Speaker 1: I don't know how to make sausage. I don't know
Speaker 1: what goes in the sausage, but I do know how
Speaker 1: to build a football team because I've been around for
Speaker 1: fifty two years. Mark, you've been around forty nine now, Yes,
Speaker 1: do you know how to make sausage? I do not either.
Speaker 1: I guess that's to judge Jim or say. At this time,
Speaker 1: Dan has is here from the Chris Wesley podcast studio
Speaker 1: with Greg Roseenthal and Mark Sessler. Yes, that is the
Speaker 1: owner the Indianapolist Cults who rocked the football world, to
Speaker 1: say the least on Monday with the announcement that fifth
Speaker 1: year head coach Frank Reich was fired, And that was
Speaker 1: Greg seis mcnews. Anytime a coach is fired in the
Speaker 1: middle of the year without much of a heads up,
Speaker 1: it's always big news. But then what took the story
Speaker 1: from a big story to huge, borderline surreal gallery of
Speaker 1: the absurd was his replacement, on an interim basis at least,
Speaker 1: is forty seven year old former Colts center Jeff Saturday,
Speaker 1: who until this week was an analyst for ESPN. This
Speaker 1: is some Maverick owner stuff. Whether you think it's good
Speaker 1: or bad. We could discuss that, and that's what we're
Speaker 1: about to do on the show. It's all unprecedented, it's
Speaker 1: all disarming, like the music playing so deep into the
Speaker 1: start of this show, and I like it, you know,
Speaker 1: I just like being destabilized. And I like to imagine
Speaker 1: Mark eating sausage because I think that's the type of
Speaker 1: meat product that would most revolt him. Why have we
Speaker 1: already gone there in this show, a show with a
Speaker 1: trenchant news item to take into. I'm not saying I
Speaker 1: liked the hire of Jeff Saturday, but I do like
Speaker 1: the theater of absurd that sort of followed the Frank
Speaker 1: Reich firing, and I you like, you like Frank Rereich.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into all that that that that the
Speaker 1: press conference kind of took the news which was already
Speaker 1: outlandish and just update it. Yeah, and I and went
Speaker 1: bigger and uh a little peek behind the curtain. Right
Speaker 1: before we taped today, I was on NFL Now for
Speaker 1: like the one Last Thought segment, and they're like, oh,
Speaker 1: we gotta spill out some more of this er say,
Speaker 1: press conference, and then we'll have Steve Uh with Andrew
Speaker 1: and Dan on to react. And then in your ears
Speaker 1: like don't don't go too far, don't go too far,
Speaker 1: And so my comment was like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: don't agree with the decisions being made, but let's bring
Speaker 1: on the weird. Let's keep twenty two weird. And there
Speaker 1: are serious sides of the story and and big questions
Speaker 1: Mark that you could ask about the Cults process, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna have Zach Keefer on in a little bit
Speaker 1: to really dig into what's going on behind the scenes there.
Speaker 1: But overall, Um, and I know you were a man
Speaker 1: that embraces chaos. This is chaos in the Midwest. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because I feel like you know, on our Friday fun show,
Speaker 1: we we come up with predictions and they can be
Speaker 1: um very football hardcore predictions. Some of them I can
Speaker 1: get strange. And if I had told you last Friday
Speaker 1: that I my sports lock of the week would be
Speaker 1: that Jeff Saturday, ESPN analysts former Cults Center would be
Speaker 1: named the Cults Interim coach, you just laughed me off
Speaker 1: the show and we'd end it because it's that absurd.
Speaker 1: But it's so far. That's a new thing with our listeners,
Speaker 1: which I really like. It shows up my mentions all
Speaker 1: the time. Anything something stupid happens, like McKinney for the
Speaker 1: Giants who broke his hand into a t V accident
Speaker 1: in Cabo. It's like, oh, did Mark predict that on
Speaker 1: the Friday Show. It's a great it's a great way
Speaker 1: to steer the minds of the viewers. That's what they think. Um.
Speaker 1: But before we get to Zach, because really we need
Speaker 1: to figure out what's going on with the Cults, and
Speaker 1: nobody knows more about that team than Zach Kieffer, let's
Speaker 1: get a little more sound from Jim Er say, just
Speaker 1: to give you again if you're not caught up on
Speaker 1: the story. During Monday Night football, the Cults call press
Speaker 1: conference and Ursay explains himself. Some would say defended himself. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know Chris Ballard the g MS there and of
Speaker 1: course Jeff Saturday as well, who's just caught in the
Speaker 1: middle of all this. Let's listen from RSA. I'm glad
Speaker 1: he doesn't have in l experience. I'm glad he hasn't
Speaker 1: learned the fear that's in this league. That's because it's
Speaker 1: tough for our coaches. They're afraid. They go to analytics
Speaker 1: and it gets difficult. I mean, he doesn't have all
Speaker 1: that he doesn't have that that fear, and there was
Speaker 1: no other candidate. We were fortunate that he was available,
Speaker 1: all right, and we are fortunate to say that this
Speaker 1: man is available because we know he's extremely busy. I
Speaker 1: saw that he was on the Pat mcavie show. I'm
Speaker 1: sure the Athletic is hitting him up. He's got all
Speaker 1: sorts of stuff going on. Let's welcome in the great
Speaker 1: Zach Kieffer, who covers the NFL and the Colts for
Speaker 1: the Athletic. He's also a co host of the one
Speaker 1: Percent Better Cults podcast. Man, I'll tell you what, Zach,
Speaker 1: it's not. It hasn't been a good season for this team.
Speaker 1: But in terms of stuff to talk about home run,
Speaker 1: I'm exhausted, guys, but it's never going around here. And
Speaker 1: you just I was I was just losing my mind
Speaker 1: laughing at what you guys were talking about. I mean,
Speaker 1: what was the weirdest part of last night was that
Speaker 1: the sausage comment? Was that the reference to the c
Speaker 1: I A. Was it Michael Jordan's mis shots? Was it
Speaker 1: the trip to Mars? Was it comparing just Saturday to
Speaker 1: Don Shula, Tony Dungee and Bruce arians I mean, where
Speaker 1: do we start. I think I'll start with I was
Speaker 1: going to actually use from your great column you wrote
Speaker 1: off the press conference, your paragrapher, you reference those things,
Speaker 1: but I'll use the first sentence instead, in which you
Speaker 1: wrote this feels bold at best and reckless at worst.
Speaker 1: The decision to fire Rank and bring in Saturday an
Speaker 1: unprecedented gamble in modern NFL history, one that Jim Ursa
Speaker 1: spent the better part of thirty five minutes Monday fervently
Speaker 1: defending as only he can in terms of like the
Speaker 1: surreal meter, like as a jet span, I know, like
Speaker 1: Rich Simini and everybody on the Jets speed. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about the Belichick press conference forever when he resigned his
Speaker 1: HC of the n y J. On the surreal meter,
Speaker 1: what is it for you one to ten? While you're
Speaker 1: sitting in that room digesting it. The surreal meter around
Speaker 1: here is a lot higher than other cities. I will
Speaker 1: say that, like if you're around your mercy a lot,
Speaker 1: you hear these things all the time. Like it's not
Speaker 1: abnormal for him to say in training camp, the goal
Speaker 1: is to win three Super Bowls in a row, like
Speaker 1: with this team, and so you're You're kind of used
Speaker 1: to these rambling press conferences where you get mentions of
Speaker 1: John Lennon and Bob Dylan and the CIA and whatever
Speaker 1: it is. So we're used to the unusual. But um,
Speaker 1: in terms of my career, I've covered this team for
Speaker 1: nine years now. Nothing will top August when Andrew Luck retired.
Speaker 1: But this is up there in terms of just a
Speaker 1: surreal moment. And this was the first time I thought
Speaker 1: this is important. This is the first time Jim Mercy
Speaker 1: made you know, some disparaging marks at the at the BIA,
Speaker 1: and same with Chris Ballard. They were on the defensive.
Speaker 1: They were a little um angry, a little feisty about
Speaker 1: this decision, and you know, look, it's They're hiring a
Speaker 1: guy who was sixteen, was twenty and sixteen as a
Speaker 1: high school coach to run an NFL team, who was
Speaker 1: meeting with coaches yesterday he didn't know the name of Like,
Speaker 1: this is unprecedented, and to question the qualifications of Jeff
Speaker 1: Saturday without questioning his playing in credentials is completely fair.
Speaker 1: So was this weird? Yes? Yes, yes it was, Like
Speaker 1: do you think that he is going to have the
Speaker 1: full support of his coaching staff, Like how do you
Speaker 1: think he is able to transition this week and we've
Speaker 1: seen some of the decisions he's making in terms of
Speaker 1: play caller and stuff now uh into being all of
Speaker 1: their bosses, And how do you think that works over
Speaker 1: the next nine weeks. Yeah, that's a good question. But
Speaker 1: I think it's like, I think both things can be
Speaker 1: true at the same time. Like Jeff Saturday is an
Speaker 1: awesome dude. Like if you guys have ever met him,
Speaker 1: he's an awesome dude. He was an awesome player. But
Speaker 1: this is not This doesn't make sense in any world
Speaker 1: that we live in. And I think whether those coaches
Speaker 1: would ever admit it or not, they have to be
Speaker 1: living and to be honest, they're running out of guys
Speaker 1: to fire, Like they literally are running out of people
Speaker 1: to fire. They're gonna turn to a thirty year old
Speaker 1: assistant quarterbacks coach to call plays on Sunday named Parks Fraser,
Speaker 1: who four years ago was a assistant to Frank Reich,
Speaker 1: like an assistant, like the guy that would show up
Speaker 1: at four thirty in the morning to get the place
Speaker 1: scripts ready, and he was a quality control coach two
Speaker 1: years ago. Now he's gonna be calling plays for Sam Ellinger,
Speaker 1: for Jeff Saturday, like this is this has got maybe
Speaker 1: one win left in it the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: It's just hard to see this team. It's hard to
Speaker 1: take this scene seriously right now. Yeah, I mean it
Speaker 1: feels like a legitimate um November acid trip for everyone
Speaker 1: who's absorbing the news. I'm certainly sure for you. I
Speaker 1: guess my question because Jeff Saturday is a savvy guy.
