Speaker 1: The Around the NFL Podcast. He's being blackballed by the lead.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Kansas, and I'm joined by Real
Speaker 1: Build with heroes Mark Sesler, Connie Fox, and Greg Rosenthal.
Speaker 1: Well what's up people, Hi, Hey, hey, hey, Now that
Speaker 1: was accurate by Matt money Smith. It's true. They've been
Speaker 1: trying to hold us down for five plus years now,
Speaker 1: and I will not stoop. Nobody do it, do it,
Speaker 1: can't stop us. This is UH the flagship program on
Speaker 1: a Tuesday, special occasion, because of course Christmas UH fell
Speaker 1: on a Monday. Did everybody have a happy Merry Christmas?
Speaker 1: It was great. I was on the East Coast and
Speaker 1: the West coast. Look at you. Yeah, bit of a
Speaker 1: humble brag, but nobody back on Christmas? It was great.
Speaker 1: Business class I did. I treated myself well, I have
Speaker 1: I have all the miles. It's not like you're going
Speaker 1: back though. Once. Once you've flown business class a couple
Speaker 1: of times, it's like that's it. That's your life. The
Speaker 1: amount of miles I've racked up from flying back and forth,
Speaker 1: it's like nothing. That's amazing. Um. The show is presented
Speaker 1: by Head and Shoulders. Collie is also on video or
Speaker 1: a video show tonight, and someone pointed out to me
Speaker 1: that Connie on her laptop has NFL network. This is
Speaker 1: the lap top of the business class right here. So
Speaker 1: I asked if I could just get a regular NFL shield.
Speaker 1: I feel like this is so like a weird thing
Speaker 1: to have on my computer. That is what I got,
Speaker 1: But you obviously went out of your way to get
Speaker 1: something other than the network now sticker before and they
Speaker 1: and they had me take it off. It's putting the
Speaker 1: people around you in their place. I think it's good.
Speaker 1: It's a shot, it's a power movement. I respect. I
Speaker 1: think they're putting in a bad situation right now. Um.
Speaker 1: Each of us, each of the men in the room
Speaker 1: have three children. Um, one quick anecdote I want to
Speaker 1: share to children. That was news to me. Dan has
Speaker 1: one we haven't heard about in the state, but I
Speaker 1: haven't met him yet. I'm sure he's a nice boy. Um,
Speaker 1: but uh, it was really annoying my Christmas. Cleaning the
Speaker 1: same room, the living room in the dining room. Cleaning
Speaker 1: those two rooms about fifteen times over the course of
Speaker 1: fourteen hours was exhausting. That was my Christmas. Yeah. We
Speaker 1: had that conversation before the show that um our experiences
Speaker 1: mirrored each other to some degree where I thought, you know,
Speaker 1: I've vacuumed this section of the house three times and
Speaker 1: it is am what were you guys vacuums. It's just
Speaker 1: it's just like I have a one year old and
Speaker 1: a three year old. My one year old, Harry, his
Speaker 1: only goal is just to throw stuff around. That's how
Speaker 1: he plays by making him mess. Jack, the more customary
Speaker 1: three year old boy, um moves from thing to thing,
Speaker 1: new toy to new toy, leaving just complete havoc in
Speaker 1: his wake. And and then there's food. It's Christmas. It's
Speaker 1: crumbs everywhere and their spills, you know. Yeah. Luke and
Speaker 1: Colton are back to bona fide Ruffians at this stage,
Speaker 1: so they you know, every room is uh a total
Speaker 1: grab bag. Sounds really great, guys, Yeah, it was joyous.
Speaker 1: I don't have kids yet, so you'll have three kids, Connie.
Speaker 1: I had a great time. It was it was you know,
Speaker 1: it was an excuse to just stay home, hang out.
Speaker 1: It was pretty easy, easy peasy. Yeah, all right, Greg
Speaker 1: puts it in perspective. It is important to be with
Speaker 1: the family. You're right, I'm just saying, yeah, it's pretty
Speaker 1: rare to have that. All right, Now, we got to
Speaker 1: get down to business because we have so much to
Speaker 1: get to, six team games in fact, playing over the
Speaker 1: course of Saturday, Sunday, Monday, UH, and I think we
Speaker 1: should just get into it. And a good way to
Speaker 1: get into it, UH is starting in the NFC South,
Speaker 1: a huge rematch between two rivals. Let's get going. Bunch
Speaker 1: of trips near left, breeze takes the snap, backside pressure comes,
Speaker 1: steps up, it looks off t Junior fifty four yards.
Speaker 1: John Sadak Westwood one true story ted again. That was
Speaker 1: his one million career touchdown of fifty or more yards.
Speaker 1: He's been doing it for a long time if season
Speaker 1: and that's an NFL record. Yeah. Anyway, the mighty UH
Speaker 1: Saints defense made UH New York made two goal line
Speaker 1: stands in thirteen win over the not ready for prime
Speaker 1: time or January either, let's be hot Falcons. The Saints
Speaker 1: clinched their first playoff birth since two thousand thirteen, and
Speaker 1: once again, Greg there was no question who was the
Speaker 1: better team when these two rivals got together. Didn't really
Speaker 1: deliver on all the Saints Falcons rivalry, hype, a quiet game,
Speaker 1: a reminder that this Saints team enters the playoffs so
Speaker 1: different than the other five Sean Payton Saints teams that
Speaker 1: he's ever brought to the postseason. Because on a day
Speaker 1: where the running game was kind of secondary, it was defense.
Speaker 1: It was Cam Jordan with the monster game. It was
Speaker 1: those goal line stands. Despite missing a lot of key
Speaker 1: defensive players, they really stopped Atlanta's run game. And it
Speaker 1: was a ball control offense with just a couple of
Speaker 1: big plays from Drew Brees sprinkled in when he absolutely
Speaker 1: needed it. I mean, they held onto the ball for
Speaker 1: almost the entire first half. It's a different Saints team,
Speaker 1: and I think it's it's better prepared than they have
Speaker 1: been since they won the Super Bowl to win some
Speaker 1: games in the playoffs and actually, you know matter in January.
Speaker 1: I look at the Rams and the Vikings as really
Speaker 1: trustable entities in the NFC, but the Saints also because
Speaker 1: they can beat you in so many ways. I also
Speaker 1: thought we were watching this game together. One of the
Speaker 1: best interceptions I've seen ever, Marshawn Lattimore's butt pick. Maybe
Speaker 1: that maybe maybe we could watch a lot of crazy
Speaker 1: little names. Did you have one? But I mean I
Speaker 1: was just calling it the butt interception, But that's way
Speaker 1: too many syllables, but rolls off. It's got the double
Speaker 1: on tone of grossness. I like it that that play
Speaker 1: was very telling, I think for this Atlanta Falcon season.
Speaker 1: Julio Jones was not in the game on a third
Speaker 1: and long. What was that? I'm not sure if it
Speaker 1: was because he made a mistake earlier in the in
Speaker 1: the previous two downs or what it was. So they
Speaker 1: bring in Marvin Hall, who's had two catches all year.
Speaker 1: He drops a pass over the middle, which was a
Speaker 1: good throw by Ryan, So Ryan ends up getting a
Speaker 1: wildly unlucky interception. Things that just could go wrong against
Speaker 1: the Falcons have this year, and that was the case
Speaker 1: in this game, where they were just so flat and
Speaker 1: at no point, at some point you just gotta trust
Speaker 1: I guess that this is who they are. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: I think too we have to mention the Saints. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously they looked like the better team here, but they
Speaker 1: did have some blocking issues when Turron Armstead went down,
Speaker 1: and they were really not good on third down at all.
Speaker 1: They only they were three. I think of thirteen on
Speaker 1: third down only the Falcons were word and they only
Speaker 1: converted to third downs or I think, yeah, the loaded
Speaker 1: nature of the NFC, the top heavy nature. I should
Speaker 1: say the Saints at eleven and four are currently projected
Speaker 1: as the fourth seed. Is there any path greg that
Speaker 1: gets them, uh to a first seed? No? But bye? Yes? No, No,
Speaker 1: they're locked. They're out for the bye. They're either they're
Speaker 1: going to be the three or the four. Don't think
Speaker 1: that's the worst place to be. You you might have
Speaker 1: a tough, you know, wild card home game there, but
Speaker 1: who knows, maybe you're going to Philadelphia in the divisional round,
Speaker 1: which does not sound like, you know, the worst thing. No,
Speaker 1: not what we saw last night. Alcon still alive too.
Speaker 1: They need to win against Carolina. But I'm ready for
Speaker 1: the Falcons to go home. Well, yeah, it's down to
Speaker 1: It's been a little bit of a boring. It's been
Speaker 1: pretty rough to watch. It is every time like you think, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is the game that that they need to show up,
Speaker 1: it's like they don't show up. That said, if they
Speaker 1: win on Sunday against Carolina at home, they're in and
Speaker 1: heading on the road. In the playoffs. That comes down
Speaker 1: to Atlanta and Seattle. And I kind of just started
Speaker 1: feeling this late on Christmas Eve. It feels like the
Speaker 1: Falcons are gonna lose out and they're still going to
Speaker 1: get into the player. That's kind of my scenario because
Speaker 1: then all that needs to happen. Now they've already got
Speaker 1: the Lions lost, They're out, they lose, and the Seahawks
Speaker 1: lose to Jimmy Garoppolo. It feels very very possible, very possible.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Garoppolo is not gonna lose obviously, and this Falcon
Speaker 1: I know they turned the switch. They flipped the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: I knew. I just spaced on that place, the Cardinals Garopolo.
Speaker 1: But I can see the Cardinals going into Seattle. That's
Speaker 1: a rivalry game to Arizona has done pretty well and
Speaker 1: Arizona is not playing that bad in Seattle. Ain't that good?
Speaker 1: This Falcon team is not going to flip the switch
Speaker 1: like they did last year. Um, they couldn't flip a
Speaker 1: switch a season. No. Alright, let's check in with another
Speaker 1: NFC South superpowers. The ball picks it up, touch Stoff guys,
Speaker 1: Mick Mixon, Eugene Robinson w BT with the call. Cam
Speaker 1: Newton fumbled, bubbled, and scored on a two yard touchdown
Speaker 1: run with thirty five seconds remaining to lift the Panthers
Speaker 1: to a nineteen win over the Bucks in Charlotte. The
Speaker 1: wind clinches a playoff spot for Carolina, which is now
Speaker 1: went to the playoffs four of the past five seasons. Connie,
Speaker 1: why was this game so close? You know what, Tampa
Speaker 1: was actually the better team. I think for most of
Speaker 1: the game here. They led most of the game, They
Speaker 1: outgained the Panthers, but it was just kind of sloppy
Speaker 1: for them, and this made Panthers fans. They made Panthers
Speaker 1: fans basically wait and sweat it out the entire game
Speaker 1: until you just heard that play Cam Newton. The fact
Speaker 1: that I mean it took till the final minute for
Speaker 1: Cam Newton to save the game, the game winning drive
Speaker 1: there he fumbled the snap and then he was able
Speaker 1: to grab the ball and somehow get through predibly fortunate
Speaker 1: because yeah, that ball, you know, it's an oblong sphere. Guys,
Speaker 1: it could have bounced in any direction, but it just
Speaker 1: stayed right in front of him and nobody was able
Speaker 1: to crash the line and and muck up that area
Speaker 1: and then and then he basically fell into the end zone.
