NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2019 Week 13 Recap

Episode Date: December 2, 2019

A room filled with heroes - Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler, Chris Wesseling and Gregg Rosenthal recap each of the games from week 13 including the game of the year between the 49ers and Ravens, (2:20) the Steelers beating the Browns (23:20) and the Dolphins romp over the Eagles (38:29). As always, they end the show with a recap of the Sunday night game between the Texans and Patriots. (01:18:14)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. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Around the NFL podcast has plenty of arm talent. Welcome to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by the United States Marine Corps. My name is Dan Hansis. I'm joined in a room filled with heroes.

Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, Greg Rosenthal. what is up boys Hey Dan You know what I was just saying before the show And I'll repeat it here We were talking right before the show Started Kai Ford Beth

Back in the league Kicking for the Patriots tonight And we were trying to remember Who he's played with Over his Distinguished NFL career And then Wes made a comment And now he kicks

For the future division round losing Patriots Which made me reflect On what's been a terrible NFL season Yet another one for me Almost every year I've worked here has been just lost embarrassing jet seasons. But what I get out of this season, no matter what, even if the Patriots win another Super Bowl,

Wes off Patriots corner, off the hill, and he is on the right side of history now. And for that, I'm grateful as we exit the Thanksgiving season. I don't know about right side of history. We'll see about that. Right. I mean, it would be great to kind of button up this point by saying, and he got his lock right by picking against the Patriots.

But we're going to have to tease that result at the very end of the show. Although people will, well... I get it. Whatever. But it's nice, Wes. I love having you with me. I'm happy to be of service in your court. All right, thanks, buddy.

All right. And Mark's headphones are off. That's fine. That's all right. We have your sound drop anyway, so we have you covered. If there was ever a football Sunday where you could... I'd have no problem with you just dropping me off stage left. That would be this one.

Hey, like the Browns today. His microphone didn't show up, you know? Oh. Way down, yeah. It's not inaccurate. All right. So a lot to get to week 13. And yes, as we said,

this season has now started. Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick taught us. So let's get into games as now we, it's the mad fight begins for playoff positioning and teams trying to get in the back door of the playoffs. It's a lot of fun this time of year. So why don't we start with perhaps the game of the year and a Super Bowl preview? Justin Tucker. for the winner from 49 yards.

Snap is good. Kick on the way. It is long enough. And the kick is good. The time has come off the clock. The haze and the barn. And the Ravens take down the 49ers. And this house is on fire.

As the Ravens celebrated midfield, Justin Tucker, his 15th game-winning field goal. And Thanksgiving weekend in Baltimore ends with one more a thing to be thankful for. Oh, Jerry Sandusky. Oh, yeah. The party is raging at Kicker Club, and we ain't going home

till the sun comes up. Justin Tucker, we call him King Leg, kicked a tie-breaking 49-yard field goal through the cold and the wind and the rain as time expired, giving the Ravens a 2017 win over the Niners. West, the Ravens, had been nuking teams with bombs dropped from above during their epic winning streak. On Sunday, we saw him win in a street fight.

I think this game delivered. It was not some kind of scoring bonanza, but it delivered with coaches going for it aggressively on fourth down, with George Kittle blocking his butt off, with Fred Warner continuing to play, like Greg said, as well as any defensive player in the league over the past few weeks. and then Lamar Jackson in a game where he didn't pass much and had nothing really going downfield. His ball handling and play fakes were magic and freed up lots of room in a running game for him and the other backs.

It was a fun game to watch, and I don't think we come out of this saying definitively the Ravens are the best team in football. These were two even teams, and they had the better kicker today. And they controlled the end of the game situation better. You're right, there was very little separate. these two teams. I think it said to the rest of the league, not that we need a reminder, but the Ravens aren't just going to steamroll every great team along the way. I think the 49ers

did so many things well in this game, some long drives against the Ravens. They force a turnover against Lamar Jackson in terms of a lost fumble, which you don't see very much. Good fourth down decisions that they convert, but it comes down to the end of the game where they don't pick up a fourth and one, where a play is batted down the Ravens hit Jimmy Garoppolo's play. And then the Ravens control the ball for the last six and a half minutes of the game. And that is Ravens football. And that is Lamar Jackson at his best. And it wasn't pretty, but maybe that is his MVP moment.

Because on a day where he couldn't throw the ball very well, he goes three for three on that drive in tough conditions for 32 yards. And he picks up two other first downs with his legs, including a fourth and one. And in short-yarded situations, he's just the number one weapon in the league. you've seen Baltimore look vulnerable to any degree. It's because teams in the past, and it's not a week-to-week thing, have been able to run on them. And that in the Niners' strength showed up today with Rahim Mastard 146 yards, 7.7 yards per carry. And it was George Kiddell playing that role where, like, it wasn't just the big play catches. He is a physical nightmare to deal with in opening holes and a

huge part of that ground game. I just, I'm impressed with the fact that the Niners, because had they been wiped out, you have to look at this entire league and say, no one's going to stop this rumbling train of Baltimore. And this was a weather game. We've seen these three weeks in a row with playoff contenders where weather has almost, I think, clouded what you could really say you saw. Clouded weather, nice. There we are. Reduced both teams to such a degree. But the Ravens, man, they are, when you look back on a Super Bowl-type season, if it happens, it's this kind of a game right here. Got to win games like this. It's not always going to be as easy as it's been recently. And yeah, and ho-hum, Lamar Jackson runs for 100 yards. And it's just like, you know,

you can't just look at him in, oh, he had 125 passing yards. He is that complete player that we really have rarely seen in the history of the game. I would imagine he's got to be getting close to 1,000 yards now. We are about his final stats are going to look like nothing we've ever seen before. He's the first quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game four times in a season. I think by the end of the first quarter, they had already broken their season. franchise record for most touchdowns in a year. This guy's just amazing, and there's still four games to go, and he's got all these records. Right.

He should break, or he could break Michael Vick's rushing record in the season next week. I think he's less than 60 yards away from that already. And the rest of the running game was quiet. It was Mark Ingram for 59 yards. But I do think on a day where you couldn't throw it very well down the field, Garoppolo and Lamar Jackson, Both, I think, were helped out by the receivers making good plays for them on passes that were just a little bit off, and I think that is where the weather came into effect. If you run at the ball that much on a day against the 49ers,

so I know I've given up some yards on the ground, but 38 runs against them is imposing their will to win that way in 2019. Ronnie Stanley and Marshall Yonda and Brown on the rights. I mean, they are just as good as any offensive line in the league. And when Lamar did drop back to pass, and I know they didn't light it up, There weren't big plays to be had by the 49ers defensive line. They kept Lamar pretty clean, and there were no big time turnovers where Nick Bosa changes the game.

He didn't touch Lamar once. I'd say this, though, San Francisco, and it's a tough loss, you cannot afford another mistake. You play the Saints in New Orleans next week, and that Seahawks team is hanging out there in Week 17. They could wind up as a wildcard team if things went the wrong way, and that would be very disappointing. Well, this game was so massive, you know, for the home.

advantage race. Obviously, Ravens are battling the Patriots. And then the 49ers, it's going to be between them and the Saints who they play next week and the Seahawks. And you can even throw the Packers and Vikings in there, but they're kind of playing from behind. They still have a chance, but this is a game that if they could have pulled this out somehow, they would have been in much better position. San Francisco managed just 119 yards and three points after halftime. And circling back to Tucker, I do think he's a Hall of Fame player. I think that What we saw and Robbie Gould on the other side of the field, and I know he hasn't been healthy this season,

so maybe that factors in. But he attempts a 51-yarder that lands halfway up through the end zone. He fell, you know, 5, 6, 7 yards short of the crossbar. And then you see Justin Tucker just split the uprights in those conditions with those stakes. And he has made 38 consecutive field goal attempts in the fourth quarter in his career. he's just I mean I joke around about kickers a lot but we're witnessing greatness with Tucker

and he's only been in league eight years he's going to be around for a lot longer than that didn't he have a missed PAT a couple weeks ago that had him on our radar and everyone was thinking maybe you know he's shifted away it's been a bad year for kickers and Tucker's missed a couple kicks he hasn't been as invincible as he was during that like

2014 to 2017 stretch when they were winning games like 14 to 11 and they needed him to be total Robitron but he's still the best and he showed it again. And he got, oh, we have actually some Tucker sound. I also like this about Tucker. He's got a little swag as a kicker. They can go bad, but not him. I feel like in the spirit of my teammates who have been up here to talk to you guys last few weeks, I should say something like real inspiring. Like, big trust. And I'll open it up for questions.

Sounds like one of us saying that. Hey, he's a dude. I think John Horrible and Bill Belichick probably are the best special teams coaches among head coaches. They're the most steeped in special teams and each of them in the past year has called him the greatest kicker of all time. Yeah, he's the greatest we've seen. What was that was?

Oh, yes. Well, what is with this entire show is just completely going out of the roundups. I do think we can criticize Kyle Shanahan a little bit for having a shotgun pass on fourth and one on the key play of the game when you're running for 6.7 yards per carry and he said he would do it again

because the Ravens, you know, they put a ton of people up front and that's what they do. But he said he wishes he called a different play. I also hated how conservative and afraid he called the end of the first half, but that's the Lamar Jackson effect. They really did not go for three points at the end of the first half when gold ended up being short, which is very un-Kyle Shanahan-like to be so conservative because I think they

were just trying to prevent Lamar Jackson from getting the ball again and that three points cost them. All right, let's move on a game played with big stakes regarding the AFC West. Shotgun this time for car. Slant patterned intercepted at the 40, 35. Coming to the inside, it's one Thornton Hill. 10, 5. Touchdown.

