Speaker 1: Second out a goal from the foe. Back to pass off,
Speaker 1: fine right throw back, quarter of the ends, one by
Speaker 1: the pylon, leaping too aunt a grab that is a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Josh Reynolds pressure on the homes fighting a pass left
Speaker 1: side for Tyrek Gal. He's got a touchdown chance City,
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes a perfect touch, pens and the Cheetah says
Speaker 1: hello to the Monday night stage. Second down meat step back,
Speaker 1: it's knee high. He collects it. He wants to throw.
Speaker 1: He's under pressure. He sacks, Cloth comes out, Harris out alec.
Speaker 1: He says to seven Rams, r throw go under. He's had.
Speaker 1: He's second f the way. It's gonna be a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Defensive touchdown Carol to City. It's the homes again, under pressure,
Speaker 1: crossing patterns like five for straight two one touchdown, far right,
Speaker 1: time line. He's well protected, nowhere to go with the football.
Speaker 1: He escaped pressure to his right. Now again yard line.
Speaker 1: Marcus Jointer on a night that l A will never forget.
Speaker 1: The Rams have defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1: It was the game of the year, maybe the game
Speaker 1: of the decade. Hey, maybe the game of the century.
Speaker 1: At least in the regular season. Jared Goff through a
Speaker 1: forty yard touchdown past to Gerald Everard for that go
Speaker 1: ahead scored one forty nine to play. Patrick Mahomes gets
Speaker 1: two chances uh in the final minute and Change throws
Speaker 1: two picks and the Los Angeles Rams outlast the Kansas
Speaker 1: City Chiefs fifty four to fifty one. Oh my goodness
Speaker 1: at the Coliseum in Monday Night football. Somehow, some way,
Speaker 1: Chris westling a game that surpassed the hype. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: compared it the Lebron James. It's it's very rare to
Speaker 1: see something not only it first it fulfills the hype,
Speaker 1: and then it surpasses the hype. And it was one
Speaker 1: of the most hype regular season games we've ever seen.
Speaker 1: It ended up being maybe the most entertaining game I've seen.
Speaker 1: It's easy to get caught up in prisoner of the
Speaker 1: moment stuff, but that had I love watching playmakers and
Speaker 1: that people were making plays, even the Hunter is making
Speaker 1: plays and onions. And let me just set the table
Speaker 1: before we dig into this game. Uh, this is our
Speaker 1: first of all, it was necessarily we're gonna say, oh,
Speaker 1: it's a good a nice Thanksgiving preview episode. Then this
Speaker 1: Monday Night game, it was just staring at a thing.
Speaker 1: Talk about it for the podcast. So what are we
Speaker 1: gonna do. We're breaking down Rams Chiefs that we're gonna
Speaker 1: go through each of the three Thanksgiving games in a
Speaker 1: in a mini pod. So that's what's coming up today, Greg,
Speaker 1: What did you take out of Monday Night Football? Well,
Speaker 1: it's just these two coaches who are leading what's been
Speaker 1: an offensive revolution and a dominance that the league has seen.
Speaker 1: And it goes back to last year's Super Bowl. And
Speaker 1: they're not the only two teams. I think you can
Speaker 1: look at the Saints. Uh, certainly the Patriots what they've
Speaker 1: done over you know, over the last five years. But
Speaker 1: to have this sort of matchup and and have it
Speaker 1: deliver and and the last memory I sort of have
Speaker 1: in the game is golf shaking off what had been
Speaker 1: a rough fourth quarter on balance. I mean, they had
Speaker 1: six drives in the fourth quarter, which is an entire
Speaker 1: game for some teams, and they had a total of
Speaker 1: sixteen yards on four of those drives, some three and outs,
Speaker 1: a fumble, some miscommunications, some Sean McVeigh kind of getting
Speaker 1: shook a little bit, loosing his time outs Jared Goff
Speaker 1: being a little shook by the pass rush they only
Speaker 1: had three hundred yards of offense, uh ten minutes left
Speaker 1: of the game, and him shaking that off and shaking
Speaker 1: off even what could have been a game ending interception
Speaker 1: in the next throw third and nine, delivering a strike
Speaker 1: beautifully time to Brandon Cooks on an out route, and
Speaker 1: that third and nine helped set up the game winner
Speaker 1: to Gerald Ever And I really think Golf, that's such
Speaker 1: a great job all season of shaking off bad plays.
Speaker 1: He's not perfect, but man, when when it came down
Speaker 1: to it, he threw a dime and he sort of
Speaker 1: just has that ability I think great quarterbacks have to
Speaker 1: have to just you're not gonna be perfect. But he's
Speaker 1: twenty four years old. He stepped up in the biggest moments.
Speaker 1: It's a game where you're hoping when these two played
Speaker 1: that the part for it to meet the hype were
Speaker 1: to be the stars playing some of their best games
Speaker 1: of the year. Entireek killed to me. I just I
Speaker 1: want him to be the offensive player of the year.
Speaker 1: I know he can never be the m v P.
Speaker 1: I think Jared Goff gets thrust back into the m
Speaker 1: v P conversation for me, no matter what you think
Speaker 1: of absolutely and I mean, and I know everyone's caught
Speaker 1: up on the girly thing, but this game, to me,
Speaker 1: it was two coaches, as you said, Greg, daring each
Speaker 1: other to be as aggressive as possible. How many deep
Speaker 1: shots down field? And it's like, yes, the run game
Speaker 1: got a little bit lost because you had to keep up,
Speaker 1: and they're daring the rest of the league outside of
Speaker 1: the Saints, if you want to be considered viable against
Speaker 1: us in this year's playoffs, are probably going four word
Speaker 1: in NFL offenses. You've got to start doing this. You can't.
