NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - 2024 Week 17 Recap

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Patrick Claybon and Nick Shook to recap all of the Week 17 action from around the NFL. The show starts off with Packers at Vikings (01:15) followed by Broncos at Bengals (12:19), Colts at Giants (25:57), Dolphins at Browns (35:50), Chargers at Patriots (42:37), Jets at Bills (51:40), Seahawks at Bears (58:11), Cardinals at Rams (01:05:05), Cowboys at Eagles (01:12:14), Raiders at Saints (01:18:14), Titans at Jaguars (01:22:55), Panthers at Buccaneers (01:25:55), and Falcons at Commanders (01:33:07). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Welcome to NFL Daily, where 14 and 2 just doesn't go as far as it used to. I'm Greg Rosenthal in the Chris West. podcast studio with my friend Patrick Claibon and looking, as always, at Nick Shook in Cleveland, the uncle of the year. How was your Christmas, Shook? It was fantastic. Got to hang out with the kids, good family time. A Merry Christmas to all. Yes, and I hope you had one as well. Of course,

we've talked to Patrick since that preview show, it feels like a long time ago already. Yeah, because we had NFL games wrapped across, like we do a daily podcast. They do daily NFL games. It was a lot. It was a lot this week. It was. And it's going to be a different sort of recap show because you look, TNF is in this game. That game exists Seattle, Chicago. It did happen. That actually happened. I thought the game of the week was on Saturday in the, in the middle window.

And we're going to get to that too. We're going to really construct this show like NFC, AFC. But I first wanted to start at least with what to me was the most important game of the day on Sunday. The only game that included two. teams over 10 wins. Let's go to Minnesota. Second and goal from the nine. Sam Darnold goes out of the shotgun. Cam Acres joins him to his left. Acres jumps to the right. Now back to the left. Darnold out of the shotgun takes the staff. Swings it to Acres. Turns it up to the 10 to the five.

Touchdown! Cam Acres with his third touchdown this season and Minnesota responds beautifully and opens up the lead 2610. Vikings and Cam Acres wouldn't be the last big play he made in that game. Yes, Minnesota got a 17-point lead, and then they held on at the very end, 27 to 25, and it was a third down completion to Cam Acres on a tricky pass as he's backing away from Sam Darnold, and they're able to run out the clock after sweating it out

more than they expected to late. very similar to the week four game between the Vikings and the Packers almost played out the same way where I was very one-sided for about 52, 53 minutes the Packers made it interesting and yet it feels like the better team

won this game and Patrick is just beaming because he had faith when Sam Darnold and the Vikings and I did not. You were right, you were right to pick him. It was my collective lack of faith

in Sam Donald in these moments but we got there again. Once again, a third and three where the throughout the entire fourth quarter we're doing game day live I'm on with Scott Piole and there was a first down pass attempt when the Vikings were trying to burn clock

after Emmanuel Wilson scored to make it 27 to 16 the Packers go for two it's 27 to 18 very first play Sam Darnold drops back to pass and Scott's like you gotta run the ball Kevin O'Connell stuck with the pass

and then they go to that final moment where Cam Acres eventually stumbles before that there's a completion to Justin Jefferson where he not only got interfered with he also got held on that play and they get to make it third and about two and Sam Darnold comes up with the pass to Cam Acres

he catches it off his shoelaces there and you mentioned that week four game the difference in that game was it was an onside kick at the end here the Vikings had to squeeze the life out of the Green Bay Packers and they ultimately did and again not hiding their quarterback just relying on Sam Darnold

who is now four touchdowns if he has a four touchdowns. He ties Dante Culpepper in 2004 for the most passing touchdowns in Vikings history in a single season. If he can get four in the final game against the, against the Lions, correct? Well, I don't think he nearly stacks up to that Culpepper season, which I would rank in the top five quarterback seasons of all time. I've talked about this before. It happened to be in a Peyton Manning season, but it was one of the best seasons ever. But it is the best Vikings quarterback season since Brett Favre. I don't even think there's any question. Better than any cousin's season.

or Keenham or whoever else you want to throw out there. There was that FAR season that was pretty electric. And that faith was telling because Nick, Sam Darnold did have a couple of plays and Tom Brady's getting nervous at the end where he did have an interception in the second half and he had a couple that were close. And yet the faith and the belief that O'Connell has in him, they keep throwing. And on that second and 12, Donald's on a full sprint. That just shows to me how great Justin Jefferson is.

He's one of the best wide receivers I've ever seen in my lifetime. And why he's so great is he's elite at literally every possible facet of being a wide receiver, including on a play like that, running full sprint, getting interfered with and being physical enough to make that catch. And I don't need to say that he's clutch because he's just always great, but he does always seem to play his best when it really matters. And that was a great throw by Darnold as well. Or else, you know, the Packers would have got this ball back in a chance to win the game, partly because they went for two and partly because they suddenly just,

just found life in the last seven minutes, when really before that, this thing was so one-sided. At one point, it was 400 and something yards to 182. It looked like two teams that didn't belong on the same field, which are you a little concerned about the Packers after this? Not concerned necessarily.

I mean, if you look at who they've lost to, all those teams that they've lost to have like 12 plus wins. Like it's the lions, it's the Vikings twice. It's the Eagles. Like, that's basically who they lost to. Yeah, but you're going to have to beat maybe all three of those to go to. the Super Bowl.

Yeah, but you know what? At least that's your test. Like, yeah, okay, maybe that's your ceiling right now, but at least you have the tests and the history. I guess the only downside of this is the fact that it did look so much like the first game that they played. And then it was very lopsided for much of it. And then they woke up in the fourth quarter.

Packers fans have to be thinking, God, I wish you would have made those adjustments at halftime instead of the fourth quarter. But sometimes that's the way things go, especially against defenses that are talented and are equipped to stop your offense. So I'm not super concerned. I don't think that the Packers, like I'm not going to pick them to go win the Super Bowl.

right now, but they'll definitely be in the hunt in the playoffs. They're going to be a tough out. And who knows, man? I mean, this is a weird sport sometimes. Bounce the ball goes one way or the other. Maybe suddenly they're on the flip side of this because they were essentially one stop away from getting one more shot at going down the field and potentially winning this game.

So they're not far away. It's just it can be frustrating for them. They're still a very strong team overall. And by the way, that two point conversion attempt that the Vikings failed on? Yes. Talk about ambitious, huh? A little create little Ben Johnson out of them? Yeah, get a little, let's have a little pitch backward, see if it works.

That was kind of fun. Yeah, I'm a little more concerned about the Packers to show up. And yeah, the yardage total with about nine minutes to go was $418 to 137. I mean, that's a beat down. And I thought it was about the coaches and the players. I thought both sides of the ball, Matt LaFleur, and you mentioned great point by you shook about making adjustments late. LaFleur said it after the game that they were too late to make adjustments

to what Flores was doing. And what he was doing was playing man coverage at a high rate than he had played at any point in the season. After the first time they played, he played man coverage at the lowest rate. And that's, to me, kind of the magic of this Vikings team

that they've been together so long. He can spin the dial in so many different ways. It can really confuse great offensive coordinators or play callers like LaFleur. And certainly, Jordan Love ends up eight for 15 for 62 yards against that man coverage for 4.1 yards per attempt. And it was even worse going into that final stretch. And you have Van Ginkle making big plays.

You had Blake Cashman. Everyone was in the right place. He just, Jordan loved that as seemed like his head was swimming. Where on the other side, Darnold is just firing the ball into the middle of the field. And at one point, he was like 22 for 23 over the middle of the field for 200 plus yards. And they knew the weaknesses that they wanted to attack. on the Packers defense, and they were just so disciplined going after over and over. So to me, it's coaching and it's the players, too, where I looked at these two teams.

I said, okay, one of them, now I would be surprised if the Packers are in the Super Bowl. Like, I've been saying, like, the Packers are one of the five or six best teams. But, yeah, I would be shocked if they run the table against two of these teams. Like, let's say they get the Rams in the first round, you win that. But you've got to win two of these teams that they've had trouble with. I would be a little shock. To me, the Vikings and the lions and the Eagles are a clear tier above. And to Shook's point, that's fine.

You know, not everyone can win the Super Bowl. It's not like the Packers have gotten run off the field by those teams, right? They've been in these games. They're in this game today. They actually get pressure on Sam Darnold, 36% of the time. Problem is, Sam was 10 of 15 for 133 with two touchdowns under pressure. Now, he did have that ball that was picked off by Carrington Ballantan, which gave the Packers their first touchdown.

down of the game, kind of let the Packers back in the game at that point. And there were a couple of passes that sailed high, which seems like Sam's having a tendency right now to kind of overstride and overshoot receivers and have the ball go dangerously. But Jordan Love pressure 32% of the time, four of eight for 41 yards where they're kind of figuring out where does Flores send them? How is he sending them? And that extra second, that extra step slowing down the passing game, they got some action with Romeo Dobbs late. My concern would be there was a lot of Manny Wilson towards the end of the game. I don't know if that's

saving Josh Jacobs because the difference in this game in the five and the six seed is like a road playoff game here at SoFi or a road playoff game at the link against the Eagles. And so there was something for the Packers to play for here. Yeah, or

even potentially at the NFC South winner if they had won this game and won out, but that's not going to happen. I think both starting running backs were just banged up at the end of this game. Aaron Jones was not on the field. That's why Cam Acres was out there and Josh Jacobs who had a good game and they ran the ball well at first and then there was just a couple situations. They go for it on fourth and two and Brady's bemoaning that and they don't get it. I don't have a big problem with that.

You never know if they're going to make the kick anyways as we saw Will Reichert, who's been fantastic all year, missed a couple kicks today for the Vikings that kept it close. And you got a ball to your best player, Jaden Reed, and he dropped it on the play. And then there was another, you know, on one of Rikert's misses, it didn't count because they called a kind of a phantom off sides that made Matt Lafleur lose his. He called timeout specifically to yell at the official. Yeah, which was amazing. I love that. And he was right on that one.

That did cost them three points. It just, it just seems to me like, yes, you can look at the pressure numbers, shook. But I just felt like the Vikings' offensive line was much better than the Packers' offensive line. Like maybe at the end of the game, Darnold's holding onto the ball, they were sending some blitzes there. but there were many plays where Donald had all day to throw and with those receivers and the route combinations, like, it could

have been worse. I was watching this game and thinking it was a miracle that the Packers were in it late in the game. Yeah, I agree. I also, today was the first time I got the 2016 Falcons vibes with these Vikings. And I think it's because of the receiving core and it's really because, you know, you talked about Sam getting a little

risky there and throwing a pick in the second half and making it kind of close. But at the same time you live with that because of the other throws that makes, the throws that are in tight windows, the throw that he makes to Jordan Addison for a touchdown that's just fantastic pocket presence and maneuvering before he lets it rip. Like, you don't have Matt Ryan back there, okay? You don't have an NFL MVP in 2016 back there, but for the first time today, I was like, oh, they feel a lot like that Atlanta team did, and they made it all the way to the Super Bowl,

so we'll see. So our note is playing that well. I'm with you. It sets up a fascinating week 18 matchup with the Lions. As we tape this, we don't have the schedule. on week 18, but we do know that matchup in the Lions play on Monday night will be for the one seed in the NFC. That is absolutely amazing. It's kind of all been leading to us. Okay, so that that was the game of the day. It was the afternoon. Everyone's watching that. And yet, to me,

the actual game of the week, and we're going to dive deep into the whole AFC playoff picture now, was on Saturday. It was Bengals. It was Broncos. And yes, that wild card in the AFC, He's a little spicier on Sunday night than it was entering week 17. Let's go to Paycor. The Bengals trying to win it from the three-yard line of Denver. Burrow looking to throw. His pass, it is caught by T. Higgins. Touchdown.