Speaker 1: It was one of the more lucky plays of the
Speaker 1: season considering the stakes. And that's what the game came
Speaker 1: down to, which I was I was surprised, and I
Speaker 1: guess I shouldn't because it's a division game. But Carolina,
Speaker 1: the fact that they looked like this against the Bucks
Speaker 1: for that long on the game, that's concerning a little
Speaker 1: bit here. I'm concerned their season in a nutshell though,
Speaker 1: Like it's ugly and it doesn't really make sense, like
Speaker 1: they're they're saying they're breaking down the game afterwards, chanting
Speaker 1: Jerry Richardson's name, the team owner who is now selling
Speaker 1: the team. That sort of doesn't make But then you
Speaker 1: look up at the end of the day and they're
Speaker 1: eleven and four and Cam Newton's the reason, and maybe
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be pretty. They somehow find a way.
Speaker 1: They still have a chance for a bye. You know,
Speaker 1: the Rams don't have a chance, the Saints don't have
Speaker 1: a chance, but the Panthers still have an outside chance
Speaker 1: at it buy it's crazy. I mean, right now where
Speaker 1: it sits, I'd go into New Orleans and play them
Speaker 1: in the in the wild card round, which is I
Speaker 1: feel like these NFC South teams had played each other
Speaker 1: a hundred and forty five times this season, especially because
Speaker 1: all the games that I think you are wrong. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm wrong, the same as every other division. Yea. Their
Speaker 1: their schedule is so backloaded, and they played the Falcons
Speaker 1: this week. And what's one of the more interesting games there? Oh?
Speaker 1: Look at that playoffs calculator now recasseminated plenty of playoffs
Speaker 1: scenario information before going online. There can I just say
Speaker 1: I called my house a few weeks ago and uh,
Speaker 1: A fax machine answered I And I was like, Dad,
Speaker 1: do you what? Why is there a fax machine on?
Speaker 1: He's like, oh, you need to you need to fact something. No,
Speaker 1: there's a fax machine answering the house phone. What are
Speaker 1: you doing? Get off the phone. You're ruining my life.
Speaker 1: Maybe using the facts Pennsylvania, man, I'm telling you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Let's check in on the team of a t L
Speaker 1: shocking snap swing pass left slide curly on the screen,
Speaker 1: twenty got up and hits a Gurly ten gurly for
Speaker 1: m v P. I liked it. J B Long, m J,
Speaker 1: d oh Boy, K S and Lindsay let's cut that
Speaker 1: for the top ten nominations of the Calls of the Year,
Speaker 1: because whenever you could stump for m v P at
Speaker 1: the end of a eight yard catching run. I had
Speaker 1: fun with that one. I hope you did too. Todd
Speaker 1: Gurley one tens of thousands of Fantasy championships single handedly
Speaker 1: on Saturday Sunday, piling up over two and seventy five
Speaker 1: yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. But it was Jared
Speaker 1: goss fourteen yard touching on past the Cooper Cup in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter that helped the Rams and allowed the
Speaker 1: Ramps to sneak past the Titans twenty seven to twenty three.
Speaker 1: The Rams clinched their first NFC West title since two
Speaker 1: thousand three. The Titans have lost three in a row,
Speaker 1: but still in control of their destiny and the a
Speaker 1: f C playoff chase Mark Todd Gurley seems to be
Speaker 1: getting more explosive every week. This bodes well for l
Speaker 1: A Super Bowl chances. Yeah. I mean, you call him
Speaker 1: running back, but his level of dangerous playmaking ability in
Speaker 1: the passing game, in the screen game is unparalleled. Right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess you look at Alvin Kamara as
Speaker 1: someone else in the playoff picture that can do the
Speaker 1: similar stuff. But this is a team without a lot
Speaker 1: of overt weaknesses, with a player who absolutely is deserving
Speaker 1: of m v P conversation and mentioned in votes, playing
Speaker 1: at the height of his powers at the perfect time.
Speaker 1: I came out this game though the Rams. To me,
Speaker 1: I think they have a chance to potentially go into
Speaker 1: the playoffs and MO teams down and wind up in
Speaker 1: the super Bowl. I mean, it wouldn't. I don't think
Speaker 1: that should be surprised a surprising scenario if they if
Speaker 1: they accomplished that. What concerns me in this game a
Speaker 1: little bit, and it's it's a one week thing, was
Speaker 1: that a very vanilla Titans team did an adequate job
Speaker 1: passing the ball against them and made a few too
Speaker 1: many players downfield from an air attack. That shouldn't scare anyone.
Speaker 1: The second thing for me is the kicking situation. Damn
Speaker 1: thicking Yeah, I mean Sam thinking still, they tried out
Speaker 1: eighteen kickers who don't have a job, and this is
Speaker 1: the guy they picked. I mean, I understanding he was
Speaker 1: working like in a Connecticut brokerage six days earlier. At ever, right,
Speaker 1: you have to pass a series of like mathematical test
Speaker 1: that I don't know, Mail, I'm sure, I say I'm
Speaker 1: concerned because they had a chance. They were at the
Speaker 1: Titans thirty two yard line early in the game and
Speaker 1: had to dial up a Johnny Hecker fake punt. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of confidence in Sam Ficken to
Speaker 1: start with. Then he started missing kicks. These games are
Speaker 1: gonna come down to things like this, and I have
Speaker 1: to wonder if they have to go try someone else
Speaker 1: immediately at this position. This was a hazardous choice. We
Speaker 1: hadn't kicked in four years. He hadn't kicked in a
Speaker 1: game since two thousand fourteen. That is a kind of odd.
Speaker 1: That's an odd choice for them. Their special teams was
Speaker 1: so good too, before Greg's are A line got hurt.
Speaker 1: And well, this is also why you we all jumped
Speaker 1: to Berry Fickle and the Rams for their decision maker.
Speaker 1: But we all picking, but we all I don't need
Speaker 1: to learn his name is not gonna be the NFL
Speaker 1: much longer. But um, John Fossil is also being heralded
Speaker 1: as one of the best special teams coaches in the league.
Speaker 1: I'm sure he knows what he's doing. He saw something
Speaker 1: in the fickle and it didn't work out. Maybe but
Speaker 1: they should somebody else in there, maybe he irons out
Speaker 1: the issue. Look, I think the Titans this was a
Speaker 1: good recipe for them to play their best game. They're
Speaker 1: at home, they desperately need to win, and they came out.
Speaker 1: But for the third straight week, you really see the
Speaker 1: difference between Mike Malarkey and the opposing coach. A lot
Speaker 1: of those Todd Gurley receiving touchdowns this year have been
Speaker 1: wide open, Like when they're in the red zone. They
Speaker 1: dial up great plays where Goff has defined easy throws.
Speaker 1: His game winning touchdown wasn't easy. That was a great
Speaker 1: play by Jared Goff. But then you look at Tennessee
Speaker 1: when they were in the red zone, they spend fifteen
Speaker 1: plays inside the five yard left and they can't score
Speaker 1: and they never get their guys wide open in space.
Speaker 1: It's very rare you see Mariota throwing to an open receiver.
Speaker 1: And Malarkey's one of those guys that I think if
Speaker 1: they don't win this game, I think we're going to
Speaker 1: see a new head coach in Tennessee. So it's it's
Speaker 1: such a big game on it's weeks in a row
Speaker 1: and it happened against the Niners. Had happened this week
Speaker 1: where with two inside the two minute warning, you have
Speaker 1: Marcus Mariotta, a quarterback that we gushed over last season
Speaker 1: in previous years for good reason. Not they're not getting
Speaker 1: it done. Their defense isn't getting done, their offenses and
Speaker 1: they can't. They have chances to win these games and
Speaker 1: close the season out strong, no capability to do it.
Speaker 1: Was nice that we saw finally Corey Davis have that
Speaker 1: big game that we were expecting, I mean big catches. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so he went six and I had been waiting for
Speaker 1: it all season. There you have it, and it's Tennessee's
Speaker 1: in with a win next week. So they that they
Speaker 1: with all this struggle and they could even get in
Speaker 1: with a loss a little bit of luck. Don't need
Speaker 1: them in wild card weekend. Don't want them, don't I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get them. I don't think we're gonna get him.
Speaker 1: One last note, let's you know it's a Tuesday show,
Speaker 1: so little shoulders of Greatness presented by Head and Shoulders. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it will a little shout out to Todd Gurley of
Speaker 1: course for magnificent game. Greg. I will cue you up
Speaker 1: on this you have been very staunch in your support
Speaker 1: of Tom Brady to win his third m v P.
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley now has just the type of numbers that
Speaker 1: you cannot ignore in this type of race. Do you
Speaker 1: think Gurley's got a shot. Oh, He's definitely got a shot,
Speaker 1: because I think I think voters and people in general
Speaker 1: are looking for any reason not to vote for Brady,
Speaker 1: and Brady's given Well, that's true. I mean, we've spent
Speaker 1: most of the opinion, We've spent most of the other
Speaker 1: reasons people to vote for other people, And Gurley is
Speaker 1: a great person to vote for. I mean, you saw
Speaker 1: over the last month how important he's been. People remember
Speaker 1: the last month more than anything. Brady's I think, played
Speaker 1: two of his worst three games of the season over
Speaker 1: the last three weeks. I would definitely vote for Tom
Speaker 1: Brady because I think that the gap between his value
Speaker 1: saying girlies not just that their positions, but in terms
Speaker 1: of how they played over the first ten weeks of
Speaker 1: the season would be significantly ahead for Brady, where I'd
Speaker 1: give him the vote, but I wouldn't kill people for vote.
Speaker 1: But that does come down to position too, because the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks always have a bigger impact than a running wouldn't
Speaker 1: say Todd Gurley necessary. I think he was their most
Speaker 1: valuable player. I don't think it was the most valuable
Speaker 1: running back in the league. For the first nine or
Speaker 1: ten weeks, he was one of he was up there,
Speaker 1: but my top guy. Congratulations on those shoulders of greatness,
Speaker 1: Todd Gurley, which of course is presented by head and shoulders.
