First Things First - Tua Tagovailoa benched, Patriots underdogs vs. Ravens, Knicks win NBA Cup, Nick’s Tiers

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

(0:00) Patriots 3-point underdogs vs. Ravens, Does Josh Allen have an MVP case? (25:35) Tua Tagovailoa benched, Does Jordan Love or Caleb Williams have more to prove? (39:21) Knicks win NBA Cup, Should they hang a banner? (47:10) Nick’s Tiers (01:11:07) Must-Win: Rams vs. Seahawks, Jaguars vs. Broncos, Ravens vs. Patriots (01:26:01) Will Travis Kelce retire after this season?  (01:30:24) Packed Stats, Guarantee Caleb Williams outplays Jordan Love? (01:52:19) Eagles ‘aren’t a juggernaut’, Can Sam Darnold keep up with Matthew Stafford? (02:03:09) Eye Test: Which QB is more trustworthy entering the playoffs? (02:12:10) Are injuries determining who will win Super Bowl LX? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Shocking update. Live from New York. Brew's giving up the energy drinks that he's been pounding. They're bright purple. Pounding's a little much. Well, brew, tell us, tell the audience why you're quick. Well, I saw a doctor say they're bad for you. I got that kind of willpower.

Oh, is bad for me? I'm done. I'm stopping it. Just like that. What? Drew, don't ask the doctor. Probably never have another one the rest of my life. Then make sure you don't ask the doctors about crumble cookies and me.

Oh, I know better than that. I know better than that. So you're going to have a low-energy day today? You'll see. Your green tea is healthy and energetic. I don't drink green tea. I drink chai tea lattes with sugar-free vanilla. Two pumps.

No, it's true. Or three-sour-s or sugar-free vanilla party. You do put a significant amount of honey in them. Sometimes. Today is Josh Allen closing in on back-to-back MVP. This is going to make me upset, and I'm a Josh Allen. It's possible. It's possible.

It's going to make me upset. Meanwhile, to a bench, what's next for the Dolphins? Is this the end of Tua's tenure in Miami? Yeah. In the starting lineup. And also, Tyreek Hill, you're not going to believe it. Sent out some cryptic tweets. We're not addressing them.

I don't even think they were that cryptic, man. Why, Tyler? He just put that. I said out the guy he gets thrown off the B-Sign and disappearing. What happened to just being just... I'm glad he's gone. He should have been bitched.

Oh, you like that. Just say it. I don't have time to figure out what in the world did he mean. He's busy. He's even talking about... He's a bright purple drinks. And finally, the committee met deep into the night.

Who is quickly rising up the ranks? That's the Ravens. Of Nick's tears. Yeah. We discuss alongside Chris Brousson. Kevin Wild. Is Nick, anybody on the bubble of tears today? Somehow.

What a W? I need energy. KW. Can you? Can you? We're three minutes into the show. He's worried about. These opens are too long now.

He's worried about this first question. You long time wanted the whole show to be the open. He's worried about the first question. You can't disaster. I'm not worried about the first question. Wow. First thing's first bowl part four. Patriots at Raven Sunday night.

Kyle Van Nuoy wants to see the road. So you know what you got to do. Patriots underdogs against. against Lamar in Baltimore. Brew, I'll ask the question, even though it's about me. Do you think it's disrespectful to have the 11 win patriots as underdogs against the seven and seven Baltimore Ravens? You actually asking me to? You told me to on the meeting.

I said, this question's not going to work. It is absolutely wild, positively disrespectful, period. There is no other way. I will be shell-shocked if you try to defend the Patriots from this disrespect. Okay. You guys are 11 and 3. Yeah. You guys have a top 10, actually a top 7 offense and top 7 defense.

Correct. All right. You have an MVP at quarterback, having a great season. Yeah. All right. You are coming off a terrible. loss. Well, some people say good loss. Yeah, that's another, a loss

that you say was the best loss in the NFL in three decades. I do think that was an exact moment. I mean, you, you talked about it like it was a great loss. I said it. And I've also been told that the Patriots on the doorstep of destiny. Of a dynasty.

A doorstep of, yeah, a destiny and a dynasty. We have dynasty elements on the doorstep of destiny. And yet, this 7 and 17, This team that Nick has put together one, maybe two, the game without Lamar, good games, complete games all season. This team that has been reeling for 15 weeks, Vegas and everybody else thinks they're going to go into your house and demand slippers? Well, it's in the Ravens House, to be fair.

Well, it's in Baltimore, okay. But still, that they are going to beat you guys? Come on, man. This can't be anything but disrespectful. Okay. Do you want to go? I'm shy. I, I, I, I, now here's where I'm at.

There's seven and seven. I, as the Patriots guy, now have to argue that the Ravens are actually pretty good to prove my point that I'm not being disrespected by a three point line. So, correct? Well, so here's the. That's why I'm, I think it's a thing. If you guys had one last week, it still be disrespectful, but you're coming off this big loss that you got a rebound from. So I'm not confused the way you are. Okay.

I'm confused that you don't agree with Brew. Thank you. That this is a slap in the Patriots face. Because this is, right, like this is not, it's not a point in a half. This is a full three, which is more than a team currently gets in the modern NFL for just being at home. What Vegas is saying here is we think the Ravens are slightly better than New England

which I thought would enrage you. We were, I think two quarters of football ago. You believed, with reason, the Patriots were the best team in the entire NFL.

We talked about them, they have the best record. The real question is, who have they beaten? And they're playing Buffalo. and dominating Buffalo. To go from that to go from that to this, where this to me is partially about maybe Vegas

overvaluing the Ravens, but just as much of that is it saying, yeah, we actually don't think the Patriots are real Super Bowl caliber. And that's to me why it is jarring and surprising and why I was shocked that you were, not bought that you were just cool with it because it feels to me

and then you go sure the second half of that bills game while you put on a brave face about it being a good loss actually drastically recalibrated your expectations and feelings about this season's

pets that at half time of that game it was full steam ahead to why are we not going to go to and then potentially win the Super Bowl. And that two quarters later it went back to, man, one hell of a year to build on for next year when we're real contenders. And your lack of dismay at this to me confirms that. Now, I don't know if that's confusing or not.

It's a little, yeah, sure. We gave up a 21 point lead and lost the game. So it did rock you. I mean, we gave up a 21-point lead. But I thought it was such a great loss. I think it would be absurd if I could come in here and be like, yeah, that was sick. That proved that we were awesome. We gave up a 21-point lead.

Well, you did say it was a great loss. I think that you have to build, much like parenting, you have to, I want to build a resilient team. You want your kid to have a few bumps and bruises along the way to success. I think there's more losses in learns than there are losses and wins. Did it shake my faith? Of course, we have 21-0-0. we ended up losing the game and they Josh Allen scored five consecutive touchdowns.

So yes, to be totally honest, you got me. Guilty is charged. Giving up five consecutive touchdowns. Hurt my feelings a little bit. I do think we are going to win the game. So that's. So now I can, I do you want me to do pro patriots now? This is why I think we're going to win the game.

There's no base in your voice at all. Well, just. Also, for the record, I cannot be wrong. I also, if you go back to the beginning of the year, who I have the Ravens going to the Super Bowl. Yeah. So I believe in the Ravens a lot. I believe in Lamar a lot.

When are we going to see fresh Lamar? Is it this week? I kind of hope not. But we're due to have, you know, the real MVP Lamar and not the guy running around or not running around and being inaccurate. So I'm nervous about that. I'm nervous about not having Spalane, not having Tonga, not having Milton Williams, so all of a sudden we can get run on.

I am nervous. That being said, I am confident in one thing. We can score. We put up 42, 23, 25, 31, 31, 32, 31, and we lost last game, and everyone says the sky is falling. We did score 31 points on the bills. You guys, Ravens, occasionally score. Lamar used to score. We scored 40 on the bills.

A long time ago. Yeah, a very long time ago. You scored 40 on the bills. So here's the magic stat that does make me feel. better. Winless this season when allowing 20 points. It's the Giants who are 012, the Raiders are 011, the Browns are 010, and the Ravens are 0.16. Now, do I think that... Is this the stat that when you got it, you shouted to Josh, I have it now? This is the golden stat. The golden stat you were talking about. This is a good one.

It's a... So, you've had, you know, you scored 14 against the Bengals in round one, and then you came back and scored 17 if we take offensive points. You take off Kyle Van Nuys, assisted pick six. You scored 23 against the Jets. We scored 27. Against the Browns, you scored 41, and then you scored 23. We scored 32. So I do think we are more offensively potent than the Ravens,

but the issue with the Ravens is that they have, they're a chameleon. Is the defense good? No, no, actually the defense is excellent. Is Lamar good? Of course. Nope, Lamar is not good. Oh, no, we're going to Tyler Huntley. Now, actually, we've had the best offensive performance with Tyler Henley.

So they're very hard to pin down. Is this the day that it all comes together and the defense is good and Lamar's good? That's what I'm worried about. That's why I don't find it disrespectful. I'm arguing both sides of the coin. I hear a man desperately trying to convince himself. I'm just not disrespected. I don't think the question.

I'm not disrespectful. And what I think it is, Nick, I think, because this is the second straight week that Wilde's just walked the fence. I don't know what to tell you. I'm not disrespectful. You kind of wanted to see a loss against Buffalo. That's true. Now you're not disrespecting. You're praising the Ravens and how good they are,

even though we really haven't seen it this year. I think, Wiles, you need to come into 2025. I think you're looking at it like, we're building. You're happy. We got 11 wins. You know, you might get 12, 13, whatever. We're going to win the division, and we got a quarterback for the next decade plus.

Yes. But that's not the NFL anymore, I think. I think the NFL is a year-to-year league. I mean, Washington felt that way last year. And look at them. Cincinnati, look at them. I mean, a couple years ago, Joe Burrow and everything, this is the time, especially with the chiefs out. This is the time.

Seize the day. So that's here's, hold on. I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, don't say guys. I'm being very, very nice to you. Bruce kind of pushing you around a bit. No, because you guys are, hold on. I'm just shocked that you're like. I'm not.

I, go ahead. Go ahead. I'm arguing from a position of power and confidence. But you doesn't see, here's the thing. You are out of the past. You are grasping as, you can't fathom a world where every win is not, oh, oh my God, we need this desperate win. We could lose out. I don't care.

I don't, come on every day, say, you know what? Kevin, do you care about the desk? I don't, we might not even show. Maybe give people a day. We'll go off to that ping pong place that we went to. I'm in a position I'm feeling good Here's the thing

And this is where And this is where I actually disagree with you fundamentally Because I feel this way And I have not Thrown around the Patriots Schedule the way others have As a way to

dismiss them One because I think they have the foundational pieces that matter the most To make you a contender And that a quarterback I really believe in as much as you can believe in a quarterback who's never played in a playoff game. That's a

black box. We'll see. A coach I really believe in. You smart. You guys don't have a lot of unforced errors. Those are the things that really matter. And you had been blasting the bad teams you were playing for the most part. So all of that, I think the schedule part is fine to be a piece of the analysis of the team. But I did think in some quarters it was overstated how much of the analysis. That's totally fair. With that set, If you guys lose this game, then to me, the schedule stuff looms even larger. Because it's like, oh, it was a team that probably was, you know, a 10 and 7 wild card, good year from having the, whatever, what pick did you have this year? Third pick, fourth pick of the draft?

Third pick was, or fourth pick? Fourth pick, yeah, because Abdul Carter went third. Two, in the playoffs, whatever. Yeah, you guys had the, Drake, it was third pick, Will Campbell's fourth pick. Two, that's who you really are. A 10 and 17 that's going to finish 12 and 5, or whatever it is, versus a team that can win a championship. And I think that, because I don't, I disagree with both of you in this regard.

I don't think the Ravens are good. I think we have 15 weeks of data that the Ravens, are not good. Now, everybody can throw at me, they're better than your team, Nick. That's fine. The Chiefs were bad to show. I was wrong about them.

That's a separate combo. I don't think the Ravens are good. And if coming off a loss in a game that you guys, you lose this game, your beloved athletic playoff predictor says you have a 35% chance to not win the division.

You are a 21-0 hat and t-shirt game to all of a sudden, we're on the road in round one. Not great. Right. And so that, if you guys, in my mind are going to stay in the, yeah, that team can win the Super Bowl bucket. You have to win this game.

And what I think is not bothersome, but worrisome is you seem okay with the possibility that you're not, you were a week ago the best team in the league in your mind. At a certain point, you have to start thinking that. But my preseason, I think everyone's happy with 12 and 5. You guys trying to paint me in the corner like you're 12 and 5. Well, I think that, KW, I think that changes a lot. Like, don't you think Broncos fans? No, Sean Bain was talking so big.

That's probably a bad example. We're not, though. I'm not trying to say, like, if it's Patriots Rams, it's going to feel very much like Brady Patriots Rams. Oh, sure, but that's what I understand who we are. But I am, what I am saying is, I will think if you guys lose this game, that you are more likely to get clipped in your first playoff game

than to be playing in the conference championship game. game because it will be a lot of evidence of when you play teams that aren't bad, they beat you. And that would concern me. That would concern me if I were you. I mean, I guess. You got to recount. It would be two teams that aren't bad that, you know.

