Green Light with Chris Long - NFL Week 16 Reactions! Raiders vs Chiefs, Rams Scariest in NFC & Ravens SB Favorites!

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

There was some wonderful Christmas Holiday football this week and Chris Long recap's it all! Chris pops on to talk the Raiders making a push for the AFC W crown with their win over the Chiefs, the Dolphins knocking off the Cowboys in Miami, the Eagles getting back on track vs the Giants and the Browns exploding into the AFC #1 conversation. We dissect all the playoff intricacies and Chris gives out his America's Teams and his Miller Lite Moments from NFL Week 16! (00:00) - NFL Week 16 Reactions! (13:07) - America's Teams Presented by Miller Lite (53:50) - Raiders vs Chiefs, Cleveland vs Houston, Buffalo vs LA Chargers and Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati (1:26:50) - Eagles vs Giants, Detroit vs Minnesota, Tampa Bay vs Jacksonville, LA Rams vs New Orleans, Atlanta vs Indianapolis and Seattle vs Tennessee (1:52:52) - Green Bay vs Carolina, Denver vs New England, Cardinals vs Bears, Commanders vs Jets and Miller Lite Mentions This podcast is brought to you by Cash App. With multiple tools for saving, spending, and sending, Cash App is the easy way to stay in control of your money. Cash App is a financial platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partner(s). Use the GameTime app for all your ticketing needs. Create an account and use code GREENLIGHT for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download the GameTime app today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed. Make sure to check out Fax and the King every Wednesday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FaxAndTheKing Have some interesting takes, some codebreaks or just want to talk to the Green Light Crew? We want to hear from you. Call into the Green Light Hotline and give us your hottest takes, your biggest gripes and general thoughts. Day and night, this hotline is open. Green Light Hotline: ‪[phone]‬ Send any Talent Search submissions to: [e-mail] Include any video of your talents, takes and bits as well as a little bit about yourself. Love hearing from the Green Light fans. Also, check out our paddling partners at Appomattox River Company to get your canoes, kayaks and paddleboards so you're set to hit the river this summer. https://paddleva.com/ Green Light Spotify Music: https://open.spotify.com/user/951jyryv2nu6l4iqz9p81him9?si=17c560d10ff04a9b Spotify Layup Line: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1olmCMKGMEyWwOKaT1Aah3?si=675d445ddb824c42 Green Light Tube YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/GreenLightTube1 Green Light with Chris Long: Subscribe and enjoy weekly content including podcasts, documentaries, live chats, celebrity interviews and more including hot news items, trending discussions from the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAA are just a small part of what we will be sharing with you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oh, it's incredible. You know, if Joe Flacco played in this offense, his whole career, we've said this over the last couple weeks, he'd be a first ballot Hall of Famer. And so it's very interesting to me that a guy with a name like that and who does have a lot of respect. But you know, the whole is Flacco elite joke? Sure. It was like it was popularized. It was it was a, it was a meme, so to speak, that went on for what felt like five, seven years. the guy is elite right now. If you look at the, if you look at the quarterbacks that are going to play in the playoffs, Joe Flacco had five of the ten top throws from Sunday.

Welcome to the Greenlight podcast. NFL Week 16 recap. We've got Chris Long calling in from the inside the NFL studios to talk everything week 16. We go back through Joe Flacko's incredible performance again for the Cleveland Browns. He's got them. maybe one of the scariest teams in the AFC. Lamar beats the 49ers and really the Ravens defense chips in a lot there. We talk about all that.

The Eagles get back on track. The Rams, are they among the scariest teams in the NFC? They could be dangerous come playoff time. You wouldn't want to play them. We had all those games. We had our Miller Light moments. We obviously give out our America's teams and we just have a blast. So thanks for joining in.

We'll catch you again on Friday. Enjoy this recap. Fellas, we are live. I'm not going to take all your. time this afternoon because I'm on the road. I got stuff to do. The Christmas squeeze is on. I'm in Jersey. I just finished with inside the NFL. Came up here with my family, spent some time at the in-laws yesterday, and then found my way to the Weston late at night last night. I want to shout out my wife, Meg, who was an awesome understanding person who was like, listen, you don't want to

sleep on the couch with 10 kids in the in in in the house, um, in Medford, New Jersey, you should go to the Weston tonight and get a good night's sleep. And that was great. I wanted to get the podcast out late last night. I kind of, I kind of thought and, you know,

like maybe I should start the show in copying to the things that I was wrong about this week. But I thought this game might be in hand by the fourth quarter. And I thought it might be the San Francisco 49ers. And I thought we might be able to start the show. but we had to wait till the end of the game to start, and it's like 11 o'clock, and I said, hey, my quality of life is important to me. We're going to wait until tomorrow.

I need to digest everything that just happened. But from the outset, the stuff I was wrong about this week, and I can put it in gambling terms, I was wrong about, or the bets that I was least proud of, the Kansas City Chiefs minus 10. That was a train wreck. It wasn't even close. I put in Houston seven days before the game at minus two. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered if I'd have waited for Case Keenham

to get announced and caught the three points because it wasn't even close. Here's a bet that I was proud of, but I won't share it and brag about it. Like I was proud to buy a three on the Cowboys. I mean, the best possible outcome for a guy pulling for the Eagles to win the east is that the dolphins pull out the win. it's not a three point win. So everybody's happy, everybody goes home. And the sharps say never to buy points, but there you go.

The sharps would be down a lot of units today if the sharps. Because it was sitting at one and a half, you know, I bought the two on some of the bets. I thought with Tyreek being announced and I knew he would be that that thing might swell to, you know, three or that sort of thing. But I bought all the way to three. I think it was like minus 130 or something like that, which is, you know, it's, It's a, that's a big gulp putting that bet, putting that bet in. But luckily that hit, the stuff I was really proud.

Another one that I'm not proud of, my locks have been terrible. I don't even, I'm not even going to try anymore on the locks. Like, I'm just not a midweek picker. I don't know what's wrong with me. I gave out the Niners. I'm not proud of that, but happy to be wrong because I think it's really good for the NFL, that it's not some foregone conclusion. We've been talking about San Francisco as being on another level from the rest of the teams.

they're obviously not. And when you look at some of their losses this year, we've seen this before. Now, they haven't been at full strength and looked like this. So this is a good sign for the rest of the league, and it's a great sign for the Ravens team I picked a win division, but I did not think that they would be able to overcome some of the losses they've had due to injury on offense.

Now, we'll talk about that in a little bit. Here's a game that I was really proud of being on the right side of. Pittsburgh Money Line. and talked about that on Pat McAfee's show. Pittsburgh's going to win that game. I was proud of the Panthers bet. A lot of sharps were on the Panthers. Did you notice all the guys on McAfee picked the Bengals right after you got off?

Did they really? Yeah. AJ was like, oh, Chris almost swayed me, but I got to take the Bengals. No, I mean, how about them Steelers? I mean, there were a few good plays that I had, including a very desperate Eagles Christmas Day over. I had to sit in the living room and act like I wasn't sort of excited. when that pick six happened or act like I wasn't sort of excited and excited is the wrong word because

I need the Eagles to win the game like no question first and foremost but if the Eagles can win and along the way they give the other team 14 points and we secure that over that was a big deal that was a Christmas miracle for your boy after that chief's bath I took at 1 p.m. So yeah like all my cards on the table I was wrong about some shit this week I thought that the Cowboys would win that game down in Miami, I thought that the San Francisco 49ers would win that game, you know, at home against Baltimore. I think, you know, I was texting with Nolan last night before I went to bed. And I said, you know, I guess maybe the takeaway from me coming off a week of football like

this or this entire year, right, where my homes looks human, Brock Purdy looks really bad. And we thought, you know, like, yeah, there is a veneer there. There is that offense. There is that thing that lifts him up. And we know context is important. but you can never overstate the effect of context on quarterbacks. And I think also for our generation, you know, we came out of this golden age of quarterbacking in the NFL, where you had that crop of Hall of Fame guys that have all moved on to retirement over the past five,

seven years. But it's not just that. I think in yesterday's NFL, you had more continuity, you had less changeover, you had less roster changeover. it was easier to keep teams together. You know, and, you know, you look at my homes right now, and I'm not making any excuses for the guy. He didn't play well yesterday, but the context is important. I don't know that Brady ever had a group like this outside.

Now, you could say, hey, Brady, one, throwing to a bunch of guys like Chris Hogan over the years and that sort of thing, but I think you're also discounting, and I'm going to name two more white guys here, but you're discounting West Welker, you're discounting Julian Edelman, you're discounting. discounting branch, you're discounting, you know, the year he had with Randy Moss, which nobody discounts. But you're, you're discounting guys like Danny and Dola and obviously the tight end. And so, you know, if, if Kansas City is looking at this situation and saying, look how we, you know, the New England Patriots did it all these years with a special tight end.

They didn't have to rely on paying guys outside and that sort of thing. You didn't have to take it to the extreme Brett Veach. I mean, I don't think this is a situation that I have seen. with a Peyton Manning or with a Tom Brady. And that's why you get this outlier look from Patrick Mahomes. But I think the point is whether it's Mahomes or whether it's Dach Prescott or whether it's any of these guys, Brock Purdy, today's NFL, it's hard to know who's who.

Now, I know who Patrick Mahomes is. But in general, I think because of the changeover that guys have to deal with it, coordinator, the changes that guys have to deal with, with in their wide receiver rooms, you know, the, the offensive line plate deteriorating, in my opinion, in the NFL due to the CBA, the way it's changed, less veterans, you know, the college game, guys are less pro-ready, right? I can remember guys, you know, that I play with that never gotten a three-point stance before. It's the same thing with quarterbacks now. There's a lot of guys who don't go under center. You talk about the gun run that like Jacksonville

has to do, that Philly has to do. And I don't know if it's a quarterback discomfort thing, but, you it changes the looks that you can add in the run game. I mean, things like that. The game has changed now today to where it's really hard. We knew we'd be adjusting off of losing all these Hall of Fame quarterbacks, but I think we're the one generation that has this really interesting vantage point where we were old enough to watch those guys play, but maybe, you know, too young, me as a player, not to break down the reasons that these guys were able to be consistent

and to be at the top of their game for decades. you know, when you add it all up with all these Hall of Fame quarterbacks, the Rivers, the Rathusberger, you know, the, the Drew breezes of the world. We're not even talking about, you know, Brady and Manning alone. Like these guys were able to be great for a long time. And that's because places like Pittsburgh, you have a culture. You have a head coach who's there for a long time. Places like New Orleans, same thing. Sean Payton, Mickey Loomis, they had a culture.

You know, a lot of these younger guys now in today's era of if the coach, and getting it done. We're going to get rid of this guy. Offensive coordinators are constantly looking to move up. There's a lot of change. And I think, you know, as we're trying to figure out who are today's guys, who are today's versions of yesterday's Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and so on, it's really hard to pinpoint that. There's a couple guys that you can kind of pinpoint as being in that echelon, but it's really hard to figure out who the other guys are.

And Brock Flocko 2.0 is like better than Joe Flacco 1.0. Oh, it's incredible. You know, if Joe Flacco played in this offense, this whole career, we've said this over the last couple of weeks, he'd be a first ballot Hall of Famer. And so it's very interesting to me that a guy with a name like that and who does have a lot of respect, but you know, the whole is Flacco elite joke?

Sure. It was like it was popularized. It was a, it was a meme, so to speak, that went on for what felt like five, seven years. the guy is elite right now. If you look at the quarterbacks that are going to play in the playoffs, Joe Flacco had five of the ten top throws from Sunday. And so, like, he is in that category.

If you were to rank the quarterbacks that are going to go into the playoffs right now, Matt Stafford would be one that we're talking about right now and saying, like, find me quarterbacks that are going to the playoffs that are playing better ball than Matt Stafford. Obviously, you have your MVP in not in Brock Purdy. He lost the Hysman last night. And Lamar Jackson, you've got guys that are playing at a high level. Two has played really well the last couple weeks.

But with Joe Flacco and Matt Stafford, these older guys, getting second opportunities, Matt's has been going on for a couple years. But Flacko finding himself. Baker, you know, Flacco finding himself a coordinator that really maximizes everything he does. And now you have to defend every blade of grass in Cleveland. That's a big change. For Flacco, as a play. and for the Cleveland Brown.

So I guess the point I'm making is quarterback's a hard thing to pin down. And there's so much context that goes into it. So having said that, let's get into the games because this is, I mean, it's narrative central. This podcast is brought to you by Cash App, the all in one app for spending, sending,

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With security, boosts, discounts, a free-to-order debit card, no overdraft fees, cash app is like a BFF for your money. It can be your read. It reads my BFF in the studio. Cash app, the exclusive financial services partner of Greenlight, download it in the app store or Google Play to see why it's the number one finance finance app in the U.S. app store. America's team number one, coaches that make QB decisions this year in the NFL.