Speaker 1: Speaking of Tom Brady, Brady screens have left for Lewis
Speaker 1: to get. I'm popped up to the right past the touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Patriots start the buses, boys, This one's over, Bob Soci
Speaker 1: and the Zolac w b Z with the call there
Speaker 1: at the Bills buses. Okay, somebody's getting their buses started.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady passed for two touchdowns and the Patriots remain
Speaker 1: in line to claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Speaker 1: In the a f C a thirty seven to sixteen
Speaker 1: win over the Bills on Sunday. Yes, the Pats are
Speaker 1: went away from the number one seed and we'll skip
Speaker 1: the wild card round for the eight straight Here is
Speaker 1: that correct? I think it's nine and a little bit
Speaker 1: of a little bit of news out of New England,
Speaker 1: by the way, What's Up. None other than James Harrison
Speaker 1: is visiting Fox Poro today, according to reports. I like
Speaker 1: that um greg. The final score here though, didn't quite
Speaker 1: reflect the tenor of this game, did it. No, It
Speaker 1: was a really well played game by the Bills that
Speaker 1: was back and forth through three quarters. These two teams
Speaker 1: looked about as even as possible, which could raise some
Speaker 1: red flags. You know, the thing I'd be most worried
Speaker 1: about is Tom Brady hasn't been as sharp over the
Speaker 1: last few weeks, certainly in this game. That said, you know,
Speaker 1: football comes down like the fourth quarter matters. They closed
Speaker 1: so well. They know they've been through these games. I
Speaker 1: think there's a part of Brady and Belichick that probably
Speaker 1: don't mind that they're getting put in these different situations
Speaker 1: that they have to answer that he throws a pick
Speaker 1: six and you know what they do, They respond with
Speaker 1: a touchdown the next drive that they close out a
Speaker 1: game that's not going well. So overall, getting the one
Speaker 1: seed is massive for them because I think they need
Speaker 1: all the helping get You like the idea of them
Speaker 1: being tested versus I agree with a little bit. They're
Speaker 1: not closing this season looking better than they did during
Speaker 1: the middle of the season, which is a hallmark of
Speaker 1: their championship teams, which is why one reason why I
Speaker 1: don't think they're necessarily gonna win it. I don't think
Speaker 1: they look better than Pittsburgh right now. I mean, are
Speaker 1: we gonna talk about it? The Calvin Benjamin situations? What
Speaker 1: what was that that that had I don't understand how
Speaker 1: that was overturned? What happened to just needing clear and
Speaker 1: obvious evidence, though it is now it's pretty clear under
Speaker 1: this new and what Connie of course is referring to
Speaker 1: is late in the second quarter, the Bills hanging around
Speaker 1: own In in New England, with their playoff hopes potentially
Speaker 1: on the line, UH and Tyrod Taylor hits Kelvin Benjamin
Speaker 1: in the back of the end zone on a very
Speaker 1: nice pass. He gets both feet down and it looks
Speaker 1: like he gets the ball. They rule it a touchdown
Speaker 1: on the field. They send it to Old River Ron
Speaker 1: in New York, and he overturns it. And what's become clear,
Speaker 1: and I think why everyone's more frustrated than usual even
Speaker 1: with the catch roll, is that under this new leadership UH,
Speaker 1: in the postno Blandino era, it appears that they've changed
Speaker 1: the rules where it used to be send it to
Speaker 1: UH for review. Well, it used to be the the
Speaker 1: on the field referee had they send it to New York.
Speaker 1: But what what I mean specifically is it used to
Speaker 1: be Okay, we're gonna go with the call in the
Speaker 1: field unless they blew it. And if we see that
Speaker 1: it's clear they blew it, then we'll change it. But
Speaker 1: if it's kind of borderline, we'll keep the call. And
Speaker 1: everybody was like, Okay, that makes sense. But what's happening
Speaker 1: now is they're sending it to New York and the
Speaker 1: plays being reofficiated entirely, and that's why you see something
Speaker 1: like this. This should have never happened. This was a
Speaker 1: catch and it was a huge play in the game
Speaker 1: potentially because who knows what happens going to halftime winning,
Speaker 1: maybe the game turns out differently. Yeah, they went, They
Speaker 1: ended up even getting a lead in the third quarter.
Speaker 1: It could have been a different game. And I think
Speaker 1: it was especially frustrating for everyone except Patriots because the
Speaker 1: Bills dropped a touchdown that looked exactly like the Jesse
Speaker 1: James play the play before this, So it was just
Speaker 1: the feeling that the Patriots are getting every break possible,
Speaker 1: and it certainly that's the case. I mean, this comes
Speaker 1: seven days after the abomination of the catch rule. Jesse James.
Speaker 1: It's just amazing. By the way, Bill's owner Terry Bagoula
Speaker 1: was on the Buffalo Sabers team produced radio program Tuesday.
Speaker 1: He owns the Sabers as well. It's an NHL team, Mark,
Speaker 1: I am well aware, well, because there was a period
Speaker 1: where Rex Ryan, you know, his painting his truck and
Speaker 1: were roaming around with Sabers gern you know. Anyway, this
Speaker 1: is what Pagoula had to say. Obviously not happy. Um,
Speaker 1: they obviously weren't looking at the same television the rest
Speaker 1: of the country is looking at were they. You know what,
Speaker 1: You could probably find somebody in the country that disagrees
Speaker 1: with that catch and I know one would one and
Speaker 1: I know one guy would be Al Riveran sitting in
Speaker 1: New York City. But everyone I talked to and they're
Speaker 1: not Bills fans, and they're not necessarily antipatriots. They're all
Speaker 1: baffled by the call, which just wasn't consistent with what
Speaker 1: replay should be added. I don't know what's going on,
Speaker 1: but we have to fix it. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that as the owner of the Bills. I'm saying that
Speaker 1: as a football fan, we can't have stuff like this
Speaker 1: happening in our league. Preach. It's well said any anyone
Speaker 1: inside the a f C. East if you had any
Speaker 1: hopes or notions that this season might be a little
Speaker 1: bit different than the past twenty you know, if you're Buffalo,
Speaker 1: it's exactly the script to play that exactly the same.
Speaker 1: In the end of that game from that catch on,
Speaker 1: played out like every other Bills Patriots game. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: the Bills took a lead, like they were pretty competitive
Speaker 1: through midway through the third quarter. Yeah, and but Gronk
Speaker 1: took over. Gronk is at his absolute peak. He trashed
Speaker 1: a pro bowler and Mike Hide in that game and
Speaker 1: the eight straight buys. We could go back four years
Speaker 1: and listen to the podcast we did in two thousand
Speaker 1: and twelve and I went on I think I went
Speaker 1: on a big soliloquy how the fourth or fifth straight
Speaker 1: by which tied the all time record, was the greatest
Speaker 1: achievement in like modern football history, that will never be
Speaker 1: Time's been doubled because because I think being one of
Speaker 1: the four top teams in the entire NFL, the entire
Speaker 1: NFC playoffs isn't even gonna make it back this year
Speaker 1: to the playoffs being one of the bye team two
Speaker 1: or three straight years. You know, at that point, four
Speaker 1: or five Street years is so incredible. And here we
Speaker 1: are four years later and the streaks still going, and
Speaker 1: one quick difference between them and the Steelers, you could
Speaker 1: say all the Steelers are gonna knock New England out potentially,
Speaker 1: is that if you're in New England every week, it's
Speaker 1: a different player that you're using to upend the opponent.
Speaker 1: Dion Lewis had a career game and three weeks ago
Speaker 1: was Rex Burkehead and the Steelers. They lose one or
Speaker 1: two main characters and then he's a top ten back
Speaker 1: right now in the league, can play. Speaking of Gronk,
Speaker 1: he has asked about this incredible run by New England
Speaker 1: over the past eight years, and here's what he had
Speaker 1: to say. Rob this is the eighth straight year that
Speaker 1: disorganization has won twelve and more games. In your feeling,
Speaker 1: what does it say about the consistency of this organization
Speaker 1: to be able to accomplish something like that. It's unbelievable. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you think about it, I just I got here
Speaker 1: eight years ago. Stay too hard. Maybe that's the reason
Speaker 1: you're watching this on video, and that would be wrong.
Speaker 1: He's not wrong. He's not wrong. I'll check by the
Speaker 1: one look on his face. He'll be cleaning up trash
Speaker 1: on the side of the mass Pike for like a
Speaker 1: week in the off season for making a joke like
Speaker 1: that during the Prescott Bill doesn't like that. That's where
Speaker 1: the two ball the two you know, Patriots ball boys
Speaker 1: are buried underneath the master. So let's check in, uh
Speaker 1: with um not quite the throne of ease. The New
Speaker 1: York Jets Rivers in the shotgun, takes the snap looking
Speaker 1: to the right, throwing middle of the end zone, caught touchdown.
Speaker 1: Rivers the gates. I don't need to tell you who
Speaker 1: that is. Matt money Smith with the call. I talked
Speaker 1: to Money by the way um in the studio last week.
Speaker 1: We were just catching up and I asked him about
Speaker 1: his call dangerous humble brag by you, which, well, no,
Speaker 1: definitely I was thinking it too. Yeah, but his call,
Speaker 1: of course, his touchdown call is right knock um and uh,
Speaker 1: he doesn't use it for every touchdown. I found that interesting.
Speaker 1: He he picks his spots, would knock on wood. That's
Speaker 1: he's a pro knock anyway Philip Rivers. So he didn't
Speaker 1: use it. There's what I'm saying. So if you're, oh,
Speaker 1: where I was knock on wood? Did you cut it
Speaker 1: too soon? No? There knock Philip Rivers through a touchdown
Speaker 1: past Antonio Gates. Melvin Gordon ran for a score. The
Speaker 1: Chargers keep their playoff hopes alive a fourteen to seven
Speaker 1: win over the Jets on Sunday in the meadow Lands.
Speaker 1: Here is the path. I'm letta jump in for you, Greg,
Speaker 1: Give you a little blow, Give the modum a blow. Please?
Speaker 1: What now we're given the modum a blow, Take it off,
Speaker 1: Get off the bone, dad, Yeah, exactly. Um. Anyway, the
Speaker 1: Chargers get in, they gotta win against the Raiders, and
Speaker 1: then they need wins by the Jaguar Jaguars over Tennessee
Speaker 1: and then the Ravens over the Bengals. So it's a
Speaker 1: hat trick, but not exactly. Miracles are needed in any
Speaker 1: of those cases. So the Chargers have a very clear path.
Speaker 1: And my my thought about this game specifically is, yes,
Speaker 1: all those things need to happen. But the Charges really
Speaker 1: need to focus on themselves because I thought for the
Speaker 1: second straight week, they delivered a flat performance. Um. I
Speaker 1: didn't see any of the kind of the magic that
Speaker 1: we had seen for about two months prior to that
Speaker 1: Chiefs game. And it makes you wonder if the Chargers
Speaker 1: have peaked already of the season and there if they'll
Speaker 1: be able to take care of business next week. UM,
Speaker 1: I don't know, we'll see. So that was my thought
Speaker 1: in this game, that they didn't really against the Jets
Speaker 1: team that is a mediocre team in general or worse.
Speaker 1: I think they've lost eight of nine now by the way,
Speaker 1: there five and ten and playing without Moe Wilkerson and
Speaker 1: Josh McCown and Bryce Petty is one of the very
Speaker 1: worst quarterbacks in the league right now. Um, this should
Speaker 1: have been an easy win for a team l a
Speaker 1: team that was desperate for a victory, and yet the
Speaker 1: Jets are knocking on the door in the final couple
Speaker 1: of minutes of the game with a chance to tie
Speaker 1: the game. Uh, Billy Powell ran all over the Charges
Speaker 1: run defense, which is suspect. And if the Jets had
Speaker 1: Josh McCown or a better quarterback. They probably win this
Speaker 1: game because there were throws left all over the field
Speaker 1: by Petty who just wasn't competitive. So the Chargers got
Speaker 1: away with one. I thought, uh, and need to be
Speaker 1: better uh in week seventeen and if they get there
Speaker 1: beyond You've had a lot of injuries and Hunter Henry
Speaker 1: I think, really changes their offense. That said, I think
Speaker 1: we need to be careful about worrying too much about
Speaker 1: style points in the this late season. It is a
Speaker 1: long season, there's a lot of injuries, you're on the road,
Speaker 1: it's cold, like I heard a lot of criticism, Like
Speaker 1: heard some criticism of the Vikings offense, like it's ten degrees,
Speaker 1: you know in Philadelphia last night. They're that's that's part
Speaker 1: of the reason at least that some of these games
Speaker 1: are ugly. And if nothing else, the Chargers got the win.
