NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL ATL: Week 15 recap

Episode Date: December 16, 2013

A room full of heroes -- Gregg Rosenthal, Dan Hanzus, Chris Wesseling and Kevin Patra -- recap all of the Week 15 action including the nail-biter between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Don’t miss the key takeaways and analysis from each game, then help the heroes by nominating them for the 2013 Stitcher Awards at stitcher.promotw.com. 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 is accepting tailgate invites. 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, Kevin Patra, and Greg Rosenthal. What up, boys. Hey, Dan. Nice to have Cambridge back.

Oh, K. Rich, behind the glass. What's up, K. Rich? What's up, guys? Nice to be back. Tough loss for the Eagles. Is that how you welcome me back, really? Like, that's hard.

When it comes to Sunday, that's what I think about. When I think of Kay Rich, I think of the Eagles. I'm still waiting for Dan to say, what up boys in real life. You know what I mean? Just be like, call me up and say that. That could happen. It really could because it's just a matter of when the ego. You never walks into the office and says that.

Again, it comes down to how popular this podcast gets. If the podcast does go global and egos start to just swirl out of control, I'll probably start speaking of myself in the third person and addressing everyone, starting every comment by what-up voice. You're going to turn yourself into the Pauly Shore of podcast. Pauly Shore is rich, or maybe. I don't know. Money's not everything.

All right, so this is Sunday night. This is a big week. We're going to get to all the games, of course. but I guess from a big picture perspective the playoffs I want to say the playoffs came to focus if anything things are just as wide open as they were when we came into the day Greg

I guess I was thinking that the playoff spots the wild card is decided in the AFC it's still the race for the six seed basically all the AFC powers if we were looking for a theme it's the top AFC teams have not been playing that well lately yeah nobody wants the

They've all lost twice in the last few weeks nobody wants the number two seed in the AFC. By the way, Kevin Patrick is sitting in the Mark Sessler chair. Specifically on purpose.

We're platooning this chair. Oh, I thought you meant like you're marking your territory. No. It'd be interesting if Mark just goes missing and Kevin stays and he just starts acting peculiar

and we have to start asking questions. Was that a Sessler? Yes. We have a Sessler that Sessler could go missing. Let's get back on track. So, yes, there was an interesting day football, but I guess where we should start, because this is where we have to start, is the game

that everyone will be talking about. Talking heads will explode all throughout the early part of the week. Matt Flynn threw four touchdown passes in the second half. Eddie Lacey had the winning score on a one-yard plunge, and the Green Bay Packers match the biggest comeback in franchise history, rallying from 23 points down at halftime to beat the Dallas Cowboys 37-36. Sunday, Tony Romo had two interceptions in the final three minutes, some curious play calling by Jason Garrett after the game. I felt this was potentially something where Garrett will not recover from this. Greg told me on Twitter to get off the ledge. Now Greg, you could tell me in the podcast studio, step off the ledge or step Garrett away from the ledge of getting thrown off it. Well, you asked the question,

what could Garrett do to possibly recover from this? And it's an easy answer. You win two straight games and you make the playoffs. That's how you recover. It's pretty, I mean, it's not that fatal of a loss. because Philadelphia lost early in the game. It's more fatal in the sense that of all the crazy Jason Garrett losses, and I feel like the whole Jason Garrett era has been a series of ways to inflict more and more pain on Cowboys fans. Let's see if we can top this one. They're never going to top this one. Five touchdowns in the second half to a Matt Flynn-led team.

Matt Flynn! The biggest comeback in Green Bay Packers' storied history was all. All in the second half, and it was by Matt Flynn. First time in Cowboys history, they've ever given up a 21-point lead at halftime. They had the most yards in Cowboys franchise history in the first half, and they still lost that game. Well, you have to give Garrett credit for creativity. He keeps coming up with new ways to blow these games. With an able-bodied assist from Tony Romo.

To be fair on what Dan said in terms of play calling, you know, they clarified after the game. That's what's called a packaged play. Brown over at Grayland's been talking about these plays really getting more popular for the last few years. And it's basically a run call, but if he sees something he doesn't like, the offensive linemen all run, but he throws a pass. He's got a couple options on the play. It's part of a lot of offenses play. So Tony Romo made the decision to throw the ball. It looked like his first read was over, you know, to the right. It wasn't there. Then he got pressured. He made a bad decision. And the big takeaway for me was it was a bad throw more than anything.

Tony Romo had two throws in the fourth quarter under five minutes to go. If he makes either throw, they win the game. The bomb to Des Bryant, when he's wide open, he just underthrows it. And then this throw, Austin would have still been running if he makes that throw. He's gone. He hits Austin in stride. He's gone. And I personally, I defended Romo a lot in the past.

I mean, I believe he gets justifiable heat and then some for his failures, but he never seems to get enough credit for his success. But this is the one where, again, you understand that he's going to get better. and he deserves it because it's one thing to throw that first pick but he had the chance to both blow the game and then win the game in the same day and he basically blew the game twice and you can't convince me otherwise this is people are going to try to put it on Garrett but this goes on the quarterback for blowing this you also have to put it on the defense too yes you cannot give up you can't give up

five straight touchdowns to that offense that couldn't do anything in the first half like what happened nobody could tackle nobody was in position to make plays it was just a bad, bad defensive outing again. And it comes back to, we've talked about it all year. It comes back to putting Monty Kiffin with Rob Ryan. So I agree. The blame can be shared all around. I think this is, we talked about yesterday, or on Friday, Chris,

the worst two seasons of Tony Romo's career are the last two seasons. And I don't think he's a bad quarterback now, but he's not as good as he was earlier in his career. He doesn't push the ball down the field enough. He doesn't take enough chances when guys like Des Bryant are covered. I think Tony Romo is like the being John Malcovich of quarterbacks. He has just decided he's just going to become Hamlet. I don't even know.

