KSR - NFL Cover Zero: Bring on the snow games!

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

Drew Franklin and Billy are at the helm as Week 14 featured some matchups in the snow!  The Bills were out in the cold but seemt to be hitting their stride. Did we just see Aaron Rodgers best game with the Steelers?  The Titans put together a win over the Browns.    The Giants were on a bye this week, so watching Jameis Winston as a game analyst was entertaining. The Colts have lost 4 of 5 and Daniel Jones injures his achilles. The Vikings shut out the Commanders.  The Bucs have dropped 5 of 7 after losing to the Saints.  Bears-Packers lived up to expectations at Lambeau.   The Broncos have won 10 in a row, but are they as good as their record? The Lions likely ended the Cowboys playoff hopes.  Another win for the Seahawks and Rams, is Matt Stafford still your MVP?  A big win for the Texans over the Chiefs and a tough game for Travis Kelce.  Plus, a big Monday Night Football matchup coming up between the Chargers and Eagles! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and IHeart podcast. Welcome in to a new episode of NFL Cover Zero, the Sunday night week 14 edition. Drew Franklin here, filling in for Matt Jones. And our good friend, Billy R. Sports, who's in the producer chair, has slid over into the co-host chair to join us for tonight's episode as we recap all the week 14 fun, including a couple snow games that added. to the excitement. Before we get to all that, I just want to make a, you know, let everybody know why Matt's not here. We also weren't here Wednesday. We're going to be fine getting through

the show without him, but Matt needed some time away. His father had a surgery last week, and that came with an unexpected diagnosis after the surgery, and Matt just needed a little time away to hang with his family as they process that, and his dad, Larry, recovers. But like I said, we'll get through it. We're thinking about Matt. Hope everything goes there well. Sorry we missed last week's episode, this all kind of last Wednesday's midweek episode, this all kind of came out of nowhere as Matt's dealing with that, but he's been home with them. So I hate that we missed you the middle of last week, but Billy, we got it under control today. We'll handle tonight's episode. We have a lot of fun football, lots that we can get to in our weekly recap. That's right.

Our heart is with Matt during this tough times. We're thinking about you and your family, Matt, but we got a great slate of games to talk about today, Drew, and there's nothing like sitting on your couch for four, five, six hours at a time. I really do feel like a slob sometimes. but I'm working, Drew. I can't be taken off the couch, right? Of course. It is a tough assignment to sit and watch football all day, but we'll tough it out. We do that for the league and for this podcast and our NFL cover zero listeners.

I was actually late getting to my couch. I was in Nashville all weekend. I actually got to listen to my local Titans broadcast for the first quarter to as I was making my way back. And then my lovely wife, we're about halfway home. She was like, want me to takeover driving and you can just watch Red Zone in the passenger seat? And I was like, I love you so much right now. So I did miss a little bit of the first half of the weekend. one o'clock games, but got home in time to catch up with the end of everything and had a good

time in Nashville. I know we have a lot of Kentucky listeners from our KSR audience. That's right. That basketball game was bad, but otherwise Nashville, I had a, there's a lot going on in my Nashville trip. I mean, the basketball was part of it, but just starting right away, I get to my hotel. And we pull in, it's probably 1.30. We go valet, you know, we're just getting there.

We're excitement, games at night. Go upstairs. I'm not in my room. 10 minutes. I'm coming right back down. We're just dropping bags going to meet friends. Come down and in the 10 minutes from me handing my key to the valet and coming back down, there was a shooting right there in the doorway that included one of the valet. I come down and literally they're putting up the crime tape as we're walking out the door. 10 minutes into my trip to Nashville. I think everything's okay. It was shot in a leg,

the valet guy, but the shooter. The valet was shot in the leg. They didn't catch the people. They took off. They had the car and everything. But I mean, it was, I don't know. I must have missed it by a minute or two. because I had just been right in that spot, dropped my car, went straight up and set my suitcase down, and then when I came back, we have a crime scene right at the front door of the hotel. I was going to say, Nashville, usually a great place to drown your sorrows after a bad Kentucky basketball loss. But that just goes to show you there's too many people in Nashville. There's way too many people. Good luck finding a parking spot and good luck getting around during a busy time there.

I should know my trip was getting off to a rough start with that. Then I had the basketball game. I don't know if anyone saw on Twitter, but I tried to do karaoke. at Miss Kelly's. I love Miss Kelly's. I got booed for being a Kentucky fan because they're full of balls. At one point the guy even said boo this man, he's responsible for giving us Will Levis. And I just got off the stage. He is this is too much. I don't like Tennessee fans as it is. Now we got Will Levis catching strays. I'm just out here trying to sing, that ain't my truck with my friends and it turned into me getting booed. The basketball was the biggest problem,

but just the whole trip. I had fun, but there was just a lot going on beyond that. Well, it seemed to work as the Titans got a big victory today that I'm sure we'll talk about. I mean, even if Titan fans wanted them to lose so they could get the number one overall pick. But you did bring a little luck to the city, it seems like. Yeah, well, it is good to get back. I had my fun, and you had the full day of couch. I did see some, because I was a little late getting started. I saw Red Zone was a little off to a slow start. Apparently, I didn't miss much. Yeah, it was a little bit like KSR and us with the technical difficulties. They had about like five to seven minutes of audio issues, so much to the point

where they switched over to the NFL fantasy Red Zone to try to give people some audio. But it was okay, though. I was so locked in on the snow game, Cincinnati and Buffalo, that I didn't need to watch Red Zone. Drew, I think that's football at its best. Snow games are so fun. They are. I mean, us just being in Buffalo, we were talking about it there with their fans. But, you know, they thought about getting a dome at one point.

What are you doing? You're Buffalo. You need snow. Obviously, we'll just start there. That game ended up being great. But snow game, even if it hadn't have been, you know, come down on the wire the way it did, Just something about snow games on TV. It's just special.

The Titans Browns had one. It wasn't quite as snowy as the one in Buffalo, but it just adds to the experience. And in Buffalo, too. I'm a little jealous. We didn't get that snow. I know it was cold when we went, but just the snow in Buffalo is just a different type of field. Burrow and Josh Allen, it was a great matchup. I don't know, man.

You see that ball in the air with the snowflakes. It just kind of brings me back a little bit. And then you see guys that, you know, do a little slide when they score a touchdown or a snowball. All the snow angels were out today. I saw one of the players in an interview was like, we're still kids. Like, yes, I'm doing snow angels. Very unapologetic in my snow angels. Everybody knows where that one hill is in their town, right?

Oh, I lived on it. Oak Street in Madisonville. I had the best hill right in front of my house. I miss it. Did you see, I can't remember one of the bill's defensive tackles. I believe is Jordan Phillips. Before the game, he was wearing like a Canadian goose down coat with a big hood. Oh, I did.

He was wearing it under his jersey in warm-ups. That would be me. Like, I, there's a lot of tough guys out there when the snow comes out. Drew, I'm going to need to be bundled up. And if I'm not on the field, you would see me on the sideline next to those heaters, those huge heaters that they have. So are you, if, let's say, in a different world, you made the NFL. You went to, you're still at Western. A very different world.

Yeah, you're at Western. You were a star wide receiver. Big ego, big arrogant wide receiver. Wide receiver one, out there, moss and people. You make it to the NFL. You get drafted by Buffalo. Okay. Are you the type of player that does, like, I'm warming up with my.

shirt off, you know, just going to show some skin and tough it out. Are you like Jordan Phillips would have his parka on? What kind of guy would you be in the snow? You know those like Russian hats that completely cover all of your ears and your head? I think I'd have one of those on underneath my helmet. I would need it. I mean, right now I'm a Florida boy and I've got that warm blood. So if that stays intact of my storyline here, then there's no way I'm going out and getting goosebumps before the game even starts, Drew. But are you going to try to macho it out a little bit more than me? I don't understand. We get it. You're in the NFL. You're already tough. We can see you. You're tough. But these games when they're at Lambo, and it's usually the visiting team trying to show off. They get out there. We can see their breath. We know they're cold on the inside. Quit acting all hard. We know it's freezing out there. So I would absolutely, I would not do that. I would be more of wearing the Canadian goose. I don't know. Can you just like wrap yourself in like hand warmers too? I mean, I would be the weakest guy out there by far. That's right. You see guys that have hand warmers on their belt, right?

maybe befront or behind. I've got like the heated up squares in my hand warmers. I have to. This is even if I come out of the locker room at all. So it sounds like we're on the same page. We were cold in Buffalo. I mean, and that wasn't the snow game. That was just a little wind.

