First Things First - Steelers beat Dolphins, Mahomes gets surgery on ACL and LCL, Kyle Van Noy joins, Mahomes Mountain

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

(0:00) Steelers beat Dolphins, Patrick Mahomes gets surgery, What’s next for Miami? (26:23) Joe Burrow talks about frustrations, Eagles problems fixed? (43:00) Brou’s MVP Ballot (48:38) Mahomes Mountain (01:10:01) Are the Steelers a threat in the AFC?  (01:18:46) Kyle Van Noy joins  (01:29:29) Top 10 Tuesday, What statement did Aaron Rodgers send? (01:53:31) Expectations for Phillip Rivers, What will happen to Patrick Mahomes? (02:03:05) Fill in the Blank (02:12:01) Caleb Williams the next Joe Montana?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, it's not the solution. It's not it. I'm just saying. Just keep moving. Come on, bro. Just keep moving like regular. You've seen a lot of these dances come back. I'm just saying now that the chiefs are done and the Ravens are on the verge of being done, the show needs a little bit of pop.

You got your Patriots. What's going to be the pop? I still got my pat. I'm bringing back the Maniccan Challenge. No, you're not. Yes, I am. If you try to do it throughout the show, bro, what? We're not going to.

It's good. You're not going to. It's not the answer. We got to do something, man. The chief would drive the ratings. He's crying already, bro. He's already I got news for you.

It wasn't that funny. They were the most popular team. See how the NBA did post-Jordan? That was a courtesy laugh for me. Rogers and the Steelers. A pity laugh. Are they for real? Are they ending the Ravens playoff hopes? Meanwhile, Trevor Lawrence did have six touchdowns.

Was that enough to put him onto Bruised Ballot? I would hope so. A lot of touchdowns. 10 wins, number two picking the graph in our months. It's not the MVP of the last month, is it? Well, I don't know. Depends on what show you watch. A lot of folks have Josh Allen leading it now.

Passer ratings need to be a little more north. You know what? You know what's about to get tossed into the bucket of stats I don't care about? I know you hate pasquerading. What do you like to? You know what? I'm not sure. I'm going to have to go further.

Nothing. I'm starting to like total QBR but we're not allowed to use it. No. Josh and Dusty has a prohibition on. The show must go on as Matthew Stafford still atop.

Mahomes Mountain. First Mahomes Mountain without Mahomes on it. Kind of a bummer. That stinks. You dodged a nice bullet though. But let's not.

I disagreed. I'd rather have Mahomes healthy and have to drop it. And at the bottom of the mouth. He wouldn't have been at the bottom. I agree with that. But, yeah. Stafford's been at the top for two months now. Longest ever outside of Mahomes?

Definitely. Not even close. We're starting with Steelers Dolphins. Aaron Rogers goes 23 for 27, two touchdowns, send Miami home and out of the playoffs. Rogers feeling great postgame. Take a listen. There's some castoffs if you look at our roster.

which makes it really special. You know, Kenny Gainwell signed a next-to-nothing contract. You know, Connor Hayward, an afterthought, had a touchdown run. You know, Marquez's been on a couple teams. Adam Thielen got cut. Samuel was on the street for a long time. So it says a lot about the character of the guys we brought in. Do you consider yourself one of those cast-offs too?

No, I'm not a cast-off. What's he doing? Roger's last two days have been cooking. Completion percentage 85 second highest of his career. He's not a cast off. Granted he brought it all up and ran through all those other guys. And Aaron Glenn flew him out to fire him. But he's not a cast.

That was an unbelievable sequence. Was he joking? No. No, he wasn't joking. And I think I think it's fair to say I have been more favorable and probably like Aaron Rogers more than. anyone else on the show? Yes, I'm coming around. But certainly more than me historically,

more than Wilds until recently, where he's coming around as he says. Yeah, so I like Aaron Rogers, but that was terrible. All the good things he tried to get out of that, hey, we got some castoffs. It's great to see these guys with it. You just threw it away with that last,

no, I'm not a castoff. And he was dead serious. He was insulted by the question. But he out. actually is a cast off at this point. To your point, I mean, the Jets cast him off. He flew out to convince him, hey, I still got it. And they casted him off.

But the way he answered that made it seem like it's an insult to be a cast off. So now all the teammates that you just praised this cast off. Like, are you a cast off? Like, what do you know what I'm saying? Yes. He could have joked like, hey, the Jets didn't want me, so I guess I am. It caught him off guard. It caught him off.

He was trying. Listen, and I know this isn't even the real question. I'll let you get to it. He was trying to be nice about his teammates. Yes. And I understand in his brain, there is, even if they're, the way they left their last team and the way they landed on the Steelers is similar, I'm four-time MVP, future first ballot hall of Fame, Aaron Rogers.

They are not. So they're in one bucket. I'm in another. And I really think he was trying to be nice. Didn't expect that follow-up and then snapper. No, I'm not a castoff. You're Adam Thieling who throws the ball. I tend to agree with you, but I do have questions.

Was he trying to be nice? Or was he trying to be like, look what I've done? We're about to make the playoffs with a bunch of cast-offs. I mean, I'm dead serious. I think that's part on the table. All right. What did they prove last night? Yeah.

Nothing. Okay. Wow. Not one thing. We're going to be fine wild. Brews are going to carry us. All right. Nothing.

All right. It was the dolphins. Yeah. They were hot. Guess what? Yeah, they were hot, but the weather was cold. All right? And we know what happens to Tua in the cold.

The dolphins in the cold. And look, maybe my most accurate bit was the dolphins as breakdowns. You nailed that. Because last night, look at this. Last night we have breakdancing. Look at this. I get it that D.K. Metcalfe is strong and big and tough. But what in the world was that?

I mean, he ran 25 yards just knocking guys down like bowling pins. What in the world is going on? And so that was the problem. That's who the Steelers went in there and beat. I wasn't fooled by the Dolphins four-game win streak. Yeah, the win over Buffalo was good. But outside of that, it was the Jets. They edged the commanders.

This seems unfair. That looked a lot like what I thought last night. I'm just saying. All right, so look, the Steelers are what the Steelers always have been. I mean, you know, during this one where they make the playoffs and don't win a game in the playoffs. I don't think any differently of them. than I thought of them a year ago with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields.

Last year they were a tough, tough solid team. They split with the Ravens in the regular season. I think the Ravens will beat them, you know, in the last game of the season because they really need that game. But the Steelers are, like I said, what they've generally been. They're fortunately for them, the AFC is, the field is not what it usually is in the playoffs. I'm not convinced that they're going,

they're certainly in a driver's seat over my Ravens. But I am not convinced because they got Detroit next week. But then Cleveland. Then they have Cleveland, which they should win. And then if the Ravens beat them, their tie, and the tiebreakers are crazy. You probably looked at them. Right.

So this is the way to look at it. If the Ravens beat them brew, assuming, I don't want to get into it too much. If they finish with the same record as the Ravens, but the Ravens have. beat them this last week. So they split the head-in should get in. Really?

Because of the head-to-head. It goes down to common opponents, which benefits Baltimore. Close, though. It's close. Right. But it'll be set. But again, that could flip if somehow the Steelers beat Detroit but lose to Cleveland, then the divisional record, you know, gives it to Baltimore.

But we assume the math you have going is that the Ravens. They lose, that the Steelers lose. to Detroit, beat Cleveland, lose. Right. Look, the Ravens have their, I know it's not a Ravens. It kind of is. They got their work cut out for them. I think I feel good that they can beat the Patriots.

Patriots are good. They could beat the Ravens. And then you got Green Bay. I get it there depleted without Micah, but still, that's going to be tough. Listen, there's a very real chance that the Week 18 game doesn't matter. Because what, what, if Baltimore goes 0 and 2 against New England and Green Bay, then all Pittsburgh has to do is beat Cleveland. And if Pittsburgh wins both Detroit and Cleveland

and Baltimore goes one and one, then it's a wrap. So like that is, there is a real possibility that week 18 doesn't matter. If it does, then obviously it'll be the final game of, it'll be Sunday night football in week 18. And in that circumstance, I would give Baltimore a chance. to answer this question about Pittsburgh I mostly agree with Brew in this regard

the Steelers proved they are once again about the 15th best team in a 32 team league I look at the entire NFC playoff field plus Detroit as better than them and the entire AFC playoff field right now better than them which puts them at 15 and I thought Rogers was exceptional against Baltimore. I thought he was, his numbers were good last night,

but it was, you know, that to me was more about the opponent than Rogers against Baltimore. We're chucking it deep for the first time in months. Yesterday was back to what we'd been seeing, which was dink and done stuff. But I'm just not going to be suckered in. We are two weeks removed from him being like my teammates need to show up to film studies and run the right routes. Nobody's been cooking since then. I think he's had a good season. Not a great season.

I think this is a good season. Like, I can't. And it's a fine swan song. They're going to be above 500, I would imagine. They'll win at least one more. I do think they're going to get into the playoffs. I think that they are right now playing better than Baltimore. And Baltimore's schedule is so much tougher than theirs that I just think they're going

to be in a position where they have a margin of error that Baltimore doesn't have. But I just don't, the only team that's going to be in the AFC playoff field that I would give them a shot against to break this streak is the Chargers. And they might get the Chargers. The Chargers, they could get the Chargers. They also could get the bills. And if they get the bills, I think they will get annihilated in round one. I think the Texans right now would give them huge problems in round one. And so I think they prove to me, Wilde, they are the class of the AFC North,

which is actually more of an indictment on, to me, Baltimore, than it is a testament to Pittsburgh. Let's look at the other side of the ball. Miami eliminated from the playoffs for the second straight year. After going to the playoffs in the first two years of the Tua Mike McDaniel relationship, Tua took four sacks through one wounded duck interception here. That one didn't look good at all. Here's Mike McDaniel to death. What was it? 17 degrees.

You can't blood. Well, I think the quarterback play last night was not good enough. And so for me, everything's on the table. And who would you consider going to if you make a change? Well, I think that we're in the process of game planning for the Cincinnati Bengals. So in that process, we're trying to determine who will give us the best chance to win. I don't know if Zach Wilson has a theme song, but if you did, it should be queued up. No playoff wins, longest active season droughts.

The dolphins are there in a quarter of a century, then Hobbes' Raiders. Angels play baseball. Are we giving the Angels credit if they just win one game of a series, Josh? And that hasn't happened. Wow. Jets, Sabers and the Bears. But no, Sabres and Bears. Think of the players.

Can I just make a, can I say something real quick? Leave that graphic up there. This show has existed for eight years and three months. I am fairly certain that is the first time in Angels or a Sabres logo has been on the screen on this show. Savers logo is sick. Much less simultaneously. Like, I don't think. And the Angels have had Mike Trout and Showhade.

Yeah. And they've also made the files. And Joe Madden as a manager. That's our Angels. That's, that's Angels coverage. And in the spring. What's next for the Dolphins? I mean, Brew, I don't think

Tuist should start another game there. You said, Zach Wilson. This year forever. Oof. I think Quinn Ewers might be more likely than Zach Wilson. And signing him to that contract was

asinine from the moment it happened. That is not second guessing. That is first guessing. I don't have to relitigate it. Trading him is going to be I think impossible if you don't attach, you give up a draft pick with him. And releasing him talking about blowing away the Russell Wilson dead cap number. So you're in a brutal spot.

Would it blow it up? Because he's old 54 next. It's 99 million dead. Okay. So if they, if they. And Wilson was 85? Yeah. So the, and Wilson's was the biggest.

Prior to Wilson, the number, the record was like 40. And then Russell, it was 80 and or 80, whatever it was. This is 99. Can I kick that around just real quick? When we talked about how much of an albatross, Russ's contract was going to be on the Broncos, we thought this is going to submarine them and put them in cap, heck for a long time.

And then they were in the playoffs, and now they're number one seed. They dealt with it. That is, are there financial moves the Dolphins could do where it doesn't really? I hit it on Bo Nick. Yeah, I mean, I think what helped the Broncos was, they didn't have a bunch of other expensive players, and their young players hit.

Benito was on a rookie deal as a superstar. They drafted a rookie quarterback who, you know, played well. It's getting them playoffs. It's playing better this year. Sean Payton did a really good job. Miami has spent a lot of money already. They have expensive roster. It would be, listen, the cap stuff is going to be a problem for the next GM, no matter what.

I say next GM because they've already fired the GM. Yeah. But you cannot win in professional. football playing quarterback the way Tua currently plays it. Now, we can have a lot of discussions about did he change fundamentally post concussions and stylistically and because of that. But I, and because you used to be able to win to a level the way he played, I watched last night and I've watched this year and there's a lot of throw and prey and a lot of

what I consider just non-competitive quarterbacking. and I just don't think he's a starter in this league at this point, bro. Well, first, let me get to the coach, Mike McDaniel, who earlier in the season it seemed like he was going to be gone. First, we all agree, and I think most football people agree, he is a good offensive mind, beyond a good offensive mind. I think he knows the offensive side of the ball very well. And I got to be honest, like people tease.

They think he's nerdy, whatever. I think his players play for him. Like, they could have mailed it in. When they were one and six and everybody was talking about he's out of here and he's going to get fired, they have played hard for him. They won, what, five of their last seven? So they seem to like him. So I'm not sure I get rid of McDaniel.