Kansas City. A pick six by the rookie from Virginia. A slant intercepted by one Thornhill in return for 47 yards. Mitch Holtus, Chiefs Radio Network with the call. Yes, the rookies pick six in the second quarter turned Sunday's game into a lapper for the Chiefs, who took control of the AFC West with a 40 to 9 win over the Raiders at Arrowhead. And it was a weird game. I have to say, so 40 to 9, it sounds like, oh, typical Chiefs shenanigans

where they just overwhelm an opponent with their great quarterback in that offense. But they scored 40 points in a game in which Mahomes, Patrick Mahomes, through for 175 yards. Their leading rusher, Darwin Thompson, ran for 44 yards. In fact, Kansas City was outgained 32 to 259 by the Raiders, and yet they still coast to victor. I would love to, maybe I'll reach out to the L.A. researcher team and make sure they don't get to see their kids tonight and find out if a team has ever scored 40 points, had a

40 burger with that few, that amount of total yards. Anyway, two major factors. The Chiefs didn't commit a turnover or a penalty. And the Raiders had three turnovers and 12 penalties for 99 yards. So you add it all up the jumble pieces. You could figure out how this happened. But it wasn't your typical 40 to 9 victory. It's worth keeping an eye on the Chief's offense to see when they start clicking again like they did last year.

And last year, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Kelsey played all 16. games together this year. This was only the third game they've completed together all year. And I think that factors into why they haven't been in rhythm. And maybe we'll see some Darwin Thompson going forward. He looked good in the preseason and part of it was Darrell Williams got hurt and they're just Damian Williams was hurt coming into the game. And you're right, it's hard to get on their offense when they win 40 to 9. But Mahomes runs for that touchdown and that was a key play of the game. Just like in the Chargers game, kind of because he's needed to because they haven't had a great rhythm. But I think

if you're a Chiefs fan, it's all positive that they can win games in different sort of ways, and this Raiders team is falling apart a little bit. But this Chief's secondary is tough to throw on. And they the fact that they can win games like that where Juan Thornhill is making a big play in Honey Badger

back there, that's a pretty good safety combination. It just gives them more options of routes to victory and this was a different one. They had eight guys with a rushing attempt, Kansas City. I mean, it's like they're banged up. Go ahead, Dan. Yeah, that Patrick Mahomes touchdown run, 13 yards, came after an interception was taken off the board by the Raiders. It was challenged and turned to pass interference, which was John Gruden said after the game was, you know, they got burned by the Wizard of Oz.

So that was, and it was a bit of a questionable call in it, and I'm not saying it changed the trajectory of this game, but it's another example of all these little things that added up to create 40 to 9. I do wonder, you know, they made the right choice organizationally, obviously, without question, to move on from Kareem Hunt. But you just look at the player and wonder what this team would be with him at Running Back, who's looked really good for Cleveland, because they've never really, they've had production, but they've never really figured out that role since. And that's been a very inconsistent kind of clown car this season for them. And that affects, you know, the guys coming who aren't getting reps, they're not hot, they're not the hot hands. I want to be in the clown car, especially not an inconsistent one. I mean, you like the consistent cloud cars a little bit. They're offering more.

And if we're going to talk clown cars in this game, we should be talking about the Raiders then, because they don't, they no show against the Jets. And we saw what happened with the Jets today. So just, you know, keep that in perspective to get beat up and pushed around the way they did at the Meadowlands. And then they go on the road and I yak this one. I thought this would be a close game on Thursday.

I talked about that they would bounce back and show some fight. But no, it might be a situation where the Raiders, you know, kind of peaked. and they're one of those teams that are a fun story until you get to around Thanksgiving when quote unquote the season starts and then, you know, the force of gravity takes hold. I still think there'll be a tough team to beat in their building,

but it's six and six now. What can you really expect going forward? Well, they play three, four, and eight teams in the last three weeks of the season, which makes next week home game against Tennessee kind of a dirt nap game, at least for the Raiders, I think. If you're the Raiders, you have to win that game because they're falling behind in the race.

And Derek Carr, you know, he's going to have to wait to get another chance to prove he can win in cold weather. The numbers in cold weather are terrible, and they got worse today. And Jack Del Rio, his former coach, got on him during the week, and that became like a big story. And Carr took offense saying, hey, that's a team game. You know, I don't think it's all on me. But for what it's worth, it's just, they're just facts. Facts are facts. The Bengals and Dolphins are the only two AFC teams with a worst point differential in the race.

this year. Not over the last couple of weeks. Yeah, the last couple of weeks, nobody has a worse point than for it. Speaking of the Tennessee Titans, it's time now for the Road to Victory presented by the United States Marine Corps. Venetary, 46-yard field goal left hash for the lead. Snap, set, kick, block. Ty Smith has it.

50, 40, 30, 20, 20. 20, 10, 5, end zone. Touchdown, Titans. Ty Smith to the house. It's the first time since 2001 when Big Ford, Henry Ford, blocked it in Detroit. That was 293 games ago. Oh, my. Mike Keith, what a flex.

That's why you keep Mike Keith around. With a nugget in the big spot in the middle of the call. I feel like he practiced that on Saturday, but fair enough. That was excellent. Titans Radio Network called the Krukshank Redemption. Dane Krookshank. Crash the inside gap, blocking a potential game-tying field goal. Tye Smith scoops it up, 63 yards at a half.

This is the biggest play in the Titans' 31-17 win over the cults. The game that had huge ramifications in the AFC Southwest. The Titans are surging, and I know you're a bit. believer. The race for the AFC South Crown is a battle to survive fatal flaws. The Colts fatal flaws is the kicking game. They missed three kicks

again today, two of which were blocked. And the fact that their weapons attrition has taken care of them really, their top five offensive weapons before the season started are all out in this game. Wow. They're throwing to Zach Pascal who had a really good game and

Jack Doyle, but not much beyond that. And then the The Titans fatal flaw is an offensive line that's been a problem all year. Tana Hill was sacked six times, five of those in the first half. The Titans could not contain the Colts defense for most of this game. And there was a time of possession issue that made it seem like every time I look up, Derek Henry's rushing for a first down, but the Titans never have the ball after that. He now, Derek Henry, last 16 games, he has rushed for 725 yards and 20 total touchdowns.

and the last player to rush for that many yards and that many touchdowns over a 16-game span was Chris Johnson. You said 1,700? 1,725 yards. This guy is a legit star right now, and he's averaging 165 yards in the last three games, all of which are Titans' victory. And they've pumped it up through the air a little bit more

with Tanna Hill at quarterback, and some of the big plays have, you know, appeared. But a lot of Derek Henry's production has come when you don't trust any of the receivers, and you're stacking the boxes against him, and he's doing it week after week. There were two huge blocked field goals in this game, too. I mean, you talked about special teams earlier. I thought that one of them changed the complexion of this game entirely.

And the Colts, 24 straight points given up. I feel you can kind of see... I like the Colts. I like the coaching, but the injuries are racked up. They're drifting away from us in this playoff picture to some degree. They have a killer loss to Pittsburgh earlier in the year. Well, I sometimes think about these games as margin for error. And the Titans just have so much...

had so much more margin for error in this game. They fall behind early. Tannehill has a turn. There's a couple turnovers early, but they can survive that, whereas the Colts cannot survive Jacoby Brissette throwing a terrible interception, which he did, which helped to turn this game around. It's like they need to play perfect. I think Titans fans were frustrated for much of this game

that Frank Reich is out coaching them. But ultimately, you know, you're Brissette, and you're throwing to Marcus Johnson, you're throwing to someone named Ashton Doolan from a place called Malone University. Never heard of Malone. I was a painting student. Randy Travis is at Tite End. He came from the Country Music Award.

Ross Travis. I don't know what's going on. Hey, leave him alone. Greg likes country. They sound like they're like two days away from signing Jordan Matthews, it sounds like. It's rough. I'm just saying the Titans have a little bit of juice, a little bit of firepower. They do.

They're fun to watch right now. And Tanna Hill is playing really well. You know, despite all those sacks, which I don't think were on him, they were on the offensive line. He's still making big throws into tight windows and then a great throw with a 40-yard touchdown to Kleefe Raymond to put the game out of reach late. The Titans era ended when Marcus Marriota was benched. They just feel like a different team now.

Look at you. They just feel, I don't feel anything. There's no animosity towards that organization or the fan base. It never was. I just hated watching Marcus Marietta. And I don't think Ryan Tanhill is a star, but I just think at this time with this team at this moment, he's performing in a very high level and they're fun to watch.

Although they kind of still are like, the Mike Mularky Titans. I mean, Tannahill was 17 for... Minus the ability to block. Yeah, 17 for 22 today. Every Tannahill game is like 16 for 20. Which is great. You know, you're super efficient. It's Derek Henry running. You're playing it close to the vest, but it is working.

That was a time of possession issue. They lost two fumbles early and then the sacks. I mean, I don't know if that was a philosophy issue as much as just this game turned out that way. And also, Wes, you mentioned on Thursday's show that Tana Hill was a candidate for the franchise tag. I don't know where you're reporting. came from. But that was followed up this morning with additional reporting suggesting that that's how the Titans think too. Well, let's get to the bottom of this. Was that your reporting? Sometimes things that are easily deduced don't need to be reported. We can all reach a sensible conclusion without inside information. There you go. And, you know, speaking of Marcus Marriota,

not to pile on, but Delaney Walker went to IR with an ankle injury. This part of the thing that annoyed me about the Titans era, as soon as something would happen like, this, like, well, that's why. If they just had Delaney Walker, they'd be okay. But you know what, bad luck. No, look, the Titans can still survive and thrive on offense, even if they lose players. It doesn't have to be a perfect situation. Well, certain quarterbacks, I don't know what it is, seem to have excuses made for them left and right until they literally leave the league. Also, Jonu Smith is better than Delaney Walker this year anyway, so it wasn't a loss. And that was the Road to Victory presented by

United States Marine Corps, the real heroes. All right, let's move right along. Mark, here we go. Here we go. He gets a snap. throws a pass, and the pass is intercepted, and that's Joe Hayden, the former Brown. He's at the 45, he's at the 50,

he takes a dive at the 45, and you can put this one into history books. What a fitting end for Joe Hayden, the former Brown, the former number one pick. The ball was intended for the grounds receiver in the middle of the field. And that was Landry. And the Steelers played takeaway.