Speaker 1: I'll be more worried if they don't speak against the
Speaker 1: Raiders in a must win game at home. I get
Speaker 1: your theory, but it also sounds like a little bit
Speaker 1: of an excuse for a team that yesterday and they
Speaker 1: blew out their opponent. That I think that a good
Speaker 1: team should just take care of business. The Chargers, especially
Speaker 1: to coming off of the game that they played against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs where the offense and Philip Rivers they just
Speaker 1: didn't look the same at all. And then you have
Speaker 1: this performance which also didn't inspire any confidence at least
Speaker 1: in me. But I think you know Hunter Henry, you
Speaker 1: mentioned him, he goes down. How about end ONEO Gates,
Speaker 1: He's still kind of got it. Yeah, he can't move anymore,
Speaker 1: he can't really move, but he he's got that the
Speaker 1: old man skills. And uh, Jamal Adams was a very
Speaker 1: good young safety. Struggled on a couple of plays, including
Speaker 1: he gave but he was in coverage on the touchdown,
Speaker 1: Gates going one and a touch I don't think it's
Speaker 1: something to expect every week at this point, but the
Speaker 1: fact that this happens right after Hunter Hunter Henry goes down,
Speaker 1: maybe the old guy's got one last running. And it
Speaker 1: would be kind of fun if Antonio Gates, who has
Speaker 1: never sniffed the Super Bowl, got in the playoffs and
Speaker 1: was making big plays with his quarterback one more time.
Speaker 1: It's a big part of their offense. But if we
Speaker 1: want to say, oh, you know, the Chargers aren't consistent,
Speaker 1: consistent enough to get into the playoffs. We need something better.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get Buffalo or Tennessee and I and and
Speaker 1: all these teams go through these rough patches. I would
Speaker 1: rather take my shot. And then with the Los Angeles
Speaker 1: and they have a few routes in like they can
Speaker 1: get in if the Bills and Titans lose two, so
Speaker 1: they they if they get their win over the Raiders.
Speaker 1: I like the Chargers chances. It's better than fifty fifty
Speaker 1: to get into the playoffs. All right, let's move snap back.
Speaker 1: Alex Smith fires for Kelsey. He pulls it out and
Speaker 1: touched down. Kansas City. Terrific throw, terrific route, terrific catch,
Speaker 1: Kelsey and traffic just firm the Pro Bowls safety Rashad
Speaker 1: Jones and the Chiefs the little eggnog full of sweet
Speaker 1: nectar in the end zone. Yes, got it, got it,
Speaker 1: got it. Inch Halt is not only that he had
Speaker 1: that little flare at the end. That was a very descriptive.
Speaker 1: I'm good at my job. Touchdown, we have like a
Speaker 1: field of sixty Mitch Halt is k c f X
Speaker 1: with the call, Alex Smith through for three yards and
Speaker 1: a touch cream Hunt ran fore and score. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: beat up on the Dolphins on Sunday. Guess what, guys,
Speaker 1: they won back. They won the AFC title a C
Speaker 1: West title. With this win, this is the first time
Speaker 1: in their fifty eight year history they've won back to
Speaker 1: back titles, which really surprised me because there have been
Speaker 1: some runs of good Chiefs teams, specifically the Marti era
Speaker 1: in the nineties. Is that why Andy Reid dressed up
Speaker 1: as Santa Andy Reids celebrated by dressing up like Santa.
Speaker 1: Gotta love Andy Reid, who wherever he goes, he wins.
Speaker 1: And um, this is interesting. When we were talking about
Speaker 1: on our Pickum show do we handed out gifts? I
Speaker 1: jokingly said that that the Chiefs, the gift I was
Speaker 1: giving was the neuralizer for men in Black to completely
Speaker 1: wipe out the middle of their season. And I'm not
Speaker 1: saying that happened. I'm not saying it didn't happen. But
Speaker 1: they are now playing like that middle portion of the
Speaker 1: season never happened. Five and oh, then they lost six
Speaker 1: of seven. Now they've won three straight and they won
Speaker 1: each of those games by double digits, and their defense
Speaker 1: is playing well and the offense is making plays downfield
Speaker 1: again once again, Greg out of nowhere. The Chiefs look
Speaker 1: like a team that could be dangerous in January. Four
Speaker 1: times in five years, Reads made it to the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They like you said, you about score the opponent to
Speaker 1: forty one, And so if they had done that after,
Speaker 1: you know, if that had just been a continuation of
Speaker 1: the beginning to see and we'll be thinking of them
Speaker 1: as a real contender ultimately. Like the a f C
Speaker 1: is pretty similar to last year, where the Steelers, Patriots,
Speaker 1: and Chiefs are the three teams I take the most serious,
Speaker 1: and I think the Chiefs have a chance. I give
Speaker 1: Andy Read a chance in a one game playoff to
Speaker 1: come up. I know it hasn't happened for him in
Speaker 1: the past, but I still think he's a tough coach
Speaker 1: to prepare for. Yeah, I think too. Ever, since they
Speaker 1: switched the play calling to Matt Nagy, it's made such
Speaker 1: a difference. That's when everything sort of turned around, especially
Speaker 1: for the offense. But now Marcus Peters to the in
Speaker 1: these two games since he was suspended, I mean, he
Speaker 1: has been playing out of his mind. He's forcing turn
Speaker 1: trying to fire pour and he Read a few weeks
Speaker 1: ago come that was a complicated relationship, get out of here.
Speaker 1: But Peter, yeah, you're right. He had two interceptions and
Speaker 1: a forced fumble gets the Chargers last week, recovered the fumble,
Speaker 1: forced another on Sunday. Five turnovers in two weeks after
Speaker 1: the deer of his season and really the chief season
Speaker 1: when he picked up the flag like a baby through
Speaker 1: it in the crowd, walked to the locker room at
Speaker 1: the metal ends, came back out with his shoes on,
Speaker 1: and then they lose to the Jets like that was
Speaker 1: the low point for the Chiefs, and now they've come
Speaker 1: all the way back. Uh And by the way, Greg,
Speaker 1: this thank you. This is interesting. They are locked into
Speaker 1: the fourth seed, which and they got the Denver Broncos
Speaker 1: next week. They can basically give all their key guys
Speaker 1: another by league going into wild card weekend and double
Speaker 1: edged sword there because you give them the rest and
Speaker 1: that's the most important thing. But maybe lose a little momentum,
Speaker 1: that's a negative thing, but you'll take the rest. I
Speaker 1: wouldn't find it find the Chiefs. I mean, outside of injury.
Speaker 1: They haven't earned to me the concept of resting in
Speaker 1: week seventeen because of what happened to them in the
Speaker 1: middle of the year go in wo Yeah, it does
Speaker 1: it year by year, depending on how he thinks his
Speaker 1: team is looking. For instance, if they had clinched everything
Speaker 1: this year, I don't think there's any chance they would
Speaker 1: rest anyone in week seventeen because I don't think he
Speaker 1: thinks they look good enough. And that The one weird
Speaker 1: thing is is Patrick Mahomes going to start the game. Well,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about that. I think the ideal scenario is
Speaker 1: you play so great against the Broncos that you start
Speaker 1: sitting guys early in the second half because three. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the best scenario. And I think Reid's history is
Speaker 1: that he does rest players. So we'll see how how
Speaker 1: it plays. One last staff before we get and I
Speaker 1: think we had to say good by the colleague. I
Speaker 1: know I was going to hit the alarm. I now,
Speaker 1: um just as just a fun statin involving the Dolphins
Speaker 1: um Landry Jarvis Landry went five for fifty one. He
Speaker 1: now has an NFL leading one hundred and three catches
Speaker 1: this season. His stat line one oh three for eight
Speaker 1: ninety five and eight touchdowns. This bro can potentially drop
Speaker 1: a one ten spot for catches as a wide receiver
Speaker 1: and not eclipse. A thousand yards just seems a little weird. Mean,
Speaker 1: while Todd Gurley is averaging like twelve yards per catch
Speaker 1: more than I talked to a handsome Hank who's uh,
Speaker 1: You're talking to lots of people all over the instant
Speaker 1: Master client. I said, Jarvis Lander, this is a weird
Speaker 1: stat line. I don't like it. Is this guy actually
Speaker 1: being used properly? Can it? Would it be better in
Speaker 1: a different role? And he seemed to be, you know,
Speaker 1: he's a pure slot receiver, but one oh three for
Speaker 1: eight nine. Come on, come on, let me get some
Speaker 1: yardage before you go. Colleen. We have a great listener,
Speaker 1: Mark lem Cooler, who sent us, and one of them was,
Speaker 1: if you can watching the video show Popcorn mixed with
Speaker 1: chocolate popcorn on it sounds like something that this is
Speaker 1: exactly what I had last week that made me sick,
Speaker 1: and now I'm gonna probably just do it all over again.
Speaker 1: Connie's Tuesday Night is locked down. It is it is im.
Speaker 1: I'm coming off of a night where I also had
Speaker 1: lots of sweets, so this is great. I woke up
Speaker 1: with the shakes a little bit and it was not
Speaker 1: from alcohol. It was from sugar. I'm just saying artic
Speaker 1: protest too much. I gotta go that's sound protest too
Speaker 1: But no one asking. But she's telling us alcohol like
Speaker 1: I went hungover at all? How do you guys talking
Speaker 1: of us concerned originally about that? Didn't bring it up
Speaker 1: except for a person A wine bottle falls out, those
Speaker 1: little mini wine bottles. Bottle of jack falls out of
Speaker 1: her pocket. Isn't whoa whiskey? Uh? Come back in the
Speaker 1: off season for the Intervention podcast. The only female I
Speaker 1: know that would categorize as a whino. I don't know
Speaker 1: a lot of female winos. I mean you see them
Speaker 1: around personally. Do you know any moms? Sure, mom's you know.
Speaker 1: I don't talk to mom. I'm not really even talking
Speaker 1: to moms. You should, so you gotta reconnect with your wife.
Speaker 1: It's very My wife is not a whino. Intervention is
Speaker 1: an underrated show. There is I have not depressing. There
Speaker 1: is a wine bottle brand that actually got from my
Speaker 1: mom wants. It's a joke called Mommy's Little Helper, which
Speaker 1: is funny. It's a weird culture that we live in.
Speaker 1: Let's move on to a sad NFC North game takes
Speaker 1: a throw to the left now he whips it out
Speaker 1: to the right, intercepted by Harrison Smith at the fort
Speaker 1: yard line. Two pits tonight for Harrison Smith, who has
Speaker 1: a five season and the Vikings turnover green Bay once again.
Speaker 1: I don't even know if I can go on with
Speaker 1: the show after listening to that. Anyway, the Minnesota Vikings
Speaker 1: shut out UH, their opponent for the first time in
Speaker 1: over twenty years. How about that UH beating up on
Speaker 1: the green Bay Packers without Aaron Rodgers sixteen to zip
Speaker 1: on Saturday night in lambeau Field. The Vikings still in
Speaker 1: the mix to get UH um the well, they're still
Speaker 1: in the mix for a bye. Right, they have a bye.
Speaker 1: They need to clinch the bye. They are in great position.