Yeah, but you, but you haven't, I mean, the only, right, those are the only above 500 teams you've played, bro. Like who's, you beat the bill. The bill. What's the buck's record? 500. 500. The, 500. Okay.

Yeah. They got to win more. games than I'm saying we would be better. You got to recalibrate. You're happy with the 11 wins. That's what it is. It is a recalibration. You feel like we, everything else is gravy.

I mean, kind of. No. Guys, you're going to convince me like that I can't be happy with 11 wins. I'd like to, if we have 11 wins and win the AFCs, I'm going to be happy. You're not looking at the AFC playoff field right now, Sam. We can win this thing. I do think that I don't think we're being disrespected. That's all.

Here's the issue that I think it's a compliment to the Ravens the Ravens have a good defense They've had the number one defense they're like the Ravens are a team A guy at work I'm a fictitious person that comes in Every other day with a great pair of pants like wow and just a ratty t-shirt and then the other opposite days A beautiful shirt and a pair of jogging pants I didn't pull them over like hey buddy if you ever put that outfit together You're gonna look great and they just

I just have never done it. But maybe I'm worried that Sunday night, this dude says, why don't I wear my good shirt and my good pants? That's what I'm worried about. And I don't think it's disrespectful if the guy comes in here and he says he looks good, if he outdresses me. You are terrified. Terrified.

We got to move on. KW. We got to move on. You are terrified. KW. I tried to be on your side here. We got to move on. The question made no sense.

I told you guys. It made no sense. You may have saved it, Bill. Three touchdown win over the mighty Patriots. Josh Allen's MVP odds jumped up to third. Why? I thought he's beating up on tomato cans. What?

No, not a tomato can. Thank you, bro. Headed to Cleveland on Sunday. Odds are now, Stafford, Drake, Josh, Boe, join in love. Sam Darnold. Hello. Herbert and Caleb. I mean, there's 100 to 1.

It just somebody has to be sick. Bruze ball is better than that. Bruce Ballet is way better. Does anyone starting to think Josh can steal the MVP? I can't. I will never put anything past NFL MVP voters. and their infatuation with Josh Allen. So certainly he can.

Do I think it's at all legitimate, barring an absolute collapse, true collapse by Matthew Stafford? No. I don't think it's legitimate. And every year we do this, and this is the thing. The MVP,

this is breaking news, guys. The MVP is the MVP. It is the single most prestigious individual honor in the sport. It is totally fair to nitpick and to request that the guy who's going to

win the award be said, hey, of the 1700 players in the league, you were the single best and most valuable this season that we say like, hey, just don't have mediocre months of football.

And what is so frustrating to me about Josh and the way he's talked about in the MVP voting, even though I think now that Patrick's hurt, I think he's the best healthy player in the league. I think he's been the second best quarterback in the league last few years. I think all of that's true is he's the only guy who can have a full month of mediocre football individually and team-wise and then have two awesome games and this be the conversation. And so here was his month of football leading into these two games. That's

fine, I guess. And we're talking about, that's more than a quarter of his resume right now. And that's not his four worst games, by the way. It's just the four games leading into these two games, and it's like now he could steal MVP. And by the way, a very similar thing happened last year, but last year the guy with the crazy stats had just wanted to work against him.

Last season, in the year he won MVP, he had the nine for 30 game against the test. where we talked about how there's the lowest completion percentage in NFL history for a game where a guy threw 30 passes. They got blasted. People forget this, Brew. They played the Ravens and they lost by 25. And so this year he has five multi-turnover games. He has five games less than 200 yards. He's been unbelievable. Like, I'm not saying he's been bad. He's been great. He, by no measure, has been better than Matthew Stanford. And I think it's crazy that people seem to want to elevate him when Stafford's having the type of year he's happened.

Before I go, my question to you was he did the same thing last year. He had bad game. You mentioned one, but he probably even had a bad stretch three or four weeks. He had six games last year with less than 200 yards past. Yeah. And won the MVP. So look, I tend to agree with you. I think it would take an absolute collapse from Matthew Stap.

not to be the MVP. He has been the better quarterback consistently all season. He's had at least one touchdown pass in every single game. All but two of them, he's had two or more touchdown pass. Like he is having a phenomenal season. Now, I looked at the stats, Nick, and when you, you know, obviously passing stats are heavily for Stafford. But when you look at the total stats, it's a lot closer than I thought.

Allen has more total yards per game, obviously includes rushing, more yards per attempt, better completion percentage, and then the TDs, 12 of those are rushing TDs, but still, it's not as wide a gap as I thought. 50% more turnovers is a significant number. Yeah, but 12 is it, I mean, it's not great, but it doesn't feel that huge. But here's the thing, and this is why I think you can rest easy, Nick,

because one, I don't think Stafford's going to collapse. But two, narrative. is important. I think Josh always wins the narrative. No, but here's the narratives. For Stafford, a guy that has numbers-wise been an all-time great,

a guy that people have called and talked about is an all-time great, but he doesn't, hasn't had the hardware other than one Super Bowl to get it. Now, if he gets his MVP, it kind of justifies him as an all-time great. Like you said, it might put him in the

Hall of Fame. All of that's resting on this. Josh Allen hears his narrative. He won it last year. And you know voter fatigue is real. So I, unless he, Stafford collapses and Josh is incredible the next few games. I don't see any way it happens.

See, I, yeah. I mean, I think that if Stafford plays poorly on Thursday night against that defense and all of a sudden they're no longer the one seed, and in fact they're going to be a wild card, people won't care. Like people will use. the Rams being a wild card as a reason not to vote for Stafford and not care that Josh is a wild card because it's just kind of been assumed

for the last two months he's going to me. Both of them end up being, you know, if both of them go to a 12 and 5 as wild cards, it will feel like a collapse for Stafford and an achievement for Josh. He comes on. At the end of the year, December and January record is like, he doesn't have the skilled position help that Stafford is. I know he's got James Cook, but his receivers are. doesn't have the receivers, but he's

got a running back that's going to run for 1600 yards. And I just, can we just real quick because I think some people listening be like MVP shouldn't be judged on like your worst games should be judged on your best games, which I understand to a degree. Stafford's best has been

as good as Josh's best. If we put their four best games side by side, this is not in a row. It's just your four best games of the year by pass the ratings when I picked it. So both of their, when they're flying. Both of them, the team scores 30 plus, they put up

crazy yards, touchdown interception ratio is perfect, pass rating is perfect. So if their bests this year, like peak games have been equal, then the next evaluator has to be your median games and how many bad games you had. And Stafford's had

one truly outright bad game this year. I think Josh just had three, maybe four. I just, there is a level of because he is such a unique player and nobody it doesn't when he is rolling it does feel

like a force of nature more than any other player in the league he carries his team more that there is every time he plays great someone wants to go on TV and say he's the MVP in a way that doesn't happen for really any other player

in the league it's a little bit of eye test his greatness looks different especially if Lamar is not really taken off No, but even when Lamar's taking off, because he's so big. And he's throwing lasers and running over. Unconventional pass is rolling out. So I get it. He's a great, great player.

Stafford's the MVP. Coming up next, who has the most to prove? Caleb or Jordan Love? That's next on First thing's first. Fox Sports Radio on Series 6th. Super Saturday. Starts on Saturday. Eagles, commanders.

Coverage begins at 4. Then it's Packers Bears, which we're about to discuss right now. That's at eight all on Saturday. Super Bowl champion Greg Jennings is here. Jordan back in Chicago. Jordan Love favored in the Bears rematch. That was down to the wire before Caleb through a game ending interception. No Micah this time around.

So we'll see how that Packers defense look. Look at the tail of the tape from the last matchup. Packers won this one 28 to 21. Caleb walked away with the dub. No, no. I'm sorry, Jordan Love walked away with the dub. Play better in one. Yeah.

Caleb turned it on in the second half. Yeah, but through the pick. But J-Lo still. We'll start with you. Who has more to prove, Jordan Love or Caleb? Jordan Love. Wow. Yeah.

Really? Because I think Caleb this season, the story for the Bears, let's see if Caleb's their franchise quarterback, right? He's proven at it. Like the Bears know now, we've got our guy, and we can win big with him. You don't hear as much about Tyson Baygent as you once did. Right, right.

Like they know not only is he the guy, we can win with him. We can play at a high level and be a contender at least with him. Everything else is gravy. And I get it, Ben Johnson and Caleb, to their credit, are now thinking probably Super Bowl, which they should be. But everything is gravy now. We got our guy. We got a great coach. We're good.

Okay. For Jordan Love, it is like you got to, he's older than Caleb, obviously. A lot, yeah. And they still, I don't think they're obviously not as good without Micah, but I don't think the bar should be lowered for them, certainly not in that locker room. Because coming into this season before they even got Micah, they should have been thinking Super Bowl. They've been to the playoffs the last few years, right? They played well two years ago in the playoffs, and they're still the youngest team, but they have good experience.

So Jordan Love has to prove I can carry a team to the Super Bowl. That's what he has to prove. And I think to beat the Bears twice in the same season, you know, I'm kind of big on divisional rivalries and sweeping. A team that's on your level to sweep them would be huge. And I think, Greg, it would really kind of comfort the fans, for lack of a better word, in Green Bay to feel like, oh, even without Micah, we still got a chance to win this thing. I agree with a lot of what you're saying.

I think it's, I think it's Caleb in this situation. Caleb Williams simply because you talked about the expectations coming into the season. Will those expectations start to change once you start winning? And that's what the Chicago Bears have done. They've been able to win. So now, naturally, regardless of how you came into the season thinking, oh, is this going to be our guy? You know he's your guy. Not only do you know he's your guy, you believe now, shoot, we have an opportunity to win this whole thing this year.

So you, and based off of what we saw last week and his performance and the throw that he made in the back of the end zone and he's doing all of this, that's great against the Cleveland Browns, a team that we all say good defense, bad team. Can you do that against teams that you're going to be playing and facing in the postseason? Are we going to get that version of Caleb Williams against the Green Bay Packers that we didn't get in the first half? We got in the second half and then you fell apart at the end of the game and had a chance to win it, didn't do it. They're trying to see, and you take that next step. Caleb needs to prove that he is willing and capable of taking that next step. Jordan Love, we've seen play at a high level. In prime moments, we've also seen them have dips.

But Caleb, he hasn't had that prime time game where it's like, did you see Caleb last night? Did you watch Caleb against an awesome defense, an awesome team, despite who was on the field? So it's definitely Caleb. So I totally agree with you, Greg. because the Jordan Love is established. Now, we might.

You feel, okay. I do feel like he's established. There's been a lot of doubt on this. No, there is. That's what I was about to say. That's what I was about to say. Like, to me, the debate for Jordan Love is, is he MVP caliber the way, you know,

some people believe he was going to be this year or, you know, is, or is he just like solid franchise quarterback? I agree with you, Brew, that Caleb has done enough this year that it has, at the very least, removed bust from the possibility. You know what I mean? From the possible outcomes barring some catastrophic injury or something. But he has not yet, they don't have, I don't think, a marquee victory that were like, man, Caleb did that.

The Eagles game was the running game. And so the Browns game was marquee to us because of the Shador Galeb bet. But in big picture, you're playing the Browns. There also is a bit for this specific matchup, a little bit of college football to it, which is for a lot of college football fans, the single most important thing every year is to beat your rival. Like, if we get caught up in the playoff and the national, championship.

It's beat your rival. And there isn't anything exactly like that in the NFL, but the closest thing to it is the way the Bears view the Packers. Agreed. Not the way the Packers view the Bears. I agree. But the Bears have felt like, and Danny, obviously, can speak to this better than me, but they've always had the upper hand.

And even the years we've had the upper hand, it was despite the fact they had the far better quarterback. And if in a year where Caleb is playing well and ascending, if he has two bad games against the Packers, if they get swept by the Packers when Ben Johnson was talking about, I like beating Matt LaFour twice a year, I think that that really stymies some of the internal momentum as opposed to, you know, first game against the Green Bay,

bad first half, awesome second half, ended with a disastrous, you know, turnover. then I took that second half performance into the next week, beat them, put a strangle hold on the division. Like that's the other piece of this. You win this game and the Bears are almost assuredly going to have a home playoff game. They're still alive for the one seed a lot there. Same is true for the Packers.

Correct. And the Packers, here's the last thing I say about it. They need to establish, like, I'm sure they're really. And they'll deny it now. It's been a few days. But still, you just lost your best player. You lost a guy that everybody thought was going to lead you to the Super Bowl. They need their quarterback, who is a very good quarterback,

to go out there and show everybody we're good, we're fine. Don't you think, though, Brood's just real quick, if it goes south for the Packers, even if Jordan doesn't play well and it goes south, people will say, man, injury's got us. You know what I mean? I feel like if Michael were still healthy. If he's terrible, I think he's terrible, I think.

Yeah, I don't think he's going to be. But I just feel like there's a built-in, I don't even want to call it excuse. explanation of, man, we drew the short, strong injuries with our best players. Afternoon headlines sponsored by Kraft Mac and Cheese. Kraft Mac and Cheese, the best thing ever. Tua, bench, Quinn Ewer, starting. Miami's seventh round pick out of Texas to be under center. TWA had 250 and 2 TDs against the Steelers.

Only 65 in the pick entering the fourth when Pittsburgh took their foot off the gas. Here's Tua ranks this season. Completion percentage. I told you that this completion percentage doesn't matter. Everything else. in the mid to high 20th, during 23rd best pass rating. What's next for 2-0?