So I imagine Bill's Mafia was still out there and doing all their tailgating. If I'm going as a fan, if to somewhere like Buffalo or a Lambo, and I've been fortunate enough to do each of those in the last couple years, Lambo, I did get a little bit of snow. I want it to be miserable. I want the full experience. I want snow everywhere. I saw today there was two guys that drove from like Ohio

in the early, early in the morning. We're shoveling snow in Buffalo, like in the stadium. They called it Josh Allen's wedding gift. But I mean, you can't even get to your seats without help like these guys from Ohio driving up. I don't know how they got in the stadium, by the way. Do the bills just open the gates and say come help us shovel all this out? Well, remember, I don't know if it was last year or a couple years ago, they called on the fans to dig out the players' homes.

They couldn't get out of their house. and so they had fans do that and come to the stadium as well. And then not only on top of that, we got a great game. I mean, Joe Burrow, there is for four touchdowns. Josh Allen's running wild. It was a great comeback. Yeah, Josh Allen's 40-yard run. It's just, it's Josh.

It's peak Josh. It was beautiful. And even though they've taken some losses that, you know, they shouldn't have, and they're not exactly in the spot where they want to be in the playoff standings. They are in the wild card mix after getting today's win. But it's looking like the bills are kind of turning it on at the right time. Josh Allen had a great game through three. touchdowns ran for another, that 40-yard one. Again, just in the snow, a Buffalo, a

Bill's game, Josh Allen. That's just like picturesque for the NFL. Right. T. Higgins comes back and plays well. Had a great one-handed grab. But Joe Burrow has these back-to-back interceptions, I believe, and it just kind of let the bills run away with it. Burroughs looks so good before those two interceptions. I mean, coming back from injury, we wondered why he was even doing it. I mean, it looks like a dude who's been playing all season. He's looking great, except that the back-to-back I-N-Ts. I mean, poor Bengals fans, you start getting some energy, you start getting life.

They could even play off dream a little bit before this week. Still a little unlikely, but mathematically they were in it. You have burrowback, Higgins and Chase looking awesome. And then that screen pass where he just throws it right into the hands of defender who takes it to the house, completely flip the game. No wonder that fan base is so drunk, Drew. I mean, they've got to drink to keep up with all these losses that they have. And you're right.

If they just win a couple of more here or there, they are right in that AFC North Hunt. But I don't know how to feel about Zach Taylor, what this team should do with him after this season. But, I mean, I feel like things are coming to a head a little bit here. Bingles fans are a little tired of him before today. Even that play call were burrow through the interception was a little suspect in itself. Just an absolute meltdown when it should look like the Bengals were going to hang on

and steal one in Buffalo and really turn those dreams into maybe, hey, maybe we will make a playoff push. Chase, not Chase Higgins did. have a spectacular game, though, in the loss. Some amazing catches. We like to think of the Burrow Chase connection. But Higgins is a wide receiver one sitting right over there with him, too. He was awesome. Yeah, it was amazing.

They were able to keep all these guys in the off season and even bring back Troy Hendrickson, even though he's been injured. But two touchdowns for Higgins. Meanwhile, Buffalo is what, the five seed in the AFC playoff hunt now at 9 and 4, so a big win for them there. Scary team with Allen, turn it on right at the right time. I thought of one more thing from the snow game. You wanted to see more Ray Davis?

because I did too. I did want to see more Ray Davis. We can't get enough of Ray Davis, who's really been playing well lately, and they don't seem to go to them like they should. I follow some former Bill's players on Twitter, former UK guys, and they're constantly like more Ray Davis.

Not just because the Kentucky connection. It's because they know ball and see what he can do. But on the snow, my lovely wife asked me a question, and at first I was like, well, that's silly. Then I really started thinking about it. But there's snow everywhere, but then you can see all the lines and the hash marks and everything. And she was like, is the field?

heated right there. I was like, come on, no, it would be silly. And then I just kind of sat there awkwardly like, wait a minute, that's a pretty good question. Are they out there shoveling that? Because it's very crisp, very clean? Is it just like a crew of guys with their shovels that run out and get that? Because at first, I kind of just thought that was one of those silly questions you get from someone who, you know, maybe it had been locked in on football. And I was like, well, mate, it's not the worst idea. But I don't think they have that in Buffalo. But there was a moment where I was like, how do they get those lines of crisp and clean in the middle of the snow? They need to have them on the new stadiums.

That would be a good thing. But I don't think they have them on this old one. For a second, I said it like I was certain. And then I actually, I might have even Googled it. Like, Hi, Mark Field. Well, as much as these fields can just change in an instant, you'd think that they would have the technologies for this. So maybe so.

But I think I did hear the announcers say the crew came out and cleaned off the field specifically for this game. And that brings back some other memories. Is it the snow plow game that had the guy that came out from the sideline to put a little area so the placeholder and the kicker could kick it. So, I mean, now we're going way back. What team was that? That was, I got to look this up.

He completely cheated and moved all the snow for a field goal. Is it the dolphins that ended up doing that? I'm completely throwing a guess here. The snow plow game because it was like a former convict or something that it came out there. It was. Didn't know the rules. Look at that. I'm ring the bell for myself.

Look at you. The game winning field goal to give the Patriots a three to nothing win. Could have been a O. It was three to nothing? that game? Okay, I didn't know that. The cheater with the snowplow. Also, I didn't get to bring this up on Thanksgiving, but the Leon Lett game, that's like one of my worst memories of a young Cowboys fan. Thanksgiving Day, I remember exactly where I was. It's weird how you can remember certain things and not others. I'm probably eight years old. I think this was 93-ish, kind of doing math on the fly. Regardless, I'm young. I can still right now, over three decades later, look around the room where everyone was sitting, just how everything it was when Leon Lett, tried to pick up a fumble against the Dolphins, I believe, and completely lost a Thanksgiving game for the Cowboys. Just another snow memory that's not as positive. That's weird about memories.

I was six years old Thanksgiving Day. Michael Vic ran around in overtime to beat the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, and I remember that like it was just yesterday, Drew. So I don't know. Maybe it's those NFL memories that keep your brain sharp. The tuck rule. That was a snow game. Brady and the Raiders. That one stands out.

Today's, I don't know we'll reach in that category, but it's a lot of fun. A lot of fun watching them run around the snow. But let's get to more games. It's fun day. How about Matt's Aaron Rogers and Pittsburgh Steelers turning it on today? Do you think maybe Matt is also stepping away just because he didn't want to give Aaron Rogers his praise? I mean, that was Aaron Rogers' best game as a Steeler. Pittsburgh winning 27-22 over Baltimore, big for the AFC standings there.

And right when we wrote him off just a week or two ago is saying he's too old, seasons too long, bodies too banged up, looks like Prime Aaron Rogers, at least for a day. there. D.K. Beck-Kaff has a good game. I mean, this is exactly what Mike Tomlin needed to do to respond to all those fans that were booing him the other day. That's not right. This guy's done how many seasons without a losing record?

So, I mean, he is continuing to do it, and they now lead the AFC North by one game. But you're right about Aaron Rogers, man. He played well, 284 yards in a touchdown. Meanwhile, Baltimore is just broken. I don't know. Lamar may have lost a step. I know. I love it. I keep trying to think or say, you know, they'll,

turn it on, they'll turn it on. I mean, he had a bad interception today. You mentioned the Tomlin getting booed thing. There was a moment after the game where the TV's caught him. It looked like he blew a little kiss to the camera. You know, Tomlin's not normally that personality. He's that, you know, we just always see that same expression, whether good or bad. He just has that stoic look on his face, but I'm pretty sure he blew a little kiss that might have been for the haters that were booing him last

week because he got a good road win today. But you're right, it's just as Aaron Rogers is the story on one end. Lamar, man. Bad interception. Yeah. It's just, I don't. will we have the Lamar that we once saw, will that Lamar be back? Because the one we're seeing now is not a top-tier QB. Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, Father Time is the only one that's undefeated, right? And we're only going to get older and older at this point. You've got to wonder how long John Harbaugh is going to be the coach of the Ravens, even though, you know, this matchup between him and Tomlin was the two longest tenured coaches in the NFL. And the second, or the matchup between the coaches of the longest ever, the second longest, I believe that is. But I don't know. There was a big controversy in this game, too. Oh, yeah.

