NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - NFL Week 14 recap

Episode Date: December 8, 2014

A room filled with heroes -- Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling and Marc Sessler -- recap every Sunday game on the Week 14 NFL schedule. Highlights include the Seahawks vs. Eagles matchup, Colts vs. Browns and Brady vs. Rivers on Sunday Night Football.Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comNFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Fanduel.com, where every week it's a new season. That's Fandual.com. Sign up today. The Around the NFL podcast. Break the Internet. Welcome back to another edition of the Around the NFL podcast. My name is Dan Hansis, and I am joined by a room filled with heroes. Mark Sessler, Chris Wessling, and Greg Rosenthal.

What up, boys? Hey, Dan. I get that cultural reference, Break the Internet. But that would mean that someone, would potentially pose nude on a magazine cover, Kardashian-style? Well, that would be distressing if it were one of us. That's not going to go well for the viewer. No.

It would not break the internet. I don't think we'd get a big click-through rate. I don't know what we're talking about. This is week 14. West would clearly be the person if anyone was going to do it. Oh, for certain. Guys got a body that doesn't quit. What the hell's going on out here?

Week 14, Sunday, another week of the NFL, and we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as we get closer to the end of the regular season. Not to make it sound like, you know, it's a bleak affair getting through the football season. But what I mean is we get closer to playoff football in January. It's almost upon us. And this week, guys, some things tightened up across the NFL, this is going to really come down to the wire. Yeah, you say late at the end of the tunnel, I think for some teams, there is no light and it's over.

Who could you be referring to me? Well, I mean, a handful of teams, some of them closer to my interest than others. Quiet store. It's over. Not over. Give me a break. We'll get to that game soon enough, but why don't we start with the defending Super Bowl champions who went to Philadelphia, gentlemen, on Sunday.

The game of the week on Fox, you had Joe Buck there, you had Troy Aikman there, and they took care of business. They stay hot. That was the two big exciting things about the game. Joe and Troy. Joe and Troy. The Seahawks knock off the Eagles 2414 in Philly. This is a game.

The Seahawks outgained the Eagles 440 to 139. Whoa! That's domination. Wes, the Seahawks are rounding it to form at the perfect time, am I right? We've talked about this for a few weeks in a row now. This defense is for real. They are every bit as good as they were last season, perhaps even better. They limited the Eagles to 139 years.

yards today, which is 61 fewer than any other game with Chip Kelly as their head coach. Chip Kelly, the genius, the man who came up with offensive schemes that no coach could defend and no players could stop, apparently. And also, quarterback-proof offense, Chip Kelly created. They're nine and four with Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez. As a quarterback, not playing particularly, but let me a break. I've got news for you. It doesn't matter who the quarterback is facing the Seahawks defense.

They're going to shut down every quarterback. In fairness, they have just played Stanton, Kaepernick, and Sanchez, not exactly a murderer's row. So they've also- Point that out. You dropped a bomb on them, though. You said the same thing last week, and now they went in and dropped a bomb on a guy averaging 35 points a game. Sanchez had been playing pretty well. He didn't even throw for 100 yards in this game, and he had one interception in particular.

He wasn't terrible today. The Seahawks were just that good. They took his receivers away. He had one interception in particular that gave me horror flashbacks. K. Rich, behind the glass. We talked about it when I came in. It reminded me of some of those Sanchez mistakes in New York where you're just trying to make something happen

and just threw it up for grabs. It was a huge place that came right after a fumble recovery by the Eagles. The game was over by then. The Eagles couldn't move the ball. With Seattle, I mean, yeah, their defense has been peaking of late, but the offense's, you know, passing game has been skittish week after week. What's going on with Russell today? I saw your write-up, and it seemed like he did quite well.

He was the best player on the field, and we've talked about, look, they can throw their playbook out. Just get rid of it because it doesn't matter. play is the play breaks down, Russell Wilson plays Sandlot football, finds the open receiver, runs around, and just his improvisational skills are top-notch. Well, we've talked about during the week. I think Maxwell and Chancellor being back is the biggest change. I mean, Bobby Wagner being back is huge too, but you go from a Legion of Boom that was

by far the best in the league last year to they were just okay. And then with these two guys playing well, they're now the best again. Maxwell had an awesome game today. It seemed like he had five or six third down plays where he ended the Eagles drives just on third downs alone. He was all over the place. Wes, it sounds to me that you believe the Seahawks are playing at such a level that maybe the Eagles don't even have to put too much stock in this game. They were just not going to touch a team playing, even in their own building. I'm sorry, I understand, and you saw the game, but that's a pretty bad loss when you're in your building and you're in first place and you basically get out class.

I don't think it matters. I think the Seahawks are that good. They're going to do that to anyone they play against right now. Well, that matters because they could be playing again. Unless it's in Lambo. Look, the Eagles, I think the Eagles are still the NFC East favors. I don't think this means the Cowboys are better than them just because they lost to the Seahawks. The Eagles defense played pretty well in this game.

There were eight or nine broken plays where Russell Wilson got away with it. Structure broke down. But Fletcher Cox, Eagles defensive end, dominated the run game. Connor Barwin played well, Michael Kendricks was all over the place. I think they have a more complete team than the captain. We were talking about whether the Seahawks would even make the playoffs four or five weeks ago. Now you have to consider them a favorite to get a buy because this game was basic, was huge for the buy. Because if Seattle can run the table now and win the division, they'll get that two-seater.

That's why the season is the perfect length because it shatters the myths that we buy into in week eight and nine. Seattle is becoming what we thought they'd become. They got to pass the Cardinals first who we'll get to a little bit later. Let's move on. Andrew Luck through a one-yard touchdown pass. Hilton, with 32 seconds to play, rallying the Indianapolis Colts to a 25-24 win on Sunday over the Cleveland Browns. Oh, Mark. Oh, Mark.

Mike Patton showed his faith in Brian Hoyer, but the quarterback didn't reward his coach, did he? Yeah, I think that's going to set the city on fire this whole week because Hoyer, who his play, obviously, has been, you know, nose diving over the past month plus. Just an absolute stinker today. You got one of the best defensive showings by Cleveland all year. They put up two touchdowns on their own, got to Andrew Luck all day long, punished him. You know, you can't hold the Colts down for an entire game, though. And as they started to creep in, all they needed Cleveland to do with Brian Horace was maybe score one touchdown on offense. And he couldn't do it.

