pulled off, you know, same house, a typical voyage
Speaker 1: here and there, but not to another country. No. I
Speaker 1: mean it's closer than you know, western Massachusetts. Next time,
Speaker 1: here's the movie. You tell them you're going to western
Speaker 1: Massachusetts and then just go to mac greg That's not
Speaker 1: how healthy families operating. More than once, I've like said
Speaker 1: to Emily is like, hey, you ever talked to Simone
Speaker 1: about like the secrets to a healthy marriage? Because she
Speaker 1: seems to have a good idea of things. I'm very lucky, man. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, so yeah, we're gonna go through each of
Speaker 1: the week fifteen matchups. Um, so we got fifteen games
Speaker 1: to talk about, and I'm very excited to get into it.
Speaker 1: So why don't we get into it? Erica is behind
Speaker 1: the Glass tonight, tam Posey the loose cannon. Very exciting,
Speaker 1: good timing, although unfortunate that Lindsey Fulton is under the weather, Erica.
Speaker 1: This is one of the bigger Patriots regular season games
Speaker 1: and quite some time, so I'm sure you have some butterflies.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I'm nervous, especially after Monday night. Is that
Speaker 1: a little bit like in the pit of your stomach?
Speaker 1: Like I was watching it in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Picksburgh. I
Speaker 1: was in Pittsburgh with Scheck and I was watching them.
Speaker 1: I was watching the Dolphins game, and you know, my
Speaker 1: Twitter is blowing up and I'm seeing everyone saying check
Speaker 1: was there? Yeah? Wow, YEA even a worse person to
Speaker 1: be watching the Patriots game across from then Dan on Sunday.
Speaker 1: But Sunday Sunday night for for the Steelers Ravens game.
Speaker 1: I was in a bar like getting dinner or whatever,
Speaker 1: and they were just Steelers fans everywhere, and I was
Speaker 1: like getting hit in the head with a terrible towel,
Speaker 1: and I'm just I was just so fared. Well, were
Speaker 1: you in your like Danny m and Dilla Jersey or something.
Speaker 1: How did they know that You're no? Like they were
Speaker 1: just swinging it with just hitting anyone in the head.
Speaker 1: They weren't physically assaulting. You know, give me another reason
Speaker 1: to not like Steelers fans. Um. All right, there you go,
Speaker 1: all good stuff, very Tempossey. I am a little bit,
Speaker 1: you know, my feeling on the path. So I'm hoping
Speaker 1: you're gonna be posting that Amy Schumer wine drinking gift
Speaker 1: over and over again on Sunday. But we'll see how
Speaker 1: plays out. I don't even want to watch, to be honest,
Speaker 1: I'm like literally scared. You're in fear. I can tell
Speaker 1: coming off on Monday. Your confidence is shaken. I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm not in a good spot. Not Amy Schumer. Well,
Speaker 1: that's the gift. That's her, that's her thing, that's her bit,
Speaker 1: isn't isn't that a totally different comedian? No it Schumer?
Speaker 1: Is it? Oh? I was thinking of hers Leslie. Nope.
Speaker 1: All right, it's scary on deep waters out here with
Speaker 1: current pop culture references again, Greg, with the ages. All right,
Speaker 1: here we go, let's get into you. We'll get to,
Speaker 1: of course, Pats and Steelers a little bit later. But
Speaker 1: you like to go in um chronological order, which means
Speaker 1: we're starting with Saturday games. First game up. The Chicago
Speaker 1: Bears four and nine, last place, in the NFC North.
Speaker 1: It is the end of the John Fox era. Uh.
Speaker 1: Most likely. Now they travel to Detroit to face the Lions,
Speaker 1: and here's Matthew Stafford. I haven't heard a lot of
Speaker 1: reports about his hand, so I'm assuming that that's at
Speaker 1: a better place now. Can the Lions finished strong mark
Speaker 1: and against stay in the picture until the end of December.
Speaker 1: A w at home against a bad Bear teams Bears
Speaker 1: team would do it. I don't know how Jim Calledwell
Speaker 1: makes a major argument for returning next season season if
Speaker 1: they don't take care of this one, it's uh. You know,
Speaker 1: Mitchell Trabisca played his best game of the season last
Speaker 1: week against the Bengals, and that was encouraging. But my
Speaker 1: one thing about the Bears is that when you watch
Speaker 1: what's happened with teams like the Rams, where you had
Speaker 1: a young quarterback that didn't have much around him, that
Speaker 1: they focused on getting a better coach in there in
Speaker 1: a better set of weapons around him. They did the
Speaker 1: same thing for Carson Wentz. If you don't use this
Speaker 1: offseason to radically change aspects of this organization, in this offense,
Speaker 1: and that starts with the coaching staff, I don't understand
Speaker 1: how Bears fans have much to hope for beyond this season.
Speaker 1: Is there a thought that that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I would SERI gonna try.
Speaker 1: They have to. I mean, I just think they tried
Speaker 1: this offseason and had one of the worst free agents
Speaker 1: freeze possible. Bill Barnwell wrote about it, you know, pointing
Speaker 1: out like it could not have gone worse. Marcus Wheaton,
Speaker 1: Dion Sims like the money that they spent on on weapons,
Speaker 1: Mike Glennan sure like that was a disaster and free agency.
Speaker 1: So I think it's a question if Ryan Pace gets
Speaker 1: a job. But then again, like it wouldn't surprise me
Speaker 1: if they win this game and Detroit with it. This
Speaker 1: was it wouldn't be This was a nail biter just
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago when these two teams played. Yes,
Speaker 1: the Bengals, if they think the Bears are a bad
Speaker 1: team right there, eleventh and waited defensive d b o A,
Speaker 1: which means they've been about a top ten defense for
Speaker 1: the past month. So this is not a pushover team.
Speaker 1: And if you're if you're kind of a little tired
Speaker 1: of the Lions sticking around like we were in a
Speaker 1: pretty good chance here. The Lions are gonna get to
Speaker 1: Week seventeen with a maybe playing type of game against
Speaker 1: the Packers. They have the Bears this week, then the
Speaker 1: Bengals and then the Packers. Like they can be there
Speaker 1: at nine and six. I don't know one kind of
Speaker 1: wants it's a good chance of it. But what's kind
Speaker 1: of annoying about the Lions? Even if they get to
Speaker 1: nine and six, which is a very respectable record, If
Speaker 1: they get there, what's gonna happen in weeks seventeen if
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers needs that game too, if it will be
Speaker 1: a game that I feel like I could get out
Speaker 1: of hand, but they gotta get there first. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: I feel like Lions fans are always annoyed that we
Speaker 1: don't give them more credit. But I still find a
Speaker 1: team that just is. I don't have a lot of
Speaker 1: faith in the last yards per carry, their last in
Speaker 1: rushing yards like they need Like Stafford had a thirty
Speaker 1: eight for forty one stretch. It's like that's the type
Speaker 1: of stuff they need to win games. By the way,
Speaker 1: that works both ways. I'm often annoyed at Lions fans.
Speaker 1: That's very true. Um Alright, moving on, the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Super Chargers four wins in a row now travel to
Speaker 1: Kansas City to face the Chiefs and Arrowhead. How excited?
Speaker 1: This is a good one to seven and six teams
Speaker 1: the a f C West could be on the line.
Speaker 1: And this is it. I mean, if we really think
Speaker 1: this Chargers team is different this year, if we think
Speaker 1: they're a better team, go into Arrowhead and get a
Speaker 1: w you think it's gonna happen. This is a huge,
Speaker 1: huge game because it's it's probably gonna determine who wins
Speaker 1: that division. And I don't remember a year this late
Speaker 1: in the season where good luck with your power rankings
Speaker 1: in the NFL. I don't see how anybody could rank
Speaker 1: the top teams in top ten teams in the league
Speaker 1: right now, and it starts with the Charges, a team
Speaker 1: that could very easily win the Super Bowl or miss
Speaker 1: the playoffs altogether. They are arguably the best team in
Speaker 1: the NFL over the past month overall offense defense UM
Speaker 1: by since Week five, their defensive numbers compare favor favorably
Speaker 1: to the Jaguars. They are one of the best defensive
Speaker 1: teams in the NFL. They have yet to allow one
Speaker 1: yard receiver. The only team that can say that, and
Speaker 1: their offense is the best offense in the league for
Speaker 1: the past month. So to me, I'm taking the Chargers.
Speaker 1: I'm not thinking twice about it, and for the second
Speaker 1: week in a row, I'm locking them up. WHOA, let
Speaker 1: me get on the Old West corner here, because I
Speaker 1: want to be in on this fund with the Chargers.
Speaker 1: You guys, I was pessimistic, but you guys all think
Speaker 1: this Chargers team is the real deal. Mark You think
Speaker 1: they're gonna win the Super Bowl and all that um
Speaker 1: going back to Augusta. They're going to But anyway, I
Speaker 1: am in the same boat. I will say that the
Speaker 1: Chiefs played a very good offensive game, or at least
Speaker 1: in the time that they had the ball against the Jets,
Speaker 1: and then played poorly on defense. Last week, they played
Speaker 1: better on defense against the Raiders, so maybe they're starting
Speaker 1: to put it together. But I am also gonna lock
Speaker 1: up the Bolts because I think they are the best
Speaker 1: in the division. I think they're playing in January. I mean,
Speaker 1: let's go. I think they're the best story in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Now it all of it may mean nothing if they
Speaker 1: lose this game. But I think they are the best
Speaker 1: story in the NFL. Philip Rivers at the end of
Speaker 1: his run, maybe having the chance to win M v P.
Speaker 1: I think all the talk that we had in this
Speaker 1: room that the a f C is so predictable and
Speaker 1: it's so top heavy, I don't buy it. I see
Speaker 1: I see the Chargers as a Super Bowl condendor. I
Speaker 1: see the Ravens as a Super Bowl contender. The Jaguars,
Speaker 1: at least they're dangerous. I think it's a deeper conference
Speaker 1: than we thought, and the Chargers are the main reason.