And Hinesfield is in a frenzy. Bill Hillgrove with the Call Steelers Radio Network. Seated next to Markleas. I'll paraphrase. You said something along the lines, Markup, oh, it had to be Hayden. Anyway, Hayden's interception, Baker Mayfield, the final minutes of the game, deciding to play the Steelers a 20 to 13 win over the Browns at Heinzfield. Pittsburgh started the season with three straight losses.

We'll enter the final quarter of the season in the sixth and final playoff position in the AFC. On Sunday, they got some revenge on the Browns mark. To me, it is a microcosm of what has been wrong with Cleveland, and we'll get off Cleveland quick and get to Pittsburgh, the much more encouraging team here. The Browns got out hot and had a yardage advantage of 147 to 9, and this was not minutes into the game.

They built a time of possession advantage because they were running the ball at will on Pittsburgh and having their way through the air with Jarvis Landry, 17 plus minutes to under five for Pittsburgh. And I thought they have figured out how to finally come in and hammer with their talent, lesser teams, which on paper, the Steelers on offense certainly are. And it is unbelievable to me how out-coached

and how classed Cleveland was in the second half of this game. Duck Hodges deserves an absolute ton of credit for the chemistry that he built on a touchdown to James Washington, who had big plays all day, that changed this game. And they went on to 20 straight unanswered points, Pittsburgh, because they were using guys like Jalen Samuels out of the Wildcat to keep Duck Hodges out of trouble at points. The Brown's pass rust dried up with some injuries. Guys like Benny Snell and Baker Mayfield had a killer fumble. And at one point, you just looked at them for 20 straight minutes. They could not move the ball. And Freddie Kitchens, I like the guy.

I like the person. I have no issue with the fact that, you know, it takes a while as a head coach to learn how to do this. It doesn't happen in two minutes. But Mike Tomlin, for everyone who wants to get on him for the late season losses in Pittsburgh, this was a signature type of Mike Tomlin win where you just felt Pittsburgh becoming and morphing into the tougher team against a Cleveland team that started to feel all the old ghosts around it. And so it was absolutely appropriate that Joe Hayden of all people, the ex-Brown, I used to know what that felt like, cap this thing. And Cleveland season is over. I don't really care about the math involved at this point

because this is what they do in games. They will find a way to lose two more of these, one of them against the Bengals. I'm telling you right now, and it's going to be a really, really long night of questioning inside that building whether or not you keep this head coach. They've proven this is in their DNA for 2019, the Freddie Kitchens, Browns.

And forget Big Ben, Antonio Brown, Lev Bell. Those guys are long gone. This offense was playing without Juju Smith, the number one receiver, James Connor, the number one running back, Marquis Pouncy, one of the best centers in the league. And they beat a Brown's team that's more talented. And that's been the story of the Brown season. Absolutely.

I mean, this is where it goes back, I think, where, like, organizations win. Yeah. You know, it's unfortunate for Mark and Browns fan, but organizations, ownership, everything sets up for, like, a win like this, where Benny Snell out gains Nick Chubb and Vance McDonald, No, to Beckham kind of have the same, you know, stat line and the Steelers can somehow recover from all of those injuries. Just seems like, because there is so much talent on this team, and Miles Garrett will be back

next year, they just need to clean it up a little bit. And, you know, I know it's not a big deal, but Jarvis Landry and Beckham leave the locker room without talking to reporters. It's just like, I don't know. Who's running that team? I don't know. Who's running the team? And I don't, it doesn't see.

And maybe that is, and this is one of the things we thought before the season, the possibility that all the personalities won't mix. the right way. Maybe with a stronger head coach, it works. Maybe these are the type of players that won't respond to a stern head coach either. These are all things that need to be worked out in Cleveland, but they have a lot of work to do. I mean, because we did say, like, what is this? Their seventh loss. And I get where your frustration is coming from, Mark, obviously, because this is a tough game. They're not out of the mix. They can get hot. But what have we seen from this year that says they will? Because all the talent in the world doesn't matter if you're an inconcinctly.

They're not a playoff team and they're not going to make the playoffs. Like I, I, I, I, understand the mathematical side. It's the little things to tack on to what you just mentioned, that safety Demarius Randall is not even brought to the game. And no one quite knows why there were some safety issues. He maybe received, I don't know, some threats or something. Freddy Kitchens is photographed with a fan wearing a, you know, Pittsburgh started at T-shirt. And it was given to him by his daughters on his birthday. So it's like, okay, let's not make a huge deal out of that. But you wear it inside the house, buddy. Yeah, it's just a non-stop issues. And like, you know, I, this was one week, and Dan, you were feeling it with the Jets, the optimism for the first time in years,

and I tweeted out some real strong stuff, and I was like, why is my feet? Well, my feet is blowing up today because I appropriately annoyed the Steelers fan base, and they seemed to be a strong-willed group, and good for them. But it got retweeted. It got retweeted midday, I found out by old takes exposed, because that's what you do if you're a fan. It's like a billion, oh, so I got it out of Twitter guy. Yes, and it's blowing up, and it's like, I'm not going to go on Twitter for three weeks, and it's, you know what? I started it. I'll deal with it. I got respect. I I got respect to you, Mark, because I saw it's not really in your nature to use that type of bravado. And yet you were confident and you were feeling it.

But it did. And I let you know this during the game. I sensed it as I was driving to work. I was like, oh, God, if Mark doesn't win after those comments, it was like dropping a comprehensive bomb upon Steelers station or whatever. I was like, these fans, and Mark has a big enough Twitter bomb. That's Sessler one. It's coming back at him hard. And that's going to compound and annoying.

But to your credit mark, I think your spirits have been in a good place. Your spirits are better now than when much worse, Brown's teams lost games that didn't matter. This is who they've been, so it's not a surprise. If you start out hot and then you crumble, that's one thing. This is who they've been. One note on the Steelers. They've won six of seven games now. They are rolling.

And I don't know how good their offense is going to be. I don't know how much staying power Duck Hodges has. But the way they turn this around and the balls to go get Minka Fitzpatrick, they've been a top two or three defense since that trade. At seven and five, they now look like a very possible playoff team. They're going to host the bills in two weeks, which will be a big one for them, and they have to go to the Ravens.

But for the Steelers, this was just as big, obviously, a game for the Steelers. And now they have a legitimate shot to go get that six seed. And they beat those cults, so they've got tiebreaker action. And now, Wes, it's been about four or five hours. I teased this earlier in the day, but I had a compliment coming your way. Okay.

And now the time has come for me to deliver that compliment. Okay. Good job scouting Mason Rudolph's failures. Thank you. And now this is where you're just feeling it. You're the guy that hits on 17 at the blackjack table and gets 21. Duck Hodges, who you were calling for, which just felt like it felt almost unfair to Mason Rudolph. He played a really good game.

Once he got warmed up, it's so clear that this guy should have been in before he came into to the Steelers' offense. So my compliment to you, sir, is that you have diagnosed this beautifully and I love you because of it. Well, thank you. That makes up for the other... That makes up for the other team in this game,

which I spent all offseason raving about Odell Beckham and Baker-Mayfield laying waste to defenses. So you get some of them right and you get some of them wrong. But I do think Duck Hodges, what this team needed was a quarterback who won't throw the game away, won't mess up, has some sense of rhythm and timing, which was missing. I mostly just like Dan's trend towards not wanting to have any genuine human interaction

outside the podcast. He wants to save it all for on air. Eventually, we'll only speak to Dan on the podcast. That's like what Warren Beatty said to Madonna in her documentary. Now you're Warren. Now you're Warren. I get where this is going. You inspired the song you're so vain.

I can't even go on. Let's move on. It's like, no, not at all, but all right. Let's go. Empty back field for Allen takes the snap. Allen, under some heat. Alan, looking, looking, backpedaling, giving up guardage, gets hit, it's down, and the Redskins going to win it.

It was Bostic who knocked it out as Alan gave up guardage all the way back to the 30-yard line. 14 seconds to go, and the Redskins defense gets the job done. Larry Michael, uh, Chris Cooley. What's wrong with Cooley? Turn it up in my headphones. Ugh. Cool. Copy.

Where are you going, Kyle Allen? Turn it up. The Panthers quarterback scampered. Too loud. Someone's in peril. The Panthers quarterback scampered 23 yards behind the line of scrimmage. That sound you hear. That sound you hear is tens of thousands of people clicking into the Mark Maren podcast.

Nice sack Scamper 23 yards Thank you to everyone Taking drugs that is staying with us We appreciate you 23 yards behind the line of scrimmage Before Chris Odom Knocked the ball from his hands

It was a profoundly Unsuccessful fourth in goal try For the Carolina Panthers And it allowed the Redskins To escape with a 26 to 18 win That is two straight wins For the Washington Football Club

And listen and we all know it. Dwayne Haskins is developing and he's developing photos from his selfie binge, but he's also developing as a young rookie and he needs help. I mean, he needs help

just like any other rookie quarterback needs help and he hasn't been getting much of it on a bad Redskins team. Today he did because, especially from their running game, Adrian Peterson and Darius Geis combined for 258 yards, three touchdowns.

Geis especially, and this is something you really wanted to see because he's a talented young player that's had injury issues. He was running angry in this game. And I mean that as a compliment, angry runs, Kyle Brandt style. He had runs of 38 and 60 yards, two touchdowns. Mark, you'll like to know that Adrian Peterson moved one step closer to Walter Peyton on the all-time touchdown list. He had a score. You tracking this has saved a lot of work for me. I appreciate it. Yes. So the Redskins did a nice job and their offensive line deserves a lot of credit for that as well.

