NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2018 Week 17 Recap

Episode Date: December 31, 2018

A room filled with heroes- Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling & Gregg Rosenthal recap all of the Week 17 games starting with the nail biting Browns/ Ravens match up ( 1:59). The heroes touch on what happened with Kirk Cousins (7:12) and Nick Shook joins the group to discuss Nick Foles injury and a few other game recaps. (13:28). The Patriots clinch their first round bye (31:05) and the Panthers stomp over the Saints starting defense. (43:47) Game on, it’s Sunday night! The Tennessee titans prove that they deserve their nickname, the Titoons. (1:10:35)Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast is a manufactured joke. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined in a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wesley, and Greg Rosenthal. What is up, boys? Hey, Dan. It's week 17. I thought there was like a curse of football for a while.

The old Zusser, you know, has a couple Tidos and tries to get into college football on Saturday and just got bombed out by two just wretched football games. And then I'm thinking I'm on my high horse. I was about to begin today's podcast. I was thinking last night by just destroying the college games, how great the pro game is. And the early games today was like, oh my God, maybe there's something bigger going on with a sport, maybe some type of curse. But there was some fun in the late games. The Brown saved us, as always, saved football. As always.

And the NFL does wipe the floor with college. Please, the very best of their players can only hope to get into this league. By definition, it's better. I mean, the primary issue with Mark would a C. The issue with college football for me is like I have, you know, over the course of 10,000 games that are on various TVs, don't care about the result of any of them ever. Well, I mean, that's a problem for them, hooking you. If they haven't done it by now, they probably won't.

but there's a lot to get to yes that was one of my and we're going to get to it one of my favorite scenes probably my favorite scene of the 2018 season was an entire sea of silver or a black and yellow at hinds field 80,000 fans 53 players on the field coaches watching the Browns hoping the Baker Mayfield could will them into the the Browns to a win it didn't happen and it cost the Steelers their season. We'll get to all that. But why don't we start to them? Let's dive right into it with a team that did claim the AFC North. Baker may feel the throw under pressure. His pass is intercepted. CJ Mosley picks it off. Go down. Mosley with the interception. The Hayes in the barn and the Ravens are in the playoffs. And this house is on fire. Jerry Sandusky just

and Fawcett, WVAL with the call. Baker Mayfield's fourth and long pass intercepted the last minute turnover, the difference in the Ravens 26 to 24 win over the Browns at a delirious M&T Bank Stadium. The wind clinches the AFC North with the Ravens. One year after they were knocked out of the playoffs in stunning fashion by the Bengals in week 17, the loss also effectively eliminates the Steelers or eliminated the Steelers at the moment. That is a good day at the office, Mark Sessler, for the Ravens and Company. The better team has made the playoffs from the AFC North

and a team that is surging in all the right ways right now. The Ravens shut down the run and they are running the ball in a way that I've never seen any team do. How many yards today? It was almost 300 yards. 296 and a lot of that came in the first three quarters. They mauled Cleveland's run defense early.

And what I think is so impressive about them and why there's such a danger to the Chargers and whoever else they played on the stretch is that they force your offense into morphing into a big play attack or you're gone. And Cleveland responded with big plays today and they came around and hung around in this game

and were able to, you know, with Baker Mayfield and with an assortment of wide receivers, get back into it. But if you don't find the way to do that, if you're the Chargers next week, you're in a lot of hot water. There were some weird plays in this game which we can get into it that I thought hurt Cleveland too.

They had a killer missed field goal and they had a Lamar Jackson goal line dive for a touchdown, right? The ball bounces out of his hands. It ricochets back and is picked up, picked up by Jibrill Preppers, who looks like he's going to run for a touchdown. He essentially does, but it was blown dead by the refs, which is a 14-point swing. But Cleveland also failed to stop Baltimore too many times in this game.

You have to give credit to the Raven. Another way to look at that is that if Lamar Jackson kind of didn't do it unforced there there it's 27 to 7 and they came out with a purpose and that's what's impressive about Baltimore's running game is that they come it usually you see with the running game you pile up yardage at the end of the games and this is not the first time this has happened where their first 11 their first 14 carries they average 11 yards per carry this wasn't a small sample it was five for dixon five for jackson five or six for edwards all of them ended up with great yards per carry but they're coming out being able to run the ball like that you just like don't ever see

that. We always complain. Ooh, we got a lock. That was my lock, yes. Oh, you're red hot, Rosenthal. I mean, it's all just, it's all just setting up. Did this check out in the desert? I like to look at the desert scenario before this game. The Jimmy Kimmel run of 2002 when he came back from 12 down with 12 to play, one of the great picks comebacks.

This checked out with the desert? Well, this was just a lock, a lock. I mean, I know how this narrative plays. out at various times, but fair enough. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, it was under a touchdown. Lamar Jackson, this running game, this defense, it is a cliche and a tired one, West, but they are the Ravens, the proverbial team you do not want to play right now.

And they are, even though I was excited about the Steelers, maybe back it in, at the end of the day, especially after the Steelers kind of overwhelmed today in a must-win game, the Ravens are the team that should be in the AFC mix, and they could beat anybody in that conference. I think it's like Mark said, it's their defense marries so well with their running game. And we complain all the time about coaches crumbling in the crucible of a tight game

playing conservative. You see Wink Martindale dial up four straight zero blitzes to end the game. I mean, that was incredible to watch it. I mean, they're leaving nobody in the defensive backfield. They're just coming after Baker. Right, and Baker-Bakefield had a chance on, I think it was second down to hit Jarvis

Landry. He rushed the throw a little bit without a ton of pressure there on that particular particular play. And if he makes that play, you know, we have a totally different reaction because here's the reality. They average seven and a half yards for play against the Ravens. They hit the Ravens for big plays. They got 426 yards in this play. Like the Browns and the Ravens look like very even teams. Well, the Ravens have given up 300 yards passing three times in this season. It's once to Patrick Mahomes. It's twice to Baker Mayfield. And Mayfield today broke the NFL record, rookie record for passing touchdowns. And that's not having played the entire season.

I mean, they did battle with Baltimore's defense. It's up to the Chargers to find a way to do the same thing. I think if you're Gus Bradley and you're dealing with how to game plan for them, you are sweating right now. I think it really helps so they just play. It does. I think it helps the Chargers just because the Ravens are such a tough team to prepare for. But we'll have all week to talk about that.

We will. And you could see the other side of that argument as well. We will get into all that as the week rolls on. But for now, let's move on to another game with huge playoff implications this time in the NFC. White Wims and Bellamy scattered to the left side. Cohen to the right of Mitch Trubisky, five on the play clock.

Bears moving right to left, takes the snap. Cohen, Cohen's got the goal line. He will barrels into the end zone for the touchdown. Cohen's in from the three Bears of 1910. 746 left in the game. Jeff Johnnyack WBM with the Call of Bears. You know, they didn't really have much to play for once the Rams were taking care of business. And the Vikings had everything to play for.

but you wouldn't know it from what transpired on Sunday in Minneapolis, leaning on a dominant defense that shut down Kirk Cousins and Company. The Bears beat the Vikings 24-10. The loss coupled with the Eagles win over the Redskins, knocks the Vikings out of the playoffs. Wes, another season of bitter disappointment for a franchise that has seen plenty. Well, with this effort today, they don't belong in the playoffs, and I'm glad they're gone.

The Eagles over the last three weeks have proven that they deserve to be there with the season on the line, whereas the Vikings in the second half of the season, the offense disappeared. Their offensive line can't push anyone around. Whatever disconnect is going on with Kirk Cousins and his receivers, I mean, this, what happened with him and Adam Thielen today,

that is not the first time that's happened over the past month. This has been an ongoing issue. Wes is referring to a sideline incident where they appeared to be arguing. Thank you. Yes. They arguing very intensely. Intense is an interesting word considering what Mike Zimmer told the Fox broadcast. crew that Kirk Cousins was too amped up, that he was too tense.

And I struggle with how to define clutch or how to define performance in big games. Kirk Cousins is now 4 and 25 against teams with winning records in his career. And maybe that's a theme for him throughout his career. He gets two tense for big games. But whatever it is, he's a good quarterback who doesn't play like a good quarterback all the time when, especially in late December. We've seen that. I mean, when you hear that story about Mike Zimmer has to tell him to just go have fun,

you know, before these games because he just knows maybe that's contagious with his teammates too. I mean, a couple, it was a bad day for Mike Zimmer and maybe Daniel get into it. I know that was on your radar. But here's another part of Mike Zimmer's bad day. He came out of halftime. Here's what he said to Aaron Andrews.