I love being John Malcovich. It's one of my favorite movies ever, but you're going to have to explain the analogy to me a little more. Well, he's become Hamlet. He is him now. Who played Hamlet in this movie from 1999? I can't remember. I never saw the movie Hamlet. I read the book.

No, no, no. Being John Malcovich. Oh, it was. John Quesa? John Malkovich, wasn't it? I don't know. I thought he played John Malkovich. I don't know.

We're off tangent here. One thing I don't want to get lost in this is the Packers, this was a clutch performance by the Packers. I mean, what was that? Onions. Onions. Come on, let's give them some credit. This was a season-saving performance in the second half. If you put a gun to my head right now and the Lions lose tomorrow, very possible, they could win the,

they have to be the favorite. I see them beating the Bears in the last game of the season after winning next week if Aaron Rogers comes back. Well, that's a big if. Yeah, that's a big if. That's a big if. Do we all think he's coming back? I mean, I don't know. Mike, I think it is the situation that who knows.

I think this is the most confident I felt about Aaron Rogers coming back the next week. I agree. That's fair. And the lines still are in control. They can beat Baltimore. They'll be in great shape. But the Packer's season was essentially over, because Chicago won, and that comeback keeps them alive for another week. Jay Cutler shook off some early rustiness and threw three touchdown passes in his first

start since November 10th, leading the Chicago Bears to a 3831 win Sunday over the Cleveland Browns. There was a lot of talk. Kevin Patra of Josh McCown maybe wasn't the guy that should be coming out of the lineup at this stage, considering how great he was playing. Cutler came in, struggled a little bit early and then got it done. He was exactly who Jay Cutler is He was throwing the ball all over the field They were marching down the field

Interception Does it again? Interception They struggled some But in the second half he made the plays Like he does He's an up and down quarterback That's who he always is I think it was hard to pull out

McCown was playing well But Jay Cutler is a better quarterback Whether he's worth it in the next season To tens of millions of dollars more I don't think so And I think that's what he proved today that yes, he's a better quarterback and he can get it done, but is he the long-term answer for the Bears?

I don't think so. That's the second person I've heard say he proved that he's a better quarterback today. I'm not sure how he did that. Then Josh McCown. He threw two interceptions, right? You were killing him at that point. I killed him at the end of the game, too. You know, we have our eye on you now, Patrick,

because you were in the office today. You were not in a pub buried deep within Chicago, with Kanye West and other cohorts. You were with us, and we were watching. I did kill him, and I killed him. I still, I believe what I said. He said, up and down quarterback, and that's what he did today. The Bears were clearly the better team.

The Browns couldn't take advantage of the fact that the Bears can't defend the run and Cutler made some plays at the end of the game to win the game. He had the better receivers, and that was huge. I wonder how Browns fans feel about watching Bobby Rainey play well for the Bucks while they're stuck watching Willis McGahey every week? Well, there was no McGahey this week. I would just want to list the names of the players that carry. the ball on runs for the Cleveland Brown State.

Let's go through them. Edwin Baker, Michigan State. Marquise Gray with two carries. He's a tight-end H-back. Who all these people? Seinfeld. Chris Obanaya was next. And then Fazi Whitaker.

I mean, what a four-pack that is. They've all been released by other teams. They will all be released this off-season by the Browns. I think this game played out exactly how we thought it was. It didn't matter who was quarterback. They were going to score over 30 points and give up 30 points. They were clearly the better team. They really were.

You could tell. Let's talk for a second about how fascinating next Sunday night's going to be. I guess we're going to get to the Eagles in a little bit of Bears' Eagles the next week, and then Bears Packers in Week 17. And Eagles Cowboys in Week 17. This Cutler story is really only starting because their two next games are going to be fascinated. And one last point. The Browns have lost five straight, eight of nine, and have dropped at least 10 games in six

straight seasons. You are a factory of sadness. Sorry, Mark. It doesn't get old. It doesn't get old. It does get old for Mark Sessler, actually. Desmond Truffant deflected Kirk Cousins' pass on a potential

winning two-point conversion with 18 seconds remaining. Speaking of onions. And the Atlanta Falcons edge the Washington Redskins 2726 on Sunday. Greg, I guess you got to get, what did you take away from Kirk Cousins, part one of three?

Well, Kirk was pretty good. He had two interceptions, and he made some bad decisions and a few bad throws in the second half, but he threw for 385 yards, 8.5 yards per attempt. They lost five fumbles, including one by cousins. They had seven turnovers. Shanahan, I love Shanahan right now. I mean, this Shanahan... Really?

That's qualified as right now, right? No, I love Shanahan right now. He has nothing to lose, and he's just going out guns blazing. You don't think I can bench around. Robert Griffin, the third for the last three weeks. Watch me. You don't think I can go for the two-point conversion at the end because I don't want to play overtime in Atlanta.

He was protecting his quarterback. Watch me. You want to get a quarterback heard in overtime. He said, this was an actual quote today. He said, I told the guys in the locker room, I've never had a team that had seven turnovers and still had a chance to win in the game, you know. So I give him a lot of credit.