And on the Panthers side of the ball, you know, they blow a 14-0 lead in this game. And I know they kind of cooked their goose because of Joey Sly's misses against the Saints last week. So maybe this game didn't have a ton of importance at 5 and 6, but now they're 5 and 7, and they're riding a four-game losing streak, and they have a losing record at home. And the owner came out 10 days ago and said, I will not stand for mediocrity. And they are the very picture of mediocrity in the NFL right now. and that's all a long way of saying that in a league where they fire an hour league

where they fire a quarter of the coaches every January, Ron Rivera is cooked. And I don't even know if it should be because of his quarterback play. It should be because he switched to a 3-4 defense in the offseason and they run some hybrid. They're not strictly one thing or another, but they entered this game 31st and run defense DVOA and got worked over today. Their run defense went from decent, not terrible, to one of the worst in the NFL, and they've been reasonably healthy all year.

Well, they lost Kwan short, which was huge. Right, but not known as a monster run defender, he's a pass rusher. No, and they lose on Terry Poe, and you watched Darius Geis go 10 for 29, Peterson go 13 for 99, the Redskins run for 248. I mean, that's the type of team

that Ron Rivera wishes that the Panthers could be, and you assume in some weeks, of course, Christian McCaffrey does run that well, but today he was held down 14 for 44 on the ground. And it's surprising. This Bill Callahan, we're just going to run the ball 50 times. We don't care what happens. Hey, it's gotten them a few wins here.

It works three out of 12 times. I mean, you know, well, what was Calhant? He entered in week five, what at 0 and 4? So, you know, he's like three and five. Three and four. He's doing all right. Coach of the year? If Brian Flores is in Coach of the Year,

candidacy, like some people are trying to say, why not Bill Callahan, three and five? But I get the Ron Rivera might be on his way out. You have to make sure you're going to find a better coach because most of these guys come in and they don't work. And Ron Rivera, it does seem like it's an every other year thing, but Ron Rivera will find another job. I don't know if that's a reason not to fire a little.

Right. I hear you, but it's not every other year, though, because the defense the last two years has been bad, and that's his defense. I think also when you're riding with a rookie quarterback, I think it's easy to forget that Kyle Allen is a young quarterback that is like learning on the job still, that we want him to be productive all the way.

Because of the good early looks he gave, it's like you're just going to keep that going. Like the growing pains are real. It's similar to, we've heard calls for John Harbaugh's job. We've heard calls for Mike Tomlin's job over the last couple years. Those teams stayed with them. And to me, Ron Rivera is a similar type of coach to those guys. Nate Orchard, the line.

backer of the Redskins, who was picked up this week, made two game-saving type of defensive plays in this game. And he had just been signed. And Redskins reporter asked him about it after. Then he broke down crying, like, what it meant for him. And it reminds you, like, in these games that we think are dog games, and they are. We didn't want to watch them or whatever. Like, someone's life is changing. And it can mean an awful lot. And it was clear to him who had been out of the league as recently as a few days ago, like what that experience meant to him. Much less Darius Geiss, who's been through total hell. Way to put it in perspective, Greg.

Yeah. I knew that I was going to get on Dan's radar on that comment. You're wearing this sweater in a paternal way. You got to watch a little orchard interview. It'll break you down, Dan. We need some sentimental music behind that. Cold heart like yours. Can we do that?

So we put some sentimental music line in close. There we go. All right. You're a copper. Let us. Skoll Island. Let's move on. They're going to fake this thing.

Elsewhere. tankville is spread all over the field five to the left four to the right they run it touchdown unbelievable it was sanders ted hawk they've never seen that before jimmy sepulone that man's seen a lot bob greasy and joe rose the dolphins radio network called the miami special how about that eagles build a statue Holder. Matt Hack. Through an underhead, one-yard touchdown pass.

I think his name is Hack. I think it's Hawk. Matt Hawk. Let's not call the man a hack. I mean, H-A-A-C-K? It is, I have it on strong authority that is Matt Hawk. Tomato. Tomato.

Okay. To Sanders, a brilliant bit of trickery by the dolphins. 37-31, they go on to win over the fading eagles who kick away a gold an opportunity to pull into a tie in the brutal NFC East Mark. The Dolphins also got great performances out of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Devante Parker. It's their third

win in five weeks. Tank this. Yeah, they're just not that team that's tanking. It's like they're they have been what you talk about Brian Flores as coach of the year and it's maybe it's oversold. Who is talking about that, but I saw a couple of tweets about

it that he deserves consideration. I even saw some writers saying and that that's just like, okay, he's doing a great job. Job well done. Isn't that enough? No one's, forget the award business, but it's an improbable coaching job by him. Doing a great job. And I think it gives you, well, there's a lot of teams that are kind of hanging around

in this mediocre center world. And I think the one thing Dolphins fans have is, you know, this can change your dear, but we can look at our coach and say he's aggressive. He is not afraid to go out, cook up trick plays that are bizarre. And he will hit you with an on-sides kick, and he'll do it again. doesn't work because he believes in taking every possible advantage. And we look at Pittsburgh, the roster that Miami's dealing with and what they produced today, 400 plus yards on an Eagles defense that fell apart down the stretch.

They helped the, the Phillies defense got them up early with an interception that gave Carson Wentz a short field for a touchdown. Then they stopped them inside the 50 yard line for make it 10-0. The dolphins did not give up at that point. 10-0 didn't matter. They got down 28 to 14. it didn't matter. And Devante Parker's career game had a lot to do with the Eagle's secondary, giving Ryan Fitzpatrick big open spaces to keep testing them. And the dolphins cannot run the ball

and everyone knows it. And they have nothing in the backfield. And they kept making huge plays through the air. And you asked about Carson Wentz, I don't know if this is a game where I can come away saying that he is a totally changed guy because he had one interception, but the mess from last week went away that happened in bad weather. I don't think having him throw the ball 46 times is the right way to be using Carson Wentz at this point on this team. Alshan Jeffrey made a good difference with them today, but they don't have the parts for that.

He's not the Carson Wentz of a couple years ago with what's around him right now. Well, this is troubling for the Eagles that you have a good offensive day and you think you've got a rising defense. And you give up 37 points to a Dolphins team that had their running backs at eight carries for 10 yards through three quarters. They gave up touchdowns on five straight possessions. The Miami Dolphins did. So the Miami Dolphins did to the Eagles

what the Ravens were doing on Monday night to the Rams. The Miami Dolphins didn't score their fifth offensive touchdown until week seven this year. And they went up and down the field with Ryan Fitzpatrick and no running game. If nothing else, I think it gives you some confidence in their coordinator, Chad O'Shea, who we haven't mentioned his name the whole season.

He's never called a play in his life in the NFL. he's done a great job like focusing on their strengths and finding a way to put together an NFL offense. It's amazing. And isn't it just the sign of a mediocre to bad team, which the Eagles have been this season? When you fix one thing, another spring and more waters pouring into the ship

because it's been the defense that's been keeping them in games as this offense has went into a tailspin, the offense finally springs back to life, and it's the defense that kills them. And yeah, they will regret this game, and this is not a Super Bowl team anyway, so let's not get too crazy about them losing this game. They're a deeply flawed team.

But when you have the Cowboys licking their wounds and in total crisis, and you get to watch it on Thanksgiving, and then you go to Miami and lose. I mean, that is a tough pill to swallow. It has to be the lowest point for Doug Peterson. Because when they went out of the playoffs last year, that was on a high note where you did a lot

with a little and Nick Fulz, a quarterback. And this is one where you're questioning everything at this point. This game is a great one. for my, the talent is not that different, Chris Wessling between two NFL teams. Because if you look at these two rosters, the talent just should be so overwhelming with a halfway competent coaching staff that the Eagles don't lose this game like ever. Eagles are way more talented than the Dolphins. That's what I mean.

And they still don't, they're close enough where somehow Miami wins this game. The Dolphins, I saw a stat over the weekend, 42% of their roster is undrafted. That is amazing. Half their roster almost is undrafted. And Brian Flores is out here winning games with him. I take it back. He's coach of the year. I just don't see how H-A-A-C-K is Hawk.

It's not suggesting that if you're just going to look at the way it's spelled, that I wouldn't come to the same conclusion, but it confused me. So I went and looked it up and I've been told that it's hot. Another option would be hack. Where do you find? Where's the U? Where's the W?

Some patron in that family a long time ago said, But our names are, you know, Joe and Wendy Hack. Let's change it to Hawk, which is much cooler. It happened a lot on Ellis Island when a lot of the immigrants came over. That's where it happened. If a name was too hard to pronounce, they would just cut off vowels or the beginning of a name. Maybe that's what happened. Maybe we got an Ellis Island situation.

You were Dan Hansastein at one point. It's certainly possible. That's certainly possible. They trimmed it. It's much cooler. I would say, give Matt Hanzashton. Hack. His name back.

I'm just going off the research and the information that I did before the show. I think the subtext here is it's not on Dan. It's on hack. Maybe the punter doesn't want to be known as a hack. Maybe it's all working out for the best. Hawk is kind of a majestic bird. Let's move on. Not kind of.

It is. Doc has a shotgun snap. Looking right all the way. He spins one to the goal line and a toe tap by Cooper Cup for the touchdown. Touchdown, L.A. Jared Goff couldn't have walked it down there and placed it any better. Cooper Cutt brings it in to take the lead to 26-0. There's a guy that would be at Chris Wessling's co-ed baby shower.

Oh yeah, his neighbor, J.B. Long of the Rams Radio Network. I was the old days where it's just like, all right, honey, have fun of the baby shower. Those days are gone, then. I'll come and pick up the gifts. But now the man is expected to be at the show. shower as some ornament. I will argue heavily against a couple shower. I don't know to what effect, but I will argue heavily against it.

