NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Eagles-Seahawks MNF Recap, Chase and Lawrence Injuries

Episode Date: December 19, 2023

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler recap the Monday Night Football matchup between the Eagles and Seahawks (01:00). After the break, the heroes get you caught up on news from around the league including injury updates for Ja'Marr Chase and Trevor Lawrence (26:26), talk about the plan at QB for the Steelers (33:00) and Dan makes his pitch to fix fantasy football (37:52). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And in addition to the creativity, I think he does a good job helping his offensive line. All those tight ends back there again. Nice cut back by Walker still going. Waiting for the blocking to get there. It does. Touchdown Seahawks. here it comes again and a touchdown is the result her test is second of the night and the eagles back on top third down in ten lock end zone it is caught touchdown seattle Smith and Jigba has put the Seahawks on top.

And on top, the Seattle Seahawks would stay after a Julian Love miracle interception on the ensuing drive for the Eagles. Salted away a 20 to 17 win for the Seahawks. A season saving 20 to 17 win for the Seattle Seahawks who moved to 7 and 7. and the Philadelphia Eagles once the toast of the NFL once, like three weeks ago, when they were 10 in one and leading the entire football world suddenly mired in a three-game

losing streak, watching the number one seed slip away and realizing they had a chance to really bury the Cowboys, the NFC East, and that is no longer the case. Dan Hansis here with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler from our respective homes, heroes both, and I thought, as they always do, Gregie, Troy Aikman summed it up well. At the beginning of that final Seahawks drive, Drew Locke in for an injured Gino Smith after a bunch of Malarkey from ESPN hyping up, will they or won't they start Gino. It is Drew Locky. It hadn't done much in the game to that point.

And Aikman laid it out well. He said, this is the biggest drive, the most important drive of Drew Locke's life. And I would say he responded. 92 yards with one timeout in his pocket, didn't even need all of it. 28 seconds to go when they ended up scoring that touchdown. They started with 152. I think it's just so fascinating that these two teams met each other at this moment with both of their seasons was kind of collapsing at the same time. I know Philadelphia's got a ways to go, but this is a devastating loss that they met on this night.

and we'll get into all the reasons that Philadelphia couldn't put the game away but that Locke in that moment who I thought had been okay to that point but hadn't done much and D.K. Metcalf who had been getting picked on a lot by Seattle fans this year for not making big time catches,

not making the tough catches has two just ridiculous catches in that drive. One could have been picked off so you get a little fortunate if you're Drew Locke and then the dime down the sideline to DK sets it up. They keep their composure in Jackson Smith and Jigba from Locke. And I think it was just one of the best moments of the year. No matter where it goes from here, it reminded me so much of the Baker Mayfield

Thursday night game from a year ago, except the crowd here just was electric and for Locke. And he said as much after the game, it was kind of a moment of a lifetime, moment of a career and a moment you said it, that saves their season, Dan. Yeah, I mean, I think that no matter what happens to the Seahawks and, you know, no matter what happens to them individually, like the Drew Locke thing, it's easy to forget that he, if you weren't tracking the sport day to day, that he was packed into that Russell Wilson trade and, you know, discarded by the Broncos as a failed potential franchise quarterback and has really pretty much been maligned and his play has been, you know, mostly cold, not hot. And I just kind of thought that was the most fascinating aspect

of this. Like, he's been going, any one of these players goes through so much. behind the scenes and deals with so much adversity and negative press and negative talk. And the way he was money on that final drive, the 34-yard pass to Metcalf, the 29-yard burner to Jackson Smith and Jigbeth to end it. And then what he said after the game, I just thought it's like he kind of spoke from his heart and packed into all these seasons and some of these games that we'll completely forget about come February or March. This was a special moment. And as great as Gino's story was a year ago, it's kind of like they doubled down and created another quarterback story tonight felt very similar it's it's interesting uh yes drew lock uh who by

the way yes he he kind of flunked out of an opportunity in denver and then he had a chance to win the starting job last year in seattle and he got beat out by gino and he kind of receded to the background until this moment one thing if you do follow the league uh what drew lock lacks in perhaps ability or long-term sustainability as a quarterback for your team. He does not lack confidence. He's got some swagger to him, and he is not someone who I don't think holds his tongue. And yes, he spoke honestly with Lisa Salters.

