First Things First - ‘Ridiculous’ to bench Jalen Hurts, Patriots favorites over Bills, Shedeur vs. Caleb, Nick’s Tiers

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

(0:00) Patriots favorites over Bills, Should Jalen Hurts be benched? (27:49) Can Lamar Jackson come back from his slump? (40:16) Will Shedeur Sanders outplay Caleb Williams? (47:05) Nick’s Tiers (01:06:26) Must-Win for Patriots vs. Bills, Ravens vs. Bengals, Rams vs. Lions (01:21:32) Will Josh Allen or Drake Maye have a better game? (01:28:38) Packed Stats, Chargers must win vs. the Chiefs? (01:50:40) Ridiculous to bench Jalen Hurts, Can the Cowboys win the NFC East? (02:01:09) Packers scariest team with a win over Broncos? (02:10:19) Is the expanded CFP impacting regular season and rivalries? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Live from New York, it's the show that got some great news while they were filling up their coffee cup that had to change the entire program and my entire attitude. The Patriots. Yeah, I have no idea where he's at on this. You want him to win, you want him to lose. It's called a classic can't lose. No, but that doesn't? Well, that's true. KW.

I tried, I tried nicely. He tried to come in and manipulate me. I didn't try to manipulate it. I tried to help the show. But here is the thing. Let's hear it. Can't lose doesn't really work for sports TV, as evidenced by the fact that every time someone else has said it to you,

you have rejected it out of hand. Can't lose? Yeah. We mathematically can't lose. It doesn't work. You know how you have to be up until 3 in the morning, clicking on little ways? Like, what if the Raiders beat this team and to try to sneak the football?

The chiefs into a wild card birth. Here's a fun activity. Go to the Patriots. Lost, loss, loss, loss. 99%. We don't have to show up. It's on the board. Half-baked idea.

Let me settle. It's not great for competitive sports debate. It's awesome for a fun hand. It's not even awesome for a fun hang. Why will people tune in after the bill's Patriots game? Affability. It's the first hour of first. First things first.

Today, can the Cowboys catch the Eagles if the Eagles go into a true funk? Who cares? It doesn't matter. This is interesting because both of these teams are on the edge. They're not just assured to be in. It's like asking Elon Musk, hey, bad news, you lost 20 bucks. Not a big deal. Meanwhile, Patriots are now favorites.

Do they deserve to be, considering an hour ago they weren't? And finally, did Josh Allen vaulted the bills to the top of Nick's tiers? How did the committee do? Committee did great. That's good. Committee always did. It's probably a rough meeting, I imagine. Why?

I mean, the Chiefs are struggling. I'm the only Chiefs fan on the committee. Oh, so they took joy and pleasure. Okay. And also, I'm just going to tell you right now, the Chiefs are in a place that I thought we would never see them on the tiers. And it could lead to them being not on the tier. Oh, wow.

It's just the, listen, the rules are rules, guys. Look, I have to see the tiers, but I think your objectivity is impressive. Yeah. I'm going to give him trouble. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Fashion of objectivity, consistency, and integrity.

That's what they've always called me. We're starting with the fallout from the Eagles five turnover game and third loss in a row. Coach Siriani was asked today on Philadelphia your radio if he'd consider benching Jalen Hurts at some point this season. He was asked it, bro. I'll be honest, and you were a radio host, too. You can ask it.

It's fair a game to ask it. I mean, it's ridiculous. Take a listen. No, I think that's ridiculous. You know, I think, you know, Jalen Hertz, I know every time I go out in that field with Jalen Hertz as our quarterback, we have a chance to win the game. That's something that's been proven. You know, we've won a lot, a lot of football games.

This is the most ultimate team games. So when you, you know, you win together as a team, you lose together as a team, it's never just one thing. Okay. What's the number one reason for the Eagles three games like? Also, give me your reaction to Sariani's tone. I think he was tired, annoyed, kind of a little rutful that he was doing this. interview and all of it. So I don't, I wouldn't read more into, because if what you're asking me is his lack of

like passionate bang the table offense. It hit my radar. He handled it well. I thought he didn't win off. Yeah, and I just, I think Wilde would have rather he went off on him. Like, this is outrageous. I just think it's like, Jesus. I mean, when as a team?

Yeah, I mean, so I just thought it was, he was just kind of getting through it. Okay. But to answer this question, biggest reason of Eagle's three game slide, bad offense. And that falls primarily. on the quarterback and the offensive-minded head coach. That's just, to me, what is fair and how we would treat any team in this situation. Like, again, it's not quite apples to apples, but if the chiefs who are in the midst of a slide as well, but if it was clearly because the offense is not performing, because they're

averaging 18 points per game because in the last 10 quarters, they had scored 34 total points, we would say, most likely, Patrick and or Andy need to figure it out. And so, listen, this is why I think it is, while benching him for Tanner McKee is ridiculous, I would be greatly concerned if I were Philadelphia. We talk a lot about the supernatural funk and vibes and all of that. What is true about that year is Jalen Hertz fell off. after the by. And the defense got worse as well, but this is Jalen Hertz that season.

Coming off a Super Bowl appearance, team had a good record, but it seemed like things were off leading into the buy, and then after the buy, which was in week 10, his play fell off considerably. Jalen Hertz, this year, after their buy, which was in week nine, it's the high was higher and the Lowes have been lower. And so the team, and the team, while it has not yet lost five of six, what I would say is this, brew, this team going into the Cowboys game had lost twice in its previous 25 games Jalen played and three times total in its previous, you know, 27 games or whatever it was. And now they've lost three in a row.

So I would be also concerned about how this type of losing for a team that has not looked. The last time they lost a bunch, they fell apart entirely. That's what would add to my concern. Since he's your guy, I'm going to let you have the first shot. I'm going to have a real answer. Against the charges, he turned the ball over five times. He was the reason for that loss. The Bears was, I thought, look, he wasn't great in the Bears game.

He'd turn over there. He had two touchdown passes. Bears ran for 281 yards. It's the first time they had back two 100-yard rushers in the same games since 1985. And the Cowboys, they just, you know, hit that cold streak. He played well. He played well against the Cowboys. In the first half.

Yeah, and then they had just kept on punting. Am I wrong? In the Bears game, he had two turnovers as well. Do you have two or one interception? Well, they stole the Tush. Yeah, and they stole the Tush. Oh, yes, yes. Yeah, so there's a fumble and a pick.

Also, I just. And I want to play by the rules of the show. When you got the Raiders coming to town, this all feels like spinning your wheels of angst. Yeah, look, I certainly expect them to beat Nick's Raiders, all right? But two years ago, two years ago when they lost the Arizona, right? Arizona was coming into town. You thought they were going to get right and they didn't. Lost to the Giants.

Yeah, yeah, in that funk. So, look, Jalen was the reason they lost the last. game, no doubt. Five turnovers, 31 pass rating speaks for itself. But I don't blame the whole three games losing streak on him. But I do agree with you. It's the offense, period. Because he was, like I said, he played fine against Dallas.

He was okay. He had his issues against Chicago. But the offense, and I think Kevin Petulow, like I'm putting a lot of this on him. Because last year, even though it wasn't a phenomenal offense, it was better. It was seventh in the league in scoring. Now it's like 19th in the league in scoring.

That's him. I put a lot of it on the offensive line just being banged up. Lane Johnson has missed the last three games. They've lost the last three games. They're 15 and 26 when he doesn't play. And they're great, obviously, when he does play. So that's not a sexy answer, but it's true. The offensive line struggles are an issue.

And I think it's not only affecting Jalen, but it's affecting and Saquan, which is their run game. So I mainly look at the line, the lack of run game because of it. And then Kevin Petulow, you know, at some point switching offensive coordinators every year will get to you. And it looks like this year's got. One you switched to one that hasn't done it ever. He hasn't done a good job.

Let me pitch this theory to you because yesterday I did like a blame pie on why the Eagles are a little bit of like Lane offense line and Saquant, Patuolo. Is there a little bit of, for Jalen, a narrative, lose the battle, win the war, where his whole career in Philadelphia has been defined, you know, he's the point guard of a super team. But if he wears this three-game losing streak, like, you know what, it's mostly me. The lion's share of it is my fault, that when they come out of it, he might come out with a new reputation as he is the engine. He's not a passenger on a superstar or bus. he's the driver. I think the opposite is happening.

Happening right now. Yes. But he's saying if they come out. I understand that as a very optimistic way to look at it. I look at it and maybe we are both approaching it from our own priors. As it's not a super team right now and look how he looks. They don't have a superstar running back. To Bruce's point, they don't for the first time, in my opinion, in his career,

have the best or the second best offense. offensive line. And all of a sudden, we are seeing the massive limitations of Jalen hurts the passer. And again, I want to reiterate that is not the same as saying Jalen hurts the quarterback. There is more to being a quarterback than simply throwing the football. There is not more to being a passer. So the offense to me, brew, feels very, for lack of a better term, laborious. and when you add to it, he does not run as much or as effectively as he used to. That is the concern. And I thought you saw at the end of the game Monday night when it looked like they might pull it out of the fire,

it's like, oh, Jalen's running again. That's useful. It almost felt to me like Herbert and Jalen, you know, we're like, all right, I didn't have to do this with my legs. But I agree with you, Wilde, that with Sequin playing the way he is with Lane Johnson out, that even though they have two great wide receivers, this is not a super team, the way we have talked about them in the past. But I don't, I do not think Jalen Hertz has the ability to be great consistently under these circumstances. And I think what we are seeing as of late is he is pressing because of it.

I thought, and we didn't spend as much time on it as we could have, I really thought, Brew, the decision to throw that ball on first and 10 where he did it was crazy. Like that was, it wasn't, I mean. At the end of that game? Yes, the pick at the end, it's first in 10. The chargers are on their heels. You know what I mean? He didn't get it up over the defense.

Right, but it was going to take a, it was available, but it needed to be perfect. And for a guy who the biggest, like, film nerd critique of him is man, if it's not why, he won't, he won't throw it unless it's wide open. Like that's what, and that's what's frustrating AJ. It to me was shocking that he took that chance when people were frustrated with him a few months ago, that of not making. far easier passes under far lower leverage situations to avoid the turnover. Here's my frustration, and I said it to you yesterday, like Jalen Hertz isn't above

reproach. He's delivered two Super Bowl appearances in four years. They won, what, four games before he took over as a starter, all right? And he's developed into one of the best quarterbacks. And he's been, the offense has been bad all season. And I'm doing this. This is not to start an argument on another sort. But I'm saying this year.

Whenever that happens. Tim versus Patrick. This year, let's see the stat. I'm sure it's Tim versus Patrick. Let's see the set. You can have a down year. He's having a down year and he's better than Mahomes across the board other than passing yards.

But can I ask you a question? Honestly, do you, but do you think he's been better than Mahomes this year? I think Mahomes has been a little better, but the statistics are the statistics. Statistics aren't just, don't just come out of thin air. No, of course. And so I'm just saying like he doesn't have. Mahomes actually statistically has a better run game this year than Hertz does. They run for more yards a game.

They get more yards per carry. And Hertz is, so I'm just saying the hand ringing over Jalen Hurst. This is why I came down on A.J. Brown yesterday. If Mahomes had a receipt. Now, Mahomes is really above reproach, but I'm just saying, if he had a receiver that was saying, I thought he threw the ball better. Back in the day, it was different. And all of a sudden it's a big story, even though it would be foolish, but it would be a huge story.

We'd be looking, we'd be nitpicking Mahomes a lot more than we are. And I think that's happening to Jalen. Yeah. So I do not think the Eagles offense functions like an offense that has a great quarterback. Just don't. And I understand, like, you're right, the numbers are the numbers. And I thought you were even going to go further. Like if the, I bet Jalen's numbers over the last two years to Patrick, it's even more stark.

I understand. I get that. And I am, it's not going to start a big argument because I know the point that you're making. But I watch the Chiefs and other teams as well, but I'll use the Chiefs. And I'm like, everything they do assumes our quarterback is so great. We can do these things. And I feel like the Eagles run the offense in the opposite. Everything we do.

But they didn't always in the past. That's why I look at Petula. Because we know a few years ago when A.J. Brown first joined the team. He had a career year with Jalen Hurd. So I think a lot of this on the new O.C. No, listen, I think, and was that with Shane Steichen, who's proven to, you know, who's proven to be a, you know, a quarterback whisperer, like, get the best out of them. It just feels like,

The Eagles offense right now is dealing with a quarterback problem. That doesn't mean the quarterback is a long-term problem. But the reason to me the Eagles have had issues this year is their offense, and the biggest problem with their offense is it doesn't seem like they have a week-to-week reliable passing game. And maybe they didn't bank on going from the best rushing attack in the league to a below-average one. and they haven't been able to overcome it. Eight and five Eagles can be caught by the Cowboys if this slide evolves into a full-blown funk.

