NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2023 Week 16 Recap

Episode Date: December 25, 2023

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler recap a Christmas Eve packed with football. The heroes start with the Dolphins making a statement by beating the Cowboys (02:00), the Lions making history with their win over the Vikings (12:23), the Browns continuing their magic ride against the Texans (22:00) and the Jaguars putting together another lack luster performance against the Buccaneers (30:36). The guys then run through Colts at Falcons (36:51), Steelers at Bengals (46:15), Bills at Chargers (51:55), Packers at Panthers (57:55), Seahawks at Titans (01:02:26), Commanders at Jets (01:06:16), and Cardinals at Bears (01:11:23). Note: time codes approximate. NFL 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, found love and the diabetes at the Santa Summit. Hello and welcome to a very special Christmas Eve edition of Around the NFL, the flagship program, Week 16. Can you believe it? Dan Hans is here with Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal in our respective homes. And yes, right now, upstairs from where I'm recording this, my in-laws from Texas are here,

and they are having the traditional chicken spaghetti dinner and then going to church and then, you know, celebrating with the family. But the three of us talking football, all right, that's fine too. This is somewhat of a tradition, too. I feel like we've had a number of Christmas Eve type shows over the year, one in the office, so that this was. and I'll take.

Well, yeah, I mean, we had the advantage of working from home today, which, Greg, I don't know about you. We've spent a lot of Sundays consecutively together in that office, and it's perhaps not as vibrant as our last NFL headquarters were on game days, but I quite enjoyed being home on the couch, wearing the clothing night shows while these games unfolded. Very nice. Very well said, Mark, as always. And yes, the gift, the way the calendar.

under fell was a full slate of Sunday action, also two games to get to on Saturday and just, you know, a little program note here, a little bit different show here. We're going to try to be a little bit tighter with the games. We're not going to do Sunday night football. We're going to hit Sunday night football and the Christmas triple header on Tuesday morning. So we're going to kind of spin through the league, get you caught up where you need to be. We thank you if you're listening right now on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning or you're hiding in the bathroom because your mother-in-law driving you insane uh you know we're here for you let's get into it and start with the big game on sunday it was at i was called a joe robby stadium that is outrageous uh whatever that place in miami is called i think it's hard rock where the cowboys and dolphins two 10 and four teams looking to make a statement only one could burguson the snap the hold down by bailey the kickers up it's good and the miami dolphins defeat the dallas cowboys 22 to 20 here at hard rock stadium what a last drive by two in his offense great running by wilson and jason sanders a perfect five for five in this game and that's going to do it what a finish

what a finish indeed jimmy sevalho rose with the call wb gg fun fact boys a little christmas gift for you i did the research myself kickers were 15 of 15 in the four games that i tracked today. But nobody was more nails than Jason Sanders, who went five for five, including three pipes from 50 plus and that game winner chip shot, you just heard. Those are the three points that were the difference in a 22 to 20 win for the Dolphins over the Cowboys. Gregi. Dak Prescott led the Dallas offense on what could have been like an MVP season winning touchdown drive in their final possession, but that Cowboys D just didn't have an answer for Miami's offense when it mattered most.

I can't believe the Dolphins win this game scoring one touchdown. I had to double check that just now as I'm looking at it. And yet it felt like their offense was in control this whole time. They could not finish drives. But I think on that last drive, two against the ball, 327 to go, down a point. They've been trailing throughout the second half. And it's very much a, okay, what do you got right now, Miami Dolphins? And they made it look fairly easy.

And I think the gravity of Tyreek Hill was such a big part of that. On one big third down play where they bring Tyree Kill in motion or else they would have had to kick a longer field goal and they would have given Cowboys the clock back. You know, the Cowboys are falling down on the ground before the balls even snapped a very creative play call from Mike McDaniel. They ran the ball a handful of times really effectively on that drive, something Dallas could not do.

And then a couple of throws were just, just easy because of the gravity of Tyree Kill that they were so afraid of beating him over the top. And that was the case throughout the day. He went nine for 99 that the Cowboys were giving up short passes and Miami just controlled it. It was able to kill the clock. And I thought that was a difference between these two teams. Yes, it was close in the end, but the Cowboys couldn't run the ball. The Cowboys couldn't get their pass rush going.

And I thought the Miami offense had more schematic and coaching answers than the Cowboys. Cowboys did in this game. So it was a very deserved one. Even though it was close, I really felt like the Dolphins were the better team throughout the day. I think it's definitely a case of what if for the Cowboys. And it would have been for the Dolphins had they not been able to close it out the way they did. Because, you know, both teams in a low scoring game, Dolphins lost the ball on fourth down, essentially a drive fizzled out on the Dallas 5. Dallas had that opening drive fumble where they looked so good. And they never really had that kind of drive again until DAC went and did what we've been asking him to do as an MVP candidate, which is marched down

the field and generate a touchdown drive-in. So in a way, it's kind of like the atypical Monday morning Cowboys talking head scenario because Dak went and did it. And then it was like two of the other guy that we kind of don't really trust to go do it, went and did it too. And it wasn't because of, you know, him necessarily. But that third and three conversion to Tyree Kill, he's such a special player. And then they were able to force the Cowboys into timeouts. and you get that one Jeff Wilson run and these inflection points for that drive for the Dolphins

where he converts and Dallas is out of they're out of options at that point and Jason Sanders you mentioned it Dan on the day for kickers I mean he went three for three on 50 plus before that game winner which was much shorter he's the first dolphins player

in a long lineage of Miami Dolphins players to kick three 50 plus yard field goals in a game and that was the difference because you're right these two teams could not close drives and to have a kicker like that on a day like this made a big difference Yeah, I had a mega spicy Christmas Eve hot take on Twitter that kicking is now too good. And we have to maybe start doing something about it.

A listener and tweeter replied that maybe we could do something that could mess with a depth perception or vision of kickers, which I kind of like that. And this is coming from the guy that built the kicker club brick by brick. By the way, I think full kit, like his 80th straight kick under 40 yards. Remember when he broke that record like a year ago? It's still going, actually. I was like, wait, that's, that thing's still going. This is insane. It's really crazy what's happened to that position over the course of this, this podcast's life,

which has been 11 seasons now. Yeah, I, and I'm going to preface this because I know dolphins always have their antenna up when I'm talking about their team with the show. I'm going to preface this by saying, this is not a shot against DAC, against Tua, because the way it set up was, was beautiful because it was a back and forth game. Dallas had a big fail inside the five-yard line on a fumble with a fullback, which, come on, guys, give it to your best players. This game's too big for that.

And then the dolphins fail on a fourth and goal from about the five-yard line. And then it comes down to these last two drives. And it's like, hey, Dak, this is it. This is the type of stage that you, all this talk, and you mentioned a mark the talking head type, shut them all up, or this is what everyone's going to talk about. And Dak makes so many big plays on. on that drive. He's taking a beating. The offensive line is kind of a mess in this game on the left side with Tyron Smith out. And they keep having miscommunications. And Dak keeps on finding

away with C.D. Lamb with a couple of big catches, one on third, one on fourth. They have a bad sack on a blown offensive lineman play. And they still near the goal line and they still find a way on a beautiful touchdown pass and a great catch by Cooks. It was like everything you could ever want as a Cowboys fan for your quarterback and your offense in that big spot, they come through. And then speaking of Twitter, I then tweeted, okay, now, too, it's your turn. And there wasn't, it wasn't Tua that, that single-handedly drove that Miami possession to the game-winning field goal. It really was a Mike McDaniel masterpiece and the running game. And I think, and Tyreek, and I think what this game showed me and other people that are still kind of harboring some doubts about the Dolphins is what they're, what they're really good at is some of the stuff that doesn't get talked about is enough.

like their ferocious pass rush, how their defense has been really good for the better part of the season now. And then their offense ability to run the football and scheme up ways to gain yardage when it's not those splashy Tyreek and Wattle plays. I want to say one quick thing about Dak because like that drive, he did make some key throws. There was one to Michael Gallup that was just money. I mean, he had connections with C.D. Lamb. He was on with Cid Lamb. But they got to the Miami Four. And, you know, this was a legitimate. it was an incomplete on second and goal an incomplete on third and goal he got a lot of heat on them in general there was a holding that maybe wasn't called on miami but then on fourth and goal

it's incomplete but defensive holding on the dolphins is then called and reignites that touchdown drive and sets it up that said dac made a i feel like today i saw those were like two clear penalties on that so they were but it's just like that's the that's the that's sort of the particulars of the game but dac also i thought today had a handful of throws where he was absolute money while getting crushed by someone and put it right where it needed to go. So there are these positive plays that I think you cannot blame anything on DAC and anyone that does that, didn't watch this thing. Well, the Cowboys defense just isn't that special to me.

