NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Titans-Dolphins and Packers-Giants MNF Recap

Episode Date: December 12, 2023

In a virtual room full of heroes - Dan Hanzus, Gregg Rosenthal, and Marc Sessler recapping a thrilling Week 14 Monday Night Football doubleheader. The heroes start with the Titans stunning the Dolphins (05:14) and then discuss the Giants beating the Packers (21:42). Note: time codes approximate. NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. The Around the NFL podcast knows the NFL Averlords put two games on tonight to annoy Mark. Welcome to another edition of Around the NFL. I am Dan Hanses. Got Mark Sessler here. Got Greg Rosenthal. And yes, two Monday night football games. A source of annoyance.

Sure. But then the games unfold. And I have to say, and I'm curious your thoughts, Mark, that was the most fun I've had watching football this year. Because of the two games, the quality, the uniqueness of them, the endings for both, the plot lines. This probably means we'll have two Monday Night Football games for the rest of time now because the NFL will think this can happen every week. but I really had a great time watching football tonight, and now we get to talk about it, which is cool as well. Yeah, like I told Greg before we got on

that I had not even a hot take, just a take about what this evening, what it unraveled in terms of like a red carpet for the rest of our lives is, I think this set the table for this happening probably eight weeks a year, if not every week. Because it worked tonight. Let's be real.

Like, I mean, I think you watch the end of this. Giants game, and we'll get into it. And at that point, there was about two, two plus minutes left in the Dolphins game, which seemed out of reach. It's like, of course, one of these will kind of be sealed up. And then what unfurled from there was complete zaniness. It is an NFL schedule makers, an NFL mastermind's dream. And I think the Dolphins game was one of the craziest endings I witnessed all season. I mean, this was a bolt of lightning. You could put two Monday night games on every Monday night for the next five seasons. And you might not get a Monday night like Tommy Cutlets going down the field after they coughed up a big lead

followed by a team gagging away a lead in a manner that literally hasn't been done this century at the exact same time. So these were two of the most memorable games of the season and they happened to happen on the exact same night. I'm with you. There'll be more of these nights, but I don't think there'll be a night quite like this one because it was just too freaking crazy. And, you know, I, you know, working with Zumwalt on the drop today, one of the other kind of angles I was going to take was that this was a mistake made by the AI bot.

And they just said, all right, well, we didn't realize until it's too late. We sent out the schedules. So let's just play two games. And did anyone else find it odd and maybe borderline disturbing that at halftime of these games, it was the same score, the same general game script,

the same vibe with a underdog leading a favorite. It was almost like the simulation was exposed Truman's show style. That changed in the second half. So that was also comforting to me. Yes. And I mean, we have, we do text with Zumwalt a little bit during these affairs

when there are these island games. And, you know, naturally he was going nuts over DeVito. and I like it too. I mean, I'm from the tri-state area. I think it's a cool story. But, like, there was a part of me. It's like, if all of this was, I am from multiple places, but I lived, like, I know,

I understand that Dan, that you grew up in, like, this hard hitting coal town where everyone, like, you know, has a lung disease. But, like, we actually grew up, like, about 30 minutes away from each other. And, like, the DeVito thing, like, I knew a billion people just like that, as did you. And it's like, to me, it was like, is this, this is so surreal at the end of this season. that it feels like a, like someone's come in and scripted large chunks of what we experienced with the NFL. And both of these things were happening tonight at once because Will Levis also feels like he was pulled out of 1988 like WWF Paul Orndorf World. So I am, I am kind of just like floating and wondering what's happening.

Yeah. So why don't we dive into it? And I find myself like actually feeling as someone who grew up in the same area as Tommy Cutlets, I almost feel like I'm missing out. Not only, I felt like this my whole life, to be honest with you, like growing up in a town that everyone was a Giants fan. I always felt like I was missing out. And once again, it just feels like it's just fun to be a Giants fan. Even when there are dark times, they just, you mix in these like moments and they're having one right now with DeVito and having to kind of download the whole Tommy DeVito situation to my wife on the couch today. And then my kids roll over and they get invested in the game. Like it was, it was so much fun. Um, but we got to start. We got to start with the game that I had, because I was kind of distracted, because my whole family was so into this DeVito situation, that game is 27.13. Of course, uh, dolphins and Titans. It's 27 to 13 with less than five minutes to play after two monumental gaffs, uh, turnovers by the Titans turned a tight game into one that Miami was kind of coasting to a win.

And then things got super weird. Let's start with the final play of note. So he did not get out of bounds, apparently. And there's the difference, right? Didn't get out of bounds. The Titans were getting out of bounds on a regular basis in their situation. And they had the ball. Two yards here to keep the dream alive here.