There have been some great decisions, some guys walking tightrobes. Kevin O'Connell is a guy that's had to change QBs a couple times. You went from Jaron Hall to Josh Dobbs. You maximize that situation, right? you know, who would have thought that the Vikings would be so dangerous, so late in the year? I mean, like, look how dangerous they were the other day. They were never out of it. And it's because he made the switch to Nick Mullins, who honestly is probably the reason they don't win that game,

but he's also the reason. And that offense, and Kevin's the reason that they're even in it and making all these decisions all year has been crazy. Kevin Stefansky is another one. You know, I talked about this a pod ago. Sometimes people come into your life that you don't expect. that change everything. And Joe Flacco is that guy for Kevin Stefansky, for Cleveland, for Amari Cooper, for goodness sakes.

Listen to this guy talk about Joe Flacco. And he is QB decision number four, right? Like they've had to win it with four different guys this year. And when you talk about coaches of the year, that sort of thing, he should squarely be in that conversation because of all the decisions he's made. You talk about Robert Sala not making that decision. You know, Joe Flacco's on the street.

And, you know, anybody but Zach Wilson or Trevor Simeon, and maybe this team's got a shot. But Joe Flacco came here to inside the NFL early in the season to try out. And he said, yeah, I'm thinking about getting back on the field. I love Joe. And we were catching up and the whole thing. Great dude. Total Delco kind of guy. I think he'd be the number one Eagles fan if he were not, you know, Joe Flacco.

if he was just a guy, a tall dude living in Delaware County, he'd be a huge birds fan. He talks like one. He looks like one. The whole thing. So I'm a big fan of Joe Flacco, same draft class, the whole thing. But when he told me inside the NFL four months ago that he was thinking about doing this, I was like, I didn't think anything of it. I was just like, oh, cool, you might get on a team or that sort of thing.

The fact that he's out there looking the way he does right now is a credit not only to Cleveland making that decision to bring him in, but then ride with him. These are tough decisions guys have had to make. Arthur Smith has had to make a couple decisions, and it took him long enough, but that decision he made last week might have kept them alive. So coaches have had to make these decisions all year. Brian Dable has had to do it a couple times because of injuries. It hasn't worked out as well.

But like, these coaches, I don't think anybody thought coming to this year, we'd have to deal with this many injuries. and part of being a coach is knowing who to turn to when number one goes down and there have been some great decisions this year. So America's teams, coaches making quarterback decisions. By the way, talking about it inside the NFL real quick, I am here. We just finished taping our show. And I'm in a closet.

I got Sal Palantonezs suit rack right next to me. I'm talking into Liev Shriver's mic. I go to pick up the mic last night. They're like, this is supposed to be for Liev Shriver for Hard Knocks. He's in Antarctica. We're going to ship it to him. but we're going to let you use it. So I feel special talking to this mic.

I'll throw quarterbacks with gray hair into the conversation. There was a moment when Stafford joined the desk the other night, and he's sitting up there with Whitworth, his old teammate, cool moment, you know, got that win at home against New Orleans, where you're like, if you just showed this clip, it was Matt Stafford sitting at the desk with the Kairon under him with his stats. And it said, you know, like 2023, this, that, and third. he's got gray hair okay he's got gray's coming in he's got some salt coming in and it looks good on him

but if you just showed you know uh detroit fans this freeze frame shot five years ago they'd have been like what the fuck happened wait like how did he end up there and we got to be bad right we're bad right nah you just won the division how is this possible the nfl's crazy But they could get to root for him too, potentially. Like San Francisco could lose to the Rams, which could give the lions the number one seed in one possible outcome. They're going to have to root for Matt Stafford, possibly Week 18. They're also going to have to hope that he doesn't come to Detroit

because that gray-haired son of a gun can still sling it. But Flacco's got some salt too. I want to throw Indiana, the Indiana Hoosiers into this conversation for America's teams, because all eyes will be on Indiana next year. Cowboy Reed, first off, a very happy birthday to Cowboy Reed, 30 years old, one of my favorite people. He's a man now. But he's a big JMU Duke's fan, and Signetti was at JMU,

and I didn't know anything about the guy. He didn't sound like a blowhard, but it seems like every time you get a microphone in his face since he took the Indiana job, he has been a magnet for bullet and board material. Like sizing up the teams in the Big Ten, They're pressing him to ask him how he's going to read. They're not even pressing him. They're just asking him.

There's a layup question. How are you going to attack the portal? How are you going to recruit? And he acts like you can't understand the question. The guy repeats it, feels like an asshole. And then Signetti says, I win. Google me. Let's see how that works out.

Okay, because Indiana last time I checked, not a powerhouse in the Big Ten. Now, if they win the Big Ten next year or something like that, I'll be the first one to say, hey, If you can back it up, great. But I think Indiana could be a meme next year. So like fast forward to 2024 every Saturday, we're going to be watching Google me. I win.

Can't wait to watch Indiana next year. I'm going to give Rust Belt teams and America's team nod because look, the factory's dried up. Industrial Revolution was a long time ago. Okay? We've modernized the setup. We got robots making. cars and shit.

Okay, Detroit, the jobs left with the factories. Your football team's been struggling for, for eons. Same thing in Cleveland. I feel like they were manufacturing something there. Tires. Tires and shit like that. But now the Rust Belt teams are back on top. I want to give a nod to the Rust Belt teams.

Anybody, I'm forgetting Pittsburgh got to win this weekend. I think they're considered to be, you know, upper Rust Belt proper. I don't have my geography down in that area of the country. They're all by one of those lakes. But anyways, it is the Rust Belt. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Let's throw them in the Americas team conversation. A lot of fun to watch this team.

Everybody can root for a Baker Mayfield. You know, the my – oh, one second. I was about to call the Miami Dolphins in America's team. The Miami Dolphins might be an America's team, dude. Look at you coming around. No, I mean, like, I'll give them an America's team nod. I think it was a typo, but I'll give them a nod. Okay, and then the Raiders.

The Raiders are that story that everybody loves to see around the holidays. Down-trodden group, downtrodden individual, you know, gets a big win on Christmas, and everything changes, right? And I think for the Raiders, they've found their coach. They've got a couple games left. They have to win them all, but they could win the AFC West. I mean, it's not out of the question. They go to Indy this week.

I think that's a tough spot for them, tougher than some. of the spots they've been in, ironically. You'd think going to Arrowhead would be the toughest spot, but Indy's going to be tough at home. The Raiders are an America's team. And also, they have a coach that perfectly fits who they are. Like, Antonio Pierce is a Raider. He's an Oakland Raider kind of guy.

Now, I know they're in Vegas, but the brand is something that you want to keep. And I think not only is he a good football coach, he gets the most out of his players, but he fits that brand. He really does, okay? So let's get into the games here. Because as I said last night, I was hoping that thing was going to be wrapped up one way or another early so I could talk during the second half and not go to bed at 1 a.m.

But I just couldn't take my eyes off it. It was incredible. The Ravens are a wagon, man. And we knew they were good. But we bought into the San Francisco thing. And listen, Vegas, they still got San Francisco as the favorites to win the Super Bowl. So Vegas at least thinks this is a bit of an aberration. And I think if they play again, it's closer, right?

But I think that the number one question I wanted to answer with Mark Andrews, and I was wrong about this. I thought that the loss of Mark Andrews would hurt this offense more than it has. And I saw some signs over the last couple games that I said, hey, maybe against a better team, they're not going to be as good offensively, especially when you lose Keaton Mitchell after you pivot to being a speed team. And a lot of times as an NFL player, that entire week, you don't know how the game's going to go.

You know, like you talk about betting a game. We have no idea if the players don't know who's going to win the game. There are these big games, and the lead into these big games, you have a lot of time to think and ruminate and are we going to be fast enough? How's it going to match up? Can we stop the run? Are these guys bigger than you think? Are these backers faster than you think?

My number one concern was that the speed that the Ravens were trying to pivot to would be negated by that very fast defense, right? The guys up front, how fast they are. You know, the way Chase Young ran down Lamar with the help of the official early in the game. They've got a bunch of those guys that can string plays out. They've got backers who are instinctive that are fast.

Fred Warner's the only guy that can carry routes up that seam. You know, like you talk about playing Tampa too and Philly trying to try their hand at it and me getting pissed off having their backers run down the seam against the Cowboys. is you can actually do stuff like that where you ask a lot of those guys. And I thought with the way when you play the Ravens for backers, the resource allocation that we talked about,

not knowing how you want to play a play because there's four different layers to the play. You're attacking either side of the field. You're playing the numbers game. You've got quarterback read stuff. You have quick game. You have power runs. They can throw gap scheme at you.

The keys are tough. And I think the multiplicity of, of what they've been able to do, they still are a power football team, but the speed aspect of it, I wasn't sure how it would play out. And I thought San Francisco might negate that speed. It went the other way.

It felt like the Ravens were the faster team. So when they play again, if they play again, that's one thing that's not going to change. You know, San Francisco is not going to get faster. Now, something that could change is four or five turnovers. Now, depending on what you think of Brock Purdy, and we've gone back and forth on this thing,

a callback to never be sure of how good a quarterback is when he's thriving in a setup. Okay, like we've seen these games from Purdy where he hasn't looked himself, Minnesota, you know, Cincinnati, they didn't look great as a team. It was more defense got picked apart there. But the Cleveland game, at times they struggled. And you try to figure, you write it off to injuries

and you say, hey, when they're at full strength, that's the thing everybody says with Niners. When they're at full strength, They had the best team in the league. Well, they were at full strength, and they lost this game. And it didn't look great for them at times. And I think another thing we bank on is if Christian McCaffrey runs for 100 yards, so far it's been a situation in those losses where they couldn't get them going.

This game, the run game was there at times, and they had big plays. And so I thought it was kind of one of those things like when you look at Miami, if Tua can get the ball out in under 2.2 seconds, right? He got it out in 2.07 this week. I mean, that's just, you know, it's crazy. That's going to decide whether or not they look like the Miami Dolphins. And for the Niners, you thought if they can run the ball, they're going to look like the Niners.

But the back-end guys, Kyle Hamilton, Stevens, the whole group, Humphrey, I mean, they're all ball-aware, right? They're ball-hawking guys. Kyle Hamilton has been such a revelation for them. He reminds me of the way a Honey Badger at his best affected defenses. You know, the TFLs, the knifing plays in the run game, the ball awareness, the getting knocked down, getting up, and having a ball fall into your lap. Like, that turnover is predicated on him just getting off the ground.

And, you know, it's little things like that. But this defense, Brandon Stevens talked about it. at times we know where he's going to go with the ball. If we blitz him, he's going to check it down to Debo. Now, a lot of teams have the same answers, but if you can bank on those guesses, you're going to make plays. And I think, you know, like when you talk about game managers and game changers,

Cam Newton is probably owed an apology from a lot of people that said a lot of bad things about him the last couple of weeks. Now, I'm not saying that Purdy is like some prototypical game manager or something like that, but you need certain things to be going well. including the protection, and they got bullied at times up front. And by the end of the game, they're down to their last dressed offensive linemen. Like, when you play the Ravens, they're so physical. It's such a, it's such a, I mean, I didn't think the San Francisco 49ers could be bullied, but they got bullied.

Clowny looked great on the edge. Clowny looked great. Those big guys inside, they'll move them out to the edge. And the big bodies, they just overwhelm you. and you know it's it's the strength of that unit that collapsed that pocket at times last night and made purdy very uncomfortable and i think with purdy he said this after good throws you know like there was a throw that he made iuk in the i think it was against tampa where he rolls left throws it across his body to the other side of the field in the end zone people are lauding him and he

knows this he says like hey some of these throws i just i can't make them and i think different kind of throws last night where he's more comfortable outside the pocket, breaking contain, you know, rolling left, rolling right, making those off platform throws. That's some of the reason why I've said he has a chance to be a game changer. But I think he's less comfortable in a collapsing pocket, which is something they don't have to deal with on a regular basis, not as evenly distributed of a collapse as they had at times with that pocket. When those walls close in, you can see that his first answer, just throw it. You know, some other quarterbacks, they'll turtle, they'll take a sack, they'll frustrate you for that reason.