Right. As we're, as we're piling on the Ravens for losing an important game, I will say, Isaiah likely had a touchdown. It looked like he had two feet. They're down by, what, five at this point? Yeah, drive in the field,

a few minutes left in the game, makes the catch, two steps in the middle of the end zone. And before his third step, Joey Porter Jr. knocks the ball away, and they ruled it an incompletion. And Harbaal said after the game, the explanation they got was he didn't get the third

foot down. Like, when do we need three feet? He had both feet down in the middle of the end zone with full control of the ball. It looked like this could have should have been a Ravens win because that should have been a touchdown in my eyes. In my eyes too. Drew and I worked for the NFL and I couldn't explain to somebody what

a catch is in the NFL. And that's a problem. That really is a problem. I feel like we have these all the time. I think a Des Bryant back in the day too. We've seen rule changes Bird Emanuel if you want to go back to the bucks back in the day. But this is another one that was a little bit questionable. It looked like Isaiah likely got that

and then eventually a turnover on downs by the Ravens later in that drive. Yeah, and the Ravens were pretty upset after the game. That play was part of it also just, you know, having a losing record of this stage. Their frustrations growing might be the end for them, but that should have been a touchdown. Also, Aaron Rogers had a catch. Do you see that?

42-year-old Aaron Rogers, ball gets batted towards him. A little awkward. It's kind of tough. You know, normally you just want to bat it down, but he had to take the loss there because there's like four ravens piled around them, but the rare Catch by a 42-year-old. I was what I was going to say.

I think it was five days ago. He turned 42 years old, which is, I mean, the only one to do it past 40 is Tom Brady and was it Mercedes-Lewis who just joined one of the teams as a tight end. So, I mean, it is special watching old men try to keep up with the youngins. Drew, and that hits us at all points of our life, right? That's right. It's right. Maybe me one day. So Steelers looking like a playoff team?

No, but somebody's got to make the playoffs out of that division. It's true. So I still think if there was enough time, Cincinnati would be that team. But I think it's going to be Pittsburgh by default here. Yeah, Cincinnati fell to four and nine today when Pittsburgh 7 and 6. Just really stellar records there in the AFC North. But a huge win for them getting over the Ravens. They should hold on, but there's still a lot of football left.

I mean, Raymors only one game back. If they'll start counting their touchdowns as touchdowns and Lamar can stop throwing interceptions, maybe they'll have life, but not today. Steelers got the dub. and I know Matt, if you're listening out there, we're happy for you and Aaron Rogers. He's just tearing him up today watching these games that Aaron Rogers is having that success, and he couldn't talk about it today. Well, he's disappointed that Aaron Rogers had a big game.

I'm just disappointed that my Tennessee Titans had a big game. Oh, come on. They win their second game of the year. You should be happy. Another snow game. Snowing in Cleveland for the Cam Ward-Chadour Sanders battle. Here I am with my one-win Titans thinking, man, we're just going to lose out, get that number one pick, then trade.

that really get this rebuild going and they went and played really well. Winning 31-29. Offense looking kind of good. I will say, Billy, I was all in on the tank, but I was pretty happy to see them win because it's seeing a little bit of progress. Seeing Cam Ward, seeing some of the young receivers. Defense, Shadir had a big game, but I wasn't as upset as I thought I was when I was, would be when I was all in on the tank before they won.

Well, that was against a good defense, right? I mean, Cleveland has Miles Garrett, who's going to break the all-time sack record in a single season this year. So, I mean, that was impressive. Tony Pollard has a career high in rushing yards. So, yeah, exactly what you wanted to see from Cam Ward is people have started to have discussions about him and how good he could really be with Will Levis on the bench. But that was Pollard's maybe best game.

He says it's exciting. No doubt. But, you know, I was all about Shudor there for the first three quarters. I mean, it was wrist in the air. 360 yards is a 300 passing yard game before Drake May. I mean, this guy was dumping it off with the best of them. Well, did you see after he threw the touchdown to Harold Fannin Jr., by the way? From Bowling Green.

That's another thing. He was great. The Browns came back and almost tied it up, and Harold Fannin, Jr., of all people, caught the touchdown to put him in down two. They didn't get the two-point conversion. By the way, to jump on that, the two-point aversion, don't even have a quarterback in the game. What a wild call. Shudor was doing everything. Had four touchdowns, three-throwing, three passing touchdowns, one rushing touchdown.

He's throwing up the watch, and then you don't even put him in on the two-point-point version? The running back wasn't ready for it either. That was an absolute disaster. I don't know what they were trying to do. But it was pretty cool for Shadur. I've found myself rooting for him. I mean, in this game, it is what it is. I'm obviously conflicted of do I want to win or not win.

I'm happy my young guys are looking good. Mike McCoy might actually be a decent coach. I'm not saying keep him, but it just shows how bad Brian Callahan was before they got rid of him. But Shadour, it was pretty neat, seeing him have a big moment. He ran right up to Big Jeff and put it in his face, the watch. He sure did. He sawed him out and put it right in his face. Now, what he's not miming to the reporters in the locker room, I am rooting for him.

I don't know if it's the narrative of like Stefansky wasn't giving him a game ball because the team doesn't like him and things like that, which is obviously not true, I hope. But, I mean, that's a guy that's got a lot of pressure on him, the world on his shoulders. And for him to have any success, I think, would go a long way to proving a lot of people wrong. But that was just an odd game. And now Tennessee is not in the driver's seat for the number one overall pick. It's the Giants now. Yeah, I think we fell to three. We had it right there.

Just keep losing. Can I talk about the Giants for a second? You can talk about whatever you want to talk about. Because they were on a buy this week. But James Winston was a guest analyst on the Fox Sports NFL countdown. Did you see any of this? I saw tweets about it. I just didn't watch it.

But I love James. What all did he have to say? James could run for president. I think that people would vote for him. He's my guy. being a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, but I got a 20 second clip for you. Oh, I get to hear it. Look at this producing here.

Let's just listen to a little bit of it. Every since Liam Cohen has been getting recommendations on how to pronounce Duval, the right way. He went Duvall. How would you pronounce it, James? Duval. What's your Broadway one? Duval.

They all work. The New York got to me, but I got the Jags. You got the Jacks. A little falsetto. That was just 20 seconds, Drew. Imagine a whole two hours with James Winston. It was great. So when he retires, maybe the end of this year, just straight to TV.

Put him on. Or a politician, man. I mean. I need him doing that on my pregame shows. I don't care what network he goes to. Just put a microphone in James Winston. He did like a pregame hype up speech with the other Fox Sports people to parody off the eating the Ws and things like that. So, I mean, the guy just has the best personality.

And whether it be writing books or motivational speaking, whatever he'll do after. this. Like you said, maybe in the booth. Better be in the booth. These former players get jobs immediately, so why not him? You mentioned Duval, or he mentioned Duval. Just go there next. Okay. Big shake-up in the AFC South. Colts, once a hot

team, started 7 and 1, have now lost four, their last 5, and Jacksonville controls their own destiny in the AFC South. Whoped them pretty good today, 36 to 19. Do you see Liam Cohen in the locker room? I know we talk about these videos. Colin.

He was fired up though Could be a coach of the year Candidate there we're watching He's got the Jags looking good Trevor Lawrence had a big game 250 yards two touchdowns Travis at the end two touchdowns Jags looking good

Colts looking not so good Tough injury though For Daniel Jones And non-contact injury Dropping back Went straight down They're calling it Achilles injury I mean their quarterback room

With Anthony Richardson Still out from his You know Was it banned What was he doing Pre-game injury Yeah slingshoted his I, this is bizarre at this point.

I mean, Indianapolis started 7 and 1, and they've lost four of their last five. They have one quarterback on their roster if they're not going to have Daniel Jones. That was Riley Leonard, who came in today. Besides one quarterback they have on their practice squad, they don't have another quarterback on the roster because Anthony Richardson has hurt. So, I mean, this was the darling in the NFL. And according to Matt, Daniel Jones, MVP candidate. And now, not anymore.

I mean, they're not even, I mean, they're the seventh seat right now in the AFC. That's crazy. It's been as hot as they were. I mean, we were all, everybody was, couldn't believe how good the Colts started going 7-1. They had that run without even punting. Their owner's been fun. I saw it today, though, she's still awesome.