Speaker 1: The one thing you can say, though, is all those
Speaker 1: numbers have been piled up against bad teams and they
Speaker 1: have been very lucky to play uh you know, Ezekiel
Speaker 1: Elliott Less Cowboys when they were at their lowest. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Browns, the Redskins, who have been in a tailspin
Speaker 1: Nathan Peterman game, So this is a better a better
Speaker 1: test on the road. All those teams also really were
Speaker 1: struggling to rush the passer. I think that's the way
Speaker 1: you get at Philip Rivers, because otherwise Philip Rivers is
Speaker 1: in a better rhythm than any quarterback in the league.
Speaker 1: He's starting just to oh, those kind of like I'm
Speaker 1: feeling it. So I'm just gonna throw it up to
Speaker 1: keenan All and see what happens. And the two of
Speaker 1: them are making magic. They've allowed a few of sacks
Speaker 1: in the NFL, and Rivers is a master at blitz
Speaker 1: pick up, in pass protection and getting everyone on the
Speaker 1: same page. That totally passed the eye test if you watch.
Speaker 1: That's the thing is. I don't doubt me either. I
Speaker 1: was thinking of locking them up absolutely too. I kind
Speaker 1: of had a feeling it might be popular triple luck.
Speaker 1: They had a big, big difference with Chargers, their offense
Speaker 1: with Rivers, Like you said in the last show, Greg,
Speaker 1: it's kind of the reverse of last season where he
Speaker 1: kind of faded, he's getting stronger. They're extremely opportunistic. Their
Speaker 1: turn of differentials point plus fourteen since week five after
Speaker 1: in the first four weeks it was minus three. So
Speaker 1: they get the ball, they steal the ball away. They
Speaker 1: got pass rushers, they got the guy at quarterback. This
Speaker 1: is a team that was secred. You forgot about one
Speaker 1: part of the field. Good story. You know what happened
Speaker 1: a month ago when all this started, Dan, what resigned Comby?
Speaker 1: I thought you were saying that hashtag knock on Wood
Speaker 1: by Matt ms Smith took off about a month ago.
Speaker 1: Maybe those things are tied together as well. West remembers
Speaker 1: Chargers the only other team in NFL history that started
Speaker 1: oh and four and made the playoffs. That was an
Speaker 1: exciting year. That same d n A is in the
Speaker 1: bloodstream of this Chargers organization. Would it would be so
Speaker 1: amazing they have a home. It would be so weird
Speaker 1: that there'd be a home playoff game and stuff up.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's what's gonna get people to notice in l
Speaker 1: A and I think from the other side before we go,
Speaker 1: this is a huge game for Alex Smith's future. It's
Speaker 1: the type of game that I think inspired them to
Speaker 1: draft Patrick Holmes. And if if they lose this game
Speaker 1: and he doesn't play great down the street like he
Speaker 1: needs to win these types of games and maybe some
Speaker 1: playoff games too, or else he's gonna get traded this offseason.
Speaker 1: One thing I noticed about the Chiefs last week. Can
Speaker 1: Kareem Hunt run out of a regular formation or is
Speaker 1: it need to be read option because his bounce back
Speaker 1: game after a month of not doing anything, it almost
Speaker 1: came exclusively out of read option. Um, all right, let's
Speaker 1: move on. Checking on the a f C East. The
Speaker 1: Dolphins with back to back wins, including that big one
Speaker 1: against the Patriots on Monday right now six and seven,
Speaker 1: and some people are whispering, Oh, can they be relevant
Speaker 1: down the stretch? I don't know, but that was a
Speaker 1: nice win against the Pats. They now travel to Orchard Park. Um,
Speaker 1: this is how crazy the Blizzard Bowl was the Dolphins
Speaker 1: just throughout the tape um of that of the game.
Speaker 1: Are you gonna learn? I mean, there's nothing to learn. Uh,
Speaker 1: it was just it was what it was. The Bills
Speaker 1: got out of it alive, just by the skin of
Speaker 1: their teeth. But now we have a situation, Greg where
Speaker 1: the Bills to have any hope of ending that drought
Speaker 1: need to win against the Dolphins. How confident are you?
Speaker 1: Not at all? I think that the Dolphins have a
Speaker 1: much higher ceiling than the Bills. The Bills are a
Speaker 1: generic team. That's the couple of games that they've won
Speaker 1: over this struggling stretch have not been overly impressive. And
Speaker 1: I don't know, is Miami gonna be the team that
Speaker 1: rips the fork out of their back? It seems crazy,
Speaker 1: and but I we always I always say that teams
Speaker 1: can change over the course season. I don't know if
Speaker 1: the Dolphins can. But the last two weeks they've been changed.
Speaker 1: They've been really good and they've got some good players
Speaker 1: that I I do think they can win this game
Speaker 1: and the games on their schedule at Kansas City, you know,
Speaker 1: versus Buffalo, they are winnable and if they get to
Speaker 1: nine and seven, they'd probably be in. It's crazy we're
Speaker 1: talking about the Dolphins. I think Kenyan Drake is someone
Speaker 1: you can say, Okay, the J A. Gi E trade,
Speaker 1: we get it now you had you must have been
Speaker 1: scouting your own talent, and he's been fantastic. I thought
Speaker 1: that the way that Miami played against New England, and
Speaker 1: you can say it's a one off situation. Maybe it
Speaker 1: was the amazing uniforms in prime time. I don't know
Speaker 1: a little bit of magic going on there, but they
Speaker 1: were the more physical team. They battered Tom Brady. And
Speaker 1: if you can do that kind of thing and you
Speaker 1: can get the J Cutler performance that you got that night,
Speaker 1: some semblance of that in each of these games, they
Speaker 1: are potentially I don't trust it a Miami you know,
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to play at the level he played Monday,
Speaker 1: which was out of his mind. But I mean, do
Speaker 1: we really think Cutler is going to close out the
Speaker 1: season's highly high History says, it's all about the play,
Speaker 1: colleagen like, even though it was mostly the He made
Speaker 1: a couple of really nice plays, but it was mostly
Speaker 1: the short throws that they've been asking him to do.
Speaker 1: But it's the rest of the team. And it's more
Speaker 1: than one week. They played really well on offense overall
Speaker 1: against Denver, who technically is the number one defense in
Speaker 1: the league in terms of yards allowed. So that's a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks in a row that they've played well.
Speaker 1: Up is down, Black as White Cats are chasing dogs.
Speaker 1: We're picking the team from South Florida to go into
Speaker 1: Buffalo in December. You guys all got Dolphins. I think
Speaker 1: the Dolphins are the better team, but the Bills haven't
Speaker 1: really impressed me all year, So I actually think Buffalo
Speaker 1: is gonna win this game. Okay, we'll see. Uh. I
Speaker 1: like where your head's at, Mark, but I respect where
Speaker 1: the scientists are at. Some kind of a rock and
Speaker 1: a hard place. Person. It's been it's been a rough,
Speaker 1: you know, hour for you. But this way I'm not
Speaker 1: going to sleep until Sunday. Just who's going to win
Speaker 1: this game? And then I would like to hope that
Speaker 1: you'll be closely monitoring tonight's Thursday night football clash. Um,
Speaker 1: I won't. Um. Actually, great job though, Mark, it already happened. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: like I said, I like that you locked him into that.
Speaker 1: I still show business. Baby, it already happened. I get it.
Speaker 1: Let's move on, like I need to keep bringing it
Speaker 1: up the Green Bay Packers. Oh yeah, Aaron Rodgers is back.
Speaker 1: What could be more exciting? The NFL season needed Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers back, And now here he is Mark Sessler, and
Speaker 1: he gets right into it. It would probably be nice
Speaker 1: the Packers if they got, you know, a little layup
Speaker 1: with work him, work him back into the mix. He's
Speaker 1: got to knock off some rusty if he can take
Speaker 1: a hit. But no, they get set on the road.
Speaker 1: They need their seven and six. They gotta win out
Speaker 1: now they go on the road to take on the Panthers.
Speaker 1: This is a tough way to go from zero to one,
Speaker 1: and but you might have the right guy to do it.
Speaker 1: Let's play a little game of more. Let me ask
Speaker 1: you this, Mark your frisky today Thank you for the
Speaker 1: constant encouragement. It means a lot to you. How about this,
Speaker 1: what's more likely? One week after Green Bay barely beat
Speaker 1: the Browns, Aaron Rodgers takes this otherwise very average Packers
Speaker 1: roster on a magical three game win streak over the Panthers, Vikings,
Speaker 1: and Lions, or Carolina takes care of business on Sunday,
Speaker 1: takes out the Bucks and Falcons down the stretch to
Speaker 1: finish twelve and four and host a playoff game, if
Speaker 1: not grab a bye in the NFC. Packers more likely
Speaker 1: the same same team Aaron Rodgers was carrying earlier in
Speaker 1: the year when they were playing great. They are they
Speaker 1: are an average team besides him, but he's that good.
Speaker 1: And this being Star Wars day or night. I listened
Speaker 1: to Tuesday's podcast and find all of your lack of
Speaker 1: faith disturbing. Picking the Cowboys is more likely to make
Speaker 1: the playoffs and the Packers give me a break. You
Speaker 1: have no respect for performance art and what Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: has done with I was I was, the run the table,
Speaker 1: and whatever he's gonna do this year which will top
Speaker 1: all of it and make all if you look foolish
Speaker 1: locking it up oh wait here. Uh, I don't even remember.
Speaker 1: I would take the Packers now, but I thought Rodgers
Speaker 1: might not come back. I was taking that into the
Speaker 1: consideration that he made. You were riding that pretty hard.
Speaker 1: You you seem to be highly skeptical. Well, and if
Speaker 1: you read the reports, like they went deep into Tuesday night,
Speaker 1: more than twenty four hours after they actually got the
Speaker 1: results of it. So there was some back and forth.
Speaker 1: There were some late nights like trying to figure out
Speaker 1: whether it was really worth it. There wasn't really like
Speaker 1: a clear answer, and they decided to go for it.
Speaker 1: And I think that makes sense because how many years
Speaker 1: are gonna have an Aaron Rodgers career. Take a shot?