I think that's what we've learned last couple weeks. And that's when you kind of zoom out and think about how we thought this season was going to be, I think that's a disappointment because I had no faith they were going to stop the dolphins there at the end of the game. And when you watch these two defenses, I thought the Dolphins' Devens made life much tougher on the Cowboys. 12 QB hits, four sacks on Dax versus Tua, five QB hits, one sack. Now, part of that is the schematic answers and how quick Tua gets rid of the ball. And both quarterbacks had their misses.

But, like, I look at these two defenses. And right now, I'd probably take the dolphins over the Cowboys. And that's concerning because as well as Dax playing, they don't really have a running game. You look at the box score, and it's CD for 6-1-8. 18. And then the, you know, the only other, the next one is Jalen Tolbert who kind of caught a prayer ball for a, for a bomb at one point. It just things were hard for the Cowboys in a way that I just didn't feel like they really were for the Dolphins. And, you know, and it was a nice drive to put him ahead late. But God, I feel very similar about the Cowboys now that I have. Well, yeah, they're 10 and

five and headed to the fifth seat again. There's really nothing they could do now. They're going to be that number five seed even if they win another road game they're going to finish under 500 at home and this team just does not play with the same swagger and at the same level on the road as they are at home and now the path to the Super Bowl and this NFC title game they haven't been to in 25 years is once again you got to win one two three road games so I don't like their chances I think they had a window here these last two weeks to really cement that they're different and I I know they're, I think they're better than they've been the last couple of years when they flamed out, but they're not much, they're not that much better. And you mentioned it, Greg,

that defense time and time again in this game, even if the stats don't make it look like Miami lit them up and they didn't. They scored one touchdown. Could not get a big stop. Could not force a game changing play. I thought the officiating was terrible in this game, which, and it worked, I think, more pro Miami than pro Dallas. But Dallas did not find a way when it mattered most. And now you're going to be on the road. You'll probably beat the NFC South champion and get waxed in the divisional round and prove me wrong. Well, you never know with the way the Eagles are playing, but they probably need the Eagles to lose two out of three.

Although the Eagles are collapsing so hard, I'm not ruling anything out there, but you're right. They probably need the Eagles to lose two out of three or else Eagles win the division. All right. Let's move on. This is a historic day in Michigan. Let's go to Minneapolis. Minnesota now 30 yards from the end zone they've got to have, down six, 58 seconds,

to go clock will start on the snap mullins takes the shotgun snap he's back mullins looking pressure comes stepping up looking throwing deep down field it is picked up by the lions intercepted coming back the other way he fought two malafanwu this is going to be over lions are going to win it lions are bringing the nfc north title back to detroit oh yeah bongos deserve it how about this for a christmas gift detroit your lions are division champions for the first time in 30 years. Jamir Gibbs had two rushing scores. Amon-Ross-St. Brown went over the century mark receiving and had the third quarter

go-ahead touchdown. And yes, Melafon-Roo had the game ceiling interception at the five-yard line with less than a minute to play. And it allowed the lions to escape the Vikings 30 to 24 at U.S. Bank Stadium. The injury ravaged Vikings, the team of a. around the NFL. They made the visitors sweat here. They had back-to-back touchdowns on each end of the half. But otherwise, the lines were pretty clearly the superior team today. They won the turnover battle, four to one. That was a big difference. Mullins was, again, ignore the

stats. Mullins was kind of a mess. Nick Mullins, the Vikings quarterback in this game, despite high yardage and some nice throws, but he was throwing the ball up for grabs, including that interception where he's just, you know, he spots the open receiver a little bit too late. He holds it too long and then gives a gift-wrapped interception to close out the game. So, you know, they were the superior team in the Lions today. They've been the superior team in the division since they beat the Chiefs on the first day of this season.

And you know what? Quite clearly, we need to hear from Dan Campbell, like right now. Man, this is special. This is special. It's something you don't get to do all the time. time. They're always special to win a division. I don't care how many of them you get because of the work that goes into it. But to do something that hasn't been done in 30 years for a team is special. And that's a special group of men back in there that are staying tame at this

point. They're staying tame at this point because the Lions believe there's more ahead of them here, Greg, than the Justin NFC North Title. This is a team that is really under Campbell turned into a whole different animal, even from, I think, about, what were they, one in eight last year, one and seven. And they've been one of the best teams record-wise in football for a season and a half now. So a well-earned division title and a home game in the playoffs. Yeah, back it up even a couple of years, just thinking about how ugly that start was under Dan Campbell. And then to get it going. And it's very cool to see like the step-by-step process of a team like this and culminate.

And they deserved it. And he could say that they were calm, but I saw some of those locker room videos. and like Aiden Hutchinson was like breaking out the stanky leg and going wild. And it's wild how putting Mela Fanu in the lineup who's been on the team for three years, it hasn't had a lot of playing times. It really made a huge difference the last couple of weeks. Last week he had nine tackles, a sack and a force fumble today. Two sacks in an interception.

And he's kind of that roving safety. And suddenly you add Chauncey Gardner Johnson along with him next week. He's expected to return probably next week, maybe week 18. And some of their issues, maybe on defense will get solved. They also have James Houston might be coming back, Alene McNeil. Like, maybe the defense won't be a total tie or fire by the playoffs. I mean, the Chauncey Gardner edition would be huge. I think everywhere he goes, he's just like this guy that creates change.

I think it's like I'm happy when the right team wins the division. No more nonsense. No more mathematical nonsense. The lions are the best team. And it's like today, to me, felt like a lot of other lions wins. It's imperfect. But it's like the vision is there. Like they're young guys.

like Jameer Gibbs, like today, there was this one critical third and four where he caught the ball behind the line of scrimmage and was dodging between people and dragging tacklers for the first. It's like you don't get to this game and to this point without your rookie class, which has been one of the better in the NFC. And you don't get here with all the other guys you brought on the team over the last couple of years. You also gave up like 400 yards to the air and nearly let the whole thing down in the end with Justin Jefferson going nuts with Mullins. Like it could have gone either way potentially, but it's like the lions. are going to do this and they're going to they're probably like dan you said it on nfl plus on thursday

i asked you for what would happen to the lions you said they're going to wax someone essentially in like a home playoff game and then see you later the next week and that's probably who they are but they're so much farther along i have everyone being eliminated in the divisional playoffs every team gets eliminated somehow well they will but it's like they're not like people i was reading are they are to we now trust them as a super bowl team it's like no but i do trust that like they continue to be more impressive they're really well coached and the brad homes has done a great job bringing a roster up that looks just like the vision of their head coach. And let me, let me, uh, refraise that because, or correct myself, because we see the Cowboys

lose again. And we know the Niners or the Niners, okay? And they're, they're cut above right now. Um, but anything else in the NFC is pretty wide open, including by the way, if the Lions, for instance, uh, with Jared Goff get the Rams with Matthew Stafford, which seems like something that could very well happen. And yeah, I think we all. remember when Jemir Gibbs was taken in the first round because everyone, and this isn't his fault necessarily, but everyone had Bijon Robinson fever, like he was a cross between Gail Sayers and Jim Brown and Lidane and Tomlinson. And then when the other guy got taken, it was like, ah, it's kind of a reminder that with running backs, you come out of college, get on a good team.

