NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Week 13 recap

Episode Date: December 1, 2014

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler -- recap every Sunday game on the Week 13 NFL schedule. Highlights include Brady vs. Rodgers, Johnny Football's first TD and the Chargers' comeback.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, this is Greg Rosenthal. Before we get to the big show, we've got a new sponsor for the Around the NFL podcast. Thanks for supporting the site. This is what comes with it. We get a sponsor, and it's Fandul.com. If your fantasy league season is over, the playoffs are arriving and your team is out, you can go sign up for a one-week league at Fanduil.com.

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The new user special is ending now. And come on, you can support the site a little bit. And now let's get over to the rest of the show and our money tag. Take it away. The Around the NFL podcast has better hands than Odell Becow. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hanses and I am joined by a room filled with heroes, Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosethal. What's up, boy?

Hey, Dan. We've lied to them right off the bat. Well, yeah, that is a tower. Better hands than O'Dell Beckham. None of us could even do anything athletically. If there was a way to take all of our athletic ability, and Wes, I know you got some skills, especially on the cornhole field, court, pitch, pitch.

But if you took all of our hand-eye coordination percentages and put them together, would not be reaching O'Dell Beckham. Not within a world. Orb. Welcome to the Sunday edition of the Round the NFL podcast. our big recap of all the action. Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving, you know, got past some subpar games.

I'm a little disappointing those Thanksgiving games, right, Mark? Well, yeah, I think, you know, you'd think the slate, it lines up for a bunch of, you know, classics, and it was quite the opposite. But Sunday, we had... You just saw it because you keep donating picks by picking the Cowboys. Well, listen, I have had a nice luck with the Cowboys overall this season, but now I have to recalibrate everything.

As I said downstairs, Greg, you know, I've led the league this year and percentage of weeks in first place. So you don't get that way by accident, buddy, boy. That's not even a stat. By the way, at the end of this week, we're not going to get two side-tracked. We've got a lot to get into, but there's going to be a four-way tie atop the standings in our picks. That's outrageous.

That is hubba-hub-ah goodness. So track how that will shake down. I don't know if it's exciting to anyone else, but we're all excited about it. That's all that matters. Yeah. So big week, and I guess we have to start. There's no other place to start, but what could be a preview of Super Bowl 49 in Glendale. Lambeau Field, where Aaron Rogers threw 368 yards and a pair of touchdown to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 26-21 win over the New England Patriots.

And what could be and felt like a potential preview of the big game, the Packers have won three straight, eight of nine. Pats have lost for the first time in eight weeks. Wes, after a collection of duds on Thanksgiving, here's a game that lived up to the height. It was fun to watch. Rogers and Brady trading great plays. Got Revis shutting down Jordy Nelson until Jordy puts a little nudge to get separation for a 45-yard touchdown. That's allowed. That was the biggest play of the game, don't you think?

Yeah. And then Gronk bouncing off defenders and almost makes a diving catch that would have changed the outcome of the game. that play where Nelson scores a touchdown with under 20 seconds left from whatever it was, 50, 60 yards out. I mean, that's a killer. That's a play that you don't normally see the Patriots make. When I saw that, I was just like, you're not recovering from that. I mean, that first half by Aaron Rogers had as many highlight throws as any quarterback's had in a half all year. I think it was tough for fans because New England, after about three and a half minutes, when they missed that field goal, they never got the ball back.

You almost wanted to see them at the end of the game. Punch it in at the end of the game and put Aaron Rogers in a place where he had to two minutes left to Lambo. And Revis, and being a Jets fan and seeing how great Revis was when he was of the Jets, this was before that play anyway, Revis was playing out of his mind.

He was like the guy we all remember. So Revis has been such a great addition, but that again just speaks to the greatness of Rogers and Jordy Nelson as a team that they were able to get such a big play. This reminded me of so many Patriots games that they wind up winning. That's why the ending was painful for Tom Brady.

You know, Rob Grunkowski gets his hand on the ball there. They missed a field goal. They almost win it because the Packers look like the better team all day. I mean, the Packers go 0 for 4 in the Red Zone, and the Patriots go three for three, I believe, and they still lose the game. So it was a game that Green Bay really looked like the better team, and the Patriots almost snuck it out. I think they are the better team, and I'm not saying it's by a wide margin.

This isn't really a shameful loss for New England at all, but Green Bay has emerged as a powerhouse. I don't know who's going to touch them. Well, the thing that struck with me is the Packers got a good pass rush on Tom Brady. I know they didn't sack them until late in the game. And the Patriots got three sacks and Rogers, but the Patriots pass rush wasn't nearly as good as Green Bay. The Packers in Lambo are the only juggernaut in the NFL these days.

I mean, they're unbeatable there. And this really puts them in a poll position, I think. The Lions control their own destiny mathematically, but they finish in Lambo in the season finale, and I just don't think they can beat the Packers in Green Bay. It would be very Lions-like to lose one of the games before that, though, where they're the heavy favorites. I don't think we can just chalk it.

Oh, yeah, Lions will win three straight going into Green Bay. Sure, they're not going to screw this up at all. By the way, here's the dream scenario. If you're a football fan and you're thinking about the NFC playoffs, the Seahawks seem like they're taking flight. That was good. That was terrible. They're playing very well, obviously.

It's say they continue. to play straight through the divisional playoffs. They're on fire. The Packers continue to be the Packers. Seattle at Lambo, NFC title game. I'm already excited about the possibility. Fail Mary, part two. I want the same exact thing to happen again.

Bring back that idiot fake official who wrote a book about being an idiot. Let's do it all over again. Patriots got to be careful, though. They go to San Diego and they come home from Miami, which are tricky games. I don't think anyone expects them to lose, but they're tricky games. And if they lose either one of those, they could wind up not being the number one seed getting home field. They're going four and O to close the season.

I was going to say, are we already at the point in the show, by the way, where Greg talks about the division potentially being in danger for the Patriots. Come on, you're going to win it by four games. Since Aaron Rogers' last interception, two years, 3651 pass attempts and 31 touchdowns?

That's insane. The guy's playing at another level. But Brady, that was a great. Both guys. Brian Hoyer-like that just reminded me, though. Brady played great, but he'd miss some throws in this game. I mean, I don't think it was his best game of the year. That just got me thinking this was a huge game for the MVP race.