Speaker 1: If they happen to lose this game, maybe you even
Speaker 1: re evaluate whether he plays the next If if the
Speaker 1: doctor was cleared in which obviously they did. Okay, cool,
Speaker 1: But am I completely confident the man with fourteen screws
Speaker 1: and his clavical that's coming back at the earliest possibility
Speaker 1: is gonna make it through the next three games. I'm worry.
Speaker 1: I'm worried about that is somebody that loves Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: And so what happened to Tony Romo once upon a time.
Speaker 1: So I'm factoring in is Rogers actually physically gonna be
Speaker 1: able to do this? And the schedule is so hard.
Speaker 1: The Cowboys have a much more forgiving schedule. And we've
Speaker 1: never answered your what's more likely? By the way, I
Speaker 1: I will say that your U, I will say that.
Speaker 1: I will say the Packers are slightly more likely in
Speaker 1: that scenario, because that's what you're giving the care. The
Speaker 1: Panthers also would have to be the falcons there. And
Speaker 1: I think if the if Green Bay gets past this game,
Speaker 1: then I kind of expect to be watching Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. This this is the game see back
Speaker 1: to back. I can't think of a rougher back to
Speaker 1: back to scenario than playing the Panthers defense, which I
Speaker 1: know the Vikings got into that game late, but they
Speaker 1: battered case Keenum last week, and then next week you
Speaker 1: have the Vikings and how do they really depleted offensive
Speaker 1: lot and how do you I think, really take care
Speaker 1: of the Packers as you throw the ball up and
Speaker 1: down the field. And I don't think the Panthers are
Speaker 1: built for that. Greg Olson was kind of just there
Speaker 1: last week. He really didn't do anything. They had an
Speaker 1: under a third year undrafted player demere Bird come off
Speaker 1: injured reserve and immediately become the number two receiver because
Speaker 1: they don't have anyone else Like this is not a
Speaker 1: consistent offense. I expected to be close. How many I
Speaker 1: feel like Kim Newton. I'm watching him just lugged the
Speaker 1: ball down field to almost no one on deep passes.
Speaker 1: I mean there's no one down there and he's and
Speaker 1: it's like there's no one within ten yards where the
Speaker 1: ball lands. He's the thirty seven most productive quarterback since
Speaker 1: Week nine many, which means many yes passing are Panthers
Speaker 1: are the number one rushing team in the NFL over
Speaker 1: that time period, largely because of him, and the Packers
Speaker 1: gave up Isaiah Crowl's first one you're rushing game of
Speaker 1: the season. Are you ready for my answer? Yes? Day,
Speaker 1: their cups right, you're ready. I am more than ready. Okay.
Speaker 1: The more likely scenario is the Packers went out, Oh
Speaker 1: all right, well, everyone can now rest comfortably for the
Speaker 1: rest of the weekend. The ball are ravens oh crushing,
Speaker 1: crushing thirty nine to thirty eight loss um last Sunday night.
Speaker 1: They really you really kind of get the vibe that
Speaker 1: the better team that night might not have one just
Speaker 1: because they were they were in control and they just
Speaker 1: couldn't close it out. But that's football. You gotta close.
Speaker 1: So you're seven and six, you're still in okay shape
Speaker 1: now because guess what happens you go to Cleveland? Now
Speaker 1: that's the schedule makers, Tony a little lollipop, and um,
Speaker 1: I'll tell you what west. Every week on on this
Speaker 1: podcast and all through NFL media, people picked the Browns
Speaker 1: to win their first game, and then every week they
Speaker 1: let all those people down. How about this week the Browns,
Speaker 1: since the doom ahead of them, they said, no, we're stopping.
Speaker 1: We're ending the Ravens season, and we're ending our losing streak.
Speaker 1: In five years of this podcast, I don't think I've
Speaker 1: ever picked the Browns to win once. It's a good philosophy.
Speaker 1: You're doing well. But I have a question for Mark.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of important topics going on
Speaker 1: in Cleveland. Will Hughes stay for two thousand eighteen? Do
Speaker 1: football analytics work? Why is the new regime throwing the
Speaker 1: old regime under bus already? Here's my question, where's the valve?
Speaker 1: Who set the Valve. Yeah, you know what, I thought
Speaker 1: he was good for at least six wins for for
Speaker 1: all the off season. Another argument that the idea that
Speaker 1: we even sort of walk into this building in the
Speaker 1: off season maybe something that's a questionable maneuver. Probably spoke
Speaker 1: written about two thousand, three thousand words on seth the Valve.
Speaker 1: And he's been largely successful as a ghost. Well, it's
Speaker 1: at least as successful in something. It's like my son
Speaker 1: I this morning, I went to his uh his Christmas concert,
Speaker 1: if you will, at his preschool daycare, and uh, was
Speaker 1: he successful. He was in the front row, he never
Speaker 1: opened his mouth at one point, and he's covering his
Speaker 1: eyes with his hands. And then by the last song,
Speaker 1: I think it was jingle bells, he turned his back
Speaker 1: to the audience. Was that successful? I kind of think
Speaker 1: it was in its own way, it was kind of
Speaker 1: subversive him. Yeah, he's a scene stealing about himself. He
Speaker 1: didn't cry. Plus it, let's you see the progress. Next
Speaker 1: year is gonna be a little better, and then the
Speaker 1: last year he's gonna be belting out those show tunes
Speaker 1: like rita Moreno. I don't know if Dan is looking
Speaker 1: for a show tunes singing the son either, but I
Speaker 1: love my son. Whatever he will be Mark. I'm just
Speaker 1: saying is that, you know want you want shows him
Speaker 1: to be leading show tunes. I want him to be
Speaker 1: Broadways all time giant. Okay, That's what I'm hoping for.
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Browns, Ken Dorsey is the new general manager,
Speaker 1: and UHS used the many names on the back of
Speaker 1: that brown starting quarterback. Oh my god. John Dorsey is
Speaker 1: the new Browns general manager, and John did not hold
Speaker 1: back when he was talking about the previous regime. Uh.
Speaker 1: When he's speaking to a Cleveland radio station, let's listen in.
Speaker 1: You know what, you gotta get a guy like that players,
Speaker 1: and you know what, I'll come straight out with it.
Speaker 1: You know what, the the guys who were here before
Speaker 1: that system, they didn't get real players. M This, by
Speaker 1: the way, is w k n R eight fifty, the
Speaker 1: really big show with Aaron gold Hammer. He was also, Uh,
Speaker 1: Dorsey was already flying. He might as well start talking
Speaker 1: a little. Parcels gms like to do that stuff. Bill
Speaker 1: Parcels would always say, you are your record, and you
Speaker 1: know what, there it is. So that's the truth teller
Speaker 1: in this thing. Um. And I'm gonna do my darndist
Speaker 1: to get to players, and that's all I can ask for,
Speaker 1: and that's all I'm gonna do. I like the man.
Speaker 1: Do you like that? Mark Well? I don't like the
Speaker 1: lack of accountability and discussing the coaching staff's role in this.
Speaker 1: I think that a a more experienced, more credible, better
Speaker 1: coaching staff would have had four wins out of this team.
Speaker 1: But plus, if you're Emmanuel Ogber Myles Garrett listening to that,
Speaker 1: you're like, hey, go f yourself, Well, I've been awesome.
Speaker 1: Like imagine if your boss came in and said they
Speaker 1: didn't I know what he was trying to say, but
Speaker 1: if you were a player, I think that would be offensive.
Speaker 1: I also thought it was interesting they tried to pin
Speaker 1: him down on keeping Q and he did he absolutely
Speaker 1: did not commit to that. Oh I still think that's
Speaker 1: very much an open question. And then, by the way,
Speaker 1: I understand all the players they missed on, but like
Speaker 1: they signed Kevin Zeitler, he's been good for them. There
Speaker 1: their offensive. I just think it's I think it's like,
Speaker 1: here's the thing you these guys roll in and they
Speaker 1: don't realize that fans can't even keep it straight. Which
Speaker 1: front office did what? At this point, there's been so
Speaker 1: many of them. When you come out and you say this,
Speaker 1: you better deliver. And the last twelve people that came
Speaker 1: out and made these kinds of promises didn't do a thing.
Speaker 1: West Let's talk a little Ravens here, because they deserve
Speaker 1: to um Joe Flacco in the offense. There was a
Speaker 1: long stretch of that Pittsburgh game where they were just
Speaker 1: the Steelers couldn't stop him. Uh. And this has been
Speaker 1: a trend for them. This is the team that couldn't
Speaker 1: do anything for most of the year before the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks. Thank you for setting me up, Dan,
Speaker 1: because we are now in Christmas season. Since the week
Speaker 1: before Halloween, this team is averaging over thirty points per game.
Speaker 1: That is that is not a bad offense, and a
Speaker 1: lot of its defense and special teams in field position,
Speaker 1: but whatever gets it done. But the last couple of
Speaker 1: weeks the offense just showing up in their averaging almost
Speaker 1: four hundred yards a game over the lad This is
Speaker 1: the number one team in the a f C according
Speaker 1: to prof According to Football Outsiders Metrics, they are the
Speaker 1: number one ranked team in the NFL and I'm not
Speaker 1: saying the Race are the best team in the a
Speaker 1: f C, but there's a lot of numbers they suggest
Speaker 1: we've been underrating them all year. Well, I think they
Speaker 1: now are a team that can fall down fourteen nothing
Speaker 1: in a tough environment in the playoffs, and that's what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen. You know they're gonna be on the road
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and come back. They showed it, and
Speaker 1: I mean they can come back and take a thirty
Speaker 1: one to twenty lead. Their defense blew that game. I
Speaker 1: think they can play a lot better. And it's all
Speaker 1: about Alex Collins in the running game. I mean, Flacco
Speaker 1: was okay last week, but everything is coming off. What's
Speaker 1: now one of the best running back duos in the league,
Speaker 1: mostly Collins. Uh. Danny Collie. Danny Kelly of The Ringer
Speaker 1: wrote a great piece on him this week, just of
Speaker 1: how good Alex Collins has been and now Danny woodhead
Speaker 1: behind him, Like, if you have a running game that's
Speaker 1: strong in the defense, you're gonna you're gonna travel well.