She was over, you know, it was a road game, right? She's over in the crowd. Like, people are just handing her phone down and she's taking selfies. And it wasn't like one or two. I even saw the tweet of the video. I saw that she stuck around in anyone that wanted a photo or an autograph, she made sure they got it. So I know her team has gone the other direction, but she's been a, a, of a,

Fun, you know, kind of side story there in the Colts, so she's really gotten involved with that team. Well, I'm just glad that's the conversation around her. But meanwhile, for Jacksonville, I mean, this was huge for them. This is the 11th straight year they've beaten Indianapolis at home. Think about that. Oh, wow. I didn't know those.

11 years in a row, they have taken care of business with the hot tubs around them to beat Indianapolis. So maybe we should have saw this coming. But for Jacksonville, now they're the three seed. They're nine and four. And Trevor Lawrence, who this was a big year. year for is proving some of those doubters wrong too. Yeah, I wasn't really sure on Trevor Lawrence. He hasn't lived up to kind of the hype as he was drafted.

But up and down a year a little bit, but I think he and Cohen have worked well together for the most part. And obviously, they're looking like a playoff team and could win this division if they hang on. So he might still be the future in Jacksonville. Yeah, and the Jets have to like the two first round picks they got for Soss Gardner now. Probably going to get a little better if the Colts start losing more games. Yeah, you went on and got Soss Gardner for a win now.

immediately got to get it going and it's gone the other way. And then you've been losing all these games. And it's not his fault. I mean, the team has big problems, but you make that deal thinking you're going to make a big push in the playoffs and it has gone to complete opposite direction. What game we got next? Little Vikings commanders?

I mean, let's talk as quick as that game was, true, because it was the quickest game in the NFL this year, only two hours and 40 minutes. And Jaden Daniels got jacked up if you used to watch that segment back in the day. Oh, yeah. We can't do that segment anymore. You know, I was back when they were hitting a little harder and it was a flag.

Yeah, and there was a couple, though. I remember Reggie Bush was on an awful wrong end of a hit on an old jacked-up session. But yeah, Jane Daniels today, another injury to him and to just get completely shut out. Tough loss. But I was looking at another angle with this. Oh, what did you see? Your boy, J.J. McCarthy. I mean.

You mean nine. Yeah, excuse me, nine. Nine on game days. Yeah, I'm not going to say what you called him earlier in the year. But you don't think he's that good. of a quarterback. But I feel like today we at least have to acknowledge you had a big game, three touchdowns. That's great.

Happy for JJ. You're not turning a corner on, JJ? You know, he had nine interceptions in six games, I believe. So let's pump the brakes a little bit. This Minnesota team is not good. I think they have some sellers remorse after not resounding Sam Down Arnold. But this was his moment. I think Justin Jefferson is probably the biggest loser in all this.

This is somebody that was going in the top five picks of people. 's fantasy leagues, and he had two catches for 11 yards today, Drew. So it's just, it's been rough for him. I will have to compliment his attitude. He's the opposite of A.J. Brown. Did you see what he said after the game? No, what do you say? You know, he's down that he's not putting up the numbers he wants.

I mean, let's not be crazy. But he's like, we're winning. You know, if we win, it's fine. That's the right answer. Yeah. That's not what some other people, especially in that position would say. But even, I hope he means it, I don't know, but at least he's saying it and putting on the front because that was a big win for them, even though he was a very, very small

and insignificant part of it. Not apologizing to nine yet. I just feel bad for Jaden Daniels, man. He was, what, rookie of the year and winning playoff games against my bucks. And, you know, injuries have really hurt this team with Austin Echler and Taylor and Taylor McClure and out for a long time, too. So this is a tough season for them. Well, how about the other injury in this game? Zach hurts.

Oh, my goodness. That knee kind of caught him in the air. A defender goes low. That looked horrible. I don't know. You know, he's been in the league over a decade now. makes you wonder if he's even going to be able to come back from that or if that was the last time we saw him.

The look on his face might have suggested he knew too, but just a Daniel's hit was bad, but I mean, that was a nasty season ender for Zach Hertz too. Did a flip in the air. You saw Marioita obviously emotional next to him afterwards. You knew it was serious. That's a guy that was really good with Philadelphia back in the day, and you're right. He's got a ring.

Getting up there in age. Multi-year pro bowler? I mean, he was the only one that they had there for a while with all their receivers getting hurt besides Debo. It just gets getting worse for the commanders. Three wins this year and you get shut out by the Vikings. The Vikings first shut out in 18 years, and they're the first team since 1992 to get shut out.

And then a week later, produce a shutout. Wow. Since 92? It's been a while since that. What a turnaround to go from, all right, we're just going to get shut out. Next week, we'll shut somebody out. They lost 26-0 at Seattle last week and then win 310 today.

Well, it literally could not get worse after their last game. So it's all up from here. Let's get to the other exciting game. I know you're fired up about the Dolphins Jets. I didn't think that's where you were going. Speaking of apologies, I think we owe Mike McDaniel apology. I believe we talked about him getting fired on the first five or six Sunday night shows this season, expecting on Monday to get the news.

But to his credit, you know, I mean, they're not going to be in the playoffs doing any real contending. But they're still playing for him and they're on a little bit of a run here. 3410. I know it's the Jets. Not the biggest, biggest opponent you can play in the NFL these days. but, I mean, a 34-point day, and another win for the Dolphins, you've got to tip your cap for the guy

that we thought was on the hottest seat in the league. No, they rebounded. They've played well. If they weren't in the AFC, they might even have a shot to make the playoffs. But, you know, A-chan is a touchdown machine. He got hurt, but I think he's going to be fine moving forward. And Tua, just stay healthy, buddy.

Just stay out there and maybe put a guardian cap on. I'd love to see that from him. Every time he can finish the game, it's a win for the Dolphins, no matter what the scores. We got the game. good Brady Cook to a showdown with a little bit of Tyrod Taylor. That's what I'm talking about, yeah. Oh, the poor Jets.

I believe I heard the Red Zone say that the Jets almost went the entire first half of that a first down. I think they got one with like a minute left. Well, they had, was it like a pun or a kick return touchdown? And that allowed Aaron Glenn to run down the sideline. That's all he's been able to do this year is score on special teams plays. But that's the Jets. I mean, did you expect a complete turnaround and year one of a new coach?

Probably not. No, and they officially missed the playoffs today. I think we knew for a while, but 15 straight years without the playoffs, it's the longest drought by any team in pro sports. Not just the longest drought in the NFL. Throw in NBA, M-O-B, you name it. The Jets are on. Pro sports.

It's the longest playoff. The longest drought, 15 years. Well, now I feel a little bad for, what is it, Fireman Ed and the fan base there. Giants hold the number one overall pick. Jets are out of the playoffs. They're a pair made for each other. I root for a team that's not very good, but we at least had a decent run a few years ago, made it the AFC Championship, you know, the Derek Henry experience was fun, had Chris Johnson before that. Of course, I can go back to Stevens have had some good years, even though overall bad experience.

Jets fans, man, I don't know how they get up to it every day. Like, at some point, I would just be like, I can't keep doing it. 15 years. I remember my boy Namath making those plays, Drew, the last time I was happy in my life. I mean, you got to think there's some Jets fans out there that that's what they think of. what's the other thing that they would think of Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez making the AFC championship game?

I don't know. It's just a tough existence for them and it doesn't look like it's getting any better. I don't know if Brady Cook was going to come in and rally the troops. Get ready to draft a quarterback again, I'm sure. Where does that game rank on all the favorites you watch today? Little Jet Stollings.

Probably last. But I am happy for McDaniels. He's kind of got like the swagger I would have if I was an NFL coach. I mean, if you had to pick one coach that maybe looked like me the most, It might be him. You do look a little like Mike James.

So every time Matt starts his McDaniels talk with, what a dork that shouldn't be an NFL coach, you know, maybe shed a tear. Winning some games. Speaking of shedding tears, your bucks. What the hell, man? It's the Saints. What are we doing? I saw this game coming from a mile away, Drew. We did not do a survival pull pick this week.

If we would have, I would have picked the Saints. And you might think I'm lying, but I got a little story time for you, Drew. Really? In 2002, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl. I went to two games that year. It was the first game of the year against the Saints. And then we went to New Orleans for a Monday night football matchup against the Saints. Saints won both of those games.