He's the Troll King. All hail the Troll King. I've honestly never heard of a team with seven turnovers. The Falcon scored 20 points. Falcons scored 20 points off those seven turnovers and the seven turnovers tied a team record oh, Redskins, excuse me, tied a team record with five lost fumbles.

This sounds grisly. It was, and yet they had a great chance to win at the end of the game. They outplayed the Falcons for much of the game after falling behind early. The Washington special teams gave up another touchdown, basically, on a fumble. They're the worst unit, maybe, in NFL history.

It was a lot of fun to watch, though. You have to give, Channing in credit for one thing is that they threw from the pocket deep more than they did, and successfully more than they did all year with Robert Griffin. Was it a product of the Falcons having a terrible defense, though, was Cousin's performance? You know, people will say that, but ultimately he threw a 55-yard throw on the dime to a receiver fairly well-covered. That doesn't matter what the defense is. Cousins made a couple really, really nice throws on the run, so I don't think that's all. But if you're not getting pressure on the quarterback, that's why they can go deep. He got rid of the ball really quickly, too, I thought.

He showed quite a bit in the passing game, and I think if Shanahan would have just been honest, it would be a lot more palatable. If he would have said, I think Kirk Cousins gives us a better chance to win right now, I don't think there would have been nearly as much. Well, maybe there would have been more controversy, but from my point of view,

it's not easy to swallow his excuse for benching RG3. This hurts Atlanta's draft choice now, because these are two-three-win teams. So right now I think Washington would have the number two pick. They hooked up their... Or St. Louis would. St. Louis, right. They hooked up their old friend, Les Need, former Falcons assistant general manager now holding that two-pick with the Redskirts.

The NFL's most handsome executive, Les Need. By the way, I saw one like a crowd shot. They looked like there were 14 people in the Georgia Dome, which is amazing when you think 11 months ago they were playing for a trip to the Super Bowl in a packed joint. So things change quickly in the National Football League. I've heard that. Andrew Luck threw two touchdown passes, and Robert Mathis broke the Colts's single season and career sacks record by forcing a second half safety to lead the Colts past the reeling Texans 253 on Sunday, Case Keenham, Wes's former boy. Also, you're a Case Keenham in recovery, Case Keenham fan, just as you're in recovery as a Bengals fan. I'm not, it was just a fleeting moment.

I mean, it was just a fling between Case Keenum and I, yeah, it was a summer fling in the fall. Let's be honest, you had a few drinks that night, you guys first. Yeah, yeah, I mean, he was a... Woke up in the morning and try to convince yourself of it, and then eventually logic took over. He was a double bagger. Patrick, the cults have been obviously pretty bad the last, really, I don't know, six to eight weeks or so. Every other week, man. Well, yeah, that's true, too.

Even week. Were you impressed by their play today? I think it had more to do with a bad Houston team that's pretty much given. up. Trent Richardson, first time he's gone over 100 yards from scrimmage, but through three quarters he was still only averaging 1.1 yards per carry. He ripped off a couple

bigger runs, 22-yarder in the fourth quarter when the game was not in doubt. I thought the Colts defense played pretty well, but it had a lot to do with Case Kingdom not being able to move the offense. Darius Butler just seemed like he was baiting him into the two interceptions that he had,

just waiting on it. I thought the Houston defense played with some fire to begin with, but you could see just once the game got out of hand, there was just no, there was nothing to fight back with. Robert Mathis got a safe, you know, he set a record in this game. J.J. Watt, again, the Texans lose. Is Robert Mathis at the point where he has to be considered for defensive player of the year? I think he should have been in the conversation all year.

Right. I mean, not just considered. I mean, do you think he might have a decent shot to win it? I would put Robert Quinn over Robert Mathis myself. It's interesting you like Quinn Because your argument is basically I can't vote for a guy on a two-win team But ultimately Quinn's going to be on a losing team too

That's not my argument My argument is a lot more nuanced than that But nobody wants to hear that Well what is the argument We want to hear it Jay J.J. Watt and Robert Quinn To me have been the two most dominant forces In the NFL

It's close enough to where you can go either way Quinn has been a lot better against the run this year He leads the NFL in force fumbles He leads the NFL and combined sacks hits and hurries. So we're not talking about a guy who's far behind J.J. Watt in the discussion. For me, it's almost like if there has to be a tiebreaker, it's that most of Watt's games haven't meant anything. It's like the MVP race in baseball where they're out of it by July,

and the fans aren't even paying attention anymore. How valuable is that? Wesleyan was ready to block national writers today for annoying him. Oh, yeah. I was real close. I love that. Yeah, it was close. One funny note I wanted to pass along, the Texans activated a tight end by the name of Brad Smelly today. Oh yeah, he used to play for the Browns.

Well, he's playing for the Texans. How appropriate is that? And it perfectly encapsulates everything in Houston. E.J. Manuel threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score leading the Buffalo Bills to a 2720 win over the banged-up Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. Wes, give me some heat. Explain this game. Get me excited. I don't know if this game is going to get you excited

E.J. Manuel played one of his best games of the season. He threw a bad pick early in the game on a screen pass right into it basically hit Gino Hayes in stride which you don't see very often hitting the linebacker in stride and he bounced back and had two passing TDs in a running TD. Look like Robert Wood's best game of the year.

He hadn't done much in about two months and he came alive today. And then on the Jaguar side of the ball, Jordan Tobman, by the beginning of the fourth quarter, had more rushing yards and yards for scrimmage than Joan Drew has had all season. When we're supposed to move the show along, you know, we've been talking too long on a big game or something. Dan kind of does a circle in the air with his finger.