Nothing good. And I think there will be a gut reaction from some folks to be like, hey, look at all this list of quarterbacks we thought were bad that ended up being good. Well, basically all of them have in common other than Daniel Jones, which was a unique case, those guys didn't get paid. those guys, you know what I mean? They were, they didn't get to the huge second contract.

They didn't have to go out and prove to try to earn their way in this league. Kyler's interesting. Well, yeah, Kyler's not yet one of those, but he would fall into this category as well. So I don't know if Tua gets benched, which he has been, and then cut, which I think is coming, what the marketplace will be for him and what his feelings on, wait a minute, I've made all the money. I'm now like, you want me to sign for $3 million

to be your backup quarterback and do that? Like, do I think there's a scenario where this is the beginning of the end of Tua's NFL career? Absolutely. When he was playing well, we were talking about would he walk away for health reasons, If now the health reasons have turned him into a player that can't really play well, which is my belief, he was already limited, is that going to be a guy that's like,

all right, I'm just here to compete for a job. When he's making next year, he gets paid $54 million by the dolphins no matter what. I don't know about that. So I think his time with Miami is over, and they'll try to trade him. They won't be able to. and they'll end up taking a $99 million dead cap hit to move on from it. That's what I think is going to happen. I hadn't thought about the retirement thing.

And remember when he was injured a couple years ago, I was actually saying he should retire. Like I thought he should. So that is certainly, you would think, on the board. I agree they're going to cut him clearly. If you weren't, you just keep him as a starter. And I don't think anybody would trade for him. So these are two teams.

And this is not meant as an insult or anything to Daniel Jones. Oh, that's interesting. I'm just one. I'm trying, I was trying to figure out what teams does he make any sense possibly for. Indy, and I don't know, I'm not saying you take him over Daniel Jones, but I'm just saying that. Dan Jones might be out all right. So, right. So him in Indianapolis, Shane Steichen, he's better than Philip Rivers at 44.

Like, you know, that might be able to work. Similar Armstrong. Outside of that. the only team I could think of, and this would be as a backup, was Minnesota backing up J.J. McCarthy, and if he doesn't pan out, maybe you throw Tua in there.

But those are like the only, I didn't even feel like Cleveland, you know, he would be the answer there. Yeah, so this is interesting. I don't know, if he doesn't, it's over in Miami. It's over in Miami. I don't see him.

You bring up Indy, which is an intriguing, spot, that would be the only starting spot that I think he fits in, that where they are a ready made team that you can plug and play and hope for the best. Outside of that, I don't even think he truly will consider being a backup. And teams would be jumping at the opportunity to say, yeah, we want to as our backup. Because as a backup, if you get hurt, if your starter gets hurt, Your backup then becomes your future or can carry out your season. And he's already shown that he's a completely different player now

that doesn't play with the same edge that already played a safe style of game. But now as a backup, why am I even out here? Why am I going to take the risk on a guy that clearly plays different because of his head injuries? And I get it. I'm not, this is not to bash to him. It's just a reality. This is his reality right now.

He's not a retirement is on the board? Absolutely. He probably should. And it's also, here's the other thing, KW. We, the, and I don't want, not trying to mix metaphors here, because a lot of this was just nonsense because the guy was being blackballed. But if you remember the conversation about why Cap didn't fit as a backup for teams when people were trying to make excuses.

One of them was, well, you want your backup to have a similar style as your starter, so it's seamless. Two is left-handed and plays a style unlike any other player in the. the league. So it doesn't, you tailor an offense around him. There is no other offense that is running like Miami's is. And the left-handed thing actually does play a small factor into this as far as your run actions and everything, all that. So he's just a clumsy bet. Even if there were no head injury issues, he's a clumsy fit as a backup anyway. You add to it, he's, you know, 14 months removed from doing the show me the money at the training camp. Like, I don't know that.

he has the disposition of a guy that's just going to be like, yep, I am now going to back up Sam Darnold in Seattle. Like, it just doesn't feel like a thing. For a guy, it's like, hey, you know, this is a significant health risk for you to say, I don't care, I'm still going to play. I don't, it doesn't. You would hate to see him take one good shot as a backup, and then it messes in. Head to Vegas where the Knicks went on a 10-0 run to end the third and start the fourth, never looked back. Jalen named MVP joining LeBron and Yannis all time.

That's a pretty sick little list. I know. Wembe was quiet 186, two blocks and only played 25 minutes. Brew, what was your number one takeaway from the car? Well, one, let me say this, the news came out that Knicks aren't going to hang the banner. Yeah. And I think they should hang the banner. I'm not going to, you know, go get crazy.

I am going to get crazy on it, so save that for me. Oh, okay. Save the banner. The Lakers hung a banner. You can hang a banner. But I don't want to take anything from the Knicks. That's not my biggest takeaway. Great win for them.

I like the Knicks team. I think they're very good. I think they should win the East. Detroit is playing great. So it'll be, I think Detroit and the Knicks. Cleveland's not playing as well. We'll see if they get it together. Nicks, don't let Kay Cunningham be the latest individual to keep you from the

promised land. It's always somebody. It's Jordan. It's Reggie Miller. It's Akeem Elygwine. It is Tyrese Halliburton. Tyreys Halliburton, Trey Young-Light. There's always this individual that is a nightmare for the Knicks.

Could it be Cade this year? Nix, don't let it happen. My biggest takeaway is about the Spurs, though. Okay. I think at time, and they've proven they're good without Wembe. They went nine and three without it. And now, Dylan Harbour is probably a future star. It looks great.

I love Stefan Castle. And, you know, Vassellie, can play obviously Deere and Fox is a star but they play a lot of times like Wimby's just one of the guys and I think they not all the time because they do have talent and I don't want a guy to be ball dominant but I think there are too many times

there are times they need to play through him like he's just getting the ball like Harper or like Castle and you know he's at the three point line that's why the Knicks killed him on the boards yesterday I think there are times in the game should be a lot of times where they say,

look, let's play through our best guy. When LeBron and Wade played together in Miami, the first year they didn't win the championship, the second year, Wade said, look, we got to have somebody that we know is the best player and we play through him. I'm still going to do my thing.

I'm still a star, but we're going to play through LeBron. That's what they need to say. Put him at the nail at the free throw line and play through him certainly at pivotal points in the game. Instead of it just kind of being, you get yours, I get mine, we're just kind of playing. That's what I see with them a lot. I don't know that that's what Wimby wants.

Wimby's told everyone the Spurs play the ethical brand of basketball, the beautiful brand of basketball, the most tact. Listen, Wimby, in all his years of NBA wisdom, has understands at a deeper level than I guess most, what is tactically the best, he said it was the Spurs way, what is, you know, the best approach, everyone else playing a similar style. I think a lot of team's style is, let's get our best player of the ball, a bunch. He says they're above

that. And so I don't know that he thinks they should change styles of basketball. Like, he is wait, Victor Winbanyamo, after the first game of the year, looked like, my God, he might already be the best player in the league. We had a whole discussion about it. He obviously

has a seemingly limitless ceiling. He also is not shy on just opining about, you know, the rest of the league. The Knicks offense is not sophisticated like others, but they sure do play tough. It was sophisticated enough to beat you guys last night. Well, in fairness to him, and I don't want to take anything from the Knicks,

but he was on a minute's restriction. He was on a minute's restriction, but it's not like they crushed in the minutes he played, right? Like they were, not last night. And so I don't, the Spurs, I agree with you, Brew. They looked awesome without him. He obviously, when he plays and is playing great, it looks like, man, how is this guy not dominating every single possession?

So it seems like something they should tweak. But I just, I think Wimby's, Wimby is very, you know, sure that he and the Spurs haven't figured out. So I'm very curious to see whether or not they do. They are coming off the best win anybody's had arguably in the league all year that went over the thunder in a, you know, meaningful game, but I, it would have been nice to see them. I thought the Knicks were going to win last night, but it would have nice to see Wimby have his first, like you were talking about. Moment.

I mean, game one of the year was a moment. He's had these unbelievable games, but because he's been heard and him in the playoffs. Bigger, oddly, than this. Yeah. You guys were making that point yesterday. They may have had a little bit of a letdown, to be honest. Gee whiz, it's for half a million dollars. Yeah.

Let's get locked in. But Wimby doesn't play for money. You told us that, too. You can't even franchise that. You're not a Wimby fan. It's not that I'm not a Wimby fan. I don't like a 20-year-old French kid

telling us how NBA basketball should be playing. You think the thunder is a beautiful brand of basketball? I hear you, and that's fair, but I will say I hope it is indicative of a dog mentality. I hope it's indicative of, yo, I'm coming in here to take over. Okay.

All right. And you're right. You got to back that up right. That's all I. But let's see if it's indicative. Your thoughts on the banner. Shom said they are not hanging the banner in the garden, but there's no quotes from the... Okay.

First of all, with respect to Madison Square Garden, there's a banner up there for Billy Joel's consecutive sell-ups. You did sell out there is... There is a... It is not a championships only banner arena. It's not... Well, because they... They don't... Exactly.

And I think the way the Lakers did it should have just been mandated by the league. This is what we're doing. If you win the NBA Cup, you are putting up not a championship banner, but a smaller designation. And it's going to be like a high school district championship thing where every year you win it, you put the year on it. So it's one banner. And so with the year on it. and it stays there. And you hang it once you win one and then you add it.

To show that this is something, but it's obviously not, it should not be in the same stratosphere as an actual championship, but it also shouldn't be. It's not like you won Summer League. It is a real thing. So I thought the way the Lakers did it was actually sharp and should have been the template moving forward.

And I don't like that the Knicks are stymying that momentum of this cool little tournament. I think, but Dolan, who has had several issues with the league, seems to- He thinks he's sticking it. No, it might be it. And if that was to come down from the league, my guess would be, James Dolan said, you cannot tell me what to do in my arena. In Madison Square Garden.

I think you're probably right. The people are like, yeah, the Knicks are focused on a real championship. They won't hang the cup banner. But you think they should do something? I think they should do. I think your idea is terrific. But yes, hang the bag. And I get to talk about it's not a real banner.

The Lakers have 17 championships. If they can find a room for this little banner, you can. I think it's about revenue sharing. I don't think it's about. No, I mean, I think your point might be right. I'm just saying I wish the league would have mandated, but Kenny, because you're right, Adam Silver works for the owner. That's the way.

And not for the small market. Right. right for him. Live from New York, it's a pro-webignana. Most of the shows. This side. I'm not anti. What do they call me, Wilds?

What do they call me? The anti-the-ant-M-Bi-M-Gyammer. No, Mr. Consistency. And I thought we were all consistent across sports, that we don't like being lectured about how games should be played by young kids that have never won anything. And is there a little? ethical basketball.

He's all right just ethical basketball. He's opining. I got no issue with it. All right. It might mean he is a dog. He's going for the gust. I hope that's the guise.

This guy's team wins more than game to doesn't play. In game he does play, I got to listen to him. He's going to him. I got to listen to him lecture me, Greg. Second hour of first and first. He's not lecturing anybody.

Okay. He's doing it bilingual in French and then English. And you know what I like? He's direct. No, no little tweet. That's what Nick likes. Pictures and memes. I got to figure out what in the world is you talking about.

Why don't you post some cryptic? Just do the Kelsey Tees. Dusty, I know Kelsey's on the screen. I'm talking about cryptic memes. Say what you think. Meanwhile, Patriots and Ravens lock in a must win. Who wins this one? Greg Jennings really needs a W here badly in must.

What is this? Why is this our team? This is our new tease. They just like the rhythm. That's all. Look at Drake May. Oh, he's beautiful. Right now though, I gotta get you up to speed on what was happening.

Last night while battling the coming cold in an old casino, an elite committee of savants, analysts, and people are trying to bring back the Mannequin Challenge. You were there? Greg, do you hear him? Return to Run the Midnight O-Led to deliver the best segment in all of sports. It's an honor and it's a privilege. It's time for next year's. I might abandon the Mannequin Challenge.

I think it's over. Good call, buddy. It's over. All right, here's the deal. Today's tears are going to be great. But first we have to show you the eliminated. Check it out. And I never, ever thought this would happen.

Literally. Wow. I like the new. It's like a new toy. New has been on there for a while. No! Chiefs and Bengals. Chiefs eliminated.

If you look at that, that is 13 teams that have been. been eliminated. Ultimately, 18 will be eliminated. And before we reveal the tiers, let me say something about it. The committee has never, un-eliminated a team. The committee also has never had a team that was mathematically eliminated before it faced elimination. So we can't just play it safe and just be like, you understand what I mean? Like the Cowboys.

All these were, right, exactly. And then we and we knocked them out. So that's why this week, week's facing elimination line is robust. And it shows you how many teams are, go ahead and reveal the tears, please. First one, Colts, Cowboys, Lions, Panthers, all facing elimination. The Cowboys could be eliminated without losing. The Colts would be de facto eliminated by losing.

The Panthers would be de facto eliminated by losing. The Lions, your old athletic playoff predictor, if they lose, says they still have a chance. The committee says, not so fast, my friends. They're out of there if they lose. So they're all, what do you mean? What's up, Kado? I thought you had to be mathematically eliminated.