True. Both of them. The year the Bucks won the Super Bowl, I went to two games. They were both losses to the Saints. This was set up from a mile away. I could see the Bucks losing this game to Tyler Shuck in the terrible Saints. Tampa's now lost five of their last seven. and they were starting a tackle from Nigeria

who majored in cybersecurity at Georgia State last year, Drew. Undrafted. They picked him up for the league minimum because they've gotten so many injuries. It was embarrassing, and Baker played a terrible game. So I don't know. I mean,

is not angry enough for you? Well, there was a moment. You know, Baker wasn't good, but your boy, Buka had a horrible drop. Down seven, he's wide open. It's in the end. I mean, he's right there.

I mean, it couldn't have thrown it any better. I mean, It's a little soft toss to him. I mean, that's your stud, young receiver, and that absolutely costs him. Could have tied it up there, and then they don't end up scoring it. Maybe they got a field goal, but, I mean, that was their big shot to stay in the game. He's been bad the last few weeks.

He started so good. He started so good, but he's been really bad. And I don't know if that's because Mike Evans hasn't been playing, and they've become much more one-dimensional, but he has been bad. And now I've hit the panic button. I mean, they're tied with Carolina. They play them two of the last three weeks. Carolina just beat the Rams, the best team in the NFL you could argue right now.

So I am officially worried, but we'll see how much of a gamer Baker is. And if he can drag these guys to the finish line, this is going to be one of the more bigger collapses for the season. It would be almost like the Colts, right? Yeah, Baker versus Tyler Shuck. I did not have Tyler Shuck winning that battle or having 55 yards rushing in two touchdowns. He didn't throw for a touchdown, but ran for two. the long of the 30 yarder I mean

it's like what in the hell are the bucks doing they even ran over you at the go line to get in I mean that's a rookie Tyler Shuck at home at home in a game they needed man this is a divisional game at home disgusting performance

Todd Bulls should be embarrassed he's a defensive coach and he's got Tyler Shuck running all over him so I think you're more than a touchdown favorite too yep they were and it is really sad when the bucks are losing a game and they fire the cannons. I mean, I love firing the cannons, but when you fire the cannons, you're losing to the Saints, and it's in doubt.

It's a sad moment. Had a little rain. Rain couldn't even stop the cans. Oh, it's porn. Porn at that game. We talk about how the snow made the Bills, Bingles games even better. The rain in this one, and even Jacksonville just kind of, ugh. Well, you get a glimpse every now and then of the camera angle, and it really shows you how much it's raining.

These cameras are so good you don't really see most of the time. And then you get a glimpse, and it's just porn cats. dogs out there. But that's just another normal afternoon in Tampa. That's the home field advantage they have as much as the bills have the snow. So you got Panthers, then the Panthers, then the Panthers, then the Panthers. Come on.

I'm worried about that. I mean, if you're going to do anything, you can't really ask for a better run than Falcons, Panthers, Panthers. No, they're set up. And it's been tough these last seven games. That's maybe why they're five of their last seven. But even if they were to make the playoffs, I'm just, they're too banged up. And Mike Evans,

ain't going to break the record. It might be the end of a streak of consecutive division titles. I think they've won four in a row, so that would be sad. Well, there's another big shake-up in the NFC. A little bit bigger rivalry than Bucks Panthers or Bucs Saints. Is there what? We got the Bears Packers today. Always a great game.

It was. This one, no different than the rest. I wish Matt were here to get his thoughts because he's had this Bear's excitement, but they took the loss today losing by a touchdown, but they were in it. Caleb William drives down the field, down by seven, get right around the red zone, and just a bad interception, completely under through his target there in the end zone for an I&T to lose the game. A tough way to end it for him, and the Bears drop from the one seed to the seven seed. Yeah.

Shows you how crazy the NFC in that division are right now. Lions right behind them. But the Bears play the Packers again in a couple weeks. They have a chance to get them back, but a big swing in the NFC playoff picture with that game in Lambo today. Yeah, almost felt like a playoff game, these two teams being so high up in the rankings. Jordan Love has been pretty impressive for the Packers over the last two weeks. And yeah, I mean, a normal night, this would be all about Matt fanning over Caleb Williams and how he's the quarterback of the future.

He made a bad throw that last play, really bad. DJ Moore wide open could have strolled into the end zone, ended up throwing that interception. Nevertheless, though, had to come back to reality a little bit, right? I mean, nine and three before this game, Chicago. I don't know. Keep that up. So, I mean, this was expected. This was in Lambo, too.

But these two teams looked good. The Packers' defense looked good. This is a team that's getting hot at the right time when I talk about greenback. Yeah, and I don't think it says anything too bad about the Bears. I mean, you just have the bad throw at the end. I think they're still excited. Like I say, can get them back coming up and maybe flip things again. But you're right about love.

He started really bad and turned it on. I think he was like 11 for 15 in the second half as they started up, finally get some touchdowns on the board there. Packers just kind of not quietly, but right there in the mix where we thought it'd be. They have that odd, like, tie with the, Cowboys that just throws off the standings even more. I hate that. I don't know why it should bother me like it does, but just having that little one on their

record throws me off. But that's one of your NFC contenders. Well, and Green Bay is what, beaten Minnesota, Detroit, and now Chicago in three straight weeks. So, I mean, they have taken control of that division, even though the tide is odd. It just doesn't look right when you look at the standings. I don't know. My brain didn't know out of the process.

Is it maybe because I'm an American, Drew, and there shouldn't be ties in the NFL. Just keep them out there. more people want to see football. But anyway, that was a good matchup, and like you said, we'll see it again. So not too much. They go to Denver, the Packers. They go to Denver, hot team right now. Then they have that game at Chicago.

Bears are going to back. Then the Ravens, although we don't know what version of the Ravens will be. And then, of course, they end with number nine and JJ McCarthy, which will be absolutely tough to wrap up the regular season. I want to talk about Lafleur for a second because wasn't he with the Titans at one point? He's an old Titan. Okay, good. he is somebody that drops the challenge flag instead of throwing it. And I don't like that, Drew.

I'm with you. Thank you for bringing that up. If it were me, I'm throwing that thing as far as I can. I'm chucking it. So he did great. He won two challenges today, so he actually got a third. So he was doing pretty well. But he just like, hey, ref, come over here and then drops it.

Make sure that they see it. I'm not doing that. I'm chucking that thing. We also got a little bit of a blowby with him and Ben Johnson after the game. Chicago 0-1 since Ben Johnson took his shirt off. the locker room. Oh, man. What a stat. Is that a next-gen stat? Is that our next-gen stat of the night? Well, we had the coin toss stat for Carolina that we tracked for a while. And then Ben Johnson takes his shirt off. I don't know if you saw that story. A Chicago

hot dog restaurant, the Wiener Circle said that if Ben Johnson ever takes his shirt off in the postgame locker room talk, they would give a hot dog to everybody in Chicago. And he did. And then this past week, they had to give out hot dogs. But I'm just saying, 0-1-1 since that moment, Drew. Do you like Chicago dogs? Like pickles and tomatoes and onions. I had my first with you just a couple weeks ago. That was your first Chicago dog.

And that was not in Chicago. No, that was in middle of nowhere Pennsylvania, right? Were we on our way to Buffalo? And relish. That was algae, bright green that I don't know if tasted exactly like relish should. Yeah, I don't think that was real relish. So. It looked like it was made in a factory.

Maybe we could make a trip to a Bears game one time because that's Matt's team. And we got to check off all our teams, right? and we can get a Chicago dog. Ben Johnson can keep his shirt on. Well, if they want to start winning again. Got me wanting a Chicago dog. How about the Broncos Raiders? There's another big game.

I don't think Denver's good. Broncos just keep winning. I don't think they're good, though. But we keep saying that, and then the next week they win again. At some point, we just got to be like they're good. Boy, is it 10 in a row? At 10 in a row, and I don't think they're good, which is a strange thing to say. I mean, I don't know if Sean Payton just gets these guys together.

They play well as a unit. But, like, I see Bo Nix. I see a rookie running back and R.J. Harvey. I mean, I don't even see a dominant receiver in Troy Franklin and Cortland Sutton. Yet they have won 10 games in a row. They have beat up some bad teams in that 10 game stretch. I mean, they have some good wins, too, just getting Kansas City a few weeks ago. But, you know, Raiders aren't the world beaters out there.