What are we there for? Somewhere in like the late 90s, this changed. It used to be showers were just for the women. I don't know too many men that I've had to go to their own show. Oh, I do. But my children have already come and gone at this point in terms of the birth arrangements and stuff. I'm not, I'm going to fight.

No, I'm going to fight other battles. I agree with you, but I'll pick a different battle to fight at this point. Jared Gough threw for 424 yards and two touchdown. Robert Woods went off, 172 yards receiving. You heard that Cooper Cup touchdown. The Rams cruise 34-7 over the cards. Greg, everyone's down on the Rams, and how could you not be after that Monday Night Football Massacre against the Ravens?

But they aren't seven and five, but they're still on the periphery. That's all giving that. They're on the periphery. They have games that matter, you know, coming up against San Francisco and Seattle. so they'll get to decide their fate because those are the teams ahead of them. They showed at least today that they are capable of a game like this,

that Jared Goff and Robert Woods and Cooks and Cup when they're all in the field together. And I do think it makes a big difference when all three of the receivers are there are capable of beating down a terrible pass defense, which is what the Cardinals are. But to be clear, like Goff had 408 yards with 850 left in the third quarter.

They basically sat down, you know, with a quarter to go, and he didn't really do anything in the driver tube after that big barrage. So they were doing everything they wanted. It looked like the 2017 and 18 Rams with a lot of timing throws. And Robert Woods, especially having just a fantastic game, 13 for 172, and a lot of tough grabs. He is kind of, I mean, it's almost cliche to say, but he's kind of like the key guy it feels like to them.

Like when they have a big, when he has a big day, they have a big day. I know. Not Gurley's the key to that offense and has been for three years. He was just there though today. They didn't need a lot from Gurley. He was 19 for 95, but it was really the passing game. Hasn't it felt like though this season, even when they're against non-elite defenses, that the ramps have not been able to turn it up the way they have today?

I mean, this would be seen as like a major turning point if you want to be optimistic about this team? They've had a couple moments offensively, including that Monday night loss to the, or was it Thursday nights of the Seahawks where they move the ball pretty well. Definitely nothing as consistent as this. And it was, you know, surprising to see it against a Cardinals team who had played, you know, we had been saying how great the Cardinals have looked and they've played all these great teams down to the wire and giving them credit for that. So if they're going to get blown, if the doors are going to get blown off them at their home,

you've got to give some credit to the Rams for doing it. I'd imagine Sean McVeigh did not want to deal with the optics or the narratives coming out of a game where he, if the score reversed, you get a loss to Cliff Kingsbury, the new offensive mind. And so I... There you go. So I don't know.

To me, this stops some of the bleeding. Do I trust the Rams to pick up where they left off from this week, next week, or the week after? Not yet. Plus they're in the NFC. If they were in the AFC at 7 and 5, you know, they're rolling because they have games against the Cardinals, you know, again in week 17,

and you're at Dallas, which at this point is a winnable game. But they have Seattle and San Francisco, and they might have to run the slate just to get into the playoffs and the NFC, and that is tough. For what it's worth, and I know they change their grades after they do some more work, pro football focus gave Todd Gurley the highest rushing grade of the last four years. And one of the highest rushing grades I've ever seen from a running back in this game. He had some really good runs early. the only reason I said that he was a supporting player is when they got it to 34 nothing, he had 60 yards at that point on about 9 or 10 carries, and they just had thrown the ball like crazy.

His runs, and as we've mentioned on the show, he's looked a lot better. Andrew Whitworth had a great game shutting down Chandler Jones. All the guys on their defense ate and, in fact, Kyler Murray six times. Was Murray healthy in this? Because I know he came in with an ankle issue. Hamstring. And they talked about that. But then a couple times when he did scramble, he looked okay.

He said that wasn't the problem after the game. He took full responsibility and just said that they were flat and he made a bunch of back. I mean, that's what quarterbacks would do. Yeah, which is what you want. It might have been a factor, but there was a couple times he scrambled and looked okay. It's just weird watching this team just seeing David Johnson as the occasional like a couple carries back up to Kenyon Drake. But that's just where they are. If the Rams ever knocked off Seattle next week, all in, all back in on saying anything is possible.

but they have their signature wins are few and far between sure and they and they're going to need teams ahead of them you know to help them including Seattle all right I was just looking at a schedule change made for week 15 oh wow breaking news has been moved from 1 p.m. Eastern on CBS to 820 Eastern on NBC so Buffalo Pittsburgh flexed prime time duck Minnesota Chargers flexed out to 405 on CBS. Good job. How to do it, how to be done. And it's been done and good. You know what?

That is great for the, and you know, Bill's fans. I hope you listen to every show even when we're not talking about your team on a recap show. But there you go. There's some love for the people above.

When's the last time they had a Sunday night football game? So now you get Thanksgiving showcase, bang right into Al, Chris, and Michelle. Love it. It's not the Vikings' fault. They're getting moved out, but it's a great decision.

And in between you have a game against the Patriots. The bills are going to have a lot of big time games in the next month. That was fresh off the wire. That was 6.17 p.m. from Lakeisha Wessling

from the newsroom. I mean, what a family affair this truly is. Let's move on. Rogers goes quick count. Back to throw. Looking, steps up, throws end zone.

Devonte, touchdown on a leaping grab. Left side of the end zone. Oh, my goodness. Rogers win. No huddle. immediately and the Giants were not settled 17 yard touchdown pass Devante second of the game Aaron Rogers brilliance mentally and physically yeah he just took advantage of an unsettled defense Wayne Larravee and Larry McCarran of the Packers radio network

Aaron Rogers threw four touchdown passes in the snow the Packers you know they put that ugly loss of the Niners in the rear view beating up on the gym head 31-13 at the Meadowlands West. It's a nice get-right game for the Green Bay Packers with another NFC-E's Cupcake on deck in the Redskins. First sentence right here. Giants are a great get-right team for struggling offenses. There we go.

Bah-Bab-Bagang. Alan Lazard had a great game. He turned three targets into three catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. He had a diving 43-yard bomb that set up Devante Adams' first score, and then he came back with a 37-yard touchdown against what looks. like busted coverage to me. That Giants defense has had a lot of that busted coverage this year. And there's some things about the Packers that you still worry about a little bit. Aaron Jones had 11 rushes for 18 yards, 1.6 yards per carry. That's been an inconsistency

over the last month. And I think Kevin King and coverage is still an issue for their secondary. But overall, they picked off Daniel Jones three times. And on a fun day in the snow, Aaron Rogers looked really good. He always seems like he's the best snow coordinator. If you're asking me to take a snow quarterback, like a little Aaron Roger. I might take Brett Far up, but fair enough. Or Tom Brady. Any Packer's superstar.

I would ask you guys to watch a little bit of the press conference from Pat Schumer. It was something. He was just like emptying out the bag of kind of, I don't know if I would call him excuses, but just explanations that you don't want to see out of your coach of a guy who's on the way out. He called this team historically young. someone asked him about Jones's you know rough day

and he tried to paint it as a positive that well he had three interceptions but no fumbles like he cut down on the fumbling problem he made some good throws too that was like a positive that the stadium was very empty there and I know his bad weather was raining at the start but that's a sign of a franchise

that's in deep deep trouble and he is seven and 21 now through 28 games Pat Scherman he seems like he'll be one of the eight doomed eight we'll call them And also, you know, you bring up a good point that especially with these coaches where the writing seems to be on the wall once you hit December, there are some tropes in their press conferences, and I'll read a line from Ron Rivera's presser today. I'm not worried about my future. I'm worried about this football team.

We have a game coming up on Sunday. When you start hearing things like this and what some of those lines that Greg was talking about from Shermer, you kind of know the dies been cast. And it must make for a really weird slash uncomfortable slash depressing vibe around team. headquarters or in the head coach's house potentially i mean it's a dark dark time just a dark time especially yeah a new york giants team that's losing this much is it's tough and it's funny because the giants used to get so much credit for while they're the patient owners they're not going to make hasty changes well that that's great until your team just becomes one of the worst teams in in the NFL and then you probably fire

coaches with after two years two straight times because that's what's going to happen with macadoo and sure like grown so yeah You were patient until you turned into one of the worst five teams in the NFL, and then he became like everyone else and you weren't patient. I will ask you to remember that sandwich bet from August, where I mentioned Giants ownership picking up Bill Belichick in a parking lot outside Giant Stadium and driving them up to New England on a conversation that will remain secret about what Bill Belichick might do next year.

Maybe come back to with a team where it all started. From maybe. Yeah, basically from 80. Over at 81, let's say, when Parcells, excuse me, I'll say it again, from 84 when Parcells kind of took hold and the culture changed there, and we'll take it all the way through, and there were some down periods here and there, Ray Hanley here, you know, Dave Brown there, Danny Connell here, through 2011 and the second Super Bowl win over the Patriots, they really were a model of stability in addition to being one of the more respected ownership groups and someone that grew up in New York that wasn't a Giants fan, a ton of envy about. how they were able to do it and be consistent, but they really have lost their way. And you wonder what, it feels like Shermer's, you know, I can't imagine any chance he comes back,

but they have so much work to do to get this thing right. I think he was put in a particularly bad position, but when you take a head coaching job, and that could have been his last chance, and he knew that, what do you learn from Bill Belichick and all these biographies about him? Like when it came time for the second chance to become a head coach, ownership mattered, which would check the box with the Giants.

But the situation that Shermer went into was when where I felt like he had to be a yes man for some really weird stuff going on there with Eli Manning on down. And it's not all just about Eli Manning. I just don't think Pat Shermer has proven to really be a head coach that with two teams now can work them out of a back corner. It's not good. I still think it's a great job, though. Great job.