Tua in traffic. He'll be brought down in Tennessee. He's going to secure an incredible, improbable, Comeback victory and win for the road on the first time this year. My goodness, to a taken down. Was that Harold Landry with the sack? Yes, that was. The nail in the coffin for the Dolphins who were four minutes and 34 seconds away

with a two-score lead from taking over the top seat in the AFC with four games to go. Instead, they watch it all fall apart as Tennessee goes touchdown, two-point conversion, Three and out. Touchdown. P.A.T. Dolphins drive stalls. Final score 2827 and one of the more improbable comebacks in the history of Monday night football. Greg, we could talk about either team here because the dolphins obviously are the team that are still nine and four in great playoff position and still heavy favorites to win their division. So their season is not over here. But at the same time for Miami, it's like you really want to see how the dolphins react. What kind of stuff? stomach they have, how they move forward after a game that sucked a lot of out of their sales. I mean, it is unconscionable. Like, there is no precedent. We got all the researchers out there trying to figure it out.

But it's believed this is the biggest lead anyone's given up in that short of time to lose in regulation. You see all these stats out. It had been 767 straight games with a 14 point lead. Three minutes to go, the team wins. But most of those, when you have the 14 minutes, you win in overtime. People are going back. The closest they can find is a 70s game with the Steelers and the Dolphins. And even that took a little longer during this comeback.

And it happened because Elevis's huevos, like the plays he made. I know he didn't have a good night overall. But there's a crazy play that Taj Spears makes, who was part of a very similar comeback for Tulane against USC in the final five minutes of a huge bowl game. That was insane. Then there was the best throw he had. out of the night to Westbrook Aquina, the two-point conversion might change how coaches look at two-point conversions forevermore. They already were, but Mike Vrable passed the down-by-eight

going for two-point conversion test, which a lot of people all season longer, like, why are they doing this? I don't understand why they're doing this. Them getting on the plane with a victory is why they did it. They hit the two so that they could win in regulation after the dolphins messed up two offensive positions. They tried to run it three times. They dropped back to pass on their third down. It ended up being a three and out after Tua made a bad decision to scramble and then right back down the fields to Dhop to O'Conco. The defense just felt as much as Tua looked frazzled and blew that ending sequence and we can talk about how the dolphins blew it. The fact that their defense had been so good all night and then just watched Levis and Hopkins go hero ball in Westbrook Aquina and Spears. It was an amazing defensive collapse from a defense that had been playing so well over the last two months.

Yeah, because I go back to when, like, the D'Andre Hopkins decided to go to the Titans. And I know he didn't have a billion offers, but it was like, that feels like an odd fit. This team feels slightly out of it. They don't have a lot going on on offense. He dominated tonight. They don't win that game without D'Andre Hopkins looking like the Hopkins from years ago. Tage Spears was incredible. The Dolphins defense, which has been, you know, even without Jail and Phillips,

like a total positive in the last couple of weeks. And a reason that you believe in them completely collapsed. And part of me wonders, like, to players, just from a human angle, think when they're up, by the way they're up historically, Greg, to your point that no one comes back in that situation, did they kind of just collapse and were they taken out of the game a little bit? I mean, I also, I want to, you know, from a dolphin's angle real quick, like, Tua had plenty of time and was put into a situation that if you're a, you know, a Tua, believer, you want to see that happen for that argument. And if you're too a doubter, you want to see

what happens for your side of that. I think the loss of Connor Williams early in the game mattered a lot in this. They didn't have Toronto Armstead. We know what happens to Miami's offense when they don't have Toronto Armstead. And Tyree Kill was not present for large chunks of the game and not present at the end there. And it's like you take a few pieces away from the dolphins and they look completely different. And this was a Titans defense that took them down at the end without Jeffrey Simmons. I mean, it was kind of just like an insane collection of events all at once in some of the personnel situations of both sides don't make a lot of sense for how that happened. And it was kind of like a classic Mike Rable win when you didn't expect what happened. Yeah. And Tyreek Hill

suffers the ankle injury early. Look really bad. Another hip drop tackle and they're going to obviously I think change the rules to protect these guys because it's so gnarly every time it happens. and he's out of the game for the rest of the half. He shows up in the third quarter and just like hits the ground running again, like, you know, looking like full Cheetah with some big chunk plays. But he's kind of in and out of the lineup, including at the beginning of that final drive. And it's with Tua, yeah, I mean, that final drive, you know, that's kind of money time.

