Speaker 1: Be Around the NFL Podcast will still be relevant in February,
Speaker 1: I hope. So welcome to another edition of the Around
Speaker 1: the NFL Podcast. My name is Dan Hansas. Come to
Speaker 1: you from a virtual room filled with some heroes. Greg Rosenthal,
Speaker 1: Mark Cessler and boys. Will finally have reached the end
Speaker 1: of the yellow Brick Room weeks. I'm just I'm just
Speaker 1: hoping to stay relevant into next week. You know, nothing
Speaker 1: has promised, Dan, but it does feel nice to get,
Speaker 1: you know, to the end of the regular season and
Speaker 1: get to the new year. It's gonna cheer up the
Speaker 1: sessor household. They know, well, you know, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: I think, look at I think this year especially, aren't
Speaker 1: there a couple of NFL teams that probably have that
Speaker 1: NBA bubble um desire to escape all this and and
Speaker 1: go off into the wilderness. We're ready to say goodbye
Speaker 1: to some, but there's a whole bunch of intrigue to
Speaker 1: I'm not trying I think that. Listen, this year's Week
Speaker 1: seventeen is packed with more enticing avenues and corners than
Speaker 1: I can remember in a long time. And I'm a
Speaker 1: little bit nervous about what's gonna I was like I
Speaker 1: don't know. For some reason, I was really hanging on
Speaker 1: every word from Mark there. I was figuring out how
Speaker 1: he's gonna land that sentence. Yeah, this is a celebration.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like it's Sessler Day in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways, um V day for Sessler because all these
Speaker 1: kind of annoying teams, the teams that are hard to watch,
Speaker 1: the teams that are straight up bad. Uh, they all
Speaker 1: disappear after Week seventeen and what's left is well, now,
Speaker 1: it used to be twelve, now fourteen, the best teams remaining.
Speaker 1: So we're gonna listen because it's Week seventeen, We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk about all thirty two teams and they all play
Speaker 1: on Sunday. It's the only week of the year where
Speaker 1: there is no Thursday night, there's no Monday night. There
Speaker 1: is just sixteen games up big skin, uh to dive into.
Speaker 1: And that's what we're gonna do. So let's do it.
Speaker 1: And instead of doing the draft format because it's a
Speaker 1: different week, because so much is on the line in
Speaker 1: the a f C and in the NFC with playoff bids,
Speaker 1: let's kind of group things together and talk about the
Speaker 1: games that matter most. Uh. In clusters, and let's start,
Speaker 1: Mark where we have to start in the a f C.
Speaker 1: The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns. And here we go. Mark.
Speaker 1: The Browns fall to the Jets in Week sixteen and
Speaker 1: stunning fashion. And I know you're missing that wide receiver room.
Speaker 1: But you know, watching that game, Mark, you know the
Speaker 1: Browns just weren't ready to get the job done. Either way.
Speaker 1: I didn't think they played well. I didn't think it
Speaker 1: was a well coached game. I thought it was a
Speaker 1: mess from Cleveland. And now they have a chance to
Speaker 1: get into the postseason by beating Mason Rudolph of all
Speaker 1: people who will be starting in the place of Ben Roethlisberger.
Speaker 1: Now I'm with you a little bit. I don't it
Speaker 1: was not Cleveland's best overall effort last week. They also
Speaker 1: found a lot of that stuff out on Saturday. It's
Speaker 1: hard to change things up, but this time around, it's like,
Speaker 1: look at It creates this situation where you have to
Speaker 1: ask yourself, are the Cleveland Browns is the DNA and
Speaker 1: the desk? Any of this team to get zapped by Corona,
Speaker 1: lose to the Jets, and then fall to a Mason
Speaker 1: Rudolph led Steelers team in Week seventeen. Um, I believe
Speaker 1: it is not. I believe it is not. They from
Speaker 1: what I'm hearing, they've had really good practices this week
Speaker 1: when they've been able to get together. Um, this team
Speaker 1: has found a way. They have not lost two in
Speaker 1: a row all year. They have recovered from losses and
Speaker 1: played well the following weeks. So you have to hope
Speaker 1: that happens in this situation. I mean, the Browns have
Speaker 1: Corona issues, maybe maybe underman in some situations, but the
Speaker 1: Steelers have a bunch of guys not in this game.
Speaker 1: T J. Watt will not be playing. You know, Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield right now ranks just below Aaron Rodgers and Tom
Speaker 1: Brady in terms of his play action passes. He has
Speaker 1: been really strong in that area. The Steelers defense, however,
Speaker 1: has been number one against play action passes. But they
Speaker 1: have guys out of the lineup. So if you're Cleveland,
Speaker 1: stick to who you are. Don't do what happened last
Speaker 1: week when you got away. I thought, scriptwise, from what
Speaker 1: the Browns are, do what you do and make this
Speaker 1: thing happen. This is your week. This is Cleveland has
Speaker 1: not been to the playoffs since two housing and two.
Speaker 1: I was like a wandering uh idiot in the in
Speaker 1: the fields of Colorado back then when that happened. Can
Speaker 1: we now, in my adult life make this occur otherwise
Speaker 1: I'm gonna jump out the window here. It's a first
Speaker 1: floor window, but it's gonna be a long Sunday, Mark, Mark,
Speaker 1: Let's let's bring you back down to earth. Greg, go ahead, okay,
Speaker 1: I mean the Colorado. If you hadn't been there, though,
Speaker 1: we would have missed out on hearing about your girlfriends
Speaker 1: and hanging out in the fields there like that gave
Speaker 1: you so much content. Colorado two thousands two. By the way,
Speaker 1: markt also the only time that in the eleven win
Speaker 1: teams since expansion did not make the playoffs. So the
Speaker 1: Browns have nothing to apologize for. That was the Patriots
Speaker 1: back then. If they get to eleven, they don't have
Speaker 1: anything to apologize for. That said, I'm annoyed with this
Speaker 1: week's seventeen. You know it should be building up to
Speaker 1: a crescendo, and the fact that they changed the by situation,
Speaker 1: it had some unintended consequences. I think it's a competitive
Speaker 1: issue for the NFL. They want to put out a
Speaker 1: good product, and you got Mason Rudolph starting like the
Speaker 1: biggest game of the year, you have t J. Watt
Speaker 1: sitting the biggest game of the year. It's it's a
Speaker 1: similar situation in Buffalo. I'm not sure what the competition
Speaker 1: Committee can do about this. It's a really difficult thing.
Speaker 1: It's not the Steeler's fault. It's not really the Browns fault.
Speaker 1: And I don't assume that the backup Steelers are definitely
Speaker 1: gonna lose. We saw the backup Steelers win a game
Speaker 1: much like this back in two thousand and four against
Speaker 1: the Bill, So you never know what could happen. But
Speaker 1: if Myles Garrett shows up and Olivier Vernon, by the way,
Speaker 1: who's been great, shows up the way that he's played
Speaker 1: the last few weeks, I think they get it done.
Speaker 1: And uh, it feels a little fitting for Garrett to
Speaker 1: take it down, put two thousand nineteen behind them and
Speaker 1: go get to the playoffs. This is why he makes
Speaker 1: all that money. I mean, And if you look on
Speaker 1: the other side of this, yes, where the Steelers are
Speaker 1: sitting their best players, but there is obvious bad blood
Speaker 1: about how things turned out at the end of that
Speaker 1: last season. So it seems like there's something poetic and
Speaker 1: midpraf po heeadic justice from the Steeler standpoint, if they
Speaker 1: now have the chance with Rudolph to knock the Rounds
Speaker 1: out of the playoffs, and it should be said, the
Speaker 1: Browns can still make the playoffs even with a loss.
Speaker 1: I believe the Titans also lose the Browns get in,
Speaker 1: so it's not winning in necessarily for the Browns. But
Speaker 1: there is there is that the Colts. Actually it is
Speaker 1: if the Colts lose, there is that kind of vibe
Speaker 1: hanging in the air. And I Mark, I'm with you
Speaker 1: as a as a fan of a similarly pain team,
Speaker 1: you worry about these things in the air and and
Speaker 1: the cosmic pain of being a Browns fan. But that said,
Speaker 1: they have always risen to the challenge of this season,
Speaker 1: except for last week, and you can mark down the
Speaker 1: COVID there. I think they'll do it again. I like
Speaker 1: the Browns a lot this week. Yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1: about this poetic justice for the Steelers knocking Cleveland of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I mean, they've kicked from their stand for
Speaker 1: two decades. I mean, enough with that business, right, I'm
Speaker 1: talking about the incident of courts of Mason Rudolph and
Speaker 1: Myles Garrett and how that would be poetic justice from
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh side of things. Uh, does anybody mark so
Speaker 1: you how confident are you one to ten right now
Speaker 1: that the Browns are playing playoff football? Give me one
Speaker 1: to ten with your confidence of they're playing a wild
Speaker 1: card weekend. I believe in them. Um, I think they're
Speaker 1: more confident than I am. I'd put it at about
Speaker 1: a three. After what happened last week. I just wonder
Speaker 1: if the football gods are kind of like laughing behind
Speaker 1: the scenes and me and people like me so well,
Speaker 1: they're getting their offensive line back to me? Last week,
Speaker 1: the offensive line and their linebackers and their defensive backs
Speaker 1: were the biggest issue. And the offensive line, which is
Speaker 1: the identity of this team, gets tragic. Willis back, gets
Speaker 1: Wyatt Teller back. Uh. And you're playing against the Steelers
Speaker 1: front line. Who I think are the guys that are
Speaker 1: gonna sit there? The over thirty players, They better roll
Speaker 1: in this game, no excuses, Baker, light up the Steelers
Speaker 1: and roll into January. All right. Up next, speaking of
Speaker 1: the a f C North, the Baltimore Ravens, they are
Speaker 1: as hot as any team in football right now. Four
Speaker 1: straight wins, and you look at the numbers greg of
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson UH since he came off the COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: list a month ago, and they compare favorably to his
Speaker 1: m v P season. He's playing at that level again,
Speaker 1: and that seems like Baltimore is heading into the playoffs
Speaker 1: with a head full of steam and here are the
Speaker 1: Cincinnati Bengals ready to be steamrolled. You would think so. Now.
Speaker 1: The Bengals are playing more competitively lately, but their defense
Speaker 1: still gave up thirty one points last week to the Texans.
Speaker 1: The Lamar Jackson experience has been partly about the opponents
Speaker 1: they played. They've played bad defenses, but it's also about
Speaker 1: him just trying to make plays in the running game.
Speaker 1: They're using their spread formation to get J. K. Dobbins
Speaker 1: out in space. That's helped a lot. They got a
Speaker 1: ton of speed, and Lamar's just taken off more. He's
Speaker 1: being more decisive. There's no reason to think that they're
Speaker 1: not gonna put up thirty five points as we get
Speaker 1: into the playoffs, and they're the team I don't think
Speaker 1: anyone wants to face. I think one reason by The
Speaker 1: way the Steelers won't mind losing that game is because
Speaker 1: they're most likely opponent in the wild card round is
Speaker 1: the Browns, and they can avoid the Ravens. Know what
Speaker 1: he wants to play this Ravens team, Mark, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I think Lamar Jackson is a man at ease with
Speaker 1: himself right now, so different than a month ago. Over
Speaker 1: the past four weeks, he has his completion percentage, his
Speaker 1: passer rating, his yards rushing per game are higher than
Speaker 1: his m v P levels from a year ago. So
Speaker 1: you're getting that version of the Ravens and Dan, you know,
Speaker 1: you predicted a couple of weekgo that they would run
Speaker 1: the table, and I think they can take care of
Speaker 1: the Bengals. I think the Bengals offensive line has been
Speaker 1: more consistently of late, um their screen games working. Brandon
Speaker 1: Allen lit up the Texans, so they're a little more
Speaker 1: frisky than you would expect, but not frisky enough to
Speaker 1: take out take out the Ravens who are playing playoff
Speaker 1: football right now. They are that team, and I'm with you.
