Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL podcast. It's recognized by no one
Speaker 1: in the United States. Welcome to another edition of the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL podcast, presented by the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker 1: My name is Dan Hans and joined and were filled
Speaker 1: with heroes Mark Sassler, Chris Westling and Gregg Rose atal
Speaker 1: What is up is? Hey? Dan? Oh? Yeah, Tuesday show?
Speaker 1: So are we gonna throw it to the five minute
Speaker 1: conversation we just had about the combine or ten minute
Speaker 1: com which then ended with Dan man like, this is
Speaker 1: the show we should have been taping this, which is
Speaker 1: like something that's happened basically every time. There's no need
Speaker 1: at this point. Having done the show as long as
Speaker 1: we have and as much time as we spend with
Speaker 1: each other, there is no point talking when the mics
Speaker 1: aren't on. At this point, I know that five minutes
Speaker 1: was clinical, even dysfunctional and rude. It's It's just true, though.
Speaker 1: I mean, if we're gonna say, if we're gonna have
Speaker 1: an interesting conversation this many years in, you might as
Speaker 1: well be recording it. You're right, that does sound cool.
Speaker 1: I was recording it though, maybe release the tapes, uh,
Speaker 1: I mean could be used. I did think about that,
Speaker 1: because you know, you guys were nice enough to take
Speaker 1: that tape tape that Thanksgiving podcast, So West and I
Speaker 1: had Me and Mark are the only ones that heard it.
Speaker 1: But West and I had Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. You know,
Speaker 1: I guess we taped on Wednesday, but you know, Wednesday
Speaker 1: afternoon through Sunday morning. And I realized, like, that's the
Speaker 1: longest I've not seen you guys in a long time.
Speaker 1: Those three days. Do not shake your head at me.
Speaker 1: It was it was it was a nice break, That's
Speaker 1: all I'm saying. It was a nice little Erica just
Speaker 1: slacked me or used the chat client to say, tell
Speaker 1: them it wasn't my fault that there was a major
Speaker 1: technical snapfoo with our Thanksgiving show. I will not I
Speaker 1: will not say that. Why not? Why won't you tell
Speaker 1: the like Greg's good at delivering this type of no,
Speaker 1: I'm out on. I didn't have anything to do with it,
Speaker 1: wasn't Ricky and I wasn't producing. I asked to work Friday,
Speaker 1: even from home, and they said no, so they had
Speaker 1: someone else do it. I think that paper trail would
Speaker 1: prove you correct in terms of everything that happened post show.
Speaker 1: How we got there. That's up for debate. Thank you
Speaker 1: you do. And so you're comfortable with us asking the
Speaker 1: shadowy league figure. That's exactly how it went down. I
Speaker 1: have text Dan was texting me. We were told I was,
Speaker 1: but you weren't mad at me. You were mad at
Speaker 1: this individual. I was mad at the entire situation. Right.
Speaker 1: I was at the zoo at the time when they
Speaker 1: started texting me, and I sent a pretty good picture
Speaker 1: of a leopard and I thought you guys would appreciate that,
Speaker 1: but no comments. Um, and yeah, there was a snaffoo
Speaker 1: with the Thursday show and some people got a podcast
Speaker 1: that I wasn't even aware existed. But apparently there's another
Speaker 1: um show that Bucky Brooks does that they put out
Speaker 1: on this platform. Um. Well, that's why it felt like
Speaker 1: a high concept prank against not only you and me,
Speaker 1: but everyone involved with our show, was that that particular
Speaker 1: show appeared in our place. Very yeah, great moment. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be a very confusing first around the NFL podcast
Speaker 1: for anyone to listen to. Well, you've been You've already
Speaker 1: made seven years of mistakes if you've not been listening
Speaker 1: up till now. Um, all right, So we have so
Speaker 1: much to get to it, so we should stop dilly dallying.
Speaker 1: Because big news in the NFL. We have a second
Speaker 1: head coach who has now been dismissed. Also, we have
Speaker 1: a nice uh seg which team changed your mind the most?
Speaker 1: In Week thirteen? Uh we have a Thursday night preview
Speaker 1: Dallas at Chicago. Is that? No, it is not a
Speaker 1: dart knap game for the Cowboys because of the state
Speaker 1: of the NFC East, but the Bears certainly need the
Speaker 1: game to stay um mathematically relevant in the Nationals. In
Speaker 1: our league, we must win in our league. We got
Speaker 1: a couple of our leagues on the Monday telecast. We
Speaker 1: also got to this league, which sometimes is a good
Speaker 1: curcuit for our league. This league is good though, because
Speaker 1: it's more inclusive. Our league is clearly I strapped, I
Speaker 1: I suited up, I had the helmet on, I went
Speaker 1: through the I asked the classing. Is JaMarcus Russell waltzing
Speaker 1: around town saying, you know, in our league we do this,
Speaker 1: So that's like, is what is the level of where
Speaker 1: you're even allowed to say that you participated with any
Speaker 1: amount of I think you have to have a pension. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, we worked for the NFL. We were involved
Speaker 1: in some pension action for a bit there. Different pension,
Speaker 1: not not our pension, not our pension in our pension anyway.
Speaker 1: So Dallas at Chicago we'll talk about and yes, Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera is out, and we're gonna get to that in
Speaker 1: a moment. But before we do, let us recap. Actually,
Speaker 1: should we start with Ron Rivera? Let's do. Yes, we'll
Speaker 1: get to Monday Night football up, but let's start with
Speaker 1: the big news that broke about an hour before we
Speaker 1: uh went on the air today. Ron Rivera out as
Speaker 1: Panthers head coach. Uh. This was his ninth season with
Speaker 1: the team, a two time NFL Coach of the Year,
Speaker 1: a NFC Conference champion of the two thousand fifteen season,
Speaker 1: the fifteen in one season where the Panthers fell short,
Speaker 1: and Super Bowl fifty against the Broncos, A guy that's
Speaker 1: widely respected across the league. And yet this the timing
Speaker 1: is surprising. But the fact that it happened is not.
Speaker 1: Because Greg David Tepper, who took over as the owner
Speaker 1: officially last summer. UH, you saw him kind of itching
Speaker 1: to to make a move to put his stamp on
Speaker 1: the organization. And he made the decision to get ahead
Speaker 1: of this. There was no way Rivera was gonna survive
Speaker 1: past twenty nineteen. So with four games to go, Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera out as head coach of the Pani. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: timing is always going to be a surprise when it's
Speaker 1: in week you know fourteen were heading into It's a
Speaker 1: Tuesday morning. It's actually the same day that Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: was fired UH last time and I last year rather,
Speaker 1: and I think that two cases are are fairly similar.
Speaker 1: The Panthers, No, they're gonna make a change. It's gonna
Speaker 1: be a seismic one. They hinted in the press release
Speaker 1: of adding vice president uh to the mix, an assistant
Speaker 1: general manager to the mix, but do not mention Marty Hernie,
Speaker 1: which would indicate the plan is to add pieces to
Speaker 1: the front office around Marty Hernie. But his status is
Speaker 1: probably very much up in the air as well, based
Speaker 1: on what coach. He's going to figure that out later.
Speaker 1: So why why wait around? I guess in theory you
Speaker 1: can start talking to some of these college coaches or
Speaker 1: guys like Mike McCarthy that are out there. That's what
Speaker 1: we heard in Green Bay. In the end, it didn't
Speaker 1: really matter in Green Bay like that, you know, they
Speaker 1: had they had to wait for Matt Lafloor, and that's
Speaker 1: the most likely route that the Panthers are gonna have
Speaker 1: to take. There's another similarity to Mike McCarthy that his
Speaker 1: offense had stopped working, and that's what he was brought
Speaker 1: in for his offense. He was an offensive guru Ron Rivera.
Speaker 1: They've got quarterback problems, sure, but their defense dropped to
Speaker 1: thirty second and dead last and run defense d v
Speaker 1: o A last week. Uh, they can't even stop the
Speaker 1: run when they stacked the box. Since mid season, they
Speaker 1: have been among the worst teams in blitz effectiveness and
Speaker 1: deep passing from their secondary, and they had dropped to
Speaker 1: bottom five or six defense overall in the league. This
Speaker 1: is what Ron Rivera was brought in for his defense.
Speaker 1: I thought it was interesting when David Tepper made very
Speaker 1: strong comments and we talked about it on the show
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago, saying person A, B or
Speaker 1: C is not going to decide what happens to Cam Newton.
Speaker 1: Let's start right there. This is this is an active
Speaker 1: involved owner, and you have some owners that say I've
Speaker 1: got the money. I want an NFL team as my plaything,
Speaker 1: to invite people into a box and we can watch
Speaker 1: the game, and that's gonna be great. But David Tepper
Speaker 1: took over Jerry Richardson's Panthers culture, and I think, like
Speaker 1: when we've a lot of CEO shifts here, but in
Speaker 1: other companies I've worked for, the smart thing to do
Speaker 1: with CEO is not come in and fire everyone and
Speaker 1: bringing your friends two weeks and you wait, you look,
Speaker 1: you examine the organization from top to bottom, and then
Speaker 1: you make the changes you want to make after you've
Speaker 1: spent some time. And that's what's happening here. I think
Speaker 1: that the we can call it stunning that it happened
Speaker 1: right now. We're not that far away. We're a hop
Speaker 1: skip and to jump away from the end of the year.
Speaker 1: Is anybody really stunned? No, not at all. It just
Speaker 1: seems to be the word. But I guess, I guess
Speaker 1: the references, you know, we heard it on NFL Network
Speaker 1: has some assistance were stunned. Stunned because they're probably you know,
Speaker 1: horse blinders on, you're just working towards the next thing.
Speaker 1: But he's been there nine years, so it's one of
Speaker 1: the longest tenured guys, and so I think that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a shock no matter what. It's the kind of
Speaker 1: thing where like when Peyton Manning suddenly wasn't on the cult,
Speaker 1: it's like visually optically, it's hard to imagine any other
Speaker 1: coach on the sideline. But David Tepper has been giving
Speaker 1: rumblings of this when he's spoken for a long time
Speaker 1: that he was not. He was brought into a culture
Speaker 1: that obviously needed major changes. He could have fired him
Speaker 1: stop season, he didn't. He had some he had some patients.
Speaker 1: Actually to let a guy who has had a lot
Speaker 1: of success, I mean, they won three straight NFC South
Speaker 1: championships UH time when no one had ever won back
Speaker 1: to back in that division. Right. One of those years
Speaker 1: was seven eight and one, so that that takes some luck.
Speaker 1: But he won Coach of the Year twice. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's more Coach of the Year awards than Andy Reid has,
Speaker 1: than Sean Payton has, and peaches behind Bill Belgium, Pete
Speaker 1: Carroll has and those years and the first one has
Speaker 1: a connection to our podcast two thousand thirteen. That was
Speaker 1: the original UH team of around the NFL because because
Speaker 1: West and you know myself, but we enjoyed watching that team.