Like Aaron Rogers was my pick going into this game, and for him to win at home where he clearly outplayed Brady, that's big. Good call. All right, we go from one NFC division leader to another. The Arizona Cardinals guys are in a funk. The Falcons jumped out to a 17-point first quarter lead and then coasted from there in a convincing 29-18 win at the Georgia Dome. The Falcons keep pace with the Saints'clock.

the NFC South. Cardinals, meanwhile, see their division shrink to just lead shrink to just one game over the Seahawks. Gentlemen, the Cardinals are in deep trouble with Drew Stanton as their quarterback. No way around it. The Seahawks are a much better team in week 13, week 14, than the Cardinals are. The Cardinals have gotten this far by winning close games where they win the turnover margin. I mean, that's pretty much, and that's a hard thing to do week after And, like, you can't do that when Drew Stanton's your quarterback and you're trying to throw the ball 40 yards down the field every other place. And they got a garbage touchdown late to make this look a little bit better. And that was the first touchdown that Drew Stanton had led his drive.

He'd let his team on in 10 quarters. So this is not something that, you know, one bad week, you mark it off. It's been really a stretch now that's covered almost all the time since Carson Palmer got hurt. And, you know, Bruce Ariens has said all the right things and pumping up Stanton as the guy he believes can take them to, through the NFC playoffs and to the Super Bowl, but I don't see it. And I look forward to hearing what you guys think about it when you watch a tape. Because I saw a guy that was lost,

the interception that he threw, a second interception he threw that essentially iced the game. It was basically a checkdown pass over the middle that he overshot the receiver by five feet. It was just too easy. And it's not the type of pass you see a big-time quarterback make. So that's my big concern. There's a lot of pressure on that defense to win games.

And it's just, it's asking too much. I mean, Atlanta couldn't beat the, rounds when Brian Hoyer threw three interceptions. For them to win this game is shocking to me. I mean, I guess I shouldn't be that shock. I think Arizona, though, they have the looks, and we've talked about it downstairs. I don't know. I had the vision of them going nine and seven after holding what was a huge lead in the division.

I could just see them completely melting? Could they run the ball today, by the way? Because that was a huge issue for them last week. Andre Ellington had a hip injury left at the end of the first half. In Stanton's defense, if there is a defense, you're playing without Larry Fitzgerald who missed the second straight game. Ellington goes out in the first half and bye-bye to the running game. They don't have anybody that could pick up the slack behind him.

Honey Badger got hurt, too. But you're playing against the Falcons. One of the worst defenses in the NFL. And by the way, the Falcons team that all season has shown us over and over again, we will let you back in this game and probably let you steal it if you want it enough. And the Cardinals couldn't even come close to doing that. So I would say if you're a Cardinals fan, it's okay to hit the panic button right now, even at 9 and 3.

Turn off the television and wait for the offseason. Well, no, I wouldn't go that. Meanwhile, Atlanta is going to be playing a really meaningful week 16 game to try to make the playoffs. Because this win kind of clinched it that when they go to New Orleans in week 16, that that game is going to at least give them a chance to win the division. That's a total buzzkill of a scenario that you just raised. We credited that Cardinals for being one of the toughest teams in the league. And they go out and Julio Jones just worked over Patrick Peterson.

And Stephen Jackson has the first 100-yard game by a football. Falcons running back since Michael Turner was still in the league. Peterson said after the game, you know, this is on me because he got toasted and Bruce Ariens is why I love him. He said if you're going to talk about Julio Jones during the week, which I guess Peterson did, like, you got to do better than that.

Oh, wow, I like that. It's true. I'm out. Yeah, we cannot skip over that at all. It was an absolute dominating performance. And Kevin Patcher wrote a piece. No Roddy White in the game, too, with that. It's crazy. Yeah. Kevin Patcher wrote a piece this week.

that Patrick Peterson called out, said, I'm looking forward to covering Julio Jones as the best cornerback in the league. No, you cannot say that. Because that would never happen to read the best cornerback in the league. Not even close. Anyway, the Falcons get an impressive win. And speaking of impressive,

let's get to the reigning team of ATL. Ooh, the San Diego Chargers wiped away a 10-point deficit with less than seven minutes to play, stunning the Baltimore Ravens and a 34-33 win in Baltimore. Greg Rosenthal, here's an example of a great quarterback refusing to let his team suffer a crushing defeat. Am I right?

This was one of the best quarterback games of the year, and I'm including Joe Flackle in that. He played terrific in this game, too. But Rivers led his team to a win on a day where they look dead so many different times. They end up with 31 first downs, 440 yards. They're down 10 points with about 6.50. to go. Even after that, San Diego gave up a scoring drive, and Rivers just kept going down

the field again and again and connecting on passes where the Ravens got hits on him. It was one of, you know, it reminded me the old Philip Rivers, the one from September. It's a huge win for San Diego because there's not a lot of time left, and they gained a big game on a bunch of AFC teams that lost. They're now sitting in the fifth position if the playoffs were to start today, and the one team above them, well, right next to him is the Chiefs, who are about to potentially lose. Well, it shows that they're going to be a factor in big games. They play the Patriots next week. They still have the Broncos.

It just gives them a chance. It shows like, hey, we can go on the road and beat a really quality team. Maybe they're not quite as bad as I think, although their defense, I think, is that bad. Yeah, can they overcome that defense in an offensive line that can't block? Probably not, but it was just like Philip Rivers kind of made you believe that, you know, if you have a quarterback playing that well, maybe you can. Keenan Allen also made a bunch of great catches. The Ravens tried to cover Antonio Gates with linebackers.

That's not a very good idea. Courtney Upshaw, it was just trying to trail them around. It's a bad idea. Baltimore's secondary, I think, is a big issue for them. We've called them the most balanced team in the AFC, or at least the AFC North, but they have a terrible secondary. I mean, when you go up against guys like Rivers or whatever, it's going to get exposed. His name Levine, Anthony Levine.

He got picked on over and over all game. He's a safety that they've been forced to play at cornerback. Yeah, they've had injuries. They weren't that good there to begin with. And now, I don't know. They're a game and a half behind the Bengals. That's going to be tough to catch up. All right, gentlemen.