Speaker 1: All they need is a win or even I lost
Speaker 1: by the Panthers to officially clinch it. Mark, there were
Speaker 1: a lot better things to do on Saturday night before
Speaker 1: Christmas than watch this version of the Packers against the
Speaker 1: Purple people eaters of today. This was a sleepy affair,
Speaker 1: I mean, greg We mentioned that the Vikings offense didn't
Speaker 1: exactly rain down vengeance on Green Bay, but they did
Speaker 1: what they needed to do, and Harrison Smith snubbed by
Speaker 1: the Pro Bowl voters. I don't know what else could
Speaker 1: go wrong with that scenario, but this, to me is
Speaker 1: another example. And look to the Vikings, I think we
Speaker 1: trust deeply. It starts with their defense, it extends to
Speaker 1: their offense. There isn't a part of the Vikings roster
Speaker 1: or team that you could point to and say some
Speaker 1: sort of Achilles heel or a weakness that has this concerned.
Speaker 1: It's the exact opposite the team building situation in Green Bay.
Speaker 1: You talk about them not shutting them out in twenty
Speaker 1: years because you had through that entire time. Obviously, Brett
Speaker 1: Farve to Aaron Rodgers, it is embarrassing to watch what
Speaker 1: happens to this Green Bay team the minute you take
Speaker 1: one player off the field. They are simply not a
Speaker 1: good football team. Outside of any player, though it's one
Speaker 1: of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. I don't think
Speaker 1: they'd be a good team this year with Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: and there's no way to ever find out. I question
Speaker 1: if they would make the I started off down because
Speaker 1: they were a successful team with Aaron Rodgers in the lineup, right,
Speaker 1: But they if you remember those games, it was like
Speaker 1: logging against Mike Glennon and the Bears. It was different games.
Speaker 1: It was games like that where Aaron Rodgers Brilliants carried
Speaker 1: them and he could have carried them far like he
Speaker 1: does every year. But ultimately, I mean, when you go
Speaker 1: up against balanced teams, I don't think the Packers, because
Speaker 1: of what you're saying, would have had enough. I just
Speaker 1: wonder if there's a lot of changes coming on that
Speaker 1: roster in the off season. But back to Minnesota, I mean,
Speaker 1: I have to use Jordy Nelson a lot of gains.
Speaker 1: All those guys could go. I love watching the Vikings play,
Speaker 1: and this wasn't the most exciting version of the team,
Speaker 1: but I really feel like they could knock anyone off
Speaker 1: in the NFC. I cannot wait. I love to see
Speaker 1: them play the Rams. That would be a fascinating NFC
Speaker 1: title game. One of the more depressing games I've watched
Speaker 1: this season, just because the hopelessness of it all. Minnesota
Speaker 1: was just such a superior team, and and and Huntley
Speaker 1: is just you know, he's He's a tough watch, let's
Speaker 1: face it. And there are a better team than the
Speaker 1: than Green Bay. With Aaron Rodgers, though, I think it
Speaker 1: really it would have been a great game, because what
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers does when he's healthy is he shocks you
Speaker 1: and he does things and carries that team. We saw
Speaker 1: it last year and every other year has been healthy
Speaker 1: just about. But we're not going to see it, and
Speaker 1: we're stuck with that version of the package, which was
Speaker 1: a tough watch. Let's face it, it absolutely was. But
Speaker 1: it shouldn't take away any of the joy of the
Speaker 1: Vikings fans on Christmas Eve eve to take over lambeau
Speaker 1: Field and start doing your skull chance late in the night.
Speaker 1: And you shouldn't feel bad at all that Brent Hanley's
Speaker 1: that quarterback because you know what. You went in there,
Speaker 1: you know, and had Joe Webb in a playoff film,
Speaker 1: you had Christian Ponder. Enjoy this moment. They're gonna end
Speaker 1: up with the most wins they've had her the second
Speaker 1: most in fifty seven years. So like, savor this and
Speaker 1: not got a chance to host a Super Bowl. Enjoy
Speaker 1: The think about this Vikings team is flukey. I mean
Speaker 1: you always point to certain teams to get these thirteen
Speaker 1: and three or twelve and four records to say come on,
Speaker 1: but not with this Viking team. They are legit chance
Speaker 1: to have play the Super Bowl in their home stadium,
Speaker 1: Wich would be incredible. The Vikings are in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways a cursed franchise. They've had a lot of
Speaker 1: heartache over the decades. Things have really broken well for
Speaker 1: them this year. Well, the Arson Wentz injury, Aaron Rodgers disappearing,
Speaker 1: and they of course lost Sam Bradford. But then they
Speaker 1: they had these guys waiting in the wings case Keenan
Speaker 1: wrighting in the wings. This is all lining up in
Speaker 1: a really positive, uh inspiring way for a Minnesota Vikings fan.
Speaker 1: But and one of my closest friends back in New
Speaker 1: York is randomly a vikingspan. I don't know how it happened,
Speaker 1: but Greg, you know who you are. Greg with one um,
Speaker 1: something bad happens to the Vikings, and I'm worried that
Speaker 1: the fans are with it all in front of them.
Speaker 1: But that's for another time. That's where January. I hope
Speaker 1: that this team does take care of business because I
Speaker 1: think they're good enough to go to the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But they are the Vikings well in their corner. Eagles
Speaker 1: fans would say the same about their team. Rams fans
Speaker 1: have no idea what's happening, right now. So it's like
Speaker 1: the Saints fans, I mean, everyone's sort of waiting for
Speaker 1: the other shoe to drop. The Eagles fans had the
Speaker 1: same bad baggage, UH, and they got burned and they
Speaker 1: lost their quarterback. Will get to them in a little bit,
Speaker 1: Rams And you're right, there's a little bit of an
Speaker 1: unknown entity to them, which is a good thing. Let's
Speaker 1: move on. In comes Jack Elligam, hold your breath, Bottle
Speaker 1: Spotting kicks away. It's got the distance. Now. Maybe the
Speaker 1: call from the Vikings Green Bay game could learn a
Speaker 1: little bit of a lesson in terms of enthusiasm. Right there,
Speaker 1: Merril reason Mike quick w I p with the call.
Speaker 1: Jake Elliott a tone for an earlier miss With a
Speaker 1: forty eight yard UH field goal right down the middle
Speaker 1: of twenty two seconds to play. The Eagles tacked on
Speaker 1: another one of those silly lateral touchdowns. I think the
Speaker 1: people in the desert might have enjoyed that, uh, and
Speaker 1: they clinched the number one seed UH for the NFC Playoffs.
Speaker 1: A sloppy nineteen to ten win for the Eagles over
Speaker 1: the Raiders on Christmas night, h and Mark the Eagles.
Speaker 1: They found a way against an inferior opponent, but one
Speaker 1: can imagine Eagles fans aren't wildly overconfident as we get
Speaker 1: closer to the playoffs. Right now, I found this game
Speaker 1: far from a delight to witness. Uh late on Christmas night.
Speaker 1: I was not what I needed in my life. But
Speaker 1: I will say this, wife and kids weren't plugged into
Speaker 1: this one. I don't think I earned any points by
Speaker 1: you know, locking myself away to watch this on the
Speaker 1: couch for three. There are other opinions, probably inside my household,
Speaker 1: but I will say this. Can I always do like
Speaker 1: the game pass next morning route saves time? These days
Speaker 1: start earlier. I don't know about that. Whatever you sat
Speaker 1: through it if you're an Eagles fan, Christmas is what Mark? Yeah?
Speaker 1: They basically I come out of this really concerned about
Speaker 1: because you know, last week's very promising showing on offense
Speaker 1: and and in promising game by Nick Foles came against
Speaker 1: the Giants defense, which is you know, what do you
Speaker 1: judge coming out of that. I don't know what to
Speaker 1: take from this, to be honest, if I'm the Eagles
Speaker 1: other than a major concerns very nervous. If I'm an
Speaker 1: Eagles fan that if this is closer to the version
Speaker 1: of reality now post Carson wentz that I'm going to
Speaker 1: host the playoff game in the second week of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and we're going to find our selves down, you know,
Speaker 1: fourteen to six late in the third quarter, and we
Speaker 1: can't move the ball and Nick Foles cannot escape pressure
Speaker 1: and he can't make a throw because he doesn't have
Speaker 1: a big arm, and I'm very nervous. Problems the accuracy
Speaker 1: of the it is. It is a real concern that
Speaker 1: you're going to get an instant replay against us, against
Speaker 1: a good team in the place. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: they're a team that could play from behind very well,
Speaker 1: and that's what you're gonna get. No, they the one thing,
Speaker 1: and I would be really concerned because Gruden pointed out
Speaker 1: falls very streaky and this guy's got the NFL record
Speaker 1: for touchdowns in a game. Uh, he looked great a
Speaker 1: week ago. When things start going bad, they really start
Speaker 1: going bad when he starts getting pressure in the pocket.
Speaker 1: He was just so flustered, making poor decisions of when
Speaker 1: to run, when to throw, Like he had a first
Speaker 1: down just sitting in front of him late in the game,
Speaker 1: and he threw the ball out of bounds, which was
Speaker 1: just like a mental sort of midget moment. At least
Speaker 1: the defense. At least the defense bounced back from a
Speaker 1: few add weeks and won this game for them in
Speaker 1: a way that is surprising and as bad as they've
Speaker 1: played the last two weeks, overall, they did find a
Speaker 1: way to win those games and get that one seed,
Speaker 1: which is important because I think they're gonna need everything
Speaker 1: that they can get. I mean, since the moment when
Speaker 1: got hurt, they were trailing in the in the Rams game,
Speaker 1: found a way to win that found the way to
Speaker 1: win to at least like they've got the number one.
Speaker 1: Does the NFL need to look at these late year
Speaker 1: Saturday slash Holiday games and say, we've got to find
Speaker 1: a way to not give America the Houston Texans which
Speaker 1: is an automatic loss, and a Raiders Eagles game that
Speaker 1: could it's just bad luck. Last year you got literally
Speaker 1: the game of the year on Christmas. This year you
Speaker 1: could have had Deshaun Watson. You've had a team who
Speaker 1: has been in the playoffs three straight years, and you
Speaker 1: thought Raiders were not gonna be You know, if there
Speaker 1: be an opportunity to say hey, instead of wishing for
Speaker 1: good luck. We could maybe a month ahead or two
Speaker 1: months ahead flex something that important on Christmas, I think,
Speaker 1: and you look at the NBA, you're not gonna mess
Speaker 1: with people's families and Christmas like that. They're gonna it's
Speaker 1: just there. It's yeah, when you look at the NBA,
Speaker 1: for instance, and it's in the middle of a season,
Speaker 1: of course it's a different setup, but they give you
Speaker 1: Warriors Calves on Christmas afternoon. Thunder Rockets is the other
Speaker 1: national game. Two of the best teams that conference. The
Speaker 1: NFL is locking in the schedule for Christmas Day and
Speaker 1: Christmas Night. I think that's something it's an important and
Speaker 1: I know it only happens once every six or seven years,
Speaker 1: where you may be flex and make sure these are
Speaker 1: great games, because frankly, I don't think it was a
Speaker 1: good look look for the league to have these dog
Speaker 1: teams involved on what's a really high profile sports day
Speaker 1: for people. I just think it's unavoidable. I mean, if
Speaker 1: if Deshaun Watson and Carson Wentzer in this game, but
Speaker 1: they're not games, but we love them, They're not gonna
Speaker 1: flex out. It's just you can't. You're not gonna flex
Speaker 1: out a team that's not Honestly, it would have been
Speaker 1: better without without the games than bad time about this.