Speaker 1: I Flacco has been sacked two times in the last
Speaker 1: three games. That helps a lot too. And I you
Speaker 1: think though the loss of Jimmy Smith showed up against
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh and it's it's not going to hurt them against Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Cleveland turns the ball over adding an incredible rate, especially
Speaker 1: in the red zone. In Baltimore, no defense is taking that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have more turnovers per drive than any team in
Speaker 1: the league right now, and I think that's a terrible
Speaker 1: matchup for Cleveland. Baltimore is gonna handle business. Deshaun Kaisers
Speaker 1: has become a a service or fantasy quarterback. He does
Speaker 1: he does move the team at stretches, but like that
Speaker 1: interception that costs him the game last week, that is
Speaker 1: a rookie that is still underwater in a lot of ways.
Speaker 1: And it makes me think that the Ravens needing this game.
Speaker 1: The Browns being where they are, this could be the
Speaker 1: fourth shutout of the season for the Ravens. I feel
Speaker 1: strongly that they are not going to be competitive. He's
Speaker 1: locking it up the shut out. That would be um Alright,
Speaker 1: any other thoughts, gentlemen, Let's move on. The Houston Texans
Speaker 1: are four at nine, three game losing streak. Think we
Speaker 1: get some more t J. Yates this week. We're getting him,
Speaker 1: all right, Whether you want him or not, and the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: Gotta love this Jaguars schedule this season. They're nine and four,
Speaker 1: they are on fire. They just beat the Seahawks and
Speaker 1: now they have a chance to move to tenant four
Speaker 1: and move closer towards that a f C South titled
Speaker 1: Greg They're gonna do it, aren't they? I think they will,
Speaker 1: and they're they're even moving closer to UH, a potential
Speaker 1: buy in the playoffs. I don't know if we have
Speaker 1: the calculation. We gotta do some calculation, by the way,
Speaker 1: ballot up playoff calculator now online. I've received this question
Speaker 1: a few times. People genuinely think I have some sort
Speaker 1: of power here that if the Jaguars went out, do
Speaker 1: they get the bye if the Patriots lose this week?
Speaker 1: And the answer is yes, they would have the conference
Speaker 1: record tiebreaker over the Patriots. So if you're a Jaguars fan,
Speaker 1: you are rooting for them to win this game. There's
Speaker 1: no reason to think they won't, and you could be
Speaker 1: the two seed by Sunday night. Oh I'm just getting
Speaker 1: excited thinking about if that could happen. Let's say the
Speaker 1: Pats lose and then the Jags went out and the
Speaker 1: Pats have to play the Ravens maybe on wild card weekend.
Speaker 1: The last time the Patriots played on wild card weekend?
Speaker 1: What happened, Greg Ray, Rice ran all over him. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: come on, connective tissue, baby, yeah. I was trying to
Speaker 1: trying to think you're right seven straight by so that
Speaker 1: would have been it. Bam, that would be fun, Greg,
Speaker 1: your online playoff predictor any concerns about the net neutrality scenario?
Speaker 1: Is Scott free on that? Okay? You know all. It's
Speaker 1: good they they're so under the rate. Okay, here's the
Speaker 1: one question about the Jaguars. You just mentioned that the
Speaker 1: Ravens proved they can fall down fourteen and nothing on
Speaker 1: the road and come back and win. The Jaguars are
Speaker 1: not a comeback team, and you saw two out of
Speaker 1: the past three weeks the coaching staff did not trust
Speaker 1: the quarterback to throw with the game on the line.
Speaker 1: I don't trust Blake. You know, Blake Bortles has played better,
Speaker 1: you gotta give him credit, but the coaching they have
Speaker 1: doesn't even trust him to lead a comeback or to
Speaker 1: even complete a pass on third down with the game
Speaker 1: on the line. He does have better weapons, though. D. D.
Speaker 1: Westbrook School like he's good, Like he's a fourth round
Speaker 1: pick that looks like a first rounder. No, he's good.
Speaker 1: Marks is making plays he got for. It's not a
Speaker 1: bad offense. Actually, it's an average offense. I will fully
Speaker 1: get I will I'll grant you all that the weapons
Speaker 1: are good for Net worries me a little bit because
Speaker 1: he gets a new injury every week. But when your
Speaker 1: quarterback throws it to the other team with the game
Speaker 1: on the line, that's like I've heard this scenario, Like
Speaker 1: you know, Jaguar is coming to Fox bro that that
Speaker 1: like that's the matchup. As Patriots fans that I would
Speaker 1: welcome that that that is a matchup that sounds okay
Speaker 1: to me. The one thing they have to do, it's
Speaker 1: because it doesn't matter who is under center. For the Texans.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Hopkins another incredible game last week with eight exactly.
Speaker 1: You could throw any ham and egger out there, except
Speaker 1: Oswell still finds up there like a hundred and forty
Speaker 1: yards making insane catches down the sideline. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is the Texans have these star players, but they're not
Speaker 1: even in a first round pick. Out of this terrible season.
Speaker 1: They have feast the All Pro opposite Antonio Brown. That
Speaker 1: Brown's trade turning out amazing because their next three games
Speaker 1: they're they're gonna be heavy underdogs in So you're looking
Speaker 1: at four and twelve, that's the top five pick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean with all that talent comes Oh no, they
Speaker 1: missed it. Okay, no, no Texans pick. Mm hmmm, sorry
Speaker 1: I was getting to it works out well. He could
Speaker 1: have also had a franchise quarterback at this point, so
Speaker 1: you know, well, they they're gonna get one more shot
Speaker 1: at it. Let's see what happens. Moving on the uh
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Ben Gals uh not even competitive last week against
Speaker 1: the Bears after they ended their season and crushing fact
Speaker 1: fashion against the Steelers. So they seem to be playing
Speaker 1: out the string at this point, and now they get
Speaker 1: to go to Minnesota to face the Vikings. Mark case,
Speaker 1: Keena maybe came down to earth a little bit um
Speaker 1: last week after being on fire for about a three
Speaker 1: or four weeks stretch. Is this the chicken the armor
Speaker 1: for the Vikings that keenam kind of come is down
Speaker 1: to earth? Well, you know what happened. I am not
Speaker 1: concerned because what happened last week is West pointed out
Speaker 1: on Sunday's Recap show was that it was an offensive
Speaker 1: line missing three starters, and the Panthers took advantage of that.
Speaker 1: You have right tackle Mike Gramer's and center Pat Ifland
Speaker 1: back in the lineup. It sounds like for this week.
Speaker 1: And they don't know about Riley Reef. He didn't practice today.
Speaker 1: That's you're probably not gonna get him. But you've got
Speaker 1: two of the three guys back. I think that's big
Speaker 1: news for Case Kingom. And this is the Bengals, and
Speaker 1: the Bengals are coming off a game where they looked
Speaker 1: utterly awful. I think that Pittsburgh game broke them for good.
Speaker 1: It finally broke them for good. This is the last
Speaker 1: month we're gonna see of Marvin Lewis. Probably the whole
Speaker 1: thing is going to change in Cincinnati. I've seen this
Speaker 1: Bengals team before, and if this is the end of
Speaker 1: an era Bengals team where they go through the motions,
Speaker 1: they start confiscating banners in the stadium, banners reading same
Speaker 1: as it ever was, bat old times again. It's I've
Speaker 1: seen this edition before. The Cincinnati Enquiry is going crazy
Speaker 1: just writing them off. I think they're going through the
Speaker 1: motions and poor Kyle Rudolph, who uh from Cincinnati went
Speaker 1: to my high school, Elder High School. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: play in this game against his hometown team, according to
Speaker 1: Ian Rappaport, with an ankle injury. I mean, Marvin Lewis
Speaker 1: said on Thursday, you know, we all realized when we
Speaker 1: sign up for these jobs, it's not forever. I think
Speaker 1: we we all accept that. Is an idiot. Well, but
Speaker 1: he's right about this thing, Mark, He's right about this.
Speaker 1: I think him saying I think we all accept that
Speaker 1: almost feels like I accept that we are gonna collapse
Speaker 1: and the rest of the way. What kind of coach
Speaker 1: says that? I mean, that's the very telling comment. Uh.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to the the New York Jets five and eight.
Speaker 1: They got shut out in Denver last week and now
Speaker 1: don't have Josh McCown anymore. He broke his hand. So
Speaker 1: it's Bryce Petty going into the Superdome to face the
Speaker 1: nine and four Saints West West. What could possibly go wrong?
Speaker 1: This is a godsend game for anyone who's fantasy defense
Speaker 1: is the Saints and just happened to have them. I
Speaker 1: was thinking, you know, I don't know if I want
Speaker 1: to play them against Josh McCown, but Bryce Patty, you
Speaker 1: definitely if you can't have the Jaguars versus t J.
Speaker 1: Yates or the Ravens versus Kaiser, this has to be
Speaker 1: like the third best fantasy defense this one. I'm a
Speaker 1: little rodal world fantasy expertise here from the the old scientist,
Speaker 1: I mean, I would would the old scientists once again,
Speaker 1: Greg with the rampant meant very sensitive. I would start
Speaker 1: the worst defense in the league against Bryce Petty. There's
Speaker 1: nothing I've seen from that. Have you seen him in
Speaker 1: the preseason? What is? Can I ask a question you,
Speaker 1: I it's not your thing to answer Dan necessarily, but
Speaker 1: crush Christian Hackenburg is a second round pick that they
Speaker 1: are openly making it clearly have no intention to get
Speaker 1: a look at at all this season. That is a
Speaker 1: bad draft pick. Well, it's simple answer, he can't play.