You know, Tua at times has frustrated me for that reason because, you know, when things get tight in that pocket, he'll get gun shy. But Brock Purdy is a gun slinger more than a guy who's a game manager, but I don't know if the skill set matches that mentality at times. And taking those chances, and yes, some of them are, you know, tips and that sort of thing. you see what the worst case scenario is. And for them, it's four or five turnovers. I don't know how you overcome that. And this game was for the MVP. It was for the Heisman, as we're calling it,

because every week it changes and only one game can knock you off track to be that guy. This was that game that spectacularly knocked Brock Purdy off track to be the MVP. He cannot be the MVP after a game like this. And so with Lamar coming to town, and we talk about the menshoe metric, when I have when I and Ravens fans and you know dudes in YouTube who are telling me I'm hating on the Ravens I really am not I just was wrong about this game and I'm not wrong on the account of Lamar not being great I've been sitting on the table for him being an MVP candidate all season long and I think he should win it but when you watch them at times he's had to make a lot of magic happen on his own and I think last night was was was a prime example of the difference in in

in the floor of these two MVPs. I mean, like, Brock Purdy's floor is pretty low. Lamar Jackson's floor is not that low. Lamar Jackson's floor is making a dumb turnover in the second quarter that might come back to bite you. Lamar Jackson's floor is throwing a pick in the end zone against Pittsburgh. Okay, like Lamar Jackson is not having four pick days. And when the pocket breaks down, the floor is significantly higher with a Lamar Jackson.

I know we're evaluating the quarterback position, but the quarterback position has changed. If you have that option, good for you. If you don't, you're going to need it. And I think Lamar is the MVP of the league. If he goes out and plays well this weekend against Miami, it shifts again to another monster matchup. For a guy that probably thinks he should be in the MVP conversation with Tua,

okay? I don't think so. I can give him his prowess without saying that. But Lamar Jackson, if he handles his business this weekend, I think is the MVP of the league. some dark horses i guess if lamar plays terribly and has one of these brock purdy games which i don't think is going to happen you could look at josh allen if they went out you could look at matt stafford but this is a weird year you know um i think then you should you should be looking at

people like tyree kill you know christian mcalfre's odds just spiked up too you should be looking at people like christian mcalfrey and so i i don't think this is a knock on the quarterbacks i mean these guys have done amazing things in miami in sanford but you cannot deny that these are machines that are working at a high level because of the sum of the parts and I think each group and it's evidenced by why San Francisco went out and made this trade and I talked about like it would have been a dumb trade for a lot of teams to make for Christian McCaffrey because it wouldn't have been the right fit this is the one team when you've got that Jenga piece you add that piece that's the value and he is the straw that serves a drink

just as Cheetah is the straw that stirs his drink in Miami. And that's not taking anything away from Tua. He looked great a couple weeks ago at times without Cheetah. I mean, he also looked bad at times. But you go to the Jets game and they carve those guys up. And so it's not that these guys can't be good in the right situation without their number one guy. But the most important guy on that San Francisco offense is Christian McCaffrey.

And so I don't know, man. Like Lamar, five and two on Monday night with 17 touchdowns and no interceptions. I don't know if I read that right. But absolutely awesome for him on a big stage. He gets to leave the game. He gets to dunk on Mike Flores, who I don't know who that is, but Mike Floreo is just trying to go to bed in West Virginia. He's got a little candlelit lantern in his log cabin. He's firing off tweets.

He's getting ready to go to bed, and his mentions go insane. because Lamar picked you as his receipt. And a lot of quarterbacks are pulling receipts, but when Lamar pulls a receipt, that's a bad deal for you. This guy was fantastic. And my favorite thing about Lamar is after that game. And after all these games, look at him in postgame, the way he talks to reporters.

And they bait him every time, talking about the MVP, clinching the division, home field advantage, the whole thing. He is singularly focused on the next. next game. And he knows this because he's been in the playoffs and lost and knows he's not interested in home field. He's not interested in MVP. He's won that. He's interested in winning the whole damn thing. And I love that about him, his poise, his maturity. I can't say enough good things about the guy, not just the player, but the guy. And you can tell the way he has

fun with his team. I watched a couple weeks ago, Matt Abike, big, big performance, I think it was against the Jags. And him and Lamar, opposite sides of the ball, both leaders on that team. But you can tell the rapport that Lamar has with every guy on that roster is great. And it makes a big difference. And I think the last thing I'll say about this game is Sam Darnold. He slides in the game late. And I said a couple months ago when they were going to play Cincinnati, I did not bet the Niners that week.

But had they, and I had to figure the line might have moved a little bit. But had Darnold played, I would have bet the Niners. Because I actually think Darnold is a guy that gets a lot of shit for things that have been out of his control at times. Okay, how did Baker Mayfield look in Carolina? How did anybody playing quarterback for the Jets look in New York over the past five, seven years? Except for Joe Flacco, who came in and threw the ball 40 plus times? I just think Sam Darnold, and maybe it's a soft spot for me as a high pitch, knowing that context matters and knowing that he's been run out of town and he seems like a good guy.

But I watch him on the field and I think there's more to his career. And when he got an opportunity late in the game, yeah, he threw that pick. But he moved the ball down the field. And, you know, I'm not comparing him to purdy. I'm not getting ready to do this useless discourse about who's better. That's going to be decided on the field. Brock's got this pinched nerve or this stinger kind of thing, right? keeps popping up. I think an interesting scenario is this. Sam Darnold gets an opportunity at some

point down the stretch here, whether it's resting starters or whether it's injury to Brock and continues to look like a viable option at quarterback at times, and that was a very small window. So I don't want to jump out of the gym for this. But you could see Sam Darnold being a quarterback for a team in 2024. And it's interesting to me when you look at Baker, I made this point before. Sean McVeigh gave him a shot last year at the end of the season. And I don't think Baker has this shot without that shot. And I think this San Francisco cameo for Sam Darnold could lead to another opportunity for him.

So we could be looking back next year as some teams in the hunt that played themselves out a draft position, didn't get the guy they wanted in a trade, and they go to a Sam Darnold, and they say, hey, thanks Kyle Shanahan for showing me that this guy can still play. Now, he's probably not going to get a second chance in a Kyle Shanahan-type offense, but I do think he did some good things last night. And I think also for Brock Purdy, this game not only lost him the MVP, it lost him a little leverage at the table. No doubt.

There's been enough of these games where if you're asking for Max money, like my home's kind of money, it's easy for me to say, hey, man, you know, you set it yourself at the podium. Christian McAfry is the MVP. And we saw the Baltimore game. Not saying that he's not the quarterback of the future there. And all Kyle Shanahan's done is win with guys that we think are imperfect. So that's not disqualifying that this guy's imperfect.

But it is pretty interesting when we get into the offseason what that game alone might do for a couple guys. And maybe for Sam Darnold, it takes another couple snaps. I would like to see him play another few more snaps before I say, hey, revive this guy's career. Maybe send him down to Dave Canales. who seems to be like a flipper. You know, like he... He's got to be like, where do I apply for this internship? I mean, seeing Gino, seeing Baker, it's like, I mean, can I get some time with this guy?

I'll be on my way. No question. I mean, maybe you go visit Dave Canales in the offseason, spend a couple days of them or something. But the point is, I think, yeah, big game, Baltimore's legit. And what they do more than anything is they take the pressure off themselves this weekend. Because they're going to play Miami in a monster game, 1 p.m., cannot wait for that game. But had they lost this game, they're playing for home field. And now you have an opportunity to defend home field and still lose. I mean, you could still lose and have home field at the end of

the season. I think the matchup favors them. Now, there's a place where I think the matchup favors Miami. And I think it's an interesting one is it's not just the long trip back to the East Coast to host Miami on a short week, right? It's not just playing the Niners, which is, physical. Even if you win, it's also the fact that Miami is going to get a chance to get some looks at tape of Kyle Shanahan's offense against Baltimore. And they didn't light it up, but somebody like Mike McDaniel is going to see some things. And the offenses are not dissimilar. So does that give them an advantage? Listen, I think Miami and Dallas, same team, right, coming in this game, They've got some of the worst strength of victory numbers in the league.

Like of all the teams in the playoffs, you don't even need the numbers to know that the reputation of these two teams, and Mike McDaniels has played this fiddle at times where the rallying cry has been, they don't think we can beat anybody. Well, until Sunday, you know, like we were right, right? They found a way to win a game against a good team. People are going to say Dallas is fraudulent and all this shit. I don't want to take anything away from Miami. this was a big win for them.

And you know why it was a big win for Miami? Okay, and we get so into this quarterback discourse thing, and I'll give to his flowers. I thought he did some really nice things Sunday. But I thought they won it as a team. You know, like when you go back and look at since last September, this streak of, I don't know, eight games where they haven't beat teams that were playoff teams

or going into the playoffs at the time that they played them over the last two months because you can't say playoff team this year for sure. They average about 18, 19 points a game. Okay? Like, even in some of the big spots where they play, like, the Steelers, Steelers beat them, or Steelers lost 16, 10 or something like that. Like, as historic as this offense has been, when they've been in big spots, the points have not been there, right?

Like, I thought coming in this game that if Dallas is going to lose this game, they would lose a high-scoring game, right? The way that Miami beat, you know, the Chargers earlier this season. I was not ready to break a game down where Dallas lost a 22-21 type game. So to me, you might look at it and say, if you're skeptical of Tua or the offense, you might say, hey, we got to score 30 points if we want to win in the playoffs. I don't think so. And I hope Miami realizes this.

They have a good football team. It's not just an offense. The kicker played out of his mind. He had six kicks, okay? That's a product of not being able to finish drives at times, but that's okay when you do that part of it. Okay, you hit six field goals, three of them 50 yards or more. Like this was, everybody on this team, special teams,

some of the punts, the pins that they had, some of the field position that they set up at different times in this game. The defense was tremendous. You won a game where you had 19 points with three minutes to go. And that's a good thing. You've found a way to win a low-scoring game. Not a shootout, not a game where your team's going up and down in the field at will. You've found a way to win.

That's amazing. And I think that's just what this team needed to realize, hey, defensively, we are a top-five defense. You know, since Jalen Ramsey's been back, that's what they've been. And to make those plays in every phase of the game, now we can talk about Miami as a contender. You just had to beat somebody. And for Miami fans, you can say, we knew it all along. Well, the rest of the world, we don't have that same pair of rosy glasses on. You know, we're breaking down 32 teams.

You've got to beat one of these good teams, and they did it. And I thought it was great. You know, like somebody had to walk out of this building proving something, and it was Miami. And I thought for Dak, he was in search of that moment on the road against a good team, right? that big drive at the end of the game. And this is the crazy thing about narratives. You know, QB wins, right? DAC put them in position to win this game.

And honestly, put them in position to go up early in the game because this was going to be a game that was all about being up. I don't think either of these teams play well down, ironically, as good as they are offensively. And you saw with Dallas, they have not overcome a lot of leads to win games this year. Like, they haven't been down and won games. So going down there And that first drive was a thing of beauty

But not being able to punch it in You know And then the game is bookended by that magical drive I mean that was a great drive Some of the throws that Dag made The one to Cooks was an absolute dime Overcame a lot You know offensively

With some of the The protection breakdowns The penalties But the game for me That was Dax's moment Toa Toa led that drive It was a great drive

I would have been more aggressive if I was Dallas. You know, like very true to form for Dallas to have a penalty, bad tackling right off the bat, 15 yards. And Miami's at the 40, right? And I think what hurt them there is when they're down at the one and they get sacked because of the protection issues that we'll talk about. That adds another 40 seconds to the clock if you punch it in on that first play. Now, you talk about hidden yardage, hidden time because as soon as Miami got the ball back, I was like, okay, I'm going to win my bet. but Miami's probably going to win this game because that's too much time for this offense. And I said, you know, when they got to the 40-yard line and Dallas is playing defense and they're

guarding really 25 yards, 20 yards, right, the way Sanders has been, you know, kicking field goals, they're guarding against the field goal. I would have been more aggressive, okay? If you're going to beat me, you got to beat me over the top. You know, the one time they blitzed Tua, they were off. He missed Tyreek in that drive. I would have been more aggressive at midfield made them beat me over the top

and shorten the field to force that field goal. You know, because I think you might have gotten the ball back or you might have took the ball away or worst case scenario, they score a touchdown. And I really do think Dallas had a better chance of coming back and scoring a touchdown to win with a minute left than they did playing for two first downs on the plus side of the field from Miami.

I just, it's a bad spot to be in. And I thought Miami, the big moment for them was third and three. Yep. Okay. And they had not converted a bunch of third downs down the stretch. You know, they've missed some throws. They've been off.

Like sometimes it's the receiver's fault. Sometimes it's to his fault where he's a little bit outside or something like that. But in that third and three moment, they had to have this conversion. And I think what's so interesting to me, if you really think about the way they use motion, you think about an NFL play. You know, it starts and it stops. You know, it could be five seconds. It could be eight seconds.