Speaker 1: Don't have games on Christmas then if you're gonna potentially
Speaker 1: and I imagine and we just saw they canceled the
Speaker 1: week seventeen. Uh shocking bit of a strength by the NFL,
Speaker 1: and I wonder, I just wonder, honestly if they saw
Speaker 1: the way Christmas looked and it wasn't a great look,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure it wasn't a ratings bonanza and they said, well,
Speaker 1: we don't want to do that again. And I know
Speaker 1: there was another reason, and it was about the competitiveness.
Speaker 1: I don't think it was even I don't think there
Speaker 1: was any decision. When I worked at NBC every year,
Speaker 1: the main thing was you had to have a game
Speaker 1: that was gonna be dicissected by what happened earlier, and
Speaker 1: there were many complaints over the years. The Bengals Jets
Speaker 1: got into Sunday Night a couple of years in a
Speaker 1: row when there were better teams available, but they didn't
Speaker 1: know for sure. The Titans played the Colts backups one
Speaker 1: year and when there were better games available, but again
Speaker 1: they had There was a scenario where those games weren't
Speaker 1: gonna matter. I think it just happened that this is
Speaker 1: the year that that that for the first time ever
Speaker 1: that there were no games. So they just didn't even
Speaker 1: have a choice. But I guess they could have thrown
Speaker 1: some ham and Egger contest up there, and they didn't.
Speaker 1: And that's actually kind of a crazy promising move by
Speaker 1: the end of their their car. By the way, he's
Speaker 1: going to go into the off season with lot of
Speaker 1: people down here. We will never know how much his
Speaker 1: back injury is affecting him, but he is just not
Speaker 1: the same guy. I think. Where five or six turnovers
Speaker 1: in the second half. That was a very strange game overall.
Speaker 1: Let's move in and this was a loser goes home
Speaker 1: match on Christmas Eve in Big Day's checkers amongous distance
Speaker 1: and he missed that him to the right. Dan Bailey
Speaker 1: pushed a chip shot right for the closing act in
Speaker 1: a dizzy and red zone fail for the Cowboys and
Speaker 1: twelve lost to the Seahawks, who peeled themselves peeled themselves
Speaker 1: off the matt following last week's humiliation against the Rams
Speaker 1: at the clink. Will get to the Seahawks in a second,
Speaker 1: but I want to start with that sequence, uh, because
Speaker 1: it represented the epitome of a team coming up small
Speaker 1: when it mattered most. The Cowboys down. Uh. They have
Speaker 1: first in goal at the Seattle three yard line with
Speaker 1: seven to play. Everything is set up in front of him,
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott back from suspension, and what happens. They throw
Speaker 1: the ball to Wie, they take a sack, uh, and
Speaker 1: then they have to settle for a field goal. He's like,
Speaker 1: all right, Dan Bailey can count on him. He pushes
Speaker 1: it right as you heard, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: it's a two score game, uh, with five minutes to play,
Speaker 1: game over, and you have to be wondering what was
Speaker 1: going through Jerry Jones's mind because they cut two, which
Speaker 1: I love when they do is for high profile Cowboys losses.
Speaker 1: They cut immediately to Jared's box as the pick sales
Speaker 1: right and Jones gets up and walks out, And I'm
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, oh boy, with that play calling and
Speaker 1: the fact that the Cowboys are gonna go eight and
Speaker 1: eight or nine and seven and missed the playoffs, could
Speaker 1: heads roll in Dallas after a loss of this magnitude.
Speaker 1: Our guy Ian Rapport says, it's not gonna happen, and
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones is kind of putting it out there that
Speaker 1: that's not even a consideration that Jason Garrett will will
Speaker 1: be there. You know, I think he could end up
Speaker 1: changing his coordinators. Rod Marinelli is the name you here
Speaker 1: most I don't know if Rod Marinelli is the problem.
Speaker 1: He certainly wasn't from this game. The Seahawks had a
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty six yards. The Seahawks won a game
Speaker 1: where they had more penalty yards forty two, and they
Speaker 1: had yards on offense. To me, these are these are
Speaker 1: two dead teams and one of them had to win.
Speaker 1: Sorry Seahawks. And maybe that you have enough, they have
Speaker 1: enough like championship kind of metal inside of them that
Speaker 1: they're gonna find their way into the playoffs. But for
Speaker 1: a team that's been in Super Bowls, I don't know
Speaker 1: if a first round loss is going to feel that excite.
Speaker 1: If you're a Cowboys fan and you knew ahead of
Speaker 1: time that you were going to hold at one point
Speaker 1: m v P Candate Russell Wilson and the Seahawks to
Speaker 1: sixty net yards passing seventy six yards on the ground,
Speaker 1: you'd say, you know what, we're the team heading to
Speaker 1: the playoffs. And this is why I'm I'm surprised, uh,
Speaker 1: why Jason Garrett has so much rope in that organization
Speaker 1: is because this is not the first time the cows
Speaker 1: Cowboys have come up small and a high profile spot,
Speaker 1: and they've only been to the playoffs why twice and
Speaker 1: as time there and this is a bitterly disappointing season.
Speaker 1: I know the Zeke suspension kind of havoc on this team,
Speaker 1: maybe behind the scenes as much as it did in
Speaker 1: terms of losing your best offensive player for six games.
Speaker 1: But I just don't under Garrett. To me. You wonder
Speaker 1: if he's part of the problem why the Cowboys never
Speaker 1: are never able to put together back to back big seasons,
Speaker 1: why they come up small down the stretch in these games,
Speaker 1: why they lose these playoff games in these ways? Why
Speaker 1: should Garrett be so safe? I thought, I think it's
Speaker 1: I think there if I'm a Cowboys and I'm probably
Speaker 1: getting a little anoyed of seeing Jason Garrett being perturbed
Speaker 1: on the side of You're not You're not alone. I
Speaker 1: think that they long ages ago, when there were issues
Speaker 1: about Garrett potentially coming back. Jones has said over and
Speaker 1: over we he was our backup quarterback back in the day.
Speaker 1: He's been an assistant with us a head coach. They
Speaker 1: feel like they put decades of work into Jason Garrett,
Speaker 1: so you have to find someone that they believe enough
Speaker 1: in the switch. Secondly, I think there's enough hubris within
Speaker 1: this organization to think Jerry Jones on down thinks, oh,
Speaker 1: we're a super Bowl team. Every year, we're a super
Speaker 1: Bowl team, and what happened this year is the NFL's
Speaker 1: fault for doing this to Ezekiel Elliott versus our own
Speaker 1: issues on offense. But it's not. It's it's their passing
Speaker 1: games fault, ultimately. And I'm not putting that all on
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott. It's on the coaches, It's on Dez Bryant,
Speaker 1: it's on you know, Jason Witten, Terrence Williams. In terms
Speaker 1: of just the personnel that they've had over the years.
Speaker 1: When push came to shove with Zeke out, the passing
Speaker 1: game was miserable, and for most really of the season,
Speaker 1: they've been erratic at best, and they never could figure
Speaker 1: it out. And they're just not good enough. Otherwise you
Speaker 1: don't have a good enough They had to be a
Speaker 1: great offense, and they were so far from it with
Speaker 1: with Dak, and I think it's unfair to call it
Speaker 1: a lot of ravil magnifico season for Dak Prescott. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, again he did not show up
Speaker 1: in this game. That interception, the pick six, I mean
Speaker 1: that was a bad throw and a bad decision, bad footwork.
Speaker 1: He did not They really needed him to kind of
Speaker 1: be at a higher level to make up for a
Speaker 1: lot of things this year, and I don't think he
Speaker 1: was up to it this year. Maybe he is down
Speaker 1: the stretch, but I don't think he was ready for
Speaker 1: it this year. Just a lost season for the Coup
Speaker 1: it is, and in the Seahawks, their scenarios very doable.
Speaker 1: The nfls Eric does a good job of setting up
Speaker 1: all the games that matter at the same time of days,
Speaker 1: so they will kick off at the same time the
Speaker 1: Panthers and Falcons kick off, and all they need is
Speaker 1: the Panthers to lose that game, and they need to
Speaker 1: beat the Cardinals in Seattle, and they're dancing and and
Speaker 1: very possibly going to Los Angeles for Round three with
Speaker 1: the Rams, which is interesting. And they did split by
Speaker 1: the way, we all remember that they got absolutely plastered
Speaker 1: two weeks ago. But they beat him in l A
Speaker 1: already this season, so we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 1: Let's check it. Listen, we're here to talk Broncos Redskins,
Speaker 1: so let's get to it. Cousins gonna float it to
Speaker 1: five touchdown touchdown Redskins. George Stockson baby yes, oh yes,
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins through for two and three touchdowns. That could
Speaker 1: have been his last home game with the Redskins. They
Speaker 1: beat the Broncos to eleven um. Greg, the brock Oswelder
Speaker 1: hot streak lasted exactly one game. And is there anything
Speaker 1: else we need to really talk about in regards to
Speaker 1: this game. No, let's dig in. I think we should
Speaker 1: treat the rest of the show as a speed round.
Speaker 1: I mean, j J Gruden. I guess if these last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks mean anything, it might be Jay Gruden's,
Speaker 1: you know, chance to keep his job if that's if
Speaker 1: that's open if they win these games. And yet there's
Speaker 1: whispers that the Bengals are you know, quietly interested in
Speaker 1: Jay Gruden. And and and similarly for the Broncos, I
Speaker 1: think there are definitely questions about Vans Joseph after this
Speaker 1: year there are so many and I want to write
Speaker 1: about this. It's I've never seen as many teams that
Speaker 1: are up in the air in terms of coaches. Practically
Speaker 1: half the league. Yeah, it's pretty crazy, and you have
Speaker 1: to factor that in teams that are on the bubble.
Speaker 1: Do we want to fire a coach when Harriett League
Speaker 1: is trying to hire a new Exactly? I think when
Speaker 1: you have someone like Jay Gruden, that to me, who
Speaker 1: I think has been a good coach, should be a
Speaker 1: reason not to fire. And that's what's your answer with Garrett,
Speaker 1: because Garrett will turn around and get another job in
Speaker 1: two seconds. People say that I think you Garrett would
Speaker 1: get hires a head coach quickly ring I don't know.
Speaker 1: He doesn't he's not involved in the offense or the defense.
Speaker 1: I would take Jake Gruden over tip Bowls, get hired
Speaker 1: in a second to all right, let's move up. Andy
Speaker 1: Dalton takes the snap, he hands it off to Giovanni
Speaker 1: Bernardo hand score, touchdown for the Bengals. That should be
Speaker 1: coffin nails, bam, bam bam. I like I like it.
Speaker 1: You know, every win matters. Dan Horde and Dave Lapp
Speaker 1: and W E b n with the call. Gio Bernard
Speaker 1: ran for one sixteen and a touch in the closing minutes,
Speaker 1: sending the Bengals to win over the lines that knocked
Speaker 1: Detroit out of playoff contention. Hey guys, maybe get the
Speaker 1: training camp on time next summer. Lessons learned? How about
Speaker 1: how about this showed up the first day possible at
Speaker 1: this point? How about this barn angle? The Bengals football
Speaker 1: football's worst team over the previous two weeks, pulled off
Speaker 1: a win for the Gipper and what was supposed to
Speaker 1: be Marvin Lewis's final home game in Cincinnati, thus opening
Speaker 1: the door for a dramatic contract extension this week. Buy
Speaker 1: or sell an idiot, A hard sell. He doesn't want
Speaker 1: to be there. He doesn't want to be the coach
Speaker 1: of the Bengals. My least favorite storyline these final weeks
Speaker 1: or the press conferences when they asked Lewis about, you know,
Speaker 1: him leaving, and they said it was was this an
Speaker 1: emotional game for you? And He's like, why would it
Speaker 1: be emotional? Why would be emotional? You know something I don't.