We need to run the ball more. That was your takeaway from the first half of that game is that you need to run the ball more. That's been his takeaway for like six weeks. Right. I mean, wake up. Their offensive line against the Keem Hicks and those guys, they can't run the ball.

I mean, you look at it was a complete meltdown for the Vikings on offense. And this was something that if you've been following the team, this was always in play because they had shrunk in the spotlight over and over again against teams that were better than 500. They struggled all season. And Cousins has

the track record, even in Washington, of not always coming up big when it counted most. And it all kind of came together in their own building. I mean, they had 164 yards of total offense. 49 in the first half on 25 plays. With their season on the line against the team,

that by the third quarter had nothing to play for and was pulling key players out the field, even when the game was still somewhat in doubt about midway through the fourth quarter and Khalil Mack and anybody else that you would need if you're the Bears to close out a game that mattered. Cousins still couldn't find a way to get in the end zone. I don't know what else you need to say. Too many checkdowns. I mean, way too many checkdowns when time was a factor. And let's spread the blame around a little bit, a defense that could not get off the field on third downs against Mitch Trubisky and Mitch Trubisky

in the second half of the game without his three top receivers. They could not get off the field against this guy. They could not stop Jordan Howard who's had a bad season and the Bears running game that hasn't been consistent at all. This defense in its own building

is supposed to be one of the best in the NFL and they did not play like it. The moment of hope for Minnesota fans came weeks ago when they switched offensive coordinators and came out and thrashed the dolphins with a run-heavy attack that you thought like some of these other teams could be that way down the stretch

and that was a mirage. It never carried over from that game and it's really concerning that you have to be a head coach telling your multi-million dollar Uber expensive quarterback about how to lower your tension rate before these games.

When you have rookie quarterbacks going out and playing massive big games with none of those issues being one of them at all. And it goes to show how difficult who locked this one up? I locked up the vikes. There you go.

Nice job. It goes to show how hard it is to get back because this team they've built this defense for this moment for five years really and they replace their quarterback they upgrade at quarterback and they think they're just going to be back in the mix

and it goes so you got to show up when you have your chance like the bears I can't imagine being more proud of a team of the ATL than the Bears today in a game that they didn't win to go knock out a division opponent and you should give their I mean yes the Vikings offense struggled but a lot of teams

have struggled against this Bears defense it's the best defense in the league they don't They don't have days like the Ravens have or they give up 460 yards or whatever out of the blue. They're awesome every single week in it. And it's one of the reasons I think like the Bears are absolutely a Super Bowl contender. And who knows, this might be their time that they need to take advantage of because a lot of things are going right for them.

They are banged up though, at wide receiver. They are. They're banged up. And I think Alan Robinson sat out on a day where if the game really mattered, he would have played. And they did get Kyle Long back today. I believe he only played half the game, but they're working him back in after being out for two months.

The Bears finished 12 and 4. And if not, for the Rams having such a great season, they would be on a buy. It's not working out that way. But the Vikings, this can be a long off season for them because this is one of the, like I said at the top, a team that has disappointment dotted throughout their history.

This, Cousins was supposed to be the final piece. Instead, they don't even make the playoffs this year. And there were boo birds in Minnesota. You never hear. to Minneapolis for a Super Bowl. Those people do not boo. They are supporting their team, but there was such frustration,

and you could totally get it, 164 total yards. Let us move on to the team that took the Vikings' playoff spot. Foles, but scrolls to his left. Motion to the near side. Foles back. Fires, complete.

Touchdown! He's got Aguilar. Nick Bowles is the Magic Man. The Eagles backup quarterback delivered another fine performance throwing two touchdowns and tying the NFL record with 25 straight completion. Varon and a 24 to zip win over the Redskins. The news wasn't all good.

However, Foles left the game with a rib injury, putting his status in doubt for next week's wildcard matchup against the Bears. We'll see how that plays out. But a good day for the Eagles, Nick Shook. Welcome, buddy, who got hot, showed heart, and they're going back to the dance to defend their title. Yeah, you know, hopefully Nick Foles can recover from what ailed him in this game because he was really good.

at one point had a 25 straight completion streak tying Philip Rivers and moving the offense. I wouldn't say, you know, this isn't peak Eagles like last year or anything like that, but it was efficient and it got the job done. And, you know, meanwhile, their defense did a good job holding the Redskins, obviously to zero points. I mean, it was a completely feeble effort on the part of the Redskins. So if there was one way to chalk up a route to kind of backdoor your way into the playoffs,

this is it. I mean, there's nothing backdoor about what the Eagles pulled off here. Well, yeah. You know, I mean, everyone thought they were dead in the water when Dallas beat him in overtime. And they just said, screw it. We're going to win the rest of our games. And then they got help because the Vikings gagged. And Nick Fools, I mean, my evaluation of him has constantly, like, evolving.

Where are we at? Underfire. I think you guys need to just go into the ring together. Off take. I think he's one of the most admirable professional athletes we have today. This is a new take and I like it. No, no, I just, I thought that. Put that on here, social video.

Last year, but that's separate from the evaluation of what he is as a player. And, Dan, you said the other day, it's December, it's January. It's a different Nick Fools. And I said, I just don't believe that. But I have to adjust my evaluation. Because when you talk about clutch, like people have been studying this for a long time, baseball specifically, is there a clutch gene? And I think what I've learned over the years,

certain players who are average players can become good. for stretches of the career. It's just not very predictive, and it doesn't last your entire career. It can be knocked out by one player, one performance. But he's rolling, and I accept that, and I was wrong. That's how I look at my career, good, streaky, a little bit, but a lot of down moments. How about this, Wes?

Is Nick Foles the bizarro Kirk Cousins or vice versa? I think that's fair, and I think there's something mentally psychologically with the two of them where Foles is surging with confidence. And it's like, you know, when you're 16 and you're taking drivers, Ed, and the really smart, conscientious kids are terrible drivers. And the kids who are bad kids are, like, great drivers. And I think that's sort of how, like, Foles is confident and he doesn't care. And Cousins does that intense type A personality where he has to pass the test.

If you're listening, by the way, Wes says, if you're a good driver, you're dumb. Basically. But the rest of the team is coming together, too. I mean, Nick Falls through an interception, a ghastly interception in the red zone against the Rams that let them back in that game. But what else has happened in the last three weeks? The front four for the Eagles has started to play like they did a year ago. They've been good all year, but they've been great this month.

Darren Sproles is back. The secondary settled down a little bit. Maybe it's because the opponents haven't been able to take advantage. But if you've like at least according to PFF, Rosal Douglas and Avanti Maddox has kind of settled down that secondary. They've overcome that. So it's not just fools. I mean, they held them to 89 yards.

I know it's the Redskins with Josh, but that's a full game. They held them to 89 yards. I will say one thing that did not go Nick Foles's way, and let's see how calm he is about this. I'd assume he'd be pretty calm because he's essentially a hero forever in the city. We'll never need to buy a steak or a drink, but he came four snaps short of a plain incentive to net a million dollars. If I'm the Eagles, I don't care how you get this money to him. You could say, we're essentially going to say we repainted the complex, the third floor, put it on the budget that way, and then just send it to Nick Lowe's house. Shawshank Redemption when there's like, like, red is told, go find the tree and the rock that has no godly reason to be there.

Just put it under there. Just put it under a rock. Well, you got, Mark, you got an NFL insider downstairs explaining why this might not be possible for the Eagles to give him a million dollars. Well, it was, it boiled down to potentially salary cap stuff. Right. But he also, that same insider said, when I asked about can you just stick it on the tab, you know, under something totally nefarious and strange. He said, well, that never happens. Right. And it gave me a dirty look and walked away. What a, what a rough moment though for the Redskins. That stadium was all green. It was all

Eagles fans. There was no halftime entertainment, which is the first I've ever heard. There's just just like an empty field for 15 minutes. Like it's pretty dark there in Washington. Chuck, let me ask you a question. I was a little upset to hear because you want a full strength Nick Foles in the playoffs because that's fun. The rib injury sounds like it could be problematic. Have you heard anything about this? What are they saying? I haven't seen any updates since he came out of the game, but it seemed like something where this was a game where he didn't need to come back in the game. It was really really clear. That's the question. He said he wasn't sure. He said he wasn't sure if he'd be able to play that they're going to do tests. They were pretty vague about it and

he's going to get tested, that kind of thing. I mean, what happens to human society if let's say they had to put Nate Sudfeld in and he ripped off three straight wins and won the Super Bowl? And it's like, just blow the NFL up from the inside out. Here's the thing is he came in and immediately let a touchdown drive. He's head one for one. That's leading it, though. I like them in the preseason. I thought he made a lot of big throws.