Speaking of beats, and there's a little bit of bad beat in this game, right? A little bit of controversy in this. Yeah, well, I kind of caught the Twitter rundown after it happened. Were you watching in real time? Yeah, so it was a 10-point game, less than a minute left. The Raiders are out of timeouts. It is over at this point. The Raiders are tackled inbounds.

There's less than 10 seconds left. But one of the players for Denver kind of sits on the Raiders player. And so they call delay a game. And so they move the ball up. The clock has stopped because of this. And with five seconds left, Pete Carroll sends out the field goal unit to kick a field goal. So the clocks hit zero. The Raiders kicker makes the field goal.

and they cover the spread of 7.5, 8 and a half, 8 and a half, depending on where you got it. I wasn't partaking in this. I enjoy a bad beat from afar when it doesn't involve me. It sounds like a tough one. I saw a few people online who were pretty upset about it. Yeah, yeah. That was one that Scott Van Pelt will be recapping on a sports center

here in a couple days or show. You know, watching the Raiders is always so humbling for me because I always come to the realization of players I have never heard before. I mean. Meeting them all for the first time? Like Jack Bess. led the Raiders in receiving today, six receptions for 50 yards. They never heard or seen of Jack Ben.

He's a rookie, right? They called his name a lot today. And then Kenny Pickett comes out of nowhere to be the backup for Gino Smith. And I had forgotten Kenny Pickett after his fake slide for Pitt back in the day that, or maybe even in the NFL he did the fake slide. There was a bunch of arguments there. So it's always like, who's in the NFL? Who plays at the highest level? I always am remembering that there are more athletes that I don't know when I was.

the Raiders. No. Raiders have lost 11 straight games in their division. That's kind of sad for a team that used to come with 11th Street. You know, you can't be losing 11th Street. Yeah, what are you doing, Tom? You've got to fix this. And Pete. You're a minority owner at this point. I was going to ask you, you kind of already answered it for me,

but I will say, so we're not believing in the Broncos, the one seed, 10 straight wins. I mean, what do they got to do, Billy? The conclusion you and Matt had at the end of the last episode we did was there are no good teams. Like, there is nobody that's great this year that could run away with it. And when I look at quarterback play, I just,

Bo Nix doesn't hold up to me for an 11 and 2 team. And Denver's defense isn't that good. I mean, not that dominant. They're pretty decent, but, so I don't know where those, they win those close games. It's like seven or eight games, one score games. Five straight games, touchdown or less. So, I mean, that's valuable.

That is valuable experience moving forward, but I'm not a believer, no. Well, I was when Tim Tebow was there. I mean, I don't know what else you want them to do. Do you remember that Tebow game? I do remember that Tebow game. And that throw against Pittsburgh for 80 yards? DeMarius Thomas. Oh.

You're just getting, is it kind of deep? Yeah, that's just. It feels like you're going through over there thinking about that Tebow. I love that stuff. What about that Tebow haircut back in the day when you got the Halo initiation? Oh, yeah. I always think about that too. Some bad stuff there.

This game was last Thursday, and I meant to bring it up after the Bears Packers, but the Lions Cowboys, also big for the NFC. Lions, I think might have been my NFC championship pick at the beginning of the year. If I didn't say them, they were at the front of my brain. Them or the Packers, I can't remember which one I went with. But they're looking to be in a little bit of trouble.

They did beat the Cowboys, which helped. Still farther down the standings, won 44 to 30 last Thursday night. Cowboys, there was a moment where on an offensive pass interference at the end zone first and had a touchdown that would have given them a better chance, but they go on to lose by two touchdowns. Can't make a big deal out of that.

Gibbs just had a great game. What was Pickens' problem? I saw somebody online said they told him before the game he was getting the franchise tag, and that's why he played so poorly. I mean, that's a guy that's going to get paid, by the way. I mean, if he can make it a free agency, he's going to make a ton of money. But, you know, C.D. Lamb got hurt. You know, Pickens wasn't himself.

I mean, that should have been a big game for Dallas to keep their playoff hopes alive, and maybe that kind of put a fork in him there. He had to cool off at some point because he had been so hot. but, you know, 37 yards, no scores for an offense. It's been just absolutely spectacular. Even in losses, Prescott's been throwing it around. They just haven't happened to much that game. Brandon Aubrey, though, best kicker ever.

He's good. He's unbelievable. And it's not just like, oh, he made it. Like, if you took, if you measured how centered his kicks were, I think they're perfectly centered every time he kicks a fielkel. Well, he made a 60-yarder, didn't he? He had three kicks that were 55 yards or more. That's never happened before.

Three made field goals from that far Yeah, 63-yarder. He's a weapon. Greg Little, or Cam Little, one of the two. He's a weapon for Jacksonville. We've talked about the kicking balls changing the game. But when you're in field goal range, like before you pass midfield,

you're changing the sport, Drew. And I think that's part of why me and I think even Matt would want the kicking balls to go away. What about you? I love watching Brandon Aubrey kick, though. I'm kind of with you on the kicking balls, but he's just so automatic. It's unbelievable.

Even a 63-yarder could have gone in from 70. Yeah, all these 60-yarders, I feel like I have five more yards than what they actually are, which is wild. We'll have 70-yarders here in about two or three years. Yeah, golf, a 300-yard game for him. Prescott almost had 400 yards, even though they didn't get the win. St. Brown had a big game. Lions needed that one. I know the Cowboys had some life, and as a Cowboys, a secondary Cowboys fans, we were starting to dream, but still 6-6.

They got that ugly one, like we said with the Packers, that 10. tie just hanging out on their record, but a big one for the Lions to get their eighth win and stay in the mix. And Dan Campbell must have just been staying up at night, wondering why Gibbs wasn't getting the ball enough. And that's why he took over play-calling duties, and that's why we've seen Gibbs just been phenomenal

recently as, what do you have in this one? Three touchdowns. Three? Yeah. One a ton of yards, but three scores broke off a big win. So, yeah, they're finally remembering that they have Gibbs on their team after he had a quiet few weeks. But yeah, there's a little Lions Cowboys talk. But Dallas probably out, right? I mean, they're not.

Yeah, let me see who Dallas has left, but I can't imagine. Well, they play JJ McCarthy, your boy up next. Then the Chargers, actually, wait a minute. Vikings, Chargers, commanders, giants. What? Hold on. Okay, so that puts them at what, 10, 6 and 1 if they were to win out? Okay, the dream still life.

Would have helped winning Thursday. But their wins against the Chiefs and Eagles right before taking that loss really helped To go two and one in that run of Eagles Chiefs lines is still good, even though they took the loss. Yeah, those are big wins for them. So I don't know. Maybe there is a chance. You're saying there's a chance. I'm going to speak it into existence.

I know that's your second team. So you got to. Happy wife, happy life. She loves the Cowboys. Isn't that how it goes? It is. But then you have the NSC West that has all those Titans that might keep out the team like the Colts. Yeah.

Or the Cowboys, excuse me. There's also tough NFC teams like the Seahawks. How about them today? 37-9? Yeah. Yeah, that was a 6-6 game at halftime, and then Seattle just ran away with it. Jackson-Smithing Gibba had, what,

two touchdowns in this game? He's great. We already knew it, but he's the best receiver in the league by far at this point. Incredible year. Still looking at 2,000 yards. And it's amazing how little Seattle throws. Like, if you were to look at actual next-gen stats,

which we don't have right now. Well, you did. You had the Ben Johnson's own one since taking a shirt off. That was next gen. It was also the trial one, though. We couldn't get past the paywall for the more. We got to get you on the other side of that paywall. It's a big option.

Wink, wink, wink. Yeah, that's right. But another win for them. Sam Donald turned it on late. Atlanta, I feel like it's more of the story in this game. And what has happened to them? Robinson had a bad fumble. I mean, Kirk Cousins is your quarterback.

He had two interceptions. They paid him a lot of money to throw those interceptions, though. They paid him a lot of money, then drafted someone right after him who doesn't play now. Yeah, I think this might be it for Rahim Morris. Kyle Pitts looked good. If they have one thing to be excited about. And talk about somebody that was overdrafted in Kyle Pitts, man. How many different guys that they could have had besides him these last three or four years?