Speaker 1: It was a lot of fun and temper If you
Speaker 1: watch the all or Nothing season, uh last year, you
Speaker 1: kind of got the vibe. They they had installed a
Speaker 1: camera right in his luxury suite pointing down at him
Speaker 1: and every game because a big part of the all
Speaker 1: or nothing story sometimes too big in my opinion, But
Speaker 1: that's another conversation, is going through each game of the
Speaker 1: season and tempers. Box was a part of every game.
Speaker 1: I think as time goes on, you're gonna see he's
Speaker 1: gonna be one of the most forward facing owners in
Speaker 1: the league because I think he enjoys it the way
Speaker 1: Jerry Jones enjoys it. And I do have a missive
Speaker 1: from David Tepper that was released after the dismissal. Here
Speaker 1: it is, we are going to take a comprehensive and
Speaker 1: thorough review of our football operation to make sure we
Speaker 1: are structured for long term, sustained success. Our vision is
Speaker 1: to find the right mix of old school discipline and
Speaker 1: toughness with modern and innovative processes. We will consider a
Speaker 1: wide range of football executives that complement our current football staff.
Speaker 1: One change that we will implement is hiring an assistant
Speaker 1: general manager and vice president of football operations. Did you
Speaker 1: guys mention this yet with all that I'll cut the missive?
Speaker 1: Do you believe he was like, do you believe that
Speaker 1: these CEOs ever right that? Yeah, well I believe I
Speaker 1: think they give verbal notes and someone else on Microsoft word,
Speaker 1: you know, going through paragraphs and cutting the page. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of buzz that you know, he's analytic minded,
Speaker 1: that he wants, you know, something that's cutting it and
Speaker 1: he even even mentioned it like a mix of old
Speaker 1: school football new Well, we'll see what that means. I
Speaker 1: do think that people are too um ready to say
Speaker 1: goodbye to Cam Newton there, and that Cam Newton could
Speaker 1: be extremely attractive to some coaching candidates that make the
Speaker 1: case of why they have a plan to keep Cam Newton. Well,
Speaker 1: if your only other option is Kyle Allen and Will Greer,
Speaker 1: who can't overtake Kyle Allen, then I think I would
Speaker 1: be shocked at this point if Cam Newton is not
Speaker 1: doing Is this a good job? Yes, I mean any
Speaker 1: NFL head coach job. If you click with David Tepper
Speaker 1: and you find out that in two years in you
Speaker 1: still click with David Tepper. I think it is. But
Speaker 1: the roster you got some players. You got Kwan Short,
Speaker 1: you got Luke Kickley, Shack Thompson. The receiver group is good.
Speaker 1: You got Christian McCaffrey. Should have mentioned right at the top.
Speaker 1: I think so. And I think you have an owner
Speaker 1: that's that's gonna spend and we should mention nor Of
Speaker 1: Turner is no longer their offensive coordinator. He is the
Speaker 1: assistant to the new interim coach, Perry Fuel and Scott Turner.
Speaker 1: Nor I Son is taking over play calling, which is
Speaker 1: which is strange in it in it reminds me kind
Speaker 1: of a Rivera's challenge in this hiring cycle, because I'm
Speaker 1: sure he'll get interviews. He's a good coach uh and
Speaker 1: has a great record, but he's not an offensive coach.
Speaker 1: So what's his plan for offense? Who's he bringing with
Speaker 1: him wherever he would go? That's gonna be the first
Speaker 1: question anyone asked him. They're moving into a brand new
Speaker 1: facility next year, just across the border in South Caroline.
Speaker 1: I think rock Hill. They have an owner who seems
Speaker 1: from afar, who really wants to win. He's competitive, but
Speaker 1: lets his football people make their football decisions, and I
Speaker 1: did like what he said about the mix of sort
Speaker 1: of that innovative new school approach with the old school disciplined.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think most owners are probably going for that,
Speaker 1: but I think it's a good job. Kevin Colbert, by
Speaker 1: the way, the Steelers general manager is unsigned going into
Speaker 1: next year, went out of his way to not esa
Speaker 1: in with the Steelers. And Temper was the minority owner
Speaker 1: with the Steelers like that connected for a long time.
Speaker 1: So that was good. That was I mean, so was
Speaker 1: Jimmy haslum So. And if there you go, Seelers have
Speaker 1: that little pink pony operation of their own going on,
Speaker 1: and I do Ron Rivera on the giant sideline. That
Speaker 1: makes a lot of sense to me. However, as we
Speaker 1: talked about downstairs, Dave Gettlman uh and Ron Rivera uh
Speaker 1: not bad fellows at this point. So maybe the GM
Speaker 1: would have to be swept out of that. I don't
Speaker 1: even mean I would imagine Gettleman is out, But I mean,
Speaker 1: like we it's so funny how we assume that we
Speaker 1: know these two people don't like each other, like each other.
Speaker 1: We don't know, said no, I know, but it's like
Speaker 1: there's been some other thoughts that that could make sense.
Speaker 1: Who knows a reunion reunion that happened, child reunion you
Speaker 1: know that one. Oh yeah, that's Paul Simon's corect Greg
Speaker 1: does have these back channel whispers down. You know, you
Speaker 1: never know when he's he's coming loaded for a podcast
Speaker 1: with material that you don't think he has. He's privy
Speaker 1: to things. It's called on speed die. All right, let's uh,
Speaker 1: let's now circle back and let's do a little Monday
Speaker 1: night football talk. He's got time, He's got David more
Speaker 1: wide open. I could catch touchdowns from six. R. Rush
Speaker 1: looked up, saw David Moore running right past Savior Roach
Speaker 1: and said, here you go. Serves it up on a platter.
Speaker 1: And the Seahawks are on top twenty six to seventeen,
Speaker 1: and they're doing the hula in the ends on the
Speaker 1: Seahawks receivers. Wow, what are they playing for Seattle Radio Network? Yes?
Speaker 1: And I just want to say the touchdown celebration that
Speaker 1: they did was one of the more impressive things I
Speaker 1: can remember. It was synchronized at the Monday night football
Speaker 1: camera right in their face with a with a great
Speaker 1: sight line behind them. Problem Like, oh, I just I
Speaker 1: just like ball, just like talking ball. Start. It was
Speaker 1: from New Addition, right, That's what I was. Is that
Speaker 1: what it was? Yeah, I didn't think it was the
Speaker 1: HULO whatever that. I think Black Sports Online posted that
Speaker 1: the actual video and their rendition, and it was it
Speaker 1: was pretty good and hard. Try slapping us down a
Speaker 1: type of reaction and your Hawkins made a great point.
Speaker 1: You don't know how hard that is. There's no they
Speaker 1: don't have any music. The crowd's going crazy, and that
Speaker 1: you can be synchronized. That's tough. I'm silent because I
Speaker 1: am waiting a top ball. I had a point or two.
Speaker 1: I had to type in real quick to make sure
Speaker 1: if if if you came to me first with the game,
Speaker 1: you know, I have to give something solid. Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: coming to you first at the game West, So get ready,
Speaker 1: Greg and Iron trouble. We're not We're not gonna be
Speaker 1: heard from it anything. Uh. Yes. The Minnesota Vikings went
Speaker 1: to Seattle. Things started well. They had the lead at
Speaker 1: the half, but in the Seahawks did what they always do,
Speaker 1: which is find a way at home. They started scoring
Speaker 1: recklessly in the second half, end up with the thirty
Speaker 1: seven to thirty win. Um. Rashad Penny and Chris Carson
Speaker 1: have great game. Both of them great games. Both went
Speaker 1: over a hundred total yards. Russell Wilson made his big
Speaker 1: plays as he always does, including that David Moore touchdown.
Speaker 1: West uh Seattle now takes over first place in the
Speaker 1: NFC West. It's a tie, but they have the tie
Speaker 1: break with the Niners. They move all the way up
Speaker 1: to the number two seed. How impressed were you by
Speaker 1: this particular performance, Well, it seemed to have a lot
Speaker 1: of the hallmarks of most of the like late game
Speaker 1: adreneral adrenaline rush performances. I think a difference in this
Speaker 1: one is we're seeing Rashad Penny now back to back weeks,
Speaker 1: emerges that one to punch out of the backfield. This
Speaker 1: is starting to look like last year where they're running
Speaker 1: game is just dominating. The offensive line probably had their
Speaker 1: best game of the year, and they piled up four
Speaker 1: hundred and forty four yards on a good defense, and
Speaker 1: it seemed to me like they just offensively, the Seahawks
Speaker 1: are now bowllying people in a way they wanted to
Speaker 1: earn the year and couldn't. And defensively, their defensive line
Speaker 1: has come alive and dictated the action over the past
Speaker 1: month and the way they didn't earlier in the year.
Speaker 1: I thought they really overwhelmed the Vikings offensive line in
Speaker 1: this one, along with Rashad Penny. It's a team where
Speaker 1: they don't have they have some stars, but you've got
Speaker 1: every game key plays from guys like Geron Reed, Quandrie Digs,
Speaker 1: who's been awesome. We talked about him, Bradley Mcdougaldsheim Green,
Speaker 1: Ziggy onset like, they all did key things last night.
Speaker 1: And they're using six offensive linemen to pound people. And
Speaker 1: I can't think of a coach whose image and overall
Speaker 1: higher ability in general has changed more under Peaked Carrold
Speaker 1: than Brian Schottenheimer, who with the Rams and in previous
Speaker 1: stops was viewed as a stuck in the past totally.
Speaker 1: He came out well, but you know what, I was
Speaker 1: very down on on and everyone else including me, I
Speaker 1: heard me. I've already Shott Haimer is one of my
Speaker 1: favorite coaches. But I think Brian schotten who came into
Speaker 1: this year saying we're gonna throw to our running backs,
Speaker 1: We're gonna use them in different ways, and it's proven true,
Speaker 1: especially now that it's two guys and their offense is dangerous.
Speaker 1: And the Seahawks strike me as a team where we
Speaker 1: can look at a couple of these divisional winner types
Speaker 1: where they don't have to lead, you can get to them.
Speaker 1: They can be beaten. They need the lead to succeed
Speaker 1: and to flourish in certain cases. And the Seahawks seemed
Speaker 1: like they can win they want. They've won two overtime games.
Speaker 1: You know, the Seahawks have won two games and overtime
Speaker 1: in the past four weeks. They can win any type
Speaker 1: of football game. I don't care where they're at at halftime.
Speaker 1: They're never out of it. We say it every week
Speaker 1: because it's true. Well they also, I mean they've in
Speaker 1: their four biggest games of the year, they've given up
Speaker 1: you know, defensive or special teams touchdowns. They want a
Speaker 1: couple of them, they've they've lost a couple of them.
Speaker 1: Like weird things happen in their games. This was an
Speaker 1: interesting Monday, you know, primetime game with two stars at
Speaker 1: at quarterback and you have the Cousins angle. And I
Speaker 1: didn't think it was about the quarter of X. I
Speaker 1: just didn't This was a game where the quarterbacks it's
Speaker 1: not that they didn't matter, but Cousins played pretty well.