Because if you get on a bad team like Bijon, you kind of get forgotten. But if you get yourself in a good situation with pieces around you, him and Leporta, that obviously, that is the big difference between this year and last year on offense. It's going to be really exciting to see what their journey is from here on out. As far as the Vikings go, listen, here's the positive spin. Okay, the team of ATN, all but dead, according to ESPN's football power index, which is quite a title for something. Sunday's loss brought the Vikings chance of making the playoffs down to 25%, which is actually, you know, one out of four. They took me if they went out, they're in still.

There's still a path. And yet, even with Justin Jefferson back in being a superhuman, the quarterback play is killing them. And, uh, you know, I found myself pining for Joshua Dobbs again, uh, and I know Jarron Hall's out there is too, because, but Nick Mullen just throwing those balls up for grabs. They just, I think more than anything else quarterback play ruin their season and these last three or four weeks. And it's, it's frustrating because I thought this team really did have a lot of DNA to be a fun, exciting group to follow as the team of ATN. But it's a tough spot. They lost too

many guys, but they got, they have Green Bay at home. And then they go to Detroit. And who knows what Detroit's doing in, in week 18. I just don't trust them against anybody. Right. I don't either that that Packers game is basically an elimination game. But the thing that surprised me most after all the results that have come in in the Vikings and Packers are seven and eight is that like if either the Packers or Vikings win their last two games they're almost definitely in which it feels like how is that still possible but if just because of all the teams that are playing each other yeah according to New York Times if Vikings did win those two they'd have a 96% chance so it's in front of them I don't trust them to actually do it partly because their defense like as fun as they've been

you know they didn't get after Jared Gough the Lions had answers today only three quarterback hits with all those blitzes and everything everyone's like oh the blitz versus jared goff the lions were better uh than the viking's defense i'm you got when you guys check the game out let me know uh later this week but like i'd be surprised the sophansky watches this film uh you know dobs got benched for being mistake prone and mullins could have thrown five interceptions in this game i wonder if we see uh the rookie on the field of the season on the line which is a tough spot but like several other teams across the league it's it's dire straits at the quarterback and you're just, you're just looking for a miracle.

Let's give the final word to Taylor Decker. He's in his eighth season with the Lions. He was born in 1993, the last time the Lions had a home game. He was emotional after this win. When you love the guys that you're playing with, it means a lot more. Ben Bosher tweeted he's been a lion for 2,796 days. and for the first time he could call himself a champion. And you know what, boys?

I feel like we're kind of champions because they were the team of ATN when they were dirt, when they were nothing, and we believed. Maybe this means that the Vikings, you know, a year from now, we're doing something similar. We've been that prescient again, just not at the moment. I felt bad for the Vikings. In my heart watching this, it's like,

I kind of want the nice things for the Lions, even though the Vikings are the team of ATN, Cynthia Freeland, Kevin Patra, all the great Lions fans out there. enjoy this yeah how could you root against the lions all right let's uh keep moving uh how could you root against the cleveland browns harris in the back field of the left flacco from under center from the 25 play fake to hunt and a roll out to the left flacco eyes downfield deep shot left side live wants cooper he has it running three at the 20 at the 10 touchdown

Amari Cooper is in the end zone with a 75-yard touchdown. That is what you call a tone setter. Amari Cooper set a franchise record with 265 yards receiving. Hey, everybody, this is the semifinals of the fantasy playoffs. My goodness, I think, Greg, your powerhouse daughter's team took a dirt nap because of that. I mean, she's still got a chance as we're, as we're. taping, but yes, Cooper dropping 52 on her is putting her in a big hole. God, that's legendary.

I mean, that's not, that's not Alvin Camaro with like seven touchdowns, a Christmas day in 2020 legendary, but it's, it's close. Anyway, Cooper, 265 and two touchdowns. And he added a two point conversion because why the hell not? And the Joe Flacco piloted Browns beat the Texans 3622. They are in great shape to play relevant January football. Mark, what a fun time to be. a Browns fan and what a goddamn performance by their number one wide receiver.

It was, it was an incredible game for Browns fans. And I can only imagine, you know, Andrew Siciliano, you know, calling this, who has been a Browns fan since he was a child, and watching something that seems so atypical once again for typical Browns teams. And it's like Flacco made it very clear right away that Amari Cooper was going to have a huge game. Within, like, minutes, he had whipped a 53-yard bomb to Cooper that set up a quick touchdown for them. There was later on a 75-yard touchdown we just saw it just kept coming. At the end of the first half, Flacco had 11 completions for 246 yards. At the end of the first half, like he right now leads the NFL since week 13 with 486 yards on deep passes.

At the end of the game, he had 370. And this was a weird game because it was clear Cleveland was going to win. But they took Flacco out, and they took Amari Cooper out, minutes into the fourth quarter. And, you know, Cooper at that point was nine yards shy of Josh Gordon's single game receiving record with the Browns. And you could see him talking to Stafansky kind of playfully, like, you want to throw me back in there so I can like get this thing done before. And Stephansky sort of- Hell yeah. CBS was just like, no, absolutely not. But then Houston did a bunch of garbage time theatrics, came back into it.

Flacco and Cooper come back into the game. And so then there's a huge third down completion to Cooper that essentially set the record. And I think that probably prevented a lot of annoying conversation this week about Stefansky not putting him in there for that final couple of plays. Put this way, Mark. Mark, if Antonio Pierce can call some Fugazi double pass in like a 60-0-0 game to get Devante Adams a touch and one of the great blouts ever, absolutely when Cooper's done something that special, you let him cap it. off and put his name in the record books. I'm with you, and I'm glad it ended up that way.

There was a really strange beeline today because with all the kickers succeeding, Cleveland, Dustin Hopkins has been absolute money in the bank for them and won games for them. He had a hamstring injury very early. And so from the very first moments of the game, they're having to go for two on every touchdown. They're having to go for it on fourth and eight from the 16. Like, like, Stefansky was asked at halftime, do you not have anyone else, like, even your punter that could kick a field goal?

And he's like, we flat out do not. And so it caused them, I think, to be more aggressive. And it was kind of a case study and it's like a kicker free roster. Because a couple of that set up, that just set up more touchdowns where it could have been field goals. But it's like it leaves you concerned because their punter also was banged up. So they come out of the game like in great position for the playoffs. But if the Hopkins thing is real, you're taking like a massive factor. to their offense away.

But I just cannot believe what their defense was their defense. I cannot believe what Flacco has done over these couple of weeks. It's got to be one of the most predictable things, unpredictable things we've seen in 10 years doing the show. Well, I mean, they average 1.8 yards per carry, and they put up 36. They had under 30 rushing yards last week when they ended up winning that game against the Bears.

I give Stafansky so much credit because he's just leading on what's working. And the kicker being hurt absolutely, you know, got them an extra. couple of touchdowns because, I mean, one of those death fourth and eight one where flacco is basically in the grasp and throws an opposite hash throws to Cooper on the sideline. Cooper had maybe one of the best games I've ever seen any receiver have because of the difficulty of all these throws. I mean, they were great throws, but it's unreal the plays that they made.

It wasn't even bad defense most of the time. Browns are going to the playoffs. I know it's not official. They're 10 and 5, but they're basically going. And heck, they actually have a little chance here to win the AFC North. Of course, the AFC is wonky. Our favorite Canadian, Stacey Dales, was at the game. And she spoke with Amari Cooper, who predictably was feeling good about himself.

Yeah, I mean, every time I step on the field, you know, I try to put forth my best effort. I do truly feel like I'm unguarable. You know, it's all about opportunities. And I had a lot of opportunities today. So I was able to take advantage of him. you know i i booted amari cooper out of the superstar club a couple of years ago uh and i'm not saying that he's going back in uh this summer but at the same time he had like a really interesting career like he is uh even if he's not a superstar per se whatever

that means in terms of how you view it he is an absolute legit number one for the browns and you know he was for the cowboys there for a while too he's had a he's had a great career and And Mark Flacko. The second player ever to have three, 200 yard games for three different teams, T.O being the other one, which says a lot. Three different team. Where's the other one? The Raiders, come on.