Just let's give the team of around the NFL a little bit of credit. Who's joining me and getting back on the bandwagon? Not me. Why not? I'm enjoying them. I liked it. It was fun to see them. I wish I had picked them. None of us picked them to win this game.

And it didn't look like a bad idea of most of this game. Baltimore dominated, but I'm not off the bandwagon. They didn't perform to the level of expectation we thought they would for weeks. Right, but this is a big win on the road. And Wes, you've said that this team doesn't excite you. Three fourth quarter touchdowns. How about that? That's exciting.

How about their offensive line and defense? Are those exciting? The Ravens had seven red zone trips in their first eight drives, really, which was their whole game until they got the ball left with 30 seconds to go. It's unbelievable San Diego lost this game. If the Ravens don't make the playoffs, just games like this, they've underachieve this year. Couldn't happen to an ice our team.

All right, let's move on. Oh, wait, we can't move on without a little bit of a... San Diego, Supercharges. Now Wes is getting into it. Supercharges! Come on. Wes, you're in. I'm out.

Wes, you in San Diego, you have sort of a San Diego vibe to you. I don't get why you're not down with this team. I'm surprised. I haven't never been to San Diego, so I don't know what that means. Any team that can bring out the beautiful falsetto of Dan Hansis' vocal cards, I just love it. I love these guys. All right, so the Ravens go down. Who could take advantage of it in the tightly packed AFC North?

Not the Browns. Who went up to Orchard Park and could not move the ball in a 2610 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Brian Hoyer was benched after another performance giving Johnny Mansell's first real playing time of the season. Mark, we'll get to Manzell in a second, but what did you see from the Bills today who are hanging around in the playoff picture? What there is to believe in with Buffalo is their defense, and they absolutely smothered Cleveland from the start. There was a key turnover in this game. Terrence West, Brown's rookie running back, fumbled the ball, Hughes on the Bills took it in for a touchdown. The game was never the same after that. It was just like it sparked the crowd. It

gave the Bills confidence. Their offense was abysmal for. much of the game. The bills were like 2 of 15 on third down. So it was one of these games. If you're so frustrating to watch Cleveland, there were so many opportunities for them to draw even or pull ahead and they just couldn't do it. They could not get out of their own way. That is bizarre that it was 3-0 with 8 minutes left in the third quarter. And then the bills scored two touchdowns in 10 seconds. 10 seconds! I was watching my other games and I had the TV above Mark. Of course, we had the quiet storm. Mark says there is quiet storm going on right in front me, so I had no idea what was going on

with the game, the Browns game. But the TV behind Mark, I looked up and all of a sudden it was 7-3, and then like literally 10 seconds later, I looked up, it was 14-3, and then the way the Browns were struggling and moved the ball, you knew they were in trouble. Let's talk about their offense. It's like Brian Hoyer. Why are we

burying the lead here? Well, we have a playoff team. The bills are in the mix. We've got to give them to the Browns are in the mix. 7-5. The bills have their first 7-and-5 starts since 2000. Let's give them some credit for it. And them raising money for Darrell Talley. Come on, you get excited for the Bills. Good job. However, Bill's Mafia.

Bill's not a great name, but great job by Bill's fan. A very great fan base. Mark, Brian Hoyer, take us through your thoughts about his performance and then Mansell entering and what you took out of that. I think he's played himself out of the job today. I mean, five interceptions in two weeks. And I think we all watched, anytime you watched any of his tape, Brian Hoyer, you talk about, we talked about Drew Stanton, when he starts throwing turnover interceptions, then that team cannot win. That's very similar to Cleveland. They all year long won their turnover battle, all year long.

And Hoyer had so many dropped picks. Week after week, we saw, you know, a ton go through the myths of the defender's hands. Today and last week, that changed. I mean, teams are starting to pick them off. And I think a little bit for me, I want to go back and watch this game again. But it's the second week in a row where, yes, it's great to get Josh Gordon back. But I don't think – this offense was doing what it was doing the whole. way through with someone with a completely different receiving court. I don't think they've

quite figured out, and I don't think Hoyer has at all, had a deal with Josh Gordon back in this offense. He's extremely talented, and it sounds weird to say that their rhythm is off because such a good player is in the lineup, but that's what I'm seeing. It's a great point because when you think about it, you would think, oh, automatically the offense gets a lot better, but to take such a giant piece of the office and then just drop him in like an anvil and then be like everything feeds through him now. It makes sense. So what did you see for Mansell? Well, Mansell, and there wasn't a lot in a lot of time. He came on right away and let an 80-yard drive.

He's incredibly athletic. He did a nice job getting out of the pocket and running for a touchdown. On the next couple of drives, he got flattened on one. I thought it should have been basically a fumble for a touchdown. I mean, he got whacked and dropped the ball. They called it an incomplete pass. I don't know. I mean, I think what I get the sense is the team is very anxious to look at Manzell,

and it's not because they think they're out of the playoff rate. or something, but Hoyer has hurt them two games. No, they should not have won that Falcons game. Well, Petten said after the game, he wouldn't tip his hand, but he said, I think the quote was, you know, a quarterback change is a consideration, which I guess is admitting the obvious. And usually on Sunday night or Monday when they don't give you an answer, that means the change is coming.

Yeah. What you wrote in the offseason, Mark, that Mansell moved the needle, and when he scored that touchdown today, the newsroom erupted like it hasn't all year, I immediately went from my Brown's hat that Mark graciously gave. me a week or two ago. Because the Manzella era is here makes the Browns eminently more watchable in my opinion. Greg, what did that remind you of, by the way?

Oh, it's Tebow-y newsroom. Oh, you don't like that? Well, I don't like, no, no, I don't. You're the only one allowed to get excited for things? No, I get excited, but why do we all have to have this group thing where the whole room, all right, let's get crazy. It's 20 to 3 or something in a game. Meanwhile, other great games are going on.