No, no, no, no. If it was, no, I said the opposite of that. The committee is doing a little bit of math, a little bit of science, a little bit of eye test. And we're telling you any of these teams lose this weekend, they're out. Cowboys could win and still be out. Next.

I got it. I was searching the studio for it, Brew. I couldn't find it. Olive branch time. Oh. Mm-hmm. Your team and my team. My NFC Super Bowl pick, your AFC Super Bowl pick.

And I understand, Brew, you have never once been accused of having a wandering eye. But as someone that ditched the bucks for a hot fling with the Rams, let me tell you, it's more fun than you can imagine. And if I were you, I'd be watching the NFL this weekend with one eye on your Ravens and one eye on who your little, you know, sweater weather fling could be out of the AFC because it might not go well for Baltimore. Next.

Sweater weather. Wilde's got the Ravens rolled. Literal must wins, chargers and Steelers. And here's what we mean by that. It is not the mathematical must win for these teams this weekend. But they are. are going to be if they're in the playoffs,

the charges will be the Steelers should be. A literal must win in week one of the playoffs because it's the playoff single elimination. But more than that, also a literal must win because those two teams more than any other team in this tournament can't afford to be one and done again. For Justin Herbert, it would be three times to the playoffs, three times one and done, ostensibly with three

disappointing subpar performances for the season. Steelers, it would continue this unbelievable streak for Mike Tomlin of making the playoffs and not winning a playoff game. And so more than any teams in the league, if and when they get into the playoffs, they have to find a way into round two. Who do you trust? I know this seems insulting, but I ask the group as a whole kind of rhetorically in the audience, despite the fact that Siriani and Hertz are the defending champions, that Siriani and Hertz have these long established resumes, and Ben Johnson's rookie head coach and Caleb's in his second year as a starter,

headed into the postseason and headed into the stretch run of the NFL season. Which coach quarterback combo do you trust more for the remainder of this year? Do you think can be the reason if either one of their defenses doesn't have it, they can win a game despite it. I see Kevin Wilde's furrowed brow. I know who he trusts maybe. I know he is very down. You know, your feelings on Philadelphia is kind of ebbed and float over the course of the year.

I'll trust the Super Bowl MVP. Okay. I have a little say Philly. Okay. All right. That's fine. That's fine. I understand.

I think it is for at least the committee, myself primarily. It's closer than it might be for others for this, this, the stretch run of this season. Like right now, this moment, I think the quarterback playing better is playing in Chicago. And right now this moment, the coach who I think has the real feel of his team and has them all rowing in the right direction is the coach in Chicago. We'll see all the rest of the season. I knew you were upset.

They beat the ratings like that. I'm just saying what it is. My God. Awesome story, sad ending. Packers Niners. So listen, the Packers story of going for it this off season being like, man, we will trade the picks, get an absolute difference maker and try to win a Super Bowl. That's an awesome story.

The fact that it ended, for Mike at least, with him tearing his ACL's brutal. The Niners season has been an unbelievable story of perseverance and overcoming adversity. I sadly think for them that the lack of Warner, the lack of Bosa, the fact that Brandon I. Yook has seemingly quit, you know, quit his job. all of those things will catch up to them, you know, in one of, if not their very first playoff game, which would be a saddening. But both of these teams should be very proud for the Packers of the process and for the Niners of what they've already accomplished thus far this season.

Not so quietly lurking the Texans and the Jazz. Everybody acknowledges right now that the Texans look like one of the scariest teams in the world. They're not a sleeper. They're not. It's like, man, CJ playing well with that defense. And people are starting to wake up to, wait a minute. Do the Jags just score 30 every week?

Pretty much. Have the Jags had a brutal schedule and still found their way to 10 wins? Sure. Is the Prince playing his best football since the year he finished seventh in MVP voting and, you know, rallied the fourth greatest playoff comeback ever? You bet you. Since Clemson? Well, no, you know, we could go all the way back to Clemson.

If you forget, your two prints, pretty great player. Next, what that. Over and undercover. It's kind of about the show. I think these two teams right now, very different paths, are very, very similar in caliber. Overachieved this season. Everyone's thrilled about where they are.

Deep down, you don't really think either one of them is actually going to play in the Super Bowl, but you feel great about the season that they've had, and, you know, those teams moving forward. The Patriots were probably over-indexing a bit on how much we have talked about them, understandably, because it's KW's team. And the poor Seattle Seahawks, the Pacific Northwest,

like we don't all have Sunday ticket. You can watch all the games. They've damn near been a... We'll say it again? Feels far away. It feels far away is the thing. And it feels like they feel like they're damn near a CFL team. Like, we don't ever talk about it.

But they've been on. Awesome. Right. The only time we previewed a Seahawks game in the last month was because a grandpa was playing them as quarterback for the other team. They, by the way, get their national spotlight tomorrow night in one of the games of the year. Marshall stuck it to me on this one. Oh, no.

All-time category three potential for me and everything about the Broncos. We're already there on I picked them to finish last in the division. And right now they're going to finish first in the conference. That's not great. Slung a lot of arrows at old Sean Peyton for saying this team could win a super game. And right now they're the one seat. And we don't have enough time to get into all of my Bo Nix takes over the last year and a half,

which again, I still stand by. With that said, this has a potential to be an all-time category three. All-time. Of course, unequivocally, embarrassingly wrong. It's rare, but it does happen. I can think of a son. Brew, you might be bothered by this one. The only true S Bob team.

I like that. They are actually the only team in the league that anything short of getting to the Super Bowl will be considered an abject failure this year. You take every, Phil. No, I think Philly, of course they, they won want to. But Philly at this point, if Philly rallies down the stretch, plays an NFC championship game against the Rams and loses, everyone's like, okay, listen, it's

hard to go back to back to season, all of it. The bills are the only team on this, on this graphic that any outcome short of making the Super Bowl feels like abject failure, given the level their quarterbacks playing, the quarterbacks who are and aren't in the playoff field, all of it. They're the only true. Bob. And then the Rams have entered this territory where Mahomes Mountain and the committee's tears, hard to find a flaw as the category, we just gloss over the very top. It's like, yeah, Stafford's still the top. Yeah, the Rams still the top. Now, that could change. So you don't think them being, I know this is just the tears. They're met the time. You don't think they're

absolute S. Bob, the Rams? I think that if the Rams, if Matt Stafford wins the MVP and the Rams, get to the conference championship game and lose a heartbreaker, no one's, It's going to be like, man, what a disaster. What a missed opportunity. I think the bills are the only team that everything's short of making. I didn't even say winning. Just making a Super Bowl is going to feel like a huge failure. Correct.

Greg? I like that. Well, thank you. Sometimes the names on the tiers. They're so great. They throw a wrench when you want to talk about a team. It's kind of the name. I just look at the left.

It's kind of the brilliance behind the tears. This time, I got to be honest, this is, this is. This is perfect. Wow. This is a layup. What? Oh, this is a layup? Yeah, because I'm talking about the Jags and I'm going to move the Jags down to

why. Awesome story, but sad ending. And look, call me a pessimist, but I look at this team as the glass half empty versus half full. You look at it as half full, which I understand you, Princess Promise. I look at it more as a royal goblet. royal goblet than a glass. See? There you go.

But when I watch this team, there's nothing. There's nothing that just jumps out to me that says, man, this team is amazing. I know Duvall. I get it. We got the best rush defense out there. We take the ball away better than most teams. But one, like, I get that. And then you look at your defense and you're like, well, what else do we do well?

And it really isn't anything else that you really do well. I'm not even going to focus on the offense. I'm just going to look at your defense because your defense has really been carrying you all season. But when you look at these numbers, like the offense of past yards per game for your opponent's 20th, you can't get off the field on third down, sacks. One thing you can't do. That won't work. You can't beat yourself.

That's a disqualifier. You just can't beat yourself. When you're lasting penalties, you can't beat yourself when you're playing the most meaningful football. of the season. And you're a team that can potentially go into the postseason, feeling like I know you're excited about what the Prince did. And I know you're saying that we don't even have our first round draft for the year.

Or next year's first round pick. However, this is why I'm a pessimistic. So here's the thing. You raise some really good points. And even if I concede them, you know what this graphic tells me? Maybe the Prince has a stronger case for Bruce Bellet than I'm. I thought. They've been overcoming that.

I left the offense out intentionally. Well, I mean, they've scored at least 25 points more than any team in league. That's pretty good. That's eight. They're eighth in the league in point score. Yeah.

That's great. It's, well, let's see. The committee has them to, oh, look at that. Imagine that. Has them sixth or seventh on the tier. Sounds like right in line. And they're playing their best ball of the year. And by the way, if they, if they,

win this weekend, it's against Denver. It is. It's Colts Titans the rest of the way. Real opportunity. If they beat Denver in Denver, that is a monstrous win. Yeah, I would say so. And as Brew would say, Denver's due. Do for a loss. Go ahead. I do. Yeah, you look. Look, I don't look at the chargers through the rose colored glasses that Danny Parkins does, but let's give them a little respect. I mean, they're way. too low. All right, they need to be moved up next to Houston and the Jags. And I know the Jags beat them down when they played by a lot. But still, here's why I put them up there. And I put them on that tier with Houston and Jacksonville. And I say, one, the Chargers have the best

quarterback of that group. I don't know that they do. I think they do. And I get that Trevor's had a nice little month of football, if that, three weeks, really. But Justin Herbert, Justin Herbert is a bad boy. Not only is he physically tough, but we know how he slings it. I think Justin Herbert is a very good quarterback, and I would take him right now over CJ and Trevor. So I think they got that. And then with Amari and Hampton being back, might have the best running.

I know Travis Etienne is having a nice year, but Hampton being back. but Hampton being back is big too. Great coach in Harbaugh. Defense, obviously not as good as Houston's, but the defense is a top 10 defense. It's a very good defense. And their resume, Nick, I'm not going to sit here and act like the Chief's wins aren't good wins.

Can I say something? No, no, they are. They are. They're not. Beating the Chiefs twice meant something, particularly, they beat them both times, obviously, with Mahomes. Game one, a game winning drive. Mahomes left.

Game one doesn't mean anything. Patriots lost to the Raiders, week one. Denver? They mean Denver. Only time they played them, they beat. Denver is a big one. Pittsburgh, good win. Philadelphia, defending Super Bowl chairs.

We seem to forget that on this show, right? We seem to forget that on this show. What did you say it was? One of the worst games of Herbert's career. career and it went to overtime. It's a win over the defendants of Herbert's or first his career? Both. Oh, okay.

Yeah. All right. Sorry. I don't think that was a bad game. I think he played with a broken hand. He played less than a freaking surgery. Can we get a man?

The argument can't be for the Chargers a quarterback-based one. When, and again, it might not be his fault. And as we know with Justin Herbert, it's never his fault. He's playing his worst. his worst ball of the year this last month. It's like 140 yards per game passing. They have been winning because of their defense, which is a testament to the team.

But you said of that group, he's the best quarterback. He certainly has the best career resume. But I know, Brew, you like me, there is regular season resume, and then when we're projecting and prognosticating for the postseason, there's postseason resume. I'll tell you right now, in the playoffs,

I trust CJ Stroudmore. I guess we don't know what it would look like if Trevor and Herbert played in a playoff game against each other. Wait, what's that? We do. I think they vote for a lot of intercept. The other guy would lag away at a 27-point lead. The other guy would lead one of the greatest comeback. One guy would throw four interceptions.

And then four touchdowns en route to a comeback. And then, I mean, Herbert, by the way, then got back to the playoffs and against the Texans went 14 of 32 with four interceptions. So I just. Two playoff games, right? And I want to say one other thing about real quick for you. you go. Everybody loves Domingo Ryan's because he's excellent. Everybody loves Jim Harbaugh because he's excellent and a little crazy and we like it. Liam Cohen might be a little goofy. He might not, as Wilde would call it, have as much swag as these other guys. Wilde's always talking

about swag and aura. I'm never talking about that. Always. Liam Cohen is cooking. Liam Cohen has been That is a fact. And he doesn't seem to be a pushover. Like he's willing to, we saw him early in the year screaming at Trevor. Like, so I think maybe he needs a, you know, maybe a makeover in the off season. You know, no, like for real. Like get a little tough, like maybe grow a beard. Who would throw on some cool sunglasses, stylus type thing, something.

And I think it would help him. But I think he's done an excellent job. You gotta be who you, you got to be yourself. What? Texans, this is a big statement about me, but it's true. Texans might be the best team in the AFC. I'm going to lose it on you, bro. I know I'm supposed to just wear Patriots.

This is. Nick is what I told you what it is. Nobody thinks that, but you made it. You are now like seven teams deep that you think are better than the Patriots in AFC. I mean, what the heck? The Ravens are better. The Texans are better. The Bills are better.

I never said the Ravens are better. The Bills just played the Patriots. and we split. Go ahead. Let him do his thing. The team you have as the best team in the AFC right now is the Bills. We all watched Bill's Texans. It was ugly.

It was one team dominating the other team. And Josh Allen looked furthest from MVP as we've ever seen him. So when Josh gives me the numbers, like, how good is the defense? Like a lot of teams have it. The Rams have a good defense. Oh, that's good. The Texans have a. Historically good defense right there with the Legion of Boom,

Seahawks, who lost on a goal line stop by the mighty Patriots as Super Bowl team. Points, just a little bit worse. Total yards goes to this year's Texans. Third down goes to this year's Texans. Total yards doesn't go to this year's Texans. I mean, it's more, but you want it to be less. Yeah, but it's fine. They're about the same.