Speaker 1: The Steelers want nothing to do with the Ravens. A
Speaker 1: week from now, there's no outcome. I'm more confident in
Speaker 1: than the Ravens whipping up on the Bengals in this
Speaker 1: game and taking care of business. I did so. I said,
Speaker 1: I thought they would win their last five, get that
Speaker 1: five seed. I think that. I think that's all in
Speaker 1: play here for the Ravens. And and it is interesting
Speaker 1: how last year Baltimore goes fourteen in two. They're berserker
Speaker 1: team going through the a f C to get the
Speaker 1: number one seed and then you know, it all goes
Speaker 1: down in flames in the first round against Tennessee. They're
Speaker 1: not gonna have to buy this week. They're not gonna
Speaker 1: be uh playing home games in their building, most likely
Speaker 1: in the playoffs and they get there. But I feel
Speaker 1: better about this Baltimore team. It's almost like last year
Speaker 1: and the year before, it was like when the Baltimore
Speaker 1: Ravens got to the playoffs, it was like, oh, but
Speaker 1: can Lamar get the monkey off his back? They can't.
Speaker 1: They can't get it done. In January, you're not hearing
Speaker 1: that as much because the team is entering the playoffs
Speaker 1: in a much different way. I think that's good for
Speaker 1: them too. Their defense is banged up, and I hear
Speaker 1: it reminds me a little bit of Peyton Manning, who
Speaker 1: I think needed to get into the wild card round
Speaker 1: before he finally won a playoff game. Like sometimes that's
Speaker 1: just the way to do it, get the monkey after back.
Speaker 1: But all that flies out the window if they get
Speaker 1: stuck against Buffalo. I mean, the Ravens have been beating
Speaker 1: up on some poor sisters in the NFL, and if
Speaker 1: they get stuck going to Buffalo next week, Uh, they're
Speaker 1: still heavy underdogs to me. But I do like the
Speaker 1: way they've kind of adjusted to those defensive injuries and
Speaker 1: they gotta feel good heady into the work. You're being
Speaker 1: a little sneaky dismissive of Baltimore the last couple of shows, Greg,
Speaker 1: I don't know what it's about. I like, I love
Speaker 1: the Bills as much as anybody, but I don't think
Speaker 1: they are gonna be uh get rolled over by anybody
Speaker 1: right now. This Ravens team, we're gonna guess different pages
Speaker 1: there we are. I mean they've got a lot of
Speaker 1: they've got a lot of players missing in their secondary,
Speaker 1: in their front line, not much of a pastor. I
Speaker 1: just think I think that matters more than you're letting on. Danny.
Speaker 1: Can imagine you two on different pages. I mean, the
Speaker 1: Ravens have just started so strong the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't. I'm with you, Dan, I don't.
Speaker 1: There's a steam rollering this game. Let's continue to roll
Speaker 1: through the A f C side of things and take
Speaker 1: a look at the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills. And
Speaker 1: big news comes down on Thursday that Ryan Fitzpatrick UH
Speaker 1: will be out of action. He is connected to the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen protocols, and that takes a lot of juice
Speaker 1: away from this game. It creates a lot of concerns
Speaker 1: as well, obviously, because after what we saw peak it's
Speaker 1: magic UH last week. To have him now out of
Speaker 1: the picture entirely marked, that's a bummer. You know. The
Speaker 1: one thing that I you're looking at Ryan Fitzpatrick that
Speaker 1: he's really been marvelous in the reliever role. If they
Speaker 1: if they wanted to use him that way. Um, you know, Greg,
Speaker 1: you made a point in a previous show that they
Speaker 1: maybe didn't want to start Fitzpatrick because the interceptions creep up.
Speaker 1: But his UH tossing the ball on low percentage throws
Speaker 1: latent games and relief to UH. He has been fantastic
Speaker 1: so that role is stripped away and you have to
Speaker 1: work with two us through a game. Um. The reason
Speaker 1: he was benched last week was three straight three and
Speaker 1: ounced that produced negative six yards on drives. So you
Speaker 1: can't get into these slumps, and there have been these
Speaker 1: hot and cold ebb and flow moments with two at quarterback. UM.
Speaker 1: I think it just raises a lot of concern. It
Speaker 1: just does, and you have to wonder what happens next
Speaker 1: for the Dolphins with with the rest of this situation.
Speaker 1: But they're extremely well coached in every phase and I
Speaker 1: trust them to give the Bills a fight. Um. But
Speaker 1: the Bills to me feel like a nuclear power right now.
Speaker 1: But they're not going to be the Bills. This is
Speaker 1: another problem for the NFL. I think in week seventeen
Speaker 1: that we should be building to a game like this.
Speaker 1: Everyone all week is like, I wonder, you know if
Speaker 1: Sean McDermott's gonna be playing as starters. I think there's
Speaker 1: been a lot of assuming that he is. Why they're not.
Speaker 1: They're not playing Josh Allen for four quarters. I know
Speaker 1: they haven't said anything, but when when Sean McDermott says, well,
Speaker 1: I'm not giving that information away but we're gonna do
Speaker 1: what's smart for our team. Here's what's smart for your team.
Speaker 1: Not getting cold. Beasley hurt in the fourth quarter of
Speaker 1: last week's game. The second that that happened, I thought
Speaker 1: they they're not playing anybody next week. They don't care
Speaker 1: about the two three seed. They already know the Steelers
Speaker 1: are resting. The two seed might not even matter because
Speaker 1: the Steelers could lose the first round. A million different
Speaker 1: things could happen. They're getting that two seed and they're
Speaker 1: not gonna be playing Josh Allen through four quarters. It
Speaker 1: would be crazy. Matt Milano has been banged up. Anyone
Speaker 1: you're concerned about Stefon Diggs. They're on a short week,
Speaker 1: and oh, by the way, they could be on a
Speaker 1: short week next week too, because they half the teams
Speaker 1: are playing on Saturday. I think they're gonna lay down
Speaker 1: and let the Dolphins get into the plaoffs. Can their
Speaker 1: backups give to uh A competition? Maybe, but that that's
Speaker 1: hard to predent. Dan greg Is in a bad mood,
Speaker 1: I would just watch out. I love the NFL. In
Speaker 1: the NFL, it's it's because I like at the NFL
Speaker 1: that you gotta figure out that Week seventeen, You're like,
Speaker 1: you're a stern father, you know, with a with a
Speaker 1: ruler slapping. Yeah, the Cole Beasley thing was unfortunate. Um,
Speaker 1: in that Monday night game, the Bills killing the Patriots.
Speaker 1: You have Stefan Tiggs on the bench, you have Josh
Speaker 1: Allen on the bench, and Beasley is out there. And
Speaker 1: I remember thinking myself before it happened, because I had
Speaker 1: talked about it on the previous show, that Beasley had
Speaker 1: a chance to become a one thousand yard receiver for
Speaker 1: the last time. They're trying to get that out of
Speaker 1: a thousand yards, a big personal milestone. So it's really
Speaker 1: a bummer that that's the way it played out. It
Speaker 1: kind of reminded me of Wes Welker with the Patriots
Speaker 1: years ago, blowing out his knee in a meetingless week seventeen. Um.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think also, Greg, Yes, it's a
Speaker 1: bummer that, Uh, the second seed doesn't matter as much,
Speaker 1: especially this year because you don't have that home field advantage.
Speaker 1: But I mean, the Bills still have something to gain
Speaker 1: by being the second seed. If anything ever happened to
Speaker 1: the Chiefs, who aren't world beaters right now, that it
Speaker 1: could be the chief of the Bills that are potentially
Speaker 1: hosting the a f C title game in Western New York.
Speaker 1: That's not nothing. I don't think they think that way though,
Speaker 1: because they know a million different things. They've just prioritize
Speaker 1: what's more important. The main thing is getting our guys
Speaker 1: healthy to weak to the wild card game. And they
Speaker 1: also know because Mike Tomlin told them that the Steelers
Speaker 1: are laying down, so they don't need to win this game.
Speaker 1: The Bills. I would be stunned if Matt Barkley isn't
Speaker 1: in this game in the first half. I know they haven't,
Speaker 1: you know, come out and set it um to a
Speaker 1: tongue of Violoa hasn't got to play better. I think
Speaker 1: part of his problem is everyone watched that prime time
Speaker 1: game and I think it was his worst game of
Speaker 1: the entire season. He needs to bounce back. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it was the defense they were showing him
Speaker 1: or the moment, but he's playing two conservatively, and that's
Speaker 1: the difference between him and Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick throws the guys
Speaker 1: who are caught two. Has got to learn how to
Speaker 1: do that. It's amazing how many short passes Too is
Speaker 1: throwing and I'm you know, doing some research of the
Speaker 1: game all these games about how efficient Too is and
Speaker 1: how he doesn't throw interceptions. Well, watch some of these
Speaker 1: throws he's making. Uh, they're so high percentage. But when
Speaker 1: you throw so many high percentage throws, there's not gonna
Speaker 1: be a lot of payoff, whereas you have. This is
Speaker 1: my favorite stat and I love our friends at the
Speaker 1: NFL Media Research Team. Fitzpatrick's thirty four yard completion to
Speaker 1: Mac Hollands with nineteen seconds to play against the Raiders
Speaker 1: last week at a ten point nine percent completion percentage,
Speaker 1: fourth most improbable completion of the season. It just stinks
Speaker 1: that Fitzpatrick is not in the picture for this game,
Speaker 1: and it's a bummer next week potentially or next week
Speaker 1: if you make it. And remember he's been playing. He
Speaker 1: came into the league in two thousand five as a
Speaker 1: seventh round pick out of Harvard, has never been in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, so you know, it's crushing to him that
Speaker 1: he doesn't have a chance to play in this game
Speaker 1: and maybe is out of the picture. Let's move on,
Speaker 1: check out the tennis See Titans at Houston Texans, and
Speaker 1: you know, the Titans mark outclassed a little bit on
Speaker 1: Sunday night by the Packers. How concerned were you by
Speaker 1: that game? In that performance? I'm not overly concerned. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know that game had a weather element to Um.
Speaker 1: The Titans, to me, they are who they are on offense.
Speaker 1: I'm consistently concerned about their defense, but um, not this week.
Speaker 1: I'm not too concerned. I mean the Houston Texans. You
Speaker 1: know when you when we used to go to big
Speaker 1: New Year's Eve parties and you'd sleep over and you'd
Speaker 1: wake up the next day and they'll be like a
Speaker 1: guy asleep on the floor and it's like, you've got
Speaker 1: to go. That's the Texans. We've seen enough. Their their
Speaker 1: defense has been in off season mode for a month.
Speaker 1: And you know you've Brandon Allen throwing for nearly four
Speaker 1: hundred yards on them last week. I see nothing stopping
Speaker 1: Tennessee here. The only question is if our friend Derek
Speaker 1: Henry can get to two thousand yards. It's asking a
Speaker 1: lot after what happened in Green Bay. Um, it's two
Speaker 1: hundred plus yards, but you never know. I don't think
Speaker 1: that's gonna be three yards in Week seventeen, to be
Speaker 1: come the eighth player to two thousand. I would say
Speaker 1: it's impossible, But then you look at the opponent, and
Speaker 1: you look at the stakes the Texans, and I think
Speaker 1: h Henry already has a two yard game against Houston
Speaker 1: this year. I would not rule it out, especially if
Speaker 1: this game starts going Tennessee's way and and Henry starts
Speaker 1: sniffing it that they start feeding the ball again. Greg,
Speaker 1: you're gonna get into that conversation. Well, is that's a
Speaker 1: smart thing to do if you have a playoff spot
Speaker 1: locked up and you've got Henry rushing the ball thirty times.
Speaker 1: These things matter to the players and to the organizations,
Speaker 1: and I think two thousand yards might keep Henry on
Speaker 1: the field if he gets within a sniffing distance. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he would be the one guy that feels like the
Speaker 1: exception because he's a superhuman bionic man that suffers no injuries.
Speaker 1: That said, uh, he leaves the league and carries already
Speaker 1: with over three forty and he led the league last
Speaker 1: year with three or four, So he's already at forty
Speaker 1: more carries this season, and he had all of last year.
Speaker 1: That will be a tricky game to play, but that
Speaker 1: would be like a good thing for the Texans because
Speaker 1: it would mean that they're eating another forty burger. They
Speaker 1: got four forty burgers this year, Dan, I think they
Speaker 1: could make a five like they are eating as well
Speaker 1: as those squirrels outside your house lately. Yeah, and this
Speaker 1: weird year of mark you brought up New Year's Eve
Speaker 1: and like having a you know, setting things up and
Speaker 1: thinking about party. I now have a squirrel that I
Speaker 1: feed in my backyard as I look for human connection
Speaker 1: in a world that has gone awry. Um. The one
Speaker 1: thing that there's one the fly in the ointment for
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans, uh is Deshaun Watson here. Because Tennessee's
Speaker 1: defense is not good. It's the worst defense of the
Speaker 1: playoff contenders and the Super Bowl contenders out there by far. Statistically.