I mean, it's just like you have to wonder if Mansell were in there, if he could have generated one or two clean drives. This would have been a huge win for Cleveland. It was the opposite. I mean, the Browns lost the game where the defense scored six. 17 points for you have you have two touchdowns and then another field goal that they set up where the offense didn't do anything they basically just kick the field goal they left points on the field on the first half right i saw i saw one tweet where someone wrote that the brown should be up 24-7 right now i believe it was 14 7 well hoyer i mean you know they they had some energy

and there was some rhythm to the offense early hoyer gets them right down into the red zone throws an interception in the end zone it's like that's the you just can't do this week after week Here's Brian Hoyer over the last five weeks. Fewer touchdowns than JJ Watt. Yeah, and he's looked that bad. It is funny how when you play poorly really affects kind of the narrative of the season. I mean, imagine if Brian Hoyer played for the first three or four weeks, like he did the last three or four weeks.

I mean, we'd talk about him like he was Blaine Gabbitt or something. But he started out solid and then the nose day. It probably works for Cleveland though in the sense that if their season is over in terms of making the playoffs. We're not there yet. But if, it's Mansell time. But here's the thing, like, and that's why Manzell should have played this week, because they couldn't afford to fall seven and six and now hope to win every game and catch breaks to get in the playoffs.

Petten got too loyal, and maybe this is something you learned from, he's a young coach, but Manzell was the right move this week. Now I would assume that unless something's happening behind the scenes, Manzell will start next week, but it might be too late for the season. I think you're right. I think, though, there might be something going on with Manzell a little bit behind, the scenes that we'll maybe find out after the season because he pulled, Petten pulled a ton of people and overwhelmingly they wanted Hoyer to play. Let's give Andrew Luck a little bit of credit here too.

Oh, he deserves it. Even though he got a terrible, he added from what I hear is a pretty bad game for 57 minutes, 90-yard drive to win the game, a bunch of third and longs on that drive. That's kind of why he's Andrew Luck. T. Y. Hilton went next level. I mean, Joe Hayden had the game of his life, but Hayden also gives up the big play occasionally. T. Y. Hilton was the guy over and over, keeping that offensive float. That kind of reminds me of when I was watching that last drive of being a young Jets fan when Jim Kelly was in that division and Marino was in that division.

You were just a lesser team trying to hold on and you knew that guy was going to rip your heart out. Oh, that's luck. That's exactly how it played out. The quiet storm wasn't so quiet today? No, he wasn't. He looked over there and at one point he said, I want this one. Yeah, he was hooting and hollering, different effect today.

Had they won, they'd be in a great position, and they're now in a disastrous position. They really are. I don't want to see the light go out in your eyes, though, because of this game, because I liked when you were alive. You've recovered very well. You know, I'm a mature individual on many levels, so I'm not going to take it out on you guys, which I probably have done in other weeks.

All right. Well, good job, Mark. Elsewhere in the AFC North, the Steelers took the division leading bangles to the woodshed. I don't even know what that means. In a 4221 win at Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati is now just one half game ahead of the Steelers with three games to play. Chris Wessling. How the hell?

Do we make any sense of the Steelers? I think the saying is supposed to be behind the woodshed because that's where you take care of business when you're living down south or on a farm. Yeah, it's a small structure filled with firewood. You want the fight to happen outside of other people's vision, so you take them behind a woodshed to do your private business.

So the guy that takes a person to the woodshed, not taking it far enough, you've got to get behind it. I think it's behind the woods. Okay, what's up on the woodshed? How can we ever figure them out? They're Jekyll and Hyde. I think we talk about the Broncos' ability last year to just blitz opponents and rain points upon them. The Steelers have that capability too, and they entered the fourth quarter down 21 to 17

and scored 25 points over 10 minutes to just end the game. But I don't know that we can trust them. They could just go into Atlanta next week and lay an egg. It feels like the Ravens are the most trustable team, but Pittsburgh's the team I wouldn't want to deal within the playoffs because when they have one of these peak games on offense they're going to drop 40 points on you and bengals i mean the bengals can't deal with that kind of thing and they drop 32 points in the second half on the bengal's defense that we thought that has been playing pretty well lately bengal's defense has no pass rush they're questionable against the run and they have no pass rush

to speak of that's a problem i think that will haunt them the rest of the way and they have a hard schedule at cleveland home to the broncos and then at pittsburgh in a season finale that might just side the division. I don't know if I trust the Bengals. The Steelers have the edge now in that division. Here's the perfect example, and this is the game, this is the good Steelers, right? Statistically, Ben Ralthusberger, 253, 3 touchdowns,

no picks. Levyon Bell, who's a superstar at this point, 26 for 185 and two touchdowns. Antonio Brown, typical 9 for 117. Martavis Brown. Brian, excuse me, four for 109 in a touchdown. Levy and Bell added six for 50 in a touch, receiving. I mean, there's so many weapons to play.

It's hard to figure out how they could have so many stinkers this season. Labion Bell is coming off, one of the best three-game stretches in the history of the NFL. I believe he has 711 yards from scrimmage in the last three games, which is second only to Walter Payton had 740-something in 1977. If you're starting a team and you can have any running back, Levyon Bell's your guy. Yeah. And by the way, on the Cincinnati,

side. A.J. Green did everything he could. Went over 200 yards with a touchdown. Mohammed Sunu. Is it just me? Is he really gone silent after a really nice run earlier in the season? He came up huge when they needed him with A.J. Green out, but he's not playing as well as a second fiddle. And it's dropped quite a few passes the last few

weeks. But yeah, I think the Steelers, they have the edge here. The Ravens also gained ground in the division, exposing the Dolphins in a 2813 win on the road. is dominating efforts by Elvis Dumerville, who had three and a half sacks, and I got another strong game from Joe Flacco, who's been earning that money of late.

Greg, was the AFC North's best team playing in Miami on Sunday? It was. I mean, we've thought this for much of the year. I can't believe I didn't take the Ravens in this game, but their offense when they are humming are a lot of fun to watch. I mean, Joe Flacco is a top 10 quarterback this year, not by much. I mean, it's right towards the end, but for the most part, he's played really well. Gary Kubiak has changed that offense.

They fall down 10-0 in this game, totally dominated in the first quarter. And after that, it was just a bloodbath. And it started up front, Elvis Duberville just destroyed Dallas Thomas all day. Terrell Suggs had a big day. And then the Baltimore offensive line, on the other hand, really kept Joe Flacco clean. It didn't look like two contenders. It looked like one team that was headed towards a playoff and another that's headed towards another kind of December swoon.

One thing about Baltimore, you know, Pittsburgh for what we just mentioned about them, their defense can be a major issue week-to-week. They've got issues there. Baltimore's secondary looking better today or what? No, I mean, they lost, it's crazy. They came into the game. They lost the loading out to suspension. You know, Jimmy Smith's been out.

Their secondaries been banged up. And in the first half, they lost their two starting cornerbacks. And it didn't matter. Danny Gore went out, Anthony Levine went out. I mean, these aren't big names or whatever, but they're the guys on the field for them, so they must be their best players. and it didn't matter because Tana Hill steps back. They started sitting on the short routes.