Jerry Jones was relishing in the idea that the Cowboys are alive after watching the Eagles lose to the Chargers. Take a listen. Well, I watched the game flying up to New York. I'm overlooking Central Park right now. I'm real excited. They didn't have to put any fuel in the plane. I just flew up here on my own.

I know it's cliche, but we've got a, concentrate on Minnesota vacants this weekend. That's a big game for us. But, boy, you see that, boy, you need to stay in there every play. Every play is meaningful right at this particular time, and we sure got a shot at this thing. I like the plane fuel in the date. Are you giving the Cowboys a chance to catch the Eagles? Absolutely.

And it's because, to me, I'm going to lay out two scenarios, either of which to me are incredibly, I don't want to say likely, but realistic. And the first one is that after missing this week, which he's going to, Jaden Daniels is back. The week after this. You think they'll bring him back? The reporting is I think that they, that I know that you, but you probably wouldn't have played him this past week.

But even that, the, they have, that team showed with Marriota in the Broncos game. Like, they can be live, like whatever. But that the scenario is, the Eagles in a road divisional game with or without Jane Daniels lose it. And then they are playing in Buffalo with potentially their season on the line because two losses can't eliminate them. That scenario might seem like too farcical. So let me just give you the next one. They win their next two, as does Dallas.

They then lose to Buffalo. And the Dallas Cowboys and Week 18 play the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles at home, are in a scenario of if we lose this game, our season is over. Does it feel to you like it is on the board that this Eagles team that we have seen this year, again, they go win, win, loss, if that happens, if the Cowboys can beat teams they're going to be favored to be, where they just walk into week 18 with if we lose our seasons over. And I think that with a very anxious and not happy Eagles crowd, like I, think that is, I, I expect them at the very least to lose to Buffalo.

And so I wouldn't trust Philadelphia this Eagles team in a week 18 game. I wouldn't. Absolutely not. Oh, really? All right. You're giving them no shot. First of all, I'm disappointed in Jerry. Jerry has moved the goalpost.

When he traded Micah, it was to improve the run game, as he said. And they were supposed to make. make the playoffs and make some noise. Yeah. And now you're all giddy about having a shot, a long shot, at making the playoffs? Well, that's the only thing he can do. It's ridiculous.

All right, I'm not letting me move to goal pole. So that's number one. All right. Number two, I do think, Nick, I think that the Eagles are going to sweep the commanders. Because, one, if they bring back Jaden, I just think it's ridiculous. Your season's over. You thought it was ridiculous they brought him back this week. But not as ridiculous.

Just because, you know, you have more time left. You didn't have as much evidence that he's so injury prone. Now he gets hurt in his first game. And so I would not play him. But even if they do, he wasn't great when he played. You know, like he's rusty and all that. And so I think they'll sweep the commanders and they'll beat your Raiders. I know you have faith in the Raiders.

That's why you're really iffy about this. Bills might beat him. I mean, that could go either way. But here's the other thing. I don't have confidence in the Cowboys to win out. Oh, really? What have we seen? Oh, they look great against Philly and Kansas City.

And then get boat raced when it really matters against the Lions. And they were boat race. What was it, 27 to 9 at one point? They lost by two touchdowns. So I'm just saying, like, I think the Chargers are better than them. Oh, I don't. I don't. Not not to the, I don't.

in their present states, I don't. I think the Cowboys the last month have been a better team than the Chargers. I mean, they both. They're favorite against the Chargers. There's no reason for me to think the Cowboys are going on. No, the Cowboys are going to be, well, again, the Cowboys. They'll do something. They would blow it.

So, they would blow it. But it is surprising. So, but you wouldn't be shocked, bro, if the Cowboys win their next three. You wouldn't like, I don't, I don't think you would. Vikings Chargers. I mean, they're not like world beaters. But I think the Chargers. I mean, we'll see what I say that week.

But right now, I think I feel like the charges will beat them. Because I just think the Cowboys have not shown me anything to make me feel like, you know what, they can sustain a long run. They cannot talk about the Super Bowl. They cannot get giddy because, well, we got it going. I mean, that's what they do. After a win or two, everybody's celebrating Quinn and Williams and we're back, baby, and here we go. No, you're not. I buy that to a degree.

I guess the point that I'm making is I don't think you'd be shocked. if they beat the Chargers. It's not shocking. And so if the Cowboys go 3 and O in the next two, and even if we give Philly the Road Commanders game, if they lose to Buffalo, they walk into Week 18 with the season on the line. And this team has felt to me like a team

that has been waiting to call it. They brought in an inflatable bunny to the locker room because the vibes were so bad. They responded to that, bro, with the worst. game the quarterback's ever played. Like they are now, and listen, you're right that I have been wrong about the Raiders. I have been wrong about the Raiders. I also will say, I don't love Monday night overtime devastating losses the following week.

I'll tell you that much. Now, look, if they lose to the Raiders, their season's over, but I don't think they're going to, I don't think they will. But I am giving the Cowboys a chance, 25%. Okay. 25%. Yeah, one and four. Wow. One and four.

I'd say two percent. I'd say 26. Oh, God, you got a price is right here. Bills in New England, Sunday at one, Patriots are the two seed in the AFC. And this question was originally about them being underdogs. And different books still do have them as underdogs. Oh, you should hammer that then. Do you want to take this segment off?

No, I'm good. I'm not going to be betting the Patriots this week. You should hammer that if I were. No, I love that draft kings is going to let. Let me get the bills at plus one and a half. I like that. Do you think, so what question did we land on here? Should they be favorite?

Should they be favorite? Are you surprised this line move? What was your reaction? I feel like somebody saw the show when I said, look, they should be favorite. Thank you, bro. It's an insult to them. Now, I think they're going to lose, but I'm just saying. That's what I said.

They should be favorite. What are you talking about? Brew, I tried to talk you off this take on the call. They should be favored, but you think they're going to lose? I think they're going to lose. That doesn't mean what Joe Public think. You're at home. You've been the better team all year.

You have the better team on paper offensively and defense as far as balance. Your quarterback has outplayed their quarterback. You beat them in their building. I know all this. Division game. Division game is different. Yeah, division games are different. It's tough to sweep somebody, especially the guy that's been the king of the mountain.

Hold on. Can we stop saying the Patriots have better offense than the bills? Balance-wise, he said. I was saying offense and defensive balance. Okay. Like both are in the top 10. Yes. But that, right, they have a better defense than the bills.

And the bills have a better statistical. And to me, they've scored more points. The bills have. They're also the better running team, right? They have to be. Best run. They're the best run team. Right.

They're the best run team. And they have the reigning MVP as their quarterback. And they scored more points. So I think it is, I don't think the, I think Patriots have a great offense. Or really good offense, I should say. a great quarterback is what I feel. But I don't think the Patriots have the better offense of these two teams. If the Patriots win, it would be because one of two things happen, I would imagine.

Either the Bill's run defense is just awful. And the Patriots take advantage of it. But your guy's biggest weakness offensively is your running game. And I know you think it's a weakness by choice. But again, if we're going by the stats, like the only thing you guys aren't a above average is running. And the other reason is if Josh has a bucket of turnovers. That would be the concern.

You seem like you're with me that the bills are going to win. I'm definitely with you. Are you still playing the fence? I've never played. No, well, I haven't played the fence. I think that the Patriots, I was trying to think. I think the Patriots are going to win. And at the same time, you can call me a coward, you can call me all sorts of names.

It's not the worst case scenario if we lose. But that's, can I. That's all, I'm not going to come in here devastated. I would like a blowout loss. Now I'm not saying it. I don't think it's going to be a blowout. I honestly, outside of injury, I don't know anything that would like dampen my spirit. Hold on.

Can I say something to you? But I do think we're going to win. I'm not sure you do. I've got all sorts of statistics, but I'm willing to field your question. If you truly believe, and I know you do, that this team. has a chance this year to make a Super Bowl. Yes. Then every loss, any loss, before you secure the one seed,

should feel devastating. That's the part of this that I really reject on its face to you, on your, like, oh, we want to be tested, we could take a loss. The difference in the chances of a team, making the Super Bowl, if they are guaranteed to have home playoff games, and they skip round one versus, playing a really hard

round one game against whoever is the seven seed. So you shouldn't, you should watch all of these games with a white knuckle intensity of until you get the one seed that we've, and the fact that if you finish with the same.

No, like, we want 10 in a row. It can't be like, oh my gosh, we need to win 14 in a row. I'm not. You're right, you can't feel that way unless you feel like this team can win a Super Bowl. And you feel like they can. Those are the states. I'm just a few things. One, I don't

think Denver is going to go on this. I think Denver is going to lose to the Chiefs, and I think the Packers are going to beat Denver. So I think we can afford a loss and jump. I think I can have my cake and eat it too. Again, I don't want to lose, but I do want a real playoff atmosphere. I don't

want to just keep on beating up on, you know, the Falcons and the Dolphins, who by the way beat the bills. So I know we have the easiest schedule, but those teams have beaten the bills, I view them as tomato can easy victories. Coming up next. Lamar Jackson, you know what?

Not at practice today. Not great. Not great. I mean, I just think they're not practicing him the rest of the year, pretty much. No, he's not practicing himself, bro. All right, confession. I'll be honest with you. We are not the number one podcast in the world.

Sometimes they just say it, you know, an affirmation. That's weird. But Gianna came to my shared office today and said, we have a new hill to climb. We are 45 million views away from a billion views all time on YouTube. And I said, Gianna, I'll be honest with you, 45 million seems like a lot. No, we can do that. No, we're talking about a billion.

No, we could do, we could do 45 million views before the Super Bowl. Before the Super Bowl. 45 million people just watch once. Wow. Oddly, how about this? Tiana's fired. Wow. Wow.

Tough one. How about that? He runs a tight ship. Get on it, John. Another week, another day of Lamar missing practice. Not good, bro. It's every week. I don't know what, I mean, you said it.

You said he's hurt. Okay. I mean, that's what you've been saying. Harbaugh, kind of explain why he keeps on missing practices. He did this yesterday. Take a listen. It's a long season, man. I mean, these guys go through a lot.

You know, Lamar, much as a lot. much as anybody. He's got the ball in his hand. Every play, he's making plays, he's doing what he does. He's competing like crazy. You know, so there's going to be times where he's just not going to be up for practice. What's best for him to be ready to play his best on Sunday? That's really what matters. If it's not the best thing to practice because you want to get your body right, that's definitely got to, you know, I think you have to respect that as a coach. I think you have, I know you have to respect that as a coach. So I respect Lamar and his judgment. It.

Lamar and his judgment. This is odd. Here's the stat that I, I want to put this stat out to pasture brew. Poor Josh has to update it after every bad game. Completion percentage yards. Well, we know. It's the worst one of his career. It is the worst one.

And then you say, I expect him to snap out of it. And then it come Monday, I'm like, Josh, can you update that graphic again? Do you believe we'll see the old Lamar and give me your take on this missing practice? I don't think we'll see the 130 passer rate in the last night. Lamar we saw last year or beginning to this year. But I came across some interesting numbers that stunned me a little bit.

Okay. I looked at his numbers from 2021 and 2020, the entire seasons. So that's two seasons combined. And his numbers this year. And look at him. The numbers this year are better. Now I know he had the boost

in the beginning of the year, but my point is he seems to have done this in his career a little bit. Like his first, you know, he had the envy, his first year was whatever, is a rookie. Second year was phenomenal. Then he has these two bad years. But he was a much better runner those years.

Yes, he was. But the passing is starkly. I mean, the TD interception ratio is much worse. Yards per attempt is worse. Passer rating is much worse. So what are you trying to say here? I'm wondering. Now, those were the years, Nick, too, that he was hurt.

At the end of the year? Yeah, at the end of the year. We missed with some seasons. This is an injury graphic. No, I'm just saying he hasn't been, we've seen it even with Mahomes. Quarterbacks have down years. I mean, Brady wasn't ever terrible, but you know, your years fluctuate. And I'm just wondering he's already done it in the past.

Is that what this is? In addition to some, you know, kind of nagging injuries. I don't think it's anything too serious. All right. Just to be clear to clarify something you said, it's not an injury graphic because those years he was healthy and then got hurt and missed the of the year. But, but yeah. But wasn't it sort of a nagging thing? I don't remember what it's it was. It was a hamstring. No, it was one of them wasn't, one of them was an ankle and the other, but regardless, he suffered an injury in a game and then missed the final four weeks of the year. But that's

my point. He was a good quarterback those years, but he wasn't, these last two years prior to this one, he went to another level when he won his two MVP. I totally, I totally, and now he's kind of agree with that. But I don't, I think putting his numbers this year, together for a year is not the story of the season. The story of the season is before he had the hamstring injury, he was having a year like he had last season. They were losing as the defense. His numbers were unbelievable.

And then since he's been back, or his last five games, his first game back, he was fine. Danny had these graphics on Breakfast Bowl, and I just said, I want to see him again because I thought they were stunning. So just roll both of the Lamar graphics, if you would. I don't care about which order they're in because they're both, it's unbelievable the company that he keeps right now and his rankings.