Tua, you talked about all the financial problems with releasing him, which might be their only thing. And you're right. Like last year, I think Tua was six and five. this year he's six and eight but for the most part he had I have felt like he's clearly not

an upper echelion quarterback that's going to lead you to contention for a Super Bowl but he I'm not I have been for the most part convinced that he's a starter he's a decent starter like he's not your answer if you

want to try to win the Super Bowl but his career record he's 58% 44 and 32 as a start without him, they're 9 and 13. So, I mean, now the last two years you brought up, has he changed his approach? Maybe, because the last two years, that hasn't been the case.

But he has been a difference maker for them. I also think we got to look at that franchise. You just showed it. 25, was it 25 years? Yeah. Without winning a place. They haven't had a, unless I'm missing somebody, a legitimate quarterback since Dan Marino.

I mean, Ryan Tadillo. I want to, chat, but, I mean, they have, like, there's a problem in Miami. I don't know if it's the guys go down there and they just have a bunch of fun in the city or, and I'm being serious. I don't know, but Tua is not the only problem there. They have not been able to win for a quarter century. And so I think they have bigger problems than just him. So I don't think they have bigger problems than just him.

I do think they have other problems. But I think what you had when McDaniel, because I agree McDaniel is a very good play caller and play designer. And then they spend all these resources on Tyreek and all these great weapons. And McDaniel's biggest strength is a play designer might actually be the run games he can design. So you had all of those things, right, you had all those things working to mitigate the limitations of Tua. and for a moment there was like, oh man, this thing's high flying and fast and all of it. And then once the league realized, oh, he has no second pitch. And if we risk getting beat over the top, we'll never get beat over the top because his arm isn't strong enough anyway.

And we can disrupt the timing stuff, it all died. Yeah. And when you add to it that I think it would, again, I am speaking maybe a bit from a place of ignorance here, but I watch a lot of football. He plays a style that lends me to believe his doctors have told him beyond anything else you must avoid a big hit, which you just, I know quarterback wants to be hit, but if you are almost mandated to just, you can't. You can't extra create. You can't run around. You've got to go down. And you don't have the strongest arm.

And you're on the record saying, I can't see over the line of scrimmage a lot. And you're bad at the press conferences. All of these things, I just don't know how you can be a starting quarterback in this league. And I'm not trying to kill the guy. I know I just did. But that is like what the record is at this. I kind of feel he could start. So, again, he's not your answer.

He could start somewhere. But you would only want him to start at 20. percent of the salary that he has right now right you know what i mean he's 50 million dollars a year uh 14 and 17 in the last two years of miami all right mohomes had surgery yesterday on both his acl and lc l cl brady who has experience with his acal uh had this advice for patrick take a listen the faster you rehab the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that you know you love will pace themselves. Instead of training mode, they're in rehab mode.

And you've got to get through rehab mode as fast as possible. And then you get back to training mode. But that requires an all-out commitment. And it's the same commitment that the great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. When you go through rehab process, you need that same level of focus and determination. All right, your reaction to this Brady sound.

I think that's great advice. And that's fully what I expect Mahomes to do. I think he and Brady have very similar mentalities, the competitiveness, the drive to be the goat, the best ever to win a bunch of championships. Like, I mean, what Brady did, he could have easily stepped away and been the goat years before he did, right? And I think Mahomes has that same drive,

and I do think Mahomes will approach it that way. Like, I want to get back for week one. And I would bet on him doing it just because of who he is. I also think for him, since he's going to play next season for sure, getting back earlier sooner rather than later, like if you get back in week one, he's going to be rusty. And as you said yesterday, his style might change a little bit. He won't be as mobile at least initially.

The sooner you get back, the sooner you get the rust off. If he can be back to himself by week five or whatever, that's better than if you come back in week one. If you come back in week four, you might not be yourself to week nine or ten. and then the season could be over. So I think that's great advice from Brady. I'll say this, Nick, because there's been a lot of talk, and you talked about it yesterday,

about the similarities between the injuries, the time it happened with them. And look, I've said Mahomes is the best I've ever seen. But there's one difference with his injury and Brady's injury. And it's that Brady's career, Brady kind of went from a system quarterback to individually great. And when he got hurt, he had just reached like, oh, he's one of the best individually. He had just had the year with Moss where he threw 50 touchdowns and all that stuff,

won the MVP his first MVP. Mahomes individually, at least, his numbers have gone the opposite way, from tremendous initially to mediocre, certainly by his standards. So that's one difference. It'll be interesting to see. does he get back to the light show, as we've all called it, or not? So I believe Patrick Mahomes is going to be back week one of the season because I know that's what he wants to be back.

And I think a guy that's everything he set his mind to as an athlete has accomplished, I'm going to bet on him. I hope the chiefs operate this offseason as if he's not going to be. And I think that, the, there are, you know, there are things they need to do across platform, if you will, within the team to address what would have been the first failure of the Mahomes era, even if he hadn't gotten hurt. Right.

So, you know what I mean? The pass rush is one thing I've talked about. That is totally, you would want to work on that, whether they snuck into the playoffs or not, whether they, you know, went on a run, whether they went six and 11. That's separate. whether or not the offensive scheme post-beenemy has gotten stale, I think that they would want to look at that, no matter whether Patrick had been hurt or not.

Like when you're talking about Mike McDaniel, the offensive designer, I was... You're saying if he's fired? Yeah, as an offensive court. Like his next, Mike McDaniel, if he gets fired his next job, I think will be offensive coordinator or not head coach. I understand it's a different system. I understand it might be out of people's comfort zone.

I'd certainly love to pick his brain a bit. That would be if he's healthy or not. But the other thing is this. Since Patrick's been there, they've been like, ah, running back. Now, to be fair, they won a Super Bowl and drafted one in the first round the following year. And I love that we're so. Right. And Clyde might have gone one way, but he suffered a very bad injury and then dealt with some real post-traumatic stress

from a horrible incident when he was in college and never became the same player. They thought they found lightning in the bottle with Pacheco, who Pacheco was a really good story as a seventh round pick. Seventh round pick, they got you 900 yards. But he always had a ceiling, and then he got hurt and was never close to the same. Patrick Mones has never had a thousand yard rusher, ever. If you look at the other, like, contemporary great quarterbacks, Josh has had one three of his eight years.

Lamar, and that's not including Lamar's 1,000 yards, three of his eight years. Tom, a quarter of the time. Rogers, 40% of the time. and Peyton more than half the time. Patrick's now 0 for 8 in years with a thousand yard rusher. So if you are building the team this offseason saying, Pat, man, maybe Pat won't be back till week 8

and we're going to be dealing with a backup quarterback starting force. You know what that player would need, a reliable running game. And so that to me is because even though I believe and I hope and I think Patrick will be back week one, maybe it won't be. And if you want to be able to stay afloat for when he does come back, and if he is back in week one, ease him back into it. Like, hey, man, we don't need you to be Superman for the offense to work. We have a running back.

We can hand the ball off two 25 times. That, to me, is, you know, one of the top priorities of this offseason. Burroughs latest comments after being shut out by Bruce Ravens. That's next on FS1, the Fox Sports Channel, on Sirius XM. Gianna, how far away are we from a billion views? 38 million, 39 million? Hey, that's just one view per 39 million people. We're no nearly as far away as you would think.

No, we're right there. You know that the Manichin Challenge has a billion views. We're unviewing. We're getting unviewed because of the Manicin Challenge. People are rescinding their view. Have you seen this, Greg? No. You've seen the Manich Challenge, Greg?

We're not even on camera. It doesn't work on camera. It certainly doesn't. doesn't work when there's a still photo image on the screen. Good point. I'll do it when we're on camera. While leading up to the Ravens game, Joe Burrow reflected on the need to have fun

while contemplating his football future. Then he was shut out for the first time his career. Bengals mathematically eliminated. Here he was after the game about his original comments. Take a listen. My comments had nothing to do with cis sides. My comments had everything to do with me and my mindset and football.

Do you think that your mindset this week impacted? in you play today or was it just your? No. Okay, for your reaction to everything, Joe Burrow. First, we could cut through a lot of this. And I'm just going to, this, you know, you guys know I was a reporter. Why didn't somebody ask him? You know, there's a lot of speculation out there that this could be another Andrew Luck situation.

Joe, you just said it's to do with football, not the Bengals. Are you contemplating retirement? Wow. Somebody just ask him that because that's what we're all wondering or it's that or do you want to leave the Bengals? Ask them both of those things. Now, he spoke very favorably, I thought, about the Bengals.

I mean, he said it's not anything to do with Cincinnati. Some people, if they want to really nitpick, oh, he didn't say the Bengals. Did he mean the city? Yeah. You know, maybe. But he also said he trusts the front office to make the right moves. He said, you know, which of course you're going to.

say I believe in all the guys in the locker room. But he said all that. And I hope he's a great player. I hope he's not thinking about retirement. I don't know that I feel, I don't feel like he needs to be thinking about leaving the Bengals. And everybody seems to be feeling sorry for Joe Burrow. And I'm sorry that he keeps getting hurt.

But he is not blameless. Like, I don't feel sorry for him that he's a Bengal. because the reason they are one of the major reasons they have not made the playoffs for the third straight year is because he's hurt all the time and his injuries aren't from being hit the appendectomy the wrist the calf this was turf tone the wrist he did get hit bro i mean he got hit against the raven's the wrist he got hurt he didn't he heard it it was a mysterious he already had a thing on it then he got hit and suffered the real injury but the cap injury certainly didn't get hit turf toe, I mean, that happens. So I'm just saying like two years ago, he played 10 games. All right, he wasn't that great in those 10 games. They didn't make the playoffs.

Last year, he did play 17. That was the defense. We all get that. This year, he's played five games. I think if he were healthy, the 17 games, I think they would probably be, when you look at the way the AFC North is panned out, they'd probably be the best team in the division. Defense. And then going into the playoffs, even with that defense, going into the playoffs with no chiefs, I think they'd be live to get to the Super Bowl.

So I just think some of it's on Burrow and it shouldn't be this pity party. Oh, poor Joe, he's in Cincinnati because it's not, he's got some blame too. Yeah, he definitely has some blame. But the reality of it is, is when you were a player and you've experienced the success, overall career success, college, national champion. Two years into the league, he's competing for a Super Bowl title. And then the expectation becomes, I've changed the culture here. We've established who we want to be moving forward.

We're going to be winning because of me and because of what I attract. That hasn't happened. And then you start to add on all these injuries. That takes a mental toll and task. It weighs on you. And naturally, while you coached flag football? as well. One of the questions that I asked my kids before every single season is what does winning look like to you? What does it feel like? What is it? Every answer consists of, if not solely,

winning. Or I'm sorry, what does having fun look like to you. Winning. Yeah. Like the fact that he's not winning, it's winning. I don't think people understand this until you kind of put it into your own world. Like it's the antidote. It's the medicine that literally, you can allow you to cope with whatever's going on. If they were winning right now, of course. He wouldn't be sitting in it with this disposition of disgust. And I'm like, I just, but because of all the injuries, because of the lack of winning, it weighs on you and it causes you to contemplate things that you otherwise wouldn't do.

I retired because I was in Miami and was no longer winning. And it didn't have everything to do with the fact that I was in Miami. and it was whatever it was, but I had experienced being in Green Bay, having success every year, year in and year out, going to Minnesota, not winning, going to Miami, not winning. And then it was like at some point,

I just lost the love for what it was I was doing it for. And it weighs on you. So I understand where he's coming from. And yes, it has everything to do with all of the above because a reporter did ask him, is it personal? Is it football related? and he's like all of the above.

Yeah, I want to, and this is a compliment to Joe Burrow, I promise. I don't believe him. I don't think it has nothing to do with Cincinnati. Maybe it has nothing to do with Brue alluded to the city. I think it has to do, I think it is your point that after playing for a national championship, then being injured, then immediately playing for a Super Bowl and then a conference championship, he's been in the wilderness for three years. It has to do with the last.

of playing in big time games and I think deep down and being like, and why is next year going to be different? Like, Trey's going to be gone. The offensive line, they haven't built it yet since I've been here. The defense was good one year. And here's the other thing. Joe Burrow is a big time face of the league superstar guy. He is around enough other businesses,

enough other teams, enough other organizations to know what a good organization. organization is. Correct. And when you signal to the world, man, I am contemplating my football mortality. And your organization meets that moment by forgetting to hire someone to clean off the seats that weekend's game, that's an embarrassment. Bengals defend leaving snow across stadium seats, potentially violating NFL policy. Show me the Paul Dainer tweet.

Or Grinch. Now the Grinch was the victim there? Hey, thanks for digging out of the snow and single degree attempts and coming to this game. Your seat is covered in snow and ice. Have a blessed day. And the Bengals released a statement like, we shoveled the walkways and there's ushers to help you with your seat. Grow up and be a real franchise.

And if you ran a business and your most valuable employee is having some form of existential crisis, which is what Joe had last week, you would make sure, like, hey, let's make sure his favorite coffees in the break room this week. Let's make sure we don't have any wildly embarrassing things happen, and the Bengals couldn't do it. So if he's not mad at Cincinnati, he should be. And so I do think that's due with the fact, I understand, Brew, your point, like, if he were healthy, some of this is solved. But if he were healthy, they're still not championship caliber for a bunch of different reasons.

I have an announcement to make. Miami is looking for a new GM. I would like to throw my hat in the ring. For Miami? For Miami. Okay. We'd be hate to leave you. You don't have any experience.