When those are taken away, he just kind of freaks out a little bit. And to his defense, the pressure was getting to him very quickly. For all the attention, the Cowboys' Offensive Line has gotten this year, the Ravens offensive line, when they've had all five starters healthy, has been the most dominant offensive line in the NFL. They move people, and the running game, it took a while to get going, but once it did in the fourth quarter, it was just like a, you know, a rainstorm falling down on Miami.

It almost felt like a team that, I don't know if they gave up or anything, but they were just physically dominated down the stretch. You got Jared Adrick yelling at Joe Philbin on the sideline. What was that about? I don't know. It's going to be some sort of story this week. Philbin, in typical Philbin fashion,

just kind of stands there. There's no reaction. He looks like a man carved out of like an IBM executive's office. I don't know what to make of that guy. One thing with Miami, though, in this week 14 of any of the weeks so far, I feel like it said, here's a couple teams that are total pretenders, and that's the Dolphins.

I didn't think that obviously going into this game, but I thought this was a good defense. And they haven't played like a good defense for a month. They don't have a pass rush. Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon and that whole group, they were just as big a problem, if not a bigger problem, than the run defense today. I feel like we might have talked about this before,

but to your point, Mark, is there any coach active in the NFL right now you would want to have a drink with less? No, I'd have a drink with anyone on the planet. Well, I know you would, but I'm saying, is there anyone that you would choose Joe Philbin over? No, he's got to be in the power rankings of coaches I'd least like to drink a beer with. He'd be at the top of that list. Seems rather dull. I'm not sure where the conversation will go.

Mike McCarthy, probably a little dull. No, I think he's here. No, no, no. All right. That guy would be. I got another one. I got another one. Mike, Mike Smith.

I like Mike Smith, maybe. I'm going to go Mike McCoy. There's your mic you don't want to drink. Oh, wait, Bill Belichick. No way, I would love to hang out with Belichick. Oh, well, sorry. He'd be a creepy, crusty old man. My choice would be Tom Coughlin, because what if I showed up to the bar like five minutes late?

The Ravens, after winning this game, it's crazy how much a week changes. I mean, they were a game and a half back a week ago, but now the Bengals lose. They're within a half a game, and they get. Jacksonville, Houston, and Cleveland. More importantly, is Wes ever showed up to a bar five minutes late? No, you're still there from the night before. Never leaves? All right, we talked about the Red Hot Seahawks earlier.

Let's check in on the rest of the NFC West. The Cardinals did what the Cardinals do on Sunday. They overcame a second half deficit and made a final stand to knock off the Chiefs. 1714, Greg, the Cardinals, keep losing big names. But the magic, it remains. I'm glad they got this win and got to 10 wins And this win was so symbolic of their whole season Because you watch the whole thing

And you have no idea how they won the game But at the end they're celebrating Some greater than the rest of the parts Something like that You know who's symbolic of that Who? Larry Fitzgerald When he's on the field they win When he's not on the field they lose

You know who's really symbolic of that Curwin Williams And Robert Hughes. I mean, they were running out the clock with Kerwin Williams, who went over 100 yards today. Nice that they got a little running game. And then Robert Hughes with a big catch. And all these guys you never heard of, and it doesn't matter.

Well, and we heard after the game that Andre Ellington is going to be shipped to IR. I mean, that running game has been a disaster for weeks. It's one of the worst in the league. So the 100-yard game is big news for Arizona. And they came back for this. This is amazing that six times this year they trailed at halftime. and they won the game. Stanton did kind of what he does on a good game, which is that he made some really impressive throws. He also missed a lot of throws.

And then they had two key second-half turnovers. I mean, Alex Ocifer was making plays for them, had an interception, and a big overturn call, which was very questionable on a Travis Kelsey fumble that we'll probably hear about. Kansas City's season has gone right into the abyss. I mean, it's been a terrible three or four weeks for them. Yeah, they've lost three straight. They're not quite out of it at seven and six either but is this a team that you guys could see winning three in a row at this point it's hard to see that we don't trust their passing game and what does it say about their run defense that the worst running offense in the league rushed for 141 yards today what's special

about them jamaul charles is special and he had a 63 yard run for a touchdown early that was awesome and then he heard his ankle and he actually came back from the ankle injury and scored another touchdown, but he was very quiet in the second half. They barely gave him the ball, so that might be another injury that's a problem. The one thing I love about this team is Travis Kelsey. You can compare him to Grankowski. It's not just that they both kind of

look alike. He really plays like, I mean, he's unbelievable to watch and had one of his best games. Do you take him, and nothing against Alex Smith, but you put him with Tom Brady, Kelsey's probably an all pro, right? Oh, yeah. Why not? Alex Smith had a good game, too. It's like, but there's just not enough around them. Let's get rid of him. Mark, you feel good

about yourself? I don't know Why would I? No, you picked the Cardinals finish 9 to 7, and you picked them to win this game to go to 10. Well, that's how I operate. I told you, I'm going to hedge my own bets. And who's sitting on top the picks, standings with Dan Hansis? That's me. By one game.

We were talking about Mark's decision to pick the cards and pick them to lose out. We decided it was subversive. It was Mark turning the industry on its ear and saying, don't take me seriously or should you, Mark Sessler, iconoclast. I think it's called think think a surprising Machiavellian streak. I think it's more of an absurdist streak. You're just pointing out how ridiculous any of these picks are. No one cares except for us. You're right. Gonson. All these things are correct.

Conzo. Koffman. Cessler. Mark's so close to just walking into the wilderness. For real, forever. I got three more weeks. I'm winning this Picks thing and I'm going to walk right into the sunset. What do we win? Could we call that a dynasty? You won the first? year. I won the second year.

So if you could get two out of three, that's big for your legacy. That's not a dynasty. It's not a dynasty. It's getting close. It's going on, fellas. I think I was doing. Good. How's the Cave of Sadness sound effects coming along, by the way?

The Cave of Sadness. Yeah. We're getting there. TD's voice. Did you already forget Mark Sessler-Quiet Storm? I have to do more work now. Oh, his voice was more. I totally forgot.

What is the Cave of Sadness again? No idea where you talk about. You probably don't. Maybe it was an episode He wasn't here Like half of them I have no idea Oh, that may be true

A little touching go lately That might have been the doctor appointment We'll go offline to talk about that But basically there's now a A map similar to Game of Thrones Because you have the Mark's Wilderness of Happiness And Curiosity

Wes's stable of boys You have Greg's stable of boys I don't have a do I And yeah That's how it started You got a little stable Of boys And then of course

The Cave of Sadness which various teams walk through. The Browns are there right now. The Jets have been there all season. They got a penthouse. What is Dan have? I don't have anything. It's a lot of hair care product.