It's over. Bengals. And the final playoff spot in the AFC will not be decided until the final week of the regular season. The Cincinnati Bengals are still alive as Joe Burrow hits T. Higgins for a game-winning touchdown. Oh, great call there by Dan Horde and Dave Lapham on WCK-Y. T. Higgins did it. Joe Burrow got it done in a game that resembled so many other games that the Bengals found ways to lose, despite their best receivers and their quarterback playing.

World League football. It just, they actually got it done. And it was partly because T. Higgins goes 11 for 131 in three touchdowns. And if you hear Dave Lapham kind of identifying that, that ends the game. Maybe it's because Bengals fans have never heard an overtime touchdown. It was the first one in franchise history. I couldn't believe that. This franchise has been around for a long time.

It's literally never happened before. Just one of many ways, Joe Burrow. And in this case, T. Higgins are kind of breaking barriers. As this was happening, Shook, are you thinking, okay, this is why the Bengals are where they are? Or are you thinking these are two teams that don't really look like playoff teams? Or are you enjoying the high moments and thinking, okay, this is the best game of the week? I'm shouting at my TV when T. Higgins makes that touchdown catch in the corner of the end zone, for one. I definitely reacted that way because that was a phenomenal throw in catch,

a great partnership between Joe Burrow and T. Higgins, who had a fantastic day, as you just said. But no, I'm not thinking that these teams maybe don't deserve to be in the playoffs. I'm thinking, what a great football game this is. First off, Denver, what a great job you did defensively for most of this game, holding Cincinnati out of the end zone a couple of times down there.

That was huge. I'm also thinking in my head, Bengals, you're wasting opportunities. You're going to blow it right here. And then when they didn't, I was jubilant for them because they've been through so much this year. I would like to see them actually get into the playoffs next week. It's going to cost the Broncos a spot. if they get in there.

But these are two teams that are close. They're both deserving of a playoff spot, a wildcard spot. These are two wildcard teams in my mind that put on a great show on Saturday. And now, you know, we leave it up to the fate of week 18 to figure out who it is. Yeah, it's disappointing for the Broncos to not be able to close it out here. But sometimes you've got to just give credit to the other team. The third and nine that Burrow had navigating the pocket and he just fits it into the tiniest window to T was amazing. you could make a top five T. Higgins

catches from Joe Burrow plays in this game, and it'd be a great highlight. Go watch that. The one you mentioned into the corner, just over and over, Burrow was giving his guy a chance to win it, and he took 15

hits in this game, Burrow. He was sacked six times. The Broncos' defense, even though they were giving up all sorts of yards, I agree with Nick, like did a good job minimizing the damage and making it hard on Burrow, and yet he just kept coming at him and Adam. The difference today was, or Saturday

rather, was the defense did enough. They were just like a normal defense. They weren't great, but they weren't terrible. And they did give up a pretty egregious, like, late drive to the Broncos. But even that one, you give, you give credit to the Broncos for making a crazy catch Marvin Mims. Yeah, as the game started

to progress and gets into the fourth quarter, you really saw that this Bengals pass rush did not have it. They weren't getting pressure on Bo Nix without blitzing. And it was actually really a, a gift to them where there was a second down and Sean Payton called a screen. The Bengals were able to blow that up and they got pushed back behind the sticks. They, in the very next play, Bo Nix throws an interception.

I believe it was. Jermaine Pratt. Yeah. It comes up with the interception and that gives the ball back. Eventually T. Higgins actually has a fumble forced by Patrick Stratan. He makes up for that after that because he pretty much goes nuclear after that with two touchdowns, including the game winner. but there were chances that the Broncos had to end this game,

including at the end of regulation. Bo Nix wanted to go for two. Sean Payton looking over telling Bo, hey, if we get a tie, none of this matters. And then after the Bengals don't score on their first overtime possession, the Broncos take it pretty conservatively, Greg. Yeah. Give them the ball back leading to that.

I think the tie got in Sean Payton's head. and I think he made a big mistake. Let's listen, because there was so much game management stuff. It was a fascinating game at the end here. Much worse on the Bengals side, by the way. I don't think it was as bad as you think, actually. I really don't. But the Broncos get the ball back in regulation with 129 to go.

And Bo Nix was all over the place in this game. A really poor first half, I would say, just in terms of their passing production. Even though he only had two incompletions, they were averaging like four years. yards per attempt, they weren't really moving the ball. Then he comes out a halftime, has one of the best throws of the year, like the longest air yard throw of the year for a touchdown,

has that egregious interception, but has another touchdown drive. Then he gets the ball back with 129, knowing that he needs a touchdown, and they get in a tough spot after a couple nice plays to get to midfield. It's fourth and eight, and I thought this could have been one of the plays of the year. Burton, the fullback to the left of Nix. Bingles rush four. Nick's deep drop. Now rolls through his right,

throws a ball. He wants Mims in the corner of the end zone. Marvin goes up. Makes the catch. That's a Denver touchdown. They are stunned here at Pancor Stadium, a 25-yard touchdown pass. Nix to Mims.

I mean, when Nix was facing immediate pressure on that play, and he's just bailing out to his right, and he throws that thing up, when he threw it, I thought there's zero chance that is going to be completed. And Marvin Mims, of all people, mosses a couple defenders. That's just great football.

And at that point, you go for the two, Sean. And he's thinking about the tie, and they were going for two, but they checked the play. And while they were reviewing it, he changed his mind. And you're absolutely right. If they tied the game,

they would have gone to the playoffs. And I think that got in his head. First possession of overtime, he gets conservative. I agree, and then they get bailed out and they get a second possession because the Bengals doink a field goal. That was the only egregious mistake I think

Zach Taylor made, was not continuing to play offense in the overtime drive and kicking that field goal on third down when your kicker is Cade York. I don't care how close you get. It doesn't matter. Just try to score the touchdown.

Be safe maybe with the play calls or whatever, but just keep advancing it. Don't just stop. You literally lost the game against the Ravens in overtime earlier this season doing the same thing. But he misses the kick. And then the following sequence, Nix, you know, just misses a throw on third down that was pretty open.

I almost don't want to give the Bengals defense too much credit, shook because the reality is, is Nick's missed two open receivers on third down in overtime. And if Nix literally hits that throw where he's stepping up in the pocket in overtime and he's got someone crossing, they get a first down there. The game is basically over, and the Broncos are going to take the tie,

and it's going to be extremely disappointing. So I'm glad he missed it just for the drama that we're getting week 18. But what did you think of the game management stuff and everything that went on here? Yeah, we were deep in the tie zone at that point. And it's one of those situations where the Bengals, they have to win to stay alive, so they got to go full force,

but they don't really have the game in their control right now because they're at the mercy of the Broncos' offense. But it really spoke to Bow Nix as a rookie to me more than anything, which is he has these highlight moments where he throws a 51-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Mims and it's like, I didn't even know you had that in you. I know you stepped into that to get that down there, but what a throw.

67 air yards, the second longest in next-gen stats history. I will give a cookie to, if either of you guys know what the longest one is, this is only since 2016, that Next Gen stats has been keeping. Anthony Ransett. On this very show, that is not it, I have called it one of the greatest throws of all time

over and over. It's the PJ Walker to DJ Moore throw, just as a pure throw is maybe the best throw I've ever seen in my entire life a couple of years ago. Wow. Shocking. Yeah, he got into that one. It really was.

It was legendary. Situation, accuracy, length. All of it was incredible. But man, Bo Nix, that's it. Like, he had such crazy highlights in this game. And he ends up with 219 and three touchdowns, one interception. You think he played a great game. And it's just up and down, which is going to happen with rookies.

And this defense, I guess, unfortunately, it was like a little more. up and down. The thing I will defend Zach Taylor about, Shook, is at the end of regulation, they are going in to try to win the game and Chase Brown injures himself sliding at the one. And they were planning to kick the ball with about 10 seconds to go there and Chase Brown sliding and getting hurt, changed the math. And at that point, I understood going for the touchdown. Like, did you have any problem with that? Like, I got it. I am Always looking to criticize Zach Taylor. And actually, I don't think there was anything he particularly did wrong here.

Until overtime, you got a little conservative, you know, kicking that field goal. Well, yeah, I think that speaks to sometimes you can over manage a game. And I think both coaches kind of did in that situation going into overtime. Both of them coached tight in overtime, which is, you know, what led to the result in the fact that you miss a field goal and everything else. But, like, I think sometimes in that situation, you could overthink it and then cost yourself an opportunity. And let's face it, this is a Bengals offense that was twice in a goal to go situation and

didn't convert. And they had to settle for three one time and turn it over on down. another time. So you can't like you're not going to count your your chickens, right? Like you're just going to get it in there when you can get it in there in a tie football game and that's what they did. So I was fine with it. But I did as soon as Burrow got across the goal line, which wasn't an immediate ruling. It took a second before the crowd erupted. In the back of my mind, I was like, no, they got a timeout. They still got the time. Well, yeah, but the only all they all they could have done in theory was like kneel on second down and try to score

in third and you just take away a timeout. At that point, the math had changed because Chase Brown got hurt. They would have been giving the ball back to the Broncos with like 35 40 seconds left, only needing three. I actually, I'm with Zach Taylor. I'd rather be up seven with a minute and a half to go and be able to prevent a touchdown. And there's no guarantee, as you said, that they even were going to score the touchdown. They were stopped in the red zone. And that might have been playing in his mind, too.

That's like, let's try to score as many points as we could at that point once the brown injury happens. Well, I think a big factor that maybe needs to be considered is the Broncos were trying to let them score the touchdown. That's what plays the decision making for me. where if you run that quarterback sneak, when the Broncos are willing to concede the touchdown, and you don't necessarily have to score on that play,

and then the Denver Broncos can use the timeout. I mean, it's a very niche scenario because how often are you practicing having a quarterback sneak from the one-yard line that doesn't score? But if the math is to have Chase Brown go down, which it was, why Chase acknowledged that and Coach Taylor acknowledged before, then I don't necessarily know how much of the calculus that changes.

It changes a ton. Because you're, you're scoring with 10 seconds left instead of 40 seconds left. That's a huge difference, 45. And your pass rush, which hasn't been able to get to Bo Nix for the majority of the fourth quarter, immediately it has them go all the way down the field and score with 14 seconds remaining in the ball game. That's football. It was fun. You're right, though. I mean, man, Burrow, you're right.

Like, there was so much to get into mentally and physically, but Burrow is why I'm really excited that they have the voting with the MVP, how they have it now, how we've been doing it on Monday nights. and maybe we'll have to revisit MVP here for Week 18, that it's a five-person ballot because I don't know what Burrow is going to finish. Some people are going to push for him to get first place. I think he'll get some first place votes depending on how this happens. I think in the end, he'll probably finish third or fourth. But I like that we have that document and that people that will be like that he's going to be on the ballot, whereas in the past, there just would have maybe been zero Joe Burrow votes at all. And I like just as a document we see, okay, he's third or fourth.

Hell, Sam Darnold might be finishing like fifth, sixth or seventh in the MVP vote, which I think is incredible that that will be a document. And so I think that's cool. And he is playing quarterback as well as anyone. He would not be my MVP vote. We do not need to litigate that here today. But my God, he is playing some incredible football. He really reminds me of next generation, like evolution of Tom Brady, like more than any other play.

Just more athletic, obviously. if Tom Brady, you know, could move. But other than that, just he reminds me more of Time Brady than any other player I've ever watched. What a performance. I'm glad they finally got to win against a team with the winning record. So that puts them at 8 in 8.

Broncos at 9 and 7. They have not clinched. The Bengals then sat back and they decided to watch what was going to happen on Sunday because they knew they needed some help. They needed the Colts and the Dolphins to lose over the next two weeks. They were hoping, can we get one, maybe two of those?