Speaker 1: It's like, bro, just what are you? What are you?
Speaker 1: You've operated as the source of these reports? What are
Speaker 1: you trying to what are you trying to do? Jim
Speaker 1: Caldwell meanwhile, who was kind of you know, similarly, doesn't
Speaker 1: like given much away in a press conference, you know,
Speaker 1: talked on and they asked him, like, you know, is
Speaker 1: there anything your team excelled at this season? And he said, no,
Speaker 1: there hasn't been anything across the board we've been good at.
Speaker 1: That's fair because that's true. Not a good case to
Speaker 1: keep your job. Another bloss season for the lines and
Speaker 1: we'll see if Jim. I think I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: see a former Patriots coordinator in Detroit next year with Charlie,
Speaker 1: whether it's Patricia or that makes sense with the gym.
Speaker 1: None of those guys, but Chaz Wise gets another shot.
Speaker 1: Current pot. I think someone employed by the Patriots. I
Speaker 1: think is University of Kansas was really taken out. All right,
Speaker 1: let's let's move tell paper, set empties the backfield, he
Speaker 1: stands in the gun, takes the snap, rose incomplete. No
Speaker 1: no flights by the bard. The Ravens playoffs all star
Speaker 1: still very much intact. Thank you, Lord, Jerry Sandusky and
Speaker 1: Jared Johnson w B A L with a call. Yes,
Speaker 1: the Baltimore Ravens got to stop they needed at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, and Joe Flacco through for two
Speaker 1: thirty seven and two touchdowns as the Ravens took a
Speaker 1: step closer to the playoffs with a win over the
Speaker 1: Colts on Saturday. Uh Baltimore will get into the playoffs
Speaker 1: as an a f C wild card if they could
Speaker 1: beat the Bungles at home next Sunday, which is not
Speaker 1: going to be easy, not with Marvin Lewis still on
Speaker 1: the sidelines. Idiot. Greg have won five of start five
Speaker 1: of six following their four and five start, and this
Speaker 1: was that kind of like grinded out win that makes
Speaker 1: you think they can make some noise if they get
Speaker 1: into the postseason. Sneaky good game in a weekend that
Speaker 1: didn't have many no turnovers, just about no penalties, uh
Speaker 1: long drives. It was tense if you didn't know that
Speaker 1: the If you just took away the fact that the
Speaker 1: Colts are terrible and the Ravens aren't pretty to watch,
Speaker 1: it was actually kind of a fun late season football game.
Speaker 1: I'm a little worried as a guy who I think
Speaker 1: the Ravens could go to the Super Bowl, but they
Speaker 1: have not played that level of defense over the last
Speaker 1: few weeks, including this game where they let Jacoby Brissette
Speaker 1: go up and down the field quite a bit. And
Speaker 1: their whole recipe for making the Super Bowl is with
Speaker 1: a very good defense, and they just haven't been the
Speaker 1: same since Jimmy Smith got hurt, and I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's the reason. I don't know if that's going
Speaker 1: to change when they get to the playoff. I don't
Speaker 1: see them as a super Bowl team on on any level.
Speaker 1: We've obviously differed on this one. Uh, they can win
Speaker 1: a platas played well over the last month. Seven touchdowns,
Speaker 1: seven yards pert and so will Tom Brady went matters.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's like, I get it. They're counting
Speaker 1: on special teams and defense and a league leading turnover margin.
Speaker 1: I mean, these are recipes that have happened before, and
Speaker 1: people think about like these old Ravens days a news flights.
Speaker 1: This is what old Ravens games look like. It's not
Speaker 1: like they won pretty back then either. You'd also need
Speaker 1: like a flock of star players in the f C
Speaker 1: two be like taken away kidnapped by you know, Baltimore
Speaker 1: area kidnappers, low level Baltimore criminals to come in and
Speaker 1: help out New England. Know, take out New England and
Speaker 1: and we get Big Ben removed mezzanine level criminals. Um,
Speaker 1: how about this, Greg, You mentioned special teams, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna call him out. Mr Justin Tucker who doesn't miss
Speaker 1: any kicks at all. Seventeen seventeen and Foxburg on the
Speaker 1: divisional playoffs and Tucker comes on for a fifty three
Speaker 1: yard it could all happen. That's what I'm saying, turnovers,
Speaker 1: special teams. The defense needs to be better because I
Speaker 1: think we're at a point with Joe Flacco where now
Speaker 1: he's like okay again he's okay, and then but the
Speaker 1: defense needs to be better. H let's move on. Pressure coming,
Speaker 1: It's picked up. Roethlisberger throws why open over the middle,
Speaker 1: Joe Juice Smith Schuster will walk in for the touchdown,
Speaker 1: and Smith Schuster will sit Indian style underneath the goal
Speaker 1: posts to celebrate his touchdown, making it thirty three to
Speaker 1: six Steelers. Tricky to narrate juju Smith Schuster's touchdown celebrations.
Speaker 1: It's so he's a lot going on there. Um. That
Speaker 1: is Bill hill Grove w d V with the call.
Speaker 1: Ben Roethlisberger through for two twenty six yards and two touchdowns,
Speaker 1: and the Steelers clinched a first round playoff by with
Speaker 1: a thirty four six win over the Houston Texans on Monday, Greg,
Speaker 1: this was as easy as the final score indicated. They
Speaker 1: looked awesome. And I'm not sure if the the second
Speaker 1: half of the season Steelers offense is ever going to
Speaker 1: get to play with the first half of the season
Speaker 1: Steelers defense, because if that team ever played, that's the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl champions, that's the best team in the league.
Speaker 1: Their defense had you know, defense played great in this game.
Speaker 1: I don't know if what you can take out of it,
Speaker 1: but that loaded offense we were so excited about coming
Speaker 1: into season. It's here. You need Antonio Brown back, but
Speaker 1: maybe Smith Schuster and Vance McDonald who's playing well, and
Speaker 1: Bryant are getting even more reps in a bigger role
Speaker 1: in these couple of weeks here, and that's going to
Speaker 1: help them in the playoffs if Brown is Brown. There
Speaker 1: have been a lot of big blowouts and whiteouts this season,
Speaker 1: but this was about as powerful and utter destruction of
Speaker 1: the opponent that you've This game felt over and I
Speaker 1: know I often like say this and sometimes it's not
Speaker 1: always true, but like eight or nine minutes in, you
Speaker 1: knew this thing was utter toast for the Texans. You
Speaker 1: got the terrible towels waving brow energy field. It was
Speaker 1: a great sign for this offense. And it's it's the
Speaker 1: second week. It's it's to go be able to do
Speaker 1: what they did in the passing game. It's still it's
Speaker 1: it's still you're still playing in NFL defense. They just
Speaker 1: small with the Steelers. Keep him on. They are twelve
Speaker 1: and three and they lost Antonio Brown early in their
Speaker 1: showdown against the Pats and still outplayed New England. Should
Speaker 1: have won that game if not for some interference from
Speaker 1: the rule book. And it puts you in the situation
Speaker 1: where it's like, yes, yes, yes, yes, the Steelers are
Speaker 1: the real deal contender against the Pats. Would it have
Speaker 1: been saucier if it was in New England? Potentially, But
Speaker 1: I still believe in their chances because there they are
Speaker 1: a machine. They are this team is ready to win.
Speaker 1: And this is probably this is going into kind of
Speaker 1: mental territory which you don't really know, but just judging
Speaker 1: the Steelers over the years, I feel like going through
Speaker 1: those tough games Cincinnati, Baltimore and New England, and having
Speaker 1: lost that New England game, maybe isn't the worst thing
Speaker 1: for this team, which feels itself a little too much sometimes,
Speaker 1: like losing that game, you know, maybe it gets them
Speaker 1: a little refocused. I'll say, catch of the year maybe
Speaker 1: be DeAndre Hopkins. Yeah, that was the one little bit
Speaker 1: of juice that this game got. Later on, Hopkins making
Speaker 1: a leaping tapping the ball with one hand into his
Speaker 1: other hand and then somehow getting two ft down. In fact,
Speaker 1: our boy Mike Tariko of ESPN, he knew he had
Speaker 1: a dog game on his hands, so he really soaked
Speaker 1: up what was one of the catches of the year.
Speaker 1: So I asked Lindsay to cut together a little sizzle
Speaker 1: reel of Tarko's reaction to that play. Here's Hilton blitzing
Speaker 1: off the slot again passer Hopkins. Oh my goodness, did
Speaker 1: he catch that? Did he catch that? That's the touchdown
Speaker 1: catch of the year. If that's good, they're still talking
Speaker 1: about it. There's a flagdown. If he got that inbound,
Speaker 1: that's the touchdown catch of the year. Oh, Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's unbelievable what he just did. Let's see what did
Speaker 1: he get that second foot down? Possession there? Or did
Speaker 1: it just one down? I don't I don't think anything
Speaker 1: else is down. That's a bummer. Check it out here
Speaker 1: to see him get the one toe down. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: they're that angle. Great job, guys, that angle gives it
Speaker 1: to you. Wow, he's the best point, He's he's the
Speaker 1: best of the best by far. Right now, I was
Speaker 1: thinking of watching this game the way he was like
Speaker 1: setting up Kurt Warner. He is so good. He like
Speaker 1: how you view Bob costas a lot of kids how
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler views Mark Bob costas growing up Costs. I
Speaker 1: feel like some kids, uh should be growing up feeling
Speaker 1: about Mike Rico. That's how good he is. Well the
Speaker 1: way Toriko feels, the way about custom he's gonna pass
Speaker 1: about Syracuse grits. One of the um aspects that makes
Speaker 1: Trico so pleasurable to listen to is like Tony Romo,
Speaker 1: He's like, way into the game. You can tell he
Speaker 1: loves what he's doing. Maybe get those two together, let's fly.
Speaker 1: I like that. But one one guy Hilton on that play,
Speaker 1: not the not the greatest thing that happened to him,
Speaker 1: But that guy that Steelers found something in Mike Kilton.
Speaker 1: Like the ninth week in a row, he's been awesome.
Speaker 1: Kaiser shot gun takes the snap, looks right up in
Speaker 1: the pocket, dumps it off. Higgins caught it. He's got
Speaker 1: a first town. He gets back up and runs at
Speaker 1: the fifteen, at the ten, at the nine, at the five,
Speaker 1: and he fumbles into the end zone and the Bears
Speaker 1: recovering prints. Mukamaris got it. He's running in the end
Speaker 1: zone and he goes down in the enson as he
Speaker 1: is tagged out on the plane. Jim Donovan w K
Speaker 1: and R with the call. The Cleveland Browns are O
Speaker 1: and fifteen. Deshaun Kaiser through two more interceptions, the pan's
Speaker 1: NFL worst total, and the Browns coughed it up twice
Speaker 1: overall in the red zone, a twenty to three loss
Speaker 1: to the Bears. Uh. Even the old Zeus are trying
Speaker 1: to throw them some positive lock juju. Did not help
Speaker 1: the Brownies, who are now the challenge Steelers to avoid
Speaker 1: the second oh and sixteen season in NFL history. Not good, Mark,
Speaker 1: But the good news is you do have the first
Speaker 1: pick in the draft. Yeah, and it's uh, it's gonna
Speaker 1: be a very interesting next couple of weeks if you're
Speaker 1: John or See the new general manager or anyone that
Speaker 1: follows this team, because I don't understand, despite various reports
Speaker 1: that Hugh Jackson has, you know, ownerships support, how do
Speaker 1: you go into this, into this offseason and into next
Speaker 1: year trying to sell what's happened over the past two
Speaker 1: years to this fan base. I mean, they they are
Speaker 1: a team that I think, with a better coaching staff,
Speaker 1: should have four to five wins. We've been saying that
Speaker 1: for a long time. The way they lose these games
Speaker 1: is beyond hext in nature. It's incredible, the the stuff
Speaker 1: that happens in the red zone over and over weekly.
