Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast Hates vending Machines. That's welcome
Speaker 1: back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hansas, and I am joined by
Speaker 1: the room filled with heroes Mark Sessler, Chris Westling, and
Speaker 1: Greg Rosenthal. Who that is up? Boys? Hey Dan, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure why vending machines honestly still exists other than
Speaker 1: the fact that they're gigantic and they're hard to take
Speaker 1: out of a building, and that's why they're still sitting
Speaker 1: in break rooms for people that don't know. My feeling
Speaker 1: is one particular vending machine in the newsroom break room
Speaker 1: which has been stealing money from people here in the
Speaker 1: shadowy league figures look the other way. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, I know they've got more important things to
Speaker 1: deal with right now, so I'm I'm just gonna back
Speaker 1: off on the vending machine. It's a foss l idea
Speaker 1: and they're mostly filled with unhealthy food. Um okay, So
Speaker 1: speaking of more important things, Yeah, the uh the NFL
Speaker 1: in Week fifteen. This is the flagship program, presented of
Speaker 1: course by Head and Shoulders on a day when once
Speaker 1: again um fate shine brightly upon the New England Patriots,
Speaker 1: a big, huge, huge, huge win for New England. Greg
Speaker 1: has got a little pepping as step he's known to do. Greg,
Speaker 1: you're feeling good right now? I certainly enjoyed that game. Yeah. Nothing.
Speaker 1: Nothing gets more peppy than a article about the catch
Speaker 1: rule that I just wrote wait to go no more.
Speaker 1: Nothing like getting quotes off of an al Riveran tweets
Speaker 1: and from NFL operations that I'll get your juices NFL
Speaker 1: ops gets me pumped up about professional football personally. Uh. So, yes,
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about that huge game at Hines Field
Speaker 1: and of course another unfortunate injury. What a season this
Speaker 1: has been? Uh? And uh the team of a t
Speaker 1: L with another huge statement and the return of Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers and why it might not matter ultimately so much
Speaker 1: to get to uh, in fact, so much to get
Speaker 1: to we should just do right, West, Let's do it.
Speaker 1: How you doing, buddy, How you feel? I feel good today?
Speaker 1: Give us an update? Where is Chris westling at? Physically? Well?
Speaker 1: Today is good. I'm very hesitant to ever give updates
Speaker 1: to go beyond the next hour, because that's how often
Speaker 1: my body changes in reaction to the chemo. Uh. The
Speaker 1: last week's chemo ended on Wednesday. Sometimes that stays with
Speaker 1: me through Thursday and Friday. I feel pretty good today,
Speaker 1: We'll see I still have issues. I still get down
Speaker 1: mentally and physically. I have trouble eating and keeping food in.
Speaker 1: So um what I'll be I'll be really happy when
Speaker 1: that last chemo day, which is January ten, when they
Speaker 1: take the pump out, we will be too, just in
Speaker 1: time for a little Super Bowl run a few weeks later.
Speaker 1: But I know you must be feeling pretty good because
Speaker 1: you took the risk of eating some food made here
Speaker 1: at the NFL by the Sunday night. I haven't seen
Speaker 1: much of that from West here last week's while bor
Speaker 1: ragu was besmirched in an unfair manner. Not only was
Speaker 1: it delicious, but it's one of the few things that
Speaker 1: my esophagus can really handle it because it was nice
Speaker 1: and soft and easy to eat. I never looked at
Speaker 1: it from that perspective. Do it, Wild Boar? Well, let's
Speaker 1: save it for the Wild Boar podcast. Let's get to
Speaker 1: the game, starting, of course, with the a f C
Speaker 1: showdown in the season in Pittsburgh. Here he goes third
Speaker 1: down play fakes. The spike still has it that bars
Speaker 1: the same of the game, and the Patriots absolutely amazing
Speaker 1: Jim Nance CBS with the call, we don't have the
Speaker 1: Zolac call because his head exploded there. You gonna get
Speaker 1: that anyway. After the dreaded catch rule wiped away a
Speaker 1: deserved Steelers touchdown, Ben Roethlisberger through a game deciding interception
Speaker 1: in the final seconds, and the Patriots held on for
Speaker 1: a huge to twenty four win at hines Field. With
Speaker 1: the win, the Patriots take over the number one seed
Speaker 1: in the a f C. The Steelers, meanwhile, yeah, play that.
Speaker 1: The Steelers. Meanwhile, we'll finish the regular season without Antonio Brown,
Speaker 1: who left this game in the first half after sustaining
Speaker 1: a partially torn calf muscle. Rap Sheet reports, Yes, Greg,
Speaker 1: the throne of ease is alive and well believe for you.
Speaker 1: When the Patriots took the lead late in the fourth quarter, Dan, Dan,
Speaker 1: you were you were disconsolate. I don't know if I've
Speaker 1: ever seen you as down as in a Jets game.
Speaker 1: And I wrote I wrote down from quotes from you,
Speaker 1: and they were they were basically said, like this is
Speaker 1: so predictable. Anyone watching sports knows exactly how this was
Speaker 1: going to happen, and then Juju Smith schuster Bus opened
Speaker 1: down the sideline makes the sort of play that you
Speaker 1: would expect Antonio Brown to make before all of this happens.
Speaker 1: And you, after it was all over, we talked a
Speaker 1: little bit about it, and you say the Patriots are lucky,
Speaker 1: that they're luckier than any franchise ever. And I get
Speaker 1: that from from another perspective watching their team. But luck
Speaker 1: is created by Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski going on
Speaker 1: the field and making some high level plays that only
Speaker 1: two of the greatest players in NFL history could set up.
Speaker 1: Luck is made on that catull After that happens by
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger making a terrible decision throwing the ball over
Speaker 1: the middle, Eric Rowe being heads up and tapping the ball,
Speaker 1: a decision that Tom Brady would never ever make. So
Speaker 1: while they were lucky, the key players in the game
Speaker 1: decided it. They set themselves up to get lucky. They're
Speaker 1: they're not all lucky. I just want to make it's
Speaker 1: a great and they're also fortunate through the years. Yes,
Speaker 1: the Ben Roethlisberger throwing the pass, they are fortunate that
Speaker 1: that would have happened, just like in Seattle, on the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. They were fortunate they called the pass play
Speaker 1: instead of giving to Marshall Lynch, just as they were
Speaker 1: fortunate on the tuck play. I don't want to take
Speaker 1: anything away from it. They were prepared for it too.
Speaker 1: They had three or four guys in coverage. They said
Speaker 1: they practiced that fake uh spike play, and it appears
Speaker 1: that the Steelers don't practice it too well because Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger disagreed with Mike Tomlins take of how that play
Speaker 1: even instructed. He said it wasn't a fake spike play,
Speaker 1: that the key wanted to just spike the ball to
Speaker 1: set up one more play, which makes no sense. Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger is just talking out of his ass here, because
Speaker 1: it was third down, a spike would have meant a
Speaker 1: field goal, and he did do a fake spike, and
Speaker 1: no one else on the Steelers moved a muscle except
Speaker 1: for Eli Rodgers, and three Patriots followed him and they
Speaker 1: made the play. And it's another crazy way to win
Speaker 1: a game. Yeah, it's certainly not the first time we've
Speaker 1: seen the Patriots maintain their composure and another team act
Speaker 1: confused with the game on the line. And I think
Speaker 1: the catch roll ongoing shenanigans really overshadowed. I only saw
Speaker 1: the last part of the fourth quarter. Rob Gronkowski personally
Speaker 1: take control of a football game game. That was amazing performance.
Speaker 1: He's the best tight end I've ever seen, and I
Speaker 1: don't think it's close. This was a top three gron performance.
Speaker 1: And it forget the numbers, who cares? Where the box
Speaker 1: score was absolutely dominated this game. And I don't know
Speaker 1: about the luck thing, but the fact that this was
Speaker 1: the game of all games where Antonio Brown, who is
Speaker 1: coming off a month that for me cemented him as
Speaker 1: my m v P to lose him early because when
Speaker 1: is when is Brown? When has he been at his best?
Speaker 1: It's been in the fourth quarter when the Steelers have
Speaker 1: to climb out of some sort of dark corner and
Speaker 1: you rely on him. Dan, you mentioned there was a
Speaker 1: third down past that earlier in the game, it would
Speaker 1: have been Brown sealing this victory, and you don't have
Speaker 1: him on the field when they had an they had
Speaker 1: a five point lead late in the fourth quarter, third
Speaker 1: down and manageable, and it was Antonio brown territory. Just
Speaker 1: like I should add on the fakes, doomed, fake spike,
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown could have been in the middle of that
Speaker 1: play too, because he's always in the middle of game
Speaker 1: deciding plays like that and what West. You're absolutely right,
Speaker 1: they kept their composure um and the and the past
Speaker 1: to deserve credit. But it's just wild. Why if you
Speaker 1: hate the Patriots, if you're sick of the Patriots, that
Speaker 1: they Jesse James scores and the absurd ruling calls it
Speaker 1: back and then an interception all the things that had
Speaker 1: to come together. In fact, let's hear what. Maybe the
Speaker 1: NFL will come to its senses and Al River around
Speaker 1: the s VP of officiating will announce everyone. We get
Speaker 1: your frustration at Martin. Otherwise, great game. Let's see if
Speaker 1: Al actually does do that. Let's listen to Rothlessburger completes
Speaker 1: a pass to James, and James is going to the
Speaker 1: ground as he reaches the goal line. And that's the
Speaker 1: key here. He is going to the ground. By rule,
Speaker 1: to complete the process of the catch, he must survive
Speaker 1: the ground, and by that we mean he must maintain
Speaker 1: control of the football. As we see here, he does
Speaker 1: put the ball over the goal line extended. Once he
Speaker 1: gets there, he loses control of the football and then
Speaker 1: the ball hits the ground. We can see here the
Speaker 1: ball touches the ground. So therefore two things occur. He
Speaker 1: loses control of the football and the ball touches the
Speaker 1: ground prior to him regaining control. Therefore, the ruling on
Speaker 1: the field of a touchdown was changed to an incomplete pass. West,
Speaker 1: Why does that still bad? Why is it failing the
Speaker 1: and sense test? It's it's the most broken rule in sports.
