NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Has Eli Manning played his last game with the Giants?

Episode Date: November 28, 2017

A room filled with some heroes- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Marc Sessler and Colleen Wolfe react to the breaking news out of New York that the Giants have benched Eli Manning and will start Geno Smith in Week 13 (1:00), debate where the decision came from and whether Eli has played his last game with the Giants (5:00); The heroes recap Monday night's showdown between the Texans and Ravens (13:00); The news of the suspensions for Michael Crabtree and Aqib Talib after their brawl in Oakland (19:30); Reaction to Chuck Pagano's bizarre Groundhog Day press conference rant (29:00); Hot takes … DESTROYED, where the heroes each discuss a "hot take" that they'd like to debunk (35:00); An update on #ATNCat, including a special announcement and much more!Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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? 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. How's it feel to win this Super Bowl and the building that your brother built? You know, it just feels good to win a Super Bowl. It doesn't matter where you are or what stadium, Indianapolis. It's been a great host of the Super Bowl. But, you know, I feel it's great for my teammates, my coach who's a Giants organization

for all the dedication they put in this year to make this happen. Breaking news. Oh, my goodness. We have a whole podcast coming to you in a couple minutes, but we needed to come up here. Dan Hans us along with Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sessler to discuss Eli Manning, who was benched by the New York Giants and became official on Tuesday afternoon. and Gino Smith will start on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Ben McAdoo in a statement said Gino will start this week.

Over the last five games, we will take a look at Gino. And we will also give Davis Webb, the rookie third round pick, an opportunity. Mark Sessler will start with you. Let's unpack this. A real stunner for a Giants team, Eli Manning. Yes, that was his second Super Bowl win that we talked about off the – we heard it on the top. And also, this team has been lost at sea. but Eli's always been the rock of this franchise

and all of a sudden he's gone. I don't know how you scapegoat Eli Manning for what has been an absolutely disastrous season for the Giants. My one reaction is this is a terrible look for the franchise. This news broke about, what, 45 minutes ago? And you already see that the reaction

is viciously negative for the franchise. And I'm not, it's easy to pin it on Ben McAdoo, but Ben McAdoo is a dead man walking who was put out here to make this look like he is part of the process. I'm not sure who made this decision and where it came from how high up, probably very high up. But the fact is, this is about next year. The Giants are essentially in tank mode,

and Eli Manning has been scapegoated unfairly. He has, and yet, if he going to play for the Giants next year, Ben McAdoo said this is not the end of Eli with the Giants. How does he know? Right. He is likely not going to. be there. My feel, and you know, seems educated at this point, is that Eli Manning's not on the team next year. Is Ely, is Gino Smith going to be on the team next year? Maybe, you know, maybe he'll be

in that mix. Is Davis Webb going to be on the team next year? Yeah, he'll be on the team. Whoever made this decision, I don't know if they wanted to make a statement, if they wanted to see what the, they truly wanted to get some evaluation on these guys before making a decision. Jerry Reese, the general manager, is in the statement. He has a quote in the statement. So that right there is telegraphing that maybe he's part of that decision making part of it. A decision like this goes up to ownership, whether it starts there or not, who knows. But Eli Manning has started 210 straight games.

The last quarterback to start for the Giants that wasn't Eli Manning is Kurt Warner. So it's crazy that it's Kurt Warner to Eli Manning to Gino Smith. So any decision like that, you would think is a permanent decision that's like, Eli is not part of our future. Let's start the future right now. We don't care about the brushback we're going to get. It's stunning. For someone from New York who has grown up, the Giants always make the right move. And especially when you're talking about one of the truly special players in franchise history,

Eli owns every passing record, the Giants of the Giants. He has the two Super Bowl MVP's. this is one of the saints of the organization. And that's why the reaction is so visceral right now. And the cynical side of me is saying, why are the Giants doing this? Because Eli is not having a terrible year. He's surrounded by a beat-up team. He has no one to throw to.

The offensive line stinks. It's a bad situation. So the cynical view for me is that the Giants, they already won a game they were surprised to win against the Chiefs. They are looking for a new quarterback. and they're taking Eli out of the mix and putting Gino Smith, which is another slap in the face,

having Gino being the guy. It's not even the kid that you're playing. You're putting in Gino, and then the kid's going to play too, that the Giants want to go 3 and 13. They want to go 2 and 14. And if they make that decision, and this is where it would be really ugly,

if that's what they're thinking, they're looking ahead to the future of the franchise, that is so unfair to Manning and what he has meant to that franchise, he's been nothing but respectful to the organization, his entire career. he's delivered he plays every day he plays hurt and to just take the rug out for him let's listen to what eli said in the locker room uh with the with the reporters and he's so emotional and you

you you can probably pick it up just by listening uh but he's he's on the verge of tears so obviously this is hitting him really hard let's listen in that's hard hard hard day the hand of this but uh you know hang in there and figure it out do you see hardest things you got it's up there yeah Do you feel like you might have started your last game for the Giants? I don't know. I don't know. I'll take one week at a time. Last one, guys. Have you spoken to anyone besides, Ben, about decision Jerry or John or anyone like that?

I spoke with Jerry Reese a little bit, and Mr. Merritt, he hadn't been in today, but he knows what's going on. I'm trying to speak with him tomorrow sometime. Appreciate Eli. I think you have to listen to that, and then if you can go find him, it. It's on my timeline. It's all over the Twitter. You have to go watch the look on his face. It's the look of, he's about to break down. And I think, honestly, it reminds you at this point, if you're Eli Manning and your career of your mortality, that your career, just like your brother,

you are a manning, but you can be benched. Just like Brett Farb, your career can end with a benching. And I understand that they want to move on. And I think that if anything, Eli Manning talked about the fact that he didn't want to ceremonially start these games. They had to offer that. Right. They offered. We'll have you start to continue your streak, but then have, you know, Gino Smith and Davis Webb come in. He said, no, I think that if anything, it's not that they've moved on from Eli, they have, but he is going to move on from them. This is a, I don't care about analyzing Gino Smith over the next five games, which you don't need to do right now anyways. You literally do not, if you're the Giants, with an entirely fresh crew coming likely. And Davis Webb, there's time for that. This is going to, none of that will override how disgraceful of a move. This is going to, this is going to, to go down in New York sports history as an ugly, one of the uglier moments for the Giants. I really believe that. I think

it'll be mostly forgotten because all the, this is how... Why do you say that? Because this is how... Mostly forgotten? I really do, because this is how almost every... Tell me how it ended for Dan Fouts in San Diego. That's San Diego. This is New York City with the story Giants. He won't

make his Super Bowls for it. It ends ugly. Before you go on, how many rings for Dan Fouts? Do you know the impact of winning a Super Bowl in New York, the impact of winning two, the impact of both being against the Patriots and Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. This guy is a legend. It'll go down as an ugly end. Sometimes you don't see that, Greg.

Honestly, I feel like you downplay what Eli has meant that franchise. He has meant everything. And that's why this is bigger than Dan Fouch. Of course. It is a seismic moment, not just in New York, but in the NFL, to see kind of one of the Titans. And just that he was there every week. And I think that's why it hurts him so much. He took pride in being there every week.