It could be three seconds. When you play the Miami Dolphins, the minute they're on the ball, the play starts. And I think that situation more than any and that call that McDaniels got them in. Because I don't think he felt as comfortable trying to throw the ball outside or something like that. They needed a quick game and they needed to scheme something up. And they did. They got Tyreek in that yo-yo motion, which means he's going to start outside, come inside, and then back outside.

you know, they find out they're in man, but they like the looking zone no matter what. The problem is that play started for that defensive back who slipped and fell as he's trying to reverse course on that yo-yo motion. And right there they beat you before the play even starts. And then he's running through traffic and they're trying to double him, but they can't. And so huge for them to convert there and then for the run game to take over. That's the cherry on top. Like that's been their life preserver this year in tough situations. You know, through tough stretches in the passing game at times.

And more often than not, they're not tough stretches for this team. But when they've gotten in the mud, they've been able to get in the mud and run the football. And they did that. And they chunked off a first down. I thought that that when you talk about a team win, encapsulated the whole thing. Great calls. Great run game. And I just want to say this, because some people are saying,

You know, when are you going to give Tua some credit? Tua deserves a lot of fucking credit for what he did Sunday. Okay. What he did Sunday with his back against the end zone early in the game, in a game where you're trying to get that lead, you're lucky you're not down seven nothing. It's not his fault. Okay, but he's pinned, right?

And what do they do? They have the confidence to take two shots. Okay, the first one was a beautiful ball of the Tarek. The Tariq is probably on the wrong side of. I don't think that ball's misplaced. And there was another situation where Tyreek took the inside release when we're looking for vice versa. So not every throw that goes errant is on the quarterback. But to take that shot, put it right on his hands, come back with Micah Parsons bearing down on him

and throw that ball to wattle on the right sideline. I don't care if you don't make another throw the rest of the day. And there were ones he missed. I thought those two throws were huge from a confidence standpoint. from a standpoint of the flow of the game switching and flipping the field in a situation where you couldn't be down early in this game. There was a tightness from both teams that was palpable. Like who's going to get the lead? And then we start, right?

And for Dallas, I just thought, you know, like not being able to pin them down there was a big deal. And two of them making those throws was a huge deal. And, you know, again, you got the ball out in 2.0. 0.7 seconds the whole game. Okay, so the easy access throws were there for him. And, you know, if you talk about Dallas and getting pressure, like, as good as they are, they're not that good. I don't think anybody is to get there in two seconds.

So it was a really good complete game from a game plan standpoint, from an execution standpoint, from the Dolphins. And from the Dallas Cowboys, they didn't execute. There was a beautiful drive, the first drive. They have a full-back thing going on where Mike's, featuring this guy like he's Daryl Johnson three four times in the drive one time too many at the goal line they fumble it and and this is the big problem for Dallas from that drive until the field goal drive in the third quarter where they finally ate up some clock I think Miami ran like

45 plays and Dallas ran 15 crazy that's insane okay and they were terrible on first down okay they were really bad on first down go through some of the first downs on over that span here we've got 10 first play of possession doubtle no game we we get a sack okay on first down we get a penalty a false start we get pollard for two yards um we get pollard for one yard those are their first downs over that period so not good drive starts for them not good good sets of downs for them and more than anything you know the the offensive line you can point to a bunch of instances right Duke riley running up the middle, backed up on the goal line, really good call from Fangio. I also think, I also think Fangio did a nice job of closing the middle of field with Dak. And I also think it scared Dak out of

taking those those matchups that he, that he had with CD Lamb. Like, you know, closing the middle of the field, it shouldn't be just done with, right? You know, just by suggesting that you shouldn't throw it here, it doesn't mean Dak shouldn't throw it to, to, to, to CD. It took too long for him to go back to him. But I think the offensive line lost in this game, you know, when you talk about Tyron Smith being down, it's not just the top end ability of that guy, but, you know, 71's in there and he's busting plays. You know, the free runner, I just brought that up at the goal line. That's, you got to have a hot answer for that, right? But at the opposite goal line, when Chubbs sacks you and you overcome it and score, but I talked about losing almost a minute of time on that, you know,

like, that's an easy deal. You got to slide out and grab that deal. You got to slide out and grab that Dude, when you talk about a quarterback beating a rusher, he doesn't beat him on his blind side. The free runner is supposed to be on the ballhand side. And so you blow that one, you blow another one where he's sticking to David Long and Chubbs the most dangerous man. He's on the line of scrimmage. He just lets him run free. So there's a lot of problems. Like that illegal formation was huge.

And we saw an uptick of those in the league in general. But they had it roll in there and they get the illegal formation. I think it's the third and 11 that Dax scrambles and picks it up. But because of the illegal formation, they got to go back. And it's the same thing in the Cardinals game where they come up empty on a long drive where they really need it. They get a hold from the center. You know, the same thing in the Eagles game where you have a couple offensive line penalties late, the kill drives.

The offensive line, ironically, is the reason to me why they're not able to put this game away. That and the turnover. very on brand for Dallas. But I thought Vic Fangio deserves a lot of credit, 34% pressure rate, took away Lamb for a while. And, you know, from that first drive, it was a totally different look for much of the game. I mean, obviously the second drive, they go down and score quick.

But after that point, they just didn't have anything for what felt like two hours. So huge win for Miami. And that gives them the confidence that they need going up to Baltimore. but playing on the road is a different deal for this team now they have to answer their road road home split um question that we all have for them like can you go on the road a lot like dac had to go win in miami didn't get it done this is going to be a huge game for them because as good as they are in miami that they're a different team at home as are most teams but they're

a really different team at home you got to you got to have home field advantage for at least a week or two in the playoffs, you know. And everything's still on the table for you as far as that's concerned. Miracles can happen. You can host. You can beat the Ravens. The Ravens could lose to the Steelers. But more than anything, you've got to handle this this weekend.

It's a monster game. Okay. So when you look at the AFC, it kind of feels like, you know, two teams right now that could make a run, right, that are division winners, the two teams that played really well this weekend, the two teams that played really well this weekend, and the dolphins and they play each other this weekend. And then there's the Jags and the Chiefs. How did the Chiefs get into the Jags echelon, man? Like, what are we even doing, man? You shouldn't have to worry when you buy tickets to your next big event. Game time is the fast

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Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. I just want to say this. When it comes to the Chiefs, the number one red flag I had, and it didn't hit me early in the week because I was like, oh, Patrick got him fucking go-carts and, or he got them golf carts. And Juania Morris is driving that thing around like Marshaun Lynch and everybody's happy. and even though all his receivers are fucking him now he didn't give his receivers anything i don't think

but you know as a parent what i realize is being santa and being you know the the the provider in the household gives you some leverage right like the week before christmas you're supposed to say things like i will tell santa to skip this house right like i did that this week you know usually i'm like i'll cut the power off or something like that but when you got santa as like a Trump card, like you should be able to elicit good behavior from the people around you. Patrick gave them the gifts too early. Okay, you can't go Santa Claus on a Wednesday when you got a must win at home against Antonio Pierce and the Raiders.

So the first time, two, three and outs in a row at home. They haven't won at home in like two months. Arrowhead used to be a place. I said six weeks ago, who's coming in Arrowhead in the AFC if they get home field advantage and beating them? That's changed like anybody. Like because of this receiver group and because of not just the receiver group, we're going to talk about them and I'm going to take them through the ringer.

But I think the thing we haven't been paying enough attention to is for as badly as they struck out outside, they also struck out at tackle. Like you might have a fighting chance with some of these offensive lines that he's had in the past, in the run game and in the past game. But the interior can only do so much for you. And I think, like, at times he was under an immense amount of pressure. Even for a guy holding the ball trying to, trying to will things to get open. Now, I'll say this, Patrick Mahomes is not playing good ball right now, even relative to the context.

But you can't ignore the context because after a while, that seeps into your DNA. Like, if you've been dealing with, you know, two months of a house fire, you're going to think the house is on fire at all times. And that's going to affect your decision making. there are plays in this game where there are places that Patrick Mahomes can go with the ball. And it's easy for me to say, hey, go there. But you also realize that for a guy that has guys outside who can't get open and thrives off the scramble drill, which is the most interpersonal skill development in football, I feel like, between two players, right? Offensive line got to work together.

But the scramble drill, when plays are extended, matters so much. There are plays on Sunday where Patrick Mahomes is clapping his hands and looking at Rishie Rice and saying, show me your hands, right? There are plays where I'm thinking he's got to go there, but then I remember a quarter ago that Rishi or whoever it is isn't moving in the right direction when the play breaks down. And so he's got to trust you. If he throws it over your head one time because you're standing still and you should be going five yards past the sticks in a scramble situation, then the second time you're

going to be gunshot. And so they've turned a gunslinger into somebody who's gunshot. guy. And the thing I would caution the chiefs with is, like, I know he's the best quarterback on the planet right now. And I know that you take him for granted. I can tell that because of what you put around him. But don't take for granted that, you know, even the best player on the planet's mentality can change over time. The calluses that you build with your quarterbacks, they matter into not only the playoffs, but in 2024. And I just, if you're the chief, speak. careful not turning this guy into somebody who's in crisis mode all the time. And you know,

you know how you can do that? Not ending up in situations, even as bad as you are right now that you were in at the end of that game. And you lost that game before the half. Okay, obviously, two touchdowns, 15 seconds. Your chances of winning at home on the road doesn't matter. Good team, bad team. Not high. Okay. But when you, when, the way you turn the ball over, right, a week ago I talked about this. You're in New England. You're down on the goal line. It's zero, zero.

Everybody's jacking you off because, oh, my God. Patrick Mahomes in a three-point stance. Oh, my God. Jerich McKinnon's catching the snap. And oh, my God, he's going to throw a shovel pass to Rishie Rice, who's got to put it on his hip like a holster because he almost fumbles the ball. Those balls were deflated, by the way. Bill came right out and was like, I didn't do it. But the very next week, right?

You run the reverse, which I don't mind in the red zone. It's a fake pitch reverse. It's a shotgun snap. The Pacheco has to catch. There's no pitches, right? It's a fake pitch. The ball doesn't have to change hands. Every time the ball changes hands right now, if I'm the Kansas City Chiefs, I'm nervous.

But what do you do? The next play, you get cute. You get cute. And I told you last week, I don't know that the Chiefs have a shot, because of how they've set their roster up and even Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid don't seem to be able to fix it. But when you get cute, you give yourself no chance. You are calling plays, Andy, like your offense is a good offense. You are calling plays like you're a good team. You are calling plays like you are able to play with your food. You are not able to play with your food right now.

And so that first turnover directly impacts the second. They are pressing. Patrick Mahomes is pressing and I think he's frustrated and I don't know if he throws that ball if you don't turn the ball over the first time now not to blame the second one on the first one directly but these are the way things go and it's snowballing the Kansas City chiefs right now remind me of me on the river in October I was floating down if you missed it I was trying to break a world record I went up to Delaware float down to Delaware trying to go 41 miles in a giant pumpkin okay along the way I took on a lot of dings on the bottom of my vessel. And you couldn't flip the vessel over and look at it.

It's not like watching the film and saying, hey, shit's going wrong every week. Like, I couldn't flip the pumpkin over to see how close we were to puncturing. But when we hit that last set of rapids and that hole, you know, popped up in the bottom of the pumpkin and that thing filled up with water, that's what it feels like for the Kansas City Chiefs right now. Sunday was we've been dingin this pumpkin for, for three months, okay?

And it's a miracle that we haven't hit rock bottom. Even though rock bottom could easily be any one of these other games. They got the hole in the pumpkin Sunday. I mean, the water is up to the top of the pumpkin. If you want to stay afloat, guys, you got to change. You cannot, cannot continue to run this offense this way. We talked about getting guys off the field who don't know they're doing. How about calling plays in a risk-averse way, right? I know that coaches,

when Doug Peterson was in Philly when we'd have a lead and he'd keep throwing the ball, people are like, oh, that's Andy. That's the Andy at him. You know, and you see it with Andy sometimes. This is the Andy in the Kansas City Chiefs. As great as he is and as much he gives him a chance to win, you have to hit the curveball here. You have to change over the next eight weeks. Or else you run the risk of fucking up your quarterback, if that's possible. and completely losing, you know, the team. And I'm not saying you lose the team because they don't like you, but these things over and over again, they're hard to overcome.

And I thought, you know, like talk to Spags last week. Listen, the penalties were awful. We don't even have to talk about just the turnovers. The penalties were terrible. Like the Raiders look like a better coach team, and they didn't complete a pass for three quarters. Three quarters. You got beat by a team that,

didn't complete a pass for three quarters down their best running back. And on a defense that six weeks ago, people thought it was Max Crosby and a bunch of guys, and you lost at Arrowhead. How does that happen? A fuck ton of penalties, metal mistakes, and turnovers. And, you know, Spags, who has the hardest job in America right now, okay, being the defensive coordinator, other than being Patrick Mahomes, being the defensive coordinator for that team, they're going to have to keep the points down if they want to win in the play.

playoffs. And at least they have a guy who's done this before, who's had to go on the road every step of the way in the playoffs with the Giants in that wild card run they had where they, where they beat the Patriots in the playoffs in the Super Bowl the second time. Spags was there. He knows. And we asked him about that. And of course, last week he kind of hedged and was like, ah, it's not what we want to do. But, you know, we talk about going on the road and how important it is and that sort of thing. You got to get that defense ready to play on the road. And when you have a guy like Sneed, who it's worth mentioning, did a great job in coverage. I mean, that guy is a total ace.