A lot of hair care product. I do have something. Let me think about that. I kind of operate the Cave of Sadness, though. Yeah, that's true. I got to decide who goes in and out of it. The door man. All right.

The bouncer at the Cave of Sadness. That is grim. All right. Moving on. Elsewhere in the division, the best five and seven team in the NFL history became the best six and seven. team in NFL history as the Rams recorded a 24-0

win over the lowly Redskins in D.C. That's back-to-back shutouts for St. Louis and their coach Jeff Fisher, who delivered one of the great tweak jobs in NFL history before kickoff Chris Wessling. Tell us about it. Picture me trolling. It was the best troll job ever. He sent out all six of the players acquired from the

Robert Griffin the third trade as the coin-toss captains trolling the entire Redskins organization. Did the Redskins, you think, even noticed that was happening? You know how I know they didn't notice, though? Because whoever's operating the Vine account gleefully put up the whole midfield encounter, and we used it for our story. It's probably taken down by now. But we used it because they had no idea.

They couldn't have done. Unless they're so against RG3 in that building now that they're all in on it too. I'm sure Griffin doesn't love the little tweak job there. It wouldn't feel that good if I were. You know what? Play better. It's one thing to troll them by sending the captains out And it's another thing to do it

And then shut your team out While Robert Griffin III is watching Colt McCoy And then has to come in and mop up time I mean that's ultimate Talk about Cave of Satan Yeah Can I just say one thing though by the way Like there are some nice players that came out to midfield

Well let's calm down Rams too Like it's not like you went turned into a dynasty Off that trade And these guys are the sixth greatest players in NFL history Typical less need Greatness stuff How about real greatness? Let's win some games Let's compile a winning record.

Then we can start throwing our selections of players out at midfield and downing teams in late December. Well, they are going to do it. They're going to win out, go 9 and 7. This team that Wes has been doubting, you know, they're playing pretty well. They're a franchise quarterback away from being a contender. Legit, like a Super Bowl. Yeah, they are very.

Over the last six weeks, their first, I think, in takeaways, and second in sacks. They have one of the best defenses in the NFL is, Greg. It's hard to shut teams out. Yeah. I mean, what they're doing, they dropped a 52-0 bomb a week ago. You know how hard it is? His first back-to-back shutouts for this franchise since they were the 1945 Cleveland Rams.

Wow. And by the way, the Colt McCoy redemption angle, is that officially been put to rest? He's exactly who we thought he was, a third-string quarterback, who might be good enough to be a backup, but certainly is not a starter. Well, we should point out,

he hurt his neck late in this game. He had to go to the hospital afterwards to get it evaluated, So there's a very good chance that Robert Griffin III will be starting the last three games. They should be starting Kirk Cousins, and we said that a few weeks ago. Shut the Redskins down. And he got, RG3 got in this game at the very end. Did he throw the ball at or or is it more just running out the clocks in a lot? He completed three or four passes and to the surprise of no one took a sack.

Yeah, it was just running it out, basically. In terms of most depressed fan bases right now, and as Jets fan, we're definitely in the running, in terms of just the season alone, Redskins. fans have it real bad. A lot of these embarrassing moments are happening in their building. They just, the whole thing is like a disaster. Especially after what they did last year that you can double down and have a more embarrassing season this year.

They've had the, to go from thinking you have the guy in Robert Griffin the 3rd to what he is now and you don't have those picks and you don't have a coach, I mean, they might be at the top for the most hapless franchises. The most embarrassing moment of the day today was Tavon Austin's punt return touchdown made it 24 to nothing late in the third quarter and the home crowd started chanting for RG3. Apparently having forgotten the last

two games, RG3 played. It's almost as bad as when the 49ers crowd chanted for David Carr to come in when Troy Smith was at quarterback. That was a low moment. All right. Elsewhere in the NFC. West, there was only one team that lost in the division on Sunday. Who would have thought it could have been

the team playing the freaking Raiders? The 49ers laid an epic egg at the black hole falling to seven 7 and 6 after a 24-14 loss. This is the same Raiders team who lost 52-0 last week. Mark, I'm going to ask you a serious question here, so I would like a serious answer. Is it time to fork the 49ers? I'd be fine doing that.

After watching that game today, my takeaway was that when Greg Roman and Harbaugh hit San Francisco and developed that offense into what it was a couple of seasons ago, I thought for myself they were the most fun, creative team to watch on that side of the ball. They are boring. They stink and they are boring. So you were happy with this outcome. I know you were saying in the newsroom, what you did not want was to see the 49ers in the playoffs and you'd have to watch that. I think they're a shell of their former selves in the sense they can't overpower teams with the run.

Their passing game looks completely. We talk about Seattle's as a no-structure passing game. I see nothing in San Francisco that suggests anything that can't build a rhythm. I mean, Derek Carr flat out outplayed Colin Kaepernick. Very interesting timing coming right off the article that Wes wrote last week about running quarterback struggling and five executives saying they'd rather have a car than Kaepernick. I don't know if that's premature, but looking at what happened today,

Kaepernick is a big concern and the entire offense seems lost. Jim Harbaugh is out. Right, and he's going to have to start over with a new coach and a new offensive coordinator. Harbock and go coach up Carr. Maybe he was one of the five executives. He'll take him. He's got to be watching this game thinking, all right. This isn't so bad.

I will say that, you know, there's some big surprise storylines this season. I think RG's 3's collapse into the abyss into the cave of sadness is one. I think the Saints' struggles this season's another. Colin Kaepernick, like, etching into just another guy status is, to me, personally, stunning. I never saw it coming. I think part of it is their line is not what it was.

and they simply cannot impose their will with the running game. When you can do those two, when those two things are intact, a lot of your quarterbacks in the league look a lot better. They have no identity. They have no identity. Seven and seven. It's going to be a fun couple weeks here. Seven and six.

Well, that may be prophetic. They play the Seahawks. Seehawks are going to end their season and the Jim Harbaugh era in San Francisco. I think Harbaugh wisely is getting out of there at the right time, though, to be honest. If I get. I mean, I don't know if it's his choice, their choice, whatever. You still don't want to go out like this. We talked, it's not like it's a total shock.

We talked about this before the season, that if there's going to be a team that's kind of embroiled in dysfunction and misses the playoff that's been atop that perch, that this is kind of the prime candidate, and that's what's happened. All right, so the Niners' loss is the Lions gain in an NFC playoff race. Detroit delivered a balanced effort against the bad bucks team, taking care of business on a 34-17 win. to talk about the lines

we need to get on the line our Chicago correspondent the man that spends a lot of time in the gym and a lot of time watching football film and then you know if people get out of line he takes care of business if you catch my drift Kevin Patrick coming at you

what up buddy Dan it's so great to hear your voice now I know now I know how Ringo Starr felt when they let him talk to John Leonard I like that I really like the analogy Yeah, maybe if Ringo Starr was buff. Oh, man.