It's more just the big group thing around like, Tebow, Tebo, Tebo, Tibo. Manzell, you know, there's got to be one guy like that. I don't see it as group, think. It came from an organic place. All right. By the way, by the time we have our next show on Wednesday, I would think the Manzell decision will be made one way or the other,

and that's going to be a major storyline in the NFL, just like Tebow for the next several weeks and perhaps beyond. So buckle in. I think we also saw why it was foolish. This whole reward Brian Hoyer with a big contract extension was foolish all along. And by the way, thanks, Wes, for volunteering to do. all those Mansell posts the rest of the week. All right, since you love the topic player.

All right, so the Ravens and the Browns both go down. What about the Steelers? Another dud. Pittsburgh look flat and listless in their own building, getting outplayed in all facets of a 35, 32 loss to the Saints. And don't be misled by the final score, guys. 16 points in garbage time by Ralthusberger. It doesn't hide the reality that Steelers A cannot be trusted.

And B, the Saints, after three straight weeks, of getting beaten in their own building and still staying at top of the NFC South, but looking so bad as a team, this is a really nice win by a team that needed it. The Battle of Lethargy. Why is that? Benfold five, the battle of who could care less.

A BFF drop. This was my Super Bowl pick before the year. And, well, listen, if a Super Bowl were like this, 35, 32, I wouldn't have an issue. Are you inviting me to do my toilet bowl joke again? Yeah, I'm just opening the door for that. Well, all right. I won't do it.

I won't do it. I don't know. I look at this team, the Steelers team, and I wonder some of it. A lot of Steelers fans are so frustrated with Mike Tomlin. Does some of this come back to coaching? I mean, why is their performance and really even there's some motion on the field so up and down? There's no way to figure this team out. And Wes, this is, you were so high on them.

And I get it because we saw enough games where they looked like one of the top teams in the AFC. But they've had too many of these games now where you can never really get behind them as a true AFC contender. They are what they are. They're an up and down team. They're maddening. They have a lot of talent,

but they don't know how to put it together. Was Big Ben hurt in this game, though? Because I saw him, he looked injured at one point. If you're a fantasy owner of Big Ben, you're happy with his 450-yard, two-touchdown performance. But that was the most misleading statistical line I think I've ever seen in a game. He was very, very bad all game.

And it started early on where he gets hit on a follow-through on his right wrist and it hurt him enough and you know he's a big ox uh ben ralphusberger he's never he never misses games he always stays in he's a tough guy he he was handing the ball off left-handed initially after that injury happened uh and then he was missing high consistently throughout the game so i wouldn't be surprised if it was the type of injury that would knock another quarterback out this box score is goofy yeah though saints wide receiver or saints receiving totals begged the question who was covering kennie stills right 162 yards And no one else had more than 17 yards for the same.

Jimmy Graham didn't have a catch in this game. And yet, and Drew Brees, and let's give him credit. So we've been giving him some heat this year for some ill-time turnovers and the like. But he played like the Drew Brees we know and loved through, well, I don't know if I love but he threw five touchdown passes without an interception and did it. He did it without Jimmy Graham somehow. I don't know how that happened. Yeah, but this that do not.

One guy who was really upset today, even though it was Team 1, was Rob Ryan, because the Steelers picked up two touchdowns and two-point conversions in the last like three minutes to make this look like a game, but this was not a game. Don't get fooled by that. So the Saints are in decent position and playing better now. And Rob Ryan's also not happy because he was named in a report before the game started that he wasn't getting along with Sean Payton,

and it sparked Sean Payton to go on this huge rant, a bunch of questions to start his press conference where he goes after CBS's reporter by name, he goes after ESPN, and then he says, anyone else got anything for me? And then they asked Ian Rappaport, our NFL media insiders. And at that point, he was sick. He just said, like, next question. I'm done with this.

That dude's crazy. But basically what it said was we're the best place. Dan, how did CBS and ESPN? How did my boy look? Your boy? Olavia? Mark, Mark Ingram. Oh, I lose track sometimes.

Mark Ingram. Who has a bigger room in the stable? Levion Bell or Mark Ingram? Yeah. I feel like Ingram, because everybody knows by now that Levyon Bell's great. Ingram back on track, he ran for 120 yards, I believe. He looked a lot better. He looked healthier.

He looked more explosive? He did. He looked a lot better. The last two weeks, I know he was around 50 yards each week. So, you know, when you have Ingram running like that and Breeze playing cleaner football, that's why anybody that's going to rule out the Saints, surprising someone in January. I'm not saying they're going to go on a deep run.

Anybody that thinks they can't knock off any team in one game is crazy. They still could be dangerous. I was going to say, yeah, this is not going to be a Super Bowl preview. That's very obvious at this point. But both could get into the playoffs. I wouldn't want to deal with either one of these. In a peak performance, they could wipe out almost anyone. That's true.

So the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens all go down. How about the Bengals? Winners. Duh. Winning. Charlie Sheen. Just barely, though, the Cincinnati Bengals overcame three first half interceptions from Andy Dalton to hand the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 14-13 loss. Chris Wessling, the mailman, tell us how a 12 men on the field penalty might have saved CINC from a gruesome defeat.

Josh McCown hits Lewis Murphy for a 21-yard catch, putting the Bucks in easy field goal range. Marvin Lewis notices the Bucks, I don't know if I've ever seen an offense line up in formation with. 12 players. No, I never have. Kind of a genius move if the other team doesn't catch it, but Marvin Lewis caught it. Challenged the play. It's not challengeable,

but the refs were already going to review it anyway, so they end up looking at it, and overturning the call pushes them out of field goal range and they lose the game. This was a crazy moment, not crazy in the newsroom, but an interesting moment. Berger, who's a producer for the network sitting behind his big,

big Cincinnati fan. Michael Berger. You make it something he has one name, like For around the NFL, the show. I forgot it. I didn't even, I forgot his name was Michael. I just knew him as Burger. But he's a big bangles fan, and he's screaming at Marvin Lewis saying, how is he call, why would he call time out there?