Speaker 1: He's been in the media, he'd he was a player,
Speaker 1: He's been around coaches. He understands like the culture of
Speaker 1: a locker room and what this kind of move would
Speaker 1: mean to players in a locker room and what they've
Speaker 1: already done to that the players in that locker locker
Speaker 1: room in the last couple of weeks. How does he
Speaker 1: or what was do you think he was told about
Speaker 1: the future, because it sounds like it's just walking into
Speaker 1: a disastrous eight weeks. Why would he want to do it? Um,
Speaker 1: I guess it's like behind closed doors, you're my guy
Speaker 1: for head coach, unless like you don't want to do it,
Speaker 1: Like why would you leave your career and come do
Speaker 1: something where you're now in the middle of this Maelstrom.
Speaker 1: I just I'm I don't understand Jeff Saturday's decision to
Speaker 1: take the job. Mark. Before I answer, I have to
Speaker 1: mention I got on Twitter last night and I saw
Speaker 1: your tweet that basically said Jimmercy is driving the gold
Speaker 1: spaceship into the sun, and I just lost it. I
Speaker 1: don't know why that was so funny to me. I
Speaker 1: could hear it in your voice. That's that's kind of
Speaker 1: where we're at. And one of the most poignant moments
Speaker 1: of this press conference last night was I asked Jeff Saturday, like,
Speaker 1: no offense, Jeff, but like, how the hell did this happen?
Speaker 1: And he said basically, I was as stunned as anybody.
Speaker 1: When he got the call late Sunday night, he asked
Speaker 1: Jim or point blank, why are you considering me for
Speaker 1: this job? Like that's a totally fair question. And we
Speaker 1: asked Jim Mercy that question fifteen times in fifteen different
Speaker 1: ways last night, and the only real answer we got
Speaker 1: was that he likes him, and Jim Mercy mentioned that, look,
Speaker 1: I mean this is this is a real quote that
Speaker 1: this team has been one of the winning his team
Speaker 1: since two thousand. They're in the upper quartile of the
Speaker 1: top quar tire of the upper quartile, whatever the hell
Speaker 1: that means. But the problem is the problem is they're
Speaker 1: they're trying to grab onto the glory days. They're trying
Speaker 1: to grab onto the Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck days.
Speaker 1: They do not have that quarterback. This was the worst
Speaker 1: offensive performance we've seen from the franchise in twenty five
Speaker 1: years on Sunday in Foxborough. They went over fourteen on
Speaker 1: third day. But to answer your question, Mark, the players
Speaker 1: were not on board with the benching of Matt Ryan.
Speaker 1: They were not. Frank Reich's hands were tied. You can
Speaker 1: make a very strong case they should be playing in
Speaker 1: two quarterbacks instead of Sam Ellinger, the other being Nick Foles.
Speaker 1: Are they trying to lose games? They keep saying they're not.
Speaker 1: They keep fighting off the question that they're waving the
Speaker 1: white flag. But every move they have made, these are
Speaker 1: just mercy moves, has made them a worse team and
Speaker 1: it's hard to see them winning many more games the
Speaker 1: rest of the season. I would love to know what
Speaker 1: these veteran defensive players now. The defense is bringing it.
Speaker 1: The defensive playing well this season, but nobody knows, and
Speaker 1: I would love to know what Stefan Gilmore thinks, this
Speaker 1: is the guy that was with England for a long time,
Speaker 1: an adult organization. What does he think? What does DeForest
Speaker 1: Buckner think? I mean, this is it's gonna be a
Speaker 1: fascinating day in the locker room tomorrow, that's for sure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you had said earlier, what does this team have
Speaker 1: one winning at the rest of the season. I think
Speaker 1: that to me, it seems like that's the goal here
Speaker 1: at this point. It's a hard pivot by Ersay, who
Speaker 1: has a finite amount of time to build another champion
Speaker 1: and he sees that's not what this team was gonna be.
Speaker 1: I want to ask you, what do you think he's
Speaker 1: trying to lose? Yes? Absolutely, I mean, look at the
Speaker 1: movie at this point, I believe he is and and
Speaker 1: and he's sending his buddy Saturday in there to kind
Speaker 1: of keep more morale up and have a guy that
Speaker 1: he could hang out with in this capacity. I don't know, Listen,
Speaker 1: I'm curious about the relationship with you guys in the media,
Speaker 1: also um with Ersay and with the GM Chris Bower,
Speaker 1: who by the way, got a vote of confidence yesterday.
Speaker 1: Here's here's Ballard getting fired up talking about his process
Speaker 1: and one of several grenades I thought lobbed the way
Speaker 1: towards Keefer and company. And we've not played as well
Speaker 1: up front as we need to play. And I think
Speaker 1: you all know my as y'all have been kicking the
Speaker 1: ship out of me for years for not drafting Whitehouse.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, now look up and you
Speaker 1: know we're under performing on the offensive line right now. Um,
Speaker 1: and that's gotta that's gotta take another that's got to improve,
Speaker 1: that has to improve, and then the turnovers and then
Speaker 1: the turnovers during the year that you just look at it.
Speaker 1: We're turning the ball over and we're turning it over
Speaker 1: inside our fifty And I just I'm just noticing for
Speaker 1: the first time, Zach that when he says and the turnout,
Speaker 1: he's talking over a reporter who is coming in with
Speaker 1: a follow up question. It looked like, Um, what is
Speaker 1: the general vibe between what you guys are doing and
Speaker 1: the team and how does that kind of bake into
Speaker 1: the overall puzzle of what's going on over there? It's
Speaker 1: not good. Um, you know, they basically made Frank Greig's
Speaker 1: falling the sword. On Sunday, it was it was sad
Speaker 1: more than anything. He came into the press conference room
Speaker 1: in Foxboro and you could just tell. You could hear
Speaker 1: it in his voice, you could see it in his face.
Speaker 1: Frank had known for a couple of weeks that it
Speaker 1: was about to end, and it did end. And then
Speaker 1: they moved to Jeff Saturday, which really gets all the attention.
Speaker 1: We're not talking about Frank Reich anymore. That move did
Speaker 1: make sense. The offense was going nowhere. He wasn't getting
Speaker 1: it done. But at the same time, he had six
Speaker 1: starting quarterbacks in five years. Now. His hands are dirty
Speaker 1: in that because he pushed for the Carson Wentz trade
Speaker 1: and that didn't work. But that's not that's an organizational failure,
Speaker 1: like that's a failure from the top down to everybody.
Speaker 1: They couldn't get this right. And Chris Ballard his hands
Speaker 1: is dirty or as well, because at the root of
Speaker 1: all of this this season, at the root of all
Speaker 1: of it is this offensive line that can't protect sam
Speaker 1: Ailar was sacked on nine times, you know, use the
Speaker 1: Ferris Bueller quote, like nine times on Sunday, the most
Speaker 1: in five years. And and that was why Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: wasn't able to be effective now. Matt Ryan through interceptions
Speaker 1: and fumbled, but nobody could have played behind that offensive line,
Speaker 1: with the exception of maybe Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. So
Speaker 1: you know, that's where Ballard's mistakes in the off season
Speaker 1: have cost this team. And that's sort of the source
Speaker 1: of tension right now is they thought they could play
Speaker 1: Matt Pryor at left tackle, and they moved him to
Speaker 1: right tackle, and they played him at right guard. They've
Speaker 1: now benched him at three different positions, which I can't
Speaker 1: remember ever happening with this team. It took him nine
Speaker 1: games to realize that, and they started Danny Pinter at
Speaker 1: right guard. I don't need to go on and on
Speaker 1: about this, but this offensive line is unrecognizable right now,
Speaker 1: and and that's at the root of all of this.
Speaker 1: I mean, you think go back to Week one. You've
Speaker 1: got Frank Reich is head coach, You've got Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: is your quarterback, and you've got Matt Marcus Brady is
Speaker 1: your O C. Right now in week ten, it's only
Speaker 1: November eight. They have Jeff Saturday as a head coach,
Speaker 1: they have Sam Ellinger is the quarterback, and they have
Speaker 1: Parks Fraser calling the place, like, what the hell just happened? Right?
Speaker 1: And I mean at Week one, there was a lot
Speaker 1: of optimism about the Cults. I didn't remember this, but
Speaker 1: Steve Weish, our friend, reminded me. He was on the
Speaker 1: Around the NFL Prediction show and he had Frank Rereich
Speaker 1: as his Coach of the Year and the Cults making
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. And he remembers me jump in and
Speaker 1: be like, Oh, that's a good pick for Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year because it just like they're gonna can own it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: at least they could be expectations and all I I
Speaker 1: look at that offensive line and I think, yeah, Chris
Speaker 1: Ballard has a lot of fault. But I think you
Speaker 1: have to listen to what he said. You're at fault, Zach.
Speaker 1: You banged on about investing too much in the offensive
Speaker 1: and um and he felt for that in which that
Speaker 1: that little joke didn't really make any sense because they're
Speaker 1: still the most highest paid offensive line in the league
Speaker 1: and the guys who are making a lot of money
Speaker 1: aren't doing well, so that that didn't totally make sense.
Speaker 1: But I do put there's some blood on your hands too.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, you know what it made sense to me.
Speaker 1: It made sense to me when Matt Ryan came here,
Speaker 1: it did make sense, like on a football level, like
Speaker 1: he was going to get the ball out quicker, he
Speaker 1: was going to make the layups. Right. That was the
Speaker 1: famous comment last year about Carson. They had Jonathan Taylor
Speaker 1: coming off an dred yard season. I just didn't see
Speaker 1: a line. That's like you mentioned Greg the highest paid
Speaker 1: in the league forty two million of the salary cap
Speaker 1: this year. I didn't see Brandon Smith regressing, Ryan Kelly regressing,
Speaker 1: and Quentin Nelson hasn't been the same player. So you
Speaker 1: put all that together and that's really where it all
Speaker 1: went wrong. But look, my hands are dirty too, right,
Speaker 1: I I miss blocks. I dropped the football as well.
Speaker 1: Oh you know it's getting bad when they're taking shots
Speaker 1: at the media. Well you know, of course, Say was
Speaker 1: a journalism student. He made that clear to all of us. Um. Secondly,
Speaker 1: I would imagine if you're sitting in the offices of
Speaker 1: HBO you were wishing that last year's in season Hard
Speaker 1: Knocks was occurring right now, because I mean that would
Speaker 1: be something I would be watching the minute it came on.