Speaker 1: You see it every time, it seems like and their
Speaker 1: five losses. In fact, the Titans have allowed almost thirty
Speaker 1: five points a game. Uh. So they get lit up
Speaker 1: in these games when they lose. And Deshaun Watson is
Speaker 1: playing outrageous football. How do he He's on a team
Speaker 1: with four wins and he has a passer rating over
Speaker 1: one written ten. So there is a scenario here where
Speaker 1: Deshaun Watson is lighting up the Titans defense in week seventeen,
Speaker 1: and things get harry. Yeah. I mean there's he leads
Speaker 1: to the the league and the Texans do in percentage of
Speaker 1: throws of twenty plus yards. I mean, and we've seen that,
Speaker 1: and they're exciting to watch because of that, and they
Speaker 1: keep games close despite their defense. But I can't believe
Speaker 1: that we've just um shot by a comment about Dan
Speaker 1: feeding wild squirrels in his yard. Um, there's so many
Speaker 1: things that could go wrong there, but I understand he's
Speaker 1: not wild anymore. Connection. It's actually a girl in her
Speaker 1: name human connection, Like you're looking for human but they're
Speaker 1: not human. There's not girls. But it's the most amazing
Speaker 1: thing to me is that you can tell the different
Speaker 1: squirrels apart because the obvious thing is already starting to happen.
Speaker 1: Different squirrels are coming. They heard that Dan's got some
Speaker 1: good food and now they're coming to the yard. This
Speaker 1: is like Hughes behavior, just throwing it out there. So
Speaker 1: it is, and you know what, like I'm just embracing
Speaker 1: that I might be going crazy and it is what
Speaker 1: it is. I actually don't have a huge problem with
Speaker 1: it all right, let's move on. Yeah, so Tennessee has
Speaker 1: a chance to get that wild card UH spot with
Speaker 1: an eleventh win. Now there's the Indianapolis Colts, who have
Speaker 1: the easiest path to victory in Week seventeen because they
Speaker 1: have the worst team in the league, the Jacksonville Jaguars,
Speaker 1: who have lost fourteen straight games. Here is well, there's
Speaker 1: literally no way to build a case for the Colts
Speaker 1: losing this game. I was gonna say that Jacks have
Speaker 1: already clinched the number one overall pick, so they have
Speaker 1: nothing to gain from losing anymore. So perhaps, you know,
Speaker 1: Gardner Minshew comes in and there's some magic and the
Speaker 1: Colts go home, you know, scratching their heads. Nah, they're
Speaker 1: gonna take care of business here, right, Greg, They should.
Speaker 1: But the case is pretty simple that the Jaguars beat
Speaker 1: him in Week one, that that's their one win. It
Speaker 1: was a weird game. The Colts dominated it a long
Speaker 1: time ago, Greggy, I know, but they've kind of dominated
Speaker 1: this series for a while. And the coaches are the same,
Speaker 1: Doug Maron and Frank Reich. It's strange. I don't expect it.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned the Colts have the easiest matchup but
Speaker 1: they've got the toughest route to the playoffs. They're on
Speaker 1: the outside looking in. If the Titans somehow lose, the
Speaker 1: Colts can still win the division. UM. But the way
Speaker 1: it's shaping up, with the Bills potentially resting starters, with
Speaker 1: the Steelers resting starters, I think all these teams have
Speaker 1: a good chance to get to eleven and five. And
Speaker 1: that means the Colts would only be the second team
Speaker 1: since the last expansion to win eleven games and not
Speaker 1: make the playoffs. And I'm I'm sad about it. I
Speaker 1: wanted to see Philip Rivers in this cold team. Maybe
Speaker 1: they will get in, they'll get lucky and get helped
Speaker 1: out somewhere else. But there's a good chance that collapse
Speaker 1: against the Steelers in the second half kind of ends
Speaker 1: up defining their season. That doesn't Yeah, that doesn't feel
Speaker 1: right for them to miss it. That gets to eleven.
Speaker 1: But what I love about this UM, because there's a
Speaker 1: lot of hubbub about whether you do this or not.
Speaker 1: They are hiding. They're hiding out of town scores so
Speaker 1: the players can't see play the game blind, do what
Speaker 1: the best you can. I love that, UM. The Colts
Speaker 1: team there's a lot to like. I think they're balanced,
Speaker 1: but I also watched the way that they were detonated
Speaker 1: by Tennessee a couple of weeks ago, the way the
Speaker 1: Ravens beat them up in the second half, the way
Speaker 1: that they collapsed to Pittsburgh. They had one converted third
Speaker 1: down in the second half of that game. So they're
Speaker 1: a little bit of a tricky team to get totally behind,
Speaker 1: but they are a playoff level team to me, so
Speaker 1: we'll see how the shakes out. It's it's striking, and
Speaker 1: we talked about I thought that was one of the
Speaker 1: strangest games of the season, how the Colts were so
Speaker 1: in control at halftime against the Steelers and then just
Speaker 1: the Steelers flipped a switch, And to me, it was
Speaker 1: kind of telling in the way that as bad as
Speaker 1: the Steelers had been in the four weeks previous, it's
Speaker 1: a reminder that the Steelers and these other a f
Speaker 1: C superpowers have a higher gear and when they flipped
Speaker 1: that switch, they play at a higher level one than
Speaker 1: the Colts can. So as much as I like the Colts,
Speaker 1: I've never been in love with this coult team because
Speaker 1: I don't think it's ever been a team that you
Speaker 1: could say is great. It's a good team, and it's
Speaker 1: a good team that can miss the playoffs even if
Speaker 1: they get to eleven wins. Greg, here is just a
Speaker 1: little more shading on your point. Since the expansion to
Speaker 1: a twelve team postseason in nineteen nine, only one of
Speaker 1: two hundred and eight teams have won eleven games uh
Speaker 1: in a season and missed the playoffs. And who was
Speaker 1: it that missed, Greggy? You know Tom Brady's Super Bowl defense,
Speaker 1: his first one two thousand two. Incorrect, It was the
Speaker 1: year after the year after when Tom Brady tore his
Speaker 1: a c L and Matt Castle came on and got
Speaker 1: them to eleven and five. Still no playoffs, Greg, you
Speaker 1: gotta know that. You just gotta know it. Too many
Speaker 1: Super Bowl trophies and Greg's closet there, brain freeze. That
Speaker 1: was another a f C East they tied for and
Speaker 1: missed the playoffs. I teach you up on that one, Greg.
Speaker 1: All right, let's swing over to the NFC here and
Speaker 1: dig in on a messy game Arizona Cardinals and l A. Rams.
Speaker 1: And why is it messy? The quarterback situation? You have
Speaker 1: Jared Goff, who is not going to play after thumb
Speaker 1: surgery entered John Wolford of the Alliance of American Football
Speaker 1: and most recently practice squad of the l A Rams.
Speaker 1: And then on the other side of the things, Mark,
Speaker 1: you have the Arizona Cardinals who have a banged up
Speaker 1: Kyler Murray nursing a knee injury suffered eight in their
Speaker 1: Week sixteen loss to the forty. Yeah. I love that.
Speaker 1: Our friend Jordan rug Reid from The Athletic pointed out
Speaker 1: that John Wolford is one of maybe the only quarterbacks
Speaker 1: around us have an active linked in profile. He didn't
Speaker 1: know he was gonna be here as much as we
Speaker 1: didn't know at this point. The Ramilly um, they're in
Speaker 1: a fix. They're in a bit of a fix. Do
Speaker 1: you have you have your defense? I would just point
Speaker 1: to this. You have Jalen Ramsey, you have Vic Fngio
Speaker 1: obsessed Brandon Staley's defense and Ramsey he put it to Hopkins.
Speaker 1: Last time he didn't have a catch over ten yards.
Speaker 1: He held a three receptions. So that doesn't change whoever's
Speaker 1: playing for quarterback and Greg, can you see a scenario
Speaker 1: where maybe Wolford comes in and brings a little life
Speaker 1: to this offense that's had its ups and downs. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: I love it. This guy they listed at six one,
Speaker 1: he used to be listed at five eleven. Reminds me
Speaker 1: of Doug Flutie a little bit back there. If if
Speaker 1: you showed some a f tape of him on the
Speaker 1: hot shots, that's what got him into the NFL. He
Speaker 1: was slaying it. I mean he can make plays with
Speaker 1: his feet. Uh, he seems like he's confident. I think
Speaker 1: he'll throw it deep. I think it's he's gonna be
Speaker 1: one of those backups that goes down fighting. Either it
Speaker 1: goes terribly and that's possible, or he gives them a
Speaker 1: little spark and is running around and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of fun to watch. He was literally working in finance
Speaker 1: and was out of football until your Jets, Danny, uh
Speaker 1: called him up. I think it was in eighteen they
Speaker 1: needed another camp arm. He looked good and Uh, he
Speaker 1: wasn't on the practice squad this year, Danny, he would
Speaker 1: He came into the year as the backup. I think
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh likes him. I'm excited to see Sean McVeigh
Speaker 1: with a quarterback other than Jared Goff. Let's see if
Speaker 1: Sean McVeigh and be like Kyle Shanahan and get his
Speaker 1: backups to be productive. It's I mean, this is the
Speaker 1: season of you know, constant takedowns of the number one
Speaker 1: and number two picks and the two thousand NMC and
Speaker 1: uh NFL draft. Everyone wants to see off on Jared Goff.
Speaker 1: Everyone's teeing off on Carson Wentz. So now we have
Speaker 1: this thing where Jared Goff because he's struggling. Now we're
Speaker 1: gonna paint it as this is a good thing for
Speaker 1: the Rams, John Bull. But John Wolford is gonna now
Speaker 1: join up with Sean McVeigh and light up the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: And I had to say a similar conversation. I had
Speaker 1: to hear the similar hocum from that Money Smith on
Speaker 1: the Power Ranking Show a few days ago when he
Speaker 1: said he had he had covered and done play by
Speaker 1: play on some A A F games and Wolford is
Speaker 1: gonna do r P O and Sean mcveigh's, you know,
Speaker 1: having a field day scheming up. Ways. All right, let's
Speaker 1: see how it goes. I I and look, we're here's
Speaker 1: that footage you get, like, here we go, Let's see
Speaker 1: what will I'm doing a big spot I think it's
Speaker 1: more Jared gofferd dividual Anger playing into the analysis here, Hey,
Speaker 1: who's the better coach? Do you trust Sean McVeigh or
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury? Because I am left a little wanting watching
Speaker 1: this Cliff Kingsbury offense. Who's got the better players? You know,
Speaker 1: who's got Aaron Donald, who's got Jalen Ramsey. I was
Speaker 1: all ready to lock this thing up if Golf and
Speaker 1: Cooper Cupper plan. I'm not bold enough to do it
Speaker 1: with Wolford, but I did pick them in my game
Speaker 1: picks column. I think the Rams can still get this win. Uh,
Speaker 1: the ray can get into the playoffs, though, if they lose,
Speaker 1: if the Bears, if the Bears lose their games, and
Speaker 1: real quick, Greg, I'm with you. I think you watched
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury's games. There are moments, especially in the red
Speaker 1: zone or inside the two minute warning, where time management
Speaker 1: and decisions have haunted the Cardinals, and the only belief
Speaker 1: is Kyler Murray Simone. My wife calls him that fast
Speaker 1: little guy because he is, and I you know, he's
Speaker 1: enjoyable to watch, but he's been inconsistent too. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure which team I trust more here. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: picking the Rams because, like Greg says, Sean McVeigh, I
Speaker 1: trust him. He's got the Pelts on the wall over
Speaker 1: Cliffs Kingsbury and then the Rams. Sean McVeigh may not
Speaker 1: have Jared Goffer an offense he could trust right now,
Speaker 1: but he still has that defense. And we've seen all
Speaker 1: season long with the Cardinals, their trade is when Kyler
Speaker 1: Murray is not special, the Cardinals are not special. And
Speaker 1: I just don't like what I'm hearing about him, where
Speaker 1: he's at physically and in general, the inconsistent nature of
Speaker 1: this offense in the second half of the season. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna be, you know, a blowout in
Speaker 1: the favor of the Rams, but I think they're gonna
Speaker 1: take care of business. And I should mention because I
Speaker 1: haven't yet. This is a winning in playoffs scenario for
Speaker 1: both teams. Uh, the Rams could also make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So they lost and the Bears lost versus the Packers.