Speaker 1: You can't play, and they blew the pick, and they
Speaker 1: know they blew the pick. But he's under contract, and
Speaker 1: um Todd Bowls is trying to win games, because that's
Speaker 1: what Todd's trying to do. So he's playing the quarter
Speaker 1: put the minute the new league gear. I mean you
Speaker 1: just get rid of this guy. Why keep him on
Speaker 1: your roster? Well, he's not paid much. I would say
Speaker 1: it's a I would say he's fighting uphill battle to
Speaker 1: make next year's team, if that's what you're saying, right,
Speaker 1: And I think Jetty, I think Petty is a guy's
Speaker 1: kind of another Jag guy. But they want to get
Speaker 1: a look at him and one of those guys. If not,
Speaker 1: both will be gone. They need to remake that quarterback
Speaker 1: room and have a in my opinion, a high pedigree
Speaker 1: draft pick coming. They've tried the mid round pick now,
Speaker 1: uh the last few times, and that's such a crapshoot,
Speaker 1: especially when you're the Jets cannot develop quarters work with
Speaker 1: now But I see right to work with Gino obviously,
Speaker 1: but now it's time to go back to and this
Speaker 1: failed to with Mark Sanchez. But go back to the
Speaker 1: other model. Go get a quarterback in the top ten
Speaker 1: resigned mccount if he can have him as the bridge mentor.
Speaker 1: And if you want to keep Hackenburg in the back
Speaker 1: of the bench, you could do that, or you just
Speaker 1: get rid of him out right. But I think they
Speaker 1: need to really hacking big, some hacking bench. It's had
Speaker 1: to really kind of get this thing going at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. If you want to have a winning you
Speaker 1: might have got the best of both worlds, unless you
Speaker 1: really don't want the coach back because you've have you
Speaker 1: been able to enjoy this season as a Jets man
Speaker 1: into December. No one thought that would happen, and you
Speaker 1: might still probably are gonna wind up with a top
Speaker 1: and it's a It's a godsend for the Saints getting
Speaker 1: them to come in that they are a heavier favorite
Speaker 1: this weekend then they've ever been at the Superdome, which
Speaker 1: is just kind of shocking, and which is also shocking
Speaker 1: because they're missing some defensive players. They've they've had some injuries. Uh,
Speaker 1: but Alvin Camara is going to be back for this game,
Speaker 1: or at least they expect him to be, and like
Speaker 1: his value to them was shown so clearly last Thursday
Speaker 1: when he was gone, they couldn't really move the ball
Speaker 1: without him. When he's back, they should be fine. I
Speaker 1: would almost if I'm the Saints, I'd be a little
Speaker 1: careful with Camara after the concussion. You could take care
Speaker 1: of the Jets and that give Camara the ball times
Speaker 1: all right, you can beat the Jets with Michael Thomas,
Speaker 1: Brandon Coleman. I think you are Ingram one last note.
Speaker 1: I in the August in the in the August era,
Speaker 1: it was like, really conflicted, Do I really want the
Speaker 1: Jets to tank? Could be such a crappy season to watch.
Speaker 1: I don't need any more wins. Let's go to five
Speaker 1: and the level exactly you want to get. You'll be
Speaker 1: able to draft a quarterback in the top tenant. That's
Speaker 1: what you've got. You've got just the right quarterback for
Speaker 1: your I'm very excited about that. Merry Christmas to all
Speaker 1: Jets fans. Let's move on to an NFC East matchup
Speaker 1: between the Eagles and the Giants, and uh, we don't
Speaker 1: need to say anything about the Giants. Let's focus on
Speaker 1: the Eagles here in the sense that there is no
Speaker 1: more Carson Woods. All we have now is Nick Foles.
Speaker 1: That's all Eagles hands have. Is there some hope Greg
Speaker 1: that Nick Foles? And let us not forget that in
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen, Nick Foles had a one night team
Speaker 1: passer rating for an entire season. That happened. What if
Speaker 1: they caught lightning on the bottle twice? Is it even
Speaker 1: possible nice supporting cast around him. I think it's possible
Speaker 1: that he could play kind of league average quarterback level
Speaker 1: play with a lot of supporter around him, and that
Speaker 1: would be enough for them to win games. This week,
Speaker 1: I think he'll be telling because the the Eagles with
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz this would be a laugher. And I thought
Speaker 1: Doug Peterson sent uh an interesting message last week when
Speaker 1: he took points off the board when they had a
Speaker 1: long field goal, and he said he did that to
Speaker 1: send a message that he wanted to be aggressive with
Speaker 1: Nick Foles, just like he was going to be aggressive
Speaker 1: with Carson Wentz. He wanted to show the team, Hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna throw the ball on third and longer, third
Speaker 1: and short and try to pick up first downs like
Speaker 1: we trusted Nick Foles. We'll see if that approach works,
Speaker 1: but I think that's the way you gotta do it.
Speaker 1: You gotta stay aggressive, and I think Fools is good
Speaker 1: enough to win games like this. There's a question I
Speaker 1: have Carson Wentz's Houdini act was hiding some blocking issues,
Speaker 1: especially at left tackle. Nick Foles is going to take
Speaker 1: some hits. Yeah, The question to me is can he
Speaker 1: stay healthy? What if they have to turn to Nate
Speaker 1: Sudfeld at quarterback. I could easily see Fools getting injured.
Speaker 1: They need to rely on the running game. He can
Speaker 1: get out of the way like Wentz canon and they've
Speaker 1: got an issue at left tackle right now. The only
Speaker 1: parallel to win reference to the Giants will make is
Speaker 1: that it kind of reminds me of that age old Well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna break the rules here, that age old nineteen.
Speaker 1: I will not even finish the sentence. It's not happen
Speaker 1: this age old Giants team that won Super Bowl five
Speaker 1: where Sims they were on fire. Sim's got hurt in
Speaker 1: week fifteen, everyone thought the season was over. Incomes Jeff Hostetler,
Speaker 1: who is unremarkable but a reliable talent, and the rest
Speaker 1: of the team helped propel them into the super Bowl
Speaker 1: and they beat the Bills. I mean, I just say
Speaker 1: the idea that the Eagles are done because of this.
Speaker 1: You're in great position to get home field throughout the
Speaker 1: playoffs and we'll see what happens there. It's not a
Speaker 1: crappy team around Nick Foles. This isn't the Packer situation.
Speaker 1: I was going to ask you to just cut that
Speaker 1: whole thing. But what Mark's talking about is the nine
Speaker 1: not the current. That's right. So that is that's good.
Speaker 1: That is allowed. Okay, that's good. Steler one of the
Speaker 1: best athletes at quarterback in the league at that time,
Speaker 1: one of the worst. I'm saying, Nick Foles is not
Speaker 1: gonna be able to get out of the way like
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz. If they turned the running game over to
Speaker 1: j gi last week, really over la garat Blunt and
Speaker 1: if a Gian Blunt and Clement can be a great
Speaker 1: running game that they've been with falls, then they got
Speaker 1: a shot. The most amazing thing I ever saw in
Speaker 1: a Giants game. You say the helmet catch, I say,
Speaker 1: Jeff Hostella in his own end zone January n Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: Bruce Smith jets around the end, drills my boy, Jeff
Speaker 1: and Jeff somehow holds onto the football, takes the safety
Speaker 1: instead of the fumble. Giants Norwood chokes. Jeff Hostella had
Speaker 1: strong hands. It's the Whitney Houston National Anthem game. I
Speaker 1: think everyone thinks of it as the Jeff host that
Speaker 1: They're strong hands game. There's a good there's a good
Speaker 1: book on that game called Super Bowl Monday from our
Speaker 1: friend Adam Lazarus. Who is a podcast listener, our friend
Speaker 1: as in the podcast I've never met as a supporter.
Speaker 1: I thought he's had like a personal friend. Yeah, of
Speaker 1: course he sent us his books. I appreciate that he
Speaker 1: has a quote for me on the back of one
Speaker 1: of his books. That's friendship, baby, Adam. I'll be friends
Speaker 1: with you, alright. Moving on the Arizona Cardinals six and seven.
Speaker 1: Uh eked out that twelve seven win over the Typoons
Speaker 1: last week. Now they travel to Washington and face the Redskins,
Speaker 1: and I guess the question mark Um and everybody wants
Speaker 1: to know is are these the final games of Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins Redskins career? Yes? Or no? I don't know. This
Speaker 1: team is so bizarre with how they've handled Kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: from the beginning. Greg, you mentioned it on our our
Speaker 1: network hit or on our pick Um Show, one of
Speaker 1: these things that at this point that they wanted to
Speaker 1: look down the stretch from you know here on out
Speaker 1: to figure out what they think popping on the pickum
Speaker 1: and wash it on Saturday and on Sunday unless they've
Speaker 1: cut that they you know, we were on four times,
Speaker 1: now we're on two. Maybe we'll see if one even
Speaker 1: that it's basic division. You could where this is going.
Speaker 1: It's it's how do you not know what kirk Cousins
Speaker 1: is at this point? And I when you remove Scotpackluin
Speaker 1: from the organization, I understand the issues there. You lost
Speaker 1: a great talent evaluator. I don't trust this front office to,
Speaker 1: you know, navigate an offseason correctly. Well, now you're getting
Speaker 1: it's starting to feel familiar. There was a report from
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick um of all people, that the Redskins receivers
Speaker 1: were unhappy with kirk Cousins throwing up a lot of
Speaker 1: medicine balls, you know, putting them in position to get hurt.
Speaker 1: And so now that like this receiver group has inve
Speaker 1: seen a lot of reliable people shooting down that damn
Speaker 1: all right, I don't but at just the the ugliness
Speaker 1: in Washington feels familiar, like when things get ugly with
Speaker 1: the Redskins organization, they get really ugly. And the offense
Speaker 1: has collapsed the last three weeks. It's very dysfunctional. It's
Speaker 1: not at all on kirk Cousins, but everything around him
Speaker 1: is really just kind of falling apart. How could the
Speaker 1: offense not collapse when you have eleven different offensive lineman
Speaker 1: who played a hundred snaps from Week one, your best
Speaker 1: running back, second best running back, number one receiver and
Speaker 1: number one tight end, or all on injured reserve. You
Speaker 1: can't evaluate this quarterback or this offense right now. And
Speaker 1: NFL organizations do not let good, durable quarterbacks go. I
Speaker 1: don't think there's any way Kirk Cousins reaches the open market.