I liked so much of what he said that I asked Eric, the producer, who were going to be very nice and respectful to today because he just lost his fantasy playoff matchup by 0.3 points because A.J. Brown couldn't make a catch on that last try. Here is Drew Locke with Lisa Salter's moments after the win. Amazing won't do it justice. Amazing won't do it justice, but Amazing also doesn't do justice. What the O-Line, what D.K. did on that catch, what the receivers did, what Ken Walker,

Zach Charbonnet did all game long, the tight end. It takes a special group to rally around a guy that, you know, has come into a second game of the year, right? Used to the same thing all year long, same cadence, same spin of the ball. Everything. A team like that, not just the offense, the defense to rally around me tonight, man, that was, that was amazing. And then they followed up by asking Locke to take us inside of the play that led to the 29-yard touchdown. I mean, I'll remember that play call for the rest of my life, but we're breaking the huddle. I knew Jacks had the one-on-one. Good reminder from Shane in the headset, I say, hey, Jacks, if you're one-on-one, I'm throwing you this pill. sure enough gave us a one-on-one look

corner was soft jacks hit him with some speed back pylon back box throw came down with it the ccalks are a fringe playoff team they're seven and seven they certainly have a chance to get a wild card spot

but they're not a Super Bowl contender that said this is why one of the reasons why the NFL is you know as popular as it is that in a prime time game here, this is, this is drama. That's high drama. And that was to then to hear the very real human emotion from Locke after the game, a guy who knows that his, his football career was, you know,

hanging on, hanging on by thread. And now he has this huge game and this platform. Very cool moment. It also makes me think about how this year so much of it has been about, do you have a backup quarterback who can give you a chance? And I thought, and we talked about on this podcast, that Drew Locke's the very end of his career in Denver after he had been benched out for a while, that he had come back in and he had shown, okay, you can maybe work with this as a backup long term, that maybe he is going to have a career because the crazy decisions he would make and, you know, where, and you saw there was like one tonight where he was fallen and he tried to throw it and ended up being ruled a sack. But he would make crazy decisions. He had pretty much taken those out of his game. game and it was kind of like safe drewlock and you know that he's got some arm talent in there but for the most part I think he was just trying to avoid mistakes and make the right play and

I thought that's been the case last two weeks I thought he played pretty well against San Francisco and even until that moment tonight when he had to drive the field I actually didn't think he played poorly I really thought they just coached around him and didn't give him a chance to do much it was a lot of short passes it was a lot of the running game it was a lot of trying to avoid mistakes. And it was Pete Carroll's old formula that he used to have in the Russell Wilson days of like, let's just get to the fourth quarter within one score. And our defense will keep it close enough. And trusting his defense now to do that is not normally what you want to do. But in this case, it worked against the Seagull's offense. And then here we are in the

situation. We got one final stop. Let's go see what you can do with a regular straight back, drop back passing game. And he hit dimes. And he got a little fortunate, but he let his playmakers make plays. And that was a great touchdown catch, too, by Smith and Jigba, who's really been coming on. It was like the very tips of his fingers that he catches it. So just awesome all around and took advantage, I thought, of kind of weird, predictable, man-to-man defense, basic defense from Matt Patricia's Eagles defense. Yeah, I think like your comparison to that Baker Mayfield game, where you just joined the Rams and beat the Raiders, where it's like you kind of think he had this entire magical performance. and it was really a quiet game up until the very end when he went electric. And that was sort of tonight because with two minutes to go,

the Eagles had held the Seahawks to one of five on third down. It really, I thought, like, all that you had saw on offense was Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet for the most part. James Bradbury, another tough game for him, had a killer DPI that set up that field goal for the Seahawks that kept the minute before they got the touchdown. And then he gives up the winning touchdown. And the Metcalf Cats, too, by the way. Absolutely.

So it's, I feel bad for him because it's like, that's the position where you're just going to get, you know, visually victimized over and over. But he had a tough stretch of it down. And it's like, I think we were weighing all year long. Like, did this double coordinator switch for the Eagles? Are they the kind of team that could just roll through that seamlessly? And on both sides of the ball, I think we're seeing, that's just not the case. They literally replaced the defensive play caller for this game.

But on offense, it's like they're not the team they were a year ago and they're still figuring it out and we're a week away from Christmas. Jesus, they replaced their defensive coordinator. Well, he's still the D.C., but the guy calling place with Matt Patricia. Sure. Which just tells you. And I remember talking about this back in the summer with the Eagles. Like, everything kind of went to script for that team.

And I did wonder, and you know that some of the Nick Siriana stuff gets on my nerves. But I also, in all honesty, do wonder, how does this team? How does this roster? How does this coaching staff react when things aren't going their way? When when the breaks are going the other way or the schedule doesn't fall of the where it needs to be or they don't start, you know, get ahead on a team and just steamroll them like they were doing last year. And this season, especially obviously the last three weeks,

but really the whole season. I mean, if you just look at their record, they're like, oh, they're 10 and 4 in a losing streak, but they were dominant before that so they can get back to it. No, they weren't dominant when they were 10 and 1. They were a team like because they were a good team. finding ways to win, but they at no point have I thought that they were as good as say the Niners are. And I think they are very vulnerable as we come down the stretch here. And I'm really

interested to see what happens next. Now, in their favor is perhaps the softest schedule in football to close things out. You get the Giants twice with Tommy Cutlet Mania dying down at the Superdome on Sunday and with the Cardinals in between. So, you know, at the end of the day, 13 and 4 is still there. But I feel like they've been exposed a little bit these last three weeks. Yeah, I do want to get to the offense later for the Eagles, but on that schedule, by the way, they do win the division if they win those three games because those are division games and they would hold the tiebreaker over Dallas. So if they win out, they will win the division. But they lost their, you know, they really lost any chance for the one seat tonight if they even had it. Defensively, to change to Matt Patricia, and I know this happened sort of in between when we.