Speaker 1: What would Jeff Saturday need to do to. Now, there's
Speaker 1: obviously a The whole thing with the Rooney rule is
Speaker 1: has people up in arms, and it should. I mean,
Speaker 1: this whole thing feels insane. But what would Jeff Saturday
Speaker 1: need to do to convince this organization or just Jim
Speaker 1: Mercy that he is gonna be a head coach after
Speaker 1: this eight game stint? Just lose baby m He follow
Speaker 1: the follow the owner's orders because clearly the owner is
Speaker 1: making all the calls. I mean, I don't even think
Speaker 1: Jeff Saturday has the power to play the quarterback he wants.
Speaker 1: You're reporting after I noticed this um firing was interesting
Speaker 1: because you guys seem very clear that URSA has been
Speaker 1: making all these calls when it came to bringing in
Speaker 1: Matt Ryan, getting rid of Carson Wentz and in this benching. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: that's good to point out. Um. You know, for for
Speaker 1: a long time, he's been the owner for twenty seven
Speaker 1: years here, he has fought to be the owner of
Speaker 1: his father. Wasn't for those you remember bober Say. Bobber
Speaker 1: Say was a crazy volatile owner who would go down
Speaker 1: at halftime of games and and demand that the coach
Speaker 1: fired the quarterback. And he and if he didn't bench
Speaker 1: the quarterback. He would fire the coach before the game ended,
Speaker 1: and then he was forty good about it two hours later.
Speaker 1: So we're talking absolute chaos. So Jimmer said, grew up
Speaker 1: in the league watching that and decided to be the
Speaker 1: exact opposite. He would stay out of all this. This
Speaker 1: is a third consecutive decision where his hands have been
Speaker 1: very much all over. He demanded that they moved on
Speaker 1: from Carson Wentz. He told them to bench Matt Ryan,
Speaker 1: which I don't think Frank Brek wanted to do. I
Speaker 1: don't think any coach would want to bench Matt Ryan
Speaker 1: because he's clearly better than Sam Ellinger. And then he
Speaker 1: hired Jeff's Suturday, and I don't think that's a Chris
Speaker 1: Ballard move. Why would a GM on Denis want to
Speaker 1: hire an unproven, untested head coach and Jeff Saturday. So
Speaker 1: jimr sty has had his say the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: the last couple of years, which is a very un
Speaker 1: characteristic from him, and that's a bad way to run
Speaker 1: a franchise. That's metalline, and you gotta wonder, like who's
Speaker 1: gonna make the next decision? He said that, Jim, that
Speaker 1: he said Jim. Jim said that Chris Ballard will be
Speaker 1: back next year, but who's going to make the head
Speaker 1: coaching higher. Usually that's a GM thing. But he also
Speaker 1: said Frank was safe six days ago, or at least
Speaker 1: multiple national reports said Frank Renk is safe last Monday.
Speaker 1: So we asked that at the very end of the
Speaker 1: press conference, why should anything you say right now, Jim
Speaker 1: be taken into account because that was true and it
Speaker 1: did not go well. He quoted his record, but the
Speaker 1: problem is the record with Peyton Manning is not coming
Speaker 1: through the door, and your luck's not coming through the door,
Speaker 1: and this team is going one direction. It's not up exactly.
Speaker 1: Really appreciate your time here. We know you're super busy,
Speaker 1: so um, good luck with everything else. I feel like
Speaker 1: this is just the beginning of what's gonna be a
Speaker 1: wild ride through the end of the season and beyond.
Speaker 1: So you're well eclipped equipped to handle it. So we'll
Speaker 1: probably check in with you again, but we'll give you
Speaker 1: a little bit of a break. I know you you
Speaker 1: need it, you deserve it, a wild ride back into
Speaker 1: the upper quartile. Yes, thanks for having me. Thank you Zach,
Speaker 1: and I want to just add one more thing that, um,
Speaker 1: if you are unaware because you just talked about the
Speaker 1: end of Sunday Night Show, that we have a lot
Speaker 1: of new listeners, that Zach wrote an amazing piece on
Speaker 1: Chris Westling that you could get on The Athletic if
Speaker 1: you're a subscriber. Now, I do want to just point
Speaker 1: out the math that Stay was using in terms of
Speaker 1: the quartile and where where I think he was going
Speaker 1: with it now. He said, look where the fourth winning
Speaker 1: is franchise in the league since two thousand, okay, four
Speaker 1: out of thirty two thirty two teams fourth place. That
Speaker 1: means we're in the upper quartile of winners. Now the
Speaker 1: quartile here would be how many teams here, dan uh
Speaker 1: quartiles eight, it would be a So that's a true statement.
Speaker 1: They are in this bait, he said, they're film asked
Speaker 1: me any more questions. By the way, that I'm stopping
Speaker 1: out at one. Okay, then by the way they found
Speaker 1: out they fact checked there not the fourth winning, but
Speaker 1: we'll put that aside. We'll put that aside. So they
Speaker 1: are in the upper quartile winners, and they he is saying,
Speaker 1: in the top quartile of that upper quart al now
Speaker 1: the top quartile of quartile, that would be too that
Speaker 1: would be too right, So that would also not be correct.
Speaker 1: He could have just said we're in the top portion
Speaker 1: of that upper quartile, and I think that's where he
Speaker 1: was going. They cut the half. He could have just
Speaker 1: said we're in the top eighth of the league. Maybe
Speaker 1: that sounds quartile is kind of ad You got to
Speaker 1: give that well and to use it three times if
Speaker 1: he didn't need to do that. But like, maybe that's
Speaker 1: why they hung that that infamous banner back then. Because
Speaker 1: in world like we are winning extremely important things. I
Speaker 1: think they should make a new banner like top upper
Speaker 1: quartile of the top quartesyle. That's good. Uh, get to
Speaker 1: work on the photo shop on that one. And before
Speaker 1: we take a break, I just want to ask you guys,
Speaker 1: like I had to let Zeck go because he was
Speaker 1: obviously he's getting worked hard by that team right now,
Speaker 1: But who wants that job? Like, let's say it turns
Speaker 1: out Jeff Saturday is eight and done. Who wants that job?
Speaker 1: Who wants a job when the owner clearly is turning
Speaker 1: into his father and he got his fingers all over
Speaker 1: the operation and you know, the GM is just gonna
Speaker 1: do whatever you can do to stay alive, and he
Speaker 1: probably has no power either. It's like that's a tough
Speaker 1: gig to walk into when you're trying to advertise like
Speaker 1: your own company as a great employer or yourself as
Speaker 1: a great boss, and like you do what he's done
Speaker 1: over the last week, you're telling, like common NFL fans,
Speaker 1: that place sounds extremely toxic and totally bizarre. And I
Speaker 1: and do I want to step into that drama and
Speaker 1: be the next person yanked around by whatever's happening. There's
Speaker 1: only a few WHOA, there's only a few coaches that
Speaker 1: that have options every year. So I'll give you the
Speaker 1: boring names that everyone everyone wants. But McDaniel's big winner
Speaker 1: in this, and he can look back and say, see,
Speaker 1: I was right. It's a good thing. In fact, it's
Speaker 1: it's funny that that Jeff Saturday a couple of weeks ago,
Speaker 1: as an analyst, tweeted out like the Raiders stink basically,
Speaker 1: and so now now you have to go, We'll go
Speaker 1: find out how how much the Raiders stink with the
Speaker 1: situation they're facing. And all seriousness too though, like that
Speaker 1: just tells you that this was not on Jeff Saturday's radar,
Speaker 1: not phe like, what do you think I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: a head coach in in thirty days? It's a bizarre story.
Speaker 1: But remember before we go to break, guys that it's
Speaker 1: not that complicated. It's not We don't build rockets to
Speaker 1: go to Mars. We're not nuclear scientists. That is none
Speaker 1: of our jobs here. It's a very simple jobs that
Speaker 1: we do here. We cultivate winning cultures, we cultivate toughness.
Speaker 1: We live by our integrity about the people that we are,
Speaker 1: and we don't ex act anything more than we expect
Speaker 1: from ourselves. I feel motivated, I feel power. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the spaceship driving into the night to the sun. All right,
Speaker 1: let's take a break before we get to one of
Speaker 1: our favorite long running segments teaser. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1: Welcome back joining us now. So we had Zach Kiefer,
Speaker 1: and now we have another friend of the show, NFL
Speaker 1: Network Zone host and reporter Bridget Condon. Welcome back, Thanks
Speaker 1: for having me. This music is incredible. Runway there you go.
Speaker 1: That's why I like. I like what we call behind
Speaker 1: the glasses known as sausage fingers because it gives you
Speaker 1: an idea of the person's personality because they always say
Speaker 1: what they think it sounds like like Kyle Brand as
Speaker 1: an example, said this sounds like silk stockings on skinn
Speaker 1: of Max back in a lot about cal Bran and Bridget,
Speaker 1: you said, this is you on the runway? Yeah, like
Speaker 1: slow motion walking down. Yeah. Set in the mood for
Speaker 1: Sunday night? Is this a new Sunday Night football? So
Speaker 1: you've been waiting all day for the Maybe I kind
Speaker 1: of like, how are you welcome? I'm great, it's Tuesday.
Speaker 1: You know, as good as you can be. You just
Speaker 1: celebrated a birthday. I know I thought that get the
Speaker 1: invite to the party. But that's cool. Well, I figured
Speaker 1: the reason why I'm allowed on the show now is
Speaker 1: because I'm twenty one. Finally, that's good. That's good. I
Speaker 1: think having Bridge on the show is is to show
Speaker 1: how much we like you. Um, you're coming on right now.