Speaker 1: What if Jake J. Gruden's gone to and if I
Speaker 1: don't think, I don't think there's any way the Redskins
Speaker 1: let Kirk Cousins get away. I just I don't see
Speaker 1: it happening. He's the highest paid quarterback in the league.
Speaker 1: That's that's the way they keep them. I mean, they've
Speaker 1: already done that one. They'll keep using the tag. And
Speaker 1: if those Redskins, if that's true that the Redskins receivers
Speaker 1: are complaining, you know, John Beck is on the market.
Speaker 1: Do you want to see what it's you want to
Speaker 1: go back to those quarterback everyone, Shanahan sold us John
Speaker 1: Beck with a straight face. That's my favorite thing in
Speaker 1: the world. Mark yes or no? On what? Well, Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins me back, Yes, I'll go yes, all right, I
Speaker 1: say no Jacksonville Jaguars starting quarterback Kirk Cousins. Interesting. Alright,
Speaker 1: moving on, Oh, here's a good one oh four oh
Speaker 1: five start on the Fox at work. The Los Angeles
Speaker 1: Rams nine and four, first place in the NFC West.
Speaker 1: Uh beat by Philly. Oh that could come back to
Speaker 1: haunt them because now the Seahawks are waiting for him.
Speaker 1: At the click eight and five, it's the battle for
Speaker 1: the NFC West West. Hi, what do you think about
Speaker 1: this game? I got so excited watching Todd Gurley last week,
Speaker 1: who looks as explosive, as dynamic, as elusive as he
Speaker 1: has since tearing his East A c L at Georgia.
Speaker 1: He's already three hundred touches into the season and he
Speaker 1: looks like that. This guy. I think he's competing with
Speaker 1: Keenan Allen for comeback player of the Year. And now
Speaker 1: he's going against the defense that will probably be without
Speaker 1: Bobby Wagner and kJ Wright in addition to losing Cam
Speaker 1: Chancellor and Cliff April. So to me, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a The Seahawks gonna have a hard time stopping the
Speaker 1: Rams and Todd Gurley, who is the first team All
Speaker 1: Pro running back in my book, there's gotta be a
Speaker 1: breaking point for the Seahawks defense. I mean, how many
Speaker 1: key core players can you lose? I mean, they were
Speaker 1: giving up big plays in the passing game to Blake
Speaker 1: Bordles and the Jaguars last week. And why is there
Speaker 1: any reason to believe that that the fact that they're
Speaker 1: at home, that that's gonna change against the Rams passing
Speaker 1: attack that's so versatile and the way they used Girly
Speaker 1: in the passing game along with all the other receivers there.
Speaker 1: They did stand up last game at home and got
Speaker 1: us all thinking, Okay, the Seahawks seam Gabe, he's got
Speaker 1: done after the so that that there's a chance of that.
Speaker 1: But they haven't been a great home team. They lost
Speaker 1: to the Falcons, they lost to the Redskins. Uh, they
Speaker 1: needed that late crazy comeback to beat Houston. You know,
Speaker 1: they were trailing even against the Colts at one point.
Speaker 1: And I have to like, they haven't that that home
Speaker 1: field mystique hasn't been there. But the Rams, it's still
Speaker 1: a very tough game for them because they need they
Speaker 1: need to get over the hump. They haven't. They've just
Speaker 1: barely found a way to lose these games late against Seattle. Uh,
Speaker 1: they did it against the Eagles certainly last week, like
Speaker 1: they if they're gonna really be a team that matters
Speaker 1: in January, you gotta win this game and it it
Speaker 1: ends the division if you do win it. And the
Speaker 1: Seahawks have maybe record wise they haven't been um as
Speaker 1: dominant in Seattle, but this is kind of Seahawks time
Speaker 1: a year now. This is when when the games matter
Speaker 1: the most when you go into that building in the
Speaker 1: past five years, they find a way. And Russell Wilson again,
Speaker 1: we talked about the m v P race. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see how that goes down. And Russell Wilson needs
Speaker 1: to win this game to keep his team in the
Speaker 1: playoff mix, and I think if he does, he stays
Speaker 1: in the m v P race. I feel really good
Speaker 1: about the Seahawks. Dabbled with the idea of a really
Speaker 1: uniony lock up. I stepped away from it because I
Speaker 1: do respect the team of a t L that much.
Speaker 1: You know, I respect the team of a t L,
Speaker 1: so I don't want to go that far and lock
Speaker 1: against him in a game like this. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, it's gonna mean a lot of that organization well,
Speaker 1: the Seahawks are favored in this game, which to me
Speaker 1: is a little crazy. I don't see that. I don't
Speaker 1: Vegas or the Desert. They see it in a similar way.
Speaker 1: This is Seahawks time. Hawks teams beat you up at
Speaker 1: home down the stretch because they a running game that
Speaker 1: could nominate teams. That's what's missing. It's crazy. That was
Speaker 1: a big win, There's no doubt. It's crazy. Though. The
Speaker 1: Rams are better everywhere. I think they are better defense
Speaker 1: right now than the Seahawks. I think they're certainly a
Speaker 1: better offense. They've got the special teams, they're waiting to
Speaker 1: finally get over the top, and more than anything, they've
Speaker 1: got the support from all of us. They're the team
Speaker 1: of around the NFL. Man, I walk it up, Reggy,
Speaker 1: there you go, let's hear it. Let's listen to some music,
Speaker 1: plus us to the whole thing. It's so fun. The
Speaker 1: team Directors team is a very special honor, Dan treating
Speaker 1: us all to some air guitar there during the five
Speaker 1: and a half minute version of the Team of a
Speaker 1: T l Anthem Dick Banks, the one man house band
Speaker 1: on loan from the Dave Damage to Football program, they
Speaker 1: wouldn't send us to London. Would they allow us, the
Speaker 1: four of us to even simply uber down to a
Speaker 1: Rams playoff game and do a pod. You know, maybe
Speaker 1: that's a good point. Because they win this game there,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have a nice little home game in Why
Speaker 1: don't we bring that up with a shadowy league figure?
Speaker 1: But excuse me, will cost you nothing? Will uber on
Speaker 1: our own money down there and do our own show.
Speaker 1: We've been told that we need to be babysat though,
Speaker 1: so I don't know if that that is another situation.
Speaker 1: A lot of things going on behind the scenes put
Speaker 1: it that way. Complex. Michael Bennet's lucky to be playing
Speaker 1: in this game. If ever there's a game they need him,
Speaker 1: and Sheldon Richardson and Frank Clark the dominated well. Greg
Speaker 1: obviously picks the Rams. I am gonna pick the Seahawks.
Speaker 1: What do you guys got on that one? Ms Rams
Speaker 1: seemed to come up with a return TD every week.
Speaker 1: They have six return tds this year. Their special teams
Speaker 1: are dominant, and I think this game could come down
Speaker 1: to kickers. The Rams might have the best in the
Speaker 1: league and the Seahawks might have the worst. I'm taking
Speaker 1: the ram I like it. I see you're Justin Tucker
Speaker 1: Shade and I don't like it. I love Justin Tucker.
Speaker 1: I think you could argue his last two years are
Speaker 1: the best two years stretched by any kicker in NFL history.
Speaker 1: But nobody's kicked better than Greg's airline this year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Greg the leg. He doesn't move on. Now. The game
Speaker 1: of the week. That was the appetizer. Here's the main course.
Speaker 1: The New England Patriots against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Hines Field.
Speaker 1: Erica Tam Posty. She can't even I mean she can't eat,
Speaker 1: you can't sleep. She's dranking a lot. Yes, I went
Speaker 1: on from time to time. Um, and here we go,
Speaker 1: and I'll set it up this way. Greg to me,
Speaker 1: and you're getting all excited. Oh, the a f C
Speaker 1: is not nearly as watered down as all these idiots
Speaker 1: were saying. That was not subtweeted us. I get that.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying it out loud. You said it out loud. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's deep, it's fine. Okay, that's a way for December.
Speaker 1: It's a nice opinion. Um, here's my opinion. The winner
Speaker 1: of this game is going to the Super Bowl. And hell,
Speaker 1: I think they'll win the Super Bowl too. I think
Speaker 1: it's that important to get home field. I think it
Speaker 1: will come down to these two teams in the ANFC,
Speaker 1: and I think the winner that has home field in
Speaker 1: the last weekend of January is the team that wins
Speaker 1: that game. That's how big the game is. From my perspective,
Speaker 1: the stakes are that high your thoughts, that would mean
Speaker 1: you know that, let's say the Patriots or the Steelers,
Speaker 1: that they put in a more complete, better performance and
Speaker 1: start building towards that a f C championship, because we're
Speaker 1: still a long way away. If you're the Steelers, are
Speaker 1: the Patriots, you're still four games away. And when when
Speaker 1: scouts go back and they look like, okay, let's evaluate
Speaker 1: the team. What do they go back? They just go
Speaker 1: back and look at the last four games because that's
Speaker 1: really all that matters. And that's kind of why I
Speaker 1: don't totally buy into the Steelers or the Patriots as
Speaker 1: Super Bowl teams because you look at the last three
Speaker 1: or four games. For the Patriots, you've got some offensive
Speaker 1: line problems. You've certainly got one on one matchup problems
Speaker 1: over the middle of the field with tight ends, with
Speaker 1: slot receivers, and the Steelers with Juju Smith Schuster back
Speaker 1: can give you all sorts problems. And when you look
Speaker 1: at the Steelers, you look at a secondary much like
Speaker 1: last year at the end of the year, is kind
Speaker 1: of collapsing. Sean Davis giving up big plays, already burns.