we've, when we've done these shows, to me was like, oh, things are going worse than I thought because that's more about things happening inside the building. Like, yeah, he's got the defensive coordinator play name now, Sean Desai apparently, but by all intents and purposes, our reporting at NFL Network from Ian Rapport says Patricia is the defensive coordinator. He's calling the plays. They kicked him upstairs too. He's not even on the sideline. So the reports that came out afterwards. There was one in the Philadelphia Enquirer that decided an event of confidence. But the other one that caught my eye locally was like there's just been a lot of finger point.

And that's what it sort of spoke to to me was like, wow, people are pointing fingers. There's blame. Like things aren't good inside that building for a change like that to happen. And you saw tonight, I don't know what the difference was with Matt Patricia. They were rotating a ton of players in the secondary. You know, they weren't getting a great pass rush. They seemed very basic. They were playing man to man on almost all third down.

And you could see on that last drive, it's like they were just playing man to man on the outside. And I mean, it's easy to second guess when you give up two big plays. But D.K. Metcalf and Drew Locke, we're like, thank you. Like, this is what we can go for. And they didn't get the pass rush after them. It obviously didn't make a positive difference. I know at that point, they had only scored 13 points, but to end that way, it's just a tough way to end a tough week. And it is a tough week.

If you're changing your coordinator in week 15 when you're 10 and 3, that's a tough week. Mark, not to be mean to Drew Locke or to denigrate him anyway on a special night, but when he's saying after the game, like he had diagnosed immediately that the safety was going to drop down. So be ready, Jackson, I'm going to hit you. I mean, this isn't exactly Peyton Manning in 1999 here. This is, no, this is Drew Locke that's just diagnosed her defense at the biggest moment of the season. Yeah, exactly. I mean, this is someone with a limited starting resume and I saw it exactly for what it was. I want to just like note one thing. though, because, like, when things are tough, when you're on a skid like this, it comes down

of these little moments that have nothing to do with, like, the play call at all. Like, Julian loves closing interception, we talked about before he got any hurts. Like, without him running into the calf of a teammate, that doesn't happen. And it's kind of like, that's just human physics, and that's just something that happened in nature in favor of the Seahawks. But I would say even... Great play, though. Like, that was an incredible play.

Even if he didn't get his foot down, I'd just say that was a great play. But, like, I think we could acknowledge that, like, the where human bodies were on that play was, was important. But the first interception he had, there was clear, he was clearly yanking on Kwez Watkins on his jersey. And it's like,

you can say that's tic-tackey, but that would get called in other games and it just was like overlooked. So it's like two major turnovers that if you're an Eagles fan, you're steamed about both of them just by the way they happened. Yeah.

I think the Eagles fan right now is wondering, what the hell is going on right now. But I also, I'm thinking about the, the Jalen Hertz side of things because they're also saying, man, if this guy wasn't sick, maybe this game is different. And there's a good chance it is because, you know, Drew Locke is not Gino Smith,

even if Gino's not having the year he had last year. So you're set up really well if you have the healthy Jalen Hertz. He's sick. He gets downgraded over the weekend because the illness worsens. And every time they cut to him, And I know he's a stoic dude by his nature. But usually that's that stoicism. You see it.

It's just like steely confidence. Like he's the one of those guys that like he passes like everybody likes to say like the mamba mentality. I guess I'm an old timer geriatric millennial mark. So I think of Jordan and just kind of that resolve. I didn't see that in his eyes. He looked like a guy who was like I cannot wait to get back into bed because I feel like shit. And to his credit, he leads him down the field on the first. possession for a touchdown, but they were pretty much out of sorts for most of this game

and his stat line, even if some of the officials didn't help him out. And there was that, it was a miracle act of physics on the last love interception. But the deep shot where they had a chance to put the game away and they try the deep shot that Love picks off in the end zone, that was just a silly play call. And that's also not the first time the Eagles have had a bad play call. That, that Jets game I remember from October, another one where it's like, you have a chance to play this a certain way and salt away an inferior opponent. Instead, you opened the door and gave them new life unnecessarily. Yeah, they had the ball with the lead there, Dan. What was it? It was 1713 there and they're driving. And they could put the game away. Pete Carroll had burned two

of his timeouts on some of the most idiotic timeout management I've ever seen in my entire life by anyone. I mean, Pete Carroll could have like a 30 for 30 just on his bad timeout usage. So at that point, they're in position to, like, run, like, six minutes off the clock if they can have a sustained drive. And you're right, that play call and the decision to throw it, because that's on Hertz, too. He doesn't necessarily have to throw it there deep. Then they get the ball again because the defense holds up with 635 to go, and they start moving the ball. And I just think of how these last three drives finished for Hertz, there was that interception. And then the next one where if they get seven yards, they basically win the game.