Seahawks kind of have a nasty defense too. I mean, we think about how well Sam Darnold's playing in Jackson Smith and Jigby the year he's having. But they forced three turnovers today. They kind of have some of that tenacity back that they had when they were in their prime back in the Russell-Wilson era. Good special teams unit two. Their kicker is one of the best in the league. Did they have a return touchdown in this game? Maybe that was the defense doing all the scoring.

Well, they had a, I'm going to try to say his name. Nick M. Worry, I believe he's a South Carolina. He's a rookie second round pick. He had, let me get this right. He had an interception, a sack, a block-filled goal, and a tackle for loss today. That's a pretty good day, sir. That's a pretty good day, rook. That's like you getting close on your contract incentives type of day.

You know what I mean? That is a great one for Seattle. But, you know, I think I walk straight into my boss's office. Yeah, I need money now. Well, look, they need to enjoy it because the playoffs will come around and Sam Darnold will turn into playoff San Arnold, and it'll be one and done for Seattle. We've been talking a lot about the NFC,

Seahawks Good and Cowboys fighting, Bears, Packers. Are any of them beating the Rams? That offense is so fun to watch. They won today, played the Cardals, 45-17. But Stafford and now with Pooka and Kua back and healthy, he had a huge game. Defante Adams, it's like he and Stafford have been teammates forever with the connection they have. That offense is just so fun. They had like 550 yards today.

Yeah, I think I'm ready to give Stafford the MVP, or at least I'm close. And this feels like kind of a career achievement as well. And even though it's a single season award, this is a guy that's been doing it for a while. He has done great things and won a Super Bowl. but at the same time this may be his best season yet. And not only throwing the ball, I mean, Blake Corm and Kairn Williams were a great duo as well. So Sean McVeigh says he remembers every play that he's ever been a part of in his coaching career. Do you believe it?

No. I've heard this before. I don't believe that at all. I mean, some people have a photogenic memory where they can just, I mean, you've seen people speed read. Oh, yeah, I'm with you. I mean, there is some weird things going on with the brain. But, I mean. He's coached a lot of football, though.

Remember every play? I can't remember what breakfast I had a couple days ago. I mean, every play? There was a play today. Stafford did the no-look thing again. Maybe that's not as hard as I think it is, but it blows my mind when he does the cross-body throw where I'm looking the complete other way and hit a guy on the numbers. He did it again today.

It's a little reckless, though. It is, but he's Matthew Stafford and right now the best quarterback in the NFL. Yeah, he's got to show off for Clayton Kirshaw or somebody like that, somebody back home that he's trying to athletic. beat. But that was the old Mahomes doing a little sidearm, no look. So Stafford's got a little bit of that in them too. It helps when the team you're playing is quarterbacked by Jacoby Berset and their running backs combined for 20 yards in a football game.

Well, listen, man, they just throw Berset out there and you've got to throw 50 times a game. You don't even have Marvin Harrison Jr. out there. Just go out there, buddy. There's Michael Wilson and Trey McBride. Have fun. Big game by Michael Wilson. If they had anything to get excited about, he had 142 yards and two touchdowns. Yeah, he was good. He was good. Fred McBride, probably the best tight end in the league, besides Brock Bowers, two guys on bad teams. Another big game by him. Do you believe in the Rams is the NFC's top team?

10 and 3. Stafford on a crash course with the MVP award if this holds. I mean, I don't believe in Philly. You know, they just shift their focus each week and they forget how to play football for one corner at every single game. And then what are my alternatives? Green Bay and Tampa? your division leaders. And then you've got Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago.

So, yeah, I mean, L.A. at home, home field advantage throughout the playoffs, I don't think that I could take a team against them. Now, maybe Jordan Love can continue to get hot. And Micah Parsons becomes that dominant force on defense. Maybe that's the contender here. But you know what? The Rams got a good defense, too. And they're just scoring so many points.

And Devonte Adams is breaking records. Pooka Nakua looks like one of the best receivers in the NFL. NFL. You let Stafford get those two guys on the same team. Yeah, we focus on lamb and pickings in the year they're having, but Pooka being out a little bit now that he's back. His day was huge. Adams didn't have his big a day today, but that's another tandem that doesn't seem fair to they're on the same team. Yeah, I mean, if Matthew Stafford throwing it to him. If Kyron and Williams and Blake Korn can stay healthy, then yeah, this offense is probably the best in the NFC. And in the night game, Sunday night

football, Chiefs in prime time once again, like always, playing the Texans, but didn't get it done. Billy. The AFC South, the powers of the AFC South, getting a big win. Houston goes into Kansas City, wins 20 to 10. That defense is so nasty, and today they force Mahomes into three interceptions. Now, part of the problem is the Chief's offensive line was completely banged up. And on the first play of the game, first play of the game,

one of the backups gets rolled up, looked like a leg injury. I don't know exactly what the game's ending now. We'll find out what it was. but they were just down to whoever they could find to come in and play offensive line, and it leads to a 10-point game with Mahomes having three interceptions. Kelsey's backup at tight-in, Noah Gray. I felt like every time I looked up, he was dropping a pass. He dropped a critical one on the first drive for a first down,

dropped one later in the game. That offense just never got it going as the Texans defense just absolutely beat them up, taking advantage of that thin offensive line group. Number one defense in the NFL and showing it tonight. This group was great. I mean, if you look at the receiving numbers for the Chiefs Worthy with three receptions for 55 yards, Rishi Rice for four receptions for 34 yards, Hollywood Brown one catch, Tyquant Thornton, two catches 19 yards. It was a complete beat down.

And this is, I mean, Kansas City is now six and seven. There's no coming back from this, right? I mean, this is. You almost maybe do the six-seven thing there. I got to quit doing that. But no, there's no coming back. Especially, I know that Texans have a tough defense. But to have, you know, you need wins at this point.

You have an opportunity at home. Arrowheads rocking, Sunday night football, 10 points. And there's nothing like a little Davis Mills to get you on a win streak. That's five wins in a row for the Texans. Two with CJ Stroud, three with Davis Mills to put the Texans squarely back into the playoff hunter. Stroud had a good game and his comeback. I know we missed the Davis Mills experience, but he kept that team together and really set them on the right path. I know, you know, AFC South, we were talking about the position the Jaguars that we're in,

but a huge win for the Texans is they're still fighting for their playoff. life to go and knock off the chiefs like this. And I've written the chiefs off. I feel like five times this season. And then the very next week, they go get a big win to try to make me look like an idiot. But they're dead, Billy. I think they're dead. They're dead.

I'm sticking with it this time. There's nothing they can do to convince me that they're back. Ding dong, the witch is dead. But you're right about the AFC South. I mean, Jacksonville's 9 and 4. The Colts are 8 and 5. The Texans are 8 and 5. There are going to be some good games down the stretch here in your division.

Titans are hot at the moment, as we covered earlier. Well. But just of all that's, you know, there's been some pretty surprising stuff throughout the year. The Chiefs, you know, being six and seven right now at this point, the year is by far the most shocking for me. I still thought they had another year or two in that dynasty they have going on. And, you know, maybe they'll be fine next year and on down the road with the Young Pieces, Rice, Worthy and all that.

But the Chiefs, as we know them with Kelsey and that bunch, looks like it could be the end. Yeah, I'll tell you what's shocking is that Travis Kelsey is saying that he didn't fight with Taylor Swift. I'll tell you. Come on. All right. Let's, you know, we're getting here to the end of the show. That's our Sunday night game. Let's goofied up a little bit. What are they talking about? They haven't fought in two and a half years. I don't know. It was somebody that told me this story. It was like they released in a magazine or something that they never fight. They've set a wedding date. But they never fight. They don't get in those type of arguments, true. Do you believe that as a... No, not at all. As a married man. Not at all. Listen, I have a great marriage. We rarely fight. But in two and a half years, you're going to have an argument or two. That just happens. I do not believe that Travis, Kelsey, and Taylor Swift have not had one single dispute in their two and a half years. I agree.

That means like you're in a loveless relationship if you don't have the passion to fight every now and then. That's just what humans do. But I'll play devil's advocate for a second. If you've got that much money, I mean, do you really have, are there still problems, Drew? Do people still have problems with that amount of money? Because she's like billions with an S. Oh, if I'm Travis, I'm not fighting at all. ever.

Yes, ma'am. Uh-huh. Yep. I would love to do that. Oh, absolutely. Oh, yes. I would do that right now. Oh, I thought you'd never.