Speaker 1: The Cardinals are eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
Speaker 1: They're out if they don't win this game. Intrusting, all right,
Speaker 1: let's move on up next, The Green Bay Packers head
Speaker 1: to Soldier Field to face the Bears. How about them?
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears three straight wins. They're scoring thirty points every week.
Speaker 1: Mitch Trabsky is having a field day, playing with confidence.
Speaker 1: Dave and Montgomery's putting up a hundred and thirty total
Speaker 1: yards every week and a touch. You have Alan Robinson
Speaker 1: on pace for undred yards. This offense is humming right now.
Speaker 1: So all of a sudden, with the Bears in their
Speaker 1: own situation winning in the playoffs, the Packers might have
Speaker 1: a battle on their hands. Mark, I think they I
Speaker 1: think they do. I mean, this is a different Bears
Speaker 1: team than the one that we've prodded fun at for years,
Speaker 1: and you're getting a different version of David Montgomery and
Speaker 1: the ground game to starting to look at You can
Speaker 1: look who they played in recent weeks. It's not been
Speaker 1: the high elites of the NFL. And their offensive line
Speaker 1: is thrived. The run game has thrived. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of it starts there. Rabinsky playing better, you still
Speaker 1: get the same mistakes. I'm just saying, how do you
Speaker 1: stop this Packer's offense? Okay, I right now think that
Speaker 1: A J. Dillon and Aaron Jones have been look at
Speaker 1: what happened in Tennessee. What a one to punch Davante
Speaker 1: Adams unstoppable. I am confidently locking this up for the Packers.
Speaker 1: Confidently he wanted, he wanted. It didn't sound that confidence. No,
Speaker 1: you didn't start off how good the Bears were looking?
Speaker 1: Are you kidding me? I'm much more caught. I hate
Speaker 1: that we have the same lock. I knew Mark wanted
Speaker 1: to get it out there. Uh First, I mean, I
Speaker 1: thank Mitchell Robinsky for winning these four games in a row. Uh,
Speaker 1: to make it possible for me to lock against him
Speaker 1: in week seventeen against the Packers. Are you a kid
Speaker 1: in me? Has anyone watched these games? Because I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: Mitchell Robinsky hasn't even played well two of the last
Speaker 1: four weeks. It reminds me so much of where he
Speaker 1: got a lot of credit for wide open receivers. The
Speaker 1: offense is playing well, no doubt. Matt Naggie or Bill Lazer,
Speaker 1: whoever's calling plays like is in his bags. You know,
Speaker 1: running well Alan Robinson is awesome, But I think dire
Speaker 1: Alexander can take Allen Robinson out. And when you take
Speaker 1: Robinson out, they just don't have much. Trabinsky has been
Speaker 1: throwing up a couple of passes per game that the
Speaker 1: other team should take away or he's fumbling the ball.
Speaker 1: And I don't trust this Bears defense, even though they've
Speaker 1: been solid all year. I don't think they get to
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers, and I don't think this game is that close.
Speaker 1: I feel great about getting the chance to lock up
Speaker 1: the Packers in Week seven time. And then you have
Speaker 1: the situation with uh the top of the NFC. We
Speaker 1: we've been lamenting how Week seventeen has been deflated some
Speaker 1: by this adding of the playoff spot and the removing
Speaker 1: of the second by But in this game it doesn't
Speaker 1: get affected because the Packers can lose that number one
Speaker 1: seed that they currently sit in if they don't win.
Speaker 1: They have all everything to play for the buy in
Speaker 1: the first round, everything going through lambeau Field in the NFC,
Speaker 1: And that's why, of course I'm locking up the Packers. Unprecedented.
Speaker 1: Of course, we have not done this all season long,
Speaker 1: but this is a weird week. We like to play
Speaker 1: the mirror test with the with Vegas, and we want
Speaker 1: to make sure we pick a game that's within the
Speaker 1: realm of reason in terms of the competition level. But
Speaker 1: when you do have the chance, uh to pick Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers closing out? What is it? And I know, Greg,
Speaker 1: you you keep on saying it's a it's a battle.
Speaker 1: This m v P races over. Patrick Mahomes hasn't been
Speaker 1: playing in week seventeen. I like Josh Allen and what
Speaker 1: he's been able to do the last six weeks to
Speaker 1: get backers. But Rogers has a chance to throw for
Speaker 1: close to fifty touchdowns this year with a passer rating
Speaker 1: of one twenty. He's gonna close this thing out and
Speaker 1: the Bears. Yes, it does feel, with all due respect
Speaker 1: to the people of Chicago, like this has been a
Speaker 1: mirage against some hideous defenses. Wake up call coming. They're
Speaker 1: so bad. The Bears are gonna win. You know it now? Well,
Speaker 1: this is first of all, this is bad strategy by you. Dan.
Speaker 1: You're three back with five weeks to play and they're
Speaker 1: packing up the same Game's bad strategy. I would not
Speaker 1: a strateg off of it. But I'm just trying to wet, uh, Travisky.
Speaker 1: I know, but you've gotta hope for catching up, you know,
Speaker 1: tread and water is not worried about that another day,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Travisky wouldn't it be the most bearst thing
Speaker 1: ever to do all this and then lose too straight
Speaker 1: to back into the playoffs, which I think could happen
Speaker 1: if the Cardinals lose, the Bears still get in and
Speaker 1: then you end up losing this week and then you
Speaker 1: get blasted by the Saints or someone next week, and
Speaker 1: it's like, oh, that that was a deflating win and
Speaker 1: resigned mists, Robinsky and and Greg and Mark. Did you
Speaker 1: notice Greg, who says he doesn't care about the locks competition,
Speaker 1: knew absolutely where the standings were, just off the top
Speaker 1: of his head. What I found is that there were
Speaker 1: a couple of years, Dan, where you and I were
Speaker 1: vying for the title and Greg was a little, a
Speaker 1: little bit further back. That was when the apathy crept in.
Speaker 1: And you know, this segment is not working. We don't
Speaker 1: like the locks. It's not I want to get rid
Speaker 1: of the in you know, we get I'm getting rid
Speaker 1: of it. I'm getting rid of it after getting rid
Speaker 1: of anything. Time now for Road to Victory, presented by
Speaker 1: the United States Marine Corps. All Right, Sunday Night Football,
Speaker 1: al Chris Michelle in the world will watch the NFC
Speaker 1: East get decided. The Washington football team win and they're
Speaker 1: the NFC's champs. That's It's as simple as that. For Washington.
Speaker 1: They are against the Philadelphia Eagles team, which is the
Speaker 1: only team that is not in contention for the NFC
Speaker 1: East Crown entering week seventeen, which tells you everything you
Speaker 1: need to know about how their season went. Greg, I
Speaker 1: feel like a lot of my confidence in Washington is
Speaker 1: rooted and if Alex Smith is playing, because everything else
Speaker 1: about this team I like in this matchup, yeah, I
Speaker 1: like that they have Antonio Gibson back his huge Alex
Speaker 1: Smith did practice on Thursday, so it's trending towards him
Speaker 1: playing now. He wasn't playing as well his last few
Speaker 1: starts that we saw him out there even before the
Speaker 1: caffe injury as he was when he first came into
Speaker 1: the lineup. But at least it makes it a great
Speaker 1: story on Sunday night, like this is the game they
Speaker 1: had to show because it was the one that made
Speaker 1: sense that there won't be any teams eliminated and he's
Speaker 1: seeing Alex Smith finished NBC that's right on Sunday night,
Speaker 1: like finish off the Comeback of the Year Award would
Speaker 1: be pretty awesome against this Eagles team, UM, which is
Speaker 1: just playing out the string and is so banged. I
Speaker 1: know they have Jalen Hurds, but the rest of the team,
Speaker 1: especially on defense, is so banged up right now. It's
Speaker 1: I'm with you, Greg, It's it's like we were ready
Speaker 1: to give Alex Smith comeback Player of the Year if
Speaker 1: he came in and did a kneel down. I mean,
Speaker 1: just to even come back and be in uniform. UM.
Speaker 1: The fact that the coaching staff so clearly said, you
Speaker 1: know all along, this is the guy we trust. I
Speaker 1: think that he can um do a lot pre snap
Speaker 1: that you're not gonna get from the other quarterbacks on
Speaker 1: that roster. This needs to be about Washington's rookie class though.
Speaker 1: To Chase Young, Um, Antonio Gibson, these guys are a
Speaker 1: key to this team. And it's incredible to me. These
Speaker 1: teams met in back in Week one, when I thought
Speaker 1: Philly could be a super Bowl team. Their quarterback of
Speaker 1: the future, Carson Wentz, is nowhere to be seen right now,
Speaker 1: and it's Philadelphia and Washington. With Washington a chance to
Speaker 1: win the NFC East. I'm sorry I didn't see that coming,
Speaker 1: you know, check me at the door if you did.
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts lingers as an X factor in this game,
Speaker 1: of course, because he's had, you know, explosive moments. It's
Speaker 1: taking over for whence he was I don't want to
Speaker 1: say exposed by the Cowboys defense last week, but he
Speaker 1: came down to earth in those last three quarters against Dallas.
Speaker 1: So it makes me think that if the Dallas defense
Speaker 1: could figure out Jalen Hurts a little bit, this Washington
Speaker 1: front seven can do the same thing. And and it
Speaker 1: should be noted that, yes, we don't know about Alex Smith.
Speaker 1: Right now, we know Dwayne Haskins isn't the quarterback because
Speaker 1: Ron Rivera cut the guy um earlier this week, the
Speaker 1: overall pick in the nineteen NFL draft. He is gone.
Speaker 1: And that was obviously a display of power from Ron Rivera,
Speaker 1: who never liked this guy, never liked the way he
Speaker 1: played or how he prepared. So they moved forward. And
Speaker 1: it does beg the question, and I trust Ron Rivera, Greg,
Speaker 1: but why create that distraction in the locker room entering
Speaker 1: this game when you could just just sit Haskins on
Speaker 1: the bench or have him inactive and handle that in
Speaker 1: the off season. Well, I wonder if it was a
Speaker 1: move that was appreciated in the locker room. You know
Speaker 1: that it might be something that the team. I don't
Speaker 1: know this, but Haskins put them, you know, in Jeopardy,
Speaker 1: Tyler Heineck comes in there and looks good and um,
Speaker 1: and maybe the team likes it. It's funny because we
Speaker 1: always say, well, week one doesn't mean anything, and you
Speaker 1: never know what you're gonna get in week one. Week
Speaker 1: one between these teams kind of told us everything. The
Speaker 1: the Washington defense was awesome, the defensive backs that Ron
Speaker 1: Rivera is really a specialty coach making them better. We're
Speaker 1: awesome in that game, Kendall Fuller, Ronald Darby, Chase Young
Speaker 1: was awesome. Haskins was brutal in that Week one game,
Speaker 1: and Carson Wentz was kind of a mess like and
Speaker 1: and the Eagles started getting injured that that Week one
Speaker 1: game told us a lot about how this season was
Speaker 1: gonna go. I would also say this is probably a
Speaker 1: appreciated I mean, sorry, but Dwayne Haskins, did you really
Speaker 1: grasp this opportunity on and off the field. I could
Speaker 1: point to eighteen or nineteen things to suggest that you
Speaker 1: did not, And I think that Ron Rivera needs someone
Speaker 1: who's all in. And he basically told the rest of
Speaker 1: the team, if you want to act like that, you're
Speaker 1: not gonna be on this team. You can be working
Speaker 1: a different job somewhere else in society. Oligatory. Dwayne Haskins defense.
Speaker 1: I did not grasp many opportunities when I was twenty
Speaker 1: three either. He is right now not wired this but
Speaker 1: for the NFL obviously, and before we uh, he'll get
Speaker 1: a job. He'll definitely get another opportunity. He will before
Speaker 1: we move on. What would it take? Here's a fun
Speaker 1: little game, Mark, what would it take for Alex Smith
Speaker 1: not to get comeback Player of the Year award? And
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna present one scenario. You tell me if
Speaker 1: it's gonna lead to him not getting the trophy? Uh?