They had already picked up a couple first down. running the ball. They had taken four minutes off the clock. They're almost at the two minute warning. It's third and seven. And Hertz just bailed out of the pocket too soon, too, like immediately. He sensed a little pressure that wasn't quite there because it was Maffei who ended up going to the ground and he runs into the pressure. And then he just starts running all over the place and like, great. If he had made a great play, you would have said, oh, what a great player. But he left the pocket immediately. And again, they were sending pressure and it was like you, you had concepts there where guys should be open if he just stayed in the pocket.

And that was one of three or four decisions on the night. One where he missed DeVant to Smith wide open coming over the middle would have been a big gain where instead he tried to go deep. Another third and ten where he seemed to just not see the field. And is that being sick? I don't know. But he also has been doing similar types of things throughout the year. He's played well.

But I think tonight he ran the ball well, but his passing was not good. and I didn't think it was going to cost him, but it did cost them in the end. Yeah, that third and seven, I'm looking at it, and I'm like, I know what's going to happen here. He's going to scramble for the first down, slide down after a nine-yard game, and the game's over. And sure enough, I'm looking as he's dropping back, and you don't see a spy on him. And I'm like, oh, this is, and I wonder, not going to get inside his head. If he had the same thought, he's like, I'm just going to take off here. I'll get this on my own.

And to the credit of Seattle's defense, they can. kept him contained he tried to break out one way they wouldn't let him out the back door then he tried to double back the other way and that was sealed off and then he had to throw the the heave so that was just a great stand i guess like i i i just refuse to to panic over the eagles right now though nor nor would i probably um in any situation just because i'm not that attached to them but i i am more saying that i i trust that i kind of think sometimes i know it looks like there's a lot of chaos you switch the coordinator some of these teams that wind up going like the distance, have to make these tough decisions. And it's easy to forget,

like in, you know, late January that this happened. And like, I don't love the switch to Matt Patricia. Why, who knows? But it's like the Eagles overall, holistically, like over the past three or four or five years, have been one of the most consistent franchises. They lost to the Niners. They lost the Cowboys. That's two of the top three teams in the NFC. They got nipped tonight. Is the sky falling? I don't know. I think your quarterback was ill this evening. They're little bit out of sorts and you've got three cupcakes coming up. I'd say you'd probably go three and oh in those games and you're good and we'll see what happens from there. I mean, right now they're bad though. Like if the playoffs started today, they'd be in such trouble because

they got a lot of problems. They can improve on it. I think you're right in the next three weeks and then get in better shape and they might win the division. I just think outside of, but outside of San Francisco because like it was 24 hours ago that we were, we were concerned about the Cowboys and we still are it's like they're the whole league is just imperfect outside of one team right now that's just destroying people so it's like the eagles to me like if you catch any of these teams on an off day they're right in it and so it's like i just i know there i know philly fans are probably going nuts but it's like i don't know like i guess i understand what you're saying mark but there i think not to keep harking back to last year's team but this team is so much different and

even when they were 10 and one they were getting the job done they just weren't they've never been a juggernaut this season. And I know that sounds silly, but watching and we've been watching the games and people that are actually watching this team week after week are seeing that they are vulnerable. And yes, they probably will take care of business. And they deserve this easy close to the schedule now because they went through a effing gauntlet through November and into December. But that was telling some of the things that happened in that gauntlet. And the gauntlet will return. And crushingly, I would think for this Eagles team, you are not going to, it's going to be the road's going to go through san francisco barring something unforeseen now and i think

that's that's a big big takeaway from this game i have just one more thing um not to bring up 42 gregs i know you don't like when i bring up 42 but that had big 42 vibes the last drive they're down four points they have a quarterback that nobody thinks is going to pull it off and he's just firing the ball and he's throwing multiple balls into coverage that could be intercepted repeatedly but he's still moving down the field and then all of a sudden he hits the touch down in your throw and you're thinking of yourself, wait, did that just happen? Like, and if you're a fan of the Pats in 2008 or the Eagles today, you're going to watch that last drive and be like, he put like three balls up for grabs and we could not get it done.

So very frustrating, frustrating for the defending conference champs. Kind of reminds me of 52 because you got, you know, Eagles hero, Matt Patricia, now on your sideline, he was coordinated in defense while Nick Foles was putting up a 40 burger on the Patriots. he's a Super Bowl here for the Eagles already. You have Julio Jones, who was involved late in that game, almost could have beat them in the divisional round, or was that the wild card round? For the Falcons, you're bringing all the old heroes back.