You got to find a way at home to stop the bleeding to kind of pick up your team. and they just didn't seem to have it together. It was almost they were playing a little bit like a team that was shell-shocked by what happened there. And I know Bradley Chubb set out to the game, according to our own Cameron Wolf, that we probably let our foot off the gas a little bit. And then when it was time to pick it back up,

I think there was like a general sense of panic. And you could even even in the building, you could feel it at Hard Rock Stadium. There was just this like, wait, what just happened? Just going over it again. So like I said, with 434, there's a touchback it's 2713 Tennessee then goes nine plays 75 yards ending with a levis to de-hop touchdown connection they get the two-point conversion as Greg said

and that was an expert drive that you know they they got out of bounds they it was just clinical so Miami takes over but they're still they're still up six uh with 240 to play and it's just like get a couple 154 to go that that touchdown it's crazy yeah just get a couple first downs and it's over and yet they go run a short run gain short run gain Tennessee burns both timeouts and then two a scrambles they're short of the sticks again but eisenberg gets ikenberg gets called for a holding which is critical because it allows the clock to stop tennessee gets to keep their final timeout in their pocket and then there's the punt so when tennessee takes over and they go 64 yards and four plays another d-hop catch was

the big play. They have two minutes and 14 to play. So that's the craziest thing, Greg, about all this is they left too much time. They left so much time. And we hear all these stats that we're hearing like that this is one of the greatest comebacks ever. Like they got the ball back in good position with good time. And then they took advantage of it. It wasn't even like a scramble to score that go ahead touchdown. It was when everything went their way. And there wasn't anything other than there was a Spears bobble that he turned into a nice. gain to start the first drive. There wasn't anything fluky or weird.

There were just incredibly ballsy throws by Levis. I mean, the touchdown throw, his composure to sort of open up the passing lane that he ends up finding Hopkins with was awesome. The throw before that was just beautiful. And he had an insane night where I can't remember a quarterback taking that many big hits early in the game. There was one after he had already taken a massive hit and they were checking his shoulder out on the sideline

where he was running it on, I think it was a first in 10 at like the 12. And he's got a big runway. And he's got three defenders in front of us. And he does a little hop. Like he's kind of looking at the guys. Like I'm going to get myself some momentum here to try to run you over on the goal line.

And it didn't work. He just got blasted and he got knocked down at the two. and this guy just plays with an incredible aggression. Some poor guy got chest bumped out of his shoes on the sideline, some staffer for the Titans. Meanwhile, Tua absolutely came up small in that final drive. Taking that sack on that final play and the quick throw. I know that's where the play call was probably going to go over to A-Chane,

who kind of saved the play, but not really before. Like, I just didn't, it didn't seem like a quarterback who felt calm and knew what he was going to do in this situation. Here's Tua on how things played out in the end. We got to do a better job finishing the game with the time that we had while we had the ball, not allowing their opposing team's offense to get that opportunity to go down and potentially score. It's team support. Can't blame one side, but I would say from an offensive standpoint,

there's things that we could have done a lot better to not have gone through what we've gone through tonight. what a what a couple of days for the baltimore ravens because we've seen the chiefs go down the jaguars go down the dolphins go down they now hold a one game lead in the aFC um they look like they should too some of these losses um i can think of a couple in the past couple of weeks where it's like oh oh this is what the dolphins um playoff loss will look like to me and i felt that way with a couple of these lions defeats it's like oh this is how they'll go down in january it's like there's going to be this moment where we're left talking about a Dolphins team that, you know, in the final moments, like, this is what they were, this is how they were incomplete. And like, to me, it's like if

they're missing a few people, they're just not the same team. And I think Mike McDaniel is an incredible coach and has done so much well out of the gate. But this was a total collapse. And a lot of it, to me, felt kind of neck up. Like we both, we've also talked about it. Like, they just seem shell shock. They seem lost. They seem to not understand what was happening in the final couple of minutes against the team that came in with four wins. Right, Dan, I think we shouldn't lose for people that didn't listen, what the first three quarters of this game were like, which was the worst offensive game in the Mike McDaniel era.

So I think that's the combination of why we're being so hard on them. They didn't have a touchdown through three quarters offensively. They had a defensive touchdown, and they kept settling for field goals because they refused to run the ball at the goal line. It took three turnovers, two inside the 10 to get these points, where they only got punt return, you know, fumble. is to get these points because Tua was making a lot of bad decisions. He fell on one red zone play.

He fumbled another with a bad snap, which wasn't all him, but it was a little on him. Like, it was just ugly. I'm glad you said it first, Mark, because, you know, I've tried to kind of hold my tongue a little bit on the dolphins because I just don't, I don't believe in them. I don't buy into them. I haven't felt that way about them all. I felt that way about them all year. And can they get hot and go nuclear and go through the AFC and January?