Speaker 1: In this finale game he starts, goes eleven for twenty
Speaker 1: seven for eighty one yards, six interceptions, and he's ejected
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter for headbuttons Shawn hockey Ley the referee.
Speaker 1: Does he still get the trophy? That would that would
Speaker 1: make it very edgy, because you know it's the last
Speaker 1: thing we think about. Um. But I'd have to say
Speaker 1: the only thing that could probably knock him out of there.
Speaker 1: Is like if Brett Farve came in and won a
Speaker 1: Packers game and the playoffs in relief of Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 1: It's got to be Alex Smith. But the head butt
Speaker 1: thing that's thorny a Sessler scenario. It would be a
Speaker 1: Sesslor scenario where the asteroid finally hits us. That's the
Speaker 1: only thing that's no vote, no vote logged. That is
Speaker 1: the road to victory presented by the United States Marine Corps.
Speaker 1: All right, let's check out the other NFC East matchup,
Speaker 1: because obviously huge playoff ramifications there as well. The Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys coming off three consecutive wins, including a blowout of
Speaker 1: the Eagles last week that knocked the Eggles out of
Speaker 1: the playoffs. They now travel to the Meadowlands the face
Speaker 1: New gy Man and this is very simple Mark. The
Speaker 1: winner clinches the NFC East with a win, and then
Speaker 1: they sit on their couches and hope with Washington loses
Speaker 1: Sunday night. Yeah, I mean, I feel like we flip
Speaker 1: every week which NFC East team we would prefer to
Speaker 1: see in January. I'm right now, it's arrow up for
Speaker 1: me on Dallas and I think if you look back
Speaker 1: at this season, there was a stretch where Kelln Moore
Speaker 1: had to game plan um for four Cowboys quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: five games. That that's rough. That's not easy to do.
Speaker 1: Alongside of defense, that back then was just a wide
Speaker 1: open barn door saying come right through, dance along, dance
Speaker 1: along to the end zone. Well that's not the case now.
Speaker 1: They played a little bit better on defense and the
Speaker 1: Giants end zone was inside the barn. Well, dance out
Speaker 1: the but I don't know if you're going in the
Speaker 1: barn out a lot of dancing, a lot of achieving
Speaker 1: touchdowns and field goals. And we were high on the Giants,
Speaker 1: and the Giants ran into the a f C North,
Speaker 1: didn't they. I mean, I don't know the Giants team.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of like, interesting, see you next year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Daniel Jones admitted this week he's been limited in terms
Speaker 1: of trying to make plays outside the pocket. That's a
Speaker 1: problem because you know they're going up against a pass
Speaker 1: rush that's been getting better. Uh, we were talking comeback
Speaker 1: player of the year in a normal year. Randy Gregory
Speaker 1: my be a nice option. He has been balling for
Speaker 1: Dallas and he has been through a lot, has been
Speaker 1: not hasn't been in the NFL very often. He's playing great.
Speaker 1: Another comeback player that your kid. How about Andy Dalton
Speaker 1: the Red Rifle playing well lately making the offensive line
Speaker 1: look better. But when I heard this week that Jerry
Speaker 1: Jones was in such a good mood on his radio
Speaker 1: appearance that said he said he's been dancing around the
Speaker 1: house because there, you know, they got a chance to
Speaker 1: make the playoffs, I thought, oh, they're gonna lose, and
Speaker 1: there's you know, I would never remembered about locking up
Speaker 1: the Cowboys Greg because uh, you know, it seems like
Speaker 1: everything's going in their direction. But every time you get
Speaker 1: on board with the Dallas Cowboys, uh, they stick it
Speaker 1: in your face and say you should not have trusted us.
Speaker 1: So I'm not doing it this week. However, I am
Speaker 1: picking Dallas to win this game because you look at
Speaker 1: the Giants since they're week eleven by this is how
Speaker 1: many points they have scored in every game nineteen and
Speaker 1: seventeen and two wins and then seven, six and thirteen
Speaker 1: in three losses consecutively. They can't score points. And even
Speaker 1: if Daniel Joe was healthy, I don't know if I
Speaker 1: would totally trust them. So I think the Cowboys in
Speaker 1: their offense and those three wide receivers and Zeke even
Speaker 1: looking better last week, they should take care of business
Speaker 1: here and be on the couch with hope against what
Speaker 1: with Washington's playing, what could go wrong? I'm taking the
Speaker 1: Giants made of tougher stuff. Oh I like that? How
Speaker 1: about you, Cecler? I'm going Cowboys. I think it'll be close.
Speaker 1: They'll make it dramatic, But Dallas is the team right now.
Speaker 1: That's peaking. All right, let's get through the rest of
Speaker 1: the week seventeen slate. Now, there's gonna be some dogs
Speaker 1: in the rest of these games, now that we've gotten past,
Speaker 1: like the games that have major playoff implications. UM, let's
Speaker 1: resume our draft. Uh, set up and Mark you get
Speaker 1: us going here? Uh for the rest of these games.
Speaker 1: All right, I'm gonna take Seattle at San Francisco. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, I if you listen to this show, or
Speaker 1: if if you're the two of you, UM, Dan and Greg,
Speaker 1: you're clear you understand that you know this is my
Speaker 1: last chance to take a look at Kyle Shanahan and
Speaker 1: in a team. Frankly that I'm a little um disturbed
Speaker 1: and annoyed will not squeak into the playoffs if a
Speaker 1: team like the Bears does, just because I think San
Speaker 1: Francisco could do anything to anyone at any week, or
Speaker 1: they could be disappointing that there that they're the variance
Speaker 1: is high. Um, I think they can give Seattle a
Speaker 1: game here. They're gonna do what they did to the
Speaker 1: Cardinals a week ago. Their defense, I thought, um, in
Speaker 1: Robert Sala, it will be his last appearance in San Francisco,
Speaker 1: I would wager by looking at Kyle Shanahan for one
Speaker 1: last time. What does that mean? I think it's clear.
Speaker 1: I think it's clear. What I mean, you know, Dan
Speaker 1: to watch him on Game Bass if you're that Randy
Speaker 1: do I need to see him live? Okay? And like
Speaker 1: the last time actually that Dan and I um were
Speaker 1: out in public, uh you know, peddaling our wares and
Speaker 1: hanging out with the public. We saw Kyle Shanahan at
Speaker 1: an exclusive party and um, Dan, you spoke to him.
Speaker 1: I didn't get a chance to and I, um, I
Speaker 1: still that still stings a little bit. So I need
Speaker 1: to get all the Shanahan I get, and you and
Speaker 1: you In my defense, I was very drunk at the time.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to tell the other part of this
Speaker 1: story that you were not. You were not. It was
Speaker 1: not clear to you that that was Kyle Shanahan. At
Speaker 1: one point, I was like, because he was wearing like
Speaker 1: a Bros. Baseball hat and like this like warm up suit,
Speaker 1: but the whole rise like how many other guys Kyle
Speaker 1: Shanahan looks like when he's not on the sideline wearing
Speaker 1: a black flat BRIMMS forty Niner's hat. No, you're right,
Speaker 1: You're right. Um. I met Kyle shanahana at a Hooters
Speaker 1: once when he was the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis. Jeff
Speaker 1: Darlington introduced me and it was like, you know, John,
Speaker 1: all these other little all that all these other coaches
Speaker 1: are that they all look like my size practically. I'm like,
Speaker 1: this is an offensive staff for the floors, brother and
Speaker 1: there and then the rest of the run game corner. Greg,
Speaker 1: I'm a little like, I'm I'm struggling to imagine you
Speaker 1: at Hooters, especially that grimy Indianapolis one, But you were
Speaker 1: rolling the Mark Davis was there too. In some zoo
Speaker 1: bas where we forget it, I'll never forget it was
Speaker 1: before I knew you guys before we met. The last
Speaker 1: thing I will say real quick that Robbie Gould missed
Speaker 1: two field goals in a pH t last game. Okay,
Speaker 1: then agrees to a two year contract extension. Then catches Corona.
Speaker 1: What a week. That's a busy week. Week. Uh this
Speaker 1: is you know, the rainmaker hasn't been out all year.
Speaker 1: Not gonna bring it back right now, but this is
Speaker 1: a weird one in in the desert for me. The
Speaker 1: Seahawks are playing to win, and everyone's got this weird
Speaker 1: thing of like, well, these four, these forty niners team
Speaker 1: like they're frisky, they try hard. Okay. Uh, Brandon Ayouk
Speaker 1: has been the key to their team over the last
Speaker 1: eight weeks. Out this week, Trent Williams the best player
Speaker 1: on their team. Out this week. Uh, newly out. I
Speaker 1: mean they're adding new great players to lose every week.
Speaker 1: Sherman's out, Kawan Williams their best defensive player a week ago,
Speaker 1: out this week. I do not think this is gonna
Speaker 1: be competitive. Seattle is trying to get that home field advantage.
Speaker 1: Their defense is playing better, having guys step up at
Speaker 1: DJ Reid revenge game. A guy who got away from
Speaker 1: the forty niners and is playing great for Seattle. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think Seattle could win this game by by thirty,
Speaker 1: all right, and they could. The Seahawks can get the
Speaker 1: number one seed in the NFC, UH if they win
Speaker 1: and then get a little bit of help. So we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. And it's it's no joke we we
Speaker 1: talked about on the show this past week. The Seahawks
Speaker 1: defense has gone from liability uh to borderline strength um.
Speaker 1: And I expect them to keep it up. And one
Speaker 1: one person who will no longer be on the sideline
Speaker 1: for San Francisco is Robert Sala Sala Sala. He is
Speaker 1: getting one of these jobs. Book it uh. So that
Speaker 1: will be a big task for Kyle Shanahan in the
Speaker 1: offseason finding a new d C. But that's for a
Speaker 1: conversation down the road. Up next, I will pick uh
Speaker 1: and I will select all right, let's do it Jets
Speaker 1: at Patriots. I am locked in I being the Jets.
Speaker 1: I am locked into the number two overall pick. There's
Speaker 1: nothing that can happen that can get the Jets to
Speaker 1: number one. There's nothing that can happen they can get
Speaker 1: the Jets at a number two and into number three
Speaker 1: with Cincinnati winning these last couple of weeks, so here
Speaker 1: we are. The only thing left to do is absolutely
Speaker 1: spank the Patriots, and it won't mean much because the
Speaker 1: Jets are brutal and they're two and thirteen on the year.
Speaker 1: UM and I did, and we had this conversation with
Speaker 1: Peter Schreeger on Tuesday's show. There is this fear that
Speaker 1: Jets ownership could take a potential three game winning streak
Speaker 1: and and use that as a springboard to keep Adam Gaze.
Speaker 1: But if you read between the lines, you know what's
Speaker 1: out there. And Schreeger, which I didn't really think of
Speaker 1: until after the moment. Boys, he's pretty in tight with
Speaker 1: the Jets, so he had to be careful what he
Speaker 1: said there. But Gaze has gone to go kill the Patriots.
Speaker 1: Embarrassed the Patriots, Sam Donald play play the hell of
Speaker 1: a game, and that's how you go into the offseason. Greg,
Speaker 1: you'll be watching, I know you will. I will not
Speaker 1: watch this game. This is the first UM week of games.
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to not watching a few of the
Speaker 1: games because we're not not even gonna watch it on
Speaker 1: game pass. After the fact, we don't need to see it.
Speaker 1: Um maybe in the off season if we're getting really crazy.
Speaker 1: I do think I do think there's um a couple
Speaker 1: of things that you should point out with the Jets there.