He's on the rules committee. But Marvin Lewis, give him credit. Well, he gave credit to the guy upstairs, who in his earpiece was saying, challenge a challenge to do something because they have the 12 men. And that, I mean, just a wild play. You don't see a lot. And Dean Blandino, the VP of Fishy, he says, for up for, all the good work that Marvin Lewis did, he says it wouldn't matter, that they had already

flagged it, that they can't stop playing. Sure they did, Dean. Until the moment that the bucks line up to snap it. So they have to wait until that moment to then stop it for some reason. It saved the Bengals from, well, Andy Dalton had one of the worst first halves of any quarterback all year. Back to Bad Andy. And in his defense, Marvin Lewis said he was throwing up all night, and he did a couple of IVs to play. It was like the, it was like the Michael Jordan Flew game. except he actually stunk like you should. That's a great comparison, Greg. He's exactly like the Michael Jordan.

I nominate us to have a different Michael Jordan analogy every week on this project. Andy Dalton falls a tad short of Odell Beckham. Yes, he does. If the Bengals weren't the Bengals and they didn't have a very difficult schedule down the stretch, you'd have to say they almost have the Division I at this point. A game and a half with four to play is pretty huge lead. It's essentially a two-game lead with four. to play, but their schedule is tough

and they are the Bengals. They're two very big ifs. But they are the Bengals, but aren't the Bengals more known for blowing it once January hits? I feel like they're not the team that will tank in December. They'll probably win what they need to get it. Then they'll disappoint everyone. This Bengals team doesn't have the feel to me of one that's going to

totally nosedive over the next month. Right. I guess what I mean is two and two from them with the results that happened today, there's a good chance that two and two gets them the AFC North title. That's all you got to do. Then we get to the playoffs where they could mess up a junkyard. All right.

So the Bengals gain some breathing room atop their division. The Colts, meanwhile, kept their cushion atop the AFC South, thanks to Andrew Luck. Ooh, jaunty. I like this kind of party. I like this kind of party, baby. D.D. The great TD, who passed for 370 yards and five touchdowns in a 4927 win over the Washington Redskins, Chris Wessling. I turn to you once again.

I heard you're excited yelps and moans while watching this one. Andrew Luck was at his best after a shaky start, wasn't he? Well, a lot of this was about the defense he was playing. Yelps and moans from Chris Wesley. What was going on in my death? Yeah, that's gross. I didn't hear that. T.D. waving his arms.

The Colts have wide receivers running free all game. Just a game full of blown coverages by the Redskins. The Colts are the first team since 1966 with six touchdowns over 30 yards. in one game Kobe Fleener looked great again except for the worst drop I've ever seen Oh my God, that was so bad It would have been a fifth another 52 yard touchdown

Nobody within 30 yards of him He's got the whole field to himself and dropped the ball But he looked good and to me They finally moved Dante Moncrief ahead of Akeem Nix and it's a much more explosive offense Because it's clear over the last month that Reggie Wayne Lost a step he missed two big plays last week Because he didn't have the speed

So Moncrief gives them him a big weapon, and Fleener's playing great. Those two guys, to me, are better than Wayne right now. I love this from the box score. Boom Herron, eight carries 88 yards. Trent Richardson, eight carries 12 yards. Can we just move on? Can we just be done with it?

Where were all the plays? There were no plays by the Colts. Like, how did Andrew Luckling have 27 throws, and you just mentioned those rushing totals. Tell us about T. Rich, though, that's insane. Well, it's abundantly clear that he's no good. Good. And Boom Harron's averaging almost eight yards of carry since Amad Bradshaw went down for the season, but he's also put the ball on the carpet three times in two weeks.

That's how good the Colts are, that they scored 49 points in 49 plays. I've never heard such a thing. Well, I mean, that's an unbelievably low number of plays, especially considering you scored 49 points in the game. We know they murder bad teams. I mean, they take bad teams apart and they don't do as well against good teams. Luck has nine 400-yard games this year, which is more than Peyton Manning ever had for the Colts. Wait, Colt McCoy, 392 yards and three touchdowns. Talk about the real cult in this game.

Yeah, what is the box score not showing there? Nicely done. His QBR was 26.7, which is pretty bad. It's terrible. So the box score is obviously. He couldn't. Luck turned the ball over on the first two series of the game, and Colt McCoy couldn't respond with any kind of movement on offense. They didn't really move the offense until the last drive.

of the second half, and this game kind of got out of control with the nature of it, and he was able to lead a couple of scoring drives in the second half, but it really didn't impress me at all. They had 19 yards, I believe, with, like, a few minutes left in the first half, so they were always trailing. But still, it is crazy how much the numbers are devalued that, like, Colt McCoy doing 392 and 3 is like, nah, whatever. Yeah, that's true.

That used to be in fantasy football in 2005, it's like, oh, my God. Not everyone's talking about the crazy Colt McCoy game. Same thing, too, what you said about the Luck Manning thing. It's just 400 yards is like the new 300 almost, right? Yeah, you expect the Colts to get 400 yards every week. One of the reasons Colt McCoy played well, his numbers coincided with Vante Davis leaving with a concussion, and we've seen the Colts defense now without.

Vante Davis also got injured in the game where Ben Rathosperger went wild with one of the best games ever. It's good news for Johnny Manzell potentially next week. No, Vante Davis. this big game against the Colts. All right, we move on. Hey, guys, the Raiders Stank. Oakland responded to its first win of the season

by getting horrifically embarrassed, 52-0 to the St. Louis Rams. Give it up, Mark Zessler. The Rams are the best 5-and-7 team in NFL history. Man, they look good today, and this was maybe the best effort by Brian Schottenheimer. I've taken to town probably 75 times on this podcast.

I like that he didn't take his foot off the gas once they got up early. They were up 21-0 with, you know, the first corner wasn't even over. And they didn't get conservative, which I think we've seen the Rams do. They devolved from whatever their early game plan is. They got big performances. You know, this is another box score

that's a little deceiving because Sean Hill had almost all his passing yards in the first 20 minutes and then they just kind of, they didn't need him to make those big plays. But they got a big game from Trey Mason. 117 on the ground. He broke away a big run. Oakland is a disaster. They cannot

run the ball, and they put their rookie quarterback in a tough situation every week. What's disturbing is you'd like to see after what they did to the Chiefs, some sustainability, some progress. Total opposite. This defense, they've given up, I think it is, in the last three seasons under McKenzie, are their most points allowed year after year after year in like eons? And yet everything we hear is that he'll be back for another season. I just don't get it.