Home run. Dan, I would like to circle my finger in the air right now on this game. You know what? I am going to circle my finger. We are going to move on and let's do it. Let's move on to Miami. Tom Brady's latest comeback bid came up short and the Miami Dolphins helped their playoff chances with a 24-20 victory Sunday over the AFC East leading New England Patriots.

Greg's New England Patriots, I watch the game next to Greg, as I watch many, many games during the fall and winter season. Greg, you took the loss well, but still very damaging for your team, which let a golden opportunity go out the window. Yeah, it's going to be much harder if they have to go into Denver than otherwise. but this doesn't really change how I see the Patriots or the Dolphins. These are two teams that go into every game, and it's all down to the last few seconds.

That's who the Patriots are. They're not going to blow anyone out. I think it showed how hard it's going to be to win without Rob Gunkowski because they're going down the field so slowly. They were moving the ball well all day. They actually ended up with 453 yards. But it's hard to score and win when everything is 10 yards to Julian Edelman and five yards Lageret Blunt on the ground.

It hurt their margin of error and give Ryan Tannahill some love for some beautiful throws. They were down 10-0-0 late in the second quarter, and he really made a lot of nice throws the rest of the game. Maybe that's why Greg was in generally pretty good spirits after the loss because he had his boy, Ryan Tannehill, blooming, in full bloom, perhaps making the leap himself. Sometimes the big play in the game, and we could talk about the end of the game, where Tom Brady had three or four chances to win it.

Danny Amandola had his hand on the ball and it was knocked out by a guy who was on the 49ers practice squad last week who had the game-winning interception when he jumped off his man, I mean, game-sealing interception. But let's go back all the way to the second quarter. And it's 10 to nothing. There's a minute 45 left. It's third in 10 with about a minute 45 left in the second quarter.

And instead of being conservative and trying to make the Patriots use their timeouts, They dial up a big play, and Ryan Tannehill throws a beautiful throw down the sidelines, third and ten. It's gorgeous. They end up scoring a touchdown that play, and that showed a lot of confidence in him, and that, to me, was the key play of the game. I think we've all talked about how valuable Gronk is, and national writers have talked about it. I think what gets left unsaid is, he was the Patriots deep threat. He's not a chain move.

He is a chain mover, but he's the guy that Brady is hitting 20, 30 yards down the field. They don't have that anymore without him And it was funny to see Brady After the game at his post-game press conference Actually he loses cool He used some naughty language and left the press comments early I don't want to like go into his mind and guess why he was so frustrated Because obviously it was a tough loss

But you know he has it has to hurt for him to He must feel like he's back at square one again Where he's again trying to deal with these weapons that maybe aren't up to par And he had his guy back and to lose him is even worse He played a great game, I thought, overall, but he's probably kicking himself on the second down play, second and goal with the game on the line there. He had a mandola one-on-one, and he did not make a good throw. I think they could have won the game right there. They were trying to win the division on the road against a big rival.

I think, yeah, he was frustrated. They didn't have their two rookies, either Dobson and Tompkins, which hurt their ability to go deep. So I'll ask you this with the Patriots letting this opportunity slip away are the Broncos now, and I'll ask you, Kevin Patcher, in your mind, the heavy favorite for that number one. seed. Yes, I think with the way their schedule lines up, I think that they should win out and then they would get the top seat in the AFC? What is the Broncos schedule these last two weeks? At Houston and Oakland. Oof. At Edboldt. Yes. That's a done deal. So they should win going away. It's going to, that if the Patriots can somehow make the AFC championship, they'll think back to this game and that's the reason why they're not in Foxborough. It's a killer. Marshaun Lynch scored on a

twisting two-yard run, and the Seahawks picked off five Eli Manning passes, manhandling the New York Giants 23-0-0 Sunday at the Meadowlands. I watch this game fairly closely, and it was not fun to watch the Giants. You know, for all the puff pieces that I feel like I've come across this season about how the Giants never gave up, even at 0-and-6, and they fought hard for their coach. team did not look like they were invested in this game at all and they were obviously outclassed

personnel wise but you know the big story for me other than the Seahawks inching closer to the number one overall seat in the NFC is Eli Manning who just he has become a liability for this team and it is the under the radar story that no one's talking about

I know Greg you're not a big Giants Eli Coughlinera fan but you know I'm more of a guy that will give them credit for what they but we can't just look away and not see what happened this year with Eli, right, Wes? We talked about this on Friday. Nobody's

really talking about how bad Eli is, man. He's been but he's been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this year. He's supposed to be a franchise guy. And I think probably it has to extend to Kevin Gilbride. This offense is terrible. They had between 1997 and 2012

shut out one time in 256 games. They've been shut out twice this year. And their personnel isn't terrible on offense. New York is now 5 and 9. They head into the offseason. First losing record since 2004. So they're in a weird place as a franchise right now.

The Seahawks, other things I took out of this game. Richard Sherman, you want to talk about defensive player of the year candidates? He had two interceptions today. He has a share of the league lead with six. Obviously interceptions, don't tell the whole story. But he's been as good as advertised. he's backed up his play, and he's the leader of the secondary of the best defense in football. So he deserves to be in the conversation, no?

He's Earl Thomas's leader of that secondary and probably should be the defensive player of the year over, Richard Sherman. Oh, how dare you? They could split votes. The Shermanator. That could be a problem. Is that his nickname? I don't even know.

It's a bad one if it is. Dan, are you ready to give up on your prediction that the Giants will play a meaningful game in December? Well, I left a lot of wiggle room there, and basically the Seahawks, this is a big game for them. to get that first seed. So this was fairly meaningful, I would say. I don't know. That's the best I could do.