Speaker 1: I thought this game turned when Myles Garrett had a
Speaker 1: really athletic, fantastic pick six of Mitchell Drabinsky and then
Speaker 1: it was called back by a flag. I mean, they
Speaker 1: cannot catch a break on the Bear side. I think
Speaker 1: you got in the second half one of the better
Speaker 1: performances by Mitchell Robinsky. It wasn't it's not flashy. That
Speaker 1: doesn't happen for him in this in this Bear's regime
Speaker 1: right now, but he picked a part Cleveland secondary, every
Speaker 1: part of the Browns fell apart down the stretch in
Speaker 1: this game, Owen sixteen. That's what they're gonna be. You're
Speaker 1: not You could Pittsburgh could put the bottom half of
Speaker 1: its roster on the field and find a way to
Speaker 1: be Cleveland, and the Steelers still have a chance to
Speaker 1: write home field advantage. They they line up at the
Speaker 1: same time as the Patriots, So you would think Tomlin
Speaker 1: is gonna play his starters, although he might be scoreboard
Speaker 1: watching and call off the Dogs at some point. We'll see.
Speaker 1: Let's move up. Here's the shotgun staff. He's back, he
Speaker 1: looks right, comes back left. Garoppolo goody that was left
Speaker 1: being Chase Girls ends off. It is caught touchsdoff San
Speaker 1: Francisco Trent Taylor with the catch of five yards strike
Speaker 1: from Jimmy Garoppolo. Ted Robinson k s a n with
Speaker 1: the call Jimmy g the God. Jimmy Garoppolo threw two
Speaker 1: touchdown passes ran for another touchdown in the forty Niners
Speaker 1: one their fourth straight with their new QB a forty
Speaker 1: four to thirty three win over the Jags at that
Speaker 1: Big Bell Bottom quiet storm. It is looking increasingly likely
Speaker 1: that the Forts will never lose again. Did Jimmy G
Speaker 1: and the Niners expose Jacksonville's vaunted defense on Sunday. They
Speaker 1: seem to be exposing everyone everyone they play. This was
Speaker 1: a very bizarre game. Um, let me start with Jacksonville
Speaker 1: that they clinched the a f C South minutes into
Speaker 1: this thing, which I guess the team could react in
Speaker 1: various ways, but with it, they went on to have
Speaker 1: one of the ugliest losses you could imagine from a
Speaker 1: team that's been really kind of one of the turnaround
Speaker 1: stories of the league. Where at one point Maleiague Jackson
Speaker 1: and Aaron Colvin are battling each other on the Jaguars sideline.
Speaker 1: There was a later like that later on where the
Speaker 1: receiver's coach and a receiver getting into it and they yeah,
Speaker 1: keeno mccardinal Jacksonville legend. But it's just they been fights
Speaker 1: throughout the game or or penalties, awful penalties like later on. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I mean and then on field, Jimmy G and
Speaker 1: I already am seeing people. There's already a backlash, uh,
Speaker 1: where people and settled down on Jimmy Garoppolo. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just a couple of weeks. I get it. At
Speaker 1: the same time, are you taking heat for that? I
Speaker 1: mean I've I praised him because what I've seen week
Speaker 1: after week is just well yeah, no, it's definitely if
Speaker 1: you if you tweet something other ones like two out,
Speaker 1: it's like I would just say, go watch him. I mean,
Speaker 1: he is the kind of guy that you look at
Speaker 1: what this team was when they had Brian Hoyer and
Speaker 1: everyone else under center, that it's a bunch of just dudes,
Speaker 1: look like they're barely going to hang onto the roster
Speaker 1: going in the next season. And he is turning guys
Speaker 1: like Kyle used Jack who I think it's a good player,
Speaker 1: but he needs the right quarterback with him to make
Speaker 1: that happen into a big play machine. I mean, Mark,
Speaker 1: he's good like Garoppolo is making throws. He made more
Speaker 1: throws in the past couple of weeks and honestly in
Speaker 1: the back twenty minutes of this game. Then you will
Speaker 1: see some quarterbacks make all season. He is an artist.
Speaker 1: He's fantastic. I think it's the trade of the decade.
Speaker 1: I think you got it, young franchise pastor off On.
Speaker 1: I want to see more before Trade of the decade. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: I'm saying trade of the looking to be able to
Speaker 1: import someone with this potential who's showing immediate giving an
Speaker 1: immediate dividence to the team, and you didn't give up
Speaker 1: a first round pick or multiple first round picks, or
Speaker 1: mortgage your future to get him. That is a definition
Speaker 1: of an amazing trade. And but on the Jackson on
Speaker 1: the jack side, Greg that that is a little bit
Speaker 1: concerning in terms of and West talks about it a
Speaker 1: lot um that they're not a come from behind team,
Speaker 1: and we saw that again in this game. This team
Speaker 1: has facing some adversity. How do they react if they
Speaker 1: fall behind? Like, are they a team that's gonna keep
Speaker 1: it together when the game when the gauntlet of the
Speaker 1: playoffs arrived. Although they did fall behind sixty nothing and
Speaker 1: then took the lead, that was what was strange in
Speaker 1: this game. They made that come back and then fell apart.
Speaker 1: I'm more worried about them just in terms of their maturity.
Speaker 1: I mean, the defense was the problem in this game.
Speaker 1: They could not get a stop. The maturity of hearing
Speaker 1: forty Niners players and pretty much every opponent saying no
Speaker 1: team in the league talks more trash than the Jaguars,
Speaker 1: and team I think was more confident going into this game,
Speaker 1: and they played like a bunch of clowns. You've got
Speaker 1: the bad Blake Bortles for most of this game, making
Speaker 1: some and Leonard four net has not been effective for
Speaker 1: a while now, and I don't think it's on him,
Speaker 1: and it's a little bit of a coincidence that all
Speaker 1: their best games are without Leonard four net. But it's
Speaker 1: a problem when you can't establish the run, and they
Speaker 1: couldn't in this game. So I think they're just like
Speaker 1: an immature team, and this was a big immature game,
Speaker 1: and you would think they'll bounce back from it. I
Speaker 1: think they were incredibly frustrated by Garoppolo two and that's
Speaker 1: that's That's weeks in a row where defenses seem to
Speaker 1: feel that way. And now you got what the Rams
Speaker 1: in the and the Niners next this Sunday. That's gonna
Speaker 1: be an interesting game. A quick thing on Jimmy G
Speaker 1: is it's not just Jimmy G. It's Jimmy G and
Speaker 1: who I think is the best offensive mind flash play
Speaker 1: caller in the league, Kyle Shannon. You put those two together.
Speaker 1: A lot of open guys in this game, and you're
Speaker 1: really cooking with gas, all right, let's one more game
Speaker 1: to get to. It's the one everyone's been waiting for.
Speaker 1: Third and two for the Giants other and the pressure
Speaker 1: on Eli Manning. He fumbles the balls picked up by
Speaker 1: Kim DC at the breaks a tackle, the ten running
Speaker 1: of the five pit of the Young song for a
Speaker 1: touchdown day pass k t a R kim D Jack
Speaker 1: m D jacim d ch Did you fall out that
Speaker 1: ween tho chim d chick him D jack him d J.
Speaker 1: No sacks are forced bumbles this season? We aren't you
Speaker 1: supposed to have your breakout season? Chem D jacim d
Speaker 1: jack him d J. It's a great question because he
Speaker 1: looked amazing in the preseason. That's uh, that's why people
Speaker 1: were waiting. Yeah, this whole Cardinals team though, if you
Speaker 1: look holiday tuned for the ages, can you find two
Speaker 1: teams that played each other this weekend? I mean that
Speaker 1: really have had more depressing seasons when we went into
Speaker 1: the into into September thinking that Martinals at least you
Speaker 1: can if you're a Cardinals fan, and it just was
Speaker 1: bad luck. It was a lot of injuries. Considering everything,
Speaker 1: the fact there's seven and eight and if this was
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald's final game, he goes over a hundred yards,
Speaker 1: he goes over a hundred catches for the season, has
Speaker 1: a monster game, felt like one of those games. Hey,
Speaker 1: let's just feed Larry and let the home crowd enjoy it.
Speaker 1: And you know what, it's because he can deliver, because
Speaker 1: he's still the best player on their offense. It's pretty
Speaker 1: amazing that he didn't remember the shady lawyer from the
Speaker 1: Simpsons voice by Phil Hartman. He would have abandoned his
Speaker 1: client at the first sign of trouble, and that he
Speaker 1: would leave behind his briefcase and they'd open the briefcase
Speaker 1: and would just be filled with like confetti and shredded paper.
Speaker 1: That that was the That's how I imagine the game
Speaker 1: plan for Week sixteen and look for the Giants, it
Speaker 1: was a twenty three nothing lost. By the way, there
Speaker 1: was no reason to win this game. You you are
Speaker 1: one week away, two weeks away from getting one of
Speaker 1: the top two picks and what is said to be
Speaker 1: a premium quarterback draft class class. This is exactly what
Speaker 1: the John's should be doing. I don't care if they
Speaker 1: get shut out. I don't care if Eli looks old again.
Speaker 1: Giants are doing exactly what they should be doing get
Speaker 1: two and fourteen and the people got a little too
Speaker 1: excited honking after last week. And I'm thinking of your
Speaker 1: boy Mike for incessa about like this is the Eli
Speaker 1: that could have been there all year if he was.
Speaker 1: It's like, all right, it's one game here, yeah, but
Speaker 1: that's fair. But also in Arizona he did throw for
Speaker 1: four hundred against the contender without O'Dell Beckham, So there
Speaker 1: is another possibility that Eli is something on the tank
Speaker 1: with a good team. This is not a good team. Whatever.
Speaker 1: There you go. That's Week sixteen recap in full. Thank
Speaker 1: you to everyone for listening. Remember this is our video show.
Speaker 1: Uh so if you go to NFL dot com slash
Speaker 1: a t N video at nine pm Eastern six pm Pacific,
Speaker 1: it should be there if you can find it, tell
Speaker 1: us how and uh you can enjoy enjoy it all.
Speaker 1: And um we will be back with our next show
Speaker 1: on Thursday, where yes, we will preview uh the final
Speaker 1: week of the regular season and and the playoff calculator
Speaker 1: will be tuned up and ready to go. And we
Speaker 1: are coming down the home stretch there, Sissler, let's do
Speaker 1: this thing. We are past the halfway point. This is
Speaker 1: Dan Hanson signing off four Quiet Storm, Catty Fox in absentia,
Speaker 1: the old Foss, Lindsey Fulton, behind the glass, Ryan Bartlett
Speaker 1: helping out today like that, it's till Thursday