It's an amazing achievement that he started that many games. what I guess I wanted to say was every end is ugly. And this is going to be ugly. People are going to remember the good things about Eli Manning. Because if they didn't bench him, here's what would be remembered. Eli Manning was piloting a dead ship and he's not a good quarterback now. I know he's having a better year than a year ago, but he was one of the worst three or four quarterbacks in the league a year ago.

He's coming off a game where he averaged 2.5 yards per attempt. And I think that game is really important to remember. That was one of the worst games we've seen a quarterback play all. season. And that was a game where you can't blame it on the offensive line or the running game, where Eli Manning was having one of his worst performances. Now, maybe that's not fair. But that's the thing people aren't going to remember. Right. The game he played two weeks ago that this week, I'm saying that I think ownership and maybe the general manager looked at that and they said, what are we doing here? And that was part of the impetus to replace it. So they put Gino

Smith in? Well, Gino's, what is that song? What if you had Patrick Mahomes sitting behind? Eli Manning. I think you'd have a completely different reaction. You know what? We totally honor what Eli's done, but we do have the future sitting behind him. You are putting Geno Smith into the line. It's disrespectful to bench him at all. And that I get. And I don't think ultimately is it worth doing that? It's probably not. But we don't need to hear anything about tanking or about maybe it makes their team worth. They scored three points on offense last week. They are 31st in the league in points scored. They're not going to get worse on offense in particular.

They could just stay equally as terrible. Let's see how Davis Webb plays with this line and these weapons on offense, if you can even call them weapons. Yeah, it's, and I don't think his career's over either. I think it ends the chapter just like his brother. It ended indie, and it ended a little messy and indie too, but he had a chance to rewrite or write a final chapter,

and that's going to happen somewhere probably. I don't imagine he'll retire. It doesn't seem like that's the thing that's going to happen. And maybe Jacksonville, a lot of people, think makes sense, but he will be in the NFL, most likely, just not with the Giants. And that is a huge story this season. It could be the Jets. You never know. I think we're all feeling emotional because we're watching someone that we've watched every Sunday for a thousand Sundays in a row play, a guy that the first Super Bowl we went to, Dan, was Eli Manning knocking off the Patriots.

We heard that sound clip at the top of this. And I simply, like, growing up listening to New York Sports Radio, this does feel like a big moment in New York to me. And I just can't get behind with the Giants, a team that you can always count on them to make pristine decisions. This feels sloppy, and it's unclear where it came from. It did not come from Ben McAdoo, so they're hiding where it came from, in my opinion. This is a very strange time for the New York Giants,

and we're seeing that right now, how this is played out. Right. It couldn't really be any uglier, and it's a shame that Eli Manning's run and the Giants is ending that way. I think this year has been, and unfortunate for him and his time.

They're really the last two years. I know they went to the playoffs, but I think, you know, last year he wasn't the same guy that we saw earlier in his career. All right. So that is the Eli Manning News. We got a lot more to get to

and Connie Fox is going to join us. So let's get to it. The Tuesday show. Weird. The Around the NFL podcast. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Welcome back. Scandalous.

Another edition of the Around the NFL podcast presented by head and shoulders. My name is Dan Hansis, and I'm joined by room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Colleen Wolfe, betrayed in the big spot. And Greg Rosethol, what's up, people? I don't even know what to say at this point. Money already said it. It's been said for you, yeah. Consider it an homage, like Dan with Chris Herman.

That's true, but did you file any trademark? Yeah, I mean, that's... Oh, then money, who's got a lot of jobs. Money has a lot of money. Wait, you actually went through the process of filing. a trademark i find that tough to believe well i yeah no i'm lying but maybe i should let's look into that yeah just think about it money he works at NFL network on camera talent that's probably pretty good the voice of the chargers yeah bad at all and he's also one of the most popular

sports radio uh talk guys in the second biggest market in america he's the number one show that's number one so he have time to do any of anything any of like that's crazy add it all up lawyer up Connie Fox I mean what's his nickname Money I mean the guy has got financial gravitas I love

nice gravitas reference in a big spot I love on the the shows that he's on like the font actually says money Matt money and it's in quotes yeah

now that's a guy that gave himself his own nickname Dan you can there is there is hope for you is that sure I'm assuming that I don't hope I feel like old Zusser kind of took

well you should start asking him to put Dan Old Zeus or Hanses. That's all right. This is the Tuesday edition of the Around the NFL podcast Jam Pack Show. So let's get through what we're going to be talking about today. Monday night football, Ravens versus Texans, a game that will be remembered for a long time.

Oh, my God. Well, for the next 24 hours about that. We'll talk about that. Also, ooh, this is a fun one. Voltaon, get ready. Hot takes destroyed. Oh, my God. Love it.

It's destruction. So, yeah, we'll get into that. That was a hot take artist who just went down. Yeah, burned, burned alive. Perhaps one in this own building. And, yes, and at the end of the show, a special announcement regarding hashtag ATN cat. Oh, my God.

Look at that little one. Oh, yeah, some hot cat talk. Cat talk. For a little pussy cat talk. But before that, what? Let's do a little Monday night football recap. What will hang it up closer to the line. Cody Jefferson is deep for the Ravens defense.

Savage throws across the middle. It's intercepted. Anthony Levine at midfield. And he'll take it down at the 42-yard line. And with 2.16 left to play, the Hayes in the Barn. I like Hayes in the Barn guy. That's Sandusky of the Ravens Radio Network. The Ravens Force three turnovers.

including two in the final five minutes of gameplay. Tom Savage, no match for this Savage Baltimore defense. A 2316 win for the Ravens on Monday night. Ravens team that, by the way, let's give them a little credit as a, you know, a prime time juggernaut. I think they've won 10 in a row with the lights up. Jim Harbaugh, yeah. Anyway, so the Ravens get a big win, six and five. They are in the AFC playoffs right now.

Now, Greg, they took care of business, not an overwhelming effort, but they did it again. They got it done. They're a strange team, and I've been saying they're the favorites to make the playoffs, and I won't back off that. And yet, I don't think you can just lock them in. When you're struggling at home against this Texan team, when Tom Savage looks like the better quarterback for much of this game against your quarterback, that's a problem.

And they don't really have a pass rush. they're a good defense. I don't think they're a great defense. Like, how good can you be as a team if you don't really have a passing game and you don't really have a past rush? I know they got some pressure late in the game after a tackle for the Texans went out and you're playing one of the worst offensive lines. But it's a team with holes. It's just a team that kind of knows how to win these ugly games. You talked about Baltimore versus Pittsburgh's defense on a previous show, how too many times you see a team roll right down the field against Baltimore. It doesn't happen five times in a game, but it happens enough.