Speaker 1: We're gonna talk a little t NF later. Uh, but
Speaker 1: what we're gonna talk about right now? Hit it? Great? Digger, Yes, oh, Dave,
Speaker 1: Damna chick on the box. There a long time segment. Bridget,
Speaker 1: If you just turned twenty one. That means the segment
Speaker 1: started when you were about thirteen or so. It was
Speaker 1: early teen years I remember it. Yes, yes, pretty pivotal
Speaker 1: in my teenage. Yeah, it was formative. I'm sure. Uh
Speaker 1: stick a forking hum. We are at the time of
Speaker 1: year now where it's time to figure out which teams
Speaker 1: we don't need to take seriously anymore. In fact, I
Speaker 1: would say on some level, Mark, this is your favorite
Speaker 1: segment um as a podcast person, right because whenever you
Speaker 1: could just throw teams into the sun, that makes life better. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean we have different We approach these teams differently,
Speaker 1: Greg and I certainly do. And when I see a
Speaker 1: team sitting out there at two and seven and we're
Speaker 1: getting deep into November by yeah, my mind is starting
Speaker 1: to lose, um a grip on why I should spend
Speaker 1: a second thinking about you? Right, you're thinking, like, that's
Speaker 1: not going to make my game pass rotation. The problem
Speaker 1: is they play other good team and then now is
Speaker 1: the QB and decks on his play every Not only that,
Speaker 1: when they bring in like the fourth string quarterback in
Speaker 1: week sixteen, the teams are like almost trying to lose.
Speaker 1: You gotta watch those guys I have learned that will
Speaker 1: be my personal Vietnam bridget this. This second, by the way,
Speaker 1: hasn't existed. I don't think for three or four years
Speaker 1: that just fement and then so it goes away from
Speaker 1: four years. Yeah, I think there was a time where
Speaker 1: we had maybe some props, but the budget has been cut.
Speaker 1: But what we're gonna be here? I know since you
Speaker 1: were a team when this was launched, U, each of
Speaker 1: us will take turns nominating a team, and what a
Speaker 1: stick of fork and it means they have no chance
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs. And then you could say, and
Speaker 1: certainly a person like a Greg for instance, we'll say, well,
Speaker 1: anybody you know that they win all their games, they
Speaker 1: can make the most. We've gotten it wrong. We've gotten
Speaker 1: not always, not usually. But this takes takes a little
Speaker 1: bit of intestinal fortitude to kind of put yourself out
Speaker 1: on a limb and be sure of a team that
Speaker 1: is cooked. So before we get into nominating teams, that
Speaker 1: has to be an animous. We all have to vote
Speaker 1: a team forked. Okay, I want to throw three out
Speaker 1: just to get get warmed up, get some blood on
Speaker 1: our hands quickly, essay style, and you guys can let
Speaker 1: me know if there's pushback here, but can we safely fork,
Speaker 1: for instance, the Carolina Panthers, that that was your team
Speaker 1: that you covered. My hesitation here is because the fan
Speaker 1: base already hates me, and I hate me even more.
Speaker 1: But I'm gonna fork them absolutely. I mean, if you
Speaker 1: have p J Walker starting, and let me remind you
Speaker 1: he had a zero passer rating in the first half
Speaker 1: against the Yeah, it's not me and it's factual. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's starting over bigger Mayfield, which there is some I
Speaker 1: don't know if you guys have delved into his contract,
Speaker 1: there is something there to be said. They get if
Speaker 1: he plays less than or they get a sorry fourth
Speaker 1: rounder if he plays more than snaps fifth rounder. If
Speaker 1: he plays, Yeah, they're cooking the books a little here
Speaker 1: on the bench. That's why Donald's off the I R
Speaker 1: I I would say I wrote in the Power Ran
Speaker 1: because I feel like this is p J Walker's final start,
Speaker 1: regardless of outcome. They'll probably if Donald's healthy, just run
Speaker 1: him out there and hope that takes them home, especially
Speaker 1: if you're saying it it's advantageous for their future not
Speaker 1: to play. Make I'm comfortable forking the Panthers although it
Speaker 1: would be the quickest you know, possible regret that we've
Speaker 1: ever had doing this, because if when they play Thursday night,
Speaker 1: let's say they beat the Falcons Thursday night and then
Speaker 1: the Bucks lose in Germany, which is very falling into
Speaker 1: your trap. I'm just saying they would only be one
Speaker 1: game out of first, but I do feel comfortable that
Speaker 1: they will not win enough to pass Atlanta or Tampa.
Speaker 1: Over the course. It's interesting to how much a difference
Speaker 1: a week makes, as they say, because like a week ago,
Speaker 1: I was like, this team is frisky, walkers looking intriguing,
Speaker 1: the offense has awoken, like were there much better post
Speaker 1: Matt rule? And then the Bengals game happened and I
Speaker 1: was like, you're out of here. Yeah, you're out of
Speaker 1: my universe. I'm a big Steve Wilkes fan. I have
Speaker 1: a lot of respect from him, and kind of he
Speaker 1: seems like he doesn't care what anyone thinks, which I
Speaker 1: kind of like that. Panthers, I feel like a lot
Speaker 1: of times have just been worried about the outside perspective.
Speaker 1: He doesn't care. He's doing it his way. I'm a
Speaker 1: fan of him, but overall, I don't think I don't
Speaker 1: think they do it. They always find a way to
Speaker 1: get your hopes up really high and then take your
Speaker 1: right back. They need that high pick. Yeah, they need
Speaker 1: that first round. I would be on the fence given
Speaker 1: the division they play in, had not I started p
Speaker 1: J Walker over Davis mills Uh in Fantasy this week
Speaker 1: and the person So for that reason alone, I also
Speaker 1: vote there for can we quickly fork the Houston Texans
Speaker 1: the one win Texans? We don't really need to delve
Speaker 1: deep here, and he pushed back on that one. The
Speaker 1: Texans are cooked? Can we fork the Cults? Can we?
Speaker 1: I know they have three wins? I have one concern
Speaker 1: about this Cults thing is that, um, they're trying so
Speaker 1: hard for this to spend out. And we've covered it
Speaker 1: in our previous segment, but what if like the greatest
Speaker 1: sports thing ever happens of all time and Jeff Saturday
Speaker 1: guides them to like a six and two mark or
Speaker 1: something and they eke out like a wild card. Well,
Speaker 1: we don't get the guillotine if that happens. I'm just saying,
Speaker 1: like I kind of have a feeling that everything when
Speaker 1: the whole universe is saying, oh, this is gonna go
Speaker 1: so negatively. I don't know. Well, we do make a
Speaker 1: generous donation, but I will fork them to a charity
Speaker 1: if we get that, like that is in honor of
Speaker 1: that city. If we get it, that is true, Greg specifically,
Speaker 1: it depends whoever you know nominates the team. That's but
Speaker 1: we don't want to force you into it either. Mark,
Speaker 1: if you really think that something some funny business can happen,
Speaker 1: but just know it might come back on you if
Speaker 1: they get worse. I don't have a big problem forking
Speaker 1: the Cults for the same reason as the Panthers. The
Speaker 1: game that I just watched, I was thinking, Okay, maybe
Speaker 1: you couldn't make an argument for the Cults because their
Speaker 1: division is so lousy. But they've almost played all of
Speaker 1: their division games already and they weren't good in that
Speaker 1: those and they still the Eagles. They still have a
Speaker 1: game at Cowboys, at Vikings, at Giants. That's a lot.
Speaker 1: Are you buying my scenario that maybe something magical happen. No,
Speaker 1: Like I I don't want to speak because I don't
Speaker 1: want to get them upset with me. But I could
Speaker 1: side with you just in a sense that it would
Speaker 1: just be a crazy situation, right, Jeff Saturday, he's gonna
Speaker 1: go in there and rob rob this locker room. How
Speaker 1: long does that last? Room? Right? Fairly, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Maybe after they hire the thirty year old today to
Speaker 1: call the plays. I want to water back my decision here.
Speaker 1: I would love for it to happen, if only because
Speaker 1: we do these Monday Night football recaps, and I happened
Speaker 1: to look at the schedule the rest of the way,
Speaker 1: and Joe and Troy are gonna be wondering what happened
Speaker 1: to great late season games. The Monday night football schedule
Speaker 1: the rest of the year is rough. It includes two
Speaker 1: cults games, including a cult Steelers game in week twelve,
Speaker 1: in a cult Chargers game at least the Charges. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'll be in the mix in six team makes sense
Speaker 1: because there's so many of your personal apocalypse unquote safe
Speaker 1: teams this year that are having a really bad season.
Speaker 1: I'm guessing they're showing up repeatedly. All right, let's let's
Speaker 1: now nominate them too. So we got three already forked
Speaker 1: get using bridges terrible. Okay, I'm like, where's this coming? Um? Okay,
Speaker 1: I am going to fork the Packers. I know this
Speaker 1: is contin you're going to nominate the nice having you
Speaker 1: on Bridget Do I tell you it's just me because
Speaker 1: I haven't lived this much. So do I tell you
Speaker 1: why I'm nominating them? Yeah, you're pitching them? Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: I am pitching the Packers three and six. I know
Speaker 1: it's controversial. Aaron Rodgers an incredible quarterback. Never bet against him.
Speaker 1: I'm betting against him. They lost to the Lions. They
Speaker 1: lost to the Lions, And not only did they lose
Speaker 1: to the Lions, nine different players got hurt during that game.
Speaker 1: They just lost for Shawn Gary for the season. Eric Stokes,
Speaker 1: I don't know what the latest on him, but questionable.
Speaker 1: Uh Romeo Dabbs with the ankle sprain. Aaron Jones. Of
Speaker 1: course he's practicing this week. But when Aaron Jones goes down,
Speaker 1: your threat, your biggest threat on offense, I don't know
Speaker 1: what else you got. Mike McCarthy, he got choked up
Speaker 1: yesterday talking about going back to Green Bay. I think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are going to destroy them this weekend. From
Speaker 1: not only okay, so their next three games Cowboys, Titans, Eagles,
Speaker 1: it's just they could potentially be three and nine. I
Speaker 1: um got flamed on our Thursday preview show for suggesting
Speaker 1: that the Packers might only win seven games. Why didn't
Speaker 1: you tell me that before the show? Well, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I'm siding with you now because you almost locked them
Speaker 1: up against the lines zero. Do you being flamed? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Greg was like snickering, like his own little research. Actually,
Speaker 1: I think a little bit. Statement was just surprised because
Speaker 1: bridgets here, I have to slide over a little bit
Speaker 1: closer to you, guys that I could feel the heat
Speaker 1: between you right now. I love what Bridget did because
Speaker 1: it is bold, and my initial instinct is to push
Speaker 1: back because it's Aaron Rodgers and way watch these games.
Speaker 1: I don't think he's that far away. He to me,
Speaker 1: he's like Tom Brady where if I had to rank him,
Speaker 1: And this is about where they are in the pf'd
Speaker 1: say they're in the top twelve quarterbacks of the year.