So last five games, it is not a stretch to say he's been the worst quarterback in the league. That's a stretch. I mean, that's a stretch. I mean, I'm a,

that's a stretch. Brew, I don't, I don't, I'm not. It's actually worse than the world of. The worst quarterback in the league. How about all those guys that are off the mountain? But they're not, they haven't played all. Brew, 36 is worse than the worst. I mean, he's,

I see what the numbers say, but when I show you numbers about Patrick Mahomes, you say, well, the numbers don't matter. We're two for two on Patrick Mahomes. No, I'm just saying. Brew, I don't. I would not say the worst in the league. Who's it been? Jalen Hurst just threw five and had five turnovers in the last game.

Okay. Maybe that. All right. I'm just saying. I don't think Jaylon Hurt over the last five games has been better than Lamar. I just think, saying, The worst in the league is ridiculous. There's no way Cam Ward has put up better numbers.

Well, I mean, Brew, I can tell you by definition, he has a better touchdown to turnover ratio because... Do you think Cam Ward has played better than Lamar Jackson over the last five? I don't, probably not. Okay. Brew, I'm fine. I'm just saying that's what I'm asking you. But, Brew, what are he making these numbers? I'm not, hold on.

I mean, Lamar Jackson has been terrible the last five days. I'm just saying, the worst in the league? Okay, let me rephrase it because this isn't even the point I was trying to make. I'm not saying Lamar over the last five games has been the worst quarterback in football. I'm simply saying he's played like the worst quarterback in football war. Here it is, bro. Worst pass rating since week 10. It's J.J. McCarthy, a guy who doesn't play anymore, Jalen hurts, to your point, he's on there,

and Tyrod Taylor is hurt. So he's among the worst. So here is the point that I want to bring to you, coach. And listening to that hardball commentary. Can I have you one caveat? Dusty just got in my ear. Just a rest day, no official injury designation. He might.

Tomorrow. Right. Missing a day of practice has not worked. And he should stop doing it. And I don't. This whole, he plays the game. He looks, he doesn't like suffer visibly like a re-injury during the game. He doesn't miss the end of the game.

And then the first practice of. the week or last week it was the second practice of the week he misses then he plays the worst football of his illustrious career is this stretch right now and then they do it again and then when the harbaugh's asked about it he's like basically we trust the player he may harball makes it very clear this is not a team decision this is a lamar decision i'm here to tell you i think it's the wrong decision i think lamar what we're seeing is lamar jackson for some reason has not played well when missing these practices. Yeah, so he's missed five weeks in a row.

He's missed a day of practice. Now with that five-week period, we saw the numbers that he's put up, including under 60% completion, five straight games, which he's never done in the course of his career. Outside of that, he's averaging almost half as many rushing yards as he normally does. So that's significant. He's being sacked at twice, at double the rate that he normally gets sacked. So those are obviously things related to his mobility. and the idea that he doesn't have an injury distinction and it's just rest

doesn't seem like it totally adds up. I don't know if I'd be really happy if I was in Vegas and he was playing like this and we keep saying it's only rest, but he's going to happen. The previous ones weren't rest. Yeah. This is the first, the previous one was a toe and ankle a handoff. By the end of the week, doesn't it go by Friday like no injury designation?

It's just, it's one of those things where I got fined one time $20,000. for not tagging Brett Far with an injury, guy went out and threw five touchdowns. Like I think people would have been mad if I had tagged him and he threw five touchdowns. And now we're missing a day, a day, a day. He's got no injury designation. And for the head coach to say,

I think this is the right thing. Oh, no, no, no, I know it's the right thing. Really, as a head coach, you get to decide if he's cleared by the medical staff, you know, whether someone practices or not, unless there's someone above you, saying that's not going to happen. Lamar is going to get the day off.

But does he, I mean, look, we all know. I think Harbaugh should be on the hot seat and the way things are going out after this year. But what could he, like, he really, to me, doesn't seem to be in position to be like, Lamar, you were cleared you're going to practice today. Like, I don't think he can do that. Well, the quarterback is such a different position

than anybody else in terms of how it affects practice because everybody is so dependent on him. You're dependent on him for, you know, obviously the timing of the routes, you depend on him for the cadence for the offensive line. If you want a hard count, if there's check with me, he's, hey, versus this look, we're going to do this, versus this look. There's so many elements that come into play that the quarterback affects. So when he misses practice, the impact just radiates out.

When the quarterback misses practice, where is he? Like, for your practices, like, I'm out, but it's a rest day for me. I'm still in the building. Yeah, you can be on the sideline. You can be in the huddle. can be at practice. Is there value in me participating in some of the non-physical stuff? Well, that would be listed as limited.

Yeah, then you would be. L.P instead of DNP. I can just be sitting there. No, you can sit there. Yeah. And if they're, want me to do a hard count, guys? No, well, then you'd be limited.

Well, it's just, again, for efficiencies, you practice is time, the reps, everything is time down to the minute. And you're trying to be as efficient for the whole group. So if you're like, okay, Lamar, come in for this one hard count. I mean, you can do it. It's an odd situation. Can I say something, Brew, that I think you might agree with me on? I have no evidence of this.

It's just what I believe. And I think I have a lot of circumstantial evidence. I think Lamar's ready for a reset. Coach, not team. Not for him. I mean, not that he wants to go somewhere. I think that Lamar has given us a bunch of it. of signals this year, and he very well might be right, that, yeah, I think this iteration of the Ravens has run its course.

And I think the him after that game in this position, not putting in a full week of practice, is actually stunning. And the coach, and it being called a rest with, they could call it, he's been dealing with injuries. They could easily be like toe out. The fact that they are making it known, no, he's healthy enough to practice. We're giving him a day to rest. The coach is saying, you know, you got to trust the player. Meanwhile, the player's playing the worst football of his life. The coach is on the hot seat.

The division is being frittered away, and Lamar is not practicing. Yeah, and you already lost to this team. He's taking the day, and to coach's point, he knows everyone's work day is now less, effective because I'm taking the day. The only other thing I'll add, the flip side of this is if the alternative is he practices every day but, you know, he may

or may not play, like if this is the only way that he can get to Sunday, then he just got to suffer through it. Yeah, I agree with that, but it doesn't seem like that. Yeah, it doesn't seem like. And when you watch him on Sunday, he doesn't, like Joe, Herbert, we're like, oh. Browns, Bears, in Chicago.

Shador coming. coming off a four touchdown performance where he's taking off the field with a chance of tie Caleb coming off with a two touchdown performance where he threw an interception and lost the game. Mm-hmm.

Brew. What are the chances that Shador outplays Caleb? Back to back games going up against former number one picks. Shadur Sanders coach will outplay Caleb Williams. What a take. Now the Bears will win, but because Shadur is facing a much weaker defense.

Caleb obviously facing one of the best defenses in the league and Miles Garrett is going for that sack record. All right? And so he's going to be under duress. Shadur is going to outplay him. Caleb has not thrown for

300 yards all season. Shadur did it in his third start. Caleb has two games out of 30 that he started where he's thrown or produce four touchdowns. Caleb has one in three starts.

You meant Shador has one. I mean Shadur has one in three starts. And then, Nick, there's this. Okay. Look at the graphic of their stats this year when they start. Okay. Shadoors are actually better. This is two.

Pass a rating higher, TD percentage higher. Caleb, we know he doesn't throw many interceptions, except for that game, losing one. And then yards per attempt, passing yards per game. I'm just saying, I really think he's on. You think it's not on the board that he outplays Caylus? I honestly believe this is the hottest take in sports TV. Any network, any show.

What? Why? He just threw for 365 yards. You move the goalpost now? And forward. Because I heard him deliver it. And he gave no equivocation, no qualifiers, no nothing, just flatly. Like, listen, at this moment, given the district.

discrepancies and defenses, I trust Shador Sanders to play a great game more than Caleb Williams. I think that's banana. Caleb has moments and he will have moments. He was great at times in that last game. He was great in the second half until he lost in the game. Rolling out, he's great and all that. But he is not consistent.

Neither one of them is that consistent. I'm just saying with the discrepancies and defenses, I think Shadoer is going to play better. So here is. I don't know. Coach might agree with you. I don't know. here's where I stand. I am, I thought that was a very impressive game by Shador,

but I am not yet fully convinced he's a real starting quarterback in the NFL. I'm not fully convinced either. Okay, and so because of that, like, so a guy that I don't know if he's actually even a starter in this league versus a guy who I know is a starter in this league, and I believe one day will be an excellent. starter and this year has shown flashes of it, I of course trust that the latter more than the former. Like even

even if the defensive are drastically different and the Brown's defense has particularly at home this year this is on the road been excellent but we did just see the Titans score 30. I'm not saying

at this moment, and I'll be quick coach, I'm not saying at this moment I think Shadour is better than I know you're not. But I do think he will outplay him Sunday. Yeah, I don't think it's that how to take. I think it's definitely on the board. I think it could easily happen.

And I don't think it's just a function of Shador out playing Caleb at all. I think it's the Brown's defense significantly out playing the Chicago defense. And Chicago is the bottom third in almost every defensive category where they make hay is in turnovers. And that could be the biggest problem. That worries you. No, it is. But as you said before, it's not something that you can count on game at game out. game out, but it is something they've been extremely good at this season.

I think the other thing is, is Chador's added some energy into that building. So Chicago's hoping to get the bronze on life support. That's not what's going to happen. The defense is going to play really well because they're excited about where Miles is, and they also have maybe the defensive rookie of the year. So they've got a lot of energy defensively, and then offensively, he's infusing some energy. And this game comes in between Green Bay and Green Bay. So there's a lot of emotion before, a lot of emotion after.

They're hoping the Browns come in, play dead. That's not going to happen. And Caleb could easily be on the short end of the stick. And then if that does happen, the amount of enthusiasm for Schernerz Sanders in Cleveland and nationally is going to be. Oh, I agree. I agree if it happens, and if it happens, he'll deserve it. If in back-to-back weeks, he plays really well and outplays the last two number one picks, he'll deserve it. Well, it's not like Caleb's lighting it up.

Well, that's my thing. I'm surprised because Caleb is so inconsistent. I'm surprised you just think it's a giving. I just think it is way more likely that Shador goes 10 of 27 for a buck 10 with two picks than it is. He duplicates what he did yesterday. Yeah, but a play hit like a wide receiver stream that'll go for 60 like most games. I mean, maybe. I just, the Bears, for whatever defensive issues,

they have and whatever quarterback issues they have, they've been a good team all year. Like, they got to they were the one seed three days ago and they lost, you know, to a really good Packer team. I would be stunned

if against a good team, Chador plays a really good game. Like, it's one thing against the Titans, which by the way, and again, I'm taking nothing away from Chador. They were down 14 to the Titans with two minutes left and he did a lot of his best work

in the comeback late and that that's really positive but it also made the stance as eye-popping as they were I don't see this happening I'm taking aback most yards per pass since Shador's first start Drake May

Dack Matthew Stafford everybody's all-American the Prince Wow, what a list basically your MVP and that is why Brew playing him over Gabriel was to such a no-brainer once you saw the Gabor will refuse to throw the ball down the field. He gives you a chance for explosive offense.

On the board. Yeah, the upsides there. You convinced to everybody almost. I got to tell you, I'm shocked. You think it's such a high. I was with you the whole time. He was pounding on the gates right now about to storm the set. You're running. Live from New York, it's a show that's doubting that a 44-year-old high school football coach.

I, here's my problem. Can win a game against the scene? Can I? Here's my problem, if I made this for a moment. It is part, I think it's reckless because the man can be injured significantly. And the other one is it is just seeped in arrogance of what matters more than have you been an active NFL player this decade is, do you understand my fancy system? Like, oh, my system is the magic sauce here.

So rather than someone who went to training, camp was in practices, has been throwing footballs, isn't a grandfather, and I say that as a grandfather, I want Philip Rivers. It just, it just seeks in coaching arrogance. Well, they've been talking all every week, right? Wasn't that the, yeah. And now the Seahawks can get scouting film from this other, from high school, from high school, like, oh, here's what Phillip Rivers loved. Oh, this is right. We love with a passion. Today, our Brewing the Ravens both facing a must win? I love that we just keep using this.

Meanwhile, who will be the star of the Bill's Patriots battle? Drake May or Josh Allen, who's traditionally been an excellent, excellent quarterback. But right now, oh, you're in for a real treat. Last night during an ongoing feud with Pablo Torre, I didn't realize he got updated. You didn't even tell me about it. Yeah, you got talks about a lot in Europe. An elite group of analysts, experts, and people who eat cinnamon buns for lunch. It's not me, America.

Just covered in slime. It's not me. Tell them it's not me. It was just a plate of slime. I'm like, what is that? Tell them. It's not a lunch. Tell them it's not a lunch.

Tell them it's not me. It's not you. You're eating supermarket sushi. Bought and toiled and burned the midnight oil to deliver the best segment in all of sports. It's an honor and it's a privilege. It's time for next year's. Can I tell you some KW? What?