I liked them in the preseason. Well, they gave the Eagles an extra day for Foles to get healthy. They have the late Sunday afternoon slot to play the Bears. And that's a delicious matchup, and it's not a rematch. I'm glad there's been a, you know, the Bears Vikings again would have been annoying. There's a few too many of these rematches. Like, this is a fresh, like, fun match of Philly at Chicago. I mean, with Falls and Sudfeld, there's just no need.

for Carson Wentz at this stage. I just move him up to the front office and have him help make copies or send him to the Poconos office that Chip Kelly once sent Howie Roseman. I'm sure it's vacant. It's amazing how fast things change. Right. The middle of last year

we're saying that there's no player more valuable in the NFL from a roster building standpoint than Carson Wentz. Well, how about how fast things change? Three weeks ago, when the Eagles were going to the Rams as 13-point underdogs, their season was dead. We thought they're a totally dead team that has nothing to play for it.

And they hadn't played one really good game all year. And now here they are. Let us move on. Now they're throwing down the field adjusting the rock caught. It's caught by Marcus Robinson. And he's wide open near side. 20, 15 backpedaling into the end zone. Touchdown.

Kansas City. An 89-yard pass. And Patrick Mahomes now has hit 5,000 yards passing. and 50 touchdowns in a single season. The Golden Pipes of Mitch Holtes of the Chiefs Radio Network, Patrick Mahomes. 89 yards score with DeMarcus Robinson put the second year passer in the hyper-exclusive 55,000 club as the Chiefs cruised to a 35-3 win over the wretched Raiders. Chiefs finished the season at 12 and 4.

They are the AFC West champions. They have the number one seed in the AFC playoff. The Chiefs took care of business, and Mahomes likely. locked up MVP. It was one of the greatest regular seasons we've ever seen at the position. Broke 5,000 yards, 50 touchdowns. Hard to argue with that. But in this particular game, the real thing I want to bring away from it is the

Chiefs, despite all the rumors and concern about how they might not have a defense, those guys are still on the field, and they played pretty well this week. And Daniel Sorenson had a nice pick six. Reggie Raglan was a few yards away from having another one himself. So don't, yeah. So the idea that people say, the Achilles heel of this team is their defense. You see some talent there.

Well, maybe not so much on the back end. Eric Berry was inactive today, so not a good barometer. But they are good at getting to the passer. I mean, if you go back and watch some of their tape, obviously, Chris Jones is leading the way. But they are gooding to get into the passer. And in the playoffs, that can sometimes serve as a difference. You said you wanted to add Chris Jones to your Pro Bowl snub.

Suddenly there's a lot of snubs. We need to just expand the roster. Well, that was a top five defensive player this year. Chris Jones has been awesome. And Justin's played well. D. Ford's been a little quiet lately. They made a big change of cornerback last week, Charvarius Ward, who's an undrafted rookie, he started, played the whole game again.

PFF thought he had a monster game for what it's worth. So a very productive day for them. I know it's like people just expect, you know, they don't get any lollipops. But if the opposite happened, we would be criticizing them. And it's huge for them to get a week off. They will have more pressure on them than any other team, though, for what it's worth. Every team's got pressure. But losing six straight at Arrowhead in the playoffs, that crowd's going to be a little tight.

And, Andy Reed, I mean, not that you see that necessarily play out on the field, to coach in terms of a legacy. This is a lot of ways has been set up as Andy Reid's year. And you can kind of picture him on a riser at media night come Super Bowl week. Pulling for you, Andy. And everybody's rooting for him because

he's such a good guy and he's the godfather. But he cannot go out. And they're fortunate. You lose four games. You usually don't get the one seed. That's pretty rare. And so they survive this slump and still got the home field. And why not cap this season with one of the most impressive coaching efforts?

burying one of the most depressing, uninspiring, underwhelming coaching efforts we've seen in our time together at the NFL by John Gruden and the Raiders. Deplorable. See, I think they came on strong late in the season, considering the roster that they had. They played a little bit better over the last month, but I'm telling you, this is,

this has to be as far afield from what all the hype train, people riding that little ridiculous train off a cliff, thought where they were going to get, when John Gruden had 600 people, at his introductory press conference, acting like this was someone coming down from the skies like an angel to save the Oakland Raiders and the opposite of this happens. There's something to it because it was almost like those trades of Mac and in Cooper was almost a defense mechanism against the fact like that, hey, we can't coach and we can't, we don't have confidence to win games. I don't know. It did come down from somewhere in the broadcast.

I'm going to wait out to rebuild a little bit, but I understand. Once I get Mayak, once I get Mayak in there, we're going to be fine. So Mike Mayock was put up as a potential GM candidate, and he's already told them no apparent. I wouldn't want that job. No, he said he got an interview. Yeah, he's interviewed. Well, we'll find out if that happened.

And he's a strong candidate. I don't want to be that guy, by the way, with the whole we're pulling for you, Andy, because I like Andy Reid. But something about this Chiefs team, if I had to stack chips somewhere, it wouldn't be behind them. Are you saying they've got a little Kirk Cousins in them? I think they do.

Ouch. Let us move out. This is going to be a 26-yard field goal, hash mark right side. It's a fate. They throw it to Prater. He throws to the end zone. It is caught for a touchdown.

Levine Toy Lolo! Matt Prater with the right arm and shoving it off. How good is that? Random game, early. Hey, listen, I have some issues with Matt Prater. I didn't like his behavior at a Super Bowl media day years and years ago, and I hold grudges. However, I'll get, yeah, well, he had an earring, but that wasn't the reason, but it did get on my radar. But I will give him this.

He hones the NFL record for field goal distance. I think he has a 65-yarder, 64 yards, something like that. And he threw a beautiful touchdown pass against the Packers. A 31-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-Ber game for Green Bay. Trailed 21 Zip in the second quarter. Lost Aaron Rogers before halftime to a concussion shook. A nice way to go into the off-season for the lines and another ugly day for the Packers.

Yeah, the intrigue in this game was lost as soon as Aaron Rogers left the game. But for those Packers fans who wouldn't know what they have behind him, well, they learn they don't have much. much in the form of Deshaun Kaiser, who was pretty predictable in his performance. But yeah, for the Lions, it was a great game. You know, it's not often you get a kick or throwing a touchdown pass to a former Atlanta Falcons tied end. And it was an enjoyable day and a good way to go to the offseason for a tumultuous season

that has been Matt Patricia's first. That Spider-Man meme is just Deshaun Kaiser pointing at Brett Hunley. Yes. I know, and I know this game really doesn't mean anything for either team. because Matt Patricia is likely safe and the lines weren't going anywhere and the Packers are obviously eliminated but Joey Phibbs

if he had any intentions of holding onto the job, this was not the way you want to go into the interview process for what it's worth. It took me a moment to realize who you were talking about when you said Joey Phibbs. I'm just waiting for Mark. Was there even a 1% chance of him getting this job? Exactly. I'm still waiting

for Mark to do as I told you so about Zach Zener's 21-year- 93-yard games. I'm just struggling, I'm struggling with my, I told you so over Zach Center. I told you so over the Green Bay Packers as an organization this season. There you go. What are you struggling with? Which one was more, which one I was more dead on about?

I'll have to sit and think about that for a little bit. I knew when I looked down the list of games today that this would be the one where you guys would say, this is the random game of the week. Yeah. And Nick, and that's it for that game. We're not going to talk about it anymore, but you have provided an invaluable service to us this last month helping us out with all these extra games. And for that, we are indebted to you.

Thank you. I appreciate that. And you're replacing Greg as of, uh, yeah, for a moment, Nick's eyes lit up like, oh, did they get it? Get me something? Not a thing. He read my mind. Find words.

That's what we can offer you. And you know what? A little encouragement is he hit the gym to get a pump in because late night pump is the best type of pump. It's the only pump. There you go. Nick shook. Thank you, buddy.

We'll be in touch in the off season. Not the last you're going to hear from Nick Shook on the Around the NFL podcast, one of our great utility men. I think he's getting bigger. Look at that body. It's absurd. It's almost getting to the point where you want him to take a little the muscle mass away because it's distracting.

Let's move on. Seriously, let's move on. He fires the pass and it's incomplete at the Steelers' 42-yard line. And the game is now officially in the books as the Steelers take over on downs with one whole eight. Bill Hill Grove with the call Steelers Radio Network. The Steelers got the stop they needed on D, keeping their playoff hopes alive, albeit only temporarily, with a 16-13 win over the Bengals at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh struggled on offense with Antonio Brown inactive but did just enough finishing their season at 9-6-1.