But a totally. No, it's a big way. It's a great rating is far less in a league where you're throwing the ball. more often, I would say. Right. So that goes there. They've won six in a row. And even we kind of talked about this.

Their first eight games, there's no real bad loss. Loss of the Rams by five, bucks by one, Jags by seven. Jags are hot. Seattle by eight wasn't great. Broncos at the last minute field goal. And now they're super high. Five losses came by a combined. And they were down 26 nothing to the Jags in the fourth quarter.

And came back. And came back with 29. straight points. So like we remember CJ were like, what's going on? But they were all sneaky close. And strength of schedule is sort of the opposite of the Patriots and some of the and maybe the 49ers. Correct. We've been playing, you know, cupcakes, tomato cans. Texans. Texan played a rough schedule. Look, if you're drafting teams in the AFC that you don't want to play, my first draft pick would be the Texans. If I'm the Patriots, my first draft pick is the Texans. Not afraid of the Buffalo Bills. We put 31 points on the loss.

at 21-0-0. I'm not scared of the bills. I'm just not really scared of the Ravens or 7-7 might not even be in the playoffs. Not scared of the Steelers. I think it's fair to be scared of a Deaf of the Legion of Boom, Texans. Listen, I think the Texans,

and they're more than two touchdown favorites over a Raiders team that a lot of smart people thought were going to be very good. Yeah. I think the Texans are, I just don't know where you want them. Like, if we show the tiers.

Like, right now, only five teams are ahead of them. Do you want them ahead of your Patriots? I probably, look, I'm a big Winstreet guy. So if you've won six in a row and the Patriots won 10 in a row and lost, I'd have the, I'd have, I'd have, uh, Rams, Broncos since they won and then Texans. Wow. Okay. And Bill's and Patriots on the same line. So we are one and one basically score the same.

And the, but the Jags are one and one against the Texans. Can I tell you something about the Jags? What? Like most of America. I just don't care. See, that's. At all. I'm sorry.

I just don't care. Oh, you think most of America's pining for more taxis and less jags? Oh, no, we're not. The quest for a billion views continues. We are now 37 million behind a billion. Okay? Is that accurate? Yes, Gianna told me.

Remember, everyone, please view early and often. It's time now for a segment that grows. literal by the day. Must win? Nick is the reigning champion. Brew is the three-time champion. Greg hasn't won in months. Matthew Stafford looking to sweep the Seahawks spot.

Darnell looking to bounce back from that four interception day, which had people tweeting pumpkin emojis at me. Now, despite the turnovers, the game was still close. Here's the tail of the tape from the week 11 matchup. Rams only one by two. Remember how good Seattle's defense was? I do. Okay, Nick, you're the reigning champion.

And you can, of course, pass or play. And as an added wrinkle, you can go clockwise or counterclockwise. Wait, we always go, we always go clockwise. He chose clockwise. And I am going to pass to Greg. Cannot do that. If you want to pass, you have to pass. No, you say a clock.

No, we're going to go. Oh, you can. Okay, yes. Yes, thank you. Wait, what? Yes, he can. Greg, you said Greg hadn't won in months. I want to let Greg start off.

It's off too. I also want to go last on the last. Here we go. That's a great. That's a bonus round. Yeah, I know. So here's the deal. This is a must win for the Seahawks.

And their quarterback Sam Darno. And when you talk about exercising demons, there is no player that needs to exercise his demons more than Sam Darnold. Your team has stood up tall for you after losing, throwing four interceptions in your first matchup. Last time we saw you against this team, obviously, was you. This team obviously was the four interceptions. The time before that, you were with the Minnesota Vikings and you had sacked in the playoffs nine times. Can you beat this team?

So much is on the line. You win this game and your team is sitting in the driver's seat for the one seat. You can't have your team standing up at the podium after the game because you were under intense pressure and you just couldn't defeat the pressure. Once again, one time, great will give you a pass. Two times, I'm a pass.

I'm out on you. You gotta win this game against a team that you need to exercise your demons. They're going to pressure you, stand up against the pressure and get it done. Greg, it's a great answer. I like it a lot. However, you know what's bigger than this season alone? What do you mean? It's clockwise, bro. The deduct the point for that. These rules are standing with clock.

You gotta get this thing under control. I did have it under control. Because Nick is just running rough shot over the rules. No, he's supposed to be clock. And he went counterclockwise? He could choose either way. I choose who starts and then it goes clockwise. May I reclaim my time?

Good. Reclaiming my time. It's a must win for Matthew Stafford's Hall of Fame, Candidacy and Legacy. This is a good take here. Because if we know anything about NFL MVP voters, they love nothing more than a late season Josh Allen surge. It has led to Josh.

Josh coming in second place in MVP voting four years ago when he was nowhere near the top of any statistical category. A lot of people feel like last year it led to him stealing the MVP from Lamar Jackson and the very rare all pro MVP split where Lamar was first team all pro quarterback, but Josh was MVP. You already see the groundswell for Josh. And if on national TV, potentially in a game without Devante Adams, Matthew Stafford stumbles, that could be just enough for Josh to come surging through. Conversely, if Stafford plays great, they put a stranglehold on the one seed, and in a standalone window, we see all these great Stafford numbers. He can all but lock up the MVP, and that will all but lock up a seat for him in Canton.

is a must win for Matthew Stafford's Hall of Fame Canada City. As the three-time champion, I know I'm a little of something about must-win and how to win must-win. And these two made critical-ehram champion this year. Okay, great. Okay. Greg, first of all, he didn't land the plane. He pointed out, oh, you didn't play well against the Rams last week.

It's not just the Rams. It's big games, period, for Sam Donald. Big games period. Rams, whoever, he doesn't show up in big games. games and Nick let his personal bias in. He just does not want Josh Allen to win this MVP. He's not going to win MVP, but Nick is so focused on he can't win MVP, can't win MVP that he let that seep in.

This is a must win for Seattle and Sam Darno. Sam, shut me up. Shut me up. No, my take, Grant's take is just the Rams. My take is it's any big game. Here's the graphic. It's not just a Rams graphic. All right.

It's against good teams in big games. And we see Sam Darnal folds like a chair. Show me you see goalpost, Sam, not just ghosts when you play a big team. Thank you, wow. I liked it. I got to start taking a hammer and cracking it upside you guys' head because he just attacks us and then gives a take and then it's like, I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to give you advice. On how to win us with us with.

That's the benefit of the anchor leg. I'm trying to give you advice. That's where it goes. Take my jacket on. Oh, oh. Jags headed to Denver in a battle of red hot QBs. Here's the thing, though. Nobody wins in Denver.

12 straight home Ws for the Broncos, and Bo has cooked. Look at this. The QBs go into Denver, and it's like, ah, I can't, it's, I can't be altitude. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, it's lost it. It's not a Holmes Mountain intro, though.

Sorry. Must win? So must win. And this might not appeal to the judges. By judges, I just mean Kevin But it's the truth. It's a must win for UKW and your current monopoly over the Royal Trumpeteers. Because if the Jacksonville Jaguars win this game and all of a sudden have a potential

inside track of the one seed, and Trevor breaks that streak and the whole strategy behind why we had to do the Royal Trumpeteer trade was, well, deep it, we love them. And deep into the playoffs, we're obviously going to be talking about the Patriots and the Jags are going to be long forgotten. Right. You're staring at a scenario where the Patriots are eliminated from the playoffs before the Jags playoffs have even started thanks to a potential buy. So it's a must win for KW must have the Broncos win.

and the Broncos keep the Royal Trump's. I want the Broncos to win. Yeah, so the Jags don't ascend, obviously. The Broncos have the one seat. I understand, but that's fine. The Broncos are you never getting the Royal Trumpeteers that Trevor's alone to you. Tough sliding.

Yep. You're in a rough spot either way for that regard. Okay. The trumpeteers are up for grab. I mean, if his team gets eliminated. I thought it was over. It was. I thought they're yours.

Yes, yes. I'm just throwing that out there. He's spinning this time. Just dropping some seeds out there for the show. This should help you, Greg. This is a must win for Denver. Denver. 12 straight wins at home.

You got to keep that going. You, you, you, you, you, you, 12 straight, like you say, and here's the thing. Me, the main thing is they want the number one seed. I know this doesn't eliminate them from the number one seed, but it could put a dent in their chances of getting it. You want the number one seed because you've been great at home. And you play in Denver where the altitude does have a serious effect. Yes. All right.

Teams go up there and they struggle. It's like so you have a home field advantage unlike any other. Win this game and take the number one seat. You said the Denver plays in Denver? I got I got a little something to play with from that first. Okay. Greg? First off, being forced to talk about the Jags again.

I mean, no one cares. They're one of 32 teams, guys. However, there are going to be 1 of 14 in the playoffs. However, this is a must win for the Jags. And Trevor Lawrence, can we see, are you really for real or fraudulent? Because the last time outing that we saw you, you had 48 points offensively, and you scored six touchdowns, and then again, as I will allude to, it was against the Jets.

No one's talking about that. No, we watched you against the Indianapolis coach. You didn't get touched. You didn't get sacked. Great job offensive line. You had a decent game. Last week against the Jets, you put up five passing touchdowns, run for another one. You didn't get touched again.

Now you're playing against a real defense. Uh-oh. The big boys. Welcome to the NFL, Trevor Lawrence. You're back in playoff type of atmospheres. Can you really get it done? Or are you fraudulent? Look, I don't see you as the prince, some do.

You're good. Thank you for the most. It was an easy W. Almost felt like they took it off. It was like a bye week for them. What were you doing? Shots fired at Greg. No.

The only reason he won? How many miles is this one? This one's worth two. So if you win this, you can take it on home. Patriots at Ravens. I don't know what this is good door destiny game. Pat's trying to bounce back from the second half, collapse.

Strength versus strength theoretically. The Ravens like to run. The Patriots like to run. like to stop the runner, at least we used to, as injuries has made our defense run defense. It's not excuses. Don't make excuses in the region. It's not excuses. It's called explanations.

People are here for analysis. Not you talking about robes and. I've never said anything about robes. Drew? You're starting off here. This is worth two. So you can just walk home with this right now. We know it's a literal must win for the Raiders.

But this is a must win for New England. All right. And here's why. Because you are on the verge of going from the doorstep of destiny to the doorstep of disrespect. The nerve of Vegas to take a 7 and 7 team that has been struggling for a month and a half, if not the whole season. Yeah.

as favorites over the 11 win New England Patriots with an MVP candidate at quarterback with a great head coach and Mike Vrable coming off a bad, horrible loss, and you're saying a 7-7 team is going to beat them? That is the ultimate disrespect. And Wiles, you've got to get your mind right. You're sitting here thinking,

oh, we're good for the next 10, 12 years. We got our quarterback. No, man. Let me show you something. Patrick Mahomes, you got to start thinking Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes, second year as a starter, Nick, what's he do? Wins the Super Bowl. Joe Burrough, second year as a starter, what's he do?

Reaches the Super Bowl. Brock freaking Purdy. Second year as a starter reaches the Super Bowl. Jaylon Hertz, second year as a starter, reaches the Super Bowl. Show me something, New England Patriots, and win this game and show me that you can reach the Super Bowl. Super Bowl and you're not on the doorstep of disrespect. I mean, something.

Y'all just want to. Nope, we got to go first though. This is a double must win. Wow. Absolutely. Double must win. Obviously, I'm going to talk about the Ravens. Everything is on the line and on the table.

Harbaugh, your job is on the line? Is Lamar going to actually play? Is he going to be the caliber MVP level Lamar that we have come accustomed to seeing? What are we going to get for the Ravens? Are they going to play for their coach or just live? down and allow this New England Patriots team to roll into the postseason with a little bit of momentum. If you're the New England Patriots, Drake May, this is about you. It's not even necessarily about winning the actual game. You can't play bad. You can't play bad because if you

play bad, there's no hope going into the postseason. So we don't have to win? We're doubting if you get to the postseason, do we have the quarterback that can get it done? But if you play great and you just fall to the Ravens, well, that was a, that was a scrappy team. They needed a win. They didn't want to lose and lose out. They played for their coach. All those things coming to play. Drake May, you got to play well.

It's a double must win. It's a must win for the Ravens. Must win. You say Drake May is not about winning. Very interesting. KW. I'll be very quick because Dust says we have to move on. I understand that this show is about entertainment, this segment in particular.

What? It is important that at times we try to add some information to the discourse. We just spent five minutes on this game, and no one has mentioned the only real news about this game, which is Lamar Jackson, shockingly, didn't practice today. Now you're like, oh, is it rest like last week? No. Is it injury related like before? No.

It's his annual December cold that he gets. So he's out with flu-like symptoms, which makes this an unequivocal must-win for the Patriots. The Ravens are done either way. The Patriots can bounce back and say, hey, we let our eye off the ball for a minute in Buffalo. We're going to lock up the division anyway. We can end the Ravens season. We can be rolling going into the playoffs. They're the only real contender on the field this weekend.

They are being disrespected by Vegas. Lamar is out sick. The Patriots have to win the game. Is Lamar out sick for the game? Don't know yet. Flues a nasty bug. Either or not. Greg finally gets his first win of this.