Speaker 1: I actoually, I don't think there's anything Sam Donald should
Speaker 1: or can do in this game that should impact with
Speaker 1: the Jets do at quarterback. I think that's a crazy conversation,
Speaker 1: and I do, and I suspect there isn't anything that
Speaker 1: he can do that should affect. Doesn't mean he's not
Speaker 1: on the team next year. Maybe he's competing with someone,
Speaker 1: but whatever he does, it shouldn't it shouldn't matter. He
Speaker 1: hasn't shown enough. I also thought about, like, you know,
Speaker 1: how people give a lot of credit, like, oh, guys
Speaker 1: are playing hard for this coach, And I've thought about,
Speaker 1: like watching these teams, maybe that's not that special. These
Speaker 1: guys are all like uber professionals and uber motivated. That's
Speaker 1: how they got to where they are. All that Almost
Speaker 1: all these teams play hard. Maybe there's like a couple
Speaker 1: exceptions of guys here or there, but it's like every
Speaker 1: year there are teams complete. It's kind of randomness though,
Speaker 1: I think that does it like it's a collection of
Speaker 1: a ball players. For the most part, these guys are
Speaker 1: proud and they're playing for contracts and the playing like
Speaker 1: look at the Falcons every single week, like most of
Speaker 1: these teams are playing hard. And then lastly, because it's
Speaker 1: my last chance to do it, shout out to Patriots
Speaker 1: m v P Jake Bailey. It's the guy that you
Speaker 1: know all along Bill Belichick wanted the magical left handed
Speaker 1: punter to be the best punter in the league. And
Speaker 1: you know what, nothing else went right in but he
Speaker 1: found it. Jake Bailey First Team All Pro. What a punter,
Speaker 1: What a season? I mean, Greg, And once again you
Speaker 1: separate yourself from nine of Patriots fans that you're this
Speaker 1: is this genuinely makes you excited and happy today that
Speaker 1: that the punter of the Patriots, if we told you
Speaker 1: back in August, is the most um affected performer that that.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying. Belichick has wanted a punter like this
Speaker 1: his whole life. He's super into it, and they finally
Speaker 1: found out they've developed this kid. I mean, he is
Speaker 1: an incredible punter and for and that we haven't mentioned
Speaker 1: it nobody this offseason asking which one of these rosters
Speaker 1: is farther away it's more than just a quarterback for
Speaker 1: newing Land. Nobody has had a higher profile than a
Speaker 1: Patriots punter this year. I mean, this offense is bad
Speaker 1: and Cam Newton. I don't know if he's playing in
Speaker 1: this game, but he shouldn't be. There's just nothing there
Speaker 1: with Cam and this Patriots offense. Uh it feels like
Speaker 1: he'll be back in the free agent uh derby in
Speaker 1: this offseason and we'll see if Jards Diidham has a
Speaker 1: chance to be in the quarterback room. But I don't know.
Speaker 1: It seems impossible. That's almost surprised the Patriots are favored
Speaker 1: in this game by by three points. Well, if you
Speaker 1: look at the history between these two teams and how
Speaker 1: Donald's played against Belichick, I get it, um, But I
Speaker 1: wonder if there's any chance that the starting quarterback in
Speaker 1: Week one for the Patriots next year is on this
Speaker 1: roster right now. I don't. I don't think he is.
Speaker 1: I can't sell that outside outside chance. I think Cam Newton,
Speaker 1: but that would be an outside chance. I don't think
Speaker 1: there's any after what you've seen these last ten weeks
Speaker 1: to the fan base, how are you gonna sell that
Speaker 1: to you? What do you resign him for well, one thing,
Speaker 1: I know Bill Belichick does not care about in anything
Speaker 1: to the fan base. If anything, he wants to annoy,
Speaker 1: you know, he wants to go counter to that. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: how do you sell to yourself? Then, if you've watched
Speaker 1: this game, Robert Kraft, it would be surprising. It would
Speaker 1: be very surprising if he's back, all right, Greg, Oh yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: more like Oh, by the way, it's not It's not
Speaker 1: nothing Sam Donald can do. He could play really well,
Speaker 1: go into the off season on a good note, helps
Speaker 1: his trade value, potentially puts a thought in Joe Douglas mind.
Speaker 1: But there's nothing he could do. I guess what you're
Speaker 1: saying to lock in a role as the Jets, I'm
Speaker 1: saying nothing he can do now after thirty five games
Speaker 1: or whatever it's been, should change their approach. Doesn't mean
Speaker 1: he's not part of that there competition or something. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't think you can't. You can't go on this.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's played during this streak. I don't
Speaker 1: think he's played like much better than he was. Well,
Speaker 1: it's notable that Adam Case was asked why he should
Speaker 1: stick around his quarterback and he pointed to the way
Speaker 1: that Donald finished last, which is as much on the
Speaker 1: team in Adam Gates as it is on Sam Donald. Okay, um,
Speaker 1: I need to make a pick here. I'm like confused,
Speaker 1: what's available. Let's go with the Chargers and the Chiefs. Uh.
Speaker 1: We found out earlier this week Chad Henny is going
Speaker 1: to be starting this game for the Chiefs. Um another
Speaker 1: one little strange in the desert people thinking that the
Speaker 1: zombie Chiefs are gonna be competitive. We'll see. The Chargers
Speaker 1: have a lot to play for here, trying to win
Speaker 1: their fourth straight game. Yeah, Anthony Lynn, I think could
Speaker 1: possibly save his job. Justin Herbert puts a capper on
Speaker 1: the offensive. Rookie of the Year. I would expect key
Speaker 1: guys like Frank Clark, maybe Honey Badger. Sammy Watkins has
Speaker 1: been a little banged up. You know that you can't
Speaker 1: sit everyone. It's tricky with the with the roster size
Speaker 1: as small as they are. I mean, there's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of important players playing for the Chiefs, including starters,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, they're laying down in this game.
Speaker 1: Hen he's actually looked okay the couple of times he's
Speaker 1: come in like, it wouldn't surprise me if they move
Speaker 1: the ball because it's Andy Reid Colin plays. But this
Speaker 1: is a dead game. I don't have a tremendous amount
Speaker 1: of opinion to add to that if we're looking to
Speaker 1: actually move this. Did you know that? So the Chiefs
Speaker 1: are fourteen and one, which is a tremendous record. Obviously, um,
Speaker 1: they could have the best record in history of the
Speaker 1: franchise with a win in Week seventeen that they don't
Speaker 1: care about and they don't shouldn't because they already locked
Speaker 1: into the number one seed. But each of their last
Speaker 1: six wins has been by six points or less, and
Speaker 1: not since the Jets game have they won, Um, have
Speaker 1: they won comfortably. So it's a great test in terms
Speaker 1: of Kenna team flip the switch because I I sincerely believe,
Speaker 1: and I think most people are in this camp that
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are not a team that's scuffling so much,
Speaker 1: even though Patrick Mahomes's numbers are are deflated. The last
Speaker 1: few weeks has been human um as much as they
Speaker 1: just don't feel challenged and they're waiting for what's going
Speaker 1: to happen in two weeks. I I I believe that
Speaker 1: I don't do you guys, are you on the same page.
Speaker 1: Do you have any concerns about which Chiefs teams shows
Speaker 1: up in the second round of the playoffs? The way
Speaker 1: thing I kind of struggle with is and I get it,
Speaker 1: I feel the same way. They seem a little bored
Speaker 1: to me, and we've been saying that, um, but I like,
Speaker 1: I struggle with the idea that a team that's fourteen
Speaker 1: and one is actually feeling waves of boredom and just
Speaker 1: trying to get through games. I think like they're just
Speaker 1: you know, people are pressing them a little bit. But
Speaker 1: the idea that like they're just sort of holding back
Speaker 1: and not trying hard. It's just not how teams operate.
Speaker 1: It's not it's not an effort issue. I don't think
Speaker 1: it's more like complacency, which is a little bit different
Speaker 1: to me. I sensed that when you watched that game.
Speaker 1: That game last week was awesome. By the way, if
Speaker 1: someone was bored and wanted a game pass game this
Speaker 1: week or for the off season, like that Falcons Chiefs
Speaker 1: game was was really interesting. I think defense should look
Speaker 1: at what Raheem Morris did in that game. I have
Speaker 1: not seen Mahomes as scrambled as he was. I don't
Speaker 1: like the fact that they're gonna be two weeks off.
Speaker 1: And to answer your question, I just don't think there's
Speaker 1: a big gap between them, the Bills, the Saints, the
Speaker 1: rest of the top of the NFL. Like if I
Speaker 1: had to pick one team, I picked them, But I
Speaker 1: think like it's pretty close to even at the top
Speaker 1: of the NFL. I don't put them like way ahead.
Speaker 1: If A J. Terrell comes down with that Mahomes pass
Speaker 1: late in the fourth quarter and he had it, all
Speaker 1: he had to do was survived contact with the ground,
Speaker 1: it's annoying when a team could be as good as
Speaker 1: the Chiefs and get a break like that. I feel
Speaker 1: like that's part of the thing that drove me crazy
Speaker 1: about the Patriots over the years, that it felt like
Speaker 1: those things happened all the time. But would that have
Speaker 1: mattered in this week because it wouldn't have beat So
Speaker 1: they beat the Bill, So it's right, it was locked.
Speaker 1: There was no there was no making Week seventeen interesting.
Speaker 1: All right, Uh, let's move on, Greg Snakes to you. Oh,
Speaker 1: I forgot that the Bucks Falcons is still out there.
Speaker 1: Glad I remember, I'm glad. I remembered in time, because
Speaker 1: this game at least has some juice. The Bucks do
Speaker 1: want to get the five seed. It's that's important because
Speaker 1: the winner plays at Washington. And if the Buccaneers lost
Speaker 1: this game, which they're certainly capable of doing, I know
Speaker 1: they've been playing well, but they were down to Atlanta.
Speaker 1: Atlanta has been frisky competitive. We keep expecting them to
Speaker 1: not be competitive, and yet they've you know, four straight
Speaker 1: weeks against really mostly against really good teams. They're right
Speaker 1: in it until the buzzer. The Bucks want them, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that they want that five seed because if they lose
Speaker 1: in the Rams one, they would fall down to six
Speaker 1: and play a much tougher Week one game than than
Speaker 1: the winner of the NFC East. They could probably be
Speaker 1: playing Seattle. Uh So, it's it's the end of this
Speaker 1: Falcons team and ready to say goodbye. But they are
Speaker 1: potentially one of the greatest four win teams in NFL history.
Speaker 1: I mean, they played that second hardest schedule in the league.
Speaker 1: According to Football Outsiders. They are two and eight in
Speaker 1: one score games, including you know, against the Saints and
Speaker 1: the Chiefs in the bus like it's like against good teams,
Speaker 1: and I feel bad for them. I don't think their
Speaker 1: pieces are gonna fit like their next coach either. It
Speaker 1: was such like a dan Quinn defense that it's a
Speaker 1: little bit more of a rebuilding job, I think than
Speaker 1: people realize. But at least you have Thatt Ryan. That's
Speaker 1: usually an indictment of the coaching staff when you're a
Speaker 1: team that has pieces and just loses a ton of
Speaker 1: close games. But it's a little different because they fired
Speaker 1: one guy brought in young Gary. I'm with you that
Speaker 1: they've been competitive. They've been competitive week after week. It's
Speaker 1: all relative best four and eleven team. Never I mean,
Speaker 1: there might not be many great Well that's I mean
Speaker 1: that also, are you basing that off your beloved dv
Speaker 1: o A or is that just you? Are you spitballing
Speaker 1: that their best the best four and eleven? Well, that's
Speaker 1: just that's just me. The schedule they faced, truly has
Speaker 1: been the second toughest and there's only been a couple
Speaker 1: of games. You know, they have as many to score
Speaker 1: losses as you know some of the best teams in
Speaker 1: the league. Like every game comes down to the end,
Speaker 1: So they've definitely been on lucky. I'll say, I don't
Speaker 1: even think they're the best four and eleven team in
Speaker 1: football this season. Give me the team that has Deshaun
Speaker 1: Watson and I think they beat and eleven team. Ye,
Speaker 1: Watson beats the Falcons. I believe it. That's interesting, sort
Speaker 1: of interesting. I look at I'm into started it into
Speaker 1: the idea of Tampa Bay um starting the way they
Speaker 1: did last week, and it's it's a it's not going
Speaker 1: to be the Lions again, a team that is, you know,
Speaker 1: essentially lying in a casket at this point in Detroit.