You're definitely hotter than Ringo Starr. A lot of looks talk today around the NFL podcast. Moving on. So anyway, Patchers, the Packers, or excuse me, the Lions broke a nine game December losing streak here. Are they going to avoid that late season fade this time around?

Well, this was a game that I was, they lost to this same Bucks team last year, and this was a game that I was kind of a trap game that I was thinking that they could totally just come on and bomb, and they took care of business. and it started with their defensive line. Adomkin Sioux led the team in tackles with six and was always in the back field.

He's playing well, huh? He's playing. Their defensive line just destroyed. Poor Josh McCown. I actually felt bad for the guy. He was getting hit literally every time he dropped back. He was getting mauled. So you're saying this Buck's passing game in this offense,

maybe not a great look there without Jeff Tedford in the mix. As Greg shoots daggers at Chris Wessling. Wow. That doesn't seem necessarily. No, that wasn't that. I'm just, the Lions' defense against the Buck's passing game might be the biggest mismatch in the NFL possible. It was a great point by Greg.

Oh, boy. Well, it's really up front. I mean, Vincent Jackson had 159 yards. Mike Evans had two touchdowns and had multiple, got multiple penalties, past interference penalties. When McCallon got rid of the ball, had time to get rid of it, his receivers made plays, but he just didn't have enough time in the running game is absolute crap. Reggie Bush comes back, but he's not really.

the main running back. It's Joyke Bell, who I think's been running great. How did Bush look back on the field? Does that concern you at all? First of all, I wouldn't say Joyke Bell has been great. I think he's been very good in the second half of the season. He's been okay. He gets one run a game, which he did today. When Flavante David was out, he had a bus at a 57-yarder, but they only had 56 yards on 30 other carries. Reggie had one 12-yard game. The rest of the time, it was two yards in fall. They tried to get him more involved. the screen game he had a couple passes didn't really do much he couldn't break a tackle so patrick if you're a a bucks fan i would feel bad for anyone who is at this point outside of mike evans

give me something that the fan base can say there's some promise here i mean it is a disaster down there i really don't know i really couldn't that would be my go-to is evans and jackson they're great pair together other than that i mean gerald mcoy and levante david are i would yeah all pro I mean, you have a couple pieces there, maybe three pieces that you could build on. And also, they could have the number one pick in the draft. They're one of, I believe, five or maybe six teams now at two and 11 with three games to play. I think that Lovie Smith's defense is a mistake with the talent, with what they have. I don't think it works.

And I think Megatron kind of proved that today. Second week in a row, he's at over 140 yards. Just getting cushion, easy, easy pitch and catch. Matthew Stafford didn't even have to look to Golden Tate because his number one was option was open almost every play. Johnson being Johnson again is a big deal. Right. I mean, the Lions to me are one of the more predictable teams in the league. They're pretty consistent.

I mean, they beat the bad teams. They look exactly what you think they are, which is like the 11th best team in the league that's going to make the playoffs and then lose to a better team in the playoffs. But these last two weeks to put up 34-17 wins against bad teams, it's a very good sign because that's all they really need to do to make the playoffs. All right, Patrick, it's shoulder day. Go get to work, buddy.

all right folks that's tomorrow thanks hey TD by the way what's happening Megatron feeling himself again he might get to that 25 touchdown he'll be about 15 away 20 away it's not too late it's never too late

all right let's swing over to the wide open and utterly bizarre NFC South the New Orleans states have now lost four straight games at the Super Superdome and this time it was a total embarrassment the Panthers whooped them 4110

to move into the thick of the division race. I would say this, and Greg, because you love Naolin so much, I'll say this to you. You give me your opinion. Outside of Bounty Gate, this is the low point of the Sean Payton era, Nola. It's got to be, right? Yes, there's no doubt. I mean, they weren't throwing bottles from the upper deck or booing lustily before halftime, after halftime that I can think of in any other time. Now, that whole Bountygate season, that's a pretty big low. You can't just throw that out.

Well, I said outside. Yeah. Other than that, you're right. I covered myself there. Dan asked this downstairs. I mean, Sean Payton, is there a chance he doesn't coach this team next season? There have been, you know, speculation from people that maybe he could be elsewhere, like Dallas if that job came open. I think it would be more him wanting to get out than I don't think there's any way the ownership would want to get rid of Sean Payton just because of one disastrous year.

This was so bad. And this was a game that was a complete one-sided affair from the kickoff on. And if you're the Panthers, if you're a Panthers fan and you're excited about the team back in the race, I kind of get it because Cam Newton looked like Cam Newton again. Wes, I think you call it looked like a preening Schmoe as well after his Superman score that touched off. What a clown of fracas behind the end zone. Stop with the preening, you're a quarterback. He went a little over the top, not just that throughout the game because they have the

the game in hand. He was really enjoying himself, but, you know, he deserved it. I'm glad he got hit. He played one of the best games in recent memory for him. He threw three touchdown passes, no interceptions, added 83 yards in the ground, and a touchdown. And, you know, this is a Saints team that ran

for, or a Panthers team that ran for 271 yards on the road. That's like last year's formula. Yeah, and Jonathan Stewart looked awesome again. He had a 69-yard touchdown run in the first minute of the second half that basically put the game away, made it 31-3.

The Saints offense, again, this is a week after Drew Brees through for five touchdowns. Again, no connection with Jimmy Graham, which was odd. He's not healthy, and they left him in the game the whole game. I don't know if it was to get some stats at the end, but he was taking shots and they kept him in the game. I found that was weird. The Saints is all bad, bad vibes around this team, and it's not looking good. I think it's cool that we're going to get a six-win playoff team. I mean, I really do.

What did it say? about paddleboat Ron and Mike Schuller that it took a DeAngelo Williams injury to find out that the best running back on their roster is Jonathan Stewart. Yeah, it's annoying, but they are running the ball well. They did it well against Minnesota. They did it against New Orleans. They get Tampa next week. They've got a shot. Then they have Cleveland in Carolina and then they're at Atlanta. We've been saying that Atlanta, New Orleans game is going to decide the NFC South, and I still think it will. But if Atlanta could go to New Orleans and win, then maybe it's that Atlanta. a Carolina game that decides in week 17.

Here's an interesting scenario. What if this NFC sult dormant hosts a playoff game against Drew Stanton? I don't know. They could very well have six wood T could go into the second round of the playoffs. Can we just give the team that's going to play them the next week, the buy they just wipe them out, give the winner of that NFC that would meet them.