Look, in December. Brew, you had no shot. You had no shot. He said it was a double must win. It made sense to me. You don't have to win. You just got to play. What does it mean?

Is that a scoring error? You wrote it in Bruce? Because he knows, because he really knows. I deserved it. He's definitely young. I deserve that. This holiday season, Fox Sports and Purple Heart Homes are teaming up to provide housing solutions for our nation.

aging and disabled veterans through the Hearts for the holidays campaign. To learn how you can help, scan the QR code or visit go. dot fox slash Purple Heart Holmes. Welcome back to first things first. Kelsey Brothers talked about the end of Travis's season as possible retirement and Mahomes injury on today's episode of New Heights. Here was Travis on finishing the season strong and Patrick. Take a listen. We got three games left. I know we're still talking about this game but

The integrity of who you are as a professional as a player. You got to love this, man. And Chiefs King, and we're going to give you everything we got. There's no question about that. There's only one way I do things. This guy's played through everything, battled through everything, has been crowned champion because he's battled through everything. And he's going to battle through this.

It's the only way this guy is wired, man. He's a fearless, fearless warrior when it comes to this football thing. and he's going to make sure that he comes back stronger than ever. And, you know, hopefully the Chiefs can get him back as soon as possible. That's kind of sad. That makes me sad. And him talking about these last three games and him saying, hopefully the Chiefs can get him back for week one and not we can get him back for week one,

were two indications to me when I watched this. I was like, he thinks he's retiring. And I, you know, I want to make this very clear. I have not talked to Travis, Travis, and I do not have that type of relationship. I don't, I, sometimes I think people assume like, oh, Nick knows. I don't know and I don't have that. So the, I am, but it feels like when he's talking about, he got emotional talking about these last three games, all of it, that he thinks this is the end of the road. I think he's still good enough to keep playing, and I would love him to keep playing.

but it seems to me like he thinks this is the end. Yeah, and I think he's still good enough. His numbers this year are pretty good. He's not what he was. He's not what he was. He's Kelsey, but he could keep playing. And if he comes back, you know, I'll support him and salute him and all that. But I think he probably should step away.

And I agree with you on playing the last three games. He said the chiefs, not we. But I think, now they could. Look, is it out of the question that they could come back next year and get to the Super Bowl and win it? It's not out of the question. But chances are he's not going to reach the heights. He's reached the last few years. And so no new heights.

So I think he will. I agree with you step away. And I think he should. Yeah, it sounds like he's done. And I think a large part of what plays into something like this. Obviously, when you go through a season like this and it's hard and you're not having the success that you're accustomed to having, that weighs on you. And it just wears on you a little differently. But Patrick Mahomes suffering that ACL injury, it changes even his offseason.

Because when you are, when you're that far along the road in your career, you want to have somebody like a Patrick Mahomes to go through the offseason with. And if you don't have that, which he won't because Patrick Mahomes will be solely. and exclusively focus on rehab, which he has to be, it changes how you approach your offseason. You need to be tied to something. You need something to motivate you every day. And I'm not saying that Travis hasn't been intrinsically motivated, but sometimes you need to look at one of your guys,

your brother, your best friend, and be like, man, we're going to train today? We're going to throw it around a day, and he won't have that this offseason. And I think that's going to play a huge part of this. think about that like just you can't even throw it with them like all those like old I like your idea though I like a eight month retirement I'm all tight in Jimmy Graham comes back wrong he was back Jason Whitten came back I'm sure the teams will be open to you

from New York to them I have to cancel the trivia segments just because you're not involved doesn't mean we have to cancel it no I'm I am involved and I support it support canceling it support canceling yeah or maybe we do it like news that the the the Let's do it at noon. No. You've got to flush it for my system. Also, the Washington generals wanted to cancel games too. Oh, I'm sorry.

Did the Washington generals ever win? No. Did I win last week? Yeah, I did. Nice little, gave you a little hope for this week to be crushed it. Yeah. Check that out on our Instagram. I'm a professional.

I'll bounce back. You should focus on Parkinson's bits. I'm also winning in that. Also, he is running away with it. First thing's overtime. Today. We make stats cool in a fresh edition of packed stats in a segment that continues to evolve. And we're not sure in a good way, but it is going to be cool.

Last week was our best one yet by a month. They're getting better and better. I agree. Yeah. Last week. That was actually. You know what? You know what's cool?

What? Fairness. You know what's cool? Trying things. Yeah. It was great. Meanwhile, fresh edition of Danny's eye test. This is a new segment that we've got to magnify.

buying glass for it. That's right. Really? Yes. I'm not 100% sure what it is actually, but it's going to be excellent. We're going to find out together. Perfect. But right now, we're headed to Chicago where the Bears will host the Packers.

Last matchup ended up with a game losing interception from Caleb. You remember that, Danny? Are we on the same team or are we not? I don't know. You're building me up, you're tearing me down? It's confusing. Just the facts. Yeah.

He bounced back and lit up the Browns last week. Thank you. Had the throw of the year. That was. He's feeling great about it. Take a listen. The constant mindset of growing, the constant growth that I've had, I think is going to keep growing over time.

And it's something that I'm focused on because if I play how I played less, this past game or if I play better than that, we got a real shot to do whatever we want in this league. So I'm going to keep focus on trying to grow, trying to be better, try to be my best self. Okay, Danny. if you don't want to do this question, you don't have to. There is.

I don't want to put you in a bad spot. I know you're on tilt. Known good guy. Are you willing to guarantee that Caleb outplays Jordan Love? Wow. Here's what I am willing to do. Bear. That's a no.

Let him be comfortable. Remember when we did that bet about Caleb and Shador? Yes. And you were like, I'm not saying he's going to win. but he might outplay him. Here's what I'm willing to guarantee. The Bears are going to beat the Packers, and it might not even matter

if statistically Caleb Williams has a better game than Jordan Love. And I think he can't. And I think he probably will. But I have not been as confident in the Bears going into a meaningful game against the Packers in 20 years, legitimately, the 06-07 season. And two weeks.

ago, what happened was these teams played, it was a 12-round bout that went to a split decision. Packers won. I think it was a unanimous decision. Just for whatever it's worth. I don't think there's anybody afterwards. No, I'm giving that one to the bear. I think it did go to the cards. I think it was a unanimous decision. I think it was a knockout. It definitely win 12 rounds. It's a wide receiver game. There's literal. The Packers did tie the cows. The boxing analogy.

The Packers gained 22 more yards than the Bears. Bears had four more first down. Does any of that matter? Each team had one sack. Isn't it about the final score? Here's the point, Brew. It was a close game. Yes.

And it came down to the last throw in the last quarter and the last moments of the game. It was very close. Since then, Green Bay has allowed 34 points to Bo Nix. Their best receiver got hurt. Their best offensive lineman got hurt, not looking great for their availability for this week, though we're still waiting on Christian Watson and Zach Tom. And we know that their best defensive player, Micah Parsons, is out for the year. And we know that the Packers defense is much worse when Micah has just been off the field this year.

In that exact same time frame, the Bears blew out the Browns. Caleb Williams had arguably the most impressive game by the eye test of his career against a great pass defense. And now they're at home. So just a lot can change in a week. Packers had three top guys get injured. Bears had one of their best games from their quarterback. They come home. Bears are on the driver's seat.

Bears are going to win. Maybe Jordan Love has some nice counting stats that beat best Caleb Williams. But the bears are going to beat the Packers. That was good. Thanks, Watson. Look, I do think Caleb could capitalize, for lack of a better word, on last week's game. Like, he was great. I think that's something, you know, he's going to have these moments of growth.

And that felt like that might be a moment of growth, right? So that's one thing I'm really excited to see. Like, because he hadn't been that good in the several weeks before that game against the Browns was great. And that game was good in the second half against the Packers, but not a full game. I want to see, does he go back to kind of their winning despite Caleb or not because of him? or does he actually take another step and play great against the Packers in a huge game? I think Jordan, I will take Jordan.

I'm not placing a bet, all right? I'm not betting against Caleb. Well, double nothing is not on the table. We're going to get there. But I think Jordan has to like settle everybody in Green Bay because understandably they're probably reeling a bit like, man, we really thought we had a chance to win the Super Bowl. We just lost our best player.

everybody's probably deflated and then losing to a rival but one that's been your little brother for 40 years. Yes. That would be tough. So I think Jordan has to go in there and play a great game and get this win for the Packers and I think he's very capable of doing that. So I'm going to say Jordan plays better. But I'm really interested to see what type of this Caleb build on last

week. So because I think you could argue when you're talking about him building on last week. And I know it's weird because he threw the game losing pick. But last week was him building on the second half against Greenback. Because he was awesome in that second half. And again, it all got marred because they're down seven. They have a chance to tie. And I think they would have gone for two.

They said they would have. A chance to steal that game. And he throws that pick. But while you hate that happening, that was not, it's not like it was a horrific decision. It's not like, what are you doing? He under threw a pass. but he had played awesome that half and then he had arguably

the best game of his career to where if he follows that up by putting a stranglehold on the division by beating the Packers then you start looking at the Bears as oh like how dangerous is this team because the running

game to your point has been elite at some point forcing turnovers within a season does just become who your team is. It is not year over year historically sustainable, but we have seen a Bears team specifically in the past make their money off forced turnovers. We've seen other teams carry that through the postseason. That's where they've been really good. And right now, given the injuries of where we are in the

season, I think the Bears are the better team. Like, I do think that this line is wrong. The Bears being at home, being underdogs, when as presently constituted, I think the Bears are better than the Packers, I think is a testament to Vegas correctly realizing the public believes in the Packers way more than the public believes in the Bears. But I think the Bears are the better team. My only concern is I think almost every time in the last decade, Bears fans have been believed this is now going to be different is when they get punched in the stomach. I mean, you could go longer than a decade.

Yeah, but I mean, so like this does, like the fact, Like now we've got them is when the Packers have always kind of lorded over them. But I think that matchup for matchup, the Bears have the edge in this game, KW. All right. Let's head to Baltimore where Drake May is going to take on the Ravens. And here to break it all down with real nuance and a bit of swagger and a cool detached confidence is Danny Parkins in a fresh edition of. You might have to keep vamping.

Packed, stats. Went to it early. There's a lot going on. I was ready to get. I've been excited for this segment. Put your stupid gloves. I'm going to say you gotta put the gloves. I can't wait.

I can't wait for the same without the gloves. That's cool I look. That's backwards, I think. You don't need the gloves. You don't need the gloves. Let's just start. I don't get the gloves. This guy is such a game.

So don't worry about the gloves. They're tricking gloves, America. They're drinking car. All right. That's fine. My lights, my camera, and my stacks. That's so cool. Hey, why?

All right, here we go. I'm sorry. I'm ready. Yes. Hey, Patriots defense. What's going on? I got questions for your defense, all right? Weeks one through nine.

Really good. 75.4 rushing yards against. Best in the NFL. Yeah. Since week 10, and we all know last week. It's like, oh, last week, was that an aberration? What happened against the. And yes, that was the worst of the year, 168 rushing yards allowed.

Yeah. 130.4 since week 10. Now this obviously aligns with Milton Williams going out. He went out week 11, so one week after this kind of downward trend started. He's on IR. He's eligible to return after week 17. Maybe he solves all of it, but you're playing a top three rush offense in the NFL this week and trending in the wrong direction. We always talk about the Bill's rush defense, which we talk about the Patriots rush defense as well.

This is an issue. It's not only. Only Milton Williams, and I hate to say it, this is a classic category two from Nick Wright, from I don't know when you debuted this take. But the Patriots surprised a lot of people with how good the roster was because Belichick botched those drafts for years and variable had to come in and grab some guys off some free agents. And we saw things work. We saw some things not work. Right now you're seeing things not work. I don't think we have a, ton of depth. So Mill Williams goes down. Okay, we can plug that maybe.

Spillane was in a walking boot the other day. Maybe he comes back. I don't know what his status is. Tonga goes down. So I don't think we have. Of all the excellent teams, you have the loose step. Yeah. That's the, I think it's showing on this because we used to be

excellent and now not so much. Yeah, the graphic that was bouncing around Twitter two months ago was the one of like, like, hey, the Patriots last four drafts with the red line through everybody. Like Drake and, right, it's Christian Gonzalez and Drake May and then a bunch of guys who, some aren't in the NFL anymore and none of them are on the Pats anymore. The cost of that is twofold. One is you would have liked some stars out of those drafts.

Now you've got the franchise quarterback, which matters more than anything. But the other one is if you just get competent role players than when Milton Williams goes down, it's like, oh, okay, good thing we drafted to de-tackle in the third round two years. ago he plugs in. You guys don't have any of that. I, this to me speaks to a bigger question I have about the Patriots, which is, what are they great at? And the answer, I think, is going to need to be Drake May. It's going to need to kind of be the score points. Right, but the score points, I think it's going to need to be through the air. Because I know, and they ran well on, Buffalo in the loss, but over the course of the season, their rushing attack hasn't been super potent.

Can I just put an asterisk on that? And this is a little bit of what makes the Patriots tricky. It also makes the Ravens tricky. The Travion Henderson might win offensive rookie of the year, and he was basically on the bench, largely. Which makes me a question of Rabel. No, he couldn't block. So, like, if you want to get into Trevion blocking, it's a little bit of, like, Washington General's music, getting blasted past. So recently we've been pretty good.