Speaker 1: They certainly missed Joe Hayden, and I think Tom Brady
Speaker 1: is looking at that matchup this week thinking he can
Speaker 1: put up a lot of points. I don't. I don't
Speaker 1: see these teams right now as some dominant figures. I
Speaker 1: want to know how Bill Belichick plans to keep a
Speaker 1: lid on this Pittsburgh offense, because it kind of reminds
Speaker 1: me when they went into that two thousand and one
Speaker 1: Super Bowl matchup with the Kurt Warner led Rams passing
Speaker 1: the ball all over people, but they chose to shut
Speaker 1: down Marshall fulk That was their primary goal from wire
Speaker 1: to wire to punish him. And so do you deal
Speaker 1: with Levy on Bell or do you or do you
Speaker 1: simply have to double Antonio Brown the entire that one
Speaker 1: thing that why I get annoyed watching the Steelers. It's
Speaker 1: because your peep teams continue to put Antonio Bell with
Speaker 1: one cornerback or one guy on him, and you're getting
Speaker 1: to be would be terrified. Okay, Antonio Brown like he's
Speaker 1: flaming play like teams consistently predictably every third and fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: and you've got to find a way to stop that.
Speaker 1: You can't stop him. He's one of the best wide
Speaker 1: receivers ever. The difference has been since the second half
Speaker 1: of that Tennessee game. He's throwing the ball better than
Speaker 1: he has since the two thousand fifteen season. And for
Speaker 1: all those people after the Jaguars game, all the pop
Speaker 1: psychologists who said you can't six months before the season,
Speaker 1: you can't possibly be weighing whether you retire or not,
Speaker 1: because then you'll never be ready to play football ever again,
Speaker 1: give me a break. I think you stopped Brown if if,
Speaker 1: if there's some sort of choice to be MA and
Speaker 1: Malcolm Butler has been the one covering Brown over the
Speaker 1: last few years. He's been competitive. They certainly did a
Speaker 1: good job on him overall in the a f C
Speaker 1: Championship game last year. You know, Levy on Bell is
Speaker 1: an incredible player, but I think you live with them
Speaker 1: running the ball a lot. If Antonio Brown comes out
Speaker 1: of this with nine catches a hundred and forty yards
Speaker 1: a touchdown or two and the Steelers win. Is he
Speaker 1: the m v P, He's mine? I think this game
Speaker 1: is massive for the m v P. I think the
Speaker 1: winner of this game, assuming they play well, has kind
Speaker 1: of the inside edge. Well hired boy Russell, we have
Speaker 1: to get that matters too well. But we have to
Speaker 1: get to the point where the whoever votes for these
Speaker 1: things can look past the fact that Antonio Brown's a
Speaker 1: wide receiver because it's never happened before. But I think
Speaker 1: it's you're totally right in the sense that if he
Speaker 1: blows up the rest of the season the way he's
Speaker 1: been doing, yeah, he has earned it well. And it's
Speaker 1: how Brady plays the next three weeks because last week
Speaker 1: was his worst game of the year by so much
Speaker 1: that it I don't know if it was just a
Speaker 1: fluke or gets you worried. It wasn't just that. You
Speaker 1: know that the Dolphins are getting pressure on him, He's
Speaker 1: missing open throws by a lot. What if it's kind
Speaker 1: of out of nowhere just for this wide receiver MVP talk.
Speaker 1: What if the averages ten for one fifty and a
Speaker 1: touchdown for the rest of the season but they get
Speaker 1: beat in this game and they end up in the
Speaker 1: as a two or three seed. Is he then not
Speaker 1: the I think it depends if Brady plays well, because
Speaker 1: I think Brady has had an incredib That's where it's
Speaker 1: a little trickier for the quarterback. I think it's close
Speaker 1: enough that you need the full season. I wouldn't yet,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't close down the voting after this week. Um,
Speaker 1: other thoughts about this game, gentleman, Mark, what are you
Speaker 1: worried about? Who are you rooting for? By the way,
Speaker 1: I'm curious, Mark hate both these teams. I am in
Speaker 1: a terrible place with Patriots fans and my Twitter feed,
Speaker 1: and I texted West about these the other night. It's
Speaker 1: been awful. Um, I don't calm down, by the way
Speaker 1: a little bit. I mean every when everyone forgets about everything.
Speaker 1: And if you are if you're a Patriots fan that
Speaker 1: came after Mark and you're a fan of this podcast,
Speaker 1: you know, actually, actually, I will say something great about
Speaker 1: our listeners that the only kind of oasis in the
Speaker 1: middle of all that was podcast listeners saying you kind
Speaker 1: of got to get where these tweets are coming from.
Speaker 1: This person's a little bit of a uh not to
Speaker 1: use the term loose cannon twice on two people, but
Speaker 1: a bit of a loose cannon on Monday nights. And
Speaker 1: that's maybe where some of this verbiage. Did Erica come
Speaker 1: after you on Twitter? I don't recall, no, but you
Speaker 1: tagged me, so all these people are tweeting at me too,
Speaker 1: responded to me. Now everyone's answering that being like it
Speaker 1: wasn't that serious. I guess. I guess I'd say that
Speaker 1: Patriots fans like, who cares what I say? Your team
Speaker 1: just continues to roll. I mean, just enjoy it. Block
Speaker 1: all of them. About this week, I don't know who
Speaker 1: I'm rooting for. I wanted to be a good game.
Speaker 1: I wish you were on at night. I wish we're
Speaker 1: on Thursday night tonight, not this Thursday night game that
Speaker 1: we already talked about here. It is you have never
Speaker 1: picked against the Patriots ever in the history of the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL podcast. I know you have thoughts the
Speaker 1: other way this time because we did a pick up
Speaker 1: segment where you or a network segment where you hinted
Speaker 1: that that's how I think the Steelers there are. I'm
Speaker 1: not going to pick against them. I don't know. It's
Speaker 1: just we're not gonna point against the Steelers. Against the Patriots,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to pick again. I get worried about
Speaker 1: a revenge game if they if they do lose, then
Speaker 1: the revenge game in the party. I can also say
Speaker 1: I could also see a scenario where the Patriots lose
Speaker 1: this game and win in the playoffs. I don't think
Speaker 1: this game is the end. I'll be off especially for
Speaker 1: a utteran team like the Patriots. I think it's it's
Speaker 1: very important for the Steeler, It's very important for both teams.
Speaker 1: But I could trust the Patriots if they could turn
Speaker 1: things around. The problem is, I don't know if they're
Speaker 1: If they're good enough, we'll see. Don't trust either one
Speaker 1: of these defenses to stop the offense, and the Patriots
Speaker 1: have shown that they have the Steelers number, especially if
Speaker 1: the Steelers continue to play his own defense against Tom
Speaker 1: Brady and Gronk. I mean, he owns Bill Belgia Ohens,
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin. I really wonder if Levy on Bell will
Speaker 1: be the same guy by the time you get to
Speaker 1: the a f C Championship game. He has played year.
Speaker 1: This is a crazy stat He has played a hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty six more snaps than any other running back
Speaker 1: in the league. That's three games. He's a He's basically
Speaker 1: played three games, and however many more carries than any
Speaker 1: other running back. It's crazy. I think something psychologically changed
Speaker 1: with this Steelers team in the second half against the Bengals.
Speaker 1: They feel completely different to me, and maybe maybe I
Speaker 1: just view them differently. They're not perfect, neither of the Patriots,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna I think they're gonna win this game
Speaker 1: and quiet all the nonsense about Tomlin and everything else.
Speaker 1: But Eric is exactly right. That creates issues. When you
Speaker 1: have to play the Patriots again in the playoffs, you
Speaker 1: might get a different result. They they'll be eased by
Speaker 1: the fact that they would probably be in their building,
Speaker 1: back in the same stadium where they beat them. Under
Speaker 1: that theory, you know, setting aside, like the emotional part
Speaker 1: of it. They missed Ryan Shazier on the field last week.
Speaker 1: I think that like if they had lost that game,
Speaker 1: and they easily could have, I think that was the
Speaker 1: difference that the Ravens were running all over by the
Speaker 1: way Patriots get Grunkowski back to that was not not
Speaker 1: enough was made of that Brady did not look good
Speaker 1: at all against the Dolphins, but that was that cannot
Speaker 1: be overlooked. He has eight touchdowns in five career games,
Speaker 1: but the Steelers the highest rate of receiving touchdowns that
Speaker 1: one player has against any teams. Merger, I like that. Um,
Speaker 1: now I'm picking the Patriots. Love Bell not averaging four
Speaker 1: yards of carry this year, by the way, Yeah, so
Speaker 1: of course you're more afraid of Antonio Brown then live Bell.
Speaker 1: Moving on the Tennessee Tytoons or eight and five? Uh
Speaker 1: lost to the Cards last week. Now they travel to
Speaker 1: San Francisco to face the forty Niners, who are listen.
Speaker 1: They are messing up their draft standing. But it's okay
Speaker 1: because the reason they're quote unquote messing it up is
Speaker 1: because Jimmy Garoppolo has come in and giving them a
Speaker 1: steadier presence at quarterback. He hasn't played out of his mind, Mark,
Speaker 1: but he's also been a big upgrade over what they had,
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of reason to be excited. If
Speaker 1: you're an Owners fan who cares about your draft pick.
Speaker 1: You found your quarterback, that that horrible way to have
Speaker 1: to live is over. For those Niners fans, they've got
Speaker 1: something to be thrilled about. Right here. I listened. The
Speaker 1: Titans have an unfixable vanilla offense. They are going to
Speaker 1: lose this game, and I'll tell you why because on
Speaker 1: Sunday night, last Sunday, I look up. Yeah, you already
Speaker 1: did the same intensity both times. That's why you're a pro, buddy.