Speaker 1: It's the most confusing rule in sports. By the letter
Speaker 1: of the rule, I knew that was not a touchdown,
Speaker 1: and I wondered why it was taking romans to acknowledge
Speaker 1: that it wasn't a touch and added to the confusion
Speaker 1: and speaks to it too, that no one knows that
Speaker 1: on every other patch of grass in the world, that's
Speaker 1: a catch because he physically caught the ball. That that's
Speaker 1: why it's a catch. And it's It fails the common
Speaker 1: sense test, it fails the confusion test. To me, it
Speaker 1: fails the competitive integrity test, and I think the NFL
Speaker 1: suffers for it as a product. Well, the thing I
Speaker 1: don't get is the control part. If we really want
Speaker 1: to dive into it, because he says, did Tony Cranti,
Speaker 1: the referee said in the Pool report after the game
Speaker 1: that James lost complete control of the football, and I
Speaker 1: don't see how watching that play you can make the
Speaker 1: decision that he lost complete control of the football. Now,
Speaker 1: all of these rules were made and control it to
Speaker 1: to the ground and everything in a time when there
Speaker 1: wasn't eight different HD cameras and there wasn't these slow
Speaker 1: mo ocean frame by frame replays. And I thought maybe
Speaker 1: bringing the replay review into the league office in New
Speaker 1: York would help to clarify things, But I don't think
Speaker 1: it has. If anything, it's like they are going by
Speaker 1: the letter of the rule even more and I think
Speaker 1: fans and broadcasters and us we're even more confused. So
Speaker 1: it remains a problem. But I don't know what the
Speaker 1: solution is. We can say change the catch roll, but
Speaker 1: I don't know change it to what it was before
Speaker 1: the Calvin Johnson opened the can of worms? Why not
Speaker 1: two feet in control? Why does it have to be
Speaker 1: so convoluted, right, because it does follow that followed what
Speaker 1: their current rule is. It's not that, it's it's convoluted
Speaker 1: and confused with that the whole thing is convoluted to
Speaker 1: begin with, and I think you have to spend the
Speaker 1: offseason and say this is the one of the biggest
Speaker 1: issues facing the NFL. It couldn't have happened at a
Speaker 1: more high octane point than it did today, But it's
Speaker 1: gonna happen again in the playoffs. Has in the past
Speaker 1: this this ruling didn't bother me nearly as much as
Speaker 1: the one in the Carolina Green Bay game, which was
Speaker 1: even more confusing. And the bird catch, Yes, the demere
Speaker 1: bird catch, and Dean Blandino early in the year on
Speaker 1: Zach Miller's TV that was overturned, outrageously overturned, said, Look,
Speaker 1: the idea is not to get too technical, don't analyze
Speaker 1: it to the nth degree. And this is what Riverron
Speaker 1: and the point you're making that the league office they're
Speaker 1: analyzing it to the nth degree. There's there's not as
Speaker 1: much hesitation to have irrefutable evidence like it used to be.
Speaker 1: And you cannot now the game itself. The outcome the
Speaker 1: Steelers and our eleven and three, they dropped to the
Speaker 1: two seed with the Jaguars right behind a ten and four,
Speaker 1: and they have two very winnable games left. Even without
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown. They could get to thirteen and three, but
Speaker 1: we don't know if Antonio Brown does come back, and
Speaker 1: rap Sheet says they're hopeful he'll be ready for the playoffs,
Speaker 1: if he'll be even near acent a torn calf muscle
Speaker 1: does not sound a good situation. And if they do
Speaker 1: get to face the Patriots again, it will be in
Speaker 1: New England most likely, and all this points in a
Speaker 1: very bad direction where Pittsburgh season. It could have in
Speaker 1: a lot of ways it could have ended today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I watched this game fairly common as a Patriots fan
Speaker 1: because to me, I've seen so many big games and
Speaker 1: the important one is the next one that this one
Speaker 1: didn't really. I mean, it matters, but it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: that much that I think home field is is important,
Speaker 1: but it's not that important. There's a reason why. You know,
Speaker 1: if if you're wagering on it that it's worth three points,
Speaker 1: that's three points. It's not worth It's not necessarily the
Speaker 1: end of the world. I think the page the Steelers,
Speaker 1: especially with Antonio Brown, are a great team, and they
Speaker 1: looked like the better team for much of this game,
Speaker 1: and they did find a way to blow it. But
Speaker 1: to me, these are two New England team didn't matter
Speaker 1: to Pittsburgh. If you're Pittsburgh and you're Mike Tomlin, who
Speaker 1: cannot get over the Patriots. That entire team. They needed
Speaker 1: to win this. They need to get home field. You
Speaker 1: can say it doesn't matter for New England because New
Speaker 1: England can win anywhere. The Pittsburgh Steelers, this is their
Speaker 1: season on the line. Mike Tomlins chance to make a
Speaker 1: statement win with or without Antonio Brown. It didn't have
Speaker 1: much confidence. Would they take into January? It would have
Speaker 1: changed the entire seaons big. You could tell the burgeoning
Speaker 1: confidence the Steelers had that but like Terry Branshaw was
Speaker 1: guaranteeing a victory on Fox Today and it seemed like
Speaker 1: everybody had that confidence. Now you're gonna go into New
Speaker 1: England with Antonio Brown playing on a partially torn cath muscle,
Speaker 1: your your confidence is not going to be as high, alright.
Speaker 1: And I just wanted to point out we've talked a
Speaker 1: lot about the m v P race, and I think
Speaker 1: that was wroth. That was Brady's m v P moment.
Speaker 1: And as much as what happened with Smith Schuster's play
Speaker 1: afterwards and everything that came in a crazy comeback, the
Speaker 1: reality was they were down two scores in this game,
Speaker 1: with five minutes to go down eight points, rather with
Speaker 1: five minutes ago, they get a field goal, that defense
Speaker 1: gets a three and out, and that's why, again it's
Speaker 1: not all all luck that the defense had to make
Speaker 1: a play there. And then Brady has kind of a
Speaker 1: classic Brady and Grounk drive, And with everything else that
Speaker 1: happened and Brown getting hurt today, I think he kind
Speaker 1: of We're losing MVP candidates literally on a weekly basis
Speaker 1: at this point in December, unless you want to make it.
Speaker 1: And we're gonna talk about Todd Gurley in a second,
Speaker 1: unless you want to make a case for Girly. Maybe
Speaker 1: all that injuries and out wiped out Brown, wiped out
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz, wiped out de Shaun Watson, Tom Brady to
Speaker 1: his credit as the last man standing, and he'll probably
Speaker 1: win it. We'll see them having one of the best
Speaker 1: seasons of his career. Okay, we yes, we know that
Speaker 1: he's having a great season. Greg, congratulations. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that you were all happy and it just gets like
Speaker 1: thrown out, Like I mean, the heat sitting downstairs listening
Speaker 1: to Megan stand all day long. I just there wasn't
Speaker 1: everyone in this room and everyone listening to this podcast
Speaker 1: is aware that Tom Brady is having a great year. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's good. Okay, go, let's go. Let's check in on
Speaker 1: the team of a t youer. He turns left shoulder,
Speaker 1: gives the curly huge hole left side midfield, curly, squirty curly,
Speaker 1: first down, curly touchdown Todd Gurley on third down in
Speaker 1: twenty with a house call and before the half, this
Speaker 1: game is all but finished. M J B Long KSPN
Speaker 1: with a great call. There. They'll remember it as the
Speaker 1: Seattle massacre. Maybe they will, I don't. It was thirteen
Speaker 1: nothing after a quarter, thirty four zip at the half.
Speaker 1: The game ended forty two to seven in favor of
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Rams. Yes, the team of eight who
Speaker 1: delivered a thumping that makes you wonder if the Seahawks
Speaker 1: as we've known them are gone forever. The Rams, led
Speaker 1: by surging VP candidate Todd Gurley, are now twelve and
Speaker 1: three with the NFC West and a playoff by locked
Speaker 1: in their sites West. This was a very good day
Speaker 1: for the team of atl It was a statement game
Speaker 1: with shades of a changing of the guard game. Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1: It's not every year that you see a comprehensive dismantling
Speaker 1: in every phase of the game and one half of
Speaker 1: football like the Rams did to the Seahawks, going up
Speaker 1: thirty four to nothing, their largest first half margin on
Speaker 1: the road in franchise history and the second largest first
Speaker 1: half deficit home the Seahawks have ever had. It was
Speaker 1: absolute pummeling, Aaron Donald and Todd Gurley having their way,
Speaker 1: and the defensive and offensive lines of the Rams controlling
Speaker 1: the game. You know, it's crazy. It could have been
Speaker 1: forty three nothing there, forty five nothing in the first half.
Speaker 1: Got through an interception in the red zone in the
Speaker 1: first half, Cooper Cup dropped the pass right near the
Speaker 1: goal line. That's how dominant and balanced this team has been.
Speaker 1: And we've talked about how they're good running, passing, defense,
Speaker 1: and special teams. They were able to win this game
Speaker 1: and a laugher in a game that Jared Goff only
Speaker 1: had to throw at twenty one times for a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty yards in two thousand seventeen. You're blowing teams
Speaker 1: out throwing for a they beat you in so many ways,
Speaker 1: and and West, You're right up. Was great because it
Speaker 1: talked about the fact that this team houses, a Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year candidate, a potential m VP candidate, a
Speaker 1: defensive Player of the Year candidate, and all pro in
Speaker 1: your kicker, And I mean it doesn't end from there.
Speaker 1: And we're talking about a scenery changing NFC West victory
Speaker 1: reminds me of a game back in two thousand twelve
Speaker 1: that I watched at the good old Irish Times when
Speaker 1: Seattle thumped Jim Harbaugh's Niners forty two to thirteen. And
Speaker 1: there was this Niners fan in a little nice buttoned
Speaker 1: up red shirt who was freaking out by the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter because he had no idea what was coming at him. Now,
Speaker 1: what's happening to the Seahawks. I think we did pretty
Speaker 1: good with the Team of a t L this year.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I don't want to hear any I don't
Speaker 1: even better about curses. Give me a break. This is
Speaker 1: one of the best bettest wins in the Team of
Speaker 1: eight history. And Greg, Greg, I believe you picked the
Speaker 1: team of a TL this week. That's right, locked it up? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you locked it up? And uh there were thousands of
Speaker 1: people streaming out of the clink in the third quarter
Speaker 1: of this game. There's some video of it. I mean
Speaker 1: it was something, and when we talked about this game
Speaker 1: on Thursday, I thought the Seahawks are gonna win it
Speaker 1: because I thought even down bodies that they had something
Speaker 1: in the tank in this type of spot. But this
Speaker 1: did feel like a changing of the guard where those
Speaker 1: days are now definitively over. It feels like I don't
Speaker 1: think we're ever going to see the Seahawks like they
Speaker 1: used to be. I don't know if I remember a
Speaker 1: time when a running back had a hundred more yards
Speaker 1: than the other team at the half. Early has been
Speaker 1: in sensational and he's getting better every week. He's been
Speaker 1: the best running back. He hasn't got as much pub
Speaker 1: as people like Alvin Camara this year, but he's been
Speaker 1: the best running back in the NFL. He had a
Speaker 1: hundred and eighty yards and four touchdowns, and he left
Speaker 1: in the middle of the third quarter, never to return
Speaker 1: because the game was already out of and Aaron Donald
Speaker 1: had three sacks, four hits, two tackles for loss, a
Speaker 1: force fumble, all in two and a half quarters. I
Speaker 1: think he's the best defensive player in the league. So
Speaker 1: he was my muscle. Wilson called him that going into
Speaker 1: this He he was my default choice for Defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the Year through three quarters. And now I think
Speaker 1: this type of performance, in piling up some of those
Speaker 1: sacks and stats and it being in a big game,
Speaker 1: now I think people are going to vote for I
Speaker 1: think had a Saints player is defensive player of the year.
Speaker 1: About he was number two, He was number two in
Speaker 1: the in the four and you know I ranked him
Speaker 1: or whatever. You're lucky because we can't keep track of
Speaker 1: all your predictions, so we have no idea if that
Speaker 1: one's not so much a prediction as Bobby Wagner after
Speaker 1: the game, you mentioned Dan possibly you know the end
Speaker 1: of the Seahawks dynasty. I think you know if they
Speaker 1: all get healthy and back. Look, they're missing four or
Speaker 1: five good starters. They can be very compati next to you,
Speaker 1: but you are seeing some of the things that happened
Speaker 1: late in these runs. After the game, Bobby Wagner sent
Speaker 1: out a tweet, which was quickly deleted, e keep my
Speaker 1: name out your mouth. Stop being jealous of other people's success.