And I also, and it's way too early to make any judgments on Derek Carr, But, you know, I'm a little curious because the way you hear you're hearing from their organization that they think they've located that guy, are you guys convinced that he is maybe the guy that's ahead of the rest of this rookie class right now? Not at all. He has the highest three and out percentage of any quarterback since Alex Smith's rookie year. He doesn't move the offense. I'm not convinced either either way with him. It's tough to evaluate a guy like him playing for that team, but I also don't feel particularly excited. Why did we see a Matt Schaubb pick six today?

Why was he in the game? Because of the score. Yeah, it was just like, let's not get Derek Carr hit anymore. Here's a good tweet from Howard Belser that just crossed over here. Raiders ran 75 plays, average just 3.3 yards per play. The Rams had 49 plays, average 7.1. That is the definition of an absolute wipeout. One thing on Carr, because I think it is too early to say that they've found anything.

They don't know. But they really, he is surrounded by so little. There's no one helping him on any level. I look at this as a clutch performance by Derek Carr. You know, he saw that they tied the Jaguars in the win total with that last one. Let's not blow this number one pick. Well, that's finally when they go draft another quarterback. Let's lose 50-0-0.

Get the number one pick. Can we stop acting like Tony Sprano is doing a better job than Dennis Allen? Right. That's a good point. They now have a worst point differential under Sprano than they do under Allen. Burry the balls. When you bury the balls, you bury the pass. This is like an elevator where the wide.

were cut and it's just shooting towards the depths of the earth. There's 38-the-0-0-0-half-time differential was the worst in franchise history. I know we don't want to linger too much on this game, but it has to be frustrating for Rams fans to keep having this season over and over where by the end you're looking at Trey Mason, you're like, wow, that guy's going to be a star. Like, wow, we got Chris Longback. Our defense is awesome. But it's just the same thing again and again, seven and nine.

It's just people like us saying they're the greatest five-and-seventh-eep ever. But that's four years in a row or three years in a row, just like this. Everybody patting less neat on the head and telling what an amazing job he's doing in every single year. I think it's awesome. Fisher has them peaking just in time to go seven and nine like they always do. All right. So speaking of stink, hey New York football giants.

You stink. The Giants lost season hit a low point on Sunday in Jacksonville. They blew a 21 point second quarter lead lost 25, 24 to the Jaguars. The Jaguars who entered this game with one. one win. Connor, Orr, the Giants have lost seven straight. And this, to me, buddy, how are you, by the way? I'm doing well.

How are you? Great, great, great. How was the library on Thanksgiving? The Haunted Library. Oh, it was great because it mixed that old book smell with the turkey and the sweet potatoes. It was fantastic. That's what you want.

It's wafting across my nostrils now. But, yeah, so losing seven in a row now the Giants, and a loss like this against so maybe the worst team in football, that's not the Raiders. This is how coaches get fired, right? Even ones with two rings. I think so. I mean, you know, the way that I was looking at it before this game was I thought they might be able to kind of pacify their fan base by firing Perry Fuel at the end of the season

and then letting everything run its course like they had planned to. But, you know, they're a team that likes to make sound decisions. But when they're embarrassed, I think all cards are on the table and they got absolutely embarrassed today. There's no other way to say it. Connor, I heard you say that some grisly rumors are set to emerge from East Rutherford. Care to go further on that? Well, I think right now, like, you know, this is around the time last year that we started kind of hearing about the infighting that people weren't happy with Kevin Gilbride in

the way that things were going, and eventually, you know, things happened the way that they did, things ran their course. I wouldn't be shocked if you know, we start kind of hearing some things trickle out and that'll kind of lead us to where the organization is going to lay the blame, whether they look at someone that's kind of been heading their drafts for the last, you know, six or seven years, whether they look at the head coach, whether they look at the general manager. I think it'll be interesting to kind of see where that goes

because I think it could really go either way. And, Connor, you used to cover them and used to be the beat guy covering the Giants. So you know more than anyone that we have a very good chance. And Wes, I know you'll be excited about this, for this to be a big entro roll week in the media. Make it stop. That was always one of the worst parts of the beat week because you were tired and Tuesday was your day off

and then he would go on the fan and he would say that they were going to go to the playoffs even though they were mathematically eliminated and then you still have to figure out a way to kind of make something of that. But yeah, no, this would be a big week for him. I think if I remember the Antrol Roll Playbook correctly, this will be like the, if Tom Coughlin leaves, I'm leaving a week or something like that. That smells right. I think I'd rather hear from Joe Thaisman than Antrell Roll at this point.

Wow, that is damning. Anything that you saw from the Jaguars that made you say, wow, that's interesting. I mean, you know, Blake Bortles wasn't that bad down the stretch. I mean, you know, they scored a majority of their points on defense, but, I mean, he needed to lead them. them down the field and put them in field goal position at the end of the game. And he hit Marquis Lee in stride on it. It was a beautiful swam pass. And then he ran the read option pretty perfectly.

I mean, the Giants can't defend the read option. That's been pretty apparent all year. But, you know, he made work of that and got them in the field goal range. I'm impressed. I mean, he made some terrible throws in that game. But I think if they get an offensive line, he's going to be a really, he's going to be a stud down there. He led the team in rushing. That's not really what they were looking for.

or 68. Maybe that was the one thing he did well in the preseason is the hurry-up, so maybe that was his time. Who smells an MJD homecoming in 2015? Yeah, maybe to Jacksonville Radio. Yeah, I don't see anybody putting him in uniform next year. All right, Connor. Are the Toby Gerhardt apologists ready

for that, or is that too far away for him? I don't think there are any left. Too soon. All right, Connor, thank you for everything, and as always, beware of flying books. Thank you guys. All right, boys, so if we're going to talk about struggling teams,

we have to touch on the erstwhile team of ATL. The Minnesota Vikings blocked and returned two punts for touchdowns in the first half, getting all the scoring they'd need and a 31-13 win over the Carolina Panthers. Just another lost day and a lost season, guys, for the Panthers who can't do anything right. They had a chance, too, to still be playing meaningful games, but now they're a game and a half back in the NFC South, and maybe now it's time for Ron Rivera and Dave Gettelman to just stop talking about contending.