January, it's certainly possible because, listen, you've mentioned the Ravens that a great day this was for the Ravens and it was. But I'm watching that. We did the game rewatch on a NFL plus, which you could check out now. The Ravens's dramatic win over the Rams. I'm not overly like impressed by the Ravens either. I mean, this. Didn't that feel like two good teams and two good quarterbacks playing well and tonight did not feel like. Yeah. Well, yeah, that's, that's true, too. I don't mean to take away from the Ravens, but I'm just saying like, who is like, who's going to, who wants this conference and who's the team that's going to step up and get it because I'm totally with you, Mark. I've seen enough of kind of meltdowns and failures by this Dolphins team

in this regular season that's been otherwise, you know, great nine and four to tell me that we're, we're going to see some issues in January as well. Like, you know, make me eat my words, but it just I feel like this team is a pretender. Yes, I agree. The injury situation has been massive for them. And that has to be said. At one point, everybody's got injuries. No, break like everybody i i get it but at one point for most of tonight they they were down to one offensive lineman one of their starters so robert hunts out it's not just armstead robert hunt out connor williams is now out maybe long term armstead is out austin jackson is the only one left and he's getting beaten harold landry had five cuby hits in this game harold lander's been playing

great lately coming off in acl he did not look like himself for the first half of the season and he dominated this game but it wasn't just that isavian howard was in and out of this game. We talked about Tyreek in and out of this game. Javon Holland was out of this game, injured before it. I mean, they, I think they were missing five starters coming into. I'm just saying like when it rains, it pours and they had a couple of things, especially on the offensive line. It is not helping them. I'm glad you brought it up because that's important. And if Tyree kills 100 percent, does this game end this way? I don't know if it does. But to win the Super Bowl, the teams that win the Super Bowl, they are the ones that fight through it. This is a long

season. This is a hard season. It's December now. It's been a grind for all these teams and the teams that can manage these bumps in the road and these injuries. I just need to see more kind of mental toughness from the dolphins. And if it hasn't shown up by December 11th, I'm not sure when it will, but they still have time to pull it together. And they're still in first place and they got a nice lead over the bills. But you want to talk about another team that had a great Monday night. The Buffalo Bills are saying, hmm, we just got the biggest win of our season. The Dolphins just gagged away a Monday night game at home. We get that team in week 18.

And now we just need like a couple more things to fall our way. And we might steal this division. So this is in terms of like losses, this is about as bad as it gets in terms of going from the number one seat and being in the driver's seat to everything being up in the air. So we're going to learn a lot about the dolphins in the next few weeks. I think this one hurts more because obviously because of how it ended, but also because it felt like to to me was one of their biggest. problems. I know the defense collapsed late, but the defense, you know, they didn't have

Jalen Phillips. They didn't have, who's the other safety that was out? You know, Holland, I think they played well, but Tua was struggling throughout the game. And that to me is a very worrying sign. Last word, Mark. If you don't have Tyreek Hill, if anything like that lingers, if he's dealing with a, you know, if he feels like when he's hurt, he's still 100%. He's a weird player that way to me. But when you're simply not able to be on the field, they're not the same team. I mean, we kind of keep saying it over and over. They feel like, like, I'm looking at the at the AFC right now real quick. Like, you've got a Jaguars team that has a banged up quarterback, although we didn't look that way entirely. A fifth place Browns team that's played with four

different starters at this point, a Steelers team without their starter, a cult's team without their starter. It's like the whole AFC is going through this. But that doesn't matter. A lot of them are like flotsam and jets them and down below the dolphins are sitting there they were our number one seed for a bit and if like you take one or two pieces away from them they float away and i that's why i they i lack a little bit of trust and to echo what you said to echo what i said to echo what you said and i said love the echo echo echo effect james palmer uh the dude love james palmer here NFL media uh he notes that the broadcast uh noted teams had lost 767 straight game went down 14 in the final three minutes and that ended tonight.

The AFC is drunk. All right. Let's take a break and get into the other one because that one was like just as crazy in different ways. Football. Be right back. What's up everybody? Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks.

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And twice a week, that is exactly what you're going to get. Listen to NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. especially 37 yards. Behold, the kick, the win for the Giants. And Tommy DeVito and Brian Daibold. They've won three straight. Oh, man, that's Joe Buck with the call. This is a night.

Yes. Again. Twice in one week. That's pretty good. Tommy DeVito goes four for four. I mean, it's crazy. We're talking up two as an MVP candidate. And then Tommy DeVito, this undrafted kid out of Don Bosco Prep in Northern Jersey, says this is how you handle end of game drive. You go four for four, including a 32-yard pass to Wendell Robinson to set up Big Bone Randy Bullock, a 37-yard field goal as time expires at a toning for a miss earlier in the game. Giants nip the Packers, previously red hot Packers, 2422 at the Meadowlands. And what was, like I said, my whole life, I've been jealous of Giants fans because it just seems fun. What a scene at MetLife Stadium. What a celebration.

And a lot of it is like, you know how like Creed, the bad band has become a meme this year? And everyone's kind of ironically enjoying Creed and it's everywhere. That's kind of what this Tommy DeVito thing is in a way. where everyone's ironically enjoying this guy who's not really much of a prospect, but they're winning with him. It's three in a row. And you have all the memes and the crazy family and the agent that looks like he's an extra from the Sopranos.