And it happened early in this game with Savage looking good out of the gate with an opening drive. I mean, clearly the Texans have their own issues on offense. But for me, the Jadavian Clowny in this game, DeAndre Hopkins, these were the stars of the game and they couldn't pull out a win. If you're Baltimore, you are watching Joe Flacko's career crumble into dust. The centerpiece of their offense is Alex Collins right now. They have watching him miss on deep throws over and over.

this was a really rough showing again by their offense. It's really hard to watch. John Gruden even was calling it out. And yeah, Flacco doesn't look good. And he's known for that arm. And at a certain point, it was just like kind of like a round peg square hole where he's just like chucking the ball down.

Like, hey, I still have a strong. I could throw it far. Is that good enough? But there's just not, there's just not a lot of juice to this offense. But yeah, I think it's a very good defense. Do you don't think this is a dominant defense? Well, I think, I think, too, like,

During the broadcast, you heard John Gruden, I'm pretty sure he said that Sam Cook was, like, in not these words, but he was basically the offensive star of the night. Like, he provided the biggest spark for that offense, and that's the punter, like with that fake pun. Are you kidding me? Right. I can't get behind this thing at all. They need those calls to win games, I think. Right. When you have an offense as bad, you get your punter to pick up a big first down.

You go for it on fourth down, which was a really key spot in the second half, and they ran. the ball and they picked up the first down. You run the ball in third and eight and sometimes pick it up. There was a sequence when they were trying to hold on to the lead. Texans were very much in it where they had a third and two where Flacco threw the ball short of the sticks, punt it away. They get the ball back. Their defense holds up.

They have a third in 10 where he throws a completion for a no gain. So they're just, they're throwing one yard passes instead of even trying to pick up first down. I don't think it's a great defense. The defense has so many penalties. too. That's the other thing. They need to clean that up. I think six of the seven penalties that the Ravens had were on the defense. To Dan's point, though, I think it has the earmarks of becoming a dominant defense. Because as Gruden pointed out, they don't have any passers.

But they have a lot of, like Gruden pointed out, and I totally agree with them. You see it every week leading up to this. The second year wave of players that they have, they've got a lot of young guys. And no teams in the AFC develops defensive players better than the Ravens. And we should move on, but DeAndre Hapkin just deserves a little love. You mentioned. He might be a first team all pro. I mean, he destroyed Jimmy Smith Pro Bowl campaign in one night.

He destroyed Patrick Peterson a week ago. The fact he's getting it done was Savage, who made some nice throws, also killed them with interceptions. That was the difference. His turnovers, like Hopkins has just taken it to another level. Did you see him walk into his press conference and no one was there and so he walked back out? Tom Savage?

Yeah. It's surprising. He probably lucked out with that, to be honest. He walked up, stood at the podium and then was like, All right. 12 Suggs, nine and a half sacks now, 35 years old. He is the other modern Marvel along with Tom Brady. That guy can get to the quarterback.

So it pays for like 15 sacks. He can. I don't think on a down-to-down basis. And that was on the third string tackle. And a couple of those last night, for instance, were just totally unblocked. He's a solid player. I think as a team, they would admit that that's like a weakness. And they smell the ball.

They have an NFL best 26 turnover. So an opportunistic defense. There you go. So the Ravens are now six and five and a good position in the AFC playoff. picture. Let's move on and do some news. Bam, bam, bam, bam. In your face. All right, let's start with a little suspension talk.

We love suspension talk. Hopefully this one won't go to like 450 courts and a woman that's a judge will go to the Poconos for a couple of weeks and we don't have to deal with that kind of stuff. That wasn't fun. But the Broncos and Raiders got into that big brawl on Sunday that started when Michael Crabtree had his chain ripped off his neck for the second time in as many years by Akeeb Talib. And the league announced that both players will be suspended two games for their roles in that scuffle. Both players will appeal the suspensions according to rap sheet. The bans are a result of violations of unsportsmanlike conduct and necessary roughness. rules during the game it happened in the first quarter and that's what surprises me

connie fox is two games and maybe it gets knocked down to one on appeal that seems to happen a lot but they already kind of missed an entire game because of this now you're taking them out of the action for potentially three full games that's a little surprising that's a lot i mean the sending a message certainly sure and i and i mean as you're as you're saying all that we're watching the replay the highlights i guess you could say of the fight and it's like i can watch this over and over and over again. And I know that's not what the NFL wants, but it was so ridiculous to watch this happen. And it's just you never know what the NFL is going to hand down in terms of punishment.

Well, it just seems like. It's pretty unprecedented. Yeah. It's unusual a to get ejected and then to have a suspension follow. That doesn't often happen. But I think the word here is premeditated. And Dan mentioned it. Dan, you nailed this on Sunday night.

When you felt that Michael Crabtree probably knew that something was up with his little necklace going into the game. And it clearly was. Premeditated actions like this is what the NFL does not want going into any content. What Mark is referring to is a report from Adam Schefter of ESPN. I think we have the tweet if we could bring it up for the video show. Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree taped his chain to himself before Sunday's game, knowing he was facing the chain snatching Broncos cornerback at Kib Taleb.

and Taleep still got it. Yeah, that's what I was talking on Sunday. He's like, he's staring at the minute and he's like, I'm going to wear the chain. And then he's like, maybe I won't wear the chain. But he's like, well, if I don't wear the chain, then he wins the battle before I even get on the field. So what I'll do is I'll tape the chain. So it was in his head. I don't think we gave you enough credit for your crystal balling of that one.

Yeah. And just think about it. It keeps Tiliu already wins. It keeps Tiliu already owns that chain because Mike Crabtree is in the locker room, staring at the mirror with like masking tape or whatever. or gorilla glue, whatever he was using to keep that chain from, like, flashing in Thelib's face. Didn't work.

How is Crabtree's mind on the game on any level? Talib is a master tactician of brain warfare. He has accepted. He just cost himself. What is brain warfare? More than a million dollars. Psychological is what I wanted to say. Like he literally just took a million and a million.

I think 1.25 million is what he earns in two game checks. And he just set that on fire for being basically a child. And the Crabtree and Talib suspensions, I think, happened because if they weren't suspended, they were just going to fight every time they ever played. In this scenario, like, maybe it gets reduced down to one. But like at some point it's like, we get it, guys, you guys are just going to fight every time you play it. You kind of have to stop them from doing that. And it's incredibly, I guess you could say selfish, because the Raiders are terrible in terms of their receiver position, their third and fourth receivers.

they're still in the playoff race and they're losing Crabtree. Like that's a big loss. He was not thinking about any of that, you know, when he was... When you have Marshawn Lynch is the most mature person in the situation, this is something that's completely out of hand. That's fair. And yeah, my final thought on it is

when they do face each other again, Crabtree's going to wear the necklace again. He has to. He's in too deep now. He's in way too deep. I would just layer up. I would wear as many. as possible.

Wearing the chain was like his, these colors don't run moment. I would put more tape. I mean, I would just do layers and layers and layers of tape. I'm talking thick, like packing tape over this.

He really had no choice. If anything, taping it on was almost, you're right, kind of caving into Taleb, because he wears a chain every game. It was a half measure of it. That's his tradition.

That's his routine. And if he was going to, he was just about to do it. He's like, no, I can't wear it because of Tileve. It's like you did. He took some of his agency.