Speaker 1: Like they're around twelve each of them. They're not getting
Speaker 1: killed because of their quarterback play. And there's a lot
Speaker 1: of good players on their team, and they have a
Speaker 1: history obviously under Matt Lafleur. And so if there's a
Speaker 1: team that's gonna rally from three and six they would
Speaker 1: be it, but you are getting ahead of it with
Speaker 1: them playing the Cowboys, the Titans, and the Eagles in
Speaker 1: the next three weeks. Nothing that they've done this season
Speaker 1: indicates that they can go to and one in those games.
Speaker 1: And if they don't go to and one in those games,
Speaker 1: your games behind the Vikings right not gonna win the division.
Speaker 1: The division is basically gone. In the NFC, third wild
Speaker 1: card might be a little sketchy where you only need
Speaker 1: nine wins, so it's not crazy, but I I just
Speaker 1: haven't seen believe well, that's that's an issue that we
Speaker 1: have to deal with here. But the Cowboys Titens, Eagles
Speaker 1: at Bears. Let's say best case scenario there four, they
Speaker 1: go to and two, so they're five and eight, and
Speaker 1: then they get home Rams at Dolphin's home, Viking. I'm gonna,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna, I'm gonna Dolphins. I'm gonna for them. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna for I feel I feel like they're done. They
Speaker 1: do they stink? Are they just really unlucky? They seem
Speaker 1: very mediocre and they just find ways to lose. Close
Speaker 1: to tell me about tell me that loss was unlucky
Speaker 1: against Detroit. I think it was a little unlucky hundred yards.
Speaker 1: I know, but Greg, look at what every other team
Speaker 1: is done to Detroit's defense, and I I kind of
Speaker 1: it's hard to adjust to what's happening in Green Bay.
Speaker 1: It's hard to adjust to what's happening. The fact that
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers is not playing very well. It's environmental. It's
Speaker 1: not just that he's lost all his skill, but seems
Speaker 1: slightly desisted, disinterested, super miffed. There's bad juju on that team,
Speaker 1: and their schedule is brutal. Like you mentioned, I'm with you.
Speaker 1: I I will fork the Packers. I feel like an
Speaker 1: NFC team though, will be the team that makes us
Speaker 1: sweat and probably those charities excited because that seven spot
Speaker 1: in the NFC might only require eight or nine wins
Speaker 1: and one of these teams. The last time we did this,
Speaker 1: there was one less playoff team that got in. So
Speaker 1: there is a bigger window for teams to find a way.
Speaker 1: The Raiders last year like in a in like we
Speaker 1: did a casual exercise of it. I don't even know.
Speaker 1: All right, So now that we're all forking them, they're gone.
Speaker 1: Now they're gonna destroy the unanimate, all right? Uh? I
Speaker 1: will throw to Mark Sessler for the next nomination. Alright,
Speaker 1: I'm forking the Raiders. Smell you later, Do I need
Speaker 1: to explain why? Yeah, well that's our podcast. Well okay,
Speaker 1: I mean I think they're a giant mess. Uh. They
Speaker 1: to get shut out in this league right now, which
Speaker 1: they did against the Saints, and then they get shut
Speaker 1: out last week in the second half against the Jaguars,
Speaker 1: just to have games given away that way, when like
Speaker 1: you should if you're the Raiders, when we like them
Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks. You have a seventeen nothing
Speaker 1: lead on the Jacksonville Jaguars, another team learning how to
Speaker 1: win with the first year head coach, their first year
Speaker 1: head coach, and you cannot run the ball. You cannot
Speaker 1: Derek Carr vanishes, the whole team goes into some sort
Speaker 1: of other dimension and scores no points and Davante Adams
Speaker 1: has zero yardage in the second half after a great
Speaker 1: first half. You're not adjusting, the scheme is not being
Speaker 1: picked up. I don't know if it's Derek Carr or
Speaker 1: if it's the Raiders or a combination of both. It's
Speaker 1: their defense. There's nothing alike. And you're in the A
Speaker 1: s C. Which is gonna be a lot harder to
Speaker 1: make the playoffs in And are we gonna say they're
Speaker 1: about to go eight and two or something or eight
Speaker 1: and one. No, I'm gonna push back on this one
Speaker 1: a little bit. I gotta I'm looking at their schedule.
Speaker 1: They got the Colts next. You couldn't ask for a
Speaker 1: better matchup, so you get your third win there at
Speaker 1: the Broncos. Not afraid of that. They also got the
Speaker 1: st Heelers on the schedule and the Rams, who are
Speaker 1: obviously a mess, and I think they'll come up. Um.
Speaker 1: So while I'm not huge on the Radar Raiders, I'm
Speaker 1: right now I'm not gonna officially cast the Volks. I
Speaker 1: want to see where everybody else is. But I look
Speaker 1: at their schedule like I still see a path to
Speaker 1: them being in the playoff race at the end of
Speaker 1: the same they're uh writers for instance for the Athletic
Speaker 1: and a lot of people covering the team felt like
Speaker 1: that was there into their season. I feel like pushing
Speaker 1: back to because they've played one less game, they only
Speaker 1: have six losses. Uh, they they need to get wins,
Speaker 1: but they have you know, they had their bye week already.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna and they did it last year. That's what's
Speaker 1: creeping me out a little bit about them, because like
Speaker 1: they were a veteran team last year that we would
Speaker 1: have never expected put that in and they got a
Speaker 1: really lucky and all that luck has gone against them
Speaker 1: this year. They are owing five now and one score games.
Speaker 1: They've been in all these games. Could they get a
Speaker 1: little luckier? I'm gonna I'm not gonna force. Ciliana looked
Speaker 1: at me like I was crazy, but I said, you know,
Speaker 1: to to blow three seventeen point leads in the league
Speaker 1: and set records, you have to have a seventeen point
Speaker 1: lead first. So there is there's still the bones of
Speaker 1: a team that could go on a run here. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's gonna happen, But I also don't feel
Speaker 1: strong enough to absolutely remember Forkham. Is no chance mentioned
Speaker 1: that this last year and this magical last year that
Speaker 1: you're referring to and trying to say it's the same thing.
Speaker 1: They were five and two there, two and six, and
Speaker 1: they closed their season against the Niners and Chiefs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but are the Chiefs even playing for something there? You know,
Speaker 1: there's there are different things in and play even I
Speaker 1: don't know. I'm gonna how about you, Well, it sounds
Speaker 1: like it's something I'm kind of torn because when your
Speaker 1: quarterback goes in and s there's a lot that I
Speaker 1: want to say, you know, if I'm honest, I don't
Speaker 1: want to say it here. Obviously there's tons of friction,
Speaker 1: and when the person leading your team is speaking like that,
Speaker 1: I don't think it ends well for any team. I
Speaker 1: don't think that. I don't know if I want to
Speaker 1: fork Hm though, because like you said that, the a
Speaker 1: f C West is so bizarre to me right now
Speaker 1: that the Raiders could have won that game Week one
Speaker 1: against the Chargers. I still think there's a weird thing
Speaker 1: between the Chargers and the Raiders. I still think Raiders
Speaker 1: could potentially win their second matchup, and yeah, they could
Speaker 1: beat the Colts, they could beat the Broncos. I don't
Speaker 1: know what's going on with the Seahawks. They're way better
Speaker 1: than we all thought, but I don't know. I think
Speaker 1: at some point the pieces have to click for this team.
Speaker 1: I think maybe just because I had so much hope
Speaker 1: for them going into this season, it's really hard for
Speaker 1: me to steer away from them. Davante Adams, Derek car
Speaker 1: we have to see something between them. I think at
Speaker 1: some point, I don't know, maybe you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: keep watching the Raiders. Mark. I'm sorry. I mean I
Speaker 1: enjoyed the vibrant discussion around that, so good, thank you good.
Speaker 1: How about you? Greg nominated a team? I feel bad
Speaker 1: because the Jaguars not being a part of the season
Speaker 1: I think is an under the radar, sad storyline because
Speaker 1: I just thought they were going to be in the mix.
Speaker 1: I understand. I just thought they were going to be
Speaker 1: part of this thing, that the a f C South
Speaker 1: was going to be so bad that they would be
Speaker 1: in the mix and be Trevor Lawrence and just be like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is nice to have the Jaguars back. It's been
Speaker 1: a while, and they're coming off of a win, and
Speaker 1: they are another team that's been in a lot of
Speaker 1: one score games like the Raiders, and and lost most
Speaker 1: of them, almost all of them until last week against
Speaker 1: the Raiders. But I look at their schedule and I
Speaker 1: just don't see a path. It's rough. They're at Kansas
Speaker 1: City and they have the Ravens after there by, and
Speaker 1: that right there looks like three and eight. They also
Speaker 1: have the Titans and the Cowboys, they're they're at the Jets,
Speaker 1: they have the Titans twice, and there's just been nothing
Speaker 1: about this team to me that is special. I think
Speaker 1: they're kind of a mediocre team that's been on the
Speaker 1: wrong side of variants and they're not that far from
Speaker 1: being a five and four team. But it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: that they can't get those wins back, and I don't
Speaker 1: think they're gonna rally enough with that schedule. They could
Speaker 1: lose all their games. I'm looking at their schedule now.
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe they beat the Texans. They've been in
Speaker 1: the middle. They're like a team where I've been so
Speaker 1: wrong every game. I think I've picked wrong when it
Speaker 1: comes to the Jaguars every game. They lost to the
Speaker 1: Texans already, so you're right, anything could happen there. Travis
Speaker 1: Anatianna is really um he's really stepped up the last
Speaker 1: couple of weeks, so that gives them another kind of
Speaker 1: a real dynamic talent there. And ever, Lawrence did play
Speaker 1: well last week, so it's like, you know, like they
Speaker 1: have been in close games. I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: about this one. The fact that they're playing the Chiefs
Speaker 1: in the Ravens next there what really scared me off
Speaker 1: more than anything. And and at some level it's giving
Speaker 1: from faith to grave Diggers Titans, and maybe I shouldn't.
Speaker 1: You know, if the if the Titans come way back
Speaker 1: to the pack, then the Jaguars can can be in
Speaker 1: the division mix. But I would for them. I'll do
Speaker 1: it as well, because what you said, they had their
Speaker 1: chance to be in decent position uh to absorb these
Speaker 1: next two losses most likely, but they kicked away that
Speaker 1: opportunity and it's going to be too late. Bridget. They
Speaker 1: are flying here, the fork is out and it is sharp.