Just take them out, give them the win, move them on to the NFC type game. Save airfare, save on a lot of, you know, structural costs. I'm just trying to save money. I'm a company man. It's good. No or yes? No, the sound principle of just saving cash and dough by not even having that game occurs is nice. And by the way, the fork committee is going to get together, I think Monday, about 6 a.m.

In a conference room, it's going to be Danish and coffee, some other things. But, again, I'm going to throw it out there. I am nominating the New Orleans Saints to be forked the entire division. Just forked the entire division. Well, then Greg has to give to a chair. security again. Well, that's good. Greg needs to be doing more of that anyways. Oh, you know, whenever I could think about people in need and I could step in and make a play, I'll do it. I'm just, I'm just happy that all those articles this week talking about the Saints running the

table were made to look as stupid as they should have. I totally messed up, guys, but keep going. Why? Yeah, I just like a little music in the background. Just keep going. Just keep on, yeah. Why not? I mean, it's a great song. Obviously, it's a classic. Is this Dylan? Joe Satriani. All right, let's move on. You might as well just keep the music on now. I'm doing.

Keeping it. All right, good. Jiris Wrights, 87-yard touchdown reception. Who? music out? Fated it out, man. I'm just starting the read of the game. You're very mysterious.

You want to go to this, Dan? No. Wow. You just do the job. Let's go. Gerias writes 87-yard touchdown reception from Teddy Bridgewater and overtime gave the Minnesota Vikings a 30-24 win over the New York Jets. Wright took a wide receiver screen on third down, broke one tackle, took it to the house.

The Jets fall to 2 and 11 and are now in a five-way tie for the worst record in the NFL, suck for duck. Yeah, I mean, you want them to lose out, right? It's a weird position. I don't like when people do that kind of stuff, but I have to admit it, I'm so desperate for a quarterback now, and I've heard so many good things about Marcus Mariotta, I just want it. I want it so bad that I don't care if they lose.

So this was one of the biggest losses of the year. I mean, this was a huge game today for the jet. It was great. They did a great job. No, this is, first of all, Gino Smith, and it's almost comical. It is comical. comical, six days after they put the handcuffs on him and gave him, had him throw eight pass attempts in the first 58 minutes of a game in prime time, they give him the ball to

throw on the first play from scrimmage, and what does he do? He shabbs it. Oh, no. He throws a pick six. To his credit, and I will say. Well, he deserves a lot of credit. Yeah, he showed some gumption here. He actually played very well by Gino standards the rest of the game.

kept them in the game, but the same old Jets' problems surfaced here. They were 0 for 5 in the red zone punching it in for touchdowns. There's a huge Chris Ivory fumble. Cumbie, my boy Cumbie, who's dropped off the face of the earth, I might have to kick him out of,

I have a side stable behind West and Greg Stable. It's very small, and Cumbie basically just hangs out of it. It's not very well, it's not well lit or anything. You all have stables. Yeah. You've got Andy Dalton.

You have an entire forest. Huh? Well, yeah, I'm not liking to put people into servitude and have to live in a stable. They can live free where they want to live. Anyway, so, yeah, the Jets can't do anything in the red zone. And on the Viking side of the ball, your boys. Yeah, don't think that Mark and I haven't noticed that Charles Johnson has single-handedly turned Teddy Bridgewater's rookie season around. He busy.

Yeah, I mean, he had a nice game today. I will give you that. Now he's played a nice game. He went over 100 yards. He had a touchdown. How many 100-yard games has he had in his career before this? Probably zero. He had an 80-yard game two weeks ago, though.

Dan begrudgingly authored a bullet point about Charles Johnson. I did, and I tweeted when it happened. I said, you know, this guy is making some plays today. It's clear that he's the favorite target of Teddy, at least today he was. And Corderole Patterson, who, you know, Johnson took his spot in the lineup, barely played. When he got in the game on special teams, he fumbled a kickoff and bobbled another game. Didn't have a target.

Just an absolute disaster. Our number one making the leap candidate. And to Teddy Bridgewater, I will say this, made some plays. And on the game winning play, in overtime, the Jets went into a formation where they had zero safety. It was Rex getting aggressive. And Teddy Bridgewater saw that audible into the wide receiver screen that led to the 87 yards. Better than Teddy. So growing up a little bit, Teddy, Vikings fans get a little excited about that.

They looked good today. I was joking about Charles Johnson, but Teddy Bridgewater has more wins than all the rest of the rookie quarterbacks combined. 309 yards and two touchdowns and only 27 attempts. He's been nice. Would you take him over any other rookie quarterback? I said tomorrow. I said last week I would take them to win a game this week for sure over the other guys.

I agree with that. Long term, I don't know. Long term, I'm sticking with portals. All right, while we're here, let's check in with the other depressing New York-based franchise. the New York Giants who bounced back from an embarrassing loss of the Jaguars and they whipped up on the Titans 36 to 7 we got to get our boy from New Jersey live from a New Jersey haunted mansion he is the former beat reporter for the New York Giants he watches game closely for us and he will now tell us about it how are you Connor or I'm doing well how's everybody out there good I guess

one thing I just want to say is just tell us about Odell Beckham what else do we really want to hear about from this game tell us about Odell Beckham I said that there should be no more Giants games for the rest of the season it should just be like Odell Beckham beats of strength you know I mean they had him they had him throw like a 60 yard like a 60 yard leaf liquor pass like he

overthrew a guy for midfield he almost like he almost hit the back like the first row of seats it was ridiculous so I mean he's he's extremely talented and you know when you had like 10 receptions at the half. So he's really the only thing worth watching in that entire game and really for the rest of the giant season. He's immensely touted. And I think now it's a little too late, but they're starting to move him around a lot, which is exciting. You know, he's in the slot. He started in the backfield a lot today. So too little too late, but at least fun to watch

in the meantime. Connor, I've got a question for you. Pick one of these answers. Odell Beckham is the greatest player in the history of the NFL or the greatest athlete in the history of human kind that's the problem when you get like a player like that in new york like it just gets ruined no no he really is that good you know i mean you know you read the stories whatever he's the son of a olympic sprinter and a and a football player and then his stepfather is an olympic sprinter so you know he really has no excuse in my mind right now he's underachieving with with those kind of teams you know well the stepfather's a bit of a stretch what this guy's showing him technique or something give me a Yeah, there's secret training.

There's stuff that you and I don't have actors to, certainly. Connor, I go back to the fact that he was inactive for the first month of the year, and I've long said that it would be wise for Greg next season to give all of us the first four or five weeks of the year. We don't operate, we don't work. Agree or disagree? That would be fair. If that would happen in my second year, that would be fantastic. All right, you can do it all while they're off.