Was that? D. Days. No. The sushi? Far from. Days like today, I'm always very thankful for the team that we have. Sure.

Bruno knows how I feel about them. Days like today, I'm really glad you're here. Because you add a level of levity and fun that I need on a day that is as a most emotionally tumultuous as this one. So thank you, KW, for that intro to tears because we will show you who's been eliminated. It is the same folks that have been eliminated the last few weeks, because no one has been facing

elimination as of late. But as we head into the week 15 tiers, I will show you who's facing elimination this week. This is unreal. Wow. This is a sad day for the show, really. Yeah, for the show, for my kids' 529 plans. You got into that?

Running out of pots of money to pull from. For everyone involved. If the Chiefs lose this week, their season's over. They'll have a little E next to them on the graphics, eliminated. The Bengals somehow, if the Bengals went out, they're super alive. They're four and nine, but they're four. if they went out, they're alive, but they have to win out. They're both facing elimination. Oh, how we yearn for the days of back-to-back conference championship games between these two

once proud franchise. It's really one proud franchise and the bench. Quarterback quandary. So here's the deal. The quarterback quandary in Indianapolis, quite simple. We had a guy having a great year who tragically popped his Achilles. We had a third string guy from Notre Dame who got hurt. Meanwhile, our top five pick who was supposed to be our franchise guy, hit himself in the face with an exercise band before a game and broke his eye socket so he can't play. So in walks, 44-year-old Phillip Rivers. Oddly, the Colts quarterback situation simpler than the Ravens. True. We have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Who seems to have mysterious nagging injuries but isn't listed as being injured. And also,

can't play anymore. And we just had a three-minute argument about whether he has been the 32nd or 30th worst quarterback in football over the last month. Well, what are the numbers saying? There's a difference. There's a difference. Either way, we're in a bad spot. Decade droughts.

The last time the Pittsburgh Steelers won a playoff game was 12 months after the last time the Panthers won a playoff game, which might say. sound bad for the Panthers. It's actually worse for the Steelers. It's like, wait. That Cam Newton Super Bowl was only a year earlier than your last playoff win. So they're both trying to break it. They both could. I think one of them, the Steelers, are going to likely to make the playoffs. I don't think he's breaking their trap. Who do you want to be? Eagles are the Cowboys. And here's what I mean. and KW is going to hate this.

Who would you rather be moving forward? Which franchise? Which franchise would you rather be right now at this moment in time? The Cowboys who seem to have found their coach, who know they have their quarterback, who have the building blocks of star players, like it's either locked up or going to be locked up, or the Eagles,

who is the best receiver. think is on the move, whose star running back seems to be, you know, not a star running back anymore. Who's, we don't know if they have, we all assume, well, they're going to obviously change coordinators again. So it'll be eight coordinators in eight years, whatever is for Jalen Hertz. Question about the quarterback. I'm just curious.

I would still go with the Eagles. Because ownership. And better management. The GM's great. But it is, it all of a sudden. Super Bowls. No, no. Every other year they get to the Super Bowl.

But that's, but it's moving forward. Not least we know what the past has been. I just think it's closer than you think about who has a brighter outlook for the next season. And I think for both of them for this season, we're not going to rough day. That's the hottest take. That's a hot one. Brew, you're going to like, you're going to. You should do it.

You're going to. Drew. I thought this was rude of Marshall, to be totally clear. Cute teams. The Bears in the box. felt like a real nice. Bears. It felt like, yeah, so listen,

right now, the committee feels both of these teams are in the same bucket. Expect them to be in the playoffs. Would be shocked if they make the Super Bowl. Like the, and I know that's how you feel. I obviously strenuously objected because I picked the Tambay bucks

and go to the Super Bowl. But that's where they have them. Banged up of battling. Chargers, Lions, Niners. The title speaks for itself. These are three teams that are, have been fighting through it all year. The lions once again are banged up on the defensive side of the ball, but also some offensive injuries. The Niners been ravaged by injury and the Chargers cluster injuries on the offensive line. Still tough

out every single week, you know, potentially you're going to get, you know, at least one of these teams makes the playoffs. Right now the odds are two of them do and there's a chance all three do. Next, importance of charisma. And here's what I mean. Hmm. Think about the PR difference these two teams get because of the charisma of one of their coaches versus the other. People watch Domingo Ryan's. They're like, I would go play football right now for that guy.

He looks great. He's flexing. He's yelling at people. The team's playing great. They have eight wins. Then people watch Liam Cohen. They just hear, do ball in their head all the time. It was a lot of little.

videos are getting there. Right, exactly. But people were like, we don't believe in the Jacks. Yeah, it's just, if you had Domingo Ryan's look and personality, but the, and you flipped them, people were like, man, that Jack's team is tough. I think Jack's team is tough. I also think Texans are tough. All right, now we're going to have themed the rest of the way.

The most to gain the Patriots and the Broncos. Gain a one seed, gain making a Super Bowl with your second year quarterback. For Sean Payton, validating a preseason prophecy, if you will, for the Patriots really truly saying, we are back where our fans believe we deserve to be. The most balance, the Seahawks and the Packers. She'll like they can run on you, they can throw on you, they can play good defense, they can turn you over, they're well-coached. The most pressure the Buffalo Bills. There is no team in football.

under more pressure to make a Super Bowl than Buffalo. If they wake up and the postseason does not have Patrick, Lamar, or Joe, and what's sitting between them is 40-year-old, 42-year-old Aaron Rogers, maybe 44-year-old Philip Rivers, and then a bunch of kids. And then at the top of the tiers, once again, coach, the most talent. This is the best team in the league with, in my opinion, the second or third best coach in the league,

the guy who's going to win MVP at quarterback, great receiver duo, underrated defense. That is, those are the week's 15 tiers. I really don't like Kansas City sitting on the bottom of the tears. I have a real problem with that. Wow. Maybe I put them in the bottom, you want to even lower. Maybe I'm a Kansas City guy these days,

but the fact that you're giving up on them at this point. Not giving up on. What a turn. It just feels wrong. Hold on. I'm not giving up on them. It feels like you've given up on them. Are the charges your lock of the week?

Hold on. Like, how could you possibly put them at the lowest? There's multiple teams that they're better than right now, easily, easily better than right now. And maybe this is the USA today. You just listed, you know, just because without any real thought to it. But I thought this was about who, where the team stood in terms of the quality of the team. And I know they didn't play well last week. And I know they've had their challenges.

But the fact that you've abandoned them. Okay, how did it? Everybody in California. Like, I, I'm stunned. I really struggled when I saw this. And I think everybody in Kansas City should just be a little bit of sense. No, because here's the thing. I, are you done with this nonsense?

He did it to the prince. I didn't do it to. Stop it. I don't. He had a banner getting rid of cable. Have a bad year. Take control the show. I think he's trying to support you.

Take. Listen. I'm disappointed. I am not going to stand for this. And I need to explain. a few things. First of all, what I could remind you is it's not just my opinion, it's a committee. Second of all, but that's not the point because the point is this. The facing elimination tier has nothing to do with how good you are as a team at this point in the season. It is a binary

question. If you lose this week is your season over, if the answer to that question is yes, no matter how good I think your team is, you are facing elimination. You don't need to be on the bottom. What do you mean? Facing elimination is again. And I guess I thought you would have more confidence in the chiefs to realize that they're not going to lose this week. That is not. So there's no chance they can be facing elimination because they're going to win the game.

That's not how I would. What is this? Guys, this is not. That's not how it works. That's how I felt when I saw it. I wanted to be in that. If you lose and your season's over, you're facing elimination. Yeah.

Facing elimination, oddly, until at least week 16 has to be at the bottom of the tiers. And then later, it can be higher. You know what? I didn't know that. Whatever helps you. You know what, Coach, that was embarrassing. It was. I didn't embarrass for you.

I, let me see the, because I'm going by the, where they're ranked. I'm not going by the names. I know. Marshall always does a great job. the name. But I'm putting Green Bay next to the bills. Move them up one level. The pack is back, baby. The pack is hot. All right. Christian Watson has given them a spark.

He's a deep threat. We know he's a speedster. He's open things up. And Jaden Reed is playing well. Another receiver back. Remember, we forgot they had their receivers out. The backup tight in. Is it Muskrae? Luke Musgrave is playing. And remember, he was supposed to be better than Tucker Kraft. Right. And he's actually starting to play pretty well. So they're not missing Kraft quite as much.

Coach, you'll love this. Ever since the receivers got back, Josh Jacobs in the run game has gotten back. The last three games, let me put this way. The first nine games, Josh Jacobs averaged 3.7 yards of carry. The last three, 4.8 yards of carry. All right, significant difference. We know what the defense is. Jaylo is playing so well, Nick.

He's actually moved into the top five on some MVP ballots. Has he? Yeah, yeah. Jaylo. Yes. He has. So the pack, you got to move him up. And I do have a bonus take.

Oh, we can see the whole. No, this is a whole tier. Just a quick bonus take. Going your time. I got to be honest. KW. We got plenty of time. Nick.

Then he starts digging in on like. No, quickly. I don't even think, I, let me put it. I'm not sure Tampa Bay is even cute anymore. Oh, my God. I don't know if they're cute anymore. Look, they've lost four or five. They just lost to the three wins saints.

Exactly. They got a drop. They got to drop. Perfect. I'm going to respond to your initial point before we get to wild to it. 4.15 is like, you got to wrap it up. Bruce, you must have a lot. Brew is not afraid of going through the whole tears.

No, I mean, Drew, you do whatever you want. You're the elder statesman of the show. I think your Green Bay take was a sneak dis, maybe unintentionally, to Seattle. Well, I think they're better than Seattle. So I have no evidence they're better than Seattle. Well, I know you trust their quarterback. As much as you have your questions about Love, you got more about Donald. Jordan Love in the playoffs last year was as bad as Donald in the playoffs last year.

Yeah, but Donald, we haven't seen him play a great game. No, we've seen Jordan Love play three playoff games. One was awful. one, he threw a horrific game losing pick but was otherwise okay, and one he was great. Donald, we've seen him play one play one playoff game, he was awful. So the sample's not massive, but you're right. I just think Seattle's defense might be as good as Green Bay's. You're talking about the Green Bay's receivers.

They're not Jackson Smith and Jigba, and I really do like Seattle's coach. I just think Seattle, it's one of the rare cases of, I actually think them being in the Pacific Northwest has made it to where they have not gotten as much. attention is the team's quality deserves. Definitely. Yeah. Do you agree with me? 100%. All right. Go ahead. What's your take? Same time zone as Southern California, though. I know, but it's weird. And I don't go to the game. Yeah, I know, but it is how I feel, though.

Probably right. This is the rare change to the tiers that I will go three-for-three on. That you guys are going to be like, you know what? You all are going to agree with this. Don't. cheat off my paper. Thank you. The Panthers. Oh.

Oh. Clawing their way to the top. Oh, and this dovetails with. Oh, that's why you liked his buck's taste. Yes. First of all, Bryce Young. Everyone's like, ah, you know, probably a bus. Then he had a foot.

Then he was, is Bryce Young good? No. And then Brace Young was bench. And they're like, is Brace Young good again? Then he didn't play well. And then he's back like, is Price Young? Pretty good? No. Last 15 games? Been pretty good? The number's not bad. He's been pretty good. Let's look at the last five games. Dig in a little bit more.

Bucks versus Panthers. Hello. Bucks are one and four. Panthers are three and two. Buck's defense has really let down Baker. Opponents points for game 30. It's not great. Not great. And finally, this is the one that the coach loves. Top two teams, according to Brew, are the Packers and the Rams, because now you moved up. Yes. Bryce people for those teams. So at a certain point, if you can beat the Rams and you can beat the Packers, you've got to think like, and maybe coach, now nobody will overlook them because they already had, you know, two big wins. But I feel like if you beat the top two teams or two of the top three teams, you should move up a little bit.

So listen, I, you make a compelling argument and we are going to get to see in real time whether or not you're right because I think very fortunately, Fox Panthers haven't played each other. Right. So we get them twice in the final month of the year. So we're going to see them in their current state. Now, that could be good or bad for Tampa. Bad in that, they're not playing their best ball. Good in that. Bucky Irving finally back.

Mike Evans now coming back. It's going to be hard for him to give that 1,000 yards streak of life. And, you know, you would hope they get Tristan Worf's back. Carolina coming off a buy, so they're as fresh as can be. Got the Saints, that's a W? Yeah, I would. I again, and at the Saints is, I mean, at the Saints is not just a guaranteed W. I would, right now I believe, Carolina is 7 and 6, correct?

Yeah, both of them. I think Carolina is going to finish eight and nine. So I think they're going to go one and three down the stretch. I think Tampa will beat them both of their games. But we'll see. So we'll see. I am. A way to be negative.

Listen, I just don't, I don't, and I think you overstated the Turner, the Turner. The corner, Bryce has turned. But we'll see. I need him in the playoffs. I love it. I love it. I love. I love.