You know, that's where he did. I kind of glanced over his Raiders career. That's where he started and he got traded. Yes, to the Cowboys. Man, we've been doing this long time. The Flacco bark, it keeps on going through my head. The Flacco, 1998, Vinnie Testa Verdi season keeps spinning in my mind that this, you know, kind of forgotten big armed pocket passer who actually did have something left in the

tank, even if people didn't think that necessarily to be the case, goes on a special run and the team starts believing. Yeah, why can't this is actually a good year, Mark. And we could, we could lament, you know, their injuries and imagine if Nick Chubb was here to help Flacco that we're talking maybe they're a true like Super Bowl contender. But in the AFC, like, why can't the Browns get hot and win some games. Like I think this is a great exciting time in Cleveland. Well, their defense, you know, which has never complained the whole year, is really well coached, is playing with a lot of the same players with intense confidence compared to an organization compared to a year ago are getting help now. I mean, it's like, again, you're through

for 250 yards in the first half. I, you know, the Texans are without CJ Stroud or, you know, and other players, a bunch of them were easy pickings today, but Cleveland destroyed them in the first half. And so I am left warning that. I would say one little football note, Dan, like, I don't think that Bill Parcells goes after Vinny Testiverty in that situation in that time period. If Bill Belichick wasn't part of that staff or part of that who had gotten them in Cleveland in 94, I'm getting a lot of tweets today about Vinny Testaverti taking Cleveland to the playoffs in their last playoff win before Baker Mayfield as an aging quarterback for the Browns when they beat Parcells and the Patriots in the playoffs. So it all like comes full circle.

Vinny kind of washed out from Baltimore to get to the Jets. You're right. Interesting. All right. Let's, and yeah, I don't know what else we really need to say about the Texans other than it sucks because the injuries have been an absolute nightmare for them. It's supposed to get Stroud back next week and they're still tied for first place. So it was not a damaging loss for them. Right.

So they get Stroud back and hopefully he stays healthy and we'll see if they have a run in them. but time's running out. Time is also running out for us to take the Jacksonville Jaguars even a little bit seriously because their struggles continued on Sunday. Here's the snap ball on first down from the 22. Mayfield throws toward the end zone. Claw, Mike Evans, touchdown Tampa Bay.

Evans has two today. Merry Christmas, Michael. Merry Christmas to Jean Ducker Hoth. If he celebrates, you don't know we don't know uh producer eric find out if jean deckerhoff is christian thank you baker mayfield threw for 283 yards and two touchdowns to help the nfc south leading tampa bay buccaneers defeat trevor lawrence and the stumbling bumbling jaguars 30 to 12 that is four straight wins four straight wins now uh for the bucks who you know i was talking about

Amari Cooper's had a weird season. The Bucks have had a weird season. It started out a strong mark and then it went into a deep tailspin and they were a complete afterthought. And now they got to be seen as a pretty substantial favorite to win the South. And again, a team that can make noise in the playoffs if you get this version of Baker and the team playing at this level in terms of confidence right now. Man, Baker Mayfield. And, you know, Dan, we again, we kind of, we keep nailing it with these Thursday plus segments. Greg,

we talked about Baker, the Lions having their moment, which wasn't wholly unpredictable, but then also like the rise and fall of Baker Mayfield, then the rise again, because this version of Baker Mayfield, what he did today, I was just like,

this is a team that could go into a weird NFC and be the team you kind of don't want to deal with, they're going to be at home that they win this division, but not to get ahead of ourselves. I just thought that he today, once again, it was very much the kind of performance we've seen for him over and over. I mean, he galvanized the sideline and the entire offense with a string of key, like third down conversions on the ground. He's sort of underrated. He's not going to go run for 41 yards, but he will barrel over

people to get us six yards on third and five. His connection with Mike Evans, after watching that connection with Tom Brady a year ago, be so frustrating, has been absolutely on. And it's like he kept getting the team out of Jammas with great throws. He had a pristine first half. But this doesn't happen also without the full and entire meltdown of Trevor Lawrence. On the first drive, a terrible interception to Devin White. He is destroyed on a sack on third and 12 on the second drive. A terrible interception on a miscommunication with Evan Ingram on the third drive. I mean, then he stripped sacked to open the second half with the team down, you know, like 27 to nothing.

They never climbed back in. And then to top it all off, Trevor Lawrence, you probably should not. I don't even know if he was healthy coming into this game. He did not look right. He only practiced once this whole week. He was completely off with an offense that's missing a bunch of wide receivers. And then he left with a throwing shoulder injury that we don't know exactly what is going on with that too.

And so it's like- What a tough year for-warves. Right. And the Jaguars are like for weeks we've been saying they're kind of disappearing before our eyes. I mean, they are hardcore disappearing. I don't know what will happen. And they can sneak back into this playoff race at this point.

But they look like the opposite, the polar opposite of the. the defense and offense that we knew from even a month again. Everyone lost in the South. So like they're in as a day. They're still there. I get that. I get that. You know that stuff starts to get me annoyed because I get that they're, I'm saying that

right now the quarterback has hurt. He's playing terribly. They have no running game. Their defense is a hot mess and was totally eaten up today. So it's like it's not the way I want any team to go into the playoffs. That's all. Right. I had that on our Wednesday show.

It was my bold prediction that they're not going to make the playoffs. I just don't think they're a good team. And Lawrence, I think, has played better than his numbers have shown most of the year, but that's not true the last three or four weeks as he keeps taking these injuries. I mean, they were down 30 to nothing in this game. I think they're, even though the, because of their schedule, the, you know, projections have them making it because they have, I think,

Panthers Titans. And so those are relatively easy matchup. Like, they're capable of losing any team right now, including the Panthers, the way the Panthers are playing late in the season. So everything is sort of falling apart at the same time that it's coming together for the Bucks. The Bucks are a week 18 win away against the Panthers. And in between, they have the Saints.

And then they can really, they can finish it first. But even if for some reason they lost the Saints, all they really got to do is beat the Panthers in Week 18. And they're almost certainly the NFC South champs. And the way they're playing, well, offensively, they're a better offensive team than defense. Why wouldn't they beat the Saints next week anyways? I think Todd Bowles, there's a lot of coach of the year candidates, but Todd Bowles, like, Oh, don't go there.

Oh, my gosh. No. Hold on. He wouldn't be in my top 10. I'd say one thing he's done really well is like... Too far, Mark. He's kept this team together. And like, I will say one defensive player of the week, here's another prediction.

Antoine Winfield, interception, forced fumble, like a huge sack on third down. He's been really good, but like he was a huge nuisance to the Jaguars the entire day. My all pro. He's been so good all year. So good. The Bucks might not be a great team, but they're in a great division to be an okay team. and they're playing better than okay right now. And you mentioned they scored in their first four possessions,

two touchdowns, two field goals. They held the ball for more than 18 minutes in the first test. They outgain the Jags 224 to 84 and they went into halftime up 20-0. They just, they ended the game immediately. So the Bucks and don't tell me Baker and Yolo mode if they do close this division out, which I think that they will. And the Cowboys coming to Tampa on like a Saturday, night.

Mm-hmm. That ain't a gimmy. It ain't like last year when Dak carved up a Brady carcass bucks team. This could be a little bit different. So it is crazy. This big offense is unquestionably better than the Tom Brady bucks. Like there's not even a debate about it. I mean, Brady was like 74 at the time.

I get it. But it's still kind of crazy. All right. One more game before we take a break. Let's head to Atlanta where another NFC South team. The Falcons was looking at. kind of stay in the race. Lined up at the right side of Indianapolis's offensive line,

and here is Menshu on a drop. He'll be forced up in the pocket, going to take the shot for Pierce, and who else has picked it, but Jesse Bates on his feet, 45 and tripped up at the 43. And for Bates, that's his sixth interception of the year.

Boy, you cannot throw the ball late down the middle with a guy like that guy in the middle. Nope. Can't do it means you. Jesse Bates with another big play to seal it. Taylor Heineke did not turn the ball over at quarterback. That's, I mean, that's a win.