I'm running on a one platform concept. Everything possible, I'm going to call Cincinnati and try to get Joe Burrow here. I feel like every GM who doesn't have a quarterback as good as Joe Burrow needs to put together some sort of Godfather offer presented to to Burroughs agent first, let him know that's coming, and the Brown, excuse me, and the Bengals GM.

Is that doable? You're our cap expert. Oh, no, it's, you can trade, it's doable, and he has a no trade in that so he could kind of dictate

where he wanted to go. What might not be doable is Paul Brown. Is Paul Brown, Mike Brown? Mike Brown, pardon me, might be like, I'm not trading you.

You can go retire like Carson Palmer did. I don't care. This feels very similar. to Janus. Man. If this was the NBA, this guy wants out. You don't have the press conference he had,

then have the worst game of your season, and have it be coincidental. That was no one pushed back on. Why do you, and I hear you guys, and it's fair, but why do you think just totally eliminate the possibility of he's just getting tired of football? Because he could have so. Because of the injuries, the hits, all that.

So here's, I guess my snap reaction. Nobody would have batted an eye if he didn't come back. this year. Exactly. Most people thought he wasn't going to come back. They were mostly eliminated. But that's the thing. It was just two, three weeks ago he thought they had a shot.

Right. Now one or two weeks and you're just totally deflated? Yeah. I honestly think that's it. I mean, they were what? Four and three and eight? They were three. They were.

Brew, it's a different mentality when you're not completely in. When you're fighting to get back on the field, you are consumed with your rehab, getting back. Yes, you understand what's going on as far as wins and losses, but you are believing like maybe if I get back, the tie will turn. And we're looking at what's going on in that division.

We got a shot. The moment he gets back, Jamar Chase doesn't get to play in that game or the game before. He doesn't play, which they could have possibly won that game. He gets back and things just don't work out the way that he was hoping for. Like,

it's, I think it was just football. He's Mentally checking out. Most people thought Turf Toe was going to put him out for the year. And then when they were four at three and eight, I think some people were like, even if you can come back, why are you coming back? And I think the answer was because he missed football.

I think he really does love football. I think he hates playing for nothing. You don't come back if you don't love the game. That's what I think. I know you're right. Cincinnati is a great time. But no, I hope you're right because I don't want to see and retire.

Yeah. I'm, you know. We're going to do a quick Jalen Hertz update. Jalen Hertz and the Eagles looked great against the hapless Raiders who lost their second game this season by his score at 31-0. First was to the Chiefs. Their latest was to Jalen who threw three touchdowns on Sunday. Here he is talking about people watching how he handles adversity.

Take a listen. Everybody's watching. It just comes with it. And it hasn't changed. I think everybody needs to remember where I come from. and I'm built. So I just want to lead in the right way. Said the right example.

It's done the same thing since I went to University of Alabama and everything that's been in front of me, so it's no different now. And you believe the Eagles' issues are behind them, or is it just the nice to play the Raiders? Look, it was what I wanted to see, right? Blow them out. They're terrible team.

Nick's Raiders are horrible. Horrible. They stink. 31, nothing. So they did what they were supposed to do and everything looked good. The run game was okay. Jayla looked great.

AJ got his touchdown. Devonte looked good. But, of course, it was the Raiders. So we're not sure. Let's see what they do. You don't have to beat the commanders 310, but another impressive performance against them would be fine.

The bottom line is Jalen Hertz is right. Like this dude, nothing's going to phase him. I don't care if all his receivers are mouthed. with him off saying he's not good. I mean, this dude got benched at Alabama, goes to Oklahoma and makes it work, second round pick, nobody thinks he's a starter in this league, gets the two Super Bowls,

outplays the best player in the league, Mahomes. Like, he is not going to be phased by anything, and I think that's a positive for the Eagles. Now, I have not picked them to get to the Super Bowl this year. I didn't at the beginning of season. But they are alive. Like, there's no word. world beater in the whole league.

Forget just the AFC, the league. You can't tell me they can't play with the Rams. They beat the Rams already. And I get it. It was early in the season, but still, they beat the Rams. They can't play with Seattle. They can't play with San Francisco. I mean, Green Bay, now that they're diminished, like,

they can be anybody, whether they do or not, remains to be seen. But they are right there with anybody else in the league. I'm not convinced yet that their issues are. in the past, a thing of the past. I'm not convinced, largely because they faced no resistance this past week. And they probably won't,

until we see them play against the Buffalo Bills, a team that's remaining on their schedule that has something to play for. I'm interested in that. I don't know how, I don't know where they're going to face resistance. They play the commanders twice. That's the game I'm supposed to do.

A couple weeks. So. In Buffalo. Until I see them face resistance again, it's to be in question. And he may be right. I don't, I don't mind.

that he said it. I didn't care that he said it after this game. Well, I also, can I also say something? Yes, like, Jalen, you are correct. No one has forgotten where you came from. But that is a knife that cuts in both

directions. Everyone remembers what a great leader, what a great man, you have been, what a great teammate. They also all remember why you had to leave Alabama and what happened. And that fact that the question surrounding your ability to be a consistent all over the field

passer has followed you at multiple levels of football, which is when we say the Eagles issues, that's one of the leading candidates this year is the tumult in the passing game. And so him invoking that to me was really interesting because, yes, and I remember being on this show saying when he didn't transfer from Alabama, how courageous is an awkward word to use, but how courageous I thought it was, and how mature I thought it was, and what a great teammate he was, all those things.

But also, in that moment, everyone was like, yeah, good call and benching him, though, for Tua because you needed to win that game and because Tua was the better passer. And when he went in the second round, nobody batted an eye, despite his great year at Oklahoma, because people were like, yeah, questions about him as a passer. So the Eagles issues to me are, I know they seem like it's about emotion and a funk and all of these things.

That is window dressing to, if we don't have a consistent running game, our limitations as a passing team really become glaring. And so when, and that to me has been the big issue with their offense this season. So no, I don't think they're behind him, and I don't think the things that Jalen can pull on from his history, fix that. Bruce Ballot next. Wow, Trevor, the Prince? I mean, if we're going, if we're going, let's go all the way. I love the Bruce Ballot music. Yeah.

Prince is back. Lit up the Jets, five touchdown passes, one on the ground. Jets fired their defensive coordinator, Steve Wilkes, after the game. Jags are now 10 in 4, Brew. Seems good. At the top of the AFC South. But was this performance enough for the Prince to play himself on to? A bruise a ballot.

Let's find out. Dan, da-da-dan-dan-dan-dan-da-da-da-da-ton. Ten wins. Then I don't have any other superstars. Six touchdowns. Let me end the suspense. No. Oh, thank you.

It's not MVP of the month. Maybe that. He's been very good his last three games. That's a quarter of the season. All right? But no. Okay. A rule of thumb is you have to, I know,

now hates this stat. But you have to have a pass rating over 90. To at least even be considered. Where did that come from? 90. What's Miles Garrett's? He's been on the thing all here. He's got to be off.

Really? He had a sack and a hat? I want your commentary on this. Number five. He's back on. Jackson Smith and Jiglin. What's his passer rating? He is on pace.

Not to hit 2000 anymore, receiving yards. To edge Julio, Jones for the third most receiving yards in the season. Julio has 1871 in 2015, I believe. He's on pace for like 1872. We'll see if he gets it. But remember, and you brought this up, Nick, Tyreek Hill,

when we were talking about him as MVP a few years ago, he's on pace to beat Tyreek Hills. He had 1790 or something like that. So he's on pace to beat that, so I had to give him some love. And Sam Don, he doesn't have one of the, like, ultra-elie quarterbacks either. And they're 11 and 3 going to make the class. At number four, yeah, Wiles, Miles Garrett.

He needs one and a half sacks in his last three games to break the all-time sack record. Shut down. What is not to love? Well, no, it was a close game. Close game in Chicago. It's all his fault. Well, does he play defense? This guy is one of the greatest defensive players we've ever seen.

Tell me about it, exactly. He's going to have $25. That's why you're buying Danny Parkin's $500 worth of season. He's going to be an immoral. And I don't think you'll get it, but he's seven shy of the all-time tackles for loss record. He's second ever, 32 of it. I don't get wild. All right.

Bruce, Caleb did it. His problem is anything he wanted out there. His problem is anything he wanted. The V and MVP, the valuable portion. Wild, tell me if I'm right, thinks Miles Garrett has been outstanding, but thinks he is by definition not been that. valuable. Well, you tell me the record.

I don't argue with me. I'm trying to help you. The kid's a and JSNN and they're making the playoffs. The bottom of the ballot is like a rich tapestry. I think there's someone you're leaving out. He's about to break a 20-some-odd year record. Yeah, I'm good with it, Brew. Wild taste.

Breaks the record. They lose 31 to 4. At number three. This is, this is interesting. Somewhat controversial. Josh Allen stays at number three. Now he, Wiles, is making a. run at your guy.

That's fair. He's making a run at the whole thing. Yeah. Well, the whole. Look, he is tied with Stafford for most touchdowns this season, 37 now. 12 of them are rushing, 25 of them are passing. He's coming on strong. I don't know if he can catch Stafford for number one, but he might be able to catch Drake

if Drake doesn't pick it up and Island keeps balling. All right, I got Drake still at number two. I know he wasn't awesome last week. He did have two rushing touchdowns and, you know, no pass. You're allowed a dip of a week. Yeah. Yeah, it wasn't terrible. It was a tough game, a tough loss.

And at number one, everybody's All-American. Matthew Stavre, on pace for 45 touchdowns would be his record, personal record. He hit 41 twice. He hit 41 twice, but those years he had 16 and 17 picks. This year he's at 37 with only five picks. That's been the most impressive part. Yeah, he's been a, typically been a volume interception thrower. And this year, he's gotten that under wraps.

Can I take issue with someone who hasn't been on there all year, I don't think. And at this point, no. At this point, we have to be like, oh, this team is still alive for the one seed. Christian McCaffrey. I mean, bro, the stats, though, have to be something. But the stats, listen. He's averaging, I don't think he's average four yards per carry are low. But his overall total yardage is one of the top.

in the league. He is, they won no matter who their quarterback was, they've dealt with all these injuries on defense. Every single game, he is the game plan for them offensively. And they're 10 and 4 with having played

what we thought it was going to be an easy schedule. But it's ended up being a pretty tough schedule. Like I just think... He is, like when you're watching them, the eye test, he's very wildly important. There's no doubt about it. I just do think you have to there has to be some kind of statistic.

But don't you think his catches, like the total yards and the catches, and so. Where are you at on that? I mean, we can give him consideration. I don't think he's talking about. If we're going to do that with the quarterbacks and look at Josh Allen and say it's about passing touchdowns and rushing touchdowns, and you got to do that with Christian McCaffrey,

because the way they've used him this year has been very unique. I'm always about next. Live from New York. It's a show that's on Chris. Paul side, just in general. I don't even know the story, barely no story. I also think Chris Paul could have taken it further. What do you mean?

Taking it further. It's just been like I reject you firing me. I'll be here tomorrow. It's a great thing. I'll be here tomorrow. This is unacceptable. Are you going to like, what are you going to call the cops? You're going to, you're going to call security?

I'm showing up. You know what? You are right. You're not firing me at 11. You're not firing me in the middle. Sleep on it. Yeah. Like,

Pulitzer Hibail, all be at work tomorrow. I have my jersey. And we'll see what happens. Like, like, I just, you know,

it would have went public and everybody would have been on Chris. And Chris would have been like, I'm sorry, I thought they were joking. I'm Chris Paul. You're firing. And we're one of the worst teams in basketball.

You're firing me, and my crime is saying, we should be better. Give me a break. That's a great take. Second hour, first things first today. Steelers win. Are we starting to believe in them in a real way?

In a real way? What would that mean? Well, you know, we just put officially a lot. If we believe in them in a fake way, is that really good? Okay, sometimes it is it officially time to believe in them? We just add the word officially. Officially. We use the word officially more than any other.

It's a good word though. Eh, not a fan. Really trying to just mess with Wilde. Meanwhile, friend of the show, Kyle Van Noy, great patriot, is here to break down. on his interception. And I also bet he agrees with me on the take of the week. He didn't agree with you on Miles Garrett. He loved Garrett being on my ballot.

Yeah, that is true. Well, of course, every defensive guy is going to love other defensive guys. They should get some love. I'm just saying Caleb Williams had the time of his life playing against the Browns. And I don't think that warrants Miles Garrett getting more accolades. Okay. I can't believe you are pushing back. I want Miles Garrett on the Patriots.

We need a pass rush. The Patriots. Of course. We have Cap room and he needs to be on a winning team, team of the century. All they need is a quarterback in cleaning. That's kind of a big thing. They'll be a. Trade him for Drake.

No. Bit of a somber day. It'll be the Browns. It's our first climb since Patrick's injury. Yet the mountain remains and we remain optimistic that he will climb once again. But for now, let's see if Matthew Stafford. retains his spot atop Mahomes Mountain. Indeed, we will.

And you're right, KW. Patrick went a couple years without being anywhere but atop Mahomes Mountain. Really? Yeah, I mean, when he ran away with MVP and they won the Super Bowl, and the next year they won the Super Bowl again, and the next year they went 15 and one,

and they went to the Super Bowl again. We know. We know. Good old days. No, I mean, there were times maybe he dropped because I tried to, you know, spice it up, but everybody knew. This year, he had dropped on his own merit and now he's injured.