During week 17, let's go to MetLife Stadium. Locke calls out signals. Takes the snap, playfetched. Lock back to throw. Rolls to his left. He's got a lane. He's to the five. He goes into the end zone for a touchdown.

And the Giants respond. Drew Locke. on a third and goal at the five runs it in. 257 ago, 41-333 Giants. Oh, Bob Papa, I don't know if he was happy or not. I don't think anybody was. The crowd shots are hilarious.

Drew Locke was happy. That was W-F-A-N. Giants fans, maybe not. What if I told you, Nick, that Drew Locke threw for 309 yards in a game where he only threw the ball 23 times? What if I told you he had four interceptions and he knocked out a former Super Bowl MVP from playoff contention? The Colts are done. The Giants win, 45 to 33, and there was much celebration in Cincinnati.

Well, I would tell you that he has Malik Neighbors on his team. Yes. Because that was what happened on two. It was short passes to Malik Neighbors, and all of a sudden, Neighbors was gone. Through traffic, down the field. touchdown. Another one. Touchdown. He did spread the ball around really well. He went to Wondale Robinson and go to Mount. He was a Darius Slayton for a touchdown. He looked sharp and the numbers back it up. Efficiency-wise, like you said, 17 to 23 with four touchdowns. It's the best

game Drew Lox played in the NFL and it came against a Colts team that had to win to stay alive. It was like, this is what happens in the league. Sometimes every once in a while, a team that you definitely think you should dominate, who just got dominated a week prior by another team fighting for their playoff lives, comes in and has their best game of the year when it means nothing to them and leaves their fans conflicted. Do we enjoy this win? Do we get upset about the fact that our draft pick is worse? Even when things are going well, they're still going

poorly for us. But it was really fun to watch. It was fun to watch Giants fans enjoy a home win for once. They were 0 and 8 at home going into this game. And Locke comes out and balls out leaning on Malik neighbors and it opens up the rest of the offense and they have a fantastic day against the Colts team that couldn't get out of their own way in the first half

and then mounted a comeback effort a little too late and kind of imploded down the stretch. Yeah, the Giants fall to fourth, according to Tankathon, in the draft positioning. Still a lot to be determined there. There are nine teams that have either three or four losses.

Four of them have three losses. We'll talk about them coming up, but it's kind of a come-to-jesus moment. I think for this cult's organization, Patrick, obviously Gus Bradley's defense in the crosshairs.

And just to piggyback on what Nick said, like this was a neighbor's performance that just reminded you like he's got a little bit of Chase and Jefferson in him that he can do every type of catch there possibly is and he did yards after catch like the second i wrote that brian thomas is wide receiver one in this class like definitively on twitter he he just went a little extra and i think reasonable minds could disagree there but neighbors is special but still to give up 45 to the giants in a playoff type situation is is tough and they've spent a lot of money quietly on that defense. A lot of draft picks, too.

They have. They got the first player drafted on the defensive side of the ball. This year, they come in to MetLife where the Giants now, 34% of the points the Giants have scored at MetLife Stadium this season came in week 17 against the Indianapolis.

It was that type of game. And Shook was talking about the Drew Locke's career performance. 105 of those yards were after the catch for Malik Nafers. Wow. today, including a huge, a couple of huge ones after the catch on the screen. One was 50 plus on a crosser for Malik neighbors, but the Colts moved the ball.

Joe Flacco threw for 330 yards. He had two interceptions, including one that ended the game. There was a two-point conversion that could have tied the game where they run the hook and ladder. And MPJ is pitching the ball to Jonathan Taylor. The pitch came out a little too fast and it winds up hitting the ground, bouncing out of bounds. I mean, that's being kind to Jonathan Taylor. At a certain point, you do expect this great athlete that Jonathan Taylor is to be better at catching the ball.

It's been a... But maybe you shouldn't drop that play for him because it's been a problem for him since he entered the league. And ultimately, there were no catches for Jonathan Taylor through the air or on that pitch. So he did have 125 yards on the ground, two touchdowns, a strong finish for Jonathan Taylor on the ground,

but we're still sitting here with this Colts defense with an opportunity again with a team that has basically done nothing at home. And after the game, you know, Brian Daubal is talking about getting great play from a quarterback, maybe a sneak disc that's not so sneaky directed at senior dimes. You have any inkling that you could have a big day offensively.

You know, it just hasn't been there. I think if you get good quarterback play, you know, you have an opportunity in every game. Wow. It's not wrong. It's true. I don't think it's a sneak-dice at dives. I think it's at the front office.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I think that's a guy who's like, you're going to eff-and-fire me. You're going to keep this guy who looked like a fool, frankly, on Hard Knocks, Joe Shane, and you're going to fire me because I think that's the expectation right now in New York,

and I think that's his expectation. And I could be reading into it, But I think that was his parting shot was like, and I know Neighbors is the reason they got, they got, you know, so many yards and everything today. But he's like,

this is the situation you stuck me with. If you at any point you had given me a quarterback. Was it Joe Shane's call to have DeVito in? Because if DeVito doesn't get hurt, then Drew Locke's not playing in this game and having this career performance. Fair. And being the only touch,

the only quarterback the season with four touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. It's been my most lukewarm take that, uh, Drew Locke is a massive upgrade on Tommy DeVito. And actually hasn't been that. bad the last few weeks. He just looks like a backup quarterback who's going to have crazy ups and downs. This game does feel more about the Colts, but it is funny to me that Shudor Sanders supposedly wore kind of giant's colored theme cleats at his

bowl game. Did you guys know this? Yeah. I'll go on them. I'd seen them. Kind of amazing. And now they're fourth. Although they could very easily end up with Shudor Sanders. They could still end up with the number one pick. Like it is all. It's all possible. It's all in the air. wouldn't have been had they lost this game, but it's all in the year. So is the future

of the Colts. So the Colts, I couldn't believe this stat. They have made the playoffs twice since 2014. Don't we think of the Colts as a better franchise than that? That's not much. They do not have a division title in the Chris Ballard era. Which feels like, oh, yeah, but they've been in the playoffs. It's like,

I don't know. That's not a great division, and you haven't won at once in a really long stretch. Every other team in the division over that stretch, has won it at least twice. Wow. You can tie that to quarterback. I mean,

they've had a turnstile at quarterback since the one great year with silver rivers. Well, it's like, oh my gosh. And I saw this response. So I'm stealing it. I forget who is. It's like, oh, no.

Like our franchise quarterback retired 65 games ago. It's like, yeah. Like, let's get over it. They're living in a land of delusion where they think they're better than they are and they can stopgap the quarterback position. Then they went and drafted a guy

and he got hurt after a month but showed just enough to make you think, well, if he's healthy, he'll be great. And then he came back this year and struggled with accuracy to the point you benched him for Joe Flacco. Then he sucked. He went back to Richardson.

He's hurt today. Flacco's back in. There's no stability at the position. This is why they have the problems they have. They need to look in the mirror and realize we're not as good as we think we are. But we first need to solidify quarterback the most important position in sports before we can do anything else. And I think that a lot of that will come down to what they do with Richardson in the off season.

I mean, not saying that they're going to move him, but they need to work on some of his fundamentals, work on the accuracy. Because if he gets that figured out, there's your answer. That's fixed. They were better with him. They would have been better today with him. Quarterbacks, probably would have won today.

Quarterback's notwithstanding. Drew Locke is going to have a memorabilia in his house from this game for the rest of his life. Right. If it's Joe Flacco, if it's Nick Shook, if it's Greg Rosenthal starting for the colds, it does not matter. The New York Giants, the 2024 New York Giants scored 45 points. That is outrageous. So obviously Gus Bradley's gone and people have been speculating like, oh, Iber Fus will come back. That's assuming Stuyken's gone.

Ryan Kelly spoke tearfully after the game. I think he's going to retire. This game reminds me so much of the 2021 finale that the Colts had where they completely collapsed against the terrible Jaguars team and it got Carson Wentz out the paint, basically. And people, now it seems obvious, but at the time, that was kind of surprising after that season. I think this game gets Chris Ballard fired.

I've just seen enough ways that season ends that this is the type of game that a big change happens. Whether that means Steichen goes or not, that could be up to the next GM. Who knows? You could see a situation, but I just have a feeling that Jim Ursae will make a change, that this game is going to have some big repercussions. So the Colts, they're out. They are no longer in the hunt.

Take them off the graphic. They played in the early window. The dolphins played in the late window. Would they stay on the graphic? First and 10 at the 13-yard hunt. Play, absolutely. He rolled into his right. He's going to run with the football.

Going for the corner of the end zone. He's in touchdown. Wow. Jimmy, I thought he's going out of bounds. He stayed in on his feet. What a run by Tyler Huntley. What a run. What a performance?

What do you know? You let a guy practice in your offense for a couple months who knows how to play at the pro level. And he looks a lot better than when you just stick him in there because he's the fourth quarter. that you can, you know, put in the lineup. 22 for 26 for 2225 yards and a touchdown through the air for Huntley.

He also led the team in rushing. He doubled anyone else in rushing with 52 on the ground. The dolphins cruise 20 to 3. They're 8 and 8, and there's a real chance here, Shook, that they make the playoffs. And it's not the Broncos, if the Broncos lose next week. And it's not the Bengals because the dolphins are ahead of them in the pecking order. That it's the Dolphins.

at 9 and 8 that get into the playoffs. What do you think? Yeah, the sneaky little backdoor entry for the dolphins who we all left for dead. Oh, I don't know, six to eight weeks ago when they looked awful before they even got Tua back and even then they didn't look too great. And now suddenly here they are.

They win a game without Tua against the Brown's team that granted if it was pretty much any other team, it would have been a closer game because the Brown's offense is that bad. But the dolphins go on the road and get the job done. Now, I will say this, it's late December. It's supposed to be cold here. It's not.

It's like 60 degrees out, but it started raining. None of that mattered to them. They were one-dimensional. None of that mattered to them because they got timely play from Clayus Campbell on the defensive side. And Tyler Huntley was super efficient. He got the ball out quickly, averaging 2.37 seconds time to throw in this game. Just quick passes to Tyree Hill. Quick passes to John Smith for a touchdown.

Runs for a touchdown. Scrambles for a big third down. You know, this game finished 20 to 3 and it wasn't until that Smith touchdown pass that it really was officially done. But at the same time, I'm sitting there and I'm like, there's no chance the Browns come back in this game. Like the dolphins have this one in hand at basically 10 to 3, especially when they got a goal line stand on fourth down and turn the Browns away. When they should be proud of, honestly. Like you were going against enough adversity to believe,

well, this might be where our season ends. Oh, you mean the Colts lost and two is not playing? We're screwed. We're going to blow it. No, they didn't blow it. They wouldn't got the job done. No, they didn't. Now, the Browns are closest to tanking of any team in the NFL because they're playing a quarterback

that clearly doesn't give them as good. get a chance to win as another quarterback on their roster. That's DTR. I liked what I saw at DTR in those pre-season. And I kind of get why they just wanted to take a look at them and evaluate. And they've been able to now. The look is over. Yeah, 48 dropbacks tonight.

And they ended up with 162 passing yards. And I'm not going to go crazy giving the Dolphins flowers. But they did beat two of the accusations that I've been, you know, throwing their way in terms. I guess you're right, it's not as cold, but we killed McDaniel for not getting it done without Tua earlier in the season, and he had his quarterback ready to go. Now, Tua may or may not be ready for week 18. He has a hip injury that McDaniel said that didn't get better during the week

and that there is risk if he got hit again that it could get a lot worse. Reading between the lines, I think we're seeing Tyler Huntley again next week, which means I don't want to see them in the playoffs. They have the Jets in week 18. Yeah, it was that devastating hip injury that ended Tua's career at the University of Alabama. It was the concern coming into the draft. It took a long time for recovery. He says it's unrelated for what it's worth, but that doesn't mean much to me.