Speaker 1: We're not just gonna resort back to ten to seven
Speaker 1: games with run heavy, tight nesque offenses from two years ago.
Speaker 1: This is where we are now. It feels like a
Speaker 1: turning point. And I think maybe that two thousand seventeen
Speaker 1: season that was boring, filled with controversy, and between the
Speaker 1: concussion talk and what the president was saying, it felt
Speaker 1: like we were living in ashes and now we get
Speaker 1: this blossoming that started with the inflection point of the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl, and now it feels like this game was
Speaker 1: like the birth of something new, like rock and roll,
Speaker 1: Like this was the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, this is
Speaker 1: some Yes, everything that came before doesn't really even matter.
Speaker 1: We're starting something new. And if you're going to draft
Speaker 1: defensive tackles and inside linebackers in the top fifteen picks
Speaker 1: of the draft, you're gonna be left behind. If you're
Speaker 1: going to be a defensive coach who wants who wants
Speaker 1: to sit on the ball. You know, I met run
Speaker 1: Stuffy one thing about night that the defensive touchdowns were
Speaker 1: massively impactful and changed the course of the game. There
Speaker 1: is a there's and I believe Kevin Clark or the
Speaker 1: Ringer made the point on Twitter and Twitter was a
Speaker 1: fun place to be last night. It's a reminder of
Speaker 1: Twitter can sometimes be fun thing because it's communal game
Speaker 1: Like this is that maybe defense now is changed in
Speaker 1: the sense that it's no longer about shutting teams down.
Speaker 1: It's like who can gather the players that can make
Speaker 1: impact plays like an Aaron Donald. Uh, like we saw
Speaker 1: with all these defensive scores, because you're just not gonna
Speaker 1: stop anyone anymore. And I one one other thought West,
Speaker 1: because you're gonna you're gonna know this name of course. Uh.
Speaker 1: Every great hero journey in the NFL, especially at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position. There's a lot of luck that comes with it,
Speaker 1: and every great quarterback and starts in terms of my
Speaker 1: football fandom with Joe Montana. Uh, they have their kind
Speaker 1: of they need to get that. Little Louis billups luck.
Speaker 1: Louis Billips of course dropped the interception before the John
Speaker 1: Taylor touchdown a Super Bowl four. Uh. Jared Goff and
Speaker 1: Orlando Skendrick in this game, it's a totally different ending.
Speaker 1: Uh if Skendrick makes that play. But sometimes that's just
Speaker 1: the way football works. You gotta get lucky and be
Speaker 1: good as well. You went an entirely different direction than
Speaker 1: I thought out there, and you say every great quarterback
Speaker 1: needs its offensive guru. You know it's Bill Walsh, it's
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh, Andy Reid, and these guys have that I thought.
Speaker 1: You know, move out of the way, defensive coaches, conservative coaches.
Speaker 1: You're being left beyond. Move out of the way. People
Speaker 1: who complained that there was no defense when you had
Speaker 1: three defensive scores, eight sacks, four force fumbles, seven punts.
Speaker 1: You said the over under was it was a weird
Speaker 1: game where the score oldness was misleading. Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year has two strip sex Sanson a boot Com
Speaker 1: does something no defensive player has done since the sacks
Speaker 1: that was invented. This game had everything you want to have.
Speaker 1: Epcom scored more touchdowns than Cream Hunt and Tod Gurley combined.
Speaker 1: And and what that's the weird thing about it. The
Speaker 1: score is almost misleading because there were so many possessions.
Speaker 1: They were so short possessions the Rams. The Rams forced
Speaker 1: five turnovers, so they had fifteen possessions. That's almost like
Speaker 1: double a normal game. I thought the Chiefs defense actually
Speaker 1: did a fairly good job. They forced the Rams to
Speaker 1: punt more than they ever do. They took the ball
Speaker 1: away a couple of times. I left the game thinking
Speaker 1: just as much about the Chiefs, or maybe even more
Speaker 1: about their Super Bowl chances because they have those defensive
Speaker 1: playmakers Chris Jones, justin Houston, uh and d Ford made
Speaker 1: a bigger impact than the Rams defensive line. I thought overall,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs defense limited the Rams better. They didn't force
Speaker 1: they didn't force as many turnovers, scored They're not good
Speaker 1: in the secondary, but but they forced a lot of points.
Speaker 1: They made some turnovers, and I love the contrast between
Speaker 1: golf and Mahomes, because with Goff you kind of do
Speaker 1: see that Joe Montana. You see him hitting and stride,
Speaker 1: you see the anticipation. Everything is so beautifully done. And
Speaker 1: Mahomes is like the future. I mean if the if
Speaker 1: this game is the future. We just said, I haven't
Speaker 1: seen a guy like him before, and he showed it
Speaker 1: all off in this game, with the platforms, with the
Speaker 1: touch that he throws with, with the sixty yard bomb,
Speaker 1: with the anticipation, with everything, and some mistakes too, but
Speaker 1: he's he started twelve games. I think the most exciting
Speaker 1: play in football right now is when Patrick Mahomes winds
Speaker 1: up and lets one loose and it's just the beauty
Speaker 1: and the power of the throw, and you know it's
Speaker 1: gonna end with something exciting. He is. They are very
Speaker 1: different quarterbacks, but I I came out of this game
Speaker 1: Homes is amazing and he's and they're gonna be set
Speaker 1: up well. The Chiefs or years with him. But Goff
Speaker 1: continues to gain my respect in the stage as big
Speaker 1: as it was. It was such a big stage. Sean
Speaker 1: McVeigh maybe got a little bit of a coaching yips
Speaker 1: at some points. Maybe he's been doing this all year.
Speaker 1: You can see there they the fact that they blew
Speaker 1: three time outs like that, and some for no no
Speaker 1: great reasons. I didn't he's not aggressive in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter like people think he. I didn't love the play
Speaker 1: end with the passes at the end, I didn't like that.