Speaker 1: I don't think it was one of Russell Wilson's best
Speaker 1: games of the year. I would say as good as
Speaker 1: a year that he's had, I would say it was
Speaker 1: probably one of his worst games of the year. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, a couple a couple of things he would
Speaker 1: take back with Schottenheimer. Though it's funny Seahawks Twitter is,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a wild, magical place, there's still an
Speaker 1: argument whether they're like good despite Schottenheimer or good because
Speaker 1: of him and they and there's definitely a lot of
Speaker 1: frustration with like game management of you know, they punt
Speaker 1: on fourth and one very early in the game despite
Speaker 1: that good running attack and the Vikings score right afterwards.
Speaker 1: They waste time outs like like no other team in
Speaker 1: the league. And it's like, people, it's weird. Yeah, it's not.
Speaker 1: That's not so. I just wondered if, like, the biggest
Speaker 1: difference between Brian Schottenheimer now is like Russell Wilson's Mark
Speaker 1: Sanchez is that, I mean, how and that's not even
Speaker 1: a shot against him this well, I'd say the same
Speaker 1: about Mike Petton. With many offensive quarters, I would say
Speaker 1: most you're tied to your quarterback in so many ways.
Speaker 1: Maybe he's one of those guys. Have a wild suggestion
Speaker 1: for that corner of Seahawks Nation. What if stay with
Speaker 1: me here instead of litigating your offensive coordinator every week,
Speaker 1: just enjoy the ride the rest of the Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean this is this is a team to enjoy. They
Speaker 1: had the ball for forty minutes and it's it's interesting
Speaker 1: because they don't have Tyler Lockett right now. Really he's
Speaker 1: out in the field, but he's not the same guy
Speaker 1: that he was early in the season. I think he
Speaker 1: has one catch over the last two weeks. He's someone
Speaker 1: that's played through injury, but not you know, played well
Speaker 1: through injury in the past, and that's what's happening right now.
Speaker 1: Josh Gordon has not been a factor, but they but
Speaker 1: dk Metcalf has stepped up to the point Decalf he
Speaker 1: could be in the mix for offensive Rookie of the
Speaker 1: Year if you don't feel like given it to a quarterback.
Speaker 1: And I came out of this gage and behind Josh Jacobs,
Speaker 1: I came out of this game like not you know
Speaker 1: in the Vikings are one of the teams that I've
Speaker 1: distinctly just said, that's fine. I know you're gonna make
Speaker 1: the playoffs and you're gonna you're gonna get whacked at
Speaker 1: some point, and you don't have to agree with me.
Speaker 1: But I just there's just too much high class operations
Speaker 1: going on in the NFC right now. But this game,
Speaker 1: in the loss, made me think much more of them.
Speaker 1: The way that they did there was they could have
Speaker 1: been buried at one point, way back, over and over.
Speaker 1: And I don't kill him for losing in Seattle on
Speaker 1: Monday night. I agree with that, but the Dalvin Cook
Speaker 1: injury bothers me. A shoulder for a running back really
Speaker 1: bothers me because I've seen so many good running backs
Speaker 1: go from running with abandoned and fearlessness. We've seen it
Speaker 1: from Ryan Matthews and mark Ingram when they had shoulder
Speaker 1: injuries to running with a completely tentative style after the
Speaker 1: shoulder injury, and that's something to look forward have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have a good backup with Madison, which will help,
Speaker 1: but he's not the same player. He's a totally different player.
Speaker 1: I hated the Vikings game because this was their chance,
Speaker 1: up by a touchdown coming out of the half to
Speaker 1: really stamp themselves as we are one of the truly
Speaker 1: elite NFC teams, and I think it just reinforced to
Speaker 1: me anyway that they're just the tier below, maybe the
Speaker 1: top of that next year, but still not a team
Speaker 1: that I think is gonna go through the NFC, which
Speaker 1: is which is a gauntlet. Obviously, this I just saw
Speaker 1: a team that could have White, They could have lost
Speaker 1: his forty two to twenty, and it would been like, well,
Speaker 1: I have no faith in you. And I thought that
Speaker 1: this their second half was one where they did knock
Speaker 1: him up on any level, right, So that's bad luck.
Speaker 1: I mean their first four drives where a three and
Speaker 1: out Cook Cook gets injured and loses a fumble. On
Speaker 1: the same play, Digs drops a pass that turns into
Speaker 1: an intersect. There are some crazy plays and but ultimately
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins did have a chance to go win the
Speaker 1: game on their last drive, and he played well in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. But you know some of their play
Speaker 1: calling that you're you know, you're throwing into La Kwan
Speaker 1: Treadwell and then a covered I Smith is the only
Speaker 1: option on fourth down. I'm I'm a little concerned, if
Speaker 1: I'm a Vikings fan, that the run defense has been
Speaker 1: so bad. Uh in this game the past defense has
Speaker 1: been bad in other weeks. They bench Xavier Rhodes at
Speaker 1: one point and then he said after the game, you know,
Speaker 1: they try to talk to him and he's just like
Speaker 1: I'm out the door and that you know, he that's
Speaker 1: a bad situation. There's just like there's secondary her. It's
Speaker 1: just you know, Riley Reef is hurt. Their their left
Speaker 1: tackle didn't play the second half of this game. They've
Speaker 1: got some issues they got to overcome. But the schedule
Speaker 1: is favorable. Yeah, and this west this is I'm glad
Speaker 1: Greg brought it up so I didn't have to. But
Speaker 1: I will note that Kirk Cousins did take the field
Speaker 1: with three seventeen to play in all three times. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, you're gonna try to make this about Kirk Cousins.
Speaker 1: It's got to be said. God in particular, are gonna
Speaker 1: try to make about Kirk Cousin. Someone needs to say it. No,
Speaker 1: you really don't, You really don't. You and the rest
Speaker 1: of Twitter do not have to say, hey, this is
Speaker 1: about Kirk Cousins. You don't have to wait a second.
Speaker 1: I didn't say that, So you're you're being selective and
Speaker 1: what you're hearing from me right now. This loss was
Speaker 1: on their defense, uh mostly, but it should be said.
Speaker 1: He takes the field three seventeen to play three time outs,
Speaker 1: down four points and goes five and out. That's all
Speaker 1: I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. You could say that
Speaker 1: all I'm caring about is Kirk Cousins. Here's what that
Speaker 1: was a moment because it happened at a time when
Speaker 1: you were watching. You think it's more important than any
Speaker 1: other game where a quarterback takes the field with three
Speaker 1: minutes left. And I watched all the games West, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: when when's the last time you pointed out another quarterback
Speaker 1: in a similar situation didn't get it done because Kirk
Speaker 1: Cousins is different than the other quarterbacks. Talking about it
Speaker 1: in the pitchforks and torches crew on twitter ifty side
Speaker 1: and he's a laughing stock. Point and point where is
Speaker 1: the pitchfork right now? Where that you just brought it out?
Speaker 1: You did not have to talk about Kirk Cousins there.
Speaker 1: You really didn't. The story of that game was not
Speaker 1: Kirk Cousins. As you see, you're in your feelings right now,
Speaker 1: I am saying had sitting out that you're being unfair.
Speaker 1: I mean, you tugged him into his feelings. I just
Speaker 1: said it just how to be said. He didn't get
Speaker 1: don't have to be said. That's my whole point. But
Speaker 1: it was said West, and the narrative remains intact. Right,
Speaker 1: keep your narrative. I saw a couple of little websites
Speaker 1: trying to throw out cheak kirk Cousins jokes, and everyone
Speaker 1: shot him down and said, you see any from me.
Speaker 1: You know you didn't like s I little pop culture
Speaker 1: website or whatever. Oh hey, let's do a doctor Phil
Speaker 1: Gift Kirk kirk Cousins. Now that's hey, guy, your jokes stale.
Speaker 1: When the guy leaves the League of Passer rating for
Speaker 1: seven straight weeks, you're not really gonna make jokes about
Speaker 1: his passing anymore. I I, for one, just want to
Speaker 1: be on record, I'm glad you you brought it up
Speaker 1: and it was not his fault and one saying no
Speaker 1: one saying it was his fault. I I don't think
Speaker 1: it was. But that was an opportunity for their team
Speaker 1: that they will rue. I mean that he had and
Speaker 1: they had an incredible comeback, and they did have a
Speaker 1: chance for a massive wind that would keep them in
Speaker 1: first place in the NFC North. That would have been
Speaker 1: one of the most stirring winds of the entire Mike
Speaker 1: zimmer era. And when they got that ball, I, like
Speaker 1: a lot of Vikings fans kind of switched. I mean
Speaker 1: I was. I was excited to like see what was
Speaker 1: going to happen. The way it was going, it felt
Speaker 1: like maybe they're gonna go down the field. I don't
Speaker 1: put it on Cousins. They also were very short on
Speaker 1: their wide receivers, but it was a blown opportunity that
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be angry about. I look forward to
Speaker 1: this with every other quarterback in the league, really, I
Speaker 1: mean it's it has reached the point of absurdity that
Speaker 1: every time Kirk Cousins has a chance to win, we
Speaker 1: talk about him in a way we do with with
Speaker 1: none of the other quarters, especially when the other quarterback
Speaker 1: is missing their starting wide out, their star running back.
Speaker 1: I think the left tackle is that point to I
Speaker 1: get it. That's what would have made it, you know,
Speaker 1: more stirring. I'm not No one's putting it on Cousin. Cousins.
Speaker 1: If anything, there was some criticism, you know, It's just
Speaker 1: a tough spot where you're throwing to a covered Lakwan
Speaker 1: Treadwell on third down and then you have basically one option,
Speaker 1: no alternatives, but to throw it to IRV Smith, who
Speaker 1: was well covered on on fourth down. And that's it.
Speaker 1: The game's over. It's disappointing. I don't think Cousins had
Speaker 1: a good game, but but he wasn't the story again. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think he was good. He checked down a
Speaker 1: little too much. I mean he was a lot of
Speaker 1: that was because he was under durest, but he checked
Speaker 1: down a little too much. He missed a couple of
Speaker 1: throws late. But I don't think that needs to be
Speaker 1: like a let's check in on Kirk Cousins situation, because
Speaker 1: he played all right, he played okay, he wanted played
Speaker 1: each other again. We got the Packers Vikings Week sixteen
Speaker 1: should decide the NFC North. You never know, both teams
Speaker 1: have cupcakes for the most part on their schedule otherwise,
Speaker 1: and that should decide who gets in Seattle San Francisco
Speaker 1: Week seventeen. I think you should start checking in on
Speaker 1: Dan Bailey after every game. That's so you should check
Speaker 1: in on well part of what We've talked about this
Speaker 1: for weeks. I don't know why this is a surprise.
Speaker 1: Part of what makes Cousins fun is because he invites
Speaker 1: this type of UH scrutiny. He does, but his track
Speaker 1: oh and eight on Monday nights West. This is why
Speaker 1: is Monday Night more important than any zero play Do
Speaker 1: you think we get better games on Monday Night? Because
Speaker 1: I don't zero playoff wins and he's never won on
Speaker 1: Monday Night football. Have things that are attached to his resume. Okay,
Speaker 1: you you want to talk about a late season win
Speaker 1: and go home game, all right, I'm on board. Let's
Speaker 1: let's talk about it. This was not a late season
Speaker 1: win or go home game. It was a Monday night game.