But as to Greg's point, it's a lot of work. But I think ownership and the stage and the team, they just, there's a lot of work. There's a glamour job. Who wouldn't want to coach the New York Giants? you can be the savior there. It's like being the coach of the Green Bay Packers. I mean, look at Maddie LaFleur. You know, he met with us back at the owner's meeting,

and he's taken off, nine and three. Where's Mike McCarthy? I mean, Mike McCarthy, he's watching at home. Freddie Kitchen's met with us, too. Which is, I know a lot of the coaches, you know, you don't move because you've lived there forever, but Green Bay seems like it'd be a particularly awkward place to live because there's only like 14 people that don't work for the Packers there

that are in the town. So it's like all McCarthy runs into as Packers, you know, employees and fans. I think Aaron Rogers tried to build a wall around his compound in Ruby and they said no. I'm not even joking. I'll have to look at all these guys trying to build these walls. And before we get to the next game, circling back, good on the NFL for acting to flex that game out. What happened with the Ravens today and the Niners was so bad. And it actually was worse because we realized that because of the Jets and Giants playing in

the early slot. The biggest market in the country, New York, did not get Ravens Niners. The West Coast, Simone, your wife, Mark, who's a big Niners fan. She was listening to the game on the radio. I saw her talk out. L.A. didn't get Ravens Niners either. I asked what was on Fox, and she said infomercials, which is, you know, not what you're hoping for when Niners and Ravens is happening.

So a game that's been hyped up for weeks as a Super Bowl preview, the two biggest markets in the country don't get the biggest game. So nice. And get the Chargers at a Sunday night football. My goodness. Speaking of the Chargers, let's go. So McManus are going to have to do it again. Ball spotted, far hash, 43-yard line, an attempt of 53 yards for the win.

Offsized by the Chargers, snap, plays with kick on the way, and it is good. It's over. Brandon McManus from 53 yards out gives the Broncos a 23 to 20 win over the Chargers. A much-needed victory for this Broncos team that now finds their record. Four and eight. Dave Logan, the Broncos Radio Network with a call. The Chargers and Broncos traded field goals in the final minute Sunday. Luckily for Denver, they kick last 2320 win at Empower Field at Mile High.

You know, either sell the naming rights or stick with the tradition, you know? I just couldn't agree more. I call BS on this have-it-both-way stadium naming stuff. Mark, I understand it's a business and the goal is to turn a profit and live in the black, but why should fans be put in that situation? That's where we're going with this. I mean, I don't think they should. It's not fair to fans.

They're hard ones. Oh, you want to talk about the game? I don't know. All right, talk about the game. This game, and you know, we were all watching it together, was it just struck me as the most charger-ish type game ever, but also the most Bronco-ish, because you mentioned, Greg was totally fired up, and rightly so,

because the Chargers trying to drive down to kick what would have been a game-time field goal or even better to continue to go for it on fourth down and get a touchdown and get out of there and what is a lost season, could not get out of their own way. There was a sequence where it was fourth and one, all right, and just to display their total lack of organization, go watch that drive,

and the amount of time the chargers are wasting. They're allergic to urgency in a situation where you kept seeing Philip Rivers. I don't know if there were communication issues with the helmet or something. It struck me that struck me that the, might be because he had to kept, you know, waddling over to the offense of coordinator. And the offensive coordinator's, you know, talking in long, long, long sentence about what they do. The clock's ticking away. They have two penalties that take a fourth and one situation to fourth and six, then to fourth and eleven.

Then they get a Mike Williams bomb down field that gives you everything you might get from a charger's finish. And on fourth and inches, they go for a field going. They get it. And then the whole thing happens with Casey Hayward, mere seconds left getting hit with a PI by Drew Locke. who's never played an NFL game until today, and Brandon McManus hits the 53-yard field goal. But it strikes me with Chargers games. There's so many things happening in the last two or three minutes

that are so bizarre that it's a mess to try to chronicle other than the fact that this is just like every other Chargers game I've watched. Well, I think if there's... Look, Philip Rivers has a big hand in all this. He's kind of the commonality in all these games. But one thing I think we can look at the Anthony Linear is what's a commonality. commonality is if he's going to go out, he wants to do it in the most tepid way possible. Like he's saying, I don't want to go out swinging.

I want to go out kicking that field goal. I don't want to go for fourth and inches. I don't want to play hurry up late in the game. I don't want to have a decision already made in my mind of what we're going to do on fourth down with two minutes and 40 seconds to go. I want to then have the camera pant to me on the sideline and have me in the offensive of coordinator, go back and forth. I mean, you can almost literally read their lips.

Like, what do you think we should do? Well, I think maybe we should run. Well, I don't know. Maybe I should punt. Well, I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't. I don't know really trust Philip Rivers. So that doesn't really make sense.

And it's like, the clock is ticking here, buddies. And then they have to waste the time out, which forces their decision. And you saw that throughout the rest of the drive. And it just speaks to a lack of preparation. And what happens when I think there's a breakdown in communication and trust between the head coach and the quarterback, which is what this team has. Well, that was a pretty major report from Rapsheet before the game that Philip Rivers, if he continued to play the way he had, would be pulled for Tyrod Taylor. And at one point in the game, we saw Tyrod Taylor warming up, but they sent Rivers back out for the next series anyway.

I guess to me, I'm not sure this team wants Philip Rivers next year. At least I'm not sure the head coach does. And after the way he's been treated with this report coming out, I'm not sure Philip Rivers would want to be back anyway. I would love to know what happened in that sequence where they were, Tyrod Taylor and, you know, could have happened for a number of reasons, was flinging passes on the sideline. And Rivers seemed like, uh-uh, you ain't taking me out of this game. And he went back in, but was there a conversation? Because there's clearly some disconnect between the coaching staff and Philip Rivers, you know, is sort of the B-line through a lot of this madness and confusion. They're four-and-eight, and they've outscored their opponents this year.

That feels like, that feels like every charge. If we're going to get on Garrett, if we're going to get on Garrett for close. you know, losing close games because of situational football. This Chargers team is not well coached in situational football. Drew Locke, people are going to give him a lot of credit. And he had the one interception, but other than that didn't make huge mistakes. He was sub-gabert zone in this game, 4.8 yards per attempt. I was not nearly as impressed with him as I was with Cortland Sutton,

who to me continues to put down a strong argument for that second all-pro spot behind Michael Thomas. He has played as well as any AFC-Wide receiver. and it doesn't matter who's quarterbacking for them. It can be Joe Flacco, Brandon Allen, Drew Locke. He's beating his man. In this case, one of the best cornerbacks in the league over the past half decade, Casey Hayward, had a great diving touchdown catch, and then obviously drew the past interference call that decided the game. I would say also, I want to see a little more from Noah Fon.

It feels like there's just lost yardage. He dropped what could have been, it should have been a touchdown. And during this whole stuff with the Chargers, they had Novon Miller today. At one point, Jeremiah Attachio went out and Millie Greed too. They had two healthy outside linebackers. That should be an area where the Chargers can take advantage.

They also had 20,000 almost no-shows, got people who bought tickets and didn't show up. You are not used to seeing that in Denver. These teams are both 4 and 8. I mean, the Chargers are in a position now with the Redskins, the Dolphins, the Bengals all win today. They're not going to fall behind the Bengals. But the Chargers are at 4 and 8.

Who knows? They might sneak into the top 5 and have a chance to go draft their next quarterback. You said no font, Mark. Is that like how you say aunt instead of aunt? Yes, it is actually exactly what's happening there. It's been a season-long storyline, and I actually noticed downstairs today that he called him Fant,

and I was like, oh, I think Mark's turned to a corner. Well, I get tweets a corner. I get tweets weekly for Sukwan Barclay versus Saquan Barclay, too. It's just, I'm not going to change. Drew Locke. Finish sub-Gabbard zone. and there are some whispers downstairs in the newsroom. Does he pass the quarterback, the look test?

Does he look like a quarterback? Did this whisper start at your death? Start and end with Dan Hansis? I mean, you look at him on the sideline with the helmet off. Is that a franchise quarterback? Now, I'm not saying he is or he isn't. I'm just saying there was some chatter downstairs. It wasn't just me talking to myself.

If there's a segment to not clip off for our social media video, I think that's it right there. Let's move on. In shoe, awaits the snap of the shotgun. Here's the snap to throw on third down and goal passes. Now, it's picked off. Intercepted. Picked off by the Bucks. We keep it outside the end zone.

We go, and it's a pig by the Bucks. Tampa Bay is forced the fourth takeaway on the ball game. John Murphy Button has his second career touchdown. This one today on the road in Jacksonville. Gene Deckeroff. Bucks Radio Network. Yes, Sean Murphy Bunting. Murf.

I'm sure his buddy's calling. him picked off a guard of Mienchu pass in the end zone, removing all semblance of drama at the big chlorine tank. 2811, the Bucks beat the Jaguars. Minchu entered the game after Nick Foles melted down in the first half. The crowd is booing. They weren't moving the ball. So Doug Meroon makes the shift back to the rookie. So the Super Bowl MVP is on the bench.

And Greg, this, I mean, the whole Nick Foll's season is. been a disaster, and it's been sloppy and staggered in all the wrong ways. And it just this seems like a fitting end to what's just been a lost year for Folls. Yeah, I wave the weight flag in the whole Nick Foll's minchew debate. Nick Folls was the problem today in the first half. I mean, they have more than, you know, just quarterback problems. But today he pulled in six drives, three, three and outs and three turnovers. I mean, that's like a, that's going full Peterman. There was like one drop on a long pass that, you know, that that would have helped him. But other than that, it was his inability

to move out of the way of the extremely effective Buck's pass rush, Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre Paul leading the way. And so, yeah, it was on the offensive lineman who also hurt Minchu, who had an up and down. He definitely, you know, helped them in the second half. But it was the Buck's defense and Todd Bowles, you know, throwing all sorts of blitzes at him that just, that just had this Jaguars team flummoxed. Well, after playing, you know, mid-season a bunch of shootouts in which, you know, they could have won, but they lost. The Bucks have won three of the past four games, and they've just got way more firepower than a team like the Jaguars.