I don't need anything else with that team. Just don't turn the ball over a quarterback for the Falcons. And that was enough, adding one touchdown pass leading Atlanta to a 29 to 10 win over the Colts. I mean, come on, Andy. You get blown out here

by the Falcons? The Falcons keep themselves in the mix. Whether or not we want them there, Greg. They're here. They're still around. Yeah, the formula they came into the season with hoping for, I was finally there. This was a very, what's the app? Just blah game. Just like there was nothing extraordinary about this game.

Right. It was exactly at the Falcons. Nothing burger, if you will. Like Bajon for 122 yards, like an entire drive coming out of halftime that was all Cordarel Patterson, Tyler Algear, and Bajon Robinson. Kyle Pitts with like a long early touchdown. they ran for 177. Other than giving up an early, long touchdown drive by the Colts, they basically just shut him down.

And I think it's all because Arthur Smith's kid wanted him to get rid of the facial area. He's back to the no mustache. Let's listen. The last time you showed up without a mustache, you said it was like a 3 a.m. impulse. I had to change momentum. I had to clean up, church myself up for the holidays.

Hey, he's got to church himself up. They're not dead yet, seven and eight. The charisma is just exploding out of my laptop screener. You know, there was no Michael Pittman for the Colts. Like at some point when what's his name, Noah Grayson and Will Mallory are your two leading receivers. Like you just don't have enough on offense. And Heineke got lucky on like one pass that could have been a pick six. But other than that was very steady.

Hit open receivers was solid. The Falcons finish at Chicago at New Orleans. Even if they won those two games, they probably wouldn't get in. So they are still kind of just barely holding on. And I mean, I've been like touting the Colts as a solid team. And they have been a solid team and they've been consistent. But like you cannot have Gardner Minshue getting sacks six times and having drives fizzle out, you know, long. They, you know, they had Jonathan Taylor back and that looked like it would make a difference early.

but like they just fell apart today and I don't know I'm struggling I'm trying to find teams to believe in and it's like I guess the Colts are just another one of these flotsam jetsome operations here's a hot take Dan the AFC South is worse than the NFC South at least the NFC South has some teams that have outscored opponents this year there's no one in the AFC South that's done that so hopefully CJ Stroud saves us there because yeah the Colts schedules so easy that they might get in and I don't know I just don't think they have enough firepower Mark how about this you got the Browns man, that's a team to believe in. Just ride, baby. Oh, I'm fine with that. But I, I think it's just like, it's, we can't force these like bottom of the wild card teams

to be something they're not. They're inconsistent and sometimes good, sometimes bad, and their seat fillers come January ultimately. No doubt, but then I also don't need to go down avenues, like with deep math constructions to figure out how like a completely lifeless operation

is going to sneak into the seventh seed. I just, that's not doing. for me either. Don't need to do it. Sit it out. I'm not going to. Remember the Netflix quarterback series this summer? Remember that, Mark? You just got up and left the studio for that series? That conversation. I could do that right here. That's not hard to do. Whenever we're doing permutations of a team that you don't believe in. Yeah. You don't have to walk away. Just do the Tiki Barber move when he got mad at Joe Beningo a few months ago. Just turn the mute button off,

sit back. We won't get mad. We'll get it. Okay. Message received. Anything else on this one, Gregie? No, we're good. All right, good. Good for you. That was, and by the way, I got my Jets Christmas sweater on. Mark, you have a nice red plaid shirt. And Gregi is festive is fuck right now with his Santa hat.

We're trying to help old Eric on the edit here, Christmas Eve, but there's a little beep for you. But yeah, you can check us out. I think this will go up on YouTube. Eric, can you jump in for a second? There was an awkward dynamic, though, because Dan, like, you know, this is all for the show, like, entreated, you know, Greg and I had to go find our, like, ugly Christmas sweaters, which in the past we owned. And, like, Greg couldn't find his. And I was like, I don't even know where mine exists in this point. I moved and I lost a lot of clothes on purpose, but I got rid of, I think it was gone in the move.

But there was a sense that, like, early this morning as the games were kicking off, like, I think we've really disappointed Dan. And I'm not sure how this is going to go down on the show. But you've been very, you understand. how it is to move and have possessions and all yeah it's tough it's tough you just don't know where everything is listen i'm i'm the blind ambition of the show like i want things i want to do things and try things and and sometimes it gets you know eyebrows go up and like why is he even worrying about wearing matching christmas gear uh on the four box or the three box on the christmas eve show i just think it's nice i think it makes the show three percent better three percent that's pretty big uh eric

i'm sorry for the f bomb but you have to admit that Greg's hat is festive as f***. It is. I will, it's worth it. It's worth it a couple. Sorry, Randy. All right, let's take a break and we'll keep going. What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the Sticks, we take you inside the game from Scouting Reports and Player Development to team building philosophies, coaching trends and how front offices construct winning rosters. Every week, we study the tape, talk to decision makers, and share the insights you won't find anywhere else. It's the kind of conversation that connects the dots, from college football prospects to the

NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day. Plus, we dig into coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a diehard fan or just love understanding the game on a deeper level, we give you the full picture. If you want insight, that goes beyond the box score. This podcast is for you. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Six podcast

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That was my other big takeaway from that. What was that? Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be informative and entertaining. And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL.

Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Yeah, drop that beat, hip-hop Santa. Santa's coming tonight. Santa's having a nice year, a nice year for the kids, Jack and Harrison, some, you know, some high points, some low points. But overall, enough where they don't get coal. And what is the big gift that's arriving in your respective homes for your children? For me, let me just make sure. Santa, Santa's got the PS5 coming with the Spider-Man game bundled in there.

and, you know, people are just going to be going off in the house at about 7.30 a.m. tomorrow. Yeah. We did our Christmas last weekend because my kids are now, they've arrived in Japan. It's already Christmas there. They've already opened their second load of gifts from Santa there, which is... Aren't time zones pretty crazy when you think about it? Yeah, it's way ahead. But I did the thing where they opened their presents, they were happy, and then it was like,

oh, I think there's one more thing. I was like, I don't know if this is a little bit. risky. This move's going to work. I think there's one more thing I left upstairs, bring it out. It was a PS5 as well. And they went freaking nuts. They went nuts. I think you should have had like two. No, no, that was that was when we were here. That was when we were here last. But it was, it was made in Japan. So, yes, go ahead, Mark. I was Greg. I was going to say you should, I think you should have had two ponies waiting upstairs. That would have been theatrical. Um, so Luke is very into plain spotting. Um, he's got his own Instagram site that is kind of quietly. It's exploding. Uh, it's exploding up. So he got a flight simulator console or he's getting it tomorrow. Colton's at the age, and this will happen to you soon where he's just like, yeah, just give me like money so I can go buy what I want when I want. Like, okay.

That's easy versus, you know, targeting a gift that a child doesn't want. That is, you can't force that. Yes, along the lines of what you did, Greg, I'm taking a page out of a Christmas story with the Red Rider BB gun. You know, after all the toys are open and around. Alfie was like, ah, like he didn't want parents to know he's disappointed, but he was. PS5 is going to be in a little different area. And that will be like, oh, you do one of these moves.

And this is, you know, I'm now father of a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old. So, you know, I've had a lot of years. And I heartily endorse this to any young parents out there. Do the old rope a dope, let them open the presence, the one that they want most, they don't get. And then all of a sudden, oh, what is that? You want to go nuclear? You want to see the house. explode. I can't wait. I actually, I'm more excited, uh, as a, as a parent for Christmas

morning than I was as a child. I didn't think that was possible. That's one of the great things about, um, being a parent and, and my kids are getting older and I know there's only so many years that it's special like this. So cannot wait. Um, let's get back to the games. And you know, I just, I shared some intimate feelings about how I feel about family, but I'm also very passionate about the Sunday drive, presented by the first ever Toyota Grand Highlander. Let's head to the Saturday game starting with Cincinnati. Peter's Lee is 24-8. I love all corporations.