Speaker 1: It was an important game that Monday night football. But
Speaker 1: this is what's Mike Zimmer, what's their defense's record on
Speaker 1: Monday Night? Like? To me, that's that That's who lost
Speaker 1: this game. That's That's what I want to make clear.
Speaker 1: I'm not putting this on Kirk Cousins. I just why
Speaker 1: did you think we have to address the issue if
Speaker 1: you're not putting it on him, Because that is putting
Speaker 1: because he I think he factored into the loss. He
Speaker 1: put it, he wasn't the main reason, but he didn't
Speaker 1: help him win. Put it this way, it's a thirty
Speaker 1: four thirty and Russell Wilson takes the field with a
Speaker 1: chance to win that game. I don't care who's off
Speaker 1: who's on the field. Well he did, I mean, he
Speaker 1: had a chance to go win the game, and he
Speaker 1: took an awful sack and his defense won the game
Speaker 1: fortive which which happened. He played, He threw an awful
Speaker 1: interception in San Francisco and his defense helped win the game.
Speaker 1: For we know, there's a different team quarterbacks to talk
Speaker 1: about it after every game thirty other quarterbacks would love
Speaker 1: to be Russell Wilson too. I mean, Russell Wilson is
Speaker 1: incomparable with big, massive chunks of the league. All right,
Speaker 1: let's now do some news. It's back the champ is
Speaker 1: he m? Greg had it first? The champions here commercial
Speaker 1: um for NFL shop has come to it. It looks
Speaker 1: like it's wound down and been replaced by a holiday ad.
Speaker 1: And that was a big That was a big gift
Speaker 1: for you, Greg. I gotta give it. It was a
Speaker 1: big part of the season. Why I haven't double sourced
Speaker 1: it so if it shows up back Sunday, I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess it's gonna look bad. But the champ has
Speaker 1: been here for so long. He's been part of our life.
Speaker 1: The Champ being here. I miss him. And I'll say this.
Speaker 1: There is a sub section of football Twitter and this
Speaker 1: This was news to me because I reported it and
Speaker 1: I properly cited you. Greg was having at first that
Speaker 1: Patriots fans coming out of the woodwork. What upset that
Speaker 1: all these times they've been watching this commercial, they're annoyed
Speaker 1: that no one's wearing Patriots gearing that commercial. The actual champion,
Speaker 1: we're not there. That's the level of you know tho.
Speaker 1: Those are the biggest issues they're dealing with right now.
Speaker 1: It's fan base. It's like, yeah, that's not It's a
Speaker 1: bunch of like young, hip, cool people dancing around and
Speaker 1: that's not really the Patriots, you know fan. What about
Speaker 1: the Browns guy with the biting motion. I see, here's
Speaker 1: the thing I don't want so on Sundays, when we're tracking,
Speaker 1: you know, three games at the same time, you're watching
Speaker 1: a television with sound, you have an earpiece in your ear.
Speaker 1: With three other games, a red zone happen not here commercial,
Speaker 1: because when you get in that area of the day
Speaker 1: where three commercial breaks and you're happy at the same time,
Speaker 1: and the champ is here, is playing a second and
Speaker 1: a half off from each version, and it's blasting throughout
Speaker 1: the entire room. And then it happens more times, and
Speaker 1: then you have Dan and Gregg singing it throughout, just like,
Speaker 1: guess what this stop being funny about two and a
Speaker 1: half months ago, and you persist with the joke and
Speaker 1: it goes on and it's now a drop on our show.
Speaker 1: You cannot get cannot get to nine o'clock quick enough
Speaker 1: on Sunday's a pickele for every time here and in
Speaker 1: the back of my neck just right, and then it's
Speaker 1: Dan singing it, and then Greg and then someone else
Speaker 1: turning around, and then it's actually on the television. You
Speaker 1: know who is happy about the champion? You too, We
Speaker 1: get it. Jata kiss data kiss that his passing those checks.
Speaker 1: It's him and M and M good for him and
Speaker 1: his money, all right. So yes, Ron Rivera's canned, but
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett might not be far behind. Jared Jones has
Speaker 1: been doing the media tour um ever since the Thanksgiving
Speaker 1: loss to the Bills put Dallas's season upside down, and
Speaker 1: Jared did, uh. Of course, he was in front of
Speaker 1: the locker room and tears talking about how this team
Speaker 1: had a like a Disney ending in store and then
Speaker 1: don't give up on a stad yet. Um. And now
Speaker 1: he's on the radio one oh five three the fan
Speaker 1: and he's talking about Jason Garrett and being a head coach,
Speaker 1: not necessarily with Dallas, but being a head coach, body's
Speaker 1: got the exclusive skills to get the job done so
Speaker 1: that collectively you can win a Super Bowl. But third
Speaker 1: qualified people, Jason Joett is one of them. In my opinion,
Speaker 1: Jason would be coaching in the NFL next year. Well, Mark,
Speaker 1: you just got mad about champions here. You've gotta be
Speaker 1: mad about that comment. Come on, Well, I mean, the
Speaker 1: one thing I said over and over is that I
Speaker 1: I would not be surprised if joining Ron Rivera assumed
Speaker 1: would be Jason Garrett, because the tidbit that interests me
Speaker 1: is Lincoln Riley, the Oklahoma coach. Ian Rappaport's saying that
Speaker 1: he's formed in quotes a close relationship with Jerry Jones,
Speaker 1: and I think that there is going to be competition
Speaker 1: as I thought there would have been last year for
Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley, who has shown an ability to work with
Speaker 1: young college system quarterbacks. And so, do you want to
Speaker 1: be the you know, overly procedural cowboys that wait until
Speaker 1: after week seventeen? And yeah, you're the cowboys. You have
Speaker 1: an advantage no matter what, or do you get on
Speaker 1: that bus sooner or later if you know you're already
Speaker 1: talking about Jason Garrett this way, if if your boss
Speaker 1: was talking about you this way two people publicly, I'd
Speaker 1: be concerned. I'd be looking for I'd be looking around
Speaker 1: and Jason Garrett you can see it on his face
Speaker 1: to some degree, I feel like in games and someone
Speaker 1: ping me saying, how can you possibly know what Jason
Speaker 1: Garrett is thinking by what he says on his face?
Speaker 1: Because we mentioned that during the Thanksgiving telecast or broadcast
Speaker 1: whatever it was that didn't get broadcasted, and they're like,
Speaker 1: he he's the same face all the time. I know
Speaker 1: he is, but it just seems to have that look
Speaker 1: in his eyes where you can see it coming. He's out.
Speaker 1: And I think that if you really want Lincoln Riley
Speaker 1: and you want to move that train, that Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: is already thinking that way that somebody had their ear
Speaker 1: to the garage door at my house. I was able
Speaker 1: they are one of the one of the ten or
Speaker 1: twelve people that it's somehow escaped. Not blaming Erica, nor
Speaker 1: would I ever for that would set a new precedent.
Speaker 1: What you're suggesting that a first place team earmarked for
Speaker 1: the playoffs with fire its coach. I mean that calling
Speaker 1: them a first place team is like the when we
Speaker 1: what we got into with the brock os Wwiler leading
Speaker 1: the Texans to the playoffs thing. They're about his first
Speaker 1: place a team right now, as me and West have
Speaker 1: been through a lot today, you don't have to bring
Speaker 1: up the Brock. Oh my god. Well, I'm not against
Speaker 1: him to, but it was Cowboys are six and six
Speaker 1: in first place last season, it would it would be
Speaker 1: weird because yeah, they're trying. All they got to do
Speaker 1: is get to the dance, and they might. They'll have
Speaker 1: a home game, and you know, I don't know what's
Speaker 1: gonna happen. I mean, in theory, he could decide he'd
Speaker 1: rather have Christopher Shard being the head coach. But why
Speaker 1: it doesn't that they lost the Chicago I I still
Speaker 1: don't think he basically said he'll do it through the
Speaker 1: end of the season. But it's just a hilarious quote.
Speaker 1: I mean it's the most Jerry Jones quote ever. I
Speaker 1: wish every owner was like this if you really think
Speaker 1: about it. I mean, he was willing to talk about it.
Speaker 1: Was like halfway through what he's saying, and he's like,
Speaker 1: how do I save this? And you know, the fending Garrett,
Speaker 1: but he's I think he'll be a coach in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Who knows it might be a position coach made sense?
Speaker 1: I thought he was. He was. He was exactly, he'll
Speaker 1: be a coach in the NFL. And you know, sports
Speaker 1: are so stupid and in the most beautiful way that
Speaker 1: you're right, Mark, Like the Cowboys shouldn't be taken seriously
Speaker 1: and they're six and six and they're not a true
Speaker 1: playoff team, but you know, watch them beat the Niners
Speaker 1: in wild card weekend at home. I mean it's like
Speaker 1: that should not surprise anyone. I mean, just like this idea,
Speaker 1: but I'm saying the idea of things changed so quickly
Speaker 1: in the NFL, so I would think firing Garrett or
Speaker 1: is that what you were saying? Maybe you should be
Speaker 1: let go now. And I'm saying I could see a party.
Speaker 1: How about this, What if you wanted to get a
Speaker 1: under pressure look and what this is not a super
Speaker 1: Bowl team and Jerry Jones, I know he's delusional at times,
Speaker 1: has to see that. What if you wanted to give
Speaker 1: Chris Rochard, who I think is a head coach himself
Speaker 1: and waiting a test run during a high pressure month
Speaker 1: and to see what happens. Because maybe the big, the
Speaker 1: big thing that keeps coming up with Jason Garrett is
Speaker 1: canno connect with players. Well, maybe Chris Rochard can and
Speaker 1: turn this locker room into something else and you go
Speaker 1: avoid these postgame shouting matches in the locker room. They
Speaker 1: are not on the same page as a team air
Speaker 1: of small sample sizes. To like Freddie Kitchens using him
Speaker 1: as an examples, I totally Dug Marone got his job
Speaker 1: from two games with Blake Bordos, one of which they lost.
Speaker 1: That's fine. You know what you have. You have a
Speaker 1: large sample size on Jason Garrett. What's that gotten you?
Speaker 1: It's gonna get you more the same a month from now.
Speaker 1: I would respect that it would take some stones to
Speaker 1: turn the ame over to Chris Richard, and maybe it
Speaker 1: would produce some some results that you weren't getting from
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett. So we're gonna fire Garrett. No, I'm saying
Speaker 1: it's in the air. It's although, well, it's got to
Speaker 1: be possible, would be Jones? Now that would be stunning.
Speaker 1: What if they got Wax thirty to seven on on
Speaker 1: on Thursday night football against the Bears, and you and
Speaker 1: I have to wait fifteen twenty minutes, thirty minutes as
Speaker 1: you are wrap up because this news is breaking. I
Speaker 1: could see that being as don't even speak that into that.