Speaker 1: I still hope you keep balling, and that was in
Speaker 1: response to Earl Thomas's opinion that he should not have
Speaker 1: played with his injured hamstring. He tried to fight through it.
Speaker 1: I don't think Bobby Wagner's hamstring was a difference in
Speaker 1: the game. Well, Greg, the Seahawks now eight and six,
Speaker 1: so it's time to fire up the old Greg Rosenthal tabulator.
Speaker 1: Any path for them if they close out or is
Speaker 1: it over? Playoffs calculator now online, they still have a
Speaker 1: good chance of making the playoffs they win their two games.
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're gonna win their two games. Uh,
Speaker 1: they play the Cowboys and the Cardinals, and yeah, they
Speaker 1: need help. They're gonna They're gonna need the Falcons to
Speaker 1: lose a game or two, two games probably, Yeah, it
Speaker 1: doesn't part of that good chance include the Buccaneers and
Speaker 1: unlikely upset over the Falcons. I think that they'll need
Speaker 1: the Falcons to lose two games the falconimistic robot. The
Speaker 1: Falcons play the Saints and the Panthers. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying. You said, if they win their two games
Speaker 1: and they Falcons play, Falcons play the Bucks tomorrow night, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and a very underman Bucks team without Jerald McCoy and
Speaker 1: Lavonte Dave. They know other sensational Monday night tilt. They
Speaker 1: finished with the Saints and the Panthers. So that I
Speaker 1: think if you're a Seahawks fan, gives you a little
Speaker 1: bit of hope. But I don't know. This is kind
Speaker 1: of a dead, dead team right now. All right, So
Speaker 1: there you go. The team of at L in a
Speaker 1: good place. Seahawks not so much. Let's move on. There's
Speaker 1: a low snap. Roger's back looks coming, rolls on the
Speaker 1: slant right, so I cut by Alice and he's hit.
Speaker 1: The ball came out. There's a fight for it. Looks
Speaker 1: like Carolina is on top of it. The officials coming
Speaker 1: to it. Take a look. It's Pether's football Mick mix
Speaker 1: and w BT with the call Toronimo Allison's turnover wiped
Speaker 1: away any chance of Aaron Rodgers magic, and the Panthers
Speaker 1: held on for a win over the Packers in Charlotte.
Speaker 1: Uh Cam Newton through for two yards and four touchdowns
Speaker 1: in the game, which we'll get to in a second.
Speaker 1: Let's start though, with a huge news off the field.
Speaker 1: Panthers founding owner Jerry Richardson announced Sunday night that he
Speaker 1: will be putting the team up for sale. This development
Speaker 1: comes as the NFL takes over the investigation into allegations
Speaker 1: of workplace misconduct made against Richardson. Uh This, that report
Speaker 1: that the NFL was taking over came from Ian Rappaport
Speaker 1: on Sunday morning. Uh So Richardson, who has been one
Speaker 1: of the Titans and ownership in the NFL since he
Speaker 1: came into the league abruptly making this announcement, and um,
Speaker 1: it is quite the distraction for a Panther's team that
Speaker 1: is finding its footing as the season enters its latest stage.
Speaker 1: Lets this happened the news that the team was investigating Richardson,
Speaker 1: which was interesting in itself because he owns the team
Speaker 1: and so that you know, he's the one hiring the
Speaker 1: lawyers paying the lawyers that are investigating him. Came out
Speaker 1: Friday afternoon, Los Angeles time, and we're talking now Sunday
Speaker 1: afternoon and he's selling the team. That is a quick process,
Speaker 1: which we've seen play out in all walks of stunning.
Speaker 1: It's not stunning in December that you can't have this
Speaker 1: hanging over the team throughout the off season. And whoever
Speaker 1: knows how it's long. There's no tolerance. I suppose it
Speaker 1: makes it a little bit and you're dead on your point, Mark,
Speaker 1: But what makes it a little more surprising for me
Speaker 1: is Richardson sitting in the owner's box on Sunday. Uh,
Speaker 1: we see the Fox cameras flashed to the box and
Speaker 1: there's Richardson sitting there. Not ten minutes after, um we
Speaker 1: learned that a reported surface involving Richardson. And it's a
Speaker 1: situation where it's so sudden you'd never see this kind
Speaker 1: of things, But it does tell you a lot of
Speaker 1: what's happening in the world right now and how it
Speaker 1: came into the NFL now as well. Well. I think
Speaker 1: one thing we're seeing is that people impositions of power
Speaker 1: and influence. We'll be we'll have to answer for taking
Speaker 1: advantage of that position. And and you you raise an
Speaker 1: interesting point, you know, moving to the football side of things,
Speaker 1: that this is, this story isn't going away in the Panthers.
Speaker 1: Because of today's result and how well they've played this season,
Speaker 1: they're not going away either. So this is gonna be
Speaker 1: something that the organization has to deal with continuously the
Speaker 1: next few weeks. I was saying to Mark actually after
Speaker 1: the game, which was a huge win for the Panthers,
Speaker 1: you know, Aaron Rodgers and all the buzz around him
Speaker 1: leading the Packers back to January gets wiped away, essentially
Speaker 1: by through another great Carolina performance. But after this game,
Speaker 1: this great effort by the Panthers, I can you even
Speaker 1: imagine what was going on that locker room. How the
Speaker 1: questions were actually about the game. I'm sure there were,
Speaker 1: because that's part of the the info gathering of reporters.
Speaker 1: But that's not the story around the pan It's overshadowed.
Speaker 1: But it's an unprecedented action and an unprecedented time in
Speaker 1: our country, and the people are gonna have to ask
Speaker 1: the Panthers, hey, what are you gonna do about it?
Speaker 1: That's they closed that case down quickly, and I think
Speaker 1: that handled that well. Well, those players walk out of
Speaker 1: the locker room and out of the stadium, they walked
Speaker 1: past a statue of Jerry Richards. Well, for now, it's
Speaker 1: not simple. I mean it is statues can be taken down.
Speaker 1: We've seen that too. Um, now for towards the game,
Speaker 1: so West, we'll start with you on this Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: back on the field. Um, it was a lot a
Speaker 1: lot of people expected that to be a magic alixer,
Speaker 1: but he proved to be human. Because Aaron Rodgers was
Speaker 1: a little rusty in his return, wasn't he. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: saw a little bit of everything from Aaron Rodgers today.
Speaker 1: If you were looking for uh reason to believe that
Speaker 1: he wouldn't change his playing style, you found that he scrambled.
Speaker 1: He should no reluctance whatsoever to scramble his body in jeopardy,
Speaker 1: took hits on that shoulder. Uh made one of his
Speaker 1: trademark sand lot style plays to Randall Cobb for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: But also the arm strength or the decision making, probably
Speaker 1: a little bit of both was rusty. Um. All three
Speaker 1: of his interceptions were underthrown, and all three of those
Speaker 1: plays would have been huge plays had the ball been
Speaker 1: on target. So I think that was definitely a difference
Speaker 1: in this game. And for all that being said, he
Speaker 1: was driving for the time or even if they wanted
Speaker 1: to go for a two point conversion potentially winning score
Speaker 1: late in the game, only to see Gerno moll Alice
Speaker 1: and fumble the ball in Panther's territory. It felt to
Speaker 1: me watching that that oh, yeah, you know, he struggled,
Speaker 1: But this is exactly what I would have expected. I
Speaker 1: know that, Dan, you expect New England games in a
Speaker 1: certain way, and I totallyhim with you on that, but
Speaker 1: I thought this is the perfect Aaron Rodgers return for
Speaker 1: all his flaws in this game. He's gonna find a
Speaker 1: way to tie this thing up. Green Bay is gonna
Speaker 1: keep on rolling. But then suddenly the whole Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: narrative got violently as circuited in there, out of our life.
Speaker 1: For the most part, it's you're happy about that too,
Speaker 1: that I'm not. I'm not a Packers guy, but at
Speaker 1: the same time, I like the idea of having for
Speaker 1: all the people that we've lost the best teams possible
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Well, we also kind of lose Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers now, because it's possible. You would think that they
Speaker 1: could decide to shut him down because he even almost certain.
Speaker 1: Rogers said himself, he's not If the Falcons beat the Bucks,
Speaker 1: the Packers are mathematically lib. You have no reason to
Speaker 1: play Rogers. If the Falcons win that game, Tom all
Speaker 1: Night and Cam Newton um through four touchdown passes, no interceptions,
Speaker 1: protected the ball. Christian McCaffrey has really um as the
Speaker 1: season has progressed. He doesn't put up monster stats, but
Speaker 1: he's a big part of their game plan. Every week
Speaker 1: and he had over I think a hundred and forty
Speaker 1: yards in total offense and another touchdown. Greg Olsen, who's
Speaker 1: kind of moving like my dad now later in his
Speaker 1: softball career where he's got a little hitch in his
Speaker 1: giddy up, but he could still get the job done
Speaker 1: like Keith was. Still keeps still getting into that. See
Speaker 1: he's Keith was driving the ball up the gap as
Speaker 1: he got into his fifties even but he didn't move
Speaker 1: like he used to. Greg Olsen, not moving like he
Speaker 1: used to. But he's crafty nine for one, sixteen in
Speaker 1: a touch uh in this game, and that's a big
Speaker 1: positive sign West As someone that's enjoyed the Panthers over
Speaker 1: the years. This team's ten and four, do you think
Speaker 1: they could be a team we'd be covering in Minneapolis?
Speaker 1: They need home field advantage, and I think that Dave
Speaker 1: Shula deserves credit for his play calling. Uh. They are
Speaker 1: now definitely a run first team today. The Packers, like
Speaker 1: any other team in the league, don't have anyone who
Speaker 1: can cover Christian McCaffrey one on one as a receiver,
Speaker 1: and they got burned by that. Their own coverage bust
Speaker 1: lad to the Greg Olsen production. Um, this is a
Speaker 1: team I don't trust their passing game at all because
Speaker 1: Cam Newton from week to week is not a consistent passer,
Speaker 1: and they're they're running game is really clicking on on
Speaker 1: most cylinders right now. So and their defense is is
Speaker 1: a top five or six defense too. You have the
Speaker 1: Bucks and the Falcons to close it out twelve and
Speaker 1: four not impossible. Let's check in with another NFC South
Speaker 1: juggernaut backs off set ing and there he goes inside
Speaker 1: the thirty five thirty five todown touchdown Saints. That's Jim
Speaker 1: Henderson induced McAlister w w L. I believe McAllister was
Speaker 1: telling him slide slide because the game was kind of
Speaker 1: decided that point, but whatever mark Ingram ran for two
Speaker 1: touchdowns and gained over a hundred and fifty yards UH
Speaker 1: in total offense, including that late fifty yard touchdown run.
Speaker 1: These Saints UH commit three turnovers but still take care
Speaker 1: of the Jets thirty one to nineteen. Never mind the
Speaker 1: final score. This was kind of a grinded out win
Speaker 1: for the Saints, which I think surprised a lot of
Speaker 1: people because if you if you talk desert people, UH,
Speaker 1: this game featured one of the biggest underdogs of the
Speaker 1: season and the Jets. But they hung around, and they
Speaker 1: hung around because mostly New Orleans was sloppy with the ball.