Speaker 1: But my point was there were multiple shots, uh that
Speaker 1: ESPN had on the sideline of McVeigh kind of gathering himself.
Speaker 1: You could like maybe a little bit of a deep
Speaker 1: breath and you could tell like he was feeling the moment,
Speaker 1: which is human and normal, but it just it just
Speaker 1: reminded you that him, his team, and his quarterbacks stepped
Speaker 1: up when it counted. He's also the coach that schemed
Speaker 1: an incredible game out of Josh Reynolds, and that to
Speaker 1: me is the Rams that you lose Cooper Cup, and
Speaker 1: you can point to other teams and say, when you
Speaker 1: lose a guy like that, it's going to change what
Speaker 1: you can do. And for the Rams, because of the
Speaker 1: way that they get their wide receivers open and way
Speaker 1: that they scheme offense. Reynolds steps right in and looks
Speaker 1: to me like Cooper Cup. He looks fantastic and like
Speaker 1: the Rams all this thing about not using Todd Gurley
Speaker 1: at the end, I get it, but it's like this
Speaker 1: game asked for something completely different. Well, right, if they
Speaker 1: ran Todd Gurley, that's just saying we're gonna punt. And
Speaker 1: they ran three plays. They were all passive, no doubt,
Speaker 1: there's the other side to it, but the odds on
Speaker 1: that and they were doing a good job stopping Gurley,
Speaker 1: and I think they really set up to stop Gurley
Speaker 1: early in the game, and that's why it's partly why
Speaker 1: they didn't call many runs. But there there's only one
Speaker 1: incomplete pass there. So all it was was you gave
Speaker 1: the Chiefs one extra time out and what was going
Speaker 1: to be a very difficult trip down the field. I
Speaker 1: love him trying to win the game by getting one
Speaker 1: first down. Here's the thing. These are two of the
Speaker 1: top five rushing offenses in the NFL, and there are
Speaker 1: two smart coaches who have abandoned the run because they
Speaker 1: know that passing is more efficient way to move the football,
Speaker 1: and they were challenging one. I gotta ask you about
Speaker 1: this because the I know this Cleet Lakeman All Star
Speaker 1: crew they put together. There were like nine penalties in
Speaker 1: the first quarter. I think six of them. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: had thirteen penalties out of twenty one, and there were
Speaker 1: defensive issues with the Chiefs penalty wise that extended drives
Speaker 1: over and over. And I don't know if this is
Speaker 1: why did they do this for this one game, just
Speaker 1: because of the magnitude of it. I think so you
Speaker 1: you kind of want the official it's a balancing act
Speaker 1: because you want them to call the game as it
Speaker 1: should be called, but you also wanted to get out
Speaker 1: of the way. I hated there was a helmet to
Speaker 1: helmet penalty that the renounsator didn't even mention. Basically, well,
Speaker 1: don't get me started with the same is too special
Speaker 1: to waste up talking about that team. But like you
Speaker 1: want to the official crew to find that balancing act
Speaker 1: where they're officiating the game and not standing in a
Speaker 1: way and sometimes they overstepped their bounty. Think about the
Speaker 1: great games we've had in the NFL this year with
Speaker 1: these teams. Saints Rams for this game was better than
Speaker 1: that one. Go back and watch that game and why
Speaker 1: was just for the contrast and it was fun. But
Speaker 1: but you're absolutely right, Uh, what was the Patriot score
Speaker 1: forty three to forty and then this one's fifty four
Speaker 1: to fifty one, and I think the Steelers can get
Speaker 1: into a game like this, will maybe have I hope
Speaker 1: we have at this matchup. So this is what it is.
Speaker 1: And yet you're right. I moved up Aaron Donald in
Speaker 1: my m v P rankings. He's number three behind Breeze
Speaker 1: and Mahomes. Let me last point I'll make and you
Speaker 1: guys can jump in with the final thought as well
Speaker 1: before we move on. But uh, if I if you,
Speaker 1: if everything was on the line, I was gonna say
Speaker 1: your mortgages, but come on, your rents were on the line.
Speaker 1: All of famers, Okay, Woway, Patrick Mahomes, just say yes
Speaker 1: or no, Yes because of because of not just his talent,
Speaker 1: but because he's with Andy Reid, all of that together,
Speaker 1: Guard Goff, Todd Gurley, Yes, Hill, Yeah, Travis Kelsey, Aaron Donald,
Speaker 1: and Dominican Sue Andrew Whitworth. This is a memorable game
Speaker 1: for a lot of reasons. But this is like Johnny
Speaker 1: Johnny Hecker, who had average and a half already the
Speaker 1: greatest punner of all time in my opinion, more or
Speaker 1: less detonated the Chiefs chances on that last drive with
Speaker 1: the killer punt with the best punner turner in the
Speaker 1: league waiting back there. But this is a Sampson, you go,
Speaker 1: another Hall of Famer potentially. But but this is the
Speaker 1: greatest Monday Night game of all times. What I'm saying
Speaker 1: not just because the hype, but the players on the field.
Speaker 1: People will talk about this game forever. It knocks out
Speaker 1: the Earl Campbell love You Blue Oilers game with Howard
Speaker 1: Costell going crazy as the best Monday Night ever I think.
Speaker 1: I mean. And if you're a team that, like the
Speaker 1: New York Acions, decides in next year's draft to take
Speaker 1: a running back over a franchise quarterback, it's another reminder
Speaker 1: because we watched a lot of the New York Giants
Speaker 1: in these night games, and they aren't one of these
Speaker 1: teams that are are part of the revolution right now.
Speaker 1: They've been left behind right Sometimes the symbolism of the
Speaker 1: moment kind of meets the actual entertainment of the moment.