I don't know what they can do to look towards next year. And time for the Panthers to not appear on this also in the running in the NFC playoff business. Take the bears off. Take the Panthers off. Can Riverboat Ron be fired one year after signing a contract extension? No. Do you put this on him?

I would fire him simply for playing DeAngelo Williams over Jonathan Stewart when it is so abundantly clear watching the tape that one is way better than that. and the other? Stewart, I don't know if he, I don't think he started, but he did get 12 carries to seven for DeAngel. Had a nice day, 12 for 85, so maybe he's listening to the podcast. Yeah, it took him three months.

Are we excited about Teddy Bridgewater at all? I'm not. No. When I watch him, I think those comparisons to Andy Dalton that people had in the draft, like, yeah, that seems about right. You know what I mean? That's not bad. That's better than a bust, but it seems like it could be.

that's the type of quarterback he is. I see him as like Alex Smith, where you're going to have to surround him with a strong running game, strong offensive line, strong defense. He's got to have all that structure around him because I don't think he can carry an offense. He's got more around him than your Derek Carr's or your Blake Bortles, and there's been a couple games where he's been incredibly unimpressive. I think today was one of his better performances, though. But it was like last week against Greenby, I was turning out and expecting him to play well, and it was just like, he basically just stayed out of the way. I mean, even in this game they had 210 yards total yeah i mean they didn't need it because they got two blocked

punt returns for a touchdown that never happens it hadn't happened since 1990 it's insane i'm gonna invite you guys if you want to come join me in the cordarral patterson cave of sadness did not start for the third straight week i don't want to go into any caves of so do we have a echo effect uh t behind the glass a cave of we need a cave of sadness oh we'll look for i'm sure you have that He not only didn't start. He didn't play in the entire first half, and he only took, like, one snap. Yeah, he got one target in the game, no catches,

and, you know, we can't say it. We, as a group, are so high on him. That's a major problem for an organization that a guy that was supposed to become their star is now completely absent from their game plan. It's pretty remarkable. He missed practice twice in the week. When you have Charles Johnson on your roster,

that's when, you know, these highly touted, he's getting more targets than anyone on the team with me. What a Chuck E.J.? What a Chuck E. Jackie J. do today? He had two catches for 41 yours, but he's had a ton of targets the last two weeks. You shouldn't be so excited

about this because he could be catching passes alongside Josh Gordon in a beautiful world. Well, that's a fair point, but I wasn't excited to see them part ways. I still want to be right about the fact that he'll be good. I know you guys do. I want to give Mike Zimmer a little credit. He is having the perfect rookie coach season

because he's winning just enough to show you, hey, here's a good head coach. We're 5 and 7. We're better. The defense has something, but he's not going to raise expectations too high with a lousy team. Now, that's a hot take. You know what I mean? A little Tony Spirano action with Miami. He knows just how to dance on that line of mediocrity, like a good head coach.

I do like this idea of a cave of sadness, so maybe other players will be in this cave of sadness, and then we could maybe get the echo sound effect. It's the sheer opposite of Wes's stable of boys. You don't want to be in this cave. It's basically like your fantasy team where they all hang out. Yeah, like a map like the Game of Thrones, where I have the different areas, sectors. There is Wes's Stable of Boys, Greg's Stable of Boys,

Sessler's Forest of Happiness and Wonder, and then the Cave of Sadness. A lot of places, a lot of enchantment. I feel like Jonas Gray has been in the Cave of Sadness for a few. Oh, man. Did he run over Belichick's dog on the way to the facility after oversleeping? Oh, look at that. One of the great opening tracks of any.

90s album. I love to imagine Jonas Gray, and I'm sure this has never happened to him in his life, and he has no idea that Weezer exists, but just driving around in his station wagon listening to that song. Oh, I'm sure. His life keeps on getting sad. I'm sure he knows,

because I'm sure a bunch of doofist 35-year-old guys in Patriots jerseys have come up to him and told them about that. Yo, we know the Weezer song? It's wicked awesome. All right, let's talk about a relevant team. Wow. The Houston Texans are still in the AFC playoff race. Stop.

Yes, they are, Chris Wessling. They rode career performances from West Ryan Fitzpatrick and DeAndre Hopkins to a 45-21 win over the Titans who stink on Sunday to stay in that race. Even Chris Wesleying, the president of the Ryan Fitzpatrick Hater Club, had to tip his hat to the Harbor Kid. Six touchdowns, no interceptions. A dominant performance. I'm just straight dominance. Greg hates also rands who are. put in the also in the hunt category like the bears but he delights in seeing the texans there i do not i'm

happy to make an editorial judgment get the texans out of it come on there's six and six they can they can hang in the back end until they get one more loss you would dodge the subject ryan fitzpatrick this is what this team is needed all year i didn't see the game all right spatcher all right i saw enough of fitzpatrick this year and in his six or seven year career to know that he's not a playoff quarterback this is what i'm saying i think we all agree with you that ryan fitzpatrick is not a franchise quarterback or not a guy that should be seen as the long-term answer. But this is exactly the game why this guy is going to be in the league for another five years or so, whether it's going to be as a bridge guy like he is now or as a straight

backup. And West, I'm just going to read the stats because they're so insane. Six more years of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Yep, get excited. More than that. Yes, we can. 24 of 33, 358 yards, six touchdowns, no interceptions. And by the way, these were, there were some expert passes in the mix here.

But I'll let me give it up to DeAndre Hopkins, who is, I think, the best wide receiver on the Texans now. That's making the leap. Making the leap in a big way. Nine for 238 and two TDs. That's an average of 26 yards per reception. This guy was going nuts in this game. He could not be covered.

Yeah, but by the way, I mean, this is a total aberration for Ryan Fitzpatrick. We'll travel half a decade and see nothing close to this ever again from him. But yes. But they did it. Give him some love. I'm just saying it's not as, oh, suddenly. Don't let Wes rub off on you, Mark. No, no, no.

Suddenly the Texans. have a playoff quarterback leading Who said that? I'm not saying that, that's all. No, he just simply being stunning. By the way, all right. I hope I never have a career day around here.