Greg, the Steelers were flat in a huge game. It was a fitting end to a weird season. That's really well said. Because you get James Connor back and you figure. You're just going to roll in this game. And the defense held the Bengals to nine first downs. I mean, the Bengals could not move the ball. But it's a reminder how valuable Antonio Brown is.

Not that that's the only thing going on, but the Bengals countered that by playing man to be on defense the whole game. Juju couldn't get open. And, you know, Ben Rothsburg had to make some plays actually at the end just to get this win. That scene on the field at Heinz Field after the game with everyone laying on the grass, watching the game. It was like, that was the worst picnic since hanging. Rock. I don't know. Don't get the ref. I do. I love it. But there are older people that definitely

loved. I feel like the delivery was excellent. I would say people who appreciate a film that wasn't created between like 1985 and this year in America would appreciate it. So like three percent of our audience. Hanging Rock? Is that what it's? Yeah. It's a Australian. One of the most famous like is it a horror film or sort of like mystery? Horror like ambiguous. We do know that. Strangeness. Well, they wouldn't have that horrific picnic. Had they taken care of the Broncos and Raiders and found a way to not turn the ball over five times and Taya Brown's team led by Tyrod Taylor in the opener.

This is every Steelers team ever, and we say it every year. And they're going to keep Mike Tomlin. He's lucky that it's a very patient ownership group, and they should keep them. I think it's a good coach. Right. This is their first time they missed the playoffs in five years, I think. But this is quintessential Mike Tomlin down the stretch with the Steelers.

You have to look at these horrific losses that close your opportunities and you're sitting there waiting for a Browns team on the road to knock off a Ravens defense, please. And I can't disagree with what you said, Mark, at the top of the show, at the end of the day, the Ravens were the better team in the division. They are.

And the better team won the division and the better team will be playing next week. Let's move on. Brady takes the staff. He's going to lobby to the end zone right for Berkeley. On the money. Touchdown Patriots. Tom Brady's best throw of the month of December

right there to Rex Burkhead. That's the first. First time they've thrown Rex to the seam since New Orleans week two last year. Wow. Quit flexing. Deep watch. We get it. I watch the Patriots.

New it already. Literally your job. Bob Sochi and Scott Zolak in the Patriots radio. Craig throws up his hands with the call. Tom Brady threw for three first half touchdowns. Four overall the Patriots beat up on the Jets 38 to 3. That clinches the ninth straight first round by for New England. they finished 11 and 5.

Listen, they didn't have a top two record in the conference, but it shook out well for the passes it always does. 11 and 5 gets them that by. That's an interesting way. So congratulations, Greg, on your good fortune. Hey, Wes, Brady picked apart a depleted jet secondary in New England. They should not have to the playoffs feeling good about themselves. It's a nice way to get in to their by week.

Absolutely. I don't know how much of a test this was. That clip we heard with the past to Rex Burkhead was sort of a microcosm of the day. Sure, it was a really pretty pretty. passed by Tom Brady. It was also busted coverage with the linebacker and cornerback. So a lot of that. Confused at who should be covering Rex Perkhead off the snap.

So there was a lot of that. This game was over at halftime. And the Jets were show shorthanded, especially in the secondary, that I just don't know how much of a test it was for the Patriots. Trumane Johnson, one of the highest paid players in Jets history, not only was late for a practice, he also missed a team meeting during the week. So he started his offseason a week early and Todd Bull sat him because of it. So by the end of the, by the second quarter of that game, it was Jamal Adams and a bunch of retreads and no names in that secondary. And Brady did what Brady does.

But I will say this. There's been a lot of talk about the decline of Tom Brady. And certainly he's probably not the same guy who was even last year. But Tom Brady, I'm watching him. The guy, especially, you know, when you don't have a pass rush going after him. And it could be very different. That's a major caveat. But if you could protect Brady.

and the Patriots have already won a playoff game. They got the buy. If you could protect them, figure out a way to scheme it up and Bill Belichick's the best there ever was. The Patriots are not, by any stretch, dead. No, they would love to say they are, but they are not dead.

And Brady is a reason why. This team, it was so crucial for them to get the buy. Number one, they're undefeated at home. I mean, they're the only team in the NFL is it's undefeated at home. What a good teams do? I know it was against the bills and the Jets. They beat up on bad teams

and they win convincingly. And that's what the Patriots did the last two weeks. It wasn't the same close to the season you would have expected. But really, other than the Steelers game, which they certainly were in, I didn't see too many alarming things down the stretch. They're not the same offense in terms of their explosiveness, but they have things to feel good about going into this game. I think they have a little bit of an identity with Devlin and Dwayne Allen on the field most of the time.

That's just who they are. They're going to try to run the ball. They're going to try to keep the score a little bit lower and hope that their situational football is smarter than yours. Todd Bowles fired by the Jets after the game. We had known this for weeks and weeks that this was going to happen. He ends up losing 40 games and four seasons. It's very rare that a coach sticks around this long and gets fired.

But it looks like Mike McAgnon will survive. We're going to get more into the firings and who stays and who goes. Tomorrow we'll have a very special around the NFL podcast, Black Monday edition. But Todd Bowles out for the Jets and the Patriots. Have another buy, Greg. And they, you know, first 31 offensive plays, Jets ran. 19 were for no gain or negative. Not a special.

Sam Darnold came into this game, scaring us all in this room saying we thought it'd be a close game. The defense closed pretty strong. Not a special episode for these people that have been shotguned out of their jobs. And I'm not sure that their families are going to gather around the hearth to listen to that particular. That's darn. I mean, special isn't always good, but it's just, it's different. It's kind of something.

You feel for Todd Bulls. He seems like, you know, Jamal Adams was emotional after the game saying he's the best coach he ever played for and you know i think he connects with his defensive players and everything just yeah you hear it you heard it time time again bowls is well respected and he'll land on his feet maybe not as a head coach uh but somewhere despite the jets having a terrible defense many years under his his helm so it was just that's fair that's fair i mean jets cannot run the rush the passer the year in a row it feels right they gave up uh 400 points uh twice in bolz's four years and that is jets only did in their history four times so they have a

a lot to fix and Todd Balls won't be around to do it. Let's listen or let's hear from a sponsor, one of our favorites. Did you know that Lowe's is the new home of Craftsman? Lowe's is the new go-to destination where we can explore the latest innovative craftsman products, including their new V-20 power tool battery platform. The Craftsman's V-20 cordless power tool lineup features a high-capacity lithium battery. That's part of Craftsman's interchangeable battery system. so it works with all the tools in their V-20 lineup,

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I don't want to know why. Deshaun takes the snap. Deshawn wants to run it. He runs in five-yard TD to take the lead. And Watson does the leap into the south end zone stance. Houston in front of Jacksonville to open the second quarter. Mark Vandamere, not too excited about the game. Listen, sometimes you take care of business.

Texans radio, and that's what Houston did. D. Watson threw for 234 yards, ran for a score. DeHondre Hopkins had a buck 47 receiving a 23 win for Houston over the woeful Jaguars. The win clinches the AFC North for the Texans, who really, you know, they withstood a charge there from the Colts, who kept winning. but the Houston Texans rarely let up.

They go from 4 and 12 to 11 and 5. They got the AFC's third seat. Mark, Houston misses out on the 5, but they go into the playoffs or the win. Four seconds into the second quarter, Deshaun Watson took it five yards into the end zone for the 10-3 lead, game over. Because what we were looking at was

from the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the most horrific performances I've watched on offense in decades. and it essentially it reached its peak today and the offseason cannot come soon enough for this broken down team that had Leonard Fournett on the sideline

pouting all game long to the point where he got a teacher's note essentially from Tom Coughlin along with T.J. Yeldon for sitting by themselves away from the rest of the team couldn't wait for the offseason to get there fast enough and he said it was unbecoming of a professional football player. We gotta have the miss of music for this.

Go ahead. I am disappointed in the behavior today from T.J. Yeldin and Leonard Fournett. They were disrespectful, selfish, and their behavior was unbecoming that of a professional football player. Angry, Grandpa. I mean, that wasn't like a quote after the game. That was a statement released on Team Stationary. That's it. We've reached Pete Tom Coughlin.

You're not getting any. I mean, Leonard Fournett, remember, a number three overall pick, was he? for the man that runs the football operations to bury you with the state. That was Steinbrenner-esque. Yeldin was active for the game. So his behavior was more embarrassing, I feel. I got to see what was going on.

It's almost like when you're a kid in high school or in Little League, there's always the guys at the end of the bench that have no interest in the game. That's what it was. They're just there and they're just talking and messing around the whole time. Is that what was going on?