Matt Castle passed for 382 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score to lead the injury-depleted Vikings to a 48-30 victory over the Eagles on Sunday, snapping Philly's five-game winning streak. Wes, is it just me, or the Vikings a little frisky? I had two main takeaways from this game. That was one of them. They've been competitive in 11 of 14 games this year.

and to me Leslie Frazier should be fired for the same reason Lovie Smith should have been fired before he was in Chicago he has no clue about the quarterback position Matt Castle is three and two as Viking starter the other guys are one and eight I think that's the difference right there he couldn't identify his best quarterback well we had our guys Ian Rappaport and Mike Silver reported earlier today before the games

that number one Frazier is his his chances of surviving look grim, I think was the exact word and the other report that we're getting is that inside the building it appears that Matt Castle is the guy they're going to hold on to they're going to look to trade ponder they're going to dump Josh Freeman obviously

who's just collecting paychecks and then draft a quarterback up high and I guess all this will happen with a new coach leading the way hopefully somebody that knows how to handle the position. What are going to trade ponder for a bag of pretzels? I think late rounder is their goal I guess I don't know which is basically

To go on Wes's point If the game ended at 59 minutes The Vikings would be 9 and 6 right now They would be winning the NFC North That's just they can't close games There was another crazy stat with Castle Azus There's five 250-yard passing games 240 yard passing games by Vikings

Quarterback this year All five by Matt Castle My guy, Matt Castle I told you, have faith I surrendered Greg and I had this debate before the year, but who was better between Ponder and Castle? I chose Ponder, and I couldn't have been more wrong.

Hey, and let's give some love to Matt Azata. I mean, you got your monies worth with him today. 30 carries for 51 yards and three touchdowns. He does not deserve any low. That is one of my favorite stat lines ever, 30 for 51. He averaged 1.7 yards for carry, and on 30 carries, never had a run longer than 10 yards. It was like something out of mid-season Ray Rice. Guys got a nose for the end zone, though.

You got to admit that. It was like a guy that got a free tank of gas with their rental car, so they just keep driving around so that they use it up just for the value of it. Yeah, that's exactly what it was. The other takeaway was the Eagles secondary got exposed. They had been playing better of late, but they also hadn't really faced good quarterbacks for almost a two-month stretch. Yeah, why did we just talk about the Vikings for something?

I don't know. Now I just realized, wait, Philly could have basically won the division today or gotten really a big step towards winning the division next week, and now their best case scenario is going into the final week and needing to beat Dallas and it sets up oh man if Dallas had only hold on today

you know Philadelphia could have easily been facing an elimination game on Sunday night against that's a big if that's what they do though that's what the Cowboys do they always leave you thinking oh my God if they just would have done so and so and by the way the reason that we were only talking about the Vikings that was a pre-podcast production note from our producer

K. Rich Oh, thanks, guys. I was really happy that you guys weren't talking about the Eagles for two years. How are you feeling after this one? Because they're still in, you know, pretty good shape. Yeah, well, I'm still confident that they're going to win the division. I don't know if that's just the fandom in me. But I was obviously really disappointed, especially in their first half play. It was hard to watch. Vernon Davis caught a touchdown pass for the fifth straight game and Michael Crabtree scored his first touchdown since returning from injury to help the San Francisco 49ers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 3.14 on Sunday. The win keeps San Francisco locked into

that sixth seed with two games to play. I watch that this game very closely. I guess two things I took out of it especially. Michael Crabtree, I know Wes, we saw it, we all saw it. He broke free in his first game back last week and he wasn't maybe moving as well

and coming off Achilles surgery. You don't expect that. He had, the touchdown pass was a four-yard touchdown reception in which he He wiggled around in the back of the end zone, made a quick move to shake himself free. He's moving well. He also got behind the secondary on a play, and Kaepernick just missed him.

So I think we're going to see Crabtree as a major factor down the stretch, and that's a big lift to them because we didn't know what we were going to get from him, or I would say Jim Harbaugh didn't know what they were going to get out of him coming off that type of surgery. Give the around-the-league podcast a Barry Horowitz-style slap on the back here. We called this the 49ers a few weeks ago. So this is a team now. They are a different team on offense with Crabtree there. It allows Vernon Davis to do what he does.

It allows Bolden to become the number three guy instead of the number one guy. And the 49ers now, to me, are the second best team in the NFC. Vernon – you bring up Vernon Davis. That guy is a freak. I mean, he does – every time I watch him, he's doing something crazy. This time he just went on a fly pattern, outran the entire secondary, pulled in a touchdown, a 52-yard touchdown, and slammed into a wall and popped back up. I mean, he does things.

I know with all due respect to Jimmy Graham, who is an athletic freak in his own right, I like Vernon Davis more than any tight end in the league now that Gronk has heard again. He's my favorite tight end, and I think he's not bar none, but in my opinion, the most talented guy on the field in the NFL. Is there any other player in the league where you feel like if he wanted to in any game and if the coaching staff led him, he could have 100 yards in a touchdown every game? But because the coaching staff doesn't use him that way, he leaves fantasy owners scratching their heads all the time.

because you have no idea what the game plan is going to be. That's fair. And they're 10-4 now. I mean, they're rolling. They're going to be a 12-win team most likely. You know, we talked about, you said you think they're the second-best team. They now have the second-best record. They have the same record as the Saints and the Panthers.