Speaker 1: They had the three turnovers, including two when they were
Speaker 1: kind of marching deep into Jets territory. Unfortunately for the
Speaker 1: Jets it is now Bryce Petty and not Josh mccounter quarterback.
Speaker 1: So and after each of those turnovers. Um, the Jets
Speaker 1: were unable to uh turn that around and make them
Speaker 1: make the Saints really pay for it. But the Saints
Speaker 1: got the win they needed. Uh. No lollipops will be
Speaker 1: handed out I think at the complex on Monday because
Speaker 1: it wasn't their best game. But when you're facing a
Speaker 1: Bryce Petty team with Moe Wilkerson out of the game
Speaker 1: because he still can't get to a meeting on time.
Speaker 1: Uh and if you're Todd Bowls, he should be sitting
Speaker 1: for the rest of the season in my opinion, Um,
Speaker 1: the Saints didn't enough to get the win. Mark ingram
Speaker 1: by the way, that is now over a thousand yards
Speaker 1: for the second straight season. The brows a star. Saints
Speaker 1: also have this identical schedule flip blop to the Panthers
Speaker 1: with the Falcons and Bucks next. So this division kind
Speaker 1: of far from over. Yeah, you know, we're taping the
Speaker 1: Sunday night, assuming that the Falcons do win on Monday night.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is still a three team race where
Speaker 1: it's getting very unlikely that any of the teams could
Speaker 1: get a buy. But any of these teams could be
Speaker 1: anywhere from the three seed too. If you're the Falcons
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs entirely, UM, Michael Thomas. It was
Speaker 1: kind of emblematic of the performance for the Saints. Had
Speaker 1: two touchdowns wiped away by inches upon review, uh scored
Speaker 1: later to put the game away. One of them involved
Speaker 1: getting one ft down and then the second foot speaking
Speaker 1: catch rules and things that drive me crazy, got his
Speaker 1: heel down in the end zone and then his front
Speaker 1: of his foot stepped on the white line and that
Speaker 1: was overturned as an incomplete pass. We saw on Saturday,
Speaker 1: and I'm blanking. I think it was the Lions, UM,
Speaker 1: And maybe you guys can help me out if you
Speaker 1: remember a playwre receiver caught a ball and his fingers
Speaker 1: touchdown inbounds and then hit the palm of his hands
Speaker 1: landed on the white but that stayed a touchdown. There
Speaker 1: were a lot of confusing calls like that, where like
Speaker 1: a finger equals a toe or doesn't equal to one
Speaker 1: butt cheek in and one butt cheek out. In the
Speaker 1: Panthers games, we have some buttocks stuff going on to
Speaker 1: where like West said, when when aask cheeks in one's
Speaker 1: out it's a touchdown. It's it's very confused. Know what's crazy.
Speaker 1: It's like we are we sit in a news from
Speaker 1: where you can suddenly like jack up the volume. Everyone
Speaker 1: can sit around and hear everything that's happening. A lot
Speaker 1: of these people, great football fans, watch these games and
Speaker 1: sports bars where only one game gets sound and you're
Speaker 1: watching replays and having no idea of the drama behind
Speaker 1: the scenes. Even more maddening. You gotta change all this stuff.
Speaker 1: It's lost Larry Warford. In this game, they have not
Speaker 1: at Andrew's pete on the field. Those are really their
Speaker 1: two best run blockers and and part of the reason
Speaker 1: that they're such a good running team. So that's something
Speaker 1: to keep an eye. And Cam Jordan, who is trying
Speaker 1: to get a triple double. First guy in a little
Speaker 1: while to have ten pass breakups, ten sacks, tent tackles
Speaker 1: for lost. He did it with four pass breakups today. Wow.
Speaker 1: Wow stat there, Greg Uh And lastly, Todd Bowles announced
Speaker 1: Bryce Petty will start next week as well. And I
Speaker 1: have to wonder how bad is Christian. I mean, just
Speaker 1: let us see how bad he is. I'm just excited.
Speaker 1: I want a curiosity at this point. It's one of
Speaker 1: the worst second round picks of model times for sure.
Speaker 1: And it is, it really is. It's kind of like
Speaker 1: a like the Freak show on the boardwalk in Venice,
Speaker 1: which is shuttered now. But uh, like Christian Hackerberg is
Speaker 1: now at that level in terms of the freak. He's
Speaker 1: the bearded lady. He's beard Lady of the NFL quarterback room.
Speaker 1: Let's move on five clips by Rivers. He fades back
Speaker 1: on fourth down near midfield, the dangerous lop right side
Speaker 1: and or suthing back pedaling and falling onto his back round.
Speaker 1: Parker adds a pick to his fumball recovery. Rivers turned
Speaker 1: over a game. Let's move to Saturday Night and Mitch
Speaker 1: Holdness of k c f X with the call Philip
Speaker 1: Rivers through three interceptions. Uh Kareem Hunt ran for a
Speaker 1: buck fifty five and a touch and the Chiefs beat
Speaker 1: up on the sloppy Los Angeles Chargers. At win for
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, a loss for the old Zeuser, who, you know,
Speaker 1: almost like a act of I wanted to get in
Speaker 1: on the fun. Every everybody else was excited about the Chargers.
Speaker 1: All Right, let's do this. That's some fun. And it's like,
Speaker 1: as I'm watching that game, I'm like, why did I
Speaker 1: do this? I already have the Jets, who always come
Speaker 1: up small when just when you think that they're turning
Speaker 1: the corner. I am not getting involved with the Chargers
Speaker 1: who've been doing this for fifty years. You're also the
Speaker 1: person that had been warning us correctly for weeks that
Speaker 1: the other side of the Chargers was due to come
Speaker 1: home to roost here. Yeah, so that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: Whatever wes uh. This was not the Chargers team that
Speaker 1: got everyone excited over the last month. Almost every element
Speaker 1: that contributed to their winning streak came back to haunt
Speaker 1: them in this game. Injuries were a big factor, especially
Speaker 1: in the second half. Special teams play was a factor,
Speaker 1: poor tackling was a huge factor, and the hottest quarterback
Speaker 1: in the game went cold and through three second half interceptions.
Speaker 1: Uh that makes six in or six of his tenners
Speaker 1: interceptions this year came against the Chiefs. And Kennan Allen
Speaker 1: means probably as almost as much to the Chargers as
Speaker 1: Antonio Brown means to this and that I don't know
Speaker 1: what his injury status is going to be moving forward,
Speaker 1: But they are not out of the a f C
Speaker 1: wild card race at all mathematically. But if they don't
Speaker 1: have Keenan Allen, they're not the same team. I want
Speaker 1: to say, how dare you Chargers for doing this to us?
Speaker 1: But at the same time, I think this is the
Speaker 1: kind of game that gets Matt Nagy a head coaching job.
Speaker 1: I mean, I give Andy Reid credit because I'm sure
Speaker 1: there's a lot of pride attached to this to hand
Speaker 1: over play calling duties. What two or three weeks ago,
Speaker 1: it reignited for whatever reason. We don't know how how
Speaker 1: these things suddenly work. Maybe it helped to take this
Speaker 1: off Reid's plate with whatever he's doing. But the offense
Speaker 1: is back, and of all things, the fact that the defense,
Speaker 1: when thanks to turnovers, hold the Chargers to thirteen points
Speaker 1: in offense, looked as hot as any in the league.
Speaker 1: A stunning results. It's easy to forget in this game
Speaker 1: they were the Chargers were winning the game right late quarter.
Speaker 1: It was a close game, and I think that the
Speaker 1: edge and head coaching is why the Chiefs are gonna
Speaker 1: be the a f C West champion. And I know
Speaker 1: he gave the play calling over to Naggie. It's his offense.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he has a lot of input. Even during
Speaker 1: the game. He certainly has a lot of inputs like
Speaker 1: I'm not listening to you. No, no, no, you're out.
Speaker 1: He certainly has a lot of input into the game plan.
Speaker 1: And they out coached the Chargers. They came out with
Speaker 1: great play cause and it was definitely Andy Reid who's
Speaker 1: choosing to go for it on fourth and three on
Speaker 1: that first job with really set a tone of aggressiveness
Speaker 1: and they picked it up and they scored. That's future
Speaker 1: Colts coach Matt Nagi or future Browns coach because everybody
Speaker 1: nags up in Cincinnati. Baby, what do we know about Mattie.
Speaker 1: I know more about Charles Naggy than Matt n Andy
Speaker 1: Reid called him the best head coaching prospect he's ever had.
Speaker 1: That includes Douck Peterson, who's a Coach of the Year
Speaker 1: camp Andy Reid's coached about half Andy Reid and ahead
Speaker 1: of that is the second most important coaching figure of
Speaker 1: the last twenty years, behind Bill Belchick. Not only is
Speaker 1: he a top five coach, He's had all sorts of
Speaker 1: coaches go through his staff and go on to bigger
Speaker 1: and better things, including a lot of good some bad ones,
Speaker 1: some good ones. Embarrassing that you missed al grow. Probably
Speaker 1: the Chiefs looked like the September and apparent big time
Speaker 1: I missed it running by me again. He was number
Speaker 1: three on the Influence of Coaching list of the last
Speaker 1: time He's on the Parcels Street with the Chiefs looked
Speaker 1: like the September and early October Chiefs for two straight
Speaker 1: weeks now, and offensively, it's easy for me to believe
Speaker 1: they're back. The running game is certainly back. The offensive
Speaker 1: line Kareem Hunt looks good. Defensively, I think it remains
Speaker 1: to be seen how much of this is home field advantage.
Speaker 1: Leaders in Houston were awesome, though they have superstar players
Speaker 1: who are occasionally in a big game like this can
Speaker 1: just win it on your own. And Marcus Peters and
Speaker 1: Justin Houston were dominant, and I think the football gotna
Speaker 1: sent the which includes us, uh you know, deserve Sorry sorry, cheefs,
Speaker 1: we counted you out a couple of weeks ago. They're okay.
Speaker 1: Now they're looking credit right before they're losing, are right
Speaker 1: into their losing streak, and then they are so screw that.
Speaker 1: It's a week to week proposition. I watched. I watched
Speaker 1: the pick up segment this morning. My my children requested
Speaker 1: it because they like what They're like, let's watch the
Speaker 1: Daddy Show and it's been a few weeks. I showed
Speaker 1: him that the wind loser draw segment that we did
Speaker 1: pictionary a few weeks back, and all four of us
Speaker 1: like confidently picked the Raiders to be half our ratings
Speaker 1: share coming from the Rosenthal House, Uh, we're down, We're down.
Speaker 1: I heard they cut us now to just a ten
Speaker 1: minutes sliver on networks done from four airings to two minutes.
Speaker 1: The NFL's defense I thought about I thought about it
Speaker 1: on Saturday as I was watching you know, NFL games
Speaker 1: all day on NFL Network and thought, well, I guess
Speaker 1: that makes sense that they went with Bears, Lions and
Speaker 1: charges Chiefs over NFL pick them well, that's a sensible
Speaker 1: disab Maybe maybe charges Um and speaking, the charge is
Speaker 1: gonna charge her. Sorry, charges fans, they got your hopes
Speaker 1: up again. Let's move on third and six from his
Speaker 1: own twenty three point clock to one. They get it off.