The Bengals bring the blitz. Touch pattern down the left sideline. And it's dragged. There goes George Perkins to the 10 to 5. Touchdown. He beat Porter a losing badly. And I'll tell you what. Mason Rudolph laid it in there perfect.

he sure did yeah marie cooper was probably in most starting lineups i don't know about george pickens but if he was congratulations mason rudolph threw for two hundred ninety yards and two long touchdowns to george pickens who's been under fire for some of his effort and to to dood uh this season to say the least and the steelers uh gave a little jolt to their fading postseason dreams with a 34 11 win over the bangles greggie i'm so mad at myself last week we did the fearless predictions and I said the Steelers were done winning this season but I forgot the golden rule of pro football

which is Mike Tomlin literally can't have a losing season and I wish if one of you just would have said it to me in the moment I would have pulled back the reins on everything and put up a hard stop sign and pivoted I think maybe you did that on purpose so I could look like a fool today because they absolutely stomped the Bengals in a game where everyone was not only counting out Pittsburgh entirely everyone had already was busy writing the obituaries

about Tomlin in Pittsburgh. We'll see what happens down the line. But for now, they're still alive. Right. I was one of those everybody's. I thought the Bengals were going to drop a hammer on him. Pickens goes Randy Moss, four for one, 95, and two. He has an 86, a 66, and a 44, almost all of them on a woozy.

One was, the first one was a little fluky. It was a nice throw, but Dax Hill comes down and takes out two defenders by taking a bad angle. And suddenly he's off. But the Bengals are just kind of soft. They're 0 and 5 in the AFC North, which is crazy. It was some symbolically, I think there was that play where Warren just decleded the Bengals linebacker Jermaine Pratt on the Calvin Austin rushing touchdown. And then on the opposite side, the Bengals are just stuck on like the one yard lane or is a five yard line needing a yard. And they can't get a foot for three straight plays.

So then they try to throw it and they don't get that. It's just like they're not tough. And for this game, the Steelers are tough. and at least they kind of, they brought the Bengals back into their muck. It's like if we're probably not going to the playoffs, you're probably not either. I mean, this was sort of the Steelers offense we were expecting when they fire the OC or hoping for, not expecting, but Mason Rudolph, who's been an afterthought, it was kind of surprising that they even brought him back like this season.

It's throwing the ball with confidence downfield. It's like the connection between him and Pickens had a lot to do with the fact that he sort of like fearlessly tossing deep balls and they're working. And I'm with you, Greg, like my one concern for the Bengals, it's like, yes, Jake Browning massed over a lot of sins and, you know, he had a couple terrible interceptions in this game. But like they, both lines seem so easily dominated. And this defense, which has been like not talked about, I think a lot nationally as having like major issues, like completely fell apart. And so at this point, Um, this very, I thought they were one the most hopeful notes that we had in the

AFC because of Browning, um, reality struck hardcore, uh, yesterday. It does feel like these quarterbacks, even the ones we believe in, and I'll use Dobbs as an obvious example, Browning as well. Um, some of them, you know, once, once a few games pass and there's some tape that they get exposed a little bit. And I hope that's not it with Browning. I hope he bounces back. Who do they have after this, Greg? What do we have left for Cincinnati? and the Browns at Kansas City and then home for the Brown. So that's obviously that's a tough close for Cincinnati.

And I think they want them both. They're probably in. That's the thing with all these teams because they probably won't win them both. That's the thing. No. Like you got to win. You got to win the Pittsburgh game when the Steelers are on their back and they couldn't. So that is that.

So we'll see in terms of for Mike Tomlin what how this could change his future, even if they don't make the playoffs. If they close out with them winning record, you know, does that quiet anything about him? fired or traded. I don't know. But one other take I have is in the fourth quarter when there were Mason Rudolph chance. He's been there forever. And there, you know, he's been all sorts of stories around Rudolph forever. He'll probably be, I don't know, I was going to say he'll be somewhere else next year, but he's been around Pittsburgh for a long time. They're playing Rudolph the Red

Nose Reindeer on the PA after the game. And he's being interviewed. And when the sideline reporter mentions that to him he kind of rolls his eyes like don't bring up this damn song again i don't i don't like it it does nothing for me it's way on the nose red nose nailed it let's just move on you know i did like how much alex highsmith his teammate was gassing him up just like this guy's the man like the players i think i think like mason rudolph and they were all but saying like don't go back to kennie picket and i kind of don't think they will i think they'll give rudolph another another try you see kennie picket and Chibisky next to each other as the crowd is chant.

I was thinking, what's going through those minds? Do they share any words together as 70,000, like, hammered Pittsburgh, yinzers are going nuts, Channing Mason Rudolph's name. Bengals playoff chances down to 14% after the loss. So, yeah, they're in a bad way. That was the Sunday Drive presented by Toyota. Let's go places. Learn more at Toyota.com slash Grand Highlander Saturday night football at SoFi

Stadium. Let's go. If Allen takes the snap, pocket collapsing, has to roll out to his right to buy time, looking downfield. He's got Dave Davis over the shoulder, caught at the 15, and he drives his way into the end zone for the touchdown. Wow. Josh Allen buys time, rolls out and drops it over Davis's shoulder, and he drags a defender the last eight yards for the score.

That might have been. Eric Roberts was at the game with family, the Bill's fan, producer Eric, and the call from Chris Brown, the most important throw of the season for the bills. We'll see. They're down 10-0. And, you know, Gabe Davis hasn't done a damn thing in a couple of weeks. And Alan hits him. He drags the DB into the end zone with him.

It gets them on the board, calms the game down. Josh Allen helped to do the rest. He rushed for two touchdowns through for that one. And you needed the 29-yard field goal from Tyler Bass with 28 seconds to play. play to escape with a 24-22 win over the Chargers. Mark, a loss to the rudderless and Herbert Free Bolts would have been, especially after what happened in the previous game for the Chargers who gave up, you know, a 60 burger and everybody got fired. That would have been an absurd and almost fitting stumble for this particular Buffalo team. But they narrowly avoided catastrophe, check the

box for the W and their playoff and division hopes are still alive as a result. Yeah, I guess it just like almost doesn't matter how they got the win they did, but it kind of reminded me early on because they were real sleepy. It reminded me of the way they showed up in London against the Jaguars where it's like, what's going on with this Bill's team? I mean, if anything, it was an opportunity.

Excuse me? Too much of that this year. Too much of that. It looked like other Bill's games on that front. And they got in their own way. They had a, you know, James Cook, who was awesome a week ago against Dallas, had a killer fumble that nearly,

caused them this victory. The Josh Allen interception was on an incredible throw across his body. It was just a wild interception and a great play by the defense. But guys like Ed Oliver, you know, I think like Razul Douglas, they bailed out this offense until it got going. And, I mean, you're still going to get, I think, Josh Allen down the stretch on third down, through the air and on the ground.

He'll always do these incredible things. But it didn't leave me, it just kind of left me like encouraged by their defense to some degree about late what happened, of later in the game. But again, I'm just wondering when the bill's season might just end because they don't show up for four full quarters. It's nine and six. I think Collinsworth was fair to keep hammering the short week.

Coming off an emotional high, it is hard, I think, for these teams to get emotionally as high as possible for each one of these games. The fired coach principle is real. Three and O this year. I know the Chargers didn't win this game, but they were 11-point underdog. Give Smith. I mean, they were playing hard and like Brandon Staley is watching this game

thinking like oh my god he completely changed our defense and it's totally working durwin james around the line of scrimmage like doing different concepts and east and sticks playing clean ball like it just was a it was the tough night for staley but like alan also made the plays like he had to get a field goal basically to keep their playoff you know likelihood going and he hits a money very difficult throw to stephan digs on third and eight and then hits Shakir which would look like a touchdown at first but they ended up calling it back but that was still a money play by him like it they got it done you just got to escape these things and i have a feeling we'll have a better um performance next week those fumbles is are what killed them uh the bills by

the way before this were one in 72 on the road when being negative three in turnovers the only other win was against sam darnald and adam gase in week one in 2019 so like they overcame a lot they got out of there with a win i suspect we'll see a much better bills team the next couple weeks come on clean it up guys i mean how long are we going to be doing this To turn it over three times, essentially, your season hanging in the balance and need your kicker to make sure, you know, if your kicker slips or someone blows a blocking assignment, your season's like all but over. And it's just like, guys, we just can't keep flirting with disaster like this. Eventually your season's going to be ruined because of its shout out, by the way, you know, too easy, hashtag too easy for kickers. Cameron Dicker, who had a, listen, a commendable social media post put out by the Chargers in the wake of that disaster.

against the Raiders where they had some fun with Dicker trying to gain a pro bowl spot. And it was kind of a fun viral video that obviously nice to follow up a viral video like that with a five for five performance in prime time. But it just, it was not enough for the chargers. And by the way, Greg, fired coach principal, that's fine. But it's the Passachia bump. My bad. I was going to using the Brad Spicer, you know, wording. You're right.