They've snuck up a little and they're stuck in that division, so they're not going to win the division, but they're as good as anyone. And if one play goes differently, they win over the Panthers and the Saints. Both of those were tight losses with key plays. And I agree with you, Wes. I think the Saints, and we'll get to them a little later, another kind of dispiriting performance from them on the road. You know, the Panthers, obviously, your team that you have to take seriously.

But I think it's what everyone thought going into the season. It's Seattle 1, San Francisco, 2, and let's go to work. You know, a lot of reasons to be excited for the NFC playoffs. One other note, and we don't need to focus on the Bucks too much. But, you know, Greg Schiano, Mark Sessler said on Friday's pot, he thought that Chiano's job was safe. Greg, I think you agreed. This is now two decisive losses out of three games,

and they have two games left, both on the road against St. Louis and New Orleans. Not easy matchups. I think he's going to have to win one of these games to keep his job. It seems so arbitrary to me. But that's how these things go. It's not necessarily fair. You're right. It always seems like it's arbitrary,

but they end up making a decision based off one game that doesn't mean anything in week 16. Well, did Glennon's performance change your mind at all in this? Because I think to me that's what's going to be the side. He played a little better today. His progress over the last three weeks of the season could be the dispute tournament. I think it's a good point, Patrick. I think he got better. He couldn't be much worse than he was last week.

But I really, yeah, I mean, I think if they lose out and finish 4 and 12, it's going to be hard to, to me, for them to bring him back. We'll see. Cam Newton threw for 273 yards in a touchdown. Captain Munnerlin had two sacks and returned to an interception for a touchdown, and the Carolina Panthers defeated the New York Jets 30 to 20 on Sunday. West, this game was more competitive than I guess any of us thought, although the Jets killed themselves in the end

and turned to actually competitive game into a bit of a laffer by the end. I think you're being very generous to the Jets on that one. I guess. I tend to do that. It wasn't all that competitive. Although we did see. Sheldon Richardson now has more touchdowns than Akeem Nix this year. I know.

They used them in the fridge roll. By the way, wasn't this game 16-13 in the fourth quarter? Yeah, and then the Panthers pulled away. Well, it only became 16-13 because Riverboat Rome went for it on fourth down. When a field goal could have made it. We've created a monster. Yeah, and he went for it and against the best run defense wall in the league. and, of course, lost it.

But takeaway, Captain Munnerland had the game of his life. He had that pick six, now owns the Panther's career record for most pick sixes with five, had two sacks, caused another sack for Keeckley with his pressure. And that seemed to be a game plan thing where the Panthers thought they could get to Gino with a cornerback blitz. And then another takeaway, DeAngelo Williams looks great. Best he's looked since September at least, and maybe going back to last season. That breakaway speed on the screen pass, I believe 80-yard touchdown? 72-yard touchdown.

That was old-school. David Harris had an angle on him and missed it. Yeah. And for those of you wondering about the Gino coaster, you know, it's creaking along. It kind of stalled on the top of one of those loops, and now people are in danger. There's a lot of lives in jeopardy. Through another pick six, that's five on the season for Gino Smith. Really exciting.

The Saints and Panthers now 10 and 4. And, of course, the Saints travel to Charlotte next week. The game that could decide the division. Yeah. Ron Rivera's words looking prophetic, just saying, you know, they beat us pretty good here. We'll see what happens when they come to Carolina. The Saints have some issues. Good.

That's the new game of the year next week. I hope it doesn't let us down. River about round. Jamal Charles tied a franchise record with five touchdowns in one game, including four receiving for the running back. Alex Smith threw five touchdown passes and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders 5631 on Sunday to clinch at least a wild card spot. The Chief's now 11 and 3,

and they've become the fourth team ever to make the playoffs a year after losing at least 14 games. But perhaps more importantly than anything else we've talked about today, Wes, your softball pants. Will Chris Wesley eat his softball pants? The answer is no.

Yeah, this is the first time all year that I feel really comfortable that I will not have to eat metal zippers and... Nylon, another compartment. On elastic. Yeah, I feel pretty good about it now. Well, they've got to win out now, which they're obviously not going to do it.

They're going in the wrong direction. And another, you know, I know Matt McLean, some people started to get a little excited about McLean. But I guess what tends to happen sometimes with these undrafted free agents that get a shot, they play a little well, and we all kind of get a little excited. And then, you know, reality hits. He played terribly today. And there's very little doubt that the Raiders are going to be looking for a quarterback, right? Yeah, I agree. I think I've certainly learned a lesson here with these not so talented, undrafted guys coming in and adding a spark to a more abundant offense. Moribund.

Just to make the argument, they did score 31 points. He threw 8.3 yards per attempt and 297 yards. As rookie performances go, this wasn't like a Gino coaster crashing. How many interceptions? Four interceptions. That's a factor. It's a game destroy. I don't know what that. I put him and Keenham in the same category. and it's kind of interesting, like, who would you rather have as your backup next year?

One of those two are Christian Ponder. I'd take the two undirected free agents over the first rounder. Interesting. Would you, this sounds silly, but would you start Terrell Pryor the last two games? Nothing matters anymore. See what else you have there. I would start McGloin. Yeah.

I think people in that front office don't think Terrell Pryor will ever be a viable quarterback. Their offense has been better with McGuire. I agree with that. And on a personal note, I adjusted my screenback screen pass back rankings. Pierre Thomas had held the league for a half a decade. One of the best screen pass backs I've ever seen. I think Jamal Charles just had the best screen pass game in NFL history.