You got Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox making sacks pretty much the only good pass rush. They had it all night. One quick thing I do want to say on the CX before we move on from this game, though, they have a really good chance to make the playoffs. They are a flawed team. We'll see if Gino comes back or not.

You know, Witherspoon was out for this game. Jamal Adams. was, I think, quiet benched because he finished last week and then they put him on the injury report and then he was inactive. I think they just like, that was like a nice way to bench him. They did bench Rick Wholen, who was in and out of the lineup all night. He was out for the first quarter, out from us to the third. Like they made some changes tonight trying to improve things.

They find a way to get a win. And now here's their schedule at Tennessee, home for Pittsburgh, at Arizona. I mean, that's quite. soft. If you win all three, you're in, for sure, in the NFC West, I mean in the NFC. And two out of three and they might be favored in all three of those. They got a chance to get on a little run here if they can bottle this. So Greg, they do. And I know that you're in a like a pervert, like an endless sort of cuddle party with Seattle Seahawks fans. But I think they're also an argument for like not having the seventh playoff team because I liked what happened tonight. It's a nice story. But

But overall, like the Seattle Seahawks, to me, are just not what I view as playoff material. I mean, that's a nice, easy schedule, and I think they'll probably find a way in there. And that's nice. But I think on both sides, both conferences, I'm seeing postseason fair that to me is not worthy of the postseason. But there's nothing we can do about it because if anything will add another playoff team, probably, you know, two, three years from now. There are four, well, there are five, but two of them are in the NFC South, so one's going to win the division. But looking at the standings now, there are four seven and seven teams vying for those two wild card spots. You have the Minnesota Vikings, seven and seven, the Rams seven and seven, the Seahawks seven and seven and the Saints seven and seven.

Right. And the Bucks for now in, for now it would be Rams and Vikings in, but it doesn't matter much. Rams do have that sweep of the Seahawks, which could potentially help them if they end up being the two. I mean, half of those teams own fan bases aren't even begging for an extra game. So I just, I, you know, I find it. You're all, you're all pumping up the Colts in the AFC. What's the difference? Tell me which one. Tell me which one.

The Saints fans, I think, would be happy to see that season. And we've been down that road a million times. Even then in their hearts, they were, they want it. Listen, these teams, if we're talking about who's winning the Super Bowl, just like your beloved cults in the AFC mark, these guys are all. Spicerack says the Rams are going. Spicerack's been hot on the Rams. Winning the Super Bowl.

Spice Rock has been brought up on the show literally like 10 shows in a row. They're seed fillers in the big dance, you know? But part of the fun is this time of year. Who's going to get in? You know what I mean? These fan bases are excited, Mark. That's okay. I'll go back to how I open this.

Like, I've never been a huge Drew Lock guy, but that was one of the more memorable things that's happened this entire season. That place was rocking. The atmosphere at the end made it feel pretty special. I'm cool with that. Great. All right, let's take a break, and then we'll do a little bit of news and say goodbye. 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 to the NFL stars of tomorrow. We break down the draft, analyze matchups, and evaluate how teams put it all together on game day.

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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. All right, welcome back. Let's get caught up on the news before we sign off for a day. Let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. They're another one of those teams that are making a hard charge for a playoff spot. Over in the AFC, Jamar Chase is their superstar wide receipts.

receiver. He went down in the team's week 15 comeback win over the Vikings and rap sheet reports that Chase is likely to miss quote sometime. So we don't know how long that will be. But you're not going to see him in week 16. And then, you know, that sounds like a potential multi-week injury. So that is going to mean the likes of T. Higgins, Tyler Boyd, and Joe Mixen are going to really have to raise their game with, of course, Jake Browning, a quarterback to finish off this improbable rise and get to the postseason. I'm sick about it because I'm with you, Mark. You kind of jokingly said maybe the Bengals should become team of ATN now.

I've barely, you know, I've just been so surprised and I've been so wrong about burying Zach Taylor in this spot and kind of enjoying being wrong, just how spicy Browning's been. that I was like, oh, this is a fun story. And looking at their schedule, it's like, they can win these games. I think they should beat the Steelers. And to lose Chase and DJ Reader, it's just like this, this team's luck is just outrageously bad. Reader, one of if not their best defense, you know, one of their best defense players.

And then to lose Chase on top of everything, it stinks. Don't let the Steelers win another game. This Steelers team doesn't deserve it. Oh, they stink. Nope, they've got it. You're enjoying. I am enjoying that, though. You're enjoying being wrong, Greg, about Zach Taylor.

I'm enjoying being right. Yeah. I mean, I'm enjoying watching the game. The act of being wrong, I don't know if that's enjoyable, but they're winning me over. They are pretty fun to watch. It's been cool to see what they're doing. They go to Pittsburgh.