Speaker 1: And that that, to me, was this game. It wasn't
Speaker 1: just living up to the hype. It was that sort
Speaker 1: of dawning to a lot of people that this is
Speaker 1: what football is like now. And anyone complaining about the
Speaker 1: lack of defense can go eat it because football is
Speaker 1: about Football is about evolution. Like if they want the
Speaker 1: old type of football, hey, that the highest scoring game
Speaker 1: is still from nineteen You know a couple of the
Speaker 1: highest scoring games are from the sixties. Football is always changing.
Speaker 1: Football is changed. It'll change again. But this is how
Speaker 1: this is what it's looking like right now, and if
Speaker 1: you don't embrace the change, you get left behind. Like
Speaker 1: Jeff Fisher. Yeah, my final point. Greg Coastell and Ron
Speaker 1: Dworsky have a book called Games that Change the Game
Speaker 1: and it highlights about eight different classic NFL game games
Speaker 1: because of the scheming and the innovation changed the way
Speaker 1: football is played. And the nineteen forty title game when
Speaker 1: the Bears came out with the T formation and won
Speaker 1: seventy three to nothing. This game felt like innovation and
Speaker 1: you either get on board or you're left behind because
Speaker 1: it's everything that came before. This is gonna be different
Speaker 1: than what's gonna happen. It was. It was present meeting future. Uh,
Speaker 1: there you go. So that's our recap of Monday Night Football.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind seeing those teams again first weekend in February,
Speaker 1: but we'll see that the football gods have to say
Speaker 1: about that. Let's now turn our attention to Thursday, uh
Speaker 1: and talk about the three Thanksgiving games tradition. Uh and
Speaker 1: and we all love it and we love to watch football.
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler and Chris Weslay and Greg Rosantal and up
Speaker 1: Dad hands us. That's the introduction of us. We have
Speaker 1: to get right in to today. There's just two much
Speaker 1: to talk about. But let's move to Thursday. It's the
Speaker 1: start of week twelve. The first game, as it always is,
Speaker 1: is played in Detroit. Uh. It's at Ford Field. It's
Speaker 1: the same place where Third Eye Blind played a halftime
Speaker 1: show in nine. It's the name of Thanksgiving is on display.
Speaker 1: So here are the Bears, the team of around the NFL,
Speaker 1: coming off their best one of the seasons Sunday Night
Speaker 1: bit of a a tough turnaround for the Bears here. Uh.
Speaker 1: Now they get the Lions and uh, Lions, Greg who
Speaker 1: we don't know who they are week to week. So
Speaker 1: the Bears on a very short week, the Lions at home.
Speaker 1: The Bears gonna keep it going here, I think they will.
Speaker 1: But as we tape this, we don't know whether Mitch
Speaker 1: Trabinsky is playing in this game. He suffered a shoulder
Speaker 1: injury on a late hit from Harrison Smith. Matt Naggy
Speaker 1: was vague about his status on Tuesday, didn't sound overly optimistic,
Speaker 1: but other people believe that that he will be able
Speaker 1: to play. You could have chased Daniel starting, and that
Speaker 1: certainly changes the complexion of a Bears team that otherwise
Speaker 1: you know is absolutely rolling on defense. That with Khalil
Speaker 1: Mack and just everything that they have going on, they
Speaker 1: have playmakers at every level of the defense with a
Speaker 1: cheam Knicks and Jackson playing so well at safety that
Speaker 1: you just have to figure the lines are gonna have
Speaker 1: out really hard time moving the ball without Carrie on
Speaker 1: Johnson and very likely without Marvin Jones in this game.
Speaker 1: It's one of those weird instances. It's only the third
Speaker 1: time since nineteen seventy. We're an eleven days span separates
Speaker 1: the last time these two teams met, which which adds
Speaker 1: another wrinkle to it. But especially if the if Trabiski
Speaker 1: is out, I I look at what's happened to Matthew
Speaker 1: Stafford over the last game, where he's been sacked on
Speaker 1: almost thirty four percent of his when he's been pressured.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're getting to him and not just hurrying
Speaker 1: him throwing him out the pocket. They're taking him down.
Speaker 1: And this is the wrong defense for Detroit to deal with.
Speaker 1: And I feel with Detroit, and I haven't been inside
Speaker 1: that stadium, I feel like it's got to be a
Speaker 1: bottom six seven place to be intimidated. I as a team,
Speaker 1: this is not going in. This is not what you
Speaker 1: dealt with last night in Los Angeles, and it's not
Speaker 1: what you deal with when you go to Kansas City
Speaker 1: on the road. This is a milk toast environment. By
Speaker 1: the way, shout out to the Los Angeles Coliseum crowd.
Speaker 1: The fact that you're even making that statement, which I
Speaker 1: believe I agree with. That was an electric atmosphere. Football
Speaker 1: works in l A when you have the right set up,
Speaker 1: and yesterday was probably when you have one team, I mean,
Speaker 1: the big loser their Mexico City. They probably would have
Speaker 1: liked to see that game down there, but that's on them.
Speaker 1: But they get they get a game next year. It's
Speaker 1: already been announced. I felt like the night that the
Speaker 1: Rams became l A's team. Yeah, this season's really helped.
Speaker 1: Between the first Thursday night game we were at and
Speaker 1: then Top topping it and everything that's happened. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1: The Bears are the only defense I trust this year.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if I trust them against the Chief,
Speaker 1: Saints or Rams, but I certainly trust him in this game.
Speaker 1: Like you said eleven days after a non competitive game
Speaker 1: in which they absolutely throttle the Lions. And now the
Speaker 1: downgrade from Carrie on Johnson de La Garrett Blunt is massive.