Yeah, but when I hear Tua and hip, that's immediately where my mind goes. And, of course, there's the brain injury concerns that a lot of folks have. But that was other than, you know, he had ankle surgery in college as well. He had the strap ankle surgery, but it was the hip injury and all of the extensive recovery that he went through where he misses these games this season. And as you said, you pointed it out, they just weren't prepared to play with the backup quarterback. This was the Pro Bowl Tyler Huntley that we have famously seen. He comes out there and makes those plays. I mean, he made the Pro Bowl.

Greg. It was not his best season. It was the season he played three games. He did have a nice stretch the year before. And I'm glad this is one of those games that. keeps them in the league for an extra three or four years. Good. It's getting a little dicey.

Good, because, I mean, we've seen Tim Boyle play for multiple teams in 2024. Tyler Huntley, who has a Pro Bowl on his record, by the way, I can still play. But DTR and the Browns did have a fourth and goal. And he had an attempt to Jerry Judy where Judy had a solid case that Jalen Ramsey grabbed him and wrapped around and interfered with that pass attempt. But that was the best scoring opportunity. A rough looking injury is Chop Robinson went love. on Jerome Ford. He did not come back into the game.

Left the game with a knee injury there. But this Dolphins team, they get a little bit of help. They can get in. And I hope they do. So I don't. I'd rather see the Broncos or the Bengals or the Bengals. Even if two is playing, I think to me, the Broncos and the Bengals have been more central to my experience this season

and it would just be more interesting. What am I even putting the Broncos in there? Everyone wants, I just want to see Joe Burrow in the playoffs. Like, dolphins or Broncos, whatever. care between the two of them. I apologize to you dolphins, but you know, don't be mad that we all would rather see Joe Burrow in the playoffs. And I was saying all

week, weird Tyreek Hill vibes, that it was a squeaky wheel type of game for him. Nine targets, nine catches, 105 yards. All he needed was Snoop Huntley to get in there to get off the snide. Although there was one play where he got the ball and you just thought you were going to see that Tyreek for like a long play

and they got him by the foot. No, not that one. Another one, it's just like And they got him from behind just by the ankles. And that's been happening a little more with Tyree Kiel. All right, let's take a quick break because that was it for the wild card. It's all set up for a three-team battle. The Broncos will play the Chiefs next week. Could be against their backups.

We don't know that for sure. We don't know at all. The Bengals will have the Steelers, tough game, and the dolphins. Yes, they could sneak in the back door against the Jets. Let's talk a little more about a team after the break that clinched their spot. Hey, this is Matt Jones. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different.

Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. 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 to 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. 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 in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard 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 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

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Pistol formation. Herbert takes the snap to throw. They rush four. And takes a shot down field. Has McCawkey caught. Touchdown! Chargers! Ladd McConkey fly that plane back to the sideline. And what a way for McConkey to set the Charger rookie record for most receiving yards in a season. He does it on that grab, a 40-yarder for his second touchdown of the game.

Thank you, Elliot Wolfe. Call his money if he talks cash. fired by Matt Money Smith on KYSR. Yes, Money. You said what some Patriots fans were thinking. I was thinking was, this is the guy that you traded back for to take Jalen Polk and you passed on

a somewhat undersized white receiver. Ladd McCongy just eating you up. McCocky won of four rookie receivers to go over 1,000 yards, by the way. First time in NFL history, that's ever happened. This Chargers team is awesome. They won 40 to 7. They only punted twice.

They had 428 yards, a 55% success rate. Herbert just going absolutely nuts. They're going for fourth downs at midfield with like 20 seconds left in the first half. Total confidence, total trust. He comes through in that situation. Great pass, bro. Lad is awesome. How dangerous do you think this Chargers team is?

Now that the offense is kind of cranking up, a little bit. All it took apparently was the Buccaneers to come out here and lay the wood to them. And then the past two weeks the chargers have been unstoppable where as we saw New England give Buffalo a really solid game. I thought that they would move the ball

and make this. No. It was dominant from wire to wire and perhaps you know, Ladd McConkey extra motivated to get Ellie Wolf as money as money into me. I think he's happy to be playing with Justin Herbert. Not that Drake May would be bad, but he's in a much better,

more stable situation. More on that in a second, though. A couple of injuries in this game, Josh Palmer and Elijah Mulden and both got hurt. Elijah Moldens are slot corner and it'd come back for this game. They need it. But man, I do think that this matters beating up on a bad defense like the Patriots shook. Just because we hadn't seen explosive games like this from the Chargers offense previously. And now they've done it two straight weeks. Even J.K. Dobbins got going at the end. Wasn't amazing, but their success rate was pretty high. He was efficient. overall. And yeah, man, they 421 yards to

181 total dominance by the offensive line, which granted it's against one of the worst pass rushes I've ever seen in terms of the Patriots. But that's what you do. You stomp on bad teams. That's what great teams do. Maybe the chargers of the team you don't want to play in the AFC. Yeah, when Daniel O'Quale is receiving

praise during a blowout game as potentially the Patriots best defensive linemen, I think you know what kind of front you're facing. But I will say this. It was a perfect time to activate J.K. Dobbins from IR and get back and kind of get his feet underneath him again. He averaged four yards of carry in this game. You can just see how much better this offense is when they can run the ball effectively, which they have not been able to do without him for his duration of his stay on IR. So getting him back was big. But yeah, I would agree to. I mean,

they had all, Herbert had all day to throw. Like they could do whatever they wanted offensively against this defense. It was elementary for them. It was just like cruise. It was just a Sunday cruise, even though it happened on a Saturday for the charges in this game. One of the most lopsided games I've seen all year because the Patriots, the operation's just terrible on both sides of the ball. But I don't know if it's, I caution against it because you are playing the Patriots. Like I wouldn't think, okay, suddenly

they're going to be a team that can just explode at any point. Fair, but I just thought it was Herbert's two best games of the season, perhaps, in a row to do it against the Broncos, a much better defense obviously. That's more important. Ways heavily, but to do it again, they weren't having games like this earlier in the year, no matter who

they were playing. Now, the Patriots played a game unfortunately, that is the type of game that gets people fired. Now, whether that's coordinators, whether that's Geron Mayo, whether that's Elliott-Wolf, like, who knows? There's really no way to guess, but I think the confusion is just obvious. The offensive line is so confused in terms of like when to snap the ball, where to go, like just really basic stuff.

Remandre Stevenson, according to Gerard Mayo, was going to be benched. He said it 30 minutes before the game on the radio. He also said it to the broadcast crew. I asked Chris Rose about it. He said it to them. It was actually Van Pelt. It came from, you know, that he was going to sit to start the game. And then he just was out there.

It's like, it's a small thing, but just keeps happening. Like the disorganization, there's some buzz about people that have been around at their practices that are just like, that it's not professional, like, that it's just sloppy. And it shows. Tom Curran said something to me that stuck with me, which is like, you can't be this bad on the field and this bad off. And that's what I think this coaching staff is. And it sucks.

Like Keon White is out here, straight up saying, more or less, we need to change the coaches. Like, that something needs to change. It's not working. And Drodmeo, again, goes on the record and said, yeah, that was just a miscommunication, you know, we had to talk about it. And they asked White about it after the game. He's like, yeah, we talked about it,

but I stand by what I said. Changes need to happen. And it's just, it's not great. And I think two things can be true, Patrick, because I think it's a little bit uncomfortable. It's an uncomfortable situation. Two things can be true. The New England crowd and fan base

can be harder on Drodmeo because he's a blackhead coach. than I think they would be otherwise. And that it would be unfortunate for Mayo, given a really tough situation, to be fired after one year, and that there is something to that. And then number two, they can be one of the worst coach teams

like I've ever seen. That just on a basic level, it's not happening. And at a level that he reminds me more of one coach than any other, and it was a man that coach Nick Shook's team and it was Freddie Kitchens. And that's that's kind of who Mayo reminds me of because it's just a total mess.

Yeah, it's, I think it's obvious. Yeah, it can be a mess and there's hopefully another opportunity if this is the end for Gerard Mayo. I don't know that it will be. I don't know. I would just look at the roster in totality

and ask how many of these guys are going to be contributing to winning rosters years down the line. We've chronicled the problems up front. They do get seven points in this game. Those seven points have nothing to do with coaching. It's Pop Douglas and Drake May making a play when the Chargers jump off sides.

One of the few Chargers mistakes that happened in this game that ultimately lead to seven points. And so I don't know what the long-term aspirations are. I think one year firing after you get rid of a legendary head coach after a weird run where you've got sneak dizzes across multiple venues and documentaries and Netflix comedy specials and all of these. It's all bad. It's all bad.

That go on where, yeah, it's, but ultimately, I think perhaps it'll be best for both parties. Rod Mayo and the Patriots fan base of somebody else is coaching. I know personally how I feel that, you know, I'd love for the Patriots fan base to be mad at somebody else and talking about somebody else's mistakes. But, you know, he's a patriot. He came up on the alleged Patriot way and we'll see how things turn out in the future. Let's listen to Steve Weish, our friend who's been getting it done lately.

I mean, he's on Netflix, getting watched by 25 million people. And then he flies over to Foxborough and he's in an island game on an NFL network. He was with Derwin James and Justin Herbert after the game. Justin, you pass Peyton Manning for the most passing yards, first five years in your career. What about setting your record and getting a playoff ber? You know, I think it says so much about the guys that we've had catching those passes. You know, a great offensive line giving me time to get the ball off and guys like this getting me the ball back. So couldn't have done it without him.

Humble, humble, right, Derwin? Love that boy. Humble, man. Humble peace, man. All right, congratulations, guys. Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you. I want the intensity and the happiness, which I see out of Derwin James after every game. It's awesome. Much happier than Justin was about that. So just even killed.

It's like, oh, that's neat. that I did that thing. All right, that is it from Foxborough. It is now time for the Sunday Drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry. So, yes, the Chargers, they clinch their playoff spot. Let's go to Buffalo,

where the bills were trying to clinch the number two seed in the AFC. Clock down to two, here's a snap. Back to pass, has time. Rolling to his right, trying to buy time, heaves it back across the field, looking for Ty Johnson,

and going up and pulling it down off the roof was Keon Coleman for the touchdown. That was Keon Coleman, getting it done as part of a 40 to 14 victory by the Buffalo Bills. It was 40 to nothing while Aaron Rogers was in the game. Tyrod came in and the fourth quarter immediately led them to two touchdowns.

If you didn't think a lot of people enjoyed that, you're wrong, but this is about Josh Allen and the bills are ready afterwards. Sean McDermere indicated that there will be some players they want to take a look at in week 18. I don't know if we're going to see a lot of Josh Allen in that game because he played so well all season. And in this game, they've earned their rest.

Absolutely. And I think it would be a mistake to have Josh go out there because Josh Allen only knows one speed. And so there's the only bad things that can happen in this situation where they didn't really even need it today. You saw that there was a great Keon Coleman touchdown catch. folks bemoaning Amari's targets in the last few weeks. He had a chance to go

up a Masa defender for a touchdown. And meanwhile, the Jets could do absolutely nothing. They had opportunities. There was a third and one early on one of their first drives of the game where Kenny your boy is running a drag. He's wide open. There is nobody within five yards of Aaron Rogers

and he throws the ball at his back ankle and then is pointing to something after the play as if as if Kenny Yoboy should have done something differently on the play where he couldn't make a catch that was in the dirt. Then Aaron Rogers had a personal foul pushing down a defender after he threw an interception. It was really bad Aaron Rogers game and a dominant win by the bills.