Yeah, I would love to take the trash out right now. No, I'm not going to see the boys. Golf? I've never heard of golf. What's a golf club with her 1.7 good? But I still, humans are humans. And you cannot go two and a half years without an argument in a couple. They're completely lying about it.

Unless he's just so afraid she's going to put him in a song. Maybe I could believe that. Oh, great point. Great point. She might put him in a song. if they had a bad enough argument. That's what I'm saying. I can see it on his end.

I can completely get it. He didn't want to end up in another song. She's been ruthless at the breakup album, so you're right. She was also ruthless with her news. I keep bringing up my wife Abby here, but we recently let everyone know we're expecting a baby. Yes, congratulations. We announced that on Friday the same morning Taylor and Travis announced their wedding date. I mean, they completely just pushed us down the headlines.

You know, I'm on TMZ waiting to see what they're saying about my future. child and it's just, oh, Rhode Island wedding, Travis, Taylor, blah, blah, blah, blah. We're going to have a cover zero baby. That's great. That's right. But the news got completely pushed away by Travis and Taylor in their stupid wedding day, which is a day after my birthday. I understand.

You want the attention to be on you guys, and Travis and Taylor just took it from you. She was at the game. She was. That's still get people worked up. I saw her in the Swedish. Matt was the one worked up about it. He's like, why don't they put her on TV more? But are you going to make your daughter?

a Titans fan. I've actually thought about this. Well, when we were in Buffalo, Abby was like, let's just, she can be a Bill's fan. She won't have to go through this Titans Cowboys' Existence. We can put her through a table. It'll be my reason to go hang with Bill's Mafia. So I might have a little Buffalo bill on the way. Wow. We'll see, though. I might have a whole recruiting process. You can teach you about the Music City musical miracle and, you know. This sounds like a good way for me to just take five official visits to different NFL stadiums and take a baby along and just say I'm just scouting for her. We need to tour more NFL stadiums for Drew's child.

Not for us, for Drew's child. Yeah, we got that going on. But congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. And boo Travis and Taylor for stealing. Yeah, come on. Humans fight.

We didn't really care. But that was big news that they have their wedding date in Rhode Island. I heard they bought out somebody that already had the venue. I mean. Oh, wait. So somebody was booked? Yeah. And they bought them out.

We'll see my weddings next year. See? And they're stealing my shine. too. But think of you're that person. Yeah. What if you'd have to play hardball a little bit? I know who's on the other side in that negotiation. I'm like, nope, this is my date. A little higher. A little higher. Nope. Can't have it. This is my date. I'm trying to get as much as I can. I assume Taylor paid for their wedding at the other date or something. But you know you're wealthy when you can

just go to a place that's already booked. I don't care. I'm buying it. That is probably what happened, right? They probably offered to pay for everything that they did. I would have played hardball. No Bezos in Italy, I guess, where they shut down the town for a while and everything. Do you think the NFL will send us to Rhode Island to cover? I mean, it is one of the biggest stories in the NFL. Like they would send us to the draft? Do you think they would send us to the Kelsey wedding?

We'll run it up to the latter. Why not? What's the worst thing they could say is no, right? Yeah, we just got to hope we're invited back after we're doing this show without Matt. Oh, come on, yeah. It's like we've done pretty good. I've enjoyed talking to you. I like doing shows. I get to talk more when Matt's not here.

So I definitely did enjoy it. But we are thinking about Matt and his family and the tough time that he's going through. but he tells us he'll be back on Wednesday to do our next preview episode. All right. Looking forward to that one. We won't preview Monday night football because, you know, this will get old by the time that game's played. But we do have a little Eagles Chargers tomorrow. Do you have any hot Eagles Chargers takes before that?

A couple of eight and four teams in L.A. SoFi Stadium. Charter's been sliding a little bit. This would be a big win for them. These two teams have the same record, both at eight and four right now. Who would you have more confidence in Drew? I'll say the Eagles, but this could be a good game. Looking forward to it. They've lost two in a row.

Yeah. Did you see, I'm getting off topic here as we're trying to wrap it up, but did you see DeVante Smith talking about his juicer? Juicer. You know, like, like vegetables and stuff like that? Okay, yeah. So I guess he's kind of a quiet guy. He's doing an interview where he talks about his juicer.

He is talking about this juicer like it's his firstborn. Like he is so excited. He's like talking about the things he juices. Like, oh, apples. You got to use so many more apples. than this, blah, blah, blah, but the joy on his face talking about a juicer. This is a multimillionaire with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, currently playing for the Philadelphia Eagles,

who could end up with more Super Bowl rings on his finger, and he is so excited that he owns a juicer. Those aren't even, I have a juicer. I mean, you know, 100 bucks will get you one. I wouldn't think that a millionaire that would move the needle for him, but my man was fired up. I love that. Very relatable.

It kind of reminds me of when I got a fancy coffee machine, Drew, and I figured out that you could like timer it. Oh, big time. Mornings and things like that. Like, I was on Cloud 9 as becoming a new coffee drinker. So, yeah, I mean, look at him. I guess he's getting his protein shakes in, huh? Yeah, you ever juice?

No, I don't have a juicer. Man, you can get them at a store. I got a blender. It can work. It can work. I juice occasionally. I don't like to eat vegetables, but I recognize as life goes on, maybe I should eat some vegetables. So what I usually do is just throw them all in the juicer and chug it.

Oh, then you just chug it? Just completely take it down in two seconds. Maybe you're like Rocky, and instead of raw eggs, you just go in for a little... That's exactly what I do. Vegetable juice. Put a little ginger in there. Ginger covers up the flavor of all stuff on a lot. So you do know what you're doing over there.

Oh, I juicer. Me and that's why I got so excited. I wasn't as excited as Devante Smith in his juicer, but knowing that there's another juicer out there that knows the game. We were just in an NFL locker room. So if we ever find ourselves in the Eagles, I think we know who we're going up to to ask a question, right? I want some recipes.

I got to let them know to put a little ginger in there. It helps. Yeah. How often are we juicing a day? No, I'm not doing it daily. Really, it's way too time. But our guy might be juicing. Oh, he could be.

He definitely could be. He was so thrilled. We're talking about vegetables. Yeah, little apples, carrots. He needs to work in a few more, like some kale and spinach. So how much juicing have you been doing? No, the vegetables. No, no, no.

Talking about kale and spinach. The veggies. So I'm going to Eagles, just because of the green juice. Okay, you've talked me into it. Give me Philly on the road. And to wrap it up, you know, we didn't have our midweek episode. I guess we don't have any touchdown scores to recap. Well, Harold Fanon Jr. scored.

And that really is, I think, our touchdown score. So maybe we should just give us all each one point in the league this week. Do you like that? I like that. Who would you have picked? Who would I have picked? Yeah, I'm putting it on the spot. Don't think about who scored today.

Who would you have picked? God, I don't know. Somebody on the Rams, probably. Pook and a coo. We'll give you that one. I might do a little Devante Smith touchdown Since we didn't get to bet it This week we didn't get to preview

I will speak Devante Smith Monday night football touchdown into existence And I will celebrate with a nice green juice Might even bring you one on Tuesday to the show Okay, I'll match it with you with a little V doll inch down the Chargers running back And we're keeping your Survivor Street going You get to write the rules

I survived this week By not having to make a pick And you claim the Saints We're going to be your team I'm telling you As somebody that has sat through those games Matt won't believe that. That will get shouted down, I'm sure.

But we're putting that in the record books because he's not here. All right. I'll count it. I'll count it. Survive in advance. We got through it without Matt. Appreciate you doing this. I hated that we missed last Wednesday, but a lot going on, very unexpected.

We're thinking about him and his family. And we were happy to do it. We had a fun day. Fun day of games. Lots of snow. I made it exciting. Good job, Drew. And glad that you survived the karaoke last night in Nashville.

Yeah. And I didn't get shot in my hotel lobby. I hope that guy's doing okay. That was really wild. I mean, I must have just missed it about like a minute. They closed the whole street. There were probably 15 police cars, news camera. Everybody showed up out of nowhere, and I was literally right there, right?

And then the Titans won. And then the Titans won. Weird weekend. We'll be back on Wednesday with our midweek episode to preview Week 15 and everything that else comes with it. Matt will be back with us. We'll be excited to hear from him. But for Billy R. Sports and Drew Franklin, we're signing off on this week 14 Sunday night

edition of NFL Cover Zero. for listening. NFL cover zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and IHeart podcast. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.