But then, look, just on YouTube, that is on the right is the agent who will probably be fired in less than six weeks. But today, tonight, I actually saw Tommy DeVito make big time plays. in this game. And the stat line doesn't jump out at you, Greg. But big time plays that helped the Giants win this game. Like he was a part of winning the game more than he had been previously and just like a fun, silly night and a bad loss for Green Bay. Yeah. It's one of the things I love about backup quarterbacks now. They all can run. Like there is no such thing as an immobile quarterback anymore. They literally don't exist. So in a worst case scenario, and Dami DeVito is way

better than a worst case scenario for a backup quarterback, he can put his foot in the ground and go. And he came into this game knowing I am taking sacks at a higher rate than like Sam Howell on his worst day. I am taking sacks at a rate that is just absolutely insane and I'm fumbling and all this. And I refuse to take sacks. And so when he wasn't seeing the open receiver quickly, which happened plenty, he was just kind of putting his foot in the ground and going. And it led to some pretty frustrating offense early. You were commenting on our. The next strategy, like, this is not fun to watch, but he was picking up seven, eight yards. He wasn't making a mistake.

He wasn't turning the ball over. And in the second half, they were finding open receivers. And Wondell Robinson and Isaiah Hodgins made nice catches. That throw to Robinson, who ran a beautiful route. This is what this season needs to be about for the Giants. They're finding young players that can be part of their future. And DeVito is going to be part of their future, by the way. He might not be their starter next year.

I don't expect that. But he might make it easier to move on from Daniel Jones and have him solid as a backup for a long time or whatever it's going to be. And seeing Hodgins, like, standing over the Packers Defender and kind of flexing and then the fast cut to Mr. DeVito and the agent giving him kisses on the cheek. I mean, that felt that was from the script writer.

That was straight. I couldn't believe this was happening. It's very surreal to watch. It kind of at one moment, like even in terms of physical bodies, like hitting Wondale Robinson at one point, It looked like it was like Jeff Hostetler, throwing it downfield to Phil McConkey, like 35, 40 years ago for the Giants. It just was a very strange evening. But I will say this, like, DeVito might, his numbers don't look flashy, but here's what he, here's what you want him to do, is not make major mistakes.

And he didn't. He was, what, 17 for 21? I think two of those incompletions came kind of right away. He was money down the stretch. He had that one 26-yard run that showed off his speed. And for me, it's an argument for Brian Dable in a season where he was losing the argument in a big way, where you're wondering what Brian Dable was about after winning coach to the year. It's like, this isn't someone you think someone could coach up and turn around and have a game like this

and do what he did in the final couple of minutes and look the way he did. And it's just a completely improbable NFL narrative. It feels totally surreal to me. But so enjoyable. And I kind of think we're at this point now where every one of these games where an unlikely quarterback does with they do, like you're cutting away to the parents. And doesn't that just look like the most parental situation ever for DeVito, Dan? Like, I think you mentioned kind of this could have been you in another reality, like, you know, 15, 20 years from now. Yeah, there's a, there's a

resemblance between me and Tommy DeVito's father. A more prominent nose on him. I got the smaller, like Irish nose. He's got the Italian honker. But like otherwise, there's definitely some, there's some blood there. He might be an uncle. It's certainly within the realm. of possibility. You know, first of all, DeVito, on the touchdown throw to Hodgins, he reached 16 miles per hour on the run, which was like a top five speed for a quarterback on a completion this season. The run that you mentioned, Mark, down to the goal line, which he might have gotten in on

that. They got the touchdown anyway with Barkley. That was really, I mean, this guy is not like a rec league basketball fast. Like, he's legitimately pro athlete fast. and he's also making 416 grand this year, which is pretty nice. But Daniel Jones on the injured list is making $46 million this year. So that is, I mean, it's just, it's crazy. And it's kind of a cruel irony for me because we all want to be bright on the show when we go out on a limb.

And I said, I don't want to fork the Giants when they were one and eight or whatever. Because I said they've already been through the worst of it. The schedule softens up. I think Dable's a good coach. They have to get better. If they don't blow that 99% game against the Jets, they are in the, they're in the playoff mix in the NFC as crazy as that sounds. They are on the fringes still.