Speaker 1: I see it being real the world. Well, you know
Speaker 1: you well you also just want to wait for the
Speaker 1: press conferences. I think get some sound, you know you
Speaker 1: want to cover. That's a big storm. We'll be we'll
Speaker 1: we'll call you two in for because that would definitely
Speaker 1: need all four of us. So let's move on. The
Speaker 1: Jacksonville Jaguars are in tatters right now. Speaking of Doug Moron, uh.
Speaker 1: Following eleven loss to the Bucks in which Nick Foles
Speaker 1: turned it over and each of his first three possessions,
Speaker 1: all three of those positions leading to touchdowns for the enemy,
Speaker 1: Maron went back to Gardner Minshew at the half and
Speaker 1: he announced what we all expected, that Minshew will stay
Speaker 1: in the lineup. Uh, both this Sunday against the Charger
Speaker 1: Chargers and for the balance of the regular season. So
Speaker 1: Minshew back in and the Minshew maniacs get their guy,
Speaker 1: and that's good. I would say to me, Mark, The
Speaker 1: biggest storyline now out of this is what the hell
Speaker 1: are they gonna do with Nick Foles? This guy they
Speaker 1: just signed to what an eighty eight million dollar contract
Speaker 1: with a ton of money guaranteed. What is the next
Speaker 1: step in this marriage? Now? Well, I gets to wait
Speaker 1: and see, and it's if we if it. The next
Speaker 1: coach that goes to Carolina has a lot to think
Speaker 1: about and a lot to ponder along with the rest
Speaker 1: of the team for Cam Newton, so does the next
Speaker 1: coach in Jacksonville. There's gonna be a new coach. They're
Speaker 1: barring something shocking, that would be stunning if you want stunning,
Speaker 1: and they've got to figure out what to do with
Speaker 1: this situation. And I will point out that the minute
Speaker 1: the Gardner Minshew came in, the Browns up tend nothing.
Speaker 1: Baker Mayfield was on fire. And what happened to the
Speaker 1: Browns the minute Gardner when the minute Minshew men, And
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, well, what this you know, what's your theory,
Speaker 1: my my doppelganger theory that they are They're too much
Speaker 1: alike and there's too much of the same thing. And
Speaker 1: the Gardner Minshew pulled energy. Garner Minshew went, Now the
Speaker 1: line up the Browns one three in a row. He
Speaker 1: came back in with them up, tend nothing in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: against the Steelers. Baker Mayfield is a terrible fumble, the
Speaker 1: Browns melt away. Gardner's back starting again troubling. So what
Speaker 1: do you want to happen? Then? I am very conflicted
Speaker 1: because I like Gardner Minshew too, and I don't know
Speaker 1: what to do. He would have to all of it
Speaker 1: ends after this season. All whatever is happening bastically ends
Speaker 1: after this season, like like in Carolina. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the next coach and possibly the next GM are going
Speaker 1: to decide what they do at quarterback. And falls is
Speaker 1: almost impossible to cut. You end up paying more money
Speaker 1: on the cap to cut him than you would just
Speaker 1: to keep him. But he could be very tradeable if
Speaker 1: you're willing to eat some of his salary cap and
Speaker 1: that becomes a little a little more palatable that if
Speaker 1: they really want to get rid of him, I think
Speaker 1: someone would trade for him, especially if the Jaguars eat
Speaker 1: some money. But again, I don't think falls. It didn't
Speaker 1: work for the I mean talk about small sample size.
Speaker 1: It didn't work for the three games three and a
Speaker 1: half games he played coming off a serious injury, obviously,
Speaker 1: but court they're in better shape at quarterback than they
Speaker 1: have been, you know, for the rest of this decade
Speaker 1: with Foals and Minshew. So I I don't think it's
Speaker 1: like some you know, emergency. Their team is an emergency.
Speaker 1: I was surprised. I looked at your power rankings, Dan,
Speaker 1: I mean, to me, they'd be number thirty two. I
Speaker 1: think they are the worst team in the NFL right now.
Speaker 1: I mean in terms of how they play, and they
Speaker 1: have not been within three scores of an opposing team
Speaker 1: in five straight game, four straight games. That's outrageous. Didn't
Speaker 1: blow it. I just say they're not even there's a
Speaker 1: case of the late twenties over the Mounts. Just a
Speaker 1: bad He's just a bad combination with that offensive line
Speaker 1: which was getting its doors blowed off by Buccaneers pass rushers.
Speaker 1: In that game, and even Minshew when he came in,
Speaker 1: had to make incredibly quick jump cuts to get out
Speaker 1: of the way just to get passes off. And I
Speaker 1: think the three games we saw with Fools it looked
Speaker 1: like a much less effective version of the Flacco Broncos
Speaker 1: offense where you had this, as Mark would say, stone
Speaker 1: pony behind a stone age pony who cannot block, and
Speaker 1: Fools just moved too slow. I'm Chad con was kind
Speaker 1: of the David Tepper of the league when he came in.
Speaker 1: He's done some interesting things and including making them the
Speaker 1: you know, the team of London. I am really fascinated
Speaker 1: to see what they do with their offseason. Then they're
Speaker 1: about as analytic minded as any team in the NFL. Uh.
Speaker 1: Finally news uh kai four beev Oh boy, he's been
Speaker 1: evicted from the kicker club. That was quick um a
Speaker 1: day after appearing in his first game with the Patriots,
Speaker 1: a game in which he missed an extra point, but
Speaker 1: he absolutely hammered a twenty three yard field goal um
Speaker 1: through the upgrades uprights and also hit an extra point. Uh.
Speaker 1: The Pats decided to go in a different direction, so
Speaker 1: for Bath it was waived and Nick Folk who has
Speaker 1: been on the mend. Following that appendex to me which
Speaker 1: led to the Forebeth signing, is Folk back in now
Speaker 1: or do they? Are they looking for another kicker and
Speaker 1: what are we up to? Five? I think that if
Speaker 1: this is how you went Supermo, if Folk is healthy,
Speaker 1: uh yeah, and the plan is he's back. So yeah,
Speaker 1: he's Stephen Guskowski. They started with, then they went to
Speaker 1: the Nus, then they went to Folk Hero and they
Speaker 1: brought him off a golf course. Then they got Kai's
Speaker 1: Kai and now back to Folk. I believe so like
Speaker 1: this is gonna because it's the Patriots. No one actually knows,
Speaker 1: you know, It's like, hey, who needs an appendix? Get
Speaker 1: back out on the field of the folk. It's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know and I and I say for them,
Speaker 1: for all the Kai heads out there, that this is
Speaker 1: the best thing that could have happened, because when you
Speaker 1: didn't want to see him thrive with the evil Empire,
Speaker 1: let's let's get him back and it's get him practicing
Speaker 1: right now. You're a fan of Kai I because ever
Speaker 1: since we kind of connected the dots that I might
Speaker 1: have something to do with it potentially, Yeah, who would
Speaker 1: want to have a career changing playoff kicks in Foxboro.
Speaker 1: That would be terrible for him. Give me a break,
Speaker 1: this was his chance blew it no matter who they
Speaker 1: trot out there. At this point, he's blowing the game
Speaker 1: for him my favorite, uh, I think, But I want
Speaker 1: him to get back in the league with a team
Speaker 1: that's not the Patriots. I am convinced not the Jets.
Speaker 1: Belichick took a delay of game penalty, UH to make
Speaker 1: Kai's extra point a little longer in the second half
Speaker 1: of that game, just as a test, and that was
Speaker 1: his I'm just gonna mess with Kai a little bit.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna look at the long term picture and see
Speaker 1: what Kai how he handles this. And Kai yanked it
Speaker 1: and at that point he was an XP. How much
Speaker 1: money did he make for essentially one week of work
Speaker 1: with the Patriots. I don't know if it's over under,
Speaker 1: like twenty grand not a bad it's wait, it's well, yeah,
Speaker 1: minimum is what eight hundred thousand and then you divide
Speaker 1: that by seventeen, So be a kicker, be a be
Speaker 1: a bad kicker that gets pulled in like by a
Speaker 1: team for one week and make you know, sixty I
Speaker 1: think seven thousand and then go back and do nothing
Speaker 1: for the next two years. And uh, I mean, kay's
Speaker 1: the problem with Kai Kai Kai. He got used to
Speaker 1: that lifestyle when guy was really Kai and suddenly You've
Speaker 1: got a mortgage at Bay Sky Hi Kai. They called
Speaker 1: him you got you got women, you got everything. Well,
Speaker 1: we don't know that, we don't know that he has
Speaker 1: all those things. But um, and one last note in
Speaker 1: the news. I always like these things. One of the
Speaker 1: best players of the year was that trick play on
Speaker 1: Sunday night, Uh, Deshaun Watson receiving the past some DeAndre Hopkins.
Speaker 1: It was revealed that Hopkins and Watson drew it up
Speaker 1: on a piece of notebook paper and handed it to
Speaker 1: the coach. I like when football gets like broken down
Speaker 1: to just kids in a playground. Feels it's awesome. It's
Speaker 1: it's a great little twist to that they've been practicing
Speaker 1: it for four weeks. It's very similarly. Uh, the Steelers
Speaker 1: players were talking about how Mike Tomlin got on the
Speaker 1: chalkboard at halftime against the brass and broke it down
Speaker 1: what they were in high school. Here's what we're gonna
Speaker 1: do to break Marks Sessler's heart. Yeah, it's like, you know,
Speaker 1: not even a dryer race board, chalkboard. I like that, Zolac.
Speaker 1: Do you think he's gotten over it yet? By the way,
Speaker 1: the loss, well the trick play, he hasn't acknowledged it.
Speaker 1: That might be coming back, coming back, Scott, did you
Speaker 1: really not listen to it before we were on the show.
Speaker 1: So I sort of got it. That was the first
Speaker 1: time i'd heard it. It delivered. Can I hear that again? Delivered?
Speaker 1: It seemed like you knew it was gonna be good.
Speaker 1: That might come back. That's not gonna stand. All right,
Speaker 1: that's what's happening in the news real quick. Let's check
Speaker 1: in with the teams that we forked, uh two weeks
Speaker 1: ago today, because there needs to be accountability, of course,
Speaker 1: and we're all about that. So let's see the teams
Speaker 1: that we forked. Do we have our old shack? All right?
Speaker 1: We had forked you know, I look back at this listen.
Speaker 1: I was like, come on, guys, I mean, if we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it, we should do it. Yeah. Bengals, Redskins, Giants, Dolphins, Bucks, Jets, Cardinals, Lions, Broncos, Bears, Falcons, Chargers, Panthers.
Speaker 1: And I was pushing for the Eagles, which they've lost
Speaker 1: both games since. But there's still just one game out,
Speaker 1: so that that's that would be a ballsy one. The
Speaker 1: Browns were all in favor of keeping. Was there another
Speaker 1: team that we were on the fence a little bit
Speaker 1: at the time. We discussed the Rams, discussed the Rams.
Speaker 1: They lost, but then how to win and they're kind
Speaker 1: of hanging around. This is our last chance to to fork.