Speaker 1: It can't be overstated. Blunt is averaging about two yards
Speaker 1: per carry, can't make anyone miss at age thirty two,
Speaker 1: and and no Marvin Jones. So you're going out there
Speaker 1: with Kenny Golladay, who was fantastic and made some absolutely
Speaker 1: unbelievable plays last week. But who else behind him? With
Speaker 1: the Bears, you're putting You're putting Bruce Ellington in. And
Speaker 1: the one positive is if it's Rabinsky who didn't play,
Speaker 1: you know well, I would say on on Sunday night. Overall,
Speaker 1: whether it's a kind of a banged up Rabinsky or
Speaker 1: Chase Daniel, the Bears seem more likely to play the
Speaker 1: style of game Detroit wants, which is kind of a
Speaker 1: close to the vest out. Detroit did just win a
Speaker 1: game pretty impressively. Stafford made Keith throws in that game,
Speaker 1: and they've been very good on Thanksgiving lately with Stafford.
Speaker 1: I think they've won five of six if that means anything,
Speaker 1: which I don't really other than that they have a
Speaker 1: good quarterback and that they're at home on a on
Speaker 1: a short week. But I don't. I don't care if
Speaker 1: Chase Daniel starts or not. I'm still gonna lock this
Speaker 1: game up for the Old Bears, and I was surprised
Speaker 1: that the lines are gonna be favored if if Chase
Speaker 1: Daniel starts this game, which I totally I locked the
Speaker 1: Bears up last week, and I'm gonna do with something
Speaker 1: that WestEd earlier in the year. I'm gonna follow in
Speaker 1: Gregg's footsteps here, but following my own footsteps from a
Speaker 1: week ago. I don't know yet. I mean, you're riding
Speaker 1: with Greg who's flirting with infamy at for instance. What
Speaker 1: I like to do with the Locks is not have
Speaker 1: them involved in my Sunday, at least before the show,
Speaker 1: because I've get into very I'm very irate when I lose,
Speaker 1: so at least I can just deal with that alone.
Speaker 1: On Thanksgiving, Khalil mac is back to what he was
Speaker 1: before the ankle injury, and that is he is. He
Speaker 1: destroys game plans. He is that guy. I mean Aaron Donald.
Speaker 1: I think his surge into the favorite for defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the year. But Mac maybe with a close, strong finish,
Speaker 1: I don't think he could rule him out either. He's
Speaker 1: he's a force. No, and this Lion's offensive line has
Speaker 1: been up and down, especially the right tackle Rick Wagner,
Speaker 1: So if he put Mac over there on him, they're
Speaker 1: gonna struggle. And meanwhile, like Kyle Long is out, has
Speaker 1: been out for a while and we don't even notice.
Speaker 1: We haven't even mentioned it on the show. One of
Speaker 1: the best guards in football and the Bears. Bears are
Speaker 1: getting done pretty well. I just don't feel like Chicago
Speaker 1: to the point of trusting their defense. One of the
Speaker 1: few that you can They don't have big letdown games
Speaker 1: like can right. Their average margin of defeat is the
Speaker 1: second lowest in the league. Like they're not. They don't
Speaker 1: suddenly get wiped out by Sun who they played. They
Speaker 1: had a pretty easy schedule. They've had the easiest, maybe
Speaker 1: the easiest schedule in football against opposing offenses. You know,
Speaker 1: the one quality offense. They played the Patriots. They did
Speaker 1: a solid job. Not great that that score was misleading
Speaker 1: because there was especially the Lions on the flip side
Speaker 1: of beating some good teams. But they've lost to some
Speaker 1: bad ones, so they're completely all over the They're so weird.
Speaker 1: I have a theory now why the Lions and Titans
Speaker 1: are so predictable. These these Patriots disciples, Belichick disciples, like
Speaker 1: they could come up with, like they changed so much
Speaker 1: week to week. Every once in a while they hit
Speaker 1: on a home run game plan that right makes their
Speaker 1: team look good. It's like, you know, we we thought
Speaker 1: the Panthers were such a lock last week that we
Speaker 1: wouldn't even have taken that as a as a lock in,
Speaker 1: and they ended up winning that game. Uh, let's move
Speaker 1: on to the second game. Uh, this is will be
Speaker 1: played at jeral World four thirty pm Eastern kickoff. And
Speaker 1: yes there's always a game in Dallas as well. And
Speaker 1: here are the Cowboys, all of a sudden with two
Speaker 1: gritty road wins back to back against two thousand and
Speaker 1: seventeen playoff teams. Uh, the Eagles and the Falcons. They're
Speaker 1: at five and five and they get in their building
Speaker 1: the NFC East leader Washington Redskins Chris Wessling, who are
Speaker 1: six and four, and they got that game advantage. But
Speaker 1: now there's a team in transition on a short week
Speaker 1: because Alex Smith obviously out of the picture for god
Speaker 1: knows how long, perhaps for good, we hope not. Here's
Speaker 1: Colt McCoy stepping in on a short week to be
Speaker 1: the team's new leader and potential savior. Well, I've I've
Speaker 1: heard some sky is falling like Redskins season is collapsing
Speaker 1: analysis and my opinion is this the way Alex Smith
Speaker 1: has played this year. One of the range of outcomes
Speaker 1: for the Redskins is that they move the ball better
Speaker 1: with Coote McCoy than they did with Alex Smith, and
Speaker 1: especially the last six quarters of Alex Smith. Um, I
Speaker 1: don't think that's that's an outlandish statement. I think that quote.
Speaker 1: McCoy will probably be more aggressive, he'll probably turn it loose,
Speaker 1: he'll take more chances, so maybe he has more turnovers.
Speaker 1: But I think they'll also make more plays. That said,
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys are the better team and I
Speaker 1: think they'll show it, and I think they'll be tied
Speaker 1: for first place after this game. I'm not. I want
Speaker 1: to feel the same way as he was, because the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are the better team, they're at home, they're playing
Speaker 1: well right now. But I just don't trust them. I can't.