They're literally one game out of the playoffs. I mean, granted it's six teams there, I think, are five teams at six and seven. But that sort of blew my mind when they said that going into the game. They said, well, if they win this game, that knocks the Packers down to six and seven. They're only one back of the seven spot. I mean, good for Dable. Obviously, a great story with DeVito, who will never buy. I, you know, eggplant Parmesan in that town ever again because he's already stamped his

legend. And now just kind of seeing, he's playing with house money almost already in his career. And you just want to see where it goes from here. But what a fun scene. Now the Packer side of it, Mark, like we and you've been as high on the Packers as anyone the last few weeks as they've, as they've risen and with good reason because they've been playing so well. I kind of want to kill them because they are, they got to win this game. But at the same time like it was a bit of a weird energy that they went into on the road on Monday night and then it felt like there was some magic on the air in the air while they didn't play at a high level and love came down and the offense in general was discombobulated this they kind of ran into

a little bit of a sneaky buzz saw I don't want to I'm not going to put them out to pasture off this loss now disagree with me I'd love to hear it bad loss but I don't I still believe in the Packers I think it was a rough night with a little magic in Northern Jersey I'd was just, you know, these NFL moments. There is energy to it. I understand that, you know, certain people, the Patrick Claibons of the world, want to believe it's just, you know, robots fighting against each other.

But there is something that happens in these stadiums. And I just think about the noise in the Baltimore Stadium and the game we just reviewed today. And the way it felt tonight, there was just something going on where it's like, if you're pulled into that world, you're part of it. And I mean, I think the Packers have grown up so quickly that we've, forget where they were just three or four weeks ago and where Jordan Love was just three or four weeks ago. So I'm with you. I'm not out on them at all. Tonight happened, but you've got the

bucks at home. You go to Carolina after that. You go to a Vikings team that feels kind of floating away a little bit. And then you got the Bears. Those are four manageable games. I think you've probably got to take care of three of those probably. But what we've seen from Green Bay, I mean, we were coming off of Matt LaFlears, I think two best coach games. Tonight, arrow down on all that. But like, it's not enough for me to think that the whole thing was a mirage. I think there's a lot to like with Green Bay in a really weak NFC with a bunch of pretenders vying for wild cards. So I'm not out on them either. Greg. This was a game where like unlike the Titans and the Dolphins looked like two teams kind of just blowing it back and forth, the Packers just looked like the better team for two and a half

quarters of this game and just kept making mistakes and just handing it to the Giants, you know, with the they had three turnovers that there was the interception uh by love there was um let me think he he had one interception we had also uh what was it the two fumbles they had like a punt return like the games were like copying each other on some level but they kept setting the giants up in good spots love had the fumble and had the interception and the giants weren't doing anything with it i mean the giants had very little offense for for three quarters and the packers would move the ball and then just blow open receivers. Love was just missing open receivers. And I thought Wink Martindale did a good job just setting pressure after pressure after pressure. And it made

Love overthink it. And he was just like a step late, almost every throw. And it was a rough, really three and a half quarters for him until he got the ball back a couple times down eight points and had two really good drives. One, they ended up settling for a field goal. And the next he made his three best throws of the night and end up getting a go ahead touch. down and that finished by love for me helped wipe away a lot of what we saw before because if DeVito didn't come up with heroics we'd be talking about how yeah it wasn't a great game for love but that he saved his best stuff for the fourth quarter right and you know the giants it should be stated that the giants kind of had this game nearly salted away they have a first and 10 at

midfield with four minutes to play barclay bounces off right tackle goes 34 yards so they're set up inside the red zone first and 10 with under four minutes to play with a 21-16 lead. But then he stumbles and fumbles the ball, which is an outrageous turn of events. He's barely fumbled his whole career. And then a great job by Valentine, who scoops it up and returns it 50 yards to the Giants 36. And then the Packers then march 36 yards on nine plays for the go-ahead touchdown and Love made big throws. I actually thought he've had the touchdown, the great play at the pylon.

I thought it should have been a touchdown before that too. I thought he got two feet down with possession of the ball. It was like, how do they, how is that not a touchdown? But they got it anyway. So you saw, you saw that and missing the two point conversion. Man, the Ravens got the two point conversion on Sunday and it saved their butt when the Rams went down the field. Here's what happens when you miss on that two point conversion because it allowed Randy Bullock to beat them with the field goal when the defense couldn't get the stop. And I think I've seen some frustration from Packers fans out.

the Twitterverse about how Joe Barry and the defense played that final drive to soft, letting the Giants kind of, and I, I kind of, this drives me crazy a lot. It happens almost every single week where it almost feels like the defenses are more worried about getting the clock to go down. And then all of a sudden you blink and that team's inside your territory and it happened again here. Yeah, it was bizarre. You're so worried about trying to keep them in bounds that they give up too straight.

I think it was seven-yard plays to start it. And you were right about comparing DeVito and two of there because DeVito wasn't messing around. He got rid of the ball right at the back of his drop with those first couple throws. And with a minute 30, which they had in timeouts, there was no need to hurry. And on the fourth play, he hits the big one. And then they sit on it. Like they had plenty of time.

They were inside a 40-yard field goal with like 40 seconds to go because that's the thing. You can happily take those. six, seven-yard gains, and then you just have to pop one pass, and they did it. And again, I don't think we should underrate how well Wondell Robinson played in this game because the routes he was running. He's coming off at Tornacio. He finishes with six for 79 on seven targets and also has a 32-yard run that set up their first score.