Speaker 1: Don't look Cadricks new side. Hello, Eric Kendricks with a
Speaker 1: thirty yard pick six zero. It does zero thing. Paul
Speaker 1: Allen and Pete Bursts of kf x N with the
Speaker 1: call yes, Eric Hendricks came up with a pick six.
Speaker 1: Case Keenum delivered another professional, productive game, and the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Vikings clinch the NFC North after a thirty four seven
Speaker 1: win over the Bengals, who look every bit like a
Speaker 1: team that's playing out the string, whether they head coach
Speaker 1: already half out the door. We'll get to the Marvis
Speaker 1: Marvis Lewis Marvin Lewis situation in a moment, but let's
Speaker 1: start with the Vikings, who remain a very real contender
Speaker 1: for the NFC's number one seed. Mark. You know, when
Speaker 1: we cover these games on Sunday, you have a primary
Speaker 1: game and then you have a secondary game to bring
Speaker 1: it to the podcast that you keep an eye on.
Speaker 1: And so if it's a really exciting game you might
Speaker 1: have and flip TVs and put the other game on
Speaker 1: the on the computer, and you know you got like
Speaker 1: a four gotta hold lot thing going on now six
Speaker 1: with about less than six minutes to go in the
Speaker 1: first quarter, when Kendricks had that pick six making it
Speaker 1: fourteen nothing. I didn't really observe this game again. I
Speaker 1: will go back and track it here and there. The
Speaker 1: Vikings romped over Cincinnati in every possible way, and the
Speaker 1: Bengals with forty two total yards in the first half,
Speaker 1: the third fewest in the Marvin Lewis era. And it
Speaker 1: is not deceiving. This team over the left since that
Speaker 1: loss to the Steelers has looked as bad as that
Speaker 1: they gotta wiped out by their bears. They they are asleep.
Speaker 1: We forked them a month plus ago. We should have
Speaker 1: forked them on September ten. This team never came to
Speaker 1: play this season. This is an embarrassing loss. It is
Speaker 1: time to completely re order this thing from top to bottom.
Speaker 1: And it starts with Andy Dalton and a bunch of
Speaker 1: other players. You gotta redo this thing. Hit the reset
Speaker 1: button and don't look back. And yet they were in
Speaker 1: very good playoff position at halftime. Of that Monday night game,
Speaker 1: which really it makes it so much more stark how
Speaker 1: they've been the worst team in football for the last
Speaker 1: That's fine, and that that happened, I think because of
Speaker 1: what happened with Ryan ches Hear and you caught a
Speaker 1: Steelers team that was stunned by Earth events, not football events,
Speaker 1: and then Pittsburgh had the wherewithal to collect themselves at
Speaker 1: halftime and hammer a hapless Bengals team in the second half.
Speaker 1: And nothing has changed. The Bengals revealed who they are.
Speaker 1: Since I just we should do the whole podcast re
Speaker 1: Mark just talks about av C North. It's very confusing
Speaker 1: for maybe three and a half to four. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: Bengals at least are giving Mark Joy, so they've they've
Speaker 1: got that. It's very confusing to me that there multiple
Speaker 1: reports come out, you know, from rap sheet from ESPN
Speaker 1: that Marvin Lewis is leaving at the end of the season. Well,
Speaker 1: Marvin Lewis is an idiot, including one where Ian talks
Speaker 1: about speaking with Marvin Lewis. Okay, that's part of his report,
Speaker 1: solid source going after the game ends, Marvin Lewis after
Speaker 1: the game ends, Marvin Lewis says that he hasn't made
Speaker 1: an any decision about his future. That's Sean Payne's move.
Speaker 1: What's going I know, but this is what this time,
Speaker 1: it's really it's official. His contracts over. It's been an
Speaker 1: interesting era. This probably isn't the podcast to talk about it.
Speaker 1: I mean, he did do a lot of good things.
Speaker 1: He's well over five hundred as the coach of the Bengals.
Speaker 1: He raised the titantic Solomon Wilcott's told Dan, Yeah, once
Speaker 1: upon a time on a feature, I can no longer
Speaker 1: talk about their coaches. And since Paul Brown died in nine,
Speaker 1: I believe their coaches outside of Marvin Lewis have a
Speaker 1: two seventy winning percentage, right, that's like Hugh Jackson parents.
Speaker 1: But things always end badly, and this is this is
Speaker 1: kind of a typical bad ending. And the Vikings deserve
Speaker 1: a lot of credit. Not that we're surprised at this point.
Speaker 1: They're so consistent for playing their type of game and
Speaker 1: just hammering them and totally complete dominant showing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean they are gonna get a bye. They are still
Speaker 1: in the mix for a number one seed. They haven't
Speaker 1: officially clinched by but and it's It's funny you just
Speaker 1: cited as an example of badness huge Jackson. He is
Speaker 1: being connected as a potential Marvin Lewis replacement. Uh so
Speaker 1: that that is all. That's a soap opera, musical chair
Speaker 1: soap opera. That will be a fun, entertaining, potentially farcical
Speaker 1: thing to a state of Ohios, like we are not
Speaker 1: really interested in competing for super Bowls between the two
Speaker 1: the Bengals. The Bengal is actually giving up compensation for
Speaker 1: Hugh Jackson is the most the most Bengal thing ever.
Speaker 1: The we should mention Teddy Bridgewater played game threw an interception,
Speaker 1: what an embarrassment deflected off the guy's hands, you know,
Speaker 1: and that he got a ridiculously loud ovation. And the
Speaker 1: Vikings are team of Ato from last year win the
Speaker 1: NFC North. They have they don't have a lot of
Speaker 1: NFC North titles over the last fifteen years. I know
Speaker 1: they had won a couple of years ago, but that
Speaker 1: that's in the achieved you guys see, I just I
Speaker 1: don't know why I thought of this, but D'Angelo Williams
Speaker 1: rant at the Good Morning Football people that they cannot
Speaker 1: um brand Kyle Brandt and our Boys Rego in particular,
Speaker 1: cannot have real football analysis because they never played the game.
Speaker 1: I mean, at best unnecessary. Do you think Kyle Brand
Speaker 1: did play college? Do you think um knowing that D'Angel
Speaker 1: Williams likes our podcast, No, I'm sure he he sees
Speaker 1: us as for you know, maybe what one or two
Speaker 1: of us played Pop Warner roughly a decade or two
Speaker 1: of you know Ago, Sure, I'm sure there's a lot
Speaker 1: of respect. I don't think he knows we exist personally
Speaker 1: or the podcast itself exists, but I you know, i'd
Speaker 1: like to see him. Uh. Compare the analysis of people
Speaker 1: who didn't play football with the analysis of people who
Speaker 1: did play football. Yeah, yeah, it's pretty grim. Actually, plug
Speaker 1: in D'Angelo. Um, let's let's move on. The older running
Speaker 1: back is the shotgun? He dropped the throw in his
Speaker 1: blanked right Monks looks Nick touchdown? How many does this
Speaker 1: playing on scoring touchdown Jacksonville? He scored two? He planned
Speaker 1: while he planned to score, he scored two. Frank Frangie
Speaker 1: w j x L all the frangim uh from Joe
Speaker 1: Blake Bortles through three touchdown passes, two of which went
Speaker 1: to Jaden Mick Mickens. How Manny does he planned to score?
Speaker 1: He scored two, and the Jaguars clinched the playoff spot
Speaker 1: for the first time since two thousand seven, a forty
Speaker 1: five to seven wipe out of the Texans who are
Speaker 1: limping to the finish line. We now welcome in Nick Shook, brains,
Speaker 1: body and analysis. You know who never played the game
Speaker 1: at the professional right, I did not. That was also
Speaker 1: very awkward, that Good morning football exchange. You know who
Speaker 1: scored two touchdowns as well on Sunday for the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: Tommy Bohannon. Oh yeah, Jets draft pick. I believe fullback
Speaker 1: Tommy Bohannon. Who lately? Hey, le we see Tommy. Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm not leaving here until somebody tells me what they've seen.
Speaker 1: Tommy bohan two carries, two yards, two touchdowns. Bang that,
Speaker 1: Tommy Varndell dream game. You find them in the end
Speaker 1: zone is way you find them. That's down, Tommy Bardell.
Speaker 1: This game was all about Blake Boardles, who I'm convinced
Speaker 1: we've been watching a body double for him for the
Speaker 1: last three years and until the beginning of this month,
Speaker 1: plus a couple of games, because he's been on fire
Speaker 1: in Fuego six yards. It's copyrighted by the way in
Speaker 1: Fuego that Patrick, I think you're in trouble. Well, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna have to go talk to the seats. Now, see
Speaker 1: you guys later. H three touchdowns, a passer rating of
Speaker 1: a hundred and forty three point eight. It's a third
Speaker 1: straight game where he's broken a hundred by a significant count,
Speaker 1: and he looks like a quarterback. You know on this podcast.
Speaker 1: I remember you, Dan and I we all agree with
Speaker 1: you braining a finger right face, Yes the truth. Gregg's
Speaker 1: looking at me. I'll skeptical. I remember you Dan and
Speaker 1: us agreeing that that's just my face was going to
Speaker 1: sink them. Yeah, but right now he's playing, still is
Speaker 1: and I'm fooled. Color me fold because you're right. You're
Speaker 1: absolutely right, because he's playing great now. He's peeking at
Speaker 1: the right time. They've won seven of eight as a team,
Speaker 1: the Jaguars. Uh do I do? I still am I
Speaker 1: still my crazy West to still think when the lights
Speaker 1: come on in January, something terrible could happen, And I
Speaker 1: am I holding on to a ghost. At this point,
Speaker 1: he's paid tangible improvement in many different areas, and I
Speaker 1: believe he's the NFL's highest rated passer in December. That said, so,
Speaker 1: I maintain that this team is a front running team
Speaker 1: and let's see what happens when they fall behind. That's
Speaker 1: that's a totally, totally fair point. I do want to
Speaker 1: just say that I've never seen Blake Bortles drop dimes
Speaker 1: as a professional until this week, and he dropped a
Speaker 1: handful of them almost a dollar's worth. Pretty good for
Speaker 1: a guy. It's not a now troll thrower. They have
Speaker 1: a lot of good young wide receivers to all that
Speaker 1: is starting to kind of show a lot of random
Speaker 1: names like Jaden Mickens form a practice squad guy for
Speaker 1: catches sixty one yards healing cole That's that's wild, and
Speaker 1: even dropping dimes he certainly has. The last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: I feel like people kind of have erased from their
Speaker 1: memory the two thousand fifteen season when Blake Bortles had
Speaker 1: a lot of really good games and finished the season
Speaker 1: as someone everyone believed was the middle of the road starter.
Speaker 1: Now that's not unbelievable, but that's saying he was better
Speaker 1: than about half of the league, and he had some
Speaker 1: really sensational place So he's always he's had that capable
Speaker 1: if he can be coached up enough and maybe just
Speaker 1: make better decisions. And by the way, his own commitment
Speaker 1: in diligence to the game. Yeah, that was a huge
Speaker 1: part of what people were talking about last offseason was
Speaker 1: that is this a guy that's really committed to the game.