Well, I think I think the statement potentially could have been generated from the broadcast that cut to Fournet. I didn't notice Yelland, just sort of sitting on the bench, kind of like, ugh, like when is the bus leaving? You know, like, I've got to get home. I have a delivery coming at my house for like a late Christmas. Some writers were noticing it too, that they were off by themselves.

Even when the offense was on the field, they weren't really paying attention. Yeldon was still on the bench while the offense was on the field. And he was in the, like he was active for the game. Well, I will say, where's the teacher's note for Tom Coughlin who traded a fifth round pick for Carlos Hyde and came in dead on arrival? He did it. He did nothing today. He did nothing.

They have no ground game. Whatever. I mean, you came after the Browns are trading Carlos side. I initially, I thought he actually, he had some good games with the Browns. He does not look that way with the Jaguars at all. Whatever they wanted him to do, he fell off. He fell off. They're playing a second string lineman at every position in Jacksonville.

They are. They need, they need this eight-month break to go away and come back. For the Texans, you put it well. It was just sort of a day at the office. I'm a little concerned about the, where, this version of the Texans offense. It's not where it was weeks ago and months ago. I think they can get back on track.

It's still just a lot of D'Andre Hopkins, who had 147 yards. Lamar Miller looked healthy to me, at least. He ran hard, not for much yardage. That's a good sign. But I was a little concerned with the way they used to Sean Watson. They're burying this team. And with two minutes to go,

he's still running into traffic and getting wallet by people. It's like, just pull him from the game or operate differently, please. The way you, the way shook looks at the chiefs as potentially vulnerable is how I see Houston. I don't, I don't predict a long run, who knows anything, but I just don't like how they've closed out the season. And this sounds like another similar effort where they won, but do you really think this team is hitting the, is going to knock out a bunch of teams and a loaded A&S? Well, they got lucky, I think, with the, the draw that you get an AFC South opponent in the first round. And then if you win, then you go to New England.

Those are more winnable games than other other possibilities. That's Houston's time slot now, that Texavit has replaced Weston. Yes, it is. What do you call it? Texavis is replaced it. I mean, he participated in Westoness so many times. The early Saturday afternoon slot, it always goes to Houston. I think we could get this trending, Wes.

Textivist. It's only fitting because it felt like the Bengals for a while were just losing to the Texans every year on West Davis. Well, here's a difference, though, that Deshawn Watson is involved. They have the quarter, like this is the first time that we're seeing Deshawn Watson in the playoffs and he's done things down the stretch and this game doesn't sound any different that makes me believe that he can just carry an entire team because he has basically him and hopkins are carrying this team and he has played he's been a little under the radar but i think over the last month he has played close to that level that you're pretty much the same that baker mayfield

and and other quarterbacks playing at the top of their game down the stretch that's where watson is the last thing i'd say their defense also did everything you could have asked today the one little note j j j Watt appeared to hurt his right arm. He was sort of, it was hanging in his side before the half and he came back out with that big brace on and he played through the second half, but something else. I want to single out J.J. Watt and hopefully

he's healthy, but he had a sack and a half that gives him 15 and a half for the year, finishes the league finish the season leading the league with seven forced fumbles. He is trailing now only Reggie White. He has four 15 sack seasons. Reggie had five.

And Andrew Luck's going to come back player of the year and he deserves to because he's a quarterback and the season he's had. Who knows? People swept, I feel like people slept a little bit on Watts come back. Two years out of the league essentially. Not everyone. Came back as a complete monster. I don't think he's quite as

explosive. He doesn't have the speed, like the first few steps. He's not what JJ Watt was, but he's still one of the best seven or eight defensive players in the league. He has the highest motor I've ever seen on a defensive play. And we should mention, they, at one of their many statements, and the Jaguars had a few, was they announced Doug Marone will be back,

And David Caldwell, their GM will be back next year. That was the more surprising part of the statement to me that they're keeping Caldwell who Bordell's is kind of blamed on him. And, you know, some of these other drafts, people pin it on him. But they are sticking with the same crew. We get into that more tomorrow. They got a good shot to bounce back if they get a quarterback. Let us move out.

Allen's going to go home run ball deep. Samuel makes the catch and scores a touchdown. Absolutely. That's how you do. This is how you roll, Mr. Allen, a big deep post route, man-in-man coverage, throws it over the free safety head and beats the corner and hits Samuel his drive. Mick Mixon and Eugene Robinson on the Panthers Radio Network with a call. Kyle Allen, an undrafted rookie, threw for 228 yards, two scores. He left with a shoulder injury, but by them the game was in hand.

The Panthers cruised to a 33-14 win over the Saints. The Saints were playing for nothing, and Drew Brees was. on the sideline. Greg, you didn't like the way the Saints into their season, though, protect particularly on the defense. Yeah, I mean, I don't know what to take from it, but all I know is something doesn't feel right when you see Kyle Allen going up and down the field

on your starting defense. And football's a mysterious game. You know, it's a game of passion. But I saw Cam Jordan out there playing his ass off and DeMario Davis and Marshawn Latimore. They were all playing hard and there were tough plays to be made. Their entire starting defense was out there as Kyle Allen led them to three touchdowns in four scoring drives in every first half possession.

So I don't know. It's not a big, I don't think less of them long term, but I think it's fair to say the Saints have not been dominant in six weeks. That's just a fact that whether it's been the offense or, you know, the last couple weeks of defense hasn't played that well. They haven't been looking like the Saints from November and October the last five weeks. That's just a fact. You'd rather be...

They're the best team on paper. They're not right now. But they could show up in two weeks and be... I don't think it means much, but I just don't think they've played close to a complete game in a while. And I think that I'm sure that makes Sean Payton a little uncomfortable. And he was probably surprised Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints' offense couldn't do it. I mean, I'd also say that the Rams have been through their ups and downs.

And most teams in the NFC outside of the Bears have? No doubt. No doubt. The Panthers led 23 and nothing at halftime. New Orleans had never been shut out at home in the first half. And that was the Teddy Bridgewater start today. And there was a lot of talk about this being a wonderful audition opportunity for Bridgewater entering free agency. We'll see.

I don't know if it really is going to hurt his value. But he probably would have been better if he lit it up. If he didn't get outplayed by an undrafted rookie? Yeah. I mean, a lot of it was the Panthers defensive line dominated. And so Tehran Armstead, the left tackle, was sat in this game in another. Saints offensive lineman was hurt early. Larry Warford sat out too.

And they were bum-rushing Teddy throughout the game. And actually he made some pretty nice plays. I didn't take too much away from it from him. To the New Jersey middle hands. Can they make a two-point conversion? Snap to Prescott, rolling right, throwing in the end. He caught it. Gallop for the two points. The Cowboys lead with a minute 12 to play.

Oh, Brad Sham. You know him as the sham god. Cowboys Radio Network. Dak Press got connected on a two-point conversion passed to Michael Gallup. That after a 32-yard. Fourth down, touchdown throw to Cole Beasley. A wonderful catch by Cole Beasley.

The playoffbound Cowboys, Nip the Dreamin. 36 to 35. Dallas finishes 10 at 6. They host the Seahawks next week in the Wild Card playoffs. Really nice fade out there, Ricky. That was... Appreciate it. We were on like the same wavelength there.

and I really can't appreciate it enough. Soundboard gold. When you guys are in sync, it's just like... Magic. It's like Marino to Clayton. Ancient poetry. Thank you. Keep going.

I was like, who did Marino? It's like two people that Erica doesn't know. Dan Marino was in that Ace Ventura movie. Marita came out first and I was like, all right, who do you go with it? Jason Garrett mixes it up here. In the years where he has had a good Cowboys team and there wasn't a lot to play for, he has sat players in the past and then been criticized for it when Dallas inevitably came up short in the playoffs in this game he kind of went halfway gray we didn't talk about

this I don't know maybe you knew it but I didn't he did start Prescott but he did set said Zeke but he also sat most of his offensive line which you could say was a little bit of a gamble putting your QB1 behind the backup line I thought I read that somewhere I could be wrong but either way there he got got rewarded because Prescott came out of the game healthy, I believe, and also played his balls off in this game. He played tremendously, and that has to be a good, positive vibe for him with Seattle coming to town.

Yeah, Tyrone Smith did sit for this game, and so they started Cam Fleming, who almost got Dak Prescott killed. So that is a little strange. Zach Martin was always iffy. But I like that approach, and the Cowboys now feel, I think, good about themselves to finish out a game like that.