They should be winning almost every week now. Wow. Why do you, every week against good teams? If their quarterback can avoid interceptions, they will beat these teams that they've almost beat. They are probably the best five and seven team out there. They could have a better record. Like this was a very unbuck's game.

Winston threw 33 passes, didn't have an interception. O.J. Howard and Breshad Perman had a combined 148 yards. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans were barely over 100 combined. They used everyone. Devin White deserves mention as just a guy who's really coming on strong, the number of five overall pick in the second half of his rookie year. He had an interception. He's great in pass coverage for a linebacker.

Also had a touchdown on a fumble recovery. And JPP just dominion. He had 10 pressures. Your boy, Shaq Barrett, two sacks. They do have a lot of talent. It's like December bucks. No one, uh, yeah, it's nice, Mark. Good for him you threw in there.

Yeah, well, I've come around on him, you know, weeks ago. I know, that was a take that I had, you know, back in like late September, which was drastically wrong and not even related to him. He was, he's a free agent. He's going to make some money. Maybe he'll be either. Maybe he'll be on the Browns. Franchise tag.

Why not? Might be. I'm have fun in Cleveland. He's going to have 15 or more. sacks this year. He's not going to hit the market. The Jaguars, though, I've been outscored 127 to 47 the last four weeks. That's 20 points a game. That's more than just the quarterback. It is. Well, and that's just like a full system meltdown, and there was fighting inside

their locker room after the game. Andrew Norwell and Janik and Gakwe had to be separated. Then they heard separate yelling in the shower, so it's all happening. And they had issues last year under Marone in the locker room and with Fournette and the rest of them. And if we're going to talk about these other coaches, on thin ice, you know, Doug Marone is probably lucky to escape what happened last season and to get another chance this year

and it's just the team has totally fallen apart. When they were winning with Minchu, part of it in a couple of those games was Leonard Fournett exploding in the running game, having 200 plus yards on the ground. So maybe you guys are right and were right in the sense that like I do believe in Minchu

more than Foles at this stage. Well, for a minute it looked like the Minchu magic was going to happen. He came in, they scored 11 unanswered, and they had the ball on the two-yard line. He had seven plays inside the 10, six straight plays inside the five with Minchew in the fourth quarter where they could have cut it to one score. He winds up throwing an interception.

They couldn't run the ball, the offensive line. Like, it was everyone collapsing. Messy. Speaking of the doom date, sometimes it's seven, maybe six, if you're lucky, but guys that could be fired. Yeah, you've got to add Marone to that list. So Rivera, Shermer, Jay Gruden is already gone.

That's just the way it is in the NFL. All right, let's move on. 17 yards on the play. First and 10 at the 17 of the Jets. Dalton fakes a handoff from the pocket, throws over the middle. It is caught for a touchdown by Tyler Boyd. Andy Dalton threading the needle between two New York Jets defenders. And with that touchdown pass, the red rifle stands alone.

Career touchdown pass number 198 in his NFL career. career more than any other quarterback in Bengals history. It's almost like you shouldn't have benched him. Dave Hort. Dave Hort and Dave Lapham. You haven't heard them at all this year on our podcast because they hadn't won a game. But now they have. Bengals Radio Network, come off the roof, radio man.

You are free. Andy Dalton returned from an undeserved benching to spark the Bengals to a 22-6 win over the Jets at Paul Brown Stadium. The win is Cincinnati's first and 12 tries this season and a complete effort from the Bengals who moved the ball with ease in the first half and shut down the Jets completely for four quarters. In fact, the Jets never even reached the Red Zone in this game. It was quite frankly stunning, but also not at all stunning.

All the things, I'm just glad I got my optimism in about the Jets. I got to have a nice week around Thanksgiving where I can have some fun. but anybody that's watched the Jets and follow the Jets for as long as I have or even half as long or twice as long knew exactly going into this game that this was a dangerous and it became a lot more dangerous when Dalton reentered the fray for Ryan Finley because Dalton you had a feeling was going to come in and play well and he really did but it's it once from the Bengals side of it

good for them and even they got a Washington Redskins win so they're, even though the Giants are right behind them, they're still in position for the first overall pick, and their front seven really did a good job in this game. Carlos Dunlop had three sacks. Gino Atkins was making plays. He's still around doing things. And on the Jets, all those things that I laid out on Thursday

that they had fixed their offensive line and their secondary and the play calling from Adam Gase, all that stuff went back in the other direction and went back to one and six. Sevenville. It was that bad. The worst the culprit was the offensive line, which was completely ineffective, and it was embarrassing to watch, quite frankly,

as a Jets fan. An offensive line that committed seven penalties allowed four sacks of safety. It's just hard to figure it out and also just such a bad look, again, for Adam Gase, who has the vote of confidence from his coaching staff. The three straight wins probably ensures

that he'll be back this season, but there's nothing that can be said about this performance other than it was grotesque and the Jets made NFL history as their want to do, a team that seems chemically addicted to embarrassing themselves. They are the first team to ever

surrender and lose to a team that was at least 0 and 7, which was the Dolphins last month, and now a team that was 0 and 11. So two teams that got their first win against the Jets after seven straight losses or more to open the season. No team ever done that. Congratulations

New York Jets. And congratulations to the Bengals because they never were, They never fit the profile, quite frankly, as an 0-N-16 team. They had been hanging in a lot of games this year and had gone down to the wire a bunch of times and just couldn't figure it out. And this game, it kind of all lined up for them. And they got a dub. We've alluded to it a couple of times recently.

This is not the same Bengals team as the mid-season punching bag that was getting their doors blown off on defense, especially, and missed a lot of tackles. They have allowed about 12 points a game over the last three weeks. And you get Andy Dalton back. not saying he's a savior. John Ross could be coming back soon. Who knows if A.J. Green might play. This is a different team, and I think they're going to be tough to beat the rest of the way.

Well, you already said they're beating the Patriots in a few weeks. That is a prediction. That's another big time win for them. It really speaks to how strange this Bengals franchise is and season that Zach Taylor, you know, in the post-game celebration. And I kind of, it's one of my favorite, like, sneaky things is when the team gets their first win of the season. after a long losing streak just like it feels like to that team

they won a playoff game like they are so excited. Gatorade baths and all that. Right. They were just going crazy in the locker room but it's just funny that he hands the game ball out to Andy Dalton of course which makes all the sense. Took the knife out of his back and you know exactly the guy that they had just

bench basically for a fourth round rookie who had no idea. Throws it to Dalton, Dalton doesn't catch it, goes on the ground and then Dalton picks it up and he gives it back to Zach Taylor, which is really nice of Andy Dalton, he gave a game ball to Zach Taylor saying, you know, we all support you and all this. He's a good man, Andy Dalton. And he's giving it to the guy who benched him. Who knows, it might not even be Taylor's decision to bench it. But it just,

it all felt very, even in a happy moment, it felt very bad. And they'll finish 4 and 12. I, like, I know the vote of confidence for Gase and we'll see what happens with the Jets. I don't kill them on this loss the same way I would with, with the some of the other ones. I'm sure they were disorganized. I'll go watch it. But the Bengals almost beat the Steelers. They almost beat the Raiders. That said, any vote of confidence, there's still a lot of weeks left to go in the season. And it does matter, I think, how Gase finishes this out. I don't wouldn't, I'd put him on that list of coaches you mentioned if it were to morph into a total disaster. I just don't see him on that list at this point. Well, then I would ask this. Then I would ask this,

like, you're keeping him and why. Is it to, is it a self-confirmation of a decision you made last off-season? Or is it because you truly, you truly think he's the guy and they just have other issues that are bigger than him at this point. We've talked about it. Christopher Johnson, this was his big hire and they don't want to go one and done because one and done is kind of a devastating look for a franchise also. So they're going to stick with them. I think they could lose out here and maybe that does come and play, but I think that's what would have to happen. And they were coming off three games where they looked really good. So maybe this was just a bump in the road. But it's been a bad season. There's no other way to describe it.

One note on Andy Dalton in that franchise record for touchdown passes, that speaks a lot to how unreliable football stats are. And you can't compare across eras. He's at best, the fourth best quarterback in that franchise's history behind Ken Anderson, Boomer, Osce, and Carson Palmer, and depending how you feel about Greg Cook's rookie year, let's give it to Andy for, you know, he did take him to five playoffs. I'd rather watch six games of Greg Cooked in an entire career of Andy Dalton.

All right. On to Sunday Night Football. Deshawn, hands off to Johnson. Now to hop right side who flips the ball to Watson, diving for the pylon, and he's got it. Razzle, dazzle, touchdown, Houston. Deshawn Watson with a touchdown coming from his buddy, D'Andre Hopkins. Beautiful. Beautiful, indeed. Mark Van Dermeer and Andre, where with the call?

Texans Radio Network, DeShon Watson. He was the best quarterback on the field on Sunday night. in Houston, throwing three touchdown passes, and yes, involved on that beautiful trickery there for another score. The Houston Texans, 28, the New England Patriots, 22. Whoa, very interesting. Chris Wessling, I'm going to start with you on this one because you had the testicular fortitude to lock up the Texans against the previously 10-1 pats, and it paid off in a big way.

Well, I've been thinking for a while now that the football world is not judging the Patriots for who they are. They're judging the Patriots for who they have been in the past. It's been evident that this offense is among the bottom third offenses in the NFL. For a month or six weeks now, they have these issues. They have not been corrected. And I think when you look at this team, it is the second worst rushing attack of the Brady era. It's the worst tight-end group of the Brady era. It's one of the worst wide receiver groups of the Brady era.

And it's an offensive line that has a different starting lineup almost every week. They lost Ted Karris. The Patriots did their starting center today. He was the only offensive lineman that had played every snap. And you're bringing in Kirk Farrants' son. And that was a huge... He doesn't even get a name. He's just a Kirkman.