We actually have sound of the referee breaking, essentially, as he called, the unnecessary roughness penalty on Rogers. Rogers had had only one interception in the last eight games, matched against 14 touchdowns. Personal foul, unnecessary roughness. On Rogers? Offense number eight. He's the 15-yard penalty. I saw that. At the end of the one, first down, Buffalo.

He's like, I've never called a late hit on the quarterback the opposite way. How about that? Oh, man, when you think about how things end, sometimes they can be ugly. He had just taken the sack record. He has been sacked, I believe, more than a quarterback in NFL history. Is that right? And just after that, he, he, through his interception, his second of the day,

and then was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on a day where he ends up with 112 yards. It's easy to forget that the game was only 12-0 at that point. It was actually, the Jets defense was game for a while here until it wasn't, but a lot of credit goes to Christian Benford, who's had a really nice season,

nice game. The defense plays well. And, yeah, Josh, out there, throw in some dimes, Hell, even Mitch Trubisky was throwing dimes late in this game. That's when you know it's time to just kind of move to the postseason, Chuck. One for one for 69 yards and a touchdown. Mitch Trubisky, have a day, sir. He's dialed in, baby.

Yeah, it's, first off, I can't believe they gave Nancy and Romo this game, first off. Secondly, good day for the bills to kind of wash away some of those defensive concerns because even the Patriots gave him a run for their money last week to just put together a dominant performance like this, especially in the second half. That's big. But, yeah, look, man, like, there are scores of Aaron Rogers haters out there that very much enjoyed this today. It's a dark time for the Jets. They have a lot of things to answer in the offseason.

But I'll say one thing. Throw away that gift receipt for that pendant, Josh Allen. You can hang on to that MVP pendant, especially if you rest next week. I think you got a good shot at it now. What? For the MVP? Yep. Okay.

So the pendant was what? It came from his offensive line. It was like an encrusted pendant with a 17. It was a jersey. and it's a MVP where the name goes. He can keep that now. That's cool. Well, I mean, he can keep it either way.

If they say he's the, you know, those are the voters that matter to Josh Allen, the power of friendship. Yeah. I don't know. I think it's going to be close. All precincts aren't reporting, but I don't know. I don't know how this is going to go. I don't know how this one's going to go. I think we need to.

Nobody does because it's kind of nebulous. And it's vibes based. It's like the college football playoff rankings. I, like who knows? People always say it's a narrative award. To a point, it's also a stats award. And if Lamar Jackson ends up leading the NFL in yards per carry, yards per attempt,

and has the greatest QB rating and touchdown interception ratio in NFL history, which he has a good chance for. He has it right now in terms of TD interception. He's second all time in QB rating. Like, those are a lot of stats. And I think he'd have a chance. And who knows? If Joe Bargo was crazy, like maybe the,

Maybe voting for five people will have untold effects on it. I don't know. I don't really know why that would affect it too much. But yeah, I think this game cements Rogers getting booted if him making jokes about Brick Johnson cutting him didn't. Because he actually was playing better. And just from a pure football standpoint, just because the market is so barren

and the contract is so difficult, they're going to have so much dead cap. there is a football argument that's like, actually he might as well be your bridge quarterback, but I think with the comments that he made and the way this game played out, there's less of a chance. And it's also hilarious that Tyrod Taylor has directed three drives this season

and he has three touchdown passes. So, Brick, you were right. Maybe we should have gotten to Tyrod back in the day. That was the Sunday drive presented by the all-new hybrid Toyota Camry. Whatever your vibe, it's a Camry vibe. Learn more at Toyota.com slash Camry. So we're done with the AFC. there. Bills are at the two spot. The three spots going to be determined by the

AFC North winner. That will come down to the Steelers and the Ravens in week 18. But what about the NFC West winner? We came into the week with that wide open. Let's go all the way back to Thursday night in a game that you may or may not have watched. That's why you got to learn about it. To Chicago. Fourth down in 10. Right here. Williams' shotgun snap blitz is coming. Williams throws the ball up for grabs. The ball is intercepted. It's Wolland comes near side, knocked out of bounds.

The first takeaway of the game by the Seahawks could not have come in a better time. The fans head for the exits, and the Seahawks are going to win this ball game by a score of six to three. In the words of Mike Holmgren many years ago, a same score in Cleveland between the Seahawks and the Browns, He said set offensive football back 30 years, but that's okay.

We'll take it. Ooh. Great job there by our producer, Eric Roberts, getting that sell the team chant in. And, yeah, they went hard at it during the Amazon post game show. I don't think that's going to happen. I don't think the CX are going to win this division either. But I wanted to go in chronological order to explain how this week played out. The Seahawks are at 9 and 7.

They're well over their win total for the season. They basically are the team people are expected, except a little better maybe even, but struggling on offense, they get a win 6 to 3. Not a good day for my guy. Gino did not look healthy, but we were stuck watching for the last time,

Shook. Actually, it couldn't, maybe it won't be the last time. The Bears killing the clock on themselves. I swear this has happened. I mean, how many last drives have we watched from the bears that have just been mangled? got the ball back with just under six minutes to go and the game finished on that interception with them on the 40 yard line. It took them six minutes to get to the 40 yard line when the clock

was really important and they only ended up with 179 yards. A lot of them was on that last drive. It was just a totally dominant effort by the Seahawks defense. At least gave them a chance entering the rest of the weekend. I don't know what you want to say about this game, Nick. Yeah, well, I'll say this. I had a flashback to being in my grandparents' kitchen and considering a second helping of Thanksgiving dinner when I watched that final drive. Because that looked a lot like they're lost in Detroit moments

before Matt Eberfluse was fired the next day. Rough for the Bears. Sent off a lot of people online saying Madden players would be better at managing clock than the Bears' coaches have been this season, which, okay, all right, that's a shot. You're taking a shot there. But this is kind of feels like the way the Seahawks have been trending for the last few weeks,

which is like, you know, you kind of get dominated by the Packers once you lose Gino in that game and Sam Howell gets in there. And it's just like it's almost like they're running out of steam. Like they started to figure it out defensively and they peaked and now they're just out of gas, which I guess that's still better than what we thought. You talked about the win total. They're past that. So good season, but are there moral victories?

I don't think there are. So it's going to be disappointing ultimately in the end. And this game kind of captured that. Yeah, Gino wasn't moving well in this game. And I don't know if it was the injury, but he only attempted five throws over 10. yards and most of those who were late before that there was nothing past the line of scrimmage he was limping a little bit out there Caleb by the way on throws over 10 yards one for nine for 15 yards and in an interception I can I think I know which play that was

which was his best play of the game which came on the was that the fourth down to a dunes okay okay so his next best play in the game though I thought was telling which was after he fumbled the snap because it just let him be like okay I got to go make a play and it I do think he has this weird mental thing going on where he's just trying to win from the pocket and trying almost not to make plays and the best plays he make like that fourth down to Odunzai or the one after the fumble

is when he just goes out there and makes Caleb plays. I mean, he actually had a number of great throws in this game. One was a touchdown that was called back. And so you saw what makes Caleb special, but otherwise, it was gross. I mean, they had seven drives that went for under 20 yards in this game. There was an opportunity to, I believe, Keenan Allen in the middle of the field

that Caleb thought about. It just seems like the process is not go out there and play football. He's overthinking, trying to do something else, and then he'll try to do too much on plays where Gino completed like 78% of his passes in this game. The Seahawks just went five of 13 on third down. And they couldn't move the sticks when they needed to and ultimately leading to this six point game where there wasn't like this catastrophic error for them.

They were just bad. They had one fumble. They did reach Bears territory like four or five times out of eight or nine drives. But yeah, it was just gross. And the Bears had every opportunity. But once again, it just seems like the poor management that we see at the end of the game is also happening during the beginning in the middle of the game. But it's a little more glaring at the end from the way things are executed. And they're people down, right?

Like Thomas Brown has done. doesn't have the bodies staff-wise to do the things that the bears could have done earlier in the season because of the firings that happened in front of them. And so it's it's just bad. It was bad before. It's still bad. So, and not only that, they're 4 and 12. And yet right now they have the number 9 pick in the draft. How is that even possible?

We looked at it last year and 4 and 13 would have had you 2 or 3 in the draft. And now they're 9. So it's like they're getting some bad luck there. This game, and this is true of this entire week. And maybe it's my excuse making for why this show is going to have a week 18 like length. But this week 17 has never felt more like week 18. And I think that's because of all the bad teams this year because there's not going to be a lot of drama in week 18. So there's all these like finality type games.

And do not extend the season, Goodell. I don't, I know it'd be good for, but I do think there is something to, it's such a hard sport that these teams, even winning teams like the Seahawks, you see it. Like, look at the Dolphin. Like, it's just getting late and just asking them to play another regular season game. Like, no, please don't do it. I think 17 is enough. It just, imagine the Bears playing two more games. This, it just should be over.

This league thrives on parody, right? The parody exists in Tankathon now. Like, it's not near the top this year. I don't think we've even completed that parody circle graphic that we usually complete every year. No, this is a very non-parative, you know, there hasn't been much parody this year. It has been a year of terrible teams. Everything is built towards not making that happen. But even good teams, I mean it, by the end of the year,

take on some heaviness to them. I think that's actually true about a team that's won five straight game. So, yeah, Saturday night, Rams knew that if they won the game against the Cardinals, they wouldn't clinch at the time, but they would up their playoff probability to about 99%. It's almost cruel what's happening to the Seahawks. They're just watching themselves die slowly, but at least that they won, they did their part this week, and they watched on Saturday night, and they just hoped for the carnals to come through for them, because then we'd have a nice little week 18 winning end game. Would they get it to SoFi?

And goal from the five. Kylo looks to his sideline, gestures with his hands, Marvin Harrison Jr. in motion from his right. Here comes the blitz. Throw to the end zone. It is intercepted. Off the chest of the intended target A diving interception By a Kella winner's food

At the front left pylon It bounced off McBride Hunt up in the air And the Rams plinched the game With back-to-back interceptions That was J.B. Long, our friend on KSBN And a little cameo there by Maurice Jones-Drew.

Wow. We're trying to get Maurice on the Monday night Recap. Greg's putting screws to him. He's playing coy. So if you're listening add him on Twitter and say you want to hear him because you're such big MJD fans on Monday night.

I'm trying to book him, but it's tough. He's a star. So is a Keller Witherspoon, a star in his role. And he has stepped in. He was on the street at the beginning of the season into that starting lineup. Him and Darius Williams has taken over those starting jobs

and provided some stability, and he made a great diving catch on a ball that went off. Poor Trey McBride's head. It was a little heartbreaking to see Trey McBride after this game because he's had a tough season. He finally gets a touchdown in this game. He's an all-pro candidate. One of the best players at his position in the league goes 12 for 123.

But yes, the final decisive play in this game bounces off his helmet, doesn't get his head around quick enough on a play. There was some quick pressure on Kyler Murray, and the Rams win 13 to 9. I don't know why I was surprised because this was such a way for the Seahawks season to end. It felt very fitting and it felt very fitting for the Cardinals to lose this way. And yet I was surprised. I kind of thought Kyler was playing well and they were moving the ball better

and that they at least were going to score here and make the Rams try to tie the game with a field goal. It was not to be and the Rams are 10 and 6 despite their offense struggling so much in this game. Yeah. And those offensive struggles are ones that I think at a certain point because you look back at that game against Buffalo and it's like, well, the Rams can do this. I've said for weeks, the Rams are going to have this puncher's chance. But the plays just weren't there.

Matthew Stafford did have a nice run in this game, but it looked to be having some trouble getting away from this Cardinals pass rush. And as all credit to Witherspoon for making that play, but the Cardinals could have very easily won this game. If Trey McBride is able to separate there, Maybe there's a flag on that play. I know McBride would have liked to get the holding call, but ultimately he gets his head around and gets his hands on the football.