Speaker 1: I will nominate We're like a er mode right now.
Speaker 1: We're going to definitely pay for this. I will nominate
Speaker 1: the defending Super Bowl champions Um controversial. It's it's one
Speaker 1: of those things. It's kind of like you were saying
Speaker 1: with the Packers, Mark, let's not forget that they kind
Speaker 1: of stink um. And it's not the defense's fault, as
Speaker 1: Jalen Ramsey will point out. But the defense hasn't been
Speaker 1: great shakes either. I mean they've they've struggled to get
Speaker 1: to the quarterback, they've struggled to cover um. They have
Speaker 1: been vulnerable on that side. Of the ball on the
Speaker 1: offense is a total mess. Uh. You know, would it
Speaker 1: would it stun you if you learned that Matthew Stafford's
Speaker 1: elbow really was a thing all season? I wouldn't have
Speaker 1: stun me. The running game obviously is bad enough that
Speaker 1: cam Akers is re entering the mix. You you know
Speaker 1: that the Rams did everything and trying. They were trying
Speaker 1: please take our first round picks, and they couldn't pull
Speaker 1: off the trades that they felt they needed to save
Speaker 1: the season. So now they're just moving forward with what
Speaker 1: feels like a broken team. So with the schedule, they
Speaker 1: are three and five with the home against the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: at Saints at Chiefs home Seahawks over the next four weeks.
Speaker 1: I just this is me going out on a limb,
Speaker 1: but I feel like they deserve to be UH put
Speaker 1: on the board for discussion thoughts. I think whoever loses
Speaker 1: Sunday between the Rams and Cardinals season is over. I
Speaker 1: think that is a test class. It's a classic fork off.
Speaker 1: I love that because both of these teams are kind
Speaker 1: of in similar positions where their seasons could end right now.
Speaker 1: And I think the Rams, again, like I said a
Speaker 1: little bit ago, with UH, I forget who we're talking about.
Speaker 1: When Jalen Ramsey says it's not our fault. Our offense
Speaker 1: shouldn't come over and tell us we're gonna need you
Speaker 1: again with a minute and a half or whatever. They
Speaker 1: mismanaging the clock. I think there's so much tension, and
Speaker 1: I really believe that that interferes with what's going on.
Speaker 1: You can't get people on the same page. And with
Speaker 1: so many injuries to their offensive line, I just don't
Speaker 1: see them making a comeback. That's for me. It's the
Speaker 1: it's I think they have unfixable problems. They're not alone.
Speaker 1: There are other teams, especially in the NFC, that have
Speaker 1: some unfixable problems. But the line has been such a
Speaker 1: poisonous scenario and it's uncorked everything they've tried to do.
Speaker 1: They've scored under fourteen fourteen points are under and four
Speaker 1: of their last five games that came against good defenses.
Speaker 1: But the Rams, we knew it didn't matter what defense
Speaker 1: you played, you found your way out of it. And
Speaker 1: they had their bye week. Everyone was selling them as
Speaker 1: like Sean McVeigh and everyone's gonna go huddle up during
Speaker 1: the bye week figure all this out, and they came
Speaker 1: out and laid a massive egg against the Niners and
Speaker 1: then lost a terrible, winnable game against the Bucks by
Speaker 1: It's sad. You know, my daughter makes this Rams shrine
Speaker 1: every Sunday. She's gotta get she's gotta get her act together. Paraphernalia,
Speaker 1: what do you mean working? It worked last year and
Speaker 1: so she's sticking with it. It's just it. They don't
Speaker 1: pass the eye test, like more than the pack The
Speaker 1: Packers seem to me like they're not that bad, but
Speaker 1: they just make mistakes. The Rams are just not a
Speaker 1: good team. Their twenties seven in d v O A uh,
Speaker 1: they're one of the worst offenses in the league. At
Speaker 1: no point this season have they looked like anything but
Speaker 1: one of the worst offenses in the league. They're only
Speaker 1: one game back, and I tend to think they'll win
Speaker 1: this week if I had to pick it, and so
Speaker 1: that they'd be four and five in a muddied NFC,
Speaker 1: and they got the coaching staff. I have a hard
Speaker 1: time forking them, even though I have no real faith
Speaker 1: in them at all. So I'm all right, I hear it,
Speaker 1: So you don't want to do it, so let me
Speaker 1: quickly pivot. Then if we're talking about a fork off
Speaker 1: on Sunday, I am all in on forking the Arizona Cardinals,
Speaker 1: and ahead of time, anybody that listens to the show
Speaker 1: knows that I am not a fan of this entire
Speaker 1: regime and the way things are structured every week is
Speaker 1: a comedy of errors. How about the Cardinals. Do we
Speaker 1: need to wait to see them lose to the Rams? Bridge?
Speaker 1: We we did put you in a tough spot here, Bridget.
Speaker 1: Not only do you have to come on, I mean,
Speaker 1: how like we're basically just asking you to be the
Speaker 1: most negative possible in the most negative show of the season.
Speaker 1: Sunday decides it. Do you want the Cardinals gone? Now?
Speaker 1: You you? You don't need to see anymore from the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: They can win Sunday. I could live with the Rams.
Speaker 1: I can't live in a world where we still take
Speaker 1: the Cardinals series. I'm with Dan that even if they
Speaker 1: win that game, that's a winnable game for the Cardinals.
Speaker 1: I believe what's going on offensively there is so rotten
Speaker 1: to the core, and they have a great quarterback. But
Speaker 1: we've seen what their offense is and there's nothing exceptional
Speaker 1: about their team or their defense. It's gonna make up
Speaker 1: for it, whether it's a coach, the defense, and nothing's
Speaker 1: getting it. We don't give them. I'm watching this show.
Speaker 1: This is gonna be intriguing. Look, but they like to
Speaker 1: your point, they've got two games left against the forty niners.
Speaker 1: Let's say they probably lose both of those. Your three
Speaker 1: and eight, all right, give him the hard knocks theme.
Speaker 1: I don't know everybody was plugging it out. I'm surprised,
Speaker 1: Like I get why, Like during the season it's a
Speaker 1: it's a heavy lift, but like you don't want to
Speaker 1: see what's going on behind the scenes with this team
Speaker 1: on a little bit good. I want to are they
Speaker 1: going to show us Kylie watching film? Like I think
Speaker 1: that's all who you want to watch? With the little
Speaker 1: clock on the side. Did Buddha Baker yelling at everybody
Speaker 1: that he's tired of losing two to three weeks. He's
Speaker 1: one of their best players. Their schedule at a point,
Speaker 1: that's how you get tired of losing not be available. Well,
Speaker 1: yeah that happened afterwards. Unfortunately, their schedule is one point
Speaker 1: in their favor because there they have so many division
Speaker 1: games in at least that's in their control. That the
Speaker 1: best team they play record wise the rest of the
Speaker 1: entire season are the New England Patriots and the Chargers.
Speaker 1: So there's two games against the forty niners. You're not sure,
Speaker 1: but that there are four and four team you want.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that's an easy as schedules go. It's manageable.
Speaker 1: But I I'm with Dan, I've just seen enough that
Speaker 1: I don't to take them seriously. This is like a
Speaker 1: team I wanted to be fun like last year. I
Speaker 1: liked them a lot, and like this is sort of
Speaker 1: your your You guys were depressed about one of these teams,
Speaker 1: barely watched them live because Mark claims the Cardinals every week,
Speaker 1: I'll do it, I'll do it. I like to be
Speaker 1: daring with this because it's like, what's so bad if
Speaker 1: we lose? We have to get to charity. I don't
Speaker 1: even know if we did. Last time was a bunch
Speaker 1: of talk, but like that's terrible. It was, yeah we did. No,
Speaker 1: that's not that. For first of all, if you're listening
Speaker 1: to this, that is an absolute narrative and absolutely incorrect.
Speaker 1: Well they are listening to this. Otherwise, what are you
Speaker 1: saying you went from not knowing what happened because I
Speaker 1: was sure that we didn't donate. We certainly it was
Speaker 1: not a team right like Matt like was pushing her
Speaker 1: like championing like was the Los Angeles Food Bank? As
Speaker 1: I recall, I don't know what to say. So just
Speaker 1: send your invoice to Mark Sessler. All right, listen to
Speaker 1: Johnny Bananas Hawthorne drive Johnny, you listener, you try to
Speaker 1: think in your mind if you think Greg is donated
Speaker 1: to anything, just yourself that question. All right, that's rue.
Speaker 1: I mean I donate, You donate to a lot. That's
Speaker 1: it's very hot. It's very because because you're bringing it.
Speaker 1: I mean you, I donate to a lot of stuff,
Speaker 1: so that you shouldn't tell people that well when you're
Speaker 1: when you're confronted on it. So come down, Britta, do
Speaker 1: you have any of the team you don't have to mind?
Speaker 1: Was the Texans. So we took care of the texts.
Speaker 1: We took care of the Texans easily. Anybody else the
Speaker 1: guys want to throw out there. The Cardinals were on
Speaker 1: my mind, but yeah, we gotta do the Steelers. I
Speaker 1: think you could. I think you could have put them
Speaker 1: in the early window. They have some berserker energy, potentially
Speaker 1: because of Mike Tomlin berserker energy. But the fact that
Speaker 1: they're in the a f C and we keep eliminating
Speaker 1: these a f C teams, we we this would already
Speaker 1: be what five gone, which is how we've gotten into
Speaker 1: trouble in the past. But I we are very certain
Speaker 1: who's going to the postseason on November eight. I don't
Speaker 1: see a path to ten wins, and I'm with Mark.
Speaker 1: I think that's what it's going to take in the
Speaker 1: a f C. How about the Lions, I can't fork them.
Speaker 1: I'm not forking after aund around the end the song
Speaker 1: to the Cardinals. What about the Broncos? Can we fork them? Oh?
Speaker 1: I happily would. I kind of would knees on the
Speaker 1: plane I was ready for. I happily would market. Yes,
Speaker 1: let's see, let's see. Let's see they have at Titans Wolf,
Speaker 1: I don't know if Tannehill is playing us. Okay, then
Speaker 1: they got Home Raiders, winnable at Panthers, very winnable at Ravens,
Speaker 1: tough Ee Chiefs, tough e cards at I mean, I
Speaker 1: feel like they can get back to that's a little concerning.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I can't do it. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: do it. At some point, did we forked the Steelers there?