Speaker 1: I actually I asked to watch this game on Sunday
Speaker 1: and cover it. I think Jimmy G is one of
Speaker 1: the best late season stories. This trade is gonna go down,
Speaker 1: It's gonna change this franchise for you to come. You
Speaker 1: are really into the Jimmy G thing. It is because
Speaker 1: it's let me finish. How connected is it is that you,
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways you wanted it to be
Speaker 1: a Brown so bad you thought it was gonna happen,
Speaker 1: and now you have to kind of view it through
Speaker 1: the forty Niners lens. Is there any type of psychology
Speaker 1: going on with you with that? I I applaud honestly
Speaker 1: the Niners for making the move. Cleveland couldn't get it
Speaker 1: done too bad. I still come in and cover the sports,
Speaker 1: so it's like, I'm not gonna sit around worrying about
Speaker 1: the Browns can't do it's it's It says a lot
Speaker 1: about the Titans right now that the forty niners are
Speaker 1: favored in this game. Yes, that's it. That's the lack
Speaker 1: of perspective, which makes sense for where the Titan Mariota
Speaker 1: has eight games with a passerrating below eighty. The only
Speaker 1: quarterback with more nine Deshaun Kaiser. I noticed that you
Speaker 1: called the Titans offense unfixable days if their Malarkey said
Speaker 1: it was fixable. It's been broken since Week one, it
Speaker 1: really has. It's been broken all season long. They have
Speaker 1: no identity, they don't know who they are, and I
Speaker 1: agree with you, Malarkey's full of it. They're not fat.
Speaker 1: How are they going to fix it? What I think
Speaker 1: Mariota is being done a disservice with this coaching staff
Speaker 1: and in this system he needs to be in I
Speaker 1: don't know, and not into the Mike Mlarkey thing. Coming
Speaker 1: back on us, let's move on. We'll talk a little
Speaker 1: Sunday night football. The Dallas Cowboys seven and six UH
Speaker 1: need to win in the worst way, and some of
Speaker 1: their opponent, the Oakland Raiders UH six and seven after
Speaker 1: their loss to the Chiefs last week, they need to
Speaker 1: win in the worst way. UH more likely to make
Speaker 1: the postseason Cowboys or Raiders West. Well, the Raiders aren't
Speaker 1: going to make the postseason period because they're a bad
Speaker 1: football team, and they have been all year, and we've
Speaker 1: been saying that all year and they proved it again
Speaker 1: last week. They're likely to be with aut Amari Cooper. Uh.
Speaker 1: Their receivers drop almost everything anyway, and they Derek Carr
Speaker 1: takes two point to nine seconds to pass, which is
Speaker 1: the quick us by far in the NFL. There is
Speaker 1: no downfield element to this passing attack. Why is he
Speaker 1: getting rid of the ball so quickly and taking checkdowns
Speaker 1: behind an offensive line that's supposed to be one of
Speaker 1: the best in the usually is I think a lot
Speaker 1: of times you see that from car on like a
Speaker 1: third and long type of situation where you're just like,
Speaker 1: why are you throwing the three yards? It's speaking of
Speaker 1: broken offenses. This is one I thought, Dallas and what
Speaker 1: you're playing a terrible Giants defense. I get that, But
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott had one of his more impressive games. They
Speaker 1: looked explosive in the passing game. Cole Beasley back in
Speaker 1: action for them. Dez Bryant had a big touchdown. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think Dallas is going to roll right over a
Speaker 1: team that you know, we talked before about the a
Speaker 1: f C West playoff picture and we didn't even talk
Speaker 1: about the Raiders. And there's a reason for that. They
Speaker 1: feel like they're zooming towards a massive reorganization potentially. Yeah, Like,
Speaker 1: how how great is this offensive line of the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: It's been the best over the last three or four years.
Speaker 1: You have three all pros, Like this is the time
Speaker 1: with Zeke out that it was up to them to
Speaker 1: kind of come over and just take over games, win
Speaker 1: it on their own. For the most part, they've done that.
Speaker 1: And facing the Raiders defense on Sunday night, like, I
Speaker 1: absolutely expect them to kind of just man handle them
Speaker 1: and win a game on their own. Get it set
Speaker 1: it up for Zeke Zeke. Zeke's back. Next week is
Speaker 1: against the Seahawks in a in a game that could
Speaker 1: be too eight and six, like losers out kind of
Speaker 1: ball if they if they look, I mean, they could
Speaker 1: be rolling. That's why I like the Cowboys a lot,
Speaker 1: and that West it was not really shot at the Packers.
Speaker 1: If they do take care of business this week and
Speaker 1: then they get zeek back. I feel really good that
Speaker 1: they are going to be a team that that can
Speaker 1: sneak in the playoffs and make noise in the NFC.
Speaker 1: Not convinced they're good though. Can they pass? Because I
Speaker 1: don't know they could. We shouldn't be so sure about
Speaker 1: any team by the No No. No, I just not assume
Speaker 1: the Cowboys stay because we're wrong all the time about no.
Speaker 1: I agree. I think they can transform, certainly if the
Speaker 1: Dolphins can, but I haven't seen it really from their
Speaker 1: defense and their passing game much. By the way, never
Speaker 1: answered me was I said the Raids are not It's
Speaker 1: not possible for the Raiders to go to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So the Cowboys are the more like they just wanted
Speaker 1: a little little paperwork, just wanted to get it on record.
Speaker 1: A lot of rules and regulations being espoused by Dan today.
Speaker 1: Save it for the rules and regulations pod. Finally, Monday
Speaker 1: Night Football, the Falcons eight and five. Uh. They beat
Speaker 1: the Saints and a huge win last Thursday, and now
Speaker 1: they get oh that's it's almost like a mini by
Speaker 1: Thursday night to Monday night. Uh, and they get they
Speaker 1: get the Bucks. Greg, the Falcons are any good at all?
Speaker 1: They're gonna whip up on this bad Bucks team. Uh,
Speaker 1: that's what's gonna happen, right they should. I think weird
Speaker 1: things happen when you play a team twice in three weeks,
Speaker 1: like the Dolphins and Patriots did in in the first matchup,
Speaker 1: the Bucks and Ryan Fitzpatrick had twenty seven first downs
Speaker 1: and they basically did what they wanted. So in a
Speaker 1: division game, nothing would shock me. But the Falcons deserve
Speaker 1: a little credit. Like in this wild wild card race,
Speaker 1: They've beaten all the other teams they've got every time break.
Speaker 1: You beat the Cowboys, they beat the Lions, they beat
Speaker 1: the Seahawks, and they beat the Packers. They beat everyone.
Speaker 1: So if they win games like this one, they're gonna
Speaker 1: get in. Watching that Saints game, I mean most of
Speaker 1: New impressed me again, Julio Jones, but Matt Ryan could
Speaker 1: have had five interceptions in that game. I mean there
Speaker 1: were there were some worst game one of some bad
Speaker 1: throws by Matt Ryan, but they just you gotta get
Speaker 1: out of this one without making all these mistakes. If
Speaker 1: Sarkeesian is ever going to use his running backs in
Speaker 1: the passing game, which has been bizarre how he has
Speaker 1: left them out of the passing game. This is the
Speaker 1: matchup against the defense that was shredded by Theo Riddick
Speaker 1: and Eric Ebron last week. Uh, I don't. I just
Speaker 1: don't have any confidence that that Sarkasian is going to do.
Speaker 1: Most likely he's he has a concussion. I thought it
Speaker 1: was interesting the Bucks played Chris Godwin more snaps last
Speaker 1: week than Adam Humphreys or DeShawn Jackson. Looked very good.
Speaker 1: O J. Howard like, I don't know, I could couldn't
Speaker 1: you just see? I could see this being a would
Speaker 1: not surprise me if if there's an upset here and
Speaker 1: the Bucks have been working on Jameis Winston's mechanics. His
Speaker 1: foot his feet were quieter, he was carrying the ball higher,
Speaker 1: he was getting rid of the ball quicker. And then
Speaker 1: it kind of regressed over the course of the game.
Speaker 1: But they came out and you could tell he was
Speaker 1: working on his mechanics in the first quarter. Caughtter revenge game.
Speaker 1: Did you know? You know I used to work for
Speaker 1: the Falcons, an employee there. He worked there. Yes, may
Speaker 1: not have too many opportunities that revenge games left, But
Speaker 1: what was his job? Was he like work in the
Speaker 1: mess hall or he coordinated their offense, called the plays.
Speaker 1: He was prominent coach, A prominent coach. Yes, I thought
Speaker 1: maybe he's like a landscaper. No, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: he's multifaceted. But all right, there you go. That's the
Speaker 1: week fifteen preview. The next time you hear from US
Speaker 1: it will be our Week fifteen recap show on Sunday night.
Speaker 1: It's the flagship program. If you can't get enough of US,
Speaker 1: NFL pick them. We're down to twice four divided by
Speaker 1: two is to Wasn't there a reason that the Fantasy
Speaker 1: Playoffs were on? So they were giving Fantasy Live a
Speaker 1: few extra sharing, Yeah, that kind of but that was
Speaker 1: last week. This week it's like Fantasy Playoff. But that's
Speaker 1: like ten percent of the people that play Fantasy. Now,
Speaker 1: doesn't it feel a little superfluous to give them another area,
Speaker 1: Except there were other areas of programming you could have
Speaker 1: trimmed if you needed to. Trimming us was a bad move.
Speaker 1: That's that Fantasy Live plus plus the loose cannon behind
Speaker 1: the glass. Uh, she really does, and she she commanded me,
Speaker 1: by the way, on our instant messengery Clanet client. I
Speaker 1: don't know when the times are, but there they are
Speaker 1: five am Eastern, eight am Eastern on Saturday. Just mentioned
Speaker 1: how and this is capped out dope. Our segments are
Speaker 1: they're pretty dopey and and Erica is the is the
Speaker 1: woman behind that all. So if you want to see
Speaker 1: Erica uh at her in her element where she's really dominant,
Speaker 1: a great job. You know, hopefully you haven't saved on
Speaker 1: your DVR with the keep until I delete, which means
Speaker 1: it just staying there forever. Last week's show with the
Speaker 1: wind loser draw, that was tam Posse's well she is
Speaker 1: you are working hard for like multiple webbies. Is this
Speaker 1: what it is? Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're very ambitious. It's
Speaker 1: going to pay off some some awards this time. All right,
Speaker 1: let's let's get out of here. This is Dan hands
Speaker 1: Is signing off for the Quiet Store, the Mailman, the
Speaker 1: Old Boss, and the Loose Cannon. She's nervous, our big team.
Speaker 1: She's drinking that wine down. Oh my goodness tells Sunday Night.
Speaker 1: M