Speaker 1: You also see them like laying an egg in this game.
Speaker 1: I think they're different since they got to Marie Cooper,
Speaker 1: Ezekiel Elliott. We've talked about that offense opening up is
Speaker 1: averaging hundred seventy yards from scrimmage per game. Um, they
Speaker 1: haven't used Cooper as much, but he's getting open. Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott's playing better, their offensive line is playing better, and
Speaker 1: Layton vander esh is a legitimate star. I trust the
Speaker 1: Cowboys ability to get to Colt McCoy, but Cole McCoy
Speaker 1: gives you what Alex Smith did, and and he he
Speaker 1: outplayed him when col McCoy came in the last game.
Speaker 1: And I guess it's someone that you haven't you weren't
Speaker 1: prepared for, but you're not. You wouldn't, in theory, be
Speaker 1: scared of col McCoy coming into a game. He was
Speaker 1: as mobile as Alex Smith and made better throws, generated touchdowns.
Speaker 1: I don't see it as a downgrade, but I don't.
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys have been such a better team
Speaker 1: at home that this is. They're inviting this matchup and
Speaker 1: I wanted to lock up the Redskins and I can't
Speaker 1: do it. They the Cowboys, though, even when they play
Speaker 1: the way they want to play, which I think they
Speaker 1: did in Atlanta, the style of football they play, especially
Speaker 1: in today's NFL we're talking about, they're not They're not
Speaker 1: part of the revolution. I mean, Jason Scarrett is analog
Speaker 1: and uh, you know this is a digital league right
Speaker 1: now. Now Now so are the Redskins. But the style that
Speaker 1: they play invites it. And their defense is good, invites
Speaker 1: what invites close games and the defense is good, but
Speaker 1: like every good defense in the NFL, they're not show stoppers.
Speaker 1: They had they were given a twenty to nine lead
Speaker 1: in Atlanta, Go finish the game. No, you give up
Speaker 1: two straight touch will you said Sunday that Atlanta is
Speaker 1: as good as any offense in the right nine points
Speaker 1: or whatever. There was only eight possessions, uh and and
Speaker 1: one of them was a little lucky. And yeah, they
Speaker 1: had a chance to close the game out there. There
Speaker 1: were there was a moment in that game I stopped.
Speaker 1: They said, Hey, if you're a really good defense. Let's
Speaker 1: stop the Falcons here. And they gave up two long
Speaker 1: drives at the end of that game. And Garrett just
Speaker 1: feels like he almost wants to play these close games.
Speaker 1: And that's why when you know, I looked at this
Speaker 1: game and I saw that the Cowboys are heavy, heavy
Speaker 1: favorites in this game. And it seems like because it
Speaker 1: seems like it seems like the people in the Desert
Speaker 1: are given, you know, the Redskint h the NFL else
Speaker 1: from Alex Smith to Cole McCoy. I don't buy that.
Speaker 1: Mark Sessler is not naming his son after some guy
Speaker 1: who caused the team three or four points. Redskins are
Speaker 1: gonna keep this game close. It should not be a
Speaker 1: two score game. And people gotta be making a rain
Speaker 1: on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table. Take out that money,
Speaker 1: but they don't have a roof. Oh yeah, we can't
Speaker 1: kill us. There goes making that money. People gotta be
Speaker 1: throwing those dollar bills on your turkey. Have a little
Speaker 1: set of dollar bills. Someone invite Pacman Jones. I'm not
Speaker 1: comfortable with that affectation, Greg. What did I say? Just
Speaker 1: the inflection was making me a little income. I don't
Speaker 1: even know what happened. We have to listen to it.
Speaker 1: Back that. So the rainmakers back in a big way.
Speaker 1: I'm glad Greg. Yeah, I like to keep on getting.
Speaker 1: You want to distance yourself from all these different things.
Speaker 1: You just keep I never said it was like we
Speaker 1: said that. I never said it was mean after you.
Speaker 1: So the Redskins are your rainmaker of the week. It's
Speaker 1: a rainy season. It's good to see the rainmaker back
Speaker 1: after you face planted last week. I mean that you're
Speaker 1: not gonna be one and one. What are the desert
Speaker 1: people saying? We went one and one? He brought it up,
Speaker 1: he brought up the chargers. I said, let's make it
Speaker 1: rain that that cash I just did that was one
Speaker 1: in one. But I think everywhere even Gregg was in
Speaker 1: agreement that perhaps to give the rainmaker, really to establish
Speaker 1: the brand, you should go with one. And you can't
Speaker 1: control my segment. You got you can do whatever you want.
Speaker 1: You're chieving in your bread. We're trying to help you.
Speaker 1: How could that be cheap? I'm not gonna trust the
Speaker 1: guy with multiple rain re Mark is just silent. He
Speaker 1: seems to be judging you with his eyes. I'm just
Speaker 1: waiting for this to play out. It feels like a
Speaker 1: c y A move. All right, let's move on to
Speaker 1: the final game. Unless anybody had another thought there? Good stuff,
Speaker 1: Good guys. Do you like the idea of Chase Daniel
Speaker 1: and Colt McCoy on Thanksgiving? Sorry? Match the final game?