I mean, Jerry Jones was like saying, you couldn't have come up with a better way to enter the playoffs than this. Well, also when we could have just blown them out. Leighton Vanderash at one point goes down after getting kind of rolled up on or whipped. It was kind of a tricky play. He eventually walked off under his own power and I think he's okay. But they cut immediately to the Jera suite. And Jerry looked like he saw a ghost and he had a rolled up program in his hand.

You could tell him gripping the program and like crushing it in his hand. And Jason Garrett's life probably flashed before his eyes without. even realizing it. They had a lot to work on in terms of their passing game. I mean, I'd be a little concerned that Amari Cooper hasn't gone over 35 yards in three straight games. They threw it to him 11 times today. It was, you know, terribly inefficient.

So each week, they've been kind of struggling to get through some things. Raiders won that trade is what you're saying. No, they haven't been in sync, which is why, why not get a little more practice? They did get a good game from Blake Jar when they have something at tight end, finally, 119 yards, three touchdowns? I don't know if they have something at tight end, the Giants stink, but today they did. Today, Blake Jarwin played like Jason Whitten on some type of a PED that has yet to be invented. It was a wonderful performance.

Was this enough to get Eli Manning a two to three year extension? I think six to seven. Yeah, well, I said, go bigger. Eli played pretty well. Not down Shermer for another couple years later. But the only real story on the offensive side of the ball for the Giants was Saquan Barkley. I think he's probably going to win offensive rookie of the year. And he had another huge run.

He went over 100. has 2,000 yards as a rookie, all-purpose yards. Also set like the running back receptions record. I mean, he had a crazy season. So the Giants, they're set of running back, but they have work to do. Let's move on. Seeing him in the shotgun.

Passing down, looking for Sutton all the way. And that one's picked off. And could be returned for two points. Casey Hayward has it. Really one man to beat. Can he hold him off? He keeps his feet. And he's going to take it all the way for the two points.

Casey Hayward does not have an interception this season but has a two-point conversion. First of all, very smart play by Derwin James, not to get the block in the back. Kind of left that one up to Casey and Casey took care of the rest.

Money handled the perfect. Ooh, Jonti, Matt Money-Smith gets the unicorn call, the rare two-point reverse two-point conversion. It was a key play in the Chargers otherwise underwhelming 23-9 win over the Broncos, the Chargers, end the season at 12 and 4.

They have to settle for the fifth seat in the AFC. Look at the Ravens on the road next week. Tough draw, Greg, especially after what we saw a week ago, Saturday. Yeah, I think they're got to be a little concerned about their offensive line and their offense in general going into the playoffs, especially considering the opponent. They only ended up with 276 yards in this game.

Phil Rivers threw two interceptions, had 176 yards. And if you look at the PFF grades for the offensive line in this game, like the last few weeks, it's just a sea of red. That's what it is. You just look at the five offensive linemen. It's just a sea of red, and that means you're not playing well. I don't remember the last time you really were down on a player

as much as you are down on Sam Tevey. Oh, of course. I mean, there's no doubt he's one of the worst starting offensive linemen in football. It's just that's what it is. And they released Joe Barksdale veteran who went on to become the Cardinals' best offensive. Joey Barks? Yeah, he's starting it right tackle. for the Cardinals. Now he's the best offensive lineman, which is damning with faint praise.

That's true. Fance Joseph, and again, the big Black Monday special is tomorrow. As of this taping still has a job. We'll see if that remains the case, but two years into his job and the Broncos are going nowhere. Melvin Gordon got hurt at the end of this game late in a pretty meaningless situation. And now, who knows what his status will be for next. Again, this guy came off limping. I am convinced that there is some sort of ladder-life family journey left for Matt Money-Smith

where he does, it is discovered finally, that Tom Brokaw is his father. I know he has another father, I'm sure, in his life, but that Tom Brokaw is his essentially birth father. I do like the idea of Brokaw just catting it around. I feel like our listeners could definitely come up with some, that might have been the case. Could come up some with some like movie poster like father-like son thing and send it to money. You have reports that Tom Broca was coming around? They are not current. They were, no, there were some, go look it up.

There were some, he quickly said, he quickly, quickly said absolutely not, and it's not fair to bring this up many years later. But go Google it. Let's reach out to. Who's the media insider now? Erica. I did not break the news. It was like a news story like a year ago.

Mark Sessler reports that Tom Broca. By the way, I don't know what's true or not. I didn't think Tom Broca is an accomplished journalist. And speaking of journalism, if we're going to throw that out there, we need to hear the other side. So can we reach out to Broca's people? Let him know that Mark Sessler is reporting that he was never, you know, never someone that was loyal to women catted around throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s. This is Matt Money's father.

I don't want to get into this. Craig, we suspect the desert will not like the Chargers this week. In Baltimore, yeah, they'll be an underdog, certainly. Let us move on. Four-man rush from the Rams. Heathrowse, it picked. Middle of the field. Corey Littleton, left side 10, five.

Touchdown, L.A. Corey Littleton, with his second interception of the game. This one, he takes back for six. Corey Littleton with a big play. Jared Gough threw four touchdown passes. C.J. Anderson went off for the second street week, and the ramps took care of business. say 48 to 32 win over the Niners.

Greg, with Todd Gurley resting a sore knee once again, the Rams were in need of a nice pick-me-up on offense, so they got it. They did, and they really got it on defense. I mean, there was a point in this game that Jared Gough was two for six for 16 yards, and they were winning 21 to three. And I think that has to make Sean McVefeel pretty good. Cory Littleton, two interceptions.

Dante Fowler hit Nick Mellons, which caused one of those interceptions. Mark Barron had a big force fumble, and it was just a turnover. their first four possessions by the 49ers and that kind of let the Rams just enjoy a nice Sunday afternoon and then wait for a divisional round home game which they'll be playing on Saturday night which means this room could go if we so choose hubba hubba is the offensive slump over I don't know I don't know what to take out of beating up on the 49ers and Cardinals they looked fine they looked solid in both of those games I they you know they had real concerns and golf wasn't playing well and he played to just check the box nice games in a row against division opponents they swept the entire division this year that's how that's how they got to 13 and three is going six and no in the NFC way and also what's good is Todd Gurley by the time they do play their next game on a Saturday night and we may may may not be there and if we are there hopefully the Rams will connect us where we're sitting within 300 to 400 yards of the action. That would be ideal. That would be nice. But Todd Gurley will have gotten about a month of rest from game to game on that knee. We don't really know how serious the knee injury is.

The Rams seemed to have been strategic about how they were going to deal with their number one offensive playmaker. So we'll have a better idea when he's on the field. But he does get a lot of rest. And that's a good thing. I mean, apparently, C.J. Anderson, who wasn't good enough to stick with the Raiders for more than about 40 to 50 hours has found himself to be good enough to be a major player for the ramps. He is 299 yards in the last two weeks. Not bad at all. Rushing yards, $2.99.

Who needs Todd Gurley? Shout out to George Kittle, 49ers tight end. Goes for 9 and 149 on Sunday and breaks Bronx single season record for most receiving yards by a tight end. I'm giving it to him over Kelsey. You think make him your, who's going to be your first team all pro West?

Kiddle, Kelsey, or Ertz? Has there ever been such a good field? Probably not. It's a tight one. and I want to study it a little bit more, but I had Ciddle at mid-season. He should be there at the end of the season. I mean, look at the guys throw into George Kittal

compared to the guy throwing to Travis Kelsey. That's fair dog. Let's move on. Here it is. Tyler Rock with the snap. Dixon puts it down. Seabas kicks it through. And the Seahawks win on the last play in the game.

The 2018 season is in the books. The Seahawks go 10 and 6. But more importantly, they are in the ball. playoffs yes they are steve rable seahawks brad broadcasting with the call sebastian janikowski made a 33 yarder final play seahawks edge passed the cardinals 2724 at the clink they wrap up that five seeded in the nancy playoffs they get a match up at dolphin at at dallas next week uh you know listen they won so you get there's a lollipop Chris Carson won for a career high,

122 in a touchdown. But this wasn't the best performance you've seen. And Russell Wilson, in a game that didn't mean a hell of a lot for the Seahawks, do you want to see Russell Wilson getting sacked six times? Do you want to see your special teams making a ton of errors and letting the Cardinals who have the number one pick in April's draft? They're the worst team in football,

make a ton of plays and hang around in the game. No, you don't want to see any of that. But Seattle at the end of the day, like the Steelers, a good team that faltered a little bit but got the job done against a much inferior opponent. Yeah, Josh Rosen had a really nice throw that would have given them a lead in the fourth quarter that was a drop. That could have been a nice moment.