You've got a fighting chance defensively. But you have to play complimentary football. And right now it's not. It's not complimentary football. I also want to just say this about the Raiders. You know, the worst the head coach is, the bigger the interim effect is. Like, you've seen it with the charges. You're like, I don't know.

you're like this team just lost by 40 of the Raiders. Like how are they going to hang with the bills? Well, the answer's right there. And maybe that's why all the sharps were all over it because it's not just the interim head coach bump. It's also the fact that like Brandon Staley's out of the building. And you're out of the situations that he's been putting you in the past three,

four years. And it's the same thing with Josh McDaniels and like AP. And I'm not taking anything away from AP. He should get the head coaching job there. But when you make that switch, look at how different this team is. I mean, it is incredible sometimes how bad a head coach in the NFL is, and we don't even know how bad he is.

Like, you don't know until they fire him and Giff Smith or Antonio Pierce, who was coaching linebackers, okay? You don't know how bad these coaches are. And I think sometimes you get a real inside look at it, and the Raiders are Exhibit A. And I also said this earlier It's perfect for their brand We had Antonio Pierce on inside the NFL today

And it was great Because we had him on and then Rick Flair And you're like, why? We actually like prize Antonio Pierce With Rick Flair And that's because Antonio Pierce said this week It was a Rick Flair week And I got to ask him

I said, why did you not take your foot off the gas pedal Against the charges, right? Because I'm all for it, but a lot of people are like They were in go mode in the fourth quarter Well, it's because they were getting ready to play the Kansas City Chiefs. It's not just great to assert your dominance, try to, you know, like I said, when you're an interim head coach, you're like a BCS coach. You're trying to win as ugly as you can. Make it ugly for the other team.

Prove the point. Feelings be damned. Also, it's a division game. You set a tone. And then you go into a Tuesday practice where you're getting ready to play the Chiefs at Arrowhead. And that gave them the confidence they needed to say, hey, we can go do this. And so hearing him talk about the culture he's trying to. trying to build, hearing him talk about the way he communicates with players.

You know, like bringing a Jack Jones in, who I think is a special talent. But ever since he robbed a Panda Express, the guy doesn't seem to be doing any of the right stuff, including ripping a ball away from a fan, which actually he was exonerated for in this situation. As he put it, some black guy. I don't know why he said it like that. But he was like, it wasn't the, you know, there was, there was, there was a. a guy that was trying to grab the ball.

And that's why he pulled the ball away. And some Chiefs fan clipped the play and it went viral. And people are like Jack Jones is an asshole. And that was kind of his rep. Jack Jones is an asshole, right? But for Antonio Pierce, a guy who's actually coached him before, knew him growing up, that's the advantage that you have as a former player coach, right? Like, you know how to talk to these guys.

You've been in locker rooms with guys like Jack Jones. and Jack Jones might not be a bad guy. He just might need that strong figure that's like, I can be direct. I'm not intimidated by you, okay? I'm the head coach, but I also used to make 100 tackles a year, and I've won Super Bowls,

and I'm a bad motherfucker, so don't cross me. And I'm your former coach. And he's got a really unique ability. Look how fun it is to be a raider right now. Stoge's after the game, okay? Like, they're a lot of fun to watch, but they're also dead.

dead serious about doing the things that don't hurt them. You ask Antonio about, what are you telling a quarterback like that? Just don't throw a pick. I don't care if you complete a pass. We're just going to punt the ball. You know, like, it's simple. Sometimes you've got to simplify things, right? And Antonio Pierce is not an ego guy.

You can tell that. He delegates. He listens. And I think these are the qualities of a head coach. So I don't care if it's Bill Belichick. Dr. Fax asked me this. What if Bill Belichick wants to coach the Raiders next year? Nope. That's Antonio Pierce's job.

I thought that was an incredible win for them. And also, Patrick Mahomes, not, you know, not to keep beating up on the Chiefs. He's your leading rusher. The Raiders are going to outrush you in a game where they're down, Josh Jacobs? Like, come on. Tough, tough, tough. Haven't won an arrowhead in two months, okay? I should shout out Coontz from the Raiders, play great.

some of these guys that are all of a sudden stepping up for them. Adam Butler, it was a guy in New England, had a really nice game. And of course, Max Crosby. So those are the, you kind of got in the AFC, you got two teams that have a shot, in my opinion, two teams that have to do a lot of things differently to convince me they have a shot and they don't have a lot of time to do it. And that's the Jacksonville Jaguars, and we'll talk about them in a little bit and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, a team that I think should maybe be considered in this conversation of teams that have a shot. Holy shit, the Cleveland Browns. Okay, and I'll say that something about Joe Flacco just works perfectly with Amari Cooper. When you hear Amari Cooper talk about this guy, it's, he's not head over heels, but he's just really thankful. You can tell the way he talks about throwing a catchable ball, you know, like Joe throws a catchable ball. You can hear the offensive lineman say, calling him a dog. which is, of course, like, the biggest compliment you can get as a football player is. That guy's a fucking dog.

And if you're called a dog as a quarterback, that's something reserved for a couple guys. And hearing, you know, Teller call him a dog a couple weeks ago. And then coming off the sideline this week, inside the NFL, B-roll, that D word used again for Joe Fleco. That's what he is. And this offense is incredible. That was one of the most beautiful games of catch I have ever seen on a football. football field. Joe made five of the 10 best throws of the week in one game. I mean, some of these throws were incredible, and not all of them are clean platform throws. He's actually getting off

platform. He's navigating a messy pocket at times. They're down tackles, and he's making these throws. Now, the question is for me, if they play a team with a really good corner that can take Cooper away, what do they look like? You know, this, this defense that has been so average on the road. In fact, they've been bad on the road. We talked about how important this was because you're going to have to go win on the road in the playoffs. They go and they play strong on the road. They check that box. And I think also the time of possession, you know, Joe's ability to, you know, you're not going to go in three and out as much with Joe. You're going to be able to flip the field some with Joe. Even if you're going to punt, he might hit an explosive, right? That's how the defense gets

helped too. Okay, so it's not just the offense, not just Amari saying, hey, catchable ball. It's not just to fancy he's saying, holy shit, where's this guy been my whole life? We gave up the future to sign a guy with like 36 civil cases, and this guy's better right now, off the couch, 40 years old. Guys got to get his prostate check soon, okay? But he's out there slinging the ball around like it's 2012, but better because the offense is more, is more explosive, you know? And so I just think this Joe Flacko thing is just what we needed.

If we were going to lose all these quarterbacks, we had to get one guy that could take a team on a run. And they're so fun to root for now. Like, it used to be, like, kind of dirty even out of the rounds. Now it's like the most fun story in the AFC. It's very relatable for a middle-aged man like me. I mean, it's not relatable because I'm not doing it and I couldn't. But it's incredible to watch. And, you know, like Cooper went for 265.

They pulled him and he went for two. He could have gone for three hundo. As a record. Okay. And again, sometimes people come into your life and when you least expect it, and they save you. And I think Joe Flacco has saved this group and given them that ceiling that they didn't know they had. Because you have to defend every blade of grass now with him throwing the ball. Because there are throws that he can make that other people can't make.

And it was so interesting, Nolan brought this up. When Nick Foles was the quarterback for us and Carson got hurt. and you know Frank Reich's being asked about a backup in Nick Foles and how do you keep him confident how do you instill confidence into that backup you know what Frank Reich said I think we have the other kind of problem I think we have the opposite problem I think Nick Foles wants to go for the jugular he wants to make all the throws there's not a throw he doesn't think he can make and it's the same thing with Joe Flacco and I'd rather have that than somebody that thinks they need to be a game manager because if you're the Browns and you can score and you have explosive plays you're scary because this defense is very good you know um they didn't have a kicker they're converting fourth and eight's like oh fuck sorry yeah you know like i didn't mean to convert that fourth and eight like we just don't have a kicker like sorry they brought dTR in for a two point conversion yeah i mean again just masterful game planning great design but now you have a quarterback who can actually hit off platform stuff throw the throw the the the the

deep ball, pepper the whole field. You think flak goes there next season? I don't know. Somebody brought that up today on inside the NFL. Like, I haven't worked the math out on that. Like, who knows what happens there? You can't move Deshawn Watson. No.

So I don't know. You take it one thing at a time, but it's kind of like the Nick Foles thing. Like, was Nick Foles our guy after that year? I don't know. But if they go on a run, like they got to give Joe a hard look. And maybe there's a statue outside. outside of that stadium right next to Jim Brown. Just like there's a statue of the Philly Special.

And, you know, it's interesting when we talk about Carson Wentz and all that stuff, like, and the deterioration of that player. And I don't think Deshawn's going to be the same kind of guy, right? You know, like I think Deshawn's got other problems. But Carson Wentz, the minute that statue went up, he was done. Like, I cannot fathom that scenario. I consider myself a very mentally tough person, but that would break me. And, you know, I just think like it's interesting to call back to that situation because

Joe Flacco, a couple weeks ago, we said, hey, maybe Browning can lead this Bengals team to put together a run that shades of 2017 Philly. This is your Philly comp right here. Less explosive in a bunch of places offensively, not as good. good with the offensive line. But that defense is better than our defense was. The cover guys are better. And, you know, if they play like they played the other day, they're dangerous. They've led in time of possession every game, this three-game winning streak. And, you know, they got a two-possession lead. And Houston had to get one-dimensional. If they get people

in one-dimensional situations, it's going to be hard. And so if they slide in the playoffs, I think they should be included in that conversation teams who could actually come out of the AFC. You know, because the one thing they have over Baltimore, Baltimore does not want to see them. Like, of all the teams in the AFC, I think Baltimore is like, yeah, be better if we didn't play them. You know, because they are a division rival. They can match that bully mentality.

So they have a card that they can use. They have, like, that diplomatic community card that Kyle brought up a couple weeks ago. They can just be like, oh, yeah, we're from the AFC North. You know, like, it's a little bit different. So I would put them in that category. and Buffalo, obviously, to me. Now, maybe some people say after that game, Saturday.

By the way, I watched half of that game in a movie called The Boy and the Heron. It's an anime movie. Hayao Maazaki's last film. Yes, so I hear. And I told you a couple weeks ago on Inside the NFL, I don't know what anime is, but now I do. And I really enjoyed it. Me and the fellows were like, yeah, let's take some mushrooms and go to the movies. And it was the best scenario possible because I absolutely had to sweat that game late.

Had Buffalo closing some teasers. But when we hit the seat chart, like there was nobody but us in that movie. It's the night before Christmas Eve. And so we had the whole thing to ourselves. We got the game on the railing. Couldn't be better. But Buffalo in Los Angeles 2422. Okay.

I think the bills should be in that conversation. I think they're the second most dangerous team in the AFC. And the next two weeks you're going to decide a lot of that because you're going to get that finale in Miami. And they could be the ones that host a playoff game, you know. So it's all in front of the bills. And it's all in front of them because they were able to hang on in this game. And I think a lot of people are going to look at this game and say, hey, the bills suck, right? This is who they are.

I don't know, man. I really do think these teams go on winning streaks where, you know, they're bound. to come down and a lot of gambling is like trying to fade that team that's like won too many times i think new Orleans and tampa's an interesting you know discussion this weekend because on paper it looks like Tampa is probably the better matchup but um new Orleans you know uh has has looked like shit playing good teams and tampas looked incredible the last couple weeks this is a situation where buffalo has won a bunch of games coming in look at what they've done over the last month you know they go toe to toe to toe with Philly.

They beat the Chiefs. They bludgeon the Cowboys. You know, they're racking up these impressive wins. These aren't bad football teams. And then they play a bad football team, right? They just fired Brandon Staley. Guy named Giff coaching them. Easton Stick.

Like, the whole week, the sharps are on the Chargers. And nobody can tell me why. It's like, I asked the guys, like, making gave out the charges. I'm like, why? And he's like, I don't know. It just feels right. And it is, it's one of those games. It proves in the NFL that there's no sure thing.