Like that first score was all schemed up plays by Dable. And Robinson, he looks like he's a player. Like, I'm not saying he's going to be a number one receiver, but, okay, there's one receiver we can have. We think we like Jalen Hyatt. Okay, like the Packers, maybe we have two young guys that are going to be part of a nice rotation moving forward. You do get DeVito versus Jalen Hertz twice between now and the end of the season. He also plays the Rams. I mean, the way the Eagles are playing?

Would we be surprised of one or both of those games are competitive? Right. And the Giants defense, to be fair, it's played a lot better, including tonight, too, that it's giving them a chance to win these games. I think they're a classic berserker with one of the most interesting quarterback situations of the last five years. So I am suddenly plugged into watching the New York Giants. The team is all over the place. The Titans are a classic berserker. I think that's a team that could have another weird win here. Giants are a berser and the bears have been playing like a berserker too with like a top five.

type of defense and a dangerous QB. Like there is not much separating these playoff teams from the four to five win teams. I mean, there's no, I said to my wife, DeVito's agent who looks like he's about 23. I even, I said he looks like an extra of the Sopranos. That's too kind. He could be a great guy. I'm not trying to bury him. But he looks more like a guy from entourage.

And I said he better get a good night's sleep because he's got a lot of work to do tomorrow. Like he, the amount of money to be made for Tommy DeVito at this moment of time, I just hope that he's got his business affairs with the right individual. I have my doubts, but I will apologize if DeVito is minted by the end of the calendar year. He does look a little bit to me like like a cousin of Mad Dog Rousseau. If you take, if you know, if you go on your own time, go and examine it, like if a cousin of Mad Dog Rousseau were dressed in all black, you know, a gold chain and a black fedora. There's some Russo-esque, but you know, it's like it's like if Chris Russo was younger and it was

Halloween and the Halloween party theme was a gangster party from the 1920s. There you go. If he doesn't have his name as like the title sponsor owner on a Ford dealership in New Jersey by next Tuesday, the agent's not doing his job. You got to move. You got to move on. You got to get somebody else because you know what else is going. going to happen with Tommy. Probably his parents are going to get the phone call because they

are his legal guardians in a lot of ways still. There's going to be a lot of actual like establish agents being like, you got to lose, you know, E from entourage. We got to be serious about this. So that will be a test of loyalty. And loyalty is a bit. I'll tell you what, I'm not Italian, but the Italian Americans in New York, New Jersey, it's all about loyalty. Let's see if he is loyal to that guy. Dan, let me ask you one question because I was, you know, talking with this about Zumwold on our text. Like, um, they kept mentioning. And I look at, I get it. Um, it's a very East coast thing. I can already answer my own question a little bit, but it's like that the DeVito family that all these people are bringing food over to the house. And so in general, like, you bring food

over to the house of someone who's, you know, no one's able to cook because they've lost a close relative and like there's a lot of grieving and you don't want to make someone have to toil and cook for a bunch so you bring food or a baby's just been born. But it's like your son is a successful, one of the most successful New York sports stories of the last, you know, two or three decades. So we all bring you food. Is it just because we want to be part of it? I mean, it's not because you need us to cook for you.

I think that's a good, I think there's probably some of that because it gives the excuse to go over to the DeVito house right now. But I also know that in Italian culture, food and the sharing of food is an expression of love and intimacy. So that's probably part of it too. And that it's it's very, there's something very warm about it. And I love it. And I know it's a cultural thing.

But he's going to start, he's got to start getting antsy about, I mean, he's a 25 year old living at home with his parents. I know there's the culture thing. It's like, I don't know. It's a tough, it's got to be a tough spot. I mean, I remember I went back. I know he's in a much different place and everything. different. I remember spending that one freshman summer after I went away to college back at home,

living at home. And I was like, oh, man, I'm never going to do this again. This was a mistake. Why did I even come home for this one summer? There are two types of people in the world. The people that cannot wait to get into their own apartment after college and the people that are in no like great rush. I was actually more in the DeVito camp. I was out of the house. I think right at my 24th birthday. I think we moved into Hoboken, which is probably like where Tommy DeVito's dad is from, right around 24. And I, I didn't mind living at home. I didn't have any money. I mean, like, it was a great way. And that's the thing with DeVito. Like, that's what he's saying is, like, I live rent free. I get my laundry done. I get amazing home cooking. Everyone's nice to

me. They give me some space that I need. My bed is made for me. Like, it checks out. But Greg, I know a lot of people that are like that, too, where it's like college is the demarcation line where I don't need to be at home ever again. It's a great motivation to make that rent money, but more just like you want to be, you know, you want to feel free. You want to get out. But it is working for them. And I love it. It is the most fun giant story that there has ever been. Yeah.