But ultimately, if you're a Cardinals fan, I think you've got to be happy to get that number one seat. This is the first time in this match of Cardinals Seahawks that the road team has won in five years. I mean, that the home team has won in five years. Really? Isn't that, it seems almost impossible. And you get the feeling,

and we don't need to spend much more time in this game, but you get the feeling that this will not be the last close game, the Seahawks play this season. I think this team is built to play tight, taught affairs in January. So is their first-drawn opponent. Yes. So that would be like lock it up. I don't know what's going on with the rainmaker.

Greg, how to do this week, by the way? Not good. Oh, no. No longer rain. Parched. Right? Somebody actually tweeted, I don't know. Somebody tweeted at me that with like a Vegas ticket that they were getting behind the rainmaker.

You're literally hurting people now. Now, I don't... Eat it. I don't even want to make fun at Greg anymore because I don't want the segment to go away and I feel like he's feeling a little bad about losing. I don't feel that bad. Was this like an honorary doctorate?

Have you actually been to like medical school to get this doctor's... If any of my reign was going along with it, then I would feel even worse. So you don't care as long as it's not going on. No, I care, but I mean, it's all... You heard that first, listeners. It's all in fun.

Well, not to that guy that sent me his ticket. I think you just paid the money. put some serious cash down on it too he did quite a bit quite a bit of money each man is responsible for his own exactly please don't let the rain made you gotta come back it's like in vegas gregg you you're in a you're in a you're in a situation now and everybody that is likes Vegas and gambles gets in that spot it's been a tiny sample size well let me let me finish you can either bail it's like you're on blackjack you're down 700 bucks am i going to quit for the weekend or am i going to try to get that money back and it could go both ways you can find

yourself down 10 Gs by the end of the weekend or you could rise back from the ashes which way is the rainmaker gonna go i don't i don't go afraid i don't go away i just i double down i think you got to bring back the annie lennox sample and that will be the good luck you need because fagas is about luck it's nurse rainmaker at this point oh rainmaker rn he didn't get full he didn't go to med school i'm not convinced that the evidence is there but i'm willing to see with the comeback story here let's Mark, I know you don't listen to the pod when you're not on it, but you should know that Greg demanded that Erica scrub the rainmaker with the Annie Lennox sample from our system. We just used the different one. I found it interesting that it returned when I was not on the show because it's on your radar that I don't like the segment and all these people are coming to me. I think the segment is fine.

I just want the result to be there. That's a biopic way to look at it. I wanted to give it a few weeks off and then, you know, surprise with a nice little comeback. All right. What a showman. Exactly. It's a regular gambling Freddie Mercury here. All right.

The whole crowd in his palm of his hands. Let's move on. Kyle lines up as a fullback in front of Chris Ivory to snap. Play action fake. William goes out for a pass. Makes the catch at the 40 at the 35 and he is brought down at the Miami 31 yard line. Kyle Williams makes the catch lined up as a fullback and they threw it to him this time. A nine yard pickup on the past.

The past to Kyle Williams. was a nice moment. Kyle Williams, the long time Bill's defensive tackle makes a catch in his last game. Anyway, Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmins both played big games for the Bills in their season finale. They win 42-17 over the Dolphins. Alan threw a career best three touchdown passes. Score two more on the ground. Are you kidding me with this? Anyway, the Bills finished 6 and 10. and Mark not a successful season in Buffalo but there's some reason to hope

in that city right now with this team. They got a long way to go, but there's some pieces there. The week 17 moments that are very, you know, these two teams are essentially, you know, zero non-prime AFC East teams that refuse to challenge the Patriots for supremacy. But

the bills came out of this. I think it was a nice positive note to end the season. The Kyle Williams thing, I will say something about that stadium and that fan base. They exploded when that happened. And they are a great fan base. And it is a tough place to play week after week. And the Dolphins did not show up today. And this was, if anything, if this was Ryan Tanna Hill's last chance to say, here I am, keep me around. He threw two awful picks, had a strip sack. And I can't blame him for everything. That line, he is getting destroyed

behind that line over this past month plus. But they just simply could not hang with the bills. And Josh Allen, you go into the offseason. I wonder what the offseason narrative will be. with Josh Allen because there's always these quarterbacks where, oh, they're refocused on this and get ready for X, Y, and Z to change. It's been every Josh Allen game ever. However you saw him going into the season, you'll see him now because he definitely showed

plenty of good to go with the plenty of bad. Absolutely. I mean, I think what he does on the ground, he had two dazzling runs, including that second touchdown, which was a 30-yard scamper. I mean, Dolphins, not unlike Lamar Jackson to some degree, the defense had no idea how to react to him on the ground, but he is also, guaranteed to throw a killer interception or two every game.

And he did that today. So it's like he's got to work on the quarterback side of it, not the ground side of it. I mean, there's a lot to do there. I don't think he's ever going to be an accurate quarterback. I think he's probably always going to strut. He's always going to struggle with touch on his passes. But I think one thing he'll do in the office,

he needs clean up his footwork. Right. But can you be like inaccurate, like Cam Newton's inaccurate? Because if you can get to that level or how Cam has been throughout his career, then you got some. And you can, if he's at the level he's been at now, then you can't really play. It would also help. There's just not, there's just continually not much around him.

I thought that Robert Foster's come on over the past couple weeks, had a touchdown today. But I mean, there's, you keep the coaches staff. Robert Foster wouldn't start for 30 teams in the NFL. Just saying in Buffalo, he's had good games. I don't know what that means that. I agree. Like, he's proven that he can run in a straight line and catch a ball.

I just don't know how many teams he would start. It's amazing to think about the, the dolphins since the hail, or whatever you want to call it, the last play against the Patriots. Ryan Tannahill in the last three weeks didn't top 150 yards passing once. He had one touchdown in those three weeks. Adam Gase, I think when we convened tomorrow, it sounds like he'll probably be gone along with the quarterback. And Tannahill, his stats and the Dolphins fans always threw this at me.

His stats looked okay this year. I think he was worse this year than he's ever been. I had him like kind of graded out as one of the bottom five or six starters in the league before this three week stretch. and I just think that's who he is. And we don't, on this podcast, we don't get everything right. But in this case,

they are who we thought they were. This whole season. He is also playing behind a terrible line, but I don't think that. That doesn't define Ryan Tanigil. They were like outscored by 100 plus points. They were outgained by 1,000 plus yards. Like this was a team that probably should have won four or five games

and they happened to win seven. This game also had the rare triple ejection on a late hit to Josh Allen that resulted in. Oh, Kiko Alonzo is a dirty. player. I was just going to guess that Kiko Alonzo delivered. Kiko's like, what? Burfix out of the league? This is my time. He loves going after quarterbacks, especially

when the quarterback's going into a defensive slide position. And if he's a guy on your team, you like to have him around, but that dude drives me crazy. There were Dolphins fans asking me, where was Kiko Alonzo and my defensive player of the year list? I was like, what are you talking

about? Give me a break. That would be defensive villain of the year. Am I right? I'm not going to extend it to the 73 players oh damn let's move on 37 yards to win it for Atlanta snap drama kickaway and the ball game is over and Atlanta wins that's they don't call him money Matt for nothing no they don't Durham Falcons radio network with the call uh yeah money Matt made that kick Matt Ryan had a touchdown reception that was nice he also threw for two scores and 378 yards The Falcons and what was a disappointing season with a 3432 win over the Bucks.

After the game, the Bucks announced that Dirk Cutter was out as head coach after three seasons. Again, we'll talk about whether that's an attractive job opening on tomorrow's Black Monday show. But for now, Wes, your final thoughts on these two lost teams of the NFC South. This game for the Buccaneers was essentially the same roller coach. as their 2018 season. They start out hot. You look at their stats and say they're allowing nine less points per game, nine fewer points per game under Mark Duffner than they did under Mike Smith.

You see Jason Pierre-Paul is up to 12 and a half sacks. Vita Veja is playing great when they have Gerald McCoy and Levante David. They're a better defense than people think. Jamis Winston has a career high for first half yards. So you're feeling like maybe we've underestimated where the Bucks roster is heading into 2018. And then the Falcons score about 30 straight points on them. And you see that James Winston has the most turnovers in the NFL since he entered the league.

And you're wondering why we should care about the Bucks at all next year. And then they fight back, like get the lead. Like that's the most Bucks thing is after that point, then they scored 12 unanswered to get the lead and then blow it again. They announced when they said that Cutters out that Jason Light, their GM, will be leading the search and is staying. Okay. So they're going for continuity there.