So a sad who's not climbing if we reveal it. Patrick, wow. Greg, look at you and me. Our two guys side by side dealing with injury. You won't even look at me. I was trying to empathize. I mean, he was playing with a broken leg. He was playing with a broken leg.

He was playing with a broken leg. Patrick pointed to the banged up knee. Maybe the lesson is don't play hurt. Yeah. Maybe the lesson is, you know what? If you're not feeling it, sit out. But those guys are all, those top six here. All injured.

And then go back to it, please. It gets crazy at the evening. Yeah. And then if we show you the bottom, Gardner Minshu, tough spot. Well, that means he's off the mountain. He's a starting quarterback for my team right now. Kenny Pickett, Shador Sanders, falls off the mountain. and the Jets logo stays off the mountain.

I think there's an issue with Shador being off the mountain. We will address that in a big. Gardner Minchu is going to ball out, dude. Minshu is going to play. I mean, he's bad moments. I'm here to tell you, stay tuned for Nick's picks on Friday. Oh, wow. Because we might have an unprecedented event with the chiefs involving Nick's picks,

but not in the direction they always have. Seven throw. Back on the mountain. Cam Ward, he's on the mountain. I thought he was fine. Bryce drops. Jacobi Resett, Jackson, Darts, stay where they are. Marietta moves back on the mountain.

I got to tell you, I didn't like keeping two on the mountain. I didn't feel great about keeping two on the mountain. But of the people who aren't on the mountain, I didn't know who deserved to spot more intuitive to his stays. And Phil Rivers, because evidently the whole media has made a pack to pretend that game wasn't televised. And so... He almost beat one of the top teams in the league.

He threw the ball 27 times for 120 yards. It was not people are, everyone just patronizes. What do you want to do? He played within himself. I'm not asking people to kill him for it. I am asking, can we not pretend like, man, he was great that two weeks ago he was coaching high school football. I'm aware. He's a grandfather.

I get it. But the cults chose to start him over active NFL play. because they thought they were going to have a better chance to win. They almost won the game. Instead they got the defense, let them down. The defense allowed zero touchdown. The defense came. The defense kept it in the game.

Sixth row. I do Rivers then. I hope Rivers is your contributor. There's only one. Aaron Rogers, here's the deal, Aaron. If you see the rows above you, it was, you were the hardest one to keep off the next row. Because I thought you played really well two weeks ago, is why you moved up.

Thought you played fine last night. You had an argument to move up. I don't know who we could move down on the rows above you, but Rogers, consider yourself fifth row adjacent. Joe Burrow, it hasn't played very well since he came back. Just hasn't. Bake show, mountains fair. I love you, Baker.

It's been six weeks of poor football. It is what it is. It's odd what's happened to bake. Yeah, I think he's going to bounce back and get ready for the playoffs. You know, he's always been a playoff performer, but he's got to get better. Tyler Shuck played well in a huge. Tyler Shuck's performance really helped out Baker.

They're next to each other. J.J. McCarthy, the best game of his career. And Kurt Cousins. Listen, nobody has ever questioned Kurt Cousins' ability to get paid. And as he is pending release this summer, he might have put just enough on film to get one more, one year, $10 million. I think it's on the board.

So shout out. to Kurt Cousins, maybe back in Minnesota. No, you just back up J.J. McCarthy. Fifth row. Lamar moves up. Jalen Hertz moves up. Start with them. Lamar's game was weird.

Drop back 16 times, got sacked four, had an unlucky pick, but the eight passes he did complete were for 150 yards. They won in a route. It never felt good having him on row six to begin with. He moves up. Jalen Hertz,

was 12 of 15. They won in a route. Didn't feel right having him on row six. He moves up. Purdy was just flat out excellent. And he was. Fair is fair. I've always,

I've never said a single thing about Brock Purdy. That's anything of them, totally objective and fair. He moves up. Jared Gough, listen, you could argue flip-flop Rogers and golf. His golf's team lost, but golf's played really well. Like even in the loss.

He was good. Right. He was really good in that game. I didn't feel like I should move him down, or he felt like I should move him up. And Darnold, their inability to score in the red zone and have to pick all those field goals. I didn't think this was one of his better games. He drops just a bit. Roe four.

Watch out now for C.J. Stroud. Are we finally moving past the long, long tail of the lecture that led to the losing? Maybe. He's playing his best football over the last month. and that team looks super dangerous. Caleb Williams coming off, the best game of his career, the best throw of his career. Best game of his career might be too much,

but given the context and given, you know, what they're playing for. Bow Nix definitively, it's the best game of his career. And I understand that Danny is going to be mad at me about this in an hour. I did not think Justin Herbert was awesome this weekend. He was. They had one good drive at the end of the first half. He had one bad pick. He was fine.

That was about the Chargers defense and given the other players that needed to move up, Herbert drops just a bit. But shout out to the young guys and Stroud, Caleb, and Knicks for all seemingly peaking at the right time. I'm not even making a joke. This is the highest Caleb's been since college, right? Or was he high? I mean, he might have started his career. this high. But it's the highest

he's been since the, you know, we've had NFL film of him, for sure. Yeah. No, that's what it is. And some would say, wow, Nick, you had the foresight to put him up here in college. You got that. Row three. Speaking of foresight.

So, DAC and J-Lo, let's stay there. You could argue that Dax, you know, should be dropped because of his play this week, but I don't want to be too reactionary, because over the course of season, he's been better than everyone on the row beneath him. And so, to me, it was enough, similar with Jordan Love, who didn't have a great week

this week, but he's been better over the course of the year. And while we don't want to be reactionary, when one players has been the best player in football for the better part of month, it's coming off a six touchdown game, and they're just blowing people out. And they have, they have 10 wins despite being devastating injuries to the number two pick, his number one receiver part of the year, multiple guys on defense, Trevor Lawrence, Prince, welcome back, my friend. They thought I left.

We never left. You know it. Row two. Now, KW. I know what you're thinking. I think it was fair. No, I know you don't. I do.

Because when Matt Stafford threw a pick and they lost a game, you demanded he dropped. So I know what you're thinking. Nick, how do you keep Drake May where he is? And my answer is, I think his body of work has been good enough that he can sustain one game. You agree with me, right? Stafford had a, he didn't throw just one pick.

that game did he threw two two touchdowns two picks and they lost Drake made through zero touchdowns one pick and they lost but again I think his body of work has been such he gets to stay where he is and of course it's a little anticlimactic atop the mountain for something like the ninth straight week everybody's all-American which used to be thrown around like a jab and now it's a compliment he's good absolutely Matt Stafford who is three weeks away potentially from stamping a Hall of Fame case because the Super Bowl,

the Super Bowl championship plus a league MVP. Does MVP do it without the Super Bowl, the second Super Bowl? Yes, I think so. I think that he is a lot for the Hall of Fame by winning the MVP or by winning a second Super Bowl and he might get both.

But I think Sincerta has Super Bowl, if he gets MVP, he's in the Hall of Fame. Greg Jennings, you love the Mountain. The Mountain is good. It's good. There's a couple issues that I have with the mountain. I do want to mention the Stroud, Caleb, Nix, and Trevor. Those four individuals I thought this past week played great.

Like some of the best football we've seen them play in a long period, a long time. Having said that, I know the mountain isn't left or right. Bo Nix, I would like to move Bo Nix up. To replacing who. To the third row. Trevor Mountain. The Prince being hired in Bow, it's a nice gesture. Like, you talk about all the, who did that?

All the excitement revolving around what Trevor Lawrence has been able to do in the six touchdowns. And it was impressive. It was so impressive. I had to remember, I had to look up, who did they play? Because they had to. Fair point. And then I looked and it was like, ah, they did the Jets. The Jets curve.

And I was like, man. That's true. You know, let me see what Bo Nix did. And I was doing some research because I don't think any of us, probably watched his game. And he played the Packers. Really? Yeah.

He couldn't have, at least not the guy who was in charge of the mountain because the last month of football has been outstanding for Bo. Obviously it's been outstanding for Trevor. But if we look at the totality of the total of the year. Yeah. What do you mean? Let's look at it. Yeah.

Because you talked about, I mean, he's 10 and 4. That's excellent. That's great. Well, you know, Bo. Seamus 12 to 2. 63% completion. I mean, Trevor's probably trying to get to 60. He's not quite there yet.

Completed syndrome, everybody knows that. And you're not including Trevor's running. We're not. We're not. Which if we were, I thought you were going to bring that up. If he's rent, he has 29 touchdowns, 14 turnovers. Yeah, exactly. Bo would have 27 and 10.

Well, then why didn't you put that on there? Because I wasn't going to put the rushing. I just wanted to focus on this. What your argument is, like, they are very similar, but Bo has been slightly better. Bo has been better. And especially if we want to talk about the last month or so. Oh, I don't think you won't do that. You're just going to go?

I mean, I think we do want to do it. Okay. Remember these stats, America? I think we do want to do it. That's great. I didn't know you're going to do this, but you are so cooked for all. No, it's okay, because I know what you're going to do. I know what you're going to go through.

But when you, if I should have added the opponents. Yes. I should have had the appointment, but I didn't. Look at this, 28, 70%, that's good. Absolutely. 280. Now look at Trevor, oh my, 36, 290. Let's look at it.

10 touchdowns, no turnovers. Passer rating, which some people like, 123, first, second, and third and everything. Flip them back and forth, studio. Please. Please tell me. He does, and the efforts were better. Until you identify who they played in those games.

Yes, you're right. What are the point on? You guys played one. Washington, who was the week before this? The Chiefs before that. That wasn't the last three games. The last four game. But this is last three.

You guys played the Raiders, Washington of the Packers. This is the last three. The Raiders. I understand that. But when you go back to where the line of demarcation of where he started to actually, he snatched the heart of Patrick Mahomes. It's all true.

And then he started excelling. Again, I don't want to bash Trevor Lawrence because Trevor Lawrence has been playing great ball. But we have to change the narrative on Bo Nix. He's no longer just a fourth quarter to comeback guy. That's why he's, look at who he's next to Caleb. And he should be above Trevor. Okay, because they've been winning because of what he's been able to do.

Okay. Whether it's been in fourth quarter or for the duration of the game. This past week they won because of him. I will give him credit for that throughout here. That was not the case. Meanwhile, Trevor. Whoa, whoa, whoa. They've been winning because of the defense throughout the year, the course of the year.

If he didn't have the fourth quarter. He's been excellent in fourth quarters, no doubt. It matters. We can't. Of course it matters. I'm giving him credit. I'm saying he hasn't been the driving force. Since the by, the Jags, which is like seven weeks ago for the Jags, they're averaging like 32 points a game.

And can we just one more time just real quick to show Trevor the last three weeks and then I'll go to you, Bru. Because Trevor last three weeks has been quite simply, the best quarterback in football. And again, I'm not, they're scoring 36 a game. He has 10 touchdowns and no turnovers. It's 300 yards game. The Jets, who else they play? No way to tell. But I'm here to tell you they're three and all.

Brew, go ahead. Get Chador on the mountain. Brew. I think just by having the best game of every rookie this season, he should be on the mountain. And he did that. And I know Wilds is going to say it was Tennessee. Tennessee played how many games?

14 games. Yeah. That means they face 10 other quarterbacks or whatever. None of them, Greg, threw for 300 yards, except Chador Sanders in his third start. And that got him on the NFL. And then he played another game. And it should keep him on the mountain. I get it.

Look, Cam, who hasn't been great, has had the benefit of an entire offense being geared toward him. All right. Jackson Dart similar. All the rookies basically have had the offense built around him. Not so for Shador. So I just think that should keep him on the mouth. All right, because he's had the step in there. He's had a lot of things against him.

He's got the worst receiving core in the league. He's got one of the worst. Well, according to PFO, pro football focus, which, you know, they do that. They got him as the worst receiving core in the league. We saw Jerry Judy, Greg, have the ball right here. And the dude just took it from it. It was a touchdown. That was one of his three interceptions.

Chador is also, would you admit, a very nice deep ball thrower? Certainly among the rookies, I'd have to put him up there. But the problem is, best I can tell, that right now that's the only thing he does really well. And I think he's comfortable. I think he had one great game. he has also had two really, really tough games. And I just, I'm not, I, a porous offense.

I'm not, again, it's not like Cam Ward and Jackson Darder dealing with all pros all around him. Tyler Shuck in New Orleans. Not dealing with. Speaking to Tyler Shuck, I got a bonus take. Okay. Can we move Bryce Young up for either Shuck or J.J. McCarthy? I mean, he's got this team in the playoff hunt.

They could make the playoffs for the first time since Cam Newton was in town in 10 years. First time. I get it that they had a bad loss to New Orleans. But, hey, New Orleans is, you know, playing footloose and fancy free. All right. Bryce threw three touchdowns a week ago, Greg, to beat the L.A. Rand. You were really focused on things from.

This is last. It's a rich tapestry. You had me believe in that. Hold on. You just had a graphic for the last three weeks. Both of y'all had graphic for the last three weeks. But it was including. Yeah.

Really? It was including. But you are, you're glossing over what happened most recently. Yeah. Like Tyler Shuck outplayed. I'm just taking everything into consideration. J.J. McCarthy.

We're not going to give Bryce Young any, any credit. This dude's career was hanging by a thread. I wouldn't be using past. I think it's still hanging by a threat. Not his career, maybe, you know, the contract, I wouldn't give him the contract yet, but he's shown that he's an NFL quarterback. And I don't think you can say Tyler Shucks been fine. He's got six touchdowns, five interceptions.