I wrote about that. on the end of round. Please check it out. Let's move on. Mike Tomlin. Oh, Mikey Tomlin. He is, you know, I like this because Mike Tomlin's, he's not giving me the typical coach speak.

He feels that this upcoming massive Titanic matchup that's coming in week 15 between the Patriots and Steelers, it will likely, you don't know what's going to happen, but it has a good chance of determining who has home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. And Tomlin was speaking with Tony Dungey. This is a good move by NBC because to get these guys to say anything, set them up with somebody that has a lot of history. I think Dungey started Tomlin's career.

Oh, yeah. And Dungey, not only that said, before it started, he said, don't give me the coach speak answers. He was like, come on, give me the real answers. Dungey is a broadcasting pro if there was one ever. I don't go that far, but you are also being sarcastic. No, I think he's, and this was a step forward in Dungey's broadcasting career. He's a little vanilla. I think that's to be blunt about it.

it. But in this case, nice job, Tony. Here's what he said. Here's what Tomlin said. I'm going to embrace the elephant in the room. The game, referring to that week 15 tilt, is going to be fireworks. And it's probably going to be part one. That's going to be a big game. But probably if we're both doing what we're supposed to do, the second one is really going to be a big game. Then what happens in the first is going to set up the second one, which is going to determine the location of the second one. I've been saying this, I'm not a genius or anything. But I've been saying this all year. All the Steelers' chances going back to this training camp

was to get a better record than the Patriots or somehow have the head-to-head tiebreaker because I don't think they have a chance in Gillette in that playoff game. But we'll see. And I love him saying all this to Tony Dungy and it is a window into how different the Patriots and the Steelers' organizations are

because I don't even think Bill Belichick, not only would he not say this? I genuinely... He wouldn't do the interview to start Right, I genuinely, he does interviews with Tony Dungey, just doesn't say anything. I don't think he honestly would see, would believe this. And maybe it's not a big deal,

but maybe this is kind of the reason why the Steelers go out on the road and they stink it up against bad teams. Because you take on the personality or coach, he is saying basically, we're going to the AFC championship game. We should, you know, like that's basically what he's saying. Right, but after the interview, Dunjee, they said, they've made the same point. Why is he going on here?

Mike Tomlin and saying all this, this is too much. Why are you putting your team in this position? Dungey said, look, the Patriots have been good for two decades. When I was a coach with Indianapolis, I saw it the same way. There's no way that you don't see New England sitting down there on. They're the one on the top of the mountain. Belichick doesn't have to look down the mountain at the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers and all these teams. I love that he said this.

I love that we finally got to hear some honesty. and he was complete, he's... But is it probably going to be part one? If I'm a Steelers fan, I don't know if it's probably going to be part one. I think there's... Well, it's part one. We don't know if there'll be a part two, and I'm not sure there will be.

That was the part that struck me, was the part two part. This is just part one. The big game's going to be the second one. By the way, part two might end the way every other part two seems to end when the Steelers play the Patriots. So let's calm down a little.

Finally, the Indianapolis cults are having a tough season. They are on the outside looking in, in the playoff picture a number of difficult losses where they just we just talked about on Sunday show Greg you brought it up how many near misses they've had and they could really be in the playoffs if they closed out some games but they haven't so they're not really in the mix and you add to the fact that Andrew Luck has missed the entire season tough year for Chuck Pagano who probably won't survive this good chance he is one of the coaches that goes on black Monday which by the way black Monday is on new year's day this year Great. Perfect. For anyone is strapped to a news desk, that will be a celebration. I mean, we're all kind of aged out of, like, wild New Year's Eve shenanigans. But the NFL is making sure we're buttoned up this year. It's like, we'll do 16 games on Christmas Eve and your cute little podcast that will take you later into the night.

And then the next morning, get up because it's Black Monday, bitch. Well, the only thing that might help us a little, because I feel like the whole concept that all of this, oh, it's 10 a.m. on Monday. Let's start firing everyone. We hear about 80% of these moves beforehand now. Yeah. Or after. It comes out throughout the week. You're right.

Although I think it's been a long time. I feel like New Year's Day is always an NFL day. It has been for many years. Yeah. Anyway, so Chuck Pugano has had a tough season, and he's at his Monday presser. He seemed loose. He seemed almost a guy that maybe was resigned to his fate and was just shooting from the cuff. Some of these sayings are

If you're shooting, it's from the hip That's where the gun is coming from. Off the cuffing. Yeah, the gun isn't necessarily related to the cuff. It's coming off the hip where the holster is. Shooting from the hip. There you go. You keep your guns in your cuff.

But if you're shooting from the hip, that means you just like you don't care. Yeah, it's kind of like this. Off the cuff is more what I was trying to say. You know, you're just doing it from down there. You're just kind of like, bam. Boom. That's how I shoot.

Wow. All right. Anyway, here's Pagano. Here is what I call. A monologue from Pagano. Some people might say it's a meltdown. I don't think that's fair. Here's Chuck Pagano's monologue about when asked by a reporter

if he's concerned that all these losses will lead to some type of mental blockade for his team. Yeah. Yeah, that song played, you know, woke up to that this morning. Is that Sonny and Cher? Huh? I got you, yeah. Talk about Groundhog Day. Asked about Grant, was this Groundhog Day.

Right, right. Yeah. Went down and got my car. said a load of the what's her name the little gal in the coffee shop. It's a little gal. Stole the money out of the back of the truck, drove my truck off the, you know, into the tarpid or whatever, off the landfill. Oh, no. Jumped off a building, lived through it.

Did you see the movie? Do you ever see the movie, Groundhog Day? A long time. What do you guys do? You spend so much time on Twitter, you're not enjoying the better things in life. It's a great movie. Go, worry, come on. things like jumping off buildings.

I jumped off the roof at my home this morning. I would like him to recap any type of movie. It's not going away. That was a great summary of the movie, Groundhogger. He did an excellent job. No, it's everybody. You guys? He's still going, too.

It's fans. It's everybody driving up there. It's everybody in the NFL community. I hope he's okay. There's a storm in the Atlanta's fine. Hurricane, whatever you want to call it. Here comes the storm. This is where he lost me a little bit.

This is kind of like Hurricane Pugano in general. It's coming. It's third quarter, middle of the third. It's getting late. third, they're up 10, got to happen sometime. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy right now. Okay, so the hurricane is them blowing leads.

Yes. Okay. Got it. I follow. It is, and what's got to happen is, you know, being in Miami for six years, when them storms start coming off. Africa. The coast of Africa, and then they're coming through the Atlantic, and they start coming up. What happens is you get,

if you get a noreaster, right, you get a storm up top. So now he's in there has a Miami weather pattern. Right. Everybody has a buddy That's way more. Who's done weather before? That was my favorite. Who's the best dude down there doing weather? Or doodette.

Huh? Oh, my God. Yeah, so when it comes down, when he starts talking about the storm bands, that's my favorite. And it pushes the storm where? Nobody knows. Chats. Right?

And it goes up the coast, and there's very little damage. Those rings that spins this way, and the bands up top of the most egregious bands. They're far enough out. The most egregious bands. So when this starts to happen, and film your tail off. I love it.