Speaker 1: I think we should stick our next next out a
Speaker 1: little bit here. Wait, we're gonna we're actually going to
Speaker 1: fork teams today. Didn't know that certainly while we're here,
Speaker 1: we should you know, you know, take out the cod piece,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like, let's let's get out
Speaker 1: there and and and risk it. You can get rid
Speaker 1: of Cleveland, no risk it, no biss Yeah, Cleveland's Cleveland's gone.
Speaker 1: Had a hand this original take, I didn't know what
Speaker 1: to say, all right, I would vote for the Browns
Speaker 1: as well at the stage West, Okay, get the Browns out. Uh.
Speaker 1: This list looks that we were ahead of the game
Speaker 1: because all those teams that were on the borderline have
Speaker 1: lost two straights since we since we fork. Oh, the
Speaker 1: Bears have one two straight and no one's worried about that.
Speaker 1: I'd still fork the Bears because they're they're schedules, treacherous.
Speaker 1: Yeah for them, I'm keeping them alive. I don't know.
Speaker 1: This Cowboys team is such a mess that I just
Speaker 1: I just you know that that that game is a
Speaker 1: playoff game for the Eagles. The Cowboys could get in otherwise.
Speaker 1: But you're a slick one and you want this to
Speaker 1: go away. Why wouldn't you vote a team that you
Speaker 1: think could make the playoffs, thus ending the segment forever.
Speaker 1: I feel like this is me a chess move that
Speaker 1: you would have employed. You a slick one, Get me
Speaker 1: on my tombs, done us a slick one integrity. I
Speaker 1: think the Eagles have a shot. That's the reason. Is
Speaker 1: there any other team but besides the Browns, I feel
Speaker 1: like we're I don't think you can fork the rand
Speaker 1: out the Raiders. I could have. I actually wanted to
Speaker 1: fork the Raiders two weeks ago, but I felt bad
Speaker 1: for their head, their head in the wrong dur I
Speaker 1: would fork them to just I want them to hang around,
Speaker 1: especially Mark. I know you're going there in a few weeks.
Speaker 1: We want some drama there. Not because I think anyone
Speaker 1: believes that they're going to be on the edge of
Speaker 1: a part Yeah, are they really hanging around? I mean
Speaker 1: they are there only one game behind the Steelers and Titans,
Speaker 1: and so they beat If they beat the Titans on Sunday,
Speaker 1: they're they're They're okay, they're seven and six. They are.
Speaker 1: I just don't Their schedule is Jaguars, Chargers, Broncos after
Speaker 1: I don't want to fork him. I don't want to
Speaker 1: see you were the one you're talking about what I'm
Speaker 1: saying that particular team I don't want to do well.
Speaker 1: I know we all have particular two exactly. That's why
Speaker 1: it's hard to agree on. Well I was, I was
Speaker 1: trying to get the Eagles out two weeks ago. Let's
Speaker 1: get them out there. Now I'm sticking with them, and
Speaker 1: Eagles out, I would get rid of the Raiders and
Speaker 1: uh to get rid of the Raiders more, and I
Speaker 1: would get rid of the cult I will. Let's get
Speaker 1: their schedule is pretty favorable. They do have to play
Speaker 1: in New Orleans, so if you've gotta if you need
Speaker 1: to get to ten wins, it's gonna be tougher. And
Speaker 1: they lost to Pittsburgh too, so they don't have a
Speaker 1: tiebreaker against Pittsburgh. They have the Panthers and Jaguars to
Speaker 1: to finish up in the bucks this week. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna fork them. They could go to and to
Speaker 1: Jake brisket Is thrown passes to like ups, delivery men
Speaker 1: and and mailmen. At this point, all right, I'm down
Speaker 1: to fork. Then that's where Greg sneakily gets a team
Speaker 1: out that might just get back in without it being
Speaker 1: too overt. Sill that. What about the Rams? I just honestly,
Speaker 1: I think i'd be the first person to say remove it.
Speaker 1: But I'm a little freaked out after the last. And
Speaker 1: we can get get into that in our next segment.
Speaker 1: But it's planning to get into it. And all right,
Speaker 1: so the Cleveland and Browns, the Indian Polans accounts, they're
Speaker 1: both gone, and uh still, you know the cod piece,
Speaker 1: I would say, still, it's like from a Shakespearean play setting.
Speaker 1: I would fork the Raiders just for the fun of it.
Speaker 1: But then we'd be rooting against the right. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it feels right. Hey, they're not
Speaker 1: fun to root against the season. Hey, here here's a
Speaker 1: good reason to do it. They've been outscored seventy four
Speaker 1: to the last two weeks. That's terrible. They're not good.
Speaker 1: I mean that's seventy four to well. Watch them wins
Speaker 1: Sunday though. Fine, these things don't seem to mean anything.
Speaker 1: I get it. But getting blown out like that badly
Speaker 1: two weeks ago, you're not good. And could they win
Speaker 1: three out of four? I really doubt it, But even
Speaker 1: that wouldn't get them in the playoffs. This is a
Speaker 1: pretty safe fork in my mind. I mean, I think
Speaker 1: they're a team that should be happy for four. Anybody
Speaker 1: else I would because yeah, Conraders. So we forked three
Speaker 1: more teams and that Ricky, how many did we have
Speaker 1: before that going into today? Um, we had I sent
Speaker 1: them to one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eleven, twelve, thirteen.
Speaker 1: This is the goal that we always set. We wanted
Speaker 1: a fork half the league. Thirteen plus three much sixteen sixteen.
Speaker 1: That's half the league. So we've forked half of football.
Speaker 1: Now now the cod pieces inching out inch by inch
Speaker 1: West I've ever figured out what this means. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: like it all right. I mean, seventy four to twelve.
Speaker 1: The one touchdown was in garbage time, that they were desperate,
Speaker 1: that that drive annoyed me desperate still see them finishing
Speaker 1: nine and seven? Um, all right, let's now this is
Speaker 1: kind of like a sister segment here, which team changed
Speaker 1: your mind the most in Week thirteen? West, I know
Speaker 1: you're excited. West. Uh, let's get going with you here.
Speaker 1: Which team did uh? You know you watched him and
Speaker 1: said whoa wo wo woaoa stop the clocks. Well Mark
Speaker 1: alluded to this a minute ago. But the the Los
Speaker 1: Angeles Rams, whom I've been saying for the past six weeks,
Speaker 1: just not a good football team. Their offense is broken,
Speaker 1: their offensive line is not trustworthy. They're all pro running
Speaker 1: back as a shell of his former self. The quarterback
Speaker 1: hasn't played well in over a year. Uh. In the defense,
Speaker 1: defense actually pretty good this year. And what I saw
Speaker 1: against the Cardinals. And you can say, hey, it was
Speaker 1: the Cardinals. Sure, there's there's some of that, um, But
Speaker 1: the Cardinals had played the forty niners to the nails
Speaker 1: in two straight games. They played a really close game
Speaker 1: at the Bucks. We have been saying the Cardinals look
Speaker 1: pretty good, and the Rams came out partying like it
Speaker 1: was two thousand seventeen. By the way, welcome back Todd Gurley.
Speaker 1: He's been pretty good the last you're saying, he's moving
Speaker 1: like the tide of Earl Old. I would say, for
Speaker 1: the first time this year, when I saw Todd Gurley play,
Speaker 1: I thought, yes, you can justify that contract in two
Speaker 1: thousand twenty. He looked explosive, elusive, smooth, no longer just
Speaker 1: a grinder, which he had been most of the year.
Speaker 1: His best run of the game was a twenty yard
Speaker 1: touchdown that was called back on a holding penalty. I
Speaker 1: think we're exploded through the whole looking like two thousand
Speaker 1: seventeen Todd Gurley. And my contention is that this offense
Speaker 1: has always been about Todd Gurley. Everything about the offense
Speaker 1: is about Todd Gurley opening things for the play action
Speaker 1: game in Jared Golf. If he's playing at that level,
Speaker 1: this is a team because I think you can look
Speaker 1: at that game where it's mid third quarter, Rams half
Speaker 1: four two yards and Cardinals, and you say which one
Speaker 1: is more impressive, the smothering ball hawking defense or the
Speaker 1: smoothest silk big play offense and that game smooth silk.
Speaker 1: They were smoothing. I mean golf was in in rhythm.
Speaker 1: Girley was explosive that Robert Woods was making up against
Speaker 1: one of the worst past and hammered them, and do
Speaker 1: you trust that I've I've been on like believing that
Speaker 1: they can turn around for much of the year, and
Speaker 1: I think they've had stretches. People slept on that their
Speaker 1: offense had some good performances, including in Seattle. It just
Speaker 1: comes down to can you win. I think they can
Speaker 1: beat the Seahawks this week. That's what their season comes
Speaker 1: down to. It though. You gotta beat the Seahawks and
Speaker 1: then you gotta win it in Dallas to set up
Speaker 1: that it matters Week sixteen going to San Francisco. So
Speaker 1: it's a very tough road for them. Well, you could
Speaker 1: get if the Vikings go in the hole, you could
Speaker 1: get that wild card, right, but he still probably got it.
Speaker 1: No matter what, you gotta win. I think three out
Speaker 1: of these four, the question for me is their offensive line.
Speaker 1: They're the one area I still don't trust. I don't
Speaker 1: know if they can play that well against and according
Speaker 1: to Pro Football Focus, even though they were getting five
Speaker 1: yards by the middle of the third quarter, the offensive
Speaker 1: line still played poorly except for Whitworth. They were on
Speaker 1: my list two. I've been hard on them all year
Speaker 1: and they gave me pause a big time at watching
Speaker 1: the game pass of that film too. I the rams
Speaker 1: to me. But your every year you get one of
Speaker 1: these teams that's kind of been a sleeper all season long,
Speaker 1: and they awakened for the last four games. They win
Speaker 1: three or four, they win four or five, and they
Speaker 1: sneak into the wild card. And like this, this team
Speaker 1: has a playoff experience. I wouldn't put it past I
Speaker 1: was one of the most impressive performances by any team
Speaker 1: all year. Sunday Night A fun A good one for
Speaker 1: Alan Chris Seattle, Los Angeles. Me, all right, Mark, which
Speaker 1: team changed your man? Well, I'll start with a team
Speaker 1: that I was destroying days before on Twitter. It was
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh because I really really believed that Ptsburg. Yes, I'd
Speaker 1: said that a comprehensive hammer drop was about to occur,
Speaker 1: and I couldn't have been more wrong. And I fell
Speaker 1: for uh, I fell into a trap of not understanding
Speaker 1: what the Steelers have been all along. They've really been
Speaker 1: this team all along, and I know that Mike Tomlin peeps,
Speaker 1: there are there's a pocket of Steelers fans and a
Speaker 1: pocket of football people that think that Mike Tomlin should
Speaker 1: have been gone before, should be gone at some point.