Speaker 1: I was fine. I'm just saying, yeah, if we forked
Speaker 1: the Steelers and we've in the a f C for
Speaker 1: the Steelers, Texans, Jaguars, and Colts, that's not that many
Speaker 1: for four fields. Fair Like, the Steelers are gonna part
Speaker 1: ways with their offensive coordinator in about two or three weeks,
Speaker 1: and the floor is gonna fall out even further from there.
Speaker 1: A lot of changes are coming and they're not making
Speaker 1: the playoffs. I think the a f C NFC dynamic
Speaker 1: is real. If you look at the a f C
Speaker 1: standings right now. For instance, the Colts are tenth place
Speaker 1: and they're but they're two and a half game is
Speaker 1: back of the playoff spot, which would be the Chargers
Speaker 1: right now, and the Dolphins are at six and three,
Speaker 1: Whereas in the NFC, like two and a half games
Speaker 1: gets you all the way back to basically the end
Speaker 1: of the entire conference. Carolina is within two and a
Speaker 1: half games of the seven spots. So to me, it's
Speaker 1: too far for the Steelers to catch up. I'm out
Speaker 1: on the Steelers, okay, yeah, alright, so they're done? Uh Broncos, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm not. It was not right of me to suggest
Speaker 1: that you don't donate to things. I know that you do,
Speaker 1: and you're you're a caring person. So I like it
Speaker 1: when we find out how Mark really feels during the show,
Speaker 1: how I really feel on this episode. I just feel
Speaker 1: like I'm gonna get off here and donate right to
Speaker 1: all Right, anybody else want to throw a team out there?
Speaker 1: I want to make sure we're not missing anybody. The Commanders.
Speaker 1: I'm not with Taylor Heide. I don't see another team
Speaker 1: right now. What about the Saints? Well, right now, the Saints,
Speaker 1: as you could check it out on the Monday Night
Speaker 1: recap with Jordan Rodrigue and Rose withal they know showed
Speaker 1: on Monday Night. Um, I know the Ravens are a
Speaker 1: great team, but that was disheartening to say the least,
Speaker 1: and it makes you think that, uh, even though we
Speaker 1: were gassing them up a little bit last week and
Speaker 1: the idea that maybe there's something there, now I'm less confident.
Speaker 1: I feel like this might be I feel like their
Speaker 1: only chance now. And this is crazy because I'm not
Speaker 1: a huge fan of this quarterback. But get Jami's back
Speaker 1: in there and see if it could juice them up.
Speaker 1: I don't like they're not going to at least this
Speaker 1: next week. I tend to agree it might be time
Speaker 1: to switch back. The autnoissance is happening. I don't think
Speaker 1: it The quarterback position is particularly relevant to their team
Speaker 1: because to me, I mean, I don't think either one
Speaker 1: is going to save them, and I don't think either
Speaker 1: one is their main problem. They have so many problems,
Speaker 1: and yet I'm not gonna fork them in this division.
Speaker 1: I am not convinced the Bucks are gonna get it together,
Speaker 1: and I still think the Saints and Bucks are the
Speaker 1: two most likely teams to win this division. They do
Speaker 1: have a little more. They have a they have a
Speaker 1: week fifteen tussle with the Feltons. I'm not I don't.
Speaker 1: I'm not on board necessarily the Saints, but I don't
Speaker 1: want to work them. I think I think that, and
Speaker 1: I think their fans have given up. Like I I
Speaker 1: that doesn't surprise, That doesn't matter, doesn't. I mean, like
Speaker 1: if they have the Steelers and the Rams, they could
Speaker 1: be five and six. Yeah, their schedule is favorable. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're not a good team, but like we're talking about
Speaker 1: this the worst division we've ever seen one of these
Speaker 1: teams that we've talked about today, whether we forked them
Speaker 1: or not, will be awesome in the second half. That's
Speaker 1: just I mean, no, I mean it's there's no question
Speaker 1: that that the numbers say more than one will be awesome.
Speaker 1: Of all the teams we've at least discussed, not necessarily
Speaker 1: that we forked like. That's how the NFL goes that
Speaker 1: one or two of these teams will catch absolute fire,
Speaker 1: even if it's hard to see. Just for my book
Speaker 1: keeping here, before we close, the saga moved to TNF
Speaker 1: Did we where did we come down on the Raiders?
Speaker 1: We did not fork because I meant okay, okay, so
Speaker 1: all right, all right. Well then with that said, as
Speaker 1: per tradition, fire up the funeral Dirge and I will
Speaker 1: now announce the teams whose seasons are over. Start of
Speaker 1: the fan bases, and please keep listening to this podcast. Right,
Speaker 1: we don't know anything. We should just do it like
Speaker 1: disguised voices, so nobody knows which one of us are
Speaker 1: working how the Green Bay Packers, the Airs on a Car,
Speaker 1: the juckson Ville Jackuars, the Peetsburgh's Tellers, the Indianapolis Huston
Speaker 1: Texans and the Carolina Panthers. So that's one tool tree
Speaker 1: are five six, seven teams are a lot of teams, right,
Speaker 1: that's almost a quartile of that's almost a cartile. They're
Speaker 1: all doomed, you see. I feel like we're going to regret.
Speaker 1: I think I think we went too hard. Well, this
Speaker 1: is why I I you're you've been effective at like
Speaker 1: shaming me into always like, well, the numbers say someone's
Speaker 1: gonna come back, but I just do it for the show.
Speaker 1: We are you most worried about it? The teams we
Speaker 1: just packers. SAME's. I mean, they do have the guy
Speaker 1: who won the end in that game, but here's what
Speaker 1: we did he did. Here's the thing about that game.
Speaker 1: Because you said you thought they've been unlucky. I thought
Speaker 1: that game was there, the yards were there, the points
Speaker 1: were there, and Rogers just no showed on like four
Speaker 1: or five big throws in that game. Is that unlucky
Speaker 1: or is that him getting older? Is it just like
Speaker 1: a bad day at the office. I had the final
Speaker 1: fourth throws. I think also like it's the opposite of
Speaker 1: what's happening like with two of where he may not
Speaker 1: be the most accurate pastor on the planet deep. But
Speaker 1: like your receivers Tyreek Hill or making making, you're making
Speaker 1: up for it. Like Aaron Rodgers not have that those
Speaker 1: people around him. And that was another huge play. I
Speaker 1: thought Rodgers put it right on him. He almost had
Speaker 1: it and got overturned on review. That stuff happens a
Speaker 1: lot with it. That's why we've forked him, right. I
Speaker 1: just think they have too many injuries. Point more, thank you,
Speaker 1: Zach injuries. Yes, as Bridget says, all right, do we
Speaker 1: take a break and hit TNF. Let's take a break.
Speaker 1: We feeling good about the seven. Yeah, we can't change it,
Speaker 1: but we can't change up the voices and we can't
Speaker 1: start pointing fingers. That's what would happen in the Packers
Speaker 1: locker room. We need to stick together. As for Bridget,
Speaker 1: this is a blood oath and because you came on
Speaker 1: this particular show, you are responsible and we will take
Speaker 1: equal play. Once old man McFadden comes on and says
Speaker 1: your team's name, it's Oliver for you, we'll be right
Speaker 1: back with a t n F P Alright, here we go,
Speaker 1: we're back. It's time to hit the first game, Greg,
Speaker 1: can you believe it? Week ten? Whoa hey, now, uh
Speaker 1: go so fast. It just goes so fast. It goes fast,
Speaker 1: It goes fast. Bridget and we have we have a
Speaker 1: nice matchup here between the Atlanta. It was like my word,
Speaker 1: my pearls clutch. Al right, here we go Falcons at Panthers.
Speaker 1: As you said, you have covered the Panthers, you like
Speaker 1: individuals connected to the team. And yet, and yet this
Speaker 1: same team gave up forty two consecutive points in their
Speaker 1: most previous game, their previous game, and the Falcons, Falcons
Speaker 1: we talked about in another absurd Tuesday segment earlier this season.
Speaker 1: Kind of spicy, right, frisky. Yeah, so you got a
Speaker 1: spicy Falcons team and a need to have a game
Speaker 1: against the Panthers team that's running out. P J Walker
Speaker 1: offer off the worst game of his life, I would presume,
Speaker 1: and a reminder. This TNF preview is presented by Prime Video,
Speaker 1: the new exclusive home for Thursday Night Football. Yes, and
Speaker 1: Steve Wilkes, the coach, like I mentioned before, UM when
Speaker 1: asked why he wasn't benching p J Walker, he said,
Speaker 1: if I went off of everybody having bad games, I
Speaker 1: could bench everyone. I don't really know. I don't know
Speaker 1: if you realize what he did there when he said that,
Speaker 1: um himself so, but they are going to have to
Speaker 1: staff a field, um so. I I just think that
Speaker 1: the Panthers, like I mentioned before, the details to Baker
Speaker 1: Mayfield's contract, I think they're going to keep him out
Speaker 1: to try and not have to give up good In
Speaker 1: that game, it was a good That was his best
Speaker 1: game that he played as a Panther. Just such an
Speaker 1: unfortunate situation that when it was it was total garbage time.
Speaker 1: But he quickly brought points to them. The fact becomes
Speaker 1: the tricky thing, and you want to know what's going
Speaker 1: on behind the scenes there. But like Baker after on
Speaker 1: that game, obviously he's he gives him a better chance
Speaker 1: to win. Is that what ownership in front office was?
Speaker 1: He alluded to a short week. I do think we
Speaker 1: see see Sam Donald. I'm with you Dan that this
Speaker 1: most likely be PG Walkers and yeah after this week,
Speaker 1: because they're not gonna suit up as Donald healthy. I
Speaker 1: know they had to take him off I r or
Speaker 1: the season was over. Is he even capable to be
Speaker 1: starting a game? I mean, we'll get well. Is he
Speaker 1: capable to be starting? They dominated the Falcons in that game.
Speaker 1: I know they ended up losing it, and we've talked
Speaker 1: about the PJ. Walker greatest play in the history of football,
Speaker 1: that broke their hearts and they couldn't recover. Now they've
Speaker 1: had an extra welcome to the middle of the night
Speaker 1: thinking about it to recover. And that was a game
Speaker 1: where they physically dominated Atlanta, which not many teams have done.