But overall, it looks like we're mediocre to back. Well, the problem, just not to, and then you go, Brew, but just not to dig too deep into it. If Rabel truly doesn't trust Henderson to block, then the problem is having them on the field keys the defense on what you're doing. Yeah, but now he's okay. Because coming out of college, you were supposed to be good at both. Like, that was the surprise.

The point that I was getting at, Brew, is, if the Patriots are going to get back to the status we were discussing them as just a game ago, is like, hey, can this team win the AFC? I think it's going to be because Drake May goes on a heater more than just this, you know, systematic, excellent, good at everything, balance all of that. Yeah, because they don't have the defense of Houston and Denver in teams like that. And so, but look, this stat, your cool stat right here, I mean, I think the Ravens are going to test them. Like they're going to, because last week, we talked about Lamar threw 12 passes.

Correct. Right? So only 16 dropbacks. So there, which I like, lean into the run game. If it's not there and you have to start throwing fine. But I think they're going to really, and it's not just Derek Henry. You know, Keaton Mitchell's been good for it. So I think they're going to test the Patriots and we'll see if that defense can get back to where it was earlier in the season.

That's cool. Feel free to use this cool stat brew for future FTF Bowl conversations. Oh, my lights. Well, Wilde is terrified about this FDF. I'm not terrified at all. Cool stat. You know what else is cool? What?

A thoughtful answer to a friend's question. Wow. Wow. Wilde yesterday asked me, it's like when I was talking about the bills in the second half, he's like, hey, Danny, what about the bills in the first half? I'm going to answer that for you, buddy. Thank you. It's a cool thing to do. 23rd in the NFL in point differential in the first half.

22nd in yardage differential. They're just not good. It's a slow starting team. in the first half. And historically, they honestly might be the best second half team I've ever seen. It's kind of insane. The point differential is the best since the 2012 Broncos. Yesterday we did points per game, which was the best since the 2013 Broncos.

And in yardage differential, we only have the ability to look this up going back to the year 2000. It's the best. They are just bludgeoning people in the second half of games. Now, are they doing that, as Nick alluded to yesterday, because they get forced into passing situations? Yeah, just make. I think that's a big part. Right. They have no choice but to unleash Josh Allen.

Oh, sure. But I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Right, that's the thing. It is working. Like, it's working for the bills and a historic rate in the second half. Can't ever count them out of a game. Well, first of all, what a thoughtful answer. Thank you.

That was incredible. Secondly, the problem with that is this. No, the problem with that is this. No, the problem with. that is, as we all know, they're going to be a few second halves where Josh doesn't have it. And so you

can't just kind of what you've been saying the whole time about them, yeah, when he has it and turns it on, it's great, but if you get down and it's just not one of those games for him, that's what you follow. I think it's, I think there's a bigger potential red flag about that. And this is

even though right now, as my since my AFC pick is officially eliminated, I have no choice but to pick another AFC team. And my gut tells me I'm going to end up picking Danny's Buffalo Bills. They won't have them. The, um, the, I'm beloved in Buffalo. People above Western New York, they've liked me the last couple of years.

They're just a little nicer. They're just, um, they are. Uh, here is, and I think this is probably where your head went, KW. I would really be worried about the combo of where a slow starting team and our run defense sticks because it could lead to the scenario of a team getting up on them in the first half and then you know bludgeoning them. You don't get the ball back. Right.

And just, you know, drawing out long second half possessions where even if Buffalo's offense is humming, it's like what we're going to have an eight minute drive. Right. That just kills you. I told you what I know it was an insane take, but I didn't like Travon scoring on a one yard. Or one play drive. I'm like, oh, Josh doesn't even cool down. He's right back.

I think, look, the Patriots game, they were a pass interference call away from that whole thing switching. They're playing with fire, and they're winning, but the burrow interceptions were weird. And I know it's like, well, you can just, you know, horseshoes and hand grenades, everything, but they're close to losing. Brew, we might have to collectively, just real quick, decide

whether or not we are or we are, not a blame the refs show. I'm not a blame the fourth time. Wilde has alluded to this past, it might as well have been Saints Rams Conference Championship game the way Wilde talks about it. Blaming the refs, not cool. Thank you.

I wouldn't do that. I'm not blaming the refus. It's not cool. You just keep hearing about it. You don't want to control the game. I just, I'm just letting you know. You don't want to be on a razor. Sorry.

What else is doing? No, no, you don't have to apologize. It's just two for two on cool stats. Blame the ref. not cool. But you know what else is cool? What? Recognizing patterns. That's true. Pattern recognition. What the coolest? Last year.

The lines, everyone knows their defense collapsed down the stretch with all those injuries. It really had no shot. They were the one seed, but they were drawn dead because of all their injuries on defense, averaging, allowing over 30 yards, or 30 points per game. It's only been two games, and yes, it's against great offense. the Rams and the Cowboys. But is history repeating itself, injuries to Brian Branch, Kirby Joseph, Terry and Arnold,

and Amique Robertson, injuries piling up for the Lions defense, looking like history repeating itself from last year. So listen, I... Go ahead, Brew. No, go ahead. If I may, you know what's also not cool? What?

What's not cool, I'll tell you. Making excuses for your... For making the same mistake, two years in a row. Like last year, I had to hear, or all this year, have had to hear about how folks that believe the Lions were going to make or win the Super Bowl, we were, we were going to be right, just got snake bitten by injuries. And then now, once again, those same folks that believe the Lions were going to make

or win the Super Bowl, it's like, man, just got unlucky again. It is. You just say me. You don't have to folks. It's not just you though. You're not the only person who believed in the Lions. I, it is pro football, man. Like there are very, yes, this is the way I would phrase it.

Not having a bunch of major injuries makes you lucky. Having a bunch of significant injuries does not make you unlucky. Like the teams that get to the end of the year, it's like, man, 20 of our 22 day one starters are still out there. That team was lucky to, as opposed to, they're just snake bits. though, I mean, San Francisco seems to have a lot of injuries year after year, and it's not as long in Detroit. But these last few seasons, it

has been... But I just, don't you feel like we're looking around the playoffs? And we just talked about the Patriots, how many guys are out with injury? The Chargers, the offensive line is injured. The Niners, so many. The Chiefs weren't probably not going to be there anyway. It's fine. The quarterback goes down. The Packers, we're talking about the injuries.

The Lions. Like, guys, Lane Johnson's been out for the Eagles. Guys get hurt. And you shouldn't be a few defensive injuries should not lead to allowing 30 plus points per game late in the season and consecutive years. But when you – sure, but you also can't invest everywhere. So if you are invested more on the offensive side of the ball, that's fair. And then you also have really bad luck on injuries on the side of the ball that you don't invest in, you're going to just be real bad. It's probably why the Lions are going to miss the playoffs.

That was cool, though. I know. Cool explanations. I know. Do we think we're keeping the briefcase? See, I don't really see the purpose for the briefcase. No, now I think you just... Well, when they're not packed stacks.

The light that you have in there, that's cool. The light is cool stuff. It's just super cool facts. You need another cool way to deliver that. What's cool? Darnold versus Staff. I'll figure it out. Leather duffel bag.

Are we keeping? I don't know if that's cool. Backpacks aren't cool. I don't know, Danny. He needs a satchel. Satchels are... Tomorrow, it's an NFC West Showdown. Honestly, one of the games.

of the year. Rams at Seahawks, the top two teams, by the way, in top 10 Tuesday. I don't know if they're going to use that to promote the game. Last time these two teams faced off the Rams won on a missed Seahawks field goal at the very end. Sam Donald, of course, through four interceptions. Here is Sam Darnold ahead of the rematch. Obviously, it's a divisional game. You know, playing these guys last time. Obviously, wasn't my best effort. You know, I feel like as an offense, we just got to continue to do what we've. We've been practicing, you know, stay on the details. Greg, do you expect Sam Darnold to be able to keep up with Matt Stafford? Well, that's the hope. I don't think he will keep up. History tells me against this team in particular, he won't keep up because he's going to be under intense pressure.

And Sam Darnold, under intense pressure, does not play well. He hasn't bowed well, specifically against this Rams team. Like the last time we saw him in the outing against this team, Obviously, he alluded to it. He had the four interceptions. He was under pressure. They never sacked him, but he was under pressure and under duress the entirety of the game. And if you're a defensive coordinator, you're going to run that right back because he didn't have a great outing.

And Sam Donald has to expect it. Like you're prepping for it all week long. You have to just be better in those situations. And it's shown up too many times throughout the course of his career. in key moments in and in throughout the course of his career. Yeah. I mean, let's keep it a buck.

You know, Stafford is playing MVP ball and Sam Donald's playing proven ball. You know, how much did he learn from the last matchup? Because when you turn on the tape and you go back to the last week, the last time they played, it was about Sam Donald just blown in and crucial situations. And you talk about what that defense did of the Rams. They, they condensed the pocket rush forward.

They played nickel personnel versus the, the, the Seahawks 12 personnel. And what happened was you saw Sam Down. sit in the pocket, burped the baby. When they took away his first options, he didn't know where to go with the football. So he looked stagnant and he looked stale. So if you're talking about, to Greg's point, the matchup, did he grow from the last time they played? Or what are we going to expect? And also understand this.

Like, Matthew Stafford closes games. Can Sam Donald close the game if this is one of those kind of drag it out, you know, type of games? I don't know if he can. So I don't see much out of Sam Donald, honestly. Okay, well, so let me just say this. You cannot make a Sam Donald over Matt Stafford. argument. It doesn't exist, obviously. Pedy, talent, accomplishments, this season. You can't make it. And obviously, Darnold was bad against the Rams. He threw four interceptions. Everyone

knows that. But I will say, to me, that is the most interesting game that's happened in the NFL this year, the first time these two teams met. Because the Rams, who everyone says, myself included, are the best team in the league. They got four interceptions and could have lost on a field goal at the end. Because people forget the Seahawks defense is really good. And what the Seahawks defense did to Matt Stafford in that game. So this is not a pro- Which we don't talk about, by the way. No, I know, but I'm about to.

This was arguably Matt Stafford's worst game of his season in his MVP season. He happened to win it because the other quarterback was worse. And so I'm not trying to build up Sam Darnold by tearing down Matt Stafford. But my point is, they made Matt Stafford's life miserable also in that game. And the only, they had a couple, they had a touchdown drive of less than 10 yards in that game off of one of the turnovers. Like, it was just, it was a weird game. game and you say, well, maybe that's an aberration. No, look at what Seattle does to

quarterbacks. The last two months, any starter who has played Seattle has played poorly. So I don't think you can go into this game expecting MVP-level Matt Stafford because, yeah, if you do that, Donald can't live up to that. But the Seahawks are going to make this miserable for Sam Darnel or excuse me for Stafford also. Yeah, both quarterbacks are going to be under the rest. However, it's who do you trust in those moments in those Those clutch moments of the game, situational football, got to have it moments as we talk to and allude to in the locker room. And it would be Matthew Stafford because of his pedigree, because of who he has and what we've seen him doing in those moments. Sam Darnold, this is one of those moments where he can truly solidify himself moving forward in his locker room.

And I know they believe in him. They've backed him after this outing the last time. you know the four interceptions you saw defensive players standing up at the podium saying he's our guy he's gotten us here but if he falters in this moment again there are going to be major question marks as they march into the postseason and rightfully so because we've seen it far too often with sam darnal in moments where he has to be better he has to be great and he just doesn't deliver yeah i think if you turn on the game against detroit you saw stafford cook at a level that was pretty elite no question I'm talking about the options.

He now, think about it, Devonta Adams got hurt in that game. They never flints. Colby Parkinson, the big titan, 6-7, 265 pounds. No relation. Godzilla in the Red Zone. They have options. So when you talk about why we believe in Stafford, it's not just because of his play, it's because of the options he has around them.

Outside of JSN, who pops up the tape for the Seahull? I agree with that, and that is correct. I think he's got like over 40% of their yards this year. It has been a one-man. show. But all I would say is if Sam Darnold merely through two interceptions in that first game, Seattle wins. So it's not there. This does not need to be a pretty game for either quarterback. I don't think we're going to come. What's the goal, though? The goal is to win the game. But also, you want to be confident in your quarterback. If you see Stafford any way in the playoffs,

you've got the guy for the job. I understand. I'm just saying Seattle is favorite in this game. They win. The Rams are all of a sudden in the five seat. I just think these two teams are much closer than the quarterbacks would suggest. Darnold is nowhere near Stafford, but the teams are very close. We got a Saturday double header here, and the Eagles and the commanders, four o'clock on Fox. Eagles coming off a much-needed victory over the Raiders, season back on track.

Maybe, but it was the Raiders. Here's Jalen Hertz on where he sees the Eagles being at at this point in the year. Right now, you win games based off identity. And the thing for us is we've gotten to this point, And we've been able to get to this point, be playing for the, you know, games, be playing in big time games, not really establishing an identity.