Here's the thing about Bryce. 19 touchdowns nine interception. And 190 yards game. But still, 19 to 9 is better than what Shucks is. J.J. McCarthy's got a 72 pass. J.J. got bumped because he had the best game of his life and outplayed deck. But that's, I'm not actually going to go to the mattresses for J.J. McCarthy. I've been impressed by Tyler Shuck, to be totally fair.

And Bryce to me has got a lot of. I'm pro. I'm the Bryce guy. You don't sound like it. You should be with me last week. KW. Should Bryce be up? They lost that game.

And he was right. They're seven and seven. I don't know. KW. This is the you see how it still says Chador? Brue wasn't even supposed to do this take. No, I'm on this take. KW.

Go. We have to go. No, you, Brut. No, I veto. No, we have to go. No, Brue doesn't get to do two and you get nothing. You did four. That's not fair.

We're going. You get to go. No, we're coming up next. I will bake my Aaron Rogers takes into this. You were going to do Rogers? Yes. Okay. The Steelers a threat in the AFC.

Pause the question to yourself, KW. I'm going to. Just pull. I'm going to. Super Saturday, it's official. NFL double header. Eagles commanders, then it's Packers, taken on the Bears for control of the NFC North.

Pre-game coverage begins at 4 Eastern, only on Fox. Stay safe out there, everybody. Last shopping Saturday for Christmas, playoff double header, or NFL double header. Steelers get to win. Fuddled him. Rogers completed 85% of his passes, second best mark of his whole career. Here he was post game. If we can take care of business,

then we're going to be hosting the game right here. That's why I wanted to come back is to be a part of something special. This is a great organization. We're playing meaningful football games. We're up by a game in a division. A lot left to play for. They're obviously in first place, but officially are the Steelers a threat in the AFC? I mean, I think you have to take them serious. How serious? It's going to depend on Aaron Rogers. and what that offense looks like. Like last night, they were able to move the ball. They looked like an offense that could build on something that we saw a couple weeks ago.

However, when you take into consideration who they played, that just carries weight. It just simply carries weight because you're going to be playing, think about the defenses. This is, think about the defenses that this team is going to have to go up against in the postseason. You got the Broncos potentially. You got obviously the Houston. Texans. You got the Jags are great. The Chargers are been excellent. Like, these are defenses that just can get after you from a quarterbacking standpoint and really mitigate what they have to see offensively that they don't do well. Like the Pittsburgh Steelers, if they push the ball

down the field, which they did a few weeks ago, that's what opens everything up for them. I just don't know if they can hold the ball long enough to do those types of things. So are they a threat? defensively because they can turn you over, possibly. I don't believe it. I just don't believe it. Listen, to your point about who they played, they're one and four this year

against playoff teams. The one win. We turned the ball for five times. Yeah, the Patriot was an anomalous game. It was a fair way to put it. The Patriots turned the ball over as well. It said five times once going into the end zone, another time right by the end zone. That's their one win. Now, you give them credit for that, but

But that doesn't feel sustainable. To the point you're making, it feels to me like any team they play in the AFC playoffs is either going to have a much better defense than they have or a much better quarterback. So the two teams that I think don't have a much better defense than Pittsburgh are New England and Buffalo. But they have a much better quarterback than Pittsburgh. Sure. You know, is the way I view it. So I think it's an uphill battle.

To Aaron's point about having a home playoff game, I think that does matter. But I also think that this, because it's Aaron Rogers and because particularly two weeks ago, but even a couple moments yesterday, you see him throw a pass and you're like, man, it could have been Greg Jennings on the other end of that pass. It looks like him from 15 years ago. It's a hard player to quit when they're rolling and when they're winning. But right now, to me, it feels like somehow Mike Tomlin has once again found a way to make sure his team is exactly the 15th best team in the NFL. The eight NFC playoff teams plus Detroit are better than them.

The six AFC teams that are going to make the playoffs are better than them, with the possible exception being the Chargers, because of what the Chargers are dealing with injury-wise, which puts them at 14 or 15. So I don't think they're a threat. And brew, I'd take it a step further. I think they are the team that every wild card team will be hoping to draw in round one. If the options are Denver, New England, Jacksonville, which again, people are going to make fun of Jacksonville. Jacksonville's rolling and I think right now feels more dangerous. Or Pittsburgh.

Like, to me, that's the team that, and if Jacksonville stumbles, then Houston takes their spot and certainly you don't want to play Houston. I agree with you guys. So let me take it to a positive because I think this is the Steelers we always see at least the last several years. You know, pretty good team,

tough, they're going to play you tough, but doubtful they'll win a playoff game. Here's the caveat, though. Look at the field. This is not a field like last season. When you had Baltimore and you had Kansas City and you had Buffalo. Like outside of Josh Allen,

Bo Nix was just okay last year, if that, right? We don't know what Bo Nix is going to do in the playoffs. Drake May, as great as he's been, we don't know what he's going to do in the playoffs. Trevor Lawrence, five touchdowns,

five picks in his two playoff games. Justin Herbert has been bad in the playoffs. Like, I'm just throwing that out there. I don't expect Pittsburgh to win playoff game, but if Aaron Rogers can turn back the clock a little bit, then I guess it's possible and if that defense plays well. And so I just think this field really makes it interesting where maybe this could be a year

where the Steelers get one playoff. Can I add a little context to that defense? Because I think the narrative around Rogers was similar to the Jets narrative around Rogers, come in, play adequate. The defense will carry you. Don't do anything silly. Get us some touchdowns. Don't turn the ball over.

And we'll be a defensive lead team. Dustin, you grab, I don't know if you have this graphic from the A block. Steelers ranks this season. I'll just read them off. Rushing yards are 28th. Yards per rush 27th. Opponents points are 18th. And opponent's yards are 28th, which is the worst ever under Mike Collin.

Rogers has been doing more than his fair share here, or at least the narrative changed that he was just going to have to come in and sort of, you know. Well, yeah. His numbers are actually pretty close to what they were last. And and listen, and they did last night without TJ. We don't know when he's going to be back because he got, you know, a punctured

lung through dry needling, which is something we all had to learn about over the last week. I, can I, let me ask you this, KW, and paint us if you would. The, because right now, I understand right now the chargers

are the five seed. I think most projections have the bills climbing to that. And you have been notable in that there are ways to beat the bills. Yes. Paint the scenario to a Bill Steelers

playoff game in Pittsburgh that the Steelers get the upper hand in. I'm actually just on the... I mean, if they run the ball and gash the bills and then they get... They'll have a great run. And James Cook, but then James Cook can just gash them. So that's not the matchup that they

would want in your opinion. No. No. The, to me, that would be their worst match. Do you, the, I think that, so, I think that the only way my opinion drastically changes about the Steelers is, and this is going to sound like the easiest take ever, but I, there's real logic behind it, is if they keep winning, and that's not because, oh, they winning, they're better,

I think that you have to have a feeling great about everything involved, Aaron Rogers, to have a chance. And if they get in, if they get in just because, like, if they get blasted by Detroit, but then beat Cleveland, but Baltimore has lost to New England and Green Bay, they'll be in. That Steelers team, to me, is not that dangerous, like one that backs into the playoffs, makes it by default.

But if they can go into the playoffs, having played really well down the stretch, and Rogers, like, I'm going to prove, chip on his shoulder and prove people wrong. If they get the right first round matchup, then, you know, then maybe it's a scenario. You get Justin Herbert at home, and then all of a sudden, Bo Nix is staring across the field.

Like, that's Aaron Rogers. Maybe, but it's hard to believe. Kyle Van Nuoy joins us next. Who, of course, is going to prevent Aaron Rogers from making the playoffs. That's right. Welcome back to First Things First. We are here now with Patriot great Kyle Van Noy,

who currently is on the Ravens, perhaps temporarily. Ravens beat the Bengals to get to 500. Highlight of the game was the pick six assist. Brew is trying to rebrand the pick six assist since the toy thing that he did, bricked and you hated it. So now he's got something new. Well, Kyle, I love that play. No, no.

A lot of pressure. I love the unselfishness of that play. That's what you want in a winning team. So I know you didn't like the toy toss that transformed the tacklers. All right. I've discarded them myself. All right. What about the relay?

Relay. You that resulted in the Ravens resurgence. Because I thought that's what that play was. You were already up. He likes it. Well, I say they're up in the game. Better. Better.

Better. We're getting warmer. We're getting warmer. Right? But no, take us through that play. And what you're thinking. Are you thinking, man, about going for it and then, or take us through it? Yeah, I mean, I'll just say this. I'm always about winning, whatever it takes. That's always been my mindset ever since I was a young jet for all those kids out there that like talking slang. That's just how I roll. I'm always forever.

about winning. It doesn't matter if it's tick-tac-toe. It doesn't matter if it's team game or individual game. It's all about winning. And I feel like that kind of epitomizes that play epitomizes who we are as a team because it takes a group effort. Tavius Robinson, I do my job of getting the attention to the guard and then Tavius Robinson sneaks behind the guard to get pressure in Burroughs face. I get to my drop. The ball comes straight to me. And then I realize like, hey, you know, let's make a little business decision right quick, you know. Let's take the IQ on another level. I see I got a faster guy behind me at Alohi, and I'm like, you know what? You take this.

You got it. And it was an awesome play. It's awesome to see how big the play has gotten. It's cool. I mean, Usain Bolt liked one of my social media posts because of the baton thing. I thought that was dope. He needs to follow me. but the baton thing, the whole race, you know, I loved it.

And I loved that, you know, what it brought to the team and eventually closed out the game and won. But all in all, you guys said it in the beginning when you talked about me being, you know, Patriots and all that. That's our mindset. We're focused on the Patriots. We really are. We're excited to get back home Sunday night football. Honestly, we haven't played our best ball at home this year.

And we're in front of the lights in front of the crowd of Baltimore at M&T Bank Stadium. And we need to put on a show for people to get excited about. We need to play a game that everybody is, you know, it's electric because the crowd's going to be ready to go. We need to play electric. We're excited for the opportunity to do that. And we're excited at the opportunity on Monday to hear what Brews got to say. That's right. I'm excited too.

I got the robe right here ready. So we'll get to that. We don't need to see it. Put it back down. We'll get to that later. Let me ask you this, though. As observers on the outside and even people that aren't Ravens fans like me, they're looking at it and saying, man, they got the Patriots and the Packers.

It's a tough schedule and all that. How do you guys look at it? You talked about the Patriots, but obviously they're a top team right now. Does it matter to you guys? Do you look at the level of opponent or anything? or you just like, it don't matter who, we got to win. Yeah, I think you just said it at the end. You got to win.

We got to win every single game to get ourselves a chance to make these playoffs. We put ourselves in a hole. But at the end of the day, if you could go back when we are one in five and say, hey, you guys are going to control your destiny in December, I think you would sign up for that. And so we're in control of that. And by doing that, we got to focus on this week with a one and no mentality. against a very, very good team.

I heard you guys talking about them earlier about how maybe they weren't necessarily somebody you could see because Drake May's got a question mark. He's playing at an MVP level. Thank you. Doing really, really well. So we got a tall task, and we're excited for the challenge. We just want to keep playing complimentary football

and take what we did on the football field last weekend in Cincinnati and put it at home in Baltimore. to get this thing popping. Kyle, I was ridiculed for this take after the Patriots lost to the bills, okay? And I understand, I understand we want to win every game, right? You want to go 20 and O.

Yes, you do. I got killed because I said, you know what? Maybe that wasn't the worst thing in the world. Maybe the Patriots losing to the bills, sharpens the sword a little bit, refocuses the team. Love blowing a 21 point lead to lock it in the division. on the Ravens. Well, when you see it, do you think there'll be extra locked in?

Well, I don't know. So is there anything? No, I got to get myself to a yes. Aren't there times in your career where you learn from a loss? I mean, you can say winning's a lesson, too. That's what I'm talking about. No one says that. Yeah, yeah.

You can say winning's a lesson just like losing is kind of a lesson, but not really. No, and all in all, I think depending on where you're at in the season. So I believe both sides are right. You know, they're in a season where they have a lot of wins on their hands and, you know, don't have many losses. So they could use that as fuel. But you want to win every game. That's just the mindset.

You want to go like Bruce at 20 and 0. You really do. Exactly. That's really the magic you want to go for. And we know they're going to come in pissed off. They lost at home for a hat and T-shirt game. That's tough. That's a tough pill to swallow.

And they're going to come in ready. I know the offensive coordinator really, really well with McDaniels. He's going to come in trying to get back to what they do well, which is running the ball. What do you mean by that really, really well? What are you trying to say that really, really well? threw me off. What do you mean? Spent a lot of time with them.

I know. That's what I'm nervous about. Oh, well, yeah. Hopefully, Kyle's, you know. Well, you know what? Josh knows you really, really well. Okay. He doesn't know this Kyle, but he doesn't know this Kyle.

So I obviously only know this Kyle through these interviews and watching football, but I feel like I have an idea of who you are. See, I know who you are. Well, you would think, but I am confused by something because I thought we had something in common. which is I would have said I've never had a real job. I went from shoe salesman to door to door to steak salesman

to talking about sports. That's all I've ever done. And because of that, I've never had a real resume and I've never had a LinkedIn. Like, hey, Kyle Van Noy, been an awesome football player's whole life. Why would he need a LinkedIn?