Speaker 1: And I think that we're seeing a different Blake Bortles
Speaker 1: from the neck up. They've they've blown out the Texans
Speaker 1: twice they were in the playoffs. That Steelers lost, though,
Speaker 1: really I don't think it should take the wind out
Speaker 1: of their sales, but they were looking at control of
Speaker 1: the number two seed if the Steelers had held onto that,
Speaker 1: and now they're gonna need some help by an unlikely
Speaker 1: team to to take off the Steelers or the Patriots
Speaker 1: in the next two weeks, where both teams will be
Speaker 1: heavy favorites both weeks. I do want to point out,
Speaker 1: just you know, in defense of the Texans, who are
Speaker 1: not a good football team at this point, that the
Speaker 1: Jaguars happened to avoid playing Deshaun Watson in both games.
Speaker 1: I do wonder what we're waiting for the borders playoff collaps.
Speaker 1: There aren't many good at a f C defenses. Steelers
Speaker 1: defense isn't great anymore. This the Patriots defense certainly isn't great. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs defense isn't great. So the teams that we
Speaker 1: you know, the Ravens, if they get the teams that
Speaker 1: we know that are in the playoffs, not very good
Speaker 1: defense put them in the Super Bowls. Good point. Let's
Speaker 1: move on and check in with another a f C
Speaker 1: South team. A forty five yard field goal attempts, keep
Speaker 1: going away, the good the buzzer, keep it rolling. Their
Speaker 1: third straight. Well, what did he say, John, I've never
Speaker 1: heard of the general manager getting the first credit at all.
Speaker 1: The general manager got you, Jimmy g So I'm fine
Speaker 1: with it. Well, was he maybe um on the on
Speaker 1: the screen that was Andrew Cattle on a CBS. Well,
Speaker 1: let's maybe that's fair, but I I thought he left
Speaker 1: he left something on the field. Their gold is golden.
Speaker 1: I would have said, winning with pockets, squares and ties. Anyway,
Speaker 1: there you go. After Ryan suck up Drill the fifty
Speaker 1: yard field goal to put the Titoons ahead, Robbie Gold
Speaker 1: answered with a forty five yard of his own as
Speaker 1: time ran out, lifting the forty niners to a twenty
Speaker 1: to nineteen win over Yes, the Tennessee Tytoons. That's three
Speaker 1: straight wins for the Niners and the Jimmy G Era
Speaker 1: Jimmy G Magic. Maybe the Tytoons meanwhile, are suddenly in
Speaker 1: danger of being on the outside looking in when the
Speaker 1: playoffs begin? Is that a bad thing? Mark? Uh Well,
Speaker 1: I think for Titans fans who probably feel disrespected, except
Speaker 1: coming out of this game, you have to say, look
Speaker 1: at you just lost to a team that just won
Speaker 1: its fourth game of the year. But it's a completely
Speaker 1: different Niners team with Jimmy G at the helm. At
Speaker 1: what happened to the quarterbacks getting sacked ten times a
Speaker 1: game in San Francisco, Not with Jimmy G moving around
Speaker 1: the way he does. He took the lead twice in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter and that last field goal, game winning
Speaker 1: field goal March It started with Jimmy G pristine ly
Speaker 1: pegging three wide receivers, moving that just like Brady did
Speaker 1: against Pittsburgh, moving the team in adequate time downfield in
Speaker 1: perfect position for the game winning field goal he threw
Speaker 1: for three hundred and eighty one yards. Mariotta was not
Speaker 1: the problem in the second half of this game. There's
Speaker 1: nothing around Mariota. He did what he could, but they
Speaker 1: could not. This defense, this Dick Libo defense, could not
Speaker 1: stop Jimmy Garoppolo. And Jimmy Garoppolo has less around him
Speaker 1: than Marcus Mariota does, so no excuse for the Titan.
Speaker 1: Garopolo has less around him than just about any quarterback
Speaker 1: in the NFL. He creates and suddenly guys like Garrett
Speaker 1: Selleck and George Kettle and Kettle whatever. George Kittle looks
Speaker 1: freaking amazing. All these dudes that were little complete fantasy
Speaker 1: dead weight for the entire season have come to life
Speaker 1: with Jimmy G under center. And you know what, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna keep trying to lock him up, not confirming that tonight,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look at the entire schedule. They got me
Speaker 1: two locks. I couldn't be more happy. Are Reddit boards
Speaker 1: signed up for Jimmy G tonight. They know what they're doing.
Speaker 1: That's coming right down to the did this week. They're
Speaker 1: learning the Jets, they're learning I'm a George Kittle guy.
Speaker 1: He's huge, Taylor. I like that the rest of the
Speaker 1: country is watching the biggest a f C game of
Speaker 1: the year. We've been talking about it all season. A
Speaker 1: lot of people have a kind of an eye on,
Speaker 1: you know, an NFC West change into the guards. But
Speaker 1: Sessler's over in the corner and he's locked into the
Speaker 1: team of sestl the San Francisco forty Niners. Yes, I am,
Speaker 1: I am. Let's move on Cousin center center on second
Speaker 1: and tent fakes the reverse under heat. It's a little
Speaker 1: scree past the bits. He's got blotchers with the thirty
Speaker 1: twenty up the right sidelock tad into the end soole.
Speaker 1: Then it's our Redskins touchdown to free boots. Takes it
Speaker 1: all the way. Larry Michael W. T. E. M. Sounded
Speaker 1: a lot like Patrick claiban. Uh. It was the only
Speaker 1: game in Week fifteen with no playoff ramifications, and the
Speaker 1: two teams played like it. Kirk Cousins through for d
Speaker 1: ninety six yards and two touchdowns, and the Redskins Redskins
Speaker 1: held on for a fifteen win over the Cardinals in Landover,
Speaker 1: Um shook. Let's really dig into this one. Yeah, was
Speaker 1: there anything to take out of this game? Let's be quicker? Uh? Actually, okay,
Speaker 1: fun fact, did you know that before it was called Landover?
Speaker 1: It was an unincorporated territory called ral John ral John.
Speaker 1: Jack Kent Cook named it after a combination of his
Speaker 1: two kids names. Anyway, it's it was like a evil
Speaker 1: corporation name in the Bad Dog Food. But what was
Speaker 1: it again, Ralph John John? Uh, they sell like industrial wire,
Speaker 1: Ralph and John textiles, those kind of things. Sixteen forty
Speaker 1: one from Blaine Gabbert. The three different times there in
Speaker 1: the red zone, couldn't get in the end zone, settled
Speaker 1: for field goals all day, including the final possession. It
Speaker 1: was a just a symphony of of just errors and
Speaker 1: and I just I felt pain for the Cardinals in
Speaker 1: their future because you know, we spent a little bit
Speaker 1: of time and being like, hey, maybe Blaine Gabbert might
Speaker 1: be the guy. No, it's not. I felt some sympathy pains, uh,
Speaker 1: that we assigned this game to you, Chook. We love
Speaker 1: having you on here. But sometimes when you're the new
Speaker 1: kid in town, you have to take take one for
Speaker 1: the team. So that's what happened. Listen, I watched you.
Speaker 1: I know, we just talked about Niners. I'm I'm growing
Speaker 1: up Browns fan, and I watched a lot of forty
Speaker 1: Niners games in the last few years. So it's okay,
Speaker 1: this this was not that bad. But this was a
Speaker 1: really ugly game. Uh, I think Cabri bibs. What we
Speaker 1: heard was about the only highlights for the whole day. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you going to get a pumpet? Yeah, of course
Speaker 1: it's a little late, but time to grinde. Why not
Speaker 1: go Sunday morning before the games? Why do you wait
Speaker 1: to go? Do you know we didn't do that? Oh?
Speaker 1: Do you go twice and let your muscles? You're just
Speaker 1: saying that you're going, you know, because you want to
Speaker 1: hear this drop. Yeah, well here's the thing. Why don't
Speaker 1: Why don't we just come in when I come in place?
Speaker 1: Is that too much? You want play music? No? I
Speaker 1: don't want to play All right, there you shook um
Speaker 1: until next week, buddy. All right, thanks guys. That game
Speaker 1: will not be watched on game Pass this week. It's
Speaker 1: impossible to evaluate either of those teams with how many
Speaker 1: injuries this West and I were talking about. You know,
Speaker 1: teams you can start to put into a nice little
Speaker 1: sack and put them in a river. There they go.
Speaker 1: It's you would be to sack. That's like what they
Speaker 1: do with like kittens. Sometimes is that something does happen.
Speaker 1: It's like if kidnens deserve our, our attention and care,
Speaker 1: not these teams. I get it. I get it. It's
Speaker 1: like if you want to kill someone and make it
Speaker 1: a special cruel. Exactly, let's move cat. The Eagles stop
Speaker 1: the Giants right here, Manning Texas slap. He's back, he's looking,
Speaker 1: he is firing, and it just ain't complete that it
Speaker 1: is out of the episode and complete and tendent. Fang
Speaker 1: Rol what forty three suckers and that's a rap, boys
Speaker 1: and girls. The Giants top three time outs, Mike, so
Speaker 1: it looks a little short of a run. Carroll comes
Speaker 1: after my quick quicken a big spot. W I p
Speaker 1: with the call. Maybe the Eagles do have a chance
Speaker 1: with that, Carson Wentz. Nick Foles stepped into the starting
Speaker 1: lineup and threw four touchdown passes and the Philly defense
Speaker 1: got that fourth down stop to hold off the Giants,
Speaker 1: a thirty four to twenty nine win for the Eaggles
Speaker 1: at the meadow Lands Mark. The half glass full viewpoint
Speaker 1: here is that Nick Foles moved the football put points
Speaker 1: on the board. Uh. The half glass empty is that
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense got carved up by Eli How do
Speaker 1: you view it? Yeah, I think that's pretty accurate. I mean,
Speaker 1: you think that would come out of this saying that
Speaker 1: the Eagles had lost. Oh well, Nick Foles will be
Speaker 1: the reason. Nick Foles was fine. He if he doesn't
Speaker 1: turn the ball over. What they had. What happened today,
Speaker 1: They got it done on offense. I mean it did
Speaker 1: not look like what we saw under Carson Wentz. Is
Speaker 1: a little bit of a different operation. But who expected
Speaker 1: Eli Manning to carve up what is a very good
Speaker 1: defense for four hundred and thirty four yards and three touchdowns.
Speaker 1: It was a big difference having sturdy Shepherd back in
Speaker 1: this lineup, and he made Evan Ingram is a star.
Speaker 1: He is an absolutely fascinating tight end. We've known that
Speaker 1: for weeks. But guys like Roger Lewis, ta Varus King,
Speaker 1: they were all making plays against the secondary. This is
Speaker 1: a game where you want to point to the kicking changes.
Speaker 1: What the the less effective kicking having a direct impact
Speaker 1: on away teams have to deal with the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: Aldrick Rosas misses a field goal in an extra point
Speaker 1: In this they were driving down at the very end
Speaker 1: and Eli Manning had to go for a touchdown. You
Speaker 1: lost this game by five points. They could have easily
Speaker 1: kicked a field goal and they would have knocked off
Speaker 1: the Eagles. We'd be saying something different about Philadelphia right now.