You'd be like, well, you'll just get back to your crappy performance from before. I was taking a page from the boss's book just saying this doesn't matter. Wes rubbed off on you there. But let's talk about, if you really want to talk about an actual big-time player, JJ Watt. Another touchdown catch.

Oh, my God. Well, he had his third touchdown catch in the year. But he also had two more sacks. he had a strip, a fumble strip, a fumble recovery, and the third touchdown. Six QB hits. He is insane. He also, by the way, and he might get fine for that, by the way, because he knocked Zach Mettnberger out of this game with a shoulder injury

after Mettnberger had let go of the ball. And if you remember, J.J. Watt has some history with Mentberger because he got on Mettberger for selfies and things of the like. So I think there's a reason why he kind of pile drive them into the turf. Good prosecuting attorney would jump all over that. And to be honest with you, like, I think that it seemed there were a little tiny bit of malice involved there. I'm sure Watt because he was down on his knee near him after the injury.

He didn't want it to go that way, but he did try to punish him and he put him out of the game. Of course, Jake Locker comes in. What does he do on his first throw? Interception. I think he threw three picks in the game. That guy is terrible. So, you know, we don't know what's going on with Mettenberger, how long he might be out if he's going to miss time. But this was the day that the Texans said, take me seriously.

One more week. Wait, so to recap, for all the any Houston, like, bloggers listening out there, The headline should be Dan Hansis, colon, J.J. Watts, a dirty player. That was pretty much. That is the blog post, right? Yes, for all the different websites, I'm a jerk. You've had actually, if longtime listeners will remember, you've had some beef with Houston area people. That's true.

They laughed on me on national or on Houston radio. When I, they came on, I came on their show, and then they came after me for saying that the Texans are going to go eight and eight. This was last year. Last August. And they said, how dare you? you, this is a Super Bowl team, then they go, what, two and 14 or whatever it was, four and 12?

You're a seer, is what you're at. I'm not saying that, but they try to set me up and then I knocked it out of the park. My shining moment. So don't come back after Dan, he's going to be right again. Leave me alone. All right, moving on. Which takes us to Sunday night football, where C.J. Anderson went over 100 yards

for the second consecutive game, leading a Broncos team that relied on the run and got a lot out of the run in a 29-16 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead. Chris Wessling usually in these primetime games we're used to Al and Chris or whoever's doing the game singing the praise

of Peyton Manning, but this was not that game. Shocker, blustery night, Wendy, cold, and Peyton Manning had his lowest completion percentage since 2009 in the Gabbard zone. Andy was in the Gabbard zone on yards per attempt for the first time this season.

I think this team, they want to run the ball now, because it keeps defenses from blitzing Peyton Manning, which we saw the Rams do successfully. And their offensive line is maybe the best offensive line since Manning's been there with Will Montgomery taking over at center, Luis Vasquez kicking out the right tackle, and they've been using jumbo packages a lot more to establish the run.

Scientist alert. CJ Anderson's legit. And you mentioned he's the league leader in yards from scrimmage and rushing over the last four weeks. when they get Ronnie Hillman healthy. Forget Monty Ball. Don't even get Monty Ball. I mean, that's a nice one-two punch.

I think they compliment each other well. Anderson has power. He cuts well, too. He makes people miss. He's running people over. Everyone wants to praise the offensive line. Sure, but they're not the ones running people over. And another dominant performance by their defense,

who they gave Alex Smith hell for four quarters in this game. And, you know, DeMarcus Ware and Ron Miller were in the backfield all game. To me, we've come back to this a couple times this season so far. This just, to me, seems like a better, more balanced Broncos team. I guess the big question is, is Manning near what Manning was last year? And if he is, then they should be in great shape in the playoffs. As much as they seem to be overlooked a little bit right now. Well, I think Manning, as long as the conditions are perfect and it's not windy,

he's the same guy he's always been. It's not going to be perfect. It's a big deal in January. In Denver or Foxborough, most likely, in late January. I think he's always depended, well, not always, but since he's come back from the surgery when his arm was obviously one of the weakest in the league, it's always more about when than temperature, I think. There's so much that I don't like about this game. First of all, bad game. Chiefs, you got to the point where we were singing your praises here on the podcast, then you get on national TV in a prime game back-to-back weeks and just stinkers. I mean, both games were so bad. Remember, we were thinking this is going to be the game.

for the AFC West. From week two until week 11, they looked, you know, as good as any team in the AFC in the big picture. They're, well, maybe not that level, but they're playing very well on a week-to-week basis. And you're right, they stunk out to join them both weeks. It's going to be hard to take them seriously after losing to the Raiders and at home to the Broncos in a convincing manner. If you're having a hard time getting your kids to sleep, just put the Chiefs game on.

This is the most somnambulant team in the league. Well, they're playing the who can get out of their funk bowl next week in Arizona. Get out to fuck! And that really is a game for both teams that's like the winner of that game, if you look at the schedule, it's like, all right, they're in the playoff mix. I mean, the Chiefs almost have to win it. The Cardinals, if they can win that, then it's going to be tough for them not to make it. I don't like Alex Smith against the Cardinals secondary.

My favorite stat of the day was Andrew Luck entered this game with more touchdown passes that traveled over 20 yards in the air, then Alex Smith had attempted passes 20 yards in the air this season. Wow. I would love to reanimate James Brown and get a... Get out the fog! Bowl for next week, because I can't pull it off. Do you want to try, Greg?

Well, I know. I'm just glad the falsetto's back in the show. T.D., you got sold, man. Can you do a little James Brown impression? There you know. That's what he likes. A little funk from TD. Can you give me a little James Brown?

He's not letting you off the hook there, TD. I was trying to stay quiet the whole show and just go with drops only. Oh, that's right. I demanded it on you. Let's draw this again. All right. When it's down, roll with return to the max.

All right. Okay, so I guess that means you cannot do it. But see if you can reanimate James Brown. That would be weird, but cool. All right, that's it for Sunday's edition of the Around the NFL We will be back on Wednesday, so make sure you tune in for that. Check us out on iTunes and Stitcher and our stuff on NFL now and all that good stuff. This is Dan Hansa signing up for The Sizzler, the Mailman, the boss, and the great TD behind the glass.

See you Wednesday. This is an IHeart podcast.