And then I see Kyle Van Nuoy posting inspirational messages on LinkedIn. Like, Your Monday reminder, we win is one. Kyle Van Nuoy resume, two-time Super Bowl champion pro bowler. So here's my question. Why are you on LinkedIn, bro?

Like, what are you doing there? You know, I love LinkedIn. I've made a lot of good relationships on LinkedIn. Shout out LinkedIn. If those aren't involved, you should get involved. It's an amazing platform. You get to really meet amazing entrepreneurs, CEOs, of businesses, all types of people.

And it's been amazing for me. And I feel like this year we dove into it. I dove into it. And I was just like, you know what, this is important to me. It's important to see where this goes. I've actually had a real job, Nick. I used to work at Vivint, a top security company out of Salt Lake City, Utah, actually down in Provo, Utah, close to where I went to school.

I actually worked data entry in there. I used to answer phone calls, people know, hey, your security, you are safe, all that good stuff. So I've actually had a real job. Sounds like a bummer. We're not friends in that regard, though, you've never had a real job.

Well, listen, I've had a hard job. I sold steak door to door, and knocked on people's doors, but I just, I didn't, I didn't consider that a real job. It was kind of just a hustle. The question is, how many doors, how many sales did you make? Oh, I made, listen, I was one of the top sales,

but I rent the truck. Not me. I made a lot of sales. No, it's, okay. I was a great salesman, but then I wrecked the truck. I had to pay for a lawyer. It's a long story. I was a kid.

Talk about it later. Not just stakes you door to door, if you know what I mean. Anyways, thanks, thanks for noticing LinkedIn, though. I appreciate it. Oh, yeah. That was a great message, too. You'll have another one this weekend after this big win. I believe in you.

That's right. I need to see you hyped on Monday, baby. I need to see you hype. All right. I'm ready. And we know who it is not so hype. Yeah, this guy. We got to mention it.

But it'll be fine. Oh, you're talking about me? Absolutely. That's eliminated. Yeah, I understand. My team got eliminated. I hope you guys can make the playoffs and get in and take advantage of it. You did say something that I do think needs a lot of credit because the last seven years,

you put that seven years up against anybody. It's very impressive. Thank you. I do respect them and what they. they've been doing. But, you know, oh well, sorry about it. Best of luck. Don't play too well. But I have the, all now, guys.

Yeah, I really love to. Thank you. Oh, I feel good. After that one, who. Stop it, bro. You know what this is. No, he's trying to bring back the mannequin challenge. Buddy, this is not a recipe for success.

I love it. No, they, no, people. You know what you should bring back? You know what you should bring back? Trying to climb those milk cartons. The Duggy is back. No, that's fine. Challenge is back.

And climb. First thing's first overtime. Today. Do the bills come back? Put them at top of top 10 Tuesday. We discussed. Meanwhile, can Justin Herbert carry the chargers deep into the playoffs? People are asking.

Perhaps. But right now, of course. We're headed to Pittsburgh and I need a lozenge. You talked about that earlier, buddy. I know, I didn't get a lozenge. This poor guy is getting sick. He's fallen down. I fell down.

Wilds fell down. They fell down in the snow. Are you okay? No, he's not. Wow. He hit his head and thought the mannequin challenge was a good idea. I'll tell you, that's when I started. I was on the ground.

Dolphins eliminated, mathematically eliminated. Aaron finding MBS for one of his two touchdowns on the night. MvS throwing a compliment. Aaron's way. Listen to this. Obviously, I think he's the best quarterback to ever play this game. You know, so, you know, no matter if he's 65 years old or not, like, he can still, you know, spin the ball and, you know, he's always playing chess with the defense and getting guys into the spots that are going to get him open.

And, you know, I'm honored to be on his team again. It's very nice. What statement did Rogers send to the league? Is it very nice if he calls him 65? years old? I think he was saying even when he's 65. Even when he'll be able to do. Then it's very nice. I think they sent a statement, but like a very specific qualified one, which is, while I do not expect the Pittsburgh Steelers to win a playoff game, they can win exactly one playoff game against a very specific opponent. And I know it's a lot of qualifiers,

but I'll make the case. Aaron Rogers was good last night. And at, times he has been good, but he has been good against a very specific profile of past defense, namely bad ones. Like if he plays a bad past defense, he can look pretty good. We did the splits on Aaron Rogers against top 10 past defenses and against everybody else. When he's playing the bills, the chargers, the Packers, those teams there that you see at the bottom, yeah, they have a couple of wins, but it's against teams with bad quarterbacks and the numbers that he puts up are really bad. When they play middle of the road or below average pass defenses, he has been excellent this season.

The problem for them is the AFC is wide open, but the teams that they would face potentially in that 5-4 game are very difficult past defenses. The chargers right now are the third-ranked past defense in the NFL. The Texans are fourth. The bills are second. We just saw them lose 26-7. to the bills. They lost 25 to 10 to the Chargers. And I know you wouldn't pick this to happen, but in a world where Houston wins out and Jacksonville loses one down the stretch, and Jacksonville falls into that 5-4, Jacksonville's past defense is getable. It's like the thing

on their team that is a weakness. And I wonder if like Trevor going to Pittsburgh. But so you're saying in order for them to break their playoff drought, A million things have to happen. And again, I'm not impressed with Pittsburgh in their totality this year, but Rogers has been better than a lot of people expected. It's been better than I thought. Rogers has played. In specific matchups.

Well, and I don't know where the Ravens rank right now past the – now I know overall it's probably not that high, but a lot of that's because of the beginning of the year. He played – maybe his best game of the year was against the Ravens a few weeks ago. So, like I said, they're probably mid- They're 26th right now based on the yards. Yeah, because of the first five or six. Yeah, but you're right.

That's why I'm wondering with the resurgence. But look, I don't think the Steelers proved anything. I mean, it was a good win they had to get. I was hoping Miami could beat them. I thought they had a shot because they had one four straight, but again, two in cold weather. It was a long shot at that. But I think the Steelers, their only hope,

you brought up a good point about Rogers. Their hope is that. The playoff field in the AFC this year isn't what it has been in the past, period. The Chiefs were won, but the bills, I don't think this Bills team, even though it might be the one that gets to the Super Bowl, is as good as some of the previous ones. Baltimore may not be in the field. If the Steelers get in, then Baltimore is not. Right, right, right, exactly.

So there's no Lamar there you have to beat. And Danny, I know you don't want to hear it, but if I'm the Steelers and they get in, I certainly don't want Buffalo in round one. No. I want your Chargers. Now, Jacksonville wouldn't be bad either, but I want your Chargers. I mean, charges beat them pretty thoroughly, and the Chargers have the number one opponent, pass, or rating defense in the NFL.

Yeah, it's great. Chargers have all these great defensive characteristics for a team that's carried by their quarterback. But I, that's either here. Great quarterback and great defense. Could go on a run. That's neither here nor there. I think the statement Rogers and the Steelers sent to the, the league was one of relief for the rest of the league because it looks like they're going to

make the playoffs and the Ravens are not. The Ravens are definitely scarier. Right. And so here's the thing. And this is where maybe this is an unfair way to look at football, but I just think all of football history backs me up on it, so I'm fine with it. The fact that the Steelers all year long have been marginally, but better than Baltimore, does not offset the fact that the Ravens have a future first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback in the prime of his career,

which makes their ceiling just higher, even though Lamar's biggest issue has been the postseason, even though the coach is on the hot seat, even though this is the worst Ravens team, maybe of Lamar's career, honestly, not maybe. It almost assuredly is, I still think every other team that, you know, makes the playoffs, and it's like, we're trying to win this. We think we win the Super Bowl. It should be everybody. If it's like, hey, would you rather have one of the other 14 teams be Baltimore or Pittsburgh? They're going to say Pittsburgh. Take that the Lamar goes red hot for a month X factor.

Take that piece off the chess board. And I do mention Derek Henry and the run. Sure. And I do think the Steelers have been just good enough to where they are going to run out the clock on Baltimore. Like right now, they are a game up. there's three games left. So if they have, if they fit over the next two games, have a one game better record than Baltimore over the next two games,

then Week 18 won't matter. And I think that is for the Steelers, the other piece of the recipe is be able to give your old quarterback a buy. So I actually, like that's the other thing that could make them scary, briefly temporarily scary, is if they get to, rest in week 18. You know what I mean? And they get to set everything up, get

T.J. Watt back for that playoff game. When T.J., I think, from what I've read about, the Collapse Lung thing, it takes some time to get back from that. And so I don't think there's a great team, and I don't think Aaron is some great vibes guy, except when everything's

rolling and he's happy. Well, the vibe, I mean, the MVS quote seems like the... Well, NBS has always... I know, but the vibes are high there. their vibes with his, you know, cast-offs, quote. I mean, what a quote. He was trying to be kind. Or was it?

Remember, I think he was. He might have been thrown out there. Look at what I'm getting to the playoffs. If someone's going to have to be the Aaron Rogers guy on the show, I'm willing to, I'm willing to take it off. He's been throwing the ball downfield the last couple of games. More so two weeks ago than last night. If that era Rogers, five attempts, it's a second. It's a second.

really dangerous. He completes 85% of his passes. It wasn't just good. It's the second highest completion percentage of his entire career. He had a good season. He went from those three games and two of the teams you mentioned against the Chargers, Bengals, and Buffalo. He completed 35 total passes in those three games. And then these last two games at Baltimore, Miami, he's out here cooking. So if he can keep it going, I'm waiting for the sort of the media narrative shift to turn on Rogers. I do think that's part of it, that there is more support for old man Philip Rivers coming back than old man Aaron Rogers like really because two weeks ago he was throwing teammates under the bus again two weeks ago it felt like right before that Baltimore game

it felt like Tom was on the hot seat and it was same old Aaron to be fair I think that is one of those those things and maybe it's confirmation bias but when you send out a throw a bomb at your teammates and you come back and beat the Ravens and then beat the Dolphins soundly I don't think it's fair to be like, ah, that turns from throwing your teammates under your bus to motivating them. Yeah, my guess is that that did not land in the locker room like it landed for us. I think they probably took it as the results. I mean, maybe it's, hey, the results are what they are. So he still had the birthday party, didn't he?

Yeah, they bought a decorated cake. I also just, I don't know that the narrative is going to switch between now and the playoffs. I just think the other teams are more compelling. I think they're actually perceived as more dangerous. Pittsburgh's going, if they make the playoffs, they're going to be an underdog. See, against whoever they play. I disagree with you. With T.J.

I think that, I think that. I know you don't agree with me on the charges. If they, or for the record, and I like the Jags, but I think they will be a home favorite if they play the Jags, if they play the Chargers. And they might be a home favorite if they play the Texans. And so... Empty the accounts game. The, I mean, that's, I mean, I'm just, I can say, the, I, the, the, these team, so the, the chargers and Texans just don't score a lot of points. And so now you're going to be in, what you would think is a low scoring possession game with the far more experienced quarterback.

And the jag, listen, I like the Jags and the Jags have been super explosive of late, but the Jags have not. earned your trust over a long period of time. And Danny Herbert has struggled in the play. You have to admit that. We'll see. No, I just, I think that you are overstating how much the public would be against a 10 and 7 home playoff games started by Aaron Rogers. Like, I don't think they'll be, I think they'd be underdogs against certain teams and maybe

Houston, but I don't think they'd be underdogs against the Jags or Texans. All right, well, the Eagles had lost three in a row before putting 31 up on the Raiders. So wasn't enough to get the champs back into top 10 Tuesday. Let's find out with Danny's top 10 Tuesday. Wild it was not. You can only do 10 teams in your top 10. But welcome to the Jacksonville Jaguars. People say, oh, wow, they beat the Jets, six touchdowns.

And honestly, I felt that way. When you dig a little bit deeper, though, into the numbers. Trivia question, Nick. Who's the team in the NFL that is the most games where they've scored 20? 25 points or more. I think the Jags with 11. It's shockingly, the Jags of 11. Always looking at my paper.

That's how he wins trivia on me every week. Gianna, we have to audit it. More games where they've scored more than 25 than the bills, Packers, Rams, and Patriots, your guy Trevor Lawrence, although you abandon him. So to be clear, I'm just curious. Last week, they led the league in this category. Oh, that is correct.

Okay, when I begged you to put the Jags on the there. Thanks for listening. I listen. Yeah, thanks. I take notes. job by Liam Cohen this year. Coming in at number nine, the Los Angeles Chargers. Yes, they lost to them heads up. I understand that. But it's the totality. It's the impressiveness of the wins. When the Cowboys beat the Chiefs and the Eagles, oh my God,

how dangerous are they? Are they a top 10 team? Well, the Chargers have done that now in back-to-back weeks. And they have, like I said, not only the best opponent passerating defense this year, best opponent passerating defense in the NFL since 2021. Their defense has been spectacular. Coming in. Yeah. I don't. No, Justin Herbert, getting help by his defense. Nick, we can talk about it. Coming in to number eight, I kept him in, the Green Bay Packers. Sure.