He was going to beat a playoff team, too. It was good. He was smashed to the Panthers early on. This is a game. What? Did the folks of EEI reach out? Do you yet? No, not yet.

Holy cow. Lions, Rams. America's game of the week. That's on four. That's right after Raiders. Some people had going to playoffs against the... You know what? What?

Brew started that. And you know what? I allow it from Brew because Brew owns his awful takes as well. That's mine. But every time we bring up your Panthers. Horrible.

Super Bowl picks. You get, you're like, I do it for the content or something. You hide behind, I'm the funny guy. Time for a segment that grows more literal by the day. It's must win. Bill's at Patriots rematch of week five where Buffalo's penalties and turnovers doomed them and turned out to be win two. What is now a 10-game win streak for the team of the century.

Brew, you're the reigning champion of, of must win. Who is this a must. Wait, hold on. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. The question is going to be, who is this a must win for?

What do you want to pass or play? I'll play. Wow. I'll play. All right, this is a must win for the bills. All right. This is supposed to be your year. This is it.

No Mahomes, maybe no Lamar Jackson, no Joe Burrow. You cannot, Josh Allen, I'm sorry, cannot let a bunch of young bucks, Drake May and

and Bo Knicks and these guys. CJ. Beat him, yes, get to the Super Bowl before he does, but to get there, you need to send a message to the Patriots. Now, you need to send a message to all of us, the media, to yourselves, but also to the Patriots. You need to humble the Patriots.

Patriots are flying high right now. What, 10 straight wins, they think they're all that. They came into your house and beat them. You need to send them a message that we are still the kings of the AFC East, even if you win the division title this year. And if we meet you in the playoffs, we wanted to be in the back of your mind that they came into our house and beat us. So they need to send a message to the Patriots must win for the bills.

Yeah, I see this as a double must prove they should be taken seriously. And here's what I mean by that is the Patriots, they've won eight games since they played the bills the last time. But of those eight games, only one team has had a winning record. So there's that. So now the narrative could be, hey, really well-coached team, doesn't make a lot of mistakes, but it has an easy schedule, and that's how they've gotten to where they've gotten to. Now, the flip side of that is Buffalo, who has been up and down all season,

had obviously a really good performance last week. But when they played New England last time, three turnovers, 11 penalties, digs at 10 catches. They were riding a five game or a four game win streak. They had 11 game home street. They weren't taking New England very seriously. So now this is both teams poised to prove, win or lose, to prove that they should be taken seriously.

Double must take seriously. This is a must win for KW. Because KW is right now, in my opinion, afraid to truly love again. Afraid to afraid to open himself up to having his heartbroken. And the best and worst part of being a sports fan

as KW knows all too well from the Patriots days is truly believing my team can win the championship this year. And when those, when you, when, You're in one of those years, everything matters. Most notably, in the new playoff format, the number one seed and the buy.

In your Patriot Dynasty Days, well, it's not that it was easy to get the buy, but it was twice as easy as it is now. Two teams got it. Now, when you, there is no scenario where you will have the tiebreaker with Denver. So you, I've crunched it a hundred ways. if you and Denver finish with the same record, you don't get the one seat. And I know you think Denver's got some losses in front of them.

I've thought Denver was going to lose just about every game they played this year. And while watching the games, and while they trail in every fourth quarter of this season, or every one but two, I think, I've watched it. I'm like, oh, yeah, they're going to lose this week, and then they don't. The team, to their credit,

has a very good track record this season of winning football games. So you guys, for you, need to win for the one seed, and also because you have been a bit of a bill's dart thrower this season. The bills are not that good.

The bills are not scary. Drake made's better than Josh Allen. Maybe. Playing better than it. Playing better, certainly. So must win for you, KW. Incorrect. Brew gets the point.

Lamar in practice today, Joe Burrow did. This is a rematch of a week 13 matchup when Lamar ran into that resurgent Bengals defense. This guy. People were talking about only completed 53% of his passes. No touchdowns and three turnovers. Coach, the ball's in your court. Who is this a must win for? Yeah, this is a must avoid the iceberg and not get swept.

away game for Baltimore. Wow. And here's the deal is the Ravens are tragically underachieving the season and really Cincinnati is playing with house money literally offensively tons of house money. But once Burrow went down and once Hendrickson stopped playing, really nobody had any kind of expectations, but it's been radically different for Baltimore. And so now we've seen what's happened over the last five weeks and Lamar's continued to play. But over the course of the time, the only time that they've been swept by Cincinnati is the last time that they missed the playoffs but I think that if this happens again this season it's it's not just going to be about missing the playoffs it's going to be organizational

change think this game has a lot more meaning than just missing the playoffs I think it translates into Lamar probably shutting it down after this wow then missing the playoffs and then you know things changing dramatically yeah well coaches implying is that must win for John Harbaugh and Greg Roman who would be if this team misses the playoffs looking for a job. So I understand. Greg Roman

is an L. I'm sorry, not Greg Roman. Todd Monkin. Thank you, coach. No, that's fine. I don't deserve the point for an error like that. But I meant the because I was actually trying to add to yours because my answer is the Bengals. But thank you. You're right. Todd Monkent, not Greg Roman. But my answer is the Bengals

and Joe Burrell. Oh. Because he did fight. to come back from his toe injury and when he came back their season immediately became alive by beating this team. They then

were on the cusp of not only being in really good shape but being the team that everyone on all the shows is like if they get in no one wants to play them like they were discussed last year if you remember that if they get in

no one wants to play them even though the defense was so bad. And then Joe, who everybody loves and is a really good player, lost them the game against Buffalo on back-to-back plays. Now, he had been, he kept them in the game, he made great plays, but on back-to-back plays, that game flipped from a 10-point lead to we're trailing and in desperation mode. And so if they win this game, I think it kills the Ravens. And then for the Bengals' sliver of playoff hopes, you're just relying on a team.

quarterbacked by a 42-year-old unique fella falling apart, which is on the board. So it's a must win to validate Joe Burrow coming back and to make up for last week. And I apologize for the Greg Roman Todd Monkin mistake. It's the most embarrassing mistake I've made on the show since I forgot Matt Ryan played for the Colts. Look. I am not going to let the Ravens off the hook. despite their 6 and 7 record, despite their poor play all season long,

they are still Wild's S-bob. Still. All right, so it's not about, I'm not going to feel all good, Coach, if they win the division and get into the playoffs. And everybody will celebrate, oh, they made it with a 9 and 8 record.

No, you are supposed to get to the Super Bowl and win it. And if Mahomes isn't there, if Joe Burrow isn't there, all the more. You just said it. But to get to S-Bob, you got to win this game. So it's a must win not to get to S-Bob. I don't want, I don't, what?

Go ahead and give it to coach. It was kind of like your same take about Josh Allen. You're talking about that one got the points. Give me the point. Give me the point. He was slightly remixed it and put Lamar in. If Lamar's not going to be there and Joe Barrow. If it ain't broke, don't fencing.

Give me a point. Coach gets the point. Lucky for you. It's wide open. It's wide open. Some people say this is a scoring flaw. This is worth two points. America's game in the week on Fox.

Lions in L.A. It's another matchup between Gough and Stafford. Where golf has the wins, Stafford has the stats. So who is this a must win for? I talk to the judges upstairs. Prop free segment, please. Oh.

Nick's going to pass. It is a must win for the Detroit Lions franchise. The whole franchise. The franchise. So great talk show host, who's now also an attorney, a guy, Danny and I went to school with Mike Meltzer, had a turn of phrase when he was hosting shows. that there are certain games that are fold the franchise games. And if you lose, just fold up shop, like, you'll never recover from it.

If the Lions watch Matthew Stafford leave their franchise and win multiple Super Bowls and a league MVP and play himself into the Hall of Fame when he was with your team for more than a decade, number one pick and you could do nothing with it. Nothing. I don't know how your franchise recovers from it. If in the midst of that, he also essentially says, hey, one of the most promising

Lions eras ever, I'm going to go ahead and just end it myself because losing this game puts their playoff hopes on life support, it is close to a fold the franchise game. So for the Lions and what the Rams can assert this season and in this game, franchise, it is a must win. Whole franchise. Never happened in the history of must win as the whole franchise been on. The Ford family. Two words, Wilde's grudge match.

Detroit just lost, coach, a grudge match a week ago to Green Bay. All right? They got swept by one of their. rivals. And now this is another grudge match. You call yourselves the bad boys of the NFL. You got the huge coach with all the muscles. You're the toughest team in the league. And you're going to lose another grudge match. Matthew Stafford's going to beat you again? He already has the Super Bowl. I mean, in Detroit, you know, when I call Matthew Stafford, everybody's All-American, I say it with respect. He's everybody's All-American. You know how they say it in

Detroit, everybody's on American. Everybody's on American. All right, they want to beat him. So Detroit, you have got to go into Matthew Stafford's house. You have got to make him fetch you his robe. You got to kick up your feet

on his coffee table and make him put on Beverly Hills cop with a super mix of Motown and Eminem playing in the background. and make him get you a sandwich, some chips, and some Werner's soda pot. And you were just accused of remixing the first answer into answer two.

And for this one, which is, that was all original. The sandwich, to must win. To must win. Also, Drew, when did, like, the lions have beaten Stafford in the playoffs. Yeah, but Stafford has the Super Bowl. Coach. That's what matters. This one's worth two points.

Yeah, this isn't a full the franchise game because the franchise has been radically transformed since Dan Campbell's gotten there. And it's not the Bud List and it's not the Ravens, you know, bit. It's, you know, that that part. So it's not that this is more about what the Ford family had done great. They've traded the Model T, which was the example of efficiency. It dramatically changed the way that cars were looked at and the availability of cars of the end. entire market. And Dan Campbell's done that with this franchise, but what's missing this year has been consistency. Over the last eight games, it's win one, lose one, win one, lose one,

and away they've been three and three. They just need to get back to that consistency of the Model T and of the new organization that's nowhere near folding, and that's going to be the difference in the game. Can I say something real quick? The reason that it still says brew, this is a grudge match, is because coach, while he was doing our automobile history, didn't say It's a must win for. No, he never said those words. That's a lie, in Christina. He never said, he never said, he never answered.

I mean, is it that hard to think, do I need to spell it out? Well, you know what? Impressive. Do you need to spell it out for you? Wow. And new must win champion. Back like I never left. It's Nick Wright.

I thought coach was impressive. I don't know. The model team? I don't know. In general, the judge is not impressed with 100-year-old. Welcome back to first things for Saturday Fox prime time hoops number two, Michigan, who just fired their football coach. It's on Maryland.

Saturday at 8 Eastern, only on Fox. Shocking. I was shocked by that. I'm shocked by the timing of it. Yeah. Odd. Welcome back. Bills are the underdogs now when Josh Allen takes on Drake May.

Drake, very complimentary about Josh on one of our favorite stations, WEEI. Take a little different when you're playing the MVP you know one of the best players in the league he plays at such a high level he shoot his I hate safe but he's fun to watch when he's playing and I know it's a big fan of him off the field and got to know him a little bit he's been it's been great to me we got to play at a high level and know that you know on the other side of the ball it's uh he gives him a great chance every Sunday yeah uh all right who has the better game Drake versus Josh go ahead bro Josh That's okay.

He's going to put it on you guys. I doubt it. Two rushing touchdowns, two passing touchdowns. Drake will be fine, but Josh's going to feel it better. I also, so I agree, I don't know if I agree with the stat line. I think that in this spot, and I think this is more than reasonable, I trust Josh way more than I trust Drake. Is it fair to say this is the first really big game of Drake's? career. And let me say it a different way. Is this without a doubt the biggest game of his career

up to this point? Like without a doubt, it's to win the division. It's at home against, it's against your rival. When they played them the, when you played them the first division in five years. Yeah. When they played them the first time, the Patriots yet, that to me was like a house money game. You guys had recently had two bad losses that people didn't have a lot of expectations. I think there was some hope for the team, but not super high expectations. And it was, they were touched, more than touched. They're like eight and a half point dogs in Buffalo, and they came away with the win. So I, and...

You think it's a pressure thing for Drake May? I just think, I... First of all, I think Josh Allen's better than him. Second of all, I think Josh Allen is coming off one of the best games anyone's played all season. Correct. Third of all, I think that there is a legitimate... advantage if a game is, if the same game being played for one quarterback is roughly the 30th biggest game of their career.

And for the other guy, it's hands down the biggest. And even if the other guy is going to be a great big game quarterbacker, I just think all of those factors lead it to where I would be very surprised if Drake May outplays Josh Allen on Sunday. and for me it would be one of the few things that might tilt the MVP conversation. Like Stafford has such a big lead, but something like that could tilt it. I would imagine that Josh will have the better game because he has to, for them to win. And I would also imagine that the Patriots are going to work to not put the pressure on Drake May.