He catches it and we're talking about Cardinals Rams with an opportunity to, I mean, excuse me, Seahawks Rams with an opportunity to settle it. Instead, it's another one of these late season losses for the Cardinals where they're so close, but whether it's offense, whether it's defense, and a lot of times it's Kyler turning the ball over, I don't, I know that there's folks that say that Kyler could have put a better ball there. He had Trayman McBride in the face. regardless of the exact position of where the football is,

he hit him in the face. Yeah, Cam Kitchens had a big interception earlier in this game. And if it sounds like we're being a little hard on the ramps, they were doubled up in terms of first downs in this game. They gave up almost 400 yards. And yet, Nick, to give them credit, their pass rush was pretty great. And especially in big moments, verse and Fisk and Turner and Young, who have really been such a story for them held up enough

to let the offense get into the game eventually and get the win 13 to 9. Yeah, this team is becoming a chameleon because they've won in so many different ways this year. They've looked bad, really bad early in the season. They figured it out to get back to 500. Then I feel like they spent all of their offensive energy in that shootout win over the bills because in the last three games, they've fallen under 20 points each time. But they've won all three games because now suddenly they're a defensive team, I guess. 12 to 6 over the Niners, 19 to 9 over the Jets, 13 to 9.

over the Cardinals. And it starts with that front, you just mentioned. That's why I love their draft when they selected Fisk and Verse in the first two rounds. I thought it was a great way to build from the interior on the defensive side of the ball where they were lacking in the past. And if this is who they are, the only thing that we're missing now is playoff implications in what would have been kind of a gross low scoring of here against the Seahawks next week based on how the Seahawks played against the Bears. But congrats to the Rams, you're at 10 and 6 now with one game left to play. And I think this is one of those stories that despite the success they had last year when we looked at them in week four this

year, nobody would have thought they would have been here at this point. And here they are. Fair. They scored 44 in that game against the Bills. They have scored exactly 44 in the three games since. And McVeigh wasn't really that happy after this game. Jordan Rodriguez, the athlete, kind of pointed out to me, and I went back and watched it. And yeah, he was very clipped with his answers. And he was saying the right thing that the years in his league

has taught him that he wants to enjoy. But you can tell there's a little bit of frustration there under 260 yards on offense for a couple straight weeks. And it's actually not that different than a lot of their season where the defense really held on for them to win games. There was a 20 to 15 game against the Raiders. There was that game against the Saints where they didn't score in the first half. The first Seahawks game, their offense did not play well.

The whole game and the defense held on until Matthew Stafford made some magic late. So you never know this team is chaotic. It's unpredictable. Maybe they crank it up one more time. I'm very curious to see where the NFL puts this game. Maybe you'll have an answer by the end of this show, by the way. The Cardinals did almost have the ball for 40 minutes. I think the Rams only got 54 offensive plays.

So that may have played a role as well. And they did a lot of that without James Conner's too. That's the thing is Kyler had five or six awesome throws in this game. And he ran the ball well. He keeps saying he wants to run more. He wants to run more next year. Jonathan Gannon had a bad decision, I thought, at one point. to kick a field goal.

He ends up having to go for a much longer fourth down later. I thought McVeigh, after a really long Cardinals drive, made a bad decision not to go for it on fourth and inches. I'm a little worried how Cooper Cup has kind of not produced late in the season. He's clearly not where he was, but it's just putting too much on Puka Nakua. So, yeah, the Rams, they went into Sunday needing a handful of victories and strength of victory. As we're taping this, we're still waiting to see what happens on Sunday.

Sunday night. So let's go to the NFC East where the Eagles still had some business to do. They go to a pistol formation. It goes back to Barclay. Barclay breaks the tackle. He's at the 40. He's at the 25-yard line. He is down at the 25-yard line. Let's see what he has right now as he goes to the 25-yard line. He has just broken the 2,000-yard rushing mark. Sequin Barclan. Barclay goes into NFL history. Love that. Merrill Reese, Mike Quick on WIP. Eagles went 41 to 7. Nice touch by Nick Siriani to take a time out.

It's like kind of an NBA style where you take the stars out of the game with two minutes left so the whole crowd could really cheer. I hope that was Nick Siriani leaving Sequan in for his 31st carry to break 2000. in so he can rest him next week. We'll see because he's only 100 plus yards away from breaking the rushing record.

I also like he broke 2016 games. Yes, it was. So all the asterisk folks out there will have a chance to talk about it with Brock Bowers and Mike Ditka here in a little bit. But yeah, he does it in 16 games. And just an incredible season for Seguan

in a game that seemed dicey at the start where Cooper Rush has come out. He survives a pick six from CJ, G. who really just caught him peeking on an in-breaking route and comes up with a pick six, but Cooper Rush comes right back down the field. He gets a touchdown pass to Jalen Tolbert on Quinyon Mitchell. And you're thinking, oh, this is going to be the Eagles

absolutely washed them out after that, including some of the guys who couldn't make key plays late in the loss of the Washington commanders. Devonte Smith had two touchdowns. Could have very easily been three touchdowns. I already talked about CJ, DJ. He got another pick after that. And remember he got run from the game for multiple personal foul calls.

And this is it. This is what this Eagles team can be despite this late season, spoiler Dallas team that we believed again in the airs in the Carolina Panthers against them. They actually kind of blew them out. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their season hinges on these last couple of weeks because they couldn't get a win against this Cowboys team. And then they come in there to Philadelphia against their backup quarterback and get blown out 41 to 7. Yeah, surprising. and a great show of force that DeVante Smith could go six for 120

gets a couple touchdowns. Saquan gets 167 in the game to get over 2000. And yeah, Kenny Pickett, who actually left the game after taking a pain-killing injection for his ribs, according to Mike Florio, before the game and at halftime

and they're running him with the tush push. A little dicey there, he scores a touchdown. Then Tanner McKee comes in. This line might be even better than Trubisky shook. He only threw four passes. he had two touchdowns for 54 yards.

He's feeding Devanta and A.J. Brown's fantasy owners. Way to go, Tanner McKee. Yeah, those of you who thought that the Eagles might have a tough time because of their backup quarterback. You got both backups, and they still dominated. No, I mean, this is one of those wins that you expect from a team that's superior, but it's a rivalry game, so you never know. And then they came out and just dominated front to back.

And, you know, like you just said, Sequin breaks 2,000 rushing yards. That's fun. I would like to see him play next week just for history's sake, but it doesn't matter. you're going to the playoffs. I really hope they don't. I just think that's so stupid and short-sighted. What a great advantage it is to know your seating

when you don't have the advantage that the top seat will have in terms of the buy week, and you can rest a guy who needs to be fresh, and it's had a huge workload. I personally will be shocked if they go for the record. He's not going to play. I think the 17th game thing, it doesn't matter, but you're going for a record

where you would need the 17th game to get it anyways. He's at 345 carries. The stats of guys who go that high, it's usually not good for the rest of their career. So let's just save them. It just seems so obvious. I really think they will, actually.

I really think they will. They're an analytically minded organization. I think they will sit him. It is the only sensible play to not play Seguan Barclay. You could make the case that having him in to get this carry to go over 2000. It might have been a questionable call as well, but it's good to hit the number. It's good for the office of line. It's good for Sequin. You heard the explosion from the fans there in Philadelphia

that got to see it at home. I think it may be worth doing just to have Sequin be able to celebrate with those folks to link if this is a road game. It may be a little bit different. But yeah, don't. The game was, you know, the 17th game was added for a whole bunch of reasons that had nothing to do with records and a whole lot to do with, you know, compensation for people who aren't Saquan Barkley. Right. I think it's fine. Sequin's compensation is, is finally set here. You know, we had some, some issues with that previously. Why play? Literally what? Also, life is short, and they got to do something really special that they'll remember for the rest of their lives, and it was a little risky, but you got it done. To have to get over 165 to get it done is

kind of amazing. He's at almost 2,300 yards from scrimmage. It's just a magical pick up. I'm really looking forward to watching them in the playoffs. They're going to have the two seed. We have to wait to see and find out who they could be playing. A few different options there. Let's take a break. There are a couple games here after the break that maybe didn't have the playoff implications that, you know, the previous games had, but there was a division that still needs to be decided. We're going to end the show with NFC South. after we take a trip to the Superdome and just kind of get a couple games out of the way.

Hey, this is Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. And this is NFL cover zero. We're just here to try to give you an NFL perspective a little bit different. Did you see the Colts pretzel? That was my other big takeaway from that game. What was that?

Oh, my. We think NFL coverage should be in, formative 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. 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 in the coaching strategies, roster construction, and the trends that shape the league year after year. Whether you're a die-hard 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 on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fans.

fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've got the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Powers and Myers both to the right. Shotgun. O'Connell's looking that way.

He's scrambling. He's trying to escape the pocket. He's throwing. Oh, there's a wide open man in the end zone. Back pylon. No signal yet for Tucker. Touchdown Raiders. O'Connell had to get out of the pocket.

He was looking and looking, and Tucker was wide open. That's six for the Raiders. And they capitalize on the Jack Jones picks for a touchdown. Break up the Las Vegas Raiders. two-game winning streak, ruining their draft position. No, they should be trying to win for Antonio Pierce and Aiden O'Connell should be out there trying to prove my most lukewarm take-right,

which is that Aiden O'Connell is an NFL quarterback and that he's going to have like a nine-year career as a perfectly solid NFL backup, and that's an excellent outcome for a backup quarterback. taken in the fourth round. And I think he's putting it on tape. I think he knows how to play. And I think he played really well for most of this game.

Raiders win 25 to 10. That's their fourth win of the year. Saints fall to 5 and 11. That was Jason Horowitz on KRLV, by the way. And one of the more surprising things you just never know, shook in a day like this, is that you could watch a Raiders Saints game on your second screen in the morning. And you could say the quarterback play in this game between Rattler and AOC

in the first half, was awesome. They both were playing really, really well. And AOC mostly kept it going and Rattler didn't and that's why you look at the final score.

And that's the story of the Saints and the Spencer Rattler experience. You know, just when you think he's starting to build a little bit of steam, he throws a couple of picks

that makes you second guess. Have we ever seen a team that feels, they've already fired their coach that feels more like they're going to make more changes in the offseason than these Saints?

Like, you're playing a Raiders team that yeah, they're coming off the high of winning last week, but it's still the Raiders. It's still, you let Amir Abdullah go 20 for 115 on you. This is a team that has struggled in that area

for decent portions of this season. I mean, I don't know. Not to go losers first in this situation, but I'm just like, Saints, but what do you, book your flights to Cancun already? It's been a tough season. They don't have many offensive players out there with Spencer Rattler for him to throw the ball to,

and Juan Johnson had a big drop in this game. There were other mistakes. I came up with the scenario that could possibly get Mickey Loomis fire that it would have to be something drastic, which would be losing in prime time and an embarrassing shutout, and then losing to the Raiders convincingly at home. And it happened. He hit the parlay.

So we'll see. I think there's great mystery there. The biggest story of this game were the records that Brock Bowers set, there's a lot of them. Number one, he set the all-time receiving yards record for rookie tight ends. And as you mentioned, it broke Mike Thicka's record, which was a record for over 60 plus years. 1961.

That's incredible. When you have a record that long, it's like Norm Van Brockland still has the single game passing yard record, which is crazy. If you think about it, I mean, if you're adjusting for inflation, Dick going for that much back then is like 1,700 yards. And he was never the same again

because he had so many injuries. Still had a Hall of Fame career, but never a season like that. So that's really impressive. But that's not it. He also, Brock Bowers, broke the Puka rookie reception's record. for anyone.