And I think also coming out of this game for the bills, and Josh was a little bit inaccurate at times. And honestly, I'm not trying to cape for him, but I do think coming off a week where, you know, we talk about players being beat up after physical games, they've abandoned the, hey, we're not going to run Josh thing. Like, he could have a bruise here or there any given week. And, you know, with his,

with his with his mindset of taking chances sometimes you don't know if it's him just making dumb decisions or if maybe something's a little off so something to monitor this week he wasn't his best throwing the football at times but that out he threw to digs in a key situation late in the game is like that that's how that's supposed to look so i'm not downing the bills for winning a game you know the day before christmas where they have to fly across the country and play a team that nobody's up for it's a weird spot but you know you have to win it And I thought, you know, coming out of this thing with a win, a lot of teams lose that game. And so I'm not trying to put a positive spin on a game where they play like shit. But they found a way to win. They're down, you know, they need a field goal with five to go on the road. And they play poorly the whole game. Peacock, man. They had me in the peacock headlock.

I don't know if anybody at home was like scrambling for 30 minutes with money on the game, trying to find like, what the fuck is a peacock app? Like you, not the NBC app. like it's a different channel i have to download it i have to go get hulu i got to remember my passwords fuck smart TVs all right that game should just be on cable tv but what they've done over the last five weeks has been really good um the the bill seemed dead multiple times in the game they fell into the interim head coach trap you know one thing to monitor is alan has been blitz a lot over the last couple weeks 11 to 22 uh this this this saturday and that's two weeks in

row 50% or more. And, you know, like I thought Dicker hitting all those field goals just made it. I mean, some of the kicking performances this week were incredible. Buffalo over, Buffalo turned it over three times and overcame a double-digit deficit and still won the game. I don't care how bad the other team is. You know, Kansas City couldn't do that, right? Ken City couldn't find a way to do that.

I mean, that's what puts Buffalo, in my opinion, in the conversation, is not just the win streak, but but getting out of there with a win, you know, like, and some people are going to say, you got a thing for the bills. I do have a thing for the bills. I think they're pretty good. Just got to avoid the trap game against the Patriots, not look ahead to the dolphins. And Bill might want to play spoiler here. No, he's really going to want to play spoiler. I mean, like, uh, they beat him early in the season, you know, like, and also you got to avoid the cook turnovers. Like this guy is really talented, but he hasn't been able to find a way to stay on the field in big situations because at times they're nervous.

about him. You think about the Denver game earlier this year. That was a big fumble this weekend. And, you know, I had, it was funny, I got a little bird told me that Fournette was going to play and get the ball a lot. And he, he got the ball some. And I think if they'd have been up, maybe some of these props hit, but I was sweating these fucking Leonard Fournette props and they kept taking them out in the red zone. I just want to say this about the Bill's defense. They're going to have to manufacture pressure at times. You know, Vaughn doesn't looked the same. And Ed Oliver is one of my favorite players. He was great. But McDermott's been known to dial up some really good blitzes, man. He had some great run blitz calls against Dallas.

He's certainly a respectable defensive coordinator. You've got to find ways to manufacture pressure in big situations because for the most part, that defense is not terribly talented with the injuries they've had. Okay, we'll talk about another team that's overcome some defensive injuries, Pittsburgh. But I'm not going to talk about the defense. I'm going to talk about the offense, obviously. That's the main thing. Mason Rudolph was a spark for them. And I think more than anything is the week they had.

How many of those weeks could they have until Tomlin wins the Tomlin spot? We've talked about it. It's a Tomlin spot every week. Oh, this is the week. You know, as a dog, awful loss, all this shit. Well, it goes out the window when your culture's crumbling. And, you know, like the culture, I think was at the brink. And I don't think it's a foregone conclusion they've turned it around or anything.

but George Pickens, who I love, and, you know, I begrudgingly had to say it last week. If I'm being honest, I didn't like the effort. And I wasn't the only one, you know, like I felt a lot better hearing. Sometimes you don't want to be hard on players. I could pick out a play from my career where I didn't run hard enough or maybe I did something where if I was doing a podcast right now, I'd say, hey, that guy's got to play harder. But not blocking for Jalen Warren down on the goal line. And, you know, like coupled with the Deontay Johnson effort at times, like that was a talking point.

what do you expect, right? You play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Okay, the sky is falling, and you guys are not part of the solution at that point. And so, you know, guys talk. And I felt better when I heard Bill Cower talk. I felt better when I heard Jalen Warren say, you know, what he said. And Jalen Warren on Sunday is the first one when George Pickin scores that touchdown to run down and greet him.

Yeah, Jalen Warren's a guy you build around, man. You know, don't let that guy go anywhere. He's blocking for people down in the goal line, but George Pickens, taking that ball to the house right off the bat, 21.5, 4 miles an hour, speeding in a fucking school zone. When I say Hall of Fame talent, that's what I mean, okay? You know, it wasn't just that. It's 44-yard, set up a field goal. You know, 86-yarder off the bat, 66-yarder. This guy's a, he's a problem for defenses if he can just maximize his talent. And some of that goes to the offensive coordinator, some of that goes to the quarterback.

But just hang in there, George, because these are the types of performances that could be more common for you. If you get more help and if you have the right attitude. Now, just say this. Pickens on the sideline. And I'm happy he's doing it because whatever you need to do to play better, do it. But, you know, they panned him on the sidelines and he says, I don't hear anybody. You know, that's his, I don't hear you guys. We just went for 250.

I think you hear us. You know, I think I think you hear everything everybody said. And unless it's just a coincidence or Mason Rudolph is fucking Joe Montana and you didn't know it, like the reason you played this way is because you took it personally. And I love that because that's what I would do. Maybe I wouldn't be able to run 25.4 miles an hour or whatever it is. And maybe I wouldn't have been as good as you were in that spot. But when somebody said something about me when I played, I took it personally.

and you should take it personally, and you should go out and write that wrong. But to say you didn't hear anybody, I think you heard people perfectly, and I think that's the reason you bawled the fuck out. So for George Pickens, more of that, dude, I love watching George Pickens play. And the question for the Steelers is,

can they go on the road this weekend and get a win against Seattle and extend their season? They're in the playoffs right now, and by that I mean that every game is a playoff game for them. And, you know, if you look at a situation like Baltimore, they could be resting people. So there's a real opportunity for you. If you go win this game, you never know what happens week 18.

You could slide in the playoffs. And I wish you guys felt that way when you played the Cardinals or when you played a number of these teams that you've lost to over the last month of the season, but you can still make it right. Two games away, right? And so if I'm them, go to Seattle, come together, pretend a bunch of people said bad shit about you this week.

I'm going to say something bad about George Pickens every week. George Pickens, you have a long neck. Your neck is too long, okay? So I want you to take that personally this week, and I want you to go for three Hyundai on the Seahawks and get this win total for your boy, okay? Big fan, but you've got a long-ass neck, okay? Also, George is not the coolest name in the world.

Not the coolest name in the world. It's not even a good wide receiver name. You hear me, George? Go for three hondo this week. Game day is the perfect pizza day. So make Little Caesars the official pizza sponsor of the NFL part of your game day. Order online during our pizza pizza pregame one hour before and three hours after NFL kickoffs. Plus all day Sunday to have your NFL game day covered.

Use your favorite Little Caesar's pizza or pick the toppings you crave. it's a pizza pizza win. And speaking of winning, everyone scores with convenient delivery for our in-store pizza portal pickup. So grab some friends, order your little Caesars, and enjoy during the games. Let's get to the NFC so I can get the hell out of here. The Eagles, I thought they rebounded nicely, okay, like offensively.

Here's the truth about the Eagles. There's not going to be any game where you're like in the second quarter, hey, we got this thing in the bag. It's just the way it was drawn up. That's the way the injuries have happened. That's the way the cookie crumbles. Like in this game, you're up 17.3 or whatever it is. You know, like there's never a moment where you can relax and say,

hey, we got this thing in the bag. And there's definitely never a moment where you can relax when your quarterback, who actually, I thought, played really well in a lot of spots. You take away that pick six where a guy falls down. That's not on him. Although Acho is watching his score app, and he's crafting a tweet like, we need to have an uncomfortable conversation about Jalen Hertz.

Well, he's having an uncomfortable situation conversations about every quarterback in the league, it seems like, and they're pulling tape of him a week ago saying, hey, I trust Brock Purdy more than Lamar Jackson, which is assinine, in my opinion. But then to double down afterwards and shit on Brock Purdy, like, you know, stick with it. And when you want to try to tear down Jalen Hertz, because the stats you see on your score app up, pick six, like, that's not on him. I thought he played better. So, like, you know, you can say what you want about Jalen Hertz. I thought the offense rebounded nicely in some places.

And they actually closed the game out, didn't they? You know, they actually closed the game out. They churned some, well, they didn't close the game out. They closed the game. Well, hold on. And I thought they ran the ball pretty well, you know, in spots. And so there was a lot of positives for the offense. You know, the stuff before the half was insane.

Like not getting out of bounds was awful. I don't know what he was thinking. I don't know if he knows what he was thinking. I don't know if he had the wrong time on the clock or that sort of thing or what it was. But then to come out of the half and muff that kickoff, it was like, here we go again. And I thought coming in the game that it would be a situation where the Eagles, I told you, puck her up, right? Better not fuck anything up early. Because if you fuck anything up early, it's going to be boo birds all day.

And, you know, you had to start fast. Well, they started fast and the boo still came out. So that's kind of the thing with this team. No matter where you are, like the Seattle game, up big on the Giants. Like if you want to win this thing, you have to have more of a defensive identity. You know, like you either have to be a great pass rushing team or you have to dial up pressure or something because I don't know what you're good at right now. You know, and my guy, Jalen Carter, my life flashed before my eyes.

I'm holding a ticket for seven units on defensive rookie of the year. and, you know, he's jumping off sides on multiple fourth downs. We got away with the second one. You just have to play cleaner, man. You know, there's a lot of things that they did that were not clean football in the second half of their game. But they got on the right track. They got a win. And they got pushed to the brink.

Tyrod Taylor, you know, is a viable option as a backup. And so respect to him and respect to the Giants for playing hard, but the Eagles just pulled it out, which is big. Speaking of Jalen, I did not like your friend Peter Schrager's tweet calling Yaya Diabi, the defensive rookie of the year. Yeah, well, whatever. If his name's not Jalen Carter, you need to get out of here with that stuff. I'm going to send Peter Schrager a fucking bill. Okay. And it was really good they won because guess who else won the Lions?

Okay. Lions feels like a long time ago, but they beat the Vikings 30, 24. And I don't know if the Lions made a deal with the devil where they're like, we'll win the division, but the Pistons have to lose like 30 straight. And people in Detroit are like, yeah, we're good. The bad boy thing and then the whole, you know, the Lakers series, we're good for a while. But it's fallen just right for the Detroit lines, winning the division, even on the road. It would have been incredible at home.

But like, I bet you people in Detroit had one of their best Christmases in recent memory because I know how much they care about football. and like as much shit as you want to say about Jared Gough and like I've said it before and there are times where I trust the guy on the other sideline more than Jared Gough. But the third downs he converted in this game, you know, early in the game, third and five, dodging a rusher, delivering the football. Some of the third downs on those last drives, that decisive touchdown drive that made a 30-21, like they had to keep the foot on the gas pedal the whole game. And part of the reason they got to do that is because the secondary is not particularly great in coverage. And like, listen, you come out of this game, the secondaries, you know, they're heroes in one way, right? Like they made a lot of big plays. Mellon Fonwu, multiple sacks, huge pick at the end of the game.

And also, Aaron Glenn, like, dialing up, you know, blitzes at the right time. That was a real positive thing. Like, there was a sequence after they turned the ball over, Gibbs Fummelman, that they end up in fourth and short. And the reason that they're not, you know, converting previously before fourth and short is because they dialed up a, you know, a pressure. And Melan Fawn Wu turned into a rusher. And they're behind the sticks.

And they check it down to Hawkinson. You force fourth and one. And then there's a pick. So like they made big plays. You know, they absolutely came through when they had to in creating turnovers. But early and often, They're giving up big chunks, right? Like the first play of the game, I think it's Joseph,

turns a tight end loose for like 30 yards. And then Osborne's running across the field with Anzolone behind him. And then you give up another deep ball. And, you know, I think part of that is a credit to Minnesota because they're so dangerous. And I do think if they had a different quarterback, they win this game. You know, and that's not a shot at Detroit. And it's not a shot at Minnesota or Nick Mullins. but the reality is, even when Minnesota was out of it, they were still in it because of the guys they have outside and because of the guys on the back end, the Detroit has, you know, that third and 27, the shades of Buffalo last year.