Speaker 1: The Giants will say this, they they showed, they showed
Speaker 1: zero quit today. I mean it's well because I think
Speaker 1: we're kind of you know, Dan, you and I are
Speaker 1: into the man. But I mean, Eli Manning made it
Speaker 1: fun today, and it's like they the Eagles. I still
Speaker 1: think they're gonna get the number one by I think
Speaker 1: they can win a playoff game. They could win two
Speaker 1: if you get this Nick Foles, he's not going to
Speaker 1: change the game like Wence does, but he did not
Speaker 1: hurt them at all. And this is kind of like
Speaker 1: a best case scenario. I haven't watched the game, but
Speaker 1: it's bad defense he was playing. Yeah, I'd like to
Speaker 1: see how he actually played, but statistically, I mean, what
Speaker 1: else could you ask for? And a guy five five
Speaker 1: D and four yards from the Giants against this Eagles
Speaker 1: defense is one of the more inexplicable and surprising results
Speaker 1: I've seen chalked up to like division rivals. Maybe I
Speaker 1: guess we'll watch the Eagles next week. It's a concerning
Speaker 1: game if you're the Eagles defense, because you need the
Speaker 1: Eagles defense to how up carry this? Yeah, they gotta
Speaker 1: go next level instead, they took a step back this week.
Speaker 1: Let's see how they look. Who they got next week?
Speaker 1: Oakland and Dallas. Okay, manageable, Let's move on. They've got
Speaker 1: there by J. Cutler and ready to go the snap.
Speaker 1: Bills rushed for stocks up front, Cutler gets rid of it,
Speaker 1: fires town Field picked off, intercepted at the forty five
Speaker 1: yard line, picked off by T. White. This time he
Speaker 1: slides down and this one will end it. John Murphy
Speaker 1: w g R with the call. The J. Cutler Field
Speaker 1: good story reached its anticipated conclusion on Sunday, as the
Speaker 1: veteran through three interceptions, including the killer game deciding pick
Speaker 1: right after Miami had recovered an onside kick late in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, allowing the Bills to hold on for
Speaker 1: a twenty four to sixteen win. Uh in Buffalo, greg
Speaker 1: The Bills are suddenly eight and six and in line
Speaker 1: for a playoff spot in the a f C. And
Speaker 1: as everyone should know, that has not happened in eighteen years. Well,
Speaker 1: they have to go to New England next week and
Speaker 1: that'll be, you know, a big, big game for them,
Speaker 1: and if they fall, they're eight and seven and they
Speaker 1: lose a little bit of control. This to me was
Speaker 1: more the the end of whatever hope there was about
Speaker 1: the Miami Dolphins, and it felt it felt kind of
Speaker 1: typically felt fitting that the two thousand seventeen Dolphins ended
Speaker 1: on a j Cutler just throw to nowhere, like they
Speaker 1: had the on side kick. He was getting pressured and
Speaker 1: he just threw it up right to trade Avious White.
Speaker 1: There's no defender in the area. And that was the
Speaker 1: day for Jay. Cutler was just kind of throwing it
Speaker 1: up inexplicably and receivers not being anywhere near the ball.
Speaker 1: Jay makes a throat to nowhere. He's throwing the ball
Speaker 1: forty times today. He on the roadwhere here three interceptions.
Speaker 1: They were all of the like the ugly variety, none
Speaker 1: of the you know variety. They weren't like, oh, that
Speaker 1: wasn't his faught like they were his fault. He also
Speaker 1: fumbled the ball four times today. That's a lot of
Speaker 1: fumbles he got. He got them all back amazingly. A
Speaker 1: couple were on the snap Sanchez, this guy, it was
Speaker 1: rough and the Bills should get credit um for coming
Speaker 1: out really playing sharp, good game plan in terms of
Speaker 1: their offense. Tyrod Taylor was, you're kind of doing the
Speaker 1: Tyrod Taylor things that you love to see, evading sacks
Speaker 1: and picking up thirdin longs and improvising and also some
Speaker 1: schemed up plays. And when they do that, they look
Speaker 1: they look like an eight and eight team. But that's
Speaker 1: kind of what they've looked like all season. I mean,
Speaker 1: we were talking about it downstairs, right, do you really
Speaker 1: want to see this Bill's team in the playoffs? But
Speaker 1: then the flip side is, well, do you want to
Speaker 1: see the Titoons in the playoffs? At least if you
Speaker 1: got the Bills in there, you get that all those
Speaker 1: fans get that that feeling that we you know, we
Speaker 1: we finally ended that drought. It's a step in the
Speaker 1: right direction. But yeah, this does feel like a team
Speaker 1: that's just gonna beat bad teams like the Dolphins. With
Speaker 1: Jay Cutler on the road. By the way, they're gonna
Speaker 1: have a big win. They have the tiebreaker over the
Speaker 1: Ravens right now. Yeah, but that's very misleading because once
Speaker 1: the season plays out, the Ravens will have a better
Speaker 1: record than the Bills all competitions. How about West with
Speaker 1: the calculatory as also, the Ravens played two Cup and
Speaker 1: the season and the Bills have to go on the
Speaker 1: road at New England and at Miami, so I don't
Speaker 1: have to plug in with a modem No fifty sex Gay,
Speaker 1: give me a little shorthand division and I'll handle everything.
Speaker 1: I would like it for the Bills fan base more
Speaker 1: than most other fan base. It wouldn't be a home game,
Speaker 1: but it's still still would be fun to watch with
Speaker 1: that wild cornfield in a FC is wide open. It's wild,
Speaker 1: wild and wide open. Kill me. Speaking of the Ravens,
Speaker 1: Sean Kaiser fans in the end zone in the shotgun
Speaker 1: thanks the snap looks to his right, pumps wants hit
Speaker 1: me high Bathers lost in the end zone. It's recovered.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be either a safety or touchdown. Touchdown Ravens
Speaker 1: and the defense takes care of it as Brandy and
Speaker 1: Williams comes up with a touchdown. All right, of course,
Speaker 1: Boo birds out in Cleveland. Jerry Sandusky w b A
Speaker 1: L with the call. The Ravens defense was expected to
Speaker 1: be disruptive on Sunday, and they were causing turnovers, including
Speaker 1: that touchdown a seven to ten win over the Browns.
Speaker 1: When it was all said and done, the Browns now
Speaker 1: just two losses away from becoming the second oh and
Speaker 1: sixteen team in NFL history. The Ravens, meanwhile, moved to
Speaker 1: eight and six, just like the Bills, and they remain
Speaker 1: in good position, just like West said, to grab a
Speaker 1: wild card spot. I would be stunned if the Ravens
Speaker 1: find a way to lose those two games coming up,
Speaker 1: because I think they're last doing a little Jordan's three
Speaker 1: more saying would just come in my way. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I think you're in good shape and that The
Speaker 1: main thing I was watching today was is the Joe
Speaker 1: Flacco revival too? You know, respectability to just being solid?
Speaker 1: Is that like a is that a thing now? Because
Speaker 1: it had been two weeks it wasn't great against Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: was good, and now we can say it's three weeks
Speaker 1: like they were bad throws. There were Joe Flacco moments,
Speaker 1: some sacks, but there were also those wow, like not
Speaker 1: a lot of quarterbacks can complete those those throws three
Speaker 1: or four or five really nice downfield or under pressure.
Speaker 1: And this is despite losing Jeremy Macklin. They asked him
Speaker 1: to win the game because they were stuffing the run
Speaker 1: and gave me through at forty two times. It wasn't great.
Speaker 1: But if he's just okay, then I think they have
Speaker 1: a chance to beat just about anyone care a business.
Speaker 1: I think Cleveland goes Owen sixteen because the only shot
Speaker 1: that I think you maybe had, and I don't even
Speaker 1: consider it a shot if you don't beat the Bears,
Speaker 1: is Pittsburgh sitting like twenty five starters, had they wrapped up.
Speaker 1: Some sort of is gonna happen there. You're looking at
Speaker 1: o in sixteen. I don't know how you keep the
Speaker 1: coach when that happens. And Deshaun Kaiser, who's I think
Speaker 1: taken a couple of steps forward recently in what's been
Speaker 1: typical for a season, took a took a step back
Speaker 1: today another red zone interception, missed somethings just in he's
Speaker 1: not gonna be the quarterback next year now, John Dorris,
Speaker 1: he's already handing out projects for for guys to select
Speaker 1: the next quarterback. Then, Um, I just wanted to I
Speaker 1: just wanted to check in on the four teams. I
Speaker 1: asked lindsay earlier today, Hey, can we just get a
Speaker 1: print out of all the teams that have been forked?
Speaker 1: Just so I could reference it in the studio? And
Speaker 1: I say, oh, can I have that on our as
Speaker 1: the messenger client, She says, it's hanging up. Look around.
Speaker 1: I can't find it. You wanted to print it out?
Speaker 1: Hanging up in the studio, literally hanging in the back
Speaker 1: corner of our studio back there. You can see it
Speaker 1: from where you're sitting. It's I can't see it. And
Speaker 1: I have a really good vis I will give you
Speaker 1: a hundred dollars if you could read that from where
Speaker 1: I'm sitting where over thirty five years old, we have
Speaker 1: pressed by apia. I mean, my eyes are good now,
Speaker 1: I have a great vision, but it's that's in the dark,
Speaker 1: all right. Here are the four teams, just to check
Speaker 1: in now late in the season. Are we in danger
Speaker 1: with any of them? Browns? I think we're safe there.
Speaker 1: Forty Niners, Giants, Cults, Bucks, Bears, Texans, Ben Gals, Broncos, Packers.
Speaker 1: That was the team that kind of Dolphins, the Gang
Speaker 1: Green that's the Jets. The Bills forked? Do we I
Speaker 1: don't remember forking the Bills. We forked the Bills, guys.
Speaker 1: I still feel fine about that. Raiders and the Redskins.
Speaker 1: It's it's really out of the bills. The Bills and
Speaker 1: the Packers would need a ton of help, a ton
Speaker 1: of help. I'd be fine that one, especially since has
Speaker 1: already been kind of forced into making the donation to
Speaker 1: the bum She'll be yeah, she'll be paying Western New
Speaker 1: York whatever is. Do check in with one last Saturday game.
Speaker 1: Throws over the Metal touchdown in Ford, touched out of
Speaker 1: the season, Free Broad and Detroit has opened up a
Speaker 1: nine scene to three lead you No, I like Lindsay.
Speaker 1: She's got some pet down, a little you know, loose cannon,
Speaker 1: loose cannon. She's really got, you know, a little like
Speaker 1: edge to her. The Full Time does too. You don't
Speaker 1: mess with the full Ti. Remember that movie, Don't mess
Speaker 1: with You don't mess with the Zoltan. You don't mess
Speaker 1: with the Full Time? Is what I smell a photoshop
Speaker 1: coming from one of our listeners, Dan Miller, you Jr.
Speaker 1: What they called Matthew Stafford looked healthy and threw two
Speaker 1: touchdown passes and leading the Lines to ten victory over
Speaker 1: the Bears on Saturday and Detroit a perfect game, by
Speaker 1: the way, And I could attest to this personally. If
Speaker 1: you're running around and daddy has to take the wife
Speaker 1: and kids to the mall to see Santa, which was
Speaker 1: a disaster. My son. Just to recap my son on
Speaker 1: Thursday at the Big Um Christmas pageant, uh was standing
Speaker 1: in the front row three years old. My boy Jack
Speaker 1: did not sing. At one point, covered his eyes and
Speaker 1: for the For the finality, Jack turns his back to
Speaker 1: the audience and God in the church. And two days later,
Speaker 1: my boy decides to become extremely fearful of Santa. Didn't
Speaker 1: want anything to do with the man in red. Uh.