I actually saw on the top of the CNN headline stack that you had adjusted your screen pass rankings. Charles moves ahead of Thomas. It was kind of an earth-shattering move. Thomas wasn't budging for a long time. One of my favorite stats all day, Alex Smith threw five. touchdown passes in this game. Those five passes traveled the total of 13 yards in the air. I think he's like only the third quarterback in the last 10 years to have five touchdowns,

200 yards, and no picks, something like that? 17 for 20. I mean, Charles had 195 yards receiving. That's one of the top three, I believe it is, performances receiving by running back in NFL history. Drew Brees through interceptions that led to touchdowns on the Saints' first two possessions, and the Rams got a big day, big days from Zach Stacey, Robert Quinn, and on special teams and a 27-16 victory on Sunday, a surprise 27-16 victory.

Wes, the Saints, it's obvious this team is a mediocre team on the road, right? They're in trouble. They're not even mediocre. They've lost four of their last five on the road, and they have to go to Carolina next week. They've been a different offense since Jimmy Graham's planter fascia. He had first five games, four 100-yard games, and his next nine games, he's been held under 60 yards seven times.

He just doesn't have the explosives in this And he's their best weapon by far This offense They have no running game to speak of I just think out of that Those four teams at the top of the NFC The Saints have the most blemishes Who's the team

Patrick as a Lions fan That you would want to draw In the first round It could be either the loser of the NFC South So the Saints or the Panthers Or the 49ers Out of those three teams Who would you be?

you like to be coming into Detroit? To the Motor City. I would have to say... I know I just jinxed the Lions from... You did, it's fine. If I had to, I would probably say the Panthers. Because I think the Lions would do well against the run in that game. And I think we could throw the ball against that defense, similar to how the Saints did against them.

I think we could... The offensive line has done well. I don't think that the Lions... Secondary would be able to stop Drew Brees. That's the main key right there. As Dan Dierdorf warbled today, defense travels well, my friend. Carolina's got a good one. That sounds like something people just say.

Yeah, unless it's in a dome. It's still inside. I wouldn't want to face Drew Brees. Drew Brees is traveled really well in the playoffs. It might be the Saints are a good option, though, because like Chris said... That would have been the second one. It would not have been the 49ers. We talked about this six weeks ago that there,

There are things you can't really argue about the Saints' offense. They don't run the ball at all. They don't really protect Drew Brees very well. Their tackles aren't good. And they don't really have anyone that beat you deep. That does not sound like a great offense. And yet they're still putting a point in yards, certainly at home. But, you know, they've got issues.

Speaking of tackles not protecting Drew Brees, Charlie Brown got beat like a drum by Robert Quinn today. By calling him Charlie Brown. That's like you're insulting at a game point there. You rock, you block, you stone you. I'm thinking to, like, the meeting of the offensive linemen in the morning, and it's just the peanuts, the teachers, want, want, want, just talking to him. That's exactly what's going on.

Yeah. Robert Quinn, Wes, had two sacks, giving him an NFC leading 15 for a pass rush that took the heat off a young secondary. That's pretty good. Yeah, I think he's, he has to be, I think he's the favorite for a defensive player of the year. it remains to be seen how much credit the Seahawks guys get their big names they play for the best team in the league so there's really no clear

front runner for this award should we give Jeff Fisher credit for out-foxing Rob Ryan in the grudge match that we forgot about that pre-game story which was fun that Michael Silver reported the Rams coaches were upset with Rob Ryan because if anyone remembers

Rob Ryan was the defensive coordinator of the Rams as Chris Long put it on the internet for about 12 hours which is Pretty much true. It was just reported. He went to work at the Rams facility, and then he mysteriously left, and they saw him running across the street to a McDonald's at 7.30 in the morning. And getting into a mysterious car, who knows what was going on. Speaking of a car, who sent the car.

Some high-level Patriots games. Speaking of mysterious, he got a Big Mac, according to Silver, at 7.30 a.m. You see, this is what. You cannot get a Big Mac at 7.30. But that's what makes it great, because can't just picture Rob Ryan walking into McDonald's and demanding. a Big Mac and getting it? Wait, because Rob Ryan gets his way of McDonald's.

Rob Ryan walks into a Big Mac. He says he wants one. I mean, walks into a McDonald says he wants a Big Mac. I mean, they're making it. It's in the back. It's not like they're not there. He gets what he wants. I guess.

Except victories over the ramp. He didn't want it enough. He didn't want it like he wanted that Big Mac. That's true. Jay Feely kicked a 41-yard field goal in overtime and the Arizona Cardinals edged the Tennessee Titans 37-34 in overtime after blowing a

17-point lead late in the fourth quarter. I had a hero pick on the Titans, and I was feeling great. We had some genuine Fitzmagic at play, but it all kind of flamed out because Fitzmagic turned into what he really is. He threw an interception, and it kind of cost him in overtime. That is, the Cardinals are at nine. The Cardinals are now nine and five. They've won six out of seven games.

We've got to give some respect to the Cardinals. Greg, can you get out of your chair? Can you do something? Give the Cardinals respect. I want to get out of it. my chair but like this is this is such a cardinals moment really because they go nine and five it doesn't really make a difference they have the craziest ending of a game you'll ever want to see no one paid attention because it happened at the exact same time as the cowboys packers the titans were down

17 points with three and a half minutes to go and this went to overtime they got a touchdown an onside kick a field goal an onside kick and another touchdown now that wasn't the Cardinals doing anything well, but it was just like one of the craziest games you'll ever see. Carson Palmer threw the ball really well. I feel bad that this team isn't in the AFC, because to me they look like a playoff team. They look better than most six seats are, but they're not going to make the playoffs. They gave up 34 points and some heavy passing yards to Fitzpatrick. I think a lot of people didn't want to believe how good Tyron Matthew was playing.