They're going to do things to not make sure that in this moment he's part of the sleep. but he doesn't feel like he has to be the entire solution. And Josh McDaniels does a very good job of that consistently. And I think Mike Rable will look at it the same way is let's make sure that he doesn't feel added pressure in this big moment. And to be fair, Josh, this may be as big a game as Josh's face in the sense that, you know, he does have the opportunity to continue on to the playoffs. If they can win this, you know, continue winning these games. games in a situation where everybody else has gone. No, I think there's huge pressure on the bills for the season.

But I think that the bills correctly would feel like if we lose this game, we're still making the playoffs. Like there are. The only part of it that I think is odd is if Drake May called me, he was like, who, I saw your segment on how much pressure I'm under. And I am, Nick is right, I am feeling it. I would just be like, Drake, we could lose the next. four games 50 to nothing

and you could throw three interceptions and we are making the playoffs. So that's why I feel like how can there be any pressure when there are no real stakes? Because if we win, I would say there's more pressure on Josh. Way more pressure on Josh. The rebuild will be officially stamped

done for the Patriots. The Patriots are back. We won the AFCs. If you win, you're the team to beat the AFC, I feel. And we're back. And then Josh I was like, man, I had all this time and now this guy is sitting here and beat me twice. I would feel like there's more pressure on Josh. And do you want to respond to that? No, you go. I think there is more pressure on him. So it's way more pressure. But you go with why

you think Drake's going to outplay him. I think, look, if we do quarterback quarterback, quarterback, I'll lean a little bit more on what coach is saying. Mike Vrable is six and O off a by. We've just been chilling for a week and Vrable's been working. So he's six and O off a buy and they're not little victories. The average margin of victory for Vrable, when he was with the Titans was 16. One of those was a 42-16 win over Josh Allen and the Bills, and that Bills team went 13 and 3. So it's like, okay, I think Vrable will be, have this team ready to go.

And when I look at this, when I look at the last game that Josh Allen played, and this is a little bit counterintuitive, Joe Burrow was easily moving the ball up and down the field on that Bill's defense. I think Drake May can do that. And Josh Allen had to go. superhero mode. And I know I'm the only one in all of sports, maybe in the whole world, that thinks that's a little bit of a negative. If Josh Allen goes superhero mode, he will beat any team, maybe any team ever. Maybe. But it's not sustainable. I don't think it's,

I don't think it's an actual thing you can really do. If like, you know how we're going to win the game? I'm going to have the longest quarterback run in Bill's history. Okay, that will get the job done. I've seen Josh Allen have a literal, perfect game events against Mac Jones and Bill Belichick. Like, yes, that will work if you get six touchdowns against us. He has that in him. I don't think that's something that he can go to the well at week in and week out, especially not against a team that's had 13 days to prepare.

And I do think that Brable and McDaniels will work to make sure May doesn't feel like he has to go into Superman mode. Drake? It never feels like he's in Superman. They're going to take that pressure off him. Just Josh McDaniels wide open. Hello. Tanya. The EZW for us.

You have done a nice job of riding a fence. Really, it's quite impressive. The show that had a bit of a medical emergency. Yeah, bleeding. Danny, listen, can I, you're going to, Danny's going to tell some lie.

Can I tell you guys what happened? You saved his life. Well, I'm a good friend, knowing each other for half our lives. Danny. punched his office wall listening to Bruce Shador Caleb take and now is bleeding. Brew. He said will.

Not Cam, not my will. He said Shadur Sanders will outplay Caleb. You should have the full cast. Like Herbert? No, like LeBron post-finals. Okay, you know what? Why do you? Let's stay in the moment.

You brought it up. I didn't bring up LeBron in the finals eight years ago. You brought it up and then he just appeared. He will. It's an outrageous He got a nice bed on it too. The coach didn't think it was while Wiles is with me.

I loved it. All right. Today, we get dinner out of it. A fresh edition of the coolest segment in all of sports packed stats. Kind of stuff. Making stats.

Cool. Meanwhile, It took a little hit. Can the Cowboys make a run at the NFC East? All of a sudden, we're starting to believe in the Cowboys a little bit. A little bit. No.

A little bit. Yeah, okay. But right now, Chargers in Kansas City, almost five-point underdogs. Kansas City trying to keep their playoff hopes alive and a literal must-win. Here's Patrick Malm's. We understand we've got to win. I mean, I think that's obvious. I mean, just like you've got to win the football game.

And so whatever it takes, you know, I mean, we say that every week, but obviously you're kind of that back against the wall type spot where you're playing a team that's, you're chasing. that has a big lead in front of you and so you've got to find a way to win and so you got to have that mindset when you step on the football field. All right, a little bit of a switchup. Is this actually a must win for Justin Herbert?

I'm kind of offended by the question, but I look, you know, we do this on like a call in the morning and then I like get into the office and I want it to like confirm because I'm on a train commuting during the, I'm like, did I hear the question correctly? And then I ask Nick, I'm like, you are good at these questions.

Obviously a must win. I want to see my time to you because there's literally no argument that it's a must win for Herbert and the Chargers. Listen, it is. Must win for Herbert and the Chargers. It definitively is. It doesn't mean it's not a must win for the Chiefs. It definitionally is. I'm not, this isn't

who is it more important for any of those things? If the Chargers don't win this game, they don't have it. they have and they do run the very real risk of playing a hold on you ask me the the they they and they play the they run the very real risk by losing this game of playing in a week 18 when and you're in lose and your season is out game which they have played in before and they found a way to lose to a Raiders team Justin Herbert prominently involved in that game and I the collapse is a possibility with a loss here.

The chiefs are hanging on for dear life, right? They are playing their worst football right now. They are as banged up on the offensive line as the charges are. So that is right now a fair fight piece of it. And you have an opportunity to vanquish this team and put your stranglehold on a playoff berth. If you can't win this game in this spot, then you're all of a sudden not only going to rally to make sure you do make the playoffs, but you're also going to go on some type of run. Like the Chargers are not supposed to be, oh, happy to be here, C.J. Stroud first year with the Texans who, by the way, won a playoff game. Or happy to be here, C.J. Stroud's second year with the Texans, who, by the way, beat the charges in a playoff game.

they're supposed to be in this AFC playoff field, we've got the second most decorated quarterback, we've got one of the best coaches, we have a chance to win it, and they can prove to me that they can do that by winning this game. If they lose this game, and then have Cowboys Texans,

and then potentially a must win in Denver, I'm worried about the Chargers top to bottom. So that's why it's a must win. Okay. When we were starting out this OT thing, very early on. Obviously, I've known you forever. I did this great, what I thought was a great take.

And Brew cut me deep when he said, that's a lot of gobbly goop. That's what Nages did. What are you talking about? The Chargers can lose out and make the playoffs. No, not realistically. Not realistically. But if the Chiefs lose this game, they're done. Yeah, of course.

So obviously, objectively, it is a must-reactively. it is a must win for the Chiefs. And if the Chargers lose, they can beat the Texans. Well, let me ask you. They can beat anyone on their schedule. We just saw them beat Philly. And we just saw them lose by four scores of the Jags. And they beat the Chiefs.

Like, yeah. But so go ahead, bro. Well, it's certainly not a literal must win for the Chargers. All right. But in our, the must win. Danny watches the show. Yeah, you know what we mean. Danny.

Danny knows that must win work. Let me ask you two guys this. If the Chargers lose this game to the Chiefs but beat Dallas and then lose their next two, they would miss if the Chiefs went out. Then they would miss if the Chiefs went out. In that case, I'm with Nick. Because here's the thing. I think you are going to, yes, you can't.

I think you will beat Dallas. You can beat the Texas. with your offensive line in shambles, that pass was, we just saw it against the Chiefs. I think that's going to be tough for you. And same thing with Denver. In Denver,

same thing with Denver, same thing with Denver. Same thing with Denver. And so. Who the Chargers are. Look, I'm not writing you off if you lose this because obviously the Chiefs have to win out. But yes,

they, this is the year. First of all, your coach did say, what, a couple years ago, we're winning multiple championships. Of course.

Yeah. No better time than the present when the king, of the hill, Patrick Mahomes, and the Chiefs are on the ropes. And if you can knock them out, you know how much easier your path is. Justin Herbert, outside of Josh Allen, would be able to say he's the best quarterback in the playoffs outside of Josh Allen, in the AFC. And so you guys should knock them out of the playoffs and then really be feeling good going

into the postseason. Well, then you guys should all be fighting over picking the chargers for upset of They're a four and a half point underdog in Arrowhead against a team that is literally, not in the game of the show, literally in a must-win spot when if the Chargers lose, they play games the rest of the way against teams they've either beaten before this year or Denver, or at least teams that are in their weight class? Are Texans much better than the Chargers? Their defense is certainly, but like, I just assume, I just assume, Christina, if we have that, that pressure is faced in the last 10 seasons.

I know you're breaking out a lot of like Justin Herbert is like making it work. Yeah. I thought I thought yesterday's, or not yesterday, the game against the Eagles, so this is the graphic. Most in the last 10 seasons, all these teams had a ceiling of losing in the wild card round. I just feel like he is at such a disadvantage

and has been making it work. I refer to the Eagles game as like driving your car, with like a donut on it. It's like, it can get you pretty far. Like, thank goodness, we did it. Like, and you know what? I'm going to go cross country with this donut on my passenger wheels. Listen, I think if you want to say that the Chargers,

as presently constructed, can't win the Super Bowl, that's totally reasonable. But when you run into the Broncos and the Texas. Right, that's the, it is, if they lose, this is the reason that I, that I'm so adamant about this. And I think maybe you thought I was trying to say this is more of a must-win for the Chargers. I'm not obviously the Chief's season is mathematically, spiritually,

officially, and unofficially over with a loss. It is a regular season playoff game for Kansas City. I understand that. But I do not, I, first of all, did not think the Chargers Monday night

played this amazing like, oh my God, here come the Chargers game. I thought there were parts of the game that were impressive from Herbert, the toughness, thought the defense made some good plays. I also thought that they were incredibly fortunate the way that game ended for them to get the win. That's fine.

You're playing the defending champs. It's a good win no matter what. If they lose this game, I think losing two of their last three, including in Denver, is not only on the board, but likely. Now, that might not matter for the chiefs because the chiefs have shown they could, you know what I mean? They can lose as well. Could be in a situation, too, where, like, if Denver's locked into a seat.

Again, it's very, it's not impossible, but it's unlikely that Denver's that week 18 games for nothing. It would take the Patriots losing a couple and Denver, you know, winning consistently. So we'll see. But that, and your point that you made before of the Chargers could lose all four and still make the playoffs, maybe I'm judging the Chargers differently than you. This team this year, the Chargers with Justin Herbert, John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, this Chargers team is not a, man, we made the playoffs, guys, especially when the AFCs as open as it is.

It should be for a player that has talked about the way his supporters, and sitting next one on them to talk about, as why can't we go on a run? And if you go limping into the playoffs, obviously, I don't think. Listen, I think that what has happened. happened to the Chargers offensive line, what you just showed with the pressure stat, the path of the AFC playoffs, which happens to your point, include two of the next four games. Like, Denver and Houston are not good matchups for the Chargers, given their elite pass rush and the situation

of the Chargers offensive line. Like, I think it's reasonable to say what happened against Philly, that's tough to replicate four times in a row and go on and win a Super Bowl. But you think they, if the playoff, if the Chargers were in Jacksonville for round one of the playoffs, you would pick the Chargers. You would pick the Chargers. And then if in round two, they go to Denver, you're saying you think they can win in Denver in week 18. They can. Right. So the path is there.

Like the path is there. The path is definitely there. Yeah. I do at some point want to see Justin Herbert have a good kicker, which he finally has, and health around him. Like I do want to see like the- It's the best kicker in the, what do you mean? No, no, no. I'm saying in the past he has lost out because he's had bad special teams.

In the past he's lost out because he has a bad head coach. Now he's got a good head coach and good special teams. He also didn't get it done. Yeah, I mean. I want to see him have an above average health season around him. Right. And that'll come. But do you have them in this game?

Do I have the Chargers in this game? Yes. Yeah, sure. Wow. He doesn't feel good about it. Listen, the Chargers have four more chances to punch their ticket. They're not good chances, though. I mean, they could beat those teams, but I'm saying those are good teams.

No, but just to be clear. I know the doubt. One in three, unless the one comes against Denver or Kansas City, does not punch their ticket. It could, but it does not punch their ticket. And so, the losing to the Chiefs. Must win, though, man. You lose it. If they lose this weekend, I believe they are facing a playoff game in week 18,

and that probably wouldn't be the Sunday night game because they wouldn't want Denver in that spot there. But I've seen the Chargers in those sports. And I've seen Justin Herbert in those spots. I wouldn't want to be in that spot if I were then. It's time now to make stats cool again. Bill's Patriots, Josh looking to avenge a loss in week five, which brings us to today's edition of Packed Stats. Again, it has an emoji, but it's cool.