Then they go to Kansas City. I would say this. I think Trent Nervin has stepped in and helped at times. Ooh. They, they, they, you know, half our news run down is AFC North Injuries. So they're not alone. They've just got to survive. Trevor Lawrence also dealing with injuries.

He suffered a concussion. during Sunday night football. So now he has to clear the league's concussion protocol to get clearance to play Week 16 against the Bucks. This is a Jaguars team on a three-game losing streak. They're Fugazi, and now their quarterback is hurt. Losing interest falling asleep. Someone talking about the Jaguars?

Let's hear Doug Peterson talk about it because I was wondering, we saw Trevor Lawrence's head slam to the turf early in the third quarter. No, do we need to see the spot? Nope, do we even need to check on it? And then, you know, we find out after the game, he has a concussion. I think it was obviously the scramble play. I think it was the last one that he got hit on potentially.

It's hard to say, but, you know, continue to play, you know, the rest of the game. And then he self-disclosed after the game to our docs and our trainers. Oh, you mean the scramble play where he took an illegal forearm shiver to the face? and I got Maurice Jones Drew who's like a Jaguars Ring of Honor guy and I'm like that's a penalty you can't do that and MJD's like oh yeah you can do that he's you know once he leaves

the pocket you know he's not protected anymore of course he's protected from like a Kerry Von Eric forearm like what are we talking about here can't do that whatever anyway even with them though they're like they feel like a team in free fall like that there's a three way tie I think they've not

been the same since Christian Kirk was out I don't know I don't really trust this team at all. We talked about it last night. I'm just settling scores with MJD right now. He's not even here. Well, he's not going to be hearing this either. So they're going to have to go take it to his face. The bucks might end up. I'm with you guys that they would be the most fun NFC South division winner. And they might get CJ Bethard this week, which is a pretty big difference if Trevor Lawrence is out. Arthur Smith is an absolute mess as a head coach.

And if he comes back, shame on everyone connected with the Falcons. Because you, you send Desmond Ritter out on the field in the week 15. with a chance to kick that field goal. You haven't dropped back to pass. He throws an interception because he's been doing that all year. And then the head coach comes out. Instead of saying, you know, that's on me, I need to make a better play call or we need to kind of get better.

He's now going to, what, bench Desmond Ritter again? Is that what we're hearing? It's being reported. Who has the report on this one? Smith himself. Smith at his press conference said that he's still considering what direction to go, a quarterback. for their matchup with the Colts.

So it could be going back to Taylor Heineke. Like, it's making my head spin because I think we were all in agreement on Thursday's preview podcast that although it was weird to bench Ritter and then go back to him, it looked like Ritter was making strides, but now he makes a bad throw and they lose. And now you're going to go back to Hineke. The whole thing is just sloppy. Yeah, it's just an extension of Sunday's game where it's like the vision for the Falcons was extremely cloudy in that loss, a terrible loss.

that I put on the coach, and this is just mismanagement. And it's like, you know what, you went into the season with two guys who aren't worthy of being your starting quarterback, and the fact that you go into musical chairs mode is not a surprise, but it is a disappointment. It's funny you say musical chairs, because when he declared Ritter is going to be the starter again, he said, you know, this is my decision. I'm not going to be playing musical chairs. And now we hear a few weeks later, and it's one of my, one of my, um,

coaching cliches i've noticed over the year on mondays whenever they say they're considering making the change when it kind of you know because they didn't bench him during the game and he's putting it out there on monday that like i might make a change like they're they're making unless there's some weird circumstance which this is not like they're making that change i think he sees his career flashing before his eyes and in his heart of hearts he trusts hynicki more but i will tell you we'll point out dan as as bad as that play was they had i think it was a bottom five success rate in terms of running against the Panthers of like any team in any game all year. So just the whole thing stinks is what I'm saying. And like they're supposed to be a great

running team and they and they can't run the ball either. So it's all it all I'm just saying they're a bad boring team, but they've won teams this year by being boring. And being boring in that spot is running the ball going up for and then saying our defense is pretty good. We're going to we're going to keep Bryce Young out of the end zone and win another ugly game. But instead they they took a different route and they were punished for it. The Steelers might be going a different route at quarterback again. Man, what a year. Yes, this is ridiculous.

I hope there's never another year like this in the NFL with the quarterbacks. It's just every team. It's either Star is gone or in some cases you have a nice situation like, let's say in Cleveland right now or in Cincinnati. But then there are the other cases. How it usually works is Star gets hurt, backup stinks, try another backup he stinks, put in the other backup he stinks, Maybe bring back the first backup.