Jordan Love is playing great. I don't enjoy saying it. It's just true. He looks awesome. He had two interceptions, one, a spectacular play by Curtan, maybe a touch underthrown, the other, off his receiver's hands, maybe a touch behind him. But for a month or more, Packers fans would tell me all year,

he's been playing great. Losing Micah Parsons, devastating, waiting to see about the Zach He's their best offensive lineman. That injury update is going to be huge. Coming into number seven, the Houston Texans. The Texans defense, they're the best in football. 13 of 14 games this year, they've held their opponent below their opponent's scoring average. So if you average 20, you play the Texans, you're scoring less than that. And C.J. Stroud, last couple of games, he's been better. He looked really good against Arizona. Coming in to number six, Wild's his New England Patriots. I'm not going to drop you that much for losing to the

bills, but your defense did allow the most points, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, third conversions and red zone touchdowns of the season against the bills. So a little bit alarming for the Patriots defense as we get ready for the postseason. Coming in at number five, the Denver Broncos. I said yesterday that win against Green Bay was impressive and I have to include them in the group of teams that can win a Super Bowl. I'm not picking them to win a Super Bowl, but they can do it. There are three to one favorite to be the one seat in the AFC. Three facts for you on the Denver Broncos because it's a pretty good formula. They held Jordan Love to his worst passer rating of the season. Pretty impressive given how he'd been playing leading into that. And obviously that was helped by those two interceptions that I mentioned. Ten of their 14 opponents have been held to a pass rating below 80. So your quarterback is going to have a bad game when you play the Denver Broncos. But what about the offense?

Since their by week, they're averaging 28 points per game. And that was Bo Nix's arguably best game of his season this last week. That's a pretty good formula. quarterback is peaking at the right time and the opponent's quarterback is going to be worse. Coming in at number four, my Chicago Bears, there are a lot of stats that I could choose from today, gentlemen, about the rushing, about the takeaways, about the fourth quarter, about the coaching. But I just decided communal. Let's watch the throw to DJ Moore one more time.

Okay. Yeah, let's just throw. It's a great throw. It's a great play. Who in the NFL can make this play other than Caleb Williams? And you're thinking, could it be Herbert? Would it be Josh Allen? We're not thinking could it be. Joe Montana is who you were thinking of. I mean, it does look,

it does look a lot like that throw. I will give you that. What's the bigger play, do you think? The game winning one in the NFC championship game with the Cowboys or that play against the Browns? Wasn't cold there. The, it, I think it, it looks cold. It looked a little cold. Montana was a game in January.

January. It was not ill, it was not that cold. It was not that cold. It was not that cold. Nine degrees. No, no, it was not. Good point, Wild. It's coming in at number three. The Buffalo Bills. My preseason pick to win the Super Bowl. Josh Allen, my preseason pick to be MVP. Very trendy. Nobody thinks he's the MVP. Nobody thinks he's the MVP. That's starting to percolate. It's starting to finish top three. He's trending up. Yeah.

He's trending up. And by the end of the season, we'll see if he gets to where I had him. He's not good. Nobody thinks he's been better than Stafford. Stafford's got to fall off. Okay. I agree if I had a vote and I should, Stafford would get it. But I will say this, the bills and Josh Allen. Best second half team in football can never count them out this year. Number one across the board, Josh Allen after halftime this year. And I like that one at the bottom. Most second half points for any team since Peyton's Broncos. It's shocking. They have been dominant after halftime.

You know what I wonder, Danny, if maybe we'll do it later this week, if they're a cold first half team. Like they were cold against the Patriots. They have some slow starts. It's weird. It's like great in the second half. I play with their food a little bit. I think it's less, if I made just for a moment.

Sure. I wonder if it's less than that and more. They, because you showed, one of you guys showed the stat yesterday. Five games this year, they've trailed by double digits. They're three and two in those five. Four and one. Oh, okay. Oh, no, I did the one on where they allowed 30, my bad.

It's three and two. I remember. It was four and one. And I think they unleashed Josh. I think it's that. And I know sometimes that. Especially when you're down. Right, that's what I'm saying.

I think the second hat, like they have a plan going into a game. We're going to run James Hook. We're going to be conserved. We're going to do these things. Then it's like, gosh darn it. Just press the Josh Allen button a bunch and see what happens. Defense gets better. Yeah.

And so I think that's part of it. Go ahead. Coming in number two, we'll see them Thursday night. The Seattle Seahawks. What do we say about week one on this show? We don't even talk about it. We don't even count it. Well, in week one, the Seahawks got outgained by the Niners.

They've outgained their opponent every week since. I can't believe they're two. Every week since. Well, the team they're playing Thursday night. Ridiculous. Coming into number one, the Los Angeles Rams, MVP favorite, Super Bowl caliber coach, just held the Lions to 70 yards rushing on three and a half yards per carry. What can't they do?

In the last eight weeks, they're the leading scoring team in the NFL. Second closest, five points per game less. They are just bludgeoning. Why can you not believe Seattle's two? Because they saw him barely beat Philip Rivers. Oh, okay, got you. All right, I didn't know. I didn't know.

I didn't know. I'm not docking him for a win. They've been great all year. I think. Perfect top 10, Berth? No. Okay. I'm with Wilds.

No way Seattle should be number two. And I think they're a good team. Don't get me wrong. Oh, thank you. But I can't put them at number two. I can't put them at number two. And I think Nick will agree with me, grudgingly, when your quarterback is a huge question mark in big games. And they beat Indie.

but that was a big game. They couldn't score. Why was that a big game? Because it was... They were 14-point favorites. That was the opposite of a big game. You were facing a team that's had a good season, a team that is fighting for its playoff life,

and Philip Rivers coming back. It was a big game. And Darnel couldn't push the ball into the end zone. And Danny, I hate to show you this graphic. Uh-oh. But here it is. Sam Darnold versus winning teams and lose teams 500 or worse.

Look at that difference. There's a 30-point difference in his passer rating, doesn't throw as accurately, touchdown the interception ratio is frightening, and his yards per attempt drops. I'm just saying, yeah, they're going to make the playoffs and that's cute, but when they have to play in these big games,

do you definitely try? Like Bo Nicks, Caleb, we don't know what they're going to do in the playoffs. We haven't seen them be good or bad most of them. Well, Bo, we saw one game. Be okay, right. But Darnold, we've seen struggle in some of these big games. No question.

I think it's totally reasonable for people to have a difference of opinion on the game they played against the Rams. Because Donald was awful. He had four interceptions. But they almost won, which tells me how good the rest of the team is. So they're just going to win despite him throughout the playoffs? Well, no, let's see what happens Thursday. I'm not saying they shouldn't be on the list,

but I just think Bufferner. I'm definitely So you don't think they can win tomorrow night? If they win tomorrow night, they have a closing of the best. Well, I'm not as high on the Rams as you guys are. I think they're a good team.

Then who's who you high on? Nobody. Nobody. There's no one. There's been saying it all there. You could put Buffalo at number one, Denver with the way Bo Nix is playing. You could.

They just win in your house. But I feel like if he put Denver at one, you'd be like, I'm not that high on Denver. Like, maybe nobody's good. I just think Seattle. Take us home on top 10 Tuesday. Okay.

Perfect list. So here, it could have been. Honestly, it could have been. But the idea that the Chargers are better. There are two teams off this list that are not as good as the, that are better than Chargers. The Niners who have just been excellent all year. They actually, they've played in the toughest division.

They're still alive for the one seed. They've dealt with quarterback injury, massive injuries. They just keep winning game. Their offense playing, one of its coming off, one of its best games of the year. And the Eagles, I believe, I are, have an argument that they are better than the Chargers. Now, they didn't play. You are right. And I'm glad you care about that stuff.

When it fits my argument. Because the Chargers played the Eagles. Yeah. And it was so close after regulation that the reps were like, you know what? Let's play 10 more minutes and see how it goes. They had a whole other extra mini game to be played. They invented an over time for that game. ended up being three points down to the wire.

And yet, but the Chargers won. And then there's the Jags, who of course have the same record as the Chargers, except when they play, they blasted them. They did. The Jags who are playing their best ball of the year, the Jags who have been, to your point, the most reliable offense amazingly

in football this season, but you don't like them because you think this is actually a Herbert versus Trevor Lawrence thing. So let's see who's playing. better. Oh, since they play. Well, I don't know.

Trevor's been maybe the best quarterback in the league since they played. One guy had hand surgery. Okay, you know what? Was it his throwing hand? No. No, it wasn't. And he didn't have hand surgery

right after this game. And again, since they played, we're going into week 16. This is week 11. Yes, Herbert's team has been winning, not as much as the Jags. They can't score 20. He's not throwing for

175 yards. His pass rating is 75. Now, I'm not killing him for it because I understand the circumstances. But your argument can't be, well, they have the same resume, but I trust one quarterback so much more than the other when the other quarterback is playing his best ball of the year and one quarterback, maybe because of injury, he's playing his worst ball of the year. How are the Chargers still this eye? Well, I just told you that their defense is the best opponent passer rating defense since 2021. I didn't even mention Justin Herbert. You're the guy obsessed with Herbert over here. The whole argument for him,

there's the Jags, Niners, and Eagles are all better in the Chargers. Everybody knows it. Eagles, the Eagles. Beat the Eagles. I understand that. I really want Chargers, Jaguars in the playoffs. No, you don't. You thought he wanted that a few years ago.

And then Herbert blew up 27 point lead. I want it. Coming up next. 24 point? Was it 20? Yes. What's next for Patrick Mahomes? Just had surgery.

What is he expected back? And what is it going to look like? That's next on first and first overtime. Welcome back. We got Greg Jennings and Willie Colon out here. Patrick Mahomes underwent surgery yesterday. It was the ACL and the LCL that needed to be repaired against that injury, of course, against the Chargers. Tom Brady, he's torn his ACL also in year eight, gave some advice on his Let's Go podcast. Take a listen. The faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that, you know, you love. I think sometimes people will pace themselves.

Instead of training mode, they're in rehab mode. I think you've got to get through rehab mode as fast as possible. And then you get back to training mode. But that requires an all-out commitment. And it's the same commitment that the great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. When you go through rehab process, you need that same level of focus and determination. All right, guys, you guys have both played. You both have had injuries.

You both have recovered from injuries to continue playing. Willie, your reaction. Yeah, I think Tom Brady is just a different dog and a different style of player. You know, Patrick's game is being mobile, improv, you know, having those off-platform throws where he can extend plays. For me, when I think about it, I think his comeback is going to be a difficult one because he's going to have to become now more of a point guard, a guy who sits in the pocket and distributes the football. And you also, they're going to have to shore up that protection. You know, he was sacked 13 times in his last four games. And I think some of that was because of him, you know, him just sitting there holding on it, holding on and holding it onto the ball.

He's going to have to be more decisive and quicker with the football in his hand. And I just don't know if the Chiefs can protect Patrick Mahomes from Patrick Mahomes. That's going to be the biggest task because he is one of those guys that thrives in chaos. I don't know if he's going to be that guy coming off a gimpy leg. So we're kind of in lockstep. And I think one of the ways that the Chiefs can protect him is if you establish and get him a running game. Because to your point, I believe he's going to become more of a pocket present guy where he, he's just settled more in the pocket.

This is not to say that he can't and has not shown that he can throw from the pocket. I was going to say he's pretty great at both. He is. But the magic that Willie and I are losing, that comes from him extending the players and being outside of the pocket and impacting the game in that regard. But when you're coming back off an injury like that, I've had an MCL injury.

I've had a couple, not major major injuries, but you just don't trust anything with the knee, you just don't truly trust it out the gate. And so the less you will have to be, the less you are asked to do, the better until you get to the point where you feel like you just react. And it's like, oh, shoot, I did it.

That magic kind of happened. It's not that he doesn't believe he can do it. It's a matter of trusting his body to do those things. But I think he's going to be more of a pocket guy, which is dangerous for the NFL if he just starts to die. From a scheme standpoint, they're going to have to live in a heavier 12 personnel, right? The two tight-ins, one one back, one receiver, where there's a kid short to protection. Because I think what me and Greg is trying to allude to, as a ball player, when you, like, listen, I came off in Achilles.

And one of the things I didn't have to do was coming in out of bricks. That was your job. I had to fight in the box. So it was easier for me to kind of recover. For a guy like him, he's going to be dodging a weaving, trying to extend plays, trying to beat a patch of Mahomes that we've known him to be. And he's 30 years old. as you get older, your body starts to kind of become this fleeting thing. And I don't know if he's going to be comfortable with that because he's going to want to prove that he's still that guy that's still impact player.

And I don't know if he's going to be that. Now, can he still have an impact and grow into that? But I think they're going to have to really slow down and make sure that all the things are working for him and not against them. So that's the player perspective and that is certainly more informed. I will just tell you from the media perspective, we're going to be talking about this a lot between now and whenever he plays football again. I'm going to give you guys a preview right now of some of the stories we're going to hear, okay? Mahomes was miserable watching the NFL playoffs and really motivated him to attack rehab. Mahomes really hated rehab because he wanted to play football and it stole.

And he worked out harder than he's ever worked before. Then he's going to hear that Josh Allen is better than Patrick Mahomes. And that's going to motivate him to really attack rehab and come back better than ever. He was fueled by the disrespect and the doubt. He was going to be compared to Adrian Peterson and Tom Brady. And then he's going to be back playing football. And he's going to be great. But if he's rusty, we'll be like, well, he's coming off of injury.

He will be back. He will be great. And all of this stuff that's going to happen in the next nine months is going to largely be noise. Like, Patrick Mulhams is going to play football for the next 10 years. And I fully expect him to get back to MVP form and Super Bowl form. So I definitely expect him to get back to MVP form. I just believe that if you are the chief's organization, you now are not solely relying upon the magic and him elevating everybody and all that you do. And that's a good thing.