And we decided, you know, we've been leaning into the cool factor. And Danny looking cooler than ever. Nothing is cooler than stats in a briefcase. Except me right now. Whose idea was this? Be careful putting those gloves. You know what? You got to break a few eggs sometimes. This feels like a wrong glove.

This feels like Wilde's idea. Because Wilde loved the bad boy of sports TV. Yeah, I think this is a left-over. Wilds, I'm not making any assumptions. Wilds likes leather. This is like just really tries to get this jacket into the show. I know what I tell you that jacket is a great jacket. It's not.

All right. All right, you guys want some cool stats? Yeah, sweet. All right. Speaking of cool, superheroes are cool. Josh Allen might have to be Superman in order to beat the Patriots and going forward. Not a problem when his defense is allowed 30 or more points or when any team has allowed 30 or more points.

The rest of the NFL is 989 and 2. Josh Allen is 3 in 1. So no defense and no problem for Superman. 16 touchdowns against four turnovers and over 360 yards of offense by himself. Wilds all week. Can I ask you? Said he can't be Superman to win.

Well, yeah, you can. No, I think I, do you view that as, is that stat supposed to hurt my feelings or make me feel less optimistic? I can't control. Why? What do you? Because, again, I don't think being Superman is a path.

But, of course, if he decides to go superhero mode, I think he can beat any team. No. But I'm like, oh, I read that as teams put up 30 on the bills. But that's not. If you look at it, if you really think about it, it says, if we throw that back up there, it says the other 31 teams have allowed 30 or more 1001 times. So that would be they average just over three a game. Or three a season.

So the average team is allowed it three times. The most of allowed it four times. Got it. But what it, I read it as every other team, if you win 30, you win. And if you, on Buffalo. It's one miracle game against the Ravens. It was the game against the Bengals. And it was what other people are 30 against?

The Bucks. The Bucks. How I read it is, yes. I concede all the things on the Bill's defense, but when people, when the playoffs get here and Josh Allen's in the playoffs and people like, man, it's going to be hard to pick against Josh Allen and the bills because he's there. That's the reason why. I'll take it. I can't take you seriously. I'm not looking to be taking time. I love it. I'm just cool. You think this is a fair take? That this jacket's awesome. The jacket is awesome. Thank you. I'm just saying if you're using cross sports. If Lucas scores 50, we're going to lose. But if he scores 30, we probably win. That's how I view the bills and Josh Allen.

But doesn't that say of the opposite? Josh Allen just scored 50 and they won. That's what he said. No, if that happens, there's nothing you can do. I may not have. Right. What Wilde is saying is that, that, no, wild just saying is if you, the Luka example is,

listen, we know he has the ability to go nuclear. And if he does that, we're going to lose. Yeah. we don't think he's going to consistently do that. It's a little tougher in the NFL word single elimination, where he'd only have to do it once. No, if he activates that, I think the whole league is.

Right. The only time we've seen him activate that and lose is the 13 seconds. The famous is a all-time game. It's fair. Cool stat. Cool stat? Yeah. One for one.

Lights. Remember last week, Danny, the first one was a huge hit in the next two. Lead balloon. Well, you know what else is cool? What? Fairness. The best for Jared Gough trade is the fairest trade in NFL history. This is the record.

These two teams are playing this week. The Lions record since the trade, Rams record since the trade. They both have 47 wins, basically identical. How have the quarterbacks played since flipping teams? Virtually identical. That is insane to me. Insanely cool. That Jared Gough and Matt Stafford have been the.

the same player with the same number of wins on different teams. What a fair, cool staff. All right, I got it. We stumbled into the, what, the segment is. We did. I got to tell you. I told you. That first of all, that might be the craziest two full screens we've seen on

this show in months that they're identical. Good job. I, with that said, the lions got fleeced. I mean, wait, what? Will the Rams won a Super Bowl and might win this one? It'd be weird if they win another. Right. If you have a Lions as Super Bowls too.

Yeah. Playoff wins. Yeah. Do you think that the Lions were going to win those Super Bowls like with Stafford based on the path that they were going? If they had hired Dan Campbell, maybe. Well, but I don't, I mean, I just don't think. Here's the other thing, though, Nick.

Here's the other thing. And I know obviously McVeigh lost confidence in golf. But there's, I mean, they did get to us. Super Bowl with golf before. So they could have, there's no saying they couldn't have won a Super Bowl with golf. No, the only, I mean, the only reason they couldn't have was because Sean McVade turned on it. You know what I mean? But maybe he would have, you know, like golf hasn't been good.

Wild Sky, Wolfman and a playoff game over a healthy golf. Yeah, that was a great stat. Great stat. That was cool. What else is cool? Other than fairness. Doing your homework. Hold on.

Where's the lights, guys? Yeah, we, yeah. I need to tell me what else is cool. Vegetables. Eating your vegetables. I'll tell you what I mean. We're going to try to figure out who's going to win Broncos and Packers. I'll tell you right now.

Whoever wins this stat matchup, all right? That's kind of cool. I don't know. Packers, sacks taken the last four games for Broncos sacks per game. They're on pace for one of the great sacks seasons in NFL history. Jordan Love has no wins this year when he's been sacked three or more time. He's only two. It's only happened a couple of times.

They do a great job of protecting Jordan. The Broncos, they're talking about it being the best pass rush since the 1984 bears. They're on pace for the most since 1989. Will the Packers be able to protect Jordan Love against the Denver Broncos? The answer is yes, they win. If the answer is no, they lose. Doesn't, I don't have a graphic, but I believe Love's been good against pressure this year. You might know that.

He's been below average against pressure this year. He's been bad at the pressure? The end, but so I'm trying to believe. I don't have that off the top of my head, but I, no, no. The, can Denver get to Jordan Love is what you're saying here? This one, I got to say I didn't understand quite as much as the other one. Oh, no. But now I get it.

It just took me a second to get it. What, KW? It's all right. It's not as cool as the others. The other two stats are cool. I'm not trying to have. We got to be honest. We got to be honest.

No, no, I'm just telling the other two where eye popping. I don't choose the stats. So I wonder. So, because I, because what. came to my head was the flip side matchup as well, which is Denver has been unbelievable at preventing sacks. Yeah, Bo Nix is one of the least sack quarterback in the league. And can what can Micah do and that Green Bay pass rush do to impact this game where this is the excellent AFC team at home who is still an underdog. The Patriots were an underdog

and it flipped. This one is sitting. That is a disrespectful two and a half points. Green Bay going on the road. I think it's right, but it is. Because there are also, Denver's on the crazy winning streak like the Patriots are. And they're both 11 and 2.

Yeah. Love has a 55 pass rating against pressure. You should have been. I just remember. It's a good. The sound I just remembered. It's, I think it's like, He has like a 50.

You say, I think can you get it off by a little bit? You know what? That was a cool segment. I thought that was great. I think it was so great. I think when coach comes back out, I think you should just leave this on. All right. At least the gloves.

It's the correct size. You know what's cool? Fairness. Coming up next, is Jalen Hurts bouncing back. I mean, he's playing Nick's Raiders. So my goodness. Nine whole Hertz. Can't lose pretty good.

Our bugs are excellent. Yeah, that's it. Yeah, that's excellent. So Monday night, the Eagles fell to the Chargers. The five turnovers from Jalen Hertz. I'm going to say it had something to do with it, including the game ceiling interception in overtime. Philly's third loss in a row.

Nick Siriani went on good old Philly Sports Radio, and he was asked if he's considered benching Jalen Hertz. That's right. Take a listen. No, I think that's really. You know, I think, you know, Jalen Hertz, I know every time I go out in that field with Jalen Hertz as our quarterback, we have a chance to win the game. That's something that's been proven. You know, we've won a lot, a lot of football games.

This is the most ultimate team game. So when you, you know, you win together as a team, you lose together as a team, it's never just one thing. Will you, your reaction to the idea that Jalen Hertz should be benched? Yeah, I feel like it's lazy talk. I do. And I think I'm 100% back in Nick Siriani. This guy has won you a lot of games. He's been to two Super Bowls out of the last five years.

You don't just abandon ship right now. But I also think if we had to point the finger, I would point it at Nick Siriani and Kevin Petulow. Because when you turn on the tape and watch their offense, it looks mundane, stagnant. There's no growth. And when you watch Jaylon Hertz, it looks like he's regressing solely because of the fact, Matt, I don't know if it's a matter of him not wanting to do more, but they lack creativity, right? Like, this offense is built about running the ball. We know about the office line, well, it's lack of, you know,

they're unhealthy. They're jergins and, excuse me, Dickerson aren't playing really well. They're loss of Mackayette's been really, I thought, a big loss. But nevertheless, man, there's still ways of being effective. You talk about window dressing. Look at Mike Men Daniels and Sean Payton what they do with their team. Look how much window dressing they do and how they're still effectively able to run the ball. I think we have to get back to when Jaylon Hurst has not thrown the ball as much.

You brought that stat out yesterday, coach. But right now, they have to do better of shaving the playbook down and making the game easier for Jayland Hertz. And he has to be more responsible with the football on his hand. Yeah, I was surprised how measured Seriani wasn't his response or how calm he wasn't in his response because it is ridiculous to say that right now you should be thinking about benching Jaylon Hertz. Look, he had a bad game.

And he had a bad game and they lost in overtime. And Patrick Mahomes had one of the worst games of his career that same week. So it does happen. But you have won a ton of games with him. He's shown that he can play extremely well in the biggest moments. And to get to this point right now, and I understand they're on a three-game losing streak, it is lazy talk, and it is an oversimplification of the problems. And to Seriani's point, you win as a team, loses his team.

And there's a lot of things that need to be addressed and looked at. Maybe Tank Bigsby gets a few more carries. Let's see whether or not he can run his average down because he's almost eight yards of carry. So there's all different elements that can be addressed before you go to, hey, let's get the quarterback. So listen, I love sports radio. Philly is, it's crazy. WIP legendary station that was written about in the Enquirer. It's a tough media market. They pride themselves on that.

So these questions are going to happen. It would be the most shocking benching in NFL history. I mean, the guy who won the Super Bowl NBA. MVP last year on a 200 plus million dollar contract leading the division. Yeah, yeah. Getting benched. It's, I mean, I've been thinking about it all day. Like, remember when Eli got benched in New York?

How, New York melted down. That was at the very end of Eli's career. Like, you know, Kurt Warner got benched, but he was in his early 30s, wasn't on a huge deal, then goes on and has success in Arizona. Like, this would be a, and when you bench quarterback's, it's, who are you? you benching them for. Exactly. Tanner McKee. Yeah, you better have someone in the next layer that people are excited about. But that's what I will say. We have seen Philly move on from coaches who have won Super Bowls. We have seen quarterback controversies come up faster than normal. Like, if this season does go off a cliff, would it completely shock me to see Howie Roseman draft a

quarterback in the second round and just like bring an interesting name into the room next year? Jalen Hertz will still be there. He'll still be there. He'll still be. be the starter. It would still be crazy. But like you start stacking a season of bad play, then I do think it becomes a thing. Not three weeks. I think it's a legit concern. I mean, they're averaging with 16 points a game, I think as a start of, I think in November, that's how much they've been able to average. But I also think right now, if you do figure out like at the end of the season, we haven't involved in your draft the quarterback, it feels like me and now you're choosing A.J. Brown over J.L. Hurts. That's how I perceive it. And I think that's an interesting

way to go about, especially when now you're saying we're totally changing this office around. Now we're not looking at this run dominant office. Now we're saying we're going to be a team that has to be able to air it out. The one thing that I think has really helped Philadelphia over time is they are willing to move on from mistakes, the things that they don't feel hit the way they should. Carson Wentz is a great example. They took one of the biggest, I think the biggest salary cap hit of all time at that point when they released him. I think at the time, it's been passed. No, it's been passed. In that moment, they were willing to take that gigantic hit. They're willing to move on from head coaches.

If they don't feel like it's right, their strength and the ability to say, hey, we made a mistake. We think we can get better. That's maybe a future solution, not a present-day solution. A story obviously connected to Philly's downfall would be in Dallas where the Cowboys could not get the job done last week

against the Lions. They're trying to figure it out in the NFC East. But like we were just talking about, Philly's Lost Monday does crack the door for the NFC East. And Jerry Jones is very happy about it. that take a listen well I watched the game flying up to New York I'm overlooking Central Park right now I'm real excited they didn't have to put any fuel in the plane I do just flew up here on my own I know it's cliche but we've got

a concentrate on the Minnesota Vikings this weekend that's a big game for us but boy you see that boy you need to stay in there every play ever play is meaningful right at this particular time and we sure got a shot at this thing Shout out to Jerry for calling into the radio show from the private jet. That's a flex. It really is. But I don't think that they can win it. I don't think it's as bad in Philly.

I think that the schedule that Philly has down the stretch, I expect them to be able to win division games against Washington, who they play twice, who can get blown out by Minnesota. And I also don't think that Dallas is so good all of a sudden that they are just, yeah, they're definitely going to go four and no down the stretch. My guess is Philly doesn't completely tank. And I don't think Dallas absolutely wins out. I think Philly will still win the NFC East comfortably.