Well, those two, 42 and 46 are a lot of fun. I'm just saying fun. Yeah. By the way. It reminds me a little bit of insanity. which I was in New York for. It's totally different, and yet it feels like it's of the same piece of Jeremy. That is a good parallel.

Like Dan and I just started working in NFL back then, and we were writing NFL.com articles about Linsanity for NFL.com, which makes no sense. Football is completely different to basketball. I remember we were at the Super Bowl when Lensanity ended. They got blown out when we are in Indy Super Bowl week, and it was kind of like the unofficial end. Let's give Tommy Coutlett's the last word.

Do you have fireworks go off for a non-time? touchdown? I'm not going to lie. That was the first time. I was like, I was on the verge of celebrating on the virgin night. I was like, hmm. Wasn't a touchdown, but we got, we got saying. The guy who launched the fireworks thought it was a touchdown. I appreciate it for that. I appreciate the belief. He seems like a nice boy. Shout out to Big Bone Randy, by the way. Uh, hitting that kick. Did anybody else think he was going to miss that? Of course, I did. Troy Aikman said what I think we were all thinking. It was like, here. He looks like he has a lot on his mind right now. It's such a good call. You can't be number 46 as a kicker, especially and also like, listen, I empathize, you know, with Big Bone Randy. Like, you know, big guys, we got enough to worry about with our appearance. But when you wear number 46, it kind of just, it just makes you look a little bit thicker. I think he's got to go down to a single digit.

Maybe he's leaning into it, you know, he's comfortable in his own body. He's like the Lizzo. Do you run out of numbers or something? Speaking of Troy, that reminds me when this game was less interesting, I was going to give Troy a lot of love for the rant he took, which I was absolutely feeling in my gut as the end of this first half was interminable. And this game started falling behind the pace of the Dolphins game down in Miami. I think we have that, Eric, don't we?

I mean, if it is out of bounds, it's ball at the 40. You've got no timeouts, but maybe with 13. seconds left you try to get the ball down field well here's a spot the problem with all this is just make a call you know I mean there's 13 seconds in the half they're gonna not get you know just make a decision and this is what

stops all these games and the officials I know they've been they've been talked about every week but this is ridiculous so we're watching right now I mean we see something it takes five seconds it takes them five minutes Troy knows

He's got known to answer to. So he gets to call it like he sees it. And that's why they're the best. Finally, according to next gen stats, before the first touchdown of the comeback for the Titans, the Dolvin's had a 96.6% win probability in this game. So 0.4% for the Titans.

That is the second most improbable comeback in the next gen stats era, which started in 2016. Mark Sessler, do you know what is number one on the list? I would guess if I really had to last year's Jets Browns game that seems so absurd to me. You're right. It was point three. That was the Joe Flacco game where the Jets were down 3017. They got a bomb touchdown, onside kick recovery, Garrett Wilson touchdown to steal that game in Cleveland.

and that is week two of 2022. And then number three, the Vikings, week 15 of 2022, I think that's the 33 nothing game. They had a 0.4% chance of coming back in that game. And they did. The Niners, and this one escapes me,

week 18, 2021.1.4% also. And then the Titans back in week 10 of 2019, fans of these franchises know exactly, the game that I'm referring to, 0.5% chance. And they did it in regulation. That's the thing that's all the 767 numbers. That's all winning in overtime. I think they'll find out.

But all indications are this has literally never happened to win in regulation. Right. The dolphins had relatively speaking plenty of time to go win the game because it happens so quickly. They did it with such ease as unbelievable. And I feel, although, you know, Jets fans never feel bad for the dolphins. I love me. You were enjoying this one.

You were enjoying this one. I love me some handsome Hank and Henry Hatchson commented on X. He's a diehard dolphins fan that he stayed up. Let me see. Hang on. Let me check something here. It's a tough night. What time is it in London?

Well, that game would have ended around 4.30 in the morning. Around 4.40 in the morning. Wait, let's see. The series got this. What time is it in London? you don't believe me it's 549 a.m in london england she just has a little more charisma Greg no offense it's 549 right now so yeah he and that man is a power player mark in uh yeah in all international dealings in the NFL and in the UK and and now he has to get up in the morning so being a fan

sometimes it's a shot to the crotch let's be honest possibly the future commissioner I mean I would say he'd be in my top three list of legitimate humans that could be the commissioner right currently lives um you know during the week at some points uh in the in the room above a pub in london so i'm not sure what was going on at four 30 in the morning in his world but he could not have been pleased with the results all right good way to close it let's get out of here nice monday night get used to it mark it's the new north i think you're right it's the future we will be back on Wednesday with it's the Connie Connie Fox show so please be there and like I said NFL Plus check that out Rams Ravens Rewatch we had a good time with that

until then heat the call Thank you.