Here is the Steelers situation. Now, Mason Rudolph, who, you know, stinks. He's expected to start in week 16 for Pittsburgh with their season on the line because Mitch Trubisky has just not been able to play the guitar, but they are keeping the, quote, door ajar for Kenny Pickett. Okay. Okay, good luck with all that. I mean, Kenny Pickett, I don't think he could play either.

I guess it's been tough stuff for Mike Tomlin. It looked pretty good, at least in comparison to Mitch Chubisky. There's nothing. I will agree with that. Speaking of, you know, taking L's, I think my, I kind of want to see Mitch Trubisky take was the worst, it was actually worse than my Chargers are going to the Super Bowl take this year. I thought Chubisky showed a little something last year, but my God, has he been brutal? So, yeah, they go to Rudolph unless Pickett gets healthy enough to play this week.

They also will be without Minko Fitzpatrick, so that, that's. That's a pretty big loss. It sounds like that might be. Arm in arm with your, you know, quarterback Mitch Trubisky take is my 12 wins for the Steelers. I mean, that might take a year and a half for that to be the case with the way they're trending. Oh, yeah. In KZ, the safety got suspended for the season in Pittsburgh as well, which it was, again, kind of like a Kareem Jackson thing where he had been fined and suspended previously for similar types of hits.

And so this one just put it over the top. It's bad. I don't know if they lose out you could you could definitely hear some rumlins there we'll see I mean Tomlin's what he Tomlin is you know chuck knoll obviously but like one of the greatest coaches of the last 30 years but I mean if you don't have a quarterback you're just banged now he has a roll in that because he has a big voice there but you know he picks these coordinators and in one thing I heard and maybe it was check that said it there was just like a little whisperers like is there a chance out there in the world that's like that maybe tomlin would want a fresh start

that they just that the two sides they've been together so long because he would be number one pretty much on the coaching list of what of teams that would want he could make money at money elsewhere just maybe i don't know because it's not working right now put this way you put mike tomlin and that defense with a proficient quarterback i don't think we're talking about mike tomlin's job being but it is weird like not only the the failure uh the you know know, the lack of success in the last few years, but also like, you know, some of the effort plays you see from that wide receiver room, which is a mess despite being talented, like just they had like the some of the earmarks of a team that is a little bit, you know, not up to

code, put it that way. And finally, uh, this is not surprising news, but disappointing news, Keaton Mitchell, undrafted rookie of the Ravens, who really is impressed everybody with his incredible speed and breakaway ability, uh, he suffered a really bad looking knee injury on Sunday night football and it was confirmed as a torn ACL. And so he'll get surgery and rehab it. And hopefully we see him back, uh, with the team and training camp next year. And it's not something that, uh, takes away any of his skills because they are quite breathtaking. I think that's a like we talked about it last night. That was an exciting, um, evolving, emerging element to their offense that's been stripped away. I mean, they lost J.K. Dobbins, you know, before the,

early on, you're leaning on Gus Edwards and Justice Hill and capable, I like Gus Edwards, but I just think this is, this made the Ravens offense that needed like a little extra spice, also losing Mark Andrews. And he provided that and he's gone. And so it's, like I said, every one of these AFC North teams are getting banged with transition and injuries. I think it's a killer because if you look at all the, defenses they're going to play. It almost seems true for all the good defense. Like, if you're going to beat them, you're going to beat them running. That's definitely true of the Dolphins defense. It's definitely true of the 49ers defense, which rates as a pretty average rush defense who they're

going to play this week. It's true of the Chiefs defense. You know, all these teams in Baltimore wants to run. They're a great running team. They will run, but they're just not going to run as well without Mitchell. All right. That's what's happening in the news. Eric, jump in a second. Me and you are one of thousands of people across the country who saw their fantasy seasons end in crushing manner. You too, Gregie? I mean, mine wasn't crushing manner, but it was just, it was manner. I ended up starting Drew Locke in my fantasy playoffs.

That was great. And I don't know. Is there something we can do in Greg, Rodo World, brick by brick? And Mark, I want to hear your thoughts, too, because you've really dove in feet first. uh into the fantasy world again how do we fix the playoffs in fantasy because it's already it's already a crapshoot obviously um but it seems so cruel to to build a roster and then on the whims of one sunday essentially uh it's decided whether your season continues should we shorten here's my idea shorten the regular season from 14 to 10 weeks okay that's enough time for teams

to establish themselves and build up a roster, find a group, and then make these two-week playoffs. How about that? So what is it? Total points over two weeks? Yes. Okay. Humulative.

So you don't get banged by a wonky week, as I did and many others. You get a better chance to see these teams that you've built a roster over three months, two and a half months to show who's the true best team over across two weeks. I'm going to, I'm going to throw this out there in my league. tonight and see if I can get some type of in-season rule change. I don't think it's going to play, but maybe if we start a movement to make fantasy playoffs fair, we can get something going here.