Yeah, listen, I think one, you have to understand Dallas. We need to win out. Let's put that on the table. Dallas has to win out. And also, I mean, you need the charges, Vikings, Commanders, Giants, and Philly to at least drop two to have a shot. And for me, I'm just like, that seems impossible. I thought the loss of the line is really closed the gate on them. So I think he's just there out of time.

By the way, I hate it because I think the NFL is a lot sexier. Dallas has a place at the table come January, but I think it's a little too late right now. Yeah, so the odds are, I believe Philly is at 91% chance of winning the division. Dallas is at 9. And the schedule lends itself to that, too. Comfortably playing the Raiders, Washington twice, and they do have the one challenging game, you would think that Philly's going to be able to handle that. I'd love for Dallas to make it because I'm a Brian Schottonheimer fan,

and there was so much skepticism when he got hired as head coach. And I think he's done a great job amongst a lot of chaos that comes with Dallas. So it would be more fun if they were in the playoffs. And who knows? Hopefully that 9% hits and it would be fun. I think that if you are a cowboy fan, sure, you hold out hope, you root against Philly, all of those things, you may as well. The saving grace of the season is we didn't really know if we liked our coach, we like our coach. And DAC is playing in an MVP level.

and our offense looks like it can be top five in the sport and post trade deadline, the defense has gotten better, and they've got draft capital. I think it's a pretty easy sell. A lot of people are going to pick the Cowboys to win this division next year, to make the playoffs next year, to get back to where they were,

winning 12 games in a row through. I think it's a totally reasonable argument to make, even if they missed the playoffs, hey, Dallas had a successful season. I think that's reasonable. And I think you're right, because I think at the end of the day, you do have side goals.

And one of the side goals is if you win out in Valley, maybe you don't get in, you still have to make Dallas a sexy destination for free agents that come along to say, hey, man, there's a circus with Jerry, but they're winning football game. There's high-octane football. The defense is different. So you're a free agent who feel like you want to go win somewhere. Dallas looks like a destination. And of course, we'll talk Dallas in the offseason and all these teams then.

So I get why they're talking about the NFC East. But the silver lining is you've set yourself up a lot better for next year. Yeah, absolutely. So going into the season, they had the rookie head coach that wasn't touted, that was a complete out of the blue hire. Then you trade your best player. Everybody had completely written down this off. And now you have to be enthusiastic going to this offseason thinking, okay, we can build on what we have. And we've got a bunch of competent people in control of the organization that is going to give a shot.

The Eagles would need to completely have a meltdown. Completely collapse. Which isn't totally off the table based off their history. No, I know. Two years ago, they totally collapsed and they've lost three games in a row. They're not losing to the Raiders. That's kind of what I think also like, listen, if you think the bears are awful,

the bears dominated them. That's the argument. If you think the bears are awful and an awful team just dominated Philly, then it's like, okay, well, then maybe anybody can beat them. But I don't think that's, this is still the same Eagles team that's beating the Chiefs, that's beating the Cowboys, it's beating the Rams, that's beating the Lions. They have good wins this year. I don't see them collapsing. Yeah, at home and on a road, so there's no flash.

But the Packers are scary. They can win a Super Bowl. We'll discuss. Sunday, Jordan Love and the Packers take on Bow Nix and the Broncos. One of the most fascinating games on the slate, honestly. The Broncos are coming off by, the Packers with their big win over the Bears. Broncos currently the one seat in the AFC. Let's take a look at the Super Bowl odds.

We got the Rams and Seahawks, of course, at the top, but the Packers of Broncos are both on this list in the top six. So with a win for the Packers over the Broncos, and they are favored on the road, Coach, would you be ready to call the Packers the scariest team in the NFC if they win? Or the league. The scariest team?

I don't know if I can get behind them as much. can get behind them as being the scariest team. I think if they are able to win in Denver, with Denver what's now 11 game home Win Street, which is really impressive. Plus they've got the regular season win street going, which is at 10 games. So for them to be able to go into Denver and win,

yeah, that would be extremely impressive. But the challenge I have with Green Bay is the inconsistency. And when they're hot, they're unbeatable or virtually unbeatable. But then they go through those other phases where they have letdowns against some lesser teams. Or we've talked about it with Jordan Love where he has an off game and it's just, it's not just bad. It tends to be really bad. Yeah, for me, I think, listen, you beat the number one seed at home.

I mean, against the Broncos. I think not only it validates that you're scary, but it also makes you dangerous come January. Because two things you need in January is a quarterback and a defense. Now they both have it. I got a graph right here. showed you what Jordan Love historically looks like in December. He cooks, man. I mean, December, January since 2023, he puts on a show, and he's efficient.

He's been efficient as of late. And so if you have those components working for you, I don't see why not they couldn't be the scariest team in NFL. Listen, I think they can be no question. I, to coach's point, it's going to be, I can't imagine a world where this one game makes me feel like that they're better than the Rams, just because the Rams have been like a start to finish. dominant thing. So I just want, I asked Troy to just put up the generic numbers here to compare those teams.

Because to me, this is like, the Rams have been better. They've both been good. Like those numbers are on both sides of all of those are top 11 in the NFL in all of those categories. And to coach your point, like the Packers are on a good streak right now, it's improving. But I don't think I will come out of this game saying that the Packers are better than the Rams. But what I will say is that team that, what they did against Detroit, and then, in Chicago and then if they back that up with this game against Denver, they absolutely can win a Super Bowl. Like Jordan Love is playing well enough with that defense that if you do a grouping of teams, like can you see them winning the Super Bowl?

I think this team is in that group. I would assume for all of us. Yeah. No? Well, look, I like elements of Chicago, but I don't love Chicago. I like elements of Detroit. I don't I don't love Detroit. It's who do you love, coach?

What's that? Who would I love? My love comes at a very high price. All right, I respect that. But you go back and watch the Chicago game, and Chicago was trying to do some different things against Jordan Love from a scheme perspective, and it ended up being detrimental to them

as opposed to getting what they wanted from it. And I don't want to kill them for having two good wins. It's just not, I don't think it's as exciting as maybe it's been. I just think Jordan Love. looked really good. And the defense has been pretty consistent all year. I mean, their losses at this point are whether defense didn't give up anything. But also they give up 13 to Cleveland.

They're getting healthier. Like, Jaden Reed playing. Not at the office game, would you come up? Like, they have things working for them outside of Jonah level offensively that you say, hey, man, come January, you don't want to see the Korean Bay Packers. No, again, and the NFC is tough. The Bears just went from being the one seed to the seventh seed on one game. So you lose this game, the Bears win.

it can flip around again real quick. Speaking of the Bears, let's go to Chicago. Shadour and the Browns come to town. Four touchdown game from Shadur. Got to respect it. Both teams, though, lost last week. Let's see how the quarterbacks have fared since Shadour has become the starter. Okay, so this is selective endpoints here, but it's the only data we have on Shadur.

Statistically, he has been better than Caleb Williams. And I heard my good friend and colleague, Chris Broussard, say earlier today, Shador Sanders will outplay Caleb Williams. And, you know, he's a man of faith. He's a man of principle. I was like, I don't want to disrespect you, but do you gamble? And he was like, well, not money. And so, you know, we're going to dinner for our Bear Steeler's bet.

We got a little bet that Brew agreed on. We'll pick up the respective tabs. I couldn't believe how confident he was. Shador Sanders has played three games. Sure. How do we know anything? He lost to the Titans and people want to crown him. But that wasn't his fault.

I'm not saying it was his fault. Had a chance. He'd been cooking all game. I'm not saying it was his fault and I'm not even a quarterback. He did throw a pick that set up a touchdown. I just, it just, it just, it feels a little disrespectful to Caleb to already put Shador in that class and not to be the guy who gets too into the specifics. But it's supposed to be one of the coldest games in Soldier Field history. Oh, well.

This weekend. They're talking about like, like, like 15 below zero type temperatures on the lakefront in Chicago. Neither one of these guys might play well. But it is not a guarantee that Shador outplays Caleb. I can see him doing it. You can. Yeah, I mean, can or well?

Caleb hasn't thrown for over 300 yards all season. I know. Shador did it last weekend. So I'm a man who's been riding the Shadour train for some time now, and I believe he can outstack Caleb Williams in this game. It's not like he played in the University of Miami. He played in Colorado. He's used to cold weather.

We talked about how he's a tough quarterback already. We understand that. And we've seen over the last couple of weeks his game progressing, growing the right direction. So for me, I am a believer in big time of Shador Sanders. So this to me isn't about necessarily Shador or playing Caleb. This to me is the Cleveland Brown's defense outplaying the Chicago Bears defense. They're number one against the past. They're second in the league in sacks.

They're going to maybe have the defensive player of the year and the rookie defense. They will have the defensive play. And potentially the rookie defensive player of the year. So that defense is salty and they're excited because of what. Miles is doing. Now you've got an offense that's suddenly fired up because you insert the door. He's added some life to that. You've got a Chicago team that's bracketing this game between Green Bay and Green Bay. They're thinking, oh, this could be a little bit of a by week. We can take a breather. The bronze are going to lay down. That I will be irate. You can be irate all you want,

but it's human nature. And you've got big game, big game. You've got this one in between. So I absolutely believe it's on the table. And it's not like Caleb has just lit it up on a consistent basis. He's not. He's up and down. And he has been given every opportunity to be successful. That's true. Where Chidor has gone a much harder route.

Whether it's his fault or not his fault, he's gone a much harder route. Listen, if Chodor Sanders in back-to-back weeks outplays the last two number one picks, he obviously will deserve more of the hype that he is. getting. Part of what has bothered me about the Shadur commentary is I think some of the hype has come before it's actually been deserved. This last game was great. It was against the Titans. I just think there is a much larger body of work for Caleb in the NFL where I just, I think that Shadur Sanders is going to be in a quarterback competition with two other guys next year. Caleb Williams, I think is on the fast track to a $300 million contract. I don't look at them as being. Is he on the fast track?

He's been on the slow track to that. I don't. I think he's been getting noticeably better, and I will be very surprised if in year two with Ben Johnson, year three in the league, he doesn't take a huge leap. You could say that that's biased, and I guess I got to wear it. Yeah. But I will be shocked if Caleb Williams doesn't get that second contract with Chicago and isn't regarded as a franchise quarterback.

This will be a good test because it's the number one pass defense. It's the number two team against a sack. Or generating sacks. You got Miles Garrett sitting over there. So let's see whether or not Caleb can throw the ball successfully in cold weather against a very salty bronze. And Shadoors responded to every test thrown at him, right? You're talking about being able to be competent, poised. You're talking about being efficient, being on time with the ball.

Yeah, he's not ultra athletic, but he's been able to put his body out there and scramble and make plays. I think we've seen week after week him develop into a true pro quarterback. And I like it. I like my chances with him. All right. Well, listen, can is fine. Bruce saying Will was disrespectful. He will.

He just said your feelings because y'all lost it a packer. I'm in a little bit of my field. This feels like a trap game. There's no, there's a seven seed. You have locked up nothing. It should not be a trap game. The college football playoff keeps getting bigger. I got issues.

Time now for first things last. I feel like I'm alone on an island here, but the expansion of the college football playoff has not made college football better. And I realize I'm arguing against more football, and I realize the ratings are through the roof. You're watching and I'm watching, but has it?

it actually improved the sport. I would argue it's damaged the two things I love most about college football, the regular season and the rivalries. There was no better regular season in sports, because if you wanted to win a title, every game mattered. And there's no better example of how that's a thing of the past than Ohio State and Michigan last year. Michigan beats Ohio State, the Buckeyes fall to the 8th

seed, yet go on to win a national title. Ohio State and Michigan fans will always care about the rivalry. But if that game doesn't eliminate you from winning a chance, championship, it matters less to the casual fan. But at least that rivalry game still gets played. Because conferences are exploding in size in order for teams to position themselves for the best shot at a playoff spot, scheduling is as wonky as ever. Notre Dame and USC aren't going to play each other anymore.

Bedlam, the great Oklahoma-Okloma State rivalry, it's over. How does that benefit fans? And then there's this. Saturday, Indiana beat Ohio State. That is a remarkable thing. The ultimate basketball school beats the ultimate football school to become the number one team in the country. And on Monday, the biggest discussion in college football was about whether 9th ranked two lost Notre Dame got snubbed for 10th ranked 2 loss Miami, who they lost to. Now, there's no perfect system.

And I know the debates and arguments are a feature, not a bug. But to me, I've never once seen a year where a team outside the top four had a legit claim that they were the best team in the country and deserved a shot at the title. Personally, I'd go back to four teams, but I know that will never happen, so I at least wish people would stop and look at the unintended consequences and ask themselves if when it comes to the college football playoff is bigger, really better. That's all I've got. Thank you so much for hanging out with us on first things first. We'll be back tomorrow.