Speaker 1: They mostly stopped Atlanta's running game, not totally, but better
Speaker 1: than most teams. Uh. And they pushed them around when
Speaker 1: Atlanta tried to pass, and their offense looked awesome in
Speaker 1: that game. P J. Walker was a little up and down,
Speaker 1: but guys were getting open. Like for one week, they
Speaker 1: really made sense, even though they ended up losing the game.
Speaker 1: I mean the Falcons, if anything, I want to hang
Speaker 1: my hat on the offensive dv O a fourth when
Speaker 1: in the run we know they can do that. They're
Speaker 1: the twenty nine defense and the Panthers are so it's
Speaker 1: like that that's what happened in that other game. I mean,
Speaker 1: do I My thing is they so know showed last
Speaker 1: week um twenty one first downs in the first half
Speaker 1: to one the Bengals out first down them. I mean,
Speaker 1: what's going on here? Like that's an absolute disaster and
Speaker 1: p J Walker, like I was excited for what he
Speaker 1: was doing and he completely That's also that's this season.
Speaker 1: Weird stuff happens, and it's a division game on Thursday night,
Speaker 1: I could see the pants are scoring twenty eight points
Speaker 1: at home and winning the thing. That's a thing that
Speaker 1: you can never really count out Panthers at home. I
Speaker 1: could see them winning two. But I just have a
Speaker 1: lot more hype on the Falcons, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people do. I was there at training camp
Speaker 1: and there's something about them that a lot talking to
Speaker 1: people there, they have pieces and Cordarrell Patterson, he's off
Speaker 1: difference last week. I think also, what is it like
Speaker 1: six of nine of their games have been decided by
Speaker 1: how many points? Four or less? So I think some
Speaker 1: of those losses could be wins. I think the Panthers
Speaker 1: have too much going wrong. And how many times have
Speaker 1: we covered the Panthers over the past couple of seasons
Speaker 1: where they are in the middle of the pack. Then
Speaker 1: they get this first rounder that doesn't really maybe a
Speaker 1: defensive guy, yeah, Brian Burns or someone that makes a
Speaker 1: big difference. They need the first pick in the draft.
Speaker 1: They need Bryce you they need a quarterback to turn
Speaker 1: this around, right, So they could have had justin fields
Speaker 1: if they wanted, but they chose not to. Well, maybe
Speaker 1: if they have the I feel like they don't do
Speaker 1: the sixth or the eighth or the They need the
Speaker 1: first pick in the draft next year, and I think
Speaker 1: whether you want. Of course, the coaches saying we're not
Speaker 1: tanking it, and I'm I don't have any inside knowledge
Speaker 1: that they're taking it, but I think, why not tak
Speaker 1: do it in a secret way? Well, that happens all
Speaker 1: the time, and I want to say this. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say two things here. First of all, Greggy, on Sunday,
Speaker 1: you mentioned that Mariotta was kind of driving your nuts
Speaker 1: a little bit with his innaccuracy. I'm pulling my hair
Speaker 1: out watching this game yesterday, and how many throws Mariota
Speaker 1: misses they win. I mean, we talk about Kyle Pitts.
Speaker 1: Why doesn't he get used more? Kyle Pitts is open
Speaker 1: for the game winning touchdown, and it's a seventy three
Speaker 1: yard touchdown. All Mariota's to do is just put some
Speaker 1: air under it and let this dynamic young tight end
Speaker 1: catch it and run to the ends. When he'd blown
Speaker 1: by the secondary and he aired him aired and overshad
Speaker 1: by five yards. And that happened over and over in
Speaker 1: that game. So it's frustrating. And I understand Arthur Smith
Speaker 1: is not going anywhere because on balance, I think they're
Speaker 1: building something here, but I cannot. I just struggle to
Speaker 1: see them running this back with Mariota next year. So Atlanta,
Speaker 1: I think, is gonna be another team in the market
Speaker 1: for a quarterback. However, I'm gonna go ahead, you know, Thursday,
Speaker 1: Thursday night. Dad, he's gonna have a couple of Tito's Dad,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be relaxing. I haven't done this yet. I
Speaker 1: don't know if anybody's done this yet, but I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go ahead and lock up the dirty birds on the
Speaker 1: road here. There's a fuel goal spread here, which I
Speaker 1: feels generous to Carolina quite frankly. And I think the
Speaker 1: Falcons are just a better team. I mean, our record,
Speaker 1: as brothers are you he it's I think we're undefeated. Um,
Speaker 1: I think we're like thirteen and two. I mean that's
Speaker 1: a that's essentially that you're a team in the conference
Speaker 1: title game with that record. I am locking it up
Speaker 1: as well because you just get it out of the way.
Speaker 1: It's just an easy home run. You get it out
Speaker 1: of the way. What could go wrong or it, you know,
Speaker 1: brings you total agony for three hours, even if they win,
Speaker 1: just knowing Mark and it's it's like Island game. And
Speaker 1: then we have to come back on Friday and I'll
Speaker 1: I'll mention it. But I think, I'm I think this
Speaker 1: is a good Actually after the charity thing, you know,
Speaker 1: he's going to come in with that. I thought I
Speaker 1: came back around on that and showed my truth cleaned up.
Speaker 1: At most it was cleaning up. I don't know about
Speaker 1: true feelings. It's like a toxic waste. Do you think
Speaker 1: that you donate to charity because you've told me that
Speaker 1: you do before. I never to We've never talked about
Speaker 1: the person that does not share when they donate. He's like,
Speaker 1: I must share something with you girls club today. I
Speaker 1: don't mean excessively. I don't think this is any of
Speaker 1: this is true, you know, Bridget, this is this is
Speaker 1: a chance you could lock up a game on Thursday night.
Speaker 1: It's pretty you know, just get one to know on
Speaker 1: the season and then you then your looks like official
Speaker 1: tabulated standings that a listener compiles, and you'd be in
Speaker 1: that fabulated stading and forever, and I won't be allowed
Speaker 1: back on until I getting locks was wrong. No, that's fine.
Speaker 1: That let's up the stakes. Yeah if you are if
Speaker 1: you lock it up successfully, return on the show. If
Speaker 1: if the Panthers somehow pull it off, unless you're picking
Speaker 1: the Panthers, Um, that's it. It's Bridget's last show. I
Speaker 1: just think I've been to so many games this year
Speaker 1: where I thought they were going to go one way
Speaker 1: and didn't. Interesting, it's just as tough off like I
Speaker 1: was at the Chargers Jaguars game. I was at the
Speaker 1: Charger Seahawks game maybe to be I kind of think
Speaker 1: the Falcon's got the Panthers best shot two weeks ago
Speaker 1: and they managed to win. Anyways, And so I'm with
Speaker 1: you guys that I think the Falcons will win this game.
Speaker 1: But it is you know, it's a division game. You
Speaker 1: want to join us that I don't. I haven't looked
Speaker 1: at the whole slate, so I don't know what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do, but I don't need to about this. He
Speaker 1: came off ire he was practicing today their safety. Who
Speaker 1: will make a huge difference. I don't think he's gonna
Speaker 1: play Thursday though that he wouldn't if getting locks was wrong,
Speaker 1: Like Nick Westling would never be allowed on this show,
Speaker 1: so you can get locks wrong. Um this is this
Speaker 1: is a tugboat heat check having a big season right
Speaker 1: now on the pics and I don't even need to
Speaker 1: see the rest of the schedule. Okay, I don't want
Speaker 1: to do it though I'm not. I don't like it.
Speaker 1: When we're all together, Mark, it's a classic tugboat heat check.
Speaker 1: It is, it's it's right. Put it, put it right
Speaker 1: in that folder. Alright. That was the t NAF preview
Speaker 1: presented by Prime Video. The new era of Thursday Night
Speaker 1: Football is officially here, and it's only on Prime Video.
Speaker 1: Let's see all right, you have said it all, Bridget Condon.
Speaker 1: You can follow Bridget on the old Twitter at Bridge
Speaker 1: and condent with an underscoredge. I can't get the woman
Speaker 1: to give me it. She hasn't been on since like
Speaker 1: two thousand and twelve. She has no Are you guys
Speaker 1: gonna pay the twenty bucks for the blue check? I
Speaker 1: think I'll have the company pay for me. Stick it
Speaker 1: to him. Yeah, exactly. That will be that will be
Speaker 1: expensed at the very least company you. At some point, though,
Speaker 1: I won't it become it'll almost be embarrassing to have
Speaker 1: it right because they know that you're paying. I'm a mark.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I wonder if that is really a thing.
Speaker 1: What does that mean? Just like I'm a mark, kind
Speaker 1: of like you pay to go to your friends party.
Speaker 1: I thought you were throwing that at me. I mean
Speaker 1: like you're the guy at the poker table that people
Speaker 1: see as the one that they could take. I would
Speaker 1: be honestly, I would have no problem if Twitter just
Speaker 1: imploded tonight and did not exist anymore, and then I
Speaker 1: could live with that absolute and justice. Bridget, I realized
Speaker 1: I had not been following you. I just banged you know.
Speaker 1: I was gonna try and mess did you? Yes? Last
Speaker 1: night I was like having all this anxiety about coming
Speaker 1: on the show. I'm like, I'm gonna message him and
Speaker 1: I couldn't even are not open to just to show you,
Speaker 1: I'm even going to send you my phone number through
Speaker 1: d M the show that we are. Now. What's this interesting? Though? Mark?
Speaker 1: The way Bridget's mind work that she wanted to come
Speaker 1: with that anxiety and find out you know to Dan,
Speaker 1: but when she realized she could DM me or you,
Speaker 1: she was like, NA, they don't really matter. Check your
Speaker 1: d didn't we didn't really register as that relevant and
Speaker 1: make up. Okay, that's one way to bridget you said
Speaker 1: it all. Thank you so much, Thank you everybody for listening. Yes,
Speaker 1: check out the Monday Night football recap with Jordan Roderig,
Speaker 1: check out our Thursday program coming up, or we preview
Speaker 1: the rest of week ten. Until then, are you doing justin?
Speaker 1: Thanks for asking, I'm playing the song don't Oh Tough
Speaker 1: ending