Speaker 1: It's the prime time game. It's on NBC. I was
Speaker 1: told by a a copy editor that I respect and
Speaker 1: value his knowledge this week that even though it is
Speaker 1: on NBC, see Collinsworth gets the night off, So Tariko
Speaker 1: gets a call. I guess al gets the night off
Speaker 1: to their just Colin mcugh gets some reps here. I
Speaker 1: think he's doing it with the entire pregame crew. Interesting. Interesting,
Speaker 1: And it's the game of course is the Atlanta Falcons,
Speaker 1: who are riding a two game losing streak that's really
Speaker 1: put a big dent in their playoff hopes. Uh, they
Speaker 1: will travel to the super Dome to get the Saints,
Speaker 1: who are as playing as anyone, uh almost in years. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're at that level right now where they seem to
Speaker 1: be at a perfect point. If you're a Saints fan,
Speaker 1: your only fear is that they're peaking too soon, perhaps
Speaker 1: Mark Seessler, because the Falcons, just like the Eagles last week,
Speaker 1: seem to have an uphill challenge here. I'm not worried
Speaker 1: about them peaking too soon because I feel like what
Speaker 1: they have is what they're what they've had all year,
Speaker 1: and what they're gonna have at the end of the
Speaker 1: year too. And I think that the thing is, though,
Speaker 1: after what happened last night with the Rams, you have
Speaker 1: no wiggle room. You've got you cannot have a letdown here,
Speaker 1: and this, to me is a game that essentially will
Speaker 1: put a knife into the Falcons and and their season,
Speaker 1: if it wasn't already ended, well, it's over for Atlanta
Speaker 1: and they they cannot keep up with the Saints in
Speaker 1: this one. Well, they've been playing with a fork sticking
Speaker 1: out their backs for a month. And I've decided I'm
Speaker 1: no longer gonna allow Greg to call the Falcons one
Speaker 1: of the best offense in the league or it's like
Speaker 1: they got the best office in the league. They have
Speaker 1: been held under twenty four points in four of the
Speaker 1: last six weeks, and the Saints average double that in
Speaker 1: the last three weeks. The Saints have already as many
Speaker 1: forty point games in a season as anyone ever with
Speaker 1: six games left. Yes, so stop saying the Falcons are
Speaker 1: on the same level as to say're not. You're right there.
Speaker 1: They're about six or seventh in in the league and
Speaker 1: they have the league's worst defense right now according to
Speaker 1: the Football the worst. So not they're they're getting less
Speaker 1: possessions because they their defense doesn't force any turnovers. They're
Speaker 1: giving up these longers. Every Falcons game and Cowboys game
Speaker 1: is kind of like this, too, are very similar. It's
Speaker 1: not many possessions, it's these long drives on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball. I have no I have no idea
Speaker 1: what Atlanta can do in this game. Like the whole
Speaker 1: slow down the game idea doesn't work when the Saints
Speaker 1: are putting up seven points every time, because then you're training.
Speaker 1: Then you have to score the game. It's like the
Speaker 1: Bengals kind of slowed down the game. How did that
Speaker 1: work out for them? It didn't really matter. And you're
Speaker 1: not in and Drew Brees touchdowns, one pick, They're not.
Speaker 1: You're not going to get them to fall into one
Speaker 1: of these games where they give the ball over and
Speaker 1: they are peaking in the sense that the guys like
Speaker 1: tray Kuan Smith is now becoming a major factor week
Speaker 1: to week. Mark Ingram is still running well, Alvin Kamara
Speaker 1: is doing the same stuff he's always done, and their
Speaker 1: defense is giving up less than twenty points per game. Well,
Speaker 1: that that's where I don't think they are peaking necessarily
Speaker 1: because they're changing because of what you said about track
Speaker 1: Won Smith, because of Kirkwood. I mean, you can't take
Speaker 1: kirk Wood out for Brandon Marshall. Keith Kirkwood. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think you've gotta keep developing, see how it goes.
Speaker 1: Tasting Hill is just like tickling Sean Payne's fancy and
Speaker 1: he's like waking up in the middle of the night.
Speaker 1: He's like waking up in the middle of the night
Speaker 1: coming up with place for him. And the defense, to
Speaker 1: your point, Mark is getting much better. And I think
Speaker 1: if they can close out the season strong and this
Speaker 1: is a very big This is a tough test for them,
Speaker 1: at least the defense, and they just they have to
Speaker 1: be looking forward to burying the Falcons playing a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl in Atlanta. What could be worse? They yes, that,
Speaker 1: You're absolutely right, you know that, Greg, you went to
Speaker 1: college down there. This is a real nasty rivalry with
Speaker 1: the fans hate each other. Uh maybe a little under
Speaker 1: the radar for a lot of people, but it seems
Speaker 1: like to me with the Falcons. Maybe maybe because I
Speaker 1: want to talk myself into this being a fun game.
Speaker 1: I want to but listen, Daddy. By Thanksgiving night, it's
Speaker 1: now you know the son's going down. I'm kicking back,
Speaker 1: relaxing maybe, but I'm gonna throw back a few Tito's
Speaker 1: and enjoy myself in this the most American of all holidays.
Speaker 1: I want a game here, and pardon me wonders if
Speaker 1: the Falcons in like desperation, what do they call it
Speaker 1: the cage dog game? The game, well, I like I
Speaker 1: came out of the cage. The corner dog game actually
Speaker 1: goes toe to toe, punch to punch. The good Falcon's
Speaker 1: offense comes out. Because yes, they've been a little inconsistent,
Speaker 1: but three weeks ago they put up thirty eight. They
Speaker 1: put up thirty four two weeks before that, and then
Speaker 1: they had a great run through September into October. Maybe
Speaker 1: they can match scores. I don't think they win the game,
Speaker 1: but maybe we get another like five type game, like
Speaker 1: app of the Rams and Saints. I'm with you, but
Speaker 1: I look at the deep schedule for New Orleans, and
Speaker 1: what I'm looking for is the NFC title game, and
Speaker 1: I want that to be as competitive as possible. They
Speaker 1: closed with the Panthers. Steelers and Panthers, so you can't
Speaker 1: slip up here at home in a game that you
Speaker 1: should take, and they are coming. Everyone is in the
Speaker 1: afterglove of what happened last night, understandably, but it's easy
Speaker 1: to forget that the Saints put up forty eight against
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl champions and allowed seven. They don't just
Speaker 1: go in and give up thirty five. I've already broken
Speaker 1: goals team, but I don't care if they're broken they
Speaker 1: this is a broken Falcons team. Go lay it on them. Team.