Speaker 1: But uh, you know, thirty four points, four d and
Speaker 1: ten yards in the first half. Look at Grunkowski right now,
Speaker 1: and in arians and Tom Brady talked about the fact
Speaker 1: that they feel he looks the way he did six
Speaker 1: or seven years ago. It just raises the argument for
Speaker 1: me a little bit of like whether that whether or
Speaker 1: not that's true. He's been much better than he was
Speaker 1: earlier in the year. Like some of these players in
Speaker 1: the years off they take um and it's not many
Speaker 1: really helped them, And I wonder if there should be
Speaker 1: more sabbatical years for certain players who have been through
Speaker 1: so much. But regardless, um Brady's throws of twenty plus
Speaker 1: yards over the last couple of weeks have been great. Um,
Speaker 1: he was struggling in that area before. This team that
Speaker 1: I saw against the Lions I can buy into. I've
Speaker 1: struggled to buy into them as super streaky. But if
Speaker 1: you get that they could beat anyone, right, that was
Speaker 1: it's pretty interesting to Mark. I'm not suggesting that you're like,
Speaker 1: do I want to spend twenty minutes on which four
Speaker 1: eleven teen would play another one? Now? I think about
Speaker 1: the world's like worst first tape topic or falcons, Let's
Speaker 1: spend a whole block on that. I feel like we
Speaker 1: did like a montage of Bucks conversation a lot of it.
Speaker 1: For you, Mark would be about Rob Gonkowski season, Like
Speaker 1: you've been tracking this very close. I don't feel like
Speaker 1: I mentioned it that much, but maybe I have. But
Speaker 1: he's been good. I'm I'm with you. I don't think
Speaker 1: he's the old days though, right he just show he
Speaker 1: does pop up every once in a while and makes
Speaker 1: a play. Though he's seeking like six in the league
Speaker 1: among tight ends and receiving yards, so he has been
Speaker 1: productive for that. So when Arians and Brady say that
Speaker 1: to each other, Um, and you know, like I would
Speaker 1: think Brady would know better than anyone. I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I it kind of struck me, as is that true.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's true. Are they just sitting there
Speaker 1: and trying to like make each other feel good? Why
Speaker 1: even have that conversation if it's clearly untrue. They love him,
Speaker 1: They love Gronk, everybody loves grown. Would be so specific
Speaker 1: to say he's the player he was seven years ago. Oh, yes, Tom,
Speaker 1: Yes he is. Yes, Bruce, didn't I make such a
Speaker 1: good comment to you. Maybe it's just like one of
Speaker 1: the things you say. It's like, hey, we've had the
Speaker 1: best season our podcast has ever had, and maybe we have,
Speaker 1: maybe we haven't been challenging. I know that we're doing
Speaker 1: the best we can here. Well, we don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't think it is because West hasn't been here certainly
Speaker 1: this year. I don't think we're saying it's best year though,
Speaker 1: you don't. We don't pump each other up that way.
Speaker 1: Put it this way. I do always, Mark, I always
Speaker 1: pump you up with other men behind your back. Um,
Speaker 1: if you got a couple of whiskeys in Tom Brady
Speaker 1: and asked him that question on New Year's Eve, Hey, Gronk,
Speaker 1: same guy as he was six years ago. Yeah, guy,
Speaker 1: but he's he's it's great that he's back and it's
Speaker 1: been fun playing with him and he puts in the work.
Speaker 1: But he's not that guy anymore. Well, I would sit
Speaker 1: in Brady and arians like, it's time to have honest
Speaker 1: converse stations with each other. And this is now January.
Speaker 1: This isn't a tea party and a bunch of moms
Speaker 1: trading vacation photos. Let's let's get real here, all right,
Speaker 1: let's move on. Remember when we were like, yeah, we're
Speaker 1: gonna fly through these games. Let's do uh tea party
Speaker 1: with moms trading vacation photos about it? Um? Uh? Saints Panthers?
Speaker 1: Is that still there? Oh? Really? Shoot, I would have
Speaker 1: taken that one. I'm out of this. I will take
Speaker 1: this game late in the draft. And that's a home
Speaker 1: run because the Saints have something to play for here.
Speaker 1: They are in the hunt for the number one seed.
Speaker 1: They have to win, uh and then get help. The
Speaker 1: Packers have to loses. It as simple as that is,
Speaker 1: they win and Packers losing, Saints the number one seed. Um,
Speaker 1: they win. No, it's not that simple because they need
Speaker 1: the Seahawks to win. Actually, they need a three way
Speaker 1: tie at twelve. And for the sat the Seahawks are
Speaker 1: have a little different you know scenario to get to one.
Speaker 1: But yeah, they need the Seahawks to win. And as
Speaker 1: as things stand right now, if the current playoff picture holds,
Speaker 1: the Saints would host the Bears in the wild card
Speaker 1: round to seven matchups. So the Saints that are gonna
Speaker 1: be um playing at four o'clock here, so I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's decided or not by that now, they're
Speaker 1: all at the same time. They set it up nicely
Speaker 1: that way. Good good, So that will be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: And you see Drew brees Um on the field as
Speaker 1: he continues, you would think to um, you know, get reps,
Speaker 1: knock off the rust and then Alvin Kamara of course,
Speaker 1: how do you follow up a six touchdown game? Uh?
Speaker 1: That brought Old Zeuser a fantasy title. I don't know
Speaker 1: how you do it, but he's gonna try. I mean,
Speaker 1: if he has four, it's like, oh, he's not even himself.
Speaker 1: It is. It is very Saints luck though that they
Speaker 1: get the if they get the two seed, to get
Speaker 1: the two seed. The first year that the two seed
Speaker 1: doesn't get you by it's like last year they finished
Speaker 1: what weren't they thirteen and three and they didn't get
Speaker 1: a by They've they've had some brutal luck, but maybe
Speaker 1: it's good to get a first round playoff when if
Speaker 1: that's how it plays out, they they should they should
Speaker 1: be playing to win. Um if they see what's going
Speaker 1: on in the other games and they don't like it.
Speaker 1: When when shocked me to take breeze out, because you
Speaker 1: know they can win games without breeze. They've shown that,
Speaker 1: Like we might see a little Jamis Winston here. The
Speaker 1: offensive line is so good. I think Lottavius Murray to me,
Speaker 1: is like the Bell Weather of this team. If Lottavius
Speaker 1: Murray is ripping off twelve or sixty seven, like, then
Speaker 1: you know we're dominant because he's just gonna be a
Speaker 1: guy who like kind of gets what's blocked. He's a
Speaker 1: good player. But when he's rolling, it's like we're just
Speaker 1: steam rolling you because it's a sign you have no hope.
Speaker 1: And I would think that's gonna happen. This Panthers team has.
Speaker 1: I know they've gotten some wins, but they their offense
Speaker 1: is taken on water lost in these six touchdown performance
Speaker 1: for Kmar. I think that Murray had like eighty yards
Speaker 1: last week. They it's nearly nearly six hundred yards of offense.
Speaker 1: I mean, I would just ask this quickly, do you
Speaker 1: think that this has been a successful year from matt
Speaker 1: rule one to ten, I would say yes, Um, maybe
Speaker 1: not wins losses, but you don't leave the season worried.
Speaker 1: You leave the season. I give him a seven because
Speaker 1: the main thing is are you going to bring a
Speaker 1: good offense? You know to Carolina? And when you watch them,
Speaker 1: they have four players over nine yards from scrimmage. None
Speaker 1: of those players are named Christian McCaffrey. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: getting Mike Davis. You know that kind of yard is
Speaker 1: Curtis Samuel, you know. So that's what you wanted, was
Speaker 1: a good offense, and I think he did that. I
Speaker 1: think he's more fine. I don't put too much into
Speaker 1: the record, but I think a big part of his
Speaker 1: job will be developing a quarterback. I don't think Teddy
Speaker 1: Bridgewater is kind of a veteran guy, so that's a
Speaker 1: little bit of a trickier thing. I don't know if
Speaker 1: Teddy is the answer then, so it's a little bit
Speaker 1: of an incomplete graide for me because I want to
Speaker 1: see what they do at quarterback this offseason. Then I
Speaker 1: want to see if they do indeed go with someone else,
Speaker 1: how that goes. But I feel like you feel like
Speaker 1: you're in pretty good hands right now in Charlotte, and
Speaker 1: they have that big general manager decision to make as
Speaker 1: well as well. Oh my last thought on the Saints.
Speaker 1: Interesting team to keep an eye on here. They obviously
Speaker 1: have had a lot of great years and a lot
Speaker 1: of a lot of pain in January last year. I
Speaker 1: remember on this very show like about a year ago exactly. Um,
Speaker 1: next week, I said this, that's the best three seed ever.
Speaker 1: It's thirteen and three Saints team, and then they get
Speaker 1: picked off by Kirk Cousins in the playoffs. Uh. And
Speaker 1: if you're a Saints fan, your conditioned for heartbreak to
Speaker 1: come follow you into January? Is that gonna happen again?
Speaker 1: And Drew Brees is most likely last year. I think
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good drama around the Saints right
Speaker 1: now and I look forward to kind of tracking it
Speaker 1: as an outsider. Um, we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 1: Mark Alright, Well, this is simply because of the time slot,
Speaker 1: but I will go las Vegas at Denver up two
Speaker 1: of them most disappointing teams, not only the a f C,
Speaker 1: but the entire league. For the way that Las Vegas
Speaker 1: crumbled down the stretch. Um, for the way that their
Speaker 1: defense has simply vanished. Um, if it was there to
Speaker 1: begin with, it has vanished. And on offense the Broncos um.
Speaker 1: Good luck finding a team that underwhelmed more. When I
Speaker 1: went into the season, I thought we all did, thinking
Speaker 1: if this clicks, they could be um intriguing, even if Luck,
Speaker 1: even if Lock is just sort of a mid tier guy.
Speaker 1: There were so many weapons and you know, I can't
Speaker 1: get at the image out of my head of watching
Speaker 1: them play the Chargers last week and have Jerry Judy.
Speaker 1: I think I mentioned this, he had fifteen targets and
Speaker 1: you know, five catches and five or six. Watch that
Speaker 1: Mark you had mentioned on the Sunday Show, the five drops.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh wow, I can't wait to see this.
Speaker 1: He was targeted you said fifty, and felt like he
Speaker 1: was targeted a thousand times. And they weren't just drops.
Speaker 1: There were drops in the end zone. There was a
Speaker 1: drop on a deep ball late that they could have
Speaker 1: won the game. Stuff. It was a high profile bonner
Speaker 1: of a performance by Jerry Judy. Yeah, and he's he's
Speaker 1: been and I don't know is it all on him?
Speaker 1: Is it? Is it him in lock? But um, he's
Speaker 1: been targeted like a hundred and eleven or end with
Speaker 1: the it's like a hundred and something times, and his
Speaker 1: catch rate is very low. So I would love because
Speaker 1: I do think this is a very talented player who's
Speaker 1: had a just a rough rookie season. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of it is neck up. Here's a Raiders defense
Speaker 1: that if you watch how that ended that game happened
Speaker 1: with Miami, these guys can't tackle. There an embarrassment. Um,
Speaker 1: go Broncos. This is a chance for you to show
Speaker 1: what you want to be. I'm not sure it's gonna happen,
Speaker 1: and a lot of changes are ahead and they have
Speaker 1: to get real about their quarterback position. But if we
Speaker 1: want to see the Broncos thrive on offense, this would
Speaker 1: be the spot. God, I'm so happy not to have
Speaker 1: to have that conversation for another like six or seven months.
Speaker 1: Broncos offense is what it is. It's a limited quarterback
Speaker 1: with good skill players and it's just not coming together
Speaker 1: and they'll have to make a decision. Actually, I thought
Speaker 1: Lock not playing well last week was a good thing
Speaker 1: because they didn't need another quote unquote strong finish uh
Speaker 1: to cloud the minds out of the decision makers in Denver.
Speaker 1: They gotta go to bring in somebody else at the
Speaker 1: very least to compete for that starting. It concerns me,
Speaker 1: like Fongio Stain, Fongio today was um saying sweet nothings
Speaker 1: about Patch Shermer, Patch Shermer in Lock like each other.
Speaker 1: Lock has said how helpful it is to have Schermer around,
Speaker 1: like there's a good relationship. So with all that in place,
Speaker 1: you know, does it extend to the quarterback? I think
Speaker 1: it just talked about arians and and the grand thing
Speaker 1: maybe that you know they believe only what you must.
Speaker 1: I think this is their last. I think this is
Speaker 1: Drew locks last start for the Bronco. It will probably
Speaker 1: get one if someone gets hurt in front of him.