All right. Julio Jones deserves a little credit. What an unbelievable year. Give it to it. 1,600 yards, 1677, 113 catches. And there were so many times this year watching the Falcons, I just thought like, damn is Julio Jones amazing and just sort of lost this year. But this might, I think this was the best Julio Jones season he's ever had, which is saying

something. He's incredible. And believe it or not, there are people who think he's one of the, of the most overrated players in the NFL. And I'm just thinking, come on. Touchdown bias. What more does he have to do? He ended up with eight in the end.

Anyway, he turns 30 the week after the Super Bowl. It is frustrating for Falcons fan. You essentially burned a year of an all-time greats prime, but at least he's delivering the number. Thought you might use the replay call of Matt Ryan's scoring on a Philly special. But I understand that wouldn't help with the overall crumbling narrative you're trying to suppress me with. No, why, though, it's not special.

Of course, it's not special. It's just not special enough. They're changing it to Philly Common. I mean, how many helmet catches have we seen? Philly boring. I don't go down this road with me. That one blew up with it. Don't go down this road with me.

I mean, why not listen to the public? The public tells you 20 times every Sunday. The public is a bunch of people new to football in the last three years. No. The public sometimes gets something, things wrong in this country. I can tell you that. Not this one. Sunday night football.

Not this one. cling to your little helmet catch. Gabbitt looks that way out of the pocket. Keeps his eyes down field. Intercepted. Picked off by Kenny Moore to the 37-yard line. He goes. Andrew Luck, three touchdown passes.

Marlon Mack goes for a buck 19. And the cult's defense shuts down. Blaine Gabbert and the rest of the Tennessee tight tunes forever and always. a 33-17 win for the cults who go from 1 in 5 to 10 and 6, and they are the 6th seed in the AFC playoffs, which are now set. Mark Sessler, an incredible turnaround for the Colts who are dead and buried, and they enter the playoffs as a dangerous team,

and they prove themselves to be a better team than the Tennessee Titans. It's one of the most interesting... Okay. Hey, Karen. Oh, you like this news. No, I have a whole other commentary about that song, by the way. No, you like it. It's, uh, we'll get on, we can get to that on a weekday show at some point.

But, um, one of the most interesting, I'm just waiting for Erica to do that again. But waiting, I will not. But the, the ASC playoff picture to me is fascinating at last because. You guaranteed yourself that happening. I know. It's a team like the Texans. that start, well, you know, I mean, it's not going to, I'm not going to stop. The Texans rip off nine wins. The cults do what they did.

And the cults and Ravens completely transformed themselves during this season. And it's almost like you look at the Chargers and say, I would not want to deal with the Ravens. And if I'm the Texans, I don't want to deal with the Colts on any level. And the Colts tonight got it done against the Titans team that has always points challenged. And they're certainly challenged through the air. They opened the game with four punts and closed the game under Blaine Gabbard with two picks. and a out on downs. We talked about it on Thursday.

And you better play it twice. Wes and Sess lock up. Oh, yeah. The cults over Blaine Gabbard. Congratulations on that. You can frame it any way you want. We talked about, I just said the facts. On Thursday, we talked to, I said, I thought this game was a referendum, Greg, on the

Marcus Marriota era in Tennessee. And yes, you say, oh, that's unfair. He didn't even play. But that's part of the point. And what we're hearing about this injury is that it's a serious injury and maybe he wouldn't even be able to play next week had they qualified for the playoffs.

But if you're the Titans and you're spinning forward, you have to figure out what you are on offense because this team doesn't have a real identity behind Derek Henry who caught a fire at the end of the season. Yeah, he, you know, Mario did not take a step forward, I think in the way that Mike Brable and Matt Lafleur would have wanted this year.

The nerve issue is a concern. But, you know, color me, shocked that a passing attack in 2018 with Michael Pruitt and Luke Stocker and Darius Jennings as like their second, third, and fourth options didn't light it up. This was just a game sort of to get out of the way

and I thank the Colts for doing what they should in this game because this Titans team they shouldn't have gotten to nine wins. I'm not sure how they did. They felt like they were two front and center in this season, the Tennessee Titans. Like they were everywhere and we didn't need them everywhere and now they're nowhere.

They were a solid, respectable team. And any time a team beat the Titans, I gave a team credit for that because they come to play. Can we just book them for 9 and 7 next year as well? In the year after that, in the year after that? That's three straight, yeah. I mean, come on. On the flip side, like Frank Reich, who I think we all agree, if he won coach of the year, it would be just to open this game on the road with two touchdown drives.

The first that went 12 plays, 97 yards. The second one, 16 plays for 95. The other thing about him, I love. He started the year, clean-shaven for the most part, with salt and pepper hair. He's now sporting this gigantic white sort of semi-Santa Claus beard. It's like he's just allowed the seasons to change Frank Frank. I thought you're talking to Adam Vinitieri. He looks like, no, suddenly they said here's Frank Reich from 15 years into his cults campaign.

That's how he looks now. It's a great look. I have coaches age like presidents. And the season, Frank Reich, I think he's probably, is he going to win coach of the year? I guess it doesn't really matter anyway, but him or naggy would be my guesses. Yeah, and he deserves a lot of good options. And it's such a, the Colts are such a great story this season. And it's exciting that they're going to be in the playoffs because they can make noise.

But from where they were, you think about where they were in January, Andrew Luck, still his future in doubt. They get left at the altar at Josh McDaniels. They get off to an one in five start where Andrew Luck were hearing a funeral march music behind him when you talk about him. And now you fast forward to the last days of 2018, and they are a real threat in the AFC. This is going to be a great AFC playoff. And we talked about it on Thursday. It's a great wildcard weekend. Every matchup is really good.

The Steelers were a team that absolutely could hang with any of these teams. They missed the playoffs. That's how many quality teams are in the AFC. It's not the Texans fault that they lost Demarius Thomas. They lost Will Fuller. Their offensive line is back to playing very poorly again. And you can say this about the Colts at several stages throughout the season. when they were banged up.

But right now, the Colts have a stronger team than the Texans. Well, they, and they just won in Houston. I mean, that was probably the key win of their entire season

was, what was that, three weeks ago when they won in Houston right around the point where, you know, started wondering if the Colts could finish this off. I remember those articles

a couple years ago where it was like, AFC South Rising. This is the division of the, like, the young quarterbacks and the good team. And it's like.

Wish casting back then. It didn't exactly happen, but here we are. How many years did Mark write that? I wrote that moment. I wrote that until at one point, I had to sit down, like, at the owner's meeting with Chuck Pagano, who got very annoyed with me when I pointed out that the AFC South continually gets hype and underperforms, and he did not like that at all. Well, it took a little while,

but here we got Deshaun Watson. We got an AFC South game kicking off the playoffs, Textivis, and we got DeShon Watson and Andrew Luck, two quarterbacks I'm thrilled to see in the playoffs. And we have a fraught relationship, obviously, with Titans fans, but here's the thing. Titans. We. Titunes. There's no. wiggle room here you had your first encounter with the cults you lost 38 to 10 and then tonight 33 to 17 neither game in question for more than maybe three or four minutes total take care of your own business yeah and it's another long offseason titans fans of hearing me say that word that you hate so much i think they have a lot to be proud of they played hard all year they exceeded expectations had some good

coaching staff don't matter it's over they need to get some playmakers They don't have enough difference makers on both sides. It's a very like a roster that's very middle the road, not bad, not good at a lot of positions. All right. So here's what's coming up on the around the NFL podcast and related properties. Tomorrow Monday will be a double header. We'll do our Twitter show, which will be a really good show. If you haven't checked it out yet, check it out because we're going to have Mike Garifolos on the show to talk about Black Monday.

We're also going to have move the sticks. I didn't, I wasn't responsible for the booking on this, but Daniel, Maramaya is going to be on the show. So that's going to be fun. That's our Twitter show at 4.30 Eastern, 1.30 Pacific. And then we will also tape a special, very special around the NFL podcast, Black Friday edition, where we go through all the comings and goings of the coaches. We'll also have shows on Wednesday and Thursday, which will be act as our wild card round preview show. Sounds pretty good, right?

We're busy. Cranking. Cranking content. That's what it's about. 2018 content Keep grinding Sessler Grind 30 Mark I am enjoying myself

And it's the end of another regular season Mark our ninth at this company How about that? Yeah I mean Tall order to get to 10 But we've done nine Something certainly will sweep us out of here By the end of next year

Will we make it to 10 All four of us Yes One of us will be taken out Okay No I'm kidding I think all four of us will No that was the first thing you said

Is probably what will happen That's a horrible way to end I don't like that You said it I don't believe that Stan Hans said it I hate that you said it but you said it well it's Greg sorry Greg signing up for Quiet Storm the mailman the old boss and Ricky Hollywood behind the glass till Monday This is an IHeart podcast.