And so I think it is healthy to have won games in a lot of ways. And I think it's encouraging to be able to build off of something positive. I think I would look good in that hat. Willie, what do you need to see to believe that the Eagles are fully back? Well, first of all, they're not a juggernaut anymore. Last year they were a juggerna. I think all year we've been looking for that offense to pop off the tape of Sequin

and AJ down the field and all that. And I think if you're the Eagles, you just have to set a new standard. Like this is just a different outcome solely because of the injuries. And what I would like to see is chunk runs, explosive plays down the field to AJ and Smitty, on time, by the way. I also would like to see both sides of the football develop a killer instinct in the red zone. And I would like to see this team do it for more than one game, right? You have the commanders, you have the bills, and you have the commanders again.

Have a signature win against another playoff team like the Buffalo Bills, then we can say they're back. Overall, I just want to see the Eagles pop, man. Right now, it seems like they're just up and down, up and down, up and down. And Valley, they've been able to get out of it. But nevertheless, when you come playoff time, there's a dog you need to see walking onto that field. I don't recognize dog. I don't see that dog. I see a team merely surviving right now because they have enough talent to do so.

I just need to see their running game get going first. If they can establish this running game, then everything else stems off of that. You open up your passing game. And I know sometimes throughout the course of this season, we talked about their passing game opening up their running game. But this is a team when Jalen Hertz talks about we've been able to get these wins and we haven't really established an identity. Coming into this season, we all knew what their identity was.

On the ball. Turn the ball, turn the ball, hand it off to Saquan, run the ball. If they can do that, it changes how we view this team. I don't care who it's against. If they look dominant up front, which they have not done, and Saquan Barkley is able to get going in that running game for these last three weeks of the season, going into the postseason, we're going to have a different vantage point in view on how we feel about this team.

So I guess I'm not that we need to be against each other here. I guess I'm a little bit, I look at it a little bit. It's okay. I look at it a little bit more like you do, though, because Washington just lost 310 to Minnesota. Yep. Right? Like, they're done.

Yep. They are totally. One, two, three, Cancun. Yeah, they're cooked. They are done. And so let's say you're right. And they run all over this team. Yep.

And then they, let's say they run all over Buffalo was one of the worst run defenses in the NFL. And then let's say they run all over Washington again in week 18. And they've now won four straight games. And it's the Raiders, commanders. bills, commanders, and then they lose to the Bears who blew them out. Yes. Or to the Niners. And like they immediately get into the

postseason and then get dog walked. I don't think anyone's going to be like, well, I guess the Eagles weren't fully back. Well, see, the number one, the Bears didn't blow them out. They dominated that game. They beat the hell out. The Eagles up front. They bullied them. They did not blow them out. They bullied them in the running game. And it was something that we weren't accustomed

to seeing. That was not a blowout. They were a touchdown underdog. They won by nine. So relative to expectation, fine, fair enough. It wasn't a blowup, but they bullied them. Fine. I would say if you're a touchdown underdog and you win by nine, that is they won by 17 against the spread. I think the best thing that happened in that game was the clock ran out because the Eagles

looked like they were ready to top. It was no moss. But I would say this. What's interesting about this game, with Lane Johnson being hurt, especially Sequin, I think he's going through some things. If they are able to run the ball, now we're talking about style points. Now we're talking about a team right now that can max some of those injuries and get back to

you know, forming Voltron for all your 80s babies out there. And so I'm of the mindset. It's not about who's out there.

It's the style of play. We want to get back to seeing that dominant dog and the style of play we used to see.

Hopefully it could happen. Coming up next, everyone knows I see the league very clearly. So we're going to debut the eye test

whether or not I see Justin Herbert. Slightly. Slightly. 20-20 vision. Don't worry about it. Time now for a little thing we like to call

the eye test. As we know, I see the league very clearly. Oh, boy. The top 10 guys my eyes are telling me can lead their teams on a deep playoff run. And of course, I'm sure Greg and Willie will see the league just as clearly. I got my glasses on.

I know about great. LASIC. Okay. Best thing I ever did. All right. Let's see the bottom row here on the eye test. We have Jalen Hurts, Trevor Lawrence, Jared Gough and Bonix. I like the carrot top of Spice TV.

I love props. And by the way, not a fan of the props DPS. You get a lot of crap. I'm a fan of them. It's not an insult. Carrot Topps show hilarious. Jalen Hurts. Do I expect him to lead a deep playoff run

and be the reason for it? Obviously not. Their offense has been really tough to watch, frankly, this year. It's been tough to see. There have been complaints from AJ Brown. Devonte Smith seems to echo them because everyone else is just not shooting down what AJ Brown says.

Well, we were just talking about their running game. But I can't even as a guy who has been a consistent critic of Jalen Hertz, I can't argue the guy is money in the playoffs and really in the biggest games and he's been unbelievable in both Super Bowls that he's played in. So it's at least on the board that he does it. Trevor Lawrence, I don't expect it. But Liam Cohen has been amazing. And they lead the league in games where they've scored 25 or more points this year. It's something. He's unlocked Travis E.T.N. too. Travis E.T.N. having an absolutely monster season.

Jared Gough, I don't think he's getting in. But if he gets in, it's them and the bills for most games where they've scored 30 or more. They can win shootouts. Their offense is incredible. Jared Goss right there. And then Bo Nix, I put him at the bottom, even though he's going to be the one seed, and Broncos fans will say this is an insult.

There's a lot of quarterbacks who are not in here. So to me, I mean this as a compliment. That was the best I've ever seen Bo Nicks play. They put up 34 on Green Bay. And it wasn't just little dink and dunks behind the line of scrimmage. He was connecting down. the field. He was throwing on the run. I thought Bo Nix was brilliant against Green Bay.

Till the next row here. I look at the... What do we got here? Drake May, Caleb Williams. Come on with DP. I can see it. What's Caleb doing there? I'll tell you. We'll start with Drake man. We'll go left to right. Let me a wide chart. Drake May is second for MVP this year. And I think their defense is falling off. We went over that and stats are cool. Pax, that's whatever you want to call it. But this guy is a stud. I do not believe this is like C.J. Stroud or Jaden Daniels where there's going to be some up and down nature to his game, he's doing this with less around him. I think he's spectacular. I think he's on the verge of being. He's already a top 10 quarterback. I think he's on the verge of being in that top five quarterback

level consistently. Caleb, I truly believe last week was the continuation of the breakout. Ben Johnson said at the beginning of the year, he and the rest of the team would be playing its best football by the end of the year as they get more and more familiar with Ben Johnson's system. Their offensive line is healthy and cooking. They're the best run team in the NFL since their buy-in week five. Colston Loveland has gotten more involved. Luther Burden has gotten more involved. DJ Moore and Caleb finally connected.

The Romodunzee injury is a bummer, but I think Caleb Williams has been brilliant the last couple of games. And same thing with Jordan Love. I thought those were some tough luck interceptions. I'm not his biggest fan historically. That's mainly a rivalry thing. I think he puts the ball in danger more than the interception numbers would dictate. He was awesome against the Lions on Thanksgiving.

He was awesome against the Bears, and I thought he was really good against Denver in tough situations. To the next line, the guys I really can see making a deep run. Matt Stafford and Justin Herbert. Listen, Matt Stafford has done it before, and he's the MVP. This is a pretty easy case to make. He has won a Super Bowl. He has a brilliant play caller. The Devante Adams injury is a factor because of how reliant Stafford is in the red zone,

but they're saying that he might be able to play tomorrow against Seattle. That would surprise me a little bit, but even if he doesn't play against Seattle, Devante will be back in time for Stafford to make this run. And Herbert, I know the numbers recently have not been good, and I know that he's kind of like my guy that I've just planted the flag on. You love him. But I honestly do believe that if you watch the games and you have five quarterbacks in the world better than Justin Herbert, I don't really respect your acumen when it comes to talking about quarterback. Honestly, Mahomes, Allen, Stafford, I'll listen to all of it. Just, just, not this version of Aaron Rogers. I have a cough.

Not this version of Aaron Rogers. Sorry, but Justin Herbert, with that defense, that special teams, he can get it done even with that terrible offensive line. And then the easiest at the top of the list. Everyone will agree on this. Listen, man, Josh Allen, he's the best player in football right now. And it's the era of Patrick Mahomes. And Patrick Mahomes has the accomplishments and the trophy case, obviously.

But if you go playoff ranks in the Patrick Mahomes era, Mahomes is number one across the board. Who's number two across the board in the playoffs? Starts, wins, yards, touchdowns. This guy balls out in the playoffs. He just often runs into Patrick Mahomes. There is no shame in losing to the best. It just makes you second best. He is the guy who, because of him I can most easily see, leading a deep playoff run.

Greg, I know you agree. I agree with Josh Allen, the top of the list. But I'm looking at Caleb, man. And again, I don't want to make this a bias thing. You should. But he doesn't even deserve to be on this list. Thank you. You guys see how we played against Cleveland?

Yeah. Should you ever say this? They even have no wristband on. And therein lies my, therein lies my issue with it. Because we're going to hype that up because it's Caleb. But if any other quarterback is lighting up Cleveland, we're like, it's the Cleveland Brown. I'm sorry, 13 of 20, two touchdowns in the second half against Green Bay. He was excellent.

He was excellent against Cleveland. But name a meaningful game that he was able to perform at that level in. I'll wait. You cannot. Before the interception. In the Green Bay game. No, no. Name a meaningful game.

That was not a meaningful game. Before the interception. Okay, there are a lot of players that play good at throughout the game. But for the duration of the game, is what matters. If Jordan Love had thrown that interception at the end of the game, you would be ripping him. I just said he had some tough luck interceptions against the Broncos.

All right. So Caleb, he, I'm sorry I can see the future. I'm sorry I can see the future. I'm about to go on a run. Sorry, I can see it. Sorry I can see it.

I mean, there's somebody underneath him that won a Super Bowl last year, which is, this is interesting. Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts is not playing better than Caleb Williams. I'm just saying, you talk about resumes.

I'm disregard. You're a big resume. The playoff run. Does this not, Does this prop not get my point across? Matthew Stafford. I see the league. I watch the game with this.

Surgical quarterback in the league. I have him, number one. I would replace John. You have a number one. Yeah, I don't think anybody standing in Matthew Stafford's way. If he doesn't land in San Francisco, everything he's been accomplished in my eyes this year would be a waste. Like, I think he's destined to land in the Super Bowl.

I think he has not only elevated his play, he's actually durable. Talk about all the questions we had going into this season about him. People didn't even see him. last in five games. He's not only elevated the team. He has the options. He has the scheme. He's playing at an elite level. I don't think there's a quarterback in the NFC that wants to be in a shootout with him. I think he's probably the the most dominant quarterback this season. I got Stafford. He's my guy. He's alpha number one. I don't know how you have your list. I can go through your list for days. I can't even do it right now.

Stafford would get my MVP vote. Yeah. But the body of work of Allen in the playoffs just not nudges him above it. And I know Stafford has a ring, so it's not like he has a bad I don't even think it's just solely about the playoffs. Just what he does and what he provides his team with his legs outside the pocket. It's unmatched. But think about this too. This man was a minute 47 away last season from beating the Eagles in the snow in Philadelphia. Yes, he was.

There's not a day. As competitors, I'll throw you in there. As competitors. That's really generous. I'm just saying, man, he can't get DP out. I was just saying gamble on the golf course. I know that haunts him. That haunts him.

When he goes to sleep at night, He's like, man, I've lost to the Eagles in the playoffs. I lost to them in the regular season. I got to have it. Now that Mahomes is off the table, he's no longer waiting for you down the road. He is the best quarterback in the football right now to me, hands down. I can't argue with the numbers this year, although Josh Allen is really close. I just, again, when I watch it, I think Josh Allen is a little better than him.

But, hey, Stafford. It takes some too long to get going. Dominant's quarterbacks get going early. I want to tell you the biggest factor. And who's going to play in the Super Bowl coming up next. Time now for first things last. Today I want to talk about luck. To me, it's the most under-discussed commodity in sports.

Do you hit on a prospect in the sixth round of the draft? Luck. Did you recover a fumble? Also luck. It's a huge factor in determining the winners and the losers. But with stars like Micah Parsons and Patrick Mahomes going down for the season, it had me thinking about a different kind, injury luck. Every team sustains injuries, but in a league designed for parity, often, the simplest indicator of who is good is the answer to a question, who is healthy.

Take the Rams. The one seat in the NFC and the team atop almost every power ranking. Guess what? The Rams have used the fewest number of starters in the league. The two teams right behind them in that metric? The Patriots and the Eagles. Both walks to be top three seeds. In fact, the teams that have used the fewest players to start on offense this year are the Rams.

Bears, Seahawks, Patriots, and Eagles, a who's who of the best teams in the league. And it, of course, works the other way. The Browns, Cardinals, and Texans have used the most offensive starters. So can we use this to predict the Super Bowl participants? And recent history actually suggests that we can. For the purposes of this exercise, let's evaluate health by looking at which teams get through a season by using the fewest starters, and we'll remove Week 18 when the best teams usually sit their guys. In the last five years, every Super Bowl participant has been in the top of the time.

top nine for fewest players used as starters. Three of them use the fewest. These are the top nine this year. Now obviously, three of these teams have already been eliminated. So if that trend holds, that means the Super Bowl will feature two of these teams. Congrats to them. You'll be called the best, but we'll also know that you are the luckiest. Stick around.

We've got college hoops coming up next with Rob Stone and Casey Jacobson. We'll be back tomorrow on First Things First.