This was a big indicator. They missed him. And Larry Fitzgerald suffered a concussion reportedly at the end. of this game. They have to go to Seattle next week to keep any hopes alive. And even if they won that game, they'll probably be knocked out next week if San Francisco handles their business. So Arizona, they're in trouble.

That takes us to the Sunday night game. I call this a classic, how can I take you seriously, performance for the Bengals, who with everything in front of them, with the Patriots losing, the chance to move into the second seed potentially, they lay an egg, they're down 21-0 at the end of the first quarter. They don't even look competitive. The punter gets his jaw broken, which is a metaphor for the whole performance the way things are going out there.

I'll throw it out to you. Kevin Patrick, you tell me, how do you take this team seriously after this Sunday night performance? His silence speaks volumes. He doesn't take them. It's difficult. They had a chance to take over the number two seed, as we said,

because with the Patriots losing, and they at the bank. We definitely can't say that. We're going to need a beef, but that's okay. I mean, that's what they, almost every AFC power, I guess, whatever. The higher seats did that today. Everyone with a chance to move up, didn't move up. The Steelers came in.

Antonio Brown, I think, is one of the, not getting the hype that he deserves for his play this season. He played phenomenally in the returns in the passing game, and I think he hasn't seen it as much. It doesn't surprise me that the Steelers are finishing strong. They have Ben Rathsberger, who is playing at an MVP level, Greg, over the last two months now. And, you know, they have a good coach. And I'm not surprised that they played well tonight. I am a little surprised that the Bengals were so flat, Wes. And this was supposed to be Andy Dalton's good month.

And, you know, him along with the rest of his team, just came out of the gates very slow on prime time and a big stage. It just doesn't give you a good feeling about what will happen in January. Bengals have been coming out flat at Pittsburgh for three decades now. That's their role in life to be the little brother to the Steelers. They're three and five away from home this year. So their road schedule is done. And now they need to hope for a Patriots lost the next two weeks or they will be heading on the road in the divisional round

if they should get past that first round. Is there any AFC team that you do take seriously besides the Broncos? Yes. I take the Patriots seriously. What? What do you mean take them seriously? I'm not into the taking seriously I'm not into controlling your destiny If it's destiny, it's already decided

Let's stop with the controlling the deskers HIPster talk, Greg I'm not into anything Everything is whatever You know The Bengals have played better than the Patriots Would the Patriots Winning the game against Denver and Cincinnati

be all that surprising? No, I don't think so Yes, because they don't have their best player They also lost Nate Solder by the way today They didn't even mention that. They've lost too many guys. They've had problems. This Bengals performance, though, I don't know.

It doesn't surprise anyone, does it, based on how they've played all year? I picked the Steelers, so it doesn't surprise them. And Uncle Al Michaels said it best, watching this game, it was like nothing had ever changed. You could have put this in a vacuum and taking it back several years. The Steelers were bullying the little brothers. I just kind of like, it's kind of a depressing performance if you're a Bengals fan. and I know Michael Berger downstairs. He just left.

Oh, did he walk out? I'm not surprised because this is the type of performance that, you know. Bengals fans are used to. It's interesting. We were talking about the two-seed with the Bengals, but we can't say that the AFC North is just done yet. If the Ravens win their last three games, they are the AFC North champions. Regardless of what the Bengals do?

It doesn't matter. They play the Bengals. They can get the tiebreaker. It's not going to be easy. Baltimore is a tough road, but this division isn't quite over-year. yet. Your lions can help end it. K. Rich, behind the glass, on Friday, I attempted to plug the Stitcher Awards, which is something that exists that we want to win. And I didn't do a very good job at it because we didn't

really know what to say. Now you're back. And I would like you, if possible, K. Rich, to explain what our listeners can do to help the Around the League podcast. All right, to all of our great listeners. Amazing listeners. We love you guys. We're just trying to butter you up so you will vote for us. We want for you to go on to Stitcher and vote for us as the best new podcast and or, but mostly and, the best sports podcast. We're trying to go for world domination here. So all you have to do is go to Stitcher, S-T-I-T-C-H-E-R dot P-R-O-M-O-T-W.com. And there you will be able to nominate us at NFL-colon,

around the league podcast. Feel free to nominate us for as many categories as you like, but we're going for best new and best sports. And political commentary. Yeah, that's, you know, that works. Yeah, we're going for the Titanic sweep as we talked about Friday. Thank K. Rich, that's how you do it. That's how you get the information to the people.

You're a broadcaster. It's in your bones. There you go. So vote, please nominate. All right, guys, that's it for Sunday's podcast. Patra, you are heading back to the middle of America. Is that correct? The coldness.

Well, man. Bring it on. It's going to be very cold. Hang it on. But he's got the beard now. I got the beard. So everything's going to be okay. As long as you have a beard and you turn your collar up.

You know all you need is a beard and a beer. Exactly. And Sessler is driving through a desert or something. Hopefully he'll be back unless Patrick did something terrible. I promise I did not. Okay, that's good. And yes, we'll all be back on Wednesday. Until then, this is Dan Hansa, signing off for the mailman, the boss.

Kevin Patrick's nickname. We're going to have to keep working on this. Next time you're in, we'll have one ready. K, rich, behind the glass. I think the gold standard's back there somewhere. Until Wednesday. This is an I-Heart podcast.