And there's one guy in the NFL that we've kind of forgotten about when you talk about wide receivers. Okay, you make a case for him being the MVP, right? but like he's the guy that's a huge magnet for coverage but still can make plays on his own as he's drawing that coverage that 50-50 ball I don't know of any other guy in the league that goes up and gets that ball on 3rd and 27 and you know there are examples of situations like hey they got a they got a PI in the end zone right you know and you're thinking oh Minnesota's going to be on the one yard line hold on hold on a minute player we got an offensive line holding these negate, we're going to line up and go again, and then they go right up top on Sutton's

head for a touchdown. You know, the last drive, it was like, hold on to your butts, man. And that's how Detroit's going to have to win some games, right? They're going to have to win shootouts, especially with some of the receiving groups that you see, like this weekend they're going to play Dallas. Dallas scares me because if Nick Mullins is Dak Prescott in that game, I think you're going home losers. You're going to have to try to win the division this weekend. And Coach O'Connell in the press conference today so that he has not committed to a quarterback for that game and all three are possible options. Dobbs, Jaron Hall, and Mullins. You're talking about for that game against the Packers?

Yeah, for the game against Packers. Two point favorites. Packers got to play for their playoff lives. But I just thought like in general, you know, that back end as much as they won the game. And you talk about the way it started, you know, I actually just remember this, but, you know, they get down to the goal. line and Branch, you know, keeps them on the field with a hold in the end zone. And then like the next play, he's got to pick six, drops it, right? They were resilient. They made the big plays that bailed them out, multiple big picks, but on some of them, like Jefferson's open. So the point I'm making is,

you know, the Lions won, but there are things on the back end that you have to worry about with them. This was a huge deal for them. It was a, I mean, if Mullins hits that flea flicker, you know, they're kicking a field goal at the end of the game to win it, right? Like because they're probably going to get a touchdown there. Instead, they have to kick. I mean, there's a bunch of examples in this game. There's a better quarterback on the field. Maybe you're not division champs, but you deserve it.

100%. You know, the Lions, I can't say enough good things about what Dan Campbell's done, what Jared Gough has done. They dominated time possession. Could have gone perimeter run more. Those tight ends were moving people at the point of attack. but they convert it in big spots, and that's credit to golf directly. Big drives.

And Gibbs is a revelation. Fourth and one, the cut he made. Third and sixth in the red zone. Like, they're going to kick a field goal or have to go on fourth down. He's stopped three yards short of the sticks, breaks multiple tackles. You know, it was like watching football from the future, really, because B-Flow is running a fucking defense that nobody is. They're dropping eight, you know, in spots, and then they're bringing in a bunch of guys.

they're mugging up, they're getting out. We know that's future football because nobody's doing it, but then Gibbs is taking a hand off, you know, like faking towards a line of scrimmage and then throwing a bubble screen. Like, it was a lot of fun to watch these coaches work. There's some really good coaches on that football field during this game. Ben Johnson wants 15 million a year. He said plays like that.

I think he's trying to force the Chargers hands, you know, to saying like, hey, we will pay this time around or we won't. And then he can take his other interviews. But all right, we're talking about the NFC here. The Lions, the Eagles, you know, San Francisco did what they did. The Cowboys did what they did. The team here, and we talk about the NFC race as being really important, it's not just to get a hat in a T-shirt.

It's to play a fucking home game in the playoffs, right? And the loser, more than anything, has to go on the road and play a team like Tampa, who coming in this game, this is another game we nailed. Like games we were wrong about, games we nailed, nailed the Tampa game. You come into this game, and I said it last week, what's the difference between Baker Mayfield and Trevor Lawrence? You know?

What is Baker Mayfield done or vice versa? What has Trevor Lawrence done that Baker Mayfield hasn't? Why would we trust Trevor more than Baker? And, you know, it's just a snapshot into that one kind of narrative that nobody really talks about, which is these two guys, number one picks. you have your urban Meyer year you have your what's his name uh kitchens year for baker mayfield then you find a real coordinator and Doug Peterson right uh for Trevor and vice versa with

stefansky and Baker and Baker was rolling won a playoff game same thing with Trevor Lawrence last year injuries are what really sunk Baker I think in Cleveland trying to play hurt and that whole thing in a harness and a lot of people wrote him off he was on two teams and that's the really the big difference, right? Because Trevor and him, both number one picks, both turnover prone at different times in their career. But I think when you look at Baker, the turnovers have dried up a little bit this year. He's got a really good OC. Dave Canales, who revived Gino's career up in Seattle. He's doing it with Baker. And he's given him a run game over the last month. He's got guys outside he can throw two. There's guys with Super Bowl DNA on their team. Like, this team is kind of

dangerous. And I think the only reason we're not taking them more seriously is because of this this recency bias on Baker Mayfield, which if you're paying more close attention to them, if Trevor Lawrence was their quarterback, what do you think their ceiling is in the NFC? What do you think people think their ceiling is in the NFC? Oh, they can make a run. Well, Baker Mayfield right now, I'd take them over Trevor Lawrence. And, you know, some people got mad at me in the YouTube comments last week because I said, you know, Trevor Lawrence, when is somebody going to be held accountable for the turnovers?

multiple bad picks, bad fumble. You know, a week ago he just drops the ball in the red zone. Like, I like Trevor Lawrence. I'm a Trevor Lawrence fan. I think he's tough. I think he tries his absolute best. I think he's a good teammate. He's tantalizingly talented, but the turnovers haven't stopped, and the injuries are starting

him out. Yeah. Maybe he's playing hurt like Baker was in Cleveland, you know? And maybe he is. But, you know, like a knee is a little bit different than a shoulder, right? And, you know, I don't know. I'm just saying that's another thing that when they met at the coin toss, you know, if Trevor thought he was looking at future Trevor Lawrence, right?

You know, like I'm looking at myself in the future here if I'm not careful. What Baker probably would have told him was take care of your body, you know, and what choice do they have now, right? Like, they got to win these games. They got to win out and hope Indy doesn't win out to win that division, right? And I don't even know if they're going to make any noise in the playoffs, but the one thing that absolutely has to happen, if Trevor's able to, he has to play this weekend. And, you know, on one side of the coin, I'm saying, take care of your body, but at this point in the season, it's too late.

And he's been dinged a lot. So I just thought this was a really impressive win for Tampa coming off a big win last week where a lot of teams get fat and happy. You know, Baker deserves all the respect you give a Trevor Lawrence. You know, like we kind of cast him off. but how he's playing right now is good enough for this team. And, you know, Jacksonville found themselves on a lot of third and longs early. And when it was third and long for Tampa Bay, they converted. You know, like all last week, you said, oh, that was just the Packers thing, Joe Barry, the whole thing.

Nah, this week they did a great job, and they jumped people. And they put a lot of pressure on people. They got two scores in the five-minute zone at the end of the second quarter. You know, like the bucks, talk about playing the middle eight. and putting pressure on people right before the half. Look what they did to Jordan Love and the Packers last week, totally flipping the script at the half and making it even more insurmountable for them

when Jacksonville had a chance for a two for one. You know, the bucks are jumping on people, putting pressure on people. And for Jacksonville, I alluded to this. Their offense is stagnant looking, you know, like the Philly issues that we talked about earlier. Jacksonville's got some of those same issues with the run game, you know, different personnel,

but like some of the same schematic limitations. not a ton of motion. I don't understand what's going on in Jacksonville. And another reason why I point at the quarterback, when Doug Peterson was there last year with Trevor, right, at the end of the season, those last four games, they averaged 30 points a game. They've been shut out in the first half of games lately.

Okay? When Doug Peterson was in Philly with fucking Carson Wentz throwing to Fulgum, if anybody remembers Fulgum, and Boston Scott, they were averaging 28 points a game over the last four games. Okay? You can't tell me that there's some limitation,

even with the receivers down, where they can't be competitive offensively if this is the guy, okay? They got a play caller who's got a good track record. I could argue that Doug hadn't had his best year, for sure. But go back even further. We were four and six coming off that Super Bowl. We lose our quarterback.

We got Nick Foles coming back for Act 2, and we score 28 points a game over the last four games. So for Jacksonville, not just, to be bad but to not be peeking at the right time. Little nerve, a little nerve inducing if you're a Jags fan. Not just this year, but like, who are you going forward? And who's that quarterback? Here's another team to me that's very dangerous.

The Los Angeles Rams. We were right about that one. Thursday night, we hit it. You know, Macon almost came exactly, it almost came exactly down to the score again for me and him. But I ended up winning because that two-point conversion, but it was incredible. But the Rams, I watched them. Some of the touchdown drives they've had over the past, I don't know, six weeks. And really it's since Kyron Williamson back healthy because you know play action makes this thing go.

Some of these touchdown drives, there's no adjective for it. You know, like what word describes like big boy NFL touchdown drive, where there's no stop and start, there's no penalties, there's no you're backed up, the protection's good. you hit the big chunk plays, you're running the football, like you convert. You know, Matt Stafford just looks like a pro quarterback. You know, like he just looks like what I want in a quarterback, man. And going into the playoffs right now, you could argue that he's playing better football than anybody in the NFC at that position.

And they have limitations on defense. The corner scare me. But offensively, compare them to that 2018 year. They've obviously won a Super Bowl with Stafford, and the defense was better. that year but 2018 okay we talked about them as like some historic offensive machine and you might say where are the raw numbers well the league might have caught up with that offense a little bit but I think more than anything if you compare these two groups I think this group is more functional and by functional I mean it's like when we talk about stats all year you know playing bad

teams the the some of the you know the the appearances that your team has out on the field over given season I'm talking about the functionality of an offense in the playoffs when they're playing good teams. What they did to Baltimore, San Francisco didn't look like that. They went to Baltimore, and the way they looked, it looked like they were going to go toe to toe to and beat that team. They gave a punt return for touchdown and two drop coverages. Okay. So if you're the Rams and you compare that to 2018 season, the 54-51 Chiefs game, the whole thing, the well-dried up in the playoffs when Todd Gurley got hurt. I think this group has a higher floor, and I think they're more functional. And, you know, why do I think that?

Okay, you lose Todd Gurley, he's really special. And you talk about an offense that starts with play action. He's very special, right? And a different back than Karen Williams. But they have adjusted to a different kind of run game to set up play action. And on top of that, compare Robert Woods and Pooka Nakua. Okay? Compare Matt Stafford to Jared Gough.

Compare the offensive lines. You know, their top 10 in pressure rate right now. They're right in the bottom of the top 10, a spot or two behind 2018. 2021 they were better up front, but they're really good now. So I think they're just as good as that team that went to the Super Bowl. What they do on defense, no idea. But I can tell you some of the teams we just talked about, Philly, Detroit, a bunch of these teams,

they don't want to see the L.A. Rams come into town because this offense can take them to the brink in a shootout. And they also have one of the best defensive players in the world. Oh, by the way, that still plays football for them. So I actually think this is a very dangerous team. And, you know, as you compare it to some other quarterbacks in the dance, I like this guy. And they are peaking at the right time offensively. So just a nod to L.A. who's still got some work to do.

Pretty wild to think the Rams were probably rooting for the Niners last night. Rams fans were rooting for the Niners last night. just as as as as as as as as as as eagles fans i'll explain why because in that scenario if the nineers had won there's a better chance than in week 18 they're resting guys okay so so rams fans rooting for niners uh how about how about eagles fans rooting for for for the cowboys this weekend because if you take care of your business you're going to win the division but if the cowboys take care of business uh you're not going to have to deal with that Detroit situation um and and and and i think eventually you might have to

go on the road to play Detroit if Detroit wins this weekend. So interesting, these teams and these fan bases having to root for their rivals this late in the season. New Orleans lost that game because they can't convert short yardage situations and they just don't have an identity. And I don't know where they're going. But Atlanta is trying to win this division, 2910 over the Colts. Heineke shows up.

Just don't turn the fucking ball over. You know, there's some people you know that have a spouse or a girlfriend or a husband or a husband that, you know, is such a train wreck. Maybe he's like a felon or he's, you know, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, he's a, serial cheater or just some awful thing or he's mean to your kids. The next guy in the door, all he has to do is not fuck it up. And, and I feel like Taylor Heineke's kind of in that zone where the last guy, DoorDash Desmond Ritter, threw a pick in his only preseason possession, I think, threw a pick in the biggest moment in the season in Carolina last week. Couldn't even be a game manager.

We've already benched him once. We benched him again. Finally, they go to Heineke, who gives them a spark just by not turning the ball over. And, you know, like, when you talk about a team that, that, like, comes into town that's hot as fish grease, you know, the, the, the Colts, the only thing they've done bad over the last month is, is they lose to the Bengals, right, who were really on a run at that point. They got lucky in Tennessee. They blocked a couple punts, but they found ways to win. And they were getting Grover Stewart back. They got him back a week ago. That D-line looked totally different

against Pittsburgh. So you worry you're not going to be able to run the ball, which was an advantage I thought you had. And then Jonathan Taylor's going to play. What do you do? You hold Taylor to 61 yards? Like, and Shane Steikens, a wizard. Nobody had driven right down the field on Atlanta's defense the entire season and scored a touchdown in the first possession, but they did. So, So, I mean, like, after that, Atlanta, heightened down the screws. That defense deserves a lot of credit. Colias Campbell looked awesome. He's almost, he's my age.