Speaker 1: So I'm still figuring out the kids. A little bit
Speaker 1: of a counter intelligence revolutionary thing going on there. I
Speaker 1: mean that that's a that's a pretty common reaction though
Speaker 1: to Santa. On level, Santa's a little scary. Hey go
Speaker 1: sit on this strange you know, red Man's lap that
Speaker 1: you've never met before. Concept is odd from a distance.
Speaker 1: My point being is that I was That was the
Speaker 1: beginning of my Saturday. I get back on the couch
Speaker 1: and I'm watching a very boring football game. Perfect time
Speaker 1: for a nap took a little nap right in the
Speaker 1: middle of the game. Anyway, the Lions moved to eight
Speaker 1: and six, and they no doubt eagerly anticipate Monday Night's
Speaker 1: affair involving the eight and five Falcons. This was a
Speaker 1: rare game we get on the lines for a lot
Speaker 1: of things, where they controlled it from front to the beginning.
Speaker 1: They didn't have to have a comeback. They didn't. You know,
Speaker 1: I'd like to come back from front to beginning. That's
Speaker 1: from front to the game. I mean, you can't you
Speaker 1: you can't get any logger than that. I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: was gonna say. I walked away from this game thinking
Speaker 1: if the lines were in the a f C, they'd
Speaker 1: be a playoff team. They might be a playoff team
Speaker 1: if they play the Packers, for instance, without Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: which seems you tabulate increasingly possible. I think you're tabulating,
Speaker 1: aren't you. They're eight and six. They're at Cincinnati next week.
Speaker 1: I'm not even sure if Cincinnati will literally show up
Speaker 1: for the game, put him in a bag and threw
Speaker 1: him into right. They might. They might just win that
Speaker 1: by forfeit. That gets him to nine and six. Marvin
Speaker 1: Lewis holding a dog with some woman that he picked
Speaker 1: up at the supermarket, watching the bus drive away. And
Speaker 1: then they're they're hosting Green Bay, who at that point
Speaker 1: is likely to be eliminated and very possibly is sitting
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. They've already, the lines have already shown that
Speaker 1: they can beat Brett Hunley. They did that earlier this
Speaker 1: season on Monday Night Football. That gets them to ten
Speaker 1: and six and very possibly with a little little help
Speaker 1: from the Falcons. I don't think we need the lines
Speaker 1: to approve they can beat Brett Hunley. Like I'll just
Speaker 1: believe it on faith, the saying could happen in this
Speaker 1: deep NFC. The line there's very much alive. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: did dominate the game. They scored on four their first
Speaker 1: six drives. Mitch Drabinsky through three interceptions. Actually let Mitch
Speaker 1: throw the ball. Uh. Darius Slay played a great game.
Speaker 1: He's probably gonna the problem from front the beginning. He's
Speaker 1: been a great player ear This Bears team has so
Speaker 1: much work to do in the offseason if they don't
Speaker 1: want Mitchell Robinski's career to get vastly off track at
Speaker 1: some point here, I mean, you've got to You've got
Speaker 1: to do a lot. I mean this, this is a
Speaker 1: team that relies on Tariko and basically breaking two returns
Speaker 1: a game to have a shot. He had a big
Speaker 1: return called back yesterday in Chicago. Had no chance to
Speaker 1: win this game when that was when that happened. Um,
Speaker 1: how bad have the Bear has been under John Fox?
Speaker 1: They've lost six of seven their four and ten and
Speaker 1: that is now in three seasons under Fox, double digit
Speaker 1: losses after um all three years. So Johnny ain't going
Speaker 1: nowhere but home after the season. I'd like to see
Speaker 1: Hugh tax and wishes he had John Fox's record, But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'd like to see Eagles quarterbacks coach John d Filippo,
Speaker 1: who Mark is familiar with, working with Mitch Robinski next year.
Speaker 1: I like that John good coach. Let's move on Sunday
Speaker 1: football Sunday Night. A voids the shack and he's gonna
Speaker 1: try to run it in. Yeah, that he lose the ball?
Speaker 1: Is it go out of the end zone? Does he
Speaker 1: lose the ball? The Cowboys are signaling for a touchback.
Speaker 1: This could be a touchback to run or fumble forward
Speaker 1: through the end zone and out of the end zone
Speaker 1: on the field back. Yes, on a day where the arcane,
Speaker 1: clunky NFL rule book decided the game of the year.
Speaker 1: How fitting that Sunday Night Football ended with the dreaded
Speaker 1: fumble touchback rule. It costs the Raiders their season or
Speaker 1: whatever was left of it. A seventeen win for the
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys uh in Sunday Night Football, a game in
Speaker 1: which yes, Derek Carr, scrambling towards the pylon with less
Speaker 1: than a minute to play, had the first down, but
Speaker 1: had the misfortune of losing his grip on the ball.
Speaker 1: It goes out of bounds, Chris Westling, that's a touchback
Speaker 1: to Dallas according to the rule book. And the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are alive in the NFC playoffs and the Raiders are done. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and did the Raiders drive ended the game, ended their season,
Speaker 1: and put their fans out of their misery season long
Speaker 1: misery watching this band football team, one of the most
Speaker 1: disappointing teams in the NFL and the most disappointing division. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it kind of I don't know what the
Speaker 1: word anticlimactic that the Marshawn Lynch returned to Oakland like
Speaker 1: feel good story all but ended tonight with him losing
Speaker 1: it on the sidelines yelling at the officials, I guess
Speaker 1: for that call, but it was undeniably the correct call.
Speaker 1: You know, everybody calmed down a little bout this. Marshawn
Speaker 1: Lynch is amazing thing. I mean, what is he? What
Speaker 1: are you doing? What is the great running back? Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's a great running back, but this like amazing, man, angle,
Speaker 1: what are you doing? In perfectly called playing right? Not
Speaker 1: precious to me anyway, the the call was correct. The rule,
Speaker 1: much like the catch rule, is not is complicated, but
Speaker 1: it's poor. I think they need to put the touch
Speaker 1: back back to the twenty yard line. You keep possession,
Speaker 1: but your your way back up. It's like a touchback,
Speaker 1: except you keep the ball, you don't lose possession. Fumbling
Speaker 1: out of the end zone is a is a bizarre
Speaker 1: rule that just doesn't really got to count. Yeah, why
Speaker 1: do we have rules that punished athletes for making spectacular
Speaker 1: attempts at place? Well? I do think that players might
Speaker 1: have to rethink all the diving at the end zone though,
Speaker 1: in that way, because it's happened so many times. Jesse James,
Speaker 1: you know, the Steelers win if he just holds onto
Speaker 1: the ball. There he did, he crossed the I know,
Speaker 1: but if the ball in his hands, if he hadn't
Speaker 1: gotten out, I hear what you're saying in Derek Carr
Speaker 1: in that situation. Jeffy did a great job getting over there,
Speaker 1: but ultimately, like if he had just taken that, if
Speaker 1: he had gotten the first down, or you know, he'd
Speaker 1: been a little more careful with the ball, ball security,
Speaker 1: they have first and go at the one, and they
Speaker 1: win that game. We should mention the other most amusing
Speaker 1: part of the game itself was okay, but the really
Speaker 1: amusing and it was a gutsy onion call by Jason Garrett.
Speaker 1: Fourth and one, five minutes to play in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: at their own thirty nine. The Cowboys decided to go
Speaker 1: for it empty backfield, which is a little weird. Someone
Speaker 1: goes in motion and Dak Prescott takes a snap surges forward.
Speaker 1: It appeared, at least by the first glance, that Dak
Speaker 1: got it, but they decided to bring out the chain gang,
Speaker 1: and it is so close the measurement that Jene Sterator,
Speaker 1: who by the way, Jeane Sterator, who called the who
Speaker 1: made the Dez caught it decision? Maybe this is a
Speaker 1: bit of a makeup call, decides to fold over a
Speaker 1: index card. What a day for the NFL officials to
Speaker 1: decide if he actually just did get the first down,
Speaker 1: and that was through the bent index card. The decision
Speaker 1: was made that the Cowboys did get the first so
Speaker 1: first and ten at the forty three plays later, a
Speaker 1: forty yard passed to Dez Bryant, which set up a
Speaker 1: field goal to make it seventeen. And then it was
Speaker 1: that ensuing drive which led to the car shenanigans. What
Speaker 1: a day? What a world? When al Michaels is, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of putting his hands up of like, what's a catch?
Speaker 1: What's anything? Like he doesn't understand the rules, then you
Speaker 1: know we're in trouble. Al Michael's quote, this will live
Speaker 1: in infamy, and there's a wry smile from territories. He's
Speaker 1: walking away. He's like, I know I'm going to be
Speaker 1: the butt of four million internet jokes over this part
Speaker 1: of the gig. How else are you gonna tell? If
Speaker 1: it's the first time and genius? I don't get what
Speaker 1: did it do though? That's what I'm confused about. It
Speaker 1: measured whether it was actually that far the card was
Speaker 1: hitting the football right, which makes it but it was
Speaker 1: bent it was fold, so we followed it tight together.
Speaker 1: It wasn't that tight though, Well they were upset. Del
Speaker 1: Rio in theory. I guess was upset because you know,
Speaker 1: it's double piece of paper versus one. If it's that close,
Speaker 1: could have been a single piece. Maybe it wouldn't have been.
Speaker 1: I mean, the Cowboys are now eight and six. They
Speaker 1: would have picked your rule book. They would have been
Speaker 1: all but knocked out. If if they lose this game,
Speaker 1: imagine a scenario here where the Cowboys win next week
Speaker 1: against Seattle, went against Philadelphia and they end up getting
Speaker 1: into the place. Who knows it could change NFL history
Speaker 1: that index card they'd kill, the wo'd be robbed on
Speaker 1: a catch rule situation against Patriots in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: If you if you don't like the Cowboys, though, I
Speaker 1: have a couple I have some good news for you.
Speaker 1: Done some calculations, good home playoff calculator. Now we're going
Speaker 1: to dial up at nine pm Pacific time. I mean
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. If you don't like the Cowboys, some good
Speaker 1: news for you. They're in deep trouble. They're gonna lose
Speaker 1: tiebreakers to the Lions. If the line get to ten,
Speaker 1: they're gonna lose tie break to the Falcons. If they
Speaker 1: get to ten and they're just not that good of
Speaker 1: a team and they play two decent teams coming up,
Speaker 1: I don't really expect them to get to tend that
Speaker 1: decent Seahawks team that just got absolutely jobbed in their
Speaker 1: home stadium. Um, okay, there you go. I'm all in
Speaker 1: the river with Mark's bag of cats. UH neutralize them
Speaker 1: with lasers. We will be back on Tuesday, uh, where
Speaker 1: we will begin to look towards yes the pent ultimate
Speaker 1: week of the regular season. And UH, thank you for everyone,
Speaker 1: uh for listening along as always. Uh, let's now get
Speaker 1: out of here. Congratulations Gregg, another big day for you.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm trying to be macnadals dead hands, signing off
Speaker 1: for a quiet storm the mailman. Have you ever blessed?
Speaker 1: Old Boss? And Linsey fault On behind the glass? You
Speaker 1: don't mess with the fault On Tuesday,