Speaker 1: This is coach of the Year material for me, and
Speaker 1: what I really think of when I think of coach
Speaker 1: of the year because of what has been stripped away
Speaker 1: and how many excuses he could have and his just
Speaker 1: the way he marches around on the sideline and the
Speaker 1: way that and to the point chalkboarding at halftime and
Speaker 1: he doesn't care is in there. And you know, as
Speaker 1: I'm going to this Raiders game and I'm doing some
Speaker 1: research on the Raiders of the seventies and UH late
Speaker 1: sixties and early seventies, who were essentially misfits an a
Speaker 1: f L outfit that almost went bankrupt and then became
Speaker 1: an NFL job and because Al Davis just believed in
Speaker 1: every single person on the roster, and he brought people
Speaker 1: in that no one wanted and they believed they would
Speaker 1: win every week, and they won with lesser rosters than
Speaker 1: some other teams had. And it reminds me of Pittsburgh's total, tough, minded,
Speaker 1: badass three week after week, their total men, and they
Speaker 1: proved it against a Browns team UH with too much
Speaker 1: talk around it, too much chaos and the lack of discipline,
Speaker 1: and who cares how much talent they have. Pittsburgh didn't care,
Speaker 1: and they changed my mind going forward in the sense
Speaker 1: that I don't care about the record. I don't care
Speaker 1: about who they play. I don't care about who's playing quarterback.
Speaker 1: They have a chance every week. They're gonna make the
Speaker 1: playoffs and they're gonna win their first round playoff game. Well,
Speaker 1: I do care who's playing quarterback, and that's why they
Speaker 1: helped convince me that they're a factor. Because Duck Hodges
Speaker 1: did look good. I was, you know, skeptical, is such
Speaker 1: a limited sample size that we saw him before. I
Speaker 1: think he showed a little more in this game that
Speaker 1: he did previously. I mean, Duck Hutton's fun. He's a
Speaker 1: little Philip Rivers. Like the way he throws it and
Speaker 1: like slings it down the field like not a big arm,
Speaker 1: but a good downfield thrower. I was impressed that after
Speaker 1: he threw an awful interception that they let him keep
Speaker 1: throwing to win the game. Was a big show of confidence.
Speaker 1: Benny Snell ran pretty well for them. You know, I
Speaker 1: love the way Deante Johnson like they have just enough offense,
Speaker 1: which I didn't think they had. But what duck Hodges,
Speaker 1: I do think they have just enough offense to be
Speaker 1: a fact of the opponent, right, I mean, yeah, this
Speaker 1: act work once you get to the superpower stage of
Speaker 1: probably not, but I didn't at this whole year, I
Speaker 1: did not think they could make the playoffs. And now
Speaker 1: I realized they beat those rams, they haven't, they have
Speaker 1: a pretty good chance to make the playoffs. Um. Now
Speaker 1: his nickname is duck. There's a story floating around that
Speaker 1: him and James Washington, Um, they go hunting together. They
Speaker 1: hunt duck. So I assume that's where his nickname. He's
Speaker 1: always been a duck hunter. How many ducks do you
Speaker 1: have to shoot to get the nickname duck? I mean,
Speaker 1: what do you think he's kill kill? I believe he's
Speaker 1: an expert duck caller, and that's right right he won that.
Speaker 1: You know, I'll call the duck to pat on the
Speaker 1: head because he started that Sunday night game when we
Speaker 1: were in London and Al leaned into the I mean,
Speaker 1: the whole telecast was about the competitions he won statewide
Speaker 1: duck hunt conditions. He loved it. It was Al at
Speaker 1: his finest. All right, you go, Greg, Uh the Bills.
Speaker 1: I was worried everybody was just gonna just say the Bills,
Speaker 1: and you didn't. So I'm pleased because I I fell
Speaker 1: into the trap of kind of like you you see
Speaker 1: a team all year and and you get caught into like, well,
Speaker 1: they're not as good as their numbers say they are
Speaker 1: and and their defense isn't as good as everyone says
Speaker 1: there And like I think that was true of the
Speaker 1: first two months. But I wasn't. I wasn't unbiased enough
Speaker 1: to see what was happening. That this team was now
Speaker 1: playing to what their record was, and their defense is
Speaker 1: now playing to what we expected at the beginning of
Speaker 1: the season. And most importantly, Josh Allen is I mean
Speaker 1: played the best game of his career uh in Dallas
Speaker 1: and has played three I think the two games before
Speaker 1: it were good, maybe a little overheated, but good enough
Speaker 1: and enough of him running the ball that this team
Speaker 1: is dangerous. And they've played their best three games of
Speaker 1: the year I think in a row, and that's what
Speaker 1: you want to be entering the sembl. Well to your point, uh,
Speaker 1: Aaron Shots from Football Outsiders tweeted late last night. Josh
Speaker 1: Allen's d v o A was minus twenty four point
Speaker 1: eight in weeks one through five, and it's plus six
Speaker 1: point seven from weeks seven to thirteen. He's been an
Speaker 1: above average, not turning it over anymore. And and with
Speaker 1: that team and that defense and the way they're operating,
Speaker 1: that's kind of the key from him. What yeah, how
Speaker 1: would you explain that turn around? Did they Was there
Speaker 1: a schematic shift or is it just him getting more
Speaker 1: and more comfortable. We forget that he's only been around
Speaker 1: what for about twenty NFL starts avoiding mistakes, I think
Speaker 1: is the number one just being a little more careful,
Speaker 1: I think dialing it, dialing it back a little bit.
Speaker 1: And he's gotten into he's gotten he got in the
Speaker 1: Dallas game at least into a good hot streak of
Speaker 1: good decision making and good throws. And he just having
Speaker 1: increased comfort with Cole Beasley and John Brown week after week,
Speaker 1: John Brown quietly leading or was leading before last week,
Speaker 1: the a f C and receiving, and just as importantly though,
Speaker 1: Matt Milana is everywhere, and the defense is the game
Speaker 1: wrecking defense that we we talked. We were, we were
Speaker 1: very high and the Bills going in saying that they
Speaker 1: could win ten or eleven games because their defense, and
Speaker 1: you've and you've really seen it the last three three weeks,
Speaker 1: and add Oliver has been a new man since he
Speaker 1: got benched. He's just played a lot better. He's been good.
Speaker 1: I think you can trade Josh Allen's good play. Also
Speaker 1: back to Devon Singletary emerging as the feature back there.
Speaker 1: The Bills have who this week the Ravens. They have
Speaker 1: a very tough skate. They have the Ravens, they have
Speaker 1: the Patriots, they have the Steelers at Pittsburgh and at
Speaker 1: New England Jets to close. It's as tough as it gets.
Speaker 1: But I don't care. I think they're just gonna be
Speaker 1: a load to deal with even if the Ravens win
Speaker 1: that game, and and they're gonna be alload to deal
Speaker 1: with for the Steelers and the Patriots if they ever won.
Speaker 1: They're at home against Baltimore, so that's you know, they
Speaker 1: have a shot if they ever won that game and
Speaker 1: the Pats lose and they got the headhead matchup coming up,
Speaker 1: that is wow. Can you imagine that nobody would have
Speaker 1: predicted that before the season. You could also you can
Speaker 1: also draw a journey to ten and six, and I'm not.
Speaker 1: I'm high on the Bills and super enjoy them and
Speaker 1: root for them as like a pet team. But that's
Speaker 1: that is off. That's a playoff run right there, right
Speaker 1: But at Pittsburgh to me, now, I think at Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: at New England, are you know, more winnable than I
Speaker 1: Certainly at Pittsburgh and in New England's more winnable than
Speaker 1: I thought it would be in ten and six, more
Speaker 1: winnable than you thought it would be. Well, because the
Speaker 1: Bills look this good, Yes, I don't trust anyone watch
Speaker 1: more Steelers defense. I also would say that I just
Speaker 1: think that's an even matchup at Worth Buffalo. New England
Speaker 1: is not a normal game, the same way that the
Speaker 1: Jets in the deal with New England and bad teams
Speaker 1: deal with that one superpower in their own division. That
Speaker 1: there are a lot of ghosts hanging around that and
Speaker 1: that would be an epic, gigantic, huge victory for so
Speaker 1: many more reasons than the current state of the team
Speaker 1: or the record. Speaking of ghosts hanging around the Texans
Speaker 1: changed my mind in Week thirteen. And I've always liked
Speaker 1: the Texans I like O'Brien, I love the quarterback, but
Speaker 1: it always did feel like, um, there was an intimidation
Speaker 1: factor or a little brother complex with the Patriots. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know the letterman Jackson all that, And I have
Speaker 1: to admit when certain Texans players showed up Sunday in
Speaker 1: kevl r vest and reposing in the in the tunnel
Speaker 1: underneath the stadium, I thought it was fifty nothing. Jones
Speaker 1: had a great point that I had a magic Mike
Speaker 1: vibe to it. It was so bad it was. It
Speaker 1: was the most happy birthday. If the most cringe e
Speaker 1: thing that's happened in this season was Jalen Ramsey getting
Speaker 1: out of the um the armored truck with the money
Speaker 1: bags and the hype man to an empty parking lot
Speaker 1: at Jacksonville training camp. This was right there, or even
Speaker 1: a smidge above. So that was on my radar. And
Speaker 1: then they went out and played with absolutely no fear
Speaker 1: against the Patriots. That was a big takeaway from the
Speaker 1: game for me. Not only did they win, uh, they
Speaker 1: played loose, they played confident. The you know the trick
Speaker 1: play we talked about Zolac. You remember the trick play,
Speaker 1: don't you? Uh? That play that just shows that might
Speaker 1: be coming back. They're not afraid of them anymore. And
Speaker 1: I think that's a big subplot around uh, the NFL
Speaker 1: right now, that people maybe are pumping up too much
Speaker 1: that the Patriots are going down in flames. I don't
Speaker 1: believe that necessarily, but I do now sincerely believe after
Speaker 1: this win, which I think was big on a number
Speaker 1: of levels, that the Texans, and I'll go with the
Speaker 1: quarterbacks here, the holy trinity in the a f C
Speaker 1: of young quarterbacks which is my homes Lamar and Watson.
Speaker 1: One of those guys is gonna rise up and take
Speaker 1: over the a f C uh and is going to
Speaker 1: take the crown in January. I just feel like this
Speaker 1: is the year and I'll probably be eating my words
Speaker 1: come the end of January. But I know I would
Speaker 1: not have put Watson in that category until I saw
Speaker 1: the way the Texans played again with no fear against
Speaker 1: the Patriots. I don't think, uh, they would be a
Speaker 1: push over against New England in January. It's an amazing
Speaker 1: setup in the a f C. I I think, I mean,
Speaker 1: we're we're lucky. We've had some years where it hasn't
Speaker 1: been like this two that these quarterbacks Watson, Lamar and
Speaker 1: Mahomes are leading three of the best teams. Is awesome,
Speaker 1: I think for a football fan. And you still have
Speaker 1: the old guard like Breeze and Brady are gonna be
Speaker 1: in that mix, and and Russell Wilson's kind of in between.
Speaker 1: But to have like these, I don't know, it's like
Speaker 1: a great set up for the playoffs this year. I
Speaker 1: hope it doesn't. One little thing I note is that
Speaker 1: the SWAT uniforms, We're just gonna get born more of that,
Speaker 1: because I don't think that that that as its own
Speaker 1: thing would be annoying. You had Seahawks players last night
Speaker 1: showing up in pajamas um. You had another group of
Speaker 1: the Texans linebackers have been doing it. A few weeks
Speaker 1: we were on its it it was Mortal Kombat. That
Speaker 1: was what it was. A few weeks ago. The Universe.