He's out there making plays, Bud Dupree. They are, they got that high floor kind of defense that's figuring things out and playing smart and peeking at the right time. And they've got Heineke who gives him a fighting chance. We've seen Heineke, you know, go to, you know, actually Brady come up and play Heineke. That's a situation you don't want to be in if you're runner up in your division having to go play on the road against the bad division winner. You see what Washington did in that game with Heineke almost beat the fucking Bucks, man. I think that was the year the Bucks won the Super Bowl.

So like Heineke can win them some games. The only other team that we really got to talk about, I mean, we're going to leave New Orleans where they sit. But like Seattle, they're trying to get in this thing. And I can't take anything away from Gino Smith, man. You can say what you want about the guy. one thing he is is clutch those two drives and i think coming off the plane off that emotional win at home short week having a travel east they were a little sluggish off the bat this was a dead under first half under the whole thing but by the end of the game you give him that little window he's got

to complete two touchdown drives to win this thing um and he does it and and he's done that so many times over the last two years seven times since 2022 i think he leads the league in game winning drives And, you know, like he's got four this year. Monster drives to 95 yards on one of them. You know, he's got to beat the blitz on third and three. He's got a huge JSN third and 14. Making the Parkinson throw, like the confidence and more than anything to catch, you know, right on his body.

He's got a defender on him, the whole thing. They did that with no run game. You know, they did that with no run game down the stretch. And I just want to give Gino a lot of credit for being that guy that seems like when his back's against the wall, coming off an injury, the whole thing, they've been able to get these big spots from guys, including Drew Locke. And I think it's a testament to Pete Carroll, making guys believe, right? You know, like, there was a lot of belief that had to go into pulling that game out

because you thought they were dead. There was a point where Tarek Wollin missed a pick six, and I thought that's probably their only chance. And to come in into the fourth quarter and those two drives, I mean, they're just Gino to a T and whatever. whatever his legacy is in five years, maybe he's not playing anymore, maybe next year he's not a starting quarterback, but over these two years, this run in Seattle, he has made some magic happen.

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time all season long. Get Miller Light delivered right to your door. Visit millerlight.com slash green light. Or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories, and 3.2 carbs for 12 ounces. Green Bay, I take it back. I got to mention Green Bay because they got it done, kind of. A wins a win. I know I said this about Buffalo earlier, where it's like sometimes it's good to come out and just escape with a win.

This is one of those situations for Green Bay. Their defense is what it is. They made Bryce Young look like a fucking all-star late in this game. I mean, and these are things. If you're a Carolina fan, I know that you're down two scores and it's pitch and catch sometimes. but some of the throws he made were pretty good. So I think there's reason to be excited about that game if you're a Carolina fan.

But Jordan Love, very good, very good, got it done for them, set up that field goal to win it, efficient against zone coverage, 263 passing yards over the last six games average and 13 touchdown passes with one interception. Okay, the guy's taking care of the football. Aaron Jones got going. This is the Carolina. just ran out of time. You know, they really just ran out of time. That's the only way the Green Bay Escape of the win was Carolina running out of time,

which is something you got a couple weeks left to shore this up defensively. I don't think they do it. But if they win this game this weekend, you never know. They could get in the dance. The two games that meant nothing, the Jets and Washington, although all these games mean something when it comes to draft order and you've got to wonder why some of these people are winning, right? I just have no idea.

In Chicago, finding a way to win. 2716, you want to talk about, you know, are you going to fire Fluse or what? Did Fluse lose the team at some point? He definitely didn't lose the team. I just want to say this. I want to give him his respect because I think late in the season, a lot of times I wonder if owners are like, we'll let the players decide. And, you know, like the players decide by how they play, right?

Like how they play for the guy. you know, because you see guys losing teams all the time. There's a lot of uncertainty in Chicago, but these guys are doing something right, and I just want to give them their props. Like, they're not going to the playoffs. They dropped the Hail Mary. That was the only way.

But they just keep showing up in these, I can tell you, from experience, I know how hard it is. Wasn't that hard for me? Because I knew there was always something to play for, but I know looking around, not everybody's going to play for something with nothing on the line.

And so I just want to tip my cap to the bears, and that Bears group and Iberfluse. I don't know if he's going to be the guy next year or Justin Fields is going to be the guy there, but they can be proud of the way they're finishing. Okay, mentions. It is time. Best flight.

Man. Okay, well, I'll start with Belleville Conway because I should have said this earlier. Can you imagine, first off, just as a thought exercise, how beautiful a Super Bowl would be at the Death Star, which photographs and it's on TV, it comes across beautifully, the grass there, the setting for an indoor field,

like it's second to none. Can you imagine, sometimes I don't even think the game's inside. I'm watching the lighting so good. But can you imagine San Francisco and Miami? What a beautiful uniform matchup. And thank you, Miami, for winning that game so that everybody can take you seriously.

And there is a real possibility of a matchup like that. That would be the Bevel Conway of all Bevel Conways. I don't know if there's a more pretty Super Bowl in recent memory than that one. The Bevel Conway, as it stands this week, though, was dolphins and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and beautiful. I mean, it's beautiful. I also like Chiefs and Raiders. It was ugly. It was a rock fight. I didn't like the fact that I had Chiefs minus 10, but it was still beautiful. Um, best flight. Okay. I would say Baltimore, but they got to land at like 7 a.m. I think they just landed probably. Um, I'm going to say

it's Bill Belichick, because he's sitting up there. He's actually sitting in coach because he treats his players well and he puts him up in first class. but he's sitting back there with that, like, kind of sneer. And he's like, I just won another game. You want to fire me? Like, good luck not being able to draft, Caleb Williams or Drake May. You were talking about the next guy's going to get Caleb Williams or Drake May, not over my dead body.

I'm going to beat the Broncos. Another thing I'm proud of, bet Patriots Money Line. And I'm going to beat the Broncos. I'm going to get on the plane. And I'm going to beat them with this kicker that I drafted that nobody thought was any good. And you're going to be stuck with this kicker when I leave. You're going to have to clean this mess up. But I'm going to beat you with my bad draft pick.

Okay. And then I'm going to leave. And you're not going to have a quarterback. Now, I don't know what's going on in New England. But it is kind of funny to think about the fact that now they play the Bills and the Jets, two teams that Bill really wants to beat. Like Week 18, you think he's going to lose the Jets? Mm-mm.

Mm-mm. I'm betting New England Money Line there. all day long. Could be Bill's last game as a Patriot. Okay. Worst flight. Brian Daibel. It's not just because they lost the game,

and they probably didn't even take a flight. So maybe worse train ride. Because I think when he gets the train station in New York, there's a guy in a black Lincoln that's like, get in. And he gets in the passenger seat, he's like, no. Like, I'm not a drive. Because I think when he gets to the train station in New York, and he tries to get in the back of the black sedan that they have pull up for,

him the guy's like no you need to get in the front there's a guy in the back seat might look a little Italian and he's got like a string in his hands you know how this thing goes in the movies and why are they doing that to him because he benched an iconic Italian American in South Philadelphia okay like that's you might as well just took him up to the Rocky steps and rolled him down the hill rocky's not even a real person DeVito is and you benched an iconic Italian American in South Philly you had to no Dom Desandro out there. You had no DeVito.

Like, this is a bad day for Italian Americans in Philly. Even if DeVito, and here's the worst part. DeVito, if he's staying in the game, I think they win that game 35-3. So, like, on all accounts, he's just not a very popular guy. A lot of people had Eagles minus 14 on Christmas. You're getting ready to eat all those fishes. Yeah. And you've got to watch DeVito get benched.

Pull the Lincoln up for Brian Davel. And also, like, tying these two together, you know Bill loves the Giants. Yeah. You know, maybe, just maybe, you see him in Big Blue next year or something like that. Homecoming. Yeah, yeah, yeah, homecoming. You won some Super Bowl, so. No question.

Esteele Memorial. I'm going to give him to the avalanche reporter who actually drank some dip spit on air. Can you imagine trying to do a game and the college, because hockey, there's no breaks. Like, it's like, ah, pucks over here. uh, fedor off to, to, to, to, I can't think of another Russian name, but like, you know, like, the puck's just moving. That's why they used to have a laser beam on it. They have the hardest job in sports, like, uh, a play by play guy in hockey. And so like, just, just to drink dip spit mid like, like, like they were in the, I don't know how to talk about hockey, but they were in the,

they were on the front of the ice. Like, there's a lot of action. It's not a time to take a break. Luckily, it's a two-man booth. So his, his buddy without breaking, uh, character at all. watches this guy running around the booth like he's about to vomit because he was. And if you ever had dips fit, it's a bad deal. Can you imagine keeping the puck in the air while you're gagging? So I don't even know that guy's name, but STO Memorial to him. Fly on the wall. This has made my favorite mention of the week.

Jaira Alexander, this is the funniest thing that happened all weekend. I cannot stop laughing at this interview with Jira Alexander. I read this after the game that he invited himself out to the coin toss. He wasn't even on the coin toss list So he went out there with the captains And then called the coin They're like heads or tails You know somebody says tails

You know you win congratulations What do you want to do? He said we want to be on defense Now this almost happened to me in the pros one time Because the first time I was a captain I didn't realize that you know You're supposed to say you need to we want to defer Right you don't want to say we want to kick off We want to defer

And once Fisher talked to me It was like I understand it But Jire Alexander when they asked him about it after the game, totally oblivious to it being that close. Like the refs had to stop and be like, you want a what? You say that again.

And LaFleur is going into the thing about how, you know, he talks to the refs before the game about like, hey, we do want to defer that sort of thing. And fans now are like, oh, that's, NFL's fixed. I'm like, coaches talk to refs every game. They tell them what they're planning to do,

what they're not planning to do, to talk about things. But Jare Alexander, after the game, they're like, you know, I didn't think Matt LaFleffle's, floor knew I was from Charlotte. You know, I'm from here. So, you know, because he's from Charlotte,

it entitled him to go out there and almost torpedo in a one possession game that you absolutely need in a playoff race. The coin toss. He didn't even know he fucked up. Jaya Alexander, Jail Alexander, I don't listen to him talk a lot. He's one of the funniest people

intentionally or unintentionally on the planet. That was hilarious and almost very not funny for the Packard. So best seat. Okay, best seat. It's formerly known as viewing party. And I don't really know what this award is, but it's a perfect time to bring up a little story from Saturday. I don't know why I picked this, but it was kind of interesting thinking about my kids, like their foray into the NFL is like sitting with me and watching the Chiefs lose the Raiders. And they're like, yeah, who's the best quarterback of all time? Like, I'm like, well, you know, like it's all these guys. But Patrick Mahomes, there's only

a couple guys that have a chance to be in that conversation when you're grownups. And, you know, Mahomes, you know, he's getting lined up to run a play. He's actually like split out or some bullshit. And my kids like, my four-year-old's like, hey, dad, when I become an adult, is Patrick Mahomes going to die? And I was like, well, that's a morbid question. Also, you've never asked me about anything. Like, the first time I had to explain to my son, Whalen, it's one of the hardest things in the world having to explain that people die. Okay?

Like, in that conversation, you think about the birds and the bees. You think about how our babies made. You think about like all types of things. You never think about explaining to your kids that we're going to die. And Johnny Cash was the guy for Whalen. You know, he used to find, he might find a raw cone outside every once in a while. And we'd say, you know, that's very unhealthy. That's how Johnny Cash died.

He smoked too much and the whole thing. And so he asked, is Johnny Cash here. Was Johnny Cash hanging outside? There was like, it's just dad. But I guess Luke's intro into the end of the road is Patrick Mahomes. I don't know where the question came from. But then the very next play, they throw the pick six. I'm like, you know, Luke, he might want to die right now.

But I just thought it was a wild question to ask a dad sitting there watching a game on Christmas. And of course, I was like, nah, he's going to be older, but he's going to be alive, you know. Holmes might look 40. He's like, he's like 28 or something, I think. So, yeah, anyways, kind of an off the beat, off the beating path viewing party there. Game ball. It's going to Lamar Jackson. Lamar Jackson, you know, that is I want to give it to Joe Flacco or Amari Cooper,

Lamar in the biggest stage being the reason that they won and not being the reason they lost, right? Because that's why Brock Purdy's not going to get that MVP this year. So Lamar Jackson can't say enough good things about the guy. We'll be back Friday. Yeah, yeah, we'll be back Friday, okay?