That's pretty cool. So receiving yards at tight end. He had already broken the tight end record for receptions like weeks ago. Rookie receptions. And then I think this is an underrated one. In the long history of the Raiders, Oakland, Las Vegas, Los Angeles,

no one has ever caught more passes. Brock Bowers broke that record today too and he did it in a tight little 16 games breaking Darren Waller's record from a few years ago. So Brock Bowers, I love you, man. the celebration in the very crowded Saints locker room was cool they all were like really celebrating with Bauer

so a nice moment for the Raiders. Yeah and again a message that if you don't get your quarterback if you fall back in the draft sometimes you know it's like oh well we'll just have to take this guy who may be going to Canton one day and you live with that. Can you do that again? Can you do that two years in a row?

I don't think so. No you can't. Cam Jordan was staying after the game according to the reporters there taking pictures with his family on the field So it could be his last game. He said it's not up to him that he plans to play football next year, whether it's with this. He really hopes it's in the black and gold,

but that'll be up to the same. Obviously, could be a lot of changes there. Let's go to another game, which is going to have big impact on draft seating, draft positioning. It's the Jaguars. It's the Titans. It's in Jacksonville. Empty backfield.

Mack drops to throw. He's looking. Fires it to the left side. Corner the end zone. Touchdown, Brian Thomas, Jr. for the score. Winner, team's going to learn to not cover Brian Thomas Jr. in man coverage. Yeah, maybe next season. It seems absolutely crazy. Nice ball there by Mack Jones.

I watched way too much of this game. That was Frank Brangy and Jeff Loggeman on WJXL, because we got this picks competition on game debut. And I kind of felt like, for some reason, in my heart, that this was going to be the swing game. And I was wrong. I picked the wrong team. And Mack Jones did not play well in this game, but his two touchdown throws were both awesome plays. That was a great throw by him, great catch by Thomas.

And then the first one to Parker Washington was an incredible toe tap by Washington. Jaguars win 20 to 13. In a game, they got out 13 to nothing, shook and never looked back, at least not too much. yeah it's kind of one of those weird games where you're like both these teams are not very good both of them are playing with backup quarterbacks but one team has an awesome receiver and his name's brian thomas junior like they did whatever they could to get hit in the ball as much as possible kind of like malik neighbors early in the show uh they ran an ender like a jet sweep to him as well and it picked up a big game that preceded a touchdown the touchdown pass

to parker washington um their offense moved enough to put those points on the board and then they just kind of held on josh hines allen had a couple of really nice splash plays in a row the weird thing about this is for two teams that came in at three and 12, they had a lot of energy. Like, I know you're playing for your job, obviously, right? You're playing for future employment and everything else and for pride and whatever else. But they were fired up, and it was raining like crazy in Jacksonville. The conditions weren't great.

Travis E.T.N. should have had a touchdown run, and he slipped as soon as he got through the hole, which is a big bummer for me because I want to see him score. But they played with a ton of passion. And it felt good to see them, you know, come away victorious, get the season sweep of the Titans and, you know, do it with by leaning. you know, on Brian Thomas. Yeah, shout out to the fans that stayed for that game. It was tough conditions.

A lot of empty seats, but the Jaguars fall down to fifth, according to Tankthon in terms of the draft. The Titans are up to second. The Patriots are potentially playing the Bill's backup next week, so that I'll give the Titans something to root for. They could wind up with the number one pick. Either way, they're in a good position if they lose next week, I believe, against the Colts.

I don't know if we need to say too much. Thomas, 80 catches, 1,181 yards, and 10 touchdowns. That's a solid rookie year. And then we look at what neighbors did. Jaden might win the award. How did LSU lose three games last year? Right. I have no idea.

Great point. All right, let's get to the NFC South. So we saved this for the end because obviously Sunday night football involves the Falcons. It's pretty simple. Either the Bucks or the Falcons are going to win the NFC South. The Falcons have the edge entering the week. The Bucs, though, they have a chance here because it's really a three-team for two-spot situation

between the Bucks, the Falcons, and the commanders. So even if the Bucks didn't win the division, they know they might have a chance at this wild card. Obviously, they had to get the win over the Panthers. Let's go to Raymond James Stadium. Quack, quack. That hacker has it blocked. The Bay's got it.

Scoop and score. J.J. Russell. Buccaneers doing it from all angles. Chef's Kiss. The duckingeers. I love it. Great job there by Patrick. A professional host like Patrick or Ian Eagle would have set that up a little better

by telling the audio audience that there's a duck on the field right before the Panthers are setting up. to punt. And yeah, that punt block is what made this thing a laugher, but it was on the way. 48 to 14, an offensive masterclass by the Buccaneers and Baker Mayfield. Five incompletions. Five touchdowns. Bucky Irving was over 100 yards from scrimmage in the first half of this game. Goes over 170 yards from scrimmage total for the second time this season. Against the Panthers.

He's had an entire season just against the Panthers, 48 to 14. And I've never seen a quarterback play better than Bryce Young in a game that they lost by 34 points. But it really didn't matter. This is what the Buccaneers can do. And I don't even think I'm test driving this case. This is the case I'm making, Shook. Okay. The Buccaneers are the team you don't want to play in the NFC.

And now if you say that, you have to kind of say, there's only, you can only say one of those teams are the teams. And they can't be one of the best teams. So basically the options are like Rams, Bucks, Packers, or even, you know, whatever happens with the Falcons commanders, you have to kind of pick one of those teams. And I say the Buccaneers are that team. Because to me, the Buccaneers, they'll have their down games defensively. But I do think the best Buccaneers game on offense is right there.

with the Bengals and the Bills and the Ravens and I don't want to play that team and that's who the bucks are to me and I know this was against the Panthers but we've seen it against a lot of teams especially when you go when you have a guy like

and I know his name is Bucky but today he's Ducky Irving goes for 190 from scrimmage I had to squeeze that one in there no I think that if you look at the way that they played against the Cowboys like they couldn't piece it together right and then suddenly they explode for a touchdown drive

and they nearly get down there again at the end of the game and it shows you look like, you can't count the mountain that they can just sneak up on you and explode at any time. And that's what makes you a scary team in the playoffs, like you said. So I'm kind of on board with that. I'm more on board with that after what we saw with the Packers today against the Vikings than I might have been a week ago. And when you have Baker Mayfield go 27 to 32 for 359 and five touchdowns, that kind of justifies it, which by the way, you said probably the best game from a quarterback I've seen and then paused. I was like, is he going to give

Baker flowers? And then you pivoted to Bryce Young. Oh, no, Baker was incredible. Let's throw up his passing chart from today. This was one of his best games of the season. Anytime he missed the throw, I was stunned because he was just so accurate. Most of it was to the middle of the field, but he was really spreading it all around. 359 yards, five touchdowns. Just some laser shots over the middle. It was so sharp, really well protected. It must be said. And that's been a huge part of their formula all season. And they ran block really well today. But the vision and the the patience out of Bucky Irving combined with the accuracy of Baker is just like this team's awesome when it's rolling. It's not going to do this every week or else they'd be 15 and 2,

but they are capable of doing this. Yeah, the whole offensive option playbook was available against the Panthers team where Bucky Irving goes 1,000 yards rushing on the season, 265 of those this season have come against the Carolina Panthers here in the past five weeks. And so that, you know, everything, everything's available to them. They, they beat this divisional opponent at home when they needed to. They can do this. They can also be the team that struggled against the Dallas Cowboys in a game that they needed

a couple weeks ago. Yeah, but that was their only loss in a while. Although they struggled against the Panthers. They probably should have lost that game in overtime a while ago and it was big that they pulled that out. Their defense is to me, the bigger concern. They got the Panthers off the field quite a bit.

They were pressuring Bryce Young more than he normally is. But man, like I said, He ended up with 203 yards and two touchdowns in this game on 28 throws. Like the first drive of the game, he hits a 31-yard slot fade, just a beautiful throw to Thieland. Second throw of the game, he's backing up while he's under total pressure. It gets slammed while he hits Jalen Coker.

And then the third throw of the game is an absolutely perfect, you know, red zone, I mean a 17-yard throw to Thielen over the top. And it's just like he can do it all. And he had a number of really nice throws in this game. Now, they had some empty drives, but they had absolutely no rushing game. Chuba Harvard is now out for the season, and he was under a lot of pressure. That story is continuing. Bryce right now is kind of like I am with Drake May.

He's not the only thing that matters with them, but if you're a Panthers fan, you just want to see him continue to play well, and maybe they don't hurt their draft seating that happened. The Buccaneers got a ton of yak in this game. Evans had a big game eight for 97 and two touchdowns. He really might do it, Patrick. Just 85. He is now 85 yards away. This is also his sixth season with 10 or more touchdowns,

which I think is pretty cool. Not that he needs to add much to his Hall of Fame case, but he's doing it. He's in. Yeah, he really is. And he was before the season, to me. Yeah, I think he was too. It's tricky when you haven't made a lot of all pros,

which he hasn't, but plenty of guys have made it in without those if they've stacked up seasons like he has. Jalen McMillan, by the way, induct him. him into the fantasy football playoff Hall of Fame. In terms of if you picked him up, I guarantee you he is on a million championship

teams, two touchdowns. Good job to all the owners out there that played him throughout. Good job by you. Patrick Claibon, once again, we say goodbye to you before we move on to a very important Sunday night

football game. Enjoy the game, guys. I enjoyed my time. Yeah, he's getting it done with Scott Bioli. Let's go to Sunday night football in Landover. The place is ready to explode. 245 to go in overtime. Third and goal at the two. Jaden in the gun, Rodriguez, to his right.

Two tight ends to the left. Here's the staff. James going to throw forward. He does. Into the end. Secrets? Who wants to go to the playoffs? Tuckdown!

Tuckdown, Washington. They win in overtime. We'll see you in the postseason. Are you freaking Kennedy? This is a missile. by Jayden Daniels. That was a missile. And I want to go to the playoffs,

Bram Weinstein and London, Fletcher, WB, IG. One of the calls of the year for one of the moments of the year. The Washington commanders have done it. They've come all the way back from a miserable season. And Dan Quinn's first year with Jaden Daniels, they are playoff bound with a 30 to 24 overtime victory. over the Falcons. And Nick, when I think back on this season,

I will think about so many different signature Jayden Daniels moment. It feels like he is the center of this season, even though they're a six or a seven seat in the NFC. It's the win over the Bengals on Monday Night Football. It's the Hail Mary against Chicago, which started the Chicago tailspin, by the way, and kickstarted this Washington

run. It's the victory over the Eagles after that fourth and long last week. And then, yes, a 30 to 24 victory over the Falcons out dueling Michael Penix, who was up and down, but pulled off some Jaden Daniels magic of his own with some fourth and longs to force overtime. But when that coin flip landed on Washington, and maybe I'm being a little emotional because I had the Falcons winning this game. It's crucial. It was to me, I'm rooting for the Falcons, but when I saw that coin flip land on tails for the commanders, is like, there's no way the Falcons are stopping them here. They're not going to force a field goal. I've watched this entire game, and I've watched this movie over, over it again. It's amazing that a rookie quarterback just feels that bankable in the biggest moments. Yeah, what a game. I mean, what an experience for commanders fans.

And this is the fitting way for them to reach the postseason. It truly is because of the moments that you just described, the Hail Mary, the game against the Eagles recently, you know, last week. It's just, it's been a magical season for this team with a rookie quarterback who was not the consensus number one. He was the next guy off the board. You didn't know what you were going to get. And we saw it early in the season.