You now want, exactly. Now you're going to be kind of forced because of this injury. Okay, how can we how can we salvage, not salvage, how can we protect our most valuable asset so that we get the longevity that we're hoping for and that's to keep him in the pocket and not have him be so magical when needed. We want him to sprinkle that,

but you do that by getting him a running game and ensuring that you have protection up front to where he's comfortable. and settled in the pocket and not so antsy because we've seen him even when the pocket has been great get antsy and get outside the pocket because of those hits that he has taken and also don't rush the process right like is respect where you're at like the injury is a longest of 12 month injury you rush him back to what to only possibly get hurt not be on time like I would slow the process down he's going to celebrate that process you'll attack it I want to get your guys take on this too in Indianapolis Philip Rivers made his comeback. We all kind of questioned it, 44 years old, had the Colts in a position to win against the Seahawks.

Shane Steichen has already named him the starter against the 49ers coming up. This is how Philip Rivers assessed his return and the loss of Seattle. This isn't about me. We got a team that was scrapping like crazy to try to stay alive and get in the postseason. So obviously we're all disappointed. Came up just short. I'm speaking offensively. if I can stay healthy, like I feel good, you know, and it's going to get better as we go.

But the catch in that is we've got to win. It doesn't really matter if it's getting better as we go if we don't win because it's going to be over in three weeks. I guess my question, guys, would be should it be three more weeks? Like, it was impressive that he walked off the field. He had the touchdown pass. I thought the celebration of his high school team was just cool, kind of a Disney movie type of situation. but they're 8% to make the playoffs right now. What's the point?

If you're basically eliminated, if they lose to San Francisco, should he keep playing or should you take two weeks to see what you have from Riley Leonard? I don't really know why we have to see three more weeks of this. Yeah, I think when you have worked so hard, you feel like from a head coaching perspective and ownership, you owe it to the players to exhaust every option until you're mathematically completely eliminated. Because of where they started.

They started out one of the hottest teams in the National Football League, and obviously the injuries caught up to them. And now you have a guy who's wired correctly, who understands, like, there has to be a certain vibrato that you have under center. And you know you don't have that with the young guy. And if we're out of it, if they lose this next game, I do believe that then they'll pass it over.

to Riley Leonard. However, you're not completely out of it. And so you're trying to salvage whatever it is that you can in order to try to get your way in the postseason. He's a guy that has been there before. Yeah, I think you keep Philip Rivers in a cockpick. And I also think at this point, you

open up the playbook. What do you got to lose? Let it rip. And I think, you know, the game Sunday was more of him being a controlling traffic than on Jonathan Allen. It was, yeah, Jonathan Tell, excuse me. And it was more of a conservative of game plan. But I think right now, if you're going

into San Fran, I think let it all go. He's a... Really? Yeah. As much as he can take you brought Philip Rivers in here because of his IQ and grit. He showed that he's confident and ready to take on more simply because when he left that field, they were winning that game. They weren't losing. He had to go

back and try to save the game. And you watch how this team rallies around him and how they're fighting for him. You lean on that. At the end of the season, he's not going to be your starting quarterback. So you shoot all the bullets. I get I guess. I mean, he's just, they were running that play clock down and snapping it with two, three

seconds left. They're snapping and throwing throwing. He's avoiding hits. He's throwing ducks. Like, I don't know that if you're like, let's go five wide and play him the rest of the way. And they've got, you know, Robert Sala. But you still have the young fellow waiting in the wing for you. Yeah.

And clearly, clearly, Danny, like, when you go and make a move like this, it speaks to what you know you don't have in Riley Lennar. Like, regardless. A sixth round rookie, right? He's probably not good. And so in order to try to at least give the feeling to your fan base, to the guys in the locker room that you're going to do whatever it takes to save the season, you go out and try to bring you a .

For the neck of, he would have gone fight. He almost won one. So what's the word? We'll tell you here in a second. Time now for a little game of fill in the blank. We start with my guy, Justin Herbert. It was not the biggest piece, but did play a role in eliminating the Chiefs. on Sunday, and I will call Herbert's performance gritty.

He wasn't great, but this is now back-to-back wins against the teams that were in the Super Bowl last year, as he is clearly recovering from surgery on his non-throwing hand. And they were down 13 to 3 in this game. And he did not look good early. The Chiefs were in control of the game. And right before halftime, he had a five-play, 16. where he completed all of his passes to get a touchdown right before the half. Then they come out of the half and they have an 11 play drive where he was great on to

kick a field goal to tie the game. Like that middle eight that coaches always talk about, he dominated it. Defense carried him home. We know that when he is healthy, he can be excellent. I thought Justin Herbert was gritty against the Chiefs. Yeah, I mean, he's solely the reason I think the charges are probably one of the scariest teams in the AFC right now, especially going into the playoffs because of his toughness and his competency.

Also, the defense is playing really well. They're playing a lot better. They've been able to close out games, and they have artably the best kicker in the game. So you're talking about all three phases pulling up to January. How can you not feel the charges? That's a great word for Justin Herbert, man, because I watch him and I just see a guy that's just tough. I'll put myself out there, throw my body out there, no matter what, I'm going to fight for you guys. He talks about some of the guys that aren't able to play, and he's like, I feel like I owe it to them to get out there.

He plays that way, which is why you hope to see him have success. We'll see what it turns into. I'm a big stand-up comedy fan, and something comedians will say is that, like, he's a comedian's comedian. I feel like Justin Herbert's like a football player's football player. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Like he can carry himself like he's a quarterback. He's like, oh, I can play line.

You guys need me to play linebacker? Exactly. Most guys with a broken hand don't come off the table want to play Jalen Hurts, Noah Patrick Hones, back to back weeks. They say, now, let me buy some time. He said, no, give me the ball. Yeah. And like, listen, he had the interception where he got hit,

but even though the stat line wasn't great, he still was making incredible throws. I think he'll only get better as the year goes on and he gets healthier. All right, Willie, your turn here to fill in the blank on your guy, Aaron Rogers. Aaron Rogers' performance was surgical last night. I thought he did great job of just flat out orchestrating the office. I thought Kenny Gainwell was his resolve. I thought Gainwell was kind of, they did a great job of isolate him against linebackers and safeties, and then open up in the middle of the field.

When you saw Aaron Rogers with the hard cadence, tempo, He exploited matchups, was able to get down the field, hit DK on the big play right here. I thought he did all the right things. And I thought in the second half we responded, you know, one of the things that we saw against the Steelers versus the Buffalo bills that they didn't respond out of half time. But Buffalo had 23 points. Steelers did nothing in the office. They came out of halftime and responded and really started to lean on his Dolphins defense. I loved everything I saw out on yesterday.

He was surgical. Yeah, man, getting the ball out of his hands quick. That's what he's going to do moving forward. That's what he's done all year. but the way he put it on display, surgical is a great word for it, just the dink and dunks. And he loads them to sleep last night,

and then he was able to get those second level throws behind those linebackers, and then special things happen when you get the ball to number four. I thought he played one of his best games of the season. He did, and it was impressive, did it in the, you know, in the A block with the guys. Like, if he is playing a top 10 defense, he's been bad.

And then when he plays, like, The dolphins are 27th an opponent pass the rating. He kind of can pick them apart. And it's been a theme this year. So I know Steelers Nation needs to win a playoff game, has won one since 2016, the drought, the whole thing. Like, if he plays Buffalo's past D, they got blown out. Play the Chargers past D gets blown out.

If they play the Texans, I feel like he'd get blown out. I don't see a lot of good. Broncos, right? Yeah, I just don't see a lot of good matchups on the board for them in week one. Maybe Jacksonville. Like I just don't know. which team he can do that against that he would see in the playoffs. Well, that's fair, but that's why you saw Adam Thiel and an MVS show up,

because he needed some people with a better IQ out there that he could rely on. He needed receivers at other pieces that you say, hey, man, I don't have time to be frustrated and got to have it moments. I need guys to understand it to see my cues so when we get down the field. We have that now, so I think it's a different offense. Oh, wow. Okay. So you think that is that because of those receivers, you think it's transferable against better defenses?

I think you turn on the game and you see the miscues between him and John Smith. You saw the stagnant. run game. I think you see even sometimes him and D came on the same page. Yesterday we saw the receiver core on the same page where Aaron Rogers because the veteran leadership and those guys have experience. NBSs with Aaron Rogers. So he knows what he's dealing with. Yeah, sometimes what disrupts that chemistry is a really good defense. And so that's kind of what I'm asking. Yeah, that's what they did. Are those veterans like, are those veterans like? And my point is I think we have veterans on the

field now. Okay. That he can trust. And I think, yeah, has he played good against good defenses? No. That's my number one concern. I don't know if they're good enough to put this type of performance on display consistent. Shoot, four weeks to actually be a contender. Well, Detroit will be a tell. Bottom line. I'm saying if they make the postseason going to your point, Jacksonville might be the only team.

Jacksonville's defense plays really well at times too. But the Texans, there's defenses in this postseason that they just don't want to be up. Yeah, I think there's some bad round one matchups for. Pittsburgh, how the bracket is breaking right now. Bring a ball. This guy. Always waving his towel. All right.

Time now. Greg Jennings. And your guy, Jordan Love. Yeah, Jordan Love's performance. It was subpar. Look, let's face it. I don't want to go as far and as extreme as my dear friend Danny over here to my left. However, first half, it was, that's the standard.

17 of 22, 215 yards, a touchdown. second half, this is what we can't have if you're a Green Bay Packer fan and you're in that locker room and you're without now Christian Watson for however long, maybe, maybe just a week, but definitely Micah and then Zach Tom and all the other missing pieces. You need him to be better than just subpar. And we've seen it. He's set the standard all season long. And in the second half, seven of 18, I believe it was for like 60 some odd yards and two

interceptions, just not going to cut it when you're going and you're playing for playoff birth and getting into the playoffs against some good teams. I'm waiting to see the Zach Tom injury update. That one's huge. Because he best offensive linemen? Yeah, right? Yeah. Yeah. No, yeah, not in the league. They're best. And it felt like the pressure rate really increased. It felt like yeah. It definitely did. Okay, fair enough. But then also like both those interceptions on him, It's a little underthrode to Watson and maybe the best cornerback in the game. So Pan makes an incredible play. Then the other one's a little behind his guy, but it does still hit him in the hands.

I thought both of those were. He's in the meeting room and he's telling his receivers, I got to give you a better ball. Now, the receiver in turn is going to say, I got to go up and get that ball, pluck that ball out the air, Christian Watson. And both, any time the ball hits your hands, you want to make the catch. But that ball, you got to get that out there. He has. He under threw it for sure. He under threw him.

Yeah. For me, he just he's just can't trust him. in the moments you need them to be big. Right now, you talk about all the quarterbacks we've watched the last couple weeks. Josh Allen, back-to-back week said, hey, hold my beer. I got us from here. You put him in that situation.

He's just not trustworthy. He's two-faced. You talked about him being good in the first half. Second half, you can't find a Jordan Love we want to see. And I thought one of the biggest injuries this team suffered was Tucker Kraft. When they lost him, he was their guy that when he got nervous or seemed to be unhinged, he looked for Tucker. And him not being out there, you saw in the second half of this game.

He felt like he was out there by himself, the miss throws, the miscues, thing looked bad. So I don't know, man. I just don't trust him. Well, and now the defense obviously will be worse without Micah. So those games where they lost, it's like, well, they lost the game where they only allowed 10 points. They lost the game where they only allowed 13 points. Probably not going to be too many games where they only allow 10 or 13 points going forward, right? He Jordan Love is going to need to be better. Yeah. And it's really quick. That pass that we got him on a loop, but even the throw to Luke Musgrave, the tight end, where he has to, if you, if you dot him, he can run.

and get a little bit of extra after. It's things like that that he has to now be expected to do because of what you don't have defensively in the stinginess of which that defense played with. He's got a cape. Every quarterback that's a club quarterback has a cape. Where's his cape? He got one.

Yeah, he's been good the last few weeks. He's worn it. I don't know what you're talking about two faces. I mean, first half, streaky. Second half, good fun. We can talk about Caleb. They lost. All right, gentlemen, play the weekend.

Play of the season. Caleb Williams rolls right. Oh my God, DJ Moore right there. It was beautiful. That's exactly what you thought. It was spectacular. Oh, my God. What is he doing?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Was there a little bit of a no, no, no, yes component to it? Yeah, but you say that about Steph Curry also. Another great. Oh, it reminded me to win an NFC championship game. Okay, now we're reaching. NFC championship game.

Okay, all right. Yeah, we've seen it. Oh, I don't, have we? Yes. Have we seen it on national TV enough times? Let's do it again. It's a hell of a throwing. It's a hell of a thrown catch.

But Montana to Clark in the back of the end zone? I will grant you that to win an NFC championship game, slightly bigger stakes. Game on the line than a game against the Browns in the regular season. I'll grant you that. However, Montana to Clark known as the catch. Right. Better throw. Caleb to DJ Moore.

The throw. Dwight Clark had to extend. That's the catch. This hits DJ Moore as the red match because of the significance. because of the significance of the moment. And difficulty of the catch, great throw. I feel like people are asking. Caleb Williams, next Joe Montana.

I like it, guys. I got nothing to say bad about it. People are saying, I like the catch too. It was a great throw. It was a great throw. The throw. You're right. I love the catch.