Nicely done, Mark. You might have to venture out on some non-giant. schemes at some point, but, you know, it would be fun. Do you have anything to share? That's cool. Unfamiliar territory is all right with me. Do you have anything to share about the Titans? Who are the Titans? Oh, Zach Mettenberger got hurt, didn't he? Yeah, I mean, they need to block for him at some point.

You know, I think that would be, at some point they need to get, they need to get some sort of an alleyway. That's a haunted ghost. Listen. That was good. Connor, you got to get that taken care of, bro. Connor, seriously. tighten things up.

Tighten up your ghost game in your house. I know. T.D. and I had a spirited IM conversation during this entire segment, arguing when to drop in the ghost sound effect, by the way. I got this, Dan. I got it. I like how it's become an interesting subplot to the whole podcast. Like everyone's, like you're revealing a little bit of my haunted mansion every week. Well, we're concerned for you.

It's true. I mean, really, it's just a matter of time before. we stop hearing from Connor in a paranormal activity scenario. And then you'll have to find somebody else to watch the Cruddy Giants game. Well, then we've got to send the Ghostbusters over there. Somebody's got to watch the Giants for the next three weeks. How close are you to the Amityville House? Like an hour and a half.

I mean, you know, any sort of chaos theory. Ghost travel. The biggest takeaway I had from Conner's call this week was he's not far away from the Amityville House. There you go. All right. Connor Orr, thank you very much. Stay safe, buddy. Thank you. Let's move on and check in with the Houston Texans.

We're still hanging around in the back end of the AFC playoff race. They knock off the Jacksonville Jaguars 27 to 13 on the road. The Texans have won three of four. A big matchup with Indianapolis on tap. Mark, is it possible the Texans will hang around in this race until Christmas? Or is next week the game where it just disappears? I think it's going to disappear at some point. I clearly agitated Greg at some stage this week to get this game.

What? He asked you a question. Is it happening next week? I'm irritated that I was assigned this game. Well, you know, you would have complained about, I could have given you the Rams again. You would have complained about that. That was my biggest takeaway from this game. Greg, are you saying that perhaps Mark is becoming an issue?

Well, he's trying to make up for on the podcast all this brown-nosing, but behind the scenes, a lot of little daggers. Well, that's not, none of that is accurate what you just mentioned. When I look at the Texans, I mean, they basically just rode Arian Foster today. He'd get 88 yards before the half, finished with 127. You know, one week after throwing six touchdowns, which was obviously a complete and total mirage from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Maragi.

Maragi, you're right. 13 of 19, 135 yards. It was just a, listen, the Texans are kind of a scrappy, 8-and-8-type team that If everything fell right, they win maybe nine games. They're not going to the playoffs, no. Sounds right. They have seven wins this year, and the best quarterback they've beaten is about to be benched for Johnny Manzell. Right.

Every year, there's a couple teams that disprove the coaches cliche that, oh, it's hard to win a game in the NFL. It's the hardest thing to do is for it. No, it's just as easy as any other sport. One team wins every single game, and the Texans are seven and six. That's proof that it's not that hard to win a game. Hardest thing I ever did in my life is win a game at this level. this game life is hard in the NFL you're going to earn it buried the balls is that your Joe Philbin

I think when I said bury the balls oh of course a Raiders reference to Spirano Joe Filman is an IBM executive as you said there would be no intensity in his voice I saw Philbin once at the scouting combine walking down a carpeted hallway with a white turtleneck over like over cords those pants that make that sense

I think he was like, cackies, maybe. Really? He was wearing cord. And a white turtleneck, if my memory serves. And nothing else. Is that a Connecticut thing? You calling them cords, corduroy pants? No, I...

Cords is a thing. Cards is a thing. It's a human thing, Dan. It's called it taking a long word and shortening it to make conversation easier. Because corduroy is so painful to say. Cords are a corduroy in your life growing up. None. I've heard both.

As you can see, we're really plugged in on the Texans' chances. J.J. Watt, 5 QB hits. Three sacks, four tackles for loss. Give him the man the MVP. I agree. I might win that sandwich yet. Where's Von Miller and DeMarco at? They're probably like 13 sacks combined, right?

They're not MVP. No, they have more than that. I know, I'm kidding. Von Miller is 13 himself, I think. It's 13 and 10, I believe. All right, the Denver Broncos. And Peyton Manning, who was held without a touchdown pass for the first time in 51 weeks of play.

It didn't matter, though. They beat the Bills 2417 in Denver. C.J. Anderson continues to be A waiver-wire godsend for fantasy owners scored three touchdowns from in close in this game. The Bill's playoff hopes, they seem to be a life support with an unforgiving schedule ahead, right, guys? Life support, that's awfully generous of you.

Well, you know, they're dead. Their playoff hopes are dead. They're seven and six, but... No, the Jets' playoff hopes are dead. The Bills are seven and six. They could run the table. No, we know they could. In a wild universe.

No, they could. In a wild universe. Because Kyle Orton is their quarterback, they're not going to beat the Packers and the Patriots. Speaking of which, by the way, Kyle Horton played terrible in this game. And, Wes, you said it downstairs when I brought it up. Like, if E.J. Manuel can't get into this game in a must-win scenario where the game was there for the taking, the Bills, the Broncos didn't play very well in this game.

They were out of sync. The Bills had plenty of opportunities. And, you know what? They just didn't have the quarterback that could really make it happen. E.J. Manuel can't get off the bench. So it tells you a lot about where Doug Morone stands on E.J. Manuel. in year two. Orton's led him to this point, and it'd be weird to go back, I think.

To the middle. To their best season in how many years? Orton going to Orton? So you're saying it's a similar situation to the Browns, where a team that's been losing so much doesn't want to leave the guy that's got them a little better than average. I think Orton's been a bigger factor in their success overall, that he's been solid, that he improved the passing game from just the bottom of the barrel. Well, you also, like, switching quarterbacks, unless you're really just a team in total chaos, like the Titans or Jets or something.

I mean, you don't want to throw a guy in that's had no reps all week. I mean, that's part of it is, like, they didn't get blown out in this game. I mean, the score was deceiving, though, Dan, is that the point? No, I mean, it wasn't deceiving. It was a one-touchdown game, and it should have been a game that the bills could have stole. I mean, they had 24 first downs to the Broncos 15. Peyton Manning, you mentioned the stat on him. Is there any concern about how Manning's played?