Speaker 1: They weren't wearing shirts right right that they look like Chippindale's.
Speaker 1: You're gonna get more and more. So I'm telling you
Speaker 1: settle in for a fun December. This is the happiest
Speaker 1: I've been with the NFL and months. Look at look
Speaker 1: at what's going on. Jaguar Steelers Bengals, Broncos, Redskins are
Speaker 1: all playing their best and ORMs most exciting quarterback after
Speaker 1: making some weird decisions. There's no tanking going on the
Speaker 1: only when the only question is really Philip Rivers among quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: The league is in for a good place and in
Speaker 1: mid December, it doesn't hurt that the Redskins, Dolphins, Jets,
Speaker 1: Bengals have all played better over the last month where
Speaker 1: there doesn't seem like as many just total walkovers. Someone
Speaker 1: even shook awake Al river Roun where we might be
Speaker 1: a good shape. That's true. That's a good point. All right,
Speaker 1: there you go, good seg oh, hold on real quick.
Speaker 1: Two teams you do not want to see on your
Speaker 1: schedule for for December. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You don't
Speaker 1: want anything to do with him right now. Their their
Speaker 1: front seven is getting after people and their offense is explosive,
Speaker 1: and you don't want to play the Bengals right now.
Speaker 1: They're not the pushover you thought they were. By the way,
Speaker 1: speaking of the Bucks, your little Shack Barrett narrative. When
Speaker 1: I have Evan Silva tweeting at me about Shack Barrett,
Speaker 1: me alone, whose narrative well because what I said my narrative,
Speaker 1: I said that every year, not just I'm looking at
Speaker 1: the whole room. Every year. I said, every year there's
Speaker 1: a player that jumps out to eight sacks, usually goes,
Speaker 1: they'll get three or four in one game, and then
Speaker 1: they flatline. I was it had nothing to do with
Speaker 1: the person. You also did follow up and predict he
Speaker 1: will get stuck at that. That only confuses the point, Craig.
Speaker 1: I think that the one guy I was thinking of
Speaker 1: was the year that Lorenzo Alexander for the Bills. J
Speaker 1: N Claiborne did it. Yeah, I mean That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: But then now it's turned into Mark Is against Shack
Speaker 1: Barrett Is. I couldn't be happy. The great thing is
Speaker 1: that he tweeted at me about some Shack Barrett like
Speaker 1: you know, metrics tweeting. I was just like, I just clicked,
Speaker 1: like because it's like it's just gone. You know, he
Speaker 1: could he has an outside, he's two sacks, he's got
Speaker 1: fourteen and a half. Now he is two sacks away
Speaker 1: from Warren SAPs franchise record. Wow, and guess what he's
Speaker 1: not going on the door. What if Shack? What if
Speaker 1: he says, the NFL record and restores the dignity and
Speaker 1: the prize. Be more happy for him, And I think
Speaker 1: it's I think we'd have to replace Mark, So what
Speaker 1: would happen. He'll become the highest paid defensive player in
Speaker 1: league history this offseason. It'll be great. I'll become out
Speaker 1: a mid tier paid blogger somewhere else. The all time
Speaker 1: the NFL record is twenty two and a half, so
Speaker 1: he'd have to get hot. He needs eight in four games,
Speaker 1: but he had seven and two games earlier in the season,
Speaker 1: leading to Mark's um attack generalized attack on NFL trends.
Speaker 1: All right, uh, real quick, Thursday Night Football preview. We
Speaker 1: already talked a bunch about Dallas. We know that they um,
Speaker 1: despite being in first place in the NFC East, they've
Speaker 1: just been playing so inconsistent And I forget, it feels
Speaker 1: like a million years ago. West they were three and
Speaker 1: oh you know, and now there's six and six And
Speaker 1: I'll do the math on this one. They so three three,
Speaker 1: they've lost six of nine. That's that's bad. That's like
Speaker 1: what a bad team does. So are they a bad
Speaker 1: team as it turns out, or are they is so dysfunctional?
Speaker 1: Internally and with Gara piping up all the time, is
Speaker 1: it just created like a tight atmosphere. There's all sorts
Speaker 1: of questions to ask just beyond what the talent on
Speaker 1: the roster is. And now they go to the Bears
Speaker 1: on the road in prime time. This wes This feels
Speaker 1: to me like a little bit of a dangerous spot
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys, who obviously need to get right game
Speaker 1: in the worst way. They do need to get right game.
Speaker 1: And I think they're the kind of team that sort
Speaker 1: of defies any kind of fastial analysis you when so
Speaker 1: much of what they're doing wrong is the little things
Speaker 1: are coming back to bite them. Randomness which he saw
Speaker 1: in that stretch against the Bills where bad luck, every
Speaker 1: bad break went against them against the Bills for for
Speaker 1: a two quarter stretch where they dominated the first quarter.
Speaker 1: I thought it was Zeke's best first quarter of the
Speaker 1: entire season, breaking tackles, and they were only up seven
Speaker 1: and nothing at the end of that quarter when they
Speaker 1: should have been up more, and that came back to
Speaker 1: bite them. A lot of what comes back to bite
Speaker 1: them is their own doing and their own lack of rhythm,
Speaker 1: and their own lack of getting everyone on the same page.
Speaker 1: But I mean, I just don't look at this team
Speaker 1: and think they're not talented. They're clearly talented well and
Speaker 1: I think Dat's played played well. But this is a
Speaker 1: tough spot, you know. I think the Bears defense is
Speaker 1: good enough to hold them down. I've been disappointed with
Speaker 1: the Cowboys offense the last couple of weeks. I know
Speaker 1: they've had It's been tough matchup. You had the weather
Speaker 1: in New England, but I just I didn't expect them
Speaker 1: to have I think they had six straight trips inside
Speaker 1: Bill's territory where they didn't score a point. I mean that,
Speaker 1: by the way, wit And is killing them. I know
Speaker 1: we gave him creditor in the year, and he's killing
Speaker 1: them right now. It's a It's a pretty fascinating six
Speaker 1: and six versus six and six game, as as that
Speaker 1: type of matchup goes. There's a lot at stake here
Speaker 1: that three and will start whipping up on the Giants, Redskins,
Speaker 1: and Dolphins. Right there are other wins Eagles, Giants again, Lions.
Speaker 1: Their losses they beat they lost to the Saints, Packers,
Speaker 1: the Jets, the Vikings, the Patriots, the Bills. They play
Speaker 1: playoff teams they lose, and I the one thing that
Speaker 1: they have going for him is that the Bears does
Speaker 1: deserve credit themselves for toilingly endlessly in that world called mediocre.
Speaker 1: So I think it's just two relatively overall. I don't
Speaker 1: care what the talent on the roster. That's on Garrett
Speaker 1: for not coaching up the talent. Mediocre teams squaring off
Speaker 1: two days from now, these are the These are the
Speaker 1: teams I mark, knowing you that you they're on your
Speaker 1: radar when we get to December, and teams that are
Speaker 1: hanging around but they have no business being spoken of
Speaker 1: as a Super Bowl contender. They just need to be
Speaker 1: sent to the wind. Well, I mean the Bears. The
Speaker 1: Bears were very nearly taken out by David Blow and
Speaker 1: the blow Hearts, and that would have been an awesome
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving Day story. But let's calm down. I don't even
Speaker 1: I was like, what, I don't need to come down
Speaker 1: on David. Did you know that Marcus started a small
Speaker 1: fan club called the blow Hearts, Well, to me looks
Speaker 1: like a poor man. It was just kind of fun
Speaker 1: that you expected nothing and then there was a touchdown
Speaker 1: or two. I don't think the performance three or four
Speaker 1: throws that were like nobody, no defender was within ten
Speaker 1: yards of the receiver back. Well, the Blowhards are going
Speaker 1: to rage on. There is gonna be We're an issue
Speaker 1: one of four hundred and twenty six issues of the
Speaker 1: blow Hard Newsletter, which will you know this will go
Speaker 1: on for the next forty years. Wisky played a little
Speaker 1: better Anthony Miller a breakout games Montgomery game of the Year.
Speaker 1: Are we going to overreact to Trabisky too? No, I'm not.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think even if he plays better, I
Speaker 1: do think this is where this is where they take
Speaker 1: their dirt nap. Finally, the Bears, you're gonna lock him
Speaker 1: up again. I'm not going near the Cowboys. They are
Speaker 1: not on the road radio. I mean, this is a
Speaker 1: winnable game for Chicago too, But I I do think
Speaker 1: I think the Cowboys, let's do it. Well, you're hot.
Speaker 1: You know he's got four a row. Oh, I know
Speaker 1: you and I have the same record. Now you're coming
Speaker 1: after you've already caught me, and you're coming after the top.
Speaker 1: I'm I don't have any aspirations. We're taking this one week.
Speaker 1: Tro If he's sitting on your desk, or it was.
Speaker 1: At least we're taking this one week at a time. Um,
Speaker 1: all right, Mark and I were gonna be uh handling
Speaker 1: handling the Thursday night football recap, the game we just previewed,
Speaker 1: and then you'll hear from the Gang of Four, your
Speaker 1: last one of the year. Did you know that we
Speaker 1: are wrapping it up West and I will take the
Speaker 1: next Thursday Night and that's it for TNF for this
Speaker 1: Jets Ravens get ready for a barn burner. That's what
Speaker 1: it is. I'm so thankful, really, I'm thankful ultimately for
Speaker 1: that meltdown in Cincinnati because I did not want to
Speaker 1: be in a situation where the Jets were seven and
Speaker 1: seven and I'm getting super amped for a Thursday night
Speaker 1: game in Baltimore. I don't need that. Have you noticed
Speaker 1: what's going on this week in Jets Country? I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I'm typically plugged in, but what what do you I
Speaker 1: think leve Bell's camp, it is starting to leak word
Speaker 1: that he's just not being used right, and that's been
Speaker 1: the problem all year. Like you're starting to see all
Speaker 1: these all these articles are popping up that leve Bell
Speaker 1: is just used irresponsibly by the head coach. It was
Speaker 1: definitely maybe it's from his camp. It was definitely the
Speaker 1: beat writer's radar immediately because he got ten carries in
Speaker 1: a game against the worst run defense in the league.
Speaker 1: But I mean, who cares. We'll talk about the Jetson
Speaker 1: would start his own newsletter with Kenyan Drake David Johnson.
Speaker 1: He's just not on the team anymore. Really, what's up
Speaker 1: with that? Let's save that for Thursday too. Got a
Speaker 1: lot to talk about still, and we're not gonna speak
Speaker 1: between now and we don't do that anymore because why
Speaker 1: Ricky didn't do it? Dan hands a signing off for
Speaker 1: Quiet Storm, the mail Man, the old Boss, Ricky, I
Speaker 1: didn't do it. Holiday behind the Tail Thursday