That's, that's ATN certified, bro. Like, what are we doing? My bad. You know, I regret it. It's okay. If you don't, if you think fired coach principle is better than. No, it's not. Basacci a bum just rolls off the tongue.

Anything else on this one? Bill's got to win these next two. I know they're nine and six, so it seems like they're super safe. But of all the teams, tiebreaker wise, if they go 10 and 7, like if they win next week against the Patriots, then lose week 18 against the Dolphins. They're probably out, which is, I think would be surprising to people, even though they'd be 10 and 7. So they probably got to win bowl. They're driving me crazy.

I want to get behind them. I want to see them. And Eric, I want to see your team as like the real AFC team that could just blow through January. But I mean, they're, they're hard to trust. But they survived. You know, who else survived the Packers against a bad Panthers team? weren't so bad today in the shotgun here's the snap price young looking around waiting throws the middle got his man had him thin and inside the 35 down to the 31 yard line not even time winding down

down to one second ago they get the ball spice and do they have a chance for a field goal try and the officials are conferring trying to figure out pass it the ground was zero on the clock The game is over. And there is your Christmas Eve dagger. All right, Wayne. Wayne Larrabee with the call, WRNW. I didn't think it was even a chance there. I was watching it for the first time.

It was so close. It was like half a second. They got it right, but it was so close. Yeah. Jordan loved through two touchdowns, ran for another. made some big throws to set up Anders Carlson's go-ahead field goal 19 seconds left. And yes, the Panthers painfully run out of time on that last gasp rally.

Packers hold on 33 to 30. Gregi, the pack defense still obviously stinks. My God, come on, guys. But Love and company did enough to survive a 2 and 13 opponent. Yeah, I thought it was a really mature effort by Jordan Love. It helped that Aaron Jones is back getting over 120 yards on the ground. they kept having to score and they kept scoring like he had to answer there when Bryce young tied it up at 30 it was obviously Bryce young's best game of his career I thought

from the beginning he made a lot of good throws and people be like oh the Packers defense sucks he was hit 10 times in this game and so the Packers even sucking was part of it but watch if if you ever do watch this game like he he was on the run made a you know great touchdown throw there had a two point conversion overturn a lot of these were while getting hit so I thought he had a really nice game but not as nice as love who was didn't have as as many difficult throws to make but i just thought it was really mature and he had to deliver late and had a dime to dobs that that was a controversial call that panthers fans were upset about looked like he might have dropped it i think they were right to uh keep the call on the field then another dime to

to craft uh and they're winning again with like these rookies and guys like bow melton who picked off the scrap heap it's like it's very impressive what they're doing offensively defensively they stink. It's got to be tough to be Joe Barry because you're getting talked about week after week. You know you're going to be without a job in a couple weeks here. You gave up 394 yards, 26 first downs and 6.4 yards per play to an offense that has been almost entirely unwatchable. And so I am glad for Bryce Young. And it's not just because of Green Bay, you're right? We needed to see this. I think if you're a Panthers fan, you're dying to see some shred of evidence.

that this first overall pick has something inside of them that speaks to more than what we've seen. I think guys, like, there are these unsung heroes on that offense, like an Adam Thieland who it feels like week to week was just cast off as a useless free agent signing. He's been there a week for a week. He had nearly 200-yard receivers today, Bryce Young, which would have been quite different than what he's experienced. But, I mean, Green Bay's defense to me is like putting Jordan Love in this terrible spot week after week. And it's like, It almost is just like ride this thing out. I get it.

They can go nine and eight if they want. But it's like it's just like you've got to change so much on this side of the ball. Mark, imagine they followed your Thursday game plan and ran the ball 50 times. Bryce would never have this moment where he could build off it. This is whenever you have Joe Barry defense, it is, it's like all bets are off, it seems. Like we should try to get out.

Who are they playing next? Let's get on to that roster. Nick Mullins. in the Vikings in the elimination game basically. Yeah, let's let's find a way to onto the Vikings roster. Like we'll be, uh, we could fill in behind, uh, Hawkinson, a tight end, uh, Mark, we're going to put you at, uh, at the number three wide receiver. Greg, we're going to put you in a nice scat back roll.

And we're going to charge, we're going to put up about 300 total yards combined. I feel it. I feel it. And there's nothing Joe Barry can do to stop us. All right. Let's move on. Let's head to Nashville where the Seahawks were looking to keep their playoff hopes alive after that dramatic Monday night win.

Third down and goal from the sixth. Parkinson on the left. Gino looks that way, throws back shoulder. Parkinson has to catch. Touchdown. Seahawks. A perfect back shoulder throw by Gino. And the Seahawks go up 19 to 17.

Steve Rable with the call, K-I-R-O, Gino Smith, through his second touchdown pass of the fourth quarter. That five-yarder to Colby Parkinson with 57 seconds to play. Seahawks, they are in the playoff picture, for sure, in clear focus by beating the Titans' 2017 back-to-back victories. Now, Mark, last year was Drew Locke playing the hero. Today, Gino got in the act. It was, you know, before the game, because when we did. did our draft on Thursday. It was my impression that when Greg took Green Bay Carolina at the end of the lineup there, that he was, he labeled it as the last available game, but sitting out there

was Seattle at Tennessee, and we've got a true Gino file here. So I like, I DM'd him this morning and said, Greg, like, if you want this like Seattle game and to see your guy, like, and he was like, no, I'm actually fine with what I picked. So I went on to enjoy Gino Smith's fourth comeback victory of the year, which leads the NFL among all quarterbacks. And it took a while for him to get going. You know, it was a bit of a sleepy star for Seattle. And Tennessee, I got to give them credit. And I really think, Rabel, like, this is the sign of Mike Rabel's.

Like, Tennessee battled in this thing. They just simply, they're outmanned on offense, but they just battled. And they gave Gino Smith a lot of troubles early on. But this drive, I wrote down, this is Gino's moment with 321 in the fourth quarter, down 17 to 13. Go show me, Gino Smith, that you can do exactly what Drew locked it. week ago. And he unfurls a total money throw to Tyler Lockett on third and six. He is destroyed on a sack, but he does not give up. He hits on third and 14, Jackson Smith and Jigba for

18. Another couple of big conversions to Lockett. Then a deep shot to D.K. and Matt Gaff, that this happens all the time. But it drew a PI, gave them first and goal. Zach Charbonnet slammed twice, but then he hits Colby Parkinson on that touchdown. I was like, Gino just made these throws. I think he was like six for six, five for five or six or six. 60 yards when it mattered most, and then the defense put the coffin on Ryan Tannahill and the Titans offense in the final last gap of gas, but then. So Seattle, I believe you, if you're going to go win games like this, like what's not to like in the NFC? I mean, they can do it with two different quarterbacks in six days.

Very similar games, too. Yeah, the Titans have lost five games by four points or less. This is kind of like every Titans game. It's just like this. They could have had a very different season. And so could Seattle. Like, Dave will want a lot of them. their games just like this. I think Gino now is tied for the league lead in game winning drives. It's not necessarily like even a stat that means you're doing great. I think Kenny Pickett is also tied with him and like Ritters up there. But they've won a lot of these games on the last drive.

Picket and Ritter up there. We got to eliminate the whole stat. That's what I mean. That's got to go. I saw it. I was like, wow, Gino has four, I think four game winning drives. If we're bag on QB wins in the, the Twitter cognacente, we got to, we got to come for the late game drives too.

I'm with that. I'm not really into the game winning drives thing, but made it happen when it mattered most, and they get to eight and seven, and they're in pole position, but their two games are pretty tricky with, who is it? It's Pittsburgh, and then I forget who it isn't.