I would be a little concerned. The second half, Manning has been a very up and down, topsy-turvy quarterback, and he threw two interceptions in this game. He's got 11 now in the season. He's not going to win MVP this year. That's going to someone else. I know he has bigger things that he's trying to attain at this stage of his career. But if you look at his game log over the past six or seven weeks,

there are a lot of games where the passer ratings are hovering around 80. He's not nearly as dominant a player as he was this time last year. and the way some of those passes flowed, including one interception that stands out to me from this game, you've got to think that maybe that arm strength is really becoming an issue to the point where it's taking his game down a level and he can't just outthink the opponents. When I tweeted the stat that he had his lowest passer rating in five years today, and his lowest completion percentage last week, Broncos fans, dozens of them got back to me and said, no big deal, they want to run the ball.

It's not, look, they're winning games. This means nothing. I think it means something. It means he's not playing well. And with him, you always have to worry about his arm strength. And it's all relative. Even on all these games, he's not playing well. I mean, he's thrown, like, today, he threw for 8.6 yards per attempt.

They're moving the ball through the air. But I think if you're a Broncos fan, you should be concerned that four of Manning's worst, Manning's four worst games of the season have come in the last six weeks. It's really. Four of his worst games in a Broncos uniform. It's inarguable. So that's a trend, and you'd like to see that turn around before the end of the regular season. So we saw what the Broncos did.

Now let's move to Sunday night football where the New England Patriots keep themselves in great position to claim that top seat. They take care of business in a very impressive way. Beat the Chargers, 2314 at Qualcomm Stadium, a stadium filled with Patriots fans. So bad job by Chargers fans and good job by Patriots fans filling up that building. But this was a game in which the Patriots took control about midway through and just rolled 20 unanswered points.

Chris Wessling, this Patriots team bounced back very well from the tough loss at Lambeau Field, didn't they? Should have been 30 unanswered points at least. They had the pick six from Devin McCordy that was negated by one of the most suspect calls we've seen. Garbage. And Tom Brady threw a really bad red zone interception that could have been a field goal or touchdown at the end of the second half. It seemed like the Patriots were in control most of the night. What a night when the three of you are getting upset about bad calls against the Patriots. I was just sitting back and enjoying that little slice of business.

They went in, Brandon Browner, who's gotten penalized plenty for deserving reasons because he can't keep his hands off receivers. But in this case, the ball was bobbled by Lidarius Green and making the leave candidate, unfortunately. And in comes Browner, shoulder right on his pads. It knocks him out. He gets a concussion. And because it was such a violent hit, they threw the flag. They got to review that stuff.

Let's get back to the game. I mean, I just drives me crazy. That was a seven-point swing. I think it shows that the Patriots can win games in different types of ways, which is what you would want to see if you're a Patriots fan, because Tom Brady didn't really have that great a night for three quarters. He had probably one of his worst games of the year. The pass rush was getting to him.

They don't have Chandler Jones or Dante Hightower in this game, arguably their best two players in the front seven, and yet the defense really dominated. I mean, they were sending blitzes, the secondary had a great night. It was probably their best defensive performance of the entire season. They're good enough, and they're obviously, they're so well-coached. They can back themselves out of corners mid-game. They figure out how to do.

Other teams need to go. We'll look at the film later and figure out what happened. New England is just going to coast to the end of the year. There was just an overflow, a bubbling up of childlike joy coming from Greg's cubicle during this game. Are you prepared to? That's not true. Are you prepared to concede that the Dolphins aren't going to win the AFC East? Let's give the AFC East to the Patriots.

I'm fine with that. I don't think it's a 7,000th time. Let's give the number one seat to the Patriots. Let's talk about who the Patriots play the rest of the way. Miami who killed them early. They never lose at Foxborough. You can't just say they'll never lose at Foxborough. They've won like, what, 90% of their games?

They're not getting swept by Miami. It wouldn't be the craziest thing ever if they lost to Miami or Buffalo. But you're right. I think they're the heavy favorite now for the ones. Their one road game left is against the Jets who are. Is that week 17? No, that's 16. Okay, is it the last Jets home game?

There will be a little pop for the Jets playing for Rex by the end of the season. Good old pop. But not enough to be the Patriots. They could lose one of those games. Legerick is going to run 320 yards. Yeah, I mean, yeah, you still have Gino involved. But, yeah, I could see them losing one game. But the way they're playing at such a high level that I don't, they're going to just roll.

Well, you're trained by Bill Belichick and these Patriots teams that they're going to play their best in December, that they're going to end peaking. And that's the way they are playing. So if we looked at previous years, they wouldn't blow one of these. But I'm just saying Miami and Buffalo have enough weapons to give me... Talk about trained. Belichick has these robots who play under him. And by Greg's reaction, we know the fans are actually brainwashed as well. One week at a time, it's not really over.

Greg, you were getting a little misty-eyed talking about Julian Edelman and how important he is to this offense. I think Edelman is as valuable for them as Welker was in his prime, and Troy Brown was in his prime. 141 yards in a touchdown. Welker was averaging like 120 receptions and 1,400. It's not all about numbers sometimes. You know that.

Right. For this offense, I think if you took Welker away, it wouldn't be as devastating as taking Gronk away, but I just don't see how they would exist without. They would plug Amandola in and click on all ceiling. No, and he's not making plays after the catch. He makes a lot of plays on his own. You surprise me with your Danny Amidola support.

You seem to think that guy is just one opportunity away from fulfilling. He would have a thousand-yard season if that would. wasn't there. They would just plug him into the slot. He can't play outside receiver and he's forced to play in other positions because Edelman is the slot guy. All right. So I enjoy Greg's attempt at suggesting New England's got a rough road ahead. They are the best team in the AFC right now. Absolutely. And they just survived the roughest road possible. This was really kind of the end of this streak where you played three straight AFC first place teams, then the Packers, then the Chargers. And they only lost one and that was in Green Bay. It came through a

buying colors celebration you know what a lot of it what this is about with greg is he knows what's coming february 1st 34 24 24 packers over pads and it's going to hurt yeah i don't want to sit next to you guys uh i hope they get there but i don't want to sit next to you guys fair enough all right that's it for another edition of the round the nfl podcast we will be back on wednesday with another great show of goodness uh talking about uh everything that's happening in the nfl thank you for listening uh check us out however you want to check us out, but Stitcher is a great way to do it, iTunes, you know. Keep leaving those comments, which you guys are doing a great job.

Maybe we'll read one of those on Wednesday's show. That'll be fun. Tell your grandmothers about us, friends in the holiday season. Don't worry about the grandmas, but tell your uncles, like your buddy, the buddy from high school, all that stuff. The grandmas will get my references. Tell them. All right, tell the grandmas. All right, this is Dan Hansa, signing up for the Sizzler, the mailman, the boss.

And tell you day, behind the glass. Ooh, jelty. I like this kind of party. I like this kind of party, baby. It's your boy. TV on fire. All I know is, you mess with me, you got problems. That's all I know.

This is why you lift all them links. What the hell's going on out here? On fire. This is an I-Heart podcast.