That's my campaign platform. I would be, first of all, not only the only presidential candidate who's not insane and over 80 years of age, I would have a real platform that people could get behind. All right, so I like it. God bless America. Yeah, I like it. I think it cleans some things up. I got nipped. I just missed the fourth and final. Like, we have like an NIT and ours where like there's a consolation round. It's like, I don't care about that. That means nothing to me. And I'm a grown adult. I don't need to be in six. I would drop all my players at a general principle if they try to have me in a loser's bracket. Well, exactly. Unless they put a little scratch in a loser's bracket. Some legs do that. I don't care about that. It's like if I'm not in the first heat, then I don't want to be part of this. But I would say this. Like I lost four.

frustratingly just by the point total thing. And I think even that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense on some level. I, I, you know, we work with some, some, some, a fantasy group of analysts who do a really hardcore job. But I do notice and I, you know, I've said this to them in a joking manner that the minute the fantasy season ends, I mean, there's free agency and that's the next big, you know, 10 poll event. But they're hard out, man. Their football season's over. So now you're telling them that their football season's over in like week 10 or 12. Like, I might switch jobs at that point because I think they're just as integral to what we do, and they'd be essentially like sitting at Thanksgiving dinner being like, I'll see you in March everyone. It's been nice. I'm going to go take a three

month break by the pool. I like your concept, Dan. I like your idea, Mark. It was a different world. I have talked to Silva about this when I used to work at Road. I didn't realize it at the time, because we were still working after January 1st or whatever, but it is quite a big exhale. It is quite a difference between that job and this job. I like your two-week playoffs. Maybe only the semi-finalists make it, Dan. So it's like four teams. So it's four total weeks of the playoffs. Oh, that's good.

You could do weeks, what, 14 to 17, something like that. That could work. I don't hate that. And maybe reward, you know, however you want to do it financially or whatever, for first and second place and points for the season or throughout the whole season. So that gives a little, you know, some leagues, some leagues do that. Okay. Can I ask one question?

Eric seems to be taking it well, though. I think he's a man. Well, he hasn't spoken in about an hour. Well, no, I mean, I'm... Oh, there it is. I might deserve this one because I did leave Gough and Addison on my bench. I got spooked by Gough, and then he throws five touchdowns, and I lose by point four. But wouldn't you, Eric, like the opportunity to insert Jared Gough into your lineup next week and prove, prove once and for all that you were the team that deserved to move on.

Byover analysis kind of thing, you know, I overmanaged my way out of the playoffs because of one bad week, so... But isn't that? You know, not to the devil's advocate. Isn't that why we love football in some ways is that, you know, when you get to the playoffs, you can have that great season, Packers going 15 and one. But if the Giants are feeling good that day and you get a little tight and you overmanage it, you might be going home, Brett Fav. Yeah.

But let me ask a question. I lost this week. Right. So Dan, had you made the playoffs, would you be hot on all these real changes? Had you made it into the playoffs, would this still be something that burns in your mind. I am in the, I lost in the playoffs. I don't even know what, what a cocta league you're in that wasn't even in the playoffs yet. Are you in a week 18 counts? I think Dan, I have issues with my league for sure. If he won tonight, he would not be making these rule of proposals. No, I would

say fantasy football is fundamentally perfect, but I lost, so it's not. All right. All right, that's enough. This is our last Monday night quite like this, because next Monday night is Christmas and there's no more Troy and Joe Monday nights the rest of the year. Well, they had a great season and we will continue on because our season is far from over. We will take a day off, at least from the microphones, and then we'll be back on Wednesday. It's a great show Wednesday because it's, of course, Connie Fox Wednesdays, but also it's our holiday special. And if it's our holiday special, that means Connor or is back to review the hallmark Christmas movies that have

most connected with him and I'll tell you this I watched one of them over the weekend with my wife the Santa Summit and it is unhinged I'll say that and so if anybody wants to get ahead of this

check out the Santa Summit which we'll be discussing and there's another movie that Colleen's assignment you know Colleen and her husband John who we saw on Friday night We had a great little holiday gathering. John was there.

Colleen was in Detroit for the coverage of the games on Saturday. Colleen's assignment is to cover the other movie we're discussing, holiday hotline. John said there's no way in hell Colleen will do the assignment that she's going to say she's going to do it and not do it. I believe in Colleen that she will watch holiday hotline. So look it up. If you want to watch along with us or talk along with us,

the Santa Summit and, holiday hotline discussed with Connor O'er on Wednesday. We're going to have to quiz her, we have to quiz Colleen deeply about this. If we, I, I'd be surprised. She, like, when you give her a task, I feel like she, if anything, does so much work on it, you know? John said that she has no ability to sit on the couch and watch it.

It's something about her ability to keep a train of thought and focus on one thing. I don't know what that could be connected to. All right. Let's go. The test is on for everyone. Until then, hit the call. Hey, everybody.

Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape.

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