What? You've got to respond. What? I like a chance to bring it back. We need a storm to blow in and push that so it doesn't hit land. So now he wants the storm. We're going to do it. I've been there.

The storm's coming, but they need to push back. I don't know. Mark, you had a stern face throughout that press conversation. Two words. Sleep deprivation. But I come out of it. It is funny, but I feel a little concerned for the guy. Like, if I were at one of his children, I would be right on the phone to

dad asking, are you okay? Because it's like something was not right about that. We've watched a thousand press conferences from him. And I just think that we're going to find out that something's not all right there. Agreed to disagree. I know. I know no one agrees with me. No, I actually agree with you.

I do. At the beginning, he's recapping Groundhog Day. It's a bit. I mean, no one really got the bit in the room, I don't think. Maybe a couple of the older guys did. You know, that was a bit. There was nothing weird about it. It just didn't totally land.

Once he got into the weather thing, I didn't. I wasn't sure where that was going in terms of his overall point. It was like a nervous public speaker, though, completely spinning on control. But he's spoken in public 7,000 times. So I just, I am baffled by the performance. The reporters, really manic. The reporters who know him well and around him every day actually believe he's having fun in the last two or three weeks. He's having fun?

Yeah, that he's kind of, he knows where he is. He's going to get fired and that he basically doesn't care anymore. That he's just like. He's Dennis Miller at the end of. He's being who he is. Like, that is Chuck Pagano. He's a little loopy. All right, dude and do that's, let's move on.

Good job, Chuck. That's some fun out there, Chuck. That's good. Storm bands. Anybody out there do weather? I like the assumption that the sports reporters in the room have a weather back. Sure. If you cover anything, you cover everything.

All right, that's what's happening in the news. All right, now it's time. Oh, yeah. We teased it. Oh, one last thing of news before we. move on. Greg, you know, some sandwiches because Dorel Rivas signed with the chief. So we didn't get a chance to talk about that last week.

Uh-oh. But it was a bit of an instant karma scenario because you threw some shade at me, some skyscraper shade on Twitter that I was going to be making some sandwiches. And Dorel Rivas got a job. And he got a, even though it's a, we got, we got banged on the Connor or multi-year contract, sandwich wageer he made that we all took them on because it's not a real multi-year deal. Good job by Connor. Yeah.

who kind of roped us in with that. He had one as well. It was Karmic Payback. Mark randomly threw a tweet out there. Very randomly. That Dorel Revis was just walking along a river. Like, what is he doing? No, I just said that he's with $6 million in his pocket.

He's sort of floating along the Hudson River doing whatever he wants. It's not any no need to work. And more did I would think he would ever have been signed this year based on the whole contract. And then I responded. I responded saying, yeah, maybe he's going to pick up some of those sandwiches. And the next day. Who's he? Pro-down.

He was going to pick up those sandwiches for me. And the very next day, he gets signed. So that hurts me. I mean, it doesn't hurt as much as it hurts the Jets to be paying him $5.5 million to play against them this week. But it hurts. Yeah, like the Jets scare. They actually made out on this. Oh, yeah.

They made like $300,000. They made out great. They gave him one of the worst contracts in the last 10 years. He can hang out with Brock Osweil and talk about found money. Here we go. You know, you lose a sandwich bet and then you try to turn around into Jets flaming. Yeah, it's a pretty good tactic. Good job.

I'll enjoy your sandwich. Let's now move on to, oh, yeah, hot takes destroyed. It's really, that's disturbing. I find that enjoyable. I feel like that guy's in the same room as the hot butt guy. That was actually Chuck, that was Chuck Fugano in his shower this morning. That was just made you giggle. You thought of that.

All right. Anyway, hot takes destroyed. What we're going to do is what's some popular thoughts, logic out there in the football cognoscenti. And we're going to really destroy those hot takes. I'm going to start with you, Greg Rosenthal. Oh, wow. Yeah, we're going to mix it up here.

Keep you on your toes. What hot take would you like to destroy as we head down the home stretch of the 2017 regular season? The hot take I want to destroy is the Russell Wilson for MVP bandwagon that is starting up. The, hey, like I know you guys are really into, you know, Tom Brady and Carson Wentz, but Russell Wilson, to me, is more valuable to his team than anyone else. Like, he is carrying. He needs to be in the converse. First of all, you don't need to have a conversation.

You only vote for one player. You don't vote for five players. In the conversation is nonsense. When you have two players that are far in a way the best two players in the league, you don't need to have a conversation. You don't need to come up with like another cute sort of like, hey, bet you didn't think of this. It's Russell Wilson.

Like, he's really doing it this year. Like, this is how we end up with Derek Rose for MVP over LeBron James in the middle of his prime. This is how we end up with, I don't know, crash as the best Oscar winner. Like, you don't need to come up with like a clever reason. And the whole reasoning here with Russell Wilson, it's like, who's more important to his team than Russell Wilson? Who's more valuable? Who is more valuable to his team?

I'll tell you, Tom Brady's more valuable. Like, of course, of course Tom Brady's more valuable. Him and friends are having two of the best seasons any quarterbacks had in the last 10 or 12 years. It's like Russell Wilson's season is not even in the ballpark of that. Russell Wilson has had two or three games. He's having a great year. He's number three, I think, in the league. So it's not, you know, destroying Russell Wilson.

The other two guys have been great week after week after week. People are like, well, you know, he doesn't have an offensive line. Like, he's not being helped. Exactly. Okay. Or a running game. Or a running game. That's absolutely true.

He is the offense. He is. He does have a defense. And he does have a very good. I mean, he like, it had a secondary. He has a very solid defense. over the course of the season and they're fine. He does have

a good wide receiver group. How about make your offensive line better? People say like, okay, you have to make your teammates better. You don't think Tom Brady has made Ted Carris and Nate Solder and all those guys better because of what he does as a quarterback.

Like he makes them better. He makes Danny Amendola better. He makes Chris Hogan better. Russell Wilson makes his receivers better too, but that's a great group of receivers. Look at the receivers when they leave Cial. out of Golden Tate, Jermaine Curse. Like, those are good players. Russell Wilson's incredible, but I don't think there's any way you could look at

on a week-to-week basis. He's anywhere in the same ball. I'll do, Greg, this. It's not a straw man. A week ago, the NFL's Twitter account tweeted out Russell Wilson equals MVP with some chit-chat. And your boy, Evan Silva, days ago, tweeted the same thing. That's his MVP vote.

So it's not a straw man, I'll give you that. Yeah, I've seen it a lot. I mean, the amount of scrimmage yards that he's 82.5% of scrimmage yards on Seattle's offense, that is what he is accounted for. That's the highest amount of- Yeah, he doesn't have a running game. He doesn't ever run any. He does at all. But that's what that is, and it is kind of a tired cliche of a conversation, like, all right, but who's the most valuable? And from that standpoint, if, all right, let's, best case scenario for the Seahawks, they win out and go 11 and 5.

and Wilson plays out of his mind. It ends up with 36 touchdowns and 700 yards rushing and eight touchdowns on the ground. That type of like monster multi head monster season. Like, yeah, I think he could be in the conversation. But he's throwing up against maybe the greatest quarterback of all time, probably having his best season or one of his best season. That's the whole point is Wenson Brady are having unbelievably transcendent seasons

that I think if we watch them week after week, and Brady maybe doesn't get the love because he's Tom Brady and you're used to it. Like, this is better than he's ever been. And yes, he's carrying them, but a lot of those sacks are on Russell Wilson. Their offense is constructed in a way where the point of it is for him to just run around

and kind of make things up as they go. Like they don't really run a normal offense. Don't get been nitpicking on Russell Wilson last year. I mean, Russell Wilson is a total magician, so I can see why some people feel this way. Another option would be to be less attached to these postseason awards, which feel a little frivolous to begin with. That's fair.

It's a hot take. Maybe it has been nitpicking, and it shouldn't be about going against Russell. Because I think he's the third best player in the league, the third best quarterback. Like he's having an incredible season. It's just recognizing that the other two are... If he's the third best, then it's not crazy,

that a big chunk of people would see him as the... I think it is because the other two are so far in a way having much better seasons. It's not just that their teams are better. It's that they're better on a week-to-week basis. All right. Connie, you're up next. All right. Great job destroying that, by the way.

I think that that was perfect. Oh, totally destroyed. There we go. Chuck, take it easy, man. Take a vacation. Go live in the sea. Yes, live in the sea? Yeah, like on an island, not in the water.

That's the happy Chuck that the reporters are talking about right there. Gotcha. Okay. My hot take I'm taking down right now. I've been hearing. Well, no, you're not taking it down. Well, the destroy, I'm destroying it. Okay, the hot take that I am destroying right now is that Eagle's head coach,

Doug Peterson, is too much of a bro. I say he's just the right amount of bro, okay? Like, you might have the wine and cheese crowd, the coastal elites out there who's saying, oh, no, like you and your visor and your flip-flops and what you're doing right now it's too much. Hostel elites, love it. But real Americans like me know that it's just right. And I don't know if you guys heard the press conference

yesterday from the... Yeah, I'm in the dark right now and I'm happy. I'm excited. Eagle's head coach, Doug Peterson, but let's take a listen in case you missed it. Jeffrey said at the beginning of the year that a young quarterback when he starts his first year, you know, learns what he learns. A second year, he makes a

few more steps. But his third year and fourth year is when he kind of explodes. Have we seen maybe a premature explosion, or is there still an explosion? Um, a refrain? All right. Let's regroup here.

Let's regroup. Weird day for press conferences. Prevature explosion. Wait, but he lost, he lost it again. Yeah, he couldn't get it together. He takes another 20 seconds. This is my favorite part about Doug Peterson, the fact that he did one of the all of us would have done if we were asked

that question. Marcus Hayes asked that premature explosion. Right. My hot take is, you know, this is on Marcus Hayes. I mean, how can you say that phrase? Shout out to Marcus Hayes. I love it. I mean, I feel like Belchick's not going to laugh, but it would be in Marvin Lewis isn't going to laugh.

There's a lot of people that wouldn't, but that's a tough one to handle. Doug Peterson, that was special. Could not get it together after that question. It was a solid 45 seconds of just like silence and him laughing. And the entire press room just broke out and laughter. All right.

So now just deconstructing a little bit. Is there some type of opinion out there that he was too much of a bro there? Too much of a bro. That was part of it. And, you know, he needs to be more of a professional and he shouldn't be laughing at things like that. There are a lot of people, many people out there are saying this. And I am saying that they are wrong. I feel like Sean McVeigh is a little broie.

and that's working out for the Rams. And with Peterson, you spent half his career hanging out in a quarterback room with Brett Favre. I mean, he's a hunting buddy. He's a hunting buddy. Not to be like a Washington Post reporter or anything, but I'm just going to dig a little deeper in this story. Let's do it.

These people, are there any specific people you can mention that maybe said Doug Peterson too much of a bro? John Ronald Gonzalez, Borch, 12, 1977 is an American sports writer who's mayor to NFL media broadcast. Oh, okay. John, who is a Pisces resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs. John is a fact. John specifically said that this was a conversation at the ringer yesterday that Doug Peterson was too much of a bro.

I'm destroying it. Now it's destroyed. Sorry, ringer. All right, I'll go next. Good job, Connie. Yeah. Took that one down. Totally.

Took down the whole ringer office, too. Eat it, ringer. This is going to be great. Okay. I am going to destroy the hot take that the Chiefs are done, that the Chief's season is over. And I get it.

Wow. Okay. That's the Chiefs right there. That's how it feels if you are a Chiefs fan right now. Like you're burning to death. But the fact of the matter is, the Chiefs are never as good as they were, week one through five.

And they're not as bad as they have been from whatever it is, week seven to week 12 or whatever it's been. So I believe there will be a little course correction here. I think a lot of people, there's a sense now, a lot of people, the ringers talking about it, I'm sure. There's a sense that the chiefs now are in a free fall, and that certainly could happen.

But when I really take a step back, do you want to just be a slave to what's happening in the moment, or do you want to realize how these seasons go up and down, like a roller coaster? And I think the head coach, who I trust, Andy Reid to see them out of this. The quarterback, now do I think Patrick Mahomes maybe could help this team at this point, a shot in the arm? Yes, but also the West take that Alex Smith is having a great season on balance and to stick with him.

That is probably the more prudent move right now. And let the veteran quarterback and the veteran coach and those good skill makers and Kareem Hunt to come out of his slum. It's certainly more possible to me that they get things straightened out and win 10 or 11 games rather than they end up. up going six and ten oh yeah so i am flaming that hot take that it's time to take the chiefs out of consideration and not even to think about the i'm not saying they're at the the patriots level or the steelers level but to to now say oh yeah put everybody in there put the ravens in there put the bangles in there put the chargers in there everybody calm down the chiefs aren't dead i'm with you because a they're winning a bad division they're a game up and chargers are coming up quick though they are

but if they don't if you don't win the division one of these teams you're probably probably not not going to be a wild card team. Who knows, though. But Kansas City, if you want to pick a team that is showing you that they can get out of a slump and, as you said, course correct, they'd be that. The definition of over, it's not. How far they're going to go this season. I don't bring up the charges.

A perfect example. I get it. Everyone loves the chargers now. And they've been playing very well on both sides of the ball last few weeks. But let's not now pencil them in to surge into January when the chiefs are still in the picture. Or use a pencil, not a pen. I'm penciling them in. I'm very, oh.

As a longtime Chargers homer on this podcast, really, that I've been wrong a million times about, like, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that now, like, they're the favorites. Like, they're the expected team. Like, what could go wrong with a five and six Chargers team that's a game behind trying to get into the playoffs? Right.

Hey, like, just lock it up. And by the way, the Chiefs don't play a team with the winning record the rest of the season. Well, what the heck has happened to them? They at least have a chance to beat bad teams like the Jets or the Broncos and win a couple of those games. home against Raiders, home against Chargers, huge matchup in week 15, home against Dolphins, and then at Broncos.

So that is a nice schedule. They couldn't do anything against the Giants or the bills. If they stay at this level, they're going to be lucky to win one more game. I'm just saying I think I'm more confident that they find a way out of this funk. I think people want them to be over with the way they're playing right now more than most people believe that. But I couldn't agree more with your take. It's because the playoffs would be more fun with Chargers. Right.

Like we got to flex the Ravens out of the playoffs too, I feel like. Please. But that's the next movement. Hashtag flex Ravens. Going to get one of these. Yeah, I guess you're going to be stuck with it. I'm not buying the Ravens at all. Did that take get destroyed?

It's done. I think you wiped it out. Goodbye. It's out. It's destroyed. Mark. All right. Close us out.

Destroy a take now. How about this over? You see this everywhere on Twitter. Chuck. People think the NFL is free. People think the NFL is free of which. craft i see this everywhere on twitter this hot take is going down right now nonsense i'm here to tell you that a 20 plus year dark magic curse has draped itself over the national football league

but once mark is reading from a script whenever mark's reading from a script something's going to go down well especially when it's two pages that's right highlighted let's try to get through it people everyone get comfortable let's try to get through it one that all right i'm going to have to go back here right well i have to tell you that there is a 20 plus year dark magic curse that is draped itself over the NFL, one that has brought a magical streak of happiness to Patriots fans who have come to believe they deserve it, an endless insane heartbreak to Brown's fans. Dan Hansis came closest to the truth by suggesting that Cleveland's football complex in Berea is built above an Indian burial ground, but it goes much deeper.

I am preparing to release a 220-page report on this, but some basic bulleted details. One, January 1st, 1995, Bill Belichick's Browns beat Bill Parcells's Patriots 20 to 13 in the AFC wildcard game. Remember that fact. Cleveland enters next season viewed as the AFC favorite for the Super Bowl. But nine months later, Brown's owner Art Modell announces the move to Baltimore. An annoyed Bill Belichick is summarily dismissed as Brown's coach and immediately joins Bill Parcells's in New England as assistant head coach of the Patriots. In 1996, the Browns no longer exist as a football team, spinning only in darkness. Months later, Parcells and Belichick go on to the Super Bowl 31 with the Patriots.

Fast forward three seasons to 1999. The Browns return to the NFL to begin a run of failure, unlike any suffered by any team in NFL history. Following that season, months later in the year 2000, Bill Belichick is named head coach of the Patriots. Months later, Belichick quietly drafts Tom Brady, a college backup. They win a Super Bowl one year later. Meanwhile, the Browns are already onto their second head coach and pondering a quarterback switch. This hexed inverse relationship between Cleveland and New England

is only strengthened in 2002. Cleveland's only sad playoff appearance since their wild card win over the Patriots in 1995 comes yes in 2002. The year the Patriots surprisingly missed the playoffs. It is New England's overtime loss to the Dolphins in week 17 that directly helps propel the Browns into. the postseason. Since then, the Patriots have used one coach and one starting quarterback to author the greatest run in football history. Since then, the Browns have been the dictionary

definition of the opposite. The yin and the yang, the dark in the light, shuffling through 75 head coaches and 196 quarterbacks. One inexplicable blip on the radar came when Eric Mangini, the man who came closest to revealing the evil secrets behind the Patriots Dark Empire, took over as Cleveland's coach. In 2010, Man Genius authored one of the weirdest NFL results over the past decade of 34 to 14 Brown's romp over Brady and the Patriots. This unusual victory came on November 7th. 15 years earlier, the Brown's move was announced 24 hours previous on November 6th. The hex was nearly broken, but the Patriots in Belichick held strong. One final paradigm shift recently revealed itself. Cleveland's pursuit of Jimmy Garoppolo nearly came to

fruition this past off season when Jimmy G. announced farewell to New England with a late night Instagram post. The curse held strong, though, as the post was quickly and mysteriously erased. Jimmy G. claiming that hackers posted it, and the trade didn't happen. Not until Belichick intentionally prevented Garapolo from going to its inverse identity, Cleveland. New England's polar opposite, instead shipping the prize quarterback to San Francisco, Hope you've enjoyed it, Patriots fans. Whoa. Watching your faces during that was really great.

That's just the beginning of it. It goes deeper than that? Oh, yeah. All right. When is this report being released? So wait, there was witchcraft, but then sometimes the Browns win over the Patriots. How is that related to the witchcraft?

They came close. There have been struggles to reverse. reverse this witchcraft. And where was the proof of the witchcraft? Mangini, who knew about, who understands how New England operates behind the scene and came very close to bringing that whole thing down, became Cleveland's head coach and up against New England had a chance to reverse it all, destroys New England.

Romeo Cornell was always on the outside. Little too happy go lucky. And New England loses that game to Cleveland. What do they do? They rip off 10 straight wins to end the season or something like that. So the hot take, destroyed, is that the NFL is free of witchcraft. Yes, and it is not. Well, there you go.

I mean, I guess that was destroyed. I have no counter argument for that. Are they talking about that at the ring or two? We should bug the ring or office. You know how they like, in Watergate, didn't they bug? Yes. Or Nixon used to bug the White House. He also had his phone calls recorded, which was his undoing.

They broke into the Watergate building. I don't even know why we would need to bug the white house. the ringer's office? Yeah, let's do it. Maybe that's where the witchcraft is coming from. The ringer is how many years old? Four, five? It's pretty new.

Seven. A couple years old. So, no, I think that's newer. This is, could just be its new home. This dates back to the, the witchcraft of the mid-90s, which I don't approve of. But you know who works or the movie on the ringer is Michael Lombardi? Yes. Oh.

Oh. There's a tie there. Mark, you have thoughts on Mike. There you go, Lindsay. Neck the dots. He was a four. former Brown's employee, such as was your dad, Lindsay. I used to work with Mike Lombardi in Philly.

I'm still struggling to see where the kernels of the... Greg, as a Patriots fan, I understand why you're going to be the stronghold of doubt and refusing to believe anything beyond the facts here. So you're basically taking down Greg in this. As always. No, not at all. I think the Patriots fans simply believe this... Oh, it's like how many times we cited Belichick's genius on the show already before my statement?

Five, six today. It's all assumed that it's Belichick and everything's perfect. But for 2002, it just sort of stopped for a minute for some reason. There's attempts to reverse it. Yeah. Attempts to reverse it. Things almost become undone and then they spin back if it's not strong enough. There you go.

Four for four. Hot takes debunk. None. Maybe. Destroyed. Very powerful. Very powerful. Very painful.

For the people that held those hot takes close to their heart because they no longer exist. All right. Real quick, Thursday night football preview. Oh, oh, guess what it is? What? The shoulders of greatness. Presented by Head and Shoulders, Thursday night football, the Cowboys at Redskins. Mark, I want to call this a loser goes home match, but we just did that with the Cowboys

and Chargers last Thursday. So is this just a loser match? Shoulder have that. Shoulders of mediocrity. I mean, it's, it's, I think the one. One thing that we probably agree on is that I wish the Redskins were in the AFC because I think they could get a playoff spot. They're still fun to watch, in my opinion.

The Cowboys, they've really statistically, and just, you know, in terms of the eye test, have spun completely out of control since Ezekiel Elliott left the building. And they had Tyrone Smith back last week. It didn't really make much a difference in terms of their passing game, their offensive production, and any chance to think that they're going to go on some sort of a streak to save their season in my book. Yeah, I mean, we saw in that game, Zach Martin go down to on the offensive line. We knew that they were sort of struggling already, but he's practicing now.

So that's good. We know, I don't think Sean Lee is going to play in this game, but on the defensive side of things. But Anthony Hitchens is expected to practice a little bit. I mean, their defense is so banged up right now. So if they don't have Hitchens out there either, that could be a major problem. They've been part of the problem. Teams are spending, keeping the Cowboys defense on the field a long time, kind of using the Cowboys approach how they use to beat teams where they're just loading up on long drives,

time of possession. That's exactly what the Redskins do well. And the Redskins defense have been playing better lately. Junior Gillette is playing really well the last three or four weeks in the pass rush. And you have him, you have Kerrigan, you have a really good cornerback group. And it's not a good matchup for Dak Prescott and Des Bryant, who are struggling to get anything done. They're both five and six, both teams. So they're not technically out of it.

I think the Redskins, it would be kind of crazy if they won six straight to go to the playoffs. But crazier things have happened, including in Washington. You could win out and still miss the playoffs of 10 and 6 in the NFC, but you certainly can't lose again. So from that, through that prism, this game still has some meaning, and it's going to be a desperation affair on both sides. So I think there could be some juice in this game. And I am interested to see now that the Dak Prescott has really eaten some humble pie

for a few weeks, how he reacts in this game. And I think it's going to be a good game. I got a good feeling about this Thursday night game. I think Samaje Pryne. I mean, he's coming off a big game. And I think it was back-to-back 100-yard game he had. And he'll be able to run. Sammy P.

Sammy P. I think this is a big five weeks for Des Bryant. I think Des Bryant's a huge part of the problem in Dallas. He's not coming up down with those 50-50 balls. He's getting paid like a superstar. I think something like... I think it's a big five weeks for Jason Garrett. $15, $16 million or something this year.

And I think he's due $13. team. I think Des has hurt their team. Like I think they might have been a better team literally if Des Bryant wasn't on the team. And I think they have to think about that going into next year. And I think how he finishes off this season is going to have a big impact. And Des hurting the team.

It's also the Cowboys failing to develop another receiver to let him maybe slide into a more, maybe a number two role if that's where he's at in his career now. They just don't have, they don't have big guy, another big guy in the outside to kind of slide into that role. I mean, he could go. I think, Mark, you're making good point. I think Jason Garrett, they need to finish the season out. Yeah.

Especially with all the players. Frustrated with the lack of coaching, like with the lack of scheme changes and adjustments, too. That's a big deal. Oh, pick the game. I'm going skins. I'm going redskins. I can't pick the Cowboys the way they look right now. Redskins, although I think Dallas, because they practiced on Sunday.

I think they're trying to make this a different type of week. 27, 24, Washington. Woo! They are, both these teams are in the rare Thursday, Thursday back to back. So they're in that strange sort of like their whole, their whole life. So Cousins is one in nine now on weekdays in his career and just won a game on Thursday and now plays on Thursday again. How many quarterbacks get off an 0 and 9 weekday Schneide by winning two straight Thursday games?

I don't think that's ever happened in NFL history. I think there's probably never been an 0 and 9 weekday Schnein. Schneid? That's ever been broken either. You're right, Connie Fox. That is more NFL witchcraft. Yeah. That is some...

I'm convinced now. That is some shoulders of greatness. Sort of greatness. Presented my head and shoulders. All right, before we go, yes. Mark, I'm going to throw it to you because, of course, last month you found a abandoned kitten in your yard named Boo. Boo. Boo.

Boo did not make it. But mom kept the old irresponsible mom, hag that she is, kept showing up and birthed more cats. Well, okay. So let's start there, and I'll throw it to you. They were probably part of the same letter. Yeah, if you're on the video show, you can see one of them. I don't know, cats work. Is this one the one that's not boo?

This is a new cat. Got that a couple more. Oh, my God. How cute. Yeah, so three cats we've found in a little alleyway fenced in part behind our house. And the mother, I think that the way the cats work, feral cats, is that the mom will abandon one that's just simply not fit to live. And I think the boo was in that category.

That's what we were told by a shelter. So the mom has come back and fed these. And these cats are getting stronger by the day. And we still have to find a way to get them to safety beyond our home. But in terms of boo, I'm deathly allergic. Like, that's a thing I woke up. It's become an issue in the house. Yes.

It's like it's not, our house is not a rescue. Are they in the house? No, but their little kitty dander or whatever is floating in through windows and I woke up with my left eye shut. Well, you have two eyes. Yeah, that's what Simone said. So here's the thing, though.

Your sons and your wife are not like very supportive. Colton literally asked if we could trade Daddy for Boo when Boo is still alive, which I, you know, I tried not to take offense to. But I will say this, because Boo passed away and before we found the cats, our producer Lindsay had a great idea. And Lindsay, why don't I let you talk about it? So we thought that we would take a sad situation and turn it into a little bit more of a positive one.

So we started a GoFundMe campaign, and it's actually, if you go to gofundme.com slash ATNCat, nice and easy to remember. You could donate to that, and all of the funds from that will go to the Karma Rescue. They found us a cat to sponsor, and his name is Jerry. Jerry! That's if you're on the video show again, that's a picture of Jerry. That's the cat we are sponsoring. A solid cat. Yeah, and we can look out on social media.

too. So is Jerry drooling? No, I think that's his fangs. He's rabid. He's got like an overbite with fangs. Oh, no. He's not rabid for the record. That's a joke.

Perfectly healthy. GoFundMe.com slash ATN. Do it. Don't need. And we'll tweet this out as well. But yeah, we'd like to help them out. And maybe they could help us take these three cats in my yard, too. Yeah, that would be good because you're, you know, it really depends on it.

Got to go. All right. I thought we almost did it. We made it. We made it. No, you don't let her go. I've already. I've already.

I've already left to say. That's it. We made it. That's it for Tuesday show. Yes, this is the video show. So just a reminder that this evening, if you go to NFL.com slash ATN video beginning at 6 p.m. Pacific, which is 9 p.m. Eastern, which is go figure it out overseas.

You could check out this show and all the fun that we had today. Also a reminder that NFL Pickham on NFL Network airs on Saturdays at 8 a.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Eastern, and 11 p.m. Eastern. And then Sunday morning, right before Colleen's Game Day Morning show, 6 a.m. Eastern. So that's the show. Thank you, everyone, for following along. This is Dan Hansa signing off for A Quiet Storm. Connie Fox, the old boss, Lindsey Fulton, and Christian Anderson.

behind the glass. Thanks for the help, as always. Until Thursday. 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.

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.

I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fulrio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast. You're 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. This is an IHeart podcast.