Speaker 1: I think he's their backup next year. About a bad
Speaker 1: backup at all though he's a good backup, and I've
Speaker 1: actually thought about it with the Cowboys saved their season
Speaker 1: basically when they signed Andy Dalton, who has been a
Speaker 1: great backup and Um then used to look at teams
Speaker 1: like the Cardinals and the Rams, who are in a
Speaker 1: potential situation where you know, uh, well definitely the Rams
Speaker 1: of maybe even the Cardinals where it's like, okay, our
Speaker 1: seasons on the line. Now we're gonna bring a guy
Speaker 1: out that's never thrown a pass before in the NFL.
Speaker 1: Going after that, you know, high tier backup quarterback. Maybe
Speaker 1: teams should be a little bit more aggressive about we
Speaker 1: killed that. I killed ay about it all off season?
Speaker 1: How about that that they they they just like wasted,
Speaker 1: Uh you know that they were going into the season
Speaker 1: with Driscoll and it's just like, how dare we have
Speaker 1: competition this out? Mark? I believe it snakes to you
Speaker 1: to close it out right, Yes, in terrible fashion. I
Speaker 1: am going to be um picking against my will. It's fitting, though,
Speaker 1: that you're gonna close out our last preview episode of
Speaker 1: the regular season with your Detroit Lions, isn't it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: My Lions? Who um? You know, I think honestly a
Speaker 1: little self reflection next August, Uh, when you start to
Speaker 1: get excited about football returning and the prospect of new
Speaker 1: faces and new teams, how about I'm gonna write a
Speaker 1: little note to myself, one of these ones that like
Speaker 1: you put in a little time capsule in your yard
Speaker 1: open on August fifteenth, and whatever team you're latching onto,
Speaker 1: um illogically stop. It is annoying to you, and it
Speaker 1: is annoying to everyone around you. Don't do it again.
Speaker 1: The Lions in this game, please, We don't even if
Speaker 1: Matthew Stafford's gonna play. Dalvin Cook is home because of
Speaker 1: a family emergency situation. He will not be in this
Speaker 1: game either. Riley Reef is on the Corona list. Mike
Speaker 1: Zimmer is coming off a week saying at the defense
Speaker 1: is the worst defense he's ever coached. I don't know
Speaker 1: what's going to happen in this game. And guess what,
Speaker 1: I don't care. There you go. I'm totally with you
Speaker 1: corn Field this game. And and uh, for the Vikings fans,
Speaker 1: that was a tough year. The Lions fans hope for
Speaker 1: brighter tomorrow. You've got a huge offseason coming up. Uh,
Speaker 1: we'll see how it plays out. Greg, you want to
Speaker 1: button it up? No, I thought I would make you
Speaker 1: know my first you know game preview of the year
Speaker 1: where I didn't say anything, but you have to you
Speaker 1: have to ask me Stafford is probably gonna play in
Speaker 1: this game? By the way, would be maybe Detroit lines.
Speaker 1: I would not be surprised. I mean there are Financially,
Speaker 1: there's a path to that happening, and perhaps logically, given
Speaker 1: what's happening there, that might be a dynamite it down situation.
Speaker 1: All right, there you go. That's Week seventeen. Preview them all.
Speaker 1: Sunday is the next time you'll hear from us on
Speaker 1: the podcast. We recap every game, and that's can't miss
Speaker 1: episode because by the end of that EPP we will
Speaker 1: have the complete playoff picture in front of you and
Speaker 1: we'll be doing it before anyone else because we grind.
Speaker 1: We grind here in a round the NFL podcast. And
Speaker 1: it should be stated, I don't think we ever said it.
Speaker 1: I can't believe we didn't say, because Ricky teased it
Speaker 1: two days ago. Who got moved to the COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: list for the Los Angeles Rams. It was Erica, it
Speaker 1: was Cooper c you were waiting for no spoilers if
Speaker 1: you stayed offline, Um, it was Cooper Copp, but most
Speaker 1: recently Michael Brocker's as well. Hey, there you go. And
Speaker 1: while we have Ricky on. You never made a lock
Speaker 1: pick last week. We're gonna give you an l just
Speaker 1: for not competing. But you do have a chance here
Speaker 1: while we have you on air. You can take that opportunity,
Speaker 1: um to lock something up this week, unless you're just
Speaker 1: quitting for the whole rest of the season. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: feel like I should just quit. Well, well you're ahead,
Speaker 1: she said, ahead of what literally forfeited a loss last week.
Speaker 1: All right, yeah, I just don't simply have anything else. Uh,
Speaker 1: And it is obviously we record this on New Year's Eve. Erika,
Speaker 1: what do you got? Well, I just wanted to say
Speaker 1: to our listeners, but more to you guys, that we
Speaker 1: we made it through. I mean, we were in Miami
Speaker 1: in February and we never ever expected that this this
Speaker 1: would happen, um, and we were doing the Bunker cast
Speaker 1: from we're doing five virtual shows a day. We're doing this,
Speaker 1: and I mean we've been getting a lot of messages
Speaker 1: and a lot of tweets and everything about how people
Speaker 1: were like, it's so nice to have something so you know,
Speaker 1: stagnant and that's not the right word, um, something consistent
Speaker 1: that something. Yeah, it's something that that whatever, so like
Speaker 1: like like a pool of water with you know, stagnant
Speaker 1: like we just we never leave like we're we are stagnant.
Speaker 1: We are a rock for those people. So I thought
Speaker 1: that we could close out the show and I wanted
Speaker 1: to read a few um iTunes reviews on Apple podcasts.
Speaker 1: Um So, and if you want to you know, celebrate
Speaker 1: the holidays or the New Year, it would be really
Speaker 1: really great and helpful if you guys, um would go
Speaker 1: leave us some more reviews and five stars. If you
Speaker 1: don't want to leave five stars, then don't leave a
Speaker 1: review at all. Um So, I just want to read
Speaker 1: a couple. I love podcasts and listen to quite a
Speaker 1: few of them every week, but to be honest, all
Speaker 1: you need for your NFL news is around the NFL.
Speaker 1: The guys are all great and they are not talking
Speaker 1: heads like most other big sports podcasts. Also, this foursome
Speaker 1: has great chemistry, which makes episodes really funny. I even
Speaker 1: I'd even say that I wouldn't watch as much NFL
Speaker 1: football if it wasn't for the A t N podcast.
Speaker 1: Keep going, guys here that Roger you know a little money.
Speaker 1: It's the old piggy banks of the Zeus or the
Speaker 1: old Boss quiet Storm the mail Man, Ricky, We're bringing
Speaker 1: in money to you. Absolutely the best NFL content available.
Speaker 1: Dan in the Gang beautifully dissect the games each week
Speaker 1: and create some laughs along the way. Top shelf contact content.
Speaker 1: Sorry written by d Yeah, Dan in the Gang my
Speaker 1: favorite podcast of any genre. The content is great and
Speaker 1: the host are genuine. I really couldn't recommend the show.
Speaker 1: More will always be my go to podcast and has
Speaker 1: been for years. I downloaded this app just to rate them.
Speaker 1: Yeah about that, and I like that. That's what I like.
Speaker 1: For get about it's not enough, you want more. It's
Speaker 1: the disease of more. I don't want just to be
Speaker 1: the favorite podcast in your sports realm. I want us
Speaker 1: to be your favorite podcast and not being afraid of technology,
Speaker 1: signing up for that app to to drop that comment.
Speaker 1: That's the next level movement. Love it, love it, love it,
Speaker 1: love it Ye incredible show, funny and informative. Just a
Speaker 1: group of guys sitting around talking football and joking around.
Speaker 1: A bit of a sitcom vibe. Interesting that, you know.
Speaker 1: I think it's been on some hard times. We're gonna
Speaker 1: bring it back. We could use some laugh track that
Speaker 1: would maybe, Oh that would be a good offseason episode.
Speaker 1: Just gotta be a negative one here. These five people,
Speaker 1: I mean, like a warm blanket on a cold, rainy day.
Speaker 1: Do they know more about football than your taxi driver?
Speaker 1: Probably not, but their ability to make you feel like
Speaker 1: you're sharing a beer at the local watering hole is unparalleled.
Speaker 1: Get well soon, West, So yeah, it depends. That depends
Speaker 1: that the taxi who the taxi driver is right? Yeah?
Speaker 1: And and it will suddenly driving a taxi, You're probably
Speaker 1: Greg Williams. Like Greg Williams might be driving a cab
Speaker 1: right now. I don't know. I'll end it with this
Speaker 1: the best NFL podcast, great group. Greg is hilarious. We
Speaker 1: need more. Ricky, quit picking on Mark dan Is the
Speaker 1: man I missed. Chris always happy to hear him on
Speaker 1: the pod. He's my faith. You should do a contest
Speaker 1: for Nick's nickname. Thank you for regularly giving me something
Speaker 1: to look forward to. So you guys can you guys
Speaker 1: can count on way more um content coming your way.
Speaker 1: For one, And it's been a terrible year, but we've
Speaker 1: all been together and we're we're happy to be in
Speaker 1: your your ear lobes every day. That's very nice. Erica
Speaker 1: and uh, Nick shook. He has a nickname. It's official.
Speaker 1: He is the j R. Smith of this podcast, six
Speaker 1: Man of the Year. That's why I call him the Pipe.
Speaker 1: Really don't ye much better? Much better our nickname if
Speaker 1: I don't remember, I had to come up with a nickname,
Speaker 1: and he's the Pipe. No, I just I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not going, no one, No one's going with that. We don't.
Speaker 1: We're not find that. We do think the it is amazing,
Speaker 1: Like the listeners, UM keep us going. And it's like
Speaker 1: doing this podcast in its own way. Even at the
Speaker 1: beginning when we were doing that like daily, which seems
Speaker 1: crazy now in retrospect, it's been a great distraction. I
Speaker 1: was thinking as much as I'm like, ready, you know
Speaker 1: that the playoffs are gonna have its own challenge. We're
Speaker 1: gonna be taping a TV show on a different thing.
Speaker 1: What we'll tell you about all that. That's exciting that
Speaker 1: we're busy. Um, it's it's been like amazing. It's been
Speaker 1: amazing to have this as a distraction. I don't know
Speaker 1: what I would do without this podcast. I think I'd
Speaker 1: go a little crazy. Yeah, I would think about the
Speaker 1: early days when I, um somehow finagled my way to
Speaker 1: an Airbnb during free agency to uh, under the guise
Speaker 1: of needing UM to pay attention to the mad Rush.
Speaker 1: But those were great days on some level, even though
Speaker 1: the world I'd walk outside that Airbnb and like l
Speaker 1: A was melting hardcore. Um, but I'm with you, Greg,
Speaker 1: I think you said it well. Just we've stared at
Speaker 1: each other on these screens a lot. But UM, it
Speaker 1: means a lot. I would do it for free, but
Speaker 1: don't tell that to the commissioner. It's been a really
Speaker 1: hard year. It's been a difficult year for us. It's
Speaker 1: been unbelievable that all this stuff is happening, the pandemic,
Speaker 1: while Chris is battling cancer again. And how Bravey has
Speaker 1: been in Lakisha and Young Link what what a battle
Speaker 1: they've been going through. So that is always on our
Speaker 1: minds in UM and get well soon Chris. Better times
Speaker 1: for everyone, including this podcast, because we are not the
Speaker 1: same when we don't have West with us and UM
Speaker 1: everybody have a have a great new year. And Uh,
Speaker 1: I don't know what plans you have. Mark. Has anything
Speaker 1: gone in the garage? No, very little. I mean, I
Speaker 1: honestly kind of forgot it was new Year's now Airbnb.
Speaker 1: He's like, now those days of the Airbnb, like the
Speaker 1: last time I could get away from my family, remember that.
Speaker 1: And it's like Mark, it's New Year's Eve. Can you
Speaker 1: can you come back from the motel. This is a narrative.
Speaker 1: This is not accurate, all right. This is Dan Hanson
Speaker 1: signing off for Quiet Storm, the old boss, Ricky Hollywood,
Speaker 1: the mailman, the pipe. Everybody, Happy New Year and we'll
Speaker 1: see you on the other side. Oh, for God, my dear,
Speaker 1: for a line Zoe. We will take a come cla.
Speaker 1: Listen for linezo