Speaker 1: The Saints are the rare team where I know you.
Speaker 1: You know you want this to be a competitive game,
Speaker 1: so do I. And I hope Matt Ryan pulls something
Speaker 1: out of his but because it's gonna be tough, he's not.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm just saying I hope he he played.
Speaker 1: He's we keep saying he's playing better. First of all,
Speaker 1: he's not playing better than his m v PCs. I
Speaker 1: don't need to thank you. I don't need to hear
Speaker 1: that anymore. But he's playing very well and they're a
Speaker 1: top five or six offense. He's playing really well because
Speaker 1: the offensive line isn't helping. They don't really trust their
Speaker 1: running game. But I think he could have a great night,
Speaker 1: hopefully and make it interesting. But even if it's not
Speaker 1: by the third quarter, the Saints are the rare team
Speaker 1: when they blow teams out. I think they're entertaining just
Speaker 1: because what other team has Kimeara and Thomas and the
Speaker 1: place is going to be going crazy. They're entertaining when
Speaker 1: they blow teams. That Eagles game was not dull. It
Speaker 1: was the opposite of and it and the score was
Speaker 1: was ridiculous. All I want from Greg is an acknowledgement
Speaker 1: that the Rams, Saints, and Chiefs are on a different
Speaker 1: level than everyone else offensive like maybe the Cults are
Speaker 1: in there, just like the Ram, Saints and Chiefs are
Speaker 1: doing things that we haven't seen because the fifth best
Speaker 1: offense means you're in a completely different tier. Is huge
Speaker 1: gap between those three, and I think this. I think
Speaker 1: the Steelers haven't been there and the Patriots haven't been there,
Speaker 1: but they've shown signs they want a forty three to
Speaker 1: forty game over Kansas City. They've shown signs, but they
Speaker 1: haven't been there. They could be there, but they haven't been.
Speaker 1: And maybe even there's a gap between the Saints and
Speaker 1: the next two No really Chiefs. Well, they score every
Speaker 1: single time this The Saints are on a run like
Speaker 1: we haven't seen and they get better every week, and
Speaker 1: they're going to get on the other side of the
Speaker 1: ball at some point. They're gonna get Marcus Davenport back too,
Speaker 1: so they're gonna get even better. The a f C
Speaker 1: feels like it has four or five good teams, but
Speaker 1: in the NFC, I just want to Rams Saints rematch,
Speaker 1: and it very fine in Los Angeles because of that
Speaker 1: scheduled difference. The Rams really only have one tough game
Speaker 1: the rest of the Sea. It's very tough though it's
Speaker 1: in Chicago. But the Saints have three pretty tough game.
Speaker 1: That's why I mean they don't. They have no wiggle
Speaker 1: room because you have to you have to equal the record,
Speaker 1: and I don't think the Saints go into l A
Speaker 1: and win. That can likely to be the trap game. Uh.
Speaker 1: To Mark's point. Next week they go on a three
Speaker 1: game road road trip. The Saints they played better obviously
Speaker 1: on the road this year undefeated in fact, but uh
Speaker 1: at Dallas, at Tampa, at Carolina, then home to Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: and home to Carolina. So you're right there. There's probably
Speaker 1: a loss in there, at least maybe even two. And
Speaker 1: then it allows the Rams to potentially sneak in the
Speaker 1: back door, but they gotta win twice. The schedule, Bakers
Speaker 1: got lucky. All those teams are playing each other. The
Speaker 1: Chargers are playing the Steelers. The Chargers are playing the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: the Patriots are playing the Steelers. It's like we got
Speaker 1: a nice little roun Rounds have to finish a game
Speaker 1: clear of the Saints because of the tiebreaker. That's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to do that. Here's the Ram schedule, the Lions,
Speaker 1: the Bears, the Eagles, the Cardinals, the Forts. They're not
Speaker 1: losing again at Chicago at Chicago. We'll see where you
Speaker 1: can't just give that to the right. I could be too.
Speaker 1: Thir teen and one is not a crazy I don't
Speaker 1: see them dropping two games on the last time. There's
Speaker 1: two fourteen and two teams in the conference. I was
Speaker 1: just thinking, this is like the most confident I've ever
Speaker 1: been in November that we're going to have a great
Speaker 1: super Bowl. It's going to be off. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: think of like it's a fair point, Like what would
Speaker 1: be the worst possible super Bowl right now? Texans Bears? Sorry, hey,
Speaker 1: keep the Bears out of this. How dare you? Patriots
Speaker 1: would be bad? Patriots back in there? Texan Seahawks. You
Speaker 1: don't even want the Patriots. I have mixed feelings, but
Speaker 1: I definitely want to see them back. I don't have
Speaker 1: I don't have a ton of confidence Redskins tightness without
Speaker 1: the match, revenge for Alex Smith's injury? How dare you? J? J? Watt?
Speaker 1: All right, thank you and everybody for listening. We'll be
Speaker 1: back um with our preview show over the rest of
Speaker 1: week twell later this week. So thank you to everyone
Speaker 1: who follows the show. And uh if you don't hear
Speaker 1: from us before then, Happy Thanksgiving to all you uh
Speaker 1: US listeners. We love you. This is Dan Hansons signing
Speaker 1: off for Quiet Storm, The Mailman, The Old Boss, Dr Rainmaker,
Speaker 1: and Ricky Hollywood behind the Glass dr Rainmaker Still Wednesday,