Pittsburgh and then Arizona. Yeah, they probably have to win both of them to get in. They could win one and then get some help. They'd have a better chance than most teams, but we'll see. All right. Let's head to the Meadowlands where the Jets jumped ahead big and then had a hold on for their lives against the commandos. Out of the hold of Morsted to try and put the jets on top.

54 yards away. Hennessy will snap. There it is. The placement down. It's away. It's got the distance. It is good. Greg Zerlund does it.

Five seconds to go. Bob was choosing for the call. I mean, calm down. Let's calm down with the... It's on for Bob Salah. He's partying tonight. He's partying. I mean, every day is just...

The Jets are God's cruel joke. Greg Zirline kicks a 54-yard field goal of five seconds to play. And the Jets, after blowing a 20-point third-quarter lead, uh, hold on. with the they don't hold on they actually lose the lead they go down 2827 and then zirlein bails him out another kicker having a monster year he's missed one kick all season um 54 yard or with five seconds left that was enough and um i say that it's the jets are a cruel cosmic joke because uh the the day begins with um brian castello of the new york post

reporting uh via direct conversation with woody johnson uh that indeed Indeed, Robert Sala is coming back and so is Joe Douglas and we're running this thing back. Essentially this entire year was a mulligan and this is necessarily a surprise. It feels like it's been trending that way. I don't necessarily agree with it, but this is kind of how it's been trending and it would have been so on brand for the Jets then to blow a 20 point lead to one of the worst teams in football at home on Christmas Eve, no less. And it's also kind of funny in a sad way that they find a way to thread.

the needle where they don't even give us like just a real fun afternoon. We had to suffer through the second half. And then they make the kick that actually makes our draft kick, pick worse. It's just, they are masters of the craft. I have to almost give the Jets credit for what they do to their fan base. But anyway, you should know this about the game. And shout out to Jake Briscuit, who once again came in for Sam Howell. And we're going to get into that in one minute. But first, let's hear from Bob Sala, who has very strong takes that might, might, might, upset one Patrick Claibon. It wasn't necessarily complacency or anything.

It was just momentum shifted. Listen, the blowing that lead, it was just momentum and there's nothing you could do nothing you could do about it. But they got it back. Like they, it didn't, it didn't, they did something about it, you know, because then they won't. That's an NFL coach telling, you know, the world, uh, where we sit with momentum. So I, you know, it just, it's, you just put it.

That man makes like four million dollars a year to coach football. So am I going to? Am I going to sit up here? Sheck would say on Mount Pius and say that he's wrong. Shout out to Greg Zerline, by the way. Hitting that kick, I just feel like it helped the mood of this whole show, you know? Like, this would have been a dark day for the Jets. I feel like I know, I know you got me all wrong, Greg.

But I'm just saying if they had on the day they announced Sala was getting the job blowing that lead to the commanders, it would have been a little salty. Totally a piece with it, Mark. Greg, I was totally at peace with them losing the game because of the draft pick. And it provided very little joy, the fact that they won because they played so damn poorly. I want to just give a little shout out to Jake Brisket, who at one point, factoring in the last week's game and this week's game had five consecutive touchdown drives. Which is awesome. And I really have to, you have to say, we know Ron Rivera is not part of the future in Washington. And we don't need to say much more about this game.

But like, we know he's not the future in Washington. But now Ron has benched Sam Howell like two weeks in a row. And Hal played like dog poop in this game. And he wasn't getting a lot of help from his offensive line. But to see Jacoby Brissette, who we all like and respect, but a career backup coming and just for the second straight week, light up the opponent and get his team back in the game. It's like you would make even in a playing for nothing situation, you might go with Brissette the rest of the way. I don't know if Rivera will. But I think Sam Howe is really mortally wounded his opportunity to be the quarterback of the future in Washington with these last six weeks.

The play has just not been there. And I feel bad for him because it's a tough situation there. But he's, you know, he hasn't been playing the guitar. Put it that way. Yeah, I think he's, I'm with you. I think he's, you couldn't be in a more perfect storm of problematic scenario for future young quarterback with issues. Ownership change happened. coach is gone like I don't like it for Eric B. Enemy who finally became a sole play calling

OC who's going to be out of there and it's like Sam Howell's probably going to be swept out with the rest of them. All right. One more game. It is the Chicago Bears and Cardinals hold on to your butts. Fields under center brings Mooney in motion DJ more to the left snap play fake. Fields fakes the end around the Mooney now rolling to his right being chased zings it into the end zone Wide open, Mercedes-Lewis. Touchdown, touchdown Bears. One-yard toss, and the 40th career touchdown for Mercedes-Lewis. Mercedes-Lewis, everybody.

Our buddy MJD's favorite dude, always talking about Mercedes-Lewis in the theater on Sunday nights. I think they were in the same draft, like literally the same draft class. I believe they were. Mercedes-Lews has now caught touchdown passes in the next. National Football League in 2006 and 2023. That's cool. Anyway, Justin Fields threw for that touchdown to Lewis and ran for another score. The Bears beat the Cardinals 27 to 16.

Colquamette had another big game in this one, four for 107, even though he missed the second half with a knee injury. Hopefully he's okay. Khalil Herbert goes for 112 in a touchdown. So the Bears bounce back after, you know, melting down against. Cleveland the prior week. And, you know, the Bears have 420 yards of offense in this game, 250 rushing. So we're talking about how this team and is it too little too late for the coaching staff. I don't know, but they do seem to have an identity and fields. While he wasn't perfect in this game, he had a bad interception in the red zone. But he started out beautifully. He throws for

170. He adds 97 yards rushing. And I just. You know, it'll be interesting to see how he closes here and what that means for Chicago. And it's like it's such a, there were two things happening. And we talked a little bit about on Thursday that you nearly have Green Bay falling to Carolina instead. They nip Carolina and the Green Bay Packers can celebrate tonight, but they brought the bears one step closer to having the first overall pick that they can do whatever they want with and maybe change the future of both teams in that division for the next 15 years. Bears and Jets both win both at six and nine.

They are the eighth and ninth pick in the draft right now. So the bear's happy they have the one pick on top of the eighth pick. And they're not eliminated. How about that? We're going into week 17. The bears are technically still alive. And again, a lot is technically alive. The Cleveland Brown's mark, as I was looking for eliminations, are still alive for the one seed in the AFC.

That's, you know, that's how many things could happen. So is that the Browns win out and everyone loses out? More or less, yes, to get the one seed. But I think they have a chance to win the division in a more realistic way than people would understand because they would win the tiebreaker over the Ravens if the Ravens lost twice. Well, that is not, I mean, that's not probable, but we're at the point where that is far from impossible.

Kyler Murray, by the way, their passing game, you know, he's given them a little boost, but their passing game just is not clicking. and that was the sixth game of Murray running the offense. So they have work to do. I know Greg, you're pretty confident that they're running it back with him. But it would be nice to see him have one of those vintage Kyler games before we fold up the tent. And I don't really have anything else to have about this game. No, I just want to wish you guys a Merry Christmas.

Good luck on the, you know, there were a big reveal tomorrow, Dan. I want to hear that. Are you going to tape it at the time? I have mixed feelings about that. You want to be in the moment. So I sort of pleaded with Emeka to tape it quietly, like hide it. And I am glad that I have it because I've watched it a few times since. It makes me happy.

Yeah, it is the eternal quandary. Christmas morning. I could still picture my mom, Deb, in 1990 with that big old video camera on our shoulder. and we hated it. My sister and I just despised it and my brother was younger so he didn't care but do we want to do that same thing. However, Mark, like this is a different culture now and cameras are everywhere. The phones are always out so kids aren't nearly as self-conscious as we once were so there's a lot of different angles to look at it from this. I think I would I would get the moment recorded and sort through the feelings around that at a later at a later time with a

licensed therapist. Sure. That would be good. But yes, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate. And thank you for listening to this show and every show. And until next time, which will be Tuesday, do one thing. Have yourself a Merry Christmas and heed the call. Hey, everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to 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 want to 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.

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