And it ends, not for the year, but it ends with a big landmark moment, him getting them to the playoffs by overcoming what was kind of a bit of a fourth quarter meltdown. They had the holding penalty on the goal line, which wiped out a touchdown. They have to settle for a field goal. They give up that drive to tie the game. And then they go three and out immediately. after. You know, there was a period there that when the Falcons were driving down the

field late, where I almost sent you a text and said, too much time for Jaden, because they were within range outside of two minutes. Obviously, he doesn't end up with that much time, but that just speaks to the power of this kid and the magic that he brings to the commanders, and we saw it in overtime. And it's a team game, and the commanders have found a way to get

just enough stops. It's a complimentary game. They come out of halftime down 17 to 7. Strange first half, because I thought Washington was really getting whatever they wanted, but they had a really nice play called where Caden Ellis intercepted Daniels.

They confused them with kind of a designer look, and it worked. And they did force a couple punts because of a bunch of penalties on Washington, but they were running the ball so well. Jaden Daniels ends up with 127 yards on 16 carries. Just felt like he could get it anytime he wanted to on the ground, and Brian Robinson shipped in 60.

But they're down 17-7 at half time. They come back, X-3 dives are seven minutes and 47 seconds long on a 15-play touchdown drive, seven minutes long on a 14-play touchdown drive. And it's mostly on the ground. And then they have that long field goal drive that takes up five and a half minutes that, yeah, they had the touchdown called back and they end up kicking the field goal. And you just think, man, this offense and Cliff Kingsbury are beating all the allegations.

I'll get to the Falcons mishandling things in a second. But I do appreciate that it's an offense. first team, and Dan Quinn kept going for it on fourth down. They were three for three on fourth down. He has some game management things to work on perhaps as well, but he kind of knows where his bread is buttered. He had injuries on both sides of the ball, but especially on the offensive line. And yet he could see it. Like, we're picking up yardage. And so he was aggressive, kept going for it on fourth down. And they leaned into what they do well. And they're going to the playoffs because of it. Yeah. And the way that they come through in these clutch

situations is really what stands out to me because this is a team that wasn't supposed to be here. This is a team that was the worst defense in the NFL last season. They're under a new head coach. They got a new quarterback. And you speak about those fourth down conversions. The one to make Nichols where he catches the ball and then extends beyond the line to gain for the first down. Just one of many great plays and key spots. And that's who this team has been for so much of this season. It hasn't been perfect by any means. But how do you not get on board with that? You know, you get a little emotional because you had the Falcons there. How can you not get emotional about this if he just love football.

What a fantastic game we saw. When I say emotional, too, I just mean like it's almost like I'm a fan of the team and I'm just thinking, oh, there's no way they stop. And it's because I'm loving watching Daniels. But it's a great point, shook, because the first is a keyest touchdown. Great, great play by Daniels in the first half,

throwing it against his body. But really good catch. On a night where McLaurin has seven targets for five yards, AJ Terrell with an awesome performance, covering him most of the day. That touchdown catch to win the game by Eertz, Fletcher was right, that was a missile, and it was like two inches off the ground.

I didn't think he caught it live because I just thought it was such a hard catch and you saw it going to the ground, and I thought, oh man, they're going to have to take everyone off the field. But no, he clearly caught it. Like, great strong hands. That great play by Mick Nichols, Zakias had big plays. Crowder stepped up the last couple of weeks,

so props to them. Dante Fowler had some plays defensively. you know, they did pick off Pennix. They forced a couple fumbles by Pennix. They weren't lucky enough to fall on either one, but they forced a couple. And so they do enough. Now, let's start with a negative with the Falcons.

Rahim Morris just doesn't show the calm and the quick thinking in big moments with the clock that, you know, your average Madden player would be all. over. And I know it's different, but I'm not going to give them slack on this one because it's your job and it wasn't a confusing situation. They get the ball back after one of the most surprising three and outs of the entire season. You're right. Pettix leads them down to a courageous drive. And we can get it. We can talk about that longer in a second if you want. But they force a three and out from Daniels where there's a drop on third down. You know, he was a little

inaccurate and first down, and they get the ball back with over a minute to go. No, rather, 40 seconds to go. Pennix, who's had a lot of nice deep outs in this game, throws it to Mooney for 25 yards to the Falcon's 44-yard line. They don't take a time out there. It was about 33 seconds left, and they blow 16 seconds off the clock. Well, surely that's got to be the last time out, right? No. No, you had two left there. That's not even a thought. Like, of course you can't blow 15 seconds. end up not even using the timeouts. They go into overtime with an extra timeout, and they only used another one to get set,

like it was with the clock stop. They didn't even end up using another one of those timeouts. They get a PI on their second to last play in regulation that gives them a 56-yard attempt. Riley Patterson comes up short. He's a guy who's bounced around. He's a replacement kicker. It happens.

I thought it, like most viewers, probably thought it was going in, and the Falcons are winning this game. But it just reminds you, they would have had two, three more plays there. And it's just crazy because it's an unforced error. And it's a rare thing that we can say from the outside, you 100% just made the wrong decision.

And so I'm going to say it. Honestly, that's fair. But I also, not in defense of them, but just to give them a little bit of a break and some grace here, I think the environment had something to do with it. Because Washington had a hard time getting organized too. And at some point in that overtime drive, they called a timeout just to get Jay and Daniels a breather.

There were multiple instances, especially in the fourth quarter, where both teams struggled to get lined up, get set before the play clock ran out. Well, they looked tired. I thought Rahim Morris should have used his timeouts in overtime just to get his defense set. He didn't at all. But that's fair. I think they were just gas. I think people are always like defense gets tired.

It's like offense gets tired too. Washington was on the field like that whole second. I appreciate that. And it's a good shout out to that Washington crowd who I've seen it when they've been good, certainly the RG3 year and there's been other little pop-up years. But you get a feeling that they're, waiting to be one of the best crowds in the NFL, and they're back.

And it's awesome. And they were worried about disaster scenarios. Okay, Pennix gets the ball back with 432 to go after Atlanta finally forces a field goal with the help of the timeouts. And he has multiple fourth and longs on that drive. And he hits him, and he has a couple nice outs. And he also misses some throws. He just has surprising inaccuracy on some throws.

but he makes really difficult throws to the outside. And that fourth and long that he hits to pits with how much time was left, 119 to go, you know, that could have been one of the throws of the year. That's like a rookie stamping his moment where Riley Patterson hits that freaking kick. All we're talking about is how great Pennix was to finish this game and he never even gets the ball back in overtime. So props to Pennix, who I thought had an up and down game, but the flashes were there and the finish.

was absolutely awesome. And through no fault of his own, they end up losing this game because he doesn't get the ball in overtime. What was the number one attribute when he came out of college that people talked about positively with him? Armstring? Poise?

Exactly. And guess what showed completely on that drive and on that throw to Pitts on fourth down, that live arm, baby. He fit that thing in there and Pitts made a great catch. Fans of Kyle Pitts who think he's been in jail

since he's been with the Falcons are eager to see his release if he's got a quarterback like Michael Panix who's not afraid to throw him the football. It was fun. And they lost the game, but it was so fun to watch. Yeah, and they might not make the playoffs now, though, because of it. So they're 8 and 8.

Commanders are in at 11.5. They're actually the six seed right now, and the Packers are the seven. Depending on how much they care about seating, we'll find out in week 18. We can get into that during the week. But if the Falcons had hit that kick, Nick, commanders would have been in a situation next week where they had to beat Dallas to guarantee their spot in the playoffs. And Dallas beat him before.

Dallas is at home. You just never know. That could have been a nervous, frisky type of situation. Commanders fans, especially after, you know, potentially having blown this lead at the end, that would have been a very nervous week and said, it's the Falcons who now go into next week without control. And if you're a Falcons fan, you're just adding this to the list of improbable, just weird, tough ways for seasons to end. because the Buccaneers are hosting the Saints and the Buccaneers win the division if they beat Spencer Rattler and a dead Saints team.

And there's, I know surprising things happen in the NFL, but it sure feels like the Falcon season is over because of this little sequence. And that's why that timeout thing, it looms. It's not like the whole game came down to that. Falcons defense is getting run over, but I think their season is essentially over. they have the Panthers next week and they'll probably win that game and they'll probably end up out of the playoffs at 9 and 8.

Yeah, and then when you take stock of the entire season, what do you come away with? Because you went through the whole Kirk Cousins' ordeal. You saw him benched. You saw the start of your future, hopefully a quarterback with Michael Pennix. But where do you go from here? Are you happy about this year?

Do you feel like you missed an opportunity based on how you started this season? It's somewhere in between because I think Raheem's defense showed some progress. Not overtime tonight. Yeah, not really in the second half today. It showed some progress down the stretch and you're starting kind of a new regime.

But this was also a go-time type of season because they have so many young, talented players. That's why they gave Kirk all that money. I think you've got to feel good about what happened with Pennix over the last two weeks, and hopefully he closes strong. But it's going to feel like a missed opportunity. They also would have been underdogs in that first game against either the Vikings or the Lions.

So ultimately, it was probably just changing the week that their heart was broken and they maybe wouldn't have been close. Drake London was awesome. game, Caden Ellis was awesome. Actually, I think there's some good things to feel if you're a Falcons fan and look, that they're going to get with a better record. All right. So let's set up next week's schedule before we go. For the last time, this season, the Browns are in an island game. I apologize. I apologize to everyone else. The schedule makers, understandably, because there weren't really many options, decided to go with AFC North on Saturday. I think if the Falcons

had won this game tonight, the schedule would have been totally different. I actually think the Rams would have been playing on Saturday. It would have been a totally different setup, but this is the schedule we have now. Ravens 11 and 5, they're playing on the early game on Saturday. That's at 1.30 Eastern.

If they win, they win the division before the Steelers even play. Saturday night, that game is going to matter. Steelers, Bengals. Steelers could be playing for seating, which could be important because it's the difference between playing either the Ravens again or the Texans. I just knowing the Steelers, they're going to play to win in that game. The Bengals will be playing to try to keep their playoff hopes alive going in to Sunday. The Sunday morning slate will be when the NFC South is decided.

Both the Falcons and the Bucks will play in the morning games. That's really the only thing that matters in the morning games. Washington playing for seeding Green Bay as well, but it's six, seven, It's not that big of a deal. In the afternoon slate, we finally have the Chiefs and the Broncos. And that will be the Broncos most likely playing for a playoff spot. But either the Dolphins have to win at the exact same time or they'll know if the Bengals had won on Saturday. And yes, I should have mentioned that the Dolphins still an important part of Week 18.

They are at 125 opposite that Broncos Chiefs game and some other games. don't matter as much. Like Seahawks' Rams, it's kind of crazy because the Seahawks and the Rams, like the division's over, but they're literally going to tie potentially if the Seahawks win that game in record, division record, conference record, common opponents. Like they are down to the fifth tiebreaker, but we just already know how it's all going to work even if the Seahawks win that game, and that's why they are eliminated. And yes, Sunday night football, lions and Vikings for the one seed.

Fun way to end the season reminds me of a couple years back when the lion. The Lions technically had nothing to play for, shook, and they played their hearts out, and they beat the Packers, knocked them out of the playoffs. And to me, they had already had a lot of moments that you knew they were legit, but that to me was a next level moment. So I look forward to that with you next Sunday. Yeah, that'll be fantastic. That was the start of the Lions, as we know them now, when they took it to the Packers

and went to the offseason with a lot of momentum. And we, not the same setup for this Sunday night, but a lot of still at stake on Sunday night. Okay, so I guess, I don't know if Patrick would agree that momentum can continue from one week to the next in the playoffs. Does that count or is it just within a game? Who really knows? We'll find out next week. Hit the music. It's time.

Woo. I'm fired up. We only got 16 games left of the regular season. No, 17. Because we got a Monday night. It's got to be beautiful. Me and Shook. Look, when Jaden Daniels is stamping his status as a.

freaking legend as a rookie. That's what you know football is back. I'll see you Monday. 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.

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