Yeah, you know, little Ferrence. Everyone knows him. A 30-year-old man at this point. Yeah, Shaq Mason, who's the guy who got the contract extension. has struggled all year, and the offensive line is a problem, and the offense is a problem. But this is the night, I think, that all those problems showed up in a bigger way than before,

because it was a matchup on paper that looked good, and I think the first half was the worst half of offensive football they played, and you have to give a lot of credit to Romeo Cornell and the Texan's defense for mixing up coverages and also sending blitzes, and Tom Brady had more time to throw and tried to extend plays a little longer. than any Patriots game all year, and he couldn't find guys open, and they were daring the Patriots to throw deep. And so he did, and there was nothing there. It was either a miscommunication with

Jacobi Myers or Nikiel Harry, who was a big factor in the first interception, which really changed the game and ultimately got Nikiel Harry benched, or Mohammed Sanoo dropping a pass on fourth down. So right now, Brady doesn't have anyone he trusts other than Edelman and James White, and we're in, what, week 13? A lot of lip readers out tonight. Yeah, there were. I mean, we're now in the time where we say, you know, Belichick, he just uses September to craft his master plan on offense

and figure out how to round into shape as some sort of total juggernaut. And to Wes's point, they're just not fixing it. They had a 69-yard field goal drive to open the game. Their next five drives did not cover more than 30 yards each. Then they lost the ball on downs. And I love the Texans doing what you need to do against England. But just be ultra-aggressive. The trick play that we opened with.

but then they had the shot to Will Fuller that went out incomplete at the back end zone almost a catch and they go right back after that to Kenny Stills. And it's like that's how you need to handle New England and their defense has been super consistent but they got buzz sawed by the Ravens. They got taken to town a night by Houston's offense.

You have to wonder just, I don't, I think, I'm not going to view New England as they're going to round into this number one seed material over the next couple weeks. I wonder what will happen against the bills. I wonder what will happen down the road, the Chiefs next week. We, and a podcast that, you know, technical difficulties might have wiped it away from a lot of our listeners. But we talked about it on the Friday morning Thanksgiving recap show. The bills are lined in the weeds a little bit at 9 and 3 if the Pats came down to Earth.

And now you have the Pats 10 and 2. They fall out of the number one seed. That's now property of the Ravens for the time being. And New England now goes and has a big matchup against the Chiefs who are obviously an excellent team as well. it's a very interesting time and I want to because I feel like this falls to me certain things like the Eli Manning defending Bill O'Brien trying to give him some praise

it's hard to get praise for Bill O'Brien in this room sometimes but they're 8 and 4 they are looking like they're going to well and the Titans should be taken seriously at this point but I still like the Texans to win that division and on the same day that Ian Rappaport reported that the Texans are not planning to hire a general manager in 2020 they like what he's doing running that whole show So this is just an organization that's become consistent and year after year.

I don't know if it's going to translate into January, but the Texans, to me, are a dangerous team in the conference. They play the Titans twice in the last three weeks of the season. That will decide the division. Wow. And I think the odds are increasing that both of those teams make the playoffs. Yeah. They will have a chance.

And I think the Patriots defense, for the most part, played well. You know, they give up the touchdown where Brady has an interception in the red zone early. get a lot of puns. They give up, you know, the Texans had 276 yards on the day. They got a lot of stops. They didn't make big plays. What I saw was Deshaun Watson and Jordan Aiken's making a play and Kenny Still's making a play and Duke Johnson getting singled up on Kyle Van Nuoy. And I just saw better athletes winning their one-on-one matchups because they were better on those plays and they deserve to win it. A lot of the times the Patriots blitzes were getting home and Watson was just too good. And I think that's like good offense is going to beat good defense. I don't

look at the Patriots defense any differently. I look at a Patriots offense that I have been saying that I think has time to round into form. And I think that's still true. I mean, they think they will. I mean, it depends what form is. Good enough to win playoff games. I think that's absolutely possible. But they have four weeks left. I mean, a year ago at this time, they were also losing to the Dolphins and the Steelers. We've seen so many teams over the years over and over this happens to us that teams stink in December

and they win the Super Bowl. So if you're a Patriots fan just trying to manage the season, they want to get to that buy. They need to get the buy. The one seed's going to be tough at this point. But if they can get whatever it is, they win two or three of the last four games,

they probably need to win three of the last four games. If you beat the Chiefs, you're probably going to get that. You're in good shape. You're in good shape. You beat the Chiefs at home. You got at Cincinnati, home Buffalo, home Miami. But who knows? The Texans also, you know, if they could play well enough,

maybe they could run the table and they have a tie break. When the Patriots lose, they tend to lose convincingly. I mean, they got blown out three times last year. They've been blown out twice this year. It's not like totally out of their character that we've seen it. Well, the Patriots team we've seen in the loss to Baltimore, the barely winning against the Eagles, barely winning against the Cowboys,

and losing to Texans in convincing fashion cannot be counted on to go into Cincinnati and just win the game. I don't think that. I think their schedule has helped them a lot this year, whereas if they had a tougher schedule, they might be a more normal record like 8 and 4, which again isn't like isn't the end of the world.

I do think that there are pieces here, but you're starting to run out of time. You threw the ball five times to Sunu. You thought maybe he'd be an answer, 14 yards. You threw it six times to Dorset, who was in one-on-month coverage a lot, 15 yards. So they're really struggling to find, like, where is this offense coming from? And if you have a pretty bad offensive line, which they do right now,

when you play the better defenses and the chiefs have a pretty good pass defense, like it's going to be tough. You're going to need turnovers and you're going to need to be in Foxborough most like. I just haven't seen Tom Brady this frustrated in regular season games like this consistently week after week. And there were a series of flags on the offensive line that are not characteristic for the Patriots. So it isn't just, you know, you have to fix one position group. There's a lot to fix.

Do I trust any team more to do it than the Patriots? Obviously, it's every year they do this. We get it. But something feels a little different with Brady. It is different. We also said we thought it was different last year. The difference this year is it's offense. And I always trust the offense more than defense.

And the offense is like nothing we've seen in the Belchick era. Again, though, like the teams that get the buy, it's just a three-game tournament and then it's your matchups and sometimes in the Patriots have gotten some breaks over the years of you know they get to play the championship game even when they're not the one seat or a certain matchup falls away there's a lot of ways you can get lucky but right now unless they get a lot better they're going to need to get lucky let's play a fun game um I asked Erica and even though she's a Patriots fan she did do it so that was she's a pro I asked her to cut the Patriots radio network highlight of that trick play by the

Texans. Now, if the Pats did that play, Zolak would be hollering like a madman and saying, warm up the buses and all that stuff. Will we hear from Zolak during this call and the immediate moments after? Will you hear his voice?

Yeah, we'll hear him down a beer probably. Have you heard this yet? I have not heard it. I think so because I'm assuming that he realizes that's part of his job. I don't think it's going to be as wild and vociferous, but yes, I think we'll hear his voice. This is the very, this is the literal definition.

I predict radio silence from Zolak. Greg? Let's hear it. Silence, I guess. Okay. Okay, let's hear. I got to go with one. Watson, he hands it off to Johnson,

who then gives it to Hopkins on a reverse. He pitches it to the right. Sochi. Watson, who dies to the pylon. Did he get in? Deshaun Watson celebrating with his teammates. The pylon knocked over the officials with a less than him.

signal and the Texans have added to the lead. You see this one again here. A little razzled dazzles. That makes sense. That's close to a forward pass from. That might be come back. The current A, the referee, has given the Texans to go ahead. I almost think that both sides are right, that we did hear from him, but to your point. It was not like, oh, wow, what great trickeration, warm up the buses?

No, it was, ooh, I think we got jobbed on that one, fellas. Hey, Ricky. Also a tweet from you sent during the game. Belichick looks more disappointed than when I gave my dad's new Mercedes a car wash and used the mop to reach the roof, causing the metal bar to scratch the entirety of the car. First of all, that sucks. Yeah. But a bit of a flex that you grew up with Mercedes in your driveway?

No, I didn't think of it like that. I thought of it more of like my dad was so upset when I tried to do this nice thing for him. Life example. And it made, if it was just his Toyota Corolla, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal. It was a Mercedes and I was like, I'm going to give my dad a secret car wash and I reached on top of the roof with the mop. And you know how there's the metal bar that like holds the mop to the stick part of it? And I just scratched the top of my dad's new Mercedes back and forth. Secret car wash.

Yeah, I wanted to be nice and like do something for my dad. That's thoughtful. What was your punishment? Or did he think it was such a nice act that he saw, he didn't care about the scratch? Oh, no, I had to buy him a new Mercedes. Mercedes. You were like Nikiel Harry was like, ooh, I'm going to surprise Tom Brady

with this special new route I'm going to run and then... Just not be there. Sorry. The only Mercedes I've ever been in is when I was like parking valet cars for the rich people at the top of the hill. No doubt, Dan.

We believe that. I said, wow, you could have leather in the interior? Unbelievable. Do you need a car wash day? I mean, if there's any, if there's any four people have overcome more in life. Yeah, it's just, I mean...

I don't think you could find them. Outside of, you know, created narratives spun from fiction, you know. All right. So good stuff. We'll be back on Tuesday with a podcast, breaking down all what's happening around the NFL. That's what we do.

Then we'll have a show Thursday, a Thursday night show, and the wheel goes round and round. Thank you to everybody. And also, again, rate us five stars and leave some comments on Apple, the iTunes client, whatever they call it the podcast client

and soon we will read some Mark will read them actually Mark will curate the entire project give them something to do I'll at least read them All right Let's go Stan Hans is signing up

Quiet Storm The Mailman, the old boss It sounds like all these guys had Mercedes growing up It must be nice I mean none of us did Of course What are you talking about?

No Tuesday Our family I'm lonely. I'm lonely. Make it all go away. Hey, hey, make it all go away. Hey, make it all go away. Hey, hey, make it all go away. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters.

We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio. app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast.