NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Week 14 recap

Episode Date: December 9, 2013

A room full of heroes -- Gregg Rosenthal, Dan Hanzus, Marc Sessler Chris Wesseling and Kevin Patra -- recap all the Week 14 action including the “Sunday Night Football” matchup between the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints. Don’t miss the key takeaways and analysis from each game. Join the conversation on Twitter: @NFL_ATL or #NFLATL.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. The Around the League podcast has suggestions for Carrie Underwood. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the League podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Chris Wessling, Mark Sessler, Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys. It's back! Had to do it.

Had to bring it back. Finally. So one podcast hiatus for that. Well, this is what it came down to, the people. The people spoke, and they said they loved what-up boys. There was even a hashtag, hashtag, team what-up boys. And who am I to defy the people? When you can sound like an early 2000s Bud Light commercial, you got to go for it.

And that was, again, that's a good point, because do I still worry about the T-shirt and the head on the T-shirt and what-at boys? Yes, but you have to accept what your possible legacy is. I think the T-shirt's already been created by someone else. Right. As soon as you mentioned the T-shirt, it was going to get done. Hello, guys. Oh, hey, K. Rich, what's up? Hey, if you go on Twitter, there is a lovely young lady at Hello Mindy Bear who created this great t-shirt. What Up Boys, with Dan hands his face on it.

Wait, raise your hands. If you think that when Dan came up with this narrative, there was a subplot in his mind that said, Ooh, someone will create a T-shirt with my face on it if I come up with this. Not that clever. Bang. It's way too many steps. I like that your philosophy borrows from Vince McMahon. Just give the people what they want.

Well, it checks out time and time again. All right, it was a wild crazy Sunday, arguably, maybe not even arguably, the wildest Sunday of the year. Crazy weather, crazy finishes, particularly in the early games. Greg, was this your favorite Sunday? It had to been the craziest Because no other day could match The Minnesota Baltimore ending With five touchdowns in the last 205

At the same time The Patriots fall down by 12 With 240 to go And manage to win the game And then the crazy field Go at the end of that And the crazy ending to the Steelers game So those three

And then you throw in snow everywhere And LaShaan McCoy is running through a snowstorm It was fun Except for a Marrott I was getting a lot of tweets and the ATL count was getting a lot of tweets directed asking how Mark Sessler was doing during the downfall of the Browns

and Mark, you were basically catatonic during that stage. Well, because while I was watching that out of one eye, I'm dealing with this five-touchdown two-minute flurry. You had the two best games. Two best games except I'm trying to write a cognizant write-up on both and so I'm not just like a guy at a sports bar.

And we'll get more into the Browns' later, but this set the NFL record, correct, Greg, for touchdowns in a Sunday? Most touchdowns in a Sunday. We also had the all-time longest field goal. So, I mean, just for dessert after all that. And long-lived the end of the 63-yard field goal record. It was a matter of time before somebody, you know, got some testicular fortitude, gave a guy a chance in those altitudes.

Anyway, let's get going. Let's start with the Minnesota-Baltimore game, where Joe Flacco threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Marlon Brown with four. seconds to play, capping a flurry of scores on an icy field and giving the Ravens a 29-26 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. As Greg said earlier, that was five touchdown scored in the final 125 seconds. Unprecedented stuff. Mark, you were there.

You take me through it. Well, I think weather was a huge factor in this, especially early. Flacco looked. He looked disturbed. It was snowing so heavily. Disturbed. He just, he, you know, it's the first. Like Jack Nicholson and the shine?

What do you mean to serve? He's had 13 games in his career where he's thrown three picks like he did today. This is only the second time he won it, but a lot of it had to do. My MVP for this game, and we talked about the five touchdowns, and everyone basically who wore a jersey scored today. But the mini plows. I love mini plows. The little snow plower juniors.

I mean, we talk about it. They're not zambonies. Right. I don't know what to call them, but they're sort of golf carts. I like snowblower junior. Snowblower juniors. Do you think the guys that ride the little ones? the men that take the big ones in the parking lot after the game are true with more respect

within the infrastructure of whatever the stadium complex is? They should have been today in Baltimore because I think that, well, listen, this could have gone either way, but they did a nice job cleaning this field up at halftime, and then the scoring just started. And it was, there were five moments, obviously, in the last two minutes where if you're watching this or if you're trying to report on it in some fashion, you thought that was it. Oh, Toby Gerhard just rolled in for a 41-yard touchdown. Game over. Oh, no, wait. Jacoby Jones. just rolled in for a 77-yard kick return. Game over.

Then Corderole Patterson, long touchdown. Game over. Nope, none of these were game over. And it just, I, you know, my head was spinning. Chip Kelly's got to drive down to Baltimore and get some of those plows because they weren't even trying to go for extra points when they're up eight. Well, in the old days, you know, like, oh, wait till the home team is lining up for that game when you feel like a goal.

Then you get out there with the brushes and the snow plows. They were an equal opportunity employer. but a vastly entertaining game. But the big news, I mean, Peterson, Adrian Peterson went down with an injury that Ian Rappaport it was told he was a mild or a mid-foot spree, or right-mid-footspring. It was good to see that it wasn't potentially very serious because when it happened, he was pounding the turf and it reminded, I'm sure, everyone of when he blew out his knee two years ago. So it's good to see that it doesn't look like it's a season ending or potentially isn't.

And from the Ravens perspective, Wes, I'll throw it to you on this. This was obviously a must-win game. maybe not must win, but everything goes wide open in the AFC if they blow this one. Yeah, they're in control of their own destiny in the AFC playoff picture. They have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dolphins, but they also have

three tough games to close out the season. This was one you kind of counted on when you looked at their schedule, so it would have been a huge loss. What a drive there, 41 seconds to get the TD. Andy Dalton threw for three touchdowns and ran for another on Sunday. The AD scale just going out of control over this.

And the Cincinnati Bengals remained perfect at home and in control of the AFC North with a 42-28 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. Despite the loss, the Colts clinch the AFC South because the Titans were defeated by the Broncos. Greg, Andy Dalton, is he now back to good Andy Dalton? And is that bode well for the Bengals

potentially getting a buy? Well, the Dalton coaster is much more predictable than the Gino coaster. September, terrible. October, player of the month. November, miserable. Now we're into December. Well, maybe he already played in a game in December. He was excellent.

You have to give him a lot of credit. I like that they stayed aggressive from the first drive to the end of the game. A lot of third down throws, a lot of plays down the field. There were so many moments in the second half where the Colts looked like they were going to get back in the game, and the Bengals just responded with a long drive. So, hey, got to give the guy some do. And Geo Bernard is the difference in this offense. He was the best player on the field again.

Can we get some kind of review of Dayrick Rogers? Oh, yeah. that was the one nice thing with the Colts, a high point in the ball, a good guy to get a touchdown in short yardage or in the red zone, and then made a nice run-after catch just looks big, and Darius Hayward Bay dropped another big pass, so I think Roger's going to be a big factor for them down the stretch,

but this offense is hard to watch at times. I mean, they played better in the second half, but by then it felt like the game was almost over. They just couldn't block. They couldn't do anything. I feel like Wes was ahead of the curve on this, that the cults might stink, correct? I think that's fair.

This was the perfect way to win the AFC South, because it's a terrible division, and they got whacked, and they won the division that day. They still haven't lost two straight games, but I don't think they're a very good team. I think they could be the worst team that makes the playoffs. They were last year the first team in NFL history to win 11 games and have a negative point differential.

This year, they're the only winning NFL team with a negative point differential. They're not very good. And the defense is bad, too. That's a big factor. And one thing I took away because he's on my fantasy league and my league of record, T.Y. Hilton has not been up to the challenge of being a number one receiver with Reggie Wayne out. I believe he had seven yards receiving in a game in which luck through four late touchdown,

so he was not able to. And that's been a recurring theme, with the exception of maybe one game, Hilton has not really been a difference maker. And the Bengals defense keeps getting it done without Leon Hall. They lost Terrence Newman today. They don't have Gino Ackins. and it's like it doesn't matter. You have to give the Bengals defense a lot of credit, Mike Zimmer,

and I think they're playing better towards the end of the season, the Bengals. I think Zimmer is one of the best coaches in the NFL. All right, let's move on. Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in the final 61 seconds, helping the Patriots rally for a 27-26 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. The Browns, after that score, final score by the Pats, took the ball down to the Patriots 40 with one second left, but Billy Cundiff missed.

a 58-yard field goal at the gun. Mark was there, emotionless, Drago-style. I like how you say Mark is at these games. Wasn't he at another game? Mark wasn't at any game. He was right across from me. Mark was teleporting.

Mark was there in heart and spirit, and it didn't feel good, did it? It did not feel good. I will say that I've watched... I have watched a lot of Brown's losses this season, and Dan has... He portrays me as a guy that sits there feeling nothing, And that's mostly true because 25 years of this sort of beats it out of you.

But I kind of got a little close to thinking, look, today you go into Gillette. The Browns haven't beaten the Patriots in Gillette since Bill Belichick was Cleveland's coach. This would have been nice. And you know what? They did everything they could. Cleveland has talent. They don't know how to win games. They don't know how to close out.

Because even their better players showed up today. Jordan Cameron had a nice game after vanishing for about a month. Jason Campbell, the good Jason Campbell showed up today where he wasn't a complete disaster. Josh Gordon leads the NFL with 1,400 yards receiving, and he missed two games this season. Right, but you should be angry because you got ripped off by the officials in this game. After the onside kick recovery by the Patriots, a pass interference call that puts the ball in the one-yard line. Everyone knows it wasn't a P.I. It was a bad call, and it cost your team the game. Get angry.

Well, hold on. Greg wasn't even excited when it happened because, Greg, you knew it. They were gifted that win. Well, that happens in football, and it was a ridiculous call, frankly. They could have won the game without that call, though. It wasn't third and 15 or fourth down. He would have had more chances, but bottom line, I had plenty of time. Yeah, and I take more positives away than negatives from the Cleveland angle in this.

Right. I just have to because, bottom line, this team could easily just go south and quit on the coach and everything. I don't see that from them. Well, and the Patriots lost Rob Grunkowski, even if they would certainly trade the win to have Grunkowski. Win or lose, this was a terrible day. Well, it's nice when you can just trade in wins for others. No, but win or lose, it was a terrible day for the Patriots.

That's the biggest storyline of the game. And they're not playing well, two straight weeks. Right. This game falls under Damasek's Jenga theory. Grankowski, out of all non-quarterbacks in the NFL might be the most valuable player to his team, and they've lost four of their 10 best. players now for the season? Four of their best seven, I would say.

I mean, Mayo, Wilfork, now you add Gruncowski to the mix, the one who changes everything about how teams attack them. The defense falls apart more every week. I mean, Jason Campbell had 390 yards and three touchdowns in this game, and they lucked out, they still have the two-seed,

but you have to wonder about their ability to win in the playoffs. Well, New England... Or keep the two-suits. Before Gron came back, they were 22nd in the league in scoring. With him, they were second, and we've been saying this for weeks. Chris wrote a long piece about this last week, which was excellent. It's like he, along with him and Edelman, you plug them

in together, they change this offense. Gronk is what makes it go, and it is a real concern for New England just fading. With that said, you've got to give one little bit of credit to them for field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, and all that's without... Oh, for sure. They'll be given plenty of credit, Greg, don't you worry.

Brady would... If I was... If I had a team to root for and Brady came on for a one-minute drill, would scare me to death. He's so good. And he's so under control at all times. It's a bummer about Gronk, especially. He's very handsome. It's a bummer about Gronk because we had even been talking here

about how he looked even faster coming back from that injury. And now he's got a serious knee injury. So all of a sudden, you know, his career, the challenges are piling up. Let this be a warning to all the players out there. Take the guaranteed money. Take the short money. Don't try to get too close to free agency. Since the moment Grunkowski has signed that contract,

he's had four forearm surgeries, a back surgery, in Torres ACL. That's in about a year. That's fair. It's like the bionic men. Charles Clay caught two touchdowns, including a 12-yard pass from Ryan Tannahill with 253 remaining, and the Miami Dolphins beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 3428 on Sunday.

The final play of the game is what really jumps out. Antonio Brown raced into the end zone after a series of laterals on the final play, but officials ruled he stepped out before he scored, which was the correct ruling, sideline karma, eh, Wes? Yes, that was one of the most fun plays I've ever seen. The rare lateral, five lateral play involving an offensive lineman. Right. That was pretty cool, basically.

Also, the type of play that gets the NFL media newsroom going. Everybody was on their feet and yelling. That got Wes out of his chair. Very rare. Yes, very rare. I believe I did a stomp at some point. It was fun. You know, not to backtrack on the Browns game, that was a crazy news moon.

Because you knew exactly what happened based on the sound of everyone, because it was all... Oh! Sorry. Yes, I think we might be forking the Steelers. Five and eight now. It's something to discuss. They'll have to win out and have the Ravens lose, I think, all three.

Yeah. I guess we won't discuss it officially until it's over Danish and locks and coffee and tea. But I certainly feel it's over for those Steelers. How could you, at eight losses with three games to go, come on. They gave up 34 points. to a Florida team in the snow. Second most points Joe Philbin's team has ever scored.

I saw a serious article this week in Miami about how Tan Hill's never played in the cold and that he's going to struggle. It's like... He did fine. Shut up. You don't know anything about that. What's the difference? You play in the cold or you don't.

You're not going to know anything about that. And I think we all respected the Steelers too much during the season to rule them out and we never stuck the fork in him to this point. And then to lose at home in the snow to the Miami Dolphins, That's disgraceful. Yes. They feel like, I mean, I think their offense, and you wrote it in your post,

you can't blame Big Ben and Antonio Brown for anything that's happened, but the defense, there's some issues. Yeah, you've got, I think Palo Malu, Ryan Clark, Brett Kiesel, and Ike Taylor are probably all gone in the off-season. Yeah, we should be cueing, cue the music. Here lies Dick Lebo's defense. He just gave up 105 yards to Daniel Thomas in a must-win game. Hey, that's your favorite player.

Yeah, boy. Gino Smith threw a touchdown pass and ran for another score As the New York Jets set a season high for points And stopped a three-game skid with a 37-27 victory Over the Oakland Raiders The Gino coaster back on the rails Operational He actually looked proficient

He looked like an NFL quarterback He got some swagger back The Jets are now 6 and 7 Still in a really bad spot The Ravens losing would have really helped him But as it stands they're still kind of buried Or the Dolphins with the dolphins.

Back on the rails. Is this a new day-enhance's term? The Swagger take-back? Swaggers is that like a statement game? Swaggers coming back. Kind of last all of one pass attempt next week against Carolina. I'd say they've just pulled the dead bodies from the Gino coaster at this point. I don't think it's back on the rails.

No, they put it on the rails. It's operational. It's kind of creaky. It's moving along. Now, what happens when the Jets and Gino Smith go to Carolina next week? You know, catastrophe, high-level calamity. It's like one of those kid coasters that are. They're just kind of racking it in the long.

I wouldn't put my kids in this coast. No, and he was far from perfect. He missed some throws through bad interception, but he improved greatly. And if nothing else, Rex Ryan doesn't have to answer any questions about Matt freaking Sims this week. So, yes, exactly.

As Al Michaels would say, this game was huge for the softball pants. I feel like we're burying the lead here. You know what? That's a great point. Speaking of which Oh no That sounds ominous

Here lies Will Chris Wesley Eat his softball pants A fine discussion piece ruined by the Raiders Craptastic nature By sticking the fork in the discussion We take the fork out of Wes's

Sawball pants We'll never know if Wes could functionally Digest a zipper Chris Wesley of course promise to eat a softball pants if the Raiders get to six wins. Mathematically they are still alive but they would have to win two out of

three including a road trip to Denver. They've got the Chiefs and the Chargers not looking good. That season finale still looms as a wildcourt. I'm not confident yet. The Broncos would have to have nothing to play for. They have to get this one now. Wait a minute. Question, if we fork a team and they make the

playoffs, we have to give a tremendous amount of money as Greg did to the Red Cross a year ago. There you go. There's a charity, right? So what if Will Chris Wesleyan into softball pants Happens? No. What do we do?

Nothing. We all win. We're all happy and Chris dies. I'm really bummed out of it. I'm happy to the Jets won, but it was the worst case scenario where I had to root against the Raiders in the spot. It really looked good.

What was the loss that basically cinched it? This was the one that guaranteed... This is it? No, but what was the killer loss that they had the big lead? Was it against the Titans? Yeah, the Titans game was the one. Well, they led the Cowboys too, but you didn't think they were to win it.

So it looks like you're going to get away with it, Wes. I know. Nice. I might not make that statement again next off. Wes has a rosy flush to his cheeks. He's happy. In fact, you have to make it next year, and you've got to pick a different team maybe, too. Oh, okay.

That would be fun. This could be a running joke. It is our goal to kill you, basically, so this comes down to. Okay, it's that time of the show. Every Sunday, we reach out to our Chicago correspondent. He's been spending his day disco dancing with John Legend, but now he's with us. Kevin, Patra. I'm tired from disco dancing, man.

You should be hanging out with Chrissy Teigen, not John Lengen. I think it's Teigen. Teigen? Teak you can get. Yeah, it's Teagan. You take you can get. Teigen, a surprisingly frisky Twitter follow, also. Also follows me on Twitter.

Hubba, hubba. Yeah. I like frisky. Kevin Patra, let's talk about the games that you were focusing in on. We'll start in Philadelphia, a snowy Philadelphia, where LaShawn McCoy rushed for a franchise best, 217 yards, including touchdowns of 57 and 40 yards, and the Eagles overcame two touchdown returns by Jeremy Ross to beat the Detroit Lions, 3420 in blizzard conditions on Sunday.

I think they said late in the telecast there was eight inches of snow on the ground. That's five straight wins for Kay Rich's Eagles, putting them a half game up in the NFC East. Kevin Patrick, you're a lion's man. That's a terrible loss, right? you know Lechon McCoy is fun to watch though he looked like he was the only one

in spikes like everyone else was like when you go play to park and only one kid's got spikes and he's running around and everyone else is flipping right it was like the rich kid that had the spikes

like the fancy Nike's anyway yeah I mean he was untackable and the line's defensive line couldn't figure out the zone blocking I mean the zone read scheme I mean they were just getting blocked

and there was huge holes and then McCoy was making the secondary look like full that's pretty much the entire second half how it went. Nick Folds, you know, he threw his first pick today of the season. You know, he looked pretty bad early.

You could tell he was struggling with the conditions. But you know what? In the second half, it just seemed like you was like, you know what, screw it, I'm throwing deep. And he connected on a couple deep passes, and then they just ran over the lions, and that was the end of the game. Without the two return touchdowns, I mean, the lion's offense had one 20-yard drive

for a touchdown, and they really didn't do anything the whole game. Hey, Kevin, as a Lions fan, I mean, I know there's some frustration with the coaching situation there, but wasn't this the kind of game when you're clutching to the NFC North lead that Jim Schwartz needs to find a way to win? Absolutely. I mean, and not only win, play a lot better in the second. I mean, it didn't look like they made any adjustments to the Eagles run game, and they just got pulled over. I mean, it just, to me,

towards the short guy thoroughly out coached today. And I think, just the little things that bothered me, like, why would you take the, he won the coin talk and you take the kickoff in a blizzard storming? You have to get better at second half. Why the heck would you take? He does every weekend.

I know, he always takes the ball, but good Lord, it's, you know, coming down, like, it's ridiculous. Just those little things that bother me. Patrick, what happened with Reggie Bush? Well, apparently he aggravated his, Calf injury before the game, he says he didn't fall, even though the original report says he flipped in the snow.

But I think, you know, not having him out there, again, as we've seen when he's not in the game this past year, it's a different offense, and I think he could have done a little bit of what LaShaul McCoy did in space today and where other defenders can't cut, and you know where you're going, and you're just off the races. To Patrick's point... We didn't get to see his two or three fumbles that he would have brought to the party.

To Patrick's point on McCoy, he's had some ups and downs this year, but he's had some signature games. I mean, he had 184 yards on Monday Night Football in the season opener. He has 200 yards in the snow. He had that game against Green Bay where he just ended the game with a long drive to beat the Packers. And he had another monster game against Kansas City where you thought he was out for the entire game and he comes back. LaShape has had some moments here under Chip Kelly. I'm enjoying it. That's it.

Lions real quick. It's a problem when your second best receiver was playing on the Packers early in the season. That's a problem. That's a good point. Let's move on to the next game, Kevin. Matt Flynn through for 258 yards and the Packers struggling defense force, the key fourth quarter turnover in a 22 to 21 win Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons. That snapped a five-game winless streak, not a losing streak. They had that tie for the Packers. And this is a game where Packers were losing 11 points. And to be honest with you, they didn't look at inspiring the entire game. To me, Matt, when he had okay numbers at the end of the day, but he still passed

the ball, and he just hops in the pocket for like hours. Like, if Atlanta had any pass rush at all, this would have been in a completely different game, but they absolutely do not. So he was able to sit there and finally find some receivers in the second half. There was a fluke touchdown, you know, kicked off a guy's foot that made it 21-10 early in the game in the first half. But other than that, Atlanta was not inspiring at all. They look like they're ready to fold it in for the rest of the season if they haven't already.

Have to be a little worried that this is the game, though, that keeps the Packers in the mix, and then Aaron Rogers returns and breaks your... Absolutely. Season saver. That's exactly what it is. And that's the game they needed. When it was 21-10, I was thinking, like, oh, here we go. I mean, maybe Rogers is done for the season, but absolutely not.

not. I mean, I don't see why he wouldn't come back next week if he can. I mean, we've said that every week, but, I mean, they're a half game back. They have no reason to doubt that the Lions won't blow one of the next two games, and they can take over the league. And in a smaller picture sense, all you, Aaron Rogers' fantasy owners, if the Packers lost that game today, it would have greatly increased the chances they might slow his recovery down or stop it outright, the rehab of it, or at least trying to come back this year.

Now they're in the mix, and everything's in play. Good news for everybody. Kevin Kevin Ask John Legend When you got out the phone If he was the ghost writer Of the miseducation of Lauren Hill

That's an old urban legend Okay, I'll check it out All right I'll get back to you Thanks buddy So like uh Truman Capote Was the ghost writer for To Kill a Mockingbird

Did you Have you guys Have you guys ever heard that by the way Toadcast listeners I'm going for 34 year olds Wes going for 87 year olds Did you guys ever hear that by the way I've never heard that

It's a great album. Yeah, it is a great one. All right, let's keep rolling. Rookie Mike Lennon rebounded from one of his worst performances of the season to throw two touchdown passes and lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 27-6 victory over the struggling Buffalo Bills on Sunday. That is now five of six losses for the Bills are four and nine and assured of finishing without a winning record for the ninth straight season,

extending the NFL's longest playoff drought to 14 years. Greg, Mike Lennon, did he play a lot? better? It didn't sound like it compared according to you. He had a terrible game. He was nine for 25. He was three and a half yards per 10. It's a bad sign for these bills that Mike Glennon played

a D-plus game and they lost in a blowout. This game was never close. Buffalo's gotten worse as the end of the season has come on. We thought they might make a run and they haven't been competitive the last couple weeks. Whereas the bucks are flying around on defense and they've now won four or five games.

They're like the NFC. version of the Jags. And bad news for the bills. Yeah, they're struggling as they come down the stretch. And then I saw a report on ESPN.com that they may cut down, quote unquote, offense, cut down the offense for E.J. Manuel, who I guess had one of his worst games in the season. He's had some real bad ones now.

This was one of them. Here's what they should cut out of the offense. The play where E.J. Manuel drops back from center and then he just holds the ball and looks around all panic for like 15 seconds and then he gets sacked. Because that was the play that kept calling. today. I can't believe they keep calling that play. Everything's laid out for you beforehand not to call that play. I like to

call that the Tim Couch. Is Thaddeus Lewis better than E.J. Manuel, this year he was, yes. I think so. I have a quick question. It's a pretty grim thing to say about the Bills' future. Based on their fair question. Based on this year, yeah. You look at Manuel and you look at Gino Smith, and

what would stop these teams from finding a different quarterback next season? There's no way the bills will give up on their first round pick that. Not right way, but that's a great point. Thaddeus Lewis just looked more with it. It's a rookie that was expected to take a little while, but it's been ugly. The Kansas City Chiefs scored early and off on Sunday, breaking a three-game losing streak with a 45-10 win, an embarrassing loss for the Washington Redskins. This was a game that was

17-0 after the first quarter, 3810 at halftime, and Wes, it was all set against the background of reports and speculation that Mike Shanahan could be gone at the end of the season. like a nightmare scenario in D.C. It was a meltdown of epic proportions. Every facet of the game, the Redskins were a train wreck. They have the worst special teams I've ever seen this year.

They have given up, I believe, more punt return yards than kick return yards, which is I mean average, which is very hard to do. They gave up a punt return touchdown and a kickoff return touchdown today. They were a mess. They can't tackle, they can't do anything on

offense, and they can't play special teams, and their head coach is cleaning out his office. The only question is whether Shanahan gets fired before people even listen to this podcast, or it's at next week, or it's the end of the season, because he's fired. And the minute I knew that was the minute that ESPN report came out this morning, that kickstarted it, that Shanahan and Snyder were at odds last year. And then a report comes out that the Redskins officials believe that Shanahan leaked the report and that he wants out so he can go try to coach the Texans.

They're not hiring Mike Shanahan. No one's hiring Mike Shanahan. Are you kidding me? Mike Shanahan's trying to get fired. It's amazing. By the way, it's as low as it gets today. How long can you coast on two Super Bowl wins from the 90s? This is a totally, you know, to look at Mike Shanahan.

Well, wow. Shots fired. I don't know. I'm throwing it out there. No, Parcells is a way superior coach. Yes. But anyway, my point being. I don't see him getting a high-profile job

or teams clamoring and knocking on the door. I mean, what has he done in the last 15 years? Because you see him trying to get his son that job. Yes, and I think that report is his little way of saying, Hey, Texans, we'll be there. Just give us a couple weeks. Unless you're Daniel Snyder, and you do the tricky move of making Kyle the interim head coach

after you fire his father. I don't think you can do that. I guess not. No offense to Kyle's out there, but my head coach named Kyle, I'm not excited. I'm not getting a kid. Isn't that the coach's name in? Friday Night Lights?

That's his real name. That's his real name. But Coach Taylor, he would never be a Kyle. I mean, I hate to get it. I feel so bad for Kyle's listening now because I'm sure you're nice guys, but I don't know, head coach. I hate to get into hyperbole, but this is one of the lowest moments I've seen for any franchise, especially this one. No, it's been, it's one of my favorite Kyle discussions. Except that most of the other Redskins meltdowns under Daniel Snyder have taken on an equally terrible power.

No, the coach tried to get fired before the game. Then reports came out that they knew he was trying to get fired, and then it was 38 to 10 at halftime. That's pretty messed up. All I see is the anvil hanging over Sessler's head when he gets in the office of 451 tomorrow morning. I know it's coming. And then the axe drops.

Can we just say one thing quick about the chiefs? And we've talked about this before. Wes brought this up, but Jamal Charles, listen, Manning's getting MVP, but what about in the MVP suburb? kingdom. This is sort of like the prince or the king of the sub-kingdom MVP candidates. He's been outstanding. Among non-quarterbacks, you'd have to say Jamal Charles and Calvin Johnson are right there.

Wes wrote a great piece this past week, ranking the MVP runner-ups, basically, right? The whole discussion. I didn't actually read it. It's like you read the first one. You're like, yep, that's him. We're out. Give the Chiefs some credit for scoring a lot of points the last four weeks. I think they're more interesting than we gave them credit for.

If they could get the defense together. They're going to go into Indianapolis and win in the first round of the playoffs. Because that matchup is almost certainly going to happen. You're right. Carson Palmer completed 27 of 32 passes. Not bad with a supposedly bad elbow. 12 of them to Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals ended an eight-game losing streak against NFC West foes by beating the St. Louis Rams 30 to 10 on Sunday.

A nice win by the Cardinals to keep pace in the NFC conference. trying to catch the Niners for that last wildcard spot. But unfortunately, the biggest subplot for me was Tyron Matthew likely tear of his ACL and his left knee, more than likely done for the year. Big loss. He was among the top two or three candidates for a defensive rookie of the year. I thought he was playing like a top 10 NFL cornerback. Play some safety too.

But he's an all-around complete player, great tackler, big plague. guy. That's a huge loss for them. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they're able to overcome that. And really just a bummer because he was such a good story coming out of the draft and everything that happened before he got to the NFL. But one other thing I took out of the game, you know, a lot of teams we all cover the offseason and we all remember writing stories about John Abraham going from city to city with probably an exorbitant price tag.

And you know what? Nobody wanted him. He eventually landed with the Cardinals. and now he is making all those teams regret it because he is on a roll. He had three more sacks. Today he is 11 in the last seven games. This guy is playing at a high level and he's giving the Cardinals more than they could have ever asked for. Passed Lawrence Taylor on the all-time sack list, didn't he?

I believe he did. He's in the top 10 now. Johnny Hibraham in the top 10. He's had a great career, yeah. Now people, yeah, sacks don't get you into the Hall of Fame because I think Kevin Green is second and he's not in the hall. But Abraham's had a great career going back to the top. the early days with the Jets.

And, you know, this has been really impressive because I don't think, I think that Cardinals would have signed off on seven sacks, and they're probably even getting something closer to 15. One other note before we move on. Lyra Fitzgerald, who's my favorite player in the NFL to watch, 12 catches on 12 targets for 96 yards and a touchdown. Dude is the ultimate professional in the league at playing his position. He plays it well. He plays the right way. He makes plays. He has the best hands in the league.

I love that guy. I do. Well, we're not arguing with you. You're judging for it if you want. Sounds good, Dan. I don't like numbers today from Fitzgerald. Edel Tron. All right, moving on.

Unbothered by the freezing weather, Matt Prater sent an NFL record with a 64-yard field goal and Peyton Manning. Yes, Peyton Manning again through four more touchdowns on Sunday, lifting the Broncos to a 51-28 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Wes, 50 Burger.

I guess Peyton Manning's cold weather issues aren't that big. He said after the game that whoever came up with that narrative Dave Daneshechak can shove it where the sun don't shine.

Hopefully he didn't listen to Friday's podcast. That's true. Is that it? We're not worried anymore? I would say Ross Tucker summed this one up pretty well.

You've never seen an organization from top to bottom really try to put an end to a narrative like the Broncos did today. They're play calling the way Fox

and Adam Gates their offensive coordinator talked about it Friday and Saturday. They threw the most passes of Peyton Manning's career. He broke the Broncos record for most completions in a game. They came out determined to put an end to that narrative. It was the most sub-freezing pass attempts in a game in NFL history as well. And also, the first game by a quarterback with at least four touchdowns and zero interceptions in the last 15 years where the game was under 20 degrees.

So he emphatically put that, I think he put the weather thing, the temperature thing, to bed. I think the question is, can he throw in the wind? Dave Damasek and I, and then Adam Rank got involved as well on Twitter back and forth during the game about the very issue of Manning and, you know, whether or not he's a big time player. The weather thing, this should end it, but it's really about the playoffs ultimately, right? Yeah. That's the last thing. And for me, like I said, I think I kind of thought all along it's more about the wind than the cold. they usually go hand in hand

but in this game it was like a four mile per hour based on the arm strength issues they have such a personality as a team that the game is close at halftime they were trailing by a point at halftime and then they just explode you expect it now they can put 30 points on you in a hurry you know the saints set the record for most first downs

in a game a few weeks back the Broncos had 39 today only one less than the saints in that game so they would have broken the record too and one thing you have to like about the Broncos, it seemed like only a week ago people thought that they couldn't come out of the AFC, that they can't give the Seahawks a game. By people, you mean Dan Hansus.

No, they can't. Oh, yeah, it's the first Super Bowl blowout in history. We don't know who the teams are or anything, but it's got to be a blowout. You're not allowed to make predictions around these parts, because that makes you a fool. I guess that's what we learned from that discussion. Thanks for reminding me when I was gone on the podcast last week. It was like, oh, let's read Dent's tweet and then ridicule it, and then he's not there to defend it.

Well, hold on. I attempted to defend you because I was being, you know, lamb-based it as well for a tweet that was mildly not mathematically accurate. Why is it any more ludicrous to say that you think the Super Bowl will be a blowout than it won't be? It's, you know, it's what you think. It's a prediction. You don't know the teams?

And there's no reason to think the NFC is any better than the AFC really? No, there isn't. The point I was going to make. NFC is clearly superior to the AMC. Before this went off the tracks. The point I was going to make is the Broncos are a team that is actually adding weapons. Monty Ball has turned that. backfield into a committee.

They didn't need another weapon, but they have one. Meanwhile, their toughest competition in the AFC just lost its second best player. Philip Rivers found rookie Keenan Allen for two of his three touchdown passes, and the San Diego Chargers beat Eli Manning and the Giants 37-14 Sunday to keep alive their long-shot playoff hopes. I don't think we need to spend too much time on this. I don't think the Chargers are going to make the playoffs. The Giants are obviously dead.

One interesting thing is Eli Manning will always be connected to the Chargers, because of what happened on draft day in 2004. He's now 0 and 3 against San Diego since the draft. Philip Rivers probably is not going to win too many discussions about who was the better quarterback all time because of the rings. But he's having another great season, a great bounceback season. He's a better quarterback than I'm Manning. At the end of the day, he's going to be statistically far greater than Manning. But it's those rings that keeps Manning afloat in that discussion.

This was, I was keeping an eye on this. Probably the best game I've seen all season. Huh? What? No, I'm kidding. I was going to say, watch us fairly closely. No, it was dull, and we probably shouldn't spend a whole lot of more time on it. The Chargers stay alive for one more week.

There's one game back. They have to go to Denver. They are interesting. They have to win that game in Denver next week. Do we stick a fork in the Chargers? We did not. They are still alive. Interesting.

That's high-level respect for a mediocre team. I think a fork is being pulled out of the kitchen shelf. I like that You keep your forks on a shelf? Yeah, that's kind of a weird... I don't know. Listen, I don't even know where the forks are. Phil Dawson kicked a 22-yard field goal

with 26 seconds remaining and the San Francisco 49ers held off the Seahawks 1917 on Sunday. I guess you could say the biggest play of the game. Frank Gore, 51-yard gain with just over four minutes to play to set up the go-ahead field goal that won it. Niners stay ahead in the NFC playoff chase.

Greg, this is one of the better games of the year? Was it that good? It was exactly what you expected out of this game in San Francisco, a defensive game. The 49ers were able to move the ball. If it wasn't for a Kaepernick Red Zone interception, they could have maybe pulled away a bit in the second half. I just thought with the game on the line, it was telling that they were able to pull off a six-minute drive

where they basically ran it right at the Seahawks. And third and seven, the big play of the game, Kaepernick rolls out to the left and if it looked familiar to everyone the exact same play that they ran with Alex Smith to beat the Saints in the NFC playoffs it worked again just barely

they got the first down and that put it away was good stuff. Michael Berger who was on the podcast last week the Around the League producer I overheard him say at the end of this game you know the Niners won but it wasn't really that big a deal because they'll probably get the playoffs spot and the Seahawks will still get

the home field but this is a big deal, if only because the Niners, getting a win against the Seahawks gives them more confidence when they go into that building potentially in the playoffs. You're coming, you have some good vibes going into that. Well, I know, oh, and by the way, the Arizona Cardinals are right there. I mean, you can't. The Niners can't afford to lose anything. And the Eagles and the Cowboys potentially on Monday night.

I think, you know, this just shows if the Seahawks are at a neutral field, Dan Hansis, I don't know that they're such an undebeatable team if they're at a neutral field in the Super Bowl. Against the Niners, it would be a close game. They play close games. They play close games because they don't throw the ball. 25 pass attempts for Russell Wilson. They had four drives that went 15, or I think it was six drives that went 15 yards or less, four

that didn't get any yardage at all. It's not necessarily a consistent offense. I still feel like people are looking at the Niners and saying, eh, you know what, incorrect? This team, dangerous heading into the NFC playoffs. If they make the playoffs, they're the six seats. And if the six seed wins the first round of the playoffs, they're going to Seattle. So divisional round, if the 49ers make it, it's going to be in Seattle.

How did Kaepernick look? He had another solid game. I wouldn't say he was great. They made some good throws in the second half. He ran the ball. I mean, their offense, I think, has steadily improved the last month. If you did NFC power rankings, Seattle's got to be won. Where do the Niners fit in?

I would put him second. Over the Saints? I would, yeah. Is that based on a week-to-week, what we're seeing? I said that on Friday's podcast. I don't disagree with you. I think that they've consistently improved. Carolina's right there.

I go Panthers, then-niners, and Saints are all in the mix, and I don't think you can ignore the Eagles. I agree with you, Dan. The NFC is far better and deeper. I just don't know if the best team coming out of it is so great. The Eagles are at the point now where I think you have to think, couldn't they go on the road and win some tough games? Couldn't they be a team like the 49ers of the Saints?

I think they could beat anyone. Wouldn't that, wouldn't they potentially be lined up? We're getting ahead of ourselves. I was going to say, wouldn't it be the Eagles be going into the Superdome in the second week of the playoffs potentially? Well, that is looking very, there's so many different variables that could change that. The Lions are the best team they've beaten, right? The Eagles? Yeah, the Eagles have not, probably, but they're playing well.

I want to see them beat somebody good before we say they can go on the road and kill somebody in the playoffs. Haven't we said this for every game? I want to see if they can beat Arizona. I want to see if they can be. They're doing what's... Up until... That was not a long time ago. He's starting to sound like a Panthers fan.

You can't do anything about the schedule, but you also can't do anything about us doubting your team. That's fair point. What we can do is win. That's true. Tushay. My NFC. Eagles prediction looking good, though. I like this.

Which takes us to Sunday night football, the New Orleans Saints, bounce back from that embarrassing loss to the Seahawks. Took care of business, and the Panthers were finally shut down on offense. and a very important win for the Saints who get the confidence back and also prove that, again, in their building, they could beat just about anybody.

Panthers didn't get any pass rush from their front four, which left their secondary, which isn't that talented, left them vulnerable. I think that's their biggest weakness. I think you saw the difference in the offenses that the Saints are a big playoffense, and the Panthers are not. They're a slow, methodical offense,

and people talk about the Chiefs aren't built to play. play from behind. The Panthers are a team that are not built to play from behind because they don't throw the ball down the field successfully at all. I think the great thing about what the schedule makers did here is that two weeks from now we're going to see very much the same teams in Carolina's house. And I think, you know, you look at the – Kudos to the schedule makers. Well, because listen, they've done some things well and some things not so well.

One of their better skill sets happened right here. But I think Carolina, you put them back on their own turf. This thing goes one-one. But it might not matter because if the Panthers win that game and the Saints win out, the Saints win the division. They have the tie break now that they won tonight against Carolina. Now, a lot of different things have happened. They could both lose and that changes it. But the Saints are now in control and it looks like they'll, they have a great chance to win the division, even if they lose in Carolina.

Yeah, to your point from earlier, Greg, I think one of the things we talked about the Panthers, even before Riverboat Ron and they got hot was they didn't really put a lot into the offense, putting playmakers around. Cam Newton. I would think no matter how this season ends up, that's going to be a major aspect of what they do in the offseason, putting some weapons and maybe giving their offense a little bit of edge. Because you're right, it's hard work for the Panthers to go down the field. And then you see what the Saints have been doing all year and what they did and jumping out to the lead in this game. It's much easier for them to just carve up yardage. Well, I think we knew that was going to be a problem, the big plays. Lack of big plays when right around week four, I noticed that Ted Gimm was. their best receiver? That's a problem. I'm not saying he's better than Steve Smith, but he had been playing better at that point,

and he has been a bigger, big play threat than Steve Smith this year. All right, that's it for Sundays Around the League podcast. We will be back on Wednesday. Wednesday is a big day because the game that we all talk about ended in controversy last

time we played, there's only one way to end that controversy once and for all. West versus. Sham for all the marbles. It's like Rocky v. Apollo in Rocky 2, where both men earned each other's respect, controversial ending, and now we truly find out who the champion is. Wes, how do you feel?

I feel good. Feel confident? Well, I never know what kind of trick questions you're going to come up with. I mean, if it involves... I have some real corporate entity stadium questions. I was impressed if Mark gave credit to Gillette for naming that stadium. I could not have told you What the name of that stadium was

It's where the Patriots play That's all I know I'm impressed is the word K, Rich we have Sham lined up Does Sean aware That the biggest moment of his life Is three days from now Sham is aware

He's been aware And he's been prepping for it too Wow I'm not sure you can prep for it Maybe that's the issue here Just like Shott Read your history Your NFL history books

Let's be fair Shom quit his day job Wesleying with a liner like attitude Here I'll just show up on Sundays, throw me the ball, it'll all work out. Just look at USC, guys. I've actually discussed this with a certain woman in my life.

I told her I was going to study for it the last time we had the toaster, and she told me that there's no use studying. You can't. There is no use. It reminds me the old boxing line. I think it was from Larry Holmes, but he said it's hard to get out of bed to do 5 a.m. road work when you're sleeping in silk pajamas. That might be U.S.

That's a good line. That's a very good line. I hope I credit it to the right retired boxer. All right, so that's on tap And if Wes gets by Sean We'll have another challenger Very exciting. Greg, not excited about it. Not at all.

Not at all. I was hoping Sean would end this silliness Last time around They came up with some bogus reason Why we had to do it again. Dan can't even score his own questions. Greg, just basking in the joy of life. While we're here, Greg, I am not going to come into the office tomorrow.

I'm just going to work on questions all day from my home in Wes's jacuzzi. That's all right. All right. We've got to get out of here. Yes, until Wednesday, this is Dan Hansa, signing off for the mailman, the sizzler, the boss, Kerich behind the glass. Alex Gelhard is back there, writer for NFL.com